Sunday, February 26, 2012

Brick TeeVee's GOP War on Everything!


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GOP War on Everything We've covered the American Legislative Exchange Council ALEC, The Koch Brothers, Blackwater (nee Xe nee Academi), the proselytizing in the USAF at Mikey Weinstein's MilitaryReligiousFreedom.org, The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, K Street and you know about turd blossom's secret donor group American Crossroads, the Club for Growth, Grover Norquist's "drown government in a bathtub" Americans for Tax Reform and the "think" tanks like CATO, Hoover, Hudson, "New Pearl Harbor" Project for the New American Century PNAC, American Enterprise Institute and the biggie America Israel Political Action Committee, AIPAC and the slew of Christian Evangelical groups too long to list here including the Catholic Church. We take a break from the global economic chaos this week (see Max below on these updates) to focus on the synergy of these right-wing organizations. As the GOPher Primary Circus drags on yet another week we've heard some absolutely astonishing things coming out of the pie-holes of these troglodytes like Sanitarium suger-daddy Foster Freiss stunning Andrea Mitchell with "In my day they used Bayer aspirin for contraceptions. The gals put it between their knees and it wasn’t that costly." Andrea Mitchell’s reaction to Foster Freiss’ comment? Priceless. (Video at link to mediaite.com if you missed it.) From workers' rights to women's rights the American Taliban are trying to drag all of us into the 12th century, in words and action.
We urge you to read Pennies from heaven: How Mormon economics shape the G.O.P by Chris Lehmann at Harper's (October 2011 Edition). Here's just a very small snip: Amid all the high-flying fund-raising and culture-war choreography, it’s easy to mistake the Mormons for just one more conservative interest group—something akin to, say, the Business Roundtable, with a robust “values” agenda. But the church’s real gift to the right has been its sense of persecution and embattled faith. Of course, these have been key ingredients of the conservative coalition since the evangelical right first stirred to life with Reagan’s 1980 landslide. Yet the old religious right was always a skeptical partner in its shotgun marriage with business conservatism. Fundamentalists found consumer capitalism, with its loose morals and easy credit, a hard pill to swallow. Meanwhile, free-market boosters resigned themselves to buying off senior evangelicals with lobbying dosh—as Jack Abramoff did in his unholy alliance with Ralph Reed—and cynically pledging, in each new campaign cycle, to stomp out the mortal threats of gay marriage and abortion on demand. Something, in other words, had to give. And in the aftermath of the debt-ceiling brinkmanship, we are now beginning to apprehend just what that something is....
Along those lines in Dick Cheney's home state Wyoming House advances doomsday bill (Wyoming Trib.com) CHEYENNE — State representatives on Friday advanced legislation to launch a study into what Wyoming should do in the event of a complete economic or political collapse in the United States. House Bill 85 passed on first reading by a voice vote. It would create a state-run government continuity task force, which would study and prepare Wyoming for potential catastrophes, from disruptions in food and energy supplies to a complete meltdown of the federal government. The task force would look at the feasibility of Wyoming issuing its own alternative currency, if needed. And House members approved an amendment Friday by state Rep. Kermit Brown, R-Laramie, to have the task force also examine conditions under which Wyoming would need to implement its own military draft, raise a standing army, and acquire strike aircraft and an aircraft carrier.... AIRCRAFT CARRIER? In WYOMING? Huh? Next we go to David Sirota at Salon who explains The danger of an endless GOP primary Among progressive friends and colleagues of mine, there seems to be a consensus that the longer the Republican presidential primary continues the better for progressives. The idea is that Republican infighting weakens the ultimate nominee and exposes just how radical all of the GOP candidates are. As the domino theory goes, that will help more Americans see the ugly truth about what the Republican Party really is, which will subsequently convince more Americans to vote against the GOP, which will eventually force the GOP to moderate its politics. Straightforward as this hypothesis is, I don’t buy it — I believe the longer the Republican primary battle continues, the more the GOP’s most extreme proposals are given a mainstream platform, the more their ideas are granted public credibility and the more conservative propaganda is invisibly woven into our most basic political assumptions. In other words, I believe in the Goldwater Principle, which suggests that while the eventual nominee may fail to win the cycle’s general election, the elongated nomination contest — with its news cycle dominance and hardcore ideological edge — will help permanently shift the supposed mainstream “center” of our public debate to the fringe right..... Read all of Sirota's piece - he's on to something! Of course one big thing the GOPhers are hammering on now is the high gasloine prices at the pump, all without any basis of facts behind their attacks, as usual. Alex Seitz-Wald at the ThinkProgress Economy Desk points out Blame Oil Speculators, Not Obama, For Rising Oil Prices ... Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) "instructed fellow Republicans to embrace the gas-pump anger," while Rick Santorum conspiratorially claimed Obama is intentionally pushing up prices to cut carbon emissions. Not to be outdone, Newt Gingrich released a 30-minute video today about how "the Obama administration is so anti-oil" that they’ve forced the price of gas to go up. But there’s little truth to claims that Obama has curbed U.S. oil production and driven up gas prices in the process. As NPR noted this morning, the number of drilling rigs in U.S. oil fields has quadrupled under Obama and domestic oil production hit an 8-year high in 2011. For the first time in 60 years, the U.S. is now a net fuel exporter. Oil demand was actually down 4.6 percent last week over last year, while the supply of gasoline has actually increased slightly since a year ago. So why are gas prices so high? As McClatchy’s Kevin Hall explains today, there is a systemic problem: speculation. ... Then Jocelyn Fong at Media Matters explains What Reporters Are Getting Wrong About Gas Prices This tolerance for unsubstantiated claims about gas prices is part of a larger pattern among many news outlets: In an effort to capture the political argument of the day, journalists often miss the larger, more interesting, and more important story. What is the origin and the nature of our problem with gas prices? What can we do about it? Who supports and opposes those solutions? Who benefits from the status quo? If reporters aren't framing their gas price coverage around these questions, they're serving someone -- but it's not the public. ..... The issue of Keystone XL is not the first time mainstream reporters have been complicit in a public discourse over gasoline prices that is riddled with misconceptions. Last spring when prices eventually rose to near-record levels, Republicans and conservative media blamed the Obama administration's temporary deep water drilling moratorium enacted after the devastating BP oil spill in the Gulf. Reporters from the New York Times, Associated Press, the Wall Street Journal, NPR, CNN, among others, provided the same he-said/she-said coverage we're seeing now....
WAR ON SCIENCE: Attacks paid for by big business are 'driving science into a dark era' reports science editor Robin McKie at The Observer Most scientists, on achieving high office, keep their public remarks to the bland and reassuring. Last week Nina Fedoroff, the president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), broke ranks in a spectacular manner. She confessed that she was now "scared to death" by the anti-science movement that was spreading, uncontrolled, across the US and the rest of the western world. "We are sliding back into a dark era," she said. "And there seems little we can do about it. I am profoundly depressed at just how difficult it has become merely to get a realistic conversation started on issues such as climate change or genetically modified organisms." ... As Fedoroff pointed out, university and government researchers are hounded for arguing that rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are changing the climate. Their emails are hacked while Facebook campaigns call for their dismissal from their posts, calls that are often backed by rightwing politicians. At the last Republican party debate in Florida, Rick Santorum insisted he should be the presidential nominee simply because he had cottoned on earlier than his rivals Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney to the "hoax" of global warming. .... These institutions, acting as covers for major energy corporations, are responsible for the onslaught that has deeply lowered the reputation of science in many people's minds in America. This has come in the form of personal attacks on the reputations of scientists and television adverts that undermine environment laws. The Environmental Protection Agency, which is responsible for blocking mining and drilling proposals that might harm threatened species or habitats, has become a favourite target. .... n general, the worst excesses of the anti-science lobbies are confined to the US. However, there are signs that their influence is spreading, and that raises worrying issues, said Bob Ward of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change, in London. "In coming years, we will have to ask ourselves if public policies should be based on the advice of experts who have carried out robust and rigorous analysis of the evidence, or if they should be guided by lobbyists who appear driven by narrow ideological dogma. "The answer may seem obvious, but we should be aware of the efforts being made in the UK to promote ideology over rational evidence-based decision-making, particularly when it comes to climate issues," said Ward. Just how this rise of anti-science antagonism pans out in the end remains unclear.....
Here's one brought to our attention by HeadOnRadio's Bob Kincaid (see Thorn-in-the-Side Thursday below for Bob's take) Big Greenwashing 101 Red Emma at EarthFirstNews: Greenwashing—[a compound word modeled on "whitewash"] a form of spin in which green PR or green marketing is deceptively used to promote the perception that a company’s policies or products are environmentally friendly. John Muir must be rolling over in his grave. The organization he founded in 1892, the Sierra Club, America’s oldest and largest environmental group, have been in cahoots with the worst of the worst corporations in recent years. They’ve been paid tens of millions of dollars by the fossil fuel industry, tyrannical billionaire mayors and Wall Street in exchange for cleaning (and greening) up their public images. Not only have they acted as a green public relations firm for the bastions of wealth and power, but have also sold out frontline communities most impacted by extractive industry. Corporations rule our world with an unyielding iron fist. They poison and literally explode local communities with fracking and mountaintop removal. They profit off of dirty extractive industry with multi-billion investments. They empower a police state to repress democratic people’s movements drawing a line in the sand against Corporate America. But they also insidiously mitigate the power of grassroots resistance movements with a complicit non-profit industrial complex. Most environmental non-profits actively serve as a buffer zone between our people’s movements seeking real change and a corporate state hell bent on sucking every last bit out of the planet and its people before the impending ecological collapse. ... Sadly, the Sierra Club which boasts a democratic governance system and a healthy grassroots base of local chapters have become part of the corporate world’s equation for control. They’ve partnered with, and been funded by, natural gas corporations to promote gas as a “bridge fuel.” They’ve taken large donations from New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg even as he’s attacked labor unions and Occupy Wall Street (OWS) and released his racist police force to harass and demonize the Muslim community. They’ve even been business partners with the worst of the worst Wall Street banks, Bank of America, in greenwashing schemes to repair the bank’s damaged public image to the environmental community. ..... Despite publicly touting their role in shutting down hundreds of coal fired power plants, the Sierra Club continues a long standing financial relationship with the largest funder of coal in the US—Bank of America. The Sierra Club greenwashes Bank of America through an “affinity schemes.” An affinity scheme is a crafty public relations scheme where environmental organizations have their members get green branded credit cards through Bank of America. With every purchase, they make a donation to a good cause, a small profit for Bank of America and a public image coup for a bank under fire from everything to foreclosures to mountaintop removal to massive employee layoffs. The Sierra Club is far from alone in this scam; Credo Mobile/Working Assets, Defenders of Wildlife, The Nature Conservancy, National Wildlife Foundation and The Wilderness Society all have Bank of America affinity schemes. According to Rainforest Action Network, Bank of America has the biggest portfolio of coal projects that harm public health and destroy the climate. In 2009-2010, the coal industry received $3.9 billion in underwriting and corporate loans from Bank of America. It is involved in every step of the coal cycle. It regularly underwrites billions to the industry, including hundreds of millions of dollars in loans to Arch Coal and Peabody Energy—the two biggest coal mining companies in the country. They also underwrite billions every year to coal-heavy utility corporations, such as Southern Company and Edison International. They are also the largest forecloser of homes in US and have laid-off tens of thousands of employees in recent years.... It's hard to fathom The Sierra Club is a leading Greenwasher! Read the whole story! And our own msgeaux piles on with this Bill Gates: We Need Genetically Modified Seeds (Common Dreams staff ) At a forum of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Rome today, Microsoft founder Bill Gates pressed the need for genetically modified seeds in the developing world, and the need for a "digital revolution" to meet the needs of the world's farmers. Gates' claims that genetically modified crops double or triple smaller farmers' yields have been challenged by recent research. Agence France-Presse reports:
    "We have to think hard about how to start taking advantage of the digital revolution that is driving innovation including in farming," the U.S. billionaire philanthropist said in a speech at the UN rural poverty agency IFAD in Rome. "If you care about the poorest, you care about agriculture. We believe that it's possible for small farmers to double and in some cases even triple their yields in the next 20 years while preserving the land," Gates said. [...]
....As John Vidal reported for the Guardian, the claims that genetically modified seeds can increase gains have been challenged by research:
    Genetic engineering has failed to increase the yield of any food crop but has vastly increased the use of chemicals and the growth of "superweeds", according to a report by 20 Indian, south-east Asian, African and Latin American food and conservation groups representing millions of people. (These statistics fly in the face of the Monsanto story-line propaganda, btw. -Ed.)
And a 2009 report from the Union of Concerned Scientists showed that genetically modified seeds failed to increase yields in U.S. crops:
    Despite 20 years of research and 13 years of commercialization, genetic engineering has failed to significantly increase U.S. crop yields. ....In others words, not only can organic farming and ranching feed the world, but in fact it is the only way that we will ever be able to feed the world.”
.... Recent reports also show Gates behind climate engineering efforts, as he is among other wealthy individuals financially backing scientists to lobby governments to push geoengineering, raising concerns that this small group may have a large impact on further decisions on geoengineering.
