Essays & articles

Indeterminacy, Divine action and Human Freedom

2008-09-03T10:20:00.005-04:00

by John BylAbstract: This article examines the idea that God created the world to be inherently indeterministic. It is argued that ontological indeterminism is scientifically unwarranted, philosophically objectionable and theologically, inconsistent with a strong view of divine sovereignty and providence. Quantum mechanics does not require indeterminism. Neither do human freedom nor moral

Why Socialism?

2008-01-11T01:03:00.000-05:00

By Albert Einstein This essay was originally published in the first issue of Monthly Review (May 1949). Is it advisable for one who is not an expert on economic and social issues to express views on the subject of socialism? I believe for a number of reasons that it is. Let us first consider the question from the point of view of scientific knowledge. It

Laws of Nature and Free Will

2006-12-11T02:18:00.000-05:00

By Mogens MichaelsenAn article by Behind My Screen: "There is no Free Will: A Secular Argument" inspired me to write a little about the relation between the laws of nature and free will.Many people think, that since the universe is governed by natural laws, it must necessarily be determined in a way that excludes free will.The first argument against this, is the fact, that according to science

President Ahmadinejad's speech at UN General Assembly

2006-09-20T14:39:00.000-04:00

20 September 2006 (source: www.president.ir) Madam President,Distinguished Heads of State and Government,Distinguished Heads of Delegation,Excellencies, Ladies and GentlemenI praise the Merciful, All-Knowing and Almighty God for blessing me with another opportunity to address this Assembly on behalf of the great nation of Iran and to bring a number of issues to the attention of the

Secret Unit Expands Rumsfeld's Domain

2006-09-13T03:18:00.000-04:00

New Espionage Branch Delving Into CIA Territory By Barton Gellman Washington Post Staff Writer 09/10/06 "Washington Post" -- -- The Pentagon, expanding into the CIA's historic bailiwick, has created a new espionage arm and is reinterpreting U.S. law to give Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld broad authority over clandestine operations abroad, according to

Meaning and Miracle

2006-08-28T00:29:00.003-04:00

by Mogens MichaelsenToday I heard about a Danish girl, who was out collecting money for poor children in Africa. She did that, in spite of the fact, that it was her 14-years birthday today.Now, why should a young girl do that?As I understood from the clip on TV, she had visited Mozambique in Africa just recently, and seen children living under very harsh and poor conditions. So her motive to

From Mania to Depression

2006-08-18T03:59:00.000-04:00

By Uri Avnery 08/17/06 "Information Clearing House" -- -- Tel Aviv. --- Thirty three days of war. The longest of our wars since 1949. On the Israeli side: 154 dead--117 of them soldiers. 3970 rockets launched against us, 37 civilians dead, more than 422 civilians wounded. On the Lebanese side: about a thousand dead civilians, thousands wounded.

Pitch Black Void

2006-08-16T06:24:00.000-04:00

Freefall By Manuel Valenzuela 08/15/06 "Information Clearing House" -- -- The towers fell upon their own imprints, floor after floor cascading down upon the next in an avalanche of concrete, glass, steel and flesh, in the process pulverizing everything, and everybody, between them, over 200 combined stories of human ingenuity flattened in

Washington’s interests in Israel’s war

2006-08-15T05:18:00.000-04:00

by Seymour M. HershIn the days after Hezbollah crossed from Lebanon into Israel, on July 12th, to kidnap two soldiers, triggering an Israeli air attack on Lebanon and a full-scale war, the Bush Administration seemed strangely passive. “It’s a moment of clarification,” President George W. Bush said at the G-8 summit, in St. Petersburg, on July 16th. “It’s now become clear why we don’t have peace

The UN Mideast Ceasefire Resolution Paragraph-by-Paragraph

2006-08-14T20:45:00.000-04:00

08/13/06 "JURIST" -- -- JURIST Guest Columnist Anthony D'Amato of Northwestern University School of Law offers a detailed analysis of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities in the Middle East conflict involving Israel, Hezbollah and Lebanon... Hezbollah's surprising television announcement accepting the terms

What the Hell Has Happened To The Israeli Army?

2006-08-13T07:06:00.000-04:00

By UriAvnery 08/13/06 "Information Clearing House" -- -- SO WHAT has happened to the Israeli army? This question is now being raised not only around the world, but also in Israel itself. Clearly, there is a huge gap between the army's boastful arrogance, on which generations of Israelis have grown up, and the picture presented by this war. Before the choir of generals utters

UN Resolution 1701

2006-08-12T07:05:00.000-04:00

THE SECURITY COUNCIL, ...Determining that the situation in Lebanon constitutes a threat to international peace and security;1. Calls for a full cessation of hostilities based upon, in particular, the immediate cessation by Hizbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations;2. Upon full cessation of hostilities, calls upon the government of Lebanon

Greenland's Ice Cap is Melting at a Frighteningly Fast Rate

2006-08-11T21:19:00.000-04:00

by David Perlman The vast ice cap that covers Greenland nearly three miles thick is melting faster than ever before on record, and the pace is speeding year by year, according to global climate watchers gathering data from twin satellites that probe the effects of warming on the huge northern island. Greenland's

End This Tragedy Now

2006-08-11T04:31:00.000-04:00

Israel Must Be Made to Respect International Law By Fouad Siniora Prime Minister of Lebanon. 08/09/06 "Washington Post" -- -- BEIRUT: A military solution to Israel's savage war on Lebanon and the Lebanese people is both morally unacceptable and totally unrealistic. We in Lebanon call upon the international community and citizens everywhere to support my

Apocalypse Near

2006-08-10T01:53:00.000-04:00

Following intellectuals' letter, Prof. Noam Chomsky explains his doctrine, discusses danger of Israel's nukes compared to 'Iranian threat,' global media's role in escalating Mideast conflict and US's place in pictureBy Merav Yudilovitch08/09/06 "Ynet" -- -- Last week, a group of renowned intellectuals published an open letter blaming Israel for escalating the conflict in

The Grave Consequences of Supporting War in Lebanon

2006-08-10T01:30:00.000-04:00

By Scott Ritter08/09/06 "Alternet" -- -- With Israel waging an all-out war against the forces of Hezbollah, and the death toll in terms of civilian casualties mounting on a daily basis, the question of a diplomatic resolution to the crisis takes on an urgency that is being felt around the world. Everywhere, it seems, except in Israel and the United States. One should not be fooled by the "

Noam Chomsky on Israel, Lebanon and Palestine

2006-08-07T19:25:00.000-04:00

By Kaveh Afrasiabi of Global Interfaith Peace 08/07/06 "Information Clearing House" -- -- Do you agree with the argument that Israel's military offensive in Lebanon is "legally and morally justified?" Noam Chomsky: The invasion itself is a serious breach of international law, and major war crimes are being committed as it proceeds.

What happens when the Dream dies?

2006-08-06T00:46:00.000-04:00

By Jerry Landay 08/05/06 "Rhode Island News" -- -- "It slowly dawns on Americans that their lives are changing. For more and more of us, "the American Dream," which we assumed as our birthright -- founded on infinite plenty, a bottomless cup of creature comforts, and fair rewards for hard work -- is fading. The material components of the Dream were steady jobs, inexpensive

Israel does not act or speak for every Jew

2006-08-06T00:35:00.000-04:00

By Andrew Benjamin 08/05/06 "SMH" ---I WRITE as a Jew and as a synagogue member. I write as one whose academic work continues to move through questions of Jewish identity and the legacy of the Holocaust. Yet, I write with a growing sense of shame. The source of the feeling is simple: Israel claims that it continues to act in my name. The Jewish community in Sydney and

The War on Lebanon and the Battle for Oil

2006-08-05T02:20:00.000-04:00

By Michel Chossudovsky 07/26/06 "GlobalResearch" --- - Is there a relationship between the bombing of Lebanon and the inauguration of the World's largest strategic pipeline, which will channel more a million barrels of oil a day to Western markets? Virtually unnoticed, the inauguration of the Ceyhan-Tblisi-Baku (BTC) oil pipeline, which links the Caspian sea to

The neocons' next war

2006-08-04T04:23:00.000-04:00

By secretly providing NSA intelligence to Israel and undermining the hapless Condi Rice, hardliners in the Bush administration are trying to widen the Middle East conflict to Iran and Syria, not stop it. By Sidney Blumenthal 08/03/06 "Salon" -- -- The National Security Agency is providing signal intelligence to Israel to monitor whether Syria and Iran are supplying new

True Causes of War in the Middle East

2006-08-03T11:16:00.000-04:00

By Ardeshir Ommani, 2 August 2006 As a general rule, wherever there is oppression, there is resistance. But it is also true that in all societies there is a strata that takes the side of the oppressors and blames the victims for their resistance. In the current wars of aggression in the Middle East such is the case with the Zionists and pro-imperialists behind Israel. In Iran, we have not

Nixon White House Considered Nuclear Options Against North Vietnam

2006-08-02T06:49:00.000-04:00

Washington, DC - July 31, 2006 - During the past year, indications that the Bush White House was seriously considering a "nuclear option" against Iranian nuclear sites understandably alarmed many in the press and public as well as the U.S. high command. Some treated such alleged planning as saber-rattling bluff,

Last Stand

2006-07-03T00:35:00.000-04:00

The military’s problem with the President’s Iran policy. By Seymour M. Hersh 07/02/06 "New Yorker" -- -- On May 31st, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced what appeared to be a major change in U.S. foreign policy. The Bush Administration, she said, would be willing to join Russia, China, and its European allies in direct talks with Iran about its nuclear program.

