Once upon a time, in the United States of America, there was a President who dared to fight the big oil companies, the big steel companies, the mob, the military propaganda machine, and even the CIA.

The actions of Halliburton are killing our troops in Iraq as well as sending them home with horrific diseases and permanent and sometimes fatal injures...All the evidence you need is right here. The new Congress must start doing something about this atrocity from the very moment that its members are sworn into office.

"After the first challenge, this one big guy stood over me and pointed his finger," Anne Schultz e-mailed me. "Shaking a bit with anger, he said that he could throw me out in a minute for disrupting the election. The woman was on her way out of the polling place, and I asked her to stay until this was resolved, which she was glad to do."

Outgoing Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and other American officials have been named in a lawsuit filed in Germany earlier this week, which alleges that they bear responsibility for torture committed at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere.

A terror suspect cried himself to sleep at a military training camp and said that he missed his mum, a court heard. The court heard last week how Shujah Ud-Dir-Mahmood - who was 16 at the time - said the experience had been one of the worst in his life.

Catchment areas should be scrapped to give poorer children a chance to go to better schools, a Conservative policy group has proposed. It warned that by only allowing pupils to attend local schools, problems in poor areas were made worse and the 'cycle of deprivation' was repeated across generations.

Here are five concrete and much-needed steps that will make an IMMEDIATE difference to the situation on the ground:

Sibel Edmonds, the former FBI translator who lost her job when she started telling the truth about what was going on inside the FBI, then lost her right to free speech when she kept on telling the truth, still manages to say a great deal that's absolutely true, and somehow does it without violating her State Secrets gag order.

According to an article in today's New York Times, a report from the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point has concluded that the long-dead "terrorist" Osama bin Laden and his so-called deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri are losing control of the Islamic jihad movement.

As we stare with sudden revulsion at the apparent cold-blooded murder of Iraqi civilians in Haditha - at least 15, maybe twice that number, killed by Marines avenging a buddy, including a 3-year-old girl, and men shoved into a closet, and a man kneeling in prayer - let us have the wit not to feign shock.

Hidden at the end of the NYT piece, Bush to Ask Lame Duck Congress to Confirm Gates, in which the White House announced it would try to use the lame ducks to confirm the appointments of both Bob Gates and John Bolton, Democratic leaders say they're preparing to give away everything the Republicans haven't already stolen outright.

Time, we are told, heals all wounds. Indeed, five years ago, one Tuesday morning, I looked to Time to rescue me from the events now known as "9/11". Looking up at the disaster overhead, I was certain that I was dreaming, and that Time, by means of my clock radio, would awaken me. Five years later, I am still trying to wake up.

The Republicans in Washington have abandoned everything that traditional Republicans valued. If the new Democratic members insist on building bridges to radicals who call themselves Republicans, they risk not only their newfound majority, but our future, and our children's future.

Although the 9-11 topic is painful and frightening to grasp in its entirety, it has been proven - by millions of book readers and film viewers - that real, living people can make the shift from mainstream perceptions to truthful discourse. For truth advocates, this is nothing less than a miracle.

And where is it that the Vice Lords meet the Aryan Nation? Why, in Baghdad, of course - where, in one of the less obvious unanticipated consequences of W’s disastrous war, potential domestic terrorists and "army of one" nutjobs are getting top-notch weapons instruction and plenty of target practice.

"Just once in my life I would like to hear the following conversation: Do you support the war? No. I do not support the killing of innocent people for any reason. Do you at least support the troops? No. I condemn killers-for-hire no matter who hired them...Just once!"

Every major "terrorist" attack in recent memory has been done by "terror cells" heavily infested with agents of CIA and/or FBI and/or MI5 and/or MI6. Every major terror alert has turned out to be phony, overblown, premature or all of the above. And now in Britain, the fear-mongering is moving up a couple of notches.

Even with a 40 percent national turnout, which, I know, is good for a midterm election in the world’s oldest and most complacent democracy, I find myself battling doubt and skepticism a day later that the criminally incompetent Bush administration has actually gotten its comeuppance.

