be just

Thank You Mr. Vonnegut -- In These Times I first met Kurt over the phone, when I interviewed him early in 2003 during those dark weeks leading up the Bush administration’s invasion of Iraq. During our talk he railed against the “PPs” or psychopathic personalities who had taken over the government “by means of the sleaziest, low-comedy, Keystone Cops-style coup d’etat imaginable.” He was speaking, of course, of Bush and Co. “Those now in charge of the federal government are upper-crust C students,” he said. “Unlike normal people, they are never filled with doubts, for the simple reason that they cannot care what happens next. Simply can’t. Do this! Do that! Mobilize the reserves! Privatize the public schools! Attack Iraq! Cut health care! Tap everybody’s telephone! Cut taxes on the rich! Build a trillion-dollar missile shield! Fuck habeas corpus and the Sierra Club and In These Times, and kiss my ass!”

AlterNet: EnviroHealth: Scientists Have Found the Gene That Decides How Long We Live : "'After 72 years of not knowing how calorie restriction works, we finally have genetic evidence to unravel the underlying molecular programme required for increased longevity in response to calorie restriction,' said Andrew Dillin, of the Salk Institute in San Diego, California. 'It's likely to play a role in the human condition, although we still don't know whether calorie restriction really works in humans. Studies in primates suggest it does.'"

AlterNet: Rights and Liberties: Hate from Within: America's Home-Grown Terrorism : "During the immigrant rights marches last week, plots to attack immigrants with grenades and semi-automatic weapons were uncovered in Alabama, Maryland and Washington, D.C. "

AlterNet: War on Iraq: Hard to Deny: Iraq Is All About the Oil : "How the U.S. is working to secure Iraq's oil -- one of the most important sources of petrochemical energy on the planet -- and how the Iraqis are resisting. "

AlterNet: War on Iraq: Women Under Attack: The Talibanization of Iraq : "'We live in a state of continuous fear -- if our hair shows on the street, if we're not veiled enough at work,' says Mohammed, 47. 'It's a new experience for women in Iraq. After four years, it's turned into Afghanistan under the Taliban.'"

AlterNet: War on Iraq: Tension Mounts as Antiwar Movement Challenges Dems' Commitment to Stop the War There is a growing number of people out there who believe the Reid-Pelosi Iraq war supplemental is a gigantic crock of shit, and who think the Democratic Party leadership should now officially be labeled conspirators in the war effort. I've even seen it suggested that Reid and Pelosi should now be sent official "certificates of war ownership," to formally put them in a club with Bush, Cheney, Richard Perle and the rest of the actual war authors.

Reasons and Opinions: May 2007 : "Via Kevin Drum: international terrorist Luis Posada Carriles is free today. There is stark evidence that the Department of Justice never really cared about this case, botched it up, and may not even appeal. Now, the word 'terrorist' is assuredly over-used, but this guy certainly meets the classic textbook definition: he 'plotted the bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people, and he has admitted being involved in hotel bombings in Havana'. And now he's enjoying life in Miami. I guess the 'war on terror' is not global after all, as it excludes terrorist actions against 'enemies' of the United States. Sounds like moral relativism to me. Then again, this is not a new phenomenon, as, during the heyday of IRA terrorism, their representatives moved with impunity in prominent US political circles. Most of the cash that paid for the bombs was raised in the United States, and those donors had (and still have) bloo...

Reasons and Opinions: Mitt Romney: Stupidity on Steroids? : "A number of commentators (Kevin Drum, Spencer Ackerman, Daniel Larison) have picked up this little nugget from the last GOP presidential hopefuls debate. Remember, Mitt Romney likes to come across as a tough guy. He recently claimed he was a lifelong hunter, but never had a license and went on only two hunting trips in his life (that's not much more than me-- actually, that's two more than me...) But there's something about Republicans needing to prove their manliness by being willing to shoot things, or (more likely) ordering others to do the shooting. And any sign of thoughtfulness, of introspection, is a sign of weakness. So, when asked about Bin Laden, Romney jumps straight into Arnie-mode:"

toohotfortnr: real child of hell : "real child of hell:Behold! Mitt Romney rides a pale horse. From last night's debate: But I don't want to buy into the Democratic "

The EPRDF, Civil Society Organizations and Human Rights in Ethiopia : "The EPRDF, Civil Society Organizations and Human Rights in Ethiopia Paulos Milkias May 7, 2007 The EPRDF party is driven by power as an end in itself. The lure of the current Ethiopian government's authority has in fact transformed the political party into a power-machine that crushes everything on its way, including all major opposing parties and civil-society organizations."..............

Saudi Arabia beheads Ethiopian woman convicted of murdering Egyptian man - International Herald Tribune : "Saudi Arabia beheads Ethiopian woman convicted of murdering Egyptian man" The Associated PressPublished: May 9, 2007 RIYADH, Saudi Arabia: Saudi authorities beheaded Wednesday an Ethiopian woman convicted of killing an Egyptian man over a dispute, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. Khadija Bint Ibrahim Moussa was found guilty of fatally stabbing Mohammed Kamal Shaheen, according to the statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency. Moussa had stabbed Shaheen in the neck while he was asleep and then beat his head with a glass bottle. She was executed in the Red Sea port city of Jiddah. No other details were known. Moussa was the first woman to be executed this year. The kingdom last beheaded two women in 2005. Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam under which people convicted of murder, drug trafficking, rape and armed robbery can be executed. Behead...

Scoop: Damning Evidence against The David Project Islamic Society of Boston releases Opposition Emails: Damning Evidence against The David Project Summary: The David Project conspired with real estate agents and politicians to organize a campaign to deny the Boston Muslim community their 1st amendment rights to worship freely. This week, Jessica Masse, interfaith coordinator of the Islamic Society of Boston, publicly released recent discovery materials obtained as part of the ISB's conspiracy lawsuit, which reveal that an Israel advocacy organization, which specializes in creating malicious anti-Arab, anti-African and Islamophobic propaganda, met with real estate investors, attorneys, and Republican activists at their office at 210 South Street in Boston to discuss their intentions "to present a legal challenge" to the Roxbury Mosque.............