New Hampshire Health News Digest

FOXNews.com - U.S. & World - Officials: Bin Laden Urges Zarqawi to Hit U.S. WASHINGTON — Recent communications between Usama bin Laden (search) and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (search) indicated that bin Laden has "encouraged Zarqawi and his group to focus on attacks inside the United State, multiple U.S. officials told FOX News on Monday. The sources would not get into detail about how the communication was made or how it was intercepted by the United States and they pointed out that there is nothing specific in the message — such as maps, specific cities, or buildings — just a message encouraging a "focus" on attacks inside U.S. borders. Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda (search) in Iraq and believed to be the inspiration of the ongoing bombings, beheadings and attacks on Iraqi and American forces, pledged his alliance to bin Laden last year and changed the name of his group in Iraq to reflect his tie to Al Qaeda. Iraqi officials said they expect to take Zarqawi s...

My Way News-Lebanon Govt. Quits, Pressure Mounts on Syria : "BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's Syrian-backed government collapsed Monday, piling more pressure on Damascus, already under fire from the United States and Israel. Prime Minister Omar Karami, under opposition fire since the Feb. 14 assassination of his predecessor Rafik al-Hariri, told parliament his government was resigning to ensure that it 'does not become an obstacle to the good of the country.' The news delighted thousands of flag-waving demonstrators who had defied an official ban to protest at Syrian domination of Lebanon. Banks, schools and businesses had closed after an opposition call for an anti-Syrian general strike. Druze opposition leader Walid Jumblatt said the 'people have won' and called for calm. 'Today we are at a new turning point in the history of the country,' he said. A Syrian official source, who asked not to be named, said only: 'This is an internal aff...

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Lebanese ministers resign office : Lebanon's Prime Minister Omar Karami has announced he and his government are resigning, two weeks after the murder of former PM Rafik Hariri. The move came as crowds protested in Beirut, calling for Syrian troops to leave the country. The Lebanese parliament was also debating an opposition-sponsored motion of no-confidence in the government."

washingtonpost.com: Prisoner Uprising In Iraq Exposes New Risk for U.S. : Nonlethal Weapons Proved Ineffective as Chaos Spread CAMP BUCCA, Iraq -- A bloody inmate riot three weeks ago at the biggest U.S.-run detention facility in Iraq has exposed an increasingly hard-core prison population that is confronting U.S. forces with a growing risk of prison violence, according to military officers. U.S. troops who dealt with the clash tell of a chaotic and threatening situation. They say the extent of violence surprised them. They also say the nonlethal weapons available to them at the time for crowd control proved largely ineffectual. 'What happened here on January 31st has changed the dynamics' of managing such situations, said Maj. Gen. William Brandenburg, who oversees U.S. military detention operations in Iraq and toured the facility last week. 'It showed that the prisoners could hurl rocks farther than we could fire nonlethal weapons. It also showed that we have ...

Yahoo! News - Allawi Enters Iraq PM Race; Bush Faces Europe : "HORSE-TRADING The United Iraqi Alliance has yet to name its candidate for prime minister formally, although the front runner is Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a religious Shi'ite and former exile. He is being challenged from within the alliance by one-time Pentagon (news - web sites) darling and former exile Ahmad Chalabi. A two-thirds majority is needed in the assembly to form a government -- a margin no coalition has unless it strikes an alliance with another group. A Kurdish alliance came second in the election, winning 25 percent of votes for 75 seats. Iraq's leading Kurdish leader said on Monday that the Kurdish bloc would strike an alliance with the party that most supported a federal and pluralist Iraq. 'There are talks with various parties on steps to form the government and other matters. The main point for us is Iraq's identity and there can be no compromise on the issue of a federal, dem...

Yahoo! News - Allawi Enters Iraq PM Race; Bush Faces Europe Allawi Enters Iraq PM Race; Bush Faces Europe Mon Feb 21, 5:37 PM ET Add to My Yahoo! Top Stories - Reuters By Mariam Karouny BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The battle to become Iraq (news - web sites)'s prime minister heated up on Monday when interim leader Iyad Allawi's coalition formally put him forward as a candidate after last month's historic elections won by a Shi'ite alliance. Photo Reuters Photo Reuters Photo Reuters Slideshow Slideshow: Iraq Reuters Video Suicide Attacks Underline Challenge Facing Iraq. (Reuters Video) Special Coverages Latest headlines: · Saddam's half-brother arrested in Iraq: intelligence chief AFP - 22 minutes ago · Iraq: Saddam's Half Brother Captured AP - 25 minutes ago · Saddam Hussein's Half-Brother Captured in Iraq Reuters - 1 hour, 5 minutes ago Special Coverage Allawi's coalition, which came third in the Jan. 30 v...

