"Conspiracy or cock up?" Richard Wolffe, Countdown

[autorank]

Link: http://tinyurl.com/yeredyk

“Conspiracy or cock up?” White House reaction to ersatz bomber

By Michael Collins

The underpants bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, is a curious terrorist. He became disillusioned with his privileged life as the son of a bank chairman and member of the Nigerian elite, it would seem. Rather than pursuing his studies in London, he retreated to Yemen to learn the ways of al Qaeda inspired terrorism.

Farouk was so indiscreet that his father reported him to the U.S. Embassy as a potential terrorist in November. A month later, he managed to get on a jumbo jet headed for Detroit to complete a terror mission. Despite his training in engineering at the prestigious London School of Economics, Farouk failed in his mission. He couldn’t mix his explosives to achieve the desired effect. He apparently forgot to detonate the explosive device in mid flight, waiting until just before landing in Detroit to start his task. He retrieved and set off the chemicals to create the explosion in full view of passengers.

What kind of terrorist is this? He doesn’t know when, how or where to conduct his criminal enterprise.

Is this the best al Qaeda can do?

Is this the justification to for a media manufactured scare-a-thon about the danger Farouk poses to our "freedoms?"

Or is this guy some sort of ringer in yet another moronic master plan ?
Pardon my cynicism about the perpetual power structure but there is a spectacular history of lying by those in power to further their own endeavors: Operation Northwoods; the Gulf of Tonkin incident; the perjured testimony about babies thrown out of incubators used to justify Gulf War I; the lies about WMD before Gulf War II; and so forth.
Snip

Game on- January 4th

On January 4, 2010, Keith Olbermann ran a segment on Countdown that featured our curious terrorist and the apparatus that somehow missed him despite his concerned father’s pleadings. After the setup, current insider in chief and apparent White House spokesman, Richard Wolffe emerged. He provided some remarkable information from inside the White House deliberations.

“It’s clear the president is still deeply concerned and troubled and even angry at the intelligence lapses. They see this more as an intelligence lapse more than a situation of airport security faults. Why didn’t the centralized system of intelligence after 911, why didn’t it work.” Richard Wolffe, January 4

Wolffe then asked and answered this question:

Is this conspiracy or cock up?"

It seems that the president is leaning very much toward this as a systemic failure by individuals who maybe had an alternative agenda.” Wolffe

"An alternative agenda" – what could that mean?

On the 4th, the answer to the question, “why didn’t it work” was clearly on the side of the "alternative agenda" explanation. This was extraordinary.

Olbermann was like a dog on point with this question.

"… you suggested in there that the administration is looking into perhaps mixed motives or misplaced priorities. … Are people thought to have been deliberately withholding information so the dots cant’ be connected?” Keith Olbermann

Wolffe didn’t waiver and indicated that there was something seriously wrong with the intelligence process, particularly concerning the November intelligence gathered from Farouk’s father. Watch the segment starting at 3:50 and decide for yourself.


January 4 Countdown Wolffe at 3:50

Were we on the verge of finally having someone or some faction held accountable for insulting the citizens of this country with ridiculous excuses to expand this or that war or surveillance program, deny yet more rights,and impose even greater surveillance? Not quite.

Game off (or is it) – January 5

By the very next day, Wolffe was back with Olbermann to revise the view from the White House.

“It’s closer to the cock-up rather than the conspiracy I was talking about.” Richard Wolffe

The president’s view had changed after his all hands meeting on the 4th . It was really just a screw up (cock up). There was to be “no finger pointing” and the administration would be focus on preventing future such episodes.


January 5 Countdown Wolffe at 4:00
Snip

The failure to enter the information into usable intelligence systems would seem to have alternative explanations. It could have been the CIA as a unit that did it, as Wolffe stated as though it was fact. Or it could have been rogue elements within the intelligence community doing this, with malicious intent or deliberate negligence, to achieve the ends suggested by Tarpley or broader analysis.

By tagging the CIA, the president via Richard Wolffe, finessed the real question: Are there those in the government who deliberately allowed an obvious terrorist, an incompetent one at that, to slip through the system and, as a result, revive the entire apparatus of anti terrorism based on one obviously incompetent individual?

Maybe President Obama dropped his deliberative style and turned on a dime from Monday to Tuesday.
Maybe you can fail to enter the name of an obvious risk for terrorism without any malice.
Maybe the president caved after taking a bold stance in defense of sanity.

Or maybe he’s made his point for now and is regrouping to clean house.

Or maybe the huge error of failing to enter the name was just a "screw up."

And maybe there really were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq as Judith Miller and the New York Times promised based on their stellar sources.

Before we march down the road to ratify the permanent loss of habeas corpus and other vital rights; before we spend even more money on making travel truly unbearable; and, before we finally lose the best elements of our society due to one incompetent terrorist, maybe we should get the entire truth behind the fascinating revelations of Richard Wolffe. One can only hope./i]

END

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Daily Censored http://tinyurl.com/yeredyk
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[formercia]

1. Dick Cheney and his band of not so merry men have been hard at work.

The 5th Column.

[autorank]

2. The guy just won't stop

We need an "Employees Assistance Program" for spent oligarchs who can't give up the
goat.

[mmonk]

5. Lol. "An "Employees Assistance Program" for spent oligarchs"...

I keep wondering if Cheney and a few others are scared of justice coming their way, so they have to conduct a new orchestrated theme.

[autorank]

10. They need to do a personal inventory

Their act is not only old, it's weak. But you're right, "a new orchestrated theme" must be on
their mind. I think there is some hope, though. Maybe Fred Thompson will score Cheney some
bad guy roles in the movies. He'd love it, destroying worlds, torturing people, being near
starlets. Dick would be a great "Ming the Magnificent."

[JohnnyBoots]

27. The best defense is a good offense. I worry

That when all these current Neocons die out (and that cant be soon enough) who will raise their banner after they fall...

[mmonk]

38. Yep.

Their banner will be picked up as many are embedded in government and in "think tanks".

[Rosa Luxemburg]

58. Cheney is doing everything he can to promote his agenda

Patsies

[madokie]

3. I think if they look, all things will point to the dick

And I don't mean looking hard either, just a glance should do it, actually. The dick needs to be arrested and before he is able to pull something bigger. The man is not what one would call a true blood american, no way is he. Traitor would be more descriptive.

[autorank]

11. Interesting...KO accused dick of treason a couple of days ago on this very issue

He really called him out, as he can do, and said what Cheney was doing was treason.

There need to be across the board prosecutions, period, for those who deliberately lied and got
so many killed and injured and ruined the the economy.

[madokie]

22. Not to mention all the innocent lives lost

thats what pisses me off, well that and the use of torture, that really pisses me off big time too. I wouldn't advise any young person to join the military now under any circumstances because if they are captured we can be pretty much assured that they will be tortured. Before the dick that wasn't always a given but I think it would be now.

