Hello Revisionists, remember Judas, maybe you should go and do thou likewise!
Auschwitz curator tries to preserve camp

By VANESSA GERA, Associated Press Writer 25 minutes ago

OSWIECIM, Poland - As they do on every anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by Soviet troops, witnesses to the Holocaust will gather Saturday _ growing older, frailer and fewer each year. After 62 years, the camp itself is also showing signs of aging under the pressures of tourism and time.

Its new director is searching for ways to preserve vital evidence of Nazi crimes and update the exhibits without chipping away at Auschwitz's authenticity _ or giving fodder for Holocaust deniers.

"The biggest dilemma of this place is preserving what is authentic while also keeping it possible for people to see and to touch," said Piotr Cywinski, a 34-year-old historian who took over in September.

"This wasn't built as a medieval castle with strong materials to last for all time," Cywinski told The Associated Press in an interview in his office in one of the Auschwitz barracks. "It was a Nazi camp built to last a short time."

Most sensitive, perhaps, is what to do about the remains of gas chambers which are slowly sinking into the ground, the result of weather, erosion and gravity.

The Nazis themselves blew up the gas chambers and crematoria toward the end of World War II as the Soviet army approached. Today, they are mostly in ruins as the Nazis left them, evidence of both the original crimes and the German attempt to cover them up.

Any decay at all poses a problem given the camp's role today as evidence of the atrocities inflicted on Jews, Gypsies, Polish political prisoners, homosexuals and others. Still visible are the railroad tracks along which inmates were brought in, the barracks where they lived in inhumane conditions, the gas chambers where they were murdered, and the crematoria where their bodies were burned.

For all that to crumble would deprive future generations of priceless historical evidence of Nazi atrocities _ a further concern in light of Holocaust denial. The site provides a clear picture of how the camp operated _ while many other former Nazi death camps, including Treblinka and Belzec, were dismantled and are marked today only by monuments.

Auschwitz's eventual decay is hastened because the materials used _ such as wood in the watchtowers and the barracks _ will eventually rot or collapse.

Cywinski also said some structures at the camp were constructed by weak and starving inmates exerting the minimum effort in order to preserve their strength.

Auschwitz is actually not one camp, but two, each with its own problems. Auschwitz I was built in an abandoned Polish military base, and Auschwitz II, or Birkenau, is a much larger complex built two miles away during the war to speed up the Nazis' "Final Solution."

Together, Auschwitz-Birkenau stands as a metaphor of evil and a symbol of all Nazi crimes, so making any change at all is fraught with great responsibility and potential controversy.

Cywinski is calling for retainer walls to be built around gas chambers to prevent them from sinking further.

"We are at a moment where we have to act," Cywinski said. "If we don't, there's the risk that in 10 or 15 years, it will no longer be possible to understand their construction."

But any tampering with the gas chambers is problematic because Holocaust deniers could seize on that _ and photographs of repair work _ to try to argue that the whole thing was fabricated, according to Jonathan Webber, a professor of Jewish studies at the University of Birmingham and a member of the International Auschwitz Council, a board that advises Auschwitz administrators.

Webber noted that the barbed wire at Auschwitz has already been replaced more than once since the war, because the original was so rusted. But "fiddling with the gas chambers" is different.

"Anyone tampering with gas chambers is tampering with the heart and soul of what Auschwitz represents," said Webber, who has urged the council to seek the advice of engineering experts before starting any work.

Another mission Cywinski has set for himself is modernizing the exhibit at Auschwitz I that was first set up in 1955. Included in the exhibit housed in the original brick barracks are photographs of inmates, SS offices left in their original state down to the picture of Adolf Hitler on the wall, and displays of suitcases, twisted eyeglasses, and hair taken from victims before they were killed.

Cywinski said he wants none of that removed, but some modernization is needed because the exhibit no longer meets international museum standards. He stressed that he is only starting to decide how to modernize it, and that all decisions would be made after consulting with authorities on Holocaust commemoration.

One of those is Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in
Israel, which says it welcomes the decision to update the museum. "It is a logical step for a museum that was erected in the 1950s," spokeswoman Estee Yaari told the AP.

The exhibit "was at the time created for people who remembered the war very well," Cywinski said. "Now we have a generation of young people whose parents don't even remember the war. ... If we don't change it, this exhibition will say always less to the next generations."

___

On the Net: Auschwitz-Birkenau http://www.auschwitz.org.pl

For what it is worth, Iran, the UN disagrees with your President's propaganda!
U.N. condemns denials of Nazi Holocaust

By Evelyn Leopold 35 minutes ago

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. General Assembly adopted a U.S.-drafted resolution on Friday condemning denials of the Holocaust, weeks after
Iran sponsored a meeting dominated by speakers questioning the Nazis' extermination of 6 million Jews in World War Two.

The resolution, co-sponsored by more than 100 countries, including all Western nations, was approved by consensus, without a vote. Iran disassociated itself from the action, calling the resolution a political exercise that
Israel would exploit against Palestinians.

The resolution "condemns without any reservation any denial of the Holocaust" and "urges all member states unreservedly to reject any denial of the Holocaust as a historical event, either in full or in part, or any activities to this end."

It is a follow up to a broader November 2005 assembly measure making January 27 the International Day of Commemoration for victims of the Holocaust.

But at least 22 nations left their seats empty in the assembly hall, including Bolivia, Chile and Columbia, who had co-sponsored the resolution. Others not attending included Cambodia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sudan,
Syria, Tajikistan and Zimbabwe, according to U.S. officials.

Iran is not mentioned by name although the resolution is clearly aimed at a Tehran conference convened in December by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Most speakers expressed doubt about the Nazis' mass extermination of Jews.

Ahmadinejad came to power in August 2005 and caused an international outcry by terming the Holocaust a "myth" and calling Israel a "tumor" in the Middle East.

Iran's envoy Hossein Gharibi told the assembly, "In our view there is no justification for genocide of any kind, nor can there be any justification for the attempt made by some -- particularly by the Israeli regime -- to exploit the past crimes as a pretext to commit new genocide and crimes."

Responded U.S. acting ambassador, Alejandro Wolff, "Iran stands alone, in shame, isolated, against the international community."

"Conferences like those sponsored by Iran are designed solely to polarize and incite hatred. If successful they can then use that hatred as a catalyst to justify genocide," Wolff said. "To deny the event of the Holocaust is tantamount to the approval of genocide in all its forms."

Said Israel's U.N. Ambassador Dan Gillerman, "While the nations of the world gather here to affirm the historicity of the Holocaust with the intent of never again allowing genocide, a member of this assembly is acquiring the capabilities to carry out its own."

"The president of Iran is in fact saying, 'There really was no Holocaust, but just in case, we shall finish the job."'

Middle East nations were not among the co-sponsors. But Egypt's U.N. ambassador, Maged Abedelaziz, said while he agreed with the resolution the world should also speak out against the rising "Islamaphobia."

Friday's measure is timed to coincide with the January 27 commemoration, which Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin emphasized was the day the Soviet Red Army liberated the large Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland.

