Asked recently about his position on Iran’s alleged nuclear ambitions, President Bush said, “I made it clear, and I’ll make it clear again, that we will use military might to protect our ally Israel.”

This statement brought precisely zero reaction from the public and the media. Do the American people fully appreciate that this president is committed to sending their sons and daughters to kill and die — yet again — in a foreign country? Leaving aside the reigning political mythology, by what moral principle does he pledge other people’s lives without their consent? It is bad enough to die for “one’s own” country, which, let’s face it, in practice always means for the exploiting elite who head the government. Being sent to die for another country’s elite is obscene. Would some of those at risk like to speak up before it’s too late?
fff.org

A lawyer for Rep. Cynthia McKinney, the Georgia congresswoman who had an altercation with a Capitol Police officer, says she was “just a victim of being in Congress while black.”

McKinney awaited word Friday on whether she would be charged for apparently striking the officer after she entered a House office building this week unrecognized and did not stop when asked.

Two law enforcement officials said it was unlikely a warrant would be issued this week. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Her lawyer, James W. Myart Jr., said, “Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, like thousands of average Americans across this country, is, too, a victim of the excessive use of force by law enforcement officials because of how she looks and the color of her skin.”
breitbart.com

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said she is not troubled by noisy protests against her current UK visit.
“I find them an exercise in democracy, I find them not in any way off-putting or disconcerting,” she said, on a visit to the north-west town of Blackburn.

Angry demonstrators could be heard as Ms Rice held a joint press conference with her UK counterpart Jack Straw.

The secretary of state spoke after having held what she said were positive talks with local Muslim leaders.

About 200 noisy demonstrators – some of whom carried a coffin draped with a US flag – were gathered outside the town hall where Ms Rice and Mr Straw spoke to reporters.

Asked if she had been embarrassed by the protests which have followed her around on her two-day visit, Ms Rice said she respected the demonstrators’ right to protest.

“Democracy is the only system that allows people to be heard and be heard peacefully,” she said.

“When there are more places where people’s voices can be heard peacefully, especially in the Middle East, we are all going to be better off.”
bbc.co.uk

translation: Scream your heads off all you want. We are the masters of the universe.

It has flirted with disaster but the firm that changed the way we work is 30 today.

It is not quite the birthday present that Apple Computer would have wished for. A courtroom battle between the maker of the iPod and the Beatles’ Apple Corps record label is threatening to take the shine off the US technology firm’s 30th anniversary celebrations today.

The high court heard yesterday that Apple Computer denied any breach of an agreement made 15 years ago that the Californian computer company would not use its apple trademark “in connection with musical content”.

Anthony Grabiner, defending Apple Computer, said the iTunes Music Store did not breach the 1991 agreement as it was merely sending digital files. “Data transmission is within our field of use,” he said, adding that it was not allowed to sell Beatles tracks through iTunes.

It is unlikely that a legal battle with the world’s most famous musicians was on the minds of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak when they started Apple on April Fool’s Day 1976. With their friend Ronald Wayne, they set up the firm from a Californian garage as wide-eyed, technology-obsessed twenty-somethings. And while Apple’s fortunes have endured a rollercoaster ride over the years, their vision of affordable, user-friendly home computers has revolutionised how we live and work.
guardian.co.uk