July 6, 2005 In the News - Comments by Doug Bracewell

Top 5 Things Overheard at the G8 Summit
5) "Jacques, you can't have dessert until you finish your haggis!"
4) "Those protesters get freakier looking every year"
3) "Wait, the Live 8 concerts were to help Africa? Sorry, I was too busy staring at Mariah Carey's ass."
2) "We're not leaving this conference before we agree to reduce greenhouse gases... or forge some scientific studies that say we don't have to, whichever is easier."
1) "I now declare the class war over... the rich won!"

G8 Begins
The G8 summit begins today at a golf resort in Scotland. The world's leaders like meeting at golf resorts, because it helps occupy President Bush while the grown-ups try to get some work done.

G8 Agendas
Each world leader at the G8 summit in Scotland is hoping to get some questions answered. Tony Blair is asking his colleagues to commit to reducing greenhouse gases, Jacques Chirac is wondering if there will be changes to the EU budget, and President Bush wants to know if all the Scottish guys in kilts are some kind of endorsement for gay marriage.

Bush Choices
President Bush has narrowed down his choices to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court. The finalists are Alberto Gonzalez, Edith Jones and the ventriloquist dummy Antonin Scalia's been working with for the last two months.

“UNITED STATES”

Former CIA Senior Analyst Warns U.S. Headed Down A Fascist Road

Ray McGovern

Karl Rove: Worse than Osama Bin Laden <- YAHOO NEWS TITLE & ARTICLE !

In war collaborators are more dangerous than enemy forces, for they betray with intimate knowledge in painful detail and demoralize by their cynical example. But who are the collaborators? The right points to critics like Michael Moore and Ward Churchill, but as far as we know, none of these has betrayed the United States in the war on terror.

It now appears that Karl Rove, GOP golden boy, has done exactly that. As the Arab saying goes, arrogance diminishes wisdom. Rove is atypically silent. Ari Fleischer resigned as Bush's press secretary on May 16, 2003, about the same time the White House became aware of Ambassador Wilson's plans to go public July 6. Another interesting coincidence: Novak published his Plame column on July 14, Fleischer's last day on the job.

If Newsweek's report is accurate, Karl Rove is more anti-American than Osama bin Laden who has no presumed loyalty to, the United States. Osama bin Laden is loyal to his cause, and has never exposed an Al Qaeda agent's identity.

Rove, on the other hand, is a U.S. citizen and, as deputy White House chief of staff, a high-ranking official of the U.S. government sworn to uphold and defend our nation, its laws and its interests. Yet he sold out America just to get even with Joe Wilson. Rove would never go it alone on a high-stakes action like Valerie Plame - Dick Cheney and possibly Bush himself--signed off before Rove called Novak.

AIPAC/Franklin Spy Scandal Spreads to The Whitehouse

As the spy scandal unfolds it now appears to spread further than AIPAC, AEI, and the Pentagon. Michael Ledeen an ultra-Zionist Likudnik believed to be an Israeli agent is a key foreign Policy Advisor to Karl Rove.

ROVEGATE: Scandal merging with AIPACgate and Niger DocuGate cases.

A SMALL INTERNATIONAL GROUP OF EVIL TROLLS WHO ARE CONTROLLING GREAT NATIONS

COUP D'ETAT:The Real Reason Tenet and Pavitt Resigned from the CIA JUNE/04

By Michael C. Ruppert AND Wayne Madsen - Bush, Cheney Indictments in Plame Case Looming

Xymphora: How will they get Rove off?

Rove was one of the leakers. It will turn out he was the second one, so Rove will be off the hook, and take care of any possible perjury problem. The Michael Isikoff article contains the hint:

"It is unclear, however, what passed between Cooper and Rove." I predict that it will turn out that they were.. talking about a leak that had already occurred. The way that Time is playing this - fighting like crazy on 'principle' and then suddenly giving up - is suspicious.

Is your kid's name on the Pentagon's list?

It gets shadier when we learn that although it was started three years ago, military officials only filed a notice about it a month ago, which is apparently a violation of the federal Privacy Act.

