Acually - Canada, England, Denmark - many countries have been moving at a rapid pace to the Neocon tune. I mean we should create a more accurate name for: mullti-millionaires disguised as politicians invested in concentrating power and even more money int their hands by discovering the easiest way in the world to make a fortune is by bilking tax payers.

Canada - has signed several agreements where the fine print essentially reads - we are gonna sell out our people too. After all its not a difficult choice - look at Conrad Black - who was a complete bungler. Harper and other's are smarter and have chosen erosion as the method of choice- in the end- it is impossible for Canada to resist the hegemonical desires of the US - especially when they get to be on the so called winning side.

Geopolitical economics aside, you guys have a internal problem with admitted law breakers. That alone requires more action. Our PM here is under some control for now. We can only hold him for so long, though, if your guys remain in power, or things escalate. The time is always now.

Were you sending just me your financial lesson Shadow? I wasn't the person who wrote that remark. I was quoting another blogger. I believe I fully explained what I think will occur in the next depression.

"Evelyn Smith July 23rd, 2007 5:54 pm
Someone wrote, they view a depression as nothing more than vast transfer of wealth.""

Well depression happens after the majority of the wealth is stolen. Once inflation kicks in the remainder of the value is stolen as only debt remains.

Damn neomunk!You've had me struggling to fire up my comedic synapses in an attempt to top you-no luck!But the following is in the same sardonic vein.
Take heart most of you on this site-before they come for you they'll be rounding up the likes of me.I bash shrub on this site and in phone calls.But most importantly I have a mental illness[bi-polar disorder].These creeps well know that some bi-polars pose a threat to them.In my case I mat be low on that list because of my age and lack of physical health but I have an ace up my sleeve-if they do grab me up for "re-education-my heart condition will allow me to croak on about the second dunk with their genteel waterboarding.A final gutteral Lithuanian-Italian curse will be all I can expect from these scumbags.
On a pragmatic note-can any historians on this site advise if this isn't the first time in history that a nation has cut taxes[only for the rich of course]in "wartime? That alone should convince everyone that these people are totally out of control.

Great response to IHATENADER, Evelyn. It would be nice to say it's all sunshine and roses, but whether we crash and burn or just hit a bumpy road ahead, we are definitely approaching stormy times.

We really need the public to engage and pay attention. I fear it will take some sort of disaster to get their attention. And that's a maybe, with our spectacularly uncooperative MSM.

Evelyn - I agree with you unfortunately and also IhateNader in some respects. I think the key s the amendment to Iran - 97-0!! What does that really say- well here's my tin foil hat explanation :)

I am not sure why more people are not discussing this- but it seems to me what is at stake is the very financial underpinnings of the United States.

What I mean is - that many economists recognize:
1. Debt has replaced collateral (gold/assets) as the engine of money creation. This is why debt burden has skyrocketed in the past few decades and so has money supply. The fact is that the treasury has STOPPED giving out the M3 money supply numbers because it is furiously printing up money to buy back bonds –so that everyone will continue to think there is confidence in the US economy.
2. This debt need never be repaid - if the most important commodity in the world (OIL) continues to be pegged to US dollars. This peg is essentially all that's holding the US economy together. If it were not for the fact that many countries 'need' US dollars to pay for Oil –why would countries like Japan, India and China buy US treasuries or hold US dollars.
3. The price of oil will continue to go up probably to 100 dollars a barrel –to continue to force central banks to 'hold' US dollars and thereby give 'value' to a scrip that has no backing and is grossly inflated- since China and Japan hold the largest amount of US debt. Think the black and white pictures of Post Weimar Germany with people using wheel barrows to transport money to buy bread!!
4. The price of gold has gone from $250 and ounce to $670 despite the central banks of Spain and England dumping tons (yes literally) of gold on the market to depress the price of gold and preventing a stampede out of the dollar.

The enormity of the US debt burden is the reason for the frenetic and crazed adherence to the war in Iraq (essentially controlling the oil) . If Iran were included in the picture – which it will be – then the US would control close to 80 percent of the world's oil. Only this much would be enough to prevent other oil producing nations such as Russia and Venezuela from being able to start the snowballing of the deterioration of value of the US dollar- think the sudden collapse of the Soviet Union. Even if Iraq's oil never comes on the market – it is fine –since the US still essentially controls 60 percent of the world's oil now! However- it should be noted that Iran, Venezuela and Russia have started demanding payments for their oil in yen and euros. This is also why China, India and Russia are investing heaviy in Iran and Russia will (it seems) back IRan if the US extends the war to Iran which it must. If Iraq and Iran are 'lost' then the 40-50 of the world's oil which does not need to be paid for in dollars will trigger the beginning of the end. BTw - it is a researchable fact that Saddam Hussein moved oil sales to the Euro six months before the invasion of Iraq.

At present – it is too early to tell if this gambit will play out successfully for the economic survival of the US. But in my view what is at stake here is the ability of the United States to continue to foist it's debt and inflation to the world until the time the oil runs out.

