French soldiers had two opportunities to kill Bush Family Friend Osama bin Laden, but were not given the go-ahead by their American superiors

Bush Gets a Clue. Economic modeling based on FDR

[...]
Bush is being urged to give up to $10 billion (£5.1 billion) to Iraq as part of a New Deal that would create work for unemployed Iraqis, following the model of President Franklin D Roosevelt during the 1930s depression.

At the Pentagon, the joint chiefs of staff are insisting on reconstruction funds as part of a package of political and economic measures to accompany the armed forces. They fear the extra troops will be wasted and more lives lost if Bush relies purely on the military to pacify Iraq, according to sources close to General Peter Schoomaker, the army chief of staff.

[...)

If Bush complies I'll consider it his personal admission that policies of Franklin Delano Roosevelt are infinitely superior to his own and that of Poppy, Ronnie Ray-Gun, Newt Fat Head Gingrich, Tom "Terminal Satyriasis" Delay, and that the continued implementation of right wing policy is understood by the right to be an assault on working and middle class people.

African States Work to End Nile Colonial Water Sharing Agreements

Joe Conason: Destroying Freedom to Save America

Climate Change vs Mother Nature: Scientists reveal that bears have stopped hibernating

Sarah McLachlan - River

I saw him walking through O'Hare Once

If Brown's claim to the invention of soul can be challenged by fans of Ray Charles and Sam Cooke, then his rights to the genres of rap, disco and funk are beyond question. He was to rhythm and dance music what Dylan was to lyrics: the unchallenged popular innovator.

"James presented obviously the best grooves," rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy once told The Associated Press. "To this day, there has been no one near as funky. No one's coming even close."

His hit singles include such classics as "Out of Sight," "(Get Up I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine," "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and "Say It Loud — I'm Black and I'm Proud," a landmark 1968 statement of racial pride.

"I clearly remember we were calling ourselves colored, and after the song, we were calling ourselves black," Brown said in a 2003 Associated Press interview. "The song showed even people to that day that lyrics and music and a song can change society."

Global warming claims inhabited tropical island

USA Today Adds Foreclosure Listings To Real Estate Web Site

USA Today is offering the service as foreclosures rise throughout the United States as a result of a deflating real estate market. People who bought homes under adjustable-rate mortgages are particularly vulnerable to foreclosure, experts say.

"Overall, foreclosures are rising throughout the United States, which creates tremendous investment opportunities for home buyers and investors," Brad Geisen, president and CEO of Foreclosure.com, said in a statement.

Agency to Test Military Draft Machinery

More Layoffs Seen For Big Pharma (Bush administration handouts of tax payer money not enough to satisfy Pfizer's greed)

In a client note released Thursday, Schott noted that Pfizer (nyse: PFE - news - people )’s recent 20% U.S. sales force cut of about 2,000 reps was a step in the right direction, in his opinion, as the company looks to cut back on its overall cost structure. The layoffs added 5 cents per share per year to their earnings, according to Schott.

With these cuts expected to be completed by the end of 2006, Schott believed Pfizer has the further opportunity to slash headcount among its 20,000 international reps, based on his analysis of sector sales force efficiency.

Pfizer's McKinnell to Get $180M Package

[...]

McKinnell's package, which the company disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday, totals more than $180 million. It includes an estimated $82.3 million in pension benefits, $77.9 million in deferred compensation, and cash and stock totaling more than $20.7 million.

The total value could grow to almost $200 million if McKinnell gets a $18.3 million stock award, but that is contingent on the future performance of the stock of the world's largest drugmaker.

[...]

Largest Indian Outsourcing Deal Ever: Tech Mahindra Wins $1 Billion Pact From BT

Climate Change vs Mother Nature: Scientists reveal that bears have stopped hibernating

market value of pot produced in the U.S. exceeds $35 billion — far more than the crop value of such heartland staples as corn, soybeans and hay

Same Idiots that Brought us Iraq Debacle Now stepping up Threats against Iran

Fox Host Gallagher: ‘Round Up’ Olbermann, Damon, And ‘Put Them In A Detention Camp’

U.S. Economic growth rate for third quarter is revised down

The economy has been losing momentum all this year. The main culprit behind the third quarter's slowdown was the deepening housing slump.

