Unspeakable grief and horror
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Know them by their fruit:
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Unspeakable grief and horror
Know them by their fruit: |
| Four energy giants — BP, Exxon Mobil, Shell and Total — wrote own contracts |
Bush is trying to impose a classic colonial status on Iraq
US efforts to force Iraqis to swallow permanent vassal status and give up control of their oil echoes British imperial history Seumas Milne, Guardian
June 26, 2008
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Whatever the Iraq war was about, we were assured, it definitely wasn't about oil.
Tony Blair called the idea a "conspiracy theory".
It was about democracy and dictatorship, weapons of mass destruction and human rights, anything but oil.
Donald Rumsfeld, then US defence secretary, insisted the conflict had "literally nothing to do with oil".
When Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the US Federal Reserve, wrote last autumn, "Everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil," he was treated as if he were some senile old gent who'd embarrassingly lost the plot.
That argument is going to be a good deal harder to make from next week, when four of the western world's largest oil corporations are due to sign contracts for the renewed exploitation of Iraq's vast reserves.
Initially, these are to be two-year deals to boost production in Iraq's largest oilfields.
Four energy giants — BP, Exxon Mobil, Shell and Total — wrote own contracts
But not only did the four energy giants — BP, Exxon Mobil, Shell and Total — write their own contracts with the Iraqi government, an unheard-of practice: they have also reportedly secured rights of first refusal on the far more lucrative 30-year production contracts expected once a new US-sponsored oil law is passed, allowing a wholesale western takeover.
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Big Oil is back with a vengeance.
It's a similar story when it comes to the future of the US occupation itself.
The last thing on anyone's mind, we were told when the tanks rolled in, was permanent US control, let alone the recolonisation of Iraq.
This was about the Iraqis finally getting a chance to run their own affairs in freedom.
But five years on, George Bush and Dick Cheney are putting the screws on their Green Zone government to sign a secret deal for indefinite military occupation, which would effectively reduce Iraq to a long-term vassal state.
In April, I was leaked a draft copy of this "strategic framework agreement", intended to replace the existing UN mandate at the end of the year.
Details of the document, which came from a source at the heart of the Iraqi government, were published in the Guardian — including indefinite authorisation for the US to "conduct military operations in Iraq and to detain individuals when necessary for imperative reasons of security".
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Since then, much more has emerged about the accompanying "status of forces agreement" the US administration wants to impose: including more than 50 US military bases, full control of Iraqi airspace, legal immunity for US military and private security firms, and the right to conduct armed operations throughout the country without consulting the Iraqi government.
This goes far beyond other such agreements the US has around the world and would shackle Iraq with a permanent puppet status.
Not surprisingly, it has led to uproar in the country and opposition in the US, where congress will be denied a vote on the arrangement because the administration has chosen not to call it a treaty.
But it also evokes powerful memories in Iraq, which has been down this road before.
Britain imposed strikingly similar treaty on its puppet government in 1930 — BP, Exxon Mobil, Shell were original partners in Iraq Petroleum Company
After Britain invaded and occupied Iraq during the first world war, it imposed a strikingly similar treaty on its puppet government in 1930 in preparation for the country's nominal independence.
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Just as in George Bush's version, Britain awarded itself military bases, the right to conduct military operations, and legal immunity for its forces — though the proposed new US powers and restrictions on Iraqi sovereignty go even further than in the pre-war colonial treaty.
To add to this sense of imperial revival, the four oil companies now preparing to return in triumph to Iraq were the original partners in the Iraq Petroleum Company, which Britain gave a free hand in the 1920s to dine off Iraq's wealth in a famously exploitative deal.
The Anglo-Iraqi treaty and those bitterly unjust oil concessions dominated Iraqi politics for decades, feeding riots, uprisings and coups until the monarchy was overthrown, the tables turned on the oil companies and the British were finally sent packing by the radical nationalist General Qasim in 1958.
The 50th anniversary of the 1958 revolution appropriately falls next month.
But Bush and Cheney seem increasingly determined to force through both their security agreement and the stalled law for the privatisation of Iraq's oil industry before the US election.
The signs are that, despite intense Iraqi opposition, a combination of strong-arm tactics, bribery and some watering down of the most extreme US demands may yet secure the full imperial package.
When Bush contradicted Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki earlier this month on the occupation deal and predicted: "If I were a betting man, we'll reach an agreement with the Iraqis," he sounded as if he knew what he was talking about — rather as he did when he explained a couple of weeks ago that he was "confident" Gordon Brown would not after all be cutting British troop numbers in Basra according to any fixed timetable.
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Meanwhile, Iraq's foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, is suddenly sounding similarly confident about "progress" on the oil law because "the Americans are very keen".
Perhaps they are all coming to believe the Bush administration propaganda that the surge has succeeded and Iraq is starting to "fix itself" in time for the US election, as the Economist's cover story put it last week.
Much is still being made of the decline in US casualties and resistance attacks to 2004 levels, even though the factors behind that drop are widely acknowledged to be contingent and precarious.
Given the carnage of the past few days alone — including seven US soldiers killed since the weekend and a Baghdad car bomb that butchered 65 people — as well as this week's withering US Government Accountability Office report on the administration's claims of "progress" in Iraq, any other view would seem perverse.
