Pastors for Peace headed for Cuba

School buses and other vehicles loaded with medical and office equipment crossed the border into Mexico on Wednesday on a relief trip to Cuba that violates the U.S. embargo.

It was the 14th straight year that Pastors for Peace, an American humanitarian aid group, has sought to bring supplies <to Cuba>

They are travelling in deliberate defiance of the new travel ban. About 250 people nationwide are doing so. After their weeklong stay in Cuba, most will return to the US via Canada, crossing the border en masse as the media watches, for whatever Customs has waiting for them.

Customs agents did hand out fliers warning that only three of the group were authorized to travel on to Cuba and the rest were subject to prosecution leading to jail time or fines if they tried to travel to the island.

This is not theoretical for me, I know two people who are going…

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Report: War rationale based on CIA error

In a scathing indictment of the nation’s intelligence services, a Senate report concluded Friday the CIA provided false and unfounded assessments of the threat posed by Iraq that the Bush administration relied on to justify going to war.

Uh, huh, so of course poor Dubya just had no clue, did he? Or, at least, that’s the spin they want. “We were given bad info, it wasn’t our fault.” Right.This is called “plausible deniability.”

Golly do you think Bush (and Tenet) made it clear precisely what they wanted, intimidating anyone who gave intel that didn’t suport their foregone conclusion of invasion?

In a stunning development, Democrats say yes and Republicans say no.

Democrats have a “major disagreement” with Republicans over the issue of intimidation.

Friday’s Senate report on prewar intelligence drew a new battle line in the presidential campaign by failing to settle a politically volatile question: Did the White House pressure the CIA to concoct reasons to invade Iraq?

In the end, the committee decided to put off consideration of the Bush administration’s use of intelligence, all but guaranteeing the issue a prominent role in the campaign.

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Congress debating constitutional amendment to ban same sex marriage

As an activist friend says, “If passed, it would be the first constitutional amendment to uphold discrimination rather than prohibit it.”

But happily, though “The Senate vote set for Wednesday is one virtually certain to fail.” Of course, if somehow it passed, then it would have to be ratified by 2/3’s of all states, something which would take years.

There will be a vigil in LA on Monday in protest of this noxious ploy by homophobes of the right. If they were attacking women or Blacks or Latinos or Jews in this manner, they’d be met with a firestorm of protest. But they think they can get away with this hate-filled attack against LGBT’s. Let’s show them they can’t!

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World Court rules Israel’s West Bank barrier is illegal

What’s more, they ordered it be torn down!

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