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Saudi Royal Family Linked to 9/11 Hijackers
WhoWhatWhy discusses a link between the 9/11 hijackers and the Saudi Royal Family via a Saudi family living in Florida before the attacks in 2001. Evidence seems to suggest Esam Ghazzawi used his Florida home as an operational base for the hijackers, before fleeing to Riyadh just days in advance of the attacks and Ghazzawi’s extensive connections to the highest levels of Saudi power:
In early September of this year, [investigative journalists] Summers and Christensen reported that a secret FBI probe, never shared with Congressional investigators or the presidential 9/11 commission, had uncovered information indicating the possibility of support for the hijackers from previously unknown confederates in the United States during 2001.
As reported in the Herald, phone records documented communication, dating back more than a year, that connected a Saudi family then living in a house near Sarasota, Florida, with the alleged plot leader, Mohammed Atta, and his hijack pilots — as well…
The Propaganda of Charles Krauthammer
With his usual precision and sharpness, Glenn Greenwald has dissected the latest disinformation coming out of the Washington Post’s editorial pages. This time its Charles Krauthammer, back with more of his indignant flavored right-wing talking points. Krauthammer has again misled his readers by hiding the root causes of terrorism and instead makes an effort to whip up anti-Muslim sentiment. From Salon.com:
It’s anything but news that Charles Kruathammer is a rank propagandist, but his column today is particularly egregious, though quite illustrative of how these issues are discussed. He lambastes the Obama administration for what he calls its “absurd and embarrassing refusal . . . to acknowledge who out there is trying to kill Americans and why.” Krauthammer — needless to say and for reasons too obvious to require explanation — wants to claim that the True Cause of Terrorism is “radical Islam” by itself, and thus accuses the administration of…
Rep. Grayson: “If This Ruling Goes Unchallenged, Then You Can Kiss Your Country Goodbye”
The ever-vigilant Florida congressman, Alan Grayson, weighs in on the Supreme Court ruling today. “It will be the Senator from GE and Microsoft now!”
Was Manson A Political Tool For Destroying Counterculture?
On KPFA’s Guns and Butter, Bonnie Faulkner plays a broadcast from 1971 revealing links between the Tate murders and government actions aiming to sow fear and paranoia of the growing counter-culture of the 60’s. Originally aired on Mae Brussells’ radio show, the segment explores Charles Manson’s life before the infamous murders.
Baucus Health Plan Missing Public Option, Study Finds 45,000 Uninsured Die Every Year
DemocracyNow: A long-awaited healthcare bill from Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus includes no public option and would require almost all Americans to buy insurance or pay a penalty. This comes as a new study finds that nearly 45,000 Americans die every year due to lack of health insurance. We speak with the study’s co-author, Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, a professor of medicine at Harvard University, primary care physician, and co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program.
Baucus Health Plan Missing Public Option, Study Finds 45,000 Uninsured Die Every Year
DemocracyNow: A long-awaited healthcare bill from Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus includes no public option and would require almost all Americans to buy insurance or pay a penalty. This comes as a new study finds that nearly 45,000 Americans die every year due to lack of health insurance. We speak with the study’s co-author, Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, a professor of medicine at Harvard University, primary care physician, and co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program.
America’s Secret War With Iran
Current TVs Vanguard asks if America is funding groups attacking Iran. Mariana van Zeller goes to the Iraq/Iran border to investigate.
Captured: NYC’s Lower East Side
Since 1979 Clayton Patterson has dedicated his life to documenting the final era of raw creativity and lawlessness in New York City’s Lower East Side, a neighborhood famed for art, music and revolutionary minds. Traversing the outside edge he’s recorded a dark and colorful society, from drag to hardcore, heroin, homelessness, political chaos and ultimately gentrification. His odyssey from voyeur to provocateur reveals that it can take losing everything you love to find your own significance.
Amazon Remotely Deletes Orwell from Kindle
Gizmodo: Amazon basically guaranteed that I’ll never buy a Kindle last night by bending to the wishes of a publisher and deleting every single legitimately-purchased copy of 1984 and Animal Farm from all Kindles remotely. Ridiculous.
Apparently, the publisher changed its mind about having electronic versions of Orwell’s books. So Amazon removed them from the store and in the process remotely deleted the books from the Kindles of anyone who bought them, depositing a refund in their account in the process.
Amazon says this is a “rarity,” but even once is too many times for bullshit like this to happen. Once I buy a book from Barnes & Noble, I never have to worry about them breaking into my house and taking it back, leaving me a pile of singles on my nightstand.
And of course the fact that this happened to 1984, of all books, makes this even more surreal.