GEOENGINEERING???? Yoikes! Yeah Bill Gates wants to rool the world too. Remember 60 Minutes item from a few years back A Visit To The Doomsday Vault? Over at GlobalResearch.ca F. William Engdahl debunks the whole story with a follow-the-money investigation Doomsday Seed Vault in the Arctic - Bill Gates, Rockefeller and the GMO giants know something we don’t .... So when Bill Gates decides through the Gates Foundation to invest some $30 million of their hard earned money in a project, it is worth looking at. No project is more interesting at the moment than a curious project in one of the world’s most remote spots, Svalbard. Bill Gates is investing millions in a seed bank on the Barents Sea near the Arctic Ocean, some 1,100 kilometers from the North Pole. Svalbard is a barren piece of rock claimed by Norway and ceded in 1925 by international treaty (see map). On this God-forsaken island Bill Gates is investing tens of his millions along with the Rockefeller Foundation, Monsanto Corporation, Syngenta Foundation and the Government of Norway, among others, in what is called the ‘doomsday seed bank.’ Officially the project is named the Svalbard Global Seed Vault on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, part of the Svalbard island group..... Did we miss something here? Their press release stated, ‘so that crop diversity can be conserved for the future.’ What future do the seed bank’s sponsors foresee, that would threaten the global availability of current seeds, almost all of which are already well protected in designated seed banks around the world? Anytime Bill Gates, the Rockefeller Foundation, Monsanto and Syngenta get together on a common project, it’s worth digging a bit deeper behind the rocks on Spitsbergen. When we do we find some fascinating things. The first notable point is who is sponsoring the doomsday seed vault. Here joining the Norwegians are, as noted, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; the US agribusiness giant DuPont/Pioneer Hi-Bred, one of the world’s largest owners of patented genetically-modified (GMO) plant seeds and related agrichemicals; Syngenta, the Swiss-based major GMO seed and agrichemicals company through its Syngenta Foundation; the Rockefeller Foundation, the private group who created the “gene revolution with over $100 million of seed money since the 1970’s; CGIAR, the global network created by the Rockefeller Foundation to promote its ideal of genetic purity through agriculture change. READ ON! Of course the whack-a-moles are not content with their War on Science and the entire planet's resources. The latest WAR ON WOMEN continues from the Religious Republican Right Ohio AG DeWine joins lawsuit against federal mandate violating religious liberty reports John Michael Spinelli at The Examiner So the announcement Thursday from AG Mike DeWine that he has joined attorneys general from six other states in a lawsuit against a federal mandate orchestrated by President Obama's Department of Justice, that challenges the new federal government mandate that requires religious organizations to provide insurance products and services that violate their religious beliefs, comes as no surprise. ... According to information supplied by agency communicators, the lawsuit, filed against the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Treasury, and Labor, alleges that the mandate, which requires employers to provide insurance covering abortifacients and contraceptives even if they object on religious grounds, violates the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act signed by President Bill Clinton in 1993. ... Ohio joins Nebraska, South Carolina, Michigan, Texas, Florida and Oklahoma, two individuals - Sister Mary Catherine and Stacy Molai - and three others - Catholic Social Services, Pius X Catholic High School and The Catholic Mutual Relief Society of America....
And whack-a-moles in Virginia thought they could pass a law that basically is government-sponsored forced rape and nobody would notice. Dahlia Lithwick at Slate reports Virginia’s Proposed Ultrasound Law Is an Abomination This week, the Virginia state Legislature passed a bill that would require women to have an ultrasound before they may have an abortion. Because the great majority of abortions occur during the first 12 weeks, that means most women will be forced to have a transvaginal procedure, in which a probe is inserted into the vagina, and then moved around until an ultrasound image is produced. Since a proposed amendment to the bill—a provision that would have had the patient consent to this bodily intrusion or allowed the physician to opt not to do the vaginal ultrasound—failed on 64-34 vote, the law provides that women seeking an abortion in Virginia will be forcibly penetrated for no medical reason. I am not the first person to note that under any other set of facts, that would constitute rape under the federal definition. What’s more, a provision of the law that has received almost no media attention would ensure that a certification by the doctor that the patient either did or didn’t “avail herself of the opportunity” to view the ultrasound or listen to the fetal heartbeat will go into the woman’s medical record. Whether she wants it there or not. I guess they were all out of scarlet letters in Richmond. ....... Of course, the bill is unconstitutional. The whole point of the new abortion bans is to force the Supreme Court to reverse Roe v. Wade. It’s unconstitutional to place an “undue burden” on a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy, although it’s anyone’s guess what, precisely, that means. One would be inclined to suspect, however, that unwanted penetration with a medical device violates either the undue burden test or the right to bodily autonomy. But that’s the other catch in this bill. Proponents seem to be of the view that once a woman has allowed a man to penetrate her body once, her right to bodily autonomy has ended. .... Whatever happens in the commonwealth, it’s fair to say it’s no accident that this week the Legislature also enacted a "personhood" law defining life as beginning at conception—a law that may someday criminalize contraception and some miscarriages as well as abortion. .... Kate Sheppard at Mother Jones picks up the ball and runs with it in Virginia Is for Zygote Personhood? ....On Tuesday, the Virginia House of Delegates passed a bill introduced by Delegate Bob Marshall (R-Prince William) by a 66-32 vote. The bill, like other "personhood" measures, would amend the definition of the word "person" under state law to include zygotes, thereby granting them legal rights. Amanda Peterson Beadle at ThinkProgress provides this update Virginia Governor Backs Off ‘State-Sponsored Rape’ Ultrasound Bill, Promises To ‘Review’ Measure Malloy chatter Blizzard Tomorrow points out Another State Joins The Republican Transvaginal War On Women by Sarah Jones at PoliticusUSA We women are told to relax about the War on Women, because of course, the fight is over. Virginia will not be shoving a state-mandated and medically unnecessary condom clad tranducer up every woman’s vaginal canal who wants an abortion. Wow, what a win. Not so fast. They’ve moved on to Pennsylvania now. While the national boys natter on about how birth control is evil on the GOP Presidential stage, their cohorts and whispered VP hopefuls (Virginia’s McDonnell) are busy trying to shove state mandated transvaginal ultra-sounds up women’s vaginas. Perhaps if you’ve never had a transvaginal ultrasound, this only sounds intrusive. But I can assure you, it is in fact often quite painful. Imagine you had a muscle that only opened to give birth and once a month to let the lining of your innards shred, both of which caused significant pain, the former being likened to passing a kidney stone but worse. ... The bonus of the transvaginal ultra sound is that it does require the stirrups and the spread legs that we realize excite many men; our vulnerability and humiliation is a pleasure to some of them. We know. We see the movies, the photographs, and now the legislation. This is your basic male domination porn legislation. No different. Perhaps you thought this fight was over, because the Virginia men were made a laughing stock for their willful ignorance. But no, this fight is far from over. Right now, a similar but even worse bill is poised to strike Pennsylvania women courtesy of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (HB1077). This one mandates that the image screen be turned toward the woman’s face, though she will be allowed to avert her eyes (so kind). 113 of the 203 representatives have already signed on to the bill . There are several alarming factors involved here: Much more at the link you need to read plus her stunning conclusion! Then at Salon Sarah Fister Gale explains Why Rick Santorum would have killed my daughter ... Rather than turning to my local politician for prenatal advice, I followed the guidance of my obstetrician, who sent me to a perinatologist, who recommended I have an amniocentesis. Because he had a medical degree and years of experience treating pregnant women, I followed his recommendation.... Read this gripping story in its entirety. More from Sick "The Dominionist" Sanitarium, this one from ThinkProgress Top Biblical Verses That Illustrate Why Rick Santorum is Out of Step with Christianity on Environmental Issues Expressing his interpretation of this passage at a campaign rally recently, Santorum explained that “we were put on this Earth as creatures of God to have dominion over the Earth…. We should not let the vagaries of nature destroy what we have helped create.” He also said that environmentalism is “a worldview that elevates the Earth above man and says that we can’t take those resources because we’re going to harm the Earth.” However, Santorum confuses this Genesis passage as a command for exploitation, extraction and waste — ...
Stephen D. Foster Jr. presents
The Top 15 Most Dangerous Conservative Politicians And Government Officials To Watch In 2012 From the Supreme Court to the halls of Congress to governor’s mansions across the country, conservatives have ruthlessly pushed an agenda that has torn America asunder since 1980. As 2011 comes to a close, conservatives are still trying to push failed policies. This is a list of 15 individual conservatives that pose a significant threat to American society as we move into 2012 and beyond. ...[1 - 15]... As America enters 2012, we need to keep a sharp eye on these dangerous conservatives and we must seek to unseat them, because if we don’t, we can expect another thirty years of failed policies that only benefit the wealthy and the conservative effort to rule America. .... Read on for the entire list featuring the R.A.T.S. of the SCOTUS. Of course these troglodyte whack-a-moles have been at this a long long time. Here's one from The Yurica Report from 2005 Blackwell’s Un-American Scheme: Under the Guise of “Character and Civic Renewal” Ohio State Foists a Religious Moral Code upon Its Citizens by Katherine Yurica. Then see this one about Rick "Good Hair" Perry also at Yurica from 2011 A Rather Large and Significant “Modest Proposal” When Gov. Rick Perry took the stage at his prayer rally, he introduced his close friend Alice Patterson, who is deeply involved in C. Peter Wagner's Leadership Institute, where she focuses on "racial healing" in order to get African Americans to leave the Democratic Party, because as she says, that party is "literally controlled by demonic spirits!" Similarly, Cindy Jacob's prophetic word that the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell triggered mass bird deaths but significantly, Rick Perry's Response prayer rally has gone further, it "healed the land of Texas from the curse of Native American cannibals!" We thought Edith Getwell's essay will show the world the benefits to our future American growth and development should these folks gain control over our government!
Retired Republican House and Senate staffer Mike Lofgren explains the difference between "right-wing" and "conservative" in The Right-Wing Id Unzipped at Truthout Although Mitt Romney used the word "conservative" 19 times in a short speech at the February 10, 2012, Conservative Political Action Conference, the audience he used this word to appeal to was not conservative by any traditional definition. It was right wing. Despite the common American practice of using "conservative" and "right wing" interchangeably, right wing is not a synonym for conservative and not even a true variant of conservatism - although the right wing will opportunistically borrow conservative themes as required. .... Who are these people and what motivates them? To answer, one must leave the field of conventional political theory and enter the realm of psychopathology. Three books may serve as field guides to the farther shores of American politics and the netherworld of the true believer.
Please read all of Lofgren's post. Here are the books he talks about.
• Max Blumenthal's Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement that shattered the party
• Bob Altemeyer's The Authoritarians FREE on line at the University of Manitoba
• Wilhelm Reich's "The Mass Psychology of Fascism" written in 1933 and unfortunately only obtainable in a stilted 1945 translation full of odd psychological jargon
And here are a few others you may want to pick up for deeper reading and study.
• Eric Fromm The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness
• Claudia Koonz Mothers in the Fatherland
• Professor Hannah Arendt The Origins of Totalitarianism
• John Dean Conservatives Without Conscience
The big buzzword coming out of the Right this week has been "SECULAR THEOCRACY" Our LAST WORD goes to Hrafnkell Haraldsson at PoliticusUSA (with plenty of videos)
Christian Right’s 2012 Meme: Atheist Dictatorship or Secular Theocracy (Or, How to Deflect Attention from a Santorum Theocracy) Look at the headline: this is increasingly the song sung by the proponents of theocracy in America. The first at least is a logical possibility: There are examples in history of atheist dictatorships – the Soviet Union and Communist China, for example (though these two are outnumbered somewhere on an order of magnitude by monotheistic – including Christian – theocracies). But the second is an impossibility: Secularism is not a religion but the separation between government and religious institutions and theocracy is by definition government by divine guidance. If America must suffer a theocracy it will be a Christian theocracy, and a Christian theocracy led by the very seem people predicting the “evils” of atheistic and secular rule. The oldest game in the book, of course, is to accuse the other guy of doing what you’re planning to do yourself as Hitler did in Germany, using the Communists and Jews as his foils. ..... Obviously, the United States is nowhere near being threatened by any “left-wing” dictatorship. The closest we have come to dictatorship was the Presidency of George W. Bush and that dictatorship would have taken the form of a Christian theocracy. We were very close. The threat was real and it remains real. Each and every time somebody says the Religious Right is dead it comes back stronger than ever. Look at Rick Santorum, who seems to think he is running for Pope of the United States rather than president. He says he does not intend to foist his beliefs on the rest of us but that is exactly what he is proposing nearly every time he opens his mouth. The threat of a Santorum presidency could not be more obvious.
Where Mitt Romney is concerned the kowtowing to the Religious Right is obviously more for show and they know that. As a Mormon, he will only ever be despised; Gingrich the serial adulterer also has very real problems in that department and Ron Paul carries with him too much libertarian (and anti-war) baggage to ever be embraced.
Ironically, Barack Obama is a Christian and very much a Christian-friendly president. He did virtually nothing upon taking office to roll back the Bush-era assault on the First Amendment. But he has two problems: he is black, and his theology smacks very much of the New, not the Old Testament. Claims that he is a radical leftist fall flat on their face: his policies are so moderate that he has even been identified as a moderate Republican by some analysts. And we have more accountability, more openness in government than at any time before 2001.
The possibility of an atheist or secular dictatorship of any type is virtually nil. Atheists are far from being a powerful demographic and contrary to fundamentalist fear-mongering don’t go in for forcing others to abide by their lack of belief, in contrast to the fundamentalists themselves. Secondly, secularism established this country through the U.S. Constitution, which should be seen as the highest development of the European Enlightenment. Secularism gave us modern democracy in place of theocracy.
But as with the tried and true “they’re coming for your guns” meme, fear mongering like this sells to the base. And you can bet that the more Santorum shills theocracy the more we’re going to hear about the dangers of left-wing dictatorship to deflect attention from fundamentalism’s love-child, the man who is the only real threat to our democracy in 2012: Rick Santorum.

