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High Civilian Toll The number will be much higher by the time siege of Beirut by Israelis and the rocket attacks on Israel by Hezbollah come to a halt. Could take a long time. The various parties involved show no signs of backing off. President Bush, after giving Israel what amounted to full support for their show of force, is now busy trying to broker a peace agreement! While there is no question about America's military supremacy, President Bush has lost the moral authority to act effectively as a peacemaker. His appearance at the press conference at Straslund, Germany, on July 13, gave the overwhelming impression of a wound up robot. "DAMOUR, Lebanon, July 14 -- Israel imposed a blockade on Lebanon by land, sea and air on Thursday, striking the capital's airport twice, cutting off its ports and wrecking bridges and roads in attacks that killed at least 47 people in the last two days, nearly all of them Lebanese civilians. Israel said the radical Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah fired 150 rockets into northern Israel, including two that reached the port city of Haifa. Israeli jets repeatedly crossed over Beirut before dawn Friday. At least two explosions were heard, and antiaircraft fire and flares lit up the night sky."Excerpts from a report by Anthony Shadid and Scott Wilson, Washington Post:In Israel, the steady boom of Hezbollah's Katyusha rockets triggered air raid sirens and calls to take cover in basements throughout Israel's northern border area. "This is taking us back 20 years to the Lebanon war," said Rachel Ronen, 54, whose accounting firm was left a shambles by the morning rockets that hit 15 minutes before her secretary was due for work. Asked what Israel should do in return, Ronen, her eyes red from weeping, said, "Hit them."Across Lebanon, residents expressed fear that the conflict might drag on days, even weeks. Lines snaked around gas stations in Beirut, as drivers stocked up on fuel. Supermarkets were crowded, and the roads that remained open, especially to the Syrian border, Lebanon's last outlet after the airport's closure, were clogged. Lebanese officials put the toll at 47 dead and 103 wounded, including a family of 12 in the village of Dweir. Residents said three people were still buried under rubble."What do I think personally?" asked Munzir Baram, a 40-year-old Lebanese making his way across a partially repaired bridge spanning the green-tinted Damour River. "It's going to get a lot, lot worse."U.S. Vetoes UN Resolution on GazaAs expected the United States stood by Israel."UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution put forward by Qatar on behalf of Arab states that called on Israel to immediately end its two-week military incursion in Gaza. Ten of the council's 15 member-nations voted in favor of the resolution, while the United States cast the sole "no" vote. Four countries abstained -- Britain, Denmark, Peru and Slovakia."

What does he stand for? Whom does he represent?Senator Lieberman's voting records tell a story. Try as he might to put a spin on them, the senator from Connecticut is not exactly in tune with mainstream Democrats. In "Lieberman's Real Problem" Harold Meyerson mentions "crazy lefty bloggers as the culprits behind the drive to purge Lieberman from Democratic ranks." I make no apology for being one of them and I think that endorsement by David Brooks is reason enough to be suspicious of Senator Lieberman.On the op-ed pages of leading newspapers, we read that Lieberman is "the most kind-hearted and well-intentioned of men" (that's from the New York Times' David Brooks), a judgment that cannot credibly be disputed -- though if ever a road to hell was paved with good intentions, it would start with the anti-Saddam Hussein interventionism of pro-democracy advocates and end in downtown Baghdad today. *Source: New York Times. July 4, 2006 *Cuba Democracy PlanAnother flowery name for a nefarious plan to create mischief. $80 million will buy a lot of dirty deals. Cuba is going to be democratized. Leaders of the Miami mafia must be licking their chops and have their bags packed, waiting for Castro to die. A few of them will make a lot of money. The timing is right. It will be good for Brother Jeb. From the BBC:US in $80m 'Cuba democracy' planUS President George W Bush has approved an $80m (£43m) fund which he says will go towards boosting democracy in Cuba.Mr Bush said the fund would help the Cuban people in their "transition from repressive control to freedom".The fund is part of proposals by a commission analysing US policy towards Cuba after the eventual death of Fidel Castro, who turns 80 next month.The Cuban government said the plan was an act of aggression, violating Cuba's sovereignty and international law.The president of Cuba's National Assembly, Ricardo Alarcon, said the world should be outraged by the actions of the US.

