Morally Odious...

Very interesting article on Adbusters HERE by Maria Hampton.

"Washington’s Earth Policy Institute predicts that by 2031 – when incomes match Americans – China’s tipping point is likely to become the world’s. Analyst Lester Brown believes that, unchecked, China will consume two-thirds of the world’s current grain supplies, 99 million daily barrels of oil – against a global supply of 84 million – and twice as much paper as the world currently makes. If they follow Americans and amass three cars for every four people, their fleet of 1.1 billion vehicles will dwarf the current global fleet of 800 million, and would require paving an area equivalent to all of China’s rice paddies to be driven."

Pretty scary stuff. China does have one thing going for it though...An authoritarian regime that can change policy in seconds. At first glance there is 'hope' as protests in China have increased every year for a decade...

"Last April, 60,000 Zhejiang residents torched cars, smashed windows and injured 30 officials during pollution protests. In July, 15,000 rioters raged against an aging Xinchang pharmaceutical plant."

Sounds promising except when you realize that the one thing China has going for it...an Authoritatian regime capable of quick change...then you realize any democratization will hasten the tipping point...

Hm...

This brings us to the point of the article...

"Which leaves us in the morally odious position of wishing a continued dictatorship on others to ensure our own survival. But how can we demonize a nation whose individual citizens consume ten times less than we do? If the path that China is taking the world makes us nervous, we might want to level the criticism closer to home – at the institutions that gave China the directions."

Can I revoke my Human Citizenship? I'd like to be a Golden Retreiver please...:)
________________________________

I know I mocked the Dubai Port 'scandal' on an earlier post and this piece of info doesn't change my mind. I just found it very interesting. The Jeruselum Post is reporting HERE that the parent 'compan' of Dubai Ports World (DPW) is the government of Dubai. We knew that. Here's where it gets interesting. The government of Dubai owns DPW through a holding company called the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation (PCZC). Turns out this company participates in the Arab boycott of Israeli goods and products. Whoops...why is this is a big deal?

"US law bars firms from complying with such requests or cooperating with attempts by Arab governments to boycott Israel."

A little sleuthing leads us to HERE, a US governmentDepartment of Commerce website dedicated to...

Antiboycott Laws:

During the mid-1970's the United States adopted two laws that seek to counteract the participation of U.S. citizens in other nation's economic boycotts or embargoes. These "antiboycott" laws are the 1977 amendments to the Export Administration Act (EAA) and the Ribicoff Amendment to the 1976 Tax Reform Act (TRA)

Objectives:

The antiboycott laws were adopted to encourage, and in specified cases, require U.S. firms to refuse to participate in foreign boycotts that the United States does not sanction. They have the effect of preventing U.S. firms from being used to implement foreign policies of other nations which run counter to U.S. policy.

Primary Impact:

The Arab League boycott of Israel is the principal foreign economic boycott that U.S. companies must be concerned with today. The antiboycott laws, however, apply to all boycotts imposed by foreign countries that are unsanctioned by the United States.

This is going to be problematic:) That sound you just heard was the Jewish Lobby in DC picking up their phones en masse and calling their bitches...er...Congressmen and Senators;)

Help Bush Stay Legal! and you...why don't you...

Stay Naked.

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MSM Misses Mark on Santorum

The valiant press release transcribers who make up the MSM have done it again.

Senator Rick Santorum, noted right-wing hypocrite, has been flogged far and wide because his personal charity, "Operation Good Neighbor", failed the Better Business Bureau overhead test. Seems the BBB thinks they should should give away 65% of the money they raise and they actually give away only about 40%. Oh, yes and there's a lot of crossover between the campaign staff and the charity staff and the charity runs out of the campaign office. Unseemly.

But the guts of the story are the overhead numbers. Santorum kept 25% too much or gave away 25% too little, take your pick. His staff's response that proper accounting rises his actual beneficence to 45% doesn't help much.

But, if the MSM could have risen from its torpor long enough to remember that the BBB is a fairly toothless dragon regarding ethical enforcement among businesses (you recall that big story about the BBB cleaning up false advertising practices among aluminum siding salesmen ? You don't ? Me neither. ), they might have summoned the energy to Google "charity, overhead, percent" and they might have found "Charity Navigator" or something like it.

Then we discover that a foundation like Operation Good Neighbor, which only raises money for actual charities that do actual good works, is held to a far different standard. Santorum should actually be giving away 95% of what he raises and limiting his overhead to 5% instead of lining the pockets of his staffers and cronies with "charity" money.

His shortfall isn't 25% as the Van Winkles of the press and the BBB would have us believe, but 55% ! He is giving his pals more than he gives the actually needy. The "bad press" he has received is a slap on the wrist at worst and, more accurately, a gift.

I am sorry to report that it appears that even the blogosphere has missed this one.

To arms ! To arms ! The hypocrites are coming !

Please, please, Oh Best Beloved, stay awake and

Stay Naked.

Birthday of the Beast

Relax. Relax. I always have to calm Adam down when I do one of these posts to assure him I have not slipped into pure crackpottery (not that he doesn't already think so).

I say everybody loves "end of the world" stuff, be it the biblical Beast, asteroid strikes, global warming or whatever

Anyhow I saw this yarn and I started thinking. And I started doing some calculating with the numbers that appear in the article.

So, if the population of the Earth reached 6.5 billion on Feb. 25, 2006 at 7:16 p.m. and is scheduled to reach 7 billion on Oct. 18, 2012 at 4:36 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time,( Given the rate of increase of 4.4 individuals per second) then it should be a pretty straightforward calculation to determine when it reaches 6,666, 666, 666. Well, with all those sixes the Number of the Beast must be in there somewhere, right ?

I admit I can't even balance a checkbook, but I figure the magic moment to be early in the morning of April 23, 2007. Hey, that's right around the corner ! Well, if people start getting weird about 4/23/07 I want you all to remember that you heard it here first.

And to calm those who are alarmed by this prediction (and to retain my bonafides as a Christian) I point out that the Bible is clear that nobody knows when The End is coming, not even Jesus himself.

