Monday, April 30, 2007

RE: Ray McGovern:Sorry They've Been So Mean To You, George

----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: Elsewhere's Daughter
Date: Apr 30, 2007 4:39 PM


“If you can’t say something positive about someone, don’t say anything.”

This was drummed into me by my Irish grandmother and, as was the case with most of her admonishments, it has stood me in good stead. On occasion, though, it has been a real bother-as when I felt called to comment on George Tenet’s apologia, In the Center of the Storm, coming soon to a bookstore near you.

On the verge of despair, I ran into an old classmate of Tenet’s from PS 94 in Little Neck, Queens. Help at last. He told me that George was more handsome than his twin brother Billy, and that his outgoing nature and consummate political skill got him elected president of the student body.

Positive enough, Grandma? Now let me add this.

George Tenet’s book shows that he remains, first and foremost, a politician-with no clue as to the proper role of intelligence work. He is unhappy about going down in history as “Slam Dunk Tenet.” George protests that his famous remark to President Bush on Dec. 21, 2002 was not meant to assure the president that available intelligence on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was a “slam dunk.” Rather he meant that the argument that Saddam Hussein had such weapons could be readily enhanced to slam-dunk status in order to sell war on Iraq. Yesterday evening on CBS’ 60 Minutes Tenet explained what he meant when he uttered those words-the words he says have now been distorted to blame him for the war in Iraq. What he says he meant was simply:

“We can put a better case together for a public case.” (sic)

Tenet still doesn’t get it. Those of us schooled in the craft and ethos of intelligence remain in wide-mouthed disbelief, perhaps best summed up by veteran operations officer Bob Baer’s recent quip:

“So, it is better that the ‘slam dunk’ referred to the ease with which the war could be sold? I guess I missed that part of the National Security Act delineating the functions of the CIA-the part about CIA marketing a war. Guess that’s why I never made it into senior management.”

Reluctant Scapegoat

George’s concern over being scapegoated is understandable. But could he not have seen it coming? Not even when then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld asked him in the fall of 2002 whether he had created a system for tracking how good the intelligence was compared with what would be actually found in Iraq? The folks I know from Queens usually can tell when they’re being set up. Maybe Tenet was naive enough to believe that his friend the president (”President Bush and I are much alike,” he writes) would protect him from the likes of Rumsfeld and Vice President Cheney even when-as was inevitable-someone would have to take the fall. Or did George actually believe Cheney’s insight that US forces would be greeted in Iraq as liberators, and that at that point, the absence of the weapons of mass destruction would not matter?

Now George is worried about his reputation. He told 60 Minutes:

“At the end of the day, the only thing you have…is your reputation built on trust and your personal honor, and when you don’t have that anymore, well, there you go.

I immediately thought back to former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s response when he was asked if he regretted the lies he told at the UN on Feb. 5, 2003. Powell said he regretted that speech because it was “a blot on my record.”

So we’ve got ruined reputations and blots on records. Poor boys. What about the 3, 344 American soldiers already killed in a war that could not have happened had not these poor fellows deliberately distorted the evidence and led the cheering for war. What about the more than 50,000 troops wounded, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians whose deaths can be attributed directly to the invasion and its aftermath. There are blots, and there are blots. Why is it that Tenet and Powell seem to inhabit a different planet?

Despite all this, they still have their defenders…or at least Tenet does. (Powell’s closest associate, Col. Larry Wilkerson, decided long ago to turn state’s evidence and apologize for his and Powell’s role in the intelligence/policy fiasco, but Powell has tried to remain above the battle. He may, I suppose, be writing his own book.)

Saturday on National Public Radio Tenet’s deputy and partner in crime, John McLaughlin, went to ludicrous lengths reciting a carefully prepared list of “all the things that the CIA got right,” while conceding that it (not “we,” mind you, but “it”) performed “inadequately” in assessing weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

[What Tenet has said, both while writing his book and while hawking it on TV, is highly troubling-so much so that a number of us wrote him a letter yesterday to express our concern to him directly. I shall include a copy below.]

Defending Torture…Again

Hewing to the George W. Bush dictum of “catapulting the propaganda” by endlessly repeating the same claim (the formula used so successfully by Joseph Goebbels), Tenet manages to tell 60 Minutes five times in five consecutive sentences: “We don’t torture people.” Like President Bush, however, he then goes on to show why it has been absolutely necessary to torture people. Do they take us for fools? And Tenet’s claims of success in extracting information via torture are no more deserving of credulity than the rest of what he says.

His own credibility aside, Tenet has succeeded in destroying the asset without which an intelligence community cannot be effective and informed policy making is at grave risk-trustworthiness. That is serious. He seems blissfully oblivious to the damage he has done-aware only of the damage he accuses others of doing to his “personal honor.”

Lessons

If any good can come out of the intelligence/policy debacle regarding Iraq, it would be the clear lesson that intelligence crafted to dovetail with the predilections of policymakers can bring disaster. The role that Tenet, McLaughlin and their small coterie of malleable managers played as willing accomplices in the corruption of intelligence has made a mockery of the verse chiseled into the marble at the entrance to CIA headquarters: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Had Tenet been tenaciously honest, his analysts would have risen to the occasion. And there is a good chance that they could have helped prevent what the Nuremburg Tribunal called the “supreme international crime”-a war of aggression-a war that Tenet and his subordinates knew had nothing to do with the “intelligence” adduced to “justify” it, as Tenet now admits in his book.

No director of the CIA should come from the ranks of congressional staff, since those staffers work in a politicized ambience antithetical to substantive intelligence work. Tenet is Exhibit A. When he was nominated for the job, outside observers deemed it a good sign that, as a congressional staffer, Tenet had been equally popular on both sides of the aisle. But for intelligence professionals, this raised a huge red flag.

