Various Wrap Up

It's been a bizarre week for me, so I think I'll leave most of the commentary out of it this time and just do a general news wrap.

- First up, seems an epidemic of sexual crimes is sweeping Iraq:

Like women everywhere, Iraqi women have always been vulnerable to rape. But since the American invasion of their country, the reported incidence of sexual terrorism has accelerated markedly -- and this despite the fact that few Iraqi women are willing to report rapes either to Iraqi officials or to occupation forces, fearing to bring dishonor upon their families. In rural areas, female rape victims may also be vulnerable to "honor killings" in which male relatives murder them in order to restore the family's honor. "For women in Iraq," Amnesty International concluded in a 2005 report, "the stigma frequently attached to the victims instead of the perpetrators of sexual crimes makes reporting such abuses especially daunting."

What is particularly interesting is both the apologies given from the US reps and the fact rape is a war crime now. Not that I would anticipate soldiers from our country facing international tribunals any time soon (and I'm sure I'd be labeled anti-American or anti-troops for advocating punishment for such crimes anyway). And it's not that this is shocking news, but more so because it still deserves to be reported. It's not just the prisons where these terrible crimes are going down, nor should it be ignored because it's war, or it's in Iraq, which is, you know, 'over there' and out of sight.

- Next, more photographic evidence that 9/11 was an inside job? Seems like it. And as every piece of evidence comes to light, or as every new book is published to even hint at the fact 9/11 may have been so much more than what we've been led to believe, and people duck further into themselves, like turtles hiding inside their own shells, taking the time out only to attack anyone else for being 'ridiculous' enough to believe anything outside the original story.

- Another article indicating the belief that Iraq was directly involved, or heavily linked, to 9/11. A belief that Bush pushed heavily, but now denies ever making. I repeatedly will post this because it is very important to realize that every day, we are spending BILLIONS of dollars on an illegal war:

The most likely sponsor for such an attack, the sources said, is Iraq. The Baghdad regime has long maintained an alliance with Bin Laden and Islamic groups.

Note to everyone: Illegal invasions of soverign countries, which result in death tolls of catastrophic numbers (troops, civilians, etc) are internationally criminal actions, if not war crimes. And transparent lies that become visible to your (admittedly stubborn and closeminded) population SHOULD get you impeached from your presidential office. Oh, and check out that Israeli intelligence. So many dark and dangerous dots that need connecting....

- Speaking of Israel, seems like they may be willing to 'Go it Alone' against Iran. While the world talks, Israel continues its push for conflict with Iran. Will people be as accepting of the situation as they were with Iraq, now that there are no nukes or biological weapons that Saddam was hiding, no ties to 9/11, none of the real reason's we were given for being there. One piece of article that I find absolutely amazing:

"The Iranians know the world will do nothing," he said. "This is similar to the world's attempts to appease Hitler in the 1930s - they are trying to feed the beast."

I...wait, what?! So Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the next Hitler? If ANYONE remotely related to Israeli government interests was referred to in this context, people would explode. I actually have no other words. Un-friggin-believable.

- My dislike of Fox news and all things affiliated runs very deep, and I've no qualms about making that public. That said ,this article brings a smile to my face:

Alexa.com, which tracks Web traffic, shows a sharp decline to BillOReilly.com since March, when it had more than 100,000 visits for every 1 million Internet surfers. The decline has been steady and gradual, with visits dropping below 50,000 in August, according to a graph. Another summary pegs the traffic drop over the past three months at 30 percent.

Could be nothing, of course. Though the article goes on to list other pundits and talking heads as seeing a decrease in traffic and, perhaps, overall interest. Is this a sign that change is in the air? Is this a sign that people are beginning to wake up, to stop buying into the bullshit that 'experts' try to push down their throats on a daily basis? Is this a sign that, come November election time, some serious changes could finally start to be seen in this country? Maybe. Or, maybe it's just a brief fluctuation and isolated Alexa traffic numbers.

But one sure can hope.