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Usman Majeed | 1 Aug 2003 01:00
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Voting Systems 'Can't be Trusted'

From http://truthout.org/docs_03/073103F.shtml
Voting Systems 'Can't be Trusted'
  Machines at risk for fraud, hacking
  By Susan Greene
  The Denver Post

  Wednesday 30 July 2003

  Dangling chads, nothing.

  Florida's voting snafus during the 2000 presidential election pale in
comparison to the vulnerabilities of high-tech voting machines counties
throughout the nation are scrambling to buy in compliance with a new federal
law, several top computer scientists are warning.

  "What we know is that the machines can't be trusted. It's an unlocked bank
vault ..., a disaster waiting to happen," said David Dill, a Stanford
University computer science professor who has prompted more than 110 fellow
scientists to sign a petition calling for more accountability in voting
technology.

  The researchers fear that problems with software systems will result in
hacking and voter fraud, allowing people to cast extra votes and poll
workers to alter ballots undetected.

  Others dismiss such warnings as paranoid conspiracy theories.

  "It's fear-mongering by a few people who want to go back to the 19th
century-way of voting," Adams County Clerk and Recorder Carol Snyder said.
(Continue reading)

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Usman Majeed | 1 Aug 2003 01:02
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FW: Fw: MONBIOT: AMERICA IS A RELIGION Behalf of Cornet


------ Forwarded Message
From: Connexions <CornetJoyce <at> connexions.nu>

> The motto on the seal proposed by Franklin and Jefferson was Rebellion to
> Tyrants is Obedience to God, quoting Bradshaw, who presided over the trial
> that convicted Charles Stuart in 1649. The motto was the operative part of it
> and after congress turned the idea down, Jefferson used it as his personal
> seal. The quote was cherished by the radical abolitionists who thought they
> were in league with Heaven while German professors of the same era thought
> they were in league with "History" and English gentlemen thought they were in
> league with both, expecting and receiving the deference of the lower classes.

              CJ

> As Clifford Longley shows in his fascinating book Chosen People, published
> last year, the founding fathers of the USA, though they sometimes
> professed otherwise, sensed that they were guided by a divine purpose.
> Thomas Jefferson argued that the Great Seal of the United States should
> depict the Israelites, "led by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by
> night". George Washington claimed, in his inaugural address, that every
> step towards independence was "distinguished by some token of providential
> agency". Longley argues that the formation of the American identity was
> part of a process of "supersession". The Roman Catholic church claimed
> that it had supplanted the Jews as the elect, as the Jews had been
> repudiated by God. The English Protestants accused the Catholics of
> breaking faith, and claimed that they had become the beloved of God. The
> American revolutionaries believed that the English, in turn, had broken
> their covenant: the Americans had now become the chosen people, with a
> divine duty to deliver the world to God's dominion. Six weeks ago, as if
(Continue reading)

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shniad | 1 Aug 2003 01:06
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Terms of engagement

http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/margolis_jul27.html 

July 27, 2003 

Terms of engagement 

Herewith, definitions to keep on top of current events 

By Eric Margolis -- Contributing Foreign Editor 

It's very difficult keeping up with Mideast news due to the Orwellian
newspeak coming from Washington. 

So here's a handy list of key terms, translated into simple English. 

* Liberation - Invasion. 

* Coalition - The U.S. and British invaders, plus some troops from
rent-a-nations like Romania and Poland. In the past, "the coalition" would
have been called imperial forces and mercenary auxiliaries. 

* Dictator - A ruler you don't like, or who does not cooperate. 

* Statesman - A cooperative dictator. 

* Stability - when things go the way Uncle Sam likes, ie., the status quo. 

* Instability - when things don't go the way Unc Sam wants, ie., when
trouble-makers try to change the status quo.
(Continue reading)

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shniad | 1 Aug 2003 01:06
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Dying in Iraq

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/31/opinion/31HERB.html

New York Times	  July 31, 2003 

Dying in Iraq 

By Bob Herbert 

Those are good kids that we're sending into the shooting gallery called
Iraq, and unless you have the conviction of a Bush or a Rumsfeld or a
Bechtel or a Halliburton, you have to be nursing the sick feeling that each
death is a tragic waste, and that this conflict is as much of a fool's
errand as the war in Vietnam. 

