World-News

Truthout contributor Marjorie Cohn writes: "In light of stepped-up violence in Afghanistan and for political reasons - following Obama's lead - Bush will be moving troops from Iraq to Afghanistan. Although the US invasion of Afghanistan was as illegal as the invasion of Iraq, many Americans see it as a justifiable response to the attacks of September 11, 2001, and the casualties in that war have been lower than those in Iraq - so far. Practically no one in the United States is currently questioning the legality or propriety of US military involvement in Afghanistan. The cover of Time magazine calls it 'The Right War....' The invasion of Afghanistan was not legitimate self-defense under article 51 of the Charter because the attacks on 9/11 were criminal attacks, not 'armed attacks' by another country. Afghanistan did not attack the United States.... Those who conspired to hijack airplanes and kill thousands of people on 9/11 are guilty of crimes against humanity. They must be identified and brought to justice in accordance with the law. But retaliation by invading Afghanistan is not the answer and will only lead to the deaths of more of our troops and Afghans."

http://www.truthout.org/article/end-occupation-iraq-and-afghanistan



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Marjorie+Cohn

Susan Schmidt and Glenn R. Simpson, of The Wall Street Journal: "Influential former Pentagon official Richard Perle has been exploring going into the oil business in Iraq and Kazakhstan, according to people with knowledge of the matter and documents outlining possible deals. Mr. Perle, one of a group of security experts who began pushing the case for toppling Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein about a decade ago, has been discussing a possible deal with officials of northern Iraq's Kurdistan regional government, including its Washington envoy, according to these people and the documents."

http://www.truthout.org/article/perle-linked-kurdish-oil-plan

--------

Richard Perle mischt bei Ölgeschäften mit Irak mit

Einer der maßgeblichen Antreiber zum Irak-Krieg scheint nun zu bestätigen, dass es beim Irak-Krieg um das Öl und die Geschäfte ging.

http://www.heise.de/tp/blogs/2/113561




http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Richard+Perle
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Iraq+oil
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Big+Oil

David Stout of The New York Times: "Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, the longest-serving Republican senator in United States history and a figure of great influence in Washington as well as in his home state, has been indicted on federal corruption charges. Mr. Stevens, 84, was indicted on seven counts of falsely reporting income. The charges are related to renovations on his home and to gifts he has received."

http://www.truthout.org/article/senator-stevens-indicted-corruption-inquiry



Is the King of Pork Dead?

Winslow T. Wheeler, writing for Truthout, says: "When a member of Congress is indicted, the usual practice of the pols in Washington is to tread lightly, declare the accused innocent until convicted and studiously ignore what is really going on. Such is the case with the newly indicted Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). Everyone is playing their appointed role."

http://www.truthout.org/article/is-king-pork-dead



Prosecutors: Stevens Helped Oil Contractor

Del Quentin Wilber, The Washington Post: "Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) quickly turned a $5,000 Florida condo investment into a profit of more than $100,000 in a questionable transaction that federal prosecutors would like to introduce as evidence at his trial next month on charges that he lied on financial disclosure forms. The investment and other details of investigators' case were disclosed late Thursday in a flurry of court papers filed by prosecutors and defense lawyers gearing up for the first trial of a sitting US Senator in more than two decades. The trial is tentatively scheduled to start September 22."

http://www.truthout.org/article/prosecutors-stevens-helped-oil-contractor



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Ted+Stevens+Alaska
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=corruption
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Big+Oil
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=David+Stout
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Winslow+T.+Wheeler
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Del+Quentin+Wilber

July 29, 2008

In talking with my daughter-in-law the other day, she mentioned her pre-teen daughter's request for her own cell phone. "Everyone else has one."

Mom worries about declining social skills among young cell-phone users, witnessing teens standing side-by-side and text messaging instead of talking. In emphasis, a Dr. Phil episode a while back showcased a teenage girl who preferred hanging out with her virtual friends created on the Internet to spending time with real people.

