Obama's 9/11

No plane crashes or bombings; in a way, something far more subtle and worse is at work.

"Many Predict US Financial Collapse in September

July 18, 2009

by Charles (A Reader)

Let us contemplate the day in the near future when the consequences of financial chicanery finally outpace the ability of the governments, central banks and big media to cover up and obfuscate the truth. Many respected voices have now gone on record that September 30 or thereabouts will be that day.

Bob Chapman [Internationalforecaster.com] revealed that the US State Dept has advised embassies worldwide to stock up on a year's worth of the local currency in anticipation of collapse of the US dollar. Look for a temporary banking shutdown timed for around September 2009. As under Roosevelt, some banks won't reopen. 96% of bank reserves are currently held with the Federal Reserve who tells the banks not to loan the money, but rather to save it for further banking acquisition and consolidation. Chapman foresees a bank holiday lasting 4-5 days. Chapman thinks this first bank holiday presages a much more significant bank holiday months to years later which will involve simultaneous devaluations of multiple currencies as well as other significant changes in the banking system.

Harry Shultz [as quoted in marketwatch.com] says "Some U.S. embassies worldwide are being advised to purchase massive amounts of local currencies; enough to last them a year. Some embassies are being sent enormous amounts of U.S. cash to purchase currencies from those governments, quietly. But not pound sterling. Inside the State Dept., there is a sense of sadness and foreboding that 'something' is about to happen ... within 180 days, but could be 120-150 days."

Benjamin Fulford [http://benjaminfulford.typepad.com/benjaminfulford/] states that for almost a century the US Treasury Dept has been issuing specialized debt instruments to countries with which the US has had a trade surplus. These complex debt instruments are tailored by complex treaties. Unfortunately, the recent US Treasury funding needs exceed the willingness of these creditor nations to extend additional credit. Fulford writes, "The problem is that after nearly a century of issuing these debt instruments, the chickens are coming home to roost. President Obama tried at the recent G8 plus 5 meeting in Italy to borrow more money than George Bush junior did in 8 years. He was told a resounding no. The result should be total economic chaos in the U.S. by September 30^th . "

Jim Willie [goldenjackass.com] writes of an Asian led initiative ending dollar hegemony beginning this weekend. Willie suspects that the Fed/Treasury is covertly loaning foreign central banks the money with which the central banks are now using to buy US debt. Increasingly, US debt is being bought by foreign central banks taking up the slack of investors abandoning US Treasury debt. Willie confirms Chapman's comments and says he solicited and received "multiple confirmations." He adds, "CHAOS WILL PREVAIL WITHIN SEVERAL MONTHS, PERHAPS A YEAR AT MOST{his emphasis}."

Jim Sinclair [jsmineset.com] has recently visited China meeting with its leaders. He states that China is increasingly more willing to take on the United States in its apparent maneuvers to inflate its way out of its debt crisis. In early July Sinclair started a 120 day countdown till breakdown of the US dollar ends market manipulation and all those sour economic chickens come home to roost.

OUT OF TRICKS

Seemingly the Federal Reserve/US Treasury have exhausted their bag of tricks. The Fed is fighting rising interest rates, a difficult task given the hyperinflationary debt financing it is now doing. Once rising pressure on interest rates become too much for the Fed to control, there will probably be several sudden economic and financial surprises cascading with currently known dilemmas: crashing dollar; increasing home mortgage defaults; commercial mortgage defaults reaching critical mass; falling bond and stock markets extending insolvency of pension funds; defaults on debt by state and local governments. And don't forget derivatives and further exposure of corruption and criminality on Wall Street. Bernie Madoff may soon have lots of company.

Unable to produce any more financial wizardry, the cynical federal government is arrayed in full battle dress uniform: 1] Mass forced swine flu vaccinations scheduled this fall performed under the specter of martial law; 2] Rumblings of extending the wars in Asia into Iran and Pakistan; 3] Rekindling the Korean conflict may also be in the cards. Of course, don't forget that both Iran and North Korea are client states of the British World Order. All the recent saber rattling involving Iran and North Korea is wholly orchestrated. We need the distractions from the economic crisis, so our clients Ahmadinejad and Kim provide us with the necessary theater. So what will come first, further banner headlines of dollar collapse and market crashes or the distracting theater of more war or 911 type events?

What will this fall really bring? It is not too far away so we shall soon know. Unfortunately, it may make last fall look pretty tame. When the government answers economic distress by preparing for the worst, then the worst may very well be what happens.

--MORE--"

Who Will Stand Up to USrael?

"Doublespeak on North Korea: Who Will Stand Up to America and Israel?

Paul Craig Roberts
Counterpunch
Wednesday, May 27, 2009

“Obama Calls on World to ‘Stand Up To’ North Korea” read the headline. The United States, Obama said, was determined to protect “the peace and security of the world.”

Shades of doublespeak, doublethink, 1984.

North Korea is a small place. China alone could snuff it out in a few minutes. Yet, the president of the US thinks that nothing less than the entire world is a match for North Korea.

We are witnessing the Washington gangsters construct yet another threat like Slobodan Milosevic, Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, John Walker Lindh, Hamdi, Padilla, Sami Al-Arian, Hamas, Mahkmoud Ahmadinejad, and the hapless detainees demonized by the US Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld as “the 700 most dangerous terrorists on the face of the earth,” who were tortured for six years at Gitmo only to be quietly released. Just another mistake, sorry.

The military/security complex that rules America, together with the Israel Lobby and the financial banksters, needs a long list of dangerous enemies to keep the taxpayers’ money flowing into its coffers.

The Homeland Security lobby is dependent on endless threats to convince Americans that they must forego civil liberty in order to be safe and secure.

The real question is who is going to stand up to the American and Israeli governments?

Who is going to protect Americans’ and Israelis’ civil liberties, especially those of Israeli dissenters and Israel’s Arab citizens?

Who is going to protect Palestinians, Iraqis, Afghans, Lebanese, Iranians, and Syrians from Americans and Israelis?

Not Obama, and not the right-wing brownshirts that today rule Israel.

Obama’s notion that it takes the entire world to stand up to N. Korea is mind-boggling, but this mind-boggling idea pales in comparison to Obama’s guarantee that America will protect “the peace and security of the world.”

Is this the same America that bombed Serbia, including Chinese diplomatic offices and civilian passenger trains, and pried Kosovo loose from Serbia and gave it to a gang of Muslin drug lords, lending them NATO troops to protect their operation?

Is this the same America that is responsible for approximately one million dead Iraqis, leaving orphans and widows everywhere and making refugees out of one-firth of the Iraqi population?

