I have reposted this from Atlantic Free Press - and it's quite the tale - as once again Murray is testing Freedom of Speech in the UK (he took the Secrecy Act on last time). He has been shut down by litigation aimed at his hosting company (not himself) which resulted in termination of the account. Thousands of bloggers around the world have united in protest, buzzing not only about the situation but also reposting Murray's original post. This, of course is totally backfiring on Usmanov, his High Street legal team (Schillings) and Fasthost - the hosting company itself.

Plenty more after the jump...

Hi all... It's been some time since I posted - been very busy with Atlantic Free Press over the summer as well as holidays, kids and real life stuff here in the North of Holland. But my mate Chris Floyd's latest piece over at Empire Burlesque is just so damn lucid and powerful I can't NOT share this with Eurotrib.

Post-Mortem America: Bush's Year of Triumph and the Hard Way Ahead

by Chris Floyd

Put your hand on my head, baby; Do I have a temperature? I see people who ought to know better Standing around like furniture. There's a wall between you And what you want — you got to leap it. Tonight you got the power to take it; Tomorrow you won't have the power to keep it.

— Bob Dylan

Tomorrow is here. The game is over. The crisis has passed — and the patient is dead. Whatever dream you had about what America is, it isn't that anymore. It's gone. And not just in some abstract sense, some metaphorical or mythological sense, but down in the nitty-gritty, in the concrete realities of institutional structures and legal frameworks, of policy and process, even down to the physical nature of the landscape and the way that people live.

The Republic you wanted — and at one time might have had the power to take back — is finished. You no longer have the power to keep it; it's not there. It was kidnapped in December 2000, raped by the primed and ready exploiters of 9/11, whored by the war pimps of the 2003 aggression, gut-knifed by the corrupters of the 2004 vote, and raped again by its "rescuers" after the 2006 election. Beaten, abused, diseased and abandoned, it finally died. We are living in its grave.

The annus horribilis of 2007 has turned out to be a year of triumph for the Bush Faction — the hit men who delivered the coup de grâce to the long-moribund Republic. Bush was written off as a lame duck after the Democrat's November 2006 election "triumph" (in fact, the narrowest of victories eked out despite an orgy of cheating and fixing by the losers), and the subsequent salvo of Establishment consensus from the Iraq Study Group, advocating a de-escalation of the war in Iraq. Then came a series of scandals, investigations, high-profile resignations, even the criminal conviction of a top White House official. But despite all this — and abysmal poll ratings as well — over the past eight months Bush and his coupsters have seen every single element of their violent tyranny confirmed, countenanced and extended.

So

Plutonium page shows her balls by banning any thoughts That does'nt meet her Fucking STUPID ideology.

Holland is guilty... rah, rah rah, rah.

In Groningen - where I live....

The 'socialists'....

Oh yeah... that's where the University of Groningen is the largest medical school in Europe.

I am sorry. I live Groningen.

I love Holland.

I love the life we live here.

There are good smart people.

Who don't wait to operate based what one earns a month.

Want to know what's really going on behind the scenes as the American war on Iraq spirals to its fiery conclusion? Ask someone who knows, who moves among the top players, who has been there, on the  bloodstained ground, in the gold-plated palaces: Paul William Roberts.  The intrepid Senior Writer for Atlantic Free Press, is  back with his latest report on the American debacle and Iraq's agony.  His piece, Decline and Fall: America in Retreat, is packed with the insider dope and savage wit that characterizes all his work. Get over to Atlantic Free Press now and read the whole thing, after a taste of these excerpts:

According  to the Iraqi newspaper Al- Quds al-Arabi, James Baker, the Bush  family's Mr. Fixit, recently met with one of Saddam Hussein's lawyers  in Amman, Jordan, and told him that the former deputy prime minister of  Iraq, Tariq Aziz, would be released from detention by December in order  to negotiate with the US on behalf of factions of the Iraqi resistance  movement still controlled by old Ba'ath Party leaders. Sources in  Jordan tell me that the first stage of such negotiations has indeed  already taken place. Two weeks ago, Aziz was whisked from his jail cell  and, along with other representatives of Iraq's Sunni Resistance, taken  for three days' of secret discussions in Amman with senior US  officials. It is heartening to note that this course of action was  advised by the Atlantic Free Press three weeks ago. Aziz and his  colleagues are currently discussing America's proposals with the  divisional resistance leadership, whose response and counter-offers  they will present to Washington early next month.

