Monday, December 31, 2007

Feature: Shifters

The Jersey Girls are speaking out----
http://www.911pressfortruth.com/#

"Out of the grieving thousands left behind on September 11th, a small group of activist families emerged to demand answers. In 9/11 Press For Truth, six of them (including three of the famous "Jersey Girls") tell for the first time the powerful story of how they took on the powers in Washington—and won!—compelling an investigation, only to subsequently watch the 9/11 Commission fail in answering most of their questions.

The families eventually found an ally in Paul Thompson. Dissatisfied with the incomplete picture of September 11th presented in most news reports, Thompson became a citizen journalist of sorts. He stitched together thousands of rare overlooked news clips, buried stories, and government press conferences into a definitive Complete 9/11 Timeline (published by Harper Collins as The Terror Timeline). Press For Truth is adapted in part from his acclaimed work, which revealed to the families a very different picture of the road that led to the attacks and the resulting War on Terror, one that still today raises important and pressing questions.

Press For Truth premiered theatrically in September 2006 in New York City and the San Francisco Bay area. With the help of Robert Greenwald's Brave New Theaters, it was rolled out for a limited release in over fifty cities across America as well as Canada, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Australia, and Japan.

The movie was immediately hailed by critics and enthusiastically embraced by a groundswell of concerned people worldwide who felt that the 9/11 Commission and the western news media had failed to account for many important issues. For these thousands, Press For Truth was the rational, skeptical, mainstream motion picture examination of the events of September 11th they had been eagerly awaiting."

Feature: Doorways

I purchased Naomi Klein's book "The Shock Doctrine".....it is a piece of extraordinary work. For anyone interested in the "Truth" about want is currently being done in the name of democracy..it is a must read.
Draw the lines and connect the dots....we still have time.


To see a great interview by "Truthout" go to the link below.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122807J.shtml

Klein back with 'Shock Doctrine'
By COLIN PERKEL
Learning about the link between capitalism and the bloody excesses of Argentina's ruling junta in the 1970s planted the seeds of her latest effort, but it was the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that pushed her to get writing.

"I wrote the book because I really felt personally overwhelmed and disoriented by the speed of change post-Sept. 11," Klein said during an interview at her publisher's downtown office.

"It was depressing to write and there were periods that were incredibly bleak."
Indeed, "The Shock Doctrine" is unrelenting, ripping away at the democratic facade of a capitalist system Klein accuses of paying mere lip service to fundamental notions of freedom.
Instead, she says, societies made vulnerable by natural disasters, war or other traumatic upheavals are increasingly being exploited by predatory capitalists who use the dislocation for their own profit-making ends.
The takeover of Iraq's oil fields by western multinationals after the U.S.-led invasion, the sale of tsunami-wrecked beaches in Sri Lanka to luxury resort operators, the privatization of New Orleans public schools after the flood, and the establishment of a privatized homeland security apparatus after 9-11 are all examples, she says.
When a population does resist the fire-sale of its public assets, Klein notes that the results tend to be disastrous for the resisters.

Feature: Doorways

http://www.sonyclassics.com/persepolis/

"Persepolis" is based on Satrapi's international bestselling graphic novel of the same name. The film opened in New York and L.A. on Dec. 25, earning a Golden Globe nomination for best foreign film, and honors from the New York Film Critics Circle and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. "TheShowBuzz.com's Nancy Ramsey

You've never seen anything like Persepolis--the intimacy of a memoir, the irresistibility of a comic book, and the political depth of a the conflict between fundamentalism and democracy. Marjane Satrapi may have given us a new genre."
--Gloria Steinem



ON WRITING PERSEPOLIS
By Marjane Satrapi, as told to Pantheon staff (http://www.randomhouse.com/pantheon/graphicnovels/satrapi2.html)

