Flyby News
"News Fit to Transmit in the Post Cassini Flyby Era"
Madness * MejiaCourt * 911-Harbor * DemPolitics
21 May 2004
"The U.S. invasion was based on lies:
Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11
or with al-Qaeda's role in it. Iraq didn't have the intention
or capability of attacking America. It did not try to get uranium
from Niger. It had no weapons of mass destruction.
It was wrong to go in. It is wrong to stay in.
This is the time for a peace plan for Iraq
and an exit strategy for the U.S.
The world community will not make a commitment
absent a change of direction in U.S. policy."
– Dennis J. Kucinich
{From editorial in USA Today 19 May 2004}1) 'In the mouth of madness'- - Berg murder politically motivated?
- - U.S. strike kills 40 at Iraqi wedding party
- - 33 killed in Israel's bloodiest raid in Gaza in years
- - 22 Palestinians killed in Rafah raid
- - Israelis massacre kids
- - 10 Killed As Israeli Occupation Forces Fire On Palestinian Protestors
- - Palestinian Brother and sister gunned down as they collected washing
- - New horrific details of prison abuse provided by Iraqis
2) Democracy Now! Camilo Mejia Witnessed Torture of Iraqi
3) The New Pearl Harbor- - International Citizens' Inquiry Into 9/11
4) Kucinich and Supporters for a Sane Democratic Party Platform- - "Dear California Democratic Newsletter'
- - Guardian article on Skull and Bones
- - Nader & Kerry Discuss White House Bids
- - Kucinich: Get U.S. military out of Iraq
Editor's Notes:Thanks to John Kaminski for doing opposite of what he writes in the subheading of his latest article: "As mass insanity grips the world, people of principle remain silent." His article, 'In the mouth of madness' is brilliant and heartfelt. Among the walking dead there are a minority of awakened souls traumatized by the absolute madness of these times, and the ruthless betrayal of those with truth and honor. One with honor is facing court martial today, Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia, for refusing to return to Iraq. Item 2 is the Democracy Now!'s interview with Camilo Mejia's aunt, Norma Castillo en route to the court martial proceedings in Fort Stewart, Georgia. This Friday, 21 May, Amy Goodman will be interviewing David Ray Griffin, author of "The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions about the Bush Administration and 9/11." The full-hour segment will also feature 9/11 widow Ellen Mariani, who turned down $1.8 million from the government compensation fund in order to file a RICO Act lawsuit against the Bush Administration for complicity in 9/11. The second section of item 3 includes information on an International Citizens' Inquiry Into 9/11, and a upcoming conference in Toronto. Item 4 touches on politics: Nader, Kerry, and Kucinich. The two articles on Kerry and Nader's meeting is disgustingly void of substance, which reminded me of the Gore-Bush-Nader menagerie. Yet the one with the most substance, Dennis Kucinich, is still treated as an outsider. Kucinich got double digits in the Oregon Primary, around 16%, and added to his delegate pool to bring to the Convention. Yet the increase in the death-rate in Palestine and Iraq is skyrocketing, and time is of the essence. Please take action wherever you can, the silent majority can remain silent no more unless madness becomes the only option.
Please note that Flyby News links to Information Clearing House, Democracy Now!, Truthout, Common Dreams, News Insider, Citizens for a Legitimate Government, and other key resources that are used in this and other issues from near the bottom of
FlybyNews.com. This page has recently been updated, so feel welcome to visit and help support key resources for independent late breaking news and perspective. Bill Moyers recently stated that such independent online news sources resemble those of the early days of the independent press publications during the US American Revolution period. Though created by the Department of Advanced Research Projects Agency, (DoD), the Internet could become a tool for the transformation of madness of current US foreign policies and betrayal of the US Constitution. Please help network Flyby News and support such critical resources for life and integrity's survival in the 21st Century.
"More than an end to war,
we want an end to the beginning of all wars - yes,
an end to this brutal, inhuman and thoroughly impractical
method of settling the differences between governments. "
– Franklin D. Roosevelt
1) 'In the mouth of madness'- - Berg murder politically motivated?
