WRH News stories for Friday, January 14, 2011 Part 1

Prion disease can spread through air

Mamdouh Habib's story is backed by evidence

"Egyptian, Australian, Israeli (Mossad) and US intelligence agencies were involved in my interrogations . . . The Egyptian interrogator told me that the Australian intelligence organisation wanted to ask me questions about Mamdouh Habib . . . An officer . . . asked me questions like 'How did you know or where did you meet Mamdouh Habib?"'

Has oil from the Gulf Disaster reached England?

States To Make Drastic Budget Cuts

I Have Some Intemperate Rhetoric For Iowa State Sen. Brian Schoenjahn

. . . and my rhetoric is not “how the fuck do you pronounce that?”

It’s “why can’t you mind your own damn business, you nasty, officious, grasping little nanny-state twit?” See, Brian Schoenjahn wants to jump on the moronic anti-Four-Loko-panic bandwagon and pass a law that would make it a misdemeanor in Iowa for any business with a liquor license to sell nearly any drink that includes both caffeine and alcohol. Irish coffee? Illegal. Kahlua? Illegal. Black Russian? Illegal. Pour one, and your Iowan bartender is looking at up to 30 days in jail.

Tunisians drive president from power

Tunisian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi says he is assuming power after the president of the North African country stepped down following weeks of riots. At least 23 people have been killed in the riots, according to the government, but opposition members put the death toll at more than three times that. Mr. Bareass Insane O'Bummer, your turn is coming.

Grandmother dies from swine flu soon after receiving swine flu vaccine

Mike Adams Natural News A 68-year-old UK grandmother named Eleanor Carruthers has died from the swine flu. Importantly, she was given the swine flu vaccine shot several months ago and was told the shot would offer her absolute protection from the flu...

On Louisiana Coast, Damage From Oil Goes Much Deeper Than Spill

Chris Kirkham Huffington Post Last summer's Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico -- the largest offshore oil spill in recorded history -- made the Gulf Coast states the poster children for the enormous environmental risks posed by energy production near their shores...

Are Gold Pool Accounts Safe?

Jeff Clark Big Gold One of the cheapest ways to buy and store physical gold and silver is with unallocated (or pool) storage. With unallocated storage, a dealer holds metal that is owned by its customers, but without identifying any particular piece of metal belonging to any particular customer...

Maddow Attempts To Paint HEROIC, RESPONSIBLE Gun Owner As A Threat To Society

Eyewitnesses Describe Seattle Cop Killing Innocent Woodcarver In Cold Blood

BullionVault.com Runs Out Of Silver In Germany

With the US Mint selling silver at an unprecedented pace, it was only a matter of time before the silver shortage would be spotted across the Atlantic, where distributors ran out of both gold and silver on a daily basis during the first time Europe became insolvent some time in early May 2010. Sure enough, BullionVault.com has announced that it has run out of silver in Germany "due to high demand."

S&P, Moody's Warn AGAIN On U.S. Credit Rating - But I Thought Geithner Swore Passionately On National TV That 'It Would NEVER Happen' - Busted! - Video

Video - Tim Geithner Making Predictions...and getting busted for it...

"The U.S. Will Never Lose It's AAA Credit Rating!" You gotta see this one...

GRAND THEFT BANK: $10 Billion For Bonuses At JPM

$10 Billion for Bonuses at JPMorgan...

Funds set aside to reward traders, deal makers and the unit’s other personnel increased 4 percent to $9.73 billion, or an average of $369,651 for each of the 26,314 workers, the company said today in an earnings supplement.

Click for more details including a very intense response from Dylan Ratigan...

34,000-Year-Old Organisms Found Buried Alive!

It's a tale that has all the trappings of a cult 1960s sci-fi movie: Scientists bring back ancient salt crystals, dug up from deep below Death Valley for climate research. The sparkling crystals are carefully packed away until, years later, a young, unknown researcher takes a second look at the 34,000-year-old crystals and discovers, trapped inside, something strange. Something ... alive.

