THE RON PAUL STRATEGY

For some time I have been pondering two questions: First, why is Ron Paul working so hard to collect delegates to the Republican convention when John McCain already has it all sewed up? Second, if Paul doesn’t have a chance at the nomination, why does he look so happy and confident? Then it occurred to me: perhaps he has a strategy to win it after all.

FED’S POWER GRAB

The already all powerful Fed announced Friday that it’s going to overstep its already unconstitutional mandate to begin controlling the credit market in an attempt to avert a global credit crisis.

MONDAY: 28 IRAQIS KILLED, 72 WOUNDED

At least 28 Iraqis were killed and 72 more were wounded in the latest attacks. Most of the violence occurred in and around Sadr City. No Coalition deaths were reported.

WHY THOSE WHO ORCHESTRATED 911 MUST BE BROUGHT TO TRIAL: ITALY AND JAPAN QUESTION 911 WHILE OUR CHILDREN ARE INDOCTRINATED

The reason that corporations like the United States even bother to release “official” documents so full of holes that you could fly a plane through them, is because by doing so, every branch of government must regurgitate this “official” story. This means that schools, which are meant to educate our children, are actually indoctrinating them into a corrupt system established for the proliferation of war.

PANDEMIC RESPONSE PLAN: LET THE ELDERLY, THE SICK, AND THE POOR DIE

The Bush-Cheney administration’s Department of Homeland Security, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have collectively set guidelines that recommend---in the event of a "pandemic" or mass crisis---that the elderly, the sick, the severely injured, and the poor will be denied life-saving medical treatment.

25 CIVILIANS KILLED IN AMERICA FOR EACH GI KILLED IN IRAQ

Preoccupied with the fighting in Sadr City, it may have escaped President Bush’s notice that millions of African-Americans live in blighted neighborhoods, some of which, like Sadr City, also appear to have been ravaged by bloodshed and violence.

SIXTY YEARS OF PALESTINIAN DISPLACEMENT, OCCUPATION AND SUFFERING

On May 14, Israelis will commemorate the 60th anniversary of their "War of Independence" and founding of the Jewish State. It also marks 60 years of Palestinian Nakba suffering.

BORDER PATROL OFFERS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FREE TAXI RIDES

Instead of arresting thousands of illegal immigrants who qualify for prosecution for entering the country multiple times, the U.S. Border Patrol simply gives them a ride home knowing that they will likely return.

THE NEW IMMORALITY OF IRAQ WAR

Given the mayhem that continues to unfold in Iraq, President Bush is properly mocked for having stood before that "Mission Accomplished" banner five years ago this week. But a failure to distinguish between the aggressive war that overthrew Saddam Hussein and the collapse of Iraqi social order that followed is part of what fuels the ongoing US mistake.

U.S. BASE IS NO LONGER WELCOME IN ECUADOR

MANTA, Ecuador --

Mayor Jorge Zambrano pulled up to the Manta City Hall in his black Ford Explorer, expecting to find a rally in support of the American military outpost that runs drug-surveillance flights from this gritty port city.

He left an hour later behind a wall of riot shields and a cloud of Mace, as police fended off banner-waving protesters who crashed the event in March.

OUTRAGE OVER PLANS TO EXTRACT URANIUM ORE FROM THE GRAND CANYON

A Mayfair mining company has caused uproar with plans to extract uranium from the Grand Canyon – prompting one official to ask how Britons would react “if an American company went to drill at Stonehenge”.

IRAN: COLLAPSE OF US EMPIRE, IMMINENT

A senior Iranian military commander says the world will soon witness the sudden collapse of the empire created by the United States.

MCCAIN: US NEEDS 700 MORE N-PLANTS

Expected Republican nominee John McCain suggests the US should build some 700 nuclear power plants - which would cost about $4 trillion.