City Journal Winter 2005 | Postmodern War by Victor Davis Hanson It is still suicidal to meet the United States in a conventional war—at least for any enemy that has not fully adopted Western arms, discipline, logistics, and military organization. The recent abrupt collapse of both the Taliban and Saddam Hussein’s regime amply proves the folly of fighting America in direct conflicts. The military dynamism that enables the United States to intervene militarily in the Middle East—in a manner in which even the richest Middle Eastern countries could not intervene in North America—is not an accident of geography or a reflection of genes, but a result of culture. Our classical Western approaches to politics, religion, and economics—including consensual government, free markets, secularism, a strong middle class, and individual freedom—eventually translate on the battlefield into better-equipped, motivated, disciplined, and supported soldiers. To an American television audience, al-Qai...

My Way News : "Israel Blames Syria for Suicide Bombing JERUSALEM (AP) - Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz blamed Syria on Saturday for a suicide bombing that killed four Israelis in Tel Aviv, and Israel's Army Radio reported that he also froze plans to hand over security responsibilities in the West Bank to the Palestinians. Israeli security officials also said they may resume assassinations of the leaders of the militant Islamic Jihad group, which claimed responsibility Saturday for the bombing. The officials said on condition of anonymity that the recent cease-fire forged with the Palestinians no longer applies to Islamic Jihad, which has links to Syria. A resumption of Israel's targeted killings of wanted militants, which Israel recently agreed to halt, would likely mean the end of the cease-fire declared by the Israeli and Palestinian leaders at a Feb. 8 summit in Egypt. Although Mofaz blamed Syria for Friday night's bombing outside a nightclub, he d...

mubarak of egypt

Yahoo! News - Mubarak orders direct presidential elections in Egypt CAIRO (AFP) - President Hosni Mubarak said he had told parliament to amend Egypt’s constitution to allow direct presidential elections in which anyone can stand and all citizens can vote by secret ballot. The announcement, welcomed by the opposition as a first step, comes amid US pressure on Egypt to accelerate democratic reform and follows months of unprecedented protests in which demonstrators have denounced the likelihood of Mubarak being elected to a fifth six-year term. In a televised speech, Mubarak hailed what he called an historic move signalling a new era of political reform. He said he had asked the constitution to be amended before May in time for the next presidential election. “I took this initiative to open a new era of reform,” said the 76-year-old Mubarak who has ruled Egypt since his predecessor Anwar Sadat was assassinated in 1981. Under the current system, parliame...

The Shi'ite Factor in Gulf Politics The Shi'ite / Sunni conflict underlies Gulf politics. Saddam Hussein's regime tried to show a pan-Arabic face to the world. In Iraq, that ideology meant Sunni dominance over the Shi'a. The Shi'a saw Saddam's pan-Arabism as an attack on their version of Islam. The discourse in the Gulf is full of coded speech that masks the depth of this Sunni / Shi'ite conflict from those that miss the coding. Arabic language websites demonstrate the virulent nature of the conflict. One Sunni extremist, affiliated with Al Qaeda, wrote a pamphlet listing the threats to Sunni Islam. He identified four threats of equal danger. 1. Jews 2. Christian Crusaders (the United States and Great Britain) 3. Secularists 4. The Shi'ite heretic threat The Sunni extremists call Shi'ites refusers — they refuse to accept the successors to the prophet. The word "refusers" is a slur, akin to a racial epithet....

New Scientist Psychedelic medicine: Mind bending, health giving - Features JOHN HALPERN clearly remembers what made him change his mind about psychedelic drugs. It was the early 1990s and the young medical student at a hospital in Brooklyn, New York, was getting frustrated that he could not do more to help the alcoholics and addicts in his care. He sounded off to an older psychiatrist, who mentioned that LSD and related drugs had once been considered promising treatments for addiction. 'I was so fascinated that I did all this research,' Halpern recalls. 'I was reading all these papers from the 60s and going, whoa, wait a minute! How come nobody's talking about this?' More than a decade later, Halpern is now an associate director of substance abuse research at Harvard University's McLean Hospital and is at the forefront of a revival of research into psychedelic medicine. He recently received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to give l...

