Greetings, fellow Freedom Fighters™ and Defenders of Democracy™!

Welcome to the fourteenth installment of daily posts as we work off our backlog of information.

Today, we bring you links you won’t want to miss along with news from our usual and unusual sources.

Please take your time and read through this post. If each and every item hadn’t stricken us as dead-on important, it wouldn’t be here. You won’t want to miss a word.

Keep the faith and keep fighting; together, we WILL win our nation back!

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Recommended links

Brainwashing the masses a la George Orwell's 1984:
http://tvnewslies.org/html/radio_show.html

If you're not convinced that ordinary Americans are being sacrificed on the alter of fascism and corporate greed, Loosechange puts all the pieces together for you. The link below is dedicated to debunking the official 9/11 story, but the rest of the site is worth perusing:
http://www.loosechange911.com/

Salon's "shameful six" U.S. states that disenfranchise poor and Black Democratic voters:
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/
08/15/states/index_np.html

Alaska's bears: to be seen or shot (yes, they are more or less endangered)?
Ya think declaring open season on bears is being done for the convenience of B.P. and the other oil companies up there in the frozen (if melting) north?
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/
08/15/eveningnews/main1898409.shtml

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From our information clearinghouse

These are items we receive from the countless mailing lists to which The Scallion collectively subscribes. They are worth the effort of at least a good skim.

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From AlterNet

Top Stories from AlterNet for August 15, 2006
http://www.alternet.org/
______________________________

THREE WAYS (OUT OF 100) THAT AMERICA'S SCREWING UP THE WORLD
John Tirman, AlterNet
From the lack of body counts in Iraq, to drug wars to
torture, the United States is making the world a worse
place to live in.
http://www.alternet.org/story/40175/

PUBLIC STONING: NOT JUST FOR THE TALIBAN ANYMORE
John Sugg, Church and State
Christian reconstructionists believe democracy is heresy and
public school is satanic -- and they've got more influence
than you think.
http://www.alternet.org/story/40318/

ANALYSTS FEAR DISASTER IN U.S. COURSE
Jim Lobe, Inter Press Service
Two big crises -- Iraq and Lebanon -- show signs of becoming
one really, really big emergency.
http://www.alternet.org/story/40341/

IN LOVE WITH OURSELVES
Silja J.A. Talvi, In These Times
American culture is full of narcissists of all shapes and
stripes -- George W. Bush, Rush Limbaugh, Paris Hilton and
any number of other public figures leap to mind.
http://www.alternet.org/story/40334/

THE FRENCH CONNECTION
Jo-Ann Mort, The American Prospect
Why America's prickliest ally is so crucial to forging a
solution in Israel and Lebanon.
http://www.alternet.org/story/40315

THE SPIRIT OF TOMMY CHONG
Dean Kuipers, LA CityBeat
The world's funniest stoner talks about meditation,
surviving prison, and his new book, 'The I Chong'
http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/40316/

______________________
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-->>TODAY in VIDEO! -->>

Sy Hersh on Democracy Now!
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh discusses his devastating new article on Bush administration involvement in the planning of Israeli strikes against Hezbollah.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/40333/#more

Hostage: The Jill Carroll Story
Carroll was held hostage in Iraq for 82 days. Her ordeal is chronicled in an 11-part series.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/40322/

Arianna Huffington: 'Real battle for soul of Democratic party'
Huffington appeared on CNN to discuss what the Lamont victory means for the Dems come November.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/40308/

=======================================
Donate: Visit https://www.alternet.org/donate/ to support
AlterNet and independent journalism.

-----
From "Democracy Now!"

DEMOCRACY NOW! DAILY EMAIL DIGEST
August 15, 2006

= = = = = = = = =

TODAY'S DEMOCRACY NOW!:

* EXCLUSIVE: Haitian Political Prisoner So Anne Released After Over 2 Years
in Haitian Jail *

Popular Haitian-American folk singer and political activist Annette Auguste,
has been released after spending over two years in a Haitian jail. Auguste,
commonly known as So Anne, was jailed shortly after the 2004 coup that
ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. So Anne joins us on the
line from Haiti.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/15/1326250


* Christians United for Israel: New Christian Zionism Lobby Hopes to Rival
AIPAC *

We take a look at a new recently established group called Christians United
for Israel - an evangelical organization that believes supporting
expansionist policies of the Israeli government is: "a biblical imperative."
We speak with investigative journalist Max Blumenthal who reports they
lobbied the Bush administration to adopt a confrontational posture toward
Iran, refuse aid to the Palestinians and give Israel a free hand in its
attack on Lebanon.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/15/1326256


* Fmr. White House Counsel John Dean on Conservatives Without Conscience *

We speak with former Nixon White House counsel John Dean about his new book,
"Conservatives Without Conscience." In it, he warns that many of today's
Republican and conservative leaders are: "conservatives without conscience
who are capable of plunging this nation into disasters the likes of which we
have never known."

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/15/1327200


* Headlines for August 15, 2006 *

- Lebanese Refugees Return to Ruined Villages
- Israeli Cluster Bombs Continue to Kill and Injure Civilians
- Nasrallah Says Hezbollah Has Achieved a "Historic Victory"
- Over 1,000 Iraqi Police Officers Resign in Fallujah
- Six Journalists Killed In Iraq Over Past Two Weeks
- Haitian Political Prisoner So Anne Released from Jail
- Video Shows Castro Meeting With Hugo Chavez
- New York Times Admits Holding NSA Story Until After '04 Election
- PBS Pays Gov't Official To Appear as Commentator
- Violations Committed by Military Recruiters Increase by 50%
- NYPD Proposes New Rules to Curtail Protests
- Longtime Activist Dorothy Ray Healey, 91, Dies

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/15/1326238

-----
From AlterNet

Top Stories from AlterNet for August 16, 2006
http://www.alternet.org/
______________________________

A SPLIT IN THE RACIST RIGHT
Mark Potok, Heidi Beirich, Intelligence Report
A rift has opened between those who see blacks, Hispanics
and Muslims as the primary enemy, and those who blame Jews
for every evil.
http://www.alternet.org/story/40343/

THE KIDNAPPING OF JILL CARROLL
Jill Carroll, Peter Grier, Christian Science Monitor
January 7, 2006, promised to be an easy Saturday in Iraq for
Jill Carroll. Instead, it was the first of her 82 days in
captivity.
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/40378/

CUBAN EXILES WAGE WAR OF TERROR
Frank Joyce, AlterNet
Anti-Castro terrorists based in Florida have carried out
thousands of attacks against civilians, often with the full
knowledge and support of the U.S. government.
http://www.alternet.org/story/40370/

LIEBERMAN & CO.'S DAYS ARE NUMBERED
Matt Taibbi, RollingStone.com
Political hacks like Joe Lieberman have run the country for
decades, but now that that they've fucked up Iraq and
everything else so badly they've made "McGovernism"
mainstream.
http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/40382/

WOMEN'S WORK: STILL NOT DONE
Claire Cain Miller, AlterNet
Why are women still struggling over the career-family
quandry four decades after the second wave of feminism
brought it up?
http://www.alternet.org/story/40384/

BLACKWATER'S MERCENARY JACKPOT
Jeremy Scahill, The Nation
We're still in the dark about why the U.S. government is
writing all those blank checks to Blackwater Security.
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/40164/

STUNNED, SCARED AND SILENT
Molly Ivins, AlterNet
The Bush administration's reliance on scare tactics -- to
beat Americans into stunned submission -- is becoming
outright laughable.
http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/40371/

FUN WITH THE AOL DATA LEAK
Annalee Newitz, AlterNet
Last week, AOL revealed three months' worth of people's web
searches -- and the data is oddly fascinating.
http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/40376/

THE TRUTH BEHIND WAL-MART'S GREEN MAKEOVER
David Roberts, TomPaine.com
Should progressives embrace Wal-Mart's conversion, or is it
merely another attempt at greenwashing in the name of
profit?
http://www.alternet.org/workplace/40054/

______________________________

*Sponsored Message*

FREE ARTICLES, AUDIO & VIDEOS ON THE FUTURE OF POLITICS...

