Benedict, first Pope to visit The Dome of the Rock. Seeks to unit faiths. Appeals for Palestinian State.

Last update - 23:23 13/05/2009
Ex-diplomats, U.S. Jews urge Obama to push two-state solution (click here)
By Natasha Mozgavaya, Haaretz U.S. Correspsondent

...Four former U.S. ambassadors and officials of a left-leaning Jewish organization sent a letter to Obama on Wednesday asserting that there was a broad consensus within the American Jewish community and among policymakers in support of an active U.S. role in assisting the sides to reach such a solution....

...They also called for an immediate renewal of U.S.-mediated Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, a freeze on West Bank settlement construction, the immediate reconstruction of Gaza and the cessation of Palestinian terror attacks on Israelis...

The Pope paid respect to the victims of the Holocaust. He should have brought Ahmadinejad (click here) as well as Khamenei. Khamenei is backing Ah-mad-in-a-jad (A Mad Man in a Jar) for President AGAIN. Let's hope the Iranian Moderates win this time.

...“Undivided love for the One God and charity towards ones neighbour thus become the fulcrum around which all else turns.”...

The exit begins. What Trump did wasn't in the best interest of anyone. Prejean's rant before the cameras was embarrassing and desperate.

What is the difference between Vanessa Williams and Carrie Prejean? The contest? Really? Carrie should just go on and pose for Penthouse. Collect a few grand.

The nude photos were of Prejean with consent. And they were nude photos. She wasn't wearing anything more than most exotic dancers wear and they are considered to be nude and not semi-nude. When one is topless it is nudity.


EXCLUSIVE: Shanna Moakler Resigns as Miss California Pageant Director Wednesday May 13, 2009 (click title to entry - thank you)
The day after Carrie Prejean was told she could keep her Miss California crown, Shanna Moakler has resigned, she confirms to Usmagazine.com exclusively.
"Since the press conference yesterday, I had a chance to think about what has taken place, and I feel that at this time it is in my best interest to resign from the Miss California USA organization," Moakler tells Us.
"I cannot with a clear conscious move forward supporting and promoting the Miss Universe Organization when I no longer believe in it, or the contracts I signed committing myself as a youth," she continues. "I want to be a role model for young woman with high hopes of pageantry, but now feel it more important to be a role model for my children. I am sorry and hope I have not let any young supporters down but wish them the best of luck in fulfilling their dreams."...

So much for flying the friendly skies. What did they think they were doing?

Airlines don't take care of their crews when 'lay overs' are required? That is something I had never realized before. Wow. I thought airlines were required to provide housing and meals when crews were away from home. Even $55,000 per year isn't enough for all those expenses.


...Board member Kitty Higgins (click title to entry - thank you) said fatigue has been a factor in other crashes and is a major concern for the NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration.
"When you put together the commuting patterns, the pay levels, the fact that the crew rooms aren't supposed to be used (for sleeping) but are being used — I think it's a recipe for an accident, and that's what we have here," Higgins said.
Shaw, 24, made $16,254 a year, although she could have earned more if she worked extra hours, said Roger Cox, NTSB's aviation safety operations group chairman. In questioning officials for Colgan Air of Manassas, Va., he suggested that Shaw was commuting from her home near Seattle because she couldn't afford to live in the New York metropolitan area on her salary.
Colgan operated the flight for Continental.
The night before the accident, Shaw flew overnight as a passenger from Seattle, changing planes in Memphis, to report to work at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. She also complained about congestion and may have been suffering from a cold.
Shaw had worked for Colgan for 13 months. She had a second job in a coffee shop when first hired.
Renslow, 47, commuted to Newark from his home near Tampa, Fla. It is unclear where Renslow, who was in the middle of a two-day assignment, slept the night before the trip, but he logged into a computer from Colgan's crew room in Newark at 3 a.m. the night before, according to NTSB documents.
Colgan officials said their captains typically earn around $55,000 a year.
Neither pilot had a "crash pad" or apartment they shared with other pilots in the New York area, nor did they rent a hotel room, NTSB documents said.
NTSB investigators said 93 of the 137 Colgan pilots who worked out of Newark at the time of the accident were commuting from far away...

Obama needs to take a lesson from Abu Ghraib and CBS. It seems someone is leaking the pictures. Click here.

I thought the Geneva Conventions prohibited exploitation of prisoner pictures. Although, if it weren't for the publication of the Abu Ghraib pictures (click here) the torture might still being conducted.

