By Ramzy Baroud

Yet more haunting images of blindfolded, stripped down Palestinian men being contemptuously dragged by soldiers in uniform from one place to another. Yet more footage of bloodied men lying on hospital beds describing their ordeals to television reporters who have heard this story all too often. Yet more news of Palestinian infighting, tit-for-tat arrests, obscene language and embarrassing behaviour from those who have elected themselves -- or were elected -- to represent the Palestinian people.

From Rogue to Fringe... that's the next step for Marcel Nunis' one act TALE END. It will be one of 48 shows featured at the 17th San Francisco Fringe Festival which runs September 3 – 14.

Pre-festival performances are slated for August 15 and 22 at the Full Circle Brewing Co., 620 F Street, Fresno, California and provides the opportunity for the Fresno audience to see the show with the current new cast before it travels to the fringe.

By Variety.com - Nick Holdsworth

Russian deputy foreign minister Grigory Karasin has accused Western media orgs of bias in their coverage of the Georgia fighting, but U.S. and U.K. TV execs are unfazed, saying that claims of bias are “bananas.”

Within Russia, TV and newspaper reports of the conflict have overshadowed coverage of the Olympics, with patriotic and emotional reportage on the conflict that Russia blames on the Georgians.

By Columbia Journalism Review - Julia Ioffe

At great personal peril, Russian bloggers report on the Georgian war

by Jim Miles

I – Introduction and Overview

This is one of the more difficult articles/reviews I have worked on. I have been well aware of Peak Oil for a while, but never did I gather so much information in one sitting that simply spelled out doom and gloom.

by Danny Schechter

Why Are We All Complicit In Our Own Economic Servitude?

Let me try a few words out on you: “Charge It,” “Swipe It” and “Priceless.” You know exactly what I am talking about. We all have credit and debit cards. We all use them, and many of us keep our lives going because of them.

That is, until the bill becomes due.

The sad truth is that we are all complicit in our own economic servitude, even if, at bottom, it’s not our fault because we live in a consumption society, and don’t feel we could live without them.

MEXICO CITY (Aug 8th) - The Chinese Mogul-ocracy's big production Beijing Olympics is a coming-out party for cutthroat capitalism. For many in Asia, the Beijing Olympics will confirm the triumph of the Virtuous East over the Evil West, Savage Capitalism over Savage Communism (or visa versa), and will be a feather in the cap of what used to be called "the developing world" of which the Chinese Peoples' Republic considers itself a charter member.

By Ramzy Baroud

Ahmed Moussa was a 12-year-old Palestinian boy from the West Bank village of Nilin, near Ramallah. Mohamed Bahloul is a 12-year-old Palestinian boy from Gaza City. The former was shot and killed 29 July by Israeli forces following a peaceful protest against the Israeli apartheid wall. The latter is awaiting death in a dilapidated hospital in Gaza.

Inter Press Service
By Ahmed Ali and Dahr Jamail*

BAQUBA, Aug 7 (IPS) - The crisis over electricity failure grows as summer temperatures climb and a drought plagues Iraq. It is a crisis Iran is using to help Iraqis where the U.S. has failed.

The average house in Baquba, capital of Diyala province north of Baghdad, has less than 12 hours of electricity a day. "I cannot exclude electricity from my thinking; when I think of making any plans, I have to factor the lack of electricity," says local shopkeeper Abdullah Salim.

by Ralph Nader

Two widening passenger service philosophies are contrasting themselves daily. One declares that it is necessary to charge airline travelers for just about everything but breathing and using the restrooms. Count nearly all the major airlines, including Jet Blue in this category.

The other approach is championed by Southwest Airlines, which avoids the added charges, penalties and unilateral charges in fine-print agreements with their customers.