Sniping at the elderly in Khoza’a
Eva Bartlett | In Gaza
For 2 months, Walid Abu Arjela and his family haven’t dared to return to their land in Am Almad of Khoza’a village, east of Khan Younis, in the lethal Israeli-imposed "buffer zone". The land in question, 550 m from the Green Line border, used to be productive agricultural land, as with most of the land now confiscated by the Israeli military occupation of Gaza and the imposition of a "no-go zone" on the Palestinian side of the Green Line. And as with the fertile land of the "buffer zone" from south to north, the land was heavily worked and produced vegetables, grains and fruits for much of the Gaza Strip’s residents and even, before the siege, for export. www.uruknet

An important documentary by the Academy Award-winning team Vivienne Verdon-Roe and Michael Porter. Their 1994 expose' tells the currently relevant story of the U.S. soldiers and sailors who were used as EXPERIMENTAL ANIMALS in America's quest for nuclear dominance...and were then denied health care. A major voice in the film - directed and edited by Porter, produced and narrated by Verdon-Roe - is former Navy seaman Anthony Guarisco, founder of the INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE OF ATOMIC VETERANS, BOX 32, TOPOCK, AZ 86436-0032 To contact the filmmakers: ViviVR@aol.com For updates on Anthony and his wife Mary, here are two recent articles by their son, journalist Vincent Guarisco.

A British resident held in US custody for seven years has accused US officials of torturing him and beating him dozens of times while he was held at a secret CIA prison and later at Guantanamo. The Ethiopian-born Binyam Mohamed returned to Britain on Monday after becoming the first prisoner to be released from Guantanamo since President Obama took office. We speak to Binyam Mohamed’s attorney, Clive Stafford Smith. democracynow.org

from: William Hughes On Feb. 19, 2009, a press conference was held, in Annapolis, MD, dealing with the legislative effort in Maryland to re-regulate the electric industry. Since 1999, when the industry was deregulated by the General Assembly, rates for the consumers have gone “up over 85 percent,” according to the Baltimore Sun. Pushing for the reregulation legislation are State Senators E.J. Pipkin and Jim Rosapepe, along with Delegates Michael Smigiel, Herman Taylor, Jill Carter, Patrick L. McDonough, and others. The Bills are SB795 and HB1312, and are both entitled: “Maryland Electricity Reregulation and Energy Independence Act of 2009.” This video contains excerpts from the press conference. For background, see: http://reregelectricrates.com/ The full press conference will be posted on Google later tonight.

from: William Hughes On Feb. 17, 2009, a press conference was held in Washington, D.C., at the National Press Club. It featured Harlyn Geronimo, the great grandson of the legendary Apache warrior--Geronimo. Harlyn, along with 19 other blood descendants of the “defender of the Apache homeland,” have today filed a lawsuit against the federal government. They seek to have Geronimo’s body, now buried at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, returned to the ancient burial grounds of the Apaches. They are also pursuing a claim that in 1918, a group of Yale students, who belonged to a secret cult, “The Skull and Bones,” reportedly, invaded Geronimo’s grave at Fort Sill, and “stole his skull.” According to the press release for the event, one Prescott [Sheldon] Bush, the grandfather of ex-President George W. Bush, was part of the clique participating in the alleged theft of the skull. Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark is representing the descendants of Geronimo in the lawsuit. The “Order of the Skull and Bones” and Yale U. are also named as defendants in the litigation. Geronimo died on Feb. 17, 1909, one hundred years ago. For background, check out: http://www.indigenouspeople.net/geronimo.htm and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRQb7zOeYWk and http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1990668846539090589

from: William Hughes On Feb. 17, 2009, a press conference was held in Washington, D.C., at the National Press Club. Descendants of Geronimo, the great Apache Warrior, have today filed a lawsuit against the federal government. They seek to have Geronimo’s body, now buried at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, returned to the ancient burial grounds of the Apaches. They are also pursuing a claim that in 1918, a group of Yale students, who belonged to a secret cult, “The Orderof the Skull and Bones,” reportedly, invaded Geronimo’s grave at Fort Sill, and “stole his skull.” According to the press release for the event, one Prescott [Sheldon] Bush, the grandfather of ex-President George W. Bush, was part of the clique participating in the alleged theft of the skull. The attorney for the Plaintiffs, Ramsey Clark, the former U.S. Attorney General, discussed that aspect of the case at the press conference. Check out: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1990668846539090589

A farming community in Gaza close to the Israeli border, now acres of rubble. Qassam missiles are fired from the fields here across the border. So when the Israelis came, everything was earmarked for destruction: houses, factories, mosques, even the cattle and the chickens killed. With the reopening of the schools, where much of its population shelters, there was no option for many but to return to ruined homes, some with Israeli land mines left inside. Now whole families live among the ruins... therealnews.com