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Have you called Nancy Pelosi and told her to
impeach Bush and Cheney? Please, call her again. (202) 225-4965.
Iran -- Run-up to the next war:
Despite nuclear cooperation, US wants new sanctions against Iran| |
Excerpt: The six major powers working to resolve the controversy surrounding Iran's nuclear program will discuss a draft UN sanctions text September 21 in Washington, the State Department said Wednesday.
Iran meanwhile warned that its current policy of increased cooperation with the UN atomic watchdog would be "in danger" if a third set of UN sanctions were imposed.
"We have taken a very important step, and if there is an illogical step then we will reconsider this strategy," Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani told reporters in Tehran.
Iran is currently answering outstanding questions from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over its contested nuclear program, which the United States claims is aimed at making nuclear weapons.
Comment: Wasn't there some other Middle Eastern country a few years back that was cooperating with the UN, except we said that they weren't and then invaded them anyway? Hmm. Madeline Zane PERMANENT LINK
Flashback to August 28:
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 |
State Dept official repeats lie about Iran-Taliban connection| |
Excerpt: The United States is concerned over reports that Iranian-made weapons are crossing the Afghan border and reaching Islamist Taliban insurgents, a top U.S. diplomat said on Tuesday.
"We are concerned by reports, which we consider to be reliable, of Iranian explosively formed projectiles and other kinds of military equipment coming from Iran across the border and coming into the hands of the Taliban," U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte told reporters on a visit to Kabul. He did not elaborate.
The Taliban, like the Iranian government, have rejected U.S. reports that they are acquiring Iranian arms, and Afghan President Hamid Karzai has hailed relations with Iran as good.
Comment: In case you missed it, Negroponte cited no intelligence source and provided no evidence of the alleged link between Iraq and Al Qaeda -- I mean, between Iran and the Taliban. Madeline Zane PERMANENT LINK |
U.S. tells Britain to move troops to Iran-Iraq border| |
Excerpt: General David Petraeus will press Gordon Brown to increase the number of British troops patrolling the Iraqi border with Iran when he meets the Prime Minister this week.
The US commander in Iraq wants Britain to move a significant proportion of the 5,000 troops garrisoned at Basra airport to cut off the smuggling of Iranian weapons to Shia militias.
But British commanders fear that the move carries a serious risk of embroiling the UK in a war with Iran at a time when they want to withdraw from Iraq.
The Daily Telegraph has revealed that in November about 2,500 of the Basra contingent could be moved out of harm's way across the border into Kuwait, from where they will escort convoys and train Iraqi troops. The Sunday Telegraph has learnt that the US commander in Baghdad, Gen Ray Odierno, is furious at British plans for withdrawal.
For their part, the Americans hope Iranian meddling will force British troops to stay in Basra longer.
Comment: In other words, moving British troops to the Iran border is a "two-fer" -- it helps get the next war started while preventing British troops from going home. Madeline Zane PERMANENT LINK |
U.S. plans military base on Iran-Iraq border| |
Excerpt: The US military said on Monday that it is to build a base on Iraq's border with Iran to stem what it charges is rampant smuggling of weapons and fighters.
It said the base is "not really permanent, although it will be manned 24/7 and will be used for as long as necessary."
The newspaper gave further details about the base, saying it will have living quarters for some 200 soldiers, will be built six kilometers (four miles) from the border and should be completed by November. |
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President's Thursday TV speech had more lies than usual| |
Excerpt: In his speech last night, President Bush made a case for progress in Iraq by citing facts and statistics that at times contradicted recent government reports or his own words.
Comment: Here's a rare but decent effort at fact-checking from the Washington Post, with a few samples of Bush statements from last night at odds with the facts and/or previous Bush statements. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK
President Bush's latest TV address was the worst speech
he's ever given on the war in Iraq, and that's saying a lot
Excerpt: Every premise, every proposal, nearly every substantive point was sheer fiction. The only question is whether he was being deceptive or delusional. |
Bush will announce (phony) "troop cut"| |
Excerpt: President Bush will tell the nation this week he plans to reduce the American troop presence in Iraq by as many as 30,000 by next summer, but will condition those and further cuts on continued progress, The Associated Press has learned.
Comment: Staffers of the Bush Administration have frequently boasted of how they ape corporate behavior in how they deal with the public. Here's the latest example.
Retailers often raise the price on something briefly just so they can turn around and reduce it again, in order to market it afterwards as being "discounted" -- when the true change is zero. Basically to trick consumers into thinking they're getting a better deal than they really are.
Bush raised the Iraq war's 'price' by roughly 30,000 soldiers in his surge, and now says he might 'cut' the price by 30,000 soldiers by next summer.
Note this might give him a PR boost -- at absolutely zero cost (to him or his scheming). For this announcement doesn't really obligate him to change anything at all (due to the caveats included in his wording).
The Bush-Cheney war machine continues to roll on, utterly unimpeded. Only the merest whim of one man (maybe two) stands between us and a whole new war breaking out with Iran (or Syria, or Lebanon, or...?). JR Mooneyham PERMANENT LINK |
Life in liberated Afghanistan & Iraq
Petraeus couldn't say whether was has made America safer| |
Excerpt: "I don't know, actually. I have not sat down and sorted in my own mind."
Comment: I would never resort to an ad hominem attack, but such an answer seems to suggest that General Petraeus is a farqing imbecile who should not be making command decisions affecting the life and death of American troops. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Iraq death toll tops 1,200,000, says new poll| |
Excerpt: Detailed analysis indicates that almost one in two households in Baghdad have lost a family member, significantly higher than in any other area of the country.
A propaganda train called Iraq Body Count
Excerpt: Are you aware of all the times IBC discredited the two scientific studies conducted by the world leaders in the field of epidemiology and published as peer-reviewed scientific papers in the world's leading medical journal, the Lancet? It's become the first occupation of this bunch of ambitious and unscrupulous amateurs. |
Bush blames Iraqis for Iraqatastrophe| |
Excerpt: A day after President George W. Bush cited enough progress in Iraq to justify U.S. troop reductions, the White House told Congress on Friday that Iraqi leaders had failed to meet half of their key goals.
