It takes at least 10 minutes and a large glass of orange juice to wash down all the pills —morphine, methadone, a muscle relaxant, an antidepressant, a stool softener. Viagra for sexual dysfunction. Valium for his nerves. Four hours later, Herbert Reed will swallow another 15 mg of morphine to cut the pain clenching every part of his body. He will do it twice more before the day is done. Since he left a bombed-out train depot in Iraq, his gums bleed. There is more blood in his urine, and still more in his stool. Bright light hurts his eyes. A tumor has been removed from his thyroid. Rashes erupt everywhere, itching so badly they seem to live inside his skin. Migraines cleave his skull. His joints ache, grating like door hinges in need of oil. There is something massively wrong with Herbert Reed, though no one is sure what it is. He believes he knows the cause, but he cannot convince anyone caring for him that the military's new favorite weapon has made him terrifyingly sick... http://www.msnbc.msn.com censor News |
Editor - 22:13:00 08-12-06 |
California Bishop Apologizes for Delay in Reporting Sexual Abuse Allegations Against Priest |
A Roman Catholic bishop apologized Saturday for waiting several days to notify authorities about sexual abuse allegations against a priest, a delay that may have allowed the priest to flee to Mexico. Bishop Daniel Walsh of the Santa Rosa diocese said in a one-page statement to parishioners that he put "caution" before "doing the right thing" in handling the allegations against The Rev. Xavier Ochoa. Church officials say Ochoa admitted April 28 to sexually abusing a 12-year-old altar boy, but the allegations were not reported to Child Protective Services until May 1, and Ochoa disappeared the next day. "I made an error in judgment by waiting to report Rev. Ochoa's admission," Walsh wrote in the statement, distributed at Saturday Mass throughout the diocese, which stretches from Santa Rosa to the Oregon border. "I should have acted immediately, and not delayed. For this I am deeply sorry." ... http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2306919
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Editor - 21:46:00 08-12-06 |
Ryan to be quizzed over death row pardons Judge rules former Ill. governor must explain motivation for ’03 pardons |
Former Gov. George Ryan must explain in court why he pardoned four death row inmates who are now suing a group of Chicago police officers.U.S. Magistrate Judge Geraldine Soat Brown ordered Ryan to sit for depositions before Sept. 30.Ryan, who used his pardon and commutation powers to empty death row before he left office in 2003, objected to the subpoena and claimed “executive privilege.” Brown noted in her ruling Thursday that Ryan discussed the pardons during an appearance on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” with three of the plaintiffs.“Having voluntarily agreed to respond publicly to questions from a talk show host on the basis for his decision ... Ryan cannot now claim a privilege to refuse to give testimony in a civil case on that same topic,” Brown wrote.... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14324097/
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Editor - 21:33:00 08-12-06 |
U.N.: Cease-fire begins Monday Hezbollah shoots down Israeli helicopter, killing five soldiers |
A U.N.-brokered cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel will begin at 8 a.m. (1 a.m. ET) Monday, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Saturday in a taped statement.Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora agreed on the time, Annan said. But on the conflict's deadliest day yet for Israeli soldiers, he urged both sides to stop fighting immediately."Preferably, the fighting should stop now to respect the spirit and intent of the council decision, the object of which was to save civilian lives, to spare the pain and suffering that the civilians on both sides are living through," Annan said. But Saturday night, five Israeli soldiers died after Hezbollah fighters shot down their helicopter in southern Lebanon, Israel Defense Forces said. Earlier in the day, 19 Israeli soldiers were killed, seven of them during a battle in southern Lebanon, military officials said.... http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/13/mideast.main/index.html?section=cnn_world
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Editor - 21:19:00 08-12-06 |
UN rights body backs Israel probe |
The United Nations Human Rights Council has voted to send a team to Lebanon to investigate alleged abuses by Israel. The council approved the resolution, proposed by a group of states led by Islamic countries, by 27 votes to 11. Many of the resolution's opponents criticised it for not mentioning Hezbollah attacks on Israel. Addressing the emergency session in Geneva, the UN's human rights chief, Louise Arbour, chided both sides for inflicting suffering on civilians. "Israeli attacks affecting civilians continue unabated," she told a special session of the UN Human Rights Council. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4783511.stm
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Editor - 09:29:00 08-12-06 |
Collapse of the Flanks |
In Iraq and Afghanistan, the "coalition" defeats continue slowly to unroll. In Lebanon, it appears Hezbollah may win not only at the moral and mental, strategic and operational levels, but, astonishingly, at the physical and tactical levels as well. That outcome remains uncertain, but the fact that it is possible portends a revolutionary reassessment of what Fourth Generation forces can accomplish. If it actually happens, the walls of the temple that is the state system will be shaken world-wide. One pointer to a shift in the tactical balance is the comparative casualty counts. According to the Associated Press, as of this writing Lebanese dead total at least 642, of whom 558 are civilians, 29 Lebanese soldiers (who, at least officially, are not in the fight) and only 55 Hezbollah fighters. So Israel, with its American-style hi-tech "precision weaponry," has killed ten times as many innocents as enemies. In contrast, of 97 Israeli dead, 61 are soldiers and only 36 civilians, ... http://www.lewrockwell.com/lind/lind104.html
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Editor - 09:21:00 08-12-06 |
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