Mexican authorities accused of initial cover up over swine flu
Dr Antonio Chavez, a specialist in respiratory diseases at the Mexico National Institute of Health, said there was panic as medical staff in Mexico City struggled to deal with the problem. Another doctor claimed that in the early stages, staff were asked not to place the reason for dying on the death certificates.
Slamet Rumbles as Residents Brace for Eruption
Residents and government officials were preparing late on Monday for a major eruption from Central Java’s Mount Slamet volcano after the earth started shaking at a rate of 95 tremors a minute.
"Agencies reported improper payment estimates of $72 billion for fiscal year 2008"
That is the conclusion of GAO in a new report issued this past week. FYI, $72 billion is about 4% of the $1.8 trillion of reported government outlays and according to GAO is a significant increase of about $23 billion from FY 2007. The Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 (IPIA) requires executive branch agency heads to identify programs and activities that are susceptible to significant improper payments.
US military 'monitoring' flu outbreak
The US Defense Department said on Monday it was closely following the outbreak of swine flu but had no immediate plans to release anti-viral drugs from its stockpiles.
Iran: We've arrested Israel spy ring
Iranian authorities have arrested a group of people linked to Israel who are suspected of planning bombings ahead of the Islamic republic's presidential election on June 12, Reuters cited the country's intelligence minister as saying on Sunday.
Iraq stability is all talk, Baathists say
The continued presence of US troops and a failure by the Iraqi government to abandon a narrow sectarian agenda are the underlying causes of a recent surge in Iraq violence, according to the outlawed Baath Party.
Dick Cheney's Torture Hypocrisy
By Joseph C. Wilson IV
Cheney’s request for the declassification of material is a welcome development, but it should not be limited to his narrow request. Our country’s understanding of what was done in our name by the Bush administration depends on the release, not just of the documents Cheney has designated, but of all documents related to the efforts of the Bush administration and Cheney himself to defend the indefensible—the decision to invade Iraq despite the knowledge at the time that Iraq did not have a nuclear program, had no ties to al Qaeda, and posed no existential threat to the United States or to its friends and allies in the region.
Audit the Fed!
On Monday, April 27th we will follow up our nationwide End the Fed! rallies with an "Audit the Fed! Melt the Switchboard Day."
Swine flu in Mexico: The "New" Bird Flu
Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, DO
We knew this was coming. Even though the bird flu hype was removed years ago from the nightly news, planning for the global pandemic and the development of pandemic flu vaccines has continued with little notice.
Secession: the Ultimate States' Right
By Ron Paul
Last week the governor of Texas ignited a media firestorm for his remarks involving the idea of secession. He did not call for Texas to secede from the United States. He merely pointed out that the federal government was treading heavily on the sovereignty of the states and that this can not continue indefinitely without a breaking point.
Are the Knives are Coming Out for Geithner?
The clout of the press has decayed enormously over the last 40 years. The fourth estate was feared, resented, and begrudgingly respected in the corridors of power. But rule by beancounters, savvy media spin, and access journalism (journalists who write pointed stories get frozen out) have largely leashed and collared the press. Indeed, a friend who grew up in Eastern Europe when it was Communist said as of roughly 2000 that the news felt controlled.
Pentagon's Cyber Command to Be Based at NSA's Fort Meade
By Tom Burghardt
The Obama administration is poised to hand control of the nation's electronic infrastructure over to an out-of-control agency riddled with corporate grifters and militarists whose bottom-line is not the security of the American people but rather, the preservation of an economically and morally bankrupt system of private profit fueled by wars of aggression and conquest.
GM To Cut 21,000 Hourly Jobs, Eliminate Pontiac Brand
General Motors Corp. (GM) said Monday it will cut 21,000 hourly jobs and eliminate its Pontiac brand by the end of next year as part of a stepped-up restructuring plan.
The 60s: Assassinations, a School Shooting, and Nazi Gun Control
By Michael Gaddy
The 60s were a tumultuous time in America. There were the Vietnam War and its subsequent peace movement; the Kennedy assassinations; the Martin Luther King assassination, and the mass shooting at the University of Texas by Charles Whitman. The high-profile assassinations and the mass shooting prompted the government to lobby for stronger gun control, leading to the passage of the unconstitutional, NRA supported, 1968 Gun Control Act.
