Thursday

The Daily WAR (06-02)

Reading between the lines, and thinking outside the box . . .
 
    [WAR: In Dyersburg, Tennessee; heading to Plano, Texas...]
 
 
 
    The Vatican newspaper has re-opened the debate over whether brain death — defined as the cessation of all brain functions — marks the definitive end of life, as opposed to the moment when the heart stops beating.
 
 
 
 
 
    Writer, political activist and father figure for contemporary Russian nationalism, Aleksandr Dugin is the founder of Russia's International Eurasian Movement and a popular theorist among Russia's hard-line elite. He envisions a strategic bloc comprising the former Soviet Union and the Middle East to rival the US-dominated Atlantic alliance.
 
    The Western-leaning governing coalition in Ukraine, which took power during the Orange Revolution in 2004 but has endured repeated tumult ever since, appeared once again near collapse on Wednesday. The instability erupted on the eve of a visit to Ukraine by Cheney.
 
    Dick Cheney has condemned Russia for what he called an "illegitimate, unilateral attempt" to change Georgia's borders by force. Cheney also assured President Saakashvili that America was "fully committed" to Georgia's efforts to join NATO. He said it was now "the responsibility of the free world to rally to the side of Georgia".
 
    President Medvedev has accused the US of using the Pentagon-run humanitarian aid operation as a front for smuggling weapons into Georgia, and has warned that attempts to rebuild Georgia's military may harm the region's stability.
 
    The crisis in relations between the US and Russia over Georgia heralds a particularly dangerous period in world affairs: the era of asymmetrical multipolarity. A major war between 2 or more major powers is more likely in this configuration than in any other model of global balance known to history.
 
    In the wake of Russia's invasion of Georgia last month, many commentators have been quick to proclaim that the war signals "the return of history." But attentive observers could be forgiven for responding to these pronouncements with a sense of déjà vu.
    History, after all, was already supposed to have returned once before – seven years ago, following the Sep. 11 attacks. Then, "the return of history" was meant to signal the commencement of an all-out struggle against the forces of radical Islam and secular Arab nationalism.
 
 
 
    The remains of the southern wall of Jerusalem that was built by the Hasmonean kings during the time of the Second Temple have been uncovered on Mount Zion, the Antiquities Authority announced Wednesday.
    The 2,100-year-old wall, which was destroyed during the Great Revolt against the Romans that began in 66 CE, is located just outside the present-day walls of the Old City and abuts the Catholic cemetery built in the last century where Righteous Gentile Oskar Schindler is buried.
 
    Sarah Palin told ministry students at her former church that the United States sent troops to fight in the Iraq war on a "task that is from God."
    In an address last June, she also urged ministry students to pray for a plan to build a $30 billion natural gas pipeline in the state, calling it "God's will."
 
    Ethiopia is celebrating the unveiling of the reassembled Axum obelisk, one of the country's greatest treasures. The obelisk, at least 1,700 years old, was looted by Italian troops in the 1930s and returned to Ethiopia in 2005.
    The ceremony is the last big event of Ethiopia's millennium year, the year 2000 by the country's Coptic calendar.
    [WAR: An obelisk is just a fancy Asherah pole -- which was used to determine when the spring equinox occured. This is why Asherah poles were an abomination -- using shadows on the soil, rather than lights in the heavens, to determine the appointed times!!]
 
    Angola overtook Nigeria this year as Africa's largest, and the world's 8th largest, oil producer—a combination of Angola's surge in growth and Nigeria's decline in production following rebel attacks on its oilfields.
 
 
 
    Iran's Foreign Minister has announced that the Bushehr nuclear power plant will become operational before the Iranian New Year, which occurs on March 21.
 
    President Sarkozy warned Iran today that its determination to press on with its controversial nuclear drive risked an Israeli strike that would be a "catastrophe."
    "Iran is taking a major risk by continuing the process of seeking nuclear technology for military ends. Because one day, no matter which Israeli government is in power, one morning we will awake to find Israel has attacked."
 
    Threatened by a potentially nuclear-armed Tehran, Israel is preparing for a possible war with both Iran and Syria, according to Israeli political and military sources. "The challenge from Iran and Syria is now top of the Israeli defence agenda, higher than the Palestinian one."
    "In the past we prepared for a possible military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities," said one insider, "but Iran's growing confidence after the war in Lebanon means we have to prepare for a full-scale war, in which Syria will be an important player."
 
    There's a great deal of support for 2 resolutions that, if approved, would all but strike the match on war.
    Two essentially identical nonbinding resolutions call upon President Bush to "immediately and dramatically increase the economic, political and diplomatic pressure on Iran to verifiably suspend its nuclear enrichment activities."
 
 
 
    In his last months, President Bush is working to ensure that his successor will have the greatly expanded power of the executive branch — unprecedented in American history — that Bush instituted after 9/11.
 
    Joe Biden said yesterday that he and Barack Obama could pursue criminal charges against the Bush administration if they are elected in November. "If there has been a basis upon which you can pursue someone for a criminal violation, they will be pursued."
 
    Biden's self-professed Zionism is a death warrant for Palestinian and Israeli innocents.
 
    The only report of any political activity by Palin at the convention before her Wednesday night speech, which was drafted by a former speechwriter for George W. Bush, came from AIPAC, the Zionist lobbying group. AIPAC said that she had met with its members in private, promising to "work to expand and deepen the strategic partnership between the US and Israel."
    There are millions upon millions of working people who are fed up with having Christian fundamentalism shoved down their throats by right-wing politicians using religious rhetoric to justify social inequality, wars of aggression, tax cuts for the rich and every other political demand of the financial elite.
    Yet the Democrats have no intention of appealing to these sentiments and challenging the Christian right.
 
    Phenomenal. Awesome. Fabulous. These were some of the more subdued descriptions of Sarah Palin's speech from a crowd that could scarcely believe how good she was.
(Cartoon: Shadow of Palin)
 
 
 
    Last century's great depression ended with the build up to WW2, and the unacknowledged economic depression of today will give way to the official beginning of WW3.
 
    While the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has gone to great lengths to assure the public that their bank deposits are safe—at least up to the insured limit—it is obvious that the agency lacks the capital required to back up its claims.
    As long as the FDIC closes only small banks, it can meet its responsibilities, but it does not have the resources to even begin to deal with the magnitude of the crisis it faces.
    The same is true of the Federal Reserve, which is running out of room on its balance sheet to continue the escalating bailout process, and also true of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, whose role as a dump for the toxic waste of the banking system means that they will not survive on their own.
    The closer we get to the final, open disintegration of the financial system—the day the banks don't open, the day the economy stops—the louder the British brainwashing will be.
    The volume of the lies, financial, political, and military/security, is itself one of the best economic indicators we have.
 
    Oil rose by more than a dollar today as a number of US refineries remained shut because of hurricane disruption and ahead of US government data expected to show falls in gasoline stocks.
    "There are still concerns over supply issues. A lot of the Gulf of Mexico capacity was shut down and some refineries are still closed. We don't know how long they'll remain offline."
 
 
 
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