The almost 120 Cardinals from around the world that gathered to choose a successor in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel were stunned and expressed amazement.

Cardinal Mohoney, the Vatican spokesperson had this to say: "We in the conclave are all shocked. We cast our votes using these new electronic voting machines. The results overwhelmingly favoured George W. Bush over all the Catholic candidates. The last Pope, John Paul, was a superb linguist, fluently speaking 11 languages: this one can't speak fluently in one language. We just don't know what to say."

"If they do it, it's terrorism, if we do it, it's fighting for freedom."

Anthony Quainton, U.S. Ambassador to Nicaragua, 1984

An eloquent & savage indictment of the world’s continuing obscene silence in the face of imperialistic barbarism by “the land of enchantment

“The essence of oligarchical rule is not father-to-son inheritance, but the persistence of a certain world-view and a certain way of life ... A ruling group is a ruling group so long as it can nominate its successors... Who wields power is not important, provided that the hierarchical structure remains always the same."

George Orwell, 1984

Conning Condoleezza Rice fronted the release of the US Department of State’s annual report on the rest of the world’s efforts on the human rights front last week…

"The tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy."

Baron De Montesquieu

In the wake of Abu Ghraib, fresh revelations of torture, murder & abuse continue to mount against the US.