HOW SOPHISTICATED ARE WE, REALLY?

If human beings really don't want to be compared to monkeys, maybe we should focus our efforts on working towards becoming something better.

RANIA MASRI ON THE ISRAELI WAR AGAINST LEBANON

Rania Masri, PhD is a professor at the University of Balamand, Lebanon and member of Green Line Organisation. She came to the Bruxelles Tribunal as expert witness for the issue “The Environmental Impact of the Israeli War on Lebanon.” Her presentation was a devastating indictment at 360°, as well as a powerful analysis on the reasoning that seemed to be behind Israel’s claimed purpose that it would “turn back the clock in Lebanon back by 20 years.”

‘NEVER AGAIN’ ~~ UNLESS IT’S IN GAZA

HOW ISRAELI TROOPS INVADE HOMES IN GAZA, BRUTALIZE, SMASH AND STEAL

SAFA ABU SEIF, 12, was fatally wounded as she stood in an upstairs room of her home in the Gaza City district of Jabaliya 10 days ago.

She was one of 27 children identified by United Nations staff among the 107 Palestinians who were killed in five days last week. Another 25 dead, including five women, were identified as unarmed non-combatants. The status of 13 more dead victims could not be determined. At least three of the children were reportedly shot in their homes by Israeli small arms or sniper fire.

GAZA FORCED TO PUMP MORE RAW SEWAGE INTO SEA

Since Israeli-imposed fuel restrictions began last year, limiting the Gaza power plant's ability to produce electricity, on average another 40,000 cubic metres of untreated or partially treated waste water has been pumped into the sea daily.

EX-DEA HEAD ADMITS CIA IMPORTED COCAINE

A clip from "American Drug War: The Last White Hope"

EXHAUSTIVE REVIEW FINDS NO LINK BETWEEN SADDAM, AL QAIDA

WASHINGTON — An exhaustive review of more than 600,000 Iraqi documents that were captured after the 2003 U.S. invasion has found no evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime had any operational links with Osama bin Laden's al Qaida terrorist network.

GULF WAR SYNDROME FIRMLY LINKED TO CHEMICAL EXPOSURE

Nearly two decades after veterans of the 1991 Gulf War came home complaining of odd illnesses, enough evidence has been gathered to determine that many of them were sickened by chemical exposure, a study published Monday concluded.

FED PRINTS ANOTHER $200 BILLION OUT OF THIN AIR

"Under this new Term Securities Lending Facility (TSLF), the Federal Reserve will lend up to $200 billion of Treasury securities to primary dealers secured for a term of 28 days...by a pledge of other securities, including federal agency debt, federal agency residential-mortgage-backed securities (MBS), and non-agency AAA/Aaa-rated private-label residential MBS," the Fed said in a statement.

BRAZILIAN PROTESTERS DESTROY GM CROPS

Brazilian protesters destroy GM crops

BILLIONAIRE INVESTOR SEES BANK FAILURES AHEAD

Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross says the current market downturn differs from previous slumps in that no American banks have yet failed this time, but he suggests that's about to change.

CHICAGO LINKS SCHOOL CAMERAS TO 911 CENTER

More than 4,500 cameras in Chicago public schools are being connected to police headquarters and the city's 911 center in a technological upgrade designed to improve safety, officials said Thursday.

MANKIND'S SECRETS KEPT IN LUNAR ARK

IF civilisation is wiped out on Earth, salvation may come from space. Plans are being drawn up for a “Doomsday ark” on the moon containing the essentials of life and civilisation, to be activated in the event of earth being devastated by a giant asteroid or nuclear war.

CARLYLE CAPITAL MARGIN CALLS SOAR PAST $400 MILLION

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Carlyle Capital said Monday that margin calls from its lenders soared past $400 million, leading it to request a standstill agreement to prevent any further forced sales of its investments.

CYBER STORM II COMMENCES TODAY

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is conducting the largest cyber security exercise ever organized. Cyber Storm II is being held from March 10-14 in Washington, D.C. and brings together participants from federal, state and local governments, the private sector, and the international community.