Up to 1.5 million prisoners, most of them Jews, were killed in Auschwitz alone. A total of six million Jews and millions of others including Poles, homosexuals, Russians and Gypsies were murdered by the Nazis and their allies during the war.

Germany's U.N. Ambassador Thomas Matussek, representing the
European Union, said he was aware that the "unprecedented crime of the Holocaust was committed by Germans and in the name of Germany and from that stems our special responsibility."

A significant aspect of the willful, conscious, systematic effort to dumb down US America!
College-loan fight looms for banks in Congress

By Kevin Drawbaugh 2 hours, 40 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Student loan giant Sallie Mae and some of the nation's biggest banks are bracing for a fight in the Democratic-led Senate over a problem facing many middle-class voters -- how to pay for college.

In hearings expected to start early next month, Sen. Edward Kennedy (news, bio, voting record) will seek support for legislation he introduced on Monday directly threatening Sallie Mae and big student lenders such as Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Wachovia, Bank of America, JPMorgan and Nelnet.

The Massachusetts Democrat -- an old liberal lion brought back to committee leadership power in November's elections -- wants to reward colleges for steering more students to direct government loans instead of the government-guaranteed loans that furnish handsome profits for Sallie Mae and the banks.

The Kennedy proposal hits the lenders "in the pocketbook," said Mark Kantrowitz, a consultant and author who runs a Web site, FinAid.org, devoted to student financial aid issues.

"Diverting loan volume into direct lending means the banks will have less income ... and be forced to compete," he said.

Direct loans are cheaper, Kennedy said in a statement, citing estimates from
President George W. Bush's 2007 budget.

The lending industry disputes such figures and defends the cost and efficiency of the loans that private-sector lenders make under the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFEL).

"This is a very successful program. It's in every congressional district. Students are getting better rates. It just doesn't make sense to cut the FFEL program," said Kevin Bruns, head of lender group America's Student Loan Providers.

Sallie Mae Chief Executive Tim Fitzpatrick put it more bluntly on January 18 in a teleconference with market analysts in which he said direct loans have fallen short of expectations.

"Unfortunately, Sen. Kennedy has attempted to smear the integrity of Sallie Mae, the student loan industry, and the financial aid professionals. I'm certainly personally disappointed in his baseless and insulting attacks," said the Sallie Mae CEO, according to a teleconference transcript.

BATTLEGROUND SHIFTS

The two sides have squared off before over this issue, but in some ways, things look different this time around.

Kennedy now chairs the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that oversees student loans.

The House has already approved a bill to halve interest rates on many student loans to 3.4 percent over five years. Kennedy's bill proposes that and additional steps.

It also would boost funding for federal Pell grants, which are given to students and need not be repaid; let students cap their loan payments at a percentage of income; forgive loans after 25 years; allow students to consolidate loans; cut direct loan fees; and widen the tuition tax deduction.

Outside Washington, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is looking into allegations that college financial aid officers have been getting perks -- such as sporting event tickets -- in exchange for listing certain companies as preferred lenders.

Virginia-based Sallie Mae said last week it is cooperating with the Cuomo inquiry. People familiar with the probe said it is certain to spread to other lenders.

Student loan group Nelnet said separately last week it agreed to settle with the
Department of Education to resolve a dispute over certain loan payments. Kennedy said the Nelnet "scandal has cast a black mark on the student loan industry."

Legal troubles like these put the industry on the defensive just as it confronts the Kennedy bill, Kantrowitz said.

Another new development is a drop in the stock price of Sallie Mae, known formally as SLM Corp., in an otherwise bullish market. SLM shares closed on Thursday at $45.41 on the
New York Stock Exchange, down from $55 a year ago.

In other ways, the student loan debate is unchanged.

U.S. college costs continue to rise, with the average, in-state expense of attending a public four-year college approaching $13,000 a year, up 35 percent since 2002. Private college costs are averaging about $30,000 a year.

Scratch a human and find a thug!
Worldwide, 'War on Terror' Used as Excuse to Oppress, Charge Activists

Haider Rizvi, OneWorld US Thu Jan 25, 8:37 AM ET

NEW YORK, Jan 24 (OneWorld) - Government leaders across the world must stop using anti-terror laws as a tool to suppress opposition movements and deprive ordinary citizens of their due civil and human rights, say international civil society groups attending the World Social Forum in Kenya this week.

"The 'so-called war on terror' is being used by both democratic and repressive governments alike to justify restrictions on civil society activities," said Kumi Naidoo, secretary general of the World Alliance for Citizens' Participation (CIVICUS), a Johannesburg, South Africa-based coalition of hundreds of advocacy groups.

On Tuesday, in collaboration with the international human rights group Oxfam and the U.S.-based Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), Naidoo's group held a news conference where they charged that many governments were committing human rights abuses and imposing unlawful restrictions on the movement of activists.

From Tunisia to Tonga and from the United States to Uzbekistan, the voices of activists and organizations are being silenced, said the groups' representatives, noting that many governments were trying to justify new security laws as a means to protect their citizens, but in practice, they were using them to create a climate of fear.

Many held the United States particularly responsible for the rise of such disturbing trends.

"The Bush administration has used the guise of the 'global war on terror' to obliterate fundamental principles of habeas corpus and sanction torture in Guantanamo," Emira Woods of IPS, who was present at the news conference, told OneWorld.

Describing the recent U.S. air attack on the Somali people as "unprovoked," she added: "This irresponsible set of policies constrains civil liberties, undermines democracy, increases anti-American sentiment, and makes the world less safe."

In amplifying concerns over the governments' abuse of power and restrictions on oppositions' movements, a number of Nobel Laureates and prominent figures from the entertainment world, who are attending the Forum meetings, also joined the activists' call to respect civil liberties and fundamental human rights.

"The war on terror in the world will never be won by force and injustice," said Desmond Tutu, the Noble Peace Prize-winning archbishop of South Africa, at the Forum. "It will remain a problem as long as there are conditions in the world that make people desperate, like dehumanizing poverty, disease, and ignorance."

Attending the Social Forum, Danny Glover, the award-winning Hollywood actor and former UN goodwill ambassador, and Nobel Peace Laureates Shirin Ebadi and Jodi Williams, said they fully shared such concerns and assured their full support for those demanding the protection of human rights and justice.

In addition to taking the United States to task, some activists expressed their grave concerns over the Russian government's use of draconian laws that threaten the activities of local and international non-governmental organizations. Others admonished the governments of Belarus and Zimbabwe for their continued attempts to silence political dissent.

Noting that in most cases, the definition of terrorism remained "vague and broad," activists said they had every reason to believe that anti-terror laws could be used to criminalize peaceful activities and violate freedom of expression, association, and assembly, a point that many
United Nations experts on human rights have fully acknowledged in a number of reports.

Expressing their concerns as far back as October 2005, UN officials warned the General Assembly that attempts by many states to adopt new anti-terror measures could undermine international human rights standards.

