http://www.deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660197443,00.html
Nichols says bombing was FBI op
Detailed confession filed in S.L. about Oklahoma City plot
By Geoffrey Fattah
Deseret Morning News
The only surviving convicted criminal in the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City is saying his co-conspirator, Timothy McVeigh, told him he was taking orders from a top FBI official in orchestrating the bombing.
A declaration from Terry Lynn Nichols, filed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, has proven to be one of the most detailed confessions by Nichols to date about his involvement in the bombing as well as the involvement of others. However, one congressman who has investigated the bombings remains skeptical of Nichols' claims.
The declaration was filed as part of Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue's pending wrongful death suit against the government for the death of his brother in a federal corrections facility in Oklahoma City. Trentadue claims his brother was killed during an interrogation by FBI agents when agents mistook his brother for a suspect in the Oklahoma City bombing investigation.
The most shocking allegation in the 19-page signed declaration is Nichols' assertion that the whole bombing plot was an FBI operation and that McVeigh let slip during a bout of anger that he was taking instruction from former FBI official Larry Potts.
Potts was no stranger to anti-government confrontations, having been the lead FBI agent at Ruby Ridge in 1992, which led to the shooting death of Vicki Weaver, the wife of separatist Randy Weaver. Potts also was reportedly involved in the 51-day siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas in 1993, which resulted in a fire that killed 81 Branch Davidian followers.
Potts retired from the FBI under intense pressure and criticism for the cover-up of an order to allow agents to shoot anyone seen leaving the Weaver cabin at Ruby Ridge.
When contacted, the FBI's main office in Washington, D.C., said it could not provide immediate comment on Nichols' claims Tuesday.
Nichols claims that, in December 1992, McVeigh told him that "while he was serving in the U.S. Army, he had been recruited to carry out undercover missions."
In the next few years, the two men hatched the bombing plot. In October 1994, "McVeigh and I stole explosives from a quarry in Marion, Kansas consisting of 8 1/2 cases or boxes containing 229 (2-inch by 16-inch) sticks of the gel type explosive known as Tovex," Nichols wrote, adding that only a small amount was used in the actual bombing.
It was while traveling the gun-show circuit that Nichols claims the two obtained bombmaking knowledge and the materials used in the bombing. One example is that McVeigh allegedly attended a gun show in Knob Creek, Ky., in 1993.
"At this gun show, McVeigh had the opportunity to make contact with about 20 people who were bomb experts. McVeigh told me that he himself had no knowledge about how to construct a bomb, but that he always wanted to gain more knowledge about how to construct bombs," Nichols stated.
Nichols says he knew McVeigh was building the bomb, and in November 1994 he left for the Philippines to get away from the area to avoid being implicated.
"I did not want to be present when and if McVeigh did explode a bomb. Consequently, I left for the Philippines to be out of the country," he wrote.
That statement contradicts findings of Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, R-California, whose study on the bombing was made public last December. It indicated Nichols had traveled to the Philippines to receive bombing training by a possible foreign terrorist.
Having not heard of any bombing, Nichols said he returned to the U.S. in January 1995. It was later that, in a fit of rage, McVeigh mentioned Potts' name, Nichols wrote.
"McVeigh said he believed Potts was manipulating him and forcing him to 'go off script,' which I understood meant to change the target of the bombing," Nichols stated.
It wasn't until April 18, 1995, that Nichols said he helped McVeigh construct a bomb at Geary Lake. The bomb was comprised of "metal and white plastic" barrels which were filled with ammonium nitrate fertilizer and mixed with nitromethane. In all he estimates between 90 to 92 fifty-pound bags of fertilizer went into the barrels and explosive sticks were placed in the holes of each barrel.
Fertilizer bombs cannot cause the damage seen @ the Murrah Building. And there are the pesky factoids of the military explosives found in the basement, the double-spike seismograph recording from that morning, et cetera. Now on with our MSM show again:
Nichols said he had no further role in renting the Ryder truck and claims he did not know the target, only that McVeigh "wanted to make a statement" by "targeting some structure."
After hearing about the bombing of the federal building, which killed 168 adults and children, Nichols said he panicked when his name came up on the radio and he wanted to turn himself in — but not before hiding evidence, including explosives used in the bombing.
The claims made in the declaration have added yet more twists to the mystery surrounding the bombings. Some familiar with the bombing's history say Nichols' claims seem to indicate the FBI put McVeigh up to the plot as a draw for radicals, but that the situation got out of control and McVeigh became a runaway informant.
After reviewing the declaration, Rohrabacher told the Deseret Morning News that Nichols' claims should be investigated but treated with extreme skepticism.
"I need to caution people to remember that Terry Nichols is a mass murderer," Rohrabacher said. "But if Terry Nichols is beginning to reveal some of the information that's been kept from the public, I'd be very happy about that."
Rohrabacher also expressed disappointment with the FBI and the Department of Justice for not adequately following up on indications there were others who helped Nichols and McVeigh.
The congressman said he no longer is chairman of the subcommittee that conducted the investigation and is "dismayed" that no one else in Congress seems interested in the matter.
Nichols said he has much more information, which he offered to former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft in 2004, but is willing to divulge only under sworn video deposition. Trentadue said he plans to seek that deposition of Nichols, but "I expect one hell of a fight with the Department of Justice."
Nichols is serving life in prison without parole after being convicted by a jury for his role in the bombing. McVeigh also was convicted and on June 11, 2001 was executed in Terre Haute, Ind.
E-mail: gfattah@desnews.com
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Dubya gets spanked
A float depicting U.S. President George W. Bush being spanked by the Statue Of Liberty passes by during the Rose Monday carnival parade in Mainz, western Germany, on Monday, Feb. 19, 2007. Thousands of spectators attended the traditional street carnival parade in the state of Rhineland-Palatinates's capital. (AP Photo Bernd Kammerer)
My daughter won't get HPV vaccine
http://www.suntimes.com/news/hart/271631,CST-EDT-hart25.article
February 25, 2007
BY BETSY HART
I sometimes find myself encouraging my like-minded conservative friends not to go believing this or that conspiracy theory. I think we can get a little overwrought, a little too fearful, over the government's, or the schools', or Hollywood's, latest ''attack'' on the family.
So when I heard initial reports that many states were considering mandating that a new vaccine that protects against a sexually transmitted disease be given to girls ages 11 and 12, I really didn't believe it. The vaccine, Gardasil, protects against human papilloma virus, which can lead to cervical cancer.
Then, a friend animatedly told me a pharmaceutical company was secretly pushing the mandates because it stood to make billions from the required vaccines. And I thought, ''Oh, good grief, here we go again.''
But sometimes, conspiracy theories really are true. In Illinois, the Legislature really is considering requiring that Gardasil be administered to all rising sixth-grade girls. Those not vaccinated would be barred from school, even though HPV is communicable only through sexual contact.
Yes, religious or medical exemptions would be allowed. But talk about being made to feel like a pariah.
Oh, guess what? Gardasil's maker, Merck, which has a monopoly on the vaccine, really was ''quietly funding the campaign, via a third party, to require 11- and 12-year-old girls to get the three-dose vaccine in order to attend school'' in 20 states, Chicago's Fox News Channel reported.
