Dori Smith on OccupyWallStreet, part 3, Wall Street in Motion

Dori Smith on OccupyWallStreet, part 3, Wall Street in Motion

(See also parts 1 and 2, and coming up soon on Talk Nation Radio, an interview with David Swanson about Occupywallstreet and why he will be in Washington D.C. in October 2011.

A Day at the Races, apologies to Groucho Marx
8:10 a.m. October 3, 2011:

The horses are in the starting gate after prancing up and down and chomping at the bit. Their spirits seem high. Yet, what is happening in the news about “futures” and Greek debt? Plus how’s the U.S. Super Committee set up to implement America’s austerity programs doing?

News teams that cover Wall Street are steering clear of the U.S. side of things. Congress isn’t exactly succeeding, but more shuffling around the paddock, as the horse’s grooms are preparing to try to calm things down a bit, feed them more oats and corn from the nation’s fat reserves..some of the more feisty members of the House and Senate may use some old racetrack tricks. They may drug things some by agitating. Or, they could bring the mares out of the stable to entice the stallions on the track. --This is as good a description as any for what happens on Wall Street between 7:00 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. when markets officially open in Eastern Standard Time.

The Gold and Silver ETF's are going up as much as a dollar and a half over all of the excitement. They include GLD, SLV, IAU, SVM, and many others. People may be actually poised over the 'track', the trading platforms they store in their computers. (Photo by KentuckyDerby.com) (Postscript... if you have managed to pull up Kitco.com's real time charts you know that Gold and Silver are retreating again... At 10:42 it looks like this is nothing but a bump on the screen, as traders say. A blip, a hiccup, a fake out. Hope you didn't lose any of your retirement money.)

One thing we can know for sure. A trade war has started between East and West, and throughout Europe, that will impact the globe. Lots of horses, (corporations, online trading houses, mining firms, and small businesses) could be sent back to the stable or put out to pasture entirely. The hedge funds will be stabilizing their gigantic assets into a holding pattern. Some will continue to rake in profits from contrary funds like the VIX, volatility index. During 2008 it shot up to $100.00. Right now its half way there.

For trade houses, Goldman Sax, and major global banks, plus the markets themselves, the index trade houses, markets are ALWAYS open. If they want to spruce up the economy on a given day they all share the same inner peace over the idea that well, they can ALWAYS RAISE the PRICE OF OIL by a few bucks and kick start the horses, get out the whip, until they begin to bolt up up and away...

So what is really going on though? In the news we see evidence of pure fear in the markets. That despite the tentative efforts of some trade analysts we heard from over the week end who claimed the "worst was over for Greece" and markets. Now some of the analysts are also saying that Gold has found it's "bottom". Who is right? Who is wrong? Nobody really knows for sure, and so the trading begins as average people search out the right answers for their own failing bank accounts.

There is a headline up on Market Watch this a.m.. It reads: "Greek deficit and gold in the spotlight". The crowd at the track twists their heads around as one to read it. Will that mean further drops in the US market toward the record we saw in 2008? Potentially, it will. Greece could actually head into "default" officially, though some believe it is a kind of default to get that close to complete economic failure.

Meanwhile, Bank of America had trouble with their web page. Was it a trial run? Were they trying to prevent the crowd from rushing to get their money as the bank begins to list like the Titanic? More of an update at 9:30.

Hi Ho Gold and Silver to the Rescue?

The truth about the precious metals is ever elusive. No one ever knows at any split second in time what their value will be because it is all speculative, it all depends on investing, not real value. For some of the analysts, they believe it has to go up because so many of the world's horses, traders, are ready to burst out of the gate and pop it up. They WANT it to go up. They could WILL IT TO GO UP.

Possibly Gold and Silver have probably reached a temporary low as the news cycle begins anew on the first day of the month. Equally possible... the price of oil stays below 80.00. Gold and Silver tank downward.

In China, there are efforts to lower growth and punch up inflation. Sound crazy? It's a tactic and the USA is engaging in it as well. These are efforts to stabilize economies. Meanwhile members of Congress are offering a solution. Just tell the Chinese they have to stop keeping their currency values "artificially low" as a way to provide cheaper costs for U.S. buyers of goods. That wrinkle could affect currency markets and the price of Gold and Silver today. The reason is complicated, but on any given day the world's most frightening super computers will be trading in currency values at the speed of light, or something close. World monetary systems will heave and crack open in big earthquake like movements, but it is all typically for the beginning of a month. Furthermore, the Chinese backed their currency with Gold a few months back. Didn't know about that? Well during the time they were accumulating the precious metal it nearly topped $2,000. Then came the "short sell" and prices went down $300.000. Many see the price as leveling off this week.

Mining companies have expanded to the extent that their stock values may actually be falling, that according to Kitco.com's news page where you can see a chart that moves in "real" time along with Gold, Silver, Platinum and Palladium prices as well as Copper prices.

Some of the larger stables have abruptly reported some BUY OUTS of other stables.. Carlyle Group is to buy Pharmaceutical Product Development Inc. at a per share price that would normally send traders rushing to buy buy buy. But trade is closed. Carlyle Group has loads of friends who are now getting in on the "inside" track, and they can buy while everybody else is shut out. Their stock ticker, PPDI, shot up 26%, but most people had no way of profiting. It seems likely that Carlyle Group itself managed to buy, and help others buy, at a key moment in the company's history. Now they could push the stock back down... it's all part of the game. Bodies lying on the ground, financially speaking, are no big deal to the world. But, do you think this could have anything at all to do with the present drug shortage that has led doctors in Massachusetts to ration a Calcium compound necessary for normal metabolism....and a lifesaving drug for premature infants? We will see how much worse things can get in the health care 'industry' before it's all over).

A Chinese interest offered to buy Yahoo this morning, and the company's stock went up about half a buck. Soon, however, came the news that Yahoo had entered into an agreement with ABC to provide combined news and information as well as video.

These news releases are all planned. The buy offer caused Yahoo to jump, and those working for the company on the global markets hoped that would give things a boost during the all important pre market trading hours when the market is being set up to rise or fall. Set up is a good word to use for those small investors hoping to catch a break. They want to avoid falling for a set up, but they have no way of knowing which story is true, or near the mark, or completely ridiculous. Reporting on stocks is a form of 'poker' journalism. They could be telling the truth about their "hand" or "bluffing", either way, nobody is ever going to hold them accountable for providing information that costs investors millions.

9:45: When you study the global markets you can see immediately what the problem is for New York today other than the visitors at Liberty Plaza. Oil has fallen from 78.00 to 77.00 bucks. The Hang Seng fell nearly four and a half percent over fears that Hong Kong's major banks were not solvent. In Japan the Nikkei went down some more. It had already collapsed after the March tsunami and nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daiichi. London's markets fell over 100 pounds but the jazzing up of the numbers has begun. It is 9:40 a.m. in Connecticut. What we are seeing is a calculated use of capital to buy up shares and keep prices from falling. There are people known as "market managers" flailing about in New York City and before the week is out some of them may pick up the keys to the trader's lounge, box up a few documents, and run outside into Liberty Plaza with open arms. The park and its OccupyWallStreet movement is the real "safe haven" in a global economic crisis where those created by speculative traders have fallen off a cliff.

