Twelfth Bough

Elie Wiesel cannot forgive Bernie Madoff. Wiesel's "little foundation," built no doubt from the money he made writing about the Holocaust (TM), has lost everything, along with the Wiesel's personal fortune. The victims [sniff]... they are practically countless. It could be close to six million people (just a guess). Elie Wiesel, the Nazi concentration camp survivor who went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize, showed little inclination this week to make peace with accused swindler Bernie Madoff, whom he called "one of the greatest scoundrels, thieves, liars, criminals." "Could I forgive him? No," the 80-year-old told a panel assembled Thursday by Conde Nast's Portfolio Magazine at New York's 21 Club to discuss Madoff, whose alleged victims included Wiesel and his foundation, The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity. "To forgive, first of all, would mean that he would come on his knees and ask for forgiveness," the Auschwitz survivor sa...

Corrupt intelligence services, including but not exclusively the CIA, have been for decades running amok. They use black budgets derived from drug running, gun running, human trafficking and money laundering, among other things, to finance their destabilization activities and buy off whoever might be in the way. That can include businesspeople, politicians, judges, law enforcement...anyone who has a price. Those without a price most likely get whacked if they know too much, like all those bankers who have recently been 'suicided.' Any casual observer who spends enough time reading up on the real state of affairs in our world knows it's just like the movies, but worse. People are venal. This game has now circled the globe so many times that it has trapped just about everyone of consequence in its snares. As Christopher Story explains in his latest installment, the Rule of Law cannot be applied because to do so would result in the arrest of practically our entire ruling clas...

Just to follow up a little on yesterday's dog whistles about radical terrorists with short money attacking US port cities, to be blamed on Pakistan, Cryptogon has some stories about radioactive things that go missing. About ten days ago came the story of 15,800 missing Walmart signs. Who cares except that the signs use tritium, which boosts the efficiency and yield of nuclear weapons. Why would “the terrorists” need to steal glow-in-the-dark signs to obtain tritium? First of all, Tritium decays over time. I have no idea what the specifics are, but nuclear weapons will require periodic maintenance of their tritium component in order to function as intended. This is top secret nuclear weapons stuff. Maybe someone out there knows the details about this, but I don’t. Second, tritium—that doesn’t occur naturally—is made in nuclear reactors and you can’t just go down to Walmart and get it. DOH! (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) Third, even assuming that “the terrorists” could obtain pure t...

Here's a little psyops case study... FBI Director Warns of Terror Attacks on US Cities FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III today warned that extremists "with large agendas and little money can use rudimentary weapons" to sow terror, raising the specter that recent attacks in Mumbai that killed 170 people last year could embolden terrorists seeking to attack U.S. cities. Let us pause here. Mumbai....now didn't it seem that the Mumbai attacks were connected to the Mossad? Yes, I believe that connection was plumbed on the interwebs, though never of course discussed in corporate media. However, let us consider who Director Mueller was speaking to that he could skip over that pesky detail. At a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, Mueller said that the bureau is expanding its focus beyond al-Qaeda and into splinter groups, radicals who try to enter the country through the visa waiver program and "home-grown terrorists." Aha! It...

The AP has run a story about the eight year old Chandra Levy case. All of a sudden, investigators prepare to arrest a young Salvadoran immigrant for her murder. They apologized to one of the man's other women jogging victims for taking eight years to interview her and insist that they can't sleep at night until they get a conviction. And Levy's parents want him to rot in prison, because execution would be too good for him. So this guy is toast. Is this justice? Well, Chandra Levy purportedly worked for the Mossad. An interesting and sordid account of her prowess in the intelligence world can be read here . That the the F.B.I. claimed for so long that they had no idea who or what was behind the murder of Chandra Levy is just an outright lie. They know, and knew from the start, that she was being used by the MOSSAD to obtain top secret information. The lead FBI investigator in the Chandra Levy case was Special Agent Bradley J. Garrett. He is known as "The Fixer", ...

