20050223
Somebody set up us the bomb!
Dollar drops on reserves concerns
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4287413.stm
Analysts reckon that other nations may follow suit and now ditch the dollar.
OIL HOLDS NEAR $51
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050223/bs_nm/markets_oil_dc_19
A falling U.S. dollar, which suffered its biggest daily decline in two months against major currencies Tuesday, also sparked fund buying and drove oil prices higher.
Iran takes on west's control of oil trading
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1239644,00.html
Bush: talk of strike on Iran is ridiculous
http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,12858,1423227,00.html
"This notion that the US is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. Having said that, all options are on the table."
Bush says Iraq row is over, but warns of dispute over China
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050222/pl_afp/usbusheunato_050222193027
Laura Bush said the protesters should recognise that "people want freedom and no one wants to live under tyranny"!
Who Lost Russia?
http://www.antiwar.com/pat/?articleid=4919
Russia is going her own way: selling SAMs to Syria, AK-47s to Venezuela, missiles and fighter aircraft to China, and aiding Iran in completing its first nuclear power plant.
Iraq has telegraphed limits on U.S. power, allowing others to say no to Washington
http://www.time.com/time/columnist/karon/article/0,9565,1029937,00.html
Last Friday, Russia's President Vladimir Putin pooh-poohed the U.S. claim that Iran seeks nuclear weapons, and Moscow agreed to move ahead with delivering the nuclear fuel for Tehran's reactors despite Washington's opposition. And in case you missed the message, Russia has also agreed to supply advanced surface-to-air missiles to Syria, the latest focus of U.S. ire in the Middle East — again in defiance of Washington's stated wishes.
Will there be a draft?
http://csmonitor.com/2005/0222/dailyUpdate.html
New Recruits Could Be Sent to Boot Camp Within Two Weeks of Passage of Draft Legislation
http://www.economicsdaily.com/2005/02/new-recruits-could-be-sent-to-boot.html
Pentagon plans to draft in robot army
http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=133862542&p=y33863z48
Technological advances predict them to hunt and kill enemies while their human controllers remain a safe distance away, carefully monitoring proceedings through a laptop.
"Jaber said that although Hariri's motorcade had equipment to jam electronic transmissions, the device could have been circumvented by a wire-triggered bomb or a counterdevice placed in a nearby vehicle."
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/
We are in for a long buildup to direct intervention in Lebanon, and Syria, as the Lebanese elections loom: any defeat for the opposition will immediately provoke charges of fraud, as in the Ukraine, and this time the military option is going to be a real possibility. Every official and quasi-official government agency and paid administration propagandist will be dishing out stories of Syria's crimes, both real and imagined, and the Lebanese elections will be examined under a microscope for any hint of deviation from the predetermined "fair" outcome. Millions will be pumped into funding "pro-democracy" groups, supposedly unbiased polls will project the "winners" before a single vote is cast, and the war propaganda machine will rev up to full volume, as both liberals of the Carlson type and neocons bray in unison for war and "democracy."
Bush warns Syria to withdraw from Lebanon
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/544083.html
"It's vital that the Iranians hear the world speak with one voice that they should not have a nuclear weapon," Bush said. "Iran must not have a nuclear weapon, for the sake of security and peace," he added.
'Bin Laden tape' warns US to withdraw from Iraq
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3203878.stmThe US blames Usama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network for the 11 September attacks that prompted President George W Bush to launch his "war on terror".
"Evidence linking these Israelis to 9/11 is classified. I cannot tell you about evidence that has been gathered. It's classified information."
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/spyring
US official quoted in Carl Cameron's Fox News report on the Israeli spy ring and its connections to 9-11.
Usama bin Laden:A dead nemesis perpetuated by the US government
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/osama_dead
It's been 1,255 days since G.W.B. said he'd catch U.B.L. 'Dead or Alive!'
Extraordinary security measures for Bush visit to Germany
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/feb2005/bush-f21.shtml
If illusions remain that Bush’s foreign policy has to do with the fight against “tyranny” and the spread of “democracy” and “freedom,” the circumstances surrounding his visit to Germany should provide the antidote. Such security measures have always been associated with autocrats who are profoundly aware of the depth of the popular hatred they arouse.
