On Nuclear Seesaw, the Balance Seems to Shift to Iran
And just for good measure, they put this story underneath it:
In Slovakia, Three Are Held in a Uranium Smuggling Case
Making the link, readers?!
Just like Iraq and their alleged "yellowcake," right?
What a transparent piece of horseshit propaganda the Times is!
Friday, November 30, 2007
Fanfare Accusations, Bullshit Trials
All part of the SELF-INFLICTED "TERROR" SCAM!
Umm, about that FBI and their informants: First WTC attack
"Closing Arguments Begin in Trial of Men Charged in Plot to Destroy the Sears Tower" by KIRK SEMPLE
Trial over already? Where was it in the MSM?!
Gee, the "bust" was ALL OVER THE PAGES of AmeriKa's SHIT MSM!
That's because these become shit cases in court rooms!
MIAMI, Nov. 29 — A group of Miami men led by an impoverished construction worker tried to form an alliance with Al Qaeda and start a homegrown religious insurrection against the American government that would include spectacular attacks “just as good or greater than 9/11,” a federal prosecutor said Thursday in closing arguments in the trial of the group.
Yeah, about 9/11!
Jacqueline Arango, an assistant United States attorney, said that the seven men took oaths to Al Qaeda in a ceremony caught on a hidden camera, and that they sought $50,000, weapons and other equipment from the terrorist organization to conduct their jihad, which included a plan to level the Sears Tower in Chicago and to blow up federal office buildings.
But lawyers for the seven defendants said the men were not terrorists but rather hapless indigents who, in an effort to raise money, were merely going along with the supposed Qaeda intermediaries. The intermediaries turned out to be undercover informants for the F.B.I.
Ana M. Jhones, the lawyer for Narseal Batiste, who is accused of being the ringleader, said her client was entrapped by the informants. She suggested that in one meeting, her client was nearly driven to tears as one of the informants persuaded him to take surveillance photographs of federal buildings around Miami.
“Manipulation” by the government “cannot be tolerated because of the war on terror,” Ms. Jhones said. “There are not enough people who want to do harm to the United States that we have to fabricate a crime?”
When the men were arrested in June 2006, American officials trumpeted the case as a demonstration of a need for pre-emptive prosecutions in the era after 9/11 and as an illustration of the urgency for greater vigilance against domestic insurgents.
While American officials at the time acknowledged that the men never acquired weapons or equipment and posed “no immediate threat,” Alberto R. Gonzales, then the attorney general, argued that homegrown terrorists “may prove to be as dangerous as groups like Al Qaeda.”
The men each face up to 70 years in prison if convicted of the four charges against them. They include conspiracy to provide material support to Al Qaeda, conspiracy to destroy federal buildings and conspiracy to wage war against the United States.
Central to the government’s evidence is a secretly recorded video that shows the men taking the oath under the guidance of one of the F.B.I. informants.
Can you say SETTING UP PATSIES, readers?!
Ms. Arango left no doubt about the video’s importance to the government’s case; she began her statement by playing the clip without introduction.
At the tape’s conclusion, she said, “Ladies and gentlemen, that is material support.”
Ms. Arango also said that evidence included the surveillance photos, lists of weapons and gear they requested from the informants, and conversations caught on wiretaps and concealed video cameras in which Mr. Batiste declares his intent to wage “a ground war” and to “make the people go crazy, cause chaos.”
“They weren’t going to be able to accomplish these grandiose plans alone,” she said, so they sought Al Qaeda’s help.
No, they would have had YOUR HELP!
You mean, THIS "Al-CIA-Duh," right?
But Ms. Jhones countered that while Mr. Batiste showed “extremely poor judgment,” he was a victim of the government’s desperation to reap a victory in its war on terrorism.
She referred to Mr. Batiste’s own testimony, in which he claimed he was simply playing along with one of the supposed Qaeda emissaries in order to get $50,000 to help support a religious organization he was building in Liberty City, a Miami neighborhood.
Waving stacks of money in her fist, Ms. Jhones said: “This is the motivating factor. I’m not saying it’s proper, but it’s not terrorism.”
But Ms. Arango scoffed at Mr. Batiste’s claim. “It doesn’t matter whether they did it for philosophical reasons or for money,” Ms. Arango said. “It all adds up to the same thing.”
Yeah, in a FASCIST GOVERNMENTS EYES!
The other defendants are Patrick Abraham, Burson Augustin, Rotschild Augustine, Naudimar Herrera, Lyglenson Lemorin and Stanley G. Phanor.
The men belonged to the Moorish Science Temple, which blends Islam, Christianity and Judaism and does not recognize the authority of the United States government. Their lawyers have argued that their mission is philanthropy, to minister to their community by helping the poor and teaching religion."
WTF kind of "terrorist" group is that?
I am TIRED of BEING LIED TO!
Umm, about that FBI and their informants: First WTC attack
"Closing Arguments Begin in Trial of Men Charged in Plot to Destroy the Sears Tower" by KIRK SEMPLE
Trial over already? Where was it in the MSM?!
Gee, the "bust" was ALL OVER THE PAGES of AmeriKa's SHIT MSM!
That's because these become shit cases in court rooms!
MIAMI, Nov. 29 — A group of Miami men led by an impoverished construction worker tried to form an alliance with Al Qaeda and start a homegrown religious insurrection against the American government that would include spectacular attacks “just as good or greater than 9/11,” a federal prosecutor said Thursday in closing arguments in the trial of the group.
Yeah, about 9/11!
Jacqueline Arango, an assistant United States attorney, said that the seven men took oaths to Al Qaeda in a ceremony caught on a hidden camera, and that they sought $50,000, weapons and other equipment from the terrorist organization to conduct their jihad, which included a plan to level the Sears Tower in Chicago and to blow up federal office buildings.
But lawyers for the seven defendants said the men were not terrorists but rather hapless indigents who, in an effort to raise money, were merely going along with the supposed Qaeda intermediaries. The intermediaries turned out to be undercover informants for the F.B.I.
Ana M. Jhones, the lawyer for Narseal Batiste, who is accused of being the ringleader, said her client was entrapped by the informants. She suggested that in one meeting, her client was nearly driven to tears as one of the informants persuaded him to take surveillance photographs of federal buildings around Miami.
“Manipulation” by the government “cannot be tolerated because of the war on terror,” Ms. Jhones said. “There are not enough people who want to do harm to the United States that we have to fabricate a crime?”
When the men were arrested in June 2006, American officials trumpeted the case as a demonstration of a need for pre-emptive prosecutions in the era after 9/11 and as an illustration of the urgency for greater vigilance against domestic insurgents.
While American officials at the time acknowledged that the men never acquired weapons or equipment and posed “no immediate threat,” Alberto R. Gonzales, then the attorney general, argued that homegrown terrorists “may prove to be as dangerous as groups like Al Qaeda.”
The men each face up to 70 years in prison if convicted of the four charges against them. They include conspiracy to provide material support to Al Qaeda, conspiracy to destroy federal buildings and conspiracy to wage war against the United States.
Central to the government’s evidence is a secretly recorded video that shows the men taking the oath under the guidance of one of the F.B.I. informants.
Can you say SETTING UP PATSIES, readers?!
Ms. Arango left no doubt about the video’s importance to the government’s case; she began her statement by playing the clip without introduction.
At the tape’s conclusion, she said, “Ladies and gentlemen, that is material support.”
Ms. Arango also said that evidence included the surveillance photos, lists of weapons and gear they requested from the informants, and conversations caught on wiretaps and concealed video cameras in which Mr. Batiste declares his intent to wage “a ground war” and to “make the people go crazy, cause chaos.”
“They weren’t going to be able to accomplish these grandiose plans alone,” she said, so they sought Al Qaeda’s help.
No, they would have had YOUR HELP!
You mean, THIS "Al-CIA-Duh," right?
But Ms. Jhones countered that while Mr. Batiste showed “extremely poor judgment,” he was a victim of the government’s desperation to reap a victory in its war on terrorism.
She referred to Mr. Batiste’s own testimony, in which he claimed he was simply playing along with one of the supposed Qaeda emissaries in order to get $50,000 to help support a religious organization he was building in Liberty City, a Miami neighborhood.
Waving stacks of money in her fist, Ms. Jhones said: “This is the motivating factor. I’m not saying it’s proper, but it’s not terrorism.”
But Ms. Arango scoffed at Mr. Batiste’s claim. “It doesn’t matter whether they did it for philosophical reasons or for money,” Ms. Arango said. “It all adds up to the same thing.”
Yeah, in a FASCIST GOVERNMENTS EYES!
The other defendants are Patrick Abraham, Burson Augustin, Rotschild Augustine, Naudimar Herrera, Lyglenson Lemorin and Stanley G. Phanor.
The men belonged to the Moorish Science Temple, which blends Islam, Christianity and Judaism and does not recognize the authority of the United States government. Their lawyers have argued that their mission is philanthropy, to minister to their community by helping the poor and teaching religion."
WTF kind of "terrorist" group is that?
I am TIRED of BEING LIED TO!
Is it Murder or Isn't It?
When it is a doctor, no. When it is a regular person, yes!
Also see: To Murder, or Not to Murder
"Wisconsin: Man Charged in Miscarriages"
The authorities charged a married man with slipping his girlfriend an abortion drug that caused her to miscarry twice. The man, Manishkumar M. Patel, 34, of Appleton, was charged with seven felonies and two misdemeanors, including attempted first-degree murder of an unborn child, stalking, burglary and two counts of violating a restraining order. Mr. Patel and his girlfriend, Darshana Patel, a 39-year-old family physician, have a 3-year-old child together, the authorities said. They are not related, and he is married to someone else (AP)."
Now look!
Either the fetus is a protected life worthy of a murder charge, or it isn't!
Now I know there are extenuating circumstances in these cases, but the ground-level assumption must be the same!
Either the baby inside the woman is a life-form or it isn't!
If it is, then abortion is murder!
If not, then drop the murder charges here!
Just quit apply double-standards!
For the record, I'm pro-life, whatever that means!
I'm also anti-death penalty!
To me, it means valuing every single scrap of life on this planet, since there is already TOO MUCH KILLING and DESTRUCTION!
Also see: To Murder, or Not to Murder
"Wisconsin: Man Charged in Miscarriages"
The authorities charged a married man with slipping his girlfriend an abortion drug that caused her to miscarry twice. The man, Manishkumar M. Patel, 34, of Appleton, was charged with seven felonies and two misdemeanors, including attempted first-degree murder of an unborn child, stalking, burglary and two counts of violating a restraining order. Mr. Patel and his girlfriend, Darshana Patel, a 39-year-old family physician, have a 3-year-old child together, the authorities said. They are not related, and he is married to someone else (AP)."
Now look!
Either the fetus is a protected life worthy of a murder charge, or it isn't!
Now I know there are extenuating circumstances in these cases, but the ground-level assumption must be the same!
Either the baby inside the woman is a life-form or it isn't!
If it is, then abortion is murder!
If not, then drop the murder charges here!
Just quit apply double-standards!
For the record, I'm pro-life, whatever that means!
I'm also anti-death penalty!
To me, it means valuing every single scrap of life on this planet, since there is already TOO MUCH KILLING and DESTRUCTION!
Perverted Police
Yup, it's not you and me out here that are the sickos, like the MSM tries to portray, but the real perverts are on the inside!
Did you know that the government runs the porn sites, readers?
"One agent said in a sworn affidavit yesterday that Mr. Rust-Tierney has subscribed to various child-pornography Web sites over the past several years."
"Hold on a second.. The government is able to find out who subscribed to these child-porn sites? That has to mean that the government knows where these child porn-sites are located and DID NOT SHUT THEM DOWN!
I think so!
"Atlanta Police Tied to Child Pornography Case" by BRENDA GOODMAN
ATLANTA, Nov. 29 — The husband of a city police sergeant was arrested on a child pornography charge on Thursday, and federal investigators said police officers had apparently withheld and destroyed evidence in the case.
Noooooooo! Our good little fascistas never do that! Not in AmeriKa!
“These allegations are disturbing,” Chief Richard Pennington said in a written statement, “and the Atlanta Police Department is very concerned about this incident. The alleged actions and any purported failure to take action will not be tolerated.”
“When the incident came to my attention in October,” Chief Pennington added, “I immediately ordered a full inquiry and invited the F.B.I. to assist with the investigation.”
According to federal prosecutors, the sergeant’s husband, Terrill M. Crane, 47, was arrested on a federal charge of producing child pornography after the Federal Bureau of Investigation received photographs that had been held by the Atlanta Police Department since 2000 of Mr. Crane engaging in sexually explicit activity with 11 girls.
Mr. Crane’s wife, Sgt. Tanya C. Crane, 37, who has been with the Police Department since 1993, was placed on administrative leave on Nov. 20 after she told federal agents that she was tipped off in 2003 about her husband’s activity and that she later found and burned photographs of him engaged in sexually explicit conduct with young girls. Investigators said Sergeant Crane had found the photographs in her home.
Sergeant Crane was told by “an unidentified person at A.P.D. headquarters” that officers had photographs of her husband engaged in sexually explicit conduct with the 11 girls, who appeared to be 12 to 15 years old, federal prosecutors said.
Sick! Sick, sick, sick!!!!!!!!
A local photo-processing company had turned the pictures over to the department over a period of time from 2000 to 2002, according to the prosecutors’ statement. The department apparently took no action, and Mr. Crane continued to pay girls an undisclosed amount of money for sex, and offered $50 to each girl for referring him to new victims, it said.
TOOK NO ACTION, huh?
One of the girls said Mr. Crane had asked to meet more girls as recently as June or July of this year, investigators said.
Federal investigators said they received the photographs on Oct. 16 from an unidentified person in the Atlanta Police Department.
Sergeant Crane remains on the payroll, said Judy Pal, a department spokeswoman.
It is the second time in a year that the police chief has asked federal authorities to investigate police activity in Atlanta.
Last November, Chief Pennington called for a review of the department after narcotics officers lied and planted evidence in the wake of a botched drug raid in which Kathryn Johnson, 92, was shot to death.
The investigation into that shooting continues, federal prosecutors said.
Ms. Johnston’s family filed suit against the City of Atlanta and the Atlanta Police Department last week."
Did you know that the government runs the porn sites, readers?
"One agent said in a sworn affidavit yesterday that Mr. Rust-Tierney has subscribed to various child-pornography Web sites over the past several years."
"Hold on a second.. The government is able to find out who subscribed to these child-porn sites? That has to mean that the government knows where these child porn-sites are located and DID NOT SHUT THEM DOWN!
Are these child porn sites being RUN BY THE GOVERNMENT? - Mike Rivero, What Really Happened
I think so!
"Atlanta Police Tied to Child Pornography Case" by BRENDA GOODMAN
ATLANTA, Nov. 29 — The husband of a city police sergeant was arrested on a child pornography charge on Thursday, and federal investigators said police officers had apparently withheld and destroyed evidence in the case.
Noooooooo! Our good little fascistas never do that! Not in AmeriKa!
“These allegations are disturbing,” Chief Richard Pennington said in a written statement, “and the Atlanta Police Department is very concerned about this incident. The alleged actions and any purported failure to take action will not be tolerated.”
“When the incident came to my attention in October,” Chief Pennington added, “I immediately ordered a full inquiry and invited the F.B.I. to assist with the investigation.”
According to federal prosecutors, the sergeant’s husband, Terrill M. Crane, 47, was arrested on a federal charge of producing child pornography after the Federal Bureau of Investigation received photographs that had been held by the Atlanta Police Department since 2000 of Mr. Crane engaging in sexually explicit activity with 11 girls.
Mr. Crane’s wife, Sgt. Tanya C. Crane, 37, who has been with the Police Department since 1993, was placed on administrative leave on Nov. 20 after she told federal agents that she was tipped off in 2003 about her husband’s activity and that she later found and burned photographs of him engaged in sexually explicit conduct with young girls. Investigators said Sergeant Crane had found the photographs in her home.
Sergeant Crane was told by “an unidentified person at A.P.D. headquarters” that officers had photographs of her husband engaged in sexually explicit conduct with the 11 girls, who appeared to be 12 to 15 years old, federal prosecutors said.
Sick! Sick, sick, sick!!!!!!!!
A local photo-processing company had turned the pictures over to the department over a period of time from 2000 to 2002, according to the prosecutors’ statement. The department apparently took no action, and Mr. Crane continued to pay girls an undisclosed amount of money for sex, and offered $50 to each girl for referring him to new victims, it said.
TOOK NO ACTION, huh?
One of the girls said Mr. Crane had asked to meet more girls as recently as June or July of this year, investigators said.
Federal investigators said they received the photographs on Oct. 16 from an unidentified person in the Atlanta Police Department.
Sergeant Crane remains on the payroll, said Judy Pal, a department spokeswoman.
It is the second time in a year that the police chief has asked federal authorities to investigate police activity in Atlanta.
Last November, Chief Pennington called for a review of the department after narcotics officers lied and planted evidence in the wake of a botched drug raid in which Kathryn Johnson, 92, was shot to death.
The investigation into that shooting continues, federal prosecutors said.
Ms. Johnston’s family filed suit against the City of Atlanta and the Atlanta Police Department last week."
Giuliani's Ghosts
The biggest one doesn't make the news pages:
Rudy's Ties to a Terror Sheikh
Instead they give you this:
Giuliani Defends Spending on His Mayoral Security
And this:
Citing Statistics, Giuliani Misses Time and Again
A BELOW-the-FOLD, IN-the-CORNER front-page piece!
And you would never find this in the pages of the NYT, either:
Is Rudy Giuliani Homosexual?
Rudy's Ties to a Terror Sheikh
Instead they give you this:
Giuliani Defends Spending on His Mayoral Security
And this:
Citing Statistics, Giuliani Misses Time and Again
A BELOW-the-FOLD, IN-the-CORNER front-page piece!
And you would never find this in the pages of the NYT, either:
Is Rudy Giuliani Homosexual?
The N.Y. Times Editorial Fooley
After they promoted his lies, and continue to do so, they run this offensive shit!
When you start respect the bloggers and the American people, then maybe I will begin to respect them.
Otherwise...
And this is after there news pages were full of "surge success!"
"Still No Way Out
There has been so much horrible news out of Iraq for so long that it is natural to want to celebrate better news. Sending another 30,000 American troops into Iraq has made life better: attacks are down, as are the number of American and Iraqi casualties. Some refugees are even venturing home. The news has cheered Americans and dampened Democrats’ enthusiasm for keeping up the pressure on Iraq policy. Unfortunately, it is just as important to look at what has not happened since President Bush announced his surge: Iraq’s leaders are no closer to making the political deals that are the only hope for building a self-sustaining peace.
Without a serious effort at national conciliation, American troops are just holding down the lid on a pressure cooker. Iraq’s rival militias, the insurgents, the bitter sectarian resentments and the meddling neighbors haven’t gone anywhere. Consider this all too familiar horror: yesterday, police said they pulled six bodies from the Tigris River about 25 miles south of Baghdad. They were handcuffed and showed signs of having been tortured. And five, including a child, had been beheaded.