What is needed is urgent and focussed interventions. Bail outs to private equity corporations must NOT be allowed - such as long term capital alliance. Taxes MUST be promptly raised on these corporations and their subsudies revoked immediately, savings must be emphasized. The money supply must stop printing dollars in the dead of night. Congress must be made accountable. Thousands of empty governent jobs must be cut. Tens of thousands of over filled positions like police, FI, health departments must be trimmed and held accountable. Healthcare fraud must be prosecuted - it literally costs 20-50 billion a year.

In short - the 'people' must realize the government is bankrupt and demand fiscal responsibility. Although we may get an extension - with victory in Iraq/Iran -controlling the oil - that is NOT the problem. At some point - maybe our children(?) or grandchildren will live through a devastating financial crisis - if the debt burden is not relieved. Financial chicanery like 'borrowing' from Social Security funds, etc is ineffect a self-deception which will be extremely painful when it ends.

Neoconned is largely right; in a world of gun-toting fascist brutes, liberals would maintain their liberty longer if they were a little less gun-shy. That's why I long ago stopped describing myself as a liberal.

If you want peace, struggle for justice.
If you want justice, you have to be prepared to bite the bullet and take a big stick to the bad guys' behinds once in a while.

If agitating for justice, equality and freedom is socialist, then I'm damn proud to be called a socialist.

Fascists take note: There are more armed and ready lefties out there than you care to think.
.

Gosh IHATENADER, that is the most refreshing blog I've seen in a month. I can stop worrying if you're right. I sure do hope you know what you are talking about. Buttttt, "hope" is just a nice four letter word.

So tell me, Naderhater, did the president commit ANY impeachable offenses? Did Bush and Cheney lie about why we went to war with Iran? Is it a lie that there are Senators like Joe Lieberman preaching Iran is a serious threat to our security and we may have to use force to put them in line? Are there presently three navel carrier groups off the shores of Iran? Did Bush write some presidential directives that are in direct conflict with our Constitution? Is our economy on the brink of collapse? If not why are so many big money boys afraid that it is? Do you have sone good inside information to the contrary? Would you be so kind as to eleviate our fears even more by answereing those easy to understand questions?___ Hope so.

Impeachment now, then beginning the trial.

However, the trial will take time that is true.

It will be interesting for the American public to see the evidence presented in the prosecution and again in the defense during the trial.

Perhaps we will get to see the US government more clearly.

We have all the time in the world to advance the principles of democracy and work on practicing them.

One thing that ought to keep the Democrats from pursuing impeachment is that we may find that they were very willing collaborators in the crimes of the administration. It thus will make it just as hard to vote for a Democrat as a Republican

So let's have an impeachment and a trial and then let's clean house and find human beings to represent Americans in the Congress and Executive Branch

Someone wrote, they view a depression as nothing more than vast transfer of wealth.

Well, that view is not what a depression is all about. IF and when a depession hits, it hits overnight. There may be mass transfers of wealth, but for 98% of us, it will mean our credit cards will be frozen, almost all of the banks will be closed, all social security and any other government checks will cease to be deposited or mailed. Businesses large and small will close within a very few days.

There will be a run on supermarkets and hoarding will begin the first day. Within two to three days, all of the food stores shelves will be empty. Even if a few had any stock left, you would need cash to purchase anything. In a few more days there will be armed gangs of rioters roaming the neighborhoods in every city, town and suburbs, searching for food. People will kill for food if they must.__ Sorry, that is so.

Some people will begin to eat their pets and that is how it will be. There will be rioting like it has never, ever, happened. Cities will be on fire and don't expect any help from our government, Fema, the Red Cross, or churches. Everyone will be hungry and the millions of small farms that were here in 1929 are virtually gone.

It will be Katrina magnified a million times. That sounds terrible, and it will be terrible, there will be anarchy, racial riots and bloood in the streets.

That scenerio is not a wild dream, sit back for awhile and really think of how it will be when there is no food to eat and more than 80% of the public is armed.

Sorry, reality sometimes really sucks.

Suggest to the young folks to read "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich".

What proof do Obama and Hillary have that Iran is responsible for our soldiers death? How can they believe intelligence reports after what we have learned about the phoney briefs that Bush and Cheney claimed about Saddam? Sounds to me like these Senators and phoney campaigners are in cahoots with the rest of the elitists and to hell with the average American citizen. P.S. Everyone should read "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich".

Global fascism has arrived. 1984 is alive and well. There is no stopping it now. Orwell could not have been more correct in his visions. He predicted people would lay down for fascism. Well it's here and global government is the next step. They may even freeze your property if you protest!

Thanks Sioux.

Oh and Billjv, to address your post about future terrorist attacjs. You can expect all the braindead conservative lackeys to begin the propoganda and excuses "Well Lincoln suspended Habeas corpus and declared martial law in DC..." It won't take long, after all, the administration funnels the conservative propoganda machine millions of taxpayer dollars.

That's another thing, taxpayer dollars going towards direct government propoganda- not just the poor integrity of the MSM in general. A little something that impeachment might shed some more light on.

MASTERSHAKE: Rabblerowzer did an indepth job of citing all the presidential signing statements and posted his considerable effort as commentary to the CD article: "Earmarking the War Machine."

