"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."
May 9, 2008 Strictly Personal Since I just celebrated my 56th birthday (on May 3), it is time for my annual "Strictly Personal" column. I think it only fair that readers should have an opportunity to learn a little something about the person who writes the words they read. Today's column is designed with that goal in mind.
- by Chuck Baldwin / The Covenant News
The Republican Dictatorship Ever since Ronald Reagan famously declared in his 1980 inaugural address that "government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem," Republicans have masqueraded as the party of limited government. Its leaders reflexively pledge to keep government off the backs of regular, hardworking Americans. Homage is paid to the wisdom and insight of the American people, which, Republicans endlessly insist, is far superior to the judgment of government officials.
- by Glenn Greenwald / LewRockwell.com
Big Pharma, Big Food, Big Fuel, Big Fascism What form of government are we supposed to have? The Founders of this country bequeathed us a system we used to call Free Enterprise, in which the government was supposed to leave business alone. Because of that system, endorsed by scripture, we became the greatest nation known to history. Now, what kind of system do we actually have today? Because the original system has been perverted – first by ordinary criminals, then by the conspiracy for world government – the system we have now, the perversion, began as "mercantilism" and today is best described as Fascism.
- by Alan Stang / NewsWithViews.com
"You know, Ron Paul is still in the race," McCain joked Wednesday during a taping of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."
- by The Associated Press / StarTribune.com
John McCain on the Daily Show
2008 & Counting Sen. John McCain, the GOP’s presidential candidate, has a headache that threatens to turn into a convention migraine.
Even though the Arizona senator secured enough delegates to claim the nomination in early March, Rep. Ron Paul’s (R-Texas) vocal and zealous supporters have given no indication they or their champion are ceding ground.
- by The Hill
Ron Paul Insurgents Disrupt the McCain Occupation Writes the Boston Globe: "Senator John McCain is sailing toward his coronation as the Republican presidential nominee while the Democratic candidates battle fiercely. But Republicans also are engaged in some tough infighting that could disrupt the national convention and make it more difficult for him to unite the party in the fall.
"Across the country, at state and county GOP conventions, diehard supporters of maverick Ron Paul are staging uprisings in an effort to secure a role for Paul at the national convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul." Read the rest, and thanks to Paul Likoudis.
- by Lew Rockwell / LewRockwell.com Blog
McCain Partner with La Raza? Sen. John McCain, the de facto Republican presidential nominee, announced he will attend the national convention of La Raza, a radical Hispanic lobby tied to the movement to reconquer the Southwestern U.S. that was part of Mexico before the Mexican-American War that ended in 1848. The convention will be held in San Diego July 14.
Though La Raza bills itself as a civil rights organization, the group's name literally means "The Race."
- by Free Market News Network
Ron Paul Looks Ahead of Convention Congressman Ron Paul ruled out the possibility of running as a third party candidate in the 2008 election and said he expected support for his candidacy at the Republican National Convention at a private event to discuss his new book Wednesday afternoon.
- by Amanda Carpenter / Townhall.com
McCain on Executive Power John McCain yesterday delivered a speech in which he hailed the inspiring constitutional principles of Government on which our country was founded, including the central goal of avoiding excessive, unlimited power in any one branch, secured by checks and balances from the other two branches:
- by Glenn Greenwald / Salon
Ron Paul Republicans on the Rise Kudos last night to North Carolina voters for nominating B.J. Lawson, a bonified Ron Paul Republican to the nomination for the 4th Congressional District and re-electing Walter Jones Jr. to the sixth CD. Jones was the only GOP member of Congress to endorse Paul for President.
- by Conservative Heritage Times
McCain Lawyer: FEC Flap 'Manufactured' John McCain’s presidential campaign is rejecting allegations that President Bush withdrew a nominee to the nation’s election watchdog to spare the Arizona senator an embarrassing rebuke for violating campaign finance rules.
- by Kenneth P. Vogel / Politico.com
'Deafening' Silence on Analyst Story Even with countless media outlets available these days, a Sunday New York Times cover story could always be counted on to send a jolt through the television news cycle.