There is no good reason why impeachment should be "off the table". Impeachment should be the only thing on the table! This so-called president has committed so many impeachable offenses that nobody could list them all in a humble blog post. If you don't believe me, ask Dave Lindorff and Barbara Olshansky.

The Bank of England has raised interest rates by a quarter of a percent. No big deal, I hear you cry and, were this anything like a decent, sound economic decision for anybody other than the Bank of England and their mega-rich corporate buddies, I would agree with you...But it isn't.

The bodies keep piling up, the toxic horrors spread. Hasn’t anyone in this place ever heard of depleted uranium? Is the health crisis in Iraq and, indeed, throughout the Middle East and Central Asia, not to mention Kosovo and among returning vets for the last four American wars, somehow irrelevant to the 'course' we’re asked to stay?

Two days after being condemned to death, Saddam Hussein was back in court on Tuesday urging Iraqis "to forgive ... and shake hands" as sectarian tensions over his sentence hampered U.S. efforts to stabilise Iraq.

If the administration cannot fabricate a "crisis" over nuclear weapons in Iran (which fired off some missiles today) or North Korea (against which the UN has agreed on sanctions) in time to subvert the upcoming midterm "elections", they may still be able to get what they want by way of Lebanon.

So the question has to be asked, what the #$%&* has happened to Karl Rove in this election cycle? Seriously, what the hell happened to the fat old bastard? Has the Fitzgerald enquiry got him totally rattled?

People who repeatedly flout anti-social behaviour laws should be housed in "sin bin" centres with tough rules and curfews, the Government's Respect tsar has said. Anti-social behaviour chief Louise Casey said she wanted to extend family intervention projects so they could also accommodate "chaotic" individuals.

In the brouhaha over John Kerry's supposedly troop-bashing remarks, two points stand out very clearly. First, the political climate has become so toxic that nobody dares to tell the truth. And second, the truth is so toxic that hardly anybody dares to think it, much less express it.

Forget all the nonsense about "exporting democracy" - throw that on the Used-up Justifications scrapheap with all the talk of WMDs, mushroom clouds and Saddam's ties to Al Qaeda. Bush has finally admitted that the real reason the USA invaded Iraq was what everybody said it was in the beginning: OIL!

Boo! Scared yet? Fear-baiting at election time is standard GOP save-our-keister strategy, but the list of acceptable bogeymen that party leaders parade before the constituency, with inimitable cynicism, is always instructional.

OK, everybody, it's time to play with numbers again. Rumsfeld says that Iraq will build up its security force beyond the current end-of-year goal of 325,000 (a number which is now considered inadequate). Rumsfeld says the move is based on recommendations from both Iraq's government and US General George Casey.

Saddam is going to be hanged. This is the least surprising news of the day but before we get to that and for anybody that missed the highlights of his "glittering" career, let me refresh your memory...

US President George W. Bush presents more of a threat to world peace than the leaders of North Korea and Iran, and only Osama bin Laden is more feared, according to a poll of British voters published in The Guardian.

Campaigners fighting cuts and privatisation in their local NHS will descend on London on Wednesday for a march in support of the TUC lobby of parliament, as simmering discontent about the Government’s handling of the NHS boils over.

Once martial law were declared, elections would be a formality. In a society where anyone who opposes the government goes to a prison camp, who would vote against the rulers? And what if they did? Nobody would be making sure the votes were counted properly anyway.

The Supreme Court of Canada has overturned the conviction of a medical marijuana crusader, ruling the trial judge erred...

Police say they have evidence ranging from bomb-making materials to martyrdom videos...Huge investigation continues...Story finds limited space in British news cycle (after the mutiny, before the cricket)... Meanwhile, chemists wonder: How could they possibly have thought they could do this?

A school safety drill that included police officers in riot gear with weapons has caused concern among some parents who say it was too realistic and frightened some students.

At around the age of 14 I came across a book detailing the many mysteries of the assassination of JFK. I did not immediately realise the significance of the book both in terms of the importance of the event, having not even been born when he was murdered, but also in terms of the effect that the information would have on my life.