...and other critical topics. EXPLORE how the new politics of
peace and conflict are going beyond left and right, or how science
is redefining what it means to be human, or why spirituality's
evolving frontiers are so revolutionary, or where a new feminism
will take us, or...well (you get it) how human culture and
consciousness are evolving, and evolving fast.

ENGAGE with 15 years of truly innovative spiritual journalism -- FREE
articles, audio, and videos with leading visionaries -- artfully
presented in thematic, easy-to-browse webpages. Find out more
about What Is Enlightenment?'s special offer at
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______________________________

--> New in VIDEO:

Bill Clinton: Republicans weak on National Security
In an interview on Good Morning America former President Clinton
warned Republicans against using the London terror plots to garner
political favor.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/40366/

Hannity: Drop one nuke and it was all over
Sean Hannity proves that he probably shouldn't be allowed on TV
by suggesting that Hezbollah could have been stopped easily -- by
a nuclear weapon.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/40375/

Bush's spokesman on racist remark
I gather he apologized...
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/40392/

Ricks: the 'Fiasco' of the Bush administration
Thomas Ricks, author of Fiasco: The American Military Adventure
in Iraq, appeared on The Daily Show to talk about his book, the
morale of military personnel and how the Bush administration
screwed up.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/40359/

These stories and more are available on AlterNet.
http://www.alternet.org/

-----
Republicans want you to think that a vote for a moderate is a vote for al Qaeda ... and yet, after 9/11, Bush quickly, quietly, and efficiently evacuated some two dozen bin Ladens home to the Middle East without even letting the FBI ask them a few questions. Bush also let Osama bin Laden go. Why? Because Osama and "W" are bestest buddies! Wake up, America: it's all about the oil! Maybe it's not about obtaining the oil, but it's certainly about controlling the oil ...

Here's what a CNN Headline News anchor asked a Washington journalist on Friday during an interview about the British terror arrests:

"How does this factor into the Lieberman-Lamont contest in Connecticut? Might some argue, as some have, that Lamont is the al Qaeda candidate?"

You would expect this kind of disgusting and inappropriate suggestion from someone more like Dick Cheney. In fact, it was Dick Cheney who said last week that electing people who question the Republican war in Iraq encourages "the al Qaeda types".

The anchor later apologized to Lamont for misquoting Cheney -- but then went on to question Lamont about the same ridiculous accusation. He's not alone -- commentators and journalists have mindlessly repeated Cheney's remarks over and over again, reporting on it or inquiring about it over the past week as if it's a real question for debate.

Journalists have a responsibility to do more than regurgitate the most desperate and most extreme talking points. When journalists allow these defamatory and un-American suggestions to infect their coverage of the news, we have to act swiftly to call on them to stop it.

Democrats offer a new direction. We'll do a better job of fighting the war on terror by taking the target off the backs of American troops in Iraq; we'll get serious about capturing or killing Osama bin Laden; and we'll be ready for threats to our safety and security here at home, whether it's terrorism or hurricanes. We'll sit down with journalists and answer the tough questions about our nation's security any time -- but there's no excuse for resorting to repeating desperate Republican talking points.

Write to your local newspaper and let them know where Democrats stand, and that we're not going to allow our party and our candidates to be smeared.

http://www.democrats.org/speakout

The American people have woken up.

Everywhere people are saying, "Enough is enough" -- rejecting the extremist ideology and total incompetence of the Bush administration, and rejecting their desperate, scorched-earth political tactics.

Democrats are energized and ready for change. We want this administration to get serious about protecting America, our troops and our citizens.

It's deeply irresponsible for journalists to repeat these ridiculous smears. Democrats are going to do a better job at keeping America safe, and you can tell them so in your own letter:

http://www.democrats.org/speakout

Thank you,

Tom

Tom McMahon
Executive Director, Democratic National Committee

-----
So ... Virginia Senator George Allen isn't merely an arrogant prick; he's also a racist bastard! Senator Allen had the nerve to fling racial epithets in public at a Fairfax-born and bred man who happens to have appreciable melanin content in his skin. Meanwhile, Senator Allen hails not from Virginia but from California. Perhaps Allen came to Virginia to be closer to Strom Thurmond, Trent Lott, and other anti-Black, pro-slavery extremists. Don't believe the lie that George Allen didn't know what a macaca is; if you look up his history, you'll see that he likely commands a list longer than his arm of nasty names for people with skin darker than his own. George Allen is also quite the little fascist, having accepted over a quarter of a million dollars from Big Oil. If you don't get the picture by now, we'll spell it out for you: if you are an ordinary American (and, God forbid, dark-skinned), then George Allen is working AGAINST your best interests. Something for Virginians to keep in mind at the polls.

"Welcome to America, Macaca"

And you thought the days of racial politics were behind us.

At a campaign swing in southwest Virginia this week, VA Senator and Presidential wannabe George Allen made one of the most outlandish statements of the year when he mocked a young Virginian of Indian descent who had been sent by Allen's opponent, James Webb, to film Allen's event, just as Allen had sent two campaign workers to film Webb.

"This fellow over here with the yellow shirt - Macaca or whatever his name is - he's with my opponent," said Allen. "Let's give a welcome to Macaca here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia."

"Macaca" is the name of species of monkey and is a racial slur. Furthermore, the young man to whom Allen was referring, S.R. Sidarth, a 20 year-old student at the University of Virginia, is not only from America, he was born in Fairfax, VA, Allen's own state. In interviews following the incident, Sidarth said that he believed Allen was trying to draw attention to the fact that Sidarth was the only non-white person out of about a hundred at the gathering.

Allen has made the typical half-hearted apology, saying that he meant nothing by the slurs. His handlers are spinning the story that the slur was a reference to Sidarth's hair, which they described as a "Mohawk." But even if this were the case--and it is quite a stretch since, as Sidarth notes, he wears a "mullet" hairstyle, not a "Mohawk"--Allen has nothing reasonable to say about why he would make a very public assumption about where Sidarth was from based upon his skin color.

Same Old Politics of Division

Since Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights legislation in the 1960s, the GOP has increasingly played one part of America against another, using fear and prejudice as the primary weapons in their attempt to take control of the political process in America. Whether it was Ronald Reagan's "welfare queen" anecdotes, George Bush the elder's Willie Horton ads or the Rovian "gay marriage" scare of 2004, the pattern is the same: find some group of people that can be used to frighten middle America and exploit that fear for maximal political gain.We should not forget, as Randall Balmer notes in his most recent book, that the formation of what has become the Religious Right began in the 1970s when the Carter Administration challenged the tax exempt status of the fundamentalist Bob Jones University because of its racist policies. These folks have turned divisiveness into an election-winning formula and this year is no different. 2006 has long been shaping up as the year of picking on immigrants for the GOP, so Allen's slurs can be seen as a timely reminder to the party faithful that he remains "on message." His remarks are also evidence that the racist views of his young adulthood have only been suppressed, not expunged.