U.S. scientists work as virtual terrorists

Scientists at New Mexico's top-secret Los Alamos National Laboratory are spending millions to think like terrorists and destroy virtual U.S. cities. Some urban planners are critical of the project for spending as much as $10 million on one simulated disaster, and claim such modeling can never be precise.

THIS SECURITY IS AN ILLUSION SOLD TO THE FEARFUL

Pentagon Weighs Strategy Change to Deter Terror

The Pentagon's most senior planners are challenging the longstanding strategy that requires the armed forces to be prepared to fight two major wars at a time. Instead, they are weighing whether to shape the military to mount one conventional campaign while devoting more resources to defending American territory from urban terrorism.

The war's littlest victim

AS A SOLDIER He was exposed to depleted uranium. His daughter may be paying the price.

DISPOSABLE SOLDIERS .. AND NOW, DISPOSABLE FAMILIES

Robert Redford Urges Journalists to Investigate Bush

because he sees strong similarities between Bush's government and the events leading to the Watergate scandal which forced President RICHARD NIXON to resign. Redford starred in 1976 movie ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN

Bush: 'Tone Down' Attacks Against Gonzalez

The president appealed to special interest groups running ads and mobilizing supporters for the anticipated fight over the Supreme Court nominee to "tone down the heated rhetoric."

Did one woman's obsession take America to war?

“I take satisfaction that we went to war with Iraq and got rid of Saddam Hussein. The rest is details." Laurie Mylroie was an apologist for Saddam's regime in the ‘80’s who switched sides prior to Gulf War-1. Her view is that Saddam was behind every anti-American terrorist incident from the levelling of the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995 to September 11. Wolfowitz reiterated these views at senior-level meetings on terrorism months before September 11, even though the theory had been investigated for years and discounted.

Mylroie, in Study of Revenge discovered what everyone missed: that the plot's mastermind, "Ramzi Yousef", was actually an Iraqi intelligence agent. In July last year, she charged that the US government suppressed information about Iraq's role in anti-American terrorism, including the investigation of 9/11. "Listen," she declared, "we're going to war because President Bush believes Saddam was involved in 9/11. Al-Qaida is a front for Iraqi intelligence."

Is Al Qaeda Just a Bush Boogeyman? LA TIMES REVIEW

"The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear," a three-hour historical film by Adam Curtis recently aired by the British Broadcasting Corp., argues coherently that much of what we have been told about the threat of international terrorism "is a fantasy that has been exaggerated and distorted by politicians.

PART 1 - Baby it's Cold Outside WMV FILES
PART 2 - The Phantom Victory
PART 3 - The Shadows in the Cave

For those who prefer to read things online, an unofficial but complete transcript.

“ISRAEL”

Poll: 63% of Americans oppose pullout

poll commissioned by the Zionist Organization of America

63% oppose the disengagement plan

50% believe that "this Gaza plan sends a message that Arab terrorism is being rewarded."

63% of Americans believe "Jerusalem should remain under Israeli sovereignty

80% said they opposed "the continuation of $350 million in US aid to Palestinian Arabs."

61% believe that US officials should not meet or negotiate with Hamas members if elected

'Nixing pullout will boost Israel-US relations'

Israeli Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Sunday boldly stated that cancelling Israel's planned withdrawal from Gaza and northern Samaria might actually boost relations between Israel and the US.

USS Liberty survivors file report on War Crimes committed by Israel

“MIDDLE EAST”

"Oil is much too important a commodity to be left

in the hands of the Arabs."

- Henry Kissinger

Bush Compares Challenges in Iraq to First Independence Day

Bush said: "On July 4, 1776, more than five years of the Revolutionary War still lay ahead. From the battle of New York, to the winter at Valley Forge, to the victory at Yorktown, our forefathers faced terrible losses and hardships. Yet they kept their resolve.”

