Blah, blah, blah

January 18, 2008

January 31, 2008

• Snoop Dogg on Bill O’Reilly


(03-29-07)

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National Geographic. “Six Degrees Could Change the World.” SUN FEBRUARY 10 8P et/9P pt

“Diego Garcia is British territory but home to a US military base believed to house so called ‘rendition prisoners.’”

As the US is illegally detaining people on Diego Garcia, the island’s indigenous population is fighting to return home. From 1967 and 1973 the British government forcefully expelled the Islands 2000 inhabitants in order to build the US base. Although UK courts have ruled the expulsions illegal, the Chagossians are still struggling for their right to return home.

“Evangelical donations to Israel are disturbing.” From Haartz

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein efforts have contributed to the increased donations from US conservative Christians. He founded International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), which now boasts a $74 million budget to support Israel and Jewish immigration to Israel.

Evangelicals support Israel because they believe that the second coming of jesus cannot happen without a Jewish state. Despite all the propaganda about Israel in media, the influential televangelist Pat Robertson admitted, “[M]ere political rhetoric does not account for the profound devotion to Israel that exists in the hearts of tens of millions of evangelical Christians.”

Robertson said, “We believe that the emergence of a Jewish state in the land promised by God to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was ordained by God.”

Not every Israeli is comfortable with their donations:

Yet I find the idea of evangelicals donating large sums of money to Israel disturbing, both because of their belief in the “Second Coming” and because of their stated mission: “We know that we must wait for God to bring about the fullness of the kingdom at Christ’s return.”

Why exactly would that be disturbing?
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Fox News just interviewed a senator from South Carolina about Codepink’s recent success at a marine recruiting center in Berkeley, CA. The City Council recommended that the recruiting center leave and they allowed codepink to protest and operate a loud speaker from a designated parking space in front of the recruiting station.

Fox News and Senator DeMented (SC-R) said CodePink and the City Council were not only disrespecting the military (by allowing freedom of speech) but also promoting “the homosexual agenda” (by not supporting the war). Senator Demented said he was working to take away federal funding from the city as punishment for acting on “special interests.”

It’s as though Fox and DeMented just threw together everything neocons hate in attempt to demean the action. It’s all non sequitur, and of course, they didn’t interview City Council officials or Codepink members.

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Bush slashed another $500 million out of the 2008 federal budget for scientific research. This means about 700 science projects are going unfunded. Layoffs occurred at science labs. Many medical researchers are choosing clinical practice over the dwindling federal grant money for research.

Concomitant with education cuts, this lack of support for the scientific community makes it readily apparent why the US is not a leader in scientific innovation or even basic competency.

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