Few weeks back a woman friend said I had a hang up about fat people and was unfair in my comments about them. Both of us are thin. Thinking about her comments I had to admit to myself that she was right. I have stopped being critical or, rather, I stop myself from being critical about those who are obese. I no longer contemptuously think that they are responsible for their condition.Rachel Cooke's article "Is weight the new race" in The Observer (Guardian) is well-written and tries to present a balanced view. "Truly terrible, is the answer. You may think that you know this already, but in order to come even close to grasping a fat person's misery, you should probably take that imagined desperation, and triple it. Then consider your attitude to this unhappy person. Do you pity them? Or do you despise them? If the latter, do you feel able to say so out loud, in public? I bet that you do. These are critical times in the great obesity debate. In the West, all we talk about is our increasing weight, and what we can do to keep it at bay. Emotive words like 'epidemic' and 'time-bomb' are thrown about like so many hand grenades. Open a newspaper, and a story will certainly be there (most recently, it was reported from the British Dietetic Association conference that the risk of fatal disease increases by one per cent for every pound a person is overweight). The seemingly well-established connection between fat and disease has meant - so far - that it has been somehow acceptable to criticise the fat; it's for their own good, after all. But now there are rumblings. The fat and their supporters have had enough of what they regard as discrimination. They are angry, and they are going to fight. They regard their cause as just. They believe that fat is the new race."Excerpts:So is fat the new race? I don't believe that it is, though it could become so in the future. But that's not to say that thinking about it in these terms isn't a useful corrective. If we're allowed to want fat people to lose weight, then they're allowed to want thin people to be kind - or, better still, blind. Best not to forget, then, where we started - with a woman walking down a street, feeling as though she might as well be stark naked.'I know ... that when a thin person looks at a fat person, the thin person considers the fat person less virtuous than he,' writes Judith Moore in her memoir, Fat Girl. 'The fat person lacks willpower, pride, this wretched attitude, "self-esteem", and does not care about friends and family because if he or she did care about friends and family, he or she would not wander the earth looking like a repulsive sow, rhinoceros, hippo, elephant, general wide-mawed flesh-flopping flabby monster.'Imagine feeling like that. Think before you click your tongue against the roof of your mouth.*Cacomorphobia: Fear of fat people

Christian Crusaders of Scottsdale, ArizonaNow we have Alliance Defense Fund battling to make America a country for Bible thumping Christians only. The bigots have gained ground under the Bush Administration, received full support of the government in their holy war. Be afraid. At heart they are no different than Islamic fundamentalists and they will happily send the rest of us to salt mines. "What we are really trying to protect are the things this country was founded on," said D. James Kennedy, leader of Florida's Coral Ridge Ministries and one of the prominent Christian conservatives who fashioned the alliance in 1993 as a sharp stick in the national culture debate.That is not how opponents see the organization. While crediting the ADF with training troops for battles once fought by a haphazard assortment of government lawyers and often ill-prepared volunteers, critics question the alliance's commitment to tolerance and the Constitution."They're not for some form of generic religious freedom. They're for Christian superiority, that Christians take over the courts," said Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. "They are living in this fantasy world where the majority religion, Christianity, is claimed to be literally under attack." Comments Anonymous — 2006-07-10 I love you dude, but you're crazy. The ADF-Taliban comparison is very reminiscent to the Bush-Hitler similarity. I guess if those terrorizing Bible thumpers are getting you all riled up, they must be doing something right! Anonymous — 2006-07-10 There are some similarities, yes, but good that G.W. Bush is oratorically challenged. Adolf Hitler, the crazy dictator, was a great speaker. Anonymous — 2006-07-10 I do think there is cause for alarm. This country was founded on the principle of religous freedom not as a religious state like Iran. ADF is advocating, not freedom of religion (including Islam, Buddhism, Wicka, etc...), they're simply pounding their narrow version of a particular religion. I find this very scary indeed if we as a nation are forced to believe one man-made verison of so-called Christianity. Anonymous — 2006-07-10 The scare-language you've used is typical of someone who is ignorant of the facts and has been misled by the media's misguided portrayel of Christians. Our country was founded upon Christian principles - that's an undisputed fact. We live in a Christian nation that allows other religions to flourish within it - another fact. The separation of church and state was invented by a radical Supreme Court, had no precedent of any kind when enacted, and is seen as one of the worst judicial decisions of all time by liberal judicial scholars - still another fact. The ADF is trying to defend laws that have already been in place for decades. They are not trying to create anything new - to say so is an absolute lie. The ADF fights to prevent the ACLU and other radical groups from changing our laws through the courts, instead of through the legislature, where our Constitution says laws were meant to be created and refined. The ACLU creates new law - the ADF defends existing law. The ACLU has been slowly destroying the Christian heritage and freedom this country was founded upon. They do not try to hide this fact - their president has stated this view in their printed materials. Anyone saying that the ACLU is not attacking Christianity is someone who disgrees with the ACLU's own president. Again, there are many more facts that get ignored by those, like yourself, who want to use name-calling and poorly-researched facts as a basis for your arguments. We can only hope that all of us would seek out the truth rather than settling for misinformation, lies, and name calling as the basis for our views. Anonymous — 2006-07-10 The paragraph quoted below is from Thomas Jefferson's letter (final version) dated Jan 1,1802, to Danbury Baptists. Source: Library of Congress. http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9806/danpre.html "Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties."