Suspected traitors such as he belongs in jail until they have a trial and if found guilty they should be hung by the neck until they shit their pants.

This is bullshit whats going on and if it were you or I we'd done been gitmo'd, tortured the whole shebang.

[malaise]

4. Good article

Why did Wolfe have such a quick rethink?

[chimpymustgo]

6. That's the key question. He so clearly WALKED BACK his reporting from the 4th.

Interesting, Wolfe being considered the de facto "White House spokesman". Did the WH change strategy? Deciding first to "out" the Cheney CIA faction, then changing their minds?

Or did they feel sufficient NOTICE had been given to said faction, so they could now reassure the public. Latest word being, the guy was let on the plane 'cause his NAME was MISSPELLED.

They really think we are stupid.

[mmonk]

7. Many Americans have proven they are that stupid.

[Generator]

50. Well the only place I've seen this mentioned was on Countdown

I kept waiting for something more to develop but it just slithered away.

So, how many Americans know about this at all?

Just us, the usual choir members.

Not that I disagree with stupidity of Americans.

Certainly if things continually raise arm hairs, red flags, and don't make sense there is a reason for it.

The whole story is not known.

But people LOVE simplicity. It makes life easier. They screwed up-though it's possible of course-that's all it was-I an amazed here we are again. In fact I will post on that later.

[autorank]

62. Accept my Polly Anna interpretation

When they get a chance, the public generally makes the right decision. A majority of both Republicans and Democrats favored finishing real inspections prior to any action against Iraq. That's when bLIAR and Bush-Cheney ramped up the WMD trash. Check this out.
December 17, 2002 Poll: Bush hasn't made case for Iraq war.
Citizens asked about need for UN approval before going to war.

Ninety percent of respondents said they don't doubt Iraq is developing weapons of mass destruction. But without new evidence from U.N. inspectors, 72% of respondents, including 60% of Republicans, said the president has not provided enough evidence to justify starting a war.

But here's my graphic representation of the reality



The nepotistic negativists are so inbred, they have lost substantial cognitive functioning.
To wit, this "scary" incident which is frightening only to the anchors who read the script.

If we get a couple of honest polls, I'll bet people will say "What a load ..." The Wizard is exposed!

I hope Obama pulls the plug on the entire operation of bull shit. It's his very best shot. Do that and clean house and we've got something better than hope -- results.

[mmonk]

112. Yes, they like their "facts" black and white and most of the time,

congruent with the thoughts put into their heads by those they follow. But many are still able to be shocked into thinking independently.

[autorank]

8. We're consumers with feedbags

You summarized it. It's so obvious, the retreat. But look at the passages quoted in the article (they're not in the post) where Wolffe goes back and reiterates what he said on the fourth. It's really interesting.

Yesterday there were releases to the effect that "the stuff we're releasing will shock you to the core" on national security. I'll be waiting for that.

Who can believe this guy, underpants. The Dutch film maker who subdued him said it looked like underpants was in a "trance." When I saw the first pictures, I thought he was drugged ... he has that 1000 mile institutional stare.

Creepy stuff. I wish Obama well in this and hope he's got some folks form South Side in the WH.

[chimpymustgo]

12. Yes! on everything you've said. Where's "the stuff we're releasing will shock you to the core"

on national security?? There was build up ALL DAY yesterday. Then the time kept getting moved back. What's going on???

And back to the "kid" - he looks completely "out of it". Over the weekend, I read a couple of articles that implied the Nigerian bankster dad gave up his kid as part of a larger plot to expand the WOT to Yemen, where billions of dollars are at risk. I need to follow up on that, and try to figure it out.

Do you have any good reading sources on this story?

[malaise]

14. Note that after all those notices

and a meeting with Bill Clinton, plus several delays, they walked it back.
They know more than they told us.

[Captain Hilts]

15. I think that's a lot of what 'Bam and Bubba talked about, too.

I was fascinated that no compelling reason for the meeting was given.

Kinda like Harry Truman inviting Eleanor Roosevelt to the White House in June '45 to talk "Democratic politics," when they were really talking about The Bomb.

'Bam didn't meet with Bubba just 'cause Bubba was in town.

[malaise]

16. Agreed

:hi:

[Captain Hilts]

18. Cheers!

[autorank]

19. Whoa, "We're through the looking glass now, Bob."

(from "Nixon") Damn, the dad made money on the war on terra by dropping a dime on his son. True or not, that's a very literary interpretation.

Hardly anybody is speculating on this, as of 11pm last night. The writer I quote in the article had the most coherent interpretation right out of the gate. He's no Obama fan but was very concerned, etc. and wrote a warning against the perennial thugs. Very interesting stuff including the subduer's statement that Farouk looked like he was in a trance... Haldol?

The best source, though, is Wolffe and Olbermann, who was really excellent on this. His intro to the first tape, at the very start, is brutally funny.

Good luck. Let me know if you find anything you value as a source.

[truth2power]

23. Autorank - Yes, what about that "trance"?...

This post of yours wasn't up when I started typing my response to the OP downthread.

I mentioned the reported demeanor of UFA when he was subdued. This is extremely puzzling to me. Something very odd. I don't think anyone would deny that the military has delved into mind-control/hypnotism. Far-out? Maybe....but the suspect's behavior was remarkably incongruous. Hmm...



edit> To correct Umar's initials.

[autorank]

28. It should be puzzing, that's their deal

They'd have to disable him in some way. Getting into the London School of Economics is not easy task and studying engineering is always serious (where ever you might be).

What was his state of mind before the fireworks? He was disorganized. He waited too late in the flight to do what he had to do. He was in the bathroom, said he had a stomach ache, for 20 minutes before he flamed out. If we assume he was trying to put his weapon together in the bathroom but couldn't, then we can assume some cognitive limitations. The guy just didn't have it together enough to follow instructions. Was he scared? Maybe but he was an ideologue. More likely, he was drugged. I looked into Haldol when I was writing about Susan Lindauer. They wanted to give that to her to shut her up for good and justify indefinite retention in a hospital at Carswell Air Force base. If you don't really need it, Haldol 'trances you out' and your memory and fine motor skills go out the window. After a while, you assume rigid positions ... that look just like the positions they put prisoners in at Abu Gharaib. Lots of questions, not enough information. But somebody has the answers, right now, as we speak. Interesting.

[muriel_volestrangler]

78. FWIW, he went to University College London, not the LSE

See eg http://www.london-student.net/2010/01/06/ucl-head-to-lead-examination-of-free-speech-versus-violent-extremism-at-universities/

I doubt LSE offers an engineering course, since it's a specialist institution. UCL is still prestigious, though (arguably more so than the LSE); but it'll look better if you get the facts (reported everywhere) correct.