Warning signs - they are all over the place. Here's the big one - Cheney and Bush are not going anywhere in 2008. I firmly believe they are "expecting" a major "terror" attack on U.S. soil before elections. This will enable them to cancel elections and declare martial law, enabling them to take dictatorial control over the country. I would be more surprised if this does not happen than if it does. The warning signs of this are everywhere - especially in their current actions and the fact that they are not at all concerned with their approval ratings, congress, the people, or anyone else who is opposed to them. They have their directives from Corporate, and they care NOT who opposes them.

This country, and the free world, have already been bought, sold, and carved out for profit. Any country who opposes this march is declared an enemy.

We are now going to be witness to the largest and most frightening control regime ever witnessed on this planet, and it began almost 100 years ago and is now coming to fruition. The train is at full-speed and is unstoppable - the only thing now is to wait until it collapses under it's own weight, which will probably be 15 - 20 years as history has shown that empires in our situation have collapsed.

Hang on, it's going to be a scary, sickening ride.

TIBERIUS BOND: Deep powerful analysis (I agree).
Shadow: Thanks for the insight into advertising as per Freud's understanding of buzz words and stimuli that "moves" the human brain.
Anyone remember Dudley Moore in the VERY funny film BEDAZZLED? It begins in a factory where every record album is given a scratch, and then a page is torn from every book. (You know, the annoying things in life that can set us off.) Goes on to show the DEVIL in modern garb, very proud that over all the centuries, he finally made it to an EIGHTH sin: ADVERTISING! Yep!

.
Bush's latest Executive Order seems excessively open to interpretation.

Does that order mean that any Congressional Democrat who speaks out against Bush Policy on CSPAN, can have his assets frozen? What if you're overheard in coffee shop badmouthing Bush? Could Bush freeze your assets?

Who will finally decide the "Decider" has decided way beyond what was his to decide?

.

Thanks for the very informative comments. The 9/11 ones are especially intriguing. I know since then when I see an American Airlines aircraft, with it's minimal amount of paint covering all that aluminum, what I use to see as an airliner now seems so missile-like. The fact that 15 of the 19 hijackers were our Saudi Arabian "friends" still continues to be downplayed by our government, as will the recent revelation that 45% of the foreign fighters and suicide bombers in Iraq are also our Saudi "friends".

Jan Steinman : Yes I read Evelyn Smith's interesting comment about the coming depression and how things that are unimaginable in our current paradigm will be the status quo then. And not so very distant. She basically summarizes the scenario which James Howard Kunstler elaborates on in his book The Long Emergency. I continue to think this war and all subsequent wars will be Energy Wars fought over the remaining oil that the Earth contains. I don't think that is so different than your point about the valuation of the dollar. Even with oil being close or at an all-time record price, the piece of paper which is our dollar holds ever less value.

If we can't keep our supply-line to relatively cheap oil open, the effects on our economy will be disastrous, every part of which has been built around and functions on the notion of ever-increasing availability of cheap oil. The Wal-Mart "Warehouse on Wheels", all modes of transportation, all modes of communication, the manufacture of computers and other high-tech devices we have come to depend on (plastic is made from oil), the list is endless. Even "The War on Terra" would not be possible without cheap fossil fuels.

I could drone on but suffice it to say what many people in these comments are essentially saying, "Things are not always what they seem". More of us, with the resources of the internet and books, are seeing the political system and the MSM for what it is. Two parties both beholden to behemoth corporations, reliant on a mesmerized boob-tubed society for it's truths. Many of us, and especially today's youth have been brought up to expect the big suburban house, the shiny automobile, the ability to essentially time-travel in a matter of hours to places far away on large, comfortable, fuel-guzzling commercial airliners. All of this is about to change as we fight the remaining superpowers for what remains of our nation's "blood".

James Howard Kunstler maintains a weekly commentary which primarily concerns itself with the realities of our energy dependence and the coming depression the likes of which we cannot imagine. This is the latest installment for anyone interested:

http://www.kunstler.com/mags_diary21.html

Hey we have a lot of seemingly well informed liberals.

Can someone type or link a quick list of things like the Patriot Act, Military Commissions acts, etc... Not just legistlation, but executive orders from this president, like the current property seizure one, that are borderline despotism/facism. It shouldn't take long as I know there is an abundance.

Thanks in advance.

#2: economic meltdown:
Heather, while I respect your writing I would like to see more specifics about #2, Economic meltdown.

No doubt it is happening right now under our noses, but exactly WHO will suffer? I view Depressions as nothing more than massive transfers of wealth, while the mainstream media will no doubt talk about the "middle class" who tend to believe the self-licking ice cream cone that the media is.

I think the reality is going to be that large corporations will suffer the most, and that the local businesses will thrive, especially those farmers who grow and plant their own seeds. The value of the dollar is tanking, so how will Wal-Mart and other large vampires who suck their communities' resources be able to continue to do so?

The Richistan folks can weather this, no problem, but what about their food costs? How long before people stop shopping at the very corporate chains that are destroying the communities they purport to be supporting?

To paraphrase JFK, "those who make systemic change impossible, make cataclysmic system change inevitable." You can help this change by converting ASAP to locally grown, organic produce only. By supporting your local farmer to not only ensure your future food, but clean the air, land and water! It's the ultimate practice of democracy.

