Arrested American, Europeans in 'terrorist' cell, Egypt says

Last Updated: Monday, December 4, 2006 | 6:42 PM ET The Associated Press

Egyptian police have arrested an American, 11 Europeans and several others from Arab countries for allegedly plotting terrorist attacks in Middle Eastern countries, including Iraq, the Interior Ministry said Monday.

The group was part of an Islamic militant terror cell that had adopted extremist ideas and were living in Egypt under the guise of studying Arabic and Islamic studies, the ministry said in a statement.

Along with the American, police arrested two Belgians, nine French and several others from Egypt and other Arab countries, including Tunisia and Syria, the statement said.

The ministry did not provide names or say how many Egyptians and Arabs had been arrested.

"Investigations have confirmed that those elements are related to some terrorist organizations abroad," the ministry said. "They were seeking to recruit others, teach them destructive beliefs, urging them for jihad, traveling to Iraq to carry out operations via other countries in the region."

...

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2006/12/04/egypt-cell.html

Top 10: The best, worst... and craziest uses of RFID

http://networks.silicon.com/lans/0%2C39024663%2C39164446%2C00.htm

911 And Russian Apartment Bombings - False Flag Parallels

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo_HY4oKowc&mode=related&search=

Close-Up of WTC-7 Collapse Footage Shows Unmistakable Demolition Charges

Liberty Forum | November 28 2004

The above clip is taken from this longer video of the WTC-7 collapse, which itself is a small segment of the Naudet brothers' documentary "9/11".

Looking at the upper right-hand corner of the building we see a rapid series of small explosions travelling upward just as the building itself begins to fall. The size, placement and timing of these "puffs" is very consistent with squibs from cutting charges of the type used in professional controlled demolitions, and in fact nothing but small explosive charges could create such an appearance.

The decreasing volume of the building from the collapse itself could not create enough pressure to cause such localized high-velocity effects, and this early in the collapse would have only created a modest overpressure.

video 1: http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/november2004/281104unmistakablecharges.htm

video 2: http://whatreallyhappened.com/IMAGES/wtc7_cutter.wmv

New 9/11 Pentagon video released, shows explosion and no plane

http://www.propagandamatrix.com/articles/december2006/031206video.htm

JAXXE: mam to uz delsi dobu, je to celkem fajn.. tady v DVD kvalite, pokud nekdo chcete. bude to tam tak tyden

http://cus.ment25.net/video/Eugene.Jarecki.-.Why.We.Fight.-.Anatomy.Of.The.American.War.Machine.(2004)/

May I Quote You, Mr. President?

A selection of 50 quotes from President George W. Bush, for entertainment or meditation

by Prof. Rodrigue Tremblay

Global Research, November 19, 2006 Thenewamericanempire.com

•A man lost in his geography:

1-"We have a firm commitment to NATO, we are a part of NATO. We have a firm commitment to Europe. We are a part of Europe."

George W. Bush

2-"It's time for the human race to enter the solar system."

George W. Bush

3-"The vast majority of our imports come from outside the country."

George W. Bush

•A man lost in his logic:

4-" It isn't pollution that's harming the environment.

It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it. "

George W. Bush

5-"Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream."

George W. Bush

6-"These people are trying to shake the will of the Iraqi citizens, and they want us to leave...I think the world would be better off if we did leave..."

George W. Bush

7-"I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family."

George W. Bush

8-"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure."

George W. Bush

9-"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."

George W. Bush

10-Well, I think if you say you're going to do something and don't do it, that's trustworthiness.

George W. Bush

•A man lost in space:

11-"For NASA, space is still a high priority."

George W. Bush

•A MAN WITH HEAVEN ON HIS SIDE:

12-"I believe God wants me to be president."

George W. Bush

13- [I was] "chosen by the grace of God to lead at that moment."

George W. Bush

14-"God told me to strike at al-Qaeda and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East."

George W. Bush

15-"I trust God speaks through me. Without that, I couldn't do my job."

George W. Bush

•The man lost in his vocabulary:

16-" Quite frankly, teachers are the only profession that teach our children."

George W. Bush

17-"The problem with the French is that they don't have a word for 'entrepreneur'."

