what happens

Click here for this CBS News story (and accompanying PDF document) about the inspector generals report on $1 billion dollars of missing military equipement in Iraq.

One. Billion. Dollars. Lost. Gone. Bye bye.

And that's in addition to the current running total, that was recently assessed by Nobel Prize winning Joseph Stiglitz as topping $2 trillion, closing in on $3 trillion.

We could have treated the "terrorism" issue by uniting the world and using cooperative action from multiple police agencies, after the Afghanistan operation. But no, the cabal of narcissists had to link this to their dreams of invading Iraq and Iran, and in the process completely bungled the entire operation, while allowing massive fraud and corrupt practices in the procurement and privatization process. Private contractors were used to perform the torture routines, because US military are trained that it is their duty to apprehend and stop any abuse of prisoners of war , as is required by the Geneva Conventions. The Bush administration has tried to avoid the "Geneva issue" (as ex-Attorney General Gonzalez said) by creating a legal term called "enemy combattants" which enabled US military to hold people in offshore prison camps indefinately without rights of habeus corpus.

Here is video and transcript of attorney general gonzalez explaining to Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania that there is no right of habeus corpus in the constitution.

Oh really. Ladies and Gentle, here is your constitution. Scroll all the way down to Section 9 (note Cornell Law will ask for a donation, click "No Thanks" and the constitution page will appear).

The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.

Most of those held at Guantanamo for 3,4,5,and 6 years have no evidence against them. Some were sold and turned over by various tribal clans or groups. Some were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some were accidentally picked up in place of someone else. More than 200 were forced to be released by Britain 2 years ago, because they were British citizens, and the British government would have none of this nonsense. It was the British lords who first brought to life the right of habeus corpus, which occurred when a group of them banned together and surrounded the King in the 1200's and forced him to sign the Magna Charta which listed various rights of the Lords in relationship with the King. One of these was the right to not be thrown in jail without public notification and without a trial where you can defend yourself and have the government explain why you are going to jail.

Go ahead. Watch some more Television. Meanwhile, the history of events passes you by like a whispering hurricane, and your brain becomes a receptacle for advertizing and psychic manipulation.

"The wealth of an individual naturally measures itself by one's aptitude to command the work of other persons, but the organization(s) of wealth, where there is a division of labor, is motivated by the desire to save ourselves from disagreeable work and impose it upon others. In this way a man increases his wealth or the goods that he possesses by increasing the quantity of work done by other people ..."

Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (1776) , Chapter 5.

Click here to read Ray McGovern's commentary on the NIE report which judged "with high confidence" that Iran stopped it's nuclear program in 2003. Yes, because of pressure from Russia and China, which don't really want the crazy man in the White House to go through with the next step in the PNAC doctrine, written in 1997.

• “We judge that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program...

• “We assess with moderate confidence Tehran has not restarted its nuclear weapons program as of mid-2007.

• “We do not have sufficient intelligence to judge confidently whether Tehran is willing to maintain the halt of its nuclear weapons program indefinitely...

• “We judge with moderate confidence Iran probably would be technically capable of producing enough highly enriched uranium sometime during the 2010- 2015 time frame.

• “We judge with high confidence that Iran will not be technically capable of producing and reprocessing enough plutonium for a weapon before about 2015.”

  Having reached these conclusions, it is not surprising that the NIE’s authors make a point of saying up front (in bold type) “This NIE does not (italics in original) assume that Iran intends to acquire nuclear weapons.”

Iran is not a threat. Nuclear terrorism is a very real threat, but invading and bombing a nation is not the way to deal with that very real threat. It is a waste of lives, a waste of money, and will only worsen the situation by further destabilizing the region. If the Bush administration were truly concerned about terrorism they would not be completely defunding bolstering security at vulnerable sites in the USA, or slashing the budgets of first responders so they can siphon more money into the hands of private contractors who skim their percentage while they provide less than adequate services and create public relations fiasco's. Halliburton and Blackwater should both be dismantled as shameful institutions, and their CEO's should be imprisoned for their treachery and treasonous behavior. Young people and innocent civilians are dying and whole societies are being devastated and polluted by this horrific bad idea.