National Post Canadian rejection of missile defence historic, unpredictable shift: analysts Alexander Panetta Canadian Press One U.S. official emitted a deep, extended laugh when asked for an assessment of the prime minister and said Canada no longer qualifies as a trusted ally. While wary of speaking on the record, the Americans are particularly annoyed with Martin over what they perceive as weak leadership. They say he expressed support for missile defence, then did nothing to refute misconceptions about it, and finally pulled out when public opinion mushroomed against it. Most analysts believe the Canada-U.S. trade relationship will continue unhindered because the countries rely heavily on each other's goods and services. But Canada's refusal to sign on to the missile plan could further marginalize its concerns and interests when trade-related issues like softwood lumber appear before U.S. Congress, said one Calgary observer. "This is one more iss...

Beirut's Berlin Wall (washingtonpost.com) : "Over by the Martyr's Monument, Lebanese students have built a little tent city and are vowing to stay until Syria's 15,000 troops withdraw. They talk like characters in 'Les Miserables,' but their revolutionary bravado is the sort of force that can change history. 'We have nothing to lose anymore. We want freedom or death,' says Indra Hage, a young Lebanese Christian. 'We're going to stay here, even if soldiers attack us,' says Hadi Abi Almouna, a Druze Muslim. 'Freedom needs sacrifices, and we are ready to give them.' Brave words, in a country where dissent has often meant death. 'It is the beginning of a new Arab revolution,' argues Samir Franjieh, one of the organizers of the opposition. 'It's the first time a whole Arab society is seeking change -- Christians and Muslims, men and women, rich and poor.' The leader of this Lebanese intifada is Walid Jumblatt...

World Tribune.com -- After U.S. push, study of Arabic up by 92 percent, tops Hebrew U.S. pushes Arabic: Study of language now tops Hebrew WASHINGTON — The United States has designated Arabic a strategic language and promoted its instruction in schools throughout the nation. Officials said federal funds for international education programs, including Arabic, have increased by 33 percent since 2001 to $103.7 million in 2004. They said the U.S. Education Department has also provided opportunities to finance students and educators to learn Arabic in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Tunisia. The result has been a sharp rise in Arabic courses and school enrollment over the last six years. Officials said Arabic has now replaced Hebrew as the main Middle East language taught in schools. [...] Still, Americans struggle with the challenges of learning Arabic, deemed by the Education Department a "super hard" language that requires more than 2,200 class hours to achieve relative f...

News : "An unsmiling, visibly irritated Mr Putin squirmed as he listened to Mr Bush tell a press conference he had been told that Washington had 'concerns about Russia's commitment in fulfilling' the 'universal principles' of democracy. 'Democracies always reflect a country's customs and culture, and I know that,' Mr Bush said. 'Yet democracies have certain things in common; they have a rule of law, and protection of minorities, a free press, and a viable political opposition.' Mr Putin had wanted to talk about the two countries' joint efforts to combat terrorism but was forced instead to defend his domestic reforms and his commitment to democracy. For a man who is seldom subjected to such face-to-face criticism and is famously cool under pressure, he looked at times as if he was about to lose his composure. 'I respect some of his [Mr Bush's ideas] a lot and take them into account. Others I won't. [Such issues] should n...

Yahoo! News - 'Minutemen' to Patrol Arizona Border WASHINGTON - Intent on securing the vulnerable Arizona border from illegal immigrant crossings, U.S. officials are bracing for what they call a potential new threat this spring: the Minutemen. Nearly 500 volunteers have already joined the Minuteman Project, anointing themselves civilian border patrol agents determined to stop the immigration flow that routinely, and easily, seeps past federal authorities. They plan to patrol a 40-mile stretch of the southeast Arizona border throughout April when the tide of immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border peaks. "I felt the only way to get something done was to do it yourself," said Jim Gilchrist, a retired accountant and decorated Vietnam War veteran who is helping recruit Minutemen across the country. [...] Officials fear the Minuteman patrols could cause more trouble than they prevent. At least some of the volunteers plan to arm themselves during the 24-h...

FrontPage magazine.com :: Osama's Big Lie by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross Conclusion The theologians influencing bin Laden have expressed views that further illuminate the perpetual conflict between the West and a potential al-Qaeda-sanctioned caliphate. The 9/11 Commission Report notes bin Laden’s heavy reliance on Egyptian ideologue Sayyid Qutb, and concisely explains Qutb’s significance: Three basic themes emerge from Qutb’s writings. First, he claimed that the world was beset with barbarism, licentiousness, and unbelief (a condition he called jihiliyya, the religious term for the period of ignorance prior to the revelations given to the Prophet Mohammed). Qutb argued that humans can choose only between Islam and jihiliyya. Second, he warned that more people, including Muslims, were attracted to jihiliyya and its material comforts than to his view of Islam; jahiliyya could therefore triumph over Islam. Third, no middle ground exists in what Qutb conceived as a strugg...

