What will Fallujah look like when the 200,000 refugees return to their bombed out city? Well first of all they'll have to pass through nifty little hyper borders called "citizen processing centers ... a high-tech security infrastructure complete with DNA testing, retina scans and ID badges for all the city's residents, according to Marine Corps officers interviewed by the Boston Globe."
More goodies in store for the "citizens" of Fallujah ....
status in Canada. Jeremy Hinzman is one of two American COs seeking refugee status in Canada. His immigration hearing started today in Toronto. The hearing is expected to last 3 days. In the meantime, Hinzman may remain in Canada until his entire process runs out or he is granted citizenship. Outside of the hearing a group of Canadians stood in his support.
Below are some serious matters to consider before planning to immigrate to Canada. It is a difficult and expensive undertaking. My aim here is not to discourage Americans from immigrating to Canada, but to present the facts about the immigration process from my own personal experiences. If you are considering a move to Canada this is a MUST READ diary.
The CRTC (Canadian Radio and Television Commission) has given the green light to broadcast Al-Jazeera in Canada after a year long debate. The bad news is it's going to be monitored for content that may be offensive to some viewers. Link
Thank gawd there are some sane people left in Washington.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A divided U.S. Senate rejected a bid on Wednesday to amend the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage, likely killing the measure backed by President Bush for at least this election year. here
Senator John Rockefeller IV was just on CBC International and his remarks were scathing. He blames the Bush administration for doctoring intelligence, for destroying international relations, and for putting the US in more danger from attack than any other time in history. The CBC website has some coverage, but nothing like what I just saw.
A former CIA officer (forgot his name) follows up with a damaging report on intelligence failures concerning Iraq, the Bushites interferance in intelligence (doctoring), and the long and slow deterioration of the CIA under YES men and women for almost 40 years. He called for a total revamp of the entire intelligence dept. and the ousting of anyone who isn't afraid to tell the truth despite political reprisals.
What a shame huh? Major Schmidt is appealing his tough punishment for disobeying a direct order in his zeal to kill. Responsible for the unlawful deaths of 4 Canadian servicemen and the injury of eight others, he believes his reprimand and fine are too harsh. Maybe he should explain that to the families of those soldiers he murdered and those he left badly wounded.
Gen. Carlson, who found Major Schmidt guilty of a single count of dereliction of duty, issued a toughly worded reprimand Tuesday in which he said the veteran combat pilot had acted shamefully, rashly and "used the inherent right of self-defence as an excuse" to wage his own personal war, and accused the pilot of lying. The punishment will cost Major Schmidt $5,672 (U.S.). link
Is the Pentagon developing a Domestic Spy Agency in the US with the intent of recruiting American citizens to spy on their friends and neighbours?
A new provision buried in an intelligence appropriations bill moving through Congress would exempt Pentagon agencies from the Privacy Act, vastly expanding their ability to gather intelligence inside the United States, including recruiting citizens as informants.
I first heard this song about 2 yrs. ago on Democracynow.org and have searched for it ever since. It's haunting and beautiful and tells the truth. You may listen to a clip sample of it and purchase the CD here
Originally from South Dakota, Sara currently lives on a native plant farm in northern Minnesota. She is a staunch supporter of struggles for human dignity and ecological sustainability. Slowing down enough to see and hear the vibrant wonder of the commonplace is her work and play. All this can be felt in her music. Whether it is a song welcoming a newborn, protesting a policy, depicting night falling or describing a loved one, her music is alive and pulsing.
The Nation has an interesting article the Campaign for America's Future.
Looking down the list of speakers scheduled to address the Campaign for America's Future's well-attended and well-spoken "Take Back America" conference this week, it was easy to surmise that the most newsworthy remarks would be those of US Sen. Hillary Clinton, US Sen. John Edwards, former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, the Rev. Jesse Jackson or, perhaps, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who was honored for his crusading against Wall Street's excesses and abuses.
