Lebanese mass grave in the town of TyreREUTERS/Nikola Solic
Issam Kobeisi/ReutersIsrael Hints at Full-Scale Lebanon Attack - "Pitched battles raged between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters on the border Thursday, and Israel warned hundreds of thousands of people to flee southern Lebanon "immediately," preparing for a likely ground offensive to set up a buffer zone."
'Why is there not a murmur of protest from Washington?' - "The Israelis have destroyed the buildings, the roads and that lifestyle. They have put the country back 30 years. I cannot believe this all happened because of the capture of two soldiers. This must have been months in planning."
Israel set war plan more than a year ago - "Israel's military response by air, land and sea to what it considered a provocation last week by Hezbollah militants is unfolding according to a plan finalized more than a year ago."
Britain and US defy demand for immediate ceasefire - "Two countries, the US and Britain, defiantly refused to back the international clamour for an immediate ceasfire between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas. Their ambivalence about civilian deaths in Lebanon has given Israel a powerful signal that it can continue its attacks with impunity."
Grim proof ordinary folk are dying in the killing zone - "PARKED outside the small general hospital in Tyre is a badly refrigerated lorry container in which are stacked the bodies of 91 Lebanese civilians, 55 of them children. The bodies have been placed inside black plastic rubbish bags and labelled in anticipation of the time, days or weeks from now, when their surviving relatives - if any - can come to collect them."
Analysis: could Israel face war crimes charges? - "A UN warning that Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon may constitute war crimes has legal legs - but with the issue as much about politics as law prosecutions are unlikely anytime soon, analysts say."
Evangelical Christians plead for Israel - "The thousands of Christians in Washington - who came and are staying at their own expense - will be urging the US government "not to restrain Israel in any way in the pursuit of Hamas and Hezbollah", he said. ... In common with many American evangelicals, he believes that God gave the land to the Jewish people and that Christians have a Biblical duty to support it and the Jews. His latest book, Jerusalem Countdown: A Warning to the World, interprets the Bible to predict that Russian and Arab armies will invade Israel and be destroyed by God. This will set up a confrontation over Israel between China and the West, led by the anti-Christ, who will be the head of the European Union, Pastor Hagee writes. That final battle between East and West - at Armageddon, an actual place in Israel - will precipitate the second coming of Christ, he concludes. ... "When they see what's going on in the Middle East, a whole range of enemies arrayed against God's people, they see God's word being played out on their television sets," he said.
"They see Israel triumphing over its enemies as proof that God's promises remain.""
Few Editorials Find Fault with the Bombing of Beirut - "Even if readers here don’t fully appreciate it, the U.S. and Israel are indivisible in the eyes of many if not most in that region. Every bomb that kills civilians in Lebanon might just as well have emerged from our war planes or artillery, in their eyes."
Stem cell wars rage in state capitols - "Governors and lawmakers in five states -- California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland and New Jersey -- have forged policies to support the controversial science with state funds, but the process has been fraught. Like the bitter debates on Capitol Hill this month, statehouse battles have been pitched, with some lawmakers trying to go even further than the federal government in restricting the science."
Judge rules against Bush in spying lawsuit - "A federal judge Thursday refused to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the Bush administration’s domestic spying program, rejecting government claims that allowing the case to go forward could expose state secrets and jeopardize the war on terror."
Top-Secret World Loses Blogger - "Christine Axsmith, a software contractor for the CIA, considered her blog a success within the select circle of people who could actually access it. ... On July 13, after she posted her views on torture and the Geneva Conventions, her blog was taken down and her security badge was revoked. On Monday, Axsmith was terminated by her employer, BAE Systems, which was helping the CIA test software."
Prosecutors fight 'gay panic' defenses - "Prosecutors said Thursday they want to limit the use of "gay panic" defenses -- where defendants claim their crimes were justified because of fear or anger over their victims' sexual orientation."
The Plague - "Bizarre fibers. Black sweat. Bugs under the skin. Welcome to the controversial world of Morgellons disease."
Earth faces 'catastrophic loss of species' - "The planet is losing species faster than at any time since 65 million years ago, when the earth was hit by an enormous asteroid that wiped out thousands of animals and plants, including the dinosaurs. Scientists estimate that the current rate at which species are becoming extinct is between 100 and 1,000 times greater than the normal "background" extinction rate - and say this is all due to human activity."
Undersea gas could speed global warming - study - "If the world continues to get warmer, vast amounts of methane gas trapped in ice under the sea could belch up and worsen climate change, according to a study."
Scientists seek the secret of our success from Neanderthal DNA - "Scientists are to decipher the genetic code of our closest relative, the barrel-chested, long-faced Neanderthal, in the hope that it will reveal how modern humans developed the formidable cognitive power to dominate the world."
Bed sharing 'drains men's brains' - "When men spend the night with a bed mate their sleep is disturbed, whether they make love or not, and this impairs their mental ability the next day. The lack of sleep also increases a man's stress hormone levels. According to the New Scientist study, women who share a bed fare better because they sleep more deeply."
Life imitates porn? - Ah yes. Whenever I want great service, I make sure to open my legs and offer a "fringe benefit." This story has all the makings of a New York Times Invent-A-Trend:"
Meet the Remote-Control Self - "Ishiguro, a senior researcher at ATR Intelligent Robotics and Communication Laboratories outside Kyoto, has created a machine in his own image -- a robot that looks and moves exactly like him. It sits on a chair and gazes around the room in a very humanlike fashion, just like its creator. In fact, the robot is an exact duplicate."
Europe plans giant eye on the sky - "A giant telescope with a mirror up to 60 metres wide is being planned by the European Southern Observatory. The telescope would be able to detect Earth-like planets around other stars and spot the universe's first galaxies."
Quote of the Day
"Watch out for the leaders. First the leaders and the led, then the tyrants and the slaves, then the massacres. That's how it's always gone."
~ Crake, Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
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