Marine Corps fighter pilots and commanders who have returned from the war zone have confirmed dropping dozens of incendiary bombs near bridges over the Saddam Canal and the Tigris River. The explosions created massive fireballs.
"We napalmed both those (bridge) approaches," said Col. Randolph Alles in a recent interview. He commanded Marine Air Group 11, based at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, during the war. "Unfortunately, there were people there because you could see them in the (cockpit) video.
________

"You can call it something other than napalm, but it's napalm," said John Pike, defense analyst with GlobalSecurity.org, a nonpartisan research group in Alexandria, Va.
Although many human rights groups consider incendiary bombs to be inhumane, international law does not prohibit their use against military forces. The United States has not agreed to a ban against possible civilian targets.
"Incendiaries create burns that are difficult to treat," said Robert Musil, executive director of Physicians for Social Responsibility, a Washington group that opposes the use of weapons of mass destruction.
Musil described the Pentagon's distinction between napalm and Mark 77 firebombs as "pretty outrageous."
"That's clearly Orwellian," he added.

James W. Crawley Union-Tribune (US) August 5, 2003

pesca milagrosa

Molly Ivins cleans her desk and the American people are the better for it.

I was getting into my new role as North Carolina's premier amateur philosopher and religious studies scholar, and hoping for some in-depth discussion of my own "anti-Christian bigotry," as one of the state legislators put it, no doubt referring to my description, in "Nickel and Dimed" of Jesus as a "wine-guzzling vagrant and precocious socialist." On the "vagrant" part, there can be no debate, and, although "guzzling" may be a bit overstated, Jesus was sufficiently associated with wine ("I am the true vine," etc.) to be confused with the Greek wine god Dionysius in the Hellenistic world � a subject I have yearned to expound on for years.
As for Jesus being a socialist, I take it back. He was actually a little to the left of that, judging from his instruction to the rich man to sell all that he had and give to the poor. If that's what it takes to be a true Christian, believe me, it's a hell of a lot easier to be a socialist: You have to dedicate yourself to working for the poor, just as a Christian should, but at least you get to keep your stuff. The topic of Christian altruism v. socialist pragmatism could, I thought, entertain the rightwing radio talk show audiences for weeks.

Barbara Ehrenreich "The Antichrist of North Carolina" in The Progressive September 2003
link path thru Alternet August 4, 2003
original link :::wood s lot:::

VATICAN CITY, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- The Vatican has stunned opponents of genetically modified foods by declaring them a blessing, the Times of London said Monday.
Until the statement, the Vatican had been neutral in the confrontation between the European Union and the United States over genetically modified food.
Archbishop Renato Martino, head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said the Vatican was preparing an official report on biotechnology, to be published next month, which would come out in favor of genetic modification.
Archbishop Martino said the Pope was greatly interested in new technologies for food development as part of a policy of sustainable agriculture. He noted 24,000 people die every day from starvation.
Archbishop Martino, who until last year was the Vatican representative at the United Nations, said he lived for 16 years in the United States "and I ate everything that was offered to me, including genetically modified products. They had no effect on my health. This controversy is more political than scientific."

InfoSpace 08/04/2003

{more political than religious too, we might add. but only as it's framed. ultimately it's a spiritual question. whether it's better to compromise with evil, and risk becoming evil by that compromise, or risk death and its consequences, which include leaving your comrades in arms to fight on less one.
but it's also possible to sacrifice your life and still not be dead. to give up everything and still walk around.
like someone who knowingly incurred the wrath of the death squads, the fascists, the bigots, the innumerable clots of scum that have altered the face of life, the shape of the human form.
like the flotsam of the death camps, graduates of the soul-altering electrodes in the buzzing halls of injustice, there's a lot of guys around who did that, who went into it not knowing exactly what they risked, just knowing it was everything.
take the risk and pay.
that's not what GM foods are about though. GM foods are about feeding people who hate life. that's about as evil as it gets. it's just that the true form of that evil will never be visible to human eyes.
like setting up the extinction of the human race. you'll never get busted by humans for accomplishing that. attempting it, wanting to, but never for having done it.
but that's great anyway. Martino says it's "...more political than scientific."
yes. yes it is. just like with Galileo, padre mio.}

