Perfect Economic Storm?

Are we about to get smacked by a Perfect Economic Storm? "About to get smacked!? What do you call the last two years?" you say. I know, things have been bad and continue to get worse. But the markets seem to have crossed the rubicon today, headed toward serious doom. Oil prices continue to rise and earnings are going nowhere but down. Many issues are crossing below six year lows. War with Iraq, and God knows where else, is imminent.

And there's another MAJOR story that is not getting much coverage in the establishment media: the longshoremen lockout. Each day the ports are closed takes backlogs a week to unwind until things return to normal. Each day the ports are closed the U.S. economy loses approximately $1 billion. This is not a labor issue, this is a national security issue. If this longshoremen situation is not resolved in very short order, the U.S. government has a contingency plan to use United States Marines to keep the ports open. The government realizes that the longshoremen (the most militant union of them all) will not allow anyone to break any picket lines without a full tilt riot (or worse) ensuing. But even those guys won't stand up to .mil. What does this mean? I don't know how likely this is, but there is definitely a fair chance that all of the ports in the western U.S. may soon be placed under military control.

I don't think the port operators would be this bold unless they "knew" something, if you know what I mean. And all of this nonsense is happening as the major swindlers are gearing up for the critical Christmas shopping season:

In Portland, terminal operators told about 200 dockworkers to leave the Port of Portland's largest container terminal at about 3:15 p.m., in the middle of what union members had expected to be a full day shift.

"I never thought this would happen," said Bruce Holte, president of ILWU Local 8 in Portland. "It affects our whole economy. The Pacific Maritime Association wants to destroy our economy. Who knows how long they'll want to play this game."
posted by Kevin at 8:35 AM

Bodies Piling Up Fast: SAIC Counter Terrorism Analyst On Doomed Flight :.

Within the last few days: A U.S. Army guard at Guantanamo disappeared without a trace. A Nebraska State Trooper, with a wife and six children, killed himself. And just now, a well connected spook, from a family of well connected spooks, who just married another spook, died in a plane crash. Someone (not me) should start building proximity charts for all the dead people in an attempt to spot any common threads. Oh, don't forget the uranium smugglers in Turkey who were released from custody and then disappeared...

Keep in mind that the CIA has a habit of using aircraft to assassinate people. Also keep in mind that Legallo's new wife, Laura Koepfler, was also a SAIC chemical weapons analyst. She was supposed to be on that flight. If this was an assassination, she may have been the target, not her husband. Hopefully, she realizes this. But, like many people involved with this game, they refuse to look at the obvious because they have been taught to live a lie and they believe the empty reassurances of their handlers.

She is alive because she offered to give up her seat so a family of four could make the journey together. She recently worked on an SAIC paper called, "Assessment of CW on Airbase Operations." If anyone involved would care to unburden themselves of any disturbing information, please contact me.

From the news article:

THE Hamilton Island plane crash that claimed the lives of six people also robbed the United States of one of its brightest counter-terrorism experts.

Newlywed Christopher Legallo, 33, was a leading counter-terrorism and nuclear strategist working with a Washington Fortune 500 company, along with wife Laura Koepfler. They married only a week ago.
posted by Kevin at 6:52 AM

Israeli Special Forces Inside Iraq :.

I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Iraq has launched a missile attack at Israel. If it does play out this way, keep the following information in mind:

Israeli special forces are operating inside western Iraq to locate missile launchers that could be used against Israel, according to a report in the recent issue of Jane's Foreign Report. Israeli officials refused to comment on the report.

According to the report, the elite General Staff Reconnaissance Unit was ordered to scout out and "find and identify places used by or likely to be used by Iraqi Scud missiles."
posted by Kevin at 5:17 PM

Turkish Police Seize Weapons-Grade Uranium :.

Game over:

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish paramilitary police have seized more than 33 pounds of weapons-grade uranium and detained two men accused of smuggling the material, the state-run Anatolian news agency said on Saturday.

Update: 5 Ounces or 33 Pounds?

DIYARBAKIR (Reuters) - A Turkish police official said on Sunday the amount of uranium recently seized by officers was around 5 ounces and did not weigh 33 lbs as initially reported.

Update: Police Release Suspects. They are gone.

Does anyone else think it's odd that men suspected of smuggling nuclear weapons components have been set free? Maybe a call came in to Turkish authorities from the CIA station there that went something like this: "These men are U.S. Intelligence assets. Please let them go." Hey, sounds crazy, but the U.S. does it all the time with drug smugglers working for the Enterprise.

ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- Turkish authorities Sunday released two men accused of attempting to smuggle a quantity of uranium, saying the amount in their possession was only a fraction of what officials originally estimated.

Turkish officials announced Saturday they had seized a box filled with nearly 35 pounds (15 kilograms) of uranium. But Muzaffer Dilek, the mayor of Sanliurfa, a Turkish city near the Turkey-Syria border, said Sunday that the material amounted to only 140 grams -- about five ounces.

The two men arrested with the material were released due to lack of evidence and have since disappeared, Dilek said.

Update: There Was No Uranium

That's their story and... Uh, go figger.
posted by Kevin at 11:17 PM

Recent Bizarre Death and Disappearance

These just strike me as odd:

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Foraker, 31: The wife says he was afraid of the ocean and would never go in alone.

Nebraska State Trooper Mark Zach, 35: This guy appears to have made a grave mistake, but would he kill himself over it? He had a wife and SIX children! I don't know about this... If it was me, I would feel pretty guilty. I might even sink into a deep depression, etc. But I'd probably be thinking about how my six kids were going to eat if I was to blow my own head off...
posted by Kevin at 4:11 AM

Manifesto for World Dictatorship :.

Will the U.S. succeed in establishing its version of the Thousand Year Reich? I'm laughing, guys, because what's left to do but laugh? Newspapers are printing stories about a global tyranny led by the United States! This isn't conspiracy theory. This isn't scratchy short wave radio at three in the morning. It's all out in the open now. Welcome to the nightmare:

Now we know. The Americans have spelt it out in black and white. There will be a world government, but not one even pretending to be comprised of representatives of its nation states through the United Nations. The United States will rule, and not according to painstakingly developed international law and norms, but by what is in its interests.

In declaring itself dictator of the world, The United States will have no accountability to non-United States citizens. It will bomb who it likes when it likes, and change regimes when and as it sees fit, it will not be subject to investigations for war crimes, for torture, or for breaches of fundamental human rights.

When it asks the United Nations to move against Iraq, it is not demanding agreement to a strong case for action. It now admits it has no evidence that Iraq is preparing to use weapons of mass destruction against any other country. The Americans have stopped pretending, and now demand outright capitulation to its hegemony. The world will be policed in American interests. Full stop.
posted by Kevin at 11:16 AM

IMF/World Bank Protests in Washington D.C. :.

At least 300 500 hundred have already been arrested.

See also IndyMedia, D.C. for the riot wire. It is updated every few minutes. Live audio stream from Washington D.C. IndyMedia.
posted by Kevin at 6:44 AM

Smallpox Vaccine to be Tested on Children :.

Did Dr. Mengele come up with this plan?

Doctors in Cincinnati are among those planning an unprecedented clinical trial in which the smallpox vaccine will be tested in a small number of children, federal health officials confirmed yesterday.

The idea is to establish vaccine dosages suitable for children in the event that mass vaccination is needed because of a bioterrorist attack.

Tests, which will be conducted at Cincinnati's Children's Hospital Medical Center and Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Southern California, will mark the first time the vaccine has ever been tested in children, using the rigors of modern science.

Rigors of modern science? HA! These people are dangerous quacks of the highest order. I would encourage any parents contemplating participating in this abomination (or even conventional vaccinations) to read Dr. Gary Null's vaccine information, Dr. Leonard Horowitz's vaccine information and Think Twice's vaccine information. Vaccinations are a dangerous fraud.
posted by Kevin at 6:21 AM

L.A. Babies Get Lifetime's Toxic Air in 2 Weeks :.

As my friend DG likes to say, "Here's to oblivion! It's lovely this time of year."

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A two-week-old baby in the Los Angeles area has already been exposed to more toxic air pollution than the U.S. government deems acceptable as a cancer risk over a lifetime, according to a report on Monday by an environmental campaign group.

The study of air pollution in California by the National Environmental Trust also said that even if a young child moved away from California, or if the air had been cleaned up by the time he or she reached adulthood, "the potential (cancer) risk that a child rapidly accumulates in California from simply breathing will not go away."

California, known to be the nation's smoggiest state, already has a potential cancer risk to adults that is hundreds of times above levels seen as acceptable by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Research Credit: TR
posted by Kevin at 8:58 AM

U.S. Gave West Nile, Other Viruses, to Iraq :.

Believe nothing the U.S. government says! Everything that is coming down has its genesis in the previous Bush administrations. <--- No, using "administrations" is not a mistake. I include the Reagan years as Bush administrations in terms of covert operations. Forget the details of who is going to get blamed for the the chemical/biological attack. Just keep in mind where all the substances originated from. Made in America.

Perhaps they will attempt to use the West Nile situation to justify nuking Iraq... The one thing that is clear in all of this is that lots of people---here, there, everywhere---are about to die.

The United States supplied Saddam Hussein's Iraq with the West Nile virus, a recently released CDC letter proves.

NewsMax.com has obtained a copy of a 1995 letter sent by Dr. David Satcher, then Bill Clinton�s director of the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to Sen. Donald Riegle.

Satcher, who would later become surgeon general, identified in his letter to Riegle the West Nile virus as one of almost two dozen forms of viruses, retroviruses, bacteria and fungi provided by the U.S. to Iraqi labs during the 1980s.

The sensational revelations add more weight to allegations in NewsMax�s best-selling new book, "Catastrophe: Clinton�s Role in America�s Worst Disaster,� which claims West Nile was a form of bioterrorism aimed at the U.S.

Earlier this month, NewsMax reported that Sen. Patrick Leahy described reports that West Nile was an act of bioterror against the U.S. as "credible.� Leahy also suggested that the purpose of the attack was to test our defenses against a biological attack.

Now, BusinessWeek reports this week that Leahy is not alone, noting that "some congressional leaders are asking whether the mosquito-borne illness could be linked to terrorism or to Iraq's bioweapons program.�

Research Credit: TR
posted by Kevin at 8:34 AM

Linking Iraq to Everything Evil :.

It took several weeks for it to happen, but I called it again, sort of. On 8/2/02, I wrote:

There is going to be an attempt to place at least some of the blame for the 9/11---and maybe even Oklahoma City---attacks on Iraq.

Today:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush's national security adviser Wednesday said Saddam Hussein has sheltered al Qaeda terrorists in Baghdad and helped train some in chemical weapons development -- information she said has been gleaned from captives in the ongoing war on terrorism.

The comments by Condoleezza Rice were the strongest and most specific to date on the White House's accusations linking al Qaeda and Iraq.
posted by Kevin at 8:17 AM

Afghan Opium Production Rises Off the Chart :.

If you can't see the drug connection to U.S. foreign policy in this case, you'll probably never see it. The U.S. and its silent partners control most of the global trade in heroin. Hopefully, Dumbo will get all this opium processed into smack and back in circulation fast so we can get that NASDAQ up over 6000!

LONDON, (Reuters) - Opium cultivation in Afghanistan, once the world's biggest producer of the illicit drug, has shot up by more than 2,000 tonnes since the Taliban were driven from power last year, according to a report published on Thursday.
posted by Kevin at 8:12 AM

Iraq: Swindlers Already Fighting Over the Carcass :.

Get in line, gentlemen. The U.S. gets first dibs on the kill:

Oil companies from around the world are manoeuvring for the multibillion-dollar bonanza that would follow the ousting of Saddam Hussein.

Russia is so concerned that it has been holding secretive talks with the Iraqi opposition to shore up its economic interests in the country which still owes Moscow $7bn dollars from Soviet times.

With the second-biggest reserves in the world, Iraq's underdeveloped oilfields have become a key negotiating chip and a backdrop to talks between the US and the other permanent members of the UN Security Council � all of which have major economic stakes in regime change in Iraq.
posted by Kevin at 7:57 AM

Dr. Leonard G. Horowitz On Art Bell Tonight

Dr. Horowitz has done extensive research into the origin of AIDS and other biowarfare weapons. He gives very interesting interviews. He will probably be speaking on smallpox tonight. The show starts at 10pm (Pacific) and usually the guest comes on at 11pm. If you're in North America, chances are you can hear the Art Bell radio show. Just tune your AM dial or go to the Art Bell website for station information. KFI and KOGO have live webcasts.

Update: Incredible Show

I hope some of you tuned in. Dr. Horowitz managed to present a great deal of information that just isn't supposed to be widely disseminated. See his site for further information.
posted by Kevin at 3:00 PM

Judge David Buter: Filthy, Depraved, Disciple of Evil :.

I wonder if Sherman Skolnick can uncover anything to get this dangerous imbecile thrown off the bench. There are several judges doing time because of Mr. Skolnick's work.

This is incredible:

Lori Blumke thought she was doing her civic duty last week when she told a judge her recent hard feelings toward police officers might taint her ability to serve as an impartial juror.

She was stunned when David Buter, chief judge of Grand Rapids District Court, declined to excuse her from jury duty. Instead, he ordered her to perform 24 hours of community service.

Blumke, 33, reported last Friday to the court's alternative sentencing office, where she was assigned to pick up litter along with convicts. She also was slated to work eight hours a day on three consecutive Mondays in October and must submit to a Breathalyzer test.

Research Credit: TR, JH
posted by Kevin at 2:19 PM

Jingoism and Support of Genocide = Patriotism :.

