USA Releases Iraqi Bio-Chem Experts

BAGHDAD — The Iraqi High Tribunal, the special court trying ousted President Saddam Hussein, on Wednesday publicly disagreed with a U.S. decision to release Rihab Taha (known as Dr. Germ) and Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash, (known as Mrs. Anthrax) after deciding that they no longer posed a security threat.

The Iraqi High Tribunal said it would hunt them down and continue taking "judicial measures" against them.

U.S. forces are providing protection for most of a group of top officials from Saddam Hussein's government who were recently released from custody. Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, said that eight individuals formerly designated as 'high-value detainees' were released Saturday (12/17/05) after a board process found they were no longer a security threat

No formal charges were filed against Rihab Taha, a British-educated biological weapons expert who was known as "Dr. Germ" for her role in making bio-weapons for Saddam's regime in the 1980s or against Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash, known as "Mrs. Anthrax," a former top Baath Party official and biotech researcher.

Lawyers acting for Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash have said she is gravely ill with cancer. She was the only woman included in the US. military's list of the 55 most-wanted members of Saddam's regime and was the Five of Hearts in a deck of cards issued to help US soldiers identify fugitives. She has a master's degree from Texas Women's University and a doctorate in microbiology from the University of Missouri.

Rihab Taha was not on the US most-wanted list but was described by American officials as a former director of the Iraqi bacterial and biological warfare programme. She has admitted producing germ warfare agents but said all such weapons were destroyed long before the US invasion. Rihab Taha has a doctorate in plant toxins from the University of East Anglia in Britain, and is married to Amir Muhammad Rashid, a former Iraqi oil minister also in U.S. detention.

Bush Quotes on Wiretaps

"[...] if you got a wiretap by court order and by the way, everything you hear about requires court order, requires there's to be permission from a FISA court, for example."

-G.W. Bush, Hershey, PA, April 19, 2004

"[...] any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way."

-Information Sharing, Patriot Act Vital to Homeland Security, April 20, 2004

FISA Court Judge Resigns

U.S. District Judge James Robertson has resigned from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) in protest of President Bush's secret authorization of a domestic spying program. District Judge James Robertson sent a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts late Monday notifying him of his resignation.

Source: Houston Chronicle

White House Defense Crumbling in Leak Case

The evidence prosecutors have assembled in the CIA leak case suggests Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff sought out reporters in the weeks before an undercover operative's identity was compromised in the news media, casting doubt on one of the White House's main lines of defense. And in a new twist, presidential political adviser Karl Rove has testified that it's possible Libby was his source before Rove talked to two reporters about the CIA operative.

In light of all the disclosures, "it's going to be as difficult for the defense to prove the theory that the White House got the information from reporters as it is for Fitzgerald to prove that the White House leaked the information about Wilson's wife," said Washington-based white-collar defense attorney James D. Wareham.

Source: AP: San Francisco Gate

Tom DeLay Mug Shot

Suitable for Framing

Web Site of the Day: Fresh Media

Fresh Media

Christian Coalition Leader Molested Kids

After news broke that local law enforcement officials were investigating complaints that Louis Beres, longtime chairman of the Christian Coalition of Oregon, had molested three female family members when they were pre-teens, The Oregonian in Portland went out and interviewed Beres' family members.

Two of the alleged molestations occurred decades ago and likely would not result in criminal charges because state law limits prosecution of certain crimes. But one case may fall within statutory timelines. It involves a female family member who was allegedly molested by Beres when she was in elementary school, authorities said.

Source: Editor & Publisher

UK SAS Troops Arrested as Iraqi Insurgents

Two British commandos, members of the secretive SAS were arrested by Iraqi police yesterday in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. The two men, dressed in Arab garb and driving an unmarked car, drew the attention of police.

British forces using tanks broke down the walls of Basra jail to free two service personnel arrested for firing on Iraqi policemen. Defence secretary John Reid has defended the actions of the British forces.

The MoD refused to comment after officials said that they were undercover officers dressed as Arabs.

Sources: PEJ News, Manchester Evening News, ePolitix.com

One Billion US Dollars Missing in Iraq

One billion dollars has been plundered from Iraq's defence ministry in one of the largest thefts in history. The money, intended to train and equip an Iraqi army, was instead siphoned abroad in cash and has disappeared.

Most of the money was supposedly spent buying arms from Poland and Pakistan. The contracts were peculiar in four ways. According to Mr Allawi, they were awarded without bidding, and were signed with a Baghdad-based company, and not directly with the foreign supplier.

Source: Independant Online

Pastor: God Destroyed New Orleans

Is the recent hurricane something to celebrate? Reverend William Shanks, pastor of the New Covenant Fellowship of New Orleans seems to think so;

"New Orleans now is abortion free. New Orleans now is Mardi Gras free. New Orleans now is free of Southern Decadence and the sodomites, the witchcraft workers, false religion - it's free of all of those things now" said Rev. Bill Shanks, pastor of New Covenant Fellowship of New Orleans, and he continued; "One Category 5 hurricane coming up the river will take care of all Sodomite marriages ... I believe this will open the floodgate for God to bring judgment on our land."

Source: Workbench, Agape Press

Homeland Security bans Red Cross

As the National Guard delivered food to the New Orleans convention center yesterday, American Red Cross officials said that federal emergency management authorities would not allow them into New Orleans.

"The Homeland Security Department has requested and continues to request that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans," said Renita Hosler, spokeswoman for the Red Cross.

Calls to the Department of Homeland Security and its subagency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, were not returned yesterday

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

New Orleans: Rescue or Combat Operation?