Jordan's  Crown Prince Hassan tells me, furthermore, that Condoleeza Rice made a  personal appeal to the Gulf Cooperation Council last month to act as  intermediaries between the US and the armed Sunni resistance, not  including Iraqi al-Qaeda leaders. Rice evidently joked during the  closed-door meeting that "if Donald Rumsfeld could hear me now he would  wage war against me fiercer and hotter than he waged in Iraq..."

Chris Floyd Sacked from Moscow Times - After Ten Years

by Richard Kastelein
Webmaster/Publisher
Empire Burlesque

Written by Chris Floyd, posted by Empire Burlesque webmaster, Richard Kastelein.

U.S. and British Navies Join Evacuation Efforts (NYT)

Excerpt: A five-ship United States naval group and a British flotilla steamed toward Lebanon today to help in a large and hastily organized evacuation — and perhaps to send an implicit message — as thousands of foreign nationals continued to flee the violence by helicopter, passenger ships and chartered ferries, or by bus or car to Syria.

…And many Americans said they were distressed to learn they would have to pay their own evacuation costs. Some lawmakers called on the government to waive a portion of a 2003 law requiring such payments.

Written by Chris Floyd of Empire Burlesque

Posted by webmaster Richard Kastelein

Citizens, Attend! A Communication from the Divine Emperor Georgius Secundus Guber, Conqueror of Babylon, Scourge of Bactria, Groper of Germania, Teat of Succor to the Wealthy and Defender of the Faith-Based:

by Chris Floyd

Did you see her and want her so bad, that young, forbidden fruit? Did she once smile nervously at the checkpoint, and you thought it was just for you? Did you come on strong the next time around, flash a little money maybe, or lay a syrupy line on her that you got from a phrasebook? What did she do – recoil? Look away? Look disgusted? Look blank? What did she do to bring on the big hurt from a big, tough man like you?

We are looking for some talented dissident writers with a unique and strong voice... who would like to be part of the Empire Burlesque editorial team.

No, we can't pay at this time - our site currently operates at a loss. All we can offer is the opportunity to become an integral and internal part of the site as well as offer a byline at Empire Burlesque - and Googlenews - when and if your work passes the editorial eye of Floyd.

We are looking for anyone with a keen eye for the high crimes and low comedy that flies below the radar of the mainstream media. And for people who have a good understanding of journalistic principles. Those who wish to specialize in tracking specific areas would be particularly welcome, especially subjects that are greatly neglected in the public eye -- such as Africa, Latin America, India, China, poverty in the United States, "following the money" behind Congressional legislation and government contracts to dig out fat-cat cronies and beneficiaries of our corporate welfare state, the struggle of women for equality around the world, the Israel/Palestine, human rights and other legal and constitutional issues, tracking the religious right -- anything that you have a passion for exploring. Generalists are welcome too, of course.

But we are looking for news, hard facts, not simply opinion -- although certainly your beliefs in equality, social justice, tempering power with the rule of law and other ideals will and should inform your writing.

If you are interested in becoming a contributor to Empire Burlesque please email the webmaster Richard Kastelein at expatforums@gmail.com

Not Chris Floyd ... no - the other guy.

So far Paul William Roberts and Mike Whitney have signed on. As well as a few other writers.

From 1998 to 2000, Floyd, an American expat from Tennessee, was the editor of Science & Spirit, an Oxford quarterly journal dealing with the contentious relationship between science and religion. His work there included interviews with such thinkers as Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Steven Pinker, Frans de Waal, V.S. Ramachandran and others. He also worked with contributors from around the world – Islamic scientists, Jewish theologians, militant atheists, Nobel Prize-winning physicists, and authors such as Freeman Dyson, Paul Davies, Lisa Jardine, A.N. Wilson, John Polkinghorne and others.

Reproduced in full by Floyd's webmaster and publisher, Richard Kastelein - who posts as Ghandi at myleftwing, Booman and here. And no, we don't like being Swiftboated - so I am posting this as we are not allowed to participate at DK.

