All The News
Friday, October 27, 2006
Newsweek: Malcolm Beith: Clean Nukes Go Public
Thorium Power Ltd. says it's nearing its goal—a commercial reactor that doesn't produce bomb fuel.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15359295/site/newsweek/
Reuters: Saudi Arabia confirms threat to oil facilities
Western naval forces in the Gulf have been deployed to counter a possible seaborne threat to its Ras Tanura oil terminal...
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2006-10-27T151907Z_01_L27837086_RTRUKOC_0_US-ENERGY-SAUDI-THREAT.xml&src=rss&rpc=22
(LAUGH OR CRY)
MSNBC: AP: Warships deploy around S. Arabia oil facilities
Britain cites al-Qaida threat; U.S. naval forces on heightened alert
The British navy, part of the Italian-led Coalition Task Force 152 that patrols international waters off the Ras Tanura terminal, sent an e-mail warning on Friday asking merchant shippers in the region of Bahrain and eastern Saudi Arabia to be on alert for suspicious vessels or other activity.
Task Force 152 also contains ships from French, U.S., German and other navies.
The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, headquartered in Bahrain, said it was aware of the British warning...
The British official said the coalition ships were confining their patrols to international waters and had not been invited by Saudi Arabia to patrol inside its territorial waters near the terminal.
“The Saudis are very protective of their patch,” the British official in Dubai said, describing the patrols as normal naval operations that had been under way since 2002, albeit on a heightened state for the past month...
On Friday, light sweet crude for December delivery fell 10 cents to $60.26 a barrel.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15442751/
Guardian: The secret Whitehall telegram that reveals truth behind controversial Saudi arms deal
· Document shows Riyadh paid £600m extra for jets
· Evidence points to corrupt payments in 1985 contract
David Leigh and Rob Evans
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foi/story/0,,1933764,00.html
Guardian: As violence grows, oil-rich Kirkuk could hold key to Iraq's future
Tribal chiefs call for return of Saddam while Kurds eye a new federal state
Michael Howard in Kirkuk
Accompanied by about 500 clansmen and a gaggle of local journalists, the 35 Sunni sheikhs - from Mosul, Tikrit, Samarra and Hawija - converged last week on Hindiya, on the scrappy western edges of Kirkuk, to swear their undying opposition to "conspiracies" to partition Iraq and to pledge allegiance to their president, Saddam Hussein...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1932789,00.html
AFP: Confession that formed base of Iraq war was acquired under torture: journalist
An Al-Qaeda terror suspect captured by the United States, who gave evidence of links between
Iraq and the terror network, confessed after being tortured, a journalist told the BBC.
Iban al Shakh al Libby told intelligence agents that he was close to Al-Qaeda leaders
Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri and "understood an awful lot about the inner workings of Al-Qaeda," former FBI agent Jack Clonan told the broadcaster...
"What he claimed most significantly was a connection between ... Al-Qaeda and the Iraqi regime of
Saddam Hussein. This intelligence report made it all the way to the top, and was used by (former US secretary of state)
Colin Powell as a key piece of justification ... for invading Iraq," he told the broadcaster.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/usbritainiraqmilitary
23 Oct: Afterdowningstreet: Greg Mitchell: Judge Orders Release of Abu Ghraib Child Rape Photos
NEW YORK A federal judge ruled today that graphic pictures of detainee abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison must be released over government claims that they could damage America's image. Last year a Republican senator conceded that they contained scenes of "rape and murder" and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said they included acts that were "blatantly sadistic."
U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein ordered the release of certain pictures in a 50-page decision that said terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan have proven they "do not need pretexts for their barbarism."
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/14864
President Bush and NATO Secretary General Deliver Remarks in Oval Office
Q Mr. President, with the elections just about 10 days away, polls show that voters are more disenchanted with the Republican-led Congress than at any time since 1994, when the Democrats lost power. What explanation or answer do you have for people who feel that way?
PRESIDENT BUSH: I understand people here in Washington have already determined the outcome of the elections.
***As I said in my press conference the other day, I've seen it before where people start measuring the drapes in their new offices before the vote has been counted -- in other words, they're taking the people's vote for granted.
This election is going to be determined by how our candidates run locally. And I believe if they continue to emphasize the big issues -- keeping taxes low, and protecting the American people -- we'll win. And so we'll see how the outcome comes. I know there's a lot of speculation here in Washington, D.C., and there's a lot of fascination about listening to these pundits and people who are giving their opinions.
All I can tell you is what I see: I see enthusiasm amongst Republicans, I see candidates who are saying, vote for me, I will work to make sure America doesn't get attacked again. And I'm seeing candidates saying, I understand that if we run up your taxes like the Democrats do, it's going to hurt this economy, and so we'll keep your taxes low.
Thank you all very much.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/10/20061027.html
Pew: Democrats Hold Double-Digit Lead in Competitive Districts
GOP Troubles Extend into Home Territory
Nationally, the Democrats hold a 49%-38% lead among registered voters, and a nearly identical 50%-39% lead among those voters most likely to cast ballots on Nov. 7.
An oversample of voters in 40 competitive districts identified by a consensus of political analysts shows that voting intentions in the battleground districts are about the same as they are in the "safe" House districts. Among registered voters, the Democrats lead by 11 points in competitive districts (50%-39%) and by the same margin in safe districts (49%-38%). ..
http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=293
Bradblog: Bush's U.S. Elections Assistance Commission is Hopelessly Compromised, Misleading America and Utterly Failing in Their Job of Overseeing U.S. Elections
Current Chairman Paul DeGregorio Now Running a Desperate Misinformation Propaganda Campaign Just Days Before Election…
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3677
Bradblog: Touch-Screen Votes Reportedly Hopping to Republicans During Early Voting in Texas, Missouri and Arkansas…
[NOTE: Please Bring a Video Camera to the Polls To Document These Things This Year!!!]
Here are three different reports over the last day or two of touch-screen votes flipping from Democrats or Libertarians over to Republicans...
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3675
(REPUBLICAN OFFENSIVE AGAIN)BetaNews: Governor Warns of Crisis in Wake of Diebold 'Repair' Revelations
By Scott M. Fulton, III
The revelations yesterday prompted the state's Republican governor, Robert Ehrlich, Jr. -- who is running for re-election there, and is behind in the polls -- to pronounce yesterday that the voting situation is "approaching crisis proportions." There may not be enough absentee ballots, the Governor says, to service a growing number of voters who have become so distrustful of the electronic voting system that they may stay home on November 7...
Ehrlich has reportedly asked the state elections chief, Linda Lamone -- whom he previously indicated he would fire, if he had the power to do so -- to find another supplier to fulfill outstanding absentee ballot requests in five of the state's 24 jurisdictions...
While all this was going on, IDG reporter Robert McMillan reported yesterday that he had discovered a slick, professional-looking Web site purporting to represent a firm called "Election Consultants," which appears to sell services guaranteeing paid clients of desired outcomes in electronically managed elections.
"The future of election management is today's reality," the site proclaims. "Election Consultants has pioneered breakthrough technology that provides unprecedented results in election outcomes. Most notably, our flagship products, SmartVote and VoteCorrect, deliver unparalleled outcome results that are guaranteed." A notice toward the end stipulates results can only be guaranteed where electronic voting machines are used.
Though McMillan spoke to a person who answered the site's toll-free number purporting to represent the company, other sources believe the site -- whose URL is "www.fixavote.com" -- to be either a carefully produced satire, or a promotional effort for some kind of upcoming dramatic production. Whether the premiere date of that production would fall before or after the November elections is unknown.
http://www.betanews.com/article/Governor_Warns_of_Crisis_in_Wake_of_Diebold_Repair_Revelations/1161969961
Delmarvanow: Absentee ballot demand grows
By Joseph Gidjunis
CAMBRIDGE -- In 28 years, Bobbie Hall has never seen such a demand for absentee ballots. As Dorchester Coun-ty's Interim Elections Office director, she said this year's state and local races have already outpaced the greatest demand in any presidential year...
The demand hasn't exceeded the local supply, but other counties have not been so fortunate. Earlier this week, Prince George's and Anne Arundel counties had received only 20 percent of the ballots they requested, county elections officials said. Howard County has received only 18 percent, Montgomery County has received 60 percent and Baltimore City has received less than half of the ballots requested.
"We're seeing more interest because of what the news media is doing (to explain absentee voting), and the parties are sending notices out to their voters," Hall said...ETC
http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061027/NEWS01/610270302/1002
Bradblog: Clint Curtis Makes the Cover of Bush's 'Hometown' Paper, Says He Plans to File Lawsuit Against Tom Feeney
The Vote-Rigging Whistleblower Turned Congressional Opponent to Alleged Vote-Rigger Creeps Closer and Closer to the Bush's…
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3674
Guardian: US warned of ballot box chaos as elections near
· Report says 10 states not ready for electronic vote
· Scientist hacks into new polling machine on TV
Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
http://www.guardian.co.uk/midterms2006/story/0%2C%2C1932655%2C00.html
Bradblog: NPR Finds a 'Dramatic Shift' to Democrats Among Rural Voters
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3676
OpEdNews: Pull the Plug on E-Voting, Part 2
by Bruce O'Dell
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_bruce_o__061026_pull_the_plug_on_e_v.htm
Bradblog: CNN's Lou Dobbs: 'It's a Case of Special Interest Over The National Interest'
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3673
Bradblog: 'Daily Voting News' For October 26, 2006
Lou Dobbs has taped a one-hour "Democracy At Risk" special to be aired at various times on CNN this coming Sunday. Be sure to tune in.
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3672
READ ALL: Wonkette: 'Mr. Secretary, What'd You Have Torched At Ft. Meade's 902nd Military Intel Group?'
http://www.wonkette.com/politics/pentagon/mr-secretary-whatd-you-have-torched-at-ft-meades-902nd-military-intel-group-210486.php
NewsChannel5: "Listening devices" found in Memphis homeland security office
MEMPHIS, Tenn. The F-B-I is investigating the discovery of four listening devices found in the Shelby County Homeland Security office.
Officials asked the F-B-I to "sweep" the office after W-H-B-Q T-V reported it had "damaging and embarrassing" audio recordings that were secretly made and given to the station.
Memos obtained by The Commercial Appeal (newspaper) indicate top county officials suspect former interim Homeland Security administrator John Todd, who didn't respond to phone calls from the newspaper.
What's on the tapes isn't generally known, but Todd told federal officials he had evidence of wrongdoing in the office.
County public works director Ted Fox says the F-B-I's check of the office the middle of this month found the consumer-quality listening devices above ceiling tiles.
http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?s=5598292
PressHerald: Activists fear they've become FBI targets
By GREGORY D. KESICH
The FBI has released more documents connected to Maine peace groups, leading local activists to say they have been targeted for surveillance for opposing the government...ETC
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/state/061026fbi.html
WaPo: In the Libby Case, A Grilling to Remember
Carol D. Leonnig
Fitzgerald's target in the witness box was Elizabeth F. Loftus, a professor of criminology and psychology at the University of California at Irvine. For more than an hour of the pretrial hearing, Loftus calmly explained to Judge Reggie B. Walton her three decades of expertise in human memory and witness testimony. Loftus asserted that, after copious scientific research, she has found that many potential jurors do not understand the limits of memory and that Libby should be allowed to call an expert to make that clear to them.
But when Fitzgerald got his chance to cross-examine Loftus about her findings, he had her stuttering to explain her own writings and backpedaling from her earlier assertions. Citing several of her publications, footnotes and the work of her peers, Fitzgerald got Loftus to acknowledge that the methodology she had used at times in her long academic career was not that scientific, that her conclusions about memory were conflicting, and that she had exaggerated a figure and a statement from her survey of D.C. jurors that favored the defense...
There were several moments when Loftus was completely caught off guard by Fitzgerald, creating some very awkward silences in the courtroom.
One of those moments came when Loftus insisted that she had never met Fitzgerald. He then reminded her that he had cross-examined her before, when she was an expert defense witness and he was a prosecutor in the U.S. attorney's office in New York.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/26/AR2006102601612_pf.html
AP: Matt Apuzzo: Ex-aide sentenced to 18 months in prison
Safavian wept in court as he asked for leniency, but Friedman said the ex-bureaucrat had become part of Washington's culture of corruption, where congressmen listen to campaign donors and lobbyists while farming out to staff members the job of writing laws...
Friedman said he believed Safavian was a good person and could not understand why he got involved with Abramoff.
"Maybe it's hard to resist. Maybe it's hanging out with the big boys," Friedman said. "I'm not sure."..
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061027/ap_on_go_pr_wh/lobbyist_probe_7
Prison Planet: Former Intelligence Agent Says Google In Bed With CIA
Steele also sounds off on 9/11 doubts
Paul Joseph Watson
A former clandestine services officer for the CIA who also maintains close relationships with top Google representatives says that the company is "in bed with" the intelligence agency and the U.S. government. He has also gone public on his deep suspicions about the official explanation behind 9/11.
Robert David Steele appeared on the nationally syndicated Alex Jones radio show and began by voicing his deep doubts about the official 9/11 story...
"The U.S. government did not properly investigate this and there are more rocks to be turned over," said Steele adding, "I'm absolutely certain that WTC 7 was brought down by controlled demolition and that as far as I'm concerned means that this case has not been properly investigated."
"There's no way that building could have come down without controlled demolition."
Steele pointed the finger of suspicion directly at the Vice President saying, "There's no question in my own mind that Dick Cheney is the tar baby in this whole thing."...
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/october2006/271006googlecia.htm
Wayne Madsen: Legitimate human and civil rights versus a secreted GOP homo-erotic cabal is the real social issue in this election. The GOP is hyping the New Jersey Supreme Court civil union ruling and anti-gay marriage initiatives in a number of states as reasons to boast about their fanciful chances of retaining control of the Congress. Nothing could be further from the truth. This election is about constant GOP lying and hypocrisy on the issues of the rights afforded to U.S. citizens regardless of sexual orientation.
According to senior Democratic sources in the House of Representatives, the Pagegate scandal is merely the "tip of the iceberg" of the predatory nature of a number of GOP congressmen, Bush administration officials, and senior staffers.....
Democratic sources also report that the FBI was brought into the case by the GOP leadership to "silence everyone" about the case. And silence and cover-up is the order of the day....
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/
VIEDO: BlogActive: Knock, Knock....Ken, are you in there?
So, I decided it was time to confront Ken directly -- alongside a friend with a video camera doesn't hurt either! A blogACTIVE reader tipped me off that this past Monday that Ken would be the guest of honor at a fundraiser at a residence on Capitol Hill.
http://www.blogactive.com/2006/10/knock-knockken-are-you-in-there.html
DU: Outrageous smear by Drudge against Jim Webb -- DEBUNKED!
First, there is this cultural information from DUer flowomo:
ABSTRACT: Child rearing practices in the the Telugu-speaking people of India include behaviors of touching and kissing the penis. The meaning of these customs is not erotic or sexual, but if engaged in in America would most likely be misconstrued and the parents suspected of child sexual abuse. This example illustrates the importance of transcultural issues in assessing the meaning of genital gestures and practices.
http://www.ipt-forensics.com/journal/volume3/j3_4_4.htm
And this, also courtesy of flowomo: ..ETC
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2491792
tpmmuckraker: Gibbons: The Cover-Up is Worse than the Attempted Rape Allegation
By Justin Rood
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001890.php
tpmmuckraker: Central Figure Emerges in Gibbons "Cover-Up"
By Justin Rood
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001893.php
YouTube: Phone call to NTSB regarding AA77 Flight Data Recorder
Phone call was made 10/26/06 to the NTSB to get answers based on the Flight Data Recorder information/animation they provided of American Airlines Flight 77. AA77 was reported to have struck the Pentagon and is in direct conflict with the official story of striking down light poles on its path to impact. The actual flight path shown in the animation based on the Flight Data Recorder also conflicts with the physical damage on the ground. Here is what the NTSB had to say...
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/October2006/271006NTSB.htm
dpa: 9/11 only "make-believe," Iranian government official says
Tehran- An Iranian government official on Friday accused the US of orchestrating the attacks of September 11, 2001, saying New York's World Trade Center towers were actually blown up by a bomb rather than planes hijacked by terrorists. "What we watched on the TVs regarding the slamming of two planes into the New York Twin Towers, was in fact a make-believe scene," Deputy Culture Minister Mohammad-Hadi Homayoun was quoted by state news agency IRNA as saying, in an address to the Iran-Russia Dialogue among Civilizations Conference in Moscow.
"The sky-scrapers were destroyed through bomb explosions and afterwards the massive US media propaganda and the crusade issue began," the minister said, making reference to the controversial remarks by US President George W Bush outlining a "crusade" against terrorism following the September 11 attacks.
http://rawstory.com/news/2006/9_11_only_make_believe_Iranian_gove_10272006.html
MSNBC: Can the ‘20th hijacker’ of Sept. 11 stand trial?
Aggressive interrogation at Guantanamo may prevent his prosecution
PART TWO OF TWO
By Bill Dedman
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15361462/
Reuters: Dan Williams: Don't mention the war: Israel seeks image makeover
After decades of battling to win foreign support for its two-fisted policies against Arab foes,
Israel is trying a new approach with a campaign aimed at creating a less warlike and more welcoming national image.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who has argued that the protracted conflict with the Palestinians is sapping Israel's international legitimacy, this week convened diplomats and PR executives to come up with ways of "rebranding" the country.
"When the word 'Israel' is said outside its borders, we want it to invoke not fighting or soldiers, but a place that is desirable to visit and invest in, a place that preserves democratic ideals while struggling to exist," Livni said...
There is also a domestic drive planned, whereby the famously brasher facets of Israeli society would be softened -- at least among Israelis who are regularly in contact with foreigners.
"It could be a matter of simply posting Foreign Ministry greeters at the airport, or passing out advisories to those involved in the tourist trade," Toledano said...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061026/wl_nm/mideast_israel_image_dc
JTA: Putin Offers Olmert No Hope for Restraint Regarding Iran
http://www.jewishexponent.com/article/11090/
IRNA: China insists on diplomatic settlement of Iran's nuclear case
http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-22/0610265276130028.htm
READ ALL: Forward: Nathan Guttman: Report: FBI In Expanded Aipac Probe
Surveys Shine Critical Light On Jerusalem, Pro-Israel Lobby
An explosive new report claims that the federal investigation into the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobbying organization, has been expanded to include suspicion of meddling in affairs of the House Intelligence Committee...
Washington insiders are downplaying the likelihood that an investigation regarding Harman and Aipac would lead to any formal charges of wrongdoing...
Sources close to the issue, and congressional staffers, have speculated that the Harman issue was raised in an attempt to damage the image of Democratic lawmakers in advance of the upcoming midterm elections. The sources also suggested that the leak might be an attempt to get back at senior Democrats on the intelligence committee for leaking the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq, which embarrassed the administration...ETC
http://www.forward.com/articles/report-fbi-in-expanded-aipac-probe/
AP: Erica Werner: Harman Intelligence post at risk
As top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Jane Harman would seem positioned to take the gavel if her party wins control of the House on Nov. 7.
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/world/15857150.htm
Hartford Courant: AP: Lamont Challenges Lieberman To Fourth Debate
The Lieberman camp said Friday it would not participate...
http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-27163350.apds.m0489.bc-ct--connoct27,0,5393485.story?coll=hc-headlines-home
Raw Story: Senator Santorum defends 'mushroom cloud' ad
Ron Brynaert
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Senator_Santorum_defends_mushroom_cloud_ad_1027.html
MSNBC: Exxon posts second-biggest profit ever
Second-largest quarterly gain ever posted by public company
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15426390/
Reuters: Carol Giacomo: Twelve states to launch new anti-terror initiative
he five major nuclear weapons states and seven other countries will meet in Morocco next week to begin implementing an initiative to keep nuclear materials out of the hands of extremist groups...
Participating states include Britain, China and France -- which like Russia and the United States have nuclear weapons -- plus Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan and Turkey...
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-10-27T210308Z_01_N26263138_RTRUKOC_0_US-NUCLEAR-INITIATIVE.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsArt-L3-Top+NewsNews-4
NYT: Noah Feldman: Nuclear holocaust: A risk too big even for martyrs?
Noah Feldman is a law professor at New York University and adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
For nearly 50 years, worries about a nuclear Middle East centered on Israel. Arab leaders resented the fact that Israel was the only atomic power in the region, a resentment heightened by America's tacit approval of the situation.
But they were also pretty certain that Israel, which has never explicitly acknowledged having nuclear weapons, would not drop the bomb except as a very last resort...
But geopolitics is not the only reason Sunni Arab leaders are rattled by the prospect of a nuclear Iran. They also seem to worry that Iran might actually use nuclear weapons if it gets them.
A nuclear attack on Israel would engulf the whole region. But that is not the sole danger: Sunnis in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere fear that the Iranians might just use a nuclear bomb against them...
Given the increasing instability of the Middle East, nuclear proliferation there is more worrisome than almost anywhere else on earth...
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/10/27/news/bomb.php
(TIME TO DISMANTLE ISRAEL'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS THEN, NOAH?)
VOA: Israel Concerned About Reported Expansion of Iranian Uranium Enrichment
By Robert Berger, Jerusalem
Israeli government spokeswoman Miri Eisen says such bellicose statements are a cause of deep concern in Jerusalem.
"It's inconceivable that a country that calls for the destruction of another country should also try to achieve nuclear capability," he said. ..
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said repeatedly that Israel cannot allow Iran to acquire a nuclear bomb. That has aroused speculation that Israel could launch a pre-emptive strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, as it did in 1981, when the air force destroyed Iraq's nuclear reactor...
http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-10-27-voa39.cfm
OpEdNews: Democracy in Name Only
by eileen fleming
Vanunu: "The Israelis have 200 atomic weapons and they accuse the Palestinians and Muslims of terrorism. The world needs to wake up and see the real terrorism is the occupation and the Palestinians have lived under that terror regime for 40 years.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_eileen_f_061024_democracy_in_name_on.htm
congress.org: Letter: Why Is No One Talking About The 400-600 Israeli Nukes ?
To: President George Bush
I don't get it. If any Arab nation thinks about even working towards nukes , Israel screams bloody murder and expects us , as in the case of Iran , to go take care of them, or as they threatened , they will. Israel has proven to be the most aggressive and warlike country in the entire Middle East ..having invaded or attacked every single one of its neighbors repeatedly...
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/userletter/?letter_id=933296941
Reminder: 27 Sept: DefenseNews: Reuters: BERND DEBUSMANN: Iran Seen Borrowing Nuclear Strategy from Israel
In developing its nuclear program Iran is using strategies that allowed its enemy Israel to assemble the Middle East’s only atomic arsenal without admitting it had one, according to a leading expert on the Israeli program.
"Whether deliberately or inadvertently, there are elements of resemblance between the way Iran is pursuing its nuclear program today and the way Israel was pursuing its own program in the 1960s," Avner Cohen, author of a landmark study entitled "Israel and the Bomb," in a telephone interview.
"This is a great irony of history but Iranian policymakers and nuclear technocrats may be strategically mimicking the Israeli model," said Cohen, senior research scholar at the University of Maryland’s Center for International and Security Studies.
As Cohen sees it, the elements the Israeli and Iranian nuclear programs have in common are secrecy, concealment, ambiguity, double talk and denial...
Published estimates of the number of Israel nuclear devices range from 75 to 200.
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=2134724&C=mideast
dpa: No aggression intended, Israel says after German ship incident
Berlin/Tel Aviv - Israel said Thursday that no aggression against German forces was intended during a confrontation between Israeli aircraft and a German naval vessel patrolling off Lebanon.
The Israeli embassy in Berlin released a statement from the defence ministry in Tel Aviv, saying the defence ministers of the two countries had discussed Tuesday's incident...
German Defence Ministry spokesman Thomas Raabe said six Israeli F- 16s had flown very low over the German vessel and one of them fired two shots into the air.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said the helicopter took off without having coordinated this with Israel. As a result, Israel sent fighter jets into the air which forced the helicopter to return to the vessel and land back onto it...
sraeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz telephoned his German counterpart Franz Josef Jung Wednesday night to explain the incident, officials from both sides said, stressing a desire to maintain good cooperation.
Jung is due to pay a visit to Israel next week, but Tuesday's incident is not expected to cast a cloud over the talks, diplomats said...
Israeli jets over the past few days have intensified their activity over Lebanon by flying at low altitude and staging mock raids over areas in south and the capital, Beirut.
Such incidents are not considered serious in Israel, but UNIFIL's command has warned that the overflights over Lebanon endanger the UN mission.
French UNIFIL commander Alain Pellegrini has reportedly asked the United Nations to provide his force with air defence artillery as protection against Israeli warplanes. ..
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/article_1214938.php/No_aggression_intended_Israel_says_after_German_ship_incident
Justin Raimondo: A Jewish Hitler?
The rise of Avigdor Lieberman
With the entry of Avigdor Lieberman into the government as deputy minister for "strategic threats" – essentially in charge of preparing for war with Iran – Israel makes a qualitative step toward a regime that increasingly resembles, in all its essentials, a rogue state, and, I might add, potentially a very dangerous one...
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=9923
YNet: Reuters: Israel snubs EU delegation due to far-Right MP
Foreign Ministry says will not welcome delegation of EU parliamentarians due to inclusion of Marine Le Pen of France. FM spokesperson: Le Pen member of racist party that denies Holocaust
A spokesman for the European Parliament said the delegation had postponed the trip...
Jean-Marie Le Pen said Israel's refusal to meet his daughter ran "contrary to diplomatic traditions" and "basic democracy"...
http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3320388,00.html
Democracy Now: Breaking the Silence: Fmr. Israeli Soldier Tours U.S. to Expose Abuse of Palestinians by Israeli Military
We speak with Yehuda Shaul, a former Israeli soldier, who has just begun a tour of the United States to give an inside look at how the Israeli military treats Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. [includes rush transcript]
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/27/1341203
electbarnhill: UPDATE: H.R. 6166: Military Commissions Act of 2006
Military Commission Act Not Lawfully Passed
President’s Inaction Equals ‘Pocket Veto’
by Pat Shannan
Now to the current specifics..
http://electbarnhill.com/2006/10/24/presidents-inaction-may-equal-pocket-veto/
Raw Story: White House spokesman spars with press regarding Cheney's torture 'admission'
David Edwards and Ron Brynaert
Video clips from MSNBC and FOX News coverage of the press conference:
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/White_House_spokesman_spars_with_press_1027.html
Forbes: AP: Jennifer Loven: NATO Secretary-General Meets With Bush
NATO expanded its mission this year from the relatively stable northern and western parts of the country to far more dangerous areas in the south. De Hoop Scheffer has said more troops will be needed.
Bush and de Hoop Scheffer did not discuss NATO troop levels, nor the suspension of two German soldiers in connection with photos of troops posing with human skulls, Snow said.
They did discuss Sudan's violence-plagued Darfur region, where more than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million have been displaced in three years of fighting. "There was some conversation of the proper way to provide greater security in Darfur and protect people," Snow said.
The two leaders were meeting ahead of a NATO summit planned for next month in the Latvian capital of Riga, where strengthening relations with democracies such as Australia, New Zealand and Japan is expected to be on the agenda. This move is favored by the United States, Britain and some other members but opposed by France, which objects to the alliance's taking on a global dimension.
De Hoop Scheffer has said the trans-Atlantic security concept must be re-evaluated because of international terrorism. He said NATO has no desire to be the world's policeman but is the right tool for an international security partnership.
http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/ap/2006/10/27/ap3126841.html
Niger halts plans to deport Arabs
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/07891973-A85A-4192-9B3E-8265D933A0C2.htm
25 Oct: Family of slain Afghan mother plans service in Fremont park
By Lisa Fernandez
Mercury News
The family of Alia Ansari -- the mother of six who was gunned down in broad daylight last week -- is hosting a public memorial service for her Friday afternoon in Fremont's Central Park, and immediately afterward, her body will be flown to Afghanistan, where she will be buried.
Ansari, 38, was shot in the head last Thursday in an affluent Fremont neighborhood as she walked with her 3-year-old daughter to pick up her older children from Glenmoor Elementary School.
A 27-year-old Fremont man who police say is a ``person of interest'' was questioned in the case and was arrested a few hours afterward on a separate parole violation. He has not been arrested in connection with Ansari's homicide, and will be held at Santa Rita Jail indefinitely. Police are waiting for forensic tests to return to see if they will connect him to the crime. Today, his status had not changed.
Ansari's family has said they believe the shooting was hate crime because she wore a headcovering, referred to as a hijab, or more correctly, a chaadar, which is a loose scarf to cover her head out of modesty...
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/15846621.htm
AmericasMuslimFamily: In Memory of Alia Ansari
The last of those visits was to the family of Alia Ansari, the Afghani-American mother of six who was gunned down in central Fremont last Thursday as she walked to pick up her children from school...
Alia Ansari migrated from war-torn Afghanistan at the age of 17. ..
http://www.americasmuslimfamily.com/AliaAnsari/alia_ansari.html
WaPo: Reuters: Taliban vow more attacks
By Saeed Ali Achakzai
"We want to inform the foreign forces and their slaves that their defeat is inevitable in Afghanistan," the Islamist group's one-legged military commander, Mullah Dadullah, told Reuters by satellite phone from a secret location...
"The Taliban's mujahideen are ready to fight until death and in the coming days will increase their activities and suicide attacks to such an extent that the infidel forces will not get a chance to rest," Dadullah said...
"The Taliban will not let the killers of Afghan women and children rest in peace and will continue to target them."..
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/27/AR2006102700149.html
Antiwar: Friday: 22 Iraqis, 1 US GI, 1 UK Soldier Killed; 15 Iraqis Injured
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
http://www.antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=9926
Reuters: Security developments in Iraq, 27 Oct 2006
MOSUL - Authorities imposed a vehicle ban in the northern city of Mosul after the bodies of 12 people, including four police officers, were found over the previous 24 hours, police said.
RAMADI - Gunmen attacked three U.S. military positions in the western city of Ramadi with rocket-propelled grenades, mortar rounds and machinegun fire, police said. A Reuters reporter said U.S. helicopters flew over Ramadi and U.S. forces had sealed off entrances to the city. The U.S. military did not immediately respond to a query on the reports.
MUSSAYAB - A woman was killed when two mortar rounds slammed into the house of a Sunni Arab member of parliament, Abdul Nasir al-Janabi, in the town of Mussayab 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/LZEG-6UYRJU?OpenDocument
Iraq's al-Maliki sharply delineates differences with U.S. leadership
By Jay Price
McClatchy Newspapers
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki continued his open dispute with American officials Thursday, blaming the United States-led coalition for Iraq's chaos and faulting its military strategy...
According to a partial transcript of the interview distributed by Reuters, al-Maliki said he thought that Iraqi troops, left to their own devices, could re-establish order in Iraq in six months, not the 12 to 18 months that top U.S. commander Gen. William Casey had predicted Tuesday...
In Iraq, U.S. and Iraqi forces set up roadblocks Thursday and launched round-the-clock aerial surveillance of Baghdad as their search for an American soldier who may have been kidnapped entered its third day.
"We're using all assets in our arsenal to find this American soldier, and the government of Iraq is doing everything that it can also at every level," said Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, the top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq. "Make no mistake: We will not stop looking for our service member."
The search was so intense, Caldwell said, that military officials think it may have contributed to a sudden drop in the level of violence in the city..
Baghdad residents reported that parts of Sadr City, a slum stronghold of Shiite militias and death squads, were blockaded. For much of the day every entrance but one also was blocked into the central district, where the missing soldiers' family lived...
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/world/15857278.htm
Aljazeera: AP: Three Palestinians killed in West Bank
Medics and relatives said that Saadi Subuh, 23, and Mustafa Abu Zalat, 17, were shot and killed in the refugee camp of Al Faraa on Friday.
The circumstances of shooting were not clear, but Abu Zalat's uncle said his nephew may have been throwing stones at Israeli army jeeps at the time.
In the village of Yamoun, Ahmed Abul Hassan, 28, was shot and killed while he stood on the roof of his home.
Relatives said he had gone up to watch the army raid and was hit by a bullet to the head.
Two of Abul Hassan's brothers were wounded, the family said.
The Israeli army said soldiers fired at two gunmen in Yamoun and hit them.
On Thursday, three Palestinians were killed in the southern Gaza strip during an Israeli incursion into the small town of Abassan.
The killings are part of the ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza and West Bank after the abduction of a soldier in a cross-border raid near Gaza on June 25.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3201A2CB-F239-466E-9FBC-3EC93ADCB258.htm
Jerusalem Post: Is Mahmoud Abbas planning a coup?
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Hamas has instructed its followers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to be on high alert following unconfirmed reports that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah party are planning a coup against the Hamas government on Saturday...
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1161811212248&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
Jim Lobe: 50 Years After Suez, US Hegemony Ebbing Fast
http://www.antiwar.com/lobe/?articleid=9925
Thorium Power Ltd. says it's nearing its goal—a commercial reactor that doesn't produce bomb fuel.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15359295/site/newsweek/
Reuters: Saudi Arabia confirms threat to oil facilities
Western naval forces in the Gulf have been deployed to counter a possible seaborne threat to its Ras Tanura oil terminal...
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2006-10-27T151907Z_01_L27837086_RTRUKOC_0_US-ENERGY-SAUDI-THREAT.xml&src=rss&rpc=22
(LAUGH OR CRY)
MSNBC: AP: Warships deploy around S. Arabia oil facilities
Britain cites al-Qaida threat; U.S. naval forces on heightened alert
The British navy, part of the Italian-led Coalition Task Force 152 that patrols international waters off the Ras Tanura terminal, sent an e-mail warning on Friday asking merchant shippers in the region of Bahrain and eastern Saudi Arabia to be on alert for suspicious vessels or other activity.
Task Force 152 also contains ships from French, U.S., German and other navies.
The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, headquartered in Bahrain, said it was aware of the British warning...
The British official said the coalition ships were confining their patrols to international waters and had not been invited by Saudi Arabia to patrol inside its territorial waters near the terminal.
“The Saudis are very protective of their patch,” the British official in Dubai said, describing the patrols as normal naval operations that had been under way since 2002, albeit on a heightened state for the past month...
On Friday, light sweet crude for December delivery fell 10 cents to $60.26 a barrel.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15442751/
Guardian: The secret Whitehall telegram that reveals truth behind controversial Saudi arms deal
· Document shows Riyadh paid £600m extra for jets
· Evidence points to corrupt payments in 1985 contract
David Leigh and Rob Evans
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foi/story/0,,1933764,00.html
Guardian: As violence grows, oil-rich Kirkuk could hold key to Iraq's future
Tribal chiefs call for return of Saddam while Kurds eye a new federal state
Michael Howard in Kirkuk
Accompanied by about 500 clansmen and a gaggle of local journalists, the 35 Sunni sheikhs - from Mosul, Tikrit, Samarra and Hawija - converged last week on Hindiya, on the scrappy western edges of Kirkuk, to swear their undying opposition to "conspiracies" to partition Iraq and to pledge allegiance to their president, Saddam Hussein...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1932789,00.html
AFP: Confession that formed base of Iraq war was acquired under torture: journalist
An Al-Qaeda terror suspect captured by the United States, who gave evidence of links between
Iraq and the terror network, confessed after being tortured, a journalist told the BBC.
Iban al Shakh al Libby told intelligence agents that he was close to Al-Qaeda leaders
Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri and "understood an awful lot about the inner workings of Al-Qaeda," former FBI agent Jack Clonan told the broadcaster...
"What he claimed most significantly was a connection between ... Al-Qaeda and the Iraqi regime of
Saddam Hussein. This intelligence report made it all the way to the top, and was used by (former US secretary of state)
Colin Powell as a key piece of justification ... for invading Iraq," he told the broadcaster.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/usbritainiraqmilitary
23 Oct: Afterdowningstreet: Greg Mitchell: Judge Orders Release of Abu Ghraib Child Rape Photos
NEW YORK A federal judge ruled today that graphic pictures of detainee abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison must be released over government claims that they could damage America's image. Last year a Republican senator conceded that they contained scenes of "rape and murder" and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said they included acts that were "blatantly sadistic."
U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein ordered the release of certain pictures in a 50-page decision that said terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan have proven they "do not need pretexts for their barbarism."
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/14864
President Bush and NATO Secretary General Deliver Remarks in Oval Office
Q Mr. President, with the elections just about 10 days away, polls show that voters are more disenchanted with the Republican-led Congress than at any time since 1994, when the Democrats lost power. What explanation or answer do you have for people who feel that way?
PRESIDENT BUSH: I understand people here in Washington have already determined the outcome of the elections.
***As I said in my press conference the other day, I've seen it before where people start measuring the drapes in their new offices before the vote has been counted -- in other words, they're taking the people's vote for granted.
This election is going to be determined by how our candidates run locally. And I believe if they continue to emphasize the big issues -- keeping taxes low, and protecting the American people -- we'll win. And so we'll see how the outcome comes. I know there's a lot of speculation here in Washington, D.C., and there's a lot of fascination about listening to these pundits and people who are giving their opinions.
All I can tell you is what I see: I see enthusiasm amongst Republicans, I see candidates who are saying, vote for me, I will work to make sure America doesn't get attacked again. And I'm seeing candidates saying, I understand that if we run up your taxes like the Democrats do, it's going to hurt this economy, and so we'll keep your taxes low.
Thank you all very much.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/10/20061027.html
Pew: Democrats Hold Double-Digit Lead in Competitive Districts
GOP Troubles Extend into Home Territory
Nationally, the Democrats hold a 49%-38% lead among registered voters, and a nearly identical 50%-39% lead among those voters most likely to cast ballots on Nov. 7.
An oversample of voters in 40 competitive districts identified by a consensus of political analysts shows that voting intentions in the battleground districts are about the same as they are in the "safe" House districts. Among registered voters, the Democrats lead by 11 points in competitive districts (50%-39%) and by the same margin in safe districts (49%-38%). ..
http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=293
Bradblog: Bush's U.S. Elections Assistance Commission is Hopelessly Compromised, Misleading America and Utterly Failing in Their Job of Overseeing U.S. Elections
Current Chairman Paul DeGregorio Now Running a Desperate Misinformation Propaganda Campaign Just Days Before Election…
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3677
Bradblog: Touch-Screen Votes Reportedly Hopping to Republicans During Early Voting in Texas, Missouri and Arkansas…
[NOTE: Please Bring a Video Camera to the Polls To Document These Things This Year!!!]
Here are three different reports over the last day or two of touch-screen votes flipping from Democrats or Libertarians over to Republicans...
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3675
(REPUBLICAN OFFENSIVE AGAIN)BetaNews: Governor Warns of Crisis in Wake of Diebold 'Repair' Revelations
By Scott M. Fulton, III
The revelations yesterday prompted the state's Republican governor, Robert Ehrlich, Jr. -- who is running for re-election there, and is behind in the polls -- to pronounce yesterday that the voting situation is "approaching crisis proportions." There may not be enough absentee ballots, the Governor says, to service a growing number of voters who have become so distrustful of the electronic voting system that they may stay home on November 7...
Ehrlich has reportedly asked the state elections chief, Linda Lamone -- whom he previously indicated he would fire, if he had the power to do so -- to find another supplier to fulfill outstanding absentee ballot requests in five of the state's 24 jurisdictions...
While all this was going on, IDG reporter Robert McMillan reported yesterday that he had discovered a slick, professional-looking Web site purporting to represent a firm called "Election Consultants," which appears to sell services guaranteeing paid clients of desired outcomes in electronically managed elections.
"The future of election management is today's reality," the site proclaims. "Election Consultants has pioneered breakthrough technology that provides unprecedented results in election outcomes. Most notably, our flagship products, SmartVote and VoteCorrect, deliver unparalleled outcome results that are guaranteed." A notice toward the end stipulates results can only be guaranteed where electronic voting machines are used.
Though McMillan spoke to a person who answered the site's toll-free number purporting to represent the company, other sources believe the site -- whose URL is "www.fixavote.com" -- to be either a carefully produced satire, or a promotional effort for some kind of upcoming dramatic production. Whether the premiere date of that production would fall before or after the November elections is unknown.
http://www.betanews.com/article/Governor_Warns_of_Crisis_in_Wake_of_Diebold_Repair_Revelations/1161969961
Delmarvanow: Absentee ballot demand grows
By Joseph Gidjunis
CAMBRIDGE -- In 28 years, Bobbie Hall has never seen such a demand for absentee ballots. As Dorchester Coun-ty's Interim Elections Office director, she said this year's state and local races have already outpaced the greatest demand in any presidential year...
The demand hasn't exceeded the local supply, but other counties have not been so fortunate. Earlier this week, Prince George's and Anne Arundel counties had received only 20 percent of the ballots they requested, county elections officials said. Howard County has received only 18 percent, Montgomery County has received 60 percent and Baltimore City has received less than half of the ballots requested.
"We're seeing more interest because of what the news media is doing (to explain absentee voting), and the parties are sending notices out to their voters," Hall said...ETC
http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061027/NEWS01/610270302/1002
Bradblog: Clint Curtis Makes the Cover of Bush's 'Hometown' Paper, Says He Plans to File Lawsuit Against Tom Feeney
The Vote-Rigging Whistleblower Turned Congressional Opponent to Alleged Vote-Rigger Creeps Closer and Closer to the Bush's…
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3674
Guardian: US warned of ballot box chaos as elections near
· Report says 10 states not ready for electronic vote
· Scientist hacks into new polling machine on TV
Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
http://www.guardian.co.uk/midterms2006/story/0%2C%2C1932655%2C00.html
Bradblog: NPR Finds a 'Dramatic Shift' to Democrats Among Rural Voters
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3676
OpEdNews: Pull the Plug on E-Voting, Part 2
by Bruce O'Dell
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_bruce_o__061026_pull_the_plug_on_e_v.htm
Bradblog: CNN's Lou Dobbs: 'It's a Case of Special Interest Over The National Interest'
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3673
Bradblog: 'Daily Voting News' For October 26, 2006
Lou Dobbs has taped a one-hour "Democracy At Risk" special to be aired at various times on CNN this coming Sunday. Be sure to tune in.
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3672
READ ALL: Wonkette: 'Mr. Secretary, What'd You Have Torched At Ft. Meade's 902nd Military Intel Group?'
http://www.wonkette.com/politics/pentagon/mr-secretary-whatd-you-have-torched-at-ft-meades-902nd-military-intel-group-210486.php
NewsChannel5: "Listening devices" found in Memphis homeland security office
MEMPHIS, Tenn. The F-B-I is investigating the discovery of four listening devices found in the Shelby County Homeland Security office.
Officials asked the F-B-I to "sweep" the office after W-H-B-Q T-V reported it had "damaging and embarrassing" audio recordings that were secretly made and given to the station.
Memos obtained by The Commercial Appeal (newspaper) indicate top county officials suspect former interim Homeland Security administrator John Todd, who didn't respond to phone calls from the newspaper.
What's on the tapes isn't generally known, but Todd told federal officials he had evidence of wrongdoing in the office.
County public works director Ted Fox says the F-B-I's check of the office the middle of this month found the consumer-quality listening devices above ceiling tiles.
http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?s=5598292
PressHerald: Activists fear they've become FBI targets
By GREGORY D. KESICH
The FBI has released more documents connected to Maine peace groups, leading local activists to say they have been targeted for surveillance for opposing the government...ETC
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/state/061026fbi.html
WaPo: In the Libby Case, A Grilling to Remember
Carol D. Leonnig
Fitzgerald's target in the witness box was Elizabeth F. Loftus, a professor of criminology and psychology at the University of California at Irvine. For more than an hour of the pretrial hearing, Loftus calmly explained to Judge Reggie B. Walton her three decades of expertise in human memory and witness testimony. Loftus asserted that, after copious scientific research, she has found that many potential jurors do not understand the limits of memory and that Libby should be allowed to call an expert to make that clear to them.
But when Fitzgerald got his chance to cross-examine Loftus about her findings, he had her stuttering to explain her own writings and backpedaling from her earlier assertions. Citing several of her publications, footnotes and the work of her peers, Fitzgerald got Loftus to acknowledge that the methodology she had used at times in her long academic career was not that scientific, that her conclusions about memory were conflicting, and that she had exaggerated a figure and a statement from her survey of D.C. jurors that favored the defense...
There were several moments when Loftus was completely caught off guard by Fitzgerald, creating some very awkward silences in the courtroom.
One of those moments came when Loftus insisted that she had never met Fitzgerald. He then reminded her that he had cross-examined her before, when she was an expert defense witness and he was a prosecutor in the U.S. attorney's office in New York.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/26/AR2006102601612_pf.html
AP: Matt Apuzzo: Ex-aide sentenced to 18 months in prison
Safavian wept in court as he asked for leniency, but Friedman said the ex-bureaucrat had become part of Washington's culture of corruption, where congressmen listen to campaign donors and lobbyists while farming out to staff members the job of writing laws...
Friedman said he believed Safavian was a good person and could not understand why he got involved with Abramoff.
"Maybe it's hard to resist. Maybe it's hanging out with the big boys," Friedman said. "I'm not sure."..
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061027/ap_on_go_pr_wh/lobbyist_probe_7
Prison Planet: Former Intelligence Agent Says Google In Bed With CIA
Steele also sounds off on 9/11 doubts
Paul Joseph Watson
A former clandestine services officer for the CIA who also maintains close relationships with top Google representatives says that the company is "in bed with" the intelligence agency and the U.S. government. He has also gone public on his deep suspicions about the official explanation behind 9/11.
Robert David Steele appeared on the nationally syndicated Alex Jones radio show and began by voicing his deep doubts about the official 9/11 story...
"The U.S. government did not properly investigate this and there are more rocks to be turned over," said Steele adding, "I'm absolutely certain that WTC 7 was brought down by controlled demolition and that as far as I'm concerned means that this case has not been properly investigated."
"There's no way that building could have come down without controlled demolition."
Steele pointed the finger of suspicion directly at the Vice President saying, "There's no question in my own mind that Dick Cheney is the tar baby in this whole thing."...
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/october2006/271006googlecia.htm
Wayne Madsen: Legitimate human and civil rights versus a secreted GOP homo-erotic cabal is the real social issue in this election. The GOP is hyping the New Jersey Supreme Court civil union ruling and anti-gay marriage initiatives in a number of states as reasons to boast about their fanciful chances of retaining control of the Congress. Nothing could be further from the truth. This election is about constant GOP lying and hypocrisy on the issues of the rights afforded to U.S. citizens regardless of sexual orientation.
According to senior Democratic sources in the House of Representatives, the Pagegate scandal is merely the "tip of the iceberg" of the predatory nature of a number of GOP congressmen, Bush administration officials, and senior staffers.....
Democratic sources also report that the FBI was brought into the case by the GOP leadership to "silence everyone" about the case. And silence and cover-up is the order of the day....
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/
VIEDO: BlogActive: Knock, Knock....Ken, are you in there?
So, I decided it was time to confront Ken directly -- alongside a friend with a video camera doesn't hurt either! A blogACTIVE reader tipped me off that this past Monday that Ken would be the guest of honor at a fundraiser at a residence on Capitol Hill.
http://www.blogactive.com/2006/10/knock-knockken-are-you-in-there.html
DU: Outrageous smear by Drudge against Jim Webb -- DEBUNKED!
First, there is this cultural information from DUer flowomo:
ABSTRACT: Child rearing practices in the the Telugu-speaking people of India include behaviors of touching and kissing the penis. The meaning of these customs is not erotic or sexual, but if engaged in in America would most likely be misconstrued and the parents suspected of child sexual abuse. This example illustrates the importance of transcultural issues in assessing the meaning of genital gestures and practices.
http://www.ipt-forensics.com/journal/volume3/j3_4_4.htm
And this, also courtesy of flowomo: ..ETC
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2491792
tpmmuckraker: Gibbons: The Cover-Up is Worse than the Attempted Rape Allegation
By Justin Rood
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001890.php
tpmmuckraker: Central Figure Emerges in Gibbons "Cover-Up"
By Justin Rood
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001893.php
YouTube: Phone call to NTSB regarding AA77 Flight Data Recorder
Phone call was made 10/26/06 to the NTSB to get answers based on the Flight Data Recorder information/animation they provided of American Airlines Flight 77. AA77 was reported to have struck the Pentagon and is in direct conflict with the official story of striking down light poles on its path to impact. The actual flight path shown in the animation based on the Flight Data Recorder also conflicts with the physical damage on the ground. Here is what the NTSB had to say...
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/October2006/271006NTSB.htm
dpa: 9/11 only "make-believe," Iranian government official says
Tehran- An Iranian government official on Friday accused the US of orchestrating the attacks of September 11, 2001, saying New York's World Trade Center towers were actually blown up by a bomb rather than planes hijacked by terrorists. "What we watched on the TVs regarding the slamming of two planes into the New York Twin Towers, was in fact a make-believe scene," Deputy Culture Minister Mohammad-Hadi Homayoun was quoted by state news agency IRNA as saying, in an address to the Iran-Russia Dialogue among Civilizations Conference in Moscow.
"The sky-scrapers were destroyed through bomb explosions and afterwards the massive US media propaganda and the crusade issue began," the minister said, making reference to the controversial remarks by US President George W Bush outlining a "crusade" against terrorism following the September 11 attacks.
http://rawstory.com/news/2006/9_11_only_make_believe_Iranian_gove_10272006.html
MSNBC: Can the ‘20th hijacker’ of Sept. 11 stand trial?
Aggressive interrogation at Guantanamo may prevent his prosecution
PART TWO OF TWO
By Bill Dedman
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15361462/
Reuters: Dan Williams: Don't mention the war: Israel seeks image makeover
After decades of battling to win foreign support for its two-fisted policies against Arab foes,
Israel is trying a new approach with a campaign aimed at creating a less warlike and more welcoming national image.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who has argued that the protracted conflict with the Palestinians is sapping Israel's international legitimacy, this week convened diplomats and PR executives to come up with ways of "rebranding" the country.
"When the word 'Israel' is said outside its borders, we want it to invoke not fighting or soldiers, but a place that is desirable to visit and invest in, a place that preserves democratic ideals while struggling to exist," Livni said...
There is also a domestic drive planned, whereby the famously brasher facets of Israeli society would be softened -- at least among Israelis who are regularly in contact with foreigners.
"It could be a matter of simply posting Foreign Ministry greeters at the airport, or passing out advisories to those involved in the tourist trade," Toledano said...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061026/wl_nm/mideast_israel_image_dc
JTA: Putin Offers Olmert No Hope for Restraint Regarding Iran
http://www.jewishexponent.com/article/11090/
IRNA: China insists on diplomatic settlement of Iran's nuclear case
http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-22/0610265276130028.htm
READ ALL: Forward: Nathan Guttman: Report: FBI In Expanded Aipac Probe
Surveys Shine Critical Light On Jerusalem, Pro-Israel Lobby
An explosive new report claims that the federal investigation into the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobbying organization, has been expanded to include suspicion of meddling in affairs of the House Intelligence Committee...
Washington insiders are downplaying the likelihood that an investigation regarding Harman and Aipac would lead to any formal charges of wrongdoing...
Sources close to the issue, and congressional staffers, have speculated that the Harman issue was raised in an attempt to damage the image of Democratic lawmakers in advance of the upcoming midterm elections. The sources also suggested that the leak might be an attempt to get back at senior Democrats on the intelligence committee for leaking the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq, which embarrassed the administration...ETC
http://www.forward.com/articles/report-fbi-in-expanded-aipac-probe/
AP: Erica Werner: Harman Intelligence post at risk
As top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Jane Harman would seem positioned to take the gavel if her party wins control of the House on Nov. 7.
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/world/15857150.htm
Hartford Courant: AP: Lamont Challenges Lieberman To Fourth Debate
The Lieberman camp said Friday it would not participate...
http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-27163350.apds.m0489.bc-ct--connoct27,0,5393485.story?coll=hc-headlines-home
Raw Story: Senator Santorum defends 'mushroom cloud' ad
Ron Brynaert
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Senator_Santorum_defends_mushroom_cloud_ad_1027.html
MSNBC: Exxon posts second-biggest profit ever
Second-largest quarterly gain ever posted by public company
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15426390/
Reuters: Carol Giacomo: Twelve states to launch new anti-terror initiative
he five major nuclear weapons states and seven other countries will meet in Morocco next week to begin implementing an initiative to keep nuclear materials out of the hands of extremist groups...
Participating states include Britain, China and France -- which like Russia and the United States have nuclear weapons -- plus Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan and Turkey...
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-10-27T210308Z_01_N26263138_RTRUKOC_0_US-NUCLEAR-INITIATIVE.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsArt-L3-Top+NewsNews-4
NYT: Noah Feldman: Nuclear holocaust: A risk too big even for martyrs?
Noah Feldman is a law professor at New York University and adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
For nearly 50 years, worries about a nuclear Middle East centered on Israel. Arab leaders resented the fact that Israel was the only atomic power in the region, a resentment heightened by America's tacit approval of the situation.
But they were also pretty certain that Israel, which has never explicitly acknowledged having nuclear weapons, would not drop the bomb except as a very last resort...
But geopolitics is not the only reason Sunni Arab leaders are rattled by the prospect of a nuclear Iran. They also seem to worry that Iran might actually use nuclear weapons if it gets them.
A nuclear attack on Israel would engulf the whole region. But that is not the sole danger: Sunnis in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere fear that the Iranians might just use a nuclear bomb against them...
Given the increasing instability of the Middle East, nuclear proliferation there is more worrisome than almost anywhere else on earth...
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/10/27/news/bomb.php
(TIME TO DISMANTLE ISRAEL'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS THEN, NOAH?)
VOA: Israel Concerned About Reported Expansion of Iranian Uranium Enrichment
By Robert Berger, Jerusalem
Israeli government spokeswoman Miri Eisen says such bellicose statements are a cause of deep concern in Jerusalem.
"It's inconceivable that a country that calls for the destruction of another country should also try to achieve nuclear capability," he said. ..
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said repeatedly that Israel cannot allow Iran to acquire a nuclear bomb. That has aroused speculation that Israel could launch a pre-emptive strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, as it did in 1981, when the air force destroyed Iraq's nuclear reactor...
http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-10-27-voa39.cfm
OpEdNews: Democracy in Name Only
by eileen fleming
Vanunu: "The Israelis have 200 atomic weapons and they accuse the Palestinians and Muslims of terrorism. The world needs to wake up and see the real terrorism is the occupation and the Palestinians have lived under that terror regime for 40 years.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_eileen_f_061024_democracy_in_name_on.htm
congress.org: Letter: Why Is No One Talking About The 400-600 Israeli Nukes ?
To: President George Bush
I don't get it. If any Arab nation thinks about even working towards nukes , Israel screams bloody murder and expects us , as in the case of Iran , to go take care of them, or as they threatened , they will. Israel has proven to be the most aggressive and warlike country in the entire Middle East ..having invaded or attacked every single one of its neighbors repeatedly...
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/userletter/?letter_id=933296941
Reminder: 27 Sept: DefenseNews: Reuters: BERND DEBUSMANN: Iran Seen Borrowing Nuclear Strategy from Israel
In developing its nuclear program Iran is using strategies that allowed its enemy Israel to assemble the Middle East’s only atomic arsenal without admitting it had one, according to a leading expert on the Israeli program.
"Whether deliberately or inadvertently, there are elements of resemblance between the way Iran is pursuing its nuclear program today and the way Israel was pursuing its own program in the 1960s," Avner Cohen, author of a landmark study entitled "Israel and the Bomb," in a telephone interview.
"This is a great irony of history but Iranian policymakers and nuclear technocrats may be strategically mimicking the Israeli model," said Cohen, senior research scholar at the University of Maryland’s Center for International and Security Studies.
As Cohen sees it, the elements the Israeli and Iranian nuclear programs have in common are secrecy, concealment, ambiguity, double talk and denial...
Published estimates of the number of Israel nuclear devices range from 75 to 200.
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=2134724&C=mideast
dpa: No aggression intended, Israel says after German ship incident
Berlin/Tel Aviv - Israel said Thursday that no aggression against German forces was intended during a confrontation between Israeli aircraft and a German naval vessel patrolling off Lebanon.
The Israeli embassy in Berlin released a statement from the defence ministry in Tel Aviv, saying the defence ministers of the two countries had discussed Tuesday's incident...
German Defence Ministry spokesman Thomas Raabe said six Israeli F- 16s had flown very low over the German vessel and one of them fired two shots into the air.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said the helicopter took off without having coordinated this with Israel. As a result, Israel sent fighter jets into the air which forced the helicopter to return to the vessel and land back onto it...
sraeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz telephoned his German counterpart Franz Josef Jung Wednesday night to explain the incident, officials from both sides said, stressing a desire to maintain good cooperation.
Jung is due to pay a visit to Israel next week, but Tuesday's incident is not expected to cast a cloud over the talks, diplomats said...
Israeli jets over the past few days have intensified their activity over Lebanon by flying at low altitude and staging mock raids over areas in south and the capital, Beirut.
Such incidents are not considered serious in Israel, but UNIFIL's command has warned that the overflights over Lebanon endanger the UN mission.
French UNIFIL commander Alain Pellegrini has reportedly asked the United Nations to provide his force with air defence artillery as protection against Israeli warplanes. ..
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/article_1214938.php/No_aggression_intended_Israel_says_after_German_ship_incident
Justin Raimondo: A Jewish Hitler?
The rise of Avigdor Lieberman
With the entry of Avigdor Lieberman into the government as deputy minister for "strategic threats" – essentially in charge of preparing for war with Iran – Israel makes a qualitative step toward a regime that increasingly resembles, in all its essentials, a rogue state, and, I might add, potentially a very dangerous one...
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=9923
YNet: Reuters: Israel snubs EU delegation due to far-Right MP
Foreign Ministry says will not welcome delegation of EU parliamentarians due to inclusion of Marine Le Pen of France. FM spokesperson: Le Pen member of racist party that denies Holocaust
A spokesman for the European Parliament said the delegation had postponed the trip...
Jean-Marie Le Pen said Israel's refusal to meet his daughter ran "contrary to diplomatic traditions" and "basic democracy"...
http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3320388,00.html
Democracy Now: Breaking the Silence: Fmr. Israeli Soldier Tours U.S. to Expose Abuse of Palestinians by Israeli Military
We speak with Yehuda Shaul, a former Israeli soldier, who has just begun a tour of the United States to give an inside look at how the Israeli military treats Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. [includes rush transcript]
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/27/1341203
electbarnhill: UPDATE: H.R. 6166: Military Commissions Act of 2006
Military Commission Act Not Lawfully Passed
President’s Inaction Equals ‘Pocket Veto’
by Pat Shannan
Now to the current specifics..
http://electbarnhill.com/2006/10/24/presidents-inaction-may-equal-pocket-veto/
Raw Story: White House spokesman spars with press regarding Cheney's torture 'admission'
David Edwards and Ron Brynaert
Video clips from MSNBC and FOX News coverage of the press conference:
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/White_House_spokesman_spars_with_press_1027.html
Forbes: AP: Jennifer Loven: NATO Secretary-General Meets With Bush
NATO expanded its mission this year from the relatively stable northern and western parts of the country to far more dangerous areas in the south. De Hoop Scheffer has said more troops will be needed.
Bush and de Hoop Scheffer did not discuss NATO troop levels, nor the suspension of two German soldiers in connection with photos of troops posing with human skulls, Snow said.
They did discuss Sudan's violence-plagued Darfur region, where more than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million have been displaced in three years of fighting. "There was some conversation of the proper way to provide greater security in Darfur and protect people," Snow said.
The two leaders were meeting ahead of a NATO summit planned for next month in the Latvian capital of Riga, where strengthening relations with democracies such as Australia, New Zealand and Japan is expected to be on the agenda. This move is favored by the United States, Britain and some other members but opposed by France, which objects to the alliance's taking on a global dimension.
De Hoop Scheffer has said the trans-Atlantic security concept must be re-evaluated because of international terrorism. He said NATO has no desire to be the world's policeman but is the right tool for an international security partnership.
http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/ap/2006/10/27/ap3126841.html
Niger halts plans to deport Arabs
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/07891973-A85A-4192-9B3E-8265D933A0C2.htm
25 Oct: Family of slain Afghan mother plans service in Fremont park
By Lisa Fernandez
Mercury News
The family of Alia Ansari -- the mother of six who was gunned down in broad daylight last week -- is hosting a public memorial service for her Friday afternoon in Fremont's Central Park, and immediately afterward, her body will be flown to Afghanistan, where she will be buried.
Ansari, 38, was shot in the head last Thursday in an affluent Fremont neighborhood as she walked with her 3-year-old daughter to pick up her older children from Glenmoor Elementary School.
A 27-year-old Fremont man who police say is a ``person of interest'' was questioned in the case and was arrested a few hours afterward on a separate parole violation. He has not been arrested in connection with Ansari's homicide, and will be held at Santa Rita Jail indefinitely. Police are waiting for forensic tests to return to see if they will connect him to the crime. Today, his status had not changed.