Thankfully this story doesn't end with the destruction of the human race, but with a satisfied scientist finishing his Ph.D.

Tampa's Healthcare Uniform Company To Layfoff 95 People By April 15th

Atlanta's Brookwood Place Borders To Close

Borders is closing its Brookwood Place store on Peachtree Street NE.
More business news The store was not meeting the company's business needs, spokesperson Mary Davis said. Its last day of sales is Feb. 11.

The store, as 1745 Peachtree St. NE, is just over four miles away from a Peachtree Road store in Buckhead. Borders is also closing a Perimeter Village store at 4745 Ashford-Dunwoody Road Jan. 31. The company will have 12 Borders, Borders Express and Waldenbooks stores in metro Atlanta after the closings...

US presence in Pakistan exposed

The Islamabad government has admitted for the first time that there are US Marines operating in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, a report says.

Settling Prosecutions For Pennies on the Dollar Is a Type of Bailout

Fraud benefits the wealthy more than the poor, because the big banks and big companies have the inside knowledge and the resources to leverage fraud into profits. Joseph Stiglitz noted in September that giants like Goldman are using their size to manipulate the market. The giants (especially Goldman Sachs) have also used high-frequency program trading (representing up to 70% of all stock trades) and high proportions of other trades as well). This not only distorts the markets, but which also lets the program trading giants take a sneak peak at what the real traders are buying and selling, and then trade on the insider information.

Search warrants in John Wheeler homicide case to remain sealed

Two weeks after he was last seen alive, warrants related to the murder of a former Pentagon official are under seal, at the request of investigators. The warrants concern searches of John Wheeler the 3rd's home in New Castle, his car, and cellphone records.

Wheeler, who served in the administrations of three U.S. Presidents and led efforts to raise funds for the Vietnam War Memorial, was last seen in the area of 10th and Orange Streets in Wilmington the night of December 30th. His body was discovered the following morning as a refuse truck was being emptied at the Cherry Island Landfill in Wilmington.

St. Petersburg's Landmark Pepin's Restaurant To Shutdown, Will Be Replaced By A Hooter's (This isn't progress!!!)

One of the Tampa Bay area's landmark restaurant has been bought by Hooter's and will close by the end of this month. Pepin Restaurant, which serves fine Spanish food is at 4125 Fourth St. N and has been in continuous operation since 1974. The news of its closing was announced Friday by Monique Massaro, who runs the restaurant her parents started. Massaro said it was hard to say goodbye, as the restaurant has been around through so much of St. Petersburg's growth and change.

"It's very much a family atmosphere," Massaro said of the restaurant. "I grew up here."...

Economic Update

RACISM ISN’T THE ONLY DANGER FACING ISRAEL TODAY

Israel’s human rights community has been at the forefront of the struggle against this state of affairs. Much like the brave Americans who spoke out against oppression during the civil rights movement, we love our country and are concerned about what might become of it if the status quo continues.

Could The Federal Reserve Go Broke?

Could the U.S. central bank go broke?

(Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve's journey to the outer limits of monetary policy is raising concerns about how hard it will be to withdraw trillions of dollars in stimulus from the banking system when the time is right.

While that day seems distant now, some economists and market analysts have even begun pondering the unthinkable: could the vaunted Fed, the world's most powerful central bank, become insolvent?

Click to read more...

Tritium Leak; Source Not Located

Threats to our water supply are popping up like crazy throughout America. Of course the very corporations or government agencies responsible for polluting toxic waste will never admit it. They just want you to go back to sleep, “move along, there is nothing to see here.” The Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth will start using chemical dyes this month to try and discover the origin of high levels of the radioactive isotope tritium in an onsite monitoring well….

