If you are so inclined, capitalistic Christians have the ideal item just for you and they haven’t missed a single heaven-sent gimmick.

Scented candles promise to fill your home with the biblical odors of frankincense and myrrh, while various other aromas are designed to quiet your mind and lead you to more picture-perfect devotion.

And who would dream of burning their candles without a candleholder inscribed with the words, “I Am the Light of the World”?

Your wall clock ticks away the seconds while the hands of time sweep past inspirational messages like “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”   more »

The NYT is a pillar of the corporate media and a member of the "corporate America" community whose tenets it finds no fault with when they harm the common good, as it nearly always does.

Nor is it bothered by its own hypocrisy claiming to be a voice of moderation or liberal thought when, in fact, it's just the opposite on issues that matter most - like war and peace and the highest crimes of elected officials it ignores, especially when committed by Republicans (once publishing the Pentagon Papers notwithstanding).

The Times plays a crucial role as a loyal servant of empire and its business establishment. No other member of the corporate media has such influence or reach as its message goes out to the world and is picked up throughout it in its highest places.

Its front page is what media critic Norman Solomon calls "the most valuable square inches of media real estate in the USA" - more accurately, in the world.   more »

Bush was held in a particular scorn by nearly every European we met in a recent vacation to Switzerland and Germany. His pulling out of the Kyoto accords on global warming was viewed as an arrogant declaration of who owns the White House. As the British hiker put it, ''You are the United States of Oil.''

The sneer we show to the world on the environment is sure to worsen before it gets better. Last month a report in the US Department of Transportation report found that sport utility vehicles, minivans, and pickup trucks now account for 51 percent of new vehicle sales.

The report also found that those vehicles, classified as light-duty trucks, now account for more miles driven on American roads than passenger cars.

The effects of these gas guzzlers are becoming as choking as a sheet of smog. Preliminary federal figures released last month found that in the last three years, carbon dixoide emissions from transportation have for the first time surpassed the CO2 emissions from industrial sources. Carbon dioxide emissions are a leading contributor to global warming.   more »

This film showed all the gruesome details of the execution and most importantly recorded the sounds in the gallows.

In this film, one can hear Saddam Hussein declaring his faith (similar to the last rites) while a person shouting “Moqtada is alive” (referring to the Shi’ite Cleric Moqtada al-Sadr) and “you are going to hell”.

The trial and execution of Saddam raise important questions: why was he tried and executed for only one incident: ordering the 1982 killings of 148 Shiite Muslims in Dujail, (“small” as compared to other horrific atrocities committed during his reign of terror)?

Why was he executed at such a (religiously) sensitive time; why the films were released; and finally why did the authorities allowed his body to be buried in Tikrit, his home town?   more »

Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have said repeatedly that they will not cut off money for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Reid, the incoming Senate majority leader, recently outlined his program for the new Congress. It did not include pushing for any war spending cuts.

He directly dismissed the will of U.S. voters and pledged obedience to Bush when he announced, "Now [Bush is] the commander-in-chief, and we’re not going to do anything to limit funding or cut off funds."

Reid also stated that he would support sending thousands of more troops to Iraq, but then quickly backtracked when he was widely attacked by pro-Democratic voters who felt instantly betrayed.   more »

The extremes to which America might take its war against terrorism, recently became shockingly clear to me.

A highly respected national security expert with insider knowledge of Pentagon thinking told me that several senior officers and defense executives have confided the following sentiment to him:

"There may come a time when we have to kill millions of Muslims." Not surprisingly, neither is my source willing to name his, nor me mine, but believe me - this is not idle chatter!

The Israel lobby would have everyone believe that the threat of another holocaust emanates from Iran, yet what should generate more alarm: populist rantings from President Ahmadinejad repeating well-worn anti-Zionist rhetoric, or cold predictions circulating inside the U.S. military that an Islamic holocaust may become necessary?   more »