As we had learned early in our careers, if you consistently tell it like it is, you are certain to make enemies. Those enjoying universal popularity are ipso facto suspect of perfecting the political art of compromise-shading this and shaving that. However useful this may be on the Hill, it sounds the death knell for intelligence analysis. Tenet also lacked experience in managing a large, complicated organization. Such experience is a sine qua non.

Finally, it is mischievous myth that the CIA director must cultivate a close personal relationship with the president. Nor should he/she try to do so, for it is a net minus. The White House is not a fraternity house; mutual respect is far more important than camaraderie. A mature president will respect an independent intelligence director. The latter must resist the temptation to be “part of the team” in the same way that the president’s political advisers are part of the team. Overly close identification with “the team” can erode objectivity and cloud intelligence judgments. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, like Cheney a frequent visitor to CIA headquarters in 2002 to “help” with the analysis on Iraq, told the press that Tenet was “so grateful to the president [presumably for not firing him after Sept. 11, 2001] that he would do anything for him.” That attitude is the antithesis of what is needed in senior intelligence officers.

Much is at stake, and it will be an uphill battle to bring back honesty and professionalism to the analysis process and impede efforts to politicize the intelligence product. In an institution like the CIA, significant, enduring improvement requires vision, courage, and integrity at the top. It has been almost three decades since the CIA has been led by such a person.

Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC. His responsibilities during his 27-year service as a CIA analyst included chairing National Intelligence Estimates and preparing the President’s Daily Brief. He is co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).


Ray McGovern, I have great admiration for you, but from what I know of CIA doings throughout the decades, we seem to be looking at two separate institutions. Of course, I do agree it has been dreadfuly politicized and demoralized (by which I refer to internal relationships, since on an activity level it has always been amoral), but I cannot name a single governmental agency that has escaped that fate from the Bush administraton.

What I don’t understand is how anyone who appears to be as upstanding as you do can work for and care about an agency responsible for so many assassinations and tortures throughout the world, and always to support US and corporate interests opposing people trying to be free.

If all it did was gather intelligence without resorting to vicious behavior, I would have a different view of the CIA. I’m guessing the director you refers to at the end of your essay is Stansfield Turner, who is reputed to have considerably cut back on covert operations. Which was dramatically reversed by Reagan’s appointee, William Casey. These Republicans do love their covert ooperations, assassinations and torture. It’s one thing to be a control freak, it’s another to enjoy inflicting pain. What’s wrong with these people?

Thank you for an interesting and illuminating article, you are one of my favorite writers.

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RE: Bush's RAPE Accuser

----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: Neo-V™
Date: Apr 30, 2007 4:13 PM


Thanks: HECKTOR DANGUS, ESQ.
Date: 30 Apr 2007, 19:35


The Strange Death of the Woman Who Filed a Rape Lawsuit Against Bush

By Jackson Thoreau

opednews.com

Early one Saturday afternoon in July 2003, I made a simple phone call to Margie Schoedinger, a Texas woman who filed a rape lawsuit against George W. Bush in December 2002. I expected to leave a message on a machine, so I was caught a little offguard when Schoedinger answered.

She, too, sounded somewhat surprised I had called, saying she hadn't heard from many other reporters. But she talked to me for a few minutes about the legal action.

"I am still trying to prosecute [the lawsuit]," said Schoedinger, a 38-year-old African-American woman who lived in the Houston suburb of Missouri City. "I want to get this matter settled and go on with my life."

Well, Schoedinger hasn't gone on with her life. In fact, three months after I spoke to her, she died in an apparent suicide. And this matter remains unsettled.

When I asked her in July 2003 about the lack of media coverage, Schoedinger said she wasn't seeking publicity. She said she did not even know about a December 2002 article in the Fort Bend Star, the only U.S. mainstream media outlet that covered this story, to my knowledge. The Fort Bend reporter, LeaAnne Klentzman, said she even went to Schoedinger's home and talked to a man there, who said she could not come to door. While I reached and spoke to Schoedinger on my first attempt, maybe she wasn't ready to talk back in December.

Anyways, Schoedinger said she was surprised the case wasn't covered more because "it is true......People have to be accountable for what they do, and that's why I'm pursuing it."

To be sure, Schoedinger's accusations - which include being drugged and sexually assaulted numerous times by Bush and other men purporting to be FBI agents - are bizarre and hard for most people to believe. But her story fits in with those told by a growing number of people who say they were used as guinea pigs or whatever by members of the CIA or another U.S. agency who wanted to test out the latest mind-controlling drug or just have a strange form of release. And her death - let's just say government agents have made murders look like suicides before.

In her court petition, Schoedinger said police in Sugar Land, another Houston suburb where she said some assailants linked to Bush attempted to unsuccessfully abduct her from her car shortly before the 2000 election, refused to take a report or do anything about that incident. She filed a lawsuit against the Sugar Land department and said that in preparing its defense, Sugar Land police found out that she dated Bush as a minor. I didn't get a chance to ask Schoedinger about that tie and didn't meet her in person, but her driver's license listed her as being 5-foot-8 and weighing 125 pounds, for what that's worth.

The Fort Bend Star story quoted a Sugar Land police captain saying his department had no record of any complaints by Schoedinger. All he had to do was what I did - go to the Fort Bend County Internet site and do a simple search on Schoedinger's name in the area of civil court records. I found the lawsuit Schoedinger filed in December 2000 against Sugar Land police, and it even had numerous responses by the department's attorneys in that case.

Just wait. This story gets stranger.

When I started asking Schoedinger about certain details of the case, such as alleged surveillance at her home and if she was still legally representing herself, she politely ended our conversation. "I need to see what has been written," Schoedinger said. "I feel like it's best for me to end our conversation."

Obviously, she had learned to be careful about what she said and to whom she said it. I could understand her being leery about talking about her situation with a stranger over the phone.

