Clipmarks | ratilfar's 'empire' clips

This is NOT the threat. No Red Dawn for us.

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 04:06:30 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Its just a movie folks and a very campy one at that.

[Video]

Tags: fear, collapse, empire, invasion, 80s, gop, hollywood, ridiculous

New FBI Regulations - Go Ahead And Ignore The 4th Amendment

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 15:26:39 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Well, grab yer guns, cause that the one right you got left! The Revolution starts in 5...4...3...2...1

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Tags: constitution, law, democracy, republic, empire, rubicon, young turks

Rise of the Empire

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:47:20 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Looks familiar, don't it?

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Tags: video, empire, youtube, war, iraq, bush, gop, cops

Captain Blackadder - How did this war start ?

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:54:53 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Same as every war, for some very stupid and greedy reason.

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Tags: blackadder, comedy, fun, funny, true, uk, empire, ww1, youtube, video

Bolivia- Massacre At Pando: 14 Dead By Fascist Militia

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 00:57:58 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Here we go again. Murder across the Rubicon.

Clip Source: tenpercent.wordpress.com

Abiding in Bolivia and Inca Kola News are doing great work reporting on the Bolivian secessionist coup. Between them they report that an ambush in Pando “massacre of El Porvenir”, the assault by gun toting autonomistas on pro-government campesino marchers. As they also note the whorehouse shenanigans and secret meeting should of been covered by the media as it was a lead in to what is happening now, then bang goes the gas pipeline and the expulsion of the US coup plotter/Ambassador and the fascists attacked. Inca Kola translates survivor testimony, right now this is what Bush is supporting being done in Bolivia-

“The road was blocked with trucks from the Prefecture, and there they started to shoot at us. Those that escaped towards the river were chased and were killed at the water’s edge. Some of the survivors that arrived at the Riberalta hospital were (immediately) murdered,” said one of the survivors.

[Video]

Tags: south america, latin america, empire, bolivia, us, rebellion, war, war crimes

Reduced Dominance Is Predicted for U.S.

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 22:37:31 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: In other words, the Empire is in decline.

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

An intelligence forecast being prepared for the next president on future global risks envisions a steady decline in U.S. dominance in the coming decades, as the world is reshaped by globalization, battered by climate change, and destabilized by regional upheavals over shortages of food, water and energy.

The report, previewed in a speech by Thomas Fingar, the U.S. intelligence community's top analyst, also concludes that the one key area of continued U.S. superiority -- military power -- will "be the least significant" asset in the increasingly competitive world of the future, because "nobody is going to attack us with massive conventional force."

"The U.S. will remain the preeminent power, but that American dominance will be much diminished," Fingar said, according to a transcript of the Thursday speech. He saw U.S. leadership eroding "at an accelerating pace" in "political, economic and arguably, cultural arenas."

Tags: empire, us, decline, future, multipolar, military, intelligence

Palin: Iraq is a war for oil

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 14:15:00 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Well color me surprised!

Clip Source: thinkprogress.org

In a recent BusinessWeek interview, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) admitted that she believes the Iraq war was fought because of oil:

We are a nation at war and in many [ways] the reasons for war are fights over energy sources, which is nonsensical when you consider that domestically we have the supplies ready to go.

In May, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) also said that he plans to “eliminate our dependence on oil from the Middle East that will prevent us from having ever to send our young men and women into conflict again in the Middle East.” He later backtracked from his comments, denying that he meant to imply that the Iraq war was fought over oil.

UpdateIn June, Palin told Glenn Beck, "The average Alaskan says again we recognize these reserves being ready to be tapped. … We're ready to contribute more to the U.S. in terms of resources that can lead to a safer nation; and I say this while our nation is at war, while we're fighting, in some sense, over energy supplies."

Tags: palin, gop, war, iraq, oil, empire

Dept. of You Can't Make This $#!& Up! Cheney Edition

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:51:22 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Should have added that the world is only big enough for one Empire at a time, hey Dick!

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

TBILISI, Georgia — Demonstrating Washington's support for war-ravaged Georgia, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney condemned Russia for what he called an "illegitimate, unilateral attempt" to redraw this U.S. ally's borders by force.

