Great Work, as always, Isabelle; and more studying (print and save)for me.

Sally do you put any significance to Mercury hitting its ApG on Sunday morning at 7:26am PST?
Also, same question for the Lunar ImBolc on February 8(new moon in Aquarius)?

Great work Isabelle and I understand you have a poem about to be published in one of
Asia's Literary Journals. Way to go.

Jill, I do and don't put any significance on the Mercury transit, I might have 4 years ago and said to look the beginning of a scandal, only I know that whatever hint of scandal might come, it will be just as quickly buried. I haven't looked at the New Moon chart but that one aspect will not have the impact that the entire chart will have for the month.

I am sure everyone who knew who he was, knows that Broadway dimmed her lights tonight in honor of the passing of one of their own, Ossie Davis. He was a really fine actor in movies and mostly on Broadway. Mostly he was an activitist as far back as Eugene McCarthy. He stood for justice and what was right his entire life. At 87 he died in Florida working on a new movie "Retirement" only he had never retired. Final curtain calls are always hard, it's particularly hard for a great man and he was a great man. My sympathies to Ruby Dee, his wife and partner for over 57 years. I greatly admired Ossie Davis, his work and the way he lived his life.

thank you so much for the kind words Sally! You are a great lady!

I've not yet had the time to look at the chart, but Sally's noted elsewhere that she did see some sort of changes to the system occurring. Certainly a Pluto crossing over the ASC is nothing to speak lightly about in transit. Similar to the US transit of Pluto over the ASC, SS will likely embark on a 1st House reorganization.

Excellent article Sally. Thanks for your work on this. I think you are right that people are paying attention now. The robber barons may prevail in the end, but people are going to know who stole their retirement.

Thank you for the excellent article Isabelle! With all the branches of government in the same hands, there is no one else to blame. I'm not sure they will escape by leaving the country either.

I just saw this. http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/norwoodhighschool.htm It is so outrageous I had to look three times to believe my eyes.

Home Intellectual FreedomBanned Books Week Related Links

Parents censor high school literature and are allowed to burn books they find offensive

"Censorship reflects a society's lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime." Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart-1966.

Recently [story posted Thursday, February 3, 2005] a book that was being used as part of an English assignment was confiscated from freshmen at Norwood [Colorado] High School due to references of paganism and an alleged magnitude of profanity.

Here in Norwood, a small group of parents sent letters to Superintendent Bob Conder, expressing their concern over, "Bless Me, Ultima," a book being used in the classroom as a literature book. Conder said the books, about 2 dozen in total costing $6.99 each, were pulled from the classroom, and designated to be destroyed. The parents approached the superintendent and asked that they be able to burn the books instead of the school janitor destroying them.

Conder granted them their request, as he has the right to dispose of them. Conder informed the School Board in a letter after the fact. He further stated, "I can't dictate morality, but my job is to protect the kids. The books should have never been purchased, and were not properly disclosed for approval."

The author, Rudolfo Anaya, said in a phone interview, "Freedom of democracy is learned in our school systems." Anaya, who started teaching in a one-room school house in New Mexico further stated, "Parents have the right to monitor what their children read, however they do not have the right to tell others what they can read. That is un-American, un-democratic and un-educational."

Conder said the books were not sold to recoup some of the cost or donated to a library elsewhere because, "I would not feel comfortable with those books possibly falling into another child's hands, and the return would not be more than 50 cents to a dollar a piece". When asked if the teacher who introduced the book to the students was in danger of being terminated, Conder said, "No, she was truly sorry for her lack of judgment."

More....

One of our posters M, just sent me the DU link that says Donnie Fowler has dropped out of the race for the DNC Chair and has endorsed Dean. Is anyone still there? Is Roemer there or has he dropped?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1214136

So, you think the Bush administration is going to get away with this? The Dems sound optimistic.

"It ain't over until it's over." Several months ago I felt Dean would win if it was decided or determined before Feb. 12th, and now it looks pretty much in the bag for Dean. However, Pluto is conj. Howard Dean's Mars, and Howard is a Scorpio. As long as there is just one person opposing him, there is a possibility, with the Pluto conj. Mars, that he will do something that amounts to self-destruction. Pluto/Mars can bring him to power or take it away.

On the other hand Roemer has Pluto in a square to his Virgo Jupiter, that aspect can also bring power after a fight or take it away, the Pluto/Jupiter aspect is a bit more anxiety producing and Roemer feels like the HAS TO HAVE THIS JOB, he would feel like he is fighting for his political life and that might be true for him because Pluto will go on to square several Virgo Planets. Howard might want to be careful of what he says and does between now and Feb. 12th, I sure don't want to see him lose this opportunity for himself or for us. The "balance bar" is in Dean's favor with his Mars and T-Pluto trining T- NN. Howard Dean deserves this, he's worked for it, and so far has used that Pluto/Mars to energize this falling party.

Dean's Sun in Scorpio opposes the Party's Sun in Taurus (they don't like changing the status quo) But the kicker here is Dean's Mars (23 Sag, T Pluto just having gone over that) is in a sextile to the Party's 23 degree Aquarius Pluto, and T Saturn inconj them both, forming a yod between Dean and the Party, stabilizing their power. Howard Dean is truly what they need at this historical juncture but they are going to fight him behind the scenes (the old guard)they have been fighting him. His Sun squares the Dem Party Moon and it won't always be an easy marriage because he will bring a power to the DNC Chair position they are not accustomed to from their Chair. Fortunately or unfortunately for him, the party faithful (the people) will look toward him as the leader because we don't have anyone else speaking for us.

He needs to make the most of this transiting yod over the next 4 months, jumping on opportunities and I think he will.

PatC, good Lord. The problem is I fear it will become much worse. Buy your Harry Potter books early folks. The Brownshirts are here.

Pat C,
Thanks for your informative posting . . .. I am just flummoxed by such a bizarre reaction to such a benign piece of literature. My daughter attended a college preparatory catholic girls high school. Bless Me, Ultima was the first book on her freshman-reading list. The school was very strict and had a very rigorous academic curriculum. The education received prepared the girls for the top universities in the country, therefore the literature curriculum was geared to inform and enlighten and was also expected to give the student a well-rounded and informed view of the world. Expansion of personal views, teaching compassion and understanding was also the goal for many of the reading assignments . . . Plus, the Catholic diocese approved all-reading material.

What is wrong with these brainless/narrow-minded/fearful people? (Guess I just answered my own question) My own personal “nightmare” is that such a reactionary faction has taken hold that I will not live long enough for this Bush inflicted craziness to play itself out and for a new day to dawn. I am immensely sad.

Please excuse me Isabelle,
"Thank you" for your time and generous spirit for sharing your talent and insight. I was so upset when I read about the book burning I totally left my manners at the door ~ Terrific article ~

Isabelle,
Thank you for your wonderful reading of the charts. Sounds as if the lights and planets and godesses are all lined up to guard the gates and the people are going to fight. Glad to find the Dem political pundits affirmed by the stars. As for tPluto on the ASC, I experienced that years ago when I was young and foolish (now I'm just old and foolish!)... it was not the 'tower falling' for me... it involved great changes that were so subtle it was years before I was aware of them, and I remember the experience as an exciting time, with many doors of opportunity opening for me. It was a rebirth in a sense, so there must have been a "death" involved, but at the time it was not traumatic or overwhelming. I say that for others who may have yet to experience this aspect in their lifetime.

Sally,
I had not heard about the passing of Ossie Davis. Tears fill my eyes for the loss of this light. He was a being of tremendous humanity... a stellar actor who was never appreciated enough --- probably because Broadway was his main stage and the populace is more familar with the TV and movie screens. He was an activist and a spokesman for us all. Light and blessings to you Ossie Davis, and to your lovely wife and family.

Thank you, Isabelle. And thank you, Sally. It was so nice this morning to wake up to FDR's great words and one of his best deeds. And both your comments on the SSecurity chart and transits make it all the more interesting to see how this plays out.

Pat C, now I've got to read Bless Me, Ultima.

Starrynights, I've noticed that the Catholics seem more secure or confident than the Evangelicals, who jump at every "unorthodox" shadow. Or maybe since the Evangelicals are comprised of many groups their crazier ones are always getting the headlines and starting the bonfires.

This morning was thinking about the '60s and I wrote some song lyrics. I crave everybody's indulgence and will post them separately.

new lyrics--music needed

The oil is going and the sea waters' rising
Still my friends, it's not surprising
The greedy want more
The greedy want war.

Our country's drifting from its mooring
The people drink KoolAid and they're snoring
The greedy get more
The greedy get war.

I pledge alleigance to the Corporations
They are the owners of my nation
The greedy want more
And the profits from war.

I'll do my duty like I oughter
Be a wage slave or cannon fodder
'Cause the greedy need more
The greedy need war.

Support the troops--encourage their dying
Support the president--forget he's lying
The greedy need more
The greedy need war.

Ohhh Barbara,

You have missed your callin' --- WONDERFUL parody!

MSNBC reports the following...
[do you think the people are about to discover most journalists are being paid by our government to write?... NAHH... BA HUMBUG... the theatrics at CENTCOM are the norm... so are Scott Mc and his White House Follies... starring Brian Gannon, who is not only paid by the gov’t, shoot he was CREATED by the gov’t — bogus ID, bogus credentials, bogus...bogus... The whole rotten fascist bunch...]

-----
Journalists paid to write for military Web site
Pentagon is investigating the practice

It was not clear Friday whether other U.S. military commands have similar Web site operations. Navy Capt. Hal Pittman, the chief spokesman at Central Command, responsible for U.S. military operations in the Middle East and Central Asia, said, “We’re reviewing the utility of this kind of Web site.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6915347/

--------

Jo's editorial comment: "not clear"??? Take those rose colored glasses off, you jerk... do your homework --- it's CRYSTAL CLEAR...

Sally, Roemer is still in the race for DNC chair. But Roemer is anti-choice, and therefore unacceptable to most of the base.

Right now it is just Dean and Roemer.

T Merc conj my Natal Merc. in my 10th House. Antic today.

Thank YOU, Isabelle -- you've given us a great deal to digest. The inter-"play" between aspects and nations is getting more intense with each passing moment. Consider this latest little tidbit regarding Korea. http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/US-commits-massive-war-machine-to-South-Korea/2005/02/05/1107476857347.html?oneclick=true

Barbara, got a new career going here?

karen

Bush to seek $419.3 billion for Defense...
doesn't include money for Iraq and Afghanistan

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6915335/

Concerning some posts last thread:

The Greeks referred to it as ... epoche: the suspension of belief... one of the goals of the Sceptical argument. You don’t see it discussed very much in these lingering days of Black and White. Folks believe ‘they have the truth’... note the Fundies, the ready for rapture folk, the — all of us actually. We each believe we have the truth. Difference is of course, the Fundies et al prefer to foster their truth onto you and me in a big-time aggressive way.

This information age we’re living in prods us to lift the filters and search constantly for “the truth”... an abstract which is elusive and complex. [Socrates the gadfly constantly taunted the Athenians to define it, for which they killed him.] Facts, ma’am — just give me the facts. Well ironically enough, facts are extremely hard to come by in this information age (which is inundated with ‘disinformation’). And when the ‘facts’ are put forth, oftentimes it’s too overwhelming to accept, as they shatter our beliefs — belief in systems (like our government) or our leaders (like the resident). Adaptable homo sapiens that we are, we’re smarter than the Greeks, right? Now, if a collection of FACTS upsets our mind set, we call it a ‘tin foil hat’ conspiracy theory. Excellent progress we have made. Truly excellent, don’t you agree?

Fact is, the FACTS don’t jive with most of what we’re told today... the official story that arose the day after 9/11; the victor(s) of the 2000 USA elections decreed to us on Dec. 8, 200; the military service record of Lt. Geo. W. Bush; the Swifties account of the service record of Lt. John F. Kerry; the exit polls of the 2004 USA elections; the chain of command and the torture scandal known as Abu Ghraib; the reason we invaded Iraq, the reason we’re still there... EVEN tsunamis... and so forth and so forth ...

Back to “epoche”... and the suspension of belief. If one cannot possibly garner all the facts necessary to make an intelligent assessment, it is possible to suspend belief. It is preferable to accepting ‘whole cloth’ the official disinformation, imo.

Early on, those who suggested the official story on 9/11 was a lie were scorned. Today almost 90% of New Yorkers do not accept the ‘official story’... not to mention the numbers outside NY who posit otherwise. Scientific facts have been presented by a few to suggest that the ‘tsunami’ was NOT a natural event. If one is interested, one can find these facts in summary form on the internet, usually presented in French (page translation available online). How it was contrived, and whether it was accidental or intentional, are open questions for some. We probably will never know the ‘truth’ — just as we will probably never know the truth about 9/11.

Personally, I can discard the ‘official’ disinformation without needing to replace it with the ‘truth’ - which I can’t possibly locate. Being lied to is more than enough evidence that the ‘story’ is disinformation, and lies are more than enough to deal with.

We make a mistake, in my opinion, when we label as ‘tin foil hat’ conspirators those who bring us information on a subject we are unwilling to question. OTOH, we likewise make a mistake when we demean those who are unable to accept what we present as information.

Namaste

Oooophs, I forgot to mention that I am mistake-based! :-)

I'm confused. What are you talking about, Jo, and why is tin foil hat such a bad thinng to say? I have always seen it used with a sense of humour on this board!

One fact is that we've been seeing the ugly underbelly exposed on the govt of the US. It's been there all along... now we see it. What's not positive about that!?!? Very positive imo. Other than that, negative thinking is just stupid 'cause it doesn't take into consideration... facts.

Funky-fundies have always been burnin' books... no doubt even papyrus ones of the "ancient world." So what's new there?! Nothing. Why should anyone take the behaviors of fundie-feeps as the end of any matter? Many MORE schools/people have been introducing progressive thought the last 30 years at least. Why not dwell upon that fact? The only adversary we have is our own insistence on silly negative thinking imo. I'm tired of it. Bah. Humbug.

The Creative Power of the Universe doesn't punish ANYBODY. Why should it?! Human becomings seem to do a splendid job of it all by theyselves. ;O)

Well, Anon,

'tin hat' has the reputation across the net of being a label for gullible... when on the contrary, most who are labeled as such are intelligent and are presenting facts they can't square with the accepted or official story. I'm not suggesting it is a 'bad' thing to call someone that, I'm trying to suggest that to dismiss information out of hand as being 'tin foil' is not necessarily smart... more like shooting the messenger... I'm not referring to the jovial comments re same in the past on this board. I'm specifically talking about the links posted re the 'Tsunami' on the last thread. Whether one agrees with the links are not, the poster is presenting them for discussion... discussion on the merits of the post... and as an expression of their own belief as to what happened.

There was some tension and some expression of hurt feelings. I'm simply trying to suggest we be kinder to each other. I guess I wasn't very clear.

The book burning post above reminded me of what happened in Germany during the first part of Hiltler's rise to "power". Hasn't someone here (I apologize for not remembering clearly) mentioned that there are some astrological echos between Germany's chart during the Hitler years and America's chart now and in the years to come? I wish I could remember. But I think that's right.

It's so important to keep giving light when surrounded by Darkness. To be "changed" by all this, to be made bitter and angry is one way the Darnkness wins. Of course, be strong, stand for your rights and insist on being heard. But don't eat your own. And never forget that, as with all things, the Darkness will pass and there you'll be, still standing in Light. :-)

Just stuff that's on my mind today.

Bush to cut health care....

The message is ready to be sent with the following file or link attachments:
Shortcut to: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/05/politics/05cuts.html?pagewanted=print&position=

The New Christianity

We know it's God's will that Bush be Boss
Because he's standing near a Cross.

He has Jesus' personal okay
for those torture cells at Guantanamo Bay.

Bush recites new beatitudes: Rob from the poor
And let us wage war, forever more.

Has Jesus really changed His mind?
Or is this a con game of some kind?

-------------------------------------------
stop me before I commit another rhyme

Another book the rightwingnuts hate is "The Misfits" by James Howe. Because of this teen book there are many schools having "No Name Calling Week". But the book mentions gay teens and the neocons can't deal with it. On "Unfiltered" (AirAmericaRadio) yesterday James Howe said at least one school in Iowa banned the reading of his book in class by the teacher because some kid's mother complained.
I guess they want to yell "fruit" at someone without feeling bad! whoo whoo whoo They are intolerant but hate to have something they deny exists put right in there faces. Opps there ARE gay people and they were once gay teens!

http://www.365gay.com/newscon05/01/012405nameDay.htm
http://www.thekcrachannel.com/news/4122133/detail.html

terrifically horrifying look at Social Security, Isabelle- thank you. Not even many analysts can believe what this admin. is trying to pull off with their new bait & switch scheme. Even Merriman! spelled out the greed grab this week: http://www.stariq.com/MarketWeek.HTM

I appreciate the advice Jo. I guess Saturn exactly conjunct my natal Merc. in the 1st,/ Mars conjunct Pluto has me giving voice of late to deep-seated opinions. This one, like the Jew/ Nazi discussion, I couldn't let go {shrug}.We had a discussion on Kos yesterday about the conspiracy theory "magic bullet" phrase, and it illustrates my thoughts perfectly: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/2/4/171135/0120
Have a nice weekend everyone.

P.S. Juan Cole is feeling his oats today too, he-he.

The New Christianity
Barbara - I love it!

I have Pluto on the ascendent natally, which is also the focal point of an exact Cardinal T. sq.

I was told by an astrologer once that it meant that I should help others to find their power and it sure fits in the things that I have done.

The only trouble that it has even given me is that it helps make my eyes very intense, so people tell me, and it scares some people till they get to know me.

So I say welcome Pluto transits, it teaches about power and can awaken a lot of spiritual or wisdom about power. I understand completely that true power lies with in and it is false power if used outwardly by control or attempt to control another.

When any of those scary outer planets including Saturn come calling, if you just go with the flow and ask to learn about what they represent, then it is a wonderful experience.

Mundane is certainly much different from personal astrology. Note that Social Security is a very powerful pawn in political astrology. And the one that puts across the best honest argument for his ideas wins all the marbles.

I live in a senior citizen apt. and when I moved here the residents where pro republican and now you can hardly find one around. And don't mess with Social Security is their motto. And most young people that can add and subtract are not going to be fooled either.

Since the gov. intends to only let you have about 4% of what you earn in the years of investment (that is how they are going to make up for the loss in installing it) it will amount to less than 1, 000 dollars that you get at 65. This needs to be told widely instead of just a few obscure places on the net.

And I say, Yell Dean Yell. That is what we need. The more I hear that Yell, the more I want him to be in a power position.

If you have not seen Bush and Libberman hugging at the State of the Union, like 2 lovers at the airport, you missed a very telling picture. Hello, Liberman is supposed to be on our side. That picture that will come back up in 2006 may cost him his seat. Oh Happy Day.

Peg neglected to post link to Juan Cole. Here it is... maybe Juan Cole should run for president. He's got backbone, and he would not have invaded Iraq, and he would not go into Iran either.

http://www.juancole.com/2005/02/jonah-goldberg-embarrasses-himself.html

Barbara,
You have a gift. . . .Maybe you can find someone to record your stellar lyrics. . . .Let me see ~ John Fogerty comes to mind. . . .You just might have a hit on your hands

Opps! I think we may of just had a small earthquake here in Northern Ca.

Very interesting article, Isabelle. When Pluto came crashing across my ascendant, it opened many things up for me. Slow, but dramatic, changes which have served me well. I'm going to cling to that hope for Social Security, too. I trust Dean and the Dems get going on this quickly. Smirky&Co have created a wonderful opportunity for the public to be educated about exactly what this regime is after, why and what the results will be for the public. Social Security is one of the most progressive and compassionate programs we have and Dean and the Dems need to take this opportunity and make many home runs. Ouida May says so.

"On "Unfiltered" (AirAmericaRadio) yesterday James Howe said at least one school in Iowa banned the reading of his book in class by the teacher because some kid's mother complained."

So progressive sane folks need to complain about having books taken out of their libraries, schools, &... er, mailboxes. Everybody knows letting the brat get its way only ensures more bratty behavior.

Thanks again AW for a great article, and also a great number of wonderful comments by readers. About the Pluto on the natal asc. I know the singer Helen Reddy has Pluto on her asc in Aries and she's a Scorpio. Her "I am Woman" song really empowered so many women and really shows the transformative power of Pluto.

Since I have a Scorpio asc. I always hated that Scorpios and Pluto itself gets a bad rap. My transits with Pluto have always been very empowering and insightful.

You go Jean! I bet you are a pretty strong woman.

And you go, too, Travieso!! Having a hefty chunk of scorpio & pluto in my own chart, I heartily agree with you. I'm glad about Dean's chunk of same... he'll transform... not reform.

Someone once said to me: "A leapard may have its spots moved around, but it's still a leapard." We are having some Phoenix energy activity instead... nutz to re-form. ;O)

A day in the life of Joe Republican

Joe gets up at 6:00 A.M. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards. With his first swallow of water, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to ensure their safety and that they work as advertised.

All but $10 of his medication costs are paid for by his employer's medical plan, because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance--now Joe gets it too. He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Joe's bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.

As he takes his morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. The bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents, because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much of it the shampoo contained. Joe dresses, walks outside, and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is as clean as regulations will allow because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for the laws to stop industries from polluting our air.

He walks on the government-provided sidewalk to the subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.
Joe begins his work day. He has a decent job with good pay, medical benefits, retirement, and paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought (and died) for these working standards. Joe's employer pays in accordance with these standards because he doesn't want his employees complaining to their union. If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he'll get a worker-compensation or unemployment check because some stupid liberal didn't think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.

It is noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe's deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe's money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.

Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime. In addition to receiving federally subsidized student loans, Joe also attended a state-funded university--after attending 12 years of totally tax-supported public education.

Joe goes home from work. He plans to visit his father that evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world (if he's unfortunate and is involved in a collision on the way, he'll probably survive with minimal injury thanks to those seatbelts and airbags) because some America-hating liberal fought for car-safety standards to go along with the taxpayer-funded roads.

He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house--financed by Farmers' Home Administration because bankers didn't want to make rural loans. The house didn't have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification.

He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-sipping, cheese-eating liberal made sure that Dad could take care of himself so Joe wouldn't have to.

Joe gets back in his car for the ride home and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host (whose station is getting free use of the slot on the radio spectrum to spill his bile) keeps saying that liberals are the devil and conservatives are wonderful. He doesn't mention that Joe's beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day. Joe smugly agrees: "We don't need those candy-assed liberals ruining our lives! After all, I'm a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have."

Oh, and Captain Sally, thanks so much for looking over Dean's & the Dem's charts. I'm putting your assessment in the bank.

Condi's in Europe trying to mend fences as new SOS but she seems to be encountering more problems

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?ID=36923

Yep, and you gotta wonder, Jo, how many more she's creating.

Russia ends de facto dollar peg and moves to align rouble with euro
By Steve Johnson in London
Published: February 5 2005 02:00 | Last updated: February 5 2005 02:00

Russia said yesterday it had abandoned efforts to tie the rouble's movement closely to the dollar and switched to shadowing both the euro and the US currency.

The move heightened expectations that other countries operating de facto dollar pegs, such as China, could follow suit.

More at link:
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/cb1cd3e0-771b-11d9-b897-00000e2511c8.html

Can we do any less???
Baghdad's blast wall art

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4229377.stm
Pat QOP

Sally or Nancy had mentioned, even after his loss, that Dean's star was on the rise. As a Dean campaign worker, this great turn of events for him (that he has worked hard for) makes me so happy and hopeful. I don't have the link to this article and couldn't find it at the NYT site, but I thought you'd all enjoy it.

