Flyby News
"News Fit to Transmit in the Post Cassini Flyby Era"
Shell Game Ballot * Glaciers * Reign of Terror
20 March 2008
"To open ourselves to the truth and to bring ourselves face to face
with our personal and collective reality is not an option that can be
accepted or rejected. It is an undeniable requirement of all people
and all societies that seek to humanize themselves and to be free.."
-- Guatemalan Bishop Juan Jose Gerardi Conedera
Assassinated April 25, 1998, one day after his speech (and above quote),
when he presented his findings of an in-depth probe into a campaign of
terror against the people of Guatemala waged by their own government.1) The Shell Game review by Jehan Abdur-Raheem- - The Reflecting Pool – Press Release
- - Live from New York City 9/11 BALLOT INITIATIVE
2) Glaciers suffer record shrinkage- - As Andean Glaciers Shrink, Water Worries Grow
- - NASA Data Shows Thickest and Oldest Arctic Ice Is Melting
3) Christopher Story Winds Up World Reports on Lee Wanta- - US leads world in imprisoning its people
- - Jehan Abdur-Raheem – A Muslim in Isolation Row
- - Many Voting For Clinton to Boost GOP
- - Remarks of Senator Barack Obama: 'A More Perfect Union'
- - My Life Is My Sun Dance & Rain of Terror
Editor’s Notes: Top in this issue is the review of The Shell Game by Jehan Abdur-Raheem. This incarcerated devout Muslim’s perspective can help shed light on the universal appeal of this 9/11 truth novel and its purpose. Also in item 1 is a Press Release on the Reflecting Pool, and an update on the NYC Ballot Initiative. Item two covers the drastic global warming glacier shrinkage problem. The third item covers the latest on Ambassador Leo Wanta, the one hundredth and perhaps final report for a while on this by Christopher Story. Also, this item includes an article on the US leading the world in imprisoning its people, a revisit with a Muslim on Isolation Row, why many for the GOP are voting for Hillary Clinton, and a link to a video and transcript on the recent speech by Barack Obama. This issue ends with a poem I wrote inspired by Native American political prisoner, Leonard Peltier and the Oglala Sioux. Valley 9/11 Truth
PRESENTS
The Reflecting Pool
The first investigative drama to
challenge the official version of 9/11
Revealing the Sources
Media Education Foundation
April 30, 2008; 7:00pm
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For Independent Investigations
9/11
I N I T I A T I V E
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New York Times Best-Selling Author's 9/11 Truth Novel
THE SHELL GAME
1) The Shell Game review by Jehan Abdur-Raheem- - The Reflecting Pool – Press Release
- - Live from New York City 9/11 BALLOT INITIATIVE
- - The Shell Game review by Jehan Abdur-Raheem
10 March 2008
The following is transcribed from hand-written correspondence from
Jehan Abdur-Raheem, a so-called “Muslim of Influence” kept in isolation
since 2005 without disclosure of where accusations are coming from to keep
Jehan isolated for such a long time, which borders on torture in our prisons.
There can be no progress, no achievement without Sacrifice.
-- James AllenPeace Brother Jonathan,
The book arrived roughly a week ago. I didn’t want to write you about it until after I had read, and now that I’ve read it, all I can say is “Wow!” You’ve already read it, so you know what I mean.
When people compliment a book they usually begin by saying, ‘I couldn’t put it down’ … Well, I couldn’t put it down (smile). But I stopped reading it at several points because the book made me realize how humongous our task is. The insanity is not national; it’s global; and with the Neocons in control of the mainstream media, mobilizing the masses is virtually impossible.
The book is fictional, but the characters and situations were very real to me because I’m conscious enough to know that these things happen daily. Truths and facts interwoven into the fabric of story hit hard at the conscious and conscience of the reader … It made me feel little…microscopic actually, when compared to the size of the problems that confront us because of greedy, selfish power-mongers.
The end saddened me because it showed just how any such reality would end. Cover-ups, pardons and the token prosecution of minions. The spin doctors would still point their fingers in directions that most expedient to whatever party held the most power, and the media would be led like sheep. They, in turn, would mislead the masses by telling them what they actually wanted to hear; which would be anything that supports them in their ‘comfort zone’ of self-righteousness.
