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Half-price bus and tram passes for Londoners on income support are to be financed by an oil deal with a Latin American socialist state. Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, signed a deal with a Venezuelan oil company yesterday for cheap fuel for the capital’s 8,000 buses. In return, his officials will advise on street cleaning and other services. Mr Livingstone said that he would use the discount, worth £16 million a year, to give 250,000 people Oyster smart-cards allowing half-price journeys from July. The real value of the deal for the Mayor is the symbolic link it establishes with...

The Edukators Movie review by Edward Hudgins ehudgins@objectivistcenter.org Another example of how Europeans and Americans are drifting apart culturally and politically can be seen in the film "The Edukators" ("Die Fetten Jahre Sind Vorbei" in German, translated as "The Fat Years Are Over"). This flick comes to American theaters from Austrian-born director Hans Weingartner and it will no doubt delight limousine liberals and the types of self-righteous juveniles who travel to exotic places to protest against globalization on Mom and Dad's credit card. The film focuses on two self-styled radicals—Jan and Peter—who've hit upon a new way to make their...

"As soon as I saw his picture in the paper, I knew that was the bastard," retired Army Col. Charles Scott, 73, a former hostage told the Times. "He was one of the top two or three leaders." Added Scott, "The new president of Iran is a terrorist." Scott is one of at least six former hostages who have stated that they believe the men are one in the same. This is being viewed as an issue that can further complicate an already very complicated situation, as the U.S. seeks to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons and from continuing...

As I have noted in several brief commentaries in the past three weeks since the election of Pope Benedict XVI, each Catholic must pray fervently for the Successor of Saint Peter. We are neither pessimists (sad idiots) or optimists (happy idiots). Catholics are called to grow in the Supernatural Virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity with every beat of their hearts, consecrated as they must be to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Although we must be concerned about the state of the Church in her human elements at present, we have to understand that...

March 6th marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Manhattan town house explosion that killed radical activists Diana Oughton, Ted Gold and Terry Robbins. Oughton, Gold and Robbins were all members of the Weather Underground, a radical offshoot of Students for a Democratic Society, but their revolutionary zeal exceeded their expertise in bomb-making. Had they successfully assembled and transported their bomb instead of blowing themselves up, many more people would be dead. The bomb was intended for a soldiers’ dance at Fort Dix, in New Jersey. The late Diana and her friends wanted to murder soldiers and their dates to express...

The Forbidden Side of ScientologyBy the Reverend Murray Luther, Jan 28, 2005Religious Hard-Sell        A while back, I received a mailer from the Church of Scientology's Citizens Commission on Human Rights. The mailer offered, "You are invited to a CONFIDENTIAL closed-door Briefing and Dinner." I've been a Scientologist long enough to know that what they were really saying. Essentially, the message was "Come to our dinner and give us the opportunity to brow-beat you into giving us thousands of dollars."        L. Ron Hubbard describes this approach as "come-on promotion." The words confidential and closed-door are meant to induce, allure and attract...

The Forbidden Side of ScientologyBy the Reverend Murray Luther, Jan 24, 05Totalitarian Religion        In 2001, following the September 11 attacks, Church of Scientology Chairman of the Board David Miscavige promptly issued Inspector General Network Bulletin No. 44, titled "Wake-up Call." The Church's official position, although not exactly a denial of the facts, completely avoided one issue worth noting. Miscavige made absolutely no mention of the terrorists' radical religious extremism. I suspect that for most Scientologists, extremism is a concept that probably hits too uncomfortably close to home. Your average dedicated Scientologist, while able to perhaps recognize the dangers of suicide...

The Forbidden Side of Scientology By the Reverend Murray Luther, Jan 18, 2005 Unauthorized Correspondent for The Church of ScientologyIndoctrinated Tyranny    One of the first things a new Scientologist encounters when studying Dianetics and Scientology is the absolute authority of L. Ron Hubbard. There's a gradual indoctrination process that takes place in which the Scientologist eventually comes to the realization that everything Hubbard says is absolutely true and completely correct. Sooner or later every Scientologist arrives at a point where Hubbard's word becomes law, not to be questioned.     Every course begins with the same Hubbard Policy Letter, Keeping Scientology...