Read More...
http://www.thespectrum.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080729/OPINION/807290328

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 9:11 PM on 28th July 2008

Health concern: Wi-fi in schools should be suspended pending a safety inquiry, says a union chief

The rush to install wireless computer networks in schools may be jeopardising children's health and should be suspended pending a full safety inquiry, a teachers' chief said yesterday.

Philip Parkin said he is worried about reports linking wireless technology with loss of concentration, fatigue, reduced memory and headaches.

Read More...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1039235/Suspend-wi-fi-schools-says-union-chief-following-reports-causes-ill-health.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Wi-Fi
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Wi-Fi

AntiWar.Com
by Justin Raimondo

07/28/08

The left treats imperialism as the logical outgrowth of capitalism, but what we are seeing instead is the destruction of functioning markets as a direct consequence of imperialist policies — a reality that bothers our aspiring elite not in the least. Given the experience of the past eight years — and the prospect of worse yet to come — the leftist analysis of imperialism as merely capitalism gone wild is giving way to a more nuanced psychological critique, one that sees power-worship rather than money-worship as the energizing factor that keeps the motor of Empire humming...

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=13213


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=imperialism
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=capitalism
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=empire
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/justin

CNN

07/28/08

President Bush has approved the Army’s request to execute a soldier convicted of rape and murder, the White House announced Monday evening. Pvt. Ronald Gray has been on the military’s death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, since 1988. His execution would be the first for the U.S. military since 1961, but the White House said it expects further appeals before the sentence is carried out...

http://tinyurl.com/5qlpaj


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/topics/Death+Penalty+-+Todesstrafe/

Indianapolis Star

07/28/08

Republican John McCain said Monday that drilling for oil off the U.S. coast is an essential part of any plan to lower gas prices and reduce dependence on foreign sources, and he criticized Democrat Barack Obama for opposing it. ‘We all know that a comprehensive solution is wind, tide, solar, all the other things all of us believe in,’ McCain told reporters after touring San Joaquin Facilities Management, an oil company in the California desert that yields 1,100 barrels a day...

http://tinyurl.com/5o5lb8


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

--------

McCain Bets on Offshore Drilling

In The Washington Independent, Sherry Jeffe writes: "On a January afternoon in 1969, Paradise was violated and the modern environmental movement was born. Six miles off the coast of Santa Barbara, Calif., a 'blowout' erupted below a Union Oil Co. platform, spewing crude oil from drilling-induced cracks in the Santa Barbara Channel floor. It took almost two weeks to cap the leak and, before it was plugged, the oil spill had grown to more than 3 million gallons. It spread across 800 square miles of ocean, spoiling more than 35 miles of Southern California's coast.... In the wake of Santa Barbara's calamity, the U.S. president, a Republican and a California native, observed, 'What is involved is the use of our resources of the sea and of the land in a more effective way and with more concern for preserving the beauty and the natural resources that are so important to any kind of society that we want for the future. The Santa Barbara incident,' Richard M. Nixon concluded, 'has frankly touched the conscience of the American people.'"

http://www.truthout.org/article/mccain-bets-offshore-drilling



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=McCain
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=drilling
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=gas+price
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Big+Oil

We really need increased participation! Please send and forward! This alert continues 15 years of successful EI activism on the matter.


ACTION ALERT UPDATE

Clayoquot Sound, Canada's Ancient Temperate Rainforest Valleys to Again Fall to Logging

By Forests.org, http://forests.org/ and EcoEarth.Info, http://www.ecoearth.info/

July 28, 2008

TAKE ACTION

These ancient forests must be fully protected and all industrial development ended to preserve biodiversity and ecosystem health, focusing upon employment from standing trees and fully intact ecosystems, and failure to do will lead to a renewed "War of the Woods" and global anti-B.C. markets campaign

http://forests.org/shared/alerts/send.aspx?id=canada_clayoquot_logging

Canada's precious temperate rainforests are again threatened with industrial logging. Clayoquot Sound, which lies along the West coast of British Columbia (B.C.), is a spectacular mosaic of lush coastal rainforests, fjord-like inlets and islands covering 850,000 acres. Such intact coastal temperate rainforests are globally rare, covering only about one-fifth of one percent of the Earth’s land area, half of which has already been destroyed. They are amongst the most biologically productive temperate ecosystems in the world. Clayoquot Sound is the most magnificent expression of temperate rainforest in North America.