According to the Army Times, combat operations are underway on the streets "to take this city back" in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. While some fight the insurgency in the city, other carry on with rescue and evacuation operations. Helicopters are still pulling hundreds of stranded people from rooftops of flooded homes.

"This place is going to look like Little Somalia," Brig. Gen. Gary Jones, commander of the Louisiana National Guard’s Joint Task Force told Army Times Friday as hundreds of armed troops under his charge prepared to launch a massive city-wide security mission from a staging area outside the Louisiana Superdome. "We’re going to go out and take this city back. This will be a combat operation to get this city under control."

Source: Army Times

Halliburton Whistleblower Demoted

(Associated Press) Bunnatine H. Greenhouse, who had been the Corps of Engineers' top procurement official since 1997 and publicly criticized the Pentagon's decision to award Halliburton Co. a no-bid contract for work in Iraq, has been demoted. "Her removal will send a message to all concerned that if they dare stand up to corrupting influences within the Army contracting world their careers will be destroyed," her attorney, Michael D. Kohn, wrote in the letter to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Kris Kolesnik, executive director of the National Whistleblower Center, which is advising Greenhouse on contacts with members of Congress and the news media, said in an interview that Kohn was informed by the Pentagon's Inspector General's office that it is still preparing a report based on Greenhouse's allegations.

Source: MSNBC

Ariel Sharon's Son Indicted

Omri Sharon, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's son and close adviser, is to stand trial in the "shell companies" campaign funding affair, following the filing of an indictment against him Sunday morning at the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court.

One of the intriguing questions the trial will illuminate is whether any new evidence against Ariel Sharon might arise that could persuade Mazuz to indict him as well. This is theoretically possible.

Sources: Haaretz, CNN

File FCC Complaint Against 700 Club

The FCC has defined profanity as including language that "denote[s] certain of those personally reviling epithets naturally tending to provoke violent resentment or denoting language so grossly offensive to members of the public who actually hear it as to amount to a nuisance." Using this test, Pat Robertson's broadcast clearly violates the community standards issue.

If you are outraged about Pat Robertson's broadcast where he advocated using international political assassination and want to file an FCC complaint against Mr. Robertson and/or the Christian Broadcasting Network, go to the Christian Broadcasting Network web site and get the broadcast information for your area for the 700 Club and then visit the Federal Communications Commission's web site to lodge an actual complaint.

You may also file a complaint via e-mail at fccinfo@fcc.gov or by calling:
1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) voice or
1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322) TTY.

Pat Robertson Advocates Assassination

In a recent US television broadcast, Christian extremist Pat Robertson advocated international terrorism to assassinate a foreign head of state, Hugo Chavez. In the past, Mr. Chavez has repeatedly accused U.S. President George W. Bush of backing efforts to topple his government, a charge the U.S. denies. "We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability," Robertson said.

In October 2003, Robertson, criticizing the State Department during an interview on the 700 Club, said "maybe we need a very small nuke thrown off on Foggy Bottom to shake things up," referring to the nickname for the department's headquarters in Washington. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher called the remark "despicable."

Sources:
Los Angeles Times
CNN
USA Today
Washington Post
700 Club

They Burn Books Don't They?

This happened long ago, far away, in a land no one remembers...

The Harvest Assembly of God Church (Butler County, PA.) gathered to burn their own possessions that they felt were disloyal to God. Among the "objectionable material" was music from artists such as REM, Bruce Springsteen, and Foreigner. Disney movies and Harry Potter novels were destroyed for promoting sorcery. Additionally, Mormon and Jehovah's Witness materials were burned for not being truly Christian since they promoted several gods.

Sources:
The File Room
Theocracy Watch
American Library Association

Web Site of the Week

Waiting For Bigfoot

San Francisco-based American artist Jill Miller is participating in Norwich Gallery's EAST 05 international exhibition, July 2 - August 20, 2005. Although she will exhibit a performance work, she will not appear in the gallery. At least not in the flesh. Miller's durational performance-installation, "Waiting for Bigfoot," will be located in a remote Northern California forest ("Bigfoot Country"). A live video feed will be delivered to the Norwich Gallery as real-time video via satellite uplink, 24 hours a day. The artist will live at the campsite, situated in the epicenter of Bigfoot sightings, for the duration of EAST 05.

Jews Plan Mass Suicides

Teen surfers from a number of communities in Gaza's Gush Katif settlement bloc are threatening to take their surf boards out to sea on evacuation day and commit mass suicide by drowning, according to The Jerusalem Post.

A threatened mass suicide was prevented by the movement’s late leader Meir Kahane during the evacuation of the Yamit settlement in Sinai in 1982.

Members of a New York-based ultra-Orthodox Jewish movement were threatening to commit mass suicide on Wednesday in protest at the Gaza Strip pull-out, security sources and associates said.

Sources:
Ha'aretz
New York Jewish Week
International Christian Embassy Jerusalem
News24, South Africa

US Lowers Hopes For Iraq

The Bush administration no longer expects to see a model new democracy, a self-supporting oil industry or a society in which the majority of people are free from serious security or economic challenges, U.S. officials say.

"What we expected to achieve was never realistic given the timetable or what unfolded on the ground," said a senior official involved in policy since the 2003 invasion. "We are in a process of absorbing the factors of the situation we're in and shedding the unreality that dominated at the beginning."

"We set out to establish a democracy, but we're slowly realizing we will have some form of Islamic republic," said another U.S. official familiar with policymaking from the beginning, who like some others interviewed would speak candidly only on the condition of anonymity. "That process is being repeated all over."