This piece at techpresident.com by Micah L. Sifry, October 1, 2011, provides a good overview of Occupywallstreet and their growing national movement. In coffee shops and malls, at factory break rooms, and smoker's huddles outside the door of social service agency offices.... people are talking about the folks who dropped what they were doing and showed up at the heart of the nation's financial crisis, Wall Street. It is 2011, a year that the world's market movers and shakers will tell their grandchildren about.


10:15 a.m. ET WAIT! Hold on to your bet tickets, a few of the horses are nearly half way round the track and there are some surprises today. Some of the younger colts have become energized over a rising manufacturing index... its only a fraction, the older veteran runners would sneeze at it, but these young boys are hot for victory. The Dow jumps up $33.00, and wait someone in the oil industry just put in a magic oil dollar! oil up from 77.00 and the Dow is rising to $41.00 and now $51 and upward!! Vwalla! It's just after ten in the morning at Wall Street and they managed another fake out. Traders are in heaven now, they can manipulate their shorts (not those shorts) and actually make a few bucks off of the heat coming off of the track. Stimulation, as well as growth, keep all of this going. Sometimes they have to pump it up, artificially, and its definitely one of those days.

By 1:30 we may see another $100.00 or even $300.00 dollar drop. Who knows? The excitement has people drinking coffee and stuffing their pockets with bet cards. During the past few years a Military PR man nicknamed Bing West, took a bunch of Marines to Wall Street for a visit. They came away saying, hey, this is where the real war is going on. Still, it seems so predictable. Some people win, they're on the inside track, some people lose, this goes on day after day, and in the end things always go up or at least stabilize right? I'm not so sure, and neither are a whole lot of people. From my point of view this is all leading to disaster for societies all over the globe. But the horses will keep running, and the numbers will be manipulated, and the tickers will move... and most of the capital will wind up in the coffers of the hedge fund managers and speculators who know what's really going on. (P.S., the Marines are now at Occupywallstreet, and they say they want to protect the protesters, a rallying cry that the Tea Party supporters paying attention to the issue were happy to pick up and run with...there will be a lot of that going on as people try to 'own' this movement, though it seems the core group engaging in the Occupywallstreet protests have little interest in being defined by any of the usual political terms. They have broken free from the chains of debate framers in Washington and elsewhere, and are reclaiming the language of protest, as they reclaim the territory on the streets of New York and other U.S. cities.)

More at 1:30 P.M. ET, expect to see more language about how the ISM manufacturing index numbers have "soothed" and yet "stimulated" and helped the U.S. Stock Market on Wall Street. For the trading world it's the equivalent of Reverend Billy singing out "Revalleluia". Everybody smiles. Everybody smiles. The loading up of ammo for the Tues/Wed shoot up has just gotten started. Traders are accumulating. Soon there could be a recovery, and a crash... in that order.

1:30 P.M. ET Markets trending downward, large blue chip companies on the Dow (-222) and also stocks on the Nasdaq, (-60) and S&P 500, (down -24) are "in the red" as they say on Wall Street. Gold and Silver are about the same or lower too. And then there is the 'other' Wall Street, the one that is part of the whole universe of investing globally, and that is the Wall Street that is impacted hour by hour as the "Global Dow" moves up or down. Like Oil, the prices on the "Global Dow" are a big indicator (indices) for what might be coming up in the U.S. stock, bond, commodities, and even currency numbers. We are fully globalized, and those traders who make U.S. markets move must constantly look at global indices for information about what to do.

The hiccup in America's markets earlier today did inject some capital into London's FTSE and other exchanges in France, Germany, and even Asia. Markets moved upward, even if they stayed in the losing realm of the spectrum.
However, by 1:40 P.M. ET, things had shifted downward. What is the problem for investors? It's the whole picture of defaults, lower values in terms of quarterly earnings, downgrades by ratings agencies like Standard and Poors, but it is mainly because the price of oil has fallen some more and that is also keeping Gold and Silver prices down. If you go to one of the trading sites on

These are the kinds of daily bail outs that markets give to one another. That's why the Deutsche Börse decided to go ahead and buy the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE on Wall Street! If you didn't know about that don't worry, you are not alone. The story got only a small amount of coverage. Still, given the stakes, and that such mergers and acquisitions in the global markets will likely continue, this story could one day become the lead story of the decade... much like #Occupywallstreet itself!

This is how the significance was summed up by Dealbook, a publication of the NYT. On February 9, 2011, Michael J. De La Merced and Jack Ewing, wrote that, "A merger would potentially let customers trade stocks in New York, options tied to those shares in Paris and derivatives linked to them in Frankfurt. --A combination, after the mergers of other exchanges, would be another illustration of how globalization and technology have changed marketplaces. The New York Stock Exchange is a giant among exchanges, yet in a world of around-the-clock trading and rapid-fire algorithmic programs, its significance to investors has diminished. Once known for chief executives who were prominent cheerleaders for the stock market, the exchange now has a more muted public presence."

In other words, markets would likely be more volatile, America's oldest stock exchange would become less and less influential. As far as I know, no American voted for this change that might impact their retirement funds, nor did they get members of Congress to vote on it for them. There will also be a major shifting of leaders who will affect the markets globally, and in New York. Check out this Wall Street Journal story on what happened during the trade wars recently as Russia's oil "oligarchs" shuffle for power. "At the heart of Boris Berezovsky's lawsuit is an allegation that Mr. Abramovich intimidated him into selling his 21.5% stake in the Russian oil company OAO Sibneft for much less than its real value," notes writer Guy Chazan. Berezoveky wants $5 billion in damages.

These types of battles will be raging over oil and other commodities for the duration of our natural lives. The question is, will we continue to lose all ability to have a voice in what the corporations, and their friends in U.S. governments, do on our behalf? Furthermore, as we see protests in Germany, Greece, France, the UK, Canada, and America, how much can we know at this point about which forces, and in which countries, will dictate the terms of our financial futures?

2:30 P.M. ET: After the a.m. merger activity, the markets sorted out who had the controlling influence for today, October 3, 2011. They decided which news story, which traders, and what monetary forces around the globe, would be leading the markets. We cannot know if it is the news, or the trade activity itself that is leading markets. Stories about defaults in Greece are definitely having impact, but couldn't this be just another cover for another process that is far more predictable... for a certain class of society. The 1 percent, and their super computers.

We used Nasdaq.com, Market Watch, Nightly Business Report, Seeking Alpha, Yahoo Finance, Google Finance, Twitter, Facebook, and Occupywallstreet analysis! We'll take a look at biases such as location, Market Watch is published in Israel by News Corporation, home to the Murdoch family. PBS hosts commercials, and relies on trade analysis from some of the very same companies they are reporting on. Etc. Overall, there is typically a lot of posturing and bluff, with most of the news sites about markets trending positive, even when markets are in deeply negative territory.

