Israel - A friend or foe of US? Charley Reese asks a question: What country in the world poses the greatest danger to the future of the United States? He answers : Israel. He defends his logics: How could a little country drain more than $100 billion from the U.S. Treasury? How could a little country attack and try to sink a U.S. Navy ship in international waters and avoid any kind of congressional investigation? How can a little country openly brag to third parties that it controls the U.S. Congress? And partner, Israel does. He ends with: The...

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Second version of a draft U.N. resolution on Iraq... coming soon.. (reports CNN) U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said on CNN's "Late Edition" that a second version of a draft U.N. resolution on Iraq would be ready within days, based on conversations between U.S. officials and other world leaders. "It would involve the creation of a multinational force-cover for the troops that are there." Powell said such a force might comprise a division of 10,000 to 15,000 troops. Among the countries considering sending troops are Turkey, Bangladesh,...

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY To Climb steep hills requires slow pace at first - Williams Shakespea...

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Iraq and War - A Comparison of Views Awesome Library, the K-12 education directory has put up a link to backgrounds of Iraq war and comparison of views for and against US & UK's siege of Iraq (without UN mandate). Check it here. The effort summarizes: We have learned the consequences of President Bush's decisions: The people of Iraq are rid of Saddam and the people of Iraq, and most people of the world, find that to be a very good outcome. However, other outcomes have not been so good. The people of Iraq are under U.S. and British control...

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Cancer threat estimation The Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention has put up an website-tool to estimate your risk of cancer and provides personalized tips for prevention. It doesn't tell you if you'll get cancer or not. Anyone can use Your Cancer Risk, but it's most accurate for people age 40 and over who have never had any type of cancer. I agree to the statement "the best way to fight cancer is to keep it from starting". So act now before its too late. Thanks to Uncertainty for the lin...

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Gush Shalom - The Peace BlocLet me introduce you to Gush Salom (Translated from Hebrew, the name means "The Peace Bloc"), the hardcore of Israeli Peace Movement.The Gush was founded by Mr. Uri Avnery and others in 1993. Gush Shalom is an extra-parliamentary organization, independent of any party or other political grouping. Some of its activists do belong to political parties, but the Gush is not aligned to any particular party. The primary aim of Gush Shalom is to influence Israeli public opinion and lead it towards peace and conciliation with...

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RANDOM LEFT-WINGER COMMENTS ---------------------------------------- "The $400+ billion military budget is a colossal misplaced priority. Why does the US have to spend more than the next 23 countries combined? Does that make US or the rest of the world a safer place? Bush is asking for $87 billion for Iraq. This is on top of the $75 billion he got last year for the war on Iraq. That is a total of $162 billion. The total funding for the National Cancer Institute was $4.6 billion in FY2003. Cancer will kill more than 550,000 Americans in 2003. In...

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Further talks on pragmatism & sanity Kaveh has written about the mentality of his fellow harvard students:- In a political discussion in the common room of my dormitory, i was nearly lynched for asserting the "absurd" and "preposterous" "conspiracy theory" that the war in iraq was not about weapons of mass destruction. i was almost crucified for suggesting that it might have been about oil, and that certain oil interests in the white house have benefited from the war. somehow, they had not heard that the world was in an uproar against this...

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Where has pragmatism and sanity gone! I know the recent atrocities and terrorism against US, specially those after 9/11, has inflicted a deep fear among the general US citizens. The widespread Islamic fundamentalism and their savage killings has made people think that Islam is their enemy. They name it retaliation in the name of self defense where Islam does not permit killing others and it is allowed only in case of self defense. You see that these opportunist terrorists and fundamentalists have their own agenda (like being ruler of a country...

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Turningtables Seargent Sean of ..turningtables... blog is finally at home. His deployment in Iraq has ended. I don't know whether he will continue writing in his blog, but I think he should continue as he has the habit of keeping journals. Snippets from his latest posts:- there are so many questions brewing inside of me...i am more confused now then when we arrived almost 8 months ago...to many... ..for all those that would question me and my ideals...i can only say that i hope each and everyone one of your children joins the military...and...

