Casto Hospitalized; Resigns; Hands Power to Brother

Laters for you bitch! Update: D'oh! The Times says it's just temporary. They should know. Update2: A bit about his brother from the AP: Raul, a political hardliner, belonged to a Communist youth group even before the revolution. The elder Castro didn't publicly embrace socialism until 1961. But on the economic front, he showed signs of flexibility. As defense minister, Raul has overseen some of Cuba's most important experiments with limited market-style reforms. Military units produced and...

Freedom to Fascism: I Want My Fiat Money Back

Attention: Do Not Waste Your Hard-Earned $8.00 on this piece of crap. I knew it when I saw the trailer claiming the Fed was private. Great. Then I saw that my man Dr. Ron Paul is in it, as well as personal hero G. Edward Griffin and friend James Bovard. My old friend from high-school was going. Okay, fine, I'll go see the damn thing. Piece of shit. If I may borrow a phrase from Bill Hicks. (At least Basic Instinct had a pussy in it.) Nearly the whole first hour is wasted on the marginally...

Israeli Strike Kills more than 60, Mostly Children

At least 56 people [CNN now saying 60], more than half children, were killed Sunday in an Israeli airstrike that crushed a building, the deadliest attack of the campaign against Hezbollah. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice decided to return early to Washington with her diplomatic mission derailed after Lebanese leaders told her not to come. And you paid for it. Update: 15 of the dead were crippled children.

Operation Shell Game

U.S. TO MOVE TROOPS FROM SOUTHERN IRAQ TO NORTH, AND FROM NORTHERN IRAQ TO SOUTH Andy Borowitz: In a bold attempt to confuse Iraqi insurgents, the U.S. will move 10,000 troops from southern Iraq to the north, and will then move 10,000 other troops from northern Iraq to the south, the Army chief of staff confirmed today. Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker said at a Pentagon briefing today that the plan, called Operation Shell Game by the Army brass, was the Army's best bet for leaving Iraqi insurgents...

Stickers for Sale

Do you hate the state? ... Do you wish that all those idiots in traffic hated the state like you so that you and your little children could be free? ... Well now, there's finally a way for you do what you always dreamed of: Set an example for those idiots to follow! Buy some goddamn stickers! Put them on your car! It's their own fault for driving behind you. Choose from all time favorites, such as: Or: For when you feel like mocking Christian warmonger types: How about this one as an answer to...

9/11 Kookery on C-SPAN

I am sad to say, I've not seen or heard anything convincing from any of these idiots. I still believe that Cheney and Rumsfeld knew, but there's no proof. Prof. Jones claims that he's got the molecular evidence, but doesn't present it. It would be okay, I suppose if the American public believed these assholes, because it's better than believing Bush, but wouldn't it be great if any of these people actually had anything besides half-baked assertions backed up by evidence that does not in fact...

Collectivism and Murder

Some guy goes into a Jewish business in Seattle, and murders one innocent woman and wounds five others. What's his excuse? He's "mad at Israel." Well, I have some news for you genius: None of those six people were "Israel." Nor all of them in one room together. In fact, there is no such thing as Israel, unless just used as shorthand for land (which can not bear responsibility for anything) or for the individuals who control the government: Olmert and his advisors, the military chiefs, etc. The...

Video shows Ghraib-like torture by sheriffs lead to man’s death, say groups, family

Raw Story: On Feb. 6, 2006, Jessie Lee Williams, Jr., a 40-year-old black man in a Southern Mississippi jail, was allegedly hooded and hog-tied by police, beaten about the head and testicles and ultimately died from blunt injuries to the head. The coroner determined the death was a homicide. The local sheriff indicated law enforcement agencies were investigating and that the individual targeted by the investigation is

Who attacked who first?

Last week, Antiwar.com ran a story by Joshua Frank - of hate Hillary from the Left fame - questioning whether the story was true that Hezbollah had crossed the border to capture the two Israelis, or if, in fact, the Israelis had crossed the line first. Now AWC regular contributer, Ran HaCohen, has set the record straight. Frank's sources don't hold up. Hezbollah started it.

Hezbollah Hiding Within the Civilian Population?

What a load of, uh, untruths. "So the analysts talking on cable news about Hezbollah "hiding within the civilian population" clearly have spent little time if any in the south Lebanon war zone and don't know what they're talking about. Hezbollah doesn't trust the civilian population and has worked very hard to evacuate as much of it as possible from the battlefield. And this is why they fight so well -- with no one to spy on them, they have lots of chances to take the Israel Defense Forces by...

William S. Lind on the “New Middle East.”

"The goal of Islamic fourth generation forces is the destruction of most, if not all, Arab state governments, so Hezbollah is winning strategically as well. One can almost watch the legitimacy drain away from the region's decrepit states, with incalculable consequences for American interests. "Not that Washington is doing anything to protect those interests. On the contrary, it has rushed more bombs and aviation fuel to Israel, lest there be any unwelcome letup in the destruction of Lebanon....

“Quick, change the law so we can’t be convicted of War Crimes.”

Jim Bovard explains, on the Antiwar.com blog (where we are very happy to have him), that once upon a time, the US Congress criminalized violations of the Geneva Conventions on how to make war "properly." (It is shameful to all adult Americans that we would ever need to rely on foreign treaties to tell us not to torture people), but anyway... Now, "Attorney General Gonzales is sweating that even top government officials (like himself) could face charges if the law is vigorously enforced....

PM Olmert’s Daughter, Dana, Protests Against Killing of Civilians in Gaza

From ynetnews: "Some 200 left-wing activists marched outside the house of IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz at the Tzahala neighborhood in Tel Aviv Saturday evening, to protest the killing of civilians in Gaza on Friday. The demonstrators chanted slogans such as "Tzahala residents, there's a murderer in your neighborhood," and raised signs calling on the government to "put a stop to the murder of civilians" and stating, "Halutz is a killer, the intifada shall prevail." Activists also shouted,...

WTF?!!

Am I the only one who sees a problem here? No Truce 'For Weeks' as Talks Stall Hezbollah Demands Immediate Truce, Prisoner Swap Iran Calls for Cease-Fire Syria Calls for Cease-Fire Rice Warns Iran, Syria Not to Oppose Cease-Fire