Like no one condemned Roosevelt for Pearl Harbor, no one would formally charge Bush and Cheney for the murders of 9-11; and all the hearings transcripts would become classified documents, and Americans would remain in the dark about leaders they elected.
I got a little upset considering this fact because I’ve spent the last 30 years of my life with men sentenced to 20 years in prison for selling $50 worth of crack, or sticking up some mom and pop grocery store with a Saturday-night special, while Bush and Cheney raped the planet and earn an honorable place in our history books.
The Shell Game was well written. The research extensive and Steve Alten bravely put in everything that needed to be said, pulling no punches. The Mulligan speeches should be given to Obama and Hillary… The positions they take are weak, when stronger, more radical stances are called for to attract conscious Americans. I agree that the issues that confront us are ‘black and green’. That freeing us from oil dependency would solve 65% of our problems in the next 10 years. Reducing the global populations through education and birth control initiatives would give us head start in surviving until the next Century. Islamic Radicals were ‘made’ by America’s greed and insensitive attempts to control the world’s resources. Fossil fuels will be needed for years to come, as the transition to alternative fuels will take time, but putting a new infrastructure in place would solve the unemployment rate, foster new nationalistic pride, and Marshall in a new era of ‘Green’ that will preserve the planet and its inhabitants.
As a Muslim, I appreciated the balanced way in which Steve outlined the Muslim dilemma. The historical accounts were accurate, and just so you’ll know, many Muslims worldwide are unhappy with the Royals in Saudi Arabia. If it were not the place of Mecca and Medina, not even their wealth would have protected them from right-thinking Muslims who want a just, fair, and peaceful society as promoted by the Teachings of the Prophet Muhammad and the instructions of the Quran. Make no mistake, Muslims are also enjoined to fight in defense of themselves, their property, their religion, etc., but the Prophet would’ve never blown up a marketplace filled with women and children, or made war on non-combatants. War for us is the last resort; not the first choice. Left alone, most Muslim countries would gravitate towards democratic reforms, as the sheer number of people in the overall community dictates progressive change. I’m offended when Neocons describe Muslims as ‘peace hating people’; or people who hate the American way of life – Muslims don’t hate America; they hate the policies and practices of the American government. These policies and practices are motivated by America’s greed for oil … Adopt fossil fuel alternatives and get out of Muslim countries, and 65% of our problems will be solved. No wars or terrorism, because “WE” created these things. Steve was brave enough to see this.
Why he’s not #1 on the NY Times best seller list is an easy question to answer. It’s not just because of the ‘powers-that-be’ … Not even they will be able to stop the momentum once we get “The Shell Game” into more hands – and more of the right hands. Has he sent a copy to Oprah and Montel? Has he sent one to Sharpton, Jesse, T.J. Lakes – don’ underestimate the power of the Black man. Send Denzel a copy and one to Russell Simmons. I’ll personally tell friends and family members about the book. Those who read it will tout it –guaranteed. I’m excited about the future of this book, and I can understand why you are too.
I feel honored to have had you share this book with me – Would you like me to return it to you, pass it to another conscious mind? The book was well thought out; it progressed smoothly. The characters were believable and it flowed. No one will mistake this book for a NOVEL even though that’s what it claims to be. This is like Orwell! Years from now people will refer to it as though it were text.
Enough for now- I look forward to your next letter. Stay strong and trust me to do the same.
Prosper!
Jehan
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- - The Reflecting Pool – Press ReleaseA new 9/11 investigative drama that challenges the official version of 9/11 events,
'The Reflecting Pool', is now available on DVD from
ReflectingPoolFilm.com.'The Reflecting Pool' follows a journalist who teams up with the father of a 9/11 victim to investigate the official version of the events.
Their findings pose a disturbing question that has no easy answer: To what extent was the U.S. Government at fault for the attacks?
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) March 19, 2008 - The first edition DVD of 'The Reflecting Pool', a new 9/11 investigative drama that challenges the official version of 9/11 events, is now available from reflectingpoolfilm.com. 'The Reflecting Pool' follows an investigation by a skeptical Russian-American journalist who teams up with the father of a 9/11 victim to "fact check" the official version of the tragedy as documented in the 9/11 Commission Report. As they examine evidence and interview key eyewitnesses, the official story begins to crumble. 'The Reflecting Pool' is the first investigative drama to present this issue in the spirit of such films as 'All the President's Men' and 'JFK'. The movie's theme reflects the recent New York Times/CBS News opinion poll, in which the majority of Americans believe the Bush administration is not telling the truth about the September Eleven events.
