Have drug; need patients:

Big Pharma seeks uses for Seroquel

by Martha Rosenberg

The screaming woman is right out of Friday the 13th Part 2 or Halloween. Face contorted, mouth in an impossible S shape, she looks like she's being murdered--or doing the murdering.

Other photos show her clenching her teeth, pulling her hair and screeching into the telephone. Is it an ad for the remake of Psycho that everyone's been waiting for?

No, it's an ad to sell the latest disease big pharma hopes will move its drugs: bipolar disorder.

And as everyone who remembers HRT marketing knows, the quickest way to sell a drug is showing out of control women.

"Are there periods of time when you have racing thoughts? Fly off the handle at little things? Spend out of control?" ask the magazine ads. "Need less sleep? Feel irritable? You may need treatment for bipolar disorder."

Of course you may also have had too much coffee or a bad day at the office. But mental illness makes a lot more money. Especially if you decide to take AstraZeneca's Seroquel.

Created in 1988 by tweaking an existing antipsychotic compound enough to merit a patent, 1

Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) had the three things big pharma loves most in a drug: a short time from R&D to sales, a daily ad infinitum dosage and a high price. ($11.82 a day or $4,300 a year) 2

It was approved in 1997 for schizophrenia. At first it was a block buster, accounting for one dollar in nine of AstraZeneca revenue.3

But then in 2005, that cheeky New England Journal of Medicine found Seroquel and other atypical antipsychotics except one had no advantage over the older antipsychotics like Haldol and Thorazine. (Except of course price.) 4

Including the putative reduction in rigidity and tremors that was their selling point. 2

The finding, part of a six-year National Institutes of Health comparative drug study, provided "a comprehensive set of data that were obtained independently of the pharmaceutical industry," commented principal investigator Jeffrey Lieberman, adding insult to injury. 4

Around the same time the just as cheeky British Medical Journal 5 announced that Seroquel and a similar atypical antipsychotic were ineffective in reducing agitation among Alzheimer's patients who constitute 29 percent of Seroquel sales.


In fact, Seroquel was found to actually make cognitive functioning worse in the elderly patients with dementia studied. Then there was the police blotter. Violent assault reports increasingly mentioned Seroquel---one in Yonkers, NY began, "The city jail guard who shot his wife before killing himself had just begun taking a powerful antipsychotic drug that listed 'suicide attempt' among its possible side effects"6--and law suits began piling up. Three hundred and eighty according to USA Today. 7


One young Seroquel patient told the Chicago Sun-Times, "It would take me anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half to get out of bed each morning. I couldn't think, I couldn't see, and I couldn't be me," and that the license of the physician who prescribed her Seroquel was revoked. 8


And there was bad financial news too.


AstraZeneca's new blood thinner and diabetes drug were both stalled due to safety concerns and Teva Pharmaceuticals, a generic drug maker, challenged Seroquel's patent to the FDA. 2


So AstraZeneca did what drug companies that put marketing before medicine always do: came up with a new use for Seroquel (bipolar disorder) 2 and new formulation (sustained release) 9 and yelled breakthrough. Now all it has to do is convince millions of healthy women and men they should take a major tranquilizer, an antipsychotic for schizophrenia, because they had a bad day. That's before it gets to the kids.


Maybe the screaming woman in the ad has just seen the AstraZeneca marketing plan.

1 News Journal (Wilmington, DE) October 24, 2004 "It's a long, bumpy road for finding a new drug"

2 News Journal (Wilmington, DE) April 23, 2006 "Seroquel big, and could get bigger - AstraZeneca shrugs off patent challenges, seeks new markets"

3 News Journal (Wilmington, DE) Oct 24 2006

4 Deseret News (Salt Lake City, UT) October 3, 2005 "Older medication as good as new ones, study finds" from Wall Street Journal

5 News Journal (Wilmington, DE) February 19, 2005 "AstraZeneca disputes new study on drug"

6 Journal News (Yonkers, NY) May 2, 2006 "Jail guard started antipsychotic 4 days before shootings"

7 USA Today August 23, 2006 "Lawsuits Plague Industry; Drug makers faced the most product liabilitylawsuits last year of any industry"

8 Chicago Sun-Times January 15, 2006 "The Downside of Happy Pills"

9 Health & Medicine Week - Aug. 14, 2006

http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_martha_r_060925_have_drug_3b_need_pati.htm

Native American wisdom about selling land


One does not sell the land people walk on.


~Crazy Horse

I like to post these once in a while, as they have a certain overview quality to them that this blog lacks. Sometimes I surely HATE the statistics in them. This week is sort of dreary. - V

www.theinternationalforecaster.com

Train Wreck of the Week By Bob Chapman

September 30 2006
The retail price of gasoline rose by $0.50, or 17% nationwide over the past month to $2.38 a gallon, and 42% of Americans believe Bush and the oil companies are manipulating the price for political advantage, and they are right. Actually gasoline has fallen from $3.18 to $2.38 or $0.80 a gallon, which is 25%. The White House says if that is so why doesn’t gas go to $3.50 a gallon? Our answer is to enrich the oil producers and the international oil cartel. The Gulf producers are also recycling much of their ill-gotten gains into Treasury securities to keep the US from going bankrupt. In addition in trouble auto manufactures will again sell more SUV’s and light trucks – a high profit center.
Gasoline prices are having some salutary effects on American consumers in September. The Conference Board says the consumer confidence index rose to 104.5 from 100.2 in August.
The Fed of Richmond’s Manufacturing Index came in at 9 versus 3 in August. The shipment index hit a reading of 9 versus negative -8 in August. The revenue index improved to 11 in September from 7, while its retail sales index came in at negative -1 from negative -5 in August.
Bernie Ebbers deserves to go to jail, but not for 25 years. JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Citicorp, Bank of America, the Royal Bank of Scotland and CIBC aided and abetted in the fraud. They were fined and made restitution of about $3 billion each. They bought their way out and elitists are allowed to do that. None of them went to jail and in fact, no one was charged. Murderers get 25 years, not fraudsters. Ten-years would have been appropriate along with confiscation of assets. Mr. Fastow cut a deal with the Feds and they screwed him – that’s why he spoke out on the banks being in on the deal. We can promise you there will be no prosecution or convictions. It doesn’t happen to Illuminists in America. We continue to have a 2-tired system of jurisprudence.
Senators Boxer (D-CA), Dodd (R-CN) and Feingold (D-WI) proposed emergency legislation on Wednesday to reimburse states for printing paper ballots that can be ready at polling places in case of problems with electronic voting machines on November 7th. This is another example of Democrat stupidity. This bill should have been submitted months ago, thus, it smacks of pure politicalizing.
Bearish bets on Nasdaq reached a record high in September. The short position rose to 7.35 billion as of 9/15, up 1.2% from the mid-August level. This is the 6th increase in seven months.
The number of NYSE shares sold short also reached a record at 9.74 billion shares, up 1% from mid-August.
The scandal over backdating stock options used by companies to reward top executives with shares granted at below market prices has so far cost investors $7.9 billion in market value. Seventy-eight percent of 117 companies that announced investigations saw their shares drop. Thus, there are 220 investor lawsuits against 70 companies, which demand restitution and damages. Corporate criminality at its worst.
By 2030, the number of people over age 65 will be 71 million, double the number in 2000, and America’s cities, towns, counties and states have no provisions or preparedness for the onslaught of people.
Our President is contemplating another war with Iran as our military bleeds to death in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army is in its worst readiness condition since the end of Vietnam. Many of our men and women are in their third tour and are simply emotionally worn out. Two-thirds of all Army combat units are rated not ready for combat. Sixty percent of National Guard solders have already reached their limit for overseas combat, which should deter Mr. Chaney’s lust for more war.
The Army just announced another extension of combat tours for thousands of soldiers who just finished a year in combat. This is the second extension in two months. The Army just simply does not have sufficient active-duty military personnel to sustain the current level of effort. The entire region of Al-Anbar has been lost, a modern version Beau Geste. We are losing 2.5 soldiers a day or 61 a month. One-third of the Veterans from Afghanistan have sought medical treatment for stress and mental disorders. Treatment is complicated because of the growing demand for services - vets have long waits for doctor appointments, sometimes as long as six months. The system is living on life support.
We are sickened by what we see in Iraq and Afghanistan and at the crass incompetent leadership in Washington. All we can see is hopelessness. If these wars are not ended it will not only break our country financially, but spiritually as well.