Chances are that if you are an American you know very little about the 1979 Iranian Revolution. "This revolution was normal, and it had to happen," says Marjane Satrapi, author of Persepolis, a totally unique memoir about growing up in Iran after the Shah left power. "Unfortunately, it happened in a country where people were very traditional, and other countries only saw the religious fanatics who made their response public." In her graphic novel, Satrapi, shows readers that these images do not make up the whole story about Iran. Here, she talks freely about what it was like to tell this story with both words and pictures, and why she is so proud of the result.
Why I Wrote Persepolis
From the time I came to France in 1994, I was always telling stories about life in Iran to my friends. We'd see pieces about Iran on television, but they didn't represent my experience at all. I had to keep saying, "No, it's not like that there." I've been justifying why it isn't negative to be Iranian for almost twenty years. How strange when it isn't something I did or chose to be?
What I Wanted to Say
I'm a pacifist. I believe there are ways to solve the world's problems. Instead of putting all this money to create arms, I think countries should invest in scholarships for kids to study abroad. Perhaps they could become good and knowledgeable professors in their own countries. You need time for that kind of change though.
I have been brought up open-minded. If I didn't know any people from other countries, I'd think everyone was evil based on news stories. But I know a lot of people, and know that there is no such thing as stark good and evil. Isn't it possible there is the same amount of evil everywhere?
If people are given the chance to experience life in more than one country, they will hate a little less. It's not a miracle potion, but little by little you can solve problems in the basement of a country, not on the surface. That is why I wanted people in other countries to read Persepolis, to see that I grew up just like other children.
It's so rewarding to see people at my book signings who never read graphic novels. They say that when they read mine they became more interested. If it opens these people's eyes not to believe what they hear, I feel successful.


Sunday, December 30, 2007

Feature: Crossroads


deep words during sad times from Gather the Women... This is such a tragedy.
A women cloaked in Courage.
http://www.gatherthewomen.org/gtw/index.htm


Now is the time

Dear Women of the World,

We are clearly entering a time when each of us is being asked to hold the human family in our tender care. Whether that holding is required in our personal lives or in the global theatre, the nurturance that is the biological heritage of women everywhere is sorely needed.

Yesterday, via our global nervous system, we witnessed the murder of a courageous Pakistani woman, Benazir Bhutto, who came forward to make a difference. Coming as it does at this time of the year, her death seems a talisman of what is to come as the world faces its issues and crises. Many of us can feel the choice as it presents itself to us in this moment… to turn toward fear, or to continue to believe in a positive future for us all.

Let us take the season to reaffirm our love for each other and for humanity, to join together in family and community wherever we are, however we may, and affirm our commonalities… the inherent value of our children, the beauty and abundance of nature, the love of life itself.

Now is the time more than ever to master our personal conflicts, to love deeply and whole-heartedly, to gather together and support each other as we seek to turn our crises into opportunities for change. We invite you to join us in holding a field of compassion and nurturance for humanity, today and throughout the coming year... to stretch beyond fear into the truth of who we are... one interconnected human family.

With deep appreciation for the many women everywhere who trust that human beings will overcome our local and global difficulties, with love and greatness and deep compassion for one another,
Clare, Jeanie, Joy and Marilyn at Gather the Women Global Matrix

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Feature: Doorways

The tireless efforts of some, afford enormous gains for others.....Witness people who truly give a damn about what this country is about.

May my fellow Americans see the difference.

Cheers to Code Pink for bringing in peace, hope and joy this season..............

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Feature: Doorways


HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE.....



Following is a written piece by a truly amazing Botanist & Women & healer...Bronwen Gates PhD. You can learn more about her & her gifts @ http://faerieflowers.com/index.html


Dear Friends, Colleagues, Clients, co-adventurers on the journey of life.

Solstice Greetings.

I love these points of turning of the Wheel of the Year, the Solstices and Equinoxes.

I love the way the door opens and closes, a regular punctuation.

And I love the opportunity they offer for reflection, for making new choices and decisions, and for reaffirming existing decisions. The Winter Solstice is such a lovely time when we are buoyed by the awakening of hope within us, seemingly against all odds and reason as we find our selves in winter’s depths. Yet already the light returns.