Back in March of 2002, Sibel Edmonds was released from the FBI over her discovery of an array of espionage activities. Looking back it appears that the government of Turkey was spectacularly successfully in compromising FBI, CIA, DEA, DIA and DOS operations...

So the government wants to invade our privacy by entering OUR homes and taking photographs of OUR property in the hope that they can charge us even more council tax. Absurdly, you can be charged extra for having a "good view," although, how they can qualify what is or is not a "good view" is beyond me!

A Canadian judge today struck down a key clause in Canada's primary "anti-terror" law, on the grounds that it infringes on freedom of religion, thought and association in violation of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms and is therefore unconstitutional.

Bush now says, "We've never been stay the course." Ironically, there is some truth in that: Despite Bush's "steely" public bravado, his administration has shifted rationales for their invasion of Iraq over and over again.

It does, however, have the potential to save the lives of traitors and murders, such as the man who signed it, and his vice president, and his secretary of state, and his secretary of defense, and his senior political adviser, and his senior war advisor, and his director of national intelligence...

Tony Blair has insisted there should be no limits on the expansion of the national DNA database, saying it was vital for catching serious criminals.

"TWO Pendle men have appeared before Pennine magistrates accused of having "a master plan" after what is believed to be a record haul of chemicals used in making home-made bombs was found in Colne."

That $100-a-bottle perfume that inconvenienced passengers tossed into airport trash cans last week, along with the lip gloss, toothpaste and shampoo, added the missing element of home-front sacrifice to the war on terror, which may explain why initial media coverage was so enthusiastic and skepticism-free.

British News Full Of Terror Revelations; World Opinion Appears Skeptical...An overview of the most recent fallout from the thwarted alleged British-Pakistani simultaneous airplane bombing plot...ALSO: Have our British friends gone MAD?

Lord Falconer has indicated he is prepared to back moves that would cut the number of freedom of information requests being made to Whitehall and the wider public sector.

Israel dropped phosphorous bombs on Lebanon this summer, its government has admitted for the first time. During the war, the Lebanese government accused Israel of dropping the controversial weapons. But Israel had previously claimed it only used the bombs, which cause severe chemical burns, to mark targets or territory.

First they came for the Communists and I did not speak up because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak up because I was not a Jew...You all know the poem from Pastor Martin Neimoller, but what would he say if he were alive today?

An informative look at the world of Big Pharmaceuticals from the perspective of a person with first hand experience of the damage that you can do to yourself by taking the "happy pills" that the doctor gave you. A must read for anybody who has an open mind and would like to keep it that way!

We have handed a blank check drawn against our freedom to a man who may now, if he so decides, declare not merely any non-American citizens "unlawful enemy combatants" and ship them somewhere - anywhere -- but may now, if he so decides, declare you an "unlawful enemy combatant" and ship you somewhere - anywhere.

"Who really poses the greatest danger to world peace: Iraq, North Korea or the United States?" asked Time magazine in an online poll in early 2003, shortly before the US invasion of Iraq. The final results were: North Korea 6.7%, Iraq 6.3%, the United States 86.9%; 706,842 total votes cast.

So let's pause and absorb the number that Bush and his apologizers are willing to concede: 30,000. Let it stand naked in the spotlight for a moment, out of the shadow of those six-figure estimates that make it seem trivial, and listen to the silent heartbeats:

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld wants us to take a lesson from history. He wants us to go straight to fantasy land, too.

A 15-year-old boy who prosecutors said was the mastermind of a failed plot to go on a shooting spree in a suburban school was sentenced Friday to six years in state prison. It sounds like he deserved it, right? Read on...

When Michael Reeves separated his recyclable waste for collection, he thought he was being environmentally friendly. But an eagle-eyed council official thought differently after he spotted a rogue sheet of paper in a bag reserved for bottles and cans.

In the United States the "Fight Against Cancer" (gotta spell it with a BIG "C") is a trillion dollar a year business. And then some. That's a lot of bananas no matter what kind of measuring scheme you use.