Politics as Theft, or Politics as Justice?
By Michael S. Rozeff
The polite (economists’) term for theft is wealth redistribution. Economists (apart from the Rothbard school) leave out the adjectives: coercive, aggressive, violent, forceful, involuntary. Much of U.S. politics is coercive wealth redistribution. Much of politics is theft. As such, it is not above being called criminal.
Radical cleric breaks off talks in Pakistan's Swat
A radical cleric in Pakistan's restive Swat valley broke off talks with the government on Monday after security forces launched an offensive against Taliban fighters in the nearby northwest region of Lower Dir.
Israel's secret plan for West Bank expansion
Israel has taken a step towards expanding the largest settlement in the West Bank, a move Palestinians warn will leave their future state unviable and further isolate its future capital, East Jerusalem
U.S. toxic-asset plan stirs fears
The government will take on a mountain of risk while trying to create an artificial market for the loans and debt securities. Critics worry about possible fraud and further banking system damage.
China backs Syria’s quest to recover Golan Heights
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi wrapped up a regional Middle East visit in Damascus Sunday saying Israel should return the Golan Heights to Syria.
Next Case: State vs. Federal Power
Four years ago, Eliot Spitzer, then the New York attorney general, asked several national banks to explain why they were disproportionately charging blacks and Hispanics high interest rates.
New swine flu feared to be weaponized strain
By Wayne Madsen
According to two mainstream media journalists, one in Mexico City and the other in Jakarta, who spoke to WMR on background, they are convinced that the current outbreak of a new strain of swine flu in Mexico and some parts of the United States is the result of the introduction of a human-engineered pathogen that could result in a widespread global pandemic, with potentially catastrophic consequences for domestic and international travel and commerce.
Poor debtors go to jail and are billed for the privilege
By Jerry Mazza
“One of my patients is a . . . 40ish CPA and she was in for an eye problem yesterday . . . She was distraught over the state of the economy and its effect on her clients. She has had many this year who have lost their homes to foreclosure. To her -- and her clients’ -- dismay, the bank or lending institution is issuing 1099 forms for re-po’d property to the victims. Apparently, since the hapless former homeowners are effectively ‘forgiven’ the remaining amounts on their loans, that is imputed as earned income and they are turned into the IRS for large tax liabilities!!! How’s that for justice? She said that she had actually had people speak seriously about killing themselves!”
CIA ‘Whistleblower’ Told Hastert About Suppression of Harman Wiretap
Former House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert says he learned from a CIA-connected “whistleblower” in 2006 that Bush administration officials were suppressing the existence of a wiretapped conversation between Rep. Jane Harman and a suspected Israeli agent.
CIA Link to Cuban Pig Virus Reported (January 10, 1977)
With at least the tacit backing of U.S. Central Intelligence Agency officials, operatives linked to anti-Castro terrorists introduced African swine fever virus into Cuba in 1971.
US promotes Iran in energy market
By M K Bhadrakumar
Last week, the Barack Obama administration made its first major move in the geopolitics of Eurasia with the appointment of Richard Morningstar as the special envoy for Eurasian energy. The brilliant, devastatingly effective diplomat of the Bill Clinton administration is back on his old beat.
EU warns on travel to US and Mexico
The top EU health official urged Europeans on Monday to postpone nonessential travel to parts of the United States and Mexico because of the swine flu virus, and Spanish health officials confirmed the first case outside North America.
40 swine flu cases in US; agents checking borders
President Barack Obama said Monday the threat of spreading swine flu infections was a concern but "not a cause for alarm," while customs agents began checking people coming into the United States by land and air. The World Health Organization said there were 40 confirmed cases in the U.S. but no deaths.
Bracing for New Prisoner Abuse Photos
By William Fisher
This Tuesday, Apr. 28, will mark five years since the world got its first look at the sickening photographs from Abu Ghraib on the U.S. television programme "60 Minutes."
March 24, 1976: Ford Orders Swine-Flu Shots for All
1976: President Gerald Ford orders a nationwide vaccination program to prevent a swine-flu epidemic. Ford was acting on the advice of medical experts, who believed they were dealing with a virus potentially as deadly as the one that caused the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic.