U.S. Decision On Iraq Has Puzzling Past Washington Post JAN/03

six days after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, President Bush signed a 2½-page document marked "TOP SECRET" .. the document directed the Pentagon to begin planning military options for an invasion of Iraq, senior administration officials said.

Australian Iraq policy under fire

Several Australian former diplomats and defence chiefs have accused the government of misleading Australia over the reasons for going to war in Iraq.

Brits Plan Major Iraq Troop Withdrawal

The Ministry of Defense has drafted plans for a significant withdrawal of British troops from Iraq over the next 18 months and a big deployment to Afghanistan.-Financial Times

Bahrain, Pakistan envoys shot in Iraq

The Bahraini and Pakistani envoys to Iraq have been attacked by armed men in Baghdad, the third attack on top diplomats in as many days.

Russia says embassy cars were shot at in Iraq

Two cars belonging to the Russian embassy were shot at in Iraq on Sunday though no diplomats were injured, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

RECALL: Egyptian Diplomat Abducted In Iraq JULY 3/05

Iraq fighters name joint spokesperson:

The new spokesperson for the Islamic Army in Iraq and Jaish al-Mujahidin, Dr Ibrahim Yusuf al-Shimmari, told Aljazeera that the decision comes in the context of the groups' plans to implement a political programme and be politically recognised.

Iraqi Resistance Group Denies Appointment Of Spokesman

U.S. launches new crackdown in Baghdad

U.S. and Iraqi troops swept through a western Baghdad neighborhood Monday, arresting about 100 suspected insurgents in a crackdown near the city's airport. A leading Sunni hardline cleric condemned kidnappings, and police searched for a top Egyptian diplomat seized over the weekend

Brzezinski alleges incompetence in Iraq effort

As Dictator Bush tries to shore up support for his Iraq policy, Democrats continue to lament the increasing violence and rising U-S casualty count. During remarks in the Democrats' weekly radio address, President Carter's national security chief Zbigniew Brzezinski said the war has been conducted with "tactical and strategic incompetence."

Germany, Britain say US, Israel Allegations Against Iran Unfounded, Talks Will Go On

MAY BE A US PRECIPITATED STRIKE ON THE WATER SUPPLY …

Water Plant Fire Deepens Misery in Baghdad

A mortar attack sparked a fire Friday that forced authorities to shut down a water plant, leaving millions of weary Baghdad residents with dry taps in 100-degree heat, Iraqi officials said. U.S. military press office initially quoted Iraqi engineers as saying the fire was triggered by a defective transformer. Later a U.S. spokesman for Task Force Baghdad, said that ‘unexploded ordnance’ was found in the area but "we're still not sure" what triggered the fire. Iraqi municipal official said at least two mortar rounds struck the power station.

RECALL: 'P2OG' allows Pentagon to fight dirty NOV/02 "stimulating reactions"

RECALL: Did the US Military participate in starting the Oil Well Fires of Kuwait in 1991?

AND FROM: US destroys civilian infrastructure during the Gulf War: civilian consequences

Allied Air War Struck Broadly in Iraq - Washington Post JUNE/91

The worst civilian suffering, senior [American] officers say, has resulted not from bombs that went astray but from precision-guided weapons that hit exactly where they were aimed, at electrical plants, oil refineries and transportation networks.

Col. John Warden III, deputy director of strategy, doctrine and plans for the Air Force, agreed that one purpose of destroying Iraq's electrical grid was that "you have imposed a long-term problem on the leadership that it has to deal with sometime… "If there are political objectives that the U.N. coalition has, it can say, 'Saddam, when you agree to do these things, we will allow people to come in and fix your electricity.' It gives us long-term leverage."

Bombing Dual-Use Targets: Legal, Ethical, and Doctrinal Perspectives MAY/01

"A key example of such dual-use targeting was the destruction of Iraqi electrical power facilities in Desert Storm. While crippling Iraq's military command and control capability, destruction of these facilities shut down water purification and sewage treatment plants. As a result, epidemics of gastroenteritis, cholera, and typhoid broke out, leading to perhaps as many as 100,000 civilian deaths and a doubling of the infant mortality rate.”