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The war in Iraq was a huge mistake! Blogger Diana decided to call it a day for personal reasons. But she also admits:- ...a number of factors combined to convince me that the war in Iraq was a huge mistake. I felt...embarassed to admit it publicly, but I realized that there was no honor in sticking to a point of view due to ego. She thinks:- The Andrew Sullivan wing of the blogosphere is trying (and failing) to keep war fever at a pitch. Every post, every day, is an attempt to polarize, to paint those who disagree with him about this misadventure...

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HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS As the Hurricane ISABEL is threatening the US East Coast, Dave Barry recommends his hilarious but usefull hurricane preparedness guide for the residents of that area. Read from here. Find the forecast computer model from her...

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FILM FOR THE PEOPLE

A week long international film festival is opening tomorrow in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The festival will screen 56 films - 46 foreign and 10 Bangladeshi - in 20 cinema theaters and cultural centers in Dhaka and Narayanganj. The slogan of the festival is "Film for the People".The films from 31 countries have been divided into eight categories -- Bangladesh Panorama, International Showcase, Classic Showcase, Popular Showcase, Winner of the Don Quixote, International Competition, Focus and Retrospective.Looking forward to watching some of the movies if...

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY In death the many becomes one; in life the one becomes many. Religion will be one when God is dead. -Rabindranath Tag...

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The Bush black hole By Joseph E. Stiglit, a Nobel laureate in economics, is Professor of Economics at Columbia University and was Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers to President Clinton and Chief Economist and Senior Vice President at the World Bank. In 2001, President George W. Bush misled the American people. He said that a tax cut that was not designed to stimulate the economy would stimulate it, and the American people believed him. But it did not. He told Americans that the large surpluses that were among President Bill Clinton's...

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THATS WHAT YOU GET FOR KILLING TIGERS

A Bangladesh court recently convicted and sentenced five zookeepers to 14 years in prison for killing three tigers and planning to sell their skins.Three adult royal Bengal tigers died in November 1996 after eating poisoned meat at a zoo in the Bangladesh capital, Dhaka. And this is something you don't expect from the protectors of the endangered species.Police charged 14 zoo employees with killing the tigers, which are a protected species and a national symbol. But 9 of them were acquitted for lack of evidence. They were trying to prove that it...

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ARMED FORCES FOR PEACEKEEPING

"In Peace or in War, We are everywhere for our Country" - a slogan of Bangladesh Army.Bangladesh has a very positive record in international peacekeeping and is a leading provider of troops. So far Bangladesh Army has deployed 44,674 soldiers in different UNPSO programs. You can find the detailed chart here. During a recent visit, US Secretary of State Colin Powell welcomed Bangladesh to take part in humanitarian efforts in post-war Iraq. "This is a matter for Bangladesh government to decide. It's not a demand from the United States," Powell told...

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IN SEARCH OF TRAVEL LOGS

I like reading travel logs since my childhood. The adventures in distant places, descriptions of people, other cultures, language, food, landscapes and mountains always fascinate me. I am also fond of travel documentaries aired by BBC & National Geographic TV Channels (Special mention: The silk road, Michael Palin's adventures & 100$ taxi ride).So far I have come across to only a few web logs, which falls in the travel log category. I will try to keep a watch on these for some time before I make any qualitative judgment on them. Here are...

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THE ULTIMATE IN TIME WASTING! Blogging light cos I am so darn busy. Meanwhile those who have come to waste some time in my blog shouldn't be disappointed. I have got the link to the ultimate in time wasting - The Perpetual bubblewrap! Go there and let the hours waste away. Happy rolli...

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HAHA! Wanna test your patience? I have got an effective tool. Click on this. Wait! Think it over before you click! Do you really want to put your patience to the limit? Don't blame me later. I warned you...

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SNIPPETS TO PONDER

I and the public knowWhat all schoolchildren learn,Those to whom evil is doneDo evil in return. - W. H. AudenAll I have is a voiceTo undo the folded lie,The romantic lie in the brainOf the sensual man-in-the-streetAnd the lie of AuthorityWhose buildings grope the sky:There is no such thing as the StateAnd no one exists alone;Hunger allows no choiceTo the citizen or the police;We must love one another or die. - W. H. AudenWe smile, but, O great Christ, our criesTo thee from tortured souls arise.We sing, but oh the clay is...

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