I'm wondering why the U.S. government considers peace and peace activists to be bad. Because the U.S. has the strongest military in the world and more weapons than anyone else is no reason to attack a country and kill hundreds of thousands of defenseless civilians -- for no reason other than financial gain.

sh@dow July 23rd, 2007 8:51 am

Great post Shadow. I work in Advertising, specifically advertising research. And I can tell you that the minds of humans are easily manipulated, controlled, and brainwashed. It's not from a lack of education or awareness either... it's simply the limits of human cognition of itself. And those who THINK that they are invulnerable, unaffected, uninfluenced are often MORE susceptable and more easily influences by the control and manipulation. In fact, brainwashing works best when there is an air of pompous arrogance amongst the public. there's a whole sector of advertising dedicated to controlling the minds of those who think they're invulnerable.

American oligarchs continue to expand the war and suppress opposition. They are trying to protect American international hegemony. The U.S. dollar continues its decline against all other currencies.

The U.S. is in danger. The U.S. is much weaker now than at any time over the past 6 years. New leadership, a new path forward is needed.

Acording to Pangloss this is the best of all possible worlds. Who cares if the US fails, only the US. the rest of the world could care less. Nope, elites might lose their money tree but so what? I won't be doing anything other than struggling to survive sort of like right now. Get a grip if any of you had any power to change things you would be renditioned quick. So like that man says don't worry be happy you don't have much choice anyway.

So I ask you when the correct time to act is.

We are the ones with the knowledge, and we are having the hardest time getting others to "Wake Up". We are all currently part of the "Great Slumber". The time came 6 years ago. The "Agenda" as started before most of us were born. We have been given as many warnings as anyone could possibly ask for. Some of us woke up from "The Great Slumber" but not enough.

So I propose this. And please do not see this as giving up but rather as proper planning.

1.) Realize that it's over. It was over before it even started for us.

2.) After realizing this you must contact as many rational individuals as you can and "Wake" them.

3.) Realize that our economy as we know will soon come to an end. I can't tell you how to handle your finances. But do what ever you need to do to prepare yourself if for some chance money in banks became null and void. Say the imaginary money (All money that's not in your hand right now) became null and void.

Please take care off yourselves and be aware of as much change that you can.

Thanks for all that posted the 9/11 info. We know the truth but it still has not set us free.

Hey everyone, a key aspect we have to watch out for if (when) things go down in Iran and Pakistan is the mainstream media's reaction to it, and framing of the issue. Will they cheerlead for the administration as the empire begins it's path to demise? or will they put the fire to the feet of the politicians. I'm guessing the lapdog media will opt for the former since they've lost their journalistic integrity, not that they had much to begin with.

As for the public, idealy there will be a backlash and a strong reaction against this administration. I think we're at the point where, except for the bedrock hardcore conservatives 25-30%, in the eyes of the public Bush cannot do anything right, and he can't do anything right.

I'm hoping his approval drops to 15-20% and impeachment proceedings will begin. We already have 50% (HALF THE COUNTRY) who wants impeachment proceedings to begin, ALREADY!!! What we know, whats available publically even to us enlightened progressives is ONLY the tip of the iceberg. Once we begin to tug at the ball of yarn, it will start to unravel. Dems need to beging rattling the cages. This Administration has been wrong and corrupt at every turn. The dems know this.

For the dems, It's not from fear of losing the election next year... Some of you have also been saying this, and I think it is true, they're all of the same party, and when the Dems take power in 08', they want to assume the same massive corrupt power that the republicans have been abusing for the past 7 years. The dems don't care about checks and balances, government honesty, spying, etc... The dems want the power for themselves. And as liberals, progressives, whatever spectrum of lefty we are, we have to recognize this reality

Tiberius Bond July 23rd, 2007 3:01 am

It's interesting how you brought up "mind control" and this is how it is done...

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8655440618894671576

"The story of the relationship between Sigmund Freud and his American nephew, Edward Bernays. Bernays invented the public relations profession in the 1920s and was the first person to take Freud's ideas to manipulate the masses. He showed American corporations how they could make people want things they didn't need by systematically linking mass-produced goods to their unconscious desires."

The all consuming self!

This talk about 9/11 is interesting. I remember watching on C-Span while the events slowly unfolded. There was some time between when the towers were struck and they fell. There was a caller in, a man who claimed he was an engineer, in frantic voice pleading, get the people out of there the buildings are coming down. He was abruptly cut of the air and his comments ignored. Now, I'm sure C-Span keeps records of callers. After that call in, fire fighters were being sent in to their eventual death and the confusion instead of evacuation seemed plain stupid to me. My point is, the death toll didn't need to be as high as it was.

Hey sh@dow, not that I ever really follow EO's but check into NSPD 51. I think it goes back to the early cold war days. It calls for "continuity of government" in the event of a "cri$i$" (read: disruption of ca$h flow upwards from ANY business sector) through martial law enforced by the military and as you noted, detention camps for the "displaced". Hurricane Katrina was an actual exercise in some of this; families were split by gender, and also by location, and FEMA, what there is of it, was not concerned about keeping families together or even children with their own mothers.

