In Two Cities: November 2005

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Purpose of Iraq Invasion: Deter Saudis and Islamicists

The American Thinker: "Iraq and Ping-Pong Diplomacy
November 30th, 2005

To get out of Iraq, first we must first know why we are in Iraq.
We did not invade Iraq to find Saddam�s Weapons of Mass Destruction.
We did not invade Iraq to establish democracy in the Middle East. We invaded Iraq to deter Saudi Arabia and its client, Islamic Fascism, from staging more 9/11 attacks on the United States.
Of course, nobody in a position of power will say so, but we invaded Iraq mainly to deter the predominant source of money and manpower used to attack us on 9/11: Saudi Arabia and its client, Islamic Fascism.
We invaded Iraq because Iraq shares a border with Saudi Arabia, and has a history of military antagonism to the United States. We are in Iraq for much the same reason we remained in West Germany during the Cold War: to establish a base of operations for the maintenance of deterrence against a perceived threat to the security of the United States. The scope and scale of the Saudi threat are of a different order than that of the Soviets. But the strategic principle is the same."

Mega-Leaking: CIA vs. US Dirty Tricks XV

From a Weekly Standard article, Leaking At All Costs :

Leaking At All Costs [/] What the CIA is willing to do to hurt the Bush administration. [/] by John Hinderaker [/] 11/30/2005 12:00:00 AM
THE CIA'S WAR against the Bush administration is one of the great untold stories of the past three years. It is, perhaps, the agency's most successful covert action of recent times. The CIA has used its budget to fund criticism of the administration by former Democratic officeholders. The agency allowed an employee, Michael Scheuer, to publish and promote a book containing classified information, as long as, in Scheuer's words, "the book was being used to bash the president." However, the agency's preferred weapon has been the leak. In one leak after another, generally to the New York Times or the Washington Post, CIA officials have sought to undermine America's foreign policy. Usually this is done by leaking reports or memos critical of administration policies or skeptical of their prospects. Through it all, our principal news outlets, which share the agency's agenda and profit from its torrent of leaks, have maintained a discreet silence about what should be a major scandal.
Recent events indicate that the CIA might even be willing to compromise the effectiveness of its own covert operations, if by doing so it can damage the Bush administration. The story began last May, when the New York Times outed an undercover CIA operation by identifying private companies that operated airlines for the agency. The Times fingered Aero Contractors Ltd., Pegasus Technologies, and Tepper Aviation as CIA-controlled entities. It described their aircraft and charted the routes they fly. Most significantly, the [New York] Times revealed one of the most secret uses to which these airlines were put:
When the Central Intelligence Agency wants to grab a suspected member of Al Qaeda overseas and deliver him to interrogators in another country, an Aero Contractors plane often does the job. [/] The Times went on to trace specific flights by the airlines it unmasked, which corresponded to the capture of key al Qaeda leaders: [/] Flight logs show a C.I.A. plane left Dulles within 48 hours of the capture of several Al Qaeda leaders, flying to airports near the place of arrest. They included Abu Zubaida, a close aide to Osama bin Laden, captured on March 28, 2002; Ramzi bin al-Shibh, who helped plan 9/11 from Hamburg, Germany, on Sept. 10, 2002; Abd al-Rahim al-Nashri, the Qaeda operational chief in the Persian Gulf region, on Nov. 8, 2002; and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the architect of 9/11, on March 1, 2003.
A jet also arrived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from Dulles on May 31, 2003, after the killing in Saudi Arabia of Yusuf Bin-Salih al-Ayiri, a propagandist and former close associate of Mr. bin Laden, and the capture of Mr. Ayiri's deputy, Abdullah al-Shabrani.
[…] The Times reported that its sources included "interviews with former C.I.A. officers and pilots." It seems difficult to believe that the information conveyed in those interviews was unclassified. But if the agency made any objection to the Times's disclosure, it has not been publicly recorded. And the agency's flood of leaks to the Times continued.
The other shoe dropped on November 2, when the Washington Post revealed, in a front-page story, the destinations to which many terrorists were transported by the CIA's formerly-secret airlines--a covert network of detention centers in Europe and Thailand:

[…] The Post's story caused a sensation, as the "current and former intelligence officials" who leaked the classified information to the newspaper must have expected it would. The leakers evidently included officials from the highest levels of the CIA; the Post noted that the facilities' existence and location "are known to only a handful of officials in the United States and, usually, only to the president and a few top intelligence officers in each host country." Further, the paper said that it "is not publishing the names of the Eastern European countries involved in the covert program, at the request of senior U.S. officials." So this top-secret leak was apparently not a rogue operation. On the contrary, it appears to have been consistent with the agency's longstanding campaign against the Bush administration, which plainly has been sanctioned (if not perpetrated) by officials at the agency's highest levels.
Both the [Washington] Post and the leaking officials knew that publication of the secret-prisons leak would damage American interests:
[…] The damage foreseen by CIA leakers quickly came to pass. Anti-American elements in a number of European countries demanded investigations into the use of their countries' airports and air space by civilian airlines that are known or suspected CIA fronts. In Spain, the foreign minister testified before a parliamentary committee that no laws were broken in what allegedly were CIA-linked civilian landings in Majorca. But that site will be closed to the agency in the future: […] [/] Similar outcries and investigations occurred in the Canary Islands, Portugal, Norway, and Sweden.
The twin leaks to the [New York] Times and the [Washington] Post have severely impaired the agency's ability to carry out renditions, transport prisoners, and maintain secret detention facilities. It is striking that top-level CIA officials are evidently willing to do serious damage to their own agency's capabilities and operations for the sake of harming the Bush administration and impeding administration policies with which they disagree.
The CIA is an agency in crisis. Perhaps, though, there is a ray of hope: the agency has referred the secret-prison leak to the [Washington] Post to the Justice Department for investigation and possible criminal prosecution. It is a bitter irony that until now, the only one out of dozens of CIA-related leaks known to have resulted in a criminal investigation was the Valerie Plame disclosure, which was trivial in security terms, but unique in that it helped, rather than hurt, the Bush administration.
John Hinderaker is a contributing writer to THE DAILY STANDARD and a contributor to the blog Power Line. [My ellipses and emphasis]

Alito Abortion Document 1st Look

Drudge link to Smoking Gun gets to the text in facsimile of the memo all the media and politicians are currently raising a fuss about.

(Ten facsimile pages of an excerpt of the memo follow the text below on Smoking Gun)

From a The Smoking Gun article, More Alito Abortion Insight :

More Alito Abortion Insight qq [/] qqIn 1985 memo, Supreme Court nominee advocated Roe overturn
NOVEMBER 30--For those seeking further insight into Samuel Alito's abortion position, a newly released 1985 memo drafted by the Supreme Court nominee offers additional evidence of his opposition to Roe v. Wade and his desire to regulate a woman's right to choose. In his memo, an excerpt of which you'll find below, Alito recommended that the U.S. Solicitor General file amicus briefs in connection with appeals of two Court of Appeals decisions that struck down Pennsylvania and Illinois laws regulating abortion. While noting that the U.S. Supreme Court, which had agreed to review the two appellate decisions, was unlikely to reverse Roe, Alito, an Assistant to the Solicitor General, surmised that the high court "may be signalling an inclination to cut back. What can be made of this opportunity to advance the goals of bringing about the eventual overruling of Roe v. Wade and, in the meantime, of mitigating its effects?" In the amicus briefs, Alito recommended, "we should make clear that we disagree with Roe v. Wade and would welcome the opportunity to brief the issue of whether, and if so to what extent, that decision should be overruled." Addressing the portion of the Pennsylvania case dealing with what a woman should be told prior to an abortion, Alito wrote that if "abortion is a woman's choice, as the Court has held, then surely the choice should be informed." At the memo's close, Alito wrote that "abortion is not unregulable" and advocated that the Reagan administration try to "nudge" the Supreme Court toward recognizing a state's "interest in protecting the unborn throughout pregnancy, or to dispel in part the mystical faith in the attending physician that supports Roe and the subsequent cases." A "frontal assault" on Roe, Alito concluded, was not preferable. A more measured approach "makes our position clear, does not even tacitly concede Roe's legitimacy, and signals that we regard the question as live and open." (11 pages )

Facsimile pages of an excerpt of the memo follow on Smoking Gun.

LET'S GET RID OF GUNS THAT STOLE MY SON AWAY - Yahoo! News

LET'S GET RID OF GUNS THAT STOLE MY SON AWAY - Yahoo! News: "Now one of Dae Dae's killers is on trial. I come to the trial every day. I don't have bitterness toward those young men who took my son from me. I even know two of them. One of them grew up with me in the neighborhood.
It was just a bunch of young men with no direction trying to prove themselves. The real problem, I think, is the guns. If those kids hadn't had guns, they could have had their fight without killing my son. "

CLOSING THE DIVORCE DIVIDE - Yahoo! News

CLOSING THE DIVORCE DIVIDE - Yahoo! News: "Sixty percent of Americans are married, and 86 percent of the never-married say they hope to be married someday. Ninety-three percent of married Americans say they would marry their spouses over again.
Nonetheless, the proportion of Americans who are in stable, 'very happy' first marriages has dropped 20 percentage points since 1973, according to Glenn's calculations from the General Social Surveys, conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. Delayed marriage, increased divorce, and a slight decline in marital happiness are the reasons.
Who are most likely to be in very happy first marriages? The college-educated are about twice as likely as high school dropouts; the 'very' religious are also about twice as likely as those who are only slightly or not at all religious. People who marry directly without first cohabiting are also about twice as likely to succeed in marriage as those who live together."