What is certain is that, if Bush's blueprint for indefinite foreign rule in Iraq and the takeover of its oil is forced down the throats of the Iraqi people, resistance and bloodshed will increase.
Of course, it's true that the US and Britain didn't invade Iraq only for its oil.
It was a projection of American power in the world's most strategically sensitive region, with oil at its heart, which has brought catastrophe to Iraq and great danger to the Middle East and the wider world.
That's why the struggle to restore Iraq's independence matters far beyond its borders — it is a global necessity. |
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June 24, 2008
The Corporate Grip on Food Tightens
They've Got the World by the Belly
By P. SAINATH
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W hen you’re down to distributing fertilizer from a police station, you have a problem.
It’s what they did in Hingoli, here in the Indian state of in Maharashtra.
That was a week ago, but the police are still, in a sense, involved in its distribution there and elsewhere.
In Hingoli itself, there are lots of policemen controlling the queues outside dealers’ outlets.
The dealers won’t open up otherwise.
Thanks to the police, Hingoli’s farmers got some fertilizer.
Sort of gives a whole new meaning to the acronym PDS. Police Distribution System.
In Nanded, cops wielding riot sticks charged angry farmers demanding fertilizer needed urgently with the rains setting in.
In Akola, there is heavy police security precautions for the same reasons.
More than one Agriculture Officer has fled his workplace to escape mobs.
There were angry outbursts at the market place in the chief minister’s own constituency at Latur.
Protests in neighbouring Karnataka have grabbed national attention with a farmer being shot dead.
In Andhra Pradesh, farmers stormed zilla parishad meetings in Medak and Rangareddy and set up road blocks in other districts.
In Vidharbha’s cotton belt, for all the celebration of Bt’s success, there have been huge shifts towards soybean.
That’s because soybean costs much less to grow than cotton.
At least for now. soybean needs less fertilizer than cotton.
But all the same, it still needs it at the time of sowing, just as the rains set in.
In Madhya Pradesh’s, “soya bowl,” the shortages are hurting.
And for years now, more farmers have been joining the soybean bandwagon in other states, too. |
Corporate conquest of agriculture is well apace
At the very least, it argues that government was unprepared for the agricultural season.
The shortages had been predicted for a long time.
Not just fertilizer, but seeds as well.
In Maharashtra, the state argues that the Gujjar agitation has crippled freight train traffic, hence the shortages.
This may well be a real factor, but it is not going to account for the 60 per cent shortfall in supply.
Even if we tide over the present crisis, fertilizer troubles will worsen.
Many complex factors are asserting themselves.
Some of the very things that happened with grain and food prices are at work with fertilizer as well.
The corporate conquest of agriculture is well apace.
As the Wall Street Journal (April 30, 2008) notes:
“At a time when parts of the world are facing food riots, Big Agriculture is dealing with a different sort of challenge: huge profits.”
The WSJ points to the grain-processing giant Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., which saw a 42 per cent leap in its fiscal third quarter profits.
“Including a sevenfold increase in net income in its unit that stores, transports and trades grains such as wheat and corn, as well as soybeans.”
Seed and herbicide giant Monsanto and fertilizer maker Mosaic Co. “all reported similar windfalls in their latest quarters.”
As the WSJ grudgingly says:
“Some observers think financial speculation has helped push up prices as wealthy investors in the past year have flooded the agriculture commodity markets in search of better returns.”
So much so that: “The Commodity Futures Trading Commission last week held a hearing in Washington to examine the role index funds and other speculators are playing in driving up grain prices.”
The WSJ cites research showing that total index fund investment in corn, soybean, wheat, cattle and hogs has risen by 37 billion dollars (which is well over double India’s farm loan waiver for millions of farmers) since 2006.
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New York Times and Murdock's Wall Street Journal parrot the corporate chant
Now, it’s the turn of the New York Times (June 5, 2008) to note that “a few big private investors are starting to make bolder and longer-term bets that the world’s need for food will greatly increase — by buying farmland, fertilizer, grain elevators and shipping equipment.”
One company has bought about five dozen fertilizer distribution outlets and a fleet of barges and ships.
And others, “including the giant BlackRock fund group in New York, are separately planning to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in agriculture, chiefly farmland, from sub-Saharan Africa to the English countryside.”
Of course, the NYT and WSJ also parrot the corporate chant that this could be a good thing for hungry humanity.
“These new bets by big investors could bolster food production at a time when the world needs more of it,” says the NYT report.
And the WSJ notes that food companies “say bigger profits can be used to develop new technologies that will ultimately help farmers improve productivity.
Monsanto says it’s designing improved genetically modified seeds that can squeeze even more yield from each acre of planted grain.”
Gee!
They’re the good guys, actually.
In the WSJ’s eyes (June 10, 2008) the villains are elsewhere.
The problems arise with “China and India gobbling food as never before and food prices soaring…”
Complex as the reality is, the principles are fairly simple.
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But you cannot live without food and water
At a time when debates in India highlight the un-viability of agriculture, giant corporations are betting the opposite.
For them, at least, it holds the promise of an undying source of super profit.
The NYT report’s headline sums it up nicely: “Food is gold, so billions invested in farming.”
Ultimately, you can live without a lot of things, yes, even television.
Or aircraft and SUVs.
But you cannot live without food and water.
The latter “commodity” is the focus of the biggest thrust of some huge multinational companies.
