The Hamas-Fatah clash that has culminated into a mini-civil war in recent weeks is both old and new, and while some of its elements are uniquely Palestinian, much of it was manufactured at the behest of US-Israeli intelligence and governments.

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In early 2005 in anticipation of my sixtieth birthday, I began working on an autobiography. Certainly, I reasoned, now entering my sixth decade, I should be putting in ink my reflections on life as I officially become a senior citizen. Following the publication of three books and countless articles, it seemed that my “memoirs” was the very next step.

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I don't know why they came over from Prague
...But it must have took some kind of spirit.
Wow. I guess it's up to me to imagine what
she might have been like...

In the film "Sir, No Sir!" there is a brief account of a clandestine anti-war radio station, "Radio First Termer," operated from a brothel in Saigon by Dave Rabbit, an active duty American service member.

Wow.

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Corruption and dirty politics is nothing new in America. However, the level and scope of dirty politics within the Republican Party at this point in American history seems to be unprecedented! It increasingly looks like the Republican leadership has become a kind of mafia-style criminal gang pretending to be a political party.

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In the aftermath of the recent Supreme Court ruling gutting affirmative action to deal with the historical impact of racial discrimination, I propose that Democratic political figures should push for new laws promoting affirmative action on behalf of poor Americans of all races. Unequal educational opportunities are an important factor contributing to pockets of entrenched poverty.

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On June 27, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal vied for attention with feature stories on oil giants ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips "walking away from their multi-billion-dollar investments in Venezuela" as the Journal put it or standing "Defiant in Venezuela" as the Times headlined. Both papers can barely contain their displeasure over Hugo Chavez wanting Venezuela to have majority ownership of its own assets and no longer let Big (foreign) Oil investors plunder them.

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Linda McQuaig is a prominent, award-winning Canadian journalist, sadly less well known in the US because she writes about her own country. She was a national reporter for the Toronto Globe and Mail before joining the Toronto Star where she now covers Canadian politics with her trademark combination of solid research, keen analysis, irreverence and passion. She's easy to read, never boring, and fearless. The National Post called her "Canada's Michael Moore."

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Thepeoplesvoice.org was reinstated on
Google News June 30, 07.

America was founded with a constitution which protects freedom of speech. It is probably the most powerful and important right the people in America and a few other countries have left. With freedom of speech injustice is exposed and eventually and hopefully eliminated. Without freedom of speech truth is relegated to the shadows and the people are purposely misinformed and mislead. No one would want to live in society that treats people this way, so why do we allow it to happen on the internet?

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With their PR power and their command and control of media and its content, the most oppressive and sadistic war-profiteering regimes in modern times — zionist Israel and neocon U.S. — are making their big push yet in an attempt to persuade their "subjects" to support the dragging of the U.S. into the pits of oblivion for the sake of empire. At every turn, and in every facet possible, zioneocon propagandists are in full force, attempting to proselytize the gullible masses, striking fear into those who are willing to buy their spiel, and striking down those who would dare throw facts in their collective face. One such propagandist is Brigitte Gabriel.

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As President Bush and members of his administration described the “South Korea Model” as an approach for Iraq, deaths in Iraq mounted. In the same week General Patraeus said he saw a ten year stay in Iraq as likely and Ted Koppel reported that Sen. Clinton will not remove the troops. The message not only reverberated in Washington, DC but also in Baghdad.

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From Empire Burlesque

As Glenn Greenwald, among others, has pointed out, the new Bushist line is that everyone killed by American forces in Iraq is "al Qaeda" – a transparent falsehood belied by the Pentagon's own assessments but now mindlessly adopted by almost every corporate media venue, with the honorable exception (as always) of McClatchy Newspapers. Of course, the Invader-in-Chief and his multitude of bootlickers in traditional media and the blogosphere have always vastly inflated the numbers and importance of those elements in Iraq that are associated with al Qaeda in some way, however tenuous. Indeed, we know, again from the Pentagon itself, that the exaggeration of al Qaeda's influence in Iraq has been part of a deliberate, well-funded "psy-ops" scheme. (See "Hubub in Hibhib: The Timely Death of al-Zarqawi.") But now they have decided to dispense with the subtleties of psy-ops and simply repeat "al Qaeda" with every breath, in an effort to demonize all resistance (both in Iraq and at home, both violent and non-violent) to Bush's murderous boondoggle.

