<Seymour> Hersh recently got hold of a copy of the United Nations interim report by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis on the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. The document cited "converging evidence" that senior levels of the Syrian government were involved in the murder.

But according to Hersh, the Mehlis report is built on the same anemic foundations as Powell’s UN presentation in February, 2003. "He is relying on intercepts of an unnamed source inside the Iranian air force, someone without inside stuff. It’s not empirical." On the basis of this thin evidence, he says, the Bush administration is campaigning at the UN for sanctions on Syria.

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The Frankenpumpkins have been carved and are ready for Halloween. (Check what they looked like before.)

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From the ANSWER LA Forum on War and Racism. 10/29/2005. Pt. 3 of 3.

ANSWER leader and award-winning filmmaker Gloria la Riva recently traveled to New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Texas and spoke about the aftermath of Katrina and her new documentary.

MP3 (28:50 min. 9.9 MB, 10/29/05)

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Letter to The Guardian, Thu. Oct. 27, 2005

Two thousand Americans are dead. Fifty times that many Iraqis are dead; 300 times that many human beings are injured. One million times that have been indirectly affected by a barbarous act of inhumanity (Casualties of a war a world away, October 26). War is about numbers. The small number of humans who have much to gain by war. The large number affected. The small number who sit home and rally the large number to send their kids to die physically or mentally. The largest number who say nothing. The financial numbers are so huge that millions aren’t accounted for, and millions more are paid in bonuses.

I’m a Vietnam infantry veteran who has taken the time to peel away the onion of war. Strip off the uniforms, the flags, the nationalities, the slogans. War is, at best, the failure of leaders to solve problems. At worst, war is a massive money-generating machine with no regard for life. It’s all in the numbers.

Arnold Stieber
Grass Lake, Michigan, USA

Like the protest signs said in the 60’s, "War is good for the economy, invest your son." Just be careful that what Country Joe sang doesn’t happen, "Be the first one on your block/To have your boy come home in a box."

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A report into malaria research funding found stark inequalities between the amount of money spent on predominantly Western illnesses and diseases that kill millions every year in developing nations.

"It’s really a tragedy when the world has done so little to stop this disease that kills 2,000 African children every day," Bill Gates told the AP news agency. "If those children were in rich countries, we would have headlines, we’d take action.

The Microsoft boss was speaking after announcing $258.3m (£145m) in new grants to combat the disease through his charity organisation.

Gates is genuinely doing much good with his foundation. A while back he started scholarships in the US for high-achiever high school students of color. If accepted by the scholarship fund, then college and grad/medical school is on the Gates foundation. This is a well-thought-out and implemented plan that will help many. Ditto for this new donation to fight malaria. 

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