AP (color) image of Bibi, looking delightful as usual. Left half of the face completely vacant and devoid of emotion, the right half clenched and ready to spit nails. Oh, and he was whining that he doesn't want anyone to twist his arm. Contrast to b&w pic with left side of face sort of "seductive" (if you like creeps) and right side of face "thoughtful," (if you consider plotting for world domination thoughtful). Just saying. Obviously the older shot is posed, and the newer is, um, candid. I'm going with candid. Bibi has six weeks to form a new government, Tzipi being the main problem. He's damned if he includes her, and he's damned if he doesn't. Have fun negotiating with that shrew, a worthy opponent for sure. I'm almost rooting for her. But he has the support of that twit Joe Lieberman, who actually said this: "Our enemies, unfortunately, are as common as the values and the interests that have united us for all these years. I ...

White House says world can't delay on Iran. Urgent problem. Mmm hmm. I'm going to let this fine lady unpack this, because she is a chemist, and I am not: Much as I hate to do so, because psychology tells us that repetition will help to fix the erroneous message in our minds, I will quote the most egregious statement of this "news." Iran has enriched sufficient uranium to amass a nuclear bomb – a third more than previously thought – the United Nations announced yesterday. Ah yes. And if you live in Boulder, Colorado, or in Connecticut, or New York City, you have enough U-235 under your house (or perhaps block) to amass a nuclear bomb! Or, Kevin, all that sea water lapping up against the California coast has uranium in it too! I have a call in to the IAEA to inspect your homes! The issue here is concentration. Mining uranium concentrates it from the ore. Purification and conversion to UF6 concentrates it further. The purpose of the enrichment centrifuges is to concent...

All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind. - Joseph Conrad District's Carlyle Senses a Profit in Toxic Bank Assets Seeking to jump-start the economy, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner last week said he will seek private-sector help for the banks , offering loans at favorable rates and putting up government backing to reduce the risks to investors like Carlyle. With $40 billion in cash on the sidelines waiting for the right play, Carlyle could find many profitable deals in the financial sector. Two of the firm's co-founders, William E. Conway Jr. and David M. Rubenstein, have been saying for months that there is a role for private equity in the bank bailout and that there's money to be made. "Private equity has a lot of experience buying assets at distressed prices, and we expect to see a lot of attractively priced assets," Rubenstein said in a September interview. "It's likely that p...

It's the topic that pops up like a perennial noxious weed, the trouble with psychopaths. Kenny's Sideshow has a tidy recap of the 9/11 conspiracies (official and real), along with a nice long list of coconspirators (original source is whodidit.org) . It's been a long time now since 9/11. Long enough, I suppose, for some people who have clung to the official story to form at least a few little nagging doubts. Long enough for most people to have encountered people who question the official story, and see that they still function normally in the world as opposed to being, you know, crazy. On top of that, it becomes pretty damn clear to practically everybody that we've got a very serious corruption problem on our hands, just in general, with government, banks and corporations. So let's say a window of opportunity has opened. And as the breeze blows through, it's a good time to revisit the trouble with psychopaths. Psychopaths are predators. Normal people are not pr...

Putting Hank Paulson in charge of bailing out his banker friends with our tax dollars was not such a good idea. Putting Israel in charge of investigating war crimes in Gaza is not such a good idea either. But it's rude to notice! Tsk tsk. Under international law, it is the responsibility of the state whose forces are accused to conduct their own inquiry, although the UN Security Council (and the General Assembly) has the power to establish special international tribunals, such as those set up for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Israel says it has the matter in hand. The Deputy Spokesman at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Andy David, told the BBC that "Israel investigates all its actions regardless of outside calls." He said the country did not need "external intervention to conduct any investigation". He said: "Israel acts according to international laws and with highest regards to morality during combat, even beyond the requirement of the law....

