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Richard Clarke is being too nice to George Tenet

Former National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counter-Terrorism Richard Clarke suggests that former CIA Director George Tenet blocked the sharing of information within the government on two members of al Qaeda in the United States, information that Clarke believes could have prevented 911. The CIA admits it knew about the two future hijackers but claims the Director was not informed.

"In early 2000, a number of more junior personnel (including FBI agents on detail to CIA) did see travel information on individuals who later became hijackers but the significance of the data was not adequately recognized at the time."

Clark claims to have been very close to Tenet and to find this impossible to believe. Clarke maintains that the Director must have been informed and must have made the decision not to share the information with Clarke and others. Clarke speculates that the presence of these two al Qaeda members was kept secret because the CIA had tried to recruit, or "flip," those al Qaeda members and failed. Yet he has no evidence of such attempts.

Libya: Psy-Ops and war games, A continuing series of live reports

Here’s breaking News from a confidential source inside Tripoli. And it’s nothing like what CNN is broadcasting… Pay attention to live reports from Zawia.

First, today the power went out in all of Tripoli today. As a gift to the Muslim community for their 17th day of Ramadan, NATO bombed a power plant and six high voltage sub stations. Apparently they believed the Libyans would have no ability to repair this, and so, in their “humanitarian effort to protect civilians,” they tried to cut power to 2 million innocent people during the holy month of Ramadan and the hottest month of the year in this desert country. Well, NATO sorely underestimated these resilient people. They had the power back in 6 hours! You know, there is NO fighting in Tripoli, never has been, no fighting on the outskirts never has been. So, NATO has been continually bombing a peaceful city, destroying the infrastructure, killing and constantly terrorizing civilians.

The Market

US-Arab disconnect: Revolutions restate region's priorities

As the Arab Spring continues to challenge dictators, demolish old structures and ponder roadmaps for a better future, the US remains committed to its failed policies, misconceptions and selfish interests.

Arabs may disagree on many things, but few disagree on the fact that there is now no turning back. The age of the dictator, the Mubaraks and Ben Alis is fading.

A new dawn with a whole new set of challenges is upon us. Debates in the region are now concerned with democracy, civil society and citizenship.

The only Arab intellectuals who still speak of terrorism and nuclear weapons are those commissioned by Washington-based think tanks or a few desperate to appear on Fox News.

Put simply, Arab priorities are no longer US priorities, as they may have been when Hosni Mubarak was still president of Egypt.

Leading a group of "Arab moderates," Mubarak's main responsibility was portraying US foreign policy as if it was at the core of Egypt's national interest as well.

Bert and Ernie

Red Shirts sidelined by Thailand's new government

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand's first female prime minister did not give any cabinet positions to her Red Shirt parliamentary allies, despite their role in bringing her to power through their anti-coup insurrection last year which left 91 people dead.

The Red Shirts, officially known as the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, are now debating among themselves whether or not they have been ignored or exploited, or if they are in a stronger position as outsiders to challenge Thailand's new government if it does not heed their demands.

Newly elected Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, 44, appointed her cabinet on Wednesday (August 10).

Her choice for defense minister, retired Gen. Yuttasak Sasiprapa, appeared to ease the confrontation she and her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, face from an antagonistic U.S.-trained military which toppled Mr. Thaksin in a 2006 coup.

"I am not going to create enemies, but will look after everybody like brothers. I will not take revenge on behalf of anybody," Gen. Yuttasak said.

I condem the violence

Refusing to be Enemies

Israel has always indicated that there is no partner for peace in its relationships with the Palestinian people. Refusing to be Enemies refutes that idea solidly through its investigation into the non-violent resistance movement taking place in Palestine and in Israel. It also clarifies the nature of the Palestinian resistance and the nature of what non-violence truly stands for. As cited from Mohammed Khatib, "what the state of Israel fears most of all is the hope that people can live together based on justice and equality for all."

Center for Hand-Counted Paper Ballots sends letter to all recall candidates regarding election protection

August 7, 2011
Dear [Candidate]:
My name is Dr. Sheila Parks, and I am the founder of the national organization, Center for Hand-Counted Paper Ballots,. We work closely with the recently formed grassroots group called Wisconsin Citizens for Election Protection (WCEP).This group of Wisconsin citizens is concerned with protecting the integrity of Wisconsin elections.

Many of them observed the Supreme Court recount and were appalled at what they saw. Although the limited media coverage highlighted the human errors in Waukesha County, there was an overwhelming number of problems in municipalities across the State of Wisconsin.

WCEP organized volunteers to observe poll closing procedures as a way to try to improve the integrity and security of Wisconsin's elections. They placed WI citizen volunteers in each of the nine senate districts for the July 2011 elections. The citizens of Wisconsin are especially concerned with integrity in the election process for the recalls because they all have the potential for being close races.

Equal and opposite lunacy

As crashing economies and austerity measures slap ever more ferociously at the lives of the vulnerable and disenfranchised, the Western world, with all its hidden poverty and institutional racism, may continue to convulse.

The riots that broke out in London over the weekend and spread throughout Great Britain, triggered by the controversial police killing of a 29-year-old man, have sent shockwaves in all directions. Who knew things were so unstable, that Britain’s struggling neighborhoods were just one incident away from such destructive lunacy?

“On Twitter late last night, following the main bulk of the riots, I was astonished at the incomprehension generally expressed as to why they had occurred. There seemed to be an extraordinary lack of awareness that working class youth in Britain are being punished for the financial excesses of the banking collapse,” freelance British journalist Pennie Quinton wrote on Al-Jazeera.

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