Somebody said that the time had come to "flip" Iran (presumably from a low-growth theocracy to a high-yield democracy), and Dimitri Simes, president of The Nixon Center, said no, this wasn't the moment for flipping. It was the moment to consider dropping a nuclear bomb on Afghan�istan -- not for any strategic or tactical purpose but for the "very strong demonstration effect" that the explosion was likely to make on the rulers of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Lebanon. He thought that altering the terrain of Central Asia might persuade Saddam Hussein to obey the instructions of the United Nations, and when asked by a fellow discussant whether he knew that he was talking about the obliteration of an unknown number of miscellaneous Afghans, Simes observed that the NATO victory in Serbia was not won against the Serbian military "but because we were effective against the Serbian civilian infrastructure."

Research Credit: JH
posted by Kevin at 1:57 PM

CIA Wants Sci-Fi Writers' Worst Dystopian Nightmares :.

I guess after the 9/11 show, they're having to get ideas from professionals in order to make future schemes more convincing:

My mission, should I choose to accept it: sit in a room full of fellow sci-fi writers and help imagine, shall we say, things that might someday go bump. But first there was a definite moment of double take, and then a scramble to confirm that this wasn�t some elaborate hoax. Because, like, the CIA needs my advice on scariness?

TR Adds:

I know what I'd say. Imagine a world so f*cked up that the CIA asks sci-fi writers to present their worst dystopian nightmares. It's kind of like Jeffrey Dahmer asking you what you think would be the worst way to die.
posted by Kevin at 12:16 PM

Registered Traveler Program :.

If you want to be treated reasonably at airport security checkpoints, the government has a solution for you! You may soon be able to enroll in the Registered Traveler Program. MAN! I feel safer already?! <--- Sarcasm. Registered Travelers will have to submit to a detailed background check and probably provide some biometric ID, i.e. retinal scan.

And so it begins: Rewarding those who are "authorized," "trusted," and "registered," and treating everyone else as potential terrorists.

"We see here, Mr. Smith, that you aren't a Registered Traveler, haven't mowed your lawn for a month, own two firearms and checked out a copy of 1984 from your local library. Please step into the examination room for your security screening. Upon successful completion of your security screening, please proceed to gate 15. Have a nice day."

Most people who travel with any frequency will immediately fling up their arms and submit to this registered sheep nonsense. Folks, this is only the beginning. I guarantee it. None of this crap has anything to do with security or terrorism. You are a frog in pot of water that is slowly beginning to boil. All I'm trying to say is that everyone needs to determine where to draw the line. By the time most people will be ready to draw the line, it will be WAY too late. The water will be at a rolling boil.

"This is great news for passengers," said David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, a passenger advocacy group. "Anything that will speed passengers through airport processing is something that's going to get airline passengers back on the planes again."

But Paul Hudson, executive director of the advocacy group Aviation Consumer Action Project, said Mohammed Atta, the ringleader of the Sept. 11 hijackers, could have become a registered traveler. So could Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, and Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber.
posted by Kevin at 2:33 AM

33 Million Living in Poverty in the U.S. :.

It's actually many more than that, but we will get to that momentarily.

If this story doesn't sum it all up, I don't know what will. Greed is the operating ethic of the rich and powerful. There is no concept of "enough" in the upper income brackets. While the richest people continue to add to their already egregious and destabilizing levels of wealth, the rest of us have been transformed, quite literally, into bag people. Everyone I know (who has a job) is on the brink financially. I don't know anyone who is comfortable.

The saddest thing is that there is no reason for these dislocations. There is so obviously enough of everything to go around, but roughly 3% of the people on this planet are hell bent on enslaving the rest of us. The regime in control of the U.S. at the moment is damn lucky they can yammer on about the War to Defend the Homeland, etc. The real question is: Will the growing ranks of poor people buy that line of bullcrap once they start to get cold and hungry?

According to the article, "The 'poverty' threshold, in official terms, was $18,104 for a family of four; $14,128 for a family of three; $11,569 for a family of two, and $9,039 for individuals." In other words, the figures used to qualify people as "poor" ridiculously low-ball the numbers of people who are actually, tangibly poor. A family of four with a household income of just over 18 grand!? Come on! So, if a family of four has a household income of $18,500, they aren't counted as poor. I'm not a statistician or an economist, but you could probably take that "33 million" number and double it in order to approach the true magnitude of this situation.
posted by Kevin at 9:13 PM

Pilger: Resistance Is NOT Futile :.

I'd like to make a special request for readers to send this excellent essay to your smart, aware and active acquaintances. As much as it seems like we're alone in our beliefs, we're not. There's actually some cause for optimism! I know, you can't believe I just said that! But Pilger is right, nobody in their right mind is buying all of this crap, but to watch the TV, you wouldn't know that. The rulers realize that the ruled are starting to get out of hand. While there is actually massive resistance to the USA/UK Axis of Fraud, we need to stay vigilant for Reichstag-Fire-Style events that may cause the shrill howls of resistance to be drowned out by the drums of war.

This is an excellent quote:

The first response of people everywhere was a humane one; those in the twin towers were innocently going about mostly ordinary jobs. This almost universal sympathy was appropriated by Bush and Blair; the pursuit of justice was wrapped in the banner of a corrupt imperial power, whose subsequent actions ought to be as infamous as the crime itself.

Research Credit: DG
posted by Kevin at 5:38 AM

Blair's Impotent Rant Underwhelms Everyone :.

Nobody is buying the nonsense, not even the donkeys at CNN. Tony Blair's own Labour Party is ready to skin him alive. Some Members of Parliament are even threatening to quit in disgust! They're not buying it, why should you?

CNN's Sheila Macvicar said the report failed to reveal a "smoking gun" against Iraq. "I'm not sure that this document will satisfactorily answer the questions of those people who are now not in favour of an attack against Saddam Hussein," she said.

Following Blair's statement, Parliament was expected to debate the dossier's contents.

Up to 150 MPs have signed a Commons motion opposing military action. One dissenting MP has circulated a pamphlet called "Labour Against the War" to every Labour MP.

One rebel Labour MP, Diane Abbott, described the dossier as "a damp squib" and dismissed it as a public relations gimmick.

She told the Press Association: "The document is a damp squib. It really consists of a re-working of information that was already public.
posted by Kevin at 5:36 AM

U.S. Wide Open: Weapons of Mass Destruction Components Easily Smuggled :.

This entry started out short, but turned into a think-piece on Elite planning for a post cataclysmic system. Any comments are encouraged, especially if you think I'm full of crap. If you don't agree with what follows, please explain why. I may not respond, but I will read all submissions. Note: I'm aware of all Biblical and Antichrist/Apocalypse scenarios. I'm looking primarily at secular approaches because the religious angles are well covered elsewhere. Thanks.
posted by Kevin at 6:29 AM

U.S. Preparing for Mass Smallpox Vaccinations :.

Do whatever you have to do. Buy gas masks, buy air-tight chemical and biological exposure tents, run for the hills. Whatever. I'm not sure if encouraging people to refuse the vaccination constitutes some kind of federal crime, it probably does, so I'm not going to do that.

Considering everything you know about what is happening, would you allow a vaccine developed and distributed by the U.S. government and its contractors to be injected into your body? Or the bodies of your children?

Do some research on the fraud of vaccinations, what they contain and what the side effects have been.

I'll take my chances with the smallpox. Thank you very much. And that will be that.

The government is preparing to move hundreds of thousands of people to "relocation camps." I would be willing to bet that the justification for forced relocation would be to serve as quarantine facilities for those who refuse to take the vaccine. I don't know where all of you stand, but I will not be getting on any trains or trucks bound for any relocation/quarantine centers. Sorry. That's where I draw the line.

Federal health officials will issue detailed guidelines today for vaccinating the entire U.S. population against smallpox within five days of an outbreak of the dreaded disease.

Intended as a blueprint for state and local health officials nationwide, the unprecedented move reveals a growing belief within the Bush administration that even one case of smallpox anywhere in the Western Hemisphere would signify a terrorist assault and should therefore trigger a far more massive response than officials had previously suggested, said two experts involved in the planning.

The manual being sent to health commissioners in the 50 states and the District of Columbia offers advice on how to operate mass vaccination clinics -- from logistical issues such as parking to the medical challenge of treating severe side effects. It offers suggestions on utilizing the National Guard, recruiting translators, building intricate data systems and contending with extreme weather conditions.

For now, the Bush administration does not anticipate inoculating the nation's 288 million residents -- partly because the threat of an attack is unknown and partly because the vaccine can cause severe, sometimes fatal, side effects. The vaccination plan would be activated only if an outbreak of the deadly disease occurred, an event administration officials characterize as unlikely but not impossible.

Please see:

American Concentration Camps (one site of dozens)

U.S. Army Field Manual No. FM 3-19.40, MILITARY POLICE INTERNMENT/RESETTLEMENT OPERATIONS
posted by Kevin at 6:12 AM

I.D. Chip Implant Center Opens Near Washington D.C. :.

I'm not making this stuff up, people. I wish I was:

Applied Digital Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSX - News) an advanced technology development company, announced today that it has established its first Authorized VeriChip Center in the Washington, D.C. area.

The new VeriChip Center, the third such Center established, will be headed by world-renowned plastic surgeon, Dr. Csaba Magassy, operating from his existing practice, Plastic Surgery Associates in McLean, Virginia. Dr. Magassy currently serves as Medical Director of Plastic Surgery Associates - a fully accredited outpatient ambulatory surgery facility.

As previously announced, Applied Digital Solutions also has two Authorized VeriChip Centers in South Florida: Surgical Associates of Palm Beach County, located in Boca Raton, under the leadership of Dr. David Wulkan; and the The Family Health Place, located in Sunrise (Broward County), under the leadership of Dr. Harvey Kleiner.

Commenting on the new Authorized VeriChip Center, Scott R. Silverman, President of Applied Digital Solutions, stated: "We're delighted to announce the establishment of our third Authorized VeriChip Center. We're particularly pleased to add a physician of Dr. Magassy's stature to the VeriChip team. With the multiple opportunities that exist in the Federal government, having an authorized Center in the Washington, D.C. area is very important. We will continue to screen requests for VeriChip centers from around the country. Announcements about the resumption of the "chipping" procedures in the United States will be made at the appropriate time pending further regulatory clarification."

Research Credit: TR
posted by Kevin at 6:07 AM

The Cryptogon Quote Index :.

TR, a regular contributor to The Cryptogon, submitted a list of several excellent quotes that relate to the situation the world is facing. I have decided to use these initial passages to form the basis of a living document that will become a permanent feature of this site. I encourage all of you to submit additional quotes.

In terms of look and usability, I will clean it up when I can and add some navigation tools.

Also, stay tuned for a new section called Must Read. One of the several valid criticisms of this site is that too much information is presented on the main page. The new section will contain a concise list of the critical stories that have run on this site since I started it a few months ago. A permanent link to the Quote Index will reside in the Must Read section. If you wish to bookmark the Quote Index now, you may, as its location will not change.
posted by Kevin at 5:11 AM

Flight 77: Penta-Lawn :. (Local mirror)

BW writes, "This site would be funny if it wasn't true."

Ouch! That must have hurt! Just think what this would do to your lawn after an explosion like this. Plane debris, skid marks, fire burns, jet fuel, luggage, body parts, yuck! You would have to shell out thousands of dollars to clean up this mess! But wait, this is not your ordinary lawn! This is the Penta-Lawn 2000!
posted by Kevin at 7:35 AM

Filthy, Corrupt Democrats = Filthy, Corrupt Republicans :.

If you vote for either Republican or Democratic candidates, you are part of the problem. WAKE UP!

The Federal Election Commission disclosed yesterday it has imposed a record-setting $719,000 in fines against participants in the 1996 Democratic Party fundraising scandals involving contributions from China, Korea and other foreign sources.

The FEC documents describe Democratic fundraisers who set specific prices for foreign nationals to make illegal campaign contributions in return for meetings with then-President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore. A Democratic finance vice chair, for example, said organizers would have to contribute $100,000 in return for Gore's appearance at a Buddhist temple in Los Angeles.

Those penalized included the Democratic National Committee, the Clinton-Gore campaign, the Buddhist temple and nearly two dozen people and corporations acting as conduits for illegal contributions. All have agreed to pay, according to the documents.

The total in fines would have been significantly higher except that some of the corporations have folded and others were dummy operations, with no assets, set up as conduits for money from China, Venezuela, Canada and other countries.
posted by Kevin at 4:13 PM

Is USNORTHCOM a Prelude to Military Dictatorship? :.

The civilian bureaucracy in the office of the Secretary of Defense is racing to establish the new Northern Command, under a four star Air Force General, by Oct. 1, 2002, despite the fact that there is widespread worry that the whole idea of a full-scale military command over the territory of the United States (Canada and Mexico) is a major violation of the U.S. Constitution, the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, and a variety of federal laws that clearly spelled out the parameters for U.S. military activity inside the United States. On March 7, 2002, the Joint Chiefs of Staff issued CM-213-02, "Terms of Reference for Establishing a US Northern Command," which provided bare-bone outlines of the major reorganization.

Research Credit: BW
posted by Kevin at 4:12 PM

General Franks: U.S. Ready to Attack Iraq :.

This site, and others, reported that the U.S. would be ready to go, "in days or weeks rather than months," a few weeks ago. This analysis turned out to be correct.

KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait (CNN) -- The commander of U.S. forces based in the Gulf has said he is prepared for an attack on Iraq.

General Tommy Franks, the commander of the U.S. Central Command, said Saturday: "We are prepared to undertake whatever activities and whatever actions we may be directed to take by our nation.

"We are prepared to do whatever we are asked to do," he told a news conference in Kuwait.
posted by Kevin at 4:10 PM

White House Generated Pap Taking Absurdity To New Extremes :.

I will not humiliate myself by treating the nonsense emerging from the White House as legitimate. Maybe others have the energy to go through this crap, line by line, showing the gross inaccuracies, but I don't. Just know that the nuts are running the nuthouse, and that Commandante Dumbo says it's time to shoot first and ask questions later!

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush served notice on Friday that the U.S. will shift its military strategy away from the deterrence that characterized the Cold War and toward pre-emptive action against terrorists seeking weapons of mass destruction.

