Saddam Hanged for War Crimes in Iraq - "Saddam Hussein struggled briefly after American military guards handed him over to Iraqi executioners. But as his final moments approached, he grew calm." -- In a world that shuns murder, there sure is a lot of killing going around.
Robert Fisk: A dictator created then destroyed by America - "But history will record that the Arabs and other Muslims and, indeed, many millions in the West, will ask another question this weekend, a question that will not be posed in other Western newspapers because it is not the narrative laid down for us by our presidents and prime ministers - what about the other guilty men? No, Tony Blair is not Saddam. We don't gas our enemies. George W Bush is not Saddam. He didn't invade Iran or Kuwait. He only invaded Iraq. But hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians are dead - and thousands of Western troops are dead - because Messrs Bush and Blair and the Spanish Prime Minister and the Italian Prime Minister and the Australian Prime Minister went to war in 2003 on a potage of lies and mendacity and, given the weapons we used, with great brutality."
Bush Silences a Dangerous Witness - "Like a blue-blood version of a Mob family with global reach, the Bushes have eliminated one more key witness to the important historical events that led the U.S. military into a bloody stalemate in Iraq and pushed the Middle East to the brink of calamity."
In US, rallies against Saddam's execution - ""The execution of Saddam Hussein is a clear sign that the Bush administration is looking not to negotiate a way for the US to leave Iraq, but is instead sending a signal that it will continue the war and escalate it despite the impending disaster," the International Action Center said in a written statement."
Former Saddam judge says execution violates Iraqi law - "Rizkar Mohammed Amin, who later resigned as the trial's chief judge, said Iraqi law banned executions during the Eid al-Adha festival period that marks the end of the annual Hajj pilgrimage."
Iraq braced for unhappy New Year - ""There were six heads in our street this morning." So said one of my Iraqi colleagues as he arrived in the office recently. Almost anywhere else, it would have been shocking news - a story in its own right. But here the shock was short-lived. Each atrocity in Baghdad is now quickly superseded by another."
Americans Want a Rapid Exit from Iraq but Elected Leaders Aren’t Even Considering It - "If the election results did not make the message clear, polls since the election have done so. Support for sending additional troops to Iraq is at 11% according a December 15-17 poll by CNN. The same poll found that 54% of Americans want the troops home by the end of 2007 and 67% oppose the war. Yet in the Capitol there is talk of adding new troops and almost no talk of getting out of Iraq. Representative government is failing to represent the voters. Why is the leadership of both parties in Washington, DC failing to discuss getting out of Iraq—rapidly? They say a U.S. exit will lead to an escalation of violence, a blood bath or civil war. But the truth is we can design a rapid exit from Iraq that reduces the risk of violence. How?"
A 'Surge' Faces Trouble In the Senate - "What to do about Iraq poses not only a national policy crisis but profound political problems for the Republican Party. Disenchantment with George W. Bush within the GOP runs deep. Republican leaders around the country, anticipating that the 2006 election disaster would prompt an orderly disengagement from Iraq, are shocked that the president now appears ready to add troops."
Poll: More troops unhappy with Bush’s course in Iraq - "For the first time, more troops disapprove of the president’s handling of the war than approve of it. Barely one-third of service members approve of the way the president is handling the war."
Air Force pursuing antimatter weapons Program was touted publicly, then came official gag order - "The real excitement, though, is this: If electrons or protons collide with their antimatter counterparts, they annihilate each other. In so doing, they unleash more energy than any other known energy source, even thermonuclear bombs." -- Because that's what the world needs: more destructive weaponry.
US 'licence to snoop' on British air travellers - "Britons flying to America could have their credit card and email accounts inspected by the United States authorities following a deal struck by Brussels and Washington."
Safety project focuses on Isle eyes - "Technology developed to keep track of prisoners by scanning their irises became available Thursday to identify missing children or elderly people afflicted with Alzheimer's disease in Galveston County. The Galveston County Sheriff's Department is the first sheriff's department in Texas and the 47th nationwide to join the Children's Identification Database, or CHILD Project. The addition of Galveston County is part of an effort to image the irises of 5 million children into a nationwide database over the next few years, said Robert Melley, vice president and CEO of Biometric Intelligence & Identification."
HOW OLD IS THE GRAND CANYON? PARK SERVICE WON’T SAY - "Grand Canyon National Park is not permitted to give an official estimate of the geologic age of its principal feature, due to pressure from Bush administration appointees. ... “In order to avoid offending religious fundamentalists, our National Park Service is under orders to suspend its belief in geology,” stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch. “It is disconcerting that the official position of a national park as to the geologic age of the Grand Canyon is ‘no comment.’”"
Pope: Homosexuals destroy themselves - "In his most powerful statements to date on issues involving sexual morality, Pope Benedict XVI said homosexuals end up destroying themselves so the Church has a duty to speak out on moral issues that affect the very spiritual and physical lives of man. "In seeking to emancipate himself from his body (from the 'biological sphere'), [man] ends up by destroying himself," the pope told cardinals, archbishops, bishops and members of the Roman Curia last week in a traditional meeting overlooked by most of the world's press. "Against those who say that 'the Church should not involve herself in these matters,' we can only respond: does man not concern us too? The church and believers must raise their voices to defend man, the creature who, in the inseparable unity of body and spirit, is the image of God.""
America's Growing Fringe Economy - "The fringe economy is hardly new. Pawnshops and informal high-interest lenders have been around forever. What we see today, however, is a fringe-economy sector that is growing fast, taking advantage of the ever-larger part of the U.S. population whose economic lives are becoming less secure. Moreover, in an important sense the sector is no longer "fringe" at all: more and more, large mainstream financial corporations are behind the high-rate loans that anxious customers in run-down storefronts sign for on the dotted line."
Broncos' Darrent Williams Is Shot Dead - "Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting early Monday, his limousine sprayed with bullets in downtown Denver."
Sex slavery plagues Romania and Bulgaria - "Every year, thousands of women such as Anca, some as young as 13, are kidnapped or lured by promises of well paying jobs or marriage and sold to gangs who lock them up in night clubs and brothels or force them to work on the streets. ... "The traffickers now look for 13 to 14 year olds. They are easier to control. They are trained and brain-washed here. They see they can get little help from police, the system. And they think they can make money and become independent," she said."
Unanimous Atlantic City Council backs a smoking ban in casinos - "The Atlantic City Council yesterday gave preliminary approval to a measure banning smoking on casino floors, unanimously endorsing a move to make this the biggest gambling spot in the nation to go smoke-free. The pending law, which could take effect as early as April 15, is being watched closely because of the possibility that it will send gamblers elsewhere - or inspire other states to follow suit."
Anti-Aging Molecule Discovered - "A team of South Korean scientists on Sunday claimed to have created a ``cellular fountain of youth,’’ or a small molecule, which enables human cells to avoid aging and dying."
U.S. heart disease kills 1 in 3 - "More than one of every three Americans die with cardiovascular disease as the underlying cause, according to new data form the American Heart Association (AHA)."
Housework cuts breast cancer risk - "MODERATE housework can help women substantially to cut their risk of developing breast cancer, according to a study."
Obesity battle starts young for urban poor - "By the time they reach the age of 3, more than one-third of low-income urban children are already overweight or obese, according to a study released yesterday that provides alarming evidence that the nation's battle of the bulge begins when toddlers are barely out of diapers."
Quote of the Day
"Freedom is not defined by safety. Freedom is defined by the ability of citizens to live without government interference."
~ Ron Paul
No comments:
Post a Comment