War On You

Kucinich to investigate police surveillance of protest groups

2008-07-21T03:49:00.011-04:00

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), who has figured prominently in recent political news for his attempts to begin impeachment hearings against President George W. Bush, today announced that the congressional subcommittee he chairs will look into reports of peace groups being surveilled by police and private investigators.“[M]ost people would be upset to know that police were [...]

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IndyMac bank going under probably has you wondering, is my bank next?

2008-07-21T03:49:00.010-04:00

IndyMac bank going under probably has you wondering, is my bank next? Various analysts are predicting that hundreds of small and regional banks could collapse in the next year. Here's the top 10 list of the nation's most troubled banks...

The list is determined by dividing the bank's non-performing loans by the sum of its tangible equity capital and loan loss reserves, what is termed the "Texas-ratio." Any bank with a ratio higher than 100 means they have more bad loans on the books than money to pay for them. The good news is that all the banks are FDIC-insured, which means that up to the first $100,000 of your deposits are guaranteed by the federal government.

Barack Obama's Super Marketing Machine

2008-07-21T03:49:00.008-04:00

Mike Madden writes on Salon:About every week or so, you get an e-mail from Barack Obama campaign manager David Plouffe, or top deputy Steve Hildebrand, or maybe Obama himself. They're breezy and informal, addressing you by first name at the outset (before they ask you to donate money at the end). But that's just the beginning.You know, of course, that Obama has your e-mail address. You may not have realized that he probably also has your phone number and knows where you're registered to vote — including whether that's a house or an apartment building, and whether you rent or own. He's got a decent estimate of your household income and whether you opened a credit card recently. He knows how many kids you're likely to have and what you do for a living. He knows what magazines and catalogs you get and whether you're more apt to get your news from cable TV, the local newspaper or online. And he knows what time of day you tend to get around to plowing through your in box and responding to messages.The 5 million people on Obama's e-mail list are just the start of what political strategists say is one of the most sophisticated voter databases ever built.

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The Miraculous World of Benny Hinn

2008-07-17T02:00:00.004-04:00

One of the mega-star television evangelists recently placed under investigation by the Senate is Benny Hinn. Hinn is one of the more controversial celebrity evangelists due to many of his claims — that he has divine healing powers, that God will destroy the coastal U.S., and that corpses can be revived by having their hands placed on television screens during Trinity Broadcasting Network broadcasts. However, nothing tops his shockingly bizarre faith-healing/revivalist summits, held at gigantic arenas and amphitheaters across the country; Hinn causes thousands of spectators to faint by pointing at them, while others cry from the pain of invisible fire.

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[Source: Vidz King - Posted by WAR ON YOU]

History of Oil in the Middle East from WWI to the Present: Iran Eliminates the U.S. Petrodollar

2008-07-17T01:59:00.011-04:00

On Sunday 17 February 2008 the first phase of Iran's oil and petrochemical bourse on Kish Island was inaugurated, paving the way for “all major currencies of the world” to be used in future oil transactions. Two months later, on April 30, Iran announced that they had “totally removed U.S. dollars in the country's oil transactions.”

To understand the significance of these events let’s take a look back at our history, starting with World War I. The following short video (2:08) recaps the events that resulted in Britain landing troops in Iran in 1914, and consequently occupying Iraq. A more detailed and glorified recollection of this part of our history can be witnessed through one of the greatest epic movies of all time, ‘Lawrence of Arabia’.

We fast-forward to the first attempt of Middle Eastern countries to free themselves of Western control of their resources with Iran in 1951, when the democratically elected president, Dr. Mohammed Mosaddeq, nationalizated Iran's oil industry. Unfortunately however, Western powers would not stand idly by while Iranians took control of their own resources, which is why in 1953 the CIA, following instructions from Britain, organized a coup against Dr. Mosaddeq and overthrew the government. This was a well documented event and general knowledge among all those who lived in the Middle East and Asia for decades, but was not well known in the West until the year 2000 when the United States government released documents on the operation, and apologized to Iran and its people for the devastation that it unleashed. The following short video (4:39) is a good introduction to this topic.

Let’s now discuss the purchasing power of the US dollar.

