Monday, Dec 29th
Last update09:19:04 AM GMT
Iraqis say they're nervous about the upswing in violence and what it may mean. They say they're worried things will get worse, concerned that Iraq's security forces aren't ready to stand on their own, and afraid that the country's ethnic, sectarian and political factions are still far from reconciliation.
TVNL Comment: Watch the corporate media convince Americans that the violence is the work of Al Qaida.
A U.S. church raised money to send Bibles, printed in the Pashtu and Dari languages, to American soldiers stationed in Afghanistan, a report on Al Jazeera documented Sunday night.
It is against military rules to proselytize -- a regulation one of the soldiers filmed by the network readily acknowledged. "You cannot proselytize, but you can give gifts," says the soldier. It is a crime in Afghanistan to attempt to convert anyone from Islam to any other religion. "I also want to praise God because my church collected some money to get Bibles for Afghanistan. They came and sent the money out." The footage is said to be roughly a year old.
The Al Jazeera report also shows a military preacher urging army parishioners to "hunt people for Jesus."
The New York Times story today on the dropping of the government case against the AIPAC lobbyists Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman comes in separate parts, not entirely signaled by paragraph breaks or outward format. The report by Neil A. Lewis and David Johnston sets out to answer three questions. What was this investigation about? Who is pleased and who displeased by the reversal? And why was the case dropped at just this moment?
Britain was "dragged into a war in Iraq which was always against out better judgment" the former deputy head of MI6 has claimed, in a remark that will reignite the debate over political interference in the war.
The United States is “committed to the worldwide elimination of torture and we are leading this fight by example,” Mr. Bush declared, vowing to prosecute torture and to prevent “other cruel and unusual punishment.”
But inside the Central Intelligence Agency, the statement set off alarms.
The announcement that Biden will speak Monday morning comes a day after a victory for the group and the pro-Israel community; the Justice Department decided to drop charges of mishandling classified information against two former AIPAC staffers.
The conference, a chance for AIPAC to flex its unmatched Beltway muscle, is expected draw 6,500 people, and a phalanx of top officials of both parties. Other speakers include Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, Newt Gingrich and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, as well as congressional leaders Steny Hoyer, Dick Durbin, Eric Cantor, and Jon Kyl. The event typically draws more members of Congress than any outside a joint session or State of the Union.
"Global declines in press freedom" persisted last year, with setbacks highlighted in Israel, Italy, Taiwan, Hong Kong and elsewhere across the world, an annual survey said Friday.
"This marked the seventh straight year of overall deterioration. Improvements in a small number of countries -- including bright spots in parts of South Asia and Africa -- were overshadowed by a continued, relentless assault on independent news media by a wide range of actions, in both authoritarian states and countries with very open media environments."
Wherever one turns, whether it is on the broadcast news or the Internet, we are bombarded with Swine Flu stories. Government tells us not to "panic," while it simultaneously engages in activities meant to spread widespread fear.
Indeed, as Robert Higgs has written, the very basis of government rests upon cultivating human fear:
When observing the swine flu outbreak happening today, it's helpful to have some historical context. Viral pandemics are not unusual, and talking about one isn't "alarmist." Pandemics are a regular feature of life on earth, and they occur with surprising regularity throughout world history.
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