New Links and Layout Coming Soon

Our company is currently undergoing a transition. We have formed a new branch of services to our current work of consulting and web development. We are developing a media group comprised of local community leaders, actors, artists, musicians, and video production companies to create local web based TV programming.

So we have not been posting lately because of this pursuit. This venture will lead to a more focused approach to our online activism.

Peak your interest? e-mail me at spalding@g1ntol.g1nbc.com

Thanks,

John Spalding

Republican Congressman Ron Paul questions Powell about Iraq

Democracy Now! has a great audio clip of Ron Paul questioning Colin Powell in committee back in 2002 as well as Ron speaking with the interviewer on both war and corporate welfare (particularly export subsidies).Sounds like an interesitng link. Let me know what you think



read more | digg story

There are too many to choose from as the worst President in History unless we include Bush!

John and I received a note for this blog's owner acouple weeks ago. This is a comment from his blog, that caught my attention:

Retrieved from : The Debate Team
There are too many to choose from as the worst President in History unless we include Bush!By an average patriot
Excusing George W. Bush's presidency that appears headed for colossal historical disgrace. Barring a cataclysmic event on the order of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, after which the public might rally around the White House once again, there seems to be little the administration can do to avoid being ranked on the lowest tier of U.S. presidents. And that may be the best-case scenario.Many historians are now wondering whether Bush, in fact, will be remembered as the very worst president in all of American history. I believe he will be primarily because everything he has done he has done purposely to create his new order not because of pure ineptitude that is often the case. That aside!The bottom of the presidential barrel, hmm. Was the lousiest James Buchanan, who, confronted with Southern secession in 1860, dithered to a degree that, as his most recent biographer has said, probably amounted to disloyalty. Was it Lincoln's successor, Andrew Johnson, who actively sided with former Confederates and undermined Reconstruction?What about the amiably incompetent Warren G. Harding, whose administration was fabulously corrupt? Or, though he has his defenders, Herbert Hoover, who tried some reforms but remained imprisoned in his own outmoded individualist ethic and collapsed under the weight of the stock-market crash of 1929 and the Depression's onset? The younger historians always put in a word for Richard M. Nixon, the only American president forced to resign from office.Calamitous presidents, faced with enormous difficulties -- Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Hoover and now Bush -- have divided the nation, governed erratically and left the nation worse off. In each case, different factors contributed to the failure: disastrous domestic policies, foreign-policy blunders and military setbacks, executive misconduct, crises of credibility and public trust. Bush, however, is one of the rarities in presidential history:In the 1840's President James Polk gained a reputation for deviousness over his alleged manufacturing of the war with Mexico and his supposedly covert pro-slavery views. Abraham Lincoln, then an Illinois congressman, virtually labeled Polk a liar when he called him, from the floor of the House, "a bewildered, confounded and miserably perplexed man" and denounced the war as "from beginning to end.http://www.rollingstone.com/news/profile/story/9961300/the_worst_president_in_historyWe have had some pretty inept President's and sadly I have to exclude the worst from this list. That said, It is a matter of personal bias I believe if you can come up with the absolute worst unless you can include the hands down winner.James JoinerGardner, Mahttp://www.anaveragepatriot.com/

A paycheck to make President Bush blush

From USA Today, Written by Jim Hopkins:

I can't imagine many small-business owners sympathize with corporate CEOs getting seven-figure and even eight-figure paychecks -- annual pay so big that even top fiscal conservatives like President Bush are now urging restraint.
After all, the average small-business owner who belongs to the National Federation of Independent Business takes home about $50,000 a year after expenses,the trade group says, based on surveys of its approximately 600,000 members.
While I know entrepreneurs don't list "getting rich" as their top goal in starting companies, they still have to make a living, right?

There is an interesting comment left so far, so check out the link.

PROSECUTOR PURGE

Another from the same blog also catching my attention for the day:

The New Republic Weblogs: The Plank
PROSECUTOR PURGE
How politicized are investigations by the Justice Department? Check out the results of this new report:
A study of reported federal investigations of elected officials and candidates shows that the Bush administration's Justice Department pursues Democrats far more than Republicans. 79 percent of elected officials and candidates who've faced a federal investigation (a total of 379) between 2001 and 2006 were Democrats, the study found--only 18 percent were Republicans. During that period, Democrats made up 50 percent of elected officeholders and office seekers during the time period, and 41 percent were Republicans during that period, according to the study."The chance of such a heavy Democratic-Republican imbalance occurring at random is 1 in 10,000," according to the study's authors.
And it's about to get worse. Recently, seven federal attorneys were fired by the administration before the end of their terms--including Carol Lam, who oversaw the prosecution of Duke Cunningham. One administration official told the Post that the pressure to replace those prosecutors came from outside the department. And last week, McClatchy reported the following:
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is transforming the ranks of the nation's top federal prosecutors by firing some and appointing conservative loyalists from the Bush administration's inner circle who critics say are unlikely to buck Washington. The newly appointed U.S. attorneys all have impressive legal credentials, but most of them have few, if any, ties to the communities they've been appointed to serve, and some have had little experience as prosecutors.
Spurred on by these reports, Chuck Schumer held a hearing yesterday, "Preserving Prosecutorial Independence: Is the Department of Justice Politicizing the Hiring and Firing of U.S. Attorneys?" In his Senate testimony, Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty admitted that "a top federal prosecutor in Arkansas was removed to make room for a former aide to presidential adviser Karl Rove." (He defended the removal of the other six attorneys.) Nothing politicized about that!
--Bradford Plumer