There is no such thing as ecologically sustainable industrial logging or other industrial activities in a fully intact ancient forest ecosystem. Ancient forest logging must end worldwide to solve climate change, protect all biodiversity and achieve global ecological sustainability. Encourage all involved in British Columbia's forest policy to commit themselves fully to developing methods for employment and community advancement based upon standing forests and fully intact ecosystems. Or else promise you support a return to the blockades and protests that halted logging in Clayoquot in 1993, as well as a massive overseas campaign targeting B.C.'s markets. Surely rich Canada can find a way to spare these locally and globally vital ecosystems.

TAKE ACTION NOW: http://forests.org/shared/alerts/send.aspx?id=canada_clayoquot_logging

DISCUSS THIS ALERT: http://forests.org/blog/2008/07/alert-war-of-the-woods-ii-retu.asp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=ancient+forest
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=rainforest
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=logging

Juliet Eilperin, The Washington Post: "Under a subpoena threat from Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California), who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the Environmental Protection Agency late Wednesday sent the panel a copy of its December 5 proposal to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act - as a brief loan."

http://www.truthout.org/article/epa-white-house-greenhouse-gases-endanger-health



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Environmental+Protection+Agency
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=greenhouse+gas
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=subpoena
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Barbara+Boxer
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Juliet+Eilperin

Agence France-Press: "A Nobel-prize-winning rights group said US officials committed war crimes by ordering what the group says was torture of detainees, and called for them to be probed and prosecuted."

http://www.truthout.org/article/rights-group-wants-us-officials-probed-ordering-torture



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=torture
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=war+crimes
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=detainee

http://www.lewrockwell.com/engelhardt/engelhardt347.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=militarism
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/engelhardt
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Chalmers+Johnson

http://www.lewrockwell.com/buchanan/buchanan92.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/buchanan

http://www.lewrockwell.com/gutzman/gutzman17.html

The Surge Is Working!
http://www.lewrockwell.com/eddlem/eddlem23.html

Who Killed the Constitution?
http://www.lewrockwell.com/gordon/gordon43.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Constitution
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/eddlem
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/gutzman
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/gordon

http://www.lewrockwell.com/mcmaken/mcmaken126.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=GOP
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/mcmaken

http://www.lewrockwell.com/rozeff/rozeff212.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/rozeff

Hedge funds and other investors are buying up farms, farmland, fertilizer, grain elevators, shipping equipment and other necessities for producing food.

http://tinyurl.com/55z7cr


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=speculators
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Hedge+funds
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=food+supply

Forthcoming failures(?)
http://news.aspects.cc/economy/bank-failures-so-far



U.S. deficit to hit record US$490-billion next year

The U.S. budget deficit will widen to a record of about US$490-billion next year, an administration official said, leaving a deep budget hole for the next president.

http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=685851



Dollar Falls Against Euro, Yen on Widening Bank-Loss Concern

The currency dropped a second day against the euro after Gary Stern, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, was cited by the Financial Times as saying the U.S. credit crunch will worsen.

http://tinyurl.com/6r4w6v



Crunch Time

By Mike Whitney

The impending global recession has nothing to do with crafty mortgage lenders, opportunistic loan applicants, dodgy rating agencies, or crooked home appraisers. That's like blaming Lindy England for Abu Ghraib. The source of the troubles is the Federal Reserve and monetary policies that are designed to rob people of their life savings.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20595.htm


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=budget+deficit
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Fannie
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Dollar+falls
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=credit+crunch
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Federal+Reserve
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=global+recession
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=mortgage

The database is known as "Main Core." It reportedly collects and stores vast amounts of personal and financial data about millions of Americans.