Despite the deceit and chronic dissembling of their political leaders in
Washington, and the wretched conditions on the ground in Iraq, the young men
and women are fighting bravely. So there was Gov. George Pataki earlier this
week with the unhappy task of asking for a moment of silence in remembrance
of Sgt. Heath McMillin, a 29-year-old National Guardsman from Clifton
Springs in upstate New York. 

Sergeant McMillin was killed on Sunday when his unit was attacked while on
patrol south of Baghdad. 

Over the weekend The New York Times had an article about the close-knit
family of Cpl. Travis J. Bradach-Nall, a 21-year-old marine from Portland,
Ore., who was killed on July 1 while clearing mines in south-central Iraq.
The corporal loved tattoos, and his favorite movie was "Ghostbusters." The
article was accompanied by a photo showing his brother and three cousins
with memorial "Ghostbusters" tattoos.
(Continue reading)

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shniad | 1 Aug 2003 01:06
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Iraq and the Broader War - Stratfor

THE STRATFOR WEEKLY: 

Iraq and the Broader War 

28 July 2003: Summary 

The failure of the United States to achieve a decisive victory in Iraq would
have substantial consequences. The deaths of Qusai and Odai Hussein last
week reflect the American belief that decapitating the guerrilla movement
might be decisive. So far, the tempo of operations by the guerrillas has not
declined, but that means nothing yet; it might take time for the effect of
the two deaths to ripple through the system. Nevertheless, it is possible
that the Hussein brothers were not critical to guerrilla operations. Indeed,
it is possible that those operations are designed to continue without
centralized leadership. Bringing the guerrillas under control could be a
daunting task, but the current disarray within the Bush administration makes
it much harder to achieve. 

Analysis 

The Stratfor Weekly is supposed to focus on the most important geopolitical
issue of the week. The last six have been about Iraq; this will make the
seventh. Certainly, there are a great many things happening in the world.
However, our apparent obsession with Iraq reflects our conviction that Iraq,
right now, is the pivot of the international geopolitical system. A global
war is under way between the United States and militant Islam. That war is
reshaping the international system. As with the Cold War or World War II, a
host of relationships in the international system are aligning themselves
along the axis defined by the war. The Iraqi campaign is a subset of that
global war; however, it is a critical subset because the outcome of that
(Continue reading)

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shniad | 1 Aug 2003 01:05
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Security wall will be built, Sharon says

Globe and Mail	   July 30, 2003

Security wall will be built, Sharon says

Israeli PM ignores White House concerns, vows to 'minimize' effect on
Palestinians

By Paul Koring

Washington -- Brushing off U.S. President George W. Bush's view that a wall
winding through the West Bank is an obstacle to peace, Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon vowed yesterday to keep erecting the so-called
security fence.

The "security fence will continue to be built," said Mr. Sharon, after talks
with Mr. Bush only four days after his counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, made the
first-ever high-level Palestinian visit to the Bush White House.

During Mr. Abbas's visit, the President bluntly called the security fence a
"problem," adding that "it is very difficult to develop confidence between
the Palestinians and Israel with a wall snaking through the West Bank."

Whether Mr. Bush pressed Mr. Sharon to suspend construction of the fence
during their private talks remains unclear, but Mr. Sharon offered the
President and the Palestinians very little in his public comments on the
issue.

He said Israel would make "every effort to minimize the infringement on the
daily life of the Palestinian population" but gave no specifics.
(Continue reading)

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shniad | 1 Aug 2003 01:06
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Why the US needs the Taliban

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/EG30Ag01.html

Why the US needs the Taliban

By Ramtanu Maitra 

Since Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf made his much-acclaimed
visit to Camp David and met US President George W Bush on June 24, new
elements have begun to emerge in the Afghan theater. US troops in
Afghanistan are now encountering more enemy attacks than ever before, and
clashes between Pakistani and Afghan troops along the tribal borders have
been reported regularly. 

On July 16, speaking to Electronic Telegraph of the United Kingdom, US troop
commander General Frank "Buster" Hagenbeck, based at Bagram Air Base in
Afghanistan, reported increased attacks over recent weeks on US and Afghan
forces by the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other anti-US groups that have joined
hands. He also revealed some other very interesting information: the Taliban
and its allies have regrouped in Pakistan and are recruiting fighters from
religious schools in Quetta in a campaign funded by drug trafficking.
Hagenbeck also said that these enemies of US and Afghan forces have been
joined by Al-Qaeda commanders who are establishing new cells and sponsoring
the attempted capture of American troops. One other piece of news of import
from Hagenbeck is that the Taliban have seized whole swathes of the country.

