Monday, February 28, 2005

11,000 US Soldiers Dead from DU Poisoning

Is this true and is it happening now in Iraq? Lots more in the article about this situation.

http://www.sfbayview.com/012605/headsroll012605.shtml

He added, "Out of the 580,400 soldiers who served in GW1 (the first Gulf War), of them, 11,000 are now dead! By the year 2000, there were 325,000 on Permanent Medical Disability. This astounding number of 'Disabled Vets' means that a decade later, 56% of those soldiers who served have some form of permanent medical problems!" The disability rate for the wars of the last century was 5 percent; it was higher, 10 percent, in Viet Nam.

Friday, February 18, 2005

More on Gannon, news leaks

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000808600

Radio Producer Could Always Count on 'Gannon' for Tips

By Joe Strupp

Published: February 18, 2005

San Antonio radio producer Susan Farris could always count on James Guckert, a.k.a. former White House correspondent Jeff Gannon, to pitch an appearance on the shows she produces at conservative talk station KTSA.

He was not only anxious about pushing his story of the day, but seemed to always have some kind of inside knowledge about the White House, as well.

"I said, 'How do you have such great sources?' and he just laughed it off," she told E&P Friday. "Now we all know how."

Farris, who has worked in San Antonio radio for more than a decade, said she came across Guckert first at GOPUSA.com, then later read his work on Talon News, his online home prior to his recent resignation. "I would call [GOPUSA] for people to use on the air and they suggested him when I asked about White House coverage," she recalled. "They called themselves a re-write service. They would take other people's work and put it up on their site." (Among the charges against Guckert was that he often simply rewrote White House press releases as news stories.)

Guckert, she said, frequently passed on what he clearly thought was insider information, during his 12 appearances on KTSA during 2003 and 2004. She first heard from him the expression "shock and awe" to refer to the massive U.S. bombing attack at the start of the Iraq war, and he fingered Mary Mapes as the producer of the so-called "Rathergate" segment on "60 Minutes" before she had seen that mentioned elsewhere.

"He very often called me and offered to be on the show to talk about his stories," she said. "I used to book him all the time. We used him on tons of White House stuff." She said she "had no idea" that Gannon was not Guckert's real name.

Thursday, February 17, 2005

Pentagon, Psyops and Holographic Technology

I was doing some research today on the topic of Psyops and I came upon this article which was very alarming, especially in this paragraph. Be sure to check out the whole article.

Pentagon, Psyops and Holographic Technology
Software viruses to be placed or injected into enemy weapons and information links. These viruses would remain dormant until activated by satellite, aircraft radar, or jamming equipment, etc. When activated, the virus would render the equipment useless, or better yet, "there could be a very subtle change for a finite period of time".

Holographic projection. The article describes a quasi-information warfare/psychological operations program that was first discussed in the Air Force after Desert Storm. Holographic projection involves projection of a three-dimensional holographic image in project decoys, or even an "angry god" (religious imagery) above the battlefield.

The Pentagon had listed the holographic projections openly as part of its "non-lethal" weapons program. But since 1994, the program has disappeared from view, evidently now a "black" effort, says DEFENSE WEEK.

In conclusion, the DEFENSE WEEK article states that the Army's JFK Special Warfare Center and School in late 1991 disclosed that it was looking to develop a PSYOPS Hologram System with a capability "to project persuasive messages and three-dimensional pictures of cloud, smoke, rain droplets, buildings......(even religious "images" or "figures")........The use of holograms as a persuasive message will have worldwide application". (end quoting). (This looks like it will be a concentrated unit of soldiers armed with the very latest high-tech weapons systems)

Monday, February 14, 2005

How to right the right

Letter I posted on Daily Kos regarding how to advance the interests of the progressives.

I think you are on the right track with above diary, yes we need to get our collective heads together and find the best directions to take.
One suggestion I have is to go to Rep. blogs, become a user and do not attack them, but suggest lines of reasoning, etc. I do not know if this will work, but right now there is no alternative voice on those sites that I have visited.

I think if we present our views as "we are not your enemies, we are your neighbors, your friends, your doctors and nurses, your preachers and teachers,your police and your cross walk guards, we are everywhere. Do you think we are all evil and trying to bring down this country?"