February 6, 2005
From Ashes of '04 Effort, Dean Reinvents Himself
By TODD S. PURDUM

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 - A funny thing happened to Howard Dean on his way to becoming a losing footnote in the Democratic Party's past: he gained a winning foothold on its future. So there he was at Café Milano, Georgetown's power joint, buying a pounded veal paillard on Wednesday night for Terry McAuliffe, the man he is all but certain to succeed as party chairman next week.

"A lot of people came by the table to congratulate him," recalled Mr. McAuliffe, who said Dr. Dean had invited him to what became a three-hour dinner to discuss the party's
operations. "And he said, 'No, no, not till the vote's over.' But I did tell him, 'You are about to become a human fire hydrant. You will get blamed for every loss. You will get zero
credit for any win.' "

Dr. Dean, the former governor of Vermont, is no stranger to blame. His presidential campaign flared, then flamed out over questions about his judgment, temperament and discipline, and
he left the race without winning a single primary.

Then, as now, some party elders worried that his tone was too sharp for a national spokesman, and then, as now, they tried to stop him. This time, he stopped them.

He declined to be interviewed for this article, aides said, because he wants to avoid public comment before the Democratic National Committee's vote for chairman next Saturday. But he has already succeeded in rewriting the first dependent clause of his obituary.

At first, almost nobody in the Democratic establishment wanted Dr. Dean as chairman - not senators, congressmen or governors, most of whom looked askance at his insurgent presidential
candidacy last year and tried to field their own candidates for party chairman this winter. Only the people - more precisely, a critical mass of the 447 members of the national committee -
liked Dr. Dean. They are generally liberal state and local grassroots activists eager for a party leadership that will take on President Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress.

By Friday, Dr. Dean said he had rounded up more than 240 votes on the committee, after a dogged courtship of cold calls to committee members and networking with longtime supporters. Two
rivals, Simon Rosenberg, the head of the centrist New Democrat Network, and Donnie Fowler Jr., a party operative from South Carolina dropped out on Friday. His remaining opponent, former
Representative Timothy J. Roemer of Indiana, does not claim support that is more than in the double digits.

"I think how it happened is that people came to a judgment that he has national standing, he's a strong spokesman, a proven fund-raiser," said Harold M. Ickes, a longtime aide and friend
to Hillary and Bill Clinton who considered running for chairman but endorsed Dr. Dean instead.

"He understands the importance of rebuilding parties, and he can really connect with average people and bring them into the system," Mr. Ickes said. "I think his biggest challenge is, will he understand that he's no longer a governor or a
presidential candidate, but that he is the head of the party, and as such he'll have to consult very widely and represent many views."

So does he?

"I think he understands it," Mr. Ickes said. "But understanding something and changing long habits are two different things."

Already, the Democratic Congressional leaders, Representative Nancy Pelosi of California and Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, have tangled from a distance with Dr. Dean over who should take
the lead in setting, and articulating, party policy on questions like cabinet nominations or Supreme Court vacancies. Republicans have been quick to mock him. But Dr. Dean has also won surprising converts, like Representative John P. Murtha, a hawkish Democrat from western Pennsylvania who disagrees with him on numerous issues but decided to endorse him after Dr. Dean called to ask for his support.

"I just like the way he operates," Mr. Murtha said. "I like what he's saying as far as the organization goes. He believes in winning from the bottom up, and I've always believed that's
what we Democrats have to do, pay more attention to the individual districts we represent and then relate that to the leadership. He realizes how important the next midterm election is going to be."

Mr. Murtha also liked something else about Dr. Dean: "When I talked to him, he assured me he was not running for president."

Indeed, some prominent Democrats said that Dr. Dean's proven skills on the campaign trail in 2003 - his ability to inspire voters and to raise money through small donations over the Internet - were desirable traits in a party chairman, while his proven deficits - a sometimes loose tongue and hot temper - mattered less for a partisan leader than for a president.

"I think what people want in their party - I'm talking about grassroots activists - is someone who will fight, who is a proven, effective political communicator," said David Wilhelm,
a former chairman who was anything but a firebrand during President Bill Clinton's first term. "In the age of the Internet, money flows from that, volunteers flow from that."

Mr. Wilhelm noted that "15 years ago, you might have thought, 'Well, somebody like that will alienate the money people' " - the big donors who have traditionally served as the Democrats'
financial backbone. The paradox is that Dr. Dean himself has now become one of the party's most important money people. Even after he dropped out of the presidential race last year, he helped raise about $3.5 million for Democrats around the country.

On a moment's notice, aides said, Dr. Dean managed to raise some $250,000 for Senator Tom Daschle's unsuccessful re-election campaign in South Dakota, and a similar amount for one
of the recounts in Washington State that eventually led to a narrow Democratic victory in the governor's race there.

"If you could boil it down, Dean is seen as a soldier's general," said Representative Jim McDermott of Washington, one of the comparatively few Congressional Democrats who supported
Dr. Dean's presidential bid. "He's a guy who sleeps in the trenches with the troops."

"Howard Dean learned an awful lot in that short time he was in the presidential campaign," Mr. McDermott added. "He made some mistakes. Nobody's going to say he didn't. But he learned a great deal."

One lesson some of Dr. Dean's associates say he apparently learned in recent months was that he missed the spotlight. He considered whether he should just keep working with the grassroots organization Democracy for America that succeeded
his campaign group, Dean for America.

Joe Trippi, who helped shape his presidential campaign, urged him to run for the Senate from Vermont, or for president again.

"I just never thought this was what he wanted to do," said Mr. Trippi, who had supported Mr. Rosenberg for party chairman.

But in the end, Dr. Dean came to believe "that he could have a greater impact" from inside the party organization, said his longtime media adviser, Steve McMahon, "even though it might be
harder to get there." Running for chairman then "became an interesting challenge," Mr. McMahon said.

As governor of Vermont, Dr. Dean headed the Democratic Governors' Association as well as the National Governors Association, so he has experience running political trade groups. Aides say they expect him to commute to Washington from
his home in Vermont, travel around the country on weekends as needed and take a hands-on approach as chairman.

"People said to me it's kind of remarkable the way he's transformed himself from the guy that people remembered for the Iowa speech to the guy that people are looking to as leader of
the party," Mr. McMahon said. "Really, the only thing that happened is that he was able to sit down in various forums and be the Howard Dean that everybody was attracted to two years
ago: the plain-spoken, blunt Democrat who wasn't afraid to take a stand and state it bluntly."

Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

* THE DEMOCRATIC DIVIDE. The Outsiders ;O)

If you've bothered to pay any attn to the low-wattage drama of the race for chairman of the Dem Natl Committee (DNC), you probably know that Howard Dean is on the verge of winning it. But, during a 3-mo process in which many candidates & wld-be candidates have stumbled briefly into the fray, nothing is more illustrative of how Dem politics have changed than the fate of Leo Hindery.

You've probably never heard of Hindery, but he is one of the party establishment's longtime moneymen. In the old soft-money days, the cable TV baron cld be counted on to write 6-figure cks to the DNC. During the last prez race, when his friend DGephardt was getting torn to shreds by Dean, Hindery dropped $100,000 on TV ads tying the VT gov to Osama bin Laden. Hindery jumped into the DNC race in early Dec, noisily proclaiming the backing of Gephardt & Tom Daschle. He soon steered his private jet toward Orlando, where Dems were mtg to kick off the chairmanship race. But Hindery never even made it inside the drab hotel ballroom where DNC members grilled Dean & the other candidates.

A guerrilla squad of Dem bloggers had already gone to work on him, noting that he is an ex-[necropub] & that, even as a Dem, he had given money to the GOP. Meanwhile, the usually irrelevant 447 members of the DNC--known simply as "the 447"--sensed a rare opportunity to take control of the selection process as never before. The members are generally local party ops & activists elected or appointed to the DNC. Technically, they are the Dem Party. But institutionally, they are hostile to Beltway Dems, who they believe ignore them. And recently, they've been emboldened by the renaissance of grassroots politics. In previous yrs they swallowed hard & rubber-stamped a T McAuliffe or a Ron Brown, but the idea that a former [necropub] financier had been sent down to FL by 2 defeated Dems who had spent their last yrs in Wash watching the GOP take over the town did not sit well with the 447.

Hindery's aides, after scouting the situation, gently explained to him that he didn't have a chance. He turned his jet around & flew away. As Hindery's spokeswoman, Dem consultant Jennifer Bluestein, said with more than a touch of understatement, "He recognized his best role is to remain a party fund-raiser." That night, in Hindery's abandoned hotel suite, a gaggle of Dem ops raided his mini-bar & mockingly toasted the death of his absurd candidacy: "To Leo!"

In hindsight, the boozy requiem wasn't just for Hindery, but for an era. The DNC chair race has exposed deep fissures within the Dem Party. Some of these are ideological, but the real story of the race is the diffusion of power away from Wash & to new people/entities that have rushed to fill the power vacuum at the top of the party. When the Dems control the WH, the prez can simply pick the chair of the party. But, even when out of power, Dem pooh-bahs traditionally rally around a consensus figure & present him to the DNC members as a fait accompli. An open process with all the trappings of a modern political campaign--incl a 7-candidate field, fund-raising, regional debates, & smear campaigns in the press--is unprecedented in the party's history. To many Wash Dems watching the circus-like contest from afar, it has been an embarrassment. "I think it's pathetic," says James Carville. "It's so indicative of the Dem Party. Now we're just playing into every stereotype: We're weak, disorganized, flopping around. ... Somebody shld have fixed this damn thing in Nov. I wish someone wld have taken charge & 3 or 4 people wld have gotten together in a smoke-filled room. ... They're not running for prez! They are running for party chair. This is supposed to be a rigged deal. You think the [necropubs] wld do it this way?"

But every attempt to rig the race failed, revealing that the levers of power in the Dem Party have shifted out of Wash's hands. From the congressional leadership to the govs to the Clintons, top Dems were all terrified of a Dean victory. They believe he will turn what is essentially a low-key fund-raising & mgmt position into a lightning rod for GOP attacks, eclipsing other voices & emphasizing exactly the elements of the party that wks of postelection soul-searching had determined the Dems needed to play down (eg, its liberal stance on cultural issues & its weakness on natl sec). And yet none of them cld stop him.

There was a Keystone Kops feel to how inept the DLC proved in its attempts to find an alternative to the dreaded Dean. Gephardt/Daschle flamed out with Hindery. B Clinton tried to recruit Wesley Clark, but the general politely declined, citing his own prez ambitions for 2008. J Kerry, in his 1st postelection attempt to influence his party, flitted from candidate to candidate--IA Gov Tom Vilsack one day, ex-NH Gov Jeanne Shaheen the next--but neither entered the race. A former MI gov named Jim Blanchard was briefly resurrected from obscurity & pushed into the race by a trio of Dem govs, but he was a dud.

One of the most inept attempts to stop Dean was engineered by N Pelosi, the Dem Hse leader. According to numerous Dems, Pelosi not only feared Dean, but she feared the potential anti-Dean of the race, Martin Frost, an ex-rep who was redistricted out of his TX seat by T DeLay's pol machine. Frost had challenged Pelosi for leader 2 yrs ago, & they have had a poisonous rltnship ever since. She tapped former IN Rep T Roemer as her preferred candidate & persuaded Sen Dem leader Harry Reid to back the decision. It proved to be a pivotal moment, revealing once again how the rules had changed.

When Roemer jumped in, the race had already congealed into Dean vs a field of unknowns. Now Roemer threatened to stamp out Dean's other competitors. But he was unprepared for what wld happen next. The entire field of candidates, in concert with the insular liberal blogosphere, rose up & destroyed Roemer.

The hit was silent/deadly. One day I rec'd by messenger a dirty & smudged envelope with no return address. Inside were 5 pgs of anti-Roemer opposition research about his positions on everything from Israel & abortion to labor & SS. The same info was fed to numerous blogs, which quickly declared Roemer anathema. "Unless Roemer publicly, loudly, & completely repudiates his recent [pro-privatization] position on SS, he is utterly unacceptable as DNC chair," said a post on the pro-Dean site MyDD.com, which served as a key clearinghse of info about the race. (Roemer did repudiate that position, but it wasn't enuf.) By the time Roemer showed up on "This Week" for a Sun morning announcement of his candidacy, which, in the old days, might have helped solidify him as the establishment choice, he was badly damaged. He spent most of his interview with G Stephanopoulos defensively responding to bloggers he had clearly never heard of, like MyDD & The Wash Monthly's Kevin Drum. "The bloggers, the Internet is a very, very useful tool for us to communicate with voters, ideas. I'm very excited about it, but it can also misinterpret a vote," he complained.

Roemer never recovered. In St Louis days later, at 1 of 5 candidate forums held around the country for DNC members to interview the aspiring chairs, Roemer rose &, glaring at Dean & candidate Simon Rosenberg, lashed out at the "secret e-mails" that were circulating about him. He angrily defended his pro-life record & testily challenged the DNC members to show some tolerance on the issue. It was a brave speech, but it was also the end of his candidacy. Applause was scattered/perfunctory. In NY the next wk, he told DNC members, "We shldn't let a spec interest grp decide our view on choice." This time, the audience hissed.

The Roemer episode not only exposed the power of the blogs & the weakness of the Hill leadership, it also fatally wounded Frost. He had spent the heart of the short campaign tied up making the case against Roemer instead of attacking Dean. For instance, in a letter sent out to the 447, Frost wrote, "Our party cannot be adequately led by someone whose primary qualification to serve as Chair is his opp to core Dem beliefs." By the time Frost turned his attn to Dean, it was much too late. "Roemer," says a top Dem strategist speaking of the whole affair, "was a debacle."

The bloggers were not the only grp to exert unusual, & utterly new, influence on the chairmanship race this yr. A heretofore obscure entity, the Assn of State Dem Chairs (asdc), a subgroup of the 447, moved aggressively to take the place of the bumbling Hill leadership & Dem govs who found themselves unable to influence the process. The Dem chairs are led by Mark Brewer, the head of the party in MI. He is one of the semi-anonymous cogs in the Dem machine who has spent decades moving from one perch to another (precinct delegate, vice chair, chair) but rarely gaining respect from the establishment or much influence within the DNC. He realized this was his chance to make himself & the other state chairs major players. Brewer singlehandedly turned the selection process for party leader from a race about the future of the party into a debate about the asdc's idiosyncratic agenda. "Brewer fancies himself the kingmaker," said a top Dem strategist halfway thru the race.

Brewer forced all the candidates to become experts on the asdc's complaints. He sent each candidate a 5-pg list of demands, which was jokingly referred to as "the ransom note." It was essentially a blueprint for transferring power from Wash to the state parties. Currently, the DNC chairman gets to appoint 75 members of the DNC. Brewer wants the states to get 50 of those spots. He wants the asdc to have office space at the DNC & a say in where the prez conventions are held. Most controversially, he wants a new Budget & Finance Committee run by the asdc to audit the DNC's expenditures. In the very last line of his ransom note, he simply demands that the DNC fork over an annual tribute to his grp: "DNC to provide $200,000 toward asdc annual budget."

There is an almost perfect correlation between how much the candidates pandered to the asdc & how well they did in the race. Wonder why H Ickes, Hillary Clinton's chief pol adviser, left the contest so early? At the 1st forum in Orlando, he had the temerity to tell the asdc that they needed to fix their state parties before they come begging for money from Wash. Most of the other candidates simply promised to shower more cash on them.

The asdc's newfound power was also evident in the cases of Donnie Fowler & Simon Rosenberg. Aside from Dean, they were the two most interesting candidates. Under the old rules, neither of them wld have dared enter the race. Fowler is 37 y/o, & Rosenberg is 41, but they both look younger. Fowler has a SC accent & a San Francisco address. He wears a pompadour & hipster eyeglasses. His campaign began out of the sense of frustration he felt as a field organizer for several losing candidates (he was Al Gore's natl field dir). Fowler's bid was partly fueled by a small cadre of smart, youngish, & ideologically centrist ops who want to rid the party of B Shrum & his cohorts, an idea Fowler expressed with his signature line about wanting to "break the party free from an aristocracy of consultants."

Rosenberg, meanwhile, has created his own niche in the party by turning his org, the New Dem Network, into an incubator of ideas/projects to help rebuild the party's institutions to match what Dems see as a far superior [necropub] political/communications machine. Rosenberg was brilliant & charismatic in person but a less polished public speaker than Fowler. He had a tendency to press a doz of his favorite ideas into his presentations while Fowler massaged the asdc's erogenous zones. While Fowler's father was a past DNC chairman, the kabuki rules & oddball personalities of the DNC, not to mention the asdc, were somewhat alien to Rosenberg & his staff.

Fowler soon became the darling of Brewer & his inner circle. Fowler's response to the ransom note was a crisp 4 pgs, declaring at the outset, "I agree with every recommendation in principle & will support the implementation of each as DNC chair." It's hard to top that. Rosenberg, on the other hand, sent Brewer 9 pg of ideas about what Dems need to do, only some of which responded to the asdc's pet concerns. He also flatly rejected their idea, known as the Fowler amendment--that's right, named after Donnie's father--to give the states more power to select DNC members.

From the outside, it seemed the race had come down to Dean & Frost, but Frost never made inroads with the asdc. Brewer's grp only had eyes for Dean & Fowler. Dean ran a steady & methodical campaign that stood in sharp contrast to his prez bid. He hewed closely to the asdc demands, supporting the Fowler amendments & promising to deliver $200,000 to each state party, & he used his celebrity to sew up rank-&-file members. "They are starstruck by him," griped a rival campaign. "They are overwhelmed. It's like, 'Oh my god! I just got off the phone with Howard Dean!'" He also slowly chipped away at holdouts terrified of his caricature as an ultra-lib, antiwar elitist. "I am the Howard Dean who knows how to build things. I'm not Joe Trippi's creation," he told members, according to an adviser.

The asdc-driven process inspired lots of DNC-bashing. And, just days before Brewer was to cap his kingmaker status in the party--summoning all the candidates before his 21-person exec committee for a final grilling before the asdc made its coveted endorsement--the DNC knee-capped him instead. Party officials leaked to the press that the DNC wanted an audit of Brewer's MI party to acct for a missing $2.5 mil that the DNC had given it during the election. What's more, it turns out that the head of the Kerry/Edwards campaign in the state was none other than D Fowler, a fact that raised eyebrows among the candidates in the race jealous of how much progress Fowler had made with Brewer. Making matters worse, Brewer refused to agree to the audit, an odd position for someone demanding financial accountability from the party. "We're talking about accountability & transparency inside the DNC. That's what's missing," Brewer told me.

Thanks in part to this mini-scandal, Brewer's effort to choose the next chairman collapsed. His exec committee, in a murky process that some of the other candidates complain was "rigged," voted for Fowler. But, when Brewer presented that recommendation to the party's state chairs & vice chairs a day later, they revolted & overwhelmingly rejected it, voting for Dean over Fowler 56 to 21. The vote all but sealed Dean's victory. None of the other candidates rec'd more than 5 votes, killing their arguments that they cld consolidate the anti-Dean forces. Meanwhile, Fowler's victory in the exec committee was dismissed as a fluke; he was faced with questions about the missing money in MI; & no senior Dems came forward to anoint him as the anti-Dean. Dean had outmaneuvered every leader & wannabe leader in the Dem Party.

Dean's apparent victory--aides to Roemer/Fowler insist they'll stay in the race, but the rest of the field had dropped out or had plans to drop out by the time The New Republic went to press--proves that a process he sparked in the primaries hasn't faded. Back then, he splintered the party roughly into a reform wing & an establishment wing. That divide was only temporarily papered over during the gen election. In his plan for the DNC, Dean declares that he will "make Dems the party of reform," & reform happens to be a hot word among Dems these days. The emboldened DNC members talk about reform when they call for Wash Dems to cede power & help rebld their state parties. In the pro-Dean blogosphere, the coolest thing to do is to declare oneself "a reform Dem." What the Deaniacs mean by that is anyone's guess, but they speak in apocalyptic terms. "We need revolution. We need total upheaval," Joyce Nowak, a 60 y/o MyDD blogger told me at one DNC mtg. Chris Bowers, another MyDD blogger, declared, "I can barely believe it. It looks like we finally won something. Outside becomes inside."

But reform is also the new buzzword in the party's idea factories & among its elite as well. Much of the DLC's recent advice for the party is to retake the mantle of political reform from [necropubs] using issues like redistricting, ethics, & electoral reform. Similarly, Carville tells anyone who will listen that Dems must embrace the label of reform. But they are not talking about party-wide revolution. (Carville, after all, was appalled by the open process of the DNC chair's race.) They are talking about issues Dems can use to defeat [necropubs]. Dean's 1st hurdle as chairman will be to erase the cartoon image of him that is seared into the minds of most [ameriCO]s. But, beyond that monumental task, Dean will somehow have to mend the insider/outsider cleavage in the Dem Party, a cleavage that he, perhaps more than anyone else, is responsible for creating--& which finally brot him to power.

http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?pt=GC1nbWBk1KawulpqPq3uRR%3D%3D

* The Shift into the New Reality is a consciousness revolution. It dwarfs all previous & current revolutions, including the Industrial Revolution, which swept thru Britain in the 18th C., bringing massive social & technological changes. http://www.infinitebeing.com/0409/newdawn.htm

Wayne Madsen: Expose - The Christian Mafia -
Where they are taking us....Part 1

http://www.insider-magazine.com/ChristianMafia.htm

Christian crusaders go to battle over spanking...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/02/06/MNGJ4B6UE11.DTL&type=printable

Bush and the Messianic Boomer imperitive....

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/02/06/INGH7B39Q01.DTL&type=printable

Sun, February 6, 2005

Paranoia grips the U.S. capital

By Eric Margolis -- Contributing Foreign Editor

The film Seven Days In May is one of my all-time favourites. The gripping 1964 drama, starring Burt Lancaster, depicts an attempted coup by far rightists in Washington using a top-secret Pentagon anti-terrorist unit called something like "Contelinpro."

Life imitates art. This week, former military intelligence analyst William Arkin revealed a hitherto unknown directive, with the Orwellian name "JCS Conplan 0300-97," authorizing the Pentagon to employ special, ultra-secret "anti-terrorist" military units on American soil for what the author claims are "extra-legal missions."

In other words, using U.S. soldiers to kill or arrest Americans, acts that have been illegal since the U.S. Civil War.

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/Toronto/Eric_Margolis/2005/02/06/922316.html

The chairman of the democratic party is to be elected on Feb. 12.

ean on Sunday, 6 February 2005, at 9:51 a.m.
I am not about to even attempt to call who it is going to be, if you look at the charts, you see why.
But there are some important things on that chart no matter who wins.
In the democratic chart, May 13, 1792 Phily, no time., there is a trian between Pluto and Jupiter. On the 12th Mars sits on that midpoint.
The other interesting thing is something that you may miss just looking at the charts. On May 17, 2004, Neptune went retrograde at 15 Aq. 23.6 and then Direct just before the elections on Oct 24, 2004. On Feb 12, 2005 Neptune reaches the place where it went retrograde.
On the Democratic chart this opposes Uranus at 15 Leo 04 and squares the republican Uranus at 15 Tarus at 15 Tarus 48. July 6, 1854, Jackson, Miss. no time. There is some question about this being the correct date.
So who ever wins this vote, is bound to shake up both parties. And I believe that something may well be revealed about corruption, perhaps on both sides in the last election. We will know more about this if a time can be determined at some point. But I don't think it will be your daddy's politics after the chairman gets in office.
Much more on these charts that I have not mentioned. Incidently Uranus went retrograde on June 9, 2004 and direct just after the election on Nov 12, 2004. It reaches the place it went retrograde on Feb.26, 2005.

