Permanent bases? It's official

I've been catching a lot of grief over the past few years when I've written that the goal of the Iraq war is permanent occupation of the country--a key element of a plan for regional hegemony. All the talk of pulling out troops and handing over the government to the Iraqis is part of the farce.

Today the American Progress Report writes:

Gen. John Abizaid, commander of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), suggested recently that the U.S. may maintain permanent bases in Iraq. But the U.S. has even grander plans in the region, according to Washington Post blogger William Arkin. "The U.S. military has developed a ten-year plan for 'deep storage' of munitions and equipment in at least six countries in the Middle East and Central Asia to prepare for regional war contingencies," according to Arkin. The plan is revealed in March 2006 Pentagon contracting documents, and it calls for "the continued storage of everything from packaged meals ready to eat (MREs) to missiles in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman, as well as the establishment of two new storage hubs, one in a classified Middle Eastern country 'west' of Saudi Arabia ('Site 23') and the other in a yet to be decided 'central Asian state.'"

I hate to say "I told you so." But I did.

Paranoid schizophrenic with homicidal tendencies

What would you think of a man who not only kept an arsenal in his home, but was collecting at enormous financial sacrifice a second arsenal to protect the first one? What would you say if this man so frightened his neighbors that they in turn were collecting weapons to protect themselves from him? What if this man spent ten times as much money on his expensive weapons as he did on the education of his children? What if one of his children criticized his hobby and he called that child a traitor and a bum and disowned him? And he took another child who obeyed him faithfully and armed that child and sent it out into the world to attack neighbors? What would you say about a man who introduces poisons into the water he drinks and the air he breathes? What if this man not only is feuding with the people on his block but involves himself in the quarrels of others in distant parts of the city and even in the suburbs? Such a man would clearly be a paranoid schizophrenic... with homicidal tendencies.

--Robert Anton Wilson
The Illuminatus!

How to spot a baby conservative

Makes sense to me!

Excerpt:

Remember the whiny, insecure kid in nursery school, the one who always thought everyone was out to get him, and was always running to the teacher with complaints? Chances are he grew up to be a conservative.

At least, he did if he was one of 95 kids from the Berkeley area that social scientists have been tracking for the last 20 years. The confident, resilient, self-reliant kids mostly grew up to be liberals.

The study from the Journal of Research Into Personality isn't going to make the UC Berkeley professor who published it any friends on the right. Similar conclusions a few years ago from another academic saw him excoriated on right-wing blogs, and even led to a Congressional investigation into his research funding.

But the new results are worth a look. In the 1960s Jack Block and his wife and fellow professor Jeanne Block (now deceased) began tracking more than 100 nursery school kids as part of a general study of personality. The kids' personalities were rated at the time by teachers and assistants who had known them for months. There's no reason to think political bias skewed the ratings — the investigators were not looking at political orientation back then. Even if they had been, it's unlikely that 3- and 4-year-olds would have had much idea about their political leanings.

A few decades later, Block followed up with more surveys, looking again at personality, and this time at politics, too. The whiny kids tended to grow up conservative, and turned into rigid young adults who hewed closely to traditional gender roles and were uncomfortable with ambiguity.

The confident kids turned out liberal and were still hanging loose, turning into bright, non-conforming adults with wide interests. The girls were still outgoing, but the young men tended to turn a little introspective.

Block admits in his paper that liberal Berkeley is not representative of the whole country. But within his sample, he says, the results hold. He reasons that insecure kids look for the reassurance provided by tradition and authority, and find it in conservative politics. The more confident kids are eager to explore alternatives to the way things are, and find liberal politics more congenial.

In a society that values self-confidence and out-goingness, it's a mostly flattering picture for liberals. It also runs contrary to the American stereotype of wimpy liberals and strong conservatives.

Deja Vu All Over Iran

An excellent, horrifying article from Robert Dreyfuss.

