Exporting the war on terror from Afghanistan to Pakistan and in 2010, Yemen?

Violence and war begets war and violence, violence and war begets war and violence, violence and war begets war and violence - formula for growing the power and attraction of terrorists.

clipped from circlingthelionsden.blogspot.com Circling the Lion's Den A glance at the conflict in Afghanistan Pakistan terror victims at an all-time high Figures compiled from newspaper reports by Dawn newspaper show that more than 3,300 people, including law-enforcement and armed forces personnel, were killed in 2009 in terrorism-related incidents in Pakistan.

Remember the Seige of Gaza: And you thought seiges ended in Middle Ages - not!

We can all be more humane that this.

clipped from www.indypendent.org Palestine Solidarity Activists Enter Gaza, March Through Beit Hanoun By Alex Kane Occupied Palestinian Territory, Gaza City, Gaza Strip–About 85 international delegates marched with hundreds of Palestinians in the area of Beit Hanoun in Gaza yesterday afternoon.  The protesters called on Israel, Egypt and the United States to lift the devastating siege on Gaza and to let the over 1,300 delegates from the Gaza Freedom March still in Cairo to be allowed in.

Some sage advice from someone who has won because he risked losing

clipped from peripateticphilosopher.blogspot.com WINNERS AND LOSERS AND HOW EASILY THEY REVEAL THEMSELVES! Everyone is a winner but also a loser. Winning and losing are inextricably connected. That is the nature of life. Winning becomes a problem when we need to win at any cost. Losing becomes a problem when we are so fixated with losing we cannot get beyond it. This is written to provide some insight from someone who has had his share of wins and losses, and is still standing. Winners are not smarter, more gifted, or talented, or in any way superior to losers, except in one dimension: they are willing to take risks and endure the pain of failure, embarrassment and losing everything in order to grow and keep growing. We treat them as exceptional when they only stay with a problem longer.

At 13, Courage for an Afghan Girl's Lifetime

It will take a tissue or two but read this young girl's story to share with others who need a story of courage to carry on.

clipped from awwproject.wordpress.com Walking, One Hand at a Time When I was nine months old, I had a fever and my family took me to a doctor. The doctor gave me a shot and the next morning my legs would not support me. I had polio. My family did not have money for follow-up treatment. When I was nine years old, I lost my grandmother. When my family and I were at my grandmother’s house for her funeral, suddenly my aunt pointed at me and said, “Why didn’t she die instead? She cannot walk and is of no use. Why hasn’t she died instead?” I was thirteen years old when I went to the Red Cross. I was in the cast for six months. It was difficult, but I continued to go to school and became first in my class. I may have three more surgeries in the coming three years so that I can walk better and better. This is my life story. But this is not the end. Wait for the end!

Could you put yourself on the line like Hedy for peace?

clipped from www.indypendent.org Gaza Freedom March: ‘You Have to Put Your Own Life On the Line,’ An Interview with Hedy Epstein By Judith Mahoney Pasternak CAIRO, December 28—At 85, Hedy Epstein is one of the oldest of the Gaza Freedom Marchers. She may also be the only Holocaust survivor among them. This morning, Epstein began a hunger strike to up the ante for the Egyptian government’sattempts to prevent delegates from around the world from participating in the march. We spoke during the protest at U.N. headquarters in Cairo, as the Freedom Marchers demanded that theUnited Nations intervene to allow to march to proceed to Gaza.

The future now - skydiving centarians!

As baby boomers the world over try and figure out how to keep the juices going as the enter their 60's and look forward to their 90s and beyond - should look up!

clipped from globalvoicesonline.org Brazil: 100-year-old grandma realises parachute dream Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 @ 12:07 UTC by Paula Góes clipped from globalvoicesonline.org On December 19th, Aida Gemaque Mendes, better known as Vó Iaiá (Granny Iaiá), successfully jumped 8,000 feet through the skies “I want to stroll in the sky, to feel a little closer to God”.

Forget Vietnam Analogies - Remember Cambodia and Laos - now Pakistan

Pakistan is beginning to look like a combination of the not-so-secret wars in Cambodia and Laos - Those pesky Viet Cong kept slipping into Laos and Cambodia to escape B-52s. Those Taliban - they just won't stay in one place.

