March 2009
(For a historical archive of our old site visit http://911blogger.com/archive)
Larry Silverstein, WTC developer, seeks bailout
http://www.nypost.com/seven/03212009/news/regionalnews/groud_zerodeveloperseeks_bailout_160623.htm
Mega-developer Larry Silverstein is going hat in hand to the Port Authority to help finance long-stalled projects at Ground Zero, according to a published report.
Under the plan, the agency would put up dough for one of the three office towers that Silverstein is developing at the site, which has languished in a series of costly delays since 9/11, possibly in exchange for a piece of the profits later on, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The skyscrapers will hold the fire exits and ventilation machinery for the planned $3.2 billion transit hub as well as the delivery ramps for the Freedom Tower, and must be finished beforehand.
Silverstein who is having trouble raising the $7 billion required to complete the project while being hamstrung with the site's $79 million a year lease reportedly is seeking cash for a second tower as well.
"We are continuing to discuss with Silverstein Properties how to best meet a changed market while ensuring that the World Trade Center site is rebuilt in the best public interest," a PA spokeswoman told the paper.
George Galloway Barred Entry to Canada
The outspoken British MP and famous anti-war activist George Galloway has been barred entry to Canada. The UK's Channel 4 News last night reported that "after an open letter of protest from Canada's Jewish Defense League, he's been declared inadmissable under the country's immigration act";
Galloway was scheduled to speak in Toronto, sponsored by the Coalition to Stop the War on March 30th, 2009, followed by other stops in Canada. The barring of Galloway is unprecedented. Not even Israel has barred Galloway entry into their country. The barring has generated coverage in the mainstream Canadian press, at the Ottawa Citizen, which features an article and original audio interview with Galloway, and coverage by the Israeli newspaper, Ha'aretz.
George Flynn of Words of Freedom Welcomes Michael Wolsey of Visibility 9-11
MIchael talks to a local Colorado listening audience about the upcoming paper from Scholars for 9/11 Truth & Justice which details a "thermite fingerprint" in the 9/11 dust. Thanks to George Flynn and the great folks at KRFC in Fort Collins for getting this important information to a mainstream audience! Visibility 9-11 is committed to raising awareness around this exciting new scientific paper and will be featuring special broadcasts with Dr. Jones and Kevin Ryan in the near future.
George Flynn of Words of Freedom Welcomes Michael Wolsey of Visibility 9-11
source: Visibility 9-11 Media
Richard Falk: Gaza attacks "would seem to constitute a war crime of the greatest magnitude under international law"
UN envoy Richard Falk, who wrote the foreword for David Ray Griffin's New Pearl Harbor, and has also praised Peter Dale Scott's book, The Road to 9/11, was yesterday quoted by Haaretz speaking out strongly against Israel's attacks in Gaza as war crimes;
A United Nations human rights investigator said on Thursday that Israel's offensive against Hamas in densely populated Gaza appeared to constitute a war crime of the "greatest magnitude."
Richard Falk, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, said the Geneva Conventions required warring forces to distinguish between military targets and surrounding civilians.
"If it is not possible to do so, then launching the attacks is inherently unlawful and would seem to constitute a war crime of the greatest magnitude under international law"
Falk's assessment is bolstered by statements from IDF soldiers, recently debriefed in Tel Aviv. This was covered last night by UK's Channel 4;
Eliot Spitzer posits mega-billion $$ "inside job"
Eliot Spitzer is a Conspiracy Theorist, of the financial sort. From salon.com:
It all appears, once again, to be the same insiders protecting themselves against sharing the pain and risk of their own bad adventure. The payments to AIG's counterparties are justified with an appeal to the sanctity of contract. If AIG's contracts turned out to be shaky, the theory goes, then the whole edifice of the financial system would collapse.
Condoleezza Rice: We Didn't Tie Saddam To 9/11
From yesterday, thanks to thinkprogress.org…
Fact #12 from my article, "The Facts Speak For Themselves..."
(Continued below the fold...)
I, Robot
Perhaps the timing was too perfect, for last night Violet and I watched “I, Robot” with Will Smith for the first time. This morning, I got up and saw the news. As you may already know, AIG has paid $165 million in bonuses from the federal bailout money, and congress is working on writing tax laws in response to try to mop it all up. While I may be coming from my usual unusual angle, I am reminded of this film.
News: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090319/ap_on_go_co/aig_outrage
Film: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0343818/
I’ve no doubt that all of mankind can stand there, watch AIG pay those bonuses, and feel horrified at the thought of $165 million in fresh, federal bailout money being washed away. As one focusing on public infrastructure, I see robots.
As everyone stands horrified, it is robots that pay these bonuses. Our robots are the trusted, publicly documented agencies of our civilization, and they respond with built-in precision. The robots of our day are our rules, our procedures and our laws.
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Alternative Financial News and Current Affairs Blog, DandelionSalad
DandelionSalad.Wordpress.com
When I found a post by “The Other Katherine Harris” on understanding casino financial instruments, “Derivatives for Dummies”, http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2009/02/18/exclusive-derivatives-for-dummies-by-the-other-katherine-harris/ I knew I found a great new blog. Among the featured writers on this blog are Prof. Michael Hudson, Michel Chossudovsky, Ralph Nader, Chris Hedges, Nikki Alexander and more. There’s a lot of news to digest and understanding capitalism’s dark sides are vital to understanding how things work and how to develop responses. DandelionSalad sifts through the best alternative news, especially financial, and gets it to you fast.
One form of activism is simple web linking and this blog did not hesitate to post a link to us here at 911blogger in their blog roll. Check out two recent great posts, Hudson’s “The Real AIG Conspiracy”
http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2009/03/19/the-real-aig-conspiracy-by-prof-michael-hudson/#more-36846
and Michel Chossudovsky’s “Preparing For Civil Unrest in America & HR 654”
Former President George W. Bush will discuss some of the defining decisions of his presidency in a new book.
(CNN) -- Former President George W. Bush is writing a book focusing on defining decisions he's made in his personal and political life, a publishing house announced Thursday.
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/19/bush.book/index.html
Topics will include his decision to run for president, his choice of his closest advisers, the September 11 terrorist attacks, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, his response to Hurricane Katrina, the forming of his stem cell research policy, his decision to quit drinking, how he found faith and his relationships with his father, mother, siblings and wife.
"I am spending time on the book every day," Bush was quoted saying in a news release. "My goal is to bring the reader inside the Oval Office for the most consequential moments of my personal and political life.
Lies on the Horizon
Retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Myers has published a memoir. Predictably, Eyes on the Horizon carries an impressive payload of military-industrial propaganda in support of the “War on Terror”. But most interesting is Myers’ chapter recollecting the “defining moment” of September 11, which begins thusly:
"My driver, Dan Downey, braked hard at the Pentagon River Entrance, and we jumped from the car. The steps were crowded with men and women fleeing the building, many still coughing from the smoke inside."
From what is this thrilling Doc Savagesque prose meant to distract us?
On September 11, 2001 Air Force General Richard Myers was the Acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and yet his tale of that day begins some time after the Pentagon was officially attacked at 9:38 a.m. What about the 35 minutes after the South Tower was hit, announcing a coordinated operation to the world? What about the 52 minutes after F-15s were finally scrambled from Otis to intercept a hijacked airliner at that moment striking the North Tower?