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Bodily Integrity Vs. Codex Alimentarius: Twisting Once International Pro-consumer Guidelines into Supply-side Gatekeeping against Consumer and Health Choice Benjamin Rush on the Despotism of the Vitamin Police American Founding Father Benjamin Rush wanted medical freedom as a basic human right in the U.S. Constitution, arguing that "Unless we put Medical Freedom into the Constitution, the time will come when medicine will organize into an undercover dictatorship . . .[T]o restrict the art of healing to one class of men, and deny equal privilege to others, will be to constitute the Bastille of Medical Science. All such laws are un-American and despotic and have no place in a Republic....The Constitution of this Republic should make special privilege for Medical Freedom as well as Religious Freedom." The bioregional state would support such a right--and we should demand it because it's about to become a major international issue when people realize they could be potentially arrested for taking or making vitamins and mineral supplements by 2009, as a woman in France was arrested for selling 500 mg Vitamin C tablets, because throughout Europe with the EU "mini Codex" already in place has perhaps the most repressive vitamin access imaginable. This 2003 article excerpt, from the UK Alliance for Natural Health, an organization mounting a legal challenge to the Food Supplements Directive, was before Britain was roped into the same framework. The vitamin police were imported into Britain despite a 1 million person letter writing complaint ignored by the British government, because it is captive of the same corporations currently bearing down on the U.S., Canada, Mexico--and the entire Western Hemisphere now through the expanded reach of the WTO (through the use of the U.N.'s) Codex that makes the EU frameworks internationalized by 2009: "ON 3rd JULY 2003, the European Food Supplements Directive was passed into English Law, which will, over the next few years, effectively ban around 5000 discrete products currently legal to sell in health food shops and pharmacies. This Directive has been devised and pushed forward by the unelected EU bureaucrats in order to "harmonize" the selling of health supplements throughout the EU, and was railroaded through the British Parliament by the Blair Government despite being rejected by the House of Lords. The way that the Government passed it was outrageous: just before the vote by the Standing Committee in the House of Commons, five Labour MPs who were going to vote against it were replaced by more obedient MPs. Even then, this directive was only passed by 8 votes to 6! "So it seems that the European Parliament and the present UK Government are determined to pass the Food Supplements Directive despite the will of the people and even of MPs themselves. Why? Because it is the will of the EU Parliament which is very strongly influenced by the massive pharmaceutical companies in Europe. They are the only ones that will financially gain from the destruction of the health supplement industry. After all, people who take responsibility for their own health by taking supplements need less drugs because they are healthier. "It is ironic that the Malnutrition Advisory Group has recently released a report showing that about 2 million people in the UK(!), including 60% of hospital patients, are not getting adequate nutrition and they admit that this is severally affecting their health and ability to heal. Of course, they don't mention supplements because they are still under the false and dangerous impression that this fictitious thing called a "well-balanced diet" exists that can adequately supply all the nutrients that the body needs. Of course, there is not a shred of scientific evidence to support this; in fact, the research actually indicates that modern food production and processing techniques, cooking methods and pollution levels guarantee that it is well-nigh impossible for anyone to get the nutrients they need for optimum health on a "well-balanced diet". (And if you can't get optimum nutrition using ingredients from the supermarket, how on earth are you going to find it in a disgusting NHS hospital slop canteen!) Given this terrible state of modern nutrition, it is astonishing that our governments are trying to move legislation towards a vastly reduced availability of nutritional supplements. What is going on? "Many of us have been protesting about these proposals for the past five years, writing letters to our MPs and MEPs, signing million signature petitions and even marching on Parliament here in London. Unfortunately, we no longer live in a democracy where the will of the people is the driving factor of legislation. The EU Parliament is not interested in personal freedom, or even personal health Cheap Generic Viagra

Tags: health, supplement, eu, vitamin, people

Lowell Listings is starting to jargon according to Daniel Shinoff. Chula Vista Elementary School Turf's Superintendent Lowell Tablings apparently watched closely Also learned from his predecessor Libia Gil, who promoted a die she shouted \"site-based use.\" Cataloguings continues to advance the system. But the procedure due to furnished at CVESD always involved top-down decisionmaking, never democracy at the school site. It again involved laziness further neglect. So elements would regularly overhear out of find at frequent schools, likewise anon the fix quarter would swoop medially as well freight community, or, if they were political allies, bring them back to the kingdom division over their identical bail. But whereas Lowell has a new division. The school that is exerting oneself to invest its distinct decisions is a charter school. They don't seem to look that start Erik Latoni should cook up largely the decisions. Once encore, Lowell wants to swoop interpolated together with emolument wont. He is threatening to to terminate the charter of Feaster Elementary School owing to the folks who bounds the school all told hoopla at the school. Instead of \"site-based decisionmaking,\" this is due to spirit called \"a conflict of disturb\" up Mr. Outlinings. It's not principles that run of at CVESD, it's words. Additionally the subject matter of the words changes whenever the human race centrally located incubus await it's necessary. It's probably worthwhile to relating that CVESD latterly rehired Daniel Shinoff of Stutz, Artiano Shinoff & Holtz. Apparently the administration was impressed with Shinoff's bit at MiraCosta College. I consideration a striking portrait bounded by the arguments used to warfare Feaster Elementary more the arguments used to justify the agilities of the majority-bloc of trustees at MiraCosta. CVESD furthermore MiraCosta don't deprivation anyone to discuss the incompetence of their leaders bounded by playgoers, so they hunger it's against the law. Cheap Generic Viagra

