Month: October 2004

When you realize that communication is the most basic survival skill of the human race, then you must also see that lying is the cardinal sin, since a lie is a deliberate attempt to sabotage communication. It is an immoral attempt by one person to manipulate another by denying that person the truth. We would … Continue reading “Mendacity Without End”

Inter Press Service/Pajhwok News KABUL – Voter turnout was heavy in Afghanistan’s first direct presidential election in recent history, but irregularities in the voting process prompted calls for the results to be nullified. Due to a heavy turnout, and despite rain and snow in some mountain areas, polls stayed open an additional two hours in … Continue reading “Afghan Irregularities Prompt Candidates’ Protests”

CAIRO – Bomb blasts at two holiday resorts in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula have sent shivers through the tourism industry, but tour operators expect the country’s biggest foreign currency earner to suffer only minor damage. "The attack was very contained and seemed to be focused in terms of its objective," Ramy el-Shawan, managing director of the … Continue reading “Egyptian Tourism Expected to Withstand Bombings”

The Bush administration’s "anti-terrorism" policies have come increasingly under fire from civil libertarians across the political spectrum, but the subject of civil liberties has not become a major issue in this year’s presidential campaign, leading some to question John Kerry’s position as well as whether Bush will act to remedy the rights violations brought on … Continue reading “Bush, Kerry Consider Civil Liberties Unimportant”

CARACAS – Fighting between the Nigerian government and an ethnic rebel militia in the country’s eastern oil-producing Niger Delta region helped drive the price of oil up to $53 a barrel this week in a market that analysts say is experiencing a "new order" marked by lower spare production capacity. The price of U.S. benchmark … Continue reading “Revolt in Nigeria Fuels Oil Price Rise”

TABA, Egypt – The leader of an Israeli rescue team points to the rubble of what was the lobby of Hilton hotel. "Look, you can see clearly where the car exploded." Commander Shalom Bar-Arieh of the search and rescue school of the Israeli army’s central command is a veteran of such operations. "This is exactly … Continue reading “Sinai Attacks: Al-Qaeda Hand, Palestinian Shadow”

The 9/11 Recommendations Implementation Act (H.R. 10) is yet another attempt to address the tH.R.eat of terrorism by giving more money and power to the federal bureaucracy. Most of the reforms contained in this bill will not make America safer, though they definitely will make us less free. H.R. 10 also wastes American taxpayer money … Continue reading “The Worst Way to Fight Terror”

Now we know the truth. Neither the Bush administration nor the Israeli government has any intention whatsoever of allowing the Palestinians to establish their own state. That means, of course, that both have been lying, not only to the Palestinians but to the American people. It also means that there will be no end to … Continue reading “No Palestinian State, No Peace for America”

It’s not an if, it’s a when. Pentagon officials have indicated that they plan to send as many as 15,000 more troops to Iraq during the first four months of 2005, and President Bush continues to insist that "we will stay the course" until Iraq is stabilized. Where will the additional troops come from? The … Continue reading “Not Enough Troops – or Truth”

Banking is difficult during the National Holiday in China. For seven days, everybody is on vacation – everybody. Cooks and old bearded cardboard collectors still do their routines, but their relatives are coming through from afar and filling the apartment up with shouts and covering the floor with sunflower seeds. All accountants are in Yunnan. … Continue reading “Riding the Tiger”