"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands
which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and
equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions
of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these
Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness--That to secure these Rights,
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed,
that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive to these Ends, it is the Right of the People
to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such Principles and organizing
its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness" . . .

http://suetheterrorists.net/
**********

The "Tribunal Movement" Holds Court in Istanbul
Istanbul, Turkey - These are not your average court proceedings. One indication is that the famed novelist and Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy sits on the jury. She is joined by a professor of international law at Princeton, a member of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and an Indian judge.

Welcome to the World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI), which began Thursday in Istanbul, Turkey. This is where some of the world's most powerful leaders are on trial for war crimes in Iraq. But here, the defendants are not present (although American and British embassies in Japan, Brussels, and elsewhere were served summons for the appearance of President Bush and Prime Minister Blair), the Tribunal is composed of scholars, doctors, judges, former UN Staff, artists, and lawyers, and the proceedings are sanctioned by no government or international institution...
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/062605Y.shtml
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FOCUS | British Officials Predicted "Disaster" in Iraq
... "The rewards from your visit to Crawford will be few," Straw wrote in a March 25 memo to Blair stamped "Secret and Personal." "The risks are high, both for you and for the Government."

In public, British officials were declaring their solidarity with the Bush administration's calls for elimination of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. But Straw's memo and seven other secret documents disclosed in recent months by British journalist Michael Smith together reveal a much different picture. Behind the scenes, British officials believed the U.S. administration was already committed to a war that they feared was ill-conceived and illegal and could lead to disaster...
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/062805Z.shtml
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Who Won The War ?
When GW Bush recently told the press, “I'm pleased with the progress” in Iraq, he wasn’t trying for laughs. He was telling the truth. The war against Iraq has been won—and won big—by backers who continue winning more every day. For profit-driven proponents of “perpetual war”, more destruction and chaos means more money can be scooped from wartime windfalls of unregulated cash...
http://www.willthomas.net/Convergence/Weekly/War.htm
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Andrew Greeley | Church Silent on Abuse of Women
Why are there no Catholic sermons, no pastoral letters, no statements from the national hierarchy, no papal encyclicals about the abuse of women? Judging from the almost universal silence of Catholic clergy and hierarchy, there must be no serious sins of abuse of women. The clergy and hierarchy denounce serious sins, right?..
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/062405WA.shtml
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Dahr Jamail | War Crimes
...," said Abbas about his interrogator, "I asked him for water, and he said after the investigation I would get some. He accused me of so many things and asked me so many questions. Among them he said I hated Christians."

He was forced to strip naked shortly after arriving, and remained that way for most of his stay in the prison. "They made us lay on top of each other naked as if it was sex, and beat us with a broom," he said. In addition...
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/062605A.shtml
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main news networks' transcripts from May 1-June 20.
-- ABC News: "Downing Street Memo": 0 segments; "Natalee Holloway": 42 segments; "Michael Jackson": 121 segments.

-- CBS News: "Downing Street Memo": 0 segments; "Natalee Holloway": 70 segments; "Michael Jackson": 235 segments.

-- NBC News: "Downing Street Memo": 6 segments; "Natalee Holloway": 62 segments; "Michael Jackson": 109 segments.

-- CNN: "Downing Street Memo": 30 segments; "Natalee Holloway": 294 segments; "Michael Jackson": 633 segments.

-- Fox News: "Downing Street Memo": 10 segments; "Natalee Holloway": 148 segments; Michael Jackson": 286 segments.

-- MSNBC: "Downing Street Memo": 10 segments; "Natalee Holloway": 30 segments; "Michael Jackson": 106 segments.

When defending these choices, news execs inevitably fall back on the old "we're just giving the people what they want." But are they? Fox News averages around two and a quarter million viewers in primetime; CNN hovers just under a million; MSNBC pulls in a quarter million. We have 280 million people in the country. That means that tens of millions of people actually don't want what they're being given -- and that there are huge slices of audience a real news operation could go after.

The mainstream media regularly confuse interesting with important. What's more, they don't even do the former very well, and they largely ignore the latter.
http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/22291/
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http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/
**********

From Congressman John Conyers Jr. - 7/1/2005
Downing Street Minutes Town Hall Meeting and House Parties
Some of you may have noted that the Washington Post gave the Downing Street Minutes front page coverage in its Tuesday edition. By joining 560,000 others in signing the letter to the president, you are directly responsible for helping to raise the profile of this issue and force the mainstream media to cover it. We are still collecting more signatures for a second delivery to the White House. Click Here for the link to the letter.
**********

The Downing Street Memos are the tip of a very large iceberg.
Check out Greg Palast's Iraq Timeline.
http://www.gregpalast.com/iraqmeetingstimeline.html
**********

FOCUS | Is This What They Call Democracy?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/062705Z.shtml
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Email Forward Of The Week !.
NOT A NEWS STORY... OR IS IT ?
TWO FRIENDS
A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert
During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face.
The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything,
wrote in the sand:

TODAY MY BEST FRIEND
SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath.
The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him.

After he recovered from the near drowning,
he wrote on a stone:
TODAY MY BEST FRIEND
SAVED MY LIFE.

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, "After I hurt you,
 you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?"
The other friend replied
"When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away.
But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone
where no wind can ever erase it."

LEARN TO WRITE
YOUR HURTS IN
THE SAND AND TO
CARVE YOUR
BLESSINGS IN STONE
**********

 Get Busy - Get Involved !
1.   Go to this website (need acrobat) www.usmilitary.about.com/library/pdf/enlistment.pdf

 2.   Print copies of the DD Form 4/1 (it's what's used to enlist).

 3.   Walk through a large parking lot, looking for cars with Bush/Cheney bumper stickers.

 4.   Fold a copy of the form and put it under the windshield.

 5.   Chuckle.

Print a bunch and visit a fundamentalist church this Fourth of July Weekend!
**********

Remember, every minute spent angry is sixty seconds of happiness wasted.

