You'll be missed

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We as terrorists?

Iran mosque blast plotters admit Israeli, US links

Iran's chief prosecutor said bombers who caused a deadly blast at a mosque in Shiraz had confessed of links to Israel and the United States, the ISNA student news agency reported on Friday. "Those responsible for the attack against the Shiraz mosque have confessed to having links to worldwide oppression, in particular the United States and Israel," Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi was quoted by the agency as saying.

We cry outrage when the Generals say Iran is training fighters for Iraq. Shouldn't the media also cry outrage if these ties are true?

Come on Hannity. Where are you?

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It is about time we are reading this

Is The World About To Be Running On Empty?

In France, fishermen are blockading oil refineries. In Britain, lorry drivers are planning a day of action. In the US, the car maker Ford is to cut production of gas-guzzling sports utility vehicles and airlines are jacking up ticket prices. Global concerns about fuel prices are reaching fever pitch and the world’s leading energy monitor has issued a disturbing downward revision of the oil industry’s ability to keep pace with soaring demand.
Yesterday’s warning from the International Energy Agency sent the price of a barrel of oil to a new record for the 13th day in a row. The latest high - $135 for a barrel of light sweet crude - was reached in New York barely five months after the price hit $100. Experts in London and on Wall Street predict that prices will rise to $200, regardless of the protests of consumers and the complaints of politicians. It is simple economics, they say: supply and demand. The former is short, the latter growing.

Peak Oil - a phrase more should hear about - and more politicos pay attention to.

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Cluster Bombs

SurvivorCorps.org

The Survivor Corps team travels to Dublin, Ireland May 19-30, 2008 for the final round of negotiations on the Cluster Munitions Treaty, which will ban the use of these indiscriminate weapons and uphold the human rights of people affected by the weapon. The treaty is expected to open for signatures in December of 2008.
As a Steering Committee member of the Cluster Munitions Coalition, Survivor Corps is leading the charge to make sure that effective assistance for victims of cluster munitions is one of the core obligations of the treaty. The goal is to ensure that governments provide assistance to the people and communities harmed by cluster munitions, and fully recognize their human rights.

The work of this group is to be applauded and supported. Their purpose is to help all overcome the effects of war and violence. A co-founder of the group is Jerry White.

In 1984, author Jerry White lost his leg---and almost his life---in a landmine accident. He has endured the pain of loss and the challenge of rebuilding. As cofounder of Survivors Corps, White has interviewed thousands of victims of tragedy.

He has recently written a book titled "I Will Not Be Broken", "...an astoundingly effective guide to recreating a happy and fulfilling life after catastrophe strikes..."
Wouldn't it be great if Stevie Mull would read this and talk to White before he declares that this regime will not ban cluster bombs?

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WTF?

US Official: Cluster Bomb Ban Could Hurt ‘Cooperation’ and ‘Humanitarian Work’

A senior U.S. official said Wednesday that a proposed treaty banning cluster bombs would hurt world security and endanger U.S. military cooperation on humanitarian work with countries that sign the accord.
Stephen Mull, an assistant secretary of state, briefed reporters at the State Department to explain why the United States was not attending a gathering in Ireland of representatives of more than 100 nations working on a treaty to ban the bombs blamed for killing or maiming civilians as their mini-bombs explode months or years after they are dropped.
Mull, acting assistant secretary for political-military affairs, said a draft of the treaty would criminalize military cooperation with the United States or other countries that have cluster bombs and do not sign the document. That would hinder humanitarian work of the type the United States is involved in now in Myanmar and China, he said. American warships and planes often are used to respond to earthquakes, typhoons, cyclones and other disasters around the world. “This would have very grave implications,” Mull said. “With one stroke, any country that signs the convention as it is now and ratifies it, in effect would make it impossible for the United States or any of our other allies who rely on these weapons to participate in these humanitarian exercises.”
The three biggest producers of cluster bombs - the United States, Russia and China - oppose ban proposals and have veto power on the U.N. Security Council. None of the three is represented at the talks in Dublin.

Stevie, here's the solution. Stop using and producing cluster bombs. Case closed - not problem with helping others.

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Joining the crazies!

US House speaker: Nothing should be ruled out in order to stop Iran

"Iran must be stopped. They are a threat to the neighborhood and a source of funding for Hamas and Hizbullah," Pelosi told Channel 1. While hoping there would be no need for a military strike, the House speaker stressed, "I do think we must not take anything off the table."

Nancy - back-up singer to McCain?

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Get Better

Forget all your politics for awhile...
Every thing’s gonna get lighter, even if it never gets better.

Let's hope so. We need some help!