Is this the same America that blocked the rest of the world from condemning Israel for its murderous attack on Lebanese civilians in 2006 and on Gazans most recently, the same America that has covered up for Israel’s theft of Palestine over the past 60 years, a theft that has produced four million Palestinian refugees driven by Israeli violence and terror from their homes and villages?

Is this the same America that is conducting military exercises in former constituent parts of Russia and ringing Russia with missile bases?

Is this the same America that has bombed Afghanistan into rubble with massive civilian casualties?

Is this the same America that has started a horrific new war in Pakistan, a war that in its first few days has produced one million refugees?

“The peace and security of the world”? Whose world?

On his return from his consultation with Obama in Washington, the brownshirted Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that it was Israel’s responsibility to “eliminate” the “nuclear threat” from Iran.

What nuclear threat? The US intelligence agencies are unanimous in their conclusion that Iran has had no nuclear weapons program since 2003. The inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency report that there is no sign of a nuclear weapons program in Iran.

Who is Iran bombing? How many refugees is Iran sending fleeing for their lives?

Who is North Korea bombing?

The two great murderous, refugee-producing countries are the US and Israel. Between them, they have murdered and dislocated millions of people who were a threat to no one.

No countries on earth rival the US and Israel for barbaric murderous violence.

But Obama gives assurances that the US will protect “the peace and security of the world.” And the brownshirt Netanyahu assures the world that Israel will save it from the “Iranian threat.”

Where is the media?

Why aren’t people laughing their heads off?

--source--"

Foreign Policy Advice For Obama

Based on last night's performance, he won't take it:

"Obama and the Empire

WILLIAM BLUM
Counterpunch
Monday, Feb 9, 2009

I’ve said all along that whatever good changes might occur in regard to non-foreign policy issues, such as what’s already taken place concerning the environment and abortion, the Obama administration will not produce any significantly worthwhile change in US foreign policy; little done in this area will reduce the level of misery that the American Empire regularly brings down upon humanity. And to the extent that Barack Obama is willing to clearly reveal what he believes about anything controversial, he appears to believe in the empire.

The Obamania bubble should already have begun to lose some air with the multiple US bombings of Pakistan within the first few days following the inauguration. The Pentagon briefed the White House of its plans, and the White House had no objection. So bombs away — Barack Obama’s first war crime. The dozens of victims were, of course, all bad people, including all the women and children. As with all these bombings, we’ll never know the names of all the victims — It’s doubtful that even Pakistan knows — or what crimes they had committed to deserve the death penalty. Some poor Pakistani probably earned a nice fee for telling the authorities that so-and-so bad guy lived in that house over there; too bad for all the others who happened to live with the bad guy, assuming of course that the bad guy himself actually lived in that house over there.

The new White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, declined to answer questions about the first airstrikes, saying “I’m not going to get into these matters.”1 Where have we heard that before?

After many of these bombings in recent years, a spokesperson for the United States or NATO has solemnly declared: “We regret the loss of life.” These are the same words used by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) on a number of occasions, but their actions were typically called “terrorist”.

I wish I could be an Obamaniac. I envy their enthusiasm. Here, in the form of an open letter to President Obama, are some of the “changes we can believe in” in foreign policy that would have to occur to win over the non-believers like me.

Iran

Just leave them alone. There is no “Iranian problem”. They are a threat to no one. Iran hasn’t invaded any other country in centuries. No, President Ahmadinejad did not threaten Israel with any violence. Stop patrolling the waters surrounding Iran with American warships. Stop halting Iranian ships to check for arms shipments to Hamas. (That’s generally regarded as an act of war.) Stop using Iranian dissident groups to carry out terrorist attacks inside Iran. Stop kidnaping Iranian diplomats. Stop the continual spying and recruiting within Iran. And yet, with all that, you can still bring yourself to say: “If countries like Iran are willing to unclench their fist, they will find an extended hand from us.”2

Iran has as much right to arm Hamas as the US has to arm Israel. And there is no international law that says that the United States, the UK, Russia, China, Israel, France, Pakistan, and India are entitled to nuclear weapons, but Iran is not. Iran has every reason to feel threatened. Will you continue to provide nuclear technology to India, which has not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, while threatening Iran, an NPT signatory, with sanctions and warfare?

Russia

Stop surrounding the country with new NATO members. Stop looking to instigate new “color” revolutions in former Soviet republics and satellites. Stop arming and supporting Georgia in its attempts to block the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhasia, the breakaway regions on the border of Russia. And stop the placement of anti-missile systems in Russia’s neighbors, the Czech Republic and Poland, on the absurd grounds that it’s to ward off an Iranian missile attack. It was Czechoslovakia and Poland that the Germans also used to defend their imperialist ambitions — The two countries were being invaded on the grounds that Germans there were being maltreated. The world was told.

“The U.S. government made a big mistake from the breakup of the Soviet Union,” said former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev last year. “At that time the Russian people were really euphoric about America and the U.S. was really number one in the minds of many Russians.” But, he added, the United States moved aggressively to expand NATO and appeared gleeful at Russia’s weakness.3

Cuba

Making it easier to travel there and send remittances is very nice (if, as expected, you do that), but these things are dwarfed by the need to end the US embargo. In 1999, Cuba filed a suit against the United States for $181.1 billion in compensation for economic losses and loss of life during the almost forty years of this aggression. The suit held Washington responsible for the death of 3,478 Cubans and the wounding and disabling of 2,099 others. We can now add ten more years to all three figures. The negative, often crippling, effects of the embargo extend into every aspect of Cuban life.

In addition to closing Guantanamo prison, the adjacent US military base established in 1903 by American military force should be closed and the land returned to Cuba.

The Cuban Five, held prisoner in the United States for over 10 years, guilty only of trying to prevent American-based terrorism against Cuba, should be released. Actually there were 10 Cubans arrested; five knew that they could expect no justice in an American court and pled guilty to get shorter sentences.4

Iraq

Freeing the Iraqi people to death … Nothing short of a complete withdrawal of all US forces, military and contracted, and the closure of all US military bases and detention and torture centers, can promise a genuine end to US involvement and the beginning of meaningful Iraqi sovereignty. To begin immediately. Anything less is just politics and imperialism as usual. In six years of war, the Iraqi people have lost everything of value in their lives. As the Washington Post reported in 2007: “It is a common refrain among war-weary Iraqis that things were better before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.”5 The good news is that the Iraqi people have 5,000 years experience in crafting a society to live in. They should be given the opportunity.

