"Am I therefore become your enemy,because I TELL YOU THE TRUTH...?"
(Galatians 4:16)

Outrage over Afghan child deaths

Three children and a man have been killed in an overnight air strike by international forces, angry villagers in southern Afghanistan say.
The bodies were taken to the city of Kandahar to be displayed in front of officials. US and Nato-led forces said they were investigating the reports....

IRAN:"Prisoners hanged in mass execution"

IRAN hanged 24 convicted drug traffickers in a prison last week in one of the country's biggest mass executions....

U.N. chief condemns killings in Sudan

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday condemned an attack Sunday in southern Sudan that killed 161 people."The Secretary-General notes with extreme concern the 2 August attack in Akobo, Jongeli State, Southern Sudan, and condemns the reported killing of 161 people, including 100 women and children, 50 men and 11 SPLA soldiers," a representative of Ban said in written statement, referring to the Sudan People's Liberation Army...

Pakistan "to outlaw domestic violence"

PAKISTAN has moved towards outlawing domestic violence when lawmakers approved a bill that will punish those found guilty of beating women or children with jail terms and fines.The law was passed unanimously in the lower house of parliament or national assembly today, Yasmi Rehman from the main ruling Pakistan People's Party said, hailing what she called a "big day'' for Pakistani women...

Ex-guards' statements implicate Blackwater founder in Iraq crimes

Two former Blackwater employees have made statements against Blackwater Worldwide and its founder Erik Prince, accusing the security company and its former CEO of murder and other serious crimes in Iraq, according to court documents filed this week...
Picture Left:Blackwater founder Erik Prince, shown here before a congressional panel in 2007, recently left the company.

Court to rule if man can starve to death

A 49-YEAR-OLD quadriplegic who says his life is a "living hell" will find out whether he can starve himself to death as early as next Friday.Lawyer John Hammond requested WA Supreme Court chief justice Wayne Martin hold a bedside hearing next Friday for his Perth client, Christian Rossiter, 49, at the nursing home where he's in care....

Google Uses Giant Tricycle to Map Paris Streets

Parisians and tourists, relax. That goofy looking tricycle equipped with loads of high-tech equipment roaming the streets is NOT some mad scientist's invention on the rampage.The three-wheeler is a sight with its long pole holding nine cameras, a GPS, a computer and a generator.But the contraption tooling around the French capital needs all that gear to do its job — adding three-dimensional images to Google's Street View Maps...

ENVIRO CRAZE WATCH:"Cloud ships to deflect sun's rays and stop global warming..."

The "cloud ships" are favoured among a series of schemes aimed at altering the climate which have been weighed up by a leading think-tank.The project, which is being worked on by rival US and UK scientists, would see 1,900 wind-powered ships ply the oceans sucking up seawater and spraying minuscule droplets of it out through tall funnels to create large white clouds....

Clinton's trip to Africa her biggest yet

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is embarking on her biggest international trip yet: Africa. Seven countries in 11 days. Issues as diverse as economic entrepreneurship and gender-based violence.The trip comes just three weeks after President Obama's trip to Accra, Ghana. She will highlight many of the themes he struck...

President Struggles to Come Up with Benchmarks in Afghan War...

As the American military comes to full strength in the Afghan buildup,the Obama administration is struggling to come up with a long-promised plan to measure whether the war is being won....
--Five American Marines Die Thursday...
--'2 more tough years'...

OBAMA:"I don't want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking.I want them to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess..."

Anti-ObamaCare Protesters Accuse ACORN of Using Police to Suppress Free Speech

Examiner: At one point, during a very civil discussion between an opponent and a supporter of the president’s plan, the police officer returned and actually told the individuals opposing the president’s plan they were not allowed to speak. [This confrontation took place on July 24, 2009.]


Congressman Shouted Down on TORT Reform:"Congress Can Only Handle So Much"

Barbara Boxer:"Well-Dressed Protesters at Town Halls are Out to Hurt Our President"....