George W. Bush

18-"One word sums up probably the responsibility of any Governor, and that one word is, 'to be prepared'."

George W. Bush

19-'There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again.'

George W. Bush

• Thoughts coming straight from George Orwell's '1984':

20-"Iraq and Afghanistan ...are now democracies and they are allies in the cause of freedom and peace."

George W. Bush

21-"Ariel Sharon ... is a man of courage and a man of peace."

George W. Bush

22-"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda."

George W. Bush

•THE DECEIVING PACIFIST:

23-"I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace."

George W. Bush

24-"This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. And having said that, all options are on the table."

George W. Bush

25-"Free nations don't develop weapons of mass destruction."

George W. Bush

26- “Governments accountable to the voters focus on building roads and schools—not weapons of mass destruction.” (N.B.: The U.S. has 10,000 nuclear weapons)

George W. Bush

•The Theologian:

27-"Islam, as practiced by the vast majority of people, is a peaceful religion."

George W. Bush

28-"The Islam that we know is a faith devoted to the worship of one God, as revealed through The Holy Qur'an. It teaches the value and the importance of charity, mercy, and peace."

George W. Bush

•THE Flip-Flopper:

29-"I favor leaving up to a woman and her doctor the abortion question."

George W. Bush

30-"I am pro-life."

George W. Bush

31- "The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him."

George W. Bush

32- "I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority."

George W. Bush

33-"We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories...for those who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong, we found them."

George W. Bush

•The forecaster of things to come:

34-"Oh, no, we're not going to have any casualties [in Iraq]."

George W. Bush

35-"We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur. "

George W. Bush

36-"I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future."

George W. Bush

37-"Many Iraqis can hear me tonight in a translated radio broadcast, and I have a message for them: If we must begin a military campaign, it will be directed against the lawless men who rule your country and not against you."

George W. Bush, (speech of March 17, 2003)

38-"To the C students, I say you too can be president of the United States."

George W. Bush

•The astute observer:

39-"A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls."

George W. Bush

40-"Brownie (Michael Brown of FEMA), you're doing a heck of a job."

George W. Bush

•A man and his environment:

41-"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."

George W. Bush

•The double-talker:

42-"There's a lot of suffering in the Palestinian territory, because militant Hamas is trying to stop the advance of democracy." (N.B.: The Hamas government was elected)

George W. Bush

43-"We look forward to analyzing and working with legislation that will make—it would hope—put a free press's mind at ease that you're not being denied information you shouldn't see."

George W. Bush

•THE WOULD-BE DICTATOR:

44-"In a time of war, the president must have the power he needs to make the tough decisions, including, if need be, the decision to grant himself even more power."

George W. Bush

45-"I'm also not very analytical. You know I don't spend a lot of time thinking about myself, about why I do things."

George W. Bush

46-"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator."

George W. Bush

47-"I'm the commander — see, I don't need to explain — I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being president."

George W. Bush

48- "I will not withdraw [from Iraq], even if Laura and Barney are the only ones supporting me."

George W. Bush

49- "I'm the decider, and I decide what's best."

George W. Bush

•And, last but not least, CONSIDERING THE MESS IN IRAQ:

50-“I don’t have the foggiest idea about what I think about international, foreign policy.”

George W. Bush


Rodrigue Tremblay is professor emeritus of economics at the University of Montreal and a frequent contributor to Global Research. He is the author of 'The New American Empire'.

The above article was first published on Professor Tremblay's blog site at: http://www.thenewamericanempire.com/blog

Lou Dobbs: North American Union Orwellian Brave New World

After you watch this Lou Dobbs piece, check out the new Visa commercial. People who use cash cause the machine to break down! Trouble makers. Terrorists?

videos:

http://cryptogon.com/?p=59

"We already knew the FBI can secretly listen in to car conversations by activating microphones of systems like OnStar. A new Mafia court case suggests that the FBI can do the same thing to cell phones. The judge's opinion and some background information [pdf] are available for reading online. The most disturbing thing? According to the judge, the bug worked even if the phone appeared to be 'powered off.' Anyone up for an open-source handset already?"

