Commentary A matter of duty Daily Camera by Julie Marshall

"As in past wars, some soldiers today are questioning their desire to take part in the fighting. The phones have been ringing at the GI Rights Hotline -- a network of nonprofits serving those who believe they have reason to be exempt from the military. The hotline received 3,582 calls in January about conscientious objector status, a monthly record, according to the Associated Press." (03/30/03)

http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/lifestyles/article/0,1713,BDC_2520_1847284,00.html

Commentary The monster of Baghdad is now the hero of Arabia Independent by Robert Fisk

"Yet there is one achievement we should note. The ghastly Saddam, the most revolting dictator in the Arab world, who does indeed use heinous torture and has indeed used gas, is now leading a country that is fighting the world's only superpower and that has done so for almost two weeks without surrendering. Yes, General Tommy Franks has accomplished one 'truly remarkable achievement'. He has turned the monster of Baghdad into the hero of the Arab world and allowed Iraqis to teach every opponent of America how to fight their enemy. " (04/01/03)

http://argument.independent.co.uk/commentators/story.jsp?story=392756

Commentary BushCo wants you stupified San Francisco Chronicle by Mark Morford

"The shock and awe is not for Iraq. It's for you. The shock of all those dusty violent videophone images, awe at how you are seeing a mere raw sliver of the real-time action, live, straight from on the front lines. Are you stupefied yet? Are you waving your flag? ShrubCo certainly hopes so. Because if not, you might actually see what's really happening." (03/28/03)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2003/03/28/notes032803.DTL

Commentary My empire for a map Counter Punch by Ben Tripp

"It has come to my attention that some Americans are concerned Iraq might bodily invade the United States unless all of Iraq s women and children are killed. This seems about as likely as the Anaheim Angels winning the World Championship, but stranger things have happened. Upon enquiry about this and other concerns said citizens of our Great Nation have waxed fretsome o er, I realize there is a common thread to these alarums (aside from bone stupidity): Americans don t know their geography. I am not an expert on the subject, although able to locate most of the continents as long they re clearly marked, but I may be able to help allay some of the fears which grip this nation as its armed forces hack their way through distant lands." (03/29/03)

http://www.counterpunch.com/tripp03292003.html


Commentary Avenging angels of western civilization Laissez Faire Times by Russell Madden

"The latest flock of Avenging Angels -- those individuals who focus exclusively on combat; who see no other course than war to solve their problems; who cavalierly forge ahead heedless of objections or facts or logic; who haughtily see our soldiers, our armies as tools for molding other people in their own images; who are unafraid to force others to support their adventures regardless of those citizens' own goals -- these disdainful Avenging Angels self-righteously clamber atop their marble pedestals. 'Great evil stalks the land! It is our obligation -- our duty -- to seek out and destroy the devils wherever they lurk!' The very existence of someone, somewhere who does not conform to what we want demands that we sally forth in all our might and resolve. " (04/02/03)

http://freedom.orlingrabbe.com/lfetimes/avenging_angel.htm

Commentary Lets count the lies on the road to war Village Voice by Sydney H. Schanberg

"A puzzled America watches now as the Bush imperial public-relations samurai try to behead the notion that they were the mongers who planted the vision of a quick and practically painless war. The recorded evidence doesn't help their case. Their cocky drumroll oratory has been with us for many months. Vice President Dick Cheney, for one, told America that Saddam Hussein's regime was 'a house of cards.' We could expect the war to last 'weeks rather than months,' Cheney said just two weeks ago.... The nation was told relentlessly that our technological superiority and complete command of the skies would demolish the dictator like a plaster of paris statue and send Iraqis into the streets by the thousands to hail their liberators." (04/02/03)

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0314/schanberg.php

=====

News Arab suicide bombers head for Baghdad Hindustan Times

"Arabs enraged by the US-led invasion of Iraq and the suffering inflicted on fellow Muslims are volunteering to help fight US and British troops and some even say they are ready to act as suicide bombers. Worried about their relations with Washington, some Arab countries appear to want to try to stop their citizens travelling to Iraq, but Baghdad said on Sunday more than 4,000 Arabs ready to "martyr" themselves had already arrived." (03/30/03)

http://hindustantimes.com/news/181_224196,001300180018.htm

News Three British soldiers sent home after protesting at civilian deaths Guardian

