TVNL Editor's Comments: The Minds of Musicians

I have often said that comedians are the most brilliant people on Earth for they are able to see the obvious; the insanity in our world. I also say that songwriters are brilliant in their own way for they have answers to many of our ills. It's funny; I look at it like this...comedians can sure spot all the problems and songwriters seem to be able to solve all of the problems. I guess that makes Al Yankovic just about the smartest guy on Earth. OK, maybe not; but you get my drift.

Interestingly enough I have been the class clown just about my entire life. Believe it or not when I am not “educating” people or tackling the serious issues of the world I am usually cracking up crowds, be they in an office or at a family gathering. I am also a musician, although not much of a lyricist. Perhaps if I put down the guitar and wrote some lyrics I would give Al Yankovic something to worry about.

Though the years I have identified blocks of lyrics in popular music that I feel have very powerful messages. There have been a few artists or groups that have particularly impressed me with their ability to speak the truth and say it like it is. Groups like the Clash & the Police come to mind, not to mention John Lennon. Brittney Spears is not on my list; just in case you were wondering.

Anyway, I have been a fan of the Police (the musical group), for quite a while. I was fortunate enough to see them play in concert this weekend. The world has changed since the last time I got to see them play so as I watched them this time I got a little more out of the experience. As usual I marveled at Sting's voice, Andy Summers' impossible chording and Stewart Copeland's remarkable one man percussion section. But this time the lyrics had a bigger impact on me than the music. One song in particular hit me hard and as soon as I heard it, or I should say remembered it, I knew I would be writing about it.

Anyway...here is today's newsletter, in the form of a song written in 1980...and let me tell you it speaks louder today than it did back then!

"Driven To Tears"

How can you say that you're not responsible?
What does it have to do with me?
What is my reaction, what should it be?
Confronted by this latest atrocity

Driven to tears
Driven to tears
Driven to tears

Hide my face in my hands, shame wells in my throat
My comfortable existence is reduced to a shallow meaningless party
Seems that when some innocent die
All we can offer them is a page in a some magazine
Too many cameras and not enough food
'Cos this is what we've seen

Driven to tears
Driven to tears
Driven to tears

Protest is futile, nothing seems to get through
What's to become of our world, who knows what to do

Driven to tears

Think about it! Jesse Richard – Editor, TvNewsLIES.org

NOTE: You can respond to my daily comments on my blog, located here: http://tvnewslies.org/blog

WAR : http://www.tvnewslies.org/news/#war

As British Leave, Basra Deteriorates - As British forces pull back from Basra in southern Iraq, Shiite militias there have escalated a violent battle against each other for political supremacy and control over oil resources, deepening concerns among some U.S. officials in Baghdad that elements of Iraq's Shiite-dominated national government will turn on one another once U.S. troops begin to draw down.

Roadside Bombs Kill 4 US Troops in Iraq - The deaths raised to at least 3,678 members of the U.S. military have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

More ministers pull out of crumbling Iraq cabinet - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's unity government plunged deeper into crisis on Monday when four secularist ministers withdrew from cabinet meetings, less than a week after the main Sunni Arab bloc quit.

Iraqi police say 60 bodies found in Baquba - Iraqi police said on Sunday they had found 60 decomposed bodies dumped in thick grass in Baquba, north of Baghdad.

Arrested: General Motors Security Guards - Iraqi Military Forces Say They Had Warrant to Arrest All Guards At GM's Iraq HQ
TVNL Comment: What is GM doing with a HQ in Iraq?

Turkey 'launches incursion into Iraq' - Turkish commandos have entered the Iraqi border region of Dahuk, in an operation aimed at eradicating Kurdistan Workers Party rebels.

Weapons Given to Iraq Are Missing - The Pentagon has lost track of about 190,000 AK-47 assault rifles and pistols given to Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005, according to a new government report, raising fears that some of those weapons have fallen into the hands of insurgents fighting U.S. forces in Iraq.

POLITICS : http://www.tvnewslies.org/news#politics

After wiretapping victory, Bush says he wants more authority from Congress - The day after President George W. Bush marshaled political forces in Congress to grant him greater authority to engage in counterterrorism-related spying, the president stated that he would seek greater changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act when the legislative branch returns to work in September.
TVNL Comment: How long before we the people stop them?

Bush signs law to expand warrantless surveillance - President Bush on Sunday signed into law an expansion of the government's power to eavesdrop on foreign terror suspects without the need for warrants.

Will Bush Cancel The 2008 Election? - It is time to think about the “unthinkable.” The Bush Administration has both the inclination and the power to cancel the 2008 election.

ECONOMY : http://www.tvnewslies.org/news/#economy

National City Home Equity says it suspends loan approvals - "This is one of a number of steps National City has taken in recent weeks to help ensure that originations are in line with existing and anticipated market conditions," the bank said in a statement

American Home Files for Bankruptcy After Shutdown - American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection, becoming the second- biggest residential lender in the U.S. to close down this year.

