"While vast sums of money are being siphoned off into hidden [military] coffers, America's schools, hospitals and public services are facing cutbacks and closures." - Rep Henry Waxman~
~~~
In Reply to a fair request for link or source for the above quote:
Rep Henry Waxman's quote was culled from a news alert sent me by Information Clearing House and I'm not certain from where they snagged it or when it was stated.
But I like the fact that it's a simple and direct statement concerning the renting of our social fabric which, imho, is no accident but is being perpetrated by a design of several years. One may remember Newt Gingrich of the 90s who never met an entitlement program he liked unless it was on behalf of corporate America.
Waxman's statement is not, however, the full explanation of where the money is being rabbit-holed, yet it addresses an integral part of the plan to bankrupt America...which is proceeding nicely, perhaps you'll agree. jc
~~~
And then there's this:
The True Cost Of War
By Aida Edemariam
In 2005, a Nobel prize-winning economist began the painstaking process of calculating the true cost of the Iraq war. In his new book, he reveals how short-sighted budget decisions, cover-ups and a war fought in bad faith will affect us all for decades to come.
Full article here.
Showing posts with label Bush administration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bush administration. Show all posts
Feb 29, 2008
Feb 19, 2008
A man unmasked?
Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens For Legitimate Government Feb 18,2008
All items are here: LegitGov Breaking News
'Dodgy dossier' was 'wrong', its author says Feb 17, 2008:
The government official who wrote the first draft of the "dodgy dossier" that helped propel Britain into war in Iraq today admits, "We were wrong." John Williams, a former Foreign Office aide, said last night that publication of his document would expose how members of Tony Blair's team were locked in a mindset that made military action inevitable.#
Perhaps this (oily) charade revealed is part of the influence of our current Unmasking Eclipse of Feb 6 when true motives are revealed...with more to come, no doubt.
Then there's the recent Saturn-South Node transit which may be underpinning Musharraf's separation from authority--and Castro's? The Saturn-SN conjunction perfected in October 2007 and now SN has moved into Aquarius, a sign associated with the collective.
The language of Mundane Astrology is a fascinating and helpful way of translating world events, isn't it?
All items are here: LegitGov Breaking News
'Dodgy dossier' was 'wrong', its author says Feb 17, 2008:
The government official who wrote the first draft of the "dodgy dossier" that helped propel Britain into war in Iraq today admits, "We were wrong." John Williams, a former Foreign Office aide, said last night that publication of his document would expose how members of Tony Blair's team were locked in a mindset that made military action inevitable.#
Perhaps this (oily) charade revealed is part of the influence of our current Unmasking Eclipse of Feb 6 when true motives are revealed...with more to come, no doubt.
Then there's the recent Saturn-South Node transit which may be underpinning Musharraf's separation from authority--and Castro's? The Saturn-SN conjunction perfected in October 2007 and now SN has moved into Aquarius, a sign associated with the collective.
The language of Mundane Astrology is a fascinating and helpful way of translating world events, isn't it?
Feb 13, 2008
Eclipse Series of the Bush presidency
On December 25, 2000, a Solar Eclipse occurred 4Cap14 in the 2 South Series making this the Series of the Bush presidency.With the SCOTUS decision earlier in December, a vain attempt was made to bestow legitimacy to a doubtfully attained presidency, and this Solar Eclipse shows by its influence what Bush and friends had been up to--
great gains expected through new associations with unusual groups (Brady's Predictive Astrology.)
Prior to this was the Pre-natal Eclipse Series of George W. Bush (and Laura--2 New North) which had manifested on July 31 (8Leo11, conj Bush's natal ASC and Mercury.) The 2NN Series may be called The Tower Series, and if you're familiar with the Tarot deck, you'll recognize it as card #16.
Obviously this links archetypally to the attacks on the WTC (the Twin Towers) of 9/11/01 because the keyphrases for 2 New North are:
sudden collapse of lifetstyles or plans; confusion reigns but long-term effects are of rebuilding and transformation; after the dust settles, the consequences of this reshaping will have far-reaching effects; personal directions are changed through the sudden collapse of an existing structure.
Now it's tempting to say, poor George, newly installed in the White House and his presidency's plans got all rearranged...except that mystical George had to know of this Eclipse's influence from his past--it had occurred in 1964 (age 18) and in 1982 (age 36). Now how could anyone not notice a biggie like this? Mr. Skull'n'Bones!
The Bush-Cheney administration's legitimacy continued to be seriously questioned as the presidential oath of Jan 20, 2001 was taken (with fingers crossed behind his back, as it turned out) so I hope you can click-to-enlarge this Eclipse chart which heralds the beginning of the Bush-Cheney years.
As usual, I have squished too many notes upon the chart including some of Bush's natal placements and a couple from the Pentagon (Pentagon's natal ASC has tr NN pointing at it 15Can28--a murder-suicide degree--DeVore's Encyclopdia.)
The Sabian Symbol for "5Cap" is most instructive (Dr Marc Edmund Jones, The Sabian Symbols in Astrology ):
"Indians rowing a canoe and dancing a wardance"...MOBILIZATION...
pos: a capacity for aggressive leadership and an unusual effectiveness in sidetracking minor issues for the sake of major achievement;
neg/unconscious/shadow side: unnecessary moods and tantrums.
This Symbol supports the theories of those who've always said that Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld and their compadres intended war from the start of this "administration." And it totally amazes me that anyone in 2008 could disagree on the issue for By their fruits you shall know them!
The opposite degree, the Illumination Point, an unconscious degree, is also instructive given what the world has suffered from this administration:
"5Can"..."An automobile wrecked by a train"...DISPERSION...
pos: a special genius for a creative reorganization of all experience;
neg/shadow side: an insensitive recklessness.
Now it's late in the boondoggle game, but most Americans finally agree that the US economy has been wrecked by a train--the presidency (or as I think of it, the residency) of George W.Bush bwo his reckless warring and drunken sailor "budget."
Highlighted in pink is a YOD (Finger of God) pattern which indicates a special task, with warring activist Mars 1Sco15, god of war, (conjunct the New World Order's natal Sun, forming the YOD's base with Mercury, Sun, and Moon.
All point to focal planet, Jupiter 2Gem45 Rx.
Jupiter as a YOD pattern's focal planet (Bil Tierney, Dynamics of Aspect Analysis) operates on a lofty mental level but may feel out of tune with social laws, belief systems, and moral codes which he is expected to abide by (or pretend to--Jupiter = the thespian--jc.)
He is open to new theories and probabilities, and has spent years pondering abstract matters. He now yearns for the personal freedom and uplifting inspiration to put his faith into something workable, yet Jupiter quincunxes (150 degrees) can prove disorganizing and impractical if not well-managed.
Details are not properly attended to and his expectations almost always fall short of their promised potential...overreaching and poor judgment are common. Inner faith in the ultimate fulfillment of goals is evident yet his approach towards the application of his faith needs correction.
Tolerance is required to take positive advantage of Jupiter as focal planet of a YOD.
Does the above sound anything like the pie-in-the-sky Oval Office resident we've come to know and abhor?
Jupiter's Sabian Symbol word picture brings war and revolution to the above sketch and may describe the elitist in the White House in more ways than one:
"3Gem"..."The Garden of the Tuileries"...LUXURY...
pos: creative stability which enables each individual to participate in the full gamut of satisfactions developed and cherished by his fellows as well as himself;
neg/shadow side: complete selfishness and a joy in lording it over others.
Bush will be missing that last one when it's gone!
Here's an article, A Day of Infamy, concerning the SCOTUS decision which handed the Oval Office to Bush and his oil drilling, war mongering cronies.
And you know the rest.
Feb 8, 2008
Martial Law: before November?
News Updates from Citizens For Legitimate Government Feb 8, 2008
All items are here:LegitGov Breaking News
'They have permission to 'shoot to kill' in the event of martial law.' The FBI Deputizes Business By Matthew Rothschild Feb 7, 2008:
Today, more than 23,000 representatives of private industry are working quietly with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. The members of this rapidly growing group, called InfraGard, receive secret warnings of terrorist threats before the public does--and, at least on one occasion, before elected officials... One business executive, who showed me his InfraGard card, told me they have permission to "shoot to kill" in the event of martial law... This business owner says he attended a small InfraGard meeting where agents of the FBI and Homeland Security discussed in astonishing detail what InfraGard members may be called upon to do...
