Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th, Part Something

from peoplenomics.com.

Today is a bit of a wonder .. not a MARVEL, but a WWW-ONDER. Wonder who is going to nuke whom. Wonder who is lieing and wonder what you can believe. I am a bit ashamed to put portions of peoplenomics on here as I don't trust wikipedia much. I've had my own contributions to it hacked out which I knew were right .. and George Ure is using them for some background on why we are all a bit on edge today. But that aside, most of today's material is good reading for planetary healers. - Virginia



Welcome to the day triskaidekaphobics fear, the anniversary of Black Friday, October 13, 1307 when hundreds of Knights Templar were arrested and many tortured into admitting wrong never committed against the church.

While it's maybe not "news" in the pure sense of the word, we nevertheless not the occasion because the Knights Templar were among the key "warrior monks" at the time of the Crusades.

Fast forward to the present day. We find al Qaida's efforts continue to be directed at "Crusaders":


"The movement is driving fast and light forward. And I am sure of our victory with Allah’s help against America and the Jews. . . After the Americans entered the Holy Land, many emotions were roused in the Muslim world, more than we have seen before. . .The cooperation is expanding between general supporters of this religion. From this effort, the International Islamic Front for the Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders was formed, which we are a member of with other groups."


So as the business day begins, we're watching the headlines closely for actions directed against the US by al Qaida and affiliates because an attack on Friday the 13th could certainly be seen to make sense given that from their side the war against the Crusaders is still active.
---
The "echo of the Crusades" continues to play out behind the headlines, as it has every day since the first attempt to bring down the World Trade Center - no, not 9/11 but the first attempt back in 1993.

al Qaida and its affiliates seem rather preoccupied with bombs, too. We read just this morning how a 34-year old man in London has pleaded guilty to plotting to bomb at least five key financial centers in the US. The perpetrator? Militant Islamist.
---
In a very real sense, the war(s) in the Middle East are viewed as Western Crusades as they're wars with a goal of imposing a different kind of government, one favored by the West, in a part of the world that doesn't have the same ideation of freedom that we (used to?) hold so close. Paradoxically, as we have been trying to force democracy on other lands, our own freedoms have suffered at home with with the theft of rights previously guaranteed by the Constitution.

Like the Crusades, the present-day wars are also without a time table. When the head of the British Army, Sir Richard Dannatt called this week for a five-year timeline for British withdrawal from Iraq, he landed himself squarely in hot water with British hawks. Occasionally, the longer historical roots of the present condition are reflected in headlines such as the British Guardian's headline today "Homeward Christian soldiers."

The war hawks clearly don't want to listen to top military men, although a few admit that being in the midst of an intercine war doesn't make military sense. The promoters of American military dominance of the region got a boost earlier this week when George Bush took the "You stand and fight, or you cut and run" argument to the public. Depending on your bent, "cut and run" is either a fine simplification of the need to control oil or plainly crass militaristic jingoism.
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In some ways, this is just another Friday. Israelis are busy killing Palestinians who are locked up in the Gaza strip, the Hamas leadership responds by saying they won't recognize Israel, the Syrians are bracing for war with Israel, and in Afghanistan (or should we say "Pipelandistand"?) another suicide bombing has killed or injured 10 more humans. Just another day. More coffee.

No matter how I slice it, most of the world's fighting these days seems to distill back to a corporate/religious war. The Western (Christian-Judeo) corporate vision for the Middle East is one thing, although packaging it as "freedom" is may be a stretch, while the Muslim-indigenous regional people's vision is another. In a sense, oil is to the modern crusaders what spices were to the earlier Crusaders - something of value to be brought home from fighting in the Middle East.

But putting events into such stark perspective isn't politically correct. If it were, we would hold corporations and religious leaders accountable for the continuously growing piles of bodies about and ask - even demand - that religious leadership demonstrate their supposedly higher degree of enlightenment by finding non-lethal solutions. But that wouldn't have brought spices or oil now, or new opportunities for banksters and boardrooms would it?

The West is hostage to a view that is profit-oriented; power derives from money, and money flows from corporations. Corporations exist to grow - and without growth profits shrink, and without profits the whole of the Western paradigm is in trouble. When growth doesn't exist to increase standards of living, the excess production must be spent somewhere else, and wars are a fine place to blow up, burn up, and shoot up excess production. I note that as soon as the gunfire stopped Lebanon last month, in came the bankers to make money. It has been almost too pat, too smooth, too orchestrated, at least for my taste.

So there you go - a little historical context for this Friday the 13th, in the Year of Our Oil, 2006.

Shoot the Messenger 1
An ITN reporter was "unlawfully killed" in Iraq by US gunfire in 2003 says a coroner's report out today.

Shoot t 2he Messenger
A slain Russian reporter's last piece on torture and the war in Chechnya went to press yesterday.

Let's say it was a Nuke
Then, China, South Korea and so forth can all agree on sanctions against North Korea. Me? I'm waiting for confirmation that it was nuclear. Call me skeptical.

Retail Falls
Retail sales are down for September - but nutty as the blow off market is, this may cause a rally..

Where's the Anti-Hillary?
Democrats are reportedly searching for someone (anyone?) to run instead of Hillary Clinton for the WH in 2008. I won't go into my usual anti-Hil rant, except to say that America's elected aristocracy hasn't done dick for people who've had their jobs outsource, etc. And one Urban reader suggests we print up bumper stickers that say "No more Republicans, No more Democrats". Bring back the American Whig Party! (And the Constitution, too, as long as we're at it. And let's end deficit spending and the corporate indenture of humans and...well, that's never gonna happen, but still....).

Proud of Hastert
George Bush says he's "proud to be standing with Dennis Hastert." Sure - a good foot soldier who does what he's told and buries the embarrassing stuff...sure that makes sense.

Abramoff Grease Money
Good report in the Seattle P.I. about which "non-profit" groups were helping convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff's buying of CONgress.

E. Coli Crap
Seems there might be a link between the spinach recall and some cow manure in California.

Exoplanet trapped between fire and ice


By Ker ThanSPACE.com

(SPACE.com) -- The poet Robert Frost wondered if Earth would wind up a world of fire or ice. Astronomers have discovered that a distant planet is both.
With one side always hot as lava and the other chilled possibly below freezing, Upsilon Andromeda b is a giant gas planet that orbits extremely close to Upsilon Andromeda, a star 40 light-years from our solar system in the constellation Andromeda.

"If you were moving across the planet from the night side to the day side, the temperature jump would be equivalent to leaping into a volcano," said study leader Brad Hansen of the University of California, Los Angeles.

Researchers think Upsilon Andromeda b is absorbing and then immediately radiating heat from its star [animation], so that one side is always hotter than the other. It's also possible the planet is tidally locked to its star the way the Moon is with Earth, so that one side of the planet always faces -- and is always heated by -- its star.

