News (Page 2) --July 21, 2006

Pakistani Shii'ite Muslims burn the U.S., Israeli and British flags

REUTERS/Zahid Hussein

Lebanese victims given numbers before buried in mass grave.

AP Photo/Nasser Nasser

Israeli woman
AP Photo/ Emilio Morenatti

Israel massing troops on Lebanese border - "Israel massed tanks and troops on the border Friday and warned civilians to flee Hezbollah-controlled southern Lebanon as it prepared for a likely ground invasion to set up a deep buffer zone."

Bush far from neutral player in Mideast - "In the Arab world, he is viewed as a cheerleader for the Israeli side, not a cheerleader for peace. A newcomer to the problems of the Middle East, Bush told reporters Tuesday that the root cause of Middle East strife was Hezbollah. Anyone with knowledge of the region knows most of the problems stem from the nearly 60-year-old Palestinian issue."

Ron Paul: This Will Come Backto Haunt Us - "I rise in opposition to this resolution, which I sincerely believe will do more harm than good. I do agree with the resolution's condemnation of violence. But I am convinced that when we get involved in foreign conflicts and send strong messages, such as this resolution will, it ends up expanding the war rather than diminishing the conflict, and that ultimately comes back to haunt us. ... Let me just repeat those words that he used. He said he came to the conclusion, "The irrationality of Middle Eastern politics forced us to rethink our policy there." I believe these words are probably even more valid now than when they were written."

Evangelical leader pushing 'End Times' war with Iran - " My friend Sarah Posner has been all over televangelist John Hagee in The American Prospect. In June, she wrote a lengthy exposé of Hagee, who preaches that an apocalyptic war with Iran "is foretold in the Bible as a necessary precondition for the Second Coming." Hagee founded an outfit called Christians United for Israel (CUFI), and has been lobbying hard for a big Middle East conflagration in rightwing evangelical circles."

Israel to let food, medicine into Lebanon - "Aid supplies will be allowed into Lebanon amid the fighting, an Israeli envoy said Friday, a day after the
United Nations warned of a growing humanitarian crisis in the war-ravaged country."

100 Iraqis being killed each day, says UN - "The number of Iraqi civilians being murdered or killed in the current fighting has been revealed for the first time by the United Nations. It is far higher than previous estimates."

Saddam pins war on Bush, pro-Israel lobby - "Saddam Hussein said in a letter released Friday that President Bush and pro-Israel groups lied to Americans to justify the Iraq war, and he added that Iran "and its agents" helped facilitate the aggression. Saddam also urged Americans to "save your country and leave Iraq" in a letter written in prison to the American people and released by his lawyers in Jordan."

Websites Saying Another OBL Message Coming Soon - "In his message, bin Laden will reportedly address events in Gaza and Lebanon. This message has been expected and is consistent with new efforts in 2006 by al Qaeda's senior leadership to be responsive in their messages to current developments." -- How convenient.

The Bush Adminstration - A Primer - "A short recap of some ‘highlights’ from the past few years. Some are funny, some disheartening, and a few are downright disturbing." -- The ABC's of the past few years.

Senate wades back into abortion debate - "The Senate reopened the abortion debate Friday in advance of the midterm elections, this time over a bill that would make it a federal crime to take a teenager across state lines to end a pregnancy without a parent's knowledge. Supporters of the bill say such incidents often occur when a girl, or the man involved, wants to evade homestate parental consent laws. Opponents say the bill would make criminals of well-meaning confidants, such as relatives and clergy members, who might help a pregnant teen whose parents are abusive."

Blowing the Whistle on Diebold - "On July 13, the Pensacola, Fla.-based law firm of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. filed a “qui tam” lawsuit in U.S. District Court, alleging that Diebold and other electronic voting machine (EVM) companies fraudulently represented to state election boards and the federal government that their products were “unhackable.”"

U.S. Builds 'Military Empire Beyond the Ozone Layer' - "According to the U.S. Aerospace Force Development Plan, the most realistic question currently on Chilton’s desk is how to ensure the completion of a "space patrol" by 2014. This patrol will mainly be engaged in the task of combating opponents. According to a disclosure by Britain's "Sunday Telegraph," this plan (code-named "Veto") demonstrates the refusal of the U.S. to allow any state to develop space for military purposes without its consent. According to the plan, the United States will develop a "space patrol fleet" of military spacecraft. Space in this instance, will be used mainly to attack the patrol fleets of other nations and destroy all near-Earth satellites belonging to hostile and competitive countries, thereby enabling the United States to build a powerful military empire beyond the ozone layer."

Bush administration sells off public forests to energy companies - "Working with the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Bush administration is moving ahead with plans to sell public national forest land to big oil and gas companies, as well as private timber firms. The White House plans to sell over 300,000 acres of publicly owned land, generating $800 million."

Researchers link wildfires, climate change - "A team at California's Scripps Institution, in a headline-making report this month, found that warmer temperatures, causing earlier snow runoff and consequently drier summer conditions, were the key factor in an explosion of big wildfires in the U.S. West over three decades, including fires now rampaging east of Los Angeles."

On the great Ukrainian bride hunt - "It was three weeks before Christmas, and I was sitting in a Ukrainian business hotel with perhaps thirty men, mostly American and mostly on the later side of middle age, listening as a muscular, impossibly loud ex‒radio D.J. who answers to “Dan the Man” promised that our lives were about to change forever. We were all strangers, but I knew at least one thing about these men: each was there because he was frustrated, angry, and tired of being alone. Each had decided that his best chance at happiness was to pay nearly $4,000 to a company called A Foreign Affair, which would ferry him through Ukraine on a two-week bride hunt, “like an alpha-male wolf,” as one testimonial for the tour giddily assured us, “having the sheep brought in.”" -- It's a long, but interesting read.

Innocent man free after 23 years - "A man who spent 23 years in a US prison for rape was freed after DNA evidence proved he did not commit the crime."

Studies show young women becoming more violent with partners - "Contrary to stereotypes, women can be just as likely to mentally and physically abuse their partners, according to two studies recently released by the University of Florida and the University of South Carolina."

Yahoo offers copy-free music - "Internet company Yahoo has released its first music download from a major record label without copy protection."