At $360 to vaccinate each child, it's no wonder. Merck was ''channeling money for its state-mandate campaign through Women in Government, an advocacy group made up of female state legislators across the country,'' as the Associated Press revealed and Fox reported.
I'd love to know more about that connection. But, in the wake of the controversy, Merck announced that it has suspended its lobbying efforts.
Well, I have a rising sixth-grade daughter, and whatever the state of Illinois ends up deciding, she won't be getting the vaccine. Here's why:
That same daughter recently came home talking about the anti-smoking campaign in her school. No cigarettes. Ever. I'm all for it.
So then, if a vaccine were invented that could largely protect children from getting one or two of the many serious diseases and chronic conditions caused by smoking cigarettes, would we say, ''So many kids are going to smoke whether we like it or not, let's mandate this vaccine for every child''?
Not an exact analogy, but imagine if Big Tobacco were secretly behind the move to mandate the vaccine so that it could ''safely'' sell lots more cigarettes. Somehow, I don't suppose the same people who advocate mandating the Gardasil vaccine would be for such a thing. I think most people would say that it's fine the vaccine is out there, and if some parents want their kids to get it, OK.
But for the government to mandate the expensive vaccine for children would be for Big Brother to reach past the parents and into the home, and seek to ''protect'' children -- in a way that doesn't really protect them at all.
Apparently, a lot of parents get that, even if our elites don't. And that's why I have a feeling that the uproar over mandating Gardasil is not going to die down until the state legislatures back down on mandating it.
February 25, 2007
BY BETSY HART
I sometimes find myself encouraging my like-minded conservative friends not to go believing this or that conspiracy theory. I think we can get a little overwrought, a little too fearful, over the government's, or the schools', or Hollywood's, latest ''attack'' on the family.
So when I heard initial reports that many states were considering mandating that a new vaccine that protects against a sexually transmitted disease be given to girls ages 11 and 12, I really didn't believe it. The vaccine, Gardasil, protects against human papilloma virus, which can lead to cervical cancer.
Then, a friend animatedly told me a pharmaceutical company was secretly pushing the mandates because it stood to make billions from the required vaccines. And I thought, ''Oh, good grief, here we go again.''
But sometimes, conspiracy theories really are true. In Illinois, the Legislature really is considering requiring that Gardasil be administered to all rising sixth-grade girls. Those not vaccinated would be barred from school, even though HPV is communicable only through sexual contact.
Yes, religious or medical exemptions would be allowed. But talk about being made to feel like a pariah.
Oh, guess what? Gardasil's maker, Merck, which has a monopoly on the vaccine, really was ''quietly funding the campaign, via a third party, to require 11- and 12-year-old girls to get the three-dose vaccine in order to attend school'' in 20 states, Chicago's Fox News Channel reported.
At $360 to vaccinate each child, it's no wonder. Merck was ''channeling money for its state-mandate campaign through Women in Government, an advocacy group made up of female state legislators across the country,'' as the Associated Press revealed and Fox reported.
I'd love to know more about that connection. But, in the wake of the controversy, Merck announced that it has suspended its lobbying efforts.
Well, I have a rising sixth-grade daughter, and whatever the state of Illinois ends up deciding, she won't be getting the vaccine. Here's why:
That same daughter recently came home talking about the anti-smoking campaign in her school. No cigarettes. Ever. I'm all for it.
So then, if a vaccine were invented that could largely protect children from getting one or two of the many serious diseases and chronic conditions caused by smoking cigarettes, would we say, ''So many kids are going to smoke whether we like it or not, let's mandate this vaccine for every child''?
Not an exact analogy, but imagine if Big Tobacco were secretly behind the move to mandate the vaccine so that it could ''safely'' sell lots more cigarettes. Somehow, I don't suppose the same people who advocate mandating the Gardasil vaccine would be for such a thing. I think most people would say that it's fine the vaccine is out there, and if some parents want their kids to get it, OK.
But for the government to mandate the expensive vaccine for children would be for Big Brother to reach past the parents and into the home, and seek to ''protect'' children -- in a way that doesn't really protect them at all.
Apparently, a lot of parents get that, even if our elites don't. And that's why I have a feeling that the uproar over mandating Gardasil is not going to die down until the state legislatures back down on mandating it.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
US rejects ban on cluster bombs
AFP
Published: Friday February 23, 2007
The United States on Friday rejected an international call to abandon the use of cluster bombs, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
"We ... take the position that these munitions do have a place and a use in military inventories, given the right technology as well as the proper rules of engagement," McCormack said.
Forty-six countries meeting in Oslo on Friday pledged to seek a treaty banning cluster bombs by next year, with major user and stockpiler Britain and manufacturer France signing on, Norway said.
"We, ourselves, have already taken a couple of other steps with regard to technical upgrades to cluster munitions, as well as looking very closely at the rules of engagement, how they are used," said McCormack.
"So it is something that over the course of the years we have looked at very closely. We have taken very seriously the international discussion with respect to the threat posed by unexploded ordnance to innocent civilians," he said.
Japan, Poland and Romania refused to sign the accord, while key nations such as Israel and the United States did not take part in the conference.
The 46 countries agreed to "commit themselves to ... conclude by 2008 a legally binding international instrument that will prohibit the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians," according to the declaration.
A number of leading countries, including Britain and France, had previously said they wanted a ban to be part of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, a process which Norway and a number of other nations consider to be a failure.
A cluster bomb is a container holding hundreds of smaller bomblets. It opens in mid-air and disperses the bomblets over a large area.
The smaller bombs do not always explode on impact, which means they can continue to kill innocent civilians years later.
A recent report by Handicap International claimed that 98 percent of casualties from cluster munitions are non-combatants.
Published: Friday February 23, 2007
The United States on Friday rejected an international call to abandon the use of cluster bombs, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
"We ... take the position that these munitions do have a place and a use in military inventories, given the right technology as well as the proper rules of engagement," McCormack said.
Forty-six countries meeting in Oslo on Friday pledged to seek a treaty banning cluster bombs by next year, with major user and stockpiler Britain and manufacturer France signing on, Norway said.
"We, ourselves, have already taken a couple of other steps with regard to technical upgrades to cluster munitions, as well as looking very closely at the rules of engagement, how they are used," said McCormack.
"So it is something that over the course of the years we have looked at very closely. We have taken very seriously the international discussion with respect to the threat posed by unexploded ordnance to innocent civilians," he said.
Japan, Poland and Romania refused to sign the accord, while key nations such as Israel and the United States did not take part in the conference.
The 46 countries agreed to "commit themselves to ... conclude by 2008 a legally binding international instrument that will prohibit the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians," according to the declaration.
A number of leading countries, including Britain and France, had previously said they wanted a ban to be part of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, a process which Norway and a number of other nations consider to be a failure.
A cluster bomb is a container holding hundreds of smaller bomblets. It opens in mid-air and disperses the bomblets over a large area.
The smaller bombs do not always explode on impact, which means they can continue to kill innocent civilians years later.
A recent report by Handicap International claimed that 98 percent of casualties from cluster munitions are non-combatants.
