High Weirdness Drifter

The week is coming to a close, the weather is cooling off a bit and even though I haven’t had a lot of free time to make blog entries I certainly feel more energetic. I’m going to need that energy as I am in the process of moving to a new apartment in a few weeks. To all the visitors and feed subscribers out there, you can expect new postings but bear with me until early to mid-November. I hate the process of moving.

The recent upswing in Ron Paul mania has me think a lot more about the Republican and Democratic bathing beauties that have been trotted out for us to vote for. Now that we have had many debates and have been able to see these waterheads in action for a while there is a much better picture to look at with each candidate. I’m planning on writing a series of posts which will look at each candidate with an eye toward the topics that I blog about. To be honest, the cutting sarcasm and humor I often use is going to be unavoidable. Fair warning to all on this but at the least I can assure you that there will be some humor involved.

Let’s take a look at the news of late and see what is being overlooked by the mainstream press and what is odd, ominous and just plain goofy:

Al Gore has won the Nobel Peace Prize for his contributions in the field of global warming awareness and education. I guess the selection committee overlooked my idea on how to combat global warming – leave the door to your refrigerator open. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/13/world/13nobel.html?ref=us

Speaking of the environment, your illustrious blogger may need to ask for donations of water by time 2008 rolls around. Lake Lanier, which supplies the water for the metropolitan Atlanta area, is 3 months away from going dry. Overdevelopment, piss-poor water management and a 100 year drought has transformed us from a “City among the trees” to a city drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds. I’d do a rain dance but the last time I danced in public folks thought I was having an epileptic seizure. http://www.ajc.com/search/content/metro/stories/2007/10/10/wateruse_1011.html

If it weren’t bad enough that only a handful of Americans support the crap happening in Washington, now the country of Turkey is pissed off at Congress too. They’ve recalled their ambassador and they are threatening to cut logistical support to our bases in Iraq and Afghanistan because of a vote to declare the Armenian Massacre as genocide. It’s a sad state of affairs when even a legitimate issue is cause for a pile on of this proportion. I haven’t been able to find a news article that explains what prompted this timely resolution. Afterall, it only happened nearly a century ago. Why now? http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2007/10/12/turkey_swift_to_admonish_us_over_vote

The CIA is ticked off at it’s own Inspector General for blowing the whistle on numerous fuckups and nightmare activities. What has the CIA decided to do about it? Investigate him. Yes, that’s right, folks. When you have a shitload of power and don’t like fair criticism you don’t have to change your ways when your criminal and negligent behavior is exposed. All you have to do is sic the dogs on the critic. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-cia12oct12,1,318772.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&track=crosspromo

If your kids are sick and you are a middle-class worker fighting like hell to not fall into a financial cesspool, the President thinks you should go fuck yourself if you think you are going to get a lifeline thrown to you. The waterheaded water carriers of the Sociopath in Chief think it’s a case of basic economics, common sense and a question of people thinking they have a “birthright to unlimited benefits”
http://www.timesonline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18902955&BRD=2305&PAG=461&dept_id=478566&rfi=6

Bush is also pitching a hissy fit over the safeguards that have been added to legislation that covers the programs that spy on American citizens. Once Bush throws himself on the floor, begins screaming at the top of his lungs, kicking and telling Congress that he hates them, they will cave in and give the baby his bottle. Yes, the Constitution is important but with all the wailing and embarrassment they will give in and give him what he wants. I guess we are living in a nanny state. http://www.rttnews.com/sp/todaystop.asp?date=10/11/2007&item=24&vid=0

What sort of black programs are the spy masters using to create robotic spy insects? Get those fly swatters at the ready folks! http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/11/131214

Marion Jones has boo-hoo’d her way into our hearts for admitting that she is a lying, cheating, convicted felon. Like Don King always says, only in America. One down, many more to go. http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20071011/cleisure/cleisure1.html

Last but not least…I have been on a serious reggae kick of late. It’s a genre that has held a special place in my heart since my early teenage years when I thought The Clash was the end all, be all of rock and roll. Those cats got me into it and it was so hard for me to find and buy reggae back then. This was pre-Internet and the little mountain town I was raised in had no record stores. The closest record store, in fact, was 30 miles away. I had to rely on mail order and buying stuff sight unseen, artist unheard of.

