by Gary Leupp
…”We may be looking at a summer of simultaneous crises on opposite sides of the world,” says “one of Mr. Bush’s closest aides” to David E. Sanger of the New York Times. Sanger takes that to mean Iran and North Korea, neither of which wants to provoke a crisis, both of which want to be left alone but are confronted with an administration that wants to defeat them while it remains in power. The summer crises if they come will be contrived, involve lies, shamelessly manipulate the stupider sectors of public opinion and probably require further assaults on civil liberties. I don’t think another Korean War is in the cards; the “crisis” in Korea can simmer indefinitely. All it does is make the U.S. look unreasonable, in the eyes of the Chinese and most other people; encourage South Korean sympathy with Northern compatriots striving to stave off imperialist attack; and give the Japanese right an opportunity to jettison Japan’s “pacifist” constitution. I think the real summer crisis will be the Middle Eastern one.

So Iran or Syria, I was thinking. But the fairly reputable Jane’s Intelligence Digest points in another direction. It reports that Rumsfeld plans a “confrontation with Syrian troops” in the Bekaa Valley soon. That’s in Lebanon, from whence the UN has confirmed that Syria, in haste, has recently withdrawn (in response to bulling U.S. demands) the troops sent long ago—at Lebanese Christians’ request—to mediate in a brutal civil war. But constantly raising the bar, the U.S. insists that Syria withdraw all its intelligence agents from Lebanon too. Washington will—just watch—keep asserting without evidence that Syria’s intelligence apparatus, which like any such apparatus is invisible, hard to identify or quantify, remains in Lebanon screwing with Lebanese politics in a way that, say, the U.S. CIA never screws with anybody.

Weak, divided, pulverized Lebanon may well be the next stage for U.S. aggression. That would keep the ball rolling. Bush would refer to the Bekaa Valley as “the latest battleground in the war on terrorism”—all in response to 9-11 when the terrorists attacked us. “Better get them in Lebanon than face them here,” he’ll spew, and some will swallow it. They’ll buy the notion that Hizbollah, a Shiite-based mainstream highly popular political party with an armed wing in southern Lebanon, which embarrassed the U.S. by organizing massive demonstrations dwarfing the its client parties in Lebanon last month, is an al-Qaeda type terrorist organization. They’ll surely bring up the Reagan-era Hizbollah attack on the U.S. force in Lebanon that shouldn’t have been there to begin with, since it was just deployed to abet Israel’s criminal invasion.
Full: counterpunch.org

Sir Isaac Newton, famous for his revolutionary work in mathematics, optics, gravity and the laws of motion, had a secret hobby. A collection of his notes thought to have been lost 70 years ago reveal his passion for alchemy and fruitless attempts to turn lead into gold.
His handwritten notes, commenting on the work of other famous 17th century alchemists and documenting his own attempts to manufacture precious metals, were rediscovered in the vaults of the Royal Society and will go on display for the first time next week at the its summer science exhibition.

The notes were originally uncovered following Newton’s death in 1727, but they were never properly documented and were thought to be lost following their sale for £15 at an auction at Sotheby’s in July 1936. But during the cataloguing of the society’s miscellaneous manuscripts collection the notes were discovered and, with the help of Imperial College’s Newton Project, were identified as being the papers that had disappeared nearly 70 years before.

Newton kept hidden his occasional interest in alchemy during his lifetime, in part because the making of gold or silver was a felony and had been since a law was passed by Henry IV in 1404. But throughout his career he, and other scientists of the time, many of whom were fellows of the society, carried out extensive research into alchemy.
Full: guardian.co.uk

WASHINGTON, June 30 – After a bitter and prolonged battle over the promises and perils of foreign trade, the Senate voted on Thursday to approve the Central American Free Trade Agreement.

The vote of 54 to 45, which came after weeks of efforts to placate angry sugar producers and other interest groups, was a major victory for President Bush at a time when Republicans and Democrats alike have been alarmed about soaring imports from low-cost countries.

The vote set the stage for an even more difficult fight in the House, where opposition to the trade pact is strong among lawmakers from textile regions in the South, manufacturing states in the Midwest and sugar- producing areas like Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota and Wyoming.

The pact would eliminate most trade restrictions on about $32 billion in annual trade with the Dominican Republic and the five Central American nations of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua.

Though the volume of trade involved is tiny in comparison to that with China or Europe, both Mr. Bush and his opponents have viewed the pact as a crucial touchstone to the broader challenges of globalization.
Full: nytimes.com

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — A unilateral decision by the United States to indefinitely retain oversight of the Internet’s main traffic-directing computers prompted concerns Friday that the global telecommunications network could eventually splinter.

”This seems like an extension of American security in the aftermath of 9-11,” said John Strand, a Denmark-based technology consultant. ”People will ask: `Do the Americans want to control the Internet?”’

Washington’s decision, announced Thursday, departs from previously stated U.S. policy.

Many countries favor gradually releasing oversight of the Internet’s so-called ”root servers” to an international body, and a showdown on the issue could come in November at a U.N. information society summit to be held in Tunisia. A U.N. report this month on Internet governance is expected to address the issue.

Michael D. Gallagher, an assistant secretary at the U.S. Commerce Department, said in announcing the policy shift Thursday that it was a response to growing security threats and increased reliance on the Internet globally for communications and commerce.

But the explanation did little to allay fears that the United States is overstepping its boundaries and locking its grip on the Internet.
Full: nytimes.com

What happened to William Rodriguez the morning of 9/11 is a miracle. What happened to his story after-the-fact is a tragedy.

But with miracles and tragedies comes truth. And truth is exactly what Rodriguez brings to the whole mystery surrounding 9/11.

Declared a hero for saving numerous lives at Ground Zero, he was the janitor on duty the morning of 9/11 who heard and felt explosions rock the basement sub-levels of the north tower just seconds before the jetliner struck the top floors.

He not only claims he felt explosions coming from below the first sub-level while working in the basement, he says the walls were cracking around him and he pulled a man to safety by the name of Felipe David, who was severely burned from the basement explosions.

All these events occurred only seconds before and during the jetliner strike above. And through it all, he now asks a simple question everybody should be asking? How could a jetliner hit 90 floors above and burn a man’s arms and face to a crisp in the basement below within seconds of impact?

Rodriguez claims this was impossible and clearly demonstrates a controlled demolition brought down the WTC, saying “Let’s see them (the government) try to wiggle out of this one.”
Full: arcticbeacon.com