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Revive? It wasn't near death!

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 05/16/2008 | Bush visit to Israel revives talk of a strike on Iran

In 22 minutes, Bush offered one of the strongest demonstrations of support for Israel ever made by an American president. And he reawakened lingering hopes among hawks in Israel or the United States for a U.S. military strike to thwart Iran's nuclear program. Israel's Army Radio reported Friday that the possibility of an American strike on Iran was raised in private discussions during Bush's visit.

Only a few months left to make an impact on November elections.

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Sending troops?

US President Bush offers to help Lebanese Army

Washington is ready to help the Lebanese Army respond more effectively to Hezbollah's armed supporters, US President George W Bush said in an interview with BBC Arabic television rebroadcast Tuesday. Bush said Hezbollah was acting against its own people and accused the Shiite group of destabilizing Lebanon with the backing of Iran.

The question Congress and we must ask is:What kind of help? Send in troops? First casualty...blame Iran...invade Iran.
Not probable?
This is W we are talking about you know.

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Sleight of hand

US must focus on Iraq, less on future wars-Gates

The U.S. military should focus more on winning in Iraq and preparing to fight other insurgencies and less on possible big wars with other countries, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday. "I have noticed too much of a tendency toward what might be called 'next-war-itis' -- the propensity of much of the defense establishment to be in favor of what might be needed in a future conflict," Gates said. "It is true that we would be hard-pressed to launch a major conventional ground operation elsewhere in the world at this time -- but where would we sensibly do that?" he said at a seminar for journalists in Colorado Springs.

So while WE focus on Iraq, WE fail to notice what Gates is planning for Iran. Houdini-Gates.

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Who cares?

First lady: Storm threatened wedding

Storms that spawned violent tornadoes over the weekend slammed into President Bush's Texas ranch and threatened to disrupt wedding plans for Jenna Bush and Henry Hager, first lady Laura Bush said Monday.
"We did have a little — one setback on Friday night. While we were off in another town at the rehearsal dinner there was a tornado. ... All the catering ovens were turned over and the sides were ripped off the tent," she told a luncheon at the White House.
"But everyone worked wildly and you couldn't even tell the next night. It was just perfect, everything was great."

"We ignored all those deaths in Iraq. We ignored the deaths in Myanmar. We clearly ignored the devastation in our own country from twisters and floods. We ignored it all, as we have in the past, because we wanted to just kick back and have a great time. And we did!"

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350

Earth at 350

Even for Americans, constitutionally convinced that there will always be a second act, and a third, and a do-over after that, and, if necessary, a little public repentance and forgiveness and a Brand New Start--even for us, the world looks a little Terminal right now.
It's not just the economy. We've gone through swoons before. It's that gas at $4 a gallon means we're running out, at least of the cheap stuff that built our sprawling society. It's that when we try to turn corn into gas, it sends the price of a loaf of bread shooting upwards and starts food riots on three continents. It's that everything is so inextricably tied together. It's that, all of a sudden, those grim Club of Rome types who, way back in the 1970s, went on and on about the "limits to growth" suddenly seem... how best to put it, right.
All of a sudden it isn't morning in America, it's dusk on planet Earth.
There's a number--a new number--that makes this point most powerfully. It may now be the most important number on Earth: 350. As in parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
A few weeks ago, our foremost climatologist, NASA's Jim Hansen, submitted a paper to Science magazine with several co-authors. The abstract attached to it argued--and I have never read stronger language in a scientific paper--"if humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that CO2 will need to be reduced from its current 385 ppm to at most 350 ppm." Hansen cites six irreversible tipping points--massive sea level rise and huge changes in rainfall patterns, among them--that we'll pass if we don't get back down to 350 soon; and the first of them, judging by last summer's insane melt of Arctic ice, may already be behind us.
Here's the thing. Hansen didn't just say that, if we didn't act, there was trouble coming; or, if we didn't yet know what was best for us, we'd certainly be better off below 350 ppm of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. His phrase was: "...if we wish to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed." A planet with billions of people living near those oh-so- floodable coastlines. A planet with ever more vulnerable forests. (A beetle, encouraged by warmer temperatures, has already managed to kill ten times more trees this year than in any previous infestation across the northern reaches of Canada. This means far more carbon heading for the atmosphere, and apparently dooms Canada's efforts to comply with the Kyoto Protocol, already in doubt because of its decision to start producing oil for the US from Alberta's tar sands.)

With twisters, changed weather patterns, cyclones...we better hurry!

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War with Iran is close...