The Fight to Save Stan Tookie Williams - Yahoo! News

The Fight to Save Stan Tookie Williams - Yahoo! News: "Dave Zirin
Tue Nov 29, 6:49 PM ET

The Nation -- 'Years ago, I recognized my kinship with all living things, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on earth.... While there is a lower class, I am in it, while there is a criminal element, I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.' --Eugene V. Debs
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These words of the fabled social activist also define the life of NFL hall of famer and actor Jim Brown. He has mediated truces between the toughest gangs in Los Angeles and fought racism from South Central to Soweto. But today he is involved in a different kind of fight: the race to save Stan Tookie Williams, who now awaits execution on California's death row. Williams is due to be executed December 13, and Brown has linked arms with a motley crew of activists from Archbishop Desmond Tutu to hip-hop artist Snoop Dogg demanding that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger spare his life. Schwarzenegger, who has set a clemency hearing for December 8, recently told reporters he is 'dreading' the decision he is about to make.
It's not surprising Williams could inspire such a fierce defense. In 1971 he co-founded the infamous street gang the Crips. In 1981 he was convicted of the 1979 murders of Albert Owens, Thsai-Shai Chen Yang, Yen-I Yang and Yee Chen Lin during two separate robberies. Williams, who continues to maintain his innocence, was convicted in a fashion that would make Bull Connor proud. During a questionable trial, which unfolded against a backdrop of anti-gang hysteria, the prosecutor likened him to 'a Bengal tiger' and his South Central home a jungle. He was found guilty by an all-white ju"

No need to fear the color orange - Yahoo! News

No need to fear the color orange - Yahoo! News: "A year old, Ukraine's 'orange revolution' is receiving strong push back - from outside the country. Autocratic governments from China to Uzbekistan, fearful of the spread of street protests, have cracked down on the type of nonprofit, activist groups that played a key role in Ukraine's about-face to democracy.
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Of course, it was the Ukrainians' desire for freedom that overturned last year's fraudulent presidential election. But they were greatly helped by foreign-funded nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), which put them through democracy basic training, teaching them how to monitor elections and organize opposition.
The explosive growth of NGOs since the end of the cold war - and their role in democratic revolutions in Georgia, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan - threatens certain governments. Now Russia, which has grown alarmingly authoritarian under President Vladimir Putin, is considering disturbing changes that would make it virtually impossible for foreign-funded NGOs to operate there."

Experts: Introverted youth have deep roots for behavior - Yahoo! News

Experts: Introverted youth have deep roots for behavior - Yahoo! News: "The attitude that there's something wrong with introverted people is widely shared in society, where fast talk and snap decisions are often valued over listening, deliberation and careful planning. Extroverts seem to rule the world or, at least, the USA, which hasn't elected an introverted president for three decades, since Jimmy Carter.
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'The signals we get from the world agree that extroversion is valued,' says Sanford Cohn, an associate professor in curriculum and instruction at Arizona State University. 'A lot of the messages we get from society have to do with being social, and in order to be social you have to behave a certain way.'
But that is impossible for introverted kids. Raising them isn't easy, particularly if parents, family members, teachers, coaches and other adults don't allow them to be who they are. "

Rice defends thwarting major terror attacks - Yahoo! News

Rice defends thwarting major terror attacks - Yahoo! News: "Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday defended the indefinite detention of terrorist suspects as part of an unprecedented war to prevent massive attacks on civilians.
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In an interview with USA TODAY, Rice neither confirmed nor disavowed the existence of secret CIA prisons abroad that The Washington Post reported this month. She said the Bush administration's policy of making arrests before crimes are committed benefits other nations as well as the United States.
'We have never fought a war like this before where ... you can't allow somebody to commit the crime before you detain them,' she said. 'Because if they commit the crime, thousands of innocent people die.'"

'Peacekeeping' a struggle in Sudan - Yahoo! News

'Peacekeeping' a struggle in Sudan - Yahoo! News: "African Union soldiers were only a few hundred yards away when Sudanese government troops swept through this small town, firing their weapons from pickups. Four villagers were killed.
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Because the AU soldiers - 'peacekeepers' deployed to protect civilians - did nothing to prevent the killing, the surviving villagers ran for the nearby African Union base, where the soldiers had no choice but to protect them"

More Women Charged in Sex Cases

I do not think that this was exactly what the feminists had in mind.

Law of unintended consequences, I suppose.

From a Yahoo! USA Today article, More women charged in sex cases :

More women charged in sex cases By Wendy Koch, USA TODAY [/] Wed Nov 30, 7:03 AM ET
In courtrooms nationwide this month, at least seven women - four of them teachers - have been charged or sentenced for having sex with boys, mostly teenagers. One of the women is pregnant. [/] Tuesday in Georgia, Lisa Lynette Clark, 37, was indicted in the molestation of her son's 15-year-old friend, who she says is the father of the baby she's expecting. She was arrested one day after marrying the boy.
No definitive data exists on whether more females are sexually abusing children. Yet the number arrested for sex crimes has risen in five of the past six years as more people consider molestation of boys as heinous as that of girls.
"There's been a decline in the double standard. That's why you're seeing more of these cases," says David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire. As more women enter law enforcement, he says the old attitude that boys are willing, even lucky, participants has changed.
Richard Gartner, a New York psychologist and author of Betrayed as Boys, says scandals involving Catholic priests and the case of Mary Kay Letourneau helped focus attention on boys as sexual victims. Letourneau, a former Washington teacher, had two children in the late 1990s with a former student, whom she married this year.
[…] "It's hard for boys to think of themselves as victims," says Gartner. He says adult sexual advances are confusing to boys, who are easily aroused physically but may be uncomfortable emotionally. He says boys are led to believe they should take sex whenever offered and if they don't, something may be wrong with them. "It is a trauma for many boys," he says, adding they may - as adults - realize they lost some of their childhood.
Experts, including Finkelhor, don't know how often women molest kids, because most offenses are never reported. They say boys, the target of most female offenders, are less likely than girls to report them. Yet females account for a rising share of arrests for all sex crimes since 1995, according to FBI data.
Females account for 4% of those sexually abusing children under 18, a July 2000 Justice Department report found. The report says they account for 12% of those molesting kids younger than 6.
In the past 18 months, at least 25 cases nationwide involved female teachers molesting students, says Robert Shoop, a professor at Kansas State University and author of Sexual Exploitation in Schools: How to Spot It and Stop It.
In a U.S. Department of Education report released in June 2004, at least 20% of students reported sexual misconduct - whether verbal or physical - by a female teacher or aide.
[…]While more women are getting attention for molesting children, their jail terms often are less than what men receive. Last week in Tampa, Lafave, 25, avoided jail time for molesting a 14-year-old student. She got three years of house arrest and seven years of probation.
With jail time, says Gartner, "we definitely still have a double standard." [My ellipses and emphasis]

I wonder if, actually, It Is All Bush's Fault.

Methane on Titan Supports Non-biological Oil Origin

Saturn's Largest Moon Has Dramatic Weather - Yahoo! News:

"They said there was no reason to believe Titan's methane is a product of biological activity.

Yet more methane is appearing constantly and may burst from ice volcanos or fall as rain, researchers said, describing riverbed and drainage channels spotted during the craft's descent Jan. 14"

Yahoo Unveils RSS E-Mail Folder

From a Yahoo! AP article, Yahoo Unveils RSS E-Mail Folder :

Yahoo Unveils RSS E-Mail Folder Wed Nov 30, 7:40 AM ET
Looking to gain another edge on its rivals, Internet powerhouse Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) on Wednesday will begin testing a new e-mail folder designed to make it easier for people to track the latest information posted on their favorite Web sites.
The free feature relies on Really Simple Syndication, an increasingly popular technology that can compile content from a wide array of Web sites catering to a user's personal tastes.
Millions of people have signed up to receive automatic feeds on everything from the international news to family recipes since Yahoo first began providing its RSS service last year, said Scott Gatz, the Sunnyvale, Calif-based company's senior director of personalization products.
Until Wednesday, Yahoo relied on Web pages as its RSS hub. RSS feeds will still be accessible through Yahoo's Web site.
Creating an e-mail folder for RSS seemed like a logical way for Yahoo to educate more people about the technology because e-mail remains the most popular application online, Gatz said. "This is really taking RSS to another level."
Initially, the latest RSS feature will be available to less than half of Yahoo's e-mail accountholders as the company tests the new format, company officials said. Yahoo has been gradually moving its e-mail users to a more dynamic version of the service since introducing a series of upgrades in September.
Although Yahoo doesn't charge people for its RSS service, the company has a financial motive to widen the audience using the technology. As RSS has become more prevalent, it is emerging as a new channel for online advertising — a business that accounts for most of Yahoo's profits.
Yahoo also is aggressively rolling out new products to give people more reasons to return to its Web site instead of using the services of rivals like Google Inc., Microsoft Corp.'s MSN and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL.
On the Net: Yahoo.com [My ellipses and emphasis]