Back then I would find out who influenced who and tried to buy records from artists who’s name constantly cropped up in this interview or that article or those reviews. Sometimes I ordered stuff that I instantly hated, sometimes I found gems that made my innocent little eyes grow large with glee within two measures of the first cut. I often look back at my teenage years and the hoops I jumped through to get new and good music and I feel nostalgic and amazed at the whole process. The thrill of the hunt is gone with downloads and the act of sitting down to listen to music is a ritual that few even know of, let alone those who still do it. Times change and this is an area where I have stayed isolated and within my routine.

So, for your enjoyment and my own selfish pleasure, here is the marvelous, incomperable, unstopable, untopable and roots deeper than your own soul; Prince Buster live at Club Sombrero in 1962!

Sleepers awake

Click the image for a closer and more detailed view.

It is important for all of us to be concerned about Iranian President Ahmadinejab’s visit to the US, in particular the guarantee of his safety by US Law Enforcement. I believe that sometimes we can gauge the overall mood or concerns of the country by doing a scan of keywords from local and national news outlets, whether they be print, televised or electronic. With this in mind pay close attention to this headlines screen capture of the MSNBC website this morning. Do you see keywords and an overall tone that can be gathered by this screen cap?

Of course the graphic and the Newsweek story concern religion and more to the point, evangelicals. Is there a more radical Christian group in America than evangelicals? Look to the “More Top Stories” banner and check the content/tone of those headlines. US, Baiting, Insugents, Iraq. Angry, Welcome, Awaits, Iran. Strike, Deadline, Today. DEA, Nabs, Crackdown. More, Funerals, Home. Halo, Satisfying, Finale.

The keywords, even if not intentionally chosen with an agenda; incite or reflect fear, certainty of death and violence in their placement and order. Is this an example of the media instilling thoughts in the minds of the reader or is it just a coincidence? Would this be a message for a Manchurian Agent, a call for a sleeper to awake and move forward? The age of the assassin is returning, I have no doubt about that, just what would be the fallout if Iran lost it’s leader on American soil to a “lone nut gunman”?

Be on your toes and keep an eye out, folks. The signs are all around you.

The sky is falling

After watching the mainstream media’s reporting of the attempted car bombings in the UK this past weekend I can only say that the bloodthirsty little beggars are little more than cheerleaders and idiots, as they have been for quite some time, who also need to look up the actual meaning of the word foiled. I spent all of Saturday morning and some of the early afternoon completely in a news vacuum, away from the TV and out of the house with only CDs to keep me occupied while I was out and about doing Saturday errands. I came home to MSNBC’s coverage and realized quickly what was happening and how deeply they wanted this to be far more serious than it really is. Have these idiot talking heads of the TV news ever heard of the IRA? Do they even know the history of terrorist attacks in London? Of course they have not and do not to answer both questions.

So bad were the early 80’s attacks that even Roger Waters of Pink Floyd was inspired to write, “and maniacs don’t blow holes in bandsmen by remote control.” in the lyrics to a song. If an IRA bomber had screwed up as badly as these idiots did this past week, in making such a lame excuse for a car bomb, I am pretty sure they would kill them just to weed out the idiots from their ranks. And yet the mainstream media are acting as though death is waiting to descend upon America at any moment, as though London is burning and we are spiraling into the sun.

What has happened in London and Glasgow can be clearly seen as nothing more than idiots on parade. Nothing was “foiled” as the press are falling over themselves to say. Foiling an attack would mean that the police or intelligence agencies raided them before they were able to carry out an attack. Catching them after they’ve left two sedan sized Molotov cocktails in London and damaged the passenger drop off at the Glasgow Airport isn’t “foiling” a plot. It’s called catching criminals after they have committed a crime, regular police work in other words.