The main culprit behind economic problems through out the economy is right wing policy implemented by right wing political scum in the actual employ of multinational corporate scum, and plenty of it.

King George the Chimpy links minimum wage increase for poor to tax breaks for filthy rich

Oh come on. A chimp can obviously do a better job as president than I can.

Indian islands disappear under rising seas

[...]

Official records list 102 islands in Indian Territory, but scientists examining satellite imagery now say two have disappeared and a dozen more could go under.

The Sunderbans are a natural buffer shielding millions from storms and tidal waves whipped up in the Bay of Bengal.

Scientists say cyclones are now more intense, causing more severe flooding, erosion and salt water contamination in coastal areas.

Gloriously Happy Winter Solstice to You!

[...]
Longest Night of the Year

The winter solstice marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year. The sun appears at its lowest point in the sky, and its noontime elevation appears to be the same for several days before and after the solstice. Hence the origin of the word solstice, which comes from Latin solstitium, from sol, “sun” and -stitium, “a stoppage.” Following the winter solstice, the days begin to grow longer and the nights shorter.

[...]

Wages of average workers trailing far behind surge in corporate profits

Amid the surge in corporate profit, many workers have faced terminated pension plans, reduced health-care benefits and rising outsourcing of jobs overseas.

The swelling earnings of business and of many top executives have become part of the debate about widening U.S. income disparities. When they take control of Congress next month, Democratic Party leaders will focus intently on those disparities, they say, and on trade agreements that some contend enrich multinational businesses while destroying American jobs.

"I'm very passionate about this, and I'm going to be joined by some people who are equally passionate," said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. "Some reinforcements are coming."

Corporate leaders say they should not be forced to defend the profitability of their businesses.

{...]

I agree.
Corporate leaders should not be forced to defend their profits or the unethical and often illegal activities in which they engage to acquire them.
After all, how can you defend price fixing and outsourcing and buying congressmen and other neoliberal trade practices cherished by corporate henchmen?
Instead of defending they should be taxed at a rate of 75% and pay up or face bannishment from doing business in the United States.

FLASHBACK: Bush Said Kerry Proposal to Increase Size of Military Would Make The Country ‘Less Safe’

Now Flip Flopper Chimpy wants to pump up the volume.

Was Paul Wellstone Murdered so Bush Boy Coleman could be a repiglikkkan senator?

HandPicked Bush Boy Coleman opposes surge in U.S. troops in Iraq

Repulsion

Suit asks to see inside vote machine that brought us President Chimpy

Chimpy screwing around with post office

FCC Report shows Cable Rates Increased 93% from 1995 to 2005

Under Socialist Hugio Chavez Venezuela Jobless Rate Falls to Eight-Year Low

[...]

Venezuela's economy swelled 10.2 percent in the past year on government oil revenue, driving a consumer spending boom that helped create 424,000 jobs in November. President Hugo Chavez's government plans to pour nearly half its budget into social and job creation programs next year, and aims to slash unemployment to 7 percent next month, INE President Elias Eljuri said in today's release.

[...]

Merry Christmas from your local clergy!

Senator Dick Durbin Seeks Detainee Abuse Case Update

Report Says Poor Students Shortchanged

Six countries could lose US trade benefits - USTR

Bush bash: the gift that keeps giving

ome of the T-shirts bear only the date: 01.20.09. The others spell it out: "Bush's Last Day".

But both, with an assortment of "Last Day" caps, mugs, bumper stickers, buttons, and other collectibles are seeing strong sales as politically minded US gift-givers stock up for this holiday season.

One of the most popular items is a pocket-sized clock that counts down the minutes - and yes, seconds - left in US President George Bush's final term in office.

[...]

Most Americans have had premarital sex

These numbers are only because Amerikkkan moral fascists won't allow homosexuals to get married. If they did most of the pre marital sex would stop.
Such are the social contradictions of the modern Christian state.

Pregnant Virgin Komodo Dragon appears happy

How Dangerous is the Dollar Drop?

