AmeriKa's Drug-Drealing Double-Cross in Afghanistan

Not the first time, and it won't be the last. 

Whatever sacrifices are needed to fulfill the agenda's requirements.

"US relies on, then arrests, drug lord; Afghan charged as trafficker was paid as informer on Taliban, drugs" by James Risen,  New York Times / December 12, 2010

WASHINGTON — When Hajji Juma Khan was arrested and transported to New York to face charges under a new US narco-terrorism law in 2008, federal prosecutors described him as perhaps the biggest and most dangerous drug lord in Afghanistan, a shadowy figure who had helped keep the Taliban in business with a steady stream of money and weapons.  

Related:  Drug Money Saving Banks

Drug money saved banks in global crisis, claims UN advisor


WHAT OUR CHILDREN ARE DYING FOR IN AFGHANISTAN

Just thought you should know, America.

But what the government did not say was that Juma Khan was also a longtime American informer, who provided information about the Taliban, Afghan corruption, and other drug traffickers.

CIA officers and Drug Enforcement Administration agents relied on him as a valued source for years, even as he was building one of Afghanistan’s biggest drug operations after the US-led invasion of the country, according to current and former American officials. Along the way, he was also paid a large amount of cash by the United States. 

Related: Afghans Need Taliban Return  

What do you mean they almost killed the bank-profiting crop?

At the height of his power, Juma Khan was secretly flown to Washington for a series of clandestine meetings with CIA and DEA officials in 2006. Even then, the United States was receiving reports that he was on his way to becoming Afghanistan’s most important narcotics trafficker by taking over the drug operations of his rivals and paying off Taliban leaders and corrupt politicians in President Hamid Karzai’s government. 

Related: 

"The CIA has multiple members of the Afghan government on its payroll in order to help it keep track of various factions within the Afghan government, according to former US officials."

I believe the term is hypocrisy.  

YOUR TAX LOOT at WORK, America!

He had been well paid by the United States, according to people with knowledge of the case. Along with other tribal leaders in his region, he was given a share of as much as $2 million in payments to help oppose the Taliban. The payments are said to have been made by either the CIA or the US military.

In a series of videotaped meetings in Washington hotels, Juma Khan offered tantalizing leads to the CIA and DEA in return for what he hoped would be protected status as an American asset, according to American officials.  

Until we decided to cut him loose. 

And then, before he left the United States, he took a side trip to New York to see the sights and do some shopping, according to two people briefed on the case.

The relationship between the US government and Juma Khan is another illustration of how the war on drugs and the war on terrorism have sometimes collided, particularly in Afghanistan, where drug dealing, the insurgency, and the government often overlap.

To be sure, American intelligence has worked closely with figures other than Juma Khan suspected of drug trade ties, including Ahmed Wali Karzai, the president’s half brother, and Hajji Bashir Noorzai, who was arrested in 2005. Karzai has denied being involved in the drug trade. 

Also see: Karzai Kin Agin

Afghan drug lords have often been useful sources of information about the Taliban. But relying on them has also put the United States in the position of looking the other way as these informers ply their trade in a country that by many accounts has become a narco-state.  

And Obama is calling it progress!

The case of Juma Khan also shows how counter-narcotics policy has repeatedly shifted during the nine-year American occupation of Afghanistan, getting caught between the conflicting priorities of counterterrorism and nation building, so much so that Juma Khan was never sure which way to jump, according to officials who spoke on the condition that they not be identified.

Defending the relationship, one American official said, “You’re not going to get intelligence in a war zone from Ward Cleaver or Florence Nightingale.’’

Unless that is their non-official cover provided by the CIA.

--more--"  

Related:

"US cuts ties to contractor linked with Karzai kin" by Heidi Vogt, Associated Press / December 10, 2010

KABUL, Afghanistan — The US military is cutting ties with an Afghan security firm run by relatives of President Hamid Karzai that has been accused of bribing government officials and Taliban commanders, according to documents obtained yesterday.

The move is part of US efforts to clean up a contracting process in Afghanistan that has been riddled with corruption and allowed US funds to pass to insurgents.  

Good way to keep a war going, though. 

Cui bono?

--more--"  

Taliban TV

Wait until you see who the station managers are.

"Captured US soldier appears in Taliban video" by Deb Riechmann, Associated Press / December 9, 2010

KABUL, Afghanistan — Specialist Bowe Bergdahl, the only known US soldier held captive in Afghanistan, appears briefly in a newly released Taliban video. 

Please read: Sunday Globe Censorship: Abducted American Video a False-Flag Fake

The Taliban Tool to Keep AmeriKa in Afghanistan

Afghanistan: Assassinations, Audits, Abductions, and Airstrikes

And here he has been trotted out again. So how is the CIA hotel room, Bowe?

The video was the fourth to appear since he was captured nearly 18 months ago and was provided to reporters yesterday by IntelCenter, a private, US-based organization that tracks Islamic extremist activities and communications. 

Oh, the IntelCenter said, huh?

Bergdahl has been held by the Taliban since June 30, 2009, when he disappeared in Paktika Province in eastern Afghanistan.

According to the SITE Intelligence Group, which also tracks Islamic extremist activities, Bergdahl is standing next to Sangin Zadran, a senior official in the Al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network in Paktika

Oh, SITE SAYS, huh? 

See: SITE Institute

IS ISRAEL CONTROLLING PHONY TERROR NEWS?

It's their agenda that is reflected in my newspaper.

