Israeli Soldiers Shoot Dead Nine-Year-Old Palestinian Boy; Funeral Erupts Into Violence

[Al Jazeera | Wednesday, 30 July, 2008.]
Israeli troops have shot dead a Palestinian boy during a protest near the separation wall in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian medics and witnesses. Hammad Hossam Mussa was hit by a bullet fired by Israeli soldiers in the village of Ni'lin on Tuesday, Salah Al Khawaja, a member of Ni'lin's Committee Against the Wall, said. He died of his wounds while being transported to hospital in an ambulance, medical sources said.

Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland in Jerusalem said that the Israeli military had not yet given a definitive account of the incident. "They have merely told us that they are carrying out 'a careful and thorough investigation' into how this child died, and only once they have done that investigation will we get their comment on how this boy happened to die," she said. (Full story here.)


(Video running time: 1m:53s)


Follow-Up: Clashes At Funeral Of West Bank Boy


[Al Jazeera | Thursday, 31 July, 2008.]
Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers have broken out at the funeral of a 10-year-old Palestinian boy shot dead by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank. Thousands of people in the West Bank gathered on Wednesday for the funeral of Ahmed Mussa who was killed on Tuesday during a protest against the separation wall in the village of Ni'lin. The mourners marched from the city of Ramallah to Ni'lin on Wednesday, chanting slogans condemning Mussa's killing.

Clashes broke out when the procession reached the village, with Palestinians hurling stones and Israeli soldiers firing tear gas grenades and rubber-coated bullets. Five Palestinians were injured and a 16-year-old was in serious condition after being shot in the eye and the head with rubber-coated bullets, doctors at a nearby hospital said.

At the funeral, Rafik Husseini, an aide to Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, said Tuesday's shooting was "truly a crime against a child". "The Israeli army, with its actions in Ni'lin and the rest of the West Bank, is trying to destroy any chance of peace and of a solution with two states living side-by-side," he said. Salah Khawaja, a member of Ni'lin's Committee Against the Wall, said that Mussa died when soldiers fired live rounds towards a group of protesters running into Ni'lin village after being dispersed from the protest site by rubber-coated bullets.

According to Palestinian officials, an autopsy conducted by forensic doctors found that Mussa was shot by a live round. Said Abu Ali, the governor of Ramallah, said that the autopsy indicated that Mussa was struck by a single bullet from an M16 assault rifle that entered his forehead and exited the back of his head. (Full story here.)

Protests against the separation wall occur regularly around Ni'lin [AFP]

Police Brutality Alive And Well This Summer

[By Lukas I. Alpert and Murray Weiss, New York Post | Wednesday, 30 July, 2008.]
The day after a video emerged of a cop knocking a cyclist to the ground, a second video alleging police brutality surfaced today in which an NYPD officer is seen whaling away at a man's legs with a baton. The footage - shot on July 4 on the Lower East Side - shows Officer Maurice Harrington repeatedly hitting Michael Cephus, 46, on his legs with a collapsible metal baton as he struggles with officers trying to cuff him. Harrington - a four-year veteran working out of the 52nd Precinct in The Bronx - had his badge and gun taken away and was placed on modified duty when the tape was turned over to the department's Internal Affairs Bureau.

The video does not show how the confrontation began. According to the criminal complaint, Harrington and fellow Officer Joel Medina said they encountered Cephus - who they thought was drunk - around 8 p.m. on Delancey Street under the Williamsburg Bridge. When they stopped him from entering a nearby park, they said he swung an umbrella at them and struck both officers "with closed fists about the body."

Cephus says he wasn't drinking that day and denies having gotten physical with the officers.
"I was with some friends at a cookout," he said. "I stepped out of the park to get some ice. The officers told me I couldn't return because they said I had alcohol. I told them it was only ice. "They thought I was drunk and they just came at me. They started swinging and hitting me with the batons." Cephus was charged with assault, criminal possession of a weapon, menacing and resisting arrest.

His attorney, Adam Orlow, said that even if his client did what he is accused of, Harrington used "excessive force."
"Let me be clear - he is maintaining that he absolutely did not do anything they say he did," Orlow said. "He never took a swing at them. He never was aggressive to them." Patrolmen's Benevolent Association president Patrick Lynch called the use of force "necessary." (Full story here.)




A Critical Mass bicyclist is attacked by police in Time's Square on 25 July, 2008.

Video posted by downsouthvids @ YouTube.
(Running time: 1m:10s)

Alan Watt Blurb

Excerpt from Cutting Through the Matrix with Alan Watt
- The creation of a new religion.

Friday, 25 July, 2008.


(Running time: 10m:00s)

* Lord Bertrand Russell * Mikhail Gorbachev * Madame Blavatsky * The [Sexy, But Oh So Sad] Maharishi * The Media * The Beatles * Nikita Khrushchev * The New Age *

(*...chasing a White Rabbit with Sexy Sadie.)

Alan Watt's website: Cutting Through The Matrix

90 Billion Barrels Of Oil In The Arctic Circle

[Canadian Driver | Thursday, 24 July, 2008.]
A new U.S. Geological Survey released by the Department of the Interior estimates that the area north of the Arctic Circle contains an estimated 90 billion barrels of undiscovered and technically recoverable oil, along with 1,670 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 44 billion barrels of natural gas liquids in 25 areas thought to have potential for petroleum. The assessment is the first publicly-available petroleum resource estimate of the entire area north of the Arctic Circle. These resources account for about 22 per cent of the world’s undiscovered and technically recoverable resources. The Arctic accounts for about 13 per cent of the undiscovered oil, 30 per cent of undiscovered natural gas and 20 per cent of the undiscovered natural gas liquids worldwide. About 84 per cent of the resources are expected to occur offshore.


Of the estimated undiscovered oil totals, more than half are estimated to occur in just three geologic provinces: Arctic Alaska, the Amerasia Basin, and the East Greenland Rift Basins. More than 70 per cent of the undiscovered natural gas is estimated to occur in the West Siberian Basin, the East Barents Basins, and Arctic Alaska. Exploration for petroleum has already resulted in the discovery of more than 400 oil and gas fields north of the Arctic Circle, which account for approximately 40 billion barrels of oil, more than 1,100 trillion cubic feet of gas and 8.5 billion barrels of natural gas liquids, but the Arctic, especially offshore, is essentially unexplored with respect to petroleum. (Full story here.)

Obama And The Wall

[Mosaic Intelligence Report, Link TV | Friday, 25 July, 2008.]
Barack Obama is treated like a rock star in Berlin as many European capitals are gripped by Obama-mania. But how was he received in the Middle East? And why did he refer to the Berlin Wall but not Israel's Seperation Wall? (Link.)

(Video running time: 4m:35s)

Obama at a different Wall...

