let us see what love can do

Environmentally friendly power: Bargain or Boone-doogle? Sunday, August 10, 2008

Kay Lucas

Wind power truly is a great resource. We should be using lot’s more of it. And solar, biomass and geothermal, etc.

But, please ask yourself why taxpayers should foot the bill for oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens, so he can connect his intended wind farm to government subsidized transmission line infrastructure? Heck, his financial statement is not bleeding red ink like the U.S. Treasury.

Twin Tragedies.
By Hadi Jawad

Just as the tragic events of September 11 2001 are forever branded in the minds of Americans, Iranians find it difficult to forget
August 19 1953. It is fair to assume that most Americans are unaware of the significance of that day let alone how the two dates
might be historically connected.

On that fateful day in Iran ( 28 Mordad in the Persian Calendar) the CIA engineered the first 'regime change' in US history, overthrowing

DEBKAfile Special Report August 12, 2008,
New America armada around Iran
DEBKAfile’s military sources note that the arrival of the three new American flotillas will raise to five the number of US strike forces in Middle East waters – an unprecedented build-up since the crisis erupted over Iran’s nuclear program.

This vast naval and air strength consists of more than 40 carriers, warships and submarines, some of the last nuclear-armed, opposite the Islamic Republic, a concentration last seen just before the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Israel backs Georgia in Caspian Oil Pipeline Battle with Russia

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

August 8, 2008

Georgian tanks and infantry, aided by Israeli military advisers, captured the capital of breakaway South Ossetia, Tskhinvali, early Friday, Aug. 8, bringing the Georgian-Russian conflict over the province to a military climax.

Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin threatened a “military response.”

Former Soviet Georgia called up its military reserves after Russian warplanes bombed its new positions in the renegade province.

http://www.consortiumnews.com August 12, 2008
Neocons Now Love International Law
By Robert Parry

It's touching how American neoconservatives who have no regard for
international law when they want to invade some troublesome country have
developed a sudden reverence for national sovereignty.

Apparently, context is everything. So, the United States attacking Grenada or
Nicaragua or Panama or Iraq or Serbia is justified even if the reasons
sometimes don't hold water or don't hold up before the United Nations,

Bush is at the ranch
3 years ago when we were with Cindy and the other Gold Star families, with MFSO, IVAW and VFP-all in the ditches to protest the war in Iraq.
Stop Him before He Kills Again
End the War / No War In Iran / No to Torture
Come to Crawford Texas this weekend
August 15th 16th 17th
Daily actions at the checkpoint
Join
Ann Wright Bree Walker
and
Your friends at the
The Crawford Texas Peace House
and
Camp at Camp Casey 2008
Rally Sunday
Lunch 12:00 Speakers at 1:00
Protest at the check point
e-mail us at crawfordpeacehouse@gmail.com

Air Force Think Tank: Don't Attack Iran!
8/5/2008
"Tone down U.S. policy statements advocating regime change in Iran," recommended a major study prepared for the US Air Force on how the US should redefine its relationship with Iran.

On July 10, 2008, RAND Project Air Force (RAND PAF)--a division of the defense think tank the RAND Corporation--released a major study recommending alternatives to military conflict with Iran.

BUSH LEGACY BUS TOUR to arrive at Crawford Texas Peace House at Noon on Wed. Aug. 6. If you are in the area be sure and stop by before 2 PM for a tour of the exhibits on display inside the bus documenting the effects of the Iraq War, Economy, Health Care, Environment, Workers, Katrina and Education.

Extension Of Time Sought For Retrial Of Holy Land Foundation, Reports Hungry For Justice

Court appointed defense team alleges non-payment of services preventing preparation for trial

For Immediate Release
DALLAS/EWORLDWIRE/July 23, 2008 --- Members of Hungry for Justice, a coalition of national and regional civil rights and interfaith organizations, spoke out in support of four defendants in the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) trial seeking payment for outstanding court-appointed services.

According to John Wolf of the Crawford Peace House, "The first trial was uncalled for in the first place. I don't think prosecuting Americans for feeding hungry children is something that makes me a proud American. However, the fact that the first trial ended in a mistrial, with most defendants being very close to acquittal, showed the government really did not have a case."

The HLF defense lawyers filed a joint motion on July 15 seeking an extension of time on the retrial due to lack of funding for the court-appointed defense team. According to the motion, the team has not been paid for services or expenses rendered since October, 2007. Furthermore, the defense attorneys have been seeking approval for a budget on the retrial scheduled to begin on September 8, 2008. To date, no funds have been approved for the defense of the HLF defendants.

"The prosecutors have already spent millions of taxpayer money to retry the defendants. The defense lawyers, on the other hand, have been waiting diligently for the Fifth Circuit to approve its budgets. The trial less than two months away, and the lawyers have no money to gather witnesses and information. This is unfair and simply un-American," said Ayman Kasir, Hungry for Justice member.

"In the HLF case, we are witnessing a manipulation of the system by those whose hands are on the levers of power. From allowing barred evidence to enter jury room deliberations to holding back funding for defendants' court-appointed lawyers, the government's representatives are undermining laws they have sworn to uphold. What is supposed to be a level playing field by law is now stacked heavily against the defendants' right to a fair trial. It is a troubling pattern of behavior," said Hadi Jawad of the Dallas Peace Center, a coalition member.

Khalil Meek, Hungry for Justice spokesperson, said, "We are concerned about due process in this country. The lack of funding denies defendants the right to present any meaningful defense in this case. Apparently, the system is unable to guarantee defendants constitutional rights. The court has a responsibility to provide fair representation for indigent defendants."

CONTACT: Khalil Meek, Hungry for Justice Spokesperson, 972-849-9188, Email: khalilmeek@gmail.com.

Hungry for Justice was formed in April, 2007, as an ad hoc committee to ensure the right of American citizens to fair and impartial trials. It adheres to non-violent principles and affirms the rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Extension Of Time Sought For Retrial Of Holy Land Foundation, Reports Hungry For Justice

Court appointed defense team alleges non-payment of services preventing preparation for trial

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/20/opinion/edletmon.php

Sunday, July 20, 2008
Rethinking the Iraq war
Nicholas Kristof's idea to set up a truth commission to explore what the attack on Iraq has produced is a proposal worth pursuing ("It takes a school, not missiles," Views, July 15). But in order to have a comprehensive picture of what the decision to go to war against Saddam Hussein has generated, we believe that its scope should be broadened to re-examine, among other things, the various options that were on the table in the Oval Office between September 2002 and March 2003.
In fact, in September 2007, the Spanish newspaper El País published the transcripts of a meeting held in Crawford, Texas, between President George W. Bush and then Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar, where it was clear that the option of ousting Saddam and sending him into exile - a scenario also promoted by some Arab states - had also been endorsed by the Iraqi dictator himself with a request of $1 billion. Bush decided otherwise.
That option not only would have averted a military intervention, but would have also created the conditions to set up a transitional government under the aegis of the UN to establish democratic institutions that would have progressively opened the country to the practice of democracy. Today, not only is democracy still fragile in Iraq, but throughout the Middle East, democracy is no longer considered a "weapon of mass attraction" - quite the contrary. It is perceived as being the byproduct of a military invasion by an alien army.
We believe that the "exile scenario" should be included in any truth commission or further investigation into the U.S. conduct in Iraq. To that end, we are ready to contribute to any such effort.
Marco Perduca, Rome Senator in the Italian Senate, Radicals/Democratic Party
Marco Cappato, Brussels Member of the European Parliament, Radicals/Alliance of Liberal-Democrats for Europe"