Anthony H. Cordesman, a leading military analyst from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, has published a “strategic analysis” of the Gaza massacre. He reaches the remarkable conclusion that “Israel did not violate the laws of war.” The report is based on “briefings in Israeli (sic) during and immediately after the fighting made possible by a visit sponsored by Project Interchange, and using day-to-day reporting issued by the Israeli Defense Spokesman.”
Cordesman omits mention that Project Interchange is funded by the American Jewish Committee.
The demonstrating crowds have gone home. The blog postings have tapered off. The pundits have moved on. Congress is back to its old tricks, ignoring public opinion in favor of the lobbyists and money men. The US public is worried about losing its job or getting back the one it lost. Gaza here is a dimming memory, a momentary nightmare now past.
But the Palestinian children wounded and charred by Israeli bombings are still screaming, their physicians unable to get hold of enough pain killers to still their yelps of pain.
The country would benefit if Gordon Brown spent some years in the wilderness and returned as an elder statesman, says Irwin Stelzer.Stelzer is almost right. The country would benefit if Gordon Brown spent some years in the wilderness and FUCKINGWELL STAYED THERE. And you know what? We would all benefit from seeing and hearing a lot less from that sad old neo-con and Murdoch bag-man, Mr Stelzer, as well.
Leo McKinstry, a former aide, reveals the steely ambition and terrifying incompetence of the woman who would be leader.The idea of Harriet Harman as Labour Leader, never mind Prime Minister, might seem laughable. As one who spent three years serving her, I shudder to think of her in charge of our national destiny. Possessed of shallow competence and intelligence, she could barely run her office, far less the country. Tellingly, in the only executive position she had ever held in Government, as Social Security Secretary between 1997 and 1999, Tony Blair got rid of her because she made such a hash of it.
They borrow leftover prescription drugs from friends, attempt to self-diagnose ailments online, stretch their diabetes and asthma medicines for as long as possible and set their own broken bones. When emergencies strike, they rarely can afford the bills that follow.
"My first reaction was to start laughing — I just kept saying, 'No way, no way,' " Alanna Boyd, a 28-year-old receptionist, recalled of the $17,398 — including $13 for the use of a television — that she was charged after spending 46 hours in October at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York with diverticulitis, a digestive illness. "I could have gone to a major university for a year. Instead, I went to the hospital for two days."
In the parlance of the health care industry, Boyd, whose case remains unresolved, is among the "young invincibles" — people in their 20s who shun insurance either because their age makes them feel invulnerable or because expensive policies are out of reach. Young adults are the nation's largest group of uninsured — there were 13.2 million of them nationally in 2007, or 29 percent, according to the latest figures from the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit research group in New York.
Tom GinsburgAs long as 54% of voters agree to it. A bit like electing Obama.
Chavez’ power grab,(sic) pursued through perfectly legal channels, exposes the Achilles’ heel of the rule of law: so long as you abide by its principles, you can do just about anything, including changing the rules to extend your control.
Chavez has been crafty in manipulating this set of understandings. In December 2007, voters narrowly rejected Chavez’ proposed constitutional amendments, which included both the abolition of term limits and the expansion of emergency presidential powers. Some human rights groups and the United Nations condemned that proposal, mainly for the low bar to invoking a state of emergency. This time Chavez has been careful to restrict the amendment to the abolition of term limits, and the international community has been quiet.Right. So Chavez dropped the most controversial part of his amendments after they were democratically rejected (although only just) and presented a revised and scaled down version, which the people accepted (slightly more assiduously, by the way, than the US voters accepted Obama.) This, according to Mr Ginsburg was a 'crafty' thing to do. I wonder if he ever uses the word 'crafty' to describe the behaviour of white US politicians? I doubt it, somehow.
Jamil Haydan gets confused whenever he goes through the history of Iraq in the school books. "I feel like there is a gap in the history, specially recent events," the 14-year-old student at a Baghdad school told IslamOnline. "We are treated as if we are unable to know what happens in Iraq, but we are."
The history of the Arab country since the 2003 US-led invasion is completely absent from school textbooks. American troops, George W. Bush and the sectarian violence that plagued the country for years after the invasion are non-existent whether in books or even class discussions. Former president Saddam Hussein, who was ousted by the US and later executed by the Iraqi government, and his longtime ruling Baath party are taboos.
The government admits that banning certain chapters of Iraq's recent history from textbooks is deliberate.
From today, new counter-terrorism laws come into effect that will entrench a growing tendency by the police to prevent anyone taking photographs in public, especially if they (the police) are the subject. There has been a worrying increase recently in police arresting or seeking to prevent what is a lawful activity.You need one of these:
Andrew Carter, a plumber from Bedminster, near Bristol, took a photograph of an officer who had ignored a no-entry road sign while driving a police van. This might have appeared a somewhat petulant thing to do, but taking a photograph in a public place is not a crime. Yet the policeman smashed the camera from Mr Carter's hand, handcuffed him, put him in the back of the van and took him to the police station, where he was kept for five hours. When he returned to answer bail the following week, he was kept at the station for another five hours. He was released without charge, despite an attempt by the police to claim some spurious offence of "assault with a camera".
I bet you thought you’d got away with it, didn’t you. All this talk about how the evil and domineering US had forced your hand into suppressing evidence surrounding the possible torture of Binyam Mohamed seemed so convincing and you were resolute in defending your actions. Unfortunately for you, the truth is no quite as reassuring as you wanted us to believe. It was not the US that deliberately tried to bury the truth about Binyam Mohamed - it was you.Miliband faces new 'torture cover-up' storm
The demonstrating crowds have gone home. The blog postings have tapered off. The pundits have moved on. Congress is back to its old tricks, ignoring public opinion in favor of the lobbyists and money men. The US public is worried about losing its job or getting back the one it lost. Gaza here is a dimming memory, a momentary nightmare now past.
They borrow leftover prescription drugs from friends, attempt to self-diagnose ailments online, stretch their diabetes and asthma medicines for as long as possible and set their own broken bones. When emergencies strike, they rarely can afford the bills that follow.