[H2O Man]

26. It is worth comparing

the "quality" of this operation to that of the doctor who killed seven CIA employees (including Blackwater), which took place at about the same time. One operation was a pathetic amateur, who could not complete a relatively simple operation; the other was extremely sophisticated.

I obviously "recommended" the OP, and am enjoying the thread. Thanks!

[bertman]

60. One guy was doing it because he hated the people he killed and was single-minded

enough to do it for whatever cause he believed in. The other guy did it because he was set up to do it. He may have been a plant by our side to keep the anti-terrorist budget up to standards. As the media fear spotlight wanders to the side the likelihood of funding plummets.

[autorank]

63. H2O

This is an excellent thread isn't, and we sound like the Mackenzie Brothers;)

[malaise]

13. Maybe they feel the sufficient notice approach/'we're watching you'

was enough.

[autorank]

9. I think Wolffe is just the messanger

He's the appointed "insider" on this one and doing his job, quite well from appearances.

It's all WH dicta. High level brinksmanship unless, of course, it was just a screw up.

I think that Wolffe does get in trouble when he tries to distinguish "intennt" to not report vital
information from "malice" in carrying out that intention. There is NO distinction. It's totally
malicious because the intentional act is conscious, the person/group showed the intenet not to share
widely what Farouk's father told them.

[truth2power]

17. Sure!......Some hapless schlump,

an engineering student who couldn't make things work, fails in his attempt to bring down an airliner. This whole thing stinks from the get-go.

If al-CIAda wanted to bomb an aircraft, they'd do it.

This whole event was calculated to ramp up the fear; you know, kinda like you sometimes need a "booster shot" after your first immunization. Then, out comes the odious vermin, Chertoff, to tell us we need to install more Rapiscan machines, failing to mention that he has a financial interest in said items. Purely an oversight, I'm sure.

Unfortunately, the instigators of this little skit didn't bank on that lawyer guy, Haskell, sitting on the floor with his wife, and observing what went on at the ticket counter in Amsterdam. Yikes! When running a con one should always allow for the unexpected.

There seems to be some concerted effort in the media to discredit Haskell, telling him he didn't actually see what he thought he saw. He refuses to back down, however. Good for him! I wonder when the MIB are going to show up at his door.

Oh, and somewhere I read, early on, that when the authorities hustled Mr. UFA off the plane he seemed "confused and shaky". Hmm...doesn't sound like your typical extremist to me. What was really going on with him?

And UFA's father, usually described as a "banker" is actually (so I've read) a former banker, now an arms merchant with financial ties to certain ME countries.

I think Webster Tarpley is closer to the truth of what's been going on in this country, from 9/11 forward, than anyone.

[autorank]

20. Former IRS attorney Haskell and his wife/partner knew whast he was doing

He would have certainly been interviewed and his going public provided him the protection he needed when they talked to him. I'm sure more than a few of us, on different levels, at the forum have been in a situation where going public was the only rational option. I found him very credible. The slam dunk was when he said, tell airport secdurity to release the tapes. I was glad to see NPR interview him.

It's sysnthetic, systemic, and vile to manipulate the public with fear. Shame on them.

[chimpymustgo]

21. Truth2power, you're on to the REAL Story. I think it's critical to learn more about the Dad.

Could you share some links you've been reading? I read stuff on some blogs, but nothing from a certifiably credible source.

[autorank]

68. Bomber baffels terror experts - The Independent

The revelation of Abdulmutallab's background has confounded terror experts. Dr Magnus Ranstorp of the Center for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the Swedish National Defence College said that the attempted bombing "didn't square".

"On the one hand, it seems he's been on the terror watch list but not on the no-fly list," he said. "That doesn't square because the American Department for Homeland Security has pretty stringent data-mining capability. I don't understand how he had a valid visa if he was known on the terror watch list.

"Why didn't he go to the toilets to detonate the bomb? Why would he try to set it off 20 minutes before he's going to land? It could probably have been successful had the person not been amateurish. I think this is a sign that it's much more difficult now for al-Qa'ida to pull off something serious."

Chaim Koppel, a security consultant, added: "I think the explosive was supposed to go bang rather than just start a fire. The terrorists probably didn't mix it well enough. Maybe they didn't do enough practice runs, but the more the guy is trained, the more exposed he is to MI5, MI6, the FBI and other security agencies, so he probably didn't receive enough training." The Independent, Dec. 27
http://tinyurl.com/ya66een

[Name removed]

79. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Me.]

24. When I Hears That My Thoughts Went Immediately To...

Burrowed in employees not removed by the Obama admin. Also, something not discussed much in the psychology of the up bomber...apparently he was shamed by his sexual urges. Which, what urges exactly?

[autorank]

25. At his age, that's all the urges you have

I guess he didn't get the memo.

Embedded employees...they're called moles right? I believe it. They get a call, the right
message and its like "Telephon" with Bronson and that lovely actress.

[H2O Man]

29. One of the books

that I think DUers participating on this thread would benefit from reading is the 2009 "Legacy of Secrecy" by Lamar Waldron, with Thom Hartman. If possible, get the second printing, which includes updated and new chapters. The quality of their work is very high, and it's worth noting that even Vince Bugliosi has said that they are serious historians, not "conspiracy theorists."

The book is the second in a series that examines the role of individuals behind the scenes .... those businessmen who pull the strings on politicians; the "private" intel groups, who employ "former" US intelligence operatives; their connections to what we might politely call "organized crime," both on the domestic and international levels; their ties to the corporate media; and how these forces combine to exercise an unhealthy influence on our society.

An odd "coincidence": towards the end of their book, the authors focus on the difficult position that President Obama is in today .... not due so much to the weak democrats and rabid republicans in Congress, but because of those forces that many of us refer to as the "shadow government."

[Me.]

35. A Set-Up?

For reasons unknown but could be guessed at?

[H2O Man]

36. In another post

on this thread, I mentioned comparing the two recent operations that are attributed to the same group. One was highly sophisticated and deadly; the other, a curious failure at an amateurish level.

[Me.]

41. Excellent Point

Read your post up thread. Now to go a step deeper. Does the admin 'know', do you think? And was this done, arranged, in a deliberately inept way to send a message or was the intent to do true harm, a message of a different sort?

[H2O Man]

42. Good question.

My impression is that a number of people, including some in the administration, are aware that there is more to the picture than meets the eye. For example, as we know (from sources as diverse as Berstein's famous article, to the Plame scandal, to the book I mentioned), there are people connected to intelligence in media. Some, including in the Plame case, have connections to the intelligence agencies in other nations. They are often tasked with making small but important leaks of information. Consider what the "journalist" had said to KO on Countdown the other evening. Now, he has connections to both the White House, and US intel. But, I can assure you with absolute certainty, he is connected with the intel of another country. And there are those in England who are also aware of what is going on.