Vanishing Earth - our Representatives are on the same payroll as those whom they pretend to oversee. This is why War Crimes have never and will never be brought in this country. Interesting how we Americans want to both treat the UN as an enemy but then enforce our own laws and world views on other nations like say Serbia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iran, and oh what about Iraq? The short version; the lunatics have overtaken the asylum and are now in charge. Read Dr. Tar & Professor Feather by Egdar Allen Poe. Or did you miss the 2004 article in Mother Jones that detailed how Pelosi was being catered to (lavish invite $$ only yacht partie$) by the same Corp's as were catering to Bush in 2004 Conventions in NYC and Boston? Everyone who voted for the Iraq War resolution s/b in jail for treason. House, Senate, Cabinet and Executive Offices all.

Sorry urthsong, your weird science does not fly. Who cares what story Director McNeill said. It is impossible for a building, to fall perfectly vertically along the path of maximum resistance, at near freefall speed into a neat little pile. At a rate of roughly 10 stories per second. Go look at a ten story office building and imagine that kind of speed happening without explanation. The planes at best would have taken a chunk out of the floors above, and they would have toppled off to the side, leaving the base below. It seems we've all forgotten how a building used to fall, before all the Las Vegas Hotel demolitions. That's not natural.
Structurally, the twin towers had massive core support and were hermetically sealed in thirds (the striped texture seen in the glass from the outside of the building) so as to never allow a full fire event that could consume the entire building through the elevator shafts or anywhere else. Besides, heat rises, that could never account for the 70 something floors below point of impact to spontaneously explode. Look at the pyroplastic clouds, but notice all the white sheets of paper everywhere. It appears in many shots. Why are there no charred edges, or char at all. And on and on and on.
You can't simply ignore building 7.
"Eliminate the impossible, no matter how improbable, what remains must be the truth".
You may be right about NORAD, but my point is that we have video evidence, when properly analyzed, proof of controlled demolition.
I understand the difficulty in truely grasping that there is absolutely no doubt. It means that if you understand that, that maybe you might have to re-arrange a few things. A whole world of what you believe to be so, suddenly isn't. It is like a revelation, and it is a call to arms. Something like a red pill.
It is interesting too, because many very smart people I know, can't put the pieces together. There is definately mind control of some sort going on, but the kind of sort that is subtle. We want to believe official sources of information, newspapers, tv news, the radio, magazines. We have a relationship with it, and in that sense, it is safe and comfortable. It is reasonable to believe some of it, and not believe some of it as well. But with 9/11 the official story was everywhere immediately.
It comes from the fact that you and I consider ourselves to be reasonable people. As reasonable people, the kind of crime we are talking about, to stage an attack of such spectacular proportions is completely unthinkable. It is "outside of the box" for us. We think rationally, but what we are trying to deal with is irrational. It is a new paradigm, and in that sense, we have been completely outflanked. It is highly improbable, but it is the only possible answer. Solve the puzzle yourself, but you need to get better information. Too many people are on the fence about this like you, and I am trying to give you the best tools to deal with the post 9/11 world. It's not "I'm right, you're wrong," but shifting the best light possible on the Myths that have us punching shadows.
Salia, I don't know the total number of people who knew at the time what they were doing. Many isolated components of the operation probably didn't know what they were doing beyond following orders. A very small group indeed could have been responsible.
Death threats and the like, like betraying the mob, I'm sure are keeping many mouths closed. What my list consists of are in part the orchestration of the official story, the cover-up and the starting of the "War On Terror." It is an entire community of engineers and scientists scared silent who won't come out and set the story straight. Misinformation and distortion, bogus science and outright lies coming gleefully from the MSM was and continues to be 'mind boggling.' Congress supports the war, they support everything about, but they play act like they care about the constitution or any of our rights. They all must be in on it, at least by now they are. Bush himself probably didn't know anything until very late in the game, his actions then and since show that he at least signed on with the program with the cover-up and marketing campaign for "the war-time president."

neoconned wrote: "Come and get my property…. go ahead, I dare you…"

I don't think they mean the house you live in. They mean your bank accounts, investments, retirement accounts, Social Security, etc. Then when you can't pay your mortgage, the bank will come and take your house. Or if you own it free and clear, your county will come and take it when you can't pay your taxes.

Unless you're off the cash economy entirely...

VanishingEarth wrote: "This invasion of Iraq is nothing more than an attempt to establish a permanent strategic American presence so that our continued access to cheap oil will continue."

I don't think so. I think it was because the house of cards that is the US Dollar was threatened by Iraq's plan to trade it's oil in Euros. This also explains Iran's peril, since they have established an oil bourse based on the Euro, and have asked Japan to pay for their oil in Yen.

It isn't about "cheap oil." Their buddies running the oil companies don't want "cheap oil." It's about propping up the US$, because when that comes tumbling down, everything else does, as well, as Evelyn Smith notes.

I agree that the Bush administration knew an al Qaeda attack was coming and took steps to allow it to happen in order to fulfill the Project for the New American Century. But this Israeli or any other plot to blow up the WTC is spurious. Former FBI deputy director McNeill was head of security at the WTC. He said that he wanted to be there "when " they attacked again. He knew it was coming. Setting up bombs would never have gotten passed him. Building 7 might be another matter. Though I'm leery about that scenario as well. The engineering explanation of the WTC towers collapses is reasonable. The towers were constructed with the support system to the outer walls freeing office rental square footage space. It was the first of its type in the world. It was not projected that the heat intensity of any fire would ever reach the temperature that could melt the steel support beams causing a floor collapse that then triggered a domino effect. Nobody had thought when it was built to compute passenger jets with fuel sufficient to cross the continent. Now if you want to talk about NORAD failure to pursue hijacked aircraft for an hour and a half, I'm with you.

