Tap, tap, tap….. Hmmmm… finger drumming on the table top… restless stretching and reaching… got an itch under my shoulder blade… confusion… a little I guess. Like ‘tells’ in poker, I’m getting some reads but the betting doesn’t reflect the hands I’m seeing when I call. What’s going on? I guess I can’t ask Marvin Gaye. You know what? I think I’m just going to take a little walk through my head and see what the ping pong ball has to say. I know it’s used to going back and forth and then there’s the spin thing. I’m pretty good at ping pong and the other things you learn growing up on military bases and being locked up for long periods of time. I’m not the sort of person you want to play Nine Ball with.

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“Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life, bringing peace, abolishing strife.” - Kahlil Gibran

Baltimore, MD - Does the spirit of a Mozart, Bach or a Gershwin live on in their memorable works of art? When you hear a brilliant rendition of one of their pieces, are they there, too? Well, the other night, Oct. 16, 2008, at the celebrated Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in this city, I felt like the ghost of Leonard Bernstein made an appearance, and it was a happy one, indeed. The “Mass” was one of Bernstein’s most controversial compositions. Its source was the Roman Catholic Mass. The program was entitled: “Mass--A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players and Dancers.” It was superbly conducted by Ms. Marin Alsop, with the symphony orchestra at the top of its game. At one point, there were 250 people “on stage.” This included the orchestra, a college choir, a marching band, a children’s chorus and a “Street Chorus.” Ms. Alsop studied under Bernstein earlier in her career and considered him “a mentor.”

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Atzmon tries to lift the Palestinian Discourse where Wittgenstein left it…

1 “What can be said at all can be said clearly, and what we cannot talk about, we must pass over in silence.” (Ludwig Wittgenstein 1918)

1.1 Humanism and ethics are ends worth fighting for.

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The Guardian had a fine example of the sort of misdirection disinfo that the press everywhere has dropped to a coarse art; I really didn’t want to say, “raised to a fine art.’ You might think of MI5 as being the British version of the FBI and MI6 as the British version or the CIA, although I understand that England is setting up their own FBI under the head of a former MI5 head… I guess all those acronyms can get confusing and let’s face it… when you need to control the world in a way that most people don’t want you to, you soon find you have more enforcement agencies than the number of casual affairs by politicians and religious leaders.

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It has been a long time since I wrote my last piece, having another child is not an easy job, a full time job, shines your life but keeps you occupied all the time. During the last two months, I felt that it was not me, as an important part of me was vanished, leaving too many ideas and feelings locked inside me, waiting to find its way out, to see the sun. Hopefully it is the time to release it all before my boy wakes up.

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When London is already the world's most surveilled city, there are plans afoot to implement a 'Big Brother' society that even Orwell could not have imagined. In a global economy, the consequences will not be confined to the British Isles. The good news is that a proposal to create a huge database of phone call details, e-mails and internet use has kicked up a firestorm of controversy. The name George Orwell comes up repeatedly.

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Yesterday I saw an article in Newsweek that said that Christians in India were being abused. It was the sort of dedicated disinfo that gets churned out by lying, agenda driven hacks who write what they get told to write since journalism got buried in an unmarked grave.

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Potter discovers it later in his office, but since Billy left the bank without
officially depositing it into the B&L account, Potter keeps the money...

Watching CNN leaves one the impression that the US is poised, like George Baily on a bridge, about to jump off into another Great Depression. George Baily owned the local 'Building and Loan' from which he received deposits which he loaned to build homes in Bedford Falls, a symbolic American 'every town'.

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Where I live you can buy fresh broccoli for about .50 cents a pound; eggplants at .45 cents a pound, tomatoes fresh from the garden for .50 cents a pound. You can pay even less if you know where to go. Fruit and vegetables are very inexpensive and my olive and almond trees provide more than I can use which is good for my friends. I live on a dead end road at the end of a maze. You’d think I was way out in the boondocks but two thriving towns are around 4 kilometers away, equidistant in opposite directions. Two large seas are not very far away.

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The hardest thing for Americans to do right now in this presidential election season is to fight distraction and, instead, focus on the failure of all three branches of the federal government. And also to resist the propaganda masquerading as patriotic obligation that voting will fundamentally fix the federal government. The real lesson of American history is that things have turned so ugly that electing a new president and many new members of Congress will at best provide band-aids when what is needed is nothing less than what Thomas Jefferson wisely said our nation would need periodically: a political revolution.

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Introduction

There are two opposing approaches to the analysis of ecological destruction and the emergence of Indian movements in Latin America: the liberal and the Marxist.

The liberal approach emphasizes ‘universal responsibility” for the destruction of the environment – rich and poor, mining companies and miners, factory owners and factory workers, auto manufacturers and drivers, governments and citizens, real estate speculators and slum dwellers. The liberal ecologists claim the negative consequences adversely affect everyone: “We all suffer from the destruction of the environment.”