Reliable intelligence

Hagenbeck's statements were virtually ignored in Washington. Also ignored
were a number of similar statements issued from Kabul by Afghan President
Hamid Karzai and his cabinet colleagues. On July 17, presidential spokesman
(Continue reading)

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shniad | 1 Aug 2003 01:07
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Behind the Hudna Scenes

http://indymedia.org.il/imc/webcast/print.php3?article_id=62125 

Independent Media Center, Israel 

Behind the Hudna Scenes 

Ran HaCohen 

Summary 

The truth should be said: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is far from
ending. The parties' visions and expectations are incommensurable. In the
long term, the Palestinians expect the evacuation of Israeli settlements;
Sharon - take my word for it - will never dismantle a single settlement, and
won't even freeze settlement activity; he says it over and over again. 

------------------------------------------------------ -------------------- 

July 24, 2003 

Behind the Hudna Scenes 

by Ran HaCohen 

The Palestinians have now reached a so-called Hudna, or internal cease-fire.
Armed resistance to the occupation, as well as terror attacks on Israeli
citizens, have fallen to a minimum: there has not been any massive terror
attack since the 11th of June, considerably longer than the "seven days of
quiet" demanded in the past by PM Sharon as a precondition before
demonstrating his promised "painful concessions".
(Continue reading)

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Hans Ehrbar | 1 Aug 2003 01:20
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[shniad <at> sfu.ca: Security wall will be built, Sharon says]

------- Start of forwarded message -------
Globe and Mail	   July 30, 2003

Security wall will be built, Sharon says

Israeli PM ignores White House concerns, vows to 'minimize' effect on
Palestinians

By Paul Koring

Washington -- Brushing off U.S. President George W. Bush's view that a wall
winding through the West Bank is an obstacle to peace, Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon vowed yesterday to keep erecting the so-called
security fence.

The "security fence will continue to be built," said Mr. Sharon, after talks
with Mr. Bush only four days after his counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, made the
first-ever high-level Palestinian visit to the Bush White House.

During Mr. Abbas's visit, the President bluntly called the security fence a
"problem," adding that "it is very difficult to develop confidence between
the Palestinians and Israel with a wall snaking through the West Bank."

Whether Mr. Bush pressed Mr. Sharon to suspend construction of the fence
during their private talks remains unclear, but Mr. Sharon offered the
President and the Palestinians very little in his public comments on the
issue.

He said Israel would make "every effort to minimize the infringement on the
daily life of the Palestinian population" but gave no specifics.
(Continue reading)

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Yoshie Furuhashi | 1 Aug 2003 19:18
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Wed., 8/6: Commemorating Hiroshima & Nagasaki (OH)

--- August 6, 2003, 7:30 PM ---

Columbus Campaign for Arms Control
Annual Commemoration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki:
When Will We Ever Learn?

Date & Time: August 6, 7:30 PM
Location: Battelle Riverfront Park, Marconi Blvd. and West Broad St. 
(2 blocks west of the State House), Columbus, OH
Map: <http://www.service.ohio-state.edu/students/sif/riverfrontpark.gif>

In memory of Sadako, fold paper cranes, write your message (e.g., 
Bring the Troops Home Now, End the Occupations) to President Bush on 
the wings of the paper cranes, and bring them to the commemoration -- 
we'll collect and send them to President Bush!
How to Fold a Paper Crane: 
<http://www.service.ohio-state.edu/students/sif/cranes.gif>

Commemoration Program:

Opening Music -- Dave Hawkins
Welcome -- The Rev. Les Stansbery
"Enola Gay Pilot Paul Tibbets and Us"
Music -- Brian Griffin
 From Hiroshima and Nagasaki to Kabul and Baghdad -- Yoshie Furuhashi, 
CCAC, Solidarity, Al-Awda-Ohio, and United for Peace and Justice
Poetry -- Is Said
Human Costs of Depleted Uranium -- Connie Hammond, CCAC, the National 
Network to End the War Against Iraq
Music -- Janet McLaughlin, the Central Ohio Group for a U.S.
(Continue reading)

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Gmane