Swine Flu Fears Prompt Global Quarantine Plans
Countries planned quarantines, tightened rules on pork imports and tested airline passengers for fevers as global health officials tried Sunday to come up with uniform ways to battle a deadly strain of swine flu.
Bin Laden could be dead, whereabouts unknown: Zardari
Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari said on Monday that the whereabouts of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden remained a mystery and there was a suspicion that he could be dead.
China bans pork imports from Mexico, parts of US
China has banned hog and pork product imports from Mexico and parts of the United States with immediate effect, the government said in a statement posted on official websites.
Swine flu dampens economic outlook
Hopes for a global economic recovery took a blow on Monday as a widening outbreak of swine flu sent stocks lower in Asia, hit oil prices and sent buyers into safe investments.
Americans told to wear masks as swine flu spreads round globe
Churches stood empty in Mexico City yesterday and football matches were played to vacant stadiums, as soldiers and health workers patrolled the subway in an effort to prevent the spread of a deadly strain of swine flu.
OPEC wants oil to reach $70 a barrel
OPEC wants to see oil prices rising to more than 70 dollars a barrel, the oil cartel's secretary general Abdalla El-Badri said Sunday.
Beware Insider Selling
According to a study prepared for Bloomberg by Washington Service, a research outfit, directors, officers and the like have sold $353 million worth of stock in this fading month, or 8.3 times the total bought. As a matter of fact, according to the firm, insider purchases of $42.5 million are on track to make April the skimpiest month for such buying since July 1992.
US says not testing travelers from Mexico for flu
The United States is not testing airplane travelers from Mexico for the swine flu virus that has heightened fears of a possible pandemic, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said on Sunday.
Flashback - Virus mix-up by lab could have resulted in pandemic
It's emerged that virulent H5N1 bird flu was sent out by accident from an Austrian lab last year and given to ferrets in the Czech Republic before anyone realised. As well as the risk of it escaping into the wild, the H5N1 got mixed with a human strain, which might have spawned a hybrid that could unleash a pandemic.
Flashback - Viral Pandemic H5N1 flu threat: Baxter contaminates European labs by error
It could be a Hollywood Worst Case Thriller, but it is real: According to the scientific network PROMED, Baxter International Inc. in Austria "unintentionally contaminated samples with the bird flu virus that were used in laboratories in 3 neighboring countries, raising concern about the potential spread of the deadly disease".
FBI report finds pattern of police misdeeds
The FBI memorandum describes a pattern of corruption among a group of Philadelphia narcotics officers: false information used to get search warrants, planted evidence and perjured testimony, thefts of drugs, cash, and valuables from dealers.The FBI memorandum describes a pattern of corruption among a group of Philadelphia narcotics officers: false information used to get search warrants, planted evidence and perjured testimony, thefts of drugs, cash, and valuables from dealers.
White House to hold special briefing on swine flu
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and other administration officials will address a special White House briefing on the swine flu outbreak on Sunday, the White House said in a statement.
Waterboarding Approved Specifically To Justify Iraq War
I have just learnt something which has convinced me that Bush, Cheney and Rice are indeed evil in the sense that Hitler was evil. I did not actually believe that until today.
US created Taliban and abandoned Pakistan, says Hillary
Two days of continuous congressional hearings on the Obama administration’s foreign policy brought a rare concession from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who acknowledged that the United States too had a share in creating the problem that plagues Pakistan today.
Kansas state officials confirm two flu cases
Kansas state health officials confirmed two cases of swine flu in Kansas on Saturday, just minutes after New York health officials said they had eight probable cases.
France finds 2 suspected cases of swine flu
Two suspected cases of Mexico's deadly swine flu have been found in France after the WHO's warning over its global "pandemic potential."
Minister: 10 NZ students likely have swine flu
New Zealand's health minister said Sunday 10 students who just returned from Mexico have tested positive for influenza. He said the cases are "likely" to be swine flu.
Swine Flu Pandemic Would Cost Trillions
Reuters has put together a list of estimates of the economics costs that may be incurred if swine flu becomes a full out pandemic
Asian governments move swiftly to flu crisis mode
Traumatised by the “ghost town” memories of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic, Asian governments switched immediately into crisis mode today, racing to strengthen quarantining procedures and protect the region from another killer pandemic.