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Amazon Remotely Deletes Orwell from Kindle
Gizmodo: Amazon basically guaranteed that I’ll never buy a Kindle last night by bending to the wishes of a publisher and deleting every single legitimately-purchased copy of 1984 and Animal Farm from all Kindles remotely. Ridiculous.
Apparently, the publisher changed its mind about having electronic versions of Orwell’s books. So Amazon removed them from the store and in the process remotely deleted the books from the Kindles of anyone who bought them, depositing a refund in their account in the process.
Hypocrisy at The Heart of Honduran Coup
Telesur, translated by Kristin Bricker: In 1985, [coup leader Roberto Micheletti] tried to turn the Honduran National Congress into a National Constitutional Assembly in order to reform the same Magna Carta that the coup leaders are now defending as their transcendental symbol during the current political crisis.
Members of Congress and politicians accuse Manuel Zelaya of trying to extend his term and change the Honduran Constitution, but what he tried to do was hold a non-binding opinion poll. Micheletti, on the other hand, did want to [extend the president's term and change the Constitution] 24 years ago.
Zelaya’s proposal is far from what happened in 1985 when then-congressman Roberto Micheletti (who has been a member of Congress for 28 years) called a Constitutional Assembly to extend the mandate of the president of that era, Roberto Suazo Córdoba.
It’s worth noting that 24 years ago the effects of the low-intensity war were still being…
Hypocrisy at The Heart of Honduran Coup
Translated by Kristin Bricker.
In 1985, [coup leader Roberto Micheletti] tried to turn the Honduran National Congress into a National Constitutional Assembly in order to reform the same Magna Carta that the coup leaders are now defending as their transcendental symbol during the current political crisis.
Members of Congress and politicians accuse Manuel Zelaya of trying to extend his term and change the Honduran Constitution, but what he tried to do was hold a non-binding opinion poll. Micheletti, on the other hand, did want to [extend the president's term and change the Constitution] 24 years ago.
Zelaya’s proposal is far from what happened in 1985 when then-congressman Roberto Micheletti (who has been a member of Congress for 28 years) called a Constitutional Assembly to extend the mandate of the president of that era, Roberto Suazo Córdoba.
Original in Spanish can be viewed here.
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‘Anti-Sec’ Hackers Infiltrate Imageshack
Mashable.com: ImageShack, one of the web’s largest image hosts, was attacked tonight by a movement called “Anti-Sec”. The result of the attack has been to replace all ImageShack hosted images with a manifesto for the movement:
“Anti-Sec” Hackers Infiltrate Imageshack
Mashable.com:
ImageShack (ImageShack), one of the web’s largest image hosts, was attacked tonight by a movement called “Anti-Sec”. The result of the attack has been to replace all ImageShack hosted images with a manifesto for the movement (below).
Fox News: Americans ‘Marry Other Species’, Finns and Swedes ‘Pure’
While its obvious to most that Fox News is home of the lunatic fringe of the punditocracy, every once in a while they manage to out-fox themselves. Below is one such example:
What’s Happening in China’s Xinjiang Province?
Salon.com: Every week lately seems to bring a new round of unrest in some corner of the world. Iran, Honduras and now Xinjiang, where 140 people died in rioting yesterday. Any such outbreak of civil conflict, of course, has its own complex history, with rival factions and long-held grievances that aren’t immediately obvious to far-off observers.
Follow the link to Salons coverage, or get more analysis below from Democracy Now!:
What’s Behind the Honduras Coup?
Democracy Now! tackles the geo-politics of the military coup d’etat with guest journalist Nikolas Kozloff. The first 3 minutes of the video features Father Roy Bourgeois, founder of the School of the Americas Watch.
Health Insurance Executive Speaks Out
Testimony given before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation:
Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to be here this afternoon.
My name is Wendell Potter and for 20 years, I worked as a senior executive at health insurance companies, and I saw how they confuse their customers and dump the sick — all so they can satisfy their Wall Street investors.
… The average family doesn’t understand how Wall Street’s dictates determine whether they will be offered coverage, whether they can keep it, and how much they’ll be charged for it. But, in fact, Wall Street plays a powerful role. The top priority of for-profit companies is to drive up the value of their stock.
… Notices that insurers are required to send to policyholders — those explanation-of-benefit documents that are supposed to explain how the insurance company calculated its payments to providers and how much is left for the…
Conan O’Brien on the Iranian Election
Note: The man debating Ahmadinejad is not Moussavi, the candidate with hundreds of thousands of supporters currently demonstrating in Iran. But he also has a sweet beard.