Closer Than You Think

There is considerable speculation and buzz in Washington today suggesting that the National Security Council has agreed in principle to proceed with plans to attack an Iranian al-Qods-run camp that is believed to be training Iraqi militants. The camp that will be targeted is one of several located near Tehran. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was the only senior official urging delay in taking any offensive action. The decision to go ahead with plans to attack Iran is the direct result of concerns being expressed over the deteriorating situation in Lebanon, where Iranian ally Hezbollah appears to have gained the upper hand against government forces and might be able to dominate the fractious political situation.

Gates a voice of reason? No way - he was probably holding out to bomb the entire nation just not a few camps.

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Reduce!

US Consumers Rank Last in World Survey of Green Habits

Americans rank last in a new National Geographic-sponsored survey released Wednesday that compares environmental consumption habits in 14 countries. Americans were least likely to choose the greener option in three out of four categories - housing, transportation and consumer goods_ according to the assessment.

It is not just the choice. It is the desire to have the latest and greatest. To have the biggest and most. The problem with that? Those iPods, PCs, TVes, shoes, jeans....just get thrown away. Stop the buying frenzy as well as start buying the greener product.

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Looking for more reasons

Iran's influence in Latin America worries U.S.

Iran is making allies in Latin America to counter Washington's traditional influence in the region and could use them to threaten U.S. security, a top U.S. diplomat said Wednesday. "We are worried that in the event of a conflict with Iran, that it would attempt to use its presence in the region to conduct such activities against us," Thomas Shannon, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, told Reuters. Left-wing governments in Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Bolivia have all become allies of Iran in recent years, and other countries in Latin America have diplomatic ties with the Islamic republic.

And now with Lebanon in civil war, all eyes are on Iranian support of Hezbollah.

It serves the ambition of General Petraeus, by implicitly blaming Iran for the failure of his "surge": Petraeus has hinted that he wants a bigger war, a story like this supplies a plausible cover to his next escalation, and it was designed to lend itself to that use. Also, by invoking the name of Hezbollah--until now, an obscure Lebanese party to most Americans--Gordon and the Times pick an enemy of Israel to connect with an enemy of the U.S.
Something is in the air. Nobody is talking about Iran and everybody is talking about it, from Hillary Clinton in her run for president to Condoleezza Rice in her run for vice-president. When Senator Clinton said that for Israel's sake she would "obliterate" Iran, she was entering a new terrain of recklessness. In the past, in America, it has been mainly generals who talked this way.
Obliterate was a favorite word and idea with General Curtis LeMay, head of the Strategic Air Command and the prototype of General Jack D. Ripper in Dr. Strangelove. The only politician to talk freely of obliteration, before Hillary Clinton, was not John McCain but another retired pilot and senator from Arizona, Barry Goldwater.
What are Bush and Petraeus looking for? Probably, at first, a small or medium- small war, with tactical bombing raids across the border to assist McCain in the fall and have him inherit in January. And yet, the administration is ready for worse. And if Iran makes a war possible by violent counteraction, the last days of the Bush administration will be euphoric and satisfied.

The ways that W can manipulate and lie to get us into Iran keep building. And the consequences keep getting bleaker.

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Fill in the blanks

War with _________ 'very close'

"We know what the signals are when you see propaganda waged against _________. We see _____________ troops entering our territories on the basis of false information," he said.

Iran? Guess again.

Looks like other "superpowers" want to flex their muscles too.

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Read carefully...

Ayatollah: Iran won't stop nuke program

Meanwhile, US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen said Sunday that he hopes the time does not arrive when the US decides to discontinue sanctions against Iran and instead tries to solve the nuclear standoff militarily. "I hope the US does not get into a situation where we get into a military conflict with Iran," Mullen told Channel 10. Concerning the Syrian nuclear faculty reportedly bombed by Israel and which the CIA said was being built with North Korean help, Mullen called the situation "troubling." He went on to say that the US has "has been at Israel's side for all of 60 years, it will be for the next 60 years, 100 years and 1,000 years.

Read carefully. No not the 1,000 years. Read the "military conflict" line again. Seems to be getting ready to say that we were forced to attack Iran.

Deja Vu all over again.

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Liberal media?

United States is drawing up plans to strike on Iranian insurgency camp

The US military is drawing up plans for a “surgical strike” against an insurgent training camp inside Iran if Republican Guards continue with attempts to destabilise Iraq, western intelligence sources said last week. One source said the Americans were growing increasingly angry at the involvement of the Guards’ special-operations Quds force inside Iraq, training Shi’ite militias and smuggling weapons into the country.

Where are the media stars? Why are we not hearing this on ABC, NBC, FAUX?

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Heating up!

