Editor's Cut: "DEMOCRACY, n. My way or the highway. (Daniel Quinn, London, UK)

ECONOMIC RECOVERY, n. When three out of five software engineers who lost their jobs to outsourcing are able to find part-time work at Wal-Mart. (Rob Hotman , Houston, Texas)"

(Via The Nation Weblogs.)

Pettiness Toward IAEA Undermines International Security [1]: "The experts from the United States and the I.A.E.A., the United Nations nuclear watchdog – in a reverberation of their differences over Iraq’s unconventional weapons – began quarreling over control of the blueprints. The friction was palpable at Libya’s Ministry of Scientific Research, said one participant, when the Americans accused international inspectors of having examined the design before they arrived. After hours of tense negotiation, agreement was reached to keep it in a vault at the Energy Department in Washington, but under I.A.E.A. seal."

(Via ArmsControlWonk.com.)

Indian Ocean Tsunami Imagery: "Indian Ocean Tsunami Imagery"

Wow.

(Via GlobalSecurity.org.)

Scotsman.com News - Latest News - Bush 'Undermining UN with Aid Coalition': "United States President George Bush was tonight accused of trying to undermine the United Nations by setting up a rival coalition to coordinate relief following the Asian tsunami disaster.

The president has announced that the US, Japan, India and Australia would coordinate the world's response.

But former International Development Secretary Clare Short said that role should be left to the UN.

'I think this initiative from America to set up four countries claiming to coordinate sounds like yet another attempt to undermine the UN when it is the best system we have got and the one that needs building up,' she said."

(Via Google News.)

Wired News: Stem-Cell Method May Cheat Death: "A reproductive research team in Chicago could have an answer to the ethical and scientific conundrums presented by the pursuit of stem-cell treatments. That's no small task considering it's a question the top minds in science and bioethics have been racking their brains to solve. Scientists at the Reproductive Genetics Institute, or RGI, believe they can derive high-quality embryonic stem cells from an early embryo without killing it."

(Via Wired.)

Chief of CIA's analysts to quit: " WASHINGTON -- The head of the CIA's analytic division told her staff Tuesday that she is resigning, becoming the latest high-level departure in an ongoing shakeup of the agency's senior ranks by new director Porter J. Goss."

(Via Google News.)

Thinking of moving to another country?: "Are you a blue state American who has the blues? Think Bush is Hitler, and want to burn your American passport ASAP to escape the New American Police State? "

(Via k5.)

Back to Iraq 3.0: Suicide bombing?!: "The Pentagon has admitted that it appears the Mosul attack was a suicide bomber."

...

"Well, looks like my ‘lucky shot’ thesis was wrong. Really wrong. I just didn’t imagine that a suicide bomber could get on a Forward Operating Base, walk into a dining hall and blow himself up. What the hell? How the hell does this happen? He must have had help from inside, which means the Iraqis working with U.S. forces in the bases have just had their lives changed forever. Whatever bonds of trust between Iraqis working with U.S. forces have been frayed — perhaps to the breaking point."

(Via Back to Iraq 3.0.)

Democracy Now! | Palestinian Presidential Candidate Mustafa Barghouti Beaten by Soldiers Blasts "Fascist" Israeli Oppression: "I explained to them who I was and that I was a presidential candidate for presidential elections in Palestine. And they immediately started cursing us, shouting, saying bad words, something that I have never experienced in my life, this level of how vulgar things were and how impolite. And then they started beating the people with me and forcing them to go down to the ground. "

...

"Anybody who dared to speak to another person would be hit immediately. Anybody who tried to stand up would be hit immediately. So practically they tortured us."

(Via IndyMedia.)

Hello From the land of the Pharaohs Egypt: "Imagine this scenario. You're a journalist. A man phones you on your cellular phone and informs you that he needs you to bring your camera and go to a certain house. The man tells you that he wants to murder a lady there and he wants 'his story told'.

You pick up your camera and head to this house. You enter it and find the man waiting for you. You start filming or shooting as the man plants a bullet into the poor lady's head. You then switch off your camera and return to your office with 'the man's story'.

Now, Jack Stokes, director of media relations at the Associated Press, is trying to convince us that AP's hired photographers do not act in the same way as the jounalist in my story above. He and his bosses at AP are trying to tell us that they employ Iraqi photographers who "do not have to swear allegiance or otherwise join up philosophically with them (insurgents "emphasis added by GM") just to take their pictures." They are trying to tell us that their "invisible" photographer knew nothing about the execution of the 2 Iraqi heroes and that he/she was informed that he/she will just cover a "demonstration". Ummmmmm, something doesn't smell nice here. A demonstration in one of Iraq's most dangerous streets! Was the AP photographer expecting just "a demonstration" in Haifa street?? Go to any Iraqi and tell him the word "Haifa street", he will answer back with words such as "bombs, a famous Saddam loyalist street, clashes, etc"."

(Indirectly, via Iraq The Model.)

The Largely Defunct Bill of Rights by Harry Browne: "The Founding Fathers created a Bill of Rights to ensure that Americans would never have to fear government prosecutors the way people in the Old World did.

Unfortunately, the Bill of Rights is a dead letter in too many ways in America. It has now become possible for prosecutors to get a conviction in virtually every case where they choose to indict – whether or not the defendant is guilty."

(Via Lew Rockwell.)

Taking the "Christ" out of Christmas: "There is an interesting new twist in the age-old 'We poor Christians are being attacked!' movement this year: The 'keep Christ in Christmas' movement, attracting wannabe-martyrs from churches including Catholic to Methodist ; Baptists, strangely enough, seem divided on the issue. Some others are threatening to boycott Macy's if they do not replace 'Happy Holidays' signs with 'Merry Christmas' ones. No information is available from Macy's website about whether the Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hannukah, or Saturnalia signs will be replaced."

WTF is wrong with people?

(Via Kuro5hin.org.)

The glass is half empty: Americans and Civil Rights for Muslims: "The Media and Society Research Group of Cornell University conducted a survey in November of Americans with respect to their attitudes towards Muslims. Nearly half (44%) of respondents favored restricting the civil rights of Muslims in some way."

Merry Christmas.

(Via Kuro5hin.org.)

AlterNet: What Would Santa Do?: "The Bush administration has just announced cuts of an estimated $100 million to one of our most critical aid initiatives: helping the poor and hungry around the world feed themselves. "

(Via AlterNet.)

Press Conference by President Bush and Russian Federation President Putin: " I looked the man in the eye.  I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy.  We had a very good dialogue.  I was able to get a sense of his soul; a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country"

(Via The White House.)

What the F*ck is Don Rumsfeld Talking About? [2]: "So, here is a question for Rummy: How many new nuclear programs do you believe have begun since the Bush Administration took office? Or do you just make this shit up?"

(Via ArmsControlWonk.com.)