http://tinyurl.com/5g22wh


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=spying

Former US President Jimmy Carter's national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski criticized US officials in Senator McCain's camp for pushing the presumptive Republican nominee toward a radical foreign policy on issues such as Iran.

http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=64855&ionid=3510203


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Brzezinski
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=McCain
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=foreign+policy

Recent talks the United States held with Iran are aimed at creating legitimacy for a potential attack against Iranian nuclear facilities, defense officials speculated on Sunday as Defense Minister Ehud Barak headed to Washington for talks with senior administration officials.

http://tinyurl.com/5d5e5w



Paul: US would back Israeli strike on Iran

"No matter what they do, it is our money, it is our weapons, and they are not going to do it without us approving it," said the 72-year-old Republican.

http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=65029&sectionid=351020104


From Information Clearing House



The war between the United States and Iran is on

By Scott Ritter

American taxpayer dollars are being used, with the permission of Congress, to fund activities which result in Iranians being killed and wounded, and Iranian property destroyed. This wanton violation of a nation's sovereignty would not be tolerated if the tables were turned and Americans were being subjected to Iranian-funded covert actions which took the lives of Americans, on American soil, and destroyed American property and livelihood.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20377.htm



Plan Facts About Iran's Military

By Eric Margolis

Given these facts, we can see how false are claims trumpeted by the west that Iran is a dangerous military power that is about to eradicate Israel. The facts are quite the reverse.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20376.htm



George Monbiot: We lie and bluster about our nukes - and then wag our fingers at Iran

By failing to disarm and breaking the rules when it suits, nuclear states are driving proliferation as much as Ahmadinejad.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/29/nuclear.defence


From Information Clearing House

--------

Iran Should Sue US in World Court to Stop Threats of Attack
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/07/29/10672/



http://freepage.twoday.net/topics/Is+Iran+next/
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Ron+Paul
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Francis+Boyle
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=nuclear+facilities
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=taxpayer
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Robert+Naiman
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Scott+Ritter
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Margolis
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Monbiot

Government Inspector Estimates: Bowen estimated up to 20 percent "waste" _ or more than $4 billion _ from the $21 billion spent so far in the U.S.-bankrolled Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund.

http://tinyurl.com/5wws36



Military Wasted Millions in Iraq, Inspector Bowen Says

Parsons Corp., one of the largest construction contractors in Iraq, and the Pentagon wasted millions of U.S. tax dollars because of poor oversight and building practices, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction said in a new report.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=awLWws6g.cwA&refer=us



U.S.-Iraq memo opens door to future turmoil

The United States is moving into legal no-man's land because the president refuses to ask the U.N. Security Council to renew the annual resolution that provides the legal foundation for the presence of our troops in Iraq. If this resolution is allowed to expire Dec. 31, it would create a legal vacuum — a vacuum that can't be filled by a presidential memo.

http://tinyurl.com/6ans9u


From Information Clearing House

--------

Audit Find Millions Wasted in Iraq Reconstruction Contract

Agence France-Presse: "Millions of dollars were likely wasted on a $900 million army contract to build courthouses, prisons, police and other security facilities in Iraq, an audit released Monday has found."

http://www.truthout.org/article/audit-finds-millions-wasted-iraq-reconstruction-contract



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=reconstruction

The statement — which called the man and two women killed "law abiding citizens of Iraq" — reversed earlier military claims that they were suspected militants who shot at a parked American convoy.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/07/27/africa/ME-Iraq-Civilians-Killed.php


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=civilian+deaths

President Pervez Musharraf Saturday said he is concerned over the Nato forces attack in Pakistani tribal areas and warned a U-S think-tank that no such attacks will be tolerated in future, and Pakistan reserves the right to retaliate.

http://www.pakistanlink.com/Headlines/July08/26/02.htm



George Bush blasted by Pakistan PM

PAKISTAN'S Prime Minister lashed out at George W. Bush during talks in Washington yesterday, "reproaching" the US President over a US Hellfire drone missile strike inside Pakistani territory only hours before the leaders met.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24097692-2703,00.html