SEN. BARBARA BOXER: "Let's make this Obama's Waterloo. Let's break him." That's what this is about. And by the way I saw some of the clips of people storming these town hall meetings. The last time I saw well-dressed people doing this, was when Al Gore asked me to go down to Florida when they were recounting the ballots, and I was confronted with the same type of people. They were there screaming and yelling, "Go back to California! Get out of here!" and all the rest of it, until I finally looked at them and I said, "You know what? Your hero Ronald Reagan is from California, you should show a little respect." And then they quieted down....

US deficit climbs to $1.3 trillion...

The US budget deficit reached 1.3 trillion dollars for the current fiscal year in July, official data showed, news set to fuel opposition to US President Barack Obama's ambitious health care and climate change proposals...

Suicide Concerns...?:"Congressman Gives Odd Response to Boy’s Question About Grandfather’s Health Care...."

RedState: A young boy in the crowd asks Congressman Frank Kratovil (D-MD),
--“My grandfather is a retired war veteran. What are you going to do to make sure he is cared for with Health Care?”
Congressman Kratovil’s response...?...He starts talking about "suicide...."

Democrat Congressman:"What we're seeing right now is close to Brown Shirt tactics"...

Over 10 years in Congress, U.S. Rep. Brian Baird has stayed tethered to his district, flying back to Southwest Washington for more than 300 sometimes-bruising town hall meetings during Congressional recesses.But this year, he's literally decided to phone it in.Instead of appearing in person, where "extremists" would have "the chance to shout and make YouTube videos," Baird said Wednesday, he's holding what he calls "telephone town halls" instead...

Rove Blasts Members of Congress for Attempting to Marginalize Health Care Protests

LOONEY TUNES WATCH:Pelosi:"Protesters Are 'Carrying Swastikas'"...

Reid Scolds Health Bill Protesters...

The Senate's most powerful Democrat on Thursday scolded health care protesters dogging his party's lawmakers at local meetings, arguing that some critics on the political right have run out of ideas—and ditched their civic manners. Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada accused the protesters of trying to "sabotage" the democratic process....
A Look at the DNC’s Definition of an ‘Angry Mob’....

Senator accuses White House of compiling "enemies list"...

Texas Sen. John Cornyn, accusing the White House of compiling an "enemies list," has asked President Barack Obama to stop an effort to collect "fishy" information Americans see about a health care overhaul.Cornyn, who leads the Republicans' Senate campaign effort, said Wednesday in a letter to Obama that he's concerned that citizen engagement on the issue could be "chilled." He also expressed alarm that the White House could end up collecting electronic information on its critics.....

BIG BROTHER WATCH:"Critics Accuse White House of Playing "Big Brother" in Health Care Debate"

A new White House tactic to control the message on health care reform has critics accusing the Obama administration of playing "Big Brother" and threatening the privacy of average Americans....

Shepard Fairey-designed Obama portrait on cover of Rolling Stone deifies,questions President

Artist Shepard Fairey, whose iconic HOPE campaign poster of Barack Obama was a global sensation, is back with a new image that both questions and deifies the President...

Obama's Approval Rating Drops to 50 Percent,Poll Shows

President Obama's approval rating has dropped to 50 percent, according to a poll released Thursday, a new low for the president as he tries to shepherd health care reform legislation through Congress in the next few months...

Fear or Loathing: Democrats Raise Specter of Swastikas to Cancel Town Halls

Democrats and the White House say the rowdy health care protests in the country are largely orchestrated from afar by insurers, lobbyists, Republican Party activists and others -- but Republicans deny any role in organizing them.In a rhetorical argument that is unlikely to yield any winners, Democratic lawmakers and their opponents in the health care debate have descended into a war of words over the symbols of Nazi Germany...

TOWN HALL WATCH

--SUMMER '09...

"MANUFACTURED" vs."REAL ANGER":The Real Faces of the Town Hall "Mob"....

