'If you start looking at them as humans, then how are you gonna kill them?' - "They are a publicity nightmare for the US military: an ever-growing number of veterans of the Iraq conflict who are campaigning against the war."
Wrapping your mind around the death - "It is so hard to keep in mind the real human costs of the war in Iraq. Efforts to break through the mind numbing routine of it all, to bring us face to face the ongoing horror, to make its impact more palpable, are critical in underlining the urgency of ending the war as soon as possible. This time lapse map of the ongoing fatalities among coalition forces makes a significant contribution."
Talking with the 'terrorists' - "We have reached a much more fundamental and alarming conclusion: Western governments are frighteningly out of touch with the principal political currents in the Middle East. The US and its allies overestimated Ayad Allawi's strength, were "stunned" by Hamas' win, and were surprised by the Aoun-Nasrallah agreement because they don't have a clue about what's really going on in the region. But why? With the exception of Israel (where a US and European appreciation of realities is critical to the formulation of policy), there are, inter alia, five political movements and governments in the Middle East of undeniable importance: Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Muslim Brotherhood. The governments of the West don't talk to any of them."
The Israel Lobby Must Be Contained - "The initial hurt reaction of such pro-Israel personalities as Alan Dershowitz and journalist Marvin Kalb could be described as inelegant outrage. Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY), one of Israel's strongest congressional supporters, weighed in noisly, calling the study "the same old anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist drivel." In the New York Sun, he was quoted as saying,"Given what happened in the Holocaust, it's shameful that people would write reports like this." This is typical of what any objective critic of Israel receives from the Israel lobby and its supporters. It deliberately obfuscates and generally does not deal with factual analysis."
US Navy prepares aircraft carrier strike group for "major training exercise" - "Some defense analysts suggested that the unusual two-month-long deployment, set to begin in early April, could be interpreted as a show of force by anti-American governments in Venezuela and Cuba."
Top U.S. court asked to curb Bush's wartime powers - "The Supreme Court of the United States was set to hear oral arguments Tuesday in a case that may determine what limits, if any, should be placed on the wartime powers of an American president." -- "War" should not give the President unlimited powers. We should not be having this debate.
Bush Tells Iraqis to 'Get Governing' - "President Bush expressed frustration Wednesday that Iraqis have so far failed to form a unity government, but he said withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq too early would damage U.S. security." -- Uh huh.
Bush spends heavily to get message out - ""The extent of the Bush administration's propaganda effort is unprecedented and disturbing," said Rep. George Miller, California Democrat."
You cannot be serious - "When is an election not considered free and fair by the west? Answer: when it delivers victory to a government that rejects neoliberal orthodoxy and refuses to orientate its foreign policy towards Washington or Brussels. There is no other conclusion one can come to after both the US and the EU announced swingeing sanctions on Belarus after the re-election of President Lukashenko."
Saddam Better for Women - "Women were far better off under former Iraq dictator Saddam Hussein, a women's group has found after an extensive survey in Iraq. ''Under the previous dictator regime, the basic rights for women were enshrined in the constitution,'' Houzan Mahmoud from the Organisation of Women's Freedom in Iraq told IPS in an interview. The group is a sister organization of MADRE, an international women's rights group. Under Saddam, she said, ''women could go out to work, university and get married or divorced in civil courts. But at the moment women have lost almost all their rights and are being pushed back into the corner of their house.''"
Creation vs. evolution - "Students share their own views and tell how schools handle debate."
Opinions split over red, white and green - "Reagan High School Principal Robert Pambello was ordered to remove a Mexican flag Wednesday morning that he had hoisted below the U.S. and Texas flags that typically fly in front of his school — a symbol he agreed to fly to show support for his predominantly Hispanic student body."
School's 'Holocaust' Experiment Upsets Parents - "Local 6 News reported that eighth-graders with last names beginning with L through Z at Apopka Memorial Middle School were given yellow five-pointed stars for Holocaust Remembrance Day. Other students were privileged, the report said. Father John Tinnelly said his son was forced to stand in the back of the classroom and not allowed to sit because he was wearing the yellow star. "He was forced to go to the back of the lunch line four times by an administrator," Tinnelly said. Tinnelly said the experiment upset his child. "He was crying," Tinnelly said. "I said, 'What are you crying about?' He said, 'Daddy, I was a Jew today.'" ... "I tried to talk to my son and I asked all of these questions and the only thing he said is, 'Daddy, the only thing I found out today is I don't want to be Jewish,'" Tinnelly said."
Proposals would ban abortions - "Two Alabama legislators have introduced bills that would ban almost all abortions in the state, except those performed to save women's lives. ... "I thought if South Dakota can do it, Alabama ought to do it because we are a family-friendly state," said state Sen. Hank Erwin, R-Montevallo, who has introduced a bill in the Senate that would even ban abortions in cases where a woman became pregnant because of rape or incest." -- Stop using that "family-friendly" crap.
Fed Cripples Working Americans with Rate Hikes - "If we were chattel slaves (not just the debt slaves we are) and every quarter our masters added a heavier ball to our chain, but expected us to get the same amount of work done, eventually we would revolt."
'Asia must prepare for dollar collapse' - "East Asian economies need to prepare for a possible collapse of the US dollar, the Asian Development Bank says. The warning comes as the US trade deficit reaches a record high and global interest rates continue to rise."
Doctor offered deals to abort unwanted girls - "A doctor and his assistant have each been jailed for two years in India for using ultrasound scans for sex-selective abortions."
Court: Gays Can't Come to Mass. to Marry - "Same-sex couples from states where gay marriage is banned cannot legally marry in Massachusetts, the state's highest court ruled Thursday."
Jet May Be 10X Faster Than Other Planes - "The so-called Supersonic Combustion Ramjet - or scramjet - engine was designed to travel at speeds of up to 5,000 mph, or 10 times the speed of conventional aircraft, the University of Queensland said in a statement."
Fox, NASCAR blasted for S-bomb during race - "Family advocates rev into attack mode as car called 'piece of s---' in broadcast."
To Ease Traffic, Mo. May Drive on Left - "Traffic engineers trying to ease congestion and reduce accidents in Kansas City have come up with an audacious idea for this side of the Atlantic: making people drive on the left side of the road. Missouri Transportation Department officials considered a number of plans for the downtown Front Street approach to Interstate 435. But the one they settled on appears to be a national first. It involves briefly crisscrossing lanes and putting drivers on the left."
Quote of the Day
"The government's had a wish list of things that they would like to change, like to clarify. They've got it now. They now have very wide-ranging powers to engage in unchecked fishing expeditions with very little judicial review."
~ Gerald Weber, Legal Director, ACLU Georgia and professor of law at Emory
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