Original blog post from Empire Burlesque - www.chris-floyd.com

Last week, I was banned from contributing to Daily Kos, apparently for criticizing the Democratic cave-in on Peeper Hayden's CIA nomination a bit too forcefully. At least I think that was the reason; maybe they just didn't like the cut of my jib, I don't know. This banishment to Kossack Siberia is a matter of no great importance, of course, neither to the wider world nor to me, but as the shunning was accompanied by several ugly and false personal accusations against me (and our webmaster here, Richard Kastelein, who was also banned), I thought I would take this opportunity to respond. I wouldn't want to let swift-boatian slanders enter the public record unchallenged. (Although I suppose I could emulate the exquisite timing of John Kerry, and make a bold stand in my own defense – two years from now.)

Anyway, for anyone interested in this admittedly esoteric subject, the response can be found after the jump.

Though Chris Floyd (American Moscow Times columnist and author) and I from Empire Burlesque are not the most interactive Kos and Eurotrib members - we were struck by the call from STOP George in his diary "ACTION ALERT: Qwest, ALONE, says, "No!" to domestic spying." enough to buy the name thankyouqwest.org on Thursday.

As the technical end of the partnership, my idea was to create an quick Wordpress (Open Source) site that would not only centre as a point of praise in the form of posting 'thank you' comments (such as thankyoustephencolbert.org) but also act as a links clearinghouse for the netroot buzz on Qwest and the NSA story. I was able to purchase the name and get the site up within hours.

Within a day (last night) I was on the phone with Newsday technology staffer Richard J. Dalton Jr.- who interviewed me on the site for a half an hour. He couldn't quite get over the fact he was speaking to someone in Holland who was not American. There are a number of us who participate in the progressive movement online that don't carry the same passport and I suppose we all have our own reasons.

So now the US offers nuclear reactors for favours... Now that's rich.

In other words - the US offered the Turks nuclear technology so they can Nuke Iran's nuclear technology. Maybe the US can then turn around and bomb Turkey someday for having a nuclear program.

What happened to Bush's 'diplomatic' solution?

And those are some pretty hard words from Gul on US aims in the region.

Turkey won't let U.S. attack Iran from its land

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Sunday that his country refused a request from the United States to attack Iran from its Air Force base in Incirlik, despite the U.S. offer of a nuclear reactor, according to a report in Al Biyan.

In an interview for the United Arab Emirates newspaper, Gul noted that America's efforts to attack Iran are "imaginary" and that Turkey's stance is "strategic" and refuses the use of its land for any belligerent activity against neighboring countries. (Roee Nahmias)

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3245382,00.html

 

Hideous Kinky: Moral Nullity as Normality in Pentagon Plans

Written by Chris Floyd  

http://www.chris-floyd.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=615

Imagine growing up in a family where every day, father raped daughter, mother tortured son, brother abused brother, sister stole from sister, and the whole family murdered neighbors, friends and passing strangers. Imagine the underlying assumptions about life that you would adopt without question in such an atmosphere, how normal the most hideous depravity would seem. If some outsider chanced to ask you about your family's latest activities, you would spew out perversions as calmly and unthinkingly as a man giving directions to the post office.

This state of unwitting confession to monstrous crime has been the default mode of the American Establishment for many years now. Government officials routinely detail policies that in a healthy atmosphere would shake the nation to its core, stand out like a gaping wound, a rank betrayal of every hope, ideal and sacrifice of generations past. Yet in the degraded sensibility of these times, such confessions go unnoticed, their evil unrecognized - or even lauded as savvy ploys or noble endeavors. Inured to moral horror by half a century of outrages committed by the "National Security" complex, the Establishment - along with the media and vast swathes of the population - can no longer discern the poison in the air they breathe. It just seems normal.

And so it was again this week when the Washington Post outlined the Pentagon's plan to put dirty war - by death squad, by snatch squad, by secret armies, subversion, torture and terrorism- at the very heart of America's military philosophy. Not defense against declared enemies, not deterrence of potential foes, but conducting "continuous" covert military operations in countries "where the United States is not at war" is now the Pentagon's "highest priority," according to the new "campaign plan for the global war on terror" issued by Donald Rumsfeld.

Come on sweet youth - bring us your passions.

Watch Video here (or click play below).

Click here for more info on her new Album (MTV)

It is nowhere written that the American empire goes on forever.

Why We Fight is a provocative new documentary from acclaimed filmmaker Eugene Jarecki (The Trials of Henry Kissinger) and winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival which is now posted at Empire Burlesque for viewing (via Google).

Named after the series of short films by legendary director Frank Capra that explored America’s reasons for entering World War II, Why We Fight surveys a half-century of military conflicts, asking how – and answering why – a nation of, by and for the people has become the savings-and-loan of a government system whose survival depends on an Orwellian state of constant war.