And we are well into the process of privatising water in India (for them) in a process that promises chaos, misery and conflict on a scale we cannot begin to grasp at this point.
Across the globe, the entire chain of resources and inputs is now getting cornered by corporations.
Farm land, water, fertilizer, seed, pesticide and many more.
Grab these together and you’ve got the world by its belly.
The giant companies are now putting out papers on how they will solve the world’s food problem.
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But you cannot live without food and water
Never mind they are at the heart of it.
Meanwhile, making chemical fertilizer requires large use of fossil fuels.
So rising oil prices further spur the fertilizer crisis.
The rip-off by the top corporations in that sector has been so great that even the United States Senate saw moves to impose a windfall profits tax on oil companies.
(In India, the government responded to such calls by transferring the burden to the people and asking for “patience on the inflationary trend.”)
Of course, it was scotched in the Senate, too.
Fertilizer subsidies in India have for long gone to manufacturers, not farmers.
(If they went to farmers directly, they would have more choice in what fertilizer to use.)
Meanwhile, the world over, speculative capital has been moving towards agricultural commodities and fertilizer.
Other sectors in the stock markets have tanked or not done so well.
In India, too, calls for a ban on futures trading in agricultural commodities arose from such a situation.
Wheat went underground for a while.
Prices rose (and keep rising).
Now it is the turn of fertilizer.
A bag of Diammonium Phosphate today costs Rs. 490 officially.
In black, it sells for around Rs. 600.
(The global price, far more under corporate control, is at least four times as much. That makes imports more difficult.)
Even our nominal price is nearly three times what it was 15 years ago.
For well over a decade now, we have invested less and less in agriculture.
Following the World Bank-IMF menu, we discouraged food crop and focused on cash crop and sang the hymns of export-led growth.
Mindless de-regulation saw corporate control grip more sectors of agriculture.
Seed, fertilizer, markets, you name it.
We reduced our agricultural universities to labs for private corporations.
We stepped up our use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
Millions of farmers were shifted to a much higher-cost economy where input costs are crippling.
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And then we withdrew credit
A (non-organic) farmer in 1991 could cultivate an acre of cotton in Vidharbha for Rs. 2,500. [Just over $60.]
Today that would cost him or her Rs. 13,000 or more, given the “miracles” of chemicals, pesticides and Bt.
As these costs shot up, we disabled our capacities to meet the needs of the cultivator.
And then we withdrew credit.
Even if the fertilizer comes through this season, countless farmers in the post-loan waiver world find themselves without fresh credit.
“We’re not mad,” say bank managers in crisis regions.
“The farmer has no new income.
“Nor better prices.
“How will someone who could not repay Rs. 10,000 repay thrice that sum?”
So who do farmers seeking credit turn to?
The very input dealers who are emerging the major source of informal credit in the countryside.
And who are implicated in the black marketing of vital inputs in every crisis.
The fertilizer shortage might even be overcome just now.
But the crisis won’t go away.
It and many more to come are built into both what’s going on in world capitalism and what we have been doing in India.
We’ve dismantled vital parts of our agriculture and with it, the livelihoods of millions.
This at a time when the World Bank and IMF are trying to hide their tracks in the trail of disaster they left the world over.
A study by the Bank’s economists now says that “economic growth of the agriculture sector is at least twice as effective at reducing poverty as any other sector.” (The Wall Street Journal, June 10, 2008).
And we fail to see why food costs could get a lot worse.
The corporations do, though.
As that NYT headline puts it: “Food is gold, so billions invested in farming.”
Or, more truly, in the capture of it. |
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Vandana Shiva — India resistance and corporations Coca-Cola and Plachimada — India photos |
June 21, 2008
The Russert Send-Off
George and Laura Bush at the public wake
By ALEXANDER COCKBURN
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I n the old days, when a journalist met his final deadline, friends would gather round the grave, toss in a few memories, then make off to the bar for liquid comfort and disrespectful stories about the dear departed.
Contrast this with the send-off for Tim Russert, NBC’s Washington Bureau Chief and 17-year maestro of “Meet the Press”, who dropped dead of a heart attack last week.
He got funeral ceremonies a pope and most U.S. presidents would envy: a private funeral with this year’s two presidential nominees sitting side by side on Russert family orders, with the Congressional leadership in the neighboring pews.
George and Laura Bush at the public wake.
Thousands at the memorial in the Kennedy Center.
With Washington and New York’s media and political elites massed in respectful homage.
Was Russert so extraordinary a fellow, to elicit so tumultuous a farewell?
Surely not.
He could be a sharp interviewer, but I can’t remember any occasions when I said to myself, “ Russert has given me a whole new insight into the way the world works.”
There are many journalists and broadcasters I would put miles ahead of him.
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Russert was a protege of Moynihan and a very close personal friend — many have said they were like father and son.
Carl Ginsberg, who’s done excellent work on Moynihan down the years, sent me the following note on this relationship.
No matter what, the purveyors of capital never seem to be characterized as being irresponsible
“A few years ago, in the course of promoting his book, Russert said that he — Russert — always made a point of getting home for dinner when in town to be with his son, Luke.
The point was that even a busy and powerful dad can — and should — be attentive to his child.