Source: Washington Post, MSNBC

Dr. James Dobson's Obsession with Gays

Earlier this year, Dr. James Dobson (founder of a conservative Christian group called "Focus on the Family") once claimed that SpongeBob promotes homosexuality. More recently, Dr. James Dobson published an white paper which attempts to answer the question we've all been asking ourselves; Is My Child Becoming Homosexual?

According to Dr. Dobson, when a boy has "a strong preference to spend time in the company of girls" or exhibits the much more elusive quality of "thinking effeminately" he may be homosexual. If your child is facing this danger, Dr. Dobson suggests that you "call to make an appointment with a professional therapist who believes change is possible. Work patiently with that therapist in redirecting your child’s prehomosexual behaviors."

Source: MSNBC, Focus On The Family

Web Site of the Week

Gnostic Friends Network

Judge John Roberts ... Gay Activist?

After Bush's denouncements of "Activist Judges" and purposefully drawing attention to the record of Judge John Roberts as an example of his character, it's a little surprising to hear that Judge Roberts helped Gay Activists win a landmark decision in 1996.

John Roberts wasn't paid for his work - it was provided pro bono (free of charge) - so he must've had his heart in his work, or felt that it was a moral issue he felt strongly about. At the time, Roberts was a lawyer specializing in appellate work for Hogan & Hartson, a large D.C.-based law firm.

Sources:
Los Angeles Times
Washington Blade

London Bombing Mastermind Goes Free

The July 21, 2005 London bombers have all been rounded up along with 18 others currently under questioning - yet the so-called "mastermind" has been allowed to go free, and is being protected time and time again by MI5, MI6, FBI and CIA.

Apparently, this isn't anything new...

Former Justice Department Prosecutor John Loftus claims that British Intelligence and the US Department of Justice had protected Haroon Rashid Aswat: "Back in 1999 he [Haroon Rashid Aswat] came to America. The Justice Department wanted to indict him in Seattle because him and his buddy were trying to set up a terrorist training school in Oregon. We've just learned that the headquarters of the US Justice Department ordered the Seattle prosecutors not to touch Aswat; apparently Aswat was working for British intelligence."

Source: Fox News

Manichaean Sect Found in China

An Armidale researcher has helped unearth an active Manichaean sect in southeast China. During their third annual expedition to the Fujian Province of the People's Republic of China in April, University of New England religious history Professor Majella Franzmann and a team of Australian experts discovered evidence of a living Mani cult in a family's home in a small village near Jinjiang. The discovery is documented in a paper recently published in the international journal Rivista di storia e letteratura (Review of Religious History and Literature).

Manichaeism was an authentic Gnostic world religion. The record is often confused because medieval writers used the term Manichee as a synonym for heretic. The name Mani is mainly a title and term of respect rather than a personal name; this title was assumed by the founder himself and so completely replaced his personal name that the precise form of the latter is not known.

Mani was raised in a Jewish environment. In the years 220-240 he lived in a Jewish community in the south of Babylon, near present-day Bagdad in Iraq. He founded his own world church, which was inspired by Gnostic-Christian thought, in reaction to the strict nomistic circles in which he grew up. His church, which eventually spread to the Atlantic Ocean in the West and the Pacific Ocean in the East, existed for many centuries, with millions of adherents and even producing its own typical art. Manicheism may also have been an influence on the medieval Cathars; it is certain that Augustine, one of the greatest of Church Fathers, once belonged to Mani's church. It is mainly through Augustine that the gnosticism of Mani's teachings exerted a substantial influence on Western spiritual and intellectual history.

Source: Armidale Press

CAFTA House RollCall

The complete RollCall for the Central American Free Trade Agreement has been posted for public inspection. For more information on the implications of CAFTA, visit the official web site.

Jews Put Aramaic Death Curse on PM Ariel Sharon

Tue Jul 26,11:01 AM ET

In a cemetery ceremony presided over by a rabbi, around 20 radicals held a "pulsa dinura", which means rod of fire in Aramaic, imploring God to curse a believed sinner, said the online edition of the Yediot Aharonot.

The ancient Jewish rite was presided over by rabbi Yossef Dayan at dawn on Friday in the ancient cemetery of Rosh Pina, in the northern Galilee region. Dayan read out the curse at the ritual. The group urged "the angels of destruction" to kill Sharon, participants said, stressing that a human assassination attempt on the prime minister was "futile" given his massive security protection.

The ceremony took place near the grave of Shlomo Ben Yossef, a member of the ultra-nationalist Jewish movement Beitar, who was hanged in 1938 under British mandate Palestine for taking part in an attempted attack on an Arab bus. Baruch Ben Yossef, one of the participants, said the spot was ideal.

"He is Sharon's antitheses. Ben Yossef sacrificed his soul for the people of Israel, while Sharon is robbing the nation. We hope the Lord will take him from us," he was quoted as saying by the website. Far-right Israeli activists also held a "pulsa dinura" to pray for the death of Yitzhak Rabin in 1995, a few days before the prime minister was assassinated by a Jewish extremist for trying to make peace with the Palestinians.

Sources:
Yahoo! News
Jewish.net
Kuwait Times

Antichrist Born In Italy

Mon Jul 25, 9:04 AM ET

PALERMO, Italy (Reuters) - An Italian couple stole 50,000 euros from a woman in the Sicilian city of Palermo after convincing her they were vampires who would impregnate her with the son of the Anti-Christ if she did not pay them. The man, a cabaret singer, and his girlfriend took the money from their victim over four years by selling her pills at 3,000 euros each that they said would abort the Anti-Christ's son. Police uncovered the fraud after the 47-year-old woman's family became concerned when they discovered she had spent all her savings, local news agencies AGI and ANSA reported.