It is with great pleasure that we in the World League of Despots note that you have now appropriated to yourself all the powers of arbitrary arrest and torture that Saddam once enjoyed. You are now one of us. Congratulations!

Liberty is liberty. You can't update it. You can't divide it. You are either free, or you're not. A society is either just, or it isn't. People have rights or they don't. The rule of law is upheld, or it isn't.

Most people around the world reject the use of torture to glean information, even if it could save the lives of innocent victims of a terrorist attack, a poll showed.

The Amish child said, “Shoot me first.” The survivors counseled forgiveness and prayed for the soul of the murderer. This was all too solemn and too real to be purveyed by the mainstream media as picturesque curiosity, horse-and-buggy morality in the age of the Hummer.

People often think of the Iraq invasion as an attempt by AMERICA to seize control of Iraq's oil, but nothing could be further from the truth. AMERICA just supplied the troops and the strident voices at the UN so that BIG OIL could seize control of Iraq's oil. The AMERICAN tax-payers just funded the project, they don't profit from it.

A pan-European cancer campaign was under intense scrutiny last night over the scale of involvement of the world's leading maker of cancer drugs.

"The 60-second ad opens with a young boy seeing a man walk by in a crowded market. The man stops and exposes yellow explosives strapped to his body. The boy sees the bombs just before they go off, sending cars flying and people crashing through the windows of a cafe."

Simply HILARIOUS! Blair sings the classic Clash song during his farewell (and good riddance) speech! Ok, maybe he does not exactly "sing" it!

A MUST SEE video...Robert Menard questions, well, just about everything if you are a free-thinking person who is interested in their rights. A couple of years old but undoubtedly still relevant. We are told that we live in a free society...But are we free to leave it whenever we choose?!

If you've been following the confusing story of Bella Maryanovsky, you will be pleased to know that her hearing went quickly and smoothly earlier today and she will be released on $5,000 bond.

What you are about to witness may look like something from a cheesy futuristic sci-fi like Robocop, but it is in fact a very serious, very real and very disgusting picture of the weapons technology business NOW!

The minister responsible for race and faith called on Sunday for a Muslim teaching assistant suspended for wearing a veil to be sacked, entering a growing row over integration.

Dumbfounded as I find myself, I will attempt to tackle this statement from the former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Woolf, who appears, if only for a brief moment, to be wearing sheep's clothing!

The US has quietly started a campaign projected to cost up to $42 million to bolster opponents of the Hamas-led government ahead of possible early Palestinian elections, according to officials linked to the programme.

Name a Latin American politician who frequently resorts to anti-American rhetoric and refers to President Bush as a devil. For those tempted to say Hugo Chavez, here's another hint: He's also the frontrunner in Ecuador's presidential election on Sunday.

On Wednesday, as you may remember, The Lancet released a report estimating at roughly 655,000 the number of dead Iraqis who would still be alive had the USA had not invaded, destroyed, and continued to occupy their country.

It is a "romantic fancy" to suggest centuries-old laws such as the Magna Carta and habeas corpus will protect British citizens in today's world, Dominic Grieve has said.

British supermarket Tesco, the country's biggest retailer, said that its net profit rose by almost a quarter during the first half of its financial year as it attracted more customers.

I wasn't surprised to see the New York Times banging the terror drums again today. It seems to have become a specialty of the house. My attention was particularly drawn to piece in today's NYT by Eric Pfanner of the International Herald Tribune, which bears this headline: Europe Seeks to Unify Airport Security Rules.

The Government is launching a new housing initiative aimed at helping 20,000 key workers get onto the housing ladder.

Even after a full week of crafting and echoing talking points, the White House Spin-And-Noise Machine still hasn't managed to make a dent in it. Woodward did a good job fending off a passel o' lies on Meet The Press Sunday, and hooray for that.

A leading critic of the Government's identity cards programme has lashed out at the official estimated cost of the scheme.

Judges and prosecutors make mistakes, a Justice Department lawyer told the Supreme Court Tuesday, but sometimes those errors are so minor that they don't warrant reversing a conviction in a criminal case.

