Axis of Logic News & Comment, May 30, 2003 | Newsletter and AXIS E-ZINE |Axisoflogic.com

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Finding Clarity in the 21st Century Mediaplex

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"Do the thing you fear, and the death of fear is certain."

~Emerson

Economy

Bush 'buried' critical financial report, BBC NEWS, May 29, 2003
The Bush administration reportedly buried a report commissioned by the US Treasury which predicted a budget deficit of over $44,000bn and called for tax rises. In a front-page story Britain's Financial Times said the report, which advocated tax rises, was left out of February's budget report as the White House lobbied for $350bn in tax cuts. BBC report: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2946552.stm Financial Times Report: http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1051390392975&p=1012571727088

Iraq

Five Thousand to Ten Thousand Iraqi Civilians Killed by America's Invasion of Iraq,

by Peter Ford, Christian Science Monitor, May 29, 2003

What has been done with weapons purchased and military supported by our tax dollars?
What has been done in our name? - Axis of Logic

http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_367.shtml

U.S. gunfire kills 3 teens, wounds 7 others in Iraqi wedding parade,

Knight Ridder, by Tim Potter, May 30, 2003

Samarra, Iraq - U.S. soldiers opened fire on a festive wedding parade earlier this week, killing three teen-agers and wounding seven others after the celebrants fired weapons in the air, medical officials and survivors said Wednesday
night. -more...
Surrounded by family and relatives Abdul Salam Jassin, 17, lies wounded in Samarra General Hospital, Peter Tobia, Phila. Inquirer

In Iraq, U.S. Troops Are Still Dying -- One Almost Every Day, by Alan Cooperman, WP, May 26, 2003

An average of one U.S. soldier is still dying every day in Iraq. It's difficult to find
published the exact number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq since the invasion began. -Axis

In the public's mind, the war may be over, but U.S. troops continue to fall in Iraq at the rate of almost one a day. That is down from an average of three a day between the start of the war on March 19 and May 1, when a total of 139 American service members were killed. - more

Military Madness

In an upstairs room in Blackpool

By the side of a northern sea

The army had my father

And my mother was having me

Military Madness was killing my country

Solitary sadness comes over me

After the school was over

And I moved to the other side

I found another country

But I never lost my pride

Military Madness was killing the country

Solitary sadness creeps over me

And after the wars are over

And the body count is finally filed

I hope that the man discovers

What's driving the people wild

Military madness is killing our country

So much sadness between you and me

~Graham Nash

The case for war is blown apart, The Independent, (UK) May 29, 2003,

by Ben Russell and Andy McSmith, May 29, 2003

Kuwait City - Tony Blair stood accused last night of misleading Parliament and the British people over Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, and his claims that the threat posed by Iraq justified war.

Read this historic, up-to-date report on the battle for the truth in Britain - Axis Editor

http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_356.shtml

Rumsfeld Denies 'False Pretext' for Iraq War, by Will Dunham, Reuters, May 29, 2003
Washington - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld denied on Thursday that the Iraq (news - web sites) war was waged under a false pretext even though U.S. search teams have failed to find the chemical and biological weapons cited as justification for the invasion. "Well I can assure you that this war was not waged under any false pretext," Rumsfeld said in comments on the Infinity Radio network. -more...

Civil Resistance

3 Catholic Nuns Face Prison Time for "civil resistance", by Chryss Cada,

Boston Globe, May 27, 2003

''We were speaking out against the crimes of our government and they intend to punish us for that.''

"Although these crimes, which fall under the heading of ''sabotage,'' carry sentences of up to

30 years in prison, prosecutors say they will seek sentences of five to eight years."

http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_364.shtml

Africa
Mugabe is arming war veterans � reports, by Basildon Peta, Independent News & Media, May 29 2003
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is surreptitiously arming his war veterans and violent youth brigades with guns so that they can crush the planned street protests to topple his regime next week. -more...

Peru

Peru strikes turn violent, BBC News, May 29, 2003

State of emergency gives police right to arrest protesters

At least one person has died and more than 70 been injured in clashes across Peru following the imposition of a state of emergency, according to reports.
A student was killed when officers opened fire on a group of protesters occupying university buildings in the southern town of Puno, said officials. There are also unconfirmed reports of another death. -more...

