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POPSLa Paz celebrates Day of the Skulls Earlier this month the Church called on the faithful to stop using human skulls at special mass celebrations. The Archbishop of La Paz, Edmundo Abastoflor, urged followers of the Andean rite to "let them rest in peace". Some inside the Church even link the practice to the occult. However, some priests believe they have no other choice than to let people pray Catholic prayers to their skulls, and even allow them to go to church with them. "I receive them and not as enemies of the Catholic faith," the cemetery's Roman Catholic priest, Father Jaime Fernandez, told the BBC after giving an informal blessing to thousands of skull-carrying devotees at the cemetery's chapel. "Officially the Catholic Church does not recognise such a thing," Father Fernandez adds. But, let's be honest, in the end, who am I to stop their uncontrollable faith?"
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POPSChomsky Says Obama Continues Bush Policy to Control Middle East Oil
“As late as November, 2007, the U.S. was still insisting that the ‘Status of Forces Agreement’ allow for an indefinite U.S. military presence and privileged access to Iraq’s resources by U.S. investors,” Chomsky added. “Well, they didn’t get that on paper at least. They had to back down,” Alabbasi quotes him as saying. Chomsky said Middle East oil reserves are understood to be “a stupendous source of strategic power” and “one of the greatest material prizes in world history.” Concerning Iran, Chomsky said the U.S. acted to overthrow its parliamentary democracy in 1953 “to retain control of Iranian resources” and when the Iranians reasserted themselves in 1979, the U.S. acted “to support Saddam Hussein’s merciless invasion” of that country. “The torture of Iran continued without a break and still does, with sanctions and other means,” Chomsky said. According to Alabbasi, Chomsky “mocked the idea” presented by mainstream media that a nuclear-armed Iran might attack nuclear-armed
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POPSCheney Caught in Plame Game? 72 Times "Can't Recall" Liar with selective memory--Remember this was about the vindictive and illegal outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame for Ambassador (and her husband) Joe Wilson's NY Times editorial article contradicting the lies of "yellow cake" uranium from Niger to Saddam Hussein to "prove" WMD and launch a war. Among the most basic questions for Cheney in the Plame probe: How did Libby find out that the wife of Bush administration war critic Joseph Wilson worked at the CIA? Libby's own handwritten notes suggest Libby found out from Cheney. When Libby discovered Cheney's reference to Plame and the CIA in his notes - notes that Libby knew he would soon have to turn over to the FBI - the chief of staff went to the vice president Transcripts plus more from CREW's lawsuit here.
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POPSObama, Maurice Strong, Al Gore Key Players Cashing In.... continued
the man who was to become President of the United States of America. If we follow the time line on where Obama was during the funding of the Chicago Climate Exchange, he was still a professor at the University of Chicago Law School teaching constitutional law, with his law license becoming inactive a year later in 2002. It may be interesting to note that the Chicago Climate Exchange in spite of its hype, is a veritable rat’s nest of cronyism. The largest shareholder in the Exchange is Goldman Sachs. Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley is its honorary chairman, The Joyce Foundation, which funded the Exchange also funded money for John Ayers’ Chicago School Initiatives. John is the brother of William Ayers. What a flap when it was discovered that the senator from Chicago had nursed on Saul Alinsky’s milk, had his political career launched at a coffee party held by domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, and sat for 20 years, uncomplaining in front of the
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POPSGaffney Tells Reagan "Your Father Would Be Ashamed Of You" (VIDEO) In June, Gaffney wrote a column insisting that President Obama might really be a Muslim. In March, Gaffney argued that "evidence" exists connecting Saddam Hussein to 9/11, the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, and the Oklahoma City bombing. Last September, Gaffney argued that Sarah Palin has learned foreign policy through "osmosis," by living in Alaska. He's argued that U.S. forces really did find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but the media covered it up. He's used made-up quotes and recommended "hanging" Democratic officials critical of the Bush administration's Iraq policy. He even believes there's "evidence" to support the "Birthers," and once recommended a military strike on Al Jazeera headquarters. ------ In other words a man with no shame invokes the specter of another man dead father to attack him. Classy!
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POPSObama rarely talks to His Military Commander "If Afghanistan is his “top priority” and “a war that we have to win,” wouldn’t Obama have carved out a little time in his schedule to meet with the man tasked with winning it more than once since appointing him in June? It may have forced him to skip a Wagyu beef dinner and perhaps a night on the town in New York City, but those are the sacrifices that a CinC has to make from time to time."
