IsraeliGirl

Israel supreme court bans private prisons

In a landmark decision, Israel's supreme court has thrown out a law allowing privately-run prisons, arguing that running jails for profit would be a "grave" violation of inmates' human rights.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091120/wl_mideast_afp/israellawprison_20091120093648

Postcard from the new Israel

Tel Aviv is dotted with skyscrapers, Haifa is crowned with huge five-star hotels, the Jerusalem hills are plastered with housing developments, many of them political hot potatoes. Eilat looks and feels like a mini-Las Vegas on the Red Sea. Thanks to the 1994 peace treaty with Jordan, the ancient city of Petra is accessible. Mesmerized by the land, you can almost forget about 'the situation'.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09326/1015123-149.stm

The real reason Iran can't be trusted

Should the West trust Iranian promises? The short answer is "no." But the underlying question is "Why not?"

 

An interesting analysis on the concept of the doctrine of taqiyya, the Shiite religious rationale for concealment or dissimulation in political or worldly affairs. At one level it means that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his regime can tell themselves that they are obliged by their faith not to tell the truth.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20091120/cm_csm/yfandyweb_1