Hawaii Oceanic Cable Cust Srvc Sucks

Webmaster's Commentary:

Yesterday our cable and internet went out. When it came back several of the high-def channels were showing as "not available." Our neighbors have the same problem. I called into Oceanic twice and got to wait 20 min then one hour only to get a dumb-shit minimum wage bimbo reading from a pre-written list of excuses why it had to be a problem inside my home. No matter how many times I told this idiot that I had confirmed the problem at neighboring homes, she insisted on following the "procedures" and scheduling a technician to come for a visit sometime in the next three weeks. I then escalated to a supervisor and got the same condescending attitude that I, a mere mortal, could not possibly know more about my own TV setup than the piece of paper thoughtfully provided by the sole provider of cable TV in Hawaii.

We are still without our channels. And Oceanic has indicated in no uncertain terms that they refuse to check their end of the system until more people call in to complain, which is not likely to happen give3n the long waits on the phones and the failure of the call back system to call back. If there were an alternative provider or we could get a satellite dish to work where we are, I would drop Oceanic in a heartbeat. But that have a monopoly, and they know it, and they are total assholes towards the customers in the usual fashion one sees during descent into fascism.

Albertsons will close more Texas stores, including 5 in Dallas-Fort Worth

Albertsons LLC plans to close seven unprofitable Texas stores next month, including five locations in the Dallas area.

Liquidation sales start Wednesday, and the company expects the stores in Carrollton, Garland, Richardson , Plano and Southlake to close around Feb. 20. In November, Albertsons reopened a store in Watauga after other grocers also closed in the area. "Over the last several years, we have put our best efforts into repositioning these stores to better compete in the market place. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to do so," said spokeswoman Christine Wilcox...

BUSTED!: Obama Lied When He Proclaimed 'No More Wall Street Bailouts' - Just Ask Tim Geithner - NEW SIGTARP Report

In spite of Obama's claims, and in spite of the very specific language within the bill itself, Geithner reserves the right to break the law - do exceptional things - in order to save the big banks the next time they get into trouble.

We have a summary and link to the full report from the TARP Inspector General...

This is a big, big story... Click for more details...

Collapse Can't Be Hidden Any Longer

2 ex-Landsbanki executives arrested in Iceland in connection with bank's spectacular collapse

Two former senior executives with Iceland's failed Landsbanki bank have been arrested over allegations of market manipulation, the special prosecutor's office said Friday. Prosecutor Olafur Hauksson said he had asked that ex-Landsbanki chief executive Sigurjon Arnson and former head of corporate finance Ivar Gudjonsson be detained in connection with investigation into the collapse of the institution. It's one of several Icelandic banks that failed in 2008 under the weight of enormous debts racked up during the tiny North Atlantic nation's boom.

HERE COMES THE MEDIA-BASH OF THE 9-11 TRUTH MOVEMENT

The asset manager arrested last night for threatening SEC and CFTC officials seems to have slipped off the rails of reality quite some time ago. This is the kind of rambling you hear from crazy people. It's got that 'nudge-nudge' hinting-at-the-truth quality that paranoids often use. He appears to be claiming the US government destroyed the World Trade Center, although he doesn't say it outright. Instead, he makes readers guess at his meaning.

Webmaster's Commentary: "They are all LOONIES! They are KOOKS! They are WACKOS! Trust us! Would we lie to you?" -- ABCNNBBCBSFOX

France & Germany Say 'No Increase' For EU Bailout Fund

Latest column from Ambrose Evans - updates on Portugal and everyone else in bankrupt Europe, not unlike broke-ass America.

Song - Brother, Can You Spare Some Fraud - F.R.A.U.D. - The Federal Reserve's Accounting Unit - The Dollar

This outstanding...never posted before...

Scroll down for the song...

You will NOT be disappointed...This is really, really good stuff...

MA solar plant to close after two years

Webmaster's Commentary: $58 million vanishes into the global warming hysteria.Kind of makes me wonder where New England common sense has gone.