The Impeachment Hearing

Testimony by Vincent Bugliosi:

Part I

(Running time: 6m:43s)

Part II

(Running time: 2m:47s)

Part III

(Running time: 5m:31s)

Videos posted by TheLibertyChannel @ YouTube.

New Iraq: Oppressed Women

[By Afif Sarhan, Islam Online | Sunday, 27 July, 2008.]
Mariam believes her story symbolizes the new reality in post-invasion Iraq, where women are being harassed, and even attacked, for not toeing the line. "In Iraq now if you don’t follow the law, you will be killed, have your face burned by acid or raped," says Mariam, not her real name. The 34-year-old biologist became a victim of anti-women violence five months ago. She was walking in a local market of a Baghdad suburb when her face and head were burned by acid, in an apparent punishment for not wearing a veil. The scars were so deep in her face and soul that she has since left her job and locked herself in her house refusing to see friends or relatives.

According to advocacy groups, women in Iraq are now being threatened by individuals and groups to either adhere to a religious code of dressing or face punishment. "Trousers are just a dream and even sandals have become dangerous to be used in some neighbourhoods," says May Mohammed, a Baghdad-based woman activist. Mohammed, who has suffered four attacks since 2005, notes that violence against woman result from many, different reasons. "Women are dying for being from a different sect, for helping other women, for working outside their homes, for not wearing clothes according to some groups' desires or for not accepting sexual services exchange."

Amnesty International has sounded the alarm over the increasing violence toward women in Iraq, saying abductions, rapes and honour killings are on the rise. In Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, as many as 133 women were killed last year -- 79 for alleged violations of Islamic teachings and 47 in honour killings, according to the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. A World Health Organization survey conducted in 2006/2007 found that 21.2 percent of Iraqi women had experienced physical violence. (Full story here.)

John McCain's Never-Ending War

Jed Lewison presents John McCain's Never-Ending War In Iraq, a look back at the presidential candidate's record in his own words from 2002 - present.


Video posted by jedreport @ YouTube.
(Running time: 9m:29s)

U.K. Torture Cover-Up Unravels

[By Simon Johnson, Telegraph.co.uk | Sunday, 27 July, 2008.]
M.P.s and peers have claimed that a senior Army general and a defence minister may have misled them over British troops' use of banned interrogation techniques in Iraq. Adam Ingram, the armed forces minister, and Lieutenant General Robin Brims, Commander Field Army in 2006, had told the Joint Committee on Human Rights that hooding and sleep deprivation were forbidden. But the committee said the assurances appeared to be false, and not all troops had known these and other “conditioning techniques” were banned. It claimed there were “discrepancies” between the testimony of Mr. Ingram in 2004 and Lt Gen Brims in 2006, and what had happened on the ground.

Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, said the committee's concerns would be investigated as part of an imminent public inquiry into the death of Baha Mousa. Mr. Mousa, an Iraqi hotel worker, died in British custody in 2003. He suffered asphyxiation and was found to have 93 injuries on his body. Earlier this month, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) agreed to pay almost £3million in compensation to his family and nine Iraqi men after admitting breaching human rights. Last year Corporal Donald Payne was jailed after pleading guilty to inhumane treatment at a court martial. Six other soldiers were acquitted of the charges they faced.

Conditioning techniques were banned during the Northern Ireland troubles in the 1970s, but a report by Brigadier Robert Aitken in January said changes were needed to rectify serious flaws in soldiers' training for dealing with Iraqi prisoners. In a report published yesterday, the Joint Committee on Human Rights complained: “We have yet to receive an explanation from the Ministry of Defence for the discrepancies between the evidence given to the Joint Committee in 2004 and 2006 on the use of prohibited conditioning techniques and the facts which have emerged from the Payne court martial and the Aitken report.” The committee, which comprises members of the Commons and Lords, demanded a “detailed explanation of the discrepancies” be produced as soon as possible after the inquiry. (Full story here.)


(Video running time: 1m:33s)

Israeli Settlers Again Attacking Palestinian Children

Coming out with clubs and dogs against little children - are these people demon-possesed or what?


[Palestine News Network | Sunday, 27 July, 2008.]
The Christian Peacemakers Team reports that Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian children on their way to summer camp while the Israeli military refused to protect the kids. Earlier this week three Israeli settlers, one masked and wielding a stick, pursued fourteen Palestinian children who were on their way to a summer camp in At-Tuwani. The children from the villages of Tuba and Maghaer Al-Abeed waited thirty minutes for the Israeli military escort that should have accompanied them on the most direct road between the villages of Tuba and At-Tuwani.

When the military failed to arrive, the children began walking along a long path through the hills to At-Tuwani. When the children neared the Israeli settlement outpost of Havat Ma'on, three settlers with two dogs came out from the outpost and began walking in the direction of the children. Members of the At-Tuwani team yelled at the children to alert them that settlers were coming at them from behind. The children ran down and across a valley to a location further from the settlers. They continued to At-Tuwani. The settlers remained on a hill top near Havot Ma’on, watching the children as they walked toward the school.

The previous day the military escort never arrived to escort the children to summer camp. Seven children took a long path to the school. They told the At-Tuwani team that at least eight other children did not attend summer camp because they were too afraid to come to school without an escort. The mayor of At-Tuwani spoke with Israeli military to coordinate the escort for the children. However, several military spokespersons and soldiers on the ground denied receiving orders to escort the children.

In 2004, the Israeli Knesset recommended that the Israeli military carry out a daily escort of the children of Tuba and Maghaer Al-Abeed to their school in At-Tuwani because settlers repeatedly attacked them. In 2006, Israeli Minister of Defense stated Havot Ma’on outpost should be dismantled because of the settlers’ violence towards school children. During the 2007-2008 school year, settlers used violence against these children on at least for fourteen occasions.

[Note: According to the Geneva Conventions, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, and numerous United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal. Most settlement outposts are considered illegal under Israeli law.]

(Link.)

Police Tase Injured Boy 19 Times

16-Year-Old Mace Hutchinson was lying on the side of a highway with a broken back when police found him. "He refused to comply with the officers, and so the officers had to deploy their tasers in order to subdue him." Naturally.


(Video running time: 2m:52s)

Alex Jones Blurb

Excerpt from the Alex Jones Radio Show
- Alex takes a call from a veteran.

Friday, 25 July, 2008.


(Running time: 8m:16s)

* Mainstream Media Ignore Bush Impeachment Hearing * Veterans Are Waking Up * Obama Is Not The Answer * The Real Fight Is At Home - The Battle For The Republic * The Enemy Within * Implosion Of Our Economy * We Are Being Exterminated * The Election Is A Staged Event * The Internet Is Being Shut Down * The Real Terrorists Are Being Exposed * We Are Winning * The Information War Rages On... *

(*...with O Fortuna & mild profanity.)

The Alex Jones Show: Infowars.com

Ventura On Fox

Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura discussing the upcoming elections, the "two-party dictatorship" that rules America and renegade C.I.A. asset Osama bin Laden.