Ansari's family has said they believe the shooting was hate crime because she wore a headcovering, referred to as a hijab, or more correctly, a chaadar, which is a loose scarf to cover her head out of modesty...
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/15846621.htm
AmericasMuslimFamily: In Memory of Alia Ansari
The last of those visits was to the family of Alia Ansari, the Afghani-American mother of six who was gunned down in central Fremont last Thursday as she walked to pick up her children from school...
Alia Ansari migrated from war-torn Afghanistan at the age of 17. ..
http://www.americasmuslimfamily.com/AliaAnsari/alia_ansari.html
WaPo: Reuters: Taliban vow more attacks
By Saeed Ali Achakzai
"We want to inform the foreign forces and their slaves that their defeat is inevitable in Afghanistan," the Islamist group's one-legged military commander, Mullah Dadullah, told Reuters by satellite phone from a secret location...
"The Taliban's mujahideen are ready to fight until death and in the coming days will increase their activities and suicide attacks to such an extent that the infidel forces will not get a chance to rest," Dadullah said...
"The Taliban will not let the killers of Afghan women and children rest in peace and will continue to target them."..
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/27/AR2006102700149.html
Antiwar: Friday: 22 Iraqis, 1 US GI, 1 UK Soldier Killed; 15 Iraqis Injured
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
http://www.antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=9926
Reuters: Security developments in Iraq, 27 Oct 2006
MOSUL - Authorities imposed a vehicle ban in the northern city of Mosul after the bodies of 12 people, including four police officers, were found over the previous 24 hours, police said.
RAMADI - Gunmen attacked three U.S. military positions in the western city of Ramadi with rocket-propelled grenades, mortar rounds and machinegun fire, police said. A Reuters reporter said U.S. helicopters flew over Ramadi and U.S. forces had sealed off entrances to the city. The U.S. military did not immediately respond to a query on the reports.
MUSSAYAB - A woman was killed when two mortar rounds slammed into the house of a Sunni Arab member of parliament, Abdul Nasir al-Janabi, in the town of Mussayab 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/LZEG-6UYRJU?OpenDocument
Iraq's al-Maliki sharply delineates differences with U.S. leadership
By Jay Price
McClatchy Newspapers
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki continued his open dispute with American officials Thursday, blaming the United States-led coalition for Iraq's chaos and faulting its military strategy...
According to a partial transcript of the interview distributed by Reuters, al-Maliki said he thought that Iraqi troops, left to their own devices, could re-establish order in Iraq in six months, not the 12 to 18 months that top U.S. commander Gen. William Casey had predicted Tuesday...
In Iraq, U.S. and Iraqi forces set up roadblocks Thursday and launched round-the-clock aerial surveillance of Baghdad as their search for an American soldier who may have been kidnapped entered its third day.
"We're using all assets in our arsenal to find this American soldier, and the government of Iraq is doing everything that it can also at every level," said Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, the top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq. "Make no mistake: We will not stop looking for our service member."
The search was so intense, Caldwell said, that military officials think it may have contributed to a sudden drop in the level of violence in the city..
Baghdad residents reported that parts of Sadr City, a slum stronghold of Shiite militias and death squads, were blockaded. For much of the day every entrance but one also was blocked into the central district, where the missing soldiers' family lived...
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/world/15857278.htm
Aljazeera: AP: Three Palestinians killed in West Bank
Medics and relatives said that Saadi Subuh, 23, and Mustafa Abu Zalat, 17, were shot and killed in the refugee camp of Al Faraa on Friday.
The circumstances of shooting were not clear, but Abu Zalat's uncle said his nephew may have been throwing stones at Israeli army jeeps at the time.
In the village of Yamoun, Ahmed Abul Hassan, 28, was shot and killed while he stood on the roof of his home.
Relatives said he had gone up to watch the army raid and was hit by a bullet to the head.
Two of Abul Hassan's brothers were wounded, the family said.
The Israeli army said soldiers fired at two gunmen in Yamoun and hit them.
On Thursday, three Palestinians were killed in the southern Gaza strip during an Israeli incursion into the small town of Abassan.
The killings are part of the ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza and West Bank after the abduction of a soldier in a cross-border raid near Gaza on June 25.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3201A2CB-F239-466E-9FBC-3EC93ADCB258.htm
Jerusalem Post: Is Mahmoud Abbas planning a coup?
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Hamas has instructed its followers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to be on high alert following unconfirmed reports that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah party are planning a coup against the Hamas government on Saturday...
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1161811212248&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
Jim Lobe: 50 Years After Suez, US Hegemony Ebbing Fast
http://www.antiwar.com/lobe/?articleid=9925
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Thursday, October 26, 2006
AP: U.N. OKs study of small-arms control
EDWARD HARRIS
The measure would begin studies of a possible treaty, and must be approved by the General Assembly, which is likely to take it up next month. Human-rights campaigners said such a treaty would go a long way toward keeping small arms out of conflict zones...
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/15859494.htm
(NO RUSH)
Haaretz: Angolan defense officials fired over arms deals with Israel
By Yossi Melman
The president of Angola has fired senior defense officials in his country as a result of what Angolan sources say was their attempt to promote an arms deal involving Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) and Soltam.
News of the deal was first published in Haaretz in April...
The Haaretz report received a great deal of attention in the Angolan media, and as a result, a number of probes were initiated into whether the deal, which was valued at $1 billion, was worth pursuing.
However, Angolan officials and other experts concluded that the country had no need for these weapons, and that the funds would be better used in developing civilian infrastructure.
The deal has been initiated by Israeli businessman Moshe Britsch..
Six months ago, President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos dismissed his chief of intelligence, also because of a controversial arms deal involving an Israeli firm, Image Spot, a subsidiary of IAI.
That deal was put together four years ago, when Angola was still embroiled in its civil war, and was valued at $140 million...
Israel's military industries have been connected to two other controversial arms deals recently.
Nigeria's national security adviser and its transport minister were dismissed over a $250,000 deal with Israel, while a deal to supply India with sea-to-sea missiles has resulted in an investigation into alleged bribes to senior government officials
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/780024.html
AllAfrica: Angola: President Sacks Police, Armed Forces Chiefs
Angola's Head of State Jos' Eduardo dos Santos on Tuesday in Luanda dismissed the head of National Police, commissioner Jos' Alfredo Ekuikui and the chief of Army Staff of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA), General Agostinho Fernandes Nelumba.
According to a communiqu' issued by the Aid Services to the Presidency of the Republic, the Angolan president has also sacked Vicente Matias Felix, from the post of deputy Minister of Defence for Administration and Finances, Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Joaquim Augusto de Lemos, ambassador to Serbia Republic, Filipe Felisberto Monimambo, and the ambassador to Slovakia, Domingos Culolo.
The head of National Air Force (FAN) General Pedro de Morais Neto and the chief of the Main Department of FAA General Staff Operations, General Francisco Pereira Furtado were also dismissed by the Angola Statesman.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200610250227.html
Independent: Kuwaitis still getting payouts for damage of 1990 Iraqi invasion
By Anne Penketh
Yesterday's pay-outs, which included environmental claims, went to corporations, international organisations and the governments of Bosnia-Herzegovina, India, Kuwait, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the US.
The largest amount - $335.5m - went to Kuwait to pay for 38 claims, while the US was paid $10m for a single claim.
The proportion of corporations which have claimed damages from the occupation was not known, but the commission has received $44bn worth of compensation claims from oil companies with operations in the Persian Gulf...
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article1932746.ece
(AND WHEN WILL IRAQ BE COMPENSATED FOR THE INVASION BY US/UK/OZ?)
Reuters: U.S. evangelical support for Iraq war slipping
Additional reporting by Steve Barnes in Little Rock
A new poll shows support for the war in Iraq is slipping among white evangelical Protestants, previously a key pillar of support for President George W. Bush's conduct of the conflict...
Conducted by the PEW Research Center, it found that 58 percent of white evangelical Protestants surveyed felt the United States made the right decision in using force in Iraq to oust Saddam Hussein, below the 71 percent in a previous poll in September.
This compared to little change overall among committed Republicans, with 78 percent saying it was the correct course versus 76 percent in September...
Analysts say much of the evangelical leadership has little choice but to stick by the president and the Republicans because they have demonized Democrats and have nowhere else to go.
"Christian conservative leaders who are aligned with the Republican Party are stuck and so they are going to back Bush on the war," said David Bositis of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies...
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N25168944.htm
NYT: G.O.P. Moves Fast to Reignite Issue of Gay Marriage
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
Wednesday’s ruling, in which the New Jersey Supreme Court decided that gay couples are entitled to the same legal rights and financial benefits as heterosexual couples, had immediate ripple effects, especially in Senate races in some of the eight states where voters are considering constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage.
President Bush put a spotlight on the issue while campaigning in Iowa, which does not have a proposal on the ballot. With the Republican House candidate, Jeff Lamberti, by his side, Mr. Bush — who has not been talking about gay marriage in recent weeks — took pains to insert a reference into his stump speech warning that Democrats would raise taxes and make America less safe.
“Yesterday in New Jersey, we had another activist court issue a ruling that raises doubts about the institution of marriage,” Mr. Bush said at a luncheon at the Iowa State Fairgrounds that raised $400,000 for Mr. Lamberti.
The president drew applause when he reiterated his long-held stance that marriage was “a union between a man and a woman,” adding, “I believe it’s a sacred institution that is critical to the health of our society and the well-being of families, and it must be defended.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/27/us/politics/27marriage.html?hp&ex=1162008000&en=bb70e8d08855d229&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Globe & Mail: Middle-class U.S. voters abandoning GOP: poll
LIZ SIDOTI AND TREVOR TOMPSON
Associated Press
Motivated by anger at U.S. President George W. Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress, 56 per cent of likely voters said they would vote on Nov. 7 to send a Democrat to the House and 37 per cent said they would vote Republican. Voters in the latest Associated Press-AOL News poll rated Iraq and the economy as their top issues.
“I don't care if I vote for Happy the Clown, just so it's not who's there now,” said Mary Nyilas, 51, an independent voter from Cologne, N.J., who said she would do everything she could to “vote against the powers that put us in this situation” in Iraq...
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061026.wuspoll1026/BNStory/International/home
Manuel Valenzuela: Collaborators of Catastrophe: Inside the Ministry of Truth
Storytellers of the American Narrative
The creators of American reality, those propagators of charades and mirages who dwell inside the hallways of the Ministry of Truth – otherwise known as the Corporate Media – continue their dance of deception and whitewash, festering in their offices of propaganda, directing the narratives and the epics hundreds of millions of Americans consider truth...
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15411.htm
Independent: India abolishes husbands' 'right' to rape wife
By Justin Huggler in Delhi
There is a remarkably low rate of violent crime against strangers in most of the big cities, and it is safe to walk the streets of Mumbai or Bangalore late at night. But every six hours, a young married woman is burnt to death, beaten to death, or driven to suicide by emotional abuse from her husband, figures show.
More than two-thirds of married women in India aged between 15 and 49 have been beaten, raped or forced to provide sex, according to the UN Population Fund...
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article1932745.ece
BBC: India tackles domestic violence
Punishment could range from a jail term of up to one year and/or a fine of up to 20,000 rupees ($450)...
A survey by the International Institute for Population Studies showed 56% of Indian women believed wife beating to be justified in certain circumstances.
The reasons varied from going out without the husband's permission to cooking a bad meal...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6086334.stm
Drudgeflash: NBC REFUSES ADS FOR DIXIE CHICKS MOVIE
NBC Claims that the Network “Cannot Accept These Spots as They are Disparaging to President Bush” ..ETC
http://www.drudgereport.com/flash4.htm
Raw Story: More allegations from EPA whistleblower
Brian Beutler
An Environmental Protection Agency whistleblower who has long argued that her agency failed to issue proper warnings about air quality at the World Trade Center disaster site, has leveled new accusations against the agency, RAW STORY has learned...ETC
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/More_allegations_from_EPA_whistleblower_1026.html
Raw Story: Mind Games Part II - To Hell and Back: Spinning the Downward Spiral
Nancy Goldstein
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Mind_Games_II__Coming_Home_1025.html
CBS/AP: Rove Protege Behind Racy Tennessee Ad
Controversial RNC Ad Against Harold Ford Jr. Produced By Rove Consultant
The ad, in which a white woman with blonde hair and bare shoulders looks into the camera and whispers, "Harold, call me," and then winks, was produced by Scott Howell, the former political director for Rove's consulting firm in Texas. ..
He also produced an ad for Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn that accused Democrat Brad Carson of being soft on welfare while showing two black hands counting cash...
http://www.rawstory.com/showarticle.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com%2Fstories%2F2006%2F10%2F26%2Fpolitics%2Fmain2125324.shtml
Guardian: CIA tried to silence EU on torture flights
Germany offered access to prisoner in Morocco if it quelled opposition
Richard Norton-Taylor
After the CIA offered a deal to Germany, EU countries adopted an almost universal policy of downplaying criticism of human rights records in countries where terrorist suspects have been held. They have also sidestepped questions about secret CIA flights partly because of growing evidence of their complicity...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1931693,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=1
Chicago Tribune: Gonzales shoulders, spreads blame for rift with Europe
By Mark Landler
New York Times
BERLIN: But he also faulted European countries, which have criticized the American military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He said they were reluctant to take back their own citizens when released and had been insufficiently helpful in negotiating with other countries for the safe return of prisoners facing mistreatment in their own lands...
Gonzales declined to name the countries he said were being uncooperative with regard to returned prisoners--especially, he said, while standing on a podium "in this great country."
His comment, delivered with a thin smile, seemed to suggest that Germany was among those that the United States regarded as laggards...
Gonzales' European tour, which includes stops in Spain and the Netherlands, coincided with a growing concern among Germans that their country had compromised its own principles in helping the United States in its worldwide effort against terrorism.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0610260180oct26,1,5263528.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
Mike Corder: U.S. AG says he may consider proposal to investigate updating Geneva Conventions
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Thursday the Bush administration may consider a Dutch proposal to set up an international group to investigate updating the Geneva Conventions or establishing a new treaty to deal with the threat of global terrorism.
In a speech Tuesday at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot said it was legitimate to question whether international law - framed mainly to deal with armed conflict between nations and conventional armies - needs updating...
"Obviously we want to be careful in not sending the message that we are in any way backing away from the principles of, say, the Geneva Conventions in terms of the protection of basic human rights," he said. "That's something we believe very strongly in and re-examination of Geneva would have to be done ... with the understanding that we all remain committed to the basic principles of the Geneva Conventions."..
http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/51210.html
Prison Planet: Now Europe Targets Bloggers As Terrorists
UK, EU crackdown on "spreading propaganda," mirrors U.S. assault on Internet freedom
Paul Joseph Watson
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/october2006/261006targetsbloggers.htm
Irish Examiner: 30 killed in Iraq clash around Baqouba
Fighting between Iraqi police and suspected militia gunmen north east of Baghdad killed 30 people and injured 42, the local police chief said tonight...
Ghassan al-Bawi, police chief of surrounding Diyala province, said those killed included 12 police officers and 18 gunmen.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/breaking/story.asp?j=4241175&p=4z4yy9x&n=4241267&x=
Aljazeera: Iraqi police slain in attacks
Police officials said that the men ambushed an Iraqi police convoy (IN DIYALA), killing 28 policemen, including the commander, and wounding 25 more, although some reports said that the number of dead included the attackers...
Earlier on Thursday unknown gunmen attacked a station for an Iraqi special police force in the town, killing six police and wounding 10...
Meanwhile, at least four US marines and one US sailor have died in fighting in Iraq's volatile al-Anbar province, while 11 policemen were also killed in attacks north of Baghdad...
Also on Thursday, the Iraqi interior ministry has ordered the holiest shrine in Shia Islam in the southern city of Najaf to close on Thursday, the last day of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, following fears of an imminent attack...
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E61EA7E6-C856-4E1B-82BC-468D7B26F1F9.htm
26 Oct: Black Anthem: Iraqi forces raid illegal armed group in Diyala Province
By Multi-National Corps – Iraq PAO
Iraqi Army forces conducted an early morning raid Oct. 25 in Khalis in eastern Diyala Province to capture the leadership of an illegal armed group responsible for attacks against Iraqi forces.
Iraqi forces, with Coalition advisors, arrived at the objective and gained entry where they were met with small arms fire from a member of the illegal armed group. Iraqi forces returned fire and killed the group member...
Operations on the objective caused minimal damage and there were no Iraqi civilian, Iraqi forces or Coalition forces casualties.
http://www.blackanthem.com/News/military200610_1753.shtml
SITE Institute: Ministry of Information in the Islamic State of Iraq Responds to President George W. Bush’s Speech and Finds Mujahideen Victory on the Horizon
Responding to a speech made yesterday, Wednesday, October 25, 2006, by U.S. President George W. Bush, the Ministry of Information in the Islamic State of Iraq issued a statement today. Converse to Bush’s discussion of future U.S. strategy for Iraq as a means to victory, the group finds only success for the Mujahideen and insurgency. The message calls upon all Mujahideen to pledge allegiance to Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, commander of the Islamic state of Iraq, to oppose the assertions of the “Dog of the Romans,” President Bush, namely that the establishment of an Islamic state will not be allowed. Praising victories in Mosul, al-Anbar, Diyala, Samarra, and Tal Afar, the message maintains that as news of the victories spreads, suicide operations will increase.
The message states: ..ETC
http://www.siteinstitute.org/bin/articles.cgi?ID=publications222106&Category=publications&Subcategory=0
Reuters: Security Developments in Iraq Oct 26
MOSUL - Police found seven bodies, shot and bound, in different parts of Mosul on Wednesday, police said.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=IBO629170&WTmodLoc=World-R5-Alertnet-3
Washington Business Journal: Carlyle Group reportedly among possible bidders for Tribune Co.
The Tribune Co., the embattled publisher of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, is mulling an outright sale of the company, asking private-equity firms, including one based in Washington, to submit nonbinding indications of interest by the end of the month, according to a Monday report from The Wall Street Journal.
According to the report, three groups have emerged as possible bidders:
* D.C.-based Carlyle Group;
* Madison Dearborn Partners, Providence Equity Partners, and Apollo Management;
* Thomas H. Lee Partners and Texas Pacific Group.
At the moment, it is unclear whether Carlyle would bid alone or join with a group of buyers...
In addition to the Times and Tribune, Chicago-based Tribune Co. (NYSE: TRB) owns Newsday, the Chicago Cubs and 25 television stations.
http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2006/10/23/daily12.html
Reuters: Iraqi death squad leader escapes raid
Paul Holmes and Mariam Karouny
Additional reporting by Alastair Macdonald
Iraq's most notorious death squad leader escaped a major U.S.-led raid on a Shi'ite Muslim militia stronghold in Baghdad, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Thursday.
In an interview with Reuters, Maliki said Wednesday's ground and air assault on the sprawling Sadr City slum targeted Abu Deraa, a feared warlord held responsible for a rash of brutal sectarian killings and kidnappings of Iraqi Sunnis...
Maliki said he backed the raid but complained that it was conducted in a heavy handed way that could wreck a political deal he had worked on with Moqtada al-Sadr, a radical anti- American cleric who controls the Mehdi Army Shi'ite militia.
"I said we agree on arresting wanted criminals and we do not care whether they are Sunnis or Shi'ites, but that was not an arrest operation," said Maliki, who is himself a Shi'ite.
"Do you send in planes to arrest one person?" he asked.
Maliki had appeared to disavow the raid on Wednesday, saying he had not been consulted, but he told Reuters his problem was with the way it had been combined with the hunt for an American soldier kidnapped on Monday.
"We knew about the first part but they did not tell us about the second part," Maliki said.
Deraa, sometimes dubbed "The Shi'ite Zarqawi" after slain al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi, is said by U.S. officials to be a renegade Mehdi Army member who is at odds with Sadr. He was the target of a similar raid on July 7.
"They did not arrest him in either operation," Maliki said..
A U.S. military statement late on Wednesday said Wednesday's operation led to 13 arrests, three of them carried out at a mosque in connection with Monday's abduction of the U.S soldier.
The U.S. military had earlier referred only to an operation "to capture a top illegal armed group commander directing widespread death squad activity".
U.S. military spokesman Major-General William Caldwell said the raid was among 26 missions conducted in the past 12 days on the basis of intelligence gathered by a special unit set up to target death squads. The missions had yielded 71 arrests.
Wednesday's raid was the only one of the 26 to take place in Sadr City and Caldwell said the military was reviewing procedures "to understand why the prime minister, as he states, had not been personally notified."
MEHDI ARMY OR NOT?
Masked gunmen grabbed the U.S. serviceman at the home of relatives he went to visit in Baghdad after leaving the fortified Green Zone, according to U.S. military officials who have identified him as a linguist of Iraqi descent.
Maliki said the soldier's brother was snatched with him but later let go. "The brother who was released said he been abducted by the Mehdi Army but we don't know what Mehdi Army means any more," Maliki said.
"We asked the Sadr movement to look for him and they swear they know nothing about him," Maliki said. Sunni insurgents and loyalists of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein sometimes also posed as Mehdi Army fighters in the same black garb, he said..
"You should not harm people in the way you go to arrest people, spreading horror and at the risk of sabotaging political actions we have worked on," Maliki said.
Maliki said he had convinced Sadr to issue a statement that banned the Mehdi Army from fighting Iraqi government and U.S.-led forces and outlawed kidnappings and killings.
"We support such a position because it will reflect positively on the security situation and we have started talking to them about how to disarm militias," he said.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HOL652047.htm
FT: Bolton: sanctions ‘help regime change’
By Guy Dinmore in Washington and Daniel Dombey in London
Imposing economic and political sanctions against Iran and North Korea will help democratic forces in those countries as Washington pursues its “ultimate objective” of regime change, John Bolton, the US ambassador to the United Nations, said on Tuesday.
Mr Bolton’s comments, to Fox News, reflect the views of hardliners in the Bush administration who doubt that the threat of nuclear proliferation can be dealt with through negotiations...
Some European officials suggested Mr Bolton was “freelancing” and did not have the backing of Washington for a position that was sure to antagonise Russia. Diplomats said France, Germany and the UK would put forward a narrowly focused draft resolution soon. US officials declined to comment...
The US, he said, wanted to mobilise international support to isolate those regimes economically and politically. “That puts pressure on them internally. I think that helps democratic forces in those countries or in their diasporas.”
But he also suggested that change would not happen soon.
Analysts in Tehran say his remarks will not encourage Iran to resume talks under the US-imposed precondition that it first suspend its uranium enrichment programme...
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/c44c38f2-63a1-11db-bc82-0000779e2340.html
Aljazeera: AFP: Three Palestinans killed in Gaza
Medical sources said Ahmed al-Bureim, 18, and Abu Lahia, 27, a member of the Palestinian national security force, were killed earlier in the day, not far from Abassan...
In Beit Hanun, in the north, 37-year-old farmer Suheil al-Majdalawi was fatally shot by Israeli soldiers while in his fields, a medical source said...
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/36CB594D-82F0-4753-87C8-AEAF90AFC79C.htm
Aljazeera: Reuters: Israeli court rejects barrier route plea
Israel's supreme court has rejected Palestinian petitions against the route of an Israeli barrier which will cut them off from their land...
The court said they could appeal again if arrangements for farmers to reach their crops through passages controlled by the Israeli military proved unsatisfactory...
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B8659FA4-A736-40B3-BBE6-D47E4031E84A.htm
Aljazeera: AFP: 'Minor issues' delay Israel pullout
The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon has said that "minor administrative issues" are delaying a pull-out of Israeli forces from the southeast Lebanon border village of Ghafar.
One third of the village is in Lebanese territory and two-thirds in the zone annexed by Israel...
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/D00EB6F0-E2A3-4DD8-8443-4C7DBADE5263.htm
Aljazeera: AFP: Aljazeera denies Tunisia allegations
Aljazeera has denied that it is pursuing a "political agenda" against Tunisia, after Tunis closed its embassy in Doha to protest an alleged "hostile campaign" by the Qatar-based television...
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F3745CCF-D7DE-4FF4-9A96-3286C7379F11.htm
UK Times: Nato forces are accused as civilians are killed
From Anthony Loyd in Kandahar
“WHAT do you foreigners think you are doing?” an angry doctor demanded of me as three boys, all wounded by shrapnel, were wheeled into Mirawais hospital in Kandahar. One had his right eye blown out and the other two had abdominal injuries. “You bomb civilians, then come in to talk to them? Better if you leave.”
The hospital’s registration book showed that ten civilian casualties, including six children aged 8 to 12, had been admitted on Wednesday morning. There were many more casualties, survivors said. But they claimed that the roads were sealed by Nato troops and that the wounded had escaped across the fields.
Last night one official claimed that as many as 85 civilians had been killed in airstrikes and mortar bombardments around the settlement of Zangawat, in the Panjwayi district of the city...
“We were under bombardment and airstrike from midnight onwards,” said Toor, 25, an Afghan farmer, lying dust-covered and bloody in a stretcher. “We couldn’t move, there was fire everywhere. Then I was hit in the leg. I crawled out with my wife and three brothers. All of us were wounded. We saw dead and wounded lying everywhere as we escaped: men, women and children.” Before The Times was ejected from the hospital, a second doctor said that 18 civilians had arrived for treatment after being wounded in three villages bombed by Nato.
Relatives of the wounded had only harsh words for their leaders in Kabul, whom they accuse of being bankrupt of courage and integrity.
“I’ve just called President Karzai and he switched off the phone,” said Haji Shah Mohammed, a senior member of the province’s council. “Three of my nephews are dead and three more of my family are wounded. I called the Governor but he switched off his phone too. Who will hear us?” Afghan officials who travelled from Kandahar to assess the casualties in the Zangawat area said that they could not get close because of Taleban fighters there. “We couldn’t get access to the place we wanted as there were still Taleban in the area,” one official said.
Officials in Kandahar and Kabul claimed that 60 to 85 civilians had died in the attacks, a figure backed by locals...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2423956,00.html
Counterpunch: JOHN WALSH: Emanuel's War Plan for Democrats
The Book of Rahm
Last week in CounterPunch (1), I wrote that the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), Congressman Rahm Emanuel, had worked hard to guarantee that Democratic candidates in key toss-up House races were pro-war. In this he was largely successful, because of the money he commands and the celebrity politicians who reliably respond to his call, ensuring that 20 of the 22 Democratic candidates in these districts are pro-war. So the fix is in for the coming elections.
In 2006, no matter which party controls the House, a majority will be committed to pursuing the war on Iraq--despite the fact that the Democratic rank and file and the general voting public oppose the war by large margins. (I hasten to add that this state of affairs can be reversed even after the sham election between the two War Parties.)..
http://www.counterpunch.com/walsh10242006.html
(COUNTERPUNCH WEBSITE OF THE DAY)
Brickburner: Open Letter to The Nation Magazine
Endorse the Antiwar Candidates and Expose the Democratic Hawks
To Katrina Vanden Heuvel and The Nation’s editors:..ETC
http://brickburner.blogs.com/my_weblog/2006/10/open_letter_to_.html
Los Angeles Times: A right kind of Democrat
GOP-held House seats are threatened by a crop of conservative foes.
By Janet Hook
But, like Shuler, many of the Democratic candidates most likely to be elected are cut from a different cloth. Sixteen of them have been endorsed by the Blue Dogs, a coalition of conservative Democrats. Several used to be Republicans. Shuler was recruited to run as a Republican a few years ago but opted not to...
With so many conservative-leaning candidates at the forefront of the Democratic effort, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) has, at least for now, stuck to a minimalist agenda that steers clear of grand, liberal ambitions...
"The Democrats are going to retake the House of Representatives by electing conservative and moderate Democrats," said Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.), a member of the Blue Dog Coalition. "We're going to move our party back to the middle."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-dems26oct26,0,3860101.story?coll=la-home-headlines
HARMAN RELEASES STATEMENT AND TEXT OF UNCLASSIFIED CUNNINGHAM REPORT
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ca36_harman/October_17_06.html
tpmmuckraker: Two More GOPers Call for Rumsfeld's Ouster
By Justin Rood
It's still pretty short -- nine, by our count -- but the list of Republicans saying Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld should be gone just added a couple names.
In a televised debate last night, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) said Rumsfeld should be gone by now. "Secretary Rumsfeld offered his resignation on two separate occations to the president of the United States," Snowe said, according to her campaign office. "The president refused. If I had been in his place I would have accepted it."
And in Kentucky, Rep. Anne Northup (R) told the Louisville Courier-Journal yesterday, "I don’t want to depend on the same team, meaning Rumsfeld."..
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001883.php
Bradblog: CNN's Lou Dobbs: Maryland Trains Poll Workers So Diebold Can't Blame Them For Diebold's Failures
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3666
ABC Local: Leah Hope: Cook County voters will have touch-screen option
"The touch-screen is better because I know actually who I'm voting for. With the punch thing I didn't know. I might have punched the wrong person," said Dora McKinney, voter.
"We all use ATM machines -- a lot of them are that way. So it was simple. The only problem I had, when you come the cast ballot part, but then I just asked somebody working and they helped me," said Dan Arndt, voter.
On Election Day Cook County voters will have two choices: the touch-screen or a new paper ballot. On the paper ballot voters will draw a line next to the candidate of their choice -- no more filling in a circle or punch voting.
Cook County Clerk David Orr demonstrated Tuesday how the touch-screen voting system gives options to change votes and to check the votes against a paper receipt. The touch-screen also allows the hearing and visually impaired to vote without assistance.
"The advantage of this newer technology is it can be easier for the voters, easier to tally and more accurate," said Orr.
A modernization of the voting process has come with some problems. The Chicago Election Board made changes to its website after a hacker was able to access personal information...
Not all electronic voting systems have paper backup, but the machines used in Cook County do. So if there is a question, about voting they will be able to go back to the paper. They estimate that most will vote with paper. (BUT NOT PAPER BALLOTS, LEAH?)
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=local&id=4691837
National Journal Blog: Seven Reasons Why Karl Rove Is Optimistic
1ST COMMENT: You overlooked the most important reason: He's delusional.
http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2006/10/post_99.html
HammerofTruth: Message from concerned Diebold voter
Tonight I received an email from M.B. Blankenship, a not so happy voter. (Actually, Wes Benedict forwarded the message.)
http://hammeroftruth.com/2006/10/25/message-from-concerned-diebold-voter/
tpmmuckraker: School Official Threatened by GOP Aide over Political Support
By Justin Rood
"A staffer for Rep. Mark Steven Kirk (R-Ill.), in a threatening e-mail, tried to get the president of Tel Aviv University to pressure a prominent supporter of Democrat Dan Seals to back down," the Chicago Sun-Times reports today.
Chicago insurance magnate Robert "Bob" Schrayer had been a big supporter of Kirk's, but switched this election to throw his weight behind Kirk's Democratic opponent, Dan Seals.
Schrayer is also a mucky-muck with an advisory council for Tel Aviv University. In July, Kirk staffer Caryn Garber e-mailed another University official, pressuring him to get Tel Aviv University's president to persuade Schrayer to drop his support for Seal.
If he didn't, Garber warned, bad things could happen to the university, which receives U.S. government funding.
"[University president] Itamar [Rabinovitch] should call Bob [Schrayer] and tell him his actions can have a very bad effect on the university," Garber wrote from her personal e-mail account. ("Kirk is a member of the House Appropriations Committee's Foreign Operations subcommittee, which handles grants to entities in Israel and other countries," the paper notes.)
Garber added, "Revenge is a dish best served cold."
Rep. Kirk says he's since reprimanded Garber, and vowed to fire her if she ever does it again.
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001886.php
ABC Blotter: Trandahl Names Kolbe as a 'Problem' With Page Program, Source Says
Rhonda Schwartz and John Yang Report:
A source close to former House Clerk Jeff Trandahl told ABC News that Arizona Congressman Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.) was one of a small number of "problem members" of Congress who page program supervisors complained spent too much time socializing with pages, taking them to dinner or sporting events outside of official duties.
Mark Foley was also on the list.
The source said Trandahl frequently cautioned both congressmen that "adults should hang out with adults, pages should hang out with pages," a message Trandahl also conveyed to pages during their orientation...ETC
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/10/trandahl_names_.html
tpmmuckraker: Final Foley E-Mail Mystery Solved (Sorta)
By Justin Rood
The site, StopSexPredators.blogspot.com, was run by a "junior staffer" at the gay rights group, Human Rights Campaign (HRC), according to the New York Times. According to HRC spokesman David Smith, the group learned of the employee's handiwork this week, and immediately fired him for "misusing the group's resources." HRC would not disclose the name of the staffer, the paper reported. Hence our "sorta."
HRC's Smith told me this morning that the fired employee had worked organizing HRC members to volunteer for political campaigns in Michigan. In the past, the group has supported Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).
Shortly after the HRC staffer anonymously posted Foley e-mails to his Web site, ABC News -- which had obtained the e-mails independently -- ran a story on them. That story led to tips of more graphic instant-message transcripts between Foley and former pages, which led to Foley's resignation, and the story took off from there.
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001884.php
NYT: DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK: Rights Group Fires Publisher of Foley E-Mail
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/26/us/politics/26foley.html?ex=1319515200&en=bc6d3e30e59debc9&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
HotAir: Human Rights Campaign fires staffer over “Stop Sex Predators” site
-“The email exchanges in question between former Congressman Mark Foley and a House page have been in the possession of bloggers and media outlets for some time now. Yesterday, it came to our attention that an HRC employee, hired just last month to work for us in Michigan, was responsible for initially posting these emails on his blog. We investigated the matter, determined that HRC resources had been inappropriately used, and let him go. No one at the Human Rights Campaign, other than this individual, had any knowledge of his activities,” said Brad Luna, Spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign.-
Update: Actually, one more question. Was the SSP blogger fired because he didn’t come forward with the Foley information sooner, because he chose to publish it anonymously instead of bringing it to HRC, or, as is suggested by the SOS comment, simply because he went about his business on company time?
According to a comment left on SOS by someone claiming to be a spokesman for HRC:
http://hotair.com/archives/2006/10/25/human-rights-campaign-fires-staffer-over-stopsexpredators-site/
American Thinker: Calling the Gay Mailers Bluff
The mysterious blog spot (stopsexpredators) that first reported Mark Foley’s original ambiguous emails to a former page, has been tracked to Human Rights Campaign, a purportedly non-partisan group that claims to advance the interests of lesbian,gay , bi-sexual and transgendered citizens (LGBT in this era of Balkanized interest groups). It is headed by Joe Solomonese, a pro-abortion activist with ties to George Soros.
One blog site that has been tracking the SSP site, warns that if HRC doesn’t come clean about its role in this Republican gay outing campaign, it will be exposed on Friday:
Open letter to Joe Solmonese:..
Update:
SOS has now replaced it’s original post which we cited with this:..
Brad Luna said...
“The email exchanges in question between former Congressman Mark Foley and a House page have been in the possession of bloggers and media outlets for some time now. Yesterday, it came to our attention that an HRC employee, hired just last month to work for us in Michigan, was responsible for initially posting these emails on his blog. We investigated the matter, determined that HRC resources had been inappropriately used, and let him go. No one at the Human Rights Campaign, other than this individual, had any knowledge of his activities,” said Brad Luna, Spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign.
I have emailed Brad asking for confirmation of this statement (and some others things).
http://www.americanthinker.com/comments.php?comments_id=6442
AP: LAURIE KELLMAN: Author of blog exposing Foley fired
The Human Rights Campaign, a solid supporter of Democratic candidates, first learned last Sunday that its employee had written the blog on a computer owned by the group, Smith said...
He said the employee told a supervisor that the author of a rival blog was about to expose his role in the disclosure and his affiliation with the HRC. The employee was fired two days later, Smith said.
The fired blogger did not return e-mails seeking comment Thursday. In his last post, Oct. 19, he castigated Hastert for blaming the scandal on Democrats.
"That's just an attempt at escaping responsibility," the blogger wrote in that entry. "What does it matter who actually posted those first e-mails?"
It mattered to a computer-savvy West Coast blogger who suspected that the person behind the Web site stopsexpredators.blogspot.com was a Democrat. The second blogger early this month used tracer programs to find out that stopsexpredators was writing from a Human Rights Campaign computer in Michigan.
Forming his own blog, stopoctobersurprises, the second man threatened in e-mails to expose the first blogger's affiliation unless he identified himself.
When the stopsexpredators author did not respond, the West Coast blogger posted a message to let him know his location had been found out.
On Sunday night, Smith said, the stopsexpredators blogger told his HRC supervisor that he was about to be identified by the stopoctobersurprises rival. The supervisor told Smith early Tuesday, who then fired the employee.
The West Coast blogger, reached by telephone Thursday, refused to provide his name or to comment on the record. He identifies himself on his own blog as a fiscal conservative but social liberal who votes Republican most of the time and doesn't care what consenting adults do in private...
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/15856615.htm
Fox: AP: Foley Investigation a Complex Task for Ethics Panel
The panel may find it difficult, if not impossible, to resolve the split between Speaker Dennis Hastert and two other House GOP leaders, campaign chairman Tom Reynolds of New York and Majority Leader John Boehner of Ohio...
Although the two Republicans and two Democrats conducting the investigation have worked up to 12 hours on some days, there is no indication anything can be resolved before the Nov. 7 election. Polls show Republican candidates have been harmed by the scandal.
"I don't think they should come out with a half-cocked report if they don't really have it nailed down," said Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo., who served eight years on the ethics committee, four as chairman, before Hastert had him replaced.
There is no indication that Republican leaders knew of sexually explicit computer messages to former male pages until the scandal burst into the open and Foley, R-Fla., resigned at the end of the September...
Can Reynolds, Boehner and Hastert all be telling the truth? They can...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,225720,00.html
riehlworldview: HRC Cops To StopSexualPredators Link
COMMENT: For reasons I’ve pointed out elsewhere, I’m not buying HRC’s story. I mentioned all this on Ace’s earlier:
How likely is it that this blogger came into possession of these emails at such a convenient time and just happened to be working for an organization who’s top dogs include people like Jeff Trandahl, the guy who supervised the House’s page program (and who has recently been talking to the FBI about the Foley scandal) and Mike Mings, the electoral affairs guy for HRC, and a former page for Kolbe?..
COMMENT: I don't believe HRC's story either.
OTOH, they donated heavily to Foley in the past. So that is a point in favor of it being a rogue operation.
I'd go with 80% HRC is lying, 20% rogue operation right now, because I think the DNC assured them it would be worth burning their friends this time.
http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2006/10/hrc_cops_to_sto.html
StopOctoberSurprises: Update: I know who this employee is, and have for some time, but I cannot prove that he has been fired. I will let others go after that for now. There is more to this story... It seems to me that the HRC has more work to do in this matter, and I communicated that message to Brad Luna.
Several MSM types have contacted me and perhaps I will talk. Right now I've communicated only the background to two in particular.
http://stopoctobersurprises.blogspot.com/
Washington Times: Greg Pierce: Outer Outed
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/inpolitics.htm
BlogActive: Shimkus Chief of Staff is gay...
One name we haven't heard about in Foleygate is Craig Roberts. Roberts is Chief of Staff for Rep. John Shimkus.
What's interesting here is that Roberts, a gay man working for a homophobic House member, has yet to be mentioned in the news at all. Shimkus, of course, is on the House Page Board and was one of the first members of the House to learn about the emails and, as we now know, he was involved in the effort to coverup the information...
Shimkus, as you may recall, was the GOPer on the Page Board who CONCEALED from the Democrat on the Page Board the very existence of the emails.
I have heard over and over from some of these guys how they are 'working from within the party to make things better for gay people.' In some rare cases, it's true -- and I don't report on those guys here. That clearly can't be the case with Shimkus' staff...
I have written a letter (PDF) to the chairs of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to encourage them to take a look at this guy.
And I'm not sure which is worse... To be a closet case and work against us, or to be out as a gay man and work for a dope like this. If anyone doubts Roberts is gay, click here..
http://www.blogactive.com/2006/10/shimkus-chief-of-staff-is-gay.html
BlogActive: Someone ought to tell this guy to shut up
N.J. gay ex-governor wants to wed partner
Former Gov. James McGreevey, who resigned after acknowledging a gay affair, said he would tie the knot with his partner if state lawmakers decide to allow gay marriage...
Let's make sure that this guy doesn't become the poster boy for marriage equality... He doesn't have a very good record and there's no need to give the other side ammunition by allowing a corrupt guy to be the most visible one in our community.
http://www.blogactive.com/2006/10/someone-ought-to-tell-this-guy-to-shut.html
NYT: New Jersey Senate Race in Dead Heat, Poll Shows
By DAVID W. CHEN and MARJORIE CONNELLY
Even though New Jersey voters see him as less qualified and less able to grasp the average voter’s problems, Thomas H. Kean Jr., the Republican challenger, is holding his own in his bid to unseat Senator Robert Menendez, whose support is rooted largely in Democratic discontent with President Bush, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll...
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/26/nyregion/26cnd-poll.html?hp&ex=1161921600&en=aedd227138d77dee&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Crooks & Liars Video: Olbermann Gives Us The Visual To Limbaugh’s Attack On Michael J. Fox
By: Jamie Holly
After showing the clip of Limbaugh's sad reenactment of Fox's appearance, Keith was joined by Sam Seder to discuss it, along with other ways the Republicans turn to attacks instead of addressing the issues. Seder nails the main talking point surrounding this whole discussion - How the right attacks those who are actually affected by these issues and possess the bravery to bring them into the political arena. Just ask the Congressional pages about that one..
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/10/25/olbermann-gives-us-the-visual-to-limbaughs-attack-on-michael-j-fox/
TAKE A LOOK: BoingBoing: Website generates fake boarding passes
http://www.boingboing.net/2006/10/26/website_generates_fa.html
KSTP: Minnesota truckers have run out of gas
(AP) - Minnesota trucking companies were coping with spot fuel shortages on Thursday, with diesel supplies out or nearly out in Rochester, Mankato and Winona, the president of a trucking trade group said...
Hausladen said the shortages were brought on by increased demand by farm equipment during the harvest, the ongoing transition to ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel and a changing mix of products coming out of refineries...
http://kstp.com/article/stories/S19622.html?cat=1
Age: Oil jumps $2 on OPEC cuts, US stock draw
Even without OPEC supply curbs, US oil imports fell last week, causing US crude inventories to fall by 3.3 million barrels, according to US government data released on Wednesday, above analyst expectations.
At the same time, distillate stocks, including heating oil, fell by 1.4 million barrels, compared with the 1.1 million barrel decline forecast.
Gasoline inventories, which had been expected to decrease by 600,000 barrels, dropped by 2.8 million barrels...
http://www.theage.com.au/news/Business/Oil-jumps-2-on-OPEC-cuts-US-stock-draw/2006/10/26/1161749215939.html
FT: Wheat lower in spite of world output warning
By Chris Flood
Crude oil prices gave back some of Wednesday’s gains, the largest one-day rise for seven months, inspired by larger-than-expected declines in US crude inventories last week.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/21886a02-64da-11db-90fd-0000779e2340.html
NY Post: John Crudele: TREASURY'S PAULSON PLAYS WITH THE PLUNGE PROTECTORS
PAY attention!
Someone - and I don't know who - wants us all to know that since July Henry Paulson, the new secretary of the U.S. Treasury, has spent a lot of time on a little known Washington operation called the President's Working Group on Financial Markets.
That was the major message in a prominent piece this past Monday in The Wall Street Journal.
The big mystery is why do these people want us to know this? And why now? I wrote about the Working Group on Financial Markets back in June when Paulson left Wall Street powerhouse Goldman Sachs to accept the top job at Treasury.
As I documented in a series of half a dozen columns, the mysterious Working Group had been formed in 1988 by an executive order signed by President Reagan and was manned by the heads of various stock exchanges and top government officials in charge of those markets.
The group was supposed to - ya' know - solve financial problems, although the scope of its authority and its powers were never clearly defined.
The group soon became known as the Plunge Protection Team, and for those who were following its stealthy pursuits, the Working Group seemed to be using a blueprint set down by a former Federal Reserve official named Robert Heller. ..
The Plunge Protection Team - a. k. a. Working Group - probably remained mostly dormant during the good years. But there were sneaking suspicions that it came out of its shell a couple of times, especially after 9/11.
So it's interesting that now - seemingly out of the blue and far removed from any obvious crisis - Paulson is activating the Plunge Protection Team and someone wants us to know about it. .."Since taking the reins in July, the Wall Street veteran has reinvigorated the President's Working Group on Financial markets, which had languished." The article went on to say that before Paulson's arrival, the group met every few months, and sometimes only once a quarter. Now Paulson is insisting that it meet every six weeks.
Among other things, Paulson and the Plunge Protection gang discuss the problems that might occur with hedge funds and derivatives, plus the "government's ability to respond to a financial crisis," according to a source quoted by the paper... Since the Federal Reserve is the group that would lower interest rates in an emergency, the Plunge Protectors would probably be the ones who'd fix the problem. In other words, they'd throw money at it.
Stocks have been moving steadily upward since July, when Paulson took over the Plunge Protection Team (and the Treasury). And one of the reasons could be that - as I mentioned back then - there is less risk in stocks if the government is providing a safety net.
Less risk, that is, until something bad happens.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10262006/business/treasurys_paulson_plays_with_the_plunge_protectors_business_john_crudele.htm
Free Market News: COILED SPRINGS & DARK SHADOWS
Once upon a time, people used to suspect devices and policies in place to control financial markets. Official denials and misdirection was the order of the day. No more. They are openly admitted nowadays, often justified as protecting our systemic vitality and integrity itself. To compound the twists to the system, information in the form of official statistics have been tampered or doctored, if not withheld, all for the greater good. However, the end result of all the market interference, as well as distorted information, is a giant opportunity to exploit the coiled springs. Profit motives seem to return to life after elections...ETCETC
http://www.freemarketnews.com/Analysis/65/6237/coiled.asp?wid=65&nid=6237
Asia Times: THE EMERGING RUSSIAN GIANT, Part 2
Washington's nightmare
By F William Engdahl
(For Part 1 in this two-part report, Moscow plays its cards strategically, click here.)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/HJ26Ag01.html
News.com: Russia opposes UN Iran draft
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20653467-1702,00.html
'Stability First': Newspeak for rape of Iraq
By Pepe Escobar
Iraq is not simply a US electoral issue. It's a human tragedy of biblical proportions. Hence the urge at this point to situate the tragedy in a historical context...
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HJ27Ak03.html
Mail & Guardia, South Africa: Fears of all-out war fuelled in Somalia
Mustafa Haji Abdinur | Mogadishu, Somalia
A day after government troops, allegedly assisted by Ethiopia soldiers, dug trenches around the base of the south-central town of Baidoa, the Islamists said the township, which straddles three regions, had fallen without bloodshed, according witnesses.
Heavily armed Islamic fighters rode into Saakow township, about 340km south-west of the capital Mogadishu, late on Wednesday without much resistance after Juba Valley Alliance (JVA) militia loyal to Barre Shirre Hirale, the defence minister of the transitional government, fled, they said...
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__africa/&articleid=287857
(IN FRENCH) Germany starts investigatioh into Israeli attack on their warship.
http://fr.news.yahoo.com/26102006/5/l-allemagne-enquete-sur-des-tirs-de-sommation-presumes-israeliens.html
AP: U.S. Evangelicals on Mission in Israel
By MATTI FRIEDMAN
After 35 days at sea, a group of American evangelicals traveling on a creaky World War II-era cargo ship landed in Israel on a solidarity mission only to run aground in red tape, with long delays in unloading their cargo of clothes, toys and medical supplies.
Still, the crew was unfazed Thursday, keeping a positive attitude in a demonstration of the growing alliance between evangelical Christians and the Jewish state.
"The Bible says, 'Who blesses Israel will be blessed,'" said Don Tipton, the group's leader. "We believe that."
The Spirit of Grace steamed into the Israeli port of Ashdod in early October from Louisiana, flying an American flag and a huge banner reading "Jehovah" in Hebrew letters. Three weeks later, the ship is still docked, its 900-ton load of goods bound for local charities stuck on board as the gears of Israeli bureaucracy slowly turn.
The evangelicals are treating the delay the same way they sailed their weather-beaten cargo ship through three fierce storms in the Atlantic Ocean: with a cheerful faith that their mission is God's will.
"It's taken a bit longer than we expected, but it's given us more time to tour the country, and we're having a great time," said Sandra Tipton, Don Tipton's wife.
Julio Lieberman, the group's Israeli shipping agent, said the delay was due to paperwork the government requires for charitable donations from abroad. "It's taken far too long, but it should be sorted out in a few days," he said.
Yigal Ben-Zikry, a spokesman for the Ashdod port, said workers could unload the ship "in half a day" as soon as government approval comes through.
The Spirit of Grace - formerly the USS Pembina, a 62-year-old Navy ship that saw action in World War II - is operated by a foundation run by the Tiptons, born-again Christians originally from Beverly Hills, Calif. The group owns four other ships, as well as landing craft and a helicopter, all based at a facility dubbed Port Mercy in Lake Charles, La.
Like the Spirit of Grace, the vessels are staffed entirely by volunteers and used to deliver supplies donated by Christians to disaster-struck countries around the world.
But the mission to Israel is different.
"This is not aid, it's an expression of friendship and love," Don Tipton said. The members of his crew, like many other evangelical Christians, see supporting Israel as a divine commandment. They were further spurred by this summer's war against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, he said.
"After the war, we saw that Lebanon was getting lots of aid and friendship, and I thought, hey, they're not the ones who just got mugged," Tipton said. He then sped up preparations for the trip, which had been planned before fighting broke out.
The voyage reflects the growing support among American evangelicals for the Jewish state, with Christians becoming more vocal politically and more generous financially on Israel's behalf.
One of Israel's biggest and most accepted charities is an evangelical-funded group, the Chicago-based International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, which distributes $30 million a year to projects in Israel.
"We love and admire Israel - we tell our congressmen and senators this, and we stand behind (President) Bush," said Tipton, 62. "We won't let anything happen to Israel."
The friendly feeling has generally been mutual in Israel, despite some Israeli hesitancy about the evangelicals' religious beliefs and political agenda. The Christians support the extreme Israeli right-wing position which opposes any territorial compromises to the Palestinians.
Despite the lengthy delay, the evangelicals said they have been warmly received at this busy port, where their vintage vessel and blue-and-white "Jehovah" banner stand out among the huge cargo ships, grimy tankers and Israeli naval craft. Workers have invited them for dinner in the port's cafeteria and the port has waived some of its usual tariffs, Tipton said.
"We had to be nice to these people," port spokesman Yigal Ben-Zikry said. "They're more Zionist than any Israelis I know."
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-me/2006/oct/26/102601371.html
WaPo: Voting Machines Had Defective Part
Key Component Was Replaced in Touch-Screen Units After Repeated 'Freezes'
By Cameron W. Barr
Staff writer Eric Rich and staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.
Goldstein said board members could have learned the details of the technology refresh. "If they had asked, we would have told them," he said...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/25/AR2006102501907_pf.html
Bradblog: WaPo Reveals Hidden Work by Diebold in Maryland as Thousands of System Boards Were Replaced in Secret!
PLUS: Hart Intercivic Machines in Texas Fail Like The Ones In Virginia
As the November Train Wreck Begins To Pick-Up Steam…
UPDATE FROM BRAD: This is a very detailed story with a duplicitous cast of characters and it is very well investigated and told. Kudos to WaPo's Cameron W. Barr for this coverage! We look forward to seeing much more of it!
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3670
Austin American Statesman: Voting machines chop off candidates' names
Computer glitch affects eSlate machines used in Travis, Hays counties; error cannot be fixed by Nov. 7.
By Tara Copp, Corrie MacLaggan
As voters review their ballots, they may be surprised to see that the Hart InterCivic Inc. eSlate voting machines chop off candidate names longer than about 15 letters. So Kinky Friedman becomes "Richard 'Kinky' F." Carole Keeton Strayhorn: "Carole Keeton St."
And Texas' senior senator? Just call her "Kay Bailey Hutch." ..
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/10/26/26glitch.html
Reuters: John Whitesides: Democrats lead in U.S. election: Reuters poll
Voters strongly favor Democratic candidates over Republicans in the November 7 congressional election and harbor growing doubts about the Iraq war and the country's future, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Thursday...
Democrats have an 11-point edge, 44 percent to 33 percent, when voters are asked which party's candidate they will support, up slightly from a 9-point lead in the last Reuters/Zogby poll a month ago...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061026/pl_nm/poll_dc_1
DU: Mortos: "Stay the course" search produces 33879 matches on Whitehouse website
A simple search of the Whitehouse.gov site of the phrase "stay the course," results in 33879 matches...
A look at only statements made by the president going back to 2002 shows that there were rarely speeches made by him that didn't include the "stay the course" mantra. These are only the Whitehouse's official press conferences and transcripts of events which skip months of speeches and statements by the president. Private fundraisers and stump speeches would add hundreds, if not thousands, more attributions to the president.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2906591
Raw Story: Civil libertarians criticize DNA databases
Advocates for civil freedoms are expressing their concerns with the recent rise of DNA databases, National Journal's 'Technology Daily' reports.
Speaking at a Washington, D.C. event hosted by the ACLU, "civil libertarians on Wednesday cited the many perceived risks of DNA databases," writes Winter Casey...
Excerpts from the subscription-only article follow...
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Civil_libertarians_criticize_DNA_databases_1026.html
AZ Central: Reports: Feds scrutinizing Renzi over potential land swap
Jon Kamman and Dennis Wagner
The Arizona Republic
Rep. Rick Renzi hired a lawyer Tuesday, two weeks before Election Day, amid an escalating number of inquiries and reports about a federal investigation into the congressman's activities.
"We don't know if there is an investigation," said Renzi's lawyer, former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods. "There's really nothing there, other than these (media) reports."...ETC
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1025renzi1025.html
Los Angeles Times: Los Alamos confirms data breach
The lab acknowledges three computer drives were found in a drug bust and says it's taken steps to address risks.
By Ralph Vartabedian
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-lab26oct26,0,6602171.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Cryptome: John Stanton: Sibel Edmonds Vindicated?
FBI Reveals Investigation Continues
http://www.cryptome.org/edmonds-turks.htm
WaPo: Iraqi Premier Denies U.S. Assertion He Agreed to Timelines
Maliki Also Criticizes Sadr City Raid
By John Ward Anderson
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/25/AR2006102501138_pf.html
Antiwar: IPS: David Phinney: Slave Labor at US Embassy in Baghdad?
http://www.antiwar.com/ips/phinney.php?articleid=9919
Antiwar: Paul Craig Roberts: The Fault Lies in Ourselves
The most important difference between these two fraud cases, however, is in accountability. The Enron executives have been brought to justice with prison sentences, multi-million dollar fines, and, in one case, death from a heart attack brought on, perhaps, by the stress of prosecution.
Even if the Bush administration and the rubber-stamp Congress are held accountable in next month's election, the ringleaders of the war are unlikely to be brought to justice. Polls indicate that the November election – if votes are honestly counted, an uncertainty with the electronic voting machines – will hold Bush and the Republicans accountable by ending one-party rule...
I agree with Hornberger that the way to deal with terrorism is to change the policies that provoke it. What the Bush administration has done is to institutionalize elements of a police state as protections against terrorists so that it doesn't have to change its policy in the Middle East. ..ETC
http://www.antiwar.com/roberts/?articleid=9917
CTV: AP: Hans Blix: Invasion of Iraq a 'pure failure'
COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- Former U-N chief weapons inspector Hans Blix describes the U-S-led invasion of Iraq as a "pure failure'' that has left the country worse off than under the dictatorial rule of Saddam Hussein...
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061025/hans_blix_061025/20061025?hub=World
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Wednesday, October 18, 2006
All The News
Guardian: AP: Robert Burns: Rumsfeld OKs Plan to Recall Battalions
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has approved an unannounced Marine Corps plan to recall to active duty and send back to Iraq at least some Marine Reserve combat battalions that have already served one tour there, officials said Wednesday.
This would be the first time that reserve combat battalions - units of several hundred troops each - would be sent to Iraq for a second tour, although other types of reserve units and many active-duty units have done multiple tours...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6155822,00.html
AP: STEVEN R. HURST: U.S. October Death Toll in Iraq Hits 70
AP News Research Center in New York contributed to this report, as did AP correspondents Christopher Bodeen, Hamza Hendawi and Qassim Abdul-Zahra.
Eleven more U.S. troops were slain in combat, the military said Wednesday, putting October on track to be the deadliest month for U.S. forces since the siege of Fallujah nearly two years ago...
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari on Wednesday blamed American officials who ran Iraq before its own government took nominal control for bringing the country to the present state of chaos.
'Had our friends listened to us, we would not be where we are today,' Zebari said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Asked which friends he was referring to, Zebari said:
'The Americans, the Coalition (Provision Authority), the British. OK? Because they didn't listen to us. The did exactly what they wanted to do. ... Had they listened to us, we would have been someplace else (by now), really.'..
A report in Britain's Financial Times on Wednesday said the White House is now pressuring Iraqi authorities to give amnesty to Sunni insurgents. That would be a surprising change for the Bush administration, which has resisted amnesty because it could potentially include fighters who have killed American troops.
At the State Department, spokesman Tom Casey said a decision on amnesty would be left to the Iraqi government...
October is now on track to be the deadliest month for American forces in Iraq since November 2004, when military offenses primarily in the then-insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, left 137 troops dead, 126 of them in combat...
http://interestalert.com/story/siteia.shtml?Story=st/sn/10180004aaa06644.ap&Sys=rmmiller&Fid=WORLDNEW&Type=News&Filter=World%20News
Antiwar: Wednesday: 42 Iraqis Killed, 34 Injured
http://www.antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=9882
Riverbend: The Lancet Study...
This has been the longest time I have been away from blogging. There were several reasons for my disappearance the major one being the fact that every time I felt the urge to write about Iraq, about the situation, I'd be filled with a certain hopelessness that can't be put into words and that I suspect other Iraqis feel also.
It's very difficult at this point to connect to the internet and try to read the articles written by so-called specialists and analysts and politicians. They write about and discuss Iraq as I might write about the Ivory Coast or Cambodia- with a detachment and lack of sentiment that- I suppose- is meant to be impartial. Hearing American politicians is even worse. They fall between idiots like Bush- constantly and totally in denial, and opportunists who want to use the war and ensuing chaos to promote themselves.
The latest horror is the study published in the Lancet Journal concluding that over 600,000 Iraqis have been killed since the war. Reading about it left me with mixed feelings. On the one hand, it sounded like a reasonable figure. It wasn't at all surprising. On the other hand, I so wanted it to be wrong. But... who to believe? Who to believe....? American politicians... or highly reputable scientists using a reliable scientific survey technique?...
So far, the only Iraqis I know pretending this number is outrageous are either out-of-touch Iraqis abroad who supported the war, or Iraqis inside of the country who are directly benefiting from the occupation ($) and likely living in the Green Zone.
The chaos and lack of proper facilities is resulting in people being buried without a trip to the morgue or the hospital. During American military attacks on cities like Samarra and Fallujah, victims were buried in their gardens or in mass graves in football fields. Or has that been forgotten already?
We literally do not know a single Iraqi family that has not seen the violent death of a first or second-degree relative these last three years. Abductions, militias, sectarian violence, revenge killings, assassinations, car-bombs, suicide bombers, American military strikes, Iraqi military raids, death squads, extremists, armed robberies, executions, detentions, secret prisons, torture, mysterious weapons – with so many different ways to die, is the number so far fetched?
There are Iraqi women who have not shed their black mourning robes since 2003 because each time the end of the proper mourning period comes around, some other relative dies and the countdown begins once again.
Let's pretend the 600,000+ number is all wrong and that the minimum is the correct number: nearly 400,000. Is that better? Prior to the war, the Bush administration kept claiming that Saddam killed 300,000 Iraqis over 24 years. After this latest report published in The Lancet, 300,000 is looking quite modest and tame. Congratulations Bush et al.
Everyone knows the 'official numbers' about Iraqi deaths as a direct result of the war and occupation are far less than reality (yes- even you war hawks know this, in your minuscule heart of hearts). This latest report is probably closer to the truth than anything that's been published yet. And what about American military deaths? When will someone do a study on the actual number of those? If the Bush administration is lying so vehemently about the number of dead Iraqis, one can only imagine the extent of lying about dead Americans…
http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/
??10 Oct: TBR News: Harring Report: The National Young Men’s Meat Grinder
Note: There is excellent reason to believe that the Department of Defense is deliberately not reporting a significant number of the dead in Iraq. We have received copies of manifests from the MATS that show far more bodies shipped into Dover AFP than are reported officially. The actual death toll is in excess of 10,000. (See the official records at the end of this piece.) ..
http://www.tbrnews.org/Archives/a2540.htm#001
(UGANDANS, FIJIANS, NON-CITIZENS...SO MANY POSSIBILITIES)
Robert Scheer: The Killing Fields of Iraq
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1018-30.htm
Aljazeera: Iraq reconciliation conference date set
A much-anticipated conference aimed at stemming the cycle of sectarian violence in Iraq will take place on November 4, the government has said...
