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Have you called Nancy Pelosi and told her to
impeach Bush and Cheney? Please, call her again. (202) 225-4965.
Clues that the "Petraeus Report" is going to be a giant pile of crap
GAO report: "Surge" isn't working, and
Bush administration is lying about it| |
Excerpt: Iraq has failed to meet all but three of 18 congressionally mandated benchmarks for political and military progress, according to a draft of a Government Accountability Office report.
The person who provided the draft report to The Post said it was being conveyed from a government official who feared that its pessimistic conclusions would be watered down in the final version -- as some officials have said happened with security judgments in this month's National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq.
It contradicts the Bush administration's conclusion in July that sectarian violence was decreasing as a result of the U.S. military's stepped-up operations in Baghdad this year.
While it makes no policy recommendations, the draft suggests that future administration assessments "would be more useful" if they backed up their judgments with more details and "provided data on broader measures of violence from all relevant U.S. agencies." |
Military goes against Petraeus to deliver
reality-based Iraq plans to Bush| |
Excerpt: In a sign that top commanders are divided over what course to pursue in Iraq, the Pentagon said Wednesday that it won't make a single, unified recommendation to President Bush during next month's strategy assessment but will let top commanders make individual presentations.
Military analysts called the move unusual for an institution that ordinarily does not air its differences in public, especially while its troops are deployed in combat.
Bush has said on several occasions he will follow the recommendation of Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, but the Pentagon plan makes certain that other points of view are heard.
Pentagon officials have told McClatchy Newspapers that Casey, who was the top commander in Iraq, wants the U.S. to draw down forces and focus on training the Iraqi forces, as it did during his tenure in Iraq, and worries about the strain the war is having on the Army.
Earlier this week, the Los Angeles Times reported that [Chair of Joint Chiefs Peter] Pace would recommend reducing the number of troops in Baghdad because the deployments are straining the military.
Petraeus, however, is expected to argue that the number of U.S. troops should be kept at their current levels, saying that the increase in U.S. forces this year is beginning to reduce sectarian violence. |
Petraeus edited recent intel report to help sell continued Iraq war| |
Excerpt: The NIE, requested by the White House Iraq coordinator, Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute, in preparation for the testimony, met with resistance from U.S. military officials in Baghdad, according to a senior U.S. military intelligence officer there. Presented with a draft of the conclusions, Petraeus succeeded in having the security judgments softened to reflect improvements in recent months, the official said. |
AP admits: "Surge" in Iraq leads to
twice as many dead and displaced Iraqis| |
Excerpt: This year's U.S. troop buildup has succeeded in bringing violence in Baghdad down from peak levels, but the death toll from sectarian attacks around the country is running nearly double the pace from a year ago.
Iraq is suffering about double the number of war-related deaths throughout the country compared with last year -- an average daily toll of 33 in 2006, and 62 so far this year.
According to the Iraqi Red Crescent Organization, the number of displaced Iraqis has more than doubled since the start of the year, from 447,337 on Jan. 1 to 1.14 million on July 31.
In street-level terms, it means life for average Iraqis appears to be even more perilous and unpredictable. |
Bush to ask for $50,000,000,000 in Iraq war
money right after Petraeus "report"| |
Excerpt: The additional funds would come on top of about $460 billion in the fiscal 2008 defense budget and $147 billion in a pending supplemental bill to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Post said.Comment: Not to beat this into the ground, but the "Petraeus report" is absolutely not an honest report by a military expert on our progress in Iraq. It was written by political pro-war hacks in the White House. Its rosy findings are contradicted by the GAO (Congress' investigatory agency), the conservative news media (in the form of the Associated Press), and by military leaders whose names don't start with a "P" and end with "etraeus." It is being delivered by a man with a history of glossing over the problems in Iraq in the form of the recent National Intelligence Estimate. And the Bush administration is already planning to demand more money to continue the war after it comes out.
Is there any reason on God's green earth we should believe a single syllable of this "report," let alone base our foreign policy on it? Let's call it what it is ... an infomercial for more war. Madeline Zane PERMANENT LINK |
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Iran -- Run-up to the next war:
Pentagon plans 'three-day blitz' attack on Iran| |
Excerpt: The Pentagon has drawn up plans for massive airstrikes against 1,200 targets in Iran, designed to annihilate the Iranians' military capability in three days, according to a national security expert.
Alexis Debat, director of terrorism and national security at the Nixon Center, said last week that U.S. military planners were not preparing for "pinprick strikes" against Iran's nuclear facilities. "They're about taking out the entire Iranian military," he said. |
Analysis: 10 indications that the U.S. is
planning military action against Iran| |
Excerpt: Despite all its challenges in stabilizing Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. has its eye on Iran: It has tried to mobilize Iranian opposition, pressure the U.N. Security Council members to adopt economic sanctions against Iran, marginalize Iran in the region by inflaming/exacerbating the anti-Iranian sentiment, expand its military presence in the Persian Gulf, and encourage an arms race in the region. And, of course, the only way to seal a grand bargain with Iran for this administration is through military action versus diplomatic negotiation. |
U.S. preparing 'massive' military attack against Iran| |
Excerpt: The study concludes that the U.S. has made military preparations to destroy Iran's WMD, nuclear energy, regime, armed forces, state apparatus and economic infrastructure within days if not hours of President George W. Bush giving the order. The U.S. is not publicizing the scale of these preparations to deter Iran, tending to make confrontation more likely. The U.S. retains the option of avoiding war, but using its forces as part of an overall strategy of shaping Iran's actions. |
Iran agrees to reveal nuclear info| |
Excerpt: Iran on Monday offered some cooperation with an International Atomic Energy Agency probe of an alleged secret uranium processing project linked by U.S. intelligence to a nuclear arms program.
The Iranian pledge was contained in a memorandum reached between Iran and the IAEA and published on the agency's Web site at the request of Tehran's mission to the agency. In it, Tehran also outlined its timetable for providing other sensitive information sought by the IAEA in its probe of more than two decades of nuclear activity by the Islamic republic, most of it clandestine until revealed more than four years ago.
U.N. nuclear agency gives Iran clean bill of health
Excerpt: The U.N. nuclear agency said Thursday that Iran was producing less nuclear fuel than expected and praised Tehran for "a significant step forward" in explaining past atomic actions that have raised suspicions.
The assessment is expected to make it more difficult for the United States to rally support for a new round of sanctions against Tehran.
Comment: Difficult, schmifficult. Hope I'm wrong, but I don't think facts matter at all. Bush and Cheney have lies to trump every fact, and they're thirsty for blood. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Delusional U.S. President tells military
commanders to confront Iran's "murderous activities"| |
Excerpt: "I have authorized our military commanders in Iraq to confront Tehran's murderous activities," he said.
The BBC's Justin Webb, in Washington, says this looks like a conscious effort by the White House to elevate the tension between Washington and Teheran to a new level. |
U.S. "apologizes" for arresting Iranian diplomats| |
Excerpt: Eight Iranians, including two diplomats, were released by U.S. forces Wednesday after being detained because unauthorized weapons were found in their cars, the U.S. military said.