Click here to tell George Allen that he should be ashamed of his hateful remarks.

Neither the American or the Christian Way

One would think that, in 21st century America, one could not get elected to dog catcher after having said such nasty things, much less US Senator. Sadly, Allen's remarks have only been met with yawns in most Republican circles to date. Two of the most important leaders of the Religious Right, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, whose empires are both in Allen's state of Virginia, haven't made a peep about what he said. Can you imagine how they would have reacted if Hillary Clinton had said something like this? The 700 Club would have been devoted to the subject for a month and Falwell would be using DVD copies of the event as a fundraising premium.

Both Robertson and Falwell have good reason to be angry no matter who said these things, both because it flies in the face of what it means to be an American, but more importantly, because it is the antithesis of what it means to be a Christian. We believe that Jesus came to break down the barriers that exist between groups who might otherwise be in conflict. The Apostle Paul made the definitive statement : "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus." What Christians need to be doing at times when wedges are being driven between groups is to hold fast to the truth of this very good news and resist and reject those who would lead us down paths of hatred and division.

Click Here to Contribute to the Christian Alliance for Progress

-----
From the Huffington Post

The UK Deputy PM: Bush Admin is Crap

AP

In a private meeting with British and Muslim officials, United Kingdom Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott described the Bush administration with one word: crap.

Although his office would neither confirm nor deny Prescott's use of the word "crap," British MP Harry Cohen verified the remark. The comment may cause diplomatic tensions, but will probably please many British politicians who are angry that Prime Minister Tony Blair backed the United States during negotiations over the recent Middle East conflict. Prescott has been accused of criticizing the Bush administration before, and is friendly with Al Gore. Although he has been hesitant to publicly break with Blair's position on the Middle East violence, Prescott is under increasing pressure to recall Parliament to debate the crisis, even though diplomats have already agreed on a cease-fire.
Click here to read the whole story.

Click here to discuss it on HuffPost.

On AOL News... Time To Add New Planets? Three May Join The List Soon

ON THE BLOG TODAY

Arianna Huffington: It Takes A Family To... Triangulate

James Pinkerton: The Coming AIDS Reformation

Andy Stern: Change

Taylor Marsh: Ann Coulter's Beautiful Big Money Smear Machine

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From AlterNet

Top Stories from AlterNet for August 17, 2006
http://www.alternet.org/
______________________________

HOW BUSH MAY MANUFACTURE A PR VICTORY IN IRAQ
Rick Gell, AlterNet
The Bush Administration is working overtime trying to turn a
stew of denial, chaos and civil war into a victory march --
and a path to election for Republican candidates.
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/40444/

ABOLISH THE TSA, SAVE LIVES
Becky Akers, AlterNet
The Transportation Security Administration exists not to
prevent terrorists from bringing down planes but to prevent
passengers from realizing the government is powerless over
such catastrophes.
http://www.alternet.org/story/40437/

WITH LT. WATADA'S CASE, GI RESISTANCE GROWS
Sarah Olson, TruthOut.org
A growing number of Iraq war combat vets are resisting
orders, going to jail, or going AWOL -- and they want to
talk about why.
http://www.alternet.org/asoldierspeaks/40431/
______________________________

Beginning this week, AlterNet is proud to present Jill Carroll's
harrowing tale of her abduction and 82-day stretch as a hostage
of Iraqi insurgents. Today's installment is the third of eleven: be
sure to check back often for the full story.

JILL'S CARROLL STORY, PART 3: THE FIRST VIDEO
Jill Carroll, Peter Grier, Christian Science Monitor
Jill learns that her abductors may have imprisoned another
female journalist, and is forced to make a hostage video
showing that her life is at risk.
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/40433/
______________________________

THE GOP'S JIM CROW REVIVAL
Jabari Asim, Truthdig
Republican lawmakers say it's just a coincidence that
Democratic voters are the ones most likely to be
disenfranchised by new photo ID requirements at the voting
booths.
http://www.alternet.org/rights/40373/

SPINNING OLD THREATS INTO NEW FEARS
Robert Scheer, AlterNet
Investigators have known for a decade about terrorist plots
to bring down passenger jets with liquid explosives. So why
now has Bush banned most liquids on flights?
http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/40427/

LESSONS FROM KATRINA, PART TWO
Earl Ofari Hutchinson, New America Media
A year later, FEMA is still under the tight bureaucratic
thumb of Homeland Security.
http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/40426/

'GIVE THEM DIRTY NEEDLES AND LET THEM DIE'
Roseanne Scotti, TomPaine.com
Needle exchange programs are a cheap and effective way of
preventing the spread of HIV, so why does the government's
HIV-prevention plan consist only of silence and inaction?
http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/40383/
______________________________

*Sponsored Message*

FREE ARTICLES, AUDIO & VIDEOS ON THE FUTURE OF POLITICS...

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is redefining what it means to be human, or why spirituality's
evolving frontiers are so revolutionary, or where a new feminism
will take us, or...well (you get it) how human culture and
consciousness are evolving, and evolving fast.

ENGAGE with 15 years of truly innovative spiritual journalism -- FREE
articles, audio, and videos with leading visionaries -- artfully
presented in thematic, easy-to-browse webpages. Find out more
about What Is Enlightenment?'s special offer at
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the Rascals Out!" Created with the Squirrel Nut Zippers and
blogger Howie Klein, the song asks "Have You Had Enough?" We all
know the answer to that one...
http://alternet.org/blogs/peek/40407/

--> New in VIDEO:
FOX News: Airports need Muslim-only lines:
FOX contributor Mike Gallagher suggests that the U.S. should
implement Muslim only check-in lines at airports.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/40410/

Scarborough: Is Bush an idiot?
Scarborough Country asked the question 'Is Bush an idiot?' The
video evidence is pretty damning.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/40421/

Snow: Bush not frustrated by Iraq
Tony Snow took a moment from his press conference to chide
several newspapers for suggesting (with the help of anonymous
sources) that President Bush is frustrated by Iraq.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/40425/

Dennis Leary tells Mel Gibson to shove it
At the Red Sox game...
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/40420/

These stories and more are available on AlterNet.
http://www.alternet.org/

-----
From AlterNet

Top Stories from AlterNet for August 18, 2006
http://www.alternet.org/
______________________________

RAPE, MURDER, AND THE AMERICAN GI
Robin Morgan, Women's Media Center
We must not forget the death of Abeer, who was allegedly
stalked, raped and killed by American soldiers. Abeer was
14 years old; her name means 'fragrance of flowers.'
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/40481/

WHY I DON'T LIVE IN ISRAEL
Orit Weksler, AlterNet
If Israel is doomed to be a nation that lives by the sword,
as is commonly proclaimed on the streets of Tel Aviv these
days, then I opt out.
http://www.alternet.org/story/40388/

NINE WAYS REPUBLICANS ARE RUINING THE COUNTRY
Larry Beinhart, BuzzFlash
Republican are unimaginably bad on national security. Say it
loud, say it often, it's the truth.
http://www.alternet.org/story/40438/

THE CLINTON DOCTRINE
Arianna Huffington, AlterNet
...and why there is no third way in Connecticut.
http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/40486/

ANOTHER WAY OUT OF COLLEGE DEBT
Jeffrey Williams, Dissent Magazine
Offering federal debt relief in exchange for national
service would lessen the economic pain suffered by
debt-ridden college grads.
http://www.alternet.org/story/40440/

THE JILL CARROLL STORY, PART 4: MOTHER AS SUICIDE BOMBER
Jill Carroll, Peter Grier, Christian Science Monitor
As Jill's parents make a televised plea, she learns about
the zeal of women and children in the Iraqi insurgency.
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/40447/
_____________________
*Sponsored Message*

FREE ARTICLES, AUDIOS & VIDEOS ON THE FUTURE OF POLITICS...