And remember what we said in part 1 about Raymond James, how they charged $80.00 for a trade, and didn't necessarily tell people how to buy stocks at the "best" rates of the day or month? Here is their web site just FYI. We are trying to be fair, and not show preference for any company, trade information or news outlet, or online trading service. We can confirm that FINRA, the The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, has in fact fined Raymond James & Associates, Inc. $425,000. The company has been ordered to return some $1.69 million to investors, as excessive commission fees.

See more on SUPER COMPUTERS in Part 4.

Dori Smith on OccupyWallStreet, part 2, Wall Street in Motion

Dori Smith on OccupyWallStreet, part 2, Wall Street in Motion
(coming up soon on Talk Nation Radio, an interview with David Swanson about Occupywallstreet and why he will be in Washington D.C. in October 2011.

It is a schizophrenic ballet. In part 1 we noted that one Here is a report that provides information one might see as the "opposite" to that take. It notes that Greek Budget might fall short of targets on the deficit. That's negative news, right? Not if as we said in part 1, the market might recover in the West on October 3rd because Eurozone money will move from over there, to "over here". That is the "safe haven" investing effect. It is seemingly schizophrenic, but in markets, what is good news for one party is often bad news for another. That is part of what makes markets go up and down, as individual companies and other things of value gain, or lose, share price. (Note that share VALUE is very different, you've got to study balance sheets to grasp that.)

In a report that cites Reuters as a source, the authors at Market Watch say: "Among the measures under consideration was the layoff of 30,000 government workers, according to reports. Greece is seeking a tranche of aid totaling $10.7 billion as part of a larger bailout package received early last year. The money is needed to keep the Greek government running after the middle of October." -- This clarifies what the impacts are on society. The first part of the story clarifies the impact on markets. Never the twain shall meet, in financial terms, not any more.

That is because the market "managers" and the other movers and shakers on Wall Street and in the now globalized system of markets, have set up a Separation Wall. It's like the wall created to separate the Germans, or the Palestinians and Israelis. -- On one side we have those participating in the siphoning of profits. On the other meet the people who are suffering losses.

The language being used to describe events in Greece sound much like the language being used to assert the view that the American people have a "crisis", and "their economy" is slipping, and there is a "debt crisis" going on. If you asked the average person though, they would likely be hard pressed to see their role in events. Still, we generally understand that we are being told that there is not enough money in the treasury to pay for the operations of the government on behalf of the people.

Or is there? And anyway what does that mean? Essentially the capital has been walled off, separated from society, and government 'plus' accounts, and the resource involved, be it money or real estate or gold and silver or corn, wheat or rice, or cattle or pigs or chickens... are all more owned by those leading the market of today than by "we the people" --of the world. We are on one side now, with our slipping retirement accounts. They are on the other. They are securing what they took over the years since 2008, when the used various types of sophisticated global trading methods to separate out our capital from our accounts, place it into theirs, and seal up the wall so we couldn't EVER get it back. Remember, the markets have "recovered" since 2008, right? Thus we should show a profit of some type. But we don't. We have a loss, and a big loss, in most cases, and that is no coincidence, nor is it a matter of what happened in the news, or even in our debt crisis such as it is. That happened TO US because of a calculated effort to actually separate us from our wealth.

The folks gathered in Liberty Park may well be demanding that the government represent them in getting their capital back. Some of these people may have lost their life savings. Others know that there is no longer any way for them to obtain the kind of wealth necessary to retire, purchase health care, send their kids to college, and even feed their families. Their complaint, as I hear it now, is that across the board they are not being noticed any longer. The markets are now operating as if the companies within them are alive, sentient human beings, needing protection, cuddling, and diapering by global citizens who pay taxes to governments. Those governments have gotten increasingly sensitive to the folks whose wealth is walled off in the plus column, on the 'side' with all of the wealth. Instinctively, the people in New York City KNOW THAT.

They know they are watching the kind of ballet where the king and queen live on in fairy tale comfort, while they are given less, and less, and less, of any share of what is valuable.

CREDIT and MARGIN TRADING MADE ALL OF THE THEFT POSSIBLE: Previously we talked about margin calls and trading in options, or futures. Governments and banks have in common with such traders that they always operate "on the margin" to to speak. There is never the exact amount in government bank accounts to pay bills or make things work on perfectly on a balance sheet.

The people have not had an easy time getting credit, and small businesses have struggled to obtain loans. Yet major corporations are FLUSH with cash, and THEY CAN GET ALL THE CREDIT THEY WANT.

Sidebar comment: Governments are being pushed all the time to operate as if they were citizens, not wealth holders worthy of credit. For example, try to imagine if governments were FORCED to maintain exact amounts in resources to pay their bills. Could they pay bills? Of course not. Their balance sheets are usually tilted toward the red, and right now they are wildly in the red with all of that borrowing from China. But imagine if they couldn't provide for citizens ON THE MARGIN, in futures, with credit AT ALL? That would be just like asking the US Postal Service to put enough money in their accounts aside to pay for some 75 years of use of a pension fund. That would be impossible... right? Well of course the US Congress passed that very bill during the Bush and Cheney years.

Bush, Cheney, and various "wealth holder representatives" helped the fabulously wealthy, to get into a position where they could dictate to both societies AND their governments. Governments are really beggars, just like we the people are... and so in their law dictating to Postal Workers, they gave them, and their families, and all of the support staff worldwide that accepts U.S. Mail officially, an impossible task.

Or did they? Not if you ask them. They see things PROFOUNDLY differently. If you can't keep up, sink and go away. If you are a government and you don't have enough savvy or resources to make it? Go away and don't bring THEM down. They are saying that to various EU nations such as Greece... we'd like to do without specifically you...you are not STRONG enough to keep up so go away.

That type of mind set forces corruption into the system because it forces governments to fudge things. Now in the view of some global wealth holders, the bill that helped them merely forced the postal service to get better at fudging things. So what? Everybody fudges now right? The market is a gigantic FUDGE FACTORY and hey, people LOVE sugar. Essentially, they hoped the U.S. Postal service would learn to swim with the sharks or perish, making way for the private sector to step in and allow the operations of mail to become yet another globalized money maker for the monster that has been created amongst hedge funds, large banks, and multinational corporations. They fudge the numbers A LOT and nobody blinks. They also rely on analysts who tell the story of their stock values for them, and those individuals can lie, fudge, all they want to, they are not the company itself. So there are layers and layers of protection. Why the US Postal Service has none of that, so what can it do? Move aside, Bush and Cheney would have argued... make way for the new and better system we are offering you, and which NAFTA and CAFTA and all the AFTA's have supported.

More after my interview with David Swanson, which I'm taping at 7:00 PM. Also kind thoughts to the lovely gals who told me about some local problems at their work place where some workers may lose their jobs just a few weeks before retirement. Shame, but there is hope. Tune in to the news on OccupyWallStreet and be amazed. There IS something to believe in again. It's US. WE CAN WORK TOGETHER. It will also help our smaller companies, the ones where we actually work, if we can help to protect them by demanding that we be protected, looked after, and that the companies can work outside of the constant demands that Wall Street has placed upon them to GROW, SWIM WITH THE SHARKS or perish. That has of course meant cut backs in your hours, your salary, your benefits, and your pension or retirement.... or losing jobs altogether... so that the almighty GROWTH can be displayed for markets.