[Me.]

47. Very Interesting

[malaise]

56. Notice which one is receiving non-stop

media coverage. From day one I said the Nigerian did not pass the smell test.

[spanone]

30. aside from the obvious what's a 'cock up' ??? --nevermind

COCK-UP

From Marian Herman in the USA; related questions came from Anne Ackroyd in Australia, Richard Lathom in the USA, and others: I am not familiar with the term cock-up that you used in a recent column, and am interested in both its meaning and its derivation. It is not a phrase that is commonly used in the United States — indeed, it has connotations that would keep many from using it in a column read by so many subscribers!
Oddly, in British English it is not these days a vulgarism, or at least only a very mild one. It comes from one of several senses of cock, to bend at an angle, as in — for example — cocking a gun or turning up the brim of one’s headgear (so producing an old-time naval officer’s cocked hat).
The use of cock-up to mean a blunder or error was originally British military slang dating from the 1920s. The slang sense of cock clearly had a lot to do with its adoption, but this hasn’t stopped it being used in respectable publications, and modern British dictionaries mark it merely as informal or colloquial.
The longer phrase I used it in, “a cock-up on the front” was coined in a BBC television comedy The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin some 20 years ago and has become a minor catchphrase. The original was “there’s been a bit of a cock-up on the catering front”, which was spoken by a former army officer, not over-blessed with savvy, who was totally confused by civilian life and had either forgotten to buy any food, or run out of money to do so.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

32. It's a "screw-up"

Except Wolffe's talking-point writers wanted to write some clever alliteration for the camera, so they came up with "cock-up".

Conspiracy or Cock-up. poetry.

:hi:

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

33. When used in conjunction with "underwear" bomber it gets real poetic.

[ihavenobias]

39. Thanks.

Interesting.

[autorank]

81. "Just the facts."

I hadn't thought of the "cock up" term until I posted this on OpEdNews and got a very nice caution
that I was using a word "@ock" that people would find offensive. Since I wasn't posting about
the University of South Carolina Gamecocks, I paid attention but absolved myself since I had,
quite appropriately, put Mr. Wolffe's words in quotations.

:hi:

[autorank]

64. Thanks for that. I used quotes to make clear it wasn't my term.

Wolffe chose it and spoke it in a garble the first time he used it.

When I posted this on OpEdNews, I got a nice message suggesting that I'd used a term that many might find ofensive, "cock." Well, alrighty then. It's clear that Wolffe meant screw up but it's OK if the term got a few more people paying attention to this important issue.

[Moochy]

72. subtitles on MSNBC transcribed it as 'corked up'

[autorank]

82. Well shame on my Freudian slips!

I was sure that I heard "cock up." Off to bed for me, no desert, no WOW:evilgrin:

[Moochy]

85. it was definitely the British phrase 'cock up'..

I was merley commenting that the subtitles got it wrong.

Go have that dessert, would not want you to cock that up. :+

[Hubert Flottz]

31. NeoConspiracy?

Donnie Rumbo and his buddy Dick Cheney are praying for another terrorist attack. Cheney stood right there in front of the camera a while back, saying how good another attack would work to gain political ground for the GOP/NeoCons and underscore president Obama's, "ineptitude," regarding the winning of the "War On Terra".

I think Donnie And Dickie have neocon cells who are active throughout the US government. Do you trust any of Bush's people? I sure as hell don't. And now we see the name of General Petraeus, the neocon's go to General at the Pentagon, being floated as a possible republican presidential hopeful in the future. Connect the dots between Rummy, Cheney, Petraeus, the Office of Special PlanningCons and the residual CIA leadership and you may not come up with a very pretty "BIG picture."

The republicans have destroyed any trust or faith that most intelligent Americans ever had for them. They are a wounded and dangerous animal with atomic teeth.

"CONSPIRACY, I don't see no stinkin' conspiracy!" Don't become close minded or blinded by the slick talking conspirators conspiring to discredit every conspiracy theory.

[autorank]

66. I like my conspiracies up front, public and in our face

You know like those Money Party dudes. They're totally public.

These neo conspirators are passe, they just need to read the memo.

We pay for all of this and there should be no secrets. Fuck 'em. I'm tired of this nonsense.

We face real problems and the games behind this distract form the main mission, helping citizens.

[TexasObserver]

34. "Pardon my cynicism about the perpetual power structure but ..."

QFT:

"Pardon my cynicism about the perpetual power structure but there is a spectacular history of lying by those in power to further their own endeavors: Operation Northwoods; the Gulf of Tonkin incident; the perjured testimony about babies thrown out of incubators used to justify Gulf War I; the lies about WMD before Gulf War II; and so forth."

Indeed.

Don't forget, the military-industrial-shadow rightwing apparatus is pushing its themes now. They want more "Patriot Act" nonsense. They want war without end. They needed to scare those 80 year olds who live in towns of 5000 and have never seen a Muslim - the people who actually believe all that terror alert nonsense.

[autorank]

94. Octafoxes

Octogenarians who watch Fox, that's their most fertile market, probably their last one. I think that the people in small towns have wised up.

You have their act down, I'd say. The Patriot Act is very useful. I suspect they're just saying
a lot of this so they can fudge polls, have a few fake focus groups, and tell us "we're a divided
nation" but the desire for war just barely beat out that for sanity, 51-48.

:donut:

[Vidar]

37. K&R.

[puebloknot]

40. K&R We're well beyond the simplistic view of good guys and bad guys ...

... Dems being the ones wearing the white hats, Repugs conveniently wearing the easily identifiable black hats. There's an amorphous gray out there someplace, and we all know it, but we're left with groping in the dark, trying to sort out truth from manufactured fiction.

Thanks for shining the light a bit with this article. Healthy skepticism should be our new best friend in 2010 and going forward.

[autorank]

87. I agree that the Dems have the white hats here

It's all very creepy and, at the same time, exasperating. This type of business shouldn't be secret.
But the uniform agitprop form the master minds has been, for decades, "Folks, you don't get to know.
It's to heavy duty for your pea brains." Well, guess what! We pay for it. It's our government.
And we're the most important part of the government - CITIZENS. Come through with the truth PTP.

:hi:

[glitch]

43. K & R

My gut tells me this attempt and the attack on the CIA office in Afghanistan are more closely related than assumed. I have nothing to back that up, so don't ask.

[H2O Man]

44. Can you back that up?

Just kidding, of course. But, on a serious note, you are correct.

[glitch]

45. Thanks, that makes me feel better!

Sometimes I have to question my spidey sense, if only to keep it calibrated to current affairs. :hi:

[tekisui]

49. I agree.

The CIA attack could be a cover-up. The way a suicide bomber, known al-qaeda informant was waived through without a pat down is too suspicious. Maybe the target of the CIA bombing had info on the undiebomber and wasn't going to play along. I know it is all tin-foil, but I do think their is some connection.