An excerpt:

In the past few weeks, we’ve seen the Bush administration create a brand-new Office of Iranian Affairs at the State Department, which looks suspiciously like a step toward creating the Iraq war planning office at the Pentagon called the Office of Special Plans. No word yet on whether the Department of Defense plans to create a parallel Office of Iranian Affairs, but it can’t be far behind. So that’s déjà vu, for sure.

The United States is pressing the U.N. to sanction Iran, to be more aggressive in shutting down a nuclear program that, so far at least, the International Atomic Energy Agency has not been able to find, exactly. Even the least charitable among us might forgive the U.N.’s diplomats, including Lavrov, for being suspicious of the Bush administration when it pledges to take Iran to the U.N. Security Council and to abide by the result. In 2002, the Bush administration took Iraq to the UNSC, got the IAEA inspectors invited back in, began pressing for further U.N. action—and then gave up the whole thing and invaded Iraq unilaterally. So that, for sure, sounds like déjà vu.

Then there are the exiles. The Bush administration, backed once again by a bloodthirsty Republican Congress—with the same cast of characters, led once again by Sen. Sam Brownback—is planning to spend $75 million to support Iranian “democrats” and to back Iranian exile television stations. And, according to a recent State Department planning document, the United States is busily setting up anti-Iranian intelligence and mobilization centers in Dubai, Istanbul, Ankara, Adana, Tel Aviv, Frankfurt, London and Baku to work with “Iranian expatriate communities.” I wonder how many Ahmad Chalabis they can find in those places. Dozens, I’d guess. More déjà vu.

Finally, believe it or not, almost as if the United States were deliberately trying to undercut its own diplomacy at the U.N., various U.S. officials are talking openly about bypassing the U.N., ignoring international legitimacy, and forging yet another ad hoc coalition of allies—a “coalition of the willing”—to confront Iran. Still more déjà vu.

Petrodollar Warfare: Dollars, Euros and the Upcoming Iranian Oil Bourse | EnergyBulletin.net | Peak Oil News Clearinghouse

An excerpt:

Similar to the Iraq war, military operations against Iran relate to the macroeconomics of ‘petrodollar recycling’ and the unpublicized but real challenge to U.S. dollar supremacy from the euro as an alternative oil transaction currency.

Candidly stated, ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’ was a war designed to install a pro-U.S. government in Iraq, establish multiple U.S military bases before the onset of global Peak Oil, and to reconvert Iraq back to petrodollars while hoping to thwart further OPEC momentum towards the euro as an alternative oil transaction currency (i.e. “petroeuro”).[3] However, subsequent geopolitical events have exposed neoconservative strategy as fundamentally flawed, with Iran moving towards a petroeuro system for international oil trades, while Russia evaluates this option with the European Union.

Ayahuasca goes mainstream

An excellent article from National Geographic.

An excerpt:

At the vanguard of this research is Charles Grob, M.D., a professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at UCLA's School of Medicine. In 1993 Dr. Grob launched the Hoasca Project, the first in-depth study of the physical and psychological effects of ayahuasca on humans. His team went to Brazil, where the plant mixture can be taken legally, to study members of a native church, the União do Vegetal (UDV), who use ayahuasca as a sacrament, and compared them to a control group that had never ingested the substance. The studies found that all the ayahuasca-using UDV members had experienced remission without recurrence of their addictions, depression, or anxiety disorders. In addition, blood samples revealed a startling discovery: Ayahuasca seems to give users a greater sensitivity to serotonin—one of the mood-regulating chemicals produced by the body—by increasing the number of serotonin receptors on nerve cells.

Unlike most common antidepressants, which Grob says can create such high levels of serotonin that cells may actually compensate by losing many of their serotonin receptors, the Hoasca Project showed that ayahuasca strongly enhances the body's ability to absorb the serotonin that's naturally there.

"Ayahuasca is perhaps a far more sophisticated and effective way to treat depression than SSRIs [antidepressant drugs]," Grob concludes, adding that the use of SSRIs is "a rather crude way" of doing it. And ayahuasca, he insists, has great potential as a long-term solution.