The 69-minute video, produced by a video production group of the Haqqani network, was released on the website of the Afghan Taliban on Dec. 2 but appeared on jihadist forums last month, according to SITE.

I'm sorry, whose network is that?  

"Haqqani.... credited with introducing suicide bombing to the region.... cultivated as a "unilateral" asset of the CIA and received tens of thousands of dollars in cash for his work.... He may have had a role in expediting the escape of Osama Bin Laden.... In July 2008, CIA officials confronted Pakistan officials with evidence of ties between Inter-Services Intelligence and Haqqani. Haqqani has been accused of involvement in the 2008 Indian embassy bombing in Kabul.... The Haqqani Network is based in Pakistan and is believed to have links to Al Qaeda."

Links to who?  

Which "Al-CIA-Duh" would that be?

The made-up "Al-CIA-Duh?"    

Or the "Al-CIA-Duh" CREATION for the COURTROOM!?

--more--" 

Related:

Prop 101: Al-CIA-Duh and the OSI

Prop 101: Al-CIA-Duh's Greatest Hits

Prop 101: The "Terrorism" Business

New York Times Admits War on Terror is U.S. Creation

I think I'll turn the BG TV off today.

Elections Lead to Sectarianism in Afghanistan

And who benefits?

"Dispute over Afghan election continues to fuel tension; Pashtun majority takes hit, minority Hazaras get a boost" by Pamela Constable, Washington Post / December 26, 2010

KABUL, Afghanistan — Ethnic chauvinism, which has long bedeviled this fiercely tribal country and fueled a destructive civil war in the early 1990s, is erupting again in a tense dispute over recent parliamentary elections.

That easily describes Israel, too.

The election, held in turbulent wartime conditions, disenfranchised several hundred thousand voters from the ethnic Pashtun majority and unexpectedly empowered the long-persecuted Hazara minority.

The fight has brought the political system to a standstill, pitted fledgling democratic institutions against one another and raised the specter of sectarian strife.

Seems to follow in the wake of AmeriKan occupations, doesn't it? Intermarrying and worshiping for centuries without mosques and shrines blowing up -- until we get there. 

It has also further weakened the grip of President Hamid Karzai, a Pashtun, whose ethnic support is splintering under the combined pressure and persuasion of Taliban insurgents based in many rural Pashtun enclaves.  

Related:  The Secret History of Afghanistan

Why Obama Went to Afghanistan

Beginning to understand where the pressure may be coming from?

Who validated the results of the election again?

The Hazaras, meanwhile, are feeling their oats. Highly organized and motivated, this fast-rising Shi’ite Muslim group has essentially become a political party. It is eagerly embracing Afghanistan’s imperfect new democratic system as a steppingstone to power while larger, Sunni Muslim ethnic groups remain caught up in personality-based politics and warlord rivalries....  

Sunni politics sound like our own, Americans.  

Related: Iran Interfering in Afghanistan

And when Iran starts making ties with a Shi'ite political party we can accuse them of interfering again! 

Of course, 100,000+ troops invading and occupying over lies is not interfering.

It is a remarkable sign of progress that the contretemps has not come to blows, and that both winning and losing candidates are politely waiting for an official decision....  

Yeah, you know those Muslims! Honestly, readers, I am glad the Globe is cutting me off. 

I'm tired of page after page of Muslim-hating propaganda.

The Hazara-Pashtun conflict is especially enduring. It parallels both the latent tensions between Afghan Sunnis and Shiites and the regional struggle for influence between Sunni-dominated Pakistan and Shiite Iran.
 
Now the war-promoting press is trying to turn them into enemies. 

Un-flipping-believable. 

Historically, the more numerous and warlike Pashtuns oppressed the meeker Hazaras, driving them from farmlands and forcing them into menial jobs such as pulling cargo carts.  

But that's okay if you are an illegal servicing the rich elite anywhere in the world, politicians and bankers destroying the American manufacturing base, or generous Israel offering Palestinians work.

Prejudice is still rampant....  

Yeah, those narrow-minded Muslims (says the Zionist War Daily).

--more--" 

I'm sorry, readers; however, I am no longer buying western intelligence operations disguised as sectarianism and their mouthpiece media regarding Muslims and the western/Zionist attempt at world domination.  I've had it.

The Secret History of Afghanistan

I know it, but I like to stay current. 

"A clash of history, future in Afghanistan" by Heidi Vogt, Associated Press / December 12, 2010

MES AYNAK, Afghanistan —The mine is the centerpiece of China’s drive to invest in Afghanistan, a country trying to get its economy off the ground while mired in war. Beijing’s $3.5 billion stake in the mine — the largest foreign investment in Afghanistan by far — gets its foot in the door for future deals to exploit Afghanistan’s largely untapped mineral wealth. The Afghan government stands to reap $1.2 billion a year in revenues from the mine, as well as the creation of much needed jobs.

And thus the AmeriKans have tensions with Karzai.

But hanging over the situation is....  

Always a but with the AmeriKan media.
 
So what is it this time?

--more--"  

I have an interesting take on the situation since my Eastern Religions professor in college told me the back story on the Buddha. Turns out the Taliban took it down because the U.N. wanted to spend millions on restoration while Afghan kids were starving.  To this day I have never seen that revelation in an American newspaper.  Must not fit the agenda.

And it certainly couldn't be AmeriKan occupiers hanging over the situation either.

Memory Hole: Can't See the Forest For the Tree

See what happens when you smoke the demon weed?