Iraqis to Bush: Stop passing the blame
Excerpt: Frustrated by criticism from the United States over their slow progress towards political goals meant to foster national reconciliation, Iraqi leaders said Washington would be better served by examining its own progress in the unpopular war.
"The Americans always try to pretend the responsibility for cleaning up this mess isn't theirs and tend to shift blame onto Iraq, Iran and Syria for everything that goes wrong," said veteran Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman. "But they should stop this nonsense and admit that most of the accountability rests on their shoulders," he told Reuters.
Comment: U.S. politicians blaming Iraqi leaders for making that country a hellhole is a little like the bull blaming the china shop's proprietors for the mess. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Commerce Dept seeks new adviser to help steal Iraqi oil| |
Excerpt: The Commerce Department is seeking an international legal adviser who is fluent in Arabic "to provide expert input, when requested" to "U.S. government agencies or to Iraqi authorities as they draft the laws and regulations that will govern Iraq's oil and gas sector."
The Commerce proposal put out Aug. 21 predicts that "as part of a U.S. government inter-agency process, the U.S. Department of Commerce will be providing technical assistance to Iraq to create a legal and tax environment conducive to domestic and foreign investment in Iraq's key economic sectors, starting with the mineral resources sector." |
U.S. mercenaries kill nine Iraqis after allegations someone shot at U.S. motorcade| |
Excerpt: Iraqi officials alleged that the response by the security company, which was not named, involved excessive force and killed innocent civilians. The Iraqi government will investigate the incident and "probably will withdraw the authority for this security company in Baghdad," said Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, an Interior Ministry spokesman.
"The security company contractors opened fire randomly on the civilians," he said. "We consider this act a crime."
Iraqis say they're yanking Blackwater's license
Excerpt: The Iraqi government said Monday that it was revoking the license of an American security firm accused of involvement in the deaths of eight civilians in a firefight that followed a car bomb explosion near a State Department motorcade.
The Interior Ministry said it would prosecute any foreign contractors found to have used excessive force in the Sunday shooting. It was the latest accusation against the U.S.-contracted firms that operate with little or no supervision and are widely disliked by Iraqis who resent their speeding motorcades and forceful behavior.
Comment: Can the puppet tell the puppeteer's right hand to go away? Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Top Sunni sheik who co-operated with U.S. gets blown to smithereens| |
Excerpt: The most prominent figure in a revolt of Sunni sheiks against al-Qaida in Iraq was killed Thursday in an explosion near his home in Anbar province, police said.
Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha was leader of the Anbar Salvation Council, also known as the Anbar Awakening -- an alliance of clans backing the Iraqi government and U.S. forces.
He was among a group of tribal leaders who met U.S. President George W. Bush earlier this month at al-Asad Air Base in Anbar province.
Comment: Last week George Bush flew into Iraq to meet Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, leader of Anbar province. This week General David Petraeus told the US Congress how Anbar was a model for Iraq. Now Abu Risha has been assassinated by bombers in Anbar. Harvester if Truth PERMANENT LINK |
Cholera epidemic infects 7,000 in Iraq| |
Excerpt: A cholera epidemic in northern Iraq has infected approximately 7,000 people and could reach Baghdad within weeks as the disease spreads through the country's decrepit and unsanitary water system, health officials said.
The World Health Organization reported that the epidemic is concentrated in the northern regions of Kirkuk and Sulaimaniya and that 10 people are known to have died. But Said Hakki, president of the Iraqi Red Crescent Society, which has responded to the epidemic, said Tuesday that new cases had turned up in the neighboring provinces of Erbil and Nineweh, indicating that the disease had spread. |
"Compromise" among Iraqi lawmakers over U.S. theft of oil seems to be collapsing| |
Excerpt: A carefully constructed compromise on a draft law governing Iraq's rich oil fields, agreed to in February after months of arduous talks among Iraqi political groups, appears to have collapsed. The apparent breakdown comes just as Congress and the White House are struggling to find evidence that there is progress toward reconciliation and a functioning government here. |
Big Bush backer is betting against Iraq's survival| |
Excerpt: What's interesting about this deal is the fact that [Ray L. Hunt, the chief executive and president of Hunt Oil] thanks to his policy position, is presumably as well-informed about the actual state of affairs in Iraq as anyone in the business world can be. By putting his money into a deal with the Kurds, despite Baghdad's disapproval, he's essentially betting that the Iraqi government -- which hasn't met a single one of the major benchmarks Mr. Bush laid out in January -- won't get its act together. Indeed, he's effectively betting against the survival of Iraq as a nation in any meaningful sense of the term. |
Baghdad residents protest at wall| |
Excerpt: Hundreds of Iraqis have staged a protest against the building of a dividing wall between a Shia district of Baghdad and a Sunni area.
Residents of the Shula and Ghazaliya districts waved Iraqi flags and chanted slogans rejecting both the proposed separation and the US occupation. |
Two of seven soldiers who wrote truth-telling New York Times op-ed killed in Iraq| |
Excerpt: Sgt. Omar Mora and Sgt. Yance Gray died Monday in a vehicle accident in western Baghdad, two of seven U.S. troops killed in the incident which was reported just as Gen. David Petraeus was about to report to Congress on progress in the "surge." ...
The controversial New York Times column on Aug. 19 was called "The War As We Saw It," and expressed skepticism about American gains in Iraq. "To believe that Americans, with an occupying force that long ago outlived its reluctant welcome, can win over a recalcitrant local population and win this counterinsurgency is far-fetched," the group wrote.
[The article] closed: "We need not talk about our morale. As committed soldiers, we will see this mission through."
Dead soldier's mom wants questions answered
Excerpt: The mother of an Army sergeant who died in a Baghdad vehicle accident weeks after writing a New York Times op-ed critical of the Pentagon's positive assessment of the Iraq war said Wednesday she wants the Army to explain his death.
