be just

US should recognise Palestine - Opinion - Al Jazeera English : "If the Palestinians go ahead with their plans to declare a state later this year, the US should recognise it. There really is no good reason not to. After all, ever since the days of Lyndon B. Johnson, presidents from both parties have expressed support for the return of the occupied territories in exchange for peace. No nation, other than Israel itself, recognises any of that land - including Arab East Jerusalem - as part of Israel. And the UN, which issued Israel its birth certificate in 1947, appears ready to do the same for the State of Palestine this summer. It was once widely assumed that creation of the Palestinian state would be negotiated between Israelis and Palestinians. No more. The final nail in the direct-negotiations coffin was driven by prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu when he coldly rejected president Obama's offer of an extra $3.5 billion in US aid in exchange for a 90-day settlement freeze. - S...

Tunisia: A democratic roadmap - Opinion - Al Jazeera English : "In the wake of an Arab world-shattering political development, the government of Tunisia has been effectively overthrown via an amalgamation of civil unrest, grassroots mobilization and what one could call a coup d'esprit. Tunisia's new political masters must proceed by distancing themselves from self-congratulatory triumphalism. They will have to muster courage, display political imagination and modesty, and exercise tolerance of difference in order to fashion a durable democratic order in a post-Ben Ali Tunisia. The question is always, of course, 'how'? Historically, whether it is the new republican order after the absolute monarchy in France more than 200 years ago, post-Franco Spain or post-Marcos Philippines, trepidation is inevitable. Skills of compromise, clear vision and purpose are needed to tread the unchartered waters of post-authoritarian construction. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

GOP to Uninsured: Don’t Get Sick, if you Get Sick, Die Quickly: Part Deux | Informed Comment : "“The Republicans’ health care plan for America: “Don’t get sick.” That’s right — don’t get sick. If you have insurance, don’t get sick; if you don’t have insurance, don’t get sick; if you’re sick, don’t get sick — just don’t get sick! That’s what the Republicans have in mind for you, America. That’s the Republicans’ health care plan. But I think that the Republicans understand that that plan isn’t always going to work — it’s not a foolproof plan. So the Republicans have a backup plan, in case you do get sick. If you get sick in America, this is what the Republicans want you to do. If you get sick, America, the Republican health care plan is this: “Die quickly.” That’s right. The Republicans want you to die quickly if you get sick.” - Sent using Google Toolbar"

ei: Israel's Labor party not to be mourned : "Ehud Barak, Israel's defense minister, appears to have driven the final nail in the coffin of the Zionist left with his decision to split from the Labor party and create a new 'centrist, Zionist' faction in the Israeli parliament. So far four Members of Parliament, out of a total of 12, have announced they are following him. Moments after Barak's press conference on Monday, the Israeli media suggested that the true architect of the Labor party's split was the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who, according to one of his aides, had planned it like 'an elite general staff [military] operation.' - Sent using Google Toolbar"

Top Ten Horrible Things done to Us by Outgoing Sen. Joe Lieberman | Informed Comment : "Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) announced Tuesday that he would not seek reelection in 2012, and progressive Americans breathed a sigh of collective relief. It is worth reviewing the most horrible things Lieberman has done to us since he has been in office. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

New Ala. gov: Just Christians are his family - Yahoo! News : "BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley told a church crowd just moments into his new administration that those who have not accepted Jesus as their savior are not his brothers and sisters, shocking some critics who questioned Tuesday whether he can be fair to non-Christians. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

Al-Turabi arrested in Khartoum - Africa - Al Jazeera English : "Security forces in Sudan have arrested opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi from his home in Khartoum, al-Turabi's Popular Congress Party spokesman told Al Jazeera. Monday's arrest comes a day after al-Turabi's party called for a 'popular revolution' if the Sudanese government did not reverse price increases. 'He has been arrested ... with five other members of the group, and we don't know the reasons, because when they come to arrest him they don't give any reason,' Bashir Adam Rahma, told Al Jazeera. 'Whenever this regime has a crisis ... they will capture Dr Turabi at first. I think they are afraid of him that he might instigate some kind of uprising because ... in Sudan there are no freedoms,' Rahma said. - Sent using Google Toolbar"