It Is All Bush's Fault - IV

From a Yahoo! AP article, Economy Grows at Robust Pace Despite Storms :

Economy Grows at Robust Pace Despite Storms By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer
The economy grew at a lively 4.3 percent pace in the third quarter, the best showing in more than a year. The performance offered fresh testimony that the country's overall economic health managed to improve despite the destructive force of Gulf Coast hurricanes.
The new snapshot of economic activity, released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday, showed the growth at an even faster pace than the 3.8 percent annual rate first reported for the [third] quarter a month ago.
The upgraded performance reflects more brisk spending by consumers and businesses as well as more robust investment on residential projects than initial estimates revealed.
"In anybody's book this is an outstanding performance for the economy," said Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics.
[…] The third-quarter's showing marked a sizable pickup from the 3.3 percent increase in gross domestic product registered in the second quarter of this year.
GDP measures the value of all goods and services produced within the United States and is the best barometer of the nation's economic standing.
[..] The upwardly revised reading for GDP in the third quarter also exceeded the expectations of business analysts. Before the report was released, they were forecasting the economy to clock in at a 4 percent pace.
[…] The lifeblood of the economy, consumer spending, grew at a sprightly 4.2 percent pace in the third quarter, stronger than the 3.9 percent growth rate previously estimated. The new figure marked the fastest pace in consumer spending since the final quarter of 2004.
Businesses boosted spending on equipment and software at a 10.8 percent annual rate in the third quarter. That was better than the 8.9 percent growth rate first estimated for the period and close to the 10.9 percent growth rate seen in the second quarter.

Investment in housing construction and other residential projects grew at a brisk 8.4 percent pace in the third quarter. That was up considerably from the 4.8 percent growth rate initially estimated but was down from the 10.8 percent pace registered in the second quarter.
[…] When food and energy prices are excluded, "core" inflation_ which the Federal Reserve watches closely — actually moderated. Core inflation rose at a rate of 1.2 percent in the third quarter, a tad less than first estimated and down from a 1.7 percent pace in the second quarter.
[…] When the government's new employment report for November is released Friday, many economists are forecasting a healthy rebound, with the economy adding more than 200,000 jobs during the month.
[…] Meanwhile, a measure of corporate profits tied to the GDP report showed after-tax profits falling by 3.7 percent in the third quarter from the prior quarter, reflecting the impact of the hurricanes. Over the year, however, profits are up a healthy 9.4 percent. [My ellipses and emphasis]

This last, profits up 9.4 percent, puts the Democrats in a horrible and unfair position.

The rich are getting richer, horror of horrors.

But "soak the rich" measures will harm the economy.

And "soak the rich" measures will directly harm the increasing substantial number of voters who own stock.

But, of course, It Is All Bush's Fault.

Michael Jackson Drug Use Investigation

It is somewhat pleasant to see the British press scooping the American press on Michael Jackson's latest alleged troubles.

Not too long ago, the many British scoops about all of President Clinton's scandals were much less pleasant.

From a Sun [UK] article, Junkie Jacko 40 pills a day:

Tuesday, November 29, 2005 [/] Junkie Jacko 40 pills a day [/] Cocaine 'found in his pants' in raid by police
EXCLUSIVE [/] Cocaine in Jacko's pants [/] By EMILY SMITH [/] US Editor
TRACES of cocaine were found on Michael Jackson’s underwear during a police raid, it was revealed yesterday. [/] The discovery emerged as the troubled singer faced shock new claims that he is abusing and trafficking drugs.
Cops are secretly investigating allegations by former aides that Jacko, 47, is hooked on anti-depressants and painkillers. [/] They say he pops up to 40 pills a day — and was seen falling flat on his face after injecting himself with a mystery drug. [/] He is suspected of transporting drugs from California to Bahrain, where he currently lives, and obtaining them with fake prescriptions.
The probe is being led by Santa Barbara’s notorious District Attorney Tom Sneddon. [/] He is still smarting after failing to convict Jacko on child sex charges in the summer. [/] A Jackson aide said: “Sneddon still smells blood and is determined to nail Michael.”
[…]But aides fear the strain of a new court battle could kill him.
The investigation centres around a huge stash of prescription drugs seized when police probing the child sex claims raided Jacko’s Neverland ranch in 2003. [/] The swoop also unearthed the cocaine traces on the singer’s underwear. Residues of the painkiller Demerol and sedative Promethazine were also said to have been on the garments.
[…] The discovery was not revealed at the child sex trial because cops could not be certain it was Jacko who used the drug. They could not rule out the possibility the underwear had come into contact with maids or cleaning staff.
[…] He once turned up in his pyjamas after a hospital visit. He often appeared dazed and on heavy medication. Pals believe he is takes so many painkillers and anti-depressants that he is constantly intoxicated. [/] The Neverland stash allegedly included bottles of Vicodin, Oxycontin, Versed, Promethazime, Xanax and Valium.
Cops suspected Jacko was using staff to fetch drugs in their own names or under bogus monikers. [/] They decided not to pursue the drugs case in favour of concentrating on the child sex claims.
[…] In papers just released by the Santa Maria court where Jacko was tried, Carter claimed Jacko took up to 40 anti-depressants a day. The transcript of a police interview with Carter, 25, reads: [/] Carter said he would get Xanax prescriptions at pharmacies for Jackson under different fictitious names including Carter’s own name.
[…] Cops on Sneddon’s investigation have contacted doctors who treated Jacko and former Neverland staff. Californian pharmacies that may have dispensed the drugs will also come under the spotlight.[…]A Jackson aide said: “Sneddon thinks Michael could be getting drugs flown to Bahrain. The investigation is being kept secret. [/] “But Sneddon is considering whether he can get Michael on charges of conspiracy to export a controlled substance and prescription drug abuse. He hopes to put together a strong case and file it in the next few months.”
A source close to his family said last night: “Michael would fight this in court. But none of us knows if he could cope with another investigation. [/] […] Another source told of growing concern for Jacko because he has isolated himself from his family and loyal staff.
[…] Jacko’s lawyers and business managers are often told he is too tired to talk. The source said: “They fear Jackson is too drugged up to deal with anybody. They want him to go into rehabilitation to save his life.” [My ellipses and emphasis]

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Peacemakers Adopted Detainees

A report of kidnapping of four members of the "Christian Peacemaker Teams" has been posted at Adult Christian Forum thread, Christian AAA Forum thread, and an In Two Cities blog post. More information may currently be found at the organizations home page.

The details of an interesting humanitarian project of the group may also be found on their website.

From a Christian Peacemaker Teams website page, Iraq: Adopt-a-Detainee Campaign :

IRAQ: CPT announces closure of Adopt-a-Detainee campaign [/] 21 September 2005
After a year and a half of coordinated advocacy for Iraqis detained by U.S. and other occupying forces, Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) is ending its Adopt-a-Detainee Letter-Writing Campaign. CPT's Iraq project will, however, continue to monitor the situation of Iraqis captured by the Multinational Force in Iraq (MNF) and by the new Iraqi Forces.
The Adopt-a-Detainee Letter-Writing Campaign, beginning in March 2004, matched individual detainees with congregations, mosques, synagogues, and peace groups in North America and around the world. These groups wrote letters to U.S., Iraqi and other relevant officials on the detainees' behalf. The campaign grew out of CPT's investigation of and reporting on abuses within the U.S.-run detention system in Iraq during the fall of 2003. The Adopt-a-Detainee Letter-Writing Campaign included a total of twenty-seven detainees, nine of whom U.S. officials released during the campaign, ten of whom were still detained at last word, and seven of whom U.S. officials never confirmed as detained (i.e., the "disappeared.")
During the campaign, at least 1,000 people and groups participated from Canada, France, Germany, India, Israel, Nigeria, the Palestinian Territories, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. CPT expresses its sincere gratitude to all of those who participated in the campaign in various ways.
Changes in administrations during the past two years--from the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority, to the Interim Iraqi Government, to the current Transitional Iraqi Government--forced CPT to adapt its approach several times. While supportive of improvements made within the detention system in Iraq since the fall of 2003, CPT condemned the U.S. military's ongoing refusal to uphold basic human rights standards for the thousands of Iraqi detainees still in their custody.
Since the transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqis in June 2004, CPT has experienced U.S. officials in Iraq becoming increasingly unresponsive to appeals for reform, both from team members on location in Iraq and from letter-writers abroad.
Consequently, CPT members in Baghdad decided they needed to shift their immediate focus in order to continue toward their long-term goals of violence reduction and human rights for Iraqi detainees. While officially closing the Adopt-a-Detainee Letter-Writing Campaign, CPT in Iraq will continue to monitor the situation of Iraqi detainees and develop new strategies to reduce violence against the Iraqis still in detention. [My ellipses and emphasis]

Four Christian Peace Activists Held Hostage

Clever of the "Sword of Righteousness Brigade" to pick on non-fundamentalist, non-evangelical, Christian peace activists who will only get angry with Bush and Blair about their plight and not at those they view as fellow victims of Bush and Blair.

But not so clever of those who kidnapped a German woman on the week that Germany installed her first woman head-of-government.