The Iranians were released after Iraqi officials intervened and told the Americans they were part of an official delegation on a legal visit to discuss electricity cooperation.
Saadi Othman, an adviser to Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. general in Iraq, told British Broadcasting Corp. television that the detentions were "regrettable" and had "nothing to do" with President Bush's remarks on Tuesday, when he lashed out at Iran for meddling in Iraq's affairs and fomenting instability here.
Comment: Okay, the Iranians had guns in their cars because IT'S IRAQ. They were in Iraq there to discuss building power plants, something we're allegedly in favor of. So what other explanation is there, other than that they were arrested to help gin up the next war? Madeline Zane PERMANENT LINK |
French again warn Americans not to
attack -- this time, not to attack Iran| |
Excerpt: French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned Monday that it would be "catastrophic" to resort to military force in confronting Iran over its suspect nuclear program.
"For me, Iran having a nuclear weapon is unacceptable," Sarkozy said in his first major address on foreign policy, but he stressed that he opposed an attack on the Islamic regime and urged that the West rely on diplomacy. |
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Bush wants telecommunications companies to be
granted immunity for illegal spying on customers| |
Excerpt: The Bush administration wants the power to grant legal immunity to telecommunications companies that are slapped with privacy suits for cooperating with the White House's controversial warrantless eavesdropping program.
The authority would effectively shut down dozens of lawsuits filed against telecommunications companies accused of helping set up the program.
The vaguely worded proposal would shield any person who allegedly provided information, infrastructure or "any other form of assistance" to the intelligence agencies after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. It covers any classified communications activity intended to protect the country from terrorism. |
Bush claims national security and state secrets
to block lawsuit over gov't access to bank records| |
Excerpt: The "state secrets" privilege, allowing the government to shut down litigation on national security grounds, was once rarely used. The Bush administration has turned to it more than 30 times in terrorism-related cases, seeking to end public discussion of cases like the claims of an FBI whistle-blower and the abduction of a German terrorism suspect.
Most notably, the administration has sought to use the privilege to kill numerous suits against telecommunications carriers over the National Security Agency's eavesdropping program. |
Activists ask court to reconsider allowing feds
to monitor your websurfing without a warrant| |
Excerpt: Together with the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, today we asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider its decision (PDF) that the government does not need a warrant to monitor the Web sites people read. The brief, submitted in United States v. Forrester, points out that people reasonably expect to be able to read the Web without the fear that the government is looking over their shoulder. |
Only officer tried for Abu Ghraib is
acquitted of torture, convicted of blabbing| |
Excerpt: With the end of the last court-martial linked to prisoner abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib jail, the Pentagon says it is confident justice has been done but rights groups see a failure to hold leaders accountable.
Only one U.S. officer, Army Lt. Col. Steven Jordan, faced court-martial over the scandal. Jordan was acquitted on Tuesday of responsibility for abuse at the jail west of Baghdad.
Jordan, who argued that he played no part in the abuse and that the military was trying to make him a scapegoat, was convicted only of disobeying an order not to discuss the investigation into the case. He was sentenced to a reprimand.
The unfinished story of Abu Ghraib
Excerpt: With the court-martial of Lt. Col. Jordan now complete, the official apologists will be out busily explaining that Abu Ghraib is all over now -- see, we even court-martialed an officer, and it went nowhere, the jury let him off.
But as the New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor and a number of other publications have properly pointed out, the lesson to be drawn from the Jordan court-martial is different from what the Pentagon would have us understand -- it's one of the most audacious cover-ups in military justice history.
Army strikes back against Abu Ghraib whistleblower
Excerpt: When Maj. Gen. Taguba's Abu Ghraib investigation report was leaked to the press on May 4, 2004, I was very surprised to find myself listed as the only military intelligence soldier to witness to the truth. And for my conscientiousness, the Army imposed an exclusive gag order on me 10 days later; a week after that my top-secret clearance was suspended, and eventually I was reduced in rank. |
Leaked Red Cross report sets up Bush team
for international war-crimes trial| |
Excerpt: While the Democratic Congress has yet to begin a serious investigation into what many European legislators already know about American war crimes, a particularly telling report by the International Committee of the Red Cross has been leaked that would surely figure prominently in such a potential Nuremberg trial.
Comment: Any pretense that there will ever be a war crimes trial for Bush Cheney and cohorts is just feel-good hyperbole... but it does feel good. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
War crime prosecutors issue call for action, criticize U.S.| |
Excerpt: An unprecedented gathering this week of international war crimes prosecutors -- those seeking justice for recent atrocities and two who made history at the Nazi trials at Nuremberg 62 years ago -- issued a joint appeal to the world community to arrest war criminals still at large and turn them over to stand trial.
Meeting at this scenic Victorian-style enclave overlooking a small marina, the prosecutors sought to rekindle the legacy of Nuremberg and send a message to war crimes perpetrators everywhere that no one is above the law.
There was also strong criticism of the United States at the gathering for not fully backing the International Criminal Court (ICC) and for failing to follow the Geneva Conventions in detaining and interrogating terrorism suspects. |
Marine tells of order to execute Haditha women and children| |
Excerpt: A U.S. Marine was ordered to execute a room full of terrified Iraqi women and children during an alleged massacre in Haditha that left 24 people dead, a military court heard Thursday.
The testimony came in the opening of a preliminary hearing for Marine Sergeant Frank Wuterich, who faces 17 counts of murder over the Haditha killings, the most serious war crimes allegations faced by U.S. troops in Iraq. |
Republicans use Justice Department to subvert justice
Criminal resigns as U.S. Attorney General| |
Excerpt: As White House counsel, [Alberto Gonzales] couldn't say no to Bush about torture of prisoners and electronic eavesdropping on calls involving U.S. citizens, they said. As attorney general, they said he couldn't say no to Bush about what some see as improper White House influence in the firing of federal prosecutors. |
Fired U.S. attorney says Rove and
Gonzales both quit over attorney scandal| |
Excerpt: During an appearance on CNN, former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias said Gonzales's resignation is "absolutely linked with Karl Rove leaving two weeks ago," and speculated the two resigned "for the same reason": Congressional investigators closing in on their suspected roles in the attorney-firing scandal.
"This is what happens when there is not check and balance" under a Republican-controlled Congress and White House "and all of a sudden you have a new sheriff in town -- so to speak -- that wants answers to hard questions." |
Michigan lawyer says his indictment
was one of Gonzales' "last dirty tricks"| |
Excerpt: Embattled lawyer Geoffrey Fieger said today that the U.S. Justice Department hurried to unseal an indictment against him last week because Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was resigning.
"It was one of his last dirty tricks," Fieger said this afternoon. "They knew he was resigning and they wanted to get it out before he left."
