Thee Star Chamber

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"When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves, in the course of time, a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it." - Fred Bastiat

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"Anyone who has proclaimed violence his method inexorably must choose lying as his principle": Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

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"There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people for a purpose which is unattainable." : U.S. historian Howard Zinn, 1993

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"If a country develops an economic system that is based on how to pay for the war, and if the amounts of fixed capital investment that are apparent are tied up in armaments, and if that country is a major exporter of arms, and its industrial fabric is dependent on them, then it would be in that country's interests to ensure that it always had a market. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is clearly in the interests of the world's leading arms exporters to make sure that there is always a war going on somewhere.": Marilyn Waring - Source: Documentary 'Who's Counting', based on her book 'Counting for Nothing'.

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Click here to read this newsletter online
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/

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Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered Since The U.S. Invaded Iraq "1,284,105"
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html

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Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America'sWar On Iraq 4,209
http://icasualties.org/oif/

The War And Occupation Of Iraq Costs
$580,179,880,659

See the cost in your community
http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182

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The United States: A Country Without Mercy

By Paul Craig Roberts

We have to ask ourselves why American service men and women and CIA operatives delight in torturing people about whom they know nothing? It has been well known since the Stalin era that torture never produces accurate information.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21482.htm

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Welcome to Our World

By David Glenn Cox

You thought your white collar and your wealth would protect you as you nodded in agreement that outsourcing was vital to a growing economy. You thought these things could never reach you? Well here's another clue for you all, the walrus is Paul, coo coo ka choo.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21483.htm

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Senate Scandal Snares Obama's Chief Aide

By Sarah Baxter, Washington

THE bullish, foul-mouthed but effective Chicago arm-twister Rahm Emanuel has come under pressure to resign as Barack Obama's chief of staff after it was revealed that he had been captured on court-approved wire-taps discussing the names of candidates for Obama's Senate seat.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21479.htm

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Blagojevich Legal Hurdle: A Crime, or Just Talk?

Tapes of Ill. governor discussing Senate pick may fall into a legal gray area

By David Johnston

"This town is full of people who call themselves ambassadors, and all they did was pay $200,000 or $300,000 to the Republican or Democratic Party," said Mr. Bennett, referring to a passage in the criminal complaint filed against the governor suggesting that Mr. Blagojevich was interested in an ambassadorial appointment in return for the Senate seat.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21480.htm

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Obama Slam-Duncans Education

By Greg Palast

Hey, you Liberal Democrats. You may have won the election, but you're getting CREAMED in the transition. Today, President-elect Barack Obama stuck it to you. He's chosen Arne Duncan as Secretary of Education.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21481.htm

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Seven killed in violence in Iraq: :

Four Iraqi soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb car exploded near a security patrol in Saadia.
http://tinyurl.com/6fzlap

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Report: Bush masked cost of wars that could top $1.7 trillion:

Even if Barack Obama draws down troops in Iraq like he's promised, a new report finds the US is on pace to have spent nearly $2 trillion on military operations including Iraq and Afghanistan over the next decade.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Report_Cost_of_wars_could_top_1216.html

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Court appearance for Iraqi who threw shoes at Bush:

"Al-Zaidi was brought today before the investigating judge in the presence of a defence lawyer and a prosecutor," Birqadr said. "He admits the action he carried out."
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/1216/breaking80.htm

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"Iraqi reporter al-Zaidi's arm, ribs broken":

Security agents have broken the arm and ribs of al-Zaidi, a reporter who hurled his shoes at Bush during a press conference Sunday in Baghdad.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=78617§ionid=351020201

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Afghan police: 3 die in checkpoint clash:

Taliban fighters killed two Afghan police officers in a checkpoint attack in southern Afghanistan, police said Tuesday. One of the attackers also died.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104ap_as_afghan_violence.html

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Russia in talks with Iran over sale of anti-aircraft missiles, despite Israeli objections :

Israeli officials say Russia and Iran renewed negotiations on the purchase of the missile system several weeks ago. The sources confirmed a report that appeared in the foreign press on the matter two weeks ago.
http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1046920.html

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Israeli occupation troops kill member of Palestinian resistance force:

Abbas to call elction: : Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday he'll call general elections "very soon," signaling that he's ready for a new showdown with the Islamic militant Hamas.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/12/16/news/ML-Israel-Palestinians.php

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Israel sentences Hamas lawmaker to prison:

An Israeli military court has sentenced the speaker of the Palestinian parliament to 36 months in prison for belonging to the militant Islamic Hamas movement.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/12/16/news/ML-Israel-Hamas.php

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MK: US is Not against Gaza Attack:

Member of Knesset Yuval Shteinmintz of the Likud said that the United States government is not against Israeli military action in Gaza. He also added however that it is difficult for the government to engage in a large scale conflict with elections approaching.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/157587

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U.S. Professor denied entry into Israel and deported from Ben Gurion Airport:

Princeton Professor Emeritus of International Law Richard Falk, the United Nations Human Rights Council´s Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian Territory, has been deported from Israel on Monday after being barred from entry at the airport
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/85022

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Feinstein gets nod to chair intelligence panel:

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein has been tapped as the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday, a post that would give her immense clout over U.S. intelligence agencies and the power to shape policies on wiretapping and the treatment of detainees.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/15/MNBV14OHE5.DTL

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Somali president names new premier:

Somalia's president has appointed a new prime minister, ignoring the parliament's vote in favour of keeping Nur Hassan Hussein, the current premier.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2008/12/2008121673914660145.html

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First the Chinese accumulated dollars, now everyone is joining the stampede:

What caused the crisis? For some, the story is simple. It's all about global imbalances.
http://tinyurl.com/6gvy27

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Banks get another bailout: Judge signs order to protect Madoff investors:

Stanton signed the order after the Securities Investor Protection Corporation asked that steps be taken to protect investors in the scheme, which has ensnared several major banks and prominent figures as victims and could result in as much as $50 billion in losses.
http://tinyurl.com/64duvb

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US consumer data shows record slump:

The fall was the second straight month of record declines in the consumer price index (CPI) and the biggest since 1947, when the Labour Department began recording the figures, it said on Tuesday.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2008/12/20081216154853641784.html

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Best Buy 3Q profit sinks, company offers buyouts: -

Best Buy Co. Inc. offered voluntary severance packages to virtually all its 4,000 corporate employees Tuesday as the nation's largest consumer electronics chain announced its third-quarter profit skidded 77 percent.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081216/earns_best_buy.html

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Unemployment: Worse Than it Looks:

The most publicized measure of U.S. unemployment tells only part of the story
http://tinyurl.com/5w8765

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More people on S.F. streets newly homeless:

Across the country, the nose-diving economy isn't just causing home foreclosures and stock market dips, it is squeezing people, particularly families, out of their homes. The number of hungry people has also jumped.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/16/BA5N14OGCD.DTL

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Let us work towards Peace and Joy

Tom Feeley

Banks get another bailout: Judge signs order to protect Madoff investors:

The investors in the Madoff thing were part of an illegal pyramid scam. I can't imagine how they could possibly be owed taxpayer funds.

--L.B.

Important Announcement The MSN Groups service will close in February 2009. You can move your group to Multiply, MSN’s partner for online groups. Learn More
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