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“In politics, nothing happens ‘by accident.’ If it happened, you can bet it was ‘planned’ that way.” - Franklin D. Roosevelt

Since the murders of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, MLK, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy, little has gone right in this country. It’s like we’re headed for hell in a vehicle which doesn’t have any brakes, driven by a raving maniac. Remember, too, the Vietnam War (1963-75)--that heated up almost immediately after JFK was eliminated. (1) That conflict ripped the nation apart and cost the lives of 58,159 of our bravest sons and daughters. Think of the dubious Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. In between, the “Watergate” scandal surfaced and Richard M. Nixon fell from power. (2) The out sourcing of millions of jobs is also part of this saga. (3) Then, there was 9/11! (4) It was followed in March, 2003, by the Bush-Cheney Gang launching a preemptive strike against Iraq, at a cost estimated to be $3.5 trillion! And, the latest shock therapy for us: the Wall Street bailout and the financial meltdown. All of this might make your wonder: Is some powerful, shadowy clique orchestrating the decline of America?

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Thomas Kincade "The Garden of Prayer"

Visible Origami

Relatively speaking, it doesn’t take long for the truth to get lost once a new religion has come out of the showroom, or off the runway at the cosmic fashion show. Of course, relatively speaking the truth doesn’t generally get seen at all even when it’s there in person speaking to you.

In the Bible there is indication at several points that Jesus (The Christ) spoke in two ‘fashions’, one to the multitudes and one to the disciples. It appears that there are at least two sorts of people on the planet, those who will not be able to penetrate into the deeper mysteries and those who will. “Many are called but few are chosen.” One might immediately begin to argue over who gets to decide something like this. Let’s get this out of the way right now… it won’t be me.

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US troops are back home in America to wage war upon the people of the US. New laws make public dissent of any kind --however peaceful --an act of 'terrorism'. Congress was threatened with martial law, literally blackmailed, into passing the infamous and ineffective bailout! The threat of martial law, therefore, is not only in the official record, it is made clear with the arrival of US troops withdrawn from Iraq to patrol US streets, control crowds, deal with 'civil unrest'. Bluntly --they are here to wage war on you unless you happen to be among about one percent who owns more than 90 percent of the nation's total wealth.

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While most Palestinians are praying for the success of the ongoing efforts to end the lingering crisis between Fatah and Hamas, Fatah’s behavior in the West Bank indicates that the mainstream PLO faction is not really serious about national reconciliation.

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Let’s track the timeline. A wanna be Caligula who is also a natural born coward runs for the office of president on the corporate dime and the election is stolen and the highest court in the land is compromised by five vultures sitting on a dead branch of government overlooking a wasteland of material excess.

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For 32 years, Sonoma State University's (SSU) Project Censored has pioneered US media democracy, research, and First Amendment issues. Founded by Carl Jensen in 1976, it's now headed by Professor Peter Phillips, currently on sabbatical leave, with Professor Mickey Huff in charge as Interim Associate Director of the program until his return.

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Twelve bank failures in 2008, perhaps more by the time you read this. What's Next? Cancelled elections? I hope you like your soup thin and served up by the Salvation Army.

For quite awhile, I had been waiting for the other shoe to drop, perhaps, another 911 triggering the recension of posse commitatus, habeas corpus, the outright declaration of martial law. Habeas corpus fell of a thousand cuts some time ago. Rule by decree was effected with 'signing statements'.

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In November 2006 a horrible war crime was committed in the Gaza Strip by Israeli army. The operation was not directed to some militants who were heading to fight Israel, but for an extended poor family! A neaby military operation was running by the same army in which they bulldozed farms, crushed cars and uprooted trees and streets. I remember the place of action as well as every single detail. I want to tell you again what has happened as I am encouraged, but not satisfied by what Archbishop Desmond Tutu said adter his visit of investigation to Gaza. He was too late to investigate a massacre after 2 years, but it's better than nothing! He stigmatized Israel indirectly and held her responsible for that offence on civilians.

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Photo: The Palestinian Information Center

From Khalid Amayreh in Occupied East Jerusalem

Hundreds of religious Jewish extremists and hooligans laid siege to and assaulted an Arab family home in downtown Akka Wednesday night, triggering widespread riots in the mixed Arab-Jewish coastal city in northern Palestine.

The Jews accused the Arab family of “violating the sanctity of Yom Kippur” by way of driving their car.

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Illustration: Lior Arbel

Smoking Mirrors

The world is a lie because all of the transitory phenomena in the realm of the senses are actually based on things you can’t see. This is scientific fact. Most of what you hear is a lie because it is based on perceptions of reality which are based on things out side of the parameters of those making the statement. Sometimes it’s intentional and sometimes it’s just ignorance. However, nearly every lie, whether based on malicious intent or ignorant assumption is motive driven; what we want to believe, what we want you to believe are driven toward some idea of profit or control and you can catalog the minutiae right down to the mites on your skin but you still won’t know the truth of the matter.

