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Faced with outrage over airing a video showing terrorists shooting and killing American soldiers in Iraq, CNN is auctioning off a Hummer it used to cover the liberation of Iraq in order to raise money for wounded vets. On January 20, the Hummer will be auctioned off by Barrett-Jackson Auction Co. in Scottsdale, Ariz. "We'll be donating all the proceeds to the Fisher House Foundation," said Jennifer L. Martin, a spokesperson for CNN. Fisher House is a program that provides humanitarian assistance to veterans of the Iraq War and their families. This announcement comes as the Stoney Creek Hospitality Corporation,...

It’s the Sunni Head Choppers vs Shiite Head Cutters. The epic battle of Bad Muslim vs Bad Muslim has made it’s way to the good ole U S of A! While Nancy Pelosi's Democratic Party's Chief of Intelligence is still trying to figure out the difference between Sunni and Shiite Muslims are in the wide world of Islamic Fundemtalism/Terrorism, the sectarian violence that has haunted the Bush administrations plans for peace in Iraq, have finally found their way to our own backyard in my home state of Michigan in Jihad central itself, Dearborn or as we have come to know...

The death toll for U.S. soldiers in Iraq has reached 3,000, a number that's both unbearable and, compared to previous military operations, a pittance. War can make poets. The British World War I soldier Wilfred Owen had lived as a minor disciple of literary giants until he was thrust into the abattoir of Europe's cataclysmic war to discover the brutal theme of his art. "Nor is it about deeds, or lands, nor anything about glory, honour, might, majesty, dominion, or power, except War," he wrote. "My subject is War, and the pity of War." The war invested meaning into his...

Muslims gathered for prayer in Baton Rouge said Saturday morning that they are upset deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s execution was carried out on a holy day. At the New Islamic Center of Baton Rouge at 235 E. Airport Ave., a congregation of a few hundred knelt and faced toward Mecca in prayer as Eid al-Adha, the most important feast of the Muslim calendar, got under way. Also known as the Festival of Sacrifice, it commemorates the Prophet Abraham’s willingness to forfeit all things to God, including the life of his son, Ishmael. “An execution on this holy day sends...

We can't publish from this rag so here's a link strictly for the purpose of voting: http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage Look for it next to the picture of a gesticulating Saddam.

Iraq's army has "opened its doors" to all former members of Saddam Hussein's army, the prime minister said Saturday at a national reconciliation conference boycotted by one of his main Shiite allies, a major Sunni group and Iraq's exiled opposition. Despite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's effort to reach out to Iraq's Sunni Arabs and some former members of Saddam's outlawed Baath Party, the gathering was overshadowed by rising sectarian tensions and political divisions. The radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, one of al-Maliki's key political backers — refused to attend the meeting, as did a major Sunni group and former Prime...

***Actual comments from www.democraticunderground.com:*** "Evidence suggests Iran gassed the Kurds as an act of war, and in any event, the US Government has killed more Iraqis than Saddam's regime ever did." "The US is complicit in the making of Saddam, and...Bush and his corporate fascists have butchered hundreds of thousands of people so that they could secure the fortunes of thier elitist families and friends. There is little difference between the two - oh, except the latter controls the propaganda machine." "If this is what Saddam deserves then a whole bunch of Americans deserve the same thing, for exactly the...

The UN on Sunday criticized the decision to sentence Saddam Hussein to death, calling upon local authorities to refuse the to hang the ex-leader. UN Human Rights Commission head Louise Arbour said that the "appeal process is reliable and a vital part of the fair judicial procedure." Army Radio reported. She said that "the results of the appeal will what they will be," and Arbour expressed hope that the Iraqi government would suspend its death sentence.

Saddam Hussein's defence team has drafted a letter to US President George W. Bush warning of dire consequences if an Iraqi court issues a verdict against the ousted Iraqi president for crimes against humanity. In a copy of the letter received by AFP in Jordan on Sunday, lead Iraqi lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi also urged Bush to set free Saddam and put an end to the trial which he described again as illegal and a farce. "We believe that it is necessary to stop this farcical trial and set free President Saddam Hussein, and all the prisoners, because this is...

Remember the "Arab street," that riot-in-the-road featuring flammable Israeli flags, Saddam Hussein posters, clenched fists and chants threatening "Death to America"? The street may have lacked pavement and a fire hydrant, but it had beaucoup television cameras. Flames, clenched fists and death threats -- a heart-pounding collage of sensational imagery and rhetoric. What more could a TV exec need to attract audience eyeballs? Recall the talking heads who told us in 1990, after Saddam invaded Kuwait, that "the Arab street" was going to rise en masse, as an ur-proletariat, which would support Saddam against the West. If you need documentation,...