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E4D19123-9DD3-11D1-B44E-006097071264.htm
AP: ABDUL-HUSSEIN RIDHA: Iraq's Premier in Talks With Key Shiite
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki consulted with Iraq's Shiite spiritual leader and a radical, anti-U.S. cleric Wednesday in a bid to enlist support for efforts to build political consensus and tackle widening sectarian violence...
President Bush assured al-Maliki in a telephone conversation Monday that he has no plans to pull troops out of Iraq and told him to ignore rumors the United States intended to enforce a deadline for Baghdad to rein in sectarian violence.
Al-Maliki told Bush he was concerned because he had been hearing that the United States was giving him just two months to establishment a government capable of operating without U.S. help, according to White House spokesman Tony Snow.
Snow said it was not clear where the two-month deadline rumor had come from, although it appeared to reflect growing frustration in Congress and across the country about Al-Maliki's lack of progress...
**In comments to reporters, al-Sadr appeared to soften his opposition to plans by the Shiite bloc in parliament to introduce a federal system in Iraq...
But on Wednesday he said the decision should be left to the Iraqi people to make.
'Federalism, like anything else, is left up to the Iraqi people. If they approve it, then there should be no problem,' he said after meeting al-Maliki in Najaf...
http://interestalert.com/story/siteia.shtml?Story=st/sn/10180000aaa00890.ap&Sys=rmmiller&Fid=WORLDNEW&Type=News&Filter=World%20News
(**OR MOQTADA KNOWS IRAQIS WOULD VOTE IT DOWN)
Reuters: Iraqi PM hopes for Saddam death sentence soon
"God willing the trial will not last a long time. God willing the death sentence verdict will be issued soon against the tyrant Saddam and his followers."..
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-10-18T160702Z_01_PAR846923_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-SADDAM-MALIKI.xml&WTmodLoc=IntNewsHome_C1_%5bFeed%5d-6
Bucks County Courier Times: Santorum defends Iraq war
Embattled U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum said America has avoided a second terrorist attack for five years because the “Eye of Mordor” has been drawn to Iraq instead.
Santorum used the analogy from one of his favorite books, J.R.R. Tolkien's 1950s fantasy classic “Lord of the Rings,” to put an increasingly unpopular war in Iraq into terms any school kid could easily understand.
“As the hobbits are going up Mount Doom, the Eye of Mordor is being drawn somewhere else,” Santorum said, describing the tool the evil Lord Sauron used in search of the magical ring that would consolidate his power over Middle-earth.
“It's being drawn to Iraq and it's not being drawn to the U.S.,” Santorum continued. “You know what? I want to keep it on Iraq. I don't want the Eye to come back here to the United States.”...
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/111-10172006-728120.html
BBC: Court martial in Iraq rape case
Four US soldiers are to face court martial over the alleged rape of an Iraqi girl and murder of her and her family, the US military has said.
Two of the soldiers could face the death penalty if found guilty...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6064444.stm
Bob Geiger: It's True: Bush Declares 'National Character Counts Week'
To paraphrase Forrest Gump, going to the White House web site is like a box of chocolates… you never know what you're gonna get...
We have another one to add to that collection because, whether you realize it or not, we're smack-dab in the middle of what Bush has officially proclaimed National Character Counts Week. It runs October 15 through October 21 and is intended, according to Bush, to "renew our commitment to instilling values in our young people and to encouraging all Americans to remember the importance of good character."...
http://www.democrats.com/node/10455
2 Pages: Los Angeles Times: Law's Reach Extends to Jails in U.S.
The curbing of habeas corpus protections for 'enemy combatants' can now occur domestically. Many say the measure won't survive court tests.
By David G. Savage
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-habeas18oct18,0,1856058.story?coll=la-home-headlines
tpmmuckraker: CA Dem Slams Sweeney for Marianas Trip
By Paul Kiel
In response to questions from The Albany Times-Union, Sweeney said that he was not aware of the mistreatment of workers on the islands when he visited. He also claimed not to have witnessed anything worrying while he was there.
Miller, whose various attempts over the past decade to regulate the labor conditions and immigration laws on the islands were consistently foiled by Jack Abramoff, wanted to know how Sweeney had managed to tour the islands and not witness evidence of abuse. "Why did you take the trip? What did you do?" he asked. "It’s a very small island."
"If you didn't look into the human rights abuses... what were you doing there?"..
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001833.php
tpmmuckraker: CA Rep Drops Nearly $800,000 on Legal Fees
By Paul Kiel
Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), who's been under federal investigation since May for his ties to his friend, lobbyist Bill Lowery, has spent nearly $800,000 on legal fees since his troubles began...
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001830.php
tpmmuckraker: Blackwater CEO Is Another Unlikely Green Outed
By Paul Kiel
The candidacy of Carl Romanelli, the Green who made a run for the Senate in Pennsylvania, may not have succeeded. The Pennsylvania courts ended his bid last month; a disappointment for the Santorum campaign, since that means he won't be siphoning any votes from the Democrat Bob Casey. But at least we've learned about the surprisingly progressive views among his Republican supporters.
When we pored over the contributor list for Romanelli's campaign before, we found a lobbyist for Halliburton and a hotel mogul among the unlikely group. Now Will Bunch has discovered Erik Prince, the owner of Blackwater Security, which has the biggest mercenary security force in Iraq, is another closet lefty. Prince dropped $10,000 for Romanelli's campaign in July. Apparently, when Prince isn't using his connections to get a secret, no-bid contracts from the CIA, he's doing what he can for people power. Who knew?..
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001831.php
Bloomberg: Michigan Workers, Pushed Out of Auto Jobs, Lose Houses, Too
Wayne County, home of Detroit and 35 surrounding municipalities, had the most foreclosed properties in the U.S. in the second quarter, according to Foreclosure.com of Boca Raton, Florida. Statewide, the number of homes in some stage of foreclosure tripled in September from a year earlier, a report by RealtyTrac of Irvine, California, shows...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a6RM0FGH5dc4&refer=exclusive
LAT: Some Seek 'Pink Purge' in the GOP
By Johanna Neuman
A recent incident that upset social conservatives involved remarks by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last week. With First Lady Laura Bush looking on, Rice swore in Mark R. Dybul as U.S. global AIDS coordinator while his partner, Jason Claire, held the Bible. Claire's mother was in the audience, and Rice referred to her as Dybul's "mother-in-law."
"The Republican Party is taking pro-family conservatives for granted," said Mike Mears, executive director of the political action committee of Concerned Women for America, which promotes biblical values. "What Secretary Rice did just the other day is going to anger quite a few people."..
Adding to the conservative Christians' disaffection has been a new book asserting that the White House used President Bush's faith-based initiative for political purposes while mocking evangelicals behind their backs...
This week, a list that is said to name gay Republican staffers has been circulated to several Christian and family values groups — presumably to encourage an outing and purge. McClusky acknowledged seeing the list but said his group did not produce it and had no intention of using it...
None of the gay Republican staffers contacted for this article would speak for the record.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gaygop18oct18,1,3708267.story?track=rss
Fox: Foley Reveals to Florida Attorney's Office Name of Clergy Who Allegedly Molested Him
The Associated Press contributed to this report
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Former Rep. Mark Foley is telling to the Florida Attorneys Office for the 15th Judicial Circuit Court in Palm Beach County the name of the clergyman he accuses of molesting him as a child.
Foley's attorneys came to an agreement Wednesday with the general counsel for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami and the Archdiocese of Pam Beach about the order in which the name would be revealed.
State Attorney Barry Krischer was given the clergyman's name by Foley civil attorney Gerald Richman. The clergyman is believed to no longer live in the United States.
"Our attorney spoke with Mr. Richman, but there has been no information revealed. Mr. Foley's alleged abuser was not identified," Archdiocese spokeswoman Mary Ross Agosta said.
Agosta expressed impatience with Foley's attorneys for not telling the name that Foley seems to want to reveal.
"However he wants to tell us, fine, but tell us," Archdiocese spokeswoman Mary Ross Agosta said Wednesday. "It's very frustrating at this point."
The drip of information regarding the alleged abuser has the Archdiocese puzzled and frustrated.
"We can't do anything without the name," Agosta said. "What if this priest is still in active ministry? Are there other children in active danger by being in his company? These are things we have to think about, and not just for the sake of another press conference."
"On top of the normal difficulty of dealing with a case that is 35 years old is the fact that it's being ping-ponged back and forth like this," she added. "Waiting, waiting, waiting.".
On Tuesday, Richman said the priest who allegedly abused Foley is still alive, but the statute of limitations for criminal charges against the man has expired.
Mike Edmondson, a spokesman for the state attorney's office in West Palm Beach, said that to claim outright that the statute of limitations has expired is somewhat misleading because the alleged abuser may have committed similar crimes more recently on other victims.
"There's still a pool of potential victims out there," Edmondson said Wednesday.
David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, has also called on Foley to reveal the name of his alleged abuser.
"If he's telling the truth, this is a step forward for Foley's healing," Clohessy said in a statement. "But until the identity of the accused is known publicly, kids may needlessly be at risk."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,222264,00.html
Orlando Sentinel: AP: Brian Skoloff: Foley reveals his alleged abuser
Disgraced former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley has revealed to the Archdiocese of Miami the name of the Roman Catholic clergyman he says abused him as a teenager, a close friend of Foley's said Tuesday.
The name was not made public, and it was not clear whether the person was still active in the church or is alive.
According to the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the church offered Foley counseling in the matter, which Foley accepted. He plans to begin that counseling after completing treatment for alcoholism.
The archdiocese declined immediate comment..
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-foley1806oct18,0,5068264.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-state
TampaBays10: AP: Prosecutors given the name of Foley's alleged abuser, his lawyer says
A spokesman for the state attorney's office in West Palm Beach says this evening his office hasn't yet seen the name.
http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=41985
Bradenton Herald: Marc Caputo: Foley lawyers give name of priest to prosecutors
A spokesman for Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischer said the office will not release the name of the suspect at this time. Krischer spokesman Mike Edmondson said a criminal case will be tough to prosecute because the statute of limitations on the as-yet-undescribed crime has probably passed.
''In cases of abuse, we need a specific allegation and we don't have one right now,'' said Edmondson. ``The victim would have to file a complaint, detail what occurred, when it happened and where.''..
Raised in a devout Roman Catholic family, Foley was an altar boy and attended Cardinal Newman High School in West Palm Beach.
One of his former guidance counselors and a family friend, Palm Beach town councilman Bill Brooks, said he doesn't think Foley's claim that he was molested is credible.
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/nation/15790653.htm
ABC Blotter: Brian Ross: FBI Yet to Find Evidence of Foley-Page Sexual Contact
After interviewing some 40 former congressional pages, FBI agents have yet to turn up any evidence of direct sexual contact between underage pages and former Congressman Mark Foley.
Instead, according to law enforcement officials and several former pages, a pattern is emerging of seduction by Foley that began when the boys were 16 and 17. In cases where actual sex followed, it was not until the boys were at the legal age of 18.
"He spotted me when I was a page and set the hook while I was still in high school," one former page told ABC News. "He didn't reel me in until he showed up at my college campus on a congressional visit. We had sex," said the page, who has been interviewed by the FBI...
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/10/fbi_yet_to_find.html
Raw Story: Brian Beutler: Page scandal hotline operating without oversight
The congressional page tip line instituted earlier this month by House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) is operating without any institutional oversight mechanism, RAW STORY has learned...
According to Salley Collins, spokeswoman for the Office of the Clerk, the tip line is operated by her office—as opposed to the FBI or other law enforcement agencies—because "the Clerk oversees the page program."..
Neither Hastert, nor the leadership office of Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), nor Shelley Capito (R-WV), who sits on the page board, immediately returned calls for comment regarding the story...
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Page_tip_line_run_without_accounting_1018.html
thinkprogress: Milbank: ‘There Are Rumors About A Third [Page Scandal], This One Involving A 16-Year-Old Girl’
Last night on MSNBC, Washington Post reporter Dana Milbank told Keith Olbermann that “there are rumors now about a third [page scandal], this one involving a 16-year-old girl.”..
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/10/18/milbank-16/
Wayne Madsen: On October 10, WMR reported, "Word is that the Pagegate scandal will soon 'out' gay closeted GOP Congressmen from Pennsylvania, California, and Louisiana and a GOP Senator from a Rocky Mountain state. We can, in addition to BlogActive confirm that based on our sources in Idaho, that GOP Senator is Larry Craig, known as "Larry Boy" in his "own private Idaho."
Added to the list of closeted gay GOP House members is a noted anti-gay member from North Carolina.
WMR can also report that the closeted Pennsylvania GOP Congressman is Phil English of the 3rd Congressional District. We have received information that English was arrested in Erie in the late 1980s for soliciting sex from an underage African-American male. At the time, English was the Erie City Controller. The arrest was quickly covered up by Erie city officials, including the mayor. However, WMR has received information that there was a very credible witness to the arrest, a public school official in the Pennsylvania 3rd Congressional District. A member of the Pennsylvania State Legislature has corroborating information on the arrest. English served as Chief of Staff for then-State Senator (and now GOP Congresswoman) Melissa Hart...
English supported HR 4437, which "Criminalizes undocumented immigrants and any individual or institution that comes in contact with them such as: spouses, family members, social service organizations, church groups, and co-workers." In support of the legislation, English cited, "human trafficking in the U.S. . . . includ[ing] adolescent Mexican girls trafficked to the U.S. for forced prostitution."
English and Pennsylvania GOP Senator Rick Santorum were classmates at Penn State, where English formed the Pennsylvania College Republicans.
English's Democratic opponent in Dr. Steve Porter...
PLUS WMR's story revealing Missouri Republican Rep. Jo Ann Emerson's membership on the House Page Board for Session 1 of the 106th Congress has cropped up in her Missouri 8th district campaign. This email newsletter was sent out by the Veronica Hambacker campaign:..ETC
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/
CNN: Ted Barrett: Democrat apologizes for 'slavish' remark
A ranking Democrat in the House of Representative is apologizing for saying an African-American Senate candidate "slavishly" supported the Republican Party.
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, said he meant no offense when he made the remark about Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, the GOP nominee for the seat being vacated by longtime Democratic Sen. Paul Sarbanes.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Hoyer said, "I should not have used those words."..
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/17/democrats.apology/index.html
ProgressNowAction: Call for the FBI to intervene in BeauprezGate
Background:
http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/petition/1006beauprezgate
Media Matters: Why has CNN devoted 50 times as much coverage to Harry Reid's land deal as Dennis Hastert's?
From October 12-17, CNN aired 3,361 words about allegations that Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (NV) improperly reported a land deal in which he made $700,000.
Seventeen different CNN transcripts in the Nexis database include mention of the Reid land deal -- and that doesn't even count October 18, when CNN has aired at least one more lengthy segment on the deal.
By comparison, CNN has aired only 65 words about a land deal in which House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) made nearly $2 million, a story which was first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times on June 15...ETC
http://mediamatters.org/items/200610180011
Media Matters: Halperin asserted, despite polling to the contrary, that Republicans have "an advantage" over Democrats on "national security and taxes"
In an October 17 ABCNews.com online article titled "Down but Not Out, GOP Still Has a Chance," ABC News political director Mark Halperin asserted that Republicans have "an advantage" over Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections on "national security and taxes." In fact, as Media Matters for America has repeatedly noted (here and here), recent polls suggest that Democrats actually hold an advantage over Republicans on both issues. ..
http://mediamatters.org/items/200610180007
Media Matters: NY Times, CNN's Malveaux repeated claim that terrorism is a "winning" and "strong" issue for GOP, despite polls showing otherwise
Summary: In their news reports on President Bush's signing of the Military Commissions Act, The New York Times reported that the war on terrorism is a "winning issue for Republicans," and CNN's Suzanne Malveaux uncritically reported that the Bush administration believes national security is "a strong issue for Republicans" heading into the midterm elections. In fact, recent polling shows that more voters prefer Democrats to handle the issue of combating terrorism.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200610180016
Media Matters: CBS, ABC ignored FBI raid of Weldon associates in corruption probe; NBC ignored key difference between Weldon raid and Reid land deal
Summary: Evening news programs on ABC and CBS made no mention that federal agents raided the homes of Rep. Curt Weldon's (R-PA) daughter and her business partner, as well as four additional locations, as part of a reported investigation into whether Weldon improperly assisted their company. NBC's Nightly News did report on the raids, but NBC devoted equal time to Democratic Sen. Harry Reid's announcement that he would issue updated disclosure forms to add more details of a land transaction, without noting a key difference: There are no allegations that Reid used his office to benefit from the land deal.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200610170006
Media Matters: After calling for ABC to fire Rosie O'Donnell over religious comments, conservatives silent on disclosures of Bush White House contempt for Christian conservatives
Summary: Conservatives in the media have attacked Rosie O'Donnell for comments she has made regarding Christianity and Catholicism, and several have even called for O'Donnell to be fired. But those same conservatives have yet to comment on disclosures in a newly released book that the Bush White House has pandered to Christian conservatives for votes, while breaking promises on policy and referring to them as "the nuts," "insane," and "ridiculous" behind closed doors.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200610180014
Media Matters: Supposedly nonpartisan Beck: "If Democrats are elected, we are in for two years of investigation, God forbid, impeachments, while the world is set on fire"
Beck's assertions came less than a week after he pleaded with his audience: "This November, please, don't vote for a Republican. Don't vote for a Democrat. Don't vote for an independent. Vote for an American." Since September 25, Beck has asked his television audience to "vote for an American" three times and has repeated the catchphrase on his radio program. As Media Matter for America noted, Beck previously purported to explain why his "show doesn't talk more about politics" moments before announcing that he "like[s] George W. Bush" and that "stupid people" vote for Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)...
http://mediamatters.org/items/200610180010
Taegan Goddard: Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
"I think I'd just commit suicide."
-- Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), quote by Radio Iowa, on what he would do if Democrats take control of the U.S. Senate.
http://politicalwire.com/archives/2006/10/18/extra_bonus_quote_of_the_day.html
UK Times: Treasury to review policing of 'aggressive' hedge funds
By Gary Duncan and Liz Chong
A NEW review of hedge fund regulation is to be launched by the Treasury after the Bank of England yesterday sounded a warning that the industry is very likely to be at the heart of any new financial crisis, The Times has learnt.
Amid growing pressure for increased regulation of hedge funds in the United States and Europe, the Treasury believes that Britain’s policing of the industry will need to be re-examined rigorously...
Mr Balls will announce that Lord Levene of Portsoken, chairman of Lloyd’s of London, will lead a high-level group advising the Treasury on market-led reforms of the wholesale insurance market, amid fears that London is losing key business in the sector to Bermuda and other tax havens. Technological improvements will be a key focus of the group.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9063-2409304,00.html
AP: TAREK AL-ISSAWI: OPEC Has More to Consider Than Output
But because several OPEC members, including Nigeria and Venezuela, have not been able to maintain production at the levels they have been allocated, the Saudis and others have had to pick up the slack (by exceeding their quotas) to meet rising global demand. This is why divvying up any potential cuts has become controversial, analysts said.
'It puts most of the burden on Saudi shoulders,' Halff said, and 'Riyadh has already trimmed output in recent months.'..
Saudi Arabia's discomfort with soaring oil prices - crude futures surpassed $78 in July - is partly because of its close economic and political relationship with the United States, the world's largest energy consumer. But Riyadh also has more pragmatic reasons to worry: high energy prices have caused a surge of investment among non-OPEC oil producers that is threatening the cartel's global market share, and they have prompted worldwide interest in conservation and alternative fuels...
http://interestalert.com/story/siteia.shtml?Story=st/sn/10180000aaa035b5.ap&Sys=rmmiller&Fid=WORLDNEW&Type=News&Filter=World%20News
Guardian: AP: New Toxic Trouble at N.C. Chemical Plant
Emergency crews evacuated businesses near a chemical waste plant Wednesday after a chemical reaction sent a toxic plume into the air two weeks after a raging inferno at the same site forced thousands of people from their homes.
Firefighters extinguished the smoldering chemical mix two hours after it began spouting smoke from a 55-gallon barrel amid the plant's ruins in Apex, a Raleigh suburb...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6156003,00.html
AP: Anne Gearan: Rice says U.S. ready to defend Japan
Rice's reference to U.S. willingness to honor the "full range" of the nation's security commitments was meant as a signal to allies that the United States does not want to see them embarking on a new nuclear arms race to protect themselves. It was also likely to be taken as a reminder to North Korea that, should it use nuclear weapons on a neighbor, the U.S. has powerful forces of its own — including nuclear — and is pledged to defend its friends in the region...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061018/ap_on_re_as/koreas_nuclear;_ylt=AonYF9RTfpVevFCBdsgiazqROrgF;_ylu=X3oDMTA4NTMzazIyBHNlYwMxNjk2
AFP: Israeli PM arrives in Moscow for talks on Iran
"I haven't thought in terms of sanctions on Iran, but in terms of finding ways to prevent Iran from reaching nuclear capability," Olmert said...
"We are determined to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear capability. Russia understands that this is a general existential threat and not only a threat to Israel," Olmert said...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061017/wl_mideast_afp/russiaisraeldiplomacy
AFP: Ron Bousso: Iran must be intimidated, says Israeli leader
"The Iranians should be afraid that something they don't want to happen will occur," he said...
"I made it clear why in my opinion it is important that the Iranians are afraid," but he fell short of mentioning what measures that be taken against the Islamic state...
"We are at a critical juncture and the entire international community must join ranks to block Iran's true intention of arming itself with nuclear weapons," Olmert told journalists after talks with Putin in the Kremlin.
"I leave this meeting with the sense that President Putin understands that danger."..
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061018/wl_afp/russiaisraeldiplomacy_061018190116;_ylt=AlAu1.kMR4M5lcXaKuH1.mebOrgF;_ylu=X3oDMTA2ZGZwam4yBHNlYwNmYw--
Moscow Times: Nabi Abdullaev: Putin Skirts Iran in Olmert Meeting
President Vladimir Putin bent over backward to welcome Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Moscow on Wednesday but avoided what Olmert really wanted to discuss: Iran's nuclear ambitions...
"Pass our best regards to the president of Israel," Putin told Olmert, eliciting laughter from Russian and Israeli officials, said diplomats who were in attendance. "He surprised us."..
Putin did not utter the word "Iran" once..
http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2006/10/19/002.html
Malaysia Sun: Israeli troops, tanks, storm Rafah, 4 Palestinians killed
Wednesday's Gaza incursion follows an Israeli military operation, Tuesday in the West Bank, in which five Palestinians were killed..
http://story.malaysiasun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/b8de8e630faf3631/id/38975b24cc1f7b24/
imemc: Hours after evacuating, army invades Qabatia
Several hours after evacuating from Qabatia town, near Jenin in the norther part of the West Bank, troops supported by dozens of armored vehicles and jeeps, invaded it once again from several directions, the Palestinian News Agency, WAFA, reported.
The agency stated that soldiers fired rounds of live ammunition at several houses, while military vehicles invaded the town.
Also, eyewitnesses reported that under-cover units of the Israeli army infiltrated into the town using one small camion and a local-licensed car...
Local sources said that army already took at lest 12 residents as prisoners and moved them to unknown location there were known as; Bilal Abu Al Rab, 35, Fadi Abu Al Rab, 22 his brothers Ahmad, 22, and Mahmoud, 18, Ali Abu Al Rab, 38, his son Ahmad, 10, Khalid Abu Al Rab, Faleh Abu Al Rab, 50, his sons Mohamed, 24, Azmi, 19, and Nour, 15, Mohamed Abu Al Rab, 20, and his brother Abdullah, 19.
The sources added that army is still in the village, attacking houses and forcing people to gather in the interrogation places...
http://www.imemc.org/content/view/22144/1/
imemc: Israeli soldiers attack and injure 18 year old girl in Hebron
Abu Turki sustained fractures and bruises in here hands when troops attacked her while she was attempting to cross a checkpoint installed at Wadi Al Nar road north east of the West Bank city of Bethlehem.
She was participating in a trip organized by a local women group in Hebron that was planning to visit the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem to mark Lailat al Kader (Night of Destiny), the night Muslims believe God revealed the Koran to the prophet Mohammed...
http://www.imemc.org/content/view/22157/1/
Haaretz: IDF to investigate allegations of leaks to media during war
By Amos Harel
The Military Advocate General, Brigadier General Avichai Mandelblitt, on Wednesay instructed the army's criminal investigation department and the General Staff's department of information security to open a new investigation into leaks to media during the Lebanon war.
Chief of Staff Dan Halutz welcomed the decision...
Halutz has been waging a campaign against army leaks for several months.
The chief of staff recently told a group of generals that he had ordered transcripts from General Staff security intelligence to determine who spoke to the media without permission, and with which media sources.
An investigation into the relevant departments' conduct has revealed that 460 officers conversed with journalists by telephone during the war. ..
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/776592.html
Haaretz: Shmuel Rosner: Is the Jewish left ready for commitment?
Leaders from several organizations and movements are trying to raise funds and resources for the establishment of a new, strong and efficient body that would lobby the U.S. Congress and government to increase their involvement in solving the Arab-Israeli conflict peacefully.
The details of their initiative are still vague: It might be based on a new body or an existing one, such as the Israel Policy Forum, but it clearly would aim to advance political negotiations with America as a mediator. Some in the nascent group believe it is necessary to talk with Hamas. Many also believe sanctions against the Palestinian Authority serve no purpose, and that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee was wrong to promote them in Congress...
In that sense, the new lobby will be different from AIPAC, which, while its leaders have occasionally lapsed into frivolous head-butting with governments that suddenly have veered to the left, usually stays reasonably in line with Israeli policy...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/rosnerBlog.jhtml?itemNo=776109&contrassID=25&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=1&listSrc=Y&art=1
Haaretz: Peretz weighs legalizing some West Bank outposts
By Nadav Shragai and Gideon Alon
One of the outposts mentioned in the talks is Givat Asaf, which is located 3.5 kilometers from Beit El. According to the 2005 Sasson Report on unauthorized outposts, the outpost was built on private Palestinian property.
Peretz and settlement leaders are discussing the possibility that settlers will leave the outpost, and a military base will be built on the site instead of handing the area over to its Palestinian owners...ETC
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/776589.html
SF Chronicle: AP: Court Rules Against Israeli Extremists
The State Department "reasonably found" in 2003 that the group Kahane Chai made death threats against Israeli police and then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2006/10/17/national/w121341D19.DTL
AP: NADIA ABOU EL-MAGD: Sadat Nephew on Trial Making Accusations
'This is a dictatorial regime that is consolidating itself in power against people's will,' said Talaat Sadat, a 52-year-old opposition lawmaker. 'There is political enmity between me and the minister of interior because this man is terrorizing the people of Egypt.'
About 50 supporters gathered around him as he pulled up in a black Cadillac that aides said was once owned by President Sadat...
In an interview with Saudi television earlier this month, he called his uncle's assassination an international conspiracy that included some of the late president's personal guards and army commanders, as well as the United States and Israel...
Sadat told reporters he provided the court with paperwork showing 30 inquiries he had made as a parliamentarian against Interior Minister Habib el-Adly, offering them as proof of a personal, political squabble.
Asked whether he had a message for Mubarak, Sadat quoted a conventional Islamic saying: 'If you have the power to inflict injustice on people, remember God's power over you.'
The trial was adjourned until Oct. 21.
Sadat's lawyer, Alaa Abdel Moneim, told reporters after the court session that his strategy was to expose violations of trial procedures, including stripping Sadat of his immunity.
'What worries us is the hasty scheduling of the trial's subsequent sessions, which is unusual and unprecedented. Nonetheless, we trust the Egyptian judiciary and the military court,' he said...
In Washington, State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said the United States was 'concerned by the Egyptian government's prosecution of Mr. Sadat before a military court for expressing his opinions.'
'The keystone of a democratic society is the right of free speech, including to criticize one's government, and that extends to the military,' Gallegos said.
Asked about contentions that the United States played a role in the assassination, he said 'Mr. Sadat's implication of U.S. complicity is offensive and patently false. But in our view he should not be prosecuted for expressing his views.'..
Conspiracy allegations involving Sadat's assassination are not new. He was killed while sitting on a well-guarded podium, surrounded by his Cabinet, and rumors have abounded that the assassins were secretly helped by senior figures.
http://interestalert.com/story/siteia.shtml?Story=st/sn/10180008aaa01884.ap&Sys=rmmiller&Fid=WORLDNEW&Type=News&Filter=World%20News
Aljazeera & Agencies: Blunkett: Aljazeera considers legal action
Aljazeera is considering legal action after a former British home secretary defended military action against the network he described as an enemy "propaganda mechanism"...
In Monday's interview, Blunkett, who was a member of Blair's war cabinet at the time during the 2003 invasion, said he had advised the prime minister that he considered Aljazeera's Iraq technical operation to be a legitimate target.
"There wasn't a worry from me because I believed that this was a war and in a war you wouldn't allow the broadcasts to continue taking place," he said the interview with Britain's Channel 4 television.
When he was asked whether attacking a media outlet was not against international law, he said: "Well I don't think for a minute in previous wars we'd have thought twice about ensuring that a propaganda mechanism on the soil of the country you were invading would actually continue being able to propagandise against you".
"I don't know whether it was a mistake or not, but I wouldn't call it legitimacy," Blunkett said of the bombing...
Ahmed al-Sheikh, editor-in-chief of Aljazeera's Arabic channel, said; "Aljazeera was being targeted at the time because the people who were waging war on Iraq didn't like what it was showing.
"We talk about terrorism, this [was] pure terrorism."
He said Aljazeera had broadcast the realities of the war on the ground while other media outlets were covering "the cosmetics".
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/80285FF0-1E72-466A-8ECA-94DA0587E0B1.htm
Guardian: AP: Rachel Zoll: Evangelicals Urge Bush on Sudan Crisis
Among the supporters are some of the top names in the evangelical movement: the Revs. Ted Haggard and Rich Cizik of the National Association of Evangelicals; the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference; and the Rev. Geoff Tunnicliffe of the World Evangelical Alliance...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6156049,00.html
WP: Bush Sets Defense As Space Priority
U.S. Says Shift Is Not A Step Toward Arms; Experts Say It Could Be
By Marc Kaufman
President Bush has signed a new National Space Policy that rejects future arms-control agreements that might limit U.S. flexibility in space and asserts a right to deny access to space to anyone "hostile to U.S. interests."..
"Freedom of action in space is as important to the United States as air power and sea power," the policy asserts in its introduction...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/17/AR2006101701484_pf.html
Aljazeera: Agencies: Nato kills several Afghan civilians
Twenty-two civilians have been killed in two separate southern Afghanistan offensives, officials and resident say.
Asadullah Khalid, Kandahar's provincial governor, said Nato airstrikes in the area had left nine civilians dead and wounded 11 others on Wednesday...
Nato's international security assistance force said it regretted any civilian casualties and that it made "every effort" to minimise the risk of collateral damage during operations...
In a separate attack on Wednesday, a rocket hit a house during a night time clash between suspected Taliban fighters and Nato and Afghan security forces in a southern Afghan village.
A resident said 13 villagers, including women and children, died...
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/41E4ECCF-12EE-471C-8107-61CBF55F0010.htm
Turkish Press: Cheney says US active in Pakistan
We've got continuing activities in Pakistan. We've captured and killed more Al-Qaeda in Pakistan probably than any place else," he said in a radio interview.
A senior US official quickly clarified that Cheney was not talking about unilateral US operations, stressing: "The vice president was talking about our work with the Pakistani government on continuing counter-terrorism operations."
"We do not operate independently there, and the vice president was referring to the coalition against terrorism," said the official, who requested anonymity.
The White House released a transcript of the question-and-answer session, which came as US President George W. Bush was under increased pressure to catch or kill Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden ahead of November 7 legislative elections. ..
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=147068
17 Oct: Rush Limbaugh: Interview with Dick Cheney
LIMBAUGH: The war, Iraq, national security, war on terror, it's all combined into one issue now as far as the election is concerned...
CHENEY: ...We're very active in Afghanistan. We've got continuing activities in Pakistan. We've captured and killed more Al-Qaeda in Pakistan probably than anyplace else. We're active working with the Saudis and in many others in that part of the world. ..
The campaign, I look on, as an opportunity to remind everybody what's at stake here, and in this particular instance it's especially important to point out to people that terrorists can't beat us in a stand-up fight. They can only win if we lose our will, and they're betting we will. They're betting we don't have the stomach for the fight, and I don't think that's true, and I think faced with that basic fundamental choice I think the American people understand that it's having gone on offense, having gotten aggressive, going after the terrorists, closing those training camps in Afghanistan and working to take down regimes like Saddam Hussein and to stand up democracies in their place as well as stop measures here at home. It's what's kept us safe for five years and is the reason why there hasn't been another attack like 9/11 on the US. ..
LIMBAUGH: There was a story in the Washington Post yesterday or earlier in the week. The reporter was amazed that the president and Karl Rove remain, quote, "inexplicably upbeat," unquote, about the outcome of the elections, and that there is "no plan for if the Republicans lose" the House and/or the Senate. Can you tell us why the upbeat attitude in the White House?
CHENEY: Well, because we're out there working hard in connection with this campaign, because I think we feel like we've got some great candidates. I've got great confidence in Karl and Ken Mehlman up at the RNC. These are two of the best in the business in terms of understanding this process, and I think our candidates are well financed. We're doing everything humanly possible to succeed in this election, and, of course, we track polls as everybody else does, too. But I think it's easy to sit in Washington and sort of absorb the vibes coming from the national media, but that doesn't represent necessarily what's going on out there around the country. When you get out on the ground talking with real people about real problems, their hopes and desires for their families and for the nation, as well as their appreciation for what we've been able to accomplish over the last six years, you get a very positive feeling.
LIMBAUGH: One final question. You guys are fighting so hard to defeat the terrorists in and around this country and around the world. Do you have any reaction to the lenient sentence that Lynne Stewart received yesterday in New York?
CHENEY: Well, I was surprised. Of course, it's not for me to substitute my judgment for a judge, but I think of course the prosecution had asked for a much stiffer sentence, and this was somebody who has been supposedly convicted or pled guilty to being a key intermediary for a major terrorist -- and, you know, that's significant. I think we need to make certain that when we find somebody who is indeed in bed with the terrorists, that they are appropriately brought to justice.
LIMBAUGH: Mr. Vice President, thanks very much for your time. I know you gave us a couple minutes extra than you have on your schedule. I appreciate it, and we look forward to the next time. The best to you.
CHENEY: Well, Rush, you've got a great show, as always, and it's good to talk to you.
RUSH: Thank you, sir. Vice President Dick Cheney.
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_101806/content/vice_president_dick_cheney.guest.html
Angus-Reid: U.S. Confidence in War on Terror Falls to 31%
Conversely, 36 per cent of respondents believe the terrorists are winning the war on terror—up 10 points in three months—and 22 per cent believe neither side is ahead...
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/13509
Inquirer: Battlefield 2142 comes with spyware
As Electronic Arts says, "It's in the game"
By Theo Valich
A Computer Gaming World podcast reveals how retail packages of Battlefield 2142 come with a blurb to inform the buyer that the game comes with monitoring software that will be tracking your online activities.
"When you use the software while connected to the Internet, the advertising technology may record your IP address and other anonymous information," the packaging states. The technology then delivers adverts that may correspond to your tastes, depending on what the spyware learns about you.
"The advertising technology does not collect personal or identifiable information about you," it says. This, however, will depend on what you get up to online, of course.
Several game-related sites have their readers up in arms over this piece of paper, and many say they have cancelled their pre-orders of the game...
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=35169
READ ALL: CNET: Declan McCullagh: FBI director wants ISPs to track users
FBI Director Robert Mueller on Tuesday called on Internet service providers to record their customers' online activities, a move that anticipates a fierce debate over privacy and law enforcement in Washington next year.
"Terrorists coordinate their plans cloaked in the anonymity of the Internet, as do violent sexual predators prowling chat rooms," Mueller said in a speech at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Boston...ETC
http://news.com.com/FBI+director+wants+ISPs+to+track+users/2100-7348_3-6126877.html?tag=nefd.top
CIO Tech: Some Apple iPods Infected With Windows Virus
Apple’s technical support website warns: "We recently discovered that a small number—less than 1 percent—of the video iPods available for purchase after September 12 left our contract manufacturer carrying the Windows RavMonE.exe virus."..
http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=25881
READ, DOUBTING POSTS TOO: Dailykos: ACTION ALERT: Blackwell purged Ohio Voter Rolls Oct 1st.- Vote Early.
by KStreetProjector
A friend, in a position to be present at lunches of GOP insiders here in DC called me on Thursday, they know of my ongoing efforts to make hackable voting end.
My friend was present as a group of Moderate GOP members with Ohio ties lamented how far the party had strayed. There was consensus at the table there was no way they should retain control. The table conversation began with the assumption they party would lose control in this election. The moderates started planning how to take back control of the GOP from the extremists.
Then, one insider, probably an extremist, but certainly very close to Mr. Ken Mehlman abruptly stopped the conversation. He told table that it was impossible they would lose either house. He also predicts an Ohio GOP sweep...ETC
POST: Seems I Was Purged, Then
I live in Cleveland and just went to the Cuyahoga BOE website and searched my my registration information. You have to enter your last name + DOB.
...it came up with no results. And I registered to vote back in March of this year.
Amazing.
I really don't think this diary is tinfoil at all.
For anyone else in Cuyahoga County, Ohio check your info here:
http://boe.cuyahogacounty.us/...
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/18/85915/109
Reuters: Group lists 10 most polluted places on Earth
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-10-18T220938Z_01_N18609752_RTRUKOC_0_US-ENVIRONMENT-POLLUTION.xml&WTmodLoc=IntNewsHome_C2_worldNews-11
Reuters: US casts doubt on N Korea nuke test reports
The US State Department has cast doubt on media reports that North Korea intends to conduct another nuclear test and has informed China on the matter.
"There are a lot of rumours about this, obviously there are some indications, but I would caution people not to put too much stock in that," Assistant US Secretary of State Christopher Hill told national public radio's Morning Edition.
"We have always felt that the North Koreans could conduct a test when [they] wanted to but we do not have any indication that it's going to happen imminently."..
CNN said on Tuesday (local time) that a US intelligence analyst had told them the intelligence community had seen what might be preparations for a nuclear test at at least three North Korea sites...
Also on Tuesday, NBC reported that China had been informed by North Korea of additional nuclear tests.
But later a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman told CNN, "We have not received any notice from North Korea regarding this issue."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200610/s1768353.htm
(IS IT REALLY POSSIBLE THAT IN THE ENTIRE WORLD ONLY US 'INTELLIGENCE' CAN CONFIRM ANYTHING NUCLEAR?)
South Korea Herald: N.K. bomb test attests Seoul's poor intelligence capabilities
The previously doubted test was confirmed by the United States on Monday (Washington time) through an air sample analysis while South Korea remains undecided on whether an atomic blast actually took place...
South Korea has leased a high-tech device from Sweden to detect the radioactive material, but failed to collect the necessary air sample. Experts note that it shows the nation lacks not only high-tech equipment, but the know-how, to conduct its operation.
The point was raised once again on Monday when a lawmaker disclosed that South Korea's multipurpose satellite, Arirang-2, failed to take any pictures of North Korea before and after the North allegedly carried out a nuclear test...
Experts also indicate that Seoul's intelligence authorities have failed to locate the North's test site successfully, correcting the location four times...
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2006/10/19/200610190048.asp
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has approved an unannounced Marine Corps plan to recall to active duty and send back to Iraq at least some Marine Reserve combat battalions that have already served one tour there, officials said Wednesday.
This would be the first time that reserve combat battalions - units of several hundred troops each - would be sent to Iraq for a second tour, although other types of reserve units and many active-duty units have done multiple tours...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6155822,00.html
AP: STEVEN R. HURST: U.S. October Death Toll in Iraq Hits 70
AP News Research Center in New York contributed to this report, as did AP correspondents Christopher Bodeen, Hamza Hendawi and Qassim Abdul-Zahra.
Eleven more U.S. troops were slain in combat, the military said Wednesday, putting October on track to be the deadliest month for U.S. forces since the siege of Fallujah nearly two years ago...
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari on Wednesday blamed American officials who ran Iraq before its own government took nominal control for bringing the country to the present state of chaos.
'Had our friends listened to us, we would not be where we are today,' Zebari said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Asked which friends he was referring to, Zebari said:
'The Americans, the Coalition (Provision Authority), the British. OK? Because they didn't listen to us. The did exactly what they wanted to do. ... Had they listened to us, we would have been someplace else (by now), really.'..
A report in Britain's Financial Times on Wednesday said the White House is now pressuring Iraqi authorities to give amnesty to Sunni insurgents. That would be a surprising change for the Bush administration, which has resisted amnesty because it could potentially include fighters who have killed American troops.
At the State Department, spokesman Tom Casey said a decision on amnesty would be left to the Iraqi government...
October is now on track to be the deadliest month for American forces in Iraq since November 2004, when military offenses primarily in the then-insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, left 137 troops dead, 126 of them in combat...
http://interestalert.com/story/siteia.shtml?Story=st/sn/10180004aaa06644.ap&Sys=rmmiller&Fid=WORLDNEW&Type=News&Filter=World%20News
Antiwar: Wednesday: 42 Iraqis Killed, 34 Injured
http://www.antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=9882
Riverbend: The Lancet Study...
This has been the longest time I have been away from blogging. There were several reasons for my disappearance the major one being the fact that every time I felt the urge to write about Iraq, about the situation, I'd be filled with a certain hopelessness that can't be put into words and that I suspect other Iraqis feel also.
It's very difficult at this point to connect to the internet and try to read the articles written by so-called specialists and analysts and politicians. They write about and discuss Iraq as I might write about the Ivory Coast or Cambodia- with a detachment and lack of sentiment that- I suppose- is meant to be impartial. Hearing American politicians is even worse. They fall between idiots like Bush- constantly and totally in denial, and opportunists who want to use the war and ensuing chaos to promote themselves.
The latest horror is the study published in the Lancet Journal concluding that over 600,000 Iraqis have been killed since the war. Reading about it left me with mixed feelings. On the one hand, it sounded like a reasonable figure. It wasn't at all surprising. On the other hand, I so wanted it to be wrong. But... who to believe? Who to believe....? American politicians... or highly reputable scientists using a reliable scientific survey technique?...
So far, the only Iraqis I know pretending this number is outrageous are either out-of-touch Iraqis abroad who supported the war, or Iraqis inside of the country who are directly benefiting from the occupation ($) and likely living in the Green Zone.
The chaos and lack of proper facilities is resulting in people being buried without a trip to the morgue or the hospital. During American military attacks on cities like Samarra and Fallujah, victims were buried in their gardens or in mass graves in football fields. Or has that been forgotten already?
We literally do not know a single Iraqi family that has not seen the violent death of a first or second-degree relative these last three years. Abductions, militias, sectarian violence, revenge killings, assassinations, car-bombs, suicide bombers, American military strikes, Iraqi military raids, death squads, extremists, armed robberies, executions, detentions, secret prisons, torture, mysterious weapons – with so many different ways to die, is the number so far fetched?
There are Iraqi women who have not shed their black mourning robes since 2003 because each time the end of the proper mourning period comes around, some other relative dies and the countdown begins once again.
Let's pretend the 600,000+ number is all wrong and that the minimum is the correct number: nearly 400,000. Is that better? Prior to the war, the Bush administration kept claiming that Saddam killed 300,000 Iraqis over 24 years. After this latest report published in The Lancet, 300,000 is looking quite modest and tame. Congratulations Bush et al.
Everyone knows the 'official numbers' about Iraqi deaths as a direct result of the war and occupation are far less than reality (yes- even you war hawks know this, in your minuscule heart of hearts). This latest report is probably closer to the truth than anything that's been published yet. And what about American military deaths? When will someone do a study on the actual number of those? If the Bush administration is lying so vehemently about the number of dead Iraqis, one can only imagine the extent of lying about dead Americans…
http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/
??10 Oct: TBR News: Harring Report: The National Young Men’s Meat Grinder
Note: There is excellent reason to believe that the Department of Defense is deliberately not reporting a significant number of the dead in Iraq. We have received copies of manifests from the MATS that show far more bodies shipped into Dover AFP than are reported officially. The actual death toll is in excess of 10,000. (See the official records at the end of this piece.) ..
http://www.tbrnews.org/Archives/a2540.htm#001
(UGANDANS, FIJIANS, NON-CITIZENS...SO MANY POSSIBILITIES)
Robert Scheer: The Killing Fields of Iraq
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1018-30.htm
Aljazeera: Iraq reconciliation conference date set
A much-anticipated conference aimed at stemming the cycle of sectarian violence in Iraq will take place on November 4, the government has said...
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E4D19123-9DD3-11D1-B44E-006097071264.htm
AP: ABDUL-HUSSEIN RIDHA: Iraq's Premier in Talks With Key Shiite
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki consulted with Iraq's Shiite spiritual leader and a radical, anti-U.S. cleric Wednesday in a bid to enlist support for efforts to build political consensus and tackle widening sectarian violence...
President Bush assured al-Maliki in a telephone conversation Monday that he has no plans to pull troops out of Iraq and told him to ignore rumors the United States intended to enforce a deadline for Baghdad to rein in sectarian violence.
Al-Maliki told Bush he was concerned because he had been hearing that the United States was giving him just two months to establishment a government capable of operating without U.S. help, according to White House spokesman Tony Snow.
Snow said it was not clear where the two-month deadline rumor had come from, although it appeared to reflect growing frustration in Congress and across the country about Al-Maliki's lack of progress...
**In comments to reporters, al-Sadr appeared to soften his opposition to plans by the Shiite bloc in parliament to introduce a federal system in Iraq...
But on Wednesday he said the decision should be left to the Iraqi people to make.
'Federalism, like anything else, is left up to the Iraqi people. If they approve it, then there should be no problem,' he said after meeting al-Maliki in Najaf...
http://interestalert.com/story/siteia.shtml?Story=st/sn/10180000aaa00890.ap&Sys=rmmiller&Fid=WORLDNEW&Type=News&Filter=World%20News
(**OR MOQTADA KNOWS IRAQIS WOULD VOTE IT DOWN)
Reuters: Iraqi PM hopes for Saddam death sentence soon
"God willing the trial will not last a long time. God willing the death sentence verdict will be issued soon against the tyrant Saddam and his followers."..
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-10-18T160702Z_01_PAR846923_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-SADDAM-MALIKI.xml&WTmodLoc=IntNewsHome_C1_%5bFeed%5d-6
Bucks County Courier Times: Santorum defends Iraq war
Embattled U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum said America has avoided a second terrorist attack for five years because the “Eye of Mordor” has been drawn to Iraq instead.
Santorum used the analogy from one of his favorite books, J.R.R. Tolkien's 1950s fantasy classic “Lord of the Rings,” to put an increasingly unpopular war in Iraq into terms any school kid could easily understand.
“As the hobbits are going up Mount Doom, the Eye of Mordor is being drawn somewhere else,” Santorum said, describing the tool the evil Lord Sauron used in search of the magical ring that would consolidate his power over Middle-earth.
“It's being drawn to Iraq and it's not being drawn to the U.S.,” Santorum continued. “You know what? I want to keep it on Iraq. I don't want the Eye to come back here to the United States.”...
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/111-10172006-728120.html
BBC: Court martial in Iraq rape case
Four US soldiers are to face court martial over the alleged rape of an Iraqi girl and murder of her and her family, the US military has said.
Two of the soldiers could face the death penalty if found guilty...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6064444.stm
Bob Geiger: It's True: Bush Declares 'National Character Counts Week'
To paraphrase Forrest Gump, going to the White House web site is like a box of chocolates… you never know what you're gonna get...
We have another one to add to that collection because, whether you realize it or not, we're smack-dab in the middle of what Bush has officially proclaimed National Character Counts Week. It runs October 15 through October 21 and is intended, according to Bush, to "renew our commitment to instilling values in our young people and to encouraging all Americans to remember the importance of good character."...
http://www.democrats.com/node/10455
2 Pages: Los Angeles Times: Law's Reach Extends to Jails in U.S.
The curbing of habeas corpus protections for 'enemy combatants' can now occur domestically. Many say the measure won't survive court tests.
By David G. Savage
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-habeas18oct18,0,1856058.story?coll=la-home-headlines
tpmmuckraker: CA Dem Slams Sweeney for Marianas Trip
By Paul Kiel
In response to questions from The Albany Times-Union, Sweeney said that he was not aware of the mistreatment of workers on the islands when he visited. He also claimed not to have witnessed anything worrying while he was there.
Miller, whose various attempts over the past decade to regulate the labor conditions and immigration laws on the islands were consistently foiled by Jack Abramoff, wanted to know how Sweeney had managed to tour the islands and not witness evidence of abuse. "Why did you take the trip? What did you do?" he asked. "It’s a very small island."
"If you didn't look into the human rights abuses... what were you doing there?"..
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001833.php
tpmmuckraker: CA Rep Drops Nearly $800,000 on Legal Fees
By Paul Kiel
Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), who's been under federal investigation since May for his ties to his friend, lobbyist Bill Lowery, has spent nearly $800,000 on legal fees since his troubles began...
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001830.php
tpmmuckraker: Blackwater CEO Is Another Unlikely Green Outed
By Paul Kiel
The candidacy of Carl Romanelli, the Green who made a run for the Senate in Pennsylvania, may not have succeeded. The Pennsylvania courts ended his bid last month; a disappointment for the Santorum campaign, since that means he won't be siphoning any votes from the Democrat Bob Casey. But at least we've learned about the surprisingly progressive views among his Republican supporters.
When we pored over the contributor list for Romanelli's campaign before, we found a lobbyist for Halliburton and a hotel mogul among the unlikely group. Now Will Bunch has discovered Erik Prince, the owner of Blackwater Security, which has the biggest mercenary security force in Iraq, is another closet lefty. Prince dropped $10,000 for Romanelli's campaign in July. Apparently, when Prince isn't using his connections to get a secret, no-bid contracts from the CIA, he's doing what he can for people power. Who knew?..
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001831.php
Bloomberg: Michigan Workers, Pushed Out of Auto Jobs, Lose Houses, Too
Wayne County, home of Detroit and 35 surrounding municipalities, had the most foreclosed properties in the U.S. in the second quarter, according to Foreclosure.com of Boca Raton, Florida. Statewide, the number of homes in some stage of foreclosure tripled in September from a year earlier, a report by RealtyTrac of Irvine, California, shows...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a6RM0FGH5dc4&refer=exclusive
LAT: Some Seek 'Pink Purge' in the GOP
By Johanna Neuman
A recent incident that upset social conservatives involved remarks by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last week. With First Lady Laura Bush looking on, Rice swore in Mark R. Dybul as U.S. global AIDS coordinator while his partner, Jason Claire, held the Bible. Claire's mother was in the audience, and Rice referred to her as Dybul's "mother-in-law."
"The Republican Party is taking pro-family conservatives for granted," said Mike Mears, executive director of the political action committee of Concerned Women for America, which promotes biblical values. "What Secretary Rice did just the other day is going to anger quite a few people."..
Adding to the conservative Christians' disaffection has been a new book asserting that the White House used President Bush's faith-based initiative for political purposes while mocking evangelicals behind their backs...
This week, a list that is said to name gay Republican staffers has been circulated to several Christian and family values groups — presumably to encourage an outing and purge. McClusky acknowledged seeing the list but said his group did not produce it and had no intention of using it...
None of the gay Republican staffers contacted for this article would speak for the record.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gaygop18oct18,1,3708267.story?track=rss
Fox: Foley Reveals to Florida Attorney's Office Name of Clergy Who Allegedly Molested Him
The Associated Press contributed to this report
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Former Rep. Mark Foley is telling to the Florida Attorneys Office for the 15th Judicial Circuit Court in Palm Beach County the name of the clergyman he accuses of molesting him as a child.
Foley's attorneys came to an agreement Wednesday with the general counsel for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami and the Archdiocese of Pam Beach about the order in which the name would be revealed.
State Attorney Barry Krischer was given the clergyman's name by Foley civil attorney Gerald Richman. The clergyman is believed to no longer live in the United States.
"Our attorney spoke with Mr. Richman, but there has been no information revealed. Mr. Foley's alleged abuser was not identified," Archdiocese spokeswoman Mary Ross Agosta said.
Agosta expressed impatience with Foley's attorneys for not telling the name that Foley seems to want to reveal.
"However he wants to tell us, fine, but tell us," Archdiocese spokeswoman Mary Ross Agosta said Wednesday. "It's very frustrating at this point."
The drip of information regarding the alleged abuser has the Archdiocese puzzled and frustrated.
"We can't do anything without the name," Agosta said. "What if this priest is still in active ministry? Are there other children in active danger by being in his company? These are things we have to think about, and not just for the sake of another press conference."
"On top of the normal difficulty of dealing with a case that is 35 years old is the fact that it's being ping-ponged back and forth like this," she added. "Waiting, waiting, waiting.".
On Tuesday, Richman said the priest who allegedly abused Foley is still alive, but the statute of limitations for criminal charges against the man has expired.
Mike Edmondson, a spokesman for the state attorney's office in West Palm Beach, said that to claim outright that the statute of limitations has expired is somewhat misleading because the alleged abuser may have committed similar crimes more recently on other victims.
"There's still a pool of potential victims out there," Edmondson said Wednesday.
David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, has also called on Foley to reveal the name of his alleged abuser.
"If he's telling the truth, this is a step forward for Foley's healing," Clohessy said in a statement. "But until the identity of the accused is known publicly, kids may needlessly be at risk."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,222264,00.html
Orlando Sentinel: AP: Brian Skoloff: Foley reveals his alleged abuser
Disgraced former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley has revealed to the Archdiocese of Miami the name of the Roman Catholic clergyman he says abused him as a teenager, a close friend of Foley's said Tuesday.
The name was not made public, and it was not clear whether the person was still active in the church or is alive.
According to the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the church offered Foley counseling in the matter, which Foley accepted. He plans to begin that counseling after completing treatment for alcoholism.
The archdiocese declined immediate comment..
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-foley1806oct18,0,5068264.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-state
TampaBays10: AP: Prosecutors given the name of Foley's alleged abuser, his lawyer says
A spokesman for the state attorney's office in West Palm Beach says this evening his office hasn't yet seen the name.
http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=41985
Bradenton Herald: Marc Caputo: Foley lawyers give name of priest to prosecutors
A spokesman for Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischer said the office will not release the name of the suspect at this time. Krischer spokesman Mike Edmondson said a criminal case will be tough to prosecute because the statute of limitations on the as-yet-undescribed crime has probably passed.
''In cases of abuse, we need a specific allegation and we don't have one right now,'' said Edmondson. ``The victim would have to file a complaint, detail what occurred, when it happened and where.''..
Raised in a devout Roman Catholic family, Foley was an altar boy and attended Cardinal Newman High School in West Palm Beach.
One of his former guidance counselors and a family friend, Palm Beach town councilman Bill Brooks, said he doesn't think Foley's claim that he was molested is credible.
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/nation/15790653.htm
ABC Blotter: Brian Ross: FBI Yet to Find Evidence of Foley-Page Sexual Contact
After interviewing some 40 former congressional pages, FBI agents have yet to turn up any evidence of direct sexual contact between underage pages and former Congressman Mark Foley.
Instead, according to law enforcement officials and several former pages, a pattern is emerging of seduction by Foley that began when the boys were 16 and 17. In cases where actual sex followed, it was not until the boys were at the legal age of 18.
"He spotted me when I was a page and set the hook while I was still in high school," one former page told ABC News. "He didn't reel me in until he showed up at my college campus on a congressional visit. We had sex," said the page, who has been interviewed by the FBI...
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/10/fbi_yet_to_find.html
Raw Story: Brian Beutler: Page scandal hotline operating without oversight
The congressional page tip line instituted earlier this month by House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) is operating without any institutional oversight mechanism, RAW STORY has learned...
According to Salley Collins, spokeswoman for the Office of the Clerk, the tip line is operated by her office—as opposed to the FBI or other law enforcement agencies—because "the Clerk oversees the page program."..
Neither Hastert, nor the leadership office of Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), nor Shelley Capito (R-WV), who sits on the page board, immediately returned calls for comment regarding the story...
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Page_tip_line_run_without_accounting_1018.html
thinkprogress: Milbank: ‘There Are Rumors About A Third [Page Scandal], This One Involving A 16-Year-Old Girl’
Last night on MSNBC, Washington Post reporter Dana Milbank told Keith Olbermann that “there are rumors now about a third [page scandal], this one involving a 16-year-old girl.”..
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/10/18/milbank-16/
Wayne Madsen: On October 10, WMR reported, "Word is that the Pagegate scandal will soon 'out' gay closeted GOP Congressmen from Pennsylvania, California, and Louisiana and a GOP Senator from a Rocky Mountain state. We can, in addition to BlogActive confirm that based on our sources in Idaho, that GOP Senator is Larry Craig, known as "Larry Boy" in his "own private Idaho."
Added to the list of closeted gay GOP House members is a noted anti-gay member from North Carolina.
WMR can also report that the closeted Pennsylvania GOP Congressman is Phil English of the 3rd Congressional District. We have received information that English was arrested in Erie in the late 1980s for soliciting sex from an underage African-American male. At the time, English was the Erie City Controller. The arrest was quickly covered up by Erie city officials, including the mayor. However, WMR has received information that there was a very credible witness to the arrest, a public school official in the Pennsylvania 3rd Congressional District. A member of the Pennsylvania State Legislature has corroborating information on the arrest. English served as Chief of Staff for then-State Senator (and now GOP Congresswoman) Melissa Hart...
English supported HR 4437, which "Criminalizes undocumented immigrants and any individual or institution that comes in contact with them such as: spouses, family members, social service organizations, church groups, and co-workers." In support of the legislation, English cited, "human trafficking in the U.S. . . . includ[ing] adolescent Mexican girls trafficked to the U.S. for forced prostitution."
English and Pennsylvania GOP Senator Rick Santorum were classmates at Penn State, where English formed the Pennsylvania College Republicans.
English's Democratic opponent in Dr. Steve Porter...
PLUS WMR's story revealing Missouri Republican Rep. Jo Ann Emerson's membership on the House Page Board for Session 1 of the 106th Congress has cropped up in her Missouri 8th district campaign. This email newsletter was sent out by the Veronica Hambacker campaign:..ETC
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/
CNN: Ted Barrett: Democrat apologizes for 'slavish' remark
A ranking Democrat in the House of Representative is apologizing for saying an African-American Senate candidate "slavishly" supported the Republican Party.
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, said he meant no offense when he made the remark about Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, the GOP nominee for the seat being vacated by longtime Democratic Sen. Paul Sarbanes.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Hoyer said, "I should not have used those words."..
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/17/democrats.apology/index.html
ProgressNowAction: Call for the FBI to intervene in BeauprezGate
Background:
http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/petition/1006beauprezgate
Media Matters: Why has CNN devoted 50 times as much coverage to Harry Reid's land deal as Dennis Hastert's?
From October 12-17, CNN aired 3,361 words about allegations that Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (NV) improperly reported a land deal in which he made $700,000.
Seventeen different CNN transcripts in the Nexis database include mention of the Reid land deal -- and that doesn't even count October 18, when CNN has aired at least one more lengthy segment on the deal.
By comparison, CNN has aired only 65 words about a land deal in which House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) made nearly $2 million, a story which was first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times on June 15...ETC
http://mediamatters.org/items/200610180011
Media Matters: Halperin asserted, despite polling to the contrary, that Republicans have "an advantage" over Democrats on "national security and taxes"
In an October 17 ABCNews.com online article titled "Down but Not Out, GOP Still Has a Chance," ABC News political director Mark Halperin asserted that Republicans have "an advantage" over Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections on "national security and taxes." In fact, as Media Matters for America has repeatedly noted (here and here), recent polls suggest that Democrats actually hold an advantage over Republicans on both issues. ..
http://mediamatters.org/items/200610180007
Media Matters: NY Times, CNN's Malveaux repeated claim that terrorism is a "winning" and "strong" issue for GOP, despite polls showing otherwise
Summary: In their news reports on President Bush's signing of the Military Commissions Act, The New York Times reported that the war on terrorism is a "winning issue for Republicans," and CNN's Suzanne Malveaux uncritically reported that the Bush administration believes national security is "a strong issue for Republicans" heading into the midterm elections. In fact, recent polling shows that more voters prefer Democrats to handle the issue of combating terrorism.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200610180016
Media Matters: CBS, ABC ignored FBI raid of Weldon associates in corruption probe; NBC ignored key difference between Weldon raid and Reid land deal
Summary: Evening news programs on ABC and CBS made no mention that federal agents raided the homes of Rep. Curt Weldon's (R-PA) daughter and her business partner, as well as four additional locations, as part of a reported investigation into whether Weldon improperly assisted their company. NBC's Nightly News did report on the raids, but NBC devoted equal time to Democratic Sen. Harry Reid's announcement that he would issue updated disclosure forms to add more details of a land transaction, without noting a key difference: There are no allegations that Reid used his office to benefit from the land deal.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200610170006
Media Matters: After calling for ABC to fire Rosie O'Donnell over religious comments, conservatives silent on disclosures of Bush White House contempt for Christian conservatives
Summary: Conservatives in the media have attacked Rosie O'Donnell for comments she has made regarding Christianity and Catholicism, and several have even called for O'Donnell to be fired. But those same conservatives have yet to comment on disclosures in a newly released book that the Bush White House has pandered to Christian conservatives for votes, while breaking promises on policy and referring to them as "the nuts," "insane," and "ridiculous" behind closed doors.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200610180014
Media Matters: Supposedly nonpartisan Beck: "If Democrats are elected, we are in for two years of investigation, God forbid, impeachments, while the world is set on fire"
Beck's assertions came less than a week after he pleaded with his audience: "This November, please, don't vote for a Republican. Don't vote for a Democrat. Don't vote for an independent. Vote for an American." Since September 25, Beck has asked his television audience to "vote for an American" three times and has repeated the catchphrase on his radio program. As Media Matter for America noted, Beck previously purported to explain why his "show doesn't talk more about politics" moments before announcing that he "like[s] George W. Bush" and that "stupid people" vote for Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)...
http://mediamatters.org/items/200610180010
Taegan Goddard: Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
"I think I'd just commit suicide."
-- Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), quote by Radio Iowa, on what he would do if Democrats take control of the U.S. Senate.
http://politicalwire.com/archives/2006/10/18/extra_bonus_quote_of_the_day.html
UK Times: Treasury to review policing of 'aggressive' hedge funds
By Gary Duncan and Liz Chong
A NEW review of hedge fund regulation is to be launched by the Treasury after the Bank of England yesterday sounded a warning that the industry is very likely to be at the heart of any new financial crisis, The Times has learnt.
Amid growing pressure for increased regulation of hedge funds in the United States and Europe, the Treasury believes that Britain’s policing of the industry will need to be re-examined rigorously...
Mr Balls will announce that Lord Levene of Portsoken, chairman of Lloyd’s of London, will lead a high-level group advising the Treasury on market-led reforms of the wholesale insurance market, amid fears that London is losing key business in the sector to Bermuda and other tax havens. Technological improvements will be a key focus of the group.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9063-2409304,00.html
AP: TAREK AL-ISSAWI: OPEC Has More to Consider Than Output
But because several OPEC members, including Nigeria and Venezuela, have not been able to maintain production at the levels they have been allocated, the Saudis and others have had to pick up the slack (by exceeding their quotas) to meet rising global demand. This is why divvying up any potential cuts has become controversial, analysts said.
'It puts most of the burden on Saudi shoulders,' Halff said, and 'Riyadh has already trimmed output in recent months.'..
Saudi Arabia's discomfort with soaring oil prices - crude futures surpassed $78 in July - is partly because of its close economic and political relationship with the United States, the world's largest energy consumer. But Riyadh also has more pragmatic reasons to worry: high energy prices have caused a surge of investment among non-OPEC oil producers that is threatening the cartel's global market share, and they have prompted worldwide interest in conservation and alternative fuels...
http://interestalert.com/story/siteia.shtml?Story=st/sn/10180000aaa035b5.ap&Sys=rmmiller&Fid=WORLDNEW&Type=News&Filter=World%20News
Guardian: AP: New Toxic Trouble at N.C. Chemical Plant
Emergency crews evacuated businesses near a chemical waste plant Wednesday after a chemical reaction sent a toxic plume into the air two weeks after a raging inferno at the same site forced thousands of people from their homes.
Firefighters extinguished the smoldering chemical mix two hours after it began spouting smoke from a 55-gallon barrel amid the plant's ruins in Apex, a Raleigh suburb...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6156003,00.html
AP: Anne Gearan: Rice says U.S. ready to defend Japan
Rice's reference to U.S. willingness to honor the "full range" of the nation's security commitments was meant as a signal to allies that the United States does not want to see them embarking on a new nuclear arms race to protect themselves. It was also likely to be taken as a reminder to North Korea that, should it use nuclear weapons on a neighbor, the U.S. has powerful forces of its own — including nuclear — and is pledged to defend its friends in the region...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061018/ap_on_re_as/koreas_nuclear;_ylt=AonYF9RTfpVevFCBdsgiazqROrgF;_ylu=X3oDMTA4NTMzazIyBHNlYwMxNjk2
AFP: Israeli PM arrives in Moscow for talks on Iran
"I haven't thought in terms of sanctions on Iran, but in terms of finding ways to prevent Iran from reaching nuclear capability," Olmert said...
"We are determined to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear capability. Russia understands that this is a general existential threat and not only a threat to Israel," Olmert said...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061017/wl_mideast_afp/russiaisraeldiplomacy
AFP: Ron Bousso: Iran must be intimidated, says Israeli leader
"The Iranians should be afraid that something they don't want to happen will occur," he said...
"I made it clear why in my opinion it is important that the Iranians are afraid," but he fell short of mentioning what measures that be taken against the Islamic state...
"We are at a critical juncture and the entire international community must join ranks to block Iran's true intention of arming itself with nuclear weapons," Olmert told journalists after talks with Putin in the Kremlin.
"I leave this meeting with the sense that President Putin understands that danger."..
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061018/wl_afp/russiaisraeldiplomacy_061018190116;_ylt=AlAu1.kMR4M5lcXaKuH1.mebOrgF;_ylu=X3oDMTA2ZGZwam4yBHNlYwNmYw--
Moscow Times: Nabi Abdullaev: Putin Skirts Iran in Olmert Meeting
President Vladimir Putin bent over backward to welcome Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Moscow on Wednesday but avoided what Olmert really wanted to discuss: Iran's nuclear ambitions...
"Pass our best regards to the president of Israel," Putin told Olmert, eliciting laughter from Russian and Israeli officials, said diplomats who were in attendance. "He surprised us."..
Putin did not utter the word "Iran" once..
http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2006/10/19/002.html
Malaysia Sun: Israeli troops, tanks, storm Rafah, 4 Palestinians killed
Wednesday's Gaza incursion follows an Israeli military operation, Tuesday in the West Bank, in which five Palestinians were killed..
http://story.malaysiasun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/b8de8e630faf3631/id/38975b24cc1f7b24/
imemc: Hours after evacuating, army invades Qabatia
Several hours after evacuating from Qabatia town, near Jenin in the norther part of the West Bank, troops supported by dozens of armored vehicles and jeeps, invaded it once again from several directions, the Palestinian News Agency, WAFA, reported.
The agency stated that soldiers fired rounds of live ammunition at several houses, while military vehicles invaded the town.
Also, eyewitnesses reported that under-cover units of the Israeli army infiltrated into the town using one small camion and a local-licensed car...
Local sources said that army already took at lest 12 residents as prisoners and moved them to unknown location there were known as; Bilal Abu Al Rab, 35, Fadi Abu Al Rab, 22 his brothers Ahmad, 22, and Mahmoud, 18, Ali Abu Al Rab, 38, his son Ahmad, 10, Khalid Abu Al Rab, Faleh Abu Al Rab, 50, his sons Mohamed, 24, Azmi, 19, and Nour, 15, Mohamed Abu Al Rab, 20, and his brother Abdullah, 19.
The sources added that army is still in the village, attacking houses and forcing people to gather in the interrogation places...
http://www.imemc.org/content/view/22144/1/
imemc: Israeli soldiers attack and injure 18 year old girl in Hebron
Abu Turki sustained fractures and bruises in here hands when troops attacked her while she was attempting to cross a checkpoint installed at Wadi Al Nar road north east of the West Bank city of Bethlehem.
She was participating in a trip organized by a local women group in Hebron that was planning to visit the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem to mark Lailat al Kader (Night of Destiny), the night Muslims believe God revealed the Koran to the prophet Mohammed...
http://www.imemc.org/content/view/22157/1/
Haaretz: IDF to investigate allegations of leaks to media during war
By Amos Harel
The Military Advocate General, Brigadier General Avichai Mandelblitt, on Wednesay instructed the army's criminal investigation department and the General Staff's department of information security to open a new investigation into leaks to media during the Lebanon war.
Chief of Staff Dan Halutz welcomed the decision...
Halutz has been waging a campaign against army leaks for several months.
The chief of staff recently told a group of generals that he had ordered transcripts from General Staff security intelligence to determine who spoke to the media without permission, and with which media sources.
An investigation into the relevant departments' conduct has revealed that 460 officers conversed with journalists by telephone during the war. ..
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/776592.html
Haaretz: Shmuel Rosner: Is the Jewish left ready for commitment?
Leaders from several organizations and movements are trying to raise funds and resources for the establishment of a new, strong and efficient body that would lobby the U.S. Congress and government to increase their involvement in solving the Arab-Israeli conflict peacefully.
The details of their initiative are still vague: It might be based on a new body or an existing one, such as the Israel Policy Forum, but it clearly would aim to advance political negotiations with America as a mediator. Some in the nascent group believe it is necessary to talk with Hamas. Many also believe sanctions against the Palestinian Authority serve no purpose, and that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee was wrong to promote them in Congress...
In that sense, the new lobby will be different from AIPAC, which, while its leaders have occasionally lapsed into frivolous head-butting with governments that suddenly have veered to the left, usually stays reasonably in line with Israeli policy...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/rosnerBlog.jhtml?itemNo=776109&contrassID=25&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=1&listSrc=Y&art=1
Haaretz: Peretz weighs legalizing some West Bank outposts
By Nadav Shragai and Gideon Alon
One of the outposts mentioned in the talks is Givat Asaf, which is located 3.5 kilometers from Beit El. According to the 2005 Sasson Report on unauthorized outposts, the outpost was built on private Palestinian property.
Peretz and settlement leaders are discussing the possibility that settlers will leave the outpost, and a military base will be built on the site instead of handing the area over to its Palestinian owners...ETC
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/776589.html
SF Chronicle: AP: Court Rules Against Israeli Extremists
The State Department "reasonably found" in 2003 that the group Kahane Chai made death threats against Israeli police and then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2006/10/17/national/w121341D19.DTL
AP: NADIA ABOU EL-MAGD: Sadat Nephew on Trial Making Accusations
'This is a dictatorial regime that is consolidating itself in power against people's will,' said Talaat Sadat, a 52-year-old opposition lawmaker. 'There is political enmity between me and the minister of interior because this man is terrorizing the people of Egypt.'
About 50 supporters gathered around him as he pulled up in a black Cadillac that aides said was once owned by President Sadat...
In an interview with Saudi television earlier this month, he called his uncle's assassination an international conspiracy that included some of the late president's personal guards and army commanders, as well as the United States and Israel...
Sadat told reporters he provided the court with paperwork showing 30 inquiries he had made as a parliamentarian against Interior Minister Habib el-Adly, offering them as proof of a personal, political squabble.
Asked whether he had a message for Mubarak, Sadat quoted a conventional Islamic saying: 'If you have the power to inflict injustice on people, remember God's power over you.'
The trial was adjourned until Oct. 21.
Sadat's lawyer, Alaa Abdel Moneim, told reporters after the court session that his strategy was to expose violations of trial procedures, including stripping Sadat of his immunity.
'What worries us is the hasty scheduling of the trial's subsequent sessions, which is unusual and unprecedented. Nonetheless, we trust the Egyptian judiciary and the military court,' he said...
In Washington, State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said the United States was 'concerned by the Egyptian government's prosecution of Mr. Sadat before a military court for expressing his opinions.'
'The keystone of a democratic society is the right of free speech, including to criticize one's government, and that extends to the military,' Gallegos said.
Asked about contentions that the United States played a role in the assassination, he said 'Mr. Sadat's implication of U.S. complicity is offensive and patently false. But in our view he should not be prosecuted for expressing his views.'..
Conspiracy allegations involving Sadat's assassination are not new. He was killed while sitting on a well-guarded podium, surrounded by his Cabinet, and rumors have abounded that the assassins were secretly helped by senior figures.
http://interestalert.com/story/siteia.shtml?Story=st/sn/10180008aaa01884.ap&Sys=rmmiller&Fid=WORLDNEW&Type=News&Filter=World%20News
Aljazeera & Agencies: Blunkett: Aljazeera considers legal action
Aljazeera is considering legal action after a former British home secretary defended military action against the network he described as an enemy "propaganda mechanism"...
In Monday's interview, Blunkett, who was a member of Blair's war cabinet at the time during the 2003 invasion, said he had advised the prime minister that he considered Aljazeera's Iraq technical operation to be a legitimate target.
"There wasn't a worry from me because I believed that this was a war and in a war you wouldn't allow the broadcasts to continue taking place," he said the interview with Britain's Channel 4 television.
When he was asked whether attacking a media outlet was not against international law, he said: "Well I don't think for a minute in previous wars we'd have thought twice about ensuring that a propaganda mechanism on the soil of the country you were invading would actually continue being able to propagandise against you".
"I don't know whether it was a mistake or not, but I wouldn't call it legitimacy," Blunkett said of the bombing...
Ahmed al-Sheikh, editor-in-chief of Aljazeera's Arabic channel, said; "Aljazeera was being targeted at the time because the people who were waging war on Iraq didn't like what it was showing.
"We talk about terrorism, this [was] pure terrorism."
He said Aljazeera had broadcast the realities of the war on the ground while other media outlets were covering "the cosmetics".
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/80285FF0-1E72-466A-8ECA-94DA0587E0B1.htm
Guardian: AP: Rachel Zoll: Evangelicals Urge Bush on Sudan Crisis
Among the supporters are some of the top names in the evangelical movement: the Revs. Ted Haggard and Rich Cizik of the National Association of Evangelicals; the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference; and the Rev. Geoff Tunnicliffe of the World Evangelical Alliance...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6156049,00.html
WP: Bush Sets Defense As Space Priority
U.S. Says Shift Is Not A Step Toward Arms; Experts Say It Could Be
By Marc Kaufman
President Bush has signed a new National Space Policy that rejects future arms-control agreements that might limit U.S. flexibility in space and asserts a right to deny access to space to anyone "hostile to U.S. interests."..
"Freedom of action in space is as important to the United States as air power and sea power," the policy asserts in its introduction...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/17/AR2006101701484_pf.html
Aljazeera: Agencies: Nato kills several Afghan civilians
Twenty-two civilians have been killed in two separate southern Afghanistan offensives, officials and resident say.
Asadullah Khalid, Kandahar's provincial governor, said Nato airstrikes in the area had left nine civilians dead and wounded 11 others on Wednesday...
Nato's international security assistance force said it regretted any civilian casualties and that it made "every effort" to minimise the risk of collateral damage during operations...
In a separate attack on Wednesday, a rocket hit a house during a night time clash between suspected Taliban fighters and Nato and Afghan security forces in a southern Afghan village.
A resident said 13 villagers, including women and children, died...
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/41E4ECCF-12EE-471C-8107-61CBF55F0010.htm
Turkish Press: Cheney says US active in Pakistan
We've got continuing activities in Pakistan. We've captured and killed more Al-Qaeda in Pakistan probably than any place else," he said in a radio interview.
A senior US official quickly clarified that Cheney was not talking about unilateral US operations, stressing: "The vice president was talking about our work with the Pakistani government on continuing counter-terrorism operations."
"We do not operate independently there, and the vice president was referring to the coalition against terrorism," said the official, who requested anonymity.
The White House released a transcript of the question-and-answer session, which came as US President George W. Bush was under increased pressure to catch or kill Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden ahead of November 7 legislative elections. ..
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=147068
17 Oct: Rush Limbaugh: Interview with Dick Cheney
LIMBAUGH: The war, Iraq, national security, war on terror, it's all combined into one issue now as far as the election is concerned...
CHENEY: ...We're very active in Afghanistan. We've got continuing activities in Pakistan. We've captured and killed more Al-Qaeda in Pakistan probably than anyplace else. We're active working with the Saudis and in many others in that part of the world. ..
The campaign, I look on, as an opportunity to remind everybody what's at stake here, and in this particular instance it's especially important to point out to people that terrorists can't beat us in a stand-up fight. They can only win if we lose our will, and they're betting we will. They're betting we don't have the stomach for the fight, and I don't think that's true, and I think faced with that basic fundamental choice I think the American people understand that it's having gone on offense, having gotten aggressive, going after the terrorists, closing those training camps in Afghanistan and working to take down regimes like Saddam Hussein and to stand up democracies in their place as well as stop measures here at home. It's what's kept us safe for five years and is the reason why there hasn't been another attack like 9/11 on the US. ..
LIMBAUGH: There was a story in the Washington Post yesterday or earlier in the week. The reporter was amazed that the president and Karl Rove remain, quote, "inexplicably upbeat," unquote, about the outcome of the elections, and that there is "no plan for if the Republicans lose" the House and/or the Senate. Can you tell us why the upbeat attitude in the White House?
CHENEY: Well, because we're out there working hard in connection with this campaign, because I think we feel like we've got some great candidates. I've got great confidence in Karl and Ken Mehlman up at the RNC. These are two of the best in the business in terms of understanding this process, and I think our candidates are well financed. We're doing everything humanly possible to succeed in this election, and, of course, we track polls as everybody else does, too. But I think it's easy to sit in Washington and sort of absorb the vibes coming from the national media, but that doesn't represent necessarily what's going on out there around the country. When you get out on the ground talking with real people about real problems, their hopes and desires for their families and for the nation, as well as their appreciation for what we've been able to accomplish over the last six years, you get a very positive feeling.
LIMBAUGH: One final question. You guys are fighting so hard to defeat the terrorists in and around this country and around the world. Do you have any reaction to the lenient sentence that Lynne Stewart received yesterday in New York?
CHENEY: Well, I was surprised. Of course, it's not for me to substitute my judgment for a judge, but I think of course the prosecution had asked for a much stiffer sentence, and this was somebody who has been supposedly convicted or pled guilty to being a key intermediary for a major terrorist -- and, you know, that's significant. I think we need to make certain that when we find somebody who is indeed in bed with the terrorists, that they are appropriately brought to justice.
LIMBAUGH: Mr. Vice President, thanks very much for your time. I know you gave us a couple minutes extra than you have on your schedule. I appreciate it, and we look forward to the next time. The best to you.
CHENEY: Well, Rush, you've got a great show, as always, and it's good to talk to you.
RUSH: Thank you, sir. Vice President Dick Cheney.
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_101806/content/vice_president_dick_cheney.guest.html
Angus-Reid: U.S. Confidence in War on Terror Falls to 31%
Conversely, 36 per cent of respondents believe the terrorists are winning the war on terror—up 10 points in three months—and 22 per cent believe neither side is ahead...
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/13509
Inquirer: Battlefield 2142 comes with spyware
As Electronic Arts says, "It's in the game"
By Theo Valich
A Computer Gaming World podcast reveals how retail packages of Battlefield 2142 come with a blurb to inform the buyer that the game comes with monitoring software that will be tracking your online activities.
"When you use the software while connected to the Internet, the advertising technology may record your IP address and other anonymous information," the packaging states. The technology then delivers adverts that may correspond to your tastes, depending on what the spyware learns about you.
"The advertising technology does not collect personal or identifiable information about you," it says. This, however, will depend on what you get up to online, of course.
Several game-related sites have their readers up in arms over this piece of paper, and many say they have cancelled their pre-orders of the game...
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=35169
READ ALL: CNET: Declan McCullagh: FBI director wants ISPs to track users
FBI Director Robert Mueller on Tuesday called on Internet service providers to record their customers' online activities, a move that anticipates a fierce debate over privacy and law enforcement in Washington next year.
"Terrorists coordinate their plans cloaked in the anonymity of the Internet, as do violent sexual predators prowling chat rooms," Mueller said in a speech at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Boston...ETC
http://news.com.com/FBI+director+wants+ISPs+to+track+users/2100-7348_3-6126877.html?tag=nefd.top
CIO Tech: Some Apple iPods Infected With Windows Virus
Apple’s technical support website warns: "We recently discovered that a small number—less than 1 percent—of the video iPods available for purchase after September 12 left our contract manufacturer carrying the Windows RavMonE.exe virus."..
http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=25881
READ, DOUBTING POSTS TOO: Dailykos: ACTION ALERT: Blackwell purged Ohio Voter Rolls Oct 1st.- Vote Early.
by KStreetProjector
A friend, in a position to be present at lunches of GOP insiders here in DC called me on Thursday, they know of my ongoing efforts to make hackable voting end.
My friend was present as a group of Moderate GOP members with Ohio ties lamented how far the party had strayed. There was consensus at the table there was no way they should retain control. The table conversation began with the assumption they party would lose control in this election. The moderates started planning how to take back control of the GOP from the extremists.
Then, one insider, probably an extremist, but certainly very close to Mr. Ken Mehlman abruptly stopped the conversation. He told table that it was impossible they would lose either house. He also predicts an Ohio GOP sweep...ETC
POST: Seems I Was Purged, Then
I live in Cleveland and just went to the Cuyahoga BOE website and searched my my registration information. You have to enter your last name + DOB.
...it came up with no results. And I registered to vote back in March of this year.
Amazing.
I really don't think this diary is tinfoil at all.
For anyone else in Cuyahoga County, Ohio check your info here:
http://boe.cuyahogacounty.us/...
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/18/85915/109
Reuters: Group lists 10 most polluted places on Earth
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-10-18T220938Z_01_N18609752_RTRUKOC_0_US-ENVIRONMENT-POLLUTION.xml&WTmodLoc=IntNewsHome_C2_worldNews-11
Reuters: US casts doubt on N Korea nuke test reports
The US State Department has cast doubt on media reports that North Korea intends to conduct another nuclear test and has informed China on the matter.
"There are a lot of rumours about this, obviously there are some indications, but I would caution people not to put too much stock in that," Assistant US Secretary of State Christopher Hill told national public radio's Morning Edition.
"We have always felt that the North Koreans could conduct a test when [they] wanted to but we do not have any indication that it's going to happen imminently."..
CNN said on Tuesday (local time) that a US intelligence analyst had told them the intelligence community had seen what might be preparations for a nuclear test at at least three North Korea sites...
Also on Tuesday, NBC reported that China had been informed by North Korea of additional nuclear tests.
But later a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman told CNN, "We have not received any notice from North Korea regarding this issue."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200610/s1768353.htm
(IS IT REALLY POSSIBLE THAT IN THE ENTIRE WORLD ONLY US 'INTELLIGENCE' CAN CONFIRM ANYTHING NUCLEAR?)
South Korea Herald: N.K. bomb test attests Seoul's poor intelligence capabilities
The previously doubted test was confirmed by the United States on Monday (Washington time) through an air sample analysis while South Korea remains undecided on whether an atomic blast actually took place...
South Korea has leased a high-tech device from Sweden to detect the radioactive material, but failed to collect the necessary air sample. Experts note that it shows the nation lacks not only high-tech equipment, but the know-how, to conduct its operation.
The point was raised once again on Monday when a lawmaker disclosed that South Korea's multipurpose satellite, Arirang-2, failed to take any pictures of North Korea before and after the North allegedly carried out a nuclear test...
Experts also indicate that Seoul's intelligence authorities have failed to locate the North's test site successfully, correcting the location four times...
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2006/10/19/200610190048.asp
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Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Washington Times: NAACP to monitor polls for problems in 10 States
By Brian DeBose
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20061017-010801-6924r.htm
Raw Story: Poll: Democrats lead in Republican-held districts
A bi-partisan poll of 48 congressional races believed to be competitive shows an even more uphill battle for Republicans in coming weeks than previously thought, RAW STORY has learned.
NPR commissioned the poll from Greenberg Quinlan Rosner and Public Opinion Strategies...
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Poll_Democrats_lead_in_Republicanheld_districts_1017.html
Drudge Teaser: White House political strategist Karl Rove tells editors and reporters at THE WASHINGTON TIMES: 'I'm confident we're going to keep the Senate; I'm confident we're going to keep the House. The Foley matter has impact in some limited districts, but the research we have shows that people are differentiating between a vote for their congressman and a member from Florida.' MORE...
'It is useful to remind people what [Democrats] said and what they do. I think they have given us here, especially in the last couple of weeks, a potent set of votes to talk about. You had 90 percent of House Democrats voting against the terrorist-surveillance program, nearly three-quarters of Senate Democrats and 80 percent of House Democrats voting against the terrorist-interrogation act. Something is fundamentally flawed.' DEVELOPING...
AP: Prosecutor argues Karl Rove did not influence criminal probe
BY LARRY NEUMEISTER
Presidential adviser Karl Rove had nothing to do with the prosecution of a Florida man accused of manipulating stock prices, a prosecutor says, disputing claims Rove set off probes to retaliate for a flood of spam e-mails to President Bush's web site...ETC
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061011/APN/610111116
Bradblog: DOCUMENTARY VIDEO - The Clint Curtis / Tom Feeney Vote-Rigging Scandal as Seen in the New E-Vote Documentary 'Eternal Vigilance'
Story of the Whistleblower-Turned-Congressional Candidate's Story is Told as Part of Film on Citizen Patriots Fighting to Save Democracy
'Crazy' Smear by Curtis' Opponent, Feeney — the Man He Says Asked Him to Create Election Flipping Code in Florida — Continues to Shame Corrupt Congressman…
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3630
Washington Times: AP: John Solomon: Reid used campaign funds to pay bonuses to staff
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid has been using campaign donations instead of his personal money to pay Christmas bonuses for the support staff at the Ritz-Carlton, where he lives in an upscale condominium.
Federal election law bars candidates from converting political donations for personal use...
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20061017-010753-4770r.htm
UK Telegraph: Philip Johnston: MPs kept in dark over terror suspects
The Home Office was accused of misleading Parliament last night by failing to tell MPs that two terrorism suspects had gone on the run...
The two men — one an Iraqi and the other a British citizen of Pakistani descent — were among 15 men subject to the orders, which restrict their movements and require them to report their whereabouts to the police. Some are tagged, though no one would say last night whether either of the missing men was fitted with electronic monitoring devices...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/10/18/nterror18.xml
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All The News
Reuters: Steve Holland: Bush signs law authorizing harsh interrogation
Shortly after Bush signed the law, the Republican National Committee issued a press releasing headlined, "Democrats would let terrorists free" and listed the names of many Democrats in the House of Representatives and the Senate who opposed it.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061017/pl_nm/security_bush_dc_5;_ylt=As4QXMXqoa_DP27DPzKX0F5U.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTA2ZGZwam4yBHNlYwNmYw--
Reuters: Web could be terror training camp: Chertoff
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061017/tc_nm/security_chertoff_dc_5
Antiwar: Tuesday: 46 Killed, 48 Injured Across Iraq
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
http://www.antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=9876
Houston Chronicle: AP: Much of Iraq still in ruin as U.S. builders leave
Local officials will be faced with running plants and finishing jobs left by big companies
By CHARLES J. HANLEY
ow the reconstruction funds are drying up and they're pulling out, leaving completed projects and unfulfilled plans in the hands of an Iraqi government unprepared to manage either.
The Oct. 1 start of the U.S. government's 2007 fiscal year signaled an end to U.S. aid for new reconstruction in Iraq.
"We're really focusing now on helping Iraqis do this themselves in the future," said Daniel Speckhard, reconstruction chief at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad...
In this dangerous climate, almost $6 billion of the U.S. reconstruction aid was diverted to training Iraqi police and troops and to other security costs, adding to what U.S. auditors now dub a "reconstruction gap."
Fewer than half the electricity and oil projects planned have been completed, internal documents of the U.S. reconstruction command show.
Scores of other projects were canceled, and the "gap" can be seen on the streets of Baghdad, where people spend most of their day without electricity, and spend hours in line for gasoline and other scarce fuels.
Although the Americans will complete jobs already under contract, probably into 2008, many participating in the U.S. program are disappointed Congress chose not to underwrite essential new projects.
"I always thought there would be value in having more money. (Other) donors haven't been coming in," noted Maj. Gen. William McCoy, senior U.S. Army engineer overseeing reconstruction. Of almost $14 billion pledged in 2003 by non-U.S. donors, barely $3 billion has been disbursed...ETC
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/4258694.html
UK Telegraph: Richard Alleyne: White House advisers ready to back Iraq withdrawal
In what would be a major shift in policy, the experts are said to be ready to suggest the “Redeploy and Contain” option which would mean withdrawing American troops to bases outside Iraq where they could be used against terrorist organisations anywhere in the region.
The report is being prepared by a 10-member commission called the Iraq Study Group, headed by former US secretary of state James Baker, and is reportedly backed by President Bush...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/10/17/uiraq.xml
Independent: Reid admits Iraq war has fuelled radicalism
By Colin Brown
The Home Secretary's remarks to Labour MPs were seen as an attempt to reach out to Muslim youths who have become increasingly alienated.
"It was an outbreak of realism," said one Labour MP.
Mr Reid was responding to a series of challenges by Shahid Malik, a Muslim Labour MP, who has remained loyal to the Government in public, although privately has conveyed the anger of Muslim communities to ministers.
Mr Reid said: "Iraq and Afghanistan did not cause terrorism. It predated these actions. But as we are all aware, that does not mean to say foreign policy is not a factor in the radicalisation of young people. It clearly is."..
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article1879418.ece
Independent: Labour accused of aiding extremists by its focus on Muslim issues
By Nigel Morris and Ben Russell
Lord Ahmed, another Labour peer, said members of the Muslim community were considering leaving Britain because of the row. "People are asking: 'What is our future here, do you think we should be taking our money and going somewhere else because this country has so much Islamophobia?'"
The Labour MP John Denham, chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, warned: "I'm worried there has been a series of pronouncements by government ministers, each one of which is individually unexceptional, but put them together it does look like a barrage of general criticism."
Keith Vaz, chairman of the Labour Party ethnic minority task force, said: "The community feels it's time the story moved on. They aren't going to change their religious ways because of a few statements from ministers or others. They want to get on with their lives."
Downing Street and Ms Kelly rejected claims that the Government was "demonising" Muslims with the move to monitor students...
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article1879413.ece
Independent: Blair: 'Veils are mark of separation and make others uncomfortable'
By Andrew Grice
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article1886647.ece
Independent: Bush and Blair isolated as criticism of war grows
By Colin Brown and Rupert Cornwell in Washington
Politicians on both sides of the Atlantic believe there is an endgame being played out for Mr Blair and Mr Bush and a policy shift is growing nearer. Labour MPs said privately last night that Mr Blair may be the last one standing by the President.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article1886648.ece
YNet: Saddam: Kurds dividing Iraq for Israeli benefit
Saddam Hussein attacks prosecution witnesses in his trial for genocide against Kurds, accusing them of sowing division among Iraqis for benefit of Israel
Associated Press
"The Zionists are the only ones who will benefit from the differences among Iraqis," Saddam added...
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/1,7340,L-3316173,00.html
thinkprogress: Matt Drudge’s Efforts To Cast Doubt on Global Warming Reaches New Level of Desperation
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/10/17/drudge-global-warming/
Guardian: Don't mention the president: how Republicans hope to stay in power
Bush factor is proving a negative for voters and candidates along the campaign trail
Suzanne Goldenberg in Phoebus, Virginia
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1923879,00.html
PIC: NYT: Jim Rutenberg: As Talk Radio Wavers, Bush Moves to Firm Up Support
Caption: President Bush discussed his policies with conservative radio hosts last month at the White House, including, from left, Mike Gallagher, Neal Boortz, Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity and Michael Medved.
For an hour and a half, Mr. Bush discussed his case for the war in Iraq, his immigration proposals and even the personality of his Scottish terrier Barney, who scratched on the door during the session until the president relented and let him into the office, according to several hosts who attended.
The meeting, which was not announced on the president’s public schedule, was part of an intensive Republican Party campaign to reclaim and re-energize a crucial army of supporters that is not as likely to walk in lockstep with the White House as it has in the past...
Strategists on both sides agree that the party’s greatest hope for holding control of Congress now rests with its ability to get core Republicans to vote, and that talk radio, which reaches millions of them, is crucial to the task...
The top two rated conservative hosts, Mr. Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, have done more than their part to rally their listeners this year, especially during the Foley scandal, to the great relief of Republican Party officials....ETC
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/17/us/politics/17radio.html?ex=1161748800&en=c4f7c6b1b6deeff0&ei=5065&partner=MYWAY
WP: Kenneth Lay's Conviction Erased From Record
Ruling Worries Employees and Investors Who Lost Billions
By Carrie Johnson
It also came weeks after Congress recessed for the November elections without acting on a last-ditch Justice Department proposal that would have changed the law to allow prosecutors to seize millions in investments and other assets that Lay controlled...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/17/AR2006101700808.html
TPM Muckraker: Doolittle: I'm Not A Target of Fed Probe
By Paul Kiel
New details are popping up about the Feds' interest in Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) for his ties to Jack Abramoff. ..
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001815.php
Rep. Doolittle paying lawyer to talk to DOJ in Abramoff probe
ERICA WERNER
Associated Press
Republican Rep. John Doolittle of California paid an attorney more than $38,000 in recent months to talk to the Justice Department in connection with the Jack Abramoff lobbying investigation, new campaign finance reports show.
A spokeswoman said the money was spent after Doolittle asked his attorney, David Barger, to contact the Justice Department "to further express the congressman's willingness to be helpful and satisfy the Justice Department that the congressman has done nothing wrong."..ETC
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/15775037.htm
Media Matters: Suggested question for Mehlman: Do you really not recall whether you had Sabbath dinner at Jack Abramoff's house?
http://mediamatters.org/items/200610170001
Desmoines Register: Investigate nonprofits linked to Abramoff scandal
REGISTER EDITORIAL BOARD
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061017/OPINION03/610170344/1035/OPINION
FT: Abramoff associate met Bush officials 12 times
By Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington
White House officials’ meetings with Shawn Vasell, a former associate of Mr Abramoff, were documented by the latter’s former lobbying firm, Greenberg Traurig. ..
As payment for Mr Abramoff’s lobbying effort to scupper anti-gaming legislation, Gibraltar-based International Interactive Association (IIA) spent millions of dollars on fees to Greenberg Traurig...
IIA, represented by James Levy, of Gibraltar-based law firm Hassans, has sought to distance itself from its ties to Mr Abramoff by asserting that, in common with his other clients, it was unaware of the lobbyist’s shenanigans. These included the fact that IIA contributed $2m (€1.6m, £1.1m) to charities that Mr Abramoff used to disguise payments to other organisations.
Tax records and the documents released by Congress show that IIA made donations in 2003 to the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), a conservative group, and Capital Athletic Foundation, a charity controlled by Mr Abramoff.
Robert Litt, an attorney at Arnold&Porter, another law firm representing IIA, said the $2m was contributed to the charities without IIA’s knowledge, from fees it paid Greenberg Traurig. “IIA retained Greenberg Traurig to do lobbying and, not to put too fine an edge on it, it appears Abramoff stole their money,” he said.
But in e-mails released by Congress, Amy Ridenour, the president of NCPPR, told Mr Abramoff in 2004 that she intended to send a letter to IIA to confirm that the $1.5m her organisation had received had, in fact, originated from IIA.
In an unsigned letter provided to the Financial Times by IIA – that Mr Litt said it sent to Ms Ridenour in August 2004 in response to her query – IIA said it had “no information” about the payments.
Today IIA still uses Greenberg Traurig as its primary lobbying firm in Washington.
Mr Litt said that, after the departure of the person who missapplied IIA’s fees, it had no reason to doubt the honesty of Greenberg Traurig.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/a1ed02a2-5c79-11db-9e7e-0000779e2340.html
TPM Muckraker: Report: Cunningham Alone is to Blame for His Corruption
By Justin Rood
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001817.php
Raw Story: Miriam Raftery: Florida activist, candidate charged with felony wiretapping
The State of Florida has filed felony wiretapping charges against election reform activist Charles Grapski for audiotaping his efforts to obtain public records related to his investigation of alleged election fraud, RAW STORY has learned. He faces arraignment Tuesday, October 17th.
"The State has held charges over my head since May 1st, six months," Grapski told RAW STORY. "I have not been allowed until now the right of subpoena power to do discovery in my own defense. Now the State is saying I must choose between two rights: the right to a speedy trial, and my right to a fair trial."..ETC
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Florida_activist_candidate_charged_with_felony_1017.html
READ ALL: High Springs Herald: State Attorney's Office decides to officially charge Grapski in incident involving Alachua city manager
By Ronald Dupont Jr.
Charlie Grapski, a former state House candidate who had been arrested on charges of illegally taping Alachua City Manager Clovis Watson Jr. April 28, now has been officially charged with the alleged crime.
The arrest was controversial because Grapski had just sued the city over its elections, then was arrested by Watson, who is a police officer and who is named in the lawsuit, as Grapski was examining documents in relation to the lawsuit...ETC
http://www.highspringsherald.com/articles/2006/10/14/news/news11.txt
AOL: AP: DANIEL YEE: Woman Sues Over Ticket for Anti-Bush Bumper Sticker
ATLANTA (Oct. 17) - A woman who was ticketed for having an obscene anti-President Bush bumper sticker filed a lawsuit in federal court Monday against DeKalb County and its officials..
Although a DeKalb judge threw out the ticket in April because the state's lewd decal law that formed the basis for the ticket was ruled unconstitutional in 1990, Grier is seeking damages for "emotional distress" against the county, according to the lawsuit.
Grier also seeks a declaration in federal court that her bumper sticker is considered protected speech under the First Amendment because she is "uncertain and insecure regarding her right to display her bumper sticker in DeKalb County," the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia...
http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/woman-sues-over-ticket-for-anti-bush/20061016161609990010?ncid=NWS00010000000001
Bradblog: 'Daily Voting News' For October 17, 2006
The worst county for elections in the US, Cuyahoga Co. Ohio has taken another step into the realm of the absurd. The county wants to get their votes tabulated as quickly as possible and they apparently aren't worried as much about accuracy so they are using a new add-on device from Diebold that has never been used in an election and is not even complete with the federal inspection process yet. This device reads the data from the voting machine memory cards, six cards at a time in one minute. The county just has to get the totals out quickly; never mind the accuracy of those totals. / Massachusetts has still not settled on accessible voting machines. Three weeks from election day is too late to bring in new machines and train workers. The state, apparently, is also going to ignore HAVA and not require a new machine at each polling place….ETC
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3631
Bradblog: EXCLUSIVE: FIRST BUSH-APPOINTED CHAIR OF U.S. ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION SAYS 'NO STANDARDS' FOR E-VOTING DEVICES, SYSTEM 'RIPE FOR STEALING ELECTIONS'!
Former Chair Says He 'Was Deceived', EAC and Federal Efforts for Election Reform 'A Charade', 'Travesty'!
In Stark Contrast to Current EAC Chair, Rev. DeForest Soaries Blasts White House, Congress in Transcript of Unaired Interview from Major Broadcast Network!
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3491
thinkprogress: Sherwood ‘Calling In Chits’ With Right-Wing Leaders
In all, over 40 House conservatives contributed $1,000 or more to Sherwood in just the current quarter. But he’s just getting started. Sherwood “is expected to raise up to $400,000 at a Thursday fundraiser hosted by President Bush in Sherwood’s district.”
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/10/17/sherwood-chits/
AP: Coin dealer goes on trial in Ohio
Tom Noe, 52, is accused of stealing more than $2 million from a fund for injured workers and spending it on his business and renovating his home in the Florida Keys.
"He needed money. He needed it desperately," prosecutor John Weglian said in opening statements...ETC
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061016/ap_on_re_us/investment_scandal
AP: Colorado Candidate's TV Ad Investigated
Colorado authorities have opened a criminal investigation into whether an attack ad run by GOP Rep. Bob Beauprez against his opponent for governor illegally used confidential information from a federal law enforcement database.
Democrat Bill Ritter's campaign has suggested the information was taken from the computerized crime records.
But John Marshall, the congressman's spokesman, said Tuesday that the details came from an informant he refused to identify. He said the campaign is cooperating with investigators..
The governor has asked the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to expedite its investigation. Use of the federal criminal database for any purpose other than law enforcement is a crime punishable by fines and up to a year in prison.
The TV ad in question refers to Carlos Estrada Medina, a suspected illegal immigrant who was arrested in Denver in 2001 on suspicion of heroin trafficking. The ad says Ritter chose to seek a plea bargain in the case, Medina avoided deportation, and he was later arrested in California on suspicion of sexually assaulting a minor.
Reporters found that the person arrested in Colorado was identified as Walter Noel Romo and had a different birthdate than Medina, according to the Ritter campaign. When questioned about the man's identity, the Beauprez campaign said Romo and Medina were the same man because federal criminal databases indicated the two men had the same FBI numbers.
Ritter spokesman Evan Dreyer said the campaign tried verifying that information through public records but could not _ raising the possibility that the databases were illegally accessed.
"We could not connect the dots using information available to the public in a way that made any sense at all," Dreyer said. "If we couldn't do it, how was the congressman able to do it?"
Arrest records are the only public information in the database, CBI spokesman Lance Clem said.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/10/17/D8KQI1F81.html
Reuters: Second U.S. lawmaker faces misconduct allegations
A U.S. congressional board which oversees a Capitol Hill internship program rocked by a sex scandal, discussed allegations on Monday involving a second lawmaker, said Rep. Dale Kildee, a Michigan Democrat.
Kildee made the comment as he emerged from a closed-door meeting of a House ethics committee, which has been focused on the case of former Republican Rep. Mark Foley of Florida, who resigned last month following disclosure he sent inappropriate electronic messages to male teenage interns, known as pages.
"It's only been allegations made," Kildee told reporters of the House page board's discussion about a second lawmaker, who he declined to identify.
Kildee said he and other board members had a conference call earlier in the day about "other allegations, not about Mr. Foley." Kildee also indicated the page board had talked about the matter with the second lawmaker.
Last week, a law enforcement official confirmed a report by NBC News that the U.S. attorney's office and the FBI in Arizona were conducting a "preliminary look" into a camping trip Rep. Jim Kolbe took with two teenage pages and others 10 years ago...
http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?view=CN&symbol=&storyID=2006-10-17T020907Z_01_N16422203_RTRUKOC_0_US-SCANDAL.xml&WTmodLoc=InvArt-C2-NextArticle-1
AP: Larry Margasak: House page program leaders discuss trip
Overseers of the House page program this week discussed a camping trip that Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz. took with two former pages and others in 1996 — an outing now under review by the Justice Department, a congressional source said Tuesday..
Meanwhile, the House ethics committee Tuesday continued investigating the Foley matter. Investigators, pressing ahead with closed-door interviews, questioned Paula Nowakowski, chief of staff to House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio...
A second law enforcement official said the 1996 Kolbe trip may be too old to investigate as a criminal matter. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation. A Justice Department spokeswoman declined comment...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061017/ap_on_go_co/congress_pages_13
Palm Beach Post: Foley to tell church name of alleged abuser, lawyer says
By BRIAN SKOLOFF
Associated Press
Disgraced former U.S. U.S. Rep. Mark Foley will reveal to the Archdiocese of Miami the name of the Roman Catholic clergyman he says abused him as a teenager, Foley's civil attorney said Tuesday.
Gerald Richman said the state attorney's office in West Palm Beach informed him that criminal charges cannot be filed because the statute of limitations on the sexual assault expired long ago.
"We're talking about issues that happened 36 to 38 years ago," Richman said. "This is all part of the healing process for Mark Foley. He thinks it's important to go ahead and bring this information out and hope and encourage other people who have been similarly abused to go ahead and come forward."
Richman said Foley has not told him the name of the clergyman but has told another attorney. He said the clergyman is still alive.
Richman said that when details are released they will deflate critics who have accused Foley of fabricating the abuse allegation as an excuse for sending teenage male pages sexually explicit e-mails.
"It's going to be very clear in the coming days that it is a fact as opposed to any possible allegations that it was a fantasy or something made up for political purposes," Richman said. "The archdiocese is the one that specifically requested this information... They want this to come out, and we are going to cooperate with them."
Archdiocese spokeswoman Mary Ross Agosta said the church had urged Foley to identify his abuser but said she was not aware that any meeting with Foley had been scheduled. She said the archdiocese's attorney is on vacation and not immediately available..
Richman said Foley is "going through a very difficult healing process. He's got therapy. He's trying to overcome his problems in terms of drinking in the past and the other problems that he's had in keeping this deep, dark secret inside him for many years."..
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/gen/ap/FL_Congressman_E_mails.html
AP: BRIAN SKOLOFF: Foley Tells Church About Alleged Abuser
Disgraced former U.S. Congressman Mark Foley has revealed to the Archdiocese of Miami the name of the Roman Catholic clergyman he says abused him as a teenager, a close friend of Foley's said Tuesday.
The name was not made public and it was not immediately clear whether the person was still active in the church or is alive...
According to the source, the church offered Foley counseling in the matter, which Foley accepted. He plans to begin that counseling after completing treatment for alcoholism.
The archdiocese did not immediately respond to phone messages and e- mails Tuesday...
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/10/17/D8KQKQQ00.html
TPMMuckraker: K.A. Paul Speaks! Again! Some More!
By Paul Kiel
Dr. K.A. Paul, the evangelist who says he convinced House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) to resign over Foleygate, is upset that Hastert's promise didn't stick. So he's calling a news conference:..ETC
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001822.php
BlogActive: Senator Larry Craig.... What's with the gay bashing?
As this message is posted, I have apppeared on the Ed Schultz Show, a nationally syndicated radio program broadcast in more than 100 cities and on Sirius Satellite. On the show I have called on Senator Larry Craig to end his years of hypocrisy by leveling with Idahoans about who he really is. I am also calling upon several prominent Idaho social conservative leaders to ask them how they square their anti-gay positions with their support for this leader.
I have done extensive research into this case, including trips to the Pacific Northwest to meet with men who have say they have physical relations with the Senator. I have also met with a man here in Washington, D.C., who says the same -- and that these incidents occurred in the bathrooms of Union Station. None of these men know each other, or knew that I was talking to others. They all reported similar personal characteristics about the Senator, which lead me to believe, beyond any doubt, that their stories are valid.
Larry Craig being mentioned as possibly connected to Congressional scandals is nothing new. Check out these video clips from 1982 when he preemptively denied his involvement in a Congressional sex and drug scandal. (I love what he says about unmarried people back then and how often do politicians issue preemptive denials based on rumors?)..
Senator Craig has consistently relied on the support of Idaho's "values voters," but he has not been honest with them about his own conduct. Conservatives and liberals are both standing up and recognizing the hypocrisy of elected officials like Senator Larry Craig. The time for treating Americans one way and behaving in another is over.
http://www.blogactive.com/2006/10/senator-larry-craig-whats-with-gay.html
Houston Chronicle: Commander: Mistakes made in Afghanistan
PAULINE JELINEK Associated Press
The mistake consisted of adopting "a peacetime approach" too early, British Gen. David Richards told Pentagon reporters. He said the international community has six months to correct the problem before losing Afghan support, reiterating a warning he issued last week.
"The Taliban were defeated. ... And it looked all pretty hunky-dory," Richard said of the environment at the end of 2001. "We thought it was all done ... and didn't treat it as aggressively as ... with the benefit of hindsight, we should have done."..
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/politics/4266077.html
Scotsman: Reuters: Afghan progress hit by Iraq, commander says
The decision to divert forces to invade Iraq cost the West years of progress in Afghanistan, the outgoing commander of British forces in Afghanistan said on Tuesday.
The comments by Brigadier Ed Butler, who returned this week from commanding the British contingent, were the second implicit criticism of government policy on Iraq from the military's top brass in less than a week...
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1540342006
Guardian: Para chief reveals Afghan supply woes
Staff and agencies
British paratroopers fighting the Taliban in southern Afghanistan have been close to running out of rations and supplies, their commanding officer said today.
Brigadier Ed Butler, the commanding officer of the recently returned 3 Para battle group, said that on occasions his men had been down to "belt rations"...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,1924566,00.html
xinhua: British troops withdraw from violent district in S Afghanistan
British troops of ISAF have pulled out of the insurgent Musa Qala district in the southern Helmand province, an ISAF spokesman told Xinhua on Tuesday.
"After dialogue and discussion with local elders, we think they deserve an opportunity to resume their areas and keep security themselves," said Maj. Luke Knittig, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
The elders were confident they could bring peace to the district and defend it from the Taliban, so ISAF listened to them, said Knittig, adding the troops would be deployed to places where soldiers are more needed. ..
Meanwhile, Helmand Governor Mohammad Daud said there was no deal between the troops, the government and the Taliban, according to media reports.
He also refused a reported statement by the Taliban that said the Afghan flag would not fly in the district any longer. ..
Analysts say one factor for the withdrawal apparently is the high casualties of the British troops in the district...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-10/17/content_5215836.htm
BBC: Analysis By Alastair Leithead: Can change in Afghan tactics bring peace?
Ever since they were deployed into the small government compounds in Helmand's remote district centres they have been under fire and looking for a face saving way out...
Thirty five days ago a peace deal was stuck - the elders brokered a ceasefire between the British and the Taleban fighters...
Perhaps more important is who exactly these elders are - they will probably have a mixture of views as in any representative forum - but how much of a connection do they have with the Taleban?..
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6060384.stm
Aljazeera: Agencies: Guantanamo German has charges dropped
A German citizen recently released from Guantanamo Bay prison after four years, has had all terrorism charges against him dropped by a German court.
Investigators have found no evidence linking Murat Kurnaz to Muslim fighters in Pakistan or Afghanistan, Uwe Picard, a prosecutor in Bremen, said on Tuesday...
Prosecutors in Potsdam have also opened an investigation into as yet unidentified members of the German army in connection with Kurnaz's allegation that he was abused by two German service members while detained in Afghanistan, a spokesman said.
Kurnaz has said that one of the men he identified as being German grabbed him by the hair as he was lying prone and then let his head fall face first to the ground, to the amusement of US and other soldiers nearby.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3DF1A563-8839-461A-A278-E8F6C7E0601F.htm
Aljazeera: Reuters: Pakistan frees militant group's founder
A Pakistani court has ordered the release of the founder of an Islamist militant group blamed by India for carrying out the Mumbai train bombings in July in which 186 people died.
Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the former leader and founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, was put under house arrest in Lahore in August, shortly before he was due to address a rally..
"The court has declared that the detention of Hafiz Saeed is against the law and the constitution and he should be released immediately," his lawyer, Nazir Ahmed Ghazi, said on Tuesday.
Saeed was still being held under house arrest in Lahore but one of his aides said it was hoped he would be released later in the day...
A spokesman for Jamaat-ud-Dawa hailed the court decision as "victory for the truth".
"Hafiz Saeed was detained under pressure from India," Abdullah Montazir said.
"The government should give us an opportunity to respond to the Indian charges instead of taking action against us."
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/4818012B-36BE-4E81-A69D-7DE63C0C9738.htm
Miami Herald: Bali bombing suspect: I'm 'doing fine' in Guantanamo
BY CAROL ROSENBERG
The Jakarta Post reported the text of the message on Monday -- the first word from the 40-year-old man known as Hambali who, the U.S. alleges, had a hand in the Oct. 12, 2002, al-Qaeda-style bomb attack that killed 202 people at a popular resort strip in Bali.
An interpreter with the International Committee of the Red Cross read the message to his family on Friday, the newspaper said, at the end of an ICRC mission at the remote U.S. Navy base in southeast Cuba...
'I am in Guantánamo now, and I am doing fine,'' said Hambali, whose real name is Riduan Isomuddin. ``I hope Mom and other family members are also in good condition. Please send my regards to other relatives.''..
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15775659.htm
Aljazeera/Agencies: Palestinians killed in raid on Jenin
Israeli soldiers have shot and killed at least two Palestinians in a gun battle in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian security source says.
The source said an 18-year-old member of Islamic Jihad was killed and several other people wounded in the gun battle with Israeli forces early on Tuesday.
Palestinian officials also told Reuters that a civilian had also been killed during the Israeli incursion into the town of Jenin and surrounding villages in the West Bank...
Meanwhile, Palestinians said, undercover soldiers opened fire on a car in the West Bank city of Nablus, killing a local leader of the Fatah-linked Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and wounding his cousin...
Soldiers also arrested seven Palestinians in raids throughout the West Bank, a military statement said...
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/636BE8A0-BC0C-4995-BD53-7A6454A9B14B.htm
Lebanon Daily Star: Rym Ghazal: UNIFIL denies French threat to fire on intruding Israeli jets
With agencies, additional reporting by Mohammed Zaatari
Plenty of eyes turned upward Tuesday as disagreements soared over persistent Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace, with Israel claiming UNIFIL's French contingent had threatened to fire at its planes. According to Israeli media outlets, Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said senior commanders of the French forces in South Lebanon had relayed a warning to Israel that its violations of Lebanese airspace might draw French anti-aircraft fire.
In comments to the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Peretz said this was a "threat."
"They said that planes fly over them and that there was no certainty that they wouldn't open fire on them," he said, citing the French commanders' alleged statement, which the minister said was made at a meeting of the joint Israeli UNIFIL-Lebanese military committee.
But UNIFIL spokesperson Alexander Ivanko told The Daily Star he had no idea where the statement quoted by Peretz came from. "I am not aware of any such comments made by any senior UNIFIL officers," he said.
Sources close to the dispute said there are serious discussions about the French contingent bringing in aircraft to assist monitoring of Lebanese skies, but nothing has been decided yet.
The French Foreign Ministry last week condemned Israel's violations and announced that France was working with the UN to "organize the rules of managing Lebanese airspace."
"So far, we only have Italian helicopters, and discussions are still ongoing," Ivanko said...
Israeli warplanes have been violating Lebanese airspace regularly for decades, gathering intelligence, making their presence known and sometimes setting off sonic booms. Given that the Lebanese military lacks effective anti-aircraft weapons, the Israeli jets are rarely challenged...
Israeli airspace violations were many on Tuesday, with aircraft flying over Tyre, Wadi Assel, the western part of the South and along the occupied Golan Heights. At the same time, according to the National News Agency (NNA), two Israeli bulldozers and three humvees crossed the UN-demarcated Blue Line near Kfar Kila. Dozens of Israelis then began digging canals to channel what appeared to be floodwater, caused by recent heavy rains, from Israel into Lebanon.
Ivanko said UNIFIL had no knowledge of "any violation in that area" but added that some "engineering work" was taking place on the border fence.
The NNA also noted an increase in the number of Israeli vehicles patrolling the border.
Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot said Tuesday that the US and a European nation offered Israel satellite images of Lebanon in return for a cessation of its flights. Yediot said Israel rejected the proposal, saying the flights were needed to collect intelligence.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=76260
READ ALL: Houston Chronicle: Pentagon to resume anthrax inoculations
LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press
The Pentagon said Monday it will once again begin requiring anthrax vaccinations for troops heading into dangerous regions, reinstating a program that has been challenged repeatedly over possible health risks.
Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said the vaccinations will begin in 30 to 60 days, and will involve troops and civilian Defense Department personnel and contractors who are serving in the Middle East, Central Asia and the Korean Peninsula.
"This is a safe and effective vaccine," Winkenwerder said in a conference call with reporters. He said the move to reinstate the vaccine does not suggest there is any new or elevated threat but the possibility of an anthrax attack is "very real and it has not gone away."..
Opponents of the program promised a fresh challenge. Mark S. Zaid, one of the lawyers who previously sued to stop the mandatory program, said he would file a new lawsuit "as soon as needles start going into arms." Other groups who have opposed the program also criticized the new requirements.
"This is a vaccine that is unproven, unnecessary and has the potential to jeopardize the health of a service member where little benefit will be derived," Zaid said. "It's always been a public relations program and nothing more."
He questioned why the Pentagon is inoculating troops in the Middle East when the 2001 anthrax attacks that left five people dead and sickened 17 took place in the United States.
Winkenwerder said the vaccine has been thoroughly reviewed by the federal Food and Drug Administration and several independent groups and deemed safe.
He said anyone who refused the vaccine would be reminded of its importance and safety. Then, if needed, their supervisor would get involved and the matter would be resolved "like any other refusal to follow a lawful order."..ETC
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/politics/4263085.html
AP: 30 more countries could have nukes soon
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061016/ap_on_re_eu/nuclear_agency_proliferation
Hanooki: US Reviews War Plan on N. Korea
The United States is mapping out a new theater war plan on the Korean Peninsula aimed at striking weapons of mass destruction in North Korea, reports said yesterday, citing an unidentified Chinese defense expert in Canada.
The U.S. move comes after North Korea's self-proclaimed nuclear weapon test on Oct. 9.
According to the report, the United States is considering a plan against North Korea to neutralize Pyongyang's nuclear capability with overwhelming use of the U.S. Air Force.
Whether the new plan is related to the joint contingency plan with South Korea, dubbed OPLAN 5027, was not confirmed.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) declined to comment on the report.
Under the envisaged plan, U.S. combat aircraft and bombers, such as F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighters and F-15Es, would conduct ``surgical strikes'' on major weapons of mass destruction (WMD) facilities, training sites, and intelligence and communication facilities in the North instead of ground forces advancing into the North, the report said.
OPLAN 5027, drawn up by the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC), aims to deter North Korean forces armed with conventional weapons. The South Korean and U.S. militaries review the contingency scheme every year and update it in accordance with the security situation.
Washington is reportedly committed to dispatching some 690,000 troops with 1,600 aircraft and 160 ships to the peninsula within 90 days after a war breaks out under OPLAN 5027.
The plan, however, lacks specific actions to cope with a nuclear war.
Since Pyongyang's nuclear test, the South Korean military has also stepped up preparations for a possible nuclear war on the peninsula.
Sources at the JCS said last week that Seoul is reviewing OPLAN 5027 to address North Korea's missile and nuclear threats.
The JCS has submitted two reports to Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung since Oct. 3 when Pyongyang announced its plan to conduct a nuclear test, they said.
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200610/kt2006101617231910160.htm
Hanooki: Seoul Can Build A-Bombs Within 1 Year
Rep. Suh Sang-kee at the main opposition Grand National Party made the remarks after interviewing several anonymous nuclear scientists at home.
``According to many domestic experts, South Korea currently has technologies enough to develop atomic bombs with uranium within a year,'' Suh said.
``The experts also think it would take a couple of years for us to build up plutonium bombs and deploy them if overseas checks do not stand in the way,'' the 60-year-old said...
``In an extreme case if we have no choice but to make atomic bombs, however, experts recommend Seoul should turn to uranium rather than plutonium to make weapons as it is easier to make weapons with the former,'' he added...ETC
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200610/kt2006101617211910440.htm
??South Korea Herald: Second nuke test signs detected
"We have detected signs that North Korea may be preparing for another atomic test," said one high-ranking official on the condition of anonymity. He refused to elaborate on whether the signs indicate an imminent test...
The United States and Japan also said they obtained data pointing to a possible second test. Citing White House officials, U.S. media reported that satellites detected suspicious movements near the blast site of Pyongyang's first detonation...
Experts say the next test may be carried out either this week or around Nov. 7 to coincide with the U.S. general elections.
The Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources has its antennae trained toward the North, especially after it was spurned for failing to accurately pinpoint the site of Pyongyang's first-ever atomic test.
The center said it has not yet detected signs of another detonation.
"We are better prepared than last time," said Chi Hyeon-cheol, head of the quake center.
It would be up to the center to report on an initial detection within 30 minutes of a suspect quake, followed with estimations of detonation size and site...
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2006/10/18/200610180041.asp
MosNews: Russia Received No Warning from N.Korea Before Nuclear Test — PM
“As far as I know, we had no notice that an explosion was to be carried out,” he told a media briefing in Seoul today. “We received our information by technical means,” he was quoted by Interfax as saying...
When asked by South Korean mass media, if he knew anything about plans for a second North Korean nuclear test, Fradkov replied “the questions are not very precise and are wrongly addressed,” Itar-Tass adds.
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/10/17/nkwarning.shtml
Moscow Times: Itera Past Haunts U.S. Lawmaker
By Catherine Belton
U.S. Representative Curt Weldon's ties to Russian gas firm Itera are coming back to haunt him.
Two years after it surfaced that the veteran congressman had possibly helped his daughter, Karen Weldon, win a lobbying contract with the firm, FBI agents raided her office and Itera's on Monday...
Now federal authorities are trying to figure out if Weldon used his influence to channel $500,000 in contracts from Itera to his daughter's firm, Solutions North America, and then, in a quid pro quo, helped the Russian gas outfit on Capitol Hill.
Not only Karen Weldon's office and Itera's Jacksonville, Florida headquarters are being scoured for incriminating evidence.
FBI agents in Pennsylvania have also raided Karen Weldon's home, and the home and office of Charles Sexton Jr., Weldon's former campaign finance chair. Sexton ran Solutions North America with Karen Weldon...
The questionable activity dates to 2002.
That year, Karen Weldon landed her big contract with Itera, at the time Russia's biggest independent gas producer.
Shortly after Karen Weldon was paid, the congressman sought to lift a block on an $868,000 Exim Bank grant, a Los Angeles Times story reported. The grant had been blocked due to questions about Itera's financing.
Later in 2002, Weldon organized a dinner in the Library of Congress in honor of Itera president Igor Makarov, extolling the firm's virtues even as it was being probed in Russia and the United States for possible money laundering.