Media attention is one thing we need, but we also need to reach out to the right, because I suspect a lot are not real red, and are about to jump ship we need to give them a soft place to land when they do.
All the media stories in the world will not change minds of people if they think the dems are the enemies.

My review of the rep. blogs is that when anyone tries to bring up a point that something may not be right with say policy, that person is pounced on and bludgeoned into submission, ending with "Ok if you all think this way then I must be wrong."
So the person who is logically thinking is quickly doused because there is no support for that side. Couldn't we support people who are trying to bring up issues.
I think we need very desperately to join forces with Reps., find the doubters and give them hope and bring them into the fold. Otherwise it is just a war between the blue and the red.

Anyway, I am thinking a lot about these issues and looking for any suggestions that will further the cause of getting the truth out and mending some fences in this country.

Jeff Gannon Story and Link

AMERICAblog: Because a great nation deserves the truth: "http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/02/man-called-jeff.html"

Saturday, February 12, 2005

What the Right is Saying

GOPUSA

I was browsing on this above site last night and got into a forum discussing Rice as SOS. One person made some points that Condi might not be the best choice and the rest of the bloggers pounced on her and declared their love, "no kidding," for Rice and then said prayers for her and for the president and asked basically to be saved from the awful Dems who are called Dims, "who just want to destroy this country."
This poor poster who had made some of this sites points, finally gave up after 3 or 4 attempts to just maybe this, and I don't want to ruffle feathers, but, and they finally made her cry "OK, I must be wrong if you all feel the same."
I wanted so badly to post something really scathing, but then I thought with all the trouble it would take to just register and then get kicked off, for one comment that they would just trash to pieces, not worth it.
Saw some other comments that they were worried abut deficits too, but didn't want the Dims to know. Then it would look like they were following our plan.
I would recommend taking a look at some of these sites and seeing what they are saying and also what they are planning, there is a lot there about future plans, etc.
We need to know what these people are up to and possibly infiltrate these groups, I don't know, what do you all think?

detainees in Iraq

Islam Online- News Section
US-held Iraqis Cry For Help, Grill Rights Minister


Miller (L) and Amin during the latter's visit to the detention facility (AFP)

CAMP BUCCA, Iraq, July 18 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Under summer temperatures that can soar up to 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit), over 2,600 Iraqis are still being held, some for as long as 14 months, without trial in the US-run Camp Bucca desert camp on the outskirts of the southern port of Umm Qasr.

"Are we an independent country or not, why don't you rescue us from this hell?" one detainee asked Iraqi interim Human Rights Minister Bakhtiar Amin from behind a high fence, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Sunday, July 18.

"Please sir, please, I have nine children, the Americans just descended on me and arrested me as I was grazing my sheep," said a bearded man wearing a grey dishdash (traditional robe) and tattered plastic slippers.

"I have been here for 10 months and do not know why!"

"Aren't you working in human rights? Isn't this an independent country now? Why are we being left here?" cried another man.

"What's wrong with resisting occupation? If the Iraqis went to America, wouldn't the Americans fight?" a third detainee wondered.

The scorching afternoon sun coupled with hot winds forced some of the detainees to strip down to their shorts and cover their heads with wet towels or baseball caps.

They change into yellow jumpsuits only when they are bused four times a week to another tented area to meet with their loved ones twice a month.

Is Occupation Over?

The detainees, some as young as 15, clutch the metal fence screaming, pleading with and at times hectoring Amin, who Friday, July 16, was the first Iraqi official to visit the camp, initially set up in March 2003 by the US military to hold so-called enemy prisoners of war.

The minister and three members of his staff were accompanied by deputy commander for detainee operations in Iraq, Major General Geoffrey Miller, and other US military officials, who stood back watching Amin's encounter with the prisoners.

"I would have loved to meet you without barriers. We have come to learn more about your conditions and to improve them," says the soft-spoken Amin, a Kurd who spent most of his 40-some years outside Iraq.

He struggled to complete his phrase as he is interrupted by the shouts and jeers of some men.

"Please take us away from here, is the occupation not over?" screams a burly, bare-chested man in shorts with a pink towel wrapped around his head.

"Are we prisoners of war or civilian detainees?"

