Opening the debate on Israel - "Routinely, the American news media have ignored or pilloried any strong criticism of Washington's massive support for Israel. But the paper and an article based on it by respected academics John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen Walt, academic dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, first published March 23 in the London Review of Books, are catalysts for some healthy public discussion of key issues."
The Drug of War - "Before I was the soldier, the killer, the destroyer of worlds; I was innocent, and naïve, and unknowing of the horrors that my fellow humans were capable of. I was proud of the soldier and praised him for every enemy he killed, and I lavished in the thought that I too would do the same. I told myself that I would be there if it weren’t for the fact that I was too young, or still in school, or desperately in love with a girl. But this picture of the past is only just that, a picture. As a lethal sword was once nothing more then metal in the earth, I was once but a simple boy before I became a soldier. Just as that sword will never return to the earth, I will never again be a simple boy. I can only hope that by voicing how my experiences have changed my life, I can minimize the number of people that have to go through the same, and those that must, do so for a good reason."
Rumsfeld developing revisionist habits - "Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld tried to rewrite history last week when he denied making prewar claims that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction." -- I can not fathom how anyone can support the Bush administration. I am saddened by the ignorance and blind faith of some of my fellow human beings.
Congo's tragedy: the war the world forgot - "In a country the size of Western Europe, a war rages that has lasted eight years and cost four million lives. Rival militias inflict appalling suffering on the civilian population, and what passes for political leadership is powerless to stop it. This is Congo, and the reason for the conflict - control of minerals essential to the electronic gadgetry on which the developed world depends - is what makes our blindness to the horror doubly shaming."
Mainstream Media, Why the Blackout on Stephen Colbert? - "Last week at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner, comedian Stephen Colbert delivered a scathing satirical commentary on the Bush Administration -- right in front of President Bush himself. But unless you get your news from online sources such as the blogs, you probably didn't even hear about it."
Creationism dismissed as 'a kind of paganism' by Vatican's astronomer - "BELIEVING that God created the universe in six days is a form of superstitious paganism, the Vatican astronomer Guy Consolmagno claimed yesterday. Brother Consolmagno, who works in a Vatican observatory in Arizona and as curator of the Vatican meteorite collection in Italy, said a "destructive myth" had developed in modern society that religion and science were competing ideologies."
Cardinal urges legal action against Da Vinci Code - "In the latest Vatican broadside against "The Da Vinci Code", a leading cardinal says Christians should respond to the book and film with legal action because both offend Christ and the Church he founded."
In Today's Culture, Do You See Evidence of a War on Christianity? - "No. A cultural "war on Christianity" is a social construct dreamed up by right-wing "Christians" who need to operate and motivate out of fear in the absence of sound biblical interpretation and authentic community ethos."
Greek gods prepare for comeback - "It has taken almost 2,000 years, but those who worship the 12 gods of ancient Greece have finally triumphed. An Athens court has ordered that the adulation of Zeus, Hera, Hermes, Athena and co is to be unbanned, paving the way for a comeback of pagans on Mount Olympus. The followers, who say they "defend the genuine traditions, religion and ethos" of the ancients by adhering to a pre-Christian polytheistic culture, are poised to take their battle to the temples of Greece."
Oil giants' charm offensive as US politicians threaten action - "The oil industry is to channel millions of dollars to US Congressional election campaigns this year as part of a desperate plan to squash calls for a windfall tax on their record profits."
Rising Expenses Have Consumers Feeling Pinched - "Higher interest rates, energy prices and other expenses are now causing some consumers to rethink their spending habits. So far, many families have been able to absorb the increases without having to tighten their belts much. But others have started to adjust to the new reality."
ANGER AS US DROPS CUP FLAG - "THE bus carrying the United States football team in the World Cup will not carry the Stars and Stripes flag because of fears of an al-Qaeda attack." -- Or is the worry more than just al-Qaeda?
For television news, the kids aren't all right - "Seldom mentioned, however, is the fact that cable news is equally geriatric. Indeed, Fox News Channel and CNN are two of only three leading basic networks (the other being the Hallmark Channel) whose median viewer age is over 60. Headline News rings in next at 59.9, and MSNBC is still on the rickety side at 57."
Beware Europe's unknown viral nasties - "A VERITABLE zoo of nasty new viruses is circulating in Europe and could be killing people without even being suspected. In a study commissioned by the British government on the risk of insect-borne and other arthropod-borne viruses emerging in the UK, Ernie Gould of the University of Oxford warns that these diseases may be going unrecognised simply because no one is looking for them."
Dolphins ‘know each other’s names’ - "The evidence suggests dolphins share the human ability to recognise themselves and other members of the same species as individuals with separate identities. The research, on wild bottlenose dolphins, will lead to a reassessment of their intelligence and social complexity, raising moral questions over how they should be treated."
Wall-to-Wall Wal-Mart? - "Do you want to know which video clip will soon be scaring the daylights out of policymakers throughout the world? In a scenario that looks uncannily like the spread of a global pandemic, the economist Thomas Holmes has prepared a dynamic map simulation showing the spread of Wal-Mart stores throughout the United States. Starting at the epicenter in Bentonville, Arkansas, where Sam Walton opened his first store in 1962, giant boxy Wal-Mart stores have now multiplied to the point where the average American lives less than seven kilometers from an outlet."
Quote of the Day
"All I know is that it irritates the gods of government."
~ Joseph Farah
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