Perhaps 160,000 American troops could hold down the overall casualty numbers indefinitely, but they cannot wipe away that sort of hatred. That’s the job of Iraq’s leaders. Either way, the American military doesn’t have enough troops for such an occupation without end, and the American Treasury can’t keep spending $10 billion a month to maintain it.
Mr. Bush’s escalation was sold as a way to buy Iraqi politicians breathing room to finally address the problems driving the sectarian violence: by agreeing on an equitable division of oil wealth, rules for provincial elections and ways to bring more Sunnis and former Baath Party members into the Shiite-dominated government.
Instead, Iraq’s politicians — and their American backers — have squandered the time and the best efforts of American troops. Mr. Bush’s generals are so frustrated that they’ve begun to complain publicly about the fecklessness of Iraq’s leaders. The ever-feckless White House, rather than looking for ways to compel Iraq’s leaders to perform, is lessening the pressure.
The Times reported this week that the Bush administration has scaled back its goals for political progress. Its newest low bar: Iraq’s dysfunctional government manages to pass a budget and approves legislation to allow former Baath Party members to rejoin the government. (And that was before the Iraqi Parliament dissolved into a shouting match over the Baath reconciliation bill and decided to put it off again.)
At least part of the recent good news can be traced to a new collaboration between American troops and Sunni fighters that last year were trying to kill Americans in wholesale numbers. The question is how long that collaboration will last if the Shiite-dominated government continues to deny the Sunnis access to basic government services and jobs.
There are also suggestions that Iran may be exercising more restraint. Fewer roadside bombs are apparently making their way across the border, and Tehran’s allies in the Mahdi Army are lying low. But Mr. Bush and his secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, still have not begun a serious dialogue with Iran and all of Iraq’s neighbors about what they’re willing to do to help contain Iraq’s chaos.
Even after putting another 30,000 Americans in harm’s way, Mr. Bush still sees no need for a strategy to get all 160,000 troops in Iraq safely home. And as long as they know that this is the case, that Mr. Bush is willing to go on paying the bills — and protecting the Green Zone — Iraqi politicians will see no reason to compromise.
Americans need to ask themselves the questions Mr. Bush is refusing to answer: Is this country signing on to keep the peace in Iraq indefinitely? If so, how many American and Iraqi deaths a month are an acceptable price? If not, what’s the plan for getting out?"
Then why did you help hom sell his lies to get us in there?
And why are you lying about Iran, shitters!?
Besides, we aren't leaving anyway thanks to newspapers like yours, so FUCK OFF!
When you start respect the bloggers and the American people, then maybe I will begin to respect them.
Otherwise...
And this is after there news pages were full of "surge success!"
"Still No Way Out
There has been so much horrible news out of Iraq for so long that it is natural to want to celebrate better news. Sending another 30,000 American troops into Iraq has made life better: attacks are down, as are the number of American and Iraqi casualties. Some refugees are even venturing home. The news has cheered Americans and dampened Democrats’ enthusiasm for keeping up the pressure on Iraq policy. Unfortunately, it is just as important to look at what has not happened since President Bush announced his surge: Iraq’s leaders are no closer to making the political deals that are the only hope for building a self-sustaining peace.
Without a serious effort at national conciliation, American troops are just holding down the lid on a pressure cooker. Iraq’s rival militias, the insurgents, the bitter sectarian resentments and the meddling neighbors haven’t gone anywhere. Consider this all too familiar horror: yesterday, police said they pulled six bodies from the Tigris River about 25 miles south of Baghdad. They were handcuffed and showed signs of having been tortured. And five, including a child, had been beheaded.
Perhaps 160,000 American troops could hold down the overall casualty numbers indefinitely, but they cannot wipe away that sort of hatred. That’s the job of Iraq’s leaders. Either way, the American military doesn’t have enough troops for such an occupation without end, and the American Treasury can’t keep spending $10 billion a month to maintain it.
Mr. Bush’s escalation was sold as a way to buy Iraqi politicians breathing room to finally address the problems driving the sectarian violence: by agreeing on an equitable division of oil wealth, rules for provincial elections and ways to bring more Sunnis and former Baath Party members into the Shiite-dominated government.
Instead, Iraq’s politicians — and their American backers — have squandered the time and the best efforts of American troops. Mr. Bush’s generals are so frustrated that they’ve begun to complain publicly about the fecklessness of Iraq’s leaders. The ever-feckless White House, rather than looking for ways to compel Iraq’s leaders to perform, is lessening the pressure.
The Times reported this week that the Bush administration has scaled back its goals for political progress. Its newest low bar: Iraq’s dysfunctional government manages to pass a budget and approves legislation to allow former Baath Party members to rejoin the government. (And that was before the Iraqi Parliament dissolved into a shouting match over the Baath reconciliation bill and decided to put it off again.)
At least part of the recent good news can be traced to a new collaboration between American troops and Sunni fighters that last year were trying to kill Americans in wholesale numbers. The question is how long that collaboration will last if the Shiite-dominated government continues to deny the Sunnis access to basic government services and jobs.
There are also suggestions that Iran may be exercising more restraint. Fewer roadside bombs are apparently making their way across the border, and Tehran’s allies in the Mahdi Army are lying low. But Mr. Bush and his secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, still have not begun a serious dialogue with Iran and all of Iraq’s neighbors about what they’re willing to do to help contain Iraq’s chaos.
Even after putting another 30,000 Americans in harm’s way, Mr. Bush still sees no need for a strategy to get all 160,000 troops in Iraq safely home. And as long as they know that this is the case, that Mr. Bush is willing to go on paying the bills — and protecting the Green Zone — Iraqi politicians will see no reason to compromise.
Americans need to ask themselves the questions Mr. Bush is refusing to answer: Is this country signing on to keep the peace in Iraq indefinitely? If so, how many American and Iraqi deaths a month are an acceptable price? If not, what’s the plan for getting out?"
Then why did you help hom sell his lies to get us in there?
And why are you lying about Iran, shitters!?
Besides, we aren't leaving anyway thanks to newspapers like yours, so FUCK OFF!
The New York Times' Globalist Agenda Pusher
It never ends with them. But unfortunately for them, we are on to it all now!
NO LONGER FOOLEYED, Times!
NYC: Sanctuary Was a Lovely Word. Then the G.O.P. Got Hold of It.
NO LONGER FOOLEYED, Times!
NYC: Sanctuary Was a Lovely Word. Then the G.O.P. Got Hold of It.
Big Energy's Global Warming Solution
Any surprise it's the GLOBALISTS SOLUTION?
All coming together, just like Alex Jones says!
"Study Details How U.S. Could Cut 28% of Greenhouse Gases" by MATTHEW L. WALD
The United States could shave as much as 28 percent off the amount of greenhouse gases it emits at fairly modest cost and with only small technology innovations, according to a new report.
A large share of the reductions could come from steps that would more than pay for themselves in lower energy bills for industries and individual consumers, the report said, adding that people should take those steps out of good sense regardless of how worried they might be about climate change. But that is unlikely to happen under present circumstances, said the authors, who are energy experts at McKinsey & Company, the consulting firm.
The report said the country was brimming with “negative cost opportunities” — potential changes in the lighting, heating and cooling of buildings, for example, that would reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels even as they save money. “These types of savings have been around for 20 years,” said Jack Stephenson, a director of the study. But he said they still face tremendous barriers.
Among them is that equipment is often paid for by a landlord or a builder and chosen for its low initial cost. The cost of electricity or other fuels to operate the equipment is borne by a tenant or home buyer. That means the landlord or builder has no incentive to spend more upfront for efficient equipment, even though doing so would save a lot of money in the long run.
So YOU will be forced to ANTE UP, AmeriKa!!! Whether you LIKE IT or NOT!
Another problem, the report said, is that consumers often pay no attention to energy use in choosing gear. Computers, for instance, can be manufactured to use less power, but with most users oblivious to energy efficiency when they are shopping for a computer, manufacturers perceive no competitive edge in spending the extra money on efficiency.
“What the report calls out is the fact that the potential is so substantial for energy efficiency,” said Ken Ostrowski, a leader of the report team. “Not that we will do it, but the potential is just staggering here in the U.S. There is a lot of inertia, and a lot of barriers.”
The country can do the job with “tested approaches and high-potential emerging technologies,” the study found, but doing the work “will require strong, coordinated, economywide action that begins in the near future.”
Globalists are already working on it, and we know it!
The report focused on describing the problem, rather than on advocating fixes. But it did mention some possible solutions. Rules for utilities could be rewritten so they make as much money in promoting conservation as in selling electricity, the study said.
Oh, so IT WON'T BE a SHARED SACRIFICE!
Globalists still going to make buku bucks!!!
The task might also require emissions limits and other government mandates, as well as incentives like tax breaks to promote efficient buildings, cars and appliances, the study said. The McKinsey report said “lifestyle changes” by Americans could play a role in improved efficiency, even though they were not a major factor in the potential gains the report cited.
WAKE UP, America!
“A broad public education program around wasteful energy consumption could be mounted,” the report said. Modeled on the “Keep America Beautiful” campaign of the 1960s, it could promote reduction in “carbon littering” by increasing people’s awareness of the problem.
Translation: BRAINWASH US! And this isn't about litter!
It's about CONTROLLING POPULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!
In contrast to improved efficiency, measures like capturing carbon dioxide from coal power plants and storing it would be relatively costly, and they account for less than 10 percent of the potential to cut emissions, the study said. The potential contributions from new nuclear plants and renewable energy supplies from wind or solar sources are also relatively modest, the report said.
Yeah, they wouldn't want to go anywhere near renewables that would be best for all of us!
You see, reader?
They sold you an environmental scare like all the other shit they have sold you!
Because they want to SELL YOU the ENSLAVING SOLUTION!!!
The study, released yesterday in Washington, was conducted by McKinsey & Company for DTE Energy (the parent company of Detroit Edison), Environmental Defense, Honeywell, National Grid, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Pacific Gas & Electric and Shell.
Its release comes a week before a United Nations climate conference is to convene in Bali, and as Congress approaches a vote on proposals to limit emissions of greenhouse gases."
Please! Can the crap be any more transparent, readers?
All coming together, just like Alex Jones says!
"Study Details How U.S. Could Cut 28% of Greenhouse Gases" by MATTHEW L. WALD
The United States could shave as much as 28 percent off the amount of greenhouse gases it emits at fairly modest cost and with only small technology innovations, according to a new report.
A large share of the reductions could come from steps that would more than pay for themselves in lower energy bills for industries and individual consumers, the report said, adding that people should take those steps out of good sense regardless of how worried they might be about climate change. But that is unlikely to happen under present circumstances, said the authors, who are energy experts at McKinsey & Company, the consulting firm.
The report said the country was brimming with “negative cost opportunities” — potential changes in the lighting, heating and cooling of buildings, for example, that would reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels even as they save money. “These types of savings have been around for 20 years,” said Jack Stephenson, a director of the study. But he said they still face tremendous barriers.
Among them is that equipment is often paid for by a landlord or a builder and chosen for its low initial cost. The cost of electricity or other fuels to operate the equipment is borne by a tenant or home buyer. That means the landlord or builder has no incentive to spend more upfront for efficient equipment, even though doing so would save a lot of money in the long run.
So YOU will be forced to ANTE UP, AmeriKa!!! Whether you LIKE IT or NOT!
Another problem, the report said, is that consumers often pay no attention to energy use in choosing gear. Computers, for instance, can be manufactured to use less power, but with most users oblivious to energy efficiency when they are shopping for a computer, manufacturers perceive no competitive edge in spending the extra money on efficiency.
“What the report calls out is the fact that the potential is so substantial for energy efficiency,” said Ken Ostrowski, a leader of the report team. “Not that we will do it, but the potential is just staggering here in the U.S. There is a lot of inertia, and a lot of barriers.”
The country can do the job with “tested approaches and high-potential emerging technologies,” the study found, but doing the work “will require strong, coordinated, economywide action that begins in the near future.”
Globalists are already working on it, and we know it!
The report focused on describing the problem, rather than on advocating fixes. But it did mention some possible solutions. Rules for utilities could be rewritten so they make as much money in promoting conservation as in selling electricity, the study said.
Oh, so IT WON'T BE a SHARED SACRIFICE!
Globalists still going to make buku bucks!!!
The task might also require emissions limits and other government mandates, as well as incentives like tax breaks to promote efficient buildings, cars and appliances, the study said. The McKinsey report said “lifestyle changes” by Americans could play a role in improved efficiency, even though they were not a major factor in the potential gains the report cited.
WAKE UP, America!
“A broad public education program around wasteful energy consumption could be mounted,” the report said. Modeled on the “Keep America Beautiful” campaign of the 1960s, it could promote reduction in “carbon littering” by increasing people’s awareness of the problem.
Translation: BRAINWASH US! And this isn't about litter!
It's about CONTROLLING POPULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!
In contrast to improved efficiency, measures like capturing carbon dioxide from coal power plants and storing it would be relatively costly, and they account for less than 10 percent of the potential to cut emissions, the study said. The potential contributions from new nuclear plants and renewable energy supplies from wind or solar sources are also relatively modest, the report said.
Yeah, they wouldn't want to go anywhere near renewables that would be best for all of us!
You see, reader?
They sold you an environmental scare like all the other shit they have sold you!
Because they want to SELL YOU the ENSLAVING SOLUTION!!!
The study, released yesterday in Washington, was conducted by McKinsey & Company for DTE Energy (the parent company of Detroit Edison), Environmental Defense, Honeywell, National Grid, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Pacific Gas & Electric and Shell.
Its release comes a week before a United Nations climate conference is to convene in Bali, and as Congress approaches a vote on proposals to limit emissions of greenhouse gases."
Please! Can the crap be any more transparent, readers?
Mortgage Crisis Fucks Florida
Florida Freezes Its Fund as Governments Pull Out
"Seeking to stem a multibillion-dollar run on an investment pool for local governments, top Florida officials voted yesterday to suspend withdrawals from the fund, leaving some towns and school districts worrying about how they would pay their bills."
We got plenty for wars, though!
"Seeking to stem a multibillion-dollar run on an investment pool for local governments, top Florida officials voted yesterday to suspend withdrawals from the fund, leaving some towns and school districts worrying about how they would pay their bills."
We got plenty for wars, though!
MSM Takes a Pepto-Bismol
If you don't want us reading your Zionist-controlled garbage, FINE!!!!
Well get the news someplace else. A better place -- like the BLOGS!!!!!!!!!!!
"News sites seek content control; Groups want to limit what search firms can collect" by Associated Press November 30, 2007
NEW YORK - Leading news organizations and other publishers have proposed changing the rules that tell search engines what they can and can't collect when scouring the Web, saying the revisions would give site owners greater control over their content.
It's called CENSORSHIP and RESTRICTING INFORMATION!
Sig Heil, "free" press!
Google Inc., Yahoo Inc., and other top search companies now voluntarily respect a website's wishes as stated in a document known as "robots.txt," which a search engine's indexing software, called a crawler, knows to look for on a site.
Under the existing 13-year-old technology, a site can block indexing of individual Web pages, specific directories, or the entire site. Some search engines have added their own commands to the rules, but they're not universally observed.
The Automated Content Access Protocol proposal, unveiled yesterday by a consortium of publishers at the global headquarters of the Associated Press, seeks to have those extra commands - and more - apply across the board.
With the protocol commands, sites could try to limit how long search engines retain copies in their indexes, for instance, or tell the crawler not to follow any of the links that appear within a Web page.
If the protocol commands are accepted by search engines, publishers say they would be willing to make more of their copyright-protected materials available online. But Web surfers also could find sites disappear from search engines more quickly, or find smaller versions of images called thumbnails missing if sites ban such presentations.
"Robots.txt was created for a different age," said Gavin O'Reilly, president of the World Association of Newspapers, one of the organizations behind the proposal. "It works well for search engines but doesn't work for content creators."
As with the current robots.txt, ACAP's use would be voluntary, so search engines ultimately would have to agree to recognize the new commands. So far, none of the leading ones have. Search engines also could ignore the new commands and leave it to courts to resolve any disputes.
Robots.txt was developed in 1994 following concerns that some crawlers were taxing websites by visiting them too many times too quickly. Although the system has never been sanctioned by any standards body, major search engines have voluntarily complied.
As search engines expanded to offer services for displaying news and scanning printed books, news organizations and book publishers began to complain that their content was being lifted from their sites and displayed on those of the search engines.
News publishers had complained that Google was posting their news summaries, headlines, and photos without permission. Google claimed that "fair use" provisions of copyright laws applied, though it eventually settled a lawsuit with Agence France-Presse and agreed to pay the AP without a lawsuit filed. Financial terms haven't been disclosed."
Take your stuff down, take it away, I don't give a shit!
Because that's what AmeriKa's MSM is!
That's why there are no advertisements here!
This FAIR USE FLOW of FREE INFORMATION!
I PAID FOR MY NEWSPAPER, SIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And I have EVERY RIGHT to use the material, as long as I source it!
Well get the news someplace else. A better place -- like the BLOGS!!!!!!!!!!!
"News sites seek content control; Groups want to limit what search firms can collect" by Associated Press November 30, 2007
NEW YORK - Leading news organizations and other publishers have proposed changing the rules that tell search engines what they can and can't collect when scouring the Web, saying the revisions would give site owners greater control over their content.
It's called CENSORSHIP and RESTRICTING INFORMATION!
Sig Heil, "free" press!
Google Inc., Yahoo Inc., and other top search companies now voluntarily respect a website's wishes as stated in a document known as "robots.txt," which a search engine's indexing software, called a crawler, knows to look for on a site.
Under the existing 13-year-old technology, a site can block indexing of individual Web pages, specific directories, or the entire site. Some search engines have added their own commands to the rules, but they're not universally observed.
The Automated Content Access Protocol proposal, unveiled yesterday by a consortium of publishers at the global headquarters of the Associated Press, seeks to have those extra commands - and more - apply across the board.
With the protocol commands, sites could try to limit how long search engines retain copies in their indexes, for instance, or tell the crawler not to follow any of the links that appear within a Web page.
If the protocol commands are accepted by search engines, publishers say they would be willing to make more of their copyright-protected materials available online. But Web surfers also could find sites disappear from search engines more quickly, or find smaller versions of images called thumbnails missing if sites ban such presentations.
"Robots.txt was created for a different age," said Gavin O'Reilly, president of the World Association of Newspapers, one of the organizations behind the proposal. "It works well for search engines but doesn't work for content creators."
As with the current robots.txt, ACAP's use would be voluntary, so search engines ultimately would have to agree to recognize the new commands. So far, none of the leading ones have. Search engines also could ignore the new commands and leave it to courts to resolve any disputes.
Robots.txt was developed in 1994 following concerns that some crawlers were taxing websites by visiting them too many times too quickly. Although the system has never been sanctioned by any standards body, major search engines have voluntarily complied.
As search engines expanded to offer services for displaying news and scanning printed books, news organizations and book publishers began to complain that their content was being lifted from their sites and displayed on those of the search engines.
