September 12, in an interview with Newsmax, former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said: “…Iran represents an existential threat, and [the Israelis] will do whatever they have to do to guarantee their survival and their security.”
Cheney also said that Congressional Democrats supported continuing the civil rights violating homeland security policies: “They said absolutely, yes. They were unanimous. Nancy Pelosi was there, Jay Rockefeller was there.”
“This was an organized, large-scale criminal event. We’re talking about sabotage. We’re talking about riotous behavior.”-Mark Nelson, Cowlitz County Sheriff
September 7 and 8, there was a major union protest that shut down ports in Washington state. Did you see it? Only now are some national U.S. media reporting it, but only local TV stations show you what really happened!
According to The Daily News, hundreds of longshoreman stormed the Port of Longview where they dumped shipments of grain and damaged guard shacks. They also crashed a security vehicle, and sabotaged rail cars by cutting the brake lines. Local Longview Police Chief Jim Duscha, estimates 400 people were involved.
One protestor carrying a baseball bat, allegedly threatened the police by saying: “Today is the day law enforcement gets theirs!”
The Daily News article makes it clear that the local law enforcement doesn’t give a crap about the escalating plight of the average worker in the United States, all they cared about was: “I was always assured that things would not get violent towards our police officers.”-Mark Nelson, Cowlitz County Sheriff
The union is protesting the Port of Longview because their members have been barred from getting jobs there (so much for economic recovery). Ports in Seattle, Tacoma and Everett, Washington were also shut down when union workers walked off.
The U.S. media is totally ignoring this. Here’s how The Los Angeles Times reported it: “Hundreds of angry longshoremen walked off the job at ports in the Pacific Northwest on Thursday”. There was no explanation as to why the ‘walkout’ happened.
Watch the KGW Portland, Oregon, TV station report. Some bloggers say the KGW report is watered down.
September 12, according to Australian media, the Taliban have opened a diplomatic office in Qatar, and will soon be recognized by the United States as an legitimate political organization.
Qatar is also the biggest Arab supporter of the U.S., U.K. and French backed Libyan rebels. Qatar is also being implicated, along with Saudi Arabia, of instigating armed uprisings in Syria.
Foreign media tried to get reaction from White House officials, but declined comment. Reports say this is a step towards peace talks between the Taliban and the United States. Such peace talks would recognize the Taliban as the de facto rulers of Afghanistan.
Earlier in the year there were reports that Turkey would allow a Taliban embassy, but now it looks like Qatar has become the location of choice by U.S. officials.
The Taliban are seeking assurances that its representatives in Doha, the Qatari capital, would be free from harassment or arrest.
“Even before the [9/11] attacks, our Islamic Emirate had tried through various proposals to resolve the Osama issue. One such proposal was to set up a three-nation court, or something under the supervision of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. But the U.S. showed no interest in it. They kept demanding we hand him over, but…They did not recognize our government.”-Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil, Afghan Foreign Minister under the Taliban
Robert Grenier, CIA boss in Pakistan at the time of 9/11, confirmed that the Taliban made such offers, but that the United States didn’t take them seriously: “No one in the U.S. government took these [offers] seriously because they did not trust the Taliban and their ability to conduct a proper trial.”
Offers by the Taliban were relayed to the U.S. through indirect channels such as the U.S. embassy in Pakistan, or the informal Taliban office for the UN in New York City. But, the United States did not recognize the Taliban, who governed Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001.
Also, top U.S. prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, visited Pakistan to present evidence implicating bin Laden in U.S. embassy bombings: “He met with the Pakistani interior minister and the idea was to convince the Pakistani government to help in turning over bin Laden.”-Robert Grenier, former Central Intelligence Agency
Of interest is the fact that most main stream U.S. media failed to report that the Taliban government of Afghanistan condemned the 9/11 attacks: “Afghanistan was one of the first few governments that condemned the attacks…We [Taliban] condemned the attacks because the people targeted were defenseless civilians, women, children, Muslim and non-Muslim. But al-Qaeda praised it.”-Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil
September 12, joining the United States, British Prime Minister David Cameron said the Syrian government was not legitimate and has no future.