News TIP: In part 3 we will look at how individual stocks, companies, get advertised beginning at about 4PM Sunday, on the day before markets open on Monday to start a new week and in this case, a new quarter. Trade sites that do "news" on markets begin to tell readers what to "watch" for the following day, and the information goes round the globe in a phenomenal insider trading analysis that can often be so intense that you might ask, "hey is this all legal"? Ironically, even traders joke about all of that now. They KNOW it shouldn't be legal, and they are SHARING A GOOD LAUGH AT US ALL, THOSE OF US FEEDING THEIR BANK ACCOUNTS, HELPING THEM KEEP THEIR JOBS.

Let's say you were watching markets for a good buy. You would look at where stocks have been during the past few years, analyze what you think as to how strong the company is, and chose right? But how would you know whether or not you were buying what the company and its stock is WORTH versus what a given media outlet has told you it was worth? The answer is simple. You could not under any circumstances know. Coming up soon though we will show you how you can get a pretty darned good idea...by watching the trades, even those done on super computers, AS THEY HAPPEN. Meanwhile, check out this stock, for a company named Agilent, which typically does well over the year. Agilent was listed as one of the most often short sold stocks. Thus, super computers, and day traders, large and small, invested low, rode the stock up, and sold high. They used their profits to sell at a point where they predicted the stock would rise to... and at that very moment the big trades occurred slamming the stock back down often as much as five dollars per share in one day. What just happened? The stock was sold short. At a loss for you, maybe, in terms of the stock's value over the long term. A gain for "them". Look at Agilent's history, stretch out the chart to see the long term, and short term, and notice that you can draw a line where the bottom of all the loops go, and at the top too. The stock rises to a certain point, maybe 40 to 50 bucks. It falls to a certain point, maybe 25 to 40 bucks. All of the activity in the middle is window dressing, and for some, it meant the siphoning had been achieved. The capital, the wealth, the value in the stock, had been moved from the negative column for most of us into the plus column for the wealthy of the world and their amazing super computers. Mission accomplished right? See here here and here but don't miss here either. That is the site where Agilent trades in French! Happy researching.

Disclaimer: These are not stock tips. They are just a portrayal of what markets do, of individual stocks, or in general. And hey, I'm not making money right now...?) either.

Dori Smith on OccupyWallStreet, What's Wrong with Global Markets? See also Live Feed from Global Revolution, Brooklyn Bridge in NY occupywallstreet

What's wrong with Global Markets?
Part 1, by Dori Smith, producer of Talk Nation Radio, syndicahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifted nationally with Pacifica Network.
See part 2 here. (coming up soon on Talk Nation Radio, an interview with David Swanson about Occupywallstreet and why he will be in Washington D.C. in October 2011.

Introduction: We are going to be providing real time analysis of what global markets are doing. We hope to show readers and listeners how the markets move and why. As we provide video and audio of the process, we will discuss who is making money at a given moment and how they are doing it. What we have in mind is empowerment for those who have retirement accounts, 401Ks and IRAs, and who may rely on a brokerage firm to "manage" their money. During NPR coverage on November 25, 2008, former hedge fund manager Andy Kessler noted: "In market panics, there are always dislocations because of forced selling. I mean, someone wakes up and their stock is down 50 percent, and their broker calls up and says, you know what, you got a margin call.---You've got to sell half of your position to pay back the loan we gave you to buy those shares, and so there's just this forced selling."

We will learn more about this as we watch trading actually occurring. In the meantime though, trading on the margin is often combined with a short sale and an option trade. In that situation a person is buying a stock based on where it is at in the moment, and where it will likely be on a specific date in the near future. They don't have say 100,000 to trade but they have 50,000. Where they hit their mark, they make enough to cover the "margin" or "loan" they obtained. Where they do not hit their mark, Wall Street taps them on the shoulder and says: "GIVE US YOUR CASH." In that moment Wall Street is like the IRS, or the bank foreclosing on your house. You cannot refuse lest the sheriff come along and force you to surrender your money. You can learn about margin trading here at Nasdaq.com, a site where you can also find out information about stocks that trade on the Nasdaq at Wall Street in New York, NY. There is the Dow, (often called the "big board" with "blue chip" stocks, and the Standard and Poors, S+P 500, See more about them here and here. There is also trade information obtainable from Yahoo and Google as well as other online search engines plus hundreds of web pages. One that we read lately is created by Christopher Martenson, who has his social consciousness pretty much aligned with ours on most topics, his site is here.

News flash! On a global basis the media is setting up trade for October 4, 2011, as an "UP" day. See this story here. This is a page for serious day traders and advanced market staffers who often seek out these types of indicators as ways to see the timing, and what will be given to the public as an explanation for events the following day. These types of stories tend to begin appearing at around 4:00 PM on Sunday... for trade the following Monday. Watch the language in these reports as often key phrases will become repetitive throughout the days news cycle. The "pundit" in question seems located in Florida, and he says that "Eurozone swap spreads and capital flight out of Europe" will account for investment in Western markets. He's saying their loss will be our gain, supposedly.

As of October 2011, the rules may have shifted, even for those working for years under the belief that they are able to predict, manage accounts, offer analysis, at the top of their field in market research. The RULES may no longer apply. We may be witnessing the largest global market stress reaction in history, and that would logically be caused by the advance of internet trading and high speed trading of currencies, Gold and Silver, and securities, or stocks. I will also look at the following site: Market Watch, there are a few writers who seem intent on trying to warn people in advance of potential losses, and they appear to be more "progressive" though for the most part financial sites, trade pages, are all about the way markets move, how individual stocks are doing, and more importantly, how they will do today, tomorrow, and next month.

Several analysts have indicated that the market will likely recover some of the losses generated on the final day of the month, a typical sell day as opposed to a buy day. We'll talk about this "schedule" effect, plus how news can lift markets artificially, plus the deceptions of some trade news web pages, and how the pre-market trading and after-market trading affects your earnings. During these "off" times, you as an individual investor may have zero ability to buy or sell anything. However, large hedge funds and major investment firms plus large investors can trade openly and legally. Your stock or commodity or bond can be bought, sold off, collapsed, during such times, and you will be powerless to do anything about it. Also note that there are markets set up for future IPOs, stock offerings, like the one that Facebook is making. Mostly wealthy investors are buying shares now, and so when you do get the chance to buy shares in Facebook, they will have already run up the price.

WALL STREET IS ANYTHING BUT TRANSPARENT TO THOSE WHOSE LIFE SAVINGS ARE THERE: It is surprising that these firms manage millions of dollars for people, yet tell the actual investors very little about the process they have bought into. We will try to compensate for that flaw in the system where corporations like Raymond James charged $80.00 per trade. For entering some numbers into a computer and clicking "enter" that trader earned a commission of nearly $100.00. Obviously, that siphoned money out of investor's accounts. Worse yet, the traders would not necessarily buy the stock at the best price, that is, not unless the buyer told them that they wanted a "limit order" entered on their behalf. They would buy a stock or bond or ETF, Electronically Traded Fund, at a set price, no higher, no lower. That simple addition to an order would have meant hundreds of dollars in savings for buyers, yet traders were under no obligation to explain this to their customers. Usually they didn't.