"Then they said when--not if--martial law is declared, it was our responsibility to protect our portion of the infrastructure, and if we had to use deadly force to protect it, we couldn’t be prosecuted," he says.#
Jude's Threshold now has a Page with the chart of the Aug 1, 2008 Solar Eclipse (10 South Series) which I will be updating with more details as time permits.
You'll see in the chart that on August 1 this Eclipse is RISING in Washington DC at 6:12:30 am edt. And boy is it. Plus, this is the Pre-natal Eclipse of the November elections so we'll want to keep our eyes on it.
All items are here:LegitGov Breaking News
'They have permission to 'shoot to kill' in the event of martial law.' The FBI Deputizes Business By Matthew Rothschild Feb 7, 2008:
Today, more than 23,000 representatives of private industry are working quietly with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. The members of this rapidly growing group, called InfraGard, receive secret warnings of terrorist threats before the public does--and, at least on one occasion, before elected officials... One business executive, who showed me his InfraGard card, told me they have permission to "shoot to kill" in the event of martial law... This business owner says he attended a small InfraGard meeting where agents of the FBI and Homeland Security discussed in astonishing detail what InfraGard members may be called upon to do...
"Then they said when--not if--martial law is declared, it was our responsibility to protect our portion of the infrastructure, and if we had to use deadly force to protect it, we couldn’t be prosecuted," he says.#
Jude's Threshold now has a Page with the chart of the Aug 1, 2008 Solar Eclipse (10 South Series) which I will be updating with more details as time permits.
You'll see in the chart that on August 1 this Eclipse is RISING in Washington DC at 6:12:30 am edt. And boy is it. Plus, this is the Pre-natal Eclipse of the November elections so we'll want to keep our eyes on it.
Jan 25, 2008
Secret Means are necessary: eavesdropping
News Updates from Citizens for Legitimate Government Jan 25,2008
Breaking News
Like FBI, CIA Has Used Secret 'Letters' Jan 25, 2008: Newly released documents shed light on the use of national security letters by the CIA. The spy agency has employed them to obtain financial information about US residents and does so under extraordinary secrecy, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which obtained copies of CIA letters under the Freedom of Information Act.
The CIA's requests for financial records come with "gag orders" on the recipients, said ACLU lawyer Melissa Goodman. In many cases, she said, the recipient is not allowed to keep a copy of the letter or even take notes about the information turned over to the CIA.
Phone Firms' Bid for Immunity in Wiretaps Gains Ground Jan 25, 2008: The Senate signaled in a key vote yesterday that it supports giving some of the nation's largest telephone companies immunity from dozens of privacy lawsuits related to a federal domestic eavesdropping program initiated after the Sept 11, 2001, attacks.
In a 60 to 36 vote--with 12 DemocRATs joining Republicans in the majority--the Senate rejected a version of the proposed legislation sponsored by Democrats on the Judiciary Committee. That bill omitted immunity for the telecommunications firms involved in warrantless eavesdropping. [From Glenn Greenwald's blog: As usual, just enough Democrats--roughly 12--voted in favor in order to ensure that the Motion passed while enabling Democrats generally to pretend that they opposed it. All GOP Senators voted in favor. The pro-immunity, pro-warrantless eavesdropping Democrats: Rockefeller, Pryor, Inouye, McCaskill, Landrieu, Salazar, Nelson (FL), Nelson (NE), Mikulski, Carper, Bayh, and Johnson. Neither Clinton nor Obama bothered to show up for any of this.]
Judge wants answers on CIA videotapes Jan 24, 2008: A federal judge said Thursday that CIA interrogation videotapes may have been relevant to his court case, and he gave the Bush regime three weeks to explain why they were destroyed in 2005 and say whether other evidence was destroyed. The decision is a legal setback for the Bush regime, which has urged courts not to get involved.#
Legal setback, eh? Yet somehow the Bush administration gets around courts and uses the highest in the land to carry its water when convenient.
This information with its "secret letter" mentions spurred me to look at the Sabian Symbol for "A man gaining secret knowledge from a paper he is reading" (Jones) to see what secrets might be divulged.
"29Virgo" is the degree of this Symbol and the degree of a Solar Eclipse in the 8 South Series which occurred Sep 22, 2006.
Brady's Predictive Astrology tells us that this Series' flavor is about separations, losses, and partings and feeling sad at their completion; physical injury is possible through overstraining one's strength.
I say spying on the American people IS an overstraining of strength.
The original Eclipse in the Series was on April 1, 1718 at "11Aries", the "A president of the country" degree, and the more recent dates of its manifestation are: 1916, 1934, 1952, 1970, 1988, (2006), and the next: 2024.
Interestingly this Series is the Pre-natal Eclipse Series (PE) of:
Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736 NS), the NASDAQ (Feb 2, 1971), George Tenet (Jan 5, 1953), and neocon Bill Kristol (Dec 23, 1953)--quite a crowd. I'll keep the first one, y'all can keep the rest!
So what are the details for "29Vir"?
Keyword...DISCOVERY...
pos: imagination brought to its full powers through conscious effort;
neg/unconcious/shadow side: loss of common sense in pure supposition.
Yes, the Democrats enable this secret witch hunt which has purpose after all, and few in Washington seem to be willing (or able, for Washington runs on blackmail from and toward both sides) to admit that the Bush-Cheney spying pursuits are about much more than 'catching' foreign terroists.
It's a major duh: politicians have been spied on from within Cheney's secret net, too!
Yet we've seen how successful the Bushies have been prosecuting the few terroists and would-bes they've trumped up on charges, although I can't deny that ruining America's judicial system is part of the undermining of our sovereignty--a goal which is proceeding quite nicely along with financial instabilities (which will make neocon/globalist control even more "necessary.") Control is the power, and 'waterboy' John Roberts will be helping with that.
They're so intent on red herrings--are they ineptly letting the piranhas slip by? It's the tesion of the control vs freedom argument which the upcoming Saturn-Uranus opposition so ably describes.
What fries my potato is their talent for subverting the American people's will so that the majority think they "see" why certain controls are necessary, all the while suffering under the yoke of bill paying and struggling to fund the basic necessities of life, leaving little time to keep an eye on the eyes of spies.
Congress and a free press are supposed to be helping us with that "oversight." Yuh.
It was Adlai Stevenson who uttered, A hungry man is not a free man and it's possible that truer words have seldom been mouthed out loud by a politician.
And their meaning is more clear as time goes on--and more a marker of politicos' dark intent for those who wish to open the secret letter and read.
Breaking News
Like FBI, CIA Has Used Secret 'Letters' Jan 25, 2008: Newly released documents shed light on the use of national security letters by the CIA. The spy agency has employed them to obtain financial information about US residents and does so under extraordinary secrecy, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which obtained copies of CIA letters under the Freedom of Information Act.
The CIA's requests for financial records come with "gag orders" on the recipients, said ACLU lawyer Melissa Goodman. In many cases, she said, the recipient is not allowed to keep a copy of the letter or even take notes about the information turned over to the CIA.
Phone Firms' Bid for Immunity in Wiretaps Gains Ground Jan 25, 2008: The Senate signaled in a key vote yesterday that it supports giving some of the nation's largest telephone companies immunity from dozens of privacy lawsuits related to a federal domestic eavesdropping program initiated after the Sept 11, 2001, attacks.
In a 60 to 36 vote--with 12 DemocRATs joining Republicans in the majority--the Senate rejected a version of the proposed legislation sponsored by Democrats on the Judiciary Committee. That bill omitted immunity for the telecommunications firms involved in warrantless eavesdropping. [From Glenn Greenwald's blog: As usual, just enough Democrats--roughly 12--voted in favor in order to ensure that the Motion passed while enabling Democrats generally to pretend that they opposed it. All GOP Senators voted in favor. The pro-immunity, pro-warrantless eavesdropping Democrats: Rockefeller, Pryor, Inouye, McCaskill, Landrieu, Salazar, Nelson (FL), Nelson (NE), Mikulski, Carper, Bayh, and Johnson. Neither Clinton nor Obama bothered to show up for any of this.]
Judge wants answers on CIA videotapes Jan 24, 2008: A federal judge said Thursday that CIA interrogation videotapes may have been relevant to his court case, and he gave the Bush regime three weeks to explain why they were destroyed in 2005 and say whether other evidence was destroyed. The decision is a legal setback for the Bush regime, which has urged courts not to get involved.#
Legal setback, eh? Yet somehow the Bush administration gets around courts and uses the highest in the land to carry its water when convenient.
