Former Cabinet Minister David Blunkett made a stunning revelation Saturday, suggesting that at the time of Iraq invasion, the British government attempted to “rein in U.S. policy in Iraq from the outset of the March 2003 invasion but found itself powerless to do so,” according to Reuters.
Like the pedophilia and pederasty scandal that shook the Church, the “Foley Scandal” is beginning to widen in scope. It seems that the party of “family values” harbours child molesters while encouraging the hatred and discrimination of gays, lesbians, transgendered individuals, and others. Once again, Republican rhetoric endorses “gay-bashing” Foley while at the same time making excuses for his illegal and immoral actions. Conservatives often wrongly link Foley’s sexual orientation (gay) with his sexual preference (juveniles); I shudder to think if this story would have come to light if Foley’s sexual orientation was straight. No wonder it looks like Democrats are set to take control of Congress.
More information on the election here.
North Korea’s threat to test a nuclear weapon this weekend still stands; shots have been fired across the Korean border.
Anna Politkovskaya, a social activist and investigative reporter was killed in her apartment home Saturday. It is suspected (i.e. very likely) that she was killed for her work, especially the documentation of abuses at the hands of military and government officials.
Iraqi forces have imposed a 24 hour curfew while conducting “police searches for insurgents and weapons”. This is part of the President’s plan to train Iraqi forces to take care of insurgents. This has significant historical parallel to the failed Tet Offensive of 1968; remember that the Tet Offensive is what cost the Democratic Party and LBJ political power.
It looks like individuals ages 18-30 could form the most important demographic in the upcoming National elections. The .pdf of the poll data here.
An interesting and informative story on life inside some of Chicago’s housing projects – and the fate of the housing projects. More on urban decay. A pictorial gallery of former housing projects.
To mark the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, two German news reporters were killed while camping. More here.
Some are commenting that the new wall along the US southern border will not work; this project reminds me of other famous walls throughout history that have stopped immigrants with varying amounts of efficacy.
The Nature Conservacy helped to save rare plants in areas of
Goodyear workers in Akron, OH are prepared for a long-term strike; workers in the United Steelworkers union went on strike Thursday by staging a mass walk-out.
Socialist Catholic Geek news
The grades for the W.O.M.B.A.T. test on J.K. Rowling’s site are now available.
Noam Chomsky and the translation of the Koran are the two of the most popular books on Google books.
NCC-1701 D sold for $576,000 US to an unknown bidder Saturday.
