idrankwhat

By that logic then then Arab use of unguided rockets or suicide vests against the Israeli citizenry is also justified.

Did you read the article? You should. You should also watch the Pallywood video and ask yourself just how much you're being manipulated. If the west was caught making as much shit up as the Palestinian side... EVERYTHING would be discounted as BS. Why do the Palestinians get a pass on that? Did you read the human rights watch PDF? If you go to their site they're critical of both sides, as they should be. And I don't give anyone a pass for passing off bogus material as real. But the fact remains, regardless of a handfull of doctored photos, that hundreds of thousands of Lebanese civilians have been killed due to Israeli war crimes. And for the record, the west does make up a lot of shit. See "lead up to the Iraq war" for a recent example.

Thanks for reminding me. Do a search for "Bush" and "whatever it takes" and "doctored". It also makes Bush's stance against cloning ring just a little hollow Aww hell.....I'll make it easy for you. Click here: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/10/27/22442/878

The quote I posted was from him. It didn't call anyone a traitor but it did basically say, "don't question the pres in a time of war. To do so puts our nation in danger". That's a lousy way to try to end debate on a topic. Personally, I think that he probably will win as an independant and if so, good for him. But I also think that by voting him out in the primary the Dems actually showed some backbone. If they want to be the anti war team then I think it's great that they're acting like one. I do find it quite interesting that so many R's are suddenly such avid supporters of Lieberman. Do you think that they really like the guy or do you think that it's more likely that they realize that Lieberman's loss was really more of a shot at Bush and the rest of the pro-war bunch?

I heard this last night and it reminded me of the number of posts I've read that praised Israel for succeeding in the region and berated its Arab neighbors as backwards and incapable or uninterested in developing their countries into thriving members of the world economy. I don't really expect this to spark much debate but I thought it was interesting enough to share. http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2006/08/08/PM200608084.html TEXT OF STORY KAI RYSSDAL: At the United Nations in New York today, there was some resistance to a resolution calling for an international force in Lebanon. Diplomats from the Arab League are pushing back against the plan written by the US and France. Over on the ground, though, the fighting goes on. The human toll continues to mount on both sides, and the economic toll in Lebanon is reported at around $7 billion. Ben Gilbert reports now from Beirut. BEN GILBERT: Sami Hadad spent years bouncing from country to country as an economist and regional director for the World Bank's International Finance Corporation. Like many Lebanese, he left after civil war erupted here in 1975. The fighting lasted for 15 years and tore his country apart. Then, last year, he saw Lebanon start to blossom again. Investment was growing and tourism was up. He decided it was time to do his part and move back. SAMI HADAD: "I was very eager to help rebuilding the Lebanese economy. I initially thought I would end up somewhere, the private sector, more specifically in financial sector." Sami Haddad was named the Minister for Economics and Trade last year, a position he had never imagined having, but one that would have allowed him to carefully shepherd the economy's growth. But he says that in the past month, his hopes for Lebanon's future have been pulverized. HADAD: "The war is having a devastating effect on economy, it's an absolute disaster." Lebanon has a population of about four million people, roughly the size of Connecticut. It had a GDP of around $24 billion a year until the bombing started. The southern part of the country has taken the brunt of the bombing, but the war's impact on the economy is everywhere. Shops are shuttered. There are few cars on the street. Gasoline is being rationed and power cuts get longer each day. But the most obvious sign is the destruction of infrastructure. MARWAN ISKANDER: "Which means roads, which means lets say water delivery systems, which means electricity distribution systems, which means hospitals, plants, factories, etc." Economist Marwan Iskander estimates the total damage to Lebanon's infrastructure alone to be $2.5 billion, so far. Then, Iskander says, there's the opportunity loss. In early 2006, The Lebanese economy was growing at 6 percent. Now he expects the economy to shrink by 9 percent. ISKANDER: "Nine percent is just over $2.1 billion, in addition to infrastructure destruction that has taken place." Essentially, Lebanon's economic lifelines have been destroyed. The government won't be able to collect hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes for months, because there's no income. The record-breaking 1.5 million tourists who were set to arrive this summer have fled or changed plans, with a loss of possibly $2 billion. Along with the tourists might have gone Lebanon's most valuable asset, it's educated and enterprising citizens with dual nationality." ISKANDER: "The wealth of this country is its human capital, so if the best leave, it impoverishes the country tremendously." And the largest cost may be yet to come. So far, an estimated quarter of the population has been displaced by the fighting. Government officials estimate 25,000 people lost their homes in Beirut's southern suburbs alone. Whole villages have been leveled in southern Lebanon. Those residents are now living in schools around the country. Some have fled to Syria. Iskander says that eventually they will want to go home. ISKANDER: "When these people come back, how will we accommodate them? The essential problems are problems relating to housing, to schools, to infirmaries and hospitals, and this is a difficult challenge to meet." With a land and sea blockade virtually sealing off Lebanon from the rest of the world, most Lebanese these days worry more about getting enough gasoline and food than about the future effects of the current conflict. In Beirut, I'm Ben Gilbert for Marketplace.