Ahmet Ertegun, Music Executive, Dies at 83

“Few people have had a bigger impact on the record industry than Ahmet,” David Geffen, the entertainment mogul, said yesterday in a telephone interview from Los Angeles, “and no one loved American music more than he did.”

Bush appeals court ordered currency redesign. They won;t help the visually impaired any more than anyone else, other than themselves

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration on Tuesday asked an appeals court to overturn a ruling that would require a redesign of the nation's currency to help the blind.

Americans see rich-poor gap worsening

Severe space storm headed for Earth

"We're looking for very strong, severe geomagnetic storming" to begin probably around midday Thursday, Joe Kunches, lead forecaster at the NOAA Space Environment Center, told Space.com Wednesday afternoon.

he storm is expected to generate aurorae or northern lights as far south as the northern United States on Thursday night.

Environmental Collapse picking up pace

BOISE, Idaho -- More than 1,000 mallard ducks have died in a bizarre cluster along a southeastern Idaho creek bed, puzzling wildlife agencies.
[...]
The ducks may have contracted a bacterial or fungal infection by eating grain treated with pesticides by local cattle farmers, Drew said. Farming chemicals may also have spilled into the small spring-fed creek, which measures just 3- to 6-inches deep.
[...]

Religion for a Captive Audience, Paid For by Taxes

The toilets and sinks — white porcelain ones, like at home — were in a separate bathroom with partitions for privacy. In many Iowa prisons, metal toilet-and-sink combinations squat beside the bunks, to be used without privacy, a few feet from cellmates.

The cells in Unit E had real wooden doors and doorknobs, with locks. More books and computers were available, and inmates were kept busy with classes, chores, music practice and discussions. There were occasional movies and events with live bands and real-world food, like pizza or sandwiches from Subway. Best of all, there were opportunities to see loved ones in an environment quieter and more intimate than the typical visiting rooms.

But the only way an inmate could qualify for this kinder mutation of prison life was to enter an intensely religious rehabilitation program and satisfy the evangelical Christians running it that he was making acceptable spiritual progress. The program — which grew from a project started in 1997 at a Texas prison with the support of George W. Bush, who was governor at the time — says on its Web site that it seeks “to ‘cure’ prisoners by identifying sin as the root of their problems” and showing inmates “how God can heal them permanently, if they turn from their sinful past.”

Did Plenty of Damage Congress Slithers out of Town

Iraqis Near Deal on Distribution of Oil Revenues

In other words, privatization.
[...]

The working draft of the oil law re-establishes the state-run Iraq National Oil Company, which was founded in 1964 to oversee oil production but was shut down by Mr. Hussein in 1987. The company would operate using a business model and not through a government budget process. Iraqi and American officials say that would make management of oil production more efficient and separate it from the Oil Ministry, which has been rife with corruption.

[...]

This is why Bush and Cheney invaded. To privatize Iraq's considerable oil wealth in order to better line their pockets with that profit. Why spend money Iraqi oil makes on free education and health care for Iraqis when they can pad their own bank accounts with it by just a few illegal strokes of L. Paul "Jerry " Bremer's pen, at the insignificant cost of a couple hundred thousand dead Iraqis and a few thousand dead ( so far) Americans, the hatred of the world, and all at tax payer expense, with the added bonus of heaps of cash for Lockheed and Halliburton and Blackwater and other mercenary service companies.

US violator of human rights: Buddhadeb

[...]
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Sunday described it as a "violator" of human rights and said that he supported China's "food, clothing, shelter" model of human rights.

"The US is very vocal about human rights. But it is violating human rights in many parts of the world, like Iraq and Lebanon," Bhattacharjee said at a function organised by the West Bengal Human Rights Commission to commemorate World Human Rights Day.

[...]

Never mind the Potstickers and Foreign Film.

All nine Christmas trees have been removed from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport instead of adding a giant Jewish menorah to the holiday display as a rabbi had requested.
[...]