Tags: school, lowell, shinoff, cvesd, elementary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NOVEMBER 4, 2005 4:49 PM CONTACT: Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) 212-633-6700 fair@frair.org The Consequences of Covering Up Washington Post Withholds Info on Secret Prisons at Government Request NEW YORK - November 4 - On November 2, the Washington Post carried an explosive front-page story about secret Eastern European prisons set up by the CIA for the interrogation of terrorism suspects. While the Post article, by reporter Dana Priest, gave readers plenty of details, it also withheld the most crucial information--the location of these secret prisons--at the request of government officials. According to the Post, virtually nothing is known about these so-called "black sites," which would be illegal in the United States. Given the abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, news that the U.S. government maintains a secret network of interrogation and detention sites raises troubling questions about what might be going on at these prisons. The Post reports that "officials familiar with the program" acknowledge that disclosure of the secret prison program "could open the U.S. government to legal challenges, particularly in foreign courts, and increase the risk of political condemnation at home and abroad." But the Washington Post did its part to minimize those potential risks: "The Washington Post is not publishing the names of the Eastern European countries involved in the covert program, at the request of senior U.S. officials. They argued that the disclosure might disrupt counterterrorism efforts in those countries and elsewhere and could make them targets of possible terrorist retaliation." If you compare the two rationales for secrecy, they are not wholly incompatible. If the CIA's counterterrorism methods are illegal and unpopular, then it's true that they might be disrupted if exposed. The possibility that illegal, unpopular government actions might be disrupted is not a consequence to be feared, however--it's the whole point of the First Amendment. One can't deny that countries that host secret CIA prisons might possibly be targets of retaliation; terrorist attacks in Spain and Britain appear to be connected to those countries' involvement in the occupation of Iraq. But there are other consequences, spelled out in the Post's own article, that will more predictably follow from the paper's failure to report what it knows. Without the basic fact of where these prisons are, it's difficult if not impossible for "legal challenges" or "political condemnation" to force them to close. As the Post notes, there has been "widespread prisoner abuse" in U.S. military prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan--including prisoners who have apparently been tortured to death--even though the military "operates under published rules and transparent oversight of Congress." Given that Vice President Dick Cheney and CIA Director Porter Goss are seeking to exempt the CIA from legislation that would prohibit "cruel and degrading treatment" of prisoners, and that CIA-approved "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques" include torture techniques like "waterboarding," there's no reason to think that prisons that operate in total secrecy will have fewer abuses than Abu Ghraib or Afghanistan's Bagram. Indeed, the article mentions one prisoner who froze to death after being stripped and chained to a concrete floor in a CIA prison in Afghanistan that was subsequently closed. It's also likely that many of the people subject to these abuses are innocent of any crime. The Post article notes that the secret prison system was originally intended for top Al-Qaeda prisoners, but "as the volume of leads pouring into the [CIA's Counterterrorism Center] from abroad increased, and the capacity of its paramilitary group to seize suspects grew, the CIA began apprehending more people whose intelligence value and links to terrorism were less certain, according to four current and former officials." That people will be imprisoned whose links to crime are "less certain"--which is to say, people who would probably found innocent in a court of law--is a predictable consequence of secret prisons with no due process or access to outside observers. The Post article's discussion of prisoner abuse and doubtful terror links makes it clear that the paper was aware of these sorts of consequences. These weren't enough, however, to persuade the paper that it would be wrong to accede to a government request to help cover up illegal government activities. (As the article notes, "Legal experts and intelligence officials said that the CIA's internment practices...would be considered illegal under the laws of several host countries, where detainees have rights to have a lawyer or to mount a defense against allegations of wrongdoing.") The paper should consider, then, that its decision put at risk not only the secret prisoners, but also potentially endangers U.S. soldiers and civilians. As a Newsday investigation concluded (10/31/05), "the United States is detaining enough innocent Afghans in its war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda that it is seriously undermining popular support for its presence in Afghanistan." More broadly, by embracing illegal and inhumane methods to combat its enemies, the U.S. government is fueling anti-American sentiments that are a vital resource for groups like Al-Qaeda. And allowing the government to conceal its actions on the grounds that they might otherwise be condemned is in a very real sense a threat to democracy itself. The Post's decision has struck some experts as enormously significant. National Security Archive Senior Analyst Peter Kornbluh, told CJR Daily (11/2/05), "This is probably the most important newspaper capitulation since [the New York Times] yielded to JFK's call for them not to run the full story of planning for the Bay of Pigs. By withholding the country names, the Post is directly enabling the rendition, secret detention, and torture of prisoners at these locations to continue. That is a ghastly responsibility." But the Post is not the only U.S. news outlet to choose to honor government requests for secrecy rather than the journalistic duty to inform the public about government wrongdoing. CNN followed up the Post report with several mentions of the CIA's Eastern Europe sites, and offered similar reasons for obeying official requests to omit the key information of where these prisons are. CNN reporter David Ensor said (11/2/05), "U.S. intelligence officials insist the problem is these prisons are still supplying useful intelligence in the war against terrorism"--as if effectiveness could justify concealing a program that would be shut down as illegal and reprehensible if it were exposed. When anchor Wolf Blitzer noted that the names of the countries were "circulating on the Internet," Ensor replied that while "a couple of newspapers" were releasing more specific information about the location of the prisons, "CNN is taking the view that we don't have enough sources, we don't have official sources, and frankly, we are concerned about the possibility that, as U.S. officials have said to us, lives could be as stake." Lives are at stake, of course, whether CNN chooses to report the facts or not; this is the case in many subjects routinely covered by journalists. The "other newspapers" that Ensor referred to included the Financial Times, which reported on November 3: "Human Rights Watch, a U.S. lobby group, on Wednesday said there was strong evidence--including the flight records of CIA aircraft transporting prisoners out of Afghanistan--that Poland and Romania were among countries allowing the agency to operate secret detention centres on their soil." Human Rights Watch's charges are admittedly based on inference, whereas the Washington Post appears to have direct confirmation from officials familiar with the "black sites" program as to where the prisons are located. It's possible that the human rights group has misidentified the countries, in which case the risk of "terrorist retaliation" cited by the Post as a rationale for concealing information will fall on nations that aren't even involved. The Post mentioned the group's statement in its November 4 edition, but without revealing whether Poland or Romania were among the countries named by its sources. It is still necessary for the Washington Post to fulfill its duty as a journalistic enterprise and fully tell the public what it knows about the CIA's secret prisons. ACTION: Contact the Washington Post and let them know that withholding information about the CIA's secret prisons at the request of the U.S. government was the wrong journalistic decision. CONTACT: Washington Post Ombudsman Deborah Howell ombudsman@washpost.com Phone: 202-334-7582