THE LATEST EDWARDS PSEUDO-SCANDAL

This is an article that I thought might also spark discussion. THE LATEST EDWARDS PSEUDO-SCANDAL:
A quick recap for anyone who hasn't been following this story: John Edwards recently hired two liberal bloggers--Amanda Marcotte ofPandagonand Melissa McEwan of Shakespeare's Sister--to blog for his campaign. Conservatives on the internet dredged upsome inflammatory things Marcotte had written in the past, and did their best to act offended and cause a ruckus. (They also managed afew distortions and a bit of misogyny,which is par for the course.) Along the way, Michelle Malkin managed to embarrass the entire human race.
Now, I'm a big fan of both Pandagon and Shakespeare's Sister, although both of them do say a lot of incendiary things, and it does seem valid for people to judge John Edwards based on the people he hires. They reflect on him and his abilities as a manager, just as the hatchet men that John McCain has hired reflects on him. That said, however, it was a bit rich to read the AP's take on this pseudo-controversy. The headline reads: "CATHOLICS SLAM BLOGGERS HIRED BY EDWARDS." Wow, all Catholics? Many Catholics? No, here's the actual story:


bloggers hired recently by Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards were criticized Tuesday by a Catholic group for posts they had written elsewhere on the Internet.
Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, demanded that Edwards fire Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan.
"John Edwards is a decent man who has had his campaign tarnished by two anti-Catholic, vulgar, trash-talking bigots," Donohue wrote in a statement. "Hehas no choice but to fire them immediately."


Bill Donahue,of course, doesn't speak for "Catholics". His group is something of a fringe organization. And I'm curious to know why the same guy who goes on TV to talk about the "gay death style" and explain that many in "Hollywood" would happily "sodomize their own mother" is allowed to call other people "bigots" and earn a sympathetic headline for his troubles. If the AP (and the New York Times,for that matter)wanted to report this story, why not actually report it, rather than simply rewrite a Donohue press release and give it wider play?
--Bradford Plumer

We do use books that call Jews 'apes' admits head of Islamic school

I found this text on Digg today. Click the link for more information.

I present this article for discussion and welcome your comments. It totally just captured my attention.

Race row: Dr Sumaya Alyusuf
The principal of an Islamic school has admitted that it uses textbooks which describe Jews as "apes" and Christians as "pigs" and has refused to withdrawthem.
Dr Sumaya Alyusuf confirmed that the offending books exist after former teacher Colin Cook, 57, alleged that children as young as five are taught from racistmaterials at the King Fahd Academy in Acton.
In an interview on BBC2's Newsnight, Dr Alyusuf was asked by Jeremy Paxman whether she recognised the books.
She said: "Yes, I do recognise these books, of course. We have these books in our school. These books have good chapters that can be used by the teachers.It depends on the objectives the teacher wants to achieve."
In another exchange, Dr Alyusuf insisted the books should not be scrapped, saying that allegedly racist sections had been "misinterpreted".
The school is owned, funded and run by the government of Saudi Arabia. Mr Paxman asked: "Will you now remove this nonsense from the Saudi Ministry of Educationfrom your school?"
Dr Alyusuf replied: "Just to reiterate what I said earlier, there are chapters from these books that are used and that will serve our objectives. But wedon't teach hatred towards Judaism or Christianity - on the contrary."
During the programme Louise Ellman, MP for Liverpool Riverside and chairman of the Jewish Labour Movement, accused the school of inciting racial hatred and hit out at Ofsted inspectors for failing to discover the textbooks. She said: "This whole situation is unacceptable. It is incitement. It is part of a deliberate Saudi initiative to install Wahabbism extremism among Muslims and in the rest of society. If Ofsted has not drawn attention to this, that is a failing of Ofsted.
"It is unacceptable and we should look to see if this is happening in other schools as well. This is about teaching children. I think the school should take immediate action and so should the regulatory authorities."
In his employment tribunal claim Mr Cook, who taught English at the school for 19 years, has accused it of poisoning pupils' minds with a curriculum of hate. Arabic translators have found that the books also describe Jews as "repugnant".
Dr Alyusuf initially claimed that the books were "not taught currently", saying: "We teach a different curriculum. We teach an international curriculum."
Asked by Mr Paxman, "Would you discipline any teacher who has used these teaching materials?", she replied: "Of course I would."
The principal, who has been in the post just under six months, also claimed: "I monitor what is taught in the classrooms. I have developed the curriculum myself."
Asked by Mr Paxman whether she agreed with the suggestion in teaching materials that non-believers in Islam are condemned to "hellfire", she said: "We don't teach that. We teach Islam and it is important for our students to assert their identity."
Mr Cook, of Feltham, was earning £35,000 a year and is seeking £100,000 in compensation. In legal papers submitted to a Watford employment tribunal, he alleged that pupils as young as five are taught that religions including Christianity and Judaism are "worthless". He also alleges that when he questioned whether the curriculum complied with British laws, he was told: "This is not England. It is Saudi Arabia".
Pupils have allegedly been heard saying they want to "kill Americans", praising 9/11 and idolising Osama bin Laden as their "hero".
Mr Cook claims he was dismissed last December after blowing the whistle on the school for covering up cheating by children in GCSE exams.
He is bringing a tribunal claim for unfair dismissal, race discrimination and victimisation. The school is vigorously defending his claims.

