• U.S. Veto Betrays the Bosnian People : "'By threatening to end peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and holding the people of Sarajevo and Srebrenica hostage, the U.S. has stooped to a new low in its efforts to undermine the court and the rule of law,' said Richard Dicker, director of Human Rights Watch's international justice program. 'Security Council members need to continue to stand their ground in the face of such bullying and pressure.'" This single Bush, Inc., policy sums up the criminal intent of the administration. No rule of constitutional law at home, no rule of international law elsewhere. A rogue nation. The coup of 2000 was the shot across the bow; everything else has been a direct hit. You don't think these goons were capable of 9-11? Imagine it, and they are immoral and crazy enough to try it. Ask not what Bush, Inc, can do for the country, ask what they can do to the country.

• Civilian catastrophe as US bombs Afghan wedding: "'We have many children who are injured and who have no family,' nurse Mohammed Nadir said. 'Their families are gone. The villagers brought these children and they have no parents. Everyone says that their parents are dead.'" A wedding here, a wedding there, some Canadian soldiers thrown in, and pretty soon, the "accident" excuse seems a bit thin.

• Risks of killing from the air: "The wedding party attacks also capture the sense of fear and loathing with which America views Afghanistan as it flies overhead (America rarely engages the enemy on the ground for fear of sustaining casualties and getting bogged down – a fear which also explains its lack of intelligence)." If you're going to commit war crimes, you might as well do it from the air. That way, there won't be so many upsetting memories to deal with down the road. The fog of war is more foggy, as it were.

• Bosnia pleads with America over UN row: "Bosnia today pleaded with the United States to withdraw threats to dismantle a UN police mission in the country over its objections to the international criminal court". . . . "Israel has also said it will withdraw recognition from the court in case its troops found themselves in the dock." And,

• Europe seethes as defiant US goes its own way: "'This is a very important matter of principle about protecting Americans who uniquely serve around the globe in peacekeeping efforts,' said Ari Fleischer, the White House press secretary. 'The world should make no mistake the United States will stand strong and stand on principle to do what's right to protect our citizens.'" Another flaming Moment of Bullshit. If you're on the side of what is right, there is nothing to fear. Bush, Inc, and a "matter of principle" are mutually exclusive. Fortress America is going to become a very isolated and very lonely nation. Now is not the time to stand short with the Smirksters. "Be all that you can be" wasn't intended to include killing carelessly and without consequences.

• US bomb blunder kills 30 at Afghan wedding: "Survivors of the attack said several guests had just fired their Kalashnikovs into the air, as is traditional in Pashtun wedding ceremonies. A US air patrol over-head wrongly concluded it was coming under fire and responded with devastating force." "Hello? Wedding going on!" Ari Flyspeck (from above), the US is trying to undermine the International Court in order to protect "Americans who uniquely serve around the globe in peacekeeping efforts." Yes Ari, casually killing innocent children and women is a unique approach to keeping the peace. What a pantload!!!

• New U.N. War Crimes Court Opens: "The U.S. move was denounced, even by some of Washington's closest allies, with only Israel fully supporting the American position." Oh good. Just a week or so ago, Israelis killed three kids, I believe, in a daring raid on a public market in broad daylight in Jenin. Ah, yes, Jenin. Whatever happened to the inquiry regarding a previous courageous attack on men, women, and children?

• Freedom to ethnically cleanse: "And if the rest of the world does seem a tad resentful these days, perhaps it's because they don't like being flipped off. Far from that shining beacon of freedom and democracy that nobody could ever possibly hate, the U.S. lately has spurned democracy even as it is embraced by the rest of the world." The author raises a good point in this article. It's not the trigger happy, drugged up, careless pilots who normally get zinged for war crimes. It's the people in charge . . . at the top . . . who got the ball rolling. Bush, Inc, wants to undermine the ICC, because an executive order wouldn't give Smirk and others a pass on war crimes. And, it seems there's dirty work to be done in Bolivia as well.