Source: Yahoo! News

Web Site of the Week

Mrs. Betty Bowers' Christian Crack Whore Ministry

UK Troops Refuse to Serve in Iraq over War Crimes

British troops are reluctant to serve in Iraq if they may face criminal repercussions for crimes against humanity, war crimes, or similar charges. Apparently they're concerned about joining 11 other British soldiers already facing charges of prisoner abuse. I'm a little surprised that anyone would expect to engage in war with a sense of impunity, given the prosecution of Belgian troops for crimes against humanity by England after WWI and the Nuremburg trials after WWII. Rights are balanced by responsibility and both are subject to accountability.

Sources:
Scotsman.com
The Telegraph
Guardian Unlimited

Gnosticism Tied to Islamic Terrorism

The English version of Al-Jazeera reports that Al-Qaida is also a revival of the radical currents that surfaced in Islamic history from time to time only to be defeated by moderate mainstream Islam led by the Ulama (scholars). In particular, they appear to be a continuation of Kharijite thought with its dualistic puritanical conception of the world and the community of Muslims and of Gnostic underground organisations like the Assassins and Qaramita, who sought to disrupt the stability of Muslim societies through acts of terrorism.

Sources:
Al-Jazeera.net
The Institute for Ismaili Studies

Cheney is Decisive ... No wait he ... no, OK yeah. No wait...

The Seattle Post Intelligencer noted around a year ago that...

In an assessment that differs sharply with his view today, Dick Cheney more than a decade ago defended the decision to leave Saddam Hussein in power after the first Gulf War, telling a Seattle audience that capturing Saddam wouldn't be worth additional U.S. casualties or the risk of getting "bogged down in the problems of trying to take over and govern Iraq."

A transcript of the 1992 appearance was tracked down by P-I columnist Joel Connelly, as reported in his In the Northwest column.

"All of a sudden you've got a battle you're fighting in a major built-up city, a lot of civilians are around, significant limitations on our ability to use our most effective technologies and techniques," Cheney said.

"Once we had rounded him up and gotten rid of his government, then the question is what do you put in its place? You know, you then have accepted the responsibility for governing Iraq."

Source: Seattle Post Intelligencer

New UK Internet Anti-Terrorism Laws

New offences could cover people going to terrorist camps overseas or finding out how to build a bomb through the internet, said the Home Office.

Other proposals include making it illegal to incite terrorism indirectly by "glorifying" bombings. The new incitement offence could be used against extremist preachers or others making public speeches. Ms Blears said: "It would apply where people would seek to glorify terrorist activity, perhaps, for example, saying 'isn't this a marvellous thing that this has happened' and 'these people are martyrs'."

Source:
BBC

Why Is Karl Rove called "Turd Blossom"?

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Leaking Isn't New To Karl Rove

Karl Rove was fired from the 1992 re-election campaign of Bush Sr. for allegedly leaking a negative story about Bush loyalist/fundraiser Robert Mosbacher to Novak. Novak's piece described a meeting organized by then-Senator Phil Gramm at which Mosbacher was relieved of his duties as state campaign manager because "the president's re-election effort in Texas has been a bust." Rove was fired after Mosbacher fingered him as Novak's source.

Source:
Democrats.com
Due Diligence
George W. Bush.org
Daily Kos

Al Qaida Denies Recent Baghdad Attack

In a rare stand against violence, al Qaida in Iraq purportedly issued a statement denying it was behind a horrific attack on a poor east Baghdad neighbourhood that killed 18 children and teenagers.

"We, al Qaida organisation in Iraq, announce that we are not in the least responsible for the New Baghdad operation that took place on Wednesday," said a statement posted and signed by Abu Maysara al-Iraqi, al Qaida spokesman.

Source:
Scotsman.com

Karl Rove: Homosexual?

A number of stories are coming to light regarding Karl Rove's sexuality, claiming that he propositioned ex-male stripper Ian Sherman and also participated in gay orgies. Sherman also claims that it's widely known that White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan is homosexual.

Ian Sherman writes that "It’s been 12 years since I pulled on a g-string and danced on a lit box in one of the clubs on [Chicago’s] Clark Street but I’ve still got it. And I know exactly what Rove was trying to do."

Tom Flocco reports that Walter Storch (editor of the Barnes Review News) writes "Karl greatly enjoyed the supervision of a certain hairy 350-lb. Leather Dominator who had won the Miss Virginia Daddy Bear title at Mid-Atlantic Leather (MAL) festivities."

Sources:
Pnionline.com
The Tablet
The Truth Seeker

David Gregory & America's New Spine

I was beside myself with amazement as NBC Chief White House correspondent David Gregory questioned White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan at today's White House Press Briefing. Mr. Gregory didn't let up:

Do you stand by your statement from the fall of 2003 when you were asked specifically about Karl and Elliott Abrams and Scooter Libby, and you said, "I've gone to each of those gentlemen, and they have told me they are not involved in this" -- do you stand by that statement?

And again,

Scott, I mean, just -- I mean, this is ridiculous. The notion that you're going to stand before us after having commented with that level of detail and tell people watching this that somehow you decided not to talk. You've got a public record out there. Do you stand by your remarks from that podium, or not?