So don't worry, be happy, stay watchful and

Stay Naked

Around the World in 60 seconds...

or however long it takes you to read theses stories. I don't know. You could be one of those really fast, high-comprehension readers or one of those really slow, high-comprehension readers. Don't blame me. I'm still sick:)

Let's start with oil....Texas T, Black Gold. Before we forget that the ONLY reason we're in Iraq is oil, let's take a look at the price of that liquid love. According to Reuters,the price of crude oil jumped $2.00 a barrel on news of a suicide bombing attack against the massive Abqaiq oil facility in Saudi Arabia. The attack was reportedly thwarted and two vehicles were destroyed right outside the gates. Check out this quote from an industry insider:
"It's all about perception. Just the idea of an attack in Saudi Arabia is enough to make the market jumpy," said Glenn Murray, an oil broker at GM Oil."
Glenn Murray, please report to the White Courtesy Phone for your serious ass-kicking. Obviously some reporter called their buddy Glenn for a quote. Glenn needs a primer on the difference between 'perception' and 'reality'. An 'idea' of an attack doesn't include two militants killed, two gaurds killed, a two hour pitched gun battle...I perceive that Glenn Murray has shit for brains. Oh wait, I'm right so that makes it real:)
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According to Jason Leopold (I know, I gotta get off this guys jock but seriously, he appears to the only journalist all over the CIA/Plame affair)...the White has turned over 250 'missing' emails.


"Sources close to the probe said the White House “discovered” the emails two weeks ago and turned them over to Fitzgerald last week. The sources added that the emails could prove that Cheney lied to FBI investigators when he was interviewed about the leak in early 2004. Cheney said that he was unaware of any effort to discredit Wilson or unmask his wife’s undercover status to reporters."

Which is insane as every report we've seen so far put Dick Cheney up to his eyeballs in this mess. Perhaps Cheney will adopt the Scooter libby defense: "I was too busy to tell the truth"

Personally, I think Bush okayed the release of these emails so he can get rid of Cheney who has so far given him...
-Iraq
-Torture
-Plame Affair
-ShootUrBuddy Gate
-Wiretapping Gate

The list is endless...time for Dick to go but Dick is scary to little Georgie so best to let Fitzgerald take him down...or so goes my thinking...
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Speaking of thinking, what was our boy Rumsfeld thinking in the aftermath of 9/11? Good question and one we now have the answer to thanks to blogger Thad Anderson at Outragedmoderates.org. As reported HERE by the Guardian, Rummy was thinking of bombing SH (Saddam Hussein) HOURS AFTER THE BOMBING!...

"Best info fast. Judge whether good enough [to] hit SH at same time - not only UBL [Pentagon shorthand for Usama/Osama bin Laden]," the notes say. "Tasks. Jim Haynes [Pentagon lawyer] to talk with PW [probably Paul Wolfowitz, then Mr Rumsfeld's deputy] for additional support ... connection with UBL."



Ah the good old days. I wonder if SH (Saddam Hussein) slept with DR (Donald Rumsfelds) wife? What else could explain this dramatic falling out these guys had?

Stay Naked.

Stomach flu is not fun...

Words to the wise. I've been smitten by a savage case of stomach flu. I live in Connecticut but have heard of folks from coast to coast getting dropped like yesterdays news. In situations like those, when some poor sod is complaining about his/her sickness I always say...very smugly...I don't get sick. Go ahead and snicker for I've been rendered useless...I now live in fear of being more than about 12 paces from working plumbing:)

Speaking of plumbing. The Sh*thole that is Iraq is unravelling before our eyes. The western press will regale you with stories of Iraq being on the 'Brink' of civil war or they'll flip-flop all over the place (See the NY Times coverage...) Here's a nice piece by The Ausralian titled "Gates of Hell are Open"

"Jordanian regional analyst Labib Qamhawi says the beleaguered country is on a precipice. "I would say the threat of civil war is very, very imminent now," he says. "Unless the religious leaders and the political leaders on all sides join forces in preventing this possibility, we might see ourselves in the middle of a vicious civil war in a country that lacks effective central power.

"This is a recipe for disaster because a large country like Iraq cut into pieces and partitions on various grounds [will not work]. The Iraqis must now gather forces and form a government of national unity that would prevail in the country, that would act as central government.

"The failure [to do so] is fusing various types of tension, whether religious or ethnic. The Sunnis must be rehabilitated within the Iraqi political system."

Makes you wish Saddam were still in power...but not quite...or maybe...:)

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Blow the Whistle. Lose your job. Jason Leopold continues his excellent coverage of the Plame Affair with THIS piece on the Bush Administrations attempts to silence criticism...remember current UN Ambassdor John Bolton visiting Judy Miller in jail? Leopold starts to fill in the blanks with how/when Bolton was involved in the leak...Fitzgerald must have a flow chart a mile high at this point...

Did you see that Phillipine President Gloria Arroyo declared a state of emergency? Didn't think so...

Stay Naked.

TIPS Rises From the Ashes

Remember TIPS ? Oh, you gotta remember TIPS ! It was a John Ashcroft proposal to protect us all from terror. Or each other. Or both.

C'mon. Think back. The Terrorism Information and Prevention System (TIPS). The idea was to have lettercarriers and repairpersons and many others specially trained to keep watch for suspicious activity. Your suspicious activity. Well, considering how popular neighbor narking programs have been in places like Soviet Russia, East Germany and China it is no surprise that TIPS was shouted, hooted, jeered and generally disrespected into oblivion. Like Mr. Ashcroft.

But it's BAAAAAAAAAACK ! Smaller version, same idea, already underway. It's called School Bus Watch , part of a larger DepHomeSec program called "Highway Watch" that has been going since 2003. 2003 !? We're training school bus drivers to watch parents for tell-tale signs of terrorism, so probably a bad idea to carry your RPG launcher when escorting Ashley to the bus. Oh, yes, Best Beloved, and that's not all.

There's Real Estate Watch to train realtors to look for funny business, ("Why, exactly, are you interested in such a large basement, Mr. Bin Laden ?") and then our favorite, CAT Eyes, or Community Anti-Terrorism Training Institute. Now that's your basic neighbor-to-neighbor hated and distrust program, building communities the old fashioned way.