As one would expect SANITARIUM appears as a legit guest on Meet the David and This Snufagopolis. The rest of the Sunday Beltway Bubalas concentrate on guvnors like the THIS WEEK cage match between MA's DEVAL PATRICK and MI's RICK SNYDER while Face the Bob goes with NJ's Chris Christie and MD's MARTIN O'MALLEY. Meet the David also gets AZ's Wicked Witch of the West JAN BREWER in a cage match against CA's JERRY "moonbeam" BROWN and State of the Candy goes with an equally compelling match-up of CO's JOHN HICKENLOOPER against WI's Evil SCOTT WALKER, the BTV Crew's fave Brick Target this week, since he's on borrowed time anyway what with his recall in full swing plus the "John Doe" Investigation basically just a great BRICK target. Lots more to click to below as well! Have a great Sunday and we'll see you next week!



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Democracy NOW!
»»» Jazz Legend Randy Weston @ Democracy NOW! Black History Special: Jazz Legend Randy Weston on His Life and Celebration of "African Rhythms" Feb 20, 2012
»»» Maali Mousa; Bill Van Esveld, researcher at Human Rights Watch; and Danny Morrison, a friend of the late Irish republican activist Bobby Sands @ Democracy NOW! Palestinian Prisoner Khader Adnan to be Released from Israeli Jail After 66-Day Hunger Strike Feb 21, 2012
»»» Student Jawad Rasul & Mongi Dhaouadi, executive director of the Connecticut chapter of Council on American-Islamic Relations @ Democracy NOW! Spying on Campus: New York Police Caught Monitoring Muslim Student Groups Throughout Northeast Feb 21, 2012
»»» Trinity College Professor Vijay Prashad @ Democracy NOW! As Calls for Intervention in Syria Grow, Vijay Prashad Urges Reevaluation of NATO Attack on Libya Feb 21, 2012
»»» BBC’s Paul Mason @ Democracy NOW! As Greece Erupts, BBC’s Paul Mason on "The New Global Revolutions" over Austerity, Inequality Feb 22, 2012
»»» Joshua Landis and Karam Nachar @ Democracy NOW! Foreign Intervention in Syria? A Debate with Joshua Landis and Karam Nachar Feb 22, 2012
»»» Former Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold @ Democracy NOW! Sen. Russ Feingold, New Obama Election Co-Chair: "The President is Wrong" to Accept Super PAC Money Feb 23, 2012
»»» OWS organizer Alexis Goldstein @ Democracy NOW! Occupy the SEC: Former Wall Street Workers Defend Volcker Rule Against Banks’ Anti-Regulatory Push Feb 24, 2012
»»» "Occupy Baby" @ Democracy NOW! "Occupy Baby": Occupy Wall Street Organizer Beka Economopoulos Gives Birth in Back of Cab Feb 24, 2012
»»» Marco Simons, legal director of EarthRights International @ Democracy NOW! Supreme Court to Decide Whether U.S. Corporations Can Be Sued for Abuses Overseas Feb 24, 2012

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»»» FEATURED SHOW SUPPORT YOUR MEDIA DAY February 15th is Support Your Media Day! Laura Flanders and GRITtv are joining with independent media groups from all over the country in a one-day-only collaborative fundraiser. Join the fun by donating HERE.

BRICK TEEVEE SPORT!©
»»» PBA on ESPN It's the 69th PBA U.S. Open the third of four PBA Tour majors during the 2011-12 season! LIVE from Brunswick Zone Carolier, North Brunswick, N.J. Coverage begins at 3 pm et
»»» NASCAR on FOX Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle are in Row One of the starting grid for the “The Great American Race” NASCAR's biggest, richest and most prestigious motorsports event: the 54th annual Daytona 500! Coverage begins 12 pm et
»»» NBA on TNT! ALL-STAR GAME live on TNT! Coverage begins at 6:30 pm et. Then the 2nd half resumes on TNT with Double-header Thursday! KnicksThunder @ Magic 8 pm et then Heat @ Blazers 10:30 pm et

BRICK TEEVEE ACTION!©
The 1st Amendment is Our Permit Our permit to occupy is The First Amendment. Quickly sign the following statement which will be delivered to mayors, police chiefs and major media across the country:
    Our permit to occupy public squares and parks is in The First Amendment, which affirms “the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” When people across the Middle East occupied public squares, leaders in Washington mostly cheered those protesters and warned Middle Eastern governments not to use force to clear them. Those other societies don’t have a First Amendment. Yet Washington affirmed the universal right to assembly and protest. We do have a First Amendment. The force being used to clear nonviolent protesters from public squares in our country is unacceptable. It must stop.

October2011.org Sign the Petition to Get the 99% Deficit Proposal Heard in Congress
    Please SIGN THE PETITION in support of the "99%'s Deficit Proposal" and plan direct actions to tell the Super Committee that the 99% have better solutions to our nation's crises. You can plan your own action at your Congressmember's office or join us in Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC for marches to Capitol Hill. Check our calendar for announcements.


NET NEUTRALITY! SaveTheInternet.org A Push for Privacy in the Wake of the Carrier IQ Controversy Remember Carrier IQ, the company that makes the secret spying software that’s installed on more than 140 million phones? You know, the software that can record our most sensitive personal data? ... Thanks in part to the 22,000 people who joined Free Press’ call for a congressional investigation, some of those questions are closer to being answered and mobile users are closer to being protected. The protection comes in the form of a bill from Massachusetts Rep. Ed Markey. Markey released a draft of a bill called the “Mobile Device Privacy Act” that would require phone companies to disclose to users just what is being done with all of their data. If the bill passes, an opt-out provision would go into effect a year later and would require companies to allow users to opt out of data-collection schemes like the one developed by Carrier IQ........

CAMPAIGN FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE American Majority Rejects Washington Austerity Consensus – And We Demand Media Coverage by Roger Hickey, President, Campaign for America's Future: No more silent majority. The Campaign for America’s Future is joining with the Center for Economic and Policy Research (whose Co-Director, Dean Baker blogs regularly about economic bias in the media) and with FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) to monitor the media’s coverage and representation of the American Majority views as they go into covering the big deficit fight. But we want to enlist YOU too. Send us accounts of unbalanced coverage in the national media and in your local newspapers and television. Call up reporters, editors, assignment people and tell them when they are under-representing the views of the American Majority. We should have at least half the experts, pundits, quotes and real people represented in their coverage. In a debate as important as the one we are going into, we can’t allow the media to ignore the American Majority. Much more at www.ourfuture.org

MOVE TO AMEND! www.movetoamend.org SIGN HERE NOW! Also visit Rep Alan Grayson's site www.savedemocracy.net And Alan Grayson is running again in FL-8! Help out at CongressmanWithGuts.com

SUPPORT THE TROOPS WHO REFUSE TO FIGHT See CourageToResist.org UPDATE! Manning-Lamo Chat Logs Revealed at wired.com plus The Deeply Personal Details in New Bradley Manning Chat Logs and Bradley Manning Support Network Much more at link.
UPDATE! ANTIWAR RADIO with Scott Horton Emma Cape February 18, 2012: Emma Cape, Campaign Organizer for the Bradley Manning Support Network, discusses whistleblower Manning’s arraignment (open to the public) on February 23rd at Fort Meade, Maryland, beginning his court-martial; the evidence and witnesses withheld from Bradley’s defense team; the 2008 Obama voters who are demanding the president support Manning – or else lose their votes in 2012; and the “aiding the enemy through indirect means” charge that, combined with other charges, could give Manning a life sentence. UPDATE FROM DN! Headlines Friday Feb 24, 2012 Accused U.S. Army whistleblower Private Bradley Manning was arraigned in a military court on Thursday on charges stemming from the alleged disclosure of classified material to WikiLeaks. Manning faces 22 charges, including aiding the enemy, for allegedly downloading and passing on thousands of classified files that later appeared on the WikiLeaks website. Manning deferred his plea on all charges and also deferred his decision on whether to appear before a military judge or a military jury. A trial could come as late as August.

DONATE YOUR OLD CELL PHONES TO T.J. MARTELL FOUNDATION Help save lives. Donate your old & used iPhone, Blackberries, Droid and other phones to help the T.J. Martell Foundations fund life-saving cancer & AIDS research. For more information, go to www.tjmartellfoundation.org

B R I C K T E E V E E
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THEY report. YOU throw bricks. ©
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The essential guide for watching government propaganda

IRAQ: 4,485 US Military Dead as of Feb 24, 2011
AFGHANISTAN: 1,904 US Military Dead as of Feb 24, 2012
The Obameter: Tracking Obama's Campaign Promises
Considering Democracy: 8 Things to ask your Representative



  • This Week (ABC) anchor George Stephanopoulos
    Fact Checking ABC's "This Week" at NPR "On the Media" - Jake Tapper, interim host of ABC's "This Week," liked the idea of fact-checking his guests' comments, so he set up a partnership with Politifact, a non-partisan fact-checking organization. See Politifact Statements ABC News 'This Week'
    • GOP Candidate Rick Santorum
    • Michigan Governor and Romney backer Rick Snyder
    • Massachusetts Governor and Obama campaign co-chair Deval Patrick.
    • ROUNDTABLE: George Will and Cokie Roberts, plus former Democratic Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, host of Current TV's "The War Room," and former Republican Michigan Gov. John Engler, president of the Business Roundtable


  • Face The Nation (CBS) Host Bob Schiefer this Sunday: Live from Miami
    • New Jersey Governor, Republican Chris Christie
    • Democrat Martin O'Malley, the Governor of Maryland


  • 60 Minutes (CBS)
    • "60 Minutes Presents: Going to Extremes," a special hour hosted by Steve Kroft


  • Meet the Press (NBC) Host David Gregory
    Meet the Facts at NPR "On the Media" - Last December, NYU professor Jay Rosen proposed something simple yet revolutionary: why don't the Sunday morning chat shows fact check their guests? After "Meet the Press" host David Gregory declined, two college students launched a website to do it for him. One of them, Chas Danner, explains what they're trying to accomplish. See their website MeetTheFacts.com updating soon!
    • Rick Santorum
    • Governor Jerry Brown (D)
    • Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R)
    • ROUNDTABLE: Republican strategist and former McCain '08 senior strategist Steve Schmidt, Fmr. Democratic Congressman Harold Ford, Jr., Washington Post's Kathleen Parker, and NBC's Political Director and Chief White House Correspondent Chuck Todd.