This was part of the Moynihan-tainted dogma about family Russert recycled for years: if poor blacks just made more of an effort with their families they could set their lives straight, help the kids and join respectable society.
Moynihan once told me regarding black conditions, ‘it's beyond economics... we can't help them.’
It’s interesting that no matter how many sub-prime mortgages were sold through financial sleight of hand, packaged and resold (at a reported profit of 40per cent every two months at its height) and how many somersaults Moody's did to give those mortgages — dubbed "collateralized debt obligations" — AAA rating (the rating agency 20 per cent owned by Oracle of Omaha Warren Buffett, who today is sitting on $35 billion in cash)...
And no matter the simple fact that the reason that poor people stretched for those mortgages was in desperation to get out of the clutches of miserable landlords...
No matter what, the purveyors of capital never seem to be characterized as being "irresponsibility."
Nor are their families ever scrutinized for their behavior.
But Moynihan — and Russert — couldn't stop pointing the finger at irresponsible blacks.”
Russert was an insider, with a useful line in presenting himself somewhat to be an ordinary Joe from Buffalo (his hometown, where the flags have been flying at half mast).
He didn’t have enemies, (which for a journalist is not an impressive credential).
So this nice, popular insider was a fine advertisement for two professions — journalism and politics — whose collective ranking in public esteem is down there with salesfolk for subprime mortgages.
No wonder they made haste to offer Russert to the people as the hero-journalist.
In hailing Russert, they got to hail and to ennoble themselves.
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But Russert was part of the Amen Chorus for a war that sent countless men, women and children to their deaths
I was in Virginia the weekend after he died and the lead editorial in a local paper had this to say:
"Tim Russert was the kind of newsman to which every journalist aspires; which every journalist wishes to emulate."
His conduct on Meet the Press was:
"Fair and courageous, balanced and tenacious.
Liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican, Russert held everyone accountable to the people of America.
He demonstrated the highest qualities of professional journalism as well as the highest qualities of humanity....
A deeply religious man, a dedicated family man, a true American patriot."
Now Russert had the power, the clout and the venue to ask tough questions in the run-up to the war in Iraq which began in March, 2003.
There were plenty of serious people with informed views about whether or not Saddam Hussein really had nuclear missile to level London and bio-weapons to kill millions.
But Russert was part of the Amen Chorus for a war that sent countless men, women and children to their deaths.
When it mattered, he entertained no dangerous differences with the White House line.
Was this a performance worthy of “a true American patriot”?
Did this “true American patriot” commanding the attention of millions every week not open his mouth to lament the fact that the U.S. government has been trashing the Constitution and tossing the Bill of Rights in the toilet?
Negative on that one too.
We’ve had seven years of craven, culpable journalism - across the mainstream board.
No one honors the reporters at Knight Ridder newspapers, who were among the few ones in the mainstream press, pre-war, to hammer away at the WMD lies.
They never led off Russert's or anyone else's show.
Russert was managing editor and host of Meet the Press, host of The Tim Russert Show on MSNBC, senior vp of NBC News, NBC Washington Bureau Chief, and regular political analyst on the Today Show, The Nightly News.
So he was as responsible as anyone for the press collusion with the Administration.
But now that the administration is looking bad, he's not a collaborator but a tenacious knight, jousting with them, 'truth-telling', getting 'the bad guys' for 'we, the people' .... |
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Setting the Limits of Invasion Journalism Fake News — 2 |
Joe Klein, David Broder, Tim Russert Bill Moyers PBS |
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BBC — Wednesday, 18 June 2008
Arctic sea ice melt 'even faster'
By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website
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Arctic sea ice is melting even faster than last year, despite a cold winter.
Data from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) shows that the year began with ice covering a larger area than at the beginning of 2007.
But now it is down to levels seen last June, at the beginning of a summer that broke records for sea ice loss.
Scientists on the project say that much of the ice is so thin that it melts easily, and the Arctic may be ice-free in summer within five to 10 years.
"We had a bit more ice in the winter, although we were still way below the long-term average," said Julienne Stroeve from NSIDC in Boulder, Colorado.
"So we had a partial recovery. But the real issue is that most of the pack ice has become really thin, and if we have a regular summer now, it can just melt away," she told BBC News.
In March, Nasa reported that the area covered by sea ice was slightly larger than in 2007, but much of it consisted of thin floes that had formed during the previous winter.
These are much less robust than thicker, less saline floes that have already survived for several years.
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A few years ago, scientists were predicting ice-free Arctic summers by about 2080.
Then computer models started projecting earlier dates, around 2030 to 2050.
Then came the 2007 summer that saw Arctic sea ice shrink to the smallest extent ever recorded, down to 4.2 million sq km from 7.8 million sq km in 1980.
By the end of last year, one research group was forecasting ice-free summers by 2013.
"I think we're going to beat last year's record melt, though I'd love to be wrong," said Dr Stroeve.
"If we do, then I don't think 2013 is far off any more. If what we think is going to happen does happen, then it'll be within a decade anyway."
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Rising tide
Countries surrounding the Arctic are eyeing the economic opportunities that melting ice might bring.
Canada and Russia are exploring sovereignty claims over tracts of Arctic seafloor, while just this week US President George Bush has urged more oil exploration in US waters - which could point the way to exploitation of reserves off the Alaskan coast.
But from a climate point of view, the melt could bring global impacts accelerating the rate of warming and of sea level rise.