Since the end of the Second World War, the US dollar has become the international reserve currency. The need for countries to maintain US dollar reserves was solidified in 1974 during the Nixon administration, when negotiations with Saudi Arabia assured that the oil would only be sold in US dollars, and surpluses from oil proceeds would be invested in U.S. Treasury Bills. In return the US would militarily and economically protect the Saudi regime. Since that time, US dollars have dominated world markets - until the year 2000 that is.

The following article, “The Real Reasons for the Upcoming War With Iraq”, which was written before the US invasion of Iraq, lays forth an argument that the war in Iraq was not just about oil but about the currency in which oil is traded. It is mandatory reading for anyone who wants to understand the basic concepts of American foreign policy, economics, and its military operations around the world. This article states that the principle reason why the United States invaded Iraq was because Saddam Hussein in the year 2000 went ahead with his plans to stop using the US dollar in its oil business and start using the Euro.

The trading of oil for the Euro instead of US dollars is an extremely important historical precedent set by Iraq that must be understood to fully grasp the implications of Iran's announcement in December of 2006 that they would “use Euro instead of US dollar in (their) next year's budget.” If the United states was willing to invade Iraq to prevent oil from being traded in any other currency than the dollar, then it would be logical to assume that they will also confront Iran regarding their plans to permanently and absolutely phase out the US dollar.

This now brings us full circle to the opening of Iran’s Oil Bourse and their announcement that they have “totally removed U.S. dollars in the country's oil transactions.” Since Saddam Hussein’s declaration that Iraq would begin to sell oil in other currencies, a few very significant events have taken place. Iran’s announcement that it would follow suit is just the tip of the iceberg. Many other countries have already started to sell the US dollar and to convert to other currencies. Some of these countries include: Sweden, Cuba, U.A.E., China, Russia, India, Indonesia, North Korea, Venezuela, and many more.

It is a fact that oil is the only reason the US dollar has maintained its value and acceptance as the world currency. Once countries can buy oil in non-US dollars then the complete collapse of the American Empire will occur.

All countries are aware that the US has been printing absurd amounts of their fiat currency, and they are no longer willing to hold reserves that continue to devalue. This devaluing has become accelerated since the discontinuance of the M3 report. “On March 23, 2006, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System” ceased publishing the M3 monetary aggregate. The M numbers (M1, M2, and M3) are “components of the United States money supply”, which “show the amount of dollars in circulation”.
[Source: Vidz King - Posted by WAR ON YOU]

Conservatives Deeply Depressed Over McCain Campaign

2008-07-17T01:59:00.010-04:00

(Las Vegas, Nevada) Conservatives are so depressed over the state of the McCain campaign--particularly its failure to include and enthuse the Republican base--that they are preparing themselves for a monumental GOP defeat in November, Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, said in a speech to FreedomFest.

“You even have some conservatives who are considering voting for Barack Obama, because they fear McCain as president would destroy what’s left of the Republican brand and would finish off the conservative movement,” said Viguerie. “Their mood is that of the fatally ill patient who says ‘Let’s get this over with’.”

“John McCain has had the Republican nomination sewn up for five months and has done little to convince conservatives they should come off the sidelines and fight for him,” he said.

Viguerie said, “Personnel is policy and if Senator McCain won’t surround himself with conservatives during this campaign, when he desperately needs them, why should we think that he will have conservatives making critical decisions in his administration?”

“Senator McCain has never been a conservative, is not one now, and will not govern as one. From McCain-Feingold to cap-and-trade, he is a supporter of one Big Government scheme after another. History shows that, in the Oval Office, where almost all the political pressure comes from supporters of Big Government, he would only get worse.”

Viguerie has also called for the resignation of the Republican leadership in Congress.

“After this year’s expected blood bath in the November elections, the voters will bring about a massive housecleaning of GOP leaders in favor of principled conservatives,” he said.

Freedom Fest, at which Viguerie spoke, is a gathering of prominent advocates for free markets. Other speakers this year include Steve Forbes, George Gilder, Bob Barr, Dinesh D’Souza, Christopher Hitchens, and Congressman Ron Paul.