CRIME PAYS FOR US PRISON COMPANIES

George Zoley, The GEO Group's chief executive, told analysts on a conference call in February that 2007 had been a bonanza year and predicted that "2008 will be an even better year" as more detention facilities are filled.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS CAUSE PUBLIC SCHOOL CRISIS

While cities across the nation pass ordinances to seek relief from the devastating toll of illegal immigration, the nation’s public school districts will continue suffering from the influx thanks to a federal law that says they must provide a free education to all children regardless of immigration status.

PENN. OFFICIALS WON’T PART WITH TAINTED CASH

Dozens of elected officials who received more than $1 million from a recently indicted mob-linked casino owner refuse to part with the money even though they got most of it right before voting on gambling issues that benefited the generous donor.

N.Y. GOV. SPITZER INVOLVED IN PROSTITUTION RING

The governor who recently tried to give half a million illegal immigrants in his state driver’s licenses is resigning after getting caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a prostitute from a high-end business recently busted by federal authorities.

DETROIT MAYOR GETS FRIEND MILLIONS IN CONTRACTS

The big city mayor who charged taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal expenses and committed perjury to hide an extramarital affair with his chief of staff is in more trouble for giving his longtime friend millions of dollars in public contracts.

SO MUCH FOR THE SURGE

The nation’s attention has been riveted by the presidential campaign, with its compelling characters and its edge-of-your-seat story line. Iraq is treated almost as a theoretical issue: What would happen there if Barack Obama became president, as opposed to what would happen if Hillary Clinton became president, as opposed to what would happen if John McCain became president? There has been little debate about what’s happening in Iraq right now.

We all know exactly what would happen if Ron Paul were president: He would end the war and bring the troops home, where they belong. -- ZDN

BOMB KILLS 5 U.S. SOLDIERS IN BAGHDAD

In one of the deadliest strikes in months, five U.S. soldiers were fatally injured by a suicide bomber Monday as they patrolled Baghdad’s Mansour district. Three other soldiers and an Iraqi translator were wounded in the blast but survived, according to the BBC.

IRAQ VETS FORCE MARCH TO DEFEND OUR CONSTITUTION

FED ALLOWING INSTITUTIONS TO ACQUIRE NEW, PUBLICLY BACKED TREASURY SECURITIES BY USING MORTGAGE BACKED SECURITIES AS COLLATERAL

This is just creating another chunk of publicly backed credit to enter into a balance sheet while the toxic waste (now being referred to as “collateral”) smolders away at the Fed.

In other words, the Fed is about to became the buyer for $200 billion worth of this crap that everyone is pretending is AAA rated. “Fed,” in the previous sentence means, U.S. Dollar holders, Canadian Dollar holder, Pound Sterling holders, Euro holders and Swiss Franc holders.

JOHN MCCAIN CREATES JOBS...IN FRANCE

The contract, which went to EADS (Airbus) and its partner Northrop Grumman instead of Boeing, angered many after its announcement. Critics described it as outsourcing national security and a dismal failure at addressing the growing unemployment problem in a time of economic recession.

REAL REAL BAD STUFF GOING ON IN IRAQ

So it has pretty much been adopted by many of those who still deny reality that the “decrease in violence” is the proof that the ill fated escalation worked. And it is also evident that John W. McCain has been a chief proponent and certainly the main beneficiary of this absolutely over simplistic and erroneous line of thinking.

But, buried in the hullabaloo of the latest Democrat to be in the cross hairs (due in large part to his own actions), as well as the obsession over the Clinton/Obama tit-for-tat is some news from Iraq that really does not bode well.

ARMY'S $200 BILLION REBOOT FIZZLES; MURTHA WANTS $20 BILLION MORE

The Army's gargantuan digital modernization plan has turned so rotten, a new congressional report says it's time to start thinking about killing off the effort, and looking for new alternatives. Rep. John Murtha (D-Pennsylvania), the powerful head of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, has another plan: Pump another $20 billion into the sickly, $200 billion behemoth "Future Combat Systems" before it drops dead under its own weight.