"Three British soldiers in Iraq have been ordered home after objecting to the conduct of the war. It is understood they have been sent home for protesting that the war is killing innocent civilians. ... The three soldiers, based in Colchester, Essex, face court martial and are seeking legal advice, defence sources said yesterday." (03/31/03)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,926135,00.html

News CIA abandons defection lure for Iraqi leaders Ananova

"The CIA has stopped trying to persuade Iraqi generals and political leaders to defect after underestimating their 'hatred' of America. A three-month campaign using telephone calls, e-mails and face-to-face appeals has failed to convince any [to] help overthrow Saddam Hussein. 'These guys are driven by a hatred of the US that we may have underestimated.'" (03/31/03)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_766180.html?menu=news.wariniraq

News False claims litter Iraq conflict Reuters UK

"Almost every day, Britain and the United States have rowed back from triumphal claims in Iraq after jumping the gun in the propaganda war. Scrambling for positive news in the battle against President Saddam Hussein, the two allies have announced a string of successes, only to back away from them later after realising they were inaccurate or even outright wrong. In the latest example, on Monday, British forces retracted a claim that they had captured an Iraqi general in clashes with paramilitaries in southern Iraq on Sunday, saying they had misidentified an Iraqi officer." (03/31/03)

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=249249

News Activists confirm Iraqi hospital bombed Truth Out/AP

"Bruised and bleeding, in need of medical care, the Americans stranded in Iraq's western desert approached the mud-brick town and found the hospital destroyed by bombs. 'Why? Why?' a doctor demanded of them. 'Why did you Americans bomb our children's hospital?' Scores of Iraqi townspeople crowded around. The American peace activists' account was the first confirmation of a
report last week that a hospital in Rutbah was bombed Wednesday, with dead and injured. The travelers said they saw no significant Iraqi military presence
near the hospital or elsewhere in Rutbah .... U.S. Central Command said Sunday it had no knowledge of a hospital bombing in Rutbah." (03/30/03)

http://truthout.org/docs_03/040203B.shtml

News Children killed and maimed in bomb attack on town Independent

"At least 11 civilians, nine of them children, were killed in Hilla in central Iraq yesterday, according to reporters in the town who said they appeared to be the victims of bombing ... Terrifying film of women and children later emerged after Reuters and the Associated Press were permitted by the Iraqi authorities to take their cameras into the town. Their pictures -- the first by Western news agencies from the Iraqi side of the battlefront -- showed babies cut in half and children with amputation wounds, apparently caused by American shellfire and cluster bombs." (04/02/03)

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=393127

The pioneers of a warless world are the youth that refuse military service." ~ Albert Einstein

Commentary A matter of duty Daily Camera by Julie Marshall

"As in past wars, some soldiers today are questioning their desire to take part in the fighting. The phones have been ringing at the GI Rights Hotline -- a network of nonprofits serving those who believe they have reason to be exempt from the military. The hotline received 3,582 calls in January about conscientious objector status, a monthly record, according to the Associated Press." (03/30/03)

http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/lifestyles/article/0,1713,BDC_2520_1847284,00.html

Commentary The monster of Baghdad is now the hero of Arabia Independent by Robert Fisk

"Yet there is one achievement we should note. The ghastly Saddam, the most revolting dictator in the Arab world, who does indeed use heinous torture and has indeed used gas, is now leading a country that is fighting the world's only superpower and that has done so for almost two weeks without surrendering. Yes, General Tommy Franks has accomplished one 'truly remarkable achievement'. He has turned the monster of Baghdad into the hero of the Arab world and allowed Iraqis to teach every opponent of America how to fight their enemy. " (04/01/03)

http://argument.independent.co.uk/commentators/story.jsp?story=392756

Commentary BushCo wants you stupified San Francisco Chronicle by Mark Morford

"The shock and awe is not for Iraq. It's for you. The shock of all those dusty violent videophone images, awe at how you are seeing a mere raw sliver of the real-time action, live, straight from on the front lines. Are you stupefied yet? Are you waving your flag? ShrubCo certainly hopes so. Because if not, you might actually see what's really happening." (03/28/03)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2003/03/28/notes032803.DTL