[glitch]

54. After the Bush administration I think some of us got better at pattern recognition. nt

[Hubert Flottz]

46. K&R

:kick:

[autorank]

69. Stranger than fiction

:hi:

[EFerrari]

48. Kick

[autorank]

110. and one more!

[Generator]

51. Here we are again

Didn't we all think that maybe things would be a little different?

But no. Again it's the incompetency defense. It's a cock up. Massive system failure.

That was a little easier to blame on the Bush admin as we know their competence and brain power was lacking.

But we also knew the Bush admin could use any terror to it's advantage. So it was always a win win for them.

But how long is the incompetence defense gonna fly with Mr. Chess player? How long?

I fear we are set up. Again. Another 9/11, worse or smaller will happen.

And we will never know who is really behind it.

It's enough to drive a person mad.

If Obama never holds anyone accountable-who is accountable? Sure the buck stops with him, but he's not firing himself and it is NOT his whole responsibility to stop these things. I don't hold him accountable like that. He is not the entire intelligence agency and all those other damn agencies that are doing it. He's just the boss. And all he can ever do is tell the truth-good luck with that-or have people fired and better ones put in there. I have seen neither.

Just like Bush we are own our own.

I trust none of them. I don't trust the media, I don't trust the agencies, and as much as I might suspect the CIA or Cheney-I have nothing to give me much trust in Obama now either.

[H2O Man]

52. Fundamental Attribution Error

[Joe Chi Minh]

53. It just gets harder and harder to encheney the people with scarey,

terrorist-bogeymen charades.... but they go ahead just the same, ratcheting up the gulag extension.

When the lad was arrested, he looked so relaxed and the arrest, so low-key, I laughed aloud. I can't ever recall seeing such a transparent charade of the authorities (or a splinter-group thereof). A 90+ year old American women was tasered for not mowing her lawn or some such frivolous nonsense.

[autorank]

67. I think that your reaction is wide spread

It's like, "What? This makesk no sense." I was taken by the appearance of the perp as well. He was "tanced" out, a blank stare. That makes about as much sense as the rest of the nonsense.

Here is a belated Xmas gift. You will enjoy this. Sort and sweet...

http://www.ianwelsh.net/nice-country-you-have-there-be-a-shame-if-anything-happened-to-it/

[truedelphi]

55. K & R. Most excellent -- No matter the 100% visibility

Of the black flag ops, no one in the upper echelons will ever call these ops what they are.

Of course, Roosevelt was able to - back in his day when a coup was organized against him.

But in his day, the Fourth Estate was alive and well. Whereas now, except (somewhat) for the Keith Olbermann, Schultz and Maddow dialogues, our M$M is just another casuality of the ever expanding Corporate control Uber Alles.


And boy, I hope your career never depends on getting an upper level security pass...

[autorank]

57. I'm a secure kind of guy. Not worried.

I like my reality better than theirs;)

[autorank]

59. I'm a secure kind of guy;)

I like my reality better than theirs;)

[PreacherCasey]

61. Of course they are withholding information. That's what these bureaucracies do. What's the answer?

Why more gross invasions of privacy, of course. You see, the Patriot Act, warrentless wiretapping, Infraguard, repeal of the Posse Comitatus Act, secret military prisons, and torture aren't enough to keep us 'safe'.

Mark my words, here is the progression. We've already implemented these: http://www.prisonplanet.com/inverted-body-scanner-image-shows-naked-body-in-full-living-color.html

Now tsa is pushing to install scanners nationwide. Next will be these (as they are talking about in Britain): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6309917.stm

And then these: http://www.star-telegram.com/461/story/1878372.html

Who knows what is to come after that. Does everyone feel safe yet? I for one will never subject myself or my family to any of these dehumanizing, humiliating processes. I hope all people with a shred of courage and dignity left will do the same.

[autorank]

100. "Mind reading system"

Those are excellent links and comments.

The secret is to get them to turn that machine on themselves. The horror would put them
out of commission for a good long time.

[omega minimo]

102. Room 101

[autorank]

104. You are too advanced for me?

Room 101?

[omega minimo]

107. your comment reminded me of the effect of facing one's greatest fears

in "1984."

"The secret is to get them to turn that machine on themselves. The horror would put them out of commission for a good long time."


http://www.online-literature.com/orwell/1984/22/
Summary Pt. 3 Chp. 4
Chapter 4

Winston was still in solitary confinement, but he was not tortured now. He was fed at regular intervals, he was even given cigarettes. At first he was content to lie free from pain, that in itself was bliss. Slowly as his physical health improved, he retreated into a dream world with the faces changing – his mother, O’Brien, Julia, it was all the same now. He was provided with a slate and pencil, slowly he set about educating himself in the way the Party wanted. He wrote the Party slogans on the slate and made himself believe them. He convinced himself that two and two was five, he acquired, laboriously the stupidity required to do that. Ha managed to convince himself that he had never seen the photograph confirming the innocence of the three executed leaders. He remembered seeing it, but that was an aberration.

On the whole, he was making excellent “progress” when one day he suddenly woke up from a dream crying out “Julia, my love.” His feelings, he realized were unchanged. He had surrendered his mind, but he still hoped to retain his heart. He clung to one last shred of hope, that in his heart he could continue to hate the Party, disguise that hatred even from himself and release it into consciousness only at the moment of his execution. Thus the Party would be unable to destroy his hatred and he would score a small victory by dying with his hatred inviolate.

However, O’Brien anticipated this as he did ever other thought of Winston’s. Entering the cell he tells Winston that intellectually he has made good progress but emotionally the final step remained to be taken. He then asks Winston about his true feelings towards Big Brother. Recognizing the futility of lying, Winston confesses “I hate him.” O’Brien now passes judgment, it is not enough to obey Big Brother, one must also love him. He then utters the dreaded words “Room 101.”

http://www.online-literature.com/orwell/1984/23/
Summary Pt. 3 Chp. 5
Chapter 5

Winston is confined in Room101, strapped to a chair in a way which rendered him completely immobile. In front of him were two tables on which stood two covered wire cages. O’Brien was holding a lever which would operate the cages. Impassively, O’Brien explains that what Room 101 contains is quite simply, “the worst thing in the world.” This varies from individual to individual. For some it may be torture, fire for some one else, drowning for yet others. For each individual, Room 101 held his greatest fear. When confronted with that, courage and cowardice lose their meaning, one will do whatever one has to do to avoid the horror in Room 101 as naturally and automatically as one will grab at a rope to keep from falling.

