Israel "confiscates" more Palestinian land

Israeli authorities and settlers have seized large plots of land surrounding settlements in the occupied West Bank and are blocking Palestinians from accessing them, an Israeli human rights group said on Thursday.

How can the Palestinians have peace with a people who are absolutely intent on "wiping them off the face of the earth." Yes, I'm referring to the Israel...

Fearing being driven into another war by Israel, US refuses bunker bursting bombs

The security aid package the United States has refused to give Israel for the past few months out of concern that Israel would use it to attack nuclear facilities in Iran included a large number of "bunker-buster" bombs, permission to use an air corridor to Iran, an advanced technological system and refueling planes.

They say a good As* Wiping brings clarity of mind and heart. Could it be that Iraq and Afghanistan have finally brought some clarity to the Bush administration? One can only hope...

9/11 and the Great American Decline

"So, what do you think will happen now?" The question was posed by the taller of two young Israelis, my sole companions in this section of Liberty State Park on the Jersey City side of the Hudson River, the morning of September 11, 2001. "Everything has changed," I replied, unaware that the same phrase was simultaneously forming on the lips of millions around the globe. "Yes, everything has changed," said the Israeli, looking not at all displeased. He turned to resume taking photos of the great smoking space that had been the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, and of the huge, low cloud that drifted across New York Bay to Brooklyn.

Israel Warns Russia to Halt Arms Sales to Iran, Syria

In an interview with the Washington Times, Israeli Ambassador Sallai Meridor warned Russia that selling armaments to Syria and Iran is “destabilizing and dangerous for Israel and for peace in the region”.

Wait, hang on a minute..., did I hear that right? "Israel WARNS Russia" Blahahahhahahahahaahhhhhhhh

Let Them Eat Cake

As American occupations bring suffering – untold and denied, unmeasured so as to be deniable – Washington cannot understand why the occupied do not simply submit. Whether it is cake, or brioche, or the heavy American porridge of bristling state socialism and angry imperialism, the Bush-Obama-McCain answer to heartbroken Afghans and to the world, is "Eat it!"

Ron Paul turned down appeal to endorse McCain

Republican Rep. Ron Paul, the libertarian-leaning Texas lawmaker who attracted a devoted following in the GOP primaries, said Wednesday he rejected an appeal to endorse John McCain's presidential bid.

Way-to-Go Ron - Too bad Americans can't recognize a WINNER when they see one...

The Palin effect: white women now deserting Obama, says survey

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Photograph: Robyn Beck/AFP

White women voters are deserting the Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama because of the sudden emergence on the Republican ticket of Sarah Palin, according to a poll yesterday.

Deserting?? I wonder if white women were ever really with Obama

No consensus on who was behind Sept 11-global poll

Seven years after the Sept. 11 attacks, there is no consensus outside the United States that Islamist militants from al Qaeda were responsible, according to an international poll published Wednesday. The survey of 16,063 people in 17 nations found majorities in only nine countries believe al Qaeda was behind the attacks on New York and Washington that killed about 3,000 people in 2001.

You can fool some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time.

Oil officials given sex, gifts, investigators say

The alleged transgressions involve 13 Interior Department employees in Denver and Washington. Their alleged improprieties include rigging contracts, working part-time as private oil consultants, and having sexual relationships with — and accepting golf and ski trips and dinners from — oil company employees, according to three reports released Wednesday by the Interior Department's inspector general.

Group: Israel forcibly transfers Palestinians from W. Bank to Gaza

B'Tselem, the Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, argues that thousands of Palestinians may be liable to imminent deportation and that Israel is making them "illegal dwellers in their own houses".

Israel, what a democracy...

Senior police officer Colin Terry wore bin Laden costume

Chief Superintendent Colin Terry partying in Cornwall

A senior police officer who visited the annual 9/11 memorial service in New York two years ago has been castigated for attending a Cornish village fete dressed as Osama bin Laden.