In a report submitted to the General Assembly at the time, they emphasized that terrorism required "concerted action by the international community," not legislative steps that deny individual rights to a fair trial, freedom of speech, assembly, or to strike.

"Nothing can combat irrational acts and extreme forms of violence more effectively than the wisdom embodied in the rule of law," UN special rapporteur on human rights Leandro Despouy told the General Assembly.

His remarks came just a month after the passage of a UN Security Council resolution that called on all governments to adopt laws prohibiting people from "inciting" others to commit terrorist acts, and to deny safe haven to anyone seriously considered guilty of such conduct.

Introduced by Britain, the resolution was fully backed by the United States, despite strong criticism from the world's leading human rights groups who feared it could be used to suppress political opposition.

In Nairobi, activists such as Naidoo and Woods urged their colleagues to join them in demanding governments live up to the standards of human rights and democracy promised through their constitutions and international treaties.

"We have a responsibility to remember our brothers and sisters around the world who are, at this very moment, facing legal action, detention and torture as a result of their peaceful activism," said Naidoo.

"For them, for ourselves, and for future generations of activists we call on governments to re-examine their actions taken through the war on terror."

Poppy Income safe...!
Afghanistan won't spray poppy plants

By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 4 minutes ago

KABUL, Afghanistan - Rebuffing months of U.S. pressure, Afghan President Hamid Karzai decided against a Colombia-style program to spray this country's heroin-producing poppies after the Cabinet worried herbicide would hurt legitimate crops, animals and humans, officials said Thursday.

The decision, reportedly made Sunday, dashes U.S. hopes for mounting a campaign using ground sprayers to poison poppy plants to help combat
Afghanistan's opium trade after a record crop in 2006.

Karzai instead "made a very strong commitment" to lead other eradication efforts this year and said if that didn't cut production he would allow spraying in 2008, a Western official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

The spokesman for Afghanistan's Ministry of Counternarcotics, Said Mohammad Azam, said this year's effort will rely on "traditional techniques" _ sending laborers into fields to trample or plow under opium poppies before they can be harvested. A similar campaign during 2006 failed.

Fueled by the Taliban, a powerful drug mafia and poor farmers' need for a profitable crop that can overcome drought, opium production from poppies in Afghanistan last year rose 49 percent to 6,700 tons _ enough to make about 670 tons of heroin. That is more than 90 percent of the world's supply and more than the world's addicts consume in a year.

The booming drug economy, and the involvement of government officials and police in the illicit trade, compounds the many problems facing Afghanistan's fledgling democracy as its struggles with stepped-up attacks by insurgents loyal to the former Taliban regime.

Top Cabinet members _ including the agriculture, defense and rural redevelopment ministers _ pressured Karzai to reject the spraying plan, saying herbicide would contaminate water, hurt humans, farm animals and legitimate produce, officials said.

The ministers also feared a violent backlash from rural Afghans, the Western official said.

Afghan farmers have sometimes turned to violence to protect poppy plants, which are harvested in the spring and whose profits are believed to flow partly to Taliban militants. Police said two eradication workers were wounded by gunmen Wednesday in western Herat province.

"We're happy with Karzai's decision. Spraying affects the animals and vegetables, even humans," said Asadullah Wafa, the governor of the top drug-producing province, Helmand.

"There is another way to eradicate, like launching operations through all the districts, and I hope the international community will give us tractors and provide more troops to destroy poppies."

U.S. officials have said the herbicide in question _ glyphosate, sold as Roundup in the United States _ is safe. It would have been applied by ground spraying rather than planes to allay Afghan fears of chemicals falling from the sky.

U.S. Ambassador Ronald Neumann said this week that Afghanistan has eradicated 1,483 acres of poppies so far this year _ compared to none by the same time last year.

Still, that's only a fraction of the 407,000 acres of poppies that were cultivated in 2006, including 173,000 acres in Helmand province alone, according to U.N. figures.

There were indications the U.S. was ready to implement spraying if Karzai had approved the project.

"We're prepared to do spraying if the Afghans want us to do it," said Gregory Lagana, a spokesman for Virginia-based DynCorp International Inc., which runs the U.S.-backed aerial eradication campaign in Colombia and is also present in Afghanistan.

U.S. and Afghan officials agree eradication must be matched with a crackdown on traffickers as well as programs to help farmers switch to legal crops and get their produce to market. Few Afghan crops can be transported far without spoiling or damage because of insecurity and poor roads. By comparison, poppy resin, the main ingredient in heroin, can keep for years.

Karzai's decision capped months of behind-the-scenes pressure to allow spraying like that already used in countries such as Colombia, where coca plants supply much of world's cocaine.

Just last month, John Walters, top U.S. anti-drug official, said Afghan poppies would be sprayed, although he did not say when. Walters, on a visit to Kabul, warned that Afghanistan could turn into a narco-state unless "giant steps" were made toward eliminating poppies.

However, no top Afghan officials had said publicly the government would carry out spraying.

Joe Mellott, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan, said the U.S. still "stands ready to assist the Afghans if they want to use herbicide."

"We always said that the ground-based spraying is a decision for the Afghans to make," he said. "We understand they are going to focus on a robust manual and mechanical program to eradicate poppies this year."

___

Associated Press writers Fisnik Abrashi and Amir Shah contributed to this report.

Anne Frank died of typhus at age 15 at Bergen-Belsen, Germany, in 1945.
Anne Frank's father's letters disclosed

By ULA ILNYTZKY, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 52 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Newly disclosed letters written by the father of Anne Frank illuminate his desperate attempts to get the family out of Nazi-occupied Netherlands.

The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, a New York-based institution that focuses on the history and culture of Eastern European Jews, said Thursday it had discovered the file among 100,000 other Holocaust-related documents about a year and a half ago. The institute did not immediately disclose the find because it had to explore copyright and other legal issues, said Cathy Callegari, a spokeswoman for YIVO.

"We have come across the file which belonged to Otto Frank, documenting his efforts to immigrate his family and get them out of Holland," she said.

On Feb. 14, she said, the institute will release Frank's letters and documents and records from various agencies that helped people immigrate from Europe.

The disclosure came as a surprise to Bernd "Buddy" Elias, Anne Frank's cousin and the president of the Anne Frank Foundation in Basel, Switzerland. The organization, established by Otto Frank, holds the rights to Anne Frank's writings, according to its Web site.

"We would love to have them in our archive. I mean, we are the heirs of Otto Frank," Elias told The Associated Press.

Callegari said the documents include letters that Otto Frank wrote to relatives, friends and officials between April 30, 1941, and Dec. 11, 1941, when Germany declared war on the United States.

The Frank family's hiding place in a secret annex in an Amsterdam canal-side warehouse has been turned into a museum.

Patricia Bosboom, of the Anne Frank House museum in Amsterdam, said officials there had heard about the discovery of the letters but had not seen them. But she said they would fit with the general picture that's known about Otto Frank's many efforts to get the family out of Europe.