But I remember being puzzled by Schoedinger's attitude after hanging up the phone. I wondered that if she had made up such a wild story, why she didn't come up with something a little less outlandish, in which people couldn't necessarily dismiss her as a kook. I wondered why she didn't seek publicity to at least provide some form of protection. I've long learned that being as public as possible is one of your best defenses against rogue intelligence agents. But she didn't even seem to want any media to cover her story. I told several writers I knew, some of whom tried to contact Schoedinger. None succeeded, as far as I know.

I remember thinking, "I hope she doesn't wind up on the wrong side of a gun." And sure enough, in late September, Schoedinger did.

The Houston Chronicle wrote a bare-bones obituary that stated only that Schoedinger "expired" on Sept. 22, 2003, and her burial was at Houston Memorial Gardens.

I called the Harris County Medical Examiner's office, and a clerk told me the cause of death: a "suicide" by a "gunshot wound to the head." I hung up amid bombs going off in my mind.

For one, using a gun to commit suicide is predominantly executed by males, according to psychiatrists and other sources like pharmaceutical firm Merck & Co. Women are more likely to overdose on drugs, although the number of gunshot suicides among women has increased in recent years.

Besides Pravda and Internet ezines - one of whom referred to Schoedinger as "deranged" - I haven't seen stories on this strange death of a woman who filed a rape lawsuit against the U.S. president and wound up dead nine months later. I can't say I'm surprised. Or even angry. I don't know what the hell to think. All I know is I was one of the last - if not the last - reporters to speak to Schoedinger, and she didn't sound "deranged" to me in July 2003. She sounded like someone who had gone through something weird and was trying to sort it out. She sounded like someone who wanted the truth to come out. And now she's dead.

If this had happened to Clinton when he was in the White House, do you think the story would have been covered non-stop on FOX, CNN and the right-wing talk shows? Do you think we'd have reporters asking Clinton and his people about this death in press conferences? Is FOX unfair and imbalanced to the point of being "deranged?"

There are some more odd twists to this case. I also found a 2002 criminal case related to Schoedinger in which Christopher Schoedinger, her husband, allegedly struck her. He pleaded no contest and was sentenced to a year in jail. Christopher Schoedinger had also filed for divorce. Then since 1997, Margie Schoedinger had filed for at least five assumed business names for various ventures - including a communications firm, health and beauty business, travel agency and publishing company. Could a "deranged" person start all those businesses or even know how to file a lawsuit?

Schoedinger's lawsuit can still be viewed on the Fort Bend County site at http://ccweb.co.fort-bend.tx.us/localization/menu.asp - then go down to the bottom and click on civil court. Then type "schoedinger" in the plaintiff box and click search. You should find another lawsuit she filed against Sugar Land police, as well.

I can really understand media members being intimidated, even frightened, of the Bush administration. As I've detailed before, these are not Boy Scouts running the show. The Schoedinger death is just the latest in a string of strange ones surrounding the Bush family - Bush biographer J.H. Hatfield, Sen. Paul Wellstone, Sen. Mel Carnahan, and others that are detailed on various sites, including at http://members.boardhost.com/gwbush/msg/362.html .

For the record, I contacted Bush's media office about Schoedinger and have yet to hear back. Now that I live in the Washington, D.C., area, I can go down to the White House in person and try to get someone to speak to me about this case. As expected, I haven't had much luck with the Fort Bend County and other Texas authorities. So maybe I'll stand outside the White House, holding a sign saying, "Who killed Margie Schoedinger?" and passing out copies of my column on the case. It would make about as much sense as anything else in this matter.

For all I know, maybe Schoedinger did kill herself. Maybe she dreamed up a lot of this stuff. But I don't know, am I "deranged" to think it's weird that in this mass-media, detailed-information age, so few people are even asking any questions about how a woman who filed a rape lawsuit against the president could be dead less than a year later?

Jackson Thoreau is an American writer and co-author of We Will Not Get Over It: Restoring a Legitimate White House. The updated, 120,000-word electronic book can be downloaded on his Internet site at :

http://www.geocities.com/jacksonthor/ebook.html.

Citizens for Legitimate Government has the earlier version at:

http://www.legitgov.org/we_will_not_get_over_it.html.

He can be contacted at:

jacksonthor@yahoo.com or jacksonthor@justice.com .

posted by
sage advice
Aaron Russo's America: Freedom To Fascism

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RE: Vitamins!? Outlawed!??!?!

----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: Aaron Russo's America: Freedom To Fascism
Date: Apr 30, 2007 4:15 PM


This just in from Aaron Russo himself!

Today, April 30th, The House will address an expired Bill that mandates all vitamins, mineralS, AND health supplements as government controlled substances!!!

The Docket Number is 2006D-0480.

Call your congressmen NOW !!!

Demand that they LEAVE YOUR HEALTH ALONE!!!

You can reach them at:

800-828-0498

...or..

800-459-1887

...or...

800-614-2803.

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RE: Freeway Collapse Bares no Relation to WTC Buildings

----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: Impeach GeOgre/ 9.11 Truth
Date: Apr 30, 2007 4:28 PM


GeOgre sez:

I was listening to NPR (doh!) today, and they kept repeating "fire so hot it melted steel" and I couldn't wait to hear what the truthers had to say. It was a glaring example of media trying to cover itself, and be the voice of authority to the sheeple.



----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: soulismissing{student scholar for 9/11 truth}
Date: Apr 30, 2007 1:16 PM



----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: Leo/FightNWO-Resisting World Government
Date: Apr 30, 2007 2:03 PM


Freeway Collapse Bears No Relation To WTC Buildings

Stop The Lie
Monday, April 30, 2007

Comment: Debunkers are already using this to attack the 9/11 truth movement in claiming that this explains the collapse of the towers and WTC 7. Syndicated radio host Neil Boortz attacked Alex Jones this morning, claiming that this refutes the controlled demolition hypothesis. In reality, the freeway collapse is completely different and the comparison is ridiculous.

I can already hear defenders of the official account screaming "See, fire can cause a steel structure to collapse-the bridge collapsed!"