Video posted by Johnrosssssss @ YouTube.
(Running time: 5m:05s)

Obama: The Prince Of Bait-And-Switch

[By John Pilger, New Statesman | Thursday, 24 July, 2008.]
On 12 July, the Times devoted two pages to Afghanistan. It was mostly a complaint about the heat. The reporter, Magnus Linklater, described in detail his discomfort and how he had needed to be sprayed with iced water. He also described the "high drama" and "meticulously practised routine" of evacuating another overheated journalist. For her U.S. Marine rescuers, wrote Linklater, "saving a life took precedence over [their] security". Alongside this was a report whose final paragraph offered the only mention that "47 civilians, most of them women and children, were killed when a U.S. aircraft bombed a wedding party in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday".

Slaughters on this scale are common, and mostly unknown to the British public. I interviewed a woman who had lost eight members of her family, including six children. A 500lb US Mk82 bomb was dropped on her mud, stone and straw house. There was no "enemy" nearby. I interviewed a headmaster whose house disappeared in a fireball caused by another "precision" bomb. Inside were nine people - his wife, his four sons, his brother and his wife, and his sister and her husband. Neither of these mass murders was news. As Harold Pinter wrote of such crimes: "Nothing ever happened. Even while it was happening it wasn't happening. It didn't matter. It was of no interest."

The U.S. and its allies are dropping record numbers of bombs on Afghanistan. This is not news. In the first half of this year, 1,853 bombs were dropped: more than all the bombs of 2006 and most of 2007. "The most frequently used bombs," the Air Force Times reports, "are the 500lb and 2,000lb satellite-guided . . ." Without this one-sided onslaught, the resurgence of the Taliban, it is clear, might not have happened. Even Hamid Karzai, America's and Britain's puppet, has said so. The presence and the aggression of foreigners have all but united a resistance that now includes former warlords once on the C.I.A.'s payroll. The scandal of this would be headline news were it not for what George W. Bush's former spokesman Scott McClellan has called "complicit enablers" - journalists who serve as little more than official amplifiers.

Having declared Afghanistan a "good war," the complicit enablers are now anointing Barack Obama as he tours the bloodfests in Afghanistan and Iraq. What they never say is that Obama is a bomber. In the New York Times on 14 July, in an article spun to appear as if he is ending the war in Iraq, Obama demanded more war in Afghanistan and, in effect, an invasion of Pakistan. He wants more combat troops, more helicopters, more bombs. Bush may be on his way out, but the Republicans have built an ideological machine that transcends the loss of electoral power - because their collaborators are, as the American writer Mike Whitney put it succinctly, "bait-and-switch" Democrats, of whom Obama is the prince.

Those who write of Obama that "when it comes to international affairs, he will be a huge improvement on Bush," demonstrate the same willful naiveté that backed the bait-and-switch of Bill Clinton and Tony Blair. Of Blair, wrote the late Hugo Young in 1997, "ideology has surrendered entirely to 'values' . . . there are no sacred cows [and] no fossilised limits to the ground over which the mind might range in search of a better Britain . . ." Eleven years and five wars later, at least a million people lie dead. Barack Obama is the American Blair. That he is a smooth operator and a black man is irrelevant. He is of an enduring, rampant system whose drum majors and cheer squads never see, or want to see, the consequences of 500lb bombs dropped unerringly on mud, stone and straw houses. (Full editorial here.)

Navy Officer Admits 4th Plane Was Shot Down On 9/11

[By Jim Loney, Reuters | Tuesday, 22 July, 2008.]
Osama bin Laden's driver knew the target of the fourth hijacked jetliner in the September 11 attacks, a prosecutor said on Tuesday in an attempt to draw a link between Salim Hamdan and the al Qaeda leadership in the first Guantanamo war crimes trial. Hamdan's lawyer said in opening statements that the Yemeni, held for nearly seven years before his trial, was just a paid employee of the fugitive al Qaeda leader, a driver in the motor pool who never joined the militant group or plotted attacks on America. But prosecutor Timothy Stone told the six-member jury of U.S. military officers who will decide Hamdan's guilt or innocence that Hamdan had inside knowledge of the 2001 attacks on the United States because he overheard a conversation between bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

"If they hadn't shot down the fourth plane it would've hit the dome," Stone, a Navy officer, said in his opening remarks. The tribunal's chief prosecutor, Col. Lawrence Morris, later explained that Stone was quoting Hamdan in evidence that will be presented at trial. Morris declined to say if the "dome" was a reference to the U.S. Capitol. "Virtually no one knew the intended target, but the accused knew," Stone said. United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in a field in rural Pennsylvania. U.S. officials have never stated it was shot down although rumors saying that abound to this day. Hamdan, a father of two with a fourth-grade education, is charged with conspiracy and providing material support for terrorism in the first U.S. war crimes trial since World War Two. He could face life in prison if convicted. (Full story here.)


Additional Commentary [By Steve Watson, Infowars.net | Wednesday, 23 July, 2008.]
Were Stone's words a "slip of the tongue" in the vain of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's when he also told reporters that flight 93 was shot down?

Flight 93 had an 8 mile wide debris field, a fact that does not tally with official story that the aircraft was fully intact in the seconds before it hit the ground. Large pieces of fuselage were also recovered from a marina in Indian Lake, a couple of miles away from the crash site, and the planes engines, which according to the laws of physics should have plunged deep into the ground along with the rest of the airliner were never found. Only a one-ton segment of an engine was ever recovered, again more than a mile from the crash site, which the F.B.I. declared had "bounced" there.

The wreckage from flight 93 remains under armed guard inside Iron Mountain. Eyewitness accounts, in addition to one call from the flight, also describe loud engine noises, white smoke and parts falling from the flight as it approached its final resting place. (Full editorial here.)

Robertson: Israel Has No Choice But To Attack Iran

(Video running time: 1m:06s)

Pat Robertson is a blithering idiot. Iran has never stated that they want to preemptively attack Isreal. For the record, the now-infamous remark made by Iranian president Ahmedinajad, (quoting Ayatolla Khomeini during a speech to mark the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution,) translates into English as follows:

"The regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the pages of time."

(I couldn't agree more.)

Key Benazir Bhutto Assassination Witness Shot Dead

[Telegraph.co.uk | Wednesday, 23 July, 2008.]
The bodyguard of Benazir Bhutto, who was to be a key witness in an investigation into her assassination, has been shot dead. Khalid Shahenshah, who was the former Pakistan prime minister's security chief at the time of her assassination, was killed in a drive-by shooting as he left his house in the southern port city of Karachi on Tuesday, police said. Mr. Shahenshah, 45, was riding in Mrs Bhutto's bullet-proof car when she was killed in a suicide attack in the northern city of Rawalpindi on December 27. He was expected to be called to give evidence at a United Nations probe into her death.