WNews Imageriter/Director Jarek Kupsc plays Alex Prokop, a successful journalist who receives a mysterious 9/11 videotape revealing new information on the attack. Joseph Culp appears as Paul Cooper, the man who sent the tape and a driven researcher whose daughter died on 9/11. Though skeptical of conspiracy theories and fearful that it will jeopardize his career, Prokop agrees to take on the story with encouragement from his editor and a former Gulf War correspondent, McGuire, played by Lisa Black.
We follow Prokop and Cooper as they investigate the inexplicable collapse of the 47-story WTC Building 7, disprove the implausible airliner attack on the Pentagon, uncover the illegal destruction of physical evidence from Ground Zero, and discover information that the White House knew an attack was imminent. The results of their investigation suggest the official version as presented in the 9/11 Commission Report purposely ignored or omitted vital evidence and testimonies to protect people in political positions, including the present administration. Prokop, plagued by the ghosts of his Communist childhood and trying to uphold the independence of American journalism, struggles to come to grips with this awful truth.
'The Reflecting Pool' is an intense, sobering analysis of the most controversial tragedy of our time. Drawn from established sources and based on verifiable facts, 'The Reflecting Pool' is a thought-provoking study of a search for truth and the profound consequences of not looking for it any further than the nightly news.
'The Reflecting Pool' DVD Features
'The Reflecting Pool' DVD includes 'Revealing the Sources' a commentary that documents sources used to create the film including articles, quotes, and references from established sources (including CNN, FOX News, The New York Times, and the U.S. Government). Often, these news articles and transcripts have been deliberately marginalized, buried, obscured, and made difficult to find by the average citizen.
About 'The Reflecting Pool'
'The Reflecting Pool' was shot on location in Los Angeles, New York and Washington D.C. It premiered theatrically through American Cinematheque to a standing-room only audience on January 31, 2008, at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, CA. The movie played throughout February in Los Angeles and continues with select local screenings and festivals nationwide. The New York premiere is planned for June 2008. 'The Reflecting Pool' trailers posted on YouTube.com have already topped 55,000 views. Jim Cirile of Creative Screenwriting Magazine says, "New feature film 'The Reflecting Pool' may just be the 'All the President's Men' of our time. No, it doesn't have Hoffman and Redford. But it is a chilling and important fact-based investigative drama."
About the Filmmakers
'The Reflecting Pool' was independently produced and financed by Baltazar Works with Jodie Baltazar and Joseph Culp serving as producers. 'The Reflecting Pool' is director Jarek Kupsc's third feature film. He won multiple awards for his debut feature 'Recoil' and recently won Best Picture for 'Slumberland' in his native Poland. Kupsc gives his view: "We wanted to tell a human story about what happens when the media and government distort or hide historical fact and to show the struggle one must go through for their own sense of integrity." He continues, "September 11th, 2001, was a defining moment in modern history--an event that propelled America toward preemptive wars under false pretenses resulting in the deaths of over a million civilians in the Middle East, thousands of American troops, and a complete disregard for the Geneva Conventions not to mention the Bill of Rights." Culp says, "'The Reflecting Pool' is a way of taking stock of what has happened to our country after 9/11 and to do the most American thing of all--ask questions and demand honest answers." Baltazar adds, "We join the millions of people calling for a new, non-governmental, independent investigation of the 9/11 events. It's time to stop marginalizing the issue and demand answers about what happened that day."
Contact:
Jodie Baltazar, producer
The Reflecting Pool
213-500-8756
ReflectingPoolFilm.com ###
URL source -
www.prweb.com/releases/911/movie/prweb781294.htm= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - Live from New York City 9/11 BALLOT INITIATIVECALLING ALL 9/11 TRUTHERS! YOUR SUPPORT IS NOW NEEDED!