(And MORALLY AS WELL<>

But does he know 9/11 was an inside job ... ?

South Korean Diplomat in Lead For Top UN Job

By Kurt Achin Seoul

30 September 2006

South Korea's foreign minister has emerged as the front-runner in the contest to take over the top job at the United Nations later this year. Many South Koreans look forward to seeing one of their own in such a prestigious post.

Ban Ki-Moon South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon emerged Friday as the decisive leader in a United Nations straw poll of candidates to replace U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan later this year.

As in the two previous votes, Ban received an overwhelming show of support among the 15 members of the Security Council who took part in the poll. However, Ban says it is too soon to celebrate, and says he is waiting with a "humble heart" for the final results.

It has been 30 years since an Asian held the top U.N. post and there is strong sentiment among members that the new secretary-general should be from the region. But Ban says it is more than just geography that has helped him take the lead.

He says that South Korea's longtime commitment to U.N. ideals has been a key factor in his favor, and he hopes his personal abilities have also helped convince U.N. members he is the right person for the job.

62-year-old Ban is a seasoned diplomat who served as South Korea's ambassador to the United Nations from 2001 to 2003.

Fluent in English, Ban has degrees in government and international relations from Harvard's prestigious Kennedy School in the United States, and from South Korea's top school, Seoul National University.

He has spent more than three decades in South Korea's foreign service in senior posts such as ambassador to Austria, and advisor to President Roh Moo-Hyun.

South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, right, greets Wu Dawei, left, China's top envoy to the six-party talks on North Korea, Sept. 29, 2006After Mr. Roh elevated him to foreign minister in 2004, Ban became one of Seoul's key players in negotiations to end North Korea's nuclear weapons programs. Experts say those multinational talks have helped Ban forge strong ties in China, Russia, and the United States, which are all permanent members of the Security Council.

Ban's U.N. candidacy enjoys broad support here in South Korea, with most citizens describing his potential victory as a national honor.

The next step in the secretary-general campaign comes on Monday, when a fourth and final straw poll will be held. A final vote of the full U.N. General Assembly will be held before Mr. Annan steps down on December 31.

Ban was born in South Korea's mountainous North Chungcheong Province in the center of the peninsula. He is married to Yoo Soon-taek, whom he met in high school. They have one son and two daughters.

Also see:

http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-09-27-voa67.cfm

UN Debate Ends, Focus Switches to Search for New Secretary-General

If the U.N. tradition of geographical rotation is followed, this is Asia's turn to lead the world body, and six of the seven announced candidates are Asian men. The seventh is an Eastern European woman, Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga. All seven are actively campaigning for the job.

It's not a social crisis.

It's just another tricky day.

Thanks to http://www.johnreilly.info/index.html.

BREAKING THE ICE

The Globe fronts and everyone else ignores a report on a potential conflict over Arctic sovereignty brewing between Canada and the United States.

A report commissioned by US Congress rejects Canada’s claim that the Northwest Passage is Canadian territory, and recommends deploying “two massive new polar icebreakers to assert and defend US interests,” the Globe writes.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said he too plans to send armed icebreakers up north to assert Canadian control as global warming begins to make the passage navigable for commercial purposes. (The region is currently patrolled by Coast Guard icebreakers, which are unarmed and manned by civilians.)

The Congress report goes on to compare the Northwest Passage with the Straits of Hormuz, a Middle Eastern passageway for much of the world’s oil, which the US also patrols.

And now for a Canadian update ...

(Visualize a beautiful maple leaf here as I cannot post one!)

YOU, SIR, ARE A RACIST!

by Joe Boughner

September 26, 2006
A simple two-word subhead in today’s Post says it all: “Racism alleged.” In fact, the Big Seven is awash in allegations of racism today. From opening testimony at the Air India inquiry to the continuing fallout from Globe columnist Jan Wong’s piece on the Dawson College shooting to the ongoing Liberal leadership race; it seems that everyone has their own tale of racist torment. So what’s going on? Is the much-loved Canadian mosaic starting to shatter? Have we been so inundated with American cultural offerings that their so-called melting pot is oozing across the 49th parallel, snuffing out our virtues of tolerance? Is it time for another Royal Commission? Melodramatic rhetorical questions aside, MediaScout feels this issue is worth taking a look at, if only to dissuade readers from the belief that we are on the verge of an oh-so-Canadian identity crisis. Think of it as a pre-emptive strike against our national neuroses.The fact is that all perceived racist slights are not created equal. Relatives of the victims of the Air India bombing have, at first glance, a fairly legitimate reason to believe racist undertones have compounded their suffering. As one despondent family member asked the inquiry yesterday, if the victims had been white, would the families have been treated differently? But on the flip side of the credibility coin, one would be forgiven for taking a more cynical stance on Liberal leadership hopeful Joe Volpe’s accusations of mistreatment. Neither fellow Italian-born candidate Maurizio Bevilacqua nor Trinidadian Hedy Fry made mention of racist exclusion when they dropped out of the race, and front-runner Michael Ignatieff is a first-generation Canadian who has spent much of his professional life in the US and Britain. Accusations of racism should not be made or taken lightly; MediaScout hopes to see some more Big Seven scrutiny of these and other similar claims, particularly when they serve as a nice diversion for someone caught in a political jam.

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

THE LEADS:
THE NATIONAL: “Debt Payment: the Harper Government pays down a whack on the national debt and finds a billion dollars in savings”
CTV NEWS: “Winter Watch: Before the snow flies, a prediction you should hear”
GLOBE AND MAIL: “Ottawa’s $2-billion hit list”
NATIONAL POST: “Surplus hits $13B, cuts debt”
TORONTO STAR: “Tories cut $1B despite surplus”
LA PRESSE: “Harper pays the bills”
OTTAWA CITIZEN: “‘Trimming the fat’”



THE STRAIGHT GOODS:Ottawa announces $1 billion in cuts to program spending on the same day they unveil a $13.2-billion surplus. A prominent Afghan women’s advocate is killed in Kandahar. Ottawa continues to invest in a fighter-jet project, despite concerns the new plane won’t suit Canada’s needs.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
DON HARPER’S HIT LIST
Everyone but CTV News (who goes inside, not available online) leads with Ottawa’s simultaneous announcements yesterday of a $13.2-billion federal surplus and $1 billion in cuts to federal programs. Along with the cuts, the government announced it intends to find another $1 billion in unidentified program management savings. Some of the targeted programs—including the GST rebate for foreign visitors, the medicinal marijuana research program and the Court Challenges program that subsidized constitutional challenges by various interest groups—had their funding cut outright. Others—such as the controversial Technology Partnerships Canada program and the Youth Employment Strategy—will have to deal with significant reductions in their budgets (a complete breakdown of the cuts is available on the Treasury Board of Canada website). Meanwhile, on the flip side of the ledger, the Tories earmarked the entire $13.2-billion surplus to dept repayment, a move that runs counter to the established (though admittedly Liberal) practice of dividing surplus revenues between debt repayment and program spending.While the Big Seven focus largely on the impact of the many cuts, only the Star (in the form of a Thomas Walkom piece) offers a separate analysis of the announcements. Walkom argues the cuts are largely aimed at appeasing the traditional Conservative base while not ruffling too many feathers further left of the spectrum. He also adds a refreshing bit of context that only he and The National pick up on—the cuts represent approximately 1 percent of annual program spending and approximately one-fourth of 1 percent of annual government expenditures. That fact is likely small consolation to the affected program staff and those they serve, but it’s important to remember nonetheless. The cuts are significant and serve as a marked departure from the practices of previous Liberal governments. MediaScout, however, thinks calling the announcement a “$2-billion hit list” is somewhat overselling the drama.

