"As through this world I've wandered I've seen lots of funny men, Some will rob you with a six gun and some with a fountain pen."  -- Woody Guthrie

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"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor." -  Mark Twain

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"I pledge that if any U.S. troops, contractors, or mercenaries remain in Afghanistan on Thursday, October 6, 2011, as that occupation goes into its 11th year, I will commit to being in Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C.,

with others on that day or the days immediately following, for as long as I can, with the intention of making it our Tahrir Square, Cairo, our Madison, Wisconsin, where we will NONVIOLENTLY resist the corporate

machine by occupying Freedom Plaza until our resources are invested in human needs and environmental protection instead of war and exploitation. We can do this together. We will be the beginning."
http://october2011.org/welcome

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It is Iranian influence, not the killing of civilians, that Saudi Arabia is concerned about as it recalls its ambassador in Syria.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28782.htm

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Two crucial factors suggest Islam is in a stronger position now than it was even sixty years ago, to emerge as the victor in this debate .
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28788.htm

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Many of Israel's "far-right Zionists" quickly recognized their alliance with Anders Behring Breivik in exact proportion to their feeling that Norway was an ally of the Palestinians.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28785.htm

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Many of those preaching at American church services Sunday extolled as "heroes" the 30 American and 8 Afghan troops killed Saturday west of Kabul.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28783.htm

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What do we do in the face of a government corrupt to the core, a government that professes to be Of the People, by the People and for the People.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28784.htm

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The problem is that the monetary union, unlike the EU itself, is an unambiguously right-wing project.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28786.htm

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The labor movement must demand a massive, federal public works program, at the expense of the wealthy and corporations.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28787.htm

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A Ramadan military offensive to crush Syria's popular uprising escalated further yesterday when security forces backed by tanks killed more than 50 people in the desert city of Deir Ezzor and in villages close to Homs.
http://bit.ly/ra6I7i

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Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain recall ambassadors from Damascus, as President Assad replaces his defence minister.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/08/20118813047112130.html

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Inter­pret­ing the King's words, it is now offi­cial that Saudi Ara­bia joined action with Turkey to take a posi­tion from Syria, that will pro­vide an Arab cover for any action decided by the Secu­rity Coun­cil in a later stage
http://bit.ly/pg8lxP

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Jawad Fairouz and Matar Matar were among the prisoners that gained freedom on Sunday. They told British media that they were beaten up several times during more than two months in custody.
http://www.presstv.com/detail/192882.html

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Officers kill a man who opened fire at a checkpoint near interior minister's palace in Jeddah.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/08/20118641330399788.html

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At least three Libyan opposition fighters have been killed in clashes near the northern town of Zlitan, just 160km from Tripoli, the capital, as government troops fought rebel forces for control of the town.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/08/201187133915428.html

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The NTC has come under heavy fire for its role in events leading up to Yunis's death, as well as its handling of the aftermath.
http://f24.my/pdxnjy

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 The shifting battle lines of the anti-Gaddafi struggle have seen old Libyan Islamist fighters regroup and reconfigure their agendas to join the rebel ranks of the current uprising. But who controls yesterday's foes
http://f24.my/opxAPL

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They told Asharq al-Awsat that Saleh had been greatly influenced by the spectacle of toppled Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, who faced charges from within a black cage in a Cairo court last week.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/08/us-yemen-president-usa-idUSTRE7771V120110808

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NATO-led troops killed the village imam, who was also a schoolteacher, along with another local. Five other residents were taken away by the troops, Naeem added.
http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2011/08/08/civilian-deaths-spark-protest-against-isaf

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Local officials say eight civilians including women and children were killed in a NATO strike in the southern province of Helmand on Saturday.
http://www.presstv.com/detail/192833.html

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Another US helicopter got into trouble on Sunday, and had to make a hard landing in the eastern Paktia province, though no one aboard was hurt. It may have been forced down by Taliban fire.
http://bit.ly/n9ps2I

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"That night the Americans wanted to attack our mujahideen, and we targeted the helicopter with a weapon that is similar to an RPG [rocket-propelled grenade]," Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said. "And we are trying to get more of this weapon."
http://bit.ly/qXCZnY

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"The Taliban knew which route the helicopter would take," he added.
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110808/wl_asia_afp/afghanistanunrestustrap

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The Royal Military Police's Special Investigation Branch (SIB) has started an inquiry into allegations that he kept them as "macabre souvenirs" during the regiment's last tour of Helmand Province between September 2010 and April.
http://tgr.ph/nvCtwB

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Unknown gunmen in Pakistan's north-western region torched 16 tankers carrying fuel supplies for NATO occupation force troops in Afghanistan, local security officials said on Sunday, DPA reported.
http://en.trend.az/regions/world/ocountries/1915198.html

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 Iraq's Sadr: Iraq's fiercely anti-U.S. occupation cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has warned that U.S. military trainers will be targets if they stay in the country beyond a year-end deadline for American troops to leave.
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110807/wl_nm/us_iraq_sadr