Comparing the circumstances surrounding the fire and subsequent partial collapse of this bridge to the circumstances surrounding the fires and subsequent complete collapse of the towers and WTC 7 is flawed from end to end. This fact should be obvious to most people; but let's point out a few things just in case they weren't already noticed.

1. This was an open air environment where flames were able to reach their absolute maximum temperature; white-hot and shooting upwards of 200 feet in the air.

2. Those 200 foot flames were acting on a single support truss that was fastened to the two columns pictured here. That truss (and the connectors that fastened it to the columns) represents a small fraction of the steel that would have been found on a single floor of the towers or WTC 7. So again, far more heat focused on a single truss and no way to redistribute the load once that truss was weakened.

3. You'll notice that despite the intense fires ability to weaken the truss and connectors that there is NO mention of molten metal in the debris. Also, unlike the debris of the towers and WTC 7, it's not likely we're going to hear anything about thermate (specifically used to destroy steel columns) in the bridge debris.

4. You'll notice that the concrete roadway that "pancaked down" on the roadway below did not cause the lower freeway to collapse. Nor has the concrete disintegrated into a fine powder.

5. You'll notice the columns were not torn down by the collapse, nor did they evaporate into thin air, rather they are still standing (having only lost the the truss and connectors that held the roadway to them.)

So to quickly recap:

White-hot 200 foot flames acting on a single truss (and no ability to redistribute the load once weakened.)

No molten metal and certainly no thermate found
No column failure
No evaporation / pulverization of concrete
No "pancake collapse"

-Ending with a paragraph from The 1-hour Guide to 9/11.

For the record, few in the scientific community doubt that it's theoretically possible for a building to experience failure if it is subjected to devastating heat for a sufficient period of time. And additional factors like no fire-proofing, no sprinkler systems, insufficient steel to "bleed off" heat or inferior construction greatly increase the possibility. However, what is "doubted" (or more accurately; considered downright impossible) is that such a failure would resemble anything like what was witnessed on 9/11. -Gradual, isolated, asymmetrical failures spread out over time; perhaps -simultaneous disintegration of all load bearing columns (leaving a pile of neatly folded rubble a few stories high) -no way.

We stand by that assertion. For a more detailed argument see Fire Initiated Collapse - Primary Arguments Against.

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RE: JFK Murder Plot Deathbed Confession to be aired...

----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: Impeach GeOgre/ 9.11 Truth
Date: Apr 30, 2007 4:38 PM


----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: 9/11./77.WAS.INSIDE JOB
Date: Apr 30, 2007 11:59 AM




JFK Murder Plot "Deathbed Confession" Aired On National Radio

The "deathbed confession" audio tape in which former CIA agent and Watergate conspirator E. Howard Hunt admits he was approached to be part of a CIA assassination team to kill JFK was aired this weekend - an astounding development that has gone completely ignored by the establishment media.

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/april2007/300407deathbedconfession.htm

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RE: Alternative Energy Investments Creates & Strengthens Economy

----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: Support Alternative Energy
Date: Apr 30, 2007 12:13 AM


NextEnergy Study Shows Alternative Energy Investments Create Jobs, Strengthen Economy
Mon, 04/23/2007 - 11:05 — admin

April 20, 2007 -- LANSING - Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm's emphasis on developing an alternative energy sector will create jobs and strengthen the economy according to a new study released today. The extensive energy policy-related study assesses the impact of energy efficiency and renewable energy policies on Michigan's economy. The results of the study clearly show that investments in energy efficiency programs and the adoption of a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) as called for in Granholm's economic plan, will create up to 19,000 additional jobs and increase the Gross State Product (GSP) by as much as $1.6 billion.

"As we celebrate Earth Day, we are reminded that we can both protect our natural resources and strengthen our economy at the same time," Granholm said. "Michigan's bountiful natural gifts position us to be a world leader in the development, production, and use of alternative energy. Developing this sector of our economy will create jobs, diversify our economy, improve our environment, and create new sources of energy to meet rising demand worldwide."

The study entitled, "A Study of Economic Impacts from the Implementation of a Renewable Portfolio Standard and an Energy Efficiency Program in Michigan," was overseen by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and completed by NextEnergy. Using the most accurate modeling tools available, the study focused on the long-range results of nine different policy alternatives for providing Michigan's future energy needs. The results conclude that an increased use of energy efficiency and renewable energy will not only enhance our state's environmental stewardship but will generate increased business activity in Michigan.

The study projects from the year 2006 to 2025 and includes two sets of models that calculate impacts from aggressive and moderate renewable portfolio standards. The results show that during the period 2007-2020, the implementation of a moderate RPS, 7 percent by 2016, would grow Michigan's GSP by $194 million and create 2,020 jobs, while implementing an aggressive RPS, 15 percent by 2025, would grow the GSP by $533 million and create 6,381 jobs. The study further shows that combining an aggressive RPS with aggressive energy efficiency efforts will substantially increase the benefits from doing either alone.

"The results of this study clearly demonstrate the environmental and economic benefits of adopting a renewable portfolio standard and energy efficiency programs for Michigan," said DEQ Director Steven E. Chester. "Undertaking these actions is a demonstration in leadership and an investment in our state's future."

In describing the methodology utilized in the analysis, NextEnergy CEO Jim Croce said, "It was important that the report reflect an accurate, fact-based assessment of the likely affects to Michigan's economy if such bold energy policies are enacted. Our study was deliberately designed to be very conservative, almost a ‘worst case scenario' approach. And even from a conservative set of assumptions, the results clearly indicate that a Michigan RPS combined with energy efficiency programs implemented statewide will have a significantly positive economic impact on our state."

"It is time for the state of Michigan to adopt proactive approaches to increase the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency to diversify Michigan's economy and its energy supplies," said Macauley Whiting, Jr., trustee and treasurer of the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation, one of the study's sponsors.