The revelation of Joseph Wilson's investigation in the African state forced President George Bush to retract claims about Iraq's attempts to buy uranium made in his State of the Union speech two months before the war began.
The Administration is alleged to have leaked the name of Mr Wilson's wife, an undercover CIA operative in the field of weapons of mass destruction, with the aim of discrediting him. It is said that Mr Wilson was selected to go on the trip to Niger last year only after his wife, Valerie Plame, suggested him.
US intelligence officials and the Democrats are furious about the move, arguing that it jeopardises Ms Plame's work and undermines her husband. They have called for an inquiry.
Her identity was revealed by Bob Novak, a syndicated columnist, who said that he was given the information by "two senior administration officials". They told him that Ms Plame had suggested to her CIA colleagues that her husband should be sent on the mission.
His report was followed by allegations on neo-conservative websites that Mr Wilson was an opponent of the Iraq war, and had an interest in refuting the threat from Saddam Hussein's WMD.
Mr Wilson said yesterday that the naming of his wife had parallels with the disclosure of the identity of the British scientist David Kelly, the source of BBC allegations that the British government "sexed up" an dossier on Iraqi weapons.
"The Administration in Washington came in saying they were going to restore honour and dignity to the presidency," Mr Wilson said. "They have shown no sign of it so far.
"This is highly damaging to my wife's career, and could be seen as a smear against me."
But it was also about discouraging "others who may have information embarrassing to the administration from coming forward," he said.
"It is absolutely untrue that my wife was responsible for my trip to Niger. I met a number of senior members of staff to discuss the visit."
Democrats have criticised the White House over disclosing Ms Plame's identity, and Senator Charles Schumer of New York has urged the FBI to investigate.
Former US intelligence officials have also attacked the Administration for the leak, saying it put Ms Plame at risk.
Frank Anderson, the former CIA station chief for the Near East Division, said: "When it gets to the point of an administration official acting to do career damage, and possibly endanger someone's life, that's mean, that's petty, it's irresponsible, and it ought not to be sanctioned."

Kim Sengupta Independent UK 04 August 2003

The current conflict between the Saudi government and its US counterpart began last week when the US Congress released the congressional report with a chapter on Saudi Arabia. It raised suspicions about possible links between some individuals working for the Saudi government and some of the Saudi nationals involved in al-Qaeda's terrorism on September 11. However, the report's 28-page chapter on alleged Saudi government financing of the terrorists was not made public, although the allegations were. What angered the Saudis was the report's heavy accusation of their government's complicity in the terrorist attacks without providing any verifiable proof and, thus, without giving them a chance to respond to the accusations.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal visited Washington on Wednesday to ask officially for the chapter's declassification as requested in a submitted letter of Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia while filling for his ill brother, King Fahd. The Saudis made the request on the ground of their need to respond to the accusations and thereby clear their name. Reportedly, the Bush administration announced its decision not to declassify the chapter before the arranged meeting between the Saudi official and the US president.
________

Against this background, the US congressional report seems to be adding insult to Saudi Arabia's injury. Since September 11 that country has been a target of Washington hawks' proposals for regime change as part of a plan to reshape the entire Middle East. Regardless of his intention, Bush's refusal to declassify the mentioned chapter will only create grounds for future leveling of unverifiable charges against Saudi Arabia, which could prepare US public opinion for a future regime change under the pretext of fighting terrorism. Within this context, the refusal could serve as a first step toward "dealing" with an old US ally, which the hawks consider as a strategically important state with uncertain future stability. Saudi Arabia's refusal to let the United States use its bases in a major way in their war on Iraq has probably qualified it as an "emerging rogue state" that Washington can afford to alienate now that it has access to oil-rich Iraq.