Sorcha Faal: Intelligence Briefs or Disinformation? How To Tell the Difference

With certain people within my circle of contacts being suckered by Sorcha Faal / EU Times articles, I feel it is time to deal with the whole messy subject of intelligence sources. Before I go into this subject in any great depth, I would first like to deal with Sorcha Faal, otherwise known as David Booth of the CIA. David Booth works within the Central Intelligence Agency in COINTELPRO. Other western intelligence agencies known for using COINTELPRO methods include MI5, MI6, GCHQ, and the think-tank, DEMOS. To be quite blunt, all intelligence agencies have their own COINTELPRO departments. Editors Note: It also seems like Sorcha is very pro Zionist!

It's About Time! - EU Wants Bondholders To Share Bank Bailout Costs

We write so much about this issue because it really is the cornerstone of the bank bailout debate - who pays for the losses? You the taxpayer vs. the investors (shareholders and bondholders) that funded the bank. It would seem an obvious choice, but it has not played out that way, anywhere except Iceland.

Full details inside...

What 9-11 might have been like if we were really the land of the free!

Tags created to help penguins could be killing them

A 10-year study found that King penguins with the metal rings had 39 per cent fewer chicks and 16 per cent lower survival rates than those fitted with transponders under the skin. It is feared that flipper bands, used to identify the birds, cause physical damage and drag under the water.

Research published in Nature suggests birds with flipper bands respond differently to the climate by arriving later on Possession Island, off Antarctica, than those untouched.

Webmaster's Commentary: That about cover it?So, our wonderful environmentalists stick these radio tags on penguins, which may be killing them, and in any event slows down the penguins to the point where the radio data is meaningless, because it doesn't reflect the behavior of the non-tagged penguins.

Goyish Sperm Leads to Criminality, Barbarism

One of Israeli Orthodoxy’s leading rabbinic lights, Rabbi Dov Lior, chief rabbi of that idyllic Jewish town of Hebron, told a conference at an Israeli fertility conference that Jewish couples must not use the sperm of non-Jewish men for artificial insemination because the traits of the goy will pass on to the child.

Webmaster's Commentary: As Gilad Altzman points out down below, what happens when a man converts to Judaism? Does ripping off the foreskin suddenly change the DNA?

Tunesian Dictator Flees Country, Military Coup

According to reports, the Tunisian president on Friday reportedly fled Tunis to France. The Tunisian military reportedly seized the country's airport.

See also: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/tunisian-presidents-family-denies-fleeing-mon...

Riot Photos From Greece

Webmaster's Commentary: Good for the Greeks.

Hezbollah issues ultimatum to Hariri

As Lebanese caretaker prime minister meets with Turkey's Erdogan, opposition says will let him lead government until 2013 if he puts an end to 'libel being concocted' by international tribunal probing his father's murder. Beirut-based newspaper al-Akhbar quoted a senior opposition official as saying that Hariri would be able to stay in office if he gave in to Hezbollah's demand and stop cooperating with the United Nations tribunal probing the murder of his father, former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Webmaster's Commentary: Hezbullah is playing a very dangerous game of brinkmanship with its walkout from Lebanon's parliament having collapsed the government, but given that the UN has literally done everything possible to implicate Hizbullah in this matter, I can understand their position. It is very clear that the UN, the US,and Israel want to do everything possible to demonize Hizbullah

That having been said, however, if there is any kind of unrest, Israel most probably will use it as the "justification" for re-invading Lebanon, this time going all the way to the Litani river because they desperately need the water. This, in turn, may very likely put the whole region in turmoil, as Hizbullah is supported by both Syria and Iran, two countries which entered a mutual defense pact in May of 2008.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jvkKkWY-GqQi3KUw1bYoR4fBdrew

An Israeli "back-door" war with Iran through Lebanon via Syria, Jordan, and Iraq?!? I'm quite sure the IDF has wargamed this out.