Can the media talking heads, with their neat suits and neat hair and neat accents keep their little bloodlust fantasies to themselves for 5 minutes these days? I don’t think they can, to be honest. All afternoon long on Saturday I watched them talk about al-Qaeda, potential victims of shrapnel wounds, Osama bin Laden giving his okay, fighting them over there so we don’t have to over here, and the usual clap trap that they can’t prevent themselves from saying when there is very little actual news to report.
Fear not only serves the government, it also serves the media and the sponsors of the networks that cover the news. The true leanings of the talking heads are on display when something like this occurs. They are bloodthirsty little monsters who probably tortured small animals for gratification when they were adolescents. Their “reporting” is more akin to masturbation than professional journalism.

The infamous Family Jewels reports see the light of day. Did hell freeze over?

The Washington Post and MSNBC are reporting that DCI Michael Hayden is about to okay the release of several hundred pages from the CIA's infamous "Family Jewels" reports. Backstory on these reports and their history can be found in the link.

This is a very curious development, especially at this critical juncture in US history. We have major Constitutional questions that the agency are a central component of in their actions in this "War on Terror". Most specifically we know some details of the extraordinary rendition program being run by the agency. Several CIA agents are currently being tried in abstentina in an Italian court for kidnapping suspected terrorists from that country.

We also have VP Cheney's foreboding comments from 2001 where he stated the US Intelligence Community would have to work in "the dark side" from that point on. If Abu Grahib, Guantanamo Bay, the spying on Americans and rendition strategies is only the tip of the iceberg, and who's to say it isn't, there could be things going on that make even the Family Jewels reports seem tame in comparison.

The timing of this release of historical info is also interesting. Perhaps the agency sees the writing is on the wall regarding their activities since 9/11/2001 and they know it will be sooner than later before the word leaks out and they wish to soften the blow by desensitizing us to what is coming? Perhaps they know a leak is in the works already? Who knows.

All that can be said is that the agency releases information of their own choice about as often as Haley's Comet swings around in view. Something is driving this release and it isn't patriotism or a belief that state secrets are damaging to a Democracy. The trick in this case is trying to understand why they want to release it.

Once the papers are released I am certainly going to have a look and I highly recommend that all Conspiracy Theory researchers and enthusiasts do the same, even if the agency or government theories are not your main subject of interest. Red herrings, misdirection, disinfo and manipulation should be things we all keep in mind while digesting the documents. Whatever reason the agency has in releasing these documents there has to be an ulterior motive and we need to step back and think of their place in the big picture.

The yearly Bilderberg news vacuum

Here is a brief roundup of news coming from the periphery of this year’s Bilderberg Group meeting in Istanbul:

Prison Planet is reporting that the meeting is being held at the Ritz Carlton after the group tried to throw reporters off the trail by telling them that the meeting would be held at the Klassis Hotel in Siliviri, Turkey. They are also reporting that Kissinger has asked the international community to cooperate with the US in the Iraq conflict in a speech given before the group.

An Austin TV station is reporting of criticism over Texas Governor Rick Perry’s attendance at the meeting, who’s expenses are being paid for by Perry’s campaign fund and PAC, “Texans for Rick Perry”. One of the criticisms being drawn against Gov. Perry is the Bilderberg secrecy which “..defeats the purpose of open democracy.”

In a Pro/Con style of editorials, the Turkish Daily News has offered a scathing anti-conspiracy theorist article regarding the meeting. Just days ago the paper offered a surprisingly frank and honest appraisal of the meeting. I guess Hank Kissinger didn’t like the tone of the earlier piece and made a few calls to get better PR.

Bilderberg Group begins meeting today

It's that time of the year again. The Bilderberg Group has begun it's yearly meeting, today in Istanbul. Among the expected American attendees this year are Grand Poobah Henry Kissinger, Paul Wolfowitz and Donald Rumsfeld. I find the Wolfowitz attendance particularly interesting because of the recent scandal at the World Bank which has driven him out of that office with a fat, golden parachute. As is usual for this event, the mainstream media are subdued and the ever present attempt to debunk Conspiracy Theorists can be relied upon to hog up a sentence or two when it is reported.

