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NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico (AP) - Mourners honored Friday a border police chief gunned down just hours after taking over the post, while President Vicente Fox's spokesman said the United States shares some responsibility for the problem of border violence.'snip'Speaking to reporters in Mexico City, presedential spokesman Ruben Aguilar said the federal government "recognizes the violence in the northern region. It can't be ignored."This is a problem in which the United States also shares responsibility, and that can be solved only through the mutual action of both countries," aguilar said.Aguilar conceded that there had been "a breakdown of society in some...

I don't watch the Bill Maher show on HBO. I haven't thought much about him since he had a show on ABC and implied that the 9/11 attackers were courageous for flying hijacked planes into buildings and killing 3,000 people. At the same time, Maher said that the U.S. was cowardly for attacking terrorist bases in Afghanistan by launching cruise missiles from ships at sea. He is supposed to be a comedian but also tries to come across as someone who makes serious and thoughtful points about political issues. We had to take another look at Maher because after he...

Most Americans have not been paying attention to the bureaucratic wrangling and political jockeying that has plagued the construction of the World Trade Center Memorial at Ground Zero in lower Manhattan. But it’s not just New Yorkers and developers and 9/11 families who should care. A good portion of the project is federally subsidized. All of us have not only a financial stake, but also a moral stake, in protecting the honor of the victims­ and the dignity of our country. A Blame America Monument is not what we need or deserve. But it looks like one is already in...

Doctors in Belgium recently released an injured Iraqi girl who was wounded during the US invasion. The hospital billed the US embassy. One of the docs said, "I bet they won't pay." The bill is 66K. I thought maybe we could raise the money (using our tax returns) and pay it off with a little extra for the girl to show this moron up. Any takers? Anyone wanna get a .org going and get this taken care of real quick? If we could raise 60K+ for this website, don't ya think this is worth it - help an Iraqi girl...

Maggie Gyllenhaal has waded into sensitive political waters by raising questions about Sept. 11 and American foreign policy. The 27-year-old actress, who stars in a new film about the 2001 terror attacks on the World Trade Center, said in an interview last week that the United States "is responsible in some way" for the attacks.

STATEMENT BY SENATOR EDWARD M. KENNEDY ON ANNIVERSARY OF ABU GHRAIB SCANDAL The sad anniversary of the Abu Ghraib torture scandal is now upon us. It's an appropriate time to reflect on how well we've responded as a nation. The images of cruelty, and perversion are still difficult to look at a year later. An Iraqi prisoner in a dark hood and cape, standing on a cardboard box with electrodes attached to his body. Naked men forced to simulate sex acts on each other. The corpse of a man who had been beaten to death, lying in ice, next to...

Once again, the NYTIMES is using the catch-22 agains the US - damned if you do (Iraq), damned if you don't (Sudan). Clown boy's article claims that MTV has been more outspoken and active on Sudan than Bush. The author doesn't mention once the UN, French, Canadian, and Chinese misteps on this issue of course. Bush is writing another chapter of looking the other way on geocide in Sudan. "President Bush seems paralyzed in the face of the slaughter. He has done a fine job of providing humanitarian relief, but he has refused to confront Sudan forcefully or raise the...

In the absence of God, blame has become our prevailing religion FIRST COMES the horror, the chilling horror of the disaster. Then comes the craving for statistics, as if to calibrate a response. Then come the anecdotes, the charity and finally the blame. None is so compelling as the blame. Blame somehow softens the horror. It mutates charity into insurance. There will be post mortems aplenty on the Indian Ocean tsunami. That the world could organise a warning system for the Pacific Ocean because it borders Japan and America but not for the poorer Indian Ocean will be deplored. So...

I was watching CNN's Inside Politics today (no transcript up yet) and they had a panel on - someone from the Washington Post, LA Times (Ron Brownstein) and Time magazine (Karen Tumulty). They were discussing our response to the disaster and the host of the program mentioned that the UN called our response "stingy". Then the panel went on to talk about how we "fumbled" this and were basically AWOL for one day. This just really made my blood boil. What have other countries done? The Brits say over 10,000 of their citizens were on holiday in that area. It's...

Americans weigh down cruise ship 07dec04 DOZENS of seats on the world's most luxurious cruise liner have collapsed under the weight of obese American passengers. The chairs -- on the Queen Mary 2 -- are being replaced or repaired. The seating is mainly in the bar and restaurant areas. Alstom Chantiers, the French company that provided the liner with all its fixtures and fittings, claimed many of the chairs had buckled under the weight of larger passengers. "There are some things that need to be changed or replaced," said a spokesman. "For instance, there are some problems with the chairs...