[EXCERPT]
Fellow 9/11 truth workers, at long last there is a campaign afoot that has the potential of harnessing the energy, knowledge and zeal for justice of the entire 9/11 Truth Movement, and that is the New York City 911 Ballot Initiative Campaign. What is the 9/11 Ballot Initiative Campaign? Simply stated, it is a citizen-based effort to allow the people of New York City the opportunity to vote for “a New York City Independent Commission with Subpoena Power to Conduct a Comprehensive and Fact-Driven Investigation of All Relevant Aspects of the Tragic Events of September 11, 2001 and Issue a Report.”
Some of the folks spearheading this historic endeavor include commissioners William Pepper and Lorie Van Auken, spokespeople Christine Ebersole, Bill Doyle, Bob McIlvaine and Donna Marsh O’Connor, and the hard working activists of NY911truth.org. Other commissioners include Mike Gravel and Lincoln Chafee, Ed Asner, Bishop Thomas Gumbleton and Ralph Schoenman. The campaign has been endorsed by Dr. David Ray Griffin, William Rodriquez and Karen Kwiatkowski, among others, and has received enthusiastic support from Kyle Hence, Sander Hicks, Peter Lance and various stalwarts of the 9/11 Truth Movement throughout the country. Now, we need you to get involved!
As you know, a genuine, evidence driven investigation of the crimes of 9/11 has never taken place. Now, we have an unprecedented opportunity to make it happen. In order to place the above-worded referendum on the November 2008 NYC ballot, and hence, to create a 9/11 Truth Commission up to the task of carrying out a thorough and honest investigation, we must first collect at least forty-five thousand valid signatures of registered NYC voters, ideally by the middle of this coming May! Can we do it? Of course we can because our cause is righteous. We must believe in each other, put our differences aside and act in unison in order to realize our collective goal. Please check out our campaign website (nyc911initiative.org) for further information. Read the actual petition and the updated and growing list of commissioners.
We are writing to you at this time because the simple fact is that we need to raise funds in order to make this happen. As you might expect, mounting such a campaign as the 9/11 Ballot Initiative will not be possible without the acquisition of significant funding. With a projected budget of some $150,000 for the initial stage of “getting on the ballot,” and “getting out the vote,” we’ve embarked on a multi-pronged fund-raising approach, including web-based and grassroots efforts, benefit events and the direct solicitation of donations from concerned individuals, throughout New York City, the nation and the world.
It’s certainly not necessary to stress to you the vast importance of such an opportunity as the NYC Ballot Initiative. Simply allowing the people of New York City to register their desire for a new investigation through the power of the vote, is in itself, bound to project the cause and essence of our movement throughout the world; not to mention the subsequent setting up of a lawful commission, which will require much greater funding, “to follow the evidence to wherever it may lead.”
Please, in the name of justice and the cause of 9/11 truth, and in solidarity with our collective mission, pass this letter around far and wide, post it on your web-sites, alert your friends and neighbors to the need to support the Ballot Initiative Campaign with funds sufficient to insure it’s success; organize benefits, film screenings, speaking engagements; solicit donations and get it to us. Check the website for details on how to do so. Your money, we can promise you, will be put to good use. We also urge all to direct anyone you know in NYC to our web site and urge them to download the petition and volunteer. If you'd like to keep abreast of updates, just fill in our Guest Book form.
In closing, it should be said that the work that you all do and have done, amidst a healthy diversity of research and discourse, is of the highest moral calling. It should fill us all with pride and hope in the power of intelligent people to make known their desires, and with dogged determination to get to the promised land of real justice for the victims of 911, with the assurance of a real judgment upon those who orchestrated and facilitated the war crimes of 9/11. This and only this can bring healing, reconciliation and radical change to this land. We know that many of you share this vision. Let’s make this vision real, and do so now! Support the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative Campaign for a new and genuine investigation of 9/11! Thank you.
For Truth and Justice,
NYC 911 Ballot Initiative Campaign
Website:
NYC911initiative.orgHotline: 646.537.1755
March 2008
article also posted
www.911truth.org/article.php?story=2008032081901154
2) Glaciers suffer record shrinkage- - As Andean Glaciers Shrink, Water Worries Grow
- - NASA Data Shows Thickest and Oldest Arctic Ice Is Melting
Glaciers suffer record shrinkage
BBC NEWS
The rate at which some of the world's glaciers are melting has more than doubled, data from the United Nations Environment Programme has shown.
