June 5-6, 2011 — TRIPOLI, LIBYA. NATO war crimes in Libya exposed
In the current NATO war on Libya, the citizens of European and North American NATO countries are being treated to the largest propaganda blitz by their governments in cahoots with corporate media outlets since the U.S.-led invasions and occupation of Iraq. The situation on the ground in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, could not more different from what is being portrayed by Western news networks and newspapers.
DoD major commands have serious staffs that try to do the right thing. The same cannot be said for White House staffers or the intelligence community staffs promoted to their maximum level of incompetence. Reading between the lines of the below article, it's possible to see a national security decision-making process that is to close to “ready fire aim.”
Phi Beta Iota: David Ignatius is clearly among the lead writers striving to give Dr. Robert Gates a “legacy” (mythical as it might be). Missing from his various odes are the fact that decisions are not being made on the basis of facts or with the public interest firmly in mind.
Phi Beta Iota: China and Russia both appear to have explained to Goldman Sachs executives that they will be assassinated if they do not make good on their financial rapes against those two countries. Libya appears to have adopted the same response. Tony Blair appears to have been the key political proponent of the financial rape of Libya. Russian Television offers a useful glimpse into the reality behind the “get Guaddafi” invasion now occurring at our expense–an invasion that is illegal by both US Constitutional law and international law. Meanwhile, Wall Street seeks to force a rise is the US debt limit. Assassination of bankers is now on the table.
Every month Steve Benen publishes a handy chart showing job gains and losses since January 2008. Looking at the latest dismal numbers for May, he concludes, “Any sane person should look at these numbers and conclude that the economy desperately needs a boost.”
But it's worse than that. As I mentioned yesterday, the U.S. economy needs to add about 150,000 jobs per month just to stay even with population growth. This means that you really need to look at how many jobs we gained above (or below) 150,000, not above or below zero. So here's Steve's chart, modified to show just that. As you can see, the last eight months, when the economy has supposedly been starting to recover, has actually been virtually flat. Relative to population growth, we've been generating no new jobs at all.
So yes: “Any sane person should look at these numbers and conclude that the economy desperately needs a boost.” Even the not especially sane ought to have figured that out by now.
DAY ONE: June 3-4, 2011 — DJERBA, TUNISIA — On Libyan-Tunisian border, it's back to the future with refugees
DAY TWO: June 4-5, 2011 — TRIPOLI, LIBYA. WMR Exclusive. Western Libya portrait is not what is being painted by the Western media
Phi Beta Iota: Details below the line. The public is being lied to by the US Government and its corporate media co-conspirators. The Honorable Cynthia McKinney, daughter of Georgia, is doing what professional intelligence and investigative media should be doing. We need more of this. “The truth at any cost lowers all other costs.”
Statement and Senate Floor Remarks by Sen. Bernie Sanders
WASHINGTON – Congress and the White House are now focused on how we deal with our huge deficit — a crisis brought about over the last 10 years by two wars, tax breaks for the rich, the Wall Street bailout and a prescription drug program — all unpaid for. The deficit also increased as a result of the declining tax revenues during a current recession, caused by the greed and illegal behavior of Wall Street.
The debate over deficit reduction comes at an unusual moment in American economic history. While the middle class is in rapid decline and poverty is increasing, the wealthiest people in our country and largest corporations are doing phenomenally well. Over the last several decades almost all new income created in this country has gone to the top 1 percent, who now earn more income than the bottom 50 percent. Further, the United States now has the most unequal distribution of wealth of any major country with the top 400 individuals owning more wealth than the bottom 150 million.
Given the reality of record-breaking corporate profits and the growing gap between the very rich and everyone else, it should be a surprise to no one that every recently published poll suggests that the overwhelming majority of the American people want the deficit to be addressed through shared sacrifice. They do not believe that the deficit should be reduced solely on the backs of working families, the elderly, children, the sick and the poor — many of whom are already suffering as a result of the recession. Unfortunately, that is exactly what the Republicans have proposed.
Phi Beta Iota: The hypocrisy of the Democratic Administration is exceeded only by the hypocrisy of the Republican Party–one bird, two wings, same shit, just different colors. We await a knight speaking truth.
