October 2003
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By Any Means Necessary By William Bowles
When the law gets in the way of policy, for example the illegal export and sale of weapons, breaking the law creates the necessity to keep the operation secret. Enter the conspiracy. And in order to pursue its objectives outside the law, it has to form alliances with criminal organisations, create institutions for laundering the… Continue reading
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Snared on the Web By William Bowles
The latest attack on freedom of speech might not bother non-Americans but the State Department’s move to add Websites to its list of “Blocked Persons, Specially Designated Nationals, Specially Designated Terrorists, Specially Designated Global Terrorists, Foreign Terrorist Organizations, and Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers” should. Continue reading
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Will he, wont he? Go, that is By William Bowles
The Ides of March have come a little earlier than usual. The notorious and racist right-wing Tory cabal, otherwise known as the 1922 Committee, fed up with Ian Duncan Smith’s wimpy ‘liberal’ programme have finally managed to whip up enough hysteria to challenge IDS for the leadership of the Tory Party. So barring a miracle,… Continue reading
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Bovines of Mass Destruction By William Bowles
Of course the drug of choice for the great majority of the American public is beef and it surely was only a matter of time before BMDs finally found their mark, smuggled into every American home in the shape of the innocuous hamburger, in a terrorist campaign that truly dwarfs the efforts of Osama and… Continue reading
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And here’s another thought… By William Bowles
Although the Labour government denies that the takeover of the privatised rail maintenance contracts by the government-owned Network Rail is re-nationalisation, it admits that the reason is the vast savings that will be realised as a result, something like 25% of the current cost. It’s also got to do with the complete balls-up the various… Continue reading
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Jim Crow UK-style By William Bowles
Ten years after the Lawrence inquiry into the death of a young black man and the failure of the police and the prosecuting authorities to bring anyone to book, concluded that the police was “institutionally racist”, a description that can be extended to every aspect of the British state and its institutions. Continue reading
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Information Clearing House Archive October 2003 Part 3
October 2003 — Information Clearing House Archive [From the Archives. I’ve been archiving ICH digests since 2003. Unfortunately, an unknown number of the links are now dead, so I can’t guarantee that the link will take you where you want to go. WB] For the Month of October 2003 – Part 3 Ex-Aide: Powell Misled Americans: Continue reading
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Now here’s a thought… By William Bowles
21 October 2003 The UK is de-industrialising at a rapid rate, yet the bulk of its exports are manufactured goods. As it’s cheaper to export manufacturing to ‘developing’ countries, UK factories are closing down, and newer, more efficient and cheaper plants are being built abroad. Continue reading
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Iran: Two lies and why By William Bowles
These two lies are historically connected via the role Iran used to play in the Cold War and of course because of its possession of oil, lots of oil. And like Iraq and its changing role in the making of our current reality, Iran’s relationship to the West has changed to suit whatever policies of… Continue reading
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Plato Rules Okay! By William Bowles
The core of the Straussian vision of the world is based on the idea that there are the rulers and the ruled – not a new idea by any means – and that this is a ‘natural state’ of affairs. Most of us are just too venal to be trusted with the responsibilities of governing. Continue reading
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When thieves fall out By William Bowles
The real danger inherent in the Bush imperium’s strategy, is the threat to what’s left of US democracy after it’s been subjected to the depredations of the military-industrial clique and its parallel attack on the nation’s civil liberties. It points to the fact that without a massive campaign of lies, the American public would never… Continue reading
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Listen to your ancestors By William Bowles
This essay was triggered by a play on the radio by Margaret Buzby about the Ashanti rebellion in what is now Ghana, at the turn of the 19th century, seen largely through the eyes of Queen Asentewas who led the rebellion. At the end, defeated and old, she is exiled to the Seychelles along with… Continue reading
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Amateurs at Empire By William Bowles
It could be argued that the US emperium has bitten off more than it can chew but it’s even worse than that. They are rank amateurs at empire-building who are now faced with the insurmountable problem of effectively administering a country they claim to have liberated but which in reality has been occupied but without… Continue reading
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Book Review: The best democracy money can buy By William Bowles
In the grand tradition of Hunter S Thompson, Palast’s book is witty, irreverent and written from the hip, as if he’s running out of time, or out the door. I got breathless reading it. Continue reading
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Life’s a Roundup By William Bowles
There’s no doubting that the accumulation of wealth (and the power that inevitably goes with it) has all the hallmarks of a disease, or a fetish as K Marx described it. And as anyone with a fetish knows, money and power is powerful stuff, an addiction as strong as crack cocaine, perhaps even stronger because… Continue reading
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With friends like these… By William Bowles
Did Israel try to trigger WWIII with the attack on the USS Liberty in 1967? Continue reading
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Neo-con or just plain ol’ imperialism unleashed? By William Bowles
What is a neo-con and what are the objectives of the so-called neo-conservative agenda? Most importantly, do their policies represent a radical departure from previous US strategy and if so, how and why? Continue reading
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Information Clearing House Archive October 2003 Part 2
October 2003 — Information Clearing House Archive [From the Archives. I’ve been archiving ICH digests since 2003. Unfortunately, an unknown number of the links are now dead, so I can’t guarantee that the link will take you where you want to go. WB] For the Month of October 2003 – Part 2 Turkey marches boldly Continue reading
The New Dark Age 