Help Get Progressive Talk Radio Back On The Air In Columbus!

This email was sent to me from Progress Ohio.


We lost the next-to-last progressive radio station in ALL of Ohio January9, when Clear Channel terminated WTPG (Stephanie, Maddow, Franken,etc.) and replaced it with Ingraham, Savage, etc., under the new callletters WYTS.Now all we have are Rush, Rush-lite (Beck), Rush Dumb (Hannity),Rushette (Ingraham), Rush Crazy (Savage), and on and on.A group of volunteers (OhioMajorityRadio) is working to find stationsto carry progressive programming at least SOMEWHERE on our radio dial.To do this, we need to show stations that local businesses here inCentral Ohio can support progressive, rational, reality-based talk.If you own a business (dentists, travel agents, Realtors, serviceorganizations, etc.) in Central Ohio, or know an owner you can forwardthis to...we are asking for brief, non-binding, letters of interest wecan show to broadcasters. For example, the letter could simply state:"I am interested in the possibility of advertising my business duringprogressive radio programs. Broadcasters should contact me when theyhave progressive talk on their stations."--signed, on the Company letterhead.Please mail letters of interest to:OhioMajorityRadioP.O. Box 14117Columbus, OH 43214We are attempting to gather replies within the next week.To get involved with The Ohio Majority Radio volunteer group, come tohttp://www.ohiomajorityradio.com/and click the Yahoo Group button,or email info@progressohio.org
Brian RothenbergExecutive Director ProgressOhio.org
© 2006 ProgressOhio.org. All rights reserved. ProgressOhio is a 501(c)(4) organization. Donations to ProgressOhio are not deductible for income tax purposes.You received this mailing because you either subscribed to the ProgressOhio.org mailing list, or were referred by another user.This email was sent to:jwg@sgendeavors.comTo unsubscribe, go to: http://progressohio.org/unsubscribe

The Case (for 9/11) isn't closed...Part 2

anyway...colts won*****************************

Blog Review (c)

Sander said Peter Lance confirmed that they found connections between al-Queida and a New York based cell led by Omar Abdel Rahman.

He links several organizations together in the last few pages:
The 9/11 terrorists, Pakistani ISI, the Saudi General Intelligence Directorate, The Muslim Brotherhood, Maxwell Airforce Base, and the Pentagon.

Mahamed Atta and Wolfgang Bohringer (a german) supposedly both in The Muslim Brotherhood--"its anti-semitism and anti-zionist ideologies have turned it into the perfect partner in crime for the nazis, European fascists, American far-rightists and...the neoconservatives."--Sander

Bohringer was arrested in March 2006--He said he was working for the CIA, was arrested then released.

The article also mentions a book by Susan and Joe Trento "Unsafe at Any Speed: Failed Terrorism Investigations, Scapegoating 9/11, and the Shocking Truth about Aviation Security Today"---reports that the CIA regularly let terrorists on planes in order to catch them. They also report that Flight 77 [the one that hit the pentagon or didn't.] crew was led by two men from the GID of Saudi Arabia and protected from the ABLE DANGER project by the Pentagon. They also took money from Saudi Prince Bandar's wife. The Saudi Prince and our president are very close!

Also news to me was that the US State Department has worked with the far right islamists for over 30 years, through the Nationalities Working Group. One of Carter's advisors told him, during his administration, to give money to the Mujahedeen so the Soviets would have to battle them and hopefully break the bank during the cold war.