- - U.S. strike kills 40 at Iraqi wedding party
- - 33 killed in Israel's bloodiest raid in Gaza in years
- - 22 Palestinians killed in Rafah raid
- - Israelis massacre kids
- - 10 Killed As Israeli Occupation Forces Fire On Palestinian Protestors
- - Palestinian Brother and sister gunned down as they collected washing
- - New horrific details of prison abuse provided by Iraqis
'In the mouth of madness'
As mass insanity grips the world,
people of principle remain silent
By John Kaminski
skylax@comcast.net
[Excerpt]
A lot of you have been asking why I haven't written anything lately. My jaw dropped about three weeks ago and damn few words have come out of my mouth ever since. Mostly I've been asking for food, lots of food. And watching a lot of movies, the black and white ones, film noir, trying to pretend I don't live in this world of 2004. I think this is what many people do when they reach a certain age, when current events overtake them and they can't cope with it, and try to take refuge in the past. But let's face it. I can't cope with this reality. It's more than I can handle. The best phrase to describe it? Incredulous stupefaction. My head just wags back and forth involuntarily these days.
Some of my friends say I simply read too much bad news. Since the 9/11 deception, there's been anthrax, Afghanistan, Patriot Act, and Iraq, to list the major chapters that go along with perhaps the worst of all the atrocities, that neverending story about the mass murder of the Palestinians that the world seems so good at ignoring. And I've been writing about all this ceaselessly for the past couple of years. And I don't mean to demean all those wonderful people who have written to me in appreciative support, but hell, there are six billion people in the world, and most of them are not listening, or doing anything constructive to stop this juggernaut of carnage that is really the world's dominant moneymaking operation. Strife makes money for the rich losers who foment it. And it's getting me down to the point of speechlessness. What hope exists if people who profess to adhere to the principles of the good life remain silent?
For me, this recent paralysis really began with the Abu Ghairab prison revelations. Attaching that poor Iraqi man to electrical wires. That's a photograph that ranks with Jack Ruby plugging Lee Harvey Oswald, with the Challenger explosion, with that little naked Vietnamese girl running screaming from napalm in the ranks of the most famous pictures in American history. Any American that doesn't feel an overwhelming sense of shame is a complete sociopath.
Unfortunately, it would seem that a majority of the American populace — as well as virtually all its leaders — are exactly that: mealymouthed chickenshit perverted immoral sadistic sociopaths. And many of them carry holy books and insist these atrocities are justified.
If the objective of the great Zionist Illuminati Masonic conspiracy is to completely demoralize Americans, the prison scandal was the thing that did it for me. And I'm not one who has exactly tried to hide his head in the sand over time. I've tried to deal with all the facts in a forthright way.
9/11 was an inside job covered up by politicians we elected and media we read every day. The anthrax attacks came from our own government, but no one was prosecuted. The Patriot Act was a clearly provable act of treason in which virtually all of our Congress participated. Afghanistan was target practice on hapless nomads to reestablish the drug trade that is run by the CIA. And Iraq. Poor Iraq. The American presence in Iraq is what? What do you want to call it?
A deliberate attempt to show the world what will happen to it if it opposes American financial totalitarianism? Your residents will be shot down in cold blood. Those who survive will be stripped naked and raped if they're female, humiliated if they're male. Ghoulish American soldiers will trifle with the corpses of your relatives and make photographs to send home to their friends to prove they're insane.
America robbed Iraq of everything it had, its riches, its dignity, its health, its future. This is the real message America is sending to the world. If the rest of the world doesn't stop America in its tracks, right now, the world has no future. Or, the future it has will be the rubble of the Gaza strip and the makeshift cemeteries of Fallujah.
Imagine. Turning Yankee Stadium into a giant makeshift cemetery. That's what real people — husbands and moms and orphaned children — are contemplating today in Fallujah. The brave people of Fallujah who repulsed the great American war machine. And then the images of Abu Ghraib and the new American gulag that stretches around the world return. These prisoners have no rights and face torture, even though their captors know they are innocent. This is the new (?) American way, a disgusting reality that most Americans refuse to face.
It is one thing to pretend you don't know American prosperity has been gained by the exploitation of millions of Third World peasants. It is quite another thing to know that the American military practices a policy of torture and indiscriminate murder everywhere in the world. And so, like me, Americans turn away from the psychotic spectacle, unable to cope with it.
But we all ought to think twice about doing this, about not facing the reality of what is happening now. Because if we turn away from this, we're only inviting the same sick thugs to do the same sick stuff to us.
If we leave George W. Bush in charge — or for that matter, if we elect John Kerry — we guarantee that we all will be prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison, in one stark form or another.