This after the Syrian government announced that new elections could be held by the end of the year. But, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said it was too late for elections: “We think the regime has lost its legitimacy, that it’s too late to implement a program of reform.”
France, Britain and the U.S. are pushing for a UN Security Council resolution against Syria, but Russia is countering with their own proposal: “We are ready to support different approaches, but they must not be based on one sided condemnations of the actions of the government and President Assad.”-Dmitry Medvedev, President of Russia
There’s been a lot of praise by the main stream U.S. media for the Martin Luther King Jr memorial, but they don’t mention that the statue was outsourced to China due to lack of funds.
According to Wikipedia, the memorial needed $120 million for construction. Only $108 million was raised, and that included taxpayer money from the Federal government. This is the reason the memorial contractor outsourced the making of the statue to China.
Not even the stone came from the United States, it’s Chinese pink granite. Just another sign of the times!
According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the number of people driving without insurance has hit one in seven.
Some insurance analysts blame the bad economy, and skyrocketing insurance costs: “Laws in most states have proven ineffective in reducing the numbers of drivers who are uninsured. Some drivers can’t afford insurance, and some drivers with surcharges for accidents or serious traffic violations don’t want to pay the high premiums that result from a poor driving record. It is costly to track down violators of compulsory insurance laws, and unless the odds of getting caught are high and the penalties severe, drivers will continue to flout the law.”-Loretta Worters, Insurance Information Institute
The percent of uninsured drivers varies from 4% in states like Maine, to 28% in Mississippi.
September 12, once again, Cargill Incorporated issued a recall of ground turkey, from its Arkansas plant. It’s the same plant that saw one of the largest meat recalls in U.S. history, just last month.
Something that most people in the United States don’t know, is that Cargill has been identified as one of the many U.S. corporations that uses prison labor. Cargill has also been identified as using child labor in its operations outside the United States. Could prison labor have something to do with the many recent meat recalls?
There are dozens of lessor known meat plants all across the United States that use prison labor, some use prison labor exclusively. Part of the unemployment problem in U.S. is due to the use of prison labor. Many regular meat plant employees have been laid off and replaced with cheaper prison labor.
This latest recall covers about 185,000 pounds of ground turkey products. They were distributed nationwide under the Kroger, Fresh HEB and Cargill’s Honeysuckle White brands. All ground turkey made at the Springdale, Arkansas, plant has “P-963” or “963” on the package. People who bought products bearing that identification number can call 1-888-812-1646 for instructions.
Gakushuin University Professor Yasuyuki Muramatsu, says radioactive cesium on soil and fallen leaves in forests is easily absorbed by mushrooms and edible plants.
On 03 September 2011, wild mushrooms found in a forest in Fukushima Prefecture contained 28,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram, far above the national safety limit. A wild boar was also found to have radiation amounts about 6 times the safety limit.
Professor Muramatsu is urging the Japanese government to conduct tests on wild animals and plants.
“Each year, 9/11 reminds the Afghans of an event in which they had no role whatsoever. American colonialism has shed the blood of tens of thousands of miserable and innocent Afghans.”-Afghan insurgent statement
September 11, at least three U.S. troops have been wounded in attacks in western Afghanistan.
This follows a September 10 truck bomb attack against the U.S. Combat Outpost Sayed Abad, in the eastern province of Wardak. NATO reports that 77 U.S. troops were wounded, two Afghans killed and 25 Afghans wounded.
U.S. Army sources have reported that 50 troops, plus civilians, were wounded in the Saturday truck bomb attack: “It happened at 5:15 pm on Saturday. It detonated near the entry point at a combat outpost, resulting in 89 wounded in action and a 20-foot (six-meter) hole in the wall.”-David Eastburn, Major U.S. Army
Wardak is where a U.S. Chinook helicopter was shot down recently, killing all 30 U.S. forces and eight Afghans on board.
Also on Saturday/Sunday, a NATO soldier died in an ambush in southern Afghanistan, and two bombs exploded in Paktika and Kunduz Provinces, leaving a total of 10 civilians dead.