• US Interference in Bolivia Elections: "The US Ambassador to Bolivia has told the Bolivian people not to vote for the indigenous Indian candidate for the Movement for Socialism (MAS), Evo Morales Ayma. If he is elected next Sunday, the USA will suspend economic aid and will review its agreements." Bush, Inc, is democracy averse. At least they're consistent about two things: against free and fair elections and for tax cuts, even when there's no money in the treasury. Chavez in Venezuela, Ayma in Bolivia, Arafat in Palestine just don't measure up. Two were elected by wide margins, and one, if elected, may not even get in, before he's forced out.

• Arafat forced our hand, says Powell: "The US secretary of state, Colin Powell, said last night that Washington was no longer dealing with the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, because he had failed to move in the direction of peace." Like the US is moving in the direction of peace with its unqualified support of Israel?

• The Penal Colonies: "The Gaza strip is a perfect realization of the Israeli vision of 'separation'. Surrounded with electric fences and army posts, completely sealed off the outside world, Gaza has become a huge prison. About one third of its land was confiscated for the 7,000 Israeli settlers living there (and their defense array), while over a million Palestinians are crowded in the remaining areas of the prison." Is this like a reservation, concentration camp, or combination of the two?

• 'Arrogant' Bush shakes British bedrock of Atlantic Alliance: "In 32 years of reporting on international affairs, I have never seen Britain and the United States more separated from each other: not during the terrible last years of the Vietnam War, not during President Reagan's Iran-Contra dealings or his espousal of the crackpot Star Wars system." Smirk is running out of sock puppets. Maybe the US is on its own, which is probably good. Now, if only the majority, who didn't vote for him simply wakes up. The planet can't survive a completed residency . . . impeachment of Smirk and the Supremes is the only answer. 'Fraid it's going to get ugly. Make that, "uglier."

• Allies in the war on terra: "George W. Bush has made it official: He'll go along with whatever Ariel Sharon wants him to do, no matter how immoral, impractical or insane." Sharon has his own sock puppet. "You're my puppy now," says Sharon.

• Like Dallas policed by the Taliban: "'Bush is the puppet of Israel, and he is killing our brothers,' a teacher says. 'We want a jihad to save our brothers in Palestine.'. . . "If all that should give intelligence chiefs in Washington and London food for thought, there is more. Hatred of America as a result of its support for Israel has reached such a pitch that liberal commentators fear the country is being destabilized and that a whole new generation of potential bombers is being spawned." This is going well. Soon, it will be Ariel and George against the Muslim world in the name of freedom. I was wondering yesterday, could the Smirksters be so tied to perpetual war that they would be deliberately fanning the flames? Personally, I think they are that crazy and that immoral. Proof? Read the following:

• Taking back the market -- by force: "President Bush's speech Monday set down the clear democratic-reform principles necessary to change Palestine from a terrorist safe-harbor into a true member of the family of nations. He correctly delineated U.S. support for our democratic alley [sic] Israel and just as clearly assigned the appropriate blame to Arafat's piece of the evil axis. He also communicated the principles of free elections, representative government and the rule of law to the other Middle Eastern states that fail on all these counts. Bush wasn't only speaking to Iraq, Iran and Syria, but also to Saudi Arabia, and perhaps even Egypt." A real patriot, a Republican, a man of resolve. They walk among us. Ever get the feeling when you're in a store, walking down a street, catching the eye of a stranger that he or she might be batshit crazy? The guy closes with this, "The shock therapy of decisive war will elevate the stock market by a couple thousand points. We will know that our businesses will stay open, that our families will be safe and that our future will be unlimited. The world will be righted in this life-and-death struggle to preserve our values and our civilization. But to do all this, we must act." Wall Street (aka, Bush, Inc) uber alles. He must've just finished Mein Kampf while mainlining martinis to write this.

• Meghnad Desai: There's much worse financial news to come: "As if household profligacy was not enough, George W Bush was committed to a massive tax cut. Maybe his father should have tried a tax cut during his days in office, – that may have helped him win in 1992 – but Bush junior was committed to a tax cut even at the cost of running a deficit in his budget. After eight years of careful budgetary policy of the Clinton administration, which brought the American budget into surplus, we now have a yawning deficit for years to come. So America has a triple deficit problem: households in debt, the government in debt, and the nation in debt to the world." But the author of the previous article said that all we need to do is crush several countries and happy days will be here again. It may not be that simple:

• Accounting concerns focus on GE: "The industrial and financial giant General Electric is the latest big US corporation to be hit by worries about accounting practices." Does this mean former CEO, "Neutron" Jack Welch, might have some splainin' to do? Not in our lifetimes.