World Cup Final: France vs Italy - July 9, 2006In a nutshell, Italy won 5-4 on penalties. But that is the footnote. What Zidane did was ugly to watch. Why it happened was not known to us watching the final game between France and Italy on tv. The game went past the regulation time to extra time (two 15-minute periods) and then to penalty kicks. Zidane's folly occurred shortly before the end of the regulation time. To us viewers it appeared as though he completely lost his sense of the crucial importance of the game and consequence of his action. There was no justification for what he did. I was glad that Italy won. When I thought of Zidane and his superb artistry on the field there was a sense of regret about this great player and his last major game, possibly his last game.Simon Barnes in Times on Line: The End of Zidane's World

Cost of An Iraqi LifeThe cost of an Iraqi life depends on who you are; to some the Iraqis are expendable. Collateral damage is a cynical phrase that covers a lot of wrongdoings. It displays callousness and deliberate denial of the domino effect of deaths of innocent civilians. The people responsible continue ostrich-like without paying heed to the consequences of their actions. If they have any doubts or regrets they rarely express them. But recent instances of deliberate killing of civilians in Iraq have received broad exposure in the media, and the picture has changed. What happened at Haditha, Hamandiya, Samarra, and Mahmudiyah cannot be covered up---not completely covered up. Andrew J. Bacevich writes in the Post: "In Iraq, lives differ in value -- and so do deaths. In this disparity lies an important reason why the United States has botched this war."Last November in Haditha , a squad of Marines, outraged at the loss of a comrade, is said to have run amok, avenging his death by killing two dozen innocent bystanders. And in March, U.S. soldiers in Mahmudiyah allegedly raped a young Iraqi woman and killed her along with three of her relatives -- an apparently premeditated crime for which one former U.S. soldier has been charged . These incidents are among at least five recent cases of Iraqi civilian deaths that have triggered investigations of U.S. military personnel. If the allegations prove true, Haditha and Mahmudiyah will deservedly take their place alongside Sand Creek, Samar and My Lai in the unhappy catalogue of atrocities committed by American troops.But recall a more recent incident, in Samarra . On May 30, U.S. soldiers manning a checkpoint there opened fire on a speeding vehicle that either did not see or failed to heed their command to stop. Two women in the vehicle were shot dead. One of them, Nahiba Husayif Jassim, 35, was pregnant. The baby was also killed. The driver, Jassim's brother, had been rushing her to a hospital to give birth. No one tried to cover up the incident: U.S. military representatives issued expressions of regret.The BBC filed the following report on July 8th:"US 'finds Iraq killing failings' US marine officers at all levels failed to investigate conflicting reports of killings in the Iraqi town of Haditha, a report quoted by US media says. The report has been completed and reviewed by Lt-Gen Peter Chiarelli, the second-ranking US commander in Iraq. Twenty-four civilians died in the incident in November. The US military initially said they were killed in a bomb blast and exchange of fire. But reports subsequently emerged alleging that US soldiers killed them. ...