In the case of Raymond James at least, private investors, citizens, often had trouble reaching the person they knew and felt that they could trust. He was but one man after all, and they were unsure about what to do until they spoke with him. Meanwhile, their investment might be tanking, falling with the Dow which lost as much as $500.00 in one day's trade last week.

We'll talk about who makes money and look at the problems for average Americans and people in all countries where there are markets. The people are experiencing a sense that they are invisible now when discussions about "the economy" are going on. As banks and corporations get rescued, they lose more and more of their paychecks annually, lose benefits, pensions, and finally their jobs. The government appears to be increasingly blind to their pain.

Meanwhile, governments and corporations seem to be looking the other way as powerful hedge fund managers and "short sell" traders siphon off money. We will take the lid off of the process, and share what we learned over three years of researching global markets.

Finally, we will look at the way the media is used to telegraph trade information to brokers, traders, and individuals, who act in split second buys or sells, thereby coordinating markets daily in vast inside trades.

(From my facebook page) Over the coming days we will be documenting how super computer operators work in sync with media, in the siphoning, and enticing of people to put money in, so they can keep siphoning off your cash right into their accounts. It happens over fractions of a second, as markets go up or down, in all sorts of climates, with all stocks on global markets. It is essentially a feeder stream from your accounts into theirs, a creation of a HUGE vacuum through which they are stealing ALL of the world's wealth including YOURS. Now then, what is to be done about this? Can the US Government stop this process? Several nations have tried to stop one of the key elements of the process, which is short selling. They are reconsidering banning short selling since they learned that it essentially is now the sole process leading markets, oil, gold, and commodities, to rise... Other than their input the markets would remain flat during times of zerhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifo growth. When the whole house of cards in THEIR DECK begin to fall apart, that is when they have to collapse the market again in order to begin again the process of setting up the siphoning off programs, resetting the public mind set, getting all investors and traders and markets set up to start over...with "RESTORED CONFIDENCE" supposedly. All of the corporate media globally works WITH not against this process, though some news people are beginning to understand that the crisis affects them too. We will be documenting what we have learned over the past two years of watching... hope you will tune in

Let's all wish one another luck with any retirement fund money that may be left after the 2008 raid, and the present one... we're going to need it. That, and unity.

Dori Smith, 2:30 Sunday, October 2, 2011 AND UPDATED at 4:00 PM.
See part 2 here.

Live Feed from Global Revolution, Brooklyn Bridge in NY occupywallstreet We copied the "embed" line while protesters were on the Brooklyn Bridge. You too can "embed" the URL for this viewer so that during their live feed coverage you can see in real time what is happening as global societies reject corporate greed and loss of democratic systems.

Watch live streaming video from globalrevolution at livestream.com

Palestinian Statehood, Discussion with Law Prof. Francis A. Boyle, Uniting for Peace Resolution

Palestinian Statehood, Discussion with Law Prof. Francis A. Boyle
Plan B Uniting for Peace Resolution

"Time to end Israel's stall and delay tactics on so called talks while they build settlements," Boyle says. We discuss history of the discussion on Palestinian statehood. Review of year long effort to get votes, UN Security Council, Israel, US, and Palestinian leaders.


TRT:29:00
Produced by Dori Smith
Music by Fritz Heede
Download at Pacifica's Audioport here or at Radio4all.net and Archive.org

Palestinians need statehood prior to any negotiations with Israel. As a result of peace agenda during Reagan years, the Palestinians began a "diplomatic dialogue" with the PLO, which means diplomatic de facto recognition that continues today. The status has been upgraded since then to the status of "observer state" which has been held by Switzerland in the past, prior to their UN membership. The Vatican also has "observer state" status.

"Time to end Israel's stall and delay tactics on so called talks while they build settlements, Boyle says. We discuss history of the discussion on Palestinian statehood. Historically Palestinian efforts to achieve more UN status has been met with strong opposition and even threats from the USA, specifically from former Ambassador Pickering.

Half hour Talk Nation Radio Special, An interview with Prof. Francis A. Boyle of the U. of Illinois School of Law, on Palestinian Statehood. He is author of the book, Palestine, Palestinians and International Law and served as a Legal Adviser to the Palestine Liberation Organization (from 1987) and the Provisional Government of the State of Palestine (from 1988) on the creation of the State of Palestine, its accession to the Geneva Conventions and Protocols, invocation of the Uniting for Peace Resolution, admission to the United Nations Organization, accepting the I.C.C.’s jurisdiction, etc. (See more on his bio bio)

He says the Palestinians have support for statehood in the U.N. General Assembly, which they already have as a "defacto" status. Once they do achieve statehood they will sign on to the International Criminal Court. We discuss the process in political context and get an update on events at the UN. We also learn more about what would happen after Palestinian statehood, including the Palestinians effort to join the ICC. We get an update on an investigation by the ICC (International Criminal Court), and hear how Israelis and the US media have ignored what has already been submitted to the ICC asking for an investigation and prosecution into the actions of Israel and their military.

Could a US veto be overcome by means of a Uniting for Peace Resolution? Attorney Boyle says yes, because the Palestinians already have Observer State Status and already filed a Complaint with the ICC, which is pending. The ICC prosecutor has publicly stated that he is investigating. Once they are able to obtain statehood, "they can lodge a state complaint against the highest levels of Israel that will perfect the complaint that the Palestinians have already filed.--Thus, full-fledged UN State Membership is now the only realistic option for Palestine and the Palestinians."

See Reuters, "U.S. tries to stall Palestinian statehood bid: report" September 3rd 2011, "Washington has launched an effort to avoid a clash stemming from plans by Palestinians to seek recognition as a state at the United Nations, The New York Times reported on Saturday, citing senior U.S. officials and foreign diplomats. --The Obama administration has introduced a plan to restart peace talks with Israel to try to convince Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to give up the bid to seek recognition at the annual meeting of leaders at the U.N. General Assembly, it said." More here.

Professor Ernest Drucker on his new book, A Plague of Prisons

Talk Nation Radio for September 29, 2011
Professor Ernest Drucker, A Plague of Prisons
The Epidemic of Mass Incarcerations in America

Prof Ernest Drucker's new book, A Plague of Prisons offers a shocking overview of what has gone terribly wrong within America's prison system. He writes that there has been a 1733% increase in the number of Americans incarcerated over drug charges since 1973. As the inmate population soars, clinical psychologist Ernest Drucker documents the damage to inmates and their families as well as society as a whole.



TRT: 29:07
Produced by Dori Smith
Download at Pacifica's Audioport here or at Radio4all.net and Archive.org

We learn that despite economic stagnation in America, mass incarceration has become an irrational and self-defeating system of revolving doors. Many judges are essentially robo-signing as they sentence inmates to jail over and over again. They may not have any discretion as to the sentencing in many drug cases as the law provides for strict punishments even for addicts. Ernest Drucker is a clinical psychologist who flips the nature of current debate around, arguing for example that it is not marijuana use which leads to more serious crime and further incarceration. Rather, it is incarceration for marijuana use which causes the behaviors leading to perpetual incarceration.