(by Lt Col KR. Rizer – SOURCE: p.7)

A Conversation with Professor Thomas Nagy JUNE/03

The most critical DOCUMENT I RECENTLY FOUND is “Strategic Attack Air Force Doctrine Document 2–1.2,” dated 20 May 1998. The way that I read it, the document says that bombing civilians infrastructure is the doctrine of the US Air Force and has been for decades. And it is signed off by Major General Ronald E. Keys (USAF Commander, Air Force Doctrine Center) for the Secretary of the Air Force. The Secretary of the Air Force is the highest ranking official of US Air Force. It is dated May 20, 1998. It horrifies me. It is prima facie admission that war crime is the policy of the United States. SOURCE

Oil and conflict - a natural mix BBC APRIL/04

Oil fuels conflict. Oil was a key factor in Japan's 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

After Iran’s elected PM, Mossadegh nationalised the Anglo Iranian oil company, the US/UK organized the 1953 coup installing Shah Pahlavi whose ‘reign’ ended in 1979.

In 1973 Washington drew up a plan to seize oilfields in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Abu Dhabi to counter an Arab oil embargo against the West. WHICH LIKELY LEAD TO DEVELOPING THE Saudi scorched-earth defense WHICH WILL DESTROY OIL FACILITIES IN EVENT OF INVASION.

A USAF Professor, in NATO and Oil: conflict and capabilities, wrote that one day the United States and Europe might be in conflict over dwindling Middle East oil supplies.

The 1991 Gulf War was in large part motivated by a need to secure oil and prevent Saddam from expanding his access to it.

Oil can also produce internal abuse of power. RECALL:Sudan Government Tops List of Those Causing Agony for Oil

Looking ahead, the Caspian Sea is the new "Great Game". At its heart is Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan which in the early 20th was the capital of world oil. Baku's oil was first a German target in WW-1, falleing briefly to the British, only to be taken by the Soviets. In WW-2, Hitler noted critical role of Caucasian oil in war efforts.

Looking further ahead to long-term oil shortages, the world may turn to nuclear power, in which case conflicts will probably emerge in Australia, Kazakhstan, Canada, South Africa, Namibia, Brazil, Russia, USA, Uzbekistan and China.

The Deal -MOVIE

Written by two former Goldman, Sachs & Co. execs The Deal is a wake-up call for America. Against the backdrop of a Middle East oil war against radical fundamentalists, The Deal tells the story of a proposed merger between an American and a Russian oil company, and the depths to which our country will find itself forced to descend in pursuit of the next “black-crack” fix.

RECALL: US lawmakers criticized over effort to block Unocal deal

“FOREIGN AFFAIRS”

Sudan Rejects ICC Extradition Calls
Sudanese officials reaffirmed their refusal to collaborate with the International Court, insisting that the government was conducting transparent trials. (Guardian)

RECALL: Sudan Government Tops List of Those Causing Agony for Oil OCT/01

This article from the New York Times offers interviews and personal accounts from the civil war in Sudan. They confirm allegations of the Khartoum government's intentional attacks on civilians, forced relocation policies, and the central role of oil in providing the resources and the motivation for sustaining the war.

US Military Contingent Arrives in Paraguay

The Paraguayan government opened its doors to a US military US soldiers have been granted immunity - soldiers will not be held accountable for damages caused to public health, the environment or the country's resources. Close to the Paraguayan border with Bolivia [where leftists have demanded nationalization of the Bolivian gas industry], there is an airport built by the US for landing of B-52 and Galaxy planes, which are designed to transport large consignments of troops and weapons.

ANOTHER US INVASION FORCE

Anger in Okinawa as US airman faces child sex charges

The incident is the latest in a string of sexual assaults by American servicemen Police arrested 27-year-old Sergeant Armando Valdez after the girl told her mother a drunken soldier had groped her and taken a photo of her naked chest in a car park in the city of Naha. Sgt Valdez still had the photograph of the girl in his mobile phone when he was questioned. Last summer when a military helicopter crashed into the grounds of Okinawa university, police were barred from inspecting the crash site.