From a Yahoo! AP article, Virginia Man Among Four Kidnapped in Iraq :

Virginia Man Among Four Kidnapped in Iraq By CHRIS TOMLINSON, Associated Press Writer
Al-Jazeera broadcast video Tuesday of four Western peace activists held hostage by a previously unknown group, part of a new wave of kidnappings police fear is aimed at disrupting next month's elections.
The news station said the four were seized by the Swords of Righteousness Brigade, which claimed they were spies working under the cover of Christian peace activists. The captives_ an American, a Briton and two Canadians — were members of the Chicago-based aid group Christian Peacemaker Teams.
The footage showed Norman Kember, a retired British professor with a shock of white hair, sitting on the floor with three other men. The camera revealed the 74-year-old Kember's passport, but the other hostages were not identified.
But Christian Peacemaker Teams confirmed the others were Tom Fox, 54, of Clearbrook, Va.; James Loney, 41, of Toronto; and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, a Canadian electrical engineer. They had been missing since Saturday.
The brief, blurry tape was shown the same day German TV displayed a photo of a blindfolded German archaeologist being led away by armed captors in Iraq. The kidnappers threatened to kill Susanne Osthoff and her Iraqi driver unless Germany halts all contacts with the Iraqi government.
[…] In a statement, Christian Peacemaker Teams said it strongly opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq and blamed the kidnapping on coalition forces.
"We are angry because what has happened to our teammates is the result of the actions of the U.S. and U.K. government due to the illegal attack on Iraq and the continuing occupation and oppression of its people," the group said.
Christian Peacemaker Teams does not consider itself a fundamentalist organization, a spokeswoman said. [/] "We are very strict about this: We do not do any evangelism, we are not missionaries," Jessica Phillips told The Associated Press in Chicago. "Our interest is to bring an end to the violence and destruction of civilian life in Iraq." [/] The group's first activists went to Iraq in 2002, six months before the U.S.-led invasion, Phillips said, adding that a main mission since the invasion has been documenting alleged human rights abuses by U.S. forces.
Loney, a community worker, was leading the Christian group's delegation in Iraq. [/] Fox, the captive from Virginia, has two children, plays the bass clarinet and the recorder and worked as a professional grocer and at a Quaker youth camp, according to the statement. [/] Sooden was studying for a masters degree in English literature at Auckland University in New Zealand to prepare for a teaching career. [/] Kember is a longtime peace activist who once fretted publicly that he was taking the easy way out by protesting in safety at home while British soldiers risked their lives in Iraq. He and his wife of 45 years have two daughters and a grandson, the group said.
The German woman and her Iraqi driver were kidnapped Friday, the German government announced. ARD public television said it obtained a video in which the kidnappers made their threats. The station posted a photo on its Web site showing what appears to be Osthoff and her driver blindfolded on the floor, with three masked militants standing by, one with a rocket-propelled grenade.
[…] Osthoff's mother told Germany's N24 news station that her daughter was an archaeologist who was working for a German aid organization distributing medicine and medical supplies since before the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.
[…] Iraq was swept by a wave of kidnappings and beheadings of foreigners in 2004 and early 2005, but such attacks have dropped off in recent months as many Western groups have left and security precautions for those who remain have tightened. Insurgents, including al-Qaida in Iraq, have seized more than 225 people, killing at least 38 — including three Americans.
[…] Associated Press reporters David Rising in Berlin, Michael Tarm in Chicago and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.
On the Net: Christian Peacemaker Teams [My ellipses and emphasis]

It Is All Bush's Fault III

From a Hartford Courant article, `We Do Have A Plan':

`We Do Have A Plan' [/] Returning From Iraq, Lieberman Praises U.S. Strategy, Urges Bush To Tout Successes
By DAVID LIGHTMAN [/] Washington Bureau Chief [/] November 29 2005
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, just back from Iraq, wants President Bush to give the American people details about the progress being made in that country - from military triumphs to the proliferation of cellphones and satellite dishes.
[…] Critics sense a mission adrift. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D[emocrat]-Conn., visited Iraq last month, and came away saying "we need a major course correction" in American policy - notably "we need to let Iraqis know we're not there forever."
But Lieberman, D[emocrat]-Conn., who spent Wednesday and Thursday in Iraq, saw strong evidence that a workable American plan is in place. [/] "We do have a strategy," he said. "We do have a plan. I saw a strategy that's being implemented."
Lieberman, who is one of Bush's strongest war supporters in the Senate, cited the remarks of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who last month told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee the strategy in Iraq was to "clear, hold and build: to clear areas from insurgent control, to hold them securely and to build durable, national Iraqi institutions."
Lieberman spent his time in Iraq, his fourth trip there in 17 months, conferring with American officials and Iraqi leaders, including Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari, the country's interior and defense ministers, and senior members of the Supreme Council. He also talked with about 50 Connecticut troops.
"The Iraqi Security Forces are fighting hard. They're fighting well. They are not cracking under pressure, as you see in some armies, and they are making a tremendous contribution," Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, deputy director, plans and strategy, U.S. Army Central Command, told a Heritage Foundation forum Monday.
[…] Dodd, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, listed a series of steps he would like the United States to take, including using Arab League nations to cool tensions between rival Iraqi factions, getting the United Nations and NATO more involved and possibly moving "major blocs" of American troops out of the country after the Dec. 15 national elections.
[…] Lieberman, a consistent supporter of action against Iraq since the Gulf War in 1991, was one of five Senate Democrats to oppose a Democratic-led bid on Nov. 15 to demand that Bush set timetables for troop pullouts.
Lieberman said he understands the mood, but is adamant that the war is a just cause.
[…] Saturday, the administration quickly rebutted criticisms by Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., D[emocrat]-Del., a one-time war backer who recently has been vocal in calling for a withdrawal timetable.
[…] In that address, Bush reiterated his strategy: "As the Iraqis stand up, we will stand down. And when our commanders on the ground tell me that the Iraqi forces can defend their freedom, our troops will come home with the honor they have earned."
"There are more cars on the street and an amazing number of satellite dishes on rooftops," [S]enator [Lieberman] said, "and what seems like millions of cellphones. [/] "Most exciting is the political stuff. ... There is a campaign going on there for the Dec. 15 National Assembly elections and there are a lot of independent television stations and newspapers covering it."
[…] "But what's happening on the ground now shows those leading our effort now have learned from our mistakes," he said, "and they're going with what works." [My ellipses and emphasis]

Democratic senators appear to be a bit divided.

And, of course, It Is All Bush's Fault.

CPR Now Easy. Be Prepared

From a Yahoo! USA Today article, Lifesaving move: CPR made easier :

Lifesaving move: CPR made easier By Robert Davis, USA TODAY [/] Tue Nov 29, 6:53 AM ET
The American Heart Association unveiled dramatic changes Monday to its emergency cardiovascular care guidelines to make CPR simpler and less intimidating to a passerby thrust into the role of rescuer.
The revised guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation shift the emphasis from mouth-to-mouth to chest compressions.
After reviewing thousands of studies, an international team of scientists found that [old style] CPR is too complicated for the average person. That is deadly for the more than 250,000 people who collapse each year in cardiac arrest.
"The most common reason many people die is because no one nearby knew CPR, or if they did know it, they didn't actually do it," says Michael Sayre of Ohio State University in Columbus, one of the authors of the new guidelines.
Now it's simple: Call for help. Push the chest. Don't stop.
Two rescue breaths can be given after every 30 compressions, but [these input to victim breaths] mouth-to-mouth [are] optional.
"Some CPR is better than no CPR," says Robert O'Connor of Christiana Care Health System in Newark, another guideline author. Until emergency medical responders arrive, chest compressions alone can often be just as effective in saving a life, he says.
Historically, the heart association has emphasized the need for CPR certification and recertification. Now, when somebody collapses, does not respond to shaking and is not breathing, the authors hope that the closest person will simply start compressing the chest.
"The more times a person pushes on the chest, the better off the patient is, because there is more blood flow to the brain and other vital organs," Sayre says.
The new guidelines are published in the journal Circulation. The authors say cities also must deploy more automated external defibrillators in public places and teach 911 dispatchers to give simplified CPR instructions.
But passersby who do [preferably new style] CPR will buy precious minutes before a defibrillator or medic arrives. "If you have bystanders ready and willing to act and trained to respond, then you are going to be able to help improve survival," says guideline co-author Mary Fran Hazinkski of Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.
The authors also called for emergency systems to measure their performance. In a 2003 investigation, USA TODAY found that cities most effective in saving victims of cardiac arrest keep track of their EMS performance. Some cities save 10 times more victims than others. [My ellipses and emphasis]

From an American Heart Association Journal: Circulation article, Adult Basic Life Support :

[…] Rescuers begin CPR if the victim is unconscious, not moving, and not breathing (ignoring occasional gasps).
For mouth-to-mouth ventilation or for bag-valve–mask ventilation with room air or oxygen, the rescuer should deliver each breath in 1 second and should see visible chest rise.
Increased emphasis on the process of CPR: push hard at a rate of 100 compressions per minute, allow full chest recoil, and minimize interruptions in chest compressions.
For the single rescuer of an infant (except newborns), child, or adult victim, use a single compression-ventilation ratio of 30:2 [no ventilation is okay and helps according to article above] to simplify teaching, [to] promote skills retention, [to] increase the number of compressions given, and [to] decrease interruptions in compressions. During 2-rescuer CPR of the infant or child, healthcare providers should use a 15:2 compression-ventilation ratio.
During CPR for a patient with an advanced [artificial] airway (ie, tracheal tube, esophageal-tracheal combitube [Combitube], laryngeal mask airway [LMA]) in place, deliver ventilations at a rate of 8 to 10 per minute for infants (excepting neonates), children and adults, without pausing during chest compressions to deliver the ventilations. […] [My ellipses and emphasis]

What really happened at St. Rita's?

