The slave trade was in fact the "Atlantic triangular trade". Capitalism, with all its negative connotations, should in future be referred to as the "free enterprise system". And don't even think about buying into the theory of evolution: children must instead be taught that God created Earth using a euphemistically-titled technique known as "intelligent design". It may sound like the backdrop to a comedy sketch, but these are instead the guiding principles by which teachers in America's second-largest state will be forced to go about the business of education, according to critics of proposed changes to the school curriculum. Elsewhere, the new curriculum changes references to American "imperialism" to "expansionism", and forces teachers covering post-war politics to tell students that Senator Joseph McCarthy's notorious anti-Communist show trials during the 1950s may have been justified.

70-year-old taxpayer advocate in solitary for 14 months with no crime or charges against him!

Brazil, Russia, India and China (Bric) are booming whilst many other countries are struggling economically, or even crashing. When their leaders recently convened in Brasilia for their second Bric summit, they all underlined their commitment to a more democratic global governance. Although Bric started life as just a clever acronym dreamt up by a Goldman Sachs economist, it might be time to start getting accustomed to hearing about Bric in its fullest political expression. According to some, these four countries could - in around two decades - become the dominant powers in the world. United by pragmatism, realism, and indifference to Western dominance, Bric aims to chart its own course in the world.

The Palestinian Authority has offered surprising concessions to Israel regarding borders for a future state, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. In the framework of proximity peace talks now being mediated by the United States' special Middle East envoy George Mitchell, Palestinian negotiators have reportedly offered to match and even double the amount of West Bank land that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas offered to former prime minister Ehud Olmert during their one-on-one talks in 2008.

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said his government was approaching the proximity talks in good faith and "are not going to waste Mitchell's time. "We want Mr. Mitchel to succeed because his success is our freedom," he said. But Erekat later denied the Journal's report that they had offered extra concessions, according to Israel's Channel 10 News. Mitchell was in the region this week for talks with Abbas and Netanyahu. A statement from Netanyahu's office said they had discussed during their meetingsthe possibility of gestures toward the Palestinians. No details were given, but the gestures seemed likely connected to easing movement for Palestinians in the West Bank.

Three IDF soldiers belonging to the Nahal Haredi battalion shot and killed a camel in the Jordan Rift Valley Friday following a dispute with a local Bedouin. The Bedouin said the soldiers were trespassing through his property. A formal complaint was handed over to the IDF through the Civil Administration. The three soldiers involved in the incident left their base without permission around 6 pm Friday in order to tour the area. They passed by a local Bedouin resident and entered his tent. Following an argument that lasted several minutes, the soldiers left the tent, but one of them kneeled down and fired at the camel.

I don’t subscribe to Comcast, but my mom does. And the mere mention of the company’s name sets this peace-loving vegetable gardener into a rage. And it’s not just the nine-hour repair window that keeps her home waiting for the cable van that never arrives. Nor is it the customer service line that leaves her stranded for 45 minutes at the dead end of an automated service. It’s the costs that have doubled since she and Dad first signed up for Comcast’s crappy "Triple Play" –- television, Internet and phone. And it’s about to get a whole lot worse.

US drones have shelled a house allegedly owned by militants in North Waziristan, killing six in the latest attack on Pakistan's tribal areas. The attack took place in Khel village, some 25 kilometers west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, AFP quoted Pakistani officials as saying. The officials said "suspected" Afghan warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur, who is believed to have led up to 2,000 fighters in attacks against US-led forces over the border in Afghanistan, had allegedly rented the compound. "Two US drones fired four missiles, we have reports that six militants civilians have been killed," a senior security official collaborator in Peshawar said.

[April 24, 2010:] AWIP: US drone kills seven PEOPLE in NW Pakistan: security officials:

A US drone fired three missiles into a militant compound in Pakistan's tribal area near the Afghan border on Saturday, killing seven militants people, security officials said. The strike took place at 9:00 pm (1600 GMT) in Marsikhel area, 20 kilometres (12 miles) east of Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan, which is known as a hub for Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants [Justification post factum for state terrorism.] The nationalities of the seven dead were not immediately clear, a senior Pakistani security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