"Two charged with growing marijuana

Boston police arrested two people in Dorchester Thursday night for allegedly growing a 5-foot marijuana plant in their backyard. Police said in a statement that officers responded to 37 Ellington St. shortly before 10 p.m. for a drug call and were told that the plant belonged to residents on the first floor. First-floor resident Joanna Read, 26, allegedly told officers that she does “smoke weed’’ and later said that the plant was hers, according to the statement. Another resident, Nadir Khan, 26, later told officers that the plant belonged to him, police said. Khan and Read were both charged with cultivation of a Class D substance."  

They must have thought that voters decriminalized pot with the vote when all we did was make possession of small amounts a fineable offense.

Globe Xmas Gifts: New Hampshire's State Bird

He's a jailbird. 

"N.H. town fights for one of its own; Conviction galvanizes Lakes Region around gun and property rights, sentencing guidelines" by Peter May, Globe Correspondent / December 25, 2010

MOULTONBOROUGH, N.H. — Cars and pickups fill the parking lot and spill onto the street near the community center on a rainy December evening. Inside, a local band, Jam Sandwich, wraps up a set with Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird,’’ while folks sip beer, watch football, and enjoy a barbecue buffet, complete with a roasted pig.

The atmosphere is upbeat. The occasion is somber. More than 100 residents of this rural town in New Hampshire’s Lakes Region have come to support a popular native son, Ward Bird.

Bird, however, a 49-year-old family farmer, is 20 miles away. He sits in the Carroll County House of Corrections, jailed since November for an offense he insists he did not commit. His case has galvanized the region, with widespread sentiment that the punishment does not fit the crime — if the crime even happened.

Three and a half years ago, in a profanity-laced tirade, Bird warned a stranger who said she was lost to get off his land, 60 mountainside acres that are off the grid and plastered with “No Trespassing,’’ “Keep Out,’’ and “Private Property’’ signs.  

They will be receiving the same welcome on this land.

After his arrest, Christine Harris, then of Salem, N.H., testified that Bird waved a gun at her. He said the Sig-Sauer .45-caliber handgun remained in his holster. There were no witnesses to the confrontation at the home Bird shares with his wife, Virginia, and their four children.

Bird was initially charged with felony reckless conduct. But after a mistrial in 2007, Carroll County District Attorney Robin Gordon added a charge of felony criminal threatening, a move Bird supporters say smacked of piling on.

They only care about convictions, not truth, justice, or the law.

After a second three-day trial in 2008, Bird was acquitted of reckless conduct but convicted of the criminal threatening charge, which carries a mandatory term of three to six years. He was incarcerated in November after the New Hampshire Supreme Court upheld his conviction.

The case has energized the Lakes Region around two values its people hold dear — gun rights and property rights — and educated them about a third, less familiar, issue: mandatory sentencing.

The CORNERSTONES of FREEDOM!

For all the skepticism over whether Bird actually waved his gun, his supporters are outraged at the severity of his sentence.

As the case has dragged out, Bird has become a modern-day folk hero.

“This is not about just one man. This is about all of us,’’ said Sonia Voegtlin, a machinist from Sandwich, N.H., who has never met Bird and had never protested before joining a pro-Bird rally at a Manchester mall last weekend.

“What does it say on our license plate? ‘Live free or die.’ We don’t make motorcyclists wear helmets. We don’t make adults wear seat belts. New Hampshire prides itself on individual freedom. This is not Maine. This is not Massachusetts. This is New Hampshire. This has struck a nerve in all of us. It’s so wrong,’’ she said. 

No, it certainly is not.

Related: New Hampshire is a Terrorist State 

So some would have you believe. 

Also see: Around New England: New Hampshire and the Constitution 

Supporters make their case

Since Bird was incarcerated, his supporters have staged rallies every weekend, standing at crowded intersections along Route 25 with “Free Ward Bird’’ posters.

Just like the ANTIWAR VIGILS in the CENTER of TOWN every Saturday. 

 Businesses along the road have posted signs of support (one reads: “Your wife called. She said to free Ward Bird’’) and sell T-shirts, buttons, and wristbands.

Those who know Bird talk of a man who was painstakingly careful with guns, notwithstanding a $480 fine in 2002 for target shooting in a residential area. They describe a lifelong resident who led a Boy Scout troop, ran Picnic Rock Farms in Meredith, worshiped at the local Congregational church, and helped refurbish historic buildings in town.

His daughter Emily helped launch a Facebook page that resulted in more than 1,500 messages of support from across the country and radio interviews as far away as Montana and Oregon. A website, freewardbird.org, keeps supporters up to date on his case and apprised of events, such as last weekend’s. A caravan of more than 30 cars, sport utility vehicles, and pickup trucks left the Irving station in Moultonborough and rendezvoused near a Manchester mall filled with holiday shoppers. They held signs with slogans such as, “Good Man, Bad Law, Ugly Sentence.’’

From Bird’s point of view, though, his case is also a matter of principle.

“The gun rights and property rights are important — this touches on that, to be sure,’’ Bird said in a phone interview. “But it’s about the truth. It’s about how someone can make a claim against you and the powers that be can take it at face value when she is a proven liar. This could happen to anybody, not just me. And people are awakening to that.’’   

Yes, Americans ARE AWAKENING to the TYRANNY of the STATE! 

That is why they are being labeled "terrorists."

Decisions questioned 

Bird’s supporters have a lot of questions about his case. They want to know why police didn’t charge Harris with trespassing when she refused to leave his property. They want to know why police believed her version when she had had her own run-ins with the law — including a 2002 felony conviction for writing a bad check and, after the incident at Bird’s home, a conviction on five counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty. (Harris, 57, who appealed the animal cruelty conviction and is scheduled to go to trial in January, has moved to South Carolina and could not be reached for comment.)