The paradigm is, of course, Nick Berg. There are so many questions about that sorry beheading episode that an accurate analysis of the whole event remains impossible. But what is obvious is American involvement. The powers that be had this man killed to create a public relations episode to take the media focus off its appalling torture and murder of imprisoned Iraqi innocents.
Do you realize what this means? It means that it is now OK for the U.S. federal government to come into your home and kill you because they then will tell a story to the public explaining what a threat you were to Homeland Security. If you think this is farfetched, I suggest you watch the Nick Berg carefully video and contemplate your own future. (Hint: you have none.)
Who will be held responsible for this horrific act? We know the policy of emotionally devastating prisoners of the U.S. war machine came from the very top of the organizational chart. We know that this stunt was ordered by the same power freaks who staged 9/11 to cram a state of permanent war down our throats.
And yet we accede to it. What can we DO about it? we ask. We pretend we are powerless. In my mind, George W. Bush is already guilty of mass murder and treason for what he did — or didn't do — about 9/11. As commander in chief of the war machine, he must also take responsibility for Nick Berg, a deliberate murder for propaganda purposes. I wonder if God told him to do it, just like God told him to invade Afghanistan. Doesn't it chill you to know that the life of an American citizen can be squandered in this way, so cynically, with all the public facts about so twisted? Please contemplate the chances that something like this could happen to you.
And continue to ask the question: who is to be held responsible for all these murders, these endless murders? Who do you think? In my need to escape this bleak news-scape these days, I contemplate a movie made more than a decade ago that, like all good movies do, reflects what is happening now. It was called "In the Mouth of Madness," made by that controversial Grade-B horror movie guru John Carpenter. And it depicts a progressively horrific sequence of inexplicable murders woven into a tale about some psycho and his holy book.
The astonishing punchline at the end reveals that the people who are watching the movie in horror are actually the same people who are IN the movie committing the bloody murders. You can imagine the wide-eyed hysterical laughter when the main character realizes he is the person in the movie doing the killing.
In fact, if you watch the evening news tonight, and then go into your bathroom and stare into the mirror, you can probably re-create the scene yourself.
John Kaminski is the author of "America's Autopsy Report," a collection of his Internet essays that have appeared on hundreds of websites around the world, and "The Day America Died: Why You Shouldn't Believe the Official Version of What Happened on September 11, 2001," a booklet designed to be read by those who continue to trust what the U.S. government is saying. For information about both, go to
johnkaminski.com/ Or, to read some more of
his essays at:
rudemacedon.ca/kaminski/kam-index.htmlThis complete article, 'In the mouth of madness' posted at:
rense.com/general53/gr.htm"As mass insanity grips the world,
people of principle remain silent"
John Kaminski
johnkaminski.com/= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - Berg murder politically motivated?By Margie Burns
Online Journal Contributing Writer
onlinejournal.com/Commentary/051704Burns/051704burns.html= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - U.S. strike kills 40 at Iraqi wedding partyA U.S. helicopter fired on a wedding party early Wednesday in western Iraq, killing more than 40 people, Iraqi officials said. The U.S. military said it could not confirm the report and was investigating.
newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-wowedd0520,0,6828667.story?coll=ny-nation-big-pix= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - 33 killed in Israel's bloodiest raid in Gaza in yearsIsraeli media said at least 22 bodies, most of them school children, had been counted after the strike in the Rafah camp
forbes.com/home/newswire/2004/05/19/rtr1377078.html= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - 22 Palestinians killed in Rafah raidAt least 22 Palestinians are reported killed and around 50 injured in an Israeli helicopter strike on a demonstration in the southern Gaza refugee camp of Rafah.
rte.ie/news/2004/0519/mideast01.html= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - Israelis massacre kids The hospital stairs and floors were drenched in blood and staff treated the wounded on the floors after running out of beds.
thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2004231101,00.html= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - 10 Killed As Israeli Occupation Forces Fire On Palestinian ProtestorsForces fired tank shells, helicopter missiles and machine-guns Wednesday on a large crowd of Palestinians demonstrating against an Israeli invasion of a neighboring refugee camp, killing at least 10 people, the majority of them children
msnbc.msn.com/id/5004007/= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - Palestinian Brother and sister gunned down as they collected washingA Palestinian brother and sister, aged 13 and 16, were killed by Israeli fire in a Gaza refugee camp today as they took down the washing from a rooftop clothesline, their family said.