"This is a positive feedback process," commented Dr Ian Willis, from the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge.
"Sea ice has a higher albedo (reflectivity) than ocean water; so as the ice melts, the water absorbs more of the Sun's energy and warms up more, and that in turn warms the atmosphere more - including the atmosphere over the Greenland ice sheet."
Greenland is already losing ice to the oceans, contributing to the gradual rise in sea levels.
The ice cap holds enough water to lift sea levels globally by about seven metres (22ft) if it all melted.
Natural climatic cycles such as the Arctic Oscillation play a role in year-to-year variations in ice cover.
But Julienne Stroeve believes the sea ice is now so thin that there is little chance of the melting trend turning round.
"If the ice were as thin as it was in the 1970s, last year's conditions would have brought a dip in cover, but nothing exceptional.
"But now it's so thin that you would have to have an exceptional sequence of cold winters and cold summers in order for it to rebuild."
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An arial view of the Quervain bay, Kalaallit Nunaat west coast (Greenland) |
Area covered by sea ice in Arctic shrunk for fourth consecutive year Thermohaline shutdown inevitable Major weather changes |
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Unfolding Financial Meltdown on Wall Street
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by Dr. Ellen Brown
Global Research, June 15, 2008
What’s The Difference Between Lehman Brothers & Bear Stearns?
Lehman’s CEO Sits On the Board Of The NY Fed.
An earlier article by this author ("The Secret Bailout of JP Morgan") summarized evidence presented by John Olagues, an expert in options trading, suggesting that JPMorgan, far from "rescuing" Bear Stearns, was actually its nemesis. 1
The faltering investment bank was brought down, not by "rumors," but by insider trading based on a plan drawn up much earlier.
The deal was a lucrative one for JPM, handing the Wall Street megabank $55 billion in loans from the Federal Reserve (meaning ultimately the U.S. taxpayer).
So how did JPM get away with it? Olagues notes the highly suspicious fact that JPM’s CEO James Dimon sits on the Board of the New York Federal Reserve.
In his latest post, Olagues discusses the fate of Lehman Brothers, the nation’s fourth-largest investment bank and the next faltering bank expected to fail. 2
Unlike Bear Stearns, which got decimated by the JPM buyout using Federal Reserve money, Lehman Brothers is probably in line for a massive bailout from the Fed.
At least, that’s what its CEO Richard Fuld seems to believe.
The June 4, 2008 Financial Times of London quoted him as stating, "The Federal Reserve’s decision earlier this year to lend directly to investment banks should take questions about Lehman’s liquidity off the table."
Whether Lehman can come up with the "liquidity" to meet its debts is no longer an issue, because it expects to be feeding at the trough of the Federal Reserve, just as JPM did when it bought Bear Stearns at bargain-basement prices.
The difference between the two "bailouts" is that Lehman Brothers, unlike Bear Stearns, will actually get the money.
Why is Fuld so confident of this rescue operation? Olagues notes that Fuld, like Dimon (and unlike Bear CEO Alan Schwartz), sits on the Board of the New York Federal Reserve.
A conflict of interest?
It certainly looks like it.
Indeed, Olagues points to a statute defining this sort of self-dealing as a criminal offense.
18 U.S.C. Chapter 11, Section 208, makes it a felony punishable by up to 5 five years in prison for members of the Board of Directors of a Federal Reserve Bank to make decisions that benefit their own financial interests.
That would undoubtedly apply here:
"Fuld, at last count, owns 1.9 million shares of Lehman, 600,000 restricted stock units and 900,000 executive stock options . . . . Although Mr. Fuld sold over $320,000,000 worth of stock at near all time highs in 2006 and 2007, received through the premature exercise of his stock options, he still has value in his present holdings of approximately $100,000,000."
Likewise, says Olagues:
"James Dimon holds almost 3 million shares of J.P. Morgan stock worth over $120 million with taxes already paid and executive stock options equal in my estimate of another $70 million. His dispositions of stock equaled $140 million over the past few years."
Olagues adds:
"Fuld, like Jamie Dimon, was at the luncheon on March 11, 2008 with Bernanke, Rubin, CEO of Citigroup, Geithner, President of the New York FED, Thain of Merrill Lynch, and Schwarzman.
Some claim that the meeting was about Bear Stearns and how to handle the situation."
Needless to say, Bear CEO Schwartz was not invited to the luncheon.
"Lehman Bros. is one of the original stock holders of the New York Federal Reserve Bank," Olagues observes.
"Bear Stears does not now have any ownership in the FED banks."
The luncheon was held two days before the April 14 collapse of Bear Stearns stock that led to the bank’s demise.
If the luncheon attendees were indeed discussing the Bear problem on April 11, testimony before the Senate Banking Committee in which the principals said they first heard of the problem on the evening of the thirteenth, says Olagues, was "less than truthful."
The evidence at least warrants an investigation, but who is going to hold these self-dealing Federal Reserve Board members to account?
In a March 27 radio broadcast noted in The New York Post of the same day, Senator Christopher Dodd pointed out the conflict of interest and said it needed to be examined; but no mention was made of it at the April 4 Senate hearings.
Why not?
Olagues suggests he had gotten his marching orders by then from a major campaign contributor.