Israeli women fear writing on the wall

A man walks by graffiti that equates fashion with promiscuity on the walls of the Jewish ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, east of Tel Aviv. Ilan Mizrahi / The National

Scrawled across a wall on a busy main street is the statement in Hebrew: “Fashion equals promiscuity”. For women in some Israeli communities, such public sentiments are not simply idle graffiti – they are a warning, and one that is increasingly backed by threats of physical violence...
Reports of women being attacked on the street or in their homes have been steadily rising in the local media. In one widely publicised incident over the summer, a 14-year-old girl from Upper Beitar, a large ultra-Orthodox settlement in the West Bank south of Jerusalem, had acid poured on her face and body in what is believed to have been the work of a modesty patrol. The girl told a paramedic treating her that she had been repeatedly threatened before the attack. According to local media, the girl was wearing loose-fitting trousers at the time of the attack.

What? You mean there are religious extremists in Israel?? America's #1 friend and "only democracy" in the Middle East??? Noooo - say it ain't so! And, why is it that we hear almost on a daily basis all about Saudi Arabia's "Religious Police" but not a word about Israel's "Modesty Patrols?"

Czech govt. agrees terms for U.S. forces at missile radar base

The government of the Czech Republic has approved the treaty that will govern the deployment of U.S. military personnel at the radar station for its missile defense shield, the Czech defense minister said Wednesday.

Okay, Russia - your move...

Russia could target missiles at sites in Central Europe

Russia's Strategic Missile Forces could target some of their intercontinental ballistic missiles at U.S. missile defense facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic, the forces' commander said on Wednesday.

That's a good move...

OPEC says to trim excess output and talk to Russia

OPEC on Wednesday deepened its links with major non-OPEC producer Russia and said it was cutting back output by around half a million barrels per day.

Is it me, or does it appear that the US is becoming increasingly isolated from the world stage?

9/11/1 To 9/11/8 - Seven Year Tribulation

The vast majority of Americans and educated people around the world no longer believe the official U.S. Government conspiracy theory of what happened on 9/11. That some 6'6" Arab guy sat in a cave in Afghanistan and ran the whole operation; causing the United States Air Force to stand down and causing the laws of physics to be suspended in the collapse of the three World Trade Center buildings. That this same magician was so powerful that he secured thousands of followers for his global terror organization, whose name means "little toilet" in Arabic slang; and is still alive today, having evaded being captured by the strongest nation on earth for seven years.

Filmmaker Urges International Tribunal to Probe 9/11

Italian film-maker Giulietto Chiesa, who was in Berlin for a screening of his documentary which questions the official US version of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, has called for an international tribunal to probe events.

Seems the official story just don't wash...

'Israel cutting off Gaza from West Bank'

An Israeli human rights group says Israel is trying to separate the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip from those who live in the West Bank.

Catholic, Not Muslim, School Ok: Aussies

"Why is that racist? Why is it discriminatory? It's very simple: people like some things but don't like other things," Sremchevich said. (Google)

The small Australian town of Camden, which had fought fiercely to block the building of an Islamic school, is now giving it's blessings for a Catholic school, drawing an outcry from Muslims. "Catholics are part of our community so we should be supporting it on this basis alone," Emil Sremchevich, president of the Camden/Macarthur Residents' Group, told the Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday, September 9.

What, me a racist??? Nawwww...

Was America Attacked by Muslims on 9/11?

Is it conceivable that this assumption might be false? Insofar as Americans and Canadians would say "No," they would express their belief that this assumption is not merely an "assumption" but is instead based on strong evidence. When actually examined, however, the proffered evidence turns out to be remarkably weak. I will illustrate this point by means of 16 questions.

