Link: http://www.redress.cc:80/stooges/pjballes20090829

Paul J. Balles looks at how Israel and its worldwide lobbyists, aided by a complicit Western media and abetted by politicians afraid of being destroyed by the lobbyists, is getting away with blue murder while an indifferent public turns the other way.

Link: http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/08/boycotts-as-a-legitimate-means-of-resistance/

Prejudice does not always come with an ugly face. The same holds for Zionism and racism. It is entirely possible for well-intentioned people to hold a prejudice and, even worse, act on held prejudices.

Link: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/us-wants-20000-more-troops-to-fight-taliban-1778947.html

British and American soldiers to shoulder brunt of surge's next phase. The commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan will ask for 20,000 more international troops as part of his new strategic plan for the alliance's war against a resurgent Taliban, The Independent has learned.

Link: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/SwineFluNews/story?id=8438883

The World Health Organization warned Friday that doctors around the world are now reporting a severe form of swine flu that goes straight to the lungs of otherwise healthy young people -- but some infectious disease experts said the alarm could be unwarranted.

Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32607001/ns/world_news-conflict_in_iraq/

An Iraqi journalist jailed after hurling his shoes at former President George W. Bush will be released next month after his sentence was reduced for good behavior, his lawyer said Saturday. Muntadhar al-Zeidi's act during Bush's last visit to Iraq as president turned the 30-year-old reporter into a folk hero across the Arab world amid anger over the 2003 invasion.

Link: http://rebelreports.com/post/174064024/blackwater-in-court-today-in-war-crimes-hearing

UPDATE: Judge TS Ellis III asked a lot of questions about the Alien Tort Statute’s applicability in the case during today’s hearing. He also asked both parties to submit briefs by Friday from Iraqi law experts on why the case can’t be tried in Baghdad vs. the USA. He said he will rule promptly once those briefs are filed. Also, the Department of Justice has until October 8 to decide if it is going to intervene on Blackwater’s behalf in this case (see below for context).

Link: http://www.gulfnews.com/world/U.S.A/10344558.html

Boston: The nation's political elite gathered at a Roman Catholic basilica in Edward Kennedy's hometown of Boston to say farewell to the Massachusetts senator whose legislative career spanned almost a half century. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden led a Washington delegation of Cabinet officials and lawmakers that included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican Senator John McCain.

Link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hvWEqwq3CrRvaQCmt21MfoYhjZJQD9ACM6M03

President Hamid Karzai widened his lead over his main challenger in election returns released Saturday, creeping toward the 50 percent mark that would enable him to avoid a run-off in the divisive presidential contest. Karzai's top challenger Abdullah Abdullah stepped up his fraud charges, raising doubts whether the former foreign minister's followers would accept the incumbent if he wins in the first round. Accusations of fraud in the Aug. 20 vote have poured into the Electoral Complaint Commission, which must investigate the allegations before final results can be announced. William Pfaff: Delivering Democracy to Afghanistan and Pakistan: The problem with U.S.-sponsored elections in Asia and elsewhere in the non-western world, as in Afghanistan August 20, is that they are sponsored by the United States primarily to legitimize its own presence in the country. TPV/Eric Margolis: The US Denounces Iran While running fake elections in Afghanistan. + Washington’s double standard: The elections in Iran and Afghanistan. (TPV/WSWS) + War to escalate after Afghan election.

Link: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-zenko30-2009aug30,0,7428703.story

Unless Tehran responds to by late September to international proposals on its nuclear program, history strongly suggests the Israelis will act alone.

Link: http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14934

A recent analysis of the 2007 financial markets of 48 countries has revealed that the world's finances are in the hands of just a few mutual funds, banks, and corporations. This is the first clear picture of the global concentration of financial power, and point out the worldwide financial system's vulnerability as it stood on the brink of the current economic crisis.

Link: http://www.whatdoesitmean.com:80/index1269.htm

A seriously chilling “confidential” report prepared by the US-based Russian think tank Institute for Democracy and Cooperation (IDC), and given to President Medvedev’s office this week, on the turmoil surrounding the “health care” debate currently raging in the United States claims that this “engineered controversy” is, in fact, being used as a “cover” to mask the planned microchiping of the entire American population by 2012.