"The United States can no longer solely rely on a reactive posture as we have in the past," Bush wrote. "We cannot let our enemies strike first."

That means taking action against hostile forces like Iraq, he said, even when multinational groups like the United Nations balk.

"As a matter of common sense and self-defense, American will act against such emerging threats before they are fully formed," he wrote in "The National Military Strategy for the United States of America."
---SNIP---

"What the world has seen in the 20th century is a benevolent America that uses its strength for good around the world," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters Friday.
posted by Kevin at 12:21 AM

Yemen: U.S. Expanding Military Campaign :.

WASHINGTON � American commando units and naval assault forces have assembled near Yemen as the United States prepares to step up the hunt for Al Qaeda operatives in the Middle East nation, defense officials said Wednesday.

America's ambassador to Yemen, Edmund J. Hull, and military commander for the region, Gen. Tommy Franks, are negotiating with Yemeni officials on the details of a cooperative effort to capture or kill terrorist suspects there, officials said on condition of anonymity.

Talks include when and how covert missions might be attempted, who would do them -- possibly a combination of U.S and Yemeni forces -- and whether there is sufficient intelligence on the location of suspects to act.

The CIA, which has its own paramilitary units, is playing a lead role in the planning, administration officials said. CIA officials declined to comment.
posted by Kevin at 12:19 AM

Expert: Missing Soviet Nukes Now With Al-Qaeda? :.

Just this week, the head of Ukraine's communist party admitted that some 200 Soviet- era nuclear warheads have simply disappeared. Pravda reports that a Ukrainian parliamentary member reveals that some of the warheads have been "lost."

Previous press reports indicate as many as 50 nuclear suitcase devices are also missing from Russia's nuclear arsenal.
posted by Kevin at 2:26 AM

With Air Marshals Like This, Who Needs Terrorists? :.

Fly the friendly skies?

"Then out of nowhere, hell broke loose," Rajcoomar said. "One of these marshals came down to me and said, 'Head down, hands over your head!' They pushed my head down, told me to bend down... . I just couldn't believe it. I was speechless, in shock."

Unseen by his wife 30 rows back, Rajcoomar was whisked off the plane, taken to an airport police station, and locked in a cell he called so filthy "I wouldn't even put my dog in it."

During detention, Rajcoomar said, he was never asked anything except his name, address and Social Security number. He asked why he was being held.

"One of the marshals said something like, 'We didn't like the way you looked,' " Rajcoomar recalled. "They also said something like, 'We didn't like the way you looked at us.' "

Finally, after about three hours, Rajcoomar was released without explanation.

"It was like a nightmare," Rajcoomar said. "The marshals were completely out of control... . If they had pulled the trigger, we'd all be dead. I don't feel safe knowing they're there, not with this kind of behavior."

Research Credit: TR
posted by Kevin at 2:24 AM

German Official Compares Bush to Hitler :.

The regional Schwaebisches Tagblatt newspaper quoted German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's justice minister, Herta Daeubler-Gmelin, as saying "Bush wants to divert attention from his domestic problems. It's a classic tactic. It's one that Hitler used."
posted by Kevin at 2:22 AM

Saddam Hussein Given Nuclear Warning :.

The interesting thing about the previous Gulf War is that Saddam Hussein did, in fact, use chemical and biological weapons, despite the nuclear threat laid out by George Bush Sr. You've probably never heard that one, but believe it! If you don't believe it, start by reading about Operation: BLACK DOG. The question is, will we be lucky enough to avoid a nuclear event during the next war? I doubt it. Saddam Hussein knows that the next campaign will deliver a kill-shot to his regime. He's going to use whatever he has. It turned out that the previous Bush administration didn't have the resolve to follow through on their nuclear threat, and covered up the fact that Iraq and the U.S. both used chemical and biological weapons.

The current U.S. regime, however, is made up of psychopaths. For Hussein, this will be his swan song. Therefore, my best guess is that the U.S. is preparing to use a nuclear weapon on Baghdad. Pray, meditate or do whatever you do. There aren't many options left to us at this stage.

Note: If the U.S. lights off a nuclear weapon on the capital city of an Arab state, that's all folks. I'm outta here. I'll be spending my time getting my spiritual house in order.

AMERICA will NUKE Baghdad if Saddam Hussein dares unleash weapons of mass destruction, it emerged last night.

The chilling warning to Iraq was revealed by former Tory Premier John Major, who led Britain in the 1991 Gulf War.

During that conflict, allied forces were armed with �battlefield� nuclear weapons and prepared to use them in a counter attack, he said.

Saddam was privately warned his capital would be obliterated if he used weapons of mass destruction against allied troops or Middle East targets � including Israel.

And senior security sources last night confirmed Saddam has been warned AGAIN of the consequences if he breaks the ban on using terror weapons.
posted by Kevin at 5:34 AM

How Saddam Happened: Made In America :.

I almost don't believe this is from a mainstream media source. None of this information is new, but it's somewhat encouraging that this stuff is getting wider dissemination. If you want to know more, read Friedman's, "Spider's Web: The Secret History of How the White House Illegally Armed Iraq", or the case study I wrote on the subject several years ago. The "notetaker" mentioned in the article is probably Howard Teicher. His story is pretty interesting. See the materials above, or search the web to find out more about Teicher:

The last time Donald Rumsfeld saw Saddam Hussein, he gave him a cordial handshake. The date was almost 20 years ago, Dec. 20, 1983; an official Iraqi television crew recorded the historic moment.

THE ONCE AND FUTURE Defense secretary, at the time a private citizen, had been sent by President Ronald Reagan to Baghdad as a special envoy. Saddam Hussein, armed with a pistol on his hip, seemed �vigorous and confident,� according to a now declassified State Department cable obtained by NEWSWEEK. Rumsfeld �conveyed the President�s greetings and expressed his pleasure at being in Baghdad,� wrote the notetaker. Then the two men got down to business, talking about the need to improve relations between their two countries.

Like most foreign-policy insiders, Rumsfeld was aware that Saddam was a murderous thug who supported terrorists and was trying to build a nuclear weapon. (The Israelis had already bombed Iraq�s nuclear reactor at Osirak.) But at the time, America�s big worry was Iran, not Iraq. The Reagan administration feared that the Iranian revolutionaries who had overthrown the shah (and taken hostage American diplomats for 444 days in 1979-81) would overrun the Middle East and its vital oilfields. On the�theory that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, the Reaganites were seeking to support Iraq in a long and bloody war against Iran. The meeting between Rumsfeld and Saddam was consequential: for the next five years, until Iran finally capitulated, the United States backed Saddam�s armies with military intelligence, economic aid and covert supplies of munitions.
posted by Kevin at 5:01 AM

Rumsfeld Gets An Earful :.

Rumsfeld, testifying before the House Armed Services Committee, had started to argue the case for removing the Iraqi president when a woman seated behind him stood up and said, "Mr. Rumsfeld, I think we need weapons inspections, not war."

"Why are you obstructing the inspections? Is this really about oil? How many civilians will be killed?" the woman asked.

She and another woman began chanting "Inspections, not war" and unfurled a banner bearing the slogan before Capitol police removed them from the hearing room.

Research Credit: TR
posted by Kevin at 4:46 AM

Bush Wants War :.

More of the same, but this is pretty good info:

If it achieved nothing else, the offer of the Iraqi government to accept without conditions the return of United Nations weapons inspectors has exposed the most essential truth of contemporary international politics: the Bush administration wants war. Its hysterical claims of �weapons of mass destruction� have never been anything else but a means of manufacturing a public justification for war. The Bush administration has responded angrily to the diplomatic note of the Iraqi foreign minister�demanding that it be ignored by the UN�because it knows that Saddam Hussein�s concession deprives the United States of the fig leaf of a pseudo-legal pretext for invading Iraq, destroying its government, seizing its oilfields and reducing the country to what would be, in effect, semi-colonial status.

Research Credit: TR
posted by Kevin at 4:42 AM

The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace :.

The big report will be out later today. I'll be going over it later. To those of you who have read my recent cyberwar essay, anyone want to make any bets on how much emphasis this report will place on physical threats to information infrastructures? My guess is that these issues won't come up at all. I really hope they will, but I don't think they will.

Update: Well, I read the report. They do make some references to physical information infrastructure vulnerabilities, but there's nothing specific, and they basically pass the buck, just like the Pentagon did in the mid 1990s.

Mostly bloated wonk speak, the document acknowledges that the physical nature of information systems is a factor in formulating a defense, but doesn't go on to offer any viable prescriptions.

Here's the plan, which means, as I said, there is no plan:

Owners and operators of information system networks and network data centers should consider developing remediation and contingency plans to reduce the consequences of large-scale physical damage to facilities supporting such networks. Where requested, the Federal government could help coordinate such efforts and provide technical assistance.

Here is more on physical vulnerability. It would have been simpler to say "grab your ankles" but instead they call for bean counters to come up with some models:

Industry is working jointly with government to develop an understanding of the complex connections between organizations in a sector, among sectors, and with the government. In particular, there is concern about cascading effects from one critical infrastructure sector to others. Developing tools and methodologies to perform cyber risk modeling is essential to both eliminating vulnerabilities and fostering the appropriate risk-transfer mechanisms.

The authors of this report are obviously aware that the Internet is actually built out of very fragile technologies. They manage to do a good job of preventing panic:

The Internet was built to be redundant and though security has been added on over time, security was never incorporated as a fundamental feature and gaps remain in its implementation. In addition, the methods and rules that the Internet uses for communication, and the devices that support the transfer of information, were not designed to support the growing volume of data that flows through the Internet.

Here's the way I described the same situation in my essay:

You always hear that the Internet was designed to route information around dead or crowded nodes. Well, what you don't hear is that this theory only applies when the amount of traffic on the system DOES NOT OVERWHELM the routers, switches and communications media. If transcon and intercity OC-192s and OC-768s start going down, the sudden traffic overflow onto the lower tiered intercity connections will bring everything to a grinding halt. Couple that with attacks on root DNS nodes and DOS attacks on systems still standing� Put a fork in it, ladies and gentlemen. It�s done.

On physical infrastructure protection, the document plays a shell game:

Public-private partnerships should identify cross-sectoral interdependencies both cyber and physical. They should develop plans to reduce related vulnerabilities, in conjunction with programs proposed in the National Strategy for Homeland Security.

Oh, so we should look at the National Strategy for Homeland Security for guidance. Here's what that document has to say on infrastructure protection:

If terrorists attack one or more pieces of our critical infrastructure, they may disrupt entire systems and cause significant damage to the Nation. We must therefore improve protection of the individual pieces and interconnecting systems that make up our critical infrastructure.

*sigh*

Anyway, I've had enough. I'm sure you have, too.

Update: More Criticism :.

SEATTLE--A White House official is standing behind the administration's draft recommendations on cybersecurity, asserting that they have not been weakened by lobbying from technology companies.

"The one (claim) I hear the most often is that it was watered down," Howard Schmidt, vice chairman of the White House's National Critical Infrastructure Protection Board, said here Thursday. "It is not watered down."

On Wednesday, the White House formally introduced a 64-page draft proposal titled "National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace." Rather than target specific industry segments or recommend new laws and regulations, the administration's plan states that industry and individuals must simply take greater cautions.
posted by Kevin at 6:34 AM

The "Complete" 9/11 Timeline :.

This makes Mike Ruppert's "Oh Lucy" effort look like a boyscout exercise! Paul Thompson, I salute you.

This webpage is meant to be a comprehensive resource for anyone attempting to understand 9/11 and the anthrax attacks. Once you start reading, I think it will become clear that, whatever happened, there is much more going on than the "official story" claims. The mainstream media is the one that's failed to "connect the dots". There are an amazing amount of intriguing news stories that have squeaked into the media but not reached a wide audience, and/or have not been properly followed up or placed into context. I haven't seen anything that pulls it all together, so I've felt compelled to make this.
posted by Kevin at 6:27 AM

Iraq Flings Monkey Wrench Into U.S. War Machine :.

I'd be willing to bet that the hawks inside the White House are pretty mad right about now. I think the only reason George Bush went to the U.N. is because the entire world, with the exception of Tony Blair, saw the U.S. stance for what is was: An attempt to rip off even more of the world's oil. Going to the U.N., it was probably thought, would silence all the naysayers, and give Saddam Hussein yet another chance to screw up, allowing the bombs to then fall in short order.

Well, Saddam Hussein did what probobably nobody on the Bush foreign policy team thought he would do. He's allowing inspectors back in. No conditions. Another article states:

U.S. officials said they were not surprised by the Iraqi move. "We were expecting this kind of thing," said one White House official.

Bullcrap. They thought they had this thing all sealed up. Saddam Hussein is giving them all the bird at this moment.

Here's what I hope is happening:

I hope that Saddam Hussein realized that he was on a collision course with a bunch of U.S. "smart" weapons. I hope that he is making a genuine effort to work with the U.N. to possibly diffuse the situation.

Here's what I think is happening:

I think there are no protagonists in the U.S./Iraq story. I think Saddam Hussein is insane. I think the people in control of George Bush are insane. I think the plan to take over Iraq was planned long ago (see story below) and that a regime change is already baked into the cake. I don't think Bush wanted to go to the U.N., but he did it out of necessity. Now that Hussein has thrown up his arms and will allow inspectors, the U.S. finds itself in a VERY odd situation. How can they go ahead with an attack now? My gut feeling is that NOTHING is going to prevent a U.S. invasion of Iraq. I don't know what the circumstances will be, but I feel as though they (Cheney, Rumsfeld, etc.) decided Hussein had to go, long ago. I hope I'm wrong. I'd like to see the entire situation move back from the brink. Unfortunately, I just don't see how that is possible when the U.S. is behaving like this is a game of chicken, and the steering wheel has been tossed out the window.
posted by Kevin at 6:00 AM

Atrocities in Israel :.