ISRAELI DEATHS MATTER MORE

The contrast to reactions to the killing of over 120 Palestinians, including many women and children, in occupied Gaza the previous week could hardly be more striking. On one day alone, 60 people died in a hail of Israeli firepower using F-16 planes, Apache helicopter gunships, tanks, armoured bulldozers and ground troops.

$40,000 FOR MAN TASERED ON YOUTUBE

About two months went by after Jared Massey was tasered by a highway cop in Utah before he turned to YouTube. The video, footage filmed from within the police car, was an instant hit, rocketing up the charts and making him the latest internet celebrity. It’s been played more than 1.7 million times.

GLOBAL WARMING: 12 FEET OF SNOW HITS WATERTOWN, NY

The news just came out this week that Al Gore has made over $37 million since he left office in 2000.

His net worth in the last 7 years reportedly went from under $2 million to over $100 million--much of it from pimping the dangers of man-made climate change.

Gore's speaking fees were reported as $175,000 a pop--and up.

POLICE SAY THEY USE TASERS ON NON-VIOLENT PEOPLE

Vancouver police regularly use Tasers to subdue people who are unarmed and non-violent, according to internal reports released by the force.

RON PAUL: MY CAMPAIGN WILL NEVER DIE

Republican congressman Ron Paul says his presidential campaign will never die since it seeks to 'influence the future' of America. "If you're in a campaign to influence ideas and future of the country, the campaign is never over,” said the Republican candidate in a Monday interview with CNN.

WAR PROFITEERS WORK THEIR SCHEMES IN IRAQ

Some executives of KBR, a former subsidiary of the infamous Halliburton, Vice President Dick Cheney’s company, would allegedly approve inflated bids from subcontractors, some of which charged the government up to $45 per can of soda, the Trib reported.

WAR IN IRAQ DOES NOT COMPUTE

Now a Nobel prize winning econmist is estimating that the total cost of the war will be upwards of 3 trillion dollars to the US, and upwards of 5-6 trillion worldwide. In excess of $10,000 per person living in the US. Perhaps it’s just me, but that compounded with higher energy costs, a screwed economy, thousands of americans dead, yet more Iraqis dead… it simply doesn’t feel that I’m getting anything out of that tax bill.

MONDAY: 8 US SOLDIERS, 30 IRAQIS KILLED; 77 IRAQIS WOUNDED

Eight U.S. soldiers were killed in two separate incidents in Iraq. Overall, at least 30 Iraqis were also killed and another 77 were wounded across Iraq, during a spate of mostly suicide bombings. Even the relatively stable city of Suleimaniyah was the scene of violence. Meanwhile, Iraqis ask themselves if the costs of war were worth it.

TUESDAY: 57 IRAQIS KILLED, 35 WOUNDED

At least 57 Iraqis were killed or found dead and another 35 were wounded in the latest reports. Also, a bombing in Mahmudiya left an unknown number of casualties. No Coalition deaths were reported. Twenty of the victims were found badly decomposed in a mass grave near Samarra.

IN IRAQ, CHILDHOOD IS A THING OF THE PAST

The United Nations estimated that half a million Iraqi children died during more than 12 years of economic sanctions that preceded the U.S. invasion of March 2003, primarily as a result of malnutrition and disease.

DEAR SUPPORTER OF PRESIDENT BUSH AND MR. CHENEY: THEIR POLICIES FAIL ON THEIR OWN TERMS

the White House says that "we need to fight them over there so we don't have to fight them here". However, American intelligence agencies have concluded that the Iraq war increases the threat of terrorism

'MASHED INTO BITS': FLORIDA TOUCH-SCREEN VOTING MACHINES - 28,000 OF THEM

TAMPA - Workers today started loading more than 3,000 touch-screen voting machines destined to be resold, disassembled or crunched into bits by a recycler as Hillsborough County begins changing how ballots are cast and counted.

MCCAIN FLIP-FLOP: SENATOR SUPPORTS BUSH’S TORTURE POLICIES

When President Bush vetoed legislation Saturday that would have prohibited the CIA from using physical force in interrogations, he had the support of Sen. John McCain - the most outspoken of any presidential candidate in his opposition to torture.