MOMENTUM GROWS IN CONGRESS TO FIRE VA’S DR. IRAQ KATZ FOR CONCEALING VETERAN SUICIDE EPIDEMIC

"The action by Dr. Katz to cover up this information and to present a false picture of the situation seriously jeopardized our government's ability to deliver quality care to America's veterans," Udall said.

EX-IRAQ COMMANDER ACCUSES BUSH ADMINISTRATION OF 'GROSS INCOMPETENCE'

In a new memoir set to be published May 6, the former commander of US forces in Iraq provides new intimate details of the goings-on at high levels of the Bush Administration in the first year of the Iraq war.

OBAMA’S BUDDY, BILL AYERS STOMPING THE AMERICAN FLAG

There is a huge blogswarm going on about this photo, from Chicago Magazine, of Obama's unrepentant terrorist associate, Bill Ayers stomping on the American flag. The photo was taken in 2001, the same time Barack Obama served on the Woods Fund Board with Ayers. This was also the same time that Ayers donated to Obama's campaign.

PEACE ACTIVISTS OCCUPY GENERAL DYNAMICS WEAPONS PLANT

Vermont activists entered General Dynamics and locked themselves together in the firm's lobby to protest the company's war profiteering.

WHAT THE PENTAGON PUNDITS WERE SELLING ON THE SIDE

The Pentagon launched its covert media analyst program in 2002, to sell the Iraq war. Later, it was used to sell an image of progress in Afghanistan, whitewash the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, and defend the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping, as David Barstow reported in his New York Times expose.

THE SIMPLE ARITHMETIC OF JOHN MCCAIN'S BOGUS CLAIMS OF ENERGY INDEPENDENCE

Put aside, for the moment, McCain's suggestion that we invaded Iraq in 2003 because of oil. His energy policy "that we will be talking about" is nothing more than hot air. When he said it "will eliminate our dependence on oil from the Middle East" I could tell the he was in way over his head. Here's a very simple primer on the global economics of oil, to demonstrate why McCain is, once again, way off base.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO AMERICAN LONGEVITY?

In the past 20 years, the U.S. has sunk from ranking No. 11 in life expectancy to No. 42. What gives?

DOLLAR TANKS, GOLD AND OIL UP SHARPLY

I see a full court press with all the clowns in the media saying that the bottom is in on the dollar and the euro crash is coming, etc… The dollar will rise on the wings of eagles and harps will play in the background… The sweet perfume of renewal and optimism will pervade America, from sea to shining sea.

Right?

…For now, my assessment of the sentiment above is: Don’t drink the KoolAid.

HOMELAND SECURITY UPDATE: CHERTOFF SAYS NEW LAWS NEEDED

CHERTOFF SAYS NEW LAWS NEEDED

Chertoff said that once laws are written, the public should not second-guess government actions and claim that federal officials are overstepping their authority.

IRAQI ALLEGES ABU GHRAIB TORTURE, SUES US CONTRACTORS

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- An Iraqi man sued two U.S. military contractors Monday, claiming he was repeatedly tortured while being held at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison for more than 10 months.

DEJA VU: NYT, US PROPAGANDA AND WAR WITH IRAN

Greg Mitchell of Editor and Publisher notes that New York Times military reporter Michael Gordon, "who contributed several false stories about Iraqi WMD in the run-up to the U.S. attack in Iraq," has been writing about Iran's alleged involvement in attacks against U.S. service members in Iraq. Gordon's latest article, "Hezbollah Trains Iraqis in Iran, Officials Say," is "based solely on unnamed sources," notes Mitchell.

REQUEST FOR SPECIAL COUNSEL

To
Attorney General Michael Mukasey
Justice Department
950 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530

Request for and Report in Support of Appointment of Outside Special Counsel to Investigate the Bush Administration’s Statements that Iraq Had Sought Uranium for a Nuclear Weapon, which Violated the Criminal Statutes 18 U.S.C. § 1001 and 18 U.S.C. § 371 that Prohibit Making False and Fraudulent Statements to Congress and Obstructing It’s Functions

Submitted by
Francis T. Mandanici
Attorney At Law

WHAT'S UP WITH THE SECRET CYBERSECURITY PLANS, SENATORS ASK DHS

The government's new cyber-security "Manhattan Project" is so secretive that a key Senate oversight panel has been reduced to writing a letter to beg for answers to the most basic questions, such as what's going on, what's the point and what about privacy laws.