Netscape News: Iran jails editor for 14 yrs for insulting leaders : " TEHRAN, Feb 22 (Reuters) - An Iranian journalist was jailed for 14 years on charges ranging from espionage to insulting the country's leaders in an unusually heavy sentence in Iran, where tens of journalists have been tried in recent years. Rights activists said on Tuesday that Arash Sigarchi, 28, was convicted by the Revolutionary Court in the Caspian province of Gilan in northern Iran. Sigarchi, a newspaper editor in Gilan who also wrote an Internet journal or 'weblog,' was arrested last month after responding to a summons from the Intelligence Ministry. 'In total, he has been given 14 years in prison,' Mohammad Saifzadeh, a member of Centre for Defence of Human Rights in Tehran told Reuters by telephone. Sigarchi's family has asked Saifzadeh and Iran's 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi to represent him in an appeal. " [...] Iran's judicia...

Global Guerrillas: SMALL GROUPS AND GLOBAL WARFARE : "SMALL GROUPS AND GLOBAL WARFARE The decline of the nation-state is seen in a graph of the ability of small groups to replicate the state's most vital commodity -- large scale violence. Lethality_of_small_groups_1 The Yale economist, Martin Shubik examines this in his paper 'Terrorism, Technology, and the Socioeconomics of Death' (PDF). His conclusion? Rapid technological improvement and global information transfer (part of a larger context of interconnectivity) has produced a spike in the ability of small groups to produce mass casualties (see attached graph). " [...] System Disruption and the Democratization of Violence If we look at different metrics of violence, such as the economic costs of system disruption, the picture changes dramatically. Unlike traditional terrorism, system disruption doesn't focus on casualties but rather on the dislocation of infrastructures and markets. The effective...

INTEL DUMP - Fighting for their own country, their own way Greg Jaffe had an exceptional piece in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal (subscription required) describing the rise of "irregular" Iraqi units around the country, which were popping up on their own, raised by individual officers, funded privately, with little connection to the U.S.-led effort to raise an Iraqi army. Surprisingly (or maybe not so), these ad hoc units appear to be better led, better equipped, and more combat effective than their "official" brethren. And, perhaps more importantly, some U.S. officers are recognizing this, and figuring out how they might co-opt or work together with these Iraqi forces. BAGHDAD, Iraq -- In the battle against insurgents here, two kinds of Iraqi military forces are emerging: the planned units and the pop-ups. The planned units of the Iraq Army, about 57,000 soldiers strong, are the result of careful preparation this summer between the U.S. and ...

Defense Tech: "EX" STRESS RELIEF FOR G.I.S : "'EX' STRESS RELIEF FOR G.I.S First we found out that the Army was planning to ply G.I.s with the raver favorite Ketamine, or 'Special K,' as a morphine substitute. Now comes word that 'American soldiers traumatized by fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan are to be offered the drug ecstasy to help free them of flashbacks and recurring nightmares,' the Guardian reports. The US food and drug administration has given the go-ahead for the soldiers to be included in an experiment to see if MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy, can treat post-traumatic stress disorder. Scientists behind the trial in South Carolina think the feelings of emotional closeness reported by those taking the drug could help the soldiers talk about their experiences to therapists. Several victims of rape and sexual abuse with post-traumatic stress disorder, for whom existing treatments are ineffective, have been given...

Defense Tech: JIMMY CARTER: SUPER SPY? : "JIMMY CARTER: SUPER SPY? The rumors are that the Navy's newest nuclear sub, the USS Jimmy Carter, has been designed for spywork, with a 'special capability... to tap undersea cables and eavesdrop on the communications passing through them,' according to the AP. jimmy_sub.jpgThe rumors are right, Military.com's undersea warfare experts believe. Here's what retired Rear Admiral Hank McKinney, the former commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet's submarine force, had to say:" [...] In the case of USS JIMMY CARTER, all of the modifications were made before the submarine was delivered to the Navy. This submarine will be utilized to conduct many specialized missions, some of which will be routine unclassified oceanographic research operations which will advance our knowledge of the ocean. Some of the missions will be highly classified missions which I am unable to comment on. [...] Thus Carter is able to do ma...