Reversal for the American Army on the Afghan Front

It is becoming very difficult to get information on military operations, and four Afghan journalists who had left to cover US operations were arrested by Kabul's intelligence services. One of the Radio Free Europe journalists asserts he was arrested after he went to a village that had been bombed Friday by American forces.

The Taliban have made a comeback in force after the winter break. They have been assisted by Pakistanis, Arabs and people from the former Soviet republics. Two recent incidents (the worst since the end of 2001) include the disappearance of four Navy Seals near the border with Pakistan and the loss of the MH 47 Chinook helicopter sent to find them.

With less than two months before elections scheduled for September 18, the Taliban seem better armed and better organized than they were before the Presidential election on October 9, 2004

Pressure builds on Australia to send more troops to Afghanistan

US-New Zealand relationship 'starved of trust'

Departing US ambassador said both sides have failed to address the mistrust that developed 20 years ago. PM Clark made it clear last night that the major sticking point in relations - the New Zealand ban on nuclear-armed and powered warships

Central Asian states ask when US troops will leave

the US was told to fix a date for their departure from military bases in Central Asia which were set up to support operations in Afghanistan in 2001. The call was made at a meeting in Kazakhstan a day before the G-8 summit. A coup in Kyrgyzstan this year and peaceful democratic revolutions in Ukraine and Georgia are unnerving Central Asia’s rulers. Uzbek’s Karimov said “outside forces” were seeking to stir up trouble.

Uzbekistan: GUUAM, the Andijan Riots and Moscow

The Andijan riots of Uzbekistan ensued just a week after Karimov's decision to quit the organization to the Moldovan group GUUAM. Then comes the announcement of a meeting, June 27 to June 30, between George W. Bush and Mohammed Salih (opposition leader in Uzbekistan). The US response on the deaths is torn between the State Department (firm repudiation) and the Pentagon (afraid of base loss). Karimov's government then curtailed U.S. military flights because of US criticism of the deaths.

Karimov then talks openly about the elephant in the room- ‘The operations in Andizhan were organized by the directors of the 'colored' revolutions. They might have been speeded up by Uzbekistan's more independent policy and the rejection of some proposals.” Karimov had earlier blamed opponents for stoking the Andizhan revolt, being careful to avoid linking Western powers with the Andizhan violence.

Putin then made a big show of backing up Karimov, vowing to help Tashkent to fight terrorism, and said "We confirm the information that militants infiltrated from bases in Afghanistan.” Whether Putin will stand by Karimov, in a crisis, is at question.

At the same time as Karimov is in town, a pro-Washington oligarch is visiting Moscow on the invitation of Russian business and political interests. Anticipated topics will be participation of “Russian organizations” in resolving the crises following from the Andijan tragedy. Moscow seems to be hedging its bets. The Great Game in the Caspian Sea Region is stranger than a potboiler, but the intricate intrigue with many subplots will soon come to a boil, so stay tuned.

WHICH OLIGARCHS ? THERE ARE STRONG ISRAELI INTERESTS OPPOSING PUTIN … “MOSCOW” IS NOT MONOLITHIC

How To Change Ugly Regimes
Fareed Zakaria argues that active US attempts to induce regime change in countries like Iran and Cuba through sanctions “has become a substitute for actual policy,” with “the opposite effect than is intended.” Suggesting that the alternative strategy of “conditional engagement” with US-despised governments in Libya and Vietnam has empowered civil society and helped encourage reform, this Newsweek article makes a case for normalization rather than isolation

Gaddafi calls for borderless Africa

“MILITARY / INTELLIGENCE / SECURITY”

Up to 200 Italian police 'ran parallel anti-terror force'

"We were seeing the genesis of something similar to the death squads in Argentina," the magistrate is reported to have said. Investigators are trying to determine what official support the organisation may have had. An MP from Mr Berlusconi's Forza Italia party, insists Dssa was a bona fide security company with nothing to hide and "the high commands of the police and intelligence services were aware of its existence".