MORE U.S. KIDS ON ANTI-PSYCHOTIC DRUGS

CHICAGO -- American children take anti-psychotic medicines at about six times the rate of children in the United Kingdom, according to a comparison based on a new U.K. study.

SOMALIS PROTEST US AIR STRIKE

At least 1,000 residents of the central Somali town of Dusamareb have held a protest against a deadly US attack.

WELCOME TO THE DISNEYLAND DRIVE BY: IRAQ AND ITS BILLION DOLLAR GREEN ZONE RESORT

Forget the rocket attacks, concrete blast walls and lack of a sewer system. Now try to imagine luxury hotels, a shopping center and even condos in the heart of Baghdad.That’s all part of a five-year development “dream list” - or what some dub an improbable fantasy - to transform the U.S.-protected Green Zone from a walled fortress into a centerpiece for Baghdad’s future.

MCCAIN’S SCHIZOPHRENIC FOREIGN POLICY

I begin to believe that “McSame” is not the right appellation for John McCain…he so clearly aspires to be “McWorse”. It frightens me that he could be considered a legitimate candidate by any one with more than a two digit IQ.

TODAY IS 38TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE KENT STATE SHOOTINGS

On May 4, 1970, four students at Kent State University in Ohio were killed by Ohio National Guardsmen at an on-campus march to protest Nixon’s invasion of Cambodia five days earlier.

ONCE AGAIN, RON PAUL LEADS IN MILITARY CONTRIBUTIONS

Ron Paul is once again the leading receiver of military contributions to presidential candidates.

1.1 MILLION PURGED FROM INDIANA VOTER REGISTRATION ROLLS ACCORDING TO STATE DATA, SAYS BBV

In addition to the recent, outrageously bad decision by the Supreme Court to approve Indiana's draconian polling place Photo ID restrictions, sure to keep thousands of legal voters from even being able to cast a vote in tomorrow's important Primary Election --- despite the state's inability to offer up a single instance of in-person polling place voter impersonation that's ever occurred during the state's entire history (as we've covered here, here and here, for example) --- another 1.1 million voters have now been purged from the voting rolls all together, reports Bev Harris of Black Box Voting, as based on the Hoosier State's own data.

U.S. HAS MANDELA ON TERRORIST LIST

WASHINGTON — Nobel Peace Prize winner and international symbol of freedom Nelson Mandela is flagged on U.S. terrorist watch lists and needs special permission to visit the USA.

IRAN REJECTS NUCLEAR INSPECTIONS UNLESS ISRAEL ALLOWS THEM

"The existing double standard shall not be tolerated anymore by non-nuclear-weapon states," Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh told a meeting of the 190 countries that have signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

What's fair is fair -- ZDN

ATTACK OF THE KILLER RAVENS: FLOCKS ARE SUDDENLY SLAUGHTERING LAMBS

Farmer John Kirk, 50, from Nethybridge, near Aviemore, has lost more than 40 animals in the past few weeks.

"It's like something out of a horror film. They are horrible, horrible birds. They see the young lambs and just fly down and help themselves," he said.

US GOVERNMENT INCREASES WIRETRAPS BY 20 PER CENT

A US court report on wiretapping shows that the phenomenon is up by 20 per cent on last year, reaching its highest ever level, with not even a single surveillance application turned down in the whole of 2007.

AUGUST 15, 1971: NIXON TAKES US DOLLAR OFF GOLD STANDARD

President Nixon officially announces the end of the gold standard system of monetary policy for international exchange of gold deposits in an evening address to the country.