But apparently that’s no longer the case. Indeed, reporter David Barstow’s 7,600-word investigation of the Pentagon’s military analyst program — whereby ex-military talking heads, often with direct ties to contractors, parroted Defense Department talking points on the air — has been noticeably absent from television airwaves since the story broke on April 20.
While bloggers have kept the story simmering, Democratic congressional leaders also are speaking out, calling for investigations that could provoke the networks to finally cover the Times story — and, in effect, themselves.
- by Michael Calderone & Avi Zenilman / Politico.com
Obama and the World The Real News Network analyst Eric Margolis talks about Senator Barack Obama's world view and the differences between him, Hillary Clinton and John McCain. The one foreign policy difference where Obama stands out is that he accepts Iran as a regional power. Margolis also says that Barack Obama isn't subjected to pressure from the military industrial complex like Clinton and McCain and that makes him dangerous to the neocons.
- by The Real News Network
John McCain Foreign Policy Analysis
McCain's Pastor Problem: The Video During a 2005 sermon, a "fundamentalist pastor" whom Senator John McCain has praised and campaigned with called Islam "the greatest religious enemy of our civilization and the world," claiming that the historic mission of America is to see "this false religion destroyed." In this taped sermon, currently sold by his megachurch, the Reverend Rod Parsley reiterates and amplifies harsh and derogatory comments about Islam he made in his book, Silent No More, published the same year he delivered these remarks. Meanwhile, McCain has stuck to his stance of not criticizing Parsley, an important political ally in a crucial swing state.
- by David Corn / Mother Jones
Neocons and the Truth: Bitter Enemies to the End That war-cheerleading neoconservatives of this strain are completely unbound by the truth is not news. Obviously, the war they unleashed in Iraq is the most compelling proof of that. But sometimes when the lying is so blatant, one can't help but note it.
- by Glenn Greenwald / Salon
Backing Into War: Israel's Strike on Syria, a Precurser to Iran Holocaust The US government has, since 1991, and without regard to party, has shown itself capable of unthinkable crimes against mankind. Are we Americans capable of understanding this without first feeling the impact of a complete collapse in our economy? A certain pastor, who would have once been unassailable by the press because of his profession, his race, and his record of military service, was recently vilified for saying something like this.
Is there anything, short of seeing the church parking lot and the collection plate stand empty, that will arouse "men of God" to demand that politicians respect human life and honor Jesus' call for peace?
- by Charles E. Carlson / We Hold These Truths
Russia 'Expels US Embassy Staff' Russia has ordered the expulsion of two military attaches from the American embassy in Moscow, US officials say. The US state department said it would comply with the order although it objected to it.
Two Russians have been expelled from Washington in recent months, one in November and the second on 22 April.
The news comes as Russia conducts a transition of power with Vladimir Putin becoming prime minister and Dmitry Medvedev president.
- by BBC News
Report Pushes Passage of Thought Crimes Bill The Internet is now becoming a new front in the phony terror war. Legislation like the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007 that is in the forms of HR 1955 and S 1959 which seek to give the government powers to define thoughts and belief systems as homegrown terrorism, is on the brink of being pushed down our throats. HR 1955 was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 404-6 and now it appears as if the U.S. Senate is attempting to justify its future passage.
- by Lee Rogers / RogueGovernment.com
Housing Market Crash Predicted By Ron Paul And Alan Greenspan The leader of the Fed and manipulator-in-chief of the economy during the primary boom years was Alan Greenspan, who once believed in things such as the gold standard, the impossibility of sustaining a housing bubble, and speaking to Congress in riddles and financial jargon. His main adversary in the Congress was Ron Paul, who still believes in things such as the gold standard, the impossibility of sustaining any manufactured market bubble, and is a master riddle-solver himself with a strong Austrian economics background.
- by Press Media Wire
Will Independent Truckers Survive? Think you've got it tough? Spending up to $80 bucks to fill your tank with gasoline? Consider my husband's numbers. Last May it cost Wid $800 to fill up his big rig with 300 gallons of diesel fuel. Today it costs him $1,200 -- that's over $4 per gallon for an 18-wheeler that gets 7 miles to the gallon. Ouch.