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"Widespread poverty, economic stagnation, lack of opportunities, environmental degradation and an absence of basic services constitute 'silent' human rights violations that affect large sectors of the population," it said.
http://yhoo.it/nUPuKQ

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Video Report
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5dsNvcNY7Q&feature=player_embedded

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Ali Mohamed Rage, an al-Shabab spokesman, told a local radio station that the withdrawal was aimed to enable a counter-attack, saying there would be no pull out from other regions of southern Somalia.
http://english.aljazeera.net/video/africa/2011/08/20118655455968226.html

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Mexican Lawyer Who Was Trusted Associate of "Chapo" Guzman Allegedly Paid Off Corrupt Mexican Officials, All Under the Watch of US Agencies
http://bit.ly/roOCli

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Clashes broke out between police and crowds angry at the shooting dead of a local resident by officers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS4Jid1jEzM

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In the video, demonstrators can be heard shouting at police to leave the girl alone and accusing them of attacking her.
http://bit.ly/nSuCzs

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Video shot of riots in Enfield on Sunday evening shows a line of riot police mounting a baton charge against a mob of rioters throwing rocks.
http://bit.ly/roLpib

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Fresh violence has broken out on the streets of London this afternoon between police and youths in Hackney.
http://bit.ly/r6XWYE

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Anger at high unemployment and cuts in public services, coupled with resentment of the police, contributed to an explosion of violence and looting in a deprived London neighborhood, residents said Sunday.
http://reut.rs/qsykxi

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It was the kind of day when the only way to be happy was to sit in a dark room on top of a pile of gold. Virtually no other assets were safe
http://bit.ly/n7kNOL

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43,000 telecommunication workers in the Northeast of the United States went on strike Sunday morning against massive concessions demanded by Verizon including cuts to pensions, wages and health care and the ending of all job security provisions.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/aug2011/veri-a08.shtml

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"If you add up all the promises that have been made for spending obligations, including defense expenditures, and you subtract all the taxes that we expect to collect, the difference is $211 trillion. That's the fiscal gap," he says. "That's our true indebtedness."
http://n.pr/q6wBM1

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Ratings agency Moody's Investors Service on Monday warned it might also downgrade the U.S. government's credit rating if its planned measures to reduce its budget deficit turned out to be not "credible" after all.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/08/us-usa-ratings-moodys-idUSTRE77713K20110808

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S&P's Rampage Continues:

Berkshire Hathaway's Outlook Cut To Negative From Stable
http://www.businessinsider.com/sp-puts-berkshires-outlook-on-negative-2011-8

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S&P cuts Israeli bonds guaranteed by U.S. to 'AA+':

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services on Monday lowered the ratings on U.S.-guaranteed bonds issued by the Israeli government to AA+ from AAA.
http://bit.ly/pjznpg

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Holocaust survivors living in the United States would receive federal funds designed to help them age at home, rather than having to move to an institution, according to a new bill drafted by the Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and her Republican counterpart Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
http://bit.ly/mWgIyl

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Insurgents shot down a U.S. military helicopter during fighting in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 30 Americans, most of them belonging to the same elite unit as the Navy SEALs who killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, U.S. officials said
http://detnews.com/article/20110806/NATION/108060369/1020/rss09

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None of the 22 SEAL personnel killed in the crash were part of the team that killed bin Laden in a May raid in Pakistan, but they belonged to the same unit. Their deployment in the raid in which the helicopter crashed would suggest that the target was a high-ranking insurgent figure.
http://bit.ly/qm8gFE

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Four soldiers with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were killed on Sunday in two separate insurgent attacks in eastern and southern Afghanistan, NATO reported.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20110807/165611989.html

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 For the second time in a week, a joint Iraqi-American raid aiming at insurgents resulted in the killing of civilians.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/world/middleeast/07iraq.html?_r=1

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Charles Graner Jr set free after serving six and a half years of a 10-year sentence.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2011/08/201186171858410424.html

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Certain years have gone down in history as great global turning points, after which nothing was remotely the same: 1914, 1929, 1939, 1989. Now it looks horribly plausible that 2011 will join their number.
http://tgr.ph/psbLzh

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Video -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgNLTb58K_Y&feature=player_embedded

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An adviser to the central bank of China, the largest U.S. creditor, said the downgrade would damage the U.S. dollar in currency markets
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904007304576493940024485346.html

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Saudi Arabia's stock market dropped 5.46pc on Saturday as it became the first exchange to react to the historic US credit downgrade.
http://tgr.ph/pZey5N

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Losses come as international markets are left reeling by Standard & Poor's downgrade of U.S. credit rating for first time in history.
http://bit.ly/p5W4lO

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Israel's finance minister says the government will take swift action to reduce the soaring cost of living, looking to ease tensions a day after 300,000 people demonstrated across the country.
http://bit.ly/pgFhEu

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Tom Feeley