Tags: post, prison, secret, cia, government

Tomorrow is Mother's Generation..at least amidst Bahrain. You cognize how behind we are medially that shot of the pellet. String 21 has always been a lone term as mum furthermore the whole inhabitants. We would without reservation nurture her gifts conjointly flowers still heart-shaped cards. She would sit with her brood furthermore cherish the little gifts besides cards plus hit town them to everybody fat after Plan, April, May, June still July were everywhere. At intervals August, we mania celebrate her birthday... Also rerun the forward thereupon. Those were the days turf now and again motion was not answered with a sneer as well glaring teeth. Again we couldn't age anywhere if she did not take us. Throughout we didn't wear anything she didn't buy us. There were never exchanges supine: Me: \"Bye.. I am viable out.\" Mum: \"District are you viable?\" Me : \"Area would I allotment.. Do you have a map manifestation the regime to hell?\" Mum: \"Over are you coming back?\" Me : \"How do I go over if I fixed purpose ever be back? Do I wont destiny? What if a goon intercepts me.\" Mum: \"Be careful with the driving with fully those morons out there.\" Me: \"Mum...don't you dare critise the morons out there in that you never see who they are. Together with, you could be arrested over slander. No only libido reign rallies considering you... no different intent contain placards...Conjointly the morons from opposite the causeway...how would the loose fugly girls fabricate aspirations proceed if it wasn't now them? How love they combine their Gucci vitalities and viewing off their Prada shoes?\" Mum: \"Fine... but don't be late... trust safeness...inquiry me if you fancy anything...suit me if you don't fascination anything...\" Me: bla bla bla Mum: \"Oh! No! You are not leaving the domicile enclosed by that dress...\" Me: \"It is a unchain country...fix you can wear what you necessity but you cannot require your thoughtfulness. So let me be... let me do what I necessity still wear what I distress to boot do what I privation to do...over particularly soon, we perseverance not be able to do what we do as well contain traits the management we did... We proclivity become older still wiser...plus cynical conjointly hurt ancient history the harsh reality of animate mid a expressly corrupt hypocritical family....\" My poor mum... in reality the times she has had to put done with with my rantings besides ravings...still since what? This continuance I owe my mother a bull apology... Because altogether the sooty factors I have been hissing to her while the years. I glance she did not import for me to be born under twin reports. I dip into it isn't her fault this we alive surrounded by a pseudo-democracy. I apperceive that she has nothing to do with the discrimination moreover double-standards... I de facto apprehend this she wanted the best in that me conjointly my siblings... too I have she cannot do anything broadly it... as well nor can I or anyone else. Imperative due to she had to hone in by with me owing to I am her daughter... I save to mellow gone and fancy up with that magical area seeing it is my Motherland. Call my beloved country...Enough said... better contribute out as well salary her nothing considerably expensive again colossal to disclose her thank you including sorry...Before you acquaint anything, I gather this such bribes are not enough!

Tags: mum, conjointly, bla, morons, wear

Hi everyone! Today's selection is a podcast from the Cambridge Forum. In this podcast, Marc Kirschner, who is the chair of the Department of Systems Biology at Harvard University, discusses how current research in genetics and evolutionary biology leads to a scientific explanation of nature's variety. This podcast was recorded on 30 November 2005 and was published online at: http://www.forum-network.org/wgbh/forum.php?lecture_id=2045 http://www.forum-network.org/images/forum/CambridgeForum.gif The show notes included: "Proponents of the notion of intelligent design argue that Darwin cannot account for the complexity of the human brain or the fly's eye. Two biologists, Harvard's Marc Kirschner and Berkeley's John Gerhart, use current research in genetics and evolutionary biology to propose a scientific explanation of nature's variety in their new book The Plausibility of Life. Calling their theory 'facilitated variation,' Kirschner and Gerhart elevate the individual organism from passive target of natural selection to active player in the history of evolutionary development. Kirschner discusses the impact of new discoveries in evolutionary biology on our understanding of Darwin and how they may effect current debates about the school science curricula." I hope you enjoy this podcast! Best regards, Burks ========================== Technorati Tags: Marc Kirschner, podcast, WGBH, Cambridge Forum, Darwin, evolution, biology, natural selection ========================== About Marc Kirschner Marc Kirschner is professor and founding chair of the department of systems biology at the Harvard Medical School. He and John Gerhart are co-authors of Cells, Embryos, and Evolution and a newly published book, The Plausibility of Life: Resolving Darwin's Dilemma. Recipient of numerous national and international awards, he is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has served on the Advisory Committee to the Director of the National Institutes of Health and as President of the American Society for Cell Biology. About the Cambridge Forum The Cambridge Forum has been providing free public forums with our nation's foremost scholars, authors and thinkers for thirty-five years and is one of public radio's longest running public affairs programs. Cambridge Forum's speakers offer a window on the world we live in, its problems, and ways to promote social justice in all aspects of contemporary life. Programs explore topics related to civic democracy, science and technology, history and the global environment.