A spokesman for the Justice Department called Fieger's linking of the two events "ridiculous, ludicrous, absurd." |
Democrat thrown in jail on trumped-up charges
accused of "obstruction of justice" for publicizing innocence| |
Excerpt: [Former Alabama Governor Don] Siegelman recently complained about his conviction and sentence in a handwritten letter sent in response to questions from The Associated Press, and supporters repeatedly have posted information on Web sites claiming he was wrongly convicted as result of a Republican conspiracy involving White House aide Karl Rove.
[Former HealthSouth CEO Richard] Scrushy hasn't been heard from publicly since he went to prison, but his wife Leslie has taken over his Christian-themed TV shows that air in Birmingham and Montgomery and frequently uses them to claim the one-time CEO was wrongly convicted.
Siegelman, 61, is serving a more than seven-year term at the federal prison in Oakdale, La. Scrushy, 55, is serving his nearly seven-year sentence at a federal lockup in Beaumont, Texas. Prosecutors alleged Scrushy arranged $500,000 in contribution to the state lottery campaign promoted by Siegelman in exchange for Siegelman appointing him to an influential state hospital regulatory board.
Comment: I'm not an expert on all the details, but from everything I've read, this is a criminal mis-use of the powers of the Justice Department, to railroad a quite possibly innocent man.
Very briefly, former Alabama Gov Don Siegelman ran for re-election in 2002, and seemed to have narrowly won, but some extremely odd Republican-orchestrated election shenanigans gave the election to his opponent, the Republican now-Governor Robert R. Riley. Siegelman complained long and loud, and a Bush-appointed U.S. Attorney, Laura Canary, dug up malfeasance against Siegelman and prosecuted him. He was convicted of bribery and obstruction of justice and sentenced to seven years in prison, but near as I can figure out, Siegelman's crime wasn't much:
His crime: He re-appointed former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy to a board that regulates hospitals, which might be a conflict of interest, but Scrushy had been on the same board through three previous administrations. Which makes the prosecution seem political to me, and to 44 former state Attorney Generals from across the country, Democrats and Republicans, who have petitioned Congress to investigate the Siegelman matter.
The House Judiciary Committee is now looking into it. And it gets worse. In those hearings, Republican lawyer Dana Jill Simpson has testified that she heard U.S. Attorney Canary's husband -- Bill Canary, former chief of staff of the Republican National Committee, and a campaign strategist for Riley, the Republican candidate -- brag during the dispute over the 2002 election that, essentially, the fix was in. And, Simpson says Bill Canary said that if Siegelman made waves about losing the election, Karl Rove had said he would use Canary's wife -- the U.S. Attorney -- to "take down Siegelman."
And now, as this stinking matter finally gets a bit of publicity, federal prosecutors are complaining that Siegelman and Scrushy are somehow obstructing justice ... from their prison cells? Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Up to 1/4 of Justice Dept's civil appellate
staff refuses Guantanamo cases| |
Excerpt: The government's legal arguments justifying the detention of hundreds of people at the Guantánamo Bay naval base have been repudiated three times by the U.S. Supreme Court. But it's not just outsiders who take issue with the U.S. Justice Department strategy: Up to one fourth of the department's own civil appellate staff has recently opted out of handling the government's cases against detainee appeals, two sources familiar with the matter tell U.S. News.
These conscientious objectors -- their exact number is not known -- have decided not to take part in the government's litigation against the detainees because of disagreements with the legal approach, these sources say.
Comment: It's good to know that a significant minority of Justice Department lawyers have a conscience. As soon as Bush and Cheney are impeached, everyone else on the staff should be fired. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Justice Dept investigates former boss Gonzales| |
Excerpt: The Justice Department said Thursday it is investigating whether Attorney General Alberto Gonzales lied or otherwise misled Congress last month in sworn testimony about the Bush administration's domestic terrorist spying program.
Details of the inquiry by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine were released three days after Gonzales abruptly announced he was stepping down despite months of vowing to remain on the job. |
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As ordinary people lose their homes in Idaho fire,
private firefighters protects millionaires' mansions| |
Excerpt: Veteran fire managers now working the Castle Rock fire say they've never heard of a private fire crew protecting individual homes in the midst of a wildfire, said Dave Olson, a spokesman for the Forest Service.
The private crew has been granted access to areas closed to residents, but not all officials with public fire agencies were thrilled by the sight of the truck scooting through a smoky web of government fire crews. |
New rules would turn back volunteers in emergencies| |
Excerpt: In an effort to provide better control and coordination, the federal government is launching an ambitious ID program for rescue workers to keep everyday people from swarming to a disaster scene.
Comment: This might sound hokey but, criminy -- we have to rely on each other. That's the essence of what society is, and it's beyond bonkers to try to make it illegal for people to help each other in a life-and-death situation.
And hello? If there's any lesson to be learned from recent catastrophes, it's that you can't count on government to be there in an emergency. Anyone who doesn't understand that should stroll through the ruins of New Orleans ... Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Lots of Democrats are furious over
Democrats' wimpiness on crucial issues| |
Excerpt: A growing clamor among rank-and-file Democrats to halt President Bush's most controversial tactics in the fight against terrorism has exposed deep divisions within the party, with many Democrats angry that they cannot defeat even a weakened president on issues that they believe should be front and center.
Comment: Old news to me and anyone who's awake, but maybe now that it's in the Washington Post it'll start to register inside a few Democratic officeholders' heads. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
My old neighborhood was raided yesterday, and it was utter bullsh*t| |
Excerpt: Just what does it mean when they say they "Scoured" the houses but came up "empty"? Is being Latino now justification enough for the Feds (with local assistance in this raid) to knock down your door, demand identification and "scour" your property? |
Wall Street Journal omitted key information in
article about Clinton donations from "unlikely address"| |
Summary: The Wall Street Journal ran an article reporting that one apparently middle-class family had given contributions to Hillary Clinton and other Democrats, far in excess of what the family could seemingly afford. But the article made no attempt to actually look at the family's finances.
Excerpt: Lawrence Barcella, a Washington attorney representing Mr. Hsu, said in an August 28 statement, posted on Talkleft.com, that he offered to provide [the financial documentation]: "I told the reporter and his editor that I had reviewed the Paws' financial records, which clearly demonstrated that they easily had the financial wherewithal to make any level of contributions. ... I asked the reporter, in the presence of his editor, if I got permission to let them see the Paws' financial information, which shows their resources, would they not run the story? His editor responded 3 times that they were running the story anyway." The August 28 article did not address the purported offer of the Paws' private financial information. Instead, the Journal simply reported:| |
Lawrence Barcella, a Washington attorney representing Mr. Hsu, said in a separate email: "You are barking up the wrong tree. There is no factual support for this story and if Mr. Hsu's name was Smith or Jones, I don't believe it would be a story." He didn't elaborate. |
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"Election Crimes" report is rigged and rotten says co-author| |
Excerpt: We spent a year doing research and consulting with leaders in the field to produce a draft report. What happened next seems inexplicable. After submitting the draft in July 2006, we were barred by the commission's staff from having anything more to do with it.