Speaking during a closely watched trip to this strategic South Caucasus nation, Cheney also said the United States was "fully committed" to Georgian efforts to join NATO.

"Georgia will be in our alliance," Cheney told reporters while standing alongside Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili.

One of the U.S. administration's most hawkish figures and a longtime critic of Russia, Cheney was visiting Georgia and two other ex-Soviet republics _ Azerbaijan and Ukraine _ that are nervous about Moscow's intentions.

"America will do its duty to work with the governments of Georgia and our other friends and allies to protect our common interests and to uphold our values," Cheney said in the joint appearance with Saakashvili.

Tags: richard bruce cheney, war, international law, criminal, war criminal, georgia, empire, russia

Bush To Russia: Stop The "Bullying And Intimidation"

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 14:42:10 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Another from the Dept. of you can't make this $&#! up! Mr. President, only kids believe in opposite day.

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

WASHINGTON — President Bush on Friday accused Russia of "bullying and intimidation" in its harsh military treatment of Georgia, saying the people in the former Soviet republic have chosen freedom and "we will not cast them aside."

Bush ratcheted up his rhetoric against Moscow as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pursued a diplomatic solution to the week-old crisis. Rice was in Tblisi for talks with pro-Western Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili about details of the cease-fire, which would require Russia to withdraw its combat forces from Georgia but allow Russian peacekeepers to remain in South Ossetia and conduct limited patrols outside the region.

Bush said that Russia, with its air, sea and land attacks in Georgia, had damaged its relations with the United States and other Western powers.

Still, Bush said, "The Cold War is over. The days of satellite states and spheres of influence are behind us."

Tags: bush, putin, u.s., russia, georgia, empire

GOP-ers weigh in on Bush's eight years

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:14:28 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: That may be but the bubble of self-inflicted delusion is alive and well:

"I regard Bush 43 as one of the greatest presidents of the last century, right up there with [Ronald] Reagan, and I have tremendous respect and admiration for what he's done," said Clint Moore, a Texas delegate.

In what parallel universe?

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The looming threat of Hurricane Gustav forced President Bush to cancel his planned valedictory address before the GOP national convention Monday night.

For many delegates gathering here, that's not a bad thing.

Everyone assembled in St. Paul hates the circumstances that forced Bush's absence; concern about Gustav dominated every conversation. But given the deeply conflicted emotions that swirl around the president from within his party, Bush's decision to forgo the occasion saves Republicans an awkward moment.

The view toward Bush from this convention is complex. Some delegates praise him for a job well done. Others nurse resentments over a host of Bush actions — the government's botched and insensitive response to Hurricane Katrina, ironically, is at the top of that list.

But most feel a sense of disappointment for what might have been.

Tags: gop, convention, war, empire, conquest, blood, iraq, idiots

Georgia is the graveyard of America's unipolar world

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:57:19 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Cont...

There has been much talk among western politicians in recent days about Russia isolating itself from the international community. But unless that simply means North America and Europe, nothing could be further from the truth. While the US and British media have swung into full cold-war mode over the Georgia crisis, the rest of the world has seen it in a very different light. As Kishore Mahbubani, Singapore's former UN ambassador, observed in the Financial Times a few days ago, "most of the world is bemused by western moralising on Georgia". While the western view is that the world "should support the underdog, Georgia, against Russia ... most support Russia against the bullying west. The gap between the western narrative and the rest of the world could not be clearer."

And that has the neocons scare witless!

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Russia's defiance in the Caucasus has brought down the curtain on Bush senior's new world order - not before time

If there were any doubt that the rules of the international game have changed for good, the events of the past few days should have dispelled it. On Monday, President Bush demanded that Russia's leaders reject their parliament's appeal to recognise the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Within 24 hours, Bush had his response: President Medvedev announced Russia's recognition of the two contested Georgian enclaves.

The Russian message was unmistakable: the outcome of the war triggered by Georgia's attack on South Ossetia on August 7 is non-negotiable - and nothing the titans of the US empire do or say is going to reverse it. After that, the British foreign secretary David Miliband's posturing yesterday in Kiev about building a "coalition against Russian aggression" merely looked foolish.

Tags: russia, us, empire, georgia, history, hegemony

Coming Soon: A Post-American World

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 16:56:02 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Get used to it!