Ernest Drucker also talks about the lack of political will in America, where mass incarceration is a "third rail" of politics. Touch it and you perish. Professor Ernest Drucker also comments on the high profile death penalty case of Troy Anthony Davis, and we discuss some of the reasons for the epidemic of mass arrests in the USA.

Palestine at the UN, Turkey at the ICC, Frank Barat and John Quigley

Talk Nation Radio for September 21, 2011
Palestine at the UN, Turkey at the ICC
Frank Barat of Russell Tribunal on Palestine, Prof. John Quigley, Ohio's Moritz School of Law

Human rights issues are analyzed by an activist as Palestinians seeking statehood are threatened with "dire" consequences by Israelis. The US cajoles Israel and Turkey in New York. Plus legal analysis of Turkey's case at the ICC against Israel by international law expert. Can the Palestinians rely on Mahmoud Abbas to make gains for them through the use of a statehood appeal at the UN and International Law? Or will they lose further land and rights? (Photo of "The Shepherds' Field- Beit Sahour" which is the birthplace of Prof. Mazin Qumsiyeh, and he points out that the Mosque and Church are in the same block.)



TRT: 29:00
Produced by Dori Smith
Download at Pacifica’s Audioport here or at Radio4all.net and Archive.org

Frank Barat joins us as Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas arrives in New York to see his promise through to try to obtain statehood for Palestine.

Frank Barat is a human rights activist and Frank Barat author with Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappe, of, "Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on Israel's War Against the Palestinians" His new book will be coming out soon outlining the London session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine, the 2011 session is opening November 5th .

Frank Barat focuses on the human rights in the context of the Israeli occupation. He is the Coordinator of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine and has written for Electronic Intifada,Counterpunch, Z Magazine, New Internationalist, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and the Palestine Chronicle. He is the editor of Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on Israel's War against the Palestinians (2010). His new book will be coming out soon outlining the London session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine, the 2011 session is opening November 5th .

Frank Barat focuses on human rights in the context of the Israeli occupation. He is the Coordinator of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine and has written for Electronic Intifada,Counterpunch, Z Magazine, New Internationalist, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and the Palestine Chronicle.
-Netanyahu makes effort to get ahead of morning headlines in America with a sudden offer to negotiate. Palestinians response, it is “propaganda”. They insist that Israel must cease construction of illegal settlements prior to any negotiations.
-CLIPS: A member of the official Palestinian delegation to the UN, Husam Zamlot, and partial comments of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, both from Al Jazeera English.
-News: There has been an explosion in a busy downtown section of Ankara, Turkey, that killed three people and wounded 34. The blast later turned out to be the result of a car bomb and one person was arrested at the scene after it was reported that she called out something that seemed political. Kurdish sehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifparatists have been blamed but there was no immediate claim of responsibility.
-Turkey is seeking to bring Israel to the ICC. Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Erdogan has been discussing bringing Israel to the ICC, now do they have to be a member state to the ICC statute first?
-Another concern for Israel and the US is the potential for the Palestinians to join the International Criminal Court once they obtain statehood. We’ll also hear from law professor John Quigley about Turkey’s case at the ICC against Israel.

Professor John Quigley of Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law joins us to talk about Turkey’s efforts to bring Israel to the ICC, International Criminal Court. He is an expert on International Law and writes on the United Nations, war and peace, east European law, African law, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and other topics, and he is very familiar with events on board the Mavi Marmara.

John Quigley is author of many books and publications including Palestine and Israel:A Challenge to Justice.
(Scholar and activist Mazin Qumsiyeh, being arrested in Al-Walaja in 2010. Prof. Qumsiyeh teaches at Bethlehem and Birzeit Universities in occupied Palestine. He previously served on the faculties of the University of Tennessee, Duke and Yale Universities. See this link for further information.)

Ground Truths about the U.S. Operation in Afghanistan Experts on Afghanistan Elizabeth Gould and Paul Fitzgerald

Talk Nation Radio for September 15, 2011
Ground Truths about the U.S. Operation in Afghanistan
Experts on Afghanistan Elizabeth Gould and Paul Fitzgerald join us.
They are authors of the book, Crossing Zero, The AfPak War at the Turning Point of American Empire.
We are once again at a turning point for Afghanistan as Kabul falls prey to yet another violent power struggle.



TRT: 29:00
Produced by Dori Smith, Storrs, CT
Download at Pacifica’s Audioport here Or at Radio4all.net and Archive.org

We also discuss the latest report by Gould & Fitzgerald titled, 9/11, Psychological Warfare & the American Narrative. Although we spoke with them before the US Embassy in Kabul came under fire, Paul Fitzgerald coincidentally bringing up events there in 1979 that heralded a new US policy of supporting Afghan warlords and power brokers in a fight against the Russians in Afghanistan, this perpetuating the US Cold War era.

As Americans marked the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York City, a suicide bomber blew up a truck at a NATO combat outpost in Afghanistan. The base serves US Special Forces, and the Army reported 89 soldiers wounded. Two Afghan civilians were killed including a three-year-old child. In the next 48 hours, Kabul exploded with a series of bombings and ground attacks as gunmen said to be linked to the Taliban’s Haqqani, with suspected Al-Qaeda ties, appear responsible for breaking through to top security zones around NATO and the US Embassy. (See 9/11 in Kabul here on Al Jazeera English). Will Kabul once again be victimized by a power struggle between forces that have battled again and again using money and resources from various occupying forces? Will the ground war become more of an air war? And more costly for civilians? Many questions as the election cycle begins, and the transition for competing war lords also begins.

Jen Marlowe, Law Prof. Anne Emanuel, Troy Davis Execution Scheduled for 9-21-2011, Emergency Action to Seek Clemency

Talk Nation Radio for 9-8-2011
Jen Marlowe, Law Prof. Anne Emanuel, Troy Davis Ehhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifxecutionhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif Scheduled for 9-21-2011 Human Rights Activists Start Emergency Action to Get Clemency for Troy Davis and watch a film by Jen Marlowe here at Amnesty International.

Activists have begun to gear up to fight yet another battle for Troy Davis, hoping it won't be the last. Davis has widespread support from individuals and rights groups like Amnesty International, plus Joan Baez, former FBI Director William Sessions, former President Jimmy Carter, Pope Benedict XVI, Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Bob Barr, and judge William S. Sessions.

UPDATE on Davis case provided by Troy Davis supporters and family: On Monday, September 19th, the Georgia Board of Pardons & Parole, under Chairman James E. Donald, will decide whether to execute Troy Davis. For your part, stop them from killing this innocent man. Contact Chairman James Donald and stop the Troy Davis execution. Demand that the board pardon Troy Davis. Call and write to the board at the following address and stop this legalized lynching! Their address is: Georgia State Board of Pardons & Parole, 2 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, S.E.
Suite 458, Balcony Level, East Tower, Atlanta, Georgia 30334-4909, (404) 656-5651 (press 0 for operator, then 5 for “PARDONS”).