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From Palestine Free Voice

I received a note from Vienna today, the organization of Menschenfreunde International ; [Doc. No: IQ/ME/102/07/E] - is asking me for help to save the lives of a Palestinian family.The message was a grim reminder of the real life situation for many Iraqi Palestinians, which has been uprooted from their home again.

As if in a unfortunate predicament - a disaster forced generations of Palestinians from their homeland Palestine, in search of a safe shelter in many places around the world. - Also they found a shelter in Iraq, where they lived their lives in a period of relative tranquility. During the rule of the former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, the Palestinians where protected from danger and hardship - provided with housing and health care, and free education for their children.

However, the conditions for Iraqi Palestinian changed brutally, again - by the course of monstrous events, the lunacy, which no one, sound in mind could ever predict - the occupation and the destruction of Iraq - 100 of thousands of Iraqi Palestinians refugees had to flee again from their new country of residence.

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From: Peace Palestine

What a great day for peace enthusiasts! A new envoy to the Middle East has been appointed for the Quartet, and it’s no other than the former British PM, Tony Blair. Blair, the man who gave the Israelis the green light to flatten Beirut. Blair, the man who started an illegal war in Iraq. Blair, a man who, according to the Geneva Conventions, is to be held personally responsible for more than 700,000 dead in Iraq for failing to ‘protect civilian populations against certain consequences of war’ [1]. A man who is supposed to be charged for genocide at The Hague. That’s right, a man who should end his life behind bars is now becoming a peace envoy.

Maybe it isn’t such a bad idea. Seemingly, his partner from Washington may have sussed it all out. It is rather possible that when peace is at stake, it is actually the warmongers, the bloodthirsty criminals, the men who know no mercy and compassion who may provide the goods. At the end of the day, a rapist may know more about sex abuse than an innocent detached judge. We should never forget that for the Bushman, even Sharon, the mass killer from Sabra and Shatila was nothing less than a ‘Man of Peace’. Who knows the truth of such complicated matters? It is rather possible that Bush is correct. It is feasible that pouring blood in such a vast quantity may have qualified Blair to be a peacemaker. Yet, there is a slight problem here.

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Ben Heine © Cartoons

Dear Readers,

This is not over yet, but we are so grateful for and overwhelmed by all your kindness and support, that we feel it now is necessary for us to express this in a public way.

We have reason to believe that quite many of you have written to Google in support of us. We thank you for this! It warms our hearts and it admittedly humbles us a wee bit. We are now more aware of how little we can do by ourselves, and how much we need our readers.

The negative forces have been a blessing for us -our hits are doing well, our network of friends has been strengthened and even extended. These forces have done us a great service. We thank them for this!

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In microcosmic mimicry of the plight of the besieged middle and laboring classes, my parent's Atlanta neighborhood, as is the case with many others in the vicinity, is being destroyed, in reality -- disappeared -- by a blight of upper-class arrogance.

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By Khalid Amayreh in East Jerusalem
28 June, 2007

There is no doubt that Tony Blair, who has just been appointed by the Quartet (US, EU, Russia and UN) as Peace Envoy to the Middle East is utterly unfit for the job. The man is simply too deceitful and too dishonest and too unethical to be a genuine peacemaker.

Last week, renowned British Journalist Robert Fisk wrote the following about Blair:

“I remain overwhelmed that this vain, deceitful man, this proven liar, a trumped-up lawyer who has the blood of thousands of Arab men, women and children on his hands is really contemplating being ‘our’ Middle East envoy.”