The minister told them that under UN resolution 1546, the issue of detainees is the joint responsibility of the new interim government and US-led forces.

More abuse in Iraq

Islam Online- News Section

Iraqi Detainees’ Version of Bucca Killings


Bucca detention camp, another site of US abuses against Iraqi detainees.

By Samir Haddad, IOL Correspondent

BAGHDAD, February 8 (IslamOnline.net) – The US occupation forces in Iraq are abusing Iraqi detainees and tearing up the Noble Qur’an, according to a message on a piece of cloth Iraqi detainees in the US-administrated Bucca detention camp in southern Iraq managed to sneak outside.

The message also presented another version of events leading up to the killing of four Iraqi detainees by US forces at the camp on the eve of January 30 controversial elections, an incident that also left six prisoners injured.

“After a short break in the prison’s court, the detainees returned to their cells in the Bucca prison to find copies of the Noble Qur’an torn to pieces,” citing the message, Abdul Salam Al-Kubaisi, spokesman of the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS), told a press conference in Baghdad Monday, February 7.

The provocation led detainees to organize a peaceful demonstration, throwing stones at the US jailers, but the US soldiers opened fire at the detainees, he said, citing the words on the piece of cloth.

According to the US version, four Iraqi prisoners were killed and six others injured January 29, in clashes that erupted after a riot by detainees.

The US occupation forces claimed that acts of riots had erupted after a routine inspection operation, adding that “the clashes spread immediately” when the prisoners started to throw stones and objects.

The camp guards – only after trying to stop the clashes by warning shots and using non-deadly weapons -- opened fire to end the clashes, the US forces had claimed.

New Abuses

The message, signed by some 5,200 Iraqi detainees, also revealed new abuses by US occupation forces against the Iraqi detainees in the US-administrated camp.

“The Americans are breaking the detainees’ legs, crushing their toes and putting them in cold places. They also force them to practice sex and urinate over their heads,” Al-Kubaisi said, citing the message.

The AMS spokesman denied claims of the US occupation forces that the Iraqi detainees in the Bucca camp are members of the Iraqi resistance.

“Less than 10% of detainees in the Bucca prison are members of the Iraqi resistance.”

Thousands of Iraqi detainees are held by the US occupation forces in the Bucca detention camp in the south.

Relatives of the Iraqi detainees in Bucca had organized a four-day sit-in in July 2004, near the prison in a bid to draw the world’s attention to the US abuses against detainees held in the camp under summer temperatures that can soar up to 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit).

Monday, February 07, 2005

Latest Business News and Financial Information | Reuters.com

Latest Business News and Financial Information | Reuters.com

By Caren Bohan and Adam Entous

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush on Monday proposed a $2.57 trillion budget that slashes domestic programs from farm aid to housing grants for the poor, as he sought to curb budget deficits that have soared on his watch.

Democrats derided Bush's plan as a "hoax" because it excludes future costs for the Iraq conflict and massive borrowing required for his proposal to add private investment accounts to Social Security.

Bush, who inherited a budget surplus that switched to record shortfalls, wants to show Wall Street and fiscal conservatives he is serious about tackling deficits.

The president's plan would cut discretionary domestic spending outside national security by 0.7 percent for fiscal year 2006 and keep it essentially flat for five more years.

"It's a budget that eliminates redundancy," Bush told reporters after a meeting with his Cabinet. "It's a lean budget."

But Democrats accused Bush of forcing the poor to absorb the brunt of the budget pain after giving billions of dollars of tax cuts to the rich in his first presidential term.

Some analysts said Bush would have trouble getting even a Republican-controlled Congress to sign off on a number of the cuts. Budget hawks question the president's resolve to push them through, given he has yet to veto a spending bill.

Indeed, a leading member of Bush's own Republican Party, House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois, called the plan a "starting point."