BRIGHT LIGHT FOR AFGHAN WOMEN EXTINGUISHED

The National, the Globe, the Post, the Citizen (neither available online) and the Star go inside, while La Presse briefs the shooting death of Safia Ama Jan, a leading defender of women’s rights in Afghanistan. Ama Jan ran an underground school for girls during the Taliban regime and was serving as a provincial director for the Afghan Ministry of Women’s Affairs when she was gunned down yesterday outside her home in Kandahar. She was reported to have opened six schools in recent years in Kandahar, where as many as 1,000 girls learned valuable job skills. A regional Taliban commander claimed responsibility for the shooting, but the Associated Press (from which the Star and the Globe get their stories) notes that the claim has not been verified. The killing is part of a wave of violence aimed at reconstruction efforts in the country; a provincial governor was killed earlier this month by a suicide bomber, and just last week 19 construction workers were killed while riding a bus in Kandahar province. Despite the heavy concentration of Canadian soldiers and journalists in Kandahar, only The National dispatched its own journalist to cover Ama Jan’s death, with the Big Seven’s print contingent relying instead on wire copy.

Joe Boughner is an Ottawa-based MediaScout writer for Maisonneuve Magazine.

Sign up now to receive MediaScout, Canada’s definitive morning news briefing, e-mailed to your inbox every morning at 10 AM.What is MediaScout?

Read our MediaScout FAQ.

Email snooping update

http://news.com.com/Police+blotter+Patriot+Act+e-mail+spying+approved/2100-1030_3-6037598.html

Arctic lake melts out of sea ice into ocean

By Frank D. Roylance
The Baltimore Sun

Something unusual is going on in the Beaufort Sea, a remote part of the Arctic Ocean north of Alaska. Over the past six weeks, a huge "lake" bigger than the state of Indiana has melted out of the sea ice.

Within the past week, this "polynya" - a Russian word for any open water surrounded by sea ice - finally melted through a part of the ice that separated it from the open ocean, forming a kind of bay in the planet's northern ice cap."

The reason we're tracking it is because we had never seen anything like that before," said Mark C. Serreze, senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo.Polynyas occur every year in certain parts of the Arctic where warm currents and persistent winds clear swaths of sea ice.

But this one, covering 38,000 square miles, is unique in the memory of scientists who watch the Arctic ice closely because they see it as a bellwether for the effects of global warming. They've found that the area of the summer ice cap has been shrinking for at least three decades, and it's getting thinner, too.

Last year, scientists at NASA and the NSIDC reported the most extensive summer meltdown of Arctic sea ice on record, and an acceleration in the rate of its long-term decline.In a new study reported last week, NASA researcher Josefino Comiso found that the Arctic's winter ice is also in decline, and at an accelerating rate.

The ice cap is crucial because it helps regulate the planet's temperature. Its bright surface reflects 80 percent of the solar energy that strikes it, sending it back into space.

As of Tuesday, NSIDC reported that the summer sea ice this year had shrunk to the fourth-smallest September minimum on record.

Time to smell the roses,
financial truth

Pessimistic stock guru goes with the short answer

By Brett Arends
Boston Herald Business Columnist
Monday, September 25, 2006 - Updated: 12:28 PM EST

Fred Hickey is used to going against the crowd.
Everyone scoffed in 1999 when the veteran Nashua, N.H., stock market guru, who publishes the influential High-Tech Strategist investment newsletter, warned that the tech bubble was going to pop.
And they dismissed him as a wild alarmist early last year when he said house prices were going to slump.
What’s his view now?
“I think we’re going to have a crash, across the stock market,” he told me Friday. ..*snip*
more at ....

http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=159159

GOOD READ TO ADD TO YOUR LIST

http://www.amazon.com/Jacked-Conservatives-Picking-Pocket-Whether/dp/0976062186

From the desk of Harvey Arden

Founder:

~The Wisdomkeepers Collective ~

"Bringing the Elders to the World & the World to the Elders"

Author: WISDOMKEEPERS: Meetings with Native American Spiritual Elders
DREAMKEEPERS: A Spirit-Journey into Aboriginal Australia
NOBLE RED MAN: Lakota Wisdomkeeper Mathew King
TRAVELS IN A STONE CANOE: The Return to the Wisdomkeepers
Editor: PRISON WRITINGS: MY LIFE IS MY SUN DANCE by Leonard Peltier
WHITE BUFFALO TEACHINGS by Chief Arvol Looking Horse
VOICE OF THE HAWK ELDER [2006] by Seneca Wisdomkeeper Edna Gordon


Norman Wright wrote:

From: norman wright [mailto:wright056@ yahoo.com]

Sent: Monday, September 25, 2006 3:05 PM

To: Harvey ArdenSubject:

~*~VOICE OF THE HAWK ELDER~*~

Hello there

Received this e-mail in my bulk folder and am interested in learning a little more about Leonard Peltier, and just why you need a broomstick to sweep him to justice! I am a teacher in a comprehensive school in Oxfordshire, England, teaching Humanities and Philosophy, and your e-mail has intrigued me.

I am also interested in your book'Voice of the Hawk Elder', as I look to encourage inquiry of my students into spiritual matters. As the order details are only in US$, is there any other way that I could pre-order a copy? I do have a PayPal account if that is of any assistance.

Yours faithfully

Norman Wright

Harvey Arden writes:

Dear Mr. Wright: --Thanks for your informed response. You can purchase copies of VOICE OF THE HAWK ELDER via PayPal directly at www.haveyouthought. com . You can also order there my earlier books on/with Leonard Peltier--PRISON WRITINGS: MY LIFE IS MY SUN DANCE & ~HAVE YOU THOUGHT OF LEONARD PELTIER LATELY?~ Email george@haveyouthoug ht.com for big savings on bulk orders for classes. You can also use Leonard's own website for a vast trove of free materials and links: www.leonardpeltier.net.

VOICE OF THE HAWK ELDER will be out in just a few weeks. For your (& your students') interest: I enclose below a few pages of Hawk Elder Edna Gordon's book referring to Peltier and related matters. I'd be interested in your reaction, since no one other than Edna and a few editors have seen this material before. A first for your class! Feel free to distribute it (and I really hope you do throughout UK & all Europe).. May your British students hear the call to join us in freeing America's #1 political prisoner, imprisoned for 31 years now for a crime the whole world--and especially the FBI--knows he never committed.

The illegal government tactics used so 'successfully' to imprison Leonard Peltier are now being aimed at ALL OF US. In the old days it was called COINTELPRO and today it's called the Patriot Act I & II in the U.S. I believe you Brits also have similar new anti-human rights laws veiled as "anti-terrorist" . If your students care to send brief written essays about Peltier to www.haveyouthought. com we'll print the most interesting and forceful on the website. Again, they can get all the info they need at www.leonardpeltier. net . Have them send essays to george@haveyouthoug ht.com with a CC to me at harvey@haveyouthoug ht.com Tell your students, Become part of the history of your own times!

Over my ten years supporting Leonard's freedom, I've rarely focused on high school/college- age students--feeling this is a subject better aimed at adults, so dark is the scenario. But, in a world that will soon be in the hands of the younger generation, inherited from we bumbling adults, I now think it's urgent that a WHOLE NEW GENERATION comes to Leonard's--and Civilization' s--aid. I'm 71 now, and I hope to live til the day Leonard walks free. I've had emails saying 'they' would assassinate Leonard if that ever happened. I shall happily walk out of the Penitentiary at Leonard's side on that blessed day. And if they shoot us down, I ask here for others willing to stand up and lead a new generation against these criminals who dare to call themselves 'Patriots' while committing the vilest acts against ourselves as a Nation, against the whole of Humanity. Know that the VAST MAJORITY OF AMERICANS is wise to them, regardless of what you read and hear on the corporate media.

I pray for a Tuesday afternoon, an ordinary Tuesday, when ALL THE PEOPLES OF THE WORLD take their BROOMSTICKS, as Hawk Elder Edna Gordon suggests in her book, and SWEEP INJUSTICE OUT OF THE CORRIDORS OF POWER. Not a shot need be fired if WE ALL RISE AT ONCE WITH OUR BROOMSTICKS and say "NO MORE!" to the MULTINATIONAL CORPORATOCRACY that is already well-along in its plan to install a tiny CRIMINAL ELITE at the top of the Pyramid of Power that crushes the vast majority of humankind.

Anybody interested in picking up YOUR brookstick on a given Tuesday afternoon, lemme know at harvey@haveyouthoug ht.com with "SWEEP'M OUT" on the subject line of your email.