What really happened at St. Rita's? - Yahoo! News:

What passes for high ground in Louisiana's southeastern marshlands are the patches of terra firma that did not flood during Hurricane Betsy in 1965.

St. Rita's Nursing Home was built 20 years ago on one of those patches. That figured prominently in the decision by Sal and Mabel Mangano, St. Rita's owners, to ride out Hurricane Katrina in their one-story brick building rather than follow an order by St. Bernard Parish to evacuate the home's 60 residents. The Manganos even invited their relatives, staffers and the staff's relatives to use St. Rita's as a shelter, and nearly 30 people accepted the offer

State law requires licensed nursing homes to file evacuation plans with the local government. But the law does not require the plans to be followed during an emergency, and it does not require nursing home operators to follow mandatory evacuation orders.

"The law is silent on those two issues," says Bob Johannessen, spokesman for the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, a fact that would appear to help the Manganos' defense.

Likewise, Louisiana's requirement that nursing homes have an evacuation plan does not require an actual evacuation. The law allows nursing homes to "evacuate" to "a safe place" within the home.

St. Rita's evacuation plan called for residents to be taken to Baton Rouge or Lafayette in two stages, with the most infirm residents to go 48 to 72 hours before a hurricane, and the rest to go 24 to 48 hours before a storm. Despite several conversations before the hurricane with Bertucci, other parish officials and relatives of residents about evacuating, the Manganos did not follow their written plan.

It Is All Bush's Fault II

From a Chicago Sun-Times article, Our accomplishments in Iraq make for long list :

Our accomplishments in Iraq make for long list [/] November 28, 2005 [/] BY MARY LANEY
Oh, for a George M. Cohan. Oh, for a writer of songs like his "Over There" today. All the noise, all the static, and not a bit of music to herald these United States these days.
We're over there, we Yanks, in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait. We kicked the Taliban thugs out of Afghanistan, sent them packing, and worked with the populace that emerged from the rubble, allowed a government to form, citizens to vote, women to go outside, girls to go back to school, and all to return to work in hospitals, stores and banks.
In Iraq, we cornered the dictator's sadistic sons and sent them to their final judgment. We captured their father, the tyrant and mass-murdering Saddam Hussein, dragged him out of a rat-hole in the desert and are bringing him to justice before a jury of Iraqis. We've seen the populace of Iraq vote on a constitution -- even under threat of being beheaded by Islamofascists -- going to the polls some 70 percent strong. Schools are opening, stores are operating and soon the Iraqi people will vote again on a new government.
But here we get all the static, all the talking heads, and all the theories of what's happening over there. We hear politics instead of facts. We get editorials in place of reports. We have Congress tied up with some politicians making threats and insisting that we set a date to withdraw our troops or withdraw our troops immediately. We hear them making accusations that President Bush lied when he said Saddam had weapons of mass destruction -- even though former President Bill Clinton said the same thing when he was in office, as did others in his party who now seem to be suffering from an acute case of amnesia regarding the recent past.
The supreme ayatollah of Iran is urging a speedy pullout of foreign troops from Iraq. Now, if former President Jimmy Carter were still in the White House, perhaps that would happen. Carter was the president, you'll recall, who wrote a nice letter to the Ayatollah Khomeni in Iran after his country took over the American Embassy and was holding Americans hostage inside. But there's a different president in the White House today. President Bush is not backing down in the war on terror -- despite all the noise and all the chatter and talking heads who are criticizing him.
The noise is so loud about the war, yet we're not hearing what we need to hear. We're not hearing from the soldiers, the generals, the boots on the ground. Why is this? [/] The soldiers are putting their lives on the line daily, yet we don't hear from them or about them in the myriad reports coming out of Baghdad. The Marines are making certain schools are free of bombs and children can go inside to learn. Yet we don't hear from them. We only hear of the fatalities of the war -- not the victories of the war. We see pictures of the soldiers who have given their lives, but no pictures of the heroes who are, daily, making progress over there.
There are those who would like to set a date by which we will withdraw American troops. That's like playing poker and telling which cards you have and when you intend to play them. It doesn't work in war.
There are politicians who are using the war to try to tilt Americans to change their minds. They continually refer to Iraq as another Vietnam. It is not Vietnam. Vietnam was a black eye for America. It was a time where America pulled out due to public opinion and then watched the slaughter of the South Vietnamese people after we left. Iraq is not Vietnam. If we pull out of Iraq, al-Qaida will follow us right back home -- to New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Doubt it? Then you have forgotten 9/11 and just what happened after America failed to respond to the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993 and failed to act when our Marine barracks, our Navy ship, and other American targets were attacked by al-Qaida.
[…] We're getting our reports from hotel rooms in Baghdad.
It's time for the whole story from over there. [My ellipses and emphasis]

And, of course, It Is All Bush's Fault.

It Is All Bush's Fault I

From a Yahoo! AP article, Consumer Confidence Up As Gas Prices Dip :

Consumer Confidence Up As Gas Prices Dip By MARTIN CRUTSINGER
Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods and sales of new homes rose sharply in October while consumer confidence soared in November, all indications the economy is recovering from the blow delivered by the Gulf Coast hurricanes.
The Conference Board, a private research company, said that falling gasoline prices and an improved jobs outlook had lifted [consumer] confidence in November to a reading of 98.9, up from 85.2 in October.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department reported that sales of new single-family homes shot up by 13 percent last month, the biggest one-month gain in more than 12 years. The increase pushed sales to an all-time high 1.42 million units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate.
The increase in home sales confounded analysts who had been predicting that new home sales would decline by 1.8 percent, reflecting continued increases in mortgage rates. It was possible that the unexpected surge reflected a final rush by buyers to get into the market before mortgage rates climb higher.
In another report, the Commerce Department said that orders to U.S. factories for durable goods rose by 3.4 percent last month, erasing a 2 percent decline in September that was blamed on disruptions from hurricanes Katrina and Rita and a machinists strike at aircraft giant Boeing.
The increase was better than the 1.4 percent advance that economists had been expecting and provided further evidence that the economy is shaking off the adverse effects of the Gulf Coast hurricanes.
"Manufacturing activity has held up remarkably well in the face of skyrocketing energy prices and natural disaster and is actually accelerating in its pace of growth in the final months of 2005," said Daniel J. Meckstroth, chief economist for the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI, an industry group.
[…] Orders for commercial aircraft also increased in October, advancing by 50.4 percent to $11 billion after having fallen by 2.7 percent the previous month. The September decline was blamed in part on a strike by machinists at Boeing which disrupted activities at the nation's largest airplane manufacturer.
Orders for all transportation items were up 11.4 percent, a gain that reflected strength in both commercial and military aircraft sales. Orders for motor vehicles actually fell by 2.2 percent in October, reflecting the trouble automakers had spurring sales following the impact of a sharp surge in gasoline prices in September.
[…] Orders for non-defense capital goods, considered a good barometer of business plans for expansion and modernization, rose by 6.7 percent last month after having fallen by 8.6 percent in September. [My ellipses and emphasis]

And, of course, It Is All Bush's Fault

Former high-ranking FBI official calls for new OKC bombing probe

McCurtain Daily Gazette: "Former high-ranking FBI official calls for new OKC bombing probe / 11/28/2005 / by J.D. Cash

A former deputy assistant director of the FBI with extensive experience in domestic terrorism cases is calling for additional investigation into the 1995 bombing of the A.P. Murrah Federal Building.

Danny Coulson � a man who played a central role in the early stages of the original OKBOMB case � took time from his vacation with his wife in McCurtain County last weekend to review teletypes issued by former FBI director Louis Freeh after Coulson left the investigation.

The legendary agent who created the FBI�s fabled Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) and solved some of the nation�s toughest cases, Coulson says he now suspects some of Timothy McVeigh�s cohorts were not charged in the horrendous crime. "

Monday, November 28, 2005

Today's twentysomethings have never had it so bad

Telegraph | Opinion | Today's twentysomethings have never had it so bad:

"Except that, when I talked to a group of them, their lives didn't seem that easy. Compared with the older generation swanning around on their cruises, they seemed anxious, exhausted and alienated. A few months later, the think tank Reform took up the term the iPod generation, labelling them insecure, pressurised, overtaxed and debt-ridden.

Now the pensions crisis has made it even more clear. To be young in Britain is not a carefree experience. The real divide in this country is no longer between toffs and council estate lads, the public sector versus the private sector, or middle-class culture compared with the benefits culture. The big gap now is between the old and the young. David Willetts, in a speech to the think tank Policy Exchange yesterday, called it, 'the clash of the generations'. "

This is a Christmas tree

News Forum Home Page:
"This is a Christmas tree.
It is not a Hanukkah bush, it is not Allah plant, it is not a Holiday hedge.
It is a Christmas tree.
Say it...Christmas, Christmas, Christmas "

Nepal to probe mystery 'Buddha' boy

Oddly Enough News Article | Reuters.co.uk: "KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Authorities in Nepal urged religious groups and scientists on Sunday to help solve the mystery of a meditating teenaged boy who some believe is an incarnation of Buddha.
At least 100,000 devotees from Nepal and neighbouring India have flocked in recent weeks to a dense forest in southeastern Nepal to see 15-year-old Ram Bahadur Bamjon, who, his associates say, has been meditating without food or water for six months."