What was the problem? In all the time we were doing our research and drafting the report, neither the staff nor the commissioners, who were continually advised of our activities and the substance of our work, raised any concerns about the direction we were going or the research findings.
Yet, after sitting on the draft for six months, the EAC publicly released a report -- citing it as based on work by me and my co-author -- that completely stood our own work on its head.
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Life in liberated Afghanistan & Iraq
Cholera spreads in Iraq as health services collapse| |
Excerpt: The outbreak is among the most serious signs yet that Iraqi health and social services are breaking down as the number of those living in camps and poor housing increases after people flee their homes.
"The disease is spreading very fast," Dr Juan Abdallah, a senior official in Kurdistan's health ministry, told a U.N. agency. "It is the first outbreak of its kind here in the past few decades."
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Accused war criminal may get off, now that witnesses are dead| |
Excerpt: Several U.S. Army soldiers killed in a helicopter crash in Iraq last week were to be witnesses in the homicide trial of their former superior. |
U.S. will free 50 Iraqi detainees a day during Ramadan| |
Excerpt: Fifty Iraqis will be freed from U.S. prisons in Iraq each day during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, the office of Iraq's Sunni Arab Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi said on Friday.
The U.S. military said this week it had reached a deal with Hashemi to conduct "special Ramadan releases" of detainees during the holy month, which begins in the second week of September.
Comment: It's all a farce, ain't it? If these prisoners are guilty or awaiting trial for some genuine crime they shouldn't be freed, and if they're not guilty they shouldn't be imprisoned, but freeing fifty a day just reinforces the randomness of it all. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Iraqi officials tell 1,000,000 people to get out of town| |
Excerpt: More than one million pilgrims were ordered to leave the Shiite holy city of Karbala on Tuesday as the police imposed a curfew after two days of violence that included raging gun battles between what appeared to be rival Shiite militias.
At least 35 people have been killed during a religious festival there, with nearly 200 wounded, security officials said. The government sent reinforcements from Baghdad to quell growing unrest and help clear Karbala. |
Iraqi insurgents taking cut of U.S. rebuilding money| |
Excerpt: Iraq's deadly insurgent groups have financed their war against U.S. troops in part with hundreds of thousands of dollars in U.S. rebuilding funds that they've extorted from Iraqi contractors in Anbar province.
The payments, in return for the insurgents' allowing supplies to move and construction work to begin, have taken place since the earliest projects in 2003, Iraqi contractors, politicians and interpreters involved with reconstruction efforts said. |
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Top Petraeus aide is under investigation
in humongous Iraq corruption probe| |
Excerpt: Investigators from the Army Criminal Investigation Command, the Justice Department, and the FBI have uncovered a network of criminality much larger than anything previously conceived. It involves "the purchase and delivery of weapons, supplies, and other material to Iraqi and American forces" and amounts to "the largest ring of fraud and kickbacks uncovered in the conflict there." Among those under investigation is Lt. Col. Levonda Joey Selph, a contracting officer who reported directly to General David Petraeus, the current commander of U.S. forces in Iraq. |
Iowa court rules same-sex couples can marry| |
Excerpt: The ruling was in response to a December 2005 lawsuit brought by six same-sex couples seeking to wed. They were denied marriage licenses and claimed such treatment violates equal-protection and due-process clauses in the Iowa constitution.
The court also struck down a state law declaring valid marriages are only between a man and woman.
Gay Iowans quick to marry, before ruling is stayed
Excerpt: The marriage license approval process normally takes three business days, but [Sean] Fritz and [Tim] McQuillan took advantage of a loophole that allows couples to skip the waiting period if they pay a $5 fee and get a judge to sign a waiver.
Friday morning, the Rev. Mark Stringer declared the two Iowa State University students legally married in a wedding on the Unitarian minister's front lawn in Des Moines.
Comment: A few gay Iowans are now legally married, but so far there have been no reports of the world ending in Iowa. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Gay civil unions sanctioned in medieval Europe| |
Excerpt: Civil unions between male couples existed around 600 years ago in medieval Europe, a historian now says.
Historical evidence, including legal documents and gravesites, can be interpreted as supporting the prevalence of homosexual relationships hundreds of years ago, said Allan Tulchin of Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania. |
Hurricane Katrina: A criminal catastrophe
Windfall: How conservatives, contractors,
and developers cashed in on Katrina| |
Excerpt: The Bush administration, with the help of its friends in the Washington establishment and elsewhere, turned the disaster in New Orleans from a crisis into an opportunity-a chance to extend, rather than repeal, the conservative revolution that had begun 25 years earlier. The campaign to accomplish this apparent political paradox would operate on many levels and with astonishing success. While the country was absorbed by watching the president try to stuff an uncooperative political rabbit back into his hat, the real tricks were taking place offstage. |
How a different President responded when a hurricane hit New Orleans| |
Excerpt: In the Ninth Ward, [President Lyndon Baines] Johnson visited the George Washington Elementary School, on St. Claude Avenue, which was being used as a shelter. "Most of the people inside and outside of the building were Negro," the diary reads. "At first, they did not believe that it was actually the President." Johnson entered the crowded shelter in near-total darkness; there were only a couple of flashlights to lead the way.
"This is your President!" Johnson announced. "I'm here to help you!" ...
Johnson assured [New Orleans Mayor V.H. Schiro] that the resources of the federal government were at his disposal and that "all red tape [would] be cut."
The President flew back to Washington and the next day sent Schiro a sixteen-page telegram outlining plans for aid and the revival of New Orleans. ...
Quite a difference from the current occupant of the White House, who was afraid to visit the disaster area for days after Katrina hit. And who, even then, was willing to appear only in intensely stage-managed events. |
The Danziger Bridge killings:
How New Orleans Police gunned down civilians fleeing the flood| |
Excerpt: Seven police officers been indicted for opening fire on two African American families on the Danziger Bridge days after the storm, killing two people and wounding four others. At the time, the official story was that they gunned down snipers. Now the question is why they shot at two families fleeing the flood. |
NAACP challenges Louisiana voter purge| |
Excerpt: The NAACP filed a civil rights lawsuit challenging a purge of Louisiana voters believed to have registered in other states following Hurricane Katrina.
In the federal court action, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People contends that the purge has already begun without the necessary pre-approval of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Because of its history of racial discrimination before the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, voting changes in Louisiana and other Southern states must be approved by federal officials. |
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Uninsured in U.S. up 2 million, mostly kids and full-time workers| |
Excerpt: Last year, the number of uninsured Americans increased by a daunting 2.2 million, from 44.8 million in 2005 to 47.0 million in 2006.
The main reason for the upsurge in uninsured Americans is that employment-based coverage continued to deteriorate. Indeed, the number of full-time workers without health insurance rose from 20.8 million in 2005 to 22.0 million in 2006.