The NPT Treaty

2006-06-16T07:44:00.000-04:00

The States concluding this Treaty, hereinafter referred to as the Parties to the Treaty, Considering the devastation that would be visited upon all mankind by a nuclear war and the consequent need to make every effort to avert the danger of such a war and to take measures to safeguard the security of peoples, Believing that the proliferation

Raiders of the lost dimension

2006-06-04T04:50:00.000-04:00

LOS ALAMOS, N.M., June 1, 2006 -- A team of scientists working at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory's Pulsed Field Facility at Los Alamos has uncovered an intriguing phenomenon while studying magnetic waves in barium copper silicate, a 2,500-year-old pigment known as Han purple. The researchers discovered that when they exposed newly grown crystals of the pigment to very high magnetic

Iran Proposal to U.S. Offered Peace with Israel

2006-05-27T02:37:00.000-04:00

By Gareth Porter WASHINGTON, May 24 IPS) - Iran offered in 2003 to accept peace with Israel and to cut off material assistance to Palestinian armed groups and pressure them to halt terrorist attacks within Israel's 1967 borders, according to the secret Iranian proposal to the United States. The two-page proposal for a broad Iran-U.S. agreement covering all

Iran Target of Apparent Disinformation Ploy

2006-05-23T11:16:00.000-04:00

by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON - A story authored by a prominent U.S. neo-conservative regarding new legislation in Iran allegedly requiring Jews and other religious minorities to wear distinctive colour badges circulated around the world this weekend before it was exposed as false. The article by a frequent contributor to the Wall Street Journal

Democracy Be Damned - Republicans Need Another War

2006-04-14T05:29:00.000-04:00

By Thom Hartmann 04/12/06 "ICH" -- -- George W. Bush is at it again. This time, reports Sy Hersh in The New Yorker, it'll be Iran. (Those of us who guessed it would have been Syria first apparently underestimated his hubris.) And this time he wants to be able to use nukes. In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, the way a seemingly democratic president kept his

Why Iraq Was a Mistake

2006-04-10T04:20:00.000-04:00

A military insider sounds off against the war and the "zealots" who pushed itTwo senior military officers are known to have challenged Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on the planning of the Iraq war. Army General Eric Shinseki publicly dissented and found himself marginalized. Marine Lieut. General Greg Newbold, the Pentagon's top operations officer, voiced his objections internally and then

The Iran Plans

2006-04-08T08:19:00.000-04:00

by SEYMOUR M. HERSH Would President Bush go to war to stop Tehran from getting the bomb? The Bush Administration, while publicly advocating diplomacy in order to stop Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon, has increased clandestine activities inside Iran and intensified planning for a possible major air attack. Current and former American military and intelligence officials said that

Iran: The Next Neocon Target

2006-04-08T00:39:00.000-04:00

HON. RON PAUL OF TEXAS Before the U.S. House of Representatives - April 5, 2006It’s been three years since the U.S. launched its war against Saddam Hussein and his weapons of mass destruction. Of course now almost everybody knows there were no WMDs, and Saddam Hussein posed no threat to the United States. Though some of our soldiers serving in Iraq still believe

How the GOP Became God's Own Party

2006-04-05T12:00:00.000-04:00

By Kevin Phillips 04/02/06 "Washington Post" -- -- Now that the GOP has been transformed by the rise of the South, the trauma of terrorism and George W. Bush's conviction that God wanted him to be president, a deeper conclusion can be drawn: The Republican Party has become the first religious party in U.S. history. We have had small-scale theocracies in North

America's war on the web

2006-04-05T11:27:00.000-04:00

While the US remains committed to hunting down al-Qaeda operatives, it is now taking the battle to new fronts. Deep within the Pentagon, technologies are being deployed to wage the war on terror on the internet, in newspapers and even through mobile phones. Investigations editor Neil Mackay reportsIMAGINE a world where wars are fought over the internet; where TV broadcasts and newspaper reports

The Root of All Evil?

2006-04-04T12:14:00.000-04:00

Episode 1: The God DelusionRichard Dawkins is astounded that religious faith is gaining ground in the face of rational, scientific truth based on hard evidence. Julia Bard reports. In this two-part Channel 4 series, Professor Richard Dawkins challenges what he describes as 'a process of non-thinking called faith'. Dawkins is well known for bringing to a wide

Noam Chomsky on Failed States - Part II

2006-04-04T08:21:00.000-04:00

AMY GOODMAN: In his first broadcast interview upon the book's publication, Chomsky spoke to us from our Boston studio on Friday. JUAN GONZALEZ: With public opposition to the Bush administration's policies at record highs, I asked Professor Chomsky to talk about how it is that so much discontent with the government has not translated into larger political mobilization. NOAM CHOMSKY: First of

The Only Hope For the World

2006-04-02T01:17:00.000-05:00

By Doug Soderstrom, Ph.D. 04/01/06 "ICH" -- -- The world has gotten itself into a real jam. I mean a humdinger of a jam! As in John Paul Sartre's existential drama, No Exit, which so nicely portrays the inescapability of self-chosen evil, the inevitability of a self-made Hell, there seems to be no way out for the world; no way for the inhabitants of planet Earth