New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, the former thorn in the side of the Wall Street bankers, has been summarily disposed of; and under the latest proposal of U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, the Federal Reserve itself will soon become the chief overseer and regulator of the banks.
The Federal Reserve will regulate the Federal Reserve Boards with their litany of private bank CEOs, a clear case of the fox guarding the henhouse.
So who is left to bring the banks to task?
For notes and additional postings see:
www.webofdebt.com
http://globalresearch.ca
www.ellenbrown.com
© Copyright 2005-2008 GlobalResearch.ca
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EndGame — Alex Jones, you have done the world a great favor
It has taken me until now to view this great masterpiece that chronicles the planet's true history
But I am glad for this delay as my awareness of reality, and the events that seemingly must unfold to educate humankind, have come from sentience off planet — now with this movie the circles merge
A movie par excellence, it will likely be considered the most significant in the downfall of the rich and powerful who control the world and rising politicians already in their pocket — the imprisonment of all those who seek to bring forth this horror, this enslavement of 'New World Order'
Kewe
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| The aim of TheWE.biz is to make us all aware that the most murderous violence and terror by far, committed by anyone, is done by The West
Violence and terror is the footprint and modus operandi of Western Government and the shadow power that operates from behind these 'elected officials'
This film helps us to focus on that reality
Indonesia's 9/11 — Exposing US government operations in the Bali Bombing
Kewe |
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 Archives only for We The People Radio Network |
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Questioning War, Organizing Resistance — Carol Brouillet Glen Clancy, from Victoria, Australia, created "Fool Me Twice" described as 'A documentary about the Australian government's lies about the East Timor massacres, the cover-up of the Bali Bombings and subsequent anti-terror laws.' The 25 year old, Clancy is Australia's Dylan Avery (of Loose Change fame). The work was originally created to be viewed online, but Clancy is working on improving the resolution for larger screen and theatrical viewing. Glen wrote (at the Fool Me Twice Blog on December 4, 2008)
To all,
After discovering 911 was an inside job, through such movies as Loose Change, Terrorstorm and Zeitgeist, I decided to investigate the Bali bombings. The evidence was overwhelming. There had been a cover-up.
As shocking as the truth may be, please keep an open mind while viewing this documentary. FOOL ME TWICE is 100% sourced. Please see reference list below. I tried to produce a documentary as true to the genre as possible, limiting opinion and simply documenting the facts.
I believe that 911 Truth is one of the most important movements of our time and exposing the cover-up of the 2002 Bali bombings can help destroy the "911/War on terror/Al-CIAda" myth.
Please help spread this information.
Kind regards,
Glen
To listen to the March 10, 2008 interview of Glen Clancy by Carol Brouillet broadcast on:We The People Radio Network — Right Click Here (Save Target As, Link As, File) MP3 1 hour
Americans are politically paralyzed by both cognitive dissonance and by what psychologists call “learned helplessness,” the result of years of having one outrage after another foisted upon them, without there ever being any real accountability.
So, as many truthers have discovered, the most common reactions of average Americans, when presented with the facts of 9/11, are either, “My government would never do that,” or, “Okay . . . but what can anybody do about it?”
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Before that he was with the City of Sacramento as a Firefighter Paramedic.
He first began working in Emergency Services in 1988 in the Sacramento area with a 911 private paramedic ambulance company.
He has 20 years experience in Emergency Services.
He earned my pilot's license in 1987, and have been recreationally flying since.
He graduated with a Bachelor's of Science in Mathematics from the University of California at Davis in 1993, with 2 years of elective Engineering courses, and a Minor in Psychology.
Erik wrote a moving account of his own shift in consciousness regarding 9/11 which prompted him to start Fire Fighters For 9/11 Truth entitled: MAYDAY...MAYDAY...MAYDAY.
Here's an excerpt:
I, like most Americans, remember exactly where I was when I saw the attacks and had the overwhelming urge to take action.
I was shocked, outraged, scared and confused.
I called my Battalion Chief and asked if Seattle would be sending any teams to help.
I was a member of the MMST, and figured we would be needed and I wanted to know where to report.
Due to the nature of the incident we were not called up, and instead USAR teams, including Seattle's, were sent.
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I first visited Ground Zero in October of 2001 with several firefighters from Seattle.
We went to pay our respect and show support.
We raised money for our brother firehouses and attended the funerals of our fallen Brothers.
I was deeply moved and humbled by the community support, the sheer enormity of the tragedy along with the courage and compassion of the FDNY "Brotherhood."
I vividly remember the anger, the intense desire for vengeance,the feelings of helplessness
Even though I listened to their stories for days, I cannot even begin to imagine the pain and tragedy they suffered on that day and the years to come.
I vividly remember the anger I felt, the intense desire for vengeance, and the feelings of helplessness.
I was relieved when the government identified the terrorists and satisfied that we were going to have a swift deliverance of "justice."
I've been a conservative my entire life; a registered Republican since I could vote.
I am a self proclaimed Patriot with George Washington as one of my all time heroes.
So when conspiracy theories quickly surfaced, and "Liberals" cried foul on the erosion of civil liberties, I chalked it up to their political beliefs and bitterness towards the Republican President.
I read many debunking articles — including Popular Mechanics — and watched many debunking videos including, Farenhype 9/11.
I was convinced that these "Liberals" were misinformed and were grasping at straws to discredit the "official" story.