[Source: Vidz King - Posted by WAR ON YOU]

An American Pastime: Smoking Pot

2008-07-17T01:59:00.009-04:00

The Netherlands, with its permissive marijuana laws, may be known as the cannabis capital of the world. But a survey published this month in PLoS Medicine, a journal of the Public Library of Science, suggests that the Dutch don't actually experiment with pot as much as one would expect. Despite tougher drug policies in the U.S., Americans were twice as likely to have tried marijuana than the Dutch, according to the survey. In fact, Americans were more likely to have tried marijuana or cocaine than people in any of the 16 other countries, including France, Spain, South Africa, Mexico and Colombia, that the survey covered.

Researchers found that 42% of people surveyed in the U.S. had tried marijuana at least once, and 16% had tried cocaine. About 20% of residents surveyed in the Netherlands, by contrast, reported having tried pot; in Asian countries, such as Japan and China, marijuana use was virtually "non-existent," the study found. New Zealand was the only other country to claim roughly the same percentage of pot smokers as the U.S., but no other nation came close to the proportion of Americans who reported trying cocaine.

Why the high numbers? Jim Anthony, chair of the department of epidemiology at Michigan State University and an author of the study, says U.S. drug habits have to do, in part, with the country's affluence — many Americans can afford to spend their income on recreational drugs. Another factor may be an increasing awareness that marijuana may be less toxic than other drugs, such as tobacco or alcohol. (However, the study also found that the U.S. is among the leading countries in the percentage of respondents who have tried tobacco and alcohol). As for the popularity of cocaine, the reason may simply be the close proximity of South America, the world's only coca plant producer. And finally, Anthony notes, it's a matter of culture: the U.S. is home to a huge baby boomer population that came of age when experimenting with drugs was a part of the social fabric. "It became a more mass-population phenomenon during a period when there were a large number of young people who were in the process of creating a culture of their own," Anthony says.

The survey also found that more Americans not only experimented with drugs, but also tended to try pot and cocaine for the first time at a younger age compared with people in other countries. Just over 20% of Americans reported trying pot by age 15 and nearly 3% had tried cocaine by the same age. Those percentages jumped to 54% and 16%, respectively, by age 21. That finding isn't surprising, says Dr. Richard Schottenfeld, a professor of psychiatry and a drug expert at the Yale University School of Medicine, since peer influence has a significant impact on the prevalence of drug use. In the Netherlands, for example, there is a large, vocal and homogeneous conservative population that is staunchly opposed to marijuana, says Schottenfeld. And anti-drug activists have made recent attempts to tighten the country's cannabis policies.

Yet experts say the findings of the new survey don't fairly reflect the success or failure of any particular drug policy. The survey asked only whether people had ever tried drugs in their lifetime — it did not ask about habitual use. "For drug policy, what you look at is regular use," says Tom Riley, a spokesman for the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy. "Somebody having tried pot in 1968 in college doesn't really have much to do with what the current drug use picture in the United States is."

Though current findings may not provide enough context to judge existing drug policy, Anthony says they do highlight some valid issues, especially since stringent laws don't appear to impact whether kids experiment with drugs. "One of the questions raised by research of this type is whether Americans will want to continue supporting the incarceration of young people who use small amounts of marijuana," Anthony says.

The ongoing study, which surveyed more than 85,000 people in 17 countries, is part of a larger project through the World Health Organization's World Mental Health Survey Initiative. Anthony says further research about the frequency of worldwide drug use, and new data from additional countries will be released in the future.

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[Source: Vidz King - Posted by WAR ON YOU]

Red Cross Finds Military and Bush Administration Guilty of War Crimes!

2008-07-14T03:23:00.004-04:00

In a secret report last year, the Red Cross found evidence of the CIA using torture on prisoners that would make the Bush administration guilty of war crimes, The New York Times reported Friday.The Red Cross determined the culpability of the Bush administration after interviewing prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, according to the article.Prisoner Abu Zubaydahwho [...]