This video shows an Israeli tank opening fire on children as they ran away. They were attempting to buy candy bars.
posted by Kevin at 5:19 AM

Atrocities in Afghanistan :.

This Le Monde Diplomatique article is shocking. If the events described are true, the war crimes courts will be busy for years to come. I selected a relatively tame passage to quote below. Fair warning: If you don't have a strong tolerance for descriptions of almost unimaginable cruelty, don't read this article.

At Kalai Zeini they were forced to sit, side by side, across a vast field within the perimeters. Soon a convoy of trucks arrived with metal cargo containers fastened to their chassis. The prisoners were then ordered to line up before being squeezed into these containers. A Northern Alliance officer, who agreed to speak anonymously, said: "We were responsible for delivering the prisoners and we loaded 25 containers from Zeini to Shiberghan. We put around 200 people into each container."

Compressed into these airless, dark metal boxes in very high temperatures, the Taliban cried for mercy. Another Afghan soldier who lent credence to his testimony by admitting he killed some prisoners, said: "I hit the containers with bullets to make holes for ventilation and some of them were killed." I asked him if he personally shot holes into the containers, and why, and who gave the orders, and he said: "The commanders ordered us."

Research Credit: JH
posted by Kevin at 5:03 AM

Let's Roll: Was Flight 93 Shot Down? :.

Several days ago, I read the following anonymous post on Slashdot. The author claims to have been the pilot of a U.S. military jet who was ordered to shoot down Flight 93. Of course, this person could have been making it all up. I posted a follow-up message, asking the author to write to me. He/she has not:

Post-9/11 Revelation (Score:-1, Troll)
by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 10, @06:37PM (#4232457)
Flight 93 was shot down.

I know because I was ordered to shoot down the plane. Due to the classified status of that day's events, I can not divulge my name or the method I used to bring down the target. After I touched down back at the base that day, I found that the passengers on flight 93 had successfully overpowered the hijackers moments before I killed them all. I have suffered immeasurable guilt since then, to the degree that the unit shrink has grounded me indefinitely.

You will probably never know the full story. I do not think I can bear another six years of service before retirement and may be medically discharged by then, in which case I have nothing to live for any more.

I just came across this story (written two days AFTER the anonymous Slashdot post):

THE unmarked military-style jet swooped down at high speed through the valley, twice circled the smouldering black scar where Flight 93 had careered into the ground just seconds earlier and then hurtled off over the horizon.

At least six eyewitnesses saw the mysterious aircraft on the morning of September 11 last year. But the US authorities deny it ever existed.

So when George Bush laid a wreath yesterday at the crash site in a remote valley outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania, he was one of only a handful of people who know what really happened to the 40 innocents and four hijackers aboard the doomed United Airlines Boeing 757-200.
posted by Kevin at 4:32 AM

Confirmation: U.S. Executing Plan to Expand Hegemony :.

"The past is never dead. In fact, it's not even past." ---William Faulkner

Many writers, inside and outside of foreign policy circles, have been discussing the creation of an American empire in which Central Asia and Persian Gulf region are brought under direct or indirect control of the U.S. This theme comes up repeatedly on this web site. Today, we have more confirmation that the U.S. is planning to create a 'global Pax Americana'. The psychopaths at the helm of this doomed ship are reading from a script called REBUILDING AMERICA'S DEFENSES: Strategy, Forces and Resources For a New Century.

The document has the same tone and swagger as some of the U.S. foreign policy documents of the late 1940s and early 1950s. I'm thinking specifically of PPS-23 and NSC-68. After World War II, the point was to, basically, use America's military and economic power, or lose it. Worry about the moral and ethical dilemmas later. Hint: We're in a similar situation today. Take a look at couple of passages from PPS-23 and NSC-68. Note the similarities to current U.S. Grand Strategy:

From Policy Planning Staff 23 (PPS-23): Review of Current Trends in U.S. Foreign Policy, 1948, originally classified Top Secret:

...we have about 50% of the world's wealth but only 6.3% of its population... In this situation, we cannot fail to be the object of envy and resentment. Our real task in the coming period is to devise a pattern of relationships which will permit us to maintain this position of disparity without positive detriment to our national security. [Enslave the Third World.] To do so, we will have to dispense with all sentimentality and day dreaming [forget human rights]; and our attention will have to be concentrated everywhere on our immediate national objectives. We need not deceive ourselves that we can afford today the luxury of altruism and benefaction... [forget human rights] The day is not far off when we are going to have to deal in straight power concepts. The less we are then hampered by idealistic slogans, the better. [The only rule is win.] [comments mine]

From National Security Council 68 (NSC-68): United States Objectives and Programs for National Security, 1950, originally classified Top Secret:

Our overall policy at the present time may be described as one designed to foster a world environment in which the American [economic] system can survive and flourish. It therefore rejects the concept of isolation [disarmament] and affirms the necessity of our positive [interventionist] participation in the world community.

This broad intention embraces two subsidiary policies. One is a policy which we would probably pursue even if there were no Soviet threat. [This is where we are today.] It is a policy of attempting to develop a healthy international community. [Meaning, an international community in which predatory economic policies are the norm.] The other is the policy of containing the Soviet system. [Wow! We won! Free to focus on the first policy above.] These two policies are closely interrelated and interact on one another. Nevertheless, the distinction between them is basically valid and contributes to a clearer understanding of what we are trying to do. [comments mine]

Flash forward to today. Everything old is new again:

A SECRET blueprint for US global domination reveals that President Bush and his cabinet were planning a premeditated attack on Iraq to secure 'regime change' even before he took power in January 2001.

The blueprint, uncovered by the Sunday Herald, for the creation of a 'global Pax Americana' was drawn up for Dick Cheney (now vice- president), Donald Rumsfeld (defence secretary), Paul Wolfowitz (Rumsfeld's deputy), George W Bush's younger brother Jeb and Lewis Libby (Cheney's chief of staff). The document, entitled Rebuilding America's Defences: Strategies, Forces And Resources For A New Century, was written in September 2000 by the neo-conservative think-tank Project for the New American Century (PNAC).

The plan shows Bush's cabinet intended to take military control of the Gulf region whether or not Saddam Hussein was in power. It says: 'The United States has for decades sought to play a more permanent role in Gulf regional security. While the unresolved conflict with Iraq provides the immediate justification, the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein.'

The PNAC document supports a 'blueprint for maintaining global US pre-eminence, precluding the rise of a great power rival, and shaping the international security order in line with American principles and interests'.

This 'American grand strategy' must be advanced for 'as far into the future as possible', the report says. It also calls for the US to 'fight and decisively win multiple, simultaneous major theatre wars' as a 'core mission'.

The report describes American armed forces abroad as 'the cavalry on the new American frontier'. The PNAC blueprint supports an earlier document written by Wolfowitz and Libby that said the US must 'discourage advanced industrial nations from challenging our leadership or even aspiring to a larger regional or global role'.

Special thanks to the Cryptome for providing the complete text of the report.

Research Credit: TR
posted by Kevin at 4:38 AM

Nuclear Power Plant Security: U.S. Begging For Cataclysm :.

"If an attack took place, most of the guards would run like hell." ---Security guard at a nuclear power plant

If you thought my cyberwar essay was frightening, you won't believe this!

WASHINGTON, DC, September 12, 2002 (ENS) - Security guards protecting 24 of the nation's nuclear reactors, located at 13 power plants across the U.S., have little confidence that they could defeat a determined terrorist attack, finds a new report by a nonprofit nuclear watchdog group. The guards told interviewers that their morale is very low, and that they are under equipped, undermanned, and underpaid.

The report, based on interviews conducted by the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), warns that security guards at only one out of four nuclear power plants are confident their plant could defeat a terrorist attack.

The guards told the POGO interviewers that most nuclear power plants have increased the overtime hours worked by plant security personnel, rather than adding new personnel, since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Some guards are now working up to six consecutive days of 12 hour shifts, and guards raised serious concerns about fatigue.

Prior to September 11, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) required only five to 10 security guards on duty per nuclear reactor. Since then, the NRC has ordered the utilities to minimally increase the guard force, but many plant operators have opted to increase the hours of their existing guards instead.
posted by Kevin at 4:27 AM

Rumsfeld Borrows Page From Nazi Playbook :.

Research credit and commentary by TR:

Given Rumsfeld's latest argument--that the US is engaging in pre-emptive self-defense against what it BELIEVES to be a threat--this article on the Nuremberg trials is very instructive. Basically, Rumsfeld's argument is the same argument the Nazi's gave when defending their attacks on neighboring countries during the Nuremberg trials. They said they were justified in attacking because BELIEVED these countries were a threat. Of course, this argument was laughed right out of the courts. But in this Nazi society, Rumsfeld's arguments ring true.

----------
Nazi Self-Defense

Then what happened after failing to get any formal authorization from the Security Council, the U.S. Ambassador Negroponte - who has the blood of about 35, 000 people in Nicaragua on his hands when he was U.S. Ambassador down in Honduras - sent a letter to the Security Council asserting Article 51 of the U.N. Charter to justify the war against Afghanistan. And basically saying that we reserve the right to use force in self-defense against any state we say is somehow involved in the events of September 11. Well, the San Francisco Chronicle interviewed me on that and asked what is the precedent for this? I said that the precedent again goes back to the Nuremberg Judgment of 1946 when the lawyers for the Nazi defendants argued that we, the Nazi government had a right to go to war in self-defense as we saw it, and no one could tell us any differently. Of course that preposterous argument was rejected by Nuremberg. It is very distressing to see some of the highest level of officials of our country making legal arguments that were rejected by the Nuremberg Tribunal.
posted by Kevin at 4:22 AM

Secrecy Cloaks Patriot Act :.

WASHINGTON � Ten months after it was passed because of the Sept. 11 attacks, the USA Patriot Act remains shrouded in complexity and secrecy.

The legislation, overwhelmingly approved by Congress after the White House demanded new tools to prevent the next terrorist assault, resulted in the largest expansion of police powers in decades.

Yet Americans know little about it, Congress is having difficulty getting questions answered, and Bush administration officials won't say how it has been used.

The act makes it much easier for government agents to monitor phones and computers, scour financial, medical and student records, investigate library use, conduct secret searches and detain noncitizens.

Research Credit: BW
posted by Kevin at 4:20 AM

End Days: Cloned Food Products Coming Soon :.

Water full of heavy metals. Air full of dioxin. Food full of pesticides, hormones and antibiotics. Now, cloned food products full of pesticides, hormones and antibiotics. And you thought featherless chicken was bad? F*cking hell. What's next? How about cloned featherless chickens?

I would encourage everyone to read Bill Joy's, "Why the Future Doesn't Need Us," before biting into that tasty cloned beef cheeseburger.

Milk from cloned cows and meat from the offspring of cloned cows and pigs could show up on grocery shelves as early as next year under the plans of livestock breeders who are already raising scores of clones on American farmsteads.

A recent report from the National Academy of Sciences, the nation's top scientific body, has given fresh impetus to the effort to turn cloning into a routine tool of U.S. agricultural production.

A special NAS panel that reviewed developments in animal biotechnology was alarmed by genetic manipulation of fish and insects that might escape and harm wild species, but it found cloning of farm animals less troublesome, since the technique involves copying adult animals without altering their genes. The committee called for a few additional studies but said the technique was unlikely to affect the safety of the food supply.
posted by Kevin at 4:15 AM

Aussie Phone Taps: 20X Americans :.

After you throw a shrimp on the barby, the cops throw a tap on your phone!

Australian authorities use telephone taps at 20 times the rate of their counterparts in the United States, figures that the Opposition says raise concerns about privacy and oversight of call tapping.

With legislation before Parliament to give ASIO greater policing powers, Labor says the phone-tap figures call into question whether law enforcement agencies need their powers bolstered.

Figures released by the Federal Opposition, and taken from annual reports of the United States and Australian governments, show that in the financial year ending in June 2001, more than 2150 warrants were issued for phone taps in Australia, but only 1490 in the US. Taking into account the population difference - 284 million compared to just over 19 million - Australia's rate of phone interception was 20 times that of the US.
posted by Kevin at 4:08 AM

Shame: Larkin Community Hospital :.

We are all standing on the edge of a very deep abyss:

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- A Florida hospital has received threats against three Muslim-American students, who were detained in an anti-terror operation as they were traveling to start internships at the hospital.

Larkin Community Hospital president Dr. Jack Michel said Saturday he was requesting the students transfer somewhere else after receiving numerous threats because of the incident.

Michel said his hospital has received an overwhelming amount of "threatening, ethnic, racial e-mails (and phone calls) directed at Muslim-Americans."
posted by Kevin at 3:59 PM

Linux Worm Creating Distributed Attack Network :.

In "Cyberwar: How Terrorists Could Defeat the U.S., and Why They Won�t," I wrote that terrorists could use a denial of service network as part of a wider information infrastructure attack, including an attack on root DNS nodes. News is emerging about a growing attack network that is comprised of thousands of compromised Linux systems. The interesting thing about this worm (Linux Slapper) is that it creates intelligent zombies based on peer-to-peer (P2P) technology. This means that the Linux Slapper operator may easily target and re-target his army of rogue systems. This is a massive improvement, in terms of offensive capability, over the Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) based Code Red worm, which was not P2P enabled. As of now, nobody knows if the Linux Slapper distributed denial of service (DDoS) network is being built by a twelve year old, a group of international terrorists or some other party.

A new worm that attacks Linux Web servers has compromised more than 3,500 machines, creating a rogue peer-to-peer network that has been used to attack other computers with a flood of data, security experts said Saturday.

The worm seems to spreading fairly rapidly, according to security firm Symantec, which early Friday detected about 2,000 infected computers actively attacking, a number that climbed to 3,500 late Friday. The company's security personnel could not be contacted for comment Saturday.

"It is confirmed through various sources that this worm is in the wild and actively attacking other servers," the firm warned its newest advisory Saturday.

