I’m noticing that people aren’t striding down the aisles in the Safeway of late. They’re pausing in front of the soup with little wrinkly frowns on their foreheads.

Dear Ones, Please spread this far and wide. Also, call/write your local and national representatives and free press to, via neutralizing the suffocating self censorship of the accomplice Press and Media, neutralize the attempts to start another catastrophic war with the most peaceful and civilized nation on the face of the earth. Please read the news in Le Monde of the excavated glorious first ancient (~1500 years earlier than Persian and Greek [Romans]) democracy in Iran [near Birjand around the Halil-rood] of which ancient Roman historians had, then, been remembering of [“the old glorious lost civilization] with admiration. Let us not de-humanize/demonize Iran for short-term/near-sighted “interests” which can be re-gained with a with respect and equal-regard dialogue with Iran. Iran is NOT making Atomic bombs. Murray ***************** Senator Embraces War 1 Minute Video John McCain’s chart-topping single “Bomb Iran” http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19687.htm === “The victor will never be asked if he told the truth”: Adolf Hitler = “that until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned; that until there is no longer any first-class and second-class citizens of any nation; that until the color of a man’s skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes; that until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all, without regard to race — until that day, the dreams of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but never attained”: Speech by H.I.M. HAILE SELASSIE I - California 28th February 1968 === “We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security”: Dwight David Eisenhower : 34th president of the United States, 1890-1969 = “I have named the destroyers of nations: comfort, plenty, and security - out of which grow a bored and slothful cynicism, in which rebellion against the world as it is, and myself as I am, are submerged in listless self-satisfaction” : John Steinbeck: American novelist, Nobel Prize for Literature for 1962, 1902-1968 = “The only security for the American people today, or for any people, is to be found through the control of force rather than the use of force” : Norman Cousins: American essayist and editor, long associated with the Saturday Review, 1912-1990 = “Power always has to be kept in check; power exercised in secret, especially under the cloak of national security, is doubly dangerous” : William Proxmire === Officials Confirm Iran’s Role in Truce: Officials in Iran confirmed for the first time Saturday that the country played an important role in brokering a recent truce between the Iraqi government and anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. http://tinyurl.com/6oxo82 === Putin: Iran Should Be Helped, Not Threatened: “No one can seriously think that Iran would dare attack the U.S.,” a source in the Russian delegation at the NATO-Russia summit in Bucharest quoted Putin as telling leaders. “Instead of pushing Iran into a corner, it would be far more sensible to think together how to help Iran become more predictable and transparent.” http://tinyurl.com/5s9elj === Manufacturing Consent For War With Iran • Petraeus says withdrawal from Iraq would drive up gas prices: U.S. withdrawal also could help Al-Qaida establish a base in Iraq for terrorist attacks in the U.S., Petraeus said. “We have an enormous interest in getting this right,” the general added. http://tinyurl.com/43bejd • US war chiefs: Iran’s strategy backfires: Crocker claimed that militias loyal to anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr had alienated many Iraqis, and Iran’s reputation suffered because Iraqis take it as a given that the militias are backed by Iran. http://www.twincities.com/politics/ci_8862807?nclick_check=1 • Petraeus Says Iranian-Backed Groups Are Greatest Threat to Iraq : The so-called “special groups,” which are funded, trained and armed by Iran, played a “destructive role” in the recent clashes between extremist militias and Iraqi government forces in Basra and Baghdad, Petraeus said http://tinyurl.com/44m6tv === Iranian Government Slams US Over Fresh Iraq Accusations: “This report indicates that despite the surge, whose result has been more killing, the Americans have not been able to reach their announced goals in Iraq,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said in a statement. http://tinyurl.com/42xm8s === Manufacturing Consent For War With Iran • Matthew Rothschild: Petraeus Prepares the Battlefield for Iran: I watched much of General Petraeus’s testimony. And what jumped out at me were the bellicose comments he made about Iran. http://www.progressive.org/mag_wx040808 === Manufacturing Consent For War With Iran • Experts, Senators Diverge Over Ways to Impose Tougher Sanctions on Iran: Despite the December 2007 National Intelligence Estimate that concluded Iran had halted part of its nuclear weapons program, there was no question the country was pursuing nuclear weapons!!!. http://public.cq.com/docs/cqt/news110-000002700234.html === Iran’s Ahmadinejad rejects criticism of nuclear programme: “Who do they think they are? They are no longer the owners of the world,” Ahmadinejad said. http://tinyurl.com/3vn8fg === Manufacturing Consent For War With Iran Netanyahu: • Iran’s nuclear armament will aid Islamic terror : “Iran’s nuclear armament poses an existential threat to Israel, because it will provide a ‘nuclear umbrella’ to fundamentalist Islamic terror,” Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3529763,00.html • Netanyahu ‘We won’t be able to deter nuclear Iran’: “Iran will be the first nuclear state in history against which deterrence won’t work, even if the deterrent is nuclear,” opposition leader and Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu said http://tinyurl.com/62ywnx === ‘Jimmy Carter planning to meet Mashaal’ : Former US president Jimmy Carter is planing to visit Syria in April and meet with exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, the London-based daily Al-Hayat reported Wednesday http://tinyurl.com/4svnxa === Syria arrests Saudi official tied to Mughniyeh death: Syria has arrested a Saudi official in connection with the assassination of top Hizbullah commander Imad Mughniyeh, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported Tuesday http://tinyurl.com/4wuwvv === Manufacturing Consent for war with Iran Iran Joined Militias in Battle for Basra By Sarah Baxter and Marie Colvin IRANIAN forces were involved in the recent battle for Basra, General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, is expected to tell Congress this week. Military and intelligence sources believe Iranians were operating at a tactical command level with the Shi’ite militias fighting Iraqi security forces; some were directing operations on the ground, they think. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19679.htm === British Fear US Commander is Beating the Drum for Iran Strikes By Damien McElroy Foreign Affairs Correspondent British officials gave warning yesterday that America’s commander in Iraq will declare that Iran is waging war against the US-backed Baghdad government. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19678.htm === Khalil Regrets Toppling Statue of Saddam By AFP “If history can take me back, I will kiss the statue of Saddam Hussein which I helped pull down,” Khalil told reporters on the fifth anniversary of the statue’s toppling. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19701.htm === Yes, The Occupation Has Begun. This Was Media Manipulation on a Grand Scale? - In Case You Missed It - The photographs tell the story… http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article2842.htm === Not All Milk And Honey By Seth Freedman A group of Zionist teenagers decide to challenge their own beliefs and find out what life is like for Israeli Arabs. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19704.htm === How Can Criticism of Israel Be Stoped? By Alan Hart By labeling it as anti-Semitism, or so supporters of Israel right or wrong believe. This has always been Zionism’s game but now the U.S. State Department, no doubt under immense pressure from the Zionist lobby and its Christian fundamentalist allies, is playing it, too. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19703.htm === The Fading American Economy Government Is The Largest Employer By Paul Craig Roberts According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US economy lost 98,000 private sector jobs in March, half of which were in manufacturing. Today 13,643,000 Americans are employed in manufacturing, of which 9,849,000 are production workers. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19702.htm === In Case You Missed it Jim Rogers: Abolish The Federal Reserve 10 Minute Video Somebody at CNBC, billed as “America’s business channel,” made a mistake. They allowed Jim Rogers, investor and buddy to George Soros, to get on and slam the Federal Reserve. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19705.htm === Honouring The ‘Unbreakable Promise’ By John Pilger On my wall in London is a photograph I have never grown tired of looking at. Indeed, I always find it thrilling to behold. You might even say it helps keep me going. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19706.htm === Basra: What Reporters Omitted and Fabricated: The latest battles in Basra, Iraq’s largest city and a vital oil port, provide ample examples of misleading and manipulative practice in corporate journalism today. One commonly used tactic is to describe events using self-styled or “official” terminology, which deliberately confuses the reader by giving no real indication or analysis of what is actually happening. http://tinyurl.com/3n2pcv === CIA ‘sent prisoners to Jordan’ : The CIA secretly transferred at least 14 ‘war on terror’ suspects to Jordan for interrogation and torture, a leading rights group says http://tinyurl.com/6l6jft === IMF warns of US recession : The International Monetary Fund has warned that the United States will tip into a “mild recession” later this year, with only a “gradual recovery” in 2009. http://tinyurl.com/5ssf4g === IMF Approves Selling 400 Tons Of Gold: The executive board of the International Monetary Fund has approved the sale of some 440.3 tons of its gold supplies in a wide-ranging financial overhaul and to replenish its depleting coffers. http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7010571641 === Israel, U.S. plan to release details on Syria attack : Details of the attack are likely to be revealed by senior Bush administration officials during hearings before Congress. Advisers to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Yoram Turbowicz and Shalom Turjeman, discussed the issue last week in Washington with senior U.S. intelligence officials http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/971914.html === Hezbollah No. 2: IDF drills are preparation for war on Lebanon : Sheik Naim Kassem also warned Sunday that the Islamic militant group was fully ready to defend Lebanon if Israel attacks again. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/972141.html === Bush fails to win over Putin on missile shield: President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed in talks Sunday to reconcile differences on a planned U.S. missile defense system but agreed a “strategic framework” guiding future U.S.