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/02/0415209

In U.S., fear and distrust of Muslims runs deep

Bernd Debusmann Reuters Friday, December 1, 2006

WASHINGTON (Reuters)- When radio host Jerry Klein suggested that all Muslims in the United States should be identified with a crescent-shape tattoo or a distinctive arm band, the phone lines jammed instantly.

The first caller to the station in Washington said that Klein must be "off his rocker." The second congratulated him and added: "Not only do you tattoo them in the middle of their forehead but you ship them out of this country ... they are here to kill us."

Another said that tattoos, armbands and other identifying markers such as crescent marks on driver's licenses, passports and birth certificates did not go far enough. "What good is identifying them?" he asked. "You have to set up encampments like during World War Two with the Japanese and Germans."

At the end of the one-hour show, rich with arguments on why visual identification of "the threat in our midst" would alleviate the public's fears, Klein revealed that he had staged a hoax. It drew out reactions that are not uncommon in post-9/11 America.

"I can't believe any of you are sick enough to have agreed for one second with anything I said," he told his audience on the AM station 630 WMAL (http://www.wmal.com/), which covers Washington, Northern Virginia and Maryland

"For me to suggest to tattoo marks on people's bodies, have them wear armbands, put a crescent moon on their driver's license on their passport or birth certificate is disgusting. It's beyond disgusting.

"Because basically what you just did was show me how the German people allowed what happened to the Jews to happen ... We need to separate them, we need to tattoo their arms, we need to make them wear the yellow Star of David, we need to put them in concentration camps, we basically just need to kill them all because they are dangerous."

The show aired on November 26, the Sunday after the Thanksgiving holiday, and Klein said in an interview afterwards he had been surprised by the response.

"The switchboard went from empty to totally jammed within minutes," said Klein. "There were plenty of callers angry with me, but there were plenty who agreed."

...
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=inDepthNews&storyID=2006-12-01T142541Z_01_N30158201_RTRUKOC_0_US-USA-MUSLIMS-FEAR.xml&WTmodLoc=Home-C5-inDepthNews-2

Endemic: The Move To Label All Civil Disobedience "Terrorism"
Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act makes peaceful protesters terrorists

Steve Watson Infowars.net Friday, December 1, 2006

An endemic crackdown on peaceful protest and dissent has continued with President Bush signing the 'Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act,'. Under the guise of protecting researchers, scientists and their staff who conduct experiments and tests on animals, the latest terror bill seeks to class as "terrorists" those who seek to protest against such activities.

The bill expands criminal prohibitions against the use of force, violence, and threats involving animal enterprises and increases penalties for violations of these prohibitions. The operative term being "threats", because what an activist may see as protesting may be construed under the law to be threatening.

The Senate passed the bill by unanimous consent in September, just prior to the Congressional recess. A similar bill, H.R. 4239, was approved by the House of Representatives this month.

"It's depressing to know that, just because of our beliefs involving animals, we are going to be branded terrorists if we protest," said Lori Nitzel, a Madison attorney and executive director of Alliance for Animals, a statewide group that pledges nonviolence.

Nitzel wonders if even the kind of leafleting the group did Friday near a Madison fur store could be construed as illegal. The bill can impose punishment if an animal enterprise suffers "economic damage."

"We are, in fact, hoping to cause economic damage to the store," Nitzel said.

One report states that backers of the bill say opponents are trying to alarm people with wacky what-ifs. Unfortunately with the government's track record, with any piece of legislation like this you have to ask "what if?".

Without getting into a debate about animal testing itself, the real issue of concern here is the term "terrorism". The push to merge crime and terrorism laws can be no clearer than in this case.

What happens if down the line terrorism legislation begins to be combined? Suddenly you end up with a number of animal rights "terrorists" who can be labeled as enemy combatants and detained without trial.

The more crimes that become "terrorism", the more people you can label as terrorists and treat in the same way. Every time a piece of legislation like this becomes law, the more the Bill of rights is eroded and free speech is restricted.

...

http://www.infowars.net/articles/december2006/011206terror_legislation.htm

The American Documentary Grand Jury Prize was given to WHY WE FIGHT, written and directed by Eugene Jarecki.

http://festival.sundance.org/2005/docs/05Awards.pdf

What are the forces that shape and propel American militarism? This award-winning film provides an inside look at the anatomy of the American war machine.