Commentary My empire for a map Counter Punch by Ben Tripp

"It has come to my attention that some Americans are concerned Iraq might bodily invade the United States unless all of Iraq’s women and children are killed. This seems about as likely as the Anaheim Angels winning the World Championship, but stranger things have happened. Upon enquiry about this and other concerns said citizens of our Great Nation have waxed fretsome o’er, I realize there is a common thread to these alarums (aside from bone stupidity): Americans don’t know their geography. I am not an expert on the subject, although able to locate most of the continents as long they’re clearly marked, but I may be able to help allay some of the fears which grip this nation as its armed forces hack their way through distant lands." (03/29/03)

http://www.counterpunch.com/tripp03292003.html

=====

News Arab suicide bombers head for Baghdad Hindustan Times

"Arabs enraged by the US-led invasion of Iraq and the suffering inflicted on fellow Muslims are volunteering to help fight US and British troops and some even say they are ready to act as suicide bombers. Worried about their relations with Washington, some Arab countries appear to want to try to stop their citizens travelling to Iraq, but Baghdad said on Sunday more than 4,000 Arabs ready to "martyr" themselves had already arrived." (03/30/03)

http://hindustantimes.com/news/181_224196,001300180018.htm

News Three British soldiers sent home after protesting at civilian deaths Guardian

"Three British soldiers in Iraq have been ordered home after objecting to the conduct of the war. It is understood they have been sent home for protesting that the war is killing innocent civilians. ... The three soldiers, based in Colchester, Essex, face court martial and are seeking legal advice, defence sources said yesterday." (03/31/03)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,926135,00.html

News CIA abandons defection lure for Iraqi leaders Ananova

"The CIA has stopped trying to persuade Iraqi generals and political leaders to defect after underestimating their 'hatred' of America. A three-month campaign using telephone calls, e-mails and face-to-face appeals has failed to convince any [to] help overthrow Saddam Hussein. 'These guys are driven by a hatred of the US that we may have underestimated.'" (03/31/03)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_766180.html?menu=news.wariniraq

News False claims litter Iraq conflict Reuters UK

"Almost every day, Britain and the United States have rowed back from triumphal claims in Iraq after jumping the gun in the propaganda war. Scrambling for positive news in the battle against President Saddam Hussein, the two allies have announced a string of successes, only to back away from them later after realising they were inaccurate or even outright wrong. In the latest example, on Monday, British forces retracted a claim that they had captured an Iraqi general in clashes with paramilitaries in southern Iraq on Sunday, saying they had misidentified an Iraqi officer." (03/31/03)


http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=249249

Commentary Daddy, who won the war? Strike the Root by Jeff Baxter

"America has already lost the war. We might 'conquer' territory, but this 'war' was lost before it began. Nothing about it constitutionally defines it as war. The concept of a 'just war' is lost completely when one considers the total mismatch in military strength. It is akin to the NFL Super Bowl Champions taking on the 8th Grade Pee Wee Football League team, and complaining that some of the 8th graders are pulling the leg hairs of the pros under the pile after each tackle.... The Iraqi people, not Saddam, are answering the American invasion of their property. We are choosing not to listen, and no matter the eventual political outcome ... We have already lost." (03/31/03)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/3/baxter/baxter3.html

Commentary Pity the pooor soldier Strike the Root by David Wiggins

""Pity the poor soldier, he needs your support. Killing and maiming are difficult sport. It is not enough that you tithe to his creed. It is not enough that your labor provides for his every need. Throw him a parade! Do it in red, white, and blue. Praise his exploits! Shout it out loud! Ease his insecurity. That’s what the soldier needs you to do." (03/31/03)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/3/wiggins/wiggins7.html