"I want to know all the details of how he died. I want to know the truth," said Olga Capetillo, whose 28-year-old son, Sgt. Omar Mora, died Monday. "I don't understand how so many people could die in that accident. How could it be so bad?" ...
Another author of the Times piece, Staff Sgt. Jeremy Murphy, an Army Ranger and reconnaissance team leader, was shot in the head while the article was being written. He was expected to survive after being flown to a military hospital in the United States. |
President Petraeus? Iraqi official recalls the day US general revealed ambition| |
Excerpt: For a soldier whose military abilities and experience are so lauded by the White House, General Petraeus has had a surprisingly controversial career in Iraq. His critics hold him at least partly responsible for three debacles: the capture of Mosul by the insurgents in 2004; the failure to train an effective Iraqi army and the theft of the entire Iraqi arms procurement budget in 2004-05. |
Iraqi reporter: Baghdad '100 times worse' than a year ago| |
Excerpt: Ayub Nuri, an Iraqi journalist residing in the United States, told CNN on Monday that even when he was last in Baghdad in 2006, "the situation was very, very dangerous," but that things are much worse now.
"When I speak to my friends and family these days on the phone, they tell me that it is 100 times worse than when I was there," Nuri stated. "Even the regular people cannot leave their own neighborhoods. ... If you go to another neighborhood, that's completely unknown to you, and you might not be able to come home alive." |
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Business Week: How company spending on lobbyists can pay off| |
Excerpt: On average, companies generated roughly $28 in earmark revenue for every dollar they spent lobbying. And those at the very top did far better than the average: More than 20 companies pulled in $100 or more for every dollar spent. By any standard, that's a hefty ratio: The companies in the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index brought in just $17.52 in revenues for every dollar of capital expenditure in 2006. Or look at the results in direct marketing, where an extremely successful campaign might bring in $5 in revenue for every dollar spent. "If mainstream American businesses got a 28-to-1 ratio in sales, they'd be ecstatic," says Steve Zammarchi, president and CEO of Wunderman New York, a sales and marketing firm. |
Why doesn't the Republican Party want Ohio's voting machines tested?| |
Excerpt: Ohio Republicans have blocked a proposal to test electronic voting machines prior to the 2008 presidential primary.
By a 4-3 vote, Republicans on Ohio's State Controlling Board blocked Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's proposed $1.8 million unbid contract for voting machine testing. Brunner had already set aside the $1.8 million for the test. Her specific request to the Controlling Board was a waiver for competitive bidding. Her office had hoped to complete all testing by November 30, 2007. |
Putin dissolves Russian government| |
Excerpt: President Vladimir Putin dissolved Russia's government Wednesday in a major political shakeup ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections, the Kremlin said.
The dissolution is expected to result in a new prime minister, who will be seen as Putin's choice to succeed him after he steps down next spring. |
Soviet Doomsday Device still armed and ready| |
Excerpt: The Soviet doomsday device -- a giant cobalt bomb rigged to explode were Russia ever nuked, rendering the earth's surface uninhabitable -- gained fictional fame in Dr. Strangelove. However, P.D. Smith's Doomsday Men, available in the UK and due for stateside publication in December, tells the story of the real Doomsday device -- and it's still armed. |
Russia tests super-duper new "vacuum bomb"| |
Excerpt: This explosion generates a pressure wave that reaches much further than that from a conventional explosive. The consumption of gases in the blast also generates a partial vacuum that can compound damage and injuries caused by the explosion itself.
"The main destruction is inflicted by an ultrasonic shockwave and an incredibly high temperature," the reports said. "All that is alive merely evaporates."
Rukshin said: "At the same time, I want to stress that the action of this weapon does not contaminate the environment, in contrast to a nuclear one."
Comment: Assuming the Russians are telling the truth would be pretty stupid, but assuming for the moment it's true, I guess a non-nuclear mass murder is 'better' than a nuclear mass-murder. And God knows, thanks to the "intelligent design" of His glorious Testosterone, war ill be with us always. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Bush administration is trying to kill the Freedom of Information Act| |
Excerpt: For those who may have forgotten, Congress passed the Freedom of Information Act in 1966 to hold government officials and agencies accountable to public scrutiny. It became our national sunshine law and has allowed us to know something of what our elected officials actually do, rather than what they say they do. Congress expressly excluded classified information from FOIA requests in order to protect national security.
Scorning accountability, the Bush administration quickly figured out how to circumvent the Act. On October 12, 2001, just one month after the 9/11 attacks, Attorney General John Ashcroft took advantage of a traumatized nation to ensure that responses to FOIA requests would be glacially slowed down, if the requests were not simply rejected outright. |
Bush's Bureau of Prisons makes prisons purge books on faith from libraries| |
Excerpt: The chaplains were directed by the Bureau of Prisons to clear the shelves of any books, tapes, CDs and videos that are not on a list of approved resources. In some prisons, the chaplains have recently dismantled libraries that had thousands of texts collected over decades, bought by the prisons, or donated by churches and religious groups.
Some inmates are outraged. Two of them, a Christian and an Orthodox Jew, in a federal prison camp in upstate New York, filed a class-action lawsuit last month claiming the bureau's actions violate their rights to the free exercise of religion as guaranteed by the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Comment: This is horrible: prisons are purging religious books that aren't on an 'approved list' in the name of preventing terrorism.
People who change their ways in and after prison often do so as a response to exposure to a religion. Religious freedom is also limited to men and women and their families [i.e., the veteran's widow who didn't get to meet Bush]. These men and women need spiritual help, perhaps more than anyone else in our society. Cassandra PERMANENT LINK |
Meat-packing union files lawsuit over immigration raids| |
Excerpt: The roundup of undocumented workers in Utah included 154 people who were employed by the Swift plant in Hyrum. Of those, about 40 were later charged with identity theft-related crimes.
