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"As with many kids longing for belonging, books were [Bryan Thao] Worra's refuge and escape — 'speculative literature,' he says, in the realm of fantasy, horror and general sci-fi. By the time he moved to St. Paul in 1998 with an opportunity to work for The Hmong Tribune , he had already written a large body of fantastical poet ry. "Worra has published much of it in an online chapbook titled Monstro , a collection spanning 15 years of work Worra calls 'a meditation on fear.' "In the preface, he writes: "'The things we fear, the things we shouldn't, the things that fear us, and those gray zones where all bets are off. It's a global romp through a world with boundaries that are blurring to the point of nonexistence. It's fair to even say: A cosmic romp.' "Some of the poetry in Monstro reads like lyrics from vintage Iron Maiden and Judas Priest songs. In "Song of the Kaiju," the second stanza reads: In

George Monbiot writes: "The San Francisco Chronicle reports that 'more than a year ago, a senior Israeli army officer began giving PowerPoint presentations , on an off-the-record basis, to US and other diplomats, journalists and thinktanks, setting out the plan for the current operation in revealing detail'. "The attack, he said, would last for three weeks. It would begin with bombing and culminate in a ground invasion. Gerald Steinberg, professor of political science at Bar-Ilan University, told the paper that 'of all of Israel's wars since 1948, this was the one for which Israel was most prepared ... By 2004, the military campaign scheduled to last about three weeks that we're seeing now had already been blocked out and, in the last year or two, it's been simulated and rehearsed across the board'. "A 'senior Israeli official' told the Washington Post that the raid by Hizbullah provided Israel with a 'unique moment' for wi

Be A Witness.org writes: "Genocide is the ultimate crime against humanity. And a government-backed genocide is unfolding in the Darfur region of Sudan . As the horror in Darfur continues, our major television news networks are largely missing in action. "During June 2005, CNN, FOXNews, NBC/MSNBC, ABC, and CBS ran 50 times as many stories about Michael Jackson and 12 times as many stories about Tom Cruise as they did about the genocide in Darfur. "Whether it is coverage of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 60s, the Ethiopian famine in the 1980s, or recent coverage of the tsunami , television news can help stop grave injustices and end human suffering. Increased television coverage of the genocide in Darfur has the power to spur the action required to stop a devastating crime against humanity."

The word "rape," in my opinion, shouldn't be used in its old-fashioned sense meaning exploitation and destruction of a country, people, or land. It should be reserved for that horrible crime perpetrated almost exclusively by men against women, children and other men. In all wars, some soldiers commit rape. They may rape as an act of personal depravity rather than military or state policy, but nonetheless, some soldiers rape. Given the physical, social and psychological damage it creates, rape is one of the worst crimes in human society. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, rape has been a daily reality of war for more than a decade. I have nothing but contempt for our enemies abroad who exploit and manipulate and destroy us. Therefore I have even greater contempt for those among us who do so. On today's Democracy Now! , host Amy Goodman speaks with: Alexis Motunda . National Secretary for the Union for Democracy and Social Progress which is the main oppoistion par

Anders Strindberg writes: "As pundits and policymakers scramble to explain events in Lebanon, their conclusions are virtually unanimous: Hizbullah created this crisis. Israel is defending itself. The underlying problem is Arab extremism. "Sadly, this is pure analytical nonsense. "Hizbullah's capture of two Israeli soldiers on July 12 was a direct result of Israel's silent but unrelenting aggression against Lebanon, which in turn is part of a six-decades long Arab-Israeli conflict."

Juan Cole and As'ad Abu-Khalil discuss the report of US-based Human Rights Watch. "The pattern of attacks in more than 20 cases investigated by Human Rights Watch researchers in Lebanon indicates that the failures cannot be dismissed as mere accidents and cannot be blamed on wrongful Hezbollah practices. In some cases, [Israel's] attacks constitute war crimes.... "Of the 153 dead civilians named in the report, 63 are children. More than 500 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli fire since fighting began on July 12, most of them civilians.... "On July 16, an Israeli aircraft fired on a civilian home in the village of Aitaroun, killing 11 members of the al-Akhrass family, among them seven Canadian-Lebanese dual nationals who were vacationing in the village when the war began. Human Rights Watch independently interviewed three villagers who vigorously denied that the family had any connection to Hezbollah. Among the victims were children aged o

Juan Cole writes: "190 Hizbullah Rockets Rain down on Israel, 21 Wounded "There had been some question about whether Hizbullah's ability to hit Israel with rockets had been degraded, or whether it was just observing the 48 hour air cease fire. On Wednesday it cleared the mystery up. "The indiscriminate firing of rockets on civilian targets wounded 21 persons and one hit the Palestinian West Bank. Among the rockets fired was a long-distance Khaybar II. Targeting civilians or unnecessarily endangering them is a war crime." His site also provided the link to the above graphic.

Robert Fisk: "When I arrived there, there were a number of, maybe 20, 30 children, the corpses of children, lined up outside the government hospital, hair matted, still in their night clothes. The bomb that killed them was dropped at 1:00 in the morning. And they ran out of plastic bags. "They were trying to put the children in plastic bags, their corpses, and they would put on it, you know, 'Abbas Mehdi, aged seven,' and so and so, aged one, and use a kind of sticking tape on it. But then they ran out of plastic bags, so they had to put the children's corpses in a kind of cheap carpet that you can buy in the supermarkets , and they roll them up in that and then put their names on again. I was having to go around very carefully and write down, from the Arabic, their names and their ages. It would just say 'Abbas Mehdi, aged seven, Qana.' "And, of course, every time I saw the 'Qana,' I remember that I was actually in Qana ten years ago when

Day 20 Lebanese dead - at least 577 confirmed, could be up to 750. Israeli dead - 51. Israel bombs and shells southern Lebanon despite announced halt in air raids. Rescue workers find 28 bodies buried for days in destroyed buildings in three Lebanese villages. UN postpones a meeting on Lebanon peacekeeping force indefinitely. Bush says he will seek UN action this week to end the fighting. Clashes near Aita Al-Shaab leave four Hizbollah fighters dead and three Israelis wounded. Democracy Now! reports: "Israel has sent as many as 18,000 troops into Lebanon as part of a massive ground invasion. The ground assault comes as Israel continues to bomb areas around South Lebanon. A Lebanese official said Israel is carrying out an 'unprecedented' air attack on the ancient city of Ba'albek. "The assault began late Tuesday -- three hours before the end of Israel’s announced two-day pause to the bombing. The raid of Baalbek marked Israel's deepest known incursio

Democracy Now! reports the following today: Up to 18,000 Israeli Troops Invade Lebanon Israel has sent as many as 18,000 troops into Lebanon as part of a massive ground invasion. An Israeli military official told the Washington Post the number of troops could soon triple. Israel Bombs Hospital, Homes in Baalbek Strikes The ground assault comes as Israel continues to bomb areas around South Lebanon. A Lebanese official said Israel is carrying out an “unprecedented” air attack on the ancient city of Baalbek. The assault began late Tuesday -- three hours before the end of Israel’s announced two-day pause to the bombing. At least twelve civilians were killed in an Israeli air strike in a nearby village. Five family members were found dead in their collapsed home. Witnesses said Israel bombed Baalbek’s main hospital, which was already filled with wounded patients . The raid of Baalbek marked Israel’s deepest known incursion into Lebanon in twelve years, when Israeli forces abducted a Leba