According to the Guardian five former armed forces chiefs from the US, Britain, Germany, France and the Netherlands — including Gen. John Shalikashvili, a former NATO commander — have authored a manifesto insisting that a preemptive nuclear strike should be a key NATO option: A “first strike” nuclear option remains an “indispensable instrument” since there [...]

During the last few years of his life, Martin Luther King, Jr., began to see the relationship between war and civil rights and poverty. Although he realized that denouncing the Vietnam War risked alienating President Johnson, his ally on civil rights legislation, and the civil rights movement. Nevertheless Martin Luther King, Jr., followed his conscience [...]

[To click on the countries in the BBC map, go here.] Following up on Larry’s post two weeks ago about how Sibel Edmonds is finally getting her story out, the Times of London reports today that: THE FBI has been accused of covering up a key case file detailing evidence against corrupt government officials and [...]

Remember when Bush talked about the “ownership society”? Own your own home, own your own retirement assets, own your own health insurance…. What ever happened to that?

• A Federal Appeals court rules that former Guantanamo inmates aren’t persons. [If you torture a non-person is it still torture?] • National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell is drawing up plans for cyberspace spying that would make the current debate on warrantless wiretaps look like a “walk in the park,” according to an interview published in the [...]

The NY Times’s Michael Gordon conducted a lengthy interview with John Edwards in Iowa, during a campaign stop. Here’s an excerpt of the transcript: Q. How did you go from a plan that emphasized the gradual reduction of forces and training of Iraqi forces to a plan that calls for removing all of the forces [...]

Cass Dillon and Billy Joel perform, “Christmas in Fallujah.” The Guernica of our time may not have ever happened if the Bush administration had remained focused on al Qaeda and bin Laden instead. How many Iraqis have been slaughtered: We don’t keep count. But perhaps one million have died according to estimates. How many millions [...]

Earlier this month, Huckabee claimed God had him surging ahead in the polls. Watch the video above. Now Huckabee is again invoking God with a strategically placed cross in his latest TV ad, which even has the Catholic League criticizing him for “injecting God into politics.” If God is going to choose the next president, [...]

Susan created a great ad for my recently launched online jewelry store, thank you! [See below: My ad is right above Keith Olbermann's—so it's in really good company!] Please stop by and visit here and let me know what you think? I’ll continue adding content…. Meanwhile, what’s the latest Bushie news?

Via Truthout, the Metro Times interviews Scott Ritter about the Bush administration’s plans for Iran: Metro Times: Is your conclusion that an attack is imminent based on the administration’s statements and actions, like labeling Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group, or do you also have sources within the intelligence community and the military and [...]

From Corpwatch: A new U.S. intelligence institution will allow government spy agencies to conduct broad surveillance and reconnaissance inside the country for the first time. Contractors like Boeing, BAE Systems, Harris Corporation, L-3 Communications and Science Applications International Corporation are already lining up for possible work.

From the NYT: Mr. Bush made no comment when the Nobel was announced, and today, the two stood silently, and a bit awkwardly, during the photo opportunity. But the president did personally telephone Mr. Gore to extend the invitation, and the White House changed the date of the event so Mr. Gore could attend. Mr. [...]

Privacy is such an old-fashioned idea! So what’s on your mind? Did everyone enjoy their Thanksgiving?

From the Tribune India: A view of a hall in Kabul Serena Hotel, the first five-star hotel opened in Afghanistan on Tuesday. Afghan President Hamid Karzai attended the opening of the hotel on Tuesday [November 8, 2005], leaving his sick bed to mark the occasion. The hotel has been built at a cost of $36.50 [...]

The New York Times has compiled an easy-to-read guide on the positions of all the presidential candidates on Iran. Here’s a list of reasons why attacking Iran would be a bad idea, from the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation:

“If the president decided to nuke Iran, here’s the plan.”

Via Cliff Schecter, from the Herald UK: The US is secretly upgrading special stealth bomber hangars on the British island protectorate of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in preparation for strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, according to military sources. The improvement of the B1 Spirit jet infrastructure coincides with an “urgent operational need” request [...]

From Brad Friedman, the Bradblog: FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds will tell all—and face charges if necessary—to any major television network that will let her. She’s prepared to name names, including those of two ‘well-known’ Congress members involved in criminal corruption. The ‘most gagged person in U.S. history’ tells the Brad Blog she’s now exhausted all [...]

Image: Kimberly White/Reuters The San Francisco anti-war protest, above, echoed others across the country this weekend. Did anyone go to the protests?

Imam Square, Isfahan, Iran. Last Thursday, Bush imposed the stiffest economic sanctions against Iran since 1979. The new sanctions target the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps [IRGC], the Qods force, Iranian banks, companies allegedly associated with the IRGC and individuals. Bush’s announcement coincided with increased tensions between Turkey and Iraq, Kurdish tensions with Iran, news of [...]