Perhaps we shouldn't say that TIPS is "back", maybe it never really went away.

Are we feeling more secure or does this news just make you want to

Stay Naked ?
JD

Proud to be a monkey...

You gotta check out THIS kid from some eastern block country. He is a 'freewalker' which means he is an extreme athlete whose only equipment is his shoes. I gotta believe he's classically trained in gymnastics somewhere. About four minutes into his vid you see him do a freaking back-flip off a second story landing...astounding.

Here's a couple more sites that focus on the Art of Freewalking...

Renzhe Parkour

Urban Freeflow
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And Dick Cheney Shot Someone...And we want to let a company in the UAE manage our ports. And I don't care.

Stay Naked.

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It's Like Eating Popcorn

Once you get started, you can't stop. You know how it is. No matter how big the popcorn you buy at the flicks, you keep eating and eating until its gone.

Well, maybe its the same way with wiretapping. Turns out the Germans (you know, our allies in the War on Terror) think we wiretapped their intelligence folk in Baghdad before the '03 invasion.

Of course, the Germans were against the invasion, but they wanted to know what was going on so they left their guys in place.

Our guys asked their guys to share their intelligence but the German spooks apparently refused to share as they had not attended kindergarten in America where such things are taught.

So our guys went ahead and tapped their phones and now we are again embarrassed before the world (providing anyone in the White House or State Department is any longer capable of shame and embarrassment).

All this from the German paper Liepziger Volkzeitung by way of the Khaleej Times Online.


Do you think this is how the whole NSA-spying-on-Americans thing got started or do you think spying on our citizens and allies started even earlier ?

Consider that query and

Stay Naked

I think I thought I didn't know but it appears I don't...know...I think.

The Thought Plickens...Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald already deserves a medal for his attempts to penetrate this administrations pathological secretiveness. Jason Leopold of Truthout, who is doing the finest reporting on this matter in the Zoos opinion, has summarized the case so far HERE.

So who is in the pic? He's one Robert Joseph, currently the Under Secretary for Arms Control but formerly the Director of Nonproliferation at the National Security Council. According to Leopold, "Joseph is responsible for placing the infamous "sixteen words" about Iraq's attempt to purchase uranium from Niger in President Bush's January 2003 State of the Union address." Ah, thickens indeed...he has reportedly been named by witnesses as a possible source of the leaking of Valerie Plames name to journalists. REMINDER: This investigation is about the leaking of an active undercover CIA agent by members to the Bush administration. We here at the Zoo have already reported that an internal CIA damage-assessment characterizes the damage done by the leak as 'severe' and the time-frame it would take to repair the damage in the neighborhood of a decade...oh yeah, Plame was working on Iran...

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I know. Tough stuff but here's some good news. WE'RE NUMBER 1!!! Woohooo...12.7 % of Americans live below the poverty line, that's a whopping 37 million people...That makes us TOPS in the developed world...so next time some French bastard tells you America is a second rate, first world country...you look him in his eye and tell him, "We're #1 Froggie"...Here's some other fun facts:

· There are 37 million Americans living below the poverty line. That figure has increased by five million since President George W. Bush came to power.
· The United States has 269 billionaires, the highest number in the world.
· Almost a quarter of all black Americans live below the poverty line; 22 per cent of Hispanics fall below it. But for whites the figure is just 8.6 per cent.
· There are 46 million Americans without health insurance.
· There are 82,000 homeless people in Los Angeles alone.

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I see that Pops wrote a fairly scathing indictment of Israel yesterday. Pops and I don't always see eye to eye on the Israeli/ Palenstinian issue but in fairness I thought I'd provide an Israeli voice. HERE is a link to an editorial from HAARETZ.com, a well-known Jewish media outlet. It's penned by Yossi Sarid and in it he asks the question: Who do I think is the most terrifying and repulsive of all of the politicians in the world?

His answer may surprise you. After conceding that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is pretty scary he says that the Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney is the most 'terrifying and repulsive' politician on earth. His reasons?

"So far, the Cheney revolution has given rise to Hamas in the territories, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the most fanatic faction in Iran, the most extreme Shi'ites in Iraq, who are also making the Sunnis more extreme, the Taliban in recovering Afghanistan and the Hezbollah in Lebanon. Meanwhile, Assad's seat in Syria is stable. Even the head of Israel's Shin Bet was secretly recorded as saying that "as Israelis, we actually long for Saddam Hussein." Terror spans and chokes the world, and even wages war against us in caricatures. "

Hell, I'm convinced:) That's a pretty terrifying and repulsive record...

Stay Naked.

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Democracy on the March

Golly, it is satisfying to watch the Bush Administration spread democracy around the Middle East. Elections in Iraq have created the first elected government in Allah knows how long and we hardly had to interfere at all. With some major arm twisting we managed to install the Mayor of Kabul, although we seem to have lost interest in that project.

But, now we and our staunch allies the Israelis have a democracy project that we can really sink our teeth into: crushing the Palestinian version.

Is the problem that the elections were fraudulent or unfair ? No, they were remarkably "fair, free and peaceful" , according to virtually all sources.

No, the problem is simply that we don't like the winner, Hamas. So we, and our Israeli allies have decided we will simply crush the Hamas government. If you object to our including the U.S. in this tale, don't forget we give Israel at least $1 billion every year and we have already called for cutting off aid to Hamas.

I suppose you can make a case for the notion that we can give or withhold aid where and when we choose, no matter how short-sighted and destructive of our interests such decisions may be, but I would think we would draw the line at theft.

Israel has announced with will withhold some $50 million a month in taxes and fees it collects on behalf of the Palestinians !

This is not Israeli money they are choosing to withhold, but money that lawfully belongs to the Palestinians. I thought that was called theft. The reason ? Oh, yes the reason. Well it appears that the Palestinians are terrorists and are responsible for suicide bombings in Israel and the deaths of hundreds of Israelis.

Thsi criticism comes from Israel which has: killed thousands of Palestinians, illegally confiscated Palestinian lands, built countless illegal settlements in the West Bank, uprooted ancient olive orchards [the link is to the Caterillar D-9 entry, scroll down for the Israeli application of this U.S.-supplied equipment) , shot innocent children, destroyed countless homes , killed peace activists . . . well, I could go on, but you get the point.