Saudi Arabia

Demand before the world that this government enter the 21st century (or at least the 20th), or the United States has to stop pretending that it gives a damn about human rights, women, homosexuals, religious liberty, and civil liberties. The Bush family had long-standing financial ties to members of the Saudi ruling class. What will be your explanation if you maintain the status quo?

Haiti

Reinstate the exiled Jean Bertrand Aristide to the presidency, which he lost when the United States overthrew him in 2004. To seek forgiveness for our sins, give the people of Haiti lots and lots of money and assistance.

Colombia

Stop giving major military support to a government that for years has been intimately tied to death squads, torture, and drug trafficking; in no other country in the world have so many progressive candidates for public office, unionists, and human-rights activists been murdered. Are you concerned that this is the closest ally the United States has in all of Latin America?

Venezuela

Hugo Chavez may talk too much but he’s no threat except to the capitalist system of Venezuela and, by inspiration, elsewhere in Latin America. He has every good historical reason to bad-mouth American foreign policy, including Washington’s role in the coup that overthrew him in 2002. If you can’t understand why Chavez is not in love with what the United States does all over the world, I can give you a long reading list.

Put an end to support for Chavez’s opposition by the Agency for International Development, the National Endowment for Democracy, and other US government agencies. US diplomats should not be meeting with Venezuelans plotting coups against Chavez, nor should they be interfering in elections.

Send Luis Posada from Florida to Venezuela, which has asked for his extradition for his masterminding the bombing of a Cuban airline in 1976, taking 73 lives. Extradite the man, or try him in the US, or stop talking about the war on terrorism.

And please try not to repeat the nonsense about Venezuela being a dictatorship. It’s a freer society than the United States. It has, for example, a genuine opposition daily media, non-existent in the United States. If you doubt that, try naming a single American daily newspaper or TV network that was unequivocally against the US invasions of Iraq, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, Panama, Grenada, and Vietnam. Or even against two of them? How about one? Is there a single one that supports Hamas and/or Hezbollah? A few weeks ago, the New York Times published a story concerning a possible Israeli attack upon Iran, and stated: “Several details of the covert effort have been omitted from this account, at the request of senior United States intelligence and administration officials, to avoid harming continuing operations.”6

Alas, Mr. President, among other disparaging remarks, you’ve already accused Chavez of being “a force that has interrupted progress in the region.”7 This is a statement so contrary to the facts, even to plain common sense, so hypocritical given Washington’s history in Latin America, that I despair of you ever freeing yourself from the ideological shackles that have bound every American president of the past century. It may as well be inscribed in their oath of office — that a president must be antagonistic toward any country that has expressly rejected Washington as the world’s savior. You made this remark in an interview with Univision, Venezuela’s leading, implacable media critic of the Chavez government. What regional progress could you be referring to, the police state of Colombia?

Bolivia

Stop American diplomats, Peace Corps volunteers, Fulbright scholars, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, from spying and fomenting subversion inside Bolivia. As the first black president of the United States, you could try to cultivate empathy toward, and from, the first indigenous president of Bolivia. Congratulate Bolivian president Evo Morales on winning a decisive victory on a recent referendum to approve a new constitution which enshrines the rights of the indigenous people and, for the first time, institutes separation of church and state.

Afghanistan

Perhaps the most miserable people on the planet, with no hope in sight as long as the world’s powers continue to bomb, invade, overthrow, occupy, and slaughter in their land. The US Army is planning on throwing 30,000 more young American bodies into the killing fields and is currently building eight new major bases in southern Afghanistan. Is that not insane? If it makes sense to you I suggest that you start the practice of the president accompanying the military people when they inform American parents that their child has died in a place called Afghanistan.

If you pull out from this nightmare, you could also stop bombing Pakistan. Leave even if it results in the awful Taliban returning to power. They at least offer security to the country’s wretched, and indications are that the current Taliban are not all fundamentalists.

But first, close Bagram prison and other detention camps, which are worse than Guantanamo.

And stop pretending that the United States gives a damn about the Afghan people and not oil and gas pipelines which can bypass Russia and Iran. The US has been endeavoring to fill the power vacuum in Central Asia created by the Soviet Union’s dissolution in order to assert Washington’s domination over a region containing the second largest proven reserves of petroleum and natural gas in the world. Is Afghanistan going to be your Iraq?

Israel

The most difficult task for you, but the one that would earn for you the most points. To declare that Israel is no longer the 51st state of the union would bring down upon your head the wrath of the most powerful lobby in the world and its many wealthy followers, as well as the Christian-fundamentalist Right and much of the media. But if you really want to see peace between Israel and Palestine you must cut off all military aid to Israel, in any form: hardware, software, personnel, money. And stop telling Hamas it has to recognize Israel and renounce violence until you tell Israel that it has to recognize Hamas and renounce violence.

North Korea

Bush called the country part of “the axis of evil”, and Kim Jong Il a “pygmy” and “a spoiled child at a dinner table.”8 But you might try to understand where Kim Jong Il is coming from. He sees that UN agencies went into Iraq and disarmed it, and then the United States invaded. The logical conclusion is not to disarm, but to go nuclear.

Central America

Stop interfering in the elections of Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala, year after year. The Cold War has ended. And though you can’t undo the horror perpetrated by the United States in the region in the 1980s, you can at least be kind to the immigrants in the US who came here trying to escape the long-term consequences of that terrible decade.

Vietnam

In your inauguration speech you spoke proudly of those “who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom … For us, they fought and died, in places like … Khe Sanh.” So it is your studied and sincere opinion that the 58,000 American sevicemembers who died in Vietnam, while helping to kill over a million Vietnamese, gave their life for our prosperity and freedom? Would you care to defend that proposition without resort to any platitudes?

You might also consider this: In all the years since the Vietnam War ended, the three million Vietnamese suffering from diseases and deformities caused by US sprayings of the deadly chemical “Agent Orange” have received from the United States no medical attention, no environmental remediation, no compensation, and no official apology.

Kosovo

Stop supporting the most gangster government in the world, which has specialized in kidnaping, removing human body parts for sale, heavy trafficking in drugs, trafficking in women, various acts of terrorism, and ethnic cleansing of Serbs. This government would not be in power if the Bush administration had not seen them as America’s natural allies. Do you share that view? UN Resolution 1244, adopted in 1999, reaffirmed the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to which Serbia is now the recognized successor state, and established that Kosovo was to remain part of Serbia. Why do we have a huge and permanent military base in that tiny self-declared country?