He may have been the ultimate icon of 1950s conformity and postwar complacency, but Dwight D. Eisenhower was an iconoclast, visionary, and the Cassandra of the New World Order. Upon departing his presidency, Eisenhower issued a stern, cogent warning about the burgeoning "military industrial complex," foretelling with ominous clarity the state of the world in 2004 with its incestuous entanglement of political, corporate, and Defense Department interests.

Deploying the general's farewell address as his strategic ground zero, Eugene Jarecki launches a full-frontal autopsy of how the will of a people has become an accessory to the Pentagon. Surveying the scorched landscape of a half-century's military misadventures and misguided missions, Jarecki asks how — and tells why a nation ostensibly of, by, and for the people has become the savings-and-loan of a system whose survival depends on a state of constant war.

Jarecki, whose previous film, The Trials of Henry Kissinger, took such an unblinking look at our ex-secretary of state, might have delivered his film in time for the last presidential election, but its timing is also its point: It does not matter who is in charge as long as the system remains immune from the checks and balances of a peace-seeking electorate. Brisk, intelligent, and often very, very human, Why We Fight is one of the more powerful films in this year's Festival, and certainly among the most shattering.

~Diane Weyermann

BBC : WHY WE FIGHT VIDEO:

http://www.thelastoutpost.com/site/1409/default.aspx

Rekl bych takovej internetovej blesk...? :)))

MARSHUS: jako koukněte co mají za zdroje, na idnes pracuje i nějakej novinář?

Pokouší se protipirátská organizace zrušit internet?
http://technet.idnes.cz/pokousi-se-protipiratska-organizace-zrusit-internet-pf3-/tec_denik.asp?c=A061201_153013_tec_denik_kuz

1.12.2006 - Protipirátská organizace RIAA chce prý dosáhnout toho, aby sdílení jakýchkoliv souborů na internetu bylo protizákonné. To by mohlo znamenat konec WWW.

Organizace RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) směřuje své úsilí podle právníka Raye Beckermana k úplnému zrušení internetu v té podobě, jaké ho známe.

MATT: Podivejme jak nam to pekne navazuje...

PHACATS: Vytrzeni.... z iluze? asi neco takovyho... 2012 proste asi ;) jinak existujou online prekladace do browseru...

Kissinger to Serve As Papal Adviser?

Pope Benedict XVI has invited Henry Kissinger, former adviser to Richard Nixon, to be a political consultant and he accepted.

BY EDWARD PENTIN Register Correspondent November 26-December 2, 2006
Posted 11/22/06 at 8:00 AM

VATICAN CITY — Over the course of his long and controversial career, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has had many titles. Now he reportedly has one more — adviser to the Pope.

According to the Italian newspaper La Stampa, Pope Benedict XVI has invited the 83-year-old former adviser to Richard Nixon to be a political consultant, and Kissinger has accepted.

...

Expert Advice

The recruitment of Kissinger would not be unprecedented. Experts from a variety of disciplines, including the realm of economics, politics and philosophy, are regularly invited to advise popes and Vatican officials on current affairs.

Pope John Paul II was close friends with Zbigniew Brzezinski, the Polish-born national security adviser to President Jimmy Carter, partly because both had a common Polish heritage (though this caused the Soviets to suspect the Vatican of “fixing” the election of Karol Wojtyla, which occurred during the Carter presidency).

Similarly to John Paul and Brzezinski, Benedict and Kissinger are close in age and were both born in Bavaria.

http://ncregister.com/site/article/1370/

MATT: Kua skoda, ze neumim moc EN co zhruba znamena ta posledni devata katra "Tape runs out..."???

PHACATS: stary :^) viz [ JAXXE @ world conspiracy // 911 // new world order ... part 3 :: Love your local Illuminati :) ] navic v tomhle prekladu chybej veci budouci... viz http://www.cuttingedge.org/news/n1753.cfm

stejne ten osud.cz jsou sracove, kdyz neuvadej zdroje... to samy sem uz prudil do charvata/chvatala nebo jaxe menuje ten typek z matrix2001...