News publishers had complained that Google was posting their news summaries, headlines, and photos without permission. Google claimed that "fair use" provisions of copyright laws applied, though it eventually settled a lawsuit with Agence France-Presse and agreed to pay the AP without a lawsuit filed. Financial terms haven't been disclosed."
Take your stuff down, take it away, I don't give a shit!
Because that's what AmeriKa's MSM is!
That's why there are no advertisements here!
This FAIR USE FLOW of FREE INFORMATION!
I PAID FOR MY NEWSPAPER, SIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And I have EVERY RIGHT to use the material, as long as I source it!
Police State Comes To Dorchester
Could this be your neighborhood soon?
"2 teenagers hurt in shooting near schools in Dorchester; SWAT team search doesn't turn up suspect" by John R. Ellement/Boston Globe November 30, 2007
For the second time this week, a morning was marked by the sound of gunfire, this time in Dorchester where a score of heavily armed police rushed a boarded-up three-decker in a fruitless search for a suspect who had just shot two teenagers.
The incident began about 8:30 near the Meetinghouse Hill neighborhood on Cameron Street, not far from two elementary schools and a day-care center, where a gunman fired about five shots into a group of teens. Two of the teens sustained wounds that were not life-threatening, police and witnesses said. Police said both victims were 16.
No arrests were made, but police were questioning a possible suspect yesterday, said Elaine Driscoll, department spokeswoman.
The teens scattered onto Hancock and Bowdoin streets as elementary school pupils stood in clusters on the sidewalk and businesses were starting the day, according to residents and police.
"We need to stop the guns," said Maria Cardoso, who saw one of the bleeding teens run past her Hancock Street store, which she renamed in honor of her son, Claudio, who was slain in 2003.
School police were sent to Mather Elementary School on Parish Street, where pupils were still arriving, said Jonathan Palumbo, school spokesman. School administrators hurried students into the building, he said.
The SWAT team's search of the abandoned three-decker also took place near a school - around the corner from St. Peter Elementary School on Bowdoin Street, part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston's school system.
Nicole Brien, after-school program director, said students, who arrive at 7 a.m. for 8 a.m. classes, were inside and out of harm's way. "They were already here, they were already safe in the building," she said, adding that alerted school staff about the incident.
The operator of a day-care center on Cameron Street said no children were in danger.
Police were tipped off by witnesses that the suspect may have run into the three-decker. They raced onto Hendry Street, where they surrounded the building. The building is described in city records as a chronic problem in the neighborhood.
Police called in an armored car, and after repeatedly calling over the loudspeaker for the person to surrender - "We are not going away" - they detonated a stun grenade and rushed inside. But the 20 Special Weapons and Tactics officers did not find anyone, police said.
"We felt a need to search [the three-decker] for the safety of the neighborhood," Deputy Superintendent Darrin Greeley said at the scene after the search ended. "This is a vibrant neighborhood."
Police, however, did recover a handgun and a jacket in a backyard located between Cameron and Hendry streets, items they believe were left by the shooter.
A Hendry Street resident, who asked to be identified only as Kay, said she was stunned when she looked out her window.
"There were cops everywhere," she said. Concern became fear, she said, when the armored car rumbled onto the street. "When that truck came - it wasn't fun."
One of the teens, who was shot in the left forearm, ran onto Hancock Street toward police Gang Unit headquarters, where police tended to him until he was rushed to Boston Medical Center.
The second teen, who was wounded in the leg, collapsed on Cameron Street. He was also taken to Boston Medical Center, police said.
"They have not been cooperative," Driscoll said of the shooting victims. She said it was not clear whether the violence was gang-related. "It's unclear at his time what the motive of the shooting was," she said.
After police pulled out of Cameron Street, several residents said they were reluctant to be seen talking about the shooting because of a group of teenagers that hangs out on the street regularly.
In another shooting on Monday, a 17-year-old Charlestown High School student was wounded in the driveway of his Mattapan home at 6:30 a.m. as he allowed his car to warm up.
The student was shot in the jaw and was listed in stable condition shortly after. No arrests have been made, police said yesterday."
"2 teenagers hurt in shooting near schools in Dorchester; SWAT team search doesn't turn up suspect" by John R. Ellement/Boston Globe November 30, 2007
For the second time this week, a morning was marked by the sound of gunfire, this time in Dorchester where a score of heavily armed police rushed a boarded-up three-decker in a fruitless search for a suspect who had just shot two teenagers.
The incident began about 8:30 near the Meetinghouse Hill neighborhood on Cameron Street, not far from two elementary schools and a day-care center, where a gunman fired about five shots into a group of teens. Two of the teens sustained wounds that were not life-threatening, police and witnesses said. Police said both victims were 16.
No arrests were made, but police were questioning a possible suspect yesterday, said Elaine Driscoll, department spokeswoman.
The teens scattered onto Hancock and Bowdoin streets as elementary school pupils stood in clusters on the sidewalk and businesses were starting the day, according to residents and police.
"We need to stop the guns," said Maria Cardoso, who saw one of the bleeding teens run past her Hancock Street store, which she renamed in honor of her son, Claudio, who was slain in 2003.
School police were sent to Mather Elementary School on Parish Street, where pupils were still arriving, said Jonathan Palumbo, school spokesman. School administrators hurried students into the building, he said.
The SWAT team's search of the abandoned three-decker also took place near a school - around the corner from St. Peter Elementary School on Bowdoin Street, part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston's school system.
Nicole Brien, after-school program director, said students, who arrive at 7 a.m. for 8 a.m. classes, were inside and out of harm's way. "They were already here, they were already safe in the building," she said, adding that alerted school staff about the incident.
The operator of a day-care center on Cameron Street said no children were in danger.
Police were tipped off by witnesses that the suspect may have run into the three-decker. They raced onto Hendry Street, where they surrounded the building. The building is described in city records as a chronic problem in the neighborhood.
Police called in an armored car, and after repeatedly calling over the loudspeaker for the person to surrender - "We are not going away" - they detonated a stun grenade and rushed inside. But the 20 Special Weapons and Tactics officers did not find anyone, police said.
"We felt a need to search [the three-decker] for the safety of the neighborhood," Deputy Superintendent Darrin Greeley said at the scene after the search ended. "This is a vibrant neighborhood."
Police, however, did recover a handgun and a jacket in a backyard located between Cameron and Hendry streets, items they believe were left by the shooter.
A Hendry Street resident, who asked to be identified only as Kay, said she was stunned when she looked out her window.
"There were cops everywhere," she said. Concern became fear, she said, when the armored car rumbled onto the street. "When that truck came - it wasn't fun."
One of the teens, who was shot in the left forearm, ran onto Hancock Street toward police Gang Unit headquarters, where police tended to him until he was rushed to Boston Medical Center.
The second teen, who was wounded in the leg, collapsed on Cameron Street. He was also taken to Boston Medical Center, police said.
"They have not been cooperative," Driscoll said of the shooting victims. She said it was not clear whether the violence was gang-related. "It's unclear at his time what the motive of the shooting was," she said.
After police pulled out of Cameron Street, several residents said they were reluctant to be seen talking about the shooting because of a group of teenagers that hangs out on the street regularly.
In another shooting on Monday, a 17-year-old Charlestown High School student was wounded in the driveway of his Mattapan home at 6:30 a.m. as he allowed his car to warm up.
The student was shot in the jaw and was listed in stable condition shortly after. No arrests have been made, police said yesterday."
Will This Class Ever End?
I would never want to be a kid now!
Thank God I'm old and done.
At some point, the place has to start feeling like a jail to the kids!
I wanna go play video games!
"Longer school day appears to boost MCAS scores" by Tracy Jan/Boston Globe November 30, 2007
Last fall, 10 Massachusetts public schools embarked on an experiment: Lengthen the school day by at least 25 percent, give students extra doses of reading, writing, and math, and let teachers come up with creative ways to reinforce their lessons.
The extra time appears to be working.
As a whole, schools with longer days boosted students' MCAS scores in math, English, and science across all grade levels, according to a report to be released today. And they outpaced the state in increasing the percentage of students scoring in the two highest MCAS categories.
The data, to be presented at a national conference in Boston on expanded learning time, is the first comprehensive look at the effectiveness of extra time. The promising state test results show that a longer school day, with more opportunities for hands-on learning, has had a positive impact on student achievement, educators said.
"It's incredibly exciting and encouraging for those of us who've believed that this can work in standard public schools," said Chris Gabrieli, chairman of Massachusetts 2020, an educational nonprofit that partnered with the state Department of Education on the initiative. "This is a reform that can be widespread."
School systems across the country are watching Massachusetts, the first state to adopt and fund longer days in multiple districts. Leaders and educators in at least a dozen states - including New York and Rhode Island - are considering replicating the efforts. And US Senator Edward M. Kennedy is urging Congress to pass a bill that would make longer school days a key reform strategy, modeled after Massachusetts. The bill would give states and school systems across the country seed money to extend their days.
"These results show that expanding learning time pays off . . . and I look forward to expanding this success nationwide," Kennedy said in a written statement to the Globe.
The state has spent nearly $20 million implementing the program, at a cost of $1,300 per student. This fall, the number of schools with extended programs increased to 18, located in eight mostly low-income, low-performing, urban districts. An additional 33 schools in 16 districts hope to convert to longer days in fall 2008. And more than 100 schools, including those in suburbs such as Andover and Winthrop, are in the pipeline for lengthening their days in the next two years.
Schools have typically converted from a six-hour day - which some have written off as an antiquated schedule designed to meet the needs of farms and factories - to an eight- or nine-hour day.
Like it's a god-damn job, which is what the INDOCTRINATION SYSTEM is all about!
By the way, where are these jobs for these "educated' masses?
Swabbing toilets?
During the longer days, students have more time to focus on the subjects they need the most help with and participate in arts and sports - extracurriculars principals say have been squeezed out in many schools because of the increased focus on testing and accountability. Teachers also get more time to meet as a team, discuss what and how they teach, and receive extra training.
Where's the money to pay for all this going to come from?
Previously, a few charter schools and a handful of regular public schools had adopted longer school days - but this is the first comprehensive, state-funded effort to extend the day at Massachusetts schools.
The report reviewed the percentage of students scoring in the two highest MCAS categories - proficient and advanced - on the math, science, and English tests at the 10 schools that launched the extended day last year. It found that the percentage of students scoring at least proficient grew 10.8 percentage points in English, 7.2 percentage points in math, and 4.7 percentage points in science, compared with the previous year. Massachusetts 2020 commissioned the analysis, which used MCAS data provided by the state.
Paul Reville, chairman of the state Board of Education, said the results are promising but cautioned that it's only one year's worth of data and that longer days may not be the panacea for all struggling schools. The state Education Department has commissioned its own three-year evaluation of the effectiveness of extending the school day, and expects to make a preliminary report on the first year of implementation in January.
"It's a very significant early signal that more time, used well, can make a big difference for students," Reville said. "But more time is a bit like more money. It doesn't have inherent value; it depends on how you use it."
At Clarence R. Edwards Middle School in Charlestown, which extended its school day by three hours, until 4:30 p.m., last year, all seventh- and eighth-graders spent an hour each day participating in a "math league." Students divided into teams and played games to practice skills learned in their math classes.
This year, the percentage of students achieving proficiency on the math MCAS rose 12.7 percentage points at that school, according to the Massachusetts 2020 analysis.
Dawn Oliver, a parent at Matthew J. Kuss Middle School in Fall River, said the extra time has allowed her daughter, Brittany, to grasp academic concepts because the teacher covers the material more thoroughly in class.
The longer day has also boosted the school's reputation, along with its test scores, said the principal, Nancy Mullen.
"Parents were running away when I got there," Mullen said. "Now they're calling us up wondering how they could get their children into our school."
Thank God I'm old and done.
At some point, the place has to start feeling like a jail to the kids!
I wanna go play video games!
"Longer school day appears to boost MCAS scores" by Tracy Jan/Boston Globe November 30, 2007
Last fall, 10 Massachusetts public schools embarked on an experiment: Lengthen the school day by at least 25 percent, give students extra doses of reading, writing, and math, and let teachers come up with creative ways to reinforce their lessons.
The extra time appears to be working.
As a whole, schools with longer days boosted students' MCAS scores in math, English, and science across all grade levels, according to a report to be released today. And they outpaced the state in increasing the percentage of students scoring in the two highest MCAS categories.
The data, to be presented at a national conference in Boston on expanded learning time, is the first comprehensive look at the effectiveness of extra time. The promising state test results show that a longer school day, with more opportunities for hands-on learning, has had a positive impact on student achievement, educators said.
"It's incredibly exciting and encouraging for those of us who've believed that this can work in standard public schools," said Chris Gabrieli, chairman of Massachusetts 2020, an educational nonprofit that partnered with the state Department of Education on the initiative. "This is a reform that can be widespread."
School systems across the country are watching Massachusetts, the first state to adopt and fund longer days in multiple districts. Leaders and educators in at least a dozen states - including New York and Rhode Island - are considering replicating the efforts. And US Senator Edward M. Kennedy is urging Congress to pass a bill that would make longer school days a key reform strategy, modeled after Massachusetts. The bill would give states and school systems across the country seed money to extend their days.
"These results show that expanding learning time pays off . . . and I look forward to expanding this success nationwide," Kennedy said in a written statement to the Globe.
The state has spent nearly $20 million implementing the program, at a cost of $1,300 per student. This fall, the number of schools with extended programs increased to 18, located in eight mostly low-income, low-performing, urban districts. An additional 33 schools in 16 districts hope to convert to longer days in fall 2008. And more than 100 schools, including those in suburbs such as Andover and Winthrop, are in the pipeline for lengthening their days in the next two years.
Schools have typically converted from a six-hour day - which some have written off as an antiquated schedule designed to meet the needs of farms and factories - to an eight- or nine-hour day.
Like it's a god-damn job, which is what the INDOCTRINATION SYSTEM is all about!
By the way, where are these jobs for these "educated' masses?
Swabbing toilets?
During the longer days, students have more time to focus on the subjects they need the most help with and participate in arts and sports - extracurriculars principals say have been squeezed out in many schools because of the increased focus on testing and accountability. Teachers also get more time to meet as a team, discuss what and how they teach, and receive extra training.
Where's the money to pay for all this going to come from?
Previously, a few charter schools and a handful of regular public schools had adopted longer school days - but this is the first comprehensive, state-funded effort to extend the day at Massachusetts schools.
The report reviewed the percentage of students scoring in the two highest MCAS categories - proficient and advanced - on the math, science, and English tests at the 10 schools that launched the extended day last year. It found that the percentage of students scoring at least proficient grew 10.8 percentage points in English, 7.2 percentage points in math, and 4.7 percentage points in science, compared with the previous year. Massachusetts 2020 commissioned the analysis, which used MCAS data provided by the state.
Paul Reville, chairman of the state Board of Education, said the results are promising but cautioned that it's only one year's worth of data and that longer days may not be the panacea for all struggling schools. The state Education Department has commissioned its own three-year evaluation of the effectiveness of extending the school day, and expects to make a preliminary report on the first year of implementation in January.
"It's a very significant early signal that more time, used well, can make a big difference for students," Reville said. "But more time is a bit like more money. It doesn't have inherent value; it depends on how you use it."
At Clarence R. Edwards Middle School in Charlestown, which extended its school day by three hours, until 4:30 p.m., last year, all seventh- and eighth-graders spent an hour each day participating in a "math league." Students divided into teams and played games to practice skills learned in their math classes.
This year, the percentage of students achieving proficiency on the math MCAS rose 12.7 percentage points at that school, according to the Massachusetts 2020 analysis.
Dawn Oliver, a parent at Matthew J. Kuss Middle School in Fall River, said the extra time has allowed her daughter, Brittany, to grasp academic concepts because the teacher covers the material more thoroughly in class.
The longer day has also boosted the school's reputation, along with its test scores, said the principal, Nancy Mullen.
"Parents were running away when I got there," Mullen said. "Now they're calling us up wondering how they could get their children into our school."
Corporatizing the Cops
And you thought privatization ended with Blackwater?
TRILLIONS for WARS abroad, BILLIONS in aid to Israel, and AmeriKa's police forces are scrambling for money.
Just doesn't seem right somehow!
So can officers just take bribes now, or is this just limited to the department.
"For cruisers, an ad-on; Like Littleton, Melrose plans to sell space on police cars for selected commercials" by Kay Lazar/Boston Globe November 30, 2007
MELROSE - Doughnut companies are out. They are too much of a cliché. Liquor stores and funeral homes are also off the list. They, too, would send the wrong messages.
But other advertisers may soon be welcome to plaster their names on police cruisers in Melrose.
Continuing advertisers' march into seemingly every available public space, this small city north of Boston is preparing a plan to allow its police cars to carry up to three advertising signs, each roughly twice the size of a bumper sticker. And the ads would not end there: Fire Department command vehicles may also sport them. The advertising would respond to another stark reality these days: the tough financial straits faced by Massachusetts towns and cities.
Mayor Robert Dolan acknowledges that he is not crazy about the idea, but after six years on the job, he has heard few revenue-raising alternatives that do not involve the dreaded tax hike.
"In order for communities to survive, we need to take matters into our own hands and develop programs that provide some funding to fill the gap," Dolan said. "There is a political void of new ideas."
The ad campaign was pitched by Michael Lyle, chief of the Melrose police, and modeled on a similar program in Littleton, which two years ago became the first community in the state to accept ads on its police cars. Melrose is planning to offer a company the chance to place three ads per vehicle at a rate of $15,000 per year over three years, which is what the city now spends to lease a cruiser. Melrose has talked to a few potential sponsors and hopes to have some signed by the spring.
Along Main Street in Melrose, the idea is raising eyebrows and drawing mixed reaction. Some residents seemed resigned to the omnipresence of advertising and welcomed the possible tax savings.
"There's advertising on everything now anyway. I think it's fine," said Nicole McConaghy, 27, who recently opened Stitch, a clothing boutique on Main Street. A few doors down at Whittemore Hardware, owner Steven Trulli was looking at the bottom line.
"If it saves $15,000 a year and that could go towards education, I'm all for it," he said. "Anything to keep taxes down and provide more benefits for the taxes you do pay."
Others were against the idea.
"Advertising on a police cruiser? I think it takes away from being unbiased," said Bonnie Roberts, 53, who has lived in Melrose for 30 years and is the daughter of a former Somerville police officer. "I understand it would help with finances in Melrose, but there's got to be somewhere else to get money."
Robert Van Campen, Melrose deputy city solicitor, said the city is aware of the problem of bias and would chose commercial sponsors under the same system Melrose now uses to award contracts for other city services.
"We don't want any impression that police are going to favor a sponsor or that the city was trying to strong-arm a sponsor. That's why we decided to go the straight route, with a contract. Everything is aboveboard," Van Campen said. "This is the way Littleton did it."
John Kelly, chief of the Littleton Police Department, proposed the idea in 2005, when the town informed him that it had no money for repairs for his department's five cruisers. Kelly had read about a company in the South that was offering to place ads on police cars for a share of the profit, but his idea was to cut out the middleman.