This information with its "secret letter" mentions spurred me to look at the Sabian Symbol for "A man gaining secret knowledge from a paper he is reading" (Jones) to see what secrets might be divulged.
"29Virgo" is the degree of this Symbol and the degree of a Solar Eclipse in the 8 South Series which occurred Sep 22, 2006.
Brady's Predictive Astrology tells us that this Series' flavor is about separations, losses, and partings and feeling sad at their completion; physical injury is possible through overstraining one's strength.
I say spying on the American people IS an overstraining of strength.
The original Eclipse in the Series was on April 1, 1718 at "11Aries", the "A president of the country" degree, and the more recent dates of its manifestation are: 1916, 1934, 1952, 1970, 1988, (2006), and the next: 2024.
Interestingly this Series is the Pre-natal Eclipse Series (PE) of:
Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736 NS), the NASDAQ (Feb 2, 1971), George Tenet (Jan 5, 1953), and neocon Bill Kristol (Dec 23, 1953)--quite a crowd. I'll keep the first one, y'all can keep the rest!
So what are the details for "29Vir"?
Keyword...DISCOVERY...
pos: imagination brought to its full powers through conscious effort;
neg/unconcious/shadow side: loss of common sense in pure supposition.
Yes, the Democrats enable this secret witch hunt which has purpose after all, and few in Washington seem to be willing (or able, for Washington runs on blackmail from and toward both sides) to admit that the Bush-Cheney spying pursuits are about much more than 'catching' foreign terroists.
It's a major duh: politicians have been spied on from within Cheney's secret net, too!
Yet we've seen how successful the Bushies have been prosecuting the few terroists and would-bes they've trumped up on charges, although I can't deny that ruining America's judicial system is part of the undermining of our sovereignty--a goal which is proceeding quite nicely along with financial instabilities (which will make neocon/globalist control even more "necessary.") Control is the power, and 'waterboy' John Roberts will be helping with that.
They're so intent on red herrings--are they ineptly letting the piranhas slip by? It's the tesion of the control vs freedom argument which the upcoming Saturn-Uranus opposition so ably describes.
What fries my potato is their talent for subverting the American people's will so that the majority think they "see" why certain controls are necessary, all the while suffering under the yoke of bill paying and struggling to fund the basic necessities of life, leaving little time to keep an eye on the eyes of spies.
Congress and a free press are supposed to be helping us with that "oversight." Yuh.
It was Adlai Stevenson who uttered, A hungry man is not a free man and it's possible that truer words have seldom been mouthed out loud by a politician.
And their meaning is more clear as time goes on--and more a marker of politicos' dark intent for those who wish to open the secret letter and read.
Jan 24, 2008
moral conscience of a nation
This "Brutal World"
By Paul Craig Roberts
How did Western Civilization get a monopoly on "moral conscience" when it has no morality?
Read article from Information Clearing House here. #
Remember after the attacks of 9/11 when a list of the West's sins was circulated from bin Laden? The brutal truth hurts and our shadow selves too long ignored cause the worst 'blowback' of all.
This blogger critiques because she loves, America. The actions of our installed-by-Court government put me in a position of having to agree with bin Laden when so many of us knew all along that our morals weren't up to snuff as Washington pretended (they need the ruse to hide their crookery.)
It's 2008 and once again perfidy and fraud are being played out in the halls of power--in Washington, on Wall Street, in our local capitols. The People are, in most cases, better than their elite 'masters' and I stand by that conviction which has been voiced on this blog in prior posts.
Never trust a man who says, trust me, my Mama always said, and boy, does that apply to Politics, that system of organized hatreds.
And although I have an abiding interest in America history, my faith and hope resides within and for the American People.
Thomas Jefferson once said that between having a government and a press, he'd prefer the press. Wouldn't an honest one be helpful about now?
By Paul Craig Roberts
How did Western Civilization get a monopoly on "moral conscience" when it has no morality?
Read article from Information Clearing House here. #
Remember after the attacks of 9/11 when a list of the West's sins was circulated from bin Laden? The brutal truth hurts and our shadow selves too long ignored cause the worst 'blowback' of all.
This blogger critiques because she loves, America. The actions of our installed-by-Court government put me in a position of having to agree with bin Laden when so many of us knew all along that our morals weren't up to snuff as Washington pretended (they need the ruse to hide their crookery.)
It's 2008 and once again perfidy and fraud are being played out in the halls of power--in Washington, on Wall Street, in our local capitols. The People are, in most cases, better than their elite 'masters' and I stand by that conviction which has been voiced on this blog in prior posts.
Never trust a man who says, trust me, my Mama always said, and boy, does that apply to Politics, that system of organized hatreds.
And although I have an abiding interest in America history, my faith and hope resides within and for the American People.
Thomas Jefferson once said that between having a government and a press, he'd prefer the press. Wouldn't an honest one be helpful about now?
Jan 20, 2008
What's for dinner, America? Soup!
Leather-Sole-of-Shoe Soup is a thing of the past, you say? Only because in 2008 it will have to be Plastic Stew!
A post from Oct 2007, Homelessness rising: Bush vs FDR, has a link to an earlier post, FDR: a test of our progress which I recommend.
If you're a returning and homeless war vet or know one, if you're a family who bought into the American Dream of home ownership--loudly promoted by a newly installed George Bush (his come-on to the dubious subprime loan victims who bought into the scheme--the duped dreamers), you may wish to consider a comparison (contrast, actually) between Pres Franklin Roosevelt and our current infestator of the White House's crooked nooks and cranies.
Soup lines across America where the rich get richer by sneaking their greedy fingers upon the scales and the taxpayers foot the bill.
Isn't that the set-up in Iraq and the entire so-called WOT? The rich profit while we pick up the tab. At least Roosevelt and some of his contemporaries had more shame than that.
Is this the population control tactic as exercised during the French Revolution?
Rebel if you must, at the suggestion, but I suggest you hold your final judgment on the issue until all the plastic shoes drop into the cauldron, for you may be getting hungry any day now with the globalists in charge.
A post from Oct 2007, Homelessness rising: Bush vs FDR, has a link to an earlier post, FDR: a test of our progress which I recommend.
If you're a returning and homeless war vet or know one, if you're a family who bought into the American Dream of home ownership--loudly promoted by a newly installed George Bush (his come-on to the dubious subprime loan victims who bought into the scheme--the duped dreamers), you may wish to consider a comparison (contrast, actually) between Pres Franklin Roosevelt and our current infestator of the White House's crooked nooks and cranies.
Soup lines across America where the rich get richer by sneaking their greedy fingers upon the scales and the taxpayers foot the bill.
Isn't that the set-up in Iraq and the entire so-called WOT? The rich profit while we pick up the tab. At least Roosevelt and some of his contemporaries had more shame than that.
Is this the population control tactic as exercised during the French Revolution?
Rebel if you must, at the suggestion, but I suggest you hold your final judgment on the issue until all the plastic shoes drop into the cauldron, for you may be getting hungry any day now with the globalists in charge.
Jan 14, 2008
cyber spying on the way...
...careful what your blog doth say.
Raw Story has today's update on plans for cyber security of the Bush Dy-nasty kind.
Raw Story has today's update on plans for cyber security of the Bush Dy-nasty kind.
Jan 13, 2008
Oops! who's got the missing oil?
Must be around here somewhere!
Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens For Legitimate Government Jan 13, 2008
All items are here:
LegitGov.org/Breaking News
Oil Crisis As 308,000 Barrels Go Missing, According to Audit 10 Jan 2008:
How do you not notice when 308,000 barrels of oil go missing? That's the question government auditors were asking after they looked into the Department of Energy's management of oil received for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a critical program to assure energy stability in the US in case of an oil crisis.#
"Missing" oil, "missing" emails...the Bush administration bumbles so very purposefully. And, of course, they profit from using the infamous fuzzy math, too.
Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens For Legitimate Government Jan 13, 2008
All items are here:
LegitGov.org/Breaking News
Oil Crisis As 308,000 Barrels Go Missing, According to Audit 10 Jan 2008:
How do you not notice when 308,000 barrels of oil go missing? That's the question government auditors were asking after they looked into the Department of Energy's management of oil received for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a critical program to assure energy stability in the US in case of an oil crisis.#
"Missing" oil, "missing" emails...the Bush administration bumbles so very purposefully. And, of course, they profit from using the infamous fuzzy math, too.
Jan 11, 2008
a Black Hole president
That's what we have: a president and presidency full of Black Holes.