Gordon, the district attorney, refused to talk to the Globe about the case. But in a recent television interview she said Bird’s actions warranted the charges. “By him brandishing and waving a gun around at her, she was put in fear of imminent bodily harm,’’ she said.

Last month, facing her first serious election challenge since 1998, Gordon lost to Republican Thomas E. Dewhurst III. Moultonborough voted nearly 2 to 1 against her. “We got her out of there,’’ said Robert Holopainen, a Bird supporter who helps run the Irving service station. “That woman didn’t like two things: men and guns.’’

Bird chose not to testify in his defense, a decision he said he now regrets. His attorneys did not call a single defense witness, banking that the jury would not believe Harris.

No one but Bird and Harris know exactly what happened that March afternoon on Yukon Trail. But even the sentencing judge argued that the punishment does not fit the crime.  

If there was a crime.

“If I had sentencing discretion, an appropriate sentence would be 12 months in the Carroll County House of Corrections,’’ Judge Steven Houran said in court, “with immediate work release, and with the balance after six months to be served on home confinement, with electronic monitoring and then after that a period of two years’ probation.’’ 

A community divided

The fallout from the Bird case is visible all over this town on the north shore of Lake Winnipesaukee, a popular summer tourist destination with roughly 5,000 year-round residents. Scott Kinmond, the police chief at the time of the incident, said he sympathizes with the Birds but regrets that the police department has been tarred by the case.... 

This all could have been avoided if Bird had taken a plea deal that would have reduced the initial charge to a misdemeanor and eliminated the possibility of incarceration. Presented with that option in the lobby of the courthouse, Bird’s wife said her husband pointed to a nearby American flag and said, “I am a citizen of the United States. I have rights. I am not pleading.’’

So Bird sits in jail, inundated with letters from his friends and supporters. He is allowed visitors for one hour, twice a week. One visit is reserved for Emily, a freshman at the University of New Hampshire. The other is for his wife and the couple’s three other children, ages 16, 13, and 10.

“If I had taken that plea, none of this would be happening, and it is important to get the word out,’’ Bird said in the phone interview. “It was a tough decision to make, but I was offered the opportunity to lie, and I wouldn’t do it.’’  

AmeriKa's media always lunges at the chance.

 --more--"

"Woman found dead after car fire

An Amesbury, Mass., woman was found dead inside her burned car Monday evening in Kingston, N.H., the victim’s mother said. Before the fire, Virginia Fairburn, 50, may have been smoking a cigarette and enjoying the peace and quiet of the woods, as she liked to do, said her mother, Margaret Fairburn of Amesbury. The fire was most likely accidental, according to a statement posted Friday on the New Hampshire attorney general’s website. Autopsy results are pending, according to the statement. Virginia Fairburn worked in retail management, was divorced, and had two sons, 16 and 18."

"Pair rescued after abandoning boat

The Coast Guard said a passing vessel rescued two people from the waters off Portsmouth yesterday after engine failure on their boat prompted them to jump overboard. The pair were taken by the Coast Guard to an ambulance and brought to Newport Hospital. Officials said the two jumped overboard at about 1:45 p.m. near Prudence Island. Coast Guard Ensign Gus Seyler said they weren’t in the water for long and there were no reports of serious injuries."

I'm sorry I abandoned you on these stories, readers.  I simply did not have the time.


Teen makes deal to testify in killing of nurse in N.H.
Judge sets rules for N.H. slay trial

Powerball delivers for N.H. postal workers

In N.H., Biden assails GOP’s ‘Pledge’

Holderness educator is Teacher of Year

N.H. paper mill to close if no buyer found

Citing backlog, courthouses change hours

Hiker, swept away by river, found dead

N.H. paper rejects gay wedding notice

N.H. Republicans have mandate for deep budget cuts 

Democrats in N.H. House keep Norelli as leader

N.H. still not showing up on Palin’s radar

Passport center offers services to public 

Franklin Pierce’s birthday marked at N.H. gravesite
 
N.H. reviews utilities’ power shutoff policies

N.H. man killed in Afghanistan is mourned

Transcript of N.H. liquor commissioner’s testimony released
 
Hyde Park man dies in auto accident

Authorities search for missing 2-year-old

Lost toddler found safe in swampy woods

Hiker and puppy injured in fall in forest 

N.H. banking commissioner faces removal hearing

Man, woman drown after falling into river

Unidentified person dies in house fire 

Small earthquake centered near Concord, N.H.

Drowning of couple is ruled an accident

N.H. man held in the rape of two women

N.H. town braces to relive horror

N.H. teenager’s murder trial in machete attack begins

N.H. man testifies about bond between daughter, slain wife

N.H. attack fingerprints don’t match teens’ 

Teen says he tried to drop out of N.H. killing plot 

Suspect held after 3 shot, one fatally

Intruder denies attacking victims in N.H. home invasion

N.H. woman was alive as she was hacked by machete

N.H. Episcopal bishop remains true to his low-key demeanor

Girl who lost limbs to sepsis returns home

Two found dead, two hurt in house

Mementos taken from soldier’s grave 

Teen’s fate in jury’s hands in N.H. murder trial

‘You belong in a cage . . .  for the rest of your pointless life’

N.H. man charged in death of his wife

Child on wrong bus is left far from home

New Hamphire man accused of killing wife with flashlight

N.H. court overturns verdict on advertising

N.H. trial fuels death penalty debate 

N.H. hotels try to lure shoppers with discounts and deals 

Body of man, 43, found in river

Escaped inmate returns to halfway house

N.H. trial may see insanity defense

N.H. Supreme Court rejects golf lawsuit 

Donors sought for ‘Old Man’ memorial

Dog’s prosthetic could aid veterans

Key bridge to be closed for inspection

Dozens face DUI charges in Mass., N.H. 

