Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Profits for Europe, Sludge for Africa

Europe wouldn't take the ship's stinking, poisonous cargo. So it sailed to Africa and dumped the toxic mess into an Ivory Coast lagoon. Just the most recent example of western nations using Africa as a toxic waste dump......more





Thousands demonstrate against Iraq war and against Iran

Thousands of Iraq war protesters marched Tuesday to the United Nations, where President George W. Bush was presenting his vision for the Middle East to skeptical world leaders......more

China: Behind the Great Firewall

Like most people these days, I am looking for the answers to these or other questions on Wikipedia, undoubtedly one of the most frequented Web sites of our time. But unlike most of its users, I first have to activate my browser's proxy server before the world's accumulated knowledge will appear on my computer screen. That is because I currently live in China......more

Bush approval rating rebounds in new poll

Bush's approval rating edged up largely on the strength of Republicans coming back to the fold with 86 percent saying they support him now, compared to 70 percent in May, USA Today said. For the first time since December 2005, a majority of people polled did not say the war in Iraq was a mistake. The respondents were evenly split at 49 percent to 49 percent.......more

Same Poop Different Year

Jack Cafferty discussed the new Time article "What Would War With Iran Look Like" yesterday and questioned the intel reports we are hearing on the nuclear capabilities of Bush’s next target......more

Monday, September 18, 2006


Spin

Out to breakfast with friends this morning, my friend Pat points out the difference in the two headlines here. Same story, different papers. The Times-Union is from Jacksonville and has a reputation of being a conservative paper. The Gainesville Sun... well, I wouldn't say it's conservative generally but it's conservative for the town it comes out of a college town with a long history of progressive politics........more



Drums of War
Are we gearing up to attack Iran?

Noting that recent orders have put U.S. ships on standby in the Persian Gulf, the cover piece weighs the likelihood of war against Iran......more
Texan works to impeach president

Since he arrived in Lawrence a week ago to collect signatures from people who would like to see President Bush impeached, Jim Goodnow has received a mostly positive or at least tolerant response.....more

Democrats gain as November vote nears

Polls show, and politicians from both parties agree, that a steady drip of bad news from Iraq, anger over high fuel prices and a spate of corruption scandals have soured the public's feelings toward the ruling Republicans. President Bush, with his approval rating hovering near 40 percent, does not have the political clout he had in past campaigns......more

Ron Klein 2006
The Top 10 Conservative Idiots, No. 260
click here

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Catch an Illegal Immigrant Day

That's right. But "Fun with Guns" is just one of the ways College Republicans at several campuses across the U.S. will be trying to get twenty-somethings enthusiastic about this fall's elections. Another is "Catch an Illegal Immigrant" days, in which volunteers dressed in orange t-shirts and representing "mock immigrants" will hide around campus and those "catching" them will be awarded prizes......more

Dean Sends Mehlman Letter

Chickenhawk Sean Hannity Condemns Veterans Against Torture

Sean Hannity, who declined to serve in the military when he had the chance, condemned General Colin Powell and Republican Senators Graham, McCain and Warner, all of whom did serve, for taking a stand on behalf of the legal rights of prisoners and maintaining the Geneva Conventions’ standards for humane treatment......more


Summit Examines U.S.-Muslim Relations Five Years After 9-11

Five years after 9-11, U.S.-Islamic relations continue to deteriorate at a rapid pace. Recent polls reveal that 90 percent of residents in predominantly Muslim countries view the U.S. as the primary threat to their country. To examine this relationship, 300 young leaders from around the Muslim world and the U.S. came together to develop a blueprint for long-term engagement between the U.S. and the Muslim world.....more



The U.S. vs. John Lennon

War Is Over If You Want It.........more

Friday, September 15, 2006





Fortress America is an ugly America

"Capitol Hill is a zone of fear, welcoming the tourists with fences, slanted concrete barriers, steel walls that pop out of the pavement and steel posts called bollards that are designed to hold a vehicle-delivered bomb at bay,".....more
Mall sues war protesters

Kings Mall has filed a civil suit against protesters who read the names of dead soldiers and distribute anti-war literature in front of the military recruitment center at the U.S. Route 9W mall. The mall's attorney, Jon A. Simonson, said the suit stems from tenants' complaints over loss of business from the protests, with damages estimated at $50,000. The suit follows the dismissal in late May of trespassing charges against two of the defendants, Jay Wenk and Joan Keefe, both members of the group Veterans For Peace. The two were arrested Feb. 4, and Wenk was arrested again Feb. 11, on charges of harassment.....more
Iraq: Experts Fear a Lost Generation

At first glance, the games occupying Sameer, Salwa, Batul, Taghreed, Yasir and Fawzi seem much like those enjoyed by any children as they play happily in a Baghdad street with friends from school and the neighbourhood.On closer inspection, however, their games are far from innocent, and offer a brutal reflection of daily life in Iraq. This group of five- to seven-year-olds is re-enacting a beheading, a scene they have most likely seen on television or on one of the many graphic videos circulating in the country......more

Congress May be Prosecutable For Participating In Bush War Crimes

Members of Congress are thus on notice that minimum due process guarantees under customary international law must not be denied when Congress attempts to articulate what forms of procedure a military commission should adopt. If members participate in a plan to do so or are complicit in the deprivation of minimum due process guarantees under customary international law incorporated by reference in common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions or any other rights or protections under common Article 3 (e.g., concerning the right to humane treatment even at the hands of CIA interrogators), they would be participating in the denial of rights, protections, and duties under Geneva law. Such denials are war crimes......more