NATO

From protecting Europe against a [mythical] Soviet invasion to becoming an occupation army in Afghanistan. Put an end to this historical anachronism, what Russian leader Vladimir called “the stinking corpse of the cold war.”9. You can accomplish this simply by leaving the organization. Without the United States and its never-ending military actions and officially-designated enemies, the organization would not even have the pretense of a purpose, which is all it has left. Members have had to be bullied, threatened and bribed to send armed forces to Afghanistan.

School of the Americas

Latin American countries almost never engage in war with each other, or any other countries. So for what kind of warfare are its military officers being trained by the United States? To suppress their own people. Close this school (the name has now been changed to protect the guilty) at Ft. Benning, Georgia that the United States has used to prepare two generations of Latin American military officers for careers in overthrowing progressive governments, death squads, torture, holding down dissent, and other charming activities. The British are fond of saying that the Empire was won on the playing fields of Eton. Americans can say that the road to Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and Bagram began in the classrooms of the School of the Americas.

Torture

Your executive orders concerning this matter of utmost importance are great to see, but they still leave something to be desired. They state that the new standards ostensibly putting an end to torture apply to any “armed conflict”. But what if your administration chooses to view future counterterrorism and other operations as not part of an “armed conflict”? And no mention is made of “rendition” — kidnaping a man off the street, throwing him in a car, throwing a hood over his head, stripping off his clothes, placing him in a diaper, shackling him from every angle, and flying him to a foreign torture dungeon. Why can’t you just say that this and all other American use of proxy torturers is banned? Forever.

It’s not enough to say that you’re against torture or that the United States “does not torture” or “will not torture”. George W. Bush said the same on a regular basis. To show that you’re not George W. Bush you need to investigate those responsible for the use of torture, even if this means prosecuting a small army of Bush administration war criminals.

You aren’t off to a good start by appointing former CIA official John O. Brennan as your top adviser on counterterrorism. Brennan has called “rendition” a “vital tool” and praised the CIA’s interrogation techniques for providing “lifesaving” intelligence.10 Whatever were you thinking, Barack?

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi

Free this Libyan man from his prison in Scotland, where he is serving a life sentence after being framed by the United States for the bombing of PanAm flight 103 in December 1988, which took the lives of 270 people over Scotland. Iran was actually behind the bombing — as revenge for the US shooting down an Iranian passenger plane in July, killing 290 — not Libya, which the US accused for political reasons.11 Nations do not behave any more cynical than that. Megrahi lies in prison now dying of cancer, but still the US and the UK will not free him. It would be too embarrassing to admit to 20 years of shameless lying.

Mr. President, there’s a lot more to be undone in our foreign policy if you wish to be taken seriously as a moral leader like Martin Luther King, Jr.: banning the use of depleted uranium, cluster bombs, and other dreadful weapons; joining the International Criminal Court instead of trying to sabotage it; making a number of other long-overdue apologies in addition to the one mentioned re Vietnam; and much more. You’ve got your work cut out for you if you really want to bring some happiness to this sad old world, make America credible and beloved again, stop creating armies of anti-American terrorists, and win over people like me.

And do you realize that you can eliminate all state and federal budget deficits in the United States, provide free health care and free university education to every American, pay for an unending array of worthwhile social and cultural programs, all just by ending our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, not starting any new ones, and closing down the Pentagon’s 700+ military bases? Think of it as the peace dividend Americans were promised when the Cold War would end some day, but never received. How about you delivering it, Mr. President? It’s not too late.

But you are committed to the empire; and the empire is committed to war. Too bad.

--SOURCE--"

North Korea Nukes Can Reach California

First Iran, now this!!!

Yeah, readers, I AM TIRED of ZIONIST SHIT being shoveled as "news."

Of course, Korea only made the "Axis of Evil" so it wouldn't look like the Zionists control AmeriKan foreign policy!

"Report says N. Korea tested missile engine; New launch site is identified" by Blaine Harden, Washington Post | September 17, 2008

TOKYO - If accurate, these reports indicate that while North Korea has pursued on-again, off-again negotiations with the United States and five other countries over abandoning its nuclear weapons program, it has continued to work on a long-range ballistic missile development - and is diverting scarce government resources from a collapsing economy that is chronically short of food.

And that differs from Bush and AmeriKa how?

An "improved version" of the Taepodong missile might have a range of more than 6,200 miles, the Chosun Ilbo reported. That would allow it to reach Seattle, San Francisco, or Los Angeles. The report cited unnamed sources.

The United States sent a ship carrying 37,000 tons of wheat to North Korea in late June, part of an international feeding operation for the more than 5 million North Koreans who, according to the U.N. World Food Program, are in urgent need of food aid this year. The U.S. government has pledged to provide most of that food.

You know, it is not like I want the Koreans to starve, but WE HAVE HUNGRY PEOPLE HERE in AMERICA!!!!

How about FOOD, not WARS, huh?

And if they are going to feed the Koreans, why not the Zimbabweans?

Because THEY DON'T HAVE NUKES?

--more--"

Testing the Korean Waters

"They're poor over there. When you get up close you see everything is so worn and broken. Sad little country."

But remember, readers, the piss-ant country is a threat to the world.

"A water-level view of North Korea; River swimmers from China get near, feel distant" by Chris Buckley, Reuters | September 15, 2008

DANDONG, China - Swimmers basking on the shore near Dandong's bridge across the river snorted contempt or indifference when asked about reports that North Korea's supreme leader, Kim Jong Il, is suffering from a serious illness.

"You say Kim Jong Il could be ill?" said Lin. "I'd say he could be mentally ill, for sure."

Well, we definitely have a mentally ill president here in AmeriKa.

He thinks he's doing God's work!!!

Beijing has been among the powers coaxing Pyongyang to forsake nuclear weapons ambitions. China's border with the North also has tensions - North Korean refugees use the frozen rivers of winter to flee to their neighbor and perhaps beyond. A full-blown crisis in Pyongyang could make that stream a deluge.

Notice how refugees and immigrants are only a problem in the rest of the world.

If you complain here in AmeriKa, the divisive, agenda-pushing, Zionist-controlled globalist press necklaces you with a racist charge.

What chutzpah!!!!

But for now, many of the Chinese living next to the North and daily witnessing its economic feebleness exuded disdain rather than fear for Kim's rule.

"It's a terror state," said retiree Yang Jiangwen as he dried after a swim. "They're poor over there. When you get up close you see everything is so worn and broken. Sad little country."

--more--"

North Korea Still on the List

"N. Korea suspends dismantling of its nuclear program" by Barbara Demick, Los Angeles Times | August 27, 2008

BEIJING - Less than two months after North Korea blew up the cooling tower of its main nuclear plant in a televised spectacle, the government yesterday announced it had suspended the dismantling of its nuclear program.