Commentary You are the enemy The Last Ditch by David T. Wright

"Such training, and the militarization of police equipment and dress, have, I believe, encouraged cops to look upon themselves as an elite, apart from and above the rabble. That is reinforced by the official folklore about how dangerous police work is, and how cops 'put their lives on the line' to protect us poor peasants. In fact, police work is far less hazardous than occupations such as mining, farming, and construction, along with many other mundane pursuits that aren't celebrated in nine TV dramas every night. The average cop is far more likely to die of a myocardial infarction brought on by excessive doughnut consumption than of being shot by criminals." (03/28/03)

http://www.thornwalker.com/ditch/wright_you_enemy.htm


Commentary President's activities kept secret Guardian by Duncan Campbell

"President George Bush has been accused of quietly extending secrecy restrictions while the country is preoccupied with Iraq. He has signed an executive order that will delay the release of millions of government documents and make it easier for presidents to keep secret the details of their activities when in power.... Mr Bush's new order postpones for three more years the declassification of documents which were due to become available to the public on April 17." (03/29/03)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,925008,00.html

Commentary Vietnamistan Laissez Faire Times by Michael Gilson De Lemos

"[A]s we launch into this next glorious war in Iraq, I have one question. What’s going on in the present one? You know, Afghanistan, the land we used to call 'Moscow’s Vietnam.' It’s not that the government tells questionable tales, from magical Bin-Laden tapes and miraculously preserved 9-11 attack passports to our 'anti-Taliban' forces one day blandly re-branded as 'rebel warlords' the next, like Lawrence of Arabias randomly turning into menacing Conan the Barbarians ... It’s the silence... Except for occasional e-mails from Libertarians in the region and people who just left, and stories in non-US papers that seem to conceal more than they reveal, for all I know the government is concealing that the entire US Army there has been kidnapped by Mars." (04/01/03)

http://freedom.orlingrabbe.com/lfetimes/vietnamistan.htm

Commentary Sometimes the good guys win The Libertarian Enterprise by Joe Bommarito

"Well, we got Trouble. Trouble right here in River City. Trouble. It starts with 'T' and that rhymes with 'C' and that stands for 'Code'... A sign ordinance is a fearsome thing. Usually unreadable and contradictory, it restricts and prohibits signs. It regulates the size and placement of signs, sign lighting, banners, flags, pennants, how long portable signs can be placed, setbacks from the street, on and on, ad infinitum. It often succeeds in regulating content." (03/31/03)

http://www.webleyweb.com/tle/libe217-20030331-03.html

Commentary Slaughter at the bridge of death Counter Punch by Mark Franchetti

"Amid the wreckage I counted 12 dead civilians, lying in the road or in nearby ditches. All had been trying to leave this southern town overnight, probably for fear of being killed by US helicopter attacks and heavy artillery. Their mistake had been to flee over a bridge that is crucial to the coalition's supply lines and to run into a group of shell-shocked young American marines with orders to shoot anything that moved." (03/31/03)

http://www.counterpunch.org/franchetti03312003.html

=================
News Marines running out of food Mirror

"According to some reports, a few units are issuing Marines only two Meals Ready to Eat every 36 hours -- compared to the usual three per day. At least one helicopter transport headed to An Nasiriyah to deliver supplies and fetch wounded had to turn back because of Iraqi ground fire. An embedded reporter with the Rocky Mountain News said that Brigadier General Charles Fletcher of the 3rd Infantry Division reported up the chain of command that: 'The division is out of rations.'" (03/28/03)

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/24by7panews/page.cfm?objectid=12783735&method=full&siteid=50143

News German GP bans 'Allied' patients Ananova

"A German doctor is protesting against the war by banning British and American patients. Lawyers in Schleswig Holstein are now checking whether Dr Eberhard Hoffmann's ban is legal. Dr Hoffmann defended his decision and told German media: 'I don't care what they do to me, I refuse to admit British or American citizens into my practice. They are banned like all proponents of war.'" (03/31/03)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_766049.html?menu=news.quirkies

News Health worker pushes to legalize syringe sales MAPINC/News-Gazette

"As director of prevention for HIV, sexually transmitted diseases and tuberculosis for the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, Julie Pryde meets intravenous drug users who share needles or have reused the same needle for years and years, sharpening it on matchbooks and even the sidewalk.Pryde visited Springfield Wednesday as part of AIDS advocacy day to ask lawmakers to pass a bill allowing people to purchase clean syringes at pharmacies without a prescription. Illinois is one of only five states that requires a prescription to purchase syringes. " (03/28/03)