...and other critical topics. EXPLORE how the new politics of peace and conflict
are going beyond left and right, or how science is redefining what it means
to be human, or why spirituality's evolving frontiers are so revolutionary, or
where a new feminism will take us, or...well (you get it)
how human culture and consciousness are evolving, and evolving fast.

ENGAGE with 15 years of truly innovative spiritual journalism -- FREE articles,
audios, and videos with leading visionaries -- artfully presented in thematic,
easy-to-browse webpages. Find out more about What Is Enlightenment?'s
special offer at http://www.alternet.org/whatisenlightenment
__________

-->>TODAY in VIDEO! -->>

Bush spying is unconstitutional
A forceful new ruling rejects Bush's arguments.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/40478/

Daily Show: fear propaganda targets USA
The media has been spoonfeeding the public special reports
of fear, anxiety and suspicion. Jon Stewart puts it all in perspective.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/40471/

O'Reilly: let the racial profiling begin
Bill O'Reilly calls for surveillance of every Muslim
airline passenger between the ages of 16-45.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/40493/

Report: More electoral problems in Ohio
The Election Science Institute reports widespread
vote-counting problems with Diebold machines in May 2 Ohio primary.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/40489/

=======================================
Donate: Visit https://www.alternet.org/donate/ to support
AlterNet and independent journalism.

-----
From the Huffington Post

Chinese Ambassador: "Better for the US to Shut Up"

From dailygameplan.typepad.com

In an interview with the BBC, Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations Sha Zukang said, "It's better for the US to shut up" about China's skyrocketing military spending. Sha maintains the military buildup is "not threatening anyone."

The US has voiced its concern over China's expanding military, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has called repeatedly for the Chinese government to make its military intentions clearer. The People's Liberation Army has increased its military spending by double-digit percentages for many of the past ten years. Sha countered, "China basically is a peace-loving nation." The US should "keep quiet," she said. "It's much, much better."
Click here to read the whole story.

Click here to discuss it on HuffPost.

ON THE BLOG TODAY

Arianna Huffington: Has Chuck Hagel Hijacked Straight Talk Express?

Mark Green: Losing our Democracy to the "New Authoritarians"

Andy Stern: Wal-Mart's Union

Shayana Kadidal: NSA Program Ruled Ilegal, Unconstitiutional

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Greetings, fellow Freedom Fighters™ and Defenders of Democracy™!

Welcome to the thirteenth installment of daily posts as we work off our backlog of information.

Today, we bring you links you won’t want to miss along with news from our usual and unusual sources.

Please take your time and read through this post. If each and every item hadn’t stricken us as dead-on important, it wouldn’t be here. You won’t want to miss a word.

Keep the faith and keep fighting; together, we WILL win our nation back!

-----
From our mailbag

If you have ever wondered whether Christianity and biblical fundamentalism are absurd, you may find Mark Twain's Letters from the Earth to be very enlightening:

http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/twainlfe.htm

-----
"Here at home and throughout the world people are fighting back against the forces of wealth, privilege, and militarism -- some because they have no choice, others because they would choose no other course but the one that leads to peace and justice."

http://www.michaelparenti.org/

-----
From AlterNet

Top Stories from AlterNet for August 10, 2006
http://www.alternet.org/
______________________________

HOW MANY PEOPLE IS TOO MANY?
Stan Cox, AlterNet
Everyone from anti-contraception Christians to
zero-population-growth advocates is using the U.S's looming
300-million mark to advance their agenda.
http://www.alternet.org/story/39920/

A CRUDE AWAKENING FOR WOMEN
Martha Burk, Ms. Magazine
Whether supporting repressive regimes abroad or giving tax
breaks to ExxonMobil, U.S. priorities are consistent: Oil
wins over women's rights.
http://www.alternet.org/story/40008/

IS LEBANON THE TRIGGER FOR U.S. WAR WITH IRAN?
Larisa Alexandrovna, AlterNet
Connect the dots, and it's clear that Cheney and the neocons
are desperate to start a war with Iran.
http://www.alternet.org/story/40042/

IRAQ'S SECTARIAN BLOODSHED 'MADE IN THE USA'
Erik Leaver, Raed Jarrar, AlterNet
Iraq never had a history of sectarian conflicts. U.S. policy
choices provided a perfect roadmap for starting one.
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/40123/

IT'S ALWAYS HUGO, HUGO, HUGO
Joshua Holland, AlterNet
Believe it or not, Hugo Chávez isn't the only politician in
Venezuela, just the most popular. And as he runs for
reelection this year, it's time to take a look at what's he
done, not just what he's said.
http://www.alternet.org/story/39820/

ISRAEL'S TACTICAL CATASTROPHE
Arianna Huffington, AlterNet
... is pushing Middle East moderates to embrace Hezbollah.
http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/40117/

WHY WE DON'T KNOW OUR ENEMY
Robert Scheer, AlterNet
A new book by the former co-chairs of the 9/11 Commission
tells the inside story of how Bush has tried to squelch
examination of our actual enemies.
http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/40115/

THE EPIC BATTLE BETWEEN CROSSWORDS AND SUDOKU
Matt Gaffney, The American Prospect
The massive success of the Japanese math puzzle has exposed
a love-hate relationship between crossword die-hards and
Sudoku players.
http://www.alternet.org/story/39807/

New in ALTERNET VIDEO:

The Daily Show skewers Rumsfeld, Gonzales, Rice:
Jon Stewart didn't have a "dickens of a time" finding examples of
Rumsfeld painting a rosy picture of Iraq. "Secretary Rumsfeld,
prepare to be visited by the ghost of sound bites past..."
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/40109/

Lamont's victory speech:
Ned Lamont delivered a rousing victory speech, calling for a
‘coalition for change.’
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/40108/

Nader: Lieberman a favorite of big business:
Amy Goodman talks with Ralph Nader about Joe Lieberman’s defeat,
his move to become an independent candidate and why he's always
been a favorite among big business types.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/40106/

Olbermann: Bush vacations as Middle East burns:
Keith Olbermann gives a little history lesson about how WWII
essentially started while British PM Neville Chamberlain was on
vacation. Guess where President Bush just went...
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/40039/

Markos: Lieberman campaign incompetent:
Markos Moulitsas, founder of DailyKos, took four minutes off from
blogging about the CT primary -- so he could talk about it with
Keith Olbermann.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/40103/

These stories and more are available on AlterNet.
http://www.alternet.org/

======================================
Donate: Visit https://www.alternet.org/donate/ to support
AlterNet and independent journalism.