In Winston’s case, his greatest fear, his worst nightmare was rats and it was rats there were there in the cages in front of him. O’Brien informs him that he is going to open the cages and set the rats onto him. The rats are starving, they will sense Winston’s helplessness and devour him inch by inch. Winston cries out in terror asking O’Brien to only tell him what he has to do to avoid this. O’Brien vouchsafes no answer and lays his hand on the lever which would open the cages. In a total frenzy Winston sees the rats behind the bar and with a sudden flash of intuition realizes what he has to do to save himself. He has to take the final step of degradation, he has to betray Julia. It is no longer a matter of choice, before this threat, he is helpless. He cries out “Do it to Julia! Not me!” Repeating that cry he is aware that the lever has clicked back into place, the cage is closed. His degradation is finally completed in Room 101.

[autorank]

108. How quickly I forget

Thanks, I needed that;) Great stuff!

[howaboutme]

65. Just like 9-11 no one held accountable

But just like 9-11 could it be the administration doesn't want to create the potential for dissension, whistle blowing and investigations that may lead to testimony that may cause the official story to unravel?

When individuals are fired, humiliated and backed into a corner is when the truth starts coming out. Once it starts coming out then control is lost. This pattern of covering everything up and no one taken to task has been going on since Bush, and possibly before.

Whistle blowers in the government intel / national security community still don't get immunity and we can only wonder why.

[chimpymustgo]

70. Good, good points you make. But don't you think Obama is drilling down to find out more about

potential moles and rogue cells in Intel?

And welcome to DU!
:hi:

[malaise]

71. Psssssssssssssssst

There's a very strange new tape this morning out of Pakistan supposedly showing the doctor threatening to avenge the death of an Al Qaeda #2.
It's almost too neat.

[autorank]

75. Need to check that out

Pakistan is in a terrible state. The Taliban and other creeps are setting off bombs in major
cities on a regular basis. They've totally alienated the population there, something that
shifted in the summer after all those refugees left the Swat region due to random Taliban violence.

Popular opinion there is actually turning against the Army and ISI because they're not stopping
the bombing. Big changes going on but you don't hear that. Pakistan is presented as just a
problem. Well it's not a democracy and the people are demanding (and quite loud a bout it) an
end to terrorism.

Keeping focused on reality is important for all of us. Thanks for this pointer.

[malaise]

76. Here's a link

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8449789.stm

[autorank]

84. Thanks, verey helpful. Now check this out

malaise, this is from May 2009. The sources and comments are fascinating. Your tape jogged my memory. Here's the conflict over the importance of Baitullah Mahsud. Look at the differing estimate of his threat to the US. What is this about?

But what about the threat to the United States?

Advisor Holbrooke and Admiral Mullen claim an imminent danger from a Taliban victory. The senior Taliban leader in Pakistan is doing all he can to promote that storyline. Baitullah Mahsud told the that, "Our mission is to continue jihad in Afghanistan and Pakistan and to avenge drone attacks, even inside America," Apr 1, 2009. This was nothing less than the 9/11 threats that Holbrooke and Mullen see in the mountains of Pakistan.

Five weeks ago, the Los Angeles Times did a comprehensive report on this question citing sources from various government agencies. A "military officer" said Mahsud's statements showed "how dangerous he and his group are." A CIA source discounted Mahsud's importance and a "counterterrorism official" was quoted as saying, "I think it's a lot of boasting on his part." Los Angeles Times, Apr 1, 2009

The Times described a FBI document on Mahsud that said, "The bulletin discounted his U.S. threats describing them as 'aspirational.'" The FBI was willing to go on the record through spokesman Richard Kolko who remarked, "We are not aware of any imminent or specific threats to the U.S." The Big "Con" May 9

[malaise]

105. OMFG???

Unbelievable

[defendandprotect]

73. This was long, long overdue . . . . ! Thanks Olberman/Wolfe ---!!!

Really amazed that so many at DU believed it --!!

[autorank]

83. Olbermann is a very bright guy

And he doesn't just read b.s. from the central office.

His opening comments on that Jan 4 segment are classic:

...after an all to brief pause in their ceaseless efforts to turn a 23 year old losers failed attempt to detonate his underwear in to something just this side of the burning of the White House in 1812... Republicans have now resumed warning that the end is neigh and the US government has ordered new security efforts at airports around the globe ... both efforts have hit a snag." Keith Olbermann, Jan 4

[defendandprotect]

86. I wasn't listening with both ears . . . but I did catch it . . . and

actually the way it came out was Wolfe putting it forth ---

In really, Olberman was there questioning it but main thrust came from Wolfe --

They both had to know where they were going ???

But it sounded spontaneous to me!!???

Loved it --

But, seriously, how could anyone here at DU have believed this garbage?

How bright do you have to be to get this?

If things are that bad, DU'ers have to raise the level of their BS meters!!

[autorank]

88. You're right, Wolffe carried the water

I think it was spontaneous on KO's part. Wolffe obviously had a script but KO sure perked right up and got it.

KO is too quirky to bring in on a big media conspiracy. They'd have to anticipate him Kirking out and telling the whole story right away;) He's that kind of guy, I think. I'll bet that he looks into this more thoroughly if he thinks he was being used on the 5th with that retreat from the obvious action outlined on the 4th.

Wolffe and KO feuded in the summer, I think. Ran across that checking out Wolffe. Glad they made up!

Old Turkish Proverb: If you sleep on the floor, you can't fall out of bed. BS meter fully charged.

[defendandprotect]

90. Obviously I didn't mean your BS meter . . .

but I'm astonished at how many Americans seem to be buying this story!!

I don't know if it's "quirky" but I think I know what you mean about Olberman

and it's why I really like him. -- btw -- what's going on with Jon Stewart --

do you watch him? Something changed -- ?

I've always felt that MSNBC/GE put Olberman on to try to hurt Jon Stewart --

and I think it quite successfully has. Though I don't usually watch all of Keith.

Trying to watch more Stewart to see what's going on -- I think we need him, as well!

Personally, I just don't get Colbert -- I did get his comments during the Bush regime

when he appeared before the journalists? Was that it -- text of comments probably still

somewhere on internet -- fabulous! But the show doesn't work for me--

and I think what he used to do on the Stewart show was great -- a big loss for them.

.... back to Olberman/Wolfe -- what was the disagreement about -- do you know?


So -- did you recognize this undie thing as a fake right away . . . or did something else

wake you up to it. I was ignoring it as idiotic -- and then when I looked at it I was

shocked that anyone could believe it!