But to find those workers, agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained everyone in the plant.
That is a constitutional no-no, argues Peter Schey, who heads the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law.
"Law enforcement agencies in this country are not permitted to detain the innocent in order to find a handful of guilty people," he said, citing the Fourth Amendment prohibiting unlawful search and seizure. |
Intel Director admits: new PATRIOT Act surveillance didn't stop German plot| |
Excerpt: Earlier this week, in testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell claimed the new expansive FISA legislation passed by Congress prior to the August recess -- the so-called Protect America Act -- had helped to thwart a an alleged terror plot in Germany.
A government official later told the New York Times that McConnell was wrong, and that the intelligence had been collected under the old FISA law which required warrants. |
Army uses killer drone against Iraqs| |
Entire item: The U.S. military announced the Army's first-ever use of a drone aircraft to kill enemy fighters in Iraq. The Hunter unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, dropped a precision bomb on two suspected insurgents believed to be preparing to plant roadside bombs on Sept. 1, the military said. It was called in for the attack near Qarraya, 180 miles northwest of Baghdad, after a scout team from the 2nd Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, observed the insurgents at work.
Comment: It's the dawn of a new era in cold-blooded, utterly mechanized murder, a day that will live in war crime infamy. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Defense and Homeland Security Depts accounting is "so
disorganized and inconsistent" they "simply cannot be audited"| |
Excerpt: Ten years after Congress ordered federal agencies to have outside auditors review their books, neither the Defense Department nor the newer Department of Homeland Security has met even basic accounting requirements, leaving them vulnerable to waste, fraud and abuse.
An Associated Press review shows that the two departments' financial records are so disorganized and inconsistent that they have repeatedly earned "disclaimer" opinions, meaning that they simply cannot be fully audited.
"It means we really can't put any faith in the numbers they use," said Ross Rubenstein, who teaches public administration at Syracuse University's Maxwell School. |
Weasel Democrat Schumer pre-signals that Mukasey would be be AOK as AG| |
Excerpt: Michael Mukasey, the man President Bush will nominate Monday to replace Alberto Gonzales as attorney general, will likely see a less hostile confirmation environment than someone considered more partisan. ...
"While he is certainly conservative, Judge Mukasey seems to be the kind of nominee who would put rule of law first and show independence from the White House -- our most important criteria," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Bush picks new atty general after Dems vow to block "Bush v. Gore" lawyer
Excerpt: The sources said that President Bush is close to announcing his nominee, possibly doing so as early as tomorrow, and that Mukasey has vaulted to the top over other contenders, including former solicitor general Theodore B. Olson, whose chances may have been damaged after the Senate's top Democrat vowed to block his confirmation.
One source close to the White House, describing Mukasey as the clear "front-runner," said Bush advisers appear to have decided that "they didn't want a big fight over attorney general" in the Senate, especially when other qualified candidates are also available. The source said Olson, who represented Bush in the Supreme Court fight over the contested 2000 election, would be seen as "very political," despite his outstanding legal credentials.
Comment: Okay, Congressional Democrats? I know this is complicated, but see if you can follow along with me here. The thing is, you have the majority in both houses of Congress. No, seriously, I looked this up. You do. What that means is that you can actually force the most unpopular president in American history to stop making everything in our nation worse and worse and worse.
Did you see what happened here? You actually showed some backbone. And look what happened. The world is not coming to an end. FOX News didn't somehow magically get you thrown out of office. In fact, our country is now going to be slightly less awful. You can do this about other things, too. I know, it sounds crazy, but it's worth a try. Madeline Zane PERMANENT LINK
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White House might be forced to withdraw pro-torture CIA candidate| |
Excerpt: Members of the Senate intelligence committee have requested the withdrawal of the Bush administration's choice for CIA general counsel, acknowledging that John Rizzo's nomination has stalled because of concerns about his views on the treatment of terrorism suspects.
The decision followed a private meeting this week in which committee leaders concluded that the troubled nomination could not overcome opposition among Democratic members.
On Tuesday, a coalition of organizations issued a statement urging the Senate to reject Rizzo's nomination. "When Mr. Rizzo failed to object to legal arguments that defended torture, he failed to protect his clients -- the president, his CIA colleagues and the American people," said the statement signed by Human Rights Watch, Physicians for Human Rights and three other groups. |
Contempt charges against Miers, Bolten delayed by Democrats| |
Excerpt: House Democratic leaders have decided to postpone a vote on a criminal contempt resolution against White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers for several weeks, and possibly longer, according to top lawmakers and aides.
Comment: These faux Democrats like Rahm Emanuel and Nancy Pelosi need to be pied and pried from office. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Democrat Ike Skelton lets Petraeus testify without taking any oath| |
Excerpt: If Petraeus is so honest and full of integrity, what possible objection could he have to being sworn in? |
Accidentally leaked documents reveal Media Defender's
collaboration with New York Attorney General's office| |
Excerpt: Peer-to-peer (P2P) poisoning company MediaDefender suffered an embarrassing leak this weekend, when almost 700MB of internal company e-mail was distributed on the Internet via BitTorrent. The e-mails reveal many aspects of MediaDefender's elaborate P2P disruption strategies, illuminate previously undisclosed details about the MiiVi scandal, and bring to light details regarding MediaDefender's collaboration with the New York Attorney General's office on a secret law enforcement project. We have been reviewing the data for days and will have multiple reports on the topic. |
Court overturns conviction in Jena beating| |
Excerpt: A state appeals court Friday tossed out the aggravated battery conviction that could have sent a black teenager to prison for 15 years in last year's beating of a white classmate in the racially tense Louisiana town of Jena.
Mychal Bell, who was 16 at the time of the December beating, should not have been tried as an adult on the battery charge, the state Third Circuit Court of Appeal in Lake Charles ruled. |
Federal Election Commission issues wrist slaps, whitewashes for campaign violations| |
Excerpt: The Federal Elections Commission said it has resolved seven campaign finance matters, including three involving a congressional race in Texas.