"He was a key witness in the case and was also interviewed by the Scotland Yard experts who came to Pakistan to investigate her killing," said Waqar Mehdi, the junior information minister of Sindh province. "There is a possibility that his killing could be linked to his status as a witness, although investigations are still underway." A team of Scotland Yard detectives concluded in February that Mrs Bhutto was killed by a suicide bomb and not by gunfire, backing the previous Pakistani government's claim the attack was masterminded by Baitullah Mehsud, Pakistan's top Taliban commander. But the UN earlier this month agreed to set up an independent panel to investigate her slaying, following a request by Pakistan's new government.

In elections held in February, a coalition led by Mrs Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (P.P.P.) defeated allies of President Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a military coup in 1999. P.P.P. officials have accused Pakistan's powerful military and intelligence services of involvement in her killing, rejecting suggestion the Taliban were responsible. Party officials suspect that more than one attacker was involved in the murder. (Full story here.)

Obama: The WAR Candidate

Barack Obama Has Stated That Expanding The "War Of Terror" Will Be His Top Priority As President. AMERICA, WAKE UP!!

DO NOT ELECT THIS TREACHEROUS HYPOCRITE!!!

[By Mike Whitney, Information Clearing House | Saturday, 20 July, 2008.]
Obama's candidacy is over - kaput. He's already stated that he has no intention of stopping the war, so he has disqualified himself. That's his prerogative - no one put a gun to his head. His Op-Ed in Monday's New York Times just removes any lingering doubt about the matter. What Obama proposes is moving the central theater of operation from Iraq to Afghanistan. Big deal. Why is it more acceptable to kill a man who is fighting for his country in Afghanistan than in Iraq?

It's not - which is why Obama must be defeated and the equivocating Democratic Party must be jettisoned altogether. The Democrats are a party of blood just like the Republicans, they're just more discreet about it. That's why people who are serious about ending the war have to support candidates outside the two-party charade. The Democrat/Republican duopoly will not deliver the goods, it's as simple as that. The point is to stop the killing, not to provide blind support for smooth-talking politicos who try to mask their real intentions. Obama made his choice, now he can suffer the consequences.


Nancy Pelosi is a perfect example of what the Democrats are all about. Just look at the way she brushed aside the people who got her elected. They mean nothing to her. In a matter of months, the "San Francisco liberal" has achieved what former Speaker of the House Hastert could only dream of - she's driven the Congress' public approval ratings into single digits for the first time in history making her the worst speaker of all time. She rubber-stamped the F.I.S.A. bill, concealed what she knew about the C.I.A.'s global torture programs and vowed to stop any public effort to hold the administration accountable for its war crimes. (No impeachment.) She has betrayed her most ardent supporters and singlehandedly transformed an already-emasculated congress into a purely ceremonial body incapable of doing the people's work.

At least Bush never betrayed any of his supporters. Never. Pelosi is worse than Bush - much worse. And yet liberals still insist that we should vote the Democratic ticket. In your dreams!

What leftist or progressive is not totally fed-up with the Democrats cagey bait-and-switch hypocrisy? Voting the Democratic ticket is not a sign of "hope," it's a sign of being a schmuck. The Democrats have done nothing to stop the war and will do nothing to stop the war. The Obama candidacy is merely a way to replace one group of genocidal maniacs with another. Who needs a charismatic, flannel-mouth glamor boy to lead us into battle when a senile fogy with anger management issues will do just fine. Voters of conscience should reject that choice altogether. Just as they should reject the "lesser of two evils" theory which does not apply when ordinance is being dumped daily on innocent civilians. It has to stop.


Obama is not an antiwar candidate, that is merely a fiction maintained by his public relations team. In fact, he wants to beef up the military with 65,000 additional ground forces and 27,000 more marines. He's also stated that he will add “two additional combat brigades to Afghanistan” and encourage N.A.T.O. to make “greater contributions -with fewer restrictions.” In his Op-Ed he boasted, "As president, I will make the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban the top priority that it should be. This is a war that we have to win.” He also added this ominous warning:

“The greatest threat to that security lies in the tribal regions of Pakistan, where terrorists train and insurgents strike into Afghanistan. We cannot tolerate a terrorist sanctuary, and as president, I won’t. We need a stronger and sustained partnership between Afghanistan, Pakistan and N.A.T.O. to secure the border, to take out terrorist camps and to crack down on cross-border insurgents. We need more troops, more helicopters, more satellites, more Predator drones in the Afghan border region. And we must make it clear that if Pakistan cannot or will not act, we will take out high-level terrorist targets like bin Laden if we have them in our sights.”

OBAMA: THE CANDIDATE FOR ESCALATION

Obama supporters should take their candidate at his word. What he is proposing is a dramatic escalation and expansion of the war into another sovereign country. How is this consistent with the demands of his base or the millions of Americans who believe that Obama represents real change? It's time for a reality check; the Democrats are the real problem not the Republicans. If the path to peace requires crushing the Democratic Party and its blood-thirsty candidates, so be it. The main thing is to stop the killing. If Obama won't do it, we'll find someone who will. (Link.)

Fluoridated Water Now Reaches Nearly 70% Of U.S. Population

But The C.D.C. Says That's Not Enough!

[China View | Friday, 11 July, 2008.]
Nearly 70 percent of U.S. residents who get water from community water systems now receive fluoridated water, according to a report published Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (C.D.C.) The proportion of the U.S. population receiving fluoridated water, about 184 million people, increased from 65.8 percent in 1992 to 69.2 percent in 2006, said the report. The percentage of people served by community water systems with optimal levels (which are defined by the state and vary based on such things as the climate) of fluoridated water ranged from 8.4 percent in Hawaii to 100 percent in the District of Columbia, according to the report.

"Community water fluoridation is an equitable, cost-effective, and cost-saving method of delivering fluoride to most people," said William Maas, director of C.D.C.'s Division of Oral Health. "We've seen some marked improvements; however, there are still too many states that have not met the national goal. The national goal is that 75 percent of U.S. residents who are on community water systems be receiving fluoridated water by 2010." (Full story here.)

Millions Of Britons Were In Germ Warfare Tests

[By Antony Barnett, Guardian.co.uk | Sunday, 21 April, 2002]
The Ministry of Defence turned large parts of the country into a giant laboratory to conduct a series of secret germ warfare tests on the public. A government report just released provides for the first time a comprehensive official history of Britain's biological weapons trials between 1940 and 1979. Many of these tests involved releasing potentially dangerous chemicals and micro-organisms over vast swaths of the population without the public being told.

While details of some secret trials have emerged in recent years, the 60-page report reveals new information about more than 100 covert experiments. The report reveals that military personnel were briefed to tell any "inquisitive inquirer" the trials were part of research projects into weather and air pollution. The tests, carried out by government scientists at Porton Down, were designed to help the MoD assess Britain's vulnerability if the Russians were to have released clouds of deadly germs over the country. In most cases, the trials did not use biological weapons but alternatives which scientists believed would mimic germ warfare and which the MoD claimed were harmless. But families in certain areas of the country who have children with birth defects are demanding a public inquiry.