Flashback - The Flu Is Really Dangerous
It's now leaking out that there was more going on than met the eye at the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) Summit in Montebello, Canada in August. The three amigos, Bush, Harper and Calderon, finalized and released the "North American Plan for Avian & Pandemic Influenza."
The "Plan" (that's what they call it, with a capital P) is to use the excuse of a major flu epidemic to shift powers from U.S. legislatures to unelected, unaccountable "North American" bureaucrats.
Swine Flu Attack Likely A Beta Test
The latest bioterrorism attack by the New World Order is likely a beta test. Yes, it is a bioterrorism attack. It was a hybrid strain created from human, swine, and bird flu from North America, Europe, and Asia. It was created in a laboratory. This doesn’t happen in nature.
UK on alert for deadly swine flu
The UK is on alert as the global health watchdog has warned countries to look out for unusual flu cases after a deadly outbreak of swine influenza.
Swine flu outbreak declared 'public health emergency'
International officials Saturday declared the swine flu outbreak in Mexico and the U.S. a "public health emergency" as new cases were reported on both sides of the border and fears grew of a possible global epidemic.
Torture? It probably killed more Americans than 9/11
The use of torture by the US has proved so counter-productive that it may have led to the death of as many US soldiers as civilians killed in 9/11, says the leader of a crack US interrogation team in Iraq.
Bob Chapman: "We are seeing a complete looting of the system before they collapse it."
This past January, before the new president was inaugurated, in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the US and China, a conference was held by the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs and the Kissinger Institute on China. Former President Jimmy Carter, Henry Kissinger, Brent Snowcroft and Zbigniew Brzezinski led the US delegation.
American Taxpayers Finance the Taliban
By Henry Makow Ph.D.
The Illuminati bankers have to finance both sides of every war, and Afghanistan is no exception. Since they have pilfered the US government's credit card, this means the American tax payer is paying for the Taliba
Indonesia’s Voters Retreat From Radical Islam
From Pakistan to Gaza and Lebanon, militant Islamic movements have gained ground rapidly in recent years, fanning Western fears of a consolidation of radical Muslim governments. But here in the world’s most populous Muslim nation just the opposite is happening, with Islamic parties suffering a steep drop in popular support.
Mexican Doctor: Real Figure Is 200 Dead, Situation Out Of Control
I work as a resident doctor in one of the biggest hospitals in Mexico City and sadly, the situation is far from "under control". The official number of deaths is 20, nevertheless, the true number of victims are more than 200.
TSA claims new powers of detention, search, and interrogation
Once again as before trying to legislate by press release and blog posting, the TSA has asserted that it has the general law-enforcement authority to detain would-be airline passengers, seize their possessions, and compel them to answer questions for reasons entirely unrelated to aviation or security, and even when it cannot articulate any probable cause for a belief that any law has been violated.
Bird flu is Spanish flu
Spanish flu killed 50M people before it finally disappeared from planet earth. Under close inspection it has been found that Bird flu IS actually the Spanish flu. With a few variations. How do we know this?
Well, by analysing tissue samples from WW1 soldiers and comparing them with that of Eskimo’s dug out from deep within the Alaskan permafrost, scientists have been able to connect the 2.
TOP CANCER SCIENTIST KILLED BY CHEMICALS
Dr Thomas Friedberg, 59, was found at the wheel of his Peugeot car parked outside his home by his wife Veronica around 6pm on Wednesday.
Flashback - Rumsfeld Profits From Bird Flu Scare
A YEAR AGO TAMIFLU WAS KNOWN, IF at all, as an obscure remedy for influenza, which doctors typically treat with bed rest and chicken soup. Today, with panic mounting over a potential bird flu pandemic, it's the most sought-after drug in the world, as everyone from suburban soccer moms in the U.S. to health officials in London and Taipei scramble to stockpile the pill. At the moment, it seems, virtually the entire world is on sick-chicken alert.
Some Say It Can Feed The World, Others Fear It Could Topple Industries
What’s sad is that a large majority of people in this country believe that hemp is just another word for marijuana and that somehow you could get high on hemp. A little investigative research into the different species of the Cannabis plant will quickly dispel this myth. The fact that this charade has gone on for over 70 years is very sad.
ANC wins South Africa elections, but loses some ground
The governing African National Congress won South Africa's elections by a huge margin, according to final results announced Saturday, but fell short of the symbolically important two-thirds majority.