Hooman Peimani Asia Times Aug 2, 2003

Ian Stewart McIntosh was born in Melbourne on October 11 1919, and educated at Geelong Grammar School before joining the Royal Navy in 1938. On joining his first submarine, Porpoise, in 1941, he insisted that the Chief Engineroom Artificer show him the purpose of all the machinery, valves and pipes. But he was reticent about where he had been since completing his submarine training six months previously.
In fact, McIntosh had been a passenger on the Anchor line steamer Britannia when she was sunk by a German raider some 600 miles off the West Africa coast. He found himself with 82 fellow passengers and crew in a lifeboat designed for 56, awash to the gunwales. After they had all baled furiously, he was held over the side by his legs while he stuffed the larger shrapnel holes with torn blankets and covered them with sheets of tin. With just 16 gallons of fresh water, 48 tins of condensed milk and two bags of hard biscuits, but no oars, they were forced to sail westwards across the Atlantic. The condensed milk was rationed by dipping a spoon and wiping it on each man's palm.
McIntosh sketched a chart from memory and with the Britannia's Third Officer, Bill McVicar, who "became like a twin brother" to him, the lifeboat was steered by the sun and stars. Their navigation was only a few miles in error when they smelled land 23 days later. Just 36 survivors staggered ashore at Sao Luis, Brazil - emaciated, burned by the sun and covered in sores and boils - after a voyage of 1,500 miles. McIntosh was awarded the MBE.

Obituary Telegraph UK 04/08/2003)

Speed restrictions were imposed on some of Britain�s busiest rail routes today as temperatures across the country soared towards the highest on record.
The track-related measures were introduced as forecasters predicted the possibility of figures reaching an all-time high of 37.2C (99F) by Wednesday.
________

The heat-related restrictions were last imposed on July 15 this year, affecting the entire southern region, and in April before that.
The hot weather is set to continue for at least another two weeks. Britain has already seen the third warmest June and July for the last 100 years.
And the hottest temperature of the year, 33.6C (91F), which was recorded at Wisley, Surrey, on July 15, is among the first of many records expected to fall over the coming days.
Elizabeth Anett, a PA WeatherCentre forecaster, said: "It�s possible that on Wednesday we could have the highest temperature ever recorded in Britain." That figure, 37.1C (98.8F), was set in Cheltenham, on August 3, 1990.

The Times August 04, 2003

The Green party's drug spokesman, Shane Collins, today called for creation of cannabis cafes in the UK after he was released from prison on appeal after marijuana plants were found in his house.
________

He said: "We need legal and regulated cannabis cafes to separate cannabis supply from crack and smack, which are the real problem drugs in society."
"If the government won't allow cannabis cafe, the only alternatives are street purchase or home cultivation, neither of which is ideal."
And he hit out at the waste of resources involved in his prosecution, telling reporters: "I'm relieved that the crown court has overruled a fairly extreme magistrates' court, but I'm frustrated that 19 small plants have caused 6 court appearances, 5 days in prison and at least 8 police officers' time, as well as a large waste of taxpayers' money."
Jenny Jones, the Green party's deputy mayor of London, said: "This is ludicrous when we're on the point of changing the law. It's even worse when the UK has its highest prison population ever. The criminal justice system is under huge pressure, yet we're being heavy-handed on victimless crime."

Guardian UK August 4 2003

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has dismissed as "nonsense" a Washington Post report that he and his deputy Richard Armitage plan to step down in early 2005.

"It's nonsense. I don't know what they are talking about. I serve at the pleasure of the president," Powell on Monday told Radio Sawa, a U.S.-funded Arabic-language broadcast to the Middle East, in an interview, according to a State Department transcript.