The High-Fivers:More proof the Israelis were shadowing the 9/11 hijackers
February 16, 2007
by Justin Rasimondo
It was the tail-end of a bleak November, 2001: a pall of shocked numbness hung over the country, and a rising war hysteria had nearly everyone cowed. Americans were just beginning to pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and focus on what had happened, and how to react. It was very early on the morning of the 23rd when, scanning the headlines, I came across a Washington Post story by John Mintz: "60 Israelis Detained on Tourist Visas Since Sept. 11." Odd, I thought, why go after the Israelis, probably the least likely suspects?
The subhead was even more intriguing. “Government Calls Several cases ‘of Special Interest,’ Meaning Related to Post-Attacks Investigation." Apparently organized groups of Israelis had been arrested, and "dozens" held without bond. Inquiries to the Justice Department had yielded this response:
“In several cases, such as those in Cleveland and St. Louis, INS officials testified in court hearings that they were ‘of special interest to the government,’ a term that federal agents have used in many of the hundreds of cases involving mostly Muslim Arab men who have been detained around the country since the terrorist attacks.
“An INS official who requested anonymity said the agency will not comment on the Israelis. But he said the use of the term “special interest” means the case in question is “related to the investigation of September 11th.”
It wasn’t some anti-Semetic conspiracy crank sitting in his parents’ basement, or Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who first linked Israeli nationals to the events of 9/11: it was the U.S. government, specifically its law enforcement arm.
This I found utterly astonishing, because it was clear to me, at that point, that there was a link, albeit one largely unknown in its specifics. Why else were the feds casting their nets around for Israelis rather than Arabs, Persians, and, yes, Muslims?
There was more. The original Post piece was updated: the number of detained Israelis had risen to 120. I had been following the story in this space, and noting its significance, in the weeks before Carl Cameron broadcast his famous four-part report on Fox News, which exposed the extensive Israeli spy network in this country and opened with this electric charge:
“There is no indication that the Israelis were involved in the 9-11 attacks, but investigators suspect that the Israeli’s may have gathered intelligence about the attacks in advance, and not shared it. A highly placed investigator said there are – quote- “ tie-ins” But when asked for details, he flatly refused to describe them, saying, - quote- “evidence linking these Israelis to 9-11 is classified. I cannot tell you about evidence that has been gathered. It’s classified information.”
The story, as it developed in the months- and years- to come, sent me down an investigative path that has yet to reach its endpoint. What we know is this: in the months prior to 9/11, bands of Israelis posing as "art students" [.pdf] had carried out what seemed like a coordinated probing of U.S. government facilities, including locations not known to the public. A secret government report detailing the activities of the “art students”- and their background as highly trained in explosives and the art of telecommunications interception- was leaked to the media, and the story was again in the headlines. But not for long.
This is potentially one of the most important 9/11-related stories ever reported, and yet the number of serious investigative pieces done on it can hardly be counted on the fingers of one hand. Antiwar.com has been following this from the outset, and you can go here for a complete archive of my columns on the subject, plus mainstream media pieces.
Of particular interest is the coverage by The Forward, the oldest newspaper of the Jewish community in North America. They reported on one key aspect of the Israeli-9/11 connection: the story of the five employees of a moving van company apprehended hours after the twin towers were struck. They had been observed in Liberty State Park, New Jersey, overlooking the Hudson, with a clear view of the burning towers. A woman had seen them from the window of her apartment building overlooking the parking lot: they came out of a white van, and they were jumping up and down, high-fiving each other with obvious glee. Their mood, it could be said, was celebratory. They were also filming the towers as they burned, and taking still photos.
The woman capped the cops, who put out a “be on the lookout” alert. I’ll let Christopher Ketcham, author of a blockbuster new report appearing in Counterpunch, tell the rest of the story:
"At 3:56 p.m., twenty-five minutes after the issuance of the FBI BOLO, officers with the East Rutherford Police Department stopped the commercial moving van through a trace on the plates. According to the police report, Officer Scott DeCarlo and Sgt. Dennis Rivelli approached the stopped van, demanding that the driver exit the vehicle. The driver, 23-year-old Sivan Kurzberg, refused and 'was asked several more times (but) appeared to be fumbling with a black leather fanny pouch type of bag.’ With guns drawn, the police then ‘physically removed’ Kurzberg, while four other men- two more men had apparently joined the group since the morning- were also removed from the van, handcuffed, placed on the grass median and read their Miranda rights. They had not been told the reaons for their arrest. Yes, according to DeCarlo’s report, “this officer was told without question by the driver (Svan Kurzgers) ‘We are Israeli. We are not your problem. Your problems are our problems. The Palestinians are the problem.’ Another of the five Israelis, again without prompting, told Officer DeCarlo—falsely—that ‘we were on the West Side Highway in New York City during the incident.”
This is, I believe, the most detailed account yet published of what actually happened that fateful day, and Ketcham clearly shows that the Israelis were certainly aware of why they had been stopped. The cops practically had to drag them out of the van at gunpoint, and it is surely suspicious that they immediately started denying any role in “the incident.” How did they know they weren’t being stopped for a traffic violation? No wonder they were held for 71 days, mostly in solitary confinement, and interrogated. Some repeatedly failed polygraph tests when questioned about possible surveillance activities. The FBI agents who interrogated them reportedly called them "the high-fivers," because of their odd behavior at Liberty State Park.
The Forward confirmed that the company they ostensibly worked for, Urban Moving Systems, of Weehawken, New Jersey, was in all likelihood a Mossad front. Dominik Suter, the owner, fled to Israel the day after a police raid on his office. The five detained Israelis were sent back to Israel, where they claimed to be innocent victims of harassment. Here they are on an Israeli talk show. Of course they don’t mention
any of the above, or that they were found to have multiple passports in their possession, along with $4,700 stuffed in a sock and maps of New York City highlighted in certain spots. Ketcham quotes one local law enforcement official as saying
“It looked like they’re hooked in with this, it looked like they knew what was going to happen when they were at Liberty State Park."
Ketcham, utilizing the public record, news reports, and his own sources, has painted the clearest portrait yet of the "urban mover" Mossad cell, and how they shadowed the five hijackers who took over American Airlines flight 77, which struck the Pentagon to such devastating effect. Living, working, and socializing within a six-mile radius of Bergen County, these two groups circled each other until, on 9/11;, as a dark pall fell over Manhattan and much of the rest world, one applauded the others’ handiwork.
Ketchum’s story of how the FBI investigation was scotched by high-ups to outrage every patriotic American citizen. He cites a source at ABC News- which covered this story on 2020 in a treatment I consider a whitewash- as saying, “They feel the higher echelons torpedoed the investigation into the Israeli New Jersey cell. Leads were not fully investigated.
The same source agrees with the general assessment of CIA officers, and intelligence experts such as James Bamford and Vincent Cannistraro, that Urban Moving Systems was a covert Israeli intelligence-gathering operation, most likely engaged in electronic interception and other means of spying on radical elements within Northern New Jersey’s Muslim milieu. In the course of this, and given their geographical proximity, it is not beyond reason to posit that the Urban Movers were watching the future hijackers, listening to their phone conversations, reading their emails, and otherwise keeping fully apprised of their activities. What made the Israelis jump for joy, as one counterintelligence officer is said to have put it, is that "The Israelis felt that in some way their intelligencehad worked out- i.e., they were celebrating their own acumen and ability as intelligence agents.”
