The Apartheid Wall

Nothing good can come of this. - Vox
http://www.aljazeerah.info/Special%20Reports/The%20Sharon%20Wall/The%20Sharon%20Land-Grab%20Segregation%20Wall.htm

a·part·heid ( P ) Pronunciation Key (-pärtht, -ht)n.
1. An official policy of racial segregation formerly practiced in the Republic of South Africa, involving political, legal, and economic discrimination against nonwhites.
2. A policy or practice of separating or segregating groups.
3. The condition of being separated from others; segregation.
(http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Apartheid)

I guess it's time I mention the Downing Street memo

About The Downing Street Memo:
http://www.downingstreetmemo.com/ (I don't vouch for this site, but it does give documented facts - Vox) or http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/12/AR2005051201857.html
To see the actual Downing Street Memo:
http://www.downingstreetmemo.com/memoplain.html

Questions for the non-believers:
-If this document is a fraud, why are Rep. John Conyers and 88 other members of congress taking it so seriously?
-Isn't this EXACTLY the same story told by Richard Clarke, former US terrorism chief? (Question his credentials, do you? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_A._Clarke)
-Isn't this EXACTLY the same story told by Paul O'Neill, former Treasury Secretary? (Credentials? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_O)
-Ever hear of THE OFFICE OF SPECIAL PLANS? (If you haven't: See this site, and also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Special_Plans
Conclusion: This document is authentic.

You've been swindled. And people are dying for it. And our country's democracy is worse off for it. If you don't start to pay attention and ask questions, you will continue to be swindled. - Vox

Apologise are fine, but then what?

Senators Weigh Indian Apology Resolution
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/052605N.shtml
"Washington - Legislation that would offer a formal apology to American Indians for centuries of government mistreatment and neglect received a warm reception at a Senate committee hearing Wednesday."

The House votes on withdrawing troops from Iraq

Now we know where they stand
http://www.onlinejournal.com/Commentary/052705Zeese/052705zeese.html

The Lynn Woolsey Amendment to the Defense Authorization
The text of the amendment was:
"SEC. 1223. WITHDRAWAL OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES FROM IRAQ.
It is the sense of Congress that the President should -
(1) develop a plan as soon as practicable after the date of the enactment of this Act to provide for the withdrawal of United States Armed Forces from Iraq; and
(2) transmit to the congressional defense committees a report that contains the plan described in paragraph (1)."

Read the article to see how the vote went. - Vox

Episode III

Hated it.
I could go on and on and on about why, but I won't. All I'll say is that this horrible movie lends support to my theory that George Lucas was handed a divine script called Star Wars (I can just picture it: "Our story must be told, and you will tell it."). After that cash cow, he needed to continue to make a living, hence the next 5 movies.
If you think I'm just crazy, let me leave you with this question: Do YOU believe that the man that "created" Star Wars is the same man that is responsible for GREEDO SHOOTING FIRST?
GREEDO SHOOTING FIRST????

sigh.

I will say that I did enjoy the similarities between the eradication of the Jedi Knights and that of the Templar Knights (Order 66 being the Jedi's Friday the 13th). I think part of the reason I enjoy Star Wars so much was because of the mythology of it, and this fed into that.

- Vox

Iraq veterans' unspoken epidemic

Please read as a reminder of why war should only be fought as a last resort. No one should be subjected to this for someone else's selfish agenda. - Vox
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4474715.stm

Blame the New York Times

US report reveals Afghan abuses
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4566159.stm
"The New York Times said it received the report from a person involved in the US investigation who was critical of the interrogation methods used at the detention centre at Bagram, north of Kabul, and of the subsequent inquiry."
"It became a running joke and people kept showing up to give him a strike just to hear him scream Allah... It went on over a 24-hour period and I would think that it was over 100 strikes."

I demand a retraction!!!

5-19-05 HAPPY BIRTHDAY MALCOLM X

Happy Birthday Brother Malcolm. You are missed.