Lehman plans asset sales, reports huge 3Q loss

Pedestrians walk pass Lehman Brothers headquarters on Wednesday, June 10, 2008 in New York. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the nation's fourth-largest investment bank whose shares have fallen more than 80 percent this year as investors lost confidence amid mounting losses also said Wednesday it lost $3.9 billion during the third quarter due to wrong-way bets on mortgage securities and other risky assets. (AP Photo/Jin Lee)

Lehman Brothers said Wednesday it will sell a majority stake in its prized investment management business, slashed its dividend and indicated it may even consider selling the whole company. It reported an almost $4 billion third-quarter loss, boosting its losses so far this year to about $6.5 billion.

Democrats pushing 2nd stimulus, GOP resisting

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., right, gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008, as Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., listens at left. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

With the economy the No. 1 issue just eight weeks from Election Day, majority-party Democrats are trying to push a second stimulus package through Congress to follow the tax rebate checks sent out earlier this year.

The world's verdict will be harsh if the US rejects the man it yearns for

The feeling is familiar. I had it four years ago and four years before that: a sinking feeling in the stomach. It's a kind of physical pessimism which says: "It's happening again. The Democrats are about to lose an election they should win - and it could not matter more."

As Angelo once told Ali - "You're blowing it Kid, You're Blowing It!"

Sudan's famous goat 'wife' dies

Charles Tombe is refusing to comment on the affair

The best-known goat in Sudan has died months after being "married" to a man in the South Sudan capital, Juba, the BBC has learned. Local elders ordered a man found having sex with the goat, later called Rose, to "marry" her last February.
Say, WHAT???

John McCain, Sarah Palin are like lipstick on pig - Obama

Support ... Sarah Palin leads Democratic veteran Joe Biden in polls matching up the VP picks / Reuters

BARACK Obama has dismissed the US presidential campaign of rivals John McCain and Sarah Palin as putting "lipstick on a pig" in his most direct attack on the Republican odd couple aiming to keep him out of the White House.

Elisabeth Fritzl tells of dungeon life

Josef Frtizl's house, where he imprisoned and raped his daughter for 24 years, fathering seven children.

ELISABETH Fritzl has detailed for the first time the horrific conditions she and her children endured while imprisoned by their father in an underground cellar in Austria. The 42-year-old was kept prisoner by Josef Fritzl for 24 years during which time he allegedly repeatedly raped her and forced her to bear him seven children.

I add this only to push a point - the fact that Mr. Josef Fritzl is Jewish is never mentioned - can you imagine the headlines and commentary if he was a Muslim???

U.S. approves $330 million in arms deals for Israel

The U.S. government on Tuesday said it had approved up to $330 million in three separate arms deals for Israel, and sources tracking a much bigger deal for 25 Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jets said that agreement could be approved later this month.

Iran demands U.N. response to Israeli "threats"

A letter from Iran's U.N. Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described comments by two Israeli ministers as "vicious threats ... in blatant violation of the most fundamental principles of international law."

U.S. Military Keeping Secrets About Female Soldiers’ ‘Suicides’?

According to the Department of Defense, 41 of the 99 U.S. military women who have been killed in Iraq died in “noncombat-related incidents.” Of the 99 U.S. military women killed in the Iraq theater, 41 were women of color (21 African-Americans, 16 Latinas, three of Asian-Pacific descent and one Native American—data compiled from the Web site www.nooniefortin.com).

U.S. artist "made to dance" by Israeli security

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater dancer Abdur-Rahim Jackson is seen at the Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008. A performer with the renowned Alvin Ailey dance troupe was ordered to perform steps for Israeli airport security officers to convince them of his identity, a spokesman for the company said Tuesday. Abdur-Rahim Jackson was singled out from other members of the black American dance ensemble when they arrived at Ben-Gurion International Airport on Sunday night at the start of a six-nation international tour, said publicist Shauli Baskin. (AP Photo/Moti Milrod)

The group said airport officials had provided no explanation about the treatment of Abdur-Rahim Jackson, who has a Muslim father but is engaged to a fellow dancer who is Jewish with a large family in Israel.

There are times when the actions of Israel leave me with a loss for words - this is one of those times. But, I do have a question - is Palestine, by chance, listed among the six nations in which they will perform?