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[Source: Breaking News from WarOnYou.com - Posted by The King Of Videos; VIDZ KING]

U.S. Planned Nerve Gas Tests on Australian Soldiers

2008-07-12T23:41:00.010-04:00

THE US military planned to test deadly nerve gas on Australian soldiers in far north Queensland during the Cold War, declassified documents reveal.

The Defence and Prime Minister's office files show that the US was strongly pushing then prime minister Harold Holt's government in the 1960s to allow tests of two of the deadliest chemical weapons ever developed -- VX and GB, better known as Sarin nerve gas.

The revelation airs this morning on the Nine Network's Sunday program.

It says the top secret plan involved allowing 200 mainly Australian combat troops to be aerially bombed and sprayed with the chemical weapons.

It's understood the Iron Range rainforest near Lockhart River in far north Queensland was the likely location for the tests.

Peter Bailey, a former senior official with Mr Holt, tells the program the request caused consternation in Canberra, and as far as he knows the tests never went ahead.

But he says planning was very advanced in the US, which wanted the operation to be kept secret because the weapons were illegal under international law..

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[Source: Breaking News from WarOnYou.com - Posted by Mint Dollar- The Federal Reserves Worst NightMare]

Federal judges decision renders Bush a felon

2008-07-12T23:41:00.009-04:00

Last night on MSNBC’s Coundown, George Washington law professor Jonathan Turley noted that just this week, a federal judge rejected President Bush’s claim that his “constitutional authority as commander in chief trumped” the FISA wiretapping law. Judge Vaughn Walker explicitly stated that the President is bound by FISACongress appears clearly to have intended to [...]

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[Source: Breaking News from WarOnYou.com - Posted by Mint Dollar- The Federal Reserves Worst NightMare]

Kucinich to Present Impeachment Case to House Judiciary Committee

2008-07-12T23:41:00.008-04:00

Democratic leaders have agreed to give Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich a day before the House Judiciary Committee to make his case that President Bush ought to be impeached for allegedly lying to Congress in order to get approval to invade Iraq.Kucinich, D-Ohio, has introduced three impeachment resolutions one against Bush (HRes 1258) and two [...]

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[Source: Breaking News from WarOnYou.com - Posted by Mint Dollar- The Federal Reserves Worst NightMare]

Augmented Reality

2008-07-05T02:31:00.005-04:00

One step closer to freeing the scheming internet behemoth monster from its computer prison. CNN:

"Some wish they could link outside of Web browsers. One blogger wrote she wants to "right-click" on people to discreetly learn more about them. (This after an event where she ignored someone she admires, not realizing who he was.)

A few emerging technologies aim to make more objects — both in real life and in computers — behave like hyperlinks. An upcoming version of the program Hyperwords, now limited to web browsers, will work with any open window on your computer."

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THE HAMPTONS DICTIONARY: Class Warfare At Its Best

2008-07-05T02:31:00.004-04:00

July 2, 2008 — THE suits at Hamptons Jitney weren't amused by "The Hamptons Dictionary," a humorous guide to the local lingo written by local author Miles Jaffe. The Disinformation Company Ltd., which published the book, paid to have it included in the Hamptons Jitney sampler bag, which was handed out to 500 riders last Friday. The satirical guide describes the Jitney as a "cattle car." "Apparently the higher-ups at the Jitney didn't review the contents of the book before putting it in, and they contacted us freaking out about it," said Disinformation head Ralph Bernardo. "We were scheduled to be in for July and August, but they have refunded our money. It seems like they have no sense of humor about it at all." Other useful entries include, "Do you know who I am?" — defined as "a question foreshadowing a temper tantrum."

To see more of the dictionary, please check out this Facebook Application, many thanks!

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Louisiana Passes First Anti-Evolution 'Academic Freedom' Law

2008-07-02T13:46:00.007-04:00

A number of states have been considering laws that, under the guise of "academic freedom," single out evolution for special criticism. Most of them haven't made it out of the state legislatures, and one that did was promptly vetoed. But the last of these bills under consideration, the Louisiana Science Education Act (LSEA), was enacted by the signature of Governor Bobby Jindal yesterday. The bill would allow local school boards to approve supplemental classroom materials specifically for the critique of scientific theories, allowing poorly-informed board members to stick their communities with Dover-sized legal fees.

