Ordered to kill unarmed Iraqi, U.S. soldier testifies

BAGHDAD – A U.S. soldier cried today as he told a court martial that his staff sergeant ordered him to shoot an unarmed Iraqi. He said the sergeant then laughed and told the trooper to finish the job as the dying man convulsed on the ground.
The military reported, meanwhile, that it had opened an investigation into the deaths of five women and four children this week in a village where American forces had carried out ground and air assaults.
Both incidents took place in a region south of the capital known as the triangle of death, a Sunni-dominated area that has seen some of the war's heaviest fighting and most gruesome deaths.
Prosecutors claim the first case involved the killing of an Iraqi man with a 9-mm pistol, placing an AK-47 rifle by his body to make it seem as though he was armed, and failing to ensure humane treatment of a detainee, the victim.....

Way to go "Liberators"!

President of Columbia University humiliated by Ahmadinejad

Although I hate the guy, I think Ahmadinejad truly sh*tted on the truly idiot president of Columbia University, despite the fact that many things, not all, of what the President of the university said about Iran were true. But the guy clearly showed his pathetic double standards when he basically ignored the similar crimes committed by the United States, especially when he was, correctly quoting Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch about Iran. He should be reminded that the same organizations have regularly accused the United States and Israel as gross abusers of human rights.

Despite my deep dislike of Ahmadinejad, I truly believe he is extremely more intelligent that the President of the Columbia University.

Just a reminder, the President of the University, spoke for over 15 minutes attacking Ahmadinejad bringing tens of allegations (many of which in my opinion true) against him. But how could you prepaire 15 minutes of listing of the accusations, and expect the guy, Ahmadinejad, to answer them right after your attacks have stopped. Having said that, once again, I believe Ahmadinejad, handled the guy very very easily.

I wish, when the President of the University was making the accusations against Iran and Ahmadinejad's government, he would also clearly had mentioned the well-documented crimes committed by the US and Israel. Then, I could feel some respect for the guy, despite his evidently low intelligence. But the guy, only kissed Isarel's ass, without touching on the suffering of millions of Palestinians. Even in the very unfair ground to his benefit, he was clearly humiliated by Ahmadinejad.

How US is doing Israel's dirty work

How US is doing Israel's dirty work;
Great piece on Bil Maher show, especially the very last parts of it.

Cuba, the proud

Despite decades of criminal US embargo, despite decades of constant harassment of the bully next door, Cuba is proving to be undefeatable. Despite all these hardships and despite the fact that Cuba is not a wealthy country in terms of natural resources, Cuba is growing:

Cuba's development model is based on harnessing the nation's wealth in human resources and science to a create a knowledge -based economy focused around health, according to the 79 year-old president. "Someone might think that we
are going bankrupt," President Castro said at a recent conference.
"No. We are improving. Human capital is worth far more than financial capital."

....and is becoming the symbol of successful health care system and health care research:

Health ministry officials say Cuba's $1.8bn (£1bn) and growing tourism industry will soon be overtaken as the number one foreign exchange earner by biotechnology joint ventures, vaccine exports and the provision of health services to other countries.
Successful clinical trials in several countries have already established Cuba as a world leader in cancer research and treatment.... .

Even the temptation of more money in countries such as the US hasn't affected Cuban medical professionals:

But this success story has also given rise to concerns. What if Cuba's medical professionals decide to follow in the footsteps of several Cuban sport stars who in the past have gone to the US, lured by substantial financial rewards.
"We know that in the US scientists are highly paid. I receive only 665 pesos a month (less than US$40)," observes Dr Perez. But "we work in a environment of fulfilment and innovation", he says, pointing towards a laboratory full of scientists. "You are free to interview any of them". "We are highly motivated, not by money and commercial profit, but by a commitment to saving lives. We have not lost any of them. Nobody has defected to the US."

Despite all the difficulties and harassments, humanitarian health care efforts abroad by Cuba is also increasing:

Humanitarian missions in 68 countries are manned by 25,000 Cuban doctors, and medical teams have assisted victims of both the Tsunami and the Pakistan earthquake. In addition, last year 1,800 doctors from 47 developing countries graduated in Cuba, and scholarships are on offer to developing country medical students studying at home.

Read more!

Imagine how would Cuba be today, if it wasn't for the decades of embargo and harassments by the United States.

With all its shortcomings, there are many reasons to be proud of Cuba.

"Oil, one of the main motives".... Hard to deny, even for some Republicans

Even the Republican Alan Greenspan says it now:
Iraq war was largely for oil

The Shock Doctorine, The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

The Shock Doctrine, a tremendously valuable book by Naomi Klein.