soundoff (65 Responses)

1. bigwilliestyles
   

   I fully expect some of you to support childishness; I've seen the maturity level of some of your other postings on other topics. And the retreat into phony arrogance is also unremarkable, as is the name calling. But your need to deny others opinions that differ from your own does not start or end at the U N; and that unwillingness to be confronted on your wrongs is the reason that the U S has such a huge defense budget; your wrongs make you always feel you need a bigger gun.

   September 22, 2011 at 10:39 pm | Report abuse |
   • Jesse Norman
     

     little willie,
     Your words bely your own arrogance and ignorance. Ahmadinejad's address clearly points out his racism. It is not his opinion on "confronting "political events that is in question. It is his racist feelings about Jews and Israel that is the real issue.

     September 22, 2011 at 11:18 pm | Report abuse |
   • maryam
     

     EXCUSE me. MOST Iranians deplore their leaders and their mullahs(not all of them but many of them). For a man to point fingers at other nations who is right up there at the top with human being violations, prejudice and hate against other religions and cultures(especially Bahai and Arabs), this man has no right to point any direction but his own. Its okay to have an opinion but he lies to we his people. He believes he is a chosen one, and he involves himself in actions which have caused a lot of wars, or prolonged them because of his interference. Opinions based on lies hold no merit. He denies holocaust and 9-11 but doesnt believe that his own people want change, many do not want an Islamic state, because religion mixing with their politics is what is causing many of their problems.IRAN GOV and elite guard is an aggressor towards many, then deny it because they use others as pawns to do their dirty work in other countries.Yhey are paranoid because they know the people would love to have a SPRING of their own, but due to EXTREME oppression of the news, freedom of speech(killed or come up missing or in evin prison), the people have no chance of a true democracy. Only to be ruled by psychotic rulers who love to spew hate, then wonder why they are hated. They blame everything on the west and Israel, only to divert the attention of their own people from the wrongs of the government. They support thugs in many countries to kill innocent people, then blame it on others. They treat their Arabs unfairly as well as the bahai, women and others.May God strike at all of the oppressive Iranian regime, inshallah.May those people and countries who are manipulated by them wake up and realize they are being used to support a man who acts like he is a prophet but acts like the anti Christ. Bring back PERSIA !!! Aziz dellami!

     September 25, 2011 at 7:52 pm | Report abuse |
   • SNL Fan
     

     Look it's Moammar Ahmadinejad – I thought they got him already.

     October 25, 2011 at 10:18 pm | Report abuse |
2. Bimbo the Birthday Clown
   

   There is another option. For any middle east/ islamic country that doesn't want western help pull all troops out, pull all financial assistance, cut off all trade, isolate them as much as possible. In other words, cold war. It will take about 70 years for them to come to their senses, but it will eventually work.

   September 22, 2011 at 11:44 pm | Report abuse |
   • Dr. Kelly
     

     Hope your car runs on coal or water.

     October 3, 2011 at 4:14 pm | Report abuse |
3. bigwilliestyles
   

   @ Jessica: you are only looking at what he said from your own arrogance, not FACTS. Fact: people thaÞ happened be arabic, were displaced by other people who happened to be white, so that they could be replaced by other people, who happened to be jewish, so that the country that is called Israel could be created. The arabic people take exception to that displacement, calling Israel illegitimate and refusing to acknowledge its "right to exist". This is not my opinion, this is what actually happened. Israel, in defense of these actions, has built a worldwide propaganda machine that is sensitive to even the slightest hint of disagreement with the displacement, quickly branding anyone anti-semetic that voices disagreement with Israel OR agrees in any way with the arabic problem with the displacement. However they are supported in the by the US and European countries, who it must be remember were the initial perpetrators of this problem. So they funnel money, weapons and technology to Israel regularly, pretending that it is in support of the "middle east peace process" or to secure Israel's "right to exist" when, in reality, Israel use it to suppress dissent, and colonize the Palestinians, while the US and Europe turn a blind eye. When someone, anyone dares to speak out about this madness, they are quickly ridiculed, labeled a "madman" and are then deemed unworthy to be listened to. African-Americans in this country experience this "phenomena" all the time; we recognize it wherever it rears its ugly, racist, head. Even on blogs.

