Kanada Kev

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19399840/ 236 Afghan civilians killed by NATO, U.S. Number slain in year above the 178 killed by militant attacks, says the AP Updated: 8:40 a.m. ET June 24, 2007 KABUL, Afghanistan - U.S.-led coalition and NATO forces fighting insurgents in Afghanistan have killed at least 236 civilians so far this year — surpassing the 178 civilians killed in militant attacks, according to an Associated Press tally. Insurgency attacks and military operations have surged in recent weeks, and in the past 10 days, more than 90 civilians have been killed by airstrikes and artillery fire targeting Taliban insurgents, said President Hamid Karzai. Separate death toll figures from the U.N. and an umbrella organization of Afghan and international aid groups show that the numbers of civilians killed by international forces is approximately equal to those killed by insurgents. Story continues below ↓advertisement On Sunday, another civilian may have been killed when British troops opened fire in a populated area after their convoy was hit by a roadside bomb, officials and witnesses said. Seething Karzai speech After a seething speech by Karzai on Saturday — in which he accused NATO and U.S. forces of viewing Afghan lives as “cheap†— NATO conceded that it had to “do better.†Coalition spokesman Maj. Chris Belcher suggested that some civilians reportedly killed by foreign forces may in fact have been killed by insurgents. “One of the problems is sometimes determining who exactly caused the casualties. It’s not always clear if a civilian casualty is caused by an extremist or coalition forces,†Belcher said. Accurate figures for civilian death tolls are hard to come by in Afghanistan, where militants often wear civilian dress and seek shelter in villagers’ homes. Furthermore, after a quarter of a century of civil war and conflict, it is not unusual for Afghans to have weapons in their homes. Much of the violence takes place in remote areas that are too far or too dangerous for independent observers or journalists to reach for verification of the reports. The AP count of civilian casualties is based on reports from Afghan and foreign officials and witnesses through Saturday. Of the 432 civilian deaths so far this year, 18 civilians were killed in crossfire between Taliban militants and foreign forces. U.S., NATO do not have casualty figures The U.S. and NATO did not have civilian casualty figures. The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has counted 213 civilians killed by insurgents in the first five months of this year — compared to 207 killed by Afghan and international forces. ACBAR — the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief — has counted 230 civilians killed in U.S. and NATO operations, basing their figure on reports from the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, Afghan NGO Security Office and the U.N. The number of civilians killed in militant attacks was approximately the same as those killed by foreign forces according to ACBAR’s latest figures from about a month ago, said Anja de Beer, director of ACBAR. “The international forces are here to support the Afghan government, the purpose is to get a better and safer life for the Afghan people,†de Beer said. “If in doing so, they’re causing more civilian deaths than the people they’re fighting against, that doesn’t look very good, to put it mildly.†Maj. John Thomas, a spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, blamed the insurgents for hiding in areas populated by civilians, who are then killed during attacks against militants, but he said “that does not absolve ISAF of the responsibility of doing all it can to minimize civilian casualties.†On Saturday, Karzai accused NATO and U.S.-led troops of carelessly killing scores of Afghan civilians and warned that the fight against resurgent Taliban militants could fail unless foreign forces show more restraint. 'Afghan life is not cheap' “Afghan life is not cheap and it should not be treated as such,†Karzai said angrily. The mounting toll is sapping the authority of the Western-backed Afghan president, who has pleaded repeatedly with U.S. and NATO commanders to consult Afghan authorities during operations and show more restraint. Karzai also denounced the Taliban for killing civilians, but directed most of his anger at foreign forces. In one of the incidents lamented by Karzai, police said Friday that NATO airstrikes killed 25 civilians along with 20 militants who fired on alliance and Afghan troops from a walled compound in the southern province of Helmand. On Sunday, Helmand provincial police chief Mohammad Hussain said British gunfire killed one man after the troops were attacked, but it was not clear if the victim was a civilian or a militant involved in the attack. Raz Mohammad Sayed, director of a local hospital, said one man was killed, and another man was wounded by British gunfire. He referred to both victims as “civilians.†NATO blames the insurgents for hiding among civilians, and insisted that troops had the right to defend themselves. “If someone’s firing at me, he’s a combatant,†Thomas said. Another NATO spokesman, Nicholas Lunt, said, “We need to do better than we have been doing so far. But unlike the Taliban, we do not set out to cause civilian casualties, and that is a critical difference.†Earlier Saturday, Pakistan said a rocket hit a house in Pakistani territory killing nine civilians during a battle in which NATO and U.S.-led forces killed some 60 suspected Taliban near Afghanistan’s eastern border. Other fighting reported Saturday left some 20 militants and one coalition soldier dead. The soldier, who died in a gunbattle in the southern province of Helmand, was not further identified.

Wonder why so many care less about what's going on in Iraq/Afghanistan? They don't see the human toll. It's always just numbers and sanitized information. http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,371411,00.html IRAQ'S UNSEEN WAR The Photos Washington Doesn't Want You To See By Gary Kamiya The grim reality of Iraq rarely appears in the American press. A photo gallery reveals the war's horrible human toll. Click here to see the full article.

