Syro-Palestinian Archaeology

[Minimalist]

You're right....still, that makes it a bit ironic that Haaretz reported it.

[Ishtar]

Seeker

Hi, how are you btw!

I wanted to ask you, do you think your news is actually restricted in more areas other than just Israel? Say, the Middle East generally?

This was the conclusion I came to the other day when I was talking to someone here, in another thread, about the build up to the Iraq war. I was surprised that he seemed to have been fed an entirely different story about what happened at the UN than what actually happened.

[dannan14]

Yes, our major media news in the US is severely restricted. It seems that those who make the most money off of news broadcasting don't realize that there is a very good reason that the press is the only non-governmental job listed in the Constitution.

Real, actual, journalistic news is found in the US in places like DemocracyNow.org, AntiWar.com, The Nation, Mother Jones News, and others. Even The Onion seems more factual than Fox or NBC.

That being said, stories about things happening in Israel and other parts of the Middle East are usually in our newspapers, but in an abridged form of the AP wire. Getting the full story will generally require the internet.

[Ishtar]

Bloody hell! You might just as well be in China!

[Minimalist]

The McClatchey Newspaper Group may be an exception to the corporate drivel that passes for news in the US.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/349/story/376029.html

CANBERRA, Australia --Prime Minister Kevin Rudd accused his predecessor of abusing intelligence information to justify entering the Iraq war, saying Monday that the Australian people were misled.

In remarks to parliament on the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, which began Sunday, Rudd said the nation must learn from the errors of former Prime Minister John Howard, who sent 2,000 troops to support U.S. and British forces in the 2003 invasion.

"We must learn from Australia's experience in the lead-up to going to war with Iraq and not repeat the same mistakes in the future," Rudd said.

He criticized Howard's government for going to war without accurate information or a full assessment of the consequences.

[Minimalist]

Looks as if Haaretz is about to succumb to the same pressures that money has caused here in the US.

I found this through Dr. Jim West's blog.

http://www.muzzlewatch.com/?p=370

Inside sources have told us that these rumors of a broader purge that may eventually involve other writers like Akiva Eldar and Gideon Levy are true. We are told this is part of

“…a very conscious shift to the right because of American Jews. They see American Jews as their primary audience for the English language edition. They’ve been getting, apparently for years, many many complaints, calls and visits from people with influence and money who have been haranguing them about their coverage

And, it is also true that as "right-wing" as American Jews are said to be the nut job christian lunatic fringe is even worse.

[rich]

See - even modern mankind has its god - it's name is M O N E Y. Its co-existent god is P O W E R.

[Minimalist]

Amen to that.



(Oops.)

[Cognito]

... nut job christian lunatic fringe ...

What's the difference between a fundamentalist Christian, fundamentalist Muslim, or fundamentalist Jew? None that I can determine. They all seem to suffer from heavy doses of intolerance.

[dannan14]

The only difference i see at the moment is that one of those three groups are in power in the US, the other two are not.

[Minimalist]

Only the christians don't get to kill their enemies with impunity....which has them feeling very put upon.

[Ishtar]

Only the christians don't get to kill their enemies with impunity....which has them feeling very put upon.

Oh I don't know about that. Bush said that God told him to go to war against Iraq and since then he's notched up tens of thousands of civilian deaths on the strength of it. Last month alone, US Forces killed 63 civilians in Iraq.

This is a good site if you've been wondering what's been going on since General Tommy Franks said: "We don't do body counts."

http://www.iraqbodycount.org/

[Minimalist]

Bush also said that this is not a "war" against Islam.

Of course, he is a known liar.

[Forum Monk]

Oh I don't know about that. Bush said that God told him to go to war against Iraq...

Explicitly denied by the white house:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases ... 006-6.html
Q Have you ever heard the President say that God told him to invade Afghanistan and Iraq and --

MR. McCLELLAN: No, and I've been in many meetings with him and never heard such a thing.

Q Are you aware of the -- there's a BBC broadcast tonight that's quoting the Palestinian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister as saying that they were in a meeting with the President in June of '03, and there are some very detailed quotes here, saying that the President said to them, "God told me, 'George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan,' and I did," and then "God told me, 'George go and end the tyranny in the Iraq'" and so forth and so on?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, that's absurd. He's never made such comments.

Q Were you in the meeting when that took place?

MR. McCLELLAN: I've been in meetings with him with President Abbas; I didn't travel on that trip, if you're talking about to Jordan. But I've been in many meetings with the President with world leaders where he's talked about this.

Q So you don't know about the June '03 meeting?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, I checked into that report and I stand by what I just said.

[Minimalist]

Given Bush's track record I have to go along with the Palestinians on this one.