First hydrogen plane tested in US

a full tank of hydrogen would keep the unmanned plane in the air for 24 hours.

U.S. and France have secret anti-terrorism centre, report says

“ECONOMICS”

Japan wants preference over China in Russia Pipeline Bid, to offer 1 trillion in Aid

Further gloom for UK High Street

The British Retail Consortium made another call for a cut in rates after revealing like-for-like sales in June dropped by 0.5%, after May's 2.4% fall.

Analysis: Is UK Economy headed for a crash?

Last week the Confederation of British Industry reported the highest ever year-on-year fall in retail sales, with 42 percent of retailers experiencing a drop in sales from June 2004 against just 23 percent seeing an increase.

House prices fell by 0.2 percent in June, the Nationwide building society reported Monday, putting the annual price inflation at 4.1 percent, the lowest since July 1996 and less than a quarter of the 19 percent recorded in June last year.

The Bank of England’s Financial Stability Review said last week the recent decline in levels of corporate insolvencies may be reaching "a turning point" because credit conditions could be poised to change.

Japan postal reform creates world's largest bank

Pictures of a mania? - US Housing Bubble

The debate over the possibility of a US housing bubble raging in almost every paper, and even within the exalted shrine of the Federal Reserve Board, has prompted me to take a cursory glance at the housing market to see if I could spot signs of a speculative mania. Frankly I am amazed there is even a debate. All I can see are signs of speculative excess.

CONSIDER THE EFFECT THAT $75–100/BARREL OILPRICES WILL HAVE …

Financial Terrorism AKA: ECONOMIC WARFARE
You're going to be investing in a stock market driven by geopolitical events as much as earnings, that means trying to decipher what events like war in the Middle East or high personal debt levels in America might mean for the stock market. I told investors that event-driven investment moves - the kind where an external event shocks markets and causes a big move up or down in a sector or the whole market - are nearly impossible to predict.

One of the largest geopolitical events looming on the horizon today is a potential conflict with Iran. To investors, what ought to be even clearer is what the consequences of a war with Iran would mean: $100 oil. The world simply could not afford to pay $100 for a barrel of oil - for a sustained period of time. It might even precipitate oil wars. The shock of such a dramatic rise in energy costs would throw the world's economy into recession, if not a depression - at least for a few days or weeks.

Threats to the US are not conventional-military, but economic. In total economic warfare, you attack a country's access to natural resources or its currency. Non-country players could strike the Strait of Hormuz, or Saudi oil refinery of Ras Tanura. In event of a U.S. attack on Iran, the counterattack would likely be against U.S. economic interests. America and Europe and Japan are addicted to oil. Much Persian Gulf oil must physically pass through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Iran could exert enormous pressure on those addicts. I've been told by strategic investors that the United States would never attack Iran because of the economic price.

But if you were looking for a way to put Western economies in checkmate, sending the oil price sky-high and precipitating a financial crisis at the same time, it's hard to think of a better way … if you were to practice total economic warfare.

RECALL: Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

“CANADA”

Bail hearing for man jailed more than 3 years

Almrei has been jailed for 3½ years on a security certificate. Almrei and his lawyers have not been allowed to see much of the evidence used by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service to have him arrested nor has he been charged or given a trial.

RECALL: Lawyer gives up national security cases because of death threats "I'm on the verge of tears because it means that we now live in Colombia. It means that the rule of law is meaningless” He claims the same man threatened a past client, who has since disappeared.

Canada's Ambassador Declares War on Fox News

McKenna told the Toronto Star that he wants to arm Canadians with facts that will enable them to debate Americans and to lobby when Washington makes decisions that can hurt Canadians. But most importantly, he says, Canadians in the U.S. should counteract Fox News, alleging that the network often spreads disinformation and creates a false picture of his homeland.

Some Alberta trails closed to hikers, cyclists
Several trails in the Rocky Mountains are now permanently closed to hikers and cyclists as the Alberta government moves to keep wildlife and people apart near the burgeoning community of Canmore, west of Calgary.