The number of uninsured children jumped more than 600,000 to reach 8.6 million. The main reason, advocacy groups say, is that access and funding for the low-income programs became tighter while employer coverage for dependents eroded. |
Fatal Greek forest fires result of arson by developers| |
Excerpt: If history is any guide, vast acres blackened in Greece's deadly wildfires will eventually sprout anew -- with luxury villas, fancy hotels, and expensive vacation homes.
The fires, which killed at least 64 people across the country and threaten to topple the government, have forced Greeks to ask painful questions about what caused the blazes and how they were able to spread such destruction.
Greece is the only country in the European Union that does not have a forest registry. Once a forest burns down, the legal status of the land also goes up in smoke. Without records, designating the land for reforestation is too difficult, and the land is often up for grabs.
In some cases, developers have moved in with the help of corrupt officials.
"Historically, this is a very big problem," said Dmitri Karavellas, chief executive of the Greek branch of the World Wildlife Fund. "There is no doubt that at least some of the fires this week were due to arson linked to property development." |
FBI's instant point-and-click eavesdropping system
is built into almost all communications devices| |
Excerpt: The FBI has quietly built a sophisticated, point-and-click surveillance system that performs instant wiretaps on almost any communications device, according to nearly a thousand pages of restricted documents newly released under the Freedom of Information Act.
The surveillance system, called DCSNet, for Digital Collection System Network, connects FBI wiretapping rooms to switches controlled by traditional land-line operators, internet-telephony providers and cellular companies. It is far more intricately woven into the nation's telecom infrastructure than observers suspected.
It's a "comprehensive wiretap system that intercepts wire-line phones, cellular phones, SMS and push-to-talk systems," says Steven Bellovin, a Columbia University computer science professor and longtime surveillance expert.
Comment: Is there any end to the spying on Americans, any pretense that the Bill of Rights remains in effect? Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Many returning soldiers become uncounted casualties of war| |
Excerpt: "The day he came home I took pictures of him, and a couple of people said his eyes are blank. There's no one there," said Rosann.
The young man described by his family as sensitive and goofy was becoming dangerously detached. "On more than one occasion he told me he wished he was in Baghdad because he 'fit in' there," said Rosann. |
Texas spares life of man put on death row for driving| |
Excerpt: A Texas man, sentenced to death despite never having killed, was spared a lethal injection Thursday after the governor commuted his sentence hours before an execution that had sparked international outcry.
State governor Rick Perry's decision came after the pardons and paroles board voted 6-1 to recommend that he commute Kenneth Foster's sentence to life in prison. |
Emails show White House using Surgeon General for political purposes| |
Excerpt: White House officials viewed former surgeon general Richard H. Carmona as a public relations tool, pushing him to make political appearances and promote the Bush administration's agenda while he was in office, according to a series of executive branch e-mails released yesterday by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.).
The 18 pages of e-mails back up Carmona's testimony before a House committee in July that he routinely battled Bush appointees who sought to rewrite his speeches, send him on political trips, and suppress his reports on global health, prison health and other politically sensitive topics. President Bush and other administration officials rejected the accusation. |
Judge halts illegal immigrant notices| |
Excerpt: The Social Security Administration cannot start sending out letters to employers next week containing notification of more serious penalties for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants, a federal judge ruled Friday.
Ruling on a lawsuit by the nation's largest federation of labor unions against the U.S. government, U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney granted a temporary restraining order prohibiting the so-called "no-match" letters from going out as planned starting Tuesday.
The AFL-CIO lawsuit, filed this week, claims that new Department of Homeland Security rules outlined in accompanying letters threaten to violate workers' rights and unfairly burden employers. Chesney said the court needs "breathing room" before making any decision on the legality of new penalties aimed at cracking down on the hiring of illegal immigrants. |
Former Secretary of HHS Tommy Thompson softened
breast-feeding PSAs at the request of baby formula makers| |
Excerpt: Plans to run these blunt ads infuriated the politically powerful infant formula industry, which hired a former chairman of the Republican National Committee and a former top regulatory official to lobby the Health and Human Services Department. Not long afterward, department political appointees toned down the campaign.
The ads ran instead with more friendly images of dandelions and cherry-topped ice cream scoops, to dramatize how breast-feeding could help avert respiratory problems and obesity. In a February 2004 letter, the lobbyists told then-HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson they were "grateful" for his staff's intervention to stop health officials from "scaring expectant mothers into breast-feeding," and asked for help in scaling back more of the ads. |
Bush rejects gas tax hike to fix dangling infrastructure| |
Excerpt: President Bush on Thursday rejected raising the federal gasoline tax by a few cents to pay for repairs to hundreds of aging bridges across the country, accusing members of Congress of squandering previous highway funding on pet projects. |
How Countrywide screwed consumers,
investors, and the American economy| |
Excerpt: On its way to becoming the nation's largest mortgage lender, the Countrywide Financial Corporation encouraged its sales force to court customers over the telephone with a seductive pitch that seldom varied. "I want to be sure you are getting the best loan possible," the sales representatives would say.
But providing "the best loan possible" to customers wasn't always the bank's main goal, say some former employees. Instead, potential borrowers were often led to high-cost and sometimes unfavorable loans that resulted in richer commissions for Countrywide's smooth-talking sales force, outsize fees to company affiliates providing services on the loans, and a roaring stock price that made Countrywide executives among the highest paid in America. |
Vital Lockerbie evidence 'was tampered with' before trial| |
Excerpt: Nearly two decades after Pan Am flight 103 exploded over Scotland on 21 December, 1988, allegations of international political intrigue and shoddy investigative work are being leveled at the British government, the FBI and the Scottish police as one of the crucial witnesses, Swiss engineer Ulrich Lumpert, has apparently confessed that he lied about the origins of a crucial 'timer' -- evidence that helped tie the man convicted of the bombing to the crime.
Comment: How long have the lies been piling up? Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Bush-Cheney challenges subpoenas for
Rice, Hadley over leaks with Israeli lobbyists| |
Excerpt: Documents filed by attorneys for lobbyists Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman argue that the Israeli interest group played an unofficial but sanctioned role in crafting foreign policy and that [Secretary of State Condoleezza] Rice and others can confirm it.
"In other words, they'll tell us that back-channel disclosures are an everyday common practice?" [U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis ] asked in a hearing last year during a rare public discussion of the issue. |
Bush-Cheney won't name tech contractor in allegedly lost emails| |
Excerpt: The White House will not identify a private company which appears to be involved in the disappearance of millions of White House e-mails.