The text of the LSEA suggests that it's intended to foster critical thinking, calling on the state Board of Education to "assist teachers, principals, and other school administrators to create and foster an environment within public elementary and secondary schools that promotes critical thinking skills, logical analysis, and open and objective discussion of scientific theories."

Unfortunately, it's remarkably selective in its suggestion of topics that need critical thinking, as it cites scientific subjects "including, but not limited to, evolution, the origins of life, global warming, and human cloning."

Neopaganism Growing Quickly

2008-07-02T13:46:00.006-04:00

A story which gets relatively thin media coverage is the survival and spread of paganism; in the United States, Canada and Europe, the number of modern pagans doubles every eighteen months. The Denver Post reports on its city's thriving Neopagan scene, from in-demand prison outreach to coffee house-community centers. The surge in interest is attributed to "people, especially teens rejecting what they see as the 'autocracy, paternalism, sexism, homophobia and insensitivity to the environment' of more traditional religions." The robes and gold lam are also a big draw.

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Entity in a Book Meta-Magick: The Book of Atem

2008-07-01T01:10:00.006-04:00

I DON'T BELIEVE IN TRADITIONAL MAGICK. Nor should you -- especially if you want to learn to practice it.

No, it's probably easier just to get everyone else to believe in it. Then just proceed according to plan and watch the rest of the world conform to your intention.

Of course, that's just fine for the independent wizard looking to manipulate his way to sex, power, and cash, but what about the person who sincerely means to make the world a better, more just, and pleasurable place for everybody? What about the magician who doesn't simply want to gain a disproportionate share of existing stuff, but wants instead to change the very relationship of matter, energy, and abundance?

That's the kind of person who should turn away from traditional ceremonial magick and turn instead to the work of Philip Farber.

Too many novice magicians explore the possibilities of their craft from the hopelessly closed mindset attending the zero-sum game. For them, magick is something one does all alone, for the purposes of improving, changing, or expanding the self. It's no wonder. Like every other mind technology, from the Torah to neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), chaos magick has been co-opted by the self-help movement. As a result, instead of destroying the "self" so that the person can be liberated, most magick practices only reconfirm the specious boundaries defining selfhood, further trapping the magician in the realm of the already possible -- and further isolating all magicians from one another.

As I've come to understand it, the intent of Farber's ongoing literary sigil is to move his readers beyond the practice of individual magicks into the shared space of collective, consensual hallucination. Beginning with the invocation of a known and accepted personage, Atem, Farber quickly branches out in new directions, casting a visionary world picture as if it were a guidebook -- a description and instruction manual to a realm that is quite literally created in the process of its depiction and subsequent imagination.

But Farber's world picture is not a specific map of forces. Rather, it is a place where his readers are free to develop their own. It is a meta-landscape -- a series of laws that are each invitations to create new ones. The only terra firma is the guarantee of access to this collective act of ongoing creation.

In this sense, Meta-Magick is truly a "meta" magick -- a menu-to-menu creation, an open-source approach to magick that puts each participant in the role of contributor and propagandist.

Meta-Magick is an invitation to participate in several levels of practice: the remapping of one's own mind, the development of memes that can be transmitted to others, the use of media, and the implementation of social change. It is a picture of a world in which we all contribute to the landscape and its bylaws. It is the world in which we live.

* * *

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IRAQ: Iraq deal with US to end immunity for foreign contractors

2008-06-25T06:15:00.009-04:00

IRAQ: Iraq deal with US to end immunity for foreign contractors

by Patrick Cockburn, The Independent UK
June 18th, 2008

The US has accepted that foreign contractors in Iraq will no longer have immunity from Iraqi law under a new security agreement now under negotiation, says the Iraqi Foreign Minister, Hoshyar Zebari.

Mr Zebari, speaking to The Independent in Washington, said that if there was a further incident like the one in which 17 Iraqis were killed by workers from the Blackwater security company in Baghdad last September, the Iraqis would arrest and punish the contractors held responsible.

The American concession would have a serious effect in Iraq, where there are an estimated 160,000 foreign contractors, many of them heavily armed security personnel. The contractors, who outnumber the 145,000-strong US Army in the country, have become a vital if much-resented part of the military machine in Iraq.