North Korea's Foreign Ministry said it was responding to US delays in removing it from a list of "terror-sponsoring" states. The ministry said the suspension began Aug. 14. North Korea said in a statement distributed over its official news agency that the United States' insistence on verification infringed on its sovereignty and was a "brigandish demand of unilaterally disarming."

"The US is gravely mistaken if it thinks it can make a house search in the DPRK [North Korea] as it pleases just as it did in Iraq," the statement said. This latest development is a blow to the Bush administration's hopes of claiming for the president's legacy the removal of the North Korean nuclear threat. But longtime North Korea watchers expressed no surprise by the suspension.

"Nobody thought this was going to be easy," said Daniel Pinkston, a North Korea analyst with the International Crisis Group in Seoul. "What is going on here is one of two possibilities: Either they have not been bargaining in good faith and have no intention of giving up their nuclear weapons, or they are just trying to negotiate the best bargain they can."

--more--"

Or maybe the U.S. is not bargaining in good faith, huh?

South Korea Welcomes Bush

You can KEEP HIM if you like him so much!!!


A woman displayed pictures of President Bush and his South Korean counterpart, Lee Myung-bak, yesterday in Seoul. (JEON HYEONG-JIN/AFP/Getty Images)

"In Seoul, mixed reactions to Bush; Leaders stress an important partnership" by Ben Feller, Associated Press | August 6, 2008

SEOUL - President Bush was greeted in Asia with dueling demonstrations by prayerful, flag- waving supporters as well as raucous protesters doused by police water cannons yesterday, reflecting sharp political divisions at the outset of his three-nation trip.

The mixed reactions reflected a US-South Korean relationship that has endured volatile moments this year, but is still considered reliable and vital for both sides.

Bush will meet today with President Lee Myung-bak, a conservative, pro-American leader who took office in February. Lee's approval ratings tumbled when he lifted a ban on US beef despite public fears about its safety. The public outcry prompted street protests that drew attention worldwide earlier this year; Bush held off visiting Seoul around that time because of the unrest.

Those protests drew LIMITED attention in my Zionist War Daily, let me assure you!!

As Bush arrived yesterday evening, 30,000 people held an outdoor Christian prayer service to support him. His motorcade sped by pockets of people smiling and waving US flags.

Later, an estimated 20,000 anti-Bush protesters gathered downtown. Riot police blasted them with water cannons as they tried to march onto the main boulevard. Police warned the crowd that the liquid contained markers to tag them so that they could be identified later.

About 70 demonstrators were arrested downtown and 12 more were arrested near the military airport where Bush landed, police said.

"I don't have anti-US sentiment. I'm just anti-Bush and anti-Lee Myung-bak," said Uhm Ki-woong, 36, a businessman who was wearing a mask and hat like other demonstrators in an apparent attempt to conceal his identity from authorities.

Despite the protests, the United States has a good standing with the Seoul government. The United States has maintained a long-term troop presence in South Korea, now numbered at almost 30,000, since the 1950-1953 Korean war.

"The United States made sacrifices for South Korea during the Korean war and helped us live well," said Kim Jung-kwang, a 67-year-old retired air force colonel who wore his military uniform to the prayer rally. "The United States is not our enemy. Without the US, we will die."

Oh, come on now!!! You will DIE?!!

Bush is on his ninth trip to Asia; this one is built around the Olympics in Beijing. Bush also will stop in Thailand.

The White House anticipated protests over the beef issue but sought to put them in perspective. US beef has begun appearing again on the South Korean market and is selling.

The US-South Korea bond has had other tests this year, too.

A trade deal Bush wants with South Korea has been buried by Congress. And a seemingly obscure change in how the US classifies a set of islands drew widespread anger in South Korea, prompting Bush officials to abruptly reverse course.

Whatever the flash points, Bush and Lee are likely to emphasize the bigger picture - an increasingly prominent partnership that both nations need.

The countries are at the heart of an international effort to rid North Korea of its nuclear weapons. Bush has indicated he will remove North Korea from the US terror blacklist, but not unless Pyongyang allows its dismantlement effort to be verified.

The White House is tamping down expectations about an Aug. 11 date by which North Korea is expected to agree to an inspection proposal.

Bush comes with thanks to South Korea for contributing help in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was expected to ask Lee for more troops in Afghanistan, where violence is on the rise."

Why save that for last, war-promoting press?

Come to think of it, how come there are no VIOLENCE REPORTS from the WAR FRONTS in my AMERIKAN WAR DAILY TODAY?

Sigh.

North Korea Asks World For Help

Kind of blasts apart the crazy, closed, he'll starve millions image we are given of the Korean (to use Bush's term) by the enemy-creating and demonizing AmeriKan MSM, doesn't it?

"the Pyongyang government... appealed for international aid."

"N. Korea faces serious food shortage, UN says" by Edward Cody, Washington Post | July 31, 2008

BEIJING - With shriveled harvests and a cutback in imports, North Korea has slipped back into a serious food shortage that is causing millions of people to go hungry, the United Nations announced yesterday.

The main UN aid agency in North Korea, the World Food Program, will resume emergency operations there in the next two weeks to help feed more than 5 million people.

A UN survey last month showed the most severe and widespread hunger among North Koreans in a decade. The survey was taken after the Pyongyang government, in an unusual gesture, officially acknowledged a growing hunger crisis and appealed for international aid."

The Smooth Suaveness of Condi Rice

What a disgusting, contemptible, objectionable person she is.

I give credit to foreign diplomats who meet with here and don't rip her head off.

"N. Korea pressured on weapons by Rice

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hopes to judge North Korea's seriousness about abandoning nuclear weapons when she holds the Bush administration's highest-level talks in four years with the Stalinist state this week. The North was given a four-page draft laying out what the United States wants from it to prove it has told the truth about past nuclear programs. Rice expects Pyongyang's foreign minister to provide at least an initial response to the proposal at today's meeting (AP July 23, 2008)."

Korean Killing Makes AmeriKa's War Daily

It's amazing what does and doesn't make the AmeriKan War Dailies, huh?

"Tourist fatally shot in N. Korea" by Blaine Harden, Washington Post | July 12, 2008

TOKYO - In his speech at the opening session of the newly elected National Assembly, President Lee Myung-bak went further than he had before in suggesting that his get-tough policy toward the North may have been mistaken and that South Korean humanitarian aid should not be interrupted by a change of leadership in Seoul.

He got tough because of U.S. pressure no doubt.

North Korea has come to depend on South Korean aid to prop up a centralized farming system that almost always fails to produce enough food to feed the country's 23 million people.