- by Isabel Lyman / The New American
May 8, 2008 Politicians, Pigs and the Media The last sentence in George Orwell's novel Animal Farm aptly sums up the state of politics today. As Orwell observed, "No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which." Video Blog - by John W. Whitehead / The Rutherford Institute
Do You have a Plan for Freedom? Unfortunately, most Americans seem content to willfully believe lies to support their comfort zone. They're too afraid to confront the reality of what's right in front of their faces. My column, Do you have plan? earlier this week dealt with getting your personal affairs in order and planning for survival. Now, do you have a plan to become a participant in this fight to stop the complete annihilation of this republic? Everyday my mail box is filled with the question, what can I do? We're in deep, serious trouble and anyone who thinks it's 'business as usual' with the elections in November is either a fool or in complete denial.
- by Devvy kidd / NewsWithViews
Come Home, Conservatives!—to the Antiwar Conservative Movement Winston Churchill once described the Soviet Union as the only country in the world with an unpredictable past. It was an impressive racket, really, in which the official version of history changed in accordance with the political demands of the present. If something in the past discomfited the regime and its propaganda, then it never happened, or happened quite differently.
In our own country, teachers and ordinary citizens alike are expected to conform to the Official Version of our history. Book publishers, to be sure, do not conspire behind closed doors to come up with ways to enslave the American people to their government. But suppose they did, and American history textbooks were written for the express purpose of turning American students into zombies who mindlessly repeated government propaganda and believed the state existed to protect the common good. How would the books be any different?
- by Thomas E. Woods Jr / Taki's Magazine
“By voting and caucusing for Dr. Paul, one million Republicans have sent a powerful message to our leaders that they want the GOP to return to its traditions of limited government, personal liberty and a strong national defense,” said campaign spokesman Jesse Benton. “Dr. Paul and the grassroots movement he has inspired are building a bright future for the Republican Party and the United states of America.”
Ron Paul, The Revolution, and Ending Abuses and Usurpations Congressman Ron Paul’s new book, The Revolution, is an unusual presidential campaign book in that the candidate – Dr. Paul – is almost entirely absent. But then, astoundingly and correctly, Dr. Paul does not say "Only I can fix this mess" – as have Senators Clinton, Obama, and McCain – he says: "Only you, the American people, can fix this mess." Americans today face no bigger threat to their national security than Senators McCain, Obama, and Clinton
- by Michael Scheuer / LewRockwell.com
Ron Paul on Fox News Ron Paul on Your World with Neil Cavuto 5-6-08
GOP Leaders Warn of Election Disaster Shellshocked House Republicans got warnings from leaders past and present Tuesday: Your party’s message isn’t good enough to prevent disaster in November, and neither is the NRCC’s money.
- by John Bresnahan / Politico.com
McCain courts right wing Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) will launch a new push Tuesday to ingratiate himself with social conservatives who mistrust him but whose support is vital to his hopes of winning the White House.
Right-wing leaders, who know he needs their backing, are working on a list of demands to pin him down on choosing judges with a conservative philosophy.
- by Alexander Bolton / The Hill
'No Evidence' that Bush is a Christian In some remarks in the White House East Room on the "National Day Of Prayer" (5/1/08) President Bush, whose father has said his son reads the entire Bible twice a year, has said that to be an American means, religiously, well - nothing - which explains a lot about why we are under God's wrath. To applause, he told his audience:
"On this day, Americans come together to thank our Creator for our nation’s many blessings. We are a blessed nation. And on this day, we celebrate our freedoms, particularly the freedom to pray in public and the great diversity of faith found in America. I love being the President of a country where people feel free to worship as they see fit. And I remind our fellow citizens, if you choose to worship or not worship, and no matter how you worship, we’re all equally American."
God, of course, commands all of us to worship Him as He sees fit and not as we see fit.