Itera has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Steven Koegler, a lawyer for Itera's U.S. arm, said Tuesday that the gas firm was cooperating with U.S. authorities. "We were informed of the U.S. authorities' interest in any information Itera may have with respect to its business relationship with Solutions Worldwide," Koegler said by telephone from Jacksonville. He then added, somewhat vaguely: "This is in relationship to Congressman Curt Weldon."..
Itera has been a major player in jousting for geopolitical influence over energy routes in central Asia since the mid-1990s, with a lock until 2002 over most gas markets there.
By 2000, it began to advertise itself actively in the United States as the key for all U.S. businesses wanting to work in the region, nurturing close ties to Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov and then-prime minister of Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko, as the major supplier of Turkmen gas to Ukraine.
In May 2002, when U.S President George W. Bush visited Moscow, Weldon was part of the congressional delegation, visiting Itera's Moscow offices while he was in the city.
During the May 2002 visit, Makarov told U.S. officials that Niyazov had asked Itera to build a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan, a strategic U.S. goal.
In recent years, the Kremlin has waged a quiet war on Itera, systemically taking Itera's key assets and giving them to state-controlled Gazprom. Gazprom minority investors accuse former Gazprom's former management of giving billions of dollars in gas fields to Itera.
Today, Itera is a shadow of its former self.
For now, it remains unclear exactly how the investigation surrounding the gas firm and Weldon will affect the congressman.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/10/18/002.html
LINKS: TPM Muckraker: Weldon's Daughter's Company Kept Low Profile
By Paul Kiel
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001820.php
MosNews: Russia Demands U.S. Lift Sanctions Against Arms Exporter and Aircraft Maker
On Monday, Oct. 16, Russia demanded that the United States lift sanctions against two Russian companies accused of making deals with Iran involving sensitive technology. Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin hinted that a U.S. refusal could affect negotiations on UN sanctions resolution against Tehran.
Churkin said the sanctions against state arms exporter Rosoboronexport and top aircraft maker Sukhoi for allegedly violating a U.S. law known as the Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000, create a “predicament” for Moscow.
If Russia is asked to vote on a Security Council resolution imposing sanctions on Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment at the same time that Russian companies are subject to U.S. sanctions, it would be voting on a measure “which at least by implication supports sanctions which have already been imposed on us,” he said.
“So it is a somewhat ridiculous, bizarre political predicament,” Churkin said. “The other side of it is that we don’t know why those sanctions were imposed on the two organizations back in Russia.”
Churkin said Russia wants the sanctions lifted off the two companies, whether or not UN sanctions are leveled against Iran...
Churkin also signaled that Moscow is in no hurry to adopt a resolution against Iran.
http://www.mosnews.com/money/2006/10/17/russiasanctions.shtml
MosNews: Russian Police Uncover Criminal Group That Laundered $7 Billion
The Vek Bank and the Novaya Ekonomicheskaya Pozitsiya (New Economic Position) banks were mentioned in the release as the core of the illegal financial group.
Most of the funds were transferred abroad on the accounts of dummy organizations, RIA-Novosti quoted the release as saying.
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/10/17/laundering.shtml
Forbes: Russian authorities raid Moscow bank in money laundering investigation
The raid was on a commercial bank called Vek Bank, it said, adding that several executives from the bank and from another bank called New Economic Position were suspects in the wide-ranging inquiry...
Russian authorities have co-operated in the investigation with law enforcement in countries including Austria, Germany, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania and Switzerland, it added.
http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2006/10/17/afx3097645.html
RIA Novosti: Russian police continue crackdown on Georgian crime groups
The ministry's department for economic security said the criminal group in Moscow was headed by a Georgian-born crime boss known as Dzhuba. It controlled over eight credit organizations in Moscow and had "strong ethnic and financial relations with criminal elements of the Georgian diaspora."
"This channel was actively used for transferring money to Georgia and other countries," the department said in a statement. "The money came mainly from illegal banking operations, casinos, robberies and embezzlement of budget funds."
Investigations have also established that the group had links with officials in Russian government agencies.
"According to our information, the interests of this group had been actively lobbied by some officials in the Russian Finance Ministry and the Bank of Russia. The group also had criminal links with some officials in Russia's law-enforcement and governmental systems," the statement said.
The group had been laundering illegally-obtained money through banks in Moscow, including Vek Bank and Centurion, which had their licenses revoked this summer by the Central Bank over breaches of banking legislation, including the law on money laundering. ..
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20061017/54884880.html
Moscow Times: Police Claim Gang Laundered $8Bln
The gang's leader, identified only by his first name, Dzhuba, is a native of Tbilisi with purported ties to the Georgian military.
The head of the State Duma's Security Committee, Vladimir Vasilyev, denied suggestions that the bust was linked to tensions between Moscow and Tbilisi...
The gang's two main front organizations were Bek Bank and the New Economic Position, it said. Their subsidiaries, including AKA Bank and Rodnik, conducted illegal transactions worth around $500,000 per day, it said.
Dzhuba, the purported mastermind, is still at large.
On Oct. 8, he flew on a forged passport to Nice, France, through Monaco to purchase some property, the ministry said. Through apparent ties with officials at Sheremetyevo Airport, Dzhuba was able to arrange his flight through the Federal Delegates' Terminal, which is reserved for federal officials, it said...
The ministry also said Dzhuba maintained close ties with Georgia. It said he had bragged in a Moscow casino that his money went to "a triumphant little war," a reference to Georgia's war in the 1990s with the Russian-backed breakaway region of Abkhazia...
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/10/18/041.html
RIA Novosti: Ukraine illegally sells arms to Georgia - party leader
"Ukraine has already delivered 40 tanks to Georgia," Petro Symonenko said.
Symonenko said Kiev is facing the risk of having sanctions imposed on it by the international community for illegally supplying arms to warring sides...
Georgian Defense Minister Irakly Okruashvili was quoted by a Russian newspaper Monday as saying that if war broke out between Russia and Georgia, Russia would lose -- a statement that was immediately condemned by the Russian Armed Forces chief of the General Staff.
"If Mr. Okruashvili has an itchy trigger finger, I hope he realizes the consequences of what can happen when he wages war against his own citizens, Russian citizens residing in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and peacekeepers who are the only guarantors of stability in the region," Army General Yury Baluyevsky said...
http://en.rian.ru/world/20061017/54882559.html
Wayne Madsen: The two nations pushing for Guatemala's seat on the UN Security Council have not paid their UN dues for 2006. As of October 16, the day the General Assembly vote on the Latin American Security Council seat commenced, neither the United States nor Israel have anted up their annual dues payments, according to the Office of the Secretary General. Venezuela made its dies payment of $2,918,283 on Sept. 18, 2006. Guatemala paid $511,979 on June 15, 2006. Most of Venezuela's backers also paid their dues, which indicates that Venezuela provides greater support for the UN system than does the Bush administration and its neocon allies around the world....
The Dominican Republic, which has been mentioned as a compromise candidate, is ineligible for the Security Council because it has not paid its 2006 dues. Two other "compromise" candidates are also not eligible because of lack of dues payment: Costa Rica and Panama.
Only those nations that provide financial support for the UN should be determining the membership of the Security Council. At the present time, these countries do not include the United States, Israel, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, or Panama...
There are 192 members, however, the United States and Israel closely coordinate their activities at the UN and WMR has learned that the diplomatic pressure being brought by the two nations on some of the world's smallest and poorest nations not to support Venezuela in the General Assembly has been unprecedented. The U.S. and Israeli arm twisting has been most evident among African and Pacific nations. ..
Although Guatemala is a client state of the United States, it is also a longtime recipient of Israeli security and military aid, much of which has been used to commit genocide against Guatemala's indigenous population. Many of Guatemala's leaders are members of evangelical and charismatic Protestant churches, which mirror the pro-Israeli policies of their U.S. counterparts. The disconnect between Guatemala's ruling elite and its native and mestizo citizens and the fact that Venezuela's government is highly representative of its population are highlighted by the names of the top three official of both nations. [source CIA Factbook]:
GUATEMALA
President--Oscar Jose Rafael BERGER
Vice President -- Eduardo STEIN
Minister of Foreign Affairs -- Gert ROSENTHAL
VENEZUELA
President -- Hugo CHAVEZ Frias
Vice President -- Jose Vicente RANGEL
Minister of Foreign Affairs -- Nicolas MADURO
The AP is reporting today that Guatemalan Foreign Minister Rosenthal became testy when asked about the United States and another nation pulling the strings for Guatemala. He said, "frankly we resent it a bit being told we are going to toe the line of not only the United States but any other power."..
PLUS Florida Governor Jeb Bush responded on Oct. 4 to WMR report on cover-up of Foley scandal:
Oct. 4 -- St. Petersburg Times -- "In a gaggle with Florida's Capital Press Corps Wednesday, Gov. Jeb Bush flatly refuted allegations posted on an Internet website and circulated widely Tuesday that claims Bush, Attorney General Charlie Crist and Florida Department of Law Enforcement were all told by the federal justice department about Mark Foley's e-mails a year ago but covered it up.
The alleged conspiracy, sourced to 'informed sources in Tallahassee' who were not named, was reported on the Wayne Madsen Report website. (The allegations have also been posted by anonymous bloggers in the Buzz comments section.) Madsen's website claims to tackle 'the 'politically incorrect' and 'politically embarrassing' stories and holds government officials accountable for their actions.'
But Bush was clearly annoyed by the anonymous allegations and repeated what he has said all week, that he knew nothing of Foley's electronic missives until Friday, when the news broke on the national stage.
'If the next governor...is going to have to respond to every blog and every tired little anonymous person who has some bitter part in their soul who wants to express it on the Internet, it’s not going to work,' Bush said."
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/
NZ Stuff: Lisa Murray: The big media carve-up begins in Oz
Australia's media moguls are wasting no time. With the new media laws still awaiting their rubber stamp, due some time today, James Packer and Seven Network's Kerry Stokes were jostling for position last night.
Mr Packer is reinventing the family empire, spinning off a half share in Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd's flagship media assets - including Nine Network and its magazines - and netting $A4.7 billion in the process. The profits will be used to expand the group's burgeoning gaming business.
Late yesterday Seven launched a $A200 million-plus raid on West Australian Newspapers, the main newspaper company in Mr Stokes's home town of Perth.
At the same time, the often-touted takeover target Fairfax Media, publisher of Stuff.co.nz and numerous New Zealand and Australia newspapers and magazines, held an extraordinary board meeting to discuss its future amid the changing industry landscape.
It all happened as the Australian parliament debated the merits of the new media ownership laws, which will allow one company to own two media platforms - of newspapers, radio or television - in the same market for the first time in 20 years.
PBL, which is 38 per cent owned by Mr Packer, suspended trading in its shares yesterday as its board signed off on a deal that will create a new $A5.6 billion media company in a 50-50 partnership with a European private equity group, CVC Capital Partners...
A source close to the deal said it had been structured so CVC would have a "synthetic" holding until the ownership laws changed next year, allowing foreign investors to own big stakes in local media companies...
Fairfax's chairman, Ron Walker, told the Sydney Morning Herald the board met for a couple of hours yesterday to discuss "a number of issues" including "future planning" for the company. He said a meeting he held with James Packer at the weekend was "a regular catch-up" because he had known the family for many years. Analysts and investment bankers have long speculated about a potential deal between PBL and Fairfax.
In an indication of PBL's new focus on gaming, James Packer was in Singapore yesterday making a $US3.5 billion bid as part of a consortium for the casino Sentosa. He was due back in Sydney today. PBL owns Crown Casino in Melbourne, the Burswood casino in Perth and is developing casinos in Asia and Britain...
The media laws were passed by the Senate last week and should get the nod from the House of Representatives today.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3832524a13,00.html
FT: Wikipedia founder plans rival
By Richard Waters in San Francisco
One of the founders of Wikipedia is days away from launching a rival to the collaborative internet encyclopaedia, in an attempt to bring a more orderly approach to organising knowledge online...
The latest venture from Larry Sanger, who helped create Wikipedia in 2001, is intended to bring more order to this creative chaos by drawing on traditional measures of authority. Though still open to submissions from anyone, the power to authorise articles will be given to editors who can prove their expertise, as well as a group of volunteer “constables”, charged with keeping the peace between warring interests...
Accusing Wikipedia of failing to control its writers and editors, he said: “The latest articles don't represent a consensus view – they tend to become what the most persistent ‘posters’ say.”
Mr Sanger said he had financial backing from an unidentified foundation for his new venture, while a web hosting company was providing its services free...
Mr Sanger said volunteers would be able to become editors of his encyclopedia, called Citizendium, if they can show “minimum levels of qualification, based on real-world measures.”
This would be an “imperfect but effective” test based on “degrees, professional society memberships, things like that”.
Citizendium will be open “within the next few days” to a limited number of invited editors and members of the public who apply, and will be made generally available by the end of the year, said Mr Sanger...
It will begin by simply taking over all of the existing entries from Wikipedia, then start the laborious job of having them filtered by expert editors – a job Mr Sanger called “a clean-out of the Augean stables”.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/e62ce8a4-5d3e-11db-9d15-0000779e2340.html
Shortly after Bush signed the law, the Republican National Committee issued a press releasing headlined, "Democrats would let terrorists free" and listed the names of many Democrats in the House of Representatives and the Senate who opposed it.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061017/pl_nm/security_bush_dc_5;_ylt=As4QXMXqoa_DP27DPzKX0F5U.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTA2ZGZwam4yBHNlYwNmYw--
Reuters: Web could be terror training camp: Chertoff
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061017/tc_nm/security_chertoff_dc_5
Antiwar: Tuesday: 46 Killed, 48 Injured Across Iraq
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
http://www.antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=9876
Houston Chronicle: AP: Much of Iraq still in ruin as U.S. builders leave
Local officials will be faced with running plants and finishing jobs left by big companies
By CHARLES J. HANLEY
ow the reconstruction funds are drying up and they're pulling out, leaving completed projects and unfulfilled plans in the hands of an Iraqi government unprepared to manage either.
The Oct. 1 start of the U.S. government's 2007 fiscal year signaled an end to U.S. aid for new reconstruction in Iraq.
"We're really focusing now on helping Iraqis do this themselves in the future," said Daniel Speckhard, reconstruction chief at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad...
In this dangerous climate, almost $6 billion of the U.S. reconstruction aid was diverted to training Iraqi police and troops and to other security costs, adding to what U.S. auditors now dub a "reconstruction gap."
Fewer than half the electricity and oil projects planned have been completed, internal documents of the U.S. reconstruction command show.
Scores of other projects were canceled, and the "gap" can be seen on the streets of Baghdad, where people spend most of their day without electricity, and spend hours in line for gasoline and other scarce fuels.
Although the Americans will complete jobs already under contract, probably into 2008, many participating in the U.S. program are disappointed Congress chose not to underwrite essential new projects.
"I always thought there would be value in having more money. (Other) donors haven't been coming in," noted Maj. Gen. William McCoy, senior U.S. Army engineer overseeing reconstruction. Of almost $14 billion pledged in 2003 by non-U.S. donors, barely $3 billion has been disbursed...ETC
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/4258694.html
UK Telegraph: Richard Alleyne: White House advisers ready to back Iraq withdrawal
In what would be a major shift in policy, the experts are said to be ready to suggest the “Redeploy and Contain” option which would mean withdrawing American troops to bases outside Iraq where they could be used against terrorist organisations anywhere in the region.
The report is being prepared by a 10-member commission called the Iraq Study Group, headed by former US secretary of state James Baker, and is reportedly backed by President Bush...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/10/17/uiraq.xml
Independent: Reid admits Iraq war has fuelled radicalism
By Colin Brown
The Home Secretary's remarks to Labour MPs were seen as an attempt to reach out to Muslim youths who have become increasingly alienated.
"It was an outbreak of realism," said one Labour MP.
Mr Reid was responding to a series of challenges by Shahid Malik, a Muslim Labour MP, who has remained loyal to the Government in public, although privately has conveyed the anger of Muslim communities to ministers.
Mr Reid said: "Iraq and Afghanistan did not cause terrorism. It predated these actions. But as we are all aware, that does not mean to say foreign policy is not a factor in the radicalisation of young people. It clearly is."..
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article1879418.ece
Independent: Labour accused of aiding extremists by its focus on Muslim issues
By Nigel Morris and Ben Russell
Lord Ahmed, another Labour peer, said members of the Muslim community were considering leaving Britain because of the row. "People are asking: 'What is our future here, do you think we should be taking our money and going somewhere else because this country has so much Islamophobia?'"
The Labour MP John Denham, chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, warned: "I'm worried there has been a series of pronouncements by government ministers, each one of which is individually unexceptional, but put them together it does look like a barrage of general criticism."
Keith Vaz, chairman of the Labour Party ethnic minority task force, said: "The community feels it's time the story moved on. They aren't going to change their religious ways because of a few statements from ministers or others. They want to get on with their lives."
Downing Street and Ms Kelly rejected claims that the Government was "demonising" Muslims with the move to monitor students...
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article1879413.ece
Independent: Blair: 'Veils are mark of separation and make others uncomfortable'
By Andrew Grice
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article1886647.ece
Independent: Bush and Blair isolated as criticism of war grows
By Colin Brown and Rupert Cornwell in Washington
Politicians on both sides of the Atlantic believe there is an endgame being played out for Mr Blair and Mr Bush and a policy shift is growing nearer. Labour MPs said privately last night that Mr Blair may be the last one standing by the President.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article1886648.ece
YNet: Saddam: Kurds dividing Iraq for Israeli benefit
Saddam Hussein attacks prosecution witnesses in his trial for genocide against Kurds, accusing them of sowing division among Iraqis for benefit of Israel
Associated Press
"The Zionists are the only ones who will benefit from the differences among Iraqis," Saddam added...
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/1,7340,L-3316173,00.html
thinkprogress: Matt Drudge’s Efforts To Cast Doubt on Global Warming Reaches New Level of Desperation
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/10/17/drudge-global-warming/
Guardian: Don't mention the president: how Republicans hope to stay in power
Bush factor is proving a negative for voters and candidates along the campaign trail
Suzanne Goldenberg in Phoebus, Virginia
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1923879,00.html
PIC: NYT: Jim Rutenberg: As Talk Radio Wavers, Bush Moves to Firm Up Support
Caption: President Bush discussed his policies with conservative radio hosts last month at the White House, including, from left, Mike Gallagher, Neal Boortz, Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity and Michael Medved.
For an hour and a half, Mr. Bush discussed his case for the war in Iraq, his immigration proposals and even the personality of his Scottish terrier Barney, who scratched on the door during the session until the president relented and let him into the office, according to several hosts who attended.
The meeting, which was not announced on the president’s public schedule, was part of an intensive Republican Party campaign to reclaim and re-energize a crucial army of supporters that is not as likely to walk in lockstep with the White House as it has in the past...
Strategists on both sides agree that the party’s greatest hope for holding control of Congress now rests with its ability to get core Republicans to vote, and that talk radio, which reaches millions of them, is crucial to the task...
The top two rated conservative hosts, Mr. Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, have done more than their part to rally their listeners this year, especially during the Foley scandal, to the great relief of Republican Party officials....ETC
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/17/us/politics/17radio.html?ex=1161748800&en=c4f7c6b1b6deeff0&ei=5065&partner=MYWAY
WP: Kenneth Lay's Conviction Erased From Record
Ruling Worries Employees and Investors Who Lost Billions
By Carrie Johnson
It also came weeks after Congress recessed for the November elections without acting on a last-ditch Justice Department proposal that would have changed the law to allow prosecutors to seize millions in investments and other assets that Lay controlled...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/17/AR2006101700808.html
TPM Muckraker: Doolittle: I'm Not A Target of Fed Probe
By Paul Kiel
New details are popping up about the Feds' interest in Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) for his ties to Jack Abramoff. ..
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001815.php
Rep. Doolittle paying lawyer to talk to DOJ in Abramoff probe
ERICA WERNER
Associated Press
Republican Rep. John Doolittle of California paid an attorney more than $38,000 in recent months to talk to the Justice Department in connection with the Jack Abramoff lobbying investigation, new campaign finance reports show.
A spokeswoman said the money was spent after Doolittle asked his attorney, David Barger, to contact the Justice Department "to further express the congressman's willingness to be helpful and satisfy the Justice Department that the congressman has done nothing wrong."..ETC
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/15775037.htm
Media Matters: Suggested question for Mehlman: Do you really not recall whether you had Sabbath dinner at Jack Abramoff's house?
http://mediamatters.org/items/200610170001
Desmoines Register: Investigate nonprofits linked to Abramoff scandal
REGISTER EDITORIAL BOARD
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061017/OPINION03/610170344/1035/OPINION
FT: Abramoff associate met Bush officials 12 times
By Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington
White House officials’ meetings with Shawn Vasell, a former associate of Mr Abramoff, were documented by the latter’s former lobbying firm, Greenberg Traurig. ..
As payment for Mr Abramoff’s lobbying effort to scupper anti-gaming legislation, Gibraltar-based International Interactive Association (IIA) spent millions of dollars on fees to Greenberg Traurig...
IIA, represented by James Levy, of Gibraltar-based law firm Hassans, has sought to distance itself from its ties to Mr Abramoff by asserting that, in common with his other clients, it was unaware of the lobbyist’s shenanigans. These included the fact that IIA contributed $2m (€1.6m, £1.1m) to charities that Mr Abramoff used to disguise payments to other organisations.
Tax records and the documents released by Congress show that IIA made donations in 2003 to the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), a conservative group, and Capital Athletic Foundation, a charity controlled by Mr Abramoff.
Robert Litt, an attorney at Arnold&Porter, another law firm representing IIA, said the $2m was contributed to the charities without IIA’s knowledge, from fees it paid Greenberg Traurig. “IIA retained Greenberg Traurig to do lobbying and, not to put too fine an edge on it, it appears Abramoff stole their money,” he said.
But in e-mails released by Congress, Amy Ridenour, the president of NCPPR, told Mr Abramoff in 2004 that she intended to send a letter to IIA to confirm that the $1.5m her organisation had received had, in fact, originated from IIA.
In an unsigned letter provided to the Financial Times by IIA – that Mr Litt said it sent to Ms Ridenour in August 2004 in response to her query – IIA said it had “no information” about the payments.
Today IIA still uses Greenberg Traurig as its primary lobbying firm in Washington.
Mr Litt said that, after the departure of the person who missapplied IIA’s fees, it had no reason to doubt the honesty of Greenberg Traurig.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/a1ed02a2-5c79-11db-9e7e-0000779e2340.html
TPM Muckraker: Report: Cunningham Alone is to Blame for His Corruption
By Justin Rood
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001817.php
Raw Story: Miriam Raftery: Florida activist, candidate charged with felony wiretapping
The State of Florida has filed felony wiretapping charges against election reform activist Charles Grapski for audiotaping his efforts to obtain public records related to his investigation of alleged election fraud, RAW STORY has learned. He faces arraignment Tuesday, October 17th.
"The State has held charges over my head since May 1st, six months," Grapski told RAW STORY. "I have not been allowed until now the right of subpoena power to do discovery in my own defense. Now the State is saying I must choose between two rights: the right to a speedy trial, and my right to a fair trial."..ETC
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Florida_activist_candidate_charged_with_felony_1017.html
READ ALL: High Springs Herald: State Attorney's Office decides to officially charge Grapski in incident involving Alachua city manager
By Ronald Dupont Jr.
Charlie Grapski, a former state House candidate who had been arrested on charges of illegally taping Alachua City Manager Clovis Watson Jr. April 28, now has been officially charged with the alleged crime.
The arrest was controversial because Grapski had just sued the city over its elections, then was arrested by Watson, who is a police officer and who is named in the lawsuit, as Grapski was examining documents in relation to the lawsuit...ETC
http://www.highspringsherald.com/articles/2006/10/14/news/news11.txt
AOL: AP: DANIEL YEE: Woman Sues Over Ticket for Anti-Bush Bumper Sticker
ATLANTA (Oct. 17) - A woman who was ticketed for having an obscene anti-President Bush bumper sticker filed a lawsuit in federal court Monday against DeKalb County and its officials..
Although a DeKalb judge threw out the ticket in April because the state's lewd decal law that formed the basis for the ticket was ruled unconstitutional in 1990, Grier is seeking damages for "emotional distress" against the county, according to the lawsuit.
Grier also seeks a declaration in federal court that her bumper sticker is considered protected speech under the First Amendment because she is "uncertain and insecure regarding her right to display her bumper sticker in DeKalb County," the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia...
http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/woman-sues-over-ticket-for-anti-bush/20061016161609990010?ncid=NWS00010000000001
Bradblog: 'Daily Voting News' For October 17, 2006
The worst county for elections in the US, Cuyahoga Co. Ohio has taken another step into the realm of the absurd. The county wants to get their votes tabulated as quickly as possible and they apparently aren't worried as much about accuracy so they are using a new add-on device from Diebold that has never been used in an election and is not even complete with the federal inspection process yet. This device reads the data from the voting machine memory cards, six cards at a time in one minute. The county just has to get the totals out quickly; never mind the accuracy of those totals. / Massachusetts has still not settled on accessible voting machines. Three weeks from election day is too late to bring in new machines and train workers. The state, apparently, is also going to ignore HAVA and not require a new machine at each polling place….ETC
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3631
Bradblog: EXCLUSIVE: FIRST BUSH-APPOINTED CHAIR OF U.S. ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION SAYS 'NO STANDARDS' FOR E-VOTING DEVICES, SYSTEM 'RIPE FOR STEALING ELECTIONS'!
Former Chair Says He 'Was Deceived', EAC and Federal Efforts for Election Reform 'A Charade', 'Travesty'!
In Stark Contrast to Current EAC Chair, Rev. DeForest Soaries Blasts White House, Congress in Transcript of Unaired Interview from Major Broadcast Network!
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3491
thinkprogress: Sherwood ‘Calling In Chits’ With Right-Wing Leaders
In all, over 40 House conservatives contributed $1,000 or more to Sherwood in just the current quarter. But he’s just getting started. Sherwood “is expected to raise up to $400,000 at a Thursday fundraiser hosted by President Bush in Sherwood’s district.”
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/10/17/sherwood-chits/
AP: Coin dealer goes on trial in Ohio
Tom Noe, 52, is accused of stealing more than $2 million from a fund for injured workers and spending it on his business and renovating his home in the Florida Keys.
"He needed money. He needed it desperately," prosecutor John Weglian said in opening statements...ETC
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061016/ap_on_re_us/investment_scandal
AP: Colorado Candidate's TV Ad Investigated
Colorado authorities have opened a criminal investigation into whether an attack ad run by GOP Rep. Bob Beauprez against his opponent for governor illegally used confidential information from a federal law enforcement database.
Democrat Bill Ritter's campaign has suggested the information was taken from the computerized crime records.
But John Marshall, the congressman's spokesman, said Tuesday that the details came from an informant he refused to identify. He said the campaign is cooperating with investigators..
The governor has asked the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to expedite its investigation. Use of the federal criminal database for any purpose other than law enforcement is a crime punishable by fines and up to a year in prison.
The TV ad in question refers to Carlos Estrada Medina, a suspected illegal immigrant who was arrested in Denver in 2001 on suspicion of heroin trafficking. The ad says Ritter chose to seek a plea bargain in the case, Medina avoided deportation, and he was later arrested in California on suspicion of sexually assaulting a minor.
Reporters found that the person arrested in Colorado was identified as Walter Noel Romo and had a different birthdate than Medina, according to the Ritter campaign. When questioned about the man's identity, the Beauprez campaign said Romo and Medina were the same man because federal criminal databases indicated the two men had the same FBI numbers.
Ritter spokesman Evan Dreyer said the campaign tried verifying that information through public records but could not _ raising the possibility that the databases were illegally accessed.
"We could not connect the dots using information available to the public in a way that made any sense at all," Dreyer said. "If we couldn't do it, how was the congressman able to do it?"
Arrest records are the only public information in the database, CBI spokesman Lance Clem said.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/10/17/D8KQI1F81.html
Reuters: Second U.S. lawmaker faces misconduct allegations
A U.S. congressional board which oversees a Capitol Hill internship program rocked by a sex scandal, discussed allegations on Monday involving a second lawmaker, said Rep. Dale Kildee, a Michigan Democrat.
Kildee made the comment as he emerged from a closed-door meeting of a House ethics committee, which has been focused on the case of former Republican Rep. Mark Foley of Florida, who resigned last month following disclosure he sent inappropriate electronic messages to male teenage interns, known as pages.
"It's only been allegations made," Kildee told reporters of the House page board's discussion about a second lawmaker, who he declined to identify.
Kildee said he and other board members had a conference call earlier in the day about "other allegations, not about Mr. Foley." Kildee also indicated the page board had talked about the matter with the second lawmaker.
Last week, a law enforcement official confirmed a report by NBC News that the U.S. attorney's office and the FBI in Arizona were conducting a "preliminary look" into a camping trip Rep. Jim Kolbe took with two teenage pages and others 10 years ago...
http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?view=CN&symbol=&storyID=2006-10-17T020907Z_01_N16422203_RTRUKOC_0_US-SCANDAL.xml&WTmodLoc=InvArt-C2-NextArticle-1
AP: Larry Margasak: House page program leaders discuss trip
Overseers of the House page program this week discussed a camping trip that Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz. took with two former pages and others in 1996 — an outing now under review by the Justice Department, a congressional source said Tuesday..
Meanwhile, the House ethics committee Tuesday continued investigating the Foley matter. Investigators, pressing ahead with closed-door interviews, questioned Paula Nowakowski, chief of staff to House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio...
A second law enforcement official said the 1996 Kolbe trip may be too old to investigate as a criminal matter. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation. A Justice Department spokeswoman declined comment...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061017/ap_on_go_co/congress_pages_13
Palm Beach Post: Foley to tell church name of alleged abuser, lawyer says
By BRIAN SKOLOFF
Associated Press
Disgraced former U.S. U.S. Rep. Mark Foley will reveal to the Archdiocese of Miami the name of the Roman Catholic clergyman he says abused him as a teenager, Foley's civil attorney said Tuesday.
Gerald Richman said the state attorney's office in West Palm Beach informed him that criminal charges cannot be filed because the statute of limitations on the sexual assault expired long ago.
"We're talking about issues that happened 36 to 38 years ago," Richman said. "This is all part of the healing process for Mark Foley. He thinks it's important to go ahead and bring this information out and hope and encourage other people who have been similarly abused to go ahead and come forward."
Richman said Foley has not told him the name of the clergyman but has told another attorney. He said the clergyman is still alive.
Richman said that when details are released they will deflate critics who have accused Foley of fabricating the abuse allegation as an excuse for sending teenage male pages sexually explicit e-mails.
"It's going to be very clear in the coming days that it is a fact as opposed to any possible allegations that it was a fantasy or something made up for political purposes," Richman said. "The archdiocese is the one that specifically requested this information... They want this to come out, and we are going to cooperate with them."
Archdiocese spokeswoman Mary Ross Agosta said the church had urged Foley to identify his abuser but said she was not aware that any meeting with Foley had been scheduled. She said the archdiocese's attorney is on vacation and not immediately available..
Richman said Foley is "going through a very difficult healing process. He's got therapy. He's trying to overcome his problems in terms of drinking in the past and the other problems that he's had in keeping this deep, dark secret inside him for many years."..
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/gen/ap/FL_Congressman_E_mails.html
AP: BRIAN SKOLOFF: Foley Tells Church About Alleged Abuser
Disgraced former U.S. Congressman Mark Foley has revealed to the Archdiocese of Miami the name of the Roman Catholic clergyman he says abused him as a teenager, a close friend of Foley's said Tuesday.
The name was not made public and it was not immediately clear whether the person was still active in the church or is alive...
According to the source, the church offered Foley counseling in the matter, which Foley accepted. He plans to begin that counseling after completing treatment for alcoholism.
The archdiocese did not immediately respond to phone messages and e- mails Tuesday...
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/10/17/D8KQKQQ00.html
TPMMuckraker: K.A. Paul Speaks! Again! Some More!
By Paul Kiel
Dr. K.A. Paul, the evangelist who says he convinced House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) to resign over Foleygate, is upset that Hastert's promise didn't stick. So he's calling a news conference:..ETC
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001822.php
BlogActive: Senator Larry Craig.... What's with the gay bashing?
As this message is posted, I have apppeared on the Ed Schultz Show, a nationally syndicated radio program broadcast in more than 100 cities and on Sirius Satellite. On the show I have called on Senator Larry Craig to end his years of hypocrisy by leveling with Idahoans about who he really is. I am also calling upon several prominent Idaho social conservative leaders to ask them how they square their anti-gay positions with their support for this leader.
I have done extensive research into this case, including trips to the Pacific Northwest to meet with men who have say they have physical relations with the Senator. I have also met with a man here in Washington, D.C., who says the same -- and that these incidents occurred in the bathrooms of Union Station. None of these men know each other, or knew that I was talking to others. They all reported similar personal characteristics about the Senator, which lead me to believe, beyond any doubt, that their stories are valid.
Larry Craig being mentioned as possibly connected to Congressional scandals is nothing new. Check out these video clips from 1982 when he preemptively denied his involvement in a Congressional sex and drug scandal. (I love what he says about unmarried people back then and how often do politicians issue preemptive denials based on rumors?)..
Senator Craig has consistently relied on the support of Idaho's "values voters," but he has not been honest with them about his own conduct. Conservatives and liberals are both standing up and recognizing the hypocrisy of elected officials like Senator Larry Craig. The time for treating Americans one way and behaving in another is over.
http://www.blogactive.com/2006/10/senator-larry-craig-whats-with-gay.html
Houston Chronicle: Commander: Mistakes made in Afghanistan
PAULINE JELINEK Associated Press
The mistake consisted of adopting "a peacetime approach" too early, British Gen. David Richards told Pentagon reporters. He said the international community has six months to correct the problem before losing Afghan support, reiterating a warning he issued last week.
"The Taliban were defeated. ... And it looked all pretty hunky-dory," Richard said of the environment at the end of 2001. "We thought it was all done ... and didn't treat it as aggressively as ... with the benefit of hindsight, we should have done."..
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/politics/4266077.html
Scotsman: Reuters: Afghan progress hit by Iraq, commander says
The decision to divert forces to invade Iraq cost the West years of progress in Afghanistan, the outgoing commander of British forces in Afghanistan said on Tuesday.
The comments by Brigadier Ed Butler, who returned this week from commanding the British contingent, were the second implicit criticism of government policy on Iraq from the military's top brass in less than a week...
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1540342006
Guardian: Para chief reveals Afghan supply woes
Staff and agencies
British paratroopers fighting the Taliban in southern Afghanistan have been close to running out of rations and supplies, their commanding officer said today.
Brigadier Ed Butler, the commanding officer of the recently returned 3 Para battle group, said that on occasions his men had been down to "belt rations"...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,1924566,00.html
xinhua: British troops withdraw from violent district in S Afghanistan
British troops of ISAF have pulled out of the insurgent Musa Qala district in the southern Helmand province, an ISAF spokesman told Xinhua on Tuesday.
"After dialogue and discussion with local elders, we think they deserve an opportunity to resume their areas and keep security themselves," said Maj. Luke Knittig, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
The elders were confident they could bring peace to the district and defend it from the Taliban, so ISAF listened to them, said Knittig, adding the troops would be deployed to places where soldiers are more needed. ..
Meanwhile, Helmand Governor Mohammad Daud said there was no deal between the troops, the government and the Taliban, according to media reports.
He also refused a reported statement by the Taliban that said the Afghan flag would not fly in the district any longer. ..
Analysts say one factor for the withdrawal apparently is the high casualties of the British troops in the district...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-10/17/content_5215836.htm
BBC: Analysis By Alastair Leithead: Can change in Afghan tactics bring peace?
Ever since they were deployed into the small government compounds in Helmand's remote district centres they have been under fire and looking for a face saving way out...
Thirty five days ago a peace deal was stuck - the elders brokered a ceasefire between the British and the Taleban fighters...
Perhaps more important is who exactly these elders are - they will probably have a mixture of views as in any representative forum - but how much of a connection do they have with the Taleban?..
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6060384.stm
Aljazeera: Agencies: Guantanamo German has charges dropped
A German citizen recently released from Guantanamo Bay prison after four years, has had all terrorism charges against him dropped by a German court.
Investigators have found no evidence linking Murat Kurnaz to Muslim fighters in Pakistan or Afghanistan, Uwe Picard, a prosecutor in Bremen, said on Tuesday...
Prosecutors in Potsdam have also opened an investigation into as yet unidentified members of the German army in connection with Kurnaz's allegation that he was abused by two German service members while detained in Afghanistan, a spokesman said.
Kurnaz has said that one of the men he identified as being German grabbed him by the hair as he was lying prone and then let his head fall face first to the ground, to the amusement of US and other soldiers nearby.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3DF1A563-8839-461A-A278-E8F6C7E0601F.htm
Aljazeera: Reuters: Pakistan frees militant group's founder
A Pakistani court has ordered the release of the founder of an Islamist militant group blamed by India for carrying out the Mumbai train bombings in July in which 186 people died.
Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the former leader and founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, was put under house arrest in Lahore in August, shortly before he was due to address a rally..
"The court has declared that the detention of Hafiz Saeed is against the law and the constitution and he should be released immediately," his lawyer, Nazir Ahmed Ghazi, said on Tuesday.
Saeed was still being held under house arrest in Lahore but one of his aides said it was hoped he would be released later in the day...
A spokesman for Jamaat-ud-Dawa hailed the court decision as "victory for the truth".
"Hafiz Saeed was detained under pressure from India," Abdullah Montazir said.
"The government should give us an opportunity to respond to the Indian charges instead of taking action against us."
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/4818012B-36BE-4E81-A69D-7DE63C0C9738.htm
Miami Herald: Bali bombing suspect: I'm 'doing fine' in Guantanamo
BY CAROL ROSENBERG
The Jakarta Post reported the text of the message on Monday -- the first word from the 40-year-old man known as Hambali who, the U.S. alleges, had a hand in the Oct. 12, 2002, al-Qaeda-style bomb attack that killed 202 people at a popular resort strip in Bali.
An interpreter with the International Committee of the Red Cross read the message to his family on Friday, the newspaper said, at the end of an ICRC mission at the remote U.S. Navy base in southeast Cuba...
'I am in Guantánamo now, and I am doing fine,'' said Hambali, whose real name is Riduan Isomuddin. ``I hope Mom and other family members are also in good condition. Please send my regards to other relatives.''..
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15775659.htm
Aljazeera/Agencies: Palestinians killed in raid on Jenin
Israeli soldiers have shot and killed at least two Palestinians in a gun battle in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian security source says.
The source said an 18-year-old member of Islamic Jihad was killed and several other people wounded in the gun battle with Israeli forces early on Tuesday.
Palestinian officials also told Reuters that a civilian had also been killed during the Israeli incursion into the town of Jenin and surrounding villages in the West Bank...
Meanwhile, Palestinians said, undercover soldiers opened fire on a car in the West Bank city of Nablus, killing a local leader of the Fatah-linked Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and wounding his cousin...
Soldiers also arrested seven Palestinians in raids throughout the West Bank, a military statement said...
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/636BE8A0-BC0C-4995-BD53-7A6454A9B14B.htm
Lebanon Daily Star: Rym Ghazal: UNIFIL denies French threat to fire on intruding Israeli jets
With agencies, additional reporting by Mohammed Zaatari
Plenty of eyes turned upward Tuesday as disagreements soared over persistent Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace, with Israel claiming UNIFIL's French contingent had threatened to fire at its planes. According to Israeli media outlets, Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said senior commanders of the French forces in South Lebanon had relayed a warning to Israel that its violations of Lebanese airspace might draw French anti-aircraft fire.
In comments to the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Peretz said this was a "threat."
"They said that planes fly over them and that there was no certainty that they wouldn't open fire on them," he said, citing the French commanders' alleged statement, which the minister said was made at a meeting of the joint Israeli UNIFIL-Lebanese military committee.
But UNIFIL spokesperson Alexander Ivanko told The Daily Star he had no idea where the statement quoted by Peretz came from. "I am not aware of any such comments made by any senior UNIFIL officers," he said.
Sources close to the dispute said there are serious discussions about the French contingent bringing in aircraft to assist monitoring of Lebanese skies, but nothing has been decided yet.
The French Foreign Ministry last week condemned Israel's violations and announced that France was working with the UN to "organize the rules of managing Lebanese airspace."
"So far, we only have Italian helicopters, and discussions are still ongoing," Ivanko said...
Israeli warplanes have been violating Lebanese airspace regularly for decades, gathering intelligence, making their presence known and sometimes setting off sonic booms. Given that the Lebanese military lacks effective anti-aircraft weapons, the Israeli jets are rarely challenged...
Israeli airspace violations were many on Tuesday, with aircraft flying over Tyre, Wadi Assel, the western part of the South and along the occupied Golan Heights. At the same time, according to the National News Agency (NNA), two Israeli bulldozers and three humvees crossed the UN-demarcated Blue Line near Kfar Kila. Dozens of Israelis then began digging canals to channel what appeared to be floodwater, caused by recent heavy rains, from Israel into Lebanon.
Ivanko said UNIFIL had no knowledge of "any violation in that area" but added that some "engineering work" was taking place on the border fence.
The NNA also noted an increase in the number of Israeli vehicles patrolling the border.
Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot said Tuesday that the US and a European nation offered Israel satellite images of Lebanon in return for a cessation of its flights. Yediot said Israel rejected the proposal, saying the flights were needed to collect intelligence.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=76260
READ ALL: Houston Chronicle: Pentagon to resume anthrax inoculations
LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press
The Pentagon said Monday it will once again begin requiring anthrax vaccinations for troops heading into dangerous regions, reinstating a program that has been challenged repeatedly over possible health risks.
Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said the vaccinations will begin in 30 to 60 days, and will involve troops and civilian Defense Department personnel and contractors who are serving in the Middle East, Central Asia and the Korean Peninsula.
"This is a safe and effective vaccine," Winkenwerder said in a conference call with reporters. He said the move to reinstate the vaccine does not suggest there is any new or elevated threat but the possibility of an anthrax attack is "very real and it has not gone away."..
Opponents of the program promised a fresh challenge. Mark S. Zaid, one of the lawyers who previously sued to stop the mandatory program, said he would file a new lawsuit "as soon as needles start going into arms." Other groups who have opposed the program also criticized the new requirements.
"This is a vaccine that is unproven, unnecessary and has the potential to jeopardize the health of a service member where little benefit will be derived," Zaid said. "It's always been a public relations program and nothing more."
He questioned why the Pentagon is inoculating troops in the Middle East when the 2001 anthrax attacks that left five people dead and sickened 17 took place in the United States.
Winkenwerder said the vaccine has been thoroughly reviewed by the federal Food and Drug Administration and several independent groups and deemed safe.
He said anyone who refused the vaccine would be reminded of its importance and safety. Then, if needed, their supervisor would get involved and the matter would be resolved "like any other refusal to follow a lawful order."..ETC
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/politics/4263085.html
AP: 30 more countries could have nukes soon
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061016/ap_on_re_eu/nuclear_agency_proliferation
Hanooki: US Reviews War Plan on N. Korea
The United States is mapping out a new theater war plan on the Korean Peninsula aimed at striking weapons of mass destruction in North Korea, reports said yesterday, citing an unidentified Chinese defense expert in Canada.
The U.S. move comes after North Korea's self-proclaimed nuclear weapon test on Oct. 9.
According to the report, the United States is considering a plan against North Korea to neutralize Pyongyang's nuclear capability with overwhelming use of the U.S. Air Force.
Whether the new plan is related to the joint contingency plan with South Korea, dubbed OPLAN 5027, was not confirmed.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) declined to comment on the report.
Under the envisaged plan, U.S. combat aircraft and bombers, such as F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighters and F-15Es, would conduct ``surgical strikes'' on major weapons of mass destruction (WMD) facilities, training sites, and intelligence and communication facilities in the North instead of ground forces advancing into the North, the report said.
OPLAN 5027, drawn up by the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC), aims to deter North Korean forces armed with conventional weapons. The South Korean and U.S. militaries review the contingency scheme every year and update it in accordance with the security situation.
Washington is reportedly committed to dispatching some 690,000 troops with 1,600 aircraft and 160 ships to the peninsula within 90 days after a war breaks out under OPLAN 5027.
The plan, however, lacks specific actions to cope with a nuclear war.
Since Pyongyang's nuclear test, the South Korean military has also stepped up preparations for a possible nuclear war on the peninsula.
Sources at the JCS said last week that Seoul is reviewing OPLAN 5027 to address North Korea's missile and nuclear threats.
The JCS has submitted two reports to Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung since Oct. 3 when Pyongyang announced its plan to conduct a nuclear test, they said.
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200610/kt2006101617231910160.htm
Hanooki: Seoul Can Build A-Bombs Within 1 Year
Rep. Suh Sang-kee at the main opposition Grand National Party made the remarks after interviewing several anonymous nuclear scientists at home.
``According to many domestic experts, South Korea currently has technologies enough to develop atomic bombs with uranium within a year,'' Suh said.
``The experts also think it would take a couple of years for us to build up plutonium bombs and deploy them if overseas checks do not stand in the way,'' the 60-year-old said...
``In an extreme case if we have no choice but to make atomic bombs, however, experts recommend Seoul should turn to uranium rather than plutonium to make weapons as it is easier to make weapons with the former,'' he added...ETC
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200610/kt2006101617211910440.htm
??South Korea Herald: Second nuke test signs detected
"We have detected signs that North Korea may be preparing for another atomic test," said one high-ranking official on the condition of anonymity. He refused to elaborate on whether the signs indicate an imminent test...
The United States and Japan also said they obtained data pointing to a possible second test. Citing White House officials, U.S. media reported that satellites detected suspicious movements near the blast site of Pyongyang's first detonation...
Experts say the next test may be carried out either this week or around Nov. 7 to coincide with the U.S. general elections.
The Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources has its antennae trained toward the North, especially after it was spurned for failing to accurately pinpoint the site of Pyongyang's first-ever atomic test.
The center said it has not yet detected signs of another detonation.
"We are better prepared than last time," said Chi Hyeon-cheol, head of the quake center.
It would be up to the center to report on an initial detection within 30 minutes of a suspect quake, followed with estimations of detonation size and site...
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2006/10/18/200610180041.asp
MosNews: Russia Received No Warning from N.Korea Before Nuclear Test — PM
“As far as I know, we had no notice that an explosion was to be carried out,” he told a media briefing in Seoul today. “We received our information by technical means,” he was quoted by Interfax as saying...
When asked by South Korean mass media, if he knew anything about plans for a second North Korean nuclear test, Fradkov replied “the questions are not very precise and are wrongly addressed,” Itar-Tass adds.
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/10/17/nkwarning.shtml
Moscow Times: Itera Past Haunts U.S. Lawmaker
By Catherine Belton
U.S. Representative Curt Weldon's ties to Russian gas firm Itera are coming back to haunt him.
Two years after it surfaced that the veteran congressman had possibly helped his daughter, Karen Weldon, win a lobbying contract with the firm, FBI agents raided her office and Itera's on Monday...
Now federal authorities are trying to figure out if Weldon used his influence to channel $500,000 in contracts from Itera to his daughter's firm, Solutions North America, and then, in a quid pro quo, helped the Russian gas outfit on Capitol Hill.
Not only Karen Weldon's office and Itera's Jacksonville, Florida headquarters are being scoured for incriminating evidence.
FBI agents in Pennsylvania have also raided Karen Weldon's home, and the home and office of Charles Sexton Jr., Weldon's former campaign finance chair. Sexton ran Solutions North America with Karen Weldon...
The questionable activity dates to 2002.
That year, Karen Weldon landed her big contract with Itera, at the time Russia's biggest independent gas producer.
Shortly after Karen Weldon was paid, the congressman sought to lift a block on an $868,000 Exim Bank grant, a Los Angeles Times story reported. The grant had been blocked due to questions about Itera's financing.
Later in 2002, Weldon organized a dinner in the Library of Congress in honor of Itera president Igor Makarov, extolling the firm's virtues even as it was being probed in Russia and the United States for possible money laundering.
Itera has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Steven Koegler, a lawyer for Itera's U.S. arm, said Tuesday that the gas firm was cooperating with U.S. authorities. "We were informed of the U.S. authorities' interest in any information Itera may have with respect to its business relationship with Solutions Worldwide," Koegler said by telephone from Jacksonville. He then added, somewhat vaguely: "This is in relationship to Congressman Curt Weldon."..
Itera has been a major player in jousting for geopolitical influence over energy routes in central Asia since the mid-1990s, with a lock until 2002 over most gas markets there.
By 2000, it began to advertise itself actively in the United States as the key for all U.S. businesses wanting to work in the region, nurturing close ties to Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov and then-prime minister of Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko, as the major supplier of Turkmen gas to Ukraine.
In May 2002, when U.S President George W. Bush visited Moscow, Weldon was part of the congressional delegation, visiting Itera's Moscow offices while he was in the city.
During the May 2002 visit, Makarov told U.S. officials that Niyazov had asked Itera to build a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan, a strategic U.S. goal.
In recent years, the Kremlin has waged a quiet war on Itera, systemically taking Itera's key assets and giving them to state-controlled Gazprom. Gazprom minority investors accuse former Gazprom's former management of giving billions of dollars in gas fields to Itera.
Today, Itera is a shadow of its former self.
For now, it remains unclear exactly how the investigation surrounding the gas firm and Weldon will affect the congressman.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/10/18/002.html
LINKS: TPM Muckraker: Weldon's Daughter's Company Kept Low Profile
By Paul Kiel
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001820.php
MosNews: Russia Demands U.S. Lift Sanctions Against Arms Exporter and Aircraft Maker
On Monday, Oct. 16, Russia demanded that the United States lift sanctions against two Russian companies accused of making deals with Iran involving sensitive technology. Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin hinted that a U.S. refusal could affect negotiations on UN sanctions resolution against Tehran.
Churkin said the sanctions against state arms exporter Rosoboronexport and top aircraft maker Sukhoi for allegedly violating a U.S. law known as the Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000, create a “predicament” for Moscow.
If Russia is asked to vote on a Security Council resolution imposing sanctions on Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment at the same time that Russian companies are subject to U.S. sanctions, it would be voting on a measure “which at least by implication supports sanctions which have already been imposed on us,” he said.
“So it is a somewhat ridiculous, bizarre political predicament,” Churkin said. “The other side of it is that we don’t know why those sanctions were imposed on the two organizations back in Russia.”
Churkin said Russia wants the sanctions lifted off the two companies, whether or not UN sanctions are leveled against Iran...
Churkin also signaled that Moscow is in no hurry to adopt a resolution against Iran.
http://www.mosnews.com/money/2006/10/17/russiasanctions.shtml
MosNews: Russian Police Uncover Criminal Group That Laundered $7 Billion
The Vek Bank and the Novaya Ekonomicheskaya Pozitsiya (New Economic Position) banks were mentioned in the release as the core of the illegal financial group.
Most of the funds were transferred abroad on the accounts of dummy organizations, RIA-Novosti quoted the release as saying.
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/10/17/laundering.shtml
Forbes: Russian authorities raid Moscow bank in money laundering investigation
The raid was on a commercial bank called Vek Bank, it said, adding that several executives from the bank and from another bank called New Economic Position were suspects in the wide-ranging inquiry...
Russian authorities have co-operated in the investigation with law enforcement in countries including Austria, Germany, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania and Switzerland, it added.
http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2006/10/17/afx3097645.html
RIA Novosti: Russian police continue crackdown on Georgian crime groups
The ministry's department for economic security said the criminal group in Moscow was headed by a Georgian-born crime boss known as Dzhuba. It controlled over eight credit organizations in Moscow and had "strong ethnic and financial relations with criminal elements of the Georgian diaspora."
"This channel was actively used for transferring money to Georgia and other countries," the department said in a statement. "The money came mainly from illegal banking operations, casinos, robberies and embezzlement of budget funds."
Investigations have also established that the group had links with officials in Russian government agencies.
"According to our information, the interests of this group had been actively lobbied by some officials in the Russian Finance Ministry and the Bank of Russia. The group also had criminal links with some officials in Russia's law-enforcement and governmental systems," the statement said.
The group had been laundering illegally-obtained money through banks in Moscow, including Vek Bank and Centurion, which had their licenses revoked this summer by the Central Bank over breaches of banking legislation, including the law on money laundering. ..
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20061017/54884880.html
Moscow Times: Police Claim Gang Laundered $8Bln
The gang's leader, identified only by his first name, Dzhuba, is a native of Tbilisi with purported ties to the Georgian military.
The head of the State Duma's Security Committee, Vladimir Vasilyev, denied suggestions that the bust was linked to tensions between Moscow and Tbilisi...
The gang's two main front organizations were Bek Bank and the New Economic Position, it said. Their subsidiaries, including AKA Bank and Rodnik, conducted illegal transactions worth around $500,000 per day, it said.
Dzhuba, the purported mastermind, is still at large.
On Oct. 8, he flew on a forged passport to Nice, France, through Monaco to purchase some property, the ministry said. Through apparent ties with officials at Sheremetyevo Airport, Dzhuba was able to arrange his flight through the Federal Delegates' Terminal, which is reserved for federal officials, it said...
The ministry also said Dzhuba maintained close ties with Georgia. It said he had bragged in a Moscow casino that his money went to "a triumphant little war," a reference to Georgia's war in the 1990s with the Russian-backed breakaway region of Abkhazia...
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/10/18/041.html
RIA Novosti: Ukraine illegally sells arms to Georgia - party leader
"Ukraine has already delivered 40 tanks to Georgia," Petro Symonenko said.
Symonenko said Kiev is facing the risk of having sanctions imposed on it by the international community for illegally supplying arms to warring sides...
Georgian Defense Minister Irakly Okruashvili was quoted by a Russian newspaper Monday as saying that if war broke out between Russia and Georgia, Russia would lose -- a statement that was immediately condemned by the Russian Armed Forces chief of the General Staff.
"If Mr. Okruashvili has an itchy trigger finger, I hope he realizes the consequences of what can happen when he wages war against his own citizens, Russian citizens residing in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and peacekeepers who are the only guarantors of stability in the region," Army General Yury Baluyevsky said...
http://en.rian.ru/world/20061017/54882559.html
Wayne Madsen: The two nations pushing for Guatemala's seat on the UN Security Council have not paid their UN dues for 2006. As of October 16, the day the General Assembly vote on the Latin American Security Council seat commenced, neither the United States nor Israel have anted up their annual dues payments, according to the Office of the Secretary General. Venezuela made its dies payment of $2,918,283 on Sept. 18, 2006. Guatemala paid $511,979 on June 15, 2006. Most of Venezuela's backers also paid their dues, which indicates that Venezuela provides greater support for the UN system than does the Bush administration and its neocon allies around the world....
The Dominican Republic, which has been mentioned as a compromise candidate, is ineligible for the Security Council because it has not paid its 2006 dues. Two other "compromise" candidates are also not eligible because of lack of dues payment: Costa Rica and Panama.
Only those nations that provide financial support for the UN should be determining the membership of the Security Council. At the present time, these countries do not include the United States, Israel, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, or Panama...
There are 192 members, however, the United States and Israel closely coordinate their activities at the UN and WMR has learned that the diplomatic pressure being brought by the two nations on some of the world's smallest and poorest nations not to support Venezuela in the General Assembly has been unprecedented. The U.S. and Israeli arm twisting has been most evident among African and Pacific nations. ..
Although Guatemala is a client state of the United States, it is also a longtime recipient of Israeli security and military aid, much of which has been used to commit genocide against Guatemala's indigenous population. Many of Guatemala's leaders are members of evangelical and charismatic Protestant churches, which mirror the pro-Israeli policies of their U.S. counterparts. The disconnect between Guatemala's ruling elite and its native and mestizo citizens and the fact that Venezuela's government is highly representative of its population are highlighted by the names of the top three official of both nations. [source CIA Factbook]:
GUATEMALA
President--Oscar Jose Rafael BERGER
Vice President -- Eduardo STEIN
Minister of Foreign Affairs -- Gert ROSENTHAL
VENEZUELA
President -- Hugo CHAVEZ Frias
Vice President -- Jose Vicente RANGEL
Minister of Foreign Affairs -- Nicolas MADURO
The AP is reporting today that Guatemalan Foreign Minister Rosenthal became testy when asked about the United States and another nation pulling the strings for Guatemala. He said, "frankly we resent it a bit being told we are going to toe the line of not only the United States but any other power."..
PLUS Florida Governor Jeb Bush responded on Oct. 4 to WMR report on cover-up of Foley scandal:
Oct. 4 -- St. Petersburg Times -- "In a gaggle with Florida's Capital Press Corps Wednesday, Gov. Jeb Bush flatly refuted allegations posted on an Internet website and circulated widely Tuesday that claims Bush, Attorney General Charlie Crist and Florida Department of Law Enforcement were all told by the federal justice department about Mark Foley's e-mails a year ago but covered it up.
The alleged conspiracy, sourced to 'informed sources in Tallahassee' who were not named, was reported on the Wayne Madsen Report website. (The allegations have also been posted by anonymous bloggers in the Buzz comments section.) Madsen's website claims to tackle 'the 'politically incorrect' and 'politically embarrassing' stories and holds government officials accountable for their actions.'
But Bush was clearly annoyed by the anonymous allegations and repeated what he has said all week, that he knew nothing of Foley's electronic missives until Friday, when the news broke on the national stage.
'If the next governor...is going to have to respond to every blog and every tired little anonymous person who has some bitter part in their soul who wants to express it on the Internet, it’s not going to work,' Bush said."
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/
NZ Stuff: Lisa Murray: The big media carve-up begins in Oz
Australia's media moguls are wasting no time. With the new media laws still awaiting their rubber stamp, due some time today, James Packer and Seven Network's Kerry Stokes were jostling for position last night.
Mr Packer is reinventing the family empire, spinning off a half share in Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd's flagship media assets - including Nine Network and its magazines - and netting $A4.7 billion in the process. The profits will be used to expand the group's burgeoning gaming business.
Late yesterday Seven launched a $A200 million-plus raid on West Australian Newspapers, the main newspaper company in Mr Stokes's home town of Perth.
At the same time, the often-touted takeover target Fairfax Media, publisher of Stuff.co.nz and numerous New Zealand and Australia newspapers and magazines, held an extraordinary board meeting to discuss its future amid the changing industry landscape.
It all happened as the Australian parliament debated the merits of the new media ownership laws, which will allow one company to own two media platforms - of newspapers, radio or television - in the same market for the first time in 20 years.
PBL, which is 38 per cent owned by Mr Packer, suspended trading in its shares yesterday as its board signed off on a deal that will create a new $A5.6 billion media company in a 50-50 partnership with a European private equity group, CVC Capital Partners...
A source close to the deal said it had been structured so CVC would have a "synthetic" holding until the ownership laws changed next year, allowing foreign investors to own big stakes in local media companies...
Fairfax's chairman, Ron Walker, told the Sydney Morning Herald the board met for a couple of hours yesterday to discuss "a number of issues" including "future planning" for the company. He said a meeting he held with James Packer at the weekend was "a regular catch-up" because he had known the family for many years. Analysts and investment bankers have long speculated about a potential deal between PBL and Fairfax.
In an indication of PBL's new focus on gaming, James Packer was in Singapore yesterday making a $US3.5 billion bid as part of a consortium for the casino Sentosa. He was due back in Sydney today. PBL owns Crown Casino in Melbourne, the Burswood casino in Perth and is developing casinos in Asia and Britain...
The media laws were passed by the Senate last week and should get the nod from the House of Representatives today.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3832524a13,00.html
FT: Wikipedia founder plans rival
By Richard Waters in San Francisco
One of the founders of Wikipedia is days away from launching a rival to the collaborative internet encyclopaedia, in an attempt to bring a more orderly approach to organising knowledge online...
The latest venture from Larry Sanger, who helped create Wikipedia in 2001, is intended to bring more order to this creative chaos by drawing on traditional measures of authority. Though still open to submissions from anyone, the power to authorise articles will be given to editors who can prove their expertise, as well as a group of volunteer “constables”, charged with keeping the peace between warring interests...
Accusing Wikipedia of failing to control its writers and editors, he said: “The latest articles don't represent a consensus view – they tend to become what the most persistent ‘posters’ say.”
Mr Sanger said he had financial backing from an unidentified foundation for his new venture, while a web hosting company was providing its services free...
Mr Sanger said volunteers would be able to become editors of his encyclopedia, called Citizendium, if they can show “minimum levels of qualification, based on real-world measures.”
This would be an “imperfect but effective” test based on “degrees, professional society memberships, things like that”.
Citizendium will be open “within the next few days” to a limited number of invited editors and members of the public who apply, and will be made generally available by the end of the year, said Mr Sanger...