AZGirl8 above mentioned that she thought she was on the 'list'. I truly believe myself to be on said list too, because of years of baiting them.

I have a few certain friends (both local and interstate) that I have conversations with that purposely trigger any watch mechanisms. It's easy to do, and I've been doing it for years. Here's an example conversation.

Me: Hey there [friendname] how ya doin today?

friend: Good, youself?

Me: Excellent. White House Anthrax U235 Jeff Gannon Capitol Building Dirty Bomb Cheyney Suicide Allah. Now that you agency fuckers are listening and I have your attention I'd just like to point out that the last time you fascist pricks gained control, you know, the 1930's and 40's, your kind ended up being HUNG. HUNG punks, HUNG! You like that thought, being hung? I like that thought, obnoxious fascist bastards listening to others people's conversations being hung. Makes me happy, what do you think [friendname]?

friend: Yeah, at least the Nazis could color-coordinate their uniforms and looked stylish, ignorant weak fascist though they were. These fucks are just sad little limp dicked fascists.

....

Like that. A couple times a month, for the past 15 years or so.

Now, my question, to the general audience here: Do you think I'm on some kind of 'ignore' list yet? Do you think that when the computer brought up my name for the 120-somethingth time that they just flagged me as 'no-threat' or something like that? They HAVE to be tired of it by now, right?

I think of it like this: The police (let's assume they're honest here for a second ;-) okay?) can't STOP crime, but they can make it harder to commit, it's the same thing. These people are committing a crime, and the interference, the resource allocation, every piece of every second I can waste of their illegal pursuits, every byte I can waste on their storage arrays, all of it makes me happy.

Oh, and in case any fascist-bitch monitors happen to read THIS post, due to the above messages (or the fact that Common Dreams is likely already monitored due to article content and ESPECIALLY comment content) just read the little example paragraph to see your historical fate. Hung. Anti-American sellouts.

You freedom, equality and peace loving people are alright though. I love you guys, you make hope seem possible, and I appreciate it.

Impeachment and War Crimes will most likely not be pursued by our Representatives because what is at stake here is the American way of life and the whole world knows it.

This invasion of Iraq is nothing more than an attempt to establish a permanent strategic American presence so that our continued access to cheap oil will continue. The entire infrastructure of our whole nation is built upon the availability of cheap oil, there is no plausible alternative yet. Do 4 military super-bases and the largest embassy on the planet in Baghdad honestly speak to anybody of a non-permanent presence?

So as a nation, we rightfully scream about there being no WMD's, the lack of an Al-Qaeda connection to Saddam, etc., however these were merely pretexts to invade a country and "liberate" it's 27 million feuding occupants, with their oil as our main objective. If we ever believed these Arab people could EVER live in a quasi-democratic state, why have we littered their landscape with Depleted Uranium, the waste product from our nuclear facilities? Our soldiers, and the Iraqi people are afflicted with unprecedented cases of cancer and other maladies widely attributed to this radioactive substance with a half-life of 4.5 BILLION years.

So Republicans, Democrats, all of us are complicit in this even though many/most of us do not approve of the means employed in the sense that we are fighting an energy war to keep the global corporations humming along smoothly, which happen to control the strings of Congress and the media. China and Russia will ultimately be players as well in future energy wars if the world survives this catastrophe. As Karl Rove told Ron Suskind in regards to the "reality-based community", "That's not the way the world really works anymore" he said. "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality...We're history's actors...and you, all of you, will be left to study what we do".

So in light of this ideology, should we be surprised at every recent stonewalling turn of this administration? Bush has effectively told Congress he's an emperor and they can scream about it all they want, but his 'executive privilege' trumps everything, period.

The directive just signed which broadly gives the government reason to seize the assets of any individual who in their view is interfering with this "War On Terra" could effectively be used to silence anyone and their freedom to voice their opposition to the war.

His signing of the directive NPSD 51, which essentially gives him dictatorial powers (like he doesn't already exercise them) and enables him to declare martial law should be very worrisome to anyone that is closely following this current Constitutional Crisis.

As a nation that worships the God of Consumerism, and by necessity would be complicit in these energy wars, with an Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Branch beholden to corporations, as well as the Fourth Estate aka the media beholden to these behemoths, we need to maintain an active dialogue with the dissemination of truth as it's goal And we would do well to examine our own total dependence on cheap fossil fuels, which have peaked worldwide in production and can only become more costly.

The effort now seems to be aimed at blaming the Iraqis for not being able to govern themselves, which anyone familiar with the Middle East could have predicted had BushCo really cared, but they are a tribal people whom we invaded and committed war atrocities against in the name of oil. We, the American 'actors' in this drama, have much to ponder in the next 18 months.

We should be very, very concerned.

Tiberius Bond,

"The truth is that 9/11 was not a terrorist attack, but a false flag event perpetrated from within the United States. Irrefutable proof links the highest levels of the ruling class (US Military, Bush Administration, Congress, Industrialists, War Profiteers) in acts of treason against its own people."