Dearest readers, I'm sorry for the unexplained hiatus, which needs remain unexplained. I will try to be back now. Everything is well. As a matter of fact, I am certain that everything will work out. Yes we will go through some bad times, but the evil have already lost, and they know it. We are in mop-up operations. It's a mess, a filthy mess. We shall be covered in shit before it's over, but we will survive it. The most important thing for Americans to do right now is support each other and connect with each other, and to escape the clutches of fear. Refuse to be terrified. Just say no. Terror is the name of the game: financial terrorism, false flag terrorism, NWO terrorism. When we are terrified, they gain ground. When we are steadfast, they get terrified. So let's put the terror in it's place. If you haven't done it already, get to know your neighbors. Smooth over any remaining ruffled feathers caused by the great divider, GWB. Move past it as much as possible...

This probably is not considered "newsworthy" by the corporate media, but people should know that US intelligence has confirmed the findings of the 2007 NIE: Iran has no nuclear weapons program. Dennis Blair told the Senate Intelligence Committee that his organization has assessed that Tehran does not have nuclear weapons design and weaponization work....The UN nuclear watchdog, which has carried out the highest number of inspections in its history on Iranian nuclear sites, has also found nothing to indicate that the program has diverted toward weaponization....The US official added that the intelligence agency believes Iran is unlikely to be able to produce enough enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon before 2013. Therefore, it would be the gravest mistake to allow an attack on Iran, which would in all likelihood trigger WW III, for a problem that does not exist. We have no emergency with Iran. None. Who keeps banging this drum? Israel. Who else. But of the three stooges ...

Another nail-biter election. What is up with that? This AP story says that no matter who comes out on top, the political wrangling will go on for weeks. In my book, a positive development. That gives the world time to let the dust settle in Gaza. Maybe the Hague will be able to investigate all those war crimes committed against the Palestinians. Despite all the evidence, this issue has been stalled because of the legal definitions of statehood, but the next few weeks could be enough to iron that out. If so, the war crimes charges would keep Israel off-balance. The issue has raised the question of whether Palestinian officials hope to obtain an implicit recognition of statehood through the court. The court "will not use the term statehood," said a legal expert close to the case who asked not to be named because the issue was still being decided. "The court will avoid defining whether Palestine is a state. The decision will be only if Palestine can be admitted for the...

First, a short story from some nice Catholic guy: As the 9/11 attack was happening, it occurred to me that the attack had to do with what was happening in the Middle East and it was time to learn what was happening there. I was behooved to work through my conditioned barrier of not wanting to look into the matter because it was much too complex to understand and find out for myself what was going on. I learned that the Palestinians were being kicked off their land so that Jews from anywhere in the world could live there. I attended a Middle East committee meeting and said that I didn’t think this was fair, that it didn’t matter what happened in the past to the Jews, that two wrongs don’t make a right, etc. After that meeting, I was considered anti-Semitic by the experts that apply the label: the Jews that attended that meeting. Thereafter I was treated coolly by everyone associated with the parent anti-war organization. Word had gotten around. Holy cow! I never would’ve imagined myself...

If only we could. Nonetheless, some people have displayed a track record for predicting things that have come to pass, in some cases years in advance. And based on what they have said, it seems for real that the current financial system is going to be destroyed. If not, some things would have to happen. The banks would be forced to write off their betting slips as being worth Zero. Zero. They are worthless, and as pointed out by Chuck Simpson, totally contrary to public policy. Consumer debt would be restructured to reflect real property values. The banks would take the hits and close if they must. The rule of law would be reinforced. And yet none of this will happen. On the contrary, the opposite of this is happening. As best I can tell, we are guaranteed hyperinflation and the destruction of the US dollar in the near future. And why is this happening? For one thing, it's because we have no rule of law. The rule of law is a joke. The people who have been running this country and ...

From my email...(this deeply disturbing picture was obviously not included) In MEMORIAM - 63 YEARS LATER Please read the little cartoon carefully, it's powerful. Then read the comments at the end. [The cartoon was stripped by my email software. Oh dear. I can just imagine.] I'm doing my small part by forwarding this message. I hope you'll consider doing the same. [What? Am I supposed to feel guilty already? I haven't even read the damn thing yet.] In Memoriam It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended. [And the Nakba. Don't forget the Nakba. That was 60 years ago, too.] This e-mail is being sent as a memorial chain, in memory of the six million Jews, [ Oh really? The number on the plaque at Auschwitz is 1.5 million.] 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests [Whatevs!! Please just notice the first item on the list.] who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved and humiliated with the German and...