The story of how this line of investigation was suppressed, both in the law enforcement community and in the media, is a saga in itself. I know that Ketcham worked on this story long and hard, and had supposedly firm commitments from both Salon.com and The Nation to publish his work. Both projects were killed at the last minute, in one case an hour before it was scheduled to run. What’s particularly stupid, in the case of Salon, is that they ran his previous piece, on the “Israeli Art Student Mystery,” years ago- and now refuse to follow up their own story.
As for why the government investigation into the Israeli connection was scotched, Ketcham cites a former CIA counter-terrorism officer: "There was no question but that [the order to close down the investigation] came from the White House."
I have to tell you that it hasn’t been easy following this story over the years. I was told in the beginning, and in no uncertain terms, that this line of investigation is forbidden, that it’s “too hot to handle,” and, implicitly, that the truth and the facts have to take second place to political correctness. To even mention this story, in certain quarters, is considered prima facie evidence of anti-Semitism. Case closed.
In spite of a determined effort on the part of some to redifine anti-Semitism to constrain critics of Israel government actions, there is an equally determined pushback- a real movement to treat Israel as a nation like any other. That is, a nation with its own interests, which, if truth be told, it pursues aggressively, and not only in the occupied territories and Lebanon, but also right here in the U.S. The story of Israel’s underground army in America- and its foreknowledge of the 9/11 terrorist attacks- is based on facts, not fantasies, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with anti-Semitism—and everything to do with establishing the full context of the worst terrorist attack in our history.
9/11 was the opening shot of a battle we are still fighting to this day, as our soldiers fall in Iraq, and the hints of a new front in our endless “war on terrorism” – Iran- are hardly subtle. That signal event launched the war hysteria that only lately has begun to peter out.
One of the major reasons why the public has turned against the Iraq war has been the revelation that the "intelligence" we acquired about Iraq’s alleged "weapons of mass destruction" was manipulated, cherry-picked, and outright falsified in order to make the case for the invasion. If it turns out that the Israelis really did know – that they picked up "chatter" from the groups they were watching, and gained fairly detailed knowledge of the hijackers’ plans – it will alter how we think about 9/11, and change our perception of the perpetual war that ensued.
by Justin Rasimondo
It was the tail-end of a bleak November, 2001: a pall of shocked numbness hung over the country, and a rising war hysteria had nearly everyone cowed. Americans were just beginning to pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and focus on what had happened, and how to react. It was very early on the morning of the 23rd when, scanning the headlines, I came across a Washington Post story by John Mintz: "60 Israelis Detained on Tourist Visas Since Sept. 11." Odd, I thought, why go after the Israelis, probably the least likely suspects?
The subhead was even more intriguing. “Government Calls Several cases ‘of Special Interest,’ Meaning Related to Post-Attacks Investigation." Apparently organized groups of Israelis had been arrested, and "dozens" held without bond. Inquiries to the Justice Department had yielded this response:
“In several cases, such as those in Cleveland and St. Louis, INS officials testified in court hearings that they were ‘of special interest to the government,’ a term that federal agents have used in many of the hundreds of cases involving mostly Muslim Arab men who have been detained around the country since the terrorist attacks.
“An INS official who requested anonymity said the agency will not comment on the Israelis. But he said the use of the term “special interest” means the case in question is “related to the investigation of September 11th.”
It wasn’t some anti-Semetic conspiracy crank sitting in his parents’ basement, or Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who first linked Israeli nationals to the events of 9/11: it was the U.S. government, specifically its law enforcement arm.
This I found utterly astonishing, because it was clear to me, at that point, that there was a link, albeit one largely unknown in its specifics. Why else were the feds casting their nets around for Israelis rather than Arabs, Persians, and, yes, Muslims?
There was more. The original Post piece was updated: the number of detained Israelis had risen to 120. I had been following the story in this space, and noting its significance, in the weeks before Carl Cameron broadcast his famous four-part report on Fox News, which exposed the extensive Israeli spy network in this country and opened with this electric charge:
“There is no indication that the Israelis were involved in the 9-11 attacks, but investigators suspect that the Israeli’s may have gathered intelligence about the attacks in advance, and not shared it. A highly placed investigator said there are – quote- “ tie-ins” But when asked for details, he flatly refused to describe them, saying, - quote- “evidence linking these Israelis to 9-11 is classified. I cannot tell you about evidence that has been gathered. It’s classified information.”
The story, as it developed in the months- and years- to come, sent me down an investigative path that has yet to reach its endpoint. What we know is this: in the months prior to 9/11, bands of Israelis posing as "art students" [.pdf] had carried out what seemed like a coordinated probing of U.S. government facilities, including locations not known to the public. A secret government report detailing the activities of the “art students”- and their background as highly trained in explosives and the art of telecommunications interception- was leaked to the media, and the story was again in the headlines. But not for long.
This is potentially one of the most important 9/11-related stories ever reported, and yet the number of serious investigative pieces done on it can hardly be counted on the fingers of one hand. Antiwar.com has been following this from the outset, and you can go here for a complete archive of my columns on the subject, plus mainstream media pieces.
Of particular interest is the coverage by The Forward, the oldest newspaper of the Jewish community in North America. They reported on one key aspect of the Israeli-9/11 connection: the story of the five employees of a moving van company apprehended hours after the twin towers were struck. They had been observed in Liberty State Park, New Jersey, overlooking the Hudson, with a clear view of the burning towers. A woman had seen them from the window of her apartment building overlooking the parking lot: they came out of a white van, and they were jumping up and down, high-fiving each other with obvious glee. Their mood, it could be said, was celebratory. They were also filming the towers as they burned, and taking still photos.
The woman capped the cops, who put out a “be on the lookout” alert. I’ll let Christopher Ketcham, author of a blockbuster new report appearing in Counterpunch, tell the rest of the story:
"At 3:56 p.m., twenty-five minutes after the issuance of the FBI BOLO, officers with the East Rutherford Police Department stopped the commercial moving van through a trace on the plates. According to the police report, Officer Scott DeCarlo and Sgt. Dennis Rivelli approached the stopped van, demanding that the driver exit the vehicle. The driver, 23-year-old Sivan Kurzberg, refused and 'was asked several more times (but) appeared to be fumbling with a black leather fanny pouch type of bag.’ With guns drawn, the police then ‘physically removed’ Kurzberg, while four other men- two more men had apparently joined the group since the morning- were also removed from the van, handcuffed, placed on the grass median and read their Miranda rights. They had not been told the reaons for their arrest. Yes, according to DeCarlo’s report, “this officer was told without question by the driver (Svan Kurzgers) ‘We are Israeli. We are not your problem. Your problems are our problems. The Palestinians are the problem.’ Another of the five Israelis, again without prompting, told Officer DeCarlo—falsely—that ‘we were on the West Side Highway in New York City during the incident.”
This is, I believe, the most detailed account yet published of what actually happened that fateful day, and Ketcham clearly shows that the Israelis were certainly aware of why they had been stopped. The cops practically had to drag them out of the van at gunpoint, and it is surely suspicious that they immediately started denying any role in “the incident.” How did they know they weren’t being stopped for a traffic violation? No wonder they were held for 71 days, mostly in solitary confinement, and interrogated. Some repeatedly failed polygraph tests when questioned about possible surveillance activities. The FBI agents who interrogated them reportedly called them "the high-fivers," because of their odd behavior at Liberty State Park.