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As of late, I've only rarely seen the death penalty discussed within the framework of traditional theories of democratic social contract. That topic is a book waiting to be written. After all, theories of social contract were discussed at length by the American founders, and the Bill of Rights was assembled with notions of a social contract hovering in the background. The Enlightenment was in full swing back in those times, and rational social contract theories were in the air. We are therefore long overdue in making use of this concept when it comes to discussing the death penalty in America.

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From Last of Iraqis

Yesterday I was in the most terrible horrifying situation. I don't know what to do to release the rage and pain tearing my heart apart, I thought that if I write a post about what happened it may make me feel better……

2 days ago me and my wife were talking about our memories and times together, and the memories even before we met each other, we remembered the life before the war and how the neighborhoods were, how beautiful most of them were, how much fun and safe Baghdad was, we talked for hours. Both of us were so sad because we don't have photos for Baghdad before the war and the beautiful scenes in it, more than that we even don't have pictures for the last year!! -Which was a lot better than this one...

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From The Voice of Palestine

Reliable Palestinian sources on Wednesday intimated that PA security officials in the West Bank were planning to carry out arrests of Hamas supporters in Al-Khalil (Hebron) region. Al-Khalil is the largest territory of the West Bank, with over 600,000 people, many of them loyal supporters of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

The sources said the arrests would target several pro-Hamas activists who had been arrested several times by the Israeli occupation army.

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From Keene Free Press

Despite being surrounded by federal thugs in early June, despite tanks and helicopters around their property, despite having a friend shot at and arrested, despite having phone and electricity cut off, Ed and Elaine Brown persevere in their simple quest, asking the government to show them the law which requires them to pay federal income taxes. The federal government has been unable to show the Browns the law. Instead they have responded with violence and theft. During the early June raid on the Browns, Elaine's businessplace in West Lebanon was seized. Still, the Browns continue to stand up for their rights.

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Benjamin © Heine

From Desert Peace

Israel has been reduced to a country based on the three above. A tiny country riddled with sex scandals from the President's Office to the office of the Minister of Justice... both made for 'good copy' in the press and succeeded in keeping the real issues facing the country on the back pages. That was part of the game...

And let's not forget about Israel's new SEX FOR TOURISM campaign...

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After deposing the Hamas government, Palestinian Authority Chairman
Mahmoud Abas meets with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Sharm
al-Sheikh, Egypt. King Abdullah of Jordan and Egyptian president Hosni
Mubarak were also present at the meeting arranged to discuss Hamas'
control of Gaza, 25 June 2007. (O. Rashidi/POOL/MaanImages/PPO)

From Electronic Intifada

The boycott by Israel and the international community of the Palestinian Authority finally blew up in their faces with Hamas' recent bloody takeover of Gaza. Or so argues Gideon Levy, one of the saner voices still to be found in Israel. "Starving, drying up and blocking aid do not sear the consciousness and do not weaken political movements. On the contrary ... Reality has refuted the chorus of experts and commentators who preached [on] behalf of the boycott policy. This daft notion that it is possible to topple an elected government by applying pressure on a helpless population suffered a complete failure."

But has Levy got it wrong? The faces of Israeli and American politicians, including Ehud Olmert and George W. Bush, appear soot-free. On the contrary. Over the past fortnight they have been looking and sounding even more smug than usual.

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From The Voice of Palestine/News in brief

Ismail Haneyya, premier of the PA caretaker government, on Tuesday affirmed that the Israeli policy of premier Ehud Olmert aimed at driving a wedge in Palestinian national lines.

Haneyya, in press statement after touring a number of secondary schools in Gaza city, said that the IOF was not ready to return rights to the Palestinian people, "hence the battle with it (Israeli occupation) is long and rough, and we have to maintain all our strong cards topped by returning national unity".

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...conscience, guilt, personal
discipline, and delaying
gratification are barely existant
in the toxic cesspool of our
sociocultural environment.

