"An appetite for destruction"

Lebanon's ex-PM Hariri killed in huge Beirut bomb blast
Lebanon's former prime minister Rafiq Hariri, a political veteran who resigned four months ago after falling out with Syria, was killed in a massive bomb blast in central Beirut.

Bomb strains Syria-Lebanon ties
A former leader who quietly pressed for Syria to quit Lebanon was killed Monday.

French Hone Hypocrisy In Africa
Why is it that a democratic Western country that prides itself on being a model of civilization and a champion of liberty can support dictators and oppression in what we used to call backward countries? No, I am not talking about the foreign policy of the United States. I am speaking of France, which has long used a double standard in dealing with its former African colonies.

T Mbeki: State of the Nation Address, South Africa
Address of the President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, at the Second Joint sitting of the third Democratic Parliament, Cape Town.

An appetite for destruction
Seemingly, each musician addict had their own drug of choice. Here are just some of the musicians who made drugs famous: Charlie Parker (heroin and alcohol), Elvis Presley (pain killers/downers), the Rolling Stones' Keith Richards (heroin), Marianne Faithful (morphine), Jimi Hendrix (a bit of everything), James Brown (PCP aka angel dust), Sting (cocaine), Kurt Cobain (heroin), Whitney Houston (crack cocaine) and Courtney Love (pain killers/downers).

Gambling firms place their bets on China
Visitors to the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas this past week were greeted by a prophetic sight: a massive banner with Chinese characters wrapped around the faux bell tower of the structure, which is built to look like the Doges Palace in Venice.

State, slowing economy give Russian business the chills
Mikhail Sagirov struggled to start up his business, a suburban Moscow health club, and thanks to five years of relative prosperity and order under President Vladimir Putin, he's finally got it going. If it weren't for the suffocating "hidden taxes" that have to be paid to local officials and police in the form of favours and bribes, he says, it might even be profitable one day.

Kissinger, Putin meet at Kremlin
Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger met Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday during a private visit at the Kremlin Kissinger said was aimed at strengthening ties between the two nations, whose presidents are to meet for a summit this month.

List of Names Has Poland in Turmoil
The Slazaks always thought they had safely avoided the politics of the Polish communist era - until their son came out of his room the other day and said: "Mom, you're on the list, and dad is on the list, and so is grandpa."

The US is Declining
Elections were a pretext to extend U.S. control. I don't believe the U.S. will withdraw. They can't give a sense they may abandon Iraq without giving the impression of having suffered a big defeat. I don't think elections solve political problems in Iraq. The U.S. occupation remains an issue.

Suspicion surrounds missing Bay Area man
His fellow military contract worker pointed to kickback schemes -- and then was killed
In the midafternoon of Oct. 9, 2003, Kirk von Ackermann, an American contract worker from the Bay Area, used a satellite phone to call a colleague from a lonely desert road between Tikrit and Kirkuk in northern Iraq. He told his colleague he had a flat tire and needed a jack. About 45 minutes later, the colleague found von Ackermann's car, abandoned. There was no sign of von Ackermann, who had been alone when he called. No hint of struggle, not even a footprint. All that remained was his satellite phone, his laptop computer, and, on the car's backseat a briefcase holding $40,000 in $100 bills.

The BBC: premier propagandist for the imperium
I have written about the mythological Abu Musab al-Zarqawi several times before as have other writers. The question we need to ask is why does the state and hence its servant, the corporate media have need of such a ‘person’? Walker’s article opened with the quote above, a very revealing statement but one that I made here some time last year but for very different reasons. Walker goes on
This poisonous Jordanian terrorist has done the world a service. Almost at a stroke he has eased away the accumulated grievances between Washington and Paris, between America and Europe, by couching the struggle in Iraq in terms that force even the French onto the side of President Bush.