Clip Source: www.cbsnews.com

Consider the Olympic Games a giant exclamation point … a fanfare announcing a message from the Chinese.

They're putting the world on notice, that they are players playing to win, and not just Olympic gold. They want you to know that China is a power to be reckoned with, and proud of it, that it's bearing down on the United States … fast.

"The implications are that China will be the commercial leader of the world," Albert Keidel, an expert on China's economy, told Teichner. "It will also deserve and demand leadership in global institutions."

"We can model the economy and show that by 2035, it will be as big, if not bigger than the United States' economy will be at that time, and by the middle of the century it will be twice the size of the U.S. economy at that time," Keidel said.

Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International, said, "What's happening right now is, the world is moving beyond America. The future is, in many ways, being shaped in distant places by foreign people."

Tags: us, world, china, economy, multi, polar, empire, end

War on Terror boardgame branded criminal by police

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:47:38 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Idiotic police. Sounds like a great game.

Clip Source: www.independent.co.uk

It may not be fun for all the family – well, not in the same way as Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit or Mousetrap, say. The themes of empire building and terrorist-style attacks on opponents would probably provoke an outbreak of spluttering over the Christmas sherry.

It is rare, however, for a board game to be seized by the police. This week that distinction befell War on Terror: The Boardgame; a set was confiscated from climate protesters in Kent.

Following a series of raids on the climate change camp near Kingsnorth power station, officers displayed an array of supposed weapons snatched from demonstrators: knives, chisels, bolt cutters, a throwing star – and a copy of the satirical game, which lampoons Washington's "war on terror".

For the game's creators, Andrew Sheerin and Andy Tompkins, web designers from Cambridge, the inclusion of their toy was a shock.

Tags: uk, police, idiots, war on terror, boardgame, fun for the whole family

Plucky little Georgia? No, the cold war reading won't wash

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 20:37:30 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: All is not what is what it looks like....

Cont:

Devoted to achieving Nato entry for Georgia, Saakashvili has sent troops to Iraq and Afghanistan - and so clearly felt he had American backing. The streets of the Georgian capital are plastered with posters of George W Bush alongside his Georgian protege. George W Bush avenue leads to Tbilisi airport. But he has ignored Kissinger's dictum: "Great powers don't commit suicide for their allies." Perhaps his neoconservative allies in Washington have forgotten it, too. Let's hope not.

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

For many people the sight of Russian tanks streaming across a border in August has uncanny echoes of Prague 1968. That cold war reflex is natural enough, but after two decades of Russian retreat from those bastions it is misleading. Not every development in the former Soviet Union is a replay of Soviet history.

The clash between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia, which escalated dramatically yesterday, in truth has more in common with the Falklands war of 1982 than it does with a cold war crisis. When the Argentine junta was basking in public approval for its bloodless recovery of Las Malvinas, Henry Kissinger anticipated Britain's widely unexpected military response with the comment: "No great power retreats for ever." Maybe today Russia has stopped the long retreat to Moscow which started under Gorbachev.

The more Russia drew in its horns, the more Washington and its allies denounced the Kremlin for its imperial ambitions.

Tags: georgia, russia, war, empire, nato, u.s.

Iraq Faulty Wiring A Severe Risk To US Troops: Report

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:28:24 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: If the insurgents don't kill you, KBR will!

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

NEW YORK — Inferior electrical work by private contractors on U.S. military bases in Iraq is more widespread than the Pentagon has acknowledged, according to a published report.

A Senate panel investigating the electrocutions of Americans on bases in Iraq was told last week by former KBR Inc. electricians that the contractor used employees with little electrical expertise to supervise subcontractors in Iraq and hired foreigners who couldn't speak English. The Pentagon has said 13 Americans have been electrocuted in Iraq since September 2003. It has ordered Houston-based KBR to inspect all the facilities it maintains in Iraq for electrical hazards.

During just one six-month period _ August 2006 through January 2007 _ at least 283 electrical fires destroyed or damaged American military facilities in Iraq, including the military's largest dining hall in the country, according to the documents obtained by the Times.

Tags: iraq, war, kbr, contractors, stupidity, negligence, criminal, tax payers, theft, empire