Comment: Penalties ranged from $28,500 total for three violations to absolutely nothing. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Another Republican finds his conscience, calls for end of Iraq war| |
Excerpt: Rep. Jim Walsh, in a dramatic break with the White House, returned Monday from a trip to Iraq saying it's time to bring troops home and stop funding the war.
The moderate Republican from Onondaga [New York] has struggled for months with conflicting emotions about the war.
"Before I went, I was not prepared to say it's time to start bringing our troops home," Walsh said. "I am prepared to say that now. It's time." |
Journalist imprisoned at Guantanamo is near death from hunger strike| |
Excerpt: The British and American psychiatrists said in a letter that Sami al-Hajj, who has been on hunger strike for 247 days, could be suffering from a form of depression known as "passive suicide", where an individual loses the will to live. |
News from America's very bestest ally, Israel
Israel's Syria raid remains a mystery| |
Excerpt: During the early hours of last Thursday morning, a number of Israeli jets appear to have entered Syrian air-space from the Mediterranean Sea, possibly penetrating deep into the country.
Later unidentified drop tanks, which may have contained fuel for the planes, were found on Turkish soil near the Syrian border, indicating perhaps the Israeli jets' exit route.
The Syrian authorities are livid. ... Israeli sources are saying nothing.
IAF targeted "Iranian weapons" in Syria
Excerpt: Israeli warplanes targeted weapons destined for Hizbullah in a strike last week in northeastern Syria, a US government official said Wednesday, even as Israel remained silent over the incident.
The official said the target in the strike last Thursday was a site where Israel believed Syria was storing weapons from Iran heading for the Lebanese terrorist group.
U.S. officials confirm Israel strike on Syria
Excerpt: U.S. officials on Wednesday confirmed Israel launched air strikes against Syria last week and said they were to target weapons Israel believes were headed for the militant group Hezbollah.
Two US carrier-strike groups are bound for Persian Gulf region, bringing number back to three
Excerpt: DEBKAfile's military sources report that from the third week of July, the only American strike force carrier in the Persian Gulf-Arabian Sea region was the USS Enterprise. By the end of September, it will be joined by the USS Nimitz and the USS Truman Strike Groups. Our sources note that with their arrival, three American naval, air and marine forces will again confront Iranian shores at a time of crisis in the military and civilian leadership of Iran -- signaled by the abrupt change of Revolutionary Guards Corps commanders, rising Israel-Syrian tensions and a troubled situation in Lebanon.
Israelis 'blew apart Syrian nuclear cache'
Excerpt: According to Israeli sources, preparations for the attack had been going on since late spring, when Meir Dagan, the head of Mossad, presented Olmert with evidence that Syria was seeking to buy a nuclear device from North Korea.
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If Israel can ignore the IAEA, why should anyone else listen?| |
Excerpt: Media reports on Monday suggested that this week's annual conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will include a serious discussion of Israel's presumed nuclear capabilities. One can only hope that this takes place, that the long-running grievances of Arab and other countries are finally given their just due. With accusations relating to weapons of mass destruction having been a large part of the US pretext for invading Iraq and Iran now facing heavy pressure over similar claims, the double standard involving the Jewish state which has steadfastly refused to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) has become too obvious to ignore any longer. |
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New Jersey's Corzine to defy new rules that keep health care from kids| |
Excerpt: Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine informed President Bush this week that New Jersey will not obey federal rules that would make it harder to enroll middle-income kids for a popular government-subsidized health insurance program. |
Flying nukes across U.S. was no accident: Nuclear weapons are handled and stored differently| |
Excerpt: Nuclear weapons and warheads are not stored together with conventional weapons. They are also guarded much more tightly than are conventional weapons. There is simply no way that a ground crew could accidentally stroll into a weapons storage center and pick up the wrong missiles. ...
I would say that the chances that those Advanced Cruise Missiles and their W80-1 nuclear warheads were loaded accidentally on that B-52 are exactly zero. So the question is: who ordered this flight, and why? |
Falsely jailed lawyer argues in court against PATRIOT Act| |
Excerpt: Before the arrest, federal authorities searched [Brandon] Mayfield's Portland-area home and law office, going through files and placing bugging devices in the home.
Mayfield was held in prison for two weeks before he was released, and he received a formal apology from the FBI. He contends he was unfairly targeted because he is a convert to Islam. |
New Jersey court overturns law that required doctors to lie about abortion| |
Excerpt: A doctor has no duty to tell a woman considering an abortion that her embryo is an "existing human being," a unanimous New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, averting a trial over when human life begins.
The decision, citing past rulings, said the court "will not place a duty on doctors when there is no consensus in the medical community or among the public" on when life begins. |
Media group asks Justice Dept to explain opposition to net neutrality| |
Excerpt: On Sept. 6, the FCC received an ex parte filing nearly two months after the FCC's formal comment period on net neutrality had closed, raising significant questions about timing and intent. The filing encouraged the FCC to allow phone and cable companies to filter Web traffic and wall off parts of the Web for those that pay an extra toll.
"We want to know what motivated the Department of Justice to oppose net neutrality this late in the process," said Marvin Ammori, general counsel of Free Press and author of the request.
"The filing lacks any evidence of serious investigation into this critical issue and fits into a pattern of politically motivated decisions coming out of the Justice Department. We want to know if the Bush administration's lawyers reached out to any of the thousands of groups, businesses or individuals who support net neutrality -- or if they only talked to industry lobbyists at AT&T and Verizon." |
War profiteers run new ads offering phony outrage at MoveOn| |
Excerpt: Freedom's Watch launched a $15 million advertising blitz last month to pressure lawmakers, including Republicans, whose backing of the war was seen as wavering.
The group is financed by former White House aides and Republican fundraisers and was organized as a nonprofit organization under IRS rules. It is not required to identify its donors or the amounts they give.