Pokus o puč proti Chavezovi v roce 2002 organizoval Bush, Chavez nyní vytváří globální alianci proti USA
Štěpán Kotrba

Spojené státy mají bohatou historii v zasahování do politiky cestou "špinavých válek". V osmdesátých letech spolupracovaly s popravčími četami, které tou dobou pracovaly ve střední Americe. Mohou za podporu a výcvik Contras, za napojení svých favoritů na drogový business. A stejně tak mohou i za svržení chilského prezidenta Salvadora Allende a nastolení diktatury generála Pinocheta . Úloha Washingtonu při dramatických událostech, během nichž byl dočasně svržen v roce 2002 venezuelský politik Hugo Chavez, vyvolává obavy z amerických ambicí na jižní polokouli. Hugo Chavez v roce 2006 výrazně zvýšil daně pro zahraniční producenty ropy. Zachoval se stejně, jako britský ministr financí Gordon o několik měsíců dříve. Na americkém ropném trhu ale zavládla panika. Venezuela produkuje stejně tolik ropy, jako Irák. Bushova vláda doufala, že puč, který vynesl na několik dní k moci venezuelského podnikatele Pedro Carmona, bude úspěšný. Nebyl. Nyní se šance na "barevnou revoluci" opakuje.

Brown Eliot Abrams, který neformálně schválil před čtyřmi lety pokus o puč ve Venezuele, byl odsouzen za lhaní americkému Kongresu ve věci nechvalně známého skandálu Írán-Contras. Není to poprvé v jihoamerické historii, co USA pracují špinavými metodami. Když Československo prodávalo lehké zbraně vládě Jacoba Arbenze Guzmana v roce 1954, podnítila CIA v Guatemale také státní převrat.

Dnes jde o venezuelskou ropu, kterou Chavez lacino prodává na Kubu a draho do USA.
http://blisty.cz/2006/12/1/art31557.html

conspiracy teorist = conspiracy terrorist? ;)

oldish, ale ete sem nevidel..

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4168667096306129265&q=philadelphia+experiment&hl=en

PETVAL, ONDREX: BBC - Secret Rulers Of The World - David Icke, Lizards and Jews.wmv ;)

North American Union and NWO exposed during Senate Debate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ne1_Hf0Yqo&mode=related&search=

Robert Fisk: Seen through a Syrian lens, 'unknown Americans' are provoking civil war in Iraq

Published: 28 April 2006

...

The Americans, my interlocutor suspected, are trying to provoke an Iraqi civil war so that Sunni Muslim insurgents spend their energies killing their Shia co-religionists rather than soldiers of the Western occupation forces. "I swear to you that we have very good information," my source says, finger stabbing the air in front of him. "One young Iraqi man told us that he was trained by the Americans as a policeman in Baghdad and he spent 70 per cent of his time learning to drive and 30 per cent in weapons training. They said to him: 'Come back in a week.' When he went back, they gave him a mobile phone and told him to drive into a crowded area near a mosque and phone them. He waited in the car but couldn't get the right mobile signal. So he got out of the car to where he received a better signal. Then his car blew up."

...

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article360624.ece

ONDREX: to bylo i v jednom z videi, co jsem tu kdysi linkoval...

cheche ...


British anti-semitic conspiracy theorist (and ex-Green Party candidate) David Icke was pied during a press conference/book-signing in Canada. As well as claiming that the world is run by shape-shifting reptiles (possibly from Mars), Icke uses historical right-wing anti-semitic theories like The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and has also praised the research of British Holocaust denier David Irving.

The book-signing / press conference was interrupted when three protestors, two dressed as lizards, one with an alien hand puppet, entered the store and proceeded to ridicule Icke. While being heckled for his anti-semitic views by the alien hand puppet, Icke was suddenly creamed by two lemon-meringue pies. While the pie-tossers fled, the lizards and hand-puppet were aggressively confronted by Icke’s Followers. All escaped unscathed, leaving a cream covered mess of bigotry and nuttiness behind. The pies were selected for their flaky crusts. Flaky pies for a flaky guy.

http://www.eco-action.org/efau/issues/2000/efau2000_0607.html

London stock trader urges move to 'amero'

Says many unaware of plan to replace dollar with N. American currency

Posted: November 28, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern By Jerome R. Corsi © 2006 WorldNetDaily.com


In an interview with CNBC, a vice president for a prominent London investment firm yesterday urged a move away from the dollar to the "amero," a coming North American currency, he said, that "will have a big impact on everybody's life, in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico."