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Sixty-eight years ago on October 9th, John Lennon inhaled his first breath of air.

It was at the age of 12, in the summer of 1966, inspired by John Lennon's honesty, I tuned out the institutional church.

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“He who makes excuses accuses himself.” - A French Proverb

Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), on Sept. 22, 2008, was up to one of her old tricks--talking out of both sides of her mouth! She was on the Senate floor, on Capitol Hill, reading an anti-bailout rant. (1) If you didn’t know any better, you would think that she was a hero of the Middle Class. Sen. Mikulski pretended to rage about how Dubya had a track record of “stampeding” the U.S. Congress into voting for draconian laws, such as the U.S. Patriot Act. What hogwash! She voted for that measure, and other repressive laws like it, because she really wanted to do so! Sen. Mikulski, along with a majority of her fellow Democrats in the Congress, has been complicit in many of the worst excesses of the Bush-Cheney Gang. (2) Now, she’s looking to fault Dubya! Oh, that poor, victimized and powerless Sen. Mikulski! With respect to the taxpayers’ $700 billion giveaway to the Wall Street parasites, well, on Oct. 1, 2008, she ended up voting in favor of the Fat Cats.

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Kenny's Sideshow

Amazing! -The first ever global depression will go down in history horribly misunderstood. What a pathetic bunch of ignorant fools we have become. Consumer junkie credit card morons. Perfect little victims. Say, that reminds me.

Don’t believe one optimistic word from any public figure about the economy or humanity in general. They are all part of the problem. Its like a game of Monopoly. In America, the richest 1% now hold ALMOST 1/2 OF ALL UNITED STATES WEALTH. Unlike ‘lesser’ estimates, this includes all stocks, bonds, cash, offshore accounts, and material assets held by America’s richest 1%. Even that filthy pig Oprah acknowledged that it was at about 50% in 2006. Naturally, she put her own ‘humanitarian’ spin on it. Calling attention to her own ‘good will’. WHAT A DISGUSTING HYPOCRITE SLOB. THE RICHEST ONE PERCENT HAVE LITERALLY MADE WORLD PROSPERITY ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE. Don’t fall for any of their ‘humanitarian’ CRAP. ITS A SHAM. THESE PEOPLE ARE CAUSING THE SAME PROBLEMS THEY PRETEND TO CARE ABOUT.

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It was no surprise to me to receive the IRS Audit regarding my 2006 expenses. I had journeyed three times to Israel Palestine in pursuit of the truth and with hope that when Americans knew it, they would stand up for justice which is the only way to peace and security for anyone.

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A 'religion' responsible for millions of deaths over hundreds of years labels 'democrats' a 'party of death'. Selective memory or deliberate lie?

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(Photo: Maureen Clare Murphy) Electronic Intifada

Urging the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, stickers and graffiti in Israel and in the Israeli occupied West Bank indicate a troubling prevalent racism in Israeli society that has become increasingly mainstream with the rise of public figures like Avigdor Lieberman.

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In his September 4 commentary titled Who Wants Cold War II? [1], Shlomo Ben-Ami, a former Israeli foreign minister, proposes a new world order in which the United States and Russia can be strategic partners. This, according to Ben-Ami, would be a necessary step towards a more stable Pax Americana, for the political message conveyed by Russia’s recent occupation of Georgia reflects its new status as a resurgent power the United States can no longer afford to ignore.

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The snow has arrived early in Reykjavik after an unusually long and warm summer. The freeze has brought out the ghostly green haze of the aurora borealis - the Northern Lights - the shape of which shifts dramatically across the tiny city's black skies.

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Mr. President, it is getting harder and harder to understand and follow up on your hidden agendas. What’s next, the total annihilation of humanity? Except of course for you and all those billionaires, who miraculously will not be affected by the greatest financial depression since 1929. Oh yeah, you will all be partying like if it was 1929, this is how you make your fortune, isn’t it? Whilst the rest of us, fools, will foot the gargantuan bill.

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Video

Recently, VP Candidate Sarah Palin made an extraordinary claim. "Yes", she said, "I have seen images of dinosaur fossils with human footprints in them!", a statement consistent with her attempts to get 'creationists' put on school boards. By definition, a 'creationist' believes that human beings were contemporary with dinosaurs.

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The Israeli government has been quietly pressing (and pressuring) Spain to reconsider issuing warrants for the arrest of high-ranking Israeli army officers accused of committing war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Earlier this year, a lawsuit was filed at the National court of Spain with the aim of issuing an arrest warrant against seven Israeli military officials.