"The objections which have been brought against a standing army, and they are many and weighty, and deserve to prevail, may also at last be brought against a standing government. The standing army is only an arm of the standing government. The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it. Witness the present Mexican war, the work of comparatively a few individuals using the standing government as their tool; for in the outset, the people would not have consented to this measure." - Henry David Thoreau

Brasil - Economy

His Word Is His Bond: Lula's Pleasant Surprise, by Roberto Teixeira da Costa, InfoBrazil, May 03 - 09, 2003

A European banker who visits Brazil every three months, and in fact lived in S�o Paulo for a few years a while back, told me recently � with a dash of irony and despondency � that he had just ripped up his prophet�s license. Recent events during the early months of the new Brazilian government, led by President Luiz In�cio Lula da Silva and the PT, or Workers� Party, had completely demoralized all his predictions� -more...

"They seek the truth too far from themselves, while it is right near them" ~Confucian Scholar

Iran
Iran and Regime Change, by Hooman Peimani, Asian Times, May 29, 2003
Over a one-week period, two groups of influential Iranians have criticized the unelected but powerful institutions undermining efforts towards their country's liberalization. They have both expressed concerns about the status quo, and demanded a change. As the American administration is clearly shifting towards destabilizing the Iranian government, these realities of Iranian society suggest that an inevitable fundamental change in its political system will not be an American determined outcome, but one arising from a deep-rooted indigenous movement for democracy. http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_337.shtml

Neo-cons move quickly on Iran, Inter Press Service, by Jim Lobe, May 28, 2003

Washington - Reports that top officials in the administration of President George W Bush will meet this week to discuss US policy toward Iran, including possible efforts to overthrow its government, mark a major advance in what has been an 18-month campaign by neo-conservatives in and out of the administration.

Overshadowed until last month by their much louder drum-beating for war against Iraq, the neo-cons' efforts to now focus US attention on "regime change" in Iran have become much more intense since early May, and have already borne substantial fruit. http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_336.shtml

"Be patient with everyone, but above all with yourself. I mean, do not be disheartened by your imperfections, but always rise up with fresh courage. How are we to be patient in dealing with our neighbor's faults if we are impatient in dealing with our own? He who is fretted by his own failings will not correct them. All profitable correction comes from a calm, peaceful mind." ~ St. Francis de Sales

Business

Media

Rotten, Old-Fashioned Corruption at the FCC, by Molly Ivins, AlterNet, May 29, 2003

Austin, Texas � This is a gross scandal. The Center for Public Integrity has a stunning study out on the concentration of ownership in telecommunications. The even more stunning news is that the Federal Communications Commission, which theoretically represents you and me, is about to make all of it even worse. And behind this betrayal of the public trust is nothing but rotten, old-fashioned corruption. It's the old free-trip-to-Vegas ploy, on a grand scale. -more...

Iron Monkey Leaps Into The Fire

. . . And this year, Monkey is here once again to remind us of the cosmic joke. Being the trickster that he is, Monkey has made himself out of iron, something he does once every sixty years. Iron, of course, symbolizes his indomitable, persevering friskiness. The hard and brittle qualities of iron could also represent the demonic inflexibility of our neurotic fixations.

In the symbolism of the I Ching, Sagittarius corresponds to K'n, the wisdom of the Receptive, the ultimate yin. Fire could be the enemy of iron because of its melting capacity. But if iron is too hard and brittle, it needs the softness of fire, the kind of softness which the Receptive provides: not leading, but following, yielding, devoted, and true.

Against the backdrop of the glowering new-born sky, shadow armies, both great and small, visible and invisible, clash in haunting fury. With a wink, Iron Monkey leaps into the wisdom fire. Submerging himself completely in the mutable blaze, it is as if he is gone forever. Then, just as suddenly as he leapt in, he jumps out. His malleable metal body shines sleekly. Radiating brilliantly from his chest are the compassionate waves of his fearlessly open and confident heart.

Turning soft and gentle somersaults in and out, above and around the fire, Iron Monkey smiles enigmatically: the wheel of time, the turning of our thoughts, the transcendence of both, the delight of endless transformation. "Pay attention, be confident, take care!" Monkey laughs, "For soon, I, too, shall be gone!"

~Jose' A. Arguelles

END