The worm targets Apache Web server installations on a variety of Linux systems, including those from Red Hat, SuSE, Debian, Mandrake and Slackware. By exploiting a security hole in the Apache OpenSSL module that enables a widely used encrypted communications service known as the secure socket layer, the worm can copy itself to new servers.

The advisory includes an analysis of the so-called Linux.Slapper.Worm's code, revealing some details of the attack network created from servers compromised by the worm.

"(Slapper) also includes a number of peer-to-peer capabilities, which allow it to communicate with other clients, and participate in a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) network," stated the advisory.
posted by Kevin at 2:37 PM

Cyberwar: How Terrorists Could Defeat the U.S., and Why They Won�t :.

Several of you requested the information I edited out of my recent essay, "Cyberwar: It Aint Rocket Science." I reworked the essay, added a lot to it (including what was removed) and changed the title. The reason I didn't just post the other info was because I was afraid it would get cut and pasted somewhere else, possibly without the disclaimer indicating that I'm NOT advocating terrorism. The last thing I need is for the suit wearing goons to get the wrong idea. So, I put the entire essay into Acrobat and locked it up. I guess that should be ok. Just in case anyone has any question about it, I'll repost the disclaimer right here:

WARNING: The information contained in this document is intended for educational purposes only. Anyone who attempts to undertake what is described in the �Possible Terrorist Scenario� section will be committing an act of war against the states involved. I am NOT encouraging anyone to carry out what is described in that section. I am exercising my First Amendment right to free speech to make people aware of the dangers posed to the global information infrastructure. Our society relies on these technologies, and an open discussion of the threats to these technologies is necessary in order to defend them.

Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader 5!
posted by Kevin at 9:26 AM

Hunter S. Thompson: Bush Has Created a Kingodm of Fear :.

Do not miss the actual audio of this interview. The CBS writer left the best parts out. "The tax payers are paying for this crazy shit!" "Bush has created a kingom of fear."

When our interview began, Thompson was watching a classic bit of Americana, circa 2002: a live CNN report about the police closing Alligator Alley, a stretch of highway in Florida, as they investigated a vague but worrisome report from a waitress in Georgia about a possible terrorist bomb threat.

Thompson said he was stunned by the attention stemming "from a conversation a woman overhears in some diner in Calhoun, Ga." She then phones her fear in to "some tip line."

Thompson didn't even try to conceal his amazement that the police would go so far as to "shut down the interstate highway" and BLOW UP PEOPLE'S LUGGAGE!"

The CNN story was an example of what he called the media taking its devotion to sensationalism "past all limits of absurdity." It was clear that Thompson was more outraged by the media attention being given to the story than to the realism of the threat.
posted by Kevin at 8:44 AM

A Reader's Bad Dream :.

Three days ago, a reader of this website sent me an email that described a "chilling nightmare" she had:

Two tactical (suit-case) nukes get detonated in the US - one on the West coast, one on the East. In the dream they targeted Miami and some place in Southern California.

Obviously, I read it, and I thought, "Yeah, that's pretty frightening" and went about my day. The only reason I'm posting this is because I just read this breaking news:

MIAMI (Reuters) - Police in Florida detained three men and detonated an item found in their car early on Friday after receiving information of a possible terrorist threat, police said.

The Highway Patrol closed off Alligator Alley, a main east-west road in south Florida, after stopping the vehicle.

Live TV showed a bomb squad team detonate what appeared to be a bag taken from the car.

The three men, said to be of Middle Eastern descent, were being questioned in police custody.

Authorities issued an alert after a woman reported overhearing a conversation in a restaurant in Georgia in which three men were discussing what she thought were terrorist plans, TV reports said.

It Was All a Hoax :.

Someone is going to go to jail. It's not possible to keep so many cops away from donuts and coffee for so long and not have someone go to jail.
posted by Kevin at 7:24 AM

Cyberwar: It Aint Rocket Science :.

This article paints a pretty grim picture, but, in reality, the situation is much worse.

Long ago (1996), I studied information warfare. I chose something I could write about with relative ease that baffled my Cold War era professors. Regardless, I learned a fair amount about infrastructure vulnerabilities, low intensity conflict and strategic information warfare. Oooooooh Ahhhhh. Can you tell I read a few Rand Corporation and SAIC documents.

Here it is. It's actually very simple.

If a terrorist group was really interested in taking down the United States, they wouldn't go for the Lex Luthor style diabolical crap that makes for good television. If they were serious, really serious, they would go for the computers and the data communication circuits that interconnect the computers.

What I found when I was in school is that the Department of Defense is literally frightened to death about physical information infrastructure attacks because THERE IS NO EFFECTIVE DEFENSE! You never hear about physical vulnerabilities because it's just not allowed to be talked about. It makes sense that Dumbo's Department of Homeland Security is not focusing on the types of things that really could take the U.S. down. There's just nothing they can do.

All the hoo haa about viruses, hackers, etc. doesn't address the primary threat. The physical nature of information systems is their main vulnerability. If terrorists just start breaking shit, we're in trouble. It's that simple.

The following is the type of scenario for which no effective defense exists. Everyone knows it. The government knows it. The terrorists know it. Even some of the Rand authors refused to deal with this because it made their complex models useless:

[I deleted what I just wrote because I'm afraid I might get a visit from some suit wearing goons. .mil has been visiting lately and I don't want them to get their panties in a knot. I don't know what they consider hate speech, enemy combatant speech, terrorist innuendo, or whatever people are disappearing for this week. If you want to know what I wrote, email me. It's quite innocuous, but I just thought about being branded an enemy combatant and disappearing. Wow. This is the first time I've ever abridged my speech out of fear.]

The nightmare scenario above would collapse the world economy in a matter of days. No nukes. No chemical or biological weapons. The reality is that if some group accomplished 10% of what is described above, things would start to get VERY interesting in a hurry.

You always hear that the Internet was designed to route information around dead or crowded nodes. Well, what you don't hear is that this theory only applies when the amount of traffic on the system DOES NOT OVERWHELM the routers, switches and communications media. Another thing you don't hear about is that service providers are running their networks at or near capacity in order to avoid buying expensive equipment and additional fiber paths. So, what happens if a terrorist group [deleted to avoid visit by suit wearing goons]? Watch what happens when Slashdot posts a link that sends hundreds of thousands of users to a low end web server on a slow connection.

What does all of this mean to the man on the street? The short answer is, the sun will still rise, the birds will still sing, but that's about it. Try to get cash from an ATM. Try to make a phone call. Try to drive your car on city streets with no working traffic lights. If you're a trader on Wall Street, try to fill orders. Oh, woops, you wouldn't have any orders... I think you get the picture. How long could this kind of scenario go on, nationwide, before the implications became global? Oh, woops, a few hours into that situation and soldiers are already deploying on a street corner near you...

The imbeciles on the boob tube seem to mention airport security quite a bit. How often do you hear about [deleted] and [deleted]!?

Food for thought.

Research Credit: JH
posted by Kevin at 7:17 AM

At Minimum, White House Complicity :.

This is basically some of the Oh Lucy material in essay form. As time goes by, this high weirdness will begin to eat at people. Although, the THEM took out a president, and here we sit:

The revelations that have emerged constitute prima facie evidence that elements within the US state apparatus were running interference for those who organized the hijackings, protecting them from surveillance and arrest through a virtual stand-down of normal counterintelligence and air defense procedures.

Complicity on the part of these forces does not necessarily mean that September 11 was organized in every detail by the US government. It is quite possible that those who facilitated the activities of the hijackers thought that a standard hostage-taking was being planned, and did not envision the scale of the damage and casualties. They might have wanted the action to go forward to provide a suitable pretext for American military intervention in Central Asia and the Middle East, for which a simple hijacking would have sufficed. It is undeniable that the Bush administration seized on the September 11 atrocities as the pretext for implementing far-reaching war plans long in the making.

Whatever the exact connection, the White House is clearly frightened that any serious investigation into September 11 would produce a political uproar, plunge the Bush administration into a deep political crisis, and disrupt its plans for wider war.

Research Credit: TR
posted by Kevin at 6:29 AM

Hold Nose: U.S. Releases Report on Afghan Massacre :.

The summary stated: �A search of the first targetted compound, about two to four hours after the AC-130 had departed, revealed bloodstains and evidence of the AC-130 weapons impacts. There were no weapons or spent cartridges of any type readily observed within the compound.� Subsequent visits failed to reveal �the presence of any anti-aircraft weapons or even a significant presence of shell casings from any weapon�. The report noted that a fact-finding team found �two small piles of RPK rounds (about 12 total shells)�, but failed to indicate the location.

The report makes no attempt to explain the missing gun other than to insinuate that it was removed along with any ammunition and other evidence�with the complicity of the villagers. But those at the wedding party had no motivation for lying�many of them were close supporters of the US-backed Afghan President Hamid Karzai who personally knew some of the dead. As Muhammad Shah told the New York Times, �We were the first to help Hamid Karzai, so we did not think they [the US] would bomb our village.�

On the face of it, the official account is absurd: Taliban fighters, with the assistance of Kakarak villagers, plant an anti-aircraft gun in the midst of a wedding party, fire on a US gunship which responds with a devastating barrage that kills nearly 50 people and wounds over a hundred. Yet in the midst of the mayhem, the gun, still presumably largely intact, is removed from the scene along with spent ammunition and any other signs of its presence. And all of the survivors lie to protect the Taliban.

Research Credit: TR
posted by Kevin at 6:28 AM

Rumsfeld: F Yas All, F Yas All :.

A U.S. invasion of Iraq will be self defense!? Never mind that Iraq is now one of the poorest countries on the planet. Never mind that the U.S. is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of children in Iraq since the end of the first Gulf War. Never mind that... Oh nevermind...

(You know, Rumsfeld strikes me as THE most evil creature I've ever come across. Even more than the old man Bush.)

Donald Rumsfeld, defence secretary, rejected calls on Monday for the US to provide further evidence of Iraq's attempts to develop nuclear weapons in order to justify any strikes against Saddam Hussein's regime.

Mr Rumsfeld said the US was not seeking to place the Iraqi leader on trial or to "punish somebody for doing something wrong".

"That really isn't the case here," he told ABC's Good Morning America. "This is self-defence. And the United States' task is to see that we don't allow an event to happen that then one has to punish someone for."

Research Credit: TR
posted by Kevin at 6:26 AM

Mandela: U.S. Threatens World Peace :.

On Afghanistan, Mr Mandela said that US support for the mujahideen (including Osama Bin Laden) against the Soviet Union and its refusal to work with the United Nations after the Soviet withdrawal led to the Taleban taking power.

"If you look at those matters, you will come to the conclusion that the attitude of the United States of America is a threat to world peace," he said.

Mr Mandela said that the US was clearly afraid of losing a vote in the United Nations Security Council.

Israel has weapons of mass destruction. Nobody mentions that.

Research Credit: TR

posted by Kevin at 6:24 AM

George W. Bush: Filthy, Hypocrite, Monster :.

"Our deepest national conviction is that every life is precious, because every life is the gift of a creator who intended us to live in liberty and equality."--- George W. Bush 9/11/02

The world is in deep trouble. The rhetoric of the United States, relative to its actual behavior, makes the propaganda of the Third Reich look like a boyscout exercise. In his masterpiece, "Voltaire's Bastards," John Saul writes, "A civilization unable to differentiate between illusion and reality is usually believed to be at the tail end of its existence." Oh, dear God, we are in very deep trouble.

Feast your eyes on what Bush's "deepest national conviction" means on the ground. The next time you see that imbecile, with his bewildered, simian expressions, mumbling about liberty, equality and the rest of it, think of these images. Here is a more detailed accounting of U.S. caused civilian deaths in Afghanistan (Excel spreadsheet, 2.6MB, rightclick, save as).

Do you have any idea of what's being done in your name? If you're reading this web site, I'm probably preaching to the choir. But if you don't try to do something to wake up the average idiot on the street, WE ARE DOOMED. Absolutely doomed.
posted by Kevin at 3:00 AM

The War on Freedom and Democracy :.

This report details, among other things, efforts underway by the EU to stifle dissent. Now that "capitalism" is thought to have emerged victorious over command style economies, there is a move underway to de-couple "democratic" forms of government from "capitalist" economies.

Of course, even before 9/11, the everyday terms used by all sides were already corrupt. True capitalism does not exist anywhere on this planet. What many refer to as capitalism is actually mercantilism or corporatism. There are very few, if any, tangibly legitimate representative governments, and NO truly democratic governments. Most governments are plutocracies, with the U.S. being the most powerful of them all.

I hate to have to break out my poli-sci nerd hat, but to use terms like "democracy" and "capitalism" to describe current systems is the height of folly. These terms simply bare no relationship to the actual political and economic systems in operation on this planet. One of the major intellectual epiphanies of my life occurred when I realized that all politicoeconomic systems exhibited varying degrees of fascism. Keeping this in mind allows one to dispense with a surprising amount of bullsh*t when looking at current events.

We are witnessing the creation of a "northern axis" with a common internal security policy... The USA is, in effect, the 16th member of the EU. We have, in effect, an EU "democracy" built on sand. A democracy which has little meaningful legitimacy. Thus there was in place a democratic culture which was very poorly placed to resist the kind of attacks on liberties and rights we are now witnessing.
posted by Kevin at 4:23 PM

While All Other Civilian Aircraft Were Grounded... :.