Upsilon Andromeda b was discovered in 1996. It is what's known as a "hot-Jupiter," a gas giant circles its star in a very tight orbit, in this case 4.6 days. Two other planets also circle Upsilon Andromeda, but farther out.
The new finding, detailed online in the journal Science, marks the first time any kind of temperature variation has been seen across the surface of a planet outside our solar system.
<1>
How hot?
<1>
Using infrared data collected by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, the researchers calculated that temperatures on the sunlit side of the Upsilon Andromeda b were between 2,550 to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,400 to 1,650 degrees Celsius) but only minus 4 to 450 degrees Fahrenheit (20 to 230 degrees Celsius) on the dark side. Jupiter, in contrast, maintains an even temperature all around.

Spitzer made infrared measurements of the planet at five different points during its orbit and found that its light levels went up and down, depending on whether its sunlit or dark side was facing Earth. From this data, astronomers calculated the temperature difference between the two sides.

"If the planet had just one equilibrium temperature, then all we would get would be a flat line," Hansen explained in a telephone interview.
The findings likely apply to other hot-Jupiters as well, the researchers say.
"This observation completely changes our thinking about hot gas giant exoplanets," said study team member Sara Seager of the Carnegie Institution of Washington.

"Most astronomers expected them to be more uniformly heated, much like Jupiter. But this planet clearly has a hot side and a cool side."

However, it's possible that Upsilon Andromeda's larger-than-average size has something to do with it, Hansen said. The star around which this planet orbits is slightly hotter and a little bit more massive than the Sun, he said. "How much that has an effect we don't really know."

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/10/13/fire.ice.planet/index.html

Exoplanet trapped between fire and ice


By Ker ThanSPACE.com

(SPACE.com) -- The poet Robert Frost wondered if Earth would wind up a world of fire or ice. Astronomers have discovered that a distant planet is both.
With one side always hot as lava and the other chilled possibly below freezing, Upsilon Andromeda b is a giant gas planet that orbits extremely close to Upsilon Andromeda, a star 40 light-years from our solar system in the constellation Andromeda.

"If you were moving across the planet from the night side to the day side, the temperature jump would be equivalent to leaping into a volcano," said study leader Brad Hansen of the University of California, Los Angeles.

Researchers think Upsilon Andromeda b is absorbing and then immediately radiating heat from its star [animation], so that one side is always hotter than the other. It's also possible the planet is tidally locked to its star the way the Moon is with Earth, so that one side of the planet always faces -- and is always heated by -- its star.

Upsilon Andromeda b was discovered in 1996. It is what's known as a "hot-Jupiter," a gas giant circles its star in a very tight orbit, in this case 4.6 days. Two other planets also circle Upsilon Andromeda, but farther out.
The new finding, detailed online in the journal Science, marks the first time any kind of temperature variation has been seen across the surface of a planet outside our solar system.
<1>
How hot?
<1>
Using infrared data collected by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, the researchers calculated that temperatures on the sunlit side of the Upsilon Andromeda b were between 2,550 to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,400 to 1,650 degrees Celsius) but only minus 4 to 450 degrees Fahrenheit (20 to 230 degrees Celsius) on the dark side. Jupiter, in contrast, maintains an even temperature all around.

Spitzer made infrared measurements of the planet at five different points during its orbit and found that its light levels went up and down, depending on whether its sunlit or dark side was facing Earth. From this data, astronomers calculated the temperature difference between the two sides.

"If the planet had just one equilibrium temperature, then all we would get would be a flat line," Hansen explained in a telephone interview.
The findings likely apply to other hot-Jupiters as well, the researchers say.
"This observation completely changes our thinking about hot gas giant exoplanets," said study team member Sara Seager of the Carnegie Institution of Washington.

"Most astronomers expected them to be more uniformly heated, much like Jupiter. But this planet clearly has a hot side and a cool side."

However, it's possible that Upsilon Andromeda's larger-than-average size has something to do with it, Hansen said. The star around which this planet orbits is slightly hotter and a little bit more massive than the Sun, he said. "How much that has an effect we don't really know."

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/10/13/fire.ice.planet/index.html

America: Freedom to Fascism movie

now available for free on the Internet

http://www.poodlecrap.com/Hateliars/HL_Video1.asp?Part=0

I met Aaron Russo at the Friday night showing. Because of the removal of the Right to Habeas Corpus, the government can now arrest you, in your home and without a warrant, and incarcerate you without honoring your request for a lawyer. You can disappear for as long as they wish to hold you and you have no recourse. Aaron said that due to this, his plan of theatre release will take too much time to get this film to the public so he will place it on the Internet for free. Good to his word, Aaron Russo has made the America: Freedom to Fascism movie available, free, on the Internet. Also, you will find on the same page, two other movies that will give insight on how our Republic and our Sovereignty has been compromised so that now we are on the brink of slavery to a one world dictatorship. This is a must see film and I urge you to take advantage of this opportunity.

Recommended by Leonard Spade

THE NEW WORLD DISORDER

'Shadow' agency to issue N. American border passes
Mexico, Canada to join U.S. department, government documents show

Posted: September 27, 20061:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

The Department of Transportation, acting through a Security and Prosperity Partnership "working group," is preparing in 2007 to issue North American biometric border passes to Mexican, Canadian, and U.S. "trusted travelers" according to documents released to WND columnist and author Jerome R. Corsi under a Freedom of Information Act request.
"The FOIA documents show the organizational chart and the composition of a 'shadow Department of Transportation' which includes formal membership from Mexico and Canada's Departments of Transportation," asserts Corsi.

"SPP has in effect created a fully-functioning trilateral Department of Transportation which will dictate policy to Mary Peters as soon as she is confirmed to replace Norm Mineta as U.S. secretary of Transportation."

As WND reported yesterday, the government documents reveal the Bush administration is running a "shadow government" with Mexico and Canada in which the U.S. is crafting a broad range of policy in conjunction with its neighbors to the north and south.

The FOIA documents list the following three administrators from the U.S., Mexico, and Canada as the official contacts for the SPP Transportation Working Group:

Jeffrey N. Shane
Under Secretary for Policy
U.S. Department of Transportation
Phone: 202-366-1815
Jeffrey.Shane@sdit.gov

Kristine Burr
Assistant Deputy Minister,
PolicyTransport Canada
Phone 613-998-1880

Aaron Dychter
Deputy Secretary for Transportation
Secretaria de Communicaciones y Transportes
Phone: (52 55) 55595165
adychter@sct.gob.mx

An SPP document entitled "Traveler Security: Develop and Implement Consistent Outcomes with Compatible Processes for Screening Prior to Departure from a Foreign Port and at the First Port of Entry to North America" says a "single, integrated, global enrollment program for North American trusted travelers" will be implemented "within 36 months." No date is indicated on the SPP document.