Jean, please keep it up. Your posts are MORE than fascinating.

Delete that second line above. It is not supposed to be there. Technical snafu.

Seems like a lot of Scorpios are coming to the fore. Has it come down to the line?
Should we get our popcorn and take our seats in the Colosseum?

SENATOR BARBARA BOXER DEFIANTLY STEPS INTO THE SPOTLIGHT

"IN-YOUR-FACE STYLE CALLED `REFRESHING'"

By Jim Puzzanghera

WASHINGTON - Barbara Boxer has shopped at the same supermarket since she and her husband moved to Greenbrae in Marin County 37 years ago. And although she has become increasingly well-known -- rising from a suburban mother to a county supervisor, congresswoman and three-term U.S. senator -- Boxer said she continued to load up on groceries with little attention, just another familiar weekend shopper in a baseball cap.

Then the calendar flipped to 2005. And, in the span of a few weeks, Boxer became a national phenomenon.

CONTINUED~ http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/10831282.htm?1c

wv,

Just get me a "rods" or two and I know exactly who I'd like to use them on ~ And by no mean would it be a child!

Isabelle,

Talk about syncronicity! I was looking around for
the date and time Social Security was passed in mind to write on it - came over here - and lo
and behold -

wonderful work.

thanks Isabelle.

Lovely article, Isabelle!! Thisis an important chart to study. I am especially concerned about Pluto on the Ascendant and Uranus on Saturn, both indicative of major changes. The Pluto aspect looks like a big power struggle over Social Security's identity. And the Uranus conjunct Saturn looks like some break up of the fixed ideas about what SS is and can do. Saturn also rules the second house, money, and the source of funding could shift under the Uranus aspect.

Have been off-line awhile dealing with various difficult situations of some close family members. We are all learning by experience, but the trouble with the School of Experience is that you have to wear the school colors: black & blue.

Thanks to Pat C, I've discovered Rudolfo Anaya. Had never heard of him before. Bless Me, Ultima was checked out of the library, but I got A Message from the Desert, and look forward to reading it.

Sally, oh! Dean's Mars is at 23 Sag. My Venus is 24 Sag. No wonder I'm in love with him. :-)

Jo, Karen, Starrynights, thanks so much for your encouragement re protest song lyrics. Have to admit, I am a music ignoramous. I checked out John Fogerty on the net and think he would be great. But he is very well shielded as I suppose all performers have to be. So I have just been sort of "floating" the lyrics on the net hoping someone will be interested.

Laurie, thanks for your comment on The New Christianity. It gave me the courage to submit it as a letter to the editor here. I think there are many otherwise kindly Christians who are taken in by Bush's co-opting of the Jesus brand name (i.e., they are drinking the KoolAid.)

Everyone probably has noticed how sad and concerned the right-wing talking heads are about Howard Dean's possibly becoming the next DNC chair. They advise us against it because they have only the best interests of the Democratic Party at heart---Not! :-)

Has everybody seen Arianna Huffington's article suggesting that maybe the Iraq "election" was another "Mission Accomplished" moment?

Couldn't the Pluto on the ascendant of the Social Security chart be a major battle in self defense?

Is it maybe a symbol of a deeper security in the fabric of our society?

And maybe the Uranus/Saturn would be a head to head confrontation of the collective and its future needs with the current elitist established authority. This battle has been going on since the inception of SS.

Oh my gosh, wv, the article on the Christian Mafia ("The Fellowship") was so disturbing. These people are so insidious, creepy and ruthless. They will do anything to hold onto power and bring in their agenda. May G-d see to it that the corruption and deceit comes to light. They are no Christians as far as I'm concerned. Somehow they make me think of the husbands in the plot of "Stepford Wives," grabbing power and control and turning even well-meaning Christians into mindless, robotic, idiots! Karl Marx had a point about religion. Is sure is the opium of much of the masses, as opposed to true spirituality and love.

The Abu Ghraib Scandal You Don't Know
Medical care was at times so scarce and shabby that it became another kind of abuse. An inside look
By ADAM ZAGORIN

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1025139,00.html

"Iraq today is a province of the American Empire, and its status is not changed by any election."

http://antiwar.com/justin/

Some may recall that early on in his first administration *sh created an Executive Order that supposedly protected presidential papers containing "classified" information from the public. [well, *sh signed the EO but he didn't 'create' it --- that was done by Sr. Gonzales, who has created all other EOs under this resident.] It stirred up quite a hornet's nest as it dealt with not only *sh's EOs but his fathers and WJClinton's.

One can pull up Presidential EOs at http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/eo/

You will find that many of Poppy's no longer even appear on the list. Clinton's last one listed is dated 4 July 99 and deals with Taliban. There were many more I am sure, but they have been deleted from the list and "classified"... (no wonder no one knows anything about what the Clinton admin said to incoming *sh admin!). Then we have the oddity that the first of *sh's to appear on this list is dated 23 Sept 01 and it also deals with "blocking property and prohibiting transactions with (--- not the Taliban, but) TERRORISTS"... My point is his EOs prior to Sep 01 are hidden. You go to USA prez's website and there appears a list of his EOs UNNUMBERED with date, tho sometimes the date is simply the month. Of course the very first EO he issued was for "faith-based..." as was the second. Some of the EOs on this page appear with a date but no title.

Now, on Mar 20, 2003 he issued EO Executive Order 13290 "Confiscating and Vesting Certain Iraqi Property" wherein he states:

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, and in order to take additional steps with respect to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 12722 of August 2, 1990,

I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, hereby determine that the United States and Iraq are engaged in armed hostilities, that it is in the interest of the United States to confiscate certain property of the Government of Iraq and its agencies, instrumentalities, or controlled entities, and that all right, title, and interest in any property so confiscated should vest in the Department of the Treasury. I intend that such vested property should be used to assist the Iraqi people and to assist in the reconstruction of Iraq, and determine that such use would be in the interest of and for the benefit of the United States.
-----

He goes on with his "order" which you can find at the link above. However, Title 3 Section 301
does not empower the President to steal, it empowers him to delegate duties to department heads: http://assembler.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode03/usc_sec_03_00000301----000-.html

IMHO, His EO 13290 is illegal. However, that is moot, as he has confiscated Iraq's treasury, its assets and its oil fields (ref to oil fields in found in previous EOs of his father's issued in 1990 which are summarized, but classified!)

My point?

We will never leave Iraq. The country is as antiwar.com suggests a province of the US. Iraq will follow the way of Japan after WWII

Welcome to Dubya Dubya 2 (redeaux)

2nd point. This administration is issuing illegal orders, performing illegal acts. We live under a dictatorship.

All of you rock! The links and thoughtful posts have me visiting often and sharing with others. As a result the "larger picture" gets fleshed out and my thoughts spiral. . .

One of the very simple things we are overlooking regarding social security and other social programs is our steadily declining wages. Were wages paid commensurate with costs of living we would not be considering massive cuts. In fact, we would be making considerations regarding the merit of expanding social programs that work well.

The nation has been marginalized (over the past thirty or so years). This has been accomplished quite handily beginning with so-called "free trade" (in the planning stages long, long before its enactment). Through substandard education and other programs inhibiting equal opportunities, we've been reduced to a third-world status. The goal is close at hand.

Maybe it's time now to work for wage changes and make our corporate-whor*ng government make their objections vivid. Take their objections and hold them to the heat of light. Make it hurt. Give all Americans something to fight for.

karen

You go, Karen!

Excellent post, Jo. If the cloak of secrecy surrounding EOs were stripped the shock would be evident even among hardened skeptics.

I laugh now when some neocon counters any policy challenge by accusing the co-called "left" of conjuring a conspiracy theory. The greatest conspiracy theory is right under our noses in the form of various EOs issued. (I'll have to read about executive orders and find a link for greater understanding of this underhanded form of governing.)

I have often wondered whether Jimmy Carter had some intent regarding same. He was set up and handed walking papers quicker than you can say conspiracy theory.

karen

(quote)Executive Orders (EOs) are legally binding orders given by the President, acting as the head of the Executive Branch, to Federal Administrative Agencies. Executive Orders are generally used to direct federal agencies and officials in their execution of congressionally established laws or policies. However, in many instances they have been used to guide agencies in directions contrary to congressional intent.

Not all EOs are created equal. Proclamations, for example, are a special type of Executive Order that are generally ceremonial or symbolic, such as when the President declares National Take Your Child To Work Day. Another subset of Executive Orders are those concerned with national security or defense issues. These have generally been known as National Security Directives. Under the Clinton Administration, they have been termed "Presidential Decision Directives."

Executive Orders do not require Congressional approval to take effect but they have the same legal weight as laws passed by Congress. The President's source of authority to issue Executive Orders can be found in the Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution which grants to the President the "executive Power." Section 3 of Article II further directs the President to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed." To implement or execute the laws of the land, Presidents give direction and guidance to Executive Branch agencies and departments, often in the form of Executive Orders.(end quote)

http://www.thisnation.com/question/print/040p.html

The abuse of EOs has increased exponentially to profit potential. Onward Christian soldiers. . .marching to the anihilation of everything antithecal to their maniacal power grab. Now they have their "savior" and he's seated at the right hand of godlessness.

karen

Wv, talk about Christian mafia; did you read “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man” by John Perkins?
In Chapter 24 he talks about the SIL (Summer Institute of Linguistics) that has connections with the Rockefeller charity funds. SIL is an evangelical missionary group from the US that works in collusion with the oil companies. For example, they entered Ecuador under the pretext of studying, recording, and translating indigenous languages. But what they really did was talk native tribes into deeding over their potentially oil filled land and moving into a missionary run reservation where they would receive free food, shelter, clothes, medical treatment and missionary-style education. They used underhanded tricks like heavily lacing the donated food with laxatives—then offering medicines to cure the diarrhea epidemic. They also “bugged” the baskets they sent things in so they could spy on them and appear “all-knowing”. One of the tribes caught on and five SIL “missionaries” were found full of spears.
The whole sordid theft of South America is in a book titled “Thy Will Be Done, The Conquest of the Amazon: Nelson Rockefeller and Evangelism in the Age of Oil” by Gerard Colby & Charlotte Dennet (1995).

Well, it looks like the Guv is in. From what I know of the DNC, I never believed this could happen. As Morgana said, it should bring transformation and a rebuilding of the Democratic party. Hopefully, there will not be too much internal power struggle. I don't think the old guard will affect Dean as much as he will affect them.

WASHINGTON - Tim Roemer, the only remaining opponent of Howard Dean (news - web sites) in the race to be chairman of the Democratic National Committee (news - web sites), said Monday he's bowing out of the race — but he offered a warning to Democrats.

Dean, the former presidential candidate and governor of Vermont, is expected to win the DNC chairmanship at the election Feb. 12.

Roemer, a former congressman from Indiana and a member of the Sept. 11 commission, said Democrats must be more inclusive in their outreach to fast-growing parts of the country.

"I got into this race five weeks ago to talk about the devastating loss we experienced in November," Roemer said in an interview. "It was not about 60,000 votes in Ohio. It was about losing 97 of the 100 fastest growing counties in the country. If that's a trend in business or politics you're in trouble."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=548&nci...

Not to cut into your rhyming mojo Barbara, there's cool song out there called 'Jesusland' based on that hilarious map we got on our internet during the election. It's by David Ippolito, 'That Guitarman from Central Park'. I sometimes blog onto his site. Mike Malloy played it last Friday night and DI was also on Randi Rhodes last summer. Check out his website and download an mp3 of 'Jesusland' for free before you have to buy it. Enjoy! www.thatguitarman.com

Jill G

Got "Economic Hit Man" from Amazon a week or so
ago. SSaw the author interviewed on "Democracy
Now". Amazon very slow (2 months) in getting it.
Haven't started it as yet, reading other things.

Roemer is 100% right about the loss of counties.
But the good thing about Dean is ...................if I write him my observations from the far wild top, east of the USA ( Maine). He will HEAR ME!
Chatted up a woman while we were squeezing the avacados in the market this afternoon. SHe had a "HEAVY SOUTHERN" acent, so I asked her how she had to come to be here. It seems that her husband is a pentacostal minister from Lousiana, ............. & they have been invited to preach up here for a while to "spread the word".
Ripe ground this, with paper mills & shoe manufacturers leaving or closing, ocean fish diminishing, deadend futures for a lot of the kids, drugs flowing in copiously across the porous border!
Will discuss this at the monthly Democrat breakfast Sat. ( guess we can remain Democrats now!)
Harry Reid was born on Dec. 2 1939 in Searchlight Nevada. no birth time, but when he was 33 (1972) his Father, to ill to work, put a shotgun in his mouth & ended his life. That might help determine Harry's chart. How closly will he be working with Howard Dean?
Pat QOP

THE EMPEROR'S NEW HUMP
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4

Saw this on another site. I doubt it would have changed results as *ush spporters defy logic in their thinking; however, our press has a responsiblity that they fail over, and over and over...

Wonderful article Isabelle.

“Posted on the DU ~ Some very telling and refreshing answers from Governor Dean from a recent online chat”
(Maybe some “HOPE” is really on the way)

Q. When asked about the 2004 election~
A. Gov. Dean: Our Democratic message was not clear. We need to be clear and unambiguous in our positions, and we need to play offense not defense

Q. A question about progressive and moderate groups having a united front~
A. Gov. Dean: Yes, You know, I always talk about the common interests among Americans, even with those who vote conservative. You’d be amazed at the common interests that progressives and moderates have. It’s usually the degree of the pace of change and the willingness to fight that divides us. If we focus on our similarities and not our differences, we can be inclusive. We also need, however, not to compromise on core Democratic issues, particularly labor issues, environmental issues, social justice issues and women’s issues. "

Q. When asked to discuss O'Neill's plan and Bush's Social Security plan ~
A. Gov. Dean: I don’t know about his (Paul O'Neill) proposal, but the President’s proposal is a total fraud which will do nothing to reduce the Social Security shortfall, and put our kids into two trillion dollars of additional debt."

Q. When asked about Obama's statement that Americans had an "empathy deficit" ~
A. Gov. Dean:" I think the real problem is hate radio (Rush Limbaugh), hate television (Bill O’Reilly) and weak leadership in the White House. All three of these influences encourage our worst instincts instead of our best ones. I actually have a lot of faith in the American people--if they only had strong leadership. After all, look how they responded to the tsunami tragedy as an example of the empathy and goodness inherent in the American people.

I am so psyched about Howard Dean becoming DNC leader. He will be so articulate and on the offence. He is one of the few leaders who can articulate exactly what is wrong with the GOP and what the Dems stand for in a few concise and memorable phrases. And as DNC chair, he will on TV all the time. it is just perfect!!!

I have been throwing all their fundraising requests away since the election. Once he is on board, I would give just as a statement of support.

You said it, Nancy! Amen.

bhakti, thanks for the info on David Ippolito. I downloaded Jesusland and really like it.

I won't be able to completely relax until Saturday pm, but: You Go Ho-Ho!!!!!!! He's not a magician, but I think he just might be "Da Man"!

http://www.dailykos.com/

The GOP can brook no dissent, and thus are seeking to "Daschle" Reid.

The Republican National Committee is set to begin a prolonged attack against newly installed Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) aimed at weakening his support in his home state as well as on the national level.

Drawing on a blueprint used successfully against former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), the RNC will send a 13-page research document today to roughly 1 million people -- a group that includes journalists, donors and grass-roots activists -- detailing Reid's alleged obstructionism among other topics.

"This is the initial salvo in the upcoming discussion that we are going to be having with Sen. Reid," said RNC Communications Director Brian Jones.

Reid fires back:

Reid himself makes no apologies for opposing Bush and Congressional Republicans on Social Security, judges and the nomination of Alberto Gonzales to be attorney general.

"We have a Constitution and this is not a parliamentary form of government we have, certainly not any type of a despotic government," Reid said in a brief interview last week. "The Constitution was set up by the Founding Fathers to make sure there are checks and balances, and we are that. I think the country is well served by having us slow what the president is trying to do."

Nevada is not South Dakota. Reid is not Daschle. The same strategy won't work.

Dean, Boxer and Reid- it's a good start. God knows they've entered the lion's den. Who among us has the courage to do same? I hope there is enough of us to support and protect these people. They are going to need a lot of it.

Where's Mike? Shylurker have you word?

No'am, Miz Jo, I'm 'fraid not. I've noticed that too, of course.

Mr. Mike: Urgent:::::Log in!!!!
(P-l-e-a-s-e.)

This is what the Democratic party needs to be doing.
Note the Times is powned bny Murdock!
Tories issue libel writ against Times

http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1408105,00.html

Whoops..........."owned by Murdock!"

Will somebody please tell me what a "necropub"is ????

mentioned many times in the article above...and whoever posted it, thank you thank you many times...really filled me in.

On Howard Dean - unless he can return the Democratic Party to what it was and is supposed to represent...the democrats can still count me out.

On the Executive Orders and Rockefeller's movements in South America - laxatives, stealing Indian land and oil.... so what has changed? the Rockefeller foundation sponsored eugenics, Kissinger, Powell, Brzsinski, and Leo Strauss chair at Chicago University which has given us Perle, Wolfowitz and the neo nazis in charge of this country ...

the low life deception of the uneducated natives is really HORRIFIC, immoral and disgusting...and nothing has changed. his group still thinks they are doing it to the uneducated Americans...and except for "us types" - they're succeeding.

Yea, verily, Pallas... it's a term putting "republican" & "necrophilia" (death-loving)... their fave activity together. Much more precise & accurate imo. Sometimes I use the term "necroporn" since the USian peoples have been drowned in media, etc, pornography since the puritanical bushies, fundamentalism, et al have seized govt. Hence, also, the term "porno-puritan." ;O)

From financial times/ ft.com

will somebody please explain what this means?
Is this a time to trade dollars for euros? I'm looking to get into Euros and since the Euro has been 1 Euro - 1.36 US American (meaning it takes 1.36 to buy one Euro).....but now it appears the dollar has come back up (in my opinion not for long)

"Whereas speculators went into Greenspan’s speech quite flat, real money investors were long euros,” he said. “There are some signs that fund managers are now throwing in the towel to some extent.”

The dollar was continuing the upward path set in train by Mr Greenspan, who saw signs that the US current deficit may soon start to come under control.

With the weekend’s G7 conference proving a damp squib for the forex market - the closing communique merely repeating the words of 12 months’ ago that flexibility in exchange rates is “desirable” but excess volatility is “undesirable” - the market saw no reason to alter its bullish dollar view.

“Chairman Greenspan’s perceived attempt to play down the concerns over the sustainability of the US current account deficit has ensured that the focus of the foreign exchange market remains firmly on dollar-favourable cyclical developments rather than on dollar-negative structural concerns,” said Derek Halpenny, senior currency economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.

This allowed the dollar to strengthen 0.8 per cent to $1.2754 against the euro, its strongest level since November 3, 0.5 per cent to Y104.98 against the yen, 0.9 per cent to $1.8565 versus sterling, and 0.6 per cent to C$1.2571 against the Canadian dollar, its best level since October".

Listening to a replay of the Daily Show, Jon Stewart

And it hit me....

he's replaying parts of dimson's State of the Union speech (which I didnt listen to) about Social Security....

"This will not affect those over 66"

First of all we all know what a liar he is...but what a clever liar...

The AARP is made up of seniors..people over 55...

So why should they oppose his plans - they can relax because he just said "this will not affect people over 55"

Yup. The same way he said he had no plans on his desk for an attack on Iraq.

Of course he didn't. They were in a drawer of his desk - not on his desk.

Ray Merriman of Star Iq on dimson's social security plan....NOTE: he says for the privilege of investing 4% of your s.s. withholding, you are giving up 40% of the benefits you would have received without this plan !!!

"Once again Social Security (in America) is grabbing headlines, following President’s Bush’s State of Union address where he insists the system is going bankrupt, and the only way to save it is through privatization. And for the right to invest 4% of your social security contributions (if you are under 55), you will have to give up –what? – 40% of your benefits over time? And to affect this plan, the U.S. will have to pony up $2 trillion more to our current $4.6 trillion deficit. This is certainly in line with the historical themes of downside of the Saturn-Pluto cycle (opposition to conjunction, 2001-2020). And those themes are: increased federal deficits and personal debts, higher taxes, higher interest rates, and sluggish economy and equity markets.

Will this plan for privatization of just 4% is really save the Social Security program? Let’s assume you have $10,000.00 in the program. And let’s assume the economy grows by 3% over time (a very generous assumption). And let’s say you get to invest 4% of that $10,000.00, and you are able to show a profit of triple that 3% economic growth. You make 9%. How does that affect your bottom line? At 3%, $10,000 would appreciate to $10,300 in one year. If 45 of that $10,000 made 9%, you total equity at the end of one year would be $10,324.00. Geez, for every $10,000.00 I have, I could increase my bottom line by $24.00 – if I was able to triple my rate of return above the economic growth of 3%! And for this, I should be willing to forfeit 40% of my future benefits? For this change in the system, I should be willing for the government to add $2 trillion to its deficit? Of course, there is no guarantee that everyone will be able to make 9% per year through private investing, even if those investment options are limited to U.S. treasuries or stock index based funds. President Bush may have a lot of political capital built up after the election and the successful elections in Iraq. But does this add up? Will Congress really approve something like this? If so, I think it strongly supports a repeat of history under this Saturn-Pluto cycle. And for a review of that cycle, simply go back to the last two times it hit: 1929-1947, and 1966-1982. Had you invested in the U.S. stocks at the beginning of each of those periods, and exited at the end (18 years later), forget about making 9% annually. You lost double digits. And your Treasury Bond portfolio also suffered as interest rates rose in an economy of rolling recessions. "

Pallas, my simplistic understanding of foreign currency against the dollar is that a Euro was costing $1.36 U.S. but then went down to $1.26, so as the Euros became less expensive because the dollar got a little stronger. But maybe you already knew that and it wasn't the question you were asking. I think either someone on this board, or my friend the stock broker said that the best way to buy Euros is to have someone in Europe do it for you and then place it in an account there. I'm not sure I'd feel that comfortable having so little access to my dough.

Anyway, I wouldn't be too optimistic about the dollar at this point. Last week Bill Gates said he was "shorting" the dollar which I guess would mean going "long" on Euros. I'd love it if someone more knowledgeable about finance explained this in greater depth.

After Kerry's loss and premature concession I said to myself that this is absolutely the end of the two party system in America.

Perhaps I was a bit premature. In my wildest dreams I didn't expect Harry Reid to be such a feisty good old fashioned PATRIOT not afraid to stand up for real American values and the Constitution itself, by saying NO to torture + the idea of the Pres being above the rule of law.

I strongly believe that with Dean, Reid, Boxer, etc. perhaps if we are VERY lucky and really work hard and smart as an aggressive opposition party (I loved the British style booing and catcalls doing SOTU when Bush spoke about social security; it is time to dump people like Lieberman,from my home state unfortunately) and realize that the lines are now clearly drawn and this is surely the last non-revolutionary chance to save the real America, then there still might be just a flicker of hope.

The Dems need to go on an all out no holds barred attack on phoney
Republican "values", by saying that putting old sick people on the streets, torturing prisoners, locking people up forever without charge, taking away hope of a poor kid ever attending college(look at the new budgetproposal)not protecting the environment, making the very rich much richer in "wartime" are as far from the manifestation of real American values as can be achieved.
,

Just a quick note regarding currencies for anyone that may be thinking that way: It has been my experience, never change currencies unless a) you have to, or b) you've got TONS of money that you are investing and have the time to monitor the situation almost 24/7.
Whenever you change currencies there are always fees involved, and if you are talking relatively small amounts, the people that make out best are the bankers handling the transactions! It is a crap shoot at best; there are so many people behind the scenes manipulating currencies that the 'simple people' never get to hear what's really going on. And with the world in flux at the moment, I would be inclined to invest in something more tangible than money.