-----
More from AlterNet

Top Stories from AlterNet for August 11, 2006
http://www.alternet.org/
______________________________

THE TROUBLE WITH CHICK LIT
Helaine Olen, AlterNet
All those pink books with purses and shoes on the cover are
obscuring the publication of serious literature by
women. At least, that what the author of a new anti-chick
lit anthology says.
http://www.alternet.org/story/40170/

IN CASE WE FORGOT, AMERICANS ARE STILL DYING IN IRAQ
Jimmy Breslin, Newsday
The great journalist came out of retirement to remind us
that thousands of American lives are being ruined and cut
short for a disastrous and stupid war.
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/40186/

OFFICIALS SAY FOILED TERROR PLOT ON SCALE OF 9/11
Mark Rice-Oxley, Christian Science Monitor
The plotters arrested Thursday were allegedly planning to
smuggle explosive liquid chemicals onto US-bound aircrafts.
http://www.alternet.org/story/40189/

THE DAMAGE IN LEBANON, AND BEYOND
Dahr Jamail, Tomdispatch.com
Lebanon has been bombed to a point where much of the country
looks as it did in the worst periods of its brutal civil war.
http://www.alternet.org/story/40124/

MIAMI VICE: THE CLASS ANALYSIS
Barbara Ehrenreich, AlterNet
The film's bleak vision of a world divided between
shanty-towns and trailer parks at one end, and unimaginable
luxury at the other, is not far off the mark.
http://www.alternet.org/story/40176/

DOES HALF THE U.S. STILL BELIEVE IRAQ HAD WMD?
Amitabh Pal, The Progressive
Could there be some some overlap between these people and
those who believe in the existence of UFOs?
http://www.alternet.org/story/40177/

-->>NEW in VIDEO:

Israel allowing civilian deaths on purpose?
The PR battle.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/40180/

Al Qaeda loves the Republicans
Just ask the CIA.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/40169/

Lieberman to run as Republican?
Republican Party won't endorse its own candidate...
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/40142/

Palestinian Prime Minister receives toxic mail
An envelope addressed to the Palestinian Prime Minister
contained a toxic substance, mailed from Tel Aviv.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/40163/

=======================================
Donate: Visit https://www.alternet.org/donate/ to support
AlterNet and independent journalism.

-----
From the Center for American Progress

GOOD NEWS

Legislation mandating "better tracking of psychological trauma among veterans" -- the Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Bill, "named after a young soldier who killed himself after returning from Iraq" -- has been introduced in the House.

STATE WATCH

ILLINOIS: New law requires pharmacies to tell customers they cannot be refused the Plan B pill.

PENNSYLVANIA: Pennsylvania becomes the third state to provide health insurance to children statewide, joining Illinois and Massachusetts.

NEW YORK: Black student enrollment in the City University of New York's three most prestigious colleges "has dropped significantly."

BLOG WATCH

THINK PROGRESS: DeLay on liberals' reaction to terrorists: "You can't go after these wonderful people that just killed a bunch of Americans."

THINK PROGRESS: Groups attacking global warming science attack ThinkProgress.

EDITOR & PUBLISHER: Americans doubt Muslims' loyalty to the United States; four in 10 say they should carry special I.D.

SECRECY NEWS: Recipients of "leaks" may be prosecuted, court rules in "momentous expansion" of government authority.

DAILY GRILL

"Bush aides on Thursday fought the notion that they had exploited their knowledge of the coming British raid" for political gain.
-- AFP, 8/10/06

VERSUS

"Weeks before September 11th, this is going to play big."
-- White House official, 8/10/06

ARCHIVES

Progress Report

STUDENTS

Politics with an Attitude: Everyone from Barack Obama to Stephen Colbert talks to Campus Progress. Right-wingers seem scared of us. Find out why here.

by Judd Legum, Faiz Shakir, Nico Pitney
Amanda Terkel and Payson Schwin

August 11, 2006

MIDDLE EAST

Day 31

UNDER THE RADAR

Go Beyond The Headlines

THINK FAST

Coffee and Donuts Not Included
For news and updates throughout the day, check out our blog at ThinkProgress.org.
Sign up | Contact us | Permalinks/Archive | Mobile | RSS | Print

PROGRESS REPORT
Summer Vacation

The Progress Report is on hiatus for two weeks. Your regularly scheduled Progress Report will return on Monday, August 28.

MIDDLE EAST
Day 31

Diplomacy inched forward yesterday in the conflict in the Middle East as France and the United States agreed on the main points of a U.N. resolution to end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. While ambassadors hope to vote on the resolution today, U.S. ambassador John Bolton stated that "we're not there yet." The human, economic, and political costs of the conflict continue to pile up and the violence drags on with no end in sight. "The cost and toll in human suffering is enormous, and it's undermined the capital that the U.S. has in Lebanon and other places," said Sami Haddad, Lebanon's minister of trade and economy. At least 1,018 Lebanese and 122 Israelis have been killed in the fighting, with Wednesday marking Israel's highest one-day death toll in the conflict. "If we see that the diplomatic efforts do not yield the results we expect, we will have to do it ourselves," said Israel's Defense Minister Amir Peretz, who has expanded Israel's ground offensive into Lebanon. Hezbollah's leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, promised to turn southern Lebanon into a "graveyard" for invading Israeli troops. President Bush may be enjoying his vacation, but meanwhile in the Middle East a conflict rages that threatens to turn into "something still worse in the region and beyond."

NO PLAN FROM HERE TO THERE: After more than a month of talks, France and the United States yesterday "reached a compromise that envisages a halt to the fighting, a phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese Army supported by UN peacekeepers reinforced with French troops." Even if the United Nations does vote on the resolution today, the New York Times notes that with both sides locked in a "struggle for survival," it is "unlikely that a Security Council resolution would have any immediate effect." Lebanon has already objected to the agreement because it does not call for an immediate ceasefire and because it would give the international force "a broad mandate to use military firepower." The French-U.S. agreement attempts to strengthen the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil), which has been in Lebanon since 1978 and is relatively weak and unable to prevent attacks, hoping it will "sort out the question of disarmament of the militia" in southern Lebanon and "guarantee sovereignty and freedom for Lebanon." But as former U.N. ambassador Nancy Soderberg notes, "These are goals so ambitious that no peacekeeping force, not even NATO, could achieve them." "I find a lot of chatter about this peacekeeping force, but I find very few people putting their hands in the air saying they've got troops who are willing to do it," former deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said. Lebanon has promised to contribute 15,000 troops, but these troops won't be enough; the Lebanese military is currently heavily infiltrated by Hezbollah. A stronger Unifil force can't do the job alone either. A comprehensive approach will be needed to sustain any resolution, which should involve rebuilding Lebanon's government infrastructure, resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a two-state solution path, and cooperating on the Iran nuclear threat.