You didn't ? The point is that the Israeli government lacks standing to complain about crimes committed by others. The legal maxim is: "One who seeks equity must do equity". A kid would just say "That's not fair".

George Bush says; "Go for it !"

I'm tired and I'm sick, but you

Stay Naked
jd

NZNR 2-18-06

Hello Zooheads...I hope you're having a great Saturday. It's cold on both coasts and we all need a hug...:)

So what'd ya miss? In the sports segment we talked some Tour of California and some Olympics...

and a ton of news...

We had a HUGE story about the Democrats eating one of their own...in this case, Iraqi War Veteran Paul Hackett...Mother Jones does a great job getting to the bottom of this and it's an illustration of why the Dems suck...

Republicans block investigations into WIRETAPPING and dodgy un-constitutional bill PASSING...

More on Scooter Libby and his 'defense'...HERE. Remember 'greymail' from two weeks ago...well here we go...

As always...

Stay Naked

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Fun Time at the Zoo....Bush Drunk and Babbling Reporters...

Great video of Bush at a wedding. Let's just say it was before he 'found God' and got sober. Click HERE. God Bless The Smoking Gun.



And one of a journalist trying to file a report about government soldiers burning large amounts of marijuana...Check it out HERE.

Stay Naked.

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Mark(ing) of the Beast(s) 2.0

My mother had the impression that events move faster the older you get. There is also the general impression that the world is going to hell in a handbasket at speeds that only astrophysicists can appreciate.

One or both of these phenomena may help explain that while I am posting on Feb. 10 "The Mark(ing) of the Beast(s)" , a story dealing with the Department of Agriculture's plan to mark every farm animal in the U.S. with a Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID), and hinting the system might someday be used on humans, the world was racing ahead.

Check out the Financial Times story from Feb. 12 about the first U.S. company to install RFIDs in two of its workers.

It's a "security" issue, of course, controlling access to a room where security videos for the police and military are stored, you know, like Sluts With Badges and Oil My Hardware, Ensign.


No big deal, according to the CEO for the company, CityWatcher.com (a reassuring name). “It’s not a GPS chip. My wife can’t tell where I am,” said Sean Darks. He also pointed out that the device has been "approved by the FDA". Then it's gotta be o.k., right ?

Everything is fine according to Mr. Darks of CityWatcher. Why don't I feel better ?

It is all accelerating, so stay awake, stay suspicious and

Stay Naked

Outrageous, salacious and just plain weird...

I am guilty. Guilty of focusing on the political implications of the Valerie Plame Affair and subsequent (and on-going) cover-up. I wait for Karl Rove to be indicted, I follow the legal machinations of Scooter Libby, I wonder if Dick 'Trigger-finger' Cheney will be indicted...I am guilty of forgetting all of this came about because this White House decided that outing a CIA agent was okay because her husband embarrassed them.

Let's set aside political machinations for a second. What was the intelligence cost of her outing?

Raw Story has a fascinating piece HERE on just this topic. According to the article, Valerie Plame was mostly working on Weapons of Mass destruction as they related to IRAN!!! Her focus was on 'The Khan Network' which refers to the Father of the Bomb in Pakistan AQ Khan and his international black market nuclear proliferation organization...The CIA did an in-house assessment of the damage the leak caused and found the damage to be 'severe'. Further, "Three intelligence officers confirmed that other CIA non-official cover officers were compromised, but did not indicate the number of people operating under non-official cover that were affected or the way in which these individuals were impaired."

"According to their own assessment, the CIA would be impaired for up to "ten years" in its capacity to adequately monitor nuclear proliferation on the level of efficiency and accuracy it had prior to the White House leak of Plame Wilson's identity."

TEN YEARS! This administration, which is currently waging war on 'leakers', (Check out a great article on that HERE from Insightmag) willfully and deliberately inflicted 'severe' damage on the CIA's ability to 'adequately monitor nuclear proliferation'...Ok, I need to take a break. This kind of stuff makes me so mad I can't shoot straight...
++++++++++++++++++++



Speaking of shooting straight, rumor has it the reason Dick Cheney et al waited 18 hours before reporting that the Number 2 politician in the US shot someone in the face with a shotgun wasn't because the VP was drunk off his ass but because he had a little lady friend with him...hmmmm.
She's quite a looker...hey listen, I'm not saying he wasn't drunk or homicidal. I'm just saying maybe he was drunk, homicidal and horny...I'm glad I got that straightened out...



+++++++++++++++++++++++

Did I mention monkey sex? gay penguins (ACTUAL GAY PENGUINS ON LEFT:)? chimp shoe fetishists? double-wombed opposums? Interested? Then you should call up the San Francisco Zoo and ask about the Annual Valentines Day Sex Tour, hosted by Jean Tollini, a former penguin keeper at the Zoo.

"Former zoo resident Tinkerbelle the elephant had a penchant for 18-wheeler truck tires, and a zebra in the African Savanna is infatuated with Samson the giraffe. Cobby the chimp, meanwhile, is fond of keepers' rubber boots.

"It's his special fetish," Tollini said. "He'll put his finger out and touch the shoe. ... Then he'll play with his nipples, eat bananas and masturbate."

Not so different from you and me eh?

Well, maybe you...:)

Stay Naked.

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NOTE TO ZOOHEADS: I was looking for an image for the Zoo sex story so I went to Google and typed in "zoo sex" and clicked 'Images'. I don't recommend ever ever ever doing that. I should have known better.

See Dick Shoot...