He checked with state authorities to make sure there were no ethics rules or laws that prohibited advertising on police cars. Then he wrote a proposal and got the blessing of the town's finance committee, selectmen, and, finally, voters at Town Meeting - though not without some trepidation.
"The biggest questions were, are the cars going to look like NASCAR and will they take away from police integrity," Kelly recalled. "So we confined the advertising to the rear fenders and the back bumper."
Regardless of the size or position of the ads, George Kelling, a professor at the Rutgers School of Criminal Justice, said he believes they would erode a police department's image of neutrality and impartiality.
"Symbolically, that certain companies would have their goods advertised . . . could be interpreted as indirect support and could smack of a conflict of interest. Keeping a firewall is important," he said. "Do we want the Statue of Liberty to become the Starbucks Statue of Liberty? It seems to me there are certain things in society, certain symbols we don't want to tamper with."
Kelly said he assured residents that police would not give preferential treatment to corporate sponsors.
"I don't think any of my officers would risk their livelihood, or their families, to give someone some slack on a speeding ticket because of advertising on a car," he said.
A local supermarket and car dealership signed on, and two cruisers have sported the ads. The program has generated $72,000 and is up for renewal in May.
The Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association does not have information on any other community in the state that allows companies to advertise on police cars. The International Association of Chiefs of Police also was not aware of any others in the United States.
About five years ago, Government Acquisitions Inc., a North Carolina-based company, was shopping the idea, and said it had signed up roughly 100 departments in at least 20 states. Then a group of criminal justice specialists teamed with Commercial Alert, a Washington-based nonprofit that monitors commercialism, to campaign against the idea. The coalition sent letters to chief executive officers of the 100 leading national advertisers, asking them not to buy ads on police cars. The letters said the ads would turn police cars into "rolling billboards," make police "objects of ridicule and scorn," and "may invite crime, by reducing the moral authority of the police."
Today, Commercial Alert says it is not aware of any police departments, other than Littleton, that went ahead with ads on police cruisers. The North Carolina company has since folded. Melrose officials say they hope the fears about aesthetics and ethics prove unjustified.
"If you do it in a classy way, it will catch fire and other communities will see it as a way to generate revenue without having to go to the taxpayers," said city solicitor Van Campen, who also is an alderman in Everett.
Might that be the next city to consider the idea?
"We'll see," he said, "how it goes in Melrose."
TRILLIONS for WARS abroad, BILLIONS in aid to Israel, and AmeriKa's police forces are scrambling for money.
Just doesn't seem right somehow!
So can officers just take bribes now, or is this just limited to the department.
"For cruisers, an ad-on; Like Littleton, Melrose plans to sell space on police cars for selected commercials" by Kay Lazar/Boston Globe November 30, 2007
MELROSE - Doughnut companies are out. They are too much of a cliché. Liquor stores and funeral homes are also off the list. They, too, would send the wrong messages.
But other advertisers may soon be welcome to plaster their names on police cruisers in Melrose.
Continuing advertisers' march into seemingly every available public space, this small city north of Boston is preparing a plan to allow its police cars to carry up to three advertising signs, each roughly twice the size of a bumper sticker. And the ads would not end there: Fire Department command vehicles may also sport them. The advertising would respond to another stark reality these days: the tough financial straits faced by Massachusetts towns and cities.
Mayor Robert Dolan acknowledges that he is not crazy about the idea, but after six years on the job, he has heard few revenue-raising alternatives that do not involve the dreaded tax hike.
"In order for communities to survive, we need to take matters into our own hands and develop programs that provide some funding to fill the gap," Dolan said. "There is a political void of new ideas."
The ad campaign was pitched by Michael Lyle, chief of the Melrose police, and modeled on a similar program in Littleton, which two years ago became the first community in the state to accept ads on its police cars. Melrose is planning to offer a company the chance to place three ads per vehicle at a rate of $15,000 per year over three years, which is what the city now spends to lease a cruiser. Melrose has talked to a few potential sponsors and hopes to have some signed by the spring.
Along Main Street in Melrose, the idea is raising eyebrows and drawing mixed reaction. Some residents seemed resigned to the omnipresence of advertising and welcomed the possible tax savings.
"There's advertising on everything now anyway. I think it's fine," said Nicole McConaghy, 27, who recently opened Stitch, a clothing boutique on Main Street. A few doors down at Whittemore Hardware, owner Steven Trulli was looking at the bottom line.
"If it saves $15,000 a year and that could go towards education, I'm all for it," he said. "Anything to keep taxes down and provide more benefits for the taxes you do pay."
Others were against the idea.
"Advertising on a police cruiser? I think it takes away from being unbiased," said Bonnie Roberts, 53, who has lived in Melrose for 30 years and is the daughter of a former Somerville police officer. "I understand it would help with finances in Melrose, but there's got to be somewhere else to get money."
Robert Van Campen, Melrose deputy city solicitor, said the city is aware of the problem of bias and would chose commercial sponsors under the same system Melrose now uses to award contracts for other city services.
"We don't want any impression that police are going to favor a sponsor or that the city was trying to strong-arm a sponsor. That's why we decided to go the straight route, with a contract. Everything is aboveboard," Van Campen said. "This is the way Littleton did it."
John Kelly, chief of the Littleton Police Department, proposed the idea in 2005, when the town informed him that it had no money for repairs for his department's five cruisers. Kelly had read about a company in the South that was offering to place ads on police cars for a share of the profit, but his idea was to cut out the middleman.
He checked with state authorities to make sure there were no ethics rules or laws that prohibited advertising on police cars. Then he wrote a proposal and got the blessing of the town's finance committee, selectmen, and, finally, voters at Town Meeting - though not without some trepidation.
"The biggest questions were, are the cars going to look like NASCAR and will they take away from police integrity," Kelly recalled. "So we confined the advertising to the rear fenders and the back bumper."
Regardless of the size or position of the ads, George Kelling, a professor at the Rutgers School of Criminal Justice, said he believes they would erode a police department's image of neutrality and impartiality.
"Symbolically, that certain companies would have their goods advertised . . . could be interpreted as indirect support and could smack of a conflict of interest. Keeping a firewall is important," he said. "Do we want the Statue of Liberty to become the Starbucks Statue of Liberty? It seems to me there are certain things in society, certain symbols we don't want to tamper with."
Kelly said he assured residents that police would not give preferential treatment to corporate sponsors.
"I don't think any of my officers would risk their livelihood, or their families, to give someone some slack on a speeding ticket because of advertising on a car," he said.
A local supermarket and car dealership signed on, and two cruisers have sported the ads. The program has generated $72,000 and is up for renewal in May.
The Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association does not have information on any other community in the state that allows companies to advertise on police cars. The International Association of Chiefs of Police also was not aware of any others in the United States.
About five years ago, Government Acquisitions Inc., a North Carolina-based company, was shopping the idea, and said it had signed up roughly 100 departments in at least 20 states. Then a group of criminal justice specialists teamed with Commercial Alert, a Washington-based nonprofit that monitors commercialism, to campaign against the idea. The coalition sent letters to chief executive officers of the 100 leading national advertisers, asking them not to buy ads on police cars. The letters said the ads would turn police cars into "rolling billboards," make police "objects of ridicule and scorn," and "may invite crime, by reducing the moral authority of the police."
Today, Commercial Alert says it is not aware of any police departments, other than Littleton, that went ahead with ads on police cruisers. The North Carolina company has since folded. Melrose officials say they hope the fears about aesthetics and ethics prove unjustified.
"If you do it in a classy way, it will catch fire and other communities will see it as a way to generate revenue without having to go to the taxpayers," said city solicitor Van Campen, who also is an alderman in Everett.
Might that be the next city to consider the idea?
"We'll see," he said, "how it goes in Melrose."
Pooping on YouTube
Probably the point of C(IA)NN's shit rig job!
Think about it: They DON'T WANT the PUBLIC PARTICIPATING, so what better way to make them look bad than SELECT SHIT QUESTIONS?
CUI BONO, readers?
"Not enough sizzle for YouTubers" by Elise Waxenberg/Boston Globe November 30, 2007
HERE in the wilds of (still) first-in-the-nation primary state New Hampshire, I can count on one hand the number of times I've turned on a TV in the last few years. In fact, my college has made it its business to take TV off TVs altogether and beam it to our laptops instead, helping turn my generation of couch potatoes into one of computer potatoes - or YouTubers. Perhaps predictably, then, when I watched last night's CNN/YouTube debate with the Republican field of presidential candidates, I was watching to see how the producers were going to refine the novel format that debuted in the summer with the Democratic hopefuls.
But whatever fun YouTube had injected into the debate four months ago seemed to fizzle last night. Rewind to July, when the Democratic candidates duked it out in South Carolina in front of YouTubers and the nation. Within a couple of days, the Republican pack was hemming and hawing about signing on for a similar showdown.
It fizzled because C(IA)NN shat on it!
While we waited for the GOP camps to calm down about the prospect of perhaps having to answer questions from - gasp - symbolically melting snowmen, 4,927 video questions were submitted, 2,000 more than were submitted for YouTube debate number one. Yet while the volume of questions grew exponentially, the range in the debate shrank - to about four big topics (immigration, Iraq, guns, America's wallet). We also saw a lot more yes-or-no, black-or-white questions; a lot less of Anderson Cooper's pointed moderating, and a lot of grave white guys doing the asking (of 34 videos shown, 28 were submitted by men, and all but two were white).
As for the candidates' own YouTube submissions, none really embraced the YouTube concept in style or format - maybe not a surprise, but disappointing nonetheless. Not even Internet star Ron Paul, the representative from Texas, rose to the challenge. Each of the Republican campaigns submitted a canned made-for-TV spot, but the occasion invited something more innovative.
What the hell was she watching?
Ron Paul's staff put together a GREAT VIDEO AD!!!
It was ALL POSITIVE and HOPEFUL!!!
And it was ALL TRUE!!!!!
You just lost your credibility, girlie!
Save for a couple of yuk-yuks from former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, and the unintentional laughs generated by California Representative Duncan Hunter's faux pas of confusing Cooper's first and last names, the night was pretty somber.
Then again, maybe a comparison between the Democratic debate and this one isn't fair. The cast of characters is grossly different (and we don't see any real wild cards analagous to the likes of Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich or Alaska Senator Mike Gravel in the Republican crowd). Maybe it's just that by Nov. 28, presidential contenders don't have any more time to fool around.
Then RON PAUL is REAL!!!!!!! NOT a WILD CARD!!!!!!
I still don't like the dis!
From the first question, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani made that much clear. His knock-down, drag-out opening salvo to former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney would be the snarkiest fight of the night. The blows didn't get much lower than Giuliani's "sanctuary mansion" call, but still, Romney remained on the defensive for much of the night, strenuously seeking to prove his resoluteness. Former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson jumped all over Romney's abortion-stance switch in his YouTube mini-mercial, the first to attack another GOP contender. Ah, how potent is the accusation of flip-floppery.
Well, Mitt may have his problems, but at least he admitted he was wrong!
I respect that!
Now, Mitt may be a spoiled, rich-boy Mormon, but at least he tried.
He seems way to out there for me on the waterboarding and the word of God, but he doesn't seem evil at the root -- like Giuliani!
In New Hampshire, the word on the street about Huckabee seems to be "Mike who?" He runs a distant fourth behind a distant third in the Granite State, but watching last night's showdown, it was readily apparent why Iowans are hopping aboard the Huckabee train in droves: He was the only candidate to communicate both compassion and conservative creds convincingly. When Romney tried to take him to task for offering college tuition breaks to undocumented kids who do well in school, Huckabee somehow managed to escape while looking tough on immigration and making Romney look like a big meanie who wants to stick it to innocent children in order to save taxpayers money.
Yeah, just push the divisions!
And I'd be all for integration and amnesty if it was for true human goodness, but it's NOT!
Watch EndGame!
This whole issue is about the ECONOMIC INTEGRATION PLANS of the GLOBALISTS!
That's why I stand on the side I do! Sovereignty MATTERS!
This and the other sharp conflicts that raged throughout the debate made the slugfest worthwhile, but the whole YouTube aspect had little to do with why this debate was watchable; it's crunch time, and the gimmick became irrelevant.
So have CNN and YouTube found the formula to rope in more viewers? Not yet. If this format is going to catch on, it has to strike a balance between the weird, disorganized potpourri of questions that aired in July (Slavery reparations? Favorite teachers?), and the narrow range of queries that we saw last night, delivered almost exclusively by dour dudes with digicams."
Well, that is C(IA)NN's fault!!!!!!
They FILTERED the QUESTIONS!
While OBVIOUSLY WORKING for the CLINTON CAMPAIGN!!!!
Elise Waxenberg is a senior at Dartmouth College and executive editor of The Dartmouth."
Think about it: They DON'T WANT the PUBLIC PARTICIPATING, so what better way to make them look bad than SELECT SHIT QUESTIONS?
CUI BONO, readers?
"Not enough sizzle for YouTubers" by Elise Waxenberg/Boston Globe November 30, 2007
HERE in the wilds of (still) first-in-the-nation primary state New Hampshire, I can count on one hand the number of times I've turned on a TV in the last few years. In fact, my college has made it its business to take TV off TVs altogether and beam it to our laptops instead, helping turn my generation of couch potatoes into one of computer potatoes - or YouTubers. Perhaps predictably, then, when I watched last night's CNN/YouTube debate with the Republican field of presidential candidates, I was watching to see how the producers were going to refine the novel format that debuted in the summer with the Democratic hopefuls.
But whatever fun YouTube had injected into the debate four months ago seemed to fizzle last night. Rewind to July, when the Democratic candidates duked it out in South Carolina in front of YouTubers and the nation. Within a couple of days, the Republican pack was hemming and hawing about signing on for a similar showdown.
It fizzled because C(IA)NN shat on it!
While we waited for the GOP camps to calm down about the prospect of perhaps having to answer questions from - gasp - symbolically melting snowmen, 4,927 video questions were submitted, 2,000 more than were submitted for YouTube debate number one. Yet while the volume of questions grew exponentially, the range in the debate shrank - to about four big topics (immigration, Iraq, guns, America's wallet). We also saw a lot more yes-or-no, black-or-white questions; a lot less of Anderson Cooper's pointed moderating, and a lot of grave white guys doing the asking (of 34 videos shown, 28 were submitted by men, and all but two were white).
As for the candidates' own YouTube submissions, none really embraced the YouTube concept in style or format - maybe not a surprise, but disappointing nonetheless. Not even Internet star Ron Paul, the representative from Texas, rose to the challenge. Each of the Republican campaigns submitted a canned made-for-TV spot, but the occasion invited something more innovative.
What the hell was she watching?
Ron Paul's staff put together a GREAT VIDEO AD!!!
It was ALL POSITIVE and HOPEFUL!!!
And it was ALL TRUE!!!!!
You just lost your credibility, girlie!
Save for a couple of yuk-yuks from former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, and the unintentional laughs generated by California Representative Duncan Hunter's faux pas of confusing Cooper's first and last names, the night was pretty somber.
Then again, maybe a comparison between the Democratic debate and this one isn't fair. The cast of characters is grossly different (and we don't see any real wild cards analagous to the likes of Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich or Alaska Senator Mike Gravel in the Republican crowd). Maybe it's just that by Nov. 28, presidential contenders don't have any more time to fool around.
Then RON PAUL is REAL!!!!!!! NOT a WILD CARD!!!!!!
I still don't like the dis!
From the first question, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani made that much clear. His knock-down, drag-out opening salvo to former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney would be the snarkiest fight of the night. The blows didn't get much lower than Giuliani's "sanctuary mansion" call, but still, Romney remained on the defensive for much of the night, strenuously seeking to prove his resoluteness. Former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson jumped all over Romney's abortion-stance switch in his YouTube mini-mercial, the first to attack another GOP contender. Ah, how potent is the accusation of flip-floppery.
Well, Mitt may have his problems, but at least he admitted he was wrong!
I respect that!
Now, Mitt may be a spoiled, rich-boy Mormon, but at least he tried.
He seems way to out there for me on the waterboarding and the word of God, but he doesn't seem evil at the root -- like Giuliani!
In New Hampshire, the word on the street about Huckabee seems to be "Mike who?" He runs a distant fourth behind a distant third in the Granite State, but watching last night's showdown, it was readily apparent why Iowans are hopping aboard the Huckabee train in droves: He was the only candidate to communicate both compassion and conservative creds convincingly. When Romney tried to take him to task for offering college tuition breaks to undocumented kids who do well in school, Huckabee somehow managed to escape while looking tough on immigration and making Romney look like a big meanie who wants to stick it to innocent children in order to save taxpayers money.
Yeah, just push the divisions!
And I'd be all for integration and amnesty if it was for true human goodness, but it's NOT!
Watch EndGame!
This whole issue is about the ECONOMIC INTEGRATION PLANS of the GLOBALISTS!
That's why I stand on the side I do! Sovereignty MATTERS!
This and the other sharp conflicts that raged throughout the debate made the slugfest worthwhile, but the whole YouTube aspect had little to do with why this debate was watchable; it's crunch time, and the gimmick became irrelevant.
So have CNN and YouTube found the formula to rope in more viewers? Not yet. If this format is going to catch on, it has to strike a balance between the weird, disorganized potpourri of questions that aired in July (Slavery reparations? Favorite teachers?), and the narrow range of queries that we saw last night, delivered almost exclusively by dour dudes with digicams."
Well, that is C(IA)NN's fault!!!!!!
They FILTERED the QUESTIONS!
While OBVIOUSLY WORKING for the CLINTON CAMPAIGN!!!!
Elise Waxenberg is a senior at Dartmouth College and executive editor of The Dartmouth."
What Debate Was the Boston Globe Watching?
They liked it! Hey, Mikey, they liked it!
"A new political machine" November 30, 2007
SOON ENOUGH, the presidential candidates will figure out this strange new YouTube phenomenon, and will learn how to stay "on message" in the face of ordinary voters on a 25-foot video screen asking their views on Mars exploration or the Confederate flag. But so far at least, the YouTube debate format has provoked fresh questions and unscripted answers in this otherwise overproduced campaign.
Well, WHOSE FAULT IS THAT!
The Shituation Room and the news channels Blair this garbage constantly while real issues go by unreported!
Wednesday night's Republican debate was the crispest engagement of the issues so far among the eight candidates, as voters relaxing in their dens or kitchens - practically in their pajamas - lobbed sometimes cheeky, sometimes poignant questions through the tube. The questions pierced the protective bubbles the candidates travel in and showed what a big, diverse country this really is.
Did these guys watch the same debate?
The questions C(IA)NN SELECTED were garbage!
One bespectacled young woman from Arlington, Texas, asked the candidates who want to outlaw abortion what should happen to a woman who has one anyway. What should her punishment be? The question ripped the issue away from the programmed pro-choice/pro-life interest groups and forced the candidates to confront the real consequences of their policies. It was the kind of question a national TV anchor would never ask.
Of course, the candidates all mumbled that they wouldn't throw the woman in jail.