I agree with you that 9/11 was a false flag event; however, not that many people from the U.S. as you mentioned were involved because the danger to have so many involved is that sooner or later someone is going to squeak and spill the beans. That definitely would not be smart planning. Consider the following:

The Israeli intelligence and probably a couple of other intelligence services had got wind of the attack and were aware of it in varying degrees. A private meeting was held between Bush, Cheney, and Ariel Sharon in which the coming attack was discussed. To keep the demolition operation under wrap, it was decided that only a handful of Israeli demolition experts would do the job of imploding the buildings and then leave the country. I have read that some Israelis were actually present in the U.S. during the event.

Now, who is going to leak? Bush, Cheney, Sharon, or a handful of Israeli demolition experts? That's why we will never know the truth during our lifetime.

grandma July 22nd, 2007 8:42 pm

That link works for me!

kloro - thanks for posting a working link. When I tried Heather's above, I got a statement from CD that they couldn't access it. Why?

bad times, folks -

Oh the joy of sharing the world with repressive Republican Nationalist Americans!!

I bet these particular Americans believe that the scenarios mentioned in this piece are all fine and good. Hmmmm... After all, the Global Community is reaping the effects of Republican Americans' choices and actions.

Don't believe that the false Judeo-Christian God will get you out of this one either. :-)

"People simply disappeared, always during the night. Your name was removed from the registers, every record of everything you had ever done was wiped out, your one-time existence was denied and then forgotten. You were abolished, annhilated: vaporized was the usual word." —pg 20 "1984"

I love Bush (in case anyone from NSA is watching)... [g]

Please check out the US Social Forum. People are organizing for a better world.

It is going to take orgainzing and building for the future. It can be done and this is the task history has presented us with.

GRAVEL and the GREENS!

kloro.......nothing personal, but I think you are behind the learning curve here. KUCINICH? Do you believe Bush/Cheney/Gonzo have made themselves dictators (it's not about the money anymore) just to give it all up 16 months from now? They blocked a ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee from seeing the classified parts of Directive 51, which he was absolutly entitled to see. WHY?

There may be a 1/2% chance of having elections. Hell, I'm afraid to even post anymore, since I know I'm already on the 'list'. Can't you see it coming eveyone? Without the votes to complete the impeachment process, all conversation and dissent is now officially moot.

Don't worry, be happy. The market will fix everything.

Interesting that not one of the ten items noted was "Rapid Climate Change". Look up that phrase on Google and in your local library computerized listings. When the methane deposits in the tundra and the ocean start going, the ten problems listed above will seem like the good old days. Where does the food supply come from when the crops are wiped out by wild weather? Why didn't they plan ahead in the first quarter of the 21st century?
--
And thanks, Tiberius, 911 was an inside job. Please Read his post.

Keerist with all of this gloom and doom, where's the cool aid?

If we don't have a war with Iran, the next most serious is the fall of the dollar. When the depression hits, and it is almost a sure bet it will, that will be the end of the United States! Once the depression hits, it will end by the count of ten.__ Ten days.

They're writing up the press release now about how Iran attacked one of our 3 aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf. Just like the Tonkin Gulf Incident. So really, all of this is rather redundant. To the hundreds who survive allout nuclear war, brought on by the Iranian attack, good luck. To those of you who wanted to go surfing tomorrow, too bad.

neoconned July 22nd, 2007 3:44 pm

On your post I want to say that I have been thrown off of several progressive blogs for calling for protest and strike before the EO. Now there is nothing you can do! Ultimately those people for the amnesty bill will have to face this million man terror while our soldiers slug it out in the desert!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xRTpCieQvo&mode=related&search=

Here is this one for the added rub it in factor...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0Bjx-JXH0A&mode=related&search=

I don't need to mention the detention camps do I?

You do realize that all political blogs that report to be "progressive" will have to close up as a result of this EO since this can be called written protest.