We receive the gifts honoring the new growth occurring, holding space for the miraculous, so mirrored for us in the Christmas story

We take a moment to welcome Wonder and Delight into our midst.

My very warmest wishes to each of you and your families and loved ones at this Season of Rebirth and Renewal.

May you receive in abundance the Blessings of the Solstice Renewal…

Bronwen

More about the Solstice Portal:

Solstice is a Sacred Portal, a doorway. Today it begins to open, opening to its fullest at 1:08 am, in the wee hours of Saturday morning. It is a doorway that opens into the Future that awaits you, that you have chosen, are choosing, can choose - the Future waiting to be born.

Take some time to think about these questions that are written in your heart:

What is your greatest desire?

Read it in your heart; write it down or tell it to the stars.

What are your most heartfelt wishes for yourself, and those you love – and for this earth that we all share?

Write them down.

Breathe life into them.

Make them glow.

Keep them in a safe place, safe and sacred….

Plant these seed-dreams now with your imagination, or see them already planted, in the New beyond the Portal. Then invite the Guardian of the Gateway to bring to your dream-seeds only those energies that will nourish them and bring them to fruition.

Invite and allow the sorting and sifting, the celebratory burials, so that those energies that could create stillbirth of your dream-seeds can be composted and transformed, and their energy returned to you as nourishment beyond the Portal.

Ask for help in throwing out the garbage – call on the helpers of your Seen and Unseen Worlds to sort and sift, discard and compost. Get an energy-dumpster, fill it, and let it be carted away to be recycled, re-engineered, and returned to you as pure energy on the other side of the Portal.

Breathe Gratitude.

And as you pass through the Portal, open to this New that is only now being born…

And sleep content knowing the work is done.

Solstice Blessings indeed,

Bronwen

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Feature: Crossroads

It has been a week since I have posted...its the busy season for sure....I have sat and listened to the atrocities committed on American democracy all week.... I guess I could not decide which story deserved my immediate attention, there were so many....from CIA destroying tapes, to Telecoms immunity, to New Orleans demolitions, to Bush & cronies howlings at the flag....

The slew of fascist-dictatorial activity originating at the highest levels of government since 2000 are just now being embryonically realized...what average American citizens are witness to today.....is just the surface of deep inroads laid down by severely disturbed, democracy loathing, Neo-Cons of this new American century....the list is long and unrelenting.....As the people prepare for the start of a new year, may we have courage to open our eyes and see the truth , may we have strength to fight for our freedoms and liberties, & may we have the perseverance to put the "actual" terrorists on trial. These actions would be genuinely patriotic.
May we be Awake and in-ACTION mode in 2008.

Below a list posted by the excellent and savy journalists
By AlterNet Staff, AlterNet.

Posted December 14, 2007.
over at : http://alternet.org/
In certain ways, the Rights & Liberties Top 10 list is the most depressing of the year. Nevertheless it demonstrates why consistent and critical media coverage is crucial for beating back the erosion of our basic freedoms. And it should give us hope for the new year, for as many problems the conservative stranglehold has created in our present, we have the power, and the knowledge, to shape the future.

10. Disappeared: Five Years in Guantanamo
by Lou Dubose, The Washington Spectator

In 2001, 19-year-old Murat Kurnaz was an innocent man caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Accused of being a terrorist, he spent five years in Guantanamo before being released -- now he's telling his story.

9. America Gone Wrong: A Slashed Safety Net Turns Libraries into Homeless Shelters
by Chip Ward, Tomdispatch.com
A dirty little secret about America is that public libraries have become de facto daytime shelters for the nation's street people while librarians are increasingly our unofficial social workers for the homeless and mentally disturbed.

8. Life in Solitary Confinement: 12,775 Days Alone
by Brooke Shelby Biggs, AlterNet
Americans shamefully imagine that spending a life sentence in solitary confinement could only happen in faraway countries. But two men in Louisiana's Angola prison know otherwise.