Source: Michigan Governor

http://www.allamericanpatriots.com/48721651_michigan_nextenergy_study_shows_alternative_energy_investments_create_jobs_strengthen_econo

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RE: $3.35 a gallon - Washington have a message to you all

----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: Philo-sophia
Date: Apr 29, 2007 11:07 PM


As my neice and I pulled up to the gas station to pay $3.35 per gallon and that was at the AM/PM too!

There was this nice little message for everyone at the pay station:

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

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RE: We must speak out to take back our country.

----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: bushsux
Date: Apr 29, 2007 9:39 PM


Let Your Voice Ring Out!
Openly Oppose Bush - Do Your Part!
Proceeds Support Anti-Bush Activism.
Order by Phone: Call toll-free in US 1-877-809-1659.

We oppose Bush and Cheney because we support America as it was and as it should be. Bush and his administration attack the Constitutional fabric of the United States in the name of security. This threatens our freedom. Fight back! Wear and show these messages.

Help free our nation from the Bush Occupation. The alternative means suffering a slow silent death of the heart. Let Your Voice Ring Out! Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve! Buy and show these shirts, mouse pads, stickers, caps, cards, cups, etc. Display these important messages.

Can't Wait Til 1-20-09
Can't Wait Til 1-20-09
Look forward to the end of the Bush/Cheney regime. Tell the world you can't wait until 1-20-09

Don't Blame Me
Don't Blame Me
Al Gore really won in Florida and won the election. Many of us knew enough to vote for him, not Bush. Tell the world you knew back in 2000.

New Management
New Management
Celebrate our victory! Congress is now under new management. Democrats are taking charge to clean up the right wing mess.

Bill Clinton: A REAL President
Bill Clinton: A REAL President
Peace. Prosperity. Jobs. Care for regular people. Remind the world what a REAL President looks like.

Dogging Bush
Dogging Bush
Bush has been dogging America and the Planet. Show that what goes around comes around with this hilarious editorial by man's best friend.

Cindy Says
Cindy Says
Bush is lying and troops are dying. Cindy Sheehan says "George, Stop Lying!"

No More Blood For Oil
No More Blood For Oil
Top Bush Officials, documents, and Cheney's secret meetings reveal the truth about this war for oil.

Impeach Bush! 3 Designs
Impeach Bush! 3 Designs
Who cares if there's no time to do the paper work? Impeach also means question integrity.

Republican "Values?"
What Republican "values?" They lie, cheat, steal and now we find they molest kids and conspire to cover up these crimes!

Where's bin Laden?
Bush actually says he's "not that concerned" about bin Laden. So much for protecting Americans!

After Downing Street
After Downing Street
Know the truth. The Downing Street Minutes expose what went on behind the scenes before the war.

Dean Democrats
Dean Democrats
The Dean wing of the Democratic Party. We're carrying on Howard Dean's fight!

bush helps our enemies
"Bush Helps Our Enemies"
Bush admitted he's Helping our Enemies Hurt America. Tell the world about it.

Dumbya
Dumbya
Tell the world what you think about Dumbya Bush. Is he really stupid or does he think we are? Maybe it's both.

Convict Bush Cheney
Convict Bush Cheney
Convict Bush and Cheney. Because impeachment isn't enough.
Bush is Going to Hell
Bush is Going to Hell
George W. Bush says we're going to hell if we don't worship exactly as he says we should. We think he better read that Bible he's thumping.

Bulk Buttons and Magnets
Bulk Buttons and Magnets
Dozens of great designs in lots of 10 or 100 for fundraising, protests and more. Proceeds support progressive activism.

Opinionated Women for Kerry
Opinionated Women for Kerry
Women have the right to speak out without people judging them. Support equality and the Kerrys.

End Bush's Iraq War
End Bush's Iraq War
Bush rushed to war without reason, planning, and based on lies. He's lying and our troops are dying.

Bush vs. Reality
Bush vs. Reality
Bush says the economy is great, Iraq is great, everything is great. He's delusional. Time to send him home.

Turn Up The Heat - Fahrenheit 911
Turn Up The Heat - Fahrenheit 911
Michael Moore's movie tells the awful truth about Bush. Tell Americans to watch this movie.

Fool at the Wheel
Fool at the Wheel
Song, Shirts, Buttons, Stickers tell the truth: We Got a Fool at the Wheel!

Diebold Machines Kill Votes
Diebold Machines Kill Votes
Unaccountable e-voting lets right wing Republican companies steal our elections.

Blowjobs or No Jobs
Blowjobs or No Jobs
Bush administration voodoo economics intentionally killed millions of jobs.

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Bush Flips Off the World
Bush is arrogant and ignorant - a most dangerous combination. Time for him to go back to Texas.

Bush Sucks
Bush Sucks
There's no better way to put it. Bush just plain sucks.

Bush is Bad for America
Bush is Bad for America
Bush had his chance. He misled, mismanaged, and messed up. It's time for Bush to go.

bush reminds us of someone
"Bush Reminds Us of Someone"
We don't even have to name any names. People know just who we're talking about.

Bush or Saddam?
Bush is too much like Saddam. The wars, lies, even torture. It's getting harder to tell them apart.

AWOL Bush
AWOL Bush
Bush swore to serve in the National Guard, but he went AWOL. Time to send Bush back to Texas.

Bad Bush!
Bad Bush!
Boiled down to the simplest terms, Bush is just plain BAD!

Wave Bye to Bush
Wave Bye to Bush
Bush wrecked America. Time to send him back to Texas.

Love America Defeat Bush
Love America Defeat Bush
You can either support America OR support Bush. You cannot do both. Love America. Defeat Bush.

Greens Against Bush
Greens Against Bush
Greens decided to beat Bush and build their party at the same time. Support the Green Party's efforts to beat Bush!

Save the Environment
Save the Environment
Bush's policies attack the planet. Plant Bush in Texas before nothing will grow.

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Bush You're Fired!
Bush's Failed Policies cost millions of Americans their jobs. It's time to say, Bush You're Fired!