Comment: Memo to outraged Republicans: Conservatives invented and perfected the big lie, and herded a flock of pressure-packed ninnues to write angry letters that keep corporate media from ever questioning even the hugest, slimiest lies. So sincerely, take your deep offense at a silly wisecrack based on Petraeus's name, and seriously, literally cram it so far up your rectum it drips out your ears. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
U.S. also EXPORTS unsafe toys made here to other countries| |
Excerpt: Though recalls coordinated by the CPSC [Consumer Product Safety Commission] of Chinese-made goods have made headlines recently, for decades the federal agency has allowed American-based companies to export products deemed unsafe here.
The [Sacramento] Bee found that between October 1993 and September 2006, the CPSC received 1,031 requests from companies to export products the agency had found unsafe for American consumers. The CPSC approved 991 of those requests, or 96 percent.
Those products can present an even greater danger in a country that has only a handful of government employees devoted to consumer protection, said R. David Pittle, a former acting CPSC chairman who spent 22 years as a senior vice president for Consumers Union.
"If the United States doesn't have very many inspectors, how many do you think there are in Honduras or Jamaica or Trinidad or Bulgaria?" Pittle asked. |
U.S. lets insurance companies steal Medicare money| |
Excerpt: Private insurance companies participating in Medicare have been allowed to keep tens of millions of dollars that should have gone to consumers, and the Bush administration did not properly audit the companies or try to recover money paid in error, congressional investigators say in a new report.
Under federal law, Medicare officials are supposed to audit the financial records of at least one-third of the insurance companies each year. [But] the proportion of companies audited by Medicare declined steadily -- to 14 percent in 2006 from 24 percent in 2001 -- despite a steady growth in Medicare payments to the plans.
Auditors found significant errors at 41 [out of 49] companies, but Medicare officials took no action on the findings. As a result of the errors, the auditors said, insurers kept "$59 million that beneficiaries could have received in additional benefits, lower co-payments or lower premiums." |
Fearing tough new regulations, industry supports weak reforms| |
Excerpt: The tactical shift by industry groups is motivated by a confluence of self-interests: growing competition from inexpensive imports that do not meet voluntary standards, and a desire to head off liability lawsuits and pre-empt tough state laws or legal actions that were a response to laissez-faire Bush administration policies. Concerns that Democrats could soon expand their control in Washington have also prompted manufacturers or producers to seek regulations that they consider the least burdensome, regulatory experts say.
Comment: For fear of being hoisted by their own petard, no doubt. An unregulated marketplace sounds good on paper but the consequences of the reality are quite different. It can only work if everyone behaves and deals with each other in a fair, moral and ethical manor. We all know that this is far, far from what we currently have or likely to have any time soon. Chris M. PERMANENT LINK |
Schwarzenegger stops Californians from voting on troop withdrawal| |
Excerpt: Leading Democrats on Wednesday said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had muzzled California voters by vetoing an advisory ballot measure calling for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
In his veto message, Schwarzenegger said an advisory vote on withdrawing troops "would only further divide voters and shift attention from other critical issues that must be addressed."
He said voters could make their views about the war known by how they vote in next year's presidential election. |
Political imprisonment of former Alabama Governor finally gets some media attention| |
Excerpt: The Republicans couldn't beat Governor Don Siegelman, a Democrat in blood-red Alabama. So they imprisoned him.
Corrupt prosecution and trial in Alabama
Excerpt: In Oakdale Federal Detention Center in central Louisiana sits America's most prominent political prisoner: former Alabama Governor Don E. Siegelman. He was tried, convicted and sentenced to serve 7 years and 4 months in prison. His crime? At this point, it's reasonably clear that the crime of which he was charged and convicted, and for which he was sentenced with unprecedented severity, was being a successful Democratic candidate in a state that Karl Rove had slated for a G.O.P. makeover.
Republican lawyer deposed on Siegelman case
Excerpt: A Judiciary Committee spokeswoman said it could be weeks before the parties involved decide whether to release a transcript of Friday's interview, conducted by Democratic and Republican attorneys for the committee.
Comment: So for now, at least, what she said remains super-secret, under shroud. Why? Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Brit sues MI5 and MI6 over Guantanamo torture, interrogation| |
Excerpt: The suit has been brought by Tarek Dergoul, 29, who claims he was repeatedly tortured while he was held by the US, and that British agents who had also questioned him were aware of the mistreatment.
He wants a high court ruling that will ban the security services from "benefiting" from the abuse of prisoners being held in detention outside the UK. |
Poll shows 1 in 3 Americans still believe Saddam was involved in 9/11| |
Excerpt: This notion was thoroughly debunked by official sources, including those in the White House, years ago, but the myth endures. Polls have shown that belief in this untruth was a prime component in support for the attack on Iraq.
Comment: Hello? There's a reason Americans are confused about this: Because the media let the Bush-Cheney administration lie and lie and lie about it, and rarely and only halfheartedly ever offered any debunking of the lies. So bear in mind, the poll might reflect Americans' ignorance, but it also reflects the media's incompetence. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
No Child Left Behind Act funnels cash to Bush's brother Neil| |
Excerpt: Despite having no experience in education, Neil Bush is the founder of a Texas-based company called Ignite! Learning, which, since 1999, has peddled strange little devices called "Curriculums on Wheels" (COWs) to schools state and nationwide. ...
Recently, a three-month investigation by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) revealed that schools are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, including No Child Left Behind funds, on Neil Bush's COWs. "It is astonishing that taxpayer dollars are being spent on unproven educational products to the financial benefit of the president's brother," CREW's executive director, Melanie Sloan, said in a press release. |
Judge rejects carmakers' emission suit| |
Excerpt: Vermont and several other states scored a victory on Wednesday in their battle to get automakers to comply with rules aimed at reducing global warming.
A federal judge ruled that states can regulate greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, rejecting automakers' claims that federal law pre-empts state rules and that technology can't be developed to meet them. |
CIA "bans" water-boarding in torture interrogations| |
Excerpt: The officials say [CIA director Gen. Michael Hayden] made the decision at the recommendation of his deputy, Steve Kappes, and received approval from the White House to remove water-boarding from the list of approved interrogation techniques first authorized by a presidential finding in 2002.