Very funny Dick Cheney flash animation game HERE from the lovely minds at HuffPo...
I love the Smoking Gun. There, I said it. They've already got the "Texas Parks and Wildlife Hunting Accident and Incident Report Form" from Cheneys meth-fueled rampage. According to the official report, Cheney was two days into a meth, alcohol and ferret-musk bender when he started shooting his Italian made Perazzi .28 cal shotgun (Made in the USA obviously not up to the VP's high standards for firearms)...Cheney was reported to have shouted, "Goddam balloon sucking fear crackers" before shooting his hunting buddy in the face...check out the full report HERE.
NOTE: The previous report was a memoir of my reading the actual report. Some changes have been made to mock the guilty.
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Ever been sitting on an airplane and thought, "I wish I had some cocaine on me right now?" Well your worries are over. It turns out that Federal Air Marshals are now smuggling cocaine. Two of our nations finest apparently tried to smuggle some coke for some money...too bad the guy they tried to smuggle for was a government witness...It's a whole new spin on, "Fly the Friendly Skies". I can't make this stuff up...:)
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Confession Time: I don't know about you, but I think the best reality show running these days is the 'Trial of Saddam Hussein'...here's the latest:

Saddam, who hadn't been in court for several days as he was 'boycotting with several other defendants' (Can you do that?) made a grand entrace yesterday:

"On entering court, Saddam Hussein said: "They have forcibly brought me here."

He told the judge: "Exercise your right to try me in absentia. Are you trying to overcome your own smallness?"

The former leader wore a blue traditional Arab robe and a black jacket in contrast to the suit he had worn previously.

"Down with the traitor, down with traitors, down with Bush. Long live the ummah (Islamic nation)... long live the ummah... long live the ummah," Saddam Hussein shouted."

Wow..."Are you trying to overcome your smallness"? That's great stuff. Where can I buy a "Free Saddam" T-shirt? :)

Stay Naked.

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Does Your Cell Plan Give you This ?

You've got free minutes, roll-over minutes, long-distance, voice mail, email, web-browsing, a camera, everything, right ? Oh, you don't ? Can only afford the basics ? Well, take heart ! Recent studies show you are still improving your chances for . . .

Brain cancer ! That's right ! Just use that old analog phone for as little as two hours a month for a year and TRIPLE your risk for certain brain cancers. Or switch to a modern GSM phone and the risk only DOUBLES.

Oh, relax ! These are just benign brain cancers. Nobody would sell you anything that would do you any harm !

Headlines HERE, details in the Journal of Oncology, Volume 28, Number 2, February 2006 (Not yet available online).

Oh, yeah, the graphic. Actually supposed to show heating to cranial tissues after 15 minutes of cell phone use. Different issue, but I couldn't pass it up.

Think about switching to GSM, reconsider the cost/benefits of the earplug and mike that at least gets the transmitter off your head and

Stay Naked.
JD

What is Hebrew for "Apartheid" ?

Notice any similarities ?

On the left we have a map of the infamous "Bantustans", the allegedly independent states created by South Africa in furtherance of their policy of apartheid or racial separation.

That policy eventually collapsed and, with it, the whites-only regime that designed and executed it.

On the right, we have a recent map of the West Bank, site of the future "independent" Palestinian state. For the legend and other assistance in interpreting the map, see the Palestine Monitor, HERE.

So, besides making many supporters of Israeli West Bank policy cuckoo by comparing it to South African apartheid, why are we doing this ? Education, the only reliable path to lasting peace in the Middle East.

This time our lesson comes from a Guardian writer, Chris McGreal, who has lived for many years in South Africa and several years in Israel. It is not a polemic ("an aggressive attack on or refutation of the opinions or principles of another"), but a dispassionate consideration of the similarities and differences in the two regimes.

Perhaps the key observation: both the white South Africans then, and the Israelis now, consider themselves the victims of the systems they created.

The piece is long (two parts, click through to the second), thoughtful and very much worth the reading.

Our thanks to Sam Bahour, again, for the pointer to this one.

So, read, ponder and

Stay Naked
JD

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

As a lot of you know, I'm out here in Connecticut and Pops is out in lovely California. He just weathered some floods (My Mom actually had to evacuate her house) and now I'm getting buried...and I LOVE it! There's easily a foot of snow on the ground with more falling...I'm off for a run soon. Maybe I'll bring my camera? Stay tuned for snow pics:)

Onto News...

The Government is responding to the wiretapping story by...going after the 'leakers' with a vengeance. The NY Times is reporting that Bush appointee Porter Goss, Director of Central Intelligence, along with other federal officials is aggresively pursuing the person or persons who leaked the information about the governments warrantless wiretapping...I can already hear the chorus of , "Hell Yeahs! If they can investigate who leaked Valerie Plame then they should investigate all leaks" This sentiment is somewhat echoed in the following quote:

"An outgrowth of the Fitzgerald investigation is that the gloves are off in leak cases," said George J. Terwilliger III, former deputy attorney general in the administration of the first President Bush. "New rules apply."

There are clear differences. In one, the Plame case, a specific US intelligence agent was named for purely political reasons, in the other, a program, whose legality is very much in question and whose execution runs to the very heart of our democracy, was exposed. The results of the former were Valerie Plame lost her cover and her effectiveness as weapons of mass destruction specialist...the latter has sparked a national/international debate on the use of warrantless surveillance...

It's this simple. For all the governments rhetoric about 'protecting americans', this investigation is about muzzling dissent...

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Can we come home now?

Beautiful editorial here by Charlie Anderson. He served as a Navy Hospital Corpsman with the Marine Corps, 2nd Tank Battalion during the invasion of Iraq. He writes eloquently about losing a friend and fellow Iraq War Veteran, Dour Barber.

"Though some may question his actions or his motives, Doug was just one of thousands of the forgotten casualties of the Iraq War. He was killed in action long before he died. On my darkest days, I almost envy Doug, because he had the courage to end his suffering. But in reality, I know that his act was not one of courage, but one born out of the deepest despair. There are hundreds of thousands of Iraq veterans, 150,000 still in Iraq and every one of us is in harm’s way. Doug has gone to rest, but you the citizens of America cannot; you do not have that luxury. While you are tucked safe in your beds, we veterans are still out here in the cold asking, “Can we come home now?”

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Buckle up for a trip down the Rabbit Hole...

One of our intrepid Zooheads Chris B_e_e_r :) sent me a link to an interesting, yet disturbing, article from Prison Planet.com...
The piece is titled, "New Evidence Suggests Muslim Riots are Staged Psyop"What does that mean?