Israel Blocks Tutu Fact-Finding Mission

3 Palestinian Kids Killed in Gaza Shooting by Palestinian Gunmen from different "politcal" faction

Former Rep. DeLay, indicted on state campaign finance charges, begins new 'career' as blogger

Ecuador Plans `Case By Case' Oil-Lease Renegotiation

[...]

Correa also said he's seeking investment from Chile, Brazil and Venezuela to build refineries capable of handling the country's heavy crude oil.

``It's absurd that Ecuador, an oil exporter, has to import oil to feed its refineries,'' he said.

He hopes to move ahead with plans to build a refinery near the coast with the help of Venezuelan finance and technology from its state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA.

[...]

Congress OKs Bill Allowing New Offshore Drilling

Rejected by voters and limping off stage, the Republican-led Congress muscled through a sweeping bill reviving expired tax breaks, extending trade benefits for developing countries and protecting doctors from a big cut in Medicare payments.

Death of U.S. Activist-Journalist in Mexico Highlights Role of Indy Media

The shocking video in which Bradley Roland Will recorded his own death made him a hero not only to the leftist movement he was covering, but also to a growing army of independent activist-journalists both covering and participating in social movements around the world.

Will, a 36-year-old from New York, died while filming unrest in Mexico's Oaxaca state, where protesters had been fighting for months to oust Gov. Ulises Ruiz, whom they accused of electoral fraud.

Lawmakers challenge KBR subcontractor’s use of armed guards

In a Dec. 7 letter to outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, two lawmakers said they have obtained memos and contracts from ESS Support Services, a KBR subcontractor, showing ESS entered into a security subcontract with Blackwater USA in 2004.

Under the $16.5 billion Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP) contract held by KBR, a Halliburton subsidiary, KBR employees and subcontractors are prohibited from carrying weapons without military approval, according to a July 14 letter from Army Secretary Francis Harvey to the House Government Reform Committee.

KBR, formerly known as Kellogg, Brown and Root, has not requested, nor has the military granted, permission to carry weapons, Harvey said.

Ecoli Outbreak spreads

"Illnesses are still occurring, and we consider the outbreak to be ongoing," said Dr. Christopher Braden, an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC said it expected the number of cases to grow. As of Friday afternoon, the agency had counted 62 confirmed cases in six states, most of them in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

South Carolina and Utah reported one case each. South Carolina health officials said Friday that their case involved a girl who had stopped at a Taco Bell in Pennsylvania last month while traveling. It was not immediately known if the Utah victim had recently been in the Northeast.

Forty-nine of those who got sick were hospitalized, and seven developed a type of kidney failure, the CDC said.

Laboratories continued testing food samples to find the source of the bacteria.

Some restaurants remained closed Friday, with huge garbage bins in parking lots as workers threw out food, cleaned kitchens and re-stocked supplies.

GOP Congress with help of some Dimocraps pass lass minute round of legislative gifts to wealthy at the expense of common good

Remember the days when insurance was for those AT RISK. Now those at risk can't buy it, but everyone else is forced to.

Top Democrat questions Blackwater deals in Iraq

RALEIGH, N.C. California Representative Henry Waxman wants answers from the military about why North Carolina-based Blackwater was paid so much for work in Iraq at taxpayers' expense.
[...]
Waxman also argues that Blackwater's services were prohibited because the Army never authorized the company or any other Halliburton subcontractors to guard convoys or carry weapons.
[...]

Romney not hate filled enough for GOP

The country doesn't want either Bush bag of shit to rule

But the media acts like Chimpy simply needs to turn over his mess to Poppy's corrupt, sleaze bag friends and everything will be okay.

Wall Street sees wave of U.S. public asset sales (Privatization in the booming 3rd world country, Bush Economy.)

[...]
From New Jersey to California, cash-strapped cities and states are considering sales or leases of highways, airports and other public infrastructure to generate cash and plug budget gaps. At the same time, more than $100 billion in equity capital is looking to invest in for public assets boasting steady returns.
[...]
And while investors have operated highways and airports in Europe and Asia for years, privatization is new to the United States, where Midwestern states are leading the charge.

US subprime loans face trouble (The Booming Bush Economy)

There has been a sharp rise in the number of borrowers behind on their payments. The loans are often packaged into securities and sold to investors to help lenders reduce risk.