• Dick Cheney yet to be contacted about Halliburton accounting: "The investigation of Halliburton is more than one month old, and SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt said over the weekend that Cheney is not immune to inquiries. But vice presidential spokeswoman Jennifer Millerwise said Monday the agency has not approached Cheney for an interview or documentation." So many crimes, so little interest. By the time they get around to investigating the Dick, he'll be standing before a higher court, given his age and health. Bush, Inc, is above the rule of law but not THE law. Good luck, Dick. I wonder if any of these guys and gals will have Lee Atwater moments of regret? Naw, they believe their own bullshit.

• The number is up for Wall Street and Bush, Inc: "Despite his 70% approval ratings, President Bush knows that there are political and economic ramifications of the perception that corporate America is run by a bunch of greedy crooks, and that these same greedy crooks have been using their money and influence to buy political favours." That's why I believe there will be an "event" soon. The masses may be starting to pay attention. Time to get them refocused on fear and terror.

• Why we should be worried about George W Bush: "Hey, look. Even Tom Cruise is worried. In London this week he said he wanted his adopted kids brought up outside the USA because of what happens inside the USA. He listed terrorism and street crime, but very cogently he listed corporate crime as a reason not to bring up kids in the old US of A." Can anyone think of a reason not to be worried?

• Harper's Weekly Review: "President Bush called on Congress to raise the federal debt ceiling before the government runs out of money; he said it was the patriotic thing to do. After some hesitation, lawmakers granted his wish." Hesitation is good . . . a pause is better . . . sleeping on it is best. Each allows for time to think, if that is done anymore.

• The G8 and the American Empire Worries Some Canadians: "This development — the systematic erosion of nation state sovereignty globally, while the empire-republic enhances its power — is a formula for disaster. It is particularly dangerous for Canada, which for fifteen years has followed a deliberate policy of tying itself to the U.S. under the illusion this will guarantee its future." It guarantees a takeover.

• Why the big fuss over Bush's colonoscopy?: "All in all, a colonoscopy is no big deal ... except, it now seems, when the large intestine to be explored belongs to current occupant of the White House. Then, what is for everyone else little more than a pain in the ass is elevated to an event of constitutional moment". . . . "Was the situation that existed on Saturday morning so fundamentally different from that which exists when Mr. Bush takes a nap?" Not the main point of this article, but I couldn't resist these comments. And speaking of colons:

• Isolated Powell disowns Arafat: "The US secretary of state, Colin Powell, found himself even further on the margins of the US administration yesterday after the most humiliating reversal yet in his Middle East policy." I've never understood the press' consistent intimations that Powell is somehow a notch above the rest of the Smirksters. If he is so moderate and principled, why did he volunteer to be part of a coup? And more important, why has he stayed on while Bush, Inc, undermined the Constitution, etc.? He's just another right-wing opportunist. If he had sound principles, he'd publicly denounce the administration and resign.

• Top 11 benefits of a colonoscopy: "5. The perfect crime: During transfer of power, Cheney will sign general pardon for Bush. Bush will later pardon Cheney! MUHUHUAHAHAHA!" It's a joke, right? Only the Smirksters know for sure.

• A Tom Tomorrow Bullseye:

• Is Martha a diversion from the bigger fish that should be fried?: "Billy might want to ask Dick about that. He might also ask about the 10,000 plus employees who lost their jobs as a result of Dick's incredibly bad business decision to merge with a firm liable for millions in asbestos related lawsuits. And, while he has Dick's attention, Rep Tauzin might bring up those pre-Enrongate ads the VP made extolling Arthur Andersen's good advice." The fish the author really wants to see on the grill is Thomas White, "However, while Cheney is certainly grillable, there's no one quite as ready for the shish-kabob as Secretary of the Army White." And would the cookout be complete without filet of Smirk?