Yahoo Aug 4 2003

...the killing of Saddam Hussein's sons has not helped curb attacks on the US troops occupying Iraq. The Americans therefore should be concerned about a seeming increase in such attacks, which they attribute to "pro-Saddam forces". However, the growing radicalization of Iraqi Shi'ites, as reflected in the creation of the "army of al-Mahdi", heralds the widening of the anti-occupation movement beyond the expectations of the US government.
Last Thursday, about 10,000 young men reportedly showed up in the holy city of Najaf to join the "army of al-Mahdi". The volunteers had responded to a request by Muqtada al-Sadr, a 30-year-old anti-American cleric with an expanding following among the dissatisfied Iraqi Shi'ites. The cleric has been trying to establish himself as the leader of the Iraqi Shi'ites since the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime.
His army is named after Mahdi, the 12th Imam of the Shi'ites, who is believed to have disappeared about 1,200 years ago. Being a descendent of the Prophet Mohammad, the imam will reappear to save the world when corruption and oppression dominates, according to the Shi'ite faith. His reappearance will therefore end tyrannical and corrupt regimes. This concept of the promised savior (or messiah) has existed in other religions and different Islamic sects in various forms. Al-Sadr's choice of name for his army indicates his intention to capitalize on this belief's message, ie, fighting the oppressors, now symbolized by the US occupying force. According to some reports, an additional reason for this naming could be a belief among some of al-Sadr's followers who consider him as a Mahdi.

Hooman Peimani Asia Times Aug 5, 2003

Haji Abbas, a Shi'ite, has some strong views about what's happening to his country. "Resentment is growing against the US and will grow further. Uday and Qusay may have been hated in Iraq for their deeds, but they belong to this land and they were killed by US troops who are considered by all Iraqis as aggressors and occupiers.

"The most powerful superpower in the world has right now failed to provide uninterrupted supplies of energy. Sometimes we have power for three hours and some days it is for six hours, for the rest of the time we have to rely on generators. We do not have contact outside the country through telephone, everybody is forced to keep a satellite telephone.

Syed Saleem Shahzad Asia Times Aug 5, 2003

Firefighters trying to contain a series of blazes ravaging southern British Columbia got more bad news from forecasters today - continued unseasonably hot, dry weather.
________
Besides the fires themselves, the parched conditions are the main enemy for the hundreds of firefighters battling three major fires around Kamloops that have burned more than 100 square kilometres of tinder-dry forest and grassland.
________

Thermal images revealed Sunday that the fires were continuing to grow despite constant aerial bombing with fire retardant by a fleet of 37 aircraft and relentless attack by ground-based firefighters.

Toronto Star Aug. 4, 2003

SG: Did you take any pride in being considered such a threat to America?
AG: No. It was a dismay that they were so mean-spirited and lacking in humor and enthusiasm in old American values. What would they do with Walt Whitman? What would they do with Thoreau if they were going to do that with us? They were out of sync with basic American values--Emerson, Thoreau and all that. I thought they were sort of un-American.
Kerouac was all-American if anything. Neal Cassady was an all American kid, foot warts and all. But it really was Americana and Americanist, something in an older literary tradition that runs through Whitman and William Carlos Williams and Sherwood Anderson. There was that old Americanist tradition of recognition of the land and the people and the gawky awkward beauty of the individual eccentric citizen. Or as Kerouac said, "the old-time honesty of gamblers and straw hats." His 1959 [Playboy, June] article on "The Origins of the Beat Generation," that's his statement on what he intended, a kind of yea-saying Americana which was interpreted as some kind of negative complaining by the middle class who were themselves complaining. So yes, we were, or I was quite aware of the [cultural] impact. But so was Kerouac in "Origins of the Beat Generation" and in The Dharma Bums. He predicts a generation of long-haired kids with rucksacks. He predicts and asks for it.
SG: So as you watched this younger, boomer generation in the 1960s, what was your response?
AG: I thought that the spiritual liberation aspect and the artistic purity was being somewhat degraded by the Marxist, SDS, Weatherman strain of politicalization on the basis of rising up angry. Anger was not the answer....
SG: There were a lot of young people calling themselves Beatniks in San Francisco but who did not follow a literary tradition.
AG: I think they were Frankenstein replicas created by the press. Remember, the very word Beatnik is a press invention.
SG: San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen.
AG: He invented it as a denigration. The origin was the time of Sputnik, so it was like, ah, these guys, these Beats are disloyal. Beatnik, that was his intention. He's proud of it, I'm sure, but it really actually added a slightly demeaning element. Also there was a problem that the police were quite malevolent, not only towards the false Beatniks, but also some real poets....