In recent years, this area has been one of the fastest-growing parts of the market for mortgage-backed bonds. So far in 2006, $437bn of such securities have been issued in the US.

The securities have been big business for investment banks which have been buying up mortgage lenders to ensure a continued supply of loans. Merrill last year bought a stake in Ownit, which made $5.5bn of loans in the first half of 2006. Ownit closed down this week after JPMorgan Chase, its main lender, cut off its funding.

Consumer borrowing plunged in October (The BOOMING Bush economy)

McKinney Introduces Bill to Impeach Bush

I see little Richie Daley's invasive security cameras are really doing the job.

Three people, including the gunman, have died after a shooting at a skyscraper west of Chicago's Loop, police said tonight.

Feds Arrest Would-Be Terrorist Allegedly Planning to Set Off Grenades in Rockford, IL. Mall

Democrats Will Try to Block Congressional Pay Raise

Bank Of America Outsources Benefits Administration

Mr Obama Wants to be President

Renowned cancer scientist was paid by chemical firm for 20 years

Sir Richard Doll, the celebrated epidemiologist who established that smoking causes lung cancer, was receiving a consultancy fee of $1,500 a day in the mid-1980s from Monsanto, then a major chemical company and now better known for its GM crops business.

Poor Baby. Talk about Sharks in the Gene Pool. Grandpa isn't even human

Democrats roll over on Gates.

Apparently his illegal Iran Contra activity is not relevant to our new neoliberal "left."

South American countries agree to eliminate visa requirement for their citizens

Lazy Ass Republican Congressmen Complaining dems want congress to work 5 days instead of 2 a week as they have been

France to Launch English-Language News Channel

Your Tax Dollars at Work Enriching "defense" contractors

US and Israel Targeting DNA in Gaza? :: The DIME Bomb: Yet another genotoxic weapon

Fine Print in Defense Bill Opens Door to Martial Law

But War Criminal Bush had him kidnapped and Tortured him anyway

"RCMP investigators clearly informed U.S. officials that there was no evidence to support criminal charges against Mr. Arar in Canada, that he could not be prevented from entering Canada, and that we were unable to link him to al-Qaida," Zaccardelli said.

Rant

30 years plus of public recognition of the utter folly of our oil dependence and oil import dependence and our political leadership has stayed the course; Arming thugs and degenerates and propping up puppets and murderers and creeps like the Sauds, rather than practicing conservation and developing new sources of energy. All the while supporting absurd, genocidal Israel to keep the whole Arab area inflamed, out of balance and from developing economic mechanisms to stop the stealing of oil resources.

But the fact is we can't have middle eastern oil - Saudi or Iraq's 7 million barrels a day or Iran's or otherwise - and continue to support Israel militarily and financially.

It has become clear the US cannot take control of middle eastern oil fields through military means, though I imagine Cheney and some others still would like to bomb Iran to smithereens to try, and US support of Israel and the feudal dictatorship in Saudi Arabia are some of the main things fueling the "terrorist threat," as Chimpy likes to call it.

Nor can we have middle eastern oil through this other system of doing bushiness with people who abuse their populations in order to get rich (Sauds, Shahs, Saddams etc).

And after what the Bush administration has done we may not be able to have middle eastern oil even if we back off from Israel.

There are plenty of customers for oil. China provides a nice market. So does the EU.

Things have changed. The US is drowning in debt and alienated from the world community.
Either we accept new terms or we are forced to support a state of permanent warfare against oil nations. In either case, American dominance is over IMO.

I loathe the Israeli government and also the Saudi monarchy and all the religious loonies of whatever stripe and all the go kill-kill nationalistic fucks on every side. The ruling family in Saudi Arabia could have done PLENTY about Palestine, had they wanted to. They'd rather smoke Cuban cigars with the Bush crowd.

Businesses declare War on the will of the people

Idiot Cavuto to Krugman: ‘You Are Lying To People’

An appeal for an abandoned people subjected to collective punishment by genocidal, American backed Israeli government

Since Hamas and other Gaza militants seized the Israeli corporal, Gilad Shalit, and killed two of his comrades in late June, shells, drones and machine gun-fire from Israeli forces have killed some 400 Palestinians, civilians, women and children among them, in an operation Israel stated was to free Cpl Shalit and stop the Qassam rockets being fired from Gaza.