Plot to assassinate Bush!
http://www.realestategates.com/News/23022005/plot-assassinate-Bush.html
Under the first scenario, the president was to be shot outdoors. The second scenario was planned to detonate a car loaded with bombs in the immediate vicinity to Bush.
US terror suspect 'was tortured by Saudis'
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/february2005/230205terrorsuspect.htm
When the charge was read out that he had plotted to assassinate Mr Bush, more than 100 of his supporters in the courtroom, burst out laughing.
Allawi Forming Coalition to Fight for PM
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=2&u=/ap/20050223/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq
At least 1,485 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
US: Won't Talk to Insurgents, but Iraqis Might
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/afp/20050222/pl_afp/usiraqinsurgents
Time magazine reported Sunday that Pentagon officials have been in direct contact with representatives from Iraq's Sunni insurgency to negotiate an end to ongoing attacks against against US troops there.
Is Matt Drudge a Gannon "client?"
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/2/16/212018/281
White House spokesman Scott McClellan On Thursday challenged liberal media activists, who are currently feigning outrage over events surrounding "Jeff Gannon," to examine the definition of reporter in the new century.
Democratic leadership joins call for Gannon inquiry; Whip calls on members to join push
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/index.php?p=117
Chicago Tribune: A White House plant?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-gleaner,1,1375290.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
What did the White House know and when did it know it on the question of the kinky bald guy with the stinky Web sites who got to pose as a "daily pass" reporter in the White House press corps?
Red State Alert: Rove-Orchestrated GOP Says Gay Prostitution is Fine With Them
http://www.buzzflash.com/editorial/05/02/edi05032.html
Yes, and the usual diversions have started to pop: an American citizen suddenly being "unrendered" from the torture chambers of Saudi Arabia and charged with plotting to kill President Bush three years ago! And we have the odd so-called pre-election tapes popping up, which reveal nothing other than that they can grab some headlines from the Gannon/Guckert scandal. Oh, and that Bush oddly said in them that he wouldn't condemn gays, because he was a sinner too, whatever that meant, since he rides atop homophobia like a bunking bronco.
Secret tapes reveal future president's marijuana use !
http://www.kwwl.com/Global/story.asp?S=2973876
Second Talon News reporter lifted passages from other sources without citation
http://mediamatters.org/items/200502220006
"Talon News correspondent Steve Roeder lifted passages, clauses and sentences from stories published by The New York Times, FOX News Channel and Reuters."
The non-Fox cable news outlets began to pick up on it last week; msnbc even assayed a special logo, “Gannongate.” A better name for it, though, would be “Nothinggate,” because nothing is what is likely to come of it. What all the memorable scandals of the past thirty years—real and fake alike, from Watergate to the Clinton impeachment—have had in common is that the opposition party controlled at least one house of Congress, which gave it the power to hold hearings and issue subpoenas. If Bush ends up having an easier time of it in his second term than any of his two-term predecessors since F.D.R., it won’t be because the scandals aren’t there. It’ll be because the tools to excavate them are under lock and key.
http://newyorker.com/talk/content/?050228ta_talk_hertzberg
Last Thursday, Bush had another press conference, to announce the appointment of a director of national intelligence, and he made an elaborate show of familiarity with his interlocutors. A dozen of them got to ask questions, and the President called upon all but one by name. Perhaps he was simply letting the world know that from now on the reporters who are vouchsafed the privilege of asking questions at Presidential press conferences will actually be reporters. But be careful, White House correspondents. He knows who you are.
Bush's White House is embroiled in a sex scandal that is both more sordid and more serious than anything involving Clinton's infamous libido. This involves not just a huge security lapse, but what appears to be yet one more case of the Bush White House illegally deploying propaganda tactics through the institutions of the Fourth Estate.
http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/05/02/int05009.html
Moreover, Gannon/Guckert seems to have been given classified information. He evidently knew of "shock and awe" before it was announced, for instance. The story's busting out all over, and getting uglier and weirder by the day--but not on the networks, not on cable, and, in print, primarily in opinion pieces. If this had happened in a Democratic White House, there would be no escaping it, and the rightists would be shrieking that the President of the United States had taught our precious children all about gay sex for hire. (According to the right, remember, it was Clinton--not his enemies, and not the press-- who went public with the news about those blow jobs.) ¶ 23.2.05
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4287413.stm
Analysts reckon that other nations may follow suit and now ditch the dollar.