The Forward confirmed that the company they ostensibly worked for, Urban Moving Systems, of Weehawken, New Jersey, was in all likelihood a Mossad front. Dominik Suter, the owner, fled to Israel the day after a police raid on his office. The five detained Israelis were sent back to Israel, where they claimed to be innocent victims of harassment. Here they are on an Israeli talk show. Of course they don’t mention
any of the above, or that they were found to have multiple passports in their possession, along with $4,700 stuffed in a sock and maps of New York City highlighted in certain spots. Ketcham quotes one local law enforcement official as saying
“It looked like they’re hooked in with this, it looked like they knew what was going to happen when they were at Liberty State Park."
Ketcham, utilizing the public record, news reports, and his own sources, has painted the clearest portrait yet of the "urban mover" Mossad cell, and how they shadowed the five hijackers who took over American Airlines flight 77, which struck the Pentagon to such devastating effect. Living, working, and socializing within a six-mile radius of Bergen County, these two groups circled each other until, on 9/11;, as a dark pall fell over Manhattan and much of the rest world, one applauded the others’ handiwork.
Ketchum’s story of how the FBI investigation was scotched by high-ups to outrage every patriotic American citizen. He cites a source at ABC News- which covered this story on 2020 in a treatment I consider a whitewash- as saying, “They feel the higher echelons torpedoed the investigation into the Israeli New Jersey cell. Leads were not fully investigated.
The same source agrees with the general assessment of CIA officers, and intelligence experts such as James Bamford and Vincent Cannistraro, that Urban Moving Systems was a covert Israeli intelligence-gathering operation, most likely engaged in electronic interception and other means of spying on radical elements within Northern New Jersey’s Muslim milieu. In the course of this, and given their geographical proximity, it is not beyond reason to posit that the Urban Movers were watching the future hijackers, listening to their phone conversations, reading their emails, and otherwise keeping fully apprised of their activities. What made the Israelis jump for joy, as one counterintelligence officer is said to have put it, is that "The Israelis felt that in some way their intelligencehad worked out- i.e., they were celebrating their own acumen and ability as intelligence agents.”
The story of how this line of investigation was suppressed, both in the law enforcement community and in the media, is a saga in itself. I know that Ketcham worked on this story long and hard, and had supposedly firm commitments from both Salon.com and The Nation to publish his work. Both projects were killed at the last minute, in one case an hour before it was scheduled to run. What’s particularly stupid, in the case of Salon, is that they ran his previous piece, on the “Israeli Art Student Mystery,” years ago- and now refuse to follow up their own story.
As for why the government investigation into the Israeli connection was scotched, Ketcham cites a former CIA counter-terrorism officer: "There was no question but that [the order to close down the investigation] came from the White House."
I have to tell you that it hasn’t been easy following this story over the years. I was told in the beginning, and in no uncertain terms, that this line of investigation is forbidden, that it’s “too hot to handle,” and, implicitly, that the truth and the facts have to take second place to political correctness. To even mention this story, in certain quarters, is considered prima facie evidence of anti-Semitism. Case closed.
In spite of a determined effort on the part of some to redifine anti-Semitism to constrain critics of Israel government actions, there is an equally determined pushback- a real movement to treat Israel as a nation like any other. That is, a nation with its own interests, which, if truth be told, it pursues aggressively, and not only in the occupied territories and Lebanon, but also right here in the U.S. The story of Israel’s underground army in America- and its foreknowledge of the 9/11 terrorist attacks- is based on facts, not fantasies, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with anti-Semitism—and everything to do with establishing the full context of the worst terrorist attack in our history.
9/11 was the opening shot of a battle we are still fighting to this day, as our soldiers fall in Iraq, and the hints of a new front in our endless “war on terrorism” – Iran- are hardly subtle. That signal event launched the war hysteria that only lately has begun to peter out.
One of the major reasons why the public has turned against the Iraq war has been the revelation that the "intelligence" we acquired about Iraq’s alleged "weapons of mass destruction" was manipulated, cherry-picked, and outright falsified in order to make the case for the invasion. If it turns out that the Israelis really did know – that they picked up "chatter" from the groups they were watching, and gained fairly detailed knowledge of the hijackers’ plans – it will alter how we think about 9/11, and change our perception of the perpetual war that ensued.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Cluster Bombs
The government of Norway is hosting an international meeting of 40 nations this week, hoping to successfully ban the manufacture and use of cluster bombs. The USA is NOT participating, which is a crying shame.
Cluster bombs remain on battlefields for years, more often (98% of the time, according to Handicap International) injuring or killing innocent children and farmers. The Norwegian government is hoping to enact a ban similar to the Ottawa Convention which restricts the use of land mines.
Norway took the lead on the anti-cluster bomb campaign afer the Convention of Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) in November of 2006 failed to agree to begin negotiations on a ban.
"We are talking about munitions with inhumane consequences," said Raymond Johansen, a senior Norwegian foreign ministry official. "We hope this conference will lead to a very efficient action plan on how to proceed with this."
Norway, which plans to replicate the anti-landmine campaign that won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, hopes to push through a ban by 2008.
Cluster munitions comprise a variety of weapons that disperse anywhere from 10 to several hundred submunitions, or bomblets, over a target area.
They can be dropped from aircraft or fired in artillery shells or missiles and have been used in conflicts around the world, from Vietnam to Afghanistan. The bomblets often remain unexploded and endanger civilians for decades after conflicts.
Especially noteworthy was Israel's use of up to one MILLION cluster bombs dropped over largely Christian civilian population centers in southern Lebanon last summer, AFTER the cease-fire was scheduled. The most damning point was that Israel wanted to obtain a new, improved cluster bomb model from the US military, but had to use up its existing supply of US-manufactured cluster bombs to obtain the new model! Unfortunately for Israel, the world was paying attention at this latest atrocity. And appropriately recoiled.
Particularly illustrative was Israel's feeble attempt to paint dropping one MILLION cluster bombs as "within Israel's right to defend herself" -- WTF? The chutzpah meter just pegged. That is too fuckin' much.
Cluster bombs remain on battlefields for years, more often (98% of the time, according to Handicap International) injuring or killing innocent children and farmers. The Norwegian government is hoping to enact a ban similar to the Ottawa Convention which restricts the use of land mines.
Norway took the lead on the anti-cluster bomb campaign afer the Convention of Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) in November of 2006 failed to agree to begin negotiations on a ban.
"We are talking about munitions with inhumane consequences," said Raymond Johansen, a senior Norwegian foreign ministry official. "We hope this conference will lead to a very efficient action plan on how to proceed with this."
Norway, which plans to replicate the anti-landmine campaign that won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, hopes to push through a ban by 2008.
Cluster munitions comprise a variety of weapons that disperse anywhere from 10 to several hundred submunitions, or bomblets, over a target area.
They can be dropped from aircraft or fired in artillery shells or missiles and have been used in conflicts around the world, from Vietnam to Afghanistan. The bomblets often remain unexploded and endanger civilians for decades after conflicts.
Especially noteworthy was Israel's use of up to one MILLION cluster bombs dropped over largely Christian civilian population centers in southern Lebanon last summer, AFTER the cease-fire was scheduled. The most damning point was that Israel wanted to obtain a new, improved cluster bomb model from the US military, but had to use up its existing supply of US-manufactured cluster bombs to obtain the new model! Unfortunately for Israel, the world was paying attention at this latest atrocity. And appropriately recoiled.