"Children are completely egoistic; they feel their needs intensely and strive ruthlessly to satisfy them." - Sigmund Freud

Frightening as it may be, the Earth’s fate rests in the hands of children. With incredibly formidable military firepower at its disposal, the United States could catalyze Armageddon at any time. And while they may be adults chronologically, our sociopolitical structure is dominated by emotional infants.

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The Zionists are killing people by the droves -men, women & children. In all of Palestine.
Since the second intifada began in September 2000, almost 1000 -one thousand- of
Palestine's precious children have been murdered by IDF and the lawless settlers.

The Hamas-Fatah clash that has culminated into a mini-civil war in recent weeks is both old and new, and while some of its elements are uniquely Palestinian, much of it was manufactured at the behest of US-Israeli intelligence and governments.

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From The Brussels Journal

Vladimir Bukovksy, the 63-year old former Soviet dissident, fears that the European Union is on its way to becoming another Soviet Union. In a speech he delivered in Brussels last week Mr Bukovsky called the EU a “monster” that must be destroyed, the sooner the better, before it develops into a fullfledged totalitarian state.

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From Online Journal

A combination of events this year has cast light on the dark side of US-Italian relations. Each of these events has its dark side, hidden at least in part from public view: the Pentagon’s secret agreement with Italy’s ex-rightwing government for a new military base in Italy, the CIA abduction of a suspected Moslem terrorist in Milan, the killing of an Italian secret service agent by an American soldier in Iraq and the abduction and fortunate release of an Italian journalist in Afghanistan. The events are linked.

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From Palestine-Info

While playing tricks with the American-backed Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and other Arab leaders, the Israeli apartheid regime is accelerating the pace of ethnic cleansing in East Jerusalem.

The Israeli press on Sunday revealed that the racist measure of stripping native Palestinian Jerusalemites of their “residency rights” in their own town by the apartheid Israeli government was being carried out at an accelerated pace.

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From Once Upon A Time...

The Empire of Clowns Continues on Its Murderous, Genocidal Path

At this moment in the monstrously bloody course of American Empire, I suppose I might take the sardonically grateful point of view. At least we now have some direct experience of how easy it was for nauseatingly corrupt Roman leaders to impose their will upon the ignorant hordes, and literally to get away with murder. Hell, who needed to "get away" with murder? Bloody, painful, lingering, ungraspably sadistic murder was one of the major entertainments.

And so it is with us, for the majority of Americans are now both stupid and cruel. Comfort yourselves with fantasies about "good Americans" who "mean well" if you wish; the facts provide you scant support. The criminal slaughter in Iraq goes on from day to day...look, Paris Hilton is being dragged off to jail! Again! It becomes clearer with every day that passes that metastasizing mayhem in the Middle East is not an unfortunate byproduct of a plan gone awry: it was the goal from the start. It provides the perfect excuse for a significant American military presence for decades to come -- which was also the plan from the beginning.

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The recent claim by Dick Cheney to have both executive privilege and not to be part of the executive branch of government seems to amount to a claim that Cheney is simply above the rule of law. It appears that both Bush and Cheney think they rule by divine right like the absolute monarchs of medieval Europe or the dictators of the old Soviet Bloc Both need to be impeached. Until they are removed from office, the media, Congress and the courts should be aggressively investigating, exposing and opposing their abuses of power.

Bush has ignored the rule of law repeatedly. He has wiretapped American citizens without court orders in clear violation of the law by claiming nonexistent Presidential authority. Both Bush and Cheney lied to the American public and Congress to take America into an illegal war in Iraq..

Republican politicians helped Bush and Cheney pack our federal courts and the US Department of Justice with partisan political hacks who do everything possible to make illegal actions benefiting Republicans appear legal. Elections have been essentially rigged by denying millions of Americans of their right to vote or to have their votes accurately counted.

