Drugs Won the War

This year marks the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon’s start of the war on drugs, and it now appears that drugs have won.

(Source)

Iran Detains Scores Amid Unrest

Violence and acrimony over Iran’s disputed election intensified on Sunday, with word spreading that more than 100 prominent opposition members had been detained, riots erupting in Tehran and other cities, and the triumphant incumbent hinting that his top challenger risks punishment for questioning the result.

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N. Korean Heir Apparent Remains Mystery to West

There is only one photograph available outside North Korea thought to be that of the man South Korean officials believe will inherit the world’s most unpredictable regime, one that is armed with nuclear weapons. In that picture, the man, Kim Jong-un, a son of the ailing North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, is an 11-year-old.

(Source)

Pakistan to Strike at Leader of Taliban

A Pakistani government official said late Sunday that the country’s military had been ordered to start an operation against the Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, the first official confirmation of plans to pursue him.

(Source)

Southern Sudanese, Delivering Aid, Are Killed in Ambush

About 40 southern Sudanese soldiers and civilians were killed when tribal fighters ambushed boats carrying food aid, the latest in a string of ethnic attacks threatening a fragile peace deal, officials said Sunday.

(Source)

Where Life’s Start Is a Deadly Risk

Pregnancy and childbirth kill more than 536,000 women a year, more than half of them in Africa, according to the World Health Organization.

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Somalia's Sufis Fight the Shabab

Video - Somalia has been plagued by civil war between rival clans for almost 20 years. Now, religious groups are killing each other over competing visions of Islam.

(Source)

Benazir Bhutto Killed In Attack

People fucking wonder why anti-Middle East sentiment is so strong in this counrty, well what the hell? Great, this is a solution. Don't like someone's politics? Don't bother with an election, kill them! It's quick, it's easy, and you don't have to worry about things like the democratic process getting in the way of your agenda. In fact, that's what Bush should do to the Democratic candidates. Wait until they get together for a debate and then bring the building down on top of them.

Great fucking job.

Dumbasses.

And for the record, no, I don't think everyone in the Middle East thinks blowing up political opponents is the solution. I'm just pissed because whether you liked Bhutto or not this is a major blow for democratic processes, and while I don't agree with the current administration's policies towards nation building, I do think democracy is the best political system we have. And it pisses me off because I just don't get it. Who the fuck got up one morning and thought, 'Well, this whole diplomacy thing isn't really working in my favour, so I'm just going to stifle political dissention by killing everyone who doesn't agree with me.' Damnit.

Credit Steve Benson of The Arizona Republic

Explination

Thank you, US Government. Under your blessed tutelage, we have managed to hike up fear in this country while failing utterly to address it.

An Anticompetitive Europe Must Not Rise
Libertas Institute founder Declan Ganley says politicians who coddle elites and entrenched interests risk stifling Europe's enormous potential

by Declan Ganley

( French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who offered the promise of challenging vested interests, has now reverted to the status quo of European elites from whence he came. )

Declan Ganley is the chairman and chief executive of Rivada Networks, a member of the board of Europe's 500 Entrepreneurs for Growth, and founder of the Libertas Institute, a pan-European think tank. He resides in County Galway, Ireland.

(Source)

Last Updated: Thursday, 28 June 2007, 15:15 GMT 16:15 UK

Q&A: Fired prosecutors row

Alberto Gonzales is fighting to hold on to his job The row over the firing of eight US federal prosecutors has been rumbling for several months pitting members of Congress against the Bush administration. At the heart of the dispute is US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales - the nation's top law-enforcement officer and an old friend of President George W Bush - who has faced repeated calls to resign over the affair. Opponents say he fired the eight attorneys for political reasons, then lied about the reason for their dismissal. Mr Gonzales says he did nothing wrong, pointing out that US attorneys serve at the will of the president, who can dismiss them at any time. He has the support of Mr Bush but has become increasingly isolated following the resignation of his deputy, Paul McNulty, and other justice department officials. Congress issued subpoenas for documents relating to the dismissal of the prosecutors and ordered White House officials to testify under oath about what happened. In the latest development, the White House exerted executive privilege to refuse to hand over the subpoenaed papers and made it clear the officials would not testify. ( How did this row begin? ) Source US Firings Row Aide Defies House Bush Says Aides Will Not Testify 'Lost' E-Mail Row Over US Firings

Fucking lie-spewing bastard.

