THE HEADLINES

Logo of Free Syrian Army rebel group which claims responsibiflity for bombing of Syrian government offices -- (Image courtesy Wikipedia.)

TERRORISTS PLAYING AROUND THE POWDER KEG IN THE CONFLICT BETWEEN ISRAEL AND SYRIA.

(Asia Times)

This is the view of Victor Kotsev in noting that the “fog of war” has descended on the Middle East with the pair of bombings of Israeli tourists in Bulgaria and members of the Assad government in Damascus. While a long-rumored Israeli-U.S. strike against Syria’s “weapons of mass destruction” seems yet far-fetched at the moment, the suspicions and accusations of foreign intelligence agency involvements escalates to a degree the possibility that a disastrous military confrontation could emerge from this “fog.”

`

WIKI-LEAKS: MAY BE BEST TO STAY OUT OFCOSTA RICA.

(Tico Times)

Journalists and freedom of information activists decry and seek to modify a just-enacted “reform” in the country’s Penal Code that specifies 4-8 years of imprisonment for anyone who obtains any government documents without official authorization. Critics cite the “reform’s” inconsistency with “international jurisprudence” on the subject, as if this alleged jurisprudence has protected the likes of Bradly Manning or Julian Assange. How many violators can crowd into Ecuador’s embassy in San Jose?

`

“IS THIS THE BEST USE OF THE TAXPAYER’S MONEY TO GET MORE MEN AND WOMEN TO SERVE IN OUR UNIFORMED SERVICES?”

(USA Today)

An official of Taxpayers for Common Sense asks this as he expresses support, along with other fiscal conservatives, for an amendment to the military budget that would ban military expenditures to become “sponsors” of the likes of NASCAR. The amendment failed in the House by the narrowest of margins, as critics point to “evidence” (the validity of which is questioned) that very few people actually join the military because of these mass media influences.

`

WHEN GREEN JUST ISN’T GREEN ENOUGH—THE FUTURE OF SEATTLE’S LIVING BUILDINGS.

(Seattle Times)

The city is embarked on an ambitous project to construct down-town “Living Buildings” that are touted as the most ecologically green buildings on the planet, able for example to produce as much energy as they consume. Project development flounders as “exceptions” are allowed to elements of the building codes like limits on the permissible heights of buildings. Even officials of the Bullitt Foundation, the spearhead of the movement, have joined in complaints that the plans are just not working out as “green” as they were intended to be.

`

WHY DEFENSE LAWYERS DON’T LIKE THEIR CLIENTS TO GIVE TV INTERVIEWS.

(Orlando Sentinel)

A clinic on this matter is furnished with an interview by Sean Hannity on Fox News with George Zimmerman, who is awaiting trial for the death of Trayvon Martin. Local defense attorneys assert that Zimmerman did himself no good and much potential harm as prosecutors will cite “inconsistencies” in his story and his indication that God had directed him to do his deed. Then why did he do it? Apparently for the money, as his defense team is scraping near the bottom of its barrel with declining contributions to his defense fund.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Quote of the day…

The fetishization of voting is part of the larger African American imperative to “get in the game” even when you know its rigged. It is as if history has bequeathed Blacks a racial and personal responsibility to redress centuries of social, political and economic exclusion. We must participate, because the ancestors could not. In some silly Black social circles, this means the obligation to ski.

Glen Ford, on how corporate-oriented black “leaders” have drawn into their support African-Americans with whom they have no real identity of interest.