212.2.162.45/news/story.asp?j=104603078&p=yx46x3784&n=104603838= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - New horrific details of prison abuse provided by IraqisPreviously secret sworn statements by detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq describe in raw detail abuse that goes well beyond what has been made public, adding allegations of prisoners being ridden like animals, sexually fondled by female soldiers and forced to retrieve their food from toilets. Some of the detainees said they were pressed to denounce Islam or were force-fed pork and liquor. Many provided graphic details of how they were sexually humiliated and assaulted, threatened with rape, and forced to masturbate in front of female soldiers.
The Washington Post [US], 21 May 2004 click for article
washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43783-2004May20.html
2) Democracy Now! Camilo Mejia Witnessed Torture of IraqiArmy Conscientious Objector Camilo Mejia
Witnessed Torture of Iraqi Detainees in May 2003
Wednesday, May 19th, 2004
Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia faces court martial today for refusing to return to Iraq. He eventually applied for conscientious objector status in part because of the abuse of detainees he witnessed in Iraq, not in Abu Gharib but in another facility - Al Assad. We speak with his aunt Norma Castillo en route to the court martial proceedings in Fort Stewart, Georgia. [includes rush transcript]
In Baghdad, Specialist Jeremy Sivitsm pleaded guilty today to three counts of abuse during a court martial proceeding stemming from the Iraqi prison abuse scandal.
In a less covered court martial case, Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia is facing court martial today at Fort Stewart in Georgia for going AWOL for several months after he returned from Iraq. He eventually applied for conscientious objector status in part because of the abuse of detainees he witnessed in Iraq.
When he surrendered at Ft. Stewart on March 16, 2003, Mejia submitted a formal application for discharge as a conscientious objector to Major General William G. Webster, Jr., Commanding General of the base. On pages 29-32 of this application, Mejia provides details of the torture and abuse of detainees which he witnessed at Al Assad, in early May, 2003. Apparently, no one from General Webster's staff has investigated these serious allegations during the six week period since they received the CO application.
Norma Castillo, Camilo Mejia's aunt. She is en route to Fort Stewart in Georgia to attend her nephew's court martial proceedings.
Re: Democracy Now!: Army Deserter Witnessed Torture;
Listen/Watch/Read
democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/05/19/1449235".. he decided that he didn't want to go back to be part of this war. Like he has said before, he didn't want to continue to be an instrument of violence, and be an instrument of peace, and these are his reasons why he decided not to go back to the war in Iraq. It's an illegal war and it's based on lies." -- Norma Castillo
For the complete interview, listen, watch or read, see:
democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/05/19/1449235
3) The New Pearl Harbor on Democracy Now!- - International Citizens' Inquiry Into 9/11
- - The New Pearl Habor on Democracy Now!
David Ray Griffin, author of "The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions about the Bush Administration and 9/11," will be Amy Goodman's guest on Democracy Now. The full-hour segment also scheduled this Friday, 21 May, features 9/11 widow Ellen Mariani, who turned down $1.8 million from the government compensation fund in order to file a RICO Act lawsuit against the Bush Administration for complicity in 9/11.
To find out what radio/TV station in your city airs Democracy Now, and at what times:
democracynow.org/stations.shtmlTo watch or listen to the show on the web on Friday (available after noon EDT):
democracynow.orgAmazon link for "The New Pearl Harbor":
amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1566565529/qid=1085038117= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - International Citizens' Inquiry Into 9/11International Citizens' Inquiry Into 9/11 to be Held in Toronto The International Citizens' Inquiry Into 9/11 will be held in Toronto May 25-30. This is Phase 2 of a series of such Inquiries, which launched in San Francisco in March. Phase 3 opens September 12, 2004 in New York City.
The Toronto Citizens' Inquiry will be the most ambitious such inquiry held in the world to date. It is anticipated that more than 1000 people will attend over the scheduled six-day event. The Inquiry will be held at the Ukrainian Cultural Centre and at Convocation Hall, University of Toronto. 9/11 widow Ellen Mariani, who is suing George W. Bush for the loss of her husband on September 11th, will address the Inquiry, as will her lawyer, Phil Berg.