Lawmaker opposes trademark effort

Timely warning on keeping food safe 

Wakefield teen dies in skiing accident in N.H.

For $5, Christmas trees can be cut in N.H. forest 

Woman accused of beating her mother

Student facing retrial will post bail

Officer frees man from burning car

Volunteer efforts revive closed youth outdoors camp in N.H. 

Fire destroys 15 school buses parked in lot

Globe Xmas Gifts: Korean Kickoff to World War III

"Koreas crank up threats, rhetoric; South continues drills near border" by Jean H. Lee, Associated Press / December 24, 2010

SEOUL — For both countries, the rallying cries and military maneuvers mainly seemed designed to build support at home. But they raised fears anew of all-out war on a peninsula that New Mexico’s governor, Bill Richardson, called a tinderbox after returning from a visit to the North Korean capital of Pyongyang this week....

On Wednesday, rifle-toting marines ringed a hillside near the border. Drills continued yesterday, with tanks firing artillery and fighter jets dropping bombs at training grounds in Pocheon, about 20 miles from the North. The boom of cannons echoed throughout the valley, and the hills erupted in smoke during the brief but dramatic exercise.

There was a theatrical quality to the exercises: dozens of schoolchildren in bright yellow jackets were shuttled to the site to watch from bleachers.

South Korean President Lee Myung Bak met with troops at a front-line army base in the east on the type of morale-boosting visit more commonly seen in the North. He vowed to retaliate if attacked again.  

I smell a war.

“I had thought that we could safeguard peace if we had patience, but that wasn’t the case,’’ he told the troops, according to his office. Any surprise attack will be met with an “unsparing’’ response, he warned.  

So when is the next false-flagging frame attempt?

After days of showing restraint, North Korea condemned the drills as a “grave military provocation.’’ Defense chief Kim Yong Chun said North Korea was prepared to launch a “sacred war’’ and poised to use its nuclear capabilities to defend itself.

In Pyongyang, Kim said the military would deal “more devastating physical blows’’ if North Korean territory is violated. He threatened to “wipe out’’ South Korea and the United States if they start a war, the official Korean Central News Agency said.

North Korea is believed to have enough weaponized plutonium for at least a half-dozen atomic bombs, and it also has revealed a uranium enrichment program that would give it a second way to make nuclear weapons. After negotiating for years with its neighbors and the United States on dismantling its nuclear program in exchange for aid and concessions, Pyongyang walked away from talks in 2009.

And now the U.S. won't talk to them.

--more--"

And here I was told they were coming together:

"Amid diplomacy, N. Korea continues to threaten war; Its top diplomat travels to Russia, defends tactics" by Kim Kwang-Tae, Associated Press / December 12, 2010

SEOUL — The flurry of diplomacy comes as South Korea’s president, Lee Myung Bak, expressed optimism during a trip to Malaysia that the reunification of Korea is drawing near.  

Now we find out it is THROUGH INVASION and WAR!

“North Korea now remains one of the most belligerent nations in the world,’’ Lee said in an interview published Friday in a Malaysian newspaper.  

Yeah, right up there with Israel.

But, he added, it’s a “fact that the two Koreas will have to coexist peacefully and, in the end, realize reunification.’’

In a speech Thursday night, Lee made similar remarks, saying North Koreans have become increasingly aware that the South is better off. He did not elaborate on how their knowledge has expanded, but said it was “an important change that no one can stop.’’

“Reunification is drawing near,’’ Lee said, according to the president’s website.

He also called on China to urge North Korea to embrace the same economic openness that has led millions of Chinese out of poverty — and said that North Korean economic independence was the key to reunification....

--more--"

Also see: S. Korea holds drills despite North protest

Diplomats try to ease tensions in Korea

S. Korea set to turn islands near N. Korea into military fortresses

Chinese policy on N. Korea criticized

China sends top envoy to talk with N. Korea’s Kim Jong Il

22 dead as S. Korean fishing boat sinks

N. Korean nuclear sites raise US worry

As threats echo from the North, S. Koreans run civil defense drill 

S.Korea to hold artillery exercises on island that was attacked

Richardson begins meetings in N. Korea

S. Korea conducts live-fire drills in defiance of North

N. Korea retreats on threat against South 

South Korea set for a final day of military drills

Globe Xmas Gifts: Iranian Exemption

Guess who gets this one:

"US allowing firms to skirt Iran sanctions; Licenses also issued for other pariah nations" by Jo Becker, New York Times / December 24, 2010

NEW YORK — At the behest of a host of companies — from Kraft Food and Pepsi to some of the nation’s largest banks — a little-known office of the Treasury Department has made nearly 10,000 exceptions to US sanctions rules, approving deals involving countries that have been cast into economic purgatory, beyond the reach of US business....   

I noticed they are getting a lot of gifts today.

 What’s more, in such countries as Iran where elements of the government have assumed control over large portions of the economy, it is increasingly difficult to separate exceptions that help the people from those that enrich the state....   

So when did Iran bailout their banks?