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In 1984 (a year of Orwellian significance), activist and media and social critic Edward Herman wrote one of his many important books titled "Demonstration Elections." In it, he analyzed the US-staged elections in the 1960s in the Dominican Republic and Vietnam and the 1982 one in El Salvador. In the book's Orwellian glossary of terms, he defined the process as "A circus held in a client state to assure the population of the home country that their intrusion is well received. The results are guaranteed by an adequate supply of bullets provided in advance (and freely used as necessary to achieve the desired outcome)."

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If you are a just God, rain down fire and hell upon our
heads. Lightning bolts upon our backyard decks and rivers
of excrement down our smooth, well-scrubbed streets.
Please, dear God we pray.

This is Iowa.

Where "Hip Hop" is the new joint replacement wing on the nursing home.

And where the entire state is eligible to park in the handicapped zone — because we love war.

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Palestinian Pundit

From Khalid Amayreh in East Jerusalem

"Ismael Haniya, Prime Minister of the democratically-elected Palestinian government, on Sunday said a treasonous faction within Fatah, a clear allusion to the Muhammad Dahlan's group, had been hatching plans and amassing arms to thwart the Makka Agreement and overthrow the Palestinian national unity government. In a comprehensive and prolonged speech that lasted nearly two hours, Haniya said he had warned Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas that an American-backed and American-armed coup was being hatched by "the treasonous faction."

Haniya said the that the real dichotomy was not between Fatah and Hamas, but rather between the Palestinian people on the one hand and the Israeli occupation of Palestine and enduring oppression and persecution of the Palestinian people, on the other.

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According to a report not yet released, the Council on Science and Public Health of the American Medical Association has recommended that a chronic and widespread affliction of Americans be officially declared a psychiatric disorder. It has been named the Political Attention Deficit Disorder (PADD).

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Leo Burroughs, Jr.

“If I’m elected, I will fire [the] PSC and replace them with...members who will ‘protect’ the public.” - Martin O’Malley

Annapolis, MD - During his campaign, in 2006, for the office of governor of Maryland, Martin O’Malley, a Democrat, repeatedly promised the voters that if he were elected he would do something to stop the huge Baltimore Gas & Electric/Constellation Energy electric rate hike, which was then set to go into effect on June 1, 2007. (1) After he got elected, however, he did nothing! The new Public Service Commission (PSC) that he appointed just rubber-stamped a rate increase of 50 percent. As a result, on June 23, 2007, demonstrators opposed to any rate hikes descended on the governor’s mansion in this city to make their voices heard. Despite a projected $1.5 billion state deficit, Gov. O’Malley has also taken on the role of chair, in Maryland, of Sen. Hillary “War Lite” Clinton’s presidential campaign. He also went up to New Hampshire on her behalf. One Maryland lawmaker, Del. Anthony J. O’Donnell, demanded O’Malley cut out “the road show” and do some “heavy lifting” on the state’s many “problems.” (2)

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Two paragraphs from the British newspaper The Observer about a Pentagon study:

"A secret report, suppressed by US defense chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a 'Siberian' climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world."

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In November 2006, I was one of over 330 international ecumenical Christians who had gathered in Jerusalem to learn more about the Christian Exodus from the Holy Land and the facts on the ground for all citizens living under occupation throughout the West Bank. The Anglican Reverend Naim Ateek, a '48 refugee and author of Justice and Only Justice, sent chills through me when he stated, "Israel will not survive unless it does justice! The situation is deteriorating and we must frustrate Israel's plans and actions because they are not built on justice.

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All my forewarnings have suddenly been actualised, all at once: Gaza has descended into total and utter chaos; Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has capitulated to Israel and to the United States without a shred of reservation; and the Palestinian democratic experiment, which was until recently an astounding success, has been smashed to pieces.

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With the U.S. Department of Justice now confirmed to be investigating money laundering and bribery by the British aerospace giant BAE Systems, Congress and the American people must make certain that the investigation does not turn into one more Bush-Cheney-Gonzales coverup.