David Gregory interviewed Karl Rove in the past on NBC's "Hardball" (substituting for host Chris Matthews) before most of the new information implicating Karl Rove in the Valerie Plame case came to light, after Time Magazine turned over their email records to the special investigator in this case. Interesting, as you may recall, Karl Rove called MSNBC "Hardball" host Chris Matthews and told him that Wilson's wife was "fair game."

Looks like America is finally growing a spine.

Web Site of the Week

How To Build A Flying Saucer

More Death in Middle East

RAMALLAH, July 7, 2005 (Xinhuanet) A 17-year-old Palestinian was shot dead Thursday by Israeli troops as they stormed the Balata refugee camp near the city of Nablus in the West Bank, Palestinian medics said.

Source:
XinHuaNet.com

Ex-Catholic Priest Receives Life Sentence

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DALLAS (AP) -- A former Roman Catholic priest was sentenced to life in prison for sexually assaulting an 18-year-old former parishioner who said he was too drunk following a wedding party to defend himself.

John Salazar was sentenced Wednesday under a law that requires an automatic life sentence when a person convicted of first-degree felony assault has a prior conviction for a serious sex offense. Beau Villegas testified that Salazar assaulted him in the priest's hotel room after a wedding in 2003. He said Salazar had offered to take care of him because he drank 10 beers and at least three mixed drinks.

In the 1980s, Salazar was convicted twice in California for molesting boys and spent six years in prison. He was on parole when the Catholic diocese in Amarillo hired him and assigned him to the Church of the Holy Spirit in Tulia in 1991. Salazar was technically a priest when he assaulted Villegas but had been stripped of his duties. Salazar's attorneys said they would appeal.

Source:
New York Times

Accident Prone President, or Bush Knocks Over Cop

Fresh bandages on his left hand from a mountain biking accident, President Bush said Thursday he's doing well -- and so apparently is the Scottish police officer with whom he collided.

Source:
New York Times

Herr Karl Rove Prepares To Meet His Maker

In early October 2003, NEWSWEEK reported that immediately after Novak's column appeared in July, Rove called MSNBC "Hardball" host Chris Matthews and told him that Wilson's wife was "fair game." But White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters at the time that any suggestion that Rove had played a role in outing Plame was "totally ridiculous."

McClellan Denials:
September 16, 2003 Press Briefing
September 29, 2003 Press Briefing

Star Trek Pledge Gets 8 yr old Suspended

From "True Underground Adventures of an Avon Lady"...

Beauty Dish's unnamed eight year old fan of the hit TV series & motion picture franchise Star Trek has been suspended from school for reciting the Star Trek Pledge of Allegiance instead of the standard Pledge of Allegiance (modified in 1954) in school. The Star Trek Pledge of Allegiance reads:

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United Federation of Planets, and to the galaxy for which it stands, one universe, under everybody, with liberty and justice for all species."

You can support Beauty Dish by visiting her online store

"And the Dead shall walk...."

Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh's Safar Centre for Resuscitation Research (led by Peter Safar) have reanimating canines after several hours of clinical death in attempts to develop suspended animation for humans. Plans to test the technique on humans should be realised within a year, according to the Safar Centre.

Source: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15739502-13762,00.html

California National Guard sets up state intelligence unit

California's National Guard has set up a special intelligence unit intended to help local law enforcement deal with terrorist threats and integrate statewide investigations with international anti-terrorism initiatives, according to a newspaper report. Guard officials say the new unit, established last year, will not violate long-standing rules barring the military from gathering information on American citizens.

Source: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/06/26/news/state/11_132343143523.txt

U.S. Officials Meet With Insurgents in Iraq

Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld acknowledged Sunday that U.S. officials met with insurgents in Iraq, after a British newspaper reported two such meetings took place recently at a villa north of Baghdad.

Source: http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBMKQNUFAE.html

How the Government Makes News; Under Bush, a New Age of Prepackaged News

On March 13, 2005 (Late Ed., Final, Sec. 1, Pg. 1, Col. 2) the New York Times ran a story, "How the Government Makes News; Under Bush, a New Age of Prepackaged News" by David Barstow and Robin Stein; Anne E. Kornblut.
    A month later (14 April), PBS reported "FCC Warns Broadcasters To Identify Source Of Video News Releases" where they claim "The General Accountability Office, the research arm for Congress, in February investigated the matter and determined that the prepackaged news funded by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services constituted 'covert propaganda.'"
    Susan Poling (of the GAO) was reported to have said "We concluded that production and distribution of prepackaged news stories that conceal the agency's role in producing the story was covert propaganda and, therefore, violated the prohibition on the use of appropriated funds for publicity or propaganda. Susan Poling can be reached at (202) 512-2667.

Additional Sources:
http://www.gao.gov/decisions/appro/304272.htm
http://www.gao.gov/decisions/appro/304272.pdf
http://www.gao.gov/daybook/050512.htm
http://www.gao.gov/htext/d05643t.html
http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d05643thigh.pdf
http://www.gao.gov/special.pubs/appforum2005/circularltrs.pdf

Property can be taken by City

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that a city can take a person's home as part of a private development project aimed at boosting tax revenues and revitalizing a local economy, a decision that could have nationwide impact. By a 5-4 vote, the high court upheld a ruling that New London, Connecticut, can seize the homes and businesses owned by seven families for a private development project that will complement a nearby research facility by the Pfizer Inc. drug company.

ACLU Obtains Detainee Torture Docs using FOIA

While Rush Limbaugh cited a FoxNews.com story when demanding that Senator Richard J. Durbin provide proof to support his claim of detainee torture, the UCLU already made these documents available for public inspection.