Average glacial shrinkage has risen from 30 centimetres per year between 1980 and 1999, to 1.5 metres in 2006.
Some of the biggest losses have occurred in the Alps and Pyrenees mountain ranges in Europe.
Experts have called for "immediate action" to reverse the trend, which is seen as a key climate change indicator.
Estimates for 2006 indicate shrinkage of 1.4 metres of 'water equivalent' compared to half a metre in 2005.
Achim Steiner, Under-Secretary General of the UN and executive director of its environment programme (UNEP), said: "Millions if not billions of people depend directly or indirectly on these natural water storage facilities for drinking water, agriculture, industry and power generation during key parts of the year.
"There are many canaries emerging in the climate change coal mine. The glaciers are perhaps among those making the most noise and it is absolutely essential that everyone sits up and takes notice.
Truncated, for the complete BBC NEWS article:
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- - As Andean Glaciers Shrink, Water Worries GrowBy JUAN FORERO
Published by New York Times - November 24, 2002
From the top of this snow-capped peak 17,400 feet up, the surrounding Royal Range looks as healthy as ever: deep, glittering snow and a thick covering of glaciers as far as the eye can see.
But as Eulalio Gonzales, a veteran mountain guide, surveyed from the craggy peak overlooking Bolivia's windswept highlands, all he saw were remnants, fading and shrinking fast.
This mountain's glacier, boasting the world's highest ski slope, has been melting so steadily that scientists predict its demise in a decade. The Zongo glacier on the nearby mountain of Huayna Potosi is retreating by 10 yards a year.
On a third peak, the 18,000-foot Condoriri, the glacier that supplies the largest reservoir in the Bolivian highlands is shriveling so fast that scientists fear a scarcity of drinking water in the decades to come.
''Each day we are more and more worried because these are the waters we drink from, but there is retreat all around,'' said Mr. Gonzales, peering through sunglasses under a bright sun and springlike climate. ''This was so much different before -- there was just much more snow and ice.''
In a phenomenon scientists here and abroad call a calamity in the making, the glaciers of the central Andes are vanishing because of global warming driven at least in part by pollution.
Their disappearance, scientists now say, is nearly unavoidable and could lead to water shortages in places like Bolivia and Peru that depend on glaciers and the rain and snow that fall on the mountains for water for drinking, irrigating fields and generating electricity.
''For our future, it is worrisome because we may not have enough water,'' said Ronaldo Maldonado, the government's chief meteorologist. ''Demand could grow, but supply could be less. If this happens we could be in a tremendous crisis.''
Shrinking glaciers are a worldwide phenomenon, with great slices of snow and ice disappearing every year from the Austrian Alps to Glacier National Park in Montana. But the glaciers of the tropics -- the vast majority in the Andes, stretching from Venezuela to Bolivia -- are losing ground the fastest.
They are smaller to begin with and are located in a region that is more sensitive to climate change -- and the climate has changed.
In Bolivia the temperature rose by 1 degree centigrade in the last century, mirroring the rise in some other parts of the world, said Robert Gallaire, a hydrologist with the Institute of Research for Development, a French scientific organization studying glaciers here.
At the same time, less rain and snow are falling in the area around La Paz, with the average annual rainfall dropping to 17.88 inches in the 1990's from 22.4 inches in the 1980's, according to measurements at Milluni Lagoon at the foot of Huayna Potosi.
Scientists attribute the unseasonably dry years to El Niño, a weather phenomenon generated by warm Pacific currents off the South American coast that has struck numerous times in the last two decades.
The changes are already being noticed by the people who live in the mountains, raising anxieties. ''It is worrisome,'' said Angel Quisverte, 55, a potato farmer who lives on the north side of Zongo, ''because if there are no snows, then there is no life.''
He said he feared for the future of agriculture in the green valley where he lives. ''All the mountains here had snows before, but now it's melting,'' he said. ''Ten years ago I started to see it -- and every year it keeps going down and down.''
The climatic changes have been disastrous throughout the region for mountain glaciers, which have been vanishing at a particularly rapid pace in recent years.
