Top Scoops: Comment & Opinion Digest 7 March

Wednesday, 7 March 2007, 1:22 pm
Article: Alastair Thompson

SCOOP COMMENT & OPINION:
Police: Anne Else On The Rickards Verdict
Lebanon: Yasmine Ryan Photo Report From Beirut
Plamegate: Finally Fitzmas Is Here!:
Meditations: Where Did We Come From? Who Are We? And What Lies Ahead For Us?
Culture: Everyone Gets Together For Sydney Mardi Gras
Iraq: David Swanson On The Best Way To Swiftly End The War
American Coup: Michael Collins On The Voting Rights Revolution In Florida
Economics: Changing How Money Works Is The Key To Changing The World
Israel/Palestine: - Red Herrings Multiplying In The Sea Of Galilee?
UQ Wire: Rabbi Michael Lerner On 911 Conspiracy Theory
Iran: A Second Interview With Iran Whistleblower Karen Kwiatkowski
MORE SCOOP COMMENT & OPINION:
Lent 2007: Katya Rivas' Passion Part 3

Police: Anne Else On The Rickards Verdict

- I didn’t want to write this column, but it can’t be avoided. It’s been obvious for a few years now that women are being more and more insistently defined (and often successfully urged to join the fun and define themselves) in terms of how “hot” men think they are. (I haven’t seen any channel promos featuring a woman taxi driver rabbiting on about the hotness of a male newsreader. But vice versa – well, that’s business as usual.) See… Some Call It Rape: The Sex Kitten & The Tomcat [1] MORE:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00075.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00034.htm

Lebanon: Yasmine Ryan Photo Report From Beirut

- Politics are everywhere in Beirut. From the city’s west coast to Downtown, the mood is calm but tense. There have been no outbursts of violence for two weeks, but the political deadlock continues… See... Scoop Photo Essay: Uneasy Calm in Central Beirut [1] . ALSO:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00039.htm

Plamegate: Finally Fitzmas Is Here!:

- Dick Cheney's Chief Of Staff Convicted Of Lying About Revenge Attack On CIA Agent Valerie Plame (For Her Husband's Exposure Of Iraq War Lies) - Washington - Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was convicted Tuesday of obstruction, perjury and lying to the FBI in an investigation into the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity to reporters. See... Scoop Link: Libby Found Guilty in CIA Leak Case [1] MORE BUSH VS RULE OF LAW COMMENT:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00116.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00110.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00101.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00095.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00100.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00111.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00062.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00061.htm
[9] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00058.htm

Meditations: Where Did We Come From? Who Are We? And What Lies Ahead For Us?

- There’s a lot of interest in human origins these days. A new, permanent exhibition, featuring more than 200 casts of prehuman and human fossils, just opened at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. On the same day I came across the article about the opening of the exhibition, I happened upon the movie, “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Arthur Clark’s story and Kubrick’s classic movie address the same three questions, and were the inspiration, when it debuted in 1968, for my philosophical work in ‘theories of human nature.’ See... Martin LeFevre: Homage to “2001: A Space Odyssey” [1] . See also... Martin LeFevre: President’s Day in the USA [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00083.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00078.htm

Culture: Everyone Gets Together For Sydney Mardi Gras -

Scoop reader Jamie Melbourne-Hayward sent these images from the Sydney Mardi Gras. Jamie was marching behind a the parade float of an HIV/Aids NGO, ACON. The NGO also supports Aboriginal and Torres Straight Island issues. See... Scoop Images: Sydney Mardi Gras [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00091.htm

Iraq: David Swanson On The Best Way To Swiftly End The War

- The shortest route to ending the Iraq war (and preventing additional wars) is almost certainly through Congress. Influencing the White House directly is unimaginable, and stopping the war through the courts unlikely. Clearly, Congress is the way to go. But what specifically can Congress do? See.. David Swanson: Can Congress End the War? [1] MORE IRAQ WAR NEWS:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00073.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00115.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00114.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00099.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00104.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00068.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00065.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00054.htm