Priest "justified" after crucifying nun

File under "Everyone Needs A Hobby": A Romanian Orthodox priest who ordered the crucifixion of a young nun because she was "possessed by the devil" and now faces murder charges was unrepentant on Saturday as he celebrated a funeral mass for his alleged victim.

He insisted that from the religious point of view, the crucifixion of Maricica Irina Cornici, 23, was "entirely justified", but admitted that he faced excommunication as well as prosecution, and was seeking a "good lawyer".

Sources:
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=qw1119098341918B265
http://www.daily-news.ro/article_detail.php?idarticle=12569

Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel: "We're losing in Iraq"

Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel: "Things [in Iraq] aren't getting better; they're getting worse. The White House is completely disconnected from reality," Hagel tells U.S. News & World Report. "It's like they're just making it up as they go along. The reality is that we're losing in Iraq."

Source: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/050627/27bush.htm

Conversely, Senator Hagel has endorsed bringing back the draft in the USA; "Why shouldn't we ask all of our citizens to bear some responsibility and pay some price?" Hagel said, arguing that restoring the draft would force "our citizens to understand the intensity and depth of challenges we face."

Source: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=38139

Happy slapping

"Happy slapping" is the term used to describe the phenomenon of an individual or group slapping or striking a stranger while an accomplice films the assault using a camera phone or smart phone. It is said to have first become popular in the British garage music scene, but the happy slapping craze has been adopted by a growing number of British teenagers and is now more associated with chav or ghetto culture.

H. J. Res. 24: Repealing the XXII Amendment

Looks like some people want Bush to be President for life; House Joint Resolution 24 (Feb 17, 2005) sponsored by Rep. Steny Hoyer [D-MD] suggests exactly that.

Yet Another Christian Woman Murders Her Children

In the tradition of Andrea Yates, Samara Spann, believing her six year old daughter Kyeimah to be a "demon" drowned and later decapitated her child. Most people I've spoken to have said 'she's not a Christian, she's a psycho!' yet to believe in demons one must already be insane, right?

Six More British Documents Leaked

Six new secret British documents have been leaked and are provided below. These were retyped from the originals to protect the source, RawStory.com has verified the authenticity.

90% of Terrorist Arrests Fail

Fewer than 10% of the people prosecuted for terrorism in the United States since the September 11 attacks were convicted of crimes related to that or national security, according to a study conducted by the Washington Post. Of those 39 people, few had any connection to al-Qaida while the remaining 90% were acquitted or convicted of lesser crimes such as immigration violations or making false statements, the study shows.

Is United States President George W. Bush a Rapist?
Margie Schoedinger of Missouri City, Texas filed a lawsuit against George W. Bush in Fort Bend County Court, according to the Fort Bend Star newspaper. In her suit she is alleged "race based harassment and individual sex crimes committed against her and her husband." Margie Schoedinger was later found dead of a gunshot wound after filing her suit.

Papers filed with the Office of the County Clerk, Fort Bend, Texas were online at the below locations but appear to no longer be available:

http://ccweb.co.fort-bend.tx.us/imgcache/CCCIVIL217038-1-7.pdf http://ccweb.co.fort-bend.tx.us/imgcache/CCCIVIL217041-1-1.pdf

One of these PDF files has been archived and is available for downloading.

Make your own A-bomb off the the Internet
Russia and the United States agree -- even those who hardly know any laws of physics can make an atomic bomb with the help of instructions on the Internet. The Russian Council for foreign and defense policy and Harvard University presented a 120-page report titled "Securing the Bomb 2005: The New Global Imperatives" the Russian newspaper Pravda said.

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Air Force Chaplain Fights Force-Fed Evangelism in Military
By Robyn Blumner

"There's nothing wrong with people reaching out to cadets, but when the purpose is to proselytize and make the military into a godly force, then that's inappropriate." -Capt. MeLinda Morton, Chaplain (Colorado Springs AF Academy, CO)

Web Site of the Week: Defamer.com The Best Gossip Site Around

DoD Planned to Blame FBI for Torture
An e-mail (from CTD employee to Frankie Battle) noting that sender is forwarding this EC up the chain of command, concerning alleged impersonation of FBI Agents at Camp Delta.

One such communique reads:
"These tactics have produced no intelligence of a threat neutralization nature to date and CITF believes that techniques have destroyed any chance of prosecuting this detainee." and "If this detainee is ever released or his story made public in any way, DOD interrogators will not be held accountable because these torture techniques were done (by) the "FBI" interrogators. The FBI will (be) left holding the bag before the public."

This facts surrounding this became public as a result of the ACLU filing a FOIA request for DIA, DOS & FBI documents related to prisonor abuse at US-ran facilities and have made these files available for download. The ACLU Press Release is also available for public inspection.

Further Reading: Yurika Report

CONPLAN 8022: USA Nuclear First Strike
The President could, of course, also order American air strikes on suspected Iranian nuclear facilities. According to military analyst William R. Arkin, plans for such a strike already exist. Dubbed "CONPLAN 8022," and described in Arkin's book Code Names: Deciphering U.S. Military Plans, Programs, and Operations in the 9/11 World.

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Judge Outlaws Teaching Paganism.
An Indianapolis father is appealing Marion County Judge Cale J. Bradford's order that prohibits a divorced couple from teaching their child "non-mainstream religious beliefs and rituals."

The Father of the child has brought the case before the Indiana Court of Appeals, with help from the Indiana Civil Liberties Union. They filed their request for the appeals court to strike the one-paragraph clause in January.

The Hon. Cale J. Bradford, Judge, Marion Superior Court, Criminal Division Judge Bradford was first elected as a Superior Court judge in 1996. Prior to becoming a judge, he was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana from 1990 to 1995 and Chief Trial Deputy for the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office from 1995-96.