Debate On Both Sides of the Atlantic * "Religious Persecution" * "Glove Puppet"Scientists in England have strongly reacted against Roman Catholic Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo's call for excommunication of those who are involved in embryonic stem cell research. The BBC reported that: "Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, head of the Pontifical Council for the Family, made his comments in Famiglia Cristiana, a Catholic magazine. He said research carried out on embryos was 'the same as abortion'."The threat of excommunication is not likely to be effective. Just as many Catholic couples routinely practice contraception---use condoms and other means, and do so with a clear conscience, those involved in stem cell research are not going to be deterred by the edict of Cardinal Trujillo.Scientists in the UK called his comments outrageous and said they amounted to "religious persecution"."Excommunication applies to all women, doctors and researchers who eliminate embryos."But Dr Stephen Minger, leading stem cell expert at Kings College, said: "Having been raised a Catholic I found this stance really outrageous."Are they going to excommunicate IVF doctors, nurses and embryologists who routinely put millions of embryos down the sink every year throughout the world?"It is more ethical to use embryos that are going to be destroyed anyway for the general benefit of mankind than simply putting them down the sink."Professor Allan Templeton, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, called the cardinal's comments "insensitive and unhelpful".He added: "I cannot really believe it represents the thinking of the Roman Catholic church."Professor Julian Savulescu, Uehiro Chair in practical ethics at the University of Oxford, warned: "This amounts to religious persecution of scientists which has no place in modern liberal societies.One gets the feeling that Cardinal Trujillo and others like him long for the days of the Inquisition.They have friends in high places. President Bush is a champion of those who oppose stem cell research. Michael Kinsley, in his column False Dilemma, points out the hollowness of their position, that they totally disregard what happens in fertility clinics. "In any particular case, fertility clinics try to produce more embryos than they intend to implant. Then -- like the Yale admissions office (only more accurately) -- they pick and choose among the candidates, looking for qualities that make for a better human being. If you don't get into Yale, you have the choice of attending a different college. If the fertility clinic rejects you, you get flushed away -- or maybe frozen until the day you can be discarded without controversy."And fate isn't much kinder to the embryos that make this first cut. Usually several of them are implanted in the hope that one will survive. Or, to put it another way, in the hope that all but one will not survive. And fertility doctors do their ruthless best to make these hopes come true.In short, if embryos are human beings with full human rights, fertility clinics are death camps -- with a side order of cold-blooded eugenics. No one who truly believes in the humanity of embryos could possibly think otherwise.*"Mentally deficent glove puppet"Found following entry in the Urban Dictionary "Refer to George W. Bush and his whole ****ing OligarchyThe dictat-president is a mentally deficent glove puppet."

Gaza, bloody Gaza - No end in sightOperation Summer Rains! Another utterly cynical title like Operation Iraqi Freedom. You wonder if there are PR firms that concoct the names or officials with grand visions,and without any concern for the human suffering,are responsible for giving military actions such flowery titles. "BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip, July 6 -- Israeli tanks pushed into populated areas here Thursday for the first time since reentering the Gaza Strip last week and met fierce resistance from Palestinians using rocket-propelled grenades, roadside mines and rifles to slow their advance.At least 21 Palestinians were killed in the fighting, many from the governing Hamas movement's armed wing, and an Israeli soldier died after being shot in the head by a sniper."From a report in The Guardian filed by Chris McGreal in Jerusalem:The politicians and military agreed early on in the crisis that Cpl Shalit's capture offered the opportunity to curb the firing of Palestinian rockets. Military leaders urged Mr Peretz and Mr Olmert to authorise a large-scale ground invasion deep into the Gaza Strip. But the politicians were cautious, warning the army should be prepared for a long operation that must retain foreign governments' backing.Cpl Shalit's father, Noam, cautioned against using the capture of his son, in a cross-border raid by Palestinian militias nearly two weeks ago, as a justification for a wider military operation."It seems unrealistic to me to say that Israel can restore its deterrent capability at the expense of Gilad," he said. "My son does not have such broad shoulders. If Israel had wanted to regain its deterrent capability, in my humble opinion it ought to have done so before the abduction."But there are indications of a wider agenda to bury the Hamas-led government. Israel has detained eight Hamas cabinet members and 20 of its MPs, and targeted government infrastructure, including missile attacks on the offices of the prime minister and interior ministry."There's a school of thought in the Israeli security establishment that said since the Hamas victory this is going to end up in confrontation and the sooner we pre-empt that conflict the better; remove their leadership, destroy their infrastructure," said Mr Alpher. "That is certainly some of the hidden agenda of this operation but it's not a declared goal. But it could become a declared goal."London 7/7/2005On this day a year ago London suffered attacks by Islamic terrorists. 52 people died.