Hosanna may reach trial in '06

Hosanna may reach trial in ’06

By DEBRA LEMOINE
Florida parishes bureau
Published: Mar 5, 2006

AMITE — Prosecutors literally have a truckload of potential evidence to sift through, an unusual set of circumstances to explain to a jury, and far fewer witnesses than they once expected in the case against the members of the defunct Hosanna Church in Ponchatoula.

The investigation began when a women who fled to Ohio in March 2005 asked authorities to look into allegations of child abuse committed by the leaders of the church. Then, the church pastor walked into the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office in April 2005 and allegedly confessed to abusing children and animals in a Satanic ritual.

Now that the cases against the pastor and eight other members of the Hosanna Church are in the hands of the 21st Judicial District Attorney’s Office, the investigation has become less about the occult and more about criminal charges of child abuse.

Material confiscated by investigators in the cases includes such varied items as computers and a crossbow, but prosecutors are still trying to determine which of the countless items will be used as evidence and which ones point to the defendants’ innocence and must be turned over to defense attorneys.

District Attorney Scott Perrilloux said he’s pleased to find that the cases appear to involve far fewer victims than law enforcement officials feared last spring when they began a two-month investigation that led to nine arrests.

Initially, law enforcement authorities talked of possibly 100 victims, but the number of victims identified turns out to be three, Perrilloux said.

The case received a lot of attention and involves a “very bizarre set of facts, but evidence doesn’t indicate the abuse was as widespread as investigators initially thought,” Perrilloux said, adding that he doesn’t want to comment further on the cases.

“Hopefully, we will get one of those cases set (for trial) this year,” the district attorney said.

That leaves some daunting tasks for Assistant District Attorney Don Wall, who will prosecute the case. Prosecutors must read thousands of pages of handwritten journals of three of the accused. They also must organize the household items seized from church members’ homes and storage sheds that now sit in the trailer of an 18-wheeler outside the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office complex in Hammond.

“Because of the fact that prosecutors are responsible for everything in an investigative agency’s files, I feel responsible for going through it looking for anything inculpatory and also looking for something exculpatory to give to the defense,” Wall said.

Investigators seized a large volume of materials, especially paperwork, much of which has nothing to do with the case, Wall said. For example, there are years worth of bills, insurance paperwork and tax documents that have no bearing on the case, he said.

Wall said that he hopes one of the accused can be brought to trial by the end of 2006. He said he has no preference about which defendant goes on trial first, but it likely will be either former pastor Louis David Lamonica or Austin “Trey” Bernard III.

Nine church members were arrested in April and May 2005 in the case, all but one suspected of raping children during a five-year period. Formal charges were brought against seven defendants in June when a grand jury indicted them on varying counts of aggravated rape, which carries the potential penalty of death or life in prison. The state won’t seek the death penalty, prosecutors have said.

By now, all but one of the nine arrested people have been released from jail after posting bail in amounts ranging from $150,000 to $350,000, Wall said. Austin Bernard remains in jail.

The defendants released from jail are living a “normal life” working and staying in touch with parole officials, Wall said. He said that parole officials told him that some of the released suspects are having a difficult time keeping their jobs once an employer discovers what they are accused of doing.

Nicole Bernard, who initiated the investigation when she moved to Ohio and was extradited to Louisiana when she became a suspect, was not indicted and will likely be released from her bond obligation, Wall said.

The other person not indicted is Lois Mowbray, who was arrested on counts of being an accessory to the child abuse and of not reporting it to authorities. Wall said that there are no plans to indict her based on evidence collected so far.

Wall warned that as his investigation continues, Mowbray and Nicole Bernard could be considered suspects again. He also said he is not certain of the extent to which Mowbray or Nicole Bernard could testify against the seven who were indicted.

How much of the more sensational aspects of the investigation will be heard in the courtroom remains to be seen.

Much of the alleged abuse documented in the investigation takes place outside of the church setting without any indication that it was part of a ritual, Wall said.

Drinking cat’s blood or worshiping Satan are not illegal, but sexually abusing a child is, Wall said.