Steve Previs, a vice president at Jefferies International Ltd., explained the Amero "is the proposed new currency for the North American Community which is being developed right now between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico."

The aim, he said, according to a transcript provided by CNBC to WND, is to make a "borderless community, much like the European Union, with the U.S. dollar, the Canadian dollar and the Mexican peso being replaced by the amero."

Previs told the television audience many Canadians are "upset" about the amero. Most Americans outside of Texas largely are unaware of the amero or the plans to integrate North America, Previs observed, claiming many are just "putting their head in the sand" over the plans.

...

vice:

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53124

hehe.. he... he?

Gingrich wants first amendment abolished

Newt Gingrich has called for America to tear up the Constitution and throw out the first amendment, because free speech helps terrorism.

...
http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Gingrich+raises+alarm+at+event+honoring+those+who+stand+up+for+freedom+of+speech&articleId=d3f4ee4e-1e90-475a-b1b0-bbcd5baedd78

Gingrich raises alarm at event honoring those who stand up for freedom of speech

By RILEY YATES
Union Leader Staff
Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2006

MANCHESTER – Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich yesterday said the country will be forced to reexamine freedom of speech to meet the threat of terrorism.
Newt Gingrich

GINGRICH

Gingrich, speaking at a Manchester awards banquet, said a "different set of rules" may be needed to reduce terrorists' ability to use the Internet and free speech to recruit and get out their message.

"We need to get ahead of the curve before we actually lose a city, which I think could happen in the next decade," said Gingrich, a Republican who helped engineer the GOP's takeover of Congress in 1994.

Gingrich spoke to about 400 state and local power brokers last night at the annual Nackey S. Loeb First Amendment award dinner, which fetes people and organizations that stand up for freedom of speech.

Gingrich sharply criticized campaign finance laws he charged were reducing free speech and doing little to fight attack advertising. He also said court rulings over separation of church and state have hurt citizens' ability to express themselves and their faith.

Last night's event, held at the Radisson Hotel-Center of New Hampshire, honored a Lakes Region newspaper and a former speaker of the House for work in favor of free expression.

The Citizen of Laconia was given the Nackey S. Loeb First Amendment Award, which is named after the longtime President and Publisher of the Union Leader Corporation, owner of New Hampshire's statewide newspaper.

The Citizen scrutinized the Newfound Area School Board beginning last year over a series of e-mail discussions held before public meetings. It also used the right-to-know law to uncover costly decisions by the town of Tilton this year.

Executive Editor John Howe said the decision to pursue the stories led to at least one advertiser canceling its business with the paper.

"We try to practice what we preach, even if it costs us business," Howe said. "And it has and it will in the future.

Also honored was Marshall Cobleigh, former House speaker and a longtime aide to former Gov. Meldrim Thomson.

Cobleigh introduced an amendment to the state Constitution defending free speech. He also helped shepherd the state's 1967 right-to-know law through the Legislature.

Gingrich's speech focused on the First Amendment, but in an interview beforehand, he also hit upon wide-ranging topics.

* Gingrich said America has "failed" in Iraq over the past three years and urged a new approach to winning the conflict. The U.S. needs to engage Syria and Iran and increase investment to train the Iraqi army and a national police force, he said. "How does a defeat for America make us safer?" Gingrich said. "I would look at an entirely new strategy." He added: "We have clearly failed in the last three years to achieve the kind of outcome we want."

* Political parties in Presidential primary states should host events that invite candidates from both parties to discuss issues, said Gingrich, who criticized the sharpness of today's politics.

* Gingrich said voters unhappy with the war, the response to Hurricane Katrina and pork barrel spending were the main drive behind the GOP's rejection at the polls. But he argued Republicans would have retained the Senate and just narrowly lost the House if President Bush had announced the departure of embattled Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld before, instead of after, the election.

* Gingrich said he will not decide whether he is running for President until September 2007.