It was more than just being a little tainted. He was lock step with Bush on the Iraq war issue and went so far as to tell his fellow Democrats to shut the hell up and deal with it. Not only that, but in doing so he tossed about the same sort of "question the president and you're endangering the country" rhetoric that comes from the right. "It's time for Democrats who distrust President Bush to acknowledge he'll be commander-in-chief for three more critical years, and that in matters of war we undermine presidential credibility at our nation's peril."

Did you vote for him last time you had the chance

Because if they can show a few bogus photos then they can dismiss the real ones and somehow desensitize themselves to the reality of the 1000 dead Lebanese. The strange thing is, the same people can get all worked up into a lather over one casualty or one kidnapped person from their preferred side.

You missed one pertinent quote. From the PNAC, Sept 2000 report "Rebuilding America's Defenses, Strategy, Forces and Resources for a New Century", page 63. Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor. Domestic politics and industrial policy will shape the pace and content of transformation as much as the requirements of current missions.

How many dead kid pics would it take, wait.... let me rephrase, how many dead Lebanese kids would it take for people to recognize the war crimes? http://hrw.org/reports/2006/lebanon0806/

Man, must be worm hole around here somewhere. How in hell did we get back to the Ann Coulter thread?

That's a damn valid question and I don't know that I have a good answer for it. I guess I'd probably have to pick some sort of a multiplier figure, like (just grabbing a figure) 20 times the average worker's salary. I probably need to hit the reposado and 'tink on this a while.

Yea, I agree. If he'd reel it in just a little bit he'd be spot on. He could easily have made his (valid) points without making the attacks personal with regard to the reporter. It's hard to get the follow up interviews when it's apparent that he's taking a suicide bomber approach and destroying everyone in the room

On a gurney, under a pile of rubble, on the ground, in an ambulance, held up in the air.....what do these all have in common? A DEAD KID!!!! I can hear the next one. "Hey, the report said the infant was blown to pieces. That's BULLSHIT! Only his arms and legs were gone. His head is clearly attached to his torso, which appears completely unscathed I might add. Damn liberal bias". (insert witty/detracting/discrediting deliberate mispronunciation of media source's name)

Simple. Election fraud. After reading the Conyers report on the 2004 Ohio election I found myself with a renewed sense of hope in my fellow citizens.

It will go bankrupt so long as it's being abused the way it is. Personally, if the corporations can't meet their contractual obligations, or more to the point, choose not to, then all of the leadership in those companies should be stripped of all their assets and retirement benefits before the US bails them out. Fuck 'em. They ran the business poorly. They should be the ones who take the hit, not their employees who met or exceeded the requirements for employment.

I doubt if photojournalists, etc... are at any more risk than the general population. I really don't see: "Canon Telephoto Lens at 10 O'Clock... selecting GBU-61." as likely pilot (even Israeli Pilot) commentary. Mike. On the other hand, cluster bombs don't discriminate.

Yep, very passionate, very abrasive but I haven't heard him say anything innacurate. That's probably why most of the US right wing doesn't like him, especially after he handed Norm Coleman his ass during the oil for food investigation. It's good to see an alternative point of view presented in the media.

And we're all worse off for her efforts. The problem is that too many people think that her "product" has value outside of a sad form of entertainment. They think that she offers ideas that should be included in public debate. The fact that she's repeatedly given a forum shows just how much the mainstream news media is more interested in making money than in actually providing a valuable information service.

Agreed. He should have been fired. The only reason that I can think of to explain why he didn't just go get some actual shots of the devastation that Israel has caused is because he was too damn afraid of going to get them. Some people obviously don't consider the real potential consequences of their actions. He's accomplished just the opposite of what he intended and essentially provided a boost to Israel's PR campaign. Idiot.

Which is precisely my point. What do you get when you have a poorly implemented plan and you fix it with a poorly implemented plan? These folks have shown us repeatedly who these plans ultimately benefit, and it ain't us.

The banks and Walls St were two of Bush's major campaign contributors. All of his other contributors have been given their respective hand outs, big pharma is the best example. Right now the banks and WS are not sucking directly off the fed's teet with their own real estate on the budget. I'd like to keep it that way because I don't expect them to do anything but add to the overhead and provide more tax loopholes for the few. As for the kerosene, I'm not interested in either of the two parties surviving the mob.

You keep saying this but you're dangerously wrong. This is not what Islam teaches any more than it is what Christianity teaches. It is what religious extremists teach, regardless of faith.

Agreed on the excessive spending. But bringing banks and Wall St. in as a way to "save" SS is about the stupidest big government idea I've seen in a long time, unless of course your work for the banks or Wall st. The way to start working on the SS problem is to quit raiding it every year to make the deficit look smaller. Everyone keeps saying "a record number of people will be tapping the fund" but what they deliberately fail to mention is that that means that a record number of people are currently paying IN to the program. The fact that we let our government get away with this crap either means that people have been dumbed down to the point that we just don't care any more or that the people don't realize that their representatives are not actually representing them. Actually I think it's both. Who's got the pitchforks and torches?!?!?!?!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/18/AR2005111802635.html Whenever I want to watch my (actual) conservative friends cringe I point out how this administration and Congress have been systematically selling the US to "the Commies". From the reaction, you'd think I had just kicked 'em in the crotch Ok, that was the emoticon for the result of the jab, this is the emoticon for how I feel about willfully arming China for political blackmail