I say "Brother" not as a Muslim, which I am not, but as a person. You are not my nigga, not my boo. You are my brother, you are my sister.
In this time of sterile words and empty character, someone with the spirit and courage of Malcolm X is needed more and more.

Don't believe the hype. Hear the words, see the actions. Advance the dialogue

http://www.cmgww.com/historic/malcolm/index.htm

- Vox

I have a question. Please respond.

Regarding this Newsweek hubbub: "The White House said Tuesday the United States' image abroad had suffered irreparable damage from a now-retracted Newsweek article alleging that American interrogators at Guantanamo Bay desecrated the Quran, the Muslim holy book."
(http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050517/D8A56AQ80.html)

Can someone please help answer these questions:
1) How has the US' image abroad suffered from the Newsweek article? (specifically the Newsweek article, as we're being told) - Vox

2) And when the fact that this did actually happen (and was probably SOP*) is made known to the sheep at large, what will it mean? How will they respond to Newsweek for actually lying to the masses by retracting as false a story that they at Newsweek know is true?

*SOP - Standard Operating Procedure

Yet another version of the Koran desecration story

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/story/310256p-265477c.html
"Nevertheless, the Pentagon's Southern Command, which includes Gitmo's Camp Delta, is now investigating allegations a spokesman called "credible" that dozens of detainees have complained for years about the desecration of Islam's holy book.
U.S. officials said the allegations are well-known.
"We're aware there might have been mishandling of the Koran," a military source told the Daily News."

So what is this Newsweek fuss all about?
I hear people are canceling their subscriptions to Newsweek, and I think they should: By retracting their story they've shown no journalistic integrity. They have no back-bone and are just White House hacks. - Vox

The original Newsweek article that is the "source" of all this controversy

Gitmo: SouthCom Showdown
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7693014/site/newsweek/
"...sources tell NEWSWEEK: interrogators, in an attempt to rattle suspects, flushed a Qur'an down a toilet and..."

I think it should be obvious that the Newsweek article is accurate, in spite of their weak-kneed retractions. Even if you don't seriously pay attention to what's going on in the Middle East, after seeing the popular mainstream pictures from Abu Ghraib, can you imagine a US interrogator NOT using the Koran as a means of breaking down a detainee? How stupid do they think we are??? (Pretty darn stupid I guess, 'cause we're buying it).
I found this hilarious: "(Scott) McClellan said the magazine now has a responsibility to spread the word to the Muslim world that U.S. interrogators "treat the Quran with great care and respect." - Vox

Oil-For-Food (US Style)

US 'backed illegal Iraqi oil deals'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1485649,00.html
"In fact, the Senate report found that US oil purchases accounted for 52% of the kickbacks paid to the regime in return for sales of cheap oil - more than the rest of the world put together."

If you've heard anything at all about the embattled UN and Kofi Annan, please read this article to at least give some balance to the controversy and to dispel some misinformation. - Vox

Everything we touch turns...

Karzai warns heavy-handed US troops as riots spread
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=638633
"President Hamid Karzai insisted the Kabul government will veto US military operations after a week of hugely destructive anti-American rioting left Afghan cities and towns in flames and hospitals overflowing with casualties."
Quite a different picture than what is presented in the states, isn' it? - Vox

"Last year, Mr Karzai appealed to the US military to rethink their tactics. But he is now demanding control of military activities. He said: "We will allow or not allow operations to be conducted.""
Hmmm, what would make Pres. Karzai bite the hand that feeds him? An nation-wide regime-changing revolution, perhaps? - Vox

The Culture of Fear (for you non-believers)

Ridge reveals clashes on alerts
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-05-10-ridge-alerts_x.htm
"WASHINGTON — The Bush administration periodically put the USA on high alert for terrorist attacks even though then-Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge argued there was only flimsy evidence to justify raising the threat level, Ridge now says."