Thank you Heather for the reminder that all is not well in the Fatherland, oops, Homeland, but I think it is interesting that you saved the most powerful statement for last when you mentioned upcoming false flag events.
Yes 9/11 is a false flag event. The controlled demolition of the twin towers and building 7 are the irrefutable proof that the destruction was preplanned from within, by businessmen in suits and military men in uniform. Those involved are guilty of TREASON and need to be "called out' if we are to survive the future.
The terrible 'War on Terror' is justified by the LIES/MYTHS disseminated by our official protectors and their whores, the MSM. Together they have effectively brainwashed most of the nation and lead us into endless war.
Understanding what really happened on 9/11 provides the needed context for all of what we are witnessing today. Heather's list is excellent if not only the tip of the iceberg. The "War on Terror" is in fact World War 3. When the United States declared the right to "pre-emptively attack" any nation that it suspected of being a terrorist threat, we'll, we literally declared war upon the world. 'Pre-emptive Attack' is code for 'War of Agression'(the ultimate crime against humanity). 'Suspect of being a Terrorist' is code for 'Anyone and Everyone who opposes domination.' The rest of the world knows this, and they must be working behind the scenes collectively to address the situation.
World War 3 is the "Perpetual War" that will last until the end of time. An Orwellian Nightmare that is so dark, most people can't comprehend that it is both imminent and real. It has already begun. Don't you recognize it?
What possibility do we stand against this juggernaut? What is the essential weakness in it? What is the truth about it?
The truth is, that the War on Terror is based upon a lie. A very monsterous lie, but a lie none-the-less. The only way to defeat a lie is with the truth. The truth is that 9/11 was not a terrorist attack, but a false flag event perpetrated from within the United States. Irrefutable proof links the highest levels of the ruling class (US Military, Bush Administration, Congress, Industrialists, War Profiteers)in acts of treason against its own people.
It is a grab for permanent power beyond rational thinking. Keep the perspective of fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, "Once you eliminate the impossible, what remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth."
To understand the truth about 9/11, is to transform the way you look at the world today. I call it "The corrective lense," and it provides context to everything listed in this article. It shows the consistency behind legislation that strips citzens of every human dignity, massive profits for the industry of war and the rapid destruction of the middle class. The more "broken" the army is, as cleverly portrayed by the MSM, the more resources will be dumped into the black hole of militarism, including our children via the draft and RFID.
Only the Truth can stop this nightmare, reverse the tide, stop it in its tracks.
It is the most important issue facing humanity, because everything is at stake. Everything forever.
I'm not willing to settle for anything less than "The Great Turning," for it must be that revolutionary if we are to survive at all.
The modern military's weapon's of war are all gas driven machinery, the Oil Monopoly Cartel will not surrender its stranglehold. Global warming will get worse and worse, if we live long enough to survive whatever nuclear disaster might await us. DU is already assuring perpetual dead zones on the battlefields of Iraq and next generation Nuclear Bombs will be tested over "real world targets" in Iran. Microwave weapons explode organs from inside-out, tested in Afganistan, soon to be pointed at protesters for crowd control here in the United States. The last oil on Earth, will be spent fighting for the last oil on Earth.
This is not the future I want.
Isn't it clear to everyone that the mission of the military is Oppression through Murder? They need a new mission. They need to lay down arms and get to the task of cleaning up their radioactive mess' throughout the planet and focus all machinery for peace-time rescue and natural disaster relief. Build de-salination plants that can serve the entire West Coast of the United States, and build a few more for the rest of the world.
There are so many new missions required it is staggering. But you won't get a bit of transformation without confronting the lying murderers who are posing as our protectors. They are obsolete, their control is so fragile that they have to lie, cheat and steal their way into this doomed Orwellian future of theirs. I renounce them thouroughly! Impeachment is not enough! We must re-open the 9/11 investigation and try these International War Criminals for what they are. Before that can happen a critical mass of understanding must occur, until then, United We Don't Understand.

And the government can say thank God for giving them more arms than your average citizen.

Come and get my property.... go ahead, I dare you...

thank God (no thanks to liberals!!) for the 2nd Amendment.

Arnold the Governator is now a warning sign? Nice dude, when ya gonna wake up?

The warning signs are over people we are already under siege and should have declared an emergency after the election in 2000... by hitting the streets in mass to declare BOTH candidates losers and demand a real one.

Caesar said, "Alea iacta est!"

Brutus said, "Yep, me too!"

it is poetic justice that the monster which we have aided and abetted abroad should finally turn on us. reality bats last.

this link works to shrub's latest tantrum:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/07/20070717-3.html

Get ready for brown shirts and some serious Jack London "IRON HEEL".
Hoa binh

We are still dealing with the results of the overthrow of Mossadegh! Without our interventions the region and world would be a much batter place.

Blowback is a bitch!

Ten warning signs, but I'll just comment on one or two.

It appears that the emperor is mad at his subjects, and the chickens are coming home to roost.

For years the U.S. regime engaged in all sorts of atrocities, most notably by toppling democratically elected governments and replacing them by tyrants through coup (Massadegh in Iran) or by bombing them (Salvador Allende in Chile). During those years when their government was running rough shot, the Muricans didn't pay any attention and didn't care. Now the tyrant has turned on its own people, and we are the ones who are watching the blowback, even though it's not from us in the third world. How does it feel to have despot ruling you?

An attack on Iran, whether it leads to WWIII or not, will bring the end of America as we know it today. Not a bad sign if it turns this rogue nation into a good member of the world community.

KUCINICH!

but where were you guys when they outlawed travel to Cuba with a very similar legal instrument?

A cornered animal can be very dangerous. Cheney and Bush are under a lot of pressure. They must be removed before any more damage is done.

As for Clinton and Obama -- they are the candidates of the ruling class. Should either be the Dim candidate in '08, we need an alternative or an electoral boycott.

Protest war, lose your property?

How quaint of Big Brother and the Ministry of Truth to bring all of us to Room 101. What is it that we Americans fear most? The loss of our family, friends and property of course. No food, no shelter, no clothing, no job, no money and no hope. As we are starving on the street can we count on our friends and family for help? Absolutely not lest they too shall be deemed a "significant threat" to Oceania's eternal war with Eurasia.

Is this the price of Global Hegemony?

In days gone by it was the Inquisitation or the Gas Chamber that seperated citizens from their treasure to feed the insatiable hunger of Fascist Dictatorships.

This column offers appetizers. If you'd like to chew on a main course, have a look at - Crossing the Rubicon - a book by Michael Ruppert.