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POPSWhy PROPAGANDA Trumps Truth What the sociologists are telling us is that by the time facts become clear, people are emotionally wedded to the beliefs planted by the propaganda and find it a wrenching experience to free themselves. It is more comfortable, instead, to denounce the truth-tellers than the liars whom the truth-tellers expose.
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POPSHere We Go Again--Iran Is a Threat (but Not Nuclear Israel), blah, blah The propaganda machine about the "threat" of Iran has kicked into high gear, again, driven (as was the Iraq war) by not just the White House and both coerced parties in Congress (via AIPAC), but US Media, singing in complete unison. Who is really playing the aggressor? Who is threatening to attack whom , ....and based upon what ? The drum beat is identical to that about Iraq and Saddam Hussein, which we know was a lie, and part of the neocon agenda for a "new middle east". The morale of that story is do not trust the government when it comes to starting (or provoking) wars and conflicts, which always begins with sanctions , and gaining the UN Gang's support, rather easily swayed. They seek to overcome any resistance by incessant REPETITION of the same propaganda message as with Iraq.
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POPSAnother useless exercise in smartough diplomacy There were, of course, two illicit nuclear projects stopped during that period, though the U.N. had nothing to do with it. One was Libya's clandestine nuclear kit, which al-Qaddafi--spooked by the fate of Saddam--agreed to hand over to the U.S. in late 2003. The other was Syria's North Korea-abetted secret reactor. That was destroyed in 2007, not by a U.N. resolution, but by an Israeli air strike.
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POPSBelieve it Lying about a blowjob is an impeachable offense -- lying about a war is no big deal, really. Investigating a shady land deal involving the First Lady is a matter of National Identity -- investigating the use of torture at the direction of the Executive Branch is a partisan witch hunt. Executing Japanese officers for waterboarding prisoners during WWII shows that we have the moral high-ground on human rights -- waterboarding prisoners of our shows that we have the moral high-ground on human rights. Sitting two rows in front of Jane Fonda in a 1970 anti-war rally is an OUTRAGE! Shaking Saddam's hand in 1983...meh, not so much. Anyone who questions the president during a time of war is giving aide and comfort to the enemy and should be deported...unless the president in question has a (D) next to their name in which case you should undermine them at every turn even if you have to routinely make shit up to do it. Socialism, Marxism, Communism and Fascism are all interchangea
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POPSExposed: GOP Congressman Who Yelled "You Lie" at Obama Speech Received $240,000 from Health Care Ind It was not the first time Wilson — attorney, U.S. Army vet and former aide to U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond — has raised eyebrows by shouting at political opponents. Seven years ago this month, the then-freshman Wilson appeared on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” with five-term Congressman Bob Filner (D-Calif.) to discuss whether to go to war in Iraq, action that Filner opposed but Wilson supported. In the course of the discussion, Filner noted that the U.S. supplied weapons to Saddam Hussein’s regime during the Iran-Iraq War — a fact revealed by the investigation into the Iran-Contra Affair, which discovered the Reagan administration secretly sold weapons to Iran, then under an arms embargo, to win support for freeing U.S. hostages in Lebanon and to fund the Nicaraguan contras, a counterrevolutionary rebel force that was fighting the country’s government.
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POPS9/11 Commission Members Doubt Official Story Cleland, speaking with Democracy Now, said, “One of these days we will have to get the full story because the 9-11 issue is so important to America. But this White House wants to cover it up”. In 2006 the Washington Post reported that several members of the 9/11 Commission suspected deception on part of the Pentagon. As reported, “Some staff members and commissioners of the Sept. 11 panel concluded that the Pentagon’s initial story of how it reacted to the 2001 terrorist attacks may have been part of a deliberate effort to mislead the commission and the public rather than a reflection of the fog of events on that day, according to sources involved in the debate.” 9/11 Commissioner Bob Kerry also has unanswered questions. As reported by Salon, he believes that there are legitimate reasons to believe an alternative version to the official story.
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POPSCheney tied to cash theft and possible murder in Iraq The case against Dick Cheney just keeps getting better. One of the biggest threats to American freedoms is now being tied to a ‘spoils of war’ cache and a murder. This is the only place I have heard this charge, so the source is a bit suspect. But given the state of ‘fairness’ of our main stream media I am not surprised that this is the only source. On November 14, 2005, “In one of the worst intelligence fiascoes carried out by the neocon administration of Iraq under Paul “Jerry’ Bremer, Saddam Hussein’s chief money mover and financial adviser was beaten to death by US interrogators in Tikrit after the U.S. invasion. After Samara was occupied by US forces, it was discovered that Abu Seger lived in a home on the Tigris River just 200 yards from the main U.S. military position in the city. It did not take long for U.S. troops to break down Seger’s door and haul him off to a detention center.”
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POPSIraqi Commandos Arrest Baathist & Terror Commander in Tikrit, Iraq Commandos with the Golden Brigade entered the Al Ujayli's residence, arrested him and searched the residence without incident. "Tonight's operation was conducted in a professional manner and continues to build upon the great abilities of the Soldiers of the 8th RCB ," said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Mitchell Franks. "The detention of Al Ujayli will deal a significant blow to terrorist activities in not only the Salah al-Din province, but throughout the northern part of Iraq as well," Franks added.
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POPSOMG! Who's Going To Save Us From Global Warming Now?
. . . . . really owes the White House an apology. This airbrushing was worthy of Stalin. Other NRO commenters at the link admire the assist the Politburo has gotten from the state-controlled media. The Moderate Voice : A case of poor vetting … Funny, that’s how I feel about the Obama administration, too. Aww, this is cute. Fellow-traveling Think Progress , wielding an airbrushlet: Racist right-wing conspiracy/hate campaign drives out smiling, well-intentioned, plucky environmental advocate. It’s an interesting presentation that makes no mention of you know what. Andrew Sullivan, to his credit, notices why Van was hounded out, but finds the gleefulness unseemly. Gutless wonder of a conspiracy theorist quits gutless wonder of a White House in the wee hours of Sunday morning, Labor Day weekend. Good work, Rahm. It’ll be out of the papers by Tuesday. Given that the Van Jones Truther scandal was barely covered in the first place, it’s like it never happened
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POPSMSNBC's Schuster Calls Critics Racists.
Now where will be the call for boycotts of advertisers? The calls of racism come fast and furious now, leveled at ANYONE who exposes this administration's radical, thuggish, sneaky agenda. It is the most disgusting trend and it seems to be clearing the bar as far as general acceptance goes. I don't think there can be mounted an intelligent, nuanced enough defense against this tactic. Nearly every argument the right tries to make misses the real mark - sometimes badly. To the point of ridiculously idiotic at times, leaving themselves wide open to counterattack by the left. Like the death panels. Good God! It isn't that they are going to LITERALLY, in this decade or generation, going to decide who lives and dies, by making that fundamental clear choice, one way or the other. If you are going to make that argument you have to describe the long-term subtlety, the slippery-slope, and use examples of what they put in place 50 yrs. ago has led to things today that would have sounded outlandis
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POPSOsama, Saddam, and Inferred Justification We argue that the primary causal agent for misperception is not the presence or absence of correct information but a respondent's willingness to believe particular kinds of information. Our explanation draws on a psychological model of information processing that scholars have labeled motivated reasoning. This model envisions respondents as processing and responding to information defensively, accepting and seeking out confirming information, while ignoring, discrediting the source of, or arguing against the substance of contrary information (DiMaggio 1997; Kunda 1990; Lodge and Tabor 2000). The above quote, as the rest of the article explains why Willy hates sociology so much. It proves him wrong every single time!
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POPSObama's 2002 Speech In Chicago . . . . . and “heard the stories of fellow troops who first entered Auschwitz and Treblinka.” By Memorial Day 2008, however, Obama was claiming that it was his “uncle” who was “part of the first American troops to go into Auschwitz.” This proved problematic as well because Auschwitz, as the RNC pointed out, was actually liberated by the Russians. One would think Obama might have remembered this striking detail in 2002 when he attributed the liberation of Auschwitz to his grandfather’s “fellow troops.” As to why Obama opposed the war in Iraq six months before it began, there is some confusion. This point would have delighted the crowd at Chicago’s Federal Plaza in October 2002, if Obama had actually made it, but he did not. There, Obama made a more politic claim entirely, namely that Saddam “butchers his own people” and has “developed chemical and biological weapons and coveted nuclear capacity.”
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POPSIsrael Leads the Lies About Iran Nukes
Israel and USA neocons led the way lying about Saddam Hussein having weapons of mass destruction and for the past few years are spreading the same lies about Iran. And our corrosive and toxic media prints this negative gossip as if it was news. Then generals and politicians quote the false non-news gossip. All the while (like in Iraq) the actual facts and info from the IAEA has to be ignored. It's quite a trick but how dumb could we be to get fooled by it again. Of course, it's not like most people are fooled but the warmongers need to come up with some reason for invasion so this gives 'em something to babble while their war plans move forward. The extra "irony," is Israel is the nation with the hundreds of illegal nuke weapons. So, it looks like the pressure of another war for the sake of Israel and Oil remains the Master Plan. Israel is probably also the most racist nation in the world and accusing everyone else of racism seems to cover this fact up. Don't ge