It will begin by simply taking over all of the existing entries from Wikipedia, then start the laborious job of having them filtered by expert editors – a job Mr Sanger called “a clean-out of the Augean stables”.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/e62ce8a4-5d3e-11db-9d15-0000779e2340.html
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Chosun Ilbo: Seoul's New Satellite Blanks N.Korean Nuke Test
South Korea’s Arirang-2 satellite launched in July this year failed to take any pictures of North Korea at the time the reclusive country said it conducted a nuclear test, it emerge..
Uri Party lawmaker Kang Sung-jong said Sunday in a press release the government would have been able to observe North Korea’s nuclear test site with the help of the Arirang-2 satellite but did not take a single picture of North Korea between Oct. 3, when the North announced its test plan, and Oct. 9, when it went ahead.
As it happens, the satellite was passing over the Korean Peninsula at around 10:35 a.m. on Oct. 9, when the test was conducted, but it only took pictures of South Korea, Kang said. “This was confirmed by administration documents submitted by the government and answers give by the intelligence authorities,” he added. ..
An official with the Korea Aerospace Research Institute said, “When it comes to satellite photos, terrestrial observation centers determine the coordinates where pictures will be taken, and the satellite takes and sends them.” He said the government decides the coordinates and sends them to the institute, which has no influence over them. “It was not until the Wednesday morning after the North conducted the nuclear test on Monday that the government started taking pictures of North Korea via the satellite,” Kang said. “I put the question why it didn’t but could get no clear answer.”..
Kang recalled that the Arirang-2 is a multi-purpose satellite designed to be used in case of a national security crisis and natural disaster. “The government should give its own answer why the satellite was launched in the first place if it couldn’t do its part in such a serious crisis.”
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200610/200610160010.html
South Korea Herald: Satellite fails to capture N.K. nuke test
The satellite did not capture any images of North Korea between Oct. 3 and Oct. 9 and only took pictures of South Korea during the period, Rep. Kang Sung-jong of the ruling Uri Party said.
The Korean Peninsula comes under its surveillance footprint between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. every day.
"It could have detected the movements of facilities, equipment and other geological signs in North Korea if it had taken images of North Korea before Oct. 9," he said in news release.
"If it had taken pictures of the possible test sites, Seoul would not be confused about whether the North really conducted the nuclear test."
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2006/10/17/200610170009.asp
AP: Australia Bans NKorean Ships From Ports
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Australia would impose the port ban in addition to the U.N. sanctions..
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-aus/2006/oct/15/101501025.html
READ ALL: Raw Story: Raw obtains CENTCOM email to bloggers
The email, in its entirety, follows:
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Raw_obtains_CENTCOM_email_to_bloggers_1016.html
READ ALL: Raw Story: Larisa Alexandrovna: Intelligence laundry: To Paris again
The Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Peter Hoekstra (R-MI), has recently held meetings in Paris with a front man working for Iranian arms dealer and Iran-Contra figure Manucher Ghorbanifar, US and foreign intelligence sources tell RAW STORY...
Two former senior intelligence officers and current intelligence sources abroad have now described a more recent meeting between Hoekstra and Mahdavi that took place in Paris sometime between the spring and summer of this year. What is by far of greatest concern to the sources is that accompanying Hoekstra on the trip was Vaughn Forrest, a mysterious character who, like Ghorbanifar, has ties to the Iran-Contra scandal...
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Intelligence_laundry_To_Paris_again_1016.html
Antiwar: Monday: Attacks Kill 120 Iraqis; 12 US Troops Die in Three Days
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
http://www.antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=9872
AP: Saddam says Iraq 'liberation is at hand'
Saddam Hussein issued an open letter Monday, saying Iraq's "liberation is at hand" and calling for an end to sectarian killings. The brother of the prosecutor in his genocide trial was shot to death at home, the latest death linked to proceedings against the deposed leader...
***** Raid Juhi, a chief investigating judge in the trial linked to the anti-Shiite crackdown, said a verdict against Saddam and seven co-defendants will be announced Nov. 5. He said sentences for those found guilty will be issued the same day...
On Sunday, 35 Sunni Arab tribal leaders from the oil-rich city of Kirkuk called for Saddam's release in a meeting in which portraits of the former leader were hoisted along with banners declaring allegiance to him.
"The release of Saddam Hussein and his comrades will solve the Iraqi crisis," said Abdul-Rahman Monsheid al-Obeidi, one of the tribal chiefs who took part. "It will ensure the success of the national reconciliation the government is talking about."
http://www.krem.com/sharedcontent/nationworld/world/101606ccjccwIraqSaddam.43c8ba4c.html
IranMania: Persian Gulf states joint US exercises
The Persian Gulf states will for the first time participate in a US-led exercise designed to stop Iran from obtaining ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons, World Tribune reported.
Officials said at least two of the six GCC states have agreed to participate in an international naval exercise in the Persian Gulf at the end of October.
They said Bahrain and Kuwait would contribute naval platforms and other assets in attempt to coordinate non-proliferation efforts in the Persian Gulf...
The exercise would be based in Bahrain, which hosts the US Fifth Fleet, Middle East Newsline reported..
Officials said the UAE could join the exercise as an observer..
They said commanders from the PGCC as well as Britain, France and the United States would respond to a scenario in which a North Korean ship laden with WMD material was headed for the Persian Gulf region...
http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=46456&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs
ME Newsline: U.S. DISCUSS MISSILES DEFENSE WITH GCC
The Bush administration has sent a delegation to GCC states to discuss a system to defend against ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction. The delegation was also expected to urge the six Gulf Arab states to participate in U.S.-led efforts to halt WMD proliferation in the Gulf.
The delegation began its Gulf tour on Monday with a visit to Bahrain. Officials said Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet, has been one of the most interested GCC states in missile defense.
The U.S. delegation has been led by the State Department. Officials said the delegation consists of Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs John Hillen, Assistant Defense Secretary for International Security Affairs Peter Rodman and members of the National Security Council. The delegation intends to remain in the Gulf region until Oct. 20.
http://www.menewsline.com/stories/2006/october/10_17_2.html
kswo: Tulsa mayor to go oversees for military orientation
TULSA, Okla. Tulsa mayor Kathy Taylor is traveling overseas this week to take part in a military orientation program.
Taylor is scheduled to leave today for the program, which is organized by the U-S Department of Defense.
Taylor's exact destination for the week-long Joint Civilian Orientation Conference is classified as a security precaution, and even she doesn't know where she's going.
Previous participants have traveled to Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Singapore, South Korea and Japan...
The outreach program is designed to bring civilian public opinion leaders up to speed on national defense issues.
http://www.kswo.com/Global/story.asp?S=5541442
Khaleej: AP: Qatar to build the Gulf’s largest power plant
The plant, valued at US$1.8 billion, will be built by a Japanese-Qatari consortium and should be generating its full 2,000 megawatt capacity by 2010, Energy Minister Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah told reporters late Sunday.
The state-owned Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation, the country’s chief distributor of power and desalinated water, will operate the plant, which it will own jointly with Japan’s Marubeni IPP and Qatar Petroleum.
The Spanish firm Iberdola Engineering Construction will build the plant, Al Attiyah said.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/business/2006/October/business_October491.xml§ion=business
BBC: Marubeni wins $2.3bn Qatar deal
A consortium including Japanese trading house Marubeni has won a $2.3bn (£1.2bn) contract to build a thermal power plant in Qatar...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6054902.stm
Reuters: UPDATE 1-Macquarie wins auction for Thames Water
A group led by Australia's Macquarie Bank Ltd. on Monday won a battle to buy Thames Water in a deal that values the UK utility at 8 billion pounds ($14.84 billion), including debt.
Macquarie beat off rival offers from bidders such as Qatar Investment Authority, which had widely been seen as the front-runner to win the auction for Thames -- owned by German utility RWE AG..
http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=mergersNews&storyID=2006-10-16T214646Z_01_B726063_RTRIDST_0_UTILITIES-THAMES-MACQUARIE-SALE-UPDATE-1.XML
EARLIER: Reuters: Qatar offers $14.9 billion bid for Thames
A Qatar-led group is thought to be in the lead to buy Thames Water after putting in a bid worth about 8 billion pounds ($14.89 billion) over the weekend, the Independent newspaper said on Monday, without citing sources.
The deadline for bids imposed by German utility RWE AG, which owns Thames, expired on Saturday morning.
Qatar Investment Authority, the state investment arm of OPEC member Qatar, is jointly bidding for Thames alongside the infrastructure arm of Swiss bank UBS AG..
Another bidder is understood to have been the Australian infrastructure investor Alinta, it added...
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlebusiness.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2006-10-16T035534Z_01_L1642215_RTRUKOC_0_UK-UTILITIES-THAMES-BID.xml&WTmodLoc=Business-C1-Headline-1
Japan Times: Iran oil deal gone, as is headache
Azadegan setback eases U.S. strain, but at China's gain?
By KANAKO TAKAHARA
A Foreign Ministry official seemed more relieved than disheartened when he heard last week that Inpex Holdings Inc.'s concession in Iran's Azadegan oil field was cut to 10 percent from the original 75 percent because the Japanese firm failed to get started on the project...
For the Foreign Ministry, which did not want to damage U.S. relations, last week's agreement put an end to the diplomatic tension while allowing Tokyo to still hold onto a portion of the project...
Since a large portion of Middle East oil is already secured by the U.S. and European countries, newcomers, including China, are pursuing resources in undeveloped oil fields and mines in Africa and South America, the official said.
Now speculation is ripe that China, France and Russia will try to fill the void left by Japan in the Azadegan field, where crude oil reserves are estimated at 26 million barrels...
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20061014f1.html
AP: 8 Pakistanis Freed From U.S. Detention
Eight Pakistanis released from U.S. detention facilities in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, returned home Monday, a Cabinet minister said.
Two of the men had been held in Guantanamo Bay and the six others were at Bagram, the main U.S. military base north of the Afghan capital, Kabul, said Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao...
The eight were taken to a jail in Rawalpindi, the garrison city near the capital, Islamabad, where authorities were to debrief them before allowing them to return to their homes, Sherpao said.
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Chito Peppler confirmed that two Pakistani detainees were sent home from Guantanamo Bay over the weekend. A detainee from Bahrain and another from Iran also were transferred to their home countries, he said.
Fourteen Pakistanis remain in Bagram and five are being held at Guantanamo, the minister said, adding efforts were being made to secure their release. ..
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-asia/2006/oct/16/101602018.html
Justin raimondo: Election 2006: A War Referendum
It's all about Iraq
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=9869
Bradblog: CALIFORNIA SEC. OF STATE DECLARES ALL STATE VOTERS MAY OPT TO VOTE ON A PAPER BALLOT IN MID-TERM ELECTION!
Internal Memo from SoS Office to County Election Officials Informs That Any CA Voter is Entitled to Choose Paper over Plastic!
Apparent Response by Republican State Officials to Our National Call for Emergency Paper Ballots Causes Concern for Some…
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3627
Bradblog: CALIFORNIA SEC. OF STATE DECLARES ALL STATE VOTERS MAY OPT TO VOTE ON A PAPER BALLOT IN MID-TERM ELECTION!
Internal Memo from SoS Office to County Election Officials Informs That Any CA Voter is Entitled to Choose Paper over Plastic!
Apparent Response by Republican State Officials to Our National Call for Emergency Paper Ballots Causes Concern for Some…
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3626
Bradblog: Washington Post: Bush, Rove 'Inexplicably Upbeat'
Now Why Would That Be? Bob Cesca Has Some Thoughts…
UPDATE: Blogger and BRAD BLOG commenter Scottmandubious has a similar take to Cesca's, and may have even posted his first. In either case, we just noticed, so check him out as well…
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3625
AFP: ECUADOR: RUN-OFF VOTE LIKELY
Mr Correa had been leading in the early vote count when computer networks crashed on Sunday. He immediately accused his rival and authorities of fraud, after a resumption of the tallying found that he had fallen behind.
"We won," he said, accusing his rival and federal election authorities of fraud. "The people are being cheated," he charged. ..
After voting in Quito, Mr Correa warned that he would not tolerate irregularities.
"We will not let them steal the elections," he said. ..
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=132030®ion=4
WP: 2 Set for Presidential Runoff in Ecuador
By MONTE HAYES
The Associated Press
The totals were based on a computerized "quick count" of paper ballots that stalled before dawn Monday due to technical failures by E-vote, the Brazilian company contracted by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. The tribunal now has 10 days to complete the official count.
Correa had been favored to lead Sunday's voting and didn't take well to being edged out by Noboa, who had been rising fast in pre-election polls. Correa complained he had been robbed of votes that would have given him a first-round victory, but presented no proof...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/16/AR2006101600467.html
Ecuador cancels quick vote count deal with Brazilian firm
Quito (dpa) - Ecuador’s electoral authorities said on Monday they will unilaterally terminate a contract with the Brazilian company E- Vote which produced a quick vote count in Sunday’s election.
Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) chairman Xavier Cazar said that E-Vote failed to comply with contract clauses that required a complete quick vote count two hours after the close of polling stations at 2200 GMT on Sunday. Those results would in any case not have been official, and the law gives the TSE a seven-day period to announce official results.
With 70.59 per cent of the votes counted, right-wing banana tycoon Alvaro Noboa was leading with 26.66 per cent of the vote, ahead of left-wing populist Rafael Correa, with 22.51 per cent.
Nineteen hours after voting ended, there is no data regarding congressional and other elections that also took place Sunday.
The contract with E-Vote cost Ecuador 5 million dollars.
The Brazilian company said it could not carry out the vote count as agreed because its servers could not withstand the flow of information and collapsed.
It remained uncertain whether the TSE would seek a different quick count system for the runoff presidential election between Noboa and Correa, on November 26.
http://www.ecanadanow.com/world/2006/10/16/ecuador-cancels-quick-vote-count-deal-with-brazilian-firm/
Prensa Latina: Ecuador Vote System Collapses
cuador s Brazilian E-VOTE rapid vote-count system collapsed at dawn Monday after 70 percent of the votes were counted, which partial count was accused of irregularities as well.
Electoral Supreme Court (TSE) member Patricio Torres confirmed E-VOTE broke its five million dollar contract commitment to deliver presidential election results on Sunday and congressional winners after midnight Sunday.
The TSE is meeting today to analyze the situation while TSE chief Javier Cazar said the 10-month planning allowed the election itself to proceed without a hitch.
However, Jimmy Jairala, spokesman for the center-rightwing PRE -- Roldosist Party, affirmed that "hackers" entered the country and carried out a digital fraud, including scanning so votes were not secret.
http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7BED4D1513-6EBB-4D32-80A7-04F17AB97CB8%7D)&language=EN
Security Measures for Brazil's e-Vote
Act Two: Parallel Testing
Amilcar Brunazzo Filho; Pedro A. D. Rezende
ONG CIVILIS - Forum do Voto-E
Privacy International 2003
http://www.cic.unb.br/docentes/pedro/trabs/Brazilvote2.htm
AP: Leftists Allege Fraud in Mexican Voting
By IOAN GRILLO
Mexico's main leftist party on Monday accused its rivals of fraud in the gubernatorial election for the home state of a fiery former presidential candidate who made similar complaints after losing his own race in July.
Sunday's vote for governor in the oil-rich southern state of Tabasco was seen as a key test for Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and the Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, which blockaded Mexico City streets and led mass marches after alleging dirty tricks had robbed him of the presidency.
The streets in Tabasco were calm Monday after a campaign that had been marred by street fights and arrests of supporters of both candidates...
"Mexico is having a democratic setback that started in July and has been snowballing," Ojeda said. "Our society cannot set a precedent that torture can be used as a political weapon."
State PRI leader Georgina Trujillo downplayed the accusations as sour grapes. "Complaining is their favorite sport," she said of the PRD...
Before Sunday's vote, Lopez Obrador had called Tabasco a crucial battleground. "If the PRI wins Tabasco, our adversaries will laugh at us," he said, "and say that we even lose in our own land."
If the Tabasco election goes to the courts, it will be the latest in a series of disputed Mexican elections...
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-sa/2006/oct/16/101602275.html
NewLeftReview: Al Giordano: MEXICO’S PRESIDENTIAL SWINDLE
http://www.newleftreview.net/?page=article&view=2633
KBCI2: AP: F-B-I carries out raids in Weldon investigation
MEDIA, Pa. The F-B-I has raided the Pennsylvania homes of a congressman's daughter and a close friend.
It's looking into whether the congressman, Republican Curt Weldon, improperly helped his daughter and his friend win lobbying and consulting contracts.
In all, six locations were searched in the Philadelphia area and in Jacksonville, Florida...
An F-B-I spokeswoman says Weldon's home and his offices were not among the locations searched.
http://www.kbcitv.com/x51828.xml?URL=http://10.56.1.26/APWIREFEED/d8kpslo80.xml&NewsSection=NationalHeadlines
AP: John Solomon: Reid Decides to Amend Ethics Reports
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid announced Monday he is amending his ethics reports to Congress to more fully account for a land deal that allowed him to collect $1.1 million for property he hadn't personally owned for three years...
Reid also announced he failed to disclose two other land transactions on his prior ethics reports and would account for those on his amended reports.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/10/16/D8KPS1G00.html
READ: Trader's past raises concerns over hedge funds
By Jenny Strasburg Bloomberg News
Two hedge funds, D.B. Zwirn and Trivium Capital Management, both hired a trader after Citigroup fired him for inflating profits by $20 million, raising questions about a lack of regulation of the investment pools.
Citigroup, the largest U.S. bank, fired David Becker in March 2004, almost three years before he pleaded guilty last month to one count of conspiracy to falsify bank records and to commit wire fraud while he oversaw commodities trading. Trivium hired Becker in September 2004, and D.B. Zwirn hired him in late 2005. Both New York firms, which ultimately fired him, said that they had checked his background before making offers...ETC
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/10/15/bloomberg/bxhedge.php
READ ALL: NYT: Hedge Funds Draw Insider Scrutiny
By JENNY ANDERSON
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/16/business/16hedge.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
BobGeigerBlog: Even Esquire Magazine Calls for a Democratic Senate
http://bobgeiger.blogspot.com/2006/10/even-esquire-magazine-calls-for.html
Dailykos: NE-03: Kleeb's Impressive Endorsement
by mcjoan
The Omaha World Herald reportedly has never endorsed a Democratic candidate for the 3rd district. Well, folks, Scott Kleeb has made history:..
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/10/16/16173/300
LINKS: tpmmuckraker: Former Bush FDA Chief Faces Criminal Charges
By Justin Rood
Bloomberg reports:
Lester Crawford, the former U.S. Food and Drug Administration commissioner who resigned after two months on the job, was charged in federal court for conflict of interest and making false statements related to his investments.
Crawford, 68, falsely stated in a 2004 government filing that shares of Sysco Corp. and Kimberly-Clark Corp. had been sold when he and his wife continued to hold them, U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Taylor said in the charging documents. Crawford also failed to disclose income from exercising stock options in Embrex Inc., the documents said.
Crawford was chairman of the FDA's Obesity Working Group, formed to study the link between weight and health in the U.S., while owning shares of Sysco, a distributor of snack foods, and Pepsico Inc., the world's No. 2 soft drink maker, Taylor said.
Update: It looks like Crawford is likely to plead guilty.
We’ve added the charging documents against Crawford to the TPM Document Collection...
Update: Yep, he's pleading guilty.
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001810.php
13 Oct: Guardian: For their eyes only
New evidence clears up whether Bush sought to bomb al-Jazeera. But we are not allowed to hear it
Richard Norton-Taylor
Two men are to be tried behind closed doors in an Old Bailey courtroom in a move that will stop the public finding out whether George Bush proposed what would have been a war crime and how Tony Blair reacted. The evidence the government does not want us to hear is in an official record of a meeting in Washington in April 2004, when the situation in Iraq was deteriorating fast. The memo, it has been reported, refers to Bush's alleged proposal to bomb the Arabic TV channel al-Jazeera, and is said to reveal how far Blair went in criticising US military tactics in Iraq at a time when troops were bombarding Falluja.
David Keogh, a former civil servant, is charged with unlawfully disclosing the memo. Leo O'Connor, a former Labour researcher, is charged with disclosing a classified document. The way the government went about demanding a private trial, and the arguments used by the judge to allow it, are deeply disturbing...ETC
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1921328,00.html
Kuna: UK''s Afghanistan mission "could take another 20 years," says MP
British troops could be in Afghanistan for another 20 years, according to a main opposition Conservative MP and Territorial Army soldier who has just returned from a tour of duty there.
Mark Lancaster said in an interview with the UK Parliamentary House Magazine Monday, that there needed to be "political honesty" about the commitment...
http://www.kuna.net.kw/Home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=913762
IndiaDefence: France to Withdraw Special Forces from Afghanistan
France plans to withdraw around 200 special forces from southern Afghanistan at the start of next year following a recent surge in violence, reported the French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche on Sunday...
Nine French troops have died fighting in Afghanistan, and Le Journal du Dimanche said the relatively high death toll had played a part in the decision to withdraw the forces...
http://www.india-defence.com/reports/2609
READ ALL: Village Voice: Planespotting
Nerds with binoculars bust the CIA's torture taxis
by Trevor Paglen & A. C. Thompson
http://villagevoice.com/news/0642,torturetaxi,74732,2.html
Houston Chronicle: Sheik's lawyer gets nearly 2 1/2 years
By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press
A firebrand civil rights lawyer who has defended Black Panthers and anti-war radicals was sentenced Monday to nearly 2 1/2 years in prison _ far less than the 30 years prosecutors wanted _ for helping an imprisoned terrorist sheik communicate with his followers on the outside.
Lynne Stewart, 67, smiled, cried and hugged supporters after U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl pronounced the sentence...
But in departing from federal guidelines that called for 30 years behind bars, he cited Stewart's more than three decades of dedication to poor, disadvantaged and unpopular clients.
"Ms. Stewart performed a public service, not only to her clients, but to the nation," Koeltl said.
The judge said Stewart could remain free while she appeals, a process that could take more than a year...
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/4263064.html
Guardian: Universities urged to spy on Muslims
Vikram Dodd
Lecturers and university staff across Britain are to be asked to spy on "Asian-looking" and Muslim students they suspect of involvement in Islamic extremism and supporting terrorist violence, the Guardian has learned.
They will be told to inform on students to special branch because the government believes campuses have become "fertile recruiting grounds" for extremists...
The 18-page document acknowledges that universities will be anxious about passing information to special branch, for fear it amounts to "collaborating with the 'secret police'". It says there will be "concerns about police targeting certain sections of the student population (eg Muslims)"...
Gemma Tumelty, president of the National Union of Students, said: "They are going to treat everyone Muslim with suspicion on the basis of their faith. It's bearing on the side of McCarthyism."..ETC
http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,1923325,00.html
AFP: Flyovers to persist due to Syria-Lebanon arms smuggling: Peretz
"We intend to carry out all our aerial surveillance flights as long as the arms embargo on smuggling between Syria and Lebanon is not fully implemented," he said after briefing parliament's defence and foreign affairs committee...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061016/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictlebanon_061016160025
Haaretz: Reuters: Israel to provide support for NATO counter-terrorism patrols
Israel will provide support for NATO counter-terrorism patrols in the Mediterranean under a cooperation pact agreed with the alliance on Monday...
"Israel is the first one to have agreed to the details of what cooperation should entail," said a NATO official, adding that details of the pact would be released later...
NATO has offered Israel, Algeria, Egypt, Mauritania, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia help in reforming their armies and making it easier for them to cooperate with the military of alliance nations.
It has also encouraged them to provide ships, intelligence and port access for patrols NATO launched in the Mediterranean to help detect terrorist activity shortly after the September 11 attacks on the United States...
Diplomats say Jordan had shown interest in hosting a NATO-run academy but no final decision has yet been taken.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/775548.html
Haaretz: Katsav succumbs to pressure, cancels Knesset appearance - Attorney: He will resign if indicted
By Jonathan Lis and Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondents and News Agencies
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/774636.html
(READ, INCL SOME POSTS) GNN (Guerilla News Network) Is A Psy-Op
http://www.smartamerican.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=450
AFP/Reuters: Scores killed in Sri Lanka suicide blast
Sri Lanka has suffered its worst ever suicide attack, when suspected Tamil Tiger rebels detonated an explosives-packed truck next to a convoy of sailors, killing at least 102 people and wounding 150 more.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200610/s1766197.htm
Wayne Madsen: Jawad al-Bolani, in a Friday press conference in Baghdad, rejected neo-con Bush administration claims that most of the deaths in Iraq are caused by insurgents who infiltrated the military and police. al-Bolani laid responsibility for the deaths, including gruesome beheadings of civilians, at the feet of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA)-inspired Facilities Protection Service (FPS), an unregulated force of 150,000 foreign and Iraqi private security contractors. 14,000 of the Iraqi security personnel are from the Iraqi Free Forces, a militia loyal to neocon Iraqi shill Ahmad Chalabi. The remainder are drawn from paramilitary forces with some of the worst human rights records in the world: South Africa's apartheid regime security forces; Colombian, Salvadoran, and Chilean anti-guerrilla paramilitaries; and other special forces from the United Kingdom, United States, Israel, Nepal, Fiji, and the Philippines. Beheadings, such as those seen in Iraq, are a hallmark of the Nepalese Gurkhas, some of whom are working as private contractors in Iraq...
The chief private contractor involved in the FPS is Erinsys Ltd., which received a sole source contract from the CPA to provide security for the "oil infrastructure" in Iraq. Only in Bush's Iraq, is the oil infrastructure deserving of greater importance than the protection of human life. Erinsys is connected Chalabi through its partnership with northern Virginia-based Nour USA Ltd., incorporated in May 2003 by Aboul Huda Farouki, a Jordanian-American who has been a number of Department of Defense contracts. Darouki's seed money for his business, HAIFinance, originated in the 1980s from Petra International Banking Corporation, a Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) Jordanian affiliate, which was managed by Mohammed Chalabi, a nephew of Ahmad Chalabi. Erinsys Iraq's counsel is Salam Chalabi, another nephew of Ahmad Chalabi, and a business partner of Douglas Feith's Jerusalem-based law partner, Marc Zell (Feith & Zell [FANZ]).
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/
ABC: The Foley Factor: Incumbent House Seats Under Fire
Fallout From Foley Scandal Affects Several House Seats
By DAN BECKMANN
Below is a rundown on some of the House races that have been most affected.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=2574525&page=1
BlogActive: Busy day...
Regular visitors know I have been whittling down the list from 100 to 1. Well, tomrrow I will eliminate nineteen more, leaving just one. Who is left on the list?
Robert F. Bennett (R-UT)
Jim Bunning (R-KY)
Richard Burr (R-NC)
Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
Thad Cochran (R-MS)
Norm Coleman (R-MN)
John Cornyn (R-TX)
Larry E. Craig (R-ID)
Mike Crapo (R-ID)
Jim DeMint (R-SC)
Michael B. Enzi (R-WY)
James M. Inhofe (R-OK)
Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Mel Martinez (R-FL)
Pat Roberts (R-KS)
Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
Richard C. Shelby (R-AL)
John Thune (R-SD)
David Vitter (R-LA)
George V. Voinovich (R-OH)
Tomorrow evening I will be on the Ed Schultz Show snd I will take 19 off the list in one fell swoop. If you're in DC, listen to the Ed Schultz Show on AM 1260 between 3:00 and 6:00pm
http://www.blogactive.com/2006/10/busy-day.html
???PIC: Gay Republican Round-up: Mark Foley Spotted in Austin, Texas?
Various reports have surfaced that Mark Foley is not serving out any stint in rehab but is actually in hiding elsewhere. Just last week one of Wonkette's readers reported a DC sighting, while over the weekend Foley was allegedly spotted in Austin, Texas enjoying a concert if you believe the fuzzy cameraphone evidence.
http://www.towleroad.com/2006/10/mark_foley_spot.html
Bloomberg: Russian News Agency Itar-Tass Executive Killed in Moscow
By Sebastian Alison
he business chief of Russian news agency Itar-Tass, Anatoly Voronin, was killed last night in his apartment in central Moscow, the agency reported.
Death was the result of multiple knife wounds, according to police, Itar-Tass reported. Several theories are being investigated, the agency said...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aGS5MxeCajYs&refer=europe
Prison Planet: YouTube VIDEO: Bill Maher attacks Charlie Sheen
Here's a video from Real Time with Bill Maher. The week before 9/11/06, Bill Maher finally addressing the truth only to immediately ridicule it for a cheap laugh. Not only that, he attacked Charlie Sheen, jokingly calling him a "scholar". Nevermind Jim Fetzer, Kevin Barrett, and everyone in Scholars For 9/11 Truth.
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/October2006/161006Sheen.htm
Independent: Trouble in the air: How Government flights pumped out 1,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide
By Ben Russell and Andrew Grice
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article1876641.ece
Australian: Lockheed to upgrade Australian planes
LOCKHEED Martin Corp said today it had won a $US110 million ($146.74 million) contract to upgrade C-130J transport planes flown by Australia, Britain, Italy and Denmark...
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20595245-1702,00.html
Independent: BP safety record in US under fresh attack
By Michael Harrison
BP's safety record in the US has come under renewed attack in a damning official report into a fire at its Texas City refinery which happened just four months after an explosion at the same plant killed 15 workers.
The US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), an independent federal agency whose members are appointed by the President, concluded yesterday that the incident could have been avoided had BP followed simple safety procedures and briefed contractors properly...
http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article1876755.ece
Independent: More are hungry despite world leaders' pledge
By Philip Thornton
More than 850 million are still hungry - some 18 million more than in 1996. ..
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article1876697.ece
(ORIGINAL HEADLINE: Nuclear power 'clean, green')
News.com: Nuclear Australia 'a decade away'
Industry experts believe nuclear power plants could be built in Queensland, NSW and Western Australia and linked into existing power grids...
Vice president of the Pacific Nuclear Council, Clarence Hardy, said he believed nuclear power stations could be safely built within 50km of major population centres on the Queensland coast, in the NSW Hunter Valley, and in Western Australia...
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20589564-421,00.html
Guardian: The born-again Canadian
Conrad Black, the former newspaper magnate facing fraud charges, has rediscovered his love for Canada as he tries to regain citizenship, writes Anne McIlroy
http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,,1923657,00.html
South Korea’s Arirang-2 satellite launched in July this year failed to take any pictures of North Korea at the time the reclusive country said it conducted a nuclear test, it emerge..
Uri Party lawmaker Kang Sung-jong said Sunday in a press release the government would have been able to observe North Korea’s nuclear test site with the help of the Arirang-2 satellite but did not take a single picture of North Korea between Oct. 3, when the North announced its test plan, and Oct. 9, when it went ahead.
As it happens, the satellite was passing over the Korean Peninsula at around 10:35 a.m. on Oct. 9, when the test was conducted, but it only took pictures of South Korea, Kang said. “This was confirmed by administration documents submitted by the government and answers give by the intelligence authorities,” he added. ..
An official with the Korea Aerospace Research Institute said, “When it comes to satellite photos, terrestrial observation centers determine the coordinates where pictures will be taken, and the satellite takes and sends them.” He said the government decides the coordinates and sends them to the institute, which has no influence over them. “It was not until the Wednesday morning after the North conducted the nuclear test on Monday that the government started taking pictures of North Korea via the satellite,” Kang said. “I put the question why it didn’t but could get no clear answer.”..
Kang recalled that the Arirang-2 is a multi-purpose satellite designed to be used in case of a national security crisis and natural disaster. “The government should give its own answer why the satellite was launched in the first place if it couldn’t do its part in such a serious crisis.”
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200610/200610160010.html
South Korea Herald: Satellite fails to capture N.K. nuke test
The satellite did not capture any images of North Korea between Oct. 3 and Oct. 9 and only took pictures of South Korea during the period, Rep. Kang Sung-jong of the ruling Uri Party said.
The Korean Peninsula comes under its surveillance footprint between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. every day.
"It could have detected the movements of facilities, equipment and other geological signs in North Korea if it had taken images of North Korea before Oct. 9," he said in news release.
"If it had taken pictures of the possible test sites, Seoul would not be confused about whether the North really conducted the nuclear test."
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2006/10/17/200610170009.asp
AP: Australia Bans NKorean Ships From Ports
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Australia would impose the port ban in addition to the U.N. sanctions..
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-aus/2006/oct/15/101501025.html
READ ALL: Raw Story: Raw obtains CENTCOM email to bloggers
The email, in its entirety, follows:
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Raw_obtains_CENTCOM_email_to_bloggers_1016.html
READ ALL: Raw Story: Larisa Alexandrovna: Intelligence laundry: To Paris again
The Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Peter Hoekstra (R-MI), has recently held meetings in Paris with a front man working for Iranian arms dealer and Iran-Contra figure Manucher Ghorbanifar, US and foreign intelligence sources tell RAW STORY...
Two former senior intelligence officers and current intelligence sources abroad have now described a more recent meeting between Hoekstra and Mahdavi that took place in Paris sometime between the spring and summer of this year. What is by far of greatest concern to the sources is that accompanying Hoekstra on the trip was Vaughn Forrest, a mysterious character who, like Ghorbanifar, has ties to the Iran-Contra scandal...
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Intelligence_laundry_To_Paris_again_1016.html
Antiwar: Monday: Attacks Kill 120 Iraqis; 12 US Troops Die in Three Days
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
http://www.antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=9872
AP: Saddam says Iraq 'liberation is at hand'
Saddam Hussein issued an open letter Monday, saying Iraq's "liberation is at hand" and calling for an end to sectarian killings. The brother of the prosecutor in his genocide trial was shot to death at home, the latest death linked to proceedings against the deposed leader...
***** Raid Juhi, a chief investigating judge in the trial linked to the anti-Shiite crackdown, said a verdict against Saddam and seven co-defendants will be announced Nov. 5. He said sentences for those found guilty will be issued the same day...
On Sunday, 35 Sunni Arab tribal leaders from the oil-rich city of Kirkuk called for Saddam's release in a meeting in which portraits of the former leader were hoisted along with banners declaring allegiance to him.
"The release of Saddam Hussein and his comrades will solve the Iraqi crisis," said Abdul-Rahman Monsheid al-Obeidi, one of the tribal chiefs who took part. "It will ensure the success of the national reconciliation the government is talking about."
http://www.krem.com/sharedcontent/nationworld/world/101606ccjccwIraqSaddam.43c8ba4c.html
IranMania: Persian Gulf states joint US exercises
The Persian Gulf states will for the first time participate in a US-led exercise designed to stop Iran from obtaining ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons, World Tribune reported.
Officials said at least two of the six GCC states have agreed to participate in an international naval exercise in the Persian Gulf at the end of October.
They said Bahrain and Kuwait would contribute naval platforms and other assets in attempt to coordinate non-proliferation efforts in the Persian Gulf...
The exercise would be based in Bahrain, which hosts the US Fifth Fleet, Middle East Newsline reported..
Officials said the UAE could join the exercise as an observer..
They said commanders from the PGCC as well as Britain, France and the United States would respond to a scenario in which a North Korean ship laden with WMD material was headed for the Persian Gulf region...
http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=46456&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs
ME Newsline: U.S. DISCUSS MISSILES DEFENSE WITH GCC
The Bush administration has sent a delegation to GCC states to discuss a system to defend against ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction. The delegation was also expected to urge the six Gulf Arab states to participate in U.S.-led efforts to halt WMD proliferation in the Gulf.
The delegation began its Gulf tour on Monday with a visit to Bahrain. Officials said Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet, has been one of the most interested GCC states in missile defense.
The U.S. delegation has been led by the State Department. Officials said the delegation consists of Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs John Hillen, Assistant Defense Secretary for International Security Affairs Peter Rodman and members of the National Security Council. The delegation intends to remain in the Gulf region until Oct. 20.
http://www.menewsline.com/stories/2006/october/10_17_2.html
kswo: Tulsa mayor to go oversees for military orientation
TULSA, Okla. Tulsa mayor Kathy Taylor is traveling overseas this week to take part in a military orientation program.
Taylor is scheduled to leave today for the program, which is organized by the U-S Department of Defense.
Taylor's exact destination for the week-long Joint Civilian Orientation Conference is classified as a security precaution, and even she doesn't know where she's going.
Previous participants have traveled to Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Singapore, South Korea and Japan...
The outreach program is designed to bring civilian public opinion leaders up to speed on national defense issues.
http://www.kswo.com/Global/story.asp?S=5541442
Khaleej: AP: Qatar to build the Gulf’s largest power plant
The plant, valued at US$1.8 billion, will be built by a Japanese-Qatari consortium and should be generating its full 2,000 megawatt capacity by 2010, Energy Minister Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah told reporters late Sunday.
The state-owned Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation, the country’s chief distributor of power and desalinated water, will operate the plant, which it will own jointly with Japan’s Marubeni IPP and Qatar Petroleum.
The Spanish firm Iberdola Engineering Construction will build the plant, Al Attiyah said.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/business/2006/October/business_October491.xml§ion=business
BBC: Marubeni wins $2.3bn Qatar deal
A consortium including Japanese trading house Marubeni has won a $2.3bn (£1.2bn) contract to build a thermal power plant in Qatar...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6054902.stm
Reuters: UPDATE 1-Macquarie wins auction for Thames Water
A group led by Australia's Macquarie Bank Ltd. on Monday won a battle to buy Thames Water in a deal that values the UK utility at 8 billion pounds ($14.84 billion), including debt.
Macquarie beat off rival offers from bidders such as Qatar Investment Authority, which had widely been seen as the front-runner to win the auction for Thames -- owned by German utility RWE AG..
http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=mergersNews&storyID=2006-10-16T214646Z_01_B726063_RTRIDST_0_UTILITIES-THAMES-MACQUARIE-SALE-UPDATE-1.XML
EARLIER: Reuters: Qatar offers $14.9 billion bid for Thames
A Qatar-led group is thought to be in the lead to buy Thames Water after putting in a bid worth about 8 billion pounds ($14.89 billion) over the weekend, the Independent newspaper said on Monday, without citing sources.
The deadline for bids imposed by German utility RWE AG, which owns Thames, expired on Saturday morning.
Qatar Investment Authority, the state investment arm of OPEC member Qatar, is jointly bidding for Thames alongside the infrastructure arm of Swiss bank UBS AG..
Another bidder is understood to have been the Australian infrastructure investor Alinta, it added...
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlebusiness.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2006-10-16T035534Z_01_L1642215_RTRUKOC_0_UK-UTILITIES-THAMES-BID.xml&WTmodLoc=Business-C1-Headline-1
Japan Times: Iran oil deal gone, as is headache
Azadegan setback eases U.S. strain, but at China's gain?
By KANAKO TAKAHARA
A Foreign Ministry official seemed more relieved than disheartened when he heard last week that Inpex Holdings Inc.'s concession in Iran's Azadegan oil field was cut to 10 percent from the original 75 percent because the Japanese firm failed to get started on the project...
For the Foreign Ministry, which did not want to damage U.S. relations, last week's agreement put an end to the diplomatic tension while allowing Tokyo to still hold onto a portion of the project...
Since a large portion of Middle East oil is already secured by the U.S. and European countries, newcomers, including China, are pursuing resources in undeveloped oil fields and mines in Africa and South America, the official said.
Now speculation is ripe that China, France and Russia will try to fill the void left by Japan in the Azadegan field, where crude oil reserves are estimated at 26 million barrels...
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20061014f1.html
AP: 8 Pakistanis Freed From U.S. Detention
Eight Pakistanis released from U.S. detention facilities in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, returned home Monday, a Cabinet minister said.
Two of the men had been held in Guantanamo Bay and the six others were at Bagram, the main U.S. military base north of the Afghan capital, Kabul, said Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao...
The eight were taken to a jail in Rawalpindi, the garrison city near the capital, Islamabad, where authorities were to debrief them before allowing them to return to their homes, Sherpao said.
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Chito Peppler confirmed that two Pakistani detainees were sent home from Guantanamo Bay over the weekend. A detainee from Bahrain and another from Iran also were transferred to their home countries, he said.
Fourteen Pakistanis remain in Bagram and five are being held at Guantanamo, the minister said, adding efforts were being made to secure their release. ..
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-asia/2006/oct/16/101602018.html
Justin raimondo: Election 2006: A War Referendum
It's all about Iraq
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=9869
Bradblog: CALIFORNIA SEC. OF STATE DECLARES ALL STATE VOTERS MAY OPT TO VOTE ON A PAPER BALLOT IN MID-TERM ELECTION!
Internal Memo from SoS Office to County Election Officials Informs That Any CA Voter is Entitled to Choose Paper over Plastic!
Apparent Response by Republican State Officials to Our National Call for Emergency Paper Ballots Causes Concern for Some…
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3627
Bradblog: CALIFORNIA SEC. OF STATE DECLARES ALL STATE VOTERS MAY OPT TO VOTE ON A PAPER BALLOT IN MID-TERM ELECTION!
Internal Memo from SoS Office to County Election Officials Informs That Any CA Voter is Entitled to Choose Paper over Plastic!
Apparent Response by Republican State Officials to Our National Call for Emergency Paper Ballots Causes Concern for Some…
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3626
Bradblog: Washington Post: Bush, Rove 'Inexplicably Upbeat'
Now Why Would That Be? Bob Cesca Has Some Thoughts…
UPDATE: Blogger and BRAD BLOG commenter Scottmandubious has a similar take to Cesca's, and may have even posted his first. In either case, we just noticed, so check him out as well…
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3625
AFP: ECUADOR: RUN-OFF VOTE LIKELY
Mr Correa had been leading in the early vote count when computer networks crashed on Sunday. He immediately accused his rival and authorities of fraud, after a resumption of the tallying found that he had fallen behind.
"We won," he said, accusing his rival and federal election authorities of fraud. "The people are being cheated," he charged. ..
After voting in Quito, Mr Correa warned that he would not tolerate irregularities.
"We will not let them steal the elections," he said. ..
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=132030®ion=4
WP: 2 Set for Presidential Runoff in Ecuador
By MONTE HAYES
The Associated Press
The totals were based on a computerized "quick count" of paper ballots that stalled before dawn Monday due to technical failures by E-vote, the Brazilian company contracted by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. The tribunal now has 10 days to complete the official count.
Correa had been favored to lead Sunday's voting and didn't take well to being edged out by Noboa, who had been rising fast in pre-election polls. Correa complained he had been robbed of votes that would have given him a first-round victory, but presented no proof...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/16/AR2006101600467.html
Ecuador cancels quick vote count deal with Brazilian firm
Quito (dpa) - Ecuador’s electoral authorities said on Monday they will unilaterally terminate a contract with the Brazilian company E- Vote which produced a quick vote count in Sunday’s election.
Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) chairman Xavier Cazar said that E-Vote failed to comply with contract clauses that required a complete quick vote count two hours after the close of polling stations at 2200 GMT on Sunday. Those results would in any case not have been official, and the law gives the TSE a seven-day period to announce official results.
With 70.59 per cent of the votes counted, right-wing banana tycoon Alvaro Noboa was leading with 26.66 per cent of the vote, ahead of left-wing populist Rafael Correa, with 22.51 per cent.
Nineteen hours after voting ended, there is no data regarding congressional and other elections that also took place Sunday.
The contract with E-Vote cost Ecuador 5 million dollars.
The Brazilian company said it could not carry out the vote count as agreed because its servers could not withstand the flow of information and collapsed.
It remained uncertain whether the TSE would seek a different quick count system for the runoff presidential election between Noboa and Correa, on November 26.
http://www.ecanadanow.com/world/2006/10/16/ecuador-cancels-quick-vote-count-deal-with-brazilian-firm/
Prensa Latina: Ecuador Vote System Collapses
cuador s Brazilian E-VOTE rapid vote-count system collapsed at dawn Monday after 70 percent of the votes were counted, which partial count was accused of irregularities as well.
Electoral Supreme Court (TSE) member Patricio Torres confirmed E-VOTE broke its five million dollar contract commitment to deliver presidential election results on Sunday and congressional winners after midnight Sunday.
The TSE is meeting today to analyze the situation while TSE chief Javier Cazar said the 10-month planning allowed the election itself to proceed without a hitch.
However, Jimmy Jairala, spokesman for the center-rightwing PRE -- Roldosist Party, affirmed that "hackers" entered the country and carried out a digital fraud, including scanning so votes were not secret.
http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7BED4D1513-6EBB-4D32-80A7-04F17AB97CB8%7D)&language=EN
Security Measures for Brazil's e-Vote
Act Two: Parallel Testing
Amilcar Brunazzo Filho; Pedro A. D. Rezende
ONG CIVILIS - Forum do Voto-E
Privacy International 2003
http://www.cic.unb.br/docentes/pedro/trabs/Brazilvote2.htm
AP: Leftists Allege Fraud in Mexican Voting
By IOAN GRILLO
Mexico's main leftist party on Monday accused its rivals of fraud in the gubernatorial election for the home state of a fiery former presidential candidate who made similar complaints after losing his own race in July.
Sunday's vote for governor in the oil-rich southern state of Tabasco was seen as a key test for Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and the Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, which blockaded Mexico City streets and led mass marches after alleging dirty tricks had robbed him of the presidency.
The streets in Tabasco were calm Monday after a campaign that had been marred by street fights and arrests of supporters of both candidates...
"Mexico is having a democratic setback that started in July and has been snowballing," Ojeda said. "Our society cannot set a precedent that torture can be used as a political weapon."
State PRI leader Georgina Trujillo downplayed the accusations as sour grapes. "Complaining is their favorite sport," she said of the PRD...
Before Sunday's vote, Lopez Obrador had called Tabasco a crucial battleground. "If the PRI wins Tabasco, our adversaries will laugh at us," he said, "and say that we even lose in our own land."
If the Tabasco election goes to the courts, it will be the latest in a series of disputed Mexican elections...
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-sa/2006/oct/16/101602275.html
NewLeftReview: Al Giordano: MEXICO’S PRESIDENTIAL SWINDLE
http://www.newleftreview.net/?page=article&view=2633
KBCI2: AP: F-B-I carries out raids in Weldon investigation
MEDIA, Pa. The F-B-I has raided the Pennsylvania homes of a congressman's daughter and a close friend.
It's looking into whether the congressman, Republican Curt Weldon, improperly helped his daughter and his friend win lobbying and consulting contracts.
In all, six locations were searched in the Philadelphia area and in Jacksonville, Florida...
An F-B-I spokeswoman says Weldon's home and his offices were not among the locations searched.
http://www.kbcitv.com/x51828.xml?URL=http://10.56.1.26/APWIREFEED/d8kpslo80.xml&NewsSection=NationalHeadlines
AP: John Solomon: Reid Decides to Amend Ethics Reports
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid announced Monday he is amending his ethics reports to Congress to more fully account for a land deal that allowed him to collect $1.1 million for property he hadn't personally owned for three years...
Reid also announced he failed to disclose two other land transactions on his prior ethics reports and would account for those on his amended reports.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/10/16/D8KPS1G00.html
READ: Trader's past raises concerns over hedge funds
By Jenny Strasburg Bloomberg News
Two hedge funds, D.B. Zwirn and Trivium Capital Management, both hired a trader after Citigroup fired him for inflating profits by $20 million, raising questions about a lack of regulation of the investment pools.
Citigroup, the largest U.S. bank, fired David Becker in March 2004, almost three years before he pleaded guilty last month to one count of conspiracy to falsify bank records and to commit wire fraud while he oversaw commodities trading. Trivium hired Becker in September 2004, and D.B. Zwirn hired him in late 2005. Both New York firms, which ultimately fired him, said that they had checked his background before making offers...ETC
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/10/15/bloomberg/bxhedge.php
READ ALL: NYT: Hedge Funds Draw Insider Scrutiny
By JENNY ANDERSON
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/16/business/16hedge.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
BobGeigerBlog: Even Esquire Magazine Calls for a Democratic Senate
http://bobgeiger.blogspot.com/2006/10/even-esquire-magazine-calls-for.html
Dailykos: NE-03: Kleeb's Impressive Endorsement
by mcjoan
The Omaha World Herald reportedly has never endorsed a Democratic candidate for the 3rd district. Well, folks, Scott Kleeb has made history:..
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/10/16/16173/300
LINKS: tpmmuckraker: Former Bush FDA Chief Faces Criminal Charges
By Justin Rood
Bloomberg reports:
Lester Crawford, the former U.S. Food and Drug Administration commissioner who resigned after two months on the job, was charged in federal court for conflict of interest and making false statements related to his investments.
Crawford, 68, falsely stated in a 2004 government filing that shares of Sysco Corp. and Kimberly-Clark Corp. had been sold when he and his wife continued to hold them, U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Taylor said in the charging documents. Crawford also failed to disclose income from exercising stock options in Embrex Inc., the documents said.
Crawford was chairman of the FDA's Obesity Working Group, formed to study the link between weight and health in the U.S., while owning shares of Sysco, a distributor of snack foods, and Pepsico Inc., the world's No. 2 soft drink maker, Taylor said.
Update: It looks like Crawford is likely to plead guilty.
We’ve added the charging documents against Crawford to the TPM Document Collection...
Update: Yep, he's pleading guilty.
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001810.php
13 Oct: Guardian: For their eyes only
New evidence clears up whether Bush sought to bomb al-Jazeera. But we are not allowed to hear it
Richard Norton-Taylor
Two men are to be tried behind closed doors in an Old Bailey courtroom in a move that will stop the public finding out whether George Bush proposed what would have been a war crime and how Tony Blair reacted. The evidence the government does not want us to hear is in an official record of a meeting in Washington in April 2004, when the situation in Iraq was deteriorating fast. The memo, it has been reported, refers to Bush's alleged proposal to bomb the Arabic TV channel al-Jazeera, and is said to reveal how far Blair went in criticising US military tactics in Iraq at a time when troops were bombarding Falluja.
David Keogh, a former civil servant, is charged with unlawfully disclosing the memo. Leo O'Connor, a former Labour researcher, is charged with disclosing a classified document. The way the government went about demanding a private trial, and the arguments used by the judge to allow it, are deeply disturbing...ETC
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1921328,00.html
Kuna: UK''s Afghanistan mission "could take another 20 years," says MP
British troops could be in Afghanistan for another 20 years, according to a main opposition Conservative MP and Territorial Army soldier who has just returned from a tour of duty there.
Mark Lancaster said in an interview with the UK Parliamentary House Magazine Monday, that there needed to be "political honesty" about the commitment...
http://www.kuna.net.kw/Home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=913762
IndiaDefence: France to Withdraw Special Forces from Afghanistan
France plans to withdraw around 200 special forces from southern Afghanistan at the start of next year following a recent surge in violence, reported the French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche on Sunday...
Nine French troops have died fighting in Afghanistan, and Le Journal du Dimanche said the relatively high death toll had played a part in the decision to withdraw the forces...
http://www.india-defence.com/reports/2609
READ ALL: Village Voice: Planespotting
Nerds with binoculars bust the CIA's torture taxis
by Trevor Paglen & A. C. Thompson
http://villagevoice.com/news/0642,torturetaxi,74732,2.html
Houston Chronicle: Sheik's lawyer gets nearly 2 1/2 years
By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press
A firebrand civil rights lawyer who has defended Black Panthers and anti-war radicals was sentenced Monday to nearly 2 1/2 years in prison _ far less than the 30 years prosecutors wanted _ for helping an imprisoned terrorist sheik communicate with his followers on the outside.
Lynne Stewart, 67, smiled, cried and hugged supporters after U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl pronounced the sentence...
But in departing from federal guidelines that called for 30 years behind bars, he cited Stewart's more than three decades of dedication to poor, disadvantaged and unpopular clients.
"Ms. Stewart performed a public service, not only to her clients, but to the nation," Koeltl said.
The judge said Stewart could remain free while she appeals, a process that could take more than a year...
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/4263064.html
Guardian: Universities urged to spy on Muslims
Vikram Dodd
Lecturers and university staff across Britain are to be asked to spy on "Asian-looking" and Muslim students they suspect of involvement in Islamic extremism and supporting terrorist violence, the Guardian has learned.
They will be told to inform on students to special branch because the government believes campuses have become "fertile recruiting grounds" for extremists...
The 18-page document acknowledges that universities will be anxious about passing information to special branch, for fear it amounts to "collaborating with the 'secret police'". It says there will be "concerns about police targeting certain sections of the student population (eg Muslims)"...
Gemma Tumelty, president of the National Union of Students, said: "They are going to treat everyone Muslim with suspicion on the basis of their faith. It's bearing on the side of McCarthyism."..ETC
http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,1923325,00.html
AFP: Flyovers to persist due to Syria-Lebanon arms smuggling: Peretz
"We intend to carry out all our aerial surveillance flights as long as the arms embargo on smuggling between Syria and Lebanon is not fully implemented," he said after briefing parliament's defence and foreign affairs committee...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061016/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictlebanon_061016160025
Haaretz: Reuters: Israel to provide support for NATO counter-terrorism patrols
Israel will provide support for NATO counter-terrorism patrols in the Mediterranean under a cooperation pact agreed with the alliance on Monday...
"Israel is the first one to have agreed to the details of what cooperation should entail," said a NATO official, adding that details of the pact would be released later...
NATO has offered Israel, Algeria, Egypt, Mauritania, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia help in reforming their armies and making it easier for them to cooperate with the military of alliance nations.
It has also encouraged them to provide ships, intelligence and port access for patrols NATO launched in the Mediterranean to help detect terrorist activity shortly after the September 11 attacks on the United States...
Diplomats say Jordan had shown interest in hosting a NATO-run academy but no final decision has yet been taken.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/775548.html
Haaretz: Katsav succumbs to pressure, cancels Knesset appearance - Attorney: He will resign if indicted
By Jonathan Lis and Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondents and News Agencies
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/774636.html
(READ, INCL SOME POSTS) GNN (Guerilla News Network) Is A Psy-Op
http://www.smartamerican.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=450
AFP/Reuters: Scores killed in Sri Lanka suicide blast
Sri Lanka has suffered its worst ever suicide attack, when suspected Tamil Tiger rebels detonated an explosives-packed truck next to a convoy of sailors, killing at least 102 people and wounding 150 more.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200610/s1766197.htm
Wayne Madsen: Jawad al-Bolani, in a Friday press conference in Baghdad, rejected neo-con Bush administration claims that most of the deaths in Iraq are caused by insurgents who infiltrated the military and police. al-Bolani laid responsibility for the deaths, including gruesome beheadings of civilians, at the feet of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA)-inspired Facilities Protection Service (FPS), an unregulated force of 150,000 foreign and Iraqi private security contractors. 14,000 of the Iraqi security personnel are from the Iraqi Free Forces, a militia loyal to neocon Iraqi shill Ahmad Chalabi. The remainder are drawn from paramilitary forces with some of the worst human rights records in the world: South Africa's apartheid regime security forces; Colombian, Salvadoran, and Chilean anti-guerrilla paramilitaries; and other special forces from the United Kingdom, United States, Israel, Nepal, Fiji, and the Philippines. Beheadings, such as those seen in Iraq, are a hallmark of the Nepalese Gurkhas, some of whom are working as private contractors in Iraq...
The chief private contractor involved in the FPS is Erinsys Ltd., which received a sole source contract from the CPA to provide security for the "oil infrastructure" in Iraq. Only in Bush's Iraq, is the oil infrastructure deserving of greater importance than the protection of human life. Erinsys is connected Chalabi through its partnership with northern Virginia-based Nour USA Ltd., incorporated in May 2003 by Aboul Huda Farouki, a Jordanian-American who has been a number of Department of Defense contracts. Darouki's seed money for his business, HAIFinance, originated in the 1980s from Petra International Banking Corporation, a Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) Jordanian affiliate, which was managed by Mohammed Chalabi, a nephew of Ahmad Chalabi. Erinsys Iraq's counsel is Salam Chalabi, another nephew of Ahmad Chalabi, and a business partner of Douglas Feith's Jerusalem-based law partner, Marc Zell (Feith & Zell [FANZ]).
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/
ABC: The Foley Factor: Incumbent House Seats Under Fire
Fallout From Foley Scandal Affects Several House Seats
By DAN BECKMANN
Below is a rundown on some of the House races that have been most affected.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=2574525&page=1
BlogActive: Busy day...
Regular visitors know I have been whittling down the list from 100 to 1. Well, tomrrow I will eliminate nineteen more, leaving just one. Who is left on the list?
Robert F. Bennett (R-UT)
Jim Bunning (R-KY)
Richard Burr (R-NC)
Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
Thad Cochran (R-MS)
Norm Coleman (R-MN)
John Cornyn (R-TX)
Larry E. Craig (R-ID)
Mike Crapo (R-ID)
Jim DeMint (R-SC)
Michael B. Enzi (R-WY)
James M. Inhofe (R-OK)
Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Mel Martinez (R-FL)
Pat Roberts (R-KS)
Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
Richard C. Shelby (R-AL)
John Thune (R-SD)
David Vitter (R-LA)
George V. Voinovich (R-OH)
Tomorrow evening I will be on the Ed Schultz Show snd I will take 19 off the list in one fell swoop. If you're in DC, listen to the Ed Schultz Show on AM 1260 between 3:00 and 6:00pm
http://www.blogactive.com/2006/10/busy-day.html
???PIC: Gay Republican Round-up: Mark Foley Spotted in Austin, Texas?
Various reports have surfaced that Mark Foley is not serving out any stint in rehab but is actually in hiding elsewhere. Just last week one of Wonkette's readers reported a DC sighting, while over the weekend Foley was allegedly spotted in Austin, Texas enjoying a concert if you believe the fuzzy cameraphone evidence.
http://www.towleroad.com/2006/10/mark_foley_spot.html
Bloomberg: Russian News Agency Itar-Tass Executive Killed in Moscow
By Sebastian Alison
he business chief of Russian news agency Itar-Tass, Anatoly Voronin, was killed last night in his apartment in central Moscow, the agency reported.
Death was the result of multiple knife wounds, according to police, Itar-Tass reported. Several theories are being investigated, the agency said...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aGS5MxeCajYs&refer=europe
Prison Planet: YouTube VIDEO: Bill Maher attacks Charlie Sheen
Here's a video from Real Time with Bill Maher. The week before 9/11/06, Bill Maher finally addressing the truth only to immediately ridicule it for a cheap laugh. Not only that, he attacked Charlie Sheen, jokingly calling him a "scholar". Nevermind Jim Fetzer, Kevin Barrett, and everyone in Scholars For 9/11 Truth.
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/October2006/161006Sheen.htm
Independent: Trouble in the air: How Government flights pumped out 1,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide
By Ben Russell and Andrew Grice
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article1876641.ece
Australian: Lockheed to upgrade Australian planes
LOCKHEED Martin Corp said today it had won a $US110 million ($146.74 million) contract to upgrade C-130J transport planes flown by Australia, Britain, Italy and Denmark...
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20595245-1702,00.html
Independent: BP safety record in US under fresh attack
By Michael Harrison
BP's safety record in the US has come under renewed attack in a damning official report into a fire at its Texas City refinery which happened just four months after an explosion at the same plant killed 15 workers.
The US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), an independent federal agency whose members are appointed by the President, concluded yesterday that the incident could have been avoided had BP followed simple safety procedures and briefed contractors properly...
http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article1876755.ece
Independent: More are hungry despite world leaders' pledge
By Philip Thornton
More than 850 million are still hungry - some 18 million more than in 1996. ..
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article1876697.ece
(ORIGINAL HEADLINE: Nuclear power 'clean, green')
News.com: Nuclear Australia 'a decade away'
Industry experts believe nuclear power plants could be built in Queensland, NSW and Western Australia and linked into existing power grids...
Vice president of the Pacific Nuclear Council, Clarence Hardy, said he believed nuclear power stations could be safely built within 50km of major population centres on the Queensland coast, in the NSW Hunter Valley, and in Western Australia...
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20589564-421,00.html
Guardian: The born-again Canadian
Conrad Black, the former newspaper magnate facing fraud charges, has rediscovered his love for Canada as he tries to regain citizenship, writes Anne McIlroy
http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,,1923657,00.html
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Sunday, October 15, 2006
South Korea Herald: N.K. test yet to be confirmed
But South Korea and Japan have not confirmed neighboring North Korea's claim that it detonated its first nuclear weapon, officials from both countries said Saturday.
Japan has still detected no unusual radiation traces, said Hiroshi Tsuboi, an official with the Japanese government's radiation task force.
South Korean presidential spokesman Yoon Tai-young said that his country had not confirmed an atomic blast took place, but was informed by U.S. intelligence authorities of their results..
He said that the response to the blast would largely be the same whether the test is proven or not.
"Until we reach a final conclusion that North Korea's nuclear test was indeed genuine, we should be open to various and comprehensive judgments," spokesman Yoon said Saturday.
In Japan, an ongoing survey of radiation levels in the air, on the ground and in rainfall found nothing unusual as of Saturday morning, said Tsuboi.
Japan has been flying aircraft between Japan and the Korean Peninsula to monitor for radiation.
South Korea will soon be able to more accurately identify the site of North Korea's claimed nuclear test, a researcher said Saturday.
"As the neighboring countries agreed to provide their data on the recorded seismic movements (from the North's alleged nuclear test), we expect to be able to accurately report the site of the explosion in the North," said Ji Hun-chul, head of the earthquake research center at the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources.