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Clockwise from top: Abbas; Haniyeh; The new cabinet of technocrats
pose for the cameras. © Al-Ahram Weekly (21-27 June 2007, issue #850)

The political storm for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza is not yet over, reports Khalid Amayreh from Ramallah

Whether the newly-formed Palestinian government in Ramallah will be able to function efficiently and fulfill its obligations and responsibilities according to a political agenda, even if it has one, remains to be seen.

Due to the speed with which the new government was established, it has been dubbed a "knee-jerk" government by some. This followed Hamas' dramatic take-over of Gaza. The fledgeling government has already gained regional and international support and recognition, with the US, EU and Israel all pledging to lift the economic embargo imposed on the Palestinians following Hamas' election victory in 2006.

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"Things have changed. There are other forces that are
shouldering the national cause, such as Hamas..."

“The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is an illegal and illusory entity.” These are the words of Farouq al Qaddumi, head of the PLO political department, as reported by several news agencies this week.

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Israeli occupation forces on Saturday abducted Sheikh Saleh Aruri, a moderate Hamas leader who was freed from Israeli dungeons only a few months ago after spending 15 years of uninterrupted imprisonment for resisting the Israeli military occupation of his homeland.

His relatives said a large force of soldiers, army jeeps and personnel carriers stormed the village of Arura near Ramallah around dawn, before encircling Aruri’s home and arresting him.

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Brazilian Soybeans Grade 2 Non-gmo

From @DIN Agencia Digital Independiente de Noticias
Translated by Jordan Levinson, member of Tlaxcala

Brazilian judge Pepita Durski has forbidden the commercial release of transgenic corn by the National Technical Biosecurity Commission (CTNBio). The decision was made after a public civil action undertaken by the NGOs Land of Rights, Brazilian Consumer Defense Institute (Idec), Consultancy and Services for Alternative Agricultural Projects (AS-PTA) and the National Small Farmers association (ANPA). The CTNBio has gathered today, and on the agenda is the commercial release of ten items, as well as two requests for Certificates of Quality in Biosecurity.

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From LAGAUCHE IS RIGHT

George Bush has stated that his God-given task is to make the world free. He is the chosen one anointed to overthrow the regimes of un-democratic countries (and some democratic nations as well). The public perception, however, is far different from the realities. Let’s look at some U.S. democratic elections.

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This report does not add up from the beginning when 75 Saudis left Los Angeles from the fear of the tremor from an earthquake and arrived in Las Vegas before the earthquake even occurred in Los Angeles. Then the 75 Saudis turn into 69 then another 5 went missing bringing the number to 64. That would mean that there are 11 Saudis went unaccounted for by 9/11/01.

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From Al-Ahram Weekly

Professor Ali Al-Jerbawi is a leading Palestinian intellectual who has been critical of the Oslo process from its very inception. Considered a leading independent-minded member of the Palestinian intelligentsia in the West Bank, Al-Jerbawi has on many occasions called for the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority (PA).

He argues that the continued existence of the PA makes the goal of freedom and liberation from the Israeli occupation more distant and illusive than ever.

Al-Jerbawi, analysing the current situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, said, "it is obvious we are facing a crisis of immense proportions. We seem to have lost our sense of direction. This situation didn't erupt out of the blue, it is the cumulative effect of years of faulty policies and mismanagement of the national cause. In the final analysis, this is the result of having an 'authority' without real authority, without sovereignty and without statehood. This is also the consequence of having a 'government' under a sinister foreign military occupation.

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Let's simply zip the entire land mass of the U.S. into a body bag and be done with it.

Why did the Democratic Congress betray the voting public?

Betrayal is often a consequence of wishful thinking. It's the world's way of delivering the life lesson that it's time to shed the vanity of one's innocence and grow-the-hell-up. Apropos, here's lesson number one for political innocents: Power serves the perpetuation of power. In an era of runaway co