Alex Miller-Mignone's excellent article in the Daykeeper Journal on the Black Hole links to George Bush's natal planets (which includes America's Sun) shines light on seven years of Bush from his questionable (s)elections to the Oval Office, his propaganda cataputlin' (as he called it in a moment of unconscious truth telling), to his spying tendencies, and more.
Alex's article, one of a series, explains Bush's natal Sun in Cancer, and his Mercury-Pluto conjunction in 1st house, a pairing which indicates secretiveness, cruel thoughts, and persuasive speaking ability on its own. In the early years of his residency, Bush's manipulation of the English language was made out to be a joke--a sly-dog media's diversionary tactic to veil content.
Add Black Holes to the cauldron and we have our little devil of a dictator, his nibs himself, who believes his own versions of the truth, never letting reality interfere with his dreams of world domination...dreams and plans which were handed down from Poppy (old pal of *Anton Lavey, satanist supreme.)
A further article by Miller-Mignone is promised on Bush's Mars-Saturn placements and his "foreign policy" if what he does abroad can be called that.
If you've not read Alex's series on George Bush, I can't recommend it highly enough!
*Anton Lavey, born April 11, 1930, 3:10 am CST, Chicago, IL; Sun Ari-Moon Vir: "A surgeon performs a daring operation...A metal worker forges an intricate masterpiece...A William Morris design...A remembrance that the perfect is the enemy of the good." (Sun Sign-Moon Sign, Chas & Suzi Harvey.)
(What do you bet Lavey considered himself perfect?)
The Sun Ari-Moon Vir blend is shared natally with two folks who made interesting observations...here are but two of them:
I don't want a lawyer to tell me what I cannot do; I hire him to tell me how to do what I want to do. --J.P.Morgan
(Describes the White House and the "Justice" Dept perfectly.) And...
When it comes to George Bush, I heartily agree with Wordsworth on the issue.
Alex Miller-Mignone's excellent article in the Daykeeper Journal on the Black Hole links to George Bush's natal planets (which includes America's Sun) shines light on seven years of Bush from his questionable (s)elections to the Oval Office, his propaganda cataputlin' (as he called it in a moment of unconscious truth telling), to his spying tendencies, and more.
Alex's article, one of a series, explains Bush's natal Sun in Cancer, and his Mercury-Pluto conjunction in 1st house, a pairing which indicates secretiveness, cruel thoughts, and persuasive speaking ability on its own. In the early years of his residency, Bush's manipulation of the English language was made out to be a joke--a sly-dog media's diversionary tactic to veil content.
Add Black Holes to the cauldron and we have our little devil of a dictator, his nibs himself, who believes his own versions of the truth, never letting reality interfere with his dreams of world domination...dreams and plans which were handed down from Poppy (old pal of *Anton Lavey, satanist supreme.)
A further article by Miller-Mignone is promised on Bush's Mars-Saturn placements and his "foreign policy" if what he does abroad can be called that.
If you've not read Alex's series on George Bush, I can't recommend it highly enough!
*Anton Lavey, born April 11, 1930, 3:10 am CST, Chicago, IL; Sun Ari-Moon Vir: "A surgeon performs a daring operation...A metal worker forges an intricate masterpiece...A William Morris design...A remembrance that the perfect is the enemy of the good." (Sun Sign-Moon Sign, Chas & Suzi Harvey.)
(What do you bet Lavey considered himself perfect?)
The Sun Ari-Moon Vir blend is shared natally with two folks who made interesting observations...here are but two of them:
I don't want a lawyer to tell me what I cannot do; I hire him to tell me how to do what I want to do. --J.P.Morgan
(Describes the White House and the "Justice" Dept perfectly.) And...
Strongest minds--William Wordsworth
Are often those of whom the noisy world
hears least
When it comes to George Bush, I heartily agree with Wordsworth on the issue.
Jan 6, 2008
McGovern weighs in on Bush administration
"People who think of government as the institution to entrust with enough power to right all the world's wrongs seem to never consider that they must thereby give it enough power to do wrong to all the world's rights. In fact, they seem NEVER to consider what the founders always thought was obvious: that the 'good guys' will NOT always be in charge!" --Bert Rand
Read this newsletter online at tinyurl.com
Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered Since The U.S. Invaded Iraq: 1,163,944
justforeignpolicy.org
Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America's War On Iraq: 3,910: icasualties.org
The War in Iraq Costs: $483,439,870,165
See the cost in your community: nationalpriorities.org
Why I Believe Bush Must Go
Nixon Was Bad. These Guys Are Worse
By George McGovern
As we enter the eighth year of the Bush-Cheney administration, I have belatedly and painfully concluded that the only honorable course for me is to urge the impeachment of the president and the vice president.
Read McGovern's article at Information Clearing House#
Glad Mr. McGovern is weighing in at last, but I doubt the neocons and plutocrats are listening. But I am, are you?
George McGovern, born July 19, 1922, 3:00 am CST, Avon, SD) has recently completed his Uranus Return which happens to those who reach the 84-year milestone. It's a time of possible spiritual awakening if the spiritual has been ignored before--a renewal if already part of the life--and, it seems, of truth-telling. And it's when childhood issues (and perhaps memories) no longer hold sway as they once did. In effect: a letting go.
At 13Pis14 Rx, Mr. McGovern's triple Uranus Return dates are: April 17, 2006; Aug 23, 2006 (Rx); and Feb 7, 2007...Uranus is in 10th house natally.
The ongoing Mars Rx we are experiencing is upon his natal ASC as I type: 27Gem22. And since there are indications in his natal chart of pulmonary concerns, having tr Mars crossing and recrossing his natal ASC (physical body) may be difficult for him.
His Sun/MC midpoint (The Goal = 13Tau35) is conj US Inaugural ASC (noon, DC, Jan 20)...his goal in life was to be inaugurated president.
Yet Sun/Mars = (restrictive) Saturn: defeat in a contest; difficulties or obstacles in the profession.
Well, yes. And Saturn there may indicate his own party blocking his goals--the dastardly Ds! Of course, planetary archetypes must exist inwardly before they express outwardly, so perhaps McGovern had reservations within...as any sane person who thinks of taking the job should. Run FROM the White House would be the better advice.
Here are a few details on McGovern's Sun Cancer-Moon Taurus personality blend:
practical idealism; shrewd perceptions; belief in the worth of every individual; capacity for listening to others' needs; dependable; tenacious; artistic; fussy.
Images for Integration:
A family photo album...A painter captures the taste and smell of a landscape...A flourishing family business. (Sun Sign-Moon Sign, Chas & Suzi Harvey.)
Sun in Cancer, sign of the family. Tonight I tip my hat toward Mr. McGovern who knows even more political secrets than he's now--finally--letting on, and I hope he enlightens America by spilling Washington's beans.
Read this newsletter online at tinyurl.com
Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered Since The U.S. Invaded Iraq: 1,163,944
justforeignpolicy.org
Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America's War On Iraq: 3,910: icasualties.org
The War in Iraq Costs: $483,439,870,165
See the cost in your community: nationalpriorities.org
Why I Believe Bush Must Go
Nixon Was Bad. These Guys Are Worse
By George McGovern
As we enter the eighth year of the Bush-Cheney administration, I have belatedly and painfully concluded that the only honorable course for me is to urge the impeachment of the president and the vice president.
Read McGovern's article at Information Clearing House#
Glad Mr. McGovern is weighing in at last, but I doubt the neocons and plutocrats are listening. But I am, are you?
George McGovern, born July 19, 1922, 3:00 am CST, Avon, SD) has recently completed his Uranus Return which happens to those who reach the 84-year milestone. It's a time of possible spiritual awakening if the spiritual has been ignored before--a renewal if already part of the life--and, it seems, of truth-telling. And it's when childhood issues (and perhaps memories) no longer hold sway as they once did. In effect: a letting go.
At 13Pis14 Rx, Mr. McGovern's triple Uranus Return dates are: April 17, 2006; Aug 23, 2006 (Rx); and Feb 7, 2007...Uranus is in 10th house natally.
The ongoing Mars Rx we are experiencing is upon his natal ASC as I type: 27Gem22. And since there are indications in his natal chart of pulmonary concerns, having tr Mars crossing and recrossing his natal ASC (physical body) may be difficult for him.
His Sun/MC midpoint (The Goal = 13Tau35) is conj US Inaugural ASC (noon, DC, Jan 20)...his goal in life was to be inaugurated president.
Yet Sun/Mars = (restrictive) Saturn: defeat in a contest; difficulties or obstacles in the profession.