"Evidently SPP has decided to erase our internal borders with Mexico and Canada," Corsi told WND. "We have no trilateral treaty voted by two-thirds of the Senate that has authorized North American trusted traveler biometric cards to be issued to the citizens of the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Yet this is exactly what the shadow administrative branch created within the Bush administration under the auspices of an SPP working group is doing."

The documents released to Corsi under the FOIA request reveal a pattern of e-mails that are regularly sent from within the Bush administration executive branch to a wide range of U.S. administrative-branch personnel with e-mail copies sent equally to administrative branch officers in the governments of Mexico and Canada.

"This would be like President Bush putting partitions in the Oval Office," Corsi argued to WND, "so desks could be set up for Canada's Prime Minister Harper and for Mexico's new President Calderon as soon as he takes office."

The SPP.gov website in the Department of Commerce has added a new "Myth vs. Facts" section which documents that the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America is neither a treaty nor a law.

"Where is the constitutional authorization?" Corsi asks WND. "The Bush administration has just decided to restructure the executive branch to include Mexico and Canada without bothering to notify the voting public or the U.S. Congress."


Corsi said the approximately 1,000 pages of SPP documentation received under his FOIA request will be posted "as soon as possible" to the website of the Minuteman Project, of which he is a member.

Minutemen founder Jim Gilchrist "and I plan to publish extensively from these documents," Corsi said, "and we want the readers to be able to see for themselves the original documents that evidence the conclusions we are drawing."

Corsi said the FOIA request has only been partially fulfilled.

"There are hundreds of trilateral meetings and agreements referenced in the documents we have, but most of the substantive documents appear to have been intentionally withheld," Corsi said. "In the next few days, our lawyers will be pressing for an honest FOIA document disclosure by the Bush administration."

Previous stories:

Documents disclose 'shadow government'
N. American students trained for 'merger'
North American confab 'undermines' democracy
Attendance list North American forum
North American Forum agenda
North American merger topic of secret confab
Feds finally release info on 'superstate'
Senator ditches bill tied to 'superstate'
Congressman presses on 'superstate' plan
Feds stonewalling on 'super state' plan?
Cornyn wants U.S. taxpayers to fund Mexican development
No EU in U.S.
Trans-Texas Corridor paved with campaign contributions?
U.S.-Mexico merger opposition intensifies
More evidence of Mexican trucks coming to U.S.
Docs reveal plan for Mexican trucks in U.S.
Kansas City customs port considered Mexican soil?
Tancredo confronts 'superstate' effort
Bush sneaking North American superstate without oversight?

Related columns:

Coming soon to U.S.: Mexican customs office
Merger with Mexico

A Hard Place

October 2, 2006

I don't think it's accurate to call it a "war" anymore. It was one briefly back in 2003, and it may become a wider one again in the region. But for now the American situation in Iraq has degenerated into a dangerous, half-assed policing operation. We're not really fighting anyone, just getting in the way of factions fighting each other. A large part of our failure in this project has been our inability to get the electricity and water running properly. Any group of Americans might be equally pissed off and crazy after three years of that.

President Bush has done a bad job of articulating the strategic purpose of our presence there. It's certainly not about "freedom." It is in human nature to prefer simple order to some abstract notion of freedom, and the Iraqis had simple order under Saddam. Anyway, the kind of trashy freedoms that Americans enjoy -- freedom to gamble in Las Vegas, freedom to buy pornography, freedom to enter into ruinous mortgage contracts -- might not seem so appealing to people in an Islamic society.

The purpose of our Iraq project was to stabilize the Middle East by creating a successful buffer state between Iran and Pakistan and the nations west of Iraq, especially Saudi Arabia. Why? To preserve the status quo in our oil deliveries from the region.

Ironically, this last item is the only thing that we have succeeded in -- so far. And one of the reasons the Democratic opposition to Bush has been so unsuccessful is precisely because for all our failure over there, America has not yet experienced a cut-off of Middle East oil -- while anti-war media stars on the Left like Al Franken and Harry Shearer still get to hop in their cars and drive wherever they like without a second thought.

The sentiment among the American public runs increasingly against our adventure in Iraq. But just as no politician has articulated our reason for being there, no one has expressed any coherent idea of what might happen if we had no military presence in the Middle East. I will try to outline a picture of this now.

Possession of the largest reserve of the world's crucial resource, oil, has no doubt driven the people of the Middle East crazy. It has fed the resurgence of a militant Islam that seeks to punish and antagonize the Judeo-Christian West (and, call it whatever else you will, the 9/11 attack was certainly an act of antagonism). It has also caused populations to swell far beyond the carrying capacity of the region, with predicable results. But with most of the Middle East nations now at or past peak oil production -- including Iran and Saudi Arabia --we can expect only more dangerous behavior.

Whatever else might motivate Iran, control of the adjoining southern Iraq oil fields centered around Basra, and the oil facilities offshore in the Persian Gulf, must be high on the list. And a US withdrawal from Iraq would certainly lead to that outcome. Next on Iran's list is the wish to drive a Shiite wedge westward across Iraq to Saudi Arabia, which contains a large Shia population of its own, conveniently occupying the Persian Gulf coastal region where most of Saudi Arabia's oil comes from. The purpose of this "Shiite wedge" would be to bring down the ruling Al Saud family and replace it with an Islamic fundamentalist government. All of these moves are predicated on Iran assuming nominal leadership among the Islamic nations of the region. And all of it would bode ill for American oil supplies.

An American withdrawal from Iraq would leave US bases marooned in the landlocked backwaters of Asia -- with outposts in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. The purpose of these bases so far has been for staging operations from Afghanistan westward toward Iran, Iraq, and the Arabian peninsula. These bases happen to be next door to China, to the east. Would these tiny bases in Asia be used to stage operations against China in some future conflict? Good luck. They would last about five minutes.

Pakistan has been off the radar screen of the American media for years. It is arguably the most dangerous state in the region. It has a thousand recent years of Muslim experience on top of perhaps 100,000 previous years of other influences. The people of Pakistan are not ethnically Arabs or Persians, yet they are even more violently anti-western. Pakistan is overpopulated to the extreme. It has no oil but owns at least twenty nuclear bombs. Very little stands between the current government of General Pervez Musharraf and either complete chaos or an Islamic fundamentalist government. If Musharraf fell, would the US try to insert itself in a meltdown of Pakistan? Good luck on that one. For the moment, only fear of a nuclear exchange with its neighbor, India, stands to modify or influence Pakistan's behavior.