Mr Zebari, Foreign Minister since 2004 and one of the ablest Iraqi leaders, defends the security deal now being negotiated, in contrast to Iraqi critics who say it turns the country into an American client state. On Friday the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said negotiations on twin political and military agreements between the US and Iraq had "reached a dead end".

Later, after a phone call from Mr Zebari, Mr Maliki backtracked from his earlier statement. But details of the American proposals, first published in The Independent, have been denounced in Iraq for making the US occupation permanent. Mr Zebari contends that nothing is yet agreed and the American side is showing flexibility under instructions from President Bush. "I am using this example [the ending of immunity for US contractors] to show that talks have not reached a dead end," he said.

The Iraqi Foreign Minister is in Washington for talks about the negotiations on the Status of Forces Agreement (Sofa), covering critical issues of military co-operation between the US and Iraq, and the parallel Strategic Framework Agreement that covers political and other issues.

He is also establishing official contact with the presidential candidates, briefing John McCain on the situation in Iraq, and was due to speak to Barack Obama yesterday. In speaking to Senator Obama he said he wanted to reassure him that the purpose of the Sofa was not to pre-empt different policies that might be adopted by a new president. Mr Obama has told Iraqi officials that, if elected, he will not act precipitately on Iraq and will seek the views of the American military commander on the spot.

Critics of the agreement in Iraq see the powers being demanded by the US, such as the use of 58 bases, the freedom of the US to carry out operations and arrests without consulting the Iraqi government, and the immunity of US troops, as compromising Iraqi independence. They have denounced the deal as ominously similar to the Anglo-Iraqi treaty of 1930 under which Iraq was nominally independent but Britain retained bases and covert control.

Other shifts in US proposals being discussed are a joint Iraqi-American centre to co-ordinate operations against terrorists and the transfer of prisoners, currently numbering 21,000, to Iraqi custody. The Iraqi side has been investigating how other Sofas operate in other countries such as Japan, South Korea and Turkey, but in none of these are US troops involved in combat or the target of armed resistance.

Mr Zebari says Iraq still needs US troops' support. Its security forces number 600,000 but lack training and logistical support. Mr Maliki's government is more confident since it sent forces into Basra, Sadr City and Mosul earlier this year but it is not clear if they would have held their ground without US firepower, air support and advice.

President Bush is pushing for the Sofa and the less important Strategic Framework Agreement to be signed by 31 July.

*A powerful car bomb exploded in a crowded market in Baghdad yesterday, killing 51 people and wounding 75, in the biggest attack in the Iraqi capital in months. The market was in the predominantly Shia neighbourhood of al-Hurriya in north-west Baghdad.

The US has accepted that foreign contractors in Iraq will no longer have immunity from Iraqi law under a new security agreement now under negotiation, says the Iraqi Foreign Minister, Hoshyar Zebari.

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Government Is Sued Over Seizure of Liberty Dollars

2008-06-25T06:15:00.008-04:00

A dozen people around the country filed suit in U.S. District Court in Idaho this week demanding the return of all the copper, silver, gold, and platinum coins more than seven tons of metal in all that the FBI and Secret Service seized in November during raids of a mint in Idaho and [...]

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[Source: War On You -

RFK Jr.- They ARE Destroying OUR Constitution.

2008-06-01T00:28:00.005-04:00

George Bush Sr’s corrupt idiot son is elevated to the White House where he has succeeded in doing more damage to America than any external enemy in its history.Meanwhile, the deeply informed, insightful, patriotic son of Robert F. Kennedy is all but banned from the airwaves.This tells you everything you need to know about why [...]

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[Source: War On You

IRAQ: Court revives suits against Halliburton in truckers' deaths

2008-06-01T00:28:00.004-04:00

NEW ORLEANS — A federal appeals court on Wednesday revived lawsuits against military contractors over a deadly ambush that killed civilian truck drivers in Iraq.

The suits filed by truckers and their families accuse Halliburton and a former subsidiary, Houston-based KBR, of knowingly sending a convoy into a dangerous area where six KBR drivers were killed and several others wounded on April 9, 2004.