7. The War on Drugs Is Really a War on Minorities
by Arianna Huffington, Los Angeles Times
Democratic presidential candidates crave the Latino and black vote, but ignore the Drug War's unfair toll on people of color.

6. In Violation of Federal Law, Ohio's 2004 Presidential Election Records Are Destroyed or Missing
by Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet
In 56 of Ohio's 88 counties, ballots and election records from 2004 have been "accidentally" destroyed, despite a federal order to preserve them -- it was crucial evidence which would have revealed whether the election was stolen.

5. The 'Silent' Ninth Amendment Gives Americans Rights They Don't Know They Have
by Daniel A. Farber, Basic Books
The First Amendment right of free speech and the Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination are well-known, but the Ninth Amendment is ignored. Pity, because it bears directly on abortion, the right to die and gay rights.

4. Is a Presidential Coup Under Way?
by Jim Hightower, Hightower Lowdown
The Constitution is being trampled and nothing less than American democracy itself is endangered -- a presidential coup is taking place. Where is Congress?

3. Don't We Have a Constitution, Not a King?
by Marjorie Cohn, AlterNet
Bush has issued a directive that would place all governmental powers in his hands in the case of a catastrophic emergency. If a terrorist attack happens before the 2008 election, could Bush and Cheney use this to avoid relinquishing power to a successor administration?

2. The End of America? Naomi Wolf Thinks It Could Happen
by Don Hazen, AlterNet
An interview with author Naomi Wolf, whose new book, "The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot," may confirm your worries about democracy in America.

1. The Rise of Christian Fascism and Its Threat to American Democracy
by Chris Hedges, Truthdig
We must attend to growing social and economic inequities in order to stop the most dangerous mass movement in American history -- or face a future of fascism under the guise of Christian values.



Monday, December 10, 2007

Feature: Shifters

The New Moon rose in Sagittarius, the Archer, yesterday :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"where are you going"?

"what truths do you seek?


"what do you see when in the dark"?
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

“Out beyond the ideas of wrong doing and right doing there is a field. I will meet you there.” Rumi