Lee's presidency has been hurt by street demonstrations against the purported mad cow disease dangers of imported US beef.

Yeah, those were sure kept quiet by the AmeriKan MSM, huh?

And tell those British parents who have lost their children how "purported" is the disease.

And his tough line toward North Korea - making aid conditional on denuclearization and improved human rights - has chilled ties with his heavily armed northern neighbor and angered its Stalinist leader, Kim Jong Il.

The killing of a 53-year-old tourist, who reportedly was shot twice from behind, seems certain to complicate, at least in the short term, what Lee said yesterday would be a new effort on his part to consult with the North, help relieve food shortages there and "alleviate the pain of the North Korean people."

--MORE--"

The Protests the Boston Globe Did Not Cover

I'm not surprised anymore.

Every day they prove they are nothing but agenda-promoting war whores.

A left over from my Sunday local:

"Thousands in S Korea beef protest

At least 35,000 people have taken part in the latest mass protest in South Korea against the government's decision to allow US beef imports to resume.

Waving banners, flags and candles, the crowd gathered in front of City Hall in the capital, Seoul. The decision to lift the ban has led to weeks of protests based on health fears and discontent with the government.

Among those taking part in Saturday's protest were Catholic priests, Buddhist monks and labour groups. Some 20,000 riot police were deployed but there were no immediate reports of clashes.

Protesters chanted slogans urging the resignation of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who took office in February and has seen his popularity plummet amid widespread protests.

Public anger in South Korea remains high at what is perceived by many as the government's readiness to cave into Washington and ignore health concerns."

Meanwhile, Americans suck on shit tomatoes (or whatever)!

I firmly believe you could put a plate of shit in front of Amurkns and tell them it is filet mignon and they would eat it up.

Here's ANOTHER ONE:

"Dick Cheney Met By Protesters on 4th of July"

Gee, how could you miss that, Globe?

Case closed on the agenda-pushing, obfuscating MSM, folks!

A Protest That Succeeded

I'd like to think I had a little bit to do with it.

"Plymouth veterans win fight over studio sign" by Christine Legere, Globe Correspondent | July 3, 2008

PLYMOUTH - Plymouth Rock Studios, the group of California film executives responsible for the 50-foot "Hollywood East" sign on the front lawn of the 1820 Plymouth County Courthouse, couldn't take the heat.

The company notified the Plymouth County Commissioners office yesterday that the sign would be dismantled and carted away before throngs of tourists arrive in America's Hometown for tomorrow's July Fourth parade.

Veterans, enraged because the oversized letters blocked two 20-year-old memorials to veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars, had been planning a protest on the courthouse lawn during tomorrow's celebration.

--MORE--"

Hollywood (East) Disses Veterans

The arrogance is UNBELIEVABLE!

"the studio had planned to have the veterans' monument moved down the street"

You know there are some WARS ON, don't you?

"Sign of conflict; California film moguls' addition to Plymouth has town's war memorial advocates up in arms" by Christine Legere, Globe Correspondent | July 1, 2008

PLYMOUTH - This town's historic district, home to Plymouth Rock, some of the oldest houses in the country, and the Mayflower II, sprouted a flashy new feature last week: a 50-foot-long "Hollywood East" sign spanning the lawn of the Plymouth County Courthouse.

Erected by a group of California film moguls who have proposed building a studio in Plymouth, the large block letters also block public view of a 20-year-old monument honoring Korean and Vietnam War veterans. To make room for the sign, Plymouth Rock Studios moved the two benches that had been set up for people to view the memorial.

Isn't it bad enough the Hollywood types are looting our state coffers?!

The sign's unveiling last Friday sparked immediate outrage among local veterans and family members of those whose names appear on the memorial.

And AMONG ME OUT HERE -- an antiwar blogger!!!!

In light of the intense opposition, the studio made a hasty decision yesterday to have the sign dismantled and carted off the courthouse lawn next Monday, three days after the annual Fourth of July parade makes its way past the courthouse and the looming letters.

"For that to be placed in front of the two war memorials is a serious affront to veterans," said Alba Thompson, vice-commander of the Plymouth Veterans Council. "This is just one more encroachment on veterans' rights and privileges."

According to Plymouth Rock Studios executive Thom Black, whose enthusiasm appeared not to have been dampened by criticism, the sign will be reconstructed on the location targeted for the film studio.

Veterans had hoped that the letters would be gone by Friday's July Fourth celebration, but it appears they will remain when thousands of spectators come to Plymouth.

Oh, so the sign is going to STILL BE THERE for the Fourth of July events, huh?

Sounds like a P.R. PLAN to me!!

Why not TAKE IT DOWN TODAY?

Talk about DISRESPECTING OUR VETERANS!!!!

Plymouth Rock Studios cofounder David Kirkpatrick said the studio had planned to have the veterans' monument moved down the street to Veterans' Memorial Hall, where two other veterans memorials stand.

--MORE--"

(Blog author shaking his head in astonishment)

Excuse me, WHOSE TOWN is THIS?

WHO LIVES HERE?

Frikkin' HOLLYWOOD SCUM!!!!

Take you movie crew and GO SOMEWHERE ELSE, will ya?

Bush Activates Dictatorship in Korean Finding

And the MSM is acting like nothing is wrong, every thing is just a-okay.

Have you ever heard of NSPD-51, readers?

"Translated into layman's terms, when the President determines a national emergency has occurred, the President can declare to the office of the presidency powers usually assumed by dictators to direct any and all government and business activities until the emergency is declared over."

"Executive Order: Continuing Certain Restrictions with Respect to North Korea and North Korean Nationals

White House News

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) (NEA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,

I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, find that the current existence and risk of the proliferation of weapons-usable fissile material on the Korean Peninsula constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, and I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat. I further find that, as we deal with that threat through multilateral diplomacy, it is necessary to continue certain restrictions with respect to North Korea that would otherwise be lifted pursuant to a forthcoming proclamation that will terminate the exercise of authorities under the Trading With the Enemy Act (50 U.S.C. App. 1 et seq.) (TWEA) with respect to North Korea.

Accordingly, I hereby order:

--MORE--"

WTF?

They are DENUCLEARIZING, no?

Bad Beef and Rice

And I was just getting ready to sit down to dinner!

"Dispute over US beef roils visit; South Koreans question Rice on safety of imports" by Matthew Lee, Associated Press | June 29, 2008

SEOUL - America's chief diplomat found herself vouching for the purity of US cattle yesterday during a visit to South Korea.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice waded into a bitter trade dispute that for South Koreans has eclipsed the long-running drama over North Korea's nuclear activity and threatened the government of President Lee Myung-bak.