Is it any surprise the liberal globalists at the Globe would bring that up?
And even when they criticize they can't say the good Dr. Ron Paul's name!
Yup, focus on the divisive stuff, NaZionist MSM!
The voters wanted specifics: name three programs you would cut to reduce the debt; do you believe every word in the Bible? Moderator Anderson Cooper of CNN admirably kept the candidates focused on the voter's precise question. And unlike previous attempts to inject "real people" into the debates, the YouTube participants crafting questions in advance weren't tongue-tied with stagefright when their big moment came.
Cooper did a HORRIBLE JOB!!!!!
Perhaps befitting a medium that rewards the home-grown and genuine, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and Senator John McCain each had a good night, speaking from the heart on matters of personal conviction. Both men's best moments came rebutting Mitt Romney.
Huckabee defended state scholarships for graduates with sterling academic records, even if their parents are illegal immigrants. He chided Romney for punishing children for the sins of their parents. "We're a better country than that," he said.
You globalists down at the Globe liked that, didn't ya?
McCain, a former prisoner of war, was visibly emotional when he explained to Romney that waterboarding is indeed torture. Romney kept insisting he wouldn't define what torture is and isn't. "Well then, you would have to advocate that we withdraw from the Geneva Conventions," McCain replied.
Many issues went missing Wednesday night: There were no questions on education or the environment, for example. But there are other debates for that. In the constant cat-and-mouse game between the candidates and the press chasing after an unguarded moment, the intimacy of a new medium stole the show. Score this one for the people."
They thought this was a great debate!
How fucking sickening the MSM has become!
"A new political machine" November 30, 2007
SOON ENOUGH, the presidential candidates will figure out this strange new YouTube phenomenon, and will learn how to stay "on message" in the face of ordinary voters on a 25-foot video screen asking their views on Mars exploration or the Confederate flag. But so far at least, the YouTube debate format has provoked fresh questions and unscripted answers in this otherwise overproduced campaign.
Well, WHOSE FAULT IS THAT!
The Shituation Room and the news channels Blair this garbage constantly while real issues go by unreported!
Wednesday night's Republican debate was the crispest engagement of the issues so far among the eight candidates, as voters relaxing in their dens or kitchens - practically in their pajamas - lobbed sometimes cheeky, sometimes poignant questions through the tube. The questions pierced the protective bubbles the candidates travel in and showed what a big, diverse country this really is.
Did these guys watch the same debate?
The questions C(IA)NN SELECTED were garbage!
One bespectacled young woman from Arlington, Texas, asked the candidates who want to outlaw abortion what should happen to a woman who has one anyway. What should her punishment be? The question ripped the issue away from the programmed pro-choice/pro-life interest groups and forced the candidates to confront the real consequences of their policies. It was the kind of question a national TV anchor would never ask.
Of course, the candidates all mumbled that they wouldn't throw the woman in jail.
Is it any surprise the liberal globalists at the Globe would bring that up?
And even when they criticize they can't say the good Dr. Ron Paul's name!
Yup, focus on the divisive stuff, NaZionist MSM!
The voters wanted specifics: name three programs you would cut to reduce the debt; do you believe every word in the Bible? Moderator Anderson Cooper of CNN admirably kept the candidates focused on the voter's precise question. And unlike previous attempts to inject "real people" into the debates, the YouTube participants crafting questions in advance weren't tongue-tied with stagefright when their big moment came.
Cooper did a HORRIBLE JOB!!!!!
Perhaps befitting a medium that rewards the home-grown and genuine, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and Senator John McCain each had a good night, speaking from the heart on matters of personal conviction. Both men's best moments came rebutting Mitt Romney.
Huckabee defended state scholarships for graduates with sterling academic records, even if their parents are illegal immigrants. He chided Romney for punishing children for the sins of their parents. "We're a better country than that," he said.
You globalists down at the Globe liked that, didn't ya?
McCain, a former prisoner of war, was visibly emotional when he explained to Romney that waterboarding is indeed torture. Romney kept insisting he wouldn't define what torture is and isn't. "Well then, you would have to advocate that we withdraw from the Geneva Conventions," McCain replied.
Many issues went missing Wednesday night: There were no questions on education or the environment, for example. But there are other debates for that. In the constant cat-and-mouse game between the candidates and the press chasing after an unguarded moment, the intimacy of a new medium stole the show. Score this one for the people."
They thought this was a great debate!
How fucking sickening the MSM has become!
The Clinton Campaign Network
"Ex-general in debate has ties to Clinton, CNN says" by Foon Rhee/Boston Globe November 30, 2007
CNN acknowledged yesterday that a retired military officer has ties to Democrat Hillary Clinton's campaign and should not have been allowed to ask a question at Wednesday night's Republican debate.
Via a YouTube video, retired Brigadier General Keith H. Kerr of Santa Rosa, Calif., asked a question criticizing the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy for homosexuals, and was invited to the theater in St. Petersburg, Fla., to pose a followup question.
He is on volunteer committees of veterans and of gays and lesbians who support Clinton.
The Clinton campaign said Kerr does not work for the campaign and was not acting on its behalf.
"We regret this and apologize to the Republican candidates," David Bohrman, CNN senior vice president and executive producer of debate, said in a statement that was posted on CNN's political website. "We never would have used the general's question had we known that he was connected to any presidential candidate."
CNN said that before the debate it verified his military background and that he had not given any money to presidential candidates.
CNN was more broadly criticized yesterday by Republican activists and bloggers, who accused the network of liberal bias because the debate emphasized gays, guns, and religion and included a question on the Confederate flag, when there were about 5,000 queries submitted."
That's right!
My YouTube Republican Debate Reflections
SAY IT AIN'T SO: CNN/YouTube Republican debate scrape the bottom of the barrel
CNN's Democratic Debate Was FIXED!
The Clinton News Network
Prop 101: The "Terrorism" Business
What a bunch of liars C(IA)NN is, too!
They could have found out about the guy with a Google:
"Gay Question Puts CNN on Defensive" by JACQUES STEINBERG
The president of CNN said yesterday that the cable channel would redouble its efforts to vet the campaign affiliations of questioners at open-forum debates, after a retired brigadier general was permitted Wednesday to ask the Republican presidential candidates about gay men and lesbians in the military without CNN’s knowing that he was listed on an advisory committee of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign.
“I think it’s pretty obvious, in retrospect, our search should have turned this up,” Jon Klein, the president of CNN’s domestic networks, said in an interview. “It’s in the nature of doing something that hasn’t been done before — you’re going to try to anticipate everything, and you’re going to fail at that.
“Had we known ahead of time,” Mr. Klein added, “we would probably not have used his question. It raised too many flags, in terms of motivation.”
The retired general, Keith H. Kerr, was one of 5,000 people who had uploaded videos of themselves asking potential debate questions to YouTube, which organized the debate with CNN. Several dozen questions were selected for use.
Mr. Klein said that a small group of producers had conducted basic searches on the questioners picked as finalists, including whether they had made donations to any presidential campaigns. There was no evidence Mr. Kerr had, Mr. Klein said.
Mr. Klein said the producers had also typed the questioners’ names into a search engine to see “who this person is and where they’re coming from.”
And yet, as of yesterday, someone typing “Hillary Clinton” and “Keith Kerr” into Google was prominently directed to Mrs. Clinton’s media site. There, a press release dated Nov. 11 identified Mr. Kerr as one of four dozen national co-chairmen of Veterans and Military Retirees for Hillary.
BUSTED, C(IA)NN!!!!!!!!!!!
Your name is SHIT NOW after Carville and NOW THIS!
As shown on CNN, Mr. Kerr had prefaced his video question by saying: “I’m a retired brigadier general with 43 years of service. And I’m a graduate of the Special Forces Officer Course, the Commanding General Staff Course and the Army War College. And I’m an openly gay man.”
He then said: “I want to know why you think that American men and women in uniform are not professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians.”
Anderson Cooper, the moderator, told the audience that Mr. Kerr was in the audience in St. Petersburg, Fla., and he was brought into the talk.
CNN learned of Mr. Kerr’s Clinton connection in its post-debate discussion, when William Bennett, serving as analyst, said on camera: “On that ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ I’m getting a ton of e-mails saying that this guy who asked the question was part of Hillary Clinton’s gay steering committee. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but if he is, that certainly should have been disclosed.”
Oh, it took BILL BENNET -- a fascist whom I dislike -- to point it out!
Man, do DemocraPs suck!
Mr. Cooper responded, “It’s something that we should follow up on, because certainly, I had not heard that.” Mr. Cooper added, “If so, that should have been, certainly, disclosed, and we would have disclosed that.”
The episode was quickly seized upon on the blogosphere, including on some conservative sites.
Welcome, readers! I prefer the term "freedom site," however!
Mr. Kerr was interviewed yesterday by John Roberts on “American Morning” on CNN. In addition to the military advisory committee for Mrs. Clinton, the retired general said he had been part of a Clinton steering committee on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues but he said he had done no work for the campaign.
Oh, so C(IA)NN KEPT THE STORY GOING the NEXT DAY, too, huh?!
Asked by Mr. Roberts if anyone affiliated with Mrs. Clinton “put you up to the idea of asking this question,” Mr. Kerr said, “This was a private initiative of my own.”
Also, when Mr. Roberts asked about his experience as a gay man in the military, Mr. Kerr said that “because of the generation in which I grew up, one could not reveal their sexuality.”
Mr. Klein said CNN should have known about Mr. Kerr’s affiliation with Mrs. Clinton, but he defended his question.
“We were looking for questions that would help Republican voters decide amongst the candidates,” Mr. Klein said. “We didn’t particularly care who was asking the question, as long as it was strong and relevant to the race.”
Translation: Our operation is pure bullshit-slinging!
To that end, Mr. Klein acknowledged that the selected questions tended to tilt toward subjects generally considered to be of more import to Republican voters — including abortion and gun control, while subjects like health care were minimized.
Yeah, and the questions you guys ALLOWED to be FILTERED through were GARBAGE!!!!
Mr. Klein said that, in selecting the questions and questioners, the producers had done their jobs well, at least as measured by number of people — 4.4 million — who had watched, according to estimates of Nielsen Media Research. No primary debate on any cable channel has had a bigger audience, according to CNN.
When asked about the fuss in St. Petersburg yesterday morning, Senator John McCain said that Mr. Kerr’s identity should have been made clear.
“But I am glad the issue came up,” Mr. McCain said. “It continues to be an issue of discussion."
Yup, just the MSM diverting us off real issues like the war and economy, and feeding us shit!
And if you didn't think the MSM is pushing an agenda, look what leads the National Report over at the New York Times:
A New Push to Roll Back ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’
CNN acknowledged yesterday that a retired military officer has ties to Democrat Hillary Clinton's campaign and should not have been allowed to ask a question at Wednesday night's Republican debate.
Via a YouTube video, retired Brigadier General Keith H. Kerr of Santa Rosa, Calif., asked a question criticizing the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy for homosexuals, and was invited to the theater in St. Petersburg, Fla., to pose a followup question.
He is on volunteer committees of veterans and of gays and lesbians who support Clinton.
The Clinton campaign said Kerr does not work for the campaign and was not acting on its behalf.
"We regret this and apologize to the Republican candidates," David Bohrman, CNN senior vice president and executive producer of debate, said in a statement that was posted on CNN's political website. "We never would have used the general's question had we known that he was connected to any presidential candidate."
CNN said that before the debate it verified his military background and that he had not given any money to presidential candidates.
CNN was more broadly criticized yesterday by Republican activists and bloggers, who accused the network of liberal bias because the debate emphasized gays, guns, and religion and included a question on the Confederate flag, when there were about 5,000 queries submitted."
That's right!
My YouTube Republican Debate Reflections
SAY IT AIN'T SO: CNN/YouTube Republican debate scrape the bottom of the barrel
CNN's Democratic Debate Was FIXED!
The Clinton News Network
Prop 101: The "Terrorism" Business
What a bunch of liars C(IA)NN is, too!
They could have found out about the guy with a Google:
"Gay Question Puts CNN on Defensive" by JACQUES STEINBERG
The president of CNN said yesterday that the cable channel would redouble its efforts to vet the campaign affiliations of questioners at open-forum debates, after a retired brigadier general was permitted Wednesday to ask the Republican presidential candidates about gay men and lesbians in the military without CNN’s knowing that he was listed on an advisory committee of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign.
“I think it’s pretty obvious, in retrospect, our search should have turned this up,” Jon Klein, the president of CNN’s domestic networks, said in an interview. “It’s in the nature of doing something that hasn’t been done before — you’re going to try to anticipate everything, and you’re going to fail at that.
“Had we known ahead of time,” Mr. Klein added, “we would probably not have used his question. It raised too many flags, in terms of motivation.”
The retired general, Keith H. Kerr, was one of 5,000 people who had uploaded videos of themselves asking potential debate questions to YouTube, which organized the debate with CNN. Several dozen questions were selected for use.
Mr. Klein said that a small group of producers had conducted basic searches on the questioners picked as finalists, including whether they had made donations to any presidential campaigns. There was no evidence Mr. Kerr had, Mr. Klein said.
Mr. Klein said the producers had also typed the questioners’ names into a search engine to see “who this person is and where they’re coming from.”
And yet, as of yesterday, someone typing “Hillary Clinton” and “Keith Kerr” into Google was prominently directed to Mrs. Clinton’s media site. There, a press release dated Nov. 11 identified Mr. Kerr as one of four dozen national co-chairmen of Veterans and Military Retirees for Hillary.
BUSTED, C(IA)NN!!!!!!!!!!!
Your name is SHIT NOW after Carville and NOW THIS!
As shown on CNN, Mr. Kerr had prefaced his video question by saying: “I’m a retired brigadier general with 43 years of service. And I’m a graduate of the Special Forces Officer Course, the Commanding General Staff Course and the Army War College. And I’m an openly gay man.”
He then said: “I want to know why you think that American men and women in uniform are not professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians.”
Anderson Cooper, the moderator, told the audience that Mr. Kerr was in the audience in St. Petersburg, Fla., and he was brought into the talk.
CNN learned of Mr. Kerr’s Clinton connection in its post-debate discussion, when William Bennett, serving as analyst, said on camera: “On that ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ I’m getting a ton of e-mails saying that this guy who asked the question was part of Hillary Clinton’s gay steering committee. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but if he is, that certainly should have been disclosed.”
Oh, it took BILL BENNET -- a fascist whom I dislike -- to point it out!
Man, do DemocraPs suck!
Mr. Cooper responded, “It’s something that we should follow up on, because certainly, I had not heard that.” Mr. Cooper added, “If so, that should have been, certainly, disclosed, and we would have disclosed that.”
The episode was quickly seized upon on the blogosphere, including on some conservative sites.
Welcome, readers! I prefer the term "freedom site," however!
Mr. Kerr was interviewed yesterday by John Roberts on “American Morning” on CNN. In addition to the military advisory committee for Mrs. Clinton, the retired general said he had been part of a Clinton steering committee on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues but he said he had done no work for the campaign.
Oh, so C(IA)NN KEPT THE STORY GOING the NEXT DAY, too, huh?!
Asked by Mr. Roberts if anyone affiliated with Mrs. Clinton “put you up to the idea of asking this question,” Mr. Kerr said, “This was a private initiative of my own.”
Also, when Mr. Roberts asked about his experience as a gay man in the military, Mr. Kerr said that “because of the generation in which I grew up, one could not reveal their sexuality.”
Mr. Klein said CNN should have known about Mr. Kerr’s affiliation with Mrs. Clinton, but he defended his question.
“We were looking for questions that would help Republican voters decide amongst the candidates,” Mr. Klein said. “We didn’t particularly care who was asking the question, as long as it was strong and relevant to the race.”
Translation: Our operation is pure bullshit-slinging!
To that end, Mr. Klein acknowledged that the selected questions tended to tilt toward subjects generally considered to be of more import to Republican voters — including abortion and gun control, while subjects like health care were minimized.
Yeah, and the questions you guys ALLOWED to be FILTERED through were GARBAGE!!!!
Mr. Klein said that, in selecting the questions and questioners, the producers had done their jobs well, at least as measured by number of people — 4.4 million — who had watched, according to estimates of Nielsen Media Research. No primary debate on any cable channel has had a bigger audience, according to CNN.
When asked about the fuss in St. Petersburg yesterday morning, Senator John McCain said that Mr. Kerr’s identity should have been made clear.
“But I am glad the issue came up,” Mr. McCain said. “It continues to be an issue of discussion."
Yup, just the MSM diverting us off real issues like the war and economy, and feeding us shit!
And if you didn't think the MSM is pushing an agenda, look what leads the National Report over at the New York Times:
A New Push to Roll Back ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’
A Truly "Nothing" Conference
O.K., so the senior Bush administration liar said it cost the administration nothing to get Syria to Annapolis?
LIAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"Lebanese Opposition Leader Backs Army Chief for President" by THANASSIS CAMBANIS and NADA BAKRI
BEIRUT, Lebanon, Nov. 29 — The political logjam over Lebanon’s vacant presidency was broken Thursday when a leader of the Syrian-backed opposition announced his support for the compromise candidate accepted by the pro-Western alliance. The deal follows Syria’s participation in the American-sponsored Middle East peace conference.
Lebanon has teetered on the edge of factional violence over the question of who would succeed the former president, Émile Lahoud, who was widely considered a tool of Syria.
The country has been without a president since Mr. Lahoud’s term ended a week ago; the new agreement over the candidacy of Gen. Michel Suleiman, the army’s chief of staff, is the first major turning point in two years of political clashes between the governing coalition, backed by the United States and Saudi Arabia, and the opposition, led by Hezbollah and backed by Iran and Syria.
General Suleiman won the support of the opposition Christian leader Michel Aoun, a retired general and a former army chief who was seeking the presidency himself and is backed by Syria.
The breakthrough, first signaled in a series of public pronouncements on Wednesday, came on the heels of Syria’s attendance at the conference in Annapolis, Md., this week on the Middle East peace process. Syria, the most important outside influence over Lebanese politics, had hesitated until the last minute over whether to attend the conference.
Immediately after the talks, Syrian allies in Lebanon endorsed the first major political breakthrough. Analysts say the talks could thaw strained relations between Syria and the United States.
“The Syrians did not want to go to Annapolis, and without them the conference would have been a failure and would have weakened the Arabs,” said Talal Atrissi, a political analyst and sociologist at Lebanese University. “The Syrians traded their participation, which did not cost them anything, with a deal on the Lebanese presidency.”
Oooooooh, so attending the conference COST SYRIA NOTHING!
So who was that senior administration official that talked to Helene Cooper?
Sure sounds like CONDI RICE!!!!! And SHE LIED!!!!!!
We gave the Syrians back some of Lebanon!!!!!!!
Hilal Khashan, a political science professor at the American University of Beirut, said Syria won a concession from the United States and France in exchange for its appearance at Annapolis. The Syrian government does not expect real progress on negotiations with Israel over the occupied Golan Heights, Mr. Khashan said, but it now expects the United States and France to give Syria more leeway to influence Lebanese affairs.