  • State of the Union With Candy Crowley (CNN) At 9 AM ET, Candy talks to the power players: politicians, business leaders and international newsmakers who will make Monday morning's headlines. At NOON ET, Candy wraps it all up with fresh interviews and the best of the earlier hours.
    • Obama Campaign Senior Adviser Robert Gibbs
    • John McCain (R-Arizona)
    • Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina)
    • Former Shell CEO John Hofmeister
    • Gov. John Hickenlooper (D-Colorado)
    • Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wisconsin)


  • HEAD ON RADIO with Bob Kincaid
    HEAD ON
    Headon Radio with Bob Kincaid 6 PM Eastern, 3 PM Pacific, 2300 GMT. Duration: 3 hrs. To be part of the conversation on Head-on Radio, call toll-free (877) 443-2366, or use our Liberal community line at 304-658-3333. Email: bob [at] headonradio [dot] com.
    • THORN-IN-THE-SIDE THURSDAY!!!!! Bob calls out the Sierra Club's greenwashing comparing it to their email missive to "save the wolves" but they never have any "save the People of Appalachia" movements. And of course the rest of the H.O.R.N. family chimes in! Listen HERE (mp3) NOW! Amen to the White Rose Society! Donate to Head On HERE! And join Coal River Mountain Watch at www.crmw.net!


  • YOUR GREEN NEWS REPORT
    desi-n-bradMutantTrout
    The Green News Report with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen: 6 minutes of green news, politics, analysis & snarky comment! BOOKMARK greennews.bradblog.com NOW!
    'Green News Report' - February 23, 2012 IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: GOP presidential crazy train stops in Fantasy Land on gas prices; Big Oil fights to keep its taxpayer subsidies; Mine official charged in WV mine disaster; Canadian government 'suppressing science'; PLUS: Mutant two-headed trout ... All that and more in today's Green News Report!
    IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see link): GOP Not Listening to Its Own Scientists on Climate Change; What Cleantech Bust?; Utilities Blowing Smoke on Coal-Plant Retirements; World's Oceans Get an Acid Bath; Canada's Tar Sands So Destructive It Makes Its Well-Paid Workers Want to Quit; Army Corps brings back streamlined strip-mine permits; Radiation detected 400 miles off Japanese coast... PLUS: Analyst: Recycle All You Want, The Planet Won't Notice ... and much, MUCH more! ...
    BRADBLOG UPDATE: Previously Legal WI Voters Turned Away at Polls as GOP's New Photo ID Law Begins
    Visit BradBlog.com to see who counts yer votes! Reference yer background/research at Who's Counting? too.


  • The Peter B. Collins Show PODCAST!
    pbc show
    Listen at PeterBCollins.com!
    The Peter B. Collins Show covers American news and politics from the Left Coast. Veteran talk radio personality Peter B. Collins, based in San Francisco, delivers fresh interviews, commentary and analysis on a range of important topics, with views and voices you don’t often find in the corporate media.

    Holiday Break and Website Changes
      To my valued listeners: We are making some changes to the website and our terms, effective in January. We will continue to offer free podcasts–my new daily news and commentary. Our in-depth interviews will be available for $1 per episode, or to subscribers who pay $5 per month or more. Loyal listeners who simply can’t afford it should send an email to peter@peterbcollins.com, as we will be offering a limited number of scholarships to our friends who are hurting during these tough times. More information will be posted as we complete the revisions. I’m grateful to each of you for listening and supporting this work, and hope that the new model will enable us to keep it going well into the future. All the best, -pbc
    • PBC Standard Podcast Journalist/Historian Gareth Porter on Lt. Danny Davis’ Courageous Report on Afghanistan; Comments on Israel/US/Iran Tensions Gareth Porter returns to talk about the recent report from Lt. Col. Danny Davis about the real conditions in Afghanistan; will Obama’s spin hold till November?
    • PBC Standard Podcast Roger Shuler’s Personal 12-year Battle Against Injustice and Sleaze in Alabama Roger Shuler is a longtime contributor here, mainly covering the political persecution of Gov. Don Siegelman. After a brief update on Siegelman, we delve into Shuler’s own ordeal, costing him and his wife their jobs, detailed at his blog. Will Durst on Rick Santorum.


  • Ring of Fire Radio
    rofheader
    Find us at http://ringoffireradio.com and http://goleft.tv/ hosted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mike Papantonio and Sam Seder
    Ring of Fire Radio - GoLeft TV - Robert F. Kennedy, Mike Papantonio, Sam Seder - Politics, Commentary, and News.
    This Week on Ring of Fire! February 24, 2012
    • Former Congressman Alan Grayson will join us to talk about his campaign to re-take his congressional seat, and he’ll tell us what he thinks of the current crop of GOP presidential candidates.
    • Best-selling author and syndicated columnist Cliff Schecter will be here to tell us about Rick Santorum’s misguided religious beliefs.
    • Media Matters vice president Ari Rabin-Havt will join us to discuss how Fox News is still influencing our political process.
    • Author David DeGraw will tell us about the roots of the Occupy Movement, and what the next steps for the group will be.
    • Author and law professor Tim Jost will join us for a discussion on the state of America’s healthcare system.
    • And we’ll find out about the latest happenings in the Wisconsin recall election with Robert Kraig, executve director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin.
    • VIDEO! Papantonio: Santorum’s American Taliban Mike Papantonio appears on The Ed Schultz Show to talk about Rick Santorum’s warped view of religion – a view that includes no rights for women, and attacks on those who believe differently.
    • VIDEO! Papantonio: Is FOX Destroying The GOP? Roger Ailes has made it perfectly clear that his goal with the FOX News network is to get Republicans elected. The network has no problem pushing bogus conspiracies about Obama’s birth certificate, death panels, and even about FEMA setting up internment camps for Republicans. And it’s that kind of crazy talk that has finally made the network look more like a carnival sideshow among their viewers, rather than a legitimate news outlet. Mike Papantonio talks about how FOX’s brand of crazy is finally starting to do serious damage to the Republican Party with Eric Boehlert, a senior fellow at Media Matters.
    Support Those Who Support Progressive Media! 2011 has certainly been a great year for Ring of Fire, and we’ve had some great sponsors that have helped support the show throughout the year. We wanted to take the time to personally thank each and every one of them, and we encourage all of our listeners to take the time to support those who have support us.
    • Join our blog at www.ringoffireradio.com. You can now SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST by clicking on the “Podcast” tab at the top of the Ring of Fire blog. Please help support progressive radio by signing up!
    Ring of Fire Radio Ring of Fire, hosted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mike Papantonio and Sam Seder: Saturdays at 3 o’clock Eastern, rebroadcasts 8-11 et Sunday evenings on Chicago's Progressive Talk WCPT AM & FM and 4 pm et on Sirius/XM 167 featuring The PAP Attack! "We’ll bring you the stories that the mainstream media didn’t feel like reporting this week."


  • Majority Report with Sam Seder Streaming LIVE weekdays 11:30 am et @ Majority.fm!

    Civil Rights Lawyer & Author Michelle Alexander on the Myth of Desegregation [02•13•12]
    David Dayen of firedoglake on the Auto Bailout and Detroit [02•16•12]
    Jeff Smith of the Occupy Wall Street Press Team on Black Bloc & the future of Occupy [02•16•12]
    Cliff Schecter and Sam Seder discuss the Contraception Debate, Romney & more! [02•17•12]
    MORE Podcast Interviews at majorityreport.official.fm!


  • On the Edge with Max Keiser Podcasts and more @ MaxKeiser.com!
    maxheaderhiyall
    "HI Y'ALL! Tell the people! Tell the people!"
    WHO IS MAX KEISER? Max Keiser is a financial expert, Prediction Markets analyst, inventor and filmmaker. He is the creator of the Hollywood Stock Exchange (HSX) the first Prediction Market. Max Keiser co-hosts “The Truth About Markets” on ResonanceFM 104.4 in London. He also produces and presents documentary films covering markets and finance for Al Jazeera’s “People & Power” series. Max Keiser started his career on Wall Street in 1983. He is the creator of KarmaBanque a site that enables activists to challenge corporate power.
    • VISIT PirateMyFilm.com!!! Crowd Funding for Pirates!
    • NEW! MaxKeiserTV on YouTube! MaxKeiserTV PLUS here is Max Keiser’s official Facebook page And here is the official Keiser Report page
    “They should never allow a CEO to walk away with the idea that crime pays,” says William Black by maxkeiser READ Bankers escape big penalties in FDIC failed bank cases (reuters)
    Buffett only invests in things he knows something about… Clearly Gold is something that does not fall into that category (Gold outperforms Buffett for ten yrs. straight) by maxkeiser READ ‘Gold Bullion or Cash’ Shows Buffett, Roubini, Krugman Mistaken; Faber, Rogers, Bass, Einhorn, Gross Correct (zerohedge)
    “We come full circle to what the ultimate goal of banker intervention in the European periphery is – nothing short of full gold confiscation.” by maxkeiser READ Projected PIIGS Pillage: 3233.5 Tons Of Gold To Be Confiscated By Insolvent European Banks (zerohedge)
    • KEISER REPORT [KR251] Keiser Report: Rich guys totally observe you We discuss the riches made monitoring the population and the pittance paid for agreeing to be monitored. The also discuss the Serious Organised Crime Agency threatening to monitor Stacy for following a link while Max envisions a future in which granny gets it. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Charles Hugh Smith of OfTwoMinds.com about social fractals, tanking energy consumption and a citizenship futures market.
    • KEISER REPORT [KR252] Keiser Report – The Hang a Banker A Week Solution We discuss Lloyd Blankfein’s suicide twinkie vest, Iceland’s parliamentary pelting, manipulation of Libor rates and rampant foreclosure abuse. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Shir Hever about price tagging in Area C of the West Bank …
    • KEISER REPORT [KR253] Keiser Report – Burning Bankers Pays and a Suicide Twinkies Vest Blows We discuss Lloyd Blankfein’s suicide twinkie vest, Iceland’s parliamentary pelting, manipulation of Libor rates and rampant foreclosure abuse. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Shir Hever about price tagging in Area C of the West Bank and about destroying the competition in Gaza.
    • KEISER REPORT [KR254] Keiser Report: Bubbling Economy We discuss market participating rally monkeys, market regulating surrender monkeys, economic policy making suicide monkeys and Greek ministry website hacking cheeky monkeys. In the second half of the show, Max talks to David Hales about ending top down Central Bank …
    • ON THE EDGE On the Edge with David DeGraw – The Origin of the 99% Movement Posted on February 25, 2012 by stacyherbert
    • THE TRUTH ABOUT MARKETS [TaM-353] The Truth About Max Keiser’s Self-Immolation Download show HERE (mp3)
    • Donate to ResonanceFM here!