At the huge Quelccaya Ice Cap, which stretches across Peru, the largest glacier, Qori Kalis, is retreating at a rate 44 times as fast today as it was from 1963 to 1978, when American scientists determined it was melting by about four yards a year.
Glaciers in Venezuela are nearly extinct, and in Bolivia the mass of glaciers and snowcaps has shrunk by 60 percent since 1978, according to government estimates.
In all, according to the Byrd Polar Research Center at Ohio State University, Andean glaciers have retreated by as much as 25 percent in the last 30 years.
''They cannot resist,'' said Mr. Gallaire, the hydrologist, speaking in his office in La Paz. ''These glaciers are much more fragile than in the north. It is the great problem of the tropical glaciers.''
Government officials and scientists believe that if the glaciers keep melting at this rapid pace, a serious water shortage could loom for Bolivia, which lacks the resources or know-how to adapt to the significant climate changes it has done little to generate. Most scientists blame industrialized nations, like the United States, the world's largest producer of heat-trapping gases.
Government officials said the country had not planned for the effects of continued global warming. No in-depth studies have been conducted, and no plans for building or improving reservoirs and other infrastructure are even on the drawing board.
''The problem is we are using reserves that are being reduced,'' Mr. Gallaire said. ''So we have to ask, what will happen in 50 years? Fifty years, you know, is tomorrow.''
The most pressing concern, government officials said, is the possible shortage of water for the 1.5 million people of La Paz and the adjacent city of El Alto. Over the next decade, water use in the region is expected to increase by 20 percent.
Scientists say that without the glaciers the region's natural water cycle will be disrupted. Glaciers release water in dry seasons and collect it in rainy ones.
''It's a natural dam,'' said Lonnie Thompson, a research scientist at the Byrd Center who has studied Andean glaciers closely. ''Some people refer to these glaciers as the world's water towers, and once they're dry, you lose that water.''
For now, at Aguas de Illimani, the French company that runs La Paz's water supply, the situation is not seen as critical. The president, Roberto Bianchi, asserted that the company depended mostly on rainwater for its supplies.
But scientists said that glacial melt contributed, too, and Mr. Bianchi acknowledged that ''if, as a consequence of a possible disappearance of glaciers, the routine of precipitation is altered, we are exposed.''
Up in the mountains, what is happening is no secret to farmers, shepherds and the hardy mountain guides of the Bolivian Andean Club. They have seen the spectacular ice caves of Charquini mountain, conical ice sculptures formed by fierce winds, disappear. They have also seen the glaciers give up the ghosts of the past, like the wrecks of airplanes that had disappeared into glaciers decades ago.
In a country where half the population is indigenous and reveres the mountains as Achachilas, or givers of life, the changes are seen with deep melancholy.
''People have to ask for life from the mountain,'' explained José Huanca, 32, who lives next to the Tuni reservoir at the base of the Condoriri glacier. ''They are the owners of the land, of the animals. But I think the Achachilas are leaving.''
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- - NASA Data Shows Thickest and Oldest Arctic Ice Is MeltingReuters
Tuesday 18 March 2008
By Deborah Zabarenko, Environment Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The thickest, oldest and toughest sea ice around the North Pole is melting, a bad sign for the future of the Arctic ice cap, NASA satellite data showed on Tuesday.
"Thickness is an indicator of long-term health of sea ice, and that's not looking good at the moment," Walt Meier of the National Snow and Ice Data Center told reporters in a telephone briefing.
This adds to the litany of disturbing news about Arctic sea ice, which has been retreating over the last three decades, especially last year, when it ebbed to its lowest level.
Scientists have said the trend is spurred by human-generated climate change.
Melting Arctic ice does not raise sea levels as the melting of glaciers on Greenland or Antarctica could, but it does contribute to global warming when reflective white ice is replaced by dark water that absorbs the sun's heat.
Truncated, for the complete article, see:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKN1822988120080318also posted
www.truthout.org/issues_06/031908EA.shtmlFor FN's resource page on this issue, see:
Mounting Evidence of Extreme Global Warming
3) Christopher Story Winds Up World Reports on Lee Wanta- - US leads world in imprisoning its people
- - Jehan Abdur-Raheem – A Muslim in Isolation Row
- - Many Voting For Clinton to Boost GOP
- - Remarks of Senator Barack Obama: 'A More Perfect Union'
- - My Life Is My Sun Dance & Rain of Terror
- - Christopher Story Winds Up World Reports on Lee Wanta
[EXCERPT]
This is the 100th, and also the LAST, Wantagate report, dealing with The Wanta Plan and the Wanta Settlement. The Editor feels that, since 2003, he has now done all he can to procure the finalisation of Ambassador Wanta’s long overdue payment, and has a few remarks to make on this subject at the end of the main section of this report. We have forced the issue as far as is practicable.