   September 23, 2011 at 12:01 am | Report abuse |
   • Justintime
     

     And meanwhile we are still waiting for people like you to understand that Jewish is a religion, not a race.

     September 24, 2011 at 1:39 am | Report abuse |
4. saywhat
   

   @ Bimbo the B.Clown

   Paul Theodore Hellyer is a former Canadian Defence Minister, my mistake in typing PM, a greatly admired Canadian commentator & longest serving Privy member. In his statements to the Int.9/11 inquiry in Toronto in March 2004, he declared what so many other foreign leaders have been saying on 9/11 cover up.
   I do not have to go to any 'Islamic' web site for facts. These are a matter of record for any American interested in confronting the facts. Even US 9/11 Commission summary is available online for any one to check. So are the public positions of the people I named on 9/11.

   September 23, 2011 at 1:24 am | Report abuse |
5. America Truths
   

   Deal of the Year: World Trade Center, New York, NY

   Weighing in at $3.2 billion, the acquisition of the 99-year leasehold of the World Trade Center was the largest of the year. "Notwithstanding the emotional difficulty of celebrating anything related to the World Trade Center is the fact that upon completion of its acquisition by Larry Silverstein, it was clearly the deal of the year for the industry, and now more than ever, a deal of [a] lifetime for Silverstein" said Ken Zakin, managing director at Insignia/ESG. [iiRealEstate]

   Silverstein Makes a Huge
   Profit off of the 9/11 Attacks

   Six months before the 9/11 attacks the World Trade Center was "privatized" by being leased to a private sector developer. The lease was purchased by the Silverstein Group for $3.2 billion. "This is a dream come true," Larry Silverstein said. "We will be in control of a prized asset, and we will seek to develop its potential, raising it to new heights."

   But the World Trade Towers were not the real estate plum we are led to believe.
   From an economic standpoint, the trade center - subsidized since its inception - has never functioned, nor was it intended to function, unprotected in the rough-and-tumble real estate marketplace. [BusinessWeek]

   How could Silverstein Group have been ignorant of this?

   Also, the towers required some $200 million in renovations and improvements, most of which related to removal and replacement of building materials declared to be health hazards in the years since the towers were built.
   It was well-known by the city of New York that the WTC was an asbestos bombshell. For years, the Port Authority treated the building like an aging dinosaur, attempting on several occasions to get permits to demolish the building for liability reasons, but being turned down due the known asbestos problem. Further, it was well-known the only reason the building was still standing until 9/11 was because it was too costly to disassemble the twin towers floor by floor since the Port Authority was prohibited legally from demolishing the buildings. [Arctic Beacon]

   Other New York developers had been driven into bankruptcy by the costly mandated renovations, and $200 million represented an entire year's worth of revenues from the World Trade Towers.

   The perfect collapse of the twin towers changed the picture.

   Under a pending agreement, a developer and his investors will get back most of the down payment that they made to lease the World Trade Center just six weeks before a terrorist attack destroyed the twin towers. Developer Larry Silverstein and investors Lloyd Goldman and Joseph Cayre are nearing a deal that would give them about $98 million of their original investment of $124 million, The New York Times reported Saturday. [MontereyHerald 11/22/2003]

   Instead of renovation, Silverstein is rebuilding, funded by the insurance coverage on the property which 'fortuitously' covered acts of terrorism. Even better, Silverstein filed TWO insurance claims for the maximum amount of the policy, based on the two, in Silverstein's view, separate attacks. The total potential payout is $7.1 billion, more than enough to build a fabulous new complex and leave a hefty profit for the Silverstein Group, including Larry Silverstein himself.

   As reported in The Washington Post, the insurance company, Swiss Re, has gone to court to argue that the 9/11 disaster was only one attack, not two and that therefore the insurance payout should be limited to $3.55 billion, still enough to rebuild the complex.