Edwards didn't attend to his own disadvantage, but Dean was fiery. On Tenet's resignation, Dean said: "It's about time somebody in this Administration resigned over all the misdeeds that have gone on..." George Soros stole the show with his commentary on foreign affairs and the future of America. Soros is an activist and a major contributor to groups like Media Fund and MoveOn.org. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
The push to control Iraq and the entire Middle East and, by extension, Central Asia (Eurasia) is not a scheme derived exclusively by the Bush administration. Since the end of World War II, America has followed Foreign Policy directives first adopted under the Roosevelt administration called The Grand Area Planning. The [Middle East] region was described as "a stupendous source of strategic power and one of the greatest material prizes in world history --- an area "necessary for world control."[Kolko in Saney]. Towards that end, the USA began to supplant Britain and France from the region and was instrumental in the creation of the State of Israel.
In another diary today Lucky Ducky asked us to propose questions that would hurt President Bush (if made to answer). Here you go Lucky Ducky ...
In a recent article, Chalmers Johnson asked "Twelve questions for President Bush Meant to Help Strengthen His Remaining Speeches about Iraq." These 12 questions are very powerful and get to the heart of the Iraq question and would be excellent question to ask Kerry when he is charged with addressing the same problems in Iraq. How would you propose Kerry answer these questions.
Preventive Warriors - how Bush has rewritten the rules of war. is a documentary (film) to be released this summer. But why wait? On today's broadcast, Democracynow.org plays an excerpt of the film. It is about 2/3rd's of the way through the feed. The documentary will be broadcast in full on Monday's DN broadcast.
Kerry's take on Iraq seems to be to stay the course so far. At least I haven't heard anything to the contrary from the Democrats. If I read him correctly, it seems Kerry is leaning more towards a more coordinated effort in Iraq - a better plan (or at least a plan) to restore order in Iraq. To achieve anything close to stability in Iraq, a lot more troops would probably be needed on the ground. I cannot see how that can be done without reinstating the draft. Is Kerry playing the waiting game hoping the GOP will impose the draft so he won't have to?
Afghan Massacre - Convoy of Death was re-aired on Democracy Now yesturday. If you missed it last year, you can see it again. Warning, it's very disturbing indeed. Both eye-witnesses who came forward about the massacres are now dead. The US military is complicit in the deaths of up to 3,000 Afghan prisoners.
Will Cuba be the next Iraq?
In their Imperialistic expansion efforts, the USA seems to have put in motion the war plans for their next target - Cuba.
Last week a 500 page fact sheet called Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba . set the groundwork for the anti-climax of a 45 year old plan to overthrow Fidel Castro and secure Cuba for Ameican "interests".
As if the military, political, and moral fallout from George Bush's regime change in Iraq isn't enough, the White House has now announced its intentions "to bring an end" to the Castro government in Cuba. "Our government will establish a Commission for the Assistance to a Free Cuba, to plan for the happy day when Castro's regime is no more and democracy comes to the island." (President George W. Bush, October 10, 2003)
The situation in Iraq dominated the pre-G8 summit meeting to be held in Georgia next month. Most members are still resistant to aid Bush. There's still no UN-backed deal to create an interim government in Iraq. The Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal, the US entering the holy city of Najaf, and the release of only 300 of the estimated 3,000 prisoners released at Abu Ghraib probably didn't convince France, Germany, and Russia to come on board.
U.S. President George W. Bush urged Canada and other Group of Eight countries to bury the hatchet and rally together on the reconstruction of Iraq after the handover of sovereignty to an interim government in Baghdad next month.
"He talked about putting aside past differences and all of us working together to help the Iraqi people realize a brighter future," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said yesterday after the President met with Canadian Foreign Minister Bill Graham and counterparts from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia ahead of next month's G8 Summit in Georgia.
Others were more blunt. "We're only just starting to discuss the conditions and the context in which, on June 30, this new Iraqi government will receive authority," French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said, vowing that no French troops will set foot on Iraqi soil.