With all these new people on the scene with increased power, it is essential to remember that they are our servants and we must work hard to keep them accountable. Never let up. A lot of what is going on now is a result of the people's noise on the Internet.

I highly recommend this article by Stan Goff:"We can win, and we will win".

http://www.uruknet.info/?p=9524&hd=0&size=1&l=x

~snip
At bottom, though, what motivates anyone to embrace revolutionary politics is an element of faith — not the religious variety — but faith in the ability of human beings to participate in their own history, and in the possibility of a future society that is both conscious and driven by human decency. There's a soldiers’ fatalism there, but also that perennial human need to make meaning.

~snip
Even more significantly than merely sharing, which is in itself very important, it gives revolutionaries an opportunity to have the kinds of conversations we can not have on the Internet, where we can gain the deeper perspective that comes from face-to-face, secure communication.

~snip
Can the US war drive be defeated?

In many ways it is being defeated right now. This is the most important thing the left can grasp right now, in my opinion. Failure to grasp this fundamental fact could lead to that very fact being reversed because of demoralisation and demobilisation. We are having a material effect on US power, and we cannot let up.

Thanks, jm, for the Stan Goff stuff, and your assessment was well put, Grizzly. Hopefully things won't have to get that much worse before it becomes clear just how phoney and repugnant their values really are. I just read that Bush is cutting the EPA budget 6%. The good news is that Evangelicals are starting to espouse environmentalism, calling it "creation care." I think that's great. I guess the something tangible, Jeannie, could be real estate, which is supposed to be a great hedge against inflation (and interest rates are still below 6%, at least here in LA). Just don't over extend yourselves. Income property can be good if chosen wisely.

JM,

"We are having a material effect on US power, and we cannot let up."

Yes that's true.

It's also true that all they have to do to stop the organized opposition that we on the internet are to their warmongering and robbing the treasury and fascism is to order the IP's to disconnect....

then there is no organized opposition, and very little way for the opposition to organize.

I've been thinking about that for quite some time.

There should be a plan in place for meeting and contact in the event of the shut off of all public IP's/service providers (which could be done while leaving business internet still on - don't put anything past them!)

Jeannie,

I understand you caution, however as an astrologer and a person who has watched the markets for a while, I've wanted to get into metals and Euros for quite awhile...I talked but didn't act.

With the dollar rising against the Euro is a chance to buy without losing too much. Trouble is, the people I knew in Europe are either dead, or I've lost track of them.

When Gates and Buffett buy Euros...rather than dollars.........well, you get the picture.

Pallas, I hear you, I just think that most people are nowhere near the Gates or Buffett catagory and would hate to see anyone "short" themselves. Was just putting a FYI cautionary note forward so people do not become lemmings and jump on the latest 'in' thing to do. I understand Buffett began shifting at least a year, or more, ago.

Pallas,

There has been talk on the political sites of a potential shutdown, and I think plans are being made.
The fascists may be squeezed though, from opposition from within, and world wide pressure from without.

I think a lot of what they do is bluff. It's a great game for them, to bait us and watch us jump in panic. We are fools to stay in a constant state of hysteria at their whim. I think we should try to be calm, not scatter our energy in fear, and mobilize inch by inch. Easier said than done, I know.

There was even a suggestion that the Social Security plan was just a scam and a smokescreen for some other crap they have planned. The new budget is theater of the absurd. Maybe some of these jackasses in Congress will start reading bills before voting.

Sometimes I like to see us as players in the game, not victims. If we could just figure out a way to end it. Checkmate.

Forex and Monex online can be watched to see the spread. Actually a similar situation, but not as dire as today's world, was how Jackie Kennedy O'
made her fortune. At the time I velieve gold was about 235 or so and went to over $800.

The problem is, in today's environment, buying gold coins is not for speculation , as much as it is for some currency to trade that people will take when this economy crashes. And I totally believe it will, as we are in a repeat of the years leading up to the crash of 29 and Hitler's 30's.

I thought this was interesting and informative:

www.monex

Free Special Report:
"Be ready for the perfect storm!"
says author Martin Weiss. In this
special report, discover his insights into
the devastating economic storm ahead
and how it relates to your investments.
· "Run-away deficits threaten to
crush whatever's left of the U.S.
'recovery' "
· "Despite the 3-year bear market,
stocks are still selling at double
their historical valuations"

· "Beware of False [Stock] Market Rallies!"
· "Mounting Turmoil. The world's stock markets seem locked in an endless cycle of crashes . . . Headlines are filled with news of new fighting and terrorist attacks across the globe."
· "It's all scaring millions of investors away from stocks and other "traditional investments," perking the interest in alternative investments, such as gold."
· "For the first time in five decades, [1.2 billion] Chinese savers, investors and industries can buy gold."

Call today for a complete copy of this special report, " Surviving the Perfect Storm with Gold."

About the author, Dr. Martin Weiss, Ph.D.:
Martin D. Weiss is the author of the Wall Street Journal and Business Week best-selling book, Crash Profits, and editor of the Safe Money Report, currently rated #1 in the nation for performance by Mark Hulbert, of the Hulbert Financial Digest and CBS NewsWatch.

PRECIOUS METALS REVIEW - 02/04/2005

Gold fell to a three month low closing the week at $414, as the US Dollar regained some footing in the currency markets. The Labor Department’s non-farm payroll number released Friday initially caused a brief drop in the Dollar. As traders digested the 146,000 jobs created (200,000 was the expected total), a dollar-bearish mood was set in the market and the metals complex initially reacted appropriately with an up-tick in prices that took gold to $417. However, comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan quickly reversed the early morning gains. Mr. Greenspan suggested that certain economic factors might start narrowing the massive US current-account deficit. This commentary along with the US unemployment rate falling from 5.4% to 5.2% added some dollar-bullish impetus to the markets. This added pressure to the yellow metal causing it to settle with a $3 drop by the end of the trading session.

Funds that had recently departed from the gold market may be considering a return. The technical character of the gold market is starting to show a slightly over sold condition. Support levels are anticipated at $413.50, $411, and $409. Resistance is seen initially at $420, then at $427, and above at $435.

Silver continues to trade within the confines of its pennant chart formation as the lows continue to move higher and the highs continue to move lower. As we move closer and closer to the point of the pennant we might see a breakout move in either direction. The recent bounce off a multi month low at $6.35 has encountered stiff resistance at $6.90, but traders feel that a base above $6.50 is in the process of being established. If this base holds and gold can bounce off of its recent low, silver could trade back above $7.00, which might help speculative capital flow back into the long side of this market.

According to data in the early nineties, the U.S. military used more than 5000 items containing silver, ranging from torpedoes to the smallest relays. The Defense Department has acknowledged that there are over 150 different bearings containing silver and that there are more than 100 different types of batteries used on the battlefield that use silver. Silver is also used in jets, ships, missiles, submarines and rockets. Silver enables military hardware to meet the requirements that allow equipment to work accurately and reliably under severe conditions. Current geopolitical situations support strong military demand in the future.

Last update: 02/04/2005 4:40 PM Pacific Time
__________

JM

you "misunderestimate" the extent of the sociopathy of that group -

they don;t just talk - they act on what they talk
about.

first they float it, to get people used to the idea - while they're secretly acting on it, then
they out and out act on it.

He said he would attack Iran...and he's been demonizing them for two years with the media propaganda...then he has "operatives and military"
infiltrating Iran...and the plan is being openly floated that he plans to attack this summer, I believe July was mentioned.

I'd like to know what / which political sites have been talking about shutting down the net, please.

Next, JM, when you're conversing with astrologers, mystics, and psychics it's rather insulting to imply they're acting or speaking "out
of fear".

From time immemorial that is how adults have shut down children's true sight and clear vision. elling them they have an active imagination.

The people who have posted on this site for a long long time, "saw" what was coming down the pike, years before it materialized.

They did not speak out of fear, but out of certain knowledge.

I tell you now, there will likely be an attempt to shut down the internet to people opposed to this administration within two years time.

And we had better be goddammed ready and prepared.

Pallas,

Sorry.

jo & shulurker, mike's been having broadband problems all weekend. i think they're letting the cable guys do programing for the network.

i find this article very interesting and instructive. excellent isabelle!!! i think that this will be an epic battle, wealth versus the people and that it will be close. we shall prevail because there is just too much on the line. afterall, aarp came around real quick on this one.

if anyone thinks that the democrats are going to simply roll over for these fascists, take a look at this thread on DU about harry reid ("Gove 'em Hell Harry")

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=1575343&mesg_id=1575343

i have an astro question for any of the wonderful aw clan members: have any of you done work with jan spillers 'new moon astrology'? it looks interesting and i liked her first book on kharmic astrology.

guido is resting up and will be making his next predictions (he was right about the red sox!) at the spring equinox (shortly after he's released from the betty ford clinic).

cheers!

ps. wv's link to the article by wayne madsen on "the fellowship" is just amazing. not for the weak at heart but explains a great deal. we ARE ruled by a cult as sy hersh says.

Seymour Hersh said this Bush/evil group of power grapping neocon/fascists will do whatever they want~ when they want and it does not matter what he or anyone else writes or says. And it is not going to matter how many brave individuals come forward with proof of this groups past/present evil dealings ~ They are not going to be stopped/deterred ~They have the power ~

I think our present sorry state of circumstanceswill change only when something as devastating/painful as the market crash/great depression or more wars/American casualites. Pain is a great motivator for change and for Americans it seems they have to have a lot of devastion/pain collectively before they get the message.

Harry Reid:

Meet our new Minority Leader, we may be in for quite a wild ride! Some snips:

"Sure, Reid can sap these stories of some of some of their innate interest. "Well, it's true that when I served with the Gaming Commission that I had a number of threats on my life," he told me during a brief interview earlier this week. When talking about taping the windows in his house to protect his family from the threat of shattered glass, he used the same tone that he used to discuss the importance of Senate procedure. But no matter what tone you use to discuss the fact that your wife once discovered a bomb wired to one of the family cars, it's not boring...

Even if he had never served on the gaming commission, Reid's biography would still be a better read than the average senator's. He is the son of an alcoholic gold miner who killed himself. His mother did laundry for, in Reid's words, "houses of ill repute." He once disguised himself as a homeless man and spent the night at a mission in Las Vegas. nomination. Quirkily, he never says good-bye, even to his children, when he hangs up the phone. He once filibustered the Republicans for nine hours, by himself, by reading from the history book he wrote about his hometown of Searchlight, Nev. (Even better, the reason for the filibuster was to prevent the GOP from protesting the delaying tactics being used by Democrats.) And just this past week in Time, Reid told Joe Klein that he got into a fistfight with his future father-in-law before he eloped with his wife..."

Does anyone havwe a link to Hersh's latest articles?

"they have the power" means they have the pentagon and the weapons to use against the people - unless someone in the army and pentagon turns on them.

the CIA tried and has had a russian type purging...but maybe they;re not through... and
maybe some one in the Pentagon will think America my America.......and take it from there..

We can hope.

The only other two alternatives are all of Europe and the rest of the world declaring war on America, or the American people doing a repeat of
1776.

My apologies, again. The last post was a repeat of Mike's link.

I've given a lot of thought to the idea of a repeat of 1776 with the first Pluto return for the USA coming up. Maybe an overthrow of our own empire this time. And I was thinking that some of our troubles are related to the 12th house part of the Pluto cycle that we are in now.

Pallas,
Sy Hersh has a current article at the New Yorker and Democracy NOW! has an interview with him in past week... I believe.

Re comment about Bill Gates and the $$$... Gates is BETTING against the dollar, betting it will fall MORE... (along with Buffet and Soros and countless others... probably only thing keeping Wall Street shored up... speaking of Wall Street... they need privatization of SS, so they have SOME funds to play with, after all there isn't any rebuilding going on in Iraq of any consequence, although the $$ have gone to Halliburton... in other words, the US Dollar is practically gone --- if it weren't for China, it would be. Imagine that... guess we all need to learn to speak Chinese!)

Mike,
Glad you checked in --- we worry when we go days without hearing from you! :-)

Sally has posted from this website before, and I wonder if any of you might have seen this recent article, so here's the link. Lots of scenarios are out there online... I add this one, if for no other reason than as a reminder that just as we prepare for a hurricane or any natural cause of loss of 'power' (and by that I mean both kinds, the 'generated' and the individual/collective kind)... if you were a Scout when young, you know the basics: flashlights, firewood, water, canned foods, etc. Gas in the car is probably a good thing as well as some cash --- these are only short term though... a plan for a longer term and a current passport might be good.

http://www.tbrnews.org/Archives/a1349.htm

A little light reading on the economy...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1407852,00.html

http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/88/351/14927_euro.html

http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts02072005.html

http://www.canada.com/businesscentre/story.html?id=d0d7fec0-b237-4d3e-a423-bebf8e6eaa2a

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9556-1471469,00.html

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050204.wg70204/BNStory/Front/

Nancy warned us in her last article that *sh would get a boost... so don't despair. Actually when you consider this is from CNN, and it shows a 6 point increase, with a 3-pt margin for error, it's barely a blip on the screen. No wonder they are waiting until the fall to 'push' their SS attack! (I haven't believed any of these polls for the longest time! I think he's been BELOW 50% for over a year... and the voting machines put him back in office. 'Course, I know I wear a tin- foil hat etc., so my opinion is off the wall... the State's propaganda machine has the truth, right?!

http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/07/poll/index.html

I was talking about the possible shutting down of Internet freedom, with a friend this AM. Would it be provident to exchange snail mail addresses here on this site so we could communicate that way if needed? The US Post office is suffering loss of business because of the RED UPS & Fed Ex, anyway & I still feel that they are more reliable ( if not always faster)!
I lost my Internet for 24 hours yesterday......................the problem was "failure" by the phone company in Southern Maine.
That would be VERIZON. Today my hotmail isn't available
( MSNBC). All my political activities go thru that hotmail account!!!!!
PQOP

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

February 8, 2005
OP-ED COLUMNIST
Spearing the Beast
By PAUL KRUGMAN

resident Bush isn't trying to reform Social Security. He isn't even trying to "partially privatize" it. His plan is, in essence, to dismantle the program, replacing it with a system that may be social but doesn't provide security. And the goal, as with his tax cuts, is to undermine the legacy of Franklin Roosevelt.

Why do I say that the Bush plan would dismantle Social Security? Because for Americans who entered the work force after the plan went into effect and who chose to open private accounts, guaranteed benefits - income you receive after retirement even if everything else goes wrong - would be nearly eliminated.

Here's how it would work. First, workers with private accounts would be subject to a "clawback": in effect, they would have to mortgage their future benefits in order to put money into their accounts.

Second, since private accounts would do nothing to improve Social Security's finances - something the administration has finally admitted - there would be large benefit cuts in addition to the clawback.

Jason Furman of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that the guaranteed benefits left to an average worker born in 1990, after the clawback and the additional cuts, would be only 8 percent of that worker's prior earnings, compared with 35 percent today. This means that under Mr. Bush's plan, workers with private accounts that fared poorly would find themselves destitute.

Why expose workers to that much risk? Ideology. "Social Security is the soft underbelly of the welfare state," declares Stephen Moore of the Club for Growth and the Cato Institute. "If you can jab your spear through that, you can undermine the whole welfare state."

By the welfare state, Mr. Moore means Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid - social insurance programs whose purpose, above all, is to protect Americans against the extreme economic insecurity that prevailed before the New Deal. The hard right has never forgiven F.D.R. (and later L.B.J.) for his efforts to reduce that insecurity, and now that the right is running Washington, it's trying to turn the clock back to 1932.

Medicaid is also in the cross hairs. And if Mr. Bush can take down Social Security, Medicare will be next.

The attempt to "jab a spear" through Social Security complements the strategy of "starve the beast," long advocated by right-wing intellectuals: cut taxes, then use the resulting deficits as an excuse for cuts in social spending. The spearing doesn't seem to be going too well at the moment, but the starving was on full display in the budget released yesterday.

To put that budget into perspective, let's look at the causes of the federal budget deficit. In spite of the expense of the Iraq war, federal spending as a share of G.D.P. isn't high by historical standards - in fact, it's slightly below its average over the past 20 years. But federal revenue as a share of G.D.P. has plunged to levels not seen since the 1950's.

Almost all of this plunge came from a sharp decline in receipts from the personal income tax and the corporate profits tax. These are the taxes that fall primarily on people with high incomes - and in 2003 and 2004, their combined take as a share of G.D.P. was at its lowest level since 1942. On the other hand, the payroll tax, which is the main federal tax paid by middle-class and working-class Americans, remains at near-record levels.

You might think, given these facts, that a plan to reduce the deficit would include major efforts to increase revenue, starting with a rollback of recent huge tax cuts for the wealthy. In fact, the budget contains new upper-income tax breaks.

Any deficit reduction will come from spending cuts. Many of those cuts won't make it through Congress, but Mr. Bush may well succeed in imposing cuts in child care assistance and food stamps for low-income workers. He may also succeed in severely squeezing Medicaid - the only one of the three great social insurance programs specifically intended for the poor and near-poor, and therefore the most politically vulnerable.

All of this explains why it's foolish to imagine some sort of widely acceptable compromise with Mr. Bush about Social Security. Moderates and liberals want to preserve the America F.D.R. built. Mr. Bush and the ideological movement he leads, although they may use F.D.R.'s image in ads, want to destroy it.

Start saving that money under our beds! Never trusted these systems, ever. I'm cashing in some saved dough as Euros as soon as I melt my debt which is happening now.

As far as books go, here is an organization that fights against censorship: National Coalition Against Censorship, www.ncac.org.
Remember that librarians saved Michael Moore's book from becoming instant pulp.

Re: Internet control. . .There are several discussions being held in the U.N. Many controls currently exist. Internet messages and access in China are filtered and controlled. Those controls by Cisco could easily be adapted here. Having searched this morning for "current" info, i've come up with the following link. It's opinion but expressed well with references and links.

http://news.com.com/When+blogging+can+get+you+locked+up/2010-1028_3-5544250.html

I like Pat's suggestion regarding snail mail though USPS has it's own set of regulations that can be implemented in times of so-called crisis. It would work hand-in-hand with FEMA -- a sister-control agency to the current Patriot Act.

Re: economic meltdown. If any of you are interested in the nuances of canning, well. . .i'd be glad to offer assistance. You can "can" fish, meat, beans -- almost anything you can think of. Fish is particularly good even fish considered disgusting, like Sucker. ;-)

karen

Wonderful comments on this wonderful article. I agree with Pallas 180 and Pat QOP--it never hurts to have a backup plan. Sally probably has all our email addresses. Would it be ok, Sally, if we snailmailed you (or a friend of yours with a PO box maybe) our "handle" & snail mail info plus a stamped self-addressed envelope? This is just a suggestion for consideration. Sally, Nancy, and all do more than enough for us now--maybe somebody else would be willing to be Snail Mail Info Central?

Raw Story has acquired a copy of "Saving Social Security: A Guide to Social Security Reform" printed by the House and Senate Republican Conferences as a guide to market private accounts for the Social Security system.

http://rawstory.rawprint.com/105/social_security_1.php

Posted by Gaia via email

OPinion from our good friends the Russians:

* bush: More arrogance, more belligerence, more chauvinism

As bush stated at the beginning of his SOTU address last night, "we have been placed in office by the votes of the people we serve". Precisely. Finally we hear some truth coming from [rez]'s mouth & not blatant lies. So, how about [rez] concentrating on solving the problems of those he claimed elected him, which was the people of the USA, not the rest of the world.

Why is it that the US of America has a bigoted sense of its own importance & just exactly who does g bush think he is? He is the [rez] of the USA, period, & has no jurisdiction whatsoever outside the frontiers of ["his"] country. The speech began with references to the Ukraine & Iraq & then a sickeningly arrogant claim that "I will set forth policies to advance that ideal (freedom) at home & around the world". Thanks, but we don't want your freedom, or your democracy, or your cluster bombs dropped on weddings, or the slaughter of 6 y/o kids or the wholesale massacre of 10s of 1000s of civilians as you look for your elusive WMD. ...

http://english.pravda.ru/mailbox/22/101/399/14911_Bush.html

Rove's Reward...

Rove Gets Bigger Role at White House

DETROIT (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites)'s senior adviser, Karl Rove, will take on a wider role in developing and coordinating policy in the president's second term, the White House announced on Tuesday.

Rove, who was Bush's top political strategist during his 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns, will become a deputy White House chief of staff in charge of coordinating policy between the White House Domestic Policy Council, National Economic Council, National Security Council and Homeland Security Council.

~ snip ~

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=584&e=1&u=/nm/20050208/pl_nm/bush_staff_dc

Ohhhh, Morgana,

Does that mean the Brownshirts are coming?

I think it means that bushaholic's most trusted lil buddies is getting narrower & narrower. That means fewer n' fewer buddies must wear more n' more hats... so to speak. It's junta is cavin' in. ;O)

On the matter of "snail mail" in emergenies etc...

I had something else in mind..

And although we all know Sally does so much, she is the centerpiece because she knows who is who on here and who belongs here.

I have a po box that I would be happy to allow it to be used, but only by those Sally would recommend as "safe".

What I really had in mind, is to those people Sally recommends we make a time and a meeting place within say a week or two weeks of the time that things would be shut down.

On Herr Rove being made the conduit to all power -
this is not good news.

I'm working on the chart of the Israeli peace accord which occurred today and hope to get it up for analysis by tomorrow.

Be back later...

Reading the most recent posts have set my mind awhirl with questions. Many issues are mixed together in my mind and I'm trying to separate them.

1) For example, in regard to the economy, I see this as a clear cut situation of the Republicans ruining it.

What they have done and want to continue to do to our economy is Republican ideology at its worst with no recognition of reality. It's both sad and infuriating, leaving me feeling like a helpless child with arms & legs flailing. My greatest hope is that some irrefutable proof comes out against them that awakens the public, allows them to see through the enchantment they've been put under, and causes them to put a better government in place. At this point in time, we are still a democracy, aren't we? We are still able to choose our leaders. With the troika of Reed, Dean & Boxer (so far), and, as others join them, balance and common sense may be restored.

2) Regarding Jo's post about the plans for the coming war against Iran, I can only hope they are foiled.

This leaves me with a few questions though:
1) what will it mean for Iran to have a nuclear bomb since Iran has a fundamentalist government which may have a jihadist learnings?
2) will the agreements between Iran & Russia (I don't know about Syria) allow Iran to access more nuclear weapons?
3) even without Israel in the story, is can the Jihadist movement threaten the Western world? After all, the U.S. did not enter WWII to save Britain alone (I'm refering the year-long secret agreement with Churchill mentioned in Jo's post). If the Nazi's controlled Europe, wouldn't their power be so formidable that the resulting consequences would have been a lot worse? I am not saying that the Jihadists are the same as Nazis, as I really don't know. I do know that movements grow and everyone was surprised by Hitler's success.

And, if Israel is part of the motivation for more war in the Mideast (as well as the other motives of oil and thwarting the threat of Jihadist dreams of restoring a Muslim world by as much violence as is necessary), is it solely because the Jewish Neocons want Israel's expansion? Can it also be because Israel is a democratic ally in that part of the world that we can depend on?

I raise these questions in the spirit of true discussion and education. More than one side of a situation merits looking at before opinions and positions are arrived at. I am interesting in hearing all information and knowing possibilities before I make a sure determination. It is completely ok with me if no one responds to this. I pose them as matters to consider.