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n473/a12.html?397

News Armed robbery suspect shot, killed Channel 6 News

"[T]wo men were getting into their car after leaving a club when the suspect approached them and demanded money. Police said one of the men got a gun from the car and shot the robbery suspect, killing him." (03/31/03)

http://www.theneworleanschannel.com/news/2075383/detail.html

News Pilots' group blasts overnight demolition of runway Chicago Tribune

"Saying he acted out of concern for public safety and desire to spare citizens 'months and maybe years' of contentious debate, Mayor Richard Daley today defended his decision to close Meigs Field and have its runway torn up in the dark of night.'We have done this to protect the millions of people who live, work and visit downtown Chicago in these very uncertain times,' Daley said at a City Hall news conference after construction equipment early this morning put Meigs out of commission." (03/31/03)

http://www.chicagotribune.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=chi%2D030331meigs§ion=/printstory

News Aussie anti-war protesters to defy police march ban Sydney Morning Herald

"Student anti-war protesters will defy police by holding an illegal rally tomorrow in Sydney. The organisers behind last week's violent protest today said they were committed to holding a peaceful anti-war rally. Books Not Bombs (BNB) spokeswoman Kylie Moon said the coalition would not accept NSW Police's refusal to grant a march permit. 'They threaten our right to speak out against the war. But we will not be silenced,' Ms Moon said ... NSW Premier Bob Carr today urged parents to 'take charge of their own youngsters' and stop them attending the rally." (04/01/03)

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/01/1048962741364.html

Comentary Beyond slaughter: memories of '45 LA Times by
Jorg Friedrich

"This was more than 'shock and awe': This was the final
months of the relentless, five-year Allied bombing
campaign that took civilian deaths to their apex --
bombing, burning, incinerating the cities of Germany
in a round-the-clock effort to destroy morale, foment
insurrection and weaken the industrial heart and soul
of Adolf Hitler's war machine.... worst of all, the bombing was an unmitigated failure. It simply didn't work. It weakened Hitler but didn't lead to his overthrow. It didn't destroy morale or incite rebellion; 75,000 children killed and it didn't do anything except, perhaps, strengthen the resolve of the German people against the Allies." (03/28/03)

http://www.latimes.com/la-war-oefriedrich28mar28,0,2341925.story

Commentary Blood and bandages for the innocent Independent by Robert Fisk

"The piece of metal is only a foot high, but the numbers on it hold the clue to the latest atrocity in Baghdad.
At least 62 civilians had died by yesterday afternoon, and the coding on that hunk of metal contains the identity of the culprit. The Americans and British were doing their best yesterday to suggest that an Iraqi anti-aircraft missile destroyed those dozens of lives, adding that they were 'still investigating' the carnage. But the coding is in Western style, not in Arabic. And many of the survivors heard the plane." (03/30/03)

http://argument.independent.co.uk/commentators/story.jsp?story=392161


Commentary How anti-war protest movements have made the U.S. stronger MSN Slate by David Greenberg

"Since the bombs began falling last week, critics of the invasion ... have drawn brickbats for not stifling their sentiments. War has begun, it was said, so dissent must end ... If dissenters were to follow this advice, it would be not only a mistake, but a historic first. Protesting war isn't some Vietnam-era relic, like love beads or Country Joe McDonald, but an American democratic tradition." (03/26/03)

http://slate.msn.com/id/2080735/

Commentary The Emperor has no clothes The Libertarian Enterprise by William Stone III

"As I listen to the Republican whores on talk radio, it's becoming more frequent to hear them opine about what parts of the Constitution may be ignored, or to insist that the Constitution doesn't really mean what it says. I find this particularly amusing, because only a few short years ago, they made a pretense of being Constitutionalists in favor of limited government. When they whine about the Unconstitutionality of campaign finance reform in one breath and then declare that it's perfectly Constitutional to lock up American citizens as 'enemy combatants' in the next, I tend to burst out laughing." (03/31/03)

http://www.webleyweb.com/tle/libe217-20030331-05.html

Commentary Me liberate world Mo Paul website

Cartoon by Mo Paul.

http://www.mopaul.com/images/meliberate.gif

Commentary Judge banned book he never read Las Vegas Review Journal by Vin Suprinowicz