NEOCONS OBSTRUCT ROBUST DIPLOMACY: While the Bush administration's recent movement on the U.N. resolution is encouraging, for too long it was disengaged from the Middle East and is now plagued by inexperience in the region. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recent admitted that the administration did not do enough to bolster Lebanon's president Fouad Siniora: "Perhaps it has needed more energy than it has been given." "We did nothing, we did absolutely nothing" to strengthen the Lebanese government after the Syrian withdrawal, said a State Department official. Bush has still not spoken directly to Siniora or Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and remains on vacation at his ranch in Texas. "The Lebanon crisis is the end of the myth that we can tell the world what to do and they'll line up to do it," noted Soderberg. Neoconservatives -- many of whom are pushing Israel to attack Syria and expand the fighting -- continue to influence the Bush administration. According to one senior administration official, Rice has been forced to stake out positions "sufficiently unlike the usual State Department" approach, in order to satisfy Vice President Cheney. Daniel Levy, the lead Israeli drafter of the Geneva Initiative, notes that the U.S. press is "awash with neocon-inspired calls for indefinite shooting, no talking and extension of hostilities to Syria and Iran." On Aug. 9, a Fox military analyst called for regime change in Syria and Iran, saying that instead of direct talks with those countries, the United States should "line them up and kill them." Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol has asked that the United States and Israel consider "a military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities" and Michael Ledeen of the National Review has advocated "the total destruction Hizbullah and the downfall of the regime in Damascus."

'STARVED OF OXYGEN' IN SOUTHERN LEBANON: While diplomacy creeps along, southern Lebanon faces a humanitarian catastrophe. The International Committee for the Red Cross calls the "situation in southern Lebanon was the worst crisis it was dealing with outside the Darfur region of Sudan." Approximately 70 bridges have been destroyed, cutting of access to approximately 100,000 people in need of humanitarian assistance. Hospitals are running out of supplies and the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that if fuel is not delivered soon, 60 percent of the hospitals in Lebanon will "simply cease to function." "Our aid operation is like a patient starved of oxygen, facing paralysis, verging on death, if we can't open up our vital supply lines," read a WHO statement. "The civilian population in Lebanon and in northern Israel have been the biggest losers in this senseless cycle of violence. ... Civilians were supposed to be sparedfighting has destroyed more than 900 small- and medium-size enterprises and the cost of material damages are close to $2.5 billion, including bridges, roads, public utilities, industrial plants, and private establishments.

GROWING ISRAELI DISSATISFACTION, INSECURITY: A crisis remains in Israel. Hezbollah has fired more than 3,400 rockets into Israel and more than 300,000 Israelis have been displaced. Fighting in Lebanon has "knock[ed] the Palestinian issue off all radar screens," but more than 170 Palestinians have died since "an Israeli ground and air offensive unleashed after militants captured an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid on June 25." With falling incomes, high unemployment, and several Palestinian Authority ministers in prison, there is "a looming crisis in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, where...some in the Palestinian government are exploring the prospect of its self-dissolution." A new poll shows that public dissatisfaction with the growing crisis is increasing. Forty-eight percent of Israelis are satisfied with Olmert's performance, compared with popularity ratings above 75 percent in the early stages of the conflict, and just 43 percent of the American public approves of Bush's handling of the crisis. Newsweek notes: "For many Israelis, what sets this war apart from their last one in Lebanon is the sudden, terrifying sense that it is no longer about borders but about existence."

Under the Radar

HOMELAND SECURITY -- ADMINISTRATION 'PLAYING CATCH-UP' WITH LIQUID THREAT: Although security agencies had known "for years" that liquid explosives exposed a soft spot in our security, officials realized yesterday that an overnight ban on carrying liquids aboard flights "was about the only step immediately available." "Everybody knew about" the threat, says Ed Badolato, a national security veteran of the Reagan and Bush administrations, especially after 1994, when Ramzi Yousef used "a few ounces of nitroglycerin in an empty contact lens solution bottle" to blow up an airplane lavatory. Still, "little progress in deploying technology that could help defend against such attacks" has been made, even after the September 11 attacks, and "the issue just sort of fell off the radar screen." Cathleen Berrick, a Government Accountability Office official, told a Senate committee that the Transportation Security Administration had "redirected more than half of the $110 million it had for research and development in 2003 to pay for personnel costs of screeners, delaying research in areas including detecting liquid explosives." In December 2005, the former 9/11 Commission members released a "dismal" report card on homeland security, including an "F" for failures to improve aviation security. Commissioner James Thompson, the former governor of Illinois, "warned in particular of the failure to protect against terrorists smuggling a bomb onboard a plane."

TERRORISM -- OFFICIALS PLAY POLITICS WITH BRITISH TERROR RAID: President Bush seized on the foiled London airline bomb plot yesterday "to hammer unnamed critics he accused of having all but forgotten the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks." His remarks came "one day after the White House orchestrated an exceptionally aggressive campaign" to tar opponents of the Iraq war as "weak on terrorism." Publicly, Bush aides "fought the notion that they had exploited their knowledge of the coming British raid" for political advantage. Privately, they expressed a different sentiment. "Weeks before September 11th, this is going to play big," one unnamed White House official said, expressing hope that the foiled plot "would yield political gains." Another Iraq war supporter, Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT), said yesterday that setting a timeline for U.S. troop redeployment (backed by 57 percent of Americans) "will be taken as a tremendous victory by the same people who wanted to blow up these planes in this plot hatched in England. It will strengthen them and they will strike again." Previously, Lieberman has called using national security issues for political purposes "just unacceptable and in my opinion un-American."

DARFUR -- VIOLENCE HAS WORSENED AFTER CEASE-FIRE: The cease-fire signed last May "that was supposed to end the conflict in Sudan's war-ravaged Darfur region has brought anything but peace, with fresh fighting displacing 50,000 more people and July marking the deadliest month for aid workers since the conflict began." "The number of armed clashes during that period was twice as high as the number last year," says Jan Pronk, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to Sudan. "The result is an increase in displaced people, with 40,000 more than last year." "There have been more raids, more rapes, and more people displaced from their homes - and violence has only gotten worse since the deal was signed a few months ago," Foreign Policy Magazine's blog reports. "What's more, there's no record of the violence taking place. Since mid-June, there hasn't been a single investigation of cease-fire violations." The increase violence has resulted in "less humanitarian access to displaced camps and less help amid rising malnutrition, diarrhea and waterborne disease." The African Union has no money past October to pay its peacekeepers to enforce the cease-fire, which means "what happens after October is anyone's guess."


and in this conflict they are not," U.N. Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland said yesterday. Lebanon's Council for Development and Reconstruction reports that Think Fast

President Bush's approval rating has "dropped to 33, matching his low in May," according to an AP-Ipsos poll. The majority of people who voted for Bush in 2004 (57 percent) disapprove of the job he is doing.

Greenland's icecap "is melting faster than ever before on record, and the pace is speeding year by year," new data shows. "The consequence is already evident in a small but ominous rise in sea levels around the world, a pace that is also accelerating."

Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Charlie Melancon (D-LA) have written to FEMA about a report that 94 percent of emergency housing trailers for Katrina victims "contain hazardous levels of formaldehyde, a known carcinogen."

The GAO found almost 30 percent of State Department diplomats abroad are "failing to speak and write the local language well enough to meet required levels."

"Iraq needs one to two years to rebuild its security forces," Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi said Thursday, a date at odds with a recent claim by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani that they would be fully operational by the end of 2006.

"The Bush administration has illegally denied the public a chance to comment before approving the logging of woodlands damaged by fires or infestations," a federal appeals court ruled yesterday.

"Most states have shirked the law by failing to ensure that poor and minority students get their fair share of qualified teachers, a new analysis contends."