Well, yes. And Saturn there may indicate his own party blocking his goals--the dastardly Ds! Of course, planetary archetypes must exist inwardly before they express outwardly, so perhaps McGovern had reservations within...as any sane person who thinks of taking the job should. Run FROM the White House would be the better advice.
Here are a few details on McGovern's Sun Cancer-Moon Taurus personality blend:
practical idealism; shrewd perceptions; belief in the worth of every individual; capacity for listening to others' needs; dependable; tenacious; artistic; fussy.
Images for Integration:
A family photo album...A painter captures the taste and smell of a landscape...A flourishing family business. (Sun Sign-Moon Sign, Chas & Suzi Harvey.)
Sun in Cancer, sign of the family. Tonight I tip my hat toward Mr. McGovern who knows even more political secrets than he's now--finally--letting on, and I hope he enlightens America by spilling Washington's beans.
CIA and Pentagon: Pluto into Pakistan?
News Updates from Citizens for Legitimate Government Jan 6, 2008:
Read the Breaking News at LegitGov
CIA to get broad powers to act inside Pakistan: Report Jan 6, 2008
The administration of President [sic] George W Bush is considering granting the Pentagon and CIA new authority to conduct covert operations in the tribal areas of Pakistan, The New York Times reported on its website late Saturday. Citing unnamed senior administration officials, the newspaper said the plan calls for giving Central Intelligence Agency agents broader powers to strike selected targets inside the country, in some cases using intelligence provided by Pakistani sources.#
Isn't this what Sen. Obama said he would do if/when president in the ABC-Facebook debates of last evening?
These forums were a little closer to being actual debates than we've seen in years which was...refreshing. Some actual testiness showed through, and the pile-ups on Romney by the Rs, and on Clinton by John Edwards and Barack Obama were predictable fodder for the Sunday morning pundits. Once again, Tim Russert and his tv colleagues managed to avoid any real discussion of issues in any meaningful way.
Change is as change does, says Hillary (I paraphrase liberally--accent on does.)
But she can't hide from the fact that she's been part of the establishment for several years now, female though she is. A woman president would be a major change--but not if it's imperialism and corporatism as usual. If selected, she won't be able to hide behind her own skirts (if she has any) for long if that's what's in store for America with a Hillary presidency.
John McCain seems to be preferred by the GOP...Mr. One Hundred Years in Iraq. Well, astrologically he has natal Pluto opposite US n Pluto, and natal Moon conjunct US Pluto. This speaks to his Vietnam experiences and now--to his attachment to US power which includes Pluto's nuclear connection.
This places McCain's ambitious Capricorn Moon at MC in the Inauguration 2009 chart along with US natal Pluto--and his natal NN (path; connections with the public)conjuncts Inaugural Pluto in the 8th house...Scorpio's natural house.
So on Inauguration Day it's tr Pluto 1Cap57 conj McCain's n NN 1Cap28 which links to the attacks of 9/11/01. His powerful connections (Pluto/NN) are also with those whose power-behind-the-throne has been in effect since America was born...US n Pluto is unaspected and works on his own as it suits. Our CIA and other intell agencies were formed in the early days and continue to work outside the realm of the American people's knowledge.
The nature of the beast? Sure. And this beast is a large part of present troubles created by perfidy, betrayal, unreliability, and meddling (to transform--Pluto the catalyst.) Overthrowing elected govenments, installing and propping up dictators, drug-running, assassinations (you know the list)--our unaspected Pluto has perpetrated it all.
And America's Pluto Return in 2021-22 may be the culmination of our nation's long march toward a fall from grace.
As mentioned in a previous post, switching prez Inaugurations from early March to Jan 20 (for one of FDR's installations) has put US natal Pluto at MC
(the Goal, Aspirations, and Objectives Point of the chart) ever since.
The date switch also had the obfuscating effect of removing US natal Pluto/Chiron midpoint from MC (8Pis+)--not that anyone was aware of Chiron at that time. But plutocratic oppression and class warfare certainly existed, didn't it?
Now Pluto is going into Pakistan bwo the CIA and Pentagon. History, and the planetary cycles that mirror them, repeat.
Read the Breaking News at LegitGov
CIA to get broad powers to act inside Pakistan: Report Jan 6, 2008
The administration of President [sic] George W Bush is considering granting the Pentagon and CIA new authority to conduct covert operations in the tribal areas of Pakistan, The New York Times reported on its website late Saturday. Citing unnamed senior administration officials, the newspaper said the plan calls for giving Central Intelligence Agency agents broader powers to strike selected targets inside the country, in some cases using intelligence provided by Pakistani sources.#
Isn't this what Sen. Obama said he would do if/when president in the ABC-Facebook debates of last evening?
These forums were a little closer to being actual debates than we've seen in years which was...refreshing. Some actual testiness showed through, and the pile-ups on Romney by the Rs, and on Clinton by John Edwards and Barack Obama were predictable fodder for the Sunday morning pundits. Once again, Tim Russert and his tv colleagues managed to avoid any real discussion of issues in any meaningful way.
Change is as change does, says Hillary (I paraphrase liberally--accent on does.)
But she can't hide from the fact that she's been part of the establishment for several years now, female though she is. A woman president would be a major change--but not if it's imperialism and corporatism as usual. If selected, she won't be able to hide behind her own skirts (if she has any) for long if that's what's in store for America with a Hillary presidency.
John McCain seems to be preferred by the GOP...Mr. One Hundred Years in Iraq. Well, astrologically he has natal Pluto opposite US n Pluto, and natal Moon conjunct US Pluto. This speaks to his Vietnam experiences and now--to his attachment to US power which includes Pluto's nuclear connection.
This places McCain's ambitious Capricorn Moon at MC in the Inauguration 2009 chart along with US natal Pluto--and his natal NN (path; connections with the public)conjuncts Inaugural Pluto in the 8th house...Scorpio's natural house.
So on Inauguration Day it's tr Pluto 1Cap57 conj McCain's n NN 1Cap28 which links to the attacks of 9/11/01. His powerful connections (Pluto/NN) are also with those whose power-behind-the-throne has been in effect since America was born...US n Pluto is unaspected and works on his own as it suits. Our CIA and other intell agencies were formed in the early days and continue to work outside the realm of the American people's knowledge.
The nature of the beast? Sure. And this beast is a large part of present troubles created by perfidy, betrayal, unreliability, and meddling (to transform--Pluto the catalyst.) Overthrowing elected govenments, installing and propping up dictators, drug-running, assassinations (you know the list)--our unaspected Pluto has perpetrated it all.
And America's Pluto Return in 2021-22 may be the culmination of our nation's long march toward a fall from grace.
As mentioned in a previous post, switching prez Inaugurations from early March to Jan 20 (for one of FDR's installations) has put US natal Pluto at MC
(the Goal, Aspirations, and Objectives Point of the chart) ever since.
The date switch also had the obfuscating effect of removing US natal Pluto/Chiron midpoint from MC (8Pis+)--not that anyone was aware of Chiron at that time. But plutocratic oppression and class warfare certainly existed, didn't it?
Now Pluto is going into Pakistan bwo the CIA and Pentagon. History, and the planetary cycles that mirror them, repeat.
Dec 21, 2007
Iraq War affects US dollar
Amy Quinn has sent me a link to CurrencyTrading.net which has a list of 20 hidden ways in which the Iraq War is affecting the value of the US dollar.
Be sure to read the 20th one--that popular presidents tend to inspire popularity for the dollar. After the disaster-filled Bush residency, it's surprising to me that the world hasn't switched back to using shells and beads.
Or perhaps we will by the time these global elitists get done with us.
Be sure to read the 20th one--that popular presidents tend to inspire popularity for the dollar. After the disaster-filled Bush residency, it's surprising to me that the world hasn't switched back to using shells and beads.
Or perhaps we will by the time these global elitists get done with us.
Dec 16, 2007
Bush spying on Americans since Feb 2001
Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens For Legitimate Government
15 Dec 2007 All items are here: Breaking News
'Within two weeks of taking office, the Bush administration was planning a comprehensive effort of spying on Americans' phone usage.' Wider Spying Fuels Aid Plan for Telecom Industry 16 Dec 2007:
For months, the Bush regime has waged a high-profile campaign, including personal lobbying by President [sic] Bush and closed-door briefings by top officials, to persuade Congress to pass legislation protecting companies from lawsuits for aiding the National Security Agency’s warrantless eavesdropping program...