Joke Break !
THIS IS A JOKE,  IT'S NOT A NEWS STORY !
I Miss Your Help Son
An old man lived alone in Idaho. He wanted to spade his potato garden, but it was very hard work. His only son, Bubba, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament.

Dear Bubba, I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won't be able to plant my potato garden this year. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If you were here, all my troubles would
be over. I know you would dig the plot for me. Love Dad

A few days later he received a letter from his son.

Dear Dad, For heaven's sake, dad, don't dig up that garden, that's where I buried the BODIES. Love Bubba

At 4A.M.the next morning, F.B.I. agents and local police showed up and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left. That same day the old man received another letter from his son.

Dear Dad,
Go ahead and plant the potatoes now. That's the best I could do under the circumstances.
 Love Bubba.
**********

Pope John Paul II gets to heaven.
 St. Peter says, "Frankly, you're lucky to be here."
The pope says, "Why?  What did I do wrong on earth?"
St. Peter says, "God was very angry with your stance on women becoming priests."
Pope says, "He's mad about THAT?"
St. Peter says, "She's furious!"
**********

(For more jokes, please visit our jokes page.)
**********

Back To The News
May 19, 2005 is the 1,346th day since the attacks of 9/11.
That is the same length of time from the attack on Pearl Harbor to the end of WWII
on V-J Day (Dec 7, 1941 to Aug 24, 1945).
**********

Former Bush Team Member Says WTC Collapse
Likely A Controlled Demolition And 'Inside Job'
http://www.arcticbeacon.com/articles/article/1518131/27302.htm
**********

From Vote to Impeach.org
September 24: Impeachment March on Washington
Join the Impeachment Contingent at the Next Huge Anti-War Demonstration White House - 12 noon

The next big step for the Impeachment Movement will be on September 24 when more than 100,000 people will descend on Washington DC to the doors of the White House, and in actions in San Francisco and Los Angeles, to demand that George W. Bush and his administration be held accountable for the ongoing lies, deceptions, death, and torture. It is only "politics" that has been a shield for the Bush administration as it attempts to avoid responsibility for its criminal conduct. But the politics of the country are changing rapidly. Bush's approval rating is at an all time low, the number of people opposing the handling of the war has soared to 70%, and a clear majority believe that the Bush administration should never have invaded Iraq to begin with.
(To learn more, please visit their website)
http://www.votetoimpeach.org/
**********

Italian Judge Orders Arrest of 13 CIA Officers - 6/24/2005
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/062405A.shtml
**********

**********

From The Hill
The Newspaper For And About The U.S. Congress
...In a sign of how far relationships on the committee have soured, majority staff recently announced a new policy to deny any request from a committee Democrat for the use of a committee hearing room...
http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/UndertheDome/061405.html
**********

Officers Say Arms Can't End Iraq War
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/061405A.shtml
**********

Spacecraft blows up a comet on July 4th
http://digg.com/science/Spacecraft_blows_up_a_comet_on_July_3rd_4th,_2005
**********

The Duty of the People to Burn the Flag
The government exists to serve us, not to rule us.
http://www.flagburning.org/
**********

Arundhati Roy: The Most Cowardly War in History
Opening Statement of Arundhati Roy on behalf of the jury of conscience of the world tribunal of Iraq.
Istanbul, Turkey - This is the culminating session of the World Tribunal on Iraq. It is of particular significance that it is being held here in Turkey where the United States used Turkish air bases to launch numerous bombing missions to degrade Iraqs defenses before the March 2003 invasion...
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/062505Y.shtml
**********

***** In Today's America There Is A More Powerful Act Than Voting Blue...
And That's Buying Blue ! *****
You may have voted blue, but every day you unknowingly help dump millions of dollars into the conservative war chest. By purchasing products and services from companies that donate heavily to conservatives, we have been compromising our own interests as liberals and progressives.

BuyBlue.org is a concerted effort to lift the veil of corporate patronage, so consumers can make informed buying decisions that coincide with their principles.

Currently, we are developing an extensive and interactive website where users will be able to monitor corporate activity in real time. We cannot do this alone; we need an army of Blue buyers to be the eyes and ears of this movement. All we have to do is put our money where our mouth is to make it profitable to be ethical.

Our collective buying power WILL make a difference, and we WILL be heard.
http://www.buyblue.org/
**********

MoveOn.org Needs Our Help !
We're looking for feedback from MoveOn members about Iraq. Please help us by completing this survey.
Should we work together to begin bringing the troops home, by supporting the Jones-Abercrombie resolution? (The resolution would require the president to put together a plan by the end of the year for bringing home all U.S. forces from Iraq with troop withdrawal beginning no later than October 1, 2006.)

1.) I would support a campaign like that.
2.) MoveOn should work on other priorities, or another approach to what's going on in Iraq.
http://moveonpac.org/pac/iraqsurvey/resolution.html

Editor's Note: Here is how I answered them...
"In the beginning we should have dropped food, not bombs on the people of Iraq. Now... We should pull ALL of our troops out with-in 90 days, start dropping food and medical supplies, and if we lose more soldiers on the way out of Iraq... We should show the world we mean business by holding our Congressmen, Senators and those in our White House who are for this illegal war, accountable for their actions and for the deaths of ALL the American soldiers who have died in that war".
Sincerely,
Rev. Neil Colton
**********