Rice faced a barrage of questions about the safety of American steaks, chops, and burgers. She had told reporters that she hoped the issue would not distract from other matters.

"I want to assure everyone that American beef is safe," she said at a briefing with South Korea's foreign minister, Yu Myung-hwan. "We will continue to work with you to have consumer confidence in that matter. We want there to be consumer confidence in American beef."

For many South Koreans, who have lived with threats from their neighbor for five decades, the nuclear issue is of less concern than is Seoul's agreement to lift a ban on American beef imports in April.

Activists have staged daily rallies on the streets of the capital to voice fears about possible health risks such as mad cow disease. As officials began inspecting US beef on Friday before it can reach markets, hundreds of labor activists blocked customs storage facilities.

Amazing how the AmeriKan MSM keeps those protest quiet, hmmm?

And what do they mean "possible" health risks?

Tell that to the PEOPLE in BRITAIN that DIED!!!!

A small but loud and angry group of about 15 sign-carrying demonstrators gathered outside the South Korean Foreign Ministry, where Rice met with Yu.

Yup, if you can't make the protesters disappear and are forced to cover them, then MINIMIZE and DISPARAGE them!!!

Unless, of course, they are SERVING the AGENDAS of the MSM, then, well...

"Rice go home," they chanted. Placards read, "Stop Rice and Mad Cow," and "We Don't Need US Troops. We Don't Need Mad Cows."

Police estimated that 13,000 people joined the latest candlelight rally over the issue. Demonstrators occupied a thoroughfare near city hall, and a barricade of police buses blocked them from marching toward the presidential office.

Earlier rallies drew 80,000 people at their peak, but have since dwindled.

There they go again!

Still, 13,000 people is a lot more than some of the shit protests they focus on, so pffffftttt, MSM!

US beef was banned in South Korea for most of the past 4 1/2 years, since the first case of mad cow disease in the United States was discovered in late 2003.

Rice was scheduled to travel next to China, where negotiators will resume six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear disarmament this week. Rice also planned to visit the earthquake-devastated region in China today.

There to see the HAARP HANDIWORK first-hand, 'eh?

--MORE--"

Spoiled Rice

Guaranteed to make your gut hurt!

"Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday from Kyoto, where she is attending a meeting of the Group of Eight consortium of major industrialized nations, said, however, that North Korea and the international community have much more work to do.

"We also must deal with proliferation, we must deal with highly enriched uranium, we must verify to the end all of North Korea's weapons," she said. "And even that is not the end of the story. Because in order for North Korea to enter in some way the international community of states, it will have to deal with many issues, including human rights issues."

--MORE--"

Human rights, huh?

That from the lady who SAT IN and DEVISED the TORTURE TECHNIQUES that the U.S. is using, is that right?

"In addition to Bush, suspects in the alleged conspiracy include a who’s who of top officials in Bush’s first term, principally Dick Cheney, Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell, John Ashcroft, Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenet and their aides, says ABC News."

So, WHEN are the WAR CRIMES TRIALS?

Also see: PROOF of Bush Administration War Crimes!

South Korea's Beef

And they sure do have a lot of them:

"Fear of US beef stirs backlash against South Korean president; Thousands stage protests, call for leader's ouster" by Stella Kim and Blaine Harden, Washington Post | June 11, 2008

SEOUL - It's not just about beef anymore.

As tens of thousands of people waved candles in central Seoul and other South Korean cities, a month of street demonstrations against the purported danger of US beef broadened yesterday into a populist backlash against the country's fledging president, Lee Myung-bak.

Hey, America! Get your head out of that bowl of shit and LOOK!!!!

Maybe you could LEARN SOMETHING!!!

Lee's entire Cabinet offered to resign early yesterday to take responsibility for the beef dispute and to take heat off the president, who has been in office less than four months.... the biggest night of demonstrations against his government.

Makes you wonder how he got elected (rig?), no?

Chanting "Out with President Lee" and wearing stickers that made Lee look like a rat, the crowd included office workers, mothers and fathers with children, college students, and members of labor groups.

Translation: EVERYONE!

"It is too late to soothe the public with lip service, and even fixing the beef issue is too late," said Lee Hong-taek, 33, a game software specialist, who protested after leaving work. "The real question is his leadership style."

Police said 70,000 people protested in Seoul; organizers put the number at 700,000. Local media estimates ranged from 400,000 to 600,000.

HOLY SHIT!!!!!!

Yeah, even the shit MSM can't ignore that protest!!!

How could the police get the count SO WRONG, readers?

:-)

Despite repeated assurances from Lee's government and the United States, many South Koreans continue to fear that US beef would infect them with mad cow disease.

Now why should they fear that?

I man, it's not like the U.S can't keep its own supply safe from contamina... awwwww, never mind!!!

But people in the streets here are also angry about what they call Lee's arbitrary way of making major decisions, his tone-deaf response to public opinion and his choices of rich and, in some cases, unsavory business leaders for senior positions in his government.

Gee, he and his government sound JUST LIKE BUSH'S!!!!

"The president must realize that this is a very serious situation," said Kim Hyung-suk, 60, the owner of an after-school institute. "If he does not listen even now, then the next step is to demand that he steps down."

I'm ALL for THAT here in AmeriKa!!!! I say DON'T LET BUSH BACK IN!!!

Arrest him when he returns to the White House!!!!

Soaring oil prices have also soured the public mood, and truckers voted Monday to strike for cheaper fuel, even after Lee's government offered a $10.2 billion package of aid that would provide some subsidies for gasoline and diesel fuel.

SEE THAT, Amurkn shit-eaters?!

The 66-year-old former construction company executive has stumbled badly in his first 107 days in office. After winning election last fall by the largest margin in the country's history, his approval ratings have fallen to less than 20 percent.

Just like Bush's!!!!

In the streets of Seoul yesterday, many protesters complained that Lee's top-down style of decision-making reminded them of the bad old days of military rule.

That's what we have in AmeriKa now!!!

"Koreans no long will tolerate that," said Hyun Deok-soo, who said he was the chairman of a worker's union."

Yeah, too bad Americans will!

Hell, Americans eat Zionist shit everyday through their "newspapers," and they don't seem to mind at all.

The Boston Sunday Globe's Asian Obsession: Korea

It is a protest they cover, but not too much.

Don't want Americans to know they are eating bad beef (that would explain the recent green apple splatters).

"38,000 protest US beef imports

SEOUL-- About 38,000 South Koreans rallied last night against a government decision to import US beef again after the market was shut in the largest demonstration in a month of protests (AP)."

