Best Sound Bite NOT on Network News

“America is not in the position to be happy or unhappy with our nuclear activities to produce energy for peaceful purposes, because America is the first country which used nuclear weapons and killed more than 150,000 of the people in Japan. America is a country which even now is testing the third, fourth or fifth generation of the nuclear bomb. Such a country is not in the position to instruct other nations to have nuclear energy or not.” -- Manouchehr Mottaki


Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said he'd resign if a military strike were carried out on Iran, adding, “I don’t believe that what I see in Iran today is a current, grave and urgent danger. A military strike, in my opinion, would be worse than anything possible. It would turn the region into a fireball. If you do a military strike, it will mean that Iran, if it is not already making nuclear weapons, will launch a crash course to build nuclear weapons with the blessing of all Iranians, even those in the West.”

The statements were made after a New York Times report on Friday that said Israel recently conducted major military training rehearsals for bombing Iran's nuclear facilities.

The report by Michael R. Gordon and Eric Schmitt cites unnamed "officials" from America, the Pentagon and Israel.

Isn't this the same kind of propaganda ploy the Times used to arouse fear and suspicion about Iraq before the 2003 invasion? Gordon cowrote a number of articles with Judith Miller that presented information without specifically naming sources. In this way, the two writers and the New York Times were complicit in promoting the Bush Administration's war propaganda.

Why doesn't the Times run stories about the Project for the New American Century, its policy objectives and its members, who planned on attacking Iraq in order to facilitate an attack on Iran?
Go to PNAC's Web site at: www.newamericancentury.org and read the essays written in the late 1990s by William Kristol, Paul Wolfowitz, John Ashcroft, Dick Cheney, Jeb Bush. (As of right now, the site is down. Hmmmmmm. It was there for at least the last 8 years...) No matter. Just type "Project for the New American Century" into a web search field and see what you get.

The group's goal of establishing a global American empire to bend the will of all nations wasn't kept a secret. Well before 9-11, it was calling for regime change in Iraq as well as increased military spending.

After the Cold War ended, it made sense to close military bases. Neocons bcame worried when President Clinton closed a number of bases to help reduce the national deficit. They banded together to protect their bread and butter. Several original PNAC members, including Cheney, Khalilzad and the Bush family, have ties to the oil industry, the profit of which is contingent on a military economy. Accordingly, a slow down in war and military spending meant a decrease in profit.

The US government is complicit in any Israeli strike against Iran. Israeli planes must fly through NATO airspace to hit Iranian targets. The GOP has run out of distractions, but it will stop at nothing to try and retain its control. I would argue (and I'm not the only one who would) that one purpose of the so-called "War on Terror" is to ensure a steady recruitment of radical extremists into the ranks of Al Quaeda, Hammas, etc. It serves as a justification for perpetual wars.

Neocons believe in lying, any Machiavellian means to an end is their MO. They lie so much to themselves and to the world that they can't keep the stories straight.

Necessary Illusions

If you don't know who Noam Chomsky is and why corporate media and many politicians do their best to ignore him, watch this video:

Yes, it's much easier to ignore reality and create your own. To hell with everyone else.

Marvin Gaye Live Video!!

So cool - I came across this video looking for SxSW tickets. I know you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

He's beautiful! After you watch this one, click on Mercy, Mercy, Me and watch that video too.

LYRICS: Mercy, Mercy, Me (The Ecology) 1971

Ah, mercy, mercy me,
Ah, things ain't what they used to be, no, no.
Where did all the blue skies go?
Poison is the wind that blows from the north and south and east.

Mercy, mercy me,
Ah, things ain't what they used to be, no, no.
Oil wasted on the ocean and upon
our seas fish full of mercury,

Oh, mercy, mercy me.
Ah, things ain't what they used to be, no, no, no.
Radiation underground and in the sky;
animals and birds who live near by are dying.

Oh, mercy, mercy me.
Ah, things ain't what they used to be.
What about this over crowded land?
How much more abuse from man can she stand?

While listening to this song, which Gaye wrote 30+ years ago, the reality that our world is in even worse shape now shook me. Some argue that global warming is a natural phenomenon, that one volcanic erruption releases more toxic stuff than all of humanity's pollution combined. (Someone told me this, I haven't actually looked it up yet.) But is this supposed to excuse unsustainable living and working practices? Why are men so tragically shortsighted?

Maybe it's simply ying and yang, ping and pong. Earth knows. This disposable "civilization" is temporary.