Preview Styles: varnished | generic | broadsheet | sophiaKnows
The Varnished Truth Lies, Damn Lies and Government Press Releases Copyright 2003 SophiaKnows demologs@sophiaknows.com Revised: Mar 28 2003

Wall Street Jackals and Imperialist Running Dogs Apr 02 2003 Say what you want, but we will all miss the tone out of Bagdad, Mother City of All Insults.

from the NY Times:

Iraq's vice president, Taha Yassin Ramadan, denounced Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, for suggesting in an interview that Mr. Hussein be 'the first to sacrifice for his country' by giving up power.

'You failure, go to hell,' Mr. Ramadan said Tuesday, directing his comments to Prince Saud. 'You are too small to talk to the leader of Iraq, and those who will be swept away from the land of the Arab world are people like you. You are a minion and a lackey.' <bookmark>

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Baghdad Blogger Mar 25 2003 Website of an Iraqi in Baghdad - the link is found on this site -- the primary link has been down for two days due to, uh, well... <bookmark>
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Re: My Love For the French People Mar 14 2003 Over here we call the French People the "Freedom People" <bookmark>
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Some thoughts after the Jordan trip Mar 04 2003 One way to understand thinking in the Arab world on the eve of an American attack on Iraq is to hang out in a local Amman bar and drink arak until the early morning. You tend to hear unvarnished views and opinions which flow more freely as the evening becomes more convivial. <bookmark>
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Some Impressions of Lyberia Oct 07 2002 Just got back from this place--thought you'd like some visuals, Geoff style.

The driver explained to me that the bombed out apartments on the left, growing green and mouldy in the endless tropical rain, were filled with the ATU, Taylor's 'Anti-Terrorist Unit'.

It is harder to imagine a more terrorist looking group than the ATU.

Picture a mix of gangsta rappers meets the Guardian Angels meets the RUF. They pick off IDP girls in camps and rape them, usually gang rape, and most recently killed a man on President Taylor's orders for scratching one of his black Landcruisers. They are not paid, nor do they need to be. They simply take what they need, for now. ... continued <bookmark>

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Some truth here-but mostly I dig the invective Sep 21 2001 AMERICA-BASHING U.N. SHOULD GET LOST

By ANDREA PEYSER, NY Post

September 21, 2001 -- IT’S time for the United Nations to get the hell out of town. And take with it CNN war slut Christiane Amanpour.

Also, short ABC comedian Bill "those bombers were brave" Maher. More on that in a sec.

The U.N. building towers over the East River like a giant middle finger aimed at our shores.

The once-shiny beacon of peace has devolved into a cancer, where all manner of anti-American lunacy is hatched.

Today, the U.N. functions as an international megaphone through which every Third World dictatorship vents its fury at our way of life.

Though technically not on American soil, the United Nations clogs our city like sewage.

It lustily sucks up our police, our water, our sanitation services while its personnel jam city streets by parking illegally, and break all manner of traffic and criminal law with a get-out-of-jail-free card known as diplomatic immunity.

Now, the United Nations is serving yet another function: It has become the quietest place on earth. <bookmark>

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Here Come the Black Helicopters Aug 01 2001 US: Small Town Softens Anti-UN Law

The City Council in La Verkin, Utah, last week softened a draft anti-UN ordinance that would have required residents and businesses with UN affiliations to place notices on their property and file reports with the city. The draft was changed by a narrow vote following warnings from a state official that it violated constitutional rights of free speech, assembly and equal protection. Although the council changed the draft, the town of 3,300 remains a declared " UN-free zone," the Washington Times reports. " The UN is anti-God, anti-family and anti-country. They are against everything La Verkin stands for," said resident Andy Hare at a council meeting last week. " So the UN is anti-La Verkin. La Verkin has the right to be anti-UN"