- by John Lofton / The American View
Redestined to Be a 4-Point Missionist The world is a huge necropolis, a cemetery entombing lost people by the billions. But there is also a city of the living, a zoopolis if you will, whose citizens gladly enter the death, the sickness, the vice of the necropolis and tell those who remain imprisoned in their sins of One who was nailed to a Roman cross on their behalf, One who indeed “loves the world” (John 3:16) – the inhabitants of every tribe and people and nation, men and women, Muslims and Hindus, brown and white. I would not be a missionist if I did not believe this with my entire being.
- by David Alan Black / DaveBlackOnline
John Hagee: Deviant Theology, Dangerous Foreign Policy Pastor John Hagee gleefully anticipates the death of hundreds of millions of people in a series of wars preparing the world for the second coming of Christ: "The end of the world is rapidly approaching . . . Rejoice and be exceeding glad." Worse, Hagee wants to jump start what he sees as the inevitable battle between Israel and the US and an alliance of the Islamic states and Russia: "The United States must join Israel in a preemptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God’s plan for both Israel and the West." Hagee’s bizarre interpretation of the Bible sees war with Iran as a “biblically prophesized End Time confrontation . . . which will lead to the Rapture, Tribulation and the Second Coming."
- by John Taylor / Online Journal
Hagee:Strike Iran 'for Israel' on MoyersPt 2 - Pt 3 - Pt 4 - Pt 5 BILL MOYERS JOURNAL reports on the politically powerful group Christians United for Israel, whose leader, Pastor John Hagee, advocates for a preemptive strike against Iran.
John Bolton: US Should Bomb Iranian Camps John Bolton, America's EX-ambassador to the United Nations, has called for US air strikes on Iranian camps where insurgents are trained for war in Iraq. Mr Bolton said that striking Iran would represent a major step towards victory in Iraq. While he acknowledged that the risk of a hostile Iranian response harming American’s overseas interests existed, he said the damage inflicted by Tehran would be "far higher" if Washington took no action.
- by Damien McElroy / Telegraph UK
Doubting the Evidence Against Iran American circles in Baghdad and Washington are probably not pleased with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's plan for a special panel to investigate allegations of Iranian interference in Iraq. Many U.S. officials are already convinced of the worst and, for years, U.S. officials have aired accusations against Iran, insisting that Tehran is stoking Iraq's violence by keeping up a flow of money, weapons and trained fighters into the country. The Iraqi government, however, remains unconvinced - with good reason.
- by Mark Kukis and Abigail Hauslohner, TIME / Yahoo News
Neocons Admit that "War On Terror" Is a Hoax Key war on terror architect Douglas Feith has now confirmed Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz and Wesley Clark in admitting that the so-called War on Terror is a hoax.
In fact, starting right after 9/11 -- at the latest -- the goal has always been to create "regime change" and instability in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Somalia and Lebanon so as to protect Israel. And the goal was never really to destroy Al Qaeda.
- by George Washington's Blog
With Dmitry Medvedev due to be inaugurated today as Russian president, the Soviet Union’s last leader said that the White House’s claims of peaceful intentions towards its former superpower rival could no longer be trusted.
- by Adrian Blomfield and Mike Smith, Telegraph UK / Aftermath News
U.S. Promises Cannot Be Trusted - Gorbachev
"The Americans promised that NATO wouldn't move beyond the boundaries of Germany after the Cold War, but now half of central and eastern Europe are members, so what happened to their promises? It shows they cannot be trusted," he said in Paris.
He also said that Washington's claims that a missile defense system it is planning to build in central Europe was aimed exclusively at countering the threat from so-called rogue states could not be believed either.
- by Ria Novosti
Although in better shape than in the years immediately after the Soviet Union dissolved, the military remains an example of Russia's inability to use its eight-year oil bonanza to overhaul decrepit infrastructure and institutions.
- by David Nowak and Vladimir Isachenkov, Associated Press / Google News
Their lawyers made that argument yesterday to the Florida Supreme Court. The justices will rule on that issue as part of a lawsuit over the anthrax death of a photo editor for a supermarket tabloid publisher.