It also fits with Frank's other contingency planning: the family's hiding spot. "He organized it well before the war," she said.

The letters document how Otto Frank tried to arrange for his family _ wife Edith, daughters Margo and Anne and mother-in-law Rosa Hollander _ to go to the United States or Cuba.

His attempts to arrange a route out of the Netherlands were unsuccessful. The family took refuge in July 1942, hiding for more than two years before being arrested. Anne Frank described the family's life in hiding in a diary that has sold an estimated 75 million copies.

The letters were initially held by the New York City-based Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, which gradually transferred its archives to the YIVO Institute in 1974. Callegari said that the HIAS archives consisted of documents from various agencies so that the true origin of the Otto Frank letters may never be known. She said a volunteer archivist at the YIVO Institute discovered Otto Frank's letters about a year and a half ago.

Anne Frank died of typhus at age 15 in a concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen, Germany, in 1945. Her father returned to the Netherlands to collect his daughter's notes and published them in the Netherlands in 1947.

Time magazine first reported on the newly discovered documents on its Web site Thursday.

___

Associated Press writers Frank Jordans in Geneva and Toby Sterling in Amsterdam contributed to this report.

___

On the Net:

YIVO Institute for Jewish Research: http://www.yivo.org

Anne Frank Foundation: http://www.annefrank.ch

Liz has never been a good judge of character, BUT... maybe that is an asset!
Liz Taylor gives Hillary Clinton campaign $100,000

39 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Elizabeth Taylor likes the way
Hillary Rodham Clinton thinks and that is worth a check for $100,000.

While the rest of Hollywood starts to choose sides in the 2008 U.S. presidential race, Taylor has already picked the New York Democratic senator as her favorite candidate and written her a $100,000 check for the campaign.

In a statement released on Thursday, the actress said, "I have contributed to Sen.
Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign because she has a mind of her own and a very strong one at that.

"I like the way she thinks. She is very savvy and a smart leader with years of experience in government, diplomacy and politics."

Taylor's spokesman Dick Guttman said the campaign donation was $100,000. Taylor, 74, is one of Hollywood's leading
AIDS activists and supporters of liberal causes.

With the fight for the presidential nominations of both parties just starting, Hollywood -- a key center for fund raising and celebrity -- is still choosing sides. Some former key supporters of the senator and her husband, former President
Bill Clinton, are showing interest in Illinois Democratic Sen. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record).

What are they going to do, cut off women's feet for operating the pedals?
Saudi princess would let women drive

By SALLY BUZBEE, Associated Press Writer Thu Jan 25, 1:15 PM ET

DAVOS, Switzerland - The most prominent princess in Saudi Arabia's royal family said Thursday that if she could change one thing about her country, she would let women drive _ a rare and direct challenge to the driving ban imposed by the kingdom's ruling male elite.

The remarks from Princess Lolwah Al-Faisal, daughter of a former Saudi king and sister of the current foreign minister, came at the
World Economic Forum _ a gathering known for getting world leaders to engage in frank, often off-the-record dialogue without fear of criticism.

Al-Faisal, however, spoke at a public session on promoting religious tolerance. Other attendees included former Iranian President
Mohammad Khatami, the prime minister of Malaysia, an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and peace activist from
Israel and an American cleric.

The moderator, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, asked panelists at one point to "self-criticize" and say what they would change to promote greater interfaith understanding.

Turning to the princess, he quipped: "What would you do, princess, if you were 'queen' for a day? I won't tell anyone."

"First thing, I'd let women drive," Al-Faisal said dryly, as the audience erupted in applause and laughter. She added as the applause died down, "Or else have a great transportation system, which we don't have."

Women in Saudi Arabia now can work at many jobs that once were off-limits _ a point the princess made. But critics say their inability to drive holds them back from many jobs by forcing them to rely on hired drivers, or on male relatives, to get to work or to school.

Some critics say the driving ban particularly impacts poorer Saudi families who cannot afford to hire drivers. Because of that, some consider the driving ban not just as a women's rights issue, but also as a factor holding back the country's economic development.

Al-Faisal's comments are particularly interesting because they show that while Saudi Arabia often presents a united front to the outside world, different opinions and even vigorous debate exist in private.

The 59-year-old princess is the most publicly visible female member of the royal family and one of the highest-profile Saudi women. She led a delegation of Saudi women business leaders to Hong Kong last year, has appeared at U.S. forums on interfaith dialogue and heads a prominent Saudi women's college.

But it is rare for her to speak in public or in front of the media. And she has never before publicly pushed for an end to the driving ban.

Her comments also are intriguing because her father, King Faisal, who ruled from 1964-1975, had a reputation as more progressive on social issues than his successors.

King Faisal first instituted education for Saudi girls, for example, in the 1960s, and some have wondered if he might have pushed for more reform in the conservative, religious kingdom had he lived longer. He was assassinated in 1975 by a disgruntled royal family member.

When the current monarch, King Abdullah, assumed the throne in 2005, expectations were high that he would decisively and quickly lead the country toward more openness. Indeed, for a while, Saudi Arabia made small but striking steps toward reform, such as instances where Saudi female journalists were allowed to interview men.

But the reform pace has slowed, partly because of reported differences within the royal family over the pace and direction of change and partly because of resistance by religious conservatives who fear reform will dilute their strong influence.

The issue of women drivers has been mostly dormant from Saudi public debate in recent years. It flared after the
Gulf War in 1991, when a group of prominent Saudi women staged a protest by driving through the capital of Riyadh. But the government cracked down hard, confiscating many of the women's passports and thus preventing them from leaving the country for months afterward.

The debate has occasionally flared in newspapers since but never to such an extent as in 1991. Yet many Saudi women privately view the ban as a main barrier to progress.

Conservatives, however, are vocal in pushing to retain the ban _ saying that allowing women to drive would inevitably lead to their moral corruption, by forcing them to interact with men who are not relatives in places such as gas stations.

Other Gulf countries, including Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, and other Arab countries allow women to drive.

Al-Faisal is a sister of two prominent members of the current government, Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal and Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the outgoing Saudi ambassador to the United States.

Only a very small guillotine would be needed to set these woman free...
Saudi princess would let women drive

By SALLY BUZBEE, Associated Press Writer Thu Jan 25, 1:15 PM ET

DAVOS, Switzerland - The most prominent princess in Saudi Arabia's royal family said Thursday that if she could change one thing about her country, she would let women drive _ a rare and direct challenge to the driving ban imposed by the kingdom's ruling male elite.

The remarks from Princess Lolwah Al-Faisal, daughter of a former Saudi king and sister of the current foreign minister, came at the
World Economic Forum _ a gathering known for getting world leaders to engage in frank, often off-the-record dialogue without fear of criticism.

Al-Faisal, however, spoke at a public session on promoting religious tolerance. Other attendees included former Iranian President
Mohammad Khatami, the prime minister of Malaysia, an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and peace activist from
Israel and an American cleric.

The moderator, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, asked panelists at one point to "self-criticize" and say what they would change to promote greater interfaith understanding.