Aljazeera.Net - Bush royalty and Condi loyalty

Aljazeera.Net -
Bush royalty and Condi loyalty
: "Bush's decision-making process. Despite a Yale education, Bush is a Texan and Westerner at heart. He brings these traits of expansiveness and unbridled ambition to the Oval Office; they drive every decision he makes. "

Sunday, February 06, 2005

Battle Weary

I find myself battle weary after a weak of watching the nomination hearings for Gonzales and before that Rice. Add to that the inaguration of a President that I don't think was legally elected and an inaguration speech that once again made the world wonder what in the heck in going on in America and with Mr. Bush.
Before the world got too far off track Mr. Bush pushed his points further in his State of the Union address. Now the world is even more suspicious than ever before.
That wasn't all he tackled in the SOTU speech, what you ask? Well social secutity for one. It appeared to a lot of people, myself included that his new intent is to see if he can screw up SS.
How much can a person take. How much can a person stand to watch as the country is dragged deeper and deeper into a pit of it's own making.
I know I can't take much more, but yet, what choice do I have?
I just have to keep on trying to make a difference, to write one more letter and sign one more petition, to post one more comment, to read one more article, and on and on.
Is there one hope in hell that we can stop this man from his train wreck, do we have to go down with him????
I have many, many questions and I have no answers.

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

Chertoff (Another Problem?)

DAVID JOHNSTON, NEIL A. LEWIS and DOUGLAS JEHL, New York Times
Posted 2005-01-28 11:13:00.0

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/29/politics/29home.html
Torture Scandal Explodes: Chertoff Advised CIA on Torture Methods of Prisoners
WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 - Michael Chertoff, who has been picked by President Bush to be the homeland security secretary, advised the Central Intelligence Agency on the legality of coercive interrogation methods on terror suspects under the federal anti-torture statute, current and former administration officials said this week.
Depending on the circumstances, he told the intelligence agency, some coercive methods could be legal, but he advised against others, the officials said.
Mr. Chertoff's previously undisclosed involvement in evaluating how far interrogators could go took place in 2002 and 2003 when he headed the Justice Department's criminal division. The advice came in the form of responses to agency inquiries asking whether C.I.A. employees risked being charged with crimes if particular interrogation techniques were used on specific detainees.
Asked about the interaction between the C.I.A. and Mr. Chertoff, now a federal appeals court judge, Erin Healy, a White House spokeswoman, said, "Judge Chertoff did not approve interrogation techniques as head of the criminal division."
She added, "We're not aware that anyone in the criminal division was involved in approving techniques because that responsibility would have belonged in the Office of Legal Counsel," another Justice Department unit.
One current and two former senior officials with firsthand knowledge of the interaction between the C.I.A. and the Justice Department said that while the criminal division did not explicitly approve any requests by the agency, it did discuss what conditions could protect agency personnel from prosecution.
Mr. Chertoff's division was asked on several occasions by the intelligence agency on whether its officers risked prosecution by using particular techniques. The officials said the C.I.A. wanted as much legal protection as it could obtain while the department sought to avoid giving unconditional approval.
One technique that C.I.A. officers could use under certain circumstances without fear of prosecution was waterboarding, in which a subject is strapped down and made to experience a feeling of drowning. Other practices that would not present any legal problems were those that did not involve the infliction of any pain, like tricking a subject into believing he was being interrogated by a member of a security service from another country.
But in other instances Mr. Chertoff opposed some aggressive procedures outright, the officials said. At one point, they said, Mr. Chertoff raised serious objections to other interrogation methods that he concluded would clearly violate the torture law. While the details remain classified, one method that he opposed appeared to violate a ban in the torture law against using a "threat of imminent death."
Mr. Chertoff and other senior officials at the Justice Department also disapproved of practices that seemed to be clearly prohibited, like death threats against family members, administration of mind-altering drugs or psychological procedures designed to profoundly disrupt a detainee's personality. It is not clear whether the C.I.A. or any other agency proposed these techniques.
But Mr. Chertoff left the door open to the use of a different set of far harsher techniques proposed by the C.I.A., saying they might be used under certain circumstances. He advised that they could be used depending on a number of factors like the physical condition of the detainee and medical advice as to how the person would react to some practices, the officials said.
In responding, Mr. Chertoff's division said that whether the techniques were impermissible depended on the standards outlined in an August 2002 memorandum from the Office of Legal Counsel that has since been disclosed and which defined torture narrowly. That memorandum, signed by Jay S. Bybee, then the head of the legal counsel's office, said that inflicted pain, for example, qualified as torture only if it was of a level equivalent to organ failure or imminent death.
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=2761