"Tax author, radio host and IRS gadfly Irwin Schiff argues ... that paying income taxes on domestic wages is voluntary for most Americans.... Whether you agree with him or not, in a free country like ours, surely Schiff is free to shout what he believes from the rooftops ... right? Apparently not.In federal court in Las Vegas on March 19, U.S. District Senior Judge Lloyd George ordered Schiff to stop giving lectures, and to stop selling his latest book." (03/30/03)

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2003/Mar-30-Sun-2003/opinion/20961508.html

Commentary Blood on the tracks Counter Punch by Chris Floyd

"Before the first cruise missile crushed the first skull of the first child killed in the first installment of George W. Bush's crusade for world dominion, the unelected plutocrats occupying the White House were already plying their corporate cronies with fat contracts to 'repair' the murderous devastation they were about to unleash on Iraq.... It should come as no surprise that one of the leading beneficiaries of this hugger-mugger largess is our old friend, Halliburton Corporation, the military-energy servicing conglomerate. Halliburton, headed by Vice Profiteer Dick Cheney until the Bushist coup d'etat in 2000, is already reaping billions from the Bush wars." (03/29/03)

http://www.counterpunch.org/floyd03292003.html
===
News Insects thrive on GM 'pest-killing' crops Independent

"Genetically modified crops specially engineered to kill pests in fact nourish them, startling new research has revealed. The research -- which has taken even the most ardent opponents of GM crops by surprise -- radically undermines one of the key benefits claimed for them. And it suggests that they may be an even greater threat to organic farming than has been envisaged." (03/30/03)

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/environment/story.jsp?story=392044

News Eldery Briton changes name to to protest against US-led war Ananova

"A Briton called Eric Bush has changed his name in a radical move to protest against the US-led war in Iraq.
The 72-year-old, who lives in Jonquieres, southern France, says he is ashamed to bear the same name as the US president. He says he has had it officially changed to Eric Buisson -- the French word for bush. "People tell me that this will pass, but I don't agree, because this name will go down in history as that of a tyrant,' he said." (03/30/03)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_765547.html

News Cuba's crackdown amid war likely to escape punishment Miami Herald

"Despite worldwide condemnation of Cuba's recent crackdown on dissidents, Fidel Castro's government once again appears likely to escape any damaging consequences. The manner in which the Cuban government has orchestrated the moves designed to silence human rights activists, the analysts say, displays the various techniques and tactics Castro has used over the years .... These include well-calculated timing -- in this case, amid a major world crisis that distracted international attention; knowing where to draw the line, such as avoiding the arrest of Cuba's best-known dissident, Oswaldo Payá; and taking actions that can later be reversed, to portray the government as lenient." (03/28/03)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/5500102.htm

News Minors carrying firearms face gun purchasing restrictions NBC 4 News

"Several [Los Angeles] officials backed legislation Friday that states juveniles convicted of possessing or carrying a firearm would be banned from legally purchasing a gun until they turn 30.... Existing law bars juveniles convicted of violent crimes like murder or kidnapping from legally purchasing a gun until they turn 30. Frommer's legislation would extend that to include juveniles convicted of possessing or carrying a loaded weapon." (03/28/03)

http://www.nbc4.tv/news/2072381/detail.html

News Woman pulls gun against would-be bandit Macomb Daily

"The Warren woman told police she braked for a stop sign on Lorraine Boulevard at Dodge Avenue, when the man opened the driver's door of her 1991 Oldsmobile Cutlass. With his hand in his right pocket, he pressed an object to her jaw that she believed was a gun. Determined not to become a robbery statistic, the woman reached with her other hand to the passenger seat for her 9 mm handgun, grabbed the pistol and pointed it at his face. 'If you're going to shoot me then do it, 'cause I'm definitely going to kill you,' the brave resident replied ... The surprised assailant ran without getting a cent." (03/28/03)

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=7526209&BRD=988&PAG=461&dept_id=141265&rfi=6

News Belgium to legalize cannabis MAPINC/Guardian

"The Belgian parliament has voted to legalise the personal use of cannabis, within certain guidelines, for anyone over the age of 18. The move, which has been the subject of fierce debate in Belgium for the last two years, will allow users to smoke small quantities of the drug in private, provided they do not disturb public order." (03/29/03)

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n468/a09.html?397