Mutually Assured Destruction in the Middle East - "Israel's air, land and sea blockade of Lebanon, which includes jet fighter strikes against the airport in Beirut, presages a new era in the Middle East, one in which the center has collapsed and Muslim and Jewish extremists, capable only of the language of violence, determine the parameters of existence."
United States to Israel: you have one more week to blast Hizbullah - "The US is giving Israel a window of a week to inflict maximum damage on Hizbullah before weighing in behind international calls for a ceasefire in Lebanon, according to British, European and Israeli sources. The Bush administration, backed by Britain, has blocked efforts for an immediate halt to the fighting initiated at the UN security council, the G8 summit in St Petersburg and the European foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels."
Energized Neocons Say Israel's Fight Is Washington's - "The two columns are just the latest examples of a slew of commentaries that have appeared in U.S. print and broadcast media since Israel began bombing targets in Lebanon in retaliation for Hezbollah's fatal cross-border attack last Wednesday. They appear to be part of a deliberate campaign by neoconservatives and some of their right-wing supporters to depict the current conflict as part of global struggle pitting Israel, as the forward base of Western civilization, against Islamist extremism organized and directed by Iran and its junior partner, Syria."
If Israel has the right to use force in self defence, so do its neighbours - "But what is at stake here is not proportionality or the issue of self-defence, but symmetry and equivalence. Israel is staking a claim to the exclusive use of force as an instrument of policy and punishment, and is seeking to deny any opposing state or non-state actor a similar right. It is also largely succeeding in portraying its own "right to self-defence" as beyond question, while denying anyone else the same. And the international community is effectively endorsing Israel's stance on both counts. From an Arab point of view this cannot be right. There is no reason in the world why Israel should be able to enter Arab sovereign soil to occupy, destroy, kidnap and eliminate its perceived foes - repeatedly, with impunity and without restraint - while the Arab side cannot do the same. And if the Arab states are unable or unwilling to do so then the job should fall to those who can."
Elimination of Hezbollah the ultimate goal - "Israel's military operation in Lebanon is designed to cripple Hezbollah by destroying its headquarters, weapons stockpiles and supply network, and eventually eliminating the militant group, Israeli officials and analysts said yesterday."
ISRAELIS TARGET CHRISTIAN PART OF BEIRUT - "Israeli warplanes targeted for the first time a Christian area of eastern Beirut on Wednesday morning."
Iraq Civilian Toll Spikes to Almost 6,000 - "Hundreds of teachers, judges, religious leaders and doctors have been targeted for death, and thousands of people have fled, the report said. Evidence suggests militants also have begun to target homosexuals, it said."
Dobbs: Not so smart when it comes to the Middle East - "We Americans like to think we're a pretty smart people, even when evidence to the contrary is overwhelming. And nowhere is that evidence more overwhelming than in the Middle East. History in the Middle East is everything, and we Americans seem to learn nothing from it."
The Ugly Truth: Our President is an Imbecile - "What I found to be the most damning is the least quoted part of Bush's comments. ... Russia's big and so is China??????? This guys sounds like a third grader. Do you know anyone who would have a conversation like this with their neighbor, let alone a business associate, let alone a world leader? Who's proud to know that Russia is big and so is China?"
Conservative Anger Grows Over Bush's Foreign Policy - "Conservative intellectuals and commentators who once lauded Bush for what they saw as a willingness to aggressively confront threats and advance U.S. interests said in interviews that they perceive timidity and confusion about long-standing problems including Iran and North Korea, as well as urgent new ones such as the latest crisis between Israel and Hezbollah."
You won't read it here first: India curtails access to blogs - "For reasons yet to be articulated by the authorities, the government has directed local Internet service providers to block access to a handful of Web sites that are hosts to blogs, including Google's popular Blogspot, according to government officials and some of the providers."
Gagged bloggers fume at ban - "Having been deprived of their personal space in cyberspace by a government ban on blogs related to Mumbai terror attacks, netizens have slammed the internet censorship through messages expressing outrage in other web forums."
The Growing Threat of Right-Wing Christians - "Michelle Goldberg says progressives need to wake up and pay attention to the enormous -- and growing -- influence of the radical Christian right."
Israel's Apartheid, The Rapture Is A Farce, and Al Franken Is A Big Fat Zionist Shill - "But what you don't hear from a lot of people on the left is a sense of outrage at Israel's apartheid policy. ... Does Jesus come with an expiration date? ... Or is it Mr. Franken who's not funny."
Homeland Security Department Is Accused of Credit Card Misuse - "Flat-bottomed rescue boats at double the retail price, $68,500 worth of unused dog booties, hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of computers that somehow disappeared and a $227 beer brewing kit."
Lawsuit accuses video Web site YouTube of copyright infringement - "An independent news reporter sued the popular video-sharing service YouTube Inc. for copyright infringement, claiming the Web site encouraged users to copy his protected materials."
'Women only' signs make Japan's men fume - "AT THE time, most people agreed it seemed a good idea: carriages on Japanese commuter trains set aside specifically for females would dramatically reduce the number of women being molested by the chikan who get their kicks by having a sly fondle among the tightly packed bodies. And it worked. ... It has become so common to see "no males" signs outside stores, restaurants, hotels, spas and even entertainment outlets that the victims of this policy are beginning to grumble that they are becoming second-class citizens."
Japan Plans 30-Year Supercomputer Forecasts - "Japan is planning ultra long-range 30-year weather forecasts that will predict typhoons, storms, blizzards, droughts and other inclement weather, an official said Tuesday. The project, to start next year, will harness the powers of one of the world's fastest supercomputers and is an offshoot of ongoing research by the country's science ministry to map global warming trends for the next 300 years."
Sex close to due date may cause spontaneous labor, study finds - "Women who have sexual intercourse during late pregnancy are more likely than abstinent women to have a spontaneous delivery at 38 to 40 weeks' and less likely to require labor induction, according to results of a study conducted in Malaysia."
Republicans unveil $100 million school voucher plan - "Congressional Republicans on Tuesday proposed a $100 million plan to let poor children leave struggling schools and attend private schools at public expense."
Alzheimer's patients may get skin patch - "Alzheimer's patients may soon get the first skin patch to treat the creeping brain degeneration, a novel way to deliver an older drug so that it's easier to take and might even work a little better."
Quote of the Day
"Everyone's looking, but no one is listening."
~ Iron Maiden
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