http://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?id=32

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Feature: Crossroads

Congressman John Conyers from Michigan has an important message:
In recent weeks, there has been lot of conflicting information floating around about efforts by House Democrats to protect the country by adopting rules for intelligence gathering that are both flexible and constitutional.
This week, President Bush suggested that my legislative alternative to this summer's hastily-enacted Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) reform, the "Protect America Act," would take away important tools from our intelligence community.
He characterized as "obstruction" the skepticism that many of us have about granting amnesty to telecommunications carriers who may have cooperated in warrantless surveillance. I was disappointed that the President did not propose any concrete steps to improve our capabilities or protect our freedoms -- he just repeated his demand for immunity.
I believe that it is time for a comprehensive and detailed response to the President's accusations of obstruction, the misinformation in the Time Magazine column, and the debate over warrantless surveillance. Below is that response. Please let me know what you think, and feel free to pass along to your friends and colleagues. Joe Klein's recent column deriding the House-passed FISA legislation, along with his subsequent stumbling efforts to clarify its intent, and Time Magazine's failure to publish the protests my Democratic colleagues and I had regarding its many inaccuracies are only the most recent manifestation of disinformation put forth concerning the Bush Administration's warrantless surveillance program and legislative efforts to modify the law.
As the lead author, along with Silvestre Reyes, of the RESTORE Act, allow me to set the record straight once and for all.First, contrary to GOP and media spin, the RESTORE Act does not grant "terrorists the same rights as Americans." Section 105A of the RESTORE Act explicitly provides that foreign-to-foreign communications are totally exempt from FISA – clearly, this exception for foreigners such as members of Al Qaeda does not apply to Americans. In cases involving foreign agents where communications with Americans could be picked up, Section 105B of the legislation provides for liberalized "basket warrant" procedures by which entire terrorist organizations can be surveilled without the need to obtain individual warrants from the FISA court. Again, this new authority is aimed at foreign terrorists, not Americans.
Mr. Klein appears to base much of his criticism of our bill on our use of the term "person" to describe who may be surveilled, based on the suggestion of a Republican "source" that this risks an interpretation that terrorist groups would not be covered. The truth is that under FISA the term person has been clearly defined for almost thirty years to include "any group, entity, association, corporation, or foreign power." It is also notable that both the RESTORE Act, and the Administration's bill passed this summer, contain the exact same language that Mr. Klein questions, yet we've never heard an objection to the Administration's bill on this score. Second, I must strongly disagree with Mr. Klein's assertion that the Speaker "quashed ... a bipartisan [compromise] effort." As the Chairman of the Committee with principal jurisdiction over FISA, the House Judiciary Committee, I am aware of no effort to prevent bipartisan compromise on this issue. As a matter of fact, last summer, beginning in July, Democrats tirelessly negotiated with Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Mike McConnell, to develop consensus legislation to address the Administration's stated concerns about our intelligence capability. We addressed every one of the concerns Mr. McConnell raised.
He said he needed to clarify that a court order was not required for foreign-to-foreign communications -- our bill did just that. McConnell said he needed an assurance that telecommunications companies would be compelled to assist in gathering of national security information – our bill did that. The DNI said he needed provisions to extend FISA to foreign intelligence in addition to terrorism – the bill did that. He asked us to eliminate the requirement that the FISA Court adjudicate how recurring communications to the United States from foreign targets would be handled – the bill did that. McConnell insisted that basket warrants be structured to allow additional targets to be added after the warrant was initially approved – again, the bill did that. When this legislation was described to DNI McConnell, he acknowledged that "it significantly enhances America's security.'' Yet, suddenly, on the eve of the vote, Director McConnell withdrew his support after consultation with the White House. If the media wanted to identify over-the-top partisanship, they could begin by citing the declaration of David Addington, Vice President Cheney's Chief of Staff, that "We're one bomb away from getting rid of that obnoxious FISA Court," and DNI McConnell's assertion that by merely having an open debate on surveillance, "some Americans are going to die." Third, the RESTORE Act legislation is badly needed to provide accountability to the Bush Administration's unilateral approach to surveillance. The warrantless surveillance program has been riddled with deceptions that only began to come to light when The New York Times first disclosed the existence of the program in 2005. The program itself appears to directly violate FISA and the Fourth Amendment, as a federal court, the non-partisan Congressional Research Service, numerous Republican legislators, and independent legal scholars have found. The Administration has also mischaracterized the existence, degree, extent and nature of the program itself as well as how much information it has shared with Congress. For instance, compare the President's speech in 2004 with his admission that there was indeed a program of warrantless surveillance. When high-ranking DOJ officials found the program lacking, the White House went to absurd, if not comical lengths, to convince a dangerously ill and hospitalized Attorney General Ashcroft to overrule them. Even today, the Administration continues to obscure its own past misconduct with extravagant claims that the "state secrets" doctrine bars any legal challenges whatsoever - a position that has been rejected by the Court of Appeals. The Administration's hastily enacted legislation, signed this summer, is little better. Instead of being limited to the stated problem of foreign-to-foreign electronic surveillance, it could apply to domestic business records, library files, personal mail, and even searches of our homes.Against that backdrop, it is clear we need a new law with the critical oversight provisions included in the RESTORE Act, such as requiring the Administration to turn over relevant documents to Congress, mandating periodic Inspector General reports, and acknowledging that the Administration is indeed bound by FISA. Finally, the Administration has yet to explain why offering retroactive immunity to telephone giants who may have participated in an unlawful program is vital to our national security. Under current law, the phone companies can easily avoid liability if they can establish they received either an appropriate court order or legal certification from the Attorney General. Asking Congress to grant legal immunity at a time when the Administration has refused to provide the House of Representatives with relevant legal documents for more than eleven months is not only unreasonable, it is irresponsible. Civil liberties and national security need not be contradictory policies, rather they are inexorably linked. Perhaps nowhere is this interrelationship more true than in intelligence gathering, where information must be reliable and untainted by abuse to be useful. So when we discuss FISA, the first thing we need to do is drop the partisan rhetoric, and stick to the actual record. Under the RESTORE Act, the intelligence community has the flexibility to intercept communications by foreign terrorists without obtaining individual warrants, and the Court and Congress are given the authority to perform their constitutional oversight roles. The only parties who lose in this process are the terrorists, and those who want the executive branch to have absolute and unreviewable power. Rather than being, in Mr. Klein's words, "well beyond stupid," the RESTORE Act offers a smart and well balanced approach to updating FISA and reining in the excesses of an unchecked executive branch.
Your Friend, John Conyers, Jr.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Feature: Crossroads