One chapter of the report, "The Fluorescent Particle Trials," reveals how between 1955 and 1963 planes flew from north-east England to the tip of Cornwall along the south and west coasts, dropping huge amounts of zinc cadmium sulphide on the population. The chemical drifted miles inland, its fluorescence allowing the spread to be monitored. In another trial using zinc cadmium sulphide, a generator was towed along a road near Frome in Somerset where it spewed the chemical for an hour. While the Government has insisted the chemical is safe, cadmium is recognised as a cause of lung cancer and during the Second World War was considered by the Allies as a chemical weapon.


In another chapter, "Large Area Coverage Trials," the MoD describes how between 1961 and 1968 more than a million people along the south coast of England, from Torquay to the New Forest, were exposed to bacteria including e.coli and bacillus globigii , which mimics anthrax. These releases came from a military ship, the Icewhale, anchored off the Dorset coast, which sprayed the micro-organisms in a five to 10-mile radius. The report also reveals details of the DICE trials in south Dorset between 1971 and 1975. These involved U.S. and U.K. military scientists spraying into the air massive quantities of serratia marcescens bacteria, with an anthrax simulant and phenol.

Similar bacteria were released in "The Sabotage Trials" between 1952 and 1964. These were tests to determine the vulnerability of large government buildings and public transport to attack. In 1956 bacteria were released on the London Underground at lunchtime along the Northern Line between Colliers Wood and Tooting Broadway. The results show that the organism dispersed about 10 miles. Similar tests were conducted in tunnels running under government buildings in Whitehall. Experiments conducted between 1964 and 1973 involved attaching germs to the threads of spiders' webs in boxes to test how the germs would survive in different environments. These tests were carried out in a dozen locations across the country, including London's West End, Southampton and Swindon. The report also gives details of more than a dozen smaller field trials between 1968 and 1977.

David Orman, an army officer from Bournemouth, is demanding a public inquiry. His wife, Janette, was born in East Lulworth in Dorset, close to where many of the trials took place. She had a miscarriage, then gave birth to a son with cerebral palsy. Janette's three sisters, also born in the village while the tests were being carried out, have also given birth to children with unexplained problems, as have a number of their neighbours. The local health authority has denied there is a cluster, but Orman believes otherwise. He said: "I am convinced something terrible has happened. The village was a close-knit community and to have so many birth defects over such a short space of time has to be more than coincidence." (Full story here.)

Humans And Machines Will Merge Within 20 Years

[By Lara Farrar, CNN | Tuesday, 15 July, 2008.]
A group of experts from around the world will hold a first of its kind conference Thursday on global catastrophic risks. They will discuss what should be done to prevent these risks from becoming realities that could lead to the end of human life on Earth as we know it. On the final day of the Global Catastrophic Risk Conference, experts will focus on what could be the unintended consequences of new technologies, such as superintelligent machines that, if ill-conceived, might cause the demise of Homo sapiens.

"Any entity which is radically smarter than human beings would also be very powerful," said Dr. Nick Bostrom, director of Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute, host of the symposium. "If we get something wrong, you could imagine the consequences would involve the extinction of the human species." Bostrom is a philosopher and a leading thinker of transhumanism, a movement that advocates not only the study of the potential threats and promises that future technologies could pose to human life but also the ways in which emergent technologies could be used to make the very act of living better. "We want to preserve the best of what it is to be human and maybe even amplify that," Bostrom said.

Transhumanists, according to Bostrom, anticipate an era in which biotechnology, molecular nanotechnologies, artificial intelligence and other new types of cognitive tools will be used to amplify our intellectual capacity, improve our physical capabilities and even enhance our emotional well-being. The end result would be a new form of "posthuman" life with beings that possess qualities and skills so exceedingly advanced they no longer can be classified simply as humans. "We will begin to use science and technology not just to manage the world around us but to manage our own human biology as well," Bostrom said. "The changes will be faster and more profound than the very, very slow changes that would occur over tens of thousands of years as a result of natural selection and biological evolution."

Other experts are already getting ready for what they say could be a radical transformation of the human race in as little as two decades. "This will happen faster than people realize," said Dr. Ray Kurzweil, an inventor and futurist who calculates technology trends using what he calls the law of accelerating returns, a mathematical concept that measures the exponential growth of technological evolution. (Full story here.)

Obama's Own "Hitler Youth?"

[Blue Collar Muse | Wednesday, 16 july, 2008.]
What in the world is Obama’s “Civilian National Security Force?” In a July 2 speech outlining plans to expand opportunities for people to serve in areas such as AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps, Obama makes the following statement with no explanation or amplification:

“We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.”

The questions are legion and the implications of such an organization are staggering! What would it do? According to the title, it’s a civilian force so how would it go about discharging “national security” issues? What are the Constitutional implications for such a group? How is this to be paid for? Is this accounted for in some of Obama’s currently proposed tax increases or will we need more taxes to fund this enterprise? The statement was made in the context of youth service. Is this an organization for just the youth or are adults going to participate? How does one get away from the specter of other such “youth” organizations from Nazi Germany and the former Soviet Union when talking about it?

As Joseph Farah (World Net Daily) observed:

"The U.S. Army alone has nearly 500,000 troops. That doesn’t count reserves or National Guard. In 2007, the U.S. Defense budget was $439 billion. Is Obama serious about creating some kind of domestic security force bigger and more expensive than that?"

Joe Farah has, so far, been unsuccessful in getting any information out of the Obama camp on this. At the least, it would seem a major expense that would have to be paid for. The "at worst" options are pretty terrifying to contemplate. (Full story here.)

When The Government Has The “Right” To Torture Minors

[By Esra'a, Mideast Youth | Sunday, 20 July, 2008.]
The current U.S. government, and any of its sympathisers, should never preach democracy and human rights for as long as the despicable and unjust Guantanamo Bay prison is still in operation. Torturing mere suspects is a severe crime, especially if they are not even allowed a fair trial, regardless of what they are accused of. For some reason I cannot believe that we are still condemning this and demanding that Gitmo gets shut down. The U.S government doesn’t respect this international outcry and its own laws. And because of that, here we go again:

Omar Khadr is a 21 year old Canadian citizen who was only 15 years old when he was arrested by the U.S military in eastern Afghanistan for supposedly killing a U.S medic. What child would do that? A troubled child who should not be left to rot in a torturous illegal prison. Normally, he should have been regarded as a child combatant, recognized as a victim. This is a young boy who grew up in an extremist family and was caught in urban warfare, which should lead us into thinking that he is in need of serious psychological help due to the trauma that he must have suffered throughout his childhood. Is that the concern of the U.S military? No. Why? He’s not American. The American government should not be left to do what it wishes to citizens of other countries. He should be sent to his native Canada to face Canadian justice. Frankly he is the responsibility of the Canadian government and should be dealt with there and not in the hands of the U.S military.