Let's say the US did withdraw from Iraq. This would leave us with bases in Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey. These present a full frontal opposition to Iran, but would have meaning only if we went to war with that country. Such a war would probably leave the oil infrastructure of the Persian Gulf in utter ruin. Which is to say it would do nothing to advance America's strategic interest in maintaining the oil lifeline from the Middle East.
Sooner or later America will lose its ability to influence the people and events in the Middle East, and at the same time we will probably lose access to the oil of the region. Yes, oil is a "fungible" resource that finds its way through markets. But the markets themselves will be badly destabilized by the economics of post-peak production. Do not expect on-time delivery.

The US will withdraw back into the Western hemisphere. We have about 25 billion barrels of conventional crude left of our own. We currently use seven billion a year. Canada has been our largest source of oil imports. They will be left with little besides the tar sands of Alberta. Whatever else might be said of them, the tar sands will make for very expensive oil products. (Ditto the oil shale of the Rockies.) We will not be able to maintain our current living arrangements on these things, nor on coal liquefaction.

The Canadian producers have substantial contracts with China for the products of the tar sands. I have no doubt the US will invoke the Monroe Doctrine to cancel those contracts. Expect a pissed off China. The same goes for Venezuela. Anyway, that nation is way past its production peak and the oil it has left is low quality heavy crude. Mexico is on the verge of an especially steep oil production decline. The low-hanging fruit of the Western hemisphere is gone. Colombia and Ecuador are not going to save American Happy Motoring. Don't get too excited about Chevron's "Jack" discovery in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Even at its most fantastical extrapolation, it would represent about two years of US oil consumption, and it would be expensive to a laughable extreme.

The bottom line is that the only meaningful project for the US now is to turn its attention and remaining resources to the job of preparing for civilized life without oil. This is the topic that is absent from our political discourse on all sides and at all levels. The anti-war community is itself either lost in raptures of Bush-hatred or preoccupied with fantasies for running the interstate highways on used french-fry oil. We have to talk about things beyond just running our cars by other means.

We are a profoundly unserious nation, for all our pretensions.

October 02, 2006 in Commentary

And when, pray tell, will we get this drug RECALLED ... !!!!!?????


$700M Zyprexa deal OK'd by judge

Payments in Lilly's liability settlement could be coming soon

By Jeff Swiatek
jeff.swiatek@indystar.com
A federal judge has given his blessing to Eli Lilly and Co.'s complex $700 million settlement with Zyprexa patients, who should see the money soon after lawyers and Medicare and Medicaid take their cuts.


Drug at issue:
Patients involved in the settlement alleged Lilly's schizophrenia drug Zyprexa caused diabetes-related symptoms, including weight gain and high blood sugar. - Darron Cummings / Associated Press
It's the largest liability settlement in the history of the Indianapolis drug company. And it could grow. Since the settlement was announced in June 2005, hundreds of additional complaints by Zyprexa patients have been filed against Lilly.
The judge's order includes two rulings favorable to the 8,362 claimants, many of whom are mentally ill. One order said state Medicaid agencies must pick up part of the tab for lawyers' fees, which means claimants won't bear the entire legal bill. The other prohibits those agencies from including the cost of Zyprexa pills in figuring their cut of the payouts to patients with Medicaid coverage.
The order by Judge Jack B. Weinstein, of federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y., posted on the court's Web site Tuesday, is one of the last steps in carrying out the private settlement by Lilly to deal with thousands of lawsuits and potential lawsuits against it over its antipsychotic Zyprexa.
Patients alleged the schizophrenia drug, Lilly's best-selling product, caused diabetes-related symptoms, including weight gain and high blood-sugar levels.
Payments will range from $5,000 lump-sum awards to more than $100,000 per person.
A good chunk of the money, ranging from 10 percent to 20 percent in many cases, will be claimed by Medicare and Medicaid. The federal health programs contended they should be reimbursed for paying for Zyprexa- related health problems suffered by claimants who had coverage.
Plaintiffs' attorneys hired the Garretson Law Firm of Cincinnati to work out a model for paying state Medicaid agencies. It was the first time in a mass tort action that a 50-state Medicaid reimbursement plan was worked out before money was distributed, Garretson told the judge.
The state agencies stand to collect millions in the settlement, since 61 percent of claimants were Medicaid beneficiaries.
Weinstein capped attorneys' fees at 35 percent in most cases. The judge ordered attorneys to pay their clients within 21 days of receiving settlement checks from the New York bank where Lilly's money is deposited in an interest-bearing account.

Copyright 2006 IndyStar.com. All rights reserved

Secret NAFTA security summit held in Banff

Secret NAFTA security summit held in Banff

-->Submitted by Bill Weinberg on Sat, 09/30/2006 - 02:15.
From CBC, Sept. 21:
A North American security meeting was secretly held in Banff last week, attracting high-profile officials from the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The North American Forum was hosted with the help of the http://www.cwf.ca/Canada West Foundation and the Canadian Council of Chief Executives.
Among the attendees at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel affair was Stockwell Day, Canada's minister of public safety.
The gathering may not have made headlines, but it is still the talk of Banff.
Taxi driver Chris Foote said he first learned of the meeting when he stopped into a submarine shop for a late night snack last week and heard rumours U.S. Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld was in town.
"Here they are talking in my backyard, no media to tell Canadians, Mexicans and Americans about what's going on. [I am] completely outraged," he said. "This is an assault on democracy."
John Larson, a spokesperson for the North American Forum, said reporters were not told about the conference. He won't confirm who attended the meeting nor will he give any concrete details about what was discussed.
"The participants joined the conference essentially knowing that it would be a private function," said Larson.
Mel Hurtig, author and founder of the Council of Canadians, obtained internal documents about the Sept. 12-14 forum revealing that the gathering was called Continental Prosperity in the New Security Environment.
Rumsfeld was slated to be a keynote speaker and topics on the agenda included North American energy strategy and security co-operation.
"We're talking about such an important thing, we're talking about the integration of Canada into the United States. For them to hold this meeting in secret and to make every effort to avoid anybody learning about it, right away you've got to be hugely concerned," Hurtig said.
Hurtig says questions should be raised in the House of Commons about why Canadians are being kept in the dark on meetings attended by officials like Day.
Was this linked to the North American Forum on Integration? In related news, a Sept. 28 press release from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington DC:
CSIS's Mexico Project will host Mariano Herran Salvatti, general prosecutor of the state of Chiapas, and Manuel Angel Castillo, professor-researcher with El Colegio de Me'xico, for a discussion that will provide the Washington policymaking community with a deeper understanding of the various challenges that Mexico confronts in managing its southern border.

See our last posts on Mexico, Chiapas, Canada and the militarization of NAFTA.