11 more suspected swine flu cases in U.S.
Total reaches 19 with a couple in Kansas, schoolchildren in New York City and a person in California believed to have mild cases of swine flu. It is not clear yet whether virus is easily transmitted.
British spy loses secrets in a handbag
A BRITISH agent has thrown the war against drug traffickers into chaos by leaving top secret information about covert operations on a bus in South America.
Russian death squads ‘pulverise’ Chechens
Elite commandos have broken their silence to reveal how they torture, execute and then blow captives to atoms to obliterate the grisly evidence
Chrysler reaches deal with CAW
Chrysler and its union have broken historical pattern bargaining in the auto industry with a tentative deal for deep worker concessions to help keep the teetering company alive here.
Protesters, police clash near IMF meetings in Washington
Protesters upset with the way world leaders have handled the economic crisis are clashing with police outside the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in Washington.
Judge: N.C. Chief justice 'bought'
Mecklenburg District Judge Bill Belk waded deeper into controversy this week, saying the chief justice of the N.C. Supreme Court had been "bought" by Charlotte lawyers.
Democrats near deal to "fast-track" health bill
Congressional Democrats are near a deal to ram through legislation overhauling the U.S. healthcare system, overriding Republican objections to one of President Barack Obama's top policy goals.
The Psychologists of Torture
One of the key, if underreported, findings in Tuesday’s bombshell Senate committee report on the Bush-era treatment of U.S. military detainees was the role of civilian and military psychologists in devising, directing and overseeing the torture of prisoners. Did the CIA conduct any secret experiments on any of the detainees?
CFR Corporate Members Get Lion's Share of Bailout Funds
Newspapers are fixated upon $160 million in bonuses given to American International Group (AIG) executives. And it’s nice to know where the millions are going (note: the bonuses could have been cancelled had the federal government let the company go bankrupt, as officials should have). But where are the trillions in TARP, TALC and Federal Reserve Bank bailout funds going?
U.S. throws weight behind calls for IMF overhaul
The United States urged major reform of the IMF Saturday, throwing its weight behind efforts to give a stronger voice to emerging nations whose burgeoning clout is increasingly vital to the world economy.
Jailed U.S.-Iranian reporter on hunger strike: father
A U.S.-Iranian reporter jailed by Tehran for espionage has gone on hunger strike and says she will not stop until she is released, her father said on Saturday.
Suddenly, Uncle Sam Wants to Bankroll You
IT may be quiet these days in Silicon Valley, but don't tell that to Gilman Louie, the chief executive of In-Q-Tel, a private nonprofit venture capital company set up and financed by the Central Intelligence Agency in late 1999 to get a better bead on innovative technology the intelligence crowd might put to use.
A Meditation on Our Monetary System: State of Permanent Siege
By Richard Cook
THE LEVEL OF PUBLIC IGNORANCE on the topic of the U.S. and world monetary system is astonishing. This is part of the plan, of course, because the monetary elite control not only the financial system but also the news media, the publishing industry, and the educational system. The blueprint for control was put together over a century ago by Cecil Rhodes and his friends, including British financier Nathan Rothschild, as documented by Professor Carroll Quigley.
Truth and Reconciliation to Nowhere
By Philip Giraldi
The Obama administration can no longer dodge the bullet of the war crimes committed while George W. Bush was in office. It is clear that the president is reluctant to act, fearing that this can of worms, if opened, could afflict Republicans and Democrats alike. He prefers, as he puts it, “looking forward” instead of “looking back.”
Venture capital firm set to reap rewards on swine flu
The swine flu outbreak is likely to benefit one of the most prolific and successful venture capital firms in the United States: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Thomson Reuters Private Equity Week reported on Friday.
North Korea to boycott nuclear talks: Russia
North Korea will stay away from international nuclear disarmament talks, Russia's foreign minister said on Friday after visiting the secretive state and pressing Pyongyang to return to the sputtering discussions.
Petraeus: Tunisian militants attacking Iraq
The top U.S. military commander in the Mideast says attacks in Iraq will continue for some time, and they may be the work of a network of foreign fighters from Tunisia.
Clinton pledges to keep troops in Iraq if violence escalates
The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, made a surprise visit to Baghdad yesterday to reassure Iraqi leaders that the Obama White House would refrain from withdrawing its troops from urban areas if renewed violence continued to worsen.