If any other organization was doing what the U.S government is doing today, people would have declared it a terrorist organization working in what is beyond illegal by international law. But again, there is no equal treament today of such things. If America commits the crimes, they get away with it. Anyone else is a terrorist. A video of Khadr’s interrogation has recently been released by his lawyers after a lengthy legal struggle. He was 16 at the time the video was shot. (Full editorial here.)

Omar Khadr's Interrogation Video

(Video running time: 8m:22s)

Guantánamo Children

[By Cori Crider, Guardian.co.uk | Saturday, 19 July, 2008.]
In a submission to the U.N. in May, the Pentagon said that no more than eight youths, aged 13 to 17 at time of capture, were held at Guantánamo Bay. But a prisoner list released in 2006 in response to U.S. Freedom of Information Act litigation names 21 inmates under 18 when they arrived. A separate defence department admission brings the total to 22. Testimonies collected by the charity Reprieve, which represents 30 inmates at Guantánamo, indicate the actual number is much higher.

Guantánamo's child prisoners came from all over the world: they were Afghan, Yemeni, Saudi, Russian, Uighuri, and Canadian. Five of them are still there. They are: Mohammed el Gharani, aged 14-15 when he was seized while praying in a Karachi mosque; Hassan bin Attash, aged 16-17 when seized in Pakistan, and rendered to Jordan where he endured 16 months of torture before being transferred; Faris Muslim Al Ansari, an Afghan-Yemeni who was 17 when captured; Mohamed Jawad, an Afghan who was 17 when seized and faces trial by military commission; and Omar Khadr.

Saudi citizen Yasser Talal Al Zahrani, 17 when captured, joined a prison-wide hunger strike in 2005. He was found dead in his cell in June 2006 after apparently killing himself. (Link.)

Israeli Forces Attack Summer Camp

[Palestine News Network | Saturday, 19 July, 2008.]
Israeli forces attacked East Jerusalem’s Beit Hanina Social Club late this week. They scattered the contents of the rooms on to the floor, turning furniture upside down and terrorizing the 220 boys and girls who were there for summer camp. Head of the Gathering of Civil Institutions in Jerusalem, Hazem El Gharably, denounced this attack which comes as part of the Israeli campaign targeting Palestinian rights in Jerusalem and private organizations. He stressed that such acts lead to a blurring of the political horizon and the possibility of coexistence and a peaceful solution on the issue of Jerusalem.

The Israeli actions and its quest to annex East Jerusalem to the Israeli government, which is being cleansed of its population while they are imprisoned by the Wall and settlements at the same time, contravene all international law. Charters, the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, none of these are being heeded by the Israeli government. El Gharably has demanded that the international community provide protection and international observers within the city of Jerusalem to protect the Palestinians from the oppression perpetrated by Israeli forces, which raided the club, attacked and intimidate innocent children and prevented them from exercising their right to assemble. And this is the treatment of children. The treatment of adults becomes far worse. He also called on human rights bodies to “protect our children from the onslaught on them and their rights.” (Full story here.)

The Beit Hanina Social Club in better times.

A New N.A.T.O. Massacre In Herat, Afghanistan

At Least 20 Civilians Killed; Scores Of Others Wounded


[By Prof. Marc Herold, Uruknet.info | Thursday, 17 July, 2008.]
Survivors of the night-time air raid which destroyed three homes reported that local people had resisted U.S. occupation Special Forces breaking into homes and searching women’s rooms. The U.S. troops killed Haji Nasrullah Khan, an important local tribal leader and Arbab Daulat, their 2 children, as well as some 20 other civilians. Tribal elder, Haji Zalmai, and the Shindand district chief, Lal Muhammad, confirmed the civilian killings. At least four civilians – two children, a man and a woman – were treated in a Herat hospital. Predictably, a N.A.T.O. spokesman promulgated, "All indicators were that [the operation] had been successful with a number of insurgents killed and no reports of civilian casualties."

The Associated Press’ Amir Shah echoed that U.S. Special Forces and Afghan troops called in close air support which killed "15 insurgents," part of a "militant cell." FOX News reprinted the A.P. account. The BBC’s Alastair Leithead, on the other hand, headlined his wire report "U.S. Afghan bombing 'kills dozens’." Iran’s Press TV headlined "U.S. air raids kill dozens of Afghan civilians." The independent Pajhwok Afghan News headline was "I.S.A.F. airstrikes kill 50 civilians in Herat."

Postscript: In late April 2007, U.S war planes bombed the Zerkoh Valley region. Between 27 and 29 April United States Special Forces fighting with the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police killed more than 130 Taliban fighters in the Shindand district, a U.S. military press release reported. During the engagement a coalition aircraft bombed targets and an AC-130 gunship was also called in. According to the military press release "there were no civilian casualties reported". However, the government of Afghanistan and the United Nations has confirmed reports which say more than 45 civilians, including women and children, died as a result of U.S. military operation in Shindand. On Tuesday a UNAMA assessment team visited the area to investigate what U.N. Spokesman Adrian Edwards described as "possible indiscriminate use of force and possible civilian displacement". Edwards says the U.N. believes figures of up to 49 civilian deaths, including 18 women, are credible. Others say the figure could be higher, according to AIHRC "about 60 civilians have been killed in the air raids". Bahauddin, a resident of Shindand, said "more than 100 people have been killed all of whom are civilians". IRIN cannot confirm these reports.

The following photo displays what the U.S. military calls a "Taliban fighter":

Source: http://www.irinnews.org/PrintReport.aspx?ReportId=71937

(Link.)

U.K. Troops Investigated For Sexual Assault Of 14-Year-Old Iraqi Boy

[BBC | Sunday, 13 July, 2008.]
The Royal Military Police is investigating an allegation that British soldiers sexually assaulted a 14-year-old Iraqi boy, the MoD says. The incident is alleged to have taken place at Camp Bread Basket in Basra, southern Iraq, in May 2003. "This allegation has been referred to the Royal Military Police for investigation," an MoD spokesman said. He said all claims of abuse are "investigated thoroughly and where proven those responsible are punished".

The alleged abuse comes just days after it was announced that the MoD would pay nearly £3m to Iraqis who were tortured by British troops in Basra in 2003. Among those receiving compensation are the family of 26-year-old Baha Mousa who was beaten to death in custody. Mr. Mousa died while in the custody of the former Queen's Lancashire Regiment. No regiment has yet been named in connection with the latest allegation. According to the Independent on Sunday newspaper, the boy, now aged 19, is launching a civil case against the MoD. (Full story here.)