In the days following 9/11, the only aircraft allowed to fly in U.S. airspace were U.S. military aircraft. Well, that is mostly true. If you happened to be a member of the bin Laden family, you would have been able to board a very exclusive flight. This is one of the more bizarre and stunning realities of the entire 9/11 situation. I remember hearing about this for the first time a few weeks after 9/11. I didn't believe it. I thought it had to be an urban legend. But then again, it makes a bit more sense when you consider the fact that the bin Laden family is a large investor in George Bush Senior's Carlyle Group. Hey, you don't want your business partners to be subjected to any undue scrutiny, or inconveniences, especially when a member of their family was alleged to have been responsible for the largest single act of terrorism in the history of the world. Oh no. That wouldn't be good for business:

The plane to which Carter refers was an aircraft chartered by the Saudi government in the days after the terrorist attacks. The individuals were two dozen members of Osama bin Laden's extended family who had been living in the United States. Saying they were afraid that family members might suffer retribution in the U.S., the Saudis asked for American assistance in getting them out of the country. With the help of the FBI, the Saudis and the bin Laden family chartered an aircraft to pick up family members in Los Angeles, Orlando, and Washington, D.C. The bin Laden plane then flew the relatives to Boston, where � one week after the attacks � the group left Logan Airport bound for Jeddah.

At the time, the massive 9/11 investigation was just beginning. The government had begun detaining hundreds of people who were held for days, weeks, or months while U.S. agents performed extensive background checks and interviews. In addition, the government announced its intention to question thousands of men from Muslim countries who might simply have known something of interest to the investigation. "The Department of Justice is waging a deliberate campaign of arrest and detention to protect American lives," Attorney General John Ashcroft said on November 27.

But the bin Ladens did not have to worry about that. While FBI agents looked into bin Laden family members in the Boston area immediately after September 11, it appears that the agents' first chance to interview them � or other family members who lived elsewhere in the country � came on the day they left the U.S. Each family member was given the all-clear on the basis of a single, day-of-departure interview � conducted, in Bill Carter's words, "at the airport, as they were about to leave."
posted by Kevin at 3:36 PM

One Year Later
posted by Kevin at 5:46 AM

Qatar: The Gateway to Empire :.

On 8/30/02, I wrote, "I think Saudi Arabia, not Iraq, is the actual crown jewel in the eyes of U.S. geostrategists."

We all know what is going to happen to Iraq. That is a done deal.

What is less clear is what is going to happen to Saudi Arabia. Take a look at a map of the region... Is there anyone out there who thinks that the establishment of U.S. Central Command less than three hundred miles from Riyadh is a coincidence?

WASHINGTON � Soon after President Bush's speech to the United Nations on Thursday, where he will lay out the case for ousting Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, U.S. Central Command headquarters will start moving from Tampa, Fla., to an air base in Qatar, highly placed U.S. military sources told Fox News.

The sources said Central Command (CENTCOM) headquarters will start shifting people and equipment to Qatar, a small Persian Gulf state bordering Saudi Arabia, beginning Friday.

CENTCOM commands and controls America's military in 25 countries in Central and Southwest Asia, the Middle East and Northeast Africa.

The moving of the headquarters to the Persian Gulf is a very visible sign that the U.S. military is preparing for future operations against Iraq.

Qatar is situated about halfway along the west coast of the Gulf -- and recent improvements to the air base there have been significant.

The Al-Udied Air Base boasts the longest runway in the Gulf, 14,760 feet, allowing it to accommodate up to 120 warplanes. Recent satellite photographs show how construction has improved not only hangers but troop barracks as well.
posted by Kevin at 5:35 AM

Foreknowledge: Who Didn't Know? :.

Secret Hearings Conceal 9-11 Terrorist Links to State Department, Congress, White House

American Free Press has learned that the secretary of state and two other State Department officials, the CIA director, three senators, and a congressman actually met with the intelligence chief from Pakistan who, it has been alleged, wired $100,000 to fund the operations of suspected terrorist hijacker leader Mohammed Atta just prior to the attacks.

In fact, Pakistan�s intelligence service�the ISI�has had a long-standing and intimate relationship with the CIA, going back a generation. That the high-ranking ISI official linked to the events of 9-11 was huddling with American officials just prior to the 9-11 attacks is a devastating detail indeed�and not something that the U.S. government wants to be cranked into the discussion of possible U.S. foreknowledge of events surrounding the terrorist tragedy.
posted by Kevin at 4:28 AM

Foreknowledge: 9/11 Hijackers Had a FBI Informant as a Roommate :.

The body of evidence indicating U.S. government foreknowledge is growing to almost ridiculous levels:

At first, FBI director Bob Mueller insisted there was nothing the bureau could have done to penetrate the 9-11 plot. That account has been modified over time�and now may change again. NEWSWEEK has learned that one of the bureau�s informants had a close relationship with two of the hijackers: he was their roommate.

THE CONNECTION, JUST discovered by congressional investigators, has stunned some top counterterrorism officials and raised new concerns about the information-sharing among U.S. law-enforcement and intelligence agencies. The two hijackers, Khalid Almihdhar and Nawaf Alhazmi, were hardly unknown to the intelligence community. The CIA was first alerted to them in January 2000, when the two Saudi nationals showed up at a Qaeda �summit� in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. FBI officials have argued internally for months that if the CIA had more quickly passed along everything it knew about the two men, the bureau could have hunted them down more aggressively.

But both agencies can share in the blame. Upon leaving Malaysia, Almihdhar and Alhazmi went to San Diego, where they took flight-school lessons. In September 2000, the two moved into the home of a Muslim man who had befriended them at the local Islamic Center. The landlord regularly prayed with them and even helped one open a bank account. He was also, sources tell NEWSWEEK, a �tested� undercover �asset� who had been working closely with the FBI office in San Diego on terrorism cases related to Hamas.
posted by Kevin at 4:26 AM

Iraq: The Burden of Proof :.

It is not necessary to be a rocket scientist to understand that George Bush and Tony Blair are in trouble over Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. The problem is not military, not yet at least; it is political. Every time the two men pronounce that Saddam Hussein poses an urgent threat, they are asked for their proof. And every time, as again at the weekend at Camp David, they fall back on assertions and claims, suspicions and half-baked half-truths. The International Atomic Energy Authority, for example, has not issued a "new report" (Mr Bush's words) on revived Iraqi efforts to acquire a nuclear bomb. It has merely published some commercial satellite photos of new construction at WMD-linked sites that were dismantled during previous UN inspections. "We have no idea whether it means anything," says an IAEA spokeswoman. The worrying thought is that neither, in all probability, does Mr Bush.

Research Credit: DG
posted by Kevin at 4:25 AM

Making a Bad Situation Worse :.

The modern world, the target of these crimes, offers only old responses. The most valuable response would be intelligence, but we do not have it. This is without doubt the scariest aspect. Even on its own soil, the vast US intelligence apparatus has spent a year failing to track down the source of anthrax attacks on prominent individuals. In tracking al-Qaida, the CIA and the special forces appear to be almost as vainly impotent. Look at how close they said they got to Bin Laden in Tora Bora, before letting him slip. We learn that pinpoint intelligence efforts against such elusive enemies are extraordinarily difficult.

So the alternative is introduced: sweeping laws, or non-laws, that gather up hundreds of ill-defined suspects for detentions and interrogations that have led, as far as we're allowed to know, nowhere. These desperate flailings are a substitute for effective action. They do incalculable harm to the quality of life of a great nation, without any compensating benefit. Terrorism is indeed the greatest threat to life, but the response can seemingly do no better than amplify the threat to liberty.

Research Credit: DG
posted by Kevin at 4:24 AM

Video Essays on 9/11, Dissident Views :.

BBC News Online presents a series of video essays on 11 September and the aftermath of the attacks. A cross section of authors and artists present their views on the events of that day and on the subsequent US-led war on terror.

Research Credit: DG
posted by Kevin at 4:23 AM

An Historical Perspective :.

In their attempt to bring order to the post-Ottoman Middle East, the western powers have become implicated (sometimes unfairly and sometimes with good reason) with rulers who are able to rule without having to depend on the ruled for their legitimacy. Unknown to most Americans, their government is held responsible for providing moral and material support to regimes which are based on the repression of most of their population.

Before the United States declared Saddam Hussein to be the most dangerous man alive (forgetting in passing that the use of weapons of mass destruction is not the prerogative of homicidal dictators alone - after all the first person to gas the Kurds was Winston Churchill and the only person to nuke two cities was Harry S Truman, both democratically elected), it supported him in his invasion of Iran, ignored his use of chemical weapons against the Iranians and later his own people, and was not too bothered about his human rights record until he invaded Kuwait.

'Globalisation, by making the distinction between home and aboard less clear cut, has meant that it is more difficult to sustain democracy at home and tyranny abroad.'
The history of western powers demonstrates that it is perfectly possible to have democracy at home and exercise tyranny aboard.

Research Credit: DG
posted by Kevin at 4:21 AM

One Generation Away from Intel DRM CPUs :.

Grab your ankles:

Bracing itself for another potential fight with computer privacy advocates, Intel Corp. said yesterday that its next generation of microchips, due next year, would include anti-piracy features that will protect computers against hackers and viruses while giving digital publishers powerful new tools to control the use of their products.

The technology, code-named LaGrande, was designed to protect computers from viruses and bad-natured hackers. But the feature will also give Hollywood, the recording industry, and software makers much stronger controls over the way consumers use their digital music, films, and computer programs.

Publishers, for example, may prevent PCs that run LaGrande and Microsoft Corp.'s software-based Palladium security technology from copying CDs, forwarding certain documents, or running unlicensed software.
posted by Kevin at 2:01 PM

FLASH: Live Missiles Moved To Battle Stations in Washington D.C.

I wasn't going to report the deployment of surface to air missile launchers and ground control radar in Washington yesterday because they said no missiles would be loaded. That just changed a minute ago. CNN just reported that live missiles are being loaded into the launchers and the exercise is now a combat deployment.

Also, the U.S. military in the Persian Gulf region is at threat condition "delta" which means they think attacks are imminent.
posted by Kevin at 1:47 PM

Mike Ruppert's "Oh Lucy" List Has Been Updated :.

This is a concise summary of the Bush Administration's pre-knowledge of 9/11. This is a must read for everyone. Print this out and pass it around. Post it far and wide. The information is coming out so fast, however, that even this updated list doesn't include the fact that the Taliban officially warned Washington.

"Oh Lucy! - You Gotta Lotta
'Splainin To Do"

A TIMELINE SURROUNDING SEPTEMBER 11TH - IF CIA AND THE GOVERNMENT WEREN'T INVOLVED IN THE SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACKS WHAT WERE THEY DOING?
posted by Kevin at 3:01 AM

DRM Part 1: Losing Your Right to Root :.

Computer savvy people are well aware of the threat to privacy posed by digital rights management (DRM) schemes espoused primarily by Microsoft, the RIAA and the MPAA. The DRM freight train is building momentum and it's high time that average computer users begin to educate themselves about the threat. The Empire is definitely preparing to strike back. DRM advocates will tell you that the technology will keep you safe from viral scourges, fraudsters and prying eyes, in addition to making sure you don't do anything naughty with your DVDs or CDs.

Here's what they won't tell you:

In computer parlance, the root user is God on any system. The root user is capable of installing and using any software he or she chooses. The root user is capable of writing and compiling any code, and executing any binary file that does anything he or she chooses. If you are using a computer that you purchased for your own personal use, chances are, you are the root user. If you work for a large company, however, chances are that you aren't the root user on your work computer, and that someone else controls what you may and may not do on the system.

With DRM compliant hardware and software, you will no longer be the root user. You will no longer have the freedom to choose what you do with your computer. Your options will be constrained by authorized hardware manufacturers, authorized software publishers and authorized content creators. Everything you do could be compromised by the REAL root user: Microsoft. Your cryptographic keys, your private files, every word you type on the keyboard, every mouse click, every URL you visit, every application you use all become part of the DRM infospace. Basically, it will be like using a work computer at all times. Currently, if you somehow manage to get around the constraints imposed on your activities by your employer, you may get fired. If you decide to subvert DRM mechanisms, on the other hand, you will be committing a federal crime. DRM is not simply a software re-design. Powerful actors, both inside and outside the government, are preparing for a legislative push to require that hardware manufacturers build DRM mechanisms into their computer hardware. The nature of the scheme is such that a non DRM compliant operating system WILL NOT EVEN BOOT!

So, in the DRM world, who's root?

Ask Microsoft.

Note: For those Apple advocates out there, I think it's wishful thinking to assume that Apple will escape having to comply with any DRM legislation. Don't get me wrong, I wish we could all just flip the DRM world the bird and buy Macs. Unfortunately, there's just no way that Mac users will be allowed to be free while the rest of the computer using public is chained to DRM. There a billions of dollars behind this. Microsoft lobbyists are already inside the White House and crawling all over Congress. B Gates isn't about to spend billions of dollars to create the unholy DRM universe just to let it be subverted by 1 Infinite Loop. I haven't heard any comments out of Apple re: a DRM operating system (DRMOS). If anyone has any info, please let me know.

- - - - -

"The open-source people are still innovating, and that will continue," Perens said. "The problem is that we are dependent upon commodity hardware, but if motherboards won't boot Linux anymore then we are in trouble, and there are certainly people who want to make that happen."
posted by Kevin at 2:39 AM

DRM Part 2: Jefferson Would Challenge Bill to a Duel

Frequent contributor, TR, submitted the following piece on digital rights management:

"It's peculiar character, too, is that no one possesses the less, because every other possesses the whole of it. He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me."
--Thomas Jefferson, on intellectual property.

Theft: a serious accusation. Given the above quote, it seems that at least one framer would be shocked at the appropriation of the term "theft" and its application to the "sharing of information" since the "victim" loses nothing but imaginary profits--imaginary in the sense that, if people are forced to pay, this valued information might turn out to be not so coveted after all.

When considering poor, little Microsoft's hopeful plea for intellectual property protection, it's important for their case to note that Windows itself was developed without resorting to stealing any information: like stealing TCP/IP code from the GNU development project; or stealing the idea of the user interface from Apple (who stole it from Xerox). Microsoft does make an interesting point, though, that innovation is stifled by stealing, since I wouldn't call Windows particularly innovative.

