The Guardian:  Iran warns the west: ignore us at your peril

Iran warned the west yesterday that attempts to broker a Lebanon peace deal at today's Rome summit are destined to fail and it predicted a backlash across the Muslim world unless Israel's military forces were immediately reined in.
Senior government officials said the exclusion from the summit of Iran, Syria and their Lebanese ally Hizbullah meant that no lasting settlement was possible.

Hamid Reza Asefi, the foreign ministry spokesman in Tehran, said: "They should have invited all the countries of the region, including Syria and Iran, if they want peace. How can you tackle these important issues without having representatives of all countries in the region?"

The Rome conference is to be attended by the US, Canada, Britain, France, Spain, Germany, Turkey, Russia, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, as well as the UN and the World Bank.

Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to understanding. -Hobbes

The Guardian:  Reid promises electronic border controls to check visitor numbers

The home secretary, John Reid, yesterday promised to introduce electronic border controls that will count in and out of the country the 90 million people who travel to Britain each year, but admitted the new system will not be fully running until 2014.

Mr Reid said the embarkation controls will form the cornerstone of his package to restore public confidence in the immigration service that he had declared "not fit for purpose". The "eBorders" programme logging all entries and exits will be introduced in stages over the next eight years, starting with highest risk routes, with enforcement action taken against those who overstay their welcome.

Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to understanding. -Hobbes

The Australian:  Moscow arms sale to Chavez angers US

HUGO Chavez, the ardently anti-American President of Venezuela, arrived in Russia late last night to sign a billion-dollar arms deal that has infuriated and alarmed the US.
The self-styled leftist revolutionary will sign an agreement with President Vladimir Putin to buy 30 Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets and 30 military helicopters worth $US1billion.

The two leaders will also discuss plans to build two Kalashnikov factories in Venezuela - to add to the 100,000 Kalashnikov AK-103 assault rifles Venezuela has bought from Russia in the past year.

The arms deals - and the visit by Mr Chavez - are the latest evidence of Mr Putin's drive to re-establish Russia as a counterbalance to the West in international affairs.

But they threaten to sour relations with Washington just a week after Mr Putin and President George W. Bush publicly reaffirmed their friendship at the G8 summit in St Petersburg.

The US has repeatedly asked Russia to reconsider its arms sales to Venezuela, which the State Department says does not co-operate in the fight against terrorism.

Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to understanding. -Hobbes

Reuters:

UN deaths put pressure on Rome talks for ceasefire

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Israel's killing of four U.N. observers piled pressure on an international conference in Rome on Wednesday to end a 15-day-old Middle East conflict, as Hizbollah vowed not to accept any "humiliating" truce terms.

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan demanded Israel investigate the "apparently deliberate targeting" of a U.N. post in southern Lebanon where an Israeli air strike killed the four U.N. military observers on Tuesday.

Israel, waging a military offensive in Lebanon against Hizbollah guerrillas, announced it would hold a probe and expressed regret at the deaths but said it was shocked Annan had suggested the observers may have been deliberately targeted.

A Chinese national was among the four observers killed, China's official Xinhua news agency reported. It said the other three were from Finland, Austria and Canada.

U.N. officials said the air strike had caused the building housing the observers to collapse and that rescue teams had been sent to retrieve the bodies from the rubble.

"(This) attack on a long established and clearly marked U.N. post at Khiam occurred despite personal assurances given to me by (Israeli) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that U.N. positions would be spared Israeli fire," Annan said in a statement.

Associated Press

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- About 50 Israeli tanks moved back into northern Gaza early Wednesday and five Palestinians were killed in airstrikes as Israel pressed ahead with its nearly month-long Gaza offensive.

Israeli aircraft carried out at least three airstrikes as the troops moved in, killing five people and wounding 15, hospital officials said. Two of the five dead were militants, but the other three were not immediately identified, they said.

The Israeli military said forces were operating in northern Gaza as part of a campaign to stop terrorism and rocket barrages at Israel. The military said aircraft targeted three groups of militants who were approaching the troops. Exchanges of fire between the two sides were reported through the night.

A number of Israeli tanks and bulldozers also crossed into southern Gaza near Khan Younis on Tuesday, witnesses said.

Whoops. Looks as if the "IQ is mostly genetic" studies are hopelessly contaminated by sample bias.