Successful test for Europe's Big Bang collider

The world's biggest physics experiment has succeeded in its first major test as a beam of protons was successfully fired all the way around a 17-mile tunnel beneath the Swiss-French border.

Ron Paul: Reject the major parties, go for a third

"The strongest message can be sent by rejecting the two party system," Paul said in prepared remarks obtained by The Associated Press. "This can be accomplished by voting for one of the non-establishment, principled candidates."

I agree - I don't see a dimes worth of difference between the two major parties...

World wants Obama as president: poll

US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama may be struggling to nudge ahead of his Republican rival in polls at home, but people across the world want him in the White House, a BBC poll said.

I don't want to be a spoil-sport here, but I wonder what the world knows that I don't. Really, I can't see a dimes worth of real difference between the two presidential candidates - they'll both controlled by Zionists and the Israeli Lobby. Clearly, McCain and Obama's "fight against lobbyists" don't include AIPAC...

Report: Palin tapped travel allowance at home

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, left, accompanied by his vice-presidential candidate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, center, and her husband Todd Palin, responds to the crowd, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008, at a rally in Lebanon, Ohio. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

An analysis of travel statements filed by the governor, now John McCain's Republican running mate, shows she claimed the per diem allowance on 312 occasions when she was home in Wasilla and that she billed taxpayers $43,490 for travel by her husband and children.

Olmert indicted as deputy is accused of war crimes

On August 1 the Independent reported claims made in a book by two Israeli journalists that Shaul Mofaz in 2001 called for a death toll of 70 Palestinians a day.

A leading Israeli law professor has written to justice officials, calling for the investigation into claims – highlighted by The Independent last month – that during a briefing to army officers in May 2001, after the start of the second Palestinian uprising, Mr Mofaz ordered a daily "quota" of Palestinian deaths.

And, judging from the number of Palestinian women and children which have been murdered, the IDF did their level best to meet their quota.

Fox News & Oliver North Involved with U.S. Afghanistan Massacre Cover-up

Perhaps the most amazing political news surrounding the Nawabad massacre is that the Pentagon says it relied for its account, in part, on corroborative evidence by the embedded journalist on the scene: Fox News "reporter" Oliver North!

What is even more amazing is that to corroborate FIXED NEWS reporter Oliver North, I understand US Military Intelligence (if there can be such a thing) used satellite imagery of freshly dug graves. Unfortunately for the Americans, the dead, or more accurately, the remaining pieces of the dead were not yet buried but had been taken to a Mosque awaiting family identification.

This is a classic case of "are you gonna believe me or your lying eyes..."

Hizbullah chief warns Israel against Gaza strike

Hizbullah Chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah warned Monday that if Israel "launches a war against Lebanon, Syria, Iran or Gaza, it will have thousands of scores to settle", adding that such a conflict would have "unclear implications for the Zionists."

Yea, I can see that...

Ban to press Israel for $1bn damages for Lebanon

Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, plans to ask the Israeli government to compensate Lebanon, neighbouring countries and the UN with as much as US$1 billion (Dh3.67bn) to assist with cleaning up damage to the eastern Mediterranean coastline from about 15,000 metric tonnes of fuel oil spilled into the sea when Israeli jets bombed a major electricity plant in Jiyeh, Lebanon.

Translation - Ban will ask American tax-payers to settle another Israeli debt...

Latest Design Is Unveiled for 9/11 Museum

A design shows the World Trade Center memorial museum pavilion, upper left corner, at night, with two trident columns from the original twin towers housed in its corner atrium. In the foreground and center background are the waterfalls and pools marking the towers’ location. (Rendering: Squared Design Lab/National September 11 Memorial and Museum)

The architect Craig Dykers has been working since 2004 on the design of a museum building for the World Trade Center site. In the end, he realized there could be no more powerful a centerpiece than something Minoru Yamasaki designed 45 years ago.