The Treasury office resisted disclosing information about the licenses, but after the New York Times filed a federal Freedom of Information lawsuit, the government agreed to turn over a list of companies granted exceptions and, in a little more than 100 cases, underlying files explaining the nature and details of the deals. The process took three years, and the government heavily redacted many documents, saying they contained trade secrets and personal information.  

Proving that the government is a business agent for corporations.

Not too worried about your privacy, are they?

--more--"

Related:  US hits Iran firms with new sanctions

As US moves out of Iraq, Iranian business moves in

Also see: A defiant Iran announces it has begun mining its own uranium

Nuclear program dominates talks between Iran, world powers

Iran, major powers end talks with no accord on nuclear issue

Tehran struggles under heavy air pollution

Well, something sure does stink. 

That's why they need nuclear power.   

Iran’s president fires foreign minister, taps nuclear chief

Suicide bombers in Iran kill 39

Group blasts Iran’s alleged gay executions

In Iran, forces on alert after subsidy cuts

Globe Xmas Gifts: Democrats to Republicans

It's not like they are going to use the thing when they slip into the minority. 

"Democrats look to streamline Senate business; Want change in rules, GOP cooperation" by Carl Hulse, New York Times / December 25, 2010

WASHINGTON — Frustrated by regular filibusters and other procedural blockades, Senate Democrats are urging their leadership to negotiate with Republicans to change the rules that govern how the Senate does business....

Some Democrats, frustrated by Republican tactics, say their only option is to change the Senate rules....

Democrats say the Constitution and previous Senate rulings allow a simple majority of the Senate to rewrite the rule book on the first day of a new Congress through what they are calling the Constitutional option.

“I am definitely planning to pursue the Constitutional option on the first legislative day,’’ said Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico, one of several Democrats elected in 2006 and 2008 who have spent months mapping how to overhaul the Senate process....   

Since when did you guys start caring about the Constitution?  

And this is to what they are devoting their taxpayer-funded time?

Udall and others say they say they want, at a minimum, to speed up debate over the initial attempt to bring a measure to the floor and to force senators to be on the floor debating if they are blocking a measure, much like Jimmy Stewart did in the movie “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.’’  

Better bring a pee pot.

By contrast, the modern version of the filibuster allows seemingly endless breaks in floor activity with rows of empty desks as a backdrop.

Sometimes I wish they would take a permanent break and leave us all alone.

--more--"

Globe XMas Gifts: Government to Corporations

"New tax law is loaded with business goodies" by Stephen Ohlemacher,  Associated Press / December 25, 2010

WASHINGTON — The massive new tax bill signed into law by President Obama is filled with holiday stocking stuffers for businesses: tax breaks for producing TV shows, grants for putting up windmills, rum subsidies for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. There is even a tax break for people who buy race horses. 

I wonder who got that put in.

Related: 

"The tax package includes several elements sought by powerful lawmakers, including a tax break for race horse owners important to Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate minority leader"  

Yeah, another self-serving fraud.

Millions of homeowners, however, might feel like they got a lump of coal. Homeowners who don’t itemize their deductions will lose a tax break for paying local property taxes....

Most of the business tax breaks — about 50 in all — are part of a package that expires each year, creating uncertainty for tax planners but lots of business for lobbyists....

There is a generous tax break for banks and insurance companies that invest overseas....   

The same place your jobs are going, Americans. What a coincidence.  

As usual, it all boils down to banks in AmeriKan politics.

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Globe Xmas Gifts: Goldman Sachs Golden Sacks

"Goldman executives to get $111.3m in stock bonuses" by Michael J. Moore and Christine Harper, Bloomberg News / December 16, 2010

NEW YORK — Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s chief executive, Lloyd C. Blankfein, and his top deputies will collect about $111.3 million in stock next month in a delayed payoff from last year and their record-setting 2007 bonuses. Last year the company recovered to post a $13.4 billion record profit.

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Just doing God's work(?).

Boston Globe Candy Canes

Suck on these for a while until I start opening  the gifts:

Snow removal law may face test

Serving you a lawsuit with that shovel. 

Iowa snowstorm headed south for Christmas

Merry Christmas, Tennessee and Georgia(?)!

Storms trap passengers at European airports

"Michelle Obama skipped the beach so she could give some children a Christmas surprise. She answered calls for the “Tracking Santa’’ program, a Christmas tradition run by the North American Aerospace Defense Command. With help from its Santa Route Schedule, she was able to tell children Santa’s whereabouts as he made his Christmas Eve rounds. 

Just proving to kids that the government lies to you, kids.  

Yup, they can track an imaginary fat man in a reindeer-driven sleigh but they can't monitor four hijacked aircraft on 9/11. 

And you are paying for this, taxpayers?

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Also hanging on the Christmas tree:

• Anheuser-Busch heir in headlines after model’s death (Associated Press)
• 2 children and parents found dead in Mississippi (Associated Press)
• Captivated by Civil War image, researcher claims to ID soldier (By Michael E. Ruane, Washington Post)
• At Gallaudet University, some obvious signs of romance (By Jenna Johnson, Washington Post)
• Biden says repeal of ‘don’t ask’ will pave way for gay marriage (By Laurie Kellman, Associated Press) 
• Boston-area shelters try to keep lonely homeless company (By Akilah Johnson, Globe Staff)
• BOSTON New chairman of judgeship panel named (Associated Press)
• BOSTON Two-alarm fire damages Dorchester home (Boston Globe)
• LAWRENCE Man sentenced for role in staged car crash (Associated Press)
• GREAT BARRINGTON Teen gets probation in killing of 2 llamas (Associated Press)
• CRANSTON, R.I. $50,000 offered to open homeless shelter (Associated Press)
• PEABODY Search on for masked bookstore robber (Boston Globe)
• Weatherization program helps take the chill off (By Erin Ailworth, Globe Staff)
• Boston area office market begins to turn around (By Casey Ross, Globe Staff)
• Shoppers spend more than expected for the holidays (By Anne D’innocenzio, Associated Press)

Not here, sorry. 