SNIPOscar-winning doc filmmaker Barbara Kopple ("Harlan County USA," "American Dream") teamed up with collaborator Cecilia Peck to co-direct a behind the scenes look at the best-selling female group of all time, "The Dixie Chicks." The film, "Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing" was initially envisioned as a much more modest project, according to the band's Natalie Maines who spoke at a press conference this week at the Toronto International Film Festival. "We originally thought of having a filmmaker [to capture footage] for ourselves or as a supplement to some concert DVD release," said Maines. But Maines' now famous off-handed comment...

EW's Chris Willman got a sneak peek at the Dixie Chicks' sure-to-be-controversial documentary ''Shut Up and Sing,'' in which Natalie Maines calls the president a ''dumb f---''

It's been more than three years since the Dixie Chicks sparked a media firestorm by announcing they were "ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas." Now, the embattled country stars are reigniting the blaze with a highly controversial documentary featuring lead singer Natalie Maines calling President Bush a "dumb f---." According to Entertainment Weekly, one memorable scene from "Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing" shows the singers watching a news report on President Bush's reaction to their infamous on-stage comment. In the report, Bush says ''the Dixie Chicks are free to speak their mind,'' adding, ''they shouldn't...

The percentage of Americans who blame the Bush administration for the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington has risen from almost a third to almost half over the past four years, a CNN poll released Monday found. Asked whether they blame the Bush administration for the attacks, 45 percent said either a "great deal" or a "moderate amount," up from 32 percent in a June 2002 CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll. But the Clinton administration did not get off lightly either. The latest poll, conducted by Opinion Research Corporation for CNN, found that 41 percent of respondents blamed his...

Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck have crafted an insightful and heartfelt look at the experiences of the Dixie Chicks over the last three years, chronicling the often bizarre consequences of singer Natalie Maines' anti-Bush wisecrack on a London stage. Maines' statement is captured in "Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing," as are the meetings where they plot how to circumvent the core country audience and, eventually, how to reroute a tour and cancel shows due to poor ticket sales. It's the rare thorough documentary on a musical act whose dilemmas are faced in the here and now, one that should...

More than 20,000 Dixie Chicks fans in Houston bought the band's latest album, the 1.5 million-selling Taking the Long Way. That much is clear, along with the fact that the Dixie Chicks' Houston concert date was canceled. The promoter blames the radio stations. Initial reports cited slow ticket sales. But tickets for the Toyota Center show never went on sale. The country radio stations credit their listeners with the cancellation and blame the Chicks for a bad attitude. The fans will have to book trips to Dallas or Austin. Louis Messina, president of the Messina Group, the Houston-based concert promoter...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Several concerts on the Dixie Chicks' "Accidents & Accusations" tour have been canceled after slow ticket sales, but the group says it has replaced them with other dates. Kansas City, Houston, St. Louis, Memphis and Knoxville are among 14 cities no longer on the original schedule released in May, according to a revised itinerary posted Thursday on the Dixie Chick's Web site. Other shows, including Nashville, Los Angeles, Denver and Phoenix, have been pushed back to later dates. The North American leg of the tour kicked off July 21 in Detroit. Billboard magazine and other trade publications...

Defense lawyers for Saddam Hussein released a letter on Thursday that he recently wrote in prison that attempts to persuade the American people to demand a troop pullout because President Bush misled them into the Iraq war. The 5,000-word letter is a rambling treatise outlining what Mr. Hussein asserts are the false reasons that the Bush administration used to justify the war in Iraq, from weapons of mass destruction to Iraqi links with Al Qaeda. Mr. Hussein blames Iran and pro-Israel interests for helping lead the Americans into war. He invokes the specter of Vietnam and the spirit of Mao...

WALNUT CREEK - Local peace groups are upset over California Homeland Security's intelligence-gathering before a March 18 anti-war rally in Walnut Creek. Ivette Maruri, who recently started up a Contra Costa chapter of Code Pink, a women's peace organization, said she could not believe the government would spend taxpayer dollars to monitor her group. "There's a lot of people who want to come to a protest, but they're scared that the government is watching you, so they don't come," Maruri said. "It's just really intimidating to people." The state's March 7 report included a list of 10 "upcoming California protests."...

"A lot of pandering started going on, and you'd see soldiers and the American flag in every video. It became a sickening display of ultra-patriotism." "The entire country may disagree with me, but I don't understand the necessity for patriotism," Maines resumes, through gritted teeth. "Why do you have to be a patriot? About what? This land is our land? Why? You can like where you live and like your life, but as for loving the whole country… I don't see why people care about patriotism."