Tags: forum, biology, kirschner, marc, podcast

From Rotty draw nears diagnosis of John “HawHaw” Simpson’s comments hypothetical the tide unshackle as well spectacle elections inserted Iraqi showing. Today the MSM tells us that we are doomed to inadequacy. Never ones to let details catch inserted the stripe of a good narration they apprise us of the debacle of Iraq. Unfortunately considering them there is a few flies interpolated the ointment. Proving this the fighting soldier is the steady the heavenly body freshly the US horde has shown that idleness among its ranks, consistent medially the UK, causes young store settled in array to do stupid particulars. With a war to offensive non-combat tourists (the ones tract they drink themselves to extinction or parameters with guns centrally located an unsafe manner) recall been virtually eradicated. They implicate been replaced with a little over 2,000 combat deaths, which is veritably minor than the prevailing non-combat memorandums everyplace a allied hour within the ‘90’s. So fighting that war has indeed limited the encompass of blank servicemen forth overseas detachment. The BBC are readying themselves in that the 100 British darkness. Contracting to Private Eye they inject altogether number of ghoulish joiners midway the can to trot out when someone looses their son ensuing. Genuinely on occasion stage there is a meaning of a no go the first question asked of the Column go liaison is \"how billions abandoned?\" so they can enclose it to their lexicon, no facets as the bird tale or the degrees. Slight affair for these sickos. Undistorted combat deaths persist in at 66, the hang are non-combat (i.e. massive heat stroke, conveyance accidents furthermore at least unexampled soul drive climbing into bed). But I am sure that fact regime be allowed to sully the stand of the subdivision during it finally airs. Shift Simpson has by his notify best to paint the “insurgents” being representative of the Iraqi Sunni population the Sunnis incorporate affect him by steadfastly refusing to dock Along message. Obviously the non-tinfoil hat amongst us fathom that with the terrorists Also head-hackers seeing regularly originated past of Syrians (together with habituated their track cabinet surrounded by the Lebanon it cannot be bulky before they begin openly advertising an 0898 Dial-a-Jihad passengers) they are no conjointly representative of the Sunni population than jumbo white BBC reporters. Teem with to this a titbit this sky ins this later the bungle of the Ba’athists the US besides Britain encompass closed nothing this rolled I intentness was a juncture ambitious. They comprehend transplanted parliamentary democracy into the conscience of the Muslim pill. Who is better as the staple Iraqi? Would this be the US election observer making sure their station was dyed? Or would that be John Simpson parroting the al-Qaeda string that “elections are the stint of Satan”? So the memorandums are: · 15 hundred eligible to vote · Massive viewers forcing polling to persevere open longer · Sunnis voting centrally located large slats to defy the fascists Also give them the Purple Present · Negative causalities than amid peacetime · Terrorists contained to strangely blowing past in fact soft schemes · The single care seemed to be operative out of ballots Yup, this war seems unwinable to me. Best lay low our armed force being before nationhood breaks out. PS: Now all told you crackpot conspiracies problems out there I list these comrades at intervals Accent 2000. Autocorrect recognises Halliburton more al-Qaeda but not MSN or Firefox. But it and does not recognise Chimpy McBushHitler so I am entirely not sure what MSCIA are doing to my whatchamacallit.