Pathetic! http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Poll_41_of_Americans_believe_Saddam_0624.html Number of Americans who believe Saddam-9/11 tie rises to 41 percent Josh Catone Published: Sunday June 24, 2007 A new Newsweek poll out this weekend exposed "gaps" in America's knowledge of history and current events. Perhaps most alarmingly, 41% of Americans answered 'Yes' to the question "Do you think Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq was directly involved in planning, financing, or carrying out the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001?" That total is actually up 5 points since September 2004. Further, a majority of people couldn't identify Saudia Arabia as the country of origin of most of the 9/11 hijackers, even given the question in multiple choice format. 20% answered Iraq, while 14% believed the hijackers came from Iran. A majority (52%) believe the US is losing the war against al Qaeda, however Newsweek disagrees. In the magazine's reporting of the poll, they made judgment that the US is in fact not "losing the fight against al-Qaeda or radical Islamic terrorism." Closer to home, 89% of Americans are unable to name the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (John Roberts), though a majority of those polled were able to name Nancy Pelosi as the current Speaker of the House. A large majority of people said they didn't know or didn't care who the winner of this year's American Idol competition was (or at least weren't willing to admit it). The full results of the Newsweek poll are available here .

Nothing like pissing off a prima donna Just kidding. Actually, I remember that was the first time I had heard of Ryan. It was of a story where he had a complete hissy fit because somebody yelled out something like that at a show.

D'oh, sorry ... at least my memory was vaguely correct in a roundabout wrong kind of way How long did Ryan Adams perform for in Burlington? Is this the 70min tour? Or was Toronto an anomaly? Just curious. Did he play Summer of '69?

Didn't somebody post a link to a sbd recording of this? Maybe it was a matrix? Maybe it was just a setlist

245. Songs with false endings (ie. songs that come to a complete stop or otherwise make you think the song is ending when it in fact isn't) 1. Marillion - Quartz 2. Phish - Reba 3. The Beatles - Hello Goodbye 4. David Sylvian - Orpheus 5. Guns 'n' Roses - November Rain 6. Genesis - Los Endos 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12

Awesome squirrels! ^^^ Here's a bit of extreme irony

That story about the bridge blew my mind. Unfuckingbelievable. The people have to keep an eye on their politicians!!

Damn! I gotta wait until next Tuesday Oh well, the waiting is the hardest part ... and good things come to those that wait .. right? Remember to scope out that spot for us

I D I O T S :

First shot of Harrison Ford on set for the new Indiana Jones movie.

Trippy video!

http://www.cracked.com/index.php?name=News&sid=2130&pageid=1

Be sure to get confirmation that you are getting unlimited mileage AND that you are allowed to travel to the US (there are some companies that won't let you ... and the border will report it when they enter the licence plate). Once you have made the rental agreement and are ready to go and pickup your car, ask the rental place if there's any way that they could give you a complimentary upgrade (you're going to be driving your 85-year-old grandmother around and would like a little extra room and comfort, right?) and you might luck out.

Bring Cliff Fletcher back ... I trade some picks for him

I liked a comment that revealed his "Six Principles of Leadership": 1. 9/11 2. 9/11 3. 9/11 4. 9/11 5. 9/11 6. 9/11

bah ... who cares ... as long as they are off the team and the payroll Go Hamilton Preds!

Personally, I don't believe anything that GMs, owners, etc. have to say to the press prior to a draft and the FA market opening up. Does anyone here actually think that they would show their cards before deals were going to go down? As much as i am not a fan of JFJ, I chose to ignore what he says since I'm sure most of it is red herring or plain old crap. I see this deal as the first step in getting something for more trades/dealings. I'm hoping that JFJ is able to fennagle deals to unload McCabe, Kubina and Raycroft now. You make Toskala the starter with CuJo coming back to be his backup. THAT would free up some cap space and leave the team no worse off than they are now.

ROFLOL ... "I don't want to look a gift bong in the mouth!" Who's going to see "Tootie's Bong" at the ElMo tonight??? [color:blue]Don't want to look a gift bong in the mouth If you do there's gonna be trouble You better make that a double

I think the best thing would have been involving BOTH organizations. While the Marijuana Party has an automatic stigma attached to them, they would have a TON of valid information to back up the student's claims. They would also have their own 'educational' materials as well. The Can Civ Lib Association would have been perfect for reinforcing those rights that the student has and that he didn't do anything that should be considered "wrong" or punishable. I'd like to see the principal of that school, and the school board be investigated by the RCMP, etc.

I agree. Seems kinda petty to me. I don't see how a ring is harmful in any way, especially if other students are never reprimanded for breaking the school uniform code by wearing nose rings, earrings, etc. Enforce the rules for ALL not just a few. On the other hand, I wonder if that girl (and her pastor father who is still leading the fight) would be offended if another student came in wearing a pentagram ring, some Wicca symbolism, or a FSM ring? It's usually at that point, that they would bring up the fight that "My beliefs are more legitimate than yours!" Treat 'em all equally ... they don't seem to want that when it's for the "other" person

The school administrators who are responsible for destroying this kids' school year should be fired. He did absolutely nothing illegal. He simply did some personal research and shared his findings. THAT'S education. By shutting him down and kicking him out, it simply exemplifies that those running the educational system there are very close-minded and anti-free thought. For going above and beyond, this student should have received extra marks for their extra effort. Maybe some of the other students, who most likely just sit there passively every day and don't ask questions, will learn something from this. Maybe they'll begin to explore information and research for themselves. Maybe this will be an inspiration for expanding their minds a little. The kid who got burned by all this is probably having the time of his life in Asia. He is going to be the one who really makes it in this world, IMHO.

N I C E !