One website that features a particularly long and eyes wide open article about the meeting is online version of the Turkish Daily News. One particular passage of their article is quite refreshing for it's honesty and candor,

"One may choose to believe or not, but the secrecy of the meetings – no cell
phones, no getting out of the hotel during three days, no notes, no interviews –
creates fertile ground for conspiracy theories. When senior representatives of
media giants such as the FT, the Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post
attend the meetings every year and next to nothing is printed in the same papers
about Bilderberg, one starts to wonder."

Even the Village Voice has a small, 7 paragraph article about the meeting which skims over the right-wing fear of Bilderberg that rose quite strongly in the '90s. While I think the far right-wing's response to the group during the '90s is an integral part of the American public's reaction to the Bilderberg Group, focusing on that aspect does a disservice to the study of the Bilderberg Group as a whole. Fear and loathing from the right is only one aspect of this subject.

The mechanisms and presence of secret societies has always fascinated me, as it has virtually every Conspiracy Theorist. At times this fascination can lead to the professional risk of going 'round the bend, so to speak, and full blown paranoia can cause the researcher or enthusiast to become radicalized. It's been my experience to notice that the main cause of this reaction is research into secret societies rather than government coverups/conspiracies or conspiracy theories of the religious or business world.

I've often thought that secret societies expose true fears and truths of human nature and the way things really work in this world. Getting too close to that truth can be overwhelming to the point where a complete overhaul of ones belief system is necessary. An epiphany can be small or massive and looking into the shadowy world of secret societies is guaranteed to generate a moment of clarity where the world changes on it's axis in front of your very eyes.

With the Bohemian Grove meeting just around the corner as well as the day to day discussions of the Bilderberg Group, the high weirdness websites and message boards will be in full swing, as usual. If anything extraordinary pops up I'll be certain to write about it a bit. In the meantime, hit Google, especially the Google News engine, and don't forget the sites that focus primarily on this subject, such as Alex Jones' Prison Planet.

Don't go 'round the bend!

What will the Friday news dump bring?

Considering the week that the White House has had, this would be a good day to slip as many stories they want to downplay as possible to the press. Between the Democrats turning into overcooked spaghetti and a long 3 day Memorial Day weekend they have a lot of room to work within.

The fired US Attorneys scandal deepened, even if the press doesn't want to connect dots and fill in between the lines for the average American. Goodling admitted that she did in fact break the law and based on her flimsy and amateurish argument on semantics, she admitted so before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The press seems to not want to make the big summation on the list of attorneys to fire. No one who has testified has admitted that they wrote the list or who they know wrote it. The lists didn't just appear out of thin air and they have all dodged the question of where it came from.

The tainted food and health products from China seems to have fallen off the face of the earth in the media's eyes. The FDA did admit yesterday that they are looking closely at toothpaste that was imported from China to see if any can be found which is contaminated with diethylene glycol (a highly poisonous substance found in antifreeze and brake fluid). All imports of toothpaste from China have been halted until the investigation is completed.

Good old-fashioned sex scandals just don't get the response they once did in the press. Palfrey who? Even after two extremely high ranking Administration officials were caught in the web of the scandal, an instructor at the Naval Academy was named as being an escort, many DC power brokers were among those clients on the list of patrons and rumors about VP Cheney's use of the service came to light a big yawn came from the Fourth Estate. The old adage of being caught in bed with a live boy or a dead girl must really apply, I suppose.

At a press conference with the President yesterday, our fearless leader warned us to expect a long brutal summer in Iraq. The "surge" will involve over 200,000 troops on overlapping rotations and he said August is a time we should be prepared for high casualty rates. The bird that evacuated it's intestines on him seemed to draw more response than these comments.

More bad news regarding Chinese food imports

There are more developments in the melamine tainted food scandal to report. According to Scientific American, US investigators looking into the source of the contamination have toured two food processing facilities that were identified as being the source. The investigators found both factories closed, "We visited the two facilities and there is essentially nothing to be found because they are closed down," said Walter Batts, head of FDA's office of international investigations. An FDA team has been in China since April 30.”