• TSA investigates pilot critical of San Francisco airport security (Associated Press)
• Police arrest man at Miami airport with loaded gun in bag (Associated Press)

I will never go near an airport again.  Wonder if they will give Santa a pat down.

The Gift of Gladio

Italians undoubtedly know what I'm talking about.

"Swiss, Chilean embassies in Rome bombed; Two injured; police suspect anarchist group" by Associated Press / December 24, 2010

ROME — Italian investigators suspected the attacks were the work of anarchists, similar to the two-day wave of mail bombs that targeted several embassies in Athens last month.

One of last month’s booby-trapped packages, addressed to Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, was intercepted in Italy.   

Gee, HOW CONVENIENT seeing as HIS GOVERNMENT is on the verge of COLLAPSE, cui bono?  

See: Irritated Italians

The SKIPPING RECORD of PROPAGANDA is GETTING REALLY OLD!

In the two embassy mail bombings, less than three hours apart, Italian investigators are pursuing the “trail of anarchists-insurrectionists,’’ said Interior Minister Roberto Maroni. “Various elements lead us to think that this is the correct path.

“These are very violent groups that are also present in Spain and Greece and are very well connected,’’ the minister said. 

With western intelligence agencies.

In Athens, law enforcement officials said Greek antiterror police were contacted in the evening by Italian colleagues but that no link with the Greek parcel bombs was immediately apparent....  

For about an hour, it seemed as if the Ukrainian embassy, a few block’s away from Chile’s embassy, had received a package bomb. But Tagliente said checks showed that the suspicious package there was a false alarm.

Tens of thousands of tourists and pilgrims have been pouring into Rome this week for Christmas ceremonies at the Vatican.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in the United States, security has been tight at public ceremonies in St. Peter’s Basilica and Square, with the faithful subject to metal detector checks and purse and backpack inspections....    

Why would they need those with God watching?

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Silent Night at the Old One-Two

It was just a television show; however, they behaved as police should behave in America.

"Steve Landesberg, actor on ‘Barney Miller’" by Hamilton Boardman, New York Times / December 24, 2010

NEW YORK — Steve Landesberg, an actor and comedian with a friendly and often deadpan manner who appeared on television and in movies, including “Barney Miller,’’ “The Golden Girls,’’ “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,’’ and “Head Case,’’ has died at 74, his agent said Monday....

Mr. Landesberg is probably best known for the role of Detective Sergeant Arthur P. Dietrich in the 1970s sitcom “Barney Miller.’’ The sitcom, which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1982, featured Mr. Landesberg as an intellectual detective with a quiet manner who seemed to have an unrivaled knowledge of practically any topic that arose....

The sitcom, set in a New York City police station, portrayed a group of wisecracking detectives who dealt with the oddball characters who would end up there. With most of the action in the squad room rather than out in the street, some police officers have said that the show often better represented the real life of rank-and-file officers than many detective dramas on television....

Steve Landesberg (center, with glasses) with the cast of “Barney Miller,’’ including (from left) Hal Linden in the title role, Ron Glass, Max Gail, Ron Carey, and James Gregory. (ABC) 

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Pat Robertson Smokes Pot

I always thought he looked pie-eyed, and now we know why:

"Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson told his “700 Club’’ audience criminalizing the possession of a few ounces of pot is “costing us a fortune and it’s ruining young people. Young people go into prisons, they go in as youths and come out as hardened criminals. That’s not a good thing.’’

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Ungrateful Environmentalists

They didn't like the president's present?

"Wilderness rules restored for public lands" by Associated Press / December 23, 2010 

DENVER—The Obama administration plans to reverse a Bush-era policy and make millions of undeveloped acres of land once again eligible for federal wilderness protection, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Thursday.... 

Congressional Republicans pounced on the "Wild Lands" announcement as an attempt by the Obama administration to close land to development without congressional approval.

"This backdoor approach is intended to circumvent both the people who will be directly affected and Congress," said Washington Rep. Doc Hastings, a Republican tapped to lead the House Natural Resources Committee when the GOP takes control of the House in January.

Conservationists praised the reversal, though there has been grumbling that it took the Obama administration nearly two years to overturn the Bush-era policy.

It's the THOUGHT that counts -- and they sure thought about it a long time.

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"The EPA’s takeover of Texas’s air permit program came on the same day the agency announced it would begin developing standards to reduce heat-trapping gases at power plants and refineries.

Together, the developments show the EPA is taking a hard line on regulating the pollution blamed for global warming.... 

Something is stinking around here -- although its harder to smell in the cold.

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Also see: GE to continue PCB dredging in Hudson

The REAL ENVIRONMENTAL THREAT!

Related:

"Obama jetted off to join his family in Hawaii....  

Thanks for the taxpayer-funded carbon footprint, hypocrite.  

Maybe you all stay at the White House next time, huh?

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Boston Globe Grab Bag

You only get one on Christmas Eve, dear readers.  Good luck!

"No primary challenger has emerged, and it is unclear whether a newcomer could wage a serious fight against Brown and his $6.8 million war chest.

