Pornographic movies now seem nearly as pervasive in America's hotel rooms as tiny shampoo bottles, and the lodging industry shows little concern as conservative activists rev up a protest campaign aimed at triggering a federal crackdown. A coalition of 13 conservative groups -- including the Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America -- took out full-page ads in some editions of USA Today earlier this month urging the Justice Department and FBI to investigate whether some of the pay-per-view movies widely available in hotels violate federal and state obscenity laws. A little Censorship is like being a little pregnant. It may sound good, but if everyone could ban what offends them, or at least publicly profess to, what would remain to read or see? And yes, some would object to the Bible. Better we just learn to turn off, change channel, or don’t read what offends you. I myself prefer to use my God given right and use my own mind what to see, read or listen. ...
http://www.cnn.com
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Editor - 12:28:00 08-22-06
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 Israel says it will lift blockade after U.N. peacekeepers are in place. |
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday that Israel will lift its air and sea blockade of Lebanon once an international peacekeeping force is deployed along Lebanon's borders. The remarks came during talks with U.N. envoy Terje Roed-Larsen and hours after the Lebanese foreign minister called on the international community to force Israel to end the blockade. "Olmert said deploying the force at border crossings to Syria and at the airport will allow the lifting of Israel's sea and air blockade and contribute to the implementation" of the U.N.-brokered cease-fire agreement, said a statement issued by Olmert's office. Previously, the Israelis have said they would continue to enforce the blockade as a way of preventing the rearming of Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and Syria. But with European nations reluctant to commit soldiers for a 15,000-member force, it is unclear when it will mobilize. ...
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-08-22-mideast_x.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 10:56:00 08-22-06
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| North Korea claims 'pre-emptive' right. How quaint, they actually want the same rights as the U S claims? |
North Korea warned today that it has the right to take "pre-emptive" action in response to ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills. The North's latest rhetorical salvo came after President Bush spoke yesterday with Chinese President Hu Jintao about how to persuade the North to return to deadlocked international talks on its nuclear weapons program. The U.S. and South Korea began the annual joint military exercises yesterday, which the North had previously said would be considered a declaration of war. Some 29,500 U.S. troops remain in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in a cease-fire that has never been replaced by a peace treaty. The North's military said today it "would not be bound to the [armistice agreement] in taking on its own initiative military measures for protecting the security and sovereignty of the country in the future. It called the exercises a "war action declaring the [armistice] null and void." ...
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20060822-010703-8984r.htm
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Editor - 10:51:00 08-22-06
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| Losses increase at Wal-Mart Japan |
Wal-Mart has pledged its commitment to staying in Japan, despite its Japanese subsidiary reporting a five-fold increase in losses. Seiyu, the US giant's Japanese unit, made a 54bn yen ($465m; £246m) net loss in the first six months of 2006. Hit by a one-time write-off and ongoing cost-cutting work, this compares with a 10.6bn yen loss a year earlier. Wal-Mart announced earlier this year that it was pulling out of both Germany and South Korea due to poor results. Wal-Mart's Seiyu chief executive Ed Kolodzieski said the Japanese unit was now turning itself around. Despite overall half-year sales falling 2.9% to 468bn yen, he pointed to underlying like-for-like sales rising 1.4%, the first year-on-year gain in 14 years. Mr Kolodzieski added that Seiyu was continuing to close under-performing stores while opening new outlets. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5273642.stm
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Editor - 08:33:00 08-22-06
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| 'Nearly 600,000' new EU migrants |
About 600,000 people have come to work in the UK from eight nations which joined the European Union in 2004, says Home Office minister Tony McNulty. New figures show that 447,000 people from Poland and the seven other new EU states have applied to work in the UK. But Mr McNulty said the figure would be nearer 600,000 if self-employed workers - such as builders - were included. He said the migrants were helping the UK economy, but the figures will fuel fears about strains on public services. And they will increase debate about whether the right to work should be limited when Bulgaria and Romania join the EU. The figures show those 427,000 migrant workers who successfully registered to work brought with them 36,000 dependents - spouses and children. Some 27,000 child benefit applications were approved. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/5273356.stm
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Editor - 08:28:00 08-22-06
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| Iran says ready for serious nuclear talks |
Iran said on Tuesday it was ready to start immediately what it called "serious" talks with six world powers about their offer to defuse Tehran's nuclear standoff with the West. Chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani delivered Iran's formal response to the offer at a meeting with foreign envoys from the six world powers in Tehran.No details of the response were immediately available. Iran has given no sign of heeding a key United Nations Security Council demand that it freeze uranium enrichment, and Western diplomats said they were expecting an "ambiguous" response."Although there is no justification for the other parties' illegal move to refer Iran's case to the Security Council,... the answer was prepared ... to pave the way for fair talks," Larijani said."Iran is prepared to hold serious talks from August 23," he was quoted by Iran's student news agency ISNA as saying....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060822/ts_nm/nuclear_iran_dc
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Editor - 08:25:00 08-22-06
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