:)

[autorank]

91. I knew you didn't but if you did, that would be ok too.

We're all in the same bus headed for the cliff. What's a little friendly divergence now and then;)

I was snowed in and chilling when the story broke. I looked at it, heard the top level story and dismissed it between xmas and new years since I was working my ass off to pay for my totally over prised health insurance!!! (self employed) Then someone sent me a pic of the underpants bomb and I thought, these guys don't have enough respect for us to make up a semi-believable story (like Al Pacino's comment to the police negotiator in Dog Day Afternoon -- 'Smile. I like people to smile at me when they're f'ing me') Dismissed it again until I saw the KO segment on the 4th. That blew me away. I thought, damn! there is some serious action here. Obama is using Wolffe to call out the behind the scenes boys in a big way. Watched the next night and got more curious. I'd say the underpants pic piqued my curiosity.

Stewart - KO - Colbet some times. But Colbert gets the prize for that speech to the press club. He and Stewart cooked the whole thing up and wrote the speech together. What an amazing moment. And the people laughed, except Bush who got it pretty quick. Damn fine work Colbert.

I kept thinking, I've seen this before. Sure enough. here, specifically Zbig Brzezinski's Senate Foreign Relations Committee testimony. But that was very low profile. Obama went global with his deal, but not too global because it was kept to cable. Nevertheless, Zbig was making a very serious point Feb 2007.

[defendandprotect]

97. Thanks for the additional info -- and . . .

I didn't get that Obama very likely may be using Wolfe to get the story out!

Where we went wrong was with National Security/CIA -- and some are saying that the
power has been moved up one or two intelligence levels above them now? Maybe just
to take down the level of hatred vs CIA?

Zbig Brzezinski -- thanks for the Feb 1007 info-

Presume you're aware of the rest of this -- i.e., that US/CIA created Taliban/Al Qaeda
and went into Afghanistan 6 months before the Russians came in . . . "in order to bait
the Russians into Afghanistan . . . in hopes of giving them a Vietnam type experience"

While Carter was lamenting the Russian invasion and taking us out of the Olympics!!

ALSO, that US created, wrote, printed the VIOLENT Islamic teachings and shipped them
into the Middle East to spread VIOLENT Islam.

The particulars on both of those events are in my Journal -- near the bottom --

:)

[autorank]

98. It's a sad history

I wasn't aware of the pre Reagan provocations in Afghanistan until about a year ago, maybe a little more. I had the same thought - sweet, Carter goes ballistic over Russian invasion but fails to inform us we were on the ground. I'll check out the diary. Thanks.

[autorank]

74. kick

:kick:

[LiberalLovinLug]

77. Headline News:

UMAR FAROUK ABDULMUTALLAB AND HIS ATTEMPT TO BLOW UP A PACKED US PLANE WAS FOILED...

Curses....foiled again!

[autorank]

89. The eyes have it!

There's our guy, the master of disaster! Good reminder.

[stuart68]

80. not everything is so complicated

Airport security is there for one purpose - to make people THINK they are safe.

Philly had two occasions in 3 months where firearms were passed thru security in the same terminal, PHX shut down security at 2am and opened the gates allowing everyone and everything thru uninspected, Newark cameras didn't even record when ths all went down last week.

I personally landed in Austin on a weather delayed flight and security had locked the terminal - we had to call the local police to have them contact airport security to let us out. How the hell could they miss an entire plane load of people. I personally watched a TSA agent allow a woman to pass thru security (in the same terminal in Philly where the handguns got thru) with NO ID !! I had to turn them in to the supervisor.

These folks are incompetent, or simply don't care, and it starts from the top. The leadership needs to be fired and strict new standards need to be put in place.

Body scanners - what a joke, we keep protecting against the last threat. Marshals - what, to shoot the guy after he detonates a bomb ? We waste tons of money and are no safer.

[omega minimo]

92. Cock up, please.

[autorank]

93. What a pleasure!!!!!!!!!!!

A New Years card for you

[maryf]

95. Thanks. kick. nt

[autorank]

101. Thank you!

:hi:

[msedano]

96. I'm leaning toward screw up...

...and looking for a housecleaning of major proportion. Or general proportion. Run that vacuum cleaner into the corners and recesses and it'll pull all the lice and vermin into its maw. Not saying that holdovers from the previous 8 years necessarily are vermin and lice, but then, I'm not saying they're not. Give 'em the shaft to repay their cock up.

Dang, I came upon this story late and cannot recommend it. But I would if I could.

mvs

[autorank]

99. After the house cleaning, who is left?

I'll consider it a victory for the people if no one gets the Medal of Freedom.

PS

How bad to you have to be for your dad to turn your in?

[Octafish]

103. 'Alternative Agenda' Is Right

An alternative perspective to Corporate McPravda on how to connect dots:

The airplane bomb plot: Obama continues the cover-up

By Patrick Martin
World Socialist Web Site
8 January 2010

EXCERPT...

In the two weeks since the incident, there has been no coherent or credible explanation of how it was possible for Abdulmutallab to board the US-bound plane despite the mass of information available to US security agencies, including the visit by his father to the US embassy in Nigeria more than a month before the flight.

Obama admitted that US intelligence agencies had sufficient information to identify Abdulmutallab as a likely threat and place him on the no-fly list. He reiterated that there was not a failure to collect information, but rather a failure to connect disparate pieces, with the result that “a known terrorist” was allowed to board the plane in Amsterdam.

This was followed by the declaration that “no one individual and no single agency was at fault,” a claim that amounts to a blanket assertion of immunity for all those involved. It is also deliberately deceptive, since it suggests that inter-agency coordination was the problem in preventing action from being taken.

The executive summary of the administration review of the incident, released in a declassified form at the time of Obama’s statement, contradicts this implication, however. The summary reveals that both the CIA and the National Counter-Terrorism Center, separately and independently of each other, had all the information necessary to identify Abdulmutallab.

According to the summary, key “dots” to be connected were (1) plans by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to attack the United States, (2) its recruitment of a Nigerian for that purpose, and (3) Abdulmutallab’s departure to Yemen to join an extremist organization. The document declares: “all of that information was available to all-source analysts at the CIA and the NCTC prior to the attempted attack…”

Taken at its face value, this would suggest that the security failure on December 25, 2009 was even greater than that on September 11, 2001. The official explanation of the failure to stop the 9/11 attacks is that the CIA, the FBI and other security agencies each possessed part of the information needed to detect and forestall the terrorist hijackings, but that bureaucratic power struggles and refusal to share information across the “wall” prevented timely identification and coordinated action.

The World Socialist Web Site has written extensively against this official cover story for 9/11, but it is more plausible than the explanation now given for the failure to prevent the Christmas bomber from boarding the Northwest flight. By Obama’s own report, two separate government agencies, the CIA and the NCTC, had all the information needed to identify the bomber, but both agencies, each acting on their own, somehow failed to do so. And this simultaneous double failure took place even though the NCTC was established after 9/11 for the ostensible purpose of serving as the central “dot-connector” for the entire US intelligence apparatus.

CONTINUED...