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Mars pictures reveal frozen sea : "Mars pictures reveal frozen sea The find has implications for life on Mars A huge, frozen sea lies just below the surface of Mars, a team of European scientists has announced. Their assessment is based on pictures of the planet's near-equatorial Elysium region that show plated and rutted features across an area 800 by 900km. The team think a catastrophic event flooded the landscape five million years ago and then froze out."

Communism is the most deadly force known to man!

WAR VERSUS GENOCIDE AND MASS MURDER : "WAR ISN'T THIS CENTURY'S BIGGEST KILLER By R.J. Rummel" Our century is noted for its absolute and bloody wars. World War I saw nine-million people killed in battle, an incredi ble record that was far surpassed within a few decades by the 15 million battle deaths of World War II. Even the number killed in twentieth century revolutions and civil wars have set historical records. In total, this century's battle killed in all its international and domestic wars, revolutions, and violent conflicts is so far about 35,654,000. Yet, even more unbelievable than these vast numbers killed in war during the lifetime of some still living, and largely unknown, is this shocking fact. This century's total killed by absolutist governments already far exceeds that for all wars, domestic and international. Indeed, this number already approximates the number that might be killed in a nuclear war.

New York Post Online Edition: news Pfc. Rob Jacobs of New Jersey said he was initially ecstatic to get a package of letters from sixth-graders at JHS 51 in Park Slope last month at his base 10 miles from the North Korea border. That changed when he opened the envelope and found missives strewn with politically charged rhetoric, vicious accusations and demoralizing predictions that only a handful of soldiers would leave the Iraq war alive. “It’s hard enough for soldiers to deal with being away from their families, they don’t need to be getting letters like this,” Jacobs, 20, said in a phone interview from his base at Camp Casey. “If they don’t have anything nice to say, they might as well not say anything at all.” One Muslim boy wrote: “Even thoe [sic] you are risking your life for our country, have you seen how many civilians you or some other soldier killed?” His letter, which was stamped with a smiley face, went on: “I know your [sic] trying to save our country an...

U.S. and France Expect a Thaw : "President Bush's dinner with French President Jacques Chirac in Brussels, Belgium, on Monday approaches with the expectation that bygones will be set aside, despite enduring points of disagreement. 'I think there'll be a new politeness in the relationship,' said Walter Russell Mead, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. 'But I don't think the substance is going to change very much.'" [...] It is a progression, at least in tone, from when Condoleezza Rice, now secretary of state and formerly the president's national security adviser, voiced the wish to punish France, ignore Germany and forgive Russia for their resistance to the Iraq war. In those days, France was seen as the most annoying member of what wags called the "axis of weasels," and the hard feelings and bitter words were mutual. What's changed? Most notably, the invasion of Iraq that France so vociferously opposed fade...

CNN.com - Anti-Syriademonstration in Beirut - Feb 21, 2005 : "BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- Chanting 'Syria out,' thousands of people packed the streets of Beirut to protest the presence Syrian forces in Lebanon -- and the influence they believe Syria has on the Lebanese government. They had support from President George W. Bush and French President Jacques Chirac, who issued a joint statement calling for Syrian troops to leave Lebanon in line with U.N. resolution 1559. Bush and Chirac also said they supported a U.N. investigation into the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri who died in an explosion last week"[...] Also Monday, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said Syria will "soon" take steps to withdraw its army from Lebanese areas in accordance with a 1989 agreement, but it was not clear whether that meant Syria would completely leave Lebanon as demanded by the international community. The announcement came after a meeting ...

Iran looks to Delhi for nuke support Iran looks to Delhi for nuke support Natwar tells counterpart to work with IAEA; Kharrazi welcomes Cabinet move on pipeline talks EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE Send Feedback E-mail this story Print this story Posted online: Tuesday, February 22, 2005 at 0203 hours IST NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 21: In the face of increasing international pressure on its nuclear programme, Tehran today conveyed to New Delhi that it needs to seek access to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. Visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi underlined that this was Iran’s necessity, which he hoped would be recognised by the international community. Kharrazi, who had a 20-minute meeting with his Indian counterpart Natwar Singh, highlighted the importance of the civilian use of nuclear technology while briefing India on Tehran’s ongoing talks with the European Union and International Atomic Energy Agency. The two leaders also had an hour-long meeting in the pre...