Peace :-)
Sharon

it's new moon time. at work, have to get back

Sharon,

I would like to dialog with you about some of your points as you asked... but, gal, you put alot out there, so I'm going to start at the beginning with only one. :-)

you stated the following:

"At this point in time, we are still a democracy, aren't we? We are still able to choose our leaders."

The type democracy we think we have or had, is representational - and majoritarianism (I am not as optimistic as you... I don't think it exists. As I have said many times on this board, I think this administration is fascist.) Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, a Libertarian, has an excellent piece on the words we use --- freedom and democracy.

http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2005/tst020705.htm

Let me say that I post lots of things --- mostly to provoke thought and to give information. I don't "buy into" every article I post.

The second part of your comment: we still elect...

I don't think we have since 1996.

That's my gloom and doom for the moment. Maybe some others would like to comment on some of your post. I would like to come back later and comment when I can think more clearly. With the grandchildren right now... having a little bump in the road.

Namaste

Sharon, on one of your points...

There is a very interesting interview with Gore Vidal On the Democracy Now website.
He says there has only been one democracy in man's history and that was in ancient Greece.
We are a republic. We never had a direct voice in the choice of our leaders. There are many shades on the spectrum of government control over its populace. No one seems to know exactly how much freedom we have here now. But comparatively, we still have some.
And, of course, no one seems to be able to predict exactly how oppressed we will become. We have no experience with totalitarian control.

Societies cycle between free times and oppressed times.

Maybe we are evolving, and after this experience, we will be more prepared for a democracy.

According to the NYTimes, Roemer is out and Dean is assured of a win. Just thought y'all would like to know.

Maybe Dean will be the one that will be able to get this message out to those deluded Bush supporting Americans

~SHOCK & AWE~
Bush record “awful” compared to Reagan
Bush record “very horrible” compared to Clinton
--
DEMOCRATS CREATE WEALTH AND JOBS

1.From Harding In 1921 to Bush in 2003
2.Democrats held White House for 40 years and Republicans for 42.5 years.
3.Democrats created 75,820,000 net new jobs -- Republicans 36,440,000.
4.Per Year Average—Democrats 1,825,200---Republicans 856,400.
5.Republicans had 9 presidents during the period and 6 had depression or recession.
6.Republicans had a recession/depression in 177 months and Democrats in 32 months.
7.DOW—grew by 52% more under Democrats.
8.GDP—grew by 43% more under Democrats.

Comparing Clinton versus Reagan
1.JOBS—grew by 43% more under Clinton.
2.GDP---grew by 57% more under Clinton.
3.DOW—grew by 700% more under Clinton..
4.NASDAQ-grew by 18 times as much under Clinton.
5.SPENDING--grew by 28% under Clinton---80% under Reagan.
6.DEBT—grew by 43% under Clinton—187% under Reagan.
7.DEFICITS—Clinton got a large surplus--grew by 112% under Reagan.
8.NATIONAL INCOME—grew by100% more under Clinton.
9.PERSONAL INCOME—Grew by 110% more under Clinton.

SOURCES—Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.BLS.Gov)
Economic Policy Institute (EPI.org)—Global & World Almanacs from 1980 to 2003 (annual issues)
www.the-hamster.com (chart taken from NY Times)
National Archives History on Presidents. www.nara.gov

Sharon - Regarding your question about Iran getting the bomb, I think the issue is that they could give the nukes to terrorists and not be traced. This then would negate the concept of "mutually assured destruction" which saved us from a nuclear holocaust during the Cold War. Ifi t were just the issue of Iran having the bomb, I wouldn't blame them for a minute. We not only have our own nukes but we (bush) are talking about developing a newer model.

But the big fear is that Iran supports the terrorists and would sell or give them bomb making material. I think we are fighting a losing battle on this. You can't have something yourself and then declare no one else is allowed to have it while you brandish it around.

Really interesting point of view from James Carroll.

Will Bush Soften Rhetoric or Grow more Shrill?

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0208-32.htm

The points about us not having a real democracy are well taken. Obviously, we don't have a direct say in our government, but, during the last 2 years, we did have input to affect legislation, particularly through groups like Move On, True Majority, Wilderness Defense Fund. We can't lose faith or momentum. Hope Howard can bring the spirit back :-) :-) :-) He does have the touch to inspire, to speak the truth, to reach the common man, and to keep ideals alive. I've felt that way since his first speech to announce his candidacy when his talk about taking power back and the founding fathers made me cry with hope and joy. Here was someone who knew and understand. When I met him here in NOLA last year, I told him he was my hero & had inspired me to believe again. He seemed very appreciative and respectful when I said that. My husband, Myron, told him not to forget the importance of energy efficiency, when Howard spoke only of alternative energy sources that day, and he added it to his speech in the evening to the Tulane students (sold out crowd).

I agree with what you say, Nancy. But the idea has always been up until now, though, that, up until now, the U.S. was a responsible guardians of our weapons and world peace. With the Neocons in power, that is no longer true, but the jihadists and terrorists are still a predictably unpredictable wild card element.

At a time like this my main consolation is that prayer and meditation work, and that the Matthew Readings say that our space friends will not let things go too far. Where are they already!?

Jo, hope you're having a great day with the grands, Jo. Today is Mardi Gras in New Orleans and I had a quiet one.

Namaste to all

Sharon,

I have not lost hope... some days it looks pretty dark... but we mustkeep opposing this regime. I am feeling better with the vigor the Dems have shown of late. Dean is going to make a difference. A transformation, as Joanna says... we sorely need that... some in the Repug party are pulling away from the budget and the threats against the SS system... some countries are moving to a mix of currencies. Other factors are coming into play.

JM, I tried to find Gore Vidal at Democracy Now! I did find some words from the late Ossie Davis at the protests in 2003. His words are powerful... particularly these:

"OSSIE DAVIS: Oh, am I a veteran? Oh, yes, I am. I remember in World War II sitting one day, August 7, 1945, and realizing that the bomb that had been dropped on Hiroshima not only killed 220,000 people over there, but part of it fell on me, too. And I recognized that something cataclysmic had happened, an earthquake in my world and in my thoughts had taken place. It called on me to make a choice. I didn't know it at the time, but somebody finally said, the choice is to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. I come together to say, I choose to live for brotherhood and not for folly. I choose peace and not war. I choose life and not death.

ANY GOODMAN: Does the term shock and awe bring memories back of that time?

OSSIE DAVIS: Yes. It does. It also brings memories of what happens after shock and awe. It's the disorientation and the depression, the dislocation of the human spirit. It's something, you know, that we wear and bear forever. To go into a city and shock them with the power of our bombs and to awe into submission, to me, is not a sign of bravery. It is rather a sign of bullying. We have this tremendous power, and we exercise it at its full against people who have no quarrel with us. Mothers, children, dogs, cats, all life can be obliterated by what we do. Shock, yes. Awe, yes. How close do we come to the end of all civilization by when we do these things. Oh, yes. I'm shocked, and I stand in awe of the possibility of the destruction which might include me and mine."

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/02/07/1528235

Wooo-hooo, all!

Ahhhhhnold, the Bryl-Cream Kid, is finally getting some long-overdue come-uppance.

http://www.thekcrachannel.com/news/4178289/detail.html

GOING FOR BROKE

President Bush's travesty of a budget manages to simultaneously bash the poor while making the rich feel good about their wealth.

By ~ William Keegan
Tuesday February 8, 2005

None of the movers and shakers at the World Economic Forum in Davos thought the Bush administration was serious about cutting the budget deficit, and they appear to have been right.
The President's budget proposal, published yesterday, is a travesty of a budget - even before an irate Congress gets its hands on it. The proposed cuts in spending are confined to non-security discretionary outlays - that part of total spending which comprises a mere 20 per cent of the total. And the most prominent victims are the urban poor, who will suffer from cuts in health, education, housing and other welfare programmes, while the first-term tax cuts for the rich are made permanent.

CONTINUED ~ http://www.guardian.co.uk/economicdispatch/story/0,12498,1408453,00.html

Gore Vidal on Democracy Now!

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/01/25/1458238

http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/02/holy-crap_08.html

The blogs are doing what the press in this country used to do. Does anyone know if there is a movement in blogsville to have awards? We need to do that, we need to honor these patriotic analysts and muckrakers for their splendid contributions to the continuance of our country under the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Speaking of Ahhhhnold, shylurker, I don't know how many planets he has in Leo, but we know where his sunsign is and we know what sign Saturn will begin to transit this summer. Ahhhhrnold may feel a little burdened in the near future.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1407964,00.html

Ask all your friends: Where did this $9 billion go?

PS to Sharon. Yessum, I'm hoping Ahhhhhhnold will become so burdened that he'll go back to Southern California and do whatever it is he does in the privacy of his own home and leave the rest of the state alone.

In research three or four of us did on DU,
we have come to the conclusion that Halliburton under Darth Vader sold the dual use component needed to build and used to set off a nuclear bomb
all over the world and especially the middle east.

We came to this conclusion by tracing AJ Khan's contacts and purchases and we believe we found the middle man company which was used by both ends.

What better way to make a fortune. Sell the nukes, make money, declare war on the countries you sold the nukes to, make money in armaments.
Destroy the country you sold nukes to, make money in rebuilding it.

IMHO dimson and darth vader are not worried about the spreading of nukes.

By attacking other countries, who they know have nukes because THEY sold it to them, they continue to make incalculable private fortunes in armaments and rebuilding, at no expense to them, because the expense is on Uncle Sam and America's youth.

Yes, Pallas, many people were involved in that research and the results were fascinating.

That was what was not so funny about their demanding the "weapons of mass destruction" from Libya.

The proof was there that Halliburton sold Libya
the components. And dimson doing a photo op with the returned cases of "WMD" in a warehouse in the
US....now that was really funny - if a few of us could find it so easily...what are the reporters in the mass media doing? taking prozac and sleeping through the years?

we've been down so long, it seems like up when even a few good things happen: the boxer, rice, and gonzales votes; the dems showing some spine, e.g., reid; the rest of the world periodically erupting in a frank description of our vile regime.

i'm thinking that it's about time for something to break our way. this is the * apogee, his gallup pole at 56% approval (with the more accurate rasmussen at 50%). nancy mentioned that february would be his high point, i believe. well, holy cow, this isn't much of a high point. it's now time to concentrate and meditate on a MANIFESTATION OF * STUPIDITY. this will be a lot easier than the later option, which looks like a huge hit to our way of life leading to broad public outcry. just a major manifestation, that's all: * suddenly talking in tongues; * and condi photographed making out; * using the "F" word; you name it, we need it and now.

i prefer * speaking in tongues. that would about do it for 70% of the population. he hasn't even published his social security plan (the one he's touting) and it's not doing well at all. above 55 (read people with the most money on average) opposes it 59% to 29% with marginal approval by other age groups. wait until the word gets out.

the 'perfect storm' to wash * away needs a major policy blunder that hits our pocket books (it's there with social security); a foreign affairs shock (it's coming with the post election Iraq returning to it's awful form...after the "cure" of voting); and a MINFESTATION OF * STUPIDITY.

meditate on it. you know it would represent the TRUTH. the people need simple, cartoon length instructional video to understand just how stupid this guy really is. once that happens, once he's an object of derision, then we can hammer them on failed policies.

Hey shylurker,

I spend a lot of time on the political blogs where I have encountered some wonderful, kind, enlightened people doing so much to help our cause. Many interesting political ideas and philosophies are being exchanged. I agree. They are doing a splendid job. There are many investigative pursuits in motion. Here is a site where awards are going to be given after the voting is done: the Koufax Awards

http://wampum.wabanaki.net/

The election fraud is still being pursued vigorously. Here is a new site of political activists called the Velvet Revolution, a movement that originated in Czechoslovakia:

http://www.velvetrevolution.us/

The resistance is building. A lot is going on. Many of the old 70's activists are on board. But it is a new and different kind of revolution, and is still in the developing stages. A lot of creativity is emerging.
Many of the people have become disillusioned with both parties and fully realize that our problem with the corporate stranglehold is huge. It's good to be with others that are so aware. And there are lots of them.

from Norma Gentile, chant healer, excerpts from an article in her Feb. newsletter on "Courage"

Archangel Michael sat with me as I wrote this. All of humanity is in a change point. Poised as we are, shall we leap in faith or freeze in uncertainty at what is coming?

from Michael:
"Courage is the ability to act without need of verification from an outside source or authority. It is the ability to know from within, and to turn to the wisdom within for guidance. Courage is saying what you mean, doing what you know is yours to do, and allowing others to do likewise. It is a foundation of the ever-growing Sacred Masculine element of your world consciousness."

from Norma:
I sang a concert last month in Portland, Oregon. The dedication was to Spiritual Bravery. The dedication, given to me by the Ascended Masters and Thoth was "to the flourishing of the Sacred Masculine; that which wields power with compassion, speaks truth with the sword of virtue, and whose strength arises as a grace from the grail of the Divine Feminine."
Notice that the Sacred Masculine is birthed out of the womb, the pool of energy, which is the Divine Feminine.

Here is where the world stands today. We have given birth to a profane masculine which neither serves the Divine Feminine nor prepares the way for the Sacred Masculine. It serves only itself. This quality of consciousness is about to pass away. But first it needs to know that it cannot create what it desires. It needs to complete the game it has begun, and realize that it simply will not reach the goal. We are bystanders.
The game will play itself out. At the moment that all those beings playing at this game realize they and the game itself will not reach the desired goal, the game ends.

- go to the website for the rest of the article, including a very good meditation.

http://www.healingchants.com/newsletter.html

"Da King"
from the Washington Post

-snip-

"If you can get the prospect or customer to laugh, you can get him to buy," according to "The Sales Bible." "The earlier you get a customer to laugh, the better. Laughter is a form of approval."

Bush is eager to crack wise. While the president might be warning of a grave national crisis, he's being a laugh-riot about it. Bush loves joking about how he "married up," how he's "gettin' all gray" and how he goofed off in college. In Little Rock Friday, Bush was joined onstage by Gloria Bennett, a part-time food inspector from DeQueen, Ark.

To which Bush says, "That's right next to DeKing."

Silence is followed by friendly groans that evolve into laughter and applause. And a message endures: Reforming Social Security can be fun.

Hey guys, look at this. You don't have to go to
Europe to buy Euros. You can buy them prior to your trip for travel money from an online place like this:

http://www.tescofinance.com/personal/finance/index.html?goto=products/travelmoney/faq.html

Koooll. Now all we need are passports and we're ready to set up an astrological commune once we decide on a country. LOL

Which currencies can I buy from Tesco Travel Money?
How does it work?
What size denominations will my money come in?
What kind of travellers cheques do you issue?
Should I take cash or travellers cheques?
Should I be buying Euros?
Will it cost more if I use my credit or debit card to buy Tesco Travel Money?
How do I take back money and travellers cheques that I don't need?

Which currencies can I buy from Tesco Travel Money?
You can choose from over 60 currencies - which takes you to most places in the world! You can buy both cash and travellers cheques.

How does it work?
You can order your Tesco Travel Money commission free. There is only one £5 charge for any mix of currency and travellers cheques, up to a maximum of £2,500 per order. This is an administration charge that includes the cost of insurance, packing and delivery to your home. An additional security fee will be charged for orders over £2,500. We’ll deliver your Tesco Travel Money to your home the next day if you order before 2pm Monday-Friday, or you can choose your delivery day (Tuesday-Saturday) within 7 days of placing your order. If your order falls over a bank holiday, please call us to arrange delivery.

What size denominations will my money come in?
You can choose if you want high, low or mixed denominations for your local currency or travellers cheques.

What kind of travellers cheques do you issue?
We issue American Express travellers cheques.

Should I take cash or travellers cheques?
For convenience and security, you should take a mix of travellers cheques and currency when you travel abroad. Remember that some banks and foreign exchange bureaux may charge for cashing travellers cheques, and always take enough currency with you to give you time to shop around for the best deal.

Should I be buying Euros?
Euros and Cents are now the official currency in the European countries listed below. Euros replace old currencies such as Spanish Pesetas and Italian Lire.
Austria
Belgium
Finland
France
Germany
Greece and islands
Italy
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Portugal and Madeira
Republic of Ireland
Spain and Islands - Canary Islands including La Palma, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gomera, El Hierro; Balearic Islands including Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza, Formentera, Cabrera

The good news is that now there's no need to worry about changing any spare Euros back to Sterling after this year's European holiday - you'll be able to use them again the next time you travel to any of the European countries listed! You can buy your Euros and Euro travellers cheques online or by phone from Tesco Travel Money. Use the currency calculator to check how many Euros to the Pound when you buy online, or call for expert help.


Will it cost more if I use my credit or debit card to buy Tesco Travel Money ?
If you pay with a credit card and some debit cards, your card provider may charge a handling fee. If you are unsure, please check with your card provider before you order.

How do I take back money and travellers cheques that I don't need?
You can return any left over travellers cheques and currency notes to MyTravel or Going Places shops and selected TravelWorld outlets. These will be bought back free of charge at the exchange rate on the day they are repurchased.

buy online - quick, easy and secure. click here to find out more.

order by phone -Monday to Friday 8am till 10pm, Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holidays 10am till 8pm.

can we help?
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Tesco travel money is provided by Travelex travel money Services Ltd.
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This is interesting. China is dumping dollars and buying Euros. China is the second largest holder of US dollars with 180 billion but JAPAN IS FIRST WITH 720 BILLION US. (wow)

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.aspx?Id=1688

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

The China Factor and the US Dollar
By Frank Shostak

[Posted November 30, 2004]

Rumors that China's central bank has reduced its holdings of US Treasuries in favor of European assets is putting more pressure on the already battered US dollar. After closing at US $1.274 in October, the price of the Euro in US dollar terms shot up to around US $1.33 on Friday November 26. According to the Shanghai-based China Business News, China has cut the size of its US Treasury Bonds holdings to $180 billion.

This decision, according to the newspaper, was taken by government officials in order to avoid losses from a weakening US dollar. The latest data shows that China's holdings of US Treasuries stood at $174.4 billion in September—the second largest foreign holder of US Treasuries after Japan, which holds $720 billion. Both Japan and China hold about 48% of US Treasuries held by foreigners.

The possibility that the Chinese authorities may lower their holdings of US assets and substitute them for European assets is seen as a major threat to the US dollar and seems to support the view of most experts. For instance, in his speech on Friday November 19 the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan suggested that foreigners might get tired of financing the ever-growing US current account deficit, which stood at a record $166.2 billion in Q2."

And this economic report from SwissAmerica is
a pip - well worth the read -

http://www.swissamerica.com/article.php?=SID&art=11-2004/200411150247f.txt

THE IN-CREDIBLE SHRINKING DOLLAR
By Craig R. Smith, CEO, SATC
Feb 2, 2005

Most Recent U.S. Dollar headlines;
Gates, Buffett and China Gang Up on Dollar -BL
Buffett sees no way but down for US dollar -AFP
Weak US$ in '05 to get worse before better -Reuters
"2005: Year of the weak dollar" -AFP
"A Hurting Dollar Pains the World" -MSNBC
"The buck should stop here"-NYT
"OPEC Dumps the Dollar" -NewsMax
"How to profit on a weak dollar" -CNN
"Dollar under heavy selling in Shanghai"-Xinhuanet
"Euro Leaving the Dollar Behind?" -Europe
"Japan threatens huge dollar sell-off" -Guardian
"Dollar slide to continue" -UBS Warburg
"Makings Of A Meltdown: Dollar Stampede" -BW
"Dollar's Fall Tests Nerve of Central Bankers" -NYT
"The passing of the buck?" -The Economist
"Dollar's plunge a blight, not a benefit" -MSN
"Why the World Needs a Weaker Dollar" -MS

Feb. 2 (Bloomberg) -- “The dollar can add the world's two richest men to its list of detractors, something that's raising eyebrows here in Asia. Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft Corp., left no doubt of that, telling television host Charlie Rose ``I'm short the dollar.'' The world's wealthiest man called the record $7.62 trillion federal debt ``a bit scary'' and lamented that the U.S. is in ``uncharted territory'' fiscally.

And he's right. Just ask Warren Buffett, the world's No. 2 moneyman, who has been buying foreign currencies since 2002, citing concerns about the U.S. deficit. The bet is paying off, too. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. reaped a $412 million pretax gain on the trade in the third quarter of 2004.

Gates and Buffett may not be reading from the same playbook as George Soros, though their investments bear some similarities. Financier Soros has long since given up on the world's reserve currency, and U.S. President George W. Bush's competence on economic matters.

Yet the U.S. is managing to run afoul of an even more powerful force than wealthy individuals: the world's fastest growing major economy. China, it seems, has had just about enough of the U.S.'s bickering about its currency policy.”

INTRODUCTION

Devaluing the dollar is the market’s way of correcting the U.S. trade deficit. Alan Greenspan recently said that either the value of the U.S. dollar... or the trade deficit... has to decline. Both cannot continue rising, but U.S. interest rates WILL continue rising in 2005.

The U.S. dollar has now lost over 40% of it's buying power since 2001 -- and that's under a "strong dollar" policy from the the White House! Can you image what the next four years hold in store for the debt-burdened dollar? I can.

Hold on to your wallet, a surge in the cost of living is coming at you in 2005 and beyond. If fact, the October PPI inflation index surged an amazing 1.7% (that's 20% annualized!!), the fastest growth in over 14 years!

-more-

Looks like I'll have to stay on my artist's budget....and my diet of sprouted wheat and tofu.

From Escape Artist.com

Well here's a place in France, 7 apartments to sell or running a bed and breakfast, apparently on
the sea or ocean ? Actually an apartment/condo for
$100,000 is cheap...you can't get anything at that price in Southeast Florida anymore...

House With 7 Appartments To Rent For Sale in Aquitaine, France
B&B Or Apartment Next To Beach 90 000 Euros!
Sell Price: $100,000
Location: Aquitaine
France
Property Type: House With 7 Appartments To Rent
Property Details: This property is new on the market and offers 2 options:

OPTION A: 80 000 to 100 000 euros or 104,368.68 USD
for one appartment depending on the chosen one.

OPTION B: 324 000 euros or 422,478 USD for the entire Bed & Breakfast building with 7 appartments.

very well situated large house divided in 7 appartments on 3 floors 1 minute from the beach in the very sought after village Soulac (Medoc).
There is one appartment on the ground floor with a large 40m2 terrace.
All other appartments have balconies.
Five 80m2 appartments
Two 70m2 appartments.

The house has a new roof. An oak staircase. It is in very good condition but would ideally need mordenizing bathrooms.

The area has a lot of summer demand but we would recommend a annual rental since all this coastal area devoted to summer rentals seriously lacks annual rental offer.

please see more pictures on site mentioned below.

"Escape artist.com"
Like it.

Je parle un peu de francais.
The food's good, too.

JM

LOL - non parlez vous francais

Io parlo l'Italiano un po e ho vivato in Italia
anche....

however, the prices in France look good, and some are near the Cote d'Argent close to Spain but on the French side and not far from the Atlantic...little modern villas, 2 Bedroom for $70 thou or so...climate might be warm -sounds interesting.

I know a woman from Brussels who winters here in
Florida....and spends the rest of her time in Bruxelles...

It's possible, even to work by computer if they have the lines....

hmmmmmm

Actually I think France is better because it's a short hop over or under to England -- sight see two continents- -

but look at this 85,000 "negotiable" in Greece -
not a bad house

http://realestate.escapeartist.com/P-22466/

Well, I heard that Iceland is now entirely off fossil fuels. I wonder what the hell they speak up there!

Pallas, that little greek house looks sweet:

>The village is located in a quiet area providing a perfect environment for relaxation and refreshing. You can walk by the olive trees, enjoy the sunset in the fields and meet the local villagers.<

Shoot! So glad you're navigating.