Turning to the princess, he quipped: "What would you do, princess, if you were 'queen' for a day? I won't tell anyone."

"First thing, I'd let women drive," Al-Faisal said dryly, as the audience erupted in applause and laughter. She added as the applause died down, "Or else have a great transportation system, which we don't have."

Women in Saudi Arabia now can work at many jobs that once were off-limits _ a point the princess made. But critics say their inability to drive holds them back from many jobs by forcing them to rely on hired drivers, or on male relatives, to get to work or to school.

Some critics say the driving ban particularly impacts poorer Saudi families who cannot afford to hire drivers. Because of that, some consider the driving ban not just as a women's rights issue, but also as a factor holding back the country's economic development.

Al-Faisal's comments are particularly interesting because they show that while Saudi Arabia often presents a united front to the outside world, different opinions and even vigorous debate exist in private.

The 59-year-old princess is the most publicly visible female member of the royal family and one of the highest-profile Saudi women. She led a delegation of Saudi women business leaders to Hong Kong last year, has appeared at U.S. forums on interfaith dialogue and heads a prominent Saudi women's college.

But it is rare for her to speak in public or in front of the media. And she has never before publicly pushed for an end to the driving ban.

Her comments also are intriguing because her father, King Faisal, who ruled from 1964-1975, had a reputation as more progressive on social issues than his successors.

King Faisal first instituted education for Saudi girls, for example, in the 1960s, and some have wondered if he might have pushed for more reform in the conservative, religious kingdom had he lived longer. He was assassinated in 1975 by a disgruntled royal family member.

When the current monarch, King Abdullah, assumed the throne in 2005, expectations were high that he would decisively and quickly lead the country toward more openness. Indeed, for a while, Saudi Arabia made small but striking steps toward reform, such as instances where Saudi female journalists were allowed to interview men.

But the reform pace has slowed, partly because of reported differences within the royal family over the pace and direction of change and partly because of resistance by religious conservatives who fear reform will dilute their strong influence.

The issue of women drivers has been mostly dormant from Saudi public debate in recent years. It flared after the
Gulf War in 1991, when a group of prominent Saudi women staged a protest by driving through the capital of Riyadh. But the government cracked down hard, confiscating many of the women's passports and thus preventing them from leaving the country for months afterward.

The debate has occasionally flared in newspapers since but never to such an extent as in 1991. Yet many Saudi women privately view the ban as a main barrier to progress.

Conservatives, however, are vocal in pushing to retain the ban _ saying that allowing women to drive would inevitably lead to their moral corruption, by forcing them to interact with men who are not relatives in places such as gas stations.

Other Gulf countries, including Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, and other Arab countries allow women to drive.

Al-Faisal is a sister of two prominent members of the current government, Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal and Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the outgoing Saudi ambassador to the United States.

Bush is a Hipocrite as Champion for the Homophobes' Party, while delcaring Death for all who "Hate Freedom?"!!!
Churches set to lose appeal on UK gay adoption law

By Jeremy Lovell Thu Jan 25, 9:50 AM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - A bid by the Catholic and Anglican Churches in Britain to exempt Catholic adoption agencies from being forced to place children with gay couples got Muslim backing on Thursday but still looked set to fail.

The Equality Act, which comes into force in April, is designed to stop discrimination against gay and lesbian couples wishing to adopt a child, but the Church leaders called for an exemption for Catholic adoption agencies on faith grounds.

On Thursday, Muslims voiced support for the exemption and described the government's apparent rejection as absurd.

"The Muslim Council of Britain fully supports the principled stand taken by the leaders of the Catholic and Anglican Churches," it said in a statement, adding that homosexuality is banned in Islam.

The battle between Church and state involved British Prime Minister
Tony Blair, who was said to have favored an exemption, risking a revolt by most of his ministers and underscoring the weakness of his position in the closing months of his premiership.

But on Thursday Education Minister Alan Johnson, who has responsibility for adoption, said the government, including Blair, saw no case for special treatment.

"I don't see a case for exemption and I don't think the prime minister does," he told BBC radio.

"The case for no exemption has been made very eloquently. The strength of that argument suggests that we cannot introduce legislation to protect gays and lesbians against discrimination and at the same time allow that discrimination to continue."

Blair said a decision would be taken next week and that while he favored the right of adoption by gay couples he also wanted to ensure the Catholic agencies continued their work.

"I have always personally been in favor of the right of gay couples to adopt. Our priority will always be the welfare of the child," he said. "I am committed to finding a way through this sensitive and difficult issue."

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans, and Archbishop of York John Sentamu wrote to Blair on Wednesday backing a call by the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor for the special exemption.

Murphy-O'Connor's letter to Blair argued that to force Catholic agencies to place children with gay or lesbian couples went against the Church's teachings.

"We believe it would be unreasonable, unnecessary and unjust discrimination against Catholics for the government to insist ... Catholic adoption agencies must act against the teaching of the Church and their own consciences," he wrote.

Murphy-O'Connor said it would be a tragedy if the agencies were forced to close as this could put some 4,000 children awaiting adoption at a disadvantage.

Despite a similar reaction to an equal rights law on adoption in the United States, so far Catholic adoption agencies in only two cities have shut.

Johnson said the Church leaders' pleas were a minority view and Jewish and Anglican adoption agencies had made no such call.

"I very much hope that the Catholic Church does continue to provide the important service that they do. But if they don't, I think we can ensure that children are not disadvantaged by that," he said.

"We want to try and find a way through," he said, suggesting a transition period before Catholic agencies had to comply.

The 12 Catholic adoption agencies in England and Wales handle around one third of all voluntary sector adoptions.

(Additional reporting by Sophie Walker and Paul Majendie in London and Michael Conlon in Chicago)

I Love You!
Sarah Silverman Is My Kind of Cunt
Talking vaginas, retards, testicles, dicks, douchebags, and George W. Bush with the Comedy Central star
by Michael Musto
January 23rd, 2007 12:05 PM

Sarah Silverman
photo: Marla Rutherford/marlarutherford.com
See also:
A Sarah Silverman YouTube Festival
by Camille Dodero

Plus: Musto on interviewing Sarah Silverman

Political correctness officially had a massive heart attack and died when South Park hit the air in 1997, but ever since then, Sarah Silverman has been gleefully squatting over its grave and making a cocky. The writer-comic-actress uses her appealing features and twinkly eyes to throw you off as she detonates verbal WMD's about everything from Jesus's nailing to the holocaust to 9-11. (She was especially devastated by that last event because it happened on the same day she found out "the soy chai latte was like 900 calories.") And I—who used to wear combat boots and hold signs picketing both Basic Instinct and the FDA—am only protesting that she please shut the fuck up for a second and let me catch my breath from laughing so hard.