Today's younger people should clearly understand: UNTIL LEONARD PELTIER IS FREE, NONE OF US ARE FREE!
Here's the new materials on Peltier etc from Edna's book:


THERE’S AN INDIAN MAN I been writing to and he’s been writing back to me. His name’s Leonard Peltier, and he’s for sure one of the finest human beings on this Mother Earth, even though he’s sat in a prison cell for thirty years now. He was framed by the same people tryin’ to frame ALL of us these days. Oil people. Energy people. Money people. Same kinda people who built that Kinzua Dam right here in the middle of our territory and drove us Seneca People off our ancient lands.

Same with Peltier’s case. These energy folk wanted to steal the uranium on Indians’ lands out west in South Dakota, just like they stole the gold and the coal and pretty much everything else. So they staged a shoot-out and then they framed Peltier to hide their own crimes. Same kind o’ lies they’re doin’ all the time today with their wars and their so-called ‘terrorists’. They called us Indians ‘terrorists’ too when we tried to defend our land.
Lies. Lies. Lies.
Fillin’ their prisons with the innocent while the guilty run the country!


INJUSTICE is what these money people do best. Injustice is somethin’ they’ve got lots of, and they sure given plenty of it to Leonard Peltier! Thirty years just for bein’ innocent. Thirty years just for bein’ Indian. And still they won’t let him out.
These power people hate innocence. Maybe ‘cause they sold theirs so long ago. And they hate Indians, too. That’s ‘cause we love our Mother the Earth and we don’t want to see her raped!

So when I think of Injustice I think of Leonard Peltier.

Maybe Jesus died for us all, like they say, I dunno. But I do know Leonard Peltier is sittin’ in jail these thirty years for all of us Indian People, and it’s time we got him out!

I
CRY when I read Leonard’s letters to me, knowing how many people beg him to write back and then get upset when he doesn’t, and here he is sittin’ in his cell writing to an old lady he don’t even know!

He writes me: ‘Dear Edna! Thank you very much for your good words about me in your New Year’s message. Your words touched my heart and soul by this honoring.... This year I am receiving a lot of good words from our Indian People, who say, ‘Enough is enough! It’s time for you to come home, Leonard! This is the year!’ It makes me feel something is finally going to happen soon and I’ll get out of this hell at last!”

O
H, I GOT TO CRY here all over again, ‘cause he wrote this to me in 2003—already three more years’ve gone by. The only thing he’s got out of was Leavenworth. Now they sent him to Lewisburg prison in Pennsylvania, not so far from here, as it happens. Maybe I’ll get to visit him there. I hope so.
Leonard’s 62 years old now. He’s been there in prison since he’s 31. Imagine that! He’s spent HALF his life in jail now for someone else’s crime, somethin’ he never did. And those FBIs and government people KNOW it, but they still keep him in there.
Puttin’ the innocent in prison to hide your own crimes—I say that’s the worst kind of Injustice!

N
OW I’M NO DARNFOOL. I have eyes. I see the world and all the Injustice that’s going on in it right now. Injustice to Indian people. Injustice to indigenous Peoples. Injustice to the poor and the weak and the so-called ‘developing’ peoples all around this Mother Earth.
The ‘ Third World ’—that’s how they call it.
But Mother Earth isn’t the Third World . She’s the FIRST world!

L
OOK AT IRAQ . That’s maybe the BIGGEST INJUSTICE they ever done since they tried to kill all us Indian people. But they failed when they tried to kill all us all, just like they’ll fail in Iraq and anyplace else they invade with their bombs.
Creator’s against us killin’ each other. The killers’ll ALWAYS be brought down! They may thump their chests now, but they’re comin’ down with a BIG BIG BUMP!
Remember Custer. He was a chest-thumper, too, but DOWN he came. Just like they all do. Bump BUMP BUMP! DOWN!
You’ll see. It’ll happen.
Tell’m Hawk Elder Grandma Edna Gordon told you so!

I
T’S TIME we ended government Injustice in this land once and for all. We Indians knew it first, but this government has never stopped trampling other Peoples for it’s own ends. The only ends a government should have is to help the People. Any ends beyond that should be declared illegal. Wars don’t help the People. Wars kill the People—so how can they EVER be legal or so-called constitutional or right except in self-defence?

WE SAY we’re fighting for Freedom, but Freedom for who? For you and me? Or for the Rich folks to be free to prey on the People? All these tax breaks the Rich, of
all people, are getting’ these days. That’s the People’s money!
They think they can make money on the End o’ the World! But Creator’s gonna step in, you’ll see. He’s gettin’ mad! He’s gonna stop the destruction of this World. But maybe we’ll all die before He does it. That’ll be our punishment, and it’ll be well-deserved!

W
HERE ARE all the people who’ll stand up with me and say, “You STOP IT! No more Injustice!”
I’m sick in my heart at what we human beings have done—and keep doin’ today—to Mother Earth and to each other and to the unborn generations still to come. It’s all so unnecessary, and it’s wrong, just plain wrong wrong WRONG!
Who’s gonna stand up with me and SAY it to the government. and to the whole World out there You, Harvey? Or who??
Who’s gonna stand up for the Creation?


S
OMEBODY HAS TO STAND UP and fight and put this world in order. Just look at the turmoils going on in this world—all these earthquakes, the tsunamis, the hurricanes like Katrina, mudslides, glaciers melting, Global Warming, plus all the crazy people rattling their nuclear weapons. It’s disaster on every side!
And there’s all the sicknesess people are dying of these days—even people who led good lives. Diseases like cancer, diabetes, AIDS, and all that, and now they warn us Avian Flu is coming!
Creator’s not causin’ these things. Creator doesn’t cause cancer. People cause cancer! Cancer hardly even existed before we poisoned the rivers and the air.

N
OW WE SEE TREES DYIN’ from the tops down, killed by our poisons. You know, that’s part of the Iroquois prophecies of the End o’ the World! This could be it! Creator doesn’t cause the End o’ the World, it’s people who are causin’ the End o’ the World. We have to stop that!
If we don’t stand up and do it, who will? Isn’t there anybody ready to stand up and fight to save the World, to save Mother Earth, to save Creator’s Creation?
Maybe it’ll be you who’s reading these words! Yes, YOU!
That’s why each of us, every one, is so important.
Because if just one of us stands up to fight all this evil, why—who knows? Maybe one more person’ll stand up, then maybe another, then a few more, then lots of people start standin’ up and after a while everyone stands up.
Then ALL HUMANITY stands up together! And we all cry out with one voice on June 21, Arvols’ World Peace and Prayer Day—“STOP THE INJUSTICE!”
And it’ll stop!
And it all started with one person! Look at Rosa Parks! It can be done! We CAN save the World. We CAN!
We, the children of Mother Earth, WILL unite as One!

S
O WHAT CAN one person do in this violent world that’s destroyin’ itself before our eyes right now, this very day, this very hour?
You got to look for and find your own Inner Self. Yes, your Inner Self—it’s right there inside o’ you! It’s YOU yourself! Nothin’s more important than livin’ from your Inner Self.
That’s yours and yours alone. It’s the deepest part o’ your Soul, the part that connects up with Creation and doesn’t get lost in the little things.
I call it the Chapel of the Soul.
It’s the Within of the Within!
Let that be your refuge, your shelter, your own inner Umbrella Tree in these terrible times.
Stay connected to Creation!
You yourself ARE that connection!