• In Growing Bad News, Risk for Bush and GOP: "A wave of corporate scandals — WorldCom, Tyco, Global Crossing, Adelphia Communications, Andersen, Enron — has hammered consumer confidence and plunged stocks deeper into a bear market. The employment picture is sluggish, the federal budget has returned to the red, and Congress must pass a law to borrow more money. The trade deficit is growing, the dollar is falling, and health care costs are rising." No problemo. Senor Smirk is going to get tough on the evil doers in high places:

• Bush vows to stop fraud wrecking economy: "President Bush again vowed yesterday that high-level fraud will not be allowed to tarnish America's free enterprise system. Sensing that the corporate scandals enveloping Wall Street could send the US economy back into recession — seriously damaging both his presidency and Republican hopes for the mid-term elections in November." "High-level fraud"? I hope he's looking in the mirror while he aims, because you remember this report?

• Bush Violated Security Laws: "George W. Bush violated federal securities laws at least four times when he was a director of a Texas oil firm in the late 1980s and early 1990s, according to an internal government report." Being Poppy's son and all, nothing came of this, of course. But there's so much more waiting in the wings if those dems and gops, with a trace of ethics (and cajones) do a full court press.

• Bye Bye American Pie: "It is no accident that WorldCom, whose accounting fraud cost .8 billion, was based in Mississippi and was a generous contributor to its hard-line conservative senator, Trent Lott, minority leader in the Senate, as Ed Vulliamy reports today. Nor that Enron, whose profits were vastly overstated by accounting fiddles, was based in Texas and whose relationship with George Bush was so close." Of course, this situation isn't as serious as the whereabouts of Clinton's penis, but billions of dollars, thousands of jobs, and lives have been ruined. Might be worth a look-see. And will the resident's July 9 address on corporate fraud have the same positive effect on the economy as his "much awaited" Middle East address had on that problem.

• Marooned on his fantasy island, Bush stands firm: "The Bush administration . . . . does not attend to the evident readiness of the Sharon government to sabotage any progress toward a political settlement, but assumes a goodwill in that respect which simply does not exist." Good point, because:

• In Deference to Bush Fantasy, Israeli Army Destroys Palestinian Hq: "With a pair of thunderous nighttime explosions, Israel destroyed the hulking Palestinian municipal and security headquarters in this West Bank city Saturday, but mystery surrounded the fate of 15 armed Palestinians that Israel said were holed up inside." Not that winning the hearts and minds of the Palestinians might be important.

• EU gives more aid to Arafat in defiance of Bush: "Speaking from the G8 summit in Calgary late on Wednesday, Mr Bush said: 'We won't be putting money into a society which is not transparent and [is] corrupt, and I suspect other countries won't either.'" Maybe that's why investors are staying away from the US stock market . . . it's murky, dark, and deep. As is the Bush, Inc. How can the most secretive (and non-elected) pResident talk of transparency?! Let's return to the bottom line issue, the economy.

• GOP Pushes 0 Billion Debt Limit: "Republicans barely muscled a 0 billion debt limit increase through Congress on Thursday, finally resolving an issue that had become an increasingly difficult political burden for the GOP." Fiscally frivolous fascists drive the US further into debt.

• Threatened collapse of WorldCom sends political establishment into crisis: "The situation at WorldCom will exacerbate an economic crisis within the United States that has seen massive layoffs, the precipitous fall of the stock market and a declining dollar. The extent to which the entire American economy is built on rotten foundations of deceit and criminality is becoming clear, with profound political consequences." Everything will be OK . . . won't it? Look at the principled people we have in the White House, Congress, Supreme Court, corporate boards. Well, maybe not. Xerox in bn scandal: dollar slides "Although the Dow Jones was barely affected by the Xerox scandal in early trading in New York, concern over the dollar is mounting. Intervention by the Bank of Japan, which is concerned about the impact on Japan's export-led recovery, reversed the dollar's slide in afternoon trading but it is becoming clear that financial institutions outside the US are losing faith in the currency." And it likely ain't over:

• Soros warns of dollar plunge: "Speaking to BBC business correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones, Mr Soros warned the Bush administration against its 'market fundamentalism', the belief that markets are self-correcting and best left alone." Maybe Bush, Inc, should leave Iraq alone and tend to the economy. On second thought, it's done enough already.