The South Korean institute initially pointed out a remote mountain area in Poonggye-ri on the northeastern tip of the communist North as a possible test site, but with uncertainty. ..ETC
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2006/10/16/200610160037.asp
UK Herald: US spies were wrong about Korea
The briefings which cast doubt on Pyongyang's capabilities were filtered from data obtained by all US clandestine agencies and turned into a background memo in the office of John Negroponte, director of national intelligence...
Japanese aircraft scouring the test area last night reported no sign of the typically raised levels of airborne radiation which accompany even underground nuclear tests. Many Western experts think the device detonated in old mineworkings on Monday was either a partial failure, involving only part of its intended explosive yield, or a small bomb designed to conserve stocks of plutonium for future weapons.
Sniffer devices on US military aircraft operating out of Japan are scanning for traces of cobalt and caesium which would confirm a nuclear blast.
US forces have meanwhile moved 24 Patriot missiles to protect a base on the Japanese island of Okinawa.
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/72055-print.shtml
Hanooki: ‘US Unlikely to Redeploy Nukes in South’
By Jung Sung-ki
Washington is unlikely to re-deploy tactical nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula to deter North Korea's nuclear threat largely because of its goal of denuclearizing the peninsula, the Washington Post reported Saturday...
Defense analysts also said the U.S. government is expected to provide a stronger nuclear umbrella to Seoul rather than re-deploying nuclear weapons on the peninsula, which would fan a nuclear arms race among countries like South Korea, Japan and Taiwan...ETC
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200610/kt2006101517410310440.htm
Hanooki: US Most Responsible for Nuclear Test: Poll
Forty-three percent of the respondents aged over 19 picked the United States as the country most responsible for the North’s nuclear test...
North Korea was chosen as the second most responsible country with 37.2 percent, followed by South Korea with 13.9 percent, China with 2.4 percent and Japan with 1 percent...
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200610/kt2006101517230011990.htm
???UK Sunday Times: China may back coup against Kim
Michael Sheridan, Beijing
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20587473-2703,00.html
2 Pages: READ ALL: Los Angeles Times: Displease a Lobbyist, Get Fired
E-mails show Jack Abramoff's ability to influence White House staffing decisions through his highly placed friends.
By Peter Wallsten
Newly disclosed e-mails suggest that the ax fell after intervention by one of the highest officials at the White House: Ken Mehlman, on behalf of one of the most influential lobbyists in town, Jack Abramoff.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-mehlman15oct15,0,1634103.story?coll=la-home-headlines
WP: Police Find No Report of a Foley Dorm Incident
Witness in Scandal Alleged Then-Congressman Was Detained Outside Pages' Capitol Hill Residence
By Charles Babington and Mary Beth Sheridan
Staff writer Sari Horwitz contributed to this report
"I can't find anything that was written, in the way of a report, that would establish that that did occur," McGaffin said in a telephone interview. "Having said that, I don't know, maybe it occurred and there wasn't a report generated."..
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/13/AR2006101300591_pf.html
READ ALL: Palm Beach Post: Frank Cerabino: What made White House shun Foley?
Within days of Mark Foley getting out of the closet, Gov. Jeb Bush went into the closet.
The closet in Jeb's case was an actual closet in a Pittsburgh subway station. ..
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/local_news/epaper/2006/10/15/s1c_bino_1015.html?imw=Y
Raw Story: Frank Rich: Rich: Outing the Gay Old Party
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Rich_Outing_Gay_Old_Party_1014.html
READ ALL: Bradblog: 'Daily Voting News' For October 14, 2006
In the September Maryland primary the Diebold E-Poll Book failed miserably throughout the state. It seems that when more than 40 names were entered into the machines they tended to crash and require rebooting. When they did crash some voters who had not voted were listed as having voted. In order to fix this problem it is reported that Diebold wrote two software patches and one of their sub-contractors wrote another. These were all installed on Maryland's equipment and tested. There was also a problem with the touch screen part of the E-Poll Book. Touching the screen caused some machines to crash. Diebold reportedly solved this problem by providing the state with over 5,000 'mouses' to replace the touch screen. These machines are part of an Independent Test Authority (ITA) tested and NASED qualified voting system. Until I talked to Sandy Steinbach yesterday, NASED knew nothing about any changes made by Diebold. But, NASED no longer qualifies new modifications or any voting system submitted for testing after July 10. The EAC now does that work. They too knew nothing about those modifications and, in fact, tried to point to NASED as the authority. The questions: Who is minding the store? What happens for other states that are required to have federally certified voting systems and are going to use the E-Poll Book? Will Diebold fix every E-Poll Book that will be used in November or will they try to keep this fix a secret because it has never gotten any federal testing and certification?
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3623
MSNBC: WaPo: Michael Abramowitz: White House upbeat about GOP prospects
Self-assurance of Rove, Bush and others is not shared by many in party
Amid widespread panic in the Republican establishment about the coming midterm elections, there are two people whose confidence about GOP prospects strikes even their closest allies as almost inexplicably upbeat: President Bush and his top political adviser, Karl Rove.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15269153/
Hartford Courant: Mark Pazniokas: Joe Lieberman In No Man's Land
A Longtime Democrat, Now In Opposition, Is In Strange Company
Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, a lifelong Democrat and student of politics, blanked when asked if America would be better off with his party regaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
A Democratic victory would immeasurably boost the influence of two Connecticut friends, U.S. Reps. Rosa L. DeLauro and John B. Larson, and provide a counterbalance to the Republican Senate and White House.
"Uh, I haven't thought about that enough to give an answer," Lieberman said, as though Democrats' strong prospects for recapturing the House hadn't been the fall's top political story.
He was similarly elusive about the race for governor. Is he voting for John DeStefano Jr., a Democrat and mayor of the city where Lieberman has lived since the 1960s?
"I'm, uh, I'm having," he stammered, then laughed and said his decision would remain private...
http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-lieberman1015.artoct15,0,4212964.story?page=1&coll=hc-headlines-home
Counterpunch: How Rahm Emanuel Has Rigged a Pro-War Congress
Election 2006: The Fix is Already In
By JOHN WALSH
You get the picture. If you toe the line for Rahm on the war, the money rains on you like manna from heaven and you are elevated to national celebrity status. But if you are anti-war, Rahm cuts you off at the wallet.
Note that in each of these two cases Emanuel did not pick candidates based on a proven ability to raise money. Nor did he pick them for their ability to win. In Duckworth's case she damned near lost despite the cash infusion, and McNirney did win despite the money that Emanuel funneled to his opponent. Emanuel is not choosing proven fundraisers or winning candidates; he is choosing pro-war candidates...
http://www.counterpunch.com/walsh10142006.html
Forbes: AP: Minnesota Senate Hopefuls Clash on Iraq
"You can't really play Tivo and rewind," said Rep. Mark Kennedy. During a debate on NBC's "Meet the Press," he was whether he would still vote for the war knowing that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction. "We acted on the information we knew at the time. I stand by my vote." ..
Kennedy, a three-term congressman, dismissed that poll in a meeting with reporters after the debate. "This is a single-digit race," he said. Separately, Klobuchar said the "only poll that matters" is on Election Day.
In the debate, Kennedy said Iraq was the top issue in the race and that the war was central to the global fight against terrorism.
He said Klobuchar "has set out a specific timetable for bringing our troops home that would tell the terrorists when they can take over an oil-rich country as a sanctuary for terrorists," Kennedy said.
Klobuchar said she was not pressing for an immediate return of all U.S. troops from Iraq.
"We have to be reasonable," she said. "I have never been one to say 'Bring them all home tomorrow.' I have never subscribed to one of those mandatory dates, because I understand that, despite my opposition to the war from the beginning, that we have to be responsible about how we bring our troops home."
Asked what the U.S. should do if it were to leave Iraq and a full-blown civil war were to erupt, Klobuchar said American troops should be redeployed to surrounding areas so they can come return quickly if needed. She also called for bolstering security in the U.S. ..
http://www.forbes.com/business/healthcare/feeds/ap/2006/10/15/ap3091970.html
12 Oct: NY Daily News Blog: Clinton Equivocates on Torture
Despite her apparent opposition to torture, Hillary Clinton said in a Daily News editorial board meeting yesterday that the practice is acceptable in some circumstances...
http://blogs.nydailynews.com/dailypolitics/archives/2006/10/clinton_on_tort.php
Political Cortex: truthista: Escape to Paraguay? Rumors of Bush Land Deal
At least two sources, including Upsidedownworld and Prensa Latina, report rumors of a Bush family purchase of land in northern Paraguay.
Upsidedownworld writes, on October 11:
- The Governor of Alto Paraguay, Erasmo Rodríguez Acosta has admitted to hearing that George Bush Sr. owns land in the Chaco region of Paraguay, in Paso de Patria. Acosta says that rumor has it that Bush owns near to 70 thousand hectares (173,000 acres) as part of an ecological reserve and/or ranch. However, the governor said he had no documents to prove the rumor.-
Prensa Latina, writing on October 13, gives a similar story but names George W. Bush rather than his father:..ETC
http://www.politicalcortex.com/print/2006/10/14/11926/843
NY Daily News: THOMAS M. DEFRANK: One proud Poppy ... but
W follies mar legacy, ex-Prez's aides gripe
Indeed, one of the worst-kept secrets in Bush World is the dismay, in some cases disdain, harbored by many senior aides of the former President toward the administration of his son - 41 and 43, as many call them, political shorthand that refers to their numerical places in American presidential history...
"Forty-three has now repudiated everything 41 stands for, and still he won't say a word," a key member of the elder Bush alumni said. "Personally, I think he's dying inside."...
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/461894p-388588c.html
READ ALL: E&P: Kentucky Paper Probes McConnell -- But Will Return Research Money
By E&P Staff and the Associated Press
A six-month examination of U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell's career by the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader, based on thousands of documents and scores of interviews, "shows the nexus between his actions and his donors' agendas," the paper concludes in a major report today. "He pushes the government to help cigarette makers, Las Vegas casinos, the pharmaceutical industry, credit card lenders, coal mine owners and others...
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003254918
Boston Herald: Casey Ross: Feds want to know: Did Mitt check tunnel?
Federal officials are probing scathing allegations that the Romney administration falsely claimed to conduct safety inspections in the Big Dig tunnel that collapsed and killed a woman in July.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is zeroing in on state financial documents from 2005 - cited in a new report by state Inspector General Gregory Sullivan - indicating that Gov. Mitt Romney was reviewing the safety of the Big Dig, when in fact the administration was only checking leaks in the Interstate 93 tunnel...
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=162187
UK Times: Sarah Baxter: Mitt, the rising star, catches Thatcher vote
IN an essential rite of passage for American politicians, Mitt Romney was ushered into the presence of Baroness Thatcher at a Washington think tank last month. If not quite an official anointing, the handshake and chat with so venerable a figure was an unmistakable sign to conservatives that he was “one of us”.
The improbably handsome right-wing governor of left-wing Massachusetts is generating enormous buzz as the conservative with the best chance of beating the independent-minded Senator John McCain for the 2008 Republican nomination. When his term in office expires in January, Romney is expected to throw himself helter-skelter into the presidential race...
Laura Ingraham, the popular conservative talk show host, recalled how the smooth Romney had rung to sympathise after she announced that her dog Troy had gone missing. “He’s the man,” she said approvingly.
Jeb Bush, the governor of Florida and a favourite with the right, said last week Romney would be a “formidable” candidate...
Romney is pioneering a market-based system for universal healthcare in his home state that he believes easily trumps Hillary Clinton’s botched proposal when she was first lady. “The first difference between hers and mine is that mine got voted in,” he said tartly.
On abortion, he has switched to being pro-life (some question his sincerity) and opposes gay marriage, which the courts have permitted in Massachusetts. He is also tough on immigration and hawkish on national security.
“We’re under attack by jihadists,” Romney said. “They’re not simply a band of lunatics in the hills of Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is a worldwide effort by a small slice of Islam to subjugate all the nations of Islam to a caliphate.”
Romney defended Bush’s new laws regarding the treatment of terrorist suspects last month, but criticised him for allowing the former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami to visit America.
He has spent time recently with Paul Bremer, the former head of the provisional coalition authority, and other Iraq experts. Mistakes were made, he freely admitted, but the Iraqi government had to be given more time to establish security.
“When that is achieved” — he did not say by 2008, but he must be hoping — “there will be a relatively rapid withdrawal.” ..
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2404312,00.html
LAT: Call of the West: Rein In the Judges
Conservative ballot measures in many states would check judicial power. South Dakotans seek a right to sue jurists, Montanans to recall.
By Stephanie Simon
DENVER — Judges across several Western states could soon face new limits on their authority and threats to their independence, as conservatives campaign for ballot measures that aim to rein in what they describe as "runaway courts."...
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-judges15oct15,0,7024224.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Times-Union: Questionable justice during 'terror sting' trial
In his instructions prior to closing arguments in the Albany "terror sting" case (pizza shop owner allegedly agrees to launder money for missile sale to terrorists; such "contract" allegedly witnessed by local imam), U.S. District Judge Thomas McAvoy told the jurors that the FBI's "certain valid suspicions" about the defendants had prompted the federal sting.
However, under the current regulations, jurors could neither hear nor consider the evidence that prompted the sting operation in the first place; the validity of the FBI's "suspicions" must be taken on faith...
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=525539&category=OPINION&newsdate=10/15/2006
WP: Reuters: Doubts over Iraq drive a volatile U.S. campaign
By John Whitesides
While a Capitol Hill sex scandal shook up Republicans and President George W. Bush's sinking popularity is weighing them down, public concern over Iraq is the dominant factor driving voters toward Democrats in the November 7 election...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/15/AR2006101500197.html
READ ALL: AP: Tom Raum: Bush keeps revising war justification
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061014/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_iraq
Reuters: Britons back army chief on pulling out of Iraq-poll
In an ICM telephone poll for the Sunday Express newspaper, 74 percent of those questioned agreed with Dannatt...
Some called for him to be sacked while others welcomed the fact that he had spoken out...
But in the ICM/Express poll, 71 percent of Britons said Dannatt should not be sacked...
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L15415165.htm
UK Observer: How army chief staged No 10 ambush
General Sir Richard Dannatt, new head of the army, knew what he was doing when he lit the touchpaper during an interview with a concerned mother. Mark Townsend and Ned Temko examine what happened next
A poll on an army website asking users whether Dannatt's comments were right or wrong offers corroboration. By midday yesterday, 97 per cent believed their general was right or practically right with his assessment. No one deemed him wrong. The tone of the entries ranged widely, but the message was unmistakable...
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,1922879,00.html
UK Observer: Army fears over troop levels
Military planners were concerned that the renewed Afghan mission would mean forces would have to be pulled out of Iraq
Ned Temko and Mark Townsend
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,1922912,00.html
thinkprogress: Hagel: ‘We Need To Find A New Strategy, A Way Out Of Iraq’
Today on CNN’s Late Edition, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) delivered a blistering critique of the Bush administration’s Iraq policy.
Hagel said, “The American people are not going to continue to support, sustain a policy that puts American troops in the middle of a civil war.” He added, “So we need to find a new strategy, a way out of Iraq, because the entire Middle East, Wolf, is more combustible than it’s been probably since 1948, and more dangerous, and we’re in the middle of it.” Watch it:
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/10/15/hagel-out-of-iraq/
Lack of confidence in Maliki government grows
By Nancy A. Youssef
McClatchy Newspapers
No one knows precisely how many committees have been formed - one estimate puts the number at 400. Yet only one committee has brought its findings to the parliament.
That lack of action is eroding Iraqi citizens' and U.S. officials' confidence that Maliki's government will be able to address the problems that plague this country, a development that would leave the U.S. with virtually no policy alternative...
According to the interior minister, the government is issuing 15,000 passports a week, many to residents who say they're desperate to flee; school populations have dropped; and some Iraqi neighborhoods have become so sectarian that some areas are divided up street by street. Services, such as electricity, haven't improved...
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/15754382.htm
Antiwar: Sunday Violence Leaves 88 Iraqis Dead; 6 US Soldiers Dead in Weekend Attacks
http://www.antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=9866
UK Times: Iraqis call for five-man junta to end the anarchy
Marie Colvin
The proposal, which is being widely discussed in political and intelligence circles in Baghdad, is to replace the Shi’ite-led government of Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, with a regime capable of imposing order and confronting the sectarian militias leading the country to the brink of civil war. Dr Saleh al-Mutlak, a prominent Sunni politician, travelled to Arab capitals last week seeking support for the replacement of the present government with a group of five strongmen who would impose martial law and either dissolve parliament or halt its participation in day-to-day government...
“The only person who can undertake a coup in Iraq now is General George Casey (the US commander) and I don’t think the Americans are inclined to go in that direction,” said Ahmed Chalabi, head of a rival political party.
Any suspension of the democratic process would be regarded as a severe blow to American and British policy...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-2404311,00.html
Courier Post: Letter: Out of control
Saddam Hussein and his cabinet members should be released from prison and restored as the leaders of Iraq, as they were before we invaded the country. Then, we should bring our troops home.
Under Saddam, the people of Iraq had water, electricity, jobs, and no one was going around as suicide bombers blowing up public places and killing bystanders daily...
After four years in Iraq, we are the most hated people in that country, and the same thing goes for in Afghanistan, where the Taliban are regaining all that was lost. And President Bush tells us everything is under control.
EDWARD KOCHANIEWICZ, Berlin Borough
http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061015/OPINION/610150337/1047
Newshounds: FOXNews.Com Hides Unfavorable Poll Results About Bush And Iraq
Reported by Ellen
A FOX News poll conducted October 10-11 shows some seriously bad news for President Bush: 49% think Bush intentionally misled the country about WMD's in Iraq (44% think he provided Americans with the best prewar intelligence); 66% think Republicans try to make the war in Iraq seem like it's going better than it really is; 73% think it's time Iraqis take on the burden of securing their own country and let the US troops start coming home; 41% think we should end involvement in Iraq, as opposed to 39% who think it should be continued. But you won't find any of that information on the FOX News poll homepage...ETC
http://www.newshounds.us/2006/10/15/foxnewscom_hides_unfavorable_poll_results_about_bush_and_iraq.php
VIDEO: Crooks & Liars: What about all those purple fingers?
By: John Amato
David Brooks has incredible access to the White House so when he said this shocker on "The Chris Matthews Show," I believed him. Bush is thinking about replacing the entire Iraq government. I kid you not...
"..One of those options is trying to replace the current government which seems to be doing nothing"
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/10/15/what-about-all-those-purple-fingers/
Jerusalem Post: AP Cairo: Iraq: Group claims establishment of Islamic state
The Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of insurgent groups in Iraq, said the new state was made up of six provinces including Baghdad that have large Sunni populations and parts of two other southern provinces that are predominantly Shiite...
The man in the eight minute video, which was posted on a Web site commonly used by insurgents, wore a traditional Arab robe and had his face blocked out by a white circle.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1159193445929&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
12 Oct: ArabLinksBlog: Iraqi federalism vote: Behind the contradictory numbers
The Iraqi parliament voted (Wednesday, October 11) 140 to nothing, in a more-or-less routine vote, to approve the federalism-procedures bill. Or did they? The New York Times said so. But the Iraqi paper Azzaman said the vote was 138 to nothing, the figure representing exactly one-half of the membership (275) plus one, moreover it said a lot of people thought there was something funny about the vote. Al-Mada, another Baghdad paper, agrees with Azzaman on both points. The pan-Arab al-Hayat, another standard source, says the vote was 148 on the yea side, out of 175 attending. And yes, says al-Hayat, there were indeed complaints about how it was done, quoting the leader of one of the opposition groups who said the whole procedure was a put-up job (mu'amara)...
Al-Mada provides the only real leg-up for understanding this. Their reporter says Parliament Speaker Mashhadani ordered everyone but the parliamentarians themselves out of the chamber before the vote, including the members' staff; and he ordered the direct electronic transmission to the outside to be cut, creating a hermetically sealed environment for the voting. So journalists certainly didn't get a chance to count the votes. Why there wasn't at least an official tally afterwards, perhaps no one can tell us...
Who voted (for the bill) and who didn't (by boycotting the session)? Reidar Visser, the meticulous authority people turn to in cases like this, describes the boycotters of the bill as follows:
"The boycott was largely inter-sectarian and Iraqi nationalist: it united all the Sunni parties of both secularist and Islamist colours and Shiite nationalist–Islamists, primarily supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr, as well as the Fadila. At least one Turkmen representative also joined the main group of active boycotters, whose combined parliamentary strength is around 105 seats...
The principal backers of the bill were the Kurdish parties and the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), who together account for 88 seats. The balance of some 50 seats is believed to have come at least partly from Iyad Allawi’s secularist alliance of 25 representatives – whose principal figures reportedly took part in the vote (Hamid Musa, Mahdi al-Hafiz, Wail Abd al-Latif, Safiyya al-Suhayl and Mufid al-Jazairi have all been specifically mentioned). The remaining votes that were required – perhaps between 30 and 40 (an unspecified number of Allawi supporters protested against their leaders and stayed away from the vote) – must have come primarily from the “grey” middle segment of the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), the 54 or so deputies who are neither SCIRI nor Sadrist and label themselves “independents” or come from one of the two main Daawa factions..."
At the very least it is worth emphasizing Visser's main point (or one of them anyway), namely that the core of the opposition came from groups that had stayed in Iraq to resist the Saddam regime, while the proponents were by and large from the exile groups...
My point is that NYT reporting of this as a routine vote and another small step in the right direction, is about as misleading as it can be...
http://arablinks.blogspot.com/2006/10/iraqi-federalism-vote-behind.html
Huffington Post: VIDEO: NBC's Mitchell: George And Laura Bush Are "Really Angry" At Fmr. Chief Of Staff Andy Card "For Telling The Truth" To Bob Woodward...
During the "scoops" segment of the show, Mitchell revealed that although Andy Card flew down to attend the christening of the George H. Bush carrier, it was at the request of the senior President Bush. George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush are still "really angry" at Card for speaking to Bob Woodward for his new book State of Denial. Woodward interrupted Mitchell to add that they were angry at Card for "Telling the truth," and Mitchell agreed...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2006/10/15/nbcs-mitchell-george-an_n_31738.html
News.com: 'Voluntary' national service plan
SCHOOL leavers will be offered a year of voluntary national service in the armed forces as part of a new $1 billion recruitment plan.
The Howard Government has rejected conscription, opting instead for "voluntary" national service.
Defence Minister Dr Brendan Nelson will today announce the new policy to recruit up to 1000 young men and women a year into a special "first year out of school" program, beginning in 2008...
They will be offered places mostly in the army, but also in the RAAF and RAN.
Dr Nelson said it was unlikely they would be deployed in action.
But he said they might be sent abroad for logistical or supply jobs that were not directly in the line of fire...
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20582297-2,00.html
News.com: Ben Packham: Make it compulsory, say nashos
The association's national president, Earle Jennings, said support for the initiative was sure to outstrip demand, demonstrating the viability of a fully fledged national service scheme.
"The National Servicemen's Association believes that young Australians are much more aware of the threats to Australia than many old Cold War warriors," he said.
"They would be ready to stand up for Australia rather than sit down in the streets." ..
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20586873-661,00.html
News.com: Glenn Milne: Uncle Brendan needs you
Would you spend a year in National Service after leaving school? Share your thoughts in the comments box below.
COMMENT 31: Rhys: I'm a 17 year old, graduating year 12 in a few weeks, with the intent of taking a gap year next year. i think that this National service idea is great. i would not only assist in the recruitment crisis, but would also enable numbers of school leavers to obtain full time employment in a good work place environment, between the end of their schooling lives and the rest of their careers - wether that be university or permanent full time employment. personally if the porgram starts up next i'll say "Where do i sign?".
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,20581525-948,00.html
LATEST: News.com: Army chief admits recruitment decline
Army chief Lieutenant-General Peter Leahy has told the ABC's Four Corners program that recruiting numbers have now stalled.
The interview, which will air tonight, was recorded prior to Defence Minister Brendan Nelson announcing his plans to persuade high school graduates considering a gap year to join the defence force instead of going backpacking or volunteering abroad...
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute's Mark Thomson told the ABC the army was overstretched, with commitments in Afghanistan and Iraq that were unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.
He said future policy should have a high focus on areas close to home and "one global operation at a time sounds like a good idea"...
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20588017-5005961,00.html
SF Chronicle: Two ordered not to talk about alleged Guantanamo abuse
By MIRANDA LEITSINGER, Associated Press
A paralegal and a military lawyer who brought forward allegations about prisoner abuse at the Guantanamo Bay detention center have been ordered not to speak with the press about their accusations, lawyers who work with the pair said...
Reached by telephone, Vokey declined to comment, saying, "I can't even talk about it." When asked if he was going to abide by the order for the time being, he said, "yes."
Cerveny, reached by telephone late Saturday, said she disagreed with the order but also would abide it. She declined to comment further...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/10/14/state/n180758D91.DTL
ABC Australia: PM backs nuclear power industry for Australia
"In an age where we're worried about global warming we should be looking seriously at nuclear power as an option, because it's clean and it doesn't emit greenhouse gases and I can't understand why the extreme Greenies oppose it," he said.
The Prime Ministerial task force into uranium and nuclear energy is due to release its draft report next month and its final document is expected at the end of the year.
Meanwhile, more than 400 experts from around the world will be at a nuclear energy conference in Sydney today.
Government and industry representatives from 30 countries including Russia, China and Korea will attend the Pacific Basin conference...
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200610/s1765281.htm
LAT: A New Global Nuclear Order
North Korea ... Iran ... and the list is growing. The treaty that once limited the spread of atomic weapons know-how is unraveling.
By Alissa J. Rubin
Times staff writers Douglas Frantz in Los Angeles and Bruce Wallace in Tokyo contributed to this report.
Three countries — India, Pakistan and Israel — refused to sign the treaty. Pakistan and India have developed nuclear weapons, and Israel is thought to have them.
All three enjoy the favor and respect of world leaders, setting an example of what countries can get when they acquire nuclear weapons...
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-nukes15oct15,0,3389816.story?coll=la-home-headlines
UK Observer: Human rights concerns fail to staunch flow of UK arms
China tops list with £70m of exports in one year as military sales soar to blacklisted regimes
Antony Barnett
The British government is exporting record levels of military equipment to 19 of the 20 states its own ministers and officials have just identified as 'major countries of concern' for human rights abuses.
The 20 countries were listed in the Foreign Office's annual Human Rights Report, which was launched by the Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett, last week. They include China, Burma, North Korea, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Zimbabwe...
Other countries whose human rights records concern the Foreign Office, but which still receive arms exports from the UK, include Colombia, Saudi Arabia and Russia..
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1922775,00.html
(NO ISRAEL?)
AFP: UK: Police want spy planes to fight anti-social behaviour
A police force is considering using unmanned aerial surveillance drones to fly over troubled local council housing estates to help tackle anti-social behaviour in respective areas.
The police force for Merseyside, in western England, has formed a new Anti-Social Behaviour Task Force which will have a budget of one million pounds (1.85 million dollars, 1.5 million euros), and a staff of 137, drawn from both the local police and fire services, The Sunday Telegraph reported...
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/10/15/061015093636.r5gmx8lm.html
UK Observer: Cabinet split over new rights for gays
· Blair backs Ruth Kelly in church row
· Faith schools seek equality opt-out
Gaby Hinsliff
The cabinet is in open warfare over new gay rights legislation after Tony Blair and Ruth Kelly, the Communities Secretary, who is a devout Catholic, blocked the plans following protests from religious organisations...
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,1922914,00.html
???WP: Reuters: Ecuador presidential vote may head to run-off
By Patrick Markey
A Cedatos Gallup poll showed Noboa with 27.2 percent of votes and Correa with 25.4 percent after first round voting while a Informe Confidencial showed Noboa with 28.5 percent of votes and Correa with 26.5 percent...
Mobbed by supporters chanting "Correa for president," the candidate denounced voting irregularities he said may alter the results, although observers from the Organization of American States said voting had mostly proceeded without problems...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/15/AR2006101500229.html
(THIS URL WAS ORIGINALLY: Leftist edges over populist tycoon in Ecuador vote - Washington Post)
FT: Banana magnate takes lead in Ecuador poll
By Hal Weitzman in Quito
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/66f760ac-5c6f-11db-9e7e-0000779e2340.html
(THIS URL WAS ORIGINALLY: Chavez ally leads in Ecuador election
Financial Times, UK - 5 hours ago)
EARLIER: LAT: Shades of Chavez in Ecuador's Front-Runner
Polls show voters in today's election leaning toward Rafael Correa, whose reformist bent and anti-U.S. rhetoric worry some analysts.
By Chris Kraul
An audacious South American politician has made an unflattering comparison between President Bush and the devil, threatened to nationalize oil production and expressed his commitment to popular revolution. And it's not Hugo Chavez.
The rhetoric of Rafael Correa, the favorite in today's presidential election here, could pass for that of Chavez, the Venezuelan leader. Correa, a 43-year-old U.S.-educated economist, has struck a stridently anti-U.S. tone in a campaign in which he has come from nowhere in the polls three months ago to assume a commanding lead...
Correa has also promised not to renew the deal expiring in 2009 by which Ecuador leases space at its Manta military base to the United States to launch anti-narcotics overflights. The U.S. has up to 300 military and nonuniformed personnel based at Manta, as well as eight AWACS and other aircraft.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-ecuador15oct15,0,4009566.story?coll=la-home-world
EARLIER: Even before vote, Correa looks beyond Ecuador
Front-runner is critical of Bush, has ties to Chavez
Juan Forero
He said he would renegotiate existing contracts with foreign oil companies and did not rule out defaulting on Ecuador's $10 billion debt if social needs outweigh the country's servicing obligations. His advisers have warned that a Correa government would be tough on foreign companies and multilateral lenders.
"Here, the rule of law and the Constitution are constantly being broken by the mafias and some transnational companies," the candidate said. "The transnationals of the north will have to obey the law."
Correa has 31 percent of the vote, leading his nearest rival, the banana tycoon Alvaro Noboa, by six points, a Cedatos Gallup poll showed Saturday. To win in the first round, Correa needs to garner 40 percent of valid votes, which means blank or voided ballots will be excluded, while finishing at least 10 points ahead of the nearest rival. A second round, if needed, would take place Nov. 26...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/10/15/MNGNVLPR4H1.DTL&type=politics
EARLIER: NDTV: Presidential elections begin in Ecuador
The 43-year-old Economist Rafael Correa is surging into the lead as a fresh-faced outsider in what could be the latest gain for Latin America's leftward shift.
http://www.ndtv.com/morenews/showmorestory.asp?slug=Presidential+elections+begin+in+Ecuador&id=94849
WP: Reuters: Brazil's Lula commands big lead in election race
By Peter Blackburn
A survey by polling firm Ibope showed Lula with a 14-point advantage over former Sao Paulo Gov. Geraldo Alckmin, while a Vox Populi survey gave Lula a 10-point lead before the runoff.
The polls confirmed a Datafolha survey on Wednesday that gave Lula a 12-point lead with 56 percent of valid votes, against Alckmin's 44 percent...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101201644.html
Royal Gazette: Bermuda Police detain Deuss
Millionaire oil tycoon John Deuss was last night in custody after Police on the Island executed a warrant for his arrest.
Detectives had been hunting for the 64-year-old – wanted for questioning in Europe on suspicion of money laundering, handling stolen property and being in charge of a criminal organisation – since the warrant was granted by a Bermudian magistrate on October 2...
The Dutch businessman, a long-term resident of Bermuda, resigned from the board of BCB last week, along with his sister Tineke, a director, and president Timothy Ulrich, after another of his businesses, Caribbean-based First Curacao International Bank (FCIB), was shut down by authorities in Europe...
http://www.theroyalgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061014/NEWS/110140183
Fin24: 'Apartheid oil supplier' nabbed
Deuss supplied the South African apartheid regime with oil in the 1980s. He has also traded in Russian oil, before and after the collapse of the Soviet Union...
http://www.fin24.co.za/articles/companies/display_article.aspx?Nav=ns&lvl2=comp&ArticleID=1518-1783_2013844
IHT: AP: Dominican investigators: Pilot in crash that killed tycoon was experienced, showed no sign of intoxication
There have been 60 accidents — not including Wednesday's — involving the R44 since production began in 1993, including eight fatal accidents that killed 14 people this year, according to statistics from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.
One of those occurred Sunday in Sumner, Washington, when a helicopter spun out of control and crashed into a lake, killing the pilot and seriously injuring a passenger, according to the NTSB's preliminary report.
California-based Robinson Helicopter Co., which has sold about 3,000 of the aircraft, sent a representative to assist in the investigation, said Kurt Robinson, the company's vice president for product support. The NTSB was also assisting, De la Rosa said...
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/14/news/CB_GEN_Dominican_Helicopter_Crash.php
Haaretz: Police advise against charging accuser with blackmail
Police investigators recommend charging Katsav with rape and fraud
By Jonathan Lis and Yuval Yoaz
The police team investigating allegations against President Moshe Katsav on Sunday recommended that the president be charged with rape, sexual assault, eavesdropping, fraud, breach of trust and improprieties in gift distribution.
The investigators presented their findings and recommendations for indictment to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz and senior officials in the State Prosecutor's office, and said they had consolidated enough evidence to try the president.
The police also revealed Sunday that the president is suspected of purchasing dozens of gifts at hundreds of shekels apiece with money taken from the President's Residence budget. The police said there was evidence of intention to "carry out crimes of fraud and breach of trust."..
The most serious charge Katsav could face is for the alleged rape of two women...
Investigators also said Sunday that their examination of the case was not entirely completed, adding that they planned to question Katsav further.
Katsav's attorney, Zion Amir, said in response that the police's recommendations had no legal validity, as only the State Prosecutor could decide whether to indict the president...
Attorney Yossi Fuchs on Sunday demanded the High Court of Justice order Katsav to resign, if for the president's own benefit, until the state decides whether or not to indict him. Fuchs also requested an temporary injunction be issued preventing Katsav from participating on the opening of the Knesset's winter session on Monday.
President Moshe Katsav will attend the opening of the winter session, but will not address the forum, his brother told Israel Radio on Sunday...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/774636.html
Uri Avnery: The Great Experiment
IS IT possible to force a whole people to submit to foreign occupation by starving it?
That is, certainly, an interesting question. So interesting, indeed, that the governments of Israel and the United States, in close cooperation with Europe, are now engaged in a rigorous scientific experiment in order to obtain a definitive answer.
The laboratory for the experiment is the Gaza Strip, and the guinea pigs are the million and a quarter Palestinians living there. ..
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15306.htm
Haaretz: FM calls envoy back after controversial remarks on Asians
By Charlotte Halle
"I can't tell you how sensitive these things are here," said a senior member of Sydney's Jewish community, referring to Ambassador Naftali Tamir's description of Asians as having "yellow skin" and "slanted eyes." The source added that the comments were the hot topic at both the synagogues he attended over the Simhat Torah holiday, which falls a day later in locales outside of Israel...
The key concern of the Jewish community, the source in Sydney explained, was that the broad coverage of the comments in the Australian press would fuel those who charge that Israel is a racist state and that the Australian government is erring in its overtly pro-Israel position. He added that while the comments were considered offensive and embarrassing, the community would "rally around [the ambassador]," while distancing itself from the sentiments...
The Australian government refused to comment following an inquiry from Haaretz, but Sunday's Sydney Morning Herald quoted opposition foreign affairs spokesman, Kevin Rudd, as saying: "If accurate, these comments are completely unacceptable." ..
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/775077.html
READ ALL: AP: 1 Man Still Locked Up From 9/11 Sweeps
In a jail cell at an immigration detention center in Arizona sits a man who is not charged with a crime, not suspected of a crime, not considered a danger to society.
But he has been in custody for five years.
His name is Ali Partovi. And according to the Department of Homeland Security, he is the last to be held of about 1,200 Arab and Muslim men swept up by authorities in the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
There has been no full accounting of all of these individuals...
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20061015/D8KONLJ80.html
????UK Observer: London bomber's suicide video is 'linked to traitor'
Californian masterminded al-Qaeda propaganda, claim terrorism experts
Jamie Doward
British intelligence believes Gadahn produced a 31-minute video featuring 7 July bomber, Shehzad Tanweer, extracts of which were released by Arab satellite station al-Jazeera earlier this year on the anniversary of the London bombings...
Gadahn is believed to have been responsible for cutting the footage of Tanweer to make his 'martyr's will', although a study of the full video suggests he struggled with the task.
In clips towards the end of the tape, which have not been broadcast by Western media but have been obtained by The Observer, Tanweer is seen becoming increasingly agitated. Stumbling over a script that appears to have been written for him, he is seen to take deep breaths as he points a finger at the camera.
Tanweer - thought to have been filmed several months before carrying out his bombing mission - finds reading passages of his will difficult, tripping over the sentences and repeating words...
'The likes of Tanweer may not be the sharpest tacks in the box,' said Josh Devon, senior analyst with think-tank Search for International Terrorist Entities (SITE), which monitors Islamic fundamentalist media. 'This is a guy reading a script; you don't get to say some of the things Tanweer said without coming into contact with senior Koranic scholars.'..
The video, one of hundreds produced by al-Sahab, al-Qaeda's video production unit and downloaded by sympathisers across the globe, includes extracts of speeches by Osama bin Laden, radical cleric Ayman al-Zawahiri and the now dead terrorist, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
An unidentified narrator emphasises a key al-Qaeda message: that Tanweer, like all suicide bombers, wanted to become a martyr because of his love of Allah, not because of 'poverty, unemployment and emptiness as some of the mercenary media try to portray it to us'...
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1922856,00.html
(MORE REASON TO BELIEVE TANWEER WAS PICKED UP ON 7/7 AND FORCED TO READ THIS SCRIPT??)
TheNewsPak: ‘Madrid bombings mastermind imprisoned in secret CIA jail’
MADRID: A suspected al Qaeda leader, accused of being involved in Sept 11 and planning the 2004 Madrid train bombings, has been imprisoned in a secret US jail for the past year, Spain’s El Pais newspaper reported on Sunday.
Mustafa Setmarian, 48, a Syrian with Spanish citizenship, was captured in Pakistan in Oct 2005 and is held in a prison operated by the US Central Intelligence Agency, Pakistani and European security service officials told El Pais.
A spokesman for the US embassy in Spain declined to comment on the report. Setmarian’s 2005 capture was reported in May of this year after the United States put a $5 million bounty on the head of the alleged founder of al Qaeda’s Spanish network.
A photograph of the red-haired Setmarian has been removed from the US Federal Bureau of Intelligence’s most-wanted Web page. Pakistan has not answered requests from Madrid about the whereabouts of Setmarian, wanted in Spain for allegedly training Sept 11 hijackers in Afghanistan and ordering Madrid commuter train attacks that killed 191 people, according to El Pais.
Spain’s high court is unable to request his extradition as he has not been officially imprisoned, the newspaper reported. Spanish high court officials were not immediately available to comment. Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon in June complained US officials were concealing information on his whereabouts.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=3692
READ ALL: UK Times: Muslims are the new Jews
India Knight
Especially since July 7, it has become acceptable to say the most ignorant, degrading things about Islam. And then we all sit around wondering why young Muslim men appear to be getting angrier and more politicised, or why “westernised” young Muslim women whose mothers go bare-headed are suddenly, defiantly, opting for the full-on niqab-style veil that leaves only a slit for the eyes...ETC
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2088-2404281,00.html
Huffington Post: Nora Ephron: Moneychangeseverything.com
Does money change everything? It must, or there wouldn't be a song that says so. But I couldn't help thinking so this morning, because I went to hear Nathan Myrvold, the former Microsoft genius-prognosticator, and Marissa Mayer, the Google goddess, be interviewed about the future by the New Yorker's Ken Auletta. "We're going to peer over the horizon," Auletta said, and got right to the point: What did Myrvold think about the YouTube deal?
Myrvold replied: "The only way to know if a deal is good or bad is in retrospect."
I couldn't believe it. This is the answer to a question from a futurist?From a provocateur? I mean, obviously. Obviously the only way to know if a deal is good or bad is in retrospect, but that's not the way the world works. That's not the Nathan Myrvold I went to see. What's going on?..ETC
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nora-ephron/moneychangeseverythingco_b_31629.html
thinkprogress: Chris Wallace Ignores 20,000 Emails Demanding He Ask Rice About The U.S.S. Cole
More than 20,000 people emailed Chris Wallace and demanded he ask Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice this question today:
-Prior to 9/11, you had eight months to respond to the al-Qaeda attack on the U.S.S. Cole. Why didn’t the Bush administration take action and put al-Qaeda out of business?-
Wallace didn’t ask the question or any question on the topic. It’s the twenty-fourth time Rice has been on Fox News Sunday since 9/11 without being asked about the U.S.S. Cole. ..
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/10/15/wallace-ignores-emails/
Springfield State Journal Register: CHRIS WETTERICH: Study: Local TV newscasts give elections about 21 seconds
The study measured election coverage at the ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox affiliates in the largest media market and the state capital in Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinois and Minnesota...
They divided the time on each newscast into the categories. Advertising, sports and weather, crime, other, local interest, teasers or intros, non-campaign government news, health and business news all beat out election coverage in terms of time devoted to each subject.
The only items newscasts spent less time on was foreign policy and "unintentional injury."..
http://www.sj-r.com/sections/news/stories/98100.asp
Badger Herald: ourtney Johnson: News broadcasts fail to deliver, study says
The average Midwestern television news broadcast devotes 36 seconds to election coverage during a 30-minute newscast, according to a new University of Wisconsin study released Thursday...
“TV is acting as if it’s allergic to democracy,” said Mike McCabe, executive director for the political watchdog group the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. “Democracy is being treated as a non-story, and that’s a horrible message to send to a public in a democratic society.”
The study was funded by the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation, which is also a sponsor of the WDC...
In addition, results of the study show local broadcasts give more airtime to teasers and promos for upcoming stories than to politics. Typical early- and late-evening 30-minute news broadcasts also contain more than 10 minutes of advertisements...
http://badgerherald.com/news/2006/10/13/news_broadcasts_fail.php
But South Korea and Japan have not confirmed neighboring North Korea's claim that it detonated its first nuclear weapon, officials from both countries said Saturday.
Japan has still detected no unusual radiation traces, said Hiroshi Tsuboi, an official with the Japanese government's radiation task force.
South Korean presidential spokesman Yoon Tai-young said that his country had not confirmed an atomic blast took place, but was informed by U.S. intelligence authorities of their results..
He said that the response to the blast would largely be the same whether the test is proven or not.
"Until we reach a final conclusion that North Korea's nuclear test was indeed genuine, we should be open to various and comprehensive judgments," spokesman Yoon said Saturday.
In Japan, an ongoing survey of radiation levels in the air, on the ground and in rainfall found nothing unusual as of Saturday morning, said Tsuboi.
Japan has been flying aircraft between Japan and the Korean Peninsula to monitor for radiation.
South Korea will soon be able to more accurately identify the site of North Korea's claimed nuclear test, a researcher said Saturday.
"As the neighboring countries agreed to provide their data on the recorded seismic movements (from the North's alleged nuclear test), we expect to be able to accurately report the site of the explosion in the North," said Ji Hun-chul, head of the earthquake research center at the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources.
The South Korean institute initially pointed out a remote mountain area in Poonggye-ri on the northeastern tip of the communist North as a possible test site, but with uncertainty. ..ETC
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2006/10/16/200610160037.asp
UK Herald: US spies were wrong about Korea
The briefings which cast doubt on Pyongyang's capabilities were filtered from data obtained by all US clandestine agencies and turned into a background memo in the office of John Negroponte, director of national intelligence...
Japanese aircraft scouring the test area last night reported no sign of the typically raised levels of airborne radiation which accompany even underground nuclear tests. Many Western experts think the device detonated in old mineworkings on Monday was either a partial failure, involving only part of its intended explosive yield, or a small bomb designed to conserve stocks of plutonium for future weapons.
Sniffer devices on US military aircraft operating out of Japan are scanning for traces of cobalt and caesium which would confirm a nuclear blast.
US forces have meanwhile moved 24 Patriot missiles to protect a base on the Japanese island of Okinawa.
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/72055-print.shtml
Hanooki: ‘US Unlikely to Redeploy Nukes in South’
By Jung Sung-ki
Washington is unlikely to re-deploy tactical nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula to deter North Korea's nuclear threat largely because of its goal of denuclearizing the peninsula, the Washington Post reported Saturday...
Defense analysts also said the U.S. government is expected to provide a stronger nuclear umbrella to Seoul rather than re-deploying nuclear weapons on the peninsula, which would fan a nuclear arms race among countries like South Korea, Japan and Taiwan...ETC
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200610/kt2006101517410310440.htm
Hanooki: US Most Responsible for Nuclear Test: Poll
Forty-three percent of the respondents aged over 19 picked the United States as the country most responsible for the North’s nuclear test...
North Korea was chosen as the second most responsible country with 37.2 percent, followed by South Korea with 13.9 percent, China with 2.4 percent and Japan with 1 percent...
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200610/kt2006101517230011990.htm
???UK Sunday Times: China may back coup against Kim
Michael Sheridan, Beijing
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20587473-2703,00.html
2 Pages: READ ALL: Los Angeles Times: Displease a Lobbyist, Get Fired
E-mails show Jack Abramoff's ability to influence White House staffing decisions through his highly placed friends.
By Peter Wallsten
Newly disclosed e-mails suggest that the ax fell after intervention by one of the highest officials at the White House: Ken Mehlman, on behalf of one of the most influential lobbyists in town, Jack Abramoff.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-mehlman15oct15,0,1634103.story?coll=la-home-headlines
WP: Police Find No Report of a Foley Dorm Incident
Witness in Scandal Alleged Then-Congressman Was Detained Outside Pages' Capitol Hill Residence
By Charles Babington and Mary Beth Sheridan
Staff writer Sari Horwitz contributed to this report
"I can't find anything that was written, in the way of a report, that would establish that that did occur," McGaffin said in a telephone interview. "Having said that, I don't know, maybe it occurred and there wasn't a report generated."..
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/13/AR2006101300591_pf.html
READ ALL: Palm Beach Post: Frank Cerabino: What made White House shun Foley?
Within days of Mark Foley getting out of the closet, Gov. Jeb Bush went into the closet.
The closet in Jeb's case was an actual closet in a Pittsburgh subway station. ..
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/local_news/epaper/2006/10/15/s1c_bino_1015.html?imw=Y
Raw Story: Frank Rich: Rich: Outing the Gay Old Party
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Rich_Outing_Gay_Old_Party_1014.html
READ ALL: Bradblog: 'Daily Voting News' For October 14, 2006
In the September Maryland primary the Diebold E-Poll Book failed miserably throughout the state. It seems that when more than 40 names were entered into the machines they tended to crash and require rebooting. When they did crash some voters who had not voted were listed as having voted. In order to fix this problem it is reported that Diebold wrote two software patches and one of their sub-contractors wrote another. These were all installed on Maryland's equipment and tested. There was also a problem with the touch screen part of the E-Poll Book. Touching the screen caused some machines to crash. Diebold reportedly solved this problem by providing the state with over 5,000 'mouses' to replace the touch screen. These machines are part of an Independent Test Authority (ITA) tested and NASED qualified voting system. Until I talked to Sandy Steinbach yesterday, NASED knew nothing about any changes made by Diebold. But, NASED no longer qualifies new modifications or any voting system submitted for testing after July 10. The EAC now does that work. They too knew nothing about those modifications and, in fact, tried to point to NASED as the authority. The questions: Who is minding the store? What happens for other states that are required to have federally certified voting systems and are going to use the E-Poll Book? Will Diebold fix every E-Poll Book that will be used in November or will they try to keep this fix a secret because it has never gotten any federal testing and certification?
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3623
MSNBC: WaPo: Michael Abramowitz: White House upbeat about GOP prospects
Self-assurance of Rove, Bush and others is not shared by many in party
Amid widespread panic in the Republican establishment about the coming midterm elections, there are two people whose confidence about GOP prospects strikes even their closest allies as almost inexplicably upbeat: President Bush and his top political adviser, Karl Rove.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15269153/
Hartford Courant: Mark Pazniokas: Joe Lieberman In No Man's Land
A Longtime Democrat, Now In Opposition, Is In Strange Company
Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, a lifelong Democrat and student of politics, blanked when asked if America would be better off with his party regaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
A Democratic victory would immeasurably boost the influence of two Connecticut friends, U.S. Reps. Rosa L. DeLauro and John B. Larson, and provide a counterbalance to the Republican Senate and White House.
"Uh, I haven't thought about that enough to give an answer," Lieberman said, as though Democrats' strong prospects for recapturing the House hadn't been the fall's top political story.
He was similarly elusive about the race for governor. Is he voting for John DeStefano Jr., a Democrat and mayor of the city where Lieberman has lived since the 1960s?
"I'm, uh, I'm having," he stammered, then laughed and said his decision would remain private...
http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-lieberman1015.artoct15,0,4212964.story?page=1&coll=hc-headlines-home
Counterpunch: How Rahm Emanuel Has Rigged a Pro-War Congress
Election 2006: The Fix is Already In
By JOHN WALSH
You get the picture. If you toe the line for Rahm on the war, the money rains on you like manna from heaven and you are elevated to national celebrity status. But if you are anti-war, Rahm cuts you off at the wallet.
Note that in each of these two cases Emanuel did not pick candidates based on a proven ability to raise money. Nor did he pick them for their ability to win. In Duckworth's case she damned near lost despite the cash infusion, and McNirney did win despite the money that Emanuel funneled to his opponent. Emanuel is not choosing proven fundraisers or winning candidates; he is choosing pro-war candidates...
http://www.counterpunch.com/walsh10142006.html
Forbes: AP: Minnesota Senate Hopefuls Clash on Iraq
"You can't really play Tivo and rewind," said Rep. Mark Kennedy. During a debate on NBC's "Meet the Press," he was whether he would still vote for the war knowing that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction. "We acted on the information we knew at the time. I stand by my vote." ..
Kennedy, a three-term congressman, dismissed that poll in a meeting with reporters after the debate. "This is a single-digit race," he said. Separately, Klobuchar said the "only poll that matters" is on Election Day.
In the debate, Kennedy said Iraq was the top issue in the race and that the war was central to the global fight against terrorism.
He said Klobuchar "has set out a specific timetable for bringing our troops home that would tell the terrorists when they can take over an oil-rich country as a sanctuary for terrorists," Kennedy said.
Klobuchar said she was not pressing for an immediate return of all U.S. troops from Iraq.
"We have to be reasonable," she said. "I have never been one to say 'Bring them all home tomorrow.' I have never subscribed to one of those mandatory dates, because I understand that, despite my opposition to the war from the beginning, that we have to be responsible about how we bring our troops home."
Asked what the U.S. should do if it were to leave Iraq and a full-blown civil war were to erupt, Klobuchar said American troops should be redeployed to surrounding areas so they can come return quickly if needed. She also called for bolstering security in the U.S. ..
http://www.forbes.com/business/healthcare/feeds/ap/2006/10/15/ap3091970.html
12 Oct: NY Daily News Blog: Clinton Equivocates on Torture
Despite her apparent opposition to torture, Hillary Clinton said in a Daily News editorial board meeting yesterday that the practice is acceptable in some circumstances...
http://blogs.nydailynews.com/dailypolitics/archives/2006/10/clinton_on_tort.php
Political Cortex: truthista: Escape to Paraguay? Rumors of Bush Land Deal
At least two sources, including Upsidedownworld and Prensa Latina, report rumors of a Bush family purchase of land in northern Paraguay.
Upsidedownworld writes, on October 11:
- The Governor of Alto Paraguay, Erasmo Rodríguez Acosta has admitted to hearing that George Bush Sr. owns land in the Chaco region of Paraguay, in Paso de Patria. Acosta says that rumor has it that Bush owns near to 70 thousand hectares (173,000 acres) as part of an ecological reserve and/or ranch. However, the governor said he had no documents to prove the rumor.-
Prensa Latina, writing on October 13, gives a similar story but names George W. Bush rather than his father:..ETC
http://www.politicalcortex.com/print/2006/10/14/11926/843
NY Daily News: THOMAS M. DEFRANK: One proud Poppy ... but
W follies mar legacy, ex-Prez's aides gripe
Indeed, one of the worst-kept secrets in Bush World is the dismay, in some cases disdain, harbored by many senior aides of the former President toward the administration of his son - 41 and 43, as many call them, political shorthand that refers to their numerical places in American presidential history...
"Forty-three has now repudiated everything 41 stands for, and still he won't say a word," a key member of the elder Bush alumni said. "Personally, I think he's dying inside."...
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/461894p-388588c.html
READ ALL: E&P: Kentucky Paper Probes McConnell -- But Will Return Research Money
By E&P Staff and the Associated Press
A six-month examination of U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell's career by the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader, based on thousands of documents and scores of interviews, "shows the nexus between his actions and his donors' agendas," the paper concludes in a major report today. "He pushes the government to help cigarette makers, Las Vegas casinos, the pharmaceutical industry, credit card lenders, coal mine owners and others...
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003254918
Boston Herald: Casey Ross: Feds want to know: Did Mitt check tunnel?
Federal officials are probing scathing allegations that the Romney administration falsely claimed to conduct safety inspections in the Big Dig tunnel that collapsed and killed a woman in July.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is zeroing in on state financial documents from 2005 - cited in a new report by state Inspector General Gregory Sullivan - indicating that Gov. Mitt Romney was reviewing the safety of the Big Dig, when in fact the administration was only checking leaks in the Interstate 93 tunnel...
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=162187
UK Times: Sarah Baxter: Mitt, the rising star, catches Thatcher vote
IN an essential rite of passage for American politicians, Mitt Romney was ushered into the presence of Baroness Thatcher at a Washington think tank last month. If not quite an official anointing, the handshake and chat with so venerable a figure was an unmistakable sign to conservatives that he was “one of us”.
The improbably handsome right-wing governor of left-wing Massachusetts is generating enormous buzz as the conservative with the best chance of beating the independent-minded Senator John McCain for the 2008 Republican nomination. When his term in office expires in January, Romney is expected to throw himself helter-skelter into the presidential race...
Laura Ingraham, the popular conservative talk show host, recalled how the smooth Romney had rung to sympathise after she announced that her dog Troy had gone missing. “He’s the man,” she said approvingly.
Jeb Bush, the governor of Florida and a favourite with the right, said last week Romney would be a “formidable” candidate...
Romney is pioneering a market-based system for universal healthcare in his home state that he believes easily trumps Hillary Clinton’s botched proposal when she was first lady. “The first difference between hers and mine is that mine got voted in,” he said tartly.
On abortion, he has switched to being pro-life (some question his sincerity) and opposes gay marriage, which the courts have permitted in Massachusetts. He is also tough on immigration and hawkish on national security.
“We’re under attack by jihadists,” Romney said. “They’re not simply a band of lunatics in the hills of Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is a worldwide effort by a small slice of Islam to subjugate all the nations of Islam to a caliphate.”
Romney defended Bush’s new laws regarding the treatment of terrorist suspects last month, but criticised him for allowing the former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami to visit America.
He has spent time recently with Paul Bremer, the former head of the provisional coalition authority, and other Iraq experts. Mistakes were made, he freely admitted, but the Iraqi government had to be given more time to establish security.
“When that is achieved” — he did not say by 2008, but he must be hoping — “there will be a relatively rapid withdrawal.” ..
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2404312,00.html
LAT: Call of the West: Rein In the Judges
Conservative ballot measures in many states would check judicial power. South Dakotans seek a right to sue jurists, Montanans to recall.
By Stephanie Simon
DENVER — Judges across several Western states could soon face new limits on their authority and threats to their independence, as conservatives campaign for ballot measures that aim to rein in what they describe as "runaway courts."...
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-judges15oct15,0,7024224.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Times-Union: Questionable justice during 'terror sting' trial
In his instructions prior to closing arguments in the Albany "terror sting" case (pizza shop owner allegedly agrees to launder money for missile sale to terrorists; such "contract" allegedly witnessed by local imam), U.S. District Judge Thomas McAvoy told the jurors that the FBI's "certain valid suspicions" about the defendants had prompted the federal sting.
However, under the current regulations, jurors could neither hear nor consider the evidence that prompted the sting operation in the first place; the validity of the FBI's "suspicions" must be taken on faith...
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=525539&category=OPINION&newsdate=10/15/2006
WP: Reuters: Doubts over Iraq drive a volatile U.S. campaign
By John Whitesides
While a Capitol Hill sex scandal shook up Republicans and President George W. Bush's sinking popularity is weighing them down, public concern over Iraq is the dominant factor driving voters toward Democrats in the November 7 election...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/15/AR2006101500197.html
READ ALL: AP: Tom Raum: Bush keeps revising war justification
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061014/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_iraq
Reuters: Britons back army chief on pulling out of Iraq-poll
In an ICM telephone poll for the Sunday Express newspaper, 74 percent of those questioned agreed with Dannatt...
Some called for him to be sacked while others welcomed the fact that he had spoken out...
But in the ICM/Express poll, 71 percent of Britons said Dannatt should not be sacked...
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L15415165.htm
UK Observer: How army chief staged No 10 ambush
General Sir Richard Dannatt, new head of the army, knew what he was doing when he lit the touchpaper during an interview with a concerned mother. Mark Townsend and Ned Temko examine what happened next
A poll on an army website asking users whether Dannatt's comments were right or wrong offers corroboration. By midday yesterday, 97 per cent believed their general was right or practically right with his assessment. No one deemed him wrong. The tone of the entries ranged widely, but the message was unmistakable...
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,1922879,00.html
UK Observer: Army fears over troop levels
Military planners were concerned that the renewed Afghan mission would mean forces would have to be pulled out of Iraq
Ned Temko and Mark Townsend
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,1922912,00.html
thinkprogress: Hagel: ‘We Need To Find A New Strategy, A Way Out Of Iraq’
Today on CNN’s Late Edition, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) delivered a blistering critique of the Bush administration’s Iraq policy.
Hagel said, “The American people are not going to continue to support, sustain a policy that puts American troops in the middle of a civil war.” He added, “So we need to find a new strategy, a way out of Iraq, because the entire Middle East, Wolf, is more combustible than it’s been probably since 1948, and more dangerous, and we’re in the middle of it.” Watch it:
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/10/15/hagel-out-of-iraq/
Lack of confidence in Maliki government grows
By Nancy A. Youssef
McClatchy Newspapers
No one knows precisely how many committees have been formed - one estimate puts the number at 400. Yet only one committee has brought its findings to the parliament.
That lack of action is eroding Iraqi citizens' and U.S. officials' confidence that Maliki's government will be able to address the problems that plague this country, a development that would leave the U.S. with virtually no policy alternative...
According to the interior minister, the government is issuing 15,000 passports a week, many to residents who say they're desperate to flee; school populations have dropped; and some Iraqi neighborhoods have become so sectarian that some areas are divided up street by street. Services, such as electricity, haven't improved...
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/15754382.htm
Antiwar: Sunday Violence Leaves 88 Iraqis Dead; 6 US Soldiers Dead in Weekend Attacks
http://www.antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=9866
UK Times: Iraqis call for five-man junta to end the anarchy
Marie Colvin
The proposal, which is being widely discussed in political and intelligence circles in Baghdad, is to replace the Shi’ite-led government of Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, with a regime capable of imposing order and confronting the sectarian militias leading the country to the brink of civil war. Dr Saleh al-Mutlak, a prominent Sunni politician, travelled to Arab capitals last week seeking support for the replacement of the present government with a group of five strongmen who would impose martial law and either dissolve parliament or halt its participation in day-to-day government...
“The only person who can undertake a coup in Iraq now is General George Casey (the US commander) and I don’t think the Americans are inclined to go in that direction,” said Ahmed Chalabi, head of a rival political party.
Any suspension of the democratic process would be regarded as a severe blow to American and British policy...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-2404311,00.html
Courier Post: Letter: Out of control
Saddam Hussein and his cabinet members should be released from prison and restored as the leaders of Iraq, as they were before we invaded the country. Then, we should bring our troops home.
Under Saddam, the people of Iraq had water, electricity, jobs, and no one was going around as suicide bombers blowing up public places and killing bystanders daily...
After four years in Iraq, we are the most hated people in that country, and the same thing goes for in Afghanistan, where the Taliban are regaining all that was lost. And President Bush tells us everything is under control.
EDWARD KOCHANIEWICZ, Berlin Borough
http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061015/OPINION/610150337/1047
Newshounds: FOXNews.Com Hides Unfavorable Poll Results About Bush And Iraq
Reported by Ellen
A FOX News poll conducted October 10-11 shows some seriously bad news for President Bush: 49% think Bush intentionally misled the country about WMD's in Iraq (44% think he provided Americans with the best prewar intelligence); 66% think Republicans try to make the war in Iraq seem like it's going better than it really is; 73% think it's time Iraqis take on the burden of securing their own country and let the US troops start coming home; 41% think we should end involvement in Iraq, as opposed to 39% who think it should be continued. But you won't find any of that information on the FOX News poll homepage...ETC
http://www.newshounds.us/2006/10/15/foxnewscom_hides_unfavorable_poll_results_about_bush_and_iraq.php
VIDEO: Crooks & Liars: What about all those purple fingers?