CIA director says Iran wants to kill Americans in Iraq

CIA Director Michael Hayden said Wednesday that Iranian policy, at the highest government level, is to help kill Americans in Iraq, the boldest pronouncement of Iranian involvement by a U.S. official to date.
"It is my opinion, it is the policy of the Iranian government, approved to highest level of that government, to facilitate the killing of Americans in Iraq," Hayden said. "Just make sure there's clarity on that."

And we know you want to kill them.

It is painfully obvious that the bombs have a green-light. Where is Congress? Where are the voices to stop it before it starts?

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Here we go...

Carrier Reminder

The U.S. Navy has temporarily added a second aircraft carrier in the Gulf as a “reminder” to Iran, but this was not an escalation of American forces in the region, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday.
“This deployment has been planned for a long time,” Gates said. “I don’t think we’ll have two carriers there for a protracted period of time. So I don’t see it as an escalation. I think it could be seen, though, as a reminder.”

Or maybe a safeguard as Israel prepares to bomb Iran

The commander of the Israeli Air Force says the regime’s decision makers have been preparing plans to take out Iran’s nuclear facilities. General Eliezer Shkedi, who also heads the Israeli task force on Iran, made the remarks in an interview with “60 Minutes” on Sunday. A large portion of Shkedi’s service has been dedicated to the preparation for a possible mission that was never discussed in public; an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, should international economic sanctions fail, Israeli daily Ha’aretz reported on Monday.

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SHAME - II!

Obama says will back Petraeus for new military job

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, who has called for withdrawing U.S. combat troops from Iraq, said Sunday he will vote to confirm the top commander there for a new job as head of the military's Central Command.

With Petraus in the new position we may just see an Iranian front open up. Disgusting II!

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SHAME!

House Democrats Look To Fund War Through 2009

House Democratic leaders are putting together the largest Iraq war spending bill yet, a measure that is expected to fund the war through the end of the Bush presidency and for nearly six months into the next president’s term. The bill, which could be unveiled as early as this week, signals that Democrats are resigned to the fact they can’t change course in Iraq in the final months of President Bush’s term. Instead, the party is pinning its hopes of ending the war on winning the White House in November.

Disgusting!

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Which is it: Iran or Syria?

U.S: Syria must 'come clean' on nukes

The White House said Thursday that North Korea did secret work on a nuclear reactor with Syria, calling it "a dangerous and potentially destabilizing development for the world" and raising doubts about Pyongyang's intention to carry through with a promised disclosure of its nuclear activities. Seven months after Israel bombed the site, the White House broke its silence and said North Korea assisted Syria in a secret nuclear program and that the destroyed facility was not intended for "peaceful purposes."

Sure, it was taken out by Israel. But this talk raises the question, who's next? Do we bomb Iran or Syria? Could W, Uncle Dick and Petraus be thinking of hitting both at the same time?

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Where is al-Sadr?

Rice frames al-Sadr as coward in Iran 

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice mocked anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as a coward yesterday, hours after the radical leader threatened to declare war unless U.S. and Iraqi forces end a military crackdown on his followers.
Miss Rice, in the Iraqi capital to tout security gains and what she calls an emerging political consensus, said Sheik al-Sadr is content to issue threats and edicts from the safety of Iran, where he is studying. Sheik al-Sadr heads an unruly militia that was the main target of an Iraqi government assault in the oil-rich city of Basra last month, and his future role as a spoiler is an open question. "I know he's sitting in Iran," Miss Rice said dismissively, when asked about Sheik al-Sadr's latest threat to lift a self-imposed cease-fire with government and U.S. forces. "I guess it's all-out war for anybody but him," Miss Rice said. "I guess that's the message; his followers can go to their deaths and he's in Iran."

Condi, we heard you the first time. You think he is in Iran. How many times will you say it? Oh, I forgot you are, along with the others, trying to set the stage for an attack. Sorry, I forgot that Iran was the Evil Empire. Hey, has the evidence that Iran caused Katrina been released yet?

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Before November...

Gates calls Iran 'hell bent' on getting nuclear arms

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he believes Iran is "hell bent" on acquiring nuclear weapons, but he warned in strong terms of the consequences of going to war over that. "Another war in the Middle East is the last thing we need and, in fact, I believe it would be disastrous on a number of levels," he said in a speech he was delivering Monday evening at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

"But we won't let disaster stop us. Let's start the war before the elections in November. That way we'll have our war no matter who wins. In the end we will win - at least the stockholders and investors in Blackwater, Halliburton, GE..."

Okay you caught me. He really didn't say it, but I am sure he was thinking it.

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