Particularly illustrative was Israel's feeble attempt to paint dropping one MILLION cluster bombs as "within Israel's right to defend herself" -- WTF? The chutzpah meter just pegged. That is too fuckin' much.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
ZOG: Zionist Occupation Government
The hate that (used to) dare not speak its name
Xymphora
February 17, 2007
In the last six months, we’ve made enormous advances in understanding the unwholesome hold that Zionists have over the American government, and I am optimistic that the truth will continue to come out (six months from now, people behind the curve are going to look quite silly). Just recently, those who were brave enough to point out the massive influence of the Lobby weren’t just considered to be mistaken, or even crazy. The issue was literally unspeakable (at least in polite society). Zionism was the hate that dare not speak its name. The Zionists don’t yet realize that they lost the battle and the war once these issues became debatable.
The United States is currently under a Zionist Occupation Government. Still don’t believe me? This past week the Democrats started to exercise their newly acquired power with a hearing of the Middle East Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the 'next steps in the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process.’ Do you think they invited Jimmy Carter? Bishop Tutu? Nelson Mandela? An neutral expert on the Middle East? A Palestinian? Nope. The three invitees – the only three invitees – were (drum roll, please):
Daniel Pipes (who, it is claimed, was forced on the committee as a witness by the Republicans);
Martin Indyk; and
David Makovsky.
Makovsky works for the ultra-Zionists at WINEP (the Lobby’s think tank). Indyk, the original founder of WINEP and a former research director at AIPAC, is the Director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution (Saban is the Israeli who is biggest donor to the Democrats and thus the leading member of the Jewish Billionaires Club). I really don’t need to describe Daniel "brown-skinned peoples cooking strange foods and maintaining different standards of hygiene" Pipes. Indyck comes across as moderate but non-committal, Makovsky as a complete hard-ass, and Pipes as absolutely, over-the-top, insane. I imagine the three of them arriving at the hearing arm-in-arm, deftly performing Jewish folk dances, singing Hava Nagila, waving the Israeli flag, and sporting their medals from Israeli for service to Zionist colonialism. For guys like these, a 'debate’ about the Palestinians consists of a discussion of the appropriate caliber of ammunition to use to shoot Palestinian children in the face. It is not unreasonable to wonder why all the witnesses are on one side of the issue (and for similar shenanigans – more of the 'diet plan’ – from the same bunch of politicians, see here). Is Congress just the New Knesset?
From the comments to the excellent note by Daniel Levy linked to above (and see also here), I select that of madison1776 (emphasis throughout in red):
"So the Jewish Committee chair Tom Lantos (Likud-CA) and the Subcommittee chair Gary Ackerman (Likud-NY) will hold a hearing on the I-P conflict with David Makovsky (a former US citizen now an Israeli who works for the AIPAC cutout, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy), Martin Indyk (an Australian brought to the US by indicted AIPAC spy, Steve Rosen, to work as his assistant at AIPAC and somehow became a US citizen and our ambassador to (not from) Israel) and Daniel Pipes (National Socialist-Philadelphia).
Thar's it! No Arab-Americans. No Palestinians. Not even one goddam gentile.
Is this a joke.
AND by the way, the staff director of the committee is David Makovsky's brother, Alan Makovsky.
I am not making this up."
and Mark Weinberg:
"This in nuts. As a Jew and a Zionist, I believe that this type of arrogance – using the US congress as a venue to promote right-wing zionist propaganda – is going to blow up in all our faces someday.
How dare they? Does it ever occur to Lantos or Ackerman that they are Americans (sort of, in Lantos's case) and should act like it.
This is truly disgusting. Read 'The Truth About Camp David’ by Clanton Swisher to find out whose these characters are.
God, as a Jew, this is just embarrassing. It's like a bunch of Catholics holding hearings on birth control with the witnesses being Father Mulcahy, Msgr. Herlihy, and Cardinal O'Connor.
Madison 1776 is mad. The real Madison would puke."
I really have to wonder what evidence would be required to prove the existence of the ZOG to those hold-outs who still refuse to believe it.
:: Article nr. 30718 sent on 17-feb-2007 19:35 ECT
www.uruknet.info?p=30718
:: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Uruknet .
Xymphora
February 17, 2007
In the last six months, we’ve made enormous advances in understanding the unwholesome hold that Zionists have over the American government, and I am optimistic that the truth will continue to come out (six months from now, people behind the curve are going to look quite silly). Just recently, those who were brave enough to point out the massive influence of the Lobby weren’t just considered to be mistaken, or even crazy. The issue was literally unspeakable (at least in polite society). Zionism was the hate that dare not speak its name. The Zionists don’t yet realize that they lost the battle and the war once these issues became debatable.
The United States is currently under a Zionist Occupation Government. Still don’t believe me? This past week the Democrats started to exercise their newly acquired power with a hearing of the Middle East Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the 'next steps in the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process.’ Do you think they invited Jimmy Carter? Bishop Tutu? Nelson Mandela? An neutral expert on the Middle East? A Palestinian? Nope. The three invitees – the only three invitees – were (drum roll, please):
Daniel Pipes (who, it is claimed, was forced on the committee as a witness by the Republicans);
Martin Indyk; and
David Makovsky.
Makovsky works for the ultra-Zionists at WINEP (the Lobby’s think tank). Indyk, the original founder of WINEP and a former research director at AIPAC, is the Director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution (Saban is the Israeli who is biggest donor to the Democrats and thus the leading member of the Jewish Billionaires Club). I really don’t need to describe Daniel "brown-skinned peoples cooking strange foods and maintaining different standards of hygiene" Pipes. Indyck comes across as moderate but non-committal, Makovsky as a complete hard-ass, and Pipes as absolutely, over-the-top, insane. I imagine the three of them arriving at the hearing arm-in-arm, deftly performing Jewish folk dances, singing Hava Nagila, waving the Israeli flag, and sporting their medals from Israeli for service to Zionist colonialism. For guys like these, a 'debate’ about the Palestinians consists of a discussion of the appropriate caliber of ammunition to use to shoot Palestinian children in the face. It is not unreasonable to wonder why all the witnesses are on one side of the issue (and for similar shenanigans – more of the 'diet plan’ – from the same bunch of politicians, see here). Is Congress just the New Knesset?
From the comments to the excellent note by Daniel Levy linked to above (and see also here), I select that of madison1776 (emphasis throughout in red):
"So the Jewish Committee chair Tom Lantos (Likud-CA) and the Subcommittee chair Gary Ackerman (Likud-NY) will hold a hearing on the I-P conflict with David Makovsky (a former US citizen now an Israeli who works for the AIPAC cutout, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy), Martin Indyk (an Australian brought to the US by indicted AIPAC spy, Steve Rosen, to work as his assistant at AIPAC and somehow became a US citizen and our ambassador to (not from) Israel) and Daniel Pipes (National Socialist-Philadelphia).
Thar's it! No Arab-Americans. No Palestinians. Not even one goddam gentile.
Is this a joke.
AND by the way, the staff director of the committee is David Makovsky's brother, Alan Makovsky.