BostonHerald.com - Local/ Regional News: Study finds strenuous exercise can cut Parkinson's risk in men : BOSTON - A new study suggests men who engage in strenuous exercise can cut their risk of developing Parkinson's disease in half. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health say previous studies have shown that physical activity helps protect a neuron that degenerates in people with Parkinson's disease. But they say this is the first comprehensive study of exercise and Parkinson's. "

Intelli Briefs : Pak will be failed state by 2015: CIA NEW DELHI: Pakistan will be a 'failed' state by 2015 as it would be affected by civil war, complete Talibanisation and struggle for control of its nuclear weapons, premier US intelligence agencies have said in an assessment report. Forecasting a 'Yugoslavia-like fate' for Pakistan, the US National Intelligence Council (NIC) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in a jointly prepared Global Futures Assessment Report have said 'by year 2015 Pakistan would be a failed state, ripe with civil war, bloodshed, inter-provincial rivalries and a struggle for control of its nuclear weapons and complete Talibanisation'. 'Pakistan will not recover easily from decades of political and economic mismanagement, divisive policies, lawlessness, corruption and ethnic friction,' said the report quoted by former Pakistan High Commissioner to United Kingdom Wajid Shamsul Hasan in an article in the ...

Yahoo! News - Report: U.S. in Secret Talks with Iraqi Insurgents : "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers are conducting secret talks with Iraq (news - web sites)'s Sunni insurgents on ways to end fighting there, Time magazine reported on Sunday, citing Pentagon (news - web sites) and other sources. The Bush administration has said it would not negotiate with Iraqi fighters and there is no authorized dialogue but the U.S. is having 'back-channel' communications with certain insurgents, unidentified Washington and Iraqi sources told the magazine. The magazine cited a secret meeting between two members of the U.S. military and an Iraqi negotiator, a middle-aged former member of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s regime and the senior representative of what he called the nationalist insurgency. A U.S. officer tried to get names of other insurgent leaders while the Iraqi complained the new Shi'ite-dominated government was bei...

Yahoo! News - Sunnis Seek Place in New Iraqi Government Gathering in a central Baghdad hotel, about 70 tribal leaders from the provinces of Baghdad, Kirkuk, Salaheddin, Diyala, Anbar and Nineveh, tried to devise a strategy for participation in a future government. There was an air of desperation in some quarters of the smoke-filled conference room. "When we said that we are not going to take part, that didn't mean that we are not going to take part in the political process. We have to take part in the political process and draft the new constitution," said Adnan al-Duleimi, the head of Sunni Endowments in Baghdad.

Northwestern’s Resident Terrorist Although the controversy over University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill’s pro-terrorist ravings has captured national headlines recently, the flirtation between America’s institutions of higher learning and radical, left-wing activism is hardly a new phenomenon. U.S. colleges and universities are rife with Marxist holdouts like Churchill and other relics from the Sixties. And while many, like Churchill, have openly supported America’s terrorist enemies, a dubious few have actually held prominent positions in terrorist groups. One of the most notable examples of this disturbing phenomenon is Bernardine Dohrn, an Associate Professor and the Director of the Children and Family Justice Clinic at the Northwestern University Law School. Although it is conveniently absent from her biography on Northwestern’s website, Dohrn was one of the leaders of the Weathermen (a.k.a: the Weather Underground), a band of radical students and student-aged a...

OpinionJournal - Peggy Noonan : "The Blogs Must Be Crazy Or maybe the MSM is just suffering from freedom envy. 'Salivating morons.' 'Scalp hunters.' 'Moon howlers.' 'Trophy hunters.' 'Sons of Sen. McCarthy.' 'Rabid.' 'Blogswarm.' 'These pseudo-journalist lynch mob people.' This is excellent invective. It must come from bloggers. But wait, it was the mainstream media and their maidservants in the elite journalism reviews, and they were talking about bloggers! Those MSMers have gone wild, I tell you! The tendentious language, the low insults. It's the Wild Wild West out there. We may have to consider legislation. When you hear name-calling like what we've been hearing from the elite media this week, you know someone must be doing something right. The hysterical edge makes you wonder if writers for newspapers and magazines and professors in J-schools don't have a serious case of freedom envy. ...