Other Notes:
The US helped revive the term jihad.
Reaganites opposed Iran fundamentalists, but U.S. weapons manufacturers loved them.
Weapons, money and Narcotics flow freely through Central America to aid the right wing Contra Militia
14 countries tried to warn the US about the 9/11 attacks

So anyway, it seems that a front bank called BCCI--Bank of Credit and Commerce International is the one used by America and Pakistani intelligence to arm the Mujahedeen, listed above. In 1991 the BCCI was busted with 10 Million Dollars from the State Department. John Kerry investigated the BCCI, but caved to political pressure [what, caved to political pressure, they have something on him]. No one has ever been apprehended.

Enter George W. Bush. [this gets fun here I must admit] Did you know that Saudi Khalid bin Mahfouz and Salem bin Laden (Osama's half brother) invested in Arbusto Energy in 1977. Khalid bin Mahfouz is one of the top seven members of al Queida according to the UN. He also helped Bush broker some stocks and has donated .25 million (only 250,000) to bin Laden and his Mujahadeen in the 80's. He also put 30 mill. into an account that has been labeled an al Queida front. [supposedly Mahfouz sues people and threatened them for speaking out, we'll see soon enough (i hope not)]

Sander feels that the 9/11 commision has taken a dive of figuring out the "financing of 9/11". The 9/11 commission called it "of little practical significance" [how is trying to find money connections to the biggest terror attack on our country not significant?] Senator Bob Graham was "stunned" at the lack of hard questions about foreign financing and that crucial information is "overly classified"--


If that is not enough, Sander has one more little nugget of info--

FBI's top bin Laden financial tracker, Robert Wright told the National Press Club--"The FBI...allowed 9/11 to happen." "FBI Management intentionally and repeatedly thwarted and obstructed my investigations into the Middle Eastern terrorist financing"

Always follow the money......and life goes on........

Article Summary About the Ongoing 9/11 Debate

I am going to do a "blog review" of an article that I came across my e-mail this week. The article was written by Sander Hicks as posted in the February 2nd edition of Alternet. Sander is the owner of Vox Pop a fair trade coffeehouse, bookstore, and media company.

First a disclaimer. I am coining the term "blog review" (C) because I do not want to get in trouble. I am also doing it so I can do an article summary with total disregard to laws of grammar, copyright, and paraphrasing. A blog review (c) is a summary of an article or news source, that is written in the language of the writer, and gives a summary of their highlights of the work. Since it is published in an open forum and the link to the actual article has been provided, you can read the whole thing and skip over my summary.

Blog Summary
Sander Hicks also wrote "The Big Wedding: 9/11, The Whistle Blowers, and the Cover Up."

Recent Zogby Poll--40% Americans think there is a cover up to 9/11
Scripps Howard/ University of Ohio -- 1/3 respondents said "people in the federal government either assisted in the 9/11 attacks or took no action to stop the attacks because they wanted the United States to go to War with the Middle East."

The left should be leading this 9/11 movement, not taking pot shots from the outside. --Zander

Some of the movements [9/11-Truth Movement] theories "towers...controlled demolition" and "no plane hit the pentagon" are loose threads.

The left has no right to ignore or insult people for trying to assemble the puzzle that is 9/11. [amen]--Zander

He had some information for us to consider:

Ass. Sec. of State Richard Amitage and then CIA Director George Tenet met with Pakistan President Musharraf extensively in Spring 2001

Pakistan's top spy Mahmood Ahmad also met with Tenet and Mark Grossman (State Dept).--Ahmad wired over $100,000 to Mohammed Atta through a U.K. national named Saeed Sheikh in the Summer of 2001.

The top people at the state department enjoyed only a few degrees of separation from 9/11's lead highjacker-Mohamed Atta.

Feb. 16, 2006-- Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer in a statement to House Armed Services Committee stated that Defense Intelligence operation ABLE DANGER, identified Mohamed Atta back in 2000 as a terrorist to worry about.

However, Shafer was thwarted from sharing his information. The ABLE DANGER team was ordered to cover up Mohamed Atta's face with a post-it! (the article said yellow sticky note, but everyone knows what it was!) The lawyers at the Pentagon claimed it was to protect the rights of "U.S. Persons."

The Department of Defense is currently denying that ABLE DANGER ever identified Mohamed Atta. However, Peter Lance, author of "Triple Cross: How Bin Ladens Master Spy Penetrated the CIA, the Green Berets, and the FBI" called the Pentagon report a whitewash that was accusing military officers lying and risking their lives by exaggerating the findings of ABLE DANGER.


***************************************************
Another Beauty of a Blog Review is that I can publish this and then finish it after the game. Besides this post is too long as it is.