Dr. Ron Paul is a Republican member of Congress from Texas.

Statement in the House on funding the war in Afghanistan, July 2, 2010

In January 1991, we went to war in the Middle East against Saddam Hussein, Iraq's dictator who was our ally during the Iran-Iraq war. A border dispute between Kuwait and Iraq broke out after our State Department gave a green light to Hussein's invasion.

from Crikey .....

Found in my letterbox today a Liberal pamphlet spruiking Tony Abbott and 'Bennelong is my second choice' Liberal Candidate John Alexander. The set photo shot has the two of them pointing at a map of the Bennelong electorate.

Such a shame that the focus of both their attention is an area outside the electorate -- if fact if you look closely enough the two of them seem to pointing at an area inside the seat of Bradfield.

And yes, can it be?

They seem to have spotted Wolseley Road in Lindfield - where I understand Alexander still resides, despite promises at his pre-selection that he would move into Bennelong.

The inquiry into the death of Baha Mousa is due to report by the end of the year. It will detail how Mousa died in Iraq in September 2003, allegedly brutalised by British soldiers in a "free for all"; and how it was that he and nine other men in the same incident were allegedly hooded, forced into painful stress positions, and deprived of sleep, food and water.

Ongoing since its May 14, 1948 "Declaration of Independence," Israel systematically reigned terror against Palestinians and neighboring states, always claiming self-defense - bogus then, bogus now, historian Ilan Pappe describing Israel as a "settler Prussian state: a combination of colonialist policies....manifested in the dominance of the army over political, cultural and economic life," then adding:

Much was made of al-Qaeda's training camps in Afghanistan, the target of American bombers. But these were kindergartens compared with the world's leading university of terrorism at Fort Benning in Georgia. Known until recently as the School of the Americas, it trained some 60,000 Latin American soldiers, policemen, paramilitaries and intelligence agents. Forty per cent of the Cabinet ministers who served in the genocidal regimes of Lucas Garcia, Rios Montt and Mejia Victores in Guatemala are graduates.

Well folks, here we have it .... the nation's number one scumbag, 'phoney tony', giving himself a boost for single-handedly orchestrating the demise of citizen Kevin Rudd, whilst arrogantly making the empty boast that 'the coalition would have defeated Labor at the next election'.

Now I'm not going to try & argue that Abbott's outrageous public hyperbole; his outright lies about the Labor government .... indeed his own acknowledgement that he can't lie straight in bed ..... don't form part of what we have come to accept in this country as a normal part of politics.

A few weeks ago the Jewish Chronicle published a list of Jewish MPs in the UK parliament. It named 24 in total, encompassing 12 Conservatives, 10 Labour, and two Liberal Democrats. Author and peace activist Stuart Littlewood elaborated on these figures and presented the following analysis:

Our Action Contract

The question that should still be asked of Labor is: 'What do you stand for, and what can you actually deliver?'

This will be the key question for the forthcoming election, because Australians need a government with the capability and conviction to deliver on its promises.

The Coalition is determined to offer a clear alternative to the Australian people.

Last August, the presidential press corps followed Barack Obama and his family to Martha's Vineyard for their brief vacation. The coverage focused on summery fare - a visit to an ice cream parlor, the books the president had brought along. Nearly everyone mentioned his few rounds of golf, including his swing, and the enthusiasm of onlookers.

What caught my eye, though, was the makeup of his foursome. The president was joined by an old friend from Chicago; a young aide; and Robert Wolf, Chairman and CEO, UBS Group Americas. In a decidedly incurious piece, a New York Times reporter made light of Wolf's presence:

from Crikey .....

Fresh calls from Nile to ban the burqa

Margot Saville writes:

This is a story that should be a warning to Americans, regardless of political party, because it dramatically illustrates what pre-eminent civil liberties attorney Harvey Silverglate documents in his book, "Three Felonies A Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent" by means of the ever-increasing broad and vague federal laws that allow prosecutors to pin arguable federal crimes on any one of us, even for the most seemingly innocuous behavior.

It's tragically ironic that while Obama appropriately fired McChrystal for insubordination, he promised that America's longest war - one that no one honestly thinks that we can win - will continue.

These are the last gasps of empire by a President who promised change, but America's long history of empire - which reached its zenith after victories in World War II - is nearing its end as China, Russia and India advance into Asia, Africa and even tentatively into South America.  We are a debtor nation now that would implode if our major lenders, including China (with 25% of our debt in its pocket) called in their loans.

Jewish leaders welcomed the appointment of Australia's first female prime minister, who has been supportive of Israel.

Julia Gillard was elected unopposed in a Labor Party caucus meeting Thursday after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd agreed to a leadership ballot triggered by a slump in the polls.

Gillard, from Labor's left faction, was widely considered an unknown quantity on Israel when she was elected deputy leader in 2006.

But she "stood like a rock during the Gaza incursion [in 2009], reiterating again and again that Hamas began the conflict by rocketing Israel," said Michael Danby, a Jewish lawmaker in the Labor government.

from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press .....

Imagine a future in which cancer becomes a memory, ordinary people travel in space, and computers carry on conversations like humans. Now imagine a darker future - a world beset by war, rising temperatures and energy shortages, one where the United States faces a terrorist attack with nuclear weapons. 

from Crikey .....

Raw and wrenching: politicians at their best in the face of defeat

Canberra correspondent Bernard Keane writes: