How : Illinois politics and World Cup soccer

Okay, there’s really no connection.


Other than a couple of stories turning up at the same time that have a glancing crossover. Like the one about how controversial the newly designed soccer ball is, because it performs so weirdly.

It is believed to have an unpredictable swerving movement which makes its hard for goalkeepers and strikers to anticipate its direction in flight.

They may have a hard time tracking the movement and behavior of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich along with a slew of politicians once that trial gets underway.

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s federal corruption trial will feature prosecutors feeding voters a steady reminder of the worst elements of Illinois’ political culture — allegations that money, insider influence and personal interest drive public policy in this state.

And it has kicked off now, with jury selection in play.

18. If you’re on this jury, you will probably miss a lot of World Cup games, including USA vs. England. Can you stand it?

Some hot summer days ahead. Unpredictable, too.

@www.mercatornet.com

Diplomats seek Israeli approval for Gaza aid vessel

Jerusalem (ANTARA News/AKI) - European diplomats have been engaged in talks with senior Israeli foreign ministry officials to allow an Irish-owned humanitarian aid vessel to deliver supplies to the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli daily Haaretz.

The Rachel Corrie was to have been part of the flotilla that was stopped by Israeli naval forces early Monday but was delayed due to technical problems.

The Israeli foreign ministry for the past few days has been exchanging messages with the group operating the ship to allow it to dock, according to the report. It is expected to arrive this weekend.

Ireland has also asked Israel to allow the Irish-owned ship to break the Gaza blockade.

The Rachel Corrie, named for the American pro-Palestinian activist who was run over by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza in 2003, left Malta on Monday with about a dozen activists aboard and 1,000 tonnes of aid.

Its cargo includes cement, medical equipment, toys and printing paper.
"We don`t want to be heroes or martyrs, but we have to keep going ahead,? activist Jenny Graham told the Irish daily, The Belfast Telegraph.

The Rachel Corrie`s trip to Gaza is sponsored by two non-governmental organisations, from Ireland and Malaysia.

On board is Irish Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire and former United Nations deputy secretary-general Denis Halliday. Also on board are a group of Malaysians sponsored by the former prime minister of Malaysia.

Nine activists were killed when Israeli naval commandos boarded six vessels in a humanitarian aid convoy on Monday.
(U.A051/S008/P003)

Israelis Kill at least 10, Injure Dozens in Assault on Gaza Ship Convoy Carrying Humanitarian Aid

Action Alert: Israeli military attacks Gaza Freedom Flotilla, deaths confirmed
Israeli commandos surround convoy, fire live ammunition upon Mavi Marmara, with hundreds of aid workers and activists aboard.
Raw video from the ship during the assault below.
10 PM CST: Solidarity activists aboard one of six relief vessels traveling to Gaza with humanitarian report that they have been attacked by Israeli forces, with three of their human rights volunteers killed and roughly 30 injured. The assault comes in the wake of the flotilla being surrounded earlier today by three Israeli warships in international waters, roughly 70 miles away from the Israeli coast. The Flotilla moved further west, deeper into international waters to avoid any conflict with Israeli navy vessels, but had been concerned all night that Israeli forces would send small inflatable military boats towards the flotilla and attempt to attack and board the humanitarian vessels.
Those fears have apparently been realized, with people aboard the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish ship with hundreds of aid workers and activists aboard, reporting that they have been attacked. At least three passengers have been killed and dozens more wounded. Israeli commandos apparently rappelled onto the Mavi Marmara, whose passengers range in age from 88 to a year old and include Christians, Muslims and Jews seeking to end the blockade. Midwest U.S. activists have been unable to reach Chicagoan Fatima Mohammadi, traveling aboard the Mavi Marmara.
Live video from the flotilla shows Israeli naval commando vessels pulling alongside the aid ships, and what sounds like gunfire can be heard in the background. No-one on the aid ships is carrying any kinds of weapons, including for defense against a feared Israeli attack in international waters.
Hundreds of elected officials, former diplomats, aid workers and activists – including a Nobel laureate and many European legislators – are with the flotilla, traveling by sea to Gaza to break Israel’s blockade of the tiny strip of land. Foreign news correspondents and independent journalists are traveling aboard the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish ship with hundreds of aid workers and activists aboard which is also running its own press operation reachable at the satellite number +8821636619168. A total of six ships, including two cargo ships and other passenger vehicles, are carrying thousands of tons of humanitarian aid to the beseiged region, which has been under Israeli blockade since 2006.
Israel has marshalled its most lethal military vessels to try to stop the humanitarian marine convoy, and at around 2:20 pm Central Standard Time (US) the first reports of unmanned drone planes buzzing the vessels was received from convoy passengers.
Two boats in the aid flotilla, one currently traveling with the convoy to Gaza and another in port in Cyprus for repairs, are flagged and registered in the United States. The ships are U.S. territory under maritime law, and the U.S. government is required to intervene if this “U.S. property” is attacked or illegally confiscated by Israeli authorities — a tactic Israel has threatened and deployed in the past. Israel has a long history of attacking ships whose missions are deemed undesirable. In December 2008, it rammed the Dignity, carrying medical and humanitarian aid, doctors, human rights workers and a former U.S. congresswoman, without warning in international waters.
Israel intensified its 2006 blockade after attacking the area in a weeks-long assault that ended in January 2009, killing more than 1,400 and leaving thousands more homeless and reducing huge swaths of housing to rubble. The blockade has created mass unemployment and extreme poverty, leaving four out of five Gazans — half of whom are children — dependent on humanitarian aid.
The Freedom Flotilla carries more than 10,000 tons of relief and developmental aid to Gaza, along with roughly 700 participants from more than 30 countries, among them volunteers from South Africa, Algeria, Turkey, Macedonia, Pakistan, Yemin, Kosovo, the UK and US and Kuwait – and an exiled former Archbishop of Jerusalem who currently lives in the Vatican. The cargo includes prefabricated homes and playgrounds, cement and other home-building supplies, medical devices and medications, textiles and food, in defiance of Israel’s siege on Gaza, which restricts the entry of all materials, including food and medicine. The flotilla’s supplies were gathered by a coalition of international civil society and human rights organizations to be sent directly to the people of Gaza by sea, using only international waters and the coastal waters immediately off of Gaza for passage. The flotilla is expected to arrive in Gaza as early as today.
Participants on board speak languages that include English, Turkish, Kurdish, over ten dialects of Arabic, Hebrew, Italian, Spanish, Portugeuse, French, Malaysian, Indonesian, Norweigen, Swedish, Urdu, Punjabi, Farsi, Hindi, German, Flemish, Greek, Catalon, Russian, Bosnian, Chechen, Macedonian and Albanian. Reporters on board hail from locations that include the United Kingdom, Spain, Malaysia, Indonesia, Venezuela, Kuwait, South Africa, Pakistan, Jordan, the Persian Gulf and across the Arab world.
Media contacts:

• Kevin Clark, Free Gaza Movement/Midwest: FGMinchicago @aol.com, cell 312-259-4380
• Fatima Mohammadi, Chicagoan on board the Gaza Freedom Flotilla: Satellite phone: +8821636619168; email: fatmoh@gmail.com
• Huwaida Arraf on board the Challenger: 0088 216 5207 2093
• Ewa Jasciewica on board the Challenger: 0088 163 184 7926
• Bianca Shana’a, Free Gaza Movement, Paris: 00336 63 59 20 28
• Greta Berlin, Free Gaza Movement: 00 357 99 18 72 75
• Mary Hughes: 00 357 96 38 38 09