[anti] walmart ACTION

This site actually has graphics showing the route and scope of one's email. Please help get word out -- then watch it spread!

http://walmart.purpleocean.org/answer/caf7f61f44c5fd010d432602ade0bbd2

Wouldn't it be great if we could see where every email goes, and which are passed on, which not? We probably wouldn't feel so alone. lol -- vcz

Who Needs Defusing? Iran or U.S. Media?
John Mohammadi

TIME magazine has a quick article about Iran entitled "Can the U.S. Defuse Iran?". After reading the article, I thought it would be a fun exercise in the analysis of misinformation in the US media. In total, I counted seven major lies out of the nine paragraphs. Besides the author's name and the date of the article, almost everything else was in the article was misleading, false, a half-truth, or spin. If you want to know why most Americans still think that WMDs have been found in Iraq, it's because of this sort of reporting.

So, here we go:

LIE 1: Headline "Can the U.S. Defuse Iran?"

FACT: Note the headline's use of the word "Defuse" in the headline. Bombs are "defused". By using the "defuse" word, the headline is suggesting that Iran is a danger. The headline is trying to shape the reader's attitudes towards Iran before they even read the article, by implying that Iran is a bomb which needs to be "defused."

LIE 2: "As it drags out the third round of negotiations with Britain, France and Germany with no hint of a resolution, Iran is doing little to build confidence in its good intentions."

FACT: This is an over lie. Rather than "dragging out" the negotiations, Iran has requested that the EU speed up the negotiations, and the EU has refused. See: here.

Secondly, the fact that Iran has allowed unfettered inspections and has signed the Additional Protocol and has agreed to temporarily suspend enrichment are all quite MAJOR evidence of good will -- Iran was under no obligation to do any of that. And what has Iran received in return, except more demands and threats?

LIE 3: "The IAEA has discovered that despite its agreement to temporarily suspend all activities related to uranium enrichment, Iran was continuing to do maintenance work on a uranium-enrichment plant in southern Iran."

FACT: Routine maintenance which did not violate the pledge to temporarily suspend enrichment. Note also how TIME uses the word "discovered" -- as if it was a secret!

So what else has the IAEA "discovered"? Well, the Director General of the IAEA has said that the IAEA has received "good cooperation" from Iran and has found no evidence of a nuclear weapons program, something TIME seems eager to ignore. (See here)

LIE 4:"The Iranians have allegedly finished designing a prototype of a detonator for a nuclear bomb, according to an opposition group based in Paris."

FACT: Gee, I wonder why TIME didn't see fit to name this "opposition group" -- the MEK, classified as a Marxist-Islamist terrorist organization by even the US itself. But I guess telling all of that information to the readers would have undercut TIME's attempt to demonize Iran.

LIE 5:"[Iranians] insist that they have a sovereign right to enrich uranium for peaceful, civilian purposes."

FACT: The right to enrich uranium is not something that only the Iranians "insist" upon -- it is an established principle of international law and a fundamental part of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. If Iran doesn't have that right, then no other nation does either.

LIE 6: "Taking their cue from North Korea, the Iranians have seen 'that you can extend a negotiating process and still build nukes,' says Bruno Tertrais, senior research fellow at the Foundation for Strategic Research in Paris."

FACT: Note how TIME uses the status of some researcher to bolster the claim that Iran is secretly building nukes, even though the IAEA has repeatedly said it has no such evidence (something which TIME refuses to mention.) This is a fallacy known as "Appeal to Authority" -- you're supposed to believe it just because someone who is supposedly an expert says so.

But have you ever heard of this Bruno guy before? Do you know if he is trustworthy? Or if TIME is really quoting him accurately? Is Bruno stating a fact, or merely his own opinion?

LIE 7: "Many experts question whether military strikes could be assured of taking out all the country's dispersed, well-hidden nuclear facilities. Intelligence on Iran's programs is inadequate..."

FACT: Note how on one hand TIME assumes that "well-hidden" nuclear sites exist in Iran, and on the other hand admits that the intelligence on Iran is inadequate. So, TIME, if the sites are so well-hidden, how do you know they exist?

Source: Iranian.com, 8 February 2005

http://www.turkishweekly.net/comments.php?id=173

Thanks so much, jm. That's great to know.

And, Mr. Mike, one thing I'm watching closely is whether the main stream media will pick up on this Jeff Gannon thing. As someone pointed out, if Gannon had been a female "reporter" in the Clinton WH press corps, this thing would be all over the tee-vee screens, front-page newspapers, etc.

The U.S. military is to beam its own news coverage to millions of Americans.

Moving on from its phase of embedding journalists, or as some would say, 'a policy of restricting and contolling the flow of information,' the Pentagon will now produce and disseminate the news itself. It will be beamed to the public at no charge. The service will emanate from what is known as the Pentagon Channel, an internal public relations television unit within the Department of Defense. It was set up nine months ago.

The government-run TV service will be channeled to the public through EchoStar Communication's Dish Network which will offer the Pentagon Channel to its more than 11 million viewers on a no-cost basis. Programming will appear on the network's public interest channels and will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Dish viewers will be kept up to date with current military news and information including Department of Defense news briefings, military news, interviews with top defense officials, and short stories about the work of military people.

'We appreciate Dish Network's decision to carry the new Pentagon Channel on their satellite TV system,' said Defense Department spokesman Larry Di Rita. 'Their support helps us fulfill our mission of providing timely military news and information.'

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=4272a7ec26944f6c

Wow, Pallas. Shades of "Shirley Valentine" (if you don't know the film, a British woman leaves her unsatisfying life in England with a very prosaic husband to take a trip to Greece, falls in love with it and her freedom, takes a lover, and stays on to work as a waitress.)

I'd love to live in a house like that with a garden like that in a quiet village in the Mediteranean area (I always spell it wrong). I wonder how vulnerable that area is?

Have you checked your astrocartography on Europe (free feature on Astrodienst)?

Sweet Jesus! Say it isn't so...

http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/Comment/DickMorris/020905.html

Mike, your post about "meditate on it" re showing *ush up reminds me of an episode on Psychic Detective.

The police were trying to catch a serial rapist/murderer and the clues provided by the psychic weren't specific enough to help. The psychic went to her meditation group and they all meditated that the killer would experience the pain he had caused. The next day the killer stabbed himself and went to the police claiming a woman had stabbed him.

I'm guessing since the killer was psychopathic, that's the only way he could process a kind of imposed empathy. Wonder how the Resident would express "feeling the pain" he has caused.

wv, the Morris article is a hoot. Condi is a "work in progress," he says. Condi is a "piece of work" is more accurate IMO.

WHAAAAAT baloney!
Hillary must have stepped on Dick Morris' toes somewhere along the line!
I watched Rice with Chancellor Schroeder, and squirmed with embarrassment at being representated by, an arrested development, 13 year old flirt!

I guess Dick M doesn't read black commentator either. They have some wonderful cartoons depicting her in a very unflattering light! Not to mentioon articles!
Pat QOP

Pallas18, the SwissAmerica article about the shrinking dollar is great(printed it out for copies to sent to the sheep Repug relatives).

Now, does anyone have a site of an article that rips into dubya's budget plan and covers all that stealing from the midddle class and poor?

Thanks

Jill G

And there's this...........

You must let democracy flourish, Condoleezza Rice tells Putin
By Chris Hastings
(Filed: 06/02/2005)

Condoleezza Rice, the newly appointed US Secretary of State, last night signalled a hardening of relations with Moscow.

In her first trip abroad since taking up her post, Ms Rice said that Washington would not tolerate any further erosion of democracy in Russia. "It is important that Russia make clear to the world that it is intent on strengthening the rule of law, strengthening the role of the independent judiciary, permitting a free and independent press to flourish. These are all basics of democracy.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/02/06/wcond06.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/02/06/ixworld.html
Pat QOP

You can CON DI people some of the time but. . .

Thanks for the laugh of the day, wv! for like Jo i've been following the misinformation being delivered on Iran and much from CON DI's own mouth.

Has the astrological interplay between Iran, the US and Israel been examined on this site? We're being prepared bullyed by the media in preparation. . .

Sharon, you posed interesting questions. Like you i've wondered about the underlying intent of this. I have a real problem with the intent of controlling oil. The reason is that we already have the technology availble to wean us from this addiction. Ironically we are not seeing great strides being made until it is available from fromer oil conglomerates.

My thought keeps turning to the "armageddon" becoming this self-fulfilling prophecy by those who self-righteously proclaim it so. But they are being used for their mantra is quite useful.

The belief that there are boogeymen 'round every corner has enabled governments throughout the world to control their respective citizenry. For instance, the many governments are now looking at how to implement national IDs, etc.

Something is brewing. I know i've mentioned this before but it seems to me that the population is intentionally being thinned out. Yes, i believe this is going to backfire.

If the US experiences a nuclear incident, this will surely unleash another "incident" and so on. Those who wish to remain in power will escape to their pre-prepared bunkers but what will await them upon emerging?

Atlantis revisited.

karen

Over at DU, farrout, there's a very recent post regarding Iran's setting up international agreements re oil AND converting to the euro. Get ready for all hell to break lose!

Karen,

Oour Dollar is 'pegged' to OIL... we've been printing bogus $$ for years... with nothing to back 'em up... you're right, not JUST the oil, but what that stands for... EUROS, death of the dollar...

We invaded Iraq when Sadaam announced he would accept Euros in payment for oil...

Here ya go, Shylurker,

Someone with the spine to take on the WH Press Corps --- Gannon issue hits the fan, thanks to Rep. Louise Slaughter... YA HOOOOOOO!

For Immediate Release
February 9, 2005 Contact: Eric Burns
202-225-3615

Rep. Slaughter Calls on President Bush to Explain Emerging White House Briefing Room Scandal

For Immediate Release
February 9, 2005 Contact: Eric Burns
202-225-3615

Rep. Slaughter Calls on President Bush to Explain Emerging White House Briefing Room Scandal

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/2/9/13431/42985

Guess I got a little excited there!

farrout, here's the link:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3079163

I know, Jo, I do know. Hee hee.

http://www.democrats.com also is all over the Gannon news. Petition up.

Jo and Shylurker. . .great insight. Thankyou! The Euro IS part of the story. Because oil is tied to currency, the cabal is jumping the gun (ahead of their planned intentions). In fact it just makes it all the worse.

karen

It has not been officially confirmed, but it is believed that Rep. Slaughter will be calling for a Congressional Hearing with 48 hrs. (which may explain Talon News purge of some of the articles on their website) See link to diary at dKos

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/2/9/121740/7758

Russia and China announce strategic partnership in a bid to counter expanding Western military and fiscal influences
Babu Ghanta, Special Correspondent
February 03, 2005

Tang Jiaxuan, a member of China's State Council, said Russia and China have similar positions on regional and global issues. Tang said Moscow is Beijing's key ally in its effort to maintain a strategic partnership.

Sources say, Russia and China have formally joined hands to stop expanding American and European military as well as economic global influences.

The strategic partnership can be very significant in providing a combined counter effect to the only Super Power of the world – America.

The partnership between China and Russia actually started last year just after the start of the Iraq war. The two countries came close to each other in terms of supporting each other. Russia now provides significant amount of China’s energy needs. China now provides financial guarantee and loan to Russia without announcing the same explicitly.

Russian and Chinese military are having secret joint sessions to create the strategy of self defense in case of any invasion from other countries.

In the front of fight against terrorism, Russia and China has also formed an alliance. China and Russia both are concerned about Islamic militants in Chechnya as well Chinese Muslim areas in South West China.

China's creation of a mechanism to consult with Russia on security issues marks the first time China has ever entered into such a venture, a senior Chinese official visiting the Kremlin said.

China secretly loaned Russia US Dollar 6.0 Billion to nationalize the Yukos oil company.

International think tanks suggest that soon Russia-China strategic partnership will form a NATO type military and G7 type economic alliance. India and Brazil will be invited to join the alliance.

http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/02-03b-05.asp

You all may have noticed I've stepped up my looking for potential relocation...waaay up.

And I'm going to explain why.

I think the timetable for the lockdown of America is moving up fast, as well as the crashdown of America.

What gives me this inkling?

The appointment of Rove as head gauleiter.

Rice visiting France and Germany while Rumsfeld visits Nato in Europe at the same time.

They're both asking AGAIN for France and Germany and Nato to kick in and send troops to Iraq.

Now why would that be?

I fully believe it is because they need the American Soldiers relieved from Iraq so they can attack Iran....and is it Sy Hersh who says the plans to attack Iran are for July of this year?
(Saw him on the Daily Show and he seems to have given up - saying nothing can stop this administration - ....)

If they can get other countries' soldiers in Iraq, we will again make war on another country for "WMD" that don't exist. Same play, different country.

Today the news is that Medicare ? is costing far more than expected - 400 Billion - a senior neighbor was telling me yesterday that WITH medicare and health insurance she is paying out of pocket $490 a month for medications...and reports today are that further cuts are going to be made in medicare, (of course we all know about social security- don't believe for a second that it won't affect people 55 and over - ) and all programs for education, health, environment, etc etc.

Where is all this money going that he will bleed from social programs? Why of course, it's going to make wars on the world.

I have a very bad feeling about what's happening in this country, as we all do, but now it's a feeling of "hurry".

I also have a very bad feeling that as China and Japan dump the dollar, the crash-bankruptcy of this country is imminent.

As many of us know, those that lived through the rise of Hitler and fascism said it happened so consistently and quickly they just didn't fully realize what was happening.

WE realize it, but it doesn't sink in fully.

For me, it's sinking in fully.

I told everyone for years,(in readings) buy gold, but I didn't.

I've said buy Euros, but I didn't.

It's time for me to listen to myself, even if no one else does, don't you think ?

A P.S. to my post above:

Isabelle in her header article on Social Security mentions:

"Mars in in Taurus the sign of wealth and possessions and banking and it is conjunct the cusp of the 6th house, the house of the worker. "

The Sixth House in Mundane Astrology is also the house of the military, the soldiers. That Mars in the 6th is the wild spending on war.

One of these "scandal" will have to stick. Look at Watergate, it started so small. Where are Woodward and Bernstein when ya need 'em?

Karen, I can somewhat believe that this administration can rationalize to themselves the killing of Americans in order to provoke war (vis a vi Pearl Harbor) but cannot wrap my mind around them creating a nuclear event. I know the impossible is often possible, but are they insane and evil to that degee? (probably)

The point I am/was trying to make is how difficult it is to separate the reality from what we hate about our current leaders. We hate them and suspect almost anything they do, but aren't there certain steps that any American president would take? In other words, there are sensible and necessary actions mixed in with the extreme and corrupt ones. It's important to see the difference so we can see what American needs to do and not put it down just because it is the Bush administration is doing it.

It's the same with religious Christians. I now have a bit of a bad taste in my mouth towards anyone who is ultra-religious and refuses to deal with the "reality" of creating a better world right here and now, BUT I need to be able to appreciate the beauty of their religion at the same time and be able to separate the madness from the sanity. So difficult to deal with. Same goes for Mulims and Jews. There are different degrees of belief within each religion and it is hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. Which are the terrorist extremists who want only holy war and which are just ordinary religious Muslims? Same goes for Jews - some really do not seem to want peace in the world. Recognizing this difficulty of separating sensible action from extremist action, we can apply it to the U.S. and Israel in their hunt for people who commit acts of terror. If they are blending in, how does one catch them without hurting innocent people in the process, especially if these innocent people are shielding them?. I far from agree with the methods the U.S. and Israel have used and are using right now, but what is a better way to deal with that type of situation? And what do we do if Iran has nuclear technology and uses it against the U.S. via insurgents and jihadists. Should we do nothing? Should we try diplomacy and be ignored? And, if Iran does make the first move somehow, would we ever believe it, or would we just assume that the U.S. provoked them? There are much smarter people than I in government, universities, and think tanks, as well as among regular people like ourselves, who may have answers to thses questions, but I haven't really heard them. These are sincere questions for which there do not seem to be any easy answers. There is so much intrigue in all of these situations that it calls to mind the advice of the Taoists and others to be in this world but not of it, as the nature of the beast is to work for it's self interest not for the good of the whole. That is why Howard Dean is such a breath of fresh air to me.

I hear you Pallas! I hear myself, too... but my grandchildren are here and their Mom and Dad aren't going anywhere... and my Dad is here... so, I'm conflicted. I feel if one is going to leave, though, it had better be soon.

I thought Rummy was NOT going to Europe. (He's scared to go to Germany, big lawsuit with his name on it for war crimes sitting in the wings...) Has that changed? As for Condi, she would like to change some thinking, but of course her ranting is not going to make any difference, except to the Brits... and Blair for some reason, is forever tied to Bush... don't understand why the Brits are tied to Blair!

One day at the time, is the only way I cope. And we have had some good news lately... I'm trying to increase my meditative time... and you guys are a huge comfort for me. Namaste

Sorry I haven't said much lately. I've been very busy. Today is my birthday. I'm now 24. When I was 23, the best part of the year was the first 2 months. The year's "high" peaked early. I'm curious to see what will happen this year.

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday dear D-a-a-a-a-v-e,

Happy birthday to you!

And you will have many, many more. All of them happy, I hope.

Top 5 questions from MoveOn members
and Howard Dean's responses
------------------------------

1) What will you do to insure that all voters, in each state, have access to a universally transparent, accountable voting system?
-- Sylvia S Pinyan, retired teacher
(January 27, 2005; Winston Salem, NC)

If elected Chair of the DNC, I intend to work with Members of Congress, the state Democratic parties, secretaries of state, the Democratic Governors' Association, other stakeholders, and the grassroots to ensure that every legitimate voter -- regardless of their political affiliation -- is able to vote and have their vote counted. We must address the obstacles that some voters in some locations faced this past November, like inadequate numbers of voting machines at certain polling locations, faulty electronic voting machines, and voting rolls that failed to include some properly registered voters' names. And critically, we must take steps to ensure the verifiability of all electronic voting. For instance, we need to use the referendum process (in states that allow this) to ban unverifiable voting machines and to protect voters from partisan secretaries of state.

2) What would be your list of 'ideals,' things the Democratic Party stands for and will fight for?
-- Tom Peters, commercial fisherman
(January 26, 2005; Eureka, CA)

Whether you call them ideals or moral values, there are a number of basic principles that I believe the Democratic Party should stand up and fight for. Here are a few: a livable wage is a moral value. Affordable health care is a moral value. A decent education is a moral value. A common sense foreign policy is a moral value. A healthy environment is a moral value. The feeling of community that comes from full participation in our democracy is a moral value. It is a moral value to make sure that we do not saddle our children and grandchildren with our debt.

3) What will be your strategy for sending the message that a progressive agenda is as much about "moral values" as is the Republican agenda, ie: that economic justice and equality, tolerance, civil rights and environmental protection are ethical and moral matters?
-- Anna Schwartz, physician
(January 26, 2005; Hastings-on-Hudson, NY)

I believe that there are no red states or blue states, just American states. And I am confident that Americans will vote for Democrats in Texas, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Montana and all over the Untied States if we show up, knock on their doors, introduce ourselves, and tell them what we stand for. But we will not win by being "Republican-lite" -- Democrats must have the courage of our convictions. Every chance we get, Democrats need to stand up for what we believe in, frame the debate, and call for reform. Each time that we do this we drive home the point that our progressive agenda is right where the majority of Americans are. Because Democrats -- not Republicans -- are the party of fiscal responsibility, economic responsibility, social responsibility, civic responsibility, personal responsibility, and moral responsibility.

4) What is your plan for creating an effective Democratic message machine to clearly and powerfully present our point of view?
-- Lynn O'Connell, advertising
(January 26, 2005; Alexandria, VA)

I am running for DNC Chair because I want to reform the Democratic Party and make it a truly national party. Improving the Democrat's message machine will be critical to our success. To drive home the point that we are where the majority of Americans are on the issues, we have to better integrate national and state party operations -- the success of the former depends directly on the success of the latter. Two, taking a bottom-up approach to the development of the Party's message, we need to set core principles that define the Democratic Party and what we stand for. Three, the Party must take advantage of cutting-edge Internet technology to fundraise, organize, and communicate with our supporters. And four, we must strengthen our political institutions and leadership institutes to promote our leaders and our ideas. All of this won't be easy and it won't happen overnight. It will require exceptional cooperation between the National Party and the State Parties, unprecedented use of the grassroots, unparalleled message discipline, and significant financial support. But taking the White House and Congress and every other office back from George Bush and the Republicans will make all of our time and effort worth it.

5) Many people like myself were energized during the 2004 presidential election. I volunteered to canvas neighborhoods and I made phone calls for democratic candidates. I made my first financial contributions for a political cause. How are you going to keep people like me involved? Do you want to keep people like me involved?
-- Lisa Scerbo, photographer
(January 26, 2005; Mechanicville, NY)

It was new supporters like you that were one of the bright spots in the last election cycle. If I am elected DNC Chair, we intend to make the Democratic Party a truly national party by becoming competitive in every race, in every district, in every state and territory. We need you and other grassroots volunteers to stay involved -- our vision won't become a reality without your help. And we will keep you involved by building on our grassroots successes, expanding community-building initiatives like Meetup, and getting ordinary people to run for office. It is time we support all Democrats carrying the message of reform.

PAID FOR BY MOVEON PAC
Not authorized by any canidate or candidate's committee.

Since you asked, Dave, I've to give it - 2005 is
going to be disastrous, economywise, and see the
Pope's predicament; I've read astrologers predicting the worst for shrub from April onwards.
Read below

http://www.nydailynews.com/business/story/277849p-238042c.html

Happy birthday, Dave! 24 is such a great age, so full of spirit, intelligence and energy, and still trying to figure things out. My step son is a Leo and he'll turn 24 in August of this year. I wonder if you and he are similar since you're born in the same year and more or less 6 mo. apart, in Aquarius and Leo respectively -- "complementary opposites" as they say.

I really admire the way you decided on law school and did everything you could to make it happen. I'm excited about where you're going to end up. Don't give up on your dreams and plans as it says in Deserata. It's still a wonderful world. And...the great thing about it is that the unexpected can happen and it can be good.

Best to you,
Sharon

Nuclear Folly....

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig5/wittner8.html

If this doesn't awaken the media, nothing will

CNN Executive says GIs in Iraq Target
Jounanists....

http://207.44.245.159/article8011.htm

US keeping 480 nuclear weapons in Europe....

http://www.spacewar.com/2005/050209070333.aov1fd6u.html

so many funny things to read today all over the net & this thread is a blast. Pallas, I too, have been a smarty-pants telling people to buy gold & euro, but have failed to buy any myself. Karen/farrout you are SO right re: Atlantis revisited. Dave, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! you have SO much ahead of you, may it be filled with much laughter & love.

China poised to overtake US in 2020's...

http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2005/02/09/china_poised_to_overtake_us_in_2020s_author?mode=PF

Happy Birthday Dave.

I remember I promised to do your chart, but you had some confusion about the time.

If you give me all the info again, I'll do it up for you.

Have you tried Pace lawschool in New York City and
Westchester County, New York? - I think Westchester would probably be preferable.

There's also Albany lawschool and Fordham lawschool, both with good reputations.

Best of luck with whichever one you go to.

Lots of information on Ward Churchill who resigned his post as Chairman of the Ethnic Studies program at University of Colorado - and
the essay that started it all.....

http://www.kersplebedeb.com/mystuff/s11/churchill.html

Shall we call it "fuzzy math" or another outright lie ?

Medicare revised does not cost 400 billion as he said, it costs $ 720 BILLION, almost twice the amount.

As we all know, whatever he says - believe the opposite.

So disgusted!