Nor does the rest of the world!
“Syria is eager to get out of its stranglehold, it is eager to collaborate with the U.S., to end its isolation,” he said.
I don't like the terminology used in my stink NaZionist press!!!
An agreement over a new president could clear the way for Lebanon to finally face the thorny issues that rose to the surface in 2005 after Syria ended 29 years of occupation — with Hezbollah’s armed militia at the top of the list.
The deal could hit a snag in the coming days, politicians and analysts said, but the agreement over General Suleiman is the first time that leaders from every major faction have publicly endorsed a candidate. The vote is set for Dec. 7.
General Suleiman, 59, has won the trust of Hezbollah and the opposition in large measure through his cooperation with the militia since the 2006 war with Israel.
Oh, I LIKE THIS GUY!
The Lebanese Army deployed more than 10,000 soldiers to southern Lebanon after the cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel, and it has coordinated with Hezbollah’s fighters to minimize friction on the ground.
The army maintained its neutrality in 2005 when street protests toppled the Syrian-sponsored government, and it has remained neutral during the current presidential crisis. General Suleiman responded with an appeal for calm when the departing president in his farewell speech announced that all the conditions were in place for a state of emergency and a military takeover.
If all parties stick to the deal, it could take as little as a day for the government to amend the Constitution, which requires two-thirds approval by Parliament and ratification by the cabinet.
Then Parliament can convene and officially elect General Suleiman as Lebanon’s president.
General Suleiman was appointed army chief of staff in 1998, during the Syrian occupation, and was for a long time maligned by the governing coalition for being too close to Syria.
The members of the governing coalition dropped their objections to General Suleiman after insisting just two weeks ago that they did not want a president drawn, for the second time in a row, from the top ranks of the military.
Ooooooh, so U.S. ALLIES BACKED DOWN, huh?
But it DIDN'T COST US NUTHIN!!!!!!!!!
“We want a president,” said Elias Atallah, a member of Parliament from the pro-American governing coalition. “We are not maneuvering.”
General Suleiman, he said, “has Lebanon’s best interest at heart,” and the pro-Western coalition did not have the support to push through one of its own presidential candidates.
That's NOT what my STINK ZIONIST WAR DAILIES have been telling me!!!!!!!!!
In his announcement on Thursday, General Aoun left open the possibility that he would thwart a final resolution of the political crisis, saying that his followers would engage in peaceful street protests beginning this weekend."
Or somebody will!
Israel's Dirty Games
From the Wayne Madsen Report:
LIAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"Lebanese Opposition Leader Backs Army Chief for President" by THANASSIS CAMBANIS and NADA BAKRI
BEIRUT, Lebanon, Nov. 29 — The political logjam over Lebanon’s vacant presidency was broken Thursday when a leader of the Syrian-backed opposition announced his support for the compromise candidate accepted by the pro-Western alliance. The deal follows Syria’s participation in the American-sponsored Middle East peace conference.
Lebanon has teetered on the edge of factional violence over the question of who would succeed the former president, Émile Lahoud, who was widely considered a tool of Syria.
The country has been without a president since Mr. Lahoud’s term ended a week ago; the new agreement over the candidacy of Gen. Michel Suleiman, the army’s chief of staff, is the first major turning point in two years of political clashes between the governing coalition, backed by the United States and Saudi Arabia, and the opposition, led by Hezbollah and backed by Iran and Syria.
General Suleiman won the support of the opposition Christian leader Michel Aoun, a retired general and a former army chief who was seeking the presidency himself and is backed by Syria.
The breakthrough, first signaled in a series of public pronouncements on Wednesday, came on the heels of Syria’s attendance at the conference in Annapolis, Md., this week on the Middle East peace process. Syria, the most important outside influence over Lebanese politics, had hesitated until the last minute over whether to attend the conference.
Immediately after the talks, Syrian allies in Lebanon endorsed the first major political breakthrough. Analysts say the talks could thaw strained relations between Syria and the United States.
“The Syrians did not want to go to Annapolis, and without them the conference would have been a failure and would have weakened the Arabs,” said Talal Atrissi, a political analyst and sociologist at Lebanese University. “The Syrians traded their participation, which did not cost them anything, with a deal on the Lebanese presidency.”
Oooooooh, so attending the conference COST SYRIA NOTHING!
So who was that senior administration official that talked to Helene Cooper?
Sure sounds like CONDI RICE!!!!! And SHE LIED!!!!!!
We gave the Syrians back some of Lebanon!!!!!!!
Hilal Khashan, a political science professor at the American University of Beirut, said Syria won a concession from the United States and France in exchange for its appearance at Annapolis. The Syrian government does not expect real progress on negotiations with Israel over the occupied Golan Heights, Mr. Khashan said, but it now expects the United States and France to give Syria more leeway to influence Lebanese affairs.
Nor does the rest of the world!
“Syria is eager to get out of its stranglehold, it is eager to collaborate with the U.S., to end its isolation,” he said.
I don't like the terminology used in my stink NaZionist press!!!
An agreement over a new president could clear the way for Lebanon to finally face the thorny issues that rose to the surface in 2005 after Syria ended 29 years of occupation — with Hezbollah’s armed militia at the top of the list.
The deal could hit a snag in the coming days, politicians and analysts said, but the agreement over General Suleiman is the first time that leaders from every major faction have publicly endorsed a candidate. The vote is set for Dec. 7.
General Suleiman, 59, has won the trust of Hezbollah and the opposition in large measure through his cooperation with the militia since the 2006 war with Israel.
Oh, I LIKE THIS GUY!
The Lebanese Army deployed more than 10,000 soldiers to southern Lebanon after the cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel, and it has coordinated with Hezbollah’s fighters to minimize friction on the ground.
The army maintained its neutrality in 2005 when street protests toppled the Syrian-sponsored government, and it has remained neutral during the current presidential crisis. General Suleiman responded with an appeal for calm when the departing president in his farewell speech announced that all the conditions were in place for a state of emergency and a military takeover.
If all parties stick to the deal, it could take as little as a day for the government to amend the Constitution, which requires two-thirds approval by Parliament and ratification by the cabinet.
Then Parliament can convene and officially elect General Suleiman as Lebanon’s president.
General Suleiman was appointed army chief of staff in 1998, during the Syrian occupation, and was for a long time maligned by the governing coalition for being too close to Syria.
The members of the governing coalition dropped their objections to General Suleiman after insisting just two weeks ago that they did not want a president drawn, for the second time in a row, from the top ranks of the military.
Ooooooh, so U.S. ALLIES BACKED DOWN, huh?
But it DIDN'T COST US NUTHIN!!!!!!!!!
“We want a president,” said Elias Atallah, a member of Parliament from the pro-American governing coalition. “We are not maneuvering.”
General Suleiman, he said, “has Lebanon’s best interest at heart,” and the pro-Western coalition did not have the support to push through one of its own presidential candidates.
That's NOT what my STINK ZIONIST WAR DAILIES have been telling me!!!!!!!!!
In his announcement on Thursday, General Aoun left open the possibility that he would thwart a final resolution of the political crisis, saying that his followers would engage in peaceful street protests beginning this weekend."
Or somebody will!
Israel's Dirty Games
From the Wayne Madsen Report:
"October 24, 2006 -- A senior French DGSE -- Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure -- intelligence officer has told WMR that Lebanon's ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was killed in a car bombing arranged by Israel's Mossad. The revelation from French intelligence is significant as the French government of Jacques Chirac joined the Bush administration and the neo-con policy establishments in Washington and Israel in blaming Syria for the attack. According to the DGSE officer, Israel and its American backers wanted to blame Syria for the assassination of the popular Lebanese leader in order to blame Syria for the attack thus forcing the popular Lebanese revolt that saw the withdrawal of Syrian forces. That left Lebanon defenseless for the "Clean Break" attack launched by Israel, with US support, against Hezbollah and Lebanon's infrastructure. WMR was one of the first to report Israeli and American involvement in the assassination of Hariri, as well as those of Elie Hobeika, George Hawi, and other Lebanese politicians.
October 25, 2006 -- A new book in Germany is casting light on Israel's covert program to provoke violence among Muslims in Western Europe and engage in "false flag" operations in order for Western governments to blame Muslim radicals. The book, Der Krieg im Dunkeln (War in the Dark) by Udo Ulfkotte, formerly a correspondent for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, provides details of the operations of two Israeli intelligence units -- the Metsada, which specializes in sabotage, including "false flag" terrorist attacks and assassinations; and LAP (Lohamah Psichlogit), which engages in psychological warfare.
Ulfkotte's previous book on Islamist extremism, titled The War In Our Cities, was withdrawn from the German market because of "massive legal pressures by Islamic plaintiffs." Ulfkotte claims that British and German intelligence agents encountered Metsada and LAP agents in France stirring up violence during the November 2005 riots, blamed on Islamic extremists. WMR has also reported that Interior Minister and presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy, who is supported by pro-Israeli factions in France, coordinated and continues to coordinate the paying of agents provocateurs to engage in violence in the predominantly Muslim Banlieus of Paris and other cities. The November 2005 riots spread from Paris to Rouen, Lille, Nice, Dijon, Strasbourg, Marseilles (where Mossad's Brach C, also responsible for Paris and London, maintains a large station), Bordeaux, Rennes, Pau, Orleans, Toulouse, Lyon, Roubaix, Avignon, Saint-Dizier, Drancy, Evreux, Nantes, Dunkirk, Montpellier, Valenciennes, Cannes, and Tourcoing. Ulfkotte also quotes a British MI-6 source who reported that Israel's goal is to portray Muslims as unpredictable threats who cannot be integrated into Western society.
Meanwhile, U.S. intelligence sources report a continuing Israeli intelligence effort to engage in false flag operations in the United States. In addition to Israeli nationals and dual U.S-Israeli nationals being caught casing tunnels, bridges, military bases, tall buildings, government agencies, private homes of U.S. law enforcement agents, airports, oil and chemical plants, and other prospective targets, Israeli nationals continue to be caught engaged in other terror "scare" tactics. There has also been an unprecedented infiltration by Mossad agents into sensitive and top-level positions in the Department of Defense, CIA, Homeland Security Department, FBI, and other agencies, all of which continue to officially recognize Israel as a "hostile intelligence" nation.
On Monday, Yechezkel Wells, a 21-year old dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, pleaded guilty to phoning in a false bomb threat on August 26 to Long Beach (California) Airport Emergency Services from a pay phone. Wells claimed that he made the call because he was late for his flight and hoped to delay his plane from taking off. Wells said that there was a bomb on the Jet Blue flight from Long Beach to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The Jet Blue flight was delayed for one hour.
Not much is known about Wells. He claims he is a student but there is no information on what school he attends. Wells pleaded guilty to a single felony count of conveying false information of a threat targeting an airplane. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 29, 2007 and Wells faces a maximum of five years in prison or probation. If the past is prologue, we can expect the Bush administration to agree to probation in return for Wells' deportation to Israel, where he, like hundreds of other Mossad, Metsada, and LAP agents caught engaged in false flag terrorist and psychological operations in the United States before, during, and after the 911 attacks, can continue to ply their trade in deception."
So, HOW is THAT for keeping the American people IGNORANT, huh?
Fucking American papers have DOGSHIT in them -- PROOF they are COMPLICIT AGENTS in this BULLSHIT "TERROR" WAR!!!
FUCKING COMPLICIT, SHIT-SUCKING, DIARRHEA-GARGLING SHIT-SPEWING SUCKSHITS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Olmert Rejects Any Talks With Syria
I told you the lower post was a bullshit lie!
Thanks, NYT for LYING TO ME ONCE AGAIN!
"A New Role for Syrians: Seats at the Table, at Least" by HELENE COOPER
WASHINGTON, Nov. 29 — For almost three years, Syria has been in the diplomatic doghouse, shunned by the United States, disrespected by France, bombed by Israel and even scolded by its fellow Arab governments for cozying up to Iran.
Yup, been shat on by everybody! Sorry, Syria!
Sorry my government is under the total control of Israel!
But now, in the post-Annapolis let’s-make-peace-in-the-Middle-East world, the kitchen door may have cracked slightly open to allow Syria back in the house.
Bush administration officials, who usually have not been able to mention the word “Syria” without immediately following it up with “state sponsor of terrorism,” have started to sound conciliatory. Israel says it is willing to consider peace talks with Syria over the Golan Heights. And Arab neighbors went to the mat last week to persuade the United States to do everything it could to get Syria to attend the Annapolis peace conference.
What has changed?
“The event in Annapolis was designed to send one unmistakable message: that Arab-Israeli peace is open for business,” said Aaron David Miller, a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington. “The pull here is the allure of the second track.”
ALL BULLSHIT!!!!!
The Sunni Arab states want to woo Syria, with its Sunni Muslim majority, from its alliance with largely Shiite Iran. For the Israelis, one potential benefit would be to play the Palestinians off against the Syrians while trying to negotiate peace with both.
Oooooh, it's all about WHAT'S GOOD FOR THE ISRAELIS!!!!!!!
Yeah, those stinkfucks want peace, but LET'S PLAY PALESTINIAN against PALESTINAIN against SYRIAN!!!!!!
What FUCKING NaZionist ASSHOLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And the United States? “Look, a handful in the Arab League were saying they could not attend the conference unless Syria was put on the agenda,” a senior Bush administration official said. “So we put Syria on the agenda. What did it cost us? Nothing.”
Hah, that's funny, because SYRIA said the SAME THING!!!
In fact, the SENIOR BUSH ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL is LYING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It cost the administration LEBANON (see above post)!!!!!!!!
However, American and Israeli officials said the time was not yet ripe for real peace talks with Syria. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel will have enough to do trying to get skeptics to agree to give up settlements in the West Bank and to share Jerusalem with the Palestinians, compromises Israel will have to make if the peace track with the Palestinians has any chance of working.
Oh, they gotta do the Palestinian deal first, which means the deal with Syria will never get done!
Trying to get the 12,000 to 15,000 Israeli settlers out of the Golan Heights, in addition, would make an already hard job close to impossible, Israeli officials said, and make it far less likely for Israel to start separate talks with Syria soon. Mr. Olmert echoed that with reporters before he flew home Wednesday night. “Conditions are not yet at the point” for talks with Syria, he said. “There’s enough that we will have to do that will be heartbreaking.”
Awwwwwwwwww!!!!!
The POOR, LYING, LAND-STEALING MASS-MURDERING, GENOCIDAL NaZionist Olmert is going to have his heart broke!
Somehow I doubt it! I don't think one settlement is going to be turned back!
EVERYONE KNOWS ISRAEL INTENDS to WIPE OUT the PALESTINIANS!!!
They are ALREADY ARE and HAVE BEEN ENGAGED in ETHNIC CLEANSING!!!
And now they are already BACKTRACKING on the CONFERENCE!
That whole charade happened because ISRAEL WANTED SOME GOOD PUB!
Over the past few months, the American relationship with Syria has been alternating between cold and lukewarm.
Officially, the United States considers Syria a state sponsor of terrorism, and the administration has struggled to isolate it as a strategy to have it change its policies. The United States withdrew its ambassador to Syria, Margaret Scobey, in 2005 after the assassination of Lebanon’s former prime minister, Rafik Hariri. Syria, which had troops in Lebanon at the time, has been implicated in the assassination, but has denied any involvement.
Yeah, except ISRAEL K ISRAEL KILLED HARIRI!!!!
Syria removed troops like USrael wanted because of this, so CUI BONO?
This April, the White House sharply criticized the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, for visiting Damascus and meeting with President Bashar al-Assad, calling the trip “bad behavior,” in the words of Vice President Dick Cheney.
But one month later, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem of Syria in Sharm el Sheik, Egypt, in the first high-level diplomatic contact between Washington and Damascus in two years. Both sides described the 30-minute meeting as cordial, and Ms. Rice asked Mr. Moallem for Syria’s help to contain the flow of foreign fighters traveling through Damascus to Iraq.
Oooooooooh, LOOK at the STINK FUCK ADMINISTRATION HYPOCRISY!!!
So, FUCK YOU, Bush administration, you slavish ass-suckers of NaZionist Israel!!!
Just a few months later, on Sept. 6, Israeli jets bombed a site in Syria. About three weeks after that, the United States announced it would invite Syria to the Annapolis conference.
But no big deal! Imagine if Syria had bombed Israel!
The region would be enveloped in war right now!
TIRED of NAZIONIST DOUBLE-STANDARDS!!!!!!
When Syrian officials dallied about whether to show up, demanding that the Golan Heights issue be put on the agenda, Arab officials asked Ms. Rice to modify the agenda to something the Syrians could accept. Ms. Rice was on the phone more than 30 times between Nov. 21 and Nov. 25, administration officials said, talking to officials in the Middle East. She had more than 50 phone calls with C. David Welch, the assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs.
I'm sick of the damn Zionist bias in these stink fucking papers!
Yeah, Israel never dallies! FUCK OFF, TIMES!!!!!!
In the end, the United States agreed to formally put the Israel-Syria issue on the conference agenda. And Damascus sent its deputy foreign minister, Faisal al-Mekdad, to the conference. He told a closed session that Israel should pull out of the Golan Heights.
Sean D. McCormack, the State Department spokesman, sounded downright benign in describing Syria’s role at the conference. “It was positive that they decided to come to Annapolis, and taken as a whole, their comments were constructive,” he said.
Bush officials said Syria had gotten better about actively trying to stop the flow of foreign fighters through Damascus to Iraq, a key American demand.
Stephen J. Hadley, the national security adviser, said the ball was in Syria’s court.
“I think for Syria, there is a fundamental choice,” Mr. Hadley said during remarks on Wednesday night at a forum at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
“Are they going to make a strategic decision, give up their support for terror, let Lebanon alone, support a new Iraqi government, rather than obstruct it and undermine it, and make a decision for peace?” he asked. “If they do, I think there are opportunities for them in the Golan Heights.
Translation: BOW DOWN to ISRAEL, or else!
“The door is open to them.”"
Yeah, the door to an ISRAELI PRISON!
Thanks, NYT for LYING TO ME ONCE AGAIN!
"A New Role for Syrians: Seats at the Table, at Least" by HELENE COOPER
WASHINGTON, Nov. 29 — For almost three years, Syria has been in the diplomatic doghouse, shunned by the United States, disrespected by France, bombed by Israel and even scolded by its fellow Arab governments for cozying up to Iran.
Yup, been shat on by everybody! Sorry, Syria!
Sorry my government is under the total control of Israel!
But now, in the post-Annapolis let’s-make-peace-in-the-Middle-East world, the kitchen door may have cracked slightly open to allow Syria back in the house.
Bush administration officials, who usually have not been able to mention the word “Syria” without immediately following it up with “state sponsor of terrorism,” have started to sound conciliatory. Israel says it is willing to consider peace talks with Syria over the Golan Heights. And Arab neighbors went to the mat last week to persuade the United States to do everything it could to get Syria to attend the Annapolis peace conference.
What has changed?