For five long months, electricity was cut to eight hours a day, damaging water supplies, after a surgically accurate bombing condemned by Israelis as well as foreign human rights groups as collective punishment in breach of humanitarian law.

Reaching a peak in July, the use of sonic booms, often deliberately timed as children were going to school, created misery and fear. As if that was not enough, a far lower but significant number of civilians, also including children, have been killed or wounded in the sporadic fighting between Fatah and Hamas, the two dominant factions in Palestinian politics, or in clan battles.

For the immediate survivors of the Israeli shells that killed 17 members of the Athamneh family as they tried to flee their home in Beit Hanoun as it was attacked, the bereavement is, if anything, harder to bear now that more than three weeks have elapsed since it happened. In late afternoon sunshine on Sunday, in the now eerily peaceful alley where the carnage was perpetrated, Hayat Athamneh, 56, a strong woman who lost three adult sons, all fathers themselves, sat with their still devastated and injured brother Amjad, 31, and his wife, who lost their own son Mahmoud, 10. "Now I feel it," said Hayat, covering her eyes as they fill with tears. " It wasn't so bad at the beginning. There were a lot of people around. Now there is nobody."

Sirius Satellite Radio Sinks Due to MP3 Systems

I stopped listening when they switched out my world music station for Rolling Stones Radio. As if we haven't heard enough old man, utterly irrelevant, sexist pig Rolling Stones.

Alps Are Warmest in 1,300 Years

n Hochfilzen, Tyrol, organizers of an upcoming international race went to the Grossglockner — Austria's highest mountain — to get snow they needed to prepare their track.

It took about five days to truck between 7,000 and 8,000 cubic meters (9,200 - 10,500 cubic yards) of snow from the Grossglockner, said organizer Thomas Abfalter.

Pfizer Under Pressure After Halting Drug

The world's largest drugmaker said Saturday that an independent board monitoring a study for cholesterol treatment torcetrapib recommended that the work end because of an unexpected number of deaths.

Pfizer Raises 2006 Estimate

Denver housing market in free-fall as foreclosures eclipse record

Richest 2% own 'half the wealth'

Wealth is heavily concentrated in North America, Europe and some countries in the Asia Pacific region, such as Japan and Australia.

These countries account for 90% of household wealth.

Yesterday E-coli. today Listeria. The Food Supply Is Not Safe

The bacterium can cause sometimes fatal infections in young children, the elderly and others with weak immune systems. Infection can lead to fevers, headaches, nausea, diarrhea and other symptoms in healthy individuals, and cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

Climate Change Will Empty America’s Breadbasket

Former Terrorist and New George Bush Playmate Muammar Gaddafi Speaks out

Muammar Gaddafi has accused the West of trying to grab Sudan's oil wealth with its plan to send UN troops to Darfur.

Slump in McMansions too

Weapons in Space and lots of tax payer cash for war profiteers at Lockheed martin and other offense contractors

[...]

"Conditions at the south pole appear to be more moderate and safer," she said. The south pole is almost constantly bathed in light and would be an ideal place to set up solar-power collectors for an electrical system -- a precondition for achieving the kind of "living off the land" that NASA is aiming for.

Horowitz also said the polar sites are scientifically exciting because "we don't know as much about the lunar poles as we know about Mars." Officials said the area around the south pole has craters that probably hold volatile gases that could be collected for commercial purposes. Highest on the list of possible resources is helium-3, a form of the gas seldom found on Earth that could be well suited for nuclear power fuel.

The rockets and space capsules that will take astronauts back to the moon will be exclusively American, but Dale said the mission envisions and needs the cooperation of other nations. As part of the process, she said, NASA officials met with representatives from the European Space Agency and the national space agencies of Australia, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Russia, South Korea and Ukraine.

[...]