Fighting them "over there" to keep from fighting them "over here"?

Hell no.

We're fighting them "over here" because we're  fighting them "over there."

UK intelligence confirms that last year's  July 7 London bombings were a direct result of the Iraq War. It was not  the work of long-time al Qaeda activists, but young Britons who had  been radicalized by the unprovoked invasion of the Muslim heartland.  From The Observer: Leak reveals official story of London bombings: Al-Qaeda not linked, says government.

And  let's be clear: this is just the very beginning, the first, faint  echoes of the coming whirlwind of blowback that will hit the United  States and Britain as a result of the monstrous and murderous folly in  Iraq. The victims of 7/7 are the first fruits of a terrible harvest of  innocent blood. None of this retribution will be "justified" in any way  -- that's not the point here. The point is that you cannot launch wars  of aggression and slaughter tens of thousands of innocent people and  expect a Gandhi-like response from your victims and their compatriots.  Would that it were so -- but it is not so. The overwhelming majority of  Muslims around the world will not, will never react with violence, not  even to greater provocations (such as the coming attack on Iran); but  as the British government's own investigation shows, these wars will  radicalize a growing number of Muslims around the world who will seek  to meet death with death.

Our dark days -- already pitch-black with murder and lies and hatred and fear -- are about to grow even darker.

From the diaries - whataboutbob

In the spring of 1920, T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) wrote...

The people of England have been led in Mesopotamia into a trap from which it will be hard to escape with dignity and honour. They have been tricked into it by a steady withholding of information. The Baghdad communiques are belated, insincere, incomplete. Things have been far worse than we have been told, our administration more bloody and inefficient than the public knows. It is a disgrace to our imperial record, and may soon be too inflamed for any ordinary cure. We are today not far from a disaster.

...We say we are in Mesopotamia to develop it for the benefit of the world. all experts say that the labour supply is the ruling factor in its development. How far will the killing of ten thousand villagers and townspeople this summer hinder the production of wheat, cotton, and oil? How long will we permit millions of pounds, thousands of Imperial troops, and tens of thousands of Arabs to be sacrificed on behalf of colonial administration which can benefit nobody but its administrators?

http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/1918p/mesopo.html

Written by Chris Floyd   - crossposted at Empire Burlesque

The causes underlying any civil war are always complex, confused, even contradictory -- as one would expect in an outbreak of madness. But those seeking to discover some of the key precipitating factors behind Iraq's furious plunge into chaos and disintegration might find one of them in the records of an obscure Congressional committee meeting on August 10, 2004.

At that meeting, then Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, General Peter Pace (now head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) and General Bryan Brown, head of Special Operations Command, appeared before the House Armed Services Committee. In a long session larded with the usual rhetorical posturing, mutual backscratching with the committee's rubberstamp Republican majority - and a couple of polite queries from the timid Democratic minority - Wolfowitz announced the Pentagon's plan to give money, arms and training to a network of local militias in trouble spots around the world. These irregular forces - "not just armies," Wolfowitz emphasized - would be used to "counter terrorism and insurgencies," provide greater internal security" in regions of American interest and "deny sanctuary" to America's designated enemies, according to Pentagon transcripts of the testimony.

What happened in the village of Isahaqi, north of Baghdad, on Ides of March? The murk of war – the natural blur of unbuckled event, and its artificial augmentation by professional massagers – shrouds the details of the actual operation. But here is what we know.

We know that U.S. forces conducted a raid on a house in the village on March 15. We know that the Pentagon said the American troops were "targeting an individual suspected of supporting foreign fighters for the al-Qaeda in Iraq terror network," when their team came under fire, and that the troops "returned fire. utilizing both air and ground assets." We know that the Pentagon said that "only" one man, two women and one child were killed in the raid, which destroyed a house in the village.

...images from a buried story leaked today.

 

US raid on home killed 11 family members

By Amer Amery

03/16/06 - TIKRIT, Iraq, March 15 (Reuters) - Eleven members of an Iraqi family were killed in a U.S. raid on Wednesday, police and witnesses said. The U.S. military said two women and a child died during the bid to seize an al Qaeda militant from a house.

A senior Iraqi police officer said autopsies on the bodies, which included five children, showed each had been shot in the head. Community leaders said they were outraged at the killings and demanded an explanation from the U.S. military...