In December 2000, N.S.A. officials wrote a transition report to the incoming Bush administration, saying the agency must become a "powerful, permanent presence" on the commercial communications network, a goal that they acknowledged would raise legal and privacy issues...A lawsuit filed in federal court in New Jersey claims that in February 2001, the N.S.A. met with AT&T officials to discuss replicating a network center in Bedminster, N.J., to give the agency access to all the global phone and e-mail traffic that ran through it. [Since Bush bin Laden has been spying since December 2000, why wasn't he able to prevent the 9/11 terrorist attacks?]
LegitGov.org#
This lends credence to the Bush-Cheney culpable in 9/11 theories, imho, for those with eyes to see.
15 Dec 2007 All items are here: Breaking News
'Within two weeks of taking office, the Bush administration was planning a comprehensive effort of spying on Americans' phone usage.' Wider Spying Fuels Aid Plan for Telecom Industry 16 Dec 2007:
For months, the Bush regime has waged a high-profile campaign, including personal lobbying by President [sic] Bush and closed-door briefings by top officials, to persuade Congress to pass legislation protecting companies from lawsuits for aiding the National Security Agency’s warrantless eavesdropping program...
In December 2000, N.S.A. officials wrote a transition report to the incoming Bush administration, saying the agency must become a "powerful, permanent presence" on the commercial communications network, a goal that they acknowledged would raise legal and privacy issues...A lawsuit filed in federal court in New Jersey claims that in February 2001, the N.S.A. met with AT&T officials to discuss replicating a network center in Bedminster, N.J., to give the agency access to all the global phone and e-mail traffic that ran through it. [Since Bush bin Laden has been spying since December 2000, why wasn't he able to prevent the 9/11 terrorist attacks?]
LegitGov.org#
This lends credence to the Bush-Cheney culpable in 9/11 theories, imho, for those with eyes to see.
Dec 13, 2007
genocidal legacies of the rich and famous
A day late but tragically appropriate at all times:
Information Clearing House Newsletter
News You Won't Find On CNN
12/12/07
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The civilized have created the wretched, quite coldly and deliberately, and do not intend to change the status quo; are responsible for their slaughter and enslavement; rain down bombs on defenseless children whenever and wherever they decide that their 'vital interests' are menaced, and think nothing of torturing a man to death: these people are not to be taken seriously when they speak of the 'sanctity' of human life, or the 'conscience' of the civilized world." James Baldwin [From chapter one of "The Devil Finds Work" (orig. pub. 1976), page 489of Collected Essays (1998)]
"They are torturing people. They are torturing people on Guantanamo Bay.. They are engaging in acts which amount to torture in the medieval sense of the phrase. They are engaging in good old-fashioned torture, as people would have understood it in the Dark Ages." Richard Bourke, Australian attorney
"One thing is for certain: There won't be any more mass graves and torture rooms and rape rooms." George W. Bush [press availability in Monterrey, Mexico, Jan 12, 2004]
"Shamefully we now learn that Saddam's torture chambers reopened under new management, U.S. management." Edward Kennedy
"We don't torture people in America and people who say we do simply know nothing about our country." George W. Bush [Interview with Australian TV - Oct 18, 2003]
"--the actions of those folks in Iraq do not represent the values of the United States of America." George W. Bush
"This so-called ill treatment and torture in detention centers, stories of which were spread everywhere among the people, and later by the prisoners who were freed were not, as some assumed, inflicted methodically, but were excesses committed by individual prison guards, their deputies, and men who laid violent hands on the detainees." Rudolf Hoess, the SS commandant at Auschwitz
Read this newsletter online: tinyurl
Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered Since The U.S. Invaded Iraq: 1,131,831
justforeignpolicy.org
Information Clearing House Newsletter
News You Won't Find On CNN
12/12/07
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The civilized have created the wretched, quite coldly and deliberately, and do not intend to change the status quo; are responsible for their slaughter and enslavement; rain down bombs on defenseless children whenever and wherever they decide that their 'vital interests' are menaced, and think nothing of torturing a man to death: these people are not to be taken seriously when they speak of the 'sanctity' of human life, or the 'conscience' of the civilized world." James Baldwin [From chapter one of "The Devil Finds Work" (orig. pub. 1976), page 489of Collected Essays (1998)]
"They are torturing people. They are torturing people on Guantanamo Bay.. They are engaging in acts which amount to torture in the medieval sense of the phrase. They are engaging in good old-fashioned torture, as people would have understood it in the Dark Ages." Richard Bourke, Australian attorney
"One thing is for certain: There won't be any more mass graves and torture rooms and rape rooms." George W. Bush [press availability in Monterrey, Mexico, Jan 12, 2004]
"Shamefully we now learn that Saddam's torture chambers reopened under new management, U.S. management." Edward Kennedy
"We don't torture people in America and people who say we do simply know nothing about our country." George W. Bush [Interview with Australian TV - Oct 18, 2003]
"--the actions of those folks in Iraq do not represent the values of the United States of America." George W. Bush
"This so-called ill treatment and torture in detention centers, stories of which were spread everywhere among the people, and later by the prisoners who were freed were not, as some assumed, inflicted methodically, but were excesses committed by individual prison guards, their deputies, and men who laid violent hands on the detainees." Rudolf Hoess, the SS commandant at Auschwitz
Read this newsletter online: tinyurl
Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered Since The U.S. Invaded Iraq: 1,131,831
justforeignpolicy.org
Dec 10, 2007
collapsing America going well, thanks
As this blog and many others have been saying for years:
The Planned Collapse of USA
By Peter Chamberlin
We risk blowing the world apart, to avoid watching America slowly choke on its own excesses. The government has known for decades that America is on a countdown to self-destruction. Among the elite it is common knowledge that our "global economy" must one day collapse from its own dead weight...
Read article here.
Got mortgage? Well, in 2001 Bush did speechify America as an "ownership society"--he just didn't say who'd be doing the owning in his poppa's New World Order.
My previous post, Cheney and 9/11 has Cheney's Secondary Progressed chart (the physical plane) set for 9/11/01 and voila! the pair of plutocracy, oppression, and class warfare, Pluto/Chiron, sits at the top o' the chart--the Midheaven, the WHY? or Aspiration Point of any chart.
As you know, a Progressed chart is always based on a natal chart, so I can't make this up.
It's ugly but quite a descriptive sight, in case you missed it 'ere this, so take a peek if you may...collapse of The Tower continues as per the globalists' plan.
Even with my natal Jupiter/Saturn trine and its sense of humor, I am not, nor have I ever been, kidding.
The Planned Collapse of USA
By Peter Chamberlin
We risk blowing the world apart, to avoid watching America slowly choke on its own excesses. The government has known for decades that America is on a countdown to self-destruction. Among the elite it is common knowledge that our "global economy" must one day collapse from its own dead weight...
Read article here.
Got mortgage? Well, in 2001 Bush did speechify America as an "ownership society"--he just didn't say who'd be doing the owning in his poppa's New World Order.
My previous post, Cheney and 9/11 has Cheney's Secondary Progressed chart (the physical plane) set for 9/11/01 and voila! the pair of plutocracy, oppression, and class warfare, Pluto/Chiron, sits at the top o' the chart--the Midheaven, the WHY? or Aspiration Point of any chart.
As you know, a Progressed chart is always based on a natal chart, so I can't make this up.
It's ugly but quite a descriptive sight, in case you missed it 'ere this, so take a peek if you may...collapse of The Tower continues as per the globalists' plan.
Even with my natal Jupiter/Saturn trine and its sense of humor, I am not, nor have I ever been, kidding.
Dec 5, 2007
RESTORE Act
Setting the Record Straight on FISA: a letter from John Conyers
In recent weeks, there has been lot of conflicting information floating around
about efforts by House Democrats to protect the country by adopting rules for intelligence gathering that are both flexible and constitutional. This week, President Bush suggested that my legislative alternative to this summer's hastily-enacted Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) reform, the "Protect America Act," would take away important tools from our intelligence community.
He characterized as "obstruction" the skepticism that many of us have about granting amnesty to telecommunications carriers who may have cooperated in warrantless surveillance. I was disappointed that the President did not propose any concrete steps to improve our capabilities or protect our freedoms--he just repeated his demand for immunity.
This comes close on the heels of a recent controversy concerning the House Democrats' FISA legislation stemming from Joe Klein's column in Time Magazine on Nov 21 in which his Republican sources seem to have spun a tale that led Mr.Klein to characterize our efforts as "more than stupid."