Jordan's King Abdullah: Israel must choose integration or isolation
Jordan's King Abdullah on Friday said that Israel must choose between integrating into the region or remaining isolated, and warned that delaying a two-state solution would be disastrous for Israelis and Palestinians.
Russian arms talks off to "productive" start
U.S. and Russian arms negotiators held a "very productive" initial round of talks Friday aimed at agreeing a new treaty to curb nuclear weapons as part of a broader effort to improve relations.
Nine G20 members restricting trade: Zoellick
World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Thursday nearly half of the Group of 20 nations are considering or have taken measures to restrict trade in the face of an economic downturn.
Newly found flu mixes pig, bird, human viruses
Health officials are investigating a never-before-seen form of the flu that combines pig, bird and human viruses and which has infected seven people in California and Texas. All the victims recovered, but the cases are a growing medical mystery because it's unclear how they caught the virus.
Pandemic fear as killer flu spreads
A DEADLY strain of flu that combines elements of swine, avian and human viruses could spread around the world after emerging simultaneously in Mexico and the United States, experts warned yesterday.
Swine Flu Cases in Kansas, Possibly NYC
Kansas health officials have confirmed at least two cases of swine flu in their state, while the New York City Department of Public Health is reporting that at least eight out of an estimated 100 students at a Queens prepatory school who displayed flu-like symptoms likely have the swine flu strain that has killed up to 68 people in Mexico.
CDC says too late to contain U.S. flu outbreak
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday it was too late to contain the swine flu outbreak in the United States. It's never too late to try to contain an outbreak!
North Korea says has started extracting plutonium
North Korea has started to extract plutonium from spent fuel rods at its nuclear arms plant, its foreign ministry said on Saturday, further raising regional tensions already stoked by its defiant rocket launch this month.
Omama Names Rerulatory Extreamist As Traffic Czar
President Obama's pick to head the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration raises a few red flags. If confirmed by the Senate, Chuck Hurley, CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, will drive motorists over the cliff with regulation.
The nation's traffic-safety czar has broad powers to control the roads and road-going habits of Americans. Mr. Hurley has a history of pushing laws that harass millions of law-abiding citizens to ensnare a few lawbreakers. He supports returning the 55 mph speed limit to our highways as well as roadblocks and random pullovers to make sure drivers aren't doing anything wrong. This methodology is based on a presumption of guilt - not innocence - of the average driver who is doing nothing wrong.
In 2002, Military Agency Warned Against 'Torture'
The military agency that provided advice on harsh interrogation techniques for use against terrorism suspects referred to the application of extreme duress as "torture" in a July 2002 document sent to the Pentagon's chief lawyer and warned that it would produce "unreliable information."
Plan Would Deploy Guard Near Mexico
The Pentagon and Homeland Security Department are developing contingency plans to send National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexican border under a $350 million initiative that would expand the U.S. military's role in the drug war, according to Obama administration officials.
Taliban Shift Forces, but Hold Pakistan Valley
The chief of Pakistan’s Army, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, on Friday defended his army’s performance and said it was committed to fighting militancy, in the face of growing criticism from American officials and Pakistani politicians that the military has failed to halt the Taliban insurgency as it creeps toward Islamabad, the capital.
CIA official: no proof harsh techniques stopped terror attacks
The CIA inspector general in 2004 found that there was no conclusive proof that waterboarding or other harsh interrogation techniques helped the Bush administration thwart any "specific imminent attacks," according to recently declassified Justice Department memos.
How to produce high approval ratings for Obama
Just read an AP report: the percentage of Americans that think the country is on the right track rose to 48% in March as compared to 40% in February. In light of the unemployment rising, the debacle in foreign affairs etc, I found it unlikely. So I looked into the details of the poll.
A Top Interrogator Who's Against Torture
He's the special agent who came in from the cold — and waded straight into the debate over the use of harsh interrogation techniques. Ali Soufan, a former FBI special agent and perhaps the most successful U.S. interrogator of al-Qaeda operatives, says the use of those techniques was unnecessary and often counterproductive.
The nation's largest health insurer launches campaign against reform
WellPoint, the nation's largest health insurer, has launched what could be the start of a campaign for the hearts and minds of the American public as the country prepares for debates over reshaping its much-maligned health care system.