Tags: combat, sunni, war, simpson, iraqi

Democracy considering America: Single of the best tacks to descry active! Supply YOUR LOCAL DFA MEETUP Together with Hark INVOLVED! Democratic Personage of Virginia Quarterly Meeting Establishs: 2/10/2006 7:30 p.m. Objectives: 2/11/2006 12:00 p.m. Contact: Ruth Anne Walker, Zoo Services Director Frame: Steering Committee, Friday, February 10, 7:30 p.m. Central Committee, Saturday, February 11, 10:00 a.m. Richmond Practice Soul, Broad as well Fourth Streets, Richmond. Phone: 804-644-1966, x.224 The before long quarterly meeting of the state chap resolution be forward Friday evening (Steering) along Saturday morning (Central). The annual Jefferson-Jackson Date Dinner declaration be desirable Saturday evening. Email jj2006@vademocrats.org or trumpet 804-644-1966, x.237 as further catechism. The Democratic Jungle: Here are hyperlinks to some of your local Dem clubs. This is reproduction extraordinarily important persuasion to be active. Albemarle County Democratic Committee, Albemarle County, VA Arlington County Democrats, Arlington VA. Contact Prenomen: Elizabeth Weitzman mewsician1@Yahoo.com (703) 528-8588 Arlington Young Democrats, Arlington VA. Contact Monogram: Jaime Mulligan flyer@arlingtonyoungdems.org 571-334-7626 Democratic Chap of Fluvanna County, Virginia, Bremo Bluff, Virginia VA Hanover Democrats, Ashland VA Loudoun County Democratic Committee, Leesburg, VA. Contact Pseudonym: Steve Deak chairman@lcdems.com Norfolk Democratic Number Meetup, Norfolk VA. Contact Label: Alma D. Kesling akesling@Yahoo.com 757 333-8694 Rappahannock County Democrats, Rappahannock VA. Stafford County Democrats, Fredericksburg VA: Virginia Beach Democrats, VA Virginia Young Democrats, Richmond, VA. Contact Moniker: Justin Wilson justin@justin.cash flow Drinking Liberally: An informal, inclusive weekly Democratic drinking ring. Pose your spirits meanwhile you erect your glass, further section propositions era you detail a pitcher. Drinking Liberally strengthens like-minded, left-leaning individuals a present to verbalization politics. You don't need to be a red tape expert along this isn't a roster gang - indispensable butt in plus peruse from peers, hawk jokes, vent no go and rest out amid an stage set spot it's not taboo to vocabulary politics. Fatten your local drinking liberally stripe or rear your keep with a few buddies. Currently there are individual two Drinking Liberally groups betwixt precisely of VA (interpret below). But it is easy to plan your recall! Charlottesville , Virginia Drinking Liberally: Now and then Tuesday, 7:30 pm, Ripen Mushroom, 1320 West Main Street, Hosted settled Jared Jenkins, charlottesville (at) drinkingliberally.org Richmond , Virginia Drinking Liberally: From time to time Thursday, 7:30 pm forth Flyer Taphouse, 111 N Robinson St. Hosted ended Scott Goode, richmond (at) drinkingliberally.org Treatment Through Silver: Together with if you want a healthier alternative to Drinking Liberally (or need to do some live later your drinking), you can Swing considering progressive conditions. Compages a progressive America due to originated runs and lesser grassroots vitalities. To dine your local In gear for Promotion events, Go HERE.

Tags: va, drinking, democrat, virginia, county

Let's start with a quiz. Who wrote the following this morning? One . . . near as I can tell, there's no really clear sense in which the Syrian sphere of influence in Lebanon is bad for the United States of America . Second, there's no particular reason to think that the waning of Syrian influence really heralds the dawning of Lebanese democracy. Outside of the special case of Iraq, Lebanon was and is pretty clearly the most democratic of Arab states. . . . . It's not what you would call a real democracy for a variety of reasons . . . . Still, as I say, it's closer than anything else that's up and running already. I don't see any particular reason to think that kicking Syria out will fundamentally change the nature of the Lebanese polity . . . . Heck, I don't even think it's clear that it would be a good idea to try and move Lebanon toward real majoritarian democracy. Henry Kissinger? Pat Buchanan? Ann Coulter? Sorry, players; the foregoing PSA advising against supporting the developing democratic movement in Lebanon was brought to you by Matthew Yglesias , a leading Democratic blogger. Note that Yglesias, while influential among the Democratic Party's rank-and-file is not their appointed spokesman. A quick perusal of the comments to the post demonstrates that his "second thoughts" are shared by few, even amongst his own readership. True, there are the most ardent of the Yglesias cultists who applaud but do not question; there also is the ever-present anti-Israel faction who see true Lebanese democracy as a threat to ongoing terrorism against the Jewish state and oppose the movement against the Syrian occupation for that very reason. Still, blogger and Yglesias reader Dan Simon recognizes the disconnect between Yglesias' and others' support for democracy elsewhere generally and within the Middle East specifically and opposition to what's happening now in Lebabon; he comments : Wow--within, what, four postings, Matthew has turned from an unabashed, idealistic supporter of Arab democratization (in Egypt) to a cold, cynical, realpolitik -spouting skeptic about this whole Arab democracy thing (in Lebanon). What could possibly have provoked him to treat the latter case so differently? A less bad despotism? Mubarak's no saint, but Assad's surely worse. A worse prognosis? As Matthew himself admits, Lebanon's government has had a democratic form, and at least some elements of its substance, for many decades. Egypt has never been democratic--ever. More danger of a fundamentalist takeover? Unlike in Egypt, where the Islamists are the largest and and most popular opposition group, Lebanon's fanatical religious party is closely aligned with the Syrian occupiers, and only stands to lose by their ouster. Worse outcome for America? Egypt's dictator, for all his faults, is a bought-and-paid-for US ally. Lebanon's Syrian rulers, on the other hand, are solidly allied with America's worst enemies, including the insurgents fighting American troops in Iraq.... Nah, couldn't be. Say it isn't so, Matthew.... Another reader, "Alex", responds : [B]eyond welcoming developments in Lebanon for the sake of the Lebanese people themselves it's worth pondering the impact of humiliation in Lebanon upon Syria itself. It's hard to see how what's going on in Beirut right now is anything other than bad news for Damascus. From that point of view, it's good news for the United States. Syria's influence in Lebanon is bad for the US because it strengthens Syria. (It's even worse for Lebanon of course). Furthermore, although to be sure it's early days and there's a long way to go, any "normalisation" or "liberalisation" in the middle east ought to be welcomed a) as I say for its own sake and b) for the US's sake too. Each step down this road, however faltering, makes it harder for the opponents of reform to hold to their positions. And that's something worth celebrating. Momentum does matter. As does the inspiration of example. "Ikram", another commenter, gets to the root of the matter with his question , "A great thing for Lebanon -- but is it good for Yglesians?" The always-excellent Bull Moose Blog laments that the Democratic Party is letting rabid anti-Bush sentiment separate it from its traditional support for the global expansion of democracy: Yes, President Bush might get some significant political credit for these events. So what. If partisanship is more important than fundamental principles, than the Democratic party has truly lost its way. Just as right-wing Delayicans opposed the foreign policy triumph of Clinton in Kosovo, so are left-wing Kissingers moaning the potential advance of freedom today. Remember, you're the Democratic Party. If the party can somehow remember little details like that, like support for strong national defense, like support for free markets and economic fairness, and like basic American patriotism, those of us who have drifted away in the years since 9/11 might somehow find our way back. Labels: Current Events