“The event in Annapolis was designed to send one unmistakable message: that Arab-Israeli peace is open for business,” said Aaron David Miller, a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington. “The pull here is the allure of the second track.”
ALL BULLSHIT!!!!!
The Sunni Arab states want to woo Syria, with its Sunni Muslim majority, from its alliance with largely Shiite Iran. For the Israelis, one potential benefit would be to play the Palestinians off against the Syrians while trying to negotiate peace with both.
Oooooh, it's all about WHAT'S GOOD FOR THE ISRAELIS!!!!!!!
Yeah, those stinkfucks want peace, but LET'S PLAY PALESTINIAN against PALESTINAIN against SYRIAN!!!!!!
What FUCKING NaZionist ASSHOLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And the United States? “Look, a handful in the Arab League were saying they could not attend the conference unless Syria was put on the agenda,” a senior Bush administration official said. “So we put Syria on the agenda. What did it cost us? Nothing.”
Hah, that's funny, because SYRIA said the SAME THING!!!
In fact, the SENIOR BUSH ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL is LYING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It cost the administration LEBANON (see above post)!!!!!!!!
However, American and Israeli officials said the time was not yet ripe for real peace talks with Syria. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel will have enough to do trying to get skeptics to agree to give up settlements in the West Bank and to share Jerusalem with the Palestinians, compromises Israel will have to make if the peace track with the Palestinians has any chance of working.
Oh, they gotta do the Palestinian deal first, which means the deal with Syria will never get done!
Trying to get the 12,000 to 15,000 Israeli settlers out of the Golan Heights, in addition, would make an already hard job close to impossible, Israeli officials said, and make it far less likely for Israel to start separate talks with Syria soon. Mr. Olmert echoed that with reporters before he flew home Wednesday night. “Conditions are not yet at the point” for talks with Syria, he said. “There’s enough that we will have to do that will be heartbreaking.”
Awwwwwwwwww!!!!!
The POOR, LYING, LAND-STEALING MASS-MURDERING, GENOCIDAL NaZionist Olmert is going to have his heart broke!
Somehow I doubt it! I don't think one settlement is going to be turned back!
EVERYONE KNOWS ISRAEL INTENDS to WIPE OUT the PALESTINIANS!!!
They are ALREADY ARE and HAVE BEEN ENGAGED in ETHNIC CLEANSING!!!
And now they are already BACKTRACKING on the CONFERENCE!
That whole charade happened because ISRAEL WANTED SOME GOOD PUB!
Over the past few months, the American relationship with Syria has been alternating between cold and lukewarm.
Officially, the United States considers Syria a state sponsor of terrorism, and the administration has struggled to isolate it as a strategy to have it change its policies. The United States withdrew its ambassador to Syria, Margaret Scobey, in 2005 after the assassination of Lebanon’s former prime minister, Rafik Hariri. Syria, which had troops in Lebanon at the time, has been implicated in the assassination, but has denied any involvement.
Yeah, except ISRAEL K ISRAEL KILLED HARIRI!!!!
Syria removed troops like USrael wanted because of this, so CUI BONO?
This April, the White House sharply criticized the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, for visiting Damascus and meeting with President Bashar al-Assad, calling the trip “bad behavior,” in the words of Vice President Dick Cheney.
But one month later, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem of Syria in Sharm el Sheik, Egypt, in the first high-level diplomatic contact between Washington and Damascus in two years. Both sides described the 30-minute meeting as cordial, and Ms. Rice asked Mr. Moallem for Syria’s help to contain the flow of foreign fighters traveling through Damascus to Iraq.
Oooooooooh, LOOK at the STINK FUCK ADMINISTRATION HYPOCRISY!!!
So, FUCK YOU, Bush administration, you slavish ass-suckers of NaZionist Israel!!!
Just a few months later, on Sept. 6, Israeli jets bombed a site in Syria. About three weeks after that, the United States announced it would invite Syria to the Annapolis conference.
But no big deal! Imagine if Syria had bombed Israel!
The region would be enveloped in war right now!
TIRED of NAZIONIST DOUBLE-STANDARDS!!!!!!
When Syrian officials dallied about whether to show up, demanding that the Golan Heights issue be put on the agenda, Arab officials asked Ms. Rice to modify the agenda to something the Syrians could accept. Ms. Rice was on the phone more than 30 times between Nov. 21 and Nov. 25, administration officials said, talking to officials in the Middle East. She had more than 50 phone calls with C. David Welch, the assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs.
I'm sick of the damn Zionist bias in these stink fucking papers!
Yeah, Israel never dallies! FUCK OFF, TIMES!!!!!!
In the end, the United States agreed to formally put the Israel-Syria issue on the conference agenda. And Damascus sent its deputy foreign minister, Faisal al-Mekdad, to the conference. He told a closed session that Israel should pull out of the Golan Heights.
Sean D. McCormack, the State Department spokesman, sounded downright benign in describing Syria’s role at the conference. “It was positive that they decided to come to Annapolis, and taken as a whole, their comments were constructive,” he said.
Bush officials said Syria had gotten better about actively trying to stop the flow of foreign fighters through Damascus to Iraq, a key American demand.
Stephen J. Hadley, the national security adviser, said the ball was in Syria’s court.
“I think for Syria, there is a fundamental choice,” Mr. Hadley said during remarks on Wednesday night at a forum at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
“Are they going to make a strategic decision, give up their support for terror, let Lebanon alone, support a new Iraqi government, rather than obstruct it and undermine it, and make a decision for peace?” he asked. “If they do, I think there are opportunities for them in the Golan Heights.
Translation: BOW DOWN to ISRAEL, or else!
“The door is open to them.”"
Yeah, the door to an ISRAELI PRISON!
USrael Tells Russia to Stay Out of Middle East
That's basically what they are saying, and this article is so truncated about Israel's outlook on talks with Syria (see above post).
"Russia seeks to host '08 peace talks on Mideast" by Brian Knowlton/International Herald Tribune | November 30, 2007
WASHINGTON - Russia, with at least tacit American support, hopes to host a follow-up Middle East peace conference sometime in early 2008, with a goal of establishing direct Israeli-Syrian negotiations to resolve the long-standing Golan Heights dispute.
"It is our hope that we can revive the Syrian track in Moscow," the Syrian deputy foreign minister, Faisal Mekdad, told The Washington Post in an interview Wednesday after the international peace conference in Annapolis, Md. The Post quoted diplomats from the United States, Russia, and several other countries on the proposed follow-up conference.
Both Israeli and US officials questioned whether the time was ripe for an Israeli-Syrian solution. Both are concerned by the Syrian role in Lebanon and Damascus's support for Hezbollah and Hamas militants, and the United States has complained that Syria has not kept militants from entering Iraq. But both also said that they had no objection to exploring any possibilities raised by the conference.
Yeah, Syria only absorbed about 2 million Iraqi refugees, but they got no credit for nuthin'!!!!!!
USrael has to be one of the most UNGRATEFUL ENTITIES that EVER EXISTED!
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel said that Syria must end its support for Hezbollah, with which Israel fought a war last year, before "meaningful dialogue" would be possible, The Post reported.
But Olmert said the decision by Damascus to take part in Annapolis might point to a significant rethinking by Syrian leaders.
The presence of the Syrian deputy foreign minister, Mekdad, was viewed in positive terms, said Sean McCormack, the State Department spokesman.
Yeah, whatever looks good for Israel, that's the spin that USrael and her pimping government and MSM will provide you with, Amurkns!
"I think most people listening to the comments of the deputy foreign minister in the session, that last session, most people would say that they were constructive comments, they added to the discussion," he said.
McCormack said that while the United States expected progress first on the Israeli-Palestinian track, it would encourage all sides "to take advantage of any potential openings that they see."
Update: Russia pulls out of Nato arms pact
"Folks, sooner or later the Neocon agenda will result in war between the United States and Russia, and that is EXACTLY what Israel wants. Russia has kicked out the oligarchs, and Israel's control over the US is on the wane, so their plan appears to be to trick the US and Russia into a mutually destructive war which will leave Israel and their nuclear arsenal in control of the world's remaining easily reachable oil.
"Russia seeks to host '08 peace talks on Mideast" by Brian Knowlton/International Herald Tribune | November 30, 2007
WASHINGTON - Russia, with at least tacit American support, hopes to host a follow-up Middle East peace conference sometime in early 2008, with a goal of establishing direct Israeli-Syrian negotiations to resolve the long-standing Golan Heights dispute.
"It is our hope that we can revive the Syrian track in Moscow," the Syrian deputy foreign minister, Faisal Mekdad, told The Washington Post in an interview Wednesday after the international peace conference in Annapolis, Md. The Post quoted diplomats from the United States, Russia, and several other countries on the proposed follow-up conference.
Both Israeli and US officials questioned whether the time was ripe for an Israeli-Syrian solution. Both are concerned by the Syrian role in Lebanon and Damascus's support for Hezbollah and Hamas militants, and the United States has complained that Syria has not kept militants from entering Iraq. But both also said that they had no objection to exploring any possibilities raised by the conference.
Yeah, Syria only absorbed about 2 million Iraqi refugees, but they got no credit for nuthin'!!!!!!
USrael has to be one of the most UNGRATEFUL ENTITIES that EVER EXISTED!
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel said that Syria must end its support for Hezbollah, with which Israel fought a war last year, before "meaningful dialogue" would be possible, The Post reported.
But Olmert said the decision by Damascus to take part in Annapolis might point to a significant rethinking by Syrian leaders.
The presence of the Syrian deputy foreign minister, Mekdad, was viewed in positive terms, said Sean McCormack, the State Department spokesman.
Yeah, whatever looks good for Israel, that's the spin that USrael and her pimping government and MSM will provide you with, Amurkns!
"I think most people listening to the comments of the deputy foreign minister in the session, that last session, most people would say that they were constructive comments, they added to the discussion," he said.
McCormack said that while the United States expected progress first on the Israeli-Palestinian track, it would encourage all sides "to take advantage of any potential openings that they see."
Update: Russia pulls out of Nato arms pact
"Folks, sooner or later the Neocon agenda will result in war between the United States and Russia, and that is EXACTLY what Israel wants. Russia has kicked out the oligarchs, and Israel's control over the US is on the wane, so their plan appears to be to trick the US and Russia into a mutually destructive war which will leave Israel and their nuclear arsenal in control of the world's remaining easily reachable oil.
The only thing that will stop WWIII is YOU. -- Mike Rivero, What Really Happened
We are trying like hell, sir!
Olmert Declares Apartheid Is Final Solution
And in the NaZionists amazing way, claims that he isn't!
We all know the "Jewish state" is a bastion of racist xenophobia.
Sadly, Israel is a lying, land-stealing, mass-murdering genocidal WAR CRIMINAL, and nothing Olmert says or does will change that!
Don't take my word for it.
Read it for yourself: RACISM ON ISRAELI AIRWAVES.....
"Israeli leader refers to peril of South African-style apartheid; Cites populations, urges creation of Palestinian state" by Josef Federman/Associated Press November 30, 2007
JERUSALEM - In unusually frank comments, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned in an interview published yesterday that "the state of Israel is finished" if a Palestinian state is not created, saying the alternative was a South African-style apartheid struggle.
Olmert made the explosive reference to apartheid as he returned from a peace conference in Annapolis, Md., hoping to prepare Israel for difficult negotiations with the Palestinians.
Just hours after his return, the Israeli leader received an important boost when police recommended that prosecutors drop an investigation into whether he illegally intervened in the government's sale of a bank two years ago.
While Olmert has long said that the region's demography was working against Israel, the comments published in the Haaretz daily were among his strongest. Israeli officials have long rejected any comparison to the racist system once in place in South Africa.
Yeah, Jimmy Carter says it and he gets blasted!
The NaZionist arrogance never fails to stun me!
In the interview, Olmert said it was a vital Israeli interest to create a Palestinian state because of the growing Arab population in the area. "The day will come when the two-state solution collapses, and we face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights," Olmert told Haaretz. "As soon as that happens, the state of Israel is finished."
Yaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy!!!!!
The interview was published on the 60th anniversary of the historic UN decision to partition Palestine, setting up separate Jewish and Arab states. The vote led to a war, and the Palestinian state was not created.
The Palestinians want to form their state in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and East Jerusalem - areas Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.
Jews are a solid majority inside Israel, comprising roughly 80 percent of the population of 7 million. However, if the West Bank and Gaza are included, Arabs make up nearly half the population.
To ensure that Israel can maintain its character as a democracy with a solid Jewish majority, Olmert supports a withdrawal from much of the West Bank and parts of east Jerusalem, following Israel's pullout from Gaza in 2005.
Israel's 1.5 million Arab citizens have the right to vote, but the estimated 3.9 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza do not have Israeli citizenship or rights.
Olmert, a hard-liner earlier in his career, in recent years has repeatedly warned that Israel cannot remain both Jewish and democratic if it holds on to the West Bank and Gaza. But he has never used the South African analogy in public, though officials say he recently made the same argument in a closed meeting with lawmakers.
Gazans complained yesterday that they are running out of fuel, blaming an Israeli decision to cut back on supplies. However, the private Israeli company that sells fuel to Gaza said the problem was that Gaza is not paying its bills - an issue that repeats itself every few months and is usually resolved quickly."
Yeah, no need to look at ISRAEL'S COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT POLICIES and its WAR CRIMES!!!!
I didn't get a report of an airstrike today!
Is that just AmeriKa's Zionist-controlled MSM covering up, or... ?
We all know the "Jewish state" is a bastion of racist xenophobia.
Sadly, Israel is a lying, land-stealing, mass-murdering genocidal WAR CRIMINAL, and nothing Olmert says or does will change that!
Don't take my word for it.
Read it for yourself: RACISM ON ISRAELI AIRWAVES.....
"Israeli leader refers to peril of South African-style apartheid; Cites populations, urges creation of Palestinian state" by Josef Federman/Associated Press November 30, 2007
JERUSALEM - In unusually frank comments, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned in an interview published yesterday that "the state of Israel is finished" if a Palestinian state is not created, saying the alternative was a South African-style apartheid struggle.
Olmert made the explosive reference to apartheid as he returned from a peace conference in Annapolis, Md., hoping to prepare Israel for difficult negotiations with the Palestinians.
Just hours after his return, the Israeli leader received an important boost when police recommended that prosecutors drop an investigation into whether he illegally intervened in the government's sale of a bank two years ago.
While Olmert has long said that the region's demography was working against Israel, the comments published in the Haaretz daily were among his strongest. Israeli officials have long rejected any comparison to the racist system once in place in South Africa.
Yeah, Jimmy Carter says it and he gets blasted!
The NaZionist arrogance never fails to stun me!
In the interview, Olmert said it was a vital Israeli interest to create a Palestinian state because of the growing Arab population in the area. "The day will come when the two-state solution collapses, and we face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights," Olmert told Haaretz. "As soon as that happens, the state of Israel is finished."
Yaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy!!!!!
The interview was published on the 60th anniversary of the historic UN decision to partition Palestine, setting up separate Jewish and Arab states. The vote led to a war, and the Palestinian state was not created.
The Palestinians want to form their state in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and East Jerusalem - areas Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.
Jews are a solid majority inside Israel, comprising roughly 80 percent of the population of 7 million. However, if the West Bank and Gaza are included, Arabs make up nearly half the population.
To ensure that Israel can maintain its character as a democracy with a solid Jewish majority, Olmert supports a withdrawal from much of the West Bank and parts of east Jerusalem, following Israel's pullout from Gaza in 2005.
Israel's 1.5 million Arab citizens have the right to vote, but the estimated 3.9 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza do not have Israeli citizenship or rights.
Olmert, a hard-liner earlier in his career, in recent years has repeatedly warned that Israel cannot remain both Jewish and democratic if it holds on to the West Bank and Gaza. But he has never used the South African analogy in public, though officials say he recently made the same argument in a closed meeting with lawmakers.
Gazans complained yesterday that they are running out of fuel, blaming an Israeli decision to cut back on supplies. However, the private Israeli company that sells fuel to Gaza said the problem was that Gaza is not paying its bills - an issue that repeats itself every few months and is usually resolved quickly."
Yeah, no need to look at ISRAEL'S COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT POLICIES and its WAR CRIMES!!!!
I didn't get a report of an airstrike today!
Is that just AmeriKa's Zionist-controlled MSM covering up, or... ?
The Kissing Coup of Chavez
AmeriKa tried it before, it will try it again.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be splashed on the front-page of the NYT!
And it is not favorable press for him, it never is, but read the articles like I do.
You'll be amazed at the lies and the subtle truths that are hidden:
"Chávez allies defect as referendum nears; Polls point to possible defeat for president" by Juan Forero/Washington Post November 30, 2007
CUMANA, Venezuela - Few associates had been as loyal to President Hugo Chávez as the governor in this coastal state, Ramon Martinez. And few are now more determined to defeat Chávez as he campaigns for constitutional changes that, if approved by voters on Sunday, could extend his presidency for life.
Chávez, 53 and in his ninth year in office, was until recently predicted to win a referendum that would permit him to run for office indefinitely, appoint governors to federal districts he would create, and control the purse strings of one of the world's major oil-producing countries.
But Martinez and a handful of others who once were prominent pillars in the Chávez machine, have defected, saying approval of 69 constitutional changes would effectively turn Venezuela into a dictatorship run at the whim of one man. They have been derided by Chávez as traitors, but their unimpeachable leftist credentials have given momentum to a movement that pollsters say may deliver Chávez his first electoral defeat.
"The proposal would signify a coup d'état," said Martinez, 58, whose dapper appearance belies his history as a guerrilla and Communist Party member. "Here the power is going to be concentrated in one person. That's very grave."
Pollsters in Caracas say Venezuelans increasingly agree, even those who continue to support the president but say the proposed overhaul of an eight-year-old constitution goes too far.
Datanalisis, a Caracas polling firm that earlier this month was predicting Chávez winning, found in a poll last week that 48 percent would vote "no" to the changes, compared with 39 percent in support, said Luis Vicente Leon, poll director.
"In those three weeks, what's happened is the people have been sensitized," Leon said. Datanalisis accurately predicted Chávez victories in past elections, including last year's presidential election, in which he won a second six-year term. Leon said the president's vigorous campaigning in these last few days is closing the gap. "It all depends on the capacity to mobilize," he said, "and we know who has that capacity."
Indeed, the government has embarked on an all-out crusade including a barrage of televised commercials and political rallies, with Chávez giving three or more speeches each day. When the day is done, Chávez appears on Mario Silva's "The Razor," a talk show on government television, where he expounds well into the night. His face stares down from billboards and placards with the word "Si," adorning balconies and windows.
Darleny Cordoba, 24, recently received, along with a group of friends, about $12,000 in government money to start up a restaurant. She was bused from Cumana to Caracas for a rally. She says she's voting for the president.
"I think the reforms are good," she said. ". . .The articles they're putting in will be better than before."
The president has characterized the referendum as a plebiscite on his rule, telling a packed arena recently that anyone who says he supports Chávez but votes "no" is a "true traitor."