You see, bitches, pop culture has changed to the point where massive representation of various minorities has taken the sting out of any one potentially dicey comment or observation. Thanks to this new, more generous landscape, the liberal public is now willing to embrace more dangerous comedy and even grasp a comic who—just like her fellow stand-up, the raucously derisive "Queen of Mean," Lisa Lampanelli—performs the delicate dance of mocking stereotypes by smirkily embracing them. Unlike Andrew Dice Clay, the '80s comic who ultimately became trampled by his stage character (a hateful caricature of testosterone-laden excess), Silverman takes a "this is just me" approach, adding careful helpings of wry detachment and irony. She doesn't do accents, but in some ways, she's the upscale cousin of Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat, draping herself in insensitivity in order to use it as a mirror and reflect everyone else's.

No, she's not really racist, she's actually commenting on racism, and even white people seem to get it. In fact, in sneakily subverting biases in between trumpeting some of her own progressive thoughts ("Nazis are a-holes," she grins, bravely), Silverman probably is politically correct—and that's the scariest thing this fudgepacking wop has heard in a coon's age.

In July of 2001, Silverman grabbed screaming headlines by telling Conan O'Brien that one way to get out of jury duty is to claim "I hate Chinks"—as if we all haven't fantasized doing just that (and much worse) to avoid the ritualized torture of public service. Since then, Silverman's sharp-mouthed JAP act has eased deeper into the mainstream, especially now that Michael Richards has shown us what real comedy-club hate can be. (P.c. may be dead, but human decency isn't; Richards's "nig"-a-palooza rampage was greeted with universal horror, making Silverman's zingers look almost adorable by comparison. She should probably send him flowers.)

A wonderfully high-reaching Jew, she does more than just tell jokes. Last year, the slender but amusing concert film Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic mixed her stand-up routines with video-style song segments, caustic sketches, and a dazzling trio performed with her own vagina and butt. Around the same time, Silverman pulled off one more feat, bizarrely popping up in the Rent movie as a TV producer and coming off by far the funniest one in it—though, as she told me at the time, it's not really that hard to be the funniest one in an AIDS musical.

Now, The Sarah Silverman Program—premiering February 1 on Comedy Central, home of South Park—has Jimmy Kimmel's real-life girlfriend playing herself as an indulgent, whiny rapscallion from the bowels of the most lazy-assed, privileged part of hell via Valley Village. The free-form feeling of Jesus Is Magic is so intact that the flick was obviously a dry run for this show. Emo songs, exaggerated flashbacks, and visits from a horny "black God" accessorize the basic throughline, which has Silverman assuming the role of the uber-bitch of our darkest dreams. Without a shred of shame, she patronizes the homeless, invents a drama to avoid having to help a friend move, and takes out money when her TV gets stuck on a help-the-children infomercial, but only to tape the bills on the screen and cover it up. The hilarious show is both a cautionary tale and an utter fantasy. This is my kind of cunt.

Our cross-country phone chat last week went like so:

Silverman: Hi, it's Sarah Silverman. Sorry I'm a few minutes late.

Musto: That's OK. I'm the douche who called you on the wrong day last time. I hope you got over that.

I just recently did.

Anyway, I really like the show. But last time you complained to me about always having to play the bitch in movies. Won't this show pour extra flammables on that problem?

That's exactly what Jimmy [Kimmel] said! But for me there's a difference between a character who facilitates the exposition for the main character, with no layers to it, and a character that has many layers to her. I'm playing someone who genuinely thinks she's a good person and who is a douchebag, and it's not flat. I think that's interesting to watch. What am I gonna do, a show where I'm Mary Richards? Don't get me wrong, that was my favorite sitcom. But the comedy I do tends to be that contrast of sweet and sour.

The best Mary Tyler Moore episode was the one where Ted has a mild heart attack and proceeds to torture everyone with his realization of the beauty of life.

"Salt! You ever really look at salt?" My favorite might be when Rhoda totally dresses down Phyllis and Phyllis says, "Oh, Rhoda, you don't know me at all—but it's amazing how well you know my mother."

But back to your show: Do you represent the death of p.c.?

It's not for me to say. There are a lot of elements culturally that led to the death of p.c., but what next? There is no politically incorrect if there's no politically correct. When alternative comedy started, it was an alternative to something. But you can't call it alternative comedy anymore because it's in mainstream clubs. It's gonna start being that way with the p.c. stuff. It's all role-playing. I always think of All in the Family. Meathead was p.c. He was telling Archie, "Don't say nigger, don't be racist." But now it's a role reversal where the liberals are the un-p.c.

Yeah, they can usually handle irony. I mean, someone would have to be a retard to think you're racist.

I love that you're saying retard!

Thanks! If you'd been around in the old days, wouldn't you have provoked way more protests, like Andrew Dice Clay did?

I'm walking a line. I don't really play a character. It's not me, but it is my voice and it's me aesthetically and visually and the way I sound. A lot of comics—Dice or people who do funny voices or weird characters—get huge, and these comics become dated and trapped. For me, there's a kind of absolute power to saying the opposite of what you feel. The truth is what emanates. What am I gonna say—"I think people should be nice"?

Eew. I prefer you accidentally crapping yourself in that farting contest on the show. But of course that leads to a sensitive song about your sincere wishes for the world. Which is the real Sarah—the crapper or the dreamer?

I think I'm the crapper and the dreamer. It kills me that I fart and shit in an episode. I love aggressively stupid humor, but it was so embarrassing. The truth is, I do wish all the nations were part of one world and our religion was love. But I'm also the retard. To quote you.

Thanks for the shout-out. Did you love getting down with "black God"? I was supremely jealous.

The only bad memory is when we did that love scene, [the actor] was in boxer shorts and I was in paper-thin sweats, and I could totally feel his balls. He's an older man and nice and dignified, and to feel his balls on me, I really understood the idea of disassociation.

It didn't make you hot?

No. In fact, my vagina inverted. No, that's stupid. Don't print that.

Please, that's my lead. But I thought vaginas were inverted. (Not 100% sure here, of course.)

They are. But even my labia majora shriveled. That's disgusting.

That's my lead. On the show, you learn life lessons under pressure, but they're rather warped, like how older black women are wise beyond their years and younger black women are prostitutes. Was there ever any effort to make for a real uplifting message? (I hope not.)

I do like having real relationships and real moments on the show. I like the combination of hard jokes and absurdity with a real sister's relationship [Silverman's real-life older sister Laura plays her younger sis and mooch target] and a feeling of abandonment when she gets a boyfriend and so on. I like the idea of comedy played real and aesthetically it looks like it could be a drama, if the sound were off.

What does this show have to do with Curb Your Enthusiasm?

Nothing! Somebody wrote that it's "Curb Your Enthusiasm with a girl." That's flattering, because I love Curb Your Enthusiasm, but this show is totally scripted and doesn't take place anywhere near show business. My name on the show is Sarah Silverman, which is probably a mistake because I'm not playing myself. I used it out of laziness. My name should have been Sarah Morgan.

Or Sarah Zbornak. Do you favor the word cunt?