  • ANTIWAR RADIO with Scott Horton
    antiwarradio.jpg LIVE (9-11am Pacific, 12pm - 2pm Eastern) Plenty of archives too!
    Listen at antiwar.com/radio
    Robert Naiman February 23, 2012: Robert Naiman, Policy Director at Just Foreign Policy, discusses his article “Does AIPAC Want War? Lieberman ‘Capability’ Red Line May Tip AIPAC’s Hand ;” how Joe Lieberman’s senate bill lowers the threshold for military action by adopting Israeli policy on Iran’s nuclear breakout capability; the dangerous ambiguity of the terms “vital national interest” and “nuclear weapons capability;” and how US diplomats have abandoned compromise in favor of “do what we say or else” bullying. Robert Naiman is Policy Director at Just Foreign Policy. Mr. Naiman edits the Just Foreign Policy daily news summary and writes on U.S. foreign policy at Huffington Post. He is president of the board of Truthout. Naiman has worked as a policy analyst and researcher at the Center for Economic and Policy Research and Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch. He has masters degrees in economics and mathematics from the University of Illinois and has studied and worked in the Middle East.
    Sheldon Richman February 23, 2012: Sheldon Richman, senior fellow at The Future of Freedom Foundation, discusses his article “Obama Administration ‘Brainwashes’ Public on Afghanistan;” George Romney’s (Mitt’s father) courageous – but badly phrased – turn against the Vietnam War in 1967; how Lt. Col. Daniel Davis’s report on Afghanistan shows a similar “brainwashing” of the American public by the generals and MSM; the failure to make progress in three core areas in Afghanistan (Afghan government competency by 2014, decrease in violence, and a dead-end for the Taliban); why junior officers are losing faith in the war effort; and why Mitt and his many sons seem to have more important priorities than serving in the military, despite their pro-war rhetoric.
    Gareth Porter February 24, 2012: Gareth Porter, investigative historian and journalist specializing in U.S. national security policy, discusses his article “Iran Holds Up Access to Parchin for Better IAEA Deal;” the conditions under which Iran would allow more stringent inspections and/or readopt the Additional Protocol; the brouhaha over a (likely imaginary) containment vessel at Parchin, which the IAEA says is used to test nuclear weapons; why Iran can’t make nukes (assuming they could and wanted to) while the IAEA inspectors remain in country; and the Obama administration’s conflicted feelings on war with Iran, which make an October surprise possible.
    Rep. Dennis Kucinich February 24, 2012: Rep. Dennis Kucinich discusses his letter to Congress, “War Machine Beats the Drums for War with Iran, Uses Iraq Play Book;” the propaganda efforts that convinced a majority of Americans war with Iran is a good idea; why we need to “stand strong for peace” and spend tax dollars to rebuild America, not squander them in another foreign war; and Kucinich’s Democratic challenger for Congress in Ohio’s new 9th District.
    • Many more interviews at Antiwar Radio!


  • fauxnews
    • Governor Mitch Daniels (R-IN)

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Sunday, February 19, 2012

Brick TeeVee and The Next Oil Bourse!


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The Next Oil Bourse "There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation. One is by the sword.. The other is by debt." -John Adams 1826
Greece: they must not pass by talos @ European Tribune (h/t jen) ... How is Greece taking the new loan deal that accompanies the PSI? Most compare it to a dictatorship, a foreign occupation, the kind of terms a victor imposes on a defeated country. No wonder: Two years of the most grinding austerity, has caused a destruction of the Greek economy that has no precedent, in peacetime, as official nominal wages dropped 15%, unemployment passed the 20% mark and, according to polling company VPRC, the bottom 90% of Greek households, suffered in 2011 alone loss of income on average ~45% of their incomes. Greece is already a "labor wasteland" where jobs are near impossible to find and when they materialize they are more likely to be "black", uninsured, well below the poverty threshold.Yet the new loan deals mandate among other things: [....] And much, much more: 650 pages of it that Greek MPs were required to read in 24 hours since they received the package, Saturday, to vote on it on Sunday. The process is illegitimate, and constitutionally questionable yet the two government coalition partners (socialists and conservatives - the far right LAOS rightly figured that this will destroy it electorally and removed its ministers from the government), are extorting their MPs: "pain or destruction" they warned, along with the PM. Everything will be rationed, Greece will leave the euro and remain a third world country for ever. Sane people disagree. But they are not in government. ... What seeps through the media from EU and especially establishment opinion on how this is all the Greeks fault and they should suck it up because they are overpaid, lazy etc. has already caused the first instance of German flag-burning and has resulted in the first time ever that the EU as an institution has a negative reception according to a latest poll. And so Greece strikes and fights back: The Law school in Athens under occupation by students, the health ministry by mental health doctors who protest the near-total defunding of mental care, the ministry of Labor by workers belonging to the communist union, the electric grid authority in the ministry of environment and energy by the power company workers' union (a couple of days ago they held the minister hostage for a few hours, until he was released by riot police)... also occupied: the Holargos(a suburb of Athens) City Hall, in Larissa, Chania, Veria, Ermoupolis and Corfu the Regional Governor's building, in Rethymnon the City Hall, in Chania and Trikala the prefecture offices. I'm not sure how many of these occupations are still in effect, and it is likely that they have multiplied. They will serve as a launch pad all over Greece for what promises to be the largest protests ever (despite the weather) outside the parliament building in Athens and in major squares all over Greece. People are angry, no longer "indignant" but "outraged". If this government proceeds to pass this memorandum, all hell will break loose, on a social and a political level....
Greece's new prime minister, the former European Central Bank vice-president Lucas Papademos who is NOT a member of parliament said of the protests, "Vandalisms, violence and destruction have no place in a democratic country and won't be tolerated," not seeing the irony in his remarks that leaders are ELECTED in a democracy, NOT APPOINTED as Papdemos was installed essentially by a coup of the Troika of the EU, IMF and ECB. BBC reports last Sunday Buildings ablaze as Greek MPs vote on austerity plan ... Earlier, tens of thousands of people voiced their anger over the proposed bill in what was the second consecutive day of mass protests. Some reports say as many as 80,000 people joined the demonstration in Athens, with another 20,000 protesting in Thessaloniki.
On Monday Dave Neal noted Anonymous sets its sights on Greece HACKTIVIST GROUP Anonymous has turned its attentions to Greece's political dysfunction. The online protests follow mass popular protests that began when the country announced severe austerity measures demanded by the European financial cabal. The group is attacking the country's government under its Antisec banner and is posting up successful hits with regularity. "Looks like http://astynomia.gr TANGO DOWN #Anonymous via @AnonymousPress #Greece is on fire after yes vote on banker bailout. #Athens" says one message from the anarchic hacker collective. People protested in response to the austerity cuts, riots happened, the riot police came out, and Anonymous reacted. A number of web sites have already fallen at its hands and the attacks show no sign of abating. So far the hackers have taken down police and government web sites as well as the Greek prime minister's web site, and more are likely to follow.... (Source: The Inquirer http://s.tt/15F9w)
Greek police union wants to arrest EU/IMF officials Fri Feb 10 (Reuters) - Greece's largest police union has threatened to issue arrest warrants for officials from the country's European Union and International Monetary Fund lenders for demanding deeply unpopular austerity measures. In a letter obtained by Reuters Friday, the Federation of Greek Police accused the officials of "...blackmail, covertly abolishing or eroding democracy and national sovereignty" and said one target of its warrants would be the IMF's top official for Greece, Poul Thomsen. The threat is largely symbolic since legal experts say a judge must first authorize such warrants, but it shows the depth of anger against foreign lenders who have demanded drastic wage and pension cuts in exchange for funds to keep Greece afloat. "Since you are continuing this destructive policy, we warn you that you cannot make us fight against our brothers. We refuse to stand against our parents, our brothers, our children or any citizen who protests and demands a change of policy," said the union, which represents more than two-thirds of Greek policemen. "We warn you that as legal representatives of Greek policemen, we will issue arrest warrants for a series of legal violations ... such as blackmail, covertly abolishing or eroding democracy and national sovereignty."
Getting ahead of the curve in Portugal Over 100,000 rally in Lisbon against austerity Organisers claim 300,000 took part; More protests against bailout austerity on Feb. 29; EU/IMF inspectors arrive on Wednesday - LISBON, Feb 11 (Reuters) - More than 100,000 people packed Lisbon's vast Palace Square on Saturday in the largest rally against austerity and economic hardships since the country resorted to an EU/IMF bailout last May, and organisers vowed to step up protests and labour action. The mass rally occurred just four days before Portugal's international lenders were due to start the quarterly evaluation of the bailout implementation on Wednesday in the finance ministry building which overlooks the square by the river Tagus. They come amid concerns Portugal may need more bailout funds, if not a debt restructuring like Greece. "We take this opportunity here to make our own evaluation on behalf of those who suffer daily," Armenio Carlos, head of the country's largest union, CGTP, told supporters as the crowd chanted: "IMF doesn't call the shots here!" ... "The country needs to remove the rope from around its neck," he said, saying that Portugal should try to renegotiate its debt rather than impose more austerity, an argument he has made consistently. ... "The bailout is good for the creditors who get billions in interest and commissions, good for the banks ... But the measures are really bad for the workers, youths, pensioners, for 2.7 million Portuguese on the verge of poverty and those already below the poverty line," he said.
Then 24/7WallSt.com reports Greek Bailout Closer–Maybe Not. Whoops!
Moody's just can't keep their fingers off the scale reports the CNN Money Team who wrote Tuesday On one hand, Moody's downgraded six eurozone countries -- Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain -- late Monday, and the credit rating agency also warned that it may also cut the outlooks for Aaa-rated Austria, France and the United Kingdom to "negative." On the other hand, investors may be heartened by the fact that Moody's didn't downgrade the eurozone's bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Fund. Also on the bright side, investors showed strong demand for Italian debt in the latest round of auctions. German investor confidence also continued to rebound for a third straight month, rising to a 10-month high in February. ... Meanwhile, investors remain on edge ahead of a meeting of eurozone finance ministers, who will consider the latest bailout for Greece when they meet Wednesday. The Greek Parliament voted early Monday to approve a package of austerity measures aimed at securing the bailout, worth €130 billion, from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. Stocks rose on the news Monday, but the gains were modest as worries about Greece's fate continue to dominate. Go there to watch "George Soros: Deregulation led to collapse". Jeez, George, ya think? Then Tyler Durden at zerohedge says (with tongue firmly in cheek) "Spain is Fine Think that "Spain is fine"? Look at the chart below and think again. And don't even get us started on Portugal. How long before the residents of Portugal and Spain pull a Greece and withdraw 20% of statutory bank deposits in a year, in the process starting the terminal unwind of these two countries financial cores and putting them on day to day ECB life support? Oh wait, they already have. The chart below, showing Spanish bank borrowings from the ECB, is self-explanatory, even when factored in for "seasonal adjustments." Whoops! Also at zerohedge Unadjusted January Retail Sales Post Biggest Sequential Plunge In History ... However, we were rather surprised to note that the Census Bureau may have also ramped up its seasonal adjustment "fudge factoring" because when looking at the January headline retail sales data, which naturally was a smoothly continuous line on a Seasonally Adjusted basis, rising from $399.9 billion in December to $401.4 billion in January, something rather odd happened in the Unadjusted data set : the plunge from $459.8 billion in December to $361.4 billion in January, or -$98.5 billion in one month, was the biggest one month drop in retail sales in history. ... Which reminds us: Zero Hedge will offer $10,000 to the first BLS employee to share with us the full and complete excel model set, including assumptions, data tables, and comprehensive output parameters that the agency uses to go from input A to output X. We hope that by spending that money we will finally do society a service and open up to everyone just how it is that the BLS adjusts its Non-Farm Payrolls data.
Our own msgeaux provides this update on MF Global via Jesse's Crossroads Cafe. Thieves all around... Chris Whalen: JPM and the Banks Have the MF Global Money And the Status Quo Is Protecting Them
And Yves Smith exclaims Quelle Surprise! Taxpayers Will Be Paying for Part of Mortgage Settlement ...So not only is the settlement designed to shift the costs of the banks’ misdeeds onto already victimized investors, but taxpayers will also be picking up some of the widely touted $25 billion tab. Shahien Nasiripour tells us in the Financial Times that banks will be able to count future mods made under HAMP towards the total: [...] Although, as we all know, there is no final agreement, this appears to be the section of a January 19 term sheet published by the Wall Street Journal that sets forth how HAMP mods were to have been handled as of that date: Read on!
OCCUPY INFILTRATION UPDATE: CorrentWire.com by danps - A discussion about Non Violent Activism (NVAs) vs. the Black Bloc Violent Activism (VAs) Concerning violence advocates and the Black Bloc in Occupy
This was published with considerable feedback from DCblogger, affinis, lambert and okanogen. My sincere thanks to all of them for their help. The issue of violence at Occupy flared up last week when Chris Hedges used violent rhetoric to make the case for nonviolence. It was not the first time, either; he’d approvingly written of Greeks rioting - his protests to the contrary notwithstanding. (Lambert has http://www.correntewire.com/crowd_sourcing_questions_for_chenoweth the “own goal” metaphor to describe Hedges’ clumsier efforts.) This is a big problem because of his prominence. When he writes something, people notice. Someone like David Graeber is movedDavid Graeber is moved to respond, spending a good deal of time on the theme of “whatever your intentions, it is very hard to read your statement as anything but an appeal to violence.” If violence advocates (VAs) feel the need to answer language like that (or are simply clever enough debaters to seize that rhetorical opening), it crowds out discussion of other issues, and there’s plenty else to discuss. Please read this a few times, including the endnotes, including #6. In a way, getting bogged down in VA arguments is counterproductive because it distracts us from looking at what kind of actions are inclusive and inviting. This is an extension of the “insurgency vs. mass movement” dichotomy in footnote 1. Via email, activist Joseph Anderson:
Occupy Oakland, and the Occupy movement, cannot both have a diversity of people and a “diversity of tactics” at this time — and the movement can’t shortcut the process of attaining, and retaining, the first by jumping to the second.
Via email, lambert: The object IMNSHO should be to get as many people as possible supporting Occupations with their physical presence. This is what the Egyptians did. “All walks of life” must participate. One can also think of this as “safety in numbers.” Only NV can do that....

