Headline reads: Pakistan election office blast kills 37

I don't know the people of Pakistan, I don't even know if I know any Pakistani living in the U.S., but from what I am witnessing in the lead up to Pakistan's Parliamentary election, I have come to admire the courage of these people fighting to retain democracy in their country. They understand what the loss of personal freedoms costs them, as individuals and as a country, and they want to end the Military leadership that had gained power through a coup under General Musharraf's lead. The elections are important, if the people have any hopes of replacing Musharraf, as it will take a 2/3rd's majority to impeach him and restore democracy again.

It is difficult to watch all the violence and it is easy to turn away from it and get absorbed in our own elections and the day-to-day comforts we enjoy. But today's headline from Pakistan gave me an understanding of the things worth fighting for, and yes, some dying for. These brave people are willing to risk their lives to vote and do take that responsibility seriously, because they have learned what it's like without the rule of law. Maybe we will wake up as a nation and vote in numbers that will shake up the current state of apathy here in America and the process that allowed George Bush to be elected by less than half the population. The cost of that apathy has been enormous to our freedom and to our well being, since we are almost totally bankrupt now and are facing a bleak future for our children and grandchildren unless we wake up. My hat is tipped for the Pakistani people. Good luck to you in battle to restore democracy and the rule of law. And to the rest of us I say, Wake up America!

Read the Pakistan headlines article by clicking here.

Is Democracy at risk: You be the judge!

What does the future hold for the world. An article posted on The Moderate Voice this morning, by William Kern, titled "Head Winds for the Reign of the People" from an column written by Thomas Klau of Germany's Financial Times Deutschland, at the end states the following:

"A Renaissance of Puritanism, a Renaissance of authoritarianism, and perhaps the decoupling of free-market principles from the principles of democracy - these are the messages heard by people today. And to this we must add the weakening of the fundamental values of democratic humanism, such as the ban on torture and arbitrary imprisonment in the United States. The wind has changed and it’s blowing in the wrong direction."

I encourage you to read the entire article at The Moderate Voice to get the full picture.

This is the real damage President Bush, VP Cheney and this Administration has contributed to these past 7 years. While they are mostly responsible for the weakening of democracy under the pretext of spreading it, Corporate CEO's have also played a major role when they adapt hardware and software that minimizes any chance of a free press, freedom of speech and threatens the safety and security of the people using the technology in countries like China, Russia and yes, you guessed it, the United States! Wake up America! Your freedoms are being lost one drip at a time, just like in Nazi Germany with the rise of Hitler. Before you know it, it's gone.

Iraq democracy Bush/Cheney style.

Here's the latest from the UN as to conditions in Iraq since the surge. According to reports, "the U.N. released a new human rights report Wednesday saying that sectarian violence continued to claim the lives of a large number of Iraqi civilians in Sunni Arab and Shiite neighborhoods of Iraq's capital, despite the coalition's new Baghdad security plan. Begun Feb. 14, it has increased U.S. and Iraqi troops levels in the capital." and this, "The U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq report said civilian casualties in the daily violence between Jan. 1 and March 31 remained high, concentrated in and around Baghdad.

And finally this, "The Iraqi government withheld recent casualty figures from the United Nations, fearing they would be used to present a grim picture of Iraq that would undermine the coalition's security efforts, U.N. officials said Wednesday."

This all seems to me that the Iraqi Gov't has learned about democracy Bush/Cheney style; where no truthful information is presented to the public ever, as it might look bad to the public.

To read the entire report by Thomas Wagner, AP Writer, click here.. It is shown on Yahoo News.

Still think the "surge" is working?

Egypt adopts Democracy 2.0 from President Bush and the neocons' playbook

Democracy, Bush style, has emerged from the Middle East, most notably Egypt, as new anti-terrorist laws were approved by a small group of people, as voter turnout was low.

Quoting a BBC story, "Opposition groups have voiced fears about the wording of the articles on the new anti-terrorism law because it will be possible to bypass the constitutional guarantees protecting basic freedoms." Also, "Turnout for the vote was 27%, the justice ministry said, although some independent groups put it at 5%." The population of Egypt is about 68 Million people. This means that as few as 2.5 Million people out of the 68 Million people voted to change the Constitution and install "anti-terrorist laws" analogous to our Patriot Act. And the article adds, "The 34 constitutional amendments include a ban on the creation of political parties based on religion, and sweeping security powers."

Welcome Egypt to President Bush's type of Democracy, where we now share in a common theme, "bypassing the constitutional guarantees protecting basic freedoms." President Mubarak you have learned your lesson well from our latest interpretation of the protecting of our basic freedoms from a President and VP who have turned the Constitution upside down with the help of the current Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Of course, we learned from you as well, for example how to "redefine" what is and what isn't torture and skirt the Geneva Convention and U.S. laws.

To read the entire BBC article click here.

Italy, CIA renditions and U.S. arrogance

U.S. State Dept. legal advisor in Brussels, John Bellinger, today criticized European attitudes to the U.S.-led war on terror, stating that some statements could undermine U.S.-Europe cooperation. This was in response to proceedings in Italy regarding CIA renditions on Italy's soil of a Muslim cleric back in Feb. 2003.

Is it any surprise that now even Italy, one of our few coalition partners in the war in Iraq, has misgivings about U.S. rendition program? I think not. The Italian people were against their government's support of George Bush's war of choice in Iraq. And since there is little stomach for turning the government upside down in Italy, their judicial system is demonstrating its power over its executive branch by moving these charges forward. Don't be surprised when Italy does officially request to extradite CIA officials responsible for the renditions. And don't be surprised when this Administration fails to do so. I applaud the Italian courts for taking this matter up in spite of the embarrassment of its senior government officials.

Democracy works when various branches of a government exercise their function of checks and balances. Maybe we could learn something from the Italians on this matter. Unfortunately, our Judicial Branch may be complicit in supporting this Administration's flagrant violation of International law. The ultimate question for our branches of government is as follows: If our elected leaders deliberately violate laws and treaties and someone brought charges up at the World Court requesting they be on trial for their crimes, would we as a people and a government support this by turning them over to the Court for trial? It is a valid question, as we find the idea congruent with our belief when other countries leaders are believed to have violated laws and committed crimes against humanity. One could make the argument what is good for the Goose is good for the Gander. But I do not think we have matured as a people to accept world authority over any leader of this country. We think we are above the very laws and treaties we expect others to uphold. And if they don't we are willing to let the World Court decide the appropriate justice as we did in the case of Slobodan Milosevic. Now do you understand why the world says we are an arrogant people? Well, in my humble opinion, at least this current crop of leaders are.