Yes! I really wanted to use it. "Cookie Party" is a pretty song, and the whole thing is supposed to be that it's genuine and sweet and then the last line is, "My sister's such a dick." Dick is a hard word and hard to get a laugh. Originally it was "My sister's such a cunt," but you can't say cunt, even if you say, "I meant it the way they say it in England."

In England, they just say "Madonna." I actually like the song the way it is. I laughed because I didn't see it coming. Dick delivers. Was being a performer and writer on Saturday Night Live in your early days a ballbusting experience?

No. I'm sure I went through stages, but it was an amazing experience—the perfect boot camp. Once you've been there, you can take anything. And I got along with the cast.

Did you fuck all of them?

I didn't fuck anyone. No, wait, let me think. [Pause.] I was hired at the same time as my on-and-off boyfriend [a writer there], so I was tied down.

Well, nowadays, you're tied down by a whole other comic. But aren't funny people completely self-absorbed and narcissistic?

Jimmy isn't your usual performer. He's developing shows for other people. He's the fastest mind and the most prolific writer because he's so self-disciplined. I try to explain to him, because he gets disappointed in people, "You can't compare people to yourself. You have to keep your expectations low."

Is his work compulsion sexy?

It is. The one way it sucks is I can never say "I had such a hard day," because he works from like 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. It's like having a parent that's a Holocaust survivor. You can never complain because they've always got it worse.

"I've got AIDS, ma." "So what? I survived the camps!"

"The family is all dead!"

Anyway, darling, all dark roads lead to Michael Richards these days. Discuss.

Not to flatter myself, but I don't think it's analogous. He had a breakdown. At least the racist things I say are well thought out and planned in advance. It's not like I'm getting truly angry. He was out of control. The audience has to know you're in control. They're like dogs, they sniff your . . .

Labia majora?

. . . anxiety. Great, your new lead will be "Sarah Silverman thinks audiences are dogs." Once, I had a totally unbalanced set, with too many black jokes for that particular crowd. One middle-aged black man in the audience said, "You're not funny." I told him that [black comic] Paul Mooney writes all my material and he should take it up with him. He said, "That's not true!" I said, "Ask him!," thinking, "Please don't really ask him."

Well, let me ask you one last hilarious thing: Do you think more troops should be sent to Iraq?

George Bush should go to Iraq and be on the front lines. I'm not newsy and I'm probably gonna say ignorant shit, but why are we in Iraq when it has nothing to do with 9-11 and there's a fucking genocide in Darfur? I grew up thinking the Holocaust could never happen again and . . .

Oh, so you're one of those people who thinks it did happen?

I love you.

What imbecile did not understand these hoodlums are liars and hypocrites?
U.S. Military Spied on Hundreds of Antiwar Demos

Aaron Glantz, OneWorld US Wed Jan 24, 6:20 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 24 (OneWorld) - At least 186 antiwar protests in the United States have been monitored by the
Pentagon's domestic surveillance program, according to documents obtained by the
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which also found that the Defense Department collected more than 2,800 reports involving Americans in a single anti-terrorism database.

The documents were obtained by the ACLU through a Freedom of Information Act request filed last February.

"It cannot be an accident or coincidence that nearly 200 antiwar protests ended up in a Pentagon threat database," Ann Beeson, associate legal director of the ACLU, said in a statement. "This unchecked surveillance is part of a broad pattern of the Bush administration using 'national security' as an excuse to run roughshod over the privacy and free speech rights of Americans."

The internal Defense Department documents show it is monitoring the activities of a wide swath of peace groups, including Veterans for Peace,
Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, Code Pink, the American Friends Service Committee, the War Resisters League, and the umbrella group United for Peace and Justice, which is spearheading what organizers hope will be a massive march on Washington this Saturday.

"This might have a chilling effect on some groups," United for Peace and Justice's Leslie Cagan told OneWorld, "particularly among high-risk communities like immigrants who don't have their papers yet and U.S. citizens or people with green cards who are of Muslim or South Asian or Middle Eastern descent. They've already been targeted by the government and they might feel like, with this, it's just too dangerous to come out and protest."

"It seems pretty par for the course," said Daniel Fearn of the group Veterans for Peace. The eight-year Marine Corps veteran is helping to organize an event in Washington Thursday ahead of the larger march January 27th.

"What do you expect from an administration that thinks torture is an accurate way to get accurate information?" he said. "It's the same thought process that says 'we're going to get good information from torturing somebody'--that same flawed process leads to spying on peace activists."

At Thursday's event in Washington, Fearn said veterans will read sections of the Constitution they believe the Bush administration is violating as it prosecutes the war in Iraq.

Fearn said veterans will also speak out against unwarranted surveillance and torture and argue for the repeal of laws they believe violate the Constitution, such as the Military Commissions Act, which prescribes secret tribunals for terrorism suspects.

The event appears similar to those the Pentagon has kept tabs on, according to the internal documents obtained by the ACLU.

"Veterans for Peace erected an antiwar display the week of 18 April 2005 at a local university," reads a report on a New Orleans protest from the Pentagon's Threat and Local Observation Notice (TALON) database. "A local army recruiter mistook the event as a memorial to fallen service members and arrived to view the display."

According to the TALON report, six individuals, who the report acknowledges may not have been associated with the Veterans for Peace group, shouted "war monger" and "baby killer" at the recruiter and a shoving match ensued.

"Veterans for Peace claim to be nonviolent," the report concludes. "This incident demonstrates a propensity for violence, and the Veterans for Peace should be viewed as a possible threat to Army and DoD [Defense Department] personnel."

For its part, Veterans for Peace describes itself as a non-profit educational and humanitarian organization committed to non-violence. "We draw on our personal experiences and perspectives gained as veterans to raise public awareness of the true costs and consequences of militarism and war--and to seek peaceful, effective alternatives," the group's Web site reads.

In response to the documents' release, Pentagon officials said the material on antiwar groups should not have been collected.

"I don't want it, we shouldn't have had it, not interested in it," Daniel Baur, the acting director of the Defense Department's counterintelligence field activity unit, told the New York Times. "I don't want to deal with it."

Baur told the Times his agency is no longer monitoring peace groups.

Experts on government spying caution not to take the Pentagon at its word, however. The ACLU notes the Defense Department documents reveal that other government agencies were also involved in the spying.

In one report, a Department of
Homeland Security agent warned after a peaceful protest by the War Resisters League at a military recruiting station that the group may favor "civil disobedience and vandalism." The report indicates that the
FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces in Atlanta and New York were briefed on planned protests.

"We have only the Pentagon's word that the errors and misjudgments that led to widespread surveillance of U.S. citizens have been corrected," the ACLU said in a statement last week.

"Congress should not let this president off the hook for inappropriate surveillance by the Pentagon," the group's Caroline Fredrickson said. "Americans must once again be confident we can exercise our constitutionally protected right to protest without becoming the subject of a secret government file."