This leads me to a question that neither Scientific American asked nor the inspectors volunteered, if the factories were shuttered and the machinery dismantled, how can they be sure that these really were the facilities that made the tainted wheat gluten? It sounds to me that the investigators were taken to a facility that leads them on the proverbial wild goose chase.

The Contra Costa Times recently ran an editorial comment about the scandal which brought to light another aspect of our food safety, or lack thereof, of which I did not know. According to the article’s author, John E. Peck, milk protein concentrate is an industrial-grade ingredient that has found it’s way into our food chain as well with absolutely no governmental oversight or safety review. Milk protein concentrate is used to make adhesives and is also used in adulterated cheese products which range in type from nutritional drinks, candies and potato chips. It is also used in several Kraft products such as Velveeta cheese, Mac ‘n Cheese and Kraft Singles.

In yet another related story, the director of the Mississippi Poison Control Center is giving a two-thumbs up style approval to catfish imported from China that was found to contain antibiotics that are illegal for use in the US. "Would I personally worry about eating this? No, not in any way," Cox said. "I'd serve it to my family and my children. And I'm not advocating that we eat Asian catfish either, I'm just saying I'm not worried that there's a danger there." Yet these antibiotics were found to be so dangerous that they were banned from use in food producing animals in the US in 1997.

And one final side note about these wonderful, healthy and safe products being imported from China, approximately 100 Panamanians have died after taking cough syrup that was manufactured in China. The company that made the medicine added a chemical that is similar to antifreeze and it was not authorized to manufacture medicines in the first place.

Bon apetite!

News - Melamine contamination scandal expands to include farmed fish feed

WASHINGTON - Farmed fish were fed meal spiked with an industrial chemical linked to the ongoing recall of pet foods, though the contamination level was probably too low to pose a danger to anyone who may have eaten the fish, federal health officials said Tuesday.

We've had pet food, feed given to pigs, feed given to chickens and now feed given to farmed fish in this scandal. What's next? Only two more areas in the human food chain are left, feed given to cattle and used in processed human foods. Once we get to cattle the other area of concern would be milk.

For prior postings on the melamine scandal click here.

News - More evangelical connections to the VaTech massacre

Reports are surfacing that the VaTech shooter had yet another tie to extreme right-wing fundamentalist churches. It’s being reported that the mother of the shooter had sought the assistance of the members and pastor of the One Mind Church of Woodbridge Virginia before the shootings occurred. The pastor of the church, Rev. Dong Cheol Lee, described a “Demonic power” that had taken hold of Cho.

News reports are calling the One World Church a Presbyterian congregation. Deeper research into the church finds that it is associated with Darakbang evangelism within the Remnant Movement (Restoring the Evangelism Movement Needed in All Nations Today) which is also associated with the Seventh Day Adventists. In total, there are 5 of such churches in the Washington DC area.

One can only wonder how visions of the apocalypse and the Book of Revelations would have had an effect on a mind control subject. For more news and postings about the VaTech shooter, click HERE.

Whiplash warning - ABC News backpedals on DC Madam story

If you watched last night's episode of 20/20 on ABC hoping to get a bit more perspective and info on the DC Madam case, you are probably as disappointed as I am. ABC has completely backpedaled on it's original claims that Bush Administration officials are on the list of clients of Palfrey and the tone of the piece was low-key when compared to the info that has already leaked out.

Last week, 20/20 reporter Brian Ross stated, "there are people there at the Pentagon, lobbyists, others at the White House, prominent lawyers — a long, long list." and "There are several thousands names, tens of thousands of phone numbers and they range from administration officials to lobbyists to advisers who are well known, people who appear on television, lawyers, and then just a lot of sort of ordinary businessmen and CEOs.