The Forbidden Side of Scientology By the Reverend Murray Luther, Jan 13, 2005 An Ex-Fanatic Speaks Out     This is the first entry in a series of reports and commentary on the ever controversial Church of Scientology. I've been a member for roughly thirty years, and as of this writing I still remain in good standing. I've received hundreds of hours of Scientology counseling, and have attained some of the highest spiritual levels that it offers. I've also done significant amounts of training in the delivery of Scientology counseling, as well as courses in the administration of Church management policies....

The Santa Cruz anarchists who rent basement space from the Resource Center for Nonviolence have been told to leave. The reason? A clash of philosophies, said Kyle Sirman, at the Anarchist Infoshop. Incompatibility, said Bob Fitch, a Resource Center official. The anarchists have ``been unable to create a continuity of safe and welcoming atmosphere,'' said Fitch, who manages the property. But Sirman said Fitch told the group there was too much traffic and not enough personal hygiene. Some of the complaints, Sirman quoted Fitch as saying, ``had to do with us smelling.'' The Resource Center sells books and bumper stickers,...

    For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces.     Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today!     Part X: Women Revolutionaries   In 1670 Alyona, a former nun, led a troop of rebels who took the Russian town of Temnikov. She was eventually captured by government soldiers and burned at the stake. In Mexico both Zapata's and Pancho Villa's peasant armies included women revolutionaries called "soldaderas" who originated in the ranks of the camp followers who provided water, food, clothing and...

A BRITISH-based company is selling MP3 players which can be attached to an assault rifle. The "AK-MP3" player is built into the ammunition clip of a Kalashnikov and can be swapped with the real magazine. The device is being advertised on the internet by a Buckinghamshire-based company set up by a group of Russian businessmen who sell audio books. It comes with enough storage space to hold 3000 audio books or 9000 songs. Former Russian rock star Andrey Koltakov, a partner in the dotcom company offering the AK-MP3 for sale, said: "This is our bit for world peace - hopefully,...

The year to take America back? Posted: January 1, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com Happy New Year! The party is over. The revelry has ended. Another year has come and gone. The new one is full of promise. Individually we all start with a blank slate and hopes of doing things better than we have done them in the past. We resolve to lead healthier, more productive and more fulfilling lives – to live, and live more abundantly. Those of us who live in the United States are fortunate to have such hope. There are many people in...

The words "conservative revolutionaries" are not a contradiction in terms. I found that out during the question-and-answer period after a recent speech of mine. A member of the audience asked, "What can we do about the problems you spoke about?" Before I could respond, another audience member exclaimed, "The only answer is a revolution!" The audience cheered and clapped. Was this an audience of purple-haired, nose-ringed, anti-capitalist haters of America? Hardly. It was an audience of successful, highly intelligent scientists and physicians. They were well-versed in not only science and medicine but also in economics, history and the founding principles...

Thousands of serious activists are giving thought to all questions related to the development of an anti-war movement that can strike even more powerful blows against this latest round of imperialist wars. This article represents an effort to directly confront the most serious questions related to the development of the anti-war movement.

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- Mourners in ragged clothing wept and laid flowers Friday over 14 caskets containing the bodies of people killed when a rebel mortar struck Bogota's skid row during this week's presidential inauguration. Hundreds of people milled around the caskets, which were laid out on the sidewalk of this impoverished neighborhood. Seven of the coffins contained bodies that had not been identified. One woman looked among the caskets for the body of her dead son, who was apparently decapitated in the blast. Peering through the glass of the casket bearing her son's name, Maria Acevedo said to no...

Credenda-Agenda Volume 13, Issue 6 SimilitudesYou Say You Want a Revolution Douglas Wilson I am Chaos. I am the primordial tumult that underlies civilization, and I am the reason for perpetual revolution. Order and structure proceed from me, arising spontaneously, and depend upon me. I manifest order, showing that I can do so, but beneath, above, behind, and before is the ultimacy of whirl. And even when such orders develop and grow, they soon forget their maker and source, and so they grow stale, old, complacent, self-assured, and arrogant. And so, I, Chaos, extend my power once again, and revolution...