As we all know Osam bin Ladin has a new video out and all the kewl kids are talking about it.

I'll leave others to discuss the content of what he said and talk about the other thing everybody has noticed.

Did Nick Arojo get a hold of him and tell him to lose the old grey beard look?  That look ain't happening with the young folks.

Is he in a power struggle with younger members of al Qaeda?

I decided to look a little closer and see what Muslims say about trimming and dying a beard.
And what I learned is kinda interesting.  Join me after the fold.

The Next Agenda is a Kos style blog that focuses on Canadian progressive politics. We have some excellent writers and great diaries. And best of all, they don't scroll away madly!

We have been nominated in the Canadian Blog Awards.  The Awards help highlight some of the excellent blogs that are available which provide a Canadian slant on politics and other interests.

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Timetable
Round 1 Voting Closes: Tuesday November 21, 2006
Round 1 Results: Thursday November 23, 2006
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The Next Agenda is a Kos style blog that focuses on Canadian progressive politics.  We have some excellent writers and great diaries.  And best of all, they don't scroll away madly!

I've looked for another diary live blogging this but couldn't see one.

I'll delete if there is one.

Bill calls the "whacko far left" "SPs" for secular progressives.

It's all of America against the SPs.  According to him you have to choose.

If there is any question likely to start a pie fight on this site it is probably this one.

Who is responsible for 911?

Those of us who consider ourselves "reality based", logical, informed or even Republican would promptly answer "Osama bin Laden".  He's the evil mastermind responsible for 911.

Some of us might parse this statement with observations on how countries will reap what they sow and thus America bears some responsibility for the attacks upon its soil.

Others among us may point to the anomalous behavior of persons in/of power on 911 and scratch their heads or offer one of many of what are known as conspiracy theories.

If you're ABC or Disney you'll say "Clinton", of course. ;o)

But I heard something today that gave me a really creepy feeling, the kind you would get when Rod Serling said "You have just entered the twilight zone."

That's the question that Tony Snow just threw out as the "defining question" of the CT Senate race.

Obviously, in his view, Lieberman does.  And that's good thing to him, because the Republicans have bet the farm on the war on terror.

"The war on terror is vital.  Not only are the stakes high.  But the rewards are high."

He just said that.  I think it is true, but not in the way he means. <cough>Halliburton</cough>

But do the Republicans really believe it?

I don't think they do.

On Friday, Israel declared its attack on the UN outpost in which four observers, including 1 Canadian died, was "deliberate but accidental".

Meaning, the coordinates for the post were entered accidentally by some grunt at the bottom and then passed up the chain of command without being noticed until after the order to fire.

So while ten phonecalls screamed "Stop bombing us!" the IDF never connected the complaints with anything they were actually doing.

In a National Post article on Friday, Israel's government declared that enough time had passed for all "innocent" civilians to leave the southern regions.

By their reckoning only Hezbollah fighters and their supporters were left.  In other words, one can only conclude they felt anyone left was fair game.

This is a story that will make very few waves.

Chances are no one will hear of it in the US who doesn't read this diary.  And if they don't catch the news tonight in Canada, they probably won't hear about it either.

But I heard about it and I am pissed.  

The headline of the story in the Globe and Mail which caught my eye said
"Vancouver humanitarian killed in Afghanistan".

They're talking about Mike Frastacky, 56, a boatbuilder and carpenter and avid trekker.

But he wasn't just killed, he was murdered.  Three shots to the head.

Rumour is there is a bounty on Western heads of $10,000.  Can you imagine the tempation that sort of money would pose in Afghanistan, if this is true?

So why was he there?

+++

Americans like to think they lead the world, first in everything, the biggest and the best.  The trouble is they just don't know that others may have actually blazed a trail before them.

Thus, as a public service I'd like to introduce the Kos community to the woman Ann Coulter only wishes she could be.

Barbara Amiel.