Americans might be stupid, but the world is not. We Americans are so used to the corporate media's stranglehold that we have no clue about international news. When is the last time you heard about Africa, Columbia, or France's current upheavel against newly elected President Sarkozy -- who is by the way calling out the police to quell the riots. Pakistan seems to have disappeared off the news. And when is the last time you heard about Howard Dean, who had the gall to say the media giants are monopolies in need of being dismantled under the Sherman Anti-Trust Law of 1890 (there is also The Clayton AntiTrust Act of 1914 - part of the brief Progressive spate of legislation that occurred from 1912 to 1915) you know so much, eh? Watch some more TV, and get more stupider (sic).

Russia has a dominion that stretches from Poland to the Caspian Sea and to the Pacific North of China. India and China combined have 10 times the population of the United States. Brazil has become virtual independent of the world financial banking syndicate. The days of New York Banking hegemony in the world are over. And now, thanks to Bush's incompetence and wasted surplus, America is on the verge of an incredible Financial precipace. The stress on the financial system is enormous right now, and the government is completely bankrupt.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

* * *

Oh by the way, according to the America people,

“Fifty-two percent of Americans say the economy and health care are most important to them in choosing a president, compared with 34% who cite terrorism and social and moral issues, according to the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.

Clear here for an analysis of the derivatives and corporate credit financial markets, which the author is describing as something that will "dwarf" the sub-prime loan crash.

I'm reading it right now myself.

Here is another article on the plight of the Interest rates: keep the rates low to soften the blow on over-extended borrowers, or jack the interest rates up so that bonds and treasuries are saleable to the foreigners who are losing their shirts when the dollar's value falls on the international markets. Click here. It's a lot easier to read than the first article, which is very technical and abstruse.

Here's the money quote

Superpower America is a ship of fools in denial of their plight. While offshoring kills American economic prospects, “free market economists” sing its praises. While war imposes enormous costs on a bankrupt country, neoconservatives call for more war, and Republicans and Democrats appropriate war funds which can only be obtained by borrowing abroad.

By focusing America on war in the Middle East, the purpose of which is to guarantee Israel’s territorial expansion, the executive and legislative branches, along with the media, have let slip the last opportunities the US had to put its financial house in order. We have arrived at the point where it is no longer bold to say that nothing now can be done. Unless the rest of the world decides to underwrite our economic rescue, the chips will fall where they may.

Dr. Paul John Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury for Economic Policy in the Reagan administration. He is credited with curing stagflation and eliminating “Phillips curve” trade-offs between employment and inflation, an achievement now on the verge of being lost by the worst economic mismanagement in US history.

Honesty and integrity stand far above any loyalty to a political party.

Thank you bartcop

From today's Cal Majority by Sean Barry.

"What should the Republicans do if they want to keep the White House in '08? Grit their teeth, swallow their pride and nominate John McCain, and have him pick Mike Huckabee as his running mate, writes David Broder. McCain-Huckabee may not win California, but the least you can say about these two is that they have integrity, and a sense of humanity. Aint going to happen though."

And this is from the "dean" of Washington DC conventional thinking, David Broder. Broder is an ancient columnist opinion writer for the Washington Post that gets syndicated throughout the circuit of national newspapers as the "common wisdom" (the Sacramenton Bee is one of these.)

Here's how Broder begins his piece:

If the Republican Party really wanted to hold on to the White House in 2009, it's pretty clear what it would do. It would grit its teeth, swallow its doubts and nominate a ticket of John McCain for president and Mike Huckabee for vice president – and president-in-waiting.

Those two are far from front-runners. They trail Mitt Romney in Iowa and New Hampshire and lag behind Rudy Giuliani in national surveys of Republican voters. But, in a series of debates, including last week's CNN/YouTube extravaganza. McCain and Huckabee have been notable for their clarity, character and, yes, simple humanity.

From everything I have heard on the campaign trail, it's obvious that they are the pair who have earned the widest respect among the eight Republican candidates themselves.

Whoa, Debra Saunders agrees with Broder. This means that the push is on from the minions attached to the fax machine -- so it can't be traced, email is more vulnerable because it resides in the memory of the receivers machine. The wicked lying witch of The San Francisco Chronicle is trying to salvage her own reputation after being a cheerleader for bad ideas and palpitating over the corrupt morons in her party for too long. Will some real conservative please stand up? This woman is bankrupt. Nothing she says or has said is worthwhile.

