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IRAQ: "Bad" Women Raped and Killed :: from www.uruknet.info :: news from occupied Iraq - it : "Women are being killed by militia groups in southern Iraq for not conforming to strict Islamic ways, the police say. And, increased threats from militia groups is driving many women away from their homes. Basra police chief Gen. Jalil Hannoon has told reporters and Arab TV channels that at least 40 women have been killed during the past five months in the southern city. 'We are sure there are many more victims whose families did not report their killing for fear of scandal,' Gen. Hannoon said."

AlterNet: The American Dream, or a Nightmare for Black America? : "Thirty years after the civil rights era, middle-class African-American families face a grim reality: their kids are far more likely to experience downward mobility in today's economy than they are to move up. For both black and white families, America's vaunted upward mobility is largely a myth, and research suggests that Americans actually enjoy less upward mobility than people in many other wealthy countries. (I discussed this phenomenon at some length in a recent article.) But the outlook is different for white and black families."

A Violent Cartography : "Perhaps it is fitting that elin o'Hara slavick's extraordinary evocation of bombings by the United States government be preceded by some words from a bombardier who flew bombing missions for the U.S. Air Corps in the second World War. At least one of her drawings is based on a bombing I participated in near the very end of the war--the destruction of the French seaside resort of Royan, on the Atlantic coast. As I look at her drawings, I become painfully aware of how ignorant I was, when I dropped those bombs on France and on cities in Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, of the effects of those bombings on human beings. Not because she shows us bloody corpses, amputated limbs, skin shredded by napalm. She does not do that. But her drawings, in ways that I cannot comprehend, compel me to envision such scenes."

A Violent Cartography : "Perhaps it is fitting that elin o'Hara slavick's extraordinary evocation of bombings by the United States government be preceded by some words from a bombardier who flew bombing missions for the U.S. Air Corps in the second World War. At least one of her drawings is based on a bombing I participated in near the very end of the war--the destruction of the French seaside resort of Royan, on the Atlantic coast. As I look at her drawings, I become painfully aware of how ignorant I was, when I dropped those bombs on France and on cities in Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, of the effects of those bombings on human beings. Not because she shows us bloody corpses, amputated limbs, skin shredded by napalm. She does not do that. But her drawings, in ways that I cannot comprehend, compel me to envision such scenes."

Iraq Does Exist : "The history of trying to obfuscate the truth and distort the image of Iraq has always been the aim of the U.S. aggression against the people of Iraq. There is the added factor now of new breed of ‘journalists’ and ‘bloggers’ ever on the lookout for a story that will tell Westerners all they need to know about Iraq, its problems, dangers, and prospects. Despite all of this, Iraq remains a nation of proud people struggling to liberate themselves from a murderous colonial Occupation."

Al Jazeera English - News - Jacob Zuma Wins Anc Leadership : "Jacob Zuma has been named the new president of South Africa's ruling African National Congress, putting him at the head of the race to become the country's leader in 2009. Zuma won a total of 2,329 votes from party delegates in Tuesday's election, forcing out Thabo Mbeki, South Africa's president, who received 1,505 votes."

Asia Times Online :: Middle East News, Iraq, Iran current affairs : "DAMASCUS - German sociologist Max Weber introduced the word 'charisma' into academic discourse, defining it in part as being a quality that sets an individual apart. Almost always, charismatic people posses exceptional communication and oratory skills."

Al Jazeera English - News - Israeli Raids Target Islamic Jihad : "A series of Israeli military raids in the Palestinian territories has killed a Hamas man and at least 10 members of Islamic Jihad, including the Gaza chief of its armed wing. Three overnight air strikes in the Gaza Strip killed nine fighters from the group, while an Israeli military operation in the West Bank left another dead."