Willful Ignorance

Note: This is not a religious blog. The subject is however impossible to avoid completely as it touches so many of the topics discussed here. The purpose of this letter is to demonstrate that i am equally capable of defending my positions on the basis of my spiritual beliefs as on the basis of intellectual reasoning and logic - not to mention cold, hard facts.

Recently i have received e-mail from some readers of this blog who accused me of being anti-American and questioned whether i was working for "the enemy." There were also complaints that the YouTube video about Israeli settlers bragging about killing Jesus was "too offensive, but mostly un-Godly," and that my blog is not "fair and balanced." The following is my response:


PROVERBS 24:10-12

If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death and those that are ready to be slain; If thou sayest, "Behold, we knew it not;" doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? And he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? And shall not he render to every man according to his works?

Please read the above scripture very carefully. It is a major source of the inspiration for what i'm doing. The way i see it, i can listen to God or i can listen to other people. It's that simple. It seems to me that most people don't even know who "the enemy" is. All through history, government has always been the enemy of the people. According to the Bible, every government on Earth belongs to Satan:

LUKE 4:5-7

And the devil, taking him [Jesus] up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, "All this power will i give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me, and to whomsoever i will give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine."

That is why the United States was formed in the first place. Our Constitution and Bill of Rights created the most limited sort of government the world had ever seen, with the individual states being actual sovereign entities, because the forefathers knew how tyrannical and oppressive every government eventually becomes. (That is the nature of power.) Since that time the old Aristocracies have been working tirelessly and unceasingly to bring our country down by any and all means. They have infiltrated our government and turned our nation into a cesspit. Our government, along with the governments of the U.K., the E.U. and Israel (to name but a few) have been completely fused into a global government under the United Nations. The heinous crimes they are now committing across this planet are as unspeakable as they are innumerable.

For one thing, i am really sick and tired of seeing Arabian people, and Muslims in general, getting shafted (to put it politely) for something that the Establishment did on 9/11. President George W. Bush is a war criminal and a traitor and should be in jail. Vice president Dick Cheney is a mass murderer and should be in jail. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi are also traitors and should be in jail. Senators Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama should all most definitely be in jail. "Poppy" Bush, (along with his business partners the bin Ladens,) Bill Clinton, Al Gore, et cetera, et cetera... ad infinitum. But instead we have people in our country blindly cheering the Establishment on as they go around the world slaughtering innocent families, torturing and raping children, and then the good citizens of the U.S. take the blame for it in the eyes of rest of the world because the mainstream media, on all sides, are owned and controlled by the very same people who own and control these treacherous puppets in our government. They praise our government at home while simultaneously deriding them in other countries around the world. Al Jazeera, CNN, BBC, Fox, NBC, Associated Press, Reuters, et al are all Establishment mouthpieces. My blog is sourced by these and other mainstream media as well as independent media of many varying viewpoints. It really could not be more fair and balanced.

It's sad to hear that some people are so willfully ignorant that they can't see/handle the truth when it is staring them in the face. Our government is full of anti-American scum and if people in our country don't realise it soon, there will be NO MORE AMERICA. I'm sick of pussy-footing around about this stuff. This blog is going to get MUCH HEAVIER, so for anybody who can't handle it my advice is to just stop reading it and go back to sleep.

REVELATION 2:9

I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.

Of course the YouTube video of the Israeli settlers is offensive and un-Godly. But please don't shoot the messenger. Everything the state of Israel does is offensive and un-Godly. American taxpayers contribute roughly $7 MILLION A DAY to that evil regime, so they deserve to know the truth about it. I post approximately one fifth of the horrifying stories that come out of Israel/Palestine on an almost daily basis.

The simple, stark truth is that the Establishment has declared war on every human being on this planet. They have demonstrated openly that anyone who does not bow down and serve their system will be annihilated. Period. At the top of the global power structure, countries, cultures and religions mean nothing. There is one government, one system, one religion. The phony "war on terror," the "global warming" scam and the fabricated food, water and energy "crises" are all happening in concert to guide the public into this new system. Our time is very short now. The Elites of the world are rushing us into a New Age with ever-increasing speed and intensity. The hammer is coming down. It's coming down fast and it's coming down hard. The final phase of their plan will make Hitler's Germany or Stalin's Soviet Union look like a Girl Scouts' picnic. We are literally heading straight into the mouth of Hell if we don't change course very soon. The ones who will suffer most under this new system, indeed who are already suffering unspeakable horrors every day at the hands of the Establishment, are the innocent and defenseless children of our planet. I intend to speak out and expose this evil, wherever i see it in the world, until my very last breath.

I will never support a government which states openly that it's fine to sexually torture children in order to force confessions from their parents, or which awards no-bid contracts to their cronies' corporations, like Haliburton who also happen to be sex slave traffickers. The criminals in our government openly support the most anti-American, not to mention anti-Christian, policies that anyone could ever dream of. It is the duty of every American citizen, indeed of all humanity, to resist this coming New World Order, this encroaching fascism, this dark wave, with every fibre of our beings. I truly believe that with God's help we can and will defeat them.

LUKE 17:1-2

Then said [Jesus] to his disciples, "It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him through whom they come! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones."

PROVERBS 37:10-11

For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be. Yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the Earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

Godspeed,
Marzuq

Israel Locks Down West Bank Village Over Protests

Ni'lin residents, protesting the annexation of their farmland by the construction of the Seperation Wall, are being severely punished by the Israeli army for the audacity of speaking out.

Video posted by AlJazeeraEnglish @ YouTube.
(Running time: 2m:14s)

Another Afghan Wedding Party Bombed By U.S. Warplanes

Second Report In 3 Days Of Coalition Forces Killing Civilians


Video posted by cctvupload @ YouTube.
(Running time: 1m:20s)

Spanish Parliament To Extend Rights To Apes

[By Martin Roberts, Reuters | Wednesday, 25 June, 2008.]
Spain's parliament voiced its support on Wednesday for the rights of great apes to life and freedom in what will apparently be the first time any national legislature has called for such rights for non-humans. Parliament's environmental committee approved resolutions urging Spain to comply with the Great Apes Project, devised by scientists and philosophers who say our closest genetic relatives deserve rights hitherto limited to humans. "This is a historic day in the struggle for animal rights and in defense of our evolutionary comrades, which will doubtless go down in the history of humanity," said Pedro Pozas, Spanish director of the Great Apes Project.

Spain may be better known abroad for bull-fighting than animal rights but the new measures are the latest move turning once-conservative Spain into a liberal trailblazer. Spain did not legalize divorce until the 1980s, but Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's Socialist government has legalized gay marriage, reduced the influence of the Catholic Church in education and set up an Equality Ministry. The new resolutions have cross-party or majority support and are expected to become law and the government is now committed to update the statute book within a year to outlaw harmful experiments on apes in Spain. (Full story here.)

