When President Obama signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act on New Year's Eve, he codified policies of arbitrary and indefinite detention for terror suspects including possibly U.S. citizens. Alexander Hamilton referred to such policies as the “favorite and most formidable instruments of tyranny.” Based on our experience in evaluating and caring for victims of torture and human rights abuses from all over the world, Hamilton was right.
Regardless of the law's applicability to U.S. citizens, indefinite detention in a military facility without charge can be tantamount to torture, causing profound health consequences.
Let's see, 12,000 US troops going into Libya? Undeclared war on Iran? Absolute US guarantee of energy supply for Israel “no matter what?” Whatever could we be borrowing money for?
HOUSE TO VOTE JAN. 18 ON OBAMA'S DEBT-LIMIT INCREASE REQUEST
Two days ago we wondered how long it would take for Obama to restart the debt ceiling theater. Not that long it turns out.
OBAMA SENDS CONGRESS REQUEST TO RAISE DEBT CEILING
OBAMA NOTIFICATION STARTS 15-DAY CLOCK FOR CONGRESS TO VOTE
So with Congress in recess, will Obama succeed in passing another automatic vote using base trickery? The same Obama, who as recently as 3 hours ago warned Congress that any attempts to pass approval on the Keystone Pipeline without his involvement are “counterproductive”… In other news, America' new debt ceiling of $16.3 trillion, or 107% of GDP is now just a formality, about to be interrupted by a little circus clowning.
Under a 1975 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) the USA guaranteed all Israel’s oil needs in the event of a crisis. This Memorandum of Understanding is quietly renewed every five years. It commits U.S. taxpayers to maintain a strategic U.S. reserve for Israel, equivalent to $3 billion in 2002 dollars. Special legislation was enacted to exempt Israel from restrictions on oil exports from the USA. Moreover, the U.S. government agreed to divert oil from the USA, even if this causes domestic shortages. The U.S. government also guaranteed delivery of oil in U.S. tankers if commercial shippers become unable or unwilling to carry oil from the USA to Israel.
I wonder which israel-first bastard signed this memorandum . . .
The Murdoch papers are carrying a new version of the bin Laden saga. This one contains much of the fiction of the last 25, leaving out much as well. Nothing is new, just a set of lies with some reason for them to be retold. We know what that reason is, nobody takes a word of it seriously anymore, not the first stories, not the sea burial, not the execution of the world’s most valuable intelligence asset.
Step One: Contribute the maximum as an individual, then call staff and tell them you would like to become a bundler.
Step Two: bundle no less than $90,000, most of which will not appear to come from your corporation–you provide the secret list of who contributed at your direction. Make it clear that you understand that 5% of every delivered earmark is due as contributions within 90 days of delivery.
Step Three: provide the Member with stock options and insider information worth at least $90,000 a year. Use information easily converted into money in our thoroughly corrupt system of governance.
Once bribed, the Member is a well-behaved pet able to do simple tricks, such as insert 200 pages of lobbyist-written deregulation into a banking bill five minutes before the vote. Since all but a handful of other Members are pets also, they will “go along” with this utterly insane aspect of passing “laws” no one has read.
NOTE: There is no difference between Republicans and Democrats when it comes to corruption. One bird, two wings, same lack of integrity.
That’s all there is to it. Don’t have the money because unemployment is at 22.4%, 46 million are on food stamps, the middle class is visiting charity pantries, and the poverty line is moving toward 20%? Sucks for you. God does not like you. You must have been very bad in a former life, Rich people are rich because they are geniuses that work hard, not because they lie, cheat, and steal. Or so the story goes….
Big Bat USA: 4% of the force (the infantry) takes 80% of the casualties and receives 1% of the budget. This FACT alone gives the lie to all of the above pontifications. Both the US Government and the US media are inept and misrepresenting reality to the American people. 99% of the Pentagon budget is fraud, waste, and abuse–the policy is based on ideology rather than reality; acquisition is broken–we simply transfer money from the taxpayer to the corporations without thinking about it; and operations are mostly theater. We do not have a strategy–we have a collection of criminally insane people posturing for the public and getting away with it. For those who lived through the same thing in the 1970′s, remember the movie King of Hearts? There are only two candidates that are both informed and honest on this matter: Ron Paul and Robert Steele.