The Art of War for the anti-war movement

2006-04-02T01:11:00.000-05:00

It's high time to recognize that we as a nation are engaged in a life-or-death struggle of competing ideologies with those who promote war as an American value and virtue. By Scott Ritter 04/01/06 "Alternet" -- -- In the months leading up to the invasion of Iraq by a US-led coalition, and for three years since, I have spent many hours speaking to numerous anti-war

Scenarios of an American strike

2006-04-01T07:37:00.000-05:00

The risks are great if Washington's neo-cons choose military options to prevent Iran from blocking US imperial designs for the Middle East, writes Mustafa El-Labbad Anticipated scenarios of an American military strike against Iran depend on a reading of pre- emptive force and Washington's military experiences since the end of the Cold War, in addition to military and regional

Noam Chomsky on Failed States - Part I

2006-04-01T03:30:00.000-05:00

The Abuse of Power and the Assault on DemocracyAMY GOODMAN: In this first broadcast interview upon publication of his book, Professor Noam Chomsky joins us today from Boston for the hour. We welcome you to Democracy Now!, Noam. NOAM CHOMSKY: Glad to be with you again. AMY GOODMAN: It's good to have you with us. Failed States, what do you mean? NOAM CHOMSKY:

Making the World Safe for Christianity

2006-03-31T03:04:00.000-05:00

By Congressman Ron Paul 03/30/06 "ICH" -- -- Before the US House of Representatives, March 28, 2006 Watch Ron Paul's speech on video. The top Neo-Con of the twentieth century was Woodrow Wilson. His supposed idealism, symbolized in the slogan “Make the world safe for democracy,” resulted in untold destruction and death across the world for many

George Bush and the rise of Christian Fascism

2006-03-30T06:49:00.000-05:00

By Rev. Rich LangThe Imperial PresidencyThe men who wrote the Constitution of the United States knew that if power accrued into the hands of an elite the experiment of democracy (power spread out into the realm of the people) would be over. So they created a system of checks and balances which blocked access to any one person, or any one special interest or elite gaining too much power over

The Israel Lobby?

2006-03-28T20:13:00.000-05:00

By Noam Chomsky 03/28/06 "ZNet" -- -- I've received many requests to comment on the article by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt (henceforth M-W), published in the London Review of Books, which has been circulating extensively on the internet and has elicited a storm of controversy. A few thoughts on the matter follow. It was, as noted, published in the

"A Model Democracy Is not Emerging in Iraq"

2006-03-25T21:03:00.000-05:00

Francis Fukuyama was a life-long neo-conservative prior to the election of the Bush Administration. The Iraq war led him to change his mind. SPIEGEL ONLINE spoke to Fukuyama about the US handling of Iraq, the moral superiority of America and Europe's dangerous addiction to anti-Americanism. 03/25/06 "SPIEGEL ONLINE" -- -- SPIEGEL ONLINE: Your new book, "America

Israel Lobby Dictates U.S. Policy, Study Charges

2006-03-24T07:12:00.000-05:00

by Emad Mekay WASHINGTON - "This situation has no equal in American political history," says the 83-page study, "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy". "Why has the United States been willing to set aside its own security and that of many of its allies in order to advance the interests of

The farcical end of the American dream

2006-03-19T07:25:00.000-05:00

The US press is supposed to be challenging the lies of this war By Robert Fisk 03/18/06 "The Independent" -- -- It is a bright winter morning and I am sipping my first coffee of the day in Los Angeles. My eye moves like a radar beam over the front page of the Los Angeles Times for the word that dominates the minds of all Middle East correspondents: Iraq. In

Launch of Iranian oil trading hits wall

2006-03-17T14:19:00.000-05:00

Oil exchange unlikely to begin till at least midyear By John Partridge Investment Reporter 03/15/06 "Globe & Mail" -- -- As the nuclear standoff pitting Iran against the West continues, some conspiracy theorists are more focused on another plan that the Middle Eastern nation is pursuing. But they are jumping the gun if they still figure Iran is within days of launching a

FBI Documents Raise New Questions about Extent of Surveillance

2006-03-15T10:59:00.000-05:00

by Jonathan S. Landay WASHINGTON - An FBI counterterrorism unit monitored - and apparently infiltrated - a peace group in Pittsburgh that opposed the invasion of Iraq, according to internal agency documents released on Tuesday. The disclosure raised new questions about the extent to which federal authorities have been conducting

Cultural Warmongers

2006-03-15T01:40:00.000-05:00

Picking a fight with a faith 1.3 billion strong By Patrick J. Buchanan 03/14/06 "American Conservative" -- -- If you wish to get along with a man, you do not insult his faith. And if you seek to persuade devout Muslims that al-Qaeda is our enemy, not Islam, you do not condone with silence insults to the faith of a billion people. Understanding this, President Bush ceased to

The Parasites of God

2006-03-15T01:09:00.000-05:00

By Charles Sullivan 03/14/06 "ICH" -- -- Let me state at the outset that I am not a Christian; nor do I have any desire to be a Christian. I have my own religious beliefs that guide my moral behavior. "Neither do I harbor any ill will toward the Christian faith or its sincere practitioners." Indeed, I have the utmost respect for them. The trouble is that in America most

American Bar Association-accuses President Bush, of violating both the Constitution and federal law.