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=map+of+middle+east+countries+and+capitals&view=detail&id=DE62E3D2E7DA457E750800C449E89B65FD410096&FORM=IGRE3

I sincerely doubt the the US State Department and Pentagon would be "taken aback" should this happen, because at that point, the US is on the hook to defend Israel militarily.

Political Discourse IS Violent Rhetoric

The government is a group of people that systematically use force and threats of force to accomplish their goals. With no justification other than their ability to use overwhelming violence against those that resist, they act as a monopoly on violence and ultimate decision making over a certain geographical area. They claim the people that live in this area as property, call them “citizens” and take a certain percentage of their income as tribute. They set up rules against certain kinds of non-violent behavior and certain kinds of voluntary transactions between consenting adults. They then initiate force against people that engage in these behaviors and transactions and extract further tribute from them.

Foreclosure Filings in U.S. May Jump 20% From Record 2010 as Crisis Peaks

The number of U.S. homes receiving a foreclosure filing will climb about 20 percent in 2011, reaching a peak for the housing crisis, as unemployment remains high and banks resume seizures after a slowdown, RealtyTrac Inc. said.

14 Israeli jets breach Lebanon airspace

Lebanon's army says 14 Israeli war planes have breached the country's airspace in a flagrant violation of a United Nations Security Council resolution.

Webmaster's Commentary: "Don't you schmucks get it yet? We are ABOVE the law! BWAH HAA HAA HAA HAA HAA!!!!!!!"

US Aid to Israel Not Worth the "Real Cost," Researcher Says

Israel is paying through the nose for US aid and would better off without it, says a researcher for the Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies (JIMS). American aid to Israel to the tune of $3 billion a year has been maligned by many U.S. conservatives and by the Arab world, but Israel actually loses more than it receives, according to JIMS analyst Yarden Gazit.

Webmaster's Commentary: What fantastic news! The US no longer has to give any aid (financial or military) to Israel whatsoever! Thanks, Yarden Gazit: you've made my day. Now how about the Israeli government sending the last batch of bucks back to us,with interest?!? :-)

City puts a stop to homeless outreach

Bobby and Amanda Herring spent more than a year providing food to homeless people in downtown Houston every day. They fed them, left behind no trash and doled out warm meals peacefully without a single crime being committed, Bobby Herring said.

That ended two weeks ago when the city shut down their "Feed a Friend" effort for lack of a permit. And city officials say the couple most likely will not be able to obtain one.

"We don't really know what they want, we just think that they don't want us down there feeding people," said Bobby Herring, a Christian rapper who goes by the stage name Tre9.

Webmaster's Commentary: Trust me, this is not about homeless people getting fed safe food: this is an ongoing effort to criminalize homelessness.

Look very soon for the homeless to be literally convicted in an alleged court of law, and wind up having to do sweatshop labor in a "work house" of some kind, for no money.

Then when they are turned loose on the streets, they are still homeless; but they are now homeless with a criminal conviction that will almost completely assure that even if they have some skills, they won't be able to find employment.

North and South Korea restore crossborder hotline

The Unforgivable Horror of Village Razing

Look, war is hell. I have no illusions about that. But what is happening right now in Southern Afghanistan is inexcusable. There were rumors of this policy of collective punishment in the Arghandab before (see this overwrought Daily Mail story that stops right before the village actually was destroyed for an idea of what is going on), and I’m really struggling to see how such behavior does not violate Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention—that is, how this behavior is not a war crime, especially given the explicit admission that such behavior is merely for the convenience of the soldier and not any grander strategy or purpose.

Webmaster's Commentary: The Afghan people do not "hate us because we are free": they hate us because we have been killing their wives, kids, brothers, sisters, and friends with impunity, and destroying whatever meager quality of life they had before the invasion and occupation.

Obamacare Packs Crushing New Taxes

Below is a comprehensive list of the two dozen new or higher taxes that pay for Obamcare’s expansion of government spending and interference between doctors and patients.