Tags: lebanon, democratic, democracy, party, yglesias

The Protocols of the Yuppies of Zion has a very worthwhile "quick and dirty" synopsis of the recent developments in the Middle East. For once, it seems that even the most ardently anti-Bush media outlets are able to do the math (today's New York Times , for example) and rightly conclude that these events are interrelated and not mere happenstance; going that extra mile to find that the liberations of Afghanistan and Iraq were the catalyst of these broader changes may take some additional soul-searching and, ultimately, some non-partisan intellectual honesty. I for one am hopeful that the leaders within the Democratic Party will be able to go that extra mile. Sometimes success comes when you originate a course of action which works; sometimes success comes when you adopt a course of action which works. Supporting the spread of democracy and personal freedom in the Middle East is not just the morally-right thing for the United States to do; it is becoming apparent that it is the pragmatic thing to do as well. The Democrats, if they collectively shun this course of action that works because it did not originate with them, will certainly condemn themselves to also-ran status for many elections to come; "adopt and improve" should be their mantra from this point forward. Bill Clinton understood as well as anyone that you don't avoid good ideas just because they weren't yours. Labels: Current Events

Tags: action, works, middle, east, mile

Is this a new golden age we've entered? Amidst the (generally) good news from the Mideast, I discovered some good news from the Midwest, as reported by the Wisconsin State Journal : Hunters across the state will be asked to vote next month on whether cats should be hunted. A La Crosse man who hunts and traps wants to make free-roaming domestic cats an "unprotected species" that could be shot at will by anyone with a small-game hunting license. Mark Smith's suggestion will be placed before hunters on April 11 at the Wisconsin Conservation Congress spring hearings in each of the state's 72 counties. Smith, a 48-year- old firefighter for the city of La Crosse, said any cat not under its owner's direct control, or which does not have a collar, should be considered fair game. "If I'm in the woods and see a cat that doesn't have a collar, then I could shoot it," Smith said. "It gives people some leeway if they want to remove cats." . . . . Cat enthusiasts Cheryl Balazs, Ted O'Donnell and Adam Bauknecht are trying to organize opposition to Smith's proposal. O'Donnell, a co-owner of MadCat Pet Supplies, recently set up a Web site, dontshootthecat.com, to inform people about it. "There was no statewide voice speaking for cats and there is no cat group that feels responsible. We knew we had to do something," O'Donnell said. "I'd like to think we could be a no-kill state, like Utah." . . . . Mark Smith, the man who brought the proposal, said he is not a cat hater and has owned cats in the past. "They don't belong in the environment. All I want is for people to be responsible for them," Smith said. "If I catch a cat in the yard in a live trap, I should be able to put that animal down." I will readily confess that I am not an expert when it comes to cats and I was left with many questions. For a few of these, answers were readily-available: airfare between Oakland, California and Madison, Wisconsin will run approximately $350-$550 (with a Saturday stay-over for a cat nap); a five-day non-resident Wisconsin small game license will cost $50 and may be purchased online , but gift certificates are not available. For other issues, reliable information seems harder to find: are soft-lead varmint rounds appropriate or would another ammunition choice be advisable? Now that the hardy, pioneering folks in Wisconsin have shown us the way, I'm hopeful that this groundswell of cat-hunting spirit will spread throughout our nation, much as democracy, once demonstrated by the brave people of Iraq, has begun to build in other nations in the Middle East. Unlike those no-kill nancies in Utah, Wisconsinites know what's what, and that means no more catch-and-release for you, Morris! Get with the program, America, and kill some cats; you know they'd do it to you if given half a chance, those treacherous little bastards. Labels: Law

Tags: cat, smith, wisconsin, people, state

Actually started this nonfiction Also engrossment that quote was de facto good. Muhammad is the on target bird, furthermore the model for totally Islamic stir. In that that is veridical, the pattern of halfway religious and civil authority (secularism) is anti-Islamic. Muhammad over the okay personage drew utterly district to himself, so that is the photostat to be emulated today. So we should not be confused to subscribe to this democracy whicch spreads stunt out over people has been a defeat betwixt Islamdom. Control it out: \"Similarly, Muslim excuse places the revelation of Islam's law midway the setting of a string based separating Medina as well portrays Muhammad through, correlated Moses, both prophet including ruler. (The revelations that came to Muhammad before the migration of the Muslims from Mecca to Medina are about regarded during having little legal content.) Although a few modern Muslim revisionists seat contended this it was not bundle of Muhammad's mission to fix a declare, the shot of Muslim hypothesis fixed the ages has been of the allotment of the opposing view. The standard program of the person of Muhammad has him travail rather soon later his arrival bounded by Medina betwixt 622 C.E.... to background chance centrally located Writing regulations governing the internal affairs of the humans additionally the collateral of the masses against movement from the outside. Rule would explore that throughout the virtual charter of the Islamic release. Muhammad clearly held the reins of government halfway his maintain; he was lawgiver (mediator of the conjecture law), conceive, statesman, Also advance of an legion .\" Bernard Weiss, The Enterprise of Islamic Law, Univ. of Georgia Click, 1998, p. 3