A month of protests? How come I haven't heard about them, MSM?

The Boston Sunday Globe's Asian Obsession: Burma

"Gates slams Myanmar over response to aid offers" by Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press Writer | May 31, 2008

SINGAPORE --Myanmar's rulers "have kept their hands in their pockets" while other countries sought to help cyclone victims, the Pentagon chief said Saturday, branding the military government as "deaf and dumb" for obstructing aid efforts.

Despite the dire situation, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said at an international security conference that the U.S. will not force assistance on the country.

Ha-ha! Yeah, we won't FORCE aid on you!!!!

Yup, we won't make you let us "help" you!!!

If it's anything like the "help" given to Iraq, forget it!!!

No wonder Burma doesn't want us in!!

And is it just me, or was Gates laying the groundwork for a U.S. INVASION, readers?

He also said the next U.S. administration would maintain a strong commitment to Asia and the rest of the world, no matter what political party won the fall election.

Translation: The "elections" DON'T MATTER!!!!

The speech focused heavily on Asia, with subtle calls for China to work more amiably and fairly with other Pacific nations. It was when Gates discussed Myanmar that he was the most emotional.

Awwww, Gates was touched by the tragedy. WHAT SHIT!!!

Is he crying for the MILLIONS of Iraqis and Afghanis we've murdered?

Is he threatening to inva..., never mind!!!

"We have reached out, frankly, to Myanmar multiple times during this crisis in very direct ways," the Pentagon chief said. "It's not been us that have been deaf and dumb in response to the pleas of the international community, but the government of Myanmar. We have reached out, they have kept their hands in their pockets."

That's where Gates and his war-profiteering contractors has their hands... in MY pocket!!!!!

As for deaf and dumb, there has never been a finer example than your boss and Iraq, Bobby-boy!!!!

He said the government's obstruction of international efforts has cost "tens of thousands of lives."

And WE HAVE KILLED MILLIONS!!!!!

U.S., British and French Navy ships off the coast of Myanmar are poised to leave because the government has blocked them from delivering assistance.

NAVY ships, huh? Couldn't have used cargo ships, huh?

Gates said the U.S. will not bring in supplies by force without permission of the government and will continue to "respect the sovereignty" of Myanmar.

What ARROGANCE!! What HYPOCRISY!!

What GALL!! What CHUTZPAH!!!!!

Yeah, he'll respect the sovereignty of the brutal Burmese generals, but not that of Iraq, Afghanisrtan, Iran and who knows how many other places Gates' CIA is fucking around!!

What an ASSHOLE!!!!

And DemocraPs thought this guy was better than Rumsfeld?

They are the SAME GUY!!!!!

The growing displeasure with the Myanmar government was clear at the conference, coming up in nearly all conversations among leaders. Gates met with his top Pacific commander Saturday to discuss the possible U.S. Navy pullout; a final decision has not been made.

Once again, a completely different article appears on the web.

I'll leave some of this up, but I'm getting sick of the MSM censorship, readers.

In the speech, Gates said the next U.S. president will inherit the worrisome issue of North Korea's nuclear ambitions but will continue America's commitment to Asia.

While he said he could not make specific policy predictions for the next administration, Gates said there will be "no change in our drive to temper North Korea's ambitions, a policy not possible without China's valued cooperation."

Then why did you bust their ass then?

Despite the often divergent views of the Republican and Democratic candidates, Gates said he is confident that the strong U.S. ties to Asia will continue regardless of who wins in November.

Even though McCain hates them?

When a questioner suggested that the U.S. may not have the time, money or energy to maintain interest in Asia, he quoted former President Ford, saying, "We ought to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time."

And OCCUPY the WORLD, too, right, Gates?

Why did I just get a wafting shit stink of a DRAFT, readers?

On China, Gates extended a hand while also offering a subtle but somber warning. Gates noted improved relations with the communist power. He said leaders have begun discussions on issues to "help us understand one another better and to avoid possible misunderstanding."

A long-sought direct telephone link between the U.S. and China has been established, and Gates said he used it recently to speak with the defense minister. Yet Gates took unmistakable jabs without mentioning China by name. For example, he urged greater openness about military modernization in Asia.

But he was diplomatic about it!

How can you "diplomatically" slap someone in the face, readers?

In recent annual reports, the Pentagon has criticized China for its massive military buildup, saying its motives and spending are unclear.

"We desire to work with every country in Asia to deepen our understanding of their military and defense finances, and to do so on a reciprocal basis," Gates said.

Lack of such clarity, Gates said, can lead to outright suspicion.

In response, the top ranking Chinese official at the forum took aim at U.S. missile defense policies -- which include plans for anti-missile defenses with Japan, as well as the deployment of missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Lt. Gen. Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of the General Staff for the People's Liberation Army, said developing such an offensive -- rather than purely defensive -- system could tip the balance of power and threaten peace.

"We do not support either side to take the initiative to break the balance," he said. He also dismissed claims that China's military is dramatically expanding.

Gates' next stops were in Thailand and South Korea.

The Korean Killing Spree

This is a patch and paste (all blogger):

"Revealed: Execution of tens of thousands kept secret by US Army"

Related
PHOTOS: 1950 Korea Mass Killings(Warning: Graphic)
Photography by the US Army kept secret!!!

Sun May 18, 12:59 PM ET

This photograph by the U.S. Army, provided by the U.S. National Archives in College Park, Md., on Monday, May 5, 2008, is one of a series of declassified images depicting the summary execution of South Korean political prisoners by the South Korean military and police at Daejeon, South Korea, over several days in July 1950. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea is investigating this and similar mass killings in South Korea in 1950-51. A chief investigator estimates up to 7,000 were killed at Daejeon, and tens of thousands elsewhere.

(AP Photo/National Archives, U.S. Army)

Fear, secrecy kept 1950 Korea mass killings hidden

By CHARLES J. HANLEY, AP Special Correspondent Sun May 18, 1:26 PM ET

One journalist's bid to report mass murder in South Korea in 1950 was blocked by his British publisher. Another correspondent was denounced as a possibly treasonous fabricator when he did report it. In South Korea, down the generations, fear silenced those who knew.

Fifty-eight years ago, at the outbreak of the Korean War, South Korean authorities secretively executed, usually without legal process, tens of thousands of southern leftists and others rightly or wrongly identified as sympathizers. Today a government Truth and Reconciliation Commission is working to dig up the facts, and the remains of victims.

How could such a bloodbath have been hidden from history?

--MORE--"

Media?

How come my shame as an American grows by the day?