OIL HOLDS NEAR $51
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050223/bs_nm/markets_oil_dc_19
A falling U.S. dollar, which suffered its biggest daily decline in two months against major currencies Tuesday, also sparked fund buying and drove oil prices higher.
Iran takes on west's control of oil trading
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1239644,00.html
Bush: talk of strike on Iran is ridiculous
http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,12858,1423227,00.html
"This notion that the US is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. Having said that, all options are on the table."
Bush says Iraq row is over, but warns of dispute over China
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050222/pl_afp/usbusheunato_050222193027
Laura Bush said the protesters should recognise that "people want freedom and no one wants to live under tyranny"!
Who Lost Russia?
http://www.antiwar.com/pat/?articleid=4919
Russia is going her own way: selling SAMs to Syria, AK-47s to Venezuela, missiles and fighter aircraft to China, and aiding Iran in completing its first nuclear power plant.
Iraq has telegraphed limits on U.S. power, allowing others to say no to Washington
http://www.time.com/time/columnist/karon/article/0,9565,1029937,00.html
Last Friday, Russia's President Vladimir Putin pooh-poohed the U.S. claim that Iran seeks nuclear weapons, and Moscow agreed to move ahead with delivering the nuclear fuel for Tehran's reactors despite Washington's opposition. And in case you missed the message, Russia has also agreed to supply advanced surface-to-air missiles to Syria, the latest focus of U.S. ire in the Middle East — again in defiance of Washington's stated wishes.
Will there be a draft?
http://csmonitor.com/2005/0222/dailyUpdate.html
New Recruits Could Be Sent to Boot Camp Within Two Weeks of Passage of Draft Legislation
http://www.economicsdaily.com/2005/02/new-recruits-could-be-sent-to-boot.html
Pentagon plans to draft in robot army
http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=133862542&p=y33863z48
Technological advances predict them to hunt and kill enemies while their human controllers remain a safe distance away, carefully monitoring proceedings through a laptop.
"Jaber said that although Hariri's motorcade had equipment to jam electronic transmissions, the device could have been circumvented by a wire-triggered bomb or a counterdevice placed in a nearby vehicle."
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/
We are in for a long buildup to direct intervention in Lebanon, and Syria, as the Lebanese elections loom: any defeat for the opposition will immediately provoke charges of fraud, as in the Ukraine, and this time the military option is going to be a real possibility. Every official and quasi-official government agency and paid administration propagandist will be dishing out stories of Syria's crimes, both real and imagined, and the Lebanese elections will be examined under a microscope for any hint of deviation from the predetermined "fair" outcome. Millions will be pumped into funding "pro-democracy" groups, supposedly unbiased polls will project the "winners" before a single vote is cast, and the war propaganda machine will rev up to full volume, as both liberals of the Carlson type and neocons bray in unison for war and "democracy."
Bush warns Syria to withdraw from Lebanon
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/544083.html
"It's vital that the Iranians hear the world speak with one voice that they should not have a nuclear weapon," Bush said. "Iran must not have a nuclear weapon, for the sake of security and peace," he added.
'Bin Laden tape' warns US to withdraw from Iraq
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3203878.stmThe US blames Usama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network for the 11 September attacks that prompted President George W Bush to launch his "war on terror".
"Evidence linking these Israelis to 9/11 is classified. I cannot tell you about evidence that has been gathered. It's classified information."
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/spyring
US official quoted in Carl Cameron's Fox News report on the Israeli spy ring and its connections to 9-11.
Usama bin Laden:A dead nemesis perpetuated by the US government
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/osama_dead
It's been 1,255 days since G.W.B. said he'd catch U.B.L. 'Dead or Alive!'
Extraordinary security measures for Bush visit to Germany
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/feb2005/bush-f21.shtml
If illusions remain that Bush’s foreign policy has to do with the fight against “tyranny” and the spread of “democracy” and “freedom,” the circumstances surrounding his visit to Germany should provide the antidote. Such security measures have always been associated with autocrats who are profoundly aware of the depth of the popular hatred they arouse.