White House Vows to Defend Democrats on Health Reform, Will 'Punch Back Twice as Hard'

Top White House officials counseled Democratic senators Thursday on coping with disruptions at public events on health care this summer, officials said, and promised the party and allies would respond with twice the force if any individual lawmaker is criticized in television advertising....
Picture Left:Joan Korman ,left, and Dawn Tabrizi, right, hold protest signs during a rally protesting government managed health care in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.,Thursday,Aug.6,2009.(AP)

Health Care Town Halls Turn Violent in Tampa and St. Louis



POLICE STATE WATCH:Pictures show broad-daylight 'killing' of suspect by Indian police in market

Chongkham Sanjit, 27, is arrested by police commandos in a post office in the capital of Manipur, northeast India. The red arrow shows his short journey from arrest to the place of his daylight killing.(Tehelka)

Bomb Kills 21 En Route to Afghan Wedding

A roadside bomb hit civilians riding a tractor to a wedding in southern Afghanistan, killing at least 20 people, officials said Thursday.Helmand provincial police chief Assadullah Sherzad said women and children were among the 21 dead and five wounded in Garmser district, where roadside bombs are frequently used to attack foreign and Afghan forces...

UNITY SHATTERED

The U.S. Hikers in Iran:A More Complicated Diplomatic Problem

Could the diplomatic rescue mission by Bill Clinton in North Korea be a model for winning the freedom of three American hikers arrested last week when they wandered (apparently by mistake) from Iraqi Kurdistan into Iranian territory? The emotional reunion of journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling with their families in America must have given hope to the relatives of the three hikers, Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Joshua Fattal. If a way was found to solve an impasse between the U.S. and bellicose North Korea, cannot one be devised for the hikers?
PICTURE LEFT:A general view shows Ahmed Awa tourist resort near Iraq's border with Iran where three American hikers are believed to have disappeared, near Sulaimaniyah, 260 km (160 miles) northeast of Baghdad, August 5, 2009. An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday he could not confirm whether three Americans had been detained by Iran. Picture taken August 5, 2009.(REUTERS/Jamal Penjweny)

"Iran is the problem,not Israeli settlements":US lawmaker

Senior US Republican Congressman Eric Cantor said on Thursday that the world should stop pressuring Israel over settlements and concentrate instead on the threat from a nuclear Iran.Cantor, Republican Whip in the House of Representatives, said the main obstacle to Middle East peace is the Palestinian refusal to recognise Israel as a Jewish state and not the Israeli settlements in the West Bank...

Afghans say troops bombed civilians

JIHAD WATCH:Iraqi Girl,15,Sentenced for Homicide Bomb Bid

A teenage Iraqi girl who claimed her husband's female relatives strapped explosives on her has been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for attempting to blow herself up at a checkpoint in northeastern Iraq, a provincial judge said Thursday...

Palestinian Fatah renews top body in 20-year first

The Fatah party founded by iconic Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was to start renewing its governing bodies for the first time in 20 years with candidates due to register on Thursday night."The candidacies for the Central Committee and the Revolutionary Council will be registered tonight," spokesman Nabil Amr told journalist at the Fatah congress in the West Bank city of Bethlehem...

Abbas keeps resistance an option

U.S. wants Israel to freeze settlement for year:report

The United States has asked Israel to freeze West Bank settlement for a year to prod Arab countries to take steps toward normalizing relations with the Jewish state, an Israeli newspaper said on Thursday....

Street Protests Continue with Ahmadinejad New Term

On the morning of the inauguration of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to his second term, the regime knew it had the upper hand.Baharestan Square, next to the Majlis, the Iranian parliament, is not a good place to hold a protest rally.The space is small and the streets around it are large, easily filled with cops who can then see everyone and everything that tries to approach.One witness said there were three soldiers in full riot gear for every protester and that there were guard dogs and Basij wielding metal pipes to dissuade would-be demonstrators from gathering...

Ahmadinejad sworn in as Iran president amid crisis

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was sworn in to a second presidential term Wednesday with a call for the divided nation to "join hands," but it was greeted by protests in the streets and snubs inside Iran's parliament.The oath-taking ceremony capped a cycle of outrage over claims of massive fraud in the June 12 elections and moved Iran into a new phase: A weakened leadership facing a wider opposition that includes powerful clerics and internal splits among conservatives...

Should Americans Disobey Michelle Obama and Skip Health Care Town Halls...?

Medvedev calls Obama, discusses Georgia tensions

Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev called US President Barack Obama on Tuesday and the two leaders discussed the worsening situation in Georgia and tensions over ex-Soviet states, the White House said.The call came as Georgia warned of the risk of a new war with Russia and Moscow raised the battle-readiness of its forces, ahead of the anniversary of their conflict over rebel South Ossetia....

Russian troops on high readiness in South Ossetia

Russian troops in the breakaway province of South Ossetia have been put on increased combat readiness amid rising tensions on the de facto border with Georgia, according to officials.Andrei Nesterenko, the spokesman for Russia's Foreign Ministry, said Tuesday the move was a response to Georgian "provocations" and meant to prevent more violence...

Russian subs patrolling off East Coast

Two nuclear-powered Russian attack submarines have been patrolling in international waters off the East Coast for several days, in activity reminiscent of the Cold War, defense officials said Tuesday.U.S. Northern Command would not comment on the Russian submarines' movement.But in a prepared statement, Northern Command spokesman Michael Kucharek acknowledged the patrols and said the U.S. has been monitoring the two submarines...
On the Net:
NORAD:
http://www.norad.mil/

Iran:"Spy charges considered against 3 Americans"

Iran has arrested three Americans for illegally entering the country from neighboring Iraq and a prominent Iranian lawmaker said Tuesday that authorities were investigating whether to charge them with spying.A U.S. official rejected the allegation, and a security official in Iraq said the three were merely backpackers who got lost while hiking in a mountainous region where the Iran-Iraq border is not clearly marked....

Mission Accomplished: Clinton Leaves North Korea With Pardoned Journalists

In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, American journalists Laura Ling, left, and Euna Lee, second right, walk to a chartered plane at an airport in Pyongyang, North Korea on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2009.
(AP Photo/Xinhua, Zhang Binyang)
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton greets U.S. journalists Laura Ling (in green) and Euna Lee (in red) as they board a chartered plane at an airport in Pyongyang August 5, 2009 in this photo released by China's official Xinhua News Agency. North Korea said on Wednesday it had pardoned the two jailed American journalists after Clinton met the reclusive state's leader Kim Jong-il, a move some analysts said could pave the way to direct nuclear disarmament talks. (REUTERS/Xinhua/Zhang Binyang)

Iraq to impose controls on Internet...

The Iraqi government has decided to crack down on Internet service providers and ban sites that incite violence or carry pornography, officials said Tuesday, a move that has been strongly criticized by freedom of speech advocates as a dangerous first step toward political censorship....

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION BEGINS...

People gather in front of the World's Largest Beaded Photo Mosaic of U.S. President Barack Obama on display in front of the White House in Washington, August 3, 2009. The project, created with over 372,600 beads by 1000 fourth grade students from across the U.S., was made in honor of Obama's 48th birthday which will be celebrated tomorrow.

SLUMBER WATCH:"27 Million Americans on Antidepressants..."

Use of antidepressant drugs in the United States doubled between 1996 and 2005, probably because of a mix of factors, researchers reported on Monday.About 6 percent of people were prescribed an antidepressant in 1996 -- 13 million people. This rose to more than 10 percent or 27 million people by 2005, the researchers found...

POLICE STATE WATCH:"Guard troops may be needed in troubled Alabama county..."

The sheriff in Alabama's most populous county may call for the National Guard to help maintain order, a spokesman said Tuesday, after a judge cleared the way for cuts in the sheriff's budget and hopes dimmed for a quick end to a budget crisis...

CONGRESSMAN WARNS RAHM:"THIS ISN'T CHICAGO..."

WASHINGTON. D.C. – Following reports that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has been orchestrating an effort to intimidate members of Congress and Governors who raise legitimate concerns regarding the effectiveness of the stimulus, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Ranking Member Darrell Issa (R-CA) sent a letter to Emanuel saying “While this type of scare tactic may work In Chicago, it will not work to intimidate me or other Members of the United States Congress.”

Barack Obama vs.Drudge Report

The White House on Tuesday posted a three-minute video punching back at an old clip of President Barack Obama that was featured on the Drudge Report with the headline “Uncovered Video: Obama Explains How His Health Care Plan Will 'Eliminate' Private Insurance.”The White House response features Linda Douglass, formerly an ABC News correspondent and now a White House official, showing Drudge’s homepage on the screen of her office computer...Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0809/25779.html#ixzz0NFFnoFQO


OBAMA 2003 (UNCUT):"Single Payer Health Care Plan,That is What I Would Like to See..."

“I happen to be a proponent of a single payer universal health care program. I see no reason why the United States of America, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, spending 14 percent of its Gross National Product on health care cannot provide basic health insurance to everybody. And that’s what Jim is talking about when he says everybody in, nobody out. A single payer health care plan, a universal health care plan. And that’s what I’d like to see. But as all of you know, we may not get there immediately. Because first we have to take back the White House, we have to take back the Senate, and we have to take back the House.”
--Barack Hussein Obama...

Secretary of State Clinton Arrives in Kenya at Start of African Tour

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is bringing a message of tough love to Kenya: you are a key American friend in east Africa, but you must rein in graft and follow through on political reform.On the first leg of a seven-nation tour of Africa, Clinton will speak to Kenya's leadership about U.S. concerns for the country, the homeland of President Obama's father, in the wake of corruption scandals and disputed 2007 elections that led to violence that left more than 1,000 dead....

Bill Clinton meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il

This image made from video broadcast Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2009, by KRT, shows an still photograph of former US President Bill Clinton, right, standing with North Korea's leader Kim Jong II in Pyongyang, North Korea. Former US President Bill Clinton met Tuesday with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il on the first day of a surprise visit to Pyongyang, holding 'exhaustive' talks that covered a wide range of topics, state-run media said.
(AP Photo/KRT TV via APTN)

Pakistan rights group:"Christian riots planned"

Pakistani Christians attend a special service for their fellow brethren who were killed in a weekend attack, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2009, in Hyderabad, Pakistan. Police are questioning more than 200 people to determine if the rioting that killed eight Christians was spontaneous or planned ahead of time by a militant group, a Pakistani official said Tuesday.
(AP Photo/Pervez Masih)

Indian police accused of abuses

Police in India are guilty of widespread human rights violations, including beatings, torture and illegal killings, a new report alleges.The US-based group Human Rights Watch says India's policing system facilitates and even encourages abuses....

Protests at Sudan woman's trial

Police have fired tear gas at supporters of a Sudanese woman charged with wearing "indecent clothing", shortly after her trial was postponed.Lubna Ahmed Hussein says she was arrested for wearing trousers...

Khartoum 'arming Sudan militias'

A general in South Sudan's army has told the BBC the government in the north is arming militias accused of being behind recent ethnic violence.Maj-Gen Kuol Deim Kuol said his SPLA army was trying to disarm the local population but was being hampered by the continuing supply of weapons....

Inquiry call over torture claim

An independent inquiry is needed into claims UK security services were complicit in the torture of terrorism suspects, say MPs and peers.The Joint Human Rights Committee said it was unable to establish whether British officers were involved in mistreatment of suspects....
Picture Left:Binyam Mohamed: An MI5 officer faces investigation over his case

Recovery 'not in sight' says BMW

Carmaker BMW has said it sees few signs of a lasting economic recovery after it reported profits down by three-quarters for the April to June period.Net profit was 121m euros ($174m; £103m), down 76% from a year ago,with car sales down by nearly a fifth....