2006-03-12T01:12:00.000-05:00

02/13/06 -- Full text American Bar Association Task Force Report American Bar Association Adopted By The House Of Delegates RESOLVED, that the American Bar Association calls upon the President to abide by the limitations which the Constitution imposes on a president under our system of checks and balances and respect the essential roles of the Congress and the

Muslim's Blunt Criticism of Islam Draws Threats

2006-03-11T10:16:00.000-05:00

By JOHN M. BRODERLOS ANGELES, March 10 — Three weeks ago, Dr. Wafa Sultan was a largely unknown Syrian-American psychiatrist living outside Los Angeles, nursing a deep anger and despair about her fellow Muslims. Today, thanks to an unusually blunt and provocative interview on Al Jazeera television on Feb. 21, she is an international sensation, hailed as a fresh voice of reason by some, and by

Logic out the window at the White House

2006-03-11T00:50:00.000-05:00

By Gwynne Dyer 03/09/06 "Cyprus Mail" -- -- The biggest pitfall in predicting the behavior of radical groups like the inner circle of the Bush administration is that you keep telling yourself that they would never actually do whatever it is they’re talking about. Surely they must realize that acting like that would cause a disaster. Then they go right ahead and do it.

Bolton warns Iran of ‘painful consequences’

2006-03-07T19:22:00.000-05:00

U.N. ambassador says U.S. has upped measures to stave off nuclear threatWASHINGTON - Iran faces “tangible and painful consequences” if it continues its nuclear activities and the United States will use “all tools at our disposal” to stop this threat, a senior U.S. official said Sunday, ahead of a crucial international meeting on Iran.U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, speaking at

Blair: 'God will be my judge on Iraq'

2006-03-04T20:51:00.000-05:00

By Andy McSmith 03/04/06 "The Independent" -- -- Tony Blair has proclaimed that God will judge whether he was right to send British troops to Iraq, echoing statements from his ally George Bush. Contradicting warnings from advisers not to mix politics and religion, the Prime Minister said that his interest in politics sprang from his Christianity and its "values and

MANIFESTO: Together facing the new totalitarianism

2006-02-28T23:10:00.000-05:00

After having overcome fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism, the world now faces a new totalitarian global threat: Islamism.We, writers, journalists, intellectuals, call for resistance to religious totalitarianism and for the promotion of freedom, equal opportunity and secular values for all. The recent events, which occurred after the publication of drawings of Muhammed in European newspapers, have

German Intelligence Gave U.S. Saddam's Defense Plan, Report Says

2006-02-28T22:08:00.000-05:00

By Michael R. Gordon 02/27/06 "Der Spiegel" -- -- In providing the document, German officials offered more significant help to the U.S. than their government has publicly admitted. WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 - Two German intelligence agents in Baghdad obtained a copy of Saddam Hussein's plan to defend the Iraqi capital, which a German official passed on to American commanders a

STATEMENT BY THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

2006-02-27T06:43:00.000-05:00

Doha, Qatar, 26 February 2006 - STATEMENT BY THE SECRETARY-GENERAL AT THE OPENING SESSION OF THE SECOND MEETING OF THE HIGH-LEVEL GROUP FOR THE ALLIANCE OF CIVILIZATIONSYour Highness, [Abdallah al-Thani, Prime Minister of Qatar] Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, First let me thank Your Highness for hosting this meeting and providing an environment conducive to its very important task I am

Cheney's vice-like grip

2006-02-25T02:20:00.000-05:00

Bush has granted his deputy the greatest expansion of powers in American history By Sidney Blumenthal 02/24/06 "The Guardian" -- -- After shooting Harry Whittington, Dick Cheney's immediate impulse was to control the intelligence. Rather than call the president directly, he ordered an aide to inform the White House chief of staff, Andrew Card, that there had

Blogger bares Rumsfeld's post 9/11 orders

2006-02-25T01:42:00.000-05:00

By Julian Borger in Washington02/24/06 "The Guardian" -- -- Hours after a commercial plane struck the Pentagon on September 11 2001 the US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, was issuing rapid orders to his aides to look for evidence of Iraqi involvement, according to notes taken by one of them."Hard to get good case. Need to move swiftly," the notes say. "Near term

It’s Munich In America. There Will Be No Normandy.