NEVER MIND FACTS,BLAME AMERICAInstead Of Waiting For Full Story, Kerry Gins Up His Attack Machine Based On Flawed New York Times Reporting________________________________________________NEW YORK TIMES’ INK BARELY DRY BEFORE KERRY ON ATTACKBefore 1:30 am Monday Morning, Kerry Campaign Advisor Joe Lockhart Alleged Cover Up.  “Today, the Bush administration must answer for what may be the most grave and catastrophic mistake in a tragic series of blunders in Iraq. How did they fail to secure nearly 380 tons of known, deadly explosives despite clear warnings from the International Atomic Energy Agency to do so?   And why was this information unearthed by reporters...

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Alan Keyes said Monday that women who choose to undergo abortions and the physicians who perform the procedure are essentially terrorists because "the evil is the same." The remarks came as Keyes was explaining why three months ago he said that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were a "warning" from God to "wake up" and stop "the evil" of abortion. "Now, you think it's a coincidence that on September 11th, 2001, we were struck by terrorists an evil that has at its heart the disregard of innocent human life?" Keyes said in a May 7 speech...

Elton John has said stars are scared to speak out against war in Iraq because of "bullying tactics" used by the US government to hinder free speech. "There's an atmosphere of fear in America right now that is deadly. Everyone is too career-conscious," he told New York magazine, Interview. Sir Elton said performers could be "frightened by the current administration's bullying tactics", The singer likened the current "fear factor" to McCarthyism in the 1950s. "There was a moment about a year ago when you couldn't say a word about anything in this country for fear of your career being shot...

The singer who brought us Nipplegate feels that she’s the victim of “a plot by conservative forces” in the U.S. according to the Sunday Express of London. “I was used just to take the attention off what was really going on in the world,” Jackson told the paper. “A lot of things that actually happened, the after-effects, all that was already on the desk but everyone’s trying to point the finger, ‘See what you did, see what you did.’ I didn’t do anything. It was going to happen at some point with someone, it just so happened to be me....

While Americans and Iraqis cheered when Saddam Hussein was dragged from his spider hole in December, there were, obviously, a few notable exceptions. While Saddam loyalists and anti-American Arabs pouted in gloom and doom, back in the U.S. an anti-American poetry hit parade, entitled “My America,” was held shortly after Saddam’s capture. It was the grand finale of San Francisco State University’s fall semester. Even as TV screens showed the captured Hitler of the Middle East in all his pathetic, unkempt glory, the anti-war show on campus continued. As a part of the Creative Writing Department curriculum, more than a hundred and fifty SFSU students...

Given Jon Kerry's now front running status, I thought it would be important to go back and look at his immediate post 911 comments on Fox News Sunday. He rolled out the classic blame America line and implied we were contributory in provoking attacks by our hostility and policies that alienated people. Here's the interview transcript: SNOW: Senator Kerry, earlier on the broadcast -- I want to go back to something you mentioned earlier. Earlier on the broadcast, Attorney General Ashcroft was talking about a series of changes he thinks we need to do to improve our domestic vigilance. You...

Today, we're not asking you to contact your Congressman or Senators to stop another liberal bill. We're not asking you to sign a petition to support a conservative cause. We're not even asking you to donate to a worthy conservative candidate for office. Nope... we're just asking you to throw a party. http://www.rightmarch.net Not a huge party, just a small gathering of your friends, family and acquaintances of your own choosing. No strangers will show up unannounced (unless your friends invite them!). What we're doing is countering an action that the far left group MoveOn.org is spearheading -- "house parties"...

BLAME AMERICA REDUX “I think this President has made a reckless blunder and we are now targets in Iraq….We are in trouble and need the help of all the countries the president insulted before the war in Iraq.” --Howard Dean (September 8, 2003) It’s time to take a step back from the smug, sanctimonious “see-I-told-you-so” rhetoric on Iraq that is dominating the media landscape. Opportunistic Democrats, anti-war radicals, and their friends at the New York Times editorial page have been glowing of late. The more the situation in Iraq seems to be deteriorating, the more gleeful these elites are. Does...

In pursuit of ethnic harmony Waukesha activists seek to end racism by 2006 By SCOTT WILLIAMSswilliams@journalsentinel.com Last Updated: July 30, 2003 Waukesha - Convinced that American racism played a role in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Waukesha County activists are planning a major new effort to promote racial and ethnic harmony. Quotable We need to understand the world; we need to accept theworld. - Mary Baer,co-chairwoman of the Waukesha County Diversity Task Force The kickoff date: the second anniversary of the day of horror. A coalition that includes the YWCA of Waukesha, Waukesha School District and many other groups will...