The company was responsible for reviewing and archiving White House e-mails, a White House official told congressional staff in May, according to a letter yesterday from House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif. Congressional investigators asked then for the name of the company and "have repeatedly requested" the information since then, according to Waxman. |
The great Iraq swindle:
How Bush allowed an army of for-profit
contractors to invade the U.S. Treasury| |
Excerpt: Operation Iraqi Freedom, it turns out, was never a war against Saddam Hussein's Iraq. It was an invasion of the federal budget, and no occupying force in history has ever been this efficient. George W. Bush's war in the Mesopotamian desert was an experiment of sorts, a crude first take at his vision of a fully privatized American government. In Iraq the lines between essential government services and for-profit enterprises have been blurred to the point of absurdity -- to the point where wounded soldiers have to pay retail prices for fresh underwear, where modern-day chattel are imported from the Third World at slave wages to peel the potatoes we once assigned to grunts in KP, where private companies are guaranteed huge profits no matter how badly they f**k things up. |
Bush appointee at Defense Dept under investigation| |
Excerpt: Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Paul A. Brinkley, who heads an economic task force in Baghdad, is accused of mismanaging government money and engaging in public drunkenness and sexual harassment, a Defense Department spokesman said last week. |
Why Bush stands by his incompetents| |
Excerpt: As Alberto Gonzales resigns today, he joins Donald Rumsfeld, Harriet Miers, and Michael Brown -- animated failures who could not be controlled or improved with good public relations. The pattern has been consistent: The president resists and resists calls for a change. Then he gives in. In Gonzales' case, it's almost as if Bush were perfecting this failed approach, wringing out of his embattled old friend so many embarrassing gaffes that he couldn't be hurt anymore. Then he let him go. |
Tucker Carlson admits to hate crime on air,
and fellow conservatives laugh with him about it| |
Excerpt: Comedy ensued on MSNBC last night when pundit Tucker Carlson happily admitted that when a guy hit on him in a men's room in Georgetown, he went back with "someone I knew and grabbed him... and hit him against the stall with his head." Then the cops came and arrested the gay dude. But not Tucker! The laughs just keep coming; MSNBC top exec (um, and lawyer) Dan Abrams and chatshow host Joe Scarborough were besides themselves with giggles. We're no lawyers ourselves, but didn't Tucker just confess to an actual crime on air?
GLAAD calls on Tucker Carlson to apologize for gay-bashing
Excerpt: To see someone brag on national television of returning, with an accomplice, to the scene of an unwanted advance to violently attack the person who made it is incredibly disturbing. But it was also hard to watch because of the sheer absurdity of most of what Carlson was saying." |
Study: Troops could leave Iraq with little risk| |
Excerpt: Most U.S. troops can be withdrawn safely from Iraq in roughly one year and the Bush administration should begin planning the pullout immediately, according to a study released Wednesday.
With the exception mostly of two brigades of about 8,000 troops who would remain in the touchy Kurdish region in the north for a year, trying to guard against conflict with Turkey, the U.S. troops would be moved to Kuwait initially, sags the study by the Center for American Progress, a self-described "progressive think tank" headed by John D. Podesta, a former chief of staff to former President Clinton. |
U.S. won't tell Britons why they're banned from travelling to America| |
Excerpt: British holiday-makers and businessmen banned from travelling to America under anti-terror laws will no longer have any right to know why they have been turned away.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, set up following the September 11 attacks, last week applied for a blanket ban on disclosing the information it holds on Britons and other EU citizens. |
Immigration jail agrees to improvements on eve of ACLU trial| |
Excerpt: The federal government and lawyers for immigrant children have announced an agreement to improve living conditions at the nation's main family detention center for illegal immigrant suspects.
The 512-bed T. Don Hutto Residential Center in Taylor, Tex., drew protests when it was reported that immigrant children were inadequately fed, deprived of toys and confined to cells with open toilets.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the immigration clinic at the University of Texas Law School sued federal officials on behalf of 26 immigrant children and teenagers, seeking their release and improved conditions at the center.
The agreement, announced as a trial had been set to begin on Monday, requires improving education, recreation and nutrition for children, hiring a full-time pediatrician, and installing privacy curtains around toilets. |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer refused to play along with feds' scare tactics| |
Excerpt: The FBI produces a picture of two men who indeed look like they could be Middle Eastern. Or Latino. Or Italian. Or any of several other nationalities/ethnicities. The FBI says the men have been seen on several ferries and seemed "overly interested in the workings and layout" of the ferries. They request help in getting information about them. They ask local media to run the photo.
The P-I ran a story about the FBI's alert, but did not run the photographs, because we didn't have enough information to warrant it. I hope that today we are able to get more information on this story, if it exists, from the FBI that would give us a clearer idea of the background behind their request.
Based on what we have, it seemed newsworthy that the FBI was trying to find these guys but it did not seem appropriate to run their photographs. |
Teamsters go to court to try to block Mexican truckers from U.S. highways| |
Excerpt: The Teamsters Union said Wednesday it will ask a federal appeals courts to block the Bush Administration's plan to begin allowing Mexican trucks to carry cargo anywhere in the United States.
The union said it has been told by officials in the Transportation Department's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that the first Mexican trucks will be coming across the border on Saturday. |
Under state law, credit freeze stops identity theft cold| |
Excerpt: An imposter will be foiled, but you can lift the freeze using a PIN if you want to open new accounts. A security freeze provides much stronger protection than the fraud alert currently available under federal law.
Under California law, the credit bureaus can't charge for a security freeze to victims of identity theft victims. However, anyone else has to pay $10 to place, temporarily lift or remove the freeze and there's a $12 fee to temporarily lift the freeze for a specific creditor. |
Private-equity billionaires pay far lower taxes than the rest of us| |
Excerpt: The very rich in America pay taxes at a lower rate than most working people, and, due to a wrinkle in the tax code, private-equity partners enjoy some of the lowest tax rates of all. At a Hillary Clinton fund-raiser in New York last month, Warren Buffett, no stranger to wealth, told an audience filled with bankers and real-estate developers the system was, in effect, rigged. "This is what Congress in its wisdom did: the 400 of us [here] pay a lower part of our income in taxes than our receptionists do, or our cleaning ladies, for that matter."
Comment: The article, from Newsweek, goes on to claim that Democrats in Washington are working to close gazillionaires' loopholes, but of course, that's a daydream and almost certainly hogwash. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Even the CIA's open secrets are classified| |
Excerpt: When a federal judge dismissed Valerie Plame's lawsuit against the Central Intelligence Agency earlier this month, she ruled that the agency was entitled to stop Plame from publishing the dates of her agency service, even though these dates had been supplied to Congress in an unclassified letter from the CIA and had been published in The Congressional Record. Plame is just one in a long line of ex-CIA employees to lose similar suits, in which the agency successfully defended the position that information in the public domain was classified.
How can information that's a five-minute Google search away be classified? It's simple. Classified information is not the same thing as secret information. |
Court orders city of Kent, Ohio to pay $130,000
to 11 illegally arrested in 2003 protest| |
Excerpt: The United States District Court has entered an offer of judgment against the city "because the arrests were made without probable cause," according to the statement. |
U.S. continues complete stonewall of British "friendly fire" inquests| |
Excerpt: The U.S. have confirmed categorically that they will not provide witnesses to attend UK inquests.
"While coroners may continue to ask for U.S. witnesses to attend... they should be aware that there will in all cases be a refusal."