Second city in BC rejects Wal-Mart
The Vancouver Island city of Campbell River became the second municipal council in British Columbia in the past week to rebuff Wal-Mart, this time injecting a whiff of racism into the contentious debate.

“DEMOCRACY / FREEDOM”

Clarke's ID card cost laundry starts to break surface

Big Brother state on the ID cards UK

-Government is looking at fining people who don't vote is very reminiscent of the old Soviet Bloc.

-Antisocial behaviour orders are another sign of the Government's authoritarian tendencies.

-And the proposed electronic tracking devices for cars - to allow road charging by satellite

-The Government has tried to abolish the right to silence; habeas corpus; and the right to a jury

-It attempts to detain suspected terrorists without telling them what they are accused of.

-Then there is the hottest topic at the moment - identity cards.

The Government's own Information Commissioner Richard Thomas believes that the above combination is a big step towards the Big Brother society. It's one of the great ironies of Mr Blair that as he transforms Labour and remains in power, the actions of his government become more and more Stalinist.

RECALL THAT THE SAME GROUP FUNDED BOTH HITLER AND STALIN

CONSIDER THE SIMILARITIES: We are taught that, the far right (Hitler) went to war with the far left (Stalin) because, they were different. Stalin, being communist, ruled by centralised control, military dictatorship and concentration camps. Hitler, because he was the opposite of Stalin, used centralised control, military dictatorship and concentration camps. We are told these were opposites, but they really weren’t, they were oppo-sames.

“SOCIETY”

China, at odds with Vatican, arrests bishop

China has not had diplomatic relations with the Vatican since 1951 and believers must attend state-sanctioned churches led by bishops who pledge loyalty to Beijing. But a parallel church loyal to the Pope practises in secret.

40,000-Yr-Old Footprint Of First Americans

the discovery of footprints in the Valsequillo Basin by a British-led team provides new evidence that humans settled in the Americas as early as 40,000 years ago

What Makes You Click: An Empirical Analysis of Online Dating

“HEALTH / SCIENCE / TECH”

Warning over unpatched IE bug

Pop-up smut tops spyware chart

“INFECTIOUS - DISEASES”

Bird flu at tipping point, Asia needs mass vaccination of poultry ...
... veterinary officer Joseph Domenech in telling the conference that mass vaccinations of poultry and more efforts to develop new poultry vaccines were needed in ...

CONSIDER: ANIMAL VACCINES ARE SIMILAR TO HUMAN VACCINE…

UN plan to stop bird flu needs 10 years, millions in funds
... influenza vaccines.". Carolyn Bennett, the federal minister of public health, said in the time lapse between an outbreak and vaccine production, Canada will ...

“ENVIRONMENT / EARTH”

Magnitude 6.7 – Nias Region, Indonesia

One in Six Countries Facing Food Shortage GUARDIAN
Thirty-four countries are now experiencing droughts and food shortages, and their number could increase. Droughts could become semi-permanent if climate change persists, increasing global food shortages. Scientists predict that global warming will cause the dunes of the Kalihari desert to spread, shifting sand across huge tracts of Botswana, Angola, Zimbabwe and western Zambia. (Guardian)

Cindy on its Way
As Tropical Storm Cindy heads for the Gulf Coast, homeowners are boarding up windows, boaters are clearing the waters, and all the FOX News reporters are trying to interview the killer sharks before the weather gets really bad.

Weather-watchers eye Dennis as Cindy drenches Louisiana

Close to 250,000 homes and businesses in the New Orleans area were left without electricity Wednesday after a weakening Tropical Storm Cindy moved inland. The weakening Cindy is not expected to become a hurricane. However, forecasters are warning another tropical storm, Dennis, could hit Florida later in the week.

You see things and say ‘why’?

But I dream of things that never were and I say: ‘why not’?

George Bernard Shaw, Back to Methuselah, Part 1, Act 1

Part of the Ministry of Doug Bracewell