Armed Police To Roam Toronto High Schools

[By Michele Henry & Kristin Rushowy, Toronto Star | Tuesday, 24 June, 2008.]
Contrary to comments made yesterday by the Toronto school board chair, police officers roaming the halls of Toronto’s high schools this fall will not only be uniformed, they’ll also be armed, Chief Bill Blair said today. “Quite frankly, as you can probably guess by my constant appearance, I believe in police officers in uniform,” he told a press conference this morning. “I want the people of Toronto to see their police. I want them to have a relationship with the entire police service that is based on trust and respect. And my police officers are armed.”

His comments were in direct contrast to school board chair John Campbell, who said yesterday that in a bid to improve safety and build relationships with teens, police will set up an office in several high schools around the city but their presence will be “casual and low-key." "I think we’re going to have guys in blue slacks and golf shirts meeting with kids, and talking to kids, and doing community development,” he said. But Blair said no officers of his will be wandering around in golf shirts and jeans.

Last month, the Toronto board approved an action plan in response to a January report by a safety panel looking into conditions in the city’s public schools. Included in the board’s action plan was a call for “positive police interactions with students in school buildings,” and a way to establish a friendly police presence, as well as boost security. Campbell estimated more than 20 public high schools, and five or six Catholic schools, will take part. The police chief, however, was tight-lipped about details of exactly how officers will work and interact with staff and students from Toronto’s public and Catholic schools, but did say he looks forward to staffing as many schools as possible. (Full story here.)

What Your Government Knows About Cannabis And Cancer - And Isn't Telling You

[By Paul Armentano, Huffington Post | Tuesday, 24 June, 2008.]
Senator Ted Kennedy is putting forward a brave face following his recent surgery but the sad reality remains. Even with successful surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy treatment, gliomas - a highly aggressive form of brain cancer that strikes approximately 10,000 Americans annually - tragically claim the lives of 75 percent of its victims within two years and virtually all within five years. But what if there was an alternative treatment for gliomas that could selectively target the cancer while leaving healthy cells intact? And what if federal bureaucrats were aware of this treatment, but deliberately withheld this information from the public?

Sadly, the questions posed above are not entirely hypothetical. Let me explain. In 2007, I reviewed over 150 published preclinical and clinical studies assessing the therapeutic potential of marijuana and several of its active compounds, known as cannabinoids. I summarized these numerous studies in a book, now in its third edition, entitled Emerging Clinical Applications for Cannabis and Cannabinoids: A Review of the Scientific Literature, (NORML Foundation, 2008.) One chapter in this book, which summarized the findings of more than 30 separate trials and literature reviews, was dedicated to the use of cannabinoids as potential anti-cancer agents, particularly in the treatment of gliomas. Not familiar with this scientific research? Your government is.


In fact, the first experiment documenting pot's potent anti-cancer effects took place in 1974 at the Medical College of Virginia at the behest of federal bureaucrats. The results of that study, reported in an Aug. 18, 1974, Washington Post newspaper feature, were that marijuana's primary psychoactive component, THC, "slowed the growth of lung cancers, breast cancers and a virus-induced leukemia in laboratory mice, and prolonged their lives by as much as 36 percent." Despite these favorable preliminary findings (eventually published the following year in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute), U.S. government officials refused to authorize any follow-up research until conducting a similar - though secret - preclinical trial in the mid-1990s. That study, conducted by the U.S. National Toxicology Program to the tune of $2 million, concluded that mice and rats administered high doses of THC over long periods had greater protection against malignant tumors than untreated controls.

However, rather than publicize their findings, the U.S. government shelved the results, which only became public after a draft copy of its findings were leaked to the medical journal AIDS Treatment News, which in turn forwarded the story to the national media. In the years since the completion of the National Toxicology trial, the U.S. government has yet to authorize a single additional study examining the drug's potential anti-cancer properties. (Federal permission is necessary in order to conduct clinical research on marijuana because of its illegal status as a schedule I controlled substance.)


Fortunately, in the past 10 years scientists overseas have generously picked up where U.S. researchers so abruptly left off, reporting that cannabinoids can halt the spread of numerous cancer cells - including prostate cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, and brain cancer. (An excellent paper summarizing much of this research, "Cannabinoids for Cancer Treatment: Progress and Promise," appears in the January 2008 edition of the journal Cancer Research.) A 2006 patient trial published in the British Journal of Cancer even reported that the intracranial administration of THC was associated with reduced tumor cell proliferation in humans with advanced glioblastoma.

Writing earlier this year in the scientific journal Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, Italian researchers reiterated, "[C]annabinoids have displayed a great potency in reducing glioma tumor growth. [They] appear to be selective antitumoral agents as they kill glioma cells without affecting the viability of nontransformed counterparts." Not one mainstream media outlet reported their findings. Perhaps now they'll pay better attention. What possible advancements in the treatment of cancer may have been achieved over the past 34 years had U.S. government officials chosen to advance - rather than suppress - clinical research into the anti-cancer effects of cannabis? It's a shame we have to speculate; it's even more tragic that the families of Senator Kennedy and thousands of others must suffer while we do. (Link.)

Independence Day: Let's Remember Who We Are

Video posted by Kucinich2008 @ YouTube.
(Running time: 2m:38s)

U.S. Learned Torture Techniques From China

(Video running time: 0:47s)

U.S. Advisors Training Mexican Police In Torture

Video posted by Associated Press @ YouTube.
(Running time: 1m:04s)

200th Patient Dies In Year-Long Siege Of Gaza

[By Rami Almeghari, International Middle East Media Center | Wednesday, 2 July, 2008.]
Spokesman of the popular committee against the Israeli blockade, Rami Abdo, announced on Wedensday that patient number 200 died after having been unable to go for treatment outside of Gaza as Israel continues to close border crossings for more than one year now. Mazen Arrar (20,) a cardiac patient, died while he was awaiting to enter through the Rafah crossing terminal yesterday, but he could not do so due to the continued closure of Gaza, which Israel enforced in June, 2007. Arrar's death is the second in 24 hours, as well as the eight-month-old infant Ayat Anwar Dhaik, of the Nuseirat refugee camp, after she was unable to go outside of Gaza yesterday.

In the meantime, spokesman of the Gaza's crossings administration, Mohammad Sultan Odwan, told media outlets today that he expects a reopening of the commercial crossings as well as the Rafah crossing terminal by Wednesday morning. Odwan added that despite the Israeli closure of all crossings yesterday, cargo terminals in Gaza are expected to deliver goods and commodities into the coastal territory by Wednesday midday. Yesterday, the Egyptian authorities reopened the Rafah crossing terminal, allowing entry of 30 patients , who are in need of medial attention at Cairo hospitals, while more than 150 others could not make their way into Egypt. The reopening of the terminal also enabled more than 130 stranded Egyptians to come back to Egypt after having been stuck in Gaza since January of this year, when Palestinian crowds flooded into bordering Egyptian towns for essential supplies amidst a crippling Israeli blockade. (Full story here.)