"I am gonna write about this tonight. They plucked her! ICE took her this evening. They won't tell us where, they won't tell her where, they won't tell her attorney where. She was allowed a call, she phoned her mother to say that she was being moved. She said she does not know when next she will speak with us."

This fascinating essay, written by King Hussein's grandfather King Abdullah, appeared in the United States six months before the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

Conservative leader David Cameron will seek to reclaim the initiative on the NHS as he demands new legislation to create greater independence for the health service.

Hundreds of people called the Bush administration's policies a crime and held up yellow police tape in front of the White House on Thursday amid a nationwide day of protest against the president.

Some of these questions are rhetorical, of course, but others are serious. How do they decide how many lies to include? Do they count the paragraphs? Or do they count the lies? Do we need X lies for every X true assertions? Or is it X false-paragraphs for every X true-paragraphs?

More than 500 under-performing schools have been identified for takeover by more successful ones, it has been reported.

As noted, this pathological behaviour is predictable, following a long established pattern, not that we hear about here in America.

The government is considering radical reforms to smash through a legal log jam of terror trials.

Sir Knucklehead goes into a chatroom called "OBLcrew" and starts fishing around for a jihadi-partner. He hooks up with somebody who claims to be an Al-Q'aeda operative and who offers him $40,000 for information.

If you listened to the words coming out of Republican mouths lately, you'd never even imagine that the result of the primary could possibly have been a reflection of the wishes of the voters:

An update for all of our readers who may have been wondering who or what the delightful people at the VeriChip Corporation have been sticking pieces of radio frequency filled metal into lately!

Vaccination against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer should be compulsory for European schoolgirls aged 11 and 12, a leading medical journal has said.

In the new film America: Freedom to Fascism, Hollywood producer/director Aaron Russo (The Rose, Trading Places) calls on all Americans to put partisan politics aside to stop the erosion of civil liberties and the destruction of the Constitution.

The Home Office has announced that all new passports issued to British citizens will be biometric 'ePassports'.

Supermarkets have been accused of trying to water down organic food standards to meet growing consumer demand.

We have been told many times that Israel has done wonders, turning large areas of desert into productive farmland, but somehow the media reports always forget to mention that the water used to irrigate that land was stolen from Israel's neighbors.

A senior congressional aide said Wednesday that he alerted House Speaker Dennis Hastert's office two years ago about worrisome conduct by former Rep. Mark Foley with teenage pages.

Householders could soon be paying for their rubbish, as councils invest in wheelie bins fitted with "bugs" in preparation for a "pay as you throw" scheme.

Adopt a policy for searching students or lose federal funding. That’s the ultimatum associated with the Student and Teacher Safety Act, which was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Sept. 19.

Under the new rule at the Manhattan School for Children, parents who don’t drop off their children by 8:25 a.m. have to pick up late slips from the principal’s office and go to the auditorium to serve 20 minutes of detention with them.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's government has undermined ancient freedoms in its fight against terrorism, Conservative Party Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said on Monday.

Iran's conservative-controlled parliament is to debate a bill that would make digital fingerprinting compulsory for all US citizens seeking to enter the country, lawmakers said.

Human rights campaigners say they had "real concerns" over how the British Government shares air passenger data with the US.

New laws which will force people to undergo drug treatment even if they have committed no crime have come into force.

United Nations peacekeepers Sunday denied Israel's assertion that it had completely withdrawn all of its soldiers from southern Lebanon.

There is a strange sense of the unknown at the moment and, whilst a few people seem to be revelling in it, the vast majority are caught like deer standing in the middle of the road wondering what those two glowing balls are coming towards them.

As a citizen of these United States for 70 years, I refuse to be ruled by a tyrant who imposes despotic, autocratic control on the citizens of these United States through a series of clandestine actions that usurp the rights of the people.

CNN's Matt Lauer interviews President Bush for the Today Show. Lauer presses Bush for answers regarding torture, extraordinary rendition, secret prisons and more with stunning results!