How do you control a nation and command it to do your bidding? Through FEAR.
Be not afraid, BE INFORMED!
(I think this will be my new mantra) - Vox

When a terrorist isn't a terrorist

Cuba 'plane bomber' was CIA agent
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4535661.stm
"Venezuela - a close ally of Cuba - says it is planning to seek his extradition. If Mr Posada has applied for asylum, his case will present the Bush administration a dilemma, says the BBC's Paul Keller in Miami.
The US would have to reconcile its traditional sympathy for the politically influential Cuban exiles in Miami and its firm stand against suspected terrorists in the wake of the 11 September 2001 attacks, our correspondent says."

"I gave them a good boy. And they sent me back a murderer"

- Seymour Hersh, quoting the mother of a soldier who killed in the Me Lai massacre in Vietnam.
(http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/01/26/1450204)

VoxInfo Terminology Update

From this moment forward on this site, the conflict in the Middle East (Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, etc.) will be known as "the quagmire of quicksand".
- Vox

Afghan update

Update on the model democracy:

Afghan students shot dead in riot
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/05/11/afghan.protest.ap/
"KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Police and U.S. troops opened fire in an eastern Afghan city to control hundreds of students rioting over..."

or the BBC version

Riots over US Koran 'desecration'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4535491.stm
"Hundreds of students rioted in the city of Jalalabad over reports..."

Bear with it folks, this is a long term commitment.

Definition of the "Red Herring"

It has been suggested to me by a loyal Voxinfo reader that I explain what I mean when I refer to "the herring" (posted 5/5 & 3/12/05), or Red Herring (3/4/05).

The definition of Red Herring is this: "Something that draws attention away from the central issue."

And this is exactly what I mean when I refer to "the herring": "The idiom alludes to dragging a smoked herring across a trail to cover up the scent and throw off tracking dogs."
(Courtesy of http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=red%20herring)

Again I say: As Americans, we love to eat RED HERRING!

Mad Cow update

Japan May Ease Mad Cow Testing Standards
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/J/JAPAN_MAD_COW?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Remember the Maine? Pearl Harbor? 9/11?

FBI: Pentagon Analyst Passed Secret Info http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PENTAGON_SPY_PROBE?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
"Larry Franklin was charged Wednesday with providing top-secret information about potential attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq..."
"The information concerned possible attacks against U.S. troops by Iranian-backed groups in Iraq..."

Something about this strikes me as curious. Here you have some sort of link between the Pentagon, the pro-Israel US based group AIPAC and Iran. Now we all know that the Bush admin and Israel are itching to flex against Iran, but public opinion is proving to be a major obstacle (not that it has made a difference in the past). But if the American soldiers were attacked and killed by some "Iranian-backed group", this would conveniently add to justification for attacking Iran. Oh, this is just me being conspiratorial again. - Vox

Afghanistan: The model democracy

Afghan fighting 'leaves 50 dead'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4512839.stm
"Correspondents say that fighting on Wednesday near Spin Ghar in Kandahar province resulted in the worst losses suffered so far by the country's US-trained army.
"These were well-trained, well-armed people... not just a rogue group," he said, "and they didn't flee, they stood and fought.""

Remember that we're being told by our president that we've got the Taliban and al Quada on the run. The so-called elected government in both Afghanistan and Iraq is just a charade. A smokescreen to feed those hungry for THE HERRING. - Vox

Researchers Tested Drugs on Foster Kids

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050504/D89SKLCG0.html
"In one study, researchers reported a "disturbing" higher death rate among children who took higher doses of a drug."

In other words, researchers were giving these kids drugs THAT WAS KILLING THEM! They were killing these kids! - Vox

The Prostitute and the White House

Secret Service records raise new questions about discredited conservative reporter
http://rawstory.com/exclusives/byrne/secret_service_gannon_424.htm
"Perhaps more notable than the frequency of his attendance, however, is several distinct anomalies about his visits..."
"...Secret Service records show either the entry or exit time missing. Generally, the existing entry or exit times correlate with press conferences; on most of these days, the records show that Guckert checked in but was never processed out."

Hmmm...What was a prostitute doing with unlimited access to the ultra conservative White House? - Vox