Didn't the British say the same thing about those pesky Minute Men and Green Mountain boys. Not saying the Taliban are right in any way, it's just that - we are the British to the Afghans. When Afghans unite for their own freedom against the Taliban view of the world, they will win and we can go home. The training up of Afghan army and police also seems a lot like what we did not get right in Vietnam. why? Because, we are simply empowering rule by old tribal war lords. I suspect that the Afghan people want none of the Taliban, us or the tribal war lords. Think about how to help them come to fore might help to bring peace that will last.

clipped from changinguppakistan.wordpress.com Bombing in Karachi Kills 25 On Monday, a suicide bomber attacked a Shia procession commemorating Ashura in Karachi, killing at least 25 people and injuring 50. Today’s incident on MA Jinnah Road was the latest in a string of violence in Pakistan this past weekend. Following the assassination of mid-level political administrator Sarfaraz Khan and his family in the Kurram tribal area Sunday, a suicide bomber killed at least 10 people and wounded more than 80 during a Shia religious procession in Muzaffarabad,

Feliz Ano Nuevo - Ned's Musica de Baja California

Sonrisa - smile!

clipped from radio.batanga.com Listen to Simpre Baja California by nedhamson Now This station is programmed by nedhamson, a listener like you. Click "Play" to start listening now, or "click here" to create your own station. Click "Play" to start listening now!

Chinese wanting it all - understandable but not acceptable for planet

clipped from www.saveourearth.co.uk How do I know China wrecked the Copenhagen deal? I was in the room As recriminations fly post-Copenhagen, one writer offers a fly-on-the-wall account of how talks failed. Copenhagen was a disaster. That much is agreed. But the truth about what actually happened is in danger of being lost amid the spin and inevitable mutual recriminations. The truth is this: China wrecked the talks, intentionally humiliated Barack Obama, and insisted on an awful "deal" so western leaders would walk away carrying the blame. How do I know this? Because I was in the room and saw it happen. Date : 22nd December 2009, Source : The Guardian (UK)

Better than 2010 Sequel to Space Odysseyy: 2001

Herschel Space Observatory 2009

clipped from www.sciencenews.org Herschel Space Observatory sees stars being born Peering into the heart of a dust-covered stellar nursery, a new infrared observatory has spied some 700 stars in the making. At the moment, the soon-to-be stars are just clumps of dust and gas. But about 100 of the clumps are protostars, embryonic bodies about to initiate nuclear fusion at their cores and become bona fide stars. The other 600 objects are less mature but will ultimately develop into new stars.

Public Says: Right is Wrong on Global Warming

Guess Senator Franken is correct: you can have your own opinion but not your own facts.

clipped from www.americanprogress.org Public Rejects Conservative Views on Global Warming Conservatives are trying to convince the public of three things on global warming. The first is that human-induced climate change either isn’t really happening or is vastly exaggerated. The second is that the United States should not sign any international agreements designed to combat climate change. And the third is that action against global warming will wind up killing jobs and harming the economy.

EVERY MAN IS A KING-Huey P. Long The Kingfish Legend

Whether the promises come from the extreme right or left - they all share someintg with good old Huey Long!

Gaza Could Sure Use a Little Peace of Earth - Don't You Think?

clipped from www.fides.org ASIA/HOLY LAND - “Come celebrate Christmas in Gaza!”: appeal from Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem “Come celebrate Christmas in Gaza!” This is the appeal being made by Archbishop Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, who tomorrow, December 20, will travel to the Gaza Strip to celebrate Christmas. Living and celebrating Christmas in Gaza with the delegation of the Patriarchate will be representatives of an alliance formed by many European organizations including Pax Christi, with the spirit of "establishing a bridge from different places of the earth to the Strip. The initiative is called "Christmas in Gaza: A Hundred Cities for Peace,” as in several European cities there will be initiatives and celebrations held in communion with Gaza.

Merry Christmas - Delayed 35 Years

Thirty-five years in prison for a crime you did not do. What would you say? How could you have stood it, more than 230 cases similar and people freed by one innocence project. How many more do you think are in jail just for being poor or because police and district attoneys cared more about a conviction than the truth.

clipped from florida-issues.blogspot.com DNA Evidence Frees Florida Inmate After 35 Years JEFFREY BROWN: James Bain is a free man tonight. Yesterday, he was released from a Florida prison, where he had spent 35 years for a crime he didn't commit. A court-mandated DNA test proved Bain was wrongly convicted of sexual assault in 1974. According to the Project, since 1989, there have been 248 post-conviction exonerations based on DNA evidence. Seventeen of those exonerated served time on death row. Twenty-seven states, the federal government and the District of Columbia, compensate individuals who were wrongfully incarcerated.