Each day something offensive is spewed from the highest/most powerful levels of government in this country. If "We the People" can not see the writing on the wall, then "We the People" need to be checked for blindness. There is a re-distribution of wealth going on in America; taking the taxed money from the hard working and putting this money in the pockets of the corporate and the elite......cs



Full Story below can also be found @ http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/8911
Feeding Off the Pentagon - Winkenwerder Lands $800 Million Contract
by: Mark Benjamin Salon Magazine Dec 06, 2007

December 4, 2007 - In April 2007, William Winkenwerder Jr. retired from his position as assistant secretary for health affairs at the Department of Defense, where he had been in charge of all military healthcare. On June 1, he went to work for a Wisconsin-based private contractor named Logistics Health Inc., which hired him to serve on its board of directors and "advise and counsel LHI on business development," according to a company press release. It was a hire that seems to have paid quick dividends.
On June 13, 2007, the Department of Defense began accepting bids for a contract to give soldiers medical and dental exams before they head off to war. Logistics Health was among the companies bidding on the contract, which was worth hundreds of millions of dollars over four years. Before he left the DOD, in addition to running military healthcare, Winkenwerder had also been in charge of the office that wrote the contract.
On Sept. 25, Logistics Health won the contract despite bidding $800 million, meaning it was not the low bidder. At least one other company bid $100 million less.

After objections by competing companies, the contract has now been "stayed," or put on hold, while the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, evaluates those complaints. At least one firm alleging unfair bidding practices has also asked congressional watchdog Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., to investigate.
But the contract may still be awarded to Logistics Health; the GAO will issue a decision by Jan. 14. The contract, which at one time was also going to benefit a second firm with its own revolving door to the federal government, exemplifies the culture of cronyism in privatized military healthcare. Military healthcare is a lucrative wartime bazaar for private contractors that is largely free of oversight -- and of Halliburton- or Blackwater-size headlines.
You might remember William Winkenwerder from earlier this year. While still at the Pentagon and responsible for military healthcare, he expressed shock at reports in the Washington Post on neglect of outpatients at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, even though Salon had reported the same neglect two years earlier.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Monday, December 3, 2007

Feature: Shifters

New Moons, Mercury Retrogrades for 2008

this article has been re-printed with kind permission of the author, Michele Lessirard at the New Moon Journal, http://www.newmoonjournal.com

Sky events for 2008Here are the upcoming New Moons and retrograde periods for 2008. Pluto enters Capricorn in January for the first time in 230 years. Expect a shift and track your energy at each lunation.

Each New Moon is a conception point for planting seed thoughts-a new idea or stating a decree. There is an energetic doorway present at the new moon, we stand at the threshold wondering and dreaming. Some go to sleep, numb out and forget to dream. Sometimes it's hard waking up from this deep sleep. It can be scary. I honor that. What I suggest is just play with the SoulCollage® process, one new moon at a time...

Don’t worry about ’knowing’ astrology and the signs, feel into the energies. The New Moon SoulCollage® process is about soaking up the energies on an intuitive level. Finding the mystery of you in bits of paper and glue. To stay informed subscribe [on the left hand sidebar] to the New Moon Journal.