- by The Associated Press / WWSB ABC 7
EPA Might Not Act to Limit Rocket Fuel in Drinking Water An EPA official said Tuesday there's a "distinct possibility" the agency won't take action to rid drinking water of a toxic rocket fuel ingredient that has contaminated public water supplies around the country.
Democratic senators called that unacceptable. They argued that states and local communities shouldn't have to bear the expense of cleansing their drinking water of perchlorate, which has been found in at least 395 sites in 35 states - or the risk of not doing so.
The toxin interferes with thyroid function and poses developmental health risks, particularly to fetuses.
- by Erica Werner, Associated Press / The Seattle Times
Bernanke's Nightmare Chart The Federal Reserve System on December 17 began a unique experiment: debt swaps with large commercial banks. The FED is now swapping at face value highly marketable U.S. Treasury securities in exchange for discounted mortgages. Nothing like this has ever been attempted before. It represents an innovation in central bank policy. It is called the Term Auction Facility (TAF). The initial offer was for $20 billion in swaps. Since that time, the 28-day swaps have risen in volume to $75 billion. As of May 5, according to the FED, $150 billion in TAF swaps have taken place. The rate charged is about 2%. This is why the FED has cut the FedFunds rate to 2% – not to stimulate the economy directly but to make available TAF loans at low rates. Here is how the game is played.
- by Gary North / LewRockwell.com
U.S. Fed Now Accepts Credit Card Debt as Collateral The U.S. Federal Reserve got even more deeply involved in the credit crisis on Friday by offering more loans to the banks through two of its newly established "facilities."
There's a famous poem we want to introduce you to. We thought of it today when trying to explain what the Fed is doing. It's called "The New Colossus" by an American named Emma Lazarus. It's the poem that appears on the base of the Statue of Liberty.
- by Dan Denning / The Daily Reckoning
"Jury Nullification" is the power of the Jury to overturn bad laws (of which, we have MANY) It is an important tool guaranteed to citizens serving on jury duty Jury nullification enables us to declare laws unjust, if we are so inclined
Most Judges do not want you to know about this power Juries are only told they can rule "guilty" or "not guilty" They are never told of their third option, "the law is bad"
- by Fully Informed Jury Association
Ron Paul presents "Power to the Jury" At Issue (NEFL)Pt 2 - Pt 3 In this OLD TV SHOW "At Issue" (from The National Endowment For Liberty), Ron Paul is joined by a panel of experts to discuss the power of the jury and to expose the Judge's dirty little secret.
May 6, 2008 Christianity in Eclipse The Christian attitude toward the state and its leaders, it military, its wars, its imperialism, and its interventionism should be a no-brainer: contempt, disdain, disgust, revulsion, abhorrence, repugnance, loathing -- take your pick. Yet, among Christians one continues to find some of the greatest apologists for the state, its leaders, its institutions, and its evil doings. Biblical Christianity is becoming eclipsed by state worship.
- by Laurence M. Vance / LewRockwell.com
Short History of The Deterioration of The USA Each one of the state governments of the original 13 colonies in Colonial America made the Christian religion a prominent part of their constitutions. Some states made Christianity a requirement for elected office. At the time the Constitution was crafted the fledgling nation was almost entirely Christian. That label, however, did not properly describe the makeup of the citizenry. There were several Protestant denominations and in the late Eighteenth Century most were Arminian, antinomian, and nominal.
- by Al Cronkrite / The Covenant News
Paul Campaign Never Ended, Spokesman Says "If it was just for the presidency, it would have ended a long time ago," says supporter Tom Martin, 50, a database administrator from State College, Pa. "The idea was to reinvigorate the Republican Party back to its principles and, more than that, to reinvigorate the American people back to its principles."
- by Garance Franke-Ruta / The Washington Post
Ron Paul, John McCain, And A Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On... The Republican party is marginalizing the very notions that the Republican party once stood for. The party itself is ignoring the Constitution, disregarding its own ideological history, and behaving both immorally and without honor and without a love of individual liberty and country. The Republican party has become its own monstrosity, a monster preoccupied with its own survival and its own agenda and its own needs and desires for power and prestige and control.
