A US federal judge dismissed all charges Thursday against five Blackwater Worldwide security guards accused of killing unarmed Iraqi civilians in a crowded Baghdad intersection in 2007. (AP) (Read more from www.ynetnews.com)

Members of Congress invested nearly 196 million dollars of their own money in companies that receive hundreds of millions of dollars a day from Pentagon contracts to provide goods and services to U.S. armed forces, say nonpartisan watchdog groups.

. . . .

Lawmakers charged with overseeing Pentagon contractors hold stock in those very firms, as do vocal critics of the war in Iraq, says the Centre for Responsive Politics (CRP).

Senator John Kerry, the Democrat from Massachusetts who staked his 2004 presidential bid in part on his opposition to the war, tops the list of investors. His holdings in firms with Pentagon contracts of at least five million dollars stood at between 28.9 million dollars and 38.2 million dollars as of Dec. 31, 2006. Kerry sits on the Senate foreign relations panel.

Members of Congress are required to report their personal finances every year but only need to state their assets in broad ranges.

Other top investors include Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen, a New Jersey Republican with holdings of 12.1 million – 49.1 million dollars; Rep. Robin Hayes, a North Carolina Republican (9.2 million – 37.1 million dollars); Republican Rep. James Sensenbrenner Jr. of Wisconsin (5.2 million – 7.6 million dollars); and Rep. Jane Harman, a California Democrat (2.7 million – 6.3 million dollars).

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the Democrat and former governor of West Virginia who chairs the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, invested some 2.0 million dollars in Pentagon contractors, CRP says.

Other panel chiefs who invested in defence firms include Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the Connecticut Independent who presides over the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Rep. Howard Berman, the California Democrat who heads the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

In all, 151 current members of Congress — more than one-fourth of the total — have invested between 78.7 million dollars and 195.5 million dollars in companies that received defence contracts of at least 5.0 million dollars, according to CRP.

These companies received more than 275.6 billion dollars from the government in 2006, or 755 million dollars per day, says budget watchdog group OMB Watch.

The investments yielded lawmakers 15.8 million – 62 million dollars in dividend income, capital gains, royalties, and interest from 2004 through 2006, says CRP. (Read more from commondreams.org)

This is a great little interview. The part at the end about Obama eviscerating the anti-war movement is especially interesting.

My dear liberal friends,

These wars are Obama’s now. If you hated Bush for bringing us these wars, what do you say now about Obama?

Cindy Sheehan, the famous anti-war protester who used to set up camp outside George Bush’s Crawford Ranch, is at it again. This time she’s on Martha’s Vineyard, and the war that’s got her all riled up has a new Commander In Chief.

“The reason I am here is because … even though the facade has changed in Washington D.C., the policies are still the same,” Sheehan said. (Read more from therobalution.com)

I think he predicts 9/11.

“The war in Iraq was truly an American-only effort Saturday after Britain and Australia, the last of its international partners, pulled out.

Little attention was paid in Iraq to what effectively ended the so-called coalition of the willing, with the U.S. — as the leader of Multi-National Force, Iraq — letting the withdrawals pass without any public demonstration.” (Read more from news.yahoo.com)

Good thing we have chairman Obama now. Our dear leader inherited these problems. We must not criticize our dear leader, as he is working toward a better future for you and me.

“The Central Intelligence Agency crucified a prisoner in Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, according to a report published in The New Yorker magazine.

‘A forensic examiner found that he (the prisoner) had essentially been crucified; he died from asphyxiation after having been hung by his arms, in a hood, and suffering broken ribs,’ the magazine’s Jane Mayer writes in the magazine’s June 22nd issue. ‘Military pathologists classified the case a homicide.’ The date of the murder was not given.

‘No criminal charges have ever been brought against any C.I.A. officer involved in the torture program.’” (Read more from mwcnews.net)

“[I will] smash the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter them to the wind.” ~ John F. Kennedy

Another great Lew Rockwell podcast.

Scott Horton: What the Heck Happened to the Peace Movement? April 28, 2009.

Yes we can!

“Congress is expected to vote today on a $106 billion supplemental war funding bill. The White House and Democratic leadership have been trying to muscle through the bill, which would support escalating the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In May, fifty-one antiwar Democrats opposed an earlier version of the bill. Now House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been trying to pressure some of those Democrats to switch their votes in order to get the necessary votes to pass the bill.” (Read more from democracynow.org)

See Also:

From a Campaign for Liberty email:

“Congressman David Loebsack of Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District has joined Congressmen Latham, Boswell and King as a co-sponsor of HR 1207 The Federal Reserve Transparency Act. We have confirmed with Congressman Ron Paul’s office that as of right now there were 212 co-sponsors of this vital legislation. This information is direct and is ahead of the Thomas.gov website. Without the hard work of all Campaign for Liberty members this accomplishment would likely not have been possible. A special thanks to those of you live in the 2nd Congressional District, all of your hard work with petitions, writing letters, calling and personally visiting the congressman’s office has finally paid off. ”

YEEEAH!!!

Before he died in 2007, well-known Hollywood director Aaron Russo made the documentary America: Freedom to Fascism, about the legality of income tax, the federal reserve, privacy and tyranny.

In this old interview, Aaron Russo makes some very serious accusation against the government about the control of money, the war on terror, 9/11, privacy and tyranny.