Comment: This might have fooled me, if not for that bit about receiving approval from the White House. And I'm not buyin' that, so I'm not buyin' any of it. Maybe Hayden is flat-out lying, maybe it's 'understood' that the rules no longer matter, maybe CIA agents assigned to the torture detail are transferred to some other agency until the torture is done, whatever, but one way or another, if the Bush-Cheney White House is OK with this alleged policy change then it's a lie, and the CIA is torturing people as you read this. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Even Bush's top intel people aren't stupid enough to agree with White House about bin Laden| |
Excerpt: Eliminating the threat that the al Qaida leader and his inner circle pose from their sanctuary in Pakistan's remote tribal region bordering Afghanistan "is our number one priority," Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell told a Senate committee.
The assessments by McConnell, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and FBI Director Robert Mueller came a day after White House homeland security adviser Frances Fragos Townsend called bin Laden "a man on the run from a cave who is virtually impotent other than these tapes." |
FBI accused of using illegal letters for illegal information requests| |
Excerpt: Another apparent violation of the law by Bush administration officials came to light this week, as a Freedom of Information Act request by the Electronic Frontier Foundation revealed that the FBI had sent letters to telecommunications providers requesting that they "provide a community of interest" for telephone numbers the FBI was investigating. The documents were among the so-called exigent letters that the FBI has admitted were "improper" (read: illegal). But in a Monday blog post, EFF's Kurt Opsahl charged that the "community of interest" requests were fresh evidence that the FBI had broken the law.
Opsahl points to a glossary of government terms that defines a "community of interest" as "A grouping of users who generate a majority of their traffic in calls to other members of the group." That suggests that the FBI was asking carriers to analyze a suspect's call patterns and the call patterns of his friends in order to identify which individuals were closely associated with the suspect. Opsahl notes that the Electronic Communications Privacy Act places strict limits on the information a telecommunications carrier can share with the government, and information about "communities of interest" are not among the types of information carriers may disclose. |
Nine billion dollars gone, and allegedly nobody knows where it went| |
Excerpt: Of the $12 billion in U.S. banknotes delivered to Iraq in 2003 and 2004, at least $9 billion cannot be accounted for. A portion of that money may have been spent wisely and honestly; much of it probably wasn't. Some of it was stolen.
Once the money arrived in Iraq it entered a free-for-all environment where virtually anyone with fingers could take some of it. Moreover, the company that was hired to keep tabs on the outflow of money existed mainly on paper. Based in a private home in San Diego, it was a shell corporation with no certified public accountants. Its address of record is a post-office box in the Bahamas, where it is legally incorporated. That post-office box has been associated with shadowy offshore activities. |
Even the chair of the 9/11 Commission now admits that the
official evidence they were given was 'far from the truth'| |
Excerpt: I do not believe in conspiracy theories. I prefer rigorous, evidence-based analysis that sifts through the known facts and utilizes expert opinion to draw conclusions that stand up to critical scrutiny. In other words, I believe in everything the 9/11 Commission was not. |
Prof advocates restoration of full rights to ex-felons| |
Excerpt: "When ex-felons have finished their time, they should have all of their rights automatically restored," Mitchell said. "Now, my detractors would say, 'Does that mean if someone is convicted of a sex offense crime, they should be allowed to hold a job in an education-related field?' No ... there are conditions; however, a greater relationship between the nature of the offense and the restrictions being applied should exist."
Comment: Makes perfect sense so it won't be happening in our lifetimes, for sure. Useless Eater PERMANENT LINK |
Media is usually lying when "explaining" Democrats options on war| |
Excerpt: The Democratic leadership may believe--rightly or wrongly--that [ending the occupation of Iraq] would entail unacceptable political costs. But that's very different from being unable to affect policy. To insist, as many media outlets have, that the Constitution makes it impossible for Congress to stop the war obscures the actual choices facing the nation--by confusing "can't" with "won't." |
Carbon dioxide levels 'highest in 650,000 years'| |
Excerpt: Current levels of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere are higher now than at any time in the past 650,000 years. That is the conclusion of new European studies looking at ice taken from 3km below the surface of Antarctica. The scientists say their research shows present day warming to be exceptional. |
Amnesty Int'l film shows agony of US torture techniques| |
Excerpt: In an attempt to draw attention to human rights abuses, Amnesty International has filmed a dancer in the positions captives have been forced to adopt by US troops. The resulting film makes shocking viewing. During a break in filming, Jiva Parthipan, a Sri Lankan performance artist, appeared relieved as he rubbed his limbs, which were aching after just a couple of minutes in a position that suspects in President George Bush's "war on terror" are expected to endure for hours. |
Life in prison ("reclusion perpetual") for former Philippine President Joseph Estrada| |
Excerpt: Former president Joseph Estrada's legal battle over plunder and perjury charges ended Wednesday as the Sandiganbayan's Special Division found him guilty beyond reasonable doubt of amassing billions of pesos in illegal gambling and tobacco excise tax kickbacks, among others.
His son, Sen. Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada, and lawyer Edward Serapio, were absolved of the charges. The former president was also acquitted of the charge of perjury.