Bush economics: 'Only the little people pay taxes' - Some of the biggest stories of the past few weeks have been about the great tax dodges by the financial kings of the hedge fund and private equity world. Investment managers making upwards of a $1 billion a year are paying lower tax rates than the people who teach their children or deliver their mail.

Where's The Money To Replace The Infrastructure? - The many victims of the collapse of the I-35 Bridge in Minnesota on Wednesday can join the growing numbers of us who are troubled by America's decaying infrastructure in the solace of knowing that our nation's super-rich have never been happier.

9/11 News : http://www.tvnewslies.org/news/#911

The 9/11 White House: So Where Was Bush I Anyway? - Your countrymen have been murdered and the more you delve into it the more it looks as though they were murdered by our government, who used it as an excuse to murder other people thousands of miles away. If you ridicule others who have sincere doubts and who know factual information that directly contradicts the official report and who want explanations from those who hold the keys to our government, and have motive, means, and opportunity to pull off a 9/11, but you are too lazy or fearful, or ... to check into the facts yourself, what does that make you?

History Channel Back-Pedals On 9/11 Hit Piece - The makers of an upcoming two hour hit piece on the 9/11 truth movement have back-pedaled and altered the program description on their website after Infowars highlighted the blatant biased agenda of the piece and its multiple corporate conflicts of interest.

In Search of John Doe No. 2 - The Story the Feds Never Told About the Oklahoma City Bombing”

CONGRESS : http://www.tvnewslies.org/news/#congress

Why did 65 US Senators break a solemn oath? - Watch. Listen

Pelosi, AIPAC and Google - As of 11/12/06, a search of AIPAC's website for mention of Nancy Pelosi yields about 20+ results. Oddly, none of these pages are available anymore. AIPAC's website gives a "Oops! We're sorry, but we are unable to find the page you were looking for." Grab the Google caches of these pages while you can. They're soon to be gone.

House Approves Wiretap Bill - The House handed President Bush a victory Saturday, voting to expand the government's abilities to eavesdrop without warrants on foreign suspects whose communications pass through the United States.
TVNL Comment: Working against the Constitution and against the people. How do we deal with this for real?

Dems in Senate Once Again Enable Bush and Cheney to Spy on Us: The GOP Three-Pronged Effort to Permanently Control America - Just when the Dems at least are talking tough (even if they aren’t acting tough), they let Bush and Cheney intimidate them into giving them more spying powers
TVNL Comment: The key word there is "acting." It's all a show.

White House again denies DeFazio's information request - The White House formally declined Rep. Peter DeFazio's request to view the classified portion of a plan to operate the government after a catastrophe.

Senate passes Bush-backed spy bill - The Democratic-led U.S. Senate, amid warnings of further attacks on the United States, approved a bill on Friday that would allow President George W. Bush to maintain his controversial domestic spying program.
TVNL Comment: Attention Democrats: Do you still think Democrats are better or different than Republicans in Congress? They are all the same...criminals.

"The President Cannot Ignore an Impeachment" - The Washington Democrat moved Tuesday to introduce a resolution that directs the House Judiciary Committee to investigate whether Alberto R. Gonzales, Attorney General of the United States, should be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors.

House Drops Tougher Auto Fuel Economy - After weeks of uncertainty, House Democrats have decided against a confrontation over automobile fuel economy when they take up energy legislation later this week.
TVNL Comment: Any questions as to who owns Congress? This government is in place primarily to ensure money flows out of our hands into the hands of the international bankers, big oil, bit military and other evil entities. We have had water powered cars for 30 years and governments were told to ignore them because they would interfere in oil based tax revenues. This order came from the World Bank.

DOMESTIC : http://www.tvnewslies.org/news/#domestic

City Is Rebuffed on the Release of ’04 Records - A federal judge yesterday rejected New York City’s efforts to prevent the release of nearly 2,000 pages of raw intelligence reports and other documents detailing the Police Department’s covert surveillance of protest groups and individual activists before the Republican National Convention in 2004.

Our Man In New York: Baseball and bombs get the cash - bridges are just dull - It may be the wealthiest nation in the world but the US sure has odd priorities when it comes to spending all that cash. Bridges and roads at home are allowed to crumble until the worst happens, while wars and weapons are never too expensive.

A hearing no one can hear - Tomorrow morning, three judges of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will gather in a courtroom inside an elegant 104-year-old building in Pasadena for an extraordinary hearing involving one of the co-conspirators in the Randy “Duke” Cunningham bribery scandal. The court hearing will be closed to everyone – the public, the news media, the defense attorneys – save for the judges and a few lawyers from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
TVNL Comment: Can you tell that we do not live in a democracy? How much more information do you need?