Other leading 9/11 skeptics that will be speaking include: Michael C. Ruppert former Los Angeles police detective; Thomas Kimmel retired FBI Agent and US Navy officer; Michel Chossudovsky author of War and Globalization, the Truth behind 9/11; Thierry Meyssan author of 9/11 The Big Lie; Mathias Broeckers best-selling German author/journalist Conspiracy, Conspiracy Theories, and the Secrets of September 11 There are more than 20 other presenters confirmed. Please check our web-site for more details The San Francisco Inquiry (Phase 1), held March 26-28, was attended by more than 1,500 people and was front-page news in California.
The Toronto Inquiry is open to members of the public and the news media. Anyone interested in attending can register by calling (416) 963-5562 or toll-free 1-866-234-7438, or by logging onto the Inquiry website at
911inquiry.org
4) Kucinich and Supporters for a Sane Democratic Party Platform- - "Dear California Democratic Newsletter'
- - Guardian article on Skull and Bones
- - Nader & Kerry Discuss White House Bids
- - Kucinich: Get U.S. military out of Iraq
- - "Dear California Democratic Newsletter'From: "goodsister95476"
"Amazingly, I've just received a short reply to my habitual and cranky response to one of the Democratic Party's email pitches. I show below the back & forth, with their message heavily edited for space. Notice the reasoning, or lack thereof, in the editor's answer. He skips right over the fact that Kerry's been forced and foisted on us, and heads straight to 'can't afford four more Bush years'.
Goodsister
* * * * * *
From: California Democratic Party
Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 2004 5:29 PM
Subject: California Democrat Newsletter
Letter from the Chairman
Dear California Democrat:
I am writing to you after an exciting weekend Executive Board
meeting, held in beautiful San Diego, where we had caucuses,
workshops and committee meetings....
There was definitely a sense of excitement at this meeting. It's so
clear that we absolutely must elect John Kerry President in November
and make sure Barbara Boxer returns to the U.S. Senate, so I think
people really feel energized about the challenges ahead....
I came away from this three-day conference full of hope and ready
for what lies ahead. Together we will take back the White House, re-
elect Senator Boxer and make sure that the voices of California
Democrats are heard!
Senator Art Torres (Ret.)
Chairman, California Democratic Party
* * * * *
Sent: Wed 5/5/2004 8:26 PM
To: Editor
Subject: Re: California Democrat Newsletter
I've been a Democrat all my life, but I am so disheartened and disgusted with the party now, I'm ready to leave. The Democratic Party is not listening to us, the people. We want the Kucinich platform, and I believe most Americans would, if they were allowed to hear it. Kucinich is the only candidate offering real solutions to issues we care most about, and even now, you're pretending he isn't even running.
Nobody is for Kerry. He's got voters, but no real supporters. You're pushing him on us, and that's not the way this is supposed to work.
* * * * *
I understand your frustration. We believe, though, that now is the time for us to close ranks and ensure that Bush is removed from the White House. Four more years would be disastrous.
Editor
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- - Guardian article on Skull and Bones
Skeletons in the closet
While at Yale University, both John Kerry and George Bush joined an elite secret society, the Order of Skull and Bones. How might their lifelong allegiance to the club affect their relationship - and political decisions? Suzanne Goldenberg tracks down other Bonesmen to find out
Skeletons in the closet
guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1220758,00.html
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- - Nader & Kerry Discuss White House Bids
Excerpt:
"..Kerry's aides say he's still committed to keeping American troops in Iraq until democratic elections are held. If that's his position in November, Nader will indeed offer antiwar Americans a real choice. They may well vote for him, registering their protest in large enough numbers to reelect the president who led the country into Iraq in the first place."
For the complete article, see:
washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40592-2004May19.html
Another article was poted NY Times.com
nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Kerry-Nader.html
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- - Kucinich: Get U.S. military out of Iraq
May 20, 2004
In an op-ed published in today's edition of USA TODAY, Kucinich reiterated the need for the U.S. to get out of Iraq. Kucinich expressed concern that if the United States insists on staying the course in Iraq, "it will damage America's security and lead to a longer war, more troop losses and civilian casualties, hundreds of billions of tax dollars wasted and, inevitably, a draft."
Kucinich stressed "this is the time for a peace plan for Iraq and an exit strategy for the U.S. The world community will not make a commitment absent a change of direction in U.S. policy."
For the complete article, see:
usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2004-05-19-oppose_x.htm
or link from kucinich.us
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