-Russia relations http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23977927/ === Russia to fly 20-30 strategic patrol missions every month - Russia is set to drastically increase its number of strategic aviation patrol flights over the world’s oceans to 20-30 a month, the Air Force commander said on Friday. “We will be making 20-30 flights a month, not two or three, as was the case until recently,” Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin said. http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080404/103759263.html === Al-Qa’eda doesn’t kill the innocent, says second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri: Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qa’eda’s second in command, has defended the group’s terror tactics and insisted that Osama bin Laden is in good health http://tinyurl.com/2wgfyt === Permissible Assaults Cited in Graphic Detail By Dan Eggen Could the president, if he desired, have a prisoner’s eyes poked out? Or, for that matter, could he have “scalding water, corrosive acid or caustic substance” thrown on a prisoner? How about slitting an ear, nose or lip, or disabling a tongue or limb? What about biting? http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19681.htm === If Americans Knew Must watch 5 minute video It’s not a coincidence that Pro-Israel Jewish Americans, like Eliot Abrams, Dennis Ross, and Martin Indyk, are usually appointed in charge of Middle East policy, especially the Israeli Palestinian conflict. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19688.htm === McCain’s “War On Terror” Remix Pepe Escobar 5 Minute Video report The Real News Network does a first take on McCain’s foreign policy. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19690.htm === Duped by Sen. John McCain By David Sirota I’ll admit it: I used to admire John McCain. To paraphrase the UFO poster from “The X Files,” I wanted to believe. Specifically, I wanted to believe the guy talking tough about campaign finance reform was committed to getting money out of politics. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19685.htm === Preventing the Rise of a ‘Messiah’ By Jonathan David Farley The US government’s efforts to discredit Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders illustrate the lengths to which it will go to stifle left-wing movements. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19689.htm === Evidence Grows of U.S. Use Of Drug On Prisoners By Jeff Stein, CQ National Security Editor There can be little doubt now that the government has used drugs on terrorist suspects that are designed to weaken their resistance to interrogation. All that’s missing is the syringes and videotapes. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19680.htm === The Green Light By Phillippe Sands The Bush administration’s highest-ranking lawyers argued for extreme interrogation techniques, circumventing international law, the Geneva Conventions, and the army’s own Field Manual. The attorneys would even fly to Guantánamo to ratchet up the pressure-then blame abuses on the military. Philippe Sands follows the torture trail, and holds out the possibility of war crimes charges. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19682.htm === Fed Up: Bernanke joins G-7 to Stem Global Financial Meltdown By Mike Whitney The term “subprime” is a red herring; it is used by the media to minimize what is really going on. The meltdown in financing extends across the entire range of mortgage-security products. No loan-type has been spared. The wholesale market for anything connected to mortgages is frozen and the details are being intentionally withheld from the public. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19683.htm === Buddy, Can You Spare a Billion? By Dana Milbank Meet Alan Schwartz, welfare recipient. As the chief executive of Bear Stearns, he’s getting rather more public assistance than your typical welfare mom — specifically, $30 billion in federal loan guarantees to help J.P. Morgan Chase take over his firm. But then, Schwartz has had rather more than his share of suffering of late. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19691.htm === At least 54 killed in another bloody day of US occupation: 22 people were killed and 55 wounded in clashes between U.S., Iraqi soldiers and gunmen in the Shi’ite Sadr city district of eastern Baghdad, police said. The U.S. military said a helicopter air strike had killed nine “criminals” in the area, giving no more details. http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL0632767520080406 === Iraqis angered by Blackwater contract renewal: In spite of the criminal probe, the State Department announced on Friday the firm’s contract to protect U.S. personnel in Baghdad would be renewed. http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL0559760920080405 === IDF shell kills Palestinian 5-year-old in Gaza: A 5-year-old Palestinian boy was killed on Sunday when an Israel Occupation Forces shell exploded near his home in the al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/972180.html === Hamas official: Israel refused offers for temporary cease-fire : Food Riots Kill At Least Four, Dozens Injured In Haiti: Violence engulfed different parts of Haiti for the last two days over the rising food prices including rice, fruits and beans that have surged by more than 50 percent over the last 12 months in the region. http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7010546869 === Food riots fear after rice price hits a high: It was last updated at 00:03 on April 06 2008. A global rice shortage that has seen prices of one of the world’s most important staple foods increase by 50 per cent in the past two weeks alone is triggering an international crisis, with countries banning export and threatening serious punishment for hoarders. http://tinyurl.com/5npokv === Bankruptcies Jump 30% in March, Led by Housing-Bust States : The jump in March bankruptcy filings is another indication the U.S. economy is in recession, led by states where the housing boom turned to bust. The more than 90,000 bankruptcy filings in March were the highest since insolvency laws became more restrictive in October 2005 http://tinyurl.com/5ol2pj === Foreclosure Machine Thrives on Woes : A small army of law firms and default servicing companies, who represent mortgage lenders, have been raking in mounting profits. These little-known firms assess legal fees and a host of other charges, calculate what the borrowers owe and draw up the documents required to remove them from their homes. http://tinyurl.com/5bcdj4 === Skybus Ends Service, Third Airline to Fold This Week: Skybus Airlines Inc., a U.S. low- fare carrier that started operations less than a year ago, stopped service today, the third airline to shut down this week as fuel costs soared and the economy slowed. http://tinyurl.com/6crpk6