A federal judge in Houston threw out the lawsuits in September 2006, saying the judiciary can't second-guess the military's battlefield decisions.

But the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans reversed that judge's ruling on Wednesday and sent the three cases back to the lower court for further proceedings.

A three-judge panel from the appeals court said it may be possible to resolve the lawsuits without making a "constitutionally impermissible review of wartime decision-making."

Cases spawned in a war zone involve constitutional issues and "practical considerations" that can prevent them from being resolved in court, Judge Leslie Southwick wrote in the panel's 29-page ruling.

"It appears, though, that these tort-based claims of civilian employees against their civilian employers can be separated from the political questions that loom so large in the background," Southwick added."

The 5th Circuit said the cases could still run into a constitutional roadblock as they progress.

"The litigation is not yet there, if it ever will be," Southwick wrote.

KBR split from Halliburton last year and operates as a separate, publicly traded company. At least 110 of KBR's employees have been killed in Iraq since it started working there under a multibillion-dollar military contract in 2003.

KBR spokeswoman Heather Browne said the company hadn't seen the ruling yet and couldn't comment on it.

Halliburton spokeswoman Cathy Mann said she couldn't comment on the ruling because "defense of this lawsuit is KBR's responsibility."

Several lawyers for truck drivers' families didn't immediately return calls for comment Wednesday evening.

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Barry Nolan: The Story Behind My OReilly Protest

2008-05-28T23:08:00.010-04:00

So, Im that TV guy who got fired by Comcast over Bill OReilly. I protested the fact that OReilly was chosen to receive the Governors Award at this years Emmy Awards ceremony. Thats the highest honor that they hand out. The important word here is: honor.Now granted you wont find a lot of Albert [...]

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US: Oil Industry, Lawmakers AimTo Lift Bans on Drilling

2008-05-28T23:08:00.009-04:00

Mounting concerns about global energy supply are fueling a drive by the oil industry and some U.S. lawmakers to end longstanding bans on domestic drilling put in place to protect environmentally sensitive areas.

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[Source: CorpWatch

Douglas Rushkoff Interview

2008-05-28T23:08:00.008-04:00

An interview with media expert Douglas Rushkoff: Boucher: In addition to improving our intellectual understanding of media, could you outline some simple techniques or activities which we can put into practice in our lives based on the insights we derive from the process of de-constructing mass media? Rushkoff: There are simple things you can do to keep the media from having quite as strong an impact on you without your consent. You can observe how you feel when watching TV, and try to see what kinds of images or situations make you tense. And when you feel this anxiety, try to figure out why you feel this way, and who wants you to feel this way. And why?Or try to figure out who is paying for what you're watching. That's almost the easiest one. Who paid for this thing? Why do they want me to see this?It's also fun to try to pick out which segments on the news are fake. I mean, which are actually tapes sent in by public relations firms or even the government, disguised as news reports. (This isn't conspiracy theory; it's plain common fact.) Every night the news shows slip those in because they don't have the budget to fill out the whole show by themselves. But they're really just corporate or government propaganda.

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House Passes Bill to Sue OPEC Over Oil Prices

2008-05-22T23:49:00.008-04:00

Washington - The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation on Tuesday allowing the Justice Department to sue OPEC members for limiting oil supplies and working together to set crude prices, but the White House threatened to veto the measure.The bill would subject OPEC oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, Iran and Venezuela, to the same antitrust [...]

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[Source: War On You

Bigger, Stronger, Faster*

2008-05-22T23:49:00.007-04:00

In America, we define ourselves in the superlative: we are the biggest, strongest, fastest country in the world. We reward speed, size and above all else: winning — at sport, at business and at war. Metaphorically we are a nation on steroids. Is it any wonder that so many of our heroes are on performance enhancing drugs?

From the producers of Bowling For Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11 comes a new film that unflinchingly explores our win-at-all-cost culture through the lens of a personal journey of director Christopher Bell and his two brothers, who grew up idolizing muscular giants like Hulk Hogan, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and who went on to become members of the steroid-subculture in an effort to realize their American dream.