-- Washington Times, 30 July. <bookmark>

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WHAT HAPPENED AT MAKENI DDR CAMP Jul 23 2001 I have attached an account of the Revolutionary United Front’s first attack on the UNAMSIL position last May, eventually leading to the evacuation-this was the first breach of the Lome Accord, and resulted in massive hostage taking (last year’s news) <bookmark>
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The usual suspects Apr 17 2001 Below is a list of some of my favorite local war criminals, and their respective noms de guerre: <bookmark>
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UT on Living in Limbo Mar 10 2001 Some of you may remember Eugenie’s story from when I sent it three years ago. Here it is again, today published in the Albany NY Times’ Union, appropriately on International Women’s Day. If any of you have ideas on how we might be able to help Eugenie obtain a student visa, please let me know. We are still hoping for a happy ending <bookmark>
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Where I will be in one week Jan 30 2001 Leave on Monday the 5th. Looks peaceful but I have to fly into Freetown from Conakry in an Antonov helicopter-the kind that crashed in Mongolia recently (killed nine UN folk) Other problem: Guinea Conakry is having a war with Sierra Leone. Why did I leave Dubrovnik? Oh yeah, needed the adrenaline and all that. Let us not forget the extended drinking sessions, sensibly priced. <bookmark>
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Be All You Can Be Mar 23 2000 Note: This is an transcript of National Public Radio (NPR) interview between a female broadcaster, and US Army General Reinwald who was about to sponsor a Boy Scout Troop visiting his military installation.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER: So, General Reinwald, what things are you going to teach these young boys when they visit your base?"

GENERAL REINWALD: We’re going to teach them climbing,canoeing, archery, and shooting."

FEMALE INTERVIEWER: "Shooting&! That’s a bit irresponsible, isn’t it?"

GENERAL REINWALD: "I don’t see why, they’ll be properly supervised on the rifle range."

FEMALE INTERVIEWER: "Don’t you admit that this is a terribly dangerous activity to be teaching children?"

GENERAL REINWALD: "I don’t see how, ....we will be teaching them proper rifle discipline before they even touch a firearm."

FEMALE INTERVIEWER: "But you’re equipping them to become violent killers."

GENERAL REINWALD: "Well, you’re equipped to be a prostitute, but you’re not one, are you?" The radio went silent and the interview ended. <bookmark>

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The Implicit Dayton annex for Bosnia Feb 24 2000 > You can’t be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. > It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear > weapons, but at the very least you need a beer. > --Frank Zappa > <bookmark>
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News flash Feb 22 2000 Scoop of the decade: (Reuters) Bosnian Serb party influenced by Milosevic - PM BANJA LUKA, Bosnia, Feb 21 (Reuters) - A political party that pulled out of the Bosnian Serb governing coalition at the weekend was prompted to quit by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, Prime Minister Milorad Dodik said on Monday. Say it aint so... <bookmark>
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BBC/SERBIA-RADICALS - USA Feb 22 2000 Notice how they didnt single out the French? Serbian Radical Party condemns US "hooligans" Text of report in English by Yugoslav state news agency Tanjug Belgrade, 21st February: The Serbian Radical Party (SRS) said in a statement released on Sunday [20th February] that the United States and its Western European and ethnic Albanian servants were stepping up their criminal activities in Kosovo-Metohija province. It is clear to everyone today that US hooligans see peace and security only in a Serb-free Kosovo-Metohija. According to their understanding, everything Serb is a crime in itself and presents a great danger to world peace. The daily accusations and lies about some alleged Serb guilt are supposed to serve as a justification for occupation and to cover up the real intentions of the US rampage on the territory of a sovereign state, the SRS statement said. Source: Tanjug news agency, Belgrade, in English 1004 gmt 21 Feb 00 BBC Mon EU1 EuroPol sw <bookmark>
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Things that can happen to you... Jan 20 2000 I am working on my paunch so as to become king... AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - A middle-aged, paunchy, unemployed white man plops down on the sofa to watch TV with his kids. Meet King Togbe Korsi Ferdinand Gakpetor II of Ghana. In Holland, the king is Henk Otte, a Dutch construction worker on welfare. In West Africa, he rules part of the lush Volta Region, home to tens of thousands of Ewes who revere him as Togbe, or king. Otte, 43, is as Dutch as the Dutch come, born and raised in Amsterdam like his parents. He lives in an Amsterdam housing project with his wife and two children, and an ordinary life would have suited him just fine. But during a 1995 visit to the hometown of his Ghanaian-born wife, Mamaa Awo Mepeyo Kpui, Otte was identified as the reincarnation of the late chief, his wife’s grandfather. <bookmark>
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Re: UN sued for complicity in Rwanda genocide Jan 12 2000 How about suing the Hutus for committing the genocide? <bookmark>
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Re: anthrax2K Jan 06 2000 At midnight the French simply threw up their hands and tried to set up a puppet government having lost a third of their territory to German pensioners dancing on the Champs Elysee. "Dis champagne ist gut" I need 2000 rounds of ammunition. This will hasten my ascent (descent?) into bureaucratic obscurity and the three hour lunch. Mostly i just stuffed my face with dairy. They have this thing in the haute savoie called "raclette". They give you a brazier, a plate of reblochon cheese, and stuff to melt it on. Stick a slab under the flame, and pour it directly into the left ventricle. Um....melty... <bookmark>