Well, the article alleges that the riots we are seeing throughout the Muslim world are, in fact, carefully orchestrated. They quote notable Russian nutjob Valdimir Zhirinovsky as asserting that, "the riots were a manufactured psychological operation on the part of the US in an attempt to enlist hardened EU support for a military strike against Iran."
He goes on to say that a date to stike Iran has been set, March 28th...mark your calendars.

My initial response was that a plan of this kind would require a deftness of touch and a sophistication well beyond the means of the Bush Administration...

But then I was reminded, by my Dad no less, of an earlier posting here on the Zoo about the Bush admins top PR firm 'The Rendon Group'...Here's from the great Rolling Stone article on him and his company...

""Did you ever stop to wonder," he later remarked, "how the people of Kuwait City, after being held hostage for seven long and painful months, were able to get hand-held American -- and, for that matter, the flags of other coalition countries?" After a pause, he added, "Well, you now know the answer. That was one of my jobs then.""

Flash forward to the Prison Planet article...

"The feasibility of demonstrators in Gaza having immediate access to a plethora of pristine Danish flags as soon as the furore began has also been put under scrutiny."

hmmmm...maybe the flags are a 'signature move' for Rendon (props to pops for connecting the dots:)

Truth is frequently stranger than fiction. We'll stay on this for ya...

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The Mark(ing) of the Beast(s)

It's like playing whack-the-mole. Gotta cover Iraq, which means prisoner torture, Chalabi machinations, corruption among the contractors and stolen millions.

Then there's Plamegate with Fitzgerald, Karl, Dick, Scooter et al.

Whoops, don't forget Abramoff, Tom DeLay, Bill Frist, the Northern Mariannas, and other details of the Sea of Sleaze.

And not at the expense of global warming, Arctic melting, species extinctions and vanishing islands.

Perhaps we can be forgiven for missing the announcement of the draft standards for the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), back in April 05. The Department of Agriculture would like to have the NAIS mandatory and fully operational by 2008.

So what is it ? With the laudable goal of making us safer (sound familiar ?), the plan calls for the identification and marking by radio frequency identification device (RFID) or equal every bird or animal in the United States that might contract or transmit a a dangerous disease (read Mad Cow, Bird Flu, and etc).

Every animal ? Every food animal, anyway. Every animal on every "premise". What's a "premise" ? "A physical location that represents a unique and describable geographic entity where activity affecting the health and/or traceabilty of animals may occur", see Appendix A, Draft Program Standards, available at DepAg site HERE. What does that mean ?

Got a few chickens because you like fresh eggs ? Got a calf or a pig for a pet ? A horse ? Welcome to NAIS with a wealth of detailed and expensive regulations. RFID and GPS surveillance of your property and much, much more. Check out the Draft Stategic Plan also HERE.

Many agribusiness megacorps are entirely in favor of the plan. Take the National Milk Producer's Association, for instance. They love it. Because the astronomical expense will make small producers less competitive ? Don't be cynical.

Others, like the Organic Consumers Association are , shall we say, less enthusiastic. They have minor objections like Constitutionality, stratospheric cost and right to notice for the little guy. So far it's been an "industry/government" project. There's a difference ? Check it out and form your own opinion.

Here at the Zoo, we'd like to know if, when DepAg is through marking and tracking the animals it will be time for DepHomeSec to use this newly assembled technology to start marking and tracking us ?

Consider what a Revelation that would be and

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Rat sez to self...

That water looks awful cold...and yet jumps in anyway.

Not sure why I opened like that. The story I'm talking about is one brave Republican but I can't shake the image of rats pouring over the edge of the H.M.S. Georgie Boy...

Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R-NM) is the FIRST Republican in either the House of Reps. OR the Senate to call for a full congressional investigation into President Bush eavesdropping/wiretapping program (As reported HERE by the NY Times) Apparently she was not swayed by Attorney General Gonzalez's circular logic defense (CLD) or by Vice President Cheneys fear-mongering. To wit, "It's important for us, if we're going to proceed legislatively, to keep in mind there's a price to be paid for that, and it might well in fact do irreparable damage to our capacity to collect information," OOOOOOOOOooooooooooooo

You mean our ability to capture and prosecute the perpetrators of 9/11 may be compromised?

So bully for Representative Wilson. It's stories like this that give me hope...
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Back to the rats;)

We're now getting a clearer picture of the "Scooter Libby" defense and guess what? It looks exactly like the "Oliver North" defense! Great article HERE (from the National Journal) on the latest allegations in the ever-unfolding Valerie Plame Affair aka WilsonGate aka NigerGate.
According to recently released docs, Libby says Vice President Dick Cheney (and other superiors) personally 'authorized' the release of Valerie Plames name to the press!

"Beyond what was stated in the court paper, say people with firsthand knowledge of the matter, Libby also indicated what he will offer as a broad defense during his upcoming criminal trial: that Vice President Cheney and other senior Bush administration officials had earlier encouraged and authorized him to share classified information with journalists to build public support for going to war. Later, after the war began in 2003, Cheney authorized Libby to release additional classified information, including details of the NIE, to defend the administration's use of prewar intelligence in making the case for war."

Whoa...that's big.

How do we know he's going to use the Oliver "I was only following orders and I'm just a little guy" North defense? Well, because he has "quiety retained" San Francisco attorney John Cline. Who is John Cline? He was one of Oliver Norths attorneys! His specialty? Accoring to the National Journal, it's, "the use of classified information in defending clients charged with wrongdoing in national security cases."

Hows that again? In english it means he asks the government prosecutors for tons of classified documents that they either a) won't or b) can't hand over. Sneaky:) But that's what he gets paid for...Listen to a former Iran-Contra prosecutor discuss Clines efficacy, ""It was a backdoor way of shutting us down," said one former Iran-Contra prosecutor, who spoke only on the condition that his name not be used, because his current position as a private attorney requires frequent dealings with attorneys who were on the other side of the North case at the time. "It was a cover-up by means of an administrative action, and it was an effective cover-up at that."

Stay tuned Zooheads and...

Stay Naked.

Mohammed Cartoons

Surprisingly, there was internal debate here at the Zoo about whether or not we would publish these cartoons. I know, from personal experience, that it's not easy to find these pictures although many international newspapers and a small smattering of US media outlets have published them. Americans and Zoo heads watch the riots with much confusion if they haven't seen the offending drawings.

