I watched the news today, oh boy...

[BO]

Interesting news day today. Here's a summary:

1. The US plans to shoot down a [supposedly] dying satellite before it spins out of orbit and kills millions. The real news: The US wants to test a new anti-ballistic missile. I'm sure the Russians and Chinese are thrilled.

2. Another college shooting. Hardly news-worthy anymore now that they've become so common. Question is: Has it become too risky to send your kid off to college?

3. The housing market is still fucked. And getting fucked-ter. People walking away from their homes in droves. Prices expected to come down another 25%.

4. The fed was all over the teevee today telling people the economy wasn't doing so well and bond insurers might start to default soon. The real news: Depression on the way. Fasten your seat belts, folks. Oh wait, I forgot about the rebate. Yeah right, that'll save us.

5. And my favorite: All misplaced Katrina folk have to move out of their FEMA trailers due to formaldehyde poisoning--all 35,000 of 'em. How ironic. Gee, I wonder what effect this might have on the mobil home/RV industry? And of course, the lawyers are all over it.

Did I miss anything?

[BO]

Bringing US style democracy to the rest of the world.

Brother of Afghan Leader Is Said to Be on C.I.A. Payroll

Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of President Hamid Karzai and a suspected player in the opium trade, has gotten payments from the C.I.A. for eight years, American officials said.

Unfuckingbelievable.

[BO]

Gonna be fun to watch the rally this weekend. Will we get to see Waldo on TV?

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Welcome to the Sanity Bus
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity

[Mouse]

“Arguments in an online forum may at first glance seem to be of interest only to diehard keyboard warriors. But without the Internet, most of us would never have learned about 9/11—certainly the traditional media won’t go near it. 9/11 truth lives or dies on the Internet, and when the most heavily trafficked truth site decides to suppress certain evidence, it obviously makes it harder for people to learn the truth and figure out what happened. In the case of CIT, we are being told to disregard one of the most incriminating facts about 9/11: no plane hit the Pentagon. Now, why would any genuine truther ask us to turn our backs on such damning, unspinnable evidence?”
http://z3.invisionfree.com/CIT/index.php?showtopic=1525

Deary dear, what a shame.

[Mouse]

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said US private security firms, including Xe Services LLC, formerly known as Blackwater, are being behind terrorism in the country.

At a press conference in Kabul, Karzai said that US security companies have been behind explosions that have claimed the lives of women and children.
The Afghan president added that they have caused "blasts and terrorism" in different parts of Afghanistan over the past months.

The Afghan president said his administration cannot even distinguish between the bomb blasts carried out by US security firms and those of the Taliban militants.
"In fact we don't yet know how many of these blasts are by Taliban and how many are carried out by them (US security companies)."

Blackwater has been involved in the murder of several Afghan citizens over the past years. The company has also been struggling with a trail of legal cases and civil lawsuits, including one for killing 17 Iraqi civilians during a Baghdad shootout in 2007.

Earlier in June, the CIA reportedly admitted that Blackwater had been loading bombs on US drones that target suspected militants in neighboring Pakistan.

The Afghan president has also pointed out that American private security firms are corrupt and have fueled nine years of war.
"Deals under the name of private security companies are cut in the hallways of American government buildings. It involves 1.5 billion dollars," he said.

Karzai has accused security companies of running what he called an economic mafia based on crooked contracts.
"The money, 1.5 billion dollars, is being distributed there (in the United States) on Blackwater [sic] and this and that."

The developments come as the notorious Blackwater has been awarded a five-year State Department contract worth up to USD 10 billion for operations in Afghanistan.
In August, Karzai ordered all security firms to disband before the end of the year.
Some diplomats and military officials say Karzai has been under intense pressure to reconsider his decision.
However, Karzai says he is steadfast in his decision to dissolve foreign security firms in the country despite US pressure to reconsider the decision.
The private companies are said to be in charge of providing security for foreign officials and embassies as well as development projects in Afghanistan.
Karzai has blamed mercenaries for civilian deaths and corruption in the troubled region.
JR/HGH/MMN

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/148217.html

[Mouse]

This is an hour of a British documentary on the heel of leaks about US military killings of civilians in Iraq.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMxEuXb6dw4&list=SL

The figures are still nowhere near the official death toll which was in excess of a million several years ago I remember. No-one wanted to know.