Vets suffering with PTSD are being SCREWED!
VA NEWS FLASH from Larry Scott at VA Watchdog dot Org -- 01-22-2007 #7

VA Medical Malpractice Lawyer - Malpractice Cases for Veterans Against the VA - The Law Offices of W. Robb Graham, L.L.C. - Former Navy Judge Advocate

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OPINION: GIs SUFFERING STRESS DISORDER DESERVE

BETTER -- Former Army officer / CIA analyst and

psychologist / minister offer their thoughts.





Story here... http://www.mysanantonio.com/
opinion/stories/MYSA012107.4H.
weavercomment.aa609d.html

Story below:

---------------

Comment: GIs suffering stress disorder deserve better

Andrew Weaver
and Ray McGovern
Special to the Express-News



The California Nurses Association reported that in the first quarter of 2006, the "Veterans Administration treated 20,638 Iraq veterans for post-traumatic stress disorder, and they have a backlog of 400,000 cases." A returning soldier has to wait an average of 165 days for a VA decision on initial disability benefits, and an appeal can take up to three years.

This is unacceptable and reprehensible.

The saying, "War is hell," doesn't begin to describe how horrible it has been for tens of thousands in our military in Iraq and Afghanistan.

War inevitably involves witnessing and sometimes engaging in gruesome acts of violence. It is a shocking confrontation with death and devastation. It is normal for human beings to react to war's psychic trauma with profound feelings of fear, anger, grief, repulsion, helplessness and horror — or with emotional numbness and disbelief.

Trauma is the Greek word for wound. Just as a physical wound from combat can cause suffering in the body, psychological trauma can cause acute suffering of mind and spirit.

It is not surprising to find that an assessment of more than 220,000 military personnel returning from Iraq, published in the April 2006 Journal of the American Medical Association, found nearly one in five have significant mental health problems.

At the same time, we are hearing disturbing news reports that these traumatized soldiers are not receiving the mental heath care they urgently require.

In December, the award-winning National Public Radio journalist Daniel Zwerdling did an extensive story on the military's treatment of personnel returning from Iraq who suffer from emotional problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Veterans coming home stated that their superiors have harassed and punished them for seeking help for psychological problems triggered by their service in Iraq. Several of the soldiers' supervisors acknowledged the callous treatment.

A recent national study by the Government Accountability Office found that most of the troops who show signs of PTSD were not referred to mental health professionals, despite Pentagon claims "that providing support to soldiers with emotional problems is a top priority" and "that resources are being made available to returning veterans."

If the same disastrous pattern unfolds that affected Vietnam-era veterans and these PTSD sufferers do not obtain appropriate and timely assistance, tens of thousands will become unnecessarily and tragically addicted to drugs or alcohol and may commit suicide. We lost more Vietnam-era military personnel to suicide and drugs than the 58,000 we lost in combat.

Americans must actively advocate and demand appropriate treatment for veterans who have been psychologically wounded by war.



Andrew J. Weaver of New York City is a United Methodist minister, research psychologist and author.

Ray McGovern of Washington was a Army officer before his 27-year career as a CIA analyst and is co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, or VIPS.

---------------

Larry Scott

...sic 'em, Fido!

Perpetuating Democracy Is About Preserving Choice! Resist Institutional Religious and Secular Tyranny!

Posted by hotelbravo.org at 4:34 PM CST
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"For-grabs" are UP!
"Dreamgirls" snubbed for Oscars best film nomination

By Dean Goodman 15 minutes ago

BEVERLY HILLS, California (Reuters) - Musical drama "Dreamgirls" led the Oscar field with eight nominations on Tuesday, but its stunning omission from the coveted best picture and directing categories instantly transformed the race for Hollywood's top honors into a wild guessing game.

"Babel," a globe-spanning exploration of clashing cultures and tragic coincidence, secured seven nominations, followed by Spanish-language adult fairy tale "Pan's Labyrinth" and the British royals drama "The Queen" with six each.

Martin Scorsese's mob thriller "The Departed" and the Africa-set exploration of greed and war "Blood Diamond" picked up five
Academy Awards nominations each.

"Babel," "The Queen" and "The Departed" will compete for best picture alongside Clint Eastwood's Japanese-language World War Two saga "Letters from Iwo Jima" and the low-budget comedy hit "Little Miss Sunshine."

The 79th annual Academy Awards, the top honors in cinema, will take place on February 25 in Hollywood.

Scorsese, Eastwood, and "Babel" director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu of Mexico, will face off for best director with British filmmakers Stephen Frears for "The Queen" and Paul Greengrass for the September 11 docudrama "United 93." Greengrass and Inarritu are first-time nominees.

Scorsese, 64, has been nominated six times for directing but has never won. He was considered the frontrunner two years ago with "The Aviator," but lost out to Eastwood and his dark-horse contender "Million Dollar Baby."

"Departed" producer Graham King told Reuters he would like Scorsese to end his losing streak but the director was "completely driven by film and the art of filmmaking" rather than by awards.

The film, Scorsese's follow-up to "The Aviator," was initially envisaged as a bloody thriller with no Oscar pretensions. But rave reviews and the best ticket sales of Scorsese's career made it an awards frontrunner. Scorsese won the Golden Globe for the film last week.

But movie pundit Tom O'Neil said Eastwood and his low-profile "Iwo Jima" -- with U.S. ticket sales of just $2.4 million -- have "once again ambushed the Oscar race when Martin Scorsese was out front," and was now the one to beat.

"SHOCKING THUMBS-DOWN"

Most Oscar pundits had expected "Dreamgirls" to be among the main contenders, but its omission from the top two races was "a shocking thumbs-down," said O'Neil, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times Web site theenvelope.com.

The film's highest-profile mentions were in the supporting acting races, where veteran comic Eddie Murphy and newcomer Jennifer Hudson, a former contestant on television's "American Idol" talent show, received their first nominations.

Rolling Stone magazine critic Peter Travers said the best picture race was now a toss-up. If Oscar voters find the Scorsese and Eastwood films too violent, "The Queen" too British and "Babel" too multilingual, "Little Miss Sunshine" could win the pageant. The low-budget comedy was recently named best picture by the Producers Guild of America, a group whose choices are often echoed by the
Oscars.

"OLD FOGEYS"

Travers said the academy ignored stars such as Jack Nicholson ("The Departed"), Brad Pitt ("Babel") and Ben Affleck ("Hollywoodland"), but its members missed a good opportunity to shake off their reputation as "old fogeys" by failing to give an acting nomination to "Borat" star Sacha Baron Cohen, who did receive a nod for adapted screenplay.

Nominated for lead actor were Leonardo DiCaprio for "Blood Diamond," Ryan Gosling for "Half Nelson," Peter O'Toole for "Venus," Will Smith for "The Pursuit of Happyness," and Forest Whitaker for "The Last King of Scotland."

The best actress nominees were Penelope Cruz of Spain for "Volver," Britons Judi Dench for "Notes on a Scandal," Helen Mirren for "The Queen," and Kate Winslet for "Little Children," and the sole American contender, Meryl Streep for "The Devil Wears Prada." Streep has racked up 14 nominations in her career, breaking the record she set in 2002.

(Additional reporting by Jill Serjeant)