By: John Amato
David Brooks has incredible access to the White House so when he said this shocker on "The Chris Matthews Show," I believed him. Bush is thinking about replacing the entire Iraq government. I kid you not...
"..One of those options is trying to replace the current government which seems to be doing nothing"
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/10/15/what-about-all-those-purple-fingers/
Jerusalem Post: AP Cairo: Iraq: Group claims establishment of Islamic state
The Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of insurgent groups in Iraq, said the new state was made up of six provinces including Baghdad that have large Sunni populations and parts of two other southern provinces that are predominantly Shiite...
The man in the eight minute video, which was posted on a Web site commonly used by insurgents, wore a traditional Arab robe and had his face blocked out by a white circle.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1159193445929&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
12 Oct: ArabLinksBlog: Iraqi federalism vote: Behind the contradictory numbers
The Iraqi parliament voted (Wednesday, October 11) 140 to nothing, in a more-or-less routine vote, to approve the federalism-procedures bill. Or did they? The New York Times said so. But the Iraqi paper Azzaman said the vote was 138 to nothing, the figure representing exactly one-half of the membership (275) plus one, moreover it said a lot of people thought there was something funny about the vote. Al-Mada, another Baghdad paper, agrees with Azzaman on both points. The pan-Arab al-Hayat, another standard source, says the vote was 148 on the yea side, out of 175 attending. And yes, says al-Hayat, there were indeed complaints about how it was done, quoting the leader of one of the opposition groups who said the whole procedure was a put-up job (mu'amara)...
Al-Mada provides the only real leg-up for understanding this. Their reporter says Parliament Speaker Mashhadani ordered everyone but the parliamentarians themselves out of the chamber before the vote, including the members' staff; and he ordered the direct electronic transmission to the outside to be cut, creating a hermetically sealed environment for the voting. So journalists certainly didn't get a chance to count the votes. Why there wasn't at least an official tally afterwards, perhaps no one can tell us...
Who voted (for the bill) and who didn't (by boycotting the session)? Reidar Visser, the meticulous authority people turn to in cases like this, describes the boycotters of the bill as follows:
"The boycott was largely inter-sectarian and Iraqi nationalist: it united all the Sunni parties of both secularist and Islamist colours and Shiite nationalist–Islamists, primarily supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr, as well as the Fadila. At least one Turkmen representative also joined the main group of active boycotters, whose combined parliamentary strength is around 105 seats...
The principal backers of the bill were the Kurdish parties and the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), who together account for 88 seats. The balance of some 50 seats is believed to have come at least partly from Iyad Allawi’s secularist alliance of 25 representatives – whose principal figures reportedly took part in the vote (Hamid Musa, Mahdi al-Hafiz, Wail Abd al-Latif, Safiyya al-Suhayl and Mufid al-Jazairi have all been specifically mentioned). The remaining votes that were required – perhaps between 30 and 40 (an unspecified number of Allawi supporters protested against their leaders and stayed away from the vote) – must have come primarily from the “grey” middle segment of the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), the 54 or so deputies who are neither SCIRI nor Sadrist and label themselves “independents” or come from one of the two main Daawa factions..."
At the very least it is worth emphasizing Visser's main point (or one of them anyway), namely that the core of the opposition came from groups that had stayed in Iraq to resist the Saddam regime, while the proponents were by and large from the exile groups...
My point is that NYT reporting of this as a routine vote and another small step in the right direction, is about as misleading as it can be...
http://arablinks.blogspot.com/2006/10/iraqi-federalism-vote-behind.html
Huffington Post: VIDEO: NBC's Mitchell: George And Laura Bush Are "Really Angry" At Fmr. Chief Of Staff Andy Card "For Telling The Truth" To Bob Woodward...
During the "scoops" segment of the show, Mitchell revealed that although Andy Card flew down to attend the christening of the George H. Bush carrier, it was at the request of the senior President Bush. George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush are still "really angry" at Card for speaking to Bob Woodward for his new book State of Denial. Woodward interrupted Mitchell to add that they were angry at Card for "Telling the truth," and Mitchell agreed...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2006/10/15/nbcs-mitchell-george-an_n_31738.html
News.com: 'Voluntary' national service plan
SCHOOL leavers will be offered a year of voluntary national service in the armed forces as part of a new $1 billion recruitment plan.
The Howard Government has rejected conscription, opting instead for "voluntary" national service.
Defence Minister Dr Brendan Nelson will today announce the new policy to recruit up to 1000 young men and women a year into a special "first year out of school" program, beginning in 2008...
They will be offered places mostly in the army, but also in the RAAF and RAN.
Dr Nelson said it was unlikely they would be deployed in action.
But he said they might be sent abroad for logistical or supply jobs that were not directly in the line of fire...
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20582297-2,00.html
News.com: Ben Packham: Make it compulsory, say nashos
The association's national president, Earle Jennings, said support for the initiative was sure to outstrip demand, demonstrating the viability of a fully fledged national service scheme.
"The National Servicemen's Association believes that young Australians are much more aware of the threats to Australia than many old Cold War warriors," he said.
"They would be ready to stand up for Australia rather than sit down in the streets." ..
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20586873-661,00.html
News.com: Glenn Milne: Uncle Brendan needs you
Would you spend a year in National Service after leaving school? Share your thoughts in the comments box below.
COMMENT 31: Rhys: I'm a 17 year old, graduating year 12 in a few weeks, with the intent of taking a gap year next year. i think that this National service idea is great. i would not only assist in the recruitment crisis, but would also enable numbers of school leavers to obtain full time employment in a good work place environment, between the end of their schooling lives and the rest of their careers - wether that be university or permanent full time employment. personally if the porgram starts up next i'll say "Where do i sign?".
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,20581525-948,00.html
LATEST: News.com: Army chief admits recruitment decline
Army chief Lieutenant-General Peter Leahy has told the ABC's Four Corners program that recruiting numbers have now stalled.
The interview, which will air tonight, was recorded prior to Defence Minister Brendan Nelson announcing his plans to persuade high school graduates considering a gap year to join the defence force instead of going backpacking or volunteering abroad...
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute's Mark Thomson told the ABC the army was overstretched, with commitments in Afghanistan and Iraq that were unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.
He said future policy should have a high focus on areas close to home and "one global operation at a time sounds like a good idea"...
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20588017-5005961,00.html
SF Chronicle: Two ordered not to talk about alleged Guantanamo abuse
By MIRANDA LEITSINGER, Associated Press
A paralegal and a military lawyer who brought forward allegations about prisoner abuse at the Guantanamo Bay detention center have been ordered not to speak with the press about their accusations, lawyers who work with the pair said...
Reached by telephone, Vokey declined to comment, saying, "I can't even talk about it." When asked if he was going to abide by the order for the time being, he said, "yes."
Cerveny, reached by telephone late Saturday, said she disagreed with the order but also would abide it. She declined to comment further...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/10/14/state/n180758D91.DTL
ABC Australia: PM backs nuclear power industry for Australia
"In an age where we're worried about global warming we should be looking seriously at nuclear power as an option, because it's clean and it doesn't emit greenhouse gases and I can't understand why the extreme Greenies oppose it," he said.
The Prime Ministerial task force into uranium and nuclear energy is due to release its draft report next month and its final document is expected at the end of the year.
Meanwhile, more than 400 experts from around the world will be at a nuclear energy conference in Sydney today.
Government and industry representatives from 30 countries including Russia, China and Korea will attend the Pacific Basin conference...
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200610/s1765281.htm
LAT: A New Global Nuclear Order
North Korea ... Iran ... and the list is growing. The treaty that once limited the spread of atomic weapons know-how is unraveling.
By Alissa J. Rubin
Times staff writers Douglas Frantz in Los Angeles and Bruce Wallace in Tokyo contributed to this report.
Three countries — India, Pakistan and Israel — refused to sign the treaty. Pakistan and India have developed nuclear weapons, and Israel is thought to have them.
All three enjoy the favor and respect of world leaders, setting an example of what countries can get when they acquire nuclear weapons...
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-nukes15oct15,0,3389816.story?coll=la-home-headlines
UK Observer: Human rights concerns fail to staunch flow of UK arms
China tops list with £70m of exports in one year as military sales soar to blacklisted regimes
Antony Barnett
The British government is exporting record levels of military equipment to 19 of the 20 states its own ministers and officials have just identified as 'major countries of concern' for human rights abuses.
The 20 countries were listed in the Foreign Office's annual Human Rights Report, which was launched by the Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett, last week. They include China, Burma, North Korea, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Zimbabwe...
Other countries whose human rights records concern the Foreign Office, but which still receive arms exports from the UK, include Colombia, Saudi Arabia and Russia..
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1922775,00.html
(NO ISRAEL?)
AFP: UK: Police want spy planes to fight anti-social behaviour
A police force is considering using unmanned aerial surveillance drones to fly over troubled local council housing estates to help tackle anti-social behaviour in respective areas.
The police force for Merseyside, in western England, has formed a new Anti-Social Behaviour Task Force which will have a budget of one million pounds (1.85 million dollars, 1.5 million euros), and a staff of 137, drawn from both the local police and fire services, The Sunday Telegraph reported...
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/10/15/061015093636.r5gmx8lm.html
UK Observer: Cabinet split over new rights for gays
· Blair backs Ruth Kelly in church row
· Faith schools seek equality opt-out
Gaby Hinsliff
The cabinet is in open warfare over new gay rights legislation after Tony Blair and Ruth Kelly, the Communities Secretary, who is a devout Catholic, blocked the plans following protests from religious organisations...
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,1922914,00.html
???WP: Reuters: Ecuador presidential vote may head to run-off
By Patrick Markey
A Cedatos Gallup poll showed Noboa with 27.2 percent of votes and Correa with 25.4 percent after first round voting while a Informe Confidencial showed Noboa with 28.5 percent of votes and Correa with 26.5 percent...
Mobbed by supporters chanting "Correa for president," the candidate denounced voting irregularities he said may alter the results, although observers from the Organization of American States said voting had mostly proceeded without problems...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/15/AR2006101500229.html
(THIS URL WAS ORIGINALLY: Leftist edges over populist tycoon in Ecuador vote - Washington Post)
FT: Banana magnate takes lead in Ecuador poll
By Hal Weitzman in Quito
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/66f760ac-5c6f-11db-9e7e-0000779e2340.html
(THIS URL WAS ORIGINALLY: Chavez ally leads in Ecuador election
Financial Times, UK - 5 hours ago)
EARLIER: LAT: Shades of Chavez in Ecuador's Front-Runner
Polls show voters in today's election leaning toward Rafael Correa, whose reformist bent and anti-U.S. rhetoric worry some analysts.
By Chris Kraul
An audacious South American politician has made an unflattering comparison between President Bush and the devil, threatened to nationalize oil production and expressed his commitment to popular revolution. And it's not Hugo Chavez.
The rhetoric of Rafael Correa, the favorite in today's presidential election here, could pass for that of Chavez, the Venezuelan leader. Correa, a 43-year-old U.S.-educated economist, has struck a stridently anti-U.S. tone in a campaign in which he has come from nowhere in the polls three months ago to assume a commanding lead...
Correa has also promised not to renew the deal expiring in 2009 by which Ecuador leases space at its Manta military base to the United States to launch anti-narcotics overflights. The U.S. has up to 300 military and nonuniformed personnel based at Manta, as well as eight AWACS and other aircraft.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-ecuador15oct15,0,4009566.story?coll=la-home-world
EARLIER: Even before vote, Correa looks beyond Ecuador
Front-runner is critical of Bush, has ties to Chavez
Juan Forero
He said he would renegotiate existing contracts with foreign oil companies and did not rule out defaulting on Ecuador's $10 billion debt if social needs outweigh the country's servicing obligations. His advisers have warned that a Correa government would be tough on foreign companies and multilateral lenders.
"Here, the rule of law and the Constitution are constantly being broken by the mafias and some transnational companies," the candidate said. "The transnationals of the north will have to obey the law."
Correa has 31 percent of the vote, leading his nearest rival, the banana tycoon Alvaro Noboa, by six points, a Cedatos Gallup poll showed Saturday. To win in the first round, Correa needs to garner 40 percent of valid votes, which means blank or voided ballots will be excluded, while finishing at least 10 points ahead of the nearest rival. A second round, if needed, would take place Nov. 26...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/10/15/MNGNVLPR4H1.DTL&type=politics
EARLIER: NDTV: Presidential elections begin in Ecuador
The 43-year-old Economist Rafael Correa is surging into the lead as a fresh-faced outsider in what could be the latest gain for Latin America's leftward shift.
http://www.ndtv.com/morenews/showmorestory.asp?slug=Presidential+elections+begin+in+Ecuador&id=94849
WP: Reuters: Brazil's Lula commands big lead in election race
By Peter Blackburn
A survey by polling firm Ibope showed Lula with a 14-point advantage over former Sao Paulo Gov. Geraldo Alckmin, while a Vox Populi survey gave Lula a 10-point lead before the runoff.
The polls confirmed a Datafolha survey on Wednesday that gave Lula a 12-point lead with 56 percent of valid votes, against Alckmin's 44 percent...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101201644.html
Royal Gazette: Bermuda Police detain Deuss
Millionaire oil tycoon John Deuss was last night in custody after Police on the Island executed a warrant for his arrest.
Detectives had been hunting for the 64-year-old – wanted for questioning in Europe on suspicion of money laundering, handling stolen property and being in charge of a criminal organisation – since the warrant was granted by a Bermudian magistrate on October 2...
The Dutch businessman, a long-term resident of Bermuda, resigned from the board of BCB last week, along with his sister Tineke, a director, and president Timothy Ulrich, after another of his businesses, Caribbean-based First Curacao International Bank (FCIB), was shut down by authorities in Europe...
http://www.theroyalgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061014/NEWS/110140183
Fin24: 'Apartheid oil supplier' nabbed
Deuss supplied the South African apartheid regime with oil in the 1980s. He has also traded in Russian oil, before and after the collapse of the Soviet Union...
http://www.fin24.co.za/articles/companies/display_article.aspx?Nav=ns&lvl2=comp&ArticleID=1518-1783_2013844
IHT: AP: Dominican investigators: Pilot in crash that killed tycoon was experienced, showed no sign of intoxication
There have been 60 accidents — not including Wednesday's — involving the R44 since production began in 1993, including eight fatal accidents that killed 14 people this year, according to statistics from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.
One of those occurred Sunday in Sumner, Washington, when a helicopter spun out of control and crashed into a lake, killing the pilot and seriously injuring a passenger, according to the NTSB's preliminary report.
California-based Robinson Helicopter Co., which has sold about 3,000 of the aircraft, sent a representative to assist in the investigation, said Kurt Robinson, the company's vice president for product support. The NTSB was also assisting, De la Rosa said...
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/14/news/CB_GEN_Dominican_Helicopter_Crash.php
Haaretz: Police advise against charging accuser with blackmail
Police investigators recommend charging Katsav with rape and fraud
By Jonathan Lis and Yuval Yoaz
The police team investigating allegations against President Moshe Katsav on Sunday recommended that the president be charged with rape, sexual assault, eavesdropping, fraud, breach of trust and improprieties in gift distribution.
The investigators presented their findings and recommendations for indictment to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz and senior officials in the State Prosecutor's office, and said they had consolidated enough evidence to try the president.
The police also revealed Sunday that the president is suspected of purchasing dozens of gifts at hundreds of shekels apiece with money taken from the President's Residence budget. The police said there was evidence of intention to "carry out crimes of fraud and breach of trust."..
The most serious charge Katsav could face is for the alleged rape of two women...
Investigators also said Sunday that their examination of the case was not entirely completed, adding that they planned to question Katsav further.
Katsav's attorney, Zion Amir, said in response that the police's recommendations had no legal validity, as only the State Prosecutor could decide whether to indict the president...
Attorney Yossi Fuchs on Sunday demanded the High Court of Justice order Katsav to resign, if for the president's own benefit, until the state decides whether or not to indict him. Fuchs also requested an temporary injunction be issued preventing Katsav from participating on the opening of the Knesset's winter session on Monday.
President Moshe Katsav will attend the opening of the winter session, but will not address the forum, his brother told Israel Radio on Sunday...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/774636.html
Uri Avnery: The Great Experiment
IS IT possible to force a whole people to submit to foreign occupation by starving it?
That is, certainly, an interesting question. So interesting, indeed, that the governments of Israel and the United States, in close cooperation with Europe, are now engaged in a rigorous scientific experiment in order to obtain a definitive answer.
The laboratory for the experiment is the Gaza Strip, and the guinea pigs are the million and a quarter Palestinians living there. ..
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15306.htm
Haaretz: FM calls envoy back after controversial remarks on Asians
By Charlotte Halle
"I can't tell you how sensitive these things are here," said a senior member of Sydney's Jewish community, referring to Ambassador Naftali Tamir's description of Asians as having "yellow skin" and "slanted eyes." The source added that the comments were the hot topic at both the synagogues he attended over the Simhat Torah holiday, which falls a day later in locales outside of Israel...
The key concern of the Jewish community, the source in Sydney explained, was that the broad coverage of the comments in the Australian press would fuel those who charge that Israel is a racist state and that the Australian government is erring in its overtly pro-Israel position. He added that while the comments were considered offensive and embarrassing, the community would "rally around [the ambassador]," while distancing itself from the sentiments...
The Australian government refused to comment following an inquiry from Haaretz, but Sunday's Sydney Morning Herald quoted opposition foreign affairs spokesman, Kevin Rudd, as saying: "If accurate, these comments are completely unacceptable." ..
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/775077.html
READ ALL: AP: 1 Man Still Locked Up From 9/11 Sweeps
In a jail cell at an immigration detention center in Arizona sits a man who is not charged with a crime, not suspected of a crime, not considered a danger to society.
But he has been in custody for five years.
His name is Ali Partovi. And according to the Department of Homeland Security, he is the last to be held of about 1,200 Arab and Muslim men swept up by authorities in the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
There has been no full accounting of all of these individuals...
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20061015/D8KONLJ80.html
????UK Observer: London bomber's suicide video is 'linked to traitor'
Californian masterminded al-Qaeda propaganda, claim terrorism experts
Jamie Doward
British intelligence believes Gadahn produced a 31-minute video featuring 7 July bomber, Shehzad Tanweer, extracts of which were released by Arab satellite station al-Jazeera earlier this year on the anniversary of the London bombings...
Gadahn is believed to have been responsible for cutting the footage of Tanweer to make his 'martyr's will', although a study of the full video suggests he struggled with the task.
In clips towards the end of the tape, which have not been broadcast by Western media but have been obtained by The Observer, Tanweer is seen becoming increasingly agitated. Stumbling over a script that appears to have been written for him, he is seen to take deep breaths as he points a finger at the camera.
Tanweer - thought to have been filmed several months before carrying out his bombing mission - finds reading passages of his will difficult, tripping over the sentences and repeating words...
'The likes of Tanweer may not be the sharpest tacks in the box,' said Josh Devon, senior analyst with think-tank Search for International Terrorist Entities (SITE), which monitors Islamic fundamentalist media. 'This is a guy reading a script; you don't get to say some of the things Tanweer said without coming into contact with senior Koranic scholars.'..
The video, one of hundreds produced by al-Sahab, al-Qaeda's video production unit and downloaded by sympathisers across the globe, includes extracts of speeches by Osama bin Laden, radical cleric Ayman al-Zawahiri and the now dead terrorist, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
An unidentified narrator emphasises a key al-Qaeda message: that Tanweer, like all suicide bombers, wanted to become a martyr because of his love of Allah, not because of 'poverty, unemployment and emptiness as some of the mercenary media try to portray it to us'...
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1922856,00.html
(MORE REASON TO BELIEVE TANWEER WAS PICKED UP ON 7/7 AND FORCED TO READ THIS SCRIPT??)
TheNewsPak: ‘Madrid bombings mastermind imprisoned in secret CIA jail’
MADRID: A suspected al Qaeda leader, accused of being involved in Sept 11 and planning the 2004 Madrid train bombings, has been imprisoned in a secret US jail for the past year, Spain’s El Pais newspaper reported on Sunday.
Mustafa Setmarian, 48, a Syrian with Spanish citizenship, was captured in Pakistan in Oct 2005 and is held in a prison operated by the US Central Intelligence Agency, Pakistani and European security service officials told El Pais.
A spokesman for the US embassy in Spain declined to comment on the report. Setmarian’s 2005 capture was reported in May of this year after the United States put a $5 million bounty on the head of the alleged founder of al Qaeda’s Spanish network.
A photograph of the red-haired Setmarian has been removed from the US Federal Bureau of Intelligence’s most-wanted Web page. Pakistan has not answered requests from Madrid about the whereabouts of Setmarian, wanted in Spain for allegedly training Sept 11 hijackers in Afghanistan and ordering Madrid commuter train attacks that killed 191 people, according to El Pais.
Spain’s high court is unable to request his extradition as he has not been officially imprisoned, the newspaper reported. Spanish high court officials were not immediately available to comment. Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon in June complained US officials were concealing information on his whereabouts.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=3692
READ ALL: UK Times: Muslims are the new Jews
India Knight
Especially since July 7, it has become acceptable to say the most ignorant, degrading things about Islam. And then we all sit around wondering why young Muslim men appear to be getting angrier and more politicised, or why “westernised” young Muslim women whose mothers go bare-headed are suddenly, defiantly, opting for the full-on niqab-style veil that leaves only a slit for the eyes...ETC
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2088-2404281,00.html
Huffington Post: Nora Ephron: Moneychangeseverything.com
Does money change everything? It must, or there wouldn't be a song that says so. But I couldn't help thinking so this morning, because I went to hear Nathan Myrvold, the former Microsoft genius-prognosticator, and Marissa Mayer, the Google goddess, be interviewed about the future by the New Yorker's Ken Auletta. "We're going to peer over the horizon," Auletta said, and got right to the point: What did Myrvold think about the YouTube deal?
Myrvold replied: "The only way to know if a deal is good or bad is in retrospect."
I couldn't believe it. This is the answer to a question from a futurist?From a provocateur? I mean, obviously. Obviously the only way to know if a deal is good or bad is in retrospect, but that's not the way the world works. That's not the Nathan Myrvold I went to see. What's going on?..ETC
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nora-ephron/moneychangeseverythingco_b_31629.html
thinkprogress: Chris Wallace Ignores 20,000 Emails Demanding He Ask Rice About The U.S.S. Cole
More than 20,000 people emailed Chris Wallace and demanded he ask Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice this question today:
-Prior to 9/11, you had eight months to respond to the al-Qaeda attack on the U.S.S. Cole. Why didn’t the Bush administration take action and put al-Qaeda out of business?-
Wallace didn’t ask the question or any question on the topic. It’s the twenty-fourth time Rice has been on Fox News Sunday since 9/11 without being asked about the U.S.S. Cole. ..
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/10/15/wallace-ignores-emails/
Springfield State Journal Register: CHRIS WETTERICH: Study: Local TV newscasts give elections about 21 seconds
The study measured election coverage at the ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox affiliates in the largest media market and the state capital in Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinois and Minnesota...
They divided the time on each newscast into the categories. Advertising, sports and weather, crime, other, local interest, teasers or intros, non-campaign government news, health and business news all beat out election coverage in terms of time devoted to each subject.
The only items newscasts spent less time on was foreign policy and "unintentional injury."..
http://www.sj-r.com/sections/news/stories/98100.asp
Badger Herald: ourtney Johnson: News broadcasts fail to deliver, study says
The average Midwestern television news broadcast devotes 36 seconds to election coverage during a 30-minute newscast, according to a new University of Wisconsin study released Thursday...
“TV is acting as if it’s allergic to democracy,” said Mike McCabe, executive director for the political watchdog group the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. “Democracy is being treated as a non-story, and that’s a horrible message to send to a public in a democratic society.”
The study was funded by the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation, which is also a sponsor of the WDC...
In addition, results of the study show local broadcasts give more airtime to teasers and promos for upcoming stories than to politics. Typical early- and late-evening 30-minute news broadcasts also contain more than 10 minutes of advertisements...
http://badgerherald.com/news/2006/10/13/news_broadcasts_fail.php
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South Korea Herald: N.K. test yet to be confirmed
But South Korea and Japan have not confirmed neighboring North Korea's claim that it detonated its first nuclear weapon, officials from both countries said Saturday.
Japan has still detected no unusual radiation traces, said Hiroshi Tsuboi, an official with the Japanese government's radiation task force.
South Korean presidential spokesman Yoon Tai-young said that his country had not confirmed an atomic blast took place, but was informed by U.S. intelligence authorities of their results..
He said that the response to the blast would largely be the same whether the test is proven or not.
, because Seoul had mapped out its countermeasures "with all possibilities in mind."
"Until we reach a final conclusion that North Korea's nuclear test was indeed genuine, we should be open to various and comprehensive judgments," spokesman Yoon said Saturday.
In Japan, an ongoing survey of radiation levels in the air, on the ground and in rainfall found nothing unusual as of Saturday morning, said Tsuboi.
Japan has been flying aircraft between Japan and the Korean Peninsula to monitor for radiation.
South Korea will soon be able to more accurately identify the site of North Korea's claimed nuclear test, a researcher said Saturday.
"As the neighboring countries agreed to provide their data on the recorded seismic movements (from the North's alleged nuclear test), we expect to be able to accurately report the site of the explosion in the North," said Ji Hun-chul, head of the earthquake research center at the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources.
The South Korean institute initially pointed out a remote mountain area in Poonggye-ri on the northeastern tip of the communist North as a possible test site, but with uncertainty. ..ETC
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2006/10/16/200610160037.asp
UK Herald: US spies were wrong about Korea
The briefings which cast doubt on Pyongyang's capabilities were filtered from data obtained by all US clandestine agencies and turned into a background memo in the office of John Negroponte, director of national intelligence...
Japanese aircraft scouring the test area last night reported no sign of the typically raised levels of airborne radiation which accompany even underground nuclear tests. Many Western experts think the device detonated in old mineworkings on Monday was either a partial failure, involving only part of its intended explosive yield, or a small bomb designed to conserve stocks of plutonium for future weapons.
Sniffer devices on US military aircraft operating out of Japan are scanning for traces of cobalt and caesium which would confirm a nuclear blast.
US forces have meanwhile moved 24 Patriot missiles to protect a base on the Japanese island of Okinawa.
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/72055-print.shtml
Hanooki: ‘US Unlikely to Redeploy Nukes in South’
By Jung Sung-ki
Washington is unlikely to re-deploy tactical nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula to deter North Korea's nuclear threat largely because of its goal of denuclearizing the peninsula, the Washington Post reported Saturday...
Defense analysts also said the U.S. government is expected to provide a stronger nuclear umbrella to Seoul rather than re-deploying nuclear weapons on the peninsula, which would fan a nuclear arms race among countries like South Korea, Japan and Taiwan...ETC
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200610/kt2006101517410310440.htm
Hanooki: US Most Responsible for Nuclear Test: Poll
Forty-three percent of the respondents aged over 19 picked the United States as the country most responsible for the North’s nuclear test...
North Korea was chosen as the second most responsible country with 37.2 percent, followed by South Korea with 13.9 percent, China with 2.4 percent and Japan with 1 percent...
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200610/kt2006101517230011990.htm
???UK Sunday Times: China may back coup against Kim
Michael Sheridan, Beijing
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20587473-2703,00.html
2 Pages: READ ALL: Los Angeles Times: Displease a Lobbyist, Get Fired
E-mails show Jack Abramoff's ability to influence White House staffing decisions through his highly placed friends.
By Peter Wallsten
Newly disclosed e-mails suggest that the ax fell after intervention by one of the highest officials at the White House: Ken Mehlman, on behalf of one of the most influential lobbyists in town, Jack Abramoff.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-mehlman15oct15,0,1634103.story?coll=la-home-headlines
WP: Police Find No Report of a Foley Dorm Incident
Witness in Scandal Alleged Then-Congressman Was Detained Outside Pages' Capitol Hill Residence
By Charles Babington and Mary Beth Sheridan
Staff writer Sari Horwitz contributed to this report
"I can't find anything that was written, in the way of a report, that would establish that that did occur," McGaffin said in a telephone interview. "Having said that, I don't know, maybe it occurred and there wasn't a report generated."..
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/13/AR2006101300591_pf.html
READ ALL: Palm Beach Post: Frank Cerabino: What made White House shun Foley?
Within days of Mark Foley getting out of the closet, Gov. Jeb Bush went into the closet.
The closet in Jeb's case was an actual closet in a Pittsburgh subway station. ..
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/local_news/epaper/2006/10/15/s1c_bino_1015.html?imw=Y
Raw Story: Frank Rich: Rich: Outing the Gay Old Party
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Rich_Outing_Gay_Old_Party_1014.html
READ ALL: Bradblog: 'Daily Voting News' For October 14, 2006
In the September Maryland primary the Diebold E-Poll Book failed miserably throughout the state. It seems that when more than 40 names were entered into the machines they tended to crash and require rebooting. When they did crash some voters who had not voted were listed as having voted. In order to fix this problem it is reported that Diebold wrote two software patches and one of their sub-contractors wrote another. These were all installed on Maryland's equipment and tested. There was also a problem with the touch screen part of the E-Poll Book. Touching the screen caused some machines to crash. Diebold reportedly solved this problem by providing the state with over 5,000 'mouses' to replace the touch screen. These machines are part of an Independent Test Authority (ITA) tested and NASED qualified voting system. Until I talked to Sandy Steinbach yesterday, NASED knew nothing about any changes made by Diebold. But, NASED no longer qualifies new modifications or any voting system submitted for testing after July 10. The EAC now does that work. They too knew nothing about those modifications and, in fact, tried to point to NASED as the authority. The questions: Who is minding the store? What happens for other states that are required to have federally certified voting systems and are going to use the E-Poll Book? Will Diebold fix every E-Poll Book that will be used in November or will they try to keep this fix a secret because it has never gotten any federal testing and certification?
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3623
MSNBC: WaPo: Michael Abramowitz: White House upbeat about GOP prospects
Self-assurance of Rove, Bush and others is not shared by many in party
Amid widespread panic in the Republican establishment about the coming midterm elections, there are two people whose confidence about GOP prospects strikes even their closest allies as almost inexplicably upbeat: President Bush and his top political adviser, Karl Rove.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15269153/
Hartford Courant: Mark Pazniokas: Joe Lieberman In No Man's Land
A Longtime Democrat, Now In Opposition, Is In Strange Company
Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, a lifelong Democrat and student of politics, blanked when asked if America would be better off with his party regaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
A Democratic victory would immeasurably boost the influence of two Connecticut friends, U.S. Reps. Rosa L. DeLauro and John B. Larson, and provide a counterbalance to the Republican Senate and White House.
"Uh, I haven't thought about that enough to give an answer," Lieberman said, as though Democrats' strong prospects for recapturing the House hadn't been the fall's top political story.
He was similarly elusive about the race for governor. Is he voting for John DeStefano Jr., a Democrat and mayor of the city where Lieberman has lived since the 1960s?
"I'm, uh, I'm having," he stammered, then laughed and said his decision would remain private...
http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-lieberman1015.artoct15,0,4212964.story?page=1&coll=hc-headlines-home
Counterpunch: How Rahm Emanuel Has Rigged a Pro-War Congress
Election 2006: The Fix is Already In
By JOHN WALSH
You get the picture. If you toe the line for Rahm on the war, the money rains on you like manna from heaven and you are elevated to national celebrity status. But if you are anti-war, Rahm cuts you off at the wallet.
Note that in each of these two cases Emanuel did not pick candidates based on a proven ability to raise money. Nor did he pick them for their ability to win. In Duckworth's case she damned near lost despite the cash infusion, and McNirney did win despite the money that Emanuel funneled to his opponent. Emanuel is not choosing proven fundraisers or winning candidates; he is choosing pro-war candidates...
http://www.counterpunch.com/walsh10142006.html
Forbes: AP: Minnesota Senate Hopefuls Clash on Iraq
"You can't really play Tivo and rewind," said Rep. Mark Kennedy. During a debate on NBC's "Meet the Press," he was whether he would still vote for the war knowing that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction. "We acted on the information we knew at the time. I stand by my vote." ..
Kennedy, a three-term congressman, dismissed that poll in a meeting with reporters after the debate. "This is a single-digit race," he said. Separately, Klobuchar said the "only poll that matters" is on Election Day.
In the debate, Kennedy said Iraq was the top issue in the race and that the war was central to the global fight against terrorism.
He said Klobuchar "has set out a specific timetable for bringing our troops home that would tell the terrorists when they can take over an oil-rich country as a sanctuary for terrorists," Kennedy said.
Klobuchar said she was not pressing for an immediate return of all U.S. troops from Iraq.
"We have to be reasonable," she said. "I have never been one to say 'Bring them all home tomorrow.' I have never subscribed to one of those mandatory dates, because I understand that, despite my opposition to the war from the beginning, that we have to be responsible about how we bring our troops home."
Asked what the U.S. should do if it were to leave Iraq and a full-blown civil war were to erupt, Klobuchar said American troops should be redeployed to surrounding areas so they can come return quickly if needed. She also called for bolstering security in the U.S. ..
http://www.forbes.com/business/healthcare/feeds/ap/2006/10/15/ap3091970.html
12 Oct: NY Daily News Blog: Clinton Equivocates on Torture
Despite her apparent opposition to torture, Hillary Clinton said in a Daily News editorial board meeting yesterday that the practice is acceptable in some circumstances...
http://blogs.nydailynews.com/dailypolitics/archives/2006/10/clinton_on_tort.php
Political Cortex: truthista: Escape to Paraguay? Rumors of Bush Land Deal
At least two sources, including Upsidedownworld and Prensa Latina, report rumors of a Bush family purchase of land in northern Paraguay.
Upsidedownworld writes, on October 11:
- The Governor of Alto Paraguay, Erasmo Rodríguez Acosta has admitted to hearing that George Bush Sr. owns land in the Chaco region of Paraguay, in Paso de Patria. Acosta says that rumor has it that Bush owns near to 70 thousand hectares (173,000 acres) as part of an ecological reserve and/or ranch. However, the governor said he had no documents to prove the rumor.-
Prensa Latina, writing on October 13, gives a similar story but names George W. Bush rather than his father:..ETC
http://www.politicalcortex.com/print/2006/10/14/11926/843
NY Daily News: THOMAS M. DEFRANK: One proud Poppy ... but
W follies mar legacy, ex-Prez's aides gripe
Indeed, one of the worst-kept secrets in Bush World is the dismay, in some cases disdain, harbored by many senior aides of the former President toward the administration of his son - 41 and 43, as many call them, political shorthand that refers to their numerical places in American presidential history...
"Forty-three has now repudiated everything 41 stands for, and still he won't say a word," a key member of the elder Bush alumni said. "Personally, I think he's dying inside."...
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/461894p-388588c.html
READ ALL: E&P: Kentucky Paper Probes McConnell -- But Will Return Research Money
By E&P Staff and the Associated Press
A six-month examination of U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell's career by the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader, based on thousands of documents and scores of interviews, "shows the nexus between his actions and his donors' agendas," the paper concludes in a major report today. "He pushes the government to help cigarette makers, Las Vegas casinos, the pharmaceutical industry, credit card lenders, coal mine owners and others...
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003254918
Boston Herald: Casey Ross: Feds want to know: Did Mitt check tunnel?
Federal officials are probing scathing allegations that the Romney administration falsely claimed to conduct safety inspections in the Big Dig tunnel that collapsed and killed a woman in July.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is zeroing in on state financial documents from 2005 - cited in a new report by state Inspector General Gregory Sullivan - indicating that Gov. Mitt Romney was reviewing the safety of the Big Dig, when in fact the administration was only checking leaks in the Interstate 93 tunnel...
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=162187
UK Times: Sarah Baxter: Mitt, the rising star, catches Thatcher vote
IN an essential rite of passage for American politicians, Mitt Romney was ushered into the presence of Baroness Thatcher at a Washington think tank last month. If not quite an official anointing, the handshake and chat with so venerable a figure was an unmistakable sign to conservatives that he was “one of us”.
The improbably handsome right-wing governor of left-wing Massachusetts is generating enormous buzz as the conservative with the best chance of beating the independent-minded Senator John McCain for the 2008 Republican nomination. When his term in office expires in January, Romney is expected to throw himself helter-skelter into the presidential race...
Laura Ingraham, the popular conservative talk show host, recalled how the smooth Romney had rung to sympathise after she announced that her dog Troy had gone missing. “He’s the man,” she said approvingly.
Jeb Bush, the governor of Florida and a favourite with the right, said last week Romney would be a “formidable” candidate...
Romney is pioneering a market-based system for universal healthcare in his home state that he believes easily trumps Hillary Clinton’s botched proposal when she was first lady. “The first difference between hers and mine is that mine got voted in,” he said tartly.
On abortion, he has switched to being pro-life (some question his sincerity) and opposes gay marriage, which the courts have permitted in Massachusetts. He is also tough on immigration and hawkish on national security.
“We’re under attack by jihadists,” Romney said. “They’re not simply a band of lunatics in the hills of Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is a worldwide effort by a small slice of Islam to subjugate all the nations of Islam to a caliphate.”
Romney defended Bush’s new laws regarding the treatment of terrorist suspects last month, but criticised him for allowing the former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami to visit America.
He has spent time recently with Paul Bremer, the former head of the provisional coalition authority, and other Iraq experts. Mistakes were made, he freely admitted, but the Iraqi government had to be given more time to establish security.
“When that is achieved” — he did not say by 2008, but he must be hoping — “there will be a relatively rapid withdrawal.” ..
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2404312,00.html
LAT: Call of the West: Rein In the Judges
Conservative ballot measures in many states would check judicial power. South Dakotans seek a right to sue jurists, Montanans to recall.
By Stephanie Simon
DENVER — Judges across several Western states could soon face new limits on their authority and threats to their independence, as conservatives campaign for ballot measures that aim to rein in what they describe as "runaway courts."...
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-judges15oct15,0,7024224.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Times-Union: Questionable justice during 'terror sting' trial
In his instructions prior to closing arguments in the Albany "terror sting" case (pizza shop owner allegedly agrees to launder money for missile sale to terrorists; such "contract" allegedly witnessed by local imam), U.S. District Judge Thomas McAvoy told the jurors that the FBI's "certain valid suspicions" about the defendants had prompted the federal sting.
However, under the current regulations, jurors could neither hear nor consider the evidence that prompted the sting operation in the first place; the validity of the FBI's "suspicions" must be taken on faith...
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=525539&category=OPINION&newsdate=10/15/2006
WP: Reuters: Doubts over Iraq drive a volatile U.S. campaign
By John Whitesides
While a Capitol Hill sex scandal shook up Republicans and President George W. Bush's sinking popularity is weighing them down, public concern over Iraq is the dominant factor driving voters toward Democrats in the November 7 election...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/15/AR2006101500197.html
READ ALL: AP: Tom Raum: Bush keeps revising war justification
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061014/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_iraq
Reuters: Britons back army chief on pulling out of Iraq-poll
In an ICM telephone poll for the Sunday Express newspaper, 74 percent of those questioned agreed with Dannatt...
Some called for him to be sacked while others welcomed the fact that he had spoken out...
But in the ICM/Express poll, 71 percent of Britons said Dannatt should not be sacked...
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L15415165.htm
UK Observer: How army chief staged No 10 ambush
General Sir Richard Dannatt, new head of the army, knew what he was doing when he lit the touchpaper during an interview with a concerned mother. Mark Townsend and Ned Temko examine what happened next
A poll on an army website asking users whether Dannatt's comments were right or wrong offers corroboration. By midday yesterday, 97 per cent believed their general was right or practically right with his assessment. No one deemed him wrong. The tone of the entries ranged widely, but the message was unmistakable...
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,1922879,00.html
UK Observer: Army fears over troop levels
Military planners were concerned that the renewed Afghan mission would mean forces would have to be pulled out of Iraq
Ned Temko and Mark Townsend
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,1922912,00.html
thinkprogress: Hagel: ‘We Need To Find A New Strategy, A Way Out Of Iraq’
Today on CNN’s Late Edition, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) delivered a blistering critique of the Bush administration’s Iraq policy.
Hagel said, “The American people are not going to continue to support, sustain a policy that puts American troops in the middle of a civil war.” He added, “So we need to find a new strategy, a way out of Iraq, because the entire Middle East, Wolf, is more combustible than it’s been probably since 1948, and more dangerous, and we’re in the middle of it.” Watch it:
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/10/15/hagel-out-of-iraq/
Lack of confidence in Maliki government grows
By Nancy A. Youssef
McClatchy Newspapers
No one knows precisely how many committees have been formed - one estimate puts the number at 400. Yet only one committee has brought its findings to the parliament.
That lack of action is eroding Iraqi citizens' and U.S. officials' confidence that Maliki's government will be able to address the problems that plague this country, a development that would leave the U.S. with virtually no policy alternative...
According to the interior minister, the government is issuing 15,000 passports a week, many to residents who say they're desperate to flee; school populations have dropped; and some Iraqi neighborhoods have become so sectarian that some areas are divided up street by street. Services, such as electricity, haven't improved...
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/15754382.htm
Antiwar: Sunday Violence Leaves 88 Iraqis Dead; 6 US Soldiers Dead in Weekend Attacks
http://www.antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=9866
UK Times: Iraqis call for five-man junta to end the anarchy
Marie Colvin
The proposal, which is being widely discussed in political and intelligence circles in Baghdad, is to replace the Shi’ite-led government of Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, with a regime capable of imposing order and confronting the sectarian militias leading the country to the brink of civil war. Dr Saleh al-Mutlak, a prominent Sunni politician, travelled to Arab capitals last week seeking support for the replacement of the present government with a group of five strongmen who would impose martial law and either dissolve parliament or halt its participation in day-to-day government...
“The only person who can undertake a coup in Iraq now is General George Casey (the US commander) and I don’t think the Americans are inclined to go in that direction,” said Ahmed Chalabi, head of a rival political party.
Any suspension of the democratic process would be regarded as a severe blow to American and British policy...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-2404311,00.html
Courier Post: Letter: Out of control
Saddam Hussein and his cabinet members should be released from prison and restored as the leaders of Iraq, as they were before we invaded the country. Then, we should bring our troops home.
Under Saddam, the people of Iraq had water, electricity, jobs, and no one was going around as suicide bombers blowing up public places and killing bystanders daily...
After four years in Iraq, we are the most hated people in that country, and the same thing goes for in Afghanistan, where the Taliban are regaining all that was lost. And President Bush tells us everything is under control.
EDWARD KOCHANIEWICZ, Berlin Borough
http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061015/OPINION/610150337/1047
Newshounds: FOXNews.Com Hides Unfavorable Poll Results About Bush And Iraq
Reported by Ellen
A FOX News poll conducted October 10-11 shows some seriously bad news for President Bush: 49% think Bush intentionally misled the country about WMD's in Iraq (44% think he provided Americans with the best prewar intelligence); 66% think Republicans try to make the war in Iraq seem like it's going better than it really is; 73% think it's time Iraqis take on the burden of securing their own country and let the US troops start coming home; 41% think we should end involvement in Iraq, as opposed to 39% who think it should be continued. But you won't find any of that information on the FOX News poll homepage...ETC
http://www.newshounds.us/2006/10/15/foxnewscom_hides_unfavorable_poll_results_about_bush_and_iraq.php
VIDEO: Crooks & Liars: What about all those purple fingers?
By: John Amato
David Brooks has incredible access to the White House so when he said this shocker on "The Chris Matthews Show," I believed him. Bush is thinking about replacing the entire Iraq government. I kid you not...
"..One of those options is trying to replace the current government which seems to be doing nothing"
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/10/15/what-about-all-those-purple-fingers/
Jerusalem Post: AP Cairo: Iraq: Group claims establishment of Islamic state
The Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of insurgent groups in Iraq, said the new state was made up of six provinces including Baghdad that have large Sunni populations and parts of two other southern provinces that are predominantly Shiite...
The man in the eight minute video, which was posted on a Web site commonly used by insurgents, wore a traditional Arab robe and had his face blocked out by a white circle.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1159193445929&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
12 Oct: ArabLinksBlog: Iraqi federalism vote: Behind the contradictory numbers
The Iraqi parliament voted (Wednesday, October 11) 140 to nothing, in a more-or-less routine vote, to approve the federalism-procedures bill. Or did they? The New York Times said so. But the Iraqi paper Azzaman said the vote was 138 to nothing, the figure representing exactly one-half of the membership (275) plus one, moreover it said a lot of people thought there was something funny about the vote. Al-Mada, another Baghdad paper, agrees with Azzaman on both points. The pan-Arab al-Hayat, another standard source, says the vote was 148 on the yea side, out of 175 attending. And yes, says al-Hayat, there were indeed complaints about how it was done, quoting the leader of one of the opposition groups who said the whole procedure was a put-up job (mu'amara)...
Al-Mada provides the only real leg-up for understanding this. Their reporter says Parliament Speaker Mashhadani ordered everyone but the parliamentarians themselves out of the chamber before the vote, including the members' staff; and he ordered the direct electronic transmission to the outside to be cut, creating a hermetically sealed environment for the voting. So journalists certainly didn't get a chance to count the votes. Why there wasn't at least an official tally afterwards, perhaps no one can tell us...
Who voted (for the bill) and who didn't (by boycotting the session)? Reidar Visser, the meticulous authority people turn to in cases like this, describes the boycotters of the bill as follows:
"The boycott was largely inter-sectarian and Iraqi nationalist: it united all the Sunni parties of both secularist and Islamist colours and Shiite nationalist–Islamists, primarily supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr, as well as the Fadila. At least one Turkmen representative also joined the main group of active boycotters, whose combined parliamentary strength is around 105 seats...
The principal backers of the bill were the Kurdish parties and the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), who together account for 88 seats. The balance of some 50 seats is believed to have come at least partly from Iyad Allawi’s secularist alliance of 25 representatives – whose principal figures reportedly took part in the vote (Hamid Musa, Mahdi al-Hafiz, Wail Abd al-Latif, Safiyya al-Suhayl and Mufid al-Jazairi have all been specifically mentioned). The remaining votes that were required – perhaps between 30 and 40 (an unspecified number of Allawi supporters protested against their leaders and stayed away from the vote) – must have come primarily from the “grey” middle segment of the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), the 54 or so deputies who are neither SCIRI nor Sadrist and label themselves “independents” or come from one of the two main Daawa factions..."
At the very least it is worth emphasizing Visser's main point (or one of them anyway), namely that the core of the opposition came from groups that had stayed in Iraq to resist the Saddam regime, while the proponents were by and large from the exile groups...
My point is that NYT reporting of this as a routine vote and another small step in the right direction, is about as misleading as it can be...
http://arablinks.blogspot.com/2006/10/iraqi-federalism-vote-behind.html
Huffington Post: VIDEO: NBC's Mitchell: George And Laura Bush Are "Really Angry" At Fmr. Chief Of Staff Andy Card "For Telling The Truth" To Bob Woodward...
During the "scoops" segment of the show, Mitchell revealed that although Andy Card flew down to attend the christening of the George H. Bush carrier, it was at the request of the senior President Bush. George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush are still "really angry" at Card for speaking to Bob Woodward for his new book State of Denial. Woodward interrupted Mitchell to add that they were angry at Card for "Telling the truth," and Mitchell agreed...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2006/10/15/nbcs-mitchell-george-an_n_31738.html
News.com: 'Voluntary' national service plan
SCHOOL leavers will be offered a year of voluntary national service in the armed forces as part of a new $1 billion recruitment plan.
The Howard Government has rejected conscription, opting instead for "voluntary" national service.
Defence Minister Dr Brendan Nelson will today announce the new policy to recruit up to 1000 young men and women a year into a special "first year out of school" program, beginning in 2008...
They will be offered places mostly in the army, but also in the RAAF and RAN.
Dr Nelson said it was unlikely they would be deployed in action.
But he said they might be sent abroad for logistical or supply jobs that were not directly in the line of fire...
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20582297-2,00.html
News.com: Ben Packham: Make it compulsory, say nashos
The association's national president, Earle Jennings, said support for the initiative was sure to outstrip demand, demonstrating the viability of a fully fledged national service scheme.
"The National Servicemen's Association believes that young Australians are much more aware of the threats to Australia than many old Cold War warriors," he said.
"They would be ready to stand up for Australia rather than sit down in the streets." ..
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20586873-661,00.html
News.com: Glenn Milne: Uncle Brendan needs you
Would you spend a year in National Service after leaving school? Share your thoughts in the comments box below.
COMMENT 31: Rhys: I'm a 17 year old, graduating year 12 in a few weeks, with the intent of taking a gap year next year. i think that this National service idea is great. i would not only assist in the recruitment crisis, but would also enable numbers of school leavers to obtain full time employment in a good work place environment, between the end of their schooling lives and the rest of their careers - wether that be university or permanent full time employment. personally if the porgram starts up next i'll say "Where do i sign?".
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,20581525-948,00.html
LATEST: News.com: Army chief admits recruitment decline
Army chief Lieutenant-General Peter Leahy has told the ABC's Four Corners program that recruiting numbers have now stalled.
The interview, which will air tonight, was recorded prior to Defence Minister Brendan Nelson announcing his plans to persuade high school graduates considering a gap year to join the defence force instead of going backpacking or volunteering abroad...
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute's Mark Thomson told the ABC the army was overstretched, with commitments in Afghanistan and Iraq that were unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.
He said future policy should have a high focus on areas close to home and "one global operation at a time sounds like a good idea"...
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20588017-5005961,00.html
SF Chronicle: Two ordered not to talk about alleged Guantanamo abuse
By MIRANDA LEITSINGER, Associated Press
A paralegal and a military lawyer who brought forward allegations about prisoner abuse at the Guantanamo Bay detention center have been ordered not to speak with the press about their accusations, lawyers who work with the pair said...
Reached by telephone, Vokey declined to comment, saying, "I can't even talk about it." When asked if he was going to abide by the order for the time being, he said, "yes."
Cerveny, reached by telephone late Saturday, said she disagreed with the order but also would abide it. She declined to comment further...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/10/14/state/n180758D91.DTL
ABC Australia: PM backs nuclear power industry for Australia
"In an age where we're worried about global warming we should be looking seriously at nuclear power as an option, because it's clean and it doesn't emit greenhouse gases and I can't understand why the extreme Greenies oppose it," he said.
The Prime Ministerial task force into uranium and nuclear energy is due to release its draft report next month and its final document is expected at the end of the year.
Meanwhile, more than 400 experts from around the world will be at a nuclear energy conference in Sydney today.
Government and industry representatives from 30 countries including Russia, China and Korea will attend the Pacific Basin conference...
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200610/s1765281.htm
LAT: A New Global Nuclear Order
North Korea ... Iran ... and the list is growing. The treaty that once limited the spread of atomic weapons know-how is unraveling.
By Alissa J. Rubin
Times staff writers Douglas Frantz in Los Angeles and Bruce Wallace in Tokyo contributed to this report.
Three countries — India, Pakistan and Israel — refused to sign the treaty. Pakistan and India have developed nuclear weapons, and Israel is thought to have them.
All three enjoy the favor and respect of world leaders, setting an example of what countries can get when they acquire nuclear weapons...
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-nukes15oct15,0,3389816.story?coll=la-home-headlines
UK Observer: Human rights concerns fail to staunch flow of UK arms
China tops list with £70m of exports in one year as military sales soar to blacklisted regimes
Antony Barnett
The British government is exporting record levels of military equipment to 19 of the 20 states its own ministers and officials have just identified as 'major countries of concern' for human rights abuses.
The 20 countries were listed in the Foreign Office's annual Human Rights Report, which was launched by the Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett, last week. They include China, Burma, North Korea, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Zimbabwe...
Other countries whose human rights records concern the Foreign Office, but which still receive arms exports from the UK, include Colombia, Saudi Arabia and Russia..
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1922775,00.html
(NO ISRAEL?)
AFP: UK: Police want spy planes to fight anti-social behaviour
A police force is considering using unmanned aerial surveillance drones to fly over troubled local council housing estates to help tackle anti-social behaviour in respective areas.
The police force for Merseyside, in western England, has formed a new Anti-Social Behaviour Task Force which will have a budget of one million pounds (1.85 million dollars, 1.5 million euros), and a staff of 137, drawn from both the local police and fire services, The Sunday Telegraph reported...
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/10/15/061015093636.r5gmx8lm.html
UK Observer: Cabinet split over new rights for gays
· Blair backs Ruth Kelly in church row
· Faith schools seek equality opt-out
Gaby Hinsliff
The cabinet is in open warfare over new gay rights legislation after Tony Blair and Ruth Kelly, the Communities Secretary, who is a devout Catholic, blocked the plans following protests from religious organisations...
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,1922914,00.html
???WP: Reuters: Ecuador presidential vote may head to run-off
By Patrick Markey
A Cedatos Gallup poll showed Noboa with 27.2 percent of votes and Correa with 25.4 percent after first round voting while a Informe Confidencial showed Noboa with 28.5 percent of votes and Correa with 26.5 percent...
Mobbed by supporters chanting "Correa for president," the candidate denounced voting irregularities he said may alter the results, although observers from the Organization of American States said voting had mostly proceeded without problems...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/15/AR2006101500229.html
(THIS URL WAS ORIGINALLY: Leftist edges over populist tycoon in Ecuador vote - Washington Post)
FT: Banana magnate takes lead in Ecuador poll
By Hal Weitzman in Quito
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/66f760ac-5c6f-11db-9e7e-0000779e2340.html
(THIS URL WAS ORIGINALLY: Chavez ally leads in Ecuador election
Financial Times, UK - 5 hours ago)
EARLIER: LAT: Shades of Chavez in Ecuador's Front-Runner
Polls show voters in today's election leaning toward Rafael Correa, whose reformist bent and anti-U.S. rhetoric worry some analysts.
By Chris Kraul
An audacious South American politician has made an unflattering comparison between President Bush and the devil, threatened to nationalize oil production and expressed his commitment to popular revolution. And it's not Hugo Chavez.
The rhetoric of Rafael Correa, the favorite in today's presidential election here, could pass for that of Chavez, the Venezuelan leader. Correa, a 43-year-old U.S.-educated economist, has struck a stridently anti-U.S. tone in a campaign in which he has come from nowhere in the polls three months ago to assume a commanding lead...
Correa has also promised not to renew the deal expiring in 2009 by which Ecuador leases space at its Manta military base to the United States to launch anti-narcotics overflights. The U.S. has up to 300 military and nonuniformed personnel based at Manta, as well as eight AWACS and other aircraft.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-ecuador15oct15,0,4009566.story?coll=la-home-world
EARLIER: Even before vote, Correa looks beyond Ecuador
Front-runner is critical of Bush, has ties to Chavez
Juan Forero
He said he would renegotiate existing contracts with foreign oil companies and did not rule out defaulting on Ecuador's $10 billion debt if social needs outweigh the country's servicing obligations. His advisers have warned that a Correa government would be tough on foreign companies and multilateral lenders.
"Here, the rule of law and the Constitution are constantly being broken by the mafias and some transnational companies," the candidate said. "The transnationals of the north will have to obey the law."
Correa has 31 percent of the vote, leading his nearest rival, the banana tycoon Alvaro Noboa, by six points, a Cedatos Gallup poll showed Saturday. To win in the first round, Correa needs to garner 40 percent of valid votes, which means blank or voided ballots will be excluded, while finishing at least 10 points ahead of the nearest rival. A second round, if needed, would take place Nov. 26...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/10/15/MNGNVLPR4H1.DTL&type=politics
EARLIER: NDTV: Presidential elections begin in Ecuador
The 43-year-old Economist Rafael Correa is surging into the lead as a fresh-faced outsider in what could be the latest gain for Latin America's leftward shift.
http://www.ndtv.com/morenews/showmorestory.asp?slug=Presidential+elections+begin+in+Ecuador&id=94849
WP: Reuters: Brazil's Lula commands big lead in election race
By Peter Blackburn
A survey by polling firm Ibope showed Lula with a 14-point advantage over former Sao Paulo Gov. Geraldo Alckmin, while a Vox Populi survey gave Lula a 10-point lead before the runoff.
The polls confirmed a Datafolha survey on Wednesday that gave Lula a 12-point lead with 56 percent of valid votes, against Alckmin's 44 percent...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101201644.html
Royal Gazette: Bermuda Police detain Deuss
Millionaire oil tycoon John Deuss was last night in custody after Police on the Island executed a warrant for his arrest.
Detectives had been hunting for the 64-year-old – wanted for questioning in Europe on suspicion of money laundering, handling stolen property and being in charge of a criminal organisation – since the warrant was granted by a Bermudian magistrate on October 2...
The Dutch businessman, a long-term resident of Bermuda, resigned from the board of BCB last week, along with his sister Tineke, a director, and president Timothy Ulrich, after another of his businesses, Caribbean-based First Curacao International Bank (FCIB), was shut down by authorities in Europe...
http://www.theroyalgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061014/NEWS/110140183
Fin24: 'Apartheid oil supplier' nabbed
Deuss supplied the South African apartheid regime with oil in the 1980s. He has also traded in Russian oil, before and after the collapse of the Soviet Union...
http://www.fin24.co.za/articles/companies/display_article.aspx?Nav=ns&lvl2=comp&ArticleID=1518-1783_2013844
IHT: AP: Dominican investigators: Pilot in crash that killed tycoon was experienced, showed no sign of intoxication
There have been 60 accidents — not including Wednesday's — involving the R44 since production began in 1993, including eight fatal accidents that killed 14 people this year, according to statistics from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.
One of those occurred Sunday in Sumner, Washington, when a helicopter spun out of control and crashed into a lake, killing the pilot and seriously injuring a passenger, according to the NTSB's preliminary report.
California-based Robinson Helicopter Co., which has sold about 3,000 of the aircraft, sent a representative to assist in the investigation, said Kurt Robinson, the company's vice president for product support. The NTSB was also assisting, De la Rosa said...
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/14/news/CB_GEN_Dominican_Helicopter_Crash.php
Haaretz: Police advise against charging accuser with blackmail
Police investigators recommend charging Katsav with rape and fraud
By Jonathan Lis and Yuval Yoaz
The police team investigating allegations against President Moshe Katsav on Sunday recommended that the president be charged with rape, sexual assault, eavesdropping, fraud, breach of trust and improprieties in gift distribution.
The investigators presented their findings and recommendations for indictment to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz and senior officials in the State Prosecutor's office, and said they had consolidated enough evidence to try the president.
The police also revealed Sunday that the president is suspected of purchasing dozens of gifts at hundreds of shekels apiece with money taken from the President's Residence budget. The police said there was evidence of intention to "carry out crimes of fraud and breach of trust."..
The most serious charge Katsav could face is for the alleged rape of two women...
Investigators also said Sunday that their examination of the case was not entirely completed, adding that they planned to question Katsav further.
Katsav's attorney, Zion Amir, said in response that the police's recommendations had no legal validity, as only the State Prosecutor could decide whether to indict the president...
Attorney Yossi Fuchs on Sunday demanded the High Court of Justice order Katsav to resign, if for the president's own benefit, until the state decides whether or not to indict him. Fuchs also requested an temporary injunction be issued preventing Katsav from participating on the opening of the Knesset's winter session on Monday.
President Moshe Katsav will attend the opening of the winter session, but will not address the forum, his brother told Israel Radio on Sunday...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/774636.html
Uri Avnery: The Great Experiment
IS IT possible to force a whole people to submit to foreign occupation by starving it?
That is, certainly, an interesting question. So interesting, indeed, that the governments of Israel and the United States, in close cooperation with Europe, are now engaged in a rigorous scientific experiment in order to obtain a definitive answer.
The laboratory for the experiment is the Gaza Strip, and the guinea pigs are the million and a quarter Palestinians living there. ..
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15306.htm
Haaretz: FM calls envoy back after controversial remarks on Asians
By Charlotte Halle
"I can't tell you how sensitive these things are here," said a senior member of Sydney's Jewish community, referring to Ambassador Naftali Tamir's description of Asians as having "yellow skin" and "slanted eyes." The source added that the comments were the hot topic at both the synagogues he attended over the Simhat Torah holiday, which falls a day later in locales outside of Israel...
The key concern of the Jewish community, the source in Sydney explained, was that the broad coverage of the comments in the Australian press would fuel those who charge that Israel is a racist state and that the Australian government is erring in its overtly pro-Israel position. He added that while the comments were considered offensive and embarrassing, the community would "rally around [the ambassador]," while distancing itself from the sentiments...
The Australian government refused to comment following an inquiry from Haaretz, but Sunday's Sydney Morning Herald quoted opposition foreign affairs spokesman, Kevin Rudd, as saying: "If accurate, these comments are completely unacceptable." ..
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/775077.html
READ ALL: AP: 1 Man Still Locked Up From 9/11 Sweeps
In a jail cell at an immigration detention center in Arizona sits a man who is not charged with a crime, not suspected of a crime