Reagan is Overrated
Reagan is Overrated
It's sad when someone dies but this is Reagan who nearly caused WW III and bankrupted the USA.
Under the Bush Occupation, we're slipping into dark despotism. We support our republic and oppose the limitless federal power Bush and his regime arrogate to themselves. We believe in the rule of law and the US Constitution. America cannot afford any more failure and misleadership. We demand a return to political sanity and the honorable American traditions of accountability, dignity and honesty.The Bush Occupation's gross misconduct and bald-faced lies keep damaging our national credibility and offending our conscience. They insult our allies and squander international good will needed to keep us safe against terrorist attacks. Bush's thugs undermine our security by abusing the trust the American people and the rest of the world placed in them after 9/11.In countless ways, Bush and his administration made us less safe, less healthy, and less prosperous. Bush's economic, education, environmental, health and other policies have been as disastrous as his failed foreign policies. The Cheney/Bush junta must end, but we must act to make sure it does. Activism means speaking out, being seen, and making a difference. You must speak out for us to take back our country.

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RE: Can you keep a secret? Dick Durbin Can

----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: Wendy Bird
Date: Apr 29, 2007 8:56 PM


http://www.wakeupfromyourslumber.com/node/1392

Can you keep a secret? Dick Durbin Can
And so can the rest of the Senate Intelligence committee . . .


The Senate's No. 2 Democrat says he knew that the American public was being misled into the Iraq war but remained silent because he was sworn to secrecy as a member of the intelligence committee.

"The information we had in the intelligence committee was not the same information being given to the American people. I couldn't believe it," Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, said Wednesday when talking on the Senate floor about the run-up to the Iraq war in 2002.

"I was angry about it. [But] frankly, I couldn't do much about it because, in the intelligence committee, we are sworn to secrecy.

We can't walk outside the door and say the statement made yesterday by the White House is in direct contradiction to classified information that is being given to this Congress."

Growing up, I will never forget the advice my father gave me on how to decide whether something I was about to do was 'good' or 'bad':

'If you cannot do it openly (that is, in public), or at least tell people about it, then with very few exceptions it's probably bad,' he said.

Nowhere is this advice more applicable than in public service and government.

Our government should have NO SECRETS. Period.

Those who claim that secrecy is important for national security are just trying to create legal cover for their own criminal conduct.

The consequences, as demonstrated by Durbin's remarks, are just astounding - absolutely incredible.

Here, we have a US Senator publicly admitting not only that the WHITE HOUSE MISLED AMERICA INTO WAR, but that CONGRESS KNEW ABOUT IT BEFORE IT HAPPENED!

This should be FRONT PAGE NEWS.

WHERE is the mainstream media on this???

THESE PEOPLE MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR LIES.

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RE: RE: Fire from crash collapses Calif. Freeway/Gov/State of Emerg

----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: ♥ Angel ♥ ™
Date: Apr 29, 2007 7:18 PM


Thanks: Diana



Fire from crash collapses Calif. freeway By MARCUS WOHLSEN, Associated Press Writer
14 minutes ago



OAKLAND, Calif. - A stretch of highway near the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge collapsed Sunday after a gasoline tanker crashed and burst into flames, leaving one of the nation's busiest spans in a state of near paralysis. Officials said traffic could be disrupted for months.

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Flames shot 200 feet in the air and the heat was intense enough to melt part of the freeway and cause the collapse, but the truck's driver walked away from the scene with second-degree burns. No other injuries were reported.

"I've never seen anything like it," Officer Trent Cross of the California Highway Patrol said of the crumpled interchange. "I'm looking at this thinking, 'Wow, no one died — that's amazing. It's just very fortunate."

Authorities said the damage could take months to repair, and that it would cause the worst disruption for Bay Area commuters since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake damaged a section of the Bay Bridge itself.

Nearly 75,000 vehicles use the portion of the road every day. But because the accident occured where three highways converge, authorities said it could cause commuting problems for hundreds of thousands of people. State transportation officials said 280,000 commuters take the bridge into San Francisco each day.

Transportation officials said they already had added trains to the Bay Area Rapid Transit light rail system that takes commuters across San Francisco Bay, and were urging people to telecommute if possible.

State officials said motorists who try to take alternate routes Monday instead of relying on public transportation would face nightmarish commutes.

The tanker carrying 8,600 gallons of gasoline ignited around 3:45 a.m. after crashing into a pylon on the interchange, which connects westbound lanes of Interstate 80 to southbound I-880, on the edge of downtown Oakland about half a mile from the Bay Bridge's toll plaza.

A preliminary investigation indicated the driver may have been speeding on the curving road, Cross said.

Witnesses reported flames rising up to 200 feet into the air. Heat exceeded 2,750 degrees and caused the steel beams holding up the interchange from eastbound I-80 to eastbound Interstate 580 above to buckle and bolts holding the structure together to melt, leading to the collapse, California Department of Transportation director Will Kempton said.

The charred section of collapsed freeway was draped at a sharp angle onto the highway beneath, exposing a web of twisted metal beneath the concrete.

The cost of the repairs would likely run into the tens of millions of dollars, and the state was seeking federal disaster aid, Kempton said. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger planned to issue an emergency declaration Sunday afternoon to allow repairs to happen faster, said Adam Mendelsohn, the governor's spokesman.

The Bay Bridge consists of two heavily traveled, double-decked bridges about two miles long straddling San Francisco Bay.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said the accident showed how fragile the Bay area's transportation network is, whether to an earthquake or terrorist attack, and has the potential to have a major economic effect on the city.

"It's another giant wakeup call," Newsom told reporters at the California Democratic Party convention in San Diego.