Comment: The Bush administration hates American troops, and misses no opportunity to display that hatred. I guess Bush et al feel exactly the same about British troops. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Cop gets probation for beating up little boys| |
Excerpt: By admitting to sufficient facts, [Officer John] O'Hare was able to get the case "continued without a finding" for one year, during which time he will have to complete anger management counseling and will be on probation. If he finishes the year without incident, the charges will be dismissed. |
"Near miss" postpones Bush's dreams of World War III| |
Excerpt: A C-130 aircraft carrying an Alabama senator and congressman was fired on this evening as it was flying from Baghdad to Amman, Jordan.
The airplane was carrying Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and Rep. Bud Cramer, D-Huntsville, and two other senators.
Comment: If the plane had been hit and brought down, there's no doubt in my mind that U.S. authorities would claim (lie) that only Iranian weaponry could have done it, and Tehran would be in ruins by now. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
MPAA steals emails, and court says that's OK| |
Excerpt: A lawsuit filed last year by TorrentSpy--a BitTorrent search engine--that accused the movie studios' trade group of intercepting the company's private e-mails, was tossed out of court last week.
But while a U.S. District judge found that the Motion Picture Association of America had not violated the federal Wiretap Act, as TorrentSpy's attorneys had argued, the MPAA acknowledged in court records that it paid $15,000 to obtain private e-mails belonging to TorrentSpy executives.
Comment: I ain't the shiniest wrench in the tool kit, but I don't get this at all. Buying someone else's emails isn't illegal? Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Officials at Vermont nuclear plant are baffled by cooling tower collapse| |
Excerpt: Company officials Friday said they still had no idea how a three-story section of one of its giant cooling towers unexpectedly collapsed Tuesday, even though the tower was inspected earlier this year. |
Brian DePalma hopes his Redacted helps end Iraq war| |
Excerpt: Critics of the war in Iraq have long charged that the press has usually whitewashed the death and violence of the conflict by refusing to publish or air some of the most graphic images. Now a famous filmmaker -- using some of the photos that newspapers have failed to print -- is trying to do something about that.
The latest film by Brian DePalma, director of numerous well-known movies such as Scarface, The Untouchables and Carrie is aptly called Redacted and has just been shown for the first time as part of the Venice Film Festival. DePalma spoke to reporters there, saying, among other things, "Pictures are what will stop the war." |
We don't need another stooge as President
Edwards proposes "Brownie's Law," banning
hacks and cronies from heading federal agencies| |
Excerpt: Former Sen. John Edwards said at a Hurricane Katrina conference he would propose what he called "Brownie's Law" requiring that qualified people, not political hacks, lead key federal agencies. ...
"Brownie" refers to Michael Brown, who was head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency when Katrina struck the United States on August 29, 2005. He was criticized as being a political appointee unprepared to lead FEMA when a floundering government effort stranded thousands for days in flooded New Orleans.
Edwards goes after the 'corporate Democrats'
Excerpt: Edwards is en fuego [on fire] right now, and if he keeps up the heat, his candidacy will either be widely embraced by the emerging progressive movement or utterly annihilated by an entrenched establishment that fears few things more than a telegenic populist with enough money to mount a credible campaign. |
Repubican no-shows prompt cancellation of Spanish-language debate| |
Excerpt: Univisión planned to air the first presidential debates in Spanish on Sept. 9 and 16, one for Democrats, the other for Republicans, trumpeting a national coming-out party for Hispanic voters.
Except Republican candidates aren't coming. Only Ariz. Sen. John McCain agreed to participate in the event at the University of Miami. |
Red lights and speed limits mean nothing to Romney| |
Excerpt: The motorcade of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney exceeded speed limits and went through stop lights Friday as local law officers escorted him, blue lights flashing, to campaign events in two South Carolina counties.
Traffic pulled over for Romney's caravan as Saluda County Sheriff Jason Booth, a Romney supporter, led the candidate's motor home and staff cars with his blue lights running from the Aiken County line through Saluda County to the Newberry city limits, according to an Associated Press reporter following the candidate.
The caravan traveled between 10 mph and 15 mph over posted speed limits. The posted speed limits were 45 mph and 55 mph. |
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Antigua, tired of being pissed on by U.S., hatches a scheme| |
Excerpt: Since 2003, we've been following the saga of Antigua's fight against the U.S. in the World Trade Organization. Basically, Antigua argued that the US's ban on online gambling violated the free trade agreement the two countries had signed -- as it blocked online gambling sites based in Antigua (of which there are a bunch). Since then, the case has been fun to watch if only for how the U.S. has responded to it. The WTO ruled in favor of Antigua at which point the U.S. basically ignored the WTO, despite the WTO occasionally making angry noises. Then, there was the time that the U.S. went so far as to declare that the WTO had reversed that original ruling on appeal... but the details showed that the U.S. was making up that claim and the WTO was still supporting Antigua. Earlier this year, after the WTO started stomping its feet again, the U.S. responded by saying it was simply (unilaterally) going to change its free trade agreement with Antigua, so that online gambling wasn't included. Obviously, Antigua finds that solution quite troublesome.
Back in early 2006, however, a few people began buzzing about an idea that Antigua could use to force the U.S. to pay attention: become an WTO-backed ignorer of U.S. copyright law. |
Judge links Sen Ted Stevens' son to FBI probe| |
Excerpt: A federal judge has for the first time publicly linked former Alaska Senate President Ben Stevens, son of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, to the corruption investigation that has been underway since 2004.
At the same time, a federal prosecutor revealed there are "multiple, ongoing nonpublic investigations" related to the ongoing inquiry into ties between Alaska lawmakers and the oil industry. |
Is George Bush restarting Latin America's 'dirty wars'?| |
Excerpt: In May of 2005, the Paraguayan Senate voted to allow U.S. troops to operate in Paraguay with total immunity. Washington had threatened to cut off millions in aid to the country if Paraguay did not grant the U.S. troops entry. In July of 2005 hundreds of U.S. soldiers arrived in the country, and Washington's funding for counterterrorism efforts in Paraguay doubled.
Bolivia accuses U.S. of undermining reformist gov't
Excerpt: The Bolivian government stepped up its criticism of U.S. aid on Wednesday, as a top Cabinet official alleged that Washington supports opposition to President Evo Morales' sweeping leftist reforms.
"The Bolivian people have decided to undertake a process of profound change," Quintana said. "But these changes are being harassed and interfered with by the effects of U.S. assistance."
Morales has moved to nationalize Bolivia's oil and gas industry and is seeking a new constitution that would grant greater power to the impoverished Andean nation's Indian majority. |
Retired top-rank British general attacks U.S. strategy in Iraq| |
Excerpt: The head of the British Army during the 2003 invasion of Iraq has launched a fierce attack on the United States over its running of the troubled country since, a newspaper reported Saturday.
General Sir Mike Jackson branded U.S. post-invasion policy "intellectually bankrupt" and said its then defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, was "one of the most responsible for the current situation in Iraq."
Second British general slams U.S. policy in postwar Iraq
Excerpt: Major General Tim Cross said he had talked to former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld before the invasion about the need to have international support and enough troops on the ground to reconstruct Iraq.