   Update: WTC Leaseholder May Collect Up To $4.6B

   A federal jury on Monday ruled that the assault on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center was in fact two occurrences for insurance purposes. The finding in U.S. District Court in Manhattan means leaseholder Larry Silverstein may collect up to $4.6 billion, according to reports. [Forbes.com 12/06/04]

   The result of court ruling: Silverstein makes a huge profit off of the 9/11 attacks.

   September 23, 2011 at 3:47 am | Report abuse |
6. Vet
   

   151 Congressmen Derive Financial Profit From War

   Blood money stains the hands of more than 25% of members of the U.S. House and Senate
   Senator Harry Reid still receives profits from blood money.

   Who profits from the Iraq war? More than a quarter of senators and congressmen have invested at least $196 million of their own money in companies doing business with the Department of Defense (DoD) that profit from the death and destruction in Iraq.

   According to the latest reports, 151 members of Congress invested close to a quarter-billion in companies that received defense contracts of at least $5 million in 2006. These companies got more than $275.6 billion from the government in 2006, or $755 million per day, according to FedSpending.org, a website of the watchdog group OMBWatch.

   Congressmen gave themselves a loophole so they only have to report their assets in broad ranges. Thus, they can be off as much as 160 percent. (Try giving the IRS an estimate like that.) In 2004, the first full year after the present Iraq war began, Republican and Democratic lawmakers—both hawks and doves—invested between $74.9 million and $161.3 million in companies under contract with the DoD. In 2006 Democrats had at least $3.7 million invested in the defense sector alone, compared to the Republicans’ “only” $577,500. As the war raged on, so did the billions of profits—and personal investments by Congress members in war contractors, which increased 5 percent from 2004 to 2006.

   Investments in these contractors yielded Congress members between $15.8 million and $62 million in personal income from 2004 through 2006, through dividends, capital gains, royalties and interest. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), who are two of Congress’s wealthiest members, were among the lawmakers who garnered the most income from war contractors between 2004 and 2006: Sensenbrenner got at least $3.2 million and Kerry reaped at least $2.6 million.

   Members of
   the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees which oversee the Iraq war had between $32 million and $44 million invested in companies with DoD contracts.

   War hawk Sen. Joe Lieberman (IConn.), chairman of the defense-related
   Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, had at least $51,000 invested in these companies in 2006.

   Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), who voted for Bush’s war, had stock in defense companies, such as Honeywell, Boeing and Raytheon, but sold the stock in May 2007.

   Of the 151 members whose investments are tied to the “defense” (war)
   industry, as far as we know, not one of them offered to donate their bloodstained profits to the national treasury to offset the terrible debt they have imposed. Has one of them even offered to donate one cent of their war profits to lessen the debt that increases more than $1 million a minute?

   When our boys and girls are wounded the government bills them to return their reenlistment bonus. They have to return any pay they received while they were hospitalized. They have to pay for their helmets and uniforms that are destroyed in the hell of war. But they keep on fighting for these politicians’ right to keep their war profits.

   • Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) $3,001,006 to $5,015,001
   • Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) $250,001 to $500,000
   • Rep. Kenny Ewell Marchant (R-Tex.) $162,074 to $162,074
   • Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) $115,002 to $300,000
   • Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) $115,002 to $300,000
   • Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) $100,870 to $100,870
   • Rep. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) $65,646 to $65,646
   • Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) $50,008 to $227,000
   • Rep. Sam Farr (D-Calif.) $50,001 to $100,000
   • Rep. Stephen Ira Cohen (D-Tenn.) $45,003 to $150,000

   September 23, 2011 at 3:50 am | Report abuse |
7. bigwilliestyles
   

   Well, I guess when the adults started blogging, the children moved over to Facebook. @ Vet, America Truths, and Saywhat: way to lay down the law in an adult manner. Maybe the name calling, fact barren, hype driven children will stay @ Myspace and leave serious blogging to those with something pertinent to blog. Thumbs up!