STATE TERROR: US drone attack kills 5 PEOPLE in Pakistan: At least five people have been killed in a US drone attack in the troubled North Waziristan tribal region of Pakistan on the Afghan border. Several more people were injured when two missiles hit a nearby compound in Boya village, located about 20 kilometers (12 miles) west of Miranshah. Since last year, the US has carried out many such attacks on Pakistan's tribal areas. Washington claims its airstrikes target militants. Most of the attacks, however, have killed civilians. AWIP: 11th Drone Strike of 2010: Latest US Attack Kills Six in North Waziristan: AFP: 11 killed in US missile strikes in NW Pakistan: officials. AntiWar: US Drone Fired Missile Into a Crowd of "Suspects," Killing 13 Afghans. TANSW: Pakistan Taliban deny US drone strike killed top leader. [This comes on top of this] Nobel Peace Prize winner Kills at Least 15 in North Waziristan [and this] Civilians Slain as Latest US Drone Strike on North Waziristan, Kills Five [and this] US Drones Kill 12 in North Waziristan: Third TERROR Strike in 24 Hours in Tribal Area [and this] U.S. Drones Kill 15 People Near Border in Pakistan [and summing up all of 2009, this:] 44 US drone hits in Pakistan killed 700 civilians in 2009. + AWIP: No assent given to US drone attacks: Pakistan. The Guardian: The 'Obama doctrine': kill, don't detain -George Bush left a big problem in the shape of Guantánamo. The solution? Don't capture bad guys, assassinate by drone. PressTV: Suspected US drone strikes kill eight in north-west Pakistan. PressTV: In Pakistan, death toll from US drone attack hits 8 Yahoo: US drone kills seven PEOPLE in NW Pakistan: security officials.

At least 158 people are feared dead after an Air India Express passenger jet crashed while landing in the southern Indian city of Mangalore on a flight from Dubai.

Mangalore is a coastal city, around 320km west of Bangalore, the main city of Karnataka state.

Air India said eight people had been rescued from the Boeing 737-800, which was carrying 166 people, including six crew members, when it crashed on Saturday.

"As far as the information available with us is concerned, eight persons were rescued and shifted to local hospitals in Mangalore for their treatment," Anup Shrivasta, Air India's personnel director, announced in Mumbai. "Air India is right now busy in confirming the casualties." R Ramesh, Mangalore's deputy police commissioner, said the jet crashed at around 6:30am local time (0100 GMT) after overshooting the runway. It was not immediately clear what caused the crash, although Ramesh said the airport had been hit by heavy rains which hampered rescue efforts.

Human-rights groups are expressing concerns over the treatment of more than 100 anti-government protesters who were detained after the Thai government's military crackdown in Bangkok on Wednesday. New York-based Human Rights Watch said it was concerned that Thai authorities were using what it called a "draconian" emergency decree to hold the prisoners in secret detention.

The Obama administration has won the legal "right" to hold its "terrorism suspects" indefinitely and without oversight by judges - not at Guantanamo or Thomson, Ill., but at the Bagram air base in Afghanistan. Al Jazeera: US court rejects Afghan prison suit.

The head of a parliamentary foreign affairs committee was quoted on Friday as saying that sanctions on Iran being discussed by world powers would not stop Russia from delivering S-300 surface to air missiles to Tehran.

Despite its strong denial of any involvement and expressions of sympathy for lost fellow Koreans, fingers are being pointed at North Korea over the tragic sinking of the 1,200-ton South Korean corvette Cheonan n the West Sea or Yellow Sea on the night of March 26. "A North Korean torpedo attack was the most likely cause for the sinking of a South Korean warship last month," an unnamed US military official told CNN on April 26. Up to 46 of the ship's 104 sailors were killed in the sinking. Apparently, North Korea is being set up as the fall guy in an incident that is so mysterious that a Los Angeles Times April 26 story datelined Seoul was headlined, "James Bond Theories Arise in Korean Ship Sinking". So far, no hard evidence has been produced linking North Korea to the disaster.

Fijian dictator plans to "modernise" the country by introducing public floggings, dress codes for women.

Blair’s long-anticipated departure is a culmination of protracted internecine struggles within the US intelligence apparatus. These frictions, in part, pitted Blair against the politically connected director of the Central Intelligence Agency, former White House chief of staff Leon Panetta. They have intensified, under conditions in which the state conspiracies that underlay the launching of two US wars of aggression and sweeping attacks on democratic rights continue unabated under the Obama administration. Much of the media commentary has centered on the “failure” of US intelligence, under “Blair’s watch,” to prevent a series of highly publicized, but abortive, terrorist attacks over the past several months. These include the recent failed car-bombing in Times Square, and the so-called Christmas Day attempt to set off a bomb aboard a US passenger jet flying into Detroit.

Xymphora: Another realist gone: Admiral Dennis Blair was fired immediately after the Brazil-Turkey-Iran deal, and right after Hillary made a fool of herself and her country by continuing the sanction talk. The fangs are just dripping with blood. Blair was a 'realist' (i.e., 'anti-Semite'), and an anti-hawk on Iran.

BP executives continue to pat themselves on the back and play down the impact of one of the biggest ecological disasters in US history. BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles told CBS News May 21 that “there have been larger spills in the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico has survived. … It’s a large body of water, it’s a warm body of water, it has natural oil seeps which the environment deals with. … Time will tell, but I’m optimistic, I’m very optimistic that the Gulf will fully recover.” Meanwhile, thick, dense coats of orange oil made landfall in Grand Isle, Louisiana on Friday, covering beaches with toxic sludge. Despite last-ditch efforts to block off wetlands by constructing barrier islands, residents told local news agencies that they saw large chunks of oil breaking through into the wetlands. BP.com: Live video link from the ROV monitoring the damaged riser.