Amnesty International has started an "events" page here.

Award winning filmmaker and author Jen Marlowe and Georgia State University Law Professor Anne Emanuel (bio here) join us for a discussion about the history of the case and the evidence against Davis. (We have more audio of these interviews which we are editing now.)See www.JusticeForTroy.org

'The case against Troy Davis, when compared to other death penalty cases across the country, is extraordinarily weak,' said Georgia State University Law Prof. Anne Emannuel, 9-7-2011.
Produced by Dori Smith
TRT: 29:00
Download at Pacifica's Audioport here or at Radio4all.net and Archive.org
Music by Fritz Heede



In two weeks, on September 21, 2011, the State of Georgia plan to execute Troy Davis despite the massive international support for his campaign to prove his innocence in the murder of Georgia policeman Mark MacPhail.

Attorney Anne Emanuel joined us. She teaches Criminal Law and Capital Punishment law at Georgia State University school of law, and is author of a 2006 report on the death penalty in Georgia. She has said “a verdict that is not ironclad is not good enough to support a death penalty” and she is familiar with the Troy Davis Case. Anne Emanuel also served as Chair of Georgia's ABA Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Committee. The work culminated in the publication of Evaluating Fairness and Accuracy in State Death Penalty Systems, The Georgia Death Penalty Assessment Report. From 2004-06, she served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the College of Law.

Books: Jen Marlowe is author of Darfur Diaries, Stories of Survival,about her travels to Northern Darfur and Eastern Chad, and The Hour of Sunlight: One Palestinian’s Journey from Prisoner to Peacemaker. Her award winning films include: Darfur Diaries, Message from Home, and Rebuilding Hope, which follows three Sudanese-American young men on their first homecoming trip back to Sudan, to discover whether their homes and families survived the civil war and to build a school, drill wells and bring medical supplies to their villages in Sudan. (Books can be obtained here.) You can find her film series about Troy Davis on youtube.

This will be the fourth time that Troy Davis is facing an execution date, points out Jen Marlowe, explaining that this time they are looking for clemency because of the doubt that exists about the case. She said: 'The setting of the execution date actually sets into motion the clemency process. The Board of Pardons and Parole, unlike a court which is bound by procedure--they are able to make choices based on what is the ethical thing to do, what is the right thing to do. So we have a lot of hope that the Board of Pardons and parole in Georgia will see that in Troy's case there is overwhelming doubt. And there are significant questions as to Troy Davis' guilt. I would say more than significant questions and so there is a lot of hope that they will do the right thing and they will grant Troy clemency, which basically means mercy, and it means taking him off of death row. They can commute his sentence to life without parole in prison which certainly is not what Troy wants ultimately. He has always maintained his innocence and so he does not want to be in prison for life without parole. But of course you can eventually free a wrongfully convicted man from prison, but if he is executed you can't free him from the grave. So we have great hope that the Board of Pardons and Parole will grant him clemency. And that's really where all of our efforts are now, on trying to let the Board know that there are thousands and thousands of people worldwide who are watching this who are very concerned about an execution proceeding when there is so much doubt.' Jen Marlowe

The Original Prosecution and Trial of Troy Davis was Error Prone. Police later withdrew the only physical evidence they had, a bullet which they had argued would 'prove' Davis was the killer. See case outlined here in press coverage over the years.

As to the individuals who prosecuted and convicted Troy Davis: Back in 2007 we spoke with the original prosecutor in the Davis case, and asked him whether or not he had conducted an investigation into Sylvester Redd Coles, who has become a person of suspicion to many who have been studying the case. Coles was at the scene of the murder, and had a gun of the same caliber as the one used to kill Officer McPhail. Yet Spencer Lawton told Talk Nation Radio that the fact that his attorney “allowed” him to go to the police station alone to discuss the murder on the day afterward, indicates his innocence. But did Coles have his attorney present when he went to the station or didn't he? Jen Marlowe says he did, and she also points out that Coles should have been investigated more fully because in his culture being a snitch is thought of as something you just don’t do. Coles went to the police and fingered Troy Davis. Why? Why didn't this unusual behavior for someone like Coles send up a red flag for police and DA Lawton?

The Innocence Project mentions these issues in their brief written on behalf of Troy Davis, see this PDF.

Over the years that this case has been discussed legal analysts and rights activists have pointed out that this kind of behavior has come up before in law. In a friend of the court brief, The Innocence Project PDF file cites the case of Kyles v Whitley, where the 'U.S. Supreme Court reversed a defendant's capital murder conviction because evidence withheld by the prosecution about the state's informant strongly suggested the informant committed the crime'. They describe Coles as the "likely killer" and say he had the most to gain and state: "The primary reason that Troy Davis became a suspect in Officer MacPhail's murder was Sylvester Coles. The day after the shooting, Coles approached the police with his lawyer in tow and implicated Troy Davis. Tr. vol. IV at 915-18, 949. Coles had the most to gain by doing so--he was the most obvious suspect in both the assault on Larry Young and subsequent shooting. Affidavits from new witnesses and from persons who have since heard Coles confess make clear that Coles is the likely killer of Officer MacPhail."

They also argue that, "Ten eyewitnesses and two informants testified against Troy Davis at trial. An astonishing nine of those twelve have revealed in subsequent affidavits that their testimony was false or inaccurate. These recantations have cast light on the improper procedures used by police to secure eyewitness identifications and testimony against Troy Davis, and the personal motivations of the informants to fabricate his alleged confessions."

Also, Marlowe discusses other comments made by Spencer Lawton who has claimed that none of the witnesses had tried to ('back up" at trial) recant earlier. Lawton has indicated that this seemed to him to indicate they were not credible in their recanting of testimony. Marlowe further clarifies the story of a witness who did try to correct the record during the trial. (We also mention that we found a recording of an appeal hearing where the Assistant DA David Lock, refers to witnesses who had tried to recant at trial: “There were some witnesses that backed up a little bit at trial”).

From Jen Marlowe, Message about Execution Date Set for Troy Davis

Date: Wednesday, September 7, 2011, 4:57 AM
Dear friends,

An execution warrant for Troy Davis has just been issued tonight. His execution is scheduled to take place on September 21.
We have known that an execution date for Troy was inevitable. An execution, however, is not. The Georgia Board of Pardons & Parole can still prevent this execution by granting clemency. We expect that a clemency hearing will be held in the days prior to the execution date and we remain hopeful that the board will do the right thing and grant Troy clemency.
Troy has been on death row for 20 years for the 1989 murder of police officer Mark MacPhail. Since his conviction, the case against him has completely fallen apart. There is no physical evidence linking Troy to the murder, 7/9 eyewitnesses have recanted or contradicted their testimony, and 1 of the remaining witnesses has been implicated as the actual shooter. There are scores of unresolved questions about what actually happened the night of the murder. Only one thing in Troy’s case is crystal clear: there is overwhelming doubt. And, in the words of GSU law professor Anne Emanuel, “A verdict that is not ironclad is not good enough to support a death penalty.”
For a more complete explanation of what exactly we mean when we say, “there’s too much doubt,” please watch (and circulate) this video series, examining the case in-depth.