I am not making this up."
and Mark Weinberg:
"This in nuts. As a Jew and a Zionist, I believe that this type of arrogance – using the US congress as a venue to promote right-wing zionist propaganda – is going to blow up in all our faces someday.
How dare they? Does it ever occur to Lantos or Ackerman that they are Americans (sort of, in Lantos's case) and should act like it.
This is truly disgusting. Read 'The Truth About Camp David’ by Clanton Swisher to find out whose these characters are.
God, as a Jew, this is just embarrassing. It's like a bunch of Catholics holding hearings on birth control with the witnesses being Father Mulcahy, Msgr. Herlihy, and Cardinal O'Connor.
Madison 1776 is mad. The real Madison would puke."
I really have to wonder what evidence would be required to prove the existence of the ZOG to those hold-outs who still refuse to believe it.
:: Article nr. 30718 sent on 17-feb-2007 19:35 ECT
www.uruknet.info?p=30718
:: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Uruknet .
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Interesting article on diamonds
I'm going to begin storing information I find interesting or useful on this blog. Why not?
I found a link to this article on digg.com the other day:
http://worldandnews.blogspot.com/2007/02/what-you-didnt-know-about-diamonds.html
I found a link to this article on digg.com the other day:
http://worldandnews.blogspot.com/2007/02/what-you-didnt-know-about-diamonds.html
Monday, February 12, 2007
What You Didn't Know About Diamonds
Want an easy way to save 3+ months’ salary? Don’t buy a diamond engagement ring. If your fiancée, friends and family scream hellfire, calmly explain:
It’s just marketing. The whole “A Diamond is Forever” and the idea of a diamond engagement ring is not an ancient tradition to be revered and followed. It is Sprite’s “Obey Your Thirst.” It is Nike’s “Just Do It.” It is Gary Dahl’s “Pet Rock.” Not only did De Beers understand it had to control supply (buying up and closing down any diamond mine discovered), they had to control demand. They had to make it sentimental. And Americans were the perfect suckers. They targeted the US specifically for our marketability. This campaign is less than 70 years old yet has become so ingrained in our culture that the diamond engagement ring has become the ultimate symbol of how much the relationship, the girl, and love itself is worth.
Diamonds aren’t rare. Fine, using marketing tactics can’t be blamed since that’s part of the game of capitalism. But another part of the game is competition. It’s all well and good if marketers can convince consumers to buy them instead of the competition based on a nice slogan, but the competition should be there to protect the consumer. All gems are valued based on their rarity (as are most things in life). But diamonds are abundant. De Beers has a huge vault where they keep most of the world’s supply of diamonds. If it ever got released into the market, the way it would be if they weren’t a monopoly, diamonds would be worth nothing. It’s literally a pretty rock.
Diamonds have no resale value. The reason a “diamond is forever” is because you’re basically stuck with it. You’ll never be able to resell it except to a pawn shop. Even a jeweler (the few who would be willing to buy it) would offer a fraction of what you paid.
Synthetic diamonds will flood the market. Synthetic or “cultured” diamonds are already being made and within the next few years, will be efficiently made for the mass market. These are real diamonds. They are made in a machine that replicates the environmental forces that make diamonds. The only difference is that they’re better. They have less flaws. And they cost a fraction of the going rate. Want a 2-carat pink diamond? That’ll be a few thousand dollars.
Moissanite looks just like a diamond. Jewelers had to upgrade their equipment to detect Moissanite from diamonds when it came into the market. It’s undetectable with the naked eye. And it’s actually more brilliant. A 1-carat ring is under $1000.
Who is the ring for, anyway? Seriously. As The Dilettante so poignantly put it, “For women, comparing jewelry is our phallic posturing contest: look at how big MY dic….er, I mean, diamond is.” It’s fun to show off for about 30 seconds. After that there is little to show for the debt incurred for the shiny piece of rock. That money could have gone into furniture, an amazing trip (or many nice ones), your future kids’ college funds!!
Are these reasons still not enough? Watch Blood Diamond. It is high time Hollywood dared to broach the subject of diamonds, especially when they had a hand in marketing it to the public in the first place. Blood Diamond, is an explicit example of the blood and war that has spanned the entire history of the De Beers’ diamond cartel. The story of Sierra Leone isn’t an isolated event, nor is the conflict over just because the movie says there’s peace in Sierra Leone now.
What are conflict/blood diamonds? Conflict/blood diamonds are used by rebel groups to fuel conflict and civil wars, and by terrorist groups to finance their activities.
The Kimberley Process is just PR. It’s an agreement that is supposed to prevent conflict diamonds from getting into the market but ended up being more of a PR stunt since it’s based on a system of self-policing. The UN reported in October 2006 that due to poor enforcement of the Kimberley Process, $23 million of conflict diamonds from Cote d’lvoire alone entered the legitimate market. Sure De Beers won’t buy diamonds coming out of Cote d’lvoire, but they’ll turn a blind eye to the smuggling of diamonds from there through Ghana and Mali where they are certified as being conflict-free.
Percentage in the market. During the height of the diamond conflict in the 1990s, the diamond industry reported that no more than 4% of the diamonds in the market were conflict diamonds, when in reality it has been shown to be closer to 15% .
Asking for conflict-free certificates is not enough. In April 2006 after a scathing report by Partnership Africa Canada about activities in Brazil, an internal review showed that 49 of 147 Kimberley Process certificates were fraudulent. Besides these fraudulent certificates, real certificates could still be issued if conflict diamonds were smuggled and mixed with legally traded ones before being certified.
Children in India are cutting and polishing the diamonds. Children in India can become “bonded” – forced to work to pay off the debts of their family. These children end up working in the diamond factories.
Children in conflict zones are being used as soldiers. The images in Blood Diamond with child soldiers are very real. They are drugged and brainwashed to handle the manslaughter they are forced to do.
Jennifer Connelly says in the movie Blood Diamond, “People back home would not buy a diamond if they knew it cost someone their hand.” Now you know.
Bump in the road lately. I bought into the forecast of rain this past weekend, so naturally no rain fell and the sun broke through the clouds on Sunday afternoon, which has to be my least favorite thing. Sun breaking through clouds makes me panic. Yesterday it actually rained HARD at a forty-five degree angle. For about two minutes.
I had to make reparations in the Inselkampf game I've been playing. So that set back my plans to build a colonization ships. Also: no more football. And an $880 bill from the divorce attorney. And I'm out of wine. And I'm out of firewood.
So I was feeling pretty brought down for a couple of days, there. Sucked.
Bought $60 worth of Chinese food and watched the Westminster Dog Show Monday and Tuesday nights. Chinese food seems to make me pass out. Too much sugar or MSG or something? I really didn't feel well.
I had GAINED weight when I weighed in on Tuesday morning, yesterday. Today I'm down 2.5 lbs. Better. That means I've lost 60 pounds. Not bad. Keep going. Don't get derailed. Don't get all bummed out.
Anyway. I finally scraped together enough gold in the game to commence building a colonization ship. That ought to be ready to go about 1:30 this afternoon. Looking forward to that. Really been enjoying this game.
A week or two ago Krista Ross had e-mailed and mentioned a graphic design opening at the company she works for. I can't see how I could work and take care of the kids.