Nepal to probe mystery 'Buddha' boy

Ethics Ignored in Flu Planning

From a Financial Times article, Ethics being ignored in flu planning :

‘Ethics being ignored in flu planning’ [/] By Andrew Jack in London [/] Published: November 28 2005 19:59
Governments should explicitly address the ethics of how best to distribute medicines, support doctors and handle quarantine as they draw up contingency plans for a future flu pandemic, a group of Canadian researchers said on Monday.
In a report, the University of Toronto joint centre for bioethics pandemic influenza working group warns of the dangers when so few government pandemic plans contain any explicit ethical framework. Only the state of Ontario’s plan currently makes such a reference.
Based on the Canadian experience with Sars, Peter Singer, head of the centre and one of the authors, said: “In the first week, all the discussion was on technical issues such as the size of face masks, but by the second, the ethical issues were emerging. The foundation of the decisions of political, public health and healthcare leaders is not in operational details but ethics.”
The report recommends that health professionals be offered disability plans and death benefits for their families in the event that they contract the flu, in recompense for their duty of care to sick patients.
It calls for a public debate on the rationale for giving priority access to vaccines and antiviral drugs to particular groups, such as frontline health workers.
It says curbs on individual liberty such as quarantine should be based on proportionality and use the least restrictive means possible.
It also calls for the World Health Organisation to be sensitive, transparent and equitable in any recommendations on curbing travel to affected countries. [My ellipses and emphasis]

Singapore scientists embrace plan for cyberhugs

Yahoo! News: "Singapore scientists embrace plan for cyberhugs Mon Nov 28,11:39 AM ET

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore scientists looking for ways to transmit the sense of touch over the Internet have devised a vibration jacket for chickens and are thinking about electronic children's pyjamas for cyberspace hugs.

A wireless jacket for chickens or other pets can be controlled with a computer and gives the animal the feeling of being touched by its owner, researchers at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) told Monday's edition of The Straits Times.

The next step would be to use the same concept to transmit hugs over the Internet, it said. [/] 'These days, parents go on a lot of business trips, but with children, hugging and touching are very important,' the paper quoted NTU Associate Professor Adrian David Cheok as saying.

NTU is thinking of a pyjama suit for children, which would use the Internet to adjust changes in pressure and temperature to simulate the feeling of being hugged. Parents wearing a similar suit could be 'hugged' back by their children, the paper said. "

Boznian Town erects world's first Bruce Lee statue

Town erects world's first Bruce Lee statue - Yahoo! News:

"Unveiled by its initiators, Veselin Gatalo and Nino Raspudic of Mostar's Urban Movement, the statue portrays the Chinese-American actor, who died 32 years ago, in a typical defensive fighting position.

'This does not mean that Bruce Lee will unite us, because people are different and cannot be united and we will always be Muslims, Serbs or Croats,' Gatalo said. 'But one thing we all have in common is Bruce Lee.'

Gatalo has said Lee -- a hero to teenagers all over Bosnia in the 1970s and 1980s -- epitomized justice, mastery and honesty, virtues the town had badly missed.
The statue shows Lee facing north, so that Muslims in the eastern part of Mostar and Croats in its western half do not see him as poised for a fight with them. Croatia is in the south."

U.N. Climate Conference to Open in Canada

Yahoo! News: "Earth's average temperature, meanwhile, has increased about 1 degree Fahrenheit in recent decades, a relatively rapid rise. Many climate specialists warn that continued warming could have severe effects, such as rising sea levels and changing rainfall patterns, variations already devastating ancient communities and wildlife, such as the Inuit [politically correct name for, at least some, Eskimos, I think] and polar bears [the bears have yet to object to a name that may demean them as suffering from bi-polar disorder (psychiatricly correct new name for manic-depressive illness)] of Canada's far northeastern regions.

Skeptics sometimes dismiss the rise in greenhouse gases as part of a naturally fluctuating cycle. The new study provides more definitive evidence countering that view."

U.N. Climate Conference to Open With Probable Collapse of Host Government

U.N. Climate Conference to Open in Canada - Yahoo! News:

"MONTREAL - Thousands of environmentalists and government officials from around the world have descended on Montreal to brainstorm on how to slow the effects of greenhouses gases and global warming. In the process they will probably witness the collapse of the Canadian government.

In a nightmarish turn of events for Environment Minister Stephane Dion, the House of Commons was set to topple Prime Minister Paul Martin's minority government on Monday, the same day Canada opens the 10-day U.N. Climate Control Conference."

Inner Cities Continue to Hemorrhage Jobs

Inner Cities Continue to Hemorrhage Jobs - Yahoo! News:

"In fact, the best-performing cities were not part of the federal empowerment zone and renewal community programs, which provide businesses with billions of dollars in tax incentives to expand and hire workers."

Saddam Trial Resumes, Then Is Postponed

Saddam Trial Resumes, Then Is Postponed - Yahoo! News:

"The front row of seats in the press gallery bore a warning in English and Arabic: 'If you sit here, you could be on television.' "

Sunday, November 27, 2005

18 Month Wait at Best for Possibly Collected Space Dust

Japanese Spacecraft to Start Journey Home - Yahoo! News:

"JAXA said the Hayabusa appeared to have touched down for a few seconds on the asteroid about 180 million miles from Earth, collecting powder from its surface and then lifting off again to transmit data to mission controllers.

But the agency will not know for sure if Hayabusa collected surface samples until it returns to Earth. It is expected to land in Australia's Outback in June 2007, more than four years after its launch in May 2003."

Clark Arrives to Assist Saddam Defense

Clark Arrives to Assist Saddam Defense - Yahoo! News:

"Clark Arrives to Assist Saddam Defense By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi police arrested eight Sunni Arabs in the northern city of Kirkuk for allegedly plotting to assassinate the investigating judge who prepared the case against Saddam Hussein, a senior police commander said Sunday. The announcement came as former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark arrived in Baghdad, airport officials said, apparently to aid in Saddam's defense. "

Will Jesse Jackson be next, in order to give spiritual counsel?

"Those who are merciful to the cruel, are cruel to the merciful."

The speech President Bush should give about Iraq.

OpinionJournal - Featured Article: "We have created a balance of power in the Middle East in which no regime can easily threaten any other. In doing this, we and our allies have followed a long tradition: We worked to prevent Imperial Germany from dominating Europe in 1914, Hitler from doing the same in 1940, and the Soviet Union from doing this in 1945. Now we are doing it in the Middle East.
And we are winning. Soon Iraqi forces will be able to maintain order in the few hot spots that still exist in Iraq. We will stay the course until they are ready. We made no mistake ending Saddam's rule. We have brought not only freedom to Iraq, but progress to most of the Middle East. America should be proud of what it has accomplished. America will not cut and run until the Iraqis can manage their own security, and that will happen soon."

Saturday, November 26, 2005

The American Thinker

The American Thinker:

"A multimillion-dollar campaign to boost Germans� low self-confidence has backfired after it emerged that its slogan was coined by the Nazis.

The $34 million �Du Bist Deutschland�You Are Germany��campaign was devised to inspire Germans to stop moaning and do something good for their country.

Beethoven, Einstein and the sports stars Franz Beckenbauer and Michael Schumacher have been cited in advertisements encouraging Germans to take more pride in their homeland.

But a historian from Ludwigshafen has provoked an uproar with his discovery that the same �Du Bist Deutschland� cry was used at Nazi rallies in the 1930s.

Stefan Morz uncovered photographs of a 1935 Nazi convention in which soldiers display a banner reading, in Gothic script, �Denn Du Bist Deutschland (Because You Are Germany).� The slogan was topped with the head of Adolf Hitler. Leading Nazis such as Hermann Goring and Joseph Goebbels attended the event. "

Ukraine marks Soviet-era forced famine

Ukraine marks Soviet-era forced famine: "Ukraine marks Soviet-era forced famine
By ANNA MELNICHUK
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko lights a candle to commemorate victims of the Soviet-era forced famine that killed up to 10 million Ukrainians, in Ukraine's capital Kiev Saturday, Nov. 26, 2005. Ukraine marks the anniversary of the famine that Soviet dictator Josef Stalin provoked as part of his campaign to force Ukrainian peasants to give up their land and join collective farms. (AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov)
KIEV, Ukraine -- Olena Tuz was 6 years old when she saw a neighbor throw the body of a naked woman into a pit on the edge of a remote forest in 1932. Flesh had been cut from the body.
'People ate people, mothers ate their own children. They didn't realize what they were doing, they just were hungry,' said Tuz, standing at a thousand-strong rally in the capital Kiev to commemorate victims of the Soviet-era forced famine that killed up to 10 million Ukrainians."