Interestingly, these exact same cartoons were printed in a major Egyptian newspaper FOUR months ago during Ramadan with not a peep of protest. Thanks to Sandmonkey for pointing that out.

Y'all know the back story. Danish publisher can't find anyone to illustrate childrens book about Mohammed for fear of pissing of Muslims. Danish newspaper asks cartoonists to submit their takes on Mohammed(see left). Result: Not much...

This is not about 'insulting Islam' anymore than people rioted in LA because they felt a personal attachment to Rodney King...this is about suppressed rage...rage at the west and the perception in the Muslim world that 'we' (the west) are out to get them...funny how they think that considering we bomb them daily, fund their sworn enemies, overthrow their governments when we don't like them, support oppresive regimes that terrorize them (See Saddam) and...oh...

So here are the cartoons. See for yourself. Make an actual informed judgement and...

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Why, When I Was a Boy . . .

...the United States of By God America was the heavyweight champion of the world. Our factories built and sewed and hammered about everything there was and our farmers grew most of the food in the world and we sold all this stuff everywhere and bought what we wanted and had money left over to give to everybody. Did I mention we built schools and libraries and hospitals and highways and put a bunch of guys on the moon ?

And now ? Well, the most recent thing is that New Orleans is looking to other countries (including France (sorry, Rush, et al.) for help because the Bush Administration can't make good on its promises. That's right ! Foreign aid for an American city !

That's not all. Hugo Chavez and Venezuela have made a deal with Massachusetts to sell them bargain heating oil for use by low income families because Bush and his "reduction of discretionary non-defense spending" leave us unable to help our own. Venezuela is looking for more such deals. Handouts from commies ! J. Edgar Hoover is spinning in his grave like a secret tape recorder on fast rewind.

I'm not done. We owe China 6.35 uncountabajillion dollars because we can't afford all the low-priced stuff we buy from them. This is the "trade deficit" issue you hear so much (but not nearly enough) about. The newly released Defense Department Quadrennial Review talks hopefully about limiting China to a role as "regional power". Right. If they'll loan us the money.

After WWII we were a "creditor nation", meaning we owed the world less than the world owed us. About 1985 that changed and we entered the ranks of the debtor nations. And its only gotten worse since.

So, why the Walmart picture ? I don't like Walmart. Not enough ? Well, they symbolize everything that contributes to these problems: the rampant consumerism that equates possession with perfection; the off-shoring and outsourcing of American jobs to China and others (now Walmart buys ( I believe) 80% of its goods from China) and the intense personal greed (members of the Walton family are now (I believe) three of the ten richest people in the world.

But, remember those low prices and

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A Rove by any other name...

Looks like the White House is getting antsy about impeachment. Conservative blog Insightmag.com is reporting that Rove is strong-arming Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Rove... "has been twisting arms to ensure that no Republican member votes against President Bush in the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation of the administration's unauthorized wiretapping." "The sources said the administration has been alarmed over the damage that could result from the Senate hearings, which began on Monday, Feb. 6. They said the defection of even a handful of Republican committee members could result in a determination that the president violated the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Such a determination could lead to impeachment proceedings." Yikes dikes!!! Rove is reportedly threatening to 'blacklist' any member who votes against Bush. What exactly does that mean? "The sources said the blacklist would mean a halt in any White House political or financial support of senators running for re-election in November."

No Play. No Pay.

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Did anyone else see this? Marjorie Cohn of Truthout is reporting that Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez was not testifying under oath in yesterdays Judiciary meeting?!?!? "Before Gonzales began his testimony, the committee voted along party lines to dispense with the oath. Thus, if Gonzales were to lie, he could not be convicted or even charged with perjury, which requires the lie be made under oath. Why would the Republican senators insist that Gonzales not be sworn to tell the truth unless they expected him to lie?"

WTF?

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"Rage Rage Rage Against the Dying of Common Sense"

Apologies to Dylan Thomas.

First things first. I'm a little angry so apologies ahead of time...

1) I love Truthout and this post is about an item I got from them titled, "FOCUS Arlen Specter: "Bush Violated the Law"
Problem is Arlen Specter did not say "Bush Violated the Law". Sen. Specter said the Bush argument was, "strained and unrealistic". Shame on Truthout for making it appear he said something he didn't. That's a bullcrap move and below an otherwise fine organization. It's exactly that kind of tampering that the left villifies the right for...no need for it.

2) Onto the article linked to HERE. (and the original HERE and the Full transcript from "Meet the Press" HERE)

"Gen. Michael Hayden of the Air Force, who oversaw the program when he headed the National Security Agency, defended it from assertions that it had cast too broad a net, intercepting the calls of perhaps thousands of innocent Americans, and produced only modest results in pursuit of the Qaeda terror network."It's about speed," General Hayden said on ABC. "It's about hot pursuit of Al Qaeda communications."

SHANANIGAN ALERT: No it's not about speed. It's about breaking the law. The FISA law has built in provisions for expediting the process.

3) As with any decent piece of newsgathering, a quote from a promininent insider is included. In this case. Republican Jeff Sessions.

"A Republican senator, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, said that the program did not need to snare large numbers of terrorists to prove its worth. "One case of identifying one sleeper cell can mean a matter of life and death," he said on CBS. "It's not academic."

SHENANIGANS: The problem is not the program. The problem is not "academic". The problem is the President decided he was above the law.

Whole thing just pisses me off but so does most everything...:)

In case you missed the show it was a good one. He had on John Boehner (R-OH), the new house Majority Leader. Click the 'transcipt' link above to read his babbling responses to Russerts questions or read this.