• Funny money: "Something is inherently wrong with this scenario. Enron was George Bush's number one contributor. It is now bankrupt. Its top executives have lined their past and future nests and face little scrutiny for their misdeeds. Arthur Andersen was George Bush's number two contributor and is now defunct. Only one corporate executive has been hit with criminal charges and the rest will probably have few fears of a changed future. Now we have WorldCom, the number 7 contributor, which was following in their footsteps." Follow the money. it goes to Bush, Inc. As in 9-11, Bush knew. These criminal corporations are as bees to honey, or flies to something else.

• WorldCom spearheads US job cuts: "Meanwhile, computer maker Hewlett-Packard, which had previously announced plans to cut 15,000 jobs, said it would furlough 4,000 contract workers in its information technology department for three weeks, while officials evaluate projects and decide how many workers will be let go permanently." I still keep wondering, are jobs necessary for a recovery . . . I always thought they were.

• 2nd-quarter slide: Drops push stocks to worst second half in 30 years: "U.S. stocks on Friday completed their worst first-half performance in three decades, with the S&P 500 suffering its worst six months since 1970 and the Nasdaq its worst half-year since 1974." Interesting that this was the main front page story in a red state paper, the Rocky Mountain News, under the heading, "Stocks Sink." At least the lead story didn't dwell on all things colonic.

• Bush Resumes Residency After Colonoscopy: "'The president continues to be in outstanding [physical] health,' said Air Force Col. Richard Tubb, the White House physician who led the examination. 'No polyps were found, no abnormalities were found.'" Clean as a whistle? That means Bush, Inc, can continue doing a crappy job.

• WorldCom's Wrong Numbers: "The sour stock market, the recurring scandals and Republicans' ties to big business have made our M.B.A. president vulnerable to attack by the Democrats. Dick Cheney, our ex-CEO vice president, is also vulnerable. Cheney was chief of Halliburton, a big oil-services company, before leaving to join Bush's presidential bid. Halliburton is currently under SEC investigation for accounting changes during his tenure." Boy, I hope Bush goes after this outrageousness. You know what's scary about this? The only card they have to play is the terra card . . . I wonder what will happen between now and July 9? What will the market do Monday after people begin to let everything sink in? Corporate sleaze is having a negative effect in Canada too.

• GATS: Prying Open Public Services: "As charges of sleaze, corruption and scandal continue to swirl around Ottawa these days, the media spotlight has been lifted from the Chretien government's current involvement in a series of global trade negotiations that could well trigger the biggest sell-off of public services in Canadian history." Canada should just say "No!" to the loss of sovereignty. Individuals of the world unite? Might as well, corporations have formed a phalanx and are rolling.

• A superb interview with Gore Vidal: "Now, the word 'conspiracy' has been so demonized in America. America is the home of conspiracy. There has never been a conspiracy as large as Enron. It's the largest financial conspiracy on Earth. And what is a political party but a conspiracy to take power? We are the home of conspiracies, and fixing prices, and getting our money away from us for wars." I forget where I saw this; it's from May. If you haven't read it, it's worth the time. There were so many quotable passages, I didn't know which to pick. I bought Vidal's, Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace, over the weekend and finished it. It's very much on point.

• F-U Nation: "America as rogue nation exists at once at the extreme margins of civilized societies and at the center of international affairs." This guy is, I believe, the angriest I've read regarding the state of the nation. Saw it on Bartcop. Of course, there's a lot to be angry about. Sounds like he read Vidal's book. From Perpetual War, p. 158, "Although we regularly stigmatize other societies as rogue states, we ourselves have become the largest rogue of all. We honor no treaties, We spurn international courts. We strike unilaterally wherever we choose. We give orders to the United Nations but do not pay our dues." Speaking of international courts and such:

• U.S. Threatens To Veto Bosnia Mission: "The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations threatened Thursday to veto a resolution extending the Bosnia peacekeeping mission if it allows U.S. troops to be prosecuted for war crimes." Above the law? Do the crime, but don't do the time? As of Sunday night, the US was still threatening a veto.

