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“If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. Of all the enemies to public liberty, war is perhaps the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. The loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or imagined, from abroad.”
— James Madison

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France shifts its stance on the conflict in Iraq - Print Version - International Herald Tribune
PARIS: After years of shunning involvement in a war it said was wrong, France now believes it may hold the key to peace in Iraq, proposing itself as an “honest broker” between the Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish factions.

The shift was one of the most concrete consequences yet of the thaw in French-American relations following the election in May of President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose administration no longer feels bound by the adamant refusal to take a role in Iraq that characterized the reign of his predecessor, Jacques Chirac.

During a three-day visit to Baghdad that ended Tuesday, the French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, said that the time had come for France, and Europe, to play a greater role in Iraq.

“I believe this is the moment. Everyone knows the Americans will not be able to get this country out of difficulty alone,” Kouchner told the French radio station RTL on Tuesday before returning to Paris. “I really believe that depending on what happens here it will change the world.”

“This is about having an opinion and knowing what positive things one can do and what role France can play in this region,” he said, adding that Iraq was “expecting something” from France.

The United States broadly welcomed Kouchner’s visit to Baghdad this week, saying it was evidence that the world was increasingly intent on bringing stability to Iraq. British and German diplomats also hailed greater French involvement in the country.

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Very interesting development.

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Study: Iraqis May Experience Sadness When Friends, Relatives Die | The Onion - America’s Finest News Source
A field study released Monday by the University of North Carolina School of Public Health suggests that Iraqi citizens experience sadness and a sense of loss when relatives, spouses, and even friends perish, emotions that have until recently been identified almost exclusively with Westerners.

“We were struck by how an Iraqi reacts to the sight of the bloody or decapitated corpse of a family member in a not unlike an American, or at the very least a Canadian, would,” said Dr. Jonathan Pryztal, chief author of the study. “In addition to the rage, bloodlust, and hatred we already know to dominate the Iraqi emotional spectrum, it appears that they may have some capacity, however limited, for sadness.”
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Hehe - Brilliant.

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XM recreates D-Day radio coverage in real-time - Orbitcast.com
Next Wednesday, June 6th, XM will air a unique special that re-creates the radio coverage of D-Day, with archival reports from NBC’s original radio news bulletins of the invasion.

This incredible broadcast will air, in real-time, starting at 12:41am ET (which was the time of the first airing) and will end June 7th, at 5:45pm ET on The ’40s (ch 4). The special will be based on the original NBC radio news reports of the invasion (currently housed in the National Archives) exactly as it was heard almost 63 years ago.

The marathon will also feature music of the era and archival reports from radio commentators of the day, including H. V. Kaltenborn, Merrill Mueller, and the other members of NBC’s news staff.

“Once we discovered that this material existed, we felt we had an obligation to bring it to XM listeners,” said Program Director Marlin Taylor. “No one else would undertake such an endeavor and it is our role to keep the music and history of this era alive and available to those living in the 21st century.”

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Sounds very interesting. As Gizmodo noted - it’ll be educational to see how the media handled war “real time” back then.

Originally published at Twixel.net. You can comment here or there.

Iranians parade captured navy woman in a hijab | the Daily Mail

Kidnapped British servicewoman Faye Turney was forced to cover her head with an Islamic hijab in the first video released by Iran since she and 14 comrades were seized last week.

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This is absolutely ridiculous. Disgusting fucktards. Those pieces of shit need to be castrated and beaten for psychically raping this woman.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/25/AR2007012502199.html?nav=rss_print/asection

The Bush administration has authorized the U.S. military to kill or capture Iranian operatives inside Iraq as part of an aggressive new strategy to weaken Tehran’s influence across the Middle East and compel it to give up its nuclear program, according to government and counterterrorism officials with direct knowledge of the effort.

Escalations (Well!) show bad planning (Oh!)
or emotion (Hey!).
They’re generally set apart from a good plan
by an exit strategy,
Or by withdrawal when the exit’s not as clear.

(Sung to the tune of the Interjection song from Schoolhouse Rock)

Heh - sorry - that’s been sticking in my head. For like - ever.

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These nutjobs need to be put down.

These are from a rally in London protesting the cartoon picture of Mohammed.

This reminder is inspired by this article.

http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/1039

From the article…

Though most Swedish politicians agreed with the minister, there is a notable exception. Ebtisam Aldebe, a female candidate of the Centerpartiet, the Centre Party, supports SmuF’s proposal. She says that men should be entitled to inherit more than women, because this is what the Quran says.

WTF??  Ebtisam…. DIAF.

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The 28,000 residents of Maywood, CA – a small town of just over one mile square that proudly proclaims itself 96% Hispanic – are experienced at defending themselves from oppression. The “Maywood revolution” began last fall, when residents rose up against their police chief, who routinely had used roadblocks to confiscate the vehicles of undocumented immigrants and sell the cars for public revenue. Maywoodians threw out their city council and mayor in the November elections, an election in which nearly 100% of eligible voters cast ballots, and replaced them with representatives who promptly disbanded the police traffic division,demanded an audit of LAUSD, denounced the Sensenbrenner anti-immigrant resolution (this comment here turns this “news” article into a biased editorial), endorsed drivers licenses for all residents, and proclaimed Maywood a sanctuary city, where the police would no longer check immigration or citizenship status.
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At first read it leaves me speechless.
But only for a little bit.
WTF? then comes to mind.
This is flat out rebellion. And since so many of the “citizens” of that city are foreign nationals - it makes it an invasion.
The idiot, racists, fundie dumbasses that organize the protests against such things are taking away from the reality of it being a bad thing.
The SOS are idiots granted - but look at the facts being presented in the rest of the article.
Respect the laws of the fucking country you live in! It is not your fucking country because you have illegally come over en mass and now constitute a majority of the town you’ve chosen to invade.

http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/08/176057.php?theme=default

It’s time to move in the National Guard and clean that town the fuck up.

Raising the flag of Mexico over a US Post Office in Maywood, California