For the 1st Anniversary of the Wisconsin protests John Nichols at The Nation lists Twenty-Five Faces of an American Uprising ... This was a people-powered uprising, But even the most spontaneous of revolts requires information, messaging and calls to arms. The movement had some national allies. Union leaders such as Jerry McEntee of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (who declared Wisconsin to be “ground zero in the struggle for labor rights”) and Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers came early, as did the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Rocker Tom Morello played Woody Guthrie songs for the crowds, and wrote a great song of his own: “Union Town.” Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman and MSNBC’s Ed Schultz broadcast live from Madison, as did GRITtv’s Laura Flanders. But the mass movement that made “Wisconsin” not just the name of a state but a new name for resistance would not have been possible without visionary groups and individuals who stepped up at critical stages in the struggle. Here are a few that ought never be forgotten: ... See interviews with John Nichols at DN! below and on The Big Picture from Thursday Uprising...from Madison to Wall Street on TheBigPictureRT's YouTube Channel. And get his book UPRISING! from Perseus Academic! And support Kathleen Falk for Wisconsin Governor!
And don't miss Bill Quigley's Radical Revolution! 10 Steps Toward Radical Revolution in the USA at Counterpunch.org! "Finally, if those in government and those in power do not help the people do what is right, people seeking change must together exercise our human rights and bring about these changes directly."
And here's some updates on Monsanto Monsanto guilty of chemical poisoning AND Farmers advance in their suit against Monsanto. If you want to support America's family farmers, sign the letter to say, "I Stand with Farmers vs. Monsanto!" Visit Food Democracy Now to sign!
Head On Radio chatter lottirj reports Thirty members of a religious group called Faithful America on Tuesday walked into New York City’s Rockefeller Center and met with MSNBC representatives, handing them over 20,000 signed petitions demanding the progressive cable news network stop hosting Tony Perkins, the leader of a certified anti-gay hate group called the Family Research Council. You can add your signature to Faithful America’s petition here. We need more actions like that! From Glenn Greenwald UPDATE [Sun.]: In The New York Times today, Adam Liptak has an excellent article on how Obama’s unprecedented war on whistleblowers is impeding American journalism; I highly recommend this article be read in its entirety.
STOP NOW. WATCH THIS. Jill Greenfield writes for the Harvard Law School Ralph Nader at HLS: The constitutional crimes of Bush and Obama (video) Ralph Nader ’58 and Bruce Fein ’72 visited Harvard Law School for a talk sponsored by the HLS Forum and the Harvard Law Record. At the event, “America's Lawless Empire: The Constitutional Crimes of Bush and Obama,” both men discussed what they called lawless, violent practices by the White House and its agencies that have become institutionalized by both political parties.. Spend an hour and come back.
We'll wait.... _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . ... ... ... .... .. _
Welcome back! Now before you read ANYTHING ELSE about Iran we need you study THIS MAP.
Gareth Porter writes at Al Jazeera Can Obama avert war with Iran? ... The Obama administration's warning signal on the danger of an Israeli attack began flashing red after Secretary of Defence Leon Panetta came back empty-handed from a trip to Israel in September. US officials then came up with a new strategy for pulling Israel back from the precipice of war by letting Netanyahu know that, if the US were denied a full role in coordinating military policy toward Iran, it would not come to Israel's aid in such a war. The first step in the strategy came when Panetta was answering questions after a talk at the Saban Centre of Brookings Institution on December 2. He not only expressed clear disapproval of an Israeli attack as counter-productive - something the administration had avoided in 2009 and 2010 - but went on to indicate that the US was concerned that it "could possibly be the target of retaliation from Iran, striking our ships, striking our military bases". Without saying so directly, that remark hinted that the US would take steps to avoid that situation, if necessary. It was evidently aimed at planting the seed of doubt in Netanyahu's mind that Obama would be willing to respond to Iranian retaliation against Israel in the event of an Israeli strike. The next move came five weeks later, when Panetta, on CBS news "Face the Nation", made the initial hint even clearer. Panetta was then asked what the US would do if Israel were to strike Iran, despite the refusal to consult the US in advance. Panetta said, "If the Israelis made that decision, we would have to be prepared to protect our forces in that situation. And that's what we'd be concerned about." ..... But Netanyahu had already put into effect his own counter-strategy, which is to use the influence of the Israeli lobby in Congress help the Republicans against Obama in the presidential election and to maximise the pressure on Obama to support an Israeli attack on Iran.... Porter concludes There is still time for Obama to repair the damage and to return to the policy he had begun developing in December. But unless Obama warns Netanyahu publicly that an attack against US wishes would indeed mean he is on his own, the chances of deterring him and avoiding war with Iran will be sharply reduced. Gareth Porter writes for Inter Press Service (via consortiumnews.com) A Dangerous Game on IranWhen Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told Washington Post columnist David Ignatius this week that he believes Israel was likely to attack Iran between April and June, it was ostensibly yet another expression of alarm at the Israeli government’s threats of military action. But even though the administration is undoubtedly concerned about that Israeli threat, the Panetta leak had a different objective. The White House was taking advantage of the current crisis atmosphere over that Israeli threat and even seeking to make it more urgent in order to put pressure on Iran to make diplomatic concessions to the United States and its allies on its nuclear program in the coming months. The Panetta leak makes it less likely that either Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Iranian strategists will take seriously Obama’s effort to keep the United States out of a war initiated by an Israeli attack. It seriously undercut the message carried to the Israelis by Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, last month that the United States would not come to Israel’s defense if it launched a unilateral attack on Iran, as IPS reported on Feb. 1. A tell-tale indication of Panetta’s real intention was his very specific mention of the period from April through June as the likely time frame for an Israeli attack. ..... That six-month delay in the termination of all existing EU oil contracts with Iran was announced by the EU on Jan. 23, but it was reported as early as Jan. 14 that the six-month delay had already been adopted informally as a compromise between the three-month delay favored by Britain, France and Germany and the one-year delay being demanded by other member countries. The Obama administration had also delayed its own sanctions on Iranian oil for six months, after having been forced to accept such sanctions by the U.S. Congress at the urging of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee..... However Our Man in Pipelineistan Pepe Escobar writes in his "Roving Eye" column at Asia Times US wants SWIFT war on Iran What was the parade of European poodles thinking - that Tehran would just roll over and absorb the European Union's oil embargo, scheduled to start on July 1? No wonder Brussels was caught as a Gucci deer in the headlights when the news started to flow that Tehran would pre-empt the move and immediately slap its own embargo of crude oil exports to six European Union countries - deeply in crisis Club Med members Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain plus recession-hit France and the Netherlands. It took virtually no time for Iran's Oil Ministry and then the Foreign Ministry to deny it; such a decision, technically, would have to be officially announced by the Supreme National Security Council, which also deals with the nuclear negotiations. But only the deaf, dumb and blind wouldn't understand the message; blowback for the ridiculously counter-productive European sanctions/oil embargo package will only plunge vast swathes of Europe further into deep economic pain. ... Yet the vultures, jackals and hyenas of regime change/war can never be appeased in their sanction lust. The US is now forcing the EU to cut off Iran from Brussels-based SWIFT - the independent telecom mechanism/clearinghouse used by every bank in the world to exchange financial data (its official name is Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications). Iran's Central Bank itself may become a victim. In a nutshell, SWIFT is the wheel that moves global financial transactions and trade. So if this is not an extended, remixed declaration of hardcore economic war against one country - nothing else is. Will it work? Hardly. It will certainly represent more devastation unleashed over "the Iranian people" - the vague entity of choice against which the US has "no quarrel". More than 40 Iranian banks use SWIFT to process financial transactions, and Iranians use it like everybody else in a globalized economy. It will drag SWIFT's carefully maintained reputation for trust and neutrality through the mud; imagine other member countries' reaction to the fact they can also be totally marginalized according to the US's whims. Not to mention that Washington cannot tell SWIFT what to do; thus it is not so subtly applying "pressure", Mafia-style, on the Europeans. The "message" was delivered in person by David Cohen, the US Treasury Department's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. And all this for what? According to the relentless, suffocating barrage of spin in Western corporate media, to "perhaps" buy some time so the Obama administration can "persuade" the warmongering, nuclear-armed Likud government in Israel not to attack Iran this coming spring. .... If and when Tehran decides to target Israeli interests, it may be able to do it closer to home, and it has the competent operatives to do it without a trace. The notion that Tehran would send Iranian agents to friendly Asian countries such as India and Thailand - and in the case of the Three Stooges in Bangkok openly displaying their passports and even rials - is ludicrous beyond belief. These are patsies; the question is to find out who's manipulating them. If the Washington/Tel Aviv-promoted hysteria is already at fever pitch, wait for March 20, when the Iranian oil bourse will start trading oil in other currencies apart from the US dollar, heralding the arrival of a new oil marker to be denominated in euro, yen, yuan, rupee or a basket of currencies. That would suit Asian clients - from BRICS members India and China to US allies Japan and South Korea, not to mention NATO member Turkey. But that would also suit European clients, to pay for oil in their own currency. Tehran - as well as many key players in the developing world - does want to sink the petrodollar. That may be the straw to break the American camel's back. RUH ROH! Some of you may recall Z Magazine from February 2004 The Invasion of Iraq: Dollar vs Euro -- Re-denominating Iraqi oil in U. S. dollars, instead of the euro (via ThirdWorldTraveler.com) KEY 'GRAPH The unprovoked "shock and awe" attack on Iraq was to serve several economic purposes: (1) Safeguard the U.S. economy by re-denominating Iraqi oil in U.S. dollars, instead of the euro, to try to lock the world back into dollar oil trading so the U.S. would remain the dominant world power-militarily and economically. (2) Send a clear message to other oil producers as to what will happen to them if they abandon the dollar matrix. (3) Place the second largest oil reserve under direct U.S. control. (4) Create a subject state where the U.S. can maintain a huge force to dominate the Middle East and its oil. (5) Create a severe setback to the European Union and its euro, the only trading block and currency strong enough to attack U.S. dominance of the world through trade. (6) Free its forces (ultimately) so that it can begin operations against those countries that are trying to disengage themselves from U.S. dollar imperialism-such as Venezuela, where the U.S. has supported the attempted overthrow of a democratic government by a junta more friendly to U. S. business/oil interests. And there's this one by William Clark at GlobalResearch.ca from October 2004 The Real Reasons Why Iran is the Next Target:The Emerging Euro-denominated International Oil Marker The Iranians are about to commit an "offense" far greater than Saddam Hussein's conversion to the euro of Iraq’s oil exports in the fall of 2000. Numerous articles have revealed Pentagon planning for operations against Iran as early as 2005. While the publicly stated reasons will be over Iran's nuclear ambitions, there are unspoken macroeconomic drivers explaining the Real Reasons regarding the 2nd stage of petrodollar warfare - Iran's upcoming euro-based oil Bourse. See his book Petrodollar Warfare - Oil, Iraq and the Future of the Dollar "The author warns that without changing course, the American Experiment will end the way all empires end with military over-extension and subsequent economic decline." So here we are eight years later. REMEMBER how the U.S. rejected the Iranian uranium swap deal brokered by Turkey and Brazil nearly two years ago? See US and partners react quickly to Iran's uranium deal with new sanctions at DW.de and THE BRAZIL-TURKEY DEAL, NEW SANCTIONS, AND WHAT THE MEDIA ARE MISSING at RaceForIran.com May 25, 2010 with this: Now that Tehran has accepted the main elements of the Baradei proposal—the transfer of 1,200 kilos of low-enriched uranium out of Iran in exchange for new fuel for the TRR—the United States has unilaterally changed the game. Most of the Western media bought into Secretary Clinton’s narrative before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday—that Washington has regained the diplomatic upper hand, and the P-5 are ready to go forward with new sanctions. We believe that the situation is much more complicated—and much riskier for the United States—than conventional wisdom currently allows. In a related matter (now up at The Nation) Jeremy Scahill writes a detailed piece
Washington's War in Yemen Backfires. Here's a small snip: Rather than fighting AQAP, these US-backed units—created and funded with the explicit intent to be used only for counterterrorism operations—redeployed to Sanaa to protect the collapsing regime from its own people. The US-supported units exist “mostly for the defense of the regime,” says Iryani. “In the fighting in Abyan, the counterterrorism forces have not been deployed in any effective way. They are still here in the palace [in Sanaa], protecting the palace. That’s how it is.” President Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, acknowledged late last year that the “political tumult” has caused the US-trained units “to be focused on their positioning for internal political purposes as opposed to doing all they can against AQAP.” The Obama administration was very slow to agitate for Saleh’s departure from power, in large part because of counterterrorism concerns. On January 28, Saleh arrived in New York, ostensibly for medical treatment, eliciting charges from his opponents that the United States was protecting him from the wrath of his people. For years, Saleh allowed the United States to regularly strike against AQAP in Yemen, and US Special Operations forces built up the specialized units, run by Saleh’s family members, that were widely seen as US surrogates. Saleh’s government actively conspired with US officials to cover up the US role in Yemen, at times publicly taking credit for US bombings. Even as demonstrations grew against the Saleh regime, US officials praised his government’s cooperation. “I can say today the counterterrorism cooperation with Yemen is better than it’s been during my whole tenure,” Brennan declared in September.... Watch Scahill on Democracy Now below! Of course none of this will be beamed to your teevees by the U.S. Corporate Controlled Conservative Press (CCCP) on the Sunday Talkies! George Snufagupolis goes with GOPher stand-by JOHN "Bomb Iran" MCCAIN while Face the Bob gets resurgent Theocrat SICK SANITARIUM. Over at Meet the David is a House Budget Committee CAGE MATCH with CHRIS VAN HOLLEN and PAUL "I write stinky budgets" RYAN and State of the Candy discusses a possible brokered GOPher convention with Indiana Guv MITCH "Right to work" DANIELS and losing presidential candidate MICHELE BACHMANN (KWAZY-MN) plus former gynecologist RON PAUL and former CIA chief MICHAEL HAYDEN. Save some bricks for carpetbagger NEWT "Contract ON America" GINGRICH on FAKE SNOOZE. The Brick TeeVee Crew is getting pretty tired of Winter by now and is looking forward to Spring by starting peppers, broccoli and cauliflower indoors for early Spring planting. Of course Daytona is next Sunday and there's only 39 days until Opening Day 2012! So we got THAT going for us! Stay warm, throw bricks and OCCUPY SOMEWHERE! If it's too cold outside there's plenty to read, watch and listen to below! Click anywhere and be instantly smarter!


