CIA, dogsleds, Republican revolution, tobacco, Libya, another military boondoggle

Notes 66

Just like the Blackwater assassinations in Baghdad, government contractors killing at will and we protect then from the reaches of local law. And we think the locals will love us?
James Jones would love us tp death.

Arrested US official is actually CIA contractor
By Associated Press Adam Goldman And Kimberly Dozier, Associated Press – Tue Feb 22
WASHINGTON – An American jailed in Pakistan for the fatal shooting of two armed men was secretly working for the CIA and scouting a neighborhood when he was arrested, a disclosure likely to further frustrate U.S. government efforts to free the man and one that's expected to strain relations between two countries partnered in a fragile alliance in the war on terror.
The revelation that Davis was an employee of the CIA comes amid a tumultuous dispute over whether he is immune from criminal prosecution under international rules enacted to protect diplomats overseas. New protests in Pakistan erupted after The Guardian newspaper in London decided to publish details about Davis' relationship with the CIA.


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When are we going to stop eating meat from domestic animals raised in feed lots or eggs from chickens primed to produce 24/7 or…?

Activists target dog sled rides after dog deaths

By Sue Manning, Associated Press – Tue Feb 8
LOS ANGELES – The slaughter of 100 sled dogs in Canada has re-energized efforts by some animal activists to ban or boycott dog sled rides, a popular activity among tourists in many winter vacation spots, from New England to Minnesota to Alaska.
"I don't think society is willing to accept that animals, particularly dogs, should be killed just because they are surplus or don't suit the purpose they were born for," said Debra Probert, executive director of the Vancouver Humane Society, which has called for a provincial ban on tour businesses.

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Instead of worrying about dogs, let’s worry about Republican programs bent on disposing of excess people who have become surplus to wealth producing products from corporations.

Census estimates show 1 in 4 US counties are dying

By Associated Press Hope Yen And John Raby– Tue Feb 22,
WELCH, W.Va. – Nestled within America's once-thriving coal country, 87-year-old Ed Shepard laments a prosperous era gone by, when shoppers lined the streets and government lent a helping hand. Now, here as in one-fourth of all U.S. counties, West Virginia's graying residents are slowly dying off.
Hit by an aging population and a poor economy, a near-record number of U.S. counties are experiencing more deaths than births in their communities, a phenomenon demographers call "natural decrease."

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One way of eliminating the tobacco industry. We should be thinking of others and not subsidizing the tobacco growers. And after that ban smokestack pollution--equallydeadly

Honduras seeks to stop smoking — even at home
By Freddy Cuevas, Associated Press – Tue Feb 22
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Lighting up a cigarette at home could bring a visit from Honduran police if a family member or even a visitor complains about secondhand smoke.
A new law that took effect Monday banning smoking in most public and private spaces doesn't actually outlaw cigarettes inside homes, but it does have a provision allowing people to file complaints about secondhand smoke in homes.

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Saif Gadhafi says Libya, Syria, Iran won’t go down because they won’t tolerate a democratic revolution. Their armies WILL shoot their own people to protect the ruler.
What some people will pay to be free. It’s not about money.

Witnesses report bodies in the streets in Libya
By Maggie Michael, Associated Press –
CAIRO – The bodies of protesters shot to death by forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi were left on the streets of a restive district in the Libyan capital Tuesday, an opposition activist and a resident said, while the longtime leader defiantly went on state TV to show he was still in charge.
The eruption of turmoil in the capital after a week of protests and bloody clashes in Libya's eastern cities has sharply escalated the challenge to Gadhafi. His security forces have unleashed the bloodiest crackdown of any Arab country against the wave of protests sweeping the region, which toppled leaders of Egypt and Tunisia.
The head of the U.N. agency, Navi Pillay, called for an investigation, saying widespread and systematic attacks against the civilian population "may amount to crimes against humanity."

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Israel gets onto U.S. military/industrial gravy train, Just wheat we need is another boondoggle like the empty silos in the Dakotas against an attack that never came. Reminds me of the over-the-shoulder salt joke. Salt thrown over the shoulder on a car ride across the Mojave keeps the elephants away.

Israel, US successfully test Arrow missile
By Press Matti Friedman, Associated Press – 1 hr 43 mins ago
JERUSALEM – Israel and the U.S. carried out a successful test of the Arrow anti-missile system off the coast of California, Israel's Defense Ministry said Tuesday.
Israel's Defense Ministry said the Arrow detected, intercepted and destroyed a target missile launched from an offshore platform inside a U.S. Navy firing range in a test carried out late Monday.