GRAFT ABROAD at home - Congressman Murtha and Co
Re-reporting, editing and comment by Carolyn Bennett
BREAKDOWN happens when a nation and its people are self-absorbed, oblivious, unmindful, careless of Society and its unwritten contract to which we must adhere as a global and domestic community of equals.
Influence Peddling and those who peddle and play the game must not be cleaned up, reformed, face lifted or refitted with a new suit. Peddling and peddlers must be expelled entirely.
The Center for Public Integrity has released a report it calls "The Murtha Method" targeting the U.S. House of Representatives Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, key funder of the Pentagon (the U.S. war machine); the Subcommittee's chairman, U.S. Representative John Murtha (D-Pa.); the Subcommittee's members; and the chairman and members' relationship with PMA Group, a lobbying firm employing former House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee aides. House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee Chairman Murtha and fellow subcommittee members Peter Visclosky (D-Ind.) and Jim Moran (D-Va.), says the report, "steered a host of earmarks to PMA [closed late last year following an FBI raid] clients."
PermalinkObama’s Test: Democracy or Chaos in Latin America
By Ramzy Baroud
Latin America stands at the threshold of a new era: one that promises a return to political uncertainty, violence and chaos or one of political stability and economic prosperity. Honduras is a crucial indicator.
The possible outcomes of the Honduran crisis are likely to define the coming era for Latin America and the US future role in that hemisphere, and, in fact, beyond it. Indeed, the story is much more elaborate than a daring president holed up in a foreign embassy in his own country.
In her second visit to Asia as US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton declared on July 21 in Bangkok, “The US is back.” The declaration was disconcerting to many Asian countries, despite Clinton’s indistinct qualifications afterwards. Asian countries, exploring regional unity and economic cooperation are well aware of the subtle meaning of the term. However, it’s unlikely that politically stable and economically prospering Asia countries would allow for unwarranted outside interferences, especially with the growing Chinese regional influence and the election of Yukio Hatoyama the prime minister of Japan.
First Steps in the 'LaRouche Plan': Immediate Measures For U.S. Economic Survival!
By Lyndon H. LaRouche
October 7, 2009 (LPAC)-- The following outline of emergency measures was presented by Lyndon LaRouche on Oct. 6, as a preface to the issuance of "The LaRouche Plan, Rescuing the World's Economy," in pamphlet form.
First of all, what is required is to put all regular commercial banks through reorganization in bankruptcy. What will happen is, we'll go back to the Constitution, which specifies a credit system, not a monetary system. So the act of bankruptcy will be to declare that the United States Constitution is being enforced: that we are a credit system, not a monetary system.
Number 2: We will now take the accounts which are in commercial banks—the other banks, you can forget for the time being, but the commercial banks—these banks will be put into reorganization in bankruptcy, such that those accounts, in the banks, which correspond to a Glass-Steagall standard, will receive full protection and will be assigned protection under the category of a Glass-Steagall qualified account.
THE WORST PRISON IS A CLOSED HEART
Allen L Roland
When we close our heart we enter a dark prison cell where our own bars of fear and unworthiness keep us from fully experiencing ourselves as well as others. Each of us can free ourselves from that self imposed lock down of the heart and the magic key is gratitude ~ beginning with ourselves:
When we consciously deny love or run away from love it will effect every cell in our body because love is the very source of who we are. Denying love is the ultimate NO to ourselves and it raises havoc with our psychic health - or, as I am fond of saying - the greatest remorse is love unexpressed. In essence, when we deny love we go into a prison whose bars are made of fear and unworthiness. Let me describe what it is like in that prison since I have briefly experienced it three times in my life and each time it occurred when I consciously denied or ran away from love in relationship.
THOSE TRICKY IRANIANS ARE NOW THREATENING TO COOPERATE
Eric S. Margolis
The confusion over Iran’s nuclear program mounts as accusations and denials intensify.
In an effort to browbeat Iran into nuclear submission, the US, Britain and France staged a bravura performance of political theatre last week by claiming to have just `discovered’ a secret Iran uranium enrichment plant near Qum. On cue, a carefully orchestrated media blitz trumpeted warnings of the alleged Iranian nuclear threat and `long-ranged missiles.’
In reality, the Qum plant was detected by US spy satellites over two years ago, and was known to the intelligence community. Iran claimed the plant will not begin enriching uranium for peaceful power for another 540 days. UN nuclear rules, to which Iran adheres, calls for 180 days notice.
Europe is under imminent threat
Christopher King
[Christopher King analyses the current state of relations between Europe and the United States. He argues that the US military presence in Europe, and the transformation of NATO into an American tool, is tantamount to military occupation and is an obstacle to the development of pan-European and European-Russian relations.]
The NATO First Act of the United States
The spectacular carnage and destruction of Iraq and Afghanistan have distracted our attention from the big picture, of which these appear to be a relatively small part.
Sometimes we have to adopt a new view of our world and this is one of those times. Because of the secrecy, propaganda and lies that now characterize our governments it is necessary to work backwards from their actions in the public domain to determine the truth. I wish to offer three data points that fit into the trend of the USA’s undisguised primary objective – to be the dominant military power in the world. This was reiterated by President Barack Obama at Annapolis Naval Academy (New York Times, 22 May 2009, speech text p.3, penultimate paragraph)
Mapping the Global Muslim Population
Pew Forum Executive Summary
A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Muslim Population.
A comprehensive demographic study of more than 200 countries finds that there are 1.57 billion Muslims of all ages living in the world today, representing 23% of an estimated 2009 world population of 6.8 billion.
While Muslims are found on all five inhabited continents, more than 60% of the global Muslim population is in Asia and about 20% is in the Middle East and North Africa. However, the Middle East-North Africa region has the highest percentage of Muslim-majority countries. Indeed, more than half of the 20 countries and territories [1] in that region have populations that are approximately 95% Muslim or greater.
More than 300 million Muslims, or one-fifth of the world's Muslim population, live in countries where Islam is not the majority religion. These minority Muslim populations are often quite large. India, for example, has the third-largest population of Muslims worldwide. China has more Muslims than Syria, while Russia is home to more Muslims than Jordan and Libya combined.
WHO IS A JEW?
BY GILAD ATZMON
The question of "who is a Jew?" has been debated in Israel since it attained statehood. In the Jewish state the authorities, Rabbis and the media would dig into one’s bloodline with no shame whatsoever. For the Israelis and orthodox Jews, Jewishness is obviously a blood related concept. However, Jewishness and blood concerns are becoming a subject of a growing debate in the UK. In the last few days The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian are trying to decide whether Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a ‘self hating Jew’ or just an ordinary anti-Semite. Like the Israeli Rabbis they both dig into his bloodline.
Ahmadinejad is revealed to have a ‘Jewish past’ said the Daily Telegraph on Saturday. According to the paper, a photograph of the Iranian president holding up his identity card during elections in March 2008 ‘clearly’ suggests that his family had Jewish roots. The Telegraph even found the ‘experts’ who suggested that ‘Mr Ahmadinejad's track record for hate-filled attacks on Jews could be an overcompensation to hide his past.’ Needless to say that Ahmadinejad has never come on record with a single anti-Jewish ‘hate- filled’ attack as The Telegraph suggests. He is indeed extremely critical of the Jewish state and its raison d'etre. He is also highly critical of the crude and manipulative mobilisation of the holocaust at the expense of the Palestinian people.
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