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RE: Rare Close-Up Footage Of WTC 7 Shows Limited Fires

----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: Portland 911 Truth
Date: Apr 29, 2007 5:55 PM


Big Thanks To
PrisonPlanet.com


Thanks
Kat
Fizzle Like A Flood








http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evdGMRYn3Iw

Released on You Tube yesterday, this is the first time we have seen close-up footage of WTC 7 before its collapse. Compare the fires to those that engulfed the Windsor Building in Madrid, a structure that burned for 28 hours without collapsing.



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RE: Breaking the Silence - Truth and Lies in the War on Terror

----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: Pamela's Protest
Date: Apr 29, 2007 6:18 PM


Breaking the Silence - Truth and Lies in the War on Terror by John Pilger






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RE: Iran-Iraq war documentary From 1980 to 1988

----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: Pamela's Protest
Date: Apr 30, 2007 12:27 AM


Iran-Iraq war documentary































USA Crimes: Iran Iraq war_Part1







USA Crimes: Iran Iraq war_Part2_Chemical War




















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RE: Tax protest backers vow to disobey + AFTF

----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: Pamela's Protest
Date: Apr 30, 2007 1:19 AM


Tax protest backers vow to disobey + AFTF
----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: WAKE UP!
Date: Apr 29, 2007 9:54 PM


Thanks: Leo/FightNWO-Resisting World Government







http://usera.imagecave.com/markyannone2/YannoneBlog7/EdElaineBrown.jpg

Tax protest backers vow to disobey

MARGOT SANGER-KATZ
Concord Monitor
Sunday, April 29, 2007 

For supporters of Ed and Elaine Brown, a federal judge's decision to sentence the tax-protesting couple to 63 months in prison wasn't the big news Tuesday. In part, that's because it will have no immediate effect on the couple, who remain holed up in their fortified Plainfield home. Instead, the couple's supporters are reacting to an announcement by the federal marshal that anyone who helps the Browns evade capture might be subject to arrest.

For members of the Free State Project, who see the Brown case as a classic example of government overreaching, the marshal's warning was little deterrent. On a message board frequented by Free Staters and libertarians, his message was described as an invitation to civil disobedience, the better to show the iron fist of law enforcement. One poster suggested bringing small offerings, like pieces of hard candy, to see if the bearers would be arrested.

In a press conference after the sentencing hearings, U.S. Marshal Stephen Monier said warrants for the couple wouldn't go away and said his office would begin arresting and charging supporters who provide "assistance, aid or comfort to the Browns."

"That's to be expected by the feds; they're trying to scare as many people away from supporting the Browns as they can," said Ian Bernard, a co-host of the libertarian radio show Free Talk Live, who's visited the Browns in Plainfield and speaks frequently about them on his radio show. Bernard said the prospect of arrest shouldn't scare supporters. "Bringing a cake to the Browns shouldn't be a crime."

Monier declined to specify whether bringing food qualified as a crime, but he said that simply visiting would be allowed.
Lauren Canario of Winchester, a Brown supporter who has been visiting the house since Ed Brown first stopped attending his trial, also said she wasn't worried about being arrested. She's faced arrest for other acts of civil disobedience already.
"I was expecting it from the beginning, but it won't stop me from bringing goodies out to the Browns," said Canario said.

But expert watchers of the case said that the marshal's announcement was a smart change in strategy because it would signal that although the Browns are currently free as fugitives, they are still criminals in the eyes of the law.

"I think that the authorities are right to consider charging people who are, at the end of the day, aiding someone who is a convicted felon and who has regularly threatened law enforcement agents with death," said Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremist groups, including militias and tax protesters. "I mean, I don't think it's jokes that this guy is sitting up there and threatening to kill people."

Several Brown supporters indicated this week that threats made by the Browns and others were meant seriously. Bill Miller, a friend of Ed Brown's, said in an internet recording yesterday that it's time for "forming posses, enacting grand juries, laying down indictments and bringing the real criminals to justice."

Bernie Bastian, another close friend of Ed Brown's, said Tuesday that statements about the hanging of judges and prosecutors might be appropriate.

"They're public servants. If they've violated their oath of office, they're treasonous. They should be hung," he said. "They don't wait for a trial. They just hang them."

Staying home

The Browns were convicted in January of conspiring to evade income taxes on nearly $1.9 million that Elaine Brown earned in her West Lebanon dental practice, conspiring to disguise large financial transactions and disguising large financial transactions. Elaine Brown was also convicted of multiple counts of tax evasion and failure to withhold employment taxes for workers in her practice.

For several months, the couple has stayed at home, warning that any attempt to arrest them will end in a violent confrontation. Monier, who is charged with arresting the Browns on bench warrants, has not been specific about possible threats at the house, but he has said repeatedly that he will not initiate a standoff or confrontation with the Browns by going to arrest them.

In interviews and a tour of the house last summer, Ed Brown said that the large, hilltop home was built with eight-inch-thick concrete walls, had a private well and could generate enough electricity to operate off the grid. A five-story-high tower was described by the prosecutor as a "turret" at Ed Brown's arraignment. (Brown calls it a "deck.")

Ed Brown has also said that the house contains a large stockpile of food, though supporters have visited regularly since January, often bringing food with them.

There have been suggestions that those visitors have also brought guns and other military supplies. The Browns voluntarily turned over all their weapons in May as a condition of their release on bail. But Ed Brown has been seen by reporters with a gun since his trial and internet postings have hinted that the Browns have received items on an internet "wish list," which called for weapons and body armor in addition to cash and paralegals. On his daily internet radio show Monday, Ed Brown told a caller that marshals had not removed all of his defensive "equipment" when they took guns in May.

Monier specified on Tuesday that supporters who brought guns or ammunition to the house would be prosecuted.

Sentence reactions

As for the prison sentences themselves, if Judge Steven McAuliffe couldn't please everyone, he at least managed to upset both supporters and critics of the couple. The Browns themselves seem unaffected: On Tuesday, Ed Brown went as far as denying the existence of the sentences, the judge and the court where he once put on his defense.

Many in the pro-Brown camp saw the sentences as unsurprising but disappointing, part of a larger pattern of injustice brought on their friends by the court.