Then why is this the front one lead today?

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Have to finish up some shopping: 

Rich no longer resisting the urge to splurge

Not me.

This year, shoppers paying in green to stay out of red

Me.  

I'm not feeling that good:

"No-bid contracts the University of Massachusetts Medical School, routinely receives to manage state health programs could be costing taxpayers too much money.

The focus of investigators is Commonwealth Medicine, a UMass division that pays its top two executives more than $400,000 each in salaries and benefits, more than is paid to the governor and Medicaid director combined.

Created 11 years ago to provide expertise to the state more cheaply than it would have to pay private contractors, Commonwealth Medicine has evolved into something far more extensive.

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Related: Beth Israel Deaconess admits mishandling three spine operations

Also see: Elections board sides with Emanuel, clears path for Chicago mayoral bid

Cherokee leaders, Apple join to put fading language on children’s screens

Storm leaves many in Calif. facing bleak holiday

Man in racially charged shooting freed

Repairs were ordered before deadly fire  

Russian lawmakers studying treaty 

Cuba to free prisoners not on church list

Iraqi Cabinet criticized for lack of women  

And south of the equator:

Police and soldiers fired water cannons and plastic bullets yesterday as thousands of students demonstrated against a law that increases government powers over Venezuela’s universities.

The law is the latest in a series of controversial measures enacted in the final days of a solidly pro-Chavez National Assembly; on Jan. 5, a new legislature takes office with a bigger opposition contingent capable of hindering some types of laws.  

Not the same take on our lame-duck rats, is it?

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And somehow I knew the newspaper would end up there even at Christmas time.

Walking through the Camondo Museum, I feel a sense of connection with my own Jewishness. I don’t understand what it is. For me it’s not a religion, not a set of beliefs and practices. “Jewish” is not the name of a race or a nationality. But sometimes it boils down to a sense of solidarity about being, or having been, imperiled — not because of what you believe, but, as in all genocides, because of what others believe about you.  

I'm sure Muslims can relate at this point in time given the press they get in my agenda-pushing Zionist War Daily.

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Second Section Stocking-Stuffers From the Boston Globe

I hope you get one you like, dear readers.  Merry Christmas.

• Ted Kennedy’s beloved dog Splash dies (By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff)
• Police pawnshop ensnares suspects (By Milton J. Valencia, Globe Staff)
• Westford couple feast on road kill as way to greener living (By Akilah Johnson, Globe Staff)
• School janitor allegedly stole children’s holiday donations (By Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff)
• Following fire, Woburn saves family’s holiday (By Billy Baker, Globe Staff)
• Globe Santa Dancing Deer bakery chips in with cookies, cakes, and cash (By Aaron Lester, Globe Santa Correspondent)
• WASHINGTON Boston jurist to head sentencing panel (Boston Globe)
• BOSTON $375,000 in pollution grants available (State House News Service)
• BOSTON Boston Foundation aids Catholic schools (Boston Globe)
• BOSTON Mass. travelers given a preholiday gift (Associated Press)
• BOSTON Alleged groper ordered to stay off the T (Boston Globe)
• FALL RIVER Fledgling firefighter helps rescue woman (Associated Press)
• Kin seek to exhume body of Lincoln assassin’s brother (By Travis Andersen, Globe Staff)
• Baker fund-raiser helped pay for ad attacking Patrick’s support for Cape Wind (By Michael Rezendes, Globe Staff)
• Youths step up to fight suicide (By Stewart Bishop, Globe Correspondent)
• At Allston metaphysical shop, frankincense and myrrh are in the air (By Matt Rocheleau, Globe Correspondent)
• Pakistani cleared in bomb plot seeks residency status (By David Sharp, Associated Press)
• Wonderland gets approval to transfer simulcast license (By Matt Murphy, State House News Service)
• US returns items taken from MIT researcher, ACLU says (By Vivian Ho, Globe Correspondent)
• Menino says he wasn’t in the loop on lawsuit (By Michael Norton, State House News Service)
• Harmonix sold to N.Y. company (By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff)
• Finding hands to tie the knot (By Kathleen Pierce, Globe Correspondent)
• Angel Flight agrees to appoint independent board (By Beth Healy, Globe Staff)
• Boston Capital Mutual fund star for 2010 (By Steven Syre, Globe Columnist)
• Signs of brightening economy (By Christopher S. Rugaber, Associated Press)
• Toyota chagrined $10m settlement in crash disclosed (By Edvard Pettersson, Bloomberg News)
• Obama to renominate MIT professor (Associated Press)
• Expedia backs rival in AA dispute (Associated Press)
• Vintner sells off holdings for $230m (Associated Press)
• Skype mostly recovers from crash (Associated Press)
• Mortgage rates fall after 5-week rise (Associated Press)
• Around the Region Guild signs contract with Globe (By Johnny Diaz, Globe Staff)
• Inquiry into Heathrow delays coming (Associated Press)
• Around the Region JetBlue to offer NYC-Vineyard flights (By Katie Johnston Chase, Globe Staff)
• Ireland seizes control of Allied Irish Banks (By Liz Alderman, New York Times)
• FCC chief seeks conditions on Comcast buy (By Joelle Tessler, Associated Press)
• Gasoline prices average over $3 (Associated Press)
• Online sales rose 15% for holidays (By Timothy Williams, New York Times)
• China calls subsidies proper (By Elaine Kurtenbach, Associated Press)
• Tax evasion investigation looks at smaller Swiss banks (By Lynnley Browning, New York Times)