However, during last night's report Ross stated, "As usually is the case in Washington, much of it is dull. There are no members of Congress we can find in these phone numbers, no White House officials. Quite frankly, but for the few exceptions, most of the men on this list just aren't newsworthy." The 180 degree turnaround on this one is pretty stunning. I'm surprised that Ross wasn't forced to do the story in a neck brace. Backpedalling that fast can give a man whiplash.

Hardly anyone worth reporting? Let's look at who has been exposed in this scandal already:

The "AIDS Czar" and Deputy Secretary of State, Randal Tobias, has already resigned his position at the State Department because of his admitted use of the escort agency. Tobias reported directly to Secretary of State Rice.

An instructor at the US Naval Academy has been implemented in her work for Palfrey as a prostitute.

Dr. Harlan Ullman, the architect for the US "Shock and Awe" campaign at the start of the 2003 invasion of Iraq has been identified as one of her customers.

Grover Norquist, one of the key players in the so-called "Gang of Five" who are at the forefront of the current conservative movement in America. Norquist is one of the top leaders of the conservative movement and the Republican Party, currently the President of anti-tax lobbying group Americans for Tax Reform.

I just listed three administration officials and this is only the shortlist that has been announced so far. Yet Brian Ross and ABC are now brushing this aside as though it were not worthy of reporting. Then again, the mainstream media brushed aside the Jeff Gannon scandal as though it were nothing more than a schoolboy prank. What should we expect from them?

What do you think?

News - Feds announce 20 million chickens effected by melamine scandal.

The feds waited for the Friday data dump schedule to announce major news that 20 million chickens have now been effected by the growing scandal surrounding melamine tainted gluten being introduced into the human food chain. Waiting until late Friday afternoon to announce things is an old tactic, the news is overshadowed and little recognized because most Americans are just waiting to enjoy their weekends. In this case withholding information that involves the health and safety of the American public is inexcusable.

The federal agencies tasked with protecting our food supplies and health are still parroting the line that this issue is not a threat to the health of Americans, yet there is enough concern to hold USDA certification for these 20 million chickens until more can be learned. As I have discussed in an earlier post, the actual effects of melamine on the health of humans is vastly understudied and is basically an unknown factor.

What is equally concerning to me is how this has grown exponentially from the contamination of pet food, to an isolated case of tainted feed given to pigs, to a wide net of tainted feed for chickens. Yet every step of the way, the federal government tells us the same story. "Don't worry." "It's an isolated case." "There is no risk to the public's health and safety." And in each case we find the contamination has expanded, even to the point where 3 million effected chickens were sold and eaten by an unsuspecting public. And still, they trot out the same response, "Don't worry." only for us to learn days later that this scandal is ever growing.

I understand that the government doesn't want panic in the streets but at the rate this story has grown a panic in the near future is becoming more and more possible as it continues to worsen. They still cannot guarantee that the effected gluten has lept from simply being present in livestock feed, to use in processed foods. At first they claimed there was no evidence and no possibility that the effected wheat gluten had been used in any product but pet food, but we soon found that to be untrue.

Will we next learn that the same gluten was used to make the pasta that is sitting in our pantries?

News - Instructor at the Naval Academy worked for DC Madam

(July 10, 2007 - For updated posts on this story please click here.)

The Navy Times is reporting that an instructor at the Naval Academy worked as an "independent contractor" for accused DC Madam, Deborah Jeane Palfrey. This is actually a major revelation for two reasons:

1) The background check that is required for such a position should and would have found this little nugget of her life. The reason why this is important is because her background would leave her open for blackmail and the possible coerced use as an intelligence agent.

2) It's possible that her background as a prostitute and position at the Naval Academy could make a powerful intelligence and counter-intelligence agent for our own Intelligence Community.

Palfrey has also placed a partial list of her clients in the form of one of her phone bills online at her website in .PDF format. Click the link here for a copy. The partial list does not name names, but the phone numbers and the locations listed are interesting reading, especially the multiple callers. What is even more enlightening is when you discover that the list covers 5 days in 1996. I wonder if Dick "Toe Sucker" Morris was a client?