BRICK TEEVEE ALERTS!©
Democracy NOW!
»»» Oscar Hernández, founder of the Grammy Award-winning Spanish Harlem Orchestra, and Roberto Lovato, co-founder of Presente.org @ Democracy NOW! Latin Jazz Musicians Lead Protest Against Grammy’s for Cutting 31 Musical Categories from Awards Show Feb 13, 2012
»»» Huwaida Arraf and Radhika Sainath @ Democracy NOW! U.S.-Backed Bahraini Forces Arrest and Deport Two American Peace Activists Acting as Human Rights Observers Feb 13, 2012
»»» Maria Margaronis, London correspondent for The Nation magazine @ Democracy NOW! "Real Despair" Sweeps Through Greece as Severe Austerity Measures Demanded by E.U.-IMF Cripple Nation Feb 14, 2012
»»» Michael Hastings of Rolling Stone @ Democracy NOW! Army Whistleblower Lt. Col. Daniel Davis Says Pentagon Deceiving Public on Afghan War Feb 15, 2012
»»» The Nation's John Nichols @ Democracy NOW! He is currently in an undisclosed location as he fears his own arrest. On First Anniversary of Wisconsin Uprising, Gov. Walker Fights Recall Effort by Energized Movement Feb 15, 2012
»»» Journalist Jeremy Scahill @ Democracy NOW! Jeremy Scahill: U.S. Has Ignited Islamist Uprising in Impoverished, Divided Yemen Feb 16, 2012
»»» Reza Marashi, research director at the National Iranian American Council & constitutional law attorney Glenn Greenwald @ Democracy NOW! Iran Tensions Rise with Diplomat Bombings, Scientist Killings, Nuke Claims and Media Warmongering Feb 16, 2012
»»» Sandra Fluke, third-year law student at Georgetown University Law Center & Eleanor Holmes Norton, delegate to Congress representing the District of Columbia @ Democracy NOW! "Where Are the Women?": Lawmakers Walk Out on Contraception Rule Hearing After Female Witness Barred Feb 17, 2012
»»» ANTHONY SHADID @ Democracy NOW! Anthony Shadid (1968-2012): Pulitzer-Winning NY Times Middle East Correspondent Dies in Syria Shadid has been a guest on Democracy Now! several times over the past decade reporting on Libya, Tunisia, Iraq and Lebanon. We air excerpts from our last interview with Shadid in April 2011, just after he returned home following his six-day capture in Libya by Col. Muammar Gaddafi’s forces. Feb 17, 2012
»»» State Senator Mike Fasano, Florida Republican & Mike Brickner, communications and public policy director at ACLU of Ohio @ Democracy NOW! Florida Lawmakers Defeat Prison Privatization amid National Push for For-Profit Jails The Florida State Senate has defeated a measure to privatize at least 27 prisons, which would have created the largest corporate-run prison system in the country. Despite the vote, Republican Gov. Rick Scott could still privatize the prisons through executive authority. Feb 17, 2012

GRITtv
»»» GRITtv @ www.grittv.org with Laura Flanders
»»» FEATURED SHOW SUPPORT YOUR MEDIA DAY February 15th is Support Your Media Day! Laura Flanders and GRITtv are joining with independent media groups from all over the country in a one-day-only collaborative fundraiser. Join the fun by donating HERE.

BRICK TEEVEE SPORT!©
»»» PBA on ESPN It's the WSOB SCORPION OPEN! Coverage begins at 3 pm et
»»» NASCAR on SPEED & FOX Daytona week is here! Qualifying for the Daytona 500 is at 1 pm et on FOX with practices all week on SPEED!
»»» NBA on TNT! Double-header Thursday! Knicks @ Heat 8 pm et then Lakers @ Thunder 10:30 pm et

BRICK TEEVEE ACTION!©
The 1st Amendment is Our Permit Our permit to occupy is The First Amendment. Quickly sign the following statement which will be delivered to mayors, police chiefs and major media across the country:
    Our permit to occupy public squares and parks is in The First Amendment, which affirms “the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” When people across the Middle East occupied public squares, leaders in Washington mostly cheered those protesters and warned Middle Eastern governments not to use force to clear them. Those other societies don’t have a First Amendment. Yet Washington affirmed the universal right to assembly and protest. We do have a First Amendment. The force being used to clear nonviolent protesters from public squares in our country is unacceptable. It must stop.

October2011.org Sign the Petition to Get the 99% Deficit Proposal Heard in Congress
    Please SIGN THE PETITION in support of the "99%'s Deficit Proposal" and plan direct actions to tell the Super Committee that the 99% have better solutions to our nation's crises. You can plan your own action at your Congressmember's office or join us in Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC for marches to Capitol Hill. Check our calendar for announcements.


NET NEUTRALITY! SaveTheInternet.org A Push for Privacy in the Wake of the Carrier IQ Controversy Remember Carrier IQ, the company that makes the secret spying software that’s installed on more than 140 million phones? You know, the software that can record our most sensitive personal data? ... Thanks in part to the 22,000 people who joined Free Press’ call for a congressional investigation, some of those questions are closer to being answered and mobile users are closer to being protected. The protection comes in the form of a bill from Massachusetts Rep. Ed Markey. Markey released a draft of a bill called the “Mobile Device Privacy Act” that would require phone companies to disclose to users just what is being done with all of their data. If the bill passes, an opt-out provision would go into effect a year later and would require companies to allow users to opt out of data-collection schemes like the one developed by Carrier IQ........

CAMPAIGN FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE American Majority Rejects Washington Austerity Consensus – And We Demand Media Coverage by Roger Hickey, President, Campaign for America's Future: No more silent majority. The Campaign for America’s Future is joining with the Center for Economic and Policy Research (whose Co-Director, Dean Baker blogs regularly about economic bias in the media) and with FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) to monitor the media’s coverage and representation of the American Majority views as they go into covering the big deficit fight. But we want to enlist YOU too. Send us accounts of unbalanced coverage in the national media and in your local newspapers and television. Call up reporters, editors, assignment people and tell them when they are under-representing the views of the American Majority. We should have at least half the experts, pundits, quotes and real people represented in their coverage. In a debate as important as the one we are going into, we can’t allow the media to ignore the American Majority. Much more at www.ourfuture.org

MOVE TO AMEND! www.movetoamend.org SIGN HERE NOW! Also visit Rep Alan Grayson's site www.savedemocracy.net And Alan Grayson is running again in FL-8! Help out at CongressmanWithGuts.com

SUPPORT THE TROOPS WHO REFUSE TO FIGHT See CourageToResist.org UPDATE! Manning-Lamo Chat Logs Revealed at wired.com plus The Deeply Personal Details in New Bradley Manning Chat Logs and Bradley Manning Support Network Much more at link.

UPDATE! ANTIWAR RADIO with Scott Horton Emma Cape February 18, 2012: Emma Cape, Campaign Organizer for the Bradley Manning Support Network, discusses whistleblower Manning’s arraignment (open to the public) on February 23rd at Fort Meade, Maryland, beginning his court-martial; the evidence and witnesses withheld from Bradley’s defense team; the 2008 Obama voters who are demanding the president support Manning – or else lose their votes in 2012; and the “aiding the enemy through indirect means” charge that, combined with other charges, could give Manning a life sentence.

DONATE YOUR OLD CELL PHONES TO T.J. MARTELL FOUNDATION Help save lives. Donate your old & used iPhone, Blackberries, Droid and other phones to help the T.J. Martell Foundations fund life-saving cancer & AIDS research. For more information, go to www.tjmartellfoundation.org

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IRAQ: 4,485 US Military Dead as of Feb 17, 2011
AFGHANISTAN: 1,896 US Military Dead as of Feb 17, 2012
The Obameter: Tracking Obama's Campaign Promises
Considering Democracy: 8 Things to ask your Representative



  • This Week (ABC) anchor George Stephanopoulos
    Fact Checking ABC's "This Week" at NPR "On the Media" - Jake Tapper, interim host of ABC's "This Week," liked the idea of fact-checking his guests' comments, so he set up a partnership with Politifact, a non-partisan fact-checking organization. See Politifact Statements ABC News 'This Week'
    • Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
    • Obama campaign senior advisor and former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs
    • ROUNDTABLE: George Will, ABC News senior political correspondent Jonathan Karl, FOX Business Network host Lou Dobbs, Vanity Fair contributing editor and former Clinton White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers, and Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page.

  • Face The Nation (CBS) Host Bob Schiefer this Sunday: Live from Miami
    • Republican Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum
    • ROUNDTABLE: Karen Tumulty of The Washington Post, Todd Spangler of The Detroit Free Press, CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Norah O'Donnell and CBS News Political Director John Dickerson.

  • 60 Minutes (CBS)
    • Trapped in Unemployment - As the number of Americans without work for a year or two rises into the millions, Scott Pelley reports on a program designed to help the long term unemployed back into the workplace. Henry Schuster and Rachael Kun are the producers.
    • Treating Depression -A Harvard psychologist says drugs used to treat depression do work, but for the most part, it's not the chemical that's making people feel better, it's the placebo effect. Lesley Stahl reports. Richard Bonin is the producer.

  • Meet the Press (NBC) Host David Gregory
    Meet the Facts at NPR "On the Media" - Last December, NYU professor Jay Rosen proposed something simple yet revolutionary: why don't the Sunday morning chat shows fact check their guests? After "Meet the Press" host David Gregory declined, two college students launched a website to do it for him. One of them, Chas Danner, explains what they're trying to accomplish. See their website MeetTheFacts.com updating soon!
    • House Budget Committee: Ranking member Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
    • House Budget Committee: Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)
    • ROUNDTABLE: GOP strategist Ed Gillespie, Bloomberg’s Al Hunt, The NY Times’ Helene Cooper, and NBC’s Andrea Mitchell.