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jan2010/terr-j08.shtml

Thank you for an outstanding OP and thread, MC. You are shining light on people, places and things most people did not know existed.

[autorank]

106. Thanks Octafish

This is excellent and, believe it or not, I was thinking just last night what WSW was saying about this. Now I know. It's excellent. A couple of years ago, they caught Zbig in a big to do and that alerted me. Very cool reporting from that group.

[Name removed]

113. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[autorank]

116. I read it just last night and it's an excellent addition to this thread

That's pretty devastating stuff, particularly about MI15 and all they knew. The claim is that
they didn't tell US intel the information but that doesn't fly. They told about six countries,
almost all of which would have told us if the British had not (fiction;).

One commenter on another site pointed out that Burghardt left out one key part of the story - the
two attorneys from Michigan, the Haskells. Their story is profound since it is citizen power - they
were there, they saw the handler, and they went public. Fascinating.

But this piece above is a great summary.

I'm seeing this incident as the tip of the spear in a larger offensive against Obama, not related
to real political dialog but, rather, external bullshit by fascist elements.

[Octafish]

118. MI5 told US about Detroit bomber's terror links 'a year ago'

Along with most everything else on this must-read thread, I didn't see this get much mention on the tee vee:

MI5 told US about Detroit bomber's terror links 'a year ago'

By Robert Winnett, Duncan Gardham and Toby Harnden in Washington
The Telegraph (London)
Published: 10:01PM GMT 04 Jan 2010

Britain told American intelligence agents more than a year ago that the Detroit bomber had links to extremists, according to Downing Street.

The prime minister's spokesman indicated that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was named in a file of people based in Britain who had made contact with radical Muslim preachers. The file was said to have been sent to the US authorities in 2008.

White House sources disputed the Downing Street account, stating that no such intelligence information was passed by Britain before the attempted Christmas Day attacks. The White House declined to respond officially.

SNIP...

At first it was thought that MI5 gathered only limited information on Abdulmutallab and had therefore not alerted the US.

However, in an official briefing, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said that British intelligence was shared with the Americans.

He said: “Clearly there was security information about this individual’s activities and that was information that was shared with the US authorities. That is the key point.”

CONTINUED...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/6933707/MI5-told-US-about-Detroit-bombers-terror-links-a-year-ago.html

These are worse than gangster times, my Friend. Like most of us We the People, Obama is having a hard time telling friend from foe and fiend from phony.

[malaise]

111. Ed Shultz raised the possibility

of Cheney's left over people in high places last night. He said that Cheney and his daughter are not interested in the security of the American people.

[Octafish]

114. That's why Blackwater privatized Intel is so dangerous.

Just like the P-2 Lodge and the sundry Stay-Behind Networks across Europe, those schmucks have zero accountability to We the People. What's worse, they have "Executive Action" written all over them.

It's no joke: Whatever happened to all those Liberals, anyway?

[autorank]

120. We need to replace "liberal" and "progressive" with "CITIZENS"

The "liberals" that lamewnt their votes are really just dancing to the old tune of
'hey, don't forget to give to me and vote for me cuz we're partners in this.'

[autorank]

117. Some of Dick's 'Gladio' handing?

Left behind... There was a great movie in the 80's called "Telefon" about the elimination of a
a bunch of Soviet moles programed to go around committing subversive acts as soon as they heard
a specific phrase. Otherwise they were harmless but hearing that phrase activated them;)

Hmmm... "what's the frequency Kenneth?" Or with Cheney, it's probably a series of obscenities.

[autorank]

124. Hope he runs for Senate in North Dakota

He's bee consistent over time. I remember listening to him on a drive to Pittsburgh. He was calling for Bush's impeachment over Iraq. That's pretty tight.

[autorank]

109. Kick

:kick:

[democrank]

115. Kick

[DemReadingDU]

119. afternoon kick

[amborin]

121. $$$$ trail for body scanner "scam": article:

"own by their opponents as "digital strip search" machines, the full-body scanners use one of two technologies—millimeter wave sensors or backscatter x-rays—to see through clothing, producing ghostly images of naked passengers. Yet critics say that these, too, are highly fallible, and are incapable of revealing explosives hidden in body cavities—an age-old method for smuggling contraband. If that’s the case, a terrorist could hide the entire bomb works within his or her body, and breeze through the virtual strip search undetected. Yesterday, the London Independent reported on "authoritative claims that officials at the Department for Transport and the Home Office have already tested the scanners and were not persuaded that they would work comprehensively against terrorist threats to aviation." A British defense-research firm reportedly found the machines unreliable in detecting "low-density" materials like plastics, chemicals, and liquids—precisely what the underwear bomber had stuffed in his briefs.

Yet the rush toward full-body scans already seems unstoppable. They were mandated today as part of the "enhanced" screening for travelers from selected countries, and hundreds of the machines are already on order, at a cost of about $150,000 apiece. Within days of the bombing attempt, Reuters was reporting that the "greater U.S. government shift toward using the high-tech devices could create a boom for makers of security imaging products, and it has already created a speculative spike in share prices in some companies."

Which brings us to the money shot. The body scanner is sure to get a go-ahead because of the illustrious personages hawking them. Chief among them is former DHS secretary Michael Chertoff, who now heads the Chertoff Group, which represents one of the leading manufacturers of whole-body-imaging machines, Rapiscan Systems. For days after the attack, Chertoff made the rounds on the media promoting the scanners, calling the bombing attempt "a very vivid lesson in the value of that machinery"—all without disclosing his relationship to Rapiscan. According to the Washington Post:

Chertoff’s advocacy for the technology dates back to his time in the Bush administration. In 2005, Homeland Security ordered the government’s first batch of the scanners—five from California-based Rapiscan Systems.

Today, 40 body scanners are in use at 19 U.S. airports. The number is expected to skyrocket at least in part because of the Christmas Day incident. The Transportation Security Administration this week said it will order 300 more machines.

In the summer, TSA purchased 150 machines from Rapiscan with $25 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds.

The Washington Examiner last week ran down an entire list of all the former Washington politicians and staff members who are now part of what it calls the "full-body scanner lobby":

One manufacturer, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, is American Science & Engineering, Inc. AS&E has retained the K Street firm Wexler & Walker to lobby for "federal deployment of security technology by DHS and DOD." Individual lobbyists on this account include former TSA deputy administration Tom Blank, who also worked under House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Chad Wolf—former assistant administrator for policy at TSA, and a former aide to Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Tex., a top Senate appropriator and the ranking Republican on the transportation committee—is also lobbying on AS&E’s behalf......


http://motherjones.com/mojo/2010/01/airport-scanner-scam

[autorank]

123. Well, hre we go

What a silly way to run a government. Thanks so much for this.

[autorank]

122. Ola friend!

:hi:

Best to you in the New Year!!!

[autorank]

125. .

:kick: