Muslims and Jews: Common Ground

Muslims and Jews: Common Ground

The author says a lot of things that make sense, and has an interesting suggestion about the introduction of a stronger role for the clergy in negotiation of a peace.

Haditha probe supports accusations against Pendleton Marines

Haditha probe supports accusations against Pendleton Marines

I used to live in Oceanside, CA, which is just south of Camp Pendleton. When the Marines shipped out, the town really felt it.

I was driving along in my truck one day, on the...south, yes, south side of the 78, running some errand, when I spotted a Marine on the side of the road and pulled over to give him a lift. He was trying to reach a cell-phone store and wound up on the wrong side of the highway, so I saved him about 20 minutes of hoofing it in major heat with a big ol' backpack.

We talked. It's not like we bared our souls or anything -- it wasn't a long ride.

He'd just finished training in something and was looking forward to shipping out to Iraq. When I let him out in the parking lot of the local Wal-Mart, I told him to "stay safe".

This was back when we were still the good guys. It never occurred to me to tell him, "stay true". Because he was a Marine, and they've always been faithful.

When I talk about honor being stained, I'm talking about Semper Fidelis being spat on. I'm talking about oaths betrayed. About a proud military tradition being sullied.

This is no small thing. This is about our character as a nation.

Jimmy Carter on the Current Mid-East Situation

It is inarguable that Israel has a right to defend itself against attacks on its citizens [referring to the kidnapped Israeli soldiers], but it is inhumane and counterproductive to punish civilian populations in the illogical hope that somehow they will blame Hamas and Hezbollah for provoking the devastating response. The result instead has been that broad Arab and worldwide support has been rallied for these groups, while condemnation of both Israel and the United States has intensified.

Stop the Band-Aid Treatment

Diebold Electronic Voting -- Worst Flaw

WORST EVER SECURITY FLAW FOUND IN DIEBOLD TS VOTING MACHINE

I would just like to remind the world that when I worked as an election inspector in Southern California, the number of voter ballots allegedly issued (by my machine) and the number of voter signatures counted (by one of my colleagues) had nothing to do with one another.

Nothing.

U.N. to U.S.: Close Secret Jails

U.S. Should Close Secret Detention Centers, UN Panel Says

The U.S. ``should immediately abolish all secret detention and secret detention facilities'' as well as ``grant prompt access'' by the International Committee of the Red Cross to prisoners, says the 12-page report, published today. The U.S. must also stop transferring prisoners to countries where there is a risk they will be tortured and ``acknowledge the applicability'' of international law for individuals.

And the U.S.'s response? "Hey, man, North Korea's even worse."

The U.S. State Department issued a statement saying it was ``disappointed'' with the findings of the report and the committee ``loses perspective and credibility'' by spending more time criticizing the U.S. than ``countries with no civil and political rights'' such as North Korea, it said an e-mailed statement.

Reverend Says Churches Should be Apolitical

Disowning Conservative Politics, Evangelical Pastor Rattles Flock

Mr. Boyd says he is no liberal. He is opposed to abortion and thinks homosexuality is not God’s ideal. The response from his congregation at Woodland Hills Church here in suburban St. Paul — packed mostly with politically and theologically conservative, middle-class evangelicals — was passionate. Some members walked out of a sermon and never returned. By the time the dust had settled, Woodland Hills, which Mr. Boyd founded in 1992, had lost about 1,000 of its 5,000 members.

But there were also congregants who thanked Mr. Boyd, telling him they were moved to tears to hear him voice concerns they had been too afraid to share.

“Most of my friends are believers,” said Shannon Staiger, a psychotherapist and church member, “and they think if you’re a believer, you’ll vote for Bush. And it’s scary to go against that.”

That title is a misnomer, you know that? He didn't rattle his flock, he rescued 3/4s of them to speak their minds.

Mr. Boyd said he never intended his sermons to be taken as merely a critique of the Republican Party or the religious right. He refuses to share his party affiliation, or whether he has one, for that reason. He said there were Christians on both the left and the right who had turned politics and patriotism into “idolatry.”

In his six sermons, Mr. Boyd laid out a broad argument that the role of Christians was not to seek “power over” others — by controlling governments, passing legislation or fighting wars. Christians should instead seek to have “power under” others — “winning people’s hearts” by sacrificing for those in need, as Jesus did, Mr. Boyd said.

“America wasn’t founded as a theocracy,” he said. “America was founded by people trying to escape theocracies. Never in history have we had a Christian theocracy where it wasn’t bloody and barbaric. That’s why our Constitution wisely put in a separation of church and state.

“I am sorry to tell you,” he continued, “that America is not the light of the world and the hope of the world. The light of the world and the hope of the world is Jesus Christ.”

Way to go, Reverend!

This problem politicization of religion is why, if I ever were to run for office, my response to any religious question will include a reading of Article VI of the U.S. Constitution:

Article VI

All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.

This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.[Emphasis added.]

Global Warming is Real

California Heat Wave Deaths Near 100

Heat Wave State's Deadliest

Elderly, Isolated are Heat's Quiet Victims

County	Current heat wave	Average per year 1989-2004	Most per year	Year of Maximum deaths
Imperial	8	3.5	8	1995, 1996, 2000
Los Angeles	9	3.9	10	1990, 2000
Orange	0	3	3	2003
Riverside	3	2.4	5	1990, 1994
San Bernardino	9	1.8	4	1989, 1990, 2001, 2003
San Diego	3	2.6	7	2001, 2004
Ventura	0	0.6	4	2001

Scientists Expect Scorching Heat in Future Summers

Illinois Braces for Heat Wave

It's Going to Be Hot

[Not all blame for a given heat wave is due to climate change, but] [h]eat waves and global warming “are very strongly” connected, said Kevin Trenberth, climate analysis branch chief at the National Centre for Atmospheric Research in Colorado.

[W]hat global warming has done is make the nights warmer in general and the days drier, which help turn merely uncomfortably hot days into killer heatwaves.

Measuring the true cost of heat waves

The severely hot weather that withered crops, dried up rivers, and fueled fires in the summer of 2003 took a massive human toll. The full magnitude of this quiet catastrophe still remains largely an untold story, as data revealing the continent-wide scale have only slowly become available in the years since.

All in all, more than 52,000 Europeans died from heat in the summer of 2003, making the heat wave one of the deadliest climate-related disasters in Western history.

Projections of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a global body of some 2,000 scientists, show more extreme weather events ahead as the planet heats up. By the end of the century, the world's average temperature is projected to increase by 2.5-10.4 degrees Fahrenheit (1.4-5.8 degrees Celsius). As the mercury climbs, more frequent and more severe heat waves are in store. Accordingly, the World Meteorological Organization estimates that the number of heat-related fatalities could double in less than 20 years.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Checking in at PS's Paramecia Department

West Nile virus found in Mississauga mosquitoes

Mosquitoes caught in a southwestern part of Mississauga, Ont. have tested positive for West Nile virus, once again raising fears about the potentially deadly infection.

A group of mosquitoes were captured on July 25 in the QEW and Clarkson Road area of the city, just west of Toronto.

And, in unrelated news:

HIV hides in gut to escape attack

These results lead some to suggest that immediate treatment after HIV infection may be warranted, and that anti-inflammatory drugs in tandem with antiretrovirals could be more effective than antiretrovirals alone.

New Reply to the News

up at The 3rd WWWave.

"Poodle"

British Take Dim View of Blair’s Close Ties to U.S.

Mr. Blair has long maintained that standing close to Mr. Bush in times of crisis enables the British leader to exert some influence over American actions.

So, Tony, I gotta ask -- are you successfully exerting influence over Bush?

Detainee Abuse Charges = Honor. Stained.

Detainee Abuse Charges Feared

So, get this:

Back in 1996, the then-Republican Congress passes the War Crimes Act, to make prosecution of those who commit war crimes possible in US courts. The Pentagon says, "yeah, mates, this is good: let's hold ourselves to this standard," thereby setting it nice and high for anyone who might wind up with one of OUR servicemembers in their clutches. We are the best, the best-trained, and the best-equipped. WE fight with honor.

Alls well and good until Bush II gets a war in his hot little hands.

And now, instead of

* treating prisoners properly, in accordance with military guidelines,
* as in, avoiding maltreating the hell out of them,
-- and stopping their maltreatment when a "few bad apples" swing into play,

The Bush Administration would like to change the law, rather than what they're doing.[*]

These fuckers -- these fuckers -- are taking away our honor. Our honor as Americans, our honor as serving military and civilian, the honor of every man, woman and child in America. I am proud of the military service of my family members.

These bugs have besmirched everything a military uniform stands for.

It's time to kick them out. It's so far past time it hurts. Kick them out. Kick them out. KICK THEM OUT.


[*]The Human Rights Watch asks the obvious question: "The military has lived with" the Geneva Conventions provisions "for 50 years and applied them to every conflict, even against irregular forces. Why are we suddenly afraid now about the vagueness of its terms?" asked Tom Malinowski, director of the Washington office of Human Rights Watch.

Nuclear Energy and Dropping Water Levels

Heat Wave Shows Limits of Nuclear Energy

France has 58 nuclear power plants, which produce almost 80 percent of electricity generated in the country. Of these, 37 are situated near rivers, and use them as outlet for water from their cooling systems.

The drought accompanying the hot summer has reduced the volume of water in the rivers, and might force some power plants to shut down.

"Whole New War"

A Whole New War

President Bush and national security adviser Stephen Hadley yesterday for the first time publicly acknowledged the momentous shift in the role for U.S. troops in Iraq, from fighting terrorists to trying to suppress religious violence.

This sea change was described in such understated terms that it was eclipsed by news about the crisis in Lebanon. Bush described a change in tactics; Hadley called it a repositioning.

But it's a[n] historic admission: That job one for many American troops in Iraq is no longer fighting al-Qaeda terrorists, or even insurgents. Rather, it is trying to quell an incipient -- if not already raging -- sectarian civil war, with Baghdad as ground zero.

Just Say "No" to Bolton

Bolton Confirmation Hearings Start Today

Firedoglake has a whole roundup of good links at the above location.

Could you afford to be poor?

Could You Afford To Be Poor? by Barbara Ehrenreich.