Mindless Monsanto: Greedy, Planet-Killing Monster!

Sorry that I feel I have to soften my words about Monsanto - but mama taught me it's not nice to swear in public!

clipped from www.organicconsumers.org Millions Against Monsanto Campaign Join OCA's Campaign to Mobilize One Million Consumers to End Monsanto's Global Corporate Terrorism Multi-Billion $$ Monsanto Sues More Small Family Farmers Percy Schmeiser is a farmer from Saskatchewan Canada, whose Canola fields were contaminated with Monsanto's genetically engineered Round-Up Ready Canola by pollen from a nearby farm. Monsanto says it doesn't matter how the contamination took place, and is therefore demanding Schmeiser pay their Technology Fee (the fee farmers must pay to grow Monsanto's genetically engineered products). According to Schmeiser, "I never had anything to do with Monsanto, outside of buying chemicals. I never signed a contract.

Razorlight: Rock and Roll Lies

Watch the clip on Babelgum!

clipped from www.babelgum.com Music Razorlight 'Rock and Roll Lies' clip 1 An exclusive clip from forthcoming documentary 'Rock and Roll Lies': an intimate portrait of one of music’s most enigmatic and controversial frontmen Johnny Borrell, and his band, Razorlight. The film airs in full, exclusively on Babelgum from DECEMBER 9TH. Find out more at babelgum.com/razorlight

No Place to Run, No Place to Hide - So Stand by Their Side

Will people never learn? All along the Ohio River, colon cancer is higher than other parts of the country - two nuclear production facilities from the early 1950s. Out west where they tested the bombs or mined the uranium, more of the same. Those who profit from the greed think they will never have to pay their price too... but they will, if not them, their grandchildren - fools, criminals and...

clipped from bsnorrell.blogspot.com Ruling out the Nuclear Option -- Not Clean or Green The Legacy of Nuclear Energy, Nuclear and Chemical Weapons Upon US Indigenous & Communities of Color Our communities suffer from diseases and illnesses that we contend are related to our exposure to the highly toxic processes of mining and milling uranium, the unsafe storage of radioactive materials and the lack of clean-up of sites and facilities, the transportation of highly radioactive waste through our communities, and the lack of safe disposal methods for highly deadly nuclear waste. Cancer, neurological damage, genetic damage, lung disease, respiratory disorders, lupus, and heart problems are among some of the illnesses that affect our communities.

US Afghan Surge is Really 86,000?

During the Iraq and Afghan wars, there were no reports of casualties of contractors added to US Troop casualties and it was a long time before anyone knew what Blackwater, now Xe, was up to until they shot 17 Iraqi's last year. On top of all the other transparency problems, I don't fell very good about US soldiers having to depend on "mercenaries" for safety, transport, food, etc. How about you?

clipped from www.washingtonpost.com Obama's War Up to 56,000 more contractors likely for Afghanistan, congressional agency says The surge of 30,000 U.S. troops into Afghanistan could be accompanied by a surge of up to 56,000 contractors, vastly expanding the presence of personnel from the U.S. private sector in a war zone, according to a study by the Congressional Research Service.

Is CREDO Action Shilling for Fast Food Nation?

To an old hand at how people with their own axe to grind plant stories that show them in a good light, I smell a rat, The big rat I smell is the USA Today story is that those aligned with the Fast Food Nation helped "validate" the USA Today "expose." A careful reading shows that the school lunch program will be revisited next year, so this is round one in trying to get Jack in the Box, KFC, Mickey D and others into the K-12 school lunch rooms. They already end up serving most of the food in US colleges because they are seen as revenue sources. The industry spokespeople and the university profs (whose research may well be funded by backers of fast food in K-12 lunchrooms) would not have joined in the story if it did not serve the ends of their "bosses."

Fast food meat may meet standards but the end product feeds obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol, and type two diabetes.

So the question is this: is CREDO just being slow, or are they receiving support from the Fast Food Nation

clipped from act.credoaction.com School Lunch Meat Gets an 'F' It's hard to believe, but the USDA uses school lunch funds to help Big Meat offload thousands of tons of meat from old chickens that Kentucky Fried Chicken won't buy and usually goes to compost or pet food. A recent investigation by USA Today found that the meat sold to U.S. school cafeterias faces less testing and lower safety standards than the meat that's served in most fast-food restaurants