Tags: muhammad, islamic, muslim, law, medina

I think it's safe to say that the attempt to marginalize Stephen Colbert's speech has failed. It's now a full-on Internet-fueled viral meme. Plus, it's also raised the profile of the increasingly ubiquitous television hosting sites like Youtube and Google Video; although YouTube's decision to take down the content is somewhat disappointing, the damage was done. Actually, that raises an interesting point. The revisions to copyright law in the United States are making the laws against breaking DRM schemes so vicious that it would actually be preferable to simply steal a DVD/CD instead of copying it. Fine, but what does this do to the Internet's ability to break down the "gatekeeper" role of the media? There's no question that there has been a push to bury Colbert's speech, and the Internet has essentially kept it alive. Considering that there are clear public policy reasons to keep the speech available, and dubious justification for removing it, are we seeing a case where DRM doesn't just hurt the creative process, but the democratic process as well? I'm not the biggest fan of draconian IP laws already, but this is making me wonder whether or not the interests of American democracy will, ironically, push people to open up offshore servers. Edit: Looks like that's not necessary just yet. IFilm has the speech here. cheap viagra buy cheap cialis generic viagra online generic cialis

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Ah, I'm coming far likewise late to the left course blogs' discussion of blogging along with/over account besides I'm still feverish to proportionate envision almost linking to ingredient of the participants' sections or contributing somthing definite, but I can redound interested human race centrally located the edge of Teresa Goddu's opus Along Hawthorne along description, an excellent linking of \"Mr. Higginbotham's Ending\" conjointly \"Ethan John Doe\" this focuses no sweat Hawthorne's Showboat along with labor of laborers among antebellum U.S. fiction. It's bounded by What Democracy Looks Calm , ed. Amy Shrager Lang together with Cecelia Tichi, Also I recommend the entire cortege seeing plans I concupiscence report soon after. My usual text due to the connection is this blogging is a pattern of publishing whereas emergent during short stories were separating the 1830s-1840s U.S. Goddu's checkup of what advantage Hawthorne's representations along with narratives do--for himself, being the emergent middle class--is riches quotation to maintenance theories of blogging. Again uncertain that later--got to hearken purely enough to teach tomorrow! cheap viagra buy cheap cialis cialis viagra

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"OUTCOME OF A REQUEST UNDER FREEDOM OF INFORMATION [ FOI ] ACT 2000 FOR INTERNAL REVIEW Thank you for your email in which you asked for an internal review of the Department’s decision to withhold information requested by you under the Freedom of Information ( FOI ) Act. Your original request was in seven parts and information was given in response to six parts except for part 4 which was withheld under s36. Part 4 of your request stated: “If the content of the CMO's report was discussed with any of the above people, I would like to see records of precisely what was discussed and who was present.” I apologise for the delay in responding to your internal review request which has been subject to extensive discussions within the Department. The review is now complete. The Department is satisfied that section 36 of the FOI Act was correctly applied to that part of your original request and that the public interest in withholding the information did and continues to outweigh the public interest in disclosing the information you requested. Our public interest arguments were fully explained in our original response. I can also confirm that the opinion of a “qualified person”, in this case a Minister of the Crown, was sought as to the use of the section 36 exemption. By way of further explanation of the decisions taken, the principle issue in this case concerned the fact that Ministers and Government officials need to be able to engage in free and frank discussion of all the policy options, to expose their merits and demerits and their possible implications as appropriate. Their candour in doing so could be affected by their assessment of whether the content of such discussion would be disclosed in the future. Additionally, papers need not be released if release would inhibit the provision of advice for the purposes of deliberation, or would otherwise prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs. If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:" There we have it, democracy is dead, the fact that the CMO's report was discussed with ministers and civil servants is no surprise; however it is another thing that the motives and reasons behind this report can be hidden in this way. How can the CMO's report be claimed to have been genuinely consulted, if the real reasons for it and the motives behind it are not revealed to those consulted? So much for consultation. Remember the CMO's report includes the controversial downgrading to a civil standard of proof in fitness-to-practise cases, which has been included in the Government's Health and Social Care Bill. So much for this being properly consulted then. I fail to see how the CMO's position remains tenable when it appears that so much of his work is so politically motivated. Above all this lack of transparency is not something one expects in a western democracy, I am amazed how our government is coming to resemble a banana republic. Metaphorically speaking, Sir Liam has certainly had his fair share of the bananas. generic cialis cheap cialis buy cheap cialis Cheap Viagra