I believe that it is time for a comprehensive and detailed response to the President's accusations of obstruction, the misinformation in the Time Magazine column, and the debate over warrantless surveillance.
Below is that response. Please let me know what you think, and feel free to pass along to your friends and colleagues.
Joe Klein's recent column deriding the House-passed FISA legislation along with his subsequent stumbling efforts to clarify its intent, and Time Magazine's failure to publish the protests my Democratic colleagues and I had regarding its many inaccuracies are only the most recent manifestation of disinformation put forth concerning the Bush Administration's warrantless surveillance program and legislative efforts to modify the law.
As the lead author, along with Silvestre Reyes, of the RESTORE Act, allow me to set the record straight once and for all.
First,contrary to GOP and media spin, the RESTORE Act does not grant "terrorists the same rights as Americans." Section 105A of the RESTORE Act explicitly provides that foreign-to-foreign communications are totally exempt from FISA–-clearly, this exception for foreigners such as members of Al Qaeda does not apply to Americans.
In cases involving foreign agents where communications with Americans could be picked up, Section 105B of the legislation provides for liberalized "basket warrant" procedures by which entire terrorist organizations can be surveilled without the need to obtain individual warrants from the FISA court.
Again, this new authority is aimed at foreign terrorists, not Americans.
Mr. Klein appears to base much of his criticism of our bill on our use of the term "person" to describe who may be surveilled, based on the suggestion of a Republican "source" that this risks an interpretation that terrorist groups would not be covered. The truth is that under FISA the term person has been clearly defined for almost thirty years to include "any group, entity, association, corporation, or foreign power."
It is also notable that both the RESTORE Act, and the Administration's bill
passed this summer, contain the exact same language that Mr. Klein questions,
yet we've never heard an objection to the Administration's bill on this score.
Second, I must strongly disagree with Mr. Klein's assertion that the Speaker "quashed...a bipartisan [compromise] effort."
As the Chairman of the Committee with principal jurisdiction over FISA, the House Judiciary Committee, I am aware of no effort to prevent bipartisan compromise on this issue.
As a matter of fact, last summer, beginning in July, Democrats tirelessly negotiated with Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Mike McConnell, to develop consensus legislation to address the Administration's stated concerns about our intelligence capability.
We addressed every one of the concerns Mr. McConnell raised.
He said he needed to clarify that a court order was not required for foreign-to-foreign communications--our bill did just that. McConnell said he needed an assurance that telecommunications companies would be compelled to assist in gathering of national security information-–our bill did that. The DNI said he needed provisions to extend FISA to foreign intelligence in addition to terrorism-- the bill did that.
He asked us to eliminate the requirement that the FISA Court adjudicate how recurring communications to the United States from foreign targets would be
handled–-the bill did that. McConnell insisted that basket warrants be structured to allow additional targets to be added after the warrant was initially approved – again, the bill did that. When this legislation was described to DNI McConnell, he acknowledged that "it significantly enhances America's security.''
Yet, suddenly, on the eve of the vote, Director McConnell withdrew his support
after consultation with the White House. If the media wanted to identify over-the-top partisanship, they could begin by citing the declaration of David Addington, Vice President Cheney's Chief of Staff, that "We're one bomb away from getting rid of that obnoxious FISA Court," and DNI McConnell's assertion that by merely having an open debate on surveillance, "some Americans are going to die."
Third, the RESTORE Act legislation is badly needed to provide accountability to the Bush Administration's unilateral approach to surveillance. The warrantless surveillance program has been riddled with deceptions that only began to come to light when The New York Times first disclosed the existence of the program in 2005. The program itself appears to directly violate FISA and the Fourth Amendment, as a federal court, the non-partisan Congressional Research Service, numerous Republican legislators, and independent legal scholars have found.
The Administration has also mischaracterized the existence, degree, extent and nature of the program itself as well as how much information it has shared with Congress. For instance, compare the President's speech in 2004 with his admission that there was indeed a program of warrantless surveillance. When high-ranking DOJ officials found the program lacking, the White House went to absurd, if not comical lengths, to convince a dangerously ill and hospitalized Attorney General Ashcroft
to overrule them.
Even today, the Administration continues to obscure its own past misconduct with extravagant claims that the "state secrets" doctrine bars any legal challenges whatsoever--a position that has been rejected by the Court of Appeals.
The Administration's hastily enacted legislation, signed this summer, is little better. Instead of being limited to the stated problem of foreign-to-foreign electronic surveillance, it could apply to domestic business records, library
files, personal mail, and even searches of our homes. Against that backdrop, it is clear we need a new law with the critical oversight provisions included in the RESTORE Act, such as requiring the Administration to turn over relevant documents to Congress, mandating periodic Inspector General reports, and acknowledging that the Administration is indeed bound by FISA.
Finally, the Administration has yet to explain why offering retroactive immunity to telephone giants who may have participated in an unlawful program is vital to our national security. Under current law, the phone companies can easily avoid liability if they can establish they received either an appropriate court order or legal certification from the Attorney General.
Asking Congress to grant legal immunity at a time when the Administration has refused to provide the House of Representatives with relevant legal documents for more than eleven months is not only unreasonable, it is irresponsible.
Civil liberties and national security need not be contradictory policies, rather they are inexorably linked. Perhaps nowhere is this interrelationship more true
than in intelligence gathering, where information must be reliable and untainted by abuse to be useful.
So when we discuss FISA, the first thing we need to do is drop the partisan rhetoric, and stick to the actual record. Under the RESTORE Act, the intelligence community has the flexibility to intercept communications by foreign terrorists without obtaining individual warrants, and the Court and Congress are given the authority to perform their constitutional oversight roles.
The only parties who lose in this process are the terrorists, and those who want the executive branch to have absolute and unreviewable power.
Rather than being, in Mr. Klein's words, "well beyond stupid," the RESTORE Act offers a smart and well balanced approach to updating FISA and reining in the excesses of an unchecked executive branch.
John Conyers, Jr
"Do you think that we want those laws to be observed? We want them broken. There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power the government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws." --Ayn Rand (1905-1982) Atlas Shrugged, 1957
In recent weeks, there has been lot of conflicting information floating around
about efforts by House Democrats to protect the country by adopting rules for intelligence gathering that are both flexible and constitutional. This week, President Bush suggested that my legislative alternative to this summer's hastily-enacted Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) reform, the "Protect America Act," would take away important tools from our intelligence community.
He characterized as "obstruction" the skepticism that many of us have about granting amnesty to telecommunications carriers who may have cooperated in warrantless surveillance. I was disappointed that the President did not propose any concrete steps to improve our capabilities or protect our freedoms--he just repeated his demand for immunity.
This comes close on the heels of a recent controversy concerning the House Democrats' FISA legislation stemming from Joe Klein's column in Time Magazine on Nov 21 in which his Republican sources seem to have spun a tale that led Mr.Klein to characterize our efforts as "more than stupid."
I believe that it is time for a comprehensive and detailed response to the President's accusations of obstruction, the misinformation in the Time Magazine column, and the debate over warrantless surveillance.
Below is that response. Please let me know what you think, and feel free to pass along to your friends and colleagues.
Joe Klein's recent column deriding the House-passed FISA legislation along with his subsequent stumbling efforts to clarify its intent, and Time Magazine's failure to publish the protests my Democratic colleagues and I had regarding its many inaccuracies are only the most recent manifestation of disinformation put forth concerning the Bush Administration's warrantless surveillance program and legislative efforts to modify the law.
As the lead author, along with Silvestre Reyes, of the RESTORE Act, allow me to set the record straight once and for all.
First,contrary to GOP and media spin, the RESTORE Act does not grant "terrorists the same rights as Americans." Section 105A of the RESTORE Act explicitly provides that foreign-to-foreign communications are totally exempt from FISA–-clearly, this exception for foreigners such as members of Al Qaeda does not apply to Americans.
In cases involving foreign agents where communications with Americans could be picked up, Section 105B of the legislation provides for liberalized "basket warrant" procedures by which entire terrorist organizations can be surveilled without the need to obtain individual warrants from the FISA court.
Again, this new authority is aimed at foreign terrorists, not Americans.
Mr. Klein appears to base much of his criticism of our bill on our use of the term "person" to describe who may be surveilled, based on the suggestion of a Republican "source" that this risks an interpretation that terrorist groups would not be covered. The truth is that under FISA the term person has been clearly defined for almost thirty years to include "any group, entity, association, corporation, or foreign power."