Suit Claims JPMorgan Aided Madoff’s Fraud
Victims of Bernard L. Madoff’s Ponzi scheme have accused his banker, JPMorgan Chase, of aiding his crime by maintaining his checking accounts and trading with his brokerage firm long after the bank itself realized that its prized customer was running a vast fraud.
Murphy going to Congress
Democratic businessman comes from nowhere to defeat Republican Jim Tedisco after absentee ballots signal victory
What do you expect? It's talk radio, court says
A federal appeals court had some advice Friday for anyone whose reputation gets trashed on talk radio: Don't bother suing for slander, because no one reasonably expects objective facts from the typical talk show host.
Book Machine Prints a Book Faster Than You Can Make A Cup of Coffee
The trend right now for books may be taking us towards e-readers and paper-like versions of our old best friends. But there's a Kindle rival that aims to keep books around after most people switch to digital. The Espresso Book machine prints, slices, binds and spits out a copy of a book on demand.
Recession redefines 'necessities'
A Pew Research Center survey released Thursday finds that the recession has changed Americans' minds about many items that used to be seen as necessities.
Madoff investors ordered to return false profits
The trustee trying to unravel Bernard Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme is threatening legal action to recover $735 million from investors who unwittingly made money off the swindle.
Don't Trust the Census.
When the US Government rounded up Japanese-Americans in 1942, they used the "supposedly private" census data to tell the soldiers how many Japanese lived on each block.
Appeals court tosses Gitmo suit—again
A federal appeals court on Friday for a second time rejected a lawsuit by Guantanamo Bay detainees who say they were tortured and denied religious rights.
Gates to Nominate NSA Chief to Head New Cyber Command
Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to nominate the director of the National Security Agency to head a new Pentagon Cyber Command, which will coordinate computer-network defense and direct U.S. cyber-attack operations, according to a draft memo by Mr. Gates.
Fed Admits "Stress Tests" Are a Sham
The "stress tests" were supposed to triage those banks worth saving from those which were already too far gone to save.
The Economic Truth Will Out Despite Strategies To Contain It
By Bob Chapman
The Truth Movement has become a real thorn in the side of the Illuminati. So many people are now finally catching on to their sinister plans that their usual strategies are not working. The facts and predictions divulged to the public via the Truth Movement have proved to be too accurate for the Illuminati to counter with their usual bogus rhetoric because no one believes them anymore.
Four banks closed by regulators as credit crunch shakes out
Four banks in Georgia, Michigan, California and Idaho were closed by regulators Friday, costing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s deposit insurance fund nearly $700 million as the effects of the credit crisis continued rippling throughout the U.S. economy.
Unencrypted laptop with 1 million SSNs stolen from state
The Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) is notifying more than one million state residents that their personal data was stored on an unencrypted laptop that was stolen from an agency employee.
Top of the Heap: The Democrats' Teachable Moment on Torture
By Chris Floyd
The second reason why Barack Obama and the Democratic leadership are resisting, with all their might, a full investigation for the torture system is that they want to uphold what is perhaps the central principle of the American state today: the unaccountability of the ruling elite. Both major political parties are controlled by the ruling elite. Don't fall for their false left/right paradigm!
U.S. Housing Market Crash, Why is the Media Misleading the Public?
By Mike Whitney
Why is the media misleading the public about housing? The housing market is crashing. There are no "green shoots" or "glimmers of hope"; the market is worn to a stump, it's kaput. Still, whenever new housing figures are released, they're crunched and tweaked and spin-dried until they tell a totally different story; a hopeful story about an elusive "light in the tunnel". But there is no light in the tunnel; it's a myth.
60% Say Government Has Too Much Power, Too Much Money
Sixty percent (60%) of Americans say the federal government has too much power and too much money, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
The IMF: Raping The World, One Poor Nation at a Time
By Dana Gabriel
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been described as one of the enforcers of globalization. Nations who receive IMF assistance are often forced to surrender more sovereignty and further open up their borders to international banks and multinational corporations. Much of their wealth is then sucked dry by foreign predators with its resources and population essentially becoming the collateral for such financial aid.
