The State of Israel is the 4th largest military power in the world. The State is believed to possess the largest and most sophisticated nuclear arsenal outside of the 5 declared nuclear powers- the USA, Russia, France, China and the UK. A nuclear reactor and plutonium production facility was built by France back in the late 1950's and early 60's in the southern desert of Israel called the Negev Nuclear Research Centre, or simply "Dimona".

Since that time, the state has subsequently developed an extensive array of tactical nuclear weapons, nuclear artillery shells and nuclear-tipped medium range ballistic missiles (the Jericho 1 and 2). Arsenal estimates range in the order of between 2000-5000 warheads- many of them FIRST STRIKE weapons, most of them nuetron bombs, designed to maximize human kill ratio and minimize physical damage, since Israel is such a small nation.

The United States provides the State of Israel with an annual US$4 billion in financial and military aid- by far the largest recipient of US foreign aid of any country in the world. Extensive nuclear and military collaboration has

Debates About Torture 

"In the early...years...the admissibility of torture..was openly debated. Judging by the subsequent course of events, the answer deduced was positive, although not universally so."  

Authorization For Torture vs Discretion  

 "...If..[at first]..some kind of formal documentation was required preliminary to torture, as well as specific permission for each case under investigation, then [later] in view of the extraordinary situation prevailing, interrogators were allowed to use ...torture...at their own discretion, and in accordance with the demands of their work quotas and the amount of time they were given."  

"..[later] such indiscriminate authorization was withdrawn, and once again written permission was required.. "  

Only Certain Prisoners   

President Bush just told reporters that he has no intention of setting any timetable for withdrawal. "Our troops will come home when Iraq is capable of defending herself," he said. Powerful pundits keep telling us that a swift pullout of U.S. troops would be irresponsible. And plenty of people have bought into that idea -- including quite a few progressives. Such acceptance is part of what Martin Luther King Jr. called "the madness of militarism."

Sometimes, an unspoken assumption among progressive activists is that the occupation of Iraq must be tolerated for tactical reasons -- while other issues, notably domestic ones, are more winnable on Capitol Hill. But this acceptance means going along with many of the devastating effects of a militarized society: from ravaged budgets for social programs to more authoritarian attitudes and violence in communities across the country.

"The bombs in Vietnam," King said in 1967, "explode at home; they destroy the hopes and possibilities for a decent America." He rejected the insistent claims that it would be more prudent to avoid clear opposition to

San Francisco, CA -- Eric Rudolph killed people. Tom Delay killed bugs.

Eric Rudolph bombed the Atlanta Olympics to attack a federal government he didn’t like. Tom Delay wants to bomb the federal bench, to take out judges whose views he dislikes.

Eric Rudolph bombed gay bars because he hates homosexuals. Delay, George W. Bush and other Republicans want to bomb the Constitution because they fear gay marriage.

Eric Rudolph bombed abortion clinics, killing and maiming people because he believed in life. Tom Delay, Jeb Bush, the president and yes, the Pope’s global pro-life point man, Frank Pavone, egged on the Operation Rescue crowd outside Terri Schaivo’s hospice.

The real soul of the Republican Party is not the president bowing before the papal coffin. It is the outlaw Eric Rudolph, who hated gays, the government and abortion doctors.

Summary: On the evening of the opening of the National Conference on Election Reform, participants from twenty six states gathered in the sanctuary of the Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee to listen to a civil rights panel, introduced by Bernard Ellis, conference organizer. Those present were former president of the NAACP Nashville, Reverend Sonnye Dixon, Dr Charles Kimbrough, and Michael Grant. Panelists discussed the struggle to obtain the right to vote during the civil rights era, the need to address the human needs of those most disempowered by the powers that be, and the need for election reform to preserve our democracy.