Oklahoma Police Kill 5-Year Old Boy While Shooting at Snake - A stray bullet fired by a police officer trying to shoot a snake hit and killed a 5-year-old boy fishing at a nearby pond, officials said.

ENVIRONMENT : http://www.tvnewslies.org/news/#environment

Gore: Polluters Manipulate Climate Info - "There has been an organized campaign, financed to the tune of about $10 million a year from some of the largest carbon polluters, to create the impression that there is disagreement in the scientific community," Gore said at a forum in Singapore. "In actuality, there is very little disagreement."

Millions flee 'worst ever' floods - Monsoon rains in South Asia have driven millions from their homes and caused what the United Nations says is the worst flooding in living memory.

Frankenforests: GE Trees Threaten Ecosystem Collapse - Across the U.S. and the world, the timber industry is driving research behind genetically engineered forests. But environmentalists worry that it will open an ecological Pandora's Box.

Spraying set for Lodi - City's first-ever major aerial spraying set for Saturday; operation aimed at killing mosquitoes carrying the West Nile Virus
TVNL Comment: Take a deep breath kids, they are going to spray you without your concent! And you still think we live in a democracy?

42.8% Efficiency: A New Record for Solar Cells - Narrowly edging out the previous record set by Spectrolab late last year, two scientists at the University of Delaware have just created a new device that can convert 42.8% of the light striking it into electricity.

Mother Nature Down For The Count Part 1 - Adding A Billion People - We're adding one billion people to the planet every 12 to 15 years! Anson illustrates in his book the gargantuan aspects of this "Human Katrina." He shows by scientific facts that eco-systems can only take so much consumption and waste.

White House accused of meddling with EPA - "The OMB ordered EPA to analyze a weaker standard than they had talked about earlier, and that to me is clear evidence that the White House is tampering with the EPA proposal and trying to make it weaker," said Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch.

INTERNATIONAL : http://www.tvnewslies.org/news/#international

India retains 'sovereign right' to explode nuclear device: US - "India retains its sovereign rights, but the US retains its legal rights as well," Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns told a group of journalists here yesterday when asked whether New Delhi has the right to test.

4,000 PEOPLE A WEEK TRYING TO LEAVE UK - BRITAIN is facing a mass exodus of people looking to escape the crime and grime of modern living.
TVNL Comment: Lot's of people left pre-war Germany too.

UK: Children as young as five to be fingerprinted in schools - Schools have been given the go-ahead to take fingerprints from children as young as five - without asking their parents first.

Russia Plans ICBM to Counter US Missile Shield - The Russian navy plans on producing a new submarine-based missile system in 2008. It is part of a big increase in the country's spending on research, development and procurement of weaponry, prompting fears of a new cold war.

Afghan President Bringing Bush a Gloomy Report on Security - On the eve of his Camp David meeting with President Bush, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan painted a bleak picture of life in his country, saying that security had worsened and that the United States and its allies were no closer to catching Osama bin Laden than they were a few years ago.

Another record poppy crop in Afghanistan - Afghanistan will produce another record poppy harvest this year that cements its status as the world's near-sole supplier of the heroin source, yet a furious debate over how to reverse the trend is stalling proposals to cut the crop, U.S. officials say.
TVNL Comment: As planned, in cooperation with the CIA, the black-op funding business is better than ever.

19 million are made homeless after monsoon deluges India - MONSOON rains and floods have killed at least 166 people and displaced about 19 million after large areas of northern India and Bangladesh were inundated.

MILITARY & VETERANS : http://www.tvnewslies.org/news/#military

Military Recruiter Horror Story - Recruiters are not, however, supposed to approach students first. And it makes sense, if you think about it. That’s the line in the sand, to prevent recruiters from harassing students, profiling them, and so forth.

Officers' Role in Christian Video Probed - The Army and Air Force are considering disciplinary action against seven officers - including four generals - who violated ethics rules by assisting a Christian group in the production of a fundraising video.

US Air Force weighs keeping jobs in US or moving them to France - The $40 billion dollar contract means critical support for 44,000 U.S. jobs, according to Dr. Gabriela Lemus, Executive Director of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement.
TVNL Comment: Support our troops while they don't support you!

Father of fallen soldier now battling deportation - Relatives of those killed in service are sometimes granted legal status, but others left in limbo
TVNL Comment: What a beautiful country. This is what we call supporting our troops.

110-year sentence in Iraq rape-killing - A soldier convicted of rape and murder in an attack on an Iraqi teenager and her family was sentenced Saturday to 110 years in prison.

Video, Report Details Evangelism at Highest Levels of US Military - A report released publicly on Thursday by the Defense Department's (DOD) inspector general has found high-ranking Army and Air Force personnel violated long-standing military regulations when they participated in a promotional video for an evangelical Christian organization while in uniform and on active duty.