And finally: Is Rummy getting ready for his close-up? Premier Magazine reports Donald Rumsfeld "hangs around movie sets -- as in a recent visit to the Clint Eastwood-directed war epic 'Flags of Our Fathers.'" "What was funny is that he stuck around for a while," cast member Jesse Bradford said. "It's like, 'Don't you have anything better to do? You're supposed to be running the country.'"

-----
From "Democracy Now!"

DEMOCRACY NOW! DAILY EMAIL DIGEST
August 11, 2006

= = = = = = = = =

TODAY'S DEMOCRACY NOW!:

* Britain Names Suspects in Alleged Airline Bomb Plot; British Muslims
Skeptical, Fear Backlash *

Britain has named 19 of the 24 people arrested yesterday on suspicion of
plotting to blow up passenger jets flying to the United States and has
frozen their assets. We go to Britain to look why many British Muslims are
skeptical of the plot and fear a backlash on their communities.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/11/1343252


* Broadcast Exclusive: AWOL Army Sgt. On the Run for a Year Speaks Out for
the First Time *

In a Democracy Now! broadcast exclusive, we speak with Sgt. Ricky Clousing,
an Army interrogator who served in Iraq from December 2004 until April 2005.
He became a war resister after witnessing how the war was being fought.
Within months after returning home, he went AWOL and remained in hiding for
a year. We speak with Sgt. Clousing just hours before he plans to go to Fort
Lewis to turn himself in to military officials.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/11/1343256


* Headlines for August 11, 2006 *

- UK Identifies Suspects In Plane Attack Plot
- Disclosure Brings Heightened Security, Flight Cancellations
- Homeland Security Raises Security Alert
- Report: US To Deliver New Cluster Munitions to Israel
- At Least 104 Dead in China Typhoon
- Greenland Ice Sheet Melting At Faster Pace
- Iran Bars Advocacy Group of Nobel-Prize Winning Lawyer
- Critics: APA Anti-Torture Measure Falls Short
- Thousands Expected for DC Rally Against Lebanon War

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/11/1343245

-----
Still more from AlterNet

Top Stories from AlterNet for August 12, 2006
http://www.alternet.org/
______________________________

SIX LESSONS FROM THE LONDON AIRLINE BOMBING PLOT
John Tirman, AlterNet
The foiled bomb plot in the UK offers us and the Bush
administration some pointers about the true nature of
terrorism and its causes.
http://www.alternet.org/story/40221/

LIEBERMAN'S LOSS MAKES CHENEY TALK TERROR
Arianna Huffington, HuffingtonPost.com
If Democrats can't effectively repudiate the GOP's
fear-mongering strategy of linking Iraq to national
security, they can kiss 2006 -- and 2008 -- good-bye.
http://www.alternet.org/story/40231/

PAVLOV'S DOGS OF TERROR
Joshua Holland, The Mix
Another major terror plot foiled. Maybe. And
here come the libs, just as eager to fight the
imaginary War on Terrrr as Karl Rove's crew,
but a bit more competently, if you please.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/themix/40205/

ISRAEL'S DOVES COME AROUND ON LEBANON
Jon Wiener, The Nation
Israel's attacks on Lebanon are finally being questioned by
prominent Israeli peace activists.
http://www.alternet.org/story/40215/

THE MYTH OF AN 'ADDICT GENE'
Jeffrey Helm, The Tyee
It's time to stop blaming the substance or genetic
composition for addictions -- it's you and the life you
live.
http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/40135/

DON'T LET HILLARY'S DEMS CASH IN ON IRAQ
Matt Taibbi, RollingStone.com
Hillary Clinton's carefully scripted display of canned anger
at Donald Rumsfeld was for his screwing up the 'execution'
of the Iraq war, not because he thought invading Iraq was a
good idea.
http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/40185/

COAL MINING DESTROYS A WAY OF LIFE -- AND DEATH
Jessica Tzerman, Grist Magazine
Deep in coal country, residents are torn between their
economic salvation and the industry that is destroying
historical burial sites and family graveyards.
http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/40050/
______________________________

New in AlterNet Video:

DAILY SHOW: U.K. NEEDS TO BE OVERTHROWN
Senior carryonologist John Oliver talks to Jon Stewart
about the 'terrour plots' and how to make the world more
safe for democracy...by taking out England.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/40207/

CLARKE: WHY IS AL QAEDA STILL ACTIVE?
Former counter-terrorism chief Richard Clarke points out the
failure of the Bush administration -- five years after 9/11 and
the advent of the War on Terror, Al Qaeda is still active and
plotting attacks.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/40202/
______________________________

AlterNet's Best Stories of the Week:

MEGACHURCHES COURT COOL TO ATTRACT TEENS
Courtney E. Martin, AlterNet
An evening at the New Life Church gives the author a clue to
how evangelical right-wing Christians are attracting
'Generation Me.' PLUS: A video interview with the author.
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/39427/

LAMONT'S VICTORY AND LIEBERMAN'S INSULT TO DEMOCRACY
David Sirota, AlterNet
Ned Lamont's crushing defeat of Joe Lieberman in the
Connecticut Senate primary shows that voters are hungry for
change -- but Lieberman still fights for politics as usual.
http://www.alternet.org/story/40089/

WHITE HOUSE WANTS A WIDER MID-EAST WAR
Robert Parry, Consortium News
George W. Bush and his neoconservative advisers saw the
Israel-Hezbollah conflict as a chance to get the Israelis
to spread the war to Syria and achieve the long-sought goal
of 'regime change' in Damascus.
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/39981/

HOW MANY PEOPLE IS TOO MANY?
Stan Cox, AlterNet
Everyone from anti-contraception Christians to
zero-population-growth advocates is using the U.S's looming
300-million mark to advance their agenda.
http://www.alternet.org/story/39920/

OH, THOSE BAD BOSSES
Barbara Ehrenreich, The Progressive
Giving one person power over others is like a giving a
3-year-old a hose: not everyone will get soaked, but the
chances of coming out dry are slender.
http://www.alternet.org/workplace/39928/

MILITARY WASTE IN OUR DRINKING WATER
Astra Taylor, Sunaura Taylor, AlterNet
The U.S. military is poisoning the very citizens it is
supposed to protect in the name of national security.
http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/39723/

COMEDY, LIKE REALITY, HAS A LIBERAL BIAS
Jessica Clark, In These Times
As Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have shown, Americans are
now turning to comedy to find the real story.
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/40051/

HOW 9/11 COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED
Rory O'Connor, AlterNet
A new book explores the 'stupidity, hubris and dereliction
of duty' behind the pre-9/11 intelligence failure.
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/40005/

IS LEBANON THE 'TRIGGER' FOR U.S. WAR WITH IRAN?
Larisa Alexandrovna, AlterNet
Connect the dots, and it's clear that Cheney and the neocons
are desperate to start a war with Iran.
http://www.alternet.org/story/40042/

EXTINCTION: BYE BYE, BIRDIE ...
Sarah DeWeerdt, World Watch
... and thousands of other creatures. Prominent biologists
say we're on par with the five previous mass extinctions in
the history of life on earth.
http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/39790/

These stories and more are available on AlterNet.
http://www.alternet.org/

-----
Even more from AlterNet

Top Stories from AlterNet for August 14, 2006
http://www.alternet.org/
______________________________

