be just

AlterNet: On July 4, Put Away the Flags : "On this July 4, we would do well to renounce nationalism and all its symbols: its flags, its pledges of allegiance, its anthems, its insistence in song that God must single out America to be blessed."

Iraq contractors outnumber troops - baltimoresun.com

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Hundreds leave Pakistani mosque : "About 700 students have surrendered at a mosque besieged by Pakistani security forces in the capital, Islamabad, officials say. Militant students inside the compound have been told to give themselves up, after fierce gun battles with security forces killed 10 people on Tuesday."

An Islamic extremist group who wanted to establish an “Islamic government” and declare Sharia in Pakistan is battling the government of Pakistan. The type of groups are mushrooming in Pakistan so fast exacerbated by the military junta led by Pervez Musharaf. Unless Pakistan comes back to fully functional democratic ideals and respect for human and civil rights, there will be groups like that to create disorder and impose their brand of Islam on others. "Islamabad, July 4: The Pakistan Government imposed a curfew and deployed army around the Lal Masjid early this morning. At least 12 persons were killed and over 150 injured in the gun battle between security forces and inhabitants of the mosque. The government told the clerics and militant students of the mosque to surrender along with their weapons and assured them that they would not be harmed, Minister of State for Interior Zaffar Iqbal Warraich told reporters"

Republic to Empire : "Viktor Frankl, a Jewish psychiatrist who survived the Holocaust, discovered that the hellish experience didn't change anybody. Those who were bad remained bad, and those who were good remained good. I suppose the question for us today is, Have we lost the ability to distinguish between good and bad? "

AGBM.com Man Talk: Should Blacks celebrate July 4th? : "I've debated for many years about whether I should or shouldn't publish my views on the fourth of July. Some misguided souls will misinterpret these thoughts as being unpatriotic. But they are not. It's only through time and the free exchange of ideas that understanding can properly manifest itself between different peoples and cultures. And now with the 21st century nearing I have a strong desire to get this so-called 'holiday celebration' off of my chest. Before I go into my denunciations of the fourth of July, allow be to go back in time to July 4, 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was signed and sent to England. It would be stupid of me if I talked about the fourth of July without quoting liberally from it texts."

Rad Geek People’s Daily 2006-07-03 – Independence Day What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy—a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States, at this very hour.

Minority Rights and the Prevention of Violent Conflict : "Chechnya, Darfur, Kashmir, Kosovo, Sri Lanka - just some of the world's bitterest conflicts. All fuelled and fought over ethnic, linguistic, religious or cultural issues. All concern minority groups. Disregard for minority issues lies at the heart of many conflicts. But despite this, minority rights have been marginalized in international conflict prevention. "

Asia Times Online :: South Asia news - Pakistan in crisis over mosque attack Apparently, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, the leader of the opposition in Parliament, gave his tacit support for the government to confront the Taliban. The opposition six-party religious alliance, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), is also said to have agreed with Musharraf during a National Security Council meeting on Monday that extremism should be confronted with "iron hands".

Two Men Linked To Both U.K. Plots, Sources Tell CBS News Suspects Recruited By Leader Of Al Qaeda's Iraq Branch - CBS News : "Intelligence sources tell CBS News that the people behind the attempts were directly recruited by Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, the present leader of the terror group's Iraq franchise. " The problem I have with the above assertion is, “alqaida in Iraq” is more capable of doing more damage than otherwise amateurish bomb plot. Whether this is done by western agents “a Whiteman” or indeed extremist Muslim terrorists I don’t know. The whole terrorism “business” is in terms of who did what or plot to do is very murky at best.

Crime and Non-Punishment- by Justin Raimondo : "In commuting Scooter Libby's sentence so that the vice president's former chief of staff won't spend a minute in jail, the president is sending a message, one that, while going out to multiple recipients, consists of a sentiment succinctly summed up in two words: Screw you!"