In the process, we have massively dislodged, and thrown into total disarray, the financial criminal rats, who are in such distress due to their own open-ended stupidity and greed that the corrupt President of the United States has had the gall to ask Courts and the Legislative Branch for the OKAY to steal what he terms 'the tax money' on the Settlements, so that he can bail out his cronies who have lost their shirts in the Carlyle debacle, for which the Bush Crime Family and their gaga criminalist associates are themselves responsible. Talk about shooting onself in the foot.
By way of clarification, the Ambassador has requested the Editor of this service to publish no NEW reports specifically on The Wanta Plan until further notice, given the greatly heightened sensitivity of the situation; and of course the Editor concurs with this reasonable request, not least because he has always stated that, as a 'special friend' of the Ambassador (to employ his own words), he will always cooperate, as requested, to assist Mr Wanta and his colleagues towards closure.
For this complete 18 Mar 2008 article, see:
The Wanta Plans Deals Will Be 100% TransparentArchive of NEWS Announcements arranged in date order= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - US leads world in imprisoning its peopleMore than one in 100 adults behind bars
By Kate Randall
Published by the World Socialist Web Site on 29 February 2008
In both raw figures and as a percentage of the population, the US is the world leader in the rate at which it puts its people behind bars. A new report using state-by-state data says a record 2,319,258 Americans were in jail or prison at the start of 2008—one out of every 99.1 adults.
The report by the Pew Center on the States also documents record increases in financial outlays for incarceration, with the 50 US states spending more than $49 billion on prisons last year, almost five times more than the $11 billion spent 20 years ago.
The statistics in the report reflect a society that, while exporting violence in aggressive wars abroad, metes out parallel punishment on its population at home.
Truncated, for the complete article, see:
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- - Jehan Abdur-Raheem – A Muslim in Isolation RowThe following is from a letter Jonathan Mark recently received from
Jehan Abdur-Raheem, dated December 8th, 2007
[EXCERPT]
I’m glad to know that you remember my telling you why I’ve been held in Solitary for the last two years. I broke no rules, but the prison staff says I am an “influential Muslim” who is a threat to this facility because a confidential informant told them I started strikes; ordered ’hits’ on other prisoners, etc. As long as they claim a “confidential informant” told them this, they don’t have to prove any of it, stating they can’t do anything that will expose or jeopardize the informant. . . . None of it is true. It’s some more post 9-11 crap that every STATE and governmental agency can now get away with, ‘Ala’ Guantanamo Bay.
Every 60 days they must review my case. I’m enclosing copies of the last 2 reviews for you so you can see what I mean. These copies are for you to keep and use in anyway you’d like… by the way, you asked if you could write to anyone in an effort to help. Why not write to the Commissioner and tell him how ridiculous this all sounds? If I’m such a threat to Elmira, why do they keep refusing to simply transfer me to another facility? I broke no rules, and in 32 years of incarceration have no record of rioting, escapes, staff assaults, drugs or weapons, etc. --
I trust your ability to articulate all of this in a way that will let the department know that the public is aware of such abuses heaped on Muslim prisoners. If they would run a place like Abu Ghraib with impunity, they’d do it in America too, unless the public refuses to accept it. What’s next? Water-boarding us too? The DOCS Commissioner’s information is as follows:
Commissioner Fischer
The NYS Department of Correctional Services
The Harriman State Campus
#1220 Washington Avenue
Albany, New York – 12226
Send me a copy of whatever you decide to send; I’ve been in solitary since 12-5-05 without any formal disciplinary sanctions or charges against me.
Enough for now… In closing, let me say again how nice I was to read about you having the chance to spend your mother’s birthday with her. I’m still recovering emotionally from the loss of my own mother. Because I’ve been in the BOX I didn’t even hear her voice for over two years. Don’t waste even a single moment of life without appreciating your mother in some way. Mothers impact our lives more than any other single human - Never miss an opportunity to show her your love. Soon enough is too late.