Congress Targets Credit Card Companies Bad Practices
By Peter Schiff
With much fanfare this week, Congress and the Administration began a series of actions designed to protect over-leveraged consumers from the high fees imposed by credit card lenders. As with most other initiatives devised by government, this policy will create a host of unintended consequences that will undermine the benefit the program hopes to create.
John McCain says 9-11 terrorists came from Canada
John McCain is the latest high-profile politician to repeat the diehard American falsehood that the 9-11 terrorists entered the United States through Canada.
WHO calls emergency meeting on swine flu
The World Health Organization said on Friday it was calling an emergency committee to advise whether outbreaks of swine flu in humans in the United States and Mexico constituted an international public health threat.
Flashback - Scientists recreate deadly spanish flu
US scientists who resurrected the 1918 spanish flu virus that killed as many as 50 million people say they are beginning to understand why it caused such a deadly pandemic and say it could happen again.
Wall Street’s 1929 Scams Return in Geithner Plan
Obama’s Bailout team may not be as noble as we’d like. First off, Geithner quietly hired a Goldman Sachs Lobbyist to be his Chief of Staff. That is a pure, unadulterated, Bull$hit.
US memo drafters were complicit in torture, UN torture monitor says
United States officials who drafted policies on harsh interrogation tactics for terrorism suspects should be prosecuted as accomplices in torture, the United Nation's monitor on torture Manfred Nowak said Friday in Vienna.
Pelosi Feigns Ignorance of Torture
Her assertion contradicts a recently released Senate committee report that cited CIA records to claim that senior members of Congress in both parties were briefed on the waterboarding, which had already been done to detainee Abu Zubaydah.
U.S. swine flu outbreak confirmed
The World Health Organization (WHO) voiced concern today at a confirmed outbreak of swine flu in the United States and what it called more than 800 human “influenza-like” cases in Mexico, including about 60 deaths.
Swine Flu, Mexico Lung Illness Heighten Pandemic Risk
Disease trackers are asking U.S. hospitals to help follow a new strain of swine flu and are trying to determine whether it’s related to hundreds of illnesses and 57 deaths in Mexico.
DPS, US Marshals merge
The state police and federal marshals are merging their special units that track Arizona fugitives in a move to save money while dealing with the growing number of arrest warrants waiting to be served. More federalization of state governments. Intelligence operations.
California Gun Decision Muddies 2nd Amendment Waters
By Bob Barr
It’s been less than a year since the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark Heller decision affirming the principle that the 2nd Amendment does indeed protect an individual right to keep and bear arms, and that the right it thus protects is a fundamental right.
Torture: A Family Affair for the Cheney Clan
By Larisa Alexandrovna
Can anyone imagine what Lizzie would have done for a living had her daddy not gotten her a job in his administration? Would she argue how effective concentration camps were for raising the German economy? Because surely, regardless of how effective an immoral act is, it does no change that it is immoral, right? Moreover, torture is illegal. So why is Lizzie arguing that torture worked to save American lives when it is both immoral and illegal?
Spain's jobless rate soars to 17%
Spain's unemployment rate hit 17.4% at the end of March, figures have shown, with the jobless total now having doubled over the past 12 month
UN torture envoy: US must prosecute Bush lawyers
The U.S. is obligated by a United Nations convention to prosecute Bush administration lawyers who allegedly drafted policies that approved the use of harsh interrogation tactics against terrorism suspects, the U.N.'s top anti-torture envoy said Friday.
Flashback - Top Democrats Complicit In Torture
In September 2002, four members of Congress met in secret for a first look at a unique CIA program designed to wring vital information from reticent terrorism suspects in U.S. custody. For more than an hour, the bipartisan group, which included current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), was given a virtual tour of the CIA's overseas detention sites and the harsh techniques interrogators had devised to try to make their prisoners talk.
Top US officials shaped torture policy: report
Top US officials, not a “few bad apples” of low rank, were behind harsh military interrogation tactics that spread from Guantanamo Bay to Afghanistan to Iraq, a new Senate report said Tuesday.
Germany's slump risks 'explosive' mood as second banking crisis looms
A clutch of political and labour leaders in Germany have raised the spectre of civil unrest after the country's leading institutes forecast a 6pc contraction of gross domestic product this year, a slump reminiscent of 1931 and bad enough to drive unemployment to 4.7m by 2010.
