NICE THOUGHTS FROM SWITZERLAND - WITH OR WITHOUT A SWATCH :-)
Switzerland became the 190th member of the United Nations on Tuesday, pledging to respect its traditional neutrality while
pursuing human rights, world peace and the struggle against poverty.

WHAT a lovely touch.. after being postponed.. RAMALLAH, West Bank - For the students who came to the Friends Boys School, a respected private school, it was a day to remember. Daniel Barenboim, the famed conductor and pianist performed Beethoven's "Moonlight" sonata, and then invited the Palestinian children to play for him.

BUT MY are we proud of Wellington's Orpheus Choir which got together at a cathedral in the NZ city to sing REQUIEM - a more fitting reflection on Sept 11, 2001, is hard to imagine. Goodonem! And get that recording ready.:-)

THERE'S SOMETHING AWFULLY SICK LYING AROUND .. LIKE AN OPEN WOUND.. AND WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT'S DRESSING IT.. don't we?
... it was the current US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld who visited Iraq in December 1983 as President Reagan's special envoy to restore full relations.Just
12 days after Rumsfeld met Iraq ’s foreign minister the
Washington Post reported on January 1,1984,that the United States “in a shift in policy, has informed friendly Persian Gulf nations that the defeat of Iraq in the war with Iran would be ‘contrary to US interests ’ and has made several moves to prevent that result.”
Rumsfeld visited again in March 1984 for further talks - after the US State Department had issued a statement saying “available evidence indicates that Iraq has used chemical weapons ”.In November 1984 normal diplomatic relations were restored...
-Dickenz-

Roundup:
Coming on for the american conscience former U.S.StateSec James Baker warns President Bush not to "go it alone" against Iraq. And lead Republican, Chuck Hagel - the one with real war experience instead of wargaming - slammed Cheny's 'triumph of the hawks' speech bad, bad! Cheney got up again but this time Pakistan, Turkey, and the Dalai Lama came out against and France and Germany wants UN to endorse any war. Meanwhile both Blair's party and the UK public don't want a bar of it and the PM could lose his job for getting it wrong with Bush.

DID the US Provoke Pearl Harbor.?
The newly discovered remains of a Japanese sub confirm that a nautical confrontation between Japan and the U.S. took place hours before the aerial attack on Pearl Harbor, says Newsday - http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/showcase/sns-othernews-sub-nyn.story

The World Trade Organization ruled that the European Union (EU) may impose up to $4 billion in sanctions against the United States in
retaliation for tax breaks granted to U.S. businesses operating abroad.
WTO determined previously that those tax breaks are an illegal trade subsidy. "The WTO arbitration panel decision should not come as a surprise
but rather as a reminder that the fundamental problems in our tax code need to be addressed now," said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas, R-Calif., who has pressed for action on his bill (HR 5095) to
repeal the tax breaks. But that measure is opposed by U.S. exporters and foreign-owned companies doing business in the United States. EU Trade
Commissioner Pascal Lamy said the EU will not immediately impose sanctions, but that time for U.S. action is limited.
ENDS--Dickenz--

Hypocrisy? Answer: why yes, and just following through.. on the "ToryRump"
This is what Article V's Goldberg has to say about himself and cohorts: -
"..conservatives are greedy, child-punishing, minority-hating, war-mongering bad mothers.. [a lucid moment under questioning recently] though hardly in line with heroism, charity and nobility.. WOT!
-Dickenzs-

Seven Articles of Hypocrisy to the American People
The Tory Rump of America is revealed. The rat-ta-tat of its drumskins agenda about to commence. Small evidential signs include very recent acts of intolerance - Portland 22/08/02 - and the Articles below taken from this day's 'RumpRecorder'.
They tell of a need of political support for evident is a world averse to warring the demon in this US Administration's mind. They tell of a need to rally and rise above Americans prepared to stand opposed. They tell of a need for continued taxation and funding a major sector deemed capable of 'raising the tide' to buoyant economic times. They tell of constit-utional obscenity in formulating a cause celebre to secure future lifestyles by and for themselves alone. And they tell all this on a basis of two hundred years of american history whose values they have lost and no wise hold today other than to persuade, bully and cajole peoples' sentiment and sensibilities.
Here then the 7 Articles of 'Cut and Paste' Hypocrisy:

Article I:
Safety from external danger is the most powerful director of national conduct.. war and the effort and alarm attendant on a state of continual danger, will compel nations the most attached to liberty to resort for repose and security to institutions which have a tendency to destroy their civil and political rights. To be more safe, they[the 'american people'] at length become willing to run the risk of being less free.

Article II:
"Notwithstanding the cruelty and moral wrong of slavery, we are in a stronger and more hopeful position, materially, intellectually, morally, and religiously, than is true of an equal number of black people in any other portion of the globe" - ex B.T. Washington.

Article III:
A truism through more than two centuries of American history has been that religion is good for democracy. The year since Sept. 11 reveals the profound fact that the reverse also is true, that democracy is a good thing for religion. The press as a key democratic institution has a vital role in carrying forward this idea. - ex: S. Burgard

Article IV:
All the major [psychological] theories of motivation and personality ... assume that reward for the self is the only functional ethical principle. These values are hostile to our ability to form permanent relationships, or to commit to such values as duty and self-sacrifice.

Article V:
The lesson of 9-11 isn't to be found in past instances of American intolerance or in trying to find fault in our actions around the world...A good and just nation was attacked by evil people, and we responded with heroism, charity and nobility. - J. Goldberg.

Article VI:
We now have another opportunity to forestall perhaps even worse assaults on our people and freedoms by removing Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein from power before he can unleash weapons of mass destruction on Israel and, perhaps, the United States. ... It is America's job, even if we must do it alone, to make sure he does
not succeed - C. Thomas

Article VII:
"My fondest hope is that Americans will travel the road extending forward from the arch of experience, never forgetting our heroic origins, never failing to seek divine guidance as we march boldly and bravely into a future limited only by our capacity to dream." - R. Reagan

P.S:
BOW-WOW! Received also this day - tks CQ - "With our help, a liberated Iraq can be a great nation once again. Iraq is rich in natural resources and human talent and has unlimited potential for a peaceful, prosperous future." -- by (King of HelpingYourself) Veep Dick CHENEY.
ENDS-dickenz-

A Telling Tale: - This from an influential rag: -
"Many in the media -- Left and Right -- conjectured that the real
purpose of the meeting(military advisors at Crawford) was in regard to a war strategy for Iraq -- a presumption that clearly annoyed the President and Secretary of Defense. The real (hence unreported) news from the meeting is that for the first time in recent years, defense budgets will be crafted on the basis of military readiness, including missile
defenses made possible by the U.S. withdrawal from the obsolete Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty...
And again, later, in this week of late starters.."You may not have heard the news -- which is real news, because unexpected------"
And from the convention halls: - "If Republicans were as serious as Democrats are about earning the respect and trust of the Hispanic community, they would move forward with legislation that ensures that all children can have access to a first-rate education, that every senior can have a safe and secure social security pension for their retirement and that all Americans have the same opportunities to obtain employment at a livable wage."
And summat to lookout for:
In business/economic news, former Enron financial executive Michael Kopper pleaded guilty Wednesday to wire fraud and money
laundering charges, and he stated that he paid lucrative kickbacks to Enron's former finance chief Andrew Fastow. As part of the agreement, Kopper will return $12 million of his ill-gotten gains. Stay tuned -- if Kopper tells all, the revelations could get even
more interesting, and really fast.
ENDS-dickenz-