Allen Ginsberg (AG)
interviewed by Seth Goddard (SG) at life.com

link from randomwalks

{hippy also. being a jazzbo term for wannabe hipster. so these two American movements, against the insect line, both given derogatory names, both remembered as cartoonish and ineffectual. and there was this twilight band between them I remember, a layer of older kids though they seemed unapproachably grown up to me at the time. twenty five and thirty year old vagabonds in the mid 60's, not 'beatniks' not 'hippies'. and then not there.}

In 2000, 46.5 percent of the 1,579,566 total arrests for drug law violations were for cannabis -- a total of 734,497. Of those, 646,042 people were arrested for possession alone. This is an increase over 1999, when a total of 704,812 Americans were arrested for cannabis offenses, of which 620,541 were for possession alone.

abuddhas memes 07/28/2003

There's only so many times you can question our patriotism for adhering to the founding principles of this country and the principles developed over two centuries of history, political compromise and legal precedent. Your loud, abusive, mean-spirited tactics, your dismissive attitutude towards everything that doesn't incorporate your self-absorption, and your strength of purpose through total ignorance won't protect you forever. Of course you need to own the presidency, the legislature, the courts and the media, it's only through control of the means of discourse that you can delay, but not avoid, the inevitable ass-kicking. Especially when people realize that you have gambled with their lives, their fortunes and their honor and lost.
It's not going to be pretty. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
Because if it comes down to vitriol and character assassination, the right is filled with enough liars, perverts, scumbags, thieves, hypocrites, loons, dirtbags, shaved apes, pigs, bullies, morons and assorted lower forms of human life composing what is not so much a political party as a colostomy bag at the limits of its tensile strength, to allow me to beat you thin-skinned assholes with the nail-studded clue stick until the Big Crunch.

mykeru.com August 2, 2003

The American nation is in the worst condition I can remember in my lifetime, and our prospects for the immediate future are even worse. I am surprised and embarrassed to be a part of the first American generation to leave the country in far worse shape than it was when we first came into it. Our highway system is crumbling, our police are dishonest, our children are poor, our vaunted Social Security, once the envy of the world, has been looted and neglected and destroyed by the same gang of ignorant greed-crazed bastards who brought us Vietnam, Afghanistan, the disastrous Gaza Strip and ignominious defeat all over the world.

The Stock Market will never come back, our Armies will never again be No. 1, and our children will drink filthy water for the rest of our lives.

The Bush family must be very proud of themselves today, but I am not. Big Darkness, soon come. Take my word for it.

Dr. Hunter S. Thompson ESPN.com July 22, 2003

America has warned the Niger government to keep out of the row over claims that Saddam Hussein sought to buy uranium for his nuclear weapons programme from the impoverished West African state.
Herman Cohen, a former assistant secretary of state for Africa and one of America's most experienced Africa hands, called on Mamadou Tandja, Niger's president, in the capital Niamey last week to relay the message from Washington, according to senior Niger government officials.
One said: "Let's say Mr Cohen put a friendly arm around the president to say sorry about the forged documents, but then squeezed his shoulder hard enough to convey the message, 'Let's hear no more about this affair from your government'. Basically he was telling Niger to shut up."

David Harrison Telegraph UK 03/08/2003

And you know, after recently watching Al Pacino's neurotic transsexual husband mope around in a frumpy housecoat in the great 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon, I think I'm in the mood for some Hollywood fabulousness. Road to Rio, here I come. Rest in peace, Bob.

Monkey Media Report 7.31.03