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World events have lately overshadowed the inner life and it is regretful that I haven’t been to this site which is more in line with what I am about than commenting on the world which is, after all, the world and is always presenting the same challenges and tests. There is a tradition of understanding that weaves its way through most of the world’s religions and metaphysical traditions that says you have to be in a physical body to make progress on the path. I’d rather it wasn’t so. There can be some real enjoyment and delight in a physical envelope but I am not sure that the pros outweigh the cons. As Buddha said, “All life is pain caused by ignorant desire.”

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How did it happen to you? You were just going to Grandma’s house with your picnic basket. You were going over the river and through the trees. You had your little summer frock on. You had your pink socks and Buster Brown shoes. You had a ribbon in your hair. You saw a butterfly and when you chased it you went off the path and ran into The Big Bad Wolf.

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When future Historians look into the factors that ultimately brought down the American empire, one of the main factors they will feature prominently is the “Israeli factor.”

It is well known that Israel, through the numerous Zionist lobbies and pressure groups, more or less controls America’s politics, media and financial institutions.

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"Yet, as Russia prepares to fly its supersonic Tu-160 nuclear bombers as part of its largest air force
exercises since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the whole concept of war that westerners are used
to could be escalating towards a more vivid reality."

What a week we have all had. I guess for those of us who make it to the weekend without a single scratch, it will be important to sit quietly in a corner making plans for the future. Obviously the time for tunnel vision and full faith in Osomebody¹ at the top having some mercy on us, must be quickly diffusing into an alternate form of thought. At least that is what I would hope for, because although the social inclination so far seems to be the blaming of a few rotten apples, based on my observations, I have no choice but to accept that the whole apple basket seems to be fairly rotten.

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Smoking Mirrors

We’re in the coiling moments before the strike… the windup. It’s a different kind of windup than the one that’s been practiced on us for so long. I like to stay away from spooky predictions at this blog. I sense and feel a lot of things that I don’t mention but today I want to mention them because I’m getting some strange sensations about next week and the rest of the year. There’s too many weird things happening; half a million coffins in Georgia… those FEMA camps… those thousands of soldiers ready to be deployed in defiance of Posse Comitatus which got neutered for just such a purpose… and there are other things …but first… first I want to say a little more about ‘the bailout’.

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"Everybody knows that the dice are loaded. Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed. Everybody knows the war is over. Everybody knows the good guys lost. Everybody knows the fight was fixed. The poor stay poor, the rich get rich. That's how it goes, Everybody knows" -Leonard Cohen

And this is how the U.S. Treasury would handle an economic collapse. It's called the 6900 series of protocols. It would start with declaring a force majeure, which would immediately be interpreted by the marketplaces as a de facto repudiation of debt. Then the SEC and the various regulatory exchanges would anticipate the market's decline, hour by hour -- when Japan's markets opened the next day, what would happen when the European markets, and all the inter- linkages of the global markets. On the second day, US Special Forces would be dropped in by parachute in the cities where the twelve Federal Reserve district banks are located.

The origin of these protocols comes from the Department of Defense. This is contingency planning for a variety of post-collapse scenarios. Those scenarios would include, obviously, military collapse, World War III, in other words, and its aftermath. What we're talking about now is aftermath -- how the aftermath would be handled.

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You may have heard that legislation creating compulsory ID Cards passed a crucial stage in the House of Commons. You may feel that ID cards are not something to worry about, since we already have Photo ID for our Passport and Driving License and an ID Card will be no different to that.

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Dear Friend,

Yesterday marked a day that will go down in history, when Congressional Democrats and Republicans alike took on full responsibility to protect the interests of taxpaying Americans, and defeated the deceptive bail out bill, defying the dictates of the Administration, the House Majority Leadership, the House Minority Leadership and the special interests on Wall Street.

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Why do we have this thing called a "financial crisis"? Why have we had such a crisis periodically ever since the United States was created? What changes occur or what happens each time to bring on the crisis? Do we forget how to make things that people need? Do the factories burn down? Are our tools lost? Do the blueprints disappear? Do we run out of people to work in the factories and offices? Are all the services that people need for a happy life so well taken care of that there's hardly any more need for the services? In other words: What changes take place in the real world to cause the crisis? Nothing, necessarily. The crisis is usually caused by changes in the make-believe world of financial capitalism.

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For quite some time I’ve been saying here and elsewhere that those responsible for the problems of our time are going to be exposed and hung out to dry. It’s a given that most people wouldn’t understand how this could be possible when those responsible control the media that manufactures both the news and the viewpoints which are spoon fed to the public. It seems even more impossible when the foxes run the chicken house as their own poultry farm and when the laws that were designed to protect the public have been suspended or re-engineered to the point where they look like Michael Jackson’s face.

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