Your brother!
Jehan Abdur-Raheem
77A1180
P.O. Box 500; Elmira Correctional Facility
Elmira, NY 14902-0500
For more on Jehan and this topic=>
A Nation Behind Bars: the buried talents of a population.= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - Many Voting For Clinton to Boost GOPPublished on Monday, March 17, 2008 by The Boston Globe
Many Voting For Clinton to Boost GOP
by Scott Helman
For a party that loves to hate the Clintons, Republican voters have cast an awful lot of ballots lately for Senator Hillary Clinton: About 100,000 GOP loyalists voted for her in Ohio, 119,000 in Texas, and about 38,000 in Mississippi, exit polls show.0317 04
A sudden change of heart? Hardly.
Since Senator John McCain effectively sewed up the GOP nomination last month, Republicans have begun participating in Democratic primaries specifically to vote for Clinton, a tactic that some voters and local Republican activists think will help their party in November. With every delegate important in the tight Democratic race, this trend could help shape the outcome if it continues in the remaining Democratic primaries open to all voters.
Spurred by conservative talk radio, GOP voters who say they would never back Clinton in a general election are voting for her now for strategic reasons: Some want to prolong her bitter nomination battle with Barack Obama, others believe she would be easier to beat than Obama in the fall, or they simply want to register objections to Obama.
“It’s as simple as, I don’t think McCain can beat Obama if Obama is the Democratic choice,” said Kyle Britt, 49, a Republican-leaning independent from Huntsville, Texas, who voted for Clinton in the March 4 primary. “I do believe Hillary can mobilize enough [anti-Clinton] people to keep her out of office.”
Truncated for this article, see:
www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/03/17/many_voting_for_clinton_to_boost_gop/also posted:
www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/17/7729/= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - Remarks of Senator Barack Obama: 'A More Perfect Union'Philadelphia, PA | March 18, 2008
"We the people, in order to form a more perfect union."
Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America's improbable experiment in democracy. Farmers and scholars; statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787.
For the complete transcript and video of speech, see:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/hisownwords = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - My Life Is My Sun Dance & Rain of TerrorRain of Terror
by Jonathan Mark
My life is my sun dance
peering through a looking glass
behind sands of logic
an indecent assault brews;
locked between capital punishment
the day draws out wearily;
confined, missed, impression
savagely taken out by deceit
as oil uranium gold mixed with greed
plunder life down to insane proportions;
and opened pores take on the harsh reality for purification
as time rolls over and plays dead with sweeping winds
backing the sun where justice as virtue fails again;
malnourished slave laborers take on disproportionate weight,
the reign of terror sinks blindly into depth tears rage
quietly only in hiding from one’s crimes, as those innocent
reach down into the shadows and canvas to explore a moment
untarnished while the cruel verdict losses its esteem
and eventually the people remember what all our relations is about.Free Leonard Peltier -- "Amnesty International considers Leonard Peltier to be a political prisoner whose avenues of redress have long been exhausted....Amnesty International recognizes that a retrial is no longer a feasible option and believes that Leonard Peltier should be immediately and unconditionally released." Documents show that although the prosecution and government pointed the finger at Peltier for shooting FBI agents at close range during the trial in 1976, for three years the prosecution withheld critical ballistic test results proving that the fatal bullets could not have come from the gun tied to Leonard Peltier. This trial also denied evidence of self defense. The U.S. Prosecutor, during subsequent oral arguments, stated: "we can't prove who shot those agents". The Eighth Circuit found that "There is a possibility that the jury would have acquitted Leonard Peltier had the records and data improperly withheld from the defense been available to him in order to better exploit and reinforce the inconsistencies casting strong doubts upon the government's case." Yet, a new trial was denied. Judge Heaney, who authored the denial now supports Mr. Peltier's release, stating that the FBI used improper tactics to gain Mr. Peltier's conviction. A good way to learn about Leonard Peltier is to read his book: Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sun Dance. For excerpts, see the following link, under article by Louise Erdich:
Time for Human Rights on Native Ground. For more resources:
Free Leonard Peltier!
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