ABC plans to air the Palfrey interview tomorrow night on their show 20/20. I may catch it just to see the "tone" of the story. For an earlier post I wrote about a possible CIA role in this story, please click here.

News - The British Monarchy visit Virginia

With this week's visit to the "colonies" by England's Queen Elizabeth, its worth noting the population control beliefs held by her husband, Prince Philip. In his forward to the book "If I were an Animal" the Prince wrote,

"I just wonder what it would be like to be reincarnated in an animal whose species had been so reduced in numbers than it was in danger of extinction. What would be its feelings toward the human species whose population explosion had denied it somewhere to exist.... I must confess that I am tempted to ask for reincarnation as a particularly deadly virus."

At least he has better ideas about reincarnation than his eldest son.

In the preface to the book "Down to Earth", the Prince wrote,

"I don't claim to have any special interest in natural history, but as a boy I was made aware of the annual fluctuations in the number of game animals and the need to adjust the ``cull'' to the size of the surplus population."

And if that weren't enough to make your head spin, from the same book,

"What has been described as the ``balance of nature'' is simply nature's system of self-limitation. Fertility and breeding success create the surpluses after allowing for the replacement of the losses. Predation, climatic variation, disease, starvation--and in the case of the inappropriately named Homo sapiens, wars and terrorism--are the principal means by which population numbers are kept under some sort of control."

With the Prince's beliefs in mind it is worth noting that the Royals trip to Virginia will also include a private audience with the Queen and the families of the victims of the VaTech massacre. It makes you wonder what the Prince thinks of Cho's "culling" at the school.

Four years ago today - News roundup

How time flies.

President Bush to address the nation at 6:10 this evening. Topic of the address is being reported as being his forthcoming veto of the Iraq spending bill:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18412464/

Third in line to the British Throne headed to Iraq:

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7007211028

More than 100 US troops killed in Iraq during the month of April:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/world/365069,CST-NWS-iraq01.article

1Q oil company profits rise:

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/business/360479,3_3_EL27_OIL_S1.article

NATO risks losing the war in Afghanistan:

http://themoderatevoice.com/politics/2008-elections/12554/afghanistan-nato-risks-losing-the-war-holbrooke/

and...

I want one of Kurt's flannels, or maybe that babydoll dress he liked to wear on stage. Anyone got a couple 'o grand to loan me? Courtney Love to auction Kurt Cobain's possessions:

http://www.rte.ie/arts/2007/0501/lovec.html

News - Confirmation of the Cho/Unification Church Connection

(update by The CT Blogger - 5/7/2007 - New update on the shooter's background in the Evangelical movement can be found here)

Following a posted comment by one of the readers of the blog, there is more to add regarding the VaTech shooter’s connection to the Unification Church (Moonies).

The researcher who operates the Exod-US blog has discovered and posted details of the Unification Church connection The direct connection comes through Rev. David Kim, who you will note from a previous entry I made on Rev. Kim, was involved in the PR cover up upon the request of the shooter’s sister.

Exod-Us blog has also found much more detailed information regarding the Wellington Boone connection Via Manna Christian Fellowship, including a timeline of the movement and the Boone/Kim relationship.
(Hat tip to “Babalabo” for this story)

News - Fascist America in 10 easy steps

From The Guardian newspaper website:

"From Hitler to Pinochet and beyond, history shows there are certain steps that
any would-be dictator must take to destroy constitutional freedoms. And, argues
Naomi Wolf, George Bush and his administration seem to be taking them all... "

More can be found here.

A few points to make.

1) Conspiracy Theorists and fringe figures have been arguing that America has been turning into a fascist state for decades. It's nothing new to those of us who are CT enthusiasts. Have we been right in this theory, all along?

2) It is interesting that a mainstream media publication such as the Guardian would take so long to finally just come out and state what so many of us have been saying and thinking, for years. They've hinted around the fact without spelling it out but this is actually an interesting development from The Guardian.

3) If a major US publication published a story like this, the right wing spin machine would have a total meltdown complete with "terrorist sympathizer" and "treason" rants being thrown. Of course the Pot can call the Kettle black all it wants in cases like this because it's always two sides of the same coin.