Walmart to close Canadian store that wants to
unionize...

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050209/D8857HK00.html

Canned hunt patrons pay thousands of dollars to kill animals like this who are lined up for easy shooting.
Stop canned hunts.
Click here.

Dear Sharon,

Tomorrow night, America's #1 rated TV drama, CSI, will feature a storyline about one of the ugliest forms of animal cruelty, canned hunting. Canned hunting is the killing of a fenced-in animal who has no chance of escape, for the sole purpose of obtaining a trophy. That's right: animals -- often tame, exotic mammals -- are put into an enclosure for rich individuals to "hunt." It is as horrible as you can imagine.
Learn more about this outrageous "sport" here.

In the CSI episode, which airs Thursday, February 10, on CBS (check your local listings for exact times), characters investigate the killing of a Kodiak bear found in the Nevada woods. Evidence leads them to discover that the bear was killed during an illegal canned hunt.

This is critical public exposure for an animal protection issue that deserves serious attention -- and you can help to make an even bigger impact.

1. Take action to stop canned hunts now. U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) recently introduced the Sportsmanship in Hunting Act, which aims to halt the interstate traffic of exotic animals for the purpose of killing or injuring them for entertainment or trophy collecting. Contact your U.S. senators today and ask them to co-sponsor this legislation

2. Tune into CSI on Thursday, February 10. Take this unprecedented opportunity to educate someone you know about canned hunts: Invite them over to watch the program, and use our free viewer's guide about canned hunting to let them know the tragic truth behind this television drama. Then urge them to join you in taking action to stop canned hunts. Click here for your viewer's guide (PDF).

3. Spread the word. The more people who know about this issue, tune into CSI, and take action, the closer we will come to STOPPING canned hunting. Click here to tell five friends to tune in, take action, and learn more.

Thank you for all you do on behalf of animals every day, and be sure to tune into CSI on Thursday, February 10!

Sincerely,

Wayne A. Pacelle
President & CEO, Humane Society of the United States

Neither CSI nor CBS has approved or endorses this message. All views expressed herein are those of The HSUS.

An eye-opener on Fundamentalist beliefs....

http://207.44.245.159/article8013.htm

Every Walmart should go on strike then.

The breaking of the unions, from Reagan on...has resulted in the outsourcing we see now, and their ability, the corporations to get away with it.

by the way, monex.com gives free quotes on the price of gold....

the spread (between the high for the day and the low for the day is $3.50 cents, so for those who don't know, you watch it for a few days to see what the spread is, and then you put in a buy order for what the lowest is and wait for it to reach that....

today the low was 410.00 and the high was 413.50

Open High Low Last Change

GOLD BULLI 411.50 413.50 410.00 413.50 0.50

it's going down a litle bit, which is a chance to buy - but with the news of the idiot's "miscalculation " of 320 billion dollars on medicare, I expect it to go up and/or stay at this point...till there is more dumping of the dollar and then watch it explode.

Be good to read Ray Merriman at Star IQ to see his expectation of when the bottoms are.

I promise this is the last on currencies for today:

"Gold Is Little Changed, Pares Loss as Euro Gains Against Dollar" Bloomberg - USA

... ``It's still a currency-driven market.''. Gold futures for April delivery closed at $414.50 on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. ...

Pallas, I meant to mention this when you first brought up gold. There was something either here or on DU about the government having the right to seize gold except for certain exclusions such as a coin collection. I don't know much about this but it was news to me.

Pallas, I meant to mention this when you first brought up gold. There was something either here or on DU about the government having the right to seize gold except for certain exclusions such as a coin collection. I don't know much about this but it was news to me. If anyone remembers the reference or knows more, please jump in. I guess we could also do a google search.

Dean's the Man!

Posted on DU...

"from the conservative site RealityCheck.org, telling Republicans they ought to take the threat from Dean in the DNC seriously. So for those that have speculated the Rs fear him, this shows at least some do.

~snip~
On February 12, Democrats will elect a new Democratic National Committee Chairman. (I know using "chairman" isn't politically correct, but it sounds better than "the GOP's bitch" as Terry McAuliffe was for four years.) In the hunt for this position is Howard Dean, former Presidential candidate and public advocate for scream therapy.

Conservatives and Republicans have been licking their chops at the prospect of a Dean chairmanship, but I would urge a bit of caution here. Howard Dean has the potential to be the Democrats' version of Newt Gingrich, and if we overlook the potential impact he will have on the Democrats as a whole, we could see a Democrat Revolution in the near future, possibly as soon as 2006.

Granted, I've taken more than a few shots at Dean in my columns, but behind the scenes I've grown to respect him. He is not a typical modern Democrat by any stretch of the imagination. Instead of focusing on short term personal political goals, he sees a bright future for his party if Democrats are willing to follow him.

And personally, I think he has the ability to do it."
~snip~

Continued at : http://www.therealitycheck.org/GuestColumnist/tlindaman...

******WOW, CAN YOU FOLKS MEDITATE******

or if you prefer

******THE CHICKENS COME HOME TO ROOST******

Jeff Gannon link (composite themes, OMG!)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1581330

shylurker, maybe this is it. what hypocrites these "guys" are! this poster said it right somewhere in the middle of the article (we've said it here), these guys acuse others of what they're doing. the same m.o. over and over gets tedious and loses its effectiveness.

barbara, well, that's a good theme "The AstroWorld Psychic Detective Support Group."

wouldn't want to be jeff gannon (or who ever he is) tonight or any night in the future.

Pallas18:

Here's my info. February 9th, 1981. 7:45am or possibly a few minutes earlier. Dallas, TX. I'm leaving for DC on Thursday evening. Email me your interpretations at drosen12@yahoo.com. I would really appreciate it!

---

Thanks everybody else for the best birthday wishes.

From a political standpoint, I do suspect 2005 is going to suck...righteously suck. But maybe it can be a good year for me.

BTW, everybody I've talked to thinks the economy is about to go down. Most of these folks seem to think we're at the edge of a precipice but are afraid to say so. The collective mood can make it happen.

I'm leaving for DC tomorrow night, so I'll be MIA until Monday. I'll give you all the lowdown when I get back.

Sharon,

thanks - I wasn't aware they could still do that.
But these places where gold can be bought such as Canada or England besides the US can deliver it to a bank of your choice or hold it.

Sally can tell you a whole lot about gold being taken away from the American people (I think it was under FDR) and given to what is now the Federal Reserve Bank...just declared we weren't allowed to have it.

Funny - I was thinking of you tonight as I read an article about France...not a pleasant article and I was going to put the address of it on here,
for you specifically, but then thought not .

5 million Arab Muslims in France - a big voting block and they're raising havoc. Police are afraid to go into the areas where they live. They call it lawless - and when they do go there, they have washing machines dropped on their cars or heads. Nice.

I read somewhere (some prediction) that the Muslims would succeed and would take over all of
Southern Europe.

Apparently that's already happened. But Morocco is just a hop, skip, and jump from the French Mediterranean amyway.

I'm reminded, one day I was at "Tuesday Morning" - it's a specialty store you may have heard of it, and I got into a chatty conversation with a woman and her husband from Brazil or Venezuela ---somewhere in South America...and she was saying that they had come to America a few years ago for safety - and then there was 9-11 - and she went on to say there is no safe place in the world anymore...............

The world is inflamed in this thing - if it isn't a danger of terrorism, it's a danger of nature to be taken into consideration.

If we didn't have a major terrorist and liar at the helm, the United States would still be a safe place for its citizens -

what to do - what to do.

Great to read all the postings from today ~ so much insight and information

Pallas18,
I certainly believe your gut feelings about the tanking of the economy is right on the mark ~ It is down right terrify to see how very unwilling to listen and uninformed the average person seems to be ~ asleep at the wheel is the only thing that comes to mind ~ I don’t believe other countries will have to do much at all to protect themselves from the coming US economic crisis ~ We are already starting to see the shift from the dollar as the sole currency for the purchase of oil and a gradual shift to the Euro. ~ All other countries have to do is just don’t get caught holding to many dollars ~ and then just sit back and watch as the neocon spend the US/us into oblivion.

OMG! Washing machines dropped on heads. If I were not a nonviolent person, I wouldn't mind a Hotpoint dropped on a neocon's head.

From what I understand, the Muslim prejudice in Europe is terrible. And it's getting worse. Way, way worse than here. As a matter of fact, considering all the propaganda, the people here haven't been expressing that much hatred toward them.

There are so many dangers out there, everywhere. And you don't realize it until you get there, where ever it was you thought you could escape to.
But there are always safe spots within.
I love Carlos castenada's many discourses on finding safe spots. And using our senses to know where they are.
There are ways.

Happy New Year, from me in Suzhou, one of the more beautiful places in China usually.Weather has been cloudy, foggy, rainy and this morning snowy.
It seems tome that we have inflation here, that the prices are higher than last year for a lot of items that I buy. But the Rooster believes in being frugal and saving money all year long.Betsy

* "Didn't We Get Rid of Those People Years Ago?"
Reflections on Empire & Uppity Indians By TIM WISE http://counterpunch.org/wise02092005.html

Mandville's Earth Changes Bulletin for 2/9/05

http://www.michaelmandeville.com/earthmonitor/ecbulletins/2005/ecb_Feb_9_05.htm

Happy Birthday, Dave!!! Sending wishes for a great year!

I'm sending you all virtual hugs this morning. The kind of comaraderie found here is inspiring at the least.

Woven within the disastrous policies being propagated by this administration there IS light and hope.

JM, Don Juan's instructions to Carlos WERE meticulous ;-) Though i'm a long way from practising this kind of "intent" i do live in a very rural and beautiful mountain area. My "other" and i just happened (giggles) upon it.

I fully understand the reasons for wanting to leave this country and have given it consideration. There is something, however, that compels me to stay beyond familial reasons. The feeling is rather specific. I must be of help. Not specific is what kind of help that is.

It is refreshing to see Dean in a leadership role. I've been reticent in commenting because of experience on the campaign trail. I'll explain.

I spoke at many public functions/meetings campaigning for Dennis Kucinich. Early on i participated in a debate format. Repeatedly the Dean rep said that Dean was the ONLY anti-war candidate and the FIRST to speak out against it. This was just not true. I gave the poor guy a run for his money on that one but he insisted in subsequent events to make the same mis-statements. At first i thought he was just uniformed, yet the persistence of his statement gave me a bad taste. Nevertheless, i support Dean. We do need his dynamic energy to reinvigorate the party.

I was turned on to Edgar Cayce in my youth. After 9-11 and knowing this was a "ruse" for action in Iraq, i started thinking again about those readings. It is why i refer to an Atlantis redux for Cayce's readings rang true. Getting it right (on a spirit level) through repetition should bring me a sense of peace. It doesn't, not now. The violation of the species, of earth, and one another has reached horrific levels.

Like all of you i do what i am able to do. I hug alot, laugh as much as i am able, smile at those i do not know, work with my hands and pray.

karen

Hi guys,

Sharon

I found the url of the article about France and the 5 million Muslim population.
It was written by a Marie Brenner for Vanity Fair-
entitled " France's Scarlet Letter"

It's a long read - and hair raising. Gives one second thoughts about moving to such an area.

oops

I though I put in the url but apparently it disappeared..

here it goes, i'll try again

www.mariebrenner.com/articles/france/sl1.html

Has anybody seen Sally around?

I know she said she'd be gone for a few days but isn't this an awfully long time?

Betsy in China. ...Amazing to think we are being
read as far away as China...what are you doing there? living or visiting?

* Rep Slaughter Calls on [rez] to Explain Emerging WH Briefing Room Scandal

Washington DC - Rep Louise M. Slaughter (NY-28), long time champion of media reform & Ranking Member of the Hse Committee on Rules, sent a letter to [rez] today asking him to explain how discredited "reporter" Jeff Gannon was credentialed as a member of the legitimate media by the WH.

The letter follows:

Dear Mr [rez]:

In light of the mounting evidence that your [regime] has, on several occasions, paid members of the media to advocate in favor of [regime] policies, I feel compelled to ask you to address a matter brot to my attn by the Niagara Falls Reporter (article attached), a local newspaper in my dist, regarding James "JD" Guckert (AKA Jeff Gannon) of Talon News.

According to several credible reports, "Mr Gannon" has been repeatedly credentialed as a member of the WH press corps by your office & has been regularly called upon in WH press briefings by your Press Sec Scott McClellan, despite the fact evidence shows that "Mr Gannon" is a [necropub] political op, uses a false name, has phony or questionable journalistic credentials, is known for plagiarizing much of the "news" he reports, & according to several web reports, may have ties to the promotion of the prostitution of military personnel.

Several wks ago when it was revealed that radio/TV host Armstrong Wms had rec'd payment from your [regime] in exchange for his vocal support of the 'No Child Left Behind' initiative, I was stunned. For yrs now I have been leading the fight in Congress for fairness & accountability in the media; the Wms revelation only underscored the need for a media that has integrity, is balanced & expresses the local interests & concerns of its consumers.

Since that time, 2 more members of the media have been found to have rec'd [taxpayer's] money from your [regime] in exchange for their vocal, yet undisclosed support of [regime] policies.

And just this morning we have learned that "Mr Gannon" has resigned his post at the, so called, Talon News amid growing concerns over his controversial background & falsified qualifications. In fact, it appears that "Mr Gannon's" presence in the WH press corps was merely as a tool of propaganda for your [regime]. ... con't
http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=84225

I thought you guys might find this interesting.

A few days ago I was talking with a friend of mine, a wonderful older woman originally from Argentina. A staunch Democrat, she put herself in the trenches in Ohio and Pennsylvania registering voters and making sure people knew where they could vote. And when I say she's an older woman, she's an OLDER older woman. An inspiration to those younger than she.

Anyway, during our conversation -- which inevitably lead to politics -- she looked me straight in the eye and told me how, as a child, she stood in the presence of Eva Perone. Her father had money and access to those in power, so she had a chance to meet a lot of neat people when she was younger. But Eva Perone frightened her and the memory of that fear still lingers today.

She said that Eva Perone was the personification of Evil. The energy that came off of her was just wrong, wrong, wrong!

Now, why am I writing this, you might ask? Because she, my friend, feels the same energy from Bush. And she recognizes now in America what she saw happen to her own country during the Reign of the Perones. And it frightens her. In fact, now she admits that by choosing America as the country to build a life in, she made a mistake. Based on her own life experience in Argentina, she believes without a doubt that America is headed in the same direction.

And this is a woman not prone to making dramatic statements.

Anyway, I thought you might find that interesting. And, NO, she won't give me her birth info so I can run a chart! :-) She insists that a lady would never do such a thing, although she supports astrology, tarot and other ways of searching (and finding) the Truth.

:-)

A different take on the Iraqi elections...no
wonder it is taking so long for the results...

http://counterpunch.org/ross02092005.html

This should give you food for thought...

http://www.antipasministries.com/oldnews/cedars.html

Pallas,
Sally will be back next week.

Thanks Morgana,

It's been a long time since I've seen you here..
(and probably vice-versa)

How are you?

Healthy and happy, I hope.

Starrynights,

are you Starrynights from DU? And yes I agree with you - but I think it's already happened, the switch to the Euro. I think
someone is holding their finger in the dike in this administration but since the world shakers, (Davos and others) have no confidence or warmth for junior....(maybe its pappy who has stopped the calling in of debt so far) .

I think wse're already spent into oblivion. And it's on purpose. An entire plan that has succeeded to raid the treasury, stop all social programs, and reduce the American worker to the level of the other third world countries.

In their minds I suppose this makes equality.

Of course, the corporations and the robber barons would never think of RAISING the standard of living to America's in the other countries - which was an alternative, because that would seriously deflate their profits.

Damn, this is politics and I'm getting angry again.

Hi Pallas18,
I got tired of writing doom and gloom. But hope to have something finished here tonight looking at Howard and the Dem's chart. I needed that ray of sunshine!
Wow what an interesting time to be living in. Hopefully we are the seeds of a better America once we toss those parasites out of office!
Otherwise I'm lurking about and do keep in contact with Sally :)
Ya'll are great. In my email this morning I received the following, and howled like my Indian ancestors!

"Didn't We Get Rid of Those People Years Ago?"
Reflections on Empire and Uppity Indians

http://counterpunch.org/wise02092005.html

Uppity huh...watch us be uppity!!!

Didn't the last big quake move the course of the Mississippi River interesting.

Magnitude 4.2 Quake Shakes Arkansas

~ snip ~

The quake was centered in the New Madrid seismic zone, which covers portions of Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee. One of the largest earthquakes ever to strike in North America, estimated at magnitude, 7.5 was centered at New Madrid, Mo., during a series of temblors in the winter of 1811-1812.

~ snip ~

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=533&e=3&u=/ap/20050210/ap_on_re_us/arkansas_earthquake

Joe Gannon Quits!

http://www.nynewsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-reporter-quits,0,1897665,print.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines

Thanks Morgana,

I've sent Sally an article on the Sharon/Abbas peace talks and just now a follow up e mail...sent it both to her and info e mail listed above....

She usually makes a comment or edit - do you or Vis have access to what I've sent for publication?
Any advice appreciated.

I know what you mean about doom and gloom - and I'm sorry I'm a part of it..I feel like I'm trying to fight my way out of a paper bag - and it's so damn dark in there, can't find the direction out!!

You do sound so optimistic. :)

Howard is hopeful, ( I wanted him or Edwards for ppresident) Can one man roll back the damage that has been done to this country ? I think it is going to take decades to fix, if it ever will be fixed. (doom-gloom-mumble-mumble) I won;t be here, but I'd like to enjoy my remaining years and that assache and his fellow repugnant anal apertures have fixed that not to my or any normal intelligent person's liking.

Off to read your counterpunch url

I didnt understand Ward Churchill's comment "little eichmann's" referring to those killed in the WTC...wish he hadn't said that and I bet he does too - IF he did say that - in an interview he said the press is reporting things he didnt say.

But he was absolutely right, he also said we ca't do the things that we have done to other countries and not expect the chickens to come home to roost some day.

What is very very very fascisti is punishing him
for partaking in his first amendment rights, what used to be rights, of free speech. And this has been happening for the last four years all over the country.

It's worse than Lyndon Johnson and the Smothers Brothers..much worse. That was just one incident.. this is institutional. Speak out against the administration and get arrested, fired, harrassed, destroyed.

You know what?

We have to mobilize.

Mobilize to save our rights.

Maybe not the country...but our rights to free speech...cause if we dont have that, we can't save anything.

Truthout....The Jeff Gannon Experience

http://forum.truthout.org/blog/

February 10, 2005
Dollar Falls, Gold Rises in Europe
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 2:33 p.m. ET

LONDON (AP) -- The U.S. dollar fell against other major currencies in European trading Thursday. Gold prices rose.

The euro was quoted at $1.2884 in European trading, up from $1.2789 Wednesday. Later, in midday trading in New York, the euro was at $1.2885.

Other dollar rates in Europe, compared to late Wednesday, included 105.63 Japanese yen, down from 105.75; 1.2087 Swiss francs, down from 1.2176; and 1.2411 Canadian dollars, down from 1.2485.

The British pound was quoted at $1.8696, up from $1.8580.

In midday trading in New York, the dollar bought 105.68 yen and 1.2079 Swiss francs, while the pound was worth $1.8709.

Gold traded in London at $417.70 bid per troy ounce, up from $412.20 on Wednesday. In Zurich the bid price was $417.28, up from $411.65.

Gold markets in Hong Kong were closed for a public holiday.

Silver traded in London at $6.95 bid per troy ounce, up from $6.55.

Pallas18,
Vis might be able to help you out.
Astrologically it is an excellent time with this confab in Aquarius to bring forth new visions and move them into reality. Grassroots springing up. Dean, Edwards were my choices as well.
The Blogsphere has become a very powerful tool. What better time to put it to use? Eh?

I may have missed it, but how does one buy euro's ? Where? Gotta practice what I preach.

btw Pallas18 I'll be 53 this May, Bush's programs will destroy my retirement and continue to bleed my paycheck dry. And my resume is posted on Canadian websites...

Happy belated DAVE........
Jonathan........re: the Old old woman from Venezuela.........
my son claims to have felt evil from GHW B*** when he was just a "happy go lucky" teenager. Never met him face to face. I felt the same way about W when he was campaigning in NH in 2000.
But I also experienced the curious "lack of dimension" from the adult German population, back in 1955, when I spent a summer there. Just read in an old Smithsonian Mag. an analysis by a psychiatrist of this phenomenon. They carried so much guilt for shutting out the atrocities around them, that they were collectively incapable of thinking back past yesterday's dinner. No memories!..............
The teens I hung with were whole people ( Chancellor Schroeder's peer group ) They were dragged thru it as powerless children.
This experience of mine set my hair on fire several years ago & the blaze has spread to my toes at this point!
but the Bloggers have won 2 MAJOR BATTLES! Dean & Gannon.
This may cause an Internet shutdown in the near future!, as Gannon is personally involved in the Admin's affairs!
We're getting snowed in today!!!!!!
Paqt QOP

Morgana,

There was a mild quake in Arkansas when I lived there in the early '60s. It occured just after a big quake in Alaska. We lived in the foothills of the Ozarks on the Great Mississippi Flyway--meaning that ducks and geese migrated directly overhead.

What a great experience it was to hear the honking and step outside on a cold, clear night with the stars blazing to see those big V's overhead.

The western Tennessee lake, Reelfoot Lake, was created by the 19th Century earthquake you mention. It is a great fishing area because of all the snags and hiding places created by the forest that sank beneath the water.

From MIKE HUDSON, Niagara Falls Reporter: Jeff Gannon or J.D. Guckert or whatever his name is isn't a real journalist. Here at the Niagara Falls Reporter, we do 22,000 print copies a week, have a half million Web visitors and a Pulitzer Prize-winner and Peabody Award-winner on staff. Does anyone think we could get an audience with the President? This isn't an issue of old media versus new media. It's an issue of fraud. Among other things, I've had my nose broken over stories I've written, and the way Gannon folded like a cheap suit when his credibility was called into question should tell everybody what he's about. We're running the gay cheesecake shots of him next week, by the way.

From DOUG SANDERS: One suspects that, if Kelly McBride [her comments in this story] had been on the screening committee for Congressional correspondents, Mr. Guckert/Gannon would have not only received credentials, but hot towels and a back rub. If blogs are ascending in influence and popularity in the marketplace at the expense of newspapers (and while this wouldn’t bother me a bit, there is little evidence that it’s true) and setting a tone that the hidebound mainstream press doesn’t recognize, these pathetic, plodding dinosaurs only have themselves to blame. I hadn’t been in the business a year before I came across a local reporter with, ahem, supplemental income from his beat and that situation’s only become worse since.

The truth is that the journalistic bureaucrats have done little but sit and fiddle while their industry became progressively (irony intended) less honest, less relevant and less interesting and, for that reason alone, a new day can’t dawn soon enough. Newspapers, from the Bug Tussle Bugle to the New York Times, have failed to serve the public and are paying an awful price for that.

http://poynter.org/forum/?id=letters

Everybody, please forgive two posts in a row.

Pat QOP,

Your comments about reactions to *ush remind me of the true story about a German portrait artist who in the '30s painted Hitler and displayed the portrait in a bookstore window. This was a straight realistic style painting--no attempt at satire. After a few weeks the painting was confiscated and the painter was sent to a concentration camp. Apparently the painting was just too true to life.

Interestingly, some decades earlier the American author O. Henry wrote a short story about a portrait artist who was reduced to poverty because his very well-executed, realistic portraits of society people revealed their souls.