Diane came by on Monday or Tuesday afternoon, ostensibly to see what my city of birth was for a passport application. She seems adamant about extracting "her equity" out of hte house. Fuck off and die, Diane. I need the house to raise the kids in. This is what they know as their home. Fuck off and DIE. I'm beginning to understand why there's a metal detector at the family courthouse building.
$880 to the attorney for having gone over the basic facts of my case AGAIN. I'm getting fucked by the attorney. I really am. Now I understand why everyone hates attorneys.
Sitting here listening to Howard Stern on the computer feed. It was easier to have an FM headset and listen to him that way. I could move away from the computer. Last week I'd be exercising and listening in the bedroom. This week I feel freaked out and just want to sit here and waste my time on the computer.
Stocks are up a bit. If I earn $77 I'll have covered the commission fees and broken even. Stay tuned.
The future doesn't look great as far as money goes. I'm spending money running the house and raising the kids. I haven't seen one fucking dime from Diane. Not one penny.
I'm going to go back to Inselkampf and watch gold roll in at three units a minute or something. Just sit here until 1:45 when it's time to go and get Cassidy.
This is real life, eh? Oh well. Could be much worse. Hang in there.
I had to make reparations in the Inselkampf game I've been playing. So that set back my plans to build a colonization ships. Also: no more football. And an $880 bill from the divorce attorney. And I'm out of wine. And I'm out of firewood.
So I was feeling pretty brought down for a couple of days, there. Sucked.
Bought $60 worth of Chinese food and watched the Westminster Dog Show Monday and Tuesday nights. Chinese food seems to make me pass out. Too much sugar or MSG or something? I really didn't feel well.
I had GAINED weight when I weighed in on Tuesday morning, yesterday. Today I'm down 2.5 lbs. Better. That means I've lost 60 pounds. Not bad. Keep going. Don't get derailed. Don't get all bummed out.
Anyway. I finally scraped together enough gold in the game to commence building a colonization ship. That ought to be ready to go about 1:30 this afternoon. Looking forward to that. Really been enjoying this game.
A week or two ago Krista Ross had e-mailed and mentioned a graphic design opening at the company she works for. I can't see how I could work and take care of the kids.
Diane came by on Monday or Tuesday afternoon, ostensibly to see what my city of birth was for a passport application. She seems adamant about extracting "her equity" out of hte house. Fuck off and die, Diane. I need the house to raise the kids in. This is what they know as their home. Fuck off and DIE. I'm beginning to understand why there's a metal detector at the family courthouse building.
$880 to the attorney for having gone over the basic facts of my case AGAIN. I'm getting fucked by the attorney. I really am. Now I understand why everyone hates attorneys.
Sitting here listening to Howard Stern on the computer feed. It was easier to have an FM headset and listen to him that way. I could move away from the computer. Last week I'd be exercising and listening in the bedroom. This week I feel freaked out and just want to sit here and waste my time on the computer.
Stocks are up a bit. If I earn $77 I'll have covered the commission fees and broken even. Stay tuned.
The future doesn't look great as far as money goes. I'm spending money running the house and raising the kids. I haven't seen one fucking dime from Diane. Not one penny.
I'm going to go back to Inselkampf and watch gold roll in at three units a minute or something. Just sit here until 1:45 when it's time to go and get Cassidy.
This is real life, eh? Oh well. Could be much worse. Hang in there.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Windy with clouds
Waiting impatiently for my resources in Inselkampf (Island Struggle) to develop until I can afford to commence building a Colonization ship. Enjoying that game a lot.
GAINED weight from two weeks ago. So I'm not eating today. Or tomorrow. Or the day after.
I'm often paralyzed, I just sit here and play that game or read Stern Fan Network or Salon.com. Up until last week I exercised sometimes in the morning while listening to Howard Stern.
I think I'm about even with my Scottrade stocks. Plus all those $7 fees.
What else? Nothing else.
Krista Ross had e-mailed and let me know that the company she works for in Poway had a graphic design opening. I can't see how I can run the house and be with the kids and work 40 hours a week during the school year, and the summer is another matter altogether.
Another ten years to go. I cannot believe that Cassidy is only eight years old and in second grade. It seems like I've been raising Cassidy for thirty or thirty-five years. I love her and Flynn. It just seems like I've been raising them forever.
Diane stopped by yesterday to ask which city I was born in. Apparently that's a question on the US Passport application form. I thought that was odd. She's planning a trip to Mexico for two weeks with her friend/roommate Gail. I can't remember ever taking a vacation with any roommate. Hmm.
April 19th is the new date to appear in court. Hopefully we can keep this house. Otherwise I want to fucking SOAK her for support, make it a poison pill. Just fuck off and go away forever. It's been a long, long wait for this to shake out. It will be a relief either way. Just to have it over with.
I wonder if my most recent attack fleet has captured any resources? Time to go check the game again.
GAINED weight from two weeks ago. So I'm not eating today. Or tomorrow. Or the day after.
I'm often paralyzed, I just sit here and play that game or read Stern Fan Network or Salon.com. Up until last week I exercised sometimes in the morning while listening to Howard Stern.
I think I'm about even with my Scottrade stocks. Plus all those $7 fees.
What else? Nothing else.
Krista Ross had e-mailed and let me know that the company she works for in Poway had a graphic design opening. I can't see how I can run the house and be with the kids and work 40 hours a week during the school year, and the summer is another matter altogether.
Another ten years to go. I cannot believe that Cassidy is only eight years old and in second grade. It seems like I've been raising Cassidy for thirty or thirty-five years. I love her and Flynn. It just seems like I've been raising them forever.
Diane stopped by yesterday to ask which city I was born in. Apparently that's a question on the US Passport application form. I thought that was odd. She's planning a trip to Mexico for two weeks with her friend/roommate Gail. I can't remember ever taking a vacation with any roommate. Hmm.
April 19th is the new date to appear in court. Hopefully we can keep this house. Otherwise I want to fucking SOAK her for support, make it a poison pill. Just fuck off and go away forever. It's been a long, long wait for this to shake out. It will be a relief either way. Just to have it over with.
I wonder if my most recent attack fleet has captured any resources? Time to go check the game again.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Cloudy Thursday
30% chance of rain today, 70% tomorrow. I think what that means is that it'll rain tonight and no one will see it happen. It rains a lot at night here.
Got the kids up, dressed, fed and to school. Went to the Post Office, mailed some paperwork to Marc Shular's office. Bought gasoline. Went to Target since I'd seen a really well-produced ad for Target last night, I wanted to buy water for the aquariums, but they had $0.99 per gallon water -- not much of a deal. Went to Albertson's and bought water and groceries. Went to the new Henry's Market and bought more protein powder. In a larger container, so my hand can fit inside of it.
Home again.
That's about it.
Got the kids up, dressed, fed and to school. Went to the Post Office, mailed some paperwork to Marc Shular's office. Bought gasoline. Went to Target since I'd seen a really well-produced ad for Target last night, I wanted to buy water for the aquariums, but they had $0.99 per gallon water -- not much of a deal. Went to Albertson's and bought water and groceries. Went to the new Henry's Market and bought more protein powder. In a larger container, so my hand can fit inside of it.
Home again.
That's about it.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
The Court of the Crimson King
Up all night, baking cinnamon bread. Me, the cats, the dishwasher. Good enough.
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