"MR. RUSSERT: There was a big episode in your life back in 1995 when there was—Bob Herbert in The New York Times wrote a column about something you did. I want to find out what you learned from it. Here’s how Herbert wrote it. “One day last summer, 1995 Representative John Boehner of Ohio, chairman of the House Republican Conference, decided to play Santa Claus. He took it upon himself to begin handing out money from tobacco lobbyists to certain of his colleagues in the House floor. He was not deterred by the fact that the House was in session, and that he was supposed to be attending to the nation’s business. He was not constrained by any sense that passing money around the floor of the House of Representatives was a sacrilege.”
REP. BOEHNER: It was a big mistake, and I regret it. I shouldn’t have done it. It was an old practice that had gone on in the House for a long time, and I do regret it. But I also worked with Speaker Gingrich at the time to change the rules of the House to prohibit the practice. And now if you look, when we pass the new rules in the next Congress, handing out a PAC check on or near the House floor is prohibited.
MR. RUSSERT: You gave $5,000 from your PAC—leadership PAC to Tom DeLay’s defense fund.
REP. BOEHNER: I did.
MR. RUSSERT: You think Tom DeLay’s innocent?
REP. BOEHNER: I do think he’s innocent."

How much more do you need to know?

Stay Naked.

NZNR 2-4-06

Hello Zooheads-

Today we're going to do a quick re-cap of the LIVE version of this blog which is the Naked Zoo News Review radio shown. Heard bi-monthly on KWMR (see info at right)...

We started off the show asking folks if they are interested in participating in a unique project. I have a friend who is putting together a book of stories...stories from children raised by single parents. So if you, or someone you know, was raised by a single parent and is interested in participating...please email us here at nakedzoo @ gmail.com and we'll put you in touch with the editor...

We also did our Superbowl picks..

Adam- Seattle Seahawks
Jared- Pittsburgh Steelers

Social Security Administration hero...Deputy Commissioner of Operations Linda McMahon sends an honest, forthright letter to SSA employees...bureaucrats of all colors should heed her example...check out an excerpt...

"I won't try to kid you. This is going to be a very difficult year, and the budget picture for next year doesn't look any better. I commit to you that I will continue to work with the Commissioner to tell our story and enhance our chances of getting a better budget."

Missing White house emails...according to Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, the White House email achiving system has inexplicably 'lost' archived emails on several occasions in 2003...around the time the Valerie Plame affair became a problem for the White House...I know, unlikely to say the least...

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Pat Buchanan for Prez...

Did you check out all your favorite blogs and their take on the State of the Union? I bet there were some good ones. Feel free to send us the links.
My favorite? Thanks for asking...I gotta say Pat Buchanans scathing article on Human Events Online. Check it out HERE. What, you don't read conservative blogs? Then you're only hearing half the truth. I know this may sound nuts but they make a lot of sense sometimes...anyway, enough pontificating. Check out some of the zingers from Buchanans piece...

"Why would a president use his State of the Union to lash out at a school of foreign policy thought that has had zero influence in his administration? The answer is a simple one, but it is not an easy one for Bush to face: His foreign policy is visibly failing, and his critics have been proven right."

Ouch...

"By allowing radical Islam to work its will, by leaving an assaulted world to fend for itself, we would signal to all that we no longer believe in our own ideals or even in our own courage," said Bush.

But what has done more to radicalize Islam than our invasion of Iraq? Who has done more to empower Islamic radicals than Bush with his clamor for elections across a region radicalized by our own policies? It is one thing to believe in ideals, another to be the prisoner of some democratist ideology."

Another vicious shot to the kidneys...

"If America is angry over what interventionism and free trade have wrought, George Bush cannot credibly blame isolationists or protectionists. These fellows have an alibi. They were nowhere near the scene of the crime.

It is George W. Bush who is running out of alibis."

And the knockout shot...this piece is better than Oprah ripping James Frey apart...

Next thing you know I'll be getting a Lyndon LaRouche tattoo:)

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Who is in charge of PR over at Exxon? Someone send them a memo that tells them that crowing over record profits while trying to keep from paying a few billion to finally wrap up the Exxon Valdez mess is poor form...This story is a couple days old but I'm posting it now because I want to see if anyone has heard of the Competitve Enterprise Institute? How about their Director of Energy Policy Myron Ebell? Here's a taste of this eco-facists twisted logic. I'm not one for calling names but guys like this are the problem...when you say "They...(fill in blank) are responsible for the shitty state of affairs" plug in this guys name/face...



"Sharing the wealth is a recipe to make sure that they can no longer provide good products at competitive prices because they will not have any money to reinvest in their industry," Ebell said. "What they are saying is that the company should be put out of business by giving away their profits. I guess we could learn to get along without oil and gas and start living in caves again,"

No one said any such thing Mr. Ebell and to suggest otherwise is intellectually dishonest. Exxon posted a 10.7 billion dollar QUARTERLY profit. All people are suggesting is that is would be nice if they would give a little...I think there's a book around here that suggests the same thing...here it is. It's called the Bible...

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What Will It Take ?

The Israeli Army shot a 9-year-old Palestinian girl to death yesterday.

Her crime ? She was "too close" to the fence that separates Israel from Gaza, acting "in a suspicious manner reminiscent of a terrorist", said the Israeli Army which also termed the killing "an accident". An accident in which, apparently, an Israeli soldier accidentally identified a 9-year-old girl as a terrorist, accidentally aimed his assault rifle at her and accidentally shot her "several" times.

The killing of this child, Aya Al-Astal, brought to two the number of children killed by the Israelis in the last seven days. That is, according to Palestinian sources, twice the number of Israelis killed by Hamas in the last twelve months. The other child was a thirteen-year-old boy who, according to the Israeli Army "had planned to throw rocks at Israeli cars".

Please notice these crimes. Being "too near" the security fence. Not on it, or over it or through it, just "too near". And "planning to throw rocks". Not throwing them or having thrown them. Planning to throw them.

Imagine, please, just for sixty seconds, that you are on the side of the Palestinians. Not Hamas or Islamic Jihad, but the Palestinian people. Imagine how you would feel about these crimes and the bland explanations of the Israeli Army. When would you ask:

"What will it take before the United States joins the rest of the world in recognizing the illegality of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, its seizure of Palestinian lands, its destruction of Palestinian homes and villages and agriculture ?"

I don't know if the woman pictured above is related to Aya Al-Astal, but it doesn't matter much. Google "palestinian women" for images and most of them are crying.

Our thanks, if that's the appropriate response, to the Guardian for this Gaza glimpse.

Thank you for those sixty seconds and

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