EDITORIAL : http://www.tvnewslies.org/news/#editorial

The Minds of Musicians - It’s funny; I look at it like this…comedians can sure spot all the problems and songwriters seem to be able to solve all of the problems.

The Instruments of Tyranny - Two years ago, in an article entitled “It Can’t Happen Here,” Congressman Ron Paul cautioned, “We are not yet living in a total police state, but it is fast approaching.”

The Threat of U.S. Fascism: An Historical Precedent - Although Rooseveltian/New Deal liberalism is dead, contemporary Democrats do sustain one of FDR’s least seemly qualities, namely his refusal to encourage effective mass opposition to fascist and imperialist politics.

JOURNALISM & MEDIA : http://www.tvnewslies.org/news/#media

The MEDIA IS THE ENEMY - In the old Soviet Union, the government controlled the media. Not a word of substance could be published without prior approval from the Bolshevik commissars. Today, in the United States, the situation is starkly similar. But most Americans don’t even know it.

Are Reporters at MSNBC Being Censored By Their Editors and/or the Government? - A reporter had written an article that was very critical of the events unfolding in Iraq. Somebody, somewhere, whether it be the reporter's editor or a Government official thought that the article had too much truth in it for the public's viewing pleasure. - They erased the content and changed the link ID to go to a non existent article so the public would have their attention diverted to the "Most Viewed" story generated by the "Page Not Found" script.

The list: Journalists who wrote political checks - The following 143 journalists made campaign contributions from 2004 through the first quarter of 2007

News Corp. pledged $2.5 mln to DJ watchdog's group - Asked if the donation compromised Negroponte's independence as a member of a group designed to safeguard Dow Jones' editorial integrity, Dow Jones spokeswoman Linda Dunbar said: "We are confident of the capability of the individuals to make independent decisions."

HEALTH & SCIENCE : http://www.tvnewslies.org/news/#health

Dairies dump milk on radiation threat - Two dairy farms have dumped milk after the discovery of a naturally occurring radioactive isotope in 25 nearby drinking water wells.
TVNL Comment: If this was milk from China we would see TV news over coverage of this!

Publix to offer 7 popular prescription antibiotics for free - Dr. Andrew Agwunobi, secretary of Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration and a pediatrician, said many of the antibiotics are prescribed for children, and he noted that Florida has 3.6 million uninsured people and many who have some insurance but no coverage for prescription drugs.

Scientists warn of chemicals in plastic - U.S. scientists warn the chemicals bisphenol A or BPA -- found in plastic -- could cause serious reproductive disorders.

Bush threatens to veto health care coverage for kids and seniors, but think Bush, Cheney or Roberts had any problems with their health insurance? - Bush's veto threat really is a new low even for him. It's not a surprise that he's choosing the insurance companies and tobacco industry over the American people.

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH : http://www.tvnewslies.org/news/#rights

How the U.S. Intentionally Destroyed Iraq's Water Supply - The primary document, "Iraq Water Treatment Vulnerabilities," is dated January 22, 1991. It spells out how sanctions will prevent Iraq from supplying clean water to its citizens.

British woman watches in shock as Israeli bulldozers raze her home west of Occupied Jerusalem - Six months pregnant and exhausted, British mother Jessica Barhoum is still shocked that Israeli authorities ordered her, her husband and their baby out of bed at daybreak and pulverized their home. "I can't believe that it's lawful, that this law exists. I'm from England. Do you know what I mean?" asked Jessica, 32, who grew up in the southern city of Salisbury but moved to Israel after marrying Moussa, her Arab Israeli husband. "You can't believe a country like this would make a law against its own citizens," she added.

IDF censures ex-battalion chief over shooting of innocent Palestinian - The Israel Defense Forces formally censured Friday a former battalion chief who commanded the soldiers who hijacked a Palestinian taxi and seriously wounded a Palestinian civilian near Hebron last week.

OF INTEREST : http://www.tvnewslies.org/news/#interest

Baron Elie Robert De Rothschild Dies - Baron Elie Robert de Rothschild, who helped France's renowned Rothschild winemaking and banking dynasty recover from the ravages of World War II, died Monday while vacationing at his Austrian hunting lodge. He was 90.
TVNL Comment: The world is rid of one of the most evil members of one of the most evil families that have ever walked the Earth.

I Was Hired By SF to Delete Postings - The purpose of this contract was to block the spread of any information which spreads a negative light on the city, or might adversely affect its burgeouning tourism industry or robust real estate market.

30 years in the slammer for online pharmacy spammer - Internet users can count on a few less e-mails about cheap Viagra and Cialis showing up in their junk mail folders, as well-known spammer Christopher Smith has been sentenced to 30 years in jail by a federal judge.
TVNL Comment:BRAVO!