Comment: The concept is odd to Americans, but in some countries a President who's a crook faces prosecution and punishment. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Researcher: Bin Laden's beard is real, video is not| |
Excerpt: The September 7 video shows bin Laden dressed in a white hat, white shirt and yellow sweater. Krawetz notes "this is the same clothing he wore in the 2004-10-29 video. In 2004 he had it unzipped, but in 2007 he zipped up the bottom half. Besides the clothing, it appears to be the same background, same lighting, and same desk. Even the camera angle is almost identical." Krawetz also notes that "if you overlay the 2007 video with the 2004 video, his face has not changed in three years--only his beard is darker and the contrast on the picture has been adjusted." |
Fox News devoted more time and attention than real news networks to latest 'bin Laden tape'| |
Excerpt: FOX dedicated one hour and seven minutes to continuous coverage of Bin Laden's video, only interrupted by commercials. News anchor Shepard Smith read a script of Bin Laden's speech and then interviewed analysts on air for 30 minutes. This was followed by the business news show Your World with host Neil Cavuto, who discussed the effects of Bin Laden's speech on the stock market. Cavuto interviewed analysts for another 30 minutes. Talk show host John Gibson extended the coverage of the Bin Laden story for an additional seven minutes before moving onto other news. |
Olbermann begins to beat O'Reilly in the ratings| |
Comment: So THAT'S why O'Reilly was showing video of an underage (I think) girl doing some sort of mud-wrestling or oil-wrestling yesterday evening! (I see such things as I'm flipping through channels; I can't give any more details of this particular event because I didn't stick around; but it did strike me as a desperate move on O'Reilly's part) JR Mooneyham PERMANENT LINK |
Why does commercial news suck?| |
Excerpt: At 6:30, NBC's Brian Williams went into shocked-and-breathless mode to announce that American life expectancy had hit a whopping 77.9 years. Then at 7:00, I heard Jim Lehrer calmly announce the same fact and put it in context. While this is the highest life expectancy the US has yet achieved, it falls behind 40 other nations. The context changes everything. If you were watching Brian Williams, you'd be popping the champagne corks. If you were watching Jim Lehrer, you'd be contemplating moving to Costa Rica -- one of several third world countries with longer life expectancies than the US. |
Al-Qaida promises 9/11 tribute video| |
Excerpt: Al-Qaida said Monday that it will release a new video of Osama bin Laden presenting the last testament of one of the Sept. 11 suicide hijackers, marking the sixth anniversary of the attacks.
The announcement from the terror group's media arm came only days after bin Laden appeared in his first video in three years, giving an address to the American people, lecturing them to abandon capitalism and democracy and convert to Islam.
Comment: Now ??? You mean it's take this long for them to get a decent piece of footage they could edit in to some old bin Laden stock ? This is lame. Chris M. PERMANENT LINK |
E.U. security official wants scary web searches blocked, access denied| |
Excerpt: Internet searches for bomb-making instructions should be blocked across the European Union, the bloc's top security official said on Monday.
Internet providers should also prevent access to any site giving instructions on how to make a bomb, EU Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini said in an interview. |
The teetering Supreme Court| |
Excerpt: In 1980, John Paul Stevens stood at the center of the Supreme Court. Today,
he is its most left-wing member -- and he hasn't changed. |
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Lightning round news
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'I was sitting at my computer and my door opens up and
some guy comes in pointing a shotgun at my face.'
Fox censors Sally Field's anti-war speech at Emmycast
Ralph Nader criticizes 'spineless, gutless' Democrats for not impeaching Bush| |
Comment: He was right in 2000, and he's still right today. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Ex-Rep Chaffee quietly quits the Republican Party
Sadr's movement pulls out of Iraq alliance
About 200 arrested during D.C. anti-war protest
Galloway commentary: Bush still refuses to admit he was wrong
Ameritrade security audit finds privacy-busting back door
Florida Democrats backing down on way-early primary plan
Inflatable, affordable electric car announced
Iraqi volunteers bury more anonymous victims of violence now than during Saddam's rule
Condoleezza Rice owned a home and shared a line of credit
with a ladyfriend (not that there's anything wrong with that)
Google calls for global online privacy standard
(Sure hope it's not Google's abhorrent privacy standard)
Global warming is making for some nasty (and fast!) storm surprises
Fair Use worth more to economy than Copyright, CCIA says
Safeway opens first of 23 solar-powered markets
16,300 species threatened
Google offers $30-million jackpot in contest for un-manned moon exploration
Peace activist detained for "over-confidence"
Global warming impact will be "like nuclear war"
Government never improved produce inspections after E. coli outbreak
Castro says Cuba helped thwart Reagan assassination;
and U.S. officials misled public after 9/11
Brazil wants probe of U.S. farm subsidies
VA still treats veterans like crap and lies about it
Pollination expert says bees could disappear
Time says it'll fight $100-million libel ruling in Indonesian court
Eight old plane wrecks found so far in search for missing millionaire pilot Steve Fossett
Smart brains have liberal bias
Rhode Island state lawmaker jumps Republican Party, goes independent
Bloody wonderful: Goodbye, Anita Roddick
Kathy Griffin's comments about Christ will be censored from Emmy telecast
Gen Petraeus offers the straight poop on Iraq occupation
Author under gag order assails producer, ABC for 'Path to 9/11'
Pennsylvania Court wants Scooter Libby's law license
Liars, scoundrels, and hypocrites
Alan Greenspan finally says it out loud: Iraq war was for oil
New York Times parrots right-wing lie that Social Security needs to be "fixed"
ABC news counterterrorism consultant reported FAKE interviews
with Obama, Clinton, Pelosi, Bloomberg, Greenspan, Bill Gates, and Kofi Annan
Montana conservative says dead soldier was too stupid to have written that New York Times article
Relax, military families: Rep John Boehner (R-Ohio)
says US casualties in Iraq are a "small price" to pay
Glamour denies manipulating America Ferrera's body, but it's pretty obvious they did
Prostitute says she porked Sen Vitter, and passes polygraph
CBS defends Katie Couric's Iraq 'puff pieces', says bloggers are 'not intelligent'
Larry Craig (R-mensroom) zips up his britches and praises progress in Iraq
Lieberman decries 'terrible, partisan, political sniping,' then rocks out with Hannity, Coulter
How Petraeus counts "sectarian" violence
Republicans are furious over MoveOn ad pointing out that Petraeus is a bald-faced, treasonous liar
FCC continues pursuing preposterous punishment for Janet Jackson's accidental boob exposure
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At least
832,962
people have
been killed in Afghanistan & Iraq
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