"I think that they were railroaded," said Kat Kanning of Keene, who attended the hearings Tuesday and demonstrated outside the courthouse with a sign that said "Fed Bullies: Leave the Browns alone." Yesterday, Kanning said she left the hearings "with a profound sense of sadness at the state of our country."

Other watchers of the movement said that McAuliffe's sentences fell inappropriately on the low end of the spectrum for tax protesters, especially considering the Browns' fugitive status and threats against federal officials.

J.J. MacNab, a tax evasion expert who is writing a book about the tax protest movement and has attended several recent tax protester trials, described the sentences as "disappointing," but she too was unsurprised. "This is the same judge who didn't see Ed and Elaine as a threat. This is a judge who didn't think Elaine would go home," she said.


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http://www.freedomtofascism.com/images/ecards/thumbnails/thm_06.jpg





“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.” Mark Twain




Click here to watch Aaron Russo's masterpiece: America-Freedom to Fascism OFFICIAL AUTHORIZED VERSION for free at google video ( A must see film)





Who is Aaron Russo? Click here and find out(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Russo)


Note:Aaron Russo wrote and directed the film (Trading Places) starring Eddie Murphy.

http://www.freedomtofascism.com/




(CLICK HERE) RELATED ARTICLE: Rockefeller Admitted Elite Goal Of Microchipped Population




Above: (Aaron Russo pictured next to Nick Rockefeller, 1999)



http://www.answers.com/topic/nicholas-rockefeller




Aaron Russo: The Architecture of the Prison Planet



Full Interview 1 hr 9 min 23 sec


Aaron Russo joins Alex Jones for a fascinating sit-down in depth video interview on a plethora of important subjects. Aaron begins by describing how the draconian and mafia tactics of Chicago police woke him up to the fact that America wasn't free after his nightclub was routinely raided and he was forced to pay protection money.

Aaron and Alex then cover a broad range of topics including the private run for profit federal reserve, Aaron's experience in the late 80's with the IRS when they retroactively passed laws to punish silver and gold traders, the real meaning of the word "democracy," what really happened on 9/11 and Aaron's relationship with Nick Rockefeller, who personally tried to recruit him on behalf of the CFR. Aaron also relates how Rockefeller told him that the elite created women's liberation to destroy the family and how they want to ultimately microchip and control the entire population. Rockefeller also told before 9/11 Russo that an unexpected "event" would catalyze the U.S. to invade Afghanistan and Iraq.



VIDEO LINK











______________________________________

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RE: Retired Lt. General declares Bush 'seems to have gone AWOL'

----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: Infensus Mentis
Date: Apr 30, 2007 2:01 AM


Retired Lt. General declares Bush 'seems to have gone AWOL'


RAW STORY
Published: Saturday April 28, 2007

The following, delivered as the Democrats' weekly radio address Saturday and sent out by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), was given by retired Lieutenant General William E. Odom, U.S. Army.






"Good morning, this is Lieutenant General William E. Odom, U.S. Army, retired.



"I am not now nor have I ever been a Democrat or a Republican. Thus, I do not speak for the Democratic Party. I speak for myself, as a non-partisan retired military officer who is a former Director of the National Security Agency. I do so because Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, asked me.



"In principle, I do not favor Congressional involvement in the execution of U.S. foreign and military policy. I have seen its perverse effects in many cases. The conflict in Iraq is different. Over the past couple of years, the President has let it proceed on automatic pilot, making no corrections in the face of accumulating evidence that his strategy is failing and cannot be rescued.



"Thus, he lets the United States fly further and further into trouble, squandering its influence, money, and blood, facilitating the gains of our enemies. The Congress is the only mechanism we have to fill this vacuum in command judgment.



"To put this in a simple army metaphor, the Commander-in-Chief seems to have gone AWOL, that is 'absent without leave.' He neither acts nor talks as though he is in charge. Rather, he engages in tit-for-tat games.



"Some in Congress on both sides of the aisle have responded with their own tits-for-tats. These kinds of games, however, are no longer helpful, much less amusing. They merely reflect the absence of effective leadership in a crisis. And we are in a crisis.



"Most Americans suspect that something is fundamentally wrong with the President's management of the conflict in Iraq. And they are right.



"The challenge we face today is not how to win in Iraq; it is how to recover from a strategic mistake: invading Iraq in the first place. The war could never have served American interests.



"But it has served Iran's interest by revenging Saddam Hussein's invasion of Iran in the 1980s and enhancing Iran's influence within Iraq. It has also served al Qaeda's interests, providing a much better training ground than did Afghanistan, allowing it to build its ranks far above the levels and competence that otherwise would have been possible.



"We cannot 'win' a war that serves our enemies interests and not our own. Thus continuing to pursue the illusion of victory in Iraq makes no sense. We can now see that it never did.



"A wise commander in this situation normally revises his objectives and changes his strategy, not just marginally, but radically. Nothing less today will limit the death and destruction that the invasion of Iraq has unleashed.



"No effective new strategy can be devised for the United States until it begins withdrawing its forces from Iraq. Only that step will break the paralysis that now confronts us. Withdrawal is the pre-condition for winning support from countries in Europe that have stood aside and other major powers including India, China, Japan, Russia.



"It will also shock and change attitudes in Iran, Syria, and other countries on Iraq's borders, making them far more likely to take seriously new U.S. approaches, not just to Iraq, but to restoring regional stability and heading off the spreading chaos that our war has caused.



"The bill that Congress approved this week, with bipartisan support, setting schedules for withdrawal, provides the President an opportunity to begin this kind of strategic shift, one that defines regional stability as the measure of victory, not some impossible outcome.



"I hope the President seizes this moment for a basic change in course and signs the bill the Congress has sent him. I will respect him greatly for such a rare act of courage, and so too, I suspect, will most Americans.



"This is retired General Odom. Thank you for listening."

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