  • State of the Union With Candy Crowley (CNN) At 9 AM ET, Candy talks to the power players: politicians, business leaders and international newsmakers who will make Monday morning's headlines. At NOON ET, Candy wraps it all up with fresh interviews and the best of the earlier hours.
    • Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, and
    • Former Presidential Candidate Michele Bachmann
    • Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul (R-TX)
    • former CIA director Michael Hayden
    • former ambassador to Egypt and Israel, Ed Walker
    • Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz.

  • HEAD ON RADIO with Bob Kincaid
    HEAD ON
    Headon Radio with Bob Kincaid 6 PM Eastern, 3 PM Pacific, 2300 GMT. Duration: 3 hrs. To be part of the conversation on Head-on Radio, call toll-free (877) 443-2366, or use our Liberal community line at 304-658-3333. Email: bob [at] headonradio [dot] com.
    • MORAN MONDAY!!!!! Bob exposes the spelling-challenged Tea Baggers every Monday. And of course the rest of the H.O.R.N. family chimes in! Listen HERE (mp3) NOW
    • PRAYER MEETIN' WEDNESDAY!!!!! Super Pope/Rabbi/Imam Bob whacks some moles! Listen HERE (mp3)NOW
    Amen to the White Rose Society! Donate to Head On HERE! And join Coal River Mountain Watch at www.crmw.net!

  • YOUR GREEN NEWS REPORT
    desi-n-bradGlobalWarming_Heartland
    The Green News Report with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen: 6 minutes of green news, politics, analysis & snarky comment! BOOKMARK greennews.bradblog.com NOW!
    'Green News Report' - February 16, 2012 IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: EXPOSED: Right-wing Heartland Institute's plot to undermine US science education; REVEALED: Climate change deniers recommend super-rich sugar daddies to buy the media; BUSTED: Monsanto convicted of poisoning; FIGHTING BACK: 'Pitchfork Rebellion' in OR; PLUS: Mysterious exploding pig foam --- No, it's not 'santorum', but it's close! ... All that and more in today's Green News Report!
    IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see link): 166 wolves killed as hunting season ends; State Dept. agreement on short-term climate pollutants; Arctic drilling blowout on Alaska's North Slope; Federal funds flow to clean-energy firms with administration ties; Sierra Club backlash on taking industry cash; Climate change to increased risk of storm surges ... PLUS: Air pollution linked to heart disease: Five deadly air pollutants on five continents ... and much, MUCH more! ...
    BRADBLOG UPDATE: [UPDATED] Maine GOP Posts New Results Tonight, Shows Romney's 'Win' Over Paul Slightly Increased
    Visit BradBlog.com to see who counts yer votes! Reference yer background/research at Who's Counting? too.

  • The Peter B. Collins Show PODCAST!
    pbc show
    Listen at PeterBCollins.com!
    The Peter B. Collins Show covers American news and politics from the Left Coast. Veteran talk radio personality Peter B. Collins, based in San Francisco, delivers fresh interviews, commentary and analysis on a range of important topics, with views and voices you don’t often find in the corporate media.

    Holiday Break and Website Changes
      To my valued listeners: We are making some changes to the website and our terms, effective in January. We will continue to offer free podcasts–my new daily news and commentary. Our in-depth interviews will be available for $1 per episode, or to subscribers who pay $5 per month or more. Loyal listeners who simply can’t afford it should send an email to peter@peterbcollins.com, as we will be offering a limited number of scholarships to our friends who are hurting during these tough times. More information will be posted as we complete the revisions. I’m grateful to each of you for listening and supporting this work, and hope that the new model will enable us to keep it going well into the future. All the best, -pbc
    • PBC Standard Podcast Huwaida Arraf Gives First-Person Account of Bahrain Crackdown; Prof Brandon Garrett on His New Book, “Convicting the Innocent” Huwaida Arraf, an American lawyer/activist, reports on the repression in Bahrain, her deportation, and America’s double standard; Prof. Garrett defines the causes of wrongful convictions, and suggests reforms.
    • PBC Standard Podcast Boiling Frogs: Retired FBI Agent Coleen Rowley on the New American Police State Coleen Rowley, 24-year FBI veteran, talks about the makings of the American police state in this Boiling Frogs interview, co-hosted with Sibel Edmonds.

  • Ring of Fire Radio
    rofheader
    Find us at http://ringoffireradio.com and http://goleft.tv/ hosted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mike Papantonio and Sam Seder
    Ring of Fire Radio - GoLeft TV - Robert F. Kennedy, Mike Papantonio, Sam Seder - Politics, Commentary, and News.
    This Week on Ring of Fire! February 17, 2012
    • Congressman Chris Van Hollen will be joining us to talk about the two-year anniversary of the Citizens United decision, and what unlimited corporate cash is doing to our elections.
    • Alternet senior writer Josh Holland will be here to tell us why the GOP is so unhappy with their presidential picks.
    • Nation correspondent and author John Nichols will be here to tell us how Scott Walker and Wisconsin Republicans accidentally sparked a global uprising that has them fighting for their political lives.
    • And author and Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig will join us to talk about his new book “One Way Forward.”
    • VIDEO! Papantonio: Over-Medicated In America There is an epidemic in American society today – but it isn’t an illness that’s grasping us, its treatments for made up diseases that are affecting our culture. Doctors across the country are quick to diagnose a child as having ADD just because they are a little too much for parents to handle – even if those children are under 2 years old. As a result, we’re seeing children dying from bad drugs at the age of 4. Mike Papantonio talks about our over-medicating society with psychologist and author Bruce Levine.
    • VIDEO! Papantonio: Turning America Into “Pottersville” It’s becoming harder and harder for the GOP to hide their hatred of anyone who isn’t a member of the 1% wealthy elite in America. They’ve made it clear that not only do they not want the 1% to pay any taxes, but that the middle and lower classes should have to pay more taxes to make up the difference. They are indifferent to home foreclosures, unions, and American workers – and they aren’t even pretending to hide their indifference anymore. Mike Papantonio talks about the GOP’s ultimate goal for America with award winning investigative journalist and author Robert Parry.
    Support Those Who Support Progressive Media! 2011 has certainly been a great year for Ring of Fire, and we’ve had some great sponsors that have helped support the show throughout the year. We wanted to take the time to personally thank each and every one of them, and we encourage all of our listeners to take the time to support those who have support us.
    • Join our blog at www.ringoffireradio.com. You can now SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST by clicking on the “Podcast” tab at the top of the Ring of Fire blog. Please help support progressive radio by signing up!
    Ring of Fire Radio Ring of Fire, hosted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mike Papantonio and Sam Seder: Saturdays at 3 o’clock Eastern, rebroadcasts 8-11 et Sunday evenings on Chicago's Progressive Talk WCPT AM & FM and 4 pm et on Sirius/XM 167 featuring The PAP Attack! "We’ll bring you the stories that the mainstream media didn’t feel like reporting this week."

  • Majority Report with Sam Seder Streaming LIVE weekdays 11:30 am et @ Majority.fm!

    Civil Rights Lawyer & Author Michelle Alexander on the Myth of Desegregation [02•13•12]
    David Dayen of firedoglake on the Auto Bailout and Detroit [02•16•12]
    Jeff Smith of the Occupy Wall Street Press Team on Black Bloc & the future of Occupy [02•16•12]
    Cliff Schecter and Sam Seder discuss the Contraception Debate, Romney & more! [02•17•12]
    MORE Podcast Interviews at majorityreport.official.fm!

  • On the Edge with Max Keiser Podcasts and more @ MaxKeiser.com!
    maxheaderhiyall
    "HI Y'ALL! Tell the people! Tell the people!"
    WHO IS MAX KEISER? Max Keiser is a financial expert, Prediction Markets analyst, inventor and filmmaker. He is the creator of the Hollywood Stock Exchange (HSX) the first Prediction Market. Max Keiser co-hosts “The Truth About Markets” on ResonanceFM 104.4 in London. He also produces and presents documentary films covering markets and finance for Al Jazeera’s “People & Power” series. Max Keiser started his career on Wall Street in 1983. He is the creator of KarmaBanque a site that enables activists to challenge corporate power.
    • VISIT PirateMyFilm.com!!! Crowd Funding for Pirates!
    • NEW! MaxKeiserTV on YouTube! MaxKeiserTV PLUS here is Max Keiser’s official Facebook page And here is the official Keiser Report page
    Gold/Silver Vigilante No. 1 Throws Down! See Eric King interviews Eric Sprott – Extremely important interview and listen to the mp3
    • KEISER REPORT [KR249] Keiser Report: Tombstone Austerity & the John Brown Moment We discuss tear gas and deja vu for financial crimes and tombstone austerity. In the second half of the show, Max talks to James Howard Kunstler of Kunstler.com about the John Brown moment in America and the control fraud of media.
    • KEISER REPORT [KR250] Keiser Report: German Empire vs Greek Carthage We discuss a ‘Grexit’ after the Carthaginian peace deal and also safety net critics and collateralized hemlock futures. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Chris Whalen of Tangent Capital about Greek deals, gold and raising interest rates to save the economy. Chris Whalen: MF Global: Where’s the Cash — Part II
    • KEISER REPORT [KR251] Keiser Report: Rich guys totally observe you We discuss the riches made monitoring the population and the pittance paid for agreeing to be monitored. The also discuss the Serious Organised Crime Agency threatening to monitor Stacy for following a link while Max envisions a future in which granny gets it. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Charles Hugh Smith of OfTwoMinds.com about social fractals, tanking energy consumption and a citizenship futures market.
    • ON THE EDGE On the Edge with Michael Hudson Posted on January 29, 2012 by stacyherbert
    • THE TRUTH ABOUT MARKETS [TaM-353] The Truth About Max Keiser’s Self-Immolation Download show HERE (mp3)
    • Donate to ResonanceFM here!

  • ANTIWAR RADIO with Scott Horton
    antiwarradio.jpg LIVE (9-11am Pacific, 12pm - 2pm Eastern) Plenty of archives too!
    Listen at antiwar.com/radio
    Grant F. Smith February 18, 2012: Grant F. Smith, director of the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy in Washington, D.C., discusses his article “AIPAC Obtained Missile Secrets ;” newly-declassified State Department documents about maverick estate-planning author Norman F. Dacey’s attempt to hold AIPAC accountable for leveraging classified information to scuttle an arms deal with Jordan in the 1970s; how these documents could help Steven J. Rosen’s defamation lawsuit against AIPAC; and why many of AIPAC’s functions should be conducted by a foreign embassy, rather than a domestic lobby.
    Jason Ditz February 18, 2012: Jason Ditz, managing news editor at Antiwar.com, discusses Iraq’s dysfunctional central government, where the vice president is under threat of arrest and may have fled the country; why Iraqi Sunnis, who have almost no political representation, might return to violence and the brutal sectarian strife of 2006-2007; Egypt’s crackdown on US government-funded “pro-democracy” NGOs; and how a cutoff of US foreign aid to Egypt could scuttle the 1979 Camp David Accords.
    David Bromwich February 18, 2012: David Bromwich, professor of literature at Yale University, discusses his article “Obama’s Drift Toward War With Iran ;” the propaganda portraying Iran as an imminent threat to Israel and the US; Obama’s evolving Iran policy, from campaign promises of diplomacy to a doomed-to-fail “Single Roll of the Dice;” interventionist fantasies including non-invasion regime change and a Six-Day War repeat, where Iran’s nuclear program is bombed and set back years with no blowback; Dennis Ross’s surprising “Iran is Ready to Talk” op-ed in the NY Times; and why the momentum of pre-election warmongering in the US and Israel is hard to slow down.
    Emma Cape February 18, 2012: Emma Cape, Campaign Organizer for the Bradley Manning Support Network , discusses whistleblower Manning’s arraignment (open to the public) on February 23rd at Fort Meade, Maryland, beginning his court-martial; the evidence and witnesses withheld from Bradley’s defense team; the 2008 Obama voters who are demanding the president support Manning – or else lose their votes in 2012; and the “aiding the enemy through indirect means” charge that, combined with other charges, could give Manning a life sentence.
    • Many more interviews at Antiwar Radio!

  • fauxnews
    • Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich
    • the House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA)

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