Pakistan: US warned against missile strikes

"Expressing concern over repeated cross-border missile attacks/firing by coalition and Afghan forces, General Tariq said that our sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected," a Pakistani military statement said.

http://tinyurl.com/6b5wt7


From Information Clearing House

--------

Pakistani PM Warns Bush Against "Unilateral" Action

According to Agence France-Presse: "Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani held talks with US President George W. Bush here Monday and called on the United States not to act 'unilaterally' against Islamic militants in Pakistan. Gilani, whose new government has been facing intense US pressure to crack down on Pakistan-based militants, told reporters after his meeting with Bush at the White House that Pakistan was committed to fighting extremists. 'We are committed to fight against those extremists and terrorists who are destroying and making the world not safe,' he said. 'This is a war which is against Pakistan, and we'll fight for our own cause.'"

http://www.truthout.org/article/pakistani-pm-warns-bush-against-unilateral-action



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Pakistan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Musharraf

By Brent Budowsky

Before leaving office George W. Bush will issue a mass pardon, the largest collection of presidential pardons in American history. Bush will pardon himself, Vice President Cheney, and a long list of officials involved in torture, eavesdropping, destruction of evidence, the CIA leak case and a range of potential crimes.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20368.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=pardon
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Cheney
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=torture
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=eavesdropping
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=leak+case
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Brent+Budowsky

Bush Forced al-Maliki to Back Down on Pullout in 2006

Analysis by Gareth Porter

It appears that Bush is making the usual dominant power mistake in relations to al-Maliki. He may have been a pushover in mid-2006, but the circumstances have changed, in Iraq, in the U.S.-Iraq-Iran relations and in the United States.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20372.htm



Iraq, US agree no foreign troops after 2011: PM

By Salam Faraj

Iraqi Premier Nuri al-Maliki said on Monday Washington and Baghdad have agreed there will be no foreign forces in Iraq after 2011, setting a timeline for a US withdrawal from the war-torn country. Maliki stressed however that despite "significant progress", there are "still points of disagreement crucial to both sides" in the proposed security pact that will decide the future of US forces in Iraq. The White House, too, stressed on Monday there was no final accord with Baghdad on the controversial issue.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20617.htm



Iraq's Maliki Says U.S. Pact Must Include Pullout Date

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said there can be no security agreement with the U.S. unless there is a "specific deadline" for the withdrawal of American troops. Mr. Maliki also said that unless some clauses in the draft agreement under discussion are changed, it will be "difficult" for the pact to be adopted. He didn't identify all those clauses. But the prime minister told tribal leaders Monday that he cannot grant "open immunity" to Iraqis or foreigners because that would violate the "sanctity of Iraqi blood."

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20613.htm

--------

Maliki Demands "Specific Deadline" for US Troop Pullout

Leila Fadel, McClatchy Newspapers: "Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki said Monday there would be no security agreement between the United States and Iraq without an unconditional timetable for withdrawal - a direct challenge to the Bush administration, which insists that the timing for troop departure would be based on conditions on the ground."

http://www.truthout.org/article/maliki-demands-specific-deadline-us-troop-pullout



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=al-Maliki
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Iraq+withdraw
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=troop+pullout
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=security+pact
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=security+agreement
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Gareth+Porter
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Leila+Fadel

By Charley Reese

We really have neither a republic nor a democracy. We have a war state and an empire. We should pull the plug on both.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20367.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=war+state
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=empire
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Charley+Reese

By Mike Whitney

So, while your bank still has money and can process your checks, it may be time to pay down debts, pay quarterly taxes and mortgage payments in advance, and think of having money outside of banks (gold, foreign currencies), etc., before your money is inaccessible or even evaporates!

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20373.htm



America on the Couch

By Mike Whitney

America is a country badly in need of therapy. We don't know who we are anymore; everything is topsy-turvy. It's like we're suffering a national identity crisis and need a turn on the couch. There's just been too much change too fast and no one really knows what's going on. Even stanch conservatives are in a daze from the daily overload of bad news.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20541.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=banking+system
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=mortgage
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Mike+Whitney