"By the mid-90's journalism had become a dangerous business and as Kashmir slipped further into chaos so did its media. News content was regularly replaced by rival statements and over a dozen local newspapers were reduced to propaganda tools by the conflicting sides. The Indian government attempted to lure Delhi-based media to fill the vacuum, tarring Kashmiri publications as 'broadsheets of militancy,' perhaps because over three dozen separatist and government-backed armed groups prodded these newspapers to highlight their activities, preferably on the front page."

"...it is vital to recognize the major evolution that has taken place in recent years in Israel's grand strategic thinking regarding the Iranian threat. Iran--not Syria and not Palestine--is today the prism through which Israeli security planners look at the region, its permutations and the threats it presents. Any effort at either war or peace with Syria is directed against Iran. The non-state Islamist actors Hizballah and Hamas represent Iranian footholds on Israel's borders and on the shores of the Mediterranean. Israeli-Egyptian cooperation regarding Hamas relates to Iran."

"Since this growing tension and its negative consequences on Palestinian-Israeli relations are part of the general regional polarization, the best hope of reversing this situation comes from a new American approach to the region when the next administration takes office. But any cosmetic or partial measures will not halt the deterioration. A new regional US approach that includes reversing the growing American presence and hegemony coupled with adherence to international law and an avoidance of double standards is called for. This may allow a regional environment to develop that is more conducive to improving Syrian-Israel as well as Palestinian-Israeli relations."

On April 8, 2008, John J. Sweeney said in Baltimore, MD, that the country is going down the tubes and dragging working class people with it. He’s the head of the national AFL-CIO. He added that in November: “We have an opportunity to reverse these awful trends.” On May 1, 2008, West coast dockworkers are calling a work stoppage to protest the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Perhaps, Mr. Sweeney will join them on the picket line. Stay tuned.

"Perhaps most egregiously, the U.S. Congress failed to stand up for American citizen Rachel Corrie and her family after Corrie was crushed to death in the Gaza Strip by a Caterpillar D-9 bulldozer. The timidity of American officials regarding Corrie's death and the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians and Lebanese undercuts American standing in the world and creates a dramatic rift between American law and its implementation. Both Democrats and Republicans have failed to apply the law where Israel is concerned. Consequently, Israeli officials take increasing liberties in using American firepower on the field of battle-and in civilian neighborhoods."

"The U.S. media still has not figured out that if it takes a nuclear attack by the U.S. on anyone in the region or anywhere else, the U.S. will take or control that oil -- period. All the rest is inconsequential, and if the Iraqis decide after we take their oil that they do not want democracy, they will be allowed to have whatever they want and we will leave when the oil is gone."

"...the settlements are only a symptom, not the heart of the problem. Otherwise, why doesn't the government freeze them, at least, as it has undertaken again and again? If the settlements are the main obstacle to peace, why are they being enlarged even now, and why are new settlements still being set up, disguised as new "neighborhoods" of existing settlements?"

"Many say that the Mahdi Army could win a majority of the seats. As the United States learned in 2005, in a fractious nation, elections can often exacerbate societal cleavages rather than heal them. Thus, instead of demonstrating progress on national reconciliation, the law for local elections already may have destabilized the country further."