I don't know the specifics of this case/this guy and who knows how it will come out but this is good news, right?

Ex-Khmer Rouge minister detained
Police and officials from Cambodia's UN-backed genocide tribunal have taken former Khmer Rouge Foreign Minister Ieng Sary into custody.
The former leader was detained after police surrounded his home in Phnom Penh early in the morning.

He will be taken before judges who will decide if he should face charges.

Ieng Sary was the brother-in-law of Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot. Some one million people are thought to have died under the Khmer Rouge's 1975-1979 rule.

The former foreign minister is the third senior official to be targeted by the tribunal.

Former Khmer Rouge second-in command Nuon Chea and former prison chief Kang Kek Ieu - also known as Duch - have both been charged with crimes against humanity.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/7090052.stm

Published: 2007/11/12 03:13:49 GMT

© BBC MMVII

We want people to be held to account for their actions, no? Some people believe that we will all be judged in the "next world", based on our conduct in this world, but I believe all of us like to see justice in this world too, right?

I wonder if George Bush or Dick Cheney ever have thoughts of "what if..."? Such as what if the people finally realize where the real power lies in a democracy and make some long overdue changes. And possibly find out some things that we can't even guess at right now. (Think things like that exist? I do).

Another thing that I would wonder if I "believed" in an all-powerful creator God like GW claims to is what if the parts of "the Bible" that are the most important are the ones that say things like "do unto others..." and "love your neighbor" and Jesus talking about people who love money more than "God" and it being easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Christian my ass. George Bush is a Bushtian.

Remember about five years ago George Bush told us about how God had spoken to him and wanted him (GW) to bring peace to the middle east? How's that working?

Iraq? Chaotic, new terrorist groups spawned in response to our occupation. Sunni vs. Shia violence, Kurdish separatists launching raids into Turkey.

Iran? Labeled as part of an "Axis of Evil" by Georgie and called "State Sponsors of Terror" by Bush and Condi who believe Iran is working hard to develop nuclear weapons. (Gee, why would they want those?) Many Americans fear that they are already in the crosshairs of our war-loving administration.

Afghanistan? (Is this still the Middle east?) Taliban resurgent, Al-Qaeda still functioning, Osama still at large. Our forces still skirmishing with "the bad guys".

Turkey? Dealing with Kurdish raids (terrorism?) and talking tough about reprisals.

Israel/Palestine? Yeah right.

Oh, and Russia is talking like their willing to back Iran if the U.S. does something very stupid.

Now Bush is talking about WWIII (as part of his mideast peace plan, I guess).

So it all ties together?

Addendum:

June 24, 2002 Posted: 5:35 PM EDT (2135 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush outlined his plan for Middle East peace in a speech Monday afternoon at the White House. The following is a transcript of the speech:

http://archives.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/06/24/bush.mideast.speech/

Not sure what the "occasion" was. Quite a little speech though. Very condescending I thought, I haven't read the whole thing (I hear his voice in my head, see his face even, and it gags me), he sounds like he's lecturing (often sounds like that) which always galls me.

More to come

Ah here it is:

"One of the delegates, Nabil Shaath, who was Palestinian foreign minister at the time, said: "President Bush said to all of us: 'I am driven with a mission from God'. God would tell me, 'George go and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan'. And I did. And then God would tell me 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq'. And I did."
Mr Bush went on: "And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, 'Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East'. And, by God, I'm gonna do it."

Here's a link if you want more:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1586978,00.html

That's it

Why does this not shock me?

US loses cotton subsidies fight

The US could face billions of dollars in trade sanctions for failing to scrap illegal subsidies paid to American cotton growers.
The World Trade Organisation ruling is a victory for Brazil's cotton industry and for West African states which say the payments harmed their producers.

Brazil hailed the ruling, saying US subsidies had hit world prices, hurting farmers in Brazil and elsewhere.

But US officials believe the payments comply with international trade rules.

Washington is expected to make an appeal against the ruling.