• Further evidence of a massacre of Taliban prisoners: "The various reports emerging from Afghanistan present a horrific picture of a ruthlessly conducted colonial war. These accounts contrast sharply with the official image projected by the Pentagon and the media, and indicate that the US military is guilty of major war crimes." And,

• Blair's aides denounce US 'blundering' in Afghan war: "They have told The Telegraph that troops carrying out house-to-house searches in the remote tribal areas of Pakistan along the Afghanistan border were 'blundering' with a 'march-in-shooting' approach." No-knock raids both at home and abroad. No legal recourse at home or abroad. The same article says the approach is going to increase terrorism. Well, it's not all bad news for people of Middle Eastern ethnicity:

• Nuclear plot suspects freed after mix-up: "A source close to the investigation into the September 11 attacks said the men stopped in the Midwest — travelling in two groups of three in light-coloured cars — were of Middle Eastern appearance and were carrying Israeli passports." I see . . . "Move along, only Muslims are evil doers. But you were the right color and all . . . honest mistake."

• The US nuclear attack on Hiroshima paved the way for September 11 and its aftermath: "President Franklin Roosevelt's son and confidant said that the bombing should continue 'until we have destroyed about half the Japanese civilian population.' On July 18 the Japanese emperor telegraphed President Truman, who had succeeded Roosevelt, and once again asked for peace. The message was ignored." And then came the bomb, the one Bush, Inc, has decreed the right to use preemptively. A quote from the Vidal interview above ties in with this Borger essay: "Every move that these fools in Washington make antagonizes more people. The first law of physics is there's no action without reaction. This has never been learned by an American government. We can swagger around, kill all the Indians, enslave these people, steal money — anything we want. And they're not supposed to get irritable. They do." What goes around, comes around. The perpetual war on terra will bring a perpetual war on the US. Look at Israel and Palestine . . . intergenerational hatred. Then, there's the drug war.

• Global Eye — Jungle Fever: "The mercenaries are attached to regular army units, so they are not, officially, 'paramilitaries.' But the many human rights charges they've spawned — murders, beatings, rapes, torture, illegal detentions — sound like that old sweet song of yesteryear, when Reagan-Bush proxy armies prowled the Latin American night, killing tens of thousands of innocent people to keep Yankee investments and American-backed elites safe from riff-raff." Deja vu.

• Lost History: Reagan-Bush Crime Syndicate: "Recently, however, I discovered documents in the National Archives that shed more light on who was behind the drug-linked contra operations. The papers were a series of flow charts showing who was responsible for the secret support of the Nicaraguan contras at different phases. The chart, unsigned but apparently prepared by a Reagan-Bush insider, described how Bush and Gregg took the lead in arranging off-the-books support for the contras after Congress cut off CIA funding in 1984." While many outraged people are mineshaft canaries sniffing the air for the truth, Bush, Inc, is the national vulture, feeding off the remains of the Republic.

• U.S. Drug Czar Lauds Mexican Crackdown: "'They're ahead of us in attacking the problem. There are signs that key markets in this hemisphere are disrupted,' he said. He cited a 9 percent decline in cocaine purity in the United States and said it indicates that fewer shipments are getting through." Ergo, the price of cocaine goes up in the US. A win-win. The following is something else:

• E-Mail Deriding Katherine Harris Costs Editor's Job: "'Katherine Harris is an international figure, like her or not,' Armao wrote of the woman who became a central player in the presidential recount in Florida. 'She's going to be the next congresswoman from this area, like it or not. . . . I have no intentions of covering each of the Democratic candidates to the same extent.'" Elections in Florida just don't appear to be fair. And I've saved the most important national news for last.

• Court Puts Pledge Ruling on Hold: "Circuit Judge Alfred T. Goodwin, who wrote the 2-1 opinion that said the phrase 'under God' violates the separation of church and state, stayed his ruling until fellow members of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decide whether to reconsider the case." I'm a spiritual person, believing that everything, good and bad, takes place "under God." That's beside the point. Why do people get their knickers in a bunch over a symbol (flag) and pledges to the symbol? The real gut wrencher is the current dismemberment of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. These are (were) the guiding principles for the nation. What good is it to have symbols and pledges to symbols without defense of the essence for which they stand?