be just

http://www.globalsecurity.org/ By Dan Robinson Capitol Hill 19 January 2007 Bush administration officials have told U.S. lawmakers that as much as $3 billion of the $22 to $25 billion Congress appropriated to rebuild Iraq has been wasted through fraud and abuse by private contractors. VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill. Since 2003, the U.S. Government Accounting Office, and inspectors general in the State Department and Department of Defense, have intensified efforts to determine how much reconstruction money has been wasted. Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq to oust Saddam Hussein, members of Congress have been outraged by reports of corruption in contracting, and investigations have led to a number of convictions. However, with the U.S. military effort in Iraq facing difficulty, and Democrats in control on Capitol Hill, the issue is being placed under a magnifying glass by congressional committees. Coming up with exact figures has been difficult, a problem made worse by t

Watch it online on PBS.ORG The most touching story of an abused man in a Catholic Church sexually by a priest and the cover up.

OLF Statement Jan 19, 2007 The Tigrean People Liberation Front (TPLF) regime of Ethiopia is unleashing its malignant instinct of death and destructive horror on Oromo refugees in Somalia. It is committing a planned and systematic genocide on the Oromo people by mislabeling Oromo’s struggle for self-determination and democracy as terrorism. The truth of the matter is it is the TPLF-led tyrannical regime that is unleashing state sponsored-terror against our people. Recent reports by human rights groups and governments are bearing witness that there are grave violations of the human rights of the Oromo people by the TPLF regime. These include extra-judicial killings, disappearances, illegal arrests, torture, gang rape and detention for a long period without charge or trial. Disappearances are systematically, incessantly and relentlessly committed against the Oromo people. As a result of these gross human rights violations and to escape state-sponsored terror, thousands of Oromos have fled

By Arash Norouzi 01/18/07 "Information Clearing House" -- -- Across the world, a dangerous rumor has spread that could have catastrophic implications. According to legend, Iran's President has threatened to destroy Israel, or, to quote the misquote, "Israel must be wiped off the map". Contrary to popular belief, this statement was never made, as this article will prove. BACKGROUND: On Tuesday, October 25th, 2005 at the Ministry of Interior conference hall in Tehran, newly elected Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered a speech at a program, reportedly attended by thousands, titled "The World Without Zionism". Large posters surrounding him displayed this title prominently in English, obviously for the benefit of the international press. Below the poster's title was a slick graphic depicting an hour glass containing planet Earth at its top. Two small round orbs representing the United States and Israel are shown falling through the hour glas

The Global Energy Race and Its Consequences (Part 1) - ( Part 2 Here ) By Michael T. Klare

By Ilan Pappe 01/18/07 " Electronic Intifada " On this stage, not so long ago, I claimed that Israel is conducting genocidal policies in the Gaza Strip. I hesitated a lot before using this very charged term and yet decided to adopt it. Indeed, the responses I received, including from some leading human rights activists, indicated a certain unease over the usage of such a term. I was inclined to rethink the term for a while, but came back to employing it today with even stronger conviction: it is the only appropriate way to describe what the Israeli army is doing in the Gaza Strip.

Pilger on the genocide that is engulfing Palestine as bystanders silently look on By John Pilger "When I was last in Gaza, Dr Khalid Dahlan, a psychiatrist, showed me the results of a remarkable survey. "The statistic I personally find unbearable," he said, "is that 99.4 per cent of the children we studied suffer trauma. Once you look at the rates of exposure to trauma you see why: 99.2 per cent of their homes were bombarded; 97.5 per cent were exposed to tear gas; 96.6 per cent witnessed shootings; 95.8 per cent witnessed bombardment and funerals; almost a quarter saw family members injured or killed." Dahlan invited me to sit in on one of his clinics. There were 30 children, all of them traumatised. He gave each a pencil and paper and asked them to draw. They drew pictures of grotesque acts of terror and of women streaming tears."