Estimates say fed budget deficit nearing $407B

The worsening deficit is largely due to continuing weakness in the economy, high energy and food prices, and the slump in the housing and financial markets, the CBO said. And the economy could still slide into a recession, according to the forecast.

Israeli Jews have negative view of Middle East

The world of images that the concept, “Middle East” arouses in the Israeli Jewish population is mainly negative and includes adverse opinions, perceptions and emotions.

Really? Hey, I have an idea! Why don't we just move Israel to, say, Germany?

Israel not implementing Ethiopian absorption plan

The plaintiffs claim that Israel has not implemented the governmental decision on the five-year plan for Ethiopian absorption.

Well, you see, there are Jews and then there are jews...

Russia: Iran N-reactor launch irreversible by February

“Between December 2008 and February 2009 various technical measures will be carried out... that will make the physical start-up process of the first Bushehr reactor irreversible,” the report quoted the head of the Russian company working on the facility, Atomstroiexport, as saying.

Taliban learning how to win key propaganda battles

The Taliban, once dismissed as too stupid to know they would lose if they dared to fight well-trained Canadian and allied troops, have proved themselves resilient, if still ill-equipped, warriors, learning from their early defeats and adapting to stage sophisticated attacks, inflicting serious casualties and winning key propaganda battles. "They are showing greater political savvy, too," said a military analyst, who asked not to be further identified. "They understand they don't have to defeat us, they just have to defeat the will of the people back home."

No One Convicted of Terror Plot to Bomb Planes

From left, Abdulla Ahmed Ali, Assad Sarwar and Tanvir Hussain, are guilty of a lesser charge, conspiracy to commit murder. By JOHN F. BURNS and ELAINE SCIOLINO - Sept 8, 2008

"The failure to obtain convictions on the plane-bombing charge was a blow to counterterrorism officials in London and Washington, who had described the scheme as potentially the most devastating act of terrorism since the Sept. 11 attacks seven years ago this week. British and American experts had said that the plot had all the signs of an operation by Al Qaeda, and that it was conceived and organized in Pakistan."

It's interesting how "terrorists" are never convicted of the charges for which they are originally arrested.

9/11 Rumors That Become Conventional Wisdom

The planning and execution of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, are a continuing topic of conversation all over Cairo. Shawn Baldwin for The New York Times, 2007

"Seven years later, it remains conventional wisdom here that Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda could not have been solely responsible for the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and that the United States and Israel had to have been involved in their planning, if not their execution, too."

Interesting how the article targets Egypt - the same "conventional wisdom" is held by thinking people around the globe, including millions in America.

Saving Fannie and Freddie was nationalisation pure and simple

"Stock markets were in jubilant mood yesterday after the US treasury announced it was putting the two big beasts of the American mortgage market to "conservatorship". Don't be misled by this ugly piece of economics jargon: it's just another way of saying nationalisation - and it was somewhat bizarre to find the equity markets of Tokyo, London and New York, where dealers profess to exalt the free market, whooping for joy at the state taking a grip."

McCain plans new Palin rollout

Palin's handlers initially had suggested it would be a while before she did interviews. Now, there will be several. Photo: AP

“ABC News will have plenty of time to question her and examine her and spend time with her,” a campaign official said. “They’ll do multiple interviews over two days. No topics are off-limits – there are no ground rules. There’s tons of time to talk to her about every topic.”
Except that if Sarah doesn't like the questions being asked she can cancel the rest of the interviews...

The Rising Cost of the Iraq 'Surge'

"Since Jan. 10, 2007, when George W. Bush announced his troop “surge,” more than 1,000 U.S. soldiers have died in the Iraq War – about a quarter of the total war dead – but now an even higher cost may loom ahead, the indefinite continuation of the conflict under President John McCain."

McCain Should Know Better

"More than any other leading politician, McCain should know that peace talks can be stronger and smarter than bombs, that withdrawing American soldiers can be the best way to achieve stability, and that the best way to protect American troops is to bring them home from the war zone."