RCMP turns to data brokers
Experts raise alarm over police use of personal information

Andrew Mayeda and Gary Dimmock,
The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Saturday, September 30, 2006

Since September 2001, the Mounties have been buying and storing personal information from commercial data brokers, which have supplied information to U.S. authorities to fight terrorism.

Data brokers collect personal information from all kinds of sources, including warranty forms, credit-card use, newspaper and magazine subscriptions, travel-agency registrations and donations to charitable and religious groups.
Traditionally, the information is sold to third parties, usually marketers looking to target a consumer niche.

But some privacy experts question the accuracy of the data such companies provide.

And they say the RCMP's purchase and storage of such information raises questions about the reach of law enforcement agencies into the lives of Canadians, particularly in the wake of the damning Arar inquiry.

The public list of the contracts, beyond "business services," are not detailed. The contracts total more than $230,000 for the last two years.

*snip*

Mr. Hoofnagle's 2004 U.S. study, Big Brother's Little Helpers: How Choicepoint and Other Commercial Data Brokers Collect and Package Your Data for Law Enforcement, concluded that access to private sector databases has "significantly altered the balance of power between law enforcement and the individual" and revealed a "regulatory environment that has turned a blind eye to private sector collection of personal information."

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=c0f14734-9145-4e48-afca-cfec484aea57&k=77899&p=1

Okay, guys and gals,

This is the REAL article of what is to come.

It is very lengthy, very well researched, and probably right on point. I have limited most of the information to CANADIAN naval portion, as this article is quite good at pointing out how the Canadian government is thoroughly keeping the blinders on the Canadian taxpayer as to the role they are playing as THE WORLD'S POLICE FORCE against so-called terrorists.

But a THOROUGH and THOUGHTFUL read of the ENTIRE article is encouraged by moi (how's that for bilingual?)

The footnotes accompanying the article are not to be missed!!!!

01/10/2006 11:05:41 ã

Naval build-up in the Persian Gulf and the Eastern Mediterranean

http://english.alarabonline.org/display.asp?fname=2006%5C10%5C10-02%5Czopinionz%5C963.htm&dismode=x&ts=01/10/2006%2011:05:41%20%C3%A3

By Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya
The probability of another war in the Middle East is high. *SNIP*
In this context, people do not always realize that a war is never planned, executed or even anticipated in a matter of weeks. Military operations take months and even years to prepare. A classical example is Operation Overlord (popularly identified as “D-Day”), which resulted in the Battle of Normandy and the invasion of France. *snip* *snip*


This can be training and preparation intended for combating the Iranian submarine fleet in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea. The warships will also be joined in Hawaii by Seattle-based U.S. Coast Guard and by a Canadian navy frigate, the H.M.C.S. Ottawa.

Canada contributes to the American-led naval build-up in the Persian Gulf



The conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper is actively collaborating in this military endeavor. Canadian foreign policy has been steadily and successively militarized by two successive governments. The government of Prime Minister Paul Martin (Liberal) implemented the “three-dimensional policy” of the “3-Ds” (“Diplomacy”, “Development,” and “Defense".) adding a military component to Canadian foreign aid and development assistance.

The 3-Ds brought Canada into performing as more active role in U.S.-led operations in NATO garrisoned Afghanistan. Despite the public protest, Canada has become an integral member of the Anglo-American military alliance. Canada's involvement is not limited to Afghanistan as suggested by the press reports and official statements. The H.M.C.S. Ottawa has been dispatched to the Persian Gulf, leaving in September, from British Columbia.

Officially the H.M.C.S. Ottawa is being deployed as part of Canada's contribution to fighting the “War on Terrorism.” The Canadian vessel is the first publicly known ship to be deployed to the waters of the Middle East in about a year.5 The Canadian vessel is slated to be fully integrated into "Expeditionary Strike Group 5 (ESG 5), which will be seafaring in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, off the Iranian coast.

HMCS Ottawa

The Canadian Pacific Fleet vessel, the H.M.C.S. Ottawa, will be the twentieth official Canadian naval deployment in support of the United States and Britain in the War on Terrorism. About 225 personnel will be on board the Canadian Navy ship, including a Sea King helicopter detachment.6

While the H.M.C.S. Ottawa is supporting the American-led war on terrorism, it is also to participate in anti-submarine exercises off the coast of Hawaii For what purpose are these exercises being conducted? How many countries in the Middle East or Persian Gulf have submarines? Iran is the only country in the Persian Gulf, which is not an ally of the U.S., which possesses an indigenous submarine fleet.

ESG 5 charts a new course: Command element to leave flagship for a more flexible role, Navy Times, September 12, 2006
http://www.navytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2100299.php


5 Robert Shaw, Island New Democrats back party on Afghanistan pullout: Canada following U.S. too closely, says Afghan politician, Times Colonist, September 10, 2006
Atkinson, Melissa; HMCS Ottawa leaves for Gulf, Lookout September 11, 2006
http://www.lookoutnewspaper.com/archive/20060911/index.shtml
Note: “Lookout” is a paper serving CFB (Canadian Forces Base) Esquimalt where the Canadian Pacific fleet, including the H.M.C.S. Ottawa, is based.

6 National Defence: HMCS Ottawa to Depart for Arabian Gulf Region, CCNMattews, September 1, 2006
Note: Arabian Gulf is an alternative term used in reference to Persian Gulf, but is originally the name of the Red Sea.

*****The url address of this article is: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=NAZ20061001&articleId=3361
Source: www.globalresearch.cazopinionz

The week of SHAME

There are so many news stories and pieces of analysis this week it was impossible to keep up - keep up posting them all and keep up one's hope and heart. Below is a sample of upsetting and distressing (or is it stressing) news items as it seems we hurtle to world war.

On the other hand I do see signs of more cooperation

and pay attention,

please

to news of things you can do

to stand up for

freedom on

October 5th

wherever you are

... or

START SOMETHING!

From: http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495;article=105009

CONCEPT PLAN (CONPLAN) 8022<1>

Sept 28, 2006

http://www.nolajbs.net/forum/index.php?topic=6470.msg50652#msg50652
CLIP

CONCEPT PLAN (CONPLAN) 8022

Nuclear specialists and governmental sources pointed out that one of its main missions would be to implement the 2001 nuclear strategy that includes an option of preemptive nuclear attacks on 'rogue states' with WMDs. (Japanese Economic Newswire, 30 December 2005)

CONCEPT PLAN (CONPLAN) 8022
JFCCSGS is in an advanced state of readiness to trigger nuclear attacks directed against Iran or North Korea.The operational implementation of the Global Strike is called CONCEPT PLAN (CONPLAN) 8022. The latter is described as "an actual plan that the Navy and the Air Force translate into strike package for their submarines and bombers,' (Ibid).