What you can do:

Sign the petition to the Georgia authorities asking them to grant Troy clemency and encourage others to do the same.

Attorneys, law professors: endorse a sign-on letter from legal professionals to the GA Board of Pardons & Parole. (non-lawyers: encourage friends who are legal professionals to endorse.)

Members of the clergy (all faiths): endorse a clergy sign-on letter to the GA Board of Pardons & Parole (non-clergy: encourage friends in the clergy to endorse.)

Work on organizing an event for the International Day of Solidarity for Troy Davis. (check back tomorrow at www.JusticeforTroy.org for the exact date.)

As GSU Law Professor Russ Covey said, “The state of Georgia does not have to execute Troy Davis, and it should not execute Troy Davis.”

For the sake of justice, we can and must act now. Please check www.JusticeForTroy.org to keep up with latest developments.

In solidarity,
Jen Marlowe

Edward Girardet, Afghanistan is More for Sale Today than 10 Years Ago

Talk Nation Radio for August 31, 2011
Where did we begin in Afghanistan? Where are we, and where are we going?
'Afghanistan is More for Sale Today than 10 Years Ago' Edward Girardet


TRT: 29:00
Produced by Dori Smith, in Storrs, CT and syndicated with Pacifica Network
Music by Fritz Heede
Download at Pacifica's Audioport here or at Radio4all.net and Archive.org. This is part 2 of our interview and see part 1).

We continue our interview with journalist, author and producer, Edward Girardet on his 2011 book, Killing the Cranes, a Reporter’s Journey Through Three Decades of War in Afghanistan, (Chelsea Green Press, 2011).

In this half hour we learn more about bin Laden, his death and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan in the context of the continuing violence. Then we hear more about the reasons for the violence overall in post US invasion Afghanistan. The US has ignored key social norms in Afghanistan such as the Loya Jirgha process. Also ignored was the Afghan's long standing mistrust of foreigners, of Arabs, Brits, or Americans, which should have led to extensive though time consuming talks about the meaning of a western presence in Afghanistan. In fact, Girardet explains, much earlier, as the US considered its ‘response’ to 911, there were warnings from aid groups that went unheeded. A major road was therefore built without consultations with any of the Afghans who lived along them. Now those expensive roads built by the U.S. are too dangerous for the US and NATO force to use.

We also hear more about the mistakes relating to the US position on attacking all Taliban members, even moderates, early on. Girardet points out, ‘Had there been a more astute perception about what was going on in Afghanistan at the time the US could have focused on the ones who were closely operating with al Qaeda–the majority were not’ -- Also, Afghans were tired of war by the time of the Bush and Cheney invasion. As to al Qaeda, the Taliban, and the opium trade, Edward Girardet reflects on the meaning of former V.P. Dick Cheney’s $43 million dollar ‘gift’ to the Taliban (designed to urge them to stop growing poppies). Did they merely use it to manage opium prices?

Killing the Cranes has a section on US support for Osama bin Laden and his support for the anti-Soviet Afghan resistance, as well the changing circumstances between Afghans and the 'outsiders' in Afghanistan. The Saudi Arabs sought to dominate members of the Taliban and change Afghan society, gaining power as religious militants with growing regional influence. Their money bought alliances, but not strict loyalty within the Taliban, where some grew concerned about what the money was leading them into. And on page 253 of Killing the Cranes, Edward Girardet describes the complex reality of al Qaeda in Afghanistan and money that was being provided to the Taliban. [Some brackets are my own as explanations from the text]:

"It was only from 1987 onward that we began to notice growing numbers of Arabs inside Afghanistan itself. It was as if they had only been dabbling with jihad up till then. Massoud [an Afghan leader, later assassinated] had a few in the north and welcomed them as fellow Muslims. The bulk of the Arabi, [Wahhabi Arabs] however, focused on the Pushtun border areas. They did not mix readily with the Afghans, who complained often of their arrogance. The Arabi had their own commanders. The Afghan mujahideen operating directly with them were hired guns. The Arab attitude was that money and weapons could buy everything, including allegiance. "It sometimes amazes me that the Afghans have (tolerated) such attitudes for so long," said a European aid worker operating in eastern Afghanistan. "Money speaks loudly but it is not in the Afghan character to take this sort of thing lying down."

On page 254 Girardet describes growing friction between the Wahhabi [a Saudi Muslim extremist faction) and the mujahideen, a friction that was causing rifts within the resistance. "Commanders such as Abdul Haq warned that relations with the Arabs were running the risk of breaking out into open conflict. And, "Something is going to happen and it is best that it happens sooner rather than later, so that Afghans realize how dangerous these Arab Wahhabi are."

Most of the Afghans Girardet met who "ostensibly embraced Wahhabism did it for cash," he writes, continuing on page 254: "In many ways, such attitudes set the scene for al Qaeda and other extremist groups to firmly establish themselves in Afghanistan a decade later. The problem with the Taliban in 2001 was that they were never sophisticated enough to see the big picture. On a local or regional basis, some Talib commanders realized that in return for their money, weapons, and satellite phones, the Arabi--who also had ISI support--had the run of the country in order to reinforce their own agendas. In the end, however, the Taliban had no real control over their activities. Until the collapse of the Talib regime, these foreign fighters operated parallel existences by running their own camps, eating out on their own in local restaurants, and conducting their own operations. For the Taliban to simply kick out al Qaeda because of the US and other outside pressure was probably impossible at that late stage of the game."

There are also fascinating pages about Edward Girardet’s own confrontation with bin Laden who asks him who he is and what he is doing in Afghanistan. Saying he is a journalist covering the region Girardet says, quote “I’ll leave if our Afghan friends no longer consider us their guests, just as I’m sure you’ll leave if they no longer consider you their guests. In return bin Laden says quote: "We are here because of Allah. The Afghans are our brothers of Islam, but we are here to fight all our enemies. Americans, Russians, Israelis".

In the end, 'Killing the Cranes' offers a fascinating exchange between a journalist and a militant about intentions, and identities, and loyalties. More than that, it shows us what we should have known about Afghanistan in 2001, that there were Afghans with power who would have welcomed help in removing al Qaeda from their country. We are left astonished at what Edward Girardet has been trying to tell us over three decades, that the Afghan war was unnecessary, and that the US role has been deeply troubling over several decades and during several administrations. Clearly, there are warnings in 'Killing the Cranes' that President Obama and the incoming head of CIA, David Petraeus, would be wise to heed.

Journalist, author and producer, Edward Girardet is the founding director of the Institute for Media and Global Governance in Geneva, Switzerland. He is also the editor of Crosslines Essential Media Ltd (UK) and he has written for a wide variety of publications on humanitarian, media, and conflict issues including the Christian Science Monitor, National Geographic, the International Herald Tribune, and The Financial Times. Edward Girardet has also written reports on international aid operations. Previous books include Afghanistan: The Soviet War; Somalia, Rwanda and Beyond; and Populations in Danger, a Médecins Sans Frontières Report, (see this page from Amazon) as well as Crosslines, Essential Field Guide to Humanitarian and Conflict Zones (here).