2006-02-23T07:26:00.000-05:00

By David Michael Green 02/22/06 "ICH" -- -- This is it, folks. This is the scenario our Founders lost sleep over. This is the day they prepared us for. Outside the Philadelphia convention Benjamin Franklin was asked what sort of government he and his colleagues were crafting. His reply? “A republic. If you can keep it.” And that is just the question at

Neoconservatism has evolved into something I can no longer support

2006-02-23T07:06:00.000-05:00

The US needs to reframe its foreign policy not as a military campaign but as a political contest for hearts and minds By Francis Fukuyama 02/22/06 "The Guardian" --- -- As we approach the third anniversary of the onset of the Iraq war, it seems unlikely that history will judge the intervention or the ideas animating it kindly. More than any other group,

Rumsfeld Declares War on Bad Press

2006-02-22T19:21:00.000-05:00

by Emad Mekay WASHINGTON - Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld has signaled that he plans to intensify a campaign to influence global media coverage of the United States, a move that is likely to heighten the debate over press freedom and propaganda-free reporting.Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York last week, Rumsfeld

Watchdogs Urge Full Probe of Bush Propaganda Spending

2006-02-22T19:13:00.000-05:00

by Niko Kyriakou SAN FRANCISCO - Media reform groups are calling for a deeper investigation of Bush administration advertising and propaganda efforts following the release of a report that concludes the White House has spun a web of public relations (PR) contracts larger than previously thought. At issue are agreements to produce everything

The State Of Denmark

2006-02-22T01:37:00.000-05:00

Feb. 19, 2006(CBS) You would have to look hard for a country with a better brand-name than Denmark. It’s not only the home of Hans Christian Andersen, the country seems to live in one of his fairy tales. The people are pretty and prosperous, the land is green and fertile, and the towns are colorful and squeaky clean. Denmark’s queen is much beloved by her people and hails from the oldest monarchy

Neocon architect says: 'Pull it down'

2006-02-22T00:17:00.000-05:00

By Alex Massie02/21/06 "The Scotsman" -- -- NEOCONSERVATISM has failed the United States and needs to be replaced by a more realistic foreign policy agenda, according to one of its prime architects. Francis Fukuyama, who wrote the best-selling book The End of History and was a member of the neoconservative project, now says that, both as a political symbol

An Open Letter to my Danish Friends

2006-02-21T23:42:00.000-05:00

by Stephen Zunes Dear Friends, This is a letter of apology from an American who has witnessed in horror the extreme anti-Danish reaction in parts of the Islamic world. While the spark may have originated in your country, the tinderbox which caused that spark to explode in such a violent conflagration is largely a result of the

U.S. Reclassifies Many Documents in Secret Review

2006-02-21T10:57:00.000-05:00

By SCOTT SHANEWASHINGTON, Feb. 20 — In a seven-year-old secret program at the National Archives, intelligence agencies have been removing from public access thousands of historical documents that were available for years, including some already published by the State Department and others photocopied years ago by private historians. The restoration of classified status to more than 55,000

Predators 'drove human evolution'

2006-02-19T06:47:00.000-05:00

By Paul Rincon BBC News science reporter, St Louis

Europe's Contempt For Other Cultures Can't Be Sustained

2006-02-17T21:00:00.000-05:00

A continent that inflicted colonial brutality all over the globe for 200 years has little claim to the superiority of its values By Martin Jacques 02/17/06 "The Guardian" -- -- Is the argument over the Danish cartoons really reducible to a matter of free speech? Even if we believe that free speech is a fundamental value, that does not give us carte blanche to

Who Needs Dark Energy?

2006-02-17T09:06:00.000-05:00

By Adrian ChoScienceNOW Daily News13 February 2006 Good old gravity--slightly modified--can account for the accelerating expansion of the universe, theoretical physicists report. That means a tuned-up theory of gravity might obviate the need for some sort of bizarre "dark energy" that stretches the cosmos. Eight years ago, astronomers and astrophysicists announced a radical finding. They had

Special Report: America's Long War

2006-02-15T16:28:00.000-05:00

US introduces radical new strategy by Simon Tisdall, Ewen MacAskill and Richard Norton-Taylor Concern is growing in Europe about US plans to involve governments in an expanded, all-out campaign against Islamist extremism from north Africa to south-east Asia, using beefed-up special

Thousands Would Die in US Strikes on Iran, Says Study

2006-02-14T01:21:00.000-05:00

· Report warns of effects of American or Israeli strikes· Military operations would mean long confrontation by Ewen MacAskill A surprise American or Israeli air strike on Iranian nuclear sites could cause a large number of civilian as well as military casualties, says a report

US Prepares Military Blitz Against Iran's Nuclear Sites

2006-02-14T01:16:00.000-05:00

by Philip Sherwell in Washington Strategists at the Pentagon are drawing up plans for devastating bombing raids backed by submarine-launched ballistic missile attacks against Iran's nuclear sites as a "last resort" to block Teheran's efforts to develop an atomic bomb. Central Command and Strategic Command planners are identifying targets,

Mohammed Cartoon Madness and Understanding

2006-02-12T21:17:00.000-05:00

By Abbas RazaImagine this: a small group of white supremacists collects in Strauss Park near where I live in New York City, and then marches up Broadway, past 125th Street, into the heart of Harlem, all the while chanting anti-African-American slogans of the vilest kind. They have a permit from the city for their march. They use the n-word, they call black people monkeys, they taunt them with

Provocation all the way down

2006-02-12T21:05:00.000-05:00

By Lindsay BeyersteinThe Danish cartoon scandal is a shameful manufactured controversy. A petty racist publicity stunt was hijacked by successively larger and more influential opportunists until it became an international incident. It all started on September 30, 2005 when Denmark's second-largest newspaper, Jyllands-Posten published twelve cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed. The paper