CONPLAN 8022 is 'the overall umbrella plan for sort of the pre-planned strategic scenarios involving nuclear weapons.'
'It's specifically focused on these new types of threats -- Iran, North Korea -- proliferators and potentially terrorists too,' he said. 'There's nothing that says that they can't use CONPLAN 8022 in limited scenarios against Russian and Chinese targets.'(According to Hans Kristensen, of the Nuclear Information Project, quoted in Japanese economic News Wire, op cit)

The mission of JFCCSGS is to implement CONPLAN 8022, in other words to trigger a nuclear war with Iran.The Commander in Chief, namely George W. Bush would instruct the Secretary of Defense, who would then instruct the Joint Chiefs of staff to activate CONPLAN 8022.
CONPLAN is distinct from other military operations. it does not contemplate the deployment of ground troops.
CONPLAN 8022 is different from other war plans in that it posits a small-scale operation and no "boots on the ground." The typical war plan encompasses an amalgam of forces -- air, ground, sea -- and takes into account the logistics and political dimensions needed to sustain those forces in protracted operations.... The global strike plan is offensive, triggered by the perception of an imminent threat and carried out by presidential order.) (William Arkin, Washington Post, May 2005)
The Role of Israel

Since late 2004, Israel has been stockpiling US made conventional and nuclear weapons systems in anticipation of an attack on Iran. This stockpiling which is financed by US military aid was largely completed in June 2005. Israel has taken delivery from the US of several thousand "smart air launched weapons" including some 500 'bunker-buster bombs, which can also be used to deliver tactical nuclear bombs.
The B61-11 is the "nuclear version" of the "conventional" BLU 113, can be delivered in much same way as the conventional bunker buster bomb. (See Michel Chossudovsky, http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO112C.html

see also

http://www.thebulletin.org/article_nn.php?art_ofn=jf03norris) .

Moreover, reported in late 2003, Israeli Dolphin-class submarines equipped with US Harpoon missiles armed with nuclear warheads are now aimed at Iran. (See Gordon Thomas, http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/THO311A.html

Late April 2005. Sale of deadly military hardware to Israel. GBU-28 Buster Bunker Bombs:Coinciding with Putin's visit to Israel, the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency (Department of Defense) announced the sale of an additional 100 bunker-buster bombs produced by Lockheed Martin to Israel. This decision was viewed by the US media as "a warning to Iran about its nuclear ambitions."The sale pertains to the larger and more sophisticated "Guided Bomb Unit-28 (GBU-28) BLU-113 Penetrator" (including the WGU-36A/B guidance control unit and support equipment). The GBU-28 is described as "a special weapon for penetrating hardened command centers located deep underground. The fact of the matter is that the GBU-28 is among the World's most deadly "conventional" weapons used in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, capable of causing thousands of civilian deaths through massive explosions.
The Israeli Air Force are slated to use the GBU-28s on their F-15 aircraft.
(See text of DSCA news release at http://www.dsca.osd.mil/PressReleases/36-b/2005/Israel_05-10_corrected.pdf
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=%20CH20060103&articleId=1714

See, this is proof that this has ALL BEEN PLANNED WAY IN ADVANCE FOR SO LONG!

Cheney Calls For US to Nuke Iran... said the bush administration, under conplan 8022, had already placed the relevant mini-nukes under the control of ... theater military commanders, as part of a new global strike doctrine, a doctrine originally conceived ...
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/august2005/020805nukeiran.htm

U.S. Command Declares Global Strike Capability... warfare capabilities, including the so-called conplan 8022 mission for a global strike, according to publicly available military documents.

conplan 8022 is a new strike plan that includes a pre-emptive nuclear ... of a ...
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/december2005/051205globalstrike.htm

The U.S. Removes the Nuclear Brakes... arms.

remember the code name conplan 8022. last week, the washington post reported that this unintelligible nickname ... the world into nuclear war.

conplan 8022 is a series of operational plans prepared by ...
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/may2005/280505nuclearbrakes.htm

Time is coming for Iran. Israel is behind it.
http://www.nolajbs.net/forum/index.php?topic=6470.msg50652#msg50652

2 COMMENTS from http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=13666

http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=13642

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

Why Bush Will Nuke Iran, by Craig Roberts
http://www.antiwar.com/roberts/?articleid=9749

______________________________________

Consult America - Before the Next War (September 26, 2006) by Patrick J. Buchanan
http://www.antiwar.com/pat/?articleid=9748

Nuking Iran Is Not Off the Table (July 6, 2006)
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/hirsch.php?articleid=9255

________________________________________

________________________________________

See also:
http://www.spychips.com/

http://www.nocards.org/

_________________________________________

_________________________________________

Detainee Bill and the Dawning of a Fascist America
http://kurtnimmo.com/?p=580

Rushing Off a Cliff - New York Times Editorial
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15142.htm

(once again) CONCEPT PLAN (CONPLAN) 8022
http://www.nolajbs.net/forum/index.php?topic=6470.msg50652#msg50652

Advanced state of readiness to trigger nuclear attacks directed against Iran or North Korea.
War Signals?
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061009/lindorff(...) Colonel Gardiner, who has taught military strategy at the National War College, says that the carrier deployment and a scheduled Persian Gulf arrival date of October 21 is "very important evidence" of war planning. He says, "I know that some naval forces have already received 'prepare to deploy orders' [PTDOs], which have set the date for being ready to go as October 1. Given that it would take about from October 2 to October 21 to get those forces to the Gulf region, that looks about like the date" of any possible military action against Iran. (A PTDO means that all crews should be at their stations, and ships and planes should be ready to go, by a certain date--in this case, reportedly, October 1.) Gardiner notes, "You cannot issue a PTDO and then stay ready for very long. It's a very significant order, and it's not done as a training exercise."