   September 23, 2011 at 4:36 am | Report abuse |
8. Andreas Moser
   

   The best response to Holocaust denial: http://andreasmoser.wordpress.com/2010/09/07/a-very-short-response-to-holocaust-denial/

   September 23, 2011 at 6:39 am | Report abuse |
   • Dr. Kelly
     

     Nobody gives a hoot about the "Holocaust" – every person from that era is dead now so it makes no difference. It's some ridiculous attempt by Jews to keep trying to get pity while continuing to engage in the worst acts of terror.

     October 3, 2011 at 4:13 pm | Report abuse |
9. Billy Rodriguez
   

   There seem to be differing realities on this issue. While it is true that populations may have been displaced to establish the State of Israel in 1948, it was not the first time that it was done throughout history. The Turks and other Islamic powers did it throughout history while they controlled the same territory, as well as the crusaders. But the Israelis do have a historical claim to that land, as well as the Palestinians. That is why in 1948 the UN called for the creation of a two state system. Second of all, it is fact that a great number of Muslim states have treated the Palestinians with as much disdain, to include the Saudis, Jordanians, even the Egyptians. They have treated the Palestinians with an equal degree of racism, as a refugees, as a thorn on their sides. They are only "advocating" their cause today, as a means to unload the problem on Israel lap, and to continue to antagonize them. Palestinians were intended to have their own state n 1948, but why that was not implemented scapes me. Even today, their so called brothers refuse to share with them some of the abundant land that they have available in the Sinai, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, even Turkey. Furthermore, they refuse to share the money from their Oil wealth coffers, many instead prefer to use that money to fund radicalism, and the trips of their wealthy autocratic heirs, to indulge in fast cars, fast women, and liquor in the US, Europe, and Southeast Asia. No wonder the majority of the donors to the Palestinian Authority have come from the US and EU controlled IMF, instead of coming from their "brothers". To the complainers I say, feed, clothe, educate, and empower your own people. Be your brothers and sister keepers, instead of trying to blame the West and Israel for every problem.

   September 23, 2011 at 9:38 am | Report abuse |
10. rightospeak
    

    Why did they walk out ? Because they know which side their bread is buttered on-if they stayed , they would loose their jobs. Most of the world does not agree with us, but they do not walk out because they have what is called CULTURE. We like kings and despots and listen to their speaches. We liked the Shah because he was buying our modern arms – againts whom ? Oh , the Cold War. We were selling the Soviets our technology while our men were dying in VietNam -so Cold War was just business ? Well ,the people did not like the Shah so we abandoned him , some friends.

    September 23, 2011 at 4:42 pm | Report abuse |
11. Jay
    

    @bigwilliestyles; actually your facts aren't quite right. Palestinians aren't Arabs (they came from the same tribes as Israelis did). Second, whites never controlled Palestine except when it was known as Israel back in Roman times. Lastly the Palestinians could live in peace and have a State of their own if they'd quit the terrorist attacks. Israel has tried to give land for peace several times and are still willing to grant Statehood if the Palestinians stop terrorism.

    September 23, 2011 at 5:24 pm | Report abuse |
12. Jay
    

    Hope all the morons who believe the US did 9/11 realize now that they are in the same class as this nut job.

    September 23, 2011 at 5:25 pm | Report abuse |
    • Dr. Kelly
      

      Israel definitely did a false flag attack on the USS Liberty and killed people to try to create a false war – before you go around holding up Israel as any kind of model, address the facts. The entire crew of the USS Liberty admits this.

      October 3, 2011 at 4:11 pm | Report abuse |
13. Jay
    

    @saywhat: congratulations you are in the same category as Ahmadenijad

    September 23, 2011 at 5:34 pm | Report abuse |
14. Dr. Kelly
    

    Every time Israel orchestrates people to walk out it reaffirms to the world that the nuclear Jewish banking cartel is holding their freedom and livelihoods hostage. What does walking out prove except that the Jewish lobby is exerting control behind the scenes?

    October 3, 2011 at 4:09 pm | Report abuse |
15. M. James
    

    Wow! This captures the maturity of European politicians. Definitely not a leader trait!

    October 24, 2011 at 8:35 am | Report abuse |