Cartoon comic: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Corrected to reflect modern sensibilities)

The sun rises two days early in Greenland, sparking fears that climate change is accelerating

The sun over Greenland has risen two days early, baffling scientists and sparking fears that Arctic icecaps are melting faster than previously thought.

Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure.

One Year After Haiti Earthquake, Corporations Profit While People Suffer

One year after an earthquake devastated Haiti, much of the promised relief and reconstruction aid has not reached those most in need. In fact, the nation's tragedy has served as an opportunity to further enrich corporate interests.

The details of a recent lawsuit, as reported by Business Week, highlights the ways in which contractors - including some of the same players who profited from Hurricane Katrina-related reconstruction - have continued to use their political connections to gain profits from others' suffering, receiving contacts worth tens of millions of dollars while the Haitian people receive pennies, at best. It also demonstrates ways in which charity and development efforts have mirrored and contributed to corporate abuses.

Norway says it will be first EU nation to recognise Palestine

Norway announced on Wednesday that it will be the first EU country to recognise a Palestinian state once the Palestinian institutions are set in place.

Webmaster's Commentary: Clarification: Norway is not a member state of the European Union (EU), but is closely associated with the Union through its membership in the European Economic Area (EEA).

Gaza patient dies waiting for permit to leave

Anas Saleh, 20, died on January 1 from a liver disease. He had been unconscious for several days in Gaza's Ash-Shifa Hospital before his death. His doctors had sought permission for Saleh to enter Israel for treatment.

After the request was made Israeli authorities insisted that the unconscious patient appear for questioning by the Israel Security Agency, a report from the Al-Mezan center for human rights said.

Webmaster's Commentary: The Israeli government's absolutely cold-blooded and inhumane policy of not allowing sick Gazan Palestinians to receive life-saving care is simply another component of Israel's "Final Solution" for Gazans. It is bitterly, painfully ironic that Israeli government officials consistently scream about "having the moral high ground", when what they are doing is collectively punishing Gazans for having selected the "wrong government" (read: Hamas). The siege of Gaza has absolutely nothing to do with Israeli security.

Therefore, the Israeli government actually believes that it is in the right, and has no moral qualms whatsoever, when its actions ultimately leads to a slow, painful death; by malnutrition; a bullet to the brain for the "crime" of gathering gravel; untreated treatable disease; or asphyxiation through exposure to CS gas, as happened at a recent peaceful protest of the separation wall in the village of B'lin.

PALESTINE: THE ATTITUDE THAT WILL SET US FREE

After I finished my last book on popular resistance in Palestine over the past 130 years, I became certain that political Zionism will fail and that Palestinian refugees will return to their homes and lands. My certainty is based on the lessons of history in Palestine and lessons from similar struggles like South Africa, Vietnam, and Algeria.

SUPPORT FOR PALESTINIAN RIGHTS IS DOWNRIGHT ANTI-SEMITIC

At least according to the zionist anti-Semites themselves…..

Guyana recognizes Palestinian state

JP Morgan bankers to share $10bn bonus pot after profits leap

JP Morgan's investment bankers are to receive an average payout of $369,651 (£233,000) after the bank set aside almost $10bn to cover basic pay and bonuses.

Energy companies accused of 'profiteering'

Energy companies were last night accused of "profiteering" after new figures revealed the price of average household bills has soared by 37 per cent over the last three years - as wholesale prices for energy has fallen substantially.

Webmaster's Commentary: And they still want to add a carbon tax on top of it all!

The 6 Most Disastrous Attempts at Internet Damage Control

They call it the Streisand effect, and it happens any time people try to suppress Internet criticism, then see it blow up hilariously in their faces. As these companies can tell you, sometimes it's better to just let it go. Webmaster's Commentary:

I never thought I would say this, but I am really starting to like Cracked Magazine for their take on contemporary issues. I linked to this article because it confirms what I have been saying for years; government and corporate America are still stuck in the 1950s mode of handling problems, and still do not comprehend the very real change to societal information flow brought about by the internet. Bluster, Bullying, and Bullshit do not work any more, yet government and corporate media still play the game that way because they know nothing better. Therein lies our hope for their eventual collapse, opening the door to a better future.