"He didn't want to hear that message. The U.S. had already convinced themselves that Iraq would emerge reasonably quickly as a stable democracy," Cross told the Sunday Mirror.
"Anybody who tried to tell them anything that challenged that idea -- they simply shut it out," Cross, the most senior British officer involved in planning post-war Iraq, added. |
Chavez pardons those convicted in 2004 plot against him| |
Excerpt: The 27 Colombians were serving prison terms after being convicted of military rebellion. They were among more than 100 Colombians arrested in 2004 on accusations of plotting to stage a rebellion and assassinate Chavez.
Justice Minister Pedro Carreno, who shook hands with each of the prisoners at a ceremony, said that with Chavez's pardon "a beautiful message is being sent to the world."
The young men were then met by Colombian authorities and boarded a bus to take them across the nearby border to Colombia.
Chavez called the pardons a goodwill gesture that he hopes will spur an exchange of prisoners between the Colombian government and leftist rebels. |
Rep Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado) leaves a weirdly threatening
message for couple who wrote critical letter to the editor| |
Excerpt: In his messages, Lamborn said he wanted to appeal to the couple as "brothers and sisters in Christ" and implored them to call him back to discuss their "blatantly false" letter. ...
[The Congressman's message] said, "Now there are consequences to this kind of thing, but I would like to work with you in a way that is best for everyone here concerned. So please call me at your earliest convenience. It is now 2:40 (p.m.) on Saturday afternoon." |
Internet works way faster, way cheaper in Japan
(also Finland, Korea, Canada, much of Europe ...)| |
Excerpt: The speed advantage allows the Japanese to watch broadcast-quality, full-screen television over the Internet, an experience that mocks the grainy, wallet-size images Americans endure.
Ultra-high-speed applications are being rolled out for low-cost, high-definition teleconferencing, for telemedicine -- which allows urban doctors to diagnose diseases from a distance -- and for advanced telecommuting to help Japan meet its goal of doubling the number of people who work from home by 2010. |
Pentagon denies increase in troops' suicides a result of war| |
Excerpt: As the widow of a Vietnam vet who killed himself after coming home, I find every new report about suicides among this generation of soldiers particularly painful. So I was surprised the other day to find myself laughing out loud reading about how poor Elspeth Ritchie, a psychiatric consultant to the Army Surgeon General's office, got stuck with the awful job of announcing, with a perfectly straight face and no irony whatsoever, that, although the suicide rate among soldiers has reached a 26-year record high, Pentagon studies still haven't found a connection between soldier suicides and the war.
Comment: Sweet jeebers, do you have to turn in your conscience to work at the Pentagon? Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Lethal Bush motorcades claim a second policeman's life, after fundraiser| |
Excerpt: A New Mexico motorcycle police officer crashed and died on Monday while escorting U.S. President George W. Bush and his motorcade from a political fund-raiser back to the airport, the White House said.
"It is a high calling to choose to serve and protect your fellow citizens [especially for a fundraiser], and I will always be indebted to Officer Casey's service," Bush said in a statement.
Why are we using public money, and risking the lives of public servants, so Bush can raise money to re-elect more Republicans?
Oh, wait. The purpose of public money, and the role of public servants, is to elect Republicans. ... |
McKinney disses Pelosi, embraces Sheehan challenge| |
Excerpt: [Former Rep Cynthia] McKinney and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, did not always see eye to eye even before McKinney lost a 2006 Democratic primary to a challenger who promised to work more closely with party leaders. But now McKinney is taking the bold step of urging San Francisco voters to replace Pelosi with anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, who is mounting an aggressive independent challenge to the speaker in the November, 2008, election. |
Germany wants to spy on suspects via "trojan horse" on web| |
Excerpt: German officials on Friday defended a proposal to use "Trojan horse" software to secretly monitor potential terror suspects' hard drives, amid fierce debate over whether the measures violate civil liberties |
Judge sends Duke prosecutor to jail ... for just one day| |
Excerpt: It was the latest in a line of punishments for a broken man who once confidently trumpeted to anyone within earshot that a woman hired to perform as a stripper at a March 2006 lacrosse team party had been raped.
State prosecutors-who took over the case when [Durham County District Attorney Mike] Nifong recused himself in January amid ethics charges-dropped charges against players Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans in April. In a stinging rebuke, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper called them innocent victims of Nifong's "tragic rush to accuse" and said there was no credible evidence a crime had occurred.
Two months later, Nifong was disbarred for more than two dozen violations of the state's rules of professional conduct, including withholding exculpatory DNA evidence and making numerous inflammatory comments about the lacrosse players to the media.
Nifong, who was ordered to report to jail at 9 a.m. next Friday, showed no visible reaction when Smith handed down the sentence, and left the courtroom with his wife. Defense attorney Jim Glover declined to comment after the hearing. |
Navy gets court's OK to use whale-killing sonar| |
Excerpt: National security interests outweigh the possible harm to marine life, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals determined in overturning a judge's order banning the practice.
"The public does indeed have a very considerable interest in preserving our natural environment and especially relatively scarce whales," Judge Andrew Kleinfeld wrote for the majority. "But it also has an interest in national defense. We are currently engaged in war, in two countries." |
Sydney fenced in for APEC summit| |
Excerpt: A concrete and steel fence is being built across the center of Sydney amid a massive security effort for a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders next week.
More than 5,000 police and troops will also be deployed as part of Australia's largest security operation ever.
The 5km (three-mile) barrier is intended to protect the 21 leaders attending the meeting from thousands of protesters expected at the summit.
Comment: It's unconscionable and embarrassing, the lengths some 'leaders' will go to, the money they'll waste and the violence they'll employ, to keep from listening to the people. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Law forbids sale of super-low-pollution vehicles| |
Excerpt: Not only can't you buy one, but the government says it's currently illegal for automakers to sell these green cars outside of the special states. Under terms of the Clean Air Act -- in the kind of delicious irony only our government can pull off -- anyone (dealer, consumer, automaker) involved in an out-of-bounds PZEV sale could be subject to civil fines of up to $27,500. Volvo sent its dealers a memo alerting them to this fact, noting that its greenest S40 and V50 models were only for the special states. |
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Lightning round news
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Cheap device makes most untreated surface water instantly drinkable
Group troubled by rise in gov't secrecy
Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins announce elimination of trans fats
IBM stores data on single atoms
Republican lawmaker advocates letting
homes burn down in face of wildfires
Search for six Utah miners suspended
Secondhand smoke is a health threat to pets
FBI spied on Coretta Scott King for years
Government tells woman she's dead
Beijing Police to launch animated web patrols
Are you the key that could have saved the Titanic?
Florida statute forbids issue-oriented polls
Stupidest terrorist overreaction yet?
Temporary restraining order blocks
Missouri law that would close abortion clinics
Schmidt jousts with anti-war demonstrators
Brain damaged Senator is welcomed home to South Dakota
Apparently stoned Cleland aide arrested at Edwards event
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