Click here to read a conservative Libertarian discuss the Homegrown Terrorist Prevention Act. This act will prevent nothing, as the above article explains but what it does is very scary. Notice how the national media has said nothing about this, not a peep, which is even more scary.

The Act was signed 400-6 by weak-kneed Legislators who don't read the bills they sign. Democratic apologist Jane Harman sponsored the bill.

(NEWSFLASH to anyone reading -- I am not a Democrat. I am not a liberal or a socialist either. I fervently believe in a free market and democratic society. I am an American steeped in the tradition of Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and James Madison. Ya dig.)

The Act creates a roving commission of 10 commissioners selected by Congress who will hold hearings all across the country. People will be summoned to testify and prove they are "real" Americans. Assets can be frozen and anyone who helps the defendent can also have their assets frozen. Worse, after 18 months, these commissions will become privatized and private corporations will be performing these functions.

This happened during French Revolution when Robespierre and the Radical Jacobins set up the Committee of Public Safety to purge the non-patriots from the French streets. After 2 years and tens of thousands of guillotined citizens the "Reign of Terror" ended.

In our country, the HUAAC (House Un-american Activities Committee) was set up in the 1930's by a Russian spy and a Southern racist (its true, look it up) to investigate communism in America. In the 1950's when the alcoholic Senator Joe McCarthy terrorized innocent victims in the State department, whole groups of people were called up. Many people were blacklisted and lost their jobs because of the hysteria -- Lucille Ball was one, J. Robert Oppenheimer another -- for no substantive reason.

This Act will NOT prevent nuts and crazy people from doing anything. But what will it do? Read the conservative libertarian position from the link above to find out. Here is a brief snippet:

As should be clear from the vagueness of the definitions, the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act could easily be abused to define any group that is pressuring the political system as "terrorist," ranging from polygamists, to second amendment rights supporters, anti-abortion protesters, anti-tax agitators, immigration activists, and peace demonstrators. In reality, of course, it will be primarily directed against Muslims and Muslim organizations. Given that, there is the question of who will select which groups will be investigated by the roving commissions. There is no evidence to suggest that there will be any transparent or objective screening process. Through their proven access both to the media and to Congress, the agenda will undoubtedly be shaped by the usual players including David Horowitz, Daniel Pipes, Steve Emerson, and Frank Gaffney who see a terrorist hiding under every rock, particularly if the rock is concealing a Muslim. They and their associates will undoubtedly find plenty of terrorists and radical groups to investigate. Many of the suspects will inevitably be "anti-American" professors at various universities and also groups of Palestinians organized against the Israeli occupation, but it will be easy to use the commission formula to sweep them all in for examination.

The view that 9/11 has "changed everything" is unfortunately all too true. It has unleashed American paranoia, institutionalized mistrust of foreigners, and created a fantasy universe in which a US beset by enemies must do anything and everything to counter the alien threat.

Yes, it can happen here people. It is already happening here. Get your head out of your (ass) television and wake up.

with 5 years left in his term?

Come on now. How obvious does this have to be? But I admit, I did not know the entirety of the depravity at work. Turns out there are 3 probable reasons.

1. The change in the lobby law -- and possible further changes -- will occur at the end of the year. How soon does Mr. Lott get swooped up for a million dollar a year salary by a "lobby" firm -- which is another way of saying consiglieri.
2. A brewing connection with the very Veco Oil Alaskan tycoon Bill Allen who corrupted Ted Stevens and got enmeshed in the Feds bribery net.
3. Larry Flynt of Hustler magazine attests he has evidence of Trent Lott's extra-marrital affairs (via Prostitutes?)

Actually, what Lott can do is drop out of sight for a couple of years, and then step quietly into some lobby firm or get hired as part-time "consultant" with a million dollar a year salary, after the storm passes. He won't be held to the changes in the laws because he left in 2007, before the law takes affect.

And when you hear Lott at the press conference yakkin up the weak reporters salavating high hinnie-ness, Lott talks about perhaps dabbling into teaching just like his folks, getting all down-home folksie while he pretends to represent the common man. Then he brings up the "football team" at Ole Miss -- he knows his home-boys well.

What a slimy, weasel.

What has Trent Lott ever done for the people? Nothing. He's in this for the money. He has been a shameful Senator for Mississippi and represents a blemish (or skid mark) on the history of this nation.