this diary is dedicated to all who suffer because of war and other disasters
cross-posted at DailyKos, Booman Tribune, European Tribune, and My Left Wing.
image, book excerpt, and poem below the fold
Read MoreToo often the stories coming out of Africa are bad news. There is much to concern us. The ongoing situation in Darfur where violence against refugees is re-emerging food shortages and acute starvation in countries affected by drought or insect infestation and not least the man-made disaster that is Zimbabwe. In the middle of this there is a small piece of news that shows not all the countries are in an impossible mire. Yesterday the International Monetary Fund declared one’s economy too strong for it to qualify for IMF aid any longer.
Read MoreUPDATE: It appears Diebold furnished the machine for my first diary on this and no matter how you wanted to vote it gave you only one choice. Let’s try this again with the new improved Blue Voting Machine.
We have a tie between two wonderful books for our next BooBooks selection.
If you’re unfamiliar with BooBooks. . .
We’re meeting once a month (more or less–our next gathering will be the first Saturday in December)to discuss books that further our understanding of current events. Whenever possible, we’re purchasing our books from Powells Bookstore, from the links on this site, as a contribution to BooMan Tribune. Everyone is welcome, so jump right in the frog pond. Just be careful to hold your book above water.
Please vote!
Read MoreFor the week, the DIA’s (DOW) were up 1%, the SPY’s (S&P 500) were up 1.2% and the QQQQ’s (NASDAQ) was down 1%. economic news whipsawed the market all week. The market rallied on Bernanke’s nomination on Monday, sold-off on Tuesday’s consumer confidence number and Thursday’s durable goods report, and rallied on Friday’s GDP report. The markets are still caught between strong economic crosscurrents. The bears are looking at higher interest rates, rising energy costs and the Fed’s concern about inflation, while the bulls are looking at the economies overall resilience, especially in the wake of Katrina and Rita. Neither side has been able to get the upper hand. As a result, the markets are still mired see saw action that probably won’t break until events nullify one side’s perception.
Read More
Would you believe that that Neocon blackguard and Niger forgery suspect Michael Ledeen blogged yesterday about Scooter’s indictments? Salon‘s Daou Report discovered Ledeen’s post, printed in full below.
The photo is from a bio of Ledeen at BBC’s site for its Panorama program, “The War Party.” The tag from the BBC’s 2003 program? “Critics say the White House has been hijacked by neo-conservatives.”
And here’s some excellent background from recent, key stories here at BooTrib:
From “Tell Us Who Fabricated the Iraq Evidence” by catnip, Oct. 11, 2005:
According to Dombey’s theory, in December, 2001, Michael Ledeen, “an American specialist on Italy with a long-standing commitment to Israel”… “flew to Rome with Manucher Ghorbanifar, a former Iranian arms dealer, and two officials from OSP, one of whom was Larry Franklin. In Rome they met the head of Sismi … later, the documents were published, having been sold to an Italian journalist by a Roman businessman linked to Sismi.”
From “THE NIGER FORGERIES” by Richard Sale, Oct. 26, 2005:
In December 2001, there was a secret meeting in Rome attended by MICHAEL LEDEEN, a paid consultant to Panorama, the Italian magazine that first broke the story of the Niger documents, Defense Department official, LARRY FRANKLIN …
Michael Ledeen, a prominent neocon, was at the time a “paid consultant” to SISMI,” …
From “Aides To Be Indicted, Probe to Continue” by Richard Sale, Oct. 26, 2005:
Fitzgerald is looking into such individuals as former CIA agent, Duane Claridge, military consultant to the Iraqi National Congress, Gen. Wayne Downing, another military consultant for INC, and Francis Brooke, head of INC’s Washingfton office [to determine as role in the forgeries]. Also included in this group is long-time neoconservative Michael Ledeen. …
And this classic Ledeen riposte from “Tone and Truth Daily Witness” by tiggers thotful spot, Oct. 1, 2005:
Every ten years or so, the United States needs to pick up some small crappy little country and throw it against the wall, just to show the world we mean business.
— Michael Ledeen, holder of the Freedom Chair at the American Enterprise Institute (R-Evil Unapologetic Empire)
And, now, directly from the roiling black goo that comprises the brain and heart of the traitorous Michael Ledeen:
I think the indictment stinks. You have to parse it very carefully to figure out whether Libby is accused of lying to the grand jury or the FBI, or to journalists. Go look.
I finally concluded that it says that Libby lied to the grand jury (and elsewhere the FBI) when he testified that he told (Cooper, Miller or Russert) things that in fact he did not tell (Cooper, Miller or Russert).
If that is right, it means that this poor man may well have been indicted because his memory of those conversations differs from the journalists’.
And Fitzgerald chose/wanted? to believe the journalists’ memories. Pfui. To this non-lawyer, that’s not good enough to shake up the staff of the vice president of the United States.
From THE CORNER (Michael Ledeen) on Oct. 28, 2005 via the Daou Report.
And, last, “A Little Gallows Humor for a most deserving Neocon poobah” by KlatooBaradaNikto, Oct. 27, 2005:
Read MoreWho forged the Niger Yellowcake document?
Osama Bin Ledeen.