[extracted from VOICE OF THE HAWK ELDER -- www.haveyouthought. com Harvey Arden wrote:

Excerpts from Seneca Wisdomkeeper Edna Gordon's VOICE OF THE HAWK ELDER:

W
E NEED CHANGES in this world, really big big changes. I’m prayin’ they’ll be peaceable changes, not violent and bloody ones. I’d like to see a peaceable revolution, a revolution of broomsticks instead of guns.
Call it a Broomstick Revolution.
That’s right. The People pick up their broomsticks and march together and Sweep Injustice Out! Make a clean sweep, a big cleanin’ like’s never been seen before.
Broomsticks against Injustice. Now that’ll be the day!
We’ll take our broomsticks and we’ll sweep Leonard Peltier right out o’ prison, along with all the other innocents.
Yep—a Broomstick Revolution! That’s what we need
Hi -- Please help this 'project of the heart' by PRE-ORDERing copies of VOICE OF THE HAWK ELDER for yourself, family & friends today . The book will be extraordinary- -wise, funny, poetic, powerful, visionary . Plan to print next month or two . Blessings to you personally from Grandma Edna, /Harvey Arden
FINAL DAYS FOR $20 PRE-ORDER PRICE

NOW: Pre-ORDER ONLINE AT

www.haveyouthought. com

To: Leonard Peltier Supporters
From : Leonard Peltier Legal Team and Leonard Peltier Defense Committee

Subject: Trial Transcript for Court Hearing of September 8, 2006

On September 8, 2006 at 9:30 a.m., Barry A. Bachrach, Esq. and MichaelKuzma, Esq. argued before United States Magistrate Judge Susan R.Nelson for the full release of all FBI files maintained by the Minneapolis FieldOffice relating to Leonard Peltier and RESMURS. The Court greeted both Leonard Peltiers' attorneys and the government attorney with manyquestions and we ask that Leonard's supporters pray that the Court make the just and right decision. After listening to the parties arguments the Court took the case under advisement and a decision will most likely be renderedwithin thenext three months.
Please click on the following to read the Trail transcript:
http://www.leonardp eltier.net/ documents/ judgement. pdf

The Leonard Peltier Defense Committee would like to thank everyone whojoined us on September 8, 2006 in prayers, thoughts, and support.
In Solidarity,
Leonard Peltier Defense CommitteeLeonard Peltier Legal Team

Aaron Russo's

America

from Freedom to Fascism ..

on line..

the entire MOVIE...

http://www.thelasto utpost.com/ Portals/_ TheLastOutpost/ Video/mediaplayer/Freedom- To-Fascism. wmv

Aaron Russo's

America

from Freedom to Fascism ..

on line..

the entire MOVIE...

http://www.thelasto utpost.com/ Portals/_ TheLastOutpost/ Video/mediaplayer/Freedom- To-Fascism. wmv

.. here is a link to watch Aaron Russo's

America

from Freedom to Fascism ..

on line..

the entire MOVIE...

http://www.thelasto utpost.com/ Portals/_ TheLastOutpost/ Video/mediaplayer/Freedom- To-Fascism. wmv

Branson commits profits

to fight global warming © ABC 2006

Do a search on Gates and Buffet on this blog ...

More Photos

Branson commits profits to fight global warming
6:00 AM September 22

British billionaire Sir Richard Branson has committed to spending all the profits from his airline and rail businesses, an estimated $US3 billion over the next 10 years, on combating global warming.

http://www.optusnet.com.au/news/story/abc/20060922/09/business/1745957.inp

By NAHAL TOOSI, Associated Press Writer 8 minutes ago

NEW YORK - British business mogul Richard Branson on Thursday pledged to invest about $3 billion over the next decade to combat global warming and promote alternative energy, saying that it was critical to protect the environment for future generations.

http://www.leadingthecharge.com/ViewArticle.aspx?id=8742&source=2

enjoy the notions of our healing


Here's something I ran across recently from someone's post- have any of you heard of this? Well, if you've actually been reading the blog you have. But here are some other great urls on the topic ..

http://www.mrfire.com/article- archives/ new-articles/ worlds-most- unusual-therapis t.html

http://www.newmedia explorer. org/sepp/ 2006/08/31/ hooponopono_ hawaiian_ code_of_forgiven ess_take_ responsibility. htm

http://blogcritics.org/archives/ 2006/08/29/ 034147.php

http://hooponopono.org/Articles/ 100_percent_ responsible. html


It makes a lot of sense to me, although it may also just be "magical thinking".

Watch!!!

Just a little more paranoia for the sheeple.

http://easylink.playstream.com/ctsg/progressive/nti/lbc_trailer_lg.wvx

The March to War: Iran Preparing for US Air Attacks

By Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya
September 21, 2006


Iran is bracing itself for an expected American-led air campaign. The latter is in the advanced stages of military planning.


If there were to be war between the United States and Iran, the aerial campaign would unleash fierce combat. It would be fully interactive on multiple fronts. It would be a difficult battle involving active movement in the air from both sides.



If war were to occur, the estimates of casualties envisaged by American and British war planners would be high.


The expected wave of aerial attacks would resemble the tactics of the Israeli air-war against Lebanon and would follow the same template, but on a larger scale of execution.


The U.S. government and the Pentagon had an active role in graphing, both militarily and politically, the template of confrontation in Lebanon. The Israeli siege against Lebanon is in many regards a dress rehearsal for a planned attack on Iran.1


A war against Iran is one that could also include military operations against Syria. Multiple theatres would engulf many of the neighbors of Iran and Syria, including Iraq and Israel/Palestine.


It must also be noted that an attack on Iran would be of a scale which would dwarf the events in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Levant. A full blown war on Iran would not only swallow up and incorporate these other conflicts. It would engulf the entire Middle East and Central Asian region into an extensive confrontation.


An American-led air campaign against Iran, if it were to be implemented, would be both similar and contrasting in its outline and intensity when compared to earlier Anglo-American sponsored confrontations.


The war would start with intense bombardment and attacks on Iran's infrastructure, but would be different in its scope of operations and intensity.


The characteristics of such a conflict would also be unpredictable because of Iran's capabilities to respond. And in all likelihood, Iran would launch its own potent attacks and extend the theatre of war by attacking U.S. and American-led troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Persian Gulf.
The United States must also take into account the fact that Iran unlike Afghanistan, Iraq, and Lebanon would be an opponent with the capability to resist the U.S. sponsored attacks on the ground, but also on the sea and in the air.


Unlike the former opponents faced by the United States and its partners, Iran would be able to target the military launch pads used by the United States. Iran would also be able to attack the U.S. supply and logistical hubs in the Persian Gulf. American ships carrying supplies, troops, and warplanes would be vulnerable to Iranian counter-attacks by way of Iranian missiles, warplane, and naval forces. It is no a mere coincidence that Iran has been demonstrating its military capabilities during the “Blow of Zolfaqar” war games conducted in late August .2


Iranian Preparations for an American-led Air Campaign

The United States has continually threatened to attack Iran. These threats are made under the pretext of halting the development of nuclear weapons in Iran. The development of nuclear weapons by Iran is something the IAEA and its inspectors have refuted as untrue3, but the United States insists on continuing the charade as grounds for a military endgame with Iran.
The threat of an American-led attack against Iran with the heavy involvement of Israel and Britain, amongst others, has primed Iran to prepare itself for the anticipated moment. Over the years, this has led Iran to stride for self-sufficiency in producing its own advanced military hardware and the development of asymmetrical tactics to combat the United States.
Iranian defense planners have stated publicly that they have learned from the cases of neighbouring Afghanistan and Iraq. They are acutely aware of the U.S. military’s heavy reliance on aerial strikes.


August 2006 saw the start of the virtually unprecedented events of the Blow of Zolfaqar war games throughout Iran and its border provinces.4 These were similar to those conducted in April 2006.


The latter were also held during a period of tense confrontation between Iran and the United States.


April 2006 was a period that could have resulted in military conflict between both the United States and Iran. In April 2006, Iran had not only dismissed the deadline set on its nuclear program, but it announced in defiance to the United States that it had successfully enriched uranium for the first time.


Iran has taken the opportunity of the launching of both the April 2006 and Blow of Zolfaqar war games to display its preparedness and capability to engage in combat. Additionally, Iran has taken the occasion to fine tune its defenses and mobilize its military apparatus. This exhibition of Iranian military might is intended to deter America's intent to trigger another Middle Eastern war.


During the war games the Iranian military has adjusted and modified its air defense shield5 for maximum dexterity and efficiency in preparation, to stop incoming missiles and invading aircraft. The war games have been an opportunity for testing of Iranian capacity to wage war in the air.


The Iranian military has also reported the testing of laser-guided weaponry6, advanced torpedoes, ballistic missiles, anti-ship missiles, bullets that pierce through bullet-proof vests, and electronic military hardware during the Blow of Zolfaqar war games. Surface-to-surface and ocean-to-surface missiles (submarine-to-surface missiles) in the Persian Gulf were also tested in late-August 2006. These included missiles that are invisible to radar and can use multiple warheads or carry multiple payloads to hit numerous targets simultaneously.


Iran has also tested a “2,000 pound guided-bomb with long-range capabilities.” This “2,000 pound bomb” is said to be a “special weapon developed for penetrating military, economic and strategic targets located deep underground or on the soil of the [impending] enemy.”7 In the case of war, this weapon could be directed against Anglo-American military infrastructure in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Persian Gulf. This guided bomb is an unmanned aircraft carrying an explosive warhead.

Following the execution of the Blow of Zolfaqar war games, the Iranian Defense Minister stated that “Iran now joins the few countries that possess guided missile technology,”8


Iran has also been manufacturing its own warplanes,9 submarines, attack helicopters, tanks, torpedoes, and missiles. This includes remote-controlled modified Maverick Missiles.10 Brigadier-General Amini, the Deputy Commander of the Air Branch (Air Force) of the Regular Forces, has highlighted that Iran has starting the development and manufacturing of new types of warplanes besides the “Lighting fighter jets” that have been showcased in Northern Iran.11


To discourage the United States in its plans to attack Iran, the Iranian military has additionally been showcasing its abilities to dog fight in the air with its fighter jets.12 Iranian fighter and bomber jets have been progressively equipped with advanced software and hardware, developed in Iran or by way of technology transfers from China, the Russian Federation, and the republics of the former Soviet Union.


Iranian Commanders have also stated that Iran can track and hit warplanes without using conventional radar. Iran has also been showcasing its signal jamming devices and electronic military hardware, which it compares to NATO standards13.


Warnings to the United States To Stop Its War Plans


In Iran military commanders and state officials have also directly warned the United States to halt its march towards war in the Middle East. An account of a statement by Major-General Salehi, commander of the Iranian Army, sums up the generic view of Iranian military officials and planners in the advent of another Middle Eastern war initiated by the United States;
“Pointing to the joint maneuvers to be carried out by the U.S. army [meaning military] and some other countries in the regional waters in the coming days, the General said that the U.S. presence in the region [Middle East] is considered as a threat to the security of the regional countries, and further warned Washington that in case the U.S. dares to practice threats [by actually attacking], it will then have to face a defeat as bad as the one that the Zionists [Israel] had to sustain in Lebanon.”14

The Iranian Defence Minister has said “that his ministry is now equipping the border units of the army with modern military tools and weapons in a bid to increase their military capabilities,”15 and “that any possible enemy invasion of Iran will receive a severe blow, adding that failures of alien troops [meaning U.S., British, Coalition, and NATO forces] in Iraq and Afghanistan have taught trans-regional powers extreme caution.”16


Other examples of public warnings by Iranian military commanders directed at the United States and its partners include;

Acting Deputy Commander [Brigadier-General Ahmadi] of the Iranian Mobilized
Forces (Basij), noting the intensification of the psychological operations and
pressures against Iran, stressed that his troops are fully prepared to encounter
“any stupid act by the enemies.”17 (September 9, 2006)
[Brigadier-General
Mohammad Hejazi] advised the U.S. to relinquish the idea of invading Iran,
stressing that as soon as the U.S. dares to make such a big mistake, it will
lose its forged reputation due to its [the U.S. military’s] frequent and
shocking defeats from the Iranian troops.18 (September 10, 2006)
[Commander of the
Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Major-General Safavi has warned that Revolutionary
Guard] ground troops form a defensive force, but meantime warned that in case
any foreign threats are posed to Iran, [assured that the] IRGC adopts an
aggressive strategy and hits enemy targets in strategic depth. He also described
the southwestern province of Khuzestan as the most strategic region of the
country, saying, “Considering that Khuzestan is a border province located at our
sensitive borders with Iraq where British and American occupying troops aim at
devising cultural and security plots for Khuzestani people through their
intelligence organizations and bodies, IRGC and Basij troops should maintain
their preparedness at [the] highest levels possible in order to confront and
defuse any such measures by the enemies.”19 (September 13, 2006: Also See British
Troops Mobilizing on the Iranian Border)
During the
August war games, Iranian military commanders claimed, in a gesture directed
towards the United States, Britain, and Israel, “that no air force of any power
stationed in the Middle East is capable of confronting the Iranian military’s
ground forces.”20

This might seem like a psychological tactic to influence morale on both
sides and deter any possible aerial assaults against Iran. This statement can not be easily overruled if a comprehensive analysis is made and studied. In this regard, one must look at Lebanon, where Hezbollah and the Lebanese Resistance were able to withstand Israeli aerial raids and overcome the Israeli military on the ground. The Lebanese Resistance is reported as being armed and trained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. What would an Iranian defensive of a
larger magnitude, with state resources and air capabilities, be like?

The anticipation of a conflict are also coming from Iraq. Iraqi leaders have been charging that the United States and Britain ARE plan on attacking Iran from IRAQI territory. Government representatives of Anglo-American occupied Iraq have asked that Iraq not be turned into a theatre of war between the United States and Iran. “We do not want Iraq to become an arena where other states [i.e., the United States, Britain, and Iran] settle their accounts,”21 said the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih while visiting the Iranian capital, Tehran. This message looked as if it was mainly directed at the United States, as well as Iran. Iran Always a Military Objective for the United States

Washington: “Anyone can go to Baghdad! Real Men go to Tehran!”


According to Michel Chossudovsky (The Next Phase of the Middle East War, September, 2006), the war on Iran is another phase of a “military roadmap” which includes the invasions of Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003) and the Anglo-American sponsored Israeli siege of Lebanon (2006) as earlier stages.


In May, 2003 after the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the motto in Washington D.C. was “Anyone can go to Baghdad! Real men go to Tehran!”


One should ask why "real" men would continue towards Tehran after the invasion of Iraq. This slogan demonstrates that Iran was an objective or a phase in a broader military operation. With that said, Washington would prefer some form of internal "non-violent" regime change in Iran leading to American control of the Iranian economy and oil resources rather than a high-risk and high cost military confrontation. The shape and nature of this conflict, however, is uncertain.


The possibility of conflict with Iran and a major aerial assault are widely known.


The United States has been planning to attack Iran for years. Colonel Sam Gardiner (Retired, U.S. Air Force) has stated that the campaign against Iran is one where “the issue is not whether the military option would be used, but who approved the start of operations already.”


The March to War with Iran and Syria


With time fleeting, the Iranian military is positioning itself in battle formations under the pretext of nationwide war games and other pretexts. Iran has been steadily strengthening its air defenses and air units in preparation for the possibility of strikes. Iranian and Syrian coordination is also intensifying with the passing of time.


An attack on Iran and Syria would be a combination of heavy air bombardment by the U.S. Air Force, including the U.S. Army’s air units. It would also include a ground offensive led by the U.S. Marines and Army from the American bases surrounding both Iran and Syria. The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard would predominately manage the theatre of war in the Persian Gulf, with a view to guaranteeing the unimpeded flow of oil through the strategic Straits of Hormuz.
The Israeli military would deal with military operations in the Levant. Both Israeli troops and Israeli public opinion are being prepared for the possibility of another Middle Eastern conflict. In this context, Israel would face the possibility of aerial assaults from Iran. Iran has threatened to retaliate if it is attacked, using its ballistic missiles.


British and Australian forces in southern Iraq would deploy with the strategic aim of occupying the Iranian province of Khuzestan and securing its oil. Khuzestan is where most of Iran’s oil fields are located. Meanwhile a naval build-up is developing in the Persian Gulf which also includes the U.S. Coast Guard and the Canadian Navy.


The United States and its partners meanwhile are continuing to marshal and siphon their forces into the Middle East and Afghanistan. Both the United States and Britain have promised troop reductions in Iraq, but are actually increasing their troop levels. It also seems that a muzzle is being placed on Lebanon to stop any attacks on Israel by the presence of troops from member states of NATO.


Syria also seems to be expecting a possible aerial campaign. A vessel sailing to Syria under the flag of Panama, the “Grigorio I,” has been reported to have been stopped off the coast of Cyprus transporting 18 truck-mounted mobile radar systems and three command vehicles for delivery to Syria. This equipment appears to be part of an air defence system.22


In Iran, the Intelligence Minister has warned that “enemies are seeking to create instability in Iran through different measures, including assassinations, explosions and extensive insecurities” and that “his forces, in cooperation and coordination with other governmental bodies, have defused enemies’ plots in different Iranian provinces, including Tehran.”23


Venezuela has also threatened to halt oil exports in the event of an Anglo-American aggression against Iran and Syria. Venezuela has gone on to caution that it will defend Iran “under threat of invasion from the United States.” This was a warning given to the United States by Venezuela during the Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement in Cuba.24


The United States has already started to target both Iran and Syria’s financial bodies and institutions in an act of economic warfare. Syria has in step with Iran taken “preventative steps” in early 2006 by switching from using the U.S. dollar to using the Euro for all its transactions. The head of the state-owned Syria Commercial Bank has said that such measures have been taken to protect Syria from American sanctions (economic warfare).25


Actions have been taken against the large, state-owned Bank Saderat of Iran by the United States.26 The Bank Saderat has been cut off from the U.S. financial system and its network(s). This is part of a deliberate objective to financially cut off Iran from the rest of the world. Three large Japanese banks, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Mizuho Corporate Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation have followed in step and will terminate business with Bank Saderat.27

Notes

1 Hersh, Seymour H.; Washing Lebanon: Washington’s Interest in Israel’s War, The New Yorker, August 14 & 21, 2006
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060821fa_fact
2 Iranian War Games: Exercises, Tests, and Drills or Preparation and Mobilization for War?, Global Research (CRG), August 21, 2006
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=DAR20060821&articleId=3027
3 IAEA: US report on Iran “Outrageous,” Aljazeera, September 15, 2006
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/84145EE0-6DF6-467D-AB67-670A83EF307A.htm
4 Ibidem (“the same place” or same source as the last endnote)
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=DAR20060821&articleId=3027
5 Iran 'successfully' tests new air defence system, People’s Daily, September 5, 2006
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/05/eng20060905_299651.html
Iranian Missile Test; Xinhua News Agency, September 5, 2006
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-09/05/content_5050931.htm
6 Iran tests laser-guided bomb during war games, The Hindu, September 5, 2006 http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200609051820.htm
7 Iran completes military exercise by testing 2,000-pound bomb, Pravada; September 7, 2006
http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/07-09-2006/84317-weapons-0
8 Iran tests first-ever 2,000-pound guided bomb: Minister; IRNA, September 6, 2006
http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-22/0609065169142007.htm
9 Karimi, Nasser; Iran deploys locally-manufactured warplane, Hindustan Times, September 6, 2006
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1787643,00050004.htm
Originally published by the Associated Press
10 Enemy Targets Destroyed by Maverick Missiles, Fars News Agency, September 6, 2006
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8506140347
Maverick missiles are American made or developed air-to-surface missiles which are conventionally used to attack armoured units, warships, air defences, military transport and logistics units, and military depots.
11 Iran to Manufacture a New Jet Fighter, Fars News Agency, September 12, 2006
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8506210548
12 Complicated Dogfight Tactics Exercised during 'Blow of Zolfaqar' War Games, Fars News Agency, September 4, 2006
http://english.farsnews.net/newstext.php?nn=8506130203
Iranian F14s Carry Hawk Missiles Successfully, Fars News Agency, September 4, 2006
http://english.farsnews.net/newstext.php?nn=8506130205
13 Iran says ready to combat electronic warfare, Iranmania, Sunday, March 05, 2006
14 Army Prepared to Force Back Trans-Regional Threats, Fars News Agency, September 6, 2006
http://www.farsnews.com/English/newstext.php?nn=8506140520
Note: Trans-regional powers mean non-Middle Eastern nations with substantial force in the Middle East (the region being talked about).
15 Defense Minister: Any Foreign Aggression Responded by Force; Fars News Agency; September 2, 2006
http://english.farsnews.net/newstext.php?nn=8506110568
16 Defence Minister: Any Military Aggression against Iran Struck Back Heavily, Fars News Agency, September 4, 2006
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8506130415
17 Mobilize Forces Prepare to Encounter Enemies, Fars New Agency, September 9, 2006
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8506180167
18 Basij Comander: Enemies Awe Shattered Once they Err, Fars News Agency, September 10, 2006
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8506190583
19 Commander Warns o IRGC’s Aggressive Strategy in Case of Foreign Threats, Fars News Agency, September 13, 2006
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8506220539
20 No Air Force Capable of Confronting Iranian Army, Fars News Agency; August 19, 2006 http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8505280544
21 Iraq Not a Place for Others to Settle Accounts, Fars News Agency, September 6, 2006 http://www.farsnews.com/English/newstext.php?nn=8506140551
22 Cyprus finds air-defence systems on Syria-bond ship, Reuters, September , 2006
http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=13449090&src=rss/worldNews
23 Intelligence Minister: Enemies Plots Defused in Tehran, Border Provinces, Fars News Agency, September 13, 2006
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8506220518
24 Chavez pledge support for Iran, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), September 15, 2006 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5347978.stm
25 Syria switches to euro amid sanctions threat, Xinhua News Agency, February 13-14, 2006
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-02/14/content_4177423.htm
26 Lawder, David; US Treasury say Iran pressure can be unilateral, Reuters, September 12, 2006
27 Three big Japan banks decide not to deal with Iran's Bank Saderat, Forbes, September 16, 2006
http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2006/09/16/afx3021822.html
Related articles on the March to War with Iran from the Centre for Research on Globalization:
The Next Phase of the Middle East War 2006-09-04
Baluchistan and the Coming Iran War 2006-09-01
British Troops Mobilizing on the Iranian Border 2006-08-30
Russia and Central Asian Allies Conduct War Games in Response to US Threats 2006-08-24
Beating the Drums of War: US Troop Build-up: Army & Marines authorize "Involuntary Conscription" 2006-08-23
Iranian War Games: Exercises, Tests, and Drills or Preparation and Mobilization for War? 2006-08-21
Triple Alliance": The US, Turkey, Israel and the War on Lebanon 2006-08-06 The War on Lebanon and the Battle for Oil 2006-07-26 Is the Bush Administration Planning a Nuclear Holocaust? 2006-02-22 The Dangers of a Middle East Nuclear War 2006-02-17 Nuclear War against Iran 2006-01-03 Israeli Bombings could lead to Escalation of Middle East War 2006-07-15 Iran: Next Target of US Military Aggression 2005-05-01 Planned US-Israeli Attack on Iran 2005-05-01
See also
Rogers, Paul; Iran: Consequences of a War, Oxford Research Group; February, 2006
http://www.oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk/publications/briefings/IranConsequences.htm
http://www.iranbodycount.org/

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Centre for Research on Globalization.To become a Member of Global ResearchThe Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG) at www.globalresearch.ca grants permission to cross-post original Global Research articles in their entirety, or any portions thereof, on community internet sites, as long as the text & title are not modified. The source must be acknowledged and an active URL hyperlink address to the original CRG article must be indicated. The author's copyright note must be displayed. For publication of Global Research articles in print or other forms including commercial internet sites, contact: crgeditor@yahoo.com www.globalresearch.ca contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of "fair use" in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than "fair use" you must request permission from the copyright owner.For media inquiries: crgeditor@yahoo.com© Copyright Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya, Global Research, 2006 The url address of this article is: www.globalresearch.ca/PrintArticle.php?articleId=3299

The truth comes out:

U.S. may send more troops to Iraq

September 19, 2006 3:30 PM <http://www.capitolh illblue.com/ content/news/>

News 3 Comments

By LOLITA C. BALDOR

The U.S. military will likely maintain or possibly even increase the current force levels of more than 140,000 troops in Iraq through next spring, the top US. commander in the Middle East said Tuesday in one of the gloomiest assessments yet of how quickly American forces can be brought home.

Gen. John Abizaid, commander of U.S. Central Command, said military leaders would consider adding troops or extending the Iraq deployments of other units if needed. "If it's necessary to do that because the military situation on the ground requires that, we'll do it," he said. "If we have to call in more forces because it's our military judgment that we need more forces, we'll do it."

Abizaid said that right now the current number of troops "are prudent force levels" that are achieving the needed military effect.His comments came as U.S. political leaders continue to face declining public support for the war in Iraq, as they head into the coming congressional elections.

Abizaid, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Peter Pace are expected to meet with members of Congress later this week.Late last year, military leaders had said they hoped to reduce troop levels to about 100,000 by the end of this year. But Abizaid said Tuesday that the rising sectarian violence and slow progress of the Iraqi government made that impossible.

"I think that this level probably will have to be sustained through the spring," he told military reporters. "I think that we'll do whatever we have to do to stabilize Iraq and Afghanistan and use the military power of the U.S. to do that."Abizaid cautioned that the solution to much of Iraq's violence ­ both sectarian and insurgents ­ is not necessarily "throwing more American units at the problem."

Instead, he said it is vital that the Iraqi government improve the political and economic conditions in the embattled country, as part of an effort to get the "angry young men" off the streets. And he said there will be more emphasis on the U.S. military teams that are training the Iraqi army and police forces.There are currently 147,000 U.S. forces in Iraq ­ up more than 20,000 from the troop levels in late June. Rumsfeld extended the one-year deployment of an Alaska-based brigade in July, as part of the effort to stem the escalating violence in Baghdad.Abizaid said Tuesday that there are no plans to further extend the deployment of the Alaska Stryker brigade.

A jigsaw to make you gag ....

What do you say to a coalition of church, state and corporation?

I think it sounds DREADFUL.

Due to not being able to post much lately, I've missed posting my wonderful urls about Jesus camps, but I'll find a way soon.

The following should make you stop and think, especially when you think about all those wonderful churches who helped out the folks during Hurricane Katrina, all hand selected by pRESIDENT Shrub ...

Full Text Of Kansas AG Leaked Memo to Churches: Help The GOP Or I'll Burn A Hole In Your AssNote to the IRS. I hear Kline is hiding loads of dough.---
Full Text Of The Leaked Kline Memo
By Bruce Wilson
Thu Sep 21, 2006 at 11:27:40 AM EST


"TO: Bill Roche, Sylvia Chapman
FROM: Phill Kline
SUBJECT: Church efforts
DATE: 8/0 8/06
CC: Doug Henkle


Some items that need to be addressed on the church effort. This memo is rather direct as it is early AM -- appreciate all that you are doing. Please use this as a check list to improve on our efforts in this area. Getting down to the wire and we must maximize.

The Goal and Objective -- numbers. Please try to get me in front of the largest crowds as we move through the remainder of the campaign schedule. Also, please maximize my presence in a community. Where possible, get additional churches involved. Am able to preach at several different churches where service times are different.


1. Maximize attendance at the reception.
a. We must have the invites at the service to be handed out by 3-5 hosts of the reception.
b. Attempt to get the pastor to mention.
c. Attempt to have reception as close to service time and as close to church as geographically possible. Please do not do 2 pm receptions; unless several churches are involved and this is the only option. If out before 12 noon -- make the starting time before that time.
d. Get the pastor to invite 5 "money people" whom he knows can help. As much as possible get the pastor's commitment to attend and to get these 5 people there.
i. Time should not be from 2-4 p.m. Rather just give a starting time.

Document

Read the memo (PDF)
ii. Must have copies of Earl Glynn's report regarding Tiller money.
iii. Material -- we are forgetting the materials we need. Must have.

Gideon commitment form made out for that event.

latest 323 information with the mug shots of our top 5 or so 323'ers. Staff, must, must, must, get everyone's e-mail who attends. Don't wait for them to fill something out. Go get their e-mail.

Always need palm cards and blueprints.

Now, we will have the church video. Please discuss and review. Maybe we want to start the reception by showing the video. The goal should be for folks to be willing to follow up by inviting others to their home to show video and generate support.

county chairman must be invited to these receptions. That way we can speak of the county grassroots plan and have folks sign up for scheduled lit drops, etc.

Must have invites to future events in the county. For example, this Thursday we should pass out invites to our kick off in Shawnee County.

Goal is to walk away with contact information, money and volunteers and a committee in each church.
a. Phillis -- have mentioned to Doug -- please give recontact all churches and specifically get in touch with key contact there to form a church lay committee for the campaign. Have we done this anywhere? Lay committee's goal is to:
i. Find yard sign locations.
ii. Encourage people to contribute and volunteer.
iii. Register voters.
iv. Educate voters.

Distribute information to their email lists.

Push freestatemedia, etc.
iv. Turn out voters.
v. Sign up folks to help with lit drops, etc. Some churches have already volunteered to do this: Light of the World in Topeka, Wannamaker Woods Nazarene Church, Basehor-Linwood Church. Must work these folks into grassroots efforts. Phillis needs this information. Get church committees on an e-mail list that you and Phillis can access.
vi. Work to help the host know how to ask for money and volunteer support. Do not leave it up to me only. They know the hosts -- a host, or someone local standing up and stating that they are giving and this is why and offering a challenge is effective. Try to arrange every time and let me know who that person is and how this will take place before the event.
vii. Always give me the names of the sponsors and hosts before the event so that I know who to thank. Also, should have names of any electeds or county chairs, etc. so I can mention.
viii. Get me out. I should not be the last of our campaign to leave an event. Usually we end with a plea for help. Someone from the campaign should stand up and say that they will remain to pick up pledge sheets, etc. someone should be assigned to get me out the door. I am spending too long at these events. Last night went to 9:30. Manhattan went for 2 hours.
ix. Do not schedule me for social lunches. Only working lunches were we can obtain either media, money or crucial support.
x. Work with Bob to try not to leave gaps in the schedule. If there is a gap -- get me to a quiet place so I can make phone calls or write; feed me Slimfast. Do not need a sitdown meal. Takes too much time.
xi. If I am not making phone calls and there is a gap; arrange for local grassroots support and lets hit a part of town. I will walk into a restaurant, coffee shop or place where people congregate and work the crowd.

Best way to hit a town square. Sundays usually will not work; but Saturdays do. Walk with one other person. Hopefully local. And one staffer. Move me through the businesses. First stop is manager to let them know. Second staff is kitchen. Then the crowd. Others, in groups of 2, hit other businesses passing out information saying: "I am a volunteer for Attorney General Phill Kline's campaign, here's a little information about Phill who is in town today and just across the square. We would be honored by your vote for Phill." And then move on. If someone is enthusiastic -- everyone should have an envelope stuffed with a bumper sticker -- hand it to them and say -- great we need your help. Please fill this out. If comfortable, wait for them to complete or come back to them. Do not linger on negatives. If they offer why -- receive it and say "sorry you feel that way." And move on. We should be able to hit a town square in 30 minutes to an hour. And then move.

Local media -- Sherriene should be coordinating with Bob to get me with local weeklies. Sitting down for 20 minutes with a local paper can be big dividends. Is Robin done with the 323, 149, Jessica's law, key issue, media packets?
x. Maximizing exposure at every church.
a. Please try to get literature into every one's hands. Check and work with pastor to see what is comfortable. In most instances we should be able to place materials under the windshield of cars. An invite and palm card? Can set up volunteers at or near exit of church to give out yard signs. We must heighten our profile as much as reasonably possible.
b. On receptions -- please follow up contact with hosts to help them maximize attendance at receptions. One invite and one mention will not draw a crowd. Pastor and hosts must be willing to call their top 5 and get them there.
Target efforts
TBC -- I must speak with Pastor. Also, speak with Marvin Spees about getting me before their men's group.
Pastor Jerry Johnston's church. Must get on calendar.
KCK -- Effort to get in black and Hispanic church in KCK.
Bill has tape of my translated service. Get it copied and get to Spanish radio stations and also copies for distribution by volunteers in Hispanic neighborhoods. The pastor in Wichita will help. Sylvia and Doug have contacts.
Johnson County focus.
Has anyone followed up with our Emporia weekend? Had a lot of volunteers agree to do lit drops, etc. Has this information been given to Phillis?
All churches should be contacted about our Kick-off rallies.
Must rework Joe Wright and Terry Fox. Must get in their pulpit and have them personally host a reception to match Tiller's blood money. Perhaps we can get Dobson by phone. Joe, Terry and Pat must commit to get 5-10 people there each who can drop $1,000 to $2,000. This will take a lot of work, contact, work and contact. This should be early to mid-September. Get me in their pulpits. Both have retired and they can still get me in.
Should work with Terry and Joe to get Church video to all of their church contacts.
Should prepare guidance sheet for those who are showing the church video. 2-pager that includes: goals for showing the video, IRS rules guidance regarding what they can and cannot do (this should not take long --no use of church assets -- can show it at church as long as they do not deny opposition of showing their own video -- no need to invite the other, just cannot deny--etc) sign up sheets, how to give money contributions, etc.
Thanks."

---
Full text of the leaked Kline memo

( also see: Kansas Attorney General Kline's Leaked Memo For Church Involvement In Politics

http://www.talk2act ion.org/story/ 2006/9/2 1/112741/476/ posts/Full_ Text_Of_The_ Leak ed_Kline_Memo