Why Intelligent Design is not a good idea

2006-02-12T18:17:00.000-05:00

By Mogens MichaelsenIf you know just a little about what science is, it is quite easy to see that ID is wrong. So easy that most educated people are probably tired of the discussion by now. From the scientists point of view it has only been relevant to argue against it because there were a risk of ID "polluting" science. But this defense of modern science were clearly necessary - and extremely

Fear of U.S. Drove Iran's Nuclear Policy

2006-02-10T23:55:00.000-05:00

by Gareth Porter WASHINGTON - The George W. Bush administration's adoption of a policy of threatening to use military force against Iran disregarded a series of official intelligence estimates going back many years that consistently judged Iran's fear of a U.S. attack to be a major motivating factor in its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Two

Ex-U.N. Inspector: Decision Already Made To Attack Iran

2006-02-08T11:10:00.000-05:00

Ex-U.N. inspector: Iran's next: Ritter warns that another U.S. invasion in Mideast is imminent By Brandon Garcia 02/06/06 (Santa Fe New Mexican, The (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) The former U.N. weapons inspector who said Iraq disarmed long before the U.S. invasion in 2003 is warning Americans to prepare for a war with Iran. "We just don't know when, but

Russian Ultranationalist Leader Expects U.S. to Attack Iran in Late March

2006-02-08T11:01:00.000-05:00

By MosNews 02/07/06 "Moscow News" -- -- A senior Russian parliamentary official and leader of the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Vladimir Zhirinovsky believes that a US attack on Iran is inevitable, he has told Ekho Moskvy radio station. “The war is inevitable because the Americans want this war,” he said. “Any country claiming a leading position in the

Prof. Strauss and the neocon takeover

2006-02-07T06:51:00.000-05:00

By Jim Silva 02/06/06 "Lompoc Record" -- -- Have you seen the latest blockbuster? Like Star Wars, it's classic good verses evil - a power hungry dictator plotting to seize control of a goodly Republic. The twist is it's for adults. Ones who know reality is stranger than fiction. You guessed it! This epic thriller is actually your life, and it's called “The Fall

Who Will Save America?

2006-02-07T06:40:00.000-05:00

My Epiphany By Paul Craig Roberts 02/06/06 "Counterpunch" -- -- A number of readers have asked me when did I undergo my epiphany, abandon right-wing Reaganism and become an apostle of truth and justice. I appreciate the friendly sentiment, but there is a great deal of misconception in the question. When I saw that the

The Fury

2006-02-07T06:29:00.000-05:00

Religious fury threatens to wrest control from secular governmentsBy Robert Fisk 02/06/06 "The Independent" -- -- After Syria, the fires fanned by Denmark's anti-Prophet cartoons spread to Lebanon yesterday with sectarian intensity. Anger flashing through the Muslim world over the weekend saw protesters burn Danish flags and attack buildings from Lahore to Gaza.

Behind the Urgent Nuclear Diplomacy: A Sense That Iranians Will Get the Bomb

2006-02-06T12:27:00.000-05:00

By DAVID E. SANGER WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 — Hours after the United States and Europe prevailed in a contest over officially reporting Iran's history of clandestine nuclear activity to the United Nations Security Council, President Bush issued a statement on Saturday from his ranch, saying that the overwhelming vote showed "the world will not permit the Iranian regime to gain nuclear weapons."

Iran and the jaws of a trap

2006-02-03T08:20:00.000-05:00

By Paul Levian 02/02/06 "Asia Times" -- -- Judging from the rather frantic behind-the-scenes efforts of Russia and China in Iran, they seem to appreciate that the Iranian leadership is in for a big and probably deadly surprise. The Bush administration has not only handled its Iran dossier much more skillfully than Iraq, but also managed to set up Iran for a war it

Hellfire and Damnation: The Washington Consensus for Murder

2006-02-03T08:07:00.000-05:00

By Chris Flody 02/02/06 "Empire Burlesque" --- -- Last month, President George W. Bush murdered four children. This is not a controversial statement. There is no dispute about the facts. Indeed, Bush's own minions fully acknowledge – even celebrate – the deed. Nor has the political opposition or the national media offered the slightest objection to the principle

The Pestilent Presidency

2006-02-03T06:41:00.000-05:00

A Nation Conditioned By Manuel Valenzuela 02/02/06 "ICH" -- -- The continued dismantling of America’s very essence, the decimation of its founding core and its evolving surface, has been a product of both purposeful malevolence as well as incompetent ignorance. While the lives of hundreds of millions of Americans continue to deteriorate, each day losing more

Saudi Arabia Is Again The World's Worst Persecutor of Christians...