Water War Brewing Along Mexican Border

SAN FRANCISCO -- Bush administration lawyers are urging a federal appeals court to allow a section of a canal separating California and Mexico to be lined with cement to stop millions of gallons of water from seeping south of the border each year.

The lining is proposed along a portion of the 82-mile All-American Canal that delivers Colorado River water to crop land on both sides of the border about 100 miles east of San Diego.
[...]

Iran Urges Arabs to Eject U.S. Military

[...]
The security and stability of the region needs to be attained and we should do it inside the region, not through bringing in foreign forces," Larijani told an audience of business and political leaders from the Arab world and elsewhere, including the United States. "We should stand on our own feet."
[...]

U.N.: World Failing to Protect Civilians

"Nowhere in the world do more civilians die right now from violence directed against them" than in Iraq, he said.

High expectations for Chávez after big victory

Argentina, Chile to create joint peace corps

Remembering Ronald Reagan and The right wing incursion in Elsalvador

Long-ago murders serve as a reminder

Slaying of churchwomen in El Salvador in 1980 should prompt Jesus' followers to reach out to the poor

Saturday, December 02, 2006

By REV. TERRY TROIA

Today marks the 26th anniversary of the rape and murder of four American churchwomen -- Sister Ita Ford, Sister Maura Clarke, Sister Dorothy Kazel, and lay missioner Jean Donovan.

On Dec. 2, 1980, nine months after the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero, Sister Ford and Sister Clarke boarded a plane in Managua, Nicaragua, bound for San Salvador, El Salvador. Sisters Ford and Clarke were returning from a Maryknoll retreat heralding the beginning of the Advent season.

[...]

On that long lonely road, 26 years ago today, the women were captured, raped, tortured, and brutally murdered by members of the U.S. trained and financially supported Salvadoran armed forces. Many years later, some of the soldiers who committed this crime did indeed admit their guilt. Last year, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the death of these slain American missionaries.

[...]

Mexico's new president promises investors safe environment

Right. These are his priorities, not the well being of the vast number of Mexicans. That is why he wasn't elected and Obrador was.

Oaxaca, Mexico: US Filmmakers Detained for Documenting

Logging roads lead to disease, social breakdown in Ecuador rainforest communities

Ecuador is considering hiring a private administrator to run the oil fields once operated by U.S. company Occidental Petroleum

Creepy, Gay bashing, Corpse-like Sam Brownback wants to be president

Europe awaits impact of plummeting dollar

Scientist Fights Church Effort to Hide Museum's Pre-Human Fossils

Iraq war has cost US 350 billion dollars

A billion dollars and big pile of change for every woman, man and child in America.

Think of the environmental degradation that could begin to repair, the green, energy efficient housing that could build, the homelessness that could eradicate.
Think of the health care and education that could buy, the job training programs it could fund.
Think of the research such a vast amount of money could fund with stem cells or alternative fuels.
Think of the levees that could build, the wetlands that could restore, the city that could breathe back to life, rather than the disaster with trash in the streets 15 months later that is New Orleans.

But if we used our money that way we couldn't enrich Halliburton and Lockheed Martin and pay for Exxon's war in the middle east on tax payers backs.

Analyst: IBM To Employ 100,000 Workers In India By 2010

Because our government, both parties, have made it profitable for businesses to send jobs overseas.

This is what free trade is all about. Big business free from any government regulation. Free to screw workers on multiple continents. Free from environmental regulation. Free from any consideration but their own profit.

People Party vs. Money Party: Who's Who Among the Democrats

Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) -- Leans People Party: As I detailed in a long piece for The Nation, Obama's instincts throughout his career have been to strongly side with the People Party against the Money Party. That is true, even if he also is more of a cautious Establishmentarian than a power-challenger -- and especially considering his recent moves to potentially push full public financing of congressional elections. However, he recently headlined the kickoff event for the so-called Hamilton Project -- the Wall Street backed front group whose goal is to undercut Democratic efforts to seriously reform America's trade policy. He additionally voted for the industry-written class action bill that limits citizens ability to seek legal redress against corporate abusers, he voted for the oil industry-written Energy Bill, he voted against legislation to crack down on exorbitant credit card interests rates, and he voted for the Oman Free Trade Agreement. In a presidential race, I believe Obama will more fully embrace the People Party both because it makes political sense and because I believe that's where his heart is. The question will be whether those two factors will outweigh the pressure he will face to join the Money Party and use his huge celebrity-driven microphone to push the Money Party's agenda -- pressures that may be responsible for his relative silence on major economic justice issues in his first two years in the Senate.