It is also notable that both the RESTORE Act, and the Administration's bill
passed this summer, contain the exact same language that Mr. Klein questions,
yet we've never heard an objection to the Administration's bill on this score.
Second, I must strongly disagree with Mr. Klein's assertion that the Speaker "quashed...a bipartisan [compromise] effort."
As the Chairman of the Committee with principal jurisdiction over FISA, the House Judiciary Committee, I am aware of no effort to prevent bipartisan compromise on this issue.
As a matter of fact, last summer, beginning in July, Democrats tirelessly negotiated with Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Mike McConnell, to develop consensus legislation to address the Administration's stated concerns about our intelligence capability.
We addressed every one of the concerns Mr. McConnell raised.
He said he needed to clarify that a court order was not required for foreign-to-foreign communications--our bill did just that. McConnell said he needed an assurance that telecommunications companies would be compelled to assist in gathering of national security information-–our bill did that. The DNI said he needed provisions to extend FISA to foreign intelligence in addition to terrorism-- the bill did that.
He asked us to eliminate the requirement that the FISA Court adjudicate how recurring communications to the United States from foreign targets would be
handled–-the bill did that. McConnell insisted that basket warrants be structured to allow additional targets to be added after the warrant was initially approved – again, the bill did that. When this legislation was described to DNI McConnell, he acknowledged that "it significantly enhances America's security.''
Yet, suddenly, on the eve of the vote, Director McConnell withdrew his support
after consultation with the White House. If the media wanted to identify over-the-top partisanship, they could begin by citing the declaration of David Addington, Vice President Cheney's Chief of Staff, that "We're one bomb away from getting rid of that obnoxious FISA Court," and DNI McConnell's assertion that by merely having an open debate on surveillance, "some Americans are going to die."
Third, the RESTORE Act legislation is badly needed to provide accountability to the Bush Administration's unilateral approach to surveillance. The warrantless surveillance program has been riddled with deceptions that only began to come to light when The New York Times first disclosed the existence of the program in 2005. The program itself appears to directly violate FISA and the Fourth Amendment, as a federal court, the non-partisan Congressional Research Service, numerous Republican legislators, and independent legal scholars have found.
The Administration has also mischaracterized the existence, degree, extent and nature of the program itself as well as how much information it has shared with Congress. For instance, compare the President's speech in 2004 with his admission that there was indeed a program of warrantless surveillance. When high-ranking DOJ officials found the program lacking, the White House went to absurd, if not comical lengths, to convince a dangerously ill and hospitalized Attorney General Ashcroft
to overrule them.
Even today, the Administration continues to obscure its own past misconduct with extravagant claims that the "state secrets" doctrine bars any legal challenges whatsoever--a position that has been rejected by the Court of Appeals.
The Administration's hastily enacted legislation, signed this summer, is little better. Instead of being limited to the stated problem of foreign-to-foreign electronic surveillance, it could apply to domestic business records, library
files, personal mail, and even searches of our homes. Against that backdrop, it is clear we need a new law with the critical oversight provisions included in the RESTORE Act, such as requiring the Administration to turn over relevant documents to Congress, mandating periodic Inspector General reports, and acknowledging that the Administration is indeed bound by FISA.
Finally, the Administration has yet to explain why offering retroactive immunity to telephone giants who may have participated in an unlawful program is vital to our national security. Under current law, the phone companies can easily avoid liability if they can establish they received either an appropriate court order or legal certification from the Attorney General.
Asking Congress to grant legal immunity at a time when the Administration has refused to provide the House of Representatives with relevant legal documents for more than eleven months is not only unreasonable, it is irresponsible.
Civil liberties and national security need not be contradictory policies, rather they are inexorably linked. Perhaps nowhere is this interrelationship more true
than in intelligence gathering, where information must be reliable and untainted by abuse to be useful.
So when we discuss FISA, the first thing we need to do is drop the partisan rhetoric, and stick to the actual record. Under the RESTORE Act, the intelligence community has the flexibility to intercept communications by foreign terrorists without obtaining individual warrants, and the Court and Congress are given the authority to perform their constitutional oversight roles.
The only parties who lose in this process are the terrorists, and those who want the executive branch to have absolute and unreviewable power.
Rather than being, in Mr. Klein's words, "well beyond stupid," the RESTORE Act offers a smart and well balanced approach to updating FISA and reining in the excesses of an unchecked executive branch.
John Conyers, Jr
"Do you think that we want those laws to be observed? We want them broken. There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power the government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws." --Ayn Rand (1905-1982) Atlas Shrugged, 1957
Dec 2, 2007
Bush irony strikes Putin--no scratch reported
With transit *Jupiter conjunct Putin's natal Mars and tr Neptune conj his natal NN (the public), Vladimir Putin's party has "won" the elections in Russia.
And George Bush has mildly called for investigation into election "irregularities" in Russia which is not as surprising as it is ironic. After all, where does Bush think he'd be without election irregularities (and a complicit Supreme Court)?
As I've mentioned here before--cheating isn't "winning"...it's stealing.
When election irregularities really needed investigating in the US, Bush stayed mum for all the obvious reasons...now he dares to comment on Putin's situation which is sure to bring him understandable--if mock--scorn from Putin concerning our own election "process" which has turned against the populace like a piqued dictator on a rampage.
The Holier-Than-Thou Theater is tres dramatic, is it not?
And the win-at-any-cost Machiavellians among us would be comedically entertaining if they weren't totally vile and psychotic.
*Jupiter to Mars: a fortunate period if overestimation of abilities is avoided; luxury consciousness prominent; on the winning team. Or in this case, on the cheating team which passes for winning in today's political world.
Neptune to North Node: inspired use of illusion or deception in dealing with the public (who sees what they want to see!)
And George Bush has mildly called for investigation into election "irregularities" in Russia which is not as surprising as it is ironic. After all, where does Bush think he'd be without election irregularities (and a complicit Supreme Court)?
As I've mentioned here before--cheating isn't "winning"...it's stealing.
When election irregularities really needed investigating in the US, Bush stayed mum for all the obvious reasons...now he dares to comment on Putin's situation which is sure to bring him understandable--if mock--scorn from Putin concerning our own election "process" which has turned against the populace like a piqued dictator on a rampage.
The Holier-Than-Thou Theater is tres dramatic, is it not?
And the win-at-any-cost Machiavellians among us would be comedically entertaining if they weren't totally vile and psychotic.
*Jupiter to Mars: a fortunate period if overestimation of abilities is avoided; luxury consciousness prominent; on the winning team. Or in this case, on the cheating team which passes for winning in today's political world.
Neptune to North Node: inspired use of illusion or deception in dealing with the public (who sees what they want to see!)
Nov 30, 2007
if Bush attacks Iran
Now this is what I've suggested before: if Washington won't carry out the will of the people--stop paying them come April.
If Bush Attacks Iran, He Won't Get My Taxes
By Chris Hedges
I will not pay my income tax if we go to war with Iran. I realize this is a desperate and perhaps futile gesture. But an attack on Iran--which appears increasingly likely before the coming presidential election--will unleash a
regional conflict of catastrophic proportions. This war, and especially Iranian retaliatory strikes on American targets, will be used to silence domestic dissent and abolish what is left of our civil liberties. It will solidify the slow-motion coup d'état that has been under way since the 9/11 attacks. It could mean the
death of the Republic.
Article from Information Clearing House.
If Bush Attacks Iran, He Won't Get My Taxes
By Chris Hedges
I will not pay my income tax if we go to war with Iran. I realize this is a desperate and perhaps futile gesture. But an attack on Iran--which appears increasingly likely before the coming presidential election--will unleash a
regional conflict of catastrophic proportions. This war, and especially Iranian retaliatory strikes on American targets, will be used to silence domestic dissent and abolish what is left of our civil liberties. It will solidify the slow-motion coup d'état that has been under way since the 9/11 attacks. It could mean the
death of the Republic.
Article from Information Clearing House.
Nov 18, 2007
Pentagon veils true casualty numbers
Pentagon Cover Up: 15,000 or more US casualties in Iraq War
By Mike Whitney
The Pentagon has been concealing the true number of American casualties in the Iraq War. The real number exceeds 15,000 and CBS News can prove it.
Read Whitney's article here thanks to Information Clearing House.
By Mike Whitney
The Pentagon has been concealing the true number of American casualties in the Iraq War. The real number exceeds 15,000 and CBS News can prove it.
Read Whitney's article here thanks to Information Clearing House.
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