American Coup: Michael Collins On The Voting Rights Revolution In Florida

-"TALLAHASSEE, FL (AP) -- Governor Charlie Crist says he will continue working to change the rules so that felons will have their voting rights automatically restored once they have paid their debt to society." This is one of the most revolutionary and far reaching proposals made by a Southern governor in years. See... Michael Collins: Florida Gov. Crist Makes History [1] MORE AMERICAN COUP NEWS:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00063.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00112.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00106.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00103.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00064.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00066.htm

Economics: Changing How Money Works Is The Key To Changing The World

- All-too frequently I encounter activists who don’t like to talk about money. While they crusade loudly for “economic justice”, they resist talking about their own relationship with money as if it were somehow an X-rated topic on par with sexuality or bathroom habits. In other words, these well-meaning individuals have little or no financial literacy. For this reason I wrote a 2005 article “Activists And Accountants: Absolute Allies” in which I emphasized that economic IN-justice only happens when people sacrifice sustainability for profit and that whenever we attend to our own sustainability and that of our community, we are practicing economic justice, but we cannot do so without acquiring financial literacy. See... No Change Until You Change How Money Works [1] MORE VIEWS ON RECENT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS :

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00105.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00048.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00113.htm

Israel/Palestine: - Red Herrings Multiplying In The Sea Of Galilee?

-While the world silently spectates the immense suffering that the occupation continues to bring upon an innocent peoples, the Israelis keep seeding the land with new reality on the ground which too then becomes "impractical" to undo and becomes new leveraging points in any subsequent peace talks - take 10 and give back 1 if the Palestinians behave, then repeat! This reality formally got constructed in 1948 and is continually being constructed as we speak, at each turn becoming impractical to undo requiring the victims to continually having to accommodate to the new reality for peace settlement, because true justice is now deemed "impractical". See... Zahir Ebrahim: The Endless Trail Of Red Herrings [1] MORE ISRAEL/PALESTINE NEWS & VIEWS:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00049.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00102.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00072.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00096.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00084.htm

UQ Wire: Rabbi Michael Lerner On 911 Conspiracy Theory

- The I am an agnostic on the question of what happened on 9/11. I’m convinced that there are huge holes in the official story and contradictions that suggest that we do not know the whole story. I would not be surprised to learn that some branch of our government conspired either actively to promote or passively to allow the attack on 9/11. See... Critique Of Griffin’s “The American Empire & 9/11" [1] MORE:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00085.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00086.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00069.htm

Iran: A Second Interview With Iran Whistleblower Karen Kwiatkowski

- The following is a remarkable interview of Karen Kwiatkowski who retired from the active duty USAF as a Lieutenant Colonel in early 2003. Her final assignment was in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Under Secretary for Policy Near East South ... See... Karen Kwiatkowski On Feith, Cheney & Planning Iran [1] MORE:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00070.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00032.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00052.htm

MORE SCOOP COMMENT & OPINION:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00093.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00089.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00074.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00088.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00087.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00059.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00098.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00097.htm
[9] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00081.htm
[10] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00079.htm
[11] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00071.htm
[12] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00060.htm
[13] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00057.htm
[14] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00055.htm
[15] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00056.htm
[16] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00050.htm
[17] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00067.htm
[18] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00082.htm
[19] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00108.htm
[20] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00080.htm

Lent 2007: Katya Rivas' Passion Part 3

- Now let us go to the story of My Passion… The story that shall give glory to the Father and holiness to other chosen souls… See... Katya Rivas: The Last Supper [1] EARLIER:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00109.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00094.htm

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Alastair Thompson

Scoop Publisher

Alastair Thompson is the co-founder of Scoop. He is of Scottish and Irish extraction and from Wellington, New Zealand. Alastair has 24 years experience in the media, at the Dominion, National Business Review, North & South magazine, Straight Furrow newspaper and online since 1997. He is the winner of several journalism awards for business and investigative work.

Contact Alastair Thompson

• Linkedin
• Twitter - @althecat
• Facebook
• Email - alastair@scoop.co.nz