“In terms of a criminal case, that is sort of an aside,” Wall said.

Wall doesn’t discount the details that law enforcement officials discussed with the news media during the investigation last year. No physical evidence of the pentagrams or animal sacrifices mentioned by investigators were found. The only indication of the occult comes from statements allegedly made by the suspects.

As the investigation progressed, law enforcement authorities initially said that there could be hundreds of victims and later narrowed their estimates to 20. Only three victims, two boys and one girl, are part of the criminal case as it stands.

Wall said that there could be other victims out there, but the potential victims contacted by investigators denied any abuse.

Defense attorneys contacted by The Advocate declined to comment about the case or did not respond to a message left at their office.

During the peak of the investigation, Louis Lamonica’s attorney, Michael Thiel, told The Advocate that he believed the case had been sensationalized.

“Generally, I believe there’s been a rush to judge based on conjecture, rumors and leaks to the media,” Thiel had said in June.

As for the church itself on Railroad Avenue near the dividing line between the Ponchatoula and Hammond city limits, the yellow crime scene tape is gone, and the grass is kept trimmed. The name “Hosanna” has been removed from the church’s brick façade although shadows of the letters remain.

The Louisiana District of the First Assemblies of God legally has reclaimed the property, according to a judgment signed by District Judge Bob Morrison on Feb. 2, records in 21st Judicial District Court show.

The church once belonged to the First Assemblies of God, and the church’s constitution indicated that if the property ceased to exist as a church that ownership would revert to the association, records show.

No former Hosanna Church member has approached the court to claim ownership of the facility, court records show.

What will happen to the property and if it will be used again as a church is still unknown. Officials with the Louisiana District of the First Assemblies of God declined to comment about their plans because of ongoing civil litigation.

Professor McCoy Exposes the History of CIA Interrogation, From the Cold War to the War on Terror

I've stated again and again that the torture at Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, and at other U.S. gulags is a carefully planned, methodical program, not the work of a "few bad apples." Here is yet more evidence, as if we needed more. If you can, listen to Amy Goodman's interview with Alfred McCoy -- it's powerful.

What rough beast

First, apologies for the lack of posts. Real life, finishing revisions on my novel, and all that stuff.

Anyone who visits here knows I'm a big fan of Jeff Wells and his Rigorous Intuition blog. I think Jeff is one of the most insightful and brave writers sailing the parapolitical waters. I don't always agree with him, but his viewpoints are always refreshing and his research is deep and comprehensive.

Jeff also hosts a discussion board, which is linked from his blog. It used to be a great place to visit. Being an open board, it drew its share of cranks and incoherent paranoiacs and trolls. That's inevitable when you discuss the darker strands of politics and history, and it's to be expected.

But things changed. In a very short period of time, a certain theme began creeping into the conversations. Sometimes it was overt, and other times it was only hinted at or implied. To anyone who has dug deeply into the streams that make up "alternative" political analysis, conspiracy theory, and parapolitics, the stuff that started rising to the top wouldn't be a surprise.

You've seen it, I'm sure. Conversations sprinkled with references to Zionists. International bankers. Defenses of Ernst Zundel. Links to antiwar and other articles hosted on sites with a blatant anti-Semitic bias.

Now, for the most part, when those posters were accused of having ulterior motives and using common codes, they shook their heads. "No, not us. We don't hate Jews. We're just criticizing the Israeli government/Mossad/Zionism. Jews, nah, it's not about Jews at all."

Unless it is, and they're lying.

I have no problem with people criticizing the Israeli government, or pointing out the excesses of Zionism, or posting articles about Israeli intelligence abuses. It's all fair, and I've given my share of criticism to all of the above.

But Jeff has used the phrase "connect the dots" more than once. The dots I see have a very familiar, ugly feel to them. Of course the increase on anti-Semitic material may be due to the general Rense-ification of the conspiracy milieu, the reassertion of an ugly streak that has always lain half-hidden in the more disenfranchised political communities. It may just be the way the wind is blowing.

Unless it's not.

Connect the dots and see what you think.