US tells banks to shut down Iran operations

Three Cheers! Sadistic Pig Bolton Resigns!

Now if he would only retire from public life or perhaps retire to a warm bath with a cold steel blade.
I'm sure Bush will appoint someone just as odious, though finding one as loathsome as Bolton will take work.

Bioprospecting: Mining Our National Parks One Gene at a Time

Really Scary

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Bulldozing the rule of law

UN: Israel breaks border agreement

Jewish Groups To Challenge Ethics Reform

[...]
At issue are two key congressional perks, targeted for elimination, that Jewish organizations rely on to achieve community goals: overseas junkets, including dozens of trips to Israel each year, funded by Jewish organizations; and an estimated $25 million a year in earmarked funds for Jewish communal projects. Both the trips and the earmarked funding face possible elimination as part of the Democrats pledge to fight corruption on Capitol Hill.
[...]

Any other group advocating against US interests in favor of another government would be stopped. Why should Israel get special treatment? It shouldn't

From DK. The "Coalition"

Everyone wants out. And the troop totals of the countries sticking around aren't exactly awe-inspiring:

1. UK: 7,200 (and about to be "significantly reduced")

2. South Korea: 2,300 (and pulling out 1,000 right now)

3. Australia: 850

4. Poland: 900

5. Romania: 865

6. Denmark: 515

7. El Salvador: 380

8. Georgia: 300

9. Azerbaijan: 150

10. Bulgaria: 150

11. Latvia: 136

12. Albania: 120

13. Slovakia: 103

14. Czech Republic: 100

15. Mongolia: 100

16. Lithuania: 50

17. Armenia: 46

18. Bosnia & Herzegovina: 37

19. Estonia: 34

20. Macedonia: 33

21. Kazachstan: 29

22. Moldova: 12

That totals 17,500, with just about 10,000 of it coming from the UK and South Korea, both drawing down their forces right now.

Disembowelled, then torn apart: The price of daring to teach girls. Neocon Amerikkka handles the Taliban

Piggy Newt Gingrich aims to take out yet another contract ON America

Supports inherently unfair contribution system that is destructive to democracy but helps fat piggy republikkkan scum like him.

A Gingrich presidency could be even worse than a Bush presidency. And Bush is an unmitigated disaster.

Baker-Hamilton: Road to peace leads through Iran

More flagrant violation of 1st amendment

U.S. Opposes European global warming cuts scheme for airliners

That this narcissistic wonder boy holds the oval office is one good indication of how far America has fallen since the "Reagan revolution"

Congressional Pensions for Convicted Members

They will still get their generous Congressional pensions no matter what.

Prison Privatization: The Bottom Line

Angola, Sudan poised to join OPEC

Exxon Chairman gets $14.2 mln in restricted stock

[...]
Tillerson and other top executives received restricted stock awards earlier this week, Exxon disclosed on Thursday evening in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Executive pay in the oil industry, particularly at Exxon, is a sensitive subject as U.S. motorists smart from gas prices that have topped $3 a gallon.

Tillerson received 185,000 shares of restricted stock, whose value is pegged to Exxon's stock price, which closed at $76.81 on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. The stock is up 35.4 percent this year.
[...]

Exxon Mobil CEO Threatens Democrats

One big step toward creating authentic national security is do is what Bolivia and Venezuela have done.

Nationalize energy companies.

A resource as essential as energy shouldn't be in the hands of a small group of unethical, profit driven liars who will never put national interests or human interests over their lust for money and power.

Halliburton Unit to Pay $8 Million for Overbilling; KBR Settlement Ends Kosovo Case

Corporate Welfare. County wants Wal-Mart to get state aid

7M in U.S. jails, on probation or parole. It's very profitable too. Privatizers you know.