MY MESSAGE TO THE JEWS

I realize very well that you are not carbon copies of each other. And I also know that there are many Jews around the world who truly despise what Israel has been doing to the Palestinian people in your name. I earnestly commend these conscientious Jews for their morality and human decency. It is these honest people who enable us to retain the hope that counting on Judaic morality is not a lost cause.

Non the less, there are huge numbers of Jews who have found themselves transformed into soldiers of darkness and advocates of evil. There are Jews who shamelessly advocate the total annihilation of the Palestinian people. Unfortunately, these psychopaths are not isolated or marginal figures.

HOW LONG WILL AMERICANS STAY APATHETIC TO THE REALITY

Torture, illegal wire tapping, the war in Iraq, Rendition, Bushes lies... How long will Americans stay apathetic?

NEW BETA 4 PUTS THE FIRE BACK IN FIREFOX 3

Firefox 3 beta 4 is hot off the presses, bringing an impressive speed boost and more refinements to Firefox's sleek new user interface.

10:06 A.M.-10:08 A.M. SEPTEMBER 11, 2001: SOME NEADS STAFF AND OTHERS UNCERTAIN WHETHER DAY’S TRAINING EXERCISE IS OVER

Tape recordings of the operations floor at NORAD’s Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) indicate that some military personnel are uncertain whether a training exercise that was being conducted on this day has been canceled. NEADS has been participating in a major exercise called Vigilant Guardian. [Newhouse News Service, 1/25/2002] This was reportedly called off “shortly after” the second WTC tower was hit at 9:03 (see After 9:03 a.m. September 11, 2001). [Airman, 3/2002] But at 10:06, someone calls NEADS and asks, “Is the exercise knocked off?” to which they are told, “Yes.” Two minutes later, a member of the NEADS staff is heard saying, “If this is an exercise input, this is a good one.” [North American Aerospace Defense Command, 9/11/2001]

9:03 A.M. SEPTEMBER 11, 2001: CIA NEAR EAST DIVISION EMPLOYEES THINK BIN LADEN TO BLAME FOR ATTACKS

According to Schroen, there are “like, 30 of us standing around,” and “as soon as the second aircraft smashed into the second tower, everyone said, ‘Bin Laden. It was bin Laden.… This is the attack that bin Laden’s been promising.’” [Schroen, 2005, pp. 12-14; NPR, 5/2/2005; PBS Frontline, 1/20/2006]

MAY 15, 2002: BUSH’S ‘BIN LADEN DETERMINED TO STRIKE IN US’ WARNING IS LEAKED TO PUBLIC

EARLY DECEMBER 2003: 9/11 COMMISSIONER GORELICK SHOCKED BY SPECIFICITY OF AL-QAEDA WARNINGS CONTAINED IN PDBS

9/11 Commission member Jamie Gorelick is given access to the previously sacrosanct Presidential Daily Briefings (PDBs) from the Clinton and Bush administrations (see Early December 2003). Like commission chair Thomas Kean, Gorelick is struck by the general lack of information in the documents (see Early December 2003), but the thing that strikes her most about the PDBs is just how many warnings were given in the months preceding the 9/11 attacks.

SEPTEMBER 4, 2001: FBI AGENT FAILS TO SEARCH FOR 9/11 HIJACKER DATA PRESENT IN PRIVATE DATABASE

Robert Fuller, an inexperienced FBI agent, searches for hijackers Nawaf Alhazmi and Khalid Almihdhar in the US on this day (see September 4-5, 2001). He claims that his search includes querying the ChoicePoint database. ChoicePoint is one of several companies maintaining commerical databases on personal information about US citizens. The FBI has a contract to access the ChoicePoint database, but none of the others. Fuller supposedly does not find any record on either Alhazmi or Almihdhar. He suggests this is because of variations in the spelling of names. However, the chairman of ChoicePoint will later confirm that although the database did have information on the hijackers before 9/11, the FBI did not ask to search the database until shortly after 9/11.