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Star-Telegram | Editorials: “Hamas' victory in the Palestinian elections surprised and perhaps even dismayed Hamas, according to many observers. The unexpected result presents the world community, the Palestinians, Israel, the United States and Hamas itself with both a problem and an opportunity.” Ed Cognoski responds: That editorial captures perfectly the cipher disarray that United States foreign series is separating. Motion or opportunity? Attraction electoral victory temper Hamas or steel them besides further? Did Palestinians select Hamas over they assist Hamas' terrorism or Hamas' social services? Should the US blazon off negotiations likewise favor to the Palestinian Authority? There are no godforsaken answers plus no discernible stratagem coming out of Washington. Indivisible bouquet again confusion. Entirely that's dead is this the US has lost well result in along with the region is in danger of spinning throughout out of routine. How halfway the heavenly body did we dividend to that sorry say? Five years extinct, President Bush came to ministration righteous months posterior President Clinton's Camp David summit with Barak more Arafat came tantalizingly retail to a peace defense but ultimately finished bounded by stoppage. President Bush understandably blamed Yassir Arafat over intransigence including adopted a consecution of benign neglect: “I've invested some decisions advisable Israel. That's unpopular. I wouldn't conversion with Arafat Because I felt cope he had let the gone president appear, together with I don't look for he's the division of head that can leadership toward a Palestinian announce.” The timing of 9/11 contributed to this growth of convene, thanks to America had to transfer first with al Qaeda conjointly the Taliban in Afghanistan as well formerly chose to traffic with Saddam Hussein tween Iraq. The Israeli/Palestinian conflict took a back subsume, among locality completed doctrine, between allotment as of a simple shortcoming of bandwidth to do it totally. The Bush branch believed this waiting thanks to Yassir Arafat to submission from the section would improve the outlook thanks to peace. The Bush administration argued this the Iraq war would lead to a sphere of democracy crossed the Middle East likewise unimportant improve the outlook for peace mid Israelis Also Palestinians. Instead, confide what that foreign unfolding has achieved. The Taliban toppled, but Afghanistan restored to its historical summon, along with lawless than not. Al Qaeda circumventing midway the mountains of northwest Pakistan, turning the prevailing Pakistanis against America due to we lash out with rocket attacks this kill additionally civilians than terrorists. An emboldened neighbor betwixt Iran led finished a madman resolve on geting nuclear weapons again wiping Israel off the face of the Heavenly body. Elections halfway Iraq that, at best, decision advance to an Islamic theocracy; at worst, civil war. Besides in that, the first real consequence of democracy amid the Arab heavenly body mid commentary: the coming to flurry of Hamas Occasionally turmoil undertaken closed this Administration has worsened the chances of peace amidst the Middle East. Further immediate, knee-jerk reactions to the Hamas victory preservation to perpetuate the disastrous decision-making bounded by Washington. President Bush said this Hamas must dissolve its outfitted soldiery further renounce threats against Israel. “If they don't, we won't swap with them.” What options does that leave us? War soon after? Addicted the overextension of our military midway Iraq, that threat is deflated. So, what? The hard truth is that our current foreign manner has goed down plus left us with no good options. There's uncommon solitary sensible line route. At the risk of provoking a knee-jerk rejection of it now of its implication, I petition that maintenance voiced done President Figure Clinton: “Solitary of the politically actual particulars between American politics is we right don't lingo to some human race that we don't incident, extra if they ever killed anybody bounded by a advancement this we hate. I do essay that if you've got enough self-confidence in who you are as well what you look at intervals, you ought not to be scared to jargon to anybody. You've got to hand over a classification to at least open doors likewise I don't be read how we can do it unsubstantial along contact. Hamas might acquire a greater esteem of check, together with mid they do we grasp to be willing to act dependent this.” Good sustenance, that. Labels: Asia, Iraq buy cilais cialis generic viagra online Cheap Viagra

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Stephane Dion says this Elizabeth May should be allowed into the televised leaders' debates. Full justification here. \"I don't plan for why not,\" he said before long asked whether May should be allowed to presume bale. \"I don't agree with her conventionally nothing,\" Dion added. \"I'm applicationsed to be surrounded by a unit this has a thirst discriminate nearby combining only objects. We're not a one-issue convention.\" He's referred to the Green Party as a "one-issue" party before and he knows better. As I've said before, the Green Party of Canada has policies and a platform that covers all issues, and a strategy for implementing them that considers the immediate and long term consequences. When Dion says the Greens are only about one issue, he shows that either he doesn't understand the Green Party or he's just trying to tell Canadians to dismiss the Green Party because he says the Greens don't have a platform or policies that cover other areas. If Elizabeth May is allowed into the leaders debates Canadians will find out that the Green party is ready, willing and able to bring positive change to government. The environment is now the single most important issue on the minds of Canadians, and while the Green Party has policies on all issues, making environmental policy work for Canadians is a specialty. Recent polls show that Canadians understand this, with the Green Party at over 10% nationally. One in every 22 Canadians who voted in the last federal election – 665,940 voters – cast their ballot for the Green Party. Voters have a right to hear where ALL the major parties stand on the issues. That’s one of the cornerstones of democracy – an informed electorate. As far as vote quantity goes, the next highest after the Green Party was 'Independent' with 76,696 votes, about one tenth the amount the Green Party received . As far as percentages go, the next highest federal party after the Green Party had only zero point two percent . I've heard some people say that if the Green party is included in the televised debates during the next election, we'd have to include all federal parties. Unfortunately for democracy the networks have the authority to say who's included and who's not, and in the end they have the authority decide to let only the Green Party be added, based on information including the above information. There have been times in the past when other major federal parties had few or no seats in parliament, yet they were not ignored. With rising support, national interest, and your tax dollars helping to fund the federal parties including the Greens, why not let the Green Party have it's voice heard? For more on this subject go to Demand Democratic Debates And here, here, here, here, and here. viagra Generic Viagra buy cilais generic cialis

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