Telegraph | News | Teheran 'secretly trains' Chechens to fight in Russia

Telegraph | News | Teheran 'secretly trains' Chechens to fight in Russia: "Teheran 'secretly trains' Chechens to fight in Russia
Con Coughlin
(Filed: 27/11/2005)
Iran is secretly training Chechen rebels in sophisticated terror techniques to enable them to carry out more effective attacks against Russian forces, the Sunday Telegraph can reveal."

What did U.S. military know before 9/11?

Telegraph | News | Indian reaches 69,852ft to claim balloon record

Telegraph | News | Indian reaches 69,852ft to claim balloon record:

Indian reaches 69,852ft to claim balloon record / David Orr in Delhi / (Filed: 27/11/2005)

An Indian industrialist and adventurer has confounded sceptics by claiming a new world altitude record in a hot air balloon.

After lifting off from Bombay, the 67-year-old multi-millionaire, Vijaypat Singhania, yesterday piloted his craft to a height of 69,852ft - more than 13 miles, or twice as high as a passenger jet would normally fly.

The previous record holder, a Swede, had said his 1988 feat could not be broken with current technology.

[...] Mr Singhania's balloon, higher than a 20-storey building, was designed and built in Britain. The flight advisers were two British aviators, Andy Elson and Colin Prescot, best known for filming the aerial sequences in the Harry Potter and recent James Bond films.

"This is a great achievement and unusual for India which has no history of this kind of thing", said Mr Prescot, speaking in Bombay. "No human being can survive long at the altitude Vijay went to, at that height the bodily fluids begin to boil. And, before his flight, no one had ever managed to burn fuel at such an altitude." [...]

Mother Sheehan's Book Signing

Sweetness & Light � Mother Sheehan�s Book Signing: "Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan waits for people to show up at her book signing near President Bush�s ranch on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2005 in Crawford, Texas.

Frankly I�m amazed the DNC/AP allowed these photos to see the light of day.

Usually their photogs do their (unlevel) best to angle their cameras and crop their pictures to make Mother Sheehan always appear to be at the center of a worshipful swarm.

I�m afraid someone is going to be in hot water for letting us glimpse the truth."

New Arabic Christian U.S. TV Channel

Alkarma (Vineyard) Index Page in Arabic

Alkarma (Vineyard) Index Page in English

Neat Flash Intro

From a Washington Times article, Arabic Christian channel a hit?:

Arabic Christian channel a hit? [/] By Julia Duin [/] THE WASHINGTON TIMES [/] Published November 26, 2005
The founder of the nation's first Arabic Christian TV channel says the programming is attracting phone inquiries from curious Muslims.
The Southern California-based channel Alkarma, whose name means "the vineyard" in Arabic, premiered Oct. 17. It is the brainchild of Samuel Estefanos, an Egyptian-born businessman.
The channel gets 10 to 15 calls a day from Arabic speakers with Muslim surnames who are intrigued that Alkarma would give away a movie known as the "Jesus Film" and other materials.
"Some of them call and say they are Muslims and need to know more about Christ," Mr. Estefanos said. "Other people are Christians but say they don't know anything about Christ. In the Middle East, even though if your religion says 'Christian' on your identity card, that does not mean that you know Christ."
Mr. Estefanos invested about $200,000, much of it his own money, to purchase airtime and equipment for the 24-hour channel. The station still needs about $40,000 a month to operate. Total contributions so far total about $10,000 a month.
"I know this is a great station," he said, "and we are doing more productions. We are seeking to build a good foundation so we can grow more. I believe God will provide and we'll keep on going."
He estimates there are 35 Arabic-language TV channels airing nationally, but none of them were Christian until Alkarma began. The channel, which reaches about a million Arabic speakers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, is slowly attracting advertisers.
"It's great," he said. "Some people call us and cry on the phone. They say, 'We knew Christ through this channel.' People send us e-mails and leave phone messages."
The channel is one of 25 Arabic-language channels on the GlobeCast World TV satellite, which has 130 radio and TV channels in more than 30 languages. Alkarma, based in Seal Beach, Calif., is part of the nonprofit Media Dream. Its Web site is www.alkarmatv.com.
Mr. Estefanos, who emigrated here seven years ago, said he began dreaming of such a station 15 years ago after he graduated from college in Egypt in 1990.
Beginning in 2002, he said, God began directing him to start Alkarma.
He has had to produce seven original programs in Arabic. One is named "Virtuous Women"; another is called "The Healing Touch"; a third is called "God and Christianity"; and an interview show is called "Where is the Truth?"
"There are no debates between religions," he said. "Our goals are focused on two things: providing solid biblical teaching and programs for the family."
Its Arabic programs are in various Syrian, Lebanese, Iraqi and Egyptian dialects. The channel also airs some English programming for children plus portions of "The 700 Club" from the Christian Broadcasting Network.

All Heart, that Premier Wen

Guardian Unlimited | World Latest | China's Premier Visits Waterless City:

"The premier visited the Harbin No. 3 Water Filtration Plant, where 300 paramilitary police were delivering tons of carbon to filter water from the Songhua River once it is declared safe to use.

``Your work now is work to protect the safety of the masses' drinking water. Thank you, everyone!'' Wen told the troops outside the plant, who cheered. ``Make the masses' water completely safe, and we must not allow the masses to be short of water.'' "

Friday, November 25, 2005

Ostriches Running France

From a Washington Times article, European disaster zone :

European disaster zone [/] By Arnaud de Borchgrave [/] Published November 24, 2005
Since 1995, no one in France has had access to more secret intelligence about a coming racial earthquake and the tsunami it would trigger than Dominique de Villepin. [/] After serving as chief of staff to President Chirac for seven years, Mr. de Villepin became foreign minister in 2002, interior minister in 2004 and prime minister in 2005. He is in line to succeed Mr. Chirac in the presidency itself in 2007.
In all his high-ranking posts, Mr. de Villepin read warnings from the DST, the French FBI, and Renseignements Generaux (RG), an intelligence service that monitors public opinion, about deteriorating conditions and rising anger in Muslim slums of major cities.
Former French intelligence chiefs, like their opposite numbers in other European Union countries, complain, albeit off the record, their political masters adopted the ungainly posture of the proverbial ostrich -- and then expressed surprise when they got kicked in the most obvious place.
France's internal intelligence agencies reported in the last two years that 40 percent of the imams in France's 1,000 principal mosques had no religious training and downloaded material from pro-al Qaeda Web sites for their Friday sermons. The fiery harangues were designed to attract young jobless Muslims to the mosques -- and extremist causes many imams espoused.
[…] The French government has deliberately downplayed, even denied, any connection between nationwide riots and torching of automobiles, schools, and even churches and the jihadi phenomenon. Jean-Louis Debre, speaker of the National Assembly and mayor of Evreux, called the unrest "a true episode of urban guerrilla" warfare.
A curfew and a state of emergency restored a semblance of calm after some 9,000 vehicles were torched from the Channel to the Mediterranean, but few believed it was more than a momentary truce. French philosopher Jean Baudrillard told a U.S. interviewer, "It will get worse and worse and worse."
Much as the authorities try to avoid lending credibility to Islamist influences, the cops on the beat say Islamist beliefs coupled with desperation over a hopeless future are a major motivating factor. The young Muslims scoff at their parents for accepting menial jobs and belong to criminal gangs with a religious identity to feed their drug habits and steal mobile phones. And since Oct. 27, they tell each other their 'hoods are Baghdad in France.
Gang leaders can also see that the left in France -- socialists, communists, Greens and intellectual elites -- sympathizes with them and blames tough Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy who called them "racaille" (or riff-raff, not the widely quoted "scum"). Le Monde, France's leading liberal publication, said "the stupidity of teenagers" was "an answer to the provocations of Sarkozy."
The left ignores riots to emphasize "police harassment" and refers to drug trafficking as a "parallel economy." Lawless zones, says philosopher Jean-Francois Mattei, become "sensitive neighborhoods."
L'Humanite, the communist newspaper, wrote, "Sarkozy's arrogance evidently knows no limits," explaining, "after having deliberately lit the fuse, he happily surveys the damage."
Michael Radu, co-chairman of the Foreign Policy Research Institute's Center on Terrorism, Counterterrorism and Homeland Security, says, "For many years, in the Paris region, Islamist ideology has tried to take advantage of unemployment and unrest. ... Now, youths crying 'God is great' rampage and demand that areas where Muslims form a majority be reorganized on the basis of the millet [religious community] system of the Ottoman Empire, with each millet enjoying the right to organize its life in accordance with its religious beliefs.
"In parts of France," says Mr. Radu, "a de facto millet system is already in place, with women compelled to wear the hijab and men to grow beards; alcohol and pork products forbidden; 'places of sin' such as movie theaters closed down; and local administration seized."
Suddenly "big brothers" -- devout bearded men from the mosques in long, traditional robes -- place themselves between the authorities and the rioters in Clichy-sous-Bois, calling for order in the name of Allah. This is not coming through in print or electronic reporting from France. Muslims are 10 percent of France's 60 million, but they are between 60 percent and 80 percent of major cities' prison populations.
Similar developments in other European Union countries are not a matter of if but when, say their security service chiefs. Tragically for the Continent, EU's Eurocrats, in a fit of political correctness, are in deep denial about "Islamist terrorism."
Already forgotten is a European Commission report on a "crisis of identity" among young European Muslims whose radicalization is "a modern kind of dictatorship," where the Internet, universities and mosques are recruitment tools.
Arnaud de Borchgrave is editor at large of The Washington Times and of United Press International. [My ellipses and emphasis]

How the Church Defeats the Gates of Hades

Matthew 16:18 KJV And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

"Hell" is a translation of "Hades" which is not the lake of fire, the final place of the reprobate, but is a place of waiting for judgment. Before the Crucifixion it would seem that the elect were held in a separate section of Hades. Their sins had been covered but not yet taken away.