The March to War: Iran Preparing for US Air Attacks (September 21, 2006)
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=N20060921&articleId=3299
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. 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. CLIP

Bush Administration Plans for a US War vs. Iran by Dennis Kucinich (September 23, 2006)
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=KUC20060923&articleId=3310

Dear Friends, The Bush Administration is preparing for war against Iran, using an almost identical drumbeat of weapons of mass destruction, imminent threat, alleged links to Al Queda, and even linking Iran with a future 911. CLIP
In addition to this you will find three other relevant articles below.
-------
1) SUMMARY
As the United States government, under the control of a dark cabal of globalist elitists, has just enacted a new bill that gives extraordinary dictatorial powers to George W Bush to legally arrest, indefinitely detain and even torture anyone on Earth deemed an "illegal enemy combatant" or accused of "wrongfully aiding the enemy", a law that even gives the power to the president to define what abusive interrogation methods he considers permissible, an armada of war is almost secretly en route towards Iran which could be pre-emptively attacked near the end of October during an air campaign that will most likely dwarf the brute force applied against Iraq in 2003. While most mainstream media studiously avoid alarming people over the inevitable consequences both of these new repressive powers and of what such an attack could unleash, or even in most cases properly informing the public about all this, governments around the world are feverishly preparing and implementing plans either to go along with the U.S. hegemonious aims or to oppose them depending on where they stand in this global confrontation now underway.
What is certainly the most disturbing aspect of these war plans, is the alleged desire by the U.S. and/or the Israeli government to resort to tactical nuclear weapons to achieve their claimed objective of neutralizing the secret nuclear weapon program Iran is thought to develop in several deeply buried and heavily fortified locations, some of them being near populated areas. Although numerous military analysts have pointed to the near suicidal nature of such an attack that would have far-reaching consequences for the attacking country whose ground forces are currently bogged down in 2 intractable conflicts slowly grinding down its much vaunted military capabilities and demoralizing its troops with hardly any support left at home for these very unpopular wars, opening such a third war front seems to be an option seriously considered as a way to stunt the American voting constituents into a submissive stance on the eve of the midterm elections that could otherwise prove to be disastrous for the party in power.
Please dedicate your prayers and meditations, as guided by Spirit, in the coming three weeks, and especially in synchronous attunement at the usual time this Sunday and the following Sunday to contribute in fostering the will in all concerned people, particularly in the United States, to undertake any and all possible peaceful actions that could help vigorously demonstrate that those in power have lost the last shred of legitimacy and thus do not represent the will of the people who are invested with the ultimate democratic power to decide what course their nation should take, for the Highest Good of All.


President signs Iran sanctions bill (Sep 30)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_iran;_ylt=Ajrc.uPwD2wnrSt5Zy3xOO9Sw60A;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

Poll: Europeans oppose Iran strike (Sep. 25, 2006)
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1159125863038&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Full Coverage on Iran
http://news.yahoo.com/fc/World/Iran;_ylt=ApTynfyEoB82UO1zbtLSnw52y14A;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

More News on Iran
http://news.yahoo.com/fc/world/iran/news_stories/1;_ylt=AvqzGYWILIOzWeEGxTgWK1JSw60A;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl


http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/092906J.shtml
In Case I Disappear By William Rivers Pitt

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1159193330631&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Sep. 27, 2006 - Updated Sep. 29, 2006

Rattling the Cage: The big con about Iran

By LARRY DERFNER

---See also:Air Strikes Won't Solve Iran Crisis (Sept 27)
http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?article_class=3&no=319380&rel_no=1
(...) Meanwhile, though there are some reports suggesting that Bush is determined to invade Iran on "false pretenses."


From: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/sep2006/tort-s29.shtml
US Congress legalizes torture and indefinite detention
By the editorial board 29 September 2006The legislation adopted by the House of Representatives Wednesday and the Senate Thursday, legalizing the Bush administration's policy of torture and indefinite detention without trial, as well as kangaroo-court procedures for Guantánamo detainees, marks a watershed for the United States.

---
See also:
Former Pollster Describes 2000 Election Theft
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/092906G.shtml

<> <> <> <> <> <> <> <>

From: http://psychoanalystsopposewar.org/blog/2006/09/28/the-day-the-darkness-descended/
The day the darkness descended

I found this the MOST distressing article of the lot .....

September 28th, 2006

The Senate today passed the Torture and Indefinite Detention Authorization Act of 2006.
<> <> <> <> <> <> <> <>
6.
From: http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/september2006/290906torturebill.htm

Torture Bill States Non-Allegiance To Bush Is Terrorism

(To access the numerous links embedded in this article go at http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/september2006/290906torturebill.htm

---See also:

Bush Given Authority To Sexually Torture American Children
http://prisonplanet.com/articles/september2006/290906sexuallytorture.htm
The "horror of the shrieking boys" gets a rubber stamp from the boot-licking U.S. CONgress & Senate as America officially becomes a dictatorship

Note from Jean HUDON: For a critical media perspective on this ignominious bill, go at this URL above, scroll down and listen to what the CNN commentator Cafferty has to say on this...

Gonzales Cautions Judges on Interfering (Sept 29)

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/09/29/national/w084539D78.DTL

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who is defending President Bush's anti-terrorism tactics in multiple court battles, said Friday that federal judges should not substitute their personal views for the president's judgments in wartime *clip*
<> <> <> <> <> <> <> <>

And there you have it -- the week from hell.

LINKS

Links
1007778th Estate
9/11 Synchronicity
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From:
Jepysdad (6591230)

Hi All,

I just returned from hearing Catherine Crier from CourtTV speak at our local university. She is the third prophet in a 24 hours to suggest the people are being run over roughshod by our supposed servants. She essentially said government is not our own, that lobbyists and special interest groups manipulate our laws to their liking. Her hope is that it only takes one election to turn the tables. She quoted 80% of people would support a third party and doesn't believe the current form of either party to be the answer.

Bishop Spong and Caroline Myss said essentially the same thing from a more spiritual standpoint. Most of us have access to the Bishop's words so I won't repeat. Caroline had this to say:

"I believe that anger is so thick in our society because of a combination of
ingredients, all of which have compromised the soul of America. Americans are
not accustomed to feeling helpless or to turning a blind eye when they sense
that their nation is not on the right path. Something is wrong about the
direction of our nation and we can feel it. This “wrongness” transcends
political parties; this wrongness goes to the core of the founding vision of the
nation – it is rooted in the collective soul of America. The ideals and honor
that once held us together as a nation have been so compromised that we can
sense an indescribable shift in our collective soul, yet we fear to actually
name it because in doing so we must recognize that America is now destined for a
very different future. It will never again be a truly “free” nation."

Ms. Crier spoke from a legal, judicial, media perspective. She encouraged everyone to become very active. She believes legislators make laws that don't apply equally to all people, a necessary ingredient for a democracy. If laws are selectively written or enforced we might as well go back to King George.

Putting the three speaker's words together makes for one sobering pie. Why are the modern prophets all speaking at the same time?

Caroline Myss's newsletter ended with:

How do we respond to all of this? First and foremost, Americans need to
acknowledge that their nation has changed and continues to change. The next step
is each individual’s responsibility, but you should ask yourself if these past
years have changed you in any way. If you assume they have not, then you have
answered far too fast. These years – and this war – have changed you, both as a
person and as an American. It’s for you to investigate the significance of much
that has influenced your life’s compass and how you see the future of this
nation.

Peace to all...
Alan

The above was a forum reply to this from Bishop Spong:

Graeme Moore from Canada writes:

"American response to American torture is perplexing. There can be no doubt that American government officials, military and civilian, torture. They may call it by other names but just as "a rose is a rose," so torture is torture.

