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POPSMcCain Alone on Withdrawal What Team McCain had thought would be their candidate's greatest strength is turning into a weakness. McCain's "steadfastness" on Iraq is looking more and more like the mulish obstinacy it actually is. At a time when even the White House is moving toward the obvious reality, McCain stands in opposition to the inevitable.
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POPSUK House of Commons: U.S. Goverment Lied to us. Cont... "Britain's denials that its territories have been used for "extraordinary rendition" were dramatically undermined last night after the United Nations claimed that Diego Garcia has been used as a detention centre to hold US suspects. . . . The revelations raise fresh questions about the island's role in the process of extraordinary rendition -- moving suspects to interrogation centres in third-party countries where they are held outside the law -- and why the UK government was apparently unaware that its ally was operating a prison on Diego Garcia to house so-called "high-value detainees"."
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POPSAnti-Obama Movie On The Way: Citizens United One prominent Citizens United movie is “Celsius 41.11,” which says it tells the “truth behind the lies” of the Michael Moore movie “Fahrenheit 9/11.” Other Citizens United movies are critical of the United Nations, illegal immigration, and the American Civil Liberties Union, while one movie promotes Newt Gingrich and his ideas. The conservative group is also looking to the U.S. Supreme Court for help in advertising the anti-Hillary movie. It is opposing a federal regulation, under the McCain-Feingold Act, requiring that a disclaimer that identifies the group be placed at the end of television ads promoting the movie and criticizing Mrs. Clinton. It is also arguing that it should not have to disclose how much it spent to produce the movie and the ads, nor who contributed to it. The Supreme Court is scheduled to decide next week whether it will hear the case.
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POPSU.S. Position Complicates Global Effort to Curb Illicit Arms Ever see the Nicolas Cage flick ‘Lord of War’? At the very end, when his character has been caught after years of dealing weapons to anyone who could pay, he is given a ‘get out of jail’ card by a shadowy US military officer, and told he was ‘allowed’ to do what he did because it helped further US imperial aims. At the end, just before the credits was a list of who is selling what to whom. The US leads the world in the illicit arms trade. And the US will do nothing that will endanger the profits from these transactions. No matter who dies as a result.
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POPSSnag Films -The Documentary Widget Many of the most prominent documentary filmmakers are participating not only by having their films distributed via SnagFilms, but by engaging with their audience through blogs and offering special “bonus” material, as well as suggesting nonprofit organizations that viewers motivated by these films can link to and support via charitable contributions, volunteering or spreading the word.
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POPSBush & McCain Move Toward Obama's Position on Iraq Troop Withdraw Within a week's time, Bush comes out in favor of a quasi-diplomatic recognition of the Iranian government and now a "time horizon" for withdrawing troops from Iraq. In both cases, John McCain signs onto the ideas and in both cases they play in the same ballpark of Barack Obama's positions. Clearly, Obama and his views are winning the argument.
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POPSUSA Health Care System: Highest in Cost & Worst in Quality Again and again studies show similar results, yet Americans continue to delude themselves that their system is the envy of the world. Those Americans who think it are the intellectual equivalent of flat earthers. The system is broken. The debate is over and has been for some time. We need single-payer, universal health care.
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POPSStatement by The Elders on Iran, July 18, 2008 The Elders... "This group can speak freely and boldly, working both publicly and behind the scenes on whatever actions need to be taken. Together we will work to support courage where there is fear, foster agreement where there is conflict, and inspire hope where there is despair" The Elders * Nelson Mandela * Graça Machel * Desmond Tutu * Kofi Annan * Ela Bhatt * Lakhdar Brahimi * Gro Brundtland * Fernando H Cardoso * Jimmy Carter * Mary Robinson * Muhammad Yunus * Aung San Suu Kyi
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POPSNelson Mandela Turns 90 Another interesting date, brought to you by Eric "CalendarWallah" Snyder and Snyder Thorn's Diversity Calendar.
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POPS US Slips Down Development Index Among other findings: * Of the world's richest nations, the US has the most children (15%) living in poverty * Of the OECD nations, the US has the most people in prison - as a percentage and in absolute numbers * 25% of 15-year-old students performed at or below the lowest level in an international maths test - worse than Canada, France, Germany and Japan * If the US infant mortality rate were equal to first-ranked Sweden, more than 20,000 babies would survive beyond their first year of life It also provides a snapshot of the inequalities between the richest and the poorest Americans and between different ethnic groups. "The Measure of America reveals huge gaps among some groups in our country to access opportunity and reach their potential," said the report's author, Sarah Burd-Sharps. "Some Americans are living anywhere from 30 to 50 years behind others when it comes to issues we all care about: health, education and standard of living.
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POPSObama’s $50 Billion AIDS Bill Up For Vote
However, the United Nations over the years has greatly exaggerated the number of those with HIV/AIDS and it is still difficult to get accurate estimates of the problem. Richard Darling of the FAIR Foundation told AIM on Friday that federal funding for most diseases is being cut back while spending on AIDS is continuing to rise. fairfoundation.org/ On Friday, the Senate voted 65-3 to proceed to floor action on the bill, with many members absent or not voting. Those voting to invoke cloture and proceed included Senate Republican Leader McConnell. However, this does not mean that all of those voting to bring the bill to the Senate floor will support it when a final vote on the actual legislation is taken. Some lawmakers have been intimidated by AIDS activists coming to Washington to deliver funeral wreaths to those standing in the way of the passage of the legislation. Opponents of the bill have been labeled as “Global AIDS Super villains” by the homosexual lobby.
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POPSAn Abominable Blood-Logged Plain Bush is deeply admired in both Kosovo and Albania, but no U.S. president tops Bill Clinton in the public affection department. A main street leading into Prishtina’s downtown was renamed Bill Clinton Boulevard. An enormous mural of the former president greets visitors on their way into the capital from the airport. Small businesses are named after him, too. They are sold at sidewalk kiosks all over the country, along with t-shirts thanking the United States in English. A spray-painted graffiti on a wall in a village said “Thanks USA and Bush.”
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POPSUN prepares to pull staff from Darfur "...Sudan promised it would do its utmost to protect peacekeepers and humanitarian workers, but said there could be no security guarantee." Doesn't that seem a little strange and backwards? What do "peacekeepers" do?
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POPSDarfur Crime Charges Sought Against Sudanese President The piece continues: Mr. Moreno-Ocampo says that for over five years, armed forces and the Janjaweed attacked and destroyed villages on Mr. Al-Bashir’s orders. They also uprooted millions of civilians from their lands, killed the men and raped the women. “I don’t have the luxury to look away. I have evidence,” the Prosecutor said.
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POPS20 Heads of State in Venezuela for Pact on Cheap Oil The pact has helped Chavez promote his vision of regional independence from the United States. He used the summit to blame Washington for international economic problems, and called US military spending in Iraq "madness." He also denied criticism from Venezuelan opponents who say he is giving away Venezuela's oil wealth. Reading from an opposition statement accusing him of "bribery diplomacy," Chavez mused: "It's very probable this was written in the U.S. Embassy." Some Petrocaribe member countries have the option of paying partially for oil with services or goods such as rice, bananas and sugar. To help boost agriculture, Chavez said Venezuela will donate US$460 million from its oil proceeds annually to create an aid fund providing farming supplies and machinery in the region. He also offered to supply subsidized fertilizer to other countries. ... iht Great man. Any of this in the 'free and fair' USA media? Doubt it!