But forget about piracy for profit, what about duplication of legal copies? For backup purposes, say? Certainly Microsoft appreciates its ability to freely duplicate information each April, when they duplicate and distribute millions of additional copies of their products and then deduct them, at full retail price, as charitable contributions for tax purposes. By doing this, the most profitable software company in the world pays less tax than a teacher in a poor high school that gets busted by the BSA for unlicensed DOS 3.3 copies.*

Apparently, even though one can tape music off the radio, or freely check out books from a library, now with the internet it's just too easy to distribute high quality copies of the binary gold. Well, it happened to the scribes after Gutenberg and the feudal lords after gunpowder: Ah, what to do when technology advances and wipes away your market? How about simply legislating your market back into existence? That's the trick. That way only a small number of us have the right to "share" information--and that small number is getting smaller everyday.

SCIENTIA EST POTENTIA

------------

* The BSA asked the district to investigate, and after auditing the school in 1998, the school district, working with the BSA, discovered several hundred unauthorized copies, including 132 versions of MS-DOS, according to a Los Angeles Times report. The total cost of the copying could have run into the tens of millions. Each violation carries a potential penalty of $150,000; the fines for just the MS-DOS copies could add up to as much as $19.8 million, not even counting lawyers' fees.

http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2001/07/10/microsoft_school/print.html
posted by Kevin at 1:53 AM

9/11 Warnings Through Official Channels Ignored :.

Is bin Laden the ultimate "double"? Maybe not. But it sure would explain a hell of a lot of things. My guess is that he is (55% chance) and, therefore, still alive. Break the situation down into its most basic components: Who was ultimately responsible for Afghanastan falling into U.S. hands? Bin Laden.

Weeks before the terrorist attacks on 11 September, the United States and the United Nations ignored warnings from a secret Taliban emissary that Osama bin Laden was planning a huge attack on American soil.

The warnings were delivered by an aide of Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, the Taliban Foreign Minister at the time, who was known to be deeply unhappy with the foreign militants in Afghanistan, including Arabs.

Mr Muttawakil, now in American custody, believed the Taliban's protection of Mr bin Laden and the other al-Qa'ida militants would lead to nothing less than the destruction of Afghanistan by the US military. He told his aide: "The guests are going to destroy the guesthouse."
posted by Kevin at 1:20 PM

Excellent Video: "What I've Learned About U.S. Foreign Policy" :.

I recently obtained and watched Frank Dorrel's excellent video compilation, "What I've Learned About U.S. Foreign Policy." The video is excellent and provides more accurate information about U.S. Foreign Policy in two hours than I got out of four years of fraudulent, university level education in International Relations. At $10, including shipping, everyone should buy this tape. (Frank sells the tape for $5 if you see him in person at an event.)

If you happen to be a student of politics, your education would be greatly enhanced by watching this video. If you just have the feeling that something is very wrong, but are unable to vocalize what is happening, this video will fill in many of the blanks. I've been told that this web site assumes a working knowledge of some of the lesser known realities of U.S. history. If you feel like you're in this boat when reading this site, watch Frank's video and you will be up to speed in two hours!

The most incredible aspect of this video is that the situation has devolved MUCH further since 9/11. The video was produced before 9/11, but, after you watch it, you will have some excellent intellectual tools with which to analyze current U.S. behavior. You will see that nothing has changed except the need for increasingly synergistic propaganda. You will also note that the types of policies that the U.S. encouraged throughout much of the world (gross violations of human rights, suppression of dissidents, counter-insurgency scams, etc.) are now coming to a town near you! Think of some of those scenes in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama or East Timor, with bodies strewn everywhere. What is to prevent the same thing from happening here? Wake up, people.
posted by Kevin at 12:54 PM

Confirmation: London Could Be The Next Target

Well, folks, you read it here first, again. I'm starting to wonder if these guys are getting their info from my site!? This is getting pretty frightening. Drudge, you need to wake up. I've been kicking your butt and I don't have anyone telling me anything! He gets 4 million hits per day. I'm lucky if I get one hundred. But then again, I haven't been lucky enough to break any "stained blue dress" stories...

Since Mr. Schr�eder has come out so strongly against a war on Iraq, and since Mr. Blair is already on board, perhaps London will be spared and Berlin will be used for the next event.

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SAT SEPT 07 2002 17:40:39 ET XXXXX

'LONDON COULD BE NEXT MASS TERROR TARGET' - BUSH AIDE

London could be the next target for a massive attack by terrorists or a rogue state just as easily any American city, President George W Bush's national security adviser Condoleezza Rice has warned.

In an interview for The Sunday Times, Ms Rice argued that in the post-September 11 environment, Europe was just as vulnerable to attack as the United States. "We now know what happens when evil people have the means to attack you and are determined to do it. (The next target) wouldn't have to be New York or Washington.

"It could indeed be London or Berlin. And I think that is what President Bush and Prime Minister Blair both see."

She cautioned that the time had come to deal with the threat posed by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

"If we aren't prepared to deal with his defiance now, will we be more prepared to deal with his violence when he is capable of delivering a nuclear weapon against either the United States or Britain? ... I would ask the question, not why now, but why later?"

Ms Rice maintained President Bush had yet to decide how to deal with Saddam, insisting he was still "reviewing all options".

On a possible role for UN inspectors, Ms Rice said Saddam had been frustrating all efforts to ensure he has disarmed for many years.

She added: "We have to ask ourselves how to get a different result this time, in terms of dealing with the threat."

END
posted by Kevin at 3:35 PM

Confirmation: Plans For Iraq Attack Began On 9/11 :.

"Go massive ... Sweep it all up. Things related and not." ---Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld hours after 9/11 attack

As reported on this website and others, the planning for the upcoming attack on Iraq began immediately following the 9/11 attacks:

CBS News has learned that barely five hours after American Airlines Flight 77 plowed into the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was telling his aides to come up with plans for striking Iraq � even though there was no evidence linking Saddam Hussein to the attacks.

Research Credit: TR
posted by Kevin at 12:59 PM

U.S. Going for Even More African Oil :.

Readers may also be interested in, "Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship." The following text and commentary was sent in by TR:

One thing that no one has noticed in all this talk about Iraq is how the US is quietly starting to muscle its way into Africa to buy out as many oil fields there as possible. I saw a speech on C-SPAN given by Powell to the African people about how great it will be for them to have all their oil reserves bought up by the Americans--about how much aid the world bank was giving Africa. Of course, he didn't mention that money goes mostly into building oil pipelines for companies that will be sold to America. But Africans are a lot smarter than Americans so people were booing him from the audience. Of course, those people were removed by armed police. I didn't see anyone do a story on that. But at least WSWS did a story on how we are now buying up oil fields in Africa in preparation for the months of interrupted Middle Eastern supply. Of course, this pretty much proves that the war on Iraq really is all about uurrrrllllll. I think you're right: the US is going to attack Saudi Arabia eventually to get at their oil too. It seems like the puppet masters know they're going to run out and that CANNOT HAPPEN. If that happened the whole show would come down overnight.

------------

�With a US-led war on Iraq looming that could disrupt oil supplies from the Middle East for many years to come, the question of securing alternative sources has become a vital concern for both the US and Europe,� the article states.

Talbot described how the population of this extremely poor country would get no benefit from a World Bank backed project which is building an oil pipeline to carry oil from Chad to the coast of Cameroon.

Wilson asked whether this investment would benefit the local people. It would only benefit a tiny elite, Talbot explained.

He explained that it is easy to transport oil across the Atlantic from West Africa to the US and, since much of this is offshore oil, there is no problem about political instability in the country itself.
posted by Kevin at 12:41 PM

Emerging Confirmation for My "Saudi" Analysis :.

I don't like to blow my own horn, but I'm feeling pretty good about this one. Maybe the Guardian should hire me! HAHA! Here's what I wrote on 8/30/2002:

I think Saudi Arabia, not Iraq, is the actual crown jewel in the eyes of U.S. geostrategists. If the U.S. and Israel attack Iraq, the Saudi regime would be in very serious trouble. Think in terms of a U.S. imperial strategy. Saudi Arabia WILL NOT be allowed to come under control of a radical Islamic regime. Absolutely, positively, will not. However, the House of Saud knows it's in dire trouble. I would not be surprised, at all, if the U.S. military was introduced into Saudi Arabia to, in effect, insure the "stability" of the criminal Saudi Regime. I would anticipate a major and brutal counter insurgency operation that could last.... a very long time.

Marjorie (Mo) Mowlam was a member of Tony Blair's cabinet from 1997-2001. She thinks the U.S. will simply seize the Saudi oil fields. I tend to think that some palace intrigue will take place that will allow the Saudi Royal family to appear to be in charge of the government and continue to profit from the oil. In actuality, however, the Saudis will be serving at the convenience of the U.S. A similar decree to the one that went to the Taliban in August 2001 may be delivered to the Saudis in short order, "either accept our offer of a carpet of gold, or we'll bury you in a carpet of bombs." Here's what Mo wrote yesterday:

The key country in the Middle East, as far as the Americans are concerned, is Saudi Arabia: the country with the largest oil reserves in the world, the country that has been prepared to calm the oil markets, producing more when prices are too high and less when there is a glut. The Saudi royal family has been rewarded with best friend status by the west for its cooperation. There has been little concern that the government is undemocratic and breaches human rights, nor that it is in the grip of an extreme form of Islam. With American support it has been believed that the regime can be protected and will do what is necessary to secure a supply of oil to the west at reasonably stable prices.

Since September 11, however, it has become increasingly apparent to the US administration that the Saudi regime is vulnerable. Both on the streets and in the leading families, including the royal family, there are increasingly anti-western voices. Osama bin Laden is just one prominent example. The love affair with America is ending. Reports of the removal of billions of dollars of Saudi investment from the United States may be difficult to quantify, but they are true. The possibility of the world's largest oil reserves falling into the hands of an anti-American, militant Islamist government is becoming ever more likely - and this is unacceptable.

The Americans know they cannot stop such a revolution. They must therefore hope that they can control the Saudi oil fields, if not the government. And what better way to do that than to have a large military force in the field at the time of such disruption. In the name of saving the west, these vital assets could be seized and controlled.
posted by Kevin at 12:32 PM

The Carlyle Group is an Anglo American Fascist Nexus :.

There is no end to the arms related swindles. The Carlyle Group is the point at which the veil between the so-called normal world and the Matrix becomes thin. These are the people who run the show. British and American fascists serve the same interests, and play the same tricks on the world. In case you haven't noticed, the entire planet is about to be sold down the river for their folly.

George Bush senior, his former secretary of state James Baker, the former prime minister John Major and many other figures from international big business and politics are employed by Carlyle Group, a US-based private equity and defence group.

The government has dismissed union fears that the British national interest may be compromised by the influence of diverse overseas lobbyists linked to the company.

It announced earlier this week that Carlyle was the preferred bidder to take over its research and technology division, Qinetiq. The former defence research agency has developed missile-tracking software, radar technology and other defence systems

The announcement immediately raised concerns that national defence research may be subjected to increasing influence from overseas interests, notably the US arms lobby.
posted by Kevin at 12:29 PM

Karzai Assassination Attempt, Fall Fashion Lineup :.

Events are becoming more surreal with each passing moment.

The U.S. media has an increasingly cavalier attitude with its coverage of the almost weekly attempts to assassinate former Unocal executive and U.S. puppet, Hamid Karzai. The contrived attempts to portray Karzai as a legitimate leader are not helped by his profound personal connections to U.S. oil interests, or the fact that any individuals opposed to the "government" are hunted down and executed by U.S. Special Forces and their Afghan contractors.

I am, however, especially impressed with the efforts the U.S. Special Operations Command are undertaking to help the Green Beret/SEAL/Delta operators fit in with the locals. I would never guess that the white guy, with a flat top M-16-M4, HK SOCOM sidearm and !DOCKERS KHAKI PANTS!, was some kind of muscle for the Karzai gang! Great accessorizing with the frag grenade on the belt. Seriously, folks, what's with the headdress on this guy? Who do they think they're kidding!?

Update: U.S. Special Forces Ordered to Ditch Circus Costumes :.

I think thet should have gone for Bozo wigs and big red noses:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. special operations forces in Afghanistan have been ordered to shave and wear regular uniforms to look more like U.S. soldiers rather than locals, according to an official at the U.S. Special Operations Command in Tampa, Florida.

The order to shave facial hair and to "re-adapt uniform and grooming standards" came after a special operations commander, Maj. Gen. Geoff Lambert, saw numerous photographs of troops operating on the ground in Afghanistan with full beards and partial uniforms, the official said.

Lambert, a career special operations soldier based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, conferred with the joint commander on the ground in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. Dan McNeil, and senior special operations forces leadership, the official said.

An agreement between the two commanders within the last week was made that special operations forces would return to the standard uniform.

The decision came after the perception that the grooming standard of the troops was out of hand and that the time had passed for the need of the soldiers to blend in.

The official said that the leadership put the highest priority on the security of its forces and would not give an order for grooming if it would put the troops at harm.

Early on in the war, special operations forces adapted their uniforms to local culture with baggy clothing and scarves, though elements of the uniform if seen up close clearly identified them as U.S. soldiers, the official said.

Research credit for update story sent by an anonymous reader.
posted by Kevin at 3:32 PM

Arab League: More Cheery Comments on U.S. Foreign Policy :.

Is "opening the gates of hell" different than Armageddon? In order to understand the public comments of international actors, one increasingly requires a working knowledge of Apocalyptic references. It's one thing for some lunatic on a website to go about yelling, "The sky is falling." I think it's something else entirely when the Chicken Littles are political elites.

CAIRO, Egypt (CNN) -- A U.S. war against Iraq would "open the gates of hell" in the Middle East, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said on Thursday.

Speaking at the end of an Arab League foreign ministers' meeting in Cairo, Moussa urged Iraq to allow U.N. weapons inspections to resume in a bid to head off a U.S. attack.

But he warned, "No Arab country will accept any strike on any other Arab country."
posted by Kevin at 2:56 PM

Schr�eder Refuses to Beat War Drums :.