As for the chiropractor story, I had a back injury resulting from tripping over a C-stand on a soundstage. I was in hideous pain for several months, and the conventional doctors loaded me up with very expensive pain medications with very terrible side effects, and workman's comp told me I was faking it, and to shaddup and go back to work. There was a chiropractor's office right next door to where I was working on a project for Disney (The Delta Dreamflight), so one lunch I decided I had nothing left to lose and walked in. Three weeks later my back pain was gone and never came back. I told the regular doctors they were full of shit and have avoided them ever since.

Social conflict in Maghreb has international implications

Rising food prices are daily exacerbating social tensions caused by growing inequality and mass unemployment, especially among the young. The global financial crisis has set light to a tinderbox in North Africa and the Middle East. This has provoked growing unease among the international ruling elite. Speaking in Doha, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told an audience of government officials and businessmen, "In too many places, in too many ways, the region’s foundations are sinking into the sand."

She warned that the populations of the region had "grown tired of corrupt institutions and a stagnant political order."

Webmaster's Commentary: Memo to Secretary of State Clinton: that is also true of US citizens, evaluating their current (lack of) quality of life!

America's "War on Drugs": CIA- Recruited Mercenaries and Drug-Traffickers

My unit, the Hard Narcotics Smuggling Squad, was charged with investigating all heroin and cocaine smuggling through the Port of New York. My unit became involved in investigating every major smuggling operation known to law enforcement. We could not avoid witnessing the CIA protecting major drug dealers. Not a single important source in Southeast Asia was ever indicted by US law enforcement. This was no accident. Case after case was killed by CIA and State Department intervention and there wasn’t a damned thing we could do about it. CIA-owned airlines like Air America were being used to ferry drugs throughout Southeast Asia, allegedly to support our “allies.” CIA banking operations were used to launder drug money.

Webmaster's Commentary: There is a phrase from the French, which states "the more things change, the more they remain the same." No where is it more true than in the US's alleged "war on drugs". And when you take a look at the soaring opium trade in Afghanistan, remember this; under the watch of the Taliban, opium cultivation was nearly completely eradicated.

And what happens after the US/NATO invasion and occupation of Afghanistan? Opium cultivation soars. This is no mere coincidence.

Homelessness Increases as Help Decreases

A report released yesterday confirmed startling increases in homelessness nationally. It's the second report to do so in the past month. These findings should come as a wake-up call to anyone who cares about the fundamental values on which our country is founded.

Family charged 'death tax' for baby who lived one hour

Olivia Clark lived for only one hour. Doctors didn't even expect her to survive birth. Now her family has a hard time understanding why the King County Medical Examiner has to review her death and charge $50.

Webmaster's Commentary: Government as a whole is one giant heartless bastard!

US Pressure Triggers Collapse of Lebanese Government

Washington has repeatedly made it clear that it would view a Hezbollah-led coalition assuming power in Lebanon as a direct threat to its strategic interests in the region and would likely respond with a concerted destabilization campaign, if not outright military aggression. It appears that the US administration is banking on Al-Hariri being able to maintain himself in power indefinitely as an acting prime minister in a “caretaker” government. The Israeli military, meanwhile, announced that it has placed its forces on the Lebanese border on a state of high alert.

Webmaster's Commentary: If a provocation comes at Israel's northern border with Lebanon, I would almost be willing to bet that it will not come from Hezbullah, which has everything to lose and nothing to gain from another Israeli incursion into Lebanon.

Taliban ends opposition to education for girls

Gilad Atzmon: And What About the Sperm?

I guess that for some, it is much easier to become a Jew riding a Merkava Tank over a Palestinian village than learning Halakha law for seven years.