Setting aside for the moment the fact that the considerable evidence that most "information" obtained through torture is unreliable, or worse, there is a fundamental conflict between present day American Christian Christianity and torture.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Christ's commandment cannot be clearer. It is fundamental to Christian belief. It is the bedrock of the Christian way. Torture cannot be reconciled with Christ's commandment. One cannot be both a Christian and a torturer. America's current President proudly and readily announces he is a "born again" Christian. He is surrounded by persons of similar convictions. Many Christian "leaders" support him. The President, however, has authorized torture; he encourages its use even to the point of finding various dubious and devious ways and means to avoid any attempts to curtail torture by Americans or their proxies.

Why do American Christians and certain American Christian "leaders" support torture? (Those people who torture and those people who order, advocate or tolerate torture are equally culpable.) Many Americans contend that America is a Christian nation. It would appear so based upon utterances and statements of America's political elite and on the number of Americans who profess to be Christians and belong to a congregation whose services they attend on a regular and frequent basis. Can America be a Christian nation when it tortures?

Why do American Christians not rise up to strike down those Americans who torture? When will American Christians demand an end to torture? When will Christian "leaders" take a public position, such as open letters against torture? When will Christian preachers condemn torture from their pulpits? When will Christian say loudly that torture is unchristian and un- American?

When will Christians demonstrate and protest torture in a manner similar to their actions against choice? If Christians can stir up a storm in Florida over the "right to die," when will they unleash a tempest in Washington against torture? The current silence of American Christian is eerily reminiscent of the silence of earlier generations against the evils of racism. Perhaps it is to be expected that a people who lynched their fellow citizens because of their race would torture their enemies."

Dear Graeme,

Thank you for your question. I invite my readers to write to me with their opinions on this issue. I will publish the best letters in the debate. My readers must know that they have a better chance of being included in the debate if they keep their comments succinct.
-- John Shelby Spong

It is my personal opinion that unless something is DIRECTLY happening to ourselves - or someone we care about deeply, we can easily distract ourselves from the PAIN.

We've see torture as an ABSTRACTION, mere words on a page, mere images on a television screen or in a computer picture ...

Torture

Dogbite

Rainshower

Smack

Waterboarding

F E A R

Are these NOUNS or VERBS? What type of verbs are they ...? There is energy involved in all four of these things!! Yet we can dissassociate from the reality of them.

Sleep deprivation. Phrase or VERB?

Have we lost our ability to distinquish ...?

Or are we just depersonalized ...?

Somatized ...?

So robbed of our power we can do nothing about any of it ...?

When the time come that we see ourselves as ONE, so that each pain affects us all ....?

From the Bishop Spong forum

From:
Jepysdad (6591230)

Hi All,

I just returned from hearing Catherine Crier from CourtTV speak at our local university. She is the third prophet in a 24 hours to suggest the people are being run over roughshod by our supposed servants. She essentially said government is not our own, that lobbyists and special interest groups manipulate our laws to their liking. Her hope is that it only takes one election to turn the tables. She quoted 80% of people would support a third party and doesn't believe the current form of either party to be the answer.

Bishop Spong and Caroline Myss said essentially the same thing from a more spiritual standpoint. Most of us have access to the Bishop's words so I won't repeat. Caroline had this to say:

"I believe that anger is so thick in our society because of a combination of
ingredients, all of which have compromised the soul of America. Americans are
not accustomed to feeling helpless or to turning a blind eye when they sense
that their nation is not on the right path. Something is wrong about the
direction of our nation and we can feel it. This “wrongness” transcends
political parties; this wrongness goes to the core of the founding vision of the
nation – it is rooted in the collective soul of America. The ideals and honor
that once held us together as a nation have been so compromised that we can
sense an indescribable shift in our collective soul, yet we fear to actually
name it because in doing so we must recognize that America is now destined for a
very different future. It will never again be a truly “free” nation."

Ms. Crier spoke from a legal, judicial, media perspective. She encouraged everyone to become very active. She believes legislators make laws that don't apply equally to all people, a necessary ingredient for a democracy. If laws are selectively written or enforced we might as well go back to King George.

Putting the three speaker's words together makes for one sobering pie. Why are the modern prophets all speaking at the same time?

Caroline Myss's newsletter ended with:

How do we respond to all of this? First and foremost, Americans need to acknowledge that their nation has changed and continues to change. The next step is each individual’s responsibility, but you should ask yourself if these past years have changed you in any way. If you assume they have not, then you have answered far too fast. These years – and this war – have changed you, both as a person and as an American. It’s for you to investigate the significance of much that has influenced your life’s compass and how you see the future of this nation.

Peace to all...
Alan

And this was in reply to this

Graeme Moore from Canada writes:

"American response to American torture is perplexing. There can be no doubt that American government officials, military and civilian, torture. They may call it by other names but just as "a rose is a rose," so torture is torture.

Setting aside for the moment the fact that the considerable evidence that most "information" obtained through torture is unreliable, or worse, there is a fundamental conflict between present day American Christian Christianity and torture.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Christ's commandment cannot be clearer. It is fundamental to Christian belief. It is the bedrock of the Christian way. Torture cannot be reconciled with Christ's commandment. One cannot be both a Christian and a torturer. America's current President proudly and readily announces he is a "born again" Christian. He is surrounded by persons of similar convictions. Many Christian "leaders" support him. The President, however, has authorized torture; he encourages its use even to the point of finding various dubious and devious ways and means to avoid any attempts to curtail torture by Americans or their proxies.

Why do American Christians and certain American Christian "leaders" support torture? (Those people who torture and those people who order, advocate or tolerate torture are equally culpable.) Many Americans contend that America is a Christian nation. It would appear so based upon utterances and statements of America's political elite and on the number of Americans who profess to be Christians and belong to a congregation whose services they attend on a regular and frequent basis. Can America be a Christian nation when it tortures?

Why do American Christians not rise up to strike down those Americans who torture? When will American Christians demand an end to torture? When will Christian "leaders" take a public position, such as open letters against torture? When will Christian preachers condemn torture from their pulpits? When will Christian say loudly that torture is unchristian and un- American? When will Christians demonstrate and protest torture in a manner similar to their actions against choice? If Christians can stir up a storm in Florida over the "right to die," when will they unleash a tempest in Washington against torture? The current silence of American Christian is eerily reminiscent of the silence of earlier generations against the evils of racism. Perhaps it is to be expected that a people who lynched their fellow citizens because of their race would torture their enemies."

Dear Graeme,

Thank you for your question. I invite my readers to write to me with their opinions on this issue. I will publish the best letters in the debate. My readers must know that they have a better chance of being included in the debate if they keep their comments succinct.

-- John Shelby Spong