If video games were so dangerous I'd have beat Folger's head in with a baseball bat by now, GTA-style.

Jack Thompson Exploits Virginia Tech Shootings on Fox News
Va. Tech: Dr. Phil & Jack Thompson Blame Video Games
Reaping the Benefits of Tragedy

Cock-sucker.

I really don't like this man.

And if you're interested or have no idea what the hell I'm talking about:

Wikipedia: Virginia Tech Shootings
Wikipedia: Cho Seung-hui (shooter)

Tom Hicks: Liverpool's Co-Owner and his Dubious History

By Shourin Roy

( I'm Gonna Get me Outta Here )
(Source)

If this all is true? Good thing it looks like Gillett is the one interested in actually having his fingers in the pie.

Swiss Accidentally Invade Liechtenstein


ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) -- What began as a routine training exercise almost ended in an embarrassing diplomatic incident after a company of Swiss soldiers got lost at night and marched into neighboring Liechtenstein.

According to Swiss daily Blick, the 170 infantry soldiers wandered just over a mile across an unmarked border into the tiny principality early Thursday before realizing their mistake and turning back.

A spokesman for the Swiss army confirmed the story but said that there were unlikely to be any serious repercussions for the mistaken invasion.

"We've spoken to the authorities in Liechtenstein and it's not a problem," Daniel Reist told The Associated Press.

Officials in Liechtenstein also played down the incident.

Interior ministry spokesman Markus Amman said nobody in Liechtenstein had even noticed the soldiers, who were carrying assault rifles but no ammunition. "It's not like they stormed over here with attack helicopters or something," he said.

Liechtenstein, which has about 34,000 inhabitants and is slightly smaller than Washington DC, doesn't have an army.

(Source)

ACTIVIST GIRL!

ACTIVIST GIRL DISCLAIMER: This particular story seems to be coming from only one source. I'm currently looking to see if I can verify it with a major news organization. I'll update you if I do. Until then, I am considering this gossip, and not the whole truth. However, it's gossip I'm inclined to believe.

The United States delegation to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has been one of the strongest supporters of efforts to create a new intellectual property right for broadcasters and cablecasters through a new WIPO treaty. If adopted, the treaty would give broadcasters, cablecasters and potentially webcasting companies 50 years of copyright-like rights over anything they transmit, including public domain and Creative Commons-licensed works. It would also give broadcasters legal protection to use technology to lock down content, giving them control over how you use broadcasts received by your television, radio and possibly personal computer and control over how those devices are designed and built.

The new Broadcasting Treaty is likely to restrict your access to knowledge and culture, and it lets broadcasters make decisions that should be left in the hands of creators and the public.

If adopted, the WIPO treaty will give broadcasters 50 years of copyright-like control over the content of their broadcasts, even when they have no copyright in what they show. A TV channel broadcasting your Creative Commons-licensed movie could legally demand that no one record or redistribute it—and sue anyone who does. And TV companies could use their new rights to go after TiVo or MythTV for daring to let you skip advertisements or record programs in DRM-free formats.

If that wasn't bad enough, the US contingent at WIPO is pushing to have the treaty expanded to cover the Net. That means that anyone who feeds your "sound and images" through a web server would have a right to meddle with what you do with the webcast simply because they serve as the middleman between you and the creator.

The rest of the article is here. I'm pissed. I'm pissed that our government would DARE try to impede free speech like that. I suppose I shouldn't be surprsied, they've tried already. I just hope to God we can get the word out and defeat this initiative, and I hope to God the rest of the world has enough brains to say, "Not a fucking chance."