How to Protect Your Child from the Coming Draft

by Dr. Teresa Whitehurst

http://www.antiwar.com/orig/whitehurst.php?articleid=4789

Posted on Wed, Feb. 09, 2005

General: Plane downed by hostile action

By ROBERT BURNS
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - A senior U.S. general said Wednesday he believes the British C-130 aircraft that crashed in Iraq on Jan. 30, killing all 10 people aboard, was downed by hostile action rather than by a mechanical problem. The British government has not said whether it was shot down.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/politics/10856148.htm

Germany Declines to Investigate Rumsfeld

BERLIN (AP) - German prosecutors declined Thursday to investigate Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other top U.S. officials over allegations they were responsible for torture at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, saying it was up to the United States to launch any such inquiry.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4792281,00.html?gusrc=ticker-103704

N.J. Senator hits another homerun!!!!
Mikie, wherefore art thou? All this Gannon excitement... broadband repaired yet?
------------

February 10, 2005

Scott McClellan Press Secretary The White House Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. McClellan,

I am writing to request that you immediately release documents to my office relating to the White House press credentials of James D. Guckert, a.k.a. "Jeff Gannon." Specifically, I am seeking documentation related to the question of which name Mr. Guckert/Gannon used when applying for credentials, and which name was on the official White House press credentials he received. Additionally, I am seeking documents indicating whether Mr. Guckert/Gannon received a "hard pass" or daily passes from your office. Despite your assertions to the contrary, at least one White House reporter has revealed that Mr. Guckert/Gannon appeared to have "hard pass" credentials.

As you may know, Mr. Guckert/Gannon was denied a Congressional press pass because he could not show that he wrote for a valid news organization. Given the fact that he was denied Congressional credentials, I seek your explanation of how Mr. Guckert/Gannon passed muster for White House press credentials.

I have led the effort in the Senate to investigate a number of instances of troubling propaganda efforts by the Administration. The Government Accountability Office has agreed to my requests to investigate various attempts at media manipulation: fake television news stories touting both the new Medicare law and the "No Child Left Behind" education program; a study rating individual journalists on their "favorability" to Republican education policies; and the payment to journalist Armstrong Williams.

Since the Armstrong Williams controversy became public, Administration payments to two other journalists, Maggie Gallagher and Michael McManus, have come to light. Given the backdrop of these scandals, coupled with Mr. Guckert/Gannon's role in recent White House press briefings and press conferences, it is understandable that the circumstances of Mr. Guckert/Gannon's credentialing have raised suspicion.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Sincerely, Frank R. Lautenberg

Oophsss! forgot to post a link...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/2/10/162944/555

I love Frank Lautenberg.

This thread is HOT I tell ya.

First Morgana,

Dear Morgana- you;re going to be 53. "You been screwed and you aint even been kissed". Not that I believe one word when he says it wont affect people 55 and over!~ I suspect we're all in the same boat.

Thanks for posting the gold news. When I opened up the computer I saw that the Dow and Nasdaq took a sharp dump today - more than 60 points each...and darn, Gold went up more than 6$ ---It was $411 yesterday and I thought it might keep going down...not that I could buy a lot, but there is the definite possibility it could go over 800 or even 11/1200 in the next year and 2006 I think...

Go to www.Monex and they give prices and that you don't have to buy a bar....they are selling coins
as small as 1/10 and 1/20 th...so if gold is $400
each 1/10 coin would be 40$ and if 1/20th - it would be a 20 $ gold piece.

My thought is to buy the coins and hold them just in case paper money goes the way of the 1930-40 Deutschmark. I spoke of that before...where people took a wheelbarrow full of paper money to buy a loaf of bread....

monex seems to be expensive to me...so I googled
gold coins and the names like the maple leaf gold coin etc....Canada seems to have better prices than Monex --apparently you can have the coins shipped to you or name a bank someplace to hold them for you. I dont know if I would put trust in banks being open if eveything goes caput.

As for the Euros - I also listed a url further up,which I found by googling "buying Euros". They're getting around the "trading" thing by offering Euros to be bought in advance of a trip to Europe..so try that. I'd have the Euros shipped to me too, ---who knows - one day soon we may be buying in Euros rather than dollars..
Anyway, if you're buying Euros it can be done over the net or phone with credit card...and should be done fast before that takes a giant step also.

BUT - if the dollar tanks , all paper money and economies will too - I think.

but the safest is the gold (and Sally also suggest silver which is much more affordable at 6 to 10$) .

Now America knows why the Jews of Europe used to have a packet of diamonds hidden - they were used to having to run out of a country - and diamonds made a good barter. I dont think that would work today because there are so many fakes, people would not take a diamond I think. Even some jewelers cant tell the difference between a diamond and a good cz.

So, gold it is.

Of course there's always trading in gold stocks - but my personal feeling (and keep in mind I'm an overly cautious type)is I wouldn't touch/trust the
stock market.

I think I'll take a look and see if I can do a piece on the market and economy.

Bush Gone Wild...

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=127&u=/ucru/20050209/cm_ucru/bushgonewild&printer=1

This might be a good time to start thinking about
solar panels.

In Florida cold weather is ususally the last week of December or the first week of January. FOR 1 WEEK.

We have now had two full months of cool weather
instead of 82 everyday, it's low 70's and 50's at night....but now it's 60's and for the next 3 nights it will be 45, 41, 46 .

I think all the moisture in the air from the Tsnami has affected weather patterns and caused this cooling and heavy snows and rains.

And here's quite an article on the damage under the sea...the sea bed rose 60 FEET...and the rift
(tear) where the two plates met is 6 MILES WIDE !!!

*****

Sonar Shows Ruptures at Tsunami Epicenter
Thursday, February 10, 2005 5:00 PM EST
The Associated Press
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN

The first images Thursday of the seabed battered by the earthquake that triggered Asia's catastrophic tsunami revealed huge ruptures spanning several miles.

A British naval ship collecting data off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra Island produced the digital images using sonar, and they could be used to help develop a tsunami early-warning system for the Indian Ocean region.

The vibrantly colored seabed maps show the 9.0-magnitude quake caused the tectonic plates to clash "like the rumpling up of a carpet," according to Steve Malcolm, the commanding officer of the HMS Scott.

The images show "scars" more than six miles wide resulting from the Dec. 26 quake. They depict the line where the Indian tectonic plate suddenly collided with, and was pushed underneath, the Burma plate.

The maps, created with multi-beam sonar, show ridges as tall as 4,950 feet that were created over thousands of years by the slow collision of the deep, flat Indian plate and the ragged edge of the Burma plate.

That collision has resulted in the Indian plate being gradually shoved under the edge of the Burma plate in a process known as subduction, said Russell Wynn, a marine geologist at the Southampton Oceanography Centre, which took part in the survey.

The Dec. 26 quake was caused by a sudden movement of the two plates, which in turn caused the ridge of the Burma plate to spring up about 30 to 60 feet, Wynn said. That sent water surging up and out, creating the devastating waves that menaced the region. The main collision zone was some 12,000 feet below the ocean surface.

Sidney Blumenthal on Condi's trip

http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5123541-103677,00.html

Hugo Chavez is Right...

http://207.44.245.159/article8015.htm

Didn't there used to be a song " little white lies" - is it DC's theme song?
**********************************

U.S. Scientists Say They Are Told to Alter Findings

More than 200 scientists employed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service say they have been directed to alter official findings to lessen protections for plants and animals, a survey released Wednesday says.

The survey of the agency's scientific staff of 1,400 had a 30% response rate and was conducted jointly by the Union of Concerned Scientists and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.

A division of the Department of the Interior, the Fish and Wildlife Service is charged with determining which animals and plants should be placed on the endangered species list and designating areas where such species need to be protected.

More than half of the biologists and other researchers who responded to the survey said they knew of cases in which commercial interests, including timber, grazing, development and energy companies, had applied political pressure to reverse scientific conclusions deemed harmful to their business.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-sc...

I miss Sally too!! So good to hear from you, Morgana:)
Pallas, after all your work on DU about Plame-gate, I thought you'd like to see this from Joe Wilson replying to Gannon: link: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/2/10/175652/044

Harrassment of Gannon (4.00 / 33)

I have considerable sympathy for Gannon's concerns about being harrassed and him and his family being threatened. Too bad he didn't think of that before he spread lies among the vitriolic right about Valerie and me. Unlike him, I actually have two children who are not old enough to defend themselves if one of the wackos who have threatened us actually were to act on it.
In fact, it is too bad Novak didn't think about the meaning of NO after the CIA told him not to go with the story in the first place. Within hours aerial photos of my neighborhood and my address was all over the net.
Gannon has argued, as has the right in its campaign of lies, that I was partisan in this matter of national security. That is a lie. My trip to Niger took place close to eight months before I ever wrote on the subject. My first article was lauded by both Brent Scowcroft and the first President Bush (in a letter). I articulated a position that emphasized real concern about WMD. My campaign contribution record includes contributions to both republicans, including Bush/Cheney in 2000 and democrats. The article I wrote in the New York Times was written only after repeated contacts with the administration, direct, indirect and through background stories in the press yeilded only Condi Rice saying to Tim Russert that "perhaps somebody in the bowels of the Agency knew something about this but nobody in my circle." Within 24 hours of the publication of my article the WH acknowledged that the "sixteen words did not rise to the level of inclusion in the state of the union."
The Senate Select Committee report, if anybody in the press were interested enough to read it, made clear that almost four months before the State of the Union both the White House and the Senate were apprised by the most senior intelligence officials in the land that American intelligence believed the British "exaggerated" or "stretched" the case on uranium sales from Africa to Iraq. George Tenet called the White House and sent two written messages.
Within a week of my article appearing, Steve Hadley offered his resignation and shortly thereafter Condi Rice offered her regrets on PBS. Who is lying???
Neither Valerie nor I had or have anything to gain by lying. Senior administration officials have a lot to lose by telling the truth. That is what the smear campaign is all about. If they tell the truth about who leaked Valerie's name they might well be prosecuted. If they lie to make Valerie and me the issue, they think they might skate. I sure hope not.

Peg, thank you.

Although Wilson and Plame have my empathy, I think that those of us who worked so hard to find truths in those threads were used by a political operative masterfully. When Robert, Schraby and I
wanted to move on to 9-11 and Sibil, the political operative tried to discredit us. The last thing he wanted exposed was the truths behind 9-11, saying we were tin-hat foil. That showed his hand.

We went on, and I have no idea what rock he crawled back under.

But it brought together a phenomenal research team.

Wilson was a mosquito on the ass of an elephant.

Sibil, it seems to me, was a B-52 landing on top of the elephant.

AHA - light bulb

Discussion on Hardball that the Clintons were against Dean heading the DNC but couldn't get a viable candidate in against him.

That Dean will move the party away from the Clinton DLC -center (has)

Well good. As long as he moves it back toward the left - cause the middle ground sure hasn't worked
for the American people although its been great for the corporations, energy, insurance, and health industries.

With Hillary sucking up to the right, my vote won't go that way.

And though I love him, this is a parting of the way with Bill - unless they all come back toward the left (which is the correct) side.

I agree, Pallas.

you're welcome Pallas, and I'm not a bit surprised that that's how your investigation flamed out :( I was always curious as to what happened. I'm so upset at everything going on now, I almost don't care if they shut down the internets. This whole Gannon thing is probably just subterfuge for getting House Bill 418 passed. I think we're truly doomed and Howard Dean doesn't even have time to stop the crazy effers.

Barbara,
I'm a portrait artist too. But I don't do commissions for that very reason. The person's soul comes through. It is a totally unconscious, intuitive process. ( for me anyway with my water trine; moon, pluto, jupiter.) Not the best way to get paid the balance!
Thanks for the heads up, I will avoid doing portraits of our leader!.......................
And Jo That Sen Lautenberg! He's living up to my hopes!
Yes.........there's definitly an upswing in the air!
PQOP

hey jo, i'm here. see this puppy up-thread from early AM today:

Posted by: mike on February 10, 2005 04:31 AM

my schedule is upside down and i am a night, early AM person so i'm definitely acynchronous.

this gannon thing is interesting. yeaterday was clearly one of the most interesting days in the blogsphere. now the CM(corporate media) is trying to ignore this, at least factions are. other factions, editor and publisher, are spearheading this:

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000798573

will be interesting. all i know is that cnn needs to be turned off by any american interested in journalism. they are stroking hard to pull * out of this one: blitzer, kurtz (also of PentaPost), and brown (the little punk).

it's now a matter of more reporting and elaboratoin.

*******KEEP MEDITATING ON * MANIFESTING STUPIDITY********

you record is excellent.

mike

"I support my local Psychic Detective"

Google Alert for: gold exchange

Commodities - February 11, 2005
Business Report - Johannesburg,South Africa
... Denver-based Newmont Mining Corporation, the world's largest gold producer, rose 2.3 percent to $41.44 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. ...

Toronto Stocks Soar As Energy, Golds Power Higher
Reuters Canada - Toronto,Canada
... highest level in more than four years on Thursday, as surging crude and gold prices helped boost the commodity-rich index. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX ...

Metallon to Dig Out More of Zimbabwe's Gold
AllAfrica.com - Africa
... capital for this. "It is our intention to list Metallon Gold on the JSE (Securities Exchange SA) by the end of April," said Hunter. ...

Norsemont signs deal to acquire stake in Peruvian project from Rio ...
Canada.com - Canada
... a deal to acquire up a 70 per cent stake in a copper and gold project in ... the deal includes an initial 51 per cent state in the project in exchange for making ...

GOOD MORNING: THE THOUGHT FOR THE DAY.

-------------------------------------------------
The GOP is turning journalists into prostitutes & prostitutes into journalists.
-------------------------------------------------

And remember, it's all about the pictures!

cheers!

I believe I said some time ago that China would get tired of the US "dicking" around in the Middle East and would march down and take over.

(China is also getting tired and short tempered with the US's devaluing the dollar)

apparently the CIA is still not only digging at dimson, but agrees with me:

from Slate but unclassified and available on the CIA's website (ha ha ha - take that chimpy, they're saying)

A CIA report predicts that American global dominance could end in 15 years.

By Fred Kaplan
Posted Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2005, at 2:48 PM PT

Who will be the first politician brave enough to declare publicly that the United States is a declining power and that America's leaders must urgently discuss what to do about it? This prognosis of decline comes not (or not only) from leftist scribes rooting for imperialism's downfall, but from the National Intelligence Council—the "center of strategic thinking" inside the U.S. intelligence community.

The NIC's conclusions are starkly presented in a new 119-page document, "Mapping the Global Future: Report of the National Intelligence Council's 2020 Project." It is unclassified and available on the CIA's Web site. The report has received modest press attention the past couple weeks, mainly for its prediction that, in the year 2020, "political Islam" will still be "a potent force." Only a few stories or columns have taken note of its central conclusion:

The likely emergence of China and India ... as new major global players—similar to the advent of a united Germany in the 19th century and a powerful United States in the early 20th century—will transform the geopolitical landscape with impacts potentially as dramatic as those in the previous two centuries.

In this new world, a mere 15 years away, the United States will remain "an important shaper of the international order"—probably the single most powerful country—but its "relative power position" will have "eroded." The new "arriviste powers"—not only China and India, but also Brazil, Indonesia, and perhaps others—will accelerate this erosion by pursuing "strategies designed to exclude or isolate the United States" in order to "force or cajole" us into playing by their rules.

America's current foreign policy is encouraging this trend, the NIC concluded. "U.S. preoccupation with the war on terrorism is largely irrelevant to the security concerns of most Asians," the report states. The authors don't dismiss the importance of the terror war—far from it. But they do write that a "key question" for the future of America's power and influence is whether U.S. policy-makers "can offer Asian states an appealing vision of regional security and order that will rival and perhaps exceed that offered by China." If not, "U.S. disengagement from what matters to U.S. Asian allies would increase the likelihood that they will climb on Beijing's bandwagon and allow China to create its own regional security that excludes the United States."

To the extent that these new powers seek others to emulate, they may look to the European Union, not the United States, as "a model of global and regional governance."

This shift to a multipolar world "will not be painless," the report goes on, "and will hit the middle classes of the developed world in particular" with further outsourcing of jobs and outflow of capital investment. In short, the NIC's forecast involves not merely a recalibration in the balance of world power, but also—as these things do—a loss of wealth, income, and, in every sense of the word, security.

The trends should already be apparent to anyone who reads a newspaper. Not a day goes by without another story about how we're mortgaging our future to the central banks of China and Japan. The U.S. budget deficit, approaching a half-trillion dollars, is financed by their purchase of Treasury notes. The U.S. trade deficit—much of it amassed by the purchase of Chinese-made goods—now exceeds $3 trillion. Meanwhile, China is displacing the United States all across Asia—in trade, investment, education, culture, and tourism. It's also cutting into the trade markets of Latin America. (China is now Chile's No. 1 export market and Brazil's No. 2 trade partner.) Asian engineering students who might once have gone to MIT or Cal Tech are now going to universities in Beijing.

Meanwhile, as the European Union becomes a coherent entity, the dollar's value against the euro has fallen by one-third in the past two years (one-eighth just since September). As the dollar's rate of return declines, currency investors—including those who have been financing our deficit—begin to diversify their holdings. In China, Japan, Russia, and the Middle East, central bankers have been unloading dollars in favor of euros. The Bush policies that have deepened our debt have endangered the dollar's status as the world's reserve currency.

What is the Bush administration doing to alter course or at least cushion the blow? It's hard to say. During Condoleezza Rice's confirmation hearings last week, Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D–Md., raised some questions about the nexus between international economics and political power. Rice referred him to the secretary of the treasury.

The NIC issued the report a few weeks before Bush’s inaugural address, but it serves to dump still more cold water on the lofty fantasy of America delivering freedom to oppressed people everywhere. In Asia, the report states, "present and future leaders are agnostic on the issue of democracy and are more interested in developing what they perceive to be the most effective model of governance." If the president really wanted to spread freedom and democracy around the planet, he would (among other things) need to present America as that "model of governance"—to show the world, by its example, that free democracies are successful and worth emulating. Yet the NIC report paints a world where fewer and fewer people look to America as a model of anything. We can't sell freedom if we can't sell ourselves.

Fred Kaplan writes the "War Stories" column for Slate. He can be reached at war_stories@hotmail.com.

The distribution of power is always in flux. Perhaps we are shifting from a one superpower setup to a multilateral one.

This may not be altogether a bad thing for the US. It would reduce the pressure of maintaing such a dominant position, which can be draining. Some of the strength and energy could be turned within to effect a positive development in our own society.

JM,
Only Americans consider the USA a 'superpower'... outside the USA, the rest of the world is moving on with business --- WITHOUT us (or US)--- and they're doing very well, apparently. They're putting their economic houses in order, mixing up their baskets of currency, etc.

On another note,
mainstream media is FINALLY catching up to the bloggers' story on GANNON. Proves what many of us have been saying --- mainstream is obsolete ... 'informed' people get their news from the blogs and foreign news outlets, minus the many filters. Bob Edwards, recently of 'Morning Edition' called it right --- 'mainstream' is actually 'infoentertainment'...

So, GOOD MORNING ASTROWORLD...
wrap yesterday's garbage in your morning newspaper and surf away to get the news! (Sure hope you've cut the TV off...)

JM, you said

"The distribution of power is always in flux. Perhaps we are shifting from a one superpower setup to a multilateral one." JM

Posted by: jm on February 11, 2005 08:04 AM
"This may not be altogether a bad thing for the US. It would reduce the pressure of maintaing such a dominant position, which can be draining. Some of the strength and energy could be turned within to effect a positive development in our own society."

Those are laudable and rational ideas. But they have no place in the ideology of the current regime in Washington DC. Bushco does not want "a reduction in the pressure of maintaining a dominant position"

Which is why he is draining the treasury and cutting every social program to put the money to war; to maintain a dominant position.

This attitude in case nobody noticed, has a good
chance of leading to World War not just against terrorists but against our former allies...and I'm beginning to suspect that is what he's preparing for.

Read the full CIA article again....

"This shift to a multipolar world "will not be painless," the report goes on, "and will hit the middle classes of the developed world in particular" with further outsourcing of jobs and outflow of capital investment.

In short, the NIC's forecast involves not merely a recalibration in the balance of world power, but also—as these things do—a loss of wealth, income, and, in every sense of the word, security.

Financial Astrologer Ray Merriman on Bush Social
Security plan:

"...for the right to invest 4% of your social security contributions (if you are under 55), you will have to give up –what? – 40% of your benefits over time? And to affect this plan, "

"the U.S. will have to pony up $2 trillion more to our current $4.6 trillion deficit. This is certainly in line with the historical themes of downside of the Saturn-Pluto cycle (opposition to conjunction, 2001-2020). And those themes are: increased federal deficits and personal debts, higher taxes, higher interest rates, and sluggish economy and equity markets. "

The cheers were all ours

Iraq's illegitimate election did not justify the invasion, nor did it make occupation popular

Jonathan Steele
Friday February 11, 2005
The Guardian

Iraq is a "totalitarian state", and that's official, according to the logic of Condoleezza Rice this week. Maybe it was because she was in carefree Paris. Maybe it was because she was having breakfast with a bunch of French intellectuals. But the new US secretary of state let down her political hair and stunned the company with the looseness of her terminology.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,1410709,00.html

MOrgana and guys,,

here's one of the sellers of Euros "for travel"
that I found on Google - it appears to be based in the UK - the Euro has stayed even, about 1.28 to US $1 ...so far - but gold is rising fast.

"Tesco Travel Money FAQs... You can buy your Euros and Euro travellers cheques online or by phone from ... how many Euros to the Pound when you buy online, or call for expert help. ...
www.tescofinance.com/personal/ finance/products/travelmoney/faq.html - 23k - Cached - Similar pages

I woke up to find gold had gone from 417yesterday to 423 this morning....that's $14 increase in less than ttwo days.....

and I didnt buy ----carp ---carp!

Merriman report of Jan 31st:

"The next rally in U.S. stocks is due to begin shortly. And shortly afterwards, the 4-year cycle may top out, followed by the resumption of the bear market that could last for a good part of the rest of this decade. "

"Perhaps there is no sense of panic, however, until after Jupiter completes its trine to Neptune. The third of these three passages is completed at the end of summer, 2005."

Jo,

If she admitted that the US is now a fascist totalitarian state - THAT would be big news!

Betcha they kept pouring the wine...hope they keep it up...maybe her loose lips will let out the truth about what mini-me is doing to America.
:(

Jo

Your posting on 2/8 at 1:26 PM is one of the
most important I have seen in a long time. I hope
others have taken the time to read it. I have forwarded it to a great many people on my list.

Mike

Do you think Jeff Gannon was pimping for Scott
McClellan???

Yes, Pallas, I know what this administration is up to, but I was hoping that their reign would be short-lived, and that we could go on with our lives in a sensible way and start to repair the damage. I thought quite some time ago that we have weakened tremendously and are no longer the superpower we were, but our behavior has yet to reflect that. There is a lot of speculation as to what that will take. For me, the jury is still out.

Jo, I haven't watched television for 35 years. TV uses the human mind as a sewage dump.

JM

forgive me, but I dont remember.

I took a break to work on the elections and research elsewhere, so I have not been posting or
reading AW for many months (but I'm back now for sure!)

I don't know if you are you an astrologer?

Yes.
But no mundane.

wv, most probably. scottie sent jeff the heavy hitter stud traffic and jeff sent scottie the folks with a 'deliverance' fettish.

Somewhere around here I have a copy of the contract that says that G.W. Bush owns the Iraqi oil fields. I found it on a govt. site a few weeks after the first attack on Iraq.
It doesn't even mention the United States anywhere. I was told that this was done only for the purpose of keeping France from claiming the oil.
This to me was a stupid excuse and I don't believe it.

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