OUr fixed income is definitely not going as far as it used to — eating out less, postponed an RV trip to ALaska with friends due to gas prices . We have to save up longer to afford the trip. We live in a rural county and I shop a lot online, but recently have tried harder to find what I need locally to support my neighbors and local merchants.

The price of gas is skyrocketing, but the oil companies are still getting millions in government supports and are recording record profits. The House of Representatives passed a bill to cut these supports, but it died in the Senate. Who’s fooling who? I know that we are electing a new president this year - but maybe we should seriously vote in untainted senators who won’t be pressured by or take monies from oil companies and lobbyists involved in big oil. At what point will we in society finally put our foot down and get some relief? The price of diesel is pushing food prices through the roof. I can’t believe that this is 2008 and nothing can be done to lower prices. The rich get richer and the rest of us go without more and more.

Very telling downward turns in labor and manufacturing since Dec ‘07; the credit markets are STILL a mess and the Fed and Treasury are throwing everything at them, including the, now, real possibility that they’ll outrightly buy mortgages; consumer confidence indicators are very, very low; falling dollar, generally ever since gold left the building, and by definition can only mean inflation to Americans; the changed rules of international business competition are really starting to coming home to roost in America now, like never before, etc., etc.-oh and my Cream O Land milk costs enough now that I put less in my late night splurge of some sugar cereal (laughing).

All the media outlets and everyone in the government are being very careful not to ‘scare’ us. Like we are children who can’t take the reality of the situation. So, they talk about “a possible recession.” It’s an insult to our intelligence and a complete give-away. Most Americans, in one way or another, are already knee-deep into the recession.

Paper stock market profits are melting away..luckily, I know that it’s all Monopoly money until there is a sale

We put our house in the market 2 years ago and couldn’t sell it. Small Southern towns were I live have been in a recession for at least 5 years. People are just not poor here they are desperately poor.

It simply asounds me that some people are still asking the question, “Do you think we’re really in Recession?”. When something is soooo completely obvious, why would we ask if it is there, right in front of us? Like you, I see the signs in every moment of my life. Front and center is the fact that I can no longer keep my home without the full support of my 23 year old son living with me, sharing expenses. How grateful am I? Hugely grateful! Piece by piece, bit by bit, the country has been taken over by the “bank”. I knew it was coming when I was in my 20’s and saw how powerful the insurance companies were becoming. Wise as they are, big business has easily grasp our throats and is choking us to death with 25MM dollar CEO’s and boards of directors who want to make as much as they can, and now! Americans have sat idly by, not really catching on to the sneeky little b……. until their wallets starting taking a super hit. Now it hurts. Write to your Congress and Reps, and get busy taking back control of our country. We should be the ones in charge here. Not the rich white men. And yes, I am a white woman. Even I know a scam when I see one.

While the Bush family and the oil companies make out like the bandits they are, the price of gas has affected purchasing power, particularly in the poor who are struggling literally just to survive while the prices of everything including and especially food spiral up.

The quarterly statement for my IRA arrived yesterday and I find its value is down 10% in just three months.

I was delighted to see y’all on the Charlie Rose show and learn about this site. I am really noticing the difference in prices of groceries. Planned a lunch out with girlfriends and found the menu prices had risen $1.00 per item in two weeks! It seems like we talk, talk, talk about this but don’t do anything to change it. Why is that???

My money doesn’t stretch anymore! I seen a friend and two relatives lose their homes to foreclosure in the last three years. I debate every purchase, including food and gasoline. This week a new area store opened and they had 1,500 applicants the first day, over 1,000 the second day , and over another 1,000 yesterday. These were not the highest paying jobs. Less than 300 jobs were available with most being part time jobs with no benefits. People are in need here of a fair break. We aren’t asking for a handout but a helpout!

Instead of bad mouthing the oil companies and all the money they make why not buy their stock and get rich too!!!