Times Online - Britain - Kyoto protest beaten back by inflamed petrol traders WHEN 35 Greenpeace protesters stormed the International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) yesterday they had planned the operation in great detail. What they were not prepared for was the post-prandial aggression of oil traders who kicked and punched them back on to the pavement. “We bit off more than we could chew. They were just Cockney barrow boy spivs. Total thugs,” one protester said, rubbing his bruised skull. “I’ve never seen anyone less amenable to listening to our point of view.” Another said: “I took on a Texan Swat team at Esso last year and they were angels compared with this lot.” Behind him, on the balcony of the pub opposite the IPE, a bleary-eyed trader, pint in hand, yelled: “Sod off, Swampy.” Greenpeace had hoped to paralyse oil trading at the exchange in the City near Tower Bridge on the day that the Kyoto Protocol came into force. “The Kyoto Protocol has modest aims to ...

Goss fears WMD attack in U.S. 'a matter of time' - The Washington Times: Nation/Politics - February 17, 2005 : FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III testified that he is 'very concerned' about the lack of data on a network of al Qaeda 'sleeper' cells in the United States. 'Finding them is a top priority for the FBI, but it is also one of the most difficult challenges,' he said. 'Because of al Qaeda's directed efforts this year to infiltrate covert operatives into the U.S., I am also very concerned with the growing body of sensitive reporting that continues to show al Qaeda's clear intention to obtain and ultimately use some form of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear or high-energy explosives material in its attacks against America,' Mr. Mueller added. In a related development, a National Intelligence Council (NIC) report made public yesterday stated that terrorists have targeted Russian nuclear weapons storage sites....

The New York Times > International > Americas > U.S. Aides Cite Worry on Qaeda Infiltration From Mexico : "The warnings from Mr. Goss and other top officials came as part of a stark presentation that described terrorism as the top threat to the United States despite what they described as successes in the last year. Mr. Goss said that the war in Iraq had served as a useful recruiting tool for Islamic extremists, and that both the low Sunni Muslim turnout in elections there and the violence that followed demonstrated that the insurgency remained a serious threat. He warned that anti-American extremists who survive the war were likely to emerge with a high level of skills and experience, and could move on to build new terrorist cells in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and other countries. Intelligence that 'strongly suggests' that Al Qaeda operatives have considered using the Mexican border as an entry point was cited in written testimony by Adm. James M. Loy, the deputy...

Loss of Loved One Really Can Cause Broken Heart : "Loss of Loved One Really Can Cause Broken Heart Confirming the wisdom of the poets and philosophers, doctors say the sudden death of a loved one really can cause a broken heart. In fact, they have dubbed the condition 'broken heart syndrome.'' In a study published just in time for Valentine's Day, doctors reported how a tragic or shocking event can stun the heart and produce classic heart attack-like symptoms, including chest pain, shortness of breath and fluid in the lungs. Unlike a heart attack, the condition is reversible. Patients often are hospitalized but typically recover within days after little more than bedrest and fluids, and suffer no permanent damage to their hearts. In their study, published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine, doctors at Johns Hopkins University gave a name to the condition, demonstrated through sophisticated heart tests how it differs from a heart attack, and offered a...

Central U.S. Warned of Larger Earthquakes to Come A moderate earthquake that rattled parts of Arkansas and Tennessee Thursday should serve as a wake-up call to the central United States about the potential for much stronger events, experts said. The temblor, preliminarily put at magnitude 4.1, shook eastern Arkansas and western Tennessee early in the morning. It was centered 47 miles north-northwest of Memphis."

The Moon- Next Stop for Space Tourism?

How to Make the Space Vison Work (Hint: It's the Moon!) : "To create that permanent beachhead, we must focus on the Moon. The Moon can be reached; the base there can grow incrementally and return benefits -- all in a more conceivable time frame. The most attractive feature of making the Moon the first permanent off-world human outpost is its proximity to Earth. The Moon is close, a couple of days away; Mars is many months farther. That proximity has many advantages. As far less rocket power is required to reach the Moon than is required for Mars, larger payloads can be sent or smaller, more affordable vehicles can be used. Close proximity means more frequent trips, more people sent, and infrastructure more quickly established. Because of the shorter trip times, a focus on the Moon also is less risky than Mars. There is continuous access to a lunar outpost, whereas Mars is reasonably accessible only once every two years. With unexpected discoveries or ...

YumaSun.com > News : "Proposal would house prisoners in Mexico PHOENIX (AP) -- Some lawmakers want to explore the possibility of the state contracting to have a private prison built in Mexico to house illegal immigrants now incarcerated in Arizona. The idea was promoted as a way to reduce the state's heavy costs in imprisoning the 3,600 to 4,000 illegal immigrants in Arizona prisons who have been convicted of crimes. Opponents questioned whether the state has the legal authority to move the foreign prisoners to Mexico. In any event, a proposal (HB2709) to have the state seek proposals for such prison cleared its first hurdle Wednesday at the Arizona Legislature in a 4-2 vote by a House committee. The bill is one of many moving through the Legislature that tries to confront the problems caused by illegal immigration. Advertisement More than any other state in recent years, Arizona has been dogged by a heavy flow of illegal immigrants after the governmen...