I'm not saying that the left is a group of angels when it comes to screwing us but the right wing extremists are so much more entertaining when they get their panties bunched.

News - AIM editor demands the firing of NBC News president over VaTech videos.

The editor of the conservative Accuracy In Media (AIM) organization is demanding that General Electric fire the president of NBC News over the network's airing of the VaTech shooter videos. AIM Editor Cliff Kincaid has already asked AIM members to send postcards to GE President Jeffrey Immelt, asking that NBC News president Steve Capus be fired because, "The decision to air the gross material, made by NBC News president Steve Capus, could inspire more copycat killings. Capus has made NBC into the Al-Jazeera of mass murderers"

Some highlights of AIM's history gathered at their Wikipedia entry:

At CBS's meetings, Irvine frequently denounced Walter Cronkite as a Soviet dupe. At a 1986 meeting, Irvine requested that Cronkite be removed from the CBS board of directors for allegedly supporting unilateral disarmament.[3]

AIM also famously denounced journalist Helen Marmor, who in 1983 produced a documentary for NBC concerning the Russian Orthodox Church.[4] AIM contended that "it ignored the repressive religious policies of the Soviet state."

The group denounced New York Times reporter Raymond Bonner for his reporting in January 1982 of the El Mozote massacre in El Salvador. AIM devoted an entire edition of its AIM Report to Bonner, reporting that "Mr. Bonner had been worth a division to the communists in Central America."[5] The issue included some insinuations about Bonner's political sympathies, noting that he had once worked for Ralph Nader.

In 1998, head of AIM, Irvine Reed at the Conservative Political Action Conference, claimed there was a conspiracy within the Republican Party to "suppress investigations of Clinton administration scandals."[2] He noted, "Conspiracy is a word that has been given a very bad connotation -- it's become synonymous with 'kooky,'" he told a Post reporter.[2] "But really it has a very good connotation." In other words, he elaborated, some conspiracy theories are valid. But not Hillary Clinton's notion of a vast right-wing conspiracy. "She's kooky," he said."[2]

AIM has been critical of the United Nations and its coverage by the media. In February 2005, AIM revealed that United Nations correspondents, including a correspondent for The Nation named Ian Williams, had accepted money from the UN while covering it for their publications. AIM also revealed that the United Nations Correspondents Association may have violated immigration laws by employing the wife of Williams. Williams and The Nation denied wrongdoing. [1][2] The charges were also reported by FrontPage Magazine. The allegations concerning Williams receiving UN cash was picked up by Brit Hume and the Fox News Channel. [3]

In November 2005, AIM columnist Cliff Kincaid criticised Fox News for broadcasting a program "The Heat is On," which endorsed the view that global warming represents a serious problem (although the program was broadcast with a disclaimer). Kincaid stated that this "scandal" amounted to a "hostile takeover of Fox News" [4].

In a December 13, 2005 column, Kincaid called for a "Quit Gay Sex" campaign to rival "Quit Smoking Campaigns" launched by certain media outlets in the United States. He contended that homosexual sex is widespread and homosexual men "simply cannot stop having homosexual sex" and that it was spreading HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.[6]

The champions and enemies list revolving the VaTech massacre grows.

News - Rep. Kucinich tosses the impeachment log onto the fire

This one is going to be one to watch. If the Kucinich resolution gets just a little momentum in the public consciousness we could be in for a bumpy ride. Anyone want to start a pool for how long it will take for the Iran bogeyman to start screaming again if this does get rolling?

News - War Profiteering Act of 2007

The Senate Judiciary Committee will meet tomorrow to discuss several points of business. One of those items, S. 119, The War Profiteering Act of 2007, is of particular interest to me. The act is long overdue and strongly worded with heavy penalties for violators. This would amend Chapter 47 of title 18, United States Code, and should be of concern to the contractors who are exploiting the Iraq War. The mad money grab that defense, security and supply contractors have been making in Iraq may soon become a little harder snatch up if this gets by the President, without a signing statement.