David Kirp on Heredity and IQ Once Again...
In the New York Times magazine: After the Bell Curve - New York Times: Then along came Eric Turkheimer.... In combing through the research, he noticed that the twins being studied had middle-class backgrounds.... Together with several colleagues, Turkheimer searched for data on twins from a wider range of families. He found what he needed in a sample from the 1970s of more than 50,000 American infants, many from poor families, who had taken I.Q. tests at age 7. In a widely-discussed 2003 article, he found that, as anticipated, virtually all the variation in I.Q. scores for twins in the... [Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal]

Whatever IQ measures.

The Independent:

Moratorium on new soya crops wins reprieve for rainforest

 The Amazon rainforest has won a temporary reprieve from an invasion by soya farmers, after Brazil's major traders in the bean agreed to a two-year moratorium on crops from newly deforested land.

In recent years soya has overtaken illegal logging and ranching as the main engine of deforestation in the biggest and most important rainforest on the planet.

John Sauven, a campaign director at Greenpeace, said: "This is an important step as this is the first time we've had the multinationals and the Brazilians sit down and talk about environmental issues. But it will only prove to be a major breakthrough if real action is taken on the ground."

Seattle PI:  'Zombies' booked for carrying fake WMDs

MINNEAPOLIS -- Six friends spruced up in fake blood and tattered clothing were arrested in downtown Minneapolis on suspicion of toting "simulated weapons of mass destruction."

Police said the group were allegedly carrying bags with wires sticking out, making it look like a bomb, while meandering and dancing to music as part of a "zombie dance party" Saturday night.

"They were arrested for behavior that was suspicious and disturbing," said Lt. Gregory Reinhardt, a police spokesman. Police also said the group was uncooperative and intimidated people with their "ghoulish" makeup.

One group member said the "weapons" were actually backpacks modified to carry a homemade stereos and the suspects were jailed without reason. None of the six adults and one juvenile arrested have been charged.

"Given the circumstance of them being uncooperative ... why would you have those (bags) if not to intimidate people?" said Inspector Janee Harteau. "It's not a case of (police) overreacting."

Harteau also said police were on high alert because they'd gotten a bulletin about men who wear clown makeup while attacking and robbing people in other states.

Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to understanding. -Hobbes

Glaxo has bird flu 'breakthrough'
GlaxoSmithKline believes it has a vaccine for the deadly H5N1 avian flu that may be capable of mass production by 2007. [BBC News]

Iran warns: ignore us at your peril
Tehran predicts summit failure as UN observers die in Israeli airstrike. [Guardian Unlimited World Latest]

Ukraine MPs vow to defy president after talks fail
Ukraine's beleaguered president Viktor Yushchenko faces a constitutional crisis after tangled coalition talks collapsed. [Guardian Unlimited World Latest]

Iran anger at Lebanon aid 'block'
Iranian media say Turkey and Saudi Arabia have stopped Iran using their air space to send aid to Lebanon. [BBC News]

The Simpsons has announced next season's guest voices.

BBC News:

Kiefer Sutherland and The White Stripes are to make guest appearances in the next series of The Simpsons.
Sutherland plays a hard-nosed colonel in an episode that sees Homer Simpson accidentally joining the US army.

Rock group The White Stripes voice themselves when Bart Simpson organises a benefit concert in Springfield.

Other guests confirmed for the 18th series of the animated comedy include Natalie Portman, Eric Idle and talk show psychologist Dr Phil McGraw.

Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to understanding. -Hobbes

EU Observer:

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson on Tuesday (25 July) said he intends to launch a programme to save or extend parts of the so-called Doha global trade deal, which fell into "coma" the day before.

"As a starting point, we should extract from the rubble of the negotiation a significant development package," Mr Mandelson said at a press conference in Brussels.

The commissioner, who compared the Doha round to a patient in coma dependent on life support, also said he would like to see action from US president George W. Bush.

"I hope that president Bush will announce that he will veto any move to extend or roll over the existing US farm bill [on agricultural subsidies]," Mr Mandelson said.

With Mr Bush's trade mandate running out in 2007 - allowing him to negotiate trade deals on behalf of the US - there is little likelihood of the Doha round being revived unless, as Mr Mandelson hopes, Mr Bush is able to extend it.

You, Sir, Are Not Welcome in Rome
[Update added at the end.]

Here's the shorter version of the paternalistic, imperialistic, condescending Democrats:

After we destroy your country and unleash a vicious civil war which takes the lives of between 100 and 200 innocent Iraqis every day, and after we see that you are installed as leader of this dying country and prop up your doomed and ineffectual government, we expect you to repeat our propaganda without question or criticism.  If you do not, you obviously cannot expect to be warmly received in Rome.  We have lost American lives and treasure on this disastrous venture.  True, we had no justifiable reason whatsoever for taking these actions, and it was absolutely none of our goddamned business.  But we did so anyway, out of the endless beneficence of our magnanimous, "civilizing" hearts.  So you will express appropriate thanks, you ungrateful bastard.  Otherwise, get the hell out of town.

Here's the longer version.   I draw your attention to these paragraphs:

Senate Democrats in a letter to Maliki called his statements "very troubling" and asked for an explanation, but did not demand that his speech be canceled.

Several lawmakers said they would press Maliki for his view on the Middle East conflict in meetings before the prime minister makes his address, which is intended to try to reassure lawmakers that U.S. lives and money have not been squandered on a country descending into civil war.

Oh, my, yes: we have to reassure the lawmakers -- who helped make this disaster possible, a disaster which they still will not disavow -- that their immoral and illegitimate actions were not taken in vain.

And note this:

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said Maliki, in his White House appearance with President George W. Bush, again failed to state his view of Hizbollah, which the United States deems a terrorist organization.

"We have spent hundreds of billions of dollars in Iraq. We've lost more than 2,500 American soldiers, more than 20,000 wounded. We deserve that answer," Reid said.

With all due respect -- which is to say: none -- shut up, you offensive idiot.  No one asked us to "spen[d] hundreds of billions of dollars in Iraq."  No one asked us to send Americans to Iraq.  We did that all on our own, goddamn us.

One more excerpt:

House Democrats in their letter to Hastert cited reports that Iraqi leaders were "increasingly influenced" by Iran, and said the "goal of the invasion in Iraq was not to remove one threat in favor of another."

A number of people pointed out this precise danger, among many others, before the invasion of Iraq began.  Our governing class ignored all such warnings.

The attitude of Western colonialism and condescension is nauseating in the extreme -- and it is typical of the Democrats.  This is why I have repeatedly said that everyone in the political and foreign policy establishment works out of the same playbook: the playbook of "Western exceptionalism," which gives us the "right" to "civilize" the rest of the world by force, whether they want us to or not.  Our narcissism is disgusting and repellent.  We have but a single, monolithic, warmongering establishment.  Since these views are so entrenched in all parts of the governing class, the next war cannot be far away.

What an absolutely sickening nation we are today.  God can forgive us, although I have no idea why He would.  I do not expect the rest of the world to -- nor should they. [Once Upon a Time...]

Better Now

My friend is an old Middle East hand who has some  good sources on the Israeli side, mostly ex-military and ex-Mossad, plus some contacts among the Bush I realist crowd -- although of course they're not in government any more either.

He didn't have any secret dope on what the next military or diplomatic moves will be -- it seems to be purely day-to-day now -- but he DID get a clear sense that the Americans and the Israelis both understand now that they are in serious danger of losing the war.

They're freaking out about this, of course, because they're deathly afraid that if Israel is seen to fail, and fail badly, against Hizbullah, everybody and their Palestinian uncle will get it into their heads that they can take a crack at the Zionist entity. (The tough guy realists see this as a disaster in its own right; the "cry and shoot" gang frets the IDF will have to pound the West Bank and Gaza even harder to re-establish the balance of terror. Either way, it's an unacceptable outcome.)

Plan B, then, is to try to "make something happen" on the ground -- although what, exactly, isn't clear. Today it was killing a low-level Hizbullah leader (in a border village they supposedly secured three days ago) and pumping him up as a big catch (shades of Zarqawi's 28,000 "lieutenants".) Tomorrow it will be something else -- maybe the capture of the "terror capital" of south Lebanon, beautiful downtown Bint Jbeil.

But, of course, I'm getting the impression from reading between the lines of the official propaganda that the IDF is struggling just to produce these little symbolic victories -- they seem to be "securing" the same objectives over and over again. So my guess is that the internal debate will now turn to how many more divisions to commit to the battle, how far north to push, etc.

But the Israelis are being squeezed between two relentless pressures. One is the desire to avoid taking too many casualties, and the other is the amount of time left to achieve even their minimal objectives. The less time, the more casualties -- and the more firepower that will have to be poured down to hold those casualties down. More firepower means more scenes of civilian death and devastation. (The Arab puppet regimes can see what's coming, which is probably why they all bailed today.)

But the end game remains stubbornly unclear. Or rather, what is being put forward as the official end game -- insertion of a force of NATO peacekeepers into the "buffer zone" -- is so outlandish it's hard to believe that the Israelis (the ultimate hard-eyed realists) believe it for a second. An ex-Mossad guy actually told my friend the Israeliis were optimistic that the EU would provide the troops. The EU!