Don't confuse me with the facts, I have my mind made up!
Like most people with strong opinions, instead of looking at all the facts, I was specifically looking for anything that supported my own beliefs.
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As soon as I discovered any inaccuracy in a conspiracy claim, I wrote it off.
My father, a big city cop and Korean War veteran, loved to say, "don't confuse me with the facts, I have my mind made up!"
Well, I had my mind made up.
I told conspiracy theorists like my own Truck Officer, Lt. Earl Emerson, that they were insane if they thought anyone other than the terrorists did this.
Bin Laden confession tapes — how much clearer did they need it
Heck, we have ID cards, security camera videos, Bin Laden confession tapes — how much clearer did they need it?
The years went on and I was satisfied in my beliefs.
I even believed these "Wackos" that doubted the "official" story were distracting our country from focusing on the real threat of terrorism...
Fast forward to March of 2008.
A great friend of mine with a Business degree from West Point, as conservative and non-conspiratorial as they get, came over one night to talk about what he saw happening in the economy.
Began researching such things as economies, who is in control of currencies
He provided some disconcerting evidence that we as a nation are at risk of entering into another depression; he pointed out historical parallels where other countries, such as Germany, suffered economic collapse.
THAT was my eye opener.
I became obsessed researching things such as economies, who is in control of currencies, what causes depressions, who profits during war, etc.
So many things kept pointing to 9/11.
Another one of my dad's favorite quotes was, "believe half of what you see and none of what you hear."
So, I looked at both sides and quickly noticed a pattern.
On one side, the general media ignores some of the most compelling evidence that contradicts the "official" story...
When I voiced my new opinion and concerns most of my friends listened.
Shocked that a staunch Conservative could have such a major shift
I think because they were shocked that a staunch Conservative could have such a major shift, or because they thought I had lost my mind and wanted to diagnose the cause.
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Curiously, some became angry at my new questions and actually thought I was supporting Terrorists with my concerns.
Being a part of that same mindset myself only a few weeks ago, and then having a major shift in consciousness, really shook me to the core.
What has happened to our collective consciousness that we believe anyone who doubts the "official" story or what the government tells us is an enemy?
What has happened to us — are we not founded on Freedom of Speech and taught to check our Government?
Anyone who asks for the Truth is labeled a "Wacko" or "Terrorist Sympathizer?"
What has happened to us?
Are we not founded on Freedom of Speech and taught to check our Government?...
To be honest, I was asleep at the wheel, and relied on what I was being told by mainstream media.
The same media whose parent corporations, are some of the largest suppliers of weapons in this war.
Before this "awakening" I had no idea the extent of our civil liberties that had been eroded in the name of Terrorism.
I had never really wrapped my brain around what legalized torture means.
I had always claimed America was noble.
Just look at how we treated POW's during WWII and Vietnam compared to our enemies.
[Ever check out the real story of John McCain as a POW, keep investigating! — TheWE.biz]
That separated us.
We were setting the example of Human Rights to the rest of the world.
[Check out the real facts of US instigations in Central and South America! — TheWE.biz]
Sure, you'll always have individuals that will take things too far, but Government sponsored torture?
[Let's mention CIA activity across the planet since its inception, including inside the US, and other black budget US government special operations agencies! — TheWE.biz]
What has happened to our country?
What kind of example are we setting for our children, and the world?
You would be interested to learn how many of our own rights have been stripped away recently.
Look up the Military Commissions Act of 2006, John Warner Defense Authorization Act, Homegrown Terrorism Act, Presidential Directive 51.
Amazing the rights we have all lost
It is amazing the rights we have all lost in the past couple of years and very little is covered by the U.S. media.
After discovering this, I applied the "common sense" test that my Grandfather always said wasn't so common.
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Why would a government so aggressively suppress truth and blatantly destroy evidence if there was nothing to hide?
Why has every testimony from sworn government and military officials that points to "prior knowledge" been stricken from the 9/11 Commission Report?
How did paper business cards, cloth bandanas, and plastic ID's that implicate the terrorists survive so neatly through jet fueled fireballs hot enough to destroy titanium and steel?
I've seen bodies burned beyond recognition, yet I have never found one that was wearing unburned clothing.
These questions alone are enough to make me risk everything for a real investigation and accounting...
When I truly realized the enormity of the effect 9/11 has had on our Rights, our Economy, our Beliefs, our Fears, our Intolerances and our Government — I felt fear, then anger, then the need to take action.
Bill Chickering said it best:
“Anger is a very appropriate and necessary response to an injustice.
“But stand back now; the truth, clearly spoken, is always your best weapon.
“Calmly spoken, it can burn a hole through the hardest heart.”
When I realized the extent of the force and attitudes working to silence those who peacefully ask questions, demand answers, and seek truth, it became clear to me that our Country is in serious trouble and I must now stand alongside those Patriots who seek Truth and Constitutional Restoration.
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Richard Gage, AIA is the founding member of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth ae911Truth.org.
He has been a practicing Architect for 20 years and has worked on most types of building construction including numerous fire-proofed steel-framed buildings.
He is employed with a San Francisco Bay Area architecture firm and has most recently performed Construction Administration services for a new $120M High School campus including a $10M steel-framed Gymnasium.
