According to new Pentagon statistics, in the second quarter of this year, there has been a 23% increase in the number of private security contractors working for the Pentagon in Iraq and a 29% hike in Afghanistan. In fact, outside contractors now make up approximately half of our forces fighting in the two countries. "This means," according to Jeremy Scahill, author of the book, Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, "there are a whopping 242,647 contractors working on these two U.S. wars."
European elections 2009: far-Right makes gains across Europe
Far-Right parties and extremists made gains across Europe on Sunday night as protest votes and low turnouts marked elections for the European parliament.
Angry voters punished governments in Spain, Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Greece and Ireland - all countries hit hard by the economic crisis.
LIBERTY DOLLAR ALERT: FBI Arrests Bernard, Kevin, Sarah & Rachelle
And so it came to pass, 2009 years after the birth of Christ, that four regular Americans have taken a stand to defend the People's right to protect themselves from a government currency that has a long and unforgiving history of stealing the people's purchasing power. This is a test of individual rights, as protected by the Tenth Amendment. It is the deciding moment that a private voluntary barter currency (PVBC) is legal in the great United States of America. This is a test that the Liberty Dollar must and will pass, for that I have no doubt. But it will not be easy or cheap. Please, if you support our efforts, support us with any kind of money you have, including pro bono services. Now that the Liberty Dollar faces a federal criminal trial, it is the US Government v Liberty Dollar ala Bernard, Kevin, Sarah & Rachelle. Please help us win. Please help yourself win. Please help American win.
A High-Priced Media Campaign That Iraqis Aren't Buying
"The millions spent on this is wasted money," Ziyad al-Aajeely, director of Iraq's nonprofit Journalistic Freedom Observatory, said as he flipped through a recent edition of Baghdad Now. "Nobody reads this."
U.S. military officials and contractors have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on billboards, pamphlets and TV and radio airtime in Iraq over the past six years to burnish the U.S. military's image, marginalize extremists, promote democracy and foster reconciliation.
Galilee communities: We're not racist, we just don't want Arabs
Residents of the Misgav bloc of communities in the Galilee consider themselves to be liberal, peace-loving people who support coexistence with their Arab neighbors and even root for Bnei Sakhnin, the soccer club based in a nearby Arab town considered a prominent symbol of that community. Which is why they were shocked this week when proposals raised at local council meetings to accept only applicants who shared their Zionist principles drew negative headlines and criticism for alleged racism.
Key to blood clotting discovered
Scientists have discovered a molecular mechanism that is key to regulating the way blood clots.
The team from Harvard University, writing in the journal Science, said the finding could help treat people who have blood-clotting disorders.
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Haass: Cheney Bugged My Calls Because I Wasn't a Hawk
What was it about former State Department official Richard Haass that bugged former Vice President Dick Cheney? Haass, out with a new book, War of Necessity, War of Choice, says he was shocked to read in Angler, a book about Cheney, that the former veep ordered his phone calls tapped. An aide to both former President Bushes, Haass thinks the reason might have been that he wasn't hawkish enough while working with another moderate, former Secretary of State Colin Powell."To me it was just indicative of how ideological the administration had become," Haass says. For example, he pushed for a dialogue with Iran, rejected by the Bush-Cheney team. "The idea that something like that would be seen as somehow beyond the pale—that in many ways encapsulated my fundamental difference with this administration."
On American sustainability: anatomy of societal collapse
“Our American way of life—300+ million people enjoying historically unprecedented material living standards—is not sustainable.”
Let me repeat Clugston’s words, “…not sustainable.” California cannot sustain its own addition of 1,700 people and 400 vehicles added to that state—daily! It cannot sustain its projected added 20 million people. It does not possess enough water today! The USA cannot continue adding 3.1 million annually, net gain, on its way to adding 100 million in 26 years.
“America is irreparably overextended—we are living hopelessly beyond our means, both ecologically and economically. The available supplies of many critical ecological resources and economic resources upon which we depend will soon be insufficient to enable our American way of life,” Clugston said.
He’s not pretending or making this up! We exploded our civilization to over 300 million people that need to be watered, fed, housed and educated. We’re failing across the nation in May 2009 so what will it be like with an added 100 million? Darned frightening!
Clinton Rejects Israeli Claims of an Understanding on Settlements
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton forcefully rejected yesterday Israeli claims that the Bush administration had secretly agreed to expanding Jewish settlements on the West Bank, deepening the impasse between the two countries.
"We have the negotiating record, that is the official record, that was turned over to the Obama administration by the outgoing Bush administration,"
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