This is the woman who brewed a potent concoction of batshit craziness and round heeled exhibitionism, that the neo con crowd she plays to don't know if they are coming or going, but they have their little blue pills ready in case -- you know -- it's not going, into a life that included "wealth beyond avarice".  Not that that stopped her from a display of such conspicuous consumption as to beggar the imagination.

Omar Khadr may be losing it.

In a news report from Globe and Mail Omar's letter to his mother said that he had decided to put his trust in God for his defence.

He asked his mother "not to be mad" at him for doing it.

A U.S. marine appointed to represent Mr. Khadr said he was surprised by the letter's contents.

"I'm really worried for the guy, sincerely," Lieutenant-Colonel Colby Vokey said in an interview yesterday. He said the document indicates that Mr. Khadr is in a questionable mental state after being denied basic rights for so long.

"The government has done its best to thwart our efforts to a full, fair hearing," Col. Vokey said. He noted that the military has seized the young man's legal files, denied him telephone calls and recently sent him back to solitary confinement. "Why would he trust any of this when the Americans are doing all this to him?"

Christie Blatchford had an article in the Globe & Mail the other day (July 4), about the state of affiars in Afghanistan.

She interviewed Canada's former Ambassador to the country, Chris Alexander.  He's now the deputy special representative (political) for Kofi Annan.

Alexander is extremely concerned about the situation and the rise in violence and frequency of attacks.

The major problem, according to Alexander, is that the Taliban was not defeated back in 2001.  They were allowed the chance to regroup in Pakistan and now are able to launch attacks into the Afghanistan and then retreat to safety.  And it is getting worse, the current rate of casualties is 3 times what it was last year.

Recently a team from the CBC was allowed inside the the infamous Guantanamo Bay Detention Center in Cuba.

Journalist Rosa Hwang wrote about it July 4th.

She notes the dichotomy between the beauty of the surroundings, a boon to any vacation spot coupled with oppressive heat and bugs.

The reporters were constantly shadowed members of the military.  Uncomfortable questions were brushed off with "security concerns".

More on the flip

As you may know, I was in England the last week of June.  As I wandered around the neighbourhood around the British Museum, I came across a charicature in a shop window.  I immediately thought about how I could share this with my fellow bloggers.

It shows Thomas Paine, one of the heroes of the American Revolution.  He is someone who has inspired many Americans, as well as many bloggers.  Here is one of my favourite quotes of his:

"He who would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression.
For if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself."

It's kind of a more muscular version of the Golden Rule.

The story is about an investigation by Swiss MP Dick Marty, for the Council of Europe, about European countries involved in aiding the US in rendition flights.

More on the flip

I thought I would pass along a few tidbits about Preston, for your edification.

He comes from a political background.  His father Ernest was the second Social Credit Premier of Alberta.  He was an evangelical preacher who replaced the founder "Bible Bill" Aberhart in 1943.  He was premier until 1968.  Since Preston was born in 1942, this means he grew up with his Dad running a province.

Before passing it on I checked it out at Snopes which says

Ergo, for once there's a "Send this to everyone you know!" missive afoot that really does contain highly useful and important information.

Given the costs of health care it seems to me that any way to reduce those costs is a good thing.

The topic of the email sent to me said preventing a stroke but it doesn't help prevent them one bit.  What is does do is offer 3 simple tests you can do that will help you recognize if a person had had a stroke.

Feel free to send this to your own list.  The email is on the flip.

Her father is the head of Magna International, a multi billion dollar business.  And he is I believe a Liberal too.

Join me on the flip to see what I just heard on the evening news about what he is doing.

She wants an honest answer to a simple question: What is the noble cause that her son died for?

I've seen discussions here about the pros and cons of who should go to Crawford to stand with her.  Some, who really should or would like to go, can't.  And others who go run the risk of muddying the very concise message that she bears.

So I've been thinking about this.

Join me on the flip if you will, to hear more.