So I explained to my friend that the EU manages a currency and writes standardized regulations for toaster safety and stuff like that. It doesn't do peacekeeping. If the Israelis want boots on the ground, they're going to have to go to the Germans and the Danes and the Poles and the French (yes, the cheese eating surrender monkeys) -- who are about as enthusiastic about the idea as they are about the spread of Mad Cow disease. Maybe less.

[Whiskey Bar]

The SISMi scandal continues to unfold. Yesterday it was revealed that Pirelli employed a CIA station chief formerly stationed in Mogadiscio, John Paul Spinelli. Pirelli and Telecom are closely linked through the same ownership. It appears that employees of Pirelli and Telecom may have been involved in the Abu Omar kidnapping, along with employees of Cipriani's private security companies. Cipriani received regular payments from Telecom for tens of millions of euros through a series of societies abroad.

Excerpts of Pio Pompa's intercepted phone calls indicate frequent and friendly conversations with Edward Luttwak of the Washington based CSIS. According to reports in the Repubblica, Luttwak was kept abreast of developments and probable disinformation campaigns in the Abu Omar kidnapping case.

Edward Luttwak is a regular fixture on Italian television as some sort of expert. He spent many years of his childhood in Italy as a refugee and speaks fluent Italian.

The CSIS has always been a favoured conduit for undercover operations and disinformation campaigns in Italy as well as South America. A favourite think tank of the Reagan and the Bush père administrations, it earned its brownie points with the Billygate scandal. That scandal tipped the scales in favour of Reagan.

Guardian: The Thatcherite disdain for public employees lives on

. . . Almost nothing in the public sector now seems to work properly. Think of all those disastrous IT projects in health, passports, criminal records, benefits, defence and so on; of the failure of Gordon Brown's ingenious tax credits scheme to get the right amounts of money to the right people, so that £1 in every £10 goes to somebody who is not entitled to it; of how the ID-card scheme has already run into trouble; of how the health department, implementing a new pay regime, ended up giving doctors more than anyone intended; of the Home Office's blunders on foreign criminals and illegal migrants, which led the home secretary, John Reid, to announce an overhaul of its immigration department yesterday. These are just the most recent examples. . . .

I suspect that, over the past 25 years, public services have been afflicted by a new problem. They have simply not attracted people of dynamism, talent or initiative. Or, if they did, such qualities were quickly suppressed. . . .

It goes back to the Thatcher years. Why should any bright, ambitious young person at that time have joined the civil service, local government, the teaching profession, the NHS or any nationalised industry? . . .

If anything, New Labour has tightened the chains with its targets and performance indicators. The presumption remains that private-sector firms, or people recruited from them, will do most things better. The idea that there is such a thing as a public-service ethic is as unfashionable as ever. It is assumed to be a con, an attempt by entrenched "producers" to protect comfortable, unchallenging jobs. . . .

As any teacher knows, if you tell people often enough that they're no good, they will eventually be no good.  . . . Paradoxically, New Labour has ended up bringing out the worst in the public sector. . . .

El Pais: It is very sad to tell the people who love you that you've been kicked in the face for being a faggot (26-07-2006)

The man assaulted at a Madrid swimming pool for kissing another has fractures in the face

Luis, 30, has half of his face broken: fracture of several bones on the left side and possibly affected jaw. Today he will be operated in a Madrid hospital, as a result of a kick he received last Saturday at the public swimming pool of La Elipa, in Moratalaz (Madrid). He was assaulted by a group of 10 youth, most minors, after kissing a dutch friend. They were called "faggots" and were told: "Sons of a bitch, you don't deserve to live!" and "your life is shit!". The couple had gone to the nudist solarium frequented by gay groups.

Nothing is 'mere'. — Richard P. Feynman

Breaking news - 12 Israeli soldiers killed today in South Lebanon

from news banner at www.foxnews.com

Victory For Iraq Families

The families of British soldiers killed in Iraq have won a dramatic legal breakthrough in their attempt to force a full public inquiry into why Britain entered the conflict.

In what their lawyers described as "a stunning victory", the Court of Appeal has ruled they were entitled to apply for judicial review of the Government's refusal to hold an independent inquiry.

www.skynews.co.uk

no article is available yet

Izzy, if you're still up or find it tomorrow: could you adopt Fran's system of ordering news under top-level comments naming a category? (e.g. "Europe", "World", "This and That", possibly "Middle East", whatever).

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}