Feature: Doorways

Greg Palast, one of a very few REAL journalists!!
Bush: If it’s our oil, why do Venezuelans get to vote on it?The Family Bush can fix Florida. They can fix Ohio. But it’s just driving them crazy that they can’t fix the vote in Venezuela.
Why is the Bush crew so bonkers about Hugo? Is it because Venezuela sits on the world’s largest reserve of coconuts?Like Operation Iraqi Liberation (”OIL”) - it’s all about the crude, dude. And lots of it. The US Department of Energy documents I obtained indicate that the guys holding Bush’s dipstick figure that Venezuela is sitting on 1.36 trillion barrels of crude, five times the reserves of Saudi Arabia.
Chavez’ continuing tenure means that Venezuelans’ huge supply of oil will now be in the hands of … Venezuelans!
Big Oil has better ideas for Venezuela, best expressed in several Wall Street Journal. Chavez has committed other crimes in Washington’s eyes. Not only has this uppity brown man spent Venezuela’s oil wealth in Venezuela, he withdrew $20 billion from the US Federal Reserve.
Weirdly, Venezuela’s previous leaders, though the nation was dirt poor, lent billions to the US Treasury on crap terms. Chavez has said, Basta! Oh, and did I mention that Chavez told Exxon it had to pay more than a 1% royalty to his nation on the heavy crude the company extracted?And that’s why they have to kill him.
In 2002, The New York Times sickeningly applauded the coup d’etat against Chavez. But that failed. Therefore, as the electorate of Venezuela is obstinately refusing to vote as Condi Rice tells them, there’s only one solution left for democracy-loving Bush-niks, the view express out loud by our President’s spiritual advisor, Pat Robertson: We have this enemy to our south controlling a huge pool of oil. Hugo Chavez thinks we’re trying to assassinate him. I think we ought to go ahead and do it. … … We don’t need another $200 billion war … It’s a whole lot easier to have some covert operatives do the job.”
I don’t agree with everything Chavez does. And I’ve found some of his opponents’ point well taken. But unlike Bush, I don’t think I should have a veto over the Venezuelan vote. articles attacking Chavez for spending his nation’s oil wealth on “social programs” rather than on more drilling platforms to better fill the SUVs of Texas. to this game, and has called for keeping South America’s capital in … South America! Oh, no! In Orwellian Bush-speak and Times-talk, Chavez’ referendum was portrayed before the vote as a trick, a kind of “Saddam goes Latin.” Maybe their real fear is that Chavez has brought a bit of economic justice through the ballot box, a trend that could spread northward. Think about it: Chavez is funding full health care for all Venezuelans. What if that happened here?
http://www.gregpalast.com/fear-of-chavez-is-fear-of-democracy/

Full Power

The power of hope exists in the most unlikely places.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Feature: Shifters

Check out this site....real news.....real deal.

This week’s Ring of Fire, hosted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mike Papantonio & John Morgan:

Saturdays at 3 o’clock Eastern, rebroadcasts Sunday nights at 8 pm Eastern

Ken Silverstein from Harper’s magazine has a very interesting story on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Alberto Mora, retired general counsel of the United States Navy tells us why he spoke out against prisoner abuse.

Vanity Fair’s David Rose gives us the facts in "People vs. the Profiteers" – Profits before people is the topic of his latest article for the magazine on the gross abuses by the Halliburton defense contractor spin-off, KBR.

We’re discussing Bob Dylan today with Academy award-winner Murray Lerner, who produced and directed the new film, The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan Live At The Newport Folk Festival 1963-1965.

And Greg Palast has his exclusive on the oil and gas company, Chevron, and its criminal behavior in Ecuador.

Find us at http://www.ringoffireradio.com/ and http://goleft.tv/

Hear selected segments of the show during the week on Air America’s CLOUT, hosted by Richard Greene.


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