Ephesians 4:8-10 KJV Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (9) (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? (10) He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

This is one of the passages which depicts the human soul of the Lord descending into Hades after the Crucifixion. But He had the power to take up His life (literally "soul") (John 10:17-18) and ascend to Heaven. Where the first Adam was a living soul, the last Adam became a life giving spirit (1st Cor. 15:45).

And the gates of Hades could not prevail against Him. They were broken from the inside, not the outside as many assume.

The captivity "led captive" would seem to be the elect that had died prior to the Crucifixion. Their sins which had been covered were now taken away by the blood sacrifice of the Cross.

The context of the quotation in Ephesians clearly shows the application to the faithful remnant of Israel:

Psalms 68:6 KJV God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.

Psalms 68:18-20 KJV Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them. (19) Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah. (20) He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto GOD the Lord belong the issues from death.

Psalms 68:22 KJV The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring my people again from the depths of the sea:

The reason that captivity is led as still captive is that they are still naked souls, without personal spirits. Although now completely redeemed they can only rise to heaven with the Lord's assistance.

The loss of the personal spirit at death for the reprobate always, and for all before the Crucifixion and Resurrection is shown:

Ecclesiastes 12:7 KJV Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Luke 23:46 KJV And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

All of the captivity seem to receive a new spirit in heaven. Some of this is shown symbolically in Revelation.

Revelation 6:11 KJV And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

But the Church would seem to participate in the Lord's triumphant exit through the gates of Hades in a better manner.

Colossians 2:11-13 KJV In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: (12) Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. (13) And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

The members of His body having died with Him, have thus also been made alive together with Him. That is, their souls were taken up by a new eternal personal spirit, as His spirit took up His soul in Hades.

And thus joined to Him, the gates of Hades could not prevail against them.

Bush Planning Another War?

Hellyer warned, "The United States military are preparing weapons which could be used against the aliens, and they could get us into an intergalactic war without us ever having any warning. He stated, "The Bush administration has finally agreed to let the military build a forward base on the moon, which will put them in a better position to keep track of the goings and comings of the visitors from space, and to shoot at them, if they so decide." [My emphasis]

Above from a Yahoo! AP article, Canadian Parliament Asked To Hold Hearings On Relations With Alien "Et" Civilizations . More below:

Former Canadian Minister Of Defence Asks Canadian Parliament Asked To Hold Hearings On Relations With Alien "Et" Civilizations Thu Nov 24, 7:00 AM ET
(PRWEB) - OTTAWA, CANADA (PRWEB) November 24, 2005 -- A former Canadian Minister of Defence and Deputy Prime Minister under Pierre Trudeau has joined forces with three Non-governmental organizations to ask the Parliament of Canada to hold public hearings on Exopolitics -- relations with “ETs.”
By “ETs,” Mr. Hellyer and these organizations mean ethical, advanced extraterrestrial civilizations that may now be visiting Earth.
On September 25, 2005, in a startling speech at the University of Toronto that caught the attention of mainstream newspapers and magazines, Paul Hellyer, Canada’s Defence Minister from 1963-67 under Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Prime Minister Lester Pearson, publicly stated: "UFOs, are as real as the airplanes that fly over your head."
Mr. Hellyer went on to say, "I'm so concerned about what the consequences might be of starting an intergalactic war, that I just think I had to say something."
Hellyer revealed, "The secrecy involved in all matters pertaining to the Roswell incident was unparalled. The classification was, from the outset, above top secret, so the vast majority of U.S. officials and politicians, let alone a mere allied minister of defence, were never in-the-loop."
Hellyer warned, "The United States military are preparing weapons which could be used against the aliens, and they could get us into an intergalactic war without us ever having any warning. He stated, "The Bush administration has finally agreed to let the military build a forward base on the moon, which will put them in a better position to keep track of the goings and comings of the visitors from space, and to shoot at them, if they so decide."
Hellyer’s speech ended with a standing ovation. He said, "The time has come to lift the veil of secrecy, and let the truth emerge, so there can be a real and informed debate, about one of the most important problems facing our planet today."
Three Non-governmental organizations took Hellyer’s words to heart, and approached Canada’s Parliament in Ottawa, Canada’s capital, to hold public hearings on a possible ET presence, and what Canada should do. The Canadian Senate, which is an appointed body, has held objective, well-regarded hearings and issued reports on controversial issues such as same-sex marriage and medical marijuana,
On October 20, 2005, the Institute for Cooperation in Space requested Canadian Senator Colin Kenny, Senator, Chair of The Senate Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence, “schedule public hearings on the Canadian Exopolitics Initiative, so that witnesses such as the Hon. Paul Hellyer, and Canadian-connected high level military-intelligence, NORAD-connected, scientific, and governmental witnesses facilitated by the Disclosure Project and by the Toronto Exopolitics Symposium can present compelling evidence, testimony, and Public Policy recommendations.”
The Non-governmental organizations seeking Parliament hearings include Canada-based Toronto Exopolitics Symposium, which organized the University of Toronto Symposium at which Mr. Hellyer spoke.
The Disclosure Project, a U.S.– based organization that has assembled high level military-intelligence witnesses of a possible ET presence, is also one of the organizations seeking Canadian Parliament hearings.
Vancouver-based Institute for Cooperation in Space (ICIS), whose International Director headed a proposed 1977 Extraterrestrial Communication Study for the White House of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who himself has publicly reported a 1969 Close Encounter of the First Kind with a UFO, filed the original request for Canadian Parliament hearings.
The Canadian Exopolitics Initiative, presented by the organizations to a Senate Committee panel hearing in Winnipeg, Canada, on March 10, 2005, proposes that the Government of Canada undertake a Decade of Contact.
The proposed Decade of Contact is “a 10-year process of formal, funded public education, scientific research, educational curricula development and implementation, strategic planning, community activity, and public outreach concerning our terrestrial society’s full cultural, political, social, legal, and governmental communication and public interest diplomacy with advanced, ethical Off-Planet cultures now visiting Earth.”
[…] “Time is on the side of open disclosure that there are ethical Extraterrestrial civilizations visiting Earth,” The spokesperson stated. “Our Canadian government needs to openly address these important issues of the possible deployment of weapons in outer war plans against ethical ET societies.”
[Relevant links:]

. Canadian Exopolitics Initiative

. Click here to send your letter to the Parliament of Canada requesting public “ET” Hearings

. Washington, D.C.: Dr. Steven Greer, The Disclosure Project […] [My ellipses and emphasis]

Thursday, November 24, 2005

Public Ignores Anti-War Elites

From a Washington Times article, Public ignores Iraq war naysayers :

Public ignores Iraq war naysayers [/] By Jennifer Harper [/] THE WASHINGTON TIMES [/] Published November 24, 2005
Negative press coverage of the war in Iraq in recent weeks has emphasized rising pessimism among the American public about the conflict. But a new survey found that 56 percent of the public thinks that efforts to establish a stable democracy in the country will succeed.
The survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press -- which also plumbed opinions of journalists, university presidents and others in academe, diplomats, government officials, religious leaders, members of the military, scientists and international security specialists -- revealed a marked disconnect between the perceptions of the general public and many of the so-called opinion leaders. [/] When asked whether they thought democracy would succeed in Iraq, only 33 percent of the journalists agreed that it had a chance. The number was even worse in academe -- 27 percent of respondents thought the effort would succeed. Among the military, however, the number stood at 64 percent.
[…]Meanwhile, close to half of the American public -- 48 percent -- think the decision to take military action in Iraq was the right one. [/] […]The survey found a spectrum of opinions between the opinion leaders. [/] Among journalists, 28 percent thought the decision was justified. The number was 21 percent among the academic elites and 49 percent in the military.
The public is evenly divided on whether the war in Iraq has helped or hindered efforts to combat terrorism, 44 percent thought the conflict has helped the effort and the same number thought it has hurt. In the press, 68 percent said the war had hurt the effort, and 22 percent said it had helped. [/] In the academic world, the numbers were 75 percent and 16 percent, respectively. Among the military, it was 47 percent and 45 percent.
[…]The survey also found that the public's view of the United Nations has soured since March. [/] Overall, 48 percent of Americans felt favorably toward the United Nations, down from 77 percent in 2001. The approval ratings of the United Nations dropped by 11 points since March alone. [/] The survey found that 54 percent of Americans think that the United States should cooperate fully with the United Nations, down from 67 percent in 2002. And 32 percent thought the United States should "go its own way in international matters," up from 25 percent three years ago.
[…] The survey, which addressed "America's Place in the World," was conducted in two phases. It polled 2,006 adults between Oct. 12 and 24, and 540 members of the press, academia and the other five demographic groups from Sept. 5 to Oct. 31. The margin of error ranges from three to five percentage points. [/] The complete results can be viewed online at http://people-press.org . [/] Shepherd Pittman contributed to this report. [My ellipses and emphasis]

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