The Republican party has become just like the federal government, a large, self-appointed repository of power, completely separated from the intent of the original founders and framers, a place where bubble-up from the people power is overrun by top-down directive and control. It has become an evil, un-American power network infected with the same willful hubris that it once claimed to oppose. It is in it for itself, and not for the American people. It is hypocrisy wrapped in hypocrisy, covered in hypocrisy and submerged in a sea of hypocrisy.
- by Ron Paul for President 2008
Mo GOP Targeting 300 Pro-Ron Paul at Monday ‘Credentials Meeting’ According to an email from some Missouri supporters of Ron Paul, sent late Sunday night, the state Republican Party has scheduled a special “credentials meeting” for 10 a.m. Monday at the Blue Armory in Jefferson City.
At the meeting, according to the email, about 300 of the 1,900 elected delegates to the state GOP convention May 30-June 1 must disprove allegations that — presumably — accuse the targeted delegates of not being bona fide Republicans and/or not committed to supporting John McCain for president.
- by Jo Mannies / STLtoday.com
Conservatives Re-take the Republican Party - 1964 Barry Goldwater quotes Thomas Paine, and rallies conservatives to remember the cause of the American Revolution.
Presidential Politics in the YouTube Era Presidential candidates have always been under the microscope but in the past the networks and cable news stations set the agenda, and they still ultimately do, but they are increasingly taking their cues from the online community. They have no choice.
- by Shaun Booth / Political Lore
More Than 200 Economists Criticize Clinton, McCain Gas-Tax Plans More than 200 economists, including four Nobel prize winners, signed a letter rejecting proposals by presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and John McCain to offer a summertime gas-tax holiday.
The moratorium would mostly benefit oil companies while increasing the federal budget deficit and reducing funding for the government highway maintenance trust fund, the economists said.
- by Brian Faler / Bloomberg.com
Pelosi All For Funding Iraq War House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is about to lead her party into a major showdown over Iraq funding by violating two Democratic campaign pledges in one fell swoop.
To the critics, whether anti-war activists or House Republicans, Pelosi has made her feelings clear: Get over it.
- by Martin Kady, Politico.com / Free Market News Network
Warring as Lying Throughout American History Americans are taught to expect their elected leaders to be relatively honest. But it wasn’t always like that. In the mid 1800s, people joked about political candidates who claimed to have been born in a log cabin that they built with their own hands. This jibe was spurred by William Henry Harrison’s false claim of a log-cabin birth in the 1840 presidential campaign.
Americans were less naive about dishonest politicians in the first century after this nation’s founding. But that still did not deter presidents from conjuring up wars. Presidential deceits on foreign policy have filled cemeteries across the land. George W. Bush’s deceits on the road to war with Iraq fit a long pattern of brazen charades.
- by James Bovard / Future of Freedom Foundation
Let's start with that "last war" and see if we can get things straight. Just over five years ago, American troops entered Baghdad in battle mode, felling the Sunni-dominated government of dictator Saddam Hussein and declaring Iraq "liberated." In the wake of the city's fall, after widespread looting, the new American administrators dismantled the remains of Saddam's government in its hollowed out, trashed ministries; disassembled the Sunni-dominated Baathist Party which had ruled Iraq since the 1960s, sending its members home with news that there was no coming back; dismantled Saddam's 400,000 man army; and began to denationalize the economy. Soon, an insurgency of outraged Sunnis was raging against the American occupation was raging.
- by Tom Engelhardt / LewRockwell.com
Pentagon Targeted Iran for Regime Change after 9/11 Three weeks after the 9/11 terror attacks, former U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld established an official military objective of not only removing the Saddam Hussein regime by force but overturning the regime in Iran, as well as in Syria and four other countries in the Middle East, according to a document quoted extensively in then Undersecretary of Defence for Policy Douglas Feith's recently published account of the Iraq war decisions.