2006-02-02T12:23:00.000-05:00

Saudi Arabia Is Again The World's Worst Persecutor of Christians, But Turkmenistan Is Causing "Great Concern" With Its Anti-Christian ActivitiesOpen Doors again releases its World Watch List of the Top Ten "Hall of Shame" By Dan Wooding SANTA ANA, CA (ANS) - Turkmenistan has moved to fifth place on the Open Doors World Watch List of worst persecutors of Christians, behind Saudi Arabia,

Annexing Khuzestan; battle-plans for Iran

2006-02-02T04:01:00.000-05:00

By Mike Whitney 02/01/06 "ICH" -- -- In less than 24 hours the Bush administration has won impressive victories on both domestic and foreign policy fronts. At home, the far-right Federalist Society alum, Sam Alito, has overcome the feeble resistance from Democratic senators; ensuring his confirmation to the Supreme Court. Equally astonishing, the administration has coerced

Hamas will make a deal

2006-02-01T20:56:00.000-05:00

If Israel withdraws from the territories it occupied in 1967, the movement will end armed resistance By Azzam Tamimi 01/30/06 "The Guardian" -- -- A so-called expert was asked on the BBC's Arabic service last week what he thought Hamas should do now it is likely to be the government in the Palestinian territories. Hamas would have to change, he said, because the

Alito - It's the Constitution That's At Stake

2006-02-01T20:14:00.000-05:00

By Thom Hartmann 01/30/06 "ICH" -- -- Samuel Alito is a big booster of presidential power. Other "constitutional scholars" have been less sanguine. On April 20, 1795, James Madison, who had just helped shepherd through the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and would become President of the United States in the following decade, wrote: "Of all the enemies to public

Interview: Iran, War, and Sanctions

2006-01-31T06:36:00.000-05:00

Interview conducted by Znet; reprinted with permission UK based professor Abbas Edalat is a founding member of the newly formed Campaign against Sanctions and Intervention in Iran (CASMII). He recently travelled to the US and spoke at MIT and San Francisco regarding the coming hostilities against Iran. He participated in the following Q and A with ZNet's Foaad Khosmood. Foaad Khosmood: Iran has

The "war on terror" isn't even a war

2006-01-29T20:41:00.000-05:00

By Lindsay Beyerstein Where does the War on Terror rank amongst the other great wars of American history? I think Ezra is making a serious framing error when he uses the foregoing question to introduce this excellent New York Times editorial by Joseph Ellis. Ellis is asking how grave a threat to national security terrorism is compared to other crises during which the government has evoked

A Corrupted Election

2006-01-29T15:31:00.000-05:00

Despite what you may have heard, the exit polls were right By Steve Freeman and Josh MitteldorfFebruary 15, 2005 Recall the Election Day exit polls that suggested John Kerry had won a convincing victory? The media readily dismissed those polls and little has been heard about them since. Many Americans, however, were suspicious. Although President Bush prevailed by 3 million votes in the

Finding a Place for 9/11 in American History

2006-01-28T16:12:00.000-05:00

By JOSEPH J. ELLIS Amherst, Mass. IN recent weeks, President Bush and his administration have mounted a spirited defense of his Iraq policy, the Patriot Act and, especially, a program to wiretap civilians, often reaching back into American history for precedents to justify these actions. It is clear that the president believes that he is acting to protect the security of the American

The re-declared War on Terror

2006-01-26T10:09:00.000-05:00

Amnesty International Annual Lecture hosted by TCD, delivered by Noam Chomsky at Shelbourne Hall, the Royal Dublin Society, January 18, 2006. By Noam Chomsky "Terror" is a term that rightly arouses strong emotions and deep concerns. The primary concern should, naturally, be to take measures to alleviate the threat, which has been severe in the past, and will be even more

Chimps more like humans than apes

2006-01-24T01:30:00.000-05:00

By Robert Roy BrittWhile you might think of yourself as smarter than the average ape, beware: Those distant relatives of ours have a knack for evolving more quickly than we do. And by revealing this through DNA analysis, scientists have provided support for a controversial hypothesis that chimpanzees are more closely related to humans than to other species of great apes with which they're

The Enduring Threat: A Brief History

2006-01-23T11:44:00.000-05:00

Iranian Nuclear Ambitions and American Foreign Policy By Terence M. Gatt Originally published November 3, 2005 Posted on site 01/22/06 "ICH" -- -- The resumption in August of uranium processing, directed by newly elected Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has not only aggravated enduring tenuous American foreign relations with Iran that have existed since

The Poisoning of the Well

2006-01-20T12:03:00.000-05:00

Of Paradoxes and Manna from Heaven By Manuel Valenzuela 01/19/06 "ICH" -- The rise of Christian fundamentalism in the United States is a profound paradox, a reality that in the natural evolution of human endeavor should not exist, an anathema to the inevitable progression of humanity and civilization, a manifestation that is at odds with what we would expect to

Petrodollar Warfare: Dollars, Euros and the Upcoming Iranian Oil Bourse

2006-01-20T09:09:00.000-05:00

"This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous...Having said that, all options are on the table." -- President George W. Bush, February 2005 By William R. Clark 08/08/05 "MM" -- -- Contemporary warfare has traditionally involved underlying conflicts regarding economics and resources. Today these