My Way News - Iran, Syria to Form 'United Front' : TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran and Syria, who both are facing pressure from the United States, said Wednesday they will form a 'united front' to confront possible threats against them, state-run television reported. 'In view of the special conditions faced by Syria, Iran will transfer its experience, especially concerning sanctions, to Syria,' Mohammad Reza Aref, Iran's first vice president, was quoted as saying after meeting Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Otari."

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Sunnis admit poll boycott blunder and ask to share power Iraq's Arab Sunnis will do a U-turn and join the political process despite their lack of representation in the newly elected national assembly, Sunni leaders said yesterday. Many Sunnis protested that the election was flawed and unfair, but in the wake of Sunday's results, which confirmed the marginalisation of what was Iraq's ruling class, their political parties want to lobby for a share of power. "Our view is that this election was a step towards democracy and ending the occupation," said Ayad al-Samaray, the assistant general secretary of the Iraqi Islamic party. He said unnamed Sunni leaders blundered in depicting the election as a deepening of the occupation. [...] Secular Sunni leaders yesterday accepted the victors' invitation to participate, potentially draining support from the insurgency. "We can't say it was wise or logical to not part...

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Sunnis admit poll boycott blunder and ask to share power Iraq's Arab Sunnis will do a U-turn and join the political process despite their lack of representation in the newly elected national assembly, Sunni leaders said yesterday. Many Sunnis protested that the election was flawed and unfair, but in the wake of Sunday's results, which confirmed the marginalisation of what was Iraq's ruling class, their political parties want to lobby for a share of power. "Our view is that this election was a step towards democracy and ending the occupation," said Ayad al-Samaray, the assistant general secretary of the Iraqi Islamic party. He said unnamed Sunni leaders blundered in depicting the election as a deepening of the occupation. [...] Secular Sunni leaders yesterday accepted the victors' invitation to participate, potentially draining support from the insurgency. "We can't say it was wise or logical to not participate; it w...

Home - ci-ce-ct.com Taqiyya and kitman: The role of Deception in Islamic terrorism Tradecraft. Persona. Deception. Disinformation. Cover: Western operational terms and techniques. But, Islamic terrorists have their own terms: taqiyya (pronounced tark-e-ya) : precautionary dissimulation or deception and keeping one’s convictions secret and a synonymous term, kitman: mental reservation and dissimulation or concealment of malevolent intentions... Taqiyya and kitman or ‘holy hypocrisy’ has been diffused throughout Arabic culture for over fourteen hundred years since it was developed by Shiites as a means of defence and concealment of beliefs against Sunni unbelievers. As the Prophet said: 'he who keeps secrets shall soon attain his objectives.’ The skilful use of taqiyya and kitman was often a matter of life and death against enemies; it is also a matter of life and death to many contemporary Islamic terrorists. As so often in the history of Islam, a theological doctrine b...

The Counterterrorism Blog: Likely Culprits Behind Bombing of Former Lebanese Prime Minister : "Likely Culprits Behind Bombing of Former Lebanese Prime Minister by Larry C. Johnson Today's bomb blast in Lebanon, which killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, is a harbinger that a peaceful, democratic transition of Governments in the Middle East is a foolish pipe dream. Hariri, aka Fatso, has been a long time pawn of Saudi Arabia and a favorite of both Washington and Paris. His murder comes against the backdrop of increased pressure by the United States and France to force Syria to withdraw its military forces from Lebanon. This car bombing was probably designed to send an unambiguous message to both Lebanese and the international community that Syria will not stand idly by and surrender to pressures from Washington, Paris, and the United Nations. Hariri, who had been staying on the sidelines in recent months as political parties in Lebanon jockeyed for positio...

Nerf-Coated World: Fair use Fair use Ace points out that newspapers are starting to warn bloggers against excerpting material from their work. Do they have a case? Well: Section 107 of the Copyright Law outlines the general principles of the fair use provision: The fair use of a copyrighted work … for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, … scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use, the factors to be considered … include: 1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; 2. the nature of the copyrighted work; 3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and 4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work. So basicall...