Yet I am slightly confused. I also learned this week that ??Rabbi Dov Lior, another genius Talmud scholar, announced that Jewish Law prohibits sterile couples from conceiving using non-Jew's sperm, as it causes adverse traits. According to Rabbi Lior, a baby born through such an insemination will have the "negative genetic traits that characterize non-Jews." And what about the sperm of the newly converted soldiers? Will it cure on the spot?

America: Paydown problems

Please respect FT.com's ts&cs and copyright policy which allow you to: share links; copy content for personal use; & redistribute limited extracts. It was the most startling of warnings. If the US does not get its finances in order “we will have a European situation on our hands, and possibly worse”, claimed Paul Ryan, the new Republican chairman of the House of Representatives budget committee.

Did Pima County Sheriff Dupnik ignore Jared Loughner's warning signs before Gabrielle Giffords shooting?

Jared Loughner has been making death threats by phone to many people in Pima County including staff of Pima Community College, radio personalities and local bloggers. When Pima County Sheriff’s Office was informed, his deputies assured the victims that he was being well managed by the mental health system. It was also suggested that further pressing of charges would be unnecessary and probably cause more problems than it solved as Jared Loughner has a family member that works for Pima County.

Webmaster's Commentary: So, if Loughner was being "well managed by the mental health system", was he taking mood-altering prescription drugs?

Too Big to Fail? Homelessness Increases as Help Decreases

The report, "The State of Homelessness in America," issued by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, assembles data that show that from 2008 to 2009, homelessness in general increased by 3 percent, and homelessness among families increased by 4 percent.

Webmaster's Commentary: Welcome to Ameristan, courtesy of the past and current administrations!

Afghanistan: Killing Peace

The White House argues that the only solution to the long-running war is diplomacy, but seems bent on systematically sabotaging the process by killing the very people who would be central to any negotiated peace.

The war is lost. We are broke. Many of the key protagonists are prepared to talk. It’s time to silence the guns and seek common ground.

Webmaster's Commentary: Unfortunately, the goals and missions of this misbegotten military conflict were never, ever told straight to the American people, because the American people never, ever would have bought in to this war, had they been given the real rationale for it.

The two primary goals were controlling the opium trade (mission accomplished on this one), and the construction of the Turkmenistan/Afghanistan/Pakistan pipeline, which will not begin construction until 2012, and will not be completed until at least 2014.

So what we have here is a very publicly funded war, where Americans are fighting, dying and getting maimed for life, for potential private profit. This war has absolutely nothing to do with the security of this country.

A Nation of Laws? Or Assassins?

There's a bumper sticker that sums up this problem. It reads: "We're making enemies faster than we can kill them." Congress, and the nation as a whole, need to decide if our goal is simply to kill more people or to make this country safer. If our goal is the latter, then assassinations by drones or any other means doesn't belong in our policy tool kit.

Virginia Creates Subcommittee To Study Monetary Alternatives In Case Of Terminal Fed "Breakdown", Considers Gold As Option

In what may one day be heralded as the formal proposal that proverbially started it all, the Commonwealth of Virginia introduced House Resolution No. 557 to establish a joint subcommittee to "to study whether the Commonwealth should adopt a currency to serve as an alternative to the currency distributed by the Federal Reserve System in the event of a major breakdown of the Federal Reserve System."

Webmaster's Commentary: Expect to see more legislation of this nature pass in more states fairly quickly.

Government Says No to Helping States and Main Street, While Continuing to Throw Trillions at the Giant Banks

The Wall Street Journal noted last week: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday ruled out a central bank bailout of state and local governments strapped with big municipal debt burdens, saying the Fed had limited legal authority to help and little will to use that authority.

“We have no expectation or intention to get involved in state and local finance,” Mr. Bernanke said in testimony before the Senate Budget Committee. The states, he said later, “should not expect loans from the Fed.”

All news and commentary taken from, Mike Rivero's whatreallyhappened.com.