- by Gareth Porter / Inter Press Service
Top U.S. Officer Says Would Prefer No War on Iran U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq would make it difficult to mount any attack on Iran, the Pentagon's top officer said in remarks broadcast on Monday, adding that he would prefer to avoid a new regional war. "I actually am very hopeful that we don't get into a position where we have to get into a conflict," Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Israel's Channel Ten television when asked if he might recommend that U.S. forces strike Iranian nuclear facilities preemptively. Washington is leading efforts to curb Iran's nuclear plans through U.N. Security Council sanctions, but has also hinted that war could be a last resort for denying Tehran -- which insists it seeks atomic energy only -- the means to make a bomb.
- by Reuters
From the public diplomacy of the administration, either conclusion may be reached. Consider:
- by Patrick J. Buchanan / WorldNetDaily
The BLOWBACK SYNDROME: Oil Wars and Overreach Chalmers Johnson, author of Blowback, Sorrows of Empire and Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic , talks about the U.S. 'military-petroleum complex,' the overextension of the American military, nuclear proliferation, and the decline of Washington's credibility abroad.
"The existing double standard shall not be tolerated anymore by non-nuclear-weapon states," Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh told a meeting of the 190 countries that have signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
- by Alexander G. Higgins, Associated Press / Yahoo News
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Says U.S. To Be At Israel's Side For 1000 Years Ayatollah: Iran won't stop nuke program -- Iran's top leader said his country would not bend to international pressure and give up its nuclear program, according to state television. Meanwhile, US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen said Sunday that he hopes the time does not arrive when the US decides to discontinue sanctions against Iran and instead tries to solve the nuclear standoff militarily. Concerning the Syrian nuclear faculty reportedly bombed by Israel and which the CIA said was being built with North Korean help, Mullen called the situation "troubling." He went on to say that the US has "has been at Israel's side for all of 60 years, it will be for the next 60 years, 100 years and 1,000 years.
- by The Jerusalem Post
Not News in America - American Envoy Assaulted in Israel It is interesting that we have all the news about Britney, Lindsay, and of course, the latest on what the publicity hound Rev. Wright has just said which can be replayed for hours and hours, analyzed, dissected and discussed endlessly by serious look
- by War On You / Freedom's Phoenix
Assassins of Peace The "war on terrorism" now consists of a large-scale campaign to subsidize, organize, and empower favored terrorist groups – the "good" terrorists of the MEK, "former" terrorists of the "Awakening" in Iraq, and a motley assortment of separatists and fanatics whose violent methods are but a reflection of their intrinsic nihilism.
God only knows what kind of blowback we're going to experience as a direct result of this moral slippage. Maybe it's just me, but at a time when the authorities are requiring us to run a veritable gauntlet every time we get on a plane, as a precaution against "terrorism," encouraging (let alone subsidizing!) such groups is yet more proof that we've slipped into the Bizarro dimension, where up is down and funding terrorism is the same as fighting it.
- by Justin Raimondo / Antiwar.com
America's Glory Thing of the Past? Americans are glum at the moment. No, I mean really glum. In April, a new poll revealed that 81 percent of the American people believe that the country is on the "wrong track." In the 25 years that pollsters have asked this question, last month's response was by far the most negative. Other polls, asking similar questions, found levels of gloom that were even more alarming, often at 30- and 40-year highs. There are reasons to be pessimistic—a financial panic and looming recession, a seemingly endless war in Iraq, and the ongoing threat of terrorism. But the facts on the ground—unemployment numbers, foreclosure rates, deaths from terror attacks—are simply not dire enough to explain the present atmosphere of malaise.
- by Fareed Zakaria / Newsweek
Fluoride: Miracle Drug or Toxic-Waste Killer? From Pennsylvania to Nebraska and from Europe to New Zealand, there is growing and fierce opposition to plans to fluoridate public drinking water, fueled by a battery of shocking new studies that seriously question a practice routine among U.S. municipalities for nearly the last 50 years.
- by WorldNetDaily
Overall food inflation could double this year, lifted by the rising costs of fuel, corn and soybeans, some analysts predict.
- by Ellen Simon, Associated Press / Breitbart.com
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