Roberto Azevedo, the Brazilian foreign ministry's trade chief, said that the three-member WTO compliance panel had upheld the findings of its interim report released in July.

"It wasn't changed," he told the Associated Press (AP) news agency just after the ruling was released confidentially to US and Brazilian officials in Geneva.

The office of the US Trade Representative in Washington confirmed the news, saying the US was "very disappointed".

Brazil has reserved the right to impose annual sanctions of up to $4bn on the United States but would probably seek less in retaliatory measures because the US has removed some of the offending subsidies, AP notes.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/business/7046195.stm

Published: 2007/10/15 22:21:13 GMT

© BBC MMVII

This can certainly be looked at in a number of ways; already denials have been issued by the U.S. Brazil says the U.S. has already removed some of the offending subsidies (we stopped cheating even though we weren't?)

Why does this sound familiar? It seems like it's becoming the "new American way". Forget about "fair play", do whatever it takes (or whatever you think you can get away with) to "win".

Professional athletes do it all the time. Whole teams do it (New England Patriots to name one that was recently punished for "cheating")

Richard Nixon always believed that "the other guy" was surely doing everything imaginable so he figured he should too.

Good thing we're on "God's" side, right?

I have decided to commemorate the end of my second year at "Don't Believe Everything..." with a return to my roots.

Don't believe everything you read in history books. According to Rick Perlstein, writing in the current issue of "The Nation", two books especially are being touted by the pro-Iraq war right as the real truth about America's involvement in Vietnam. Pure revisionism is what he calls them. I have as yet read neither, maybe someday, possibly during the semester break.

Don't believe everything the V.A. tells you. Also in this week's "Nation", Joshua Kors tells of a new and disturbing trend with regard to our injured soldiers. Rather than acknowledge and treat their injuries and PTSD the Army have taken to claiming that these soldiers have "preexisting personality disorders" and are summarily discharging them. Why is it that the administration that wants the most from our "boys in uniform" wants to give back the least? The article intimates that there are financial considerations. Imagine that. They will have spent more than half a trillion dollars on this misbegotten folly after this latest round of appropriations are run through, why is there so little available for the care that these guys (and gals) need and deserve?

I would like to see a full accounting of all money spent on this crusade. Wish me luck?

This is great:

Feuding nuns force convent demise
By Christian Fraser
BBC News, Rome

A convent in Italy is being shut down after a fight between its last three remaining nuns.
So badly did relations deteriorate between the sisters of Santa Clara in Bari that the Mother Superior ended up in hospital with scratches to her face.

Now the local archbishop has intervened and asked the Vatican for permission to close the convent.

But Sister Liliana, the only nun still there, says she has no intention of leaving her home of the past 44 years.

The Clarissa nuns are regarded as the most austere order of the Roman Catholic Church, devoted to a life of prayer, penance and quiet contemplation.

But at the Santa Clara convent in Bari, the vow of silence was shattered by an unholy row.

Sisters Annamaria and Gianbattista say they were driven to distraction by the nasty habits of their Mother Superior.

They became so angry that during the summer, they turned on Sister Liliana scratching her face and throwing her to the ground.

The two nuns have now moved into a nearby convent leaving Sister Liliana barricaded inside.

Despite the efforts of the Archbishop Giovanni Battista Pichierri to reconcile the three sisters he has been forced to call on the Vatican for help.

He wrote to the Holy See telling them the sisters had "clearly lost their religious vocation" and with only one nun remaining has asked for permission to close the convent down.

But Sister Liliana is not going without a fight.

She has not once left the nunnery in 44 years and she is not about to be pushed about now.

She has written to the Pope telling him she will only leave when God decides it is time to go.

And since she is devoted to her vow of silence it is not that easy to reason with her.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/7023245.stm

Published: 2007/10/02 01:17:40 GMT

© BBC MMVII

I try to let people have their religious rituals and they can have this but you can't expect me not to laugh about some of the goofier stuff. I think this qualifies.