People squeal and screech when other people have the nerve to resist their sacred narratives. But there is one, and only one, question that must be answered in the face of these outbursts: IS IT TRUE? Naturally, this annoying insistence on the truth only makes the squealing and screeching louder. Truth comes before justice. We will not have any justice until we have the truth, so digging out and exposing the truth must be the primary concern for all those who claim to want peace and justice. Here George Galloway outlines the TRUTH that Britian had no right to give the Palestinian's land to the Jews. He then goes on to answer another caller, who hangs the entire rationalization for Britian creating the State of Israel on the Holocaust. George Galloway then gives a little history lesson in which the Holocaust is blamed on the anti-Semitism of the Christian world. So the Muslims are now being punished for the crimes of the Christians, which is TRUE. Which is all well and good, I supp...

Remember Efraim Diveroli? In case you forgot, he's the young twenty-something kid who landed a $300 million contract with the Pentagon, selling 50 year old ammunition from China to Afghanistan, for instance, which is totally illegal? He also sold the ammunition that exploded in Tirana, Albania on 3/15/08, killing 26 people and injuring hundreds, which is totally murderous. He was called to testify on April 17, 2008 before Henry Waxman and the House Oversight Committee, because when all this came about and was reported in the New York Times, people wanted answers. And I'm sure you thought, that since our Congress had been made aware of the problem, that it would now be addressed and people held accountable, and so forth and so on. Right? Oh ha ha ha HA! Three men were arrested for mass murder in what local media dubbed "Albania's Hiroshima." Two of them were alleged accomplices to a 23-year-old Miami Beach-based arms dealer named Efraim Diveroli, who faces trial l...

I have not been able to confirm this little gem of a quote from Israeli 10th TV channel, but it has the ring of truth, like the soap scum around a dirty bathtub. "Another Israeli spokeswoman, Tzipora Menache, stated that she was not worried about negative ramifications the Israeli onslaught on Gaza might have on the way the Obama administration would view Israel. She said 'You know very well, and the stupid Americans know equally well, that we control their government, irrespective of who sits in the White House. You see, I know it and you know it that no American president can be in a position to challenge us even if we do the unthinkable. What can they (Americans) do to us? We control congress, we control the media, we control show biz, and we control everything in America. In America you can criticize God, but you can't criticize Israel." Commenting on the latest Israeli one-directional onslaught against the Palestinians of Gaza Strip, the Israeli 10th TV channel ...

Well, well, well. I believe I've seen it all. Conspiracy Facts Confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt.* http://www.instituteforhumancontinuity.org/#/home The Institute for Human Continuity has a website detailing the horrific calamities awaiting us in 2012. This is a very slick website. These people are going to guarantee a small remnant of the human population will survive in their underground cities. They will also be using some floating cities and underground personal bunkers, all of which technology seems to be at hand. I can just imagine what wonderful technologies that could be helping the world right now, today, yet are being held aside in preparation for these calamities in 2012. You can even sign up for their Survival Lottery. No word on how you'll be micro-chipped, but one would assume there's a high-tech solution to keeping track of the surviving human remnant -- who of course will be totally dependent on the IHC -- once everything else has been destroyed. The IHC...

James Petras has written a great piece describing the calculations now in play. He astutely describes what the Israeli strategists, and hopefully all of us, have learned from this catastrophe in Gaza. Israel’s military victory in Gaza is a dress rehearsal for a full-scale military assault on Iran. In the course of their Gaza extermination campaign, Israeli political and military strategists gained a great deal of vital information about: (1) the levels of complicity and impotence of European, North American and Arab states; (2) the high degree and depth of material and political support obtainable from the United States government in pulverizing adversaries; (3) the high degree of internal support among the Jewish electorate for even the most brutal killing fields; (4) the massive unquestioning backing of an offensive war from all the biggest and most politically influential and wealthiest Jewish-Zionist organizations in the US and Western Europe; (5) the weakness and ineffectivenes...