The original Indiana Star story is by Kevin Corcoran at (317) 444-2770.

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Declassified FBI Files Support Newsweek Claim of Koran Desecration
In the latest disclosure, declassified FBI reports showed that detainees at the U.S. naval prison in Cuba told FBI and military interrogators on a number of occasions as early as April 2002 three months after the first prisoners arrived at the makeshift prison that guards abused them and desecrated the Koran.

ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/US/print?id=792622
ACLU: http://www.aclu.org/news/NewsPrint.cfm?ID=18320&c=206

Web Site of the Week: Confess Your Sins! Anonymous Online Confessions

Camp Delta (Guantanamo Bay) Death Chamber Plan
Almost two years ago it became known that death chambers were 'under consideration' for installation at US-managed Camp Delta. Pentagon rules for the tribunals permit death sentences to be passed and the construction of a death chamber at the camp was among the options being considered.

Israel's Nuclear Facilities
Mordechai Vanunu took about 60 photos of the top-secret labs and unique production processes involved. When some of these photos were originally published in the London Sunday Times' exposé, they confirmed his eyewitness testimony about the extent of Israel's nuclear weapons program and revealed Israel to be one of the world's top nuclear powers.

Bush in Babylon
Funny image...

'Koran Desecration' & Riots?
Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard B. Myers said it was Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry's view that "the violence that we saw in Jalalabad was not necessarily the result of the allegations reported in Newsweek about disrespect for the Koran." He said General Eikenberry believed the violence stemmed from the country's reconciliation process. "He thought it was not at all tied to the article in the magazine," General Myers added.

US Troops Deserting
As the death toll of troops mounts in Iraq and Afghanistan, America's military recruiting figures have plummeted to an all-time low. Thousands of US servicemen and women are now refusing to serve their country, Andrew Buncombe reports.

Iraq Memo: "intelligence and facts were being fixed"
"It seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided," the memo said. "But the case was thin. Saddam was not threatening his neighbors, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran."

Larry Flynt's Press Release on John Bolton
Corroborated allegations that Mr. Bolton’s first wife, Christina Bolton, was forced to engage in group sex have not been refuted by the State Department despite inquires posed by Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt concerning the allegations. Mr. Flynt has obtained information from numerous sources that Mr. Bolton participated in paid visits to Plato’s Retreat, the popular swingers club that operated in New York City in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Operation Falcon ("Federal and Local Cops Organized Nationally") arrests 10,340 Americans charged with criminal actions. Some people think this stinks to high heaven.

Seattle Police Taser Pregnant Woman
"As police officers, they could have hurt me seriously. They could have hurt my unborn fetus," she said. "All because of a traffic ticket. Is this what it's come down to?"

Web Site of the Week: Weird Stuff Warehouse Just what the name implies

"Pentagon Analyst Charged with Passing Secret Information"
Larry Franklin was arrested Wednesday and charged with giving top secret information to employees of AIPAC, a pro-Israel lobbyist group.

Guckert / Gannon & The FOIA Files
The documents, obtained by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) through a Freedom of Information Act request, reveal Guckert had remarkable access to the White House. Guckert made 202 appearances at the White House during his two-year tenure with the fledging conservative websites GOPUSA and Talon News, attending 155 of 196 White House press briefings.

Ultra-Rare Original Ann Coulter TIME cover
Blogger Mark Twang has uncovered the ultra-rare unretouched TIME Magazine cover of Ann Coulter with the now-censored headline. Kudos!

"Ford and GM Nazi Collaboration"
Both General Motors and Ford insist that they bear little or no responsibility for the operations of their German subsidiaries, which controlled 70 percent of the German car market at the outbreak of war in 1939 and rapidly retooled themselves to become suppliers of war materiel to the German army.

Web Site of the Week: Geologic Time Line Nicely done

"The US City That Disappeared"
In 1912, 45 mixed-race people living on Malaga Island in the mouth of the New Meadows River were thrown off their land by the state of Maine. Nearly a quarter of the islanders were sent to the Maine School for the Feeble-Minded while state workers torched their shacks and even dug up the bones of their ancestors, according to historians and contemporary newspaper accounts.

"US Eugenics Program 1924-1979"
Although eugenics eventually was discredited as political and social prejudice rather than scientific fact, neither Virginia nor any of the 29 other states that conducted eugenical sterilizations has ever compensated or apologized to the more than 60,000 victims.

"US Police Arrest 5 Year Old"
The incident was caught on a video camera which was rolling in the classroom as part of a self-improvement exercise at the St Petersburg school. The video, made public by the lawyer this week, shows the unfolding of the violent tantrum, which started when the little girl refused to take part in a maths lesson. She then ripped some papers off a bulletin board and lashed out at staff trying to calm her down. Three officers rushed to the scene and handcuffed the girl, by that time apparently calm, after pinning her arms behind her back. The footage showed her in distress after being handcuffed.

How The Bush Family Helped Hitler's Rise To Power
The Guardian has obtained confirmation from newly discovered files in the US National Archives that a firm of which Prescott Bush was a director was involved with the financial architects of Nazism.

Email the Pope!
In English, the address is benedictxvi@vatican.va
in Italian, benedettoxvi@vatican.va
in Spanish, benedictoxvi@vatican.va
in French, benoitxvi@vatican.va
in German, benediktxvi@vatican.va
and in Portuguese, bentoxvi@vatican.va

Medieval 'bawdy courts' in America
John R. Bushey Jr. was prosecuted for adultery in a small courthouse in Luray, Va. Bushey, the former town attorney, stood before the court as an accused criminal with reporters from all over the state in attendance. Like 23 other states, Virginia still might prosecute if a husband or wife has consensual sex outside the marriage.