Currently he is working on the Design Development for a very large mixed use urban project with 1.2M sq.ft. of retail and 320K sq.ft. of mid-rise office space — altogether about 1,200 tons of steel framing.
He has been one of the most tireless speakers on the issue of 9/11 truth, and more specifically on challenging the official narrative of the disintegration of the 3 major skyscrapers in the World Trade Center complex that took place on September 11th.
He has been lecturing widely across the US and in Canada.
Those who see his presentation rarely walk away still thinking that fires alone could have brought down the buildings.
When NIST came out with a report recently that fires were responsible for the destruction of WTC7, Richard and Architects and Engineers were quick to challenge that report.
See NY Times quotes Richard Gage on WTC7 "collapse"
Aside from the NYT's reporter and a media request from Bulgaria, the press has tried to ignore the serious criticisms that Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth has raised about their reports.
Richard Gage gives an insightful interview on major points that scientifically do not agree with the official story of 9/11.
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9/11
By all accounts, the unprecedented events of September 11th, 2001 changed the way our country functions, and in turn, the world.
It is therefore critical that conscientious Americans, as well as people around the globe, understand these events in detail.
Unfortunately the official reports, including The 9/11 Commission Report and the NIST WTC Report, written by those working under the direction of the Bush Administration, have been proven to be elaborate cover-ups.
Film: 9/11 Revisited
September 11th Revisited is perhaps the most riveting film ever made about the destruction of the World Trade Center.
This is a powerful documentary which features eyewitness accounts and archived news footage that was shot on September 11, 2001 but never replayed on television.
Featuring interviews with eyewitnesses & firefighters, along with expert analysis by Professor Steven E. Jones, Professor David Ray Griffin, MIT Engineer Jeffrey King, and Professor James H. Fetzer.
This film provides stunning evidence that explosives were used in the complete demolition of the WTC Twin Towers and WTC Building 7.
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For Film: 9/11 Revisited
— Click Here
Film: 9/11 Press for Truth
An excellent documentary about the families of the victims of 9/11 and their fight to uncover and expose the truth about what happened that day.
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For Film: 9/11 Press for Truth
— Click Here
Film: 9/11 Mysteries
90 minutes of pure demolition evidence and analysis, laced with staggering witness testimonials.
Moving from “the myth” through “the analysis” and into “the players,” careful deconstruction of the official story set right alongside clean, clear science.
The 9/11 picture is not one of politics or nationalism or loyalty, but one of strict and simple physics. How do you get a 10-second 110-story pancake collapse?
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'Oh! You don't believe the 9-11 official version,' they say.
'You mean where they want you to accept the buildings were not blown up from below.
'Plane fuel! Substance never burns higher then a gas stove! That it caused the inner core steel to melt!
'Steel melting!
'Concrete vaporizing!
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'No! I don't believe that conspiracy theory.
'Cheney! Bush! Rudy Giuliani! HA! HA!
'Tower 7 that never had a plane hit — just came tumbling down!
'You believe that, eh!
'Ever think it had to be blown up because the plane scheduled to fly into it was off getting shot down.
'Thermite in Tower 7's walls, you see — incriminating evidence — impossible to get out without people watching!
Had to be blown up!
'Next you'll be saying Obama is not a Wall Street Illuminati banker stooge?
'Take your pick: The partner in a comedy team who feeds lines to the other comedians.
'Him who allows himself to be used.
'Oh! I can't really blame you, Television it turns minds to pulp.
'Turn off the television. It's the only way.'
'Turn off the television?'
'Get rid of it really. I mean what else is there to do!'
'Get rid of the television?'
'Don't forget all radio garbage is propaganda, even the songs.
'Then those five minute propaganda hits they send you every hour!
'The ones they refer to as News
'Get rid of all the propaganda from your brain, the only way to do it.'
'Stop being hooked on those Hollywood movies — even those that make you think they are making you think'
'All paid performers to make your brain dead.
'You turn the brainwashing off, you'll begin to become yourself.
'It really is the only way!'
'Oh!'
Kewe — TheWE.biz
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Humankind as we know it at the 'End Point'
Don't forget:
Behind it all is the desire for depopulation — by those rich enough to have their islands for temporary residence while depopulation takes place.
Doesn't matter if it is killing in the fight for food when the trucks no longer arrive at your local supermarket.
Doesn't matter if it is tribe against tribe.
Or thermobaric bombs — environmentally friendly compared to nuclear. Bombs that send ultra-sonic shock waves and searing fireballs to destroy everything in their dropping wake.
Or those special bombs that do not destroy the infrastructure — kill only you and those you love.
You are in the way, folks!
There are too many of you!
This is the plan.
Kewe |
Twenty Questions Radio/TV interviewers avoid asking about Israel Which parts of the Declaration of Human Rights and Geneva Conventions don't Israelis understand? Why is Israel still stealing Palestinian land for more illegal construction? |
Israel, chemical weapons and phosphorous bombs New and unknown deadly weapons used by Israeli forces Undetectable poison-needle gun for 'clean' assassinations |
The Negative Return Economy — a discourse on America’s black budget Fascinating and lucrative Black Budget? What Black Budget? |
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Unspeakable grief and horror
...and the circus of deception killing continues... | |||
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| Kewe Archives | TheWE.biz | The Poles |
I think we're going to beat last year's record, though I'd love to be wrong