Wunderlich Park and A Picnic Table * google Google * Bush's WorldIt was just a picnic table under an oak tree at Wunderlich County Park. Weather beaten and a little wobbly after years of being there. Not all hikers used the table. It was sort of hidden in a small clearing surrounded by brush---manzanita, chamise, chaparral pea, yerba santa, and scotch broom. The hike on the Bear Creek Gulch Trail to the meadow is approximately 2.4 miles from the parking lot. It is an uphill walk, elevation gain from apprx.475 ft at the parking lot to 1,000 ft. Not very demanding but enough to make you sweat. A good trail on hot summer days because large eycalyptus,redwood, madrone and oak trees provide shade most of the way. A group of us went up to the meadow on July 4th for a picnic. The day was sunny but not too warm. Temperature in the low 70's (Fahrenheit). When it is not smoggy, the meadow offers a good view of Fremont in east bay. JHL and I have spent many pleasant hours at the meadow and used the picnic table. Yesterday, there was an empty space where the table used to be. No clue whether it has been removed for good or there will be another to take its place. We had our picnic sitting on the ground; absence of the table did not stop us from enjoying ourselves. Still, I felt a sense of loss; I had gotten used to seeing it there.Wunderlich Park © San Mateo County Parks & Recreation Dept.© John LazarGoogle In Websters DictionaryThe Associated Press reported that "It's one of about 100 new words added to the reference volume. Google, with a small "g," is a verb meaning to use the Google Internet search engine."Go "google" yourself. If you don't know what it means, you can now look up "google" in the latest edition of the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. ...

What Next ? Pyongyang went ahead and test fired a seventh ballistic missile despite warnings from the international community."TOKYO July 5 -- Japan slapped limited economic sanctions on North Korea Wednesday and moved with the United States to condemn Pyongyang in advance of a hastily called session of the U. N. Security Council after the Stalinist state unnerved the region by test launching a barrage of least seven missiles. After firing six missiles over four hours early Wednesday, North Korea continued its unprecedented series of tests by sending a seventh into the Sea of Japan some 12 hours later during rush hour in Japanese cities."The Guardian: "In a typically defiant riposte, Pyongyang said the missile tests were its right as a sovereign nation, despite Japan's claims they violated a moratorium on missile tests agreed between the countries in 2002. "The missile launch is an issue that is entirely within our sovereignty. No one has the right to dispute it," Ri Pyong-dok, a researcher at the North Korean foreign ministry, said on Japanese television. "On the missile launch, we are not bound by any agreement."The missile launch is an issue that is entirely within our sovereignty. No one has the right to dispute it," Ri Pyong-dok, a researcher at the North Korean foreign ministry, said on Japanese television. "On the missile launch, we are not bound by any agreement."The security council is to discuss a Japanese resolution condemning the tests. Japan's foreign minister, Taro Aso, said there was a "very high possibility" the UN would impose economic sanctions against North Korea.The Japanese defence agency said the first six missiles were fired between 3.30am and 8.20am and that all had landed in the Sea of Japan several hundred miles from the Japanese coast. Tokyo condemned the tests and said North Korea had "threatened the stability of the international community". The US called them a "provocation"."The United States strongly condemns these missile launches and North Korea's unwillingness to heed calls for restraint from the international community," White House spokesman Tony Snow said.China called for a cool-headed response to North Korea's missile tests, according to Kyodo news agency, which quoted foreign ministry official Liu Jianchao as saying that countries should respond calmly to the missile test launches.Mexico All bets are off. The situation has changed dramatically since initial vote counts were announced. Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the left leader and his supporters are claiming fraud and the lead by his opponent, Felipe Calderón, has shrunk from 1 percent to 0.64 percent. "MEXICO CITY, July 4 -- A big question looms over Mexico: Will Andres Manuel López Obrador unleash the fury of the streets?"Emotions here intensified Tuesday as Mexico's electoral commission counted additional ballots, shrinking the lead of López Obrador's opponent, Felipe Calderon, from 400,000 votes, or 1 percent, to 257,000 votes, or 0.64 percent. Lopez Obrador's supporters have also reacted emotionally as the populist candidate and his top aides have outlined a growing list of alleged election law violations. No large demonstrations have been held yet, apparently because López Obrador's supporters are waiting for a signal from him and because they want to see the results of an official count that begins Wednesday.Still, the rhetoric is getting more heated. On Tuesday, López Obrador's campaign demanded a ballot-by-ballot recount. And Emilio Serrano, a federal legislator from the candidate's Democratic Revolutionary Party, or PRD, said in an interview that violence is possible if the vote-tampering allegations are proved.