Please keep in mind my previous essay on Europe's refusal to play along with the plan. Hold your breath, folks. I have a feeling this Fall is going to get very interesting.

"With all respect for Tony Blair: Just like anyone else, he will not speak for Europe alone on this issue or on others," he said. "We have absolutely no reason to change our well-founded position. Under my leadership, Germany will not take part in an intervention in Iraq."
posted by Kevin at 2:02 PM

Britain 'Leads Way' in Eroding Privacy :.

I think I'd almost rather visit China before I'd visit Britain:

INDIVIDUAL privacy is being eroded in Britain to a far greater extent than in other developed countries, according to an international study of state surveillance in the year since September 11.

Many states have rushed through restrictive anti-terrorism and security laws in response to last year�s terrorist attacks, but the Blair Government is singled out for an anti-privacy �pathology� that the report claims is leading to mass surveillance of the population.
posted by Kevin at 1:35 PM

Race To the Bottom Accelerates :.

No comment necessary on this nonsense:

ARLINGTON - Police are asking businesses to voluntarily participate in a program to take customers' fingerprints if they pay by check.

Operation Thumbs Up, scheduled to begin citywide Sunday, aims to help authorities identify check theft and forgery by obtaining a source of identification that can't be stolen or faked - fingerprints. The system is similar to those used by banks that require fingerprints on checks.
posted by Kevin at 1:26 PM

Mike Ruppert's Military Buildup Analysis Confirmed :.

As usual, Mike Ruppert was right:

Analysts said the total number of U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf and surrounding regions now number around 100,000. They said this could enable a U.S. attack on Iraq within weeks of a decision by President George Bush.

The Washington-based Center for Defense Information said the U.S. troop deployment effort has been muted and taken in cooperation with host countries. The center said in a report that the cooperation is meant to keep the airlift out of the public eye.

"Notably, the command posts throughout the southern Gulf states and their implication of offensive operations are as politically sensitive as ever," the center said in a report authored by [Ret.] Rear Adm. Stephen Baker and Colin Robinson. "The U.S. 'footprint' in each country requires actual personnel numbers, amount of prepositioned equipment and support/cooperation agreements made with each country to be kept out of the public�s knowledge."
posted by Kevin at 1:23 AM

Heavy Armor Enroute to the Persian Gulf :.

LONDON (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy has booked a large ship to carry tanks and heavy armor to the Gulf this month as the Pentagon presses home a case for ousting Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, shipping sources said on Wednesday.

The U.S. Military Sealift Command chartered a U.S. flagged general cargo ship to sail from the southeast U.S. coast to an unspecified Middle Eastern port in the Gulf for discharge in late September, they said.

This is the third shipment of arms and military hardware in a month using commercial shipping, which military analysts say shows the U.S. Navy has probably exhausted the capacity of its own fleet and resorted to the open market.

The formal tender document, seen by Reuters, shows the ship will carry 67 separate pieces of "track general cargo, containerized cargo and rolling stock" measuring 56,000 square feet, slightly larger than a soccer pitch.

Military experts say the dimensions and weight of the pieces specified in the document match almost exactly those of the standard U.S. Abrams battle tank.
posted by Kevin at 11:29 AM

Here's a Pretty Good One: Mohammed Atta Still Alive? :.

The father of Mohammed Atta, the alleged ringleader of the September 11 attacks, said in an interview published yesterday that his son was still alive.

"He is hiding in a secret place so as not to be murdered by the US secret services," Mohammed el-Amir Atta, 66, told the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag.
posted by Kevin at 6:22 PM

Brits to Implant Daughters with Tracking Devices :.

The parents of an 11-year-old girl are to take the extraordinary step of having her fitted with a microchip so that her movements can be traced if she is abducted. Danielle Duval will have the device implanted in her arm in the next few months, the scientist assisting the plan claimed yesterday. The miniature chip will apparently send a signal via a mobile phone network to a computer, which will be able to pinpoint her location on an electronic map.

On 8/26, I wrote, "Surely, as the wearable versions [of direction finders] prove ineffective, responsible parents will move to newer, more convenient implants (that are now under development)."

I had no idea that this would happen within a matter of days. I thought it would take a couple of years before it came to this. I forgot, however, that the lunatic Kevin Warwick has had a hard-on to do this kind of thing for years, and has been waiting for an opportunity like this. It figures that he's involved with this insanity. Oh well. So, I wonder what rate plan people will choose for their chipped spawn? Maybe the mobile phone companies will do package deals. *shaking head in disgust*
posted by Kevin at 5:40 PM

California Laws For Sale: Bid on a Piece of Gray Davis :.

This is a pretty good one. Almost as funny as the Harry Potter vibrating broom. (Please be sure to read the reviews.) Hint: One of these sites is fake. ;)
posted by Kevin at 5:02 PM

Partial Confirmation of "Pearl Harbor" Analysis Emerging: Story 1 Story 2 Story 3

"This is not just an issue for the U.S. It is an issue for Britain and the wider world. America should not have to face this issue alone," Blair told a news conference in northern England. Blair signaled his strong support for the Bush administration's stance on Iraq, and risked mounting criticism from his constituents and from within the ranks of his governing Labor Party.

Two days ago, I laid out a scenario in which the European states, especially Britain, would be moved to support the U.S. in its adventure into Central Asia and the Middle East. Frankly, I am stunned and terrified by the speed at which events are unfolding.

Increasingly abrasive and ridiculous rhetoric is emerging from the U.S. and British governments with each passing day. At the same time, the rest of the world is overtly opposing ANY preemptive strike against Iraq. Russia will block any United Nations Security Council resolution that calls for military action against Iraq, eliminating the possibility of a multilateral operation under the auspices of the U.N. With the vast majority of world governments opposed to the use of military force against Iraq, how will the lunatics in control of the military and foreign policy branches of the U.S. government proceed with their hegemonic plans?

Sudden crisis.

I've laid this all out previously. And I'm reiterating the point: It's looking increasingly like a manufactured crisis is going to be the only way to take this show to the next level. Every public indication out of the U.S. is that, "the president hasn't made up his mind on military action." In point of fact, however, U.S. combat troops and materiel have been pouring into the Persian Gulf region since last September in anticipation of an invasion of Iraq. At this very moment, Iraq is ringed by a U.S. and British strike force. See Ruppert's detailed analysis. I just heard on CNBC today that U.S. artillery units are being moved into battle positions inside Kuwait. Yet, the U.S. administration is coy on its ability to launch an attack. HA! These factors, combined with rising opposition to the use of force, are leading me to believe that a manufactured crisis is imminent. In my opinion, the "crisis" will involve either a faked missile launch out of Iraq, toward Israel, or some kind of diabolical terror incident in London. If either, or both, of these incidents did indeed occur, any remaining voices opposed to the use of military force in Iraq would be drowned out by the din of war drums.

If the U.S., Britain (and maybe even Israel) attack Iraq, the global political order will be re-defined. One one side will be an Anglo/American hegemony. On the other side will be, um, much of the rest of the world.
posted by Kevin at 3:43 PM

Is Europe Due for a Pearl Harbor Style Event?

This will probably ruffle a few feathers, but I ask you to hear me out. It may or may not come as a shock to some of you that I believe that the U.S. knew the Japanese were going to attack Pearl Harbor and did nothing to prevent it. There is a large body of research that delves into this subject in frightening detail. Let's, however, consider Pearl Harbor in a way that may help us understand events that may be presently underway.

The U.S. allowed the attack on Pearl Harbor to occur because it was seen as a way of getting the American public behind a war with Germany. Americans had no interest in returning to the muddy trenches of Europe less than a generation after World War I. The U.S. government needed an event so outrageous that it would cause a groundswell of support for war. On December 7, 1941 the Japanese accomplished this goal for the U.S. government.

Flash forward to 1997.

In his 1997 book, "THE GRAND CHESSBOARD - American Primacy And Its Geostrategic Imperatives," Zbigniew Brzezinski, argues that the emergent U.S. empire must take control of Central Asia. He calls for brutal, autocratic methods in order to bring the most important region of the planet, Eurasia, under control of the United States. He advocates for the corruption and control of the elites in each of the target states in order to bring them under U.S. control.

The following passage is extremely important:

The pursuit of power is not a goal that commands popular passion, except in conditions of a sudden threat or challenge to the public's sense of domestic well-being. The economic self-denial (that is, defense spending) and the human sacrifice (casualties, even among professional soldiers) required in the effort are uncongenial to democratic instincts. Democracy is inimical to imperial mobilization. [emphasis mine] More excerpts here.

What happens when the elites in the target states refuse to play along? Let's look at Afghanistan. This is a passage from, "September 11: The circumstantial case, Part 2 of a four-part series," by Bill Molson:

Relations with the Taliban got considerably warmer after George W. Bush came to office. With a cabinet of former oil executives and consultants, and bankrolled largely by energy companies, such as Enron, Bush wanted to try to get negotiations back on track.

Much of what happened in those negotiations has been revealed by a book published in France, entitled "Bin Laden: La Verite Interdite" (Bin Laden: The Forbidden Truth). Its authors are former French intelligence agent Jean-Charles Brisard and investigative journalist Guillame Dasquie. They claim that the United States was negotiating with the Taliban up until August, just before the attacks. According to the authors, in August, only one month before the attacks, one of the negotiators warned the Taliban with the words, "either accept our offer of a carpet of gold, or we'll bury you in a carpet of bombs." If their allegations are true, the words would prove an eerily accurate prediction of the future. [emphasis mine]

Brzezinski tells us that the U.S. will not be able to seize the region by force, "except in conditions of a sudden threat or challenge to the public's sense of domestic well-being." When oil related negotiations with the Taliban broke down, a month later, the planes flew into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. Within weeks of 9/11, the U.S. was taking control of Afghanistan.

Flash forward to today.

The imperial U.S. plan almost definitely includes direct control of Saudi Arabia and/or Iraq. There's one problem with all of this. How can the U.S. unilaterally build an empire while anti Americanism rises out of control across Europe? The U.S. has to get Europe on board. Britain is poised to be America's primary ally. The European public, however, is having the same reluctance to getting involved with America's War on Terror as Americans had to getting involved with World War II. Remember the event that changed American public opinion about World War II? Pearl Harbor.

In my opinion, Europe is about to suffer a Pearl Harbor style event that will affect pan European public opinion toward support of the U.S. led War on Terror; a war that is actually a crusade to secure control of the petroleum and mineral deposits of Central Asia and the Middle East. For months, I thought London would be a target, simply because Britain is the America's closest ally. Such an attack would silence the loud opposition to the war emerging out of Europe, and make imperial partners out of the U.S. and Britain. There is a fair amount of irony in the fact that Britain, the state behind the last true global empire, would be involved with helping build another that would be led by her former colony, the United States.

Of course, my European Pearl Harbor theory is pure speculation. I decided to write this piece now, however, because Swedish authorities may have just foiled an attack on London. Kerim Chatty, a 29-year-old man of Tunisian origin, was carrying a gun as he attempted to board a flight to London. Oh, one other thing: He had taken flying lessons in the United States.
posted by Kevin at 7:01 AM

Creeping Fascism: Ad Council Warns Americans :.

We (Americans) have seen and heard Ad Council material our entire lives, whether we realize it or not. The ubiquitous public service announcements cover various topics that are supposedly in the public's interest. I've never paid much attention to any of them. Until yesterday.

While watching CNN, to get my daily dose of BS, the Ad Council commercial called Library aired. I wish I had a picture of my face. I couldn't believe what I had just seen. The ad depicts a young man who is attempting to find some books in a library. Alas, the books are not in the stacks. He asks the librarian for assistance and hands her a list of books. She happily begins looking up the titles on her computer. Moments later, he face turns serious and she says, "These books are no longer available." The soundtrack turns ominous. The man says, "I didn't know." The librarian asks his name, but he turns around to leave. As he's walking out, two suit wearing G-Men stand up and to stop the young man from leaving. They cut back to the librarian. You hear, "We just have a couple of questions," with sounds of a struggle. Fade out, then the words:

What if America wasn't America? (cut)
Freedom. (cut)
Appreciate it. Cherish it. Protect it.

There seems to be a growing refusal, from various sectors of U.S. society, to quietly go along with the fascist agenda known as the War on Terror. What does it tell you when elite advertising agencies are spending their own money to warn Americans that their freedoms are being taken away!?

Of the "Freedom" campaign commercials, the Church, Library, Diner and Arrest pieces should be kept in mind by the bozos who believe the 1st Amendment is an inconvenience to Dubya's ridiculous War on Terror (next story below).
posted by Kevin at 3:58 AM

Poll Shows Free Speech Support Down :.

Americans don't appreciate their freedoms. Big surprise:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) _ Support for the First Amendment has eroded significantly since Sept. 11 and nearly half of Americans now think the constitutional amendment on free speech goes too far in the rights it guarantees, says a poll released Thursday.

The sentiment that the First Amendment goes too far was already on the rise before the terrorist attacks a year ago, doubling to four in 10 between 2000 and 2001.

The poll found that 49 percent think the First Amendment goes too far, a total about 10 points higher than in 2001.

"Many Americans view these fundamental freedoms as possible obstacles in the war on terrorism," said Ken Paulson, executive director of the First Amendment Center, based in Arlington, Va., which commissioned the survey. Almost half also said the media has been too aggressive in asking the government questions about the war on terrorism.
posted by Kevin at 3:51 AM

WTO: U.S. Can't Have Cake and Eat It Too :.

More evidence of the "free trade" miracle currently sweeping the planet. I'm surprised the U.S. hasn't threatened the EU states with nuclear annihilation over this. Maybe next week...

GENEVA (AP) - The World Trade Organization ruled Friday that the European Union can impose trade sanctions of up to $4 billion against the United States in a tax dispute, the biggest penalty it has ever allowed.
posted by Kevin at 3:49 AM