Web Site of the Week: NormalBobSmith.com Satanic humor

Texan Bayoil & Saddam kickbacks
A Texas oil tycoon, a Bulgarian and a Briton have been indicted over the UN oil-for-food programme, US federal prosecutors have said. David Chalmers Jr, Ludmil Dionissiev and John Irving are accused of paying bribes to Saddam Hussein's regime. The bribes involved funds otherwise intended for humanitarian relief, attorney David Kelley said.

Inanity: Bush's iPod Tracklist
Rolling Stone journalist Joe Levy called the playlist "feel-good music. The Sex Pistols it's not. It's safe, it's reliable, it's loving," Mr Levy said.

Another Bush Lie: Saddam & the "Spider hole"
Sergeant Nadim Abou Rabeh, who participated in the operation that netted Saddam, was quoted in the Saudi newspaper "Al-Medina" saying that the Iraqi leader was actually captured the day before and that "the public version of his capture was fabricated." The entire event was apparently choreographed by a Pentagon public relations team.

"I was among the 20 man unitwho searched for Saddam for 3 days in the area of Dour near Tikrit, and we found him in a modest home in a small village and not in a hole as announced," Rabeh admitted. (UPI )

Neocon Quotes Stalin, supports killing Judge
Lawyer-author Edwin Vieira said his "bottom line" for dealing with the Supreme Court comes from Joseph Stalin. "He had a slogan, and it worked very well for him, whenever he ran into difficulty: 'no man, no problem.'"

CBS Cameraman Arrested as Terrorist in Baghdad
The military said the cameraman was detained because there was probable cause to believe he posed "an imperative threat to coalition forces."

PNAC Concentration Camps
"The detention system in Afghanistan exists entirely outside international norms, but it is only part of a far larger and more sinister jail network that we are only now beginning to understand."

Bush Booed by crowd in Rome

Pat Buchanan doused with salad dressing
David Horowitz hit with pie

How To Free Yourself From Legal Tyranny
Using "Without Prejudice USS 1-207" when signing traffic tickets & other legal documents.

GOP Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) says violence against judges is understandable
We now have Republican Senators making excuses for terrorists. Explaining why terrorism is understandable. Why terrorists have legitimate concerns. Justifying why the victims of terrorism are really to blame for these heinous crimes.

Fourth Man Arrested in Republican Phone Jamming Scheme
Shaun Hansen, of Spokane, Wash., headed a former telemarketing company that placed hundreds of hang-up calls to five phone lines run by Democrats and one run by the Manchester firefighters union.

Excellent story of a compassionate diver and a shark. I thought this story was not only amazing but also heartening. Read it.

13 Things That Don't Make Sense
I love the mysteries of life.

Never Let It Be Said The FBI isn't ... Quick-Thinking! Ten years after the attack on the Murrah Building, the FBI (acting from a tip) discovered a cache of blasting caps in the home of Terry Nichols. Apparently, a furnace repairman found the explosives and suggested that the FBI go and 'discover' them. "The information so far indicates the items have been there since prior to the Oklahoma City bombing," Agent Gary Johnson said in a telephone interview from Oklahoma City.

New Details on F.B.I. Aid for Saudis After 9/11
by Eric Lichtblau, New York Times
Published: March 27, 2005

WASHINGTON, March 26 - The episode has been retold so many times in the last three and a half years that it has become the stuff of political legend: in the frenzied days after Sept. 11, 2001, when some flights were still grounded, dozens of well-connected Saudis, including relatives of Osama bin Laden, managed to leave the United States on specially chartered flights. Now, newly released government records show previously undisclosed flights from Las Vegas and elsewhere and point to a more active role by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in aiding some of the Saudis in their departure. The F.B.I. gave personal airport escorts to two prominent Saudi families who fled the United States, and several other Saudis were allowed to leave the country without first being interviewed, the documents show. The Saudi families, in Los Angeles and Orlando, requested the F.B.I. escorts because they said they were concerned for their safety in the wake of the attacks, and the F.B.I. - which was then beginning the biggest criminal investigation in its history - arranged to have agents escort them to their local airports, the documents show. But F.B.I. officials reacted angrily, both internally and publicly, to the suggestion that any Saudis had received preferential treatment in leaving the country.

Robyn E. Blumner. I just discovered this great 'perspective columnist'; she writes for the St. Petersburg Times and I must say, her recent article Zealotry and its Victims is a breath of fresh air in the midst of all this nonsense about the Terry Schiavo case.

BBC 17 March, 2005: "Secret US plans for Iraq's oil"

"War on Terror" is a Wolfowitz Agenda: In 1992, Paul Wolfowitz, under secretary of defense for policy, takes the lead in drafting an internal set of military guidelines, called a "Defense Planning Guidance." It said 'America should preempt the proliferation of WMD. And if America has to act alone, so be it.' The White House orders Defense Secretary Cheney to rewrite it. In the new draft there is no mention of preemption or U.S. willingness to act alone.

Information isn't a part of most people's lives. It makes their brains hurt and they resent being put into a position where they have to think. When I worked at Adobe Systems, the cubicle people felt like they were better than most people because they had to read to keep their jobs. They understood finances, the stock market, software. They even had a chestnut or two about Greek history which they were only too glad to pull out in the course of a conversation. But they weren't intellectually curious.