BUSH'S POLITICAL SURVIVAL DEPENDS ON TERROR THREATS
William Greider, TheNation.com
The president is trying for the third time to make terrorism
his big campaign issue -- are Americans going to finally
snap out of it?
http://www.alternet.org/story/40280/

THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS ECO-TOURISM
Anneli Rufus, AlterNet
Tourism in the post-9/11, post-colonial era remains a
minefield of moral issues -- and living as a sin-free
travel writer is damn near impossible.
http://www.alternet.org/story/40174/

WILL LIEBERMAN'S LOSS PUSH DEMS TO THE RIGHT?
Matt Stoller, MyDD.com
With the war in Lebanon ending and Lieberman's defeat
showing that there's a political constituency for a sane
multi-lateral approach to foreign policy, Democrats have a
chance to stake out a progressive foreign policy path.
http://www.alternet.org/story/40294/

U.S. CYNICISM DELAYED THE LEBANON CEASEFIRE
Ian Williams, TheNation.com
Secretary of State Condoleezza's Rice's declaration, several
hundred mangled children ago, that it was "premature" for a
cease-fire in Lebanon will haunt the Bush administration
for the rest of its term.
http://www.alternet.org/story/40296/

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS VICTORY -- IN THE BUSH ERA?!
Ellen Goodman, Truthdig
It tells you how bad things are when wrenching approval for
contraception out of the Bush administration counts as a
smashing victory.
http://www.alternet.org/rights/40165/

______________________
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From Greg Palast

SO OSAMA WALKS INTO TO THIS BAR, SEE?

by Greg Palast
Monday August 14, 2006

So, Osama Walks into This Bar, See? and Bush says, "Whad'l'ya have, pardner?" and Osama says...

But wait a minute. I'd better shut my mouth. The sign here in the airport says, "Security is no joking matter." But if security's no joking matter, why does this guy dressed in a high-school marching band outfit tell me to dump my Frappuccino and take off my shoes? All I can say is, Thank the Lord the "shoe bomber" didn't carry Semtex in his underpants.

Today's a RED and ORANGE ALERT day. How odd. They just caught the British guys with the chemistry sets. But when these guys were about to blow up airliners, the USA was on YELLOW alert. That's a "lowered" threat notice.

According to the press office from the Department of Homeland Security, lowered-threat Yellow means that there were no special inspections of passengers or cargo. Isn't it nice of Mr. Bush to alert Osama when half our security forces are given the day off? Hmm. I asked an Israeli security expert why his nation doesn't use these pretty color codes.

He asked me if, when I woke up, I checked the day's terror color.

"I can't say I ever have. I mean, who would?"

He smiled. "The terrorists."

America is the only nation on the planet that kindly informs bombers, hijackers and berserkers the days on which they won't be monitored. You've got to get up pretty early in the morning to get a jump on George Bush's team.

There are three possible explanations for the Administration's publishing a good-day-for-bombing color guidebook.

1. God is on Osama's side.

2. George is on Osama's side.

3. Fear sells better than sex.

A gold star if you picked #3.


The Fear Factory

I'm going to tell you something which is straight-up heresy: America is not under attack by terrorists. There is no WAR on terror because, except for one day five years ago, al Qaeda has pretty much left us alone.

That's because Osama got what he wanted. There's no mystery about what Al Qaeda was after. Like everyone from the Girl Scouts to Bono, Osama put his wish on his web site. He had a single demand: "Crusaders out of the land of the two Holy Places." To translate: get US troops out of Saudi Arabia.

And George Bush gave it to him. On April 29, 2003, two days before landing on the aircraft carrier Lincoln, our self-described "War President" quietly put out a notice that he was withdrawing our troops from Saudi soil. In other words, our cowering cowboy gave in whimpering to Osama's demand.

The press took no note. They were all wiggie over Bush's waddling around the carrier deck in a disco-aged jump suit announcing, "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED." But it wasn't America's mission that was accomplished, it was Osama's.

Am I saying there's no danger, no threat? Sure there is: 46 million Americans don't have health insurance. IBM is legally stealing from its employees' pension plan and United Airlines has dumped its pensions altogether. Four-million three-hundred thousand Americans were injured, made sick or killed by their jobs last year. TXU Corporation is right now building four monster-sized power plants in Texas that will burn skuzzy gunk called "lignite." The filth it will pour into the sky will snuff a heck of a lot more Americans than some goofy group of fanatics with bottles of hydrogen peroxide.

But Americans don't ask for real protection from what's killing us. The War on Terror is the Weapon of Mass Distraction. Instead of demanding health insurance, we have 59 million of our fellow citizens pooping in their pants with fear of Al Qaeda, waddling to the polls, crying, "Georgie save us!"

And what does he give us? In my own small town, the federal government has paid for loading an SUV with .50 caliber machine guns to watch for an Al Qaeda attack at the dock of the ferry that takes tourists to the Indian casino in Connecticut. The casino dock is my town's officially designated "Critical Asset and Vulnerability Infrastructure Point (CAVIP)." (To find the most vulnerable points to attack in the USA, Al Qaeda can download a list from the Department of Homeland Security -- no kidding.)

But that's not all. Bush is protecting us from English hijackers with a fearsome anti-terrorist tool: the Virginia-class submarine. The V-boat was originally meant to hunt Soviet subs. But there are no more Soviet subs. So, General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin have "refitted" these Cold War dinosaurs with new torpedoes redesigned to carry counter-terror commandoes. That's right: when we find Osama's beach house, we can shoot our boys right up under his picnic table and take him out. These Marines-in-a-tube injector boats cost $2.5 billion each -- and our President's ordered half a dozen new ones.

Lynn Cheney, the Veep's wife, still takes in compensation from Lockheed as a former board member. I'm sure that has nothing to do with this multi-billion dollar "anti-terror" contract.

Fear sells better than sex. Fear is the sales pitch for many lucrative products: from billion-dollar sailor injectors to one very lucrative war in Mesopotamia (a third of a trillion dollars doled out, no audits, no questions asked).

Better than toothpaste that makes our teeth whiter than white, this stuff will make us safer than safe. It's political junk food, the cheap filling in the flashy tube. What we don't get is safety from the real dangers: a life-threatening health-care system, lung-murdering pollution production and a trade deficit with China that's reducing mid-America to coolie status. Protecting us from these true threats would take a slice of the profits of the Lockheeds, the Exxons and the rest of the owning class.

War on Terror is class war by other means -- to keep you from asking for real protection from true menace, the landlords of our nation give you fake protection from manufactured dangers. And they remind you to be afraid every time you fly to see Aunt Millie and have to give up your hemorrhoid ointment to the underpaid guy in the bell-hop suit with a security badge.

Oh, hey, you never got the punch line.
So, Osama Walks into This Bar, See? and Bush says, "Whad'l'ya have, pardner?" and Osama says, "Well, George, what are you serving today?" and Bush says, "Fear," and Osama shouts, "Fear for everybody!" and George pours it on for the crowd. Then the presidential bartender says, "Hey, who's buying?" and Osama points a thumb at the crowd sucking down their brew. "They are," he says. And the two of them share a quiet laugh.

*****

Greg Palast is the author of the just-released New York Times bestseller, "ARMED MADHOUSE: Who's Afraid of Osama Wolf?, China Floats Bush Sinks, the Scheme to Steal '08, No Child's Behind Left and other Dispatches from the Front Lines of the Class War" from which this is adapted. Go to www.GregPalast.com.