Chávez also warns that opponents of the changes who have been protesting in the streets are collaborating with the Bush administration to assassinate him, a frequent accusation in this politically charged country.
He says the proposal will give more power to the people through newly empowered community councils and cut bureaucracy from provincial governments, freeing up money for social programs. Chávez denies that he desires more power.
"I don't want to accumulate power, for what?" he said in a speech this week to progovernment businessmen. "I'm an antipower subversive, for those who haven't noticed."
Major Chávez backers who have publicly broken with him said the proposed changes are all about amassing power in the presidency, which already controls the National Assembly, the courts, and most state and local governments. "The proposal is illegal," Marisabel Rodriguez, a former wife of the president, said in a statement this week.
In interviews, three key former allies of the president said they remain true to leftist values, but felt it was time to break with Chávez because of what they characterized as his lack of tolerance and his drive for more power.
"We've all been revolutionaries and we've believed in socialism all our lives, but socialism within democracy," said Ismael Garcia, secretary-general of Podemos, a party that broke with Chávez.
"We have to ask him, how do you feel abandoning a constitution that says Venezuela is a state of laws, of justice for all, that it's federal, decentralized, plural and diverse?"
The biggest blow to Chávez came when retired General Raul Baduel, 52, turned against him earlier this month.
Chávez, Baduel, and two other young army officers formed a clandestine antigovernment group 25 years ago that eventually spawned the movement that put Chávez in power. Later, as an army commander, Baduel remained loyal to Chávez during a 2002 coup that had tacit support from the Bush administration.
"The proposal, in addition to taking power from the people, is taking the country to disaster," Baduel said. Baduel said he carefully pondered whether to publicly oppose the overhaul.
His conscience, he said, finally prompted him to act. "We need to be careful to distance ourselves from the Marxist orthodoxy that considers that democracy and its separation of powers is just an instrument of bourgeoisie domination," Baduel said."
"In Chávez Territory, Signs of Dissent" by SIMON ROMERO
CARACAS, Venezuela, Nov. 29 — Three days before a referendum that would vastly expand the powers of President Hugo Chávez, this city’s streets were packed on Thursday with tens of thousands of opponents to the change. The protests signaled that Venezuelans may be balking at placing so much authority in the hands of one man.
Even some of Mr. Chávez’s most fervent supporters are beginning to show signs of hesitation at backing the constitutional changes he is promoting, which would end term limits for the president and greatly centralize his authority. Other measures would increase social security benefits for the poor and shorten the workday.
New fissures are emerging in what was once a cohesive bloc of supporters, pointing to the toughest test at the polls for Mr. Chávez in his nine-year presidency.
In the slums of the capital, where some of the president’s staunchest backers live amid the cinder-block hovels, debate over the changes has grown more intense in recent days.
“Chávez is delirious if he thinks we’re going to follow him like sheep,” said Ivonne Torrealba, 29, a hairdresser in the gritty Coche district, who has supported Mr. Chávez in every election since his first campaign for president in 1998. “If this government cannot get me milk or asphalt for our roads, how is it going to give my mother a pension?”
Both Mr. Chávez, a self-described socialist who has won elections by wide margins, and his critics say opinion polls show they will prevail, suggesting a highly contentious outcome. But departing from its practice in last year’s presidential election, Venezuela did not invite electoral observers from the Organization of American States and the European Union, opening the government to claims of fraud if he wins.
The intensified polarization has altered this city’s appearance, with graffiti of “SÔ by the president’s supporters competing with “No” scrawled throughout Caracas. A pro-Chávez march is scheduled here for Friday before the frenetic campaigning around the referendum ends. Polling places are to close at 5 p.m. Sunday, with results expected as early as that evening.
“I’m out here because I want my children to live in a country ruled by a president, not a king,” said Alexander Dávila, 42, a bank manager at Thursday’s march carrying a sign reading, “Socialism is the philosophy of failure.”
Violence has already marred the weeks preceding the vote. Two students involved in anti-government protests claimed they had been kidnapped and tortured this week by masked men in Barquisimeto, an interior city. And in Valencia, another city, a supporter of Mr. Chávez was shot dead this week in an exchange of gunfire at a protest site.
Tension has also been heightened by rare criticism of the constitutional overhaul from a breakaway party in Mr. Chávez’s coalition in the National Assembly and former confidants of the president; the government has called this dissent “treason.”
Some of the most stinging criticism lately is from Marisabel RodrÃguez, Mr. Chávez’s ex-wife. This week on Caracol Radio of Colombia, she said he had threatened her with death after she publicly criticized the government’s policies. (Mr. Chávez has not publicly responded to her accusation.)
Mr. Chávez and senior officials here have exhibited increasingly erratic behavior. Mr. Chávez has lashed out at leaders in Colombia and Spain and asked for an investigation into whether CNN was seeking to incite an assassination attempt against him.
Reports of such plots are not in short supply here. The main state television network broadcast coverage this week of a memorandum in Spanish that it claimed had been written by the C.I.A. in which destabilization plans against Mr. Chávez were laid out. American involvement in Venezuelan politics remains a particularly delicate issue here, after the Bush administration tacitly supported a coup in 2002 that briefly ousted Mr. Chávez.
“We reject and are disappointed in the Venezuelan government’s allegations that the United States is involved in any type of conspiracy to affect the outcome of the constitutional referendum,” Benjamin Ziff, a spokesman for the United States Embassy here, said in a statement.
A C.I.A. spokesman called the document “a fake,” while analysts, including investigators who had previously uncovered financing of Venezuelan opposition groups by the United States government, expressed doubts about the authenticity of the memo.
“I find the document quite suspect,” said Jeremy Bigwood, an independent researcher in Washington. “There’s not an original version in English, and the timing of its release is strange.”
Well, he'd know since the United States are masters at it!
I don't believe a damn word the MSM or the government say!
You tried to get him once!
By the way, I'd like to thank Venezuela and Chavez for the cheap home-heating oil, while Bush and his fat-pig oil friends raped me at the gas pump!
I don't forget things, assholes!
Even some of Mr. Chávez’s critics have welcomed some of the constitutional proposals, like measures to explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual or political orientation. Political discrimination has been a contentious issue after Mr. Chávez’s purge of dissident employees from the national oil company and the politicization of the federal bureaucracy.
But the proposal to expand the president’s power to issue emergency decrees has alarmed human rights groups. The new charter would allow the president to suspend some due process rights, like the right to be tried by an independent tribunal. And Mr. Chávez could declare states of emergency for unlimited periods and censor news organizations.
“Proponents of these amendments insist that this government would never violate these basic rights,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director for Human Rights Watch. “But why, then, have they gone to such lengths to empower the president to do so?”
At the home of Ms. Torrealba, the hairdresser, near open sewage alongside a deafening highway in southwestern Caracas, the shifting loyalties of some voters were on full display. In December, she and her siblings awoke with fireworks to celebrate Mr. Chávez’s re-election to a six-year term, with 63 percent of the vote.
But her sister, Yohana Torrealba, 20, said she was alarmed by what she viewed as political intimidation by teachers in Misión Ribas, a social welfare program where she takes remedial high-school-level courses.
“The instructors told us we had to vote in favor and demonstrate on the streets for Chávez,” Yohana Torrealba said. “They want Venezuela to become like Cuba.”
Throughout the slums of Coche, confusion persists about how life could change if the constitutional proposals are approved. Many residents who own their homes, however humble, fear that the government could take control of their property, despite efforts to dispel those fears by Mr. Chávez’s government.
Others wonder what will happen to the mayor and the governor they elected if Mr. Chávez wins the power to pick rulers for new administrative regions he wants to create. Some said they feared that if they voted against the proposals, the government could discriminate against them if their votes were made public.
But Mr. Chávez has an unrivaled political machine, with supporters controlling every major government institution. He also retains the loyalty of many voters in Coche and elsewhere. “It’s a lie that they’re going to take our houses away,” said Yanelcy Maitán, 40. “No one has done more for the poor than Chávez.”"
And that's one reason the U.S. hates him!
The other is because he is sitting on all that oil!
If you read both pieces through, then you can see how shitty these MSM papers are, huh?
The Times continues the propaganda drumbeat in the Business section:
Venezuela’s Fateful Choice
I really don't care about other countries and what they do, Times!
I'm more concerned with how my shithole government and shithole MSM like you are ruining my country.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be splashed on the front-page of the NYT!
And it is not favorable press for him, it never is, but read the articles like I do.
You'll be amazed at the lies and the subtle truths that are hidden:
"Chávez allies defect as referendum nears; Polls point to possible defeat for president" by Juan Forero/Washington Post November 30, 2007
CUMANA, Venezuela - Few associates had been as loyal to President Hugo Chávez as the governor in this coastal state, Ramon Martinez. And few are now more determined to defeat Chávez as he campaigns for constitutional changes that, if approved by voters on Sunday, could extend his presidency for life.
Chávez, 53 and in his ninth year in office, was until recently predicted to win a referendum that would permit him to run for office indefinitely, appoint governors to federal districts he would create, and control the purse strings of one of the world's major oil-producing countries.
But Martinez and a handful of others who once were prominent pillars in the Chávez machine, have defected, saying approval of 69 constitutional changes would effectively turn Venezuela into a dictatorship run at the whim of one man. They have been derided by Chávez as traitors, but their unimpeachable leftist credentials have given momentum to a movement that pollsters say may deliver Chávez his first electoral defeat.
"The proposal would signify a coup d'état," said Martinez, 58, whose dapper appearance belies his history as a guerrilla and Communist Party member. "Here the power is going to be concentrated in one person. That's very grave."
Pollsters in Caracas say Venezuelans increasingly agree, even those who continue to support the president but say the proposed overhaul of an eight-year-old constitution goes too far.
Datanalisis, a Caracas polling firm that earlier this month was predicting Chávez winning, found in a poll last week that 48 percent would vote "no" to the changes, compared with 39 percent in support, said Luis Vicente Leon, poll director.
"In those three weeks, what's happened is the people have been sensitized," Leon said. Datanalisis accurately predicted Chávez victories in past elections, including last year's presidential election, in which he won a second six-year term. Leon said the president's vigorous campaigning in these last few days is closing the gap. "It all depends on the capacity to mobilize," he said, "and we know who has that capacity."
Indeed, the government has embarked on an all-out crusade including a barrage of televised commercials and political rallies, with Chávez giving three or more speeches each day. When the day is done, Chávez appears on Mario Silva's "The Razor," a talk show on government television, where he expounds well into the night. His face stares down from billboards and placards with the word "Si," adorning balconies and windows.
Darleny Cordoba, 24, recently received, along with a group of friends, about $12,000 in government money to start up a restaurant. She was bused from Cumana to Caracas for a rally. She says she's voting for the president.
"I think the reforms are good," she said. ". . .The articles they're putting in will be better than before."
The president has characterized the referendum as a plebiscite on his rule, telling a packed arena recently that anyone who says he supports Chávez but votes "no" is a "true traitor."
Chávez also warns that opponents of the changes who have been protesting in the streets are collaborating with the Bush administration to assassinate him, a frequent accusation in this politically charged country.
He says the proposal will give more power to the people through newly empowered community councils and cut bureaucracy from provincial governments, freeing up money for social programs. Chávez denies that he desires more power.
"I don't want to accumulate power, for what?" he said in a speech this week to progovernment businessmen. "I'm an antipower subversive, for those who haven't noticed."
Major Chávez backers who have publicly broken with him said the proposed changes are all about amassing power in the presidency, which already controls the National Assembly, the courts, and most state and local governments. "The proposal is illegal," Marisabel Rodriguez, a former wife of the president, said in a statement this week.
In interviews, three key former allies of the president said they remain true to leftist values, but felt it was time to break with Chávez because of what they characterized as his lack of tolerance and his drive for more power.
"We've all been revolutionaries and we've believed in socialism all our lives, but socialism within democracy," said Ismael Garcia, secretary-general of Podemos, a party that broke with Chávez.
"We have to ask him, how do you feel abandoning a constitution that says Venezuela is a state of laws, of justice for all, that it's federal, decentralized, plural and diverse?"
The biggest blow to Chávez came when retired General Raul Baduel, 52, turned against him earlier this month.
Chávez, Baduel, and two other young army officers formed a clandestine antigovernment group 25 years ago that eventually spawned the movement that put Chávez in power. Later, as an army commander, Baduel remained loyal to Chávez during a 2002 coup that had tacit support from the Bush administration.
"The proposal, in addition to taking power from the people, is taking the country to disaster," Baduel said. Baduel said he carefully pondered whether to publicly oppose the overhaul.
His conscience, he said, finally prompted him to act. "We need to be careful to distance ourselves from the Marxist orthodoxy that considers that democracy and its separation of powers is just an instrument of bourgeoisie domination," Baduel said."
"In Chávez Territory, Signs of Dissent" by SIMON ROMERO
CARACAS, Venezuela, Nov. 29 — Three days before a referendum that would vastly expand the powers of President Hugo Chávez, this city’s streets were packed on Thursday with tens of thousands of opponents to the change. The protests signaled that Venezuelans may be balking at placing so much authority in the hands of one man.
Even some of Mr. Chávez’s most fervent supporters are beginning to show signs of hesitation at backing the constitutional changes he is promoting, which would end term limits for the president and greatly centralize his authority. Other measures would increase social security benefits for the poor and shorten the workday.
New fissures are emerging in what was once a cohesive bloc of supporters, pointing to the toughest test at the polls for Mr. Chávez in his nine-year presidency.
In the slums of the capital, where some of the president’s staunchest backers live amid the cinder-block hovels, debate over the changes has grown more intense in recent days.
“Chávez is delirious if he thinks we’re going to follow him like sheep,” said Ivonne Torrealba, 29, a hairdresser in the gritty Coche district, who has supported Mr. Chávez in every election since his first campaign for president in 1998. “If this government cannot get me milk or asphalt for our roads, how is it going to give my mother a pension?”
Both Mr. Chávez, a self-described socialist who has won elections by wide margins, and his critics say opinion polls show they will prevail, suggesting a highly contentious outcome. But departing from its practice in last year’s presidential election, Venezuela did not invite electoral observers from the Organization of American States and the European Union, opening the government to claims of fraud if he wins.
The intensified polarization has altered this city’s appearance, with graffiti of “SÔ by the president’s supporters competing with “No” scrawled throughout Caracas. A pro-Chávez march is scheduled here for Friday before the frenetic campaigning around the referendum ends. Polling places are to close at 5 p.m. Sunday, with results expected as early as that evening.
“I’m out here because I want my children to live in a country ruled by a president, not a king,” said Alexander Dávila, 42, a bank manager at Thursday’s march carrying a sign reading, “Socialism is the philosophy of failure.”
Violence has already marred the weeks preceding the vote. Two students involved in anti-government protests claimed they had been kidnapped and tortured this week by masked men in Barquisimeto, an interior city. And in Valencia, another city, a supporter of Mr. Chávez was shot dead this week in an exchange of gunfire at a protest site.
Tension has also been heightened by rare criticism of the constitutional overhaul from a breakaway party in Mr. Chávez’s coalition in the National Assembly and former confidants of the president; the government has called this dissent “treason.”
Some of the most stinging criticism lately is from Marisabel RodrÃguez, Mr. Chávez’s ex-wife. This week on Caracol Radio of Colombia, she said he had threatened her with death after she publicly criticized the government’s policies. (Mr. Chávez has not publicly responded to her accusation.)
Mr. Chávez and senior officials here have exhibited increasingly erratic behavior. Mr. Chávez has lashed out at leaders in Colombia and Spain and asked for an investigation into whether CNN was seeking to incite an assassination attempt against him.
Reports of such plots are not in short supply here. The main state television network broadcast coverage this week of a memorandum in Spanish that it claimed had been written by the C.I.A. in which destabilization plans against Mr. Chávez were laid out. American involvement in Venezuelan politics remains a particularly delicate issue here, after the Bush administration tacitly supported a coup in 2002 that briefly ousted Mr. Chávez.
“We reject and are disappointed in the Venezuelan government’s allegations that the United States is involved in any type of conspiracy to affect the outcome of the constitutional referendum,” Benjamin Ziff, a spokesman for the United States Embassy here, said in a statement.
A C.I.A. spokesman called the document “a fake,” while analysts, including investigators who had previously uncovered financing of Venezuelan opposition groups by the United States government, expressed doubts about the authenticity of the memo.
“I find the document quite suspect,” said Jeremy Bigwood, an independent researcher in Washington. “There’s not an original version in English, and the timing of its release is strange.”
Well, he'd know since the United States are masters at it!
I don't believe a damn word the MSM or the government say!
You tried to get him once!
By the way, I'd like to thank Venezuela and Chavez for the cheap home-heating oil, while Bush and his fat-pig oil friends raped me at the gas pump!
I don't forget things, assholes!
Even some of Mr. Chávez’s critics have welcomed some of the constitutional proposals, like measures to explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual or political orientation. Political discrimination has been a contentious issue after Mr. Chávez’s purge of dissident employees from the national oil company and the politicization of the federal bureaucracy.
But the proposal to expand the president’s power to issue emergency decrees has alarmed human rights groups. The new charter would allow the president to suspend some due process rights, like the right to be tried by an independent tribunal. And Mr. Chávez could declare states of emergency for unlimited periods and censor news organizations.
“Proponents of these amendments insist that this government would never violate these basic rights,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director for Human Rights Watch. “But why, then, have they gone to such lengths to empower the president to do so?”
At the home of Ms. Torrealba, the hairdresser, near open sewage alongside a deafening highway in southwestern Caracas, the shifting loyalties of some voters were on full display. In December, she and her siblings awoke with fireworks to celebrate Mr. Chávez’s re-election to a six-year term, with 63 percent of the vote.
But her sister, Yohana Torrealba, 20, said she was alarmed by what she viewed as political intimidation by teachers in Misión Ribas, a social welfare program where she takes remedial high-school-level courses.
“The instructors told us we had to vote in favor and demonstrate on the streets for Chávez,” Yohana Torrealba said. “They want Venezuela to become like Cuba.”
Throughout the slums of Coche, confusion persists about how life could change if the constitutional proposals are approved. Many residents who own their homes, however humble, fear that the government could take control of their property, despite efforts to dispel those fears by Mr. Chávez’s government.
Others wonder what will happen to the mayor and the governor they elected if Mr. Chávez wins the power to pick rulers for new administrative regions he wants to create. Some said they feared that if they voted against the proposals, the government could discriminate against them if their votes were made public.
But Mr. Chávez has an unrivaled political machine, with supporters controlling every major government institution. He also retains the loyalty of many voters in Coche and elsewhere. “It’s a lie that they’re going to take our houses away,” said Yanelcy Maitán, 40. “No one has done more for the poor than Chávez.”"
And that's one reason the U.S. hates him!
The other is because he is sitting on all that oil!
If you read both pieces through, then you can see how shitty these MSM papers are, huh?
The Times continues the propaganda drumbeat in the Business section:
Venezuela’s Fateful Choice
I really don't care about other countries and what they do, Times!
I'm more concerned with how my shithole government and shithole MSM like you are ruining my country.
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