Friday, February 03, 2006

Another Angle 3 - February - 2006

ANOTHER ANGLE
News others won't tell you




NATIONAL:



The art of deception: Is it war for oil or war to save the dollar?
The spiraling downfall of the dollar neither is, nor would be, the fault of Iran, but the chicanery of the Federal Reserve banking system. The problem is not Iran; the problem is that America has fiat money as its medium of exchange, or simply paper money backed by governmental laws that legalize it as tender for debts or exchange.



Boehner: Yet Another Lobbying Slut?
Somehow, Boehner managed to brand himself the reform candidate. That might be news to Sallie Mae, the student-loan behemoth, which in the 2003-2004 election cycle contributed over $100,000 to Boehner through its PACs and individual contributors. That's 40 percent of all contributions made by the entire student loan industry.



Evidence of Earliest African Slaves Found
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Autonomous University of the Yucatan made the discovery at one of the oldest European settlements in Mexico -- Campeche, a port city on the Yucatan Peninsula. The remains date between the late-16th century and the mid-17th century, not long after Columbus first set foot in the Americas.



Avoiding the hard questions
This is the worst possible time for probe-ophobia to grip us. Our nation was irretrievably transformed by 9/11 -- and yet there remain troubling questions about what really happened before, during and after that day. Rather than demanding a full and fearless vetting to hone in on the truth and silence the conjecture about 9/11, many Americans remain unwilling to peer into the microscope.



Robertson still wants Chavez 'taken out'
Robertson reiterated his call to get rid of Chavez. Colmes asked him a few questions and while he appeared to be trying to apologize- flipped and went back to the "let's get him some day" theme. Video-WMP Video-QT



Keith Sweat Opens New Luxury Hotel in Atlanta
The artist’s S Hotel, located at 395 Piedmont Ave in Midtown, boasts 294 rooms designed by Sweat himself with an eye toward pulling in the business market. Each room comes with flat screen televisions, CD/DVD players, high-speed wireless Internet and an en-suite bathroom with bath and separate walk-in power shower. A number of rooms also have a nice view of downtown Atlanta.



INTERNATIONAL:



Venezuela expels US naval 'spy'
Thursday's announcement came three days after Mr Chavez said agents had infiltrated an alleged spy ring at the US embassy. "We have decided... to throw out of the country a military official from the mission of the United States for espionage."



"Greek Watergate" scandal sends political shockwaves
Most of the wiretaps took place around the August 2004 Athens Olympics -- the most guarded Games in history with a 1.2 billion euro ($1.45 billion) security budget. They stopped when Vodafone Greece, a subsidiary of British firm Vodafone, discovered the incident and reported it to authorities. Greek officials said that by shutting down the illegal software, Vodafone made it impossible to trace the taps. They also revealed that the calls were being relayed to unknown destinations via four mobile phone antennas in a zone in the centre of Athens that includes the U.S. embassy.



IRAQ:



President Carter: "We did not need to go into Iraq."
"...The reason that we went into Iraq was to establish a permanent military base in the Gulf region and I have never heard any of our leaders say that they would commit themselves to the Iraqi people that ten years from now there will be no military bases of the United States in Iraq."



BUSH CRIME FAMILY:



Bush approved multi-agency program to spy on Americans
Through executive orders or – more often – clandestine powers that he believes he possesses as a “wartime President,” Bush has ordered the Pentagon, FBI, NSA and CIA to expand domestic spying operations to levels never before seen by professional operations.



Bush's Brezhnev period
Bush has entered his Brezhnev era of stagnation. Everything -- from the latest five-year plan to the grandiose promise of world transformation -- was repetitive and abstracted from grinding realities. His attempt to use the first year of his second term for permanent revolution at home, following Rove's script, has failed. Social Security privatization is now whittled down to a commission, the sort of gambit employed when a leader lacks support.



ECONOMY:



Del Monte stops pineapple growing in Hawaii
"It would be cheaper for Del Monte to buy pineapples on the open market than for the company to grow, market and distribute Hawaiian pineapple," the company said in a statement Wednesday.



OP-ED:



MARGARET KIMBERLEY: Bin Laden’s wasted warning
Bin Laden's latest message went out to a nation that is overwhelmingly deaf and blind. It is not altogether the fault of individuals. We are encouraged to be stupid. The corporate media is just that, corporate. It has been a long time since they were interested in telling their readers, viewers, and listeners anything resembling the truth.



Racism, Neo-Confederacy and the Raising of Historical Illiterates
Those who wave the Confederate flag, for example, insist they are merely trying to fondly remember part of their history. Yet if blacks (including, to be sure, more than a few Southerners) broach the subject of their ancestors' enslavement and its lingering effects on black America today, they are viewed as wallowing in pity. But what, other than wallowing, and most certainly pitiable, can we call those who insist on waving the standard of a defeated government.



FOOD&DRINK:



Smoked Turkey Quesadillas
A low-fat but tasty version of a typically calorie-laden favorite. nice flavourful finger food to go with cocktails. Can't see how it could be called bland. The combo of the tart/sweet grapes with the salt and the lime juice, the subtle smokiness of the turkey and cumin, the crispy tortilla and the creamy cheese - hey, it's all good!



REVIEWS/INTERVIEWS:



Racism and 'The Slave Side of Sunday'
Former pro football player Anthony Prior's new book The Slave Side of Sunday draws comparisons between the gridiron and the slave plantation.



The Case for Sam Cooke, Soul Pioneer
His cultural influence can hardly be overstated. From the infectious "Another Saturday Night" and "Twistin' the Night Away" to the anthemic "A Change Is Gonna Come," Cooke's impact on American popular music is lasting. His singing style has been connected to everyone from Otis Redding to Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye.



JUST WEIRD:



Bulgarian Vanga predicted horrible catastrophes
Her most shocking prediction was made in 1980. The blind old woman said: “At the turn of the century, in August of 1999 or 2000, Kursk will be covered with water, and the whole world will be weeping over it.”


HUMOR?:



McGassy's Global Warming Guide