I don't know that we will actually learn more from more pictures.

It is the Generals that oppose the release of any more pictures. I don't want soldiers put into danger because of an escalation of violence, but, unless a USA court denies the public's request for their release for the sake of security I don't see there is any benefit to delaying justice.

Besides, after the death of five innocent soldiers at the hand of one of their own, it is time to bring them all home.

We don't belong in Iraq.

We never did.

What are we doing over there?

Kurdish exports may signal shift in Iraq oil law feud (click here)
Missy Ryan
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
OIL PRODUCTION: Iraq and Kurdistan governments may be edging closer to resolving differences over energy legislation interpretation. (Getty Images)
The launch of oil exports from Iraq's Kurdish north might nudge a long standoff over vital Iraqi energy legislation closer towards resolution, the president of Iraq's Kurds said on Wednesday."It was a very important step, which goes along with implementation of the constitution and is in the interests of the Iraqi people'" Masoud Barzani, president of the largely autonomous Kurdistan region, said in an interview.An end to the fierce impasse over national oil and gas laws, which would set out rules for investing in Iraq and decide how to mete out revenues, would be a boon for Iraq as it seeks to boost output and repair decades of sanctions, war and neglect....

US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,294 (click here)
By The Associated Press – 20 hours ago
As of Tuesday, May 12, 2009, at least 4,294 members of the U.S. military had died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
The figure includes eight military civilians killed in action. At least 3,440 military personnel died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.
The AP count is seven more than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Monday at 10 a.m. EDT.
The British military has reported 179 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 21; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia and Georgia, three each; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand and Romania, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan and South Korea, one death each.
Since the start of U.S. military operations in Iraq, 31,245 U.S. service members have been wounded in hostile action, according to the Defense Department's weekly tally.
The latest deaths reported by the military:
_ No deaths reported.
The latest identifications reported by the military:
_ Navy Cmdr. Charles K. Springle, 52, Wilmington, N.C., died Monday of wounds suffered from a non-combat related incident at Camp Victory, Iraq.
_ Army Spc. Omar M. Albrak, 21, Chicago; died Saturday in Baghdad, of injuries sustained during a motor vehicle accident; was an Individual Ready Reserve soldier assigned to the Headquarters, Multi-National Forces Iraq.

Abkhazia and South Ossetia have already organized their own governments and are building autonomous economies.

For those that don't recall the unforgiving slaughter of innocent people !


...The situation in the Georgian-South Ossetian (click here) conflict came under discussion at the UN Security Council. The emergency session was initiated by Russia after Georgia attacked South Ossetia. Georgia started this war in South Ossetia. Last night, the capital of South Ossetia, Tskhinvali, and the surrounding villages were subjected to intense artillery fire. Involved in the assault were aircraft, tanks, and infantry troops. There were victims among the population. On Friday morning, the shelling of Tskhinvali resumed with greater force. Brigadier General Mamuka Kurashvili of the United Staff of Georgian armed forces described the hostilities as “measures to restore constitutional law and order in the part of the Tskhinvali region which was not controlled by the country’s authorities”. He did not mention, however, that those measures were taken in violation of Tbilisi’s earlier pledges and the principle of the Olympic truce....

Georgia needs to relinquish the regions where tensions exist. It has proven to be hostile to the people there. Peacekeepers or otherwise are no longer needed. It is time to 'get real' about these circumstances. Perhaps we need a reminder as to the absurd accusations that could have ignited a far bigger war when Russian soldiers came to the South Ossetia defense.

Nothing was farther from the truth than this account:

...Some of the comments from, apparently, unconscious readers: (click here)
“SO RUSSIA GOES INTO THIS PLACE AND KILLS INNOCENT CHILDREN AND CIVILIANS AND WE ARE TO STAY OUT OF IT? I DON’T THINK SO. THAT RUSSIAN PRESIDENT IS AN ANIMAL. NO CHILD DESERVES TO BE SHOT OR BOMBED WHERE THEY LIVE! THEY SHOULD HAVE GIVEN WARNINGS TO THE INNOCENT PARENTS TO TAKE THEIR CHILDREN OUT FIRST. ANIMALS!”...



...This approach signalled that Russia's demand for recognition of South Ossetia as an independent state should be addressed at separate "status" talks in Geneva, while accommodating the insistence of Georgia and its Western allies on Georgian territorial integrity and a single OSCE mission in the country.... (click title to entry - thank you)


We want peace, longevity for all people, not war !