Plot to assassinate Bush!
http://www.realestategates.com/News/23022005/plot-assassinate-Bush.html
Under the first scenario, the president was to be shot outdoors. The second scenario was planned to detonate a car loaded with bombs in the immediate vicinity to Bush.
US terror suspect 'was tortured by Saudis'
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/february2005/230205terrorsuspect.htm
When the charge was read out that he had plotted to assassinate Mr Bush, more than 100 of his supporters in the courtroom, burst out laughing.
Allawi Forming Coalition to Fight for PM
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=2&u=/ap/20050223/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq
At least 1,485 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
US: Won't Talk to Insurgents, but Iraqis Might
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/afp/20050222/pl_afp/usiraqinsurgents
Time magazine reported Sunday that Pentagon officials have been in direct contact with representatives from Iraq's Sunni insurgency to negotiate an end to ongoing attacks against against US troops there.
Is Matt Drudge a Gannon "client?"
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/2/16/212018/281
White House spokesman Scott McClellan On Thursday challenged liberal media activists, who are currently feigning outrage over events surrounding "Jeff Gannon," to examine the definition of reporter in the new century.
Democratic leadership joins call for Gannon inquiry; Whip calls on members to join push
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/index.php?p=117
Chicago Tribune: A White House plant?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-gleaner,1,1375290.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
What did the White House know and when did it know it on the question of the kinky bald guy with the stinky Web sites who got to pose as a "daily pass" reporter in the White House press corps?
Red State Alert: Rove-Orchestrated GOP Says Gay Prostitution is Fine With Them
http://www.buzzflash.com/editorial/05/02/edi05032.html
Yes, and the usual diversions have started to pop: an American citizen suddenly being "unrendered" from the torture chambers of Saudi Arabia and charged with plotting to kill President Bush three years ago! And we have the odd so-called pre-election tapes popping up, which reveal nothing other than that they can grab some headlines from the Gannon/Guckert scandal. Oh, and that Bush oddly said in them that he wouldn't condemn gays, because he was a sinner too, whatever that meant, since he rides atop homophobia like a bunking bronco.
Secret tapes reveal future president's marijuana use !
http://www.kwwl.com/Global/story.asp?S=2973876
Second Talon News reporter lifted passages from other sources without citation
http://mediamatters.org/items/200502220006
"Talon News correspondent Steve Roeder lifted passages, clauses and sentences from stories published by The New York Times, FOX News Channel and Reuters."
The non-Fox cable news outlets began to pick up on it last week; msnbc even assayed a special logo, “Gannongate.” A better name for it, though, would be “Nothinggate,” because nothing is what is likely to come of it. What all the memorable scandals of the past thirty years—real and fake alike, from Watergate to the Clinton impeachment—have had in common is that the opposition party controlled at least one house of Congress, which gave it the power to hold hearings and issue subpoenas. If Bush ends up having an easier time of it in his second term than any of his two-term predecessors since F.D.R., it won’t be because the scandals aren’t there. It’ll be because the tools to excavate them are under lock and key.
http://newyorker.com/talk/content/?050228ta_talk_hertzberg
Last Thursday, Bush had another press conference, to announce the appointment of a director of national intelligence, and he made an elaborate show of familiarity with his interlocutors. A dozen of them got to ask questions, and the President called upon all but one by name. Perhaps he was simply letting the world know that from now on the reporters who are vouchsafed the privilege of asking questions at Presidential press conferences will actually be reporters. But be careful, White House correspondents. He knows who you are.
Bush's White House is embroiled in a sex scandal that is both more sordid and more serious than anything involving Clinton's infamous libido. This involves not just a huge security lapse, but what appears to be yet one more case of the Bush White House illegally deploying propaganda tactics through the institutions of the Fourth Estate.
http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/05/02/int05009.html
Moreover, Gannon/Guckert seems to have been given classified information. He evidently knew of "shock and awe" before it was announced, for instance. The story's busting out all over, and getting uglier and weirder by the day--but not on the networks, not on cable, and, in print, primarily in opinion pieces. If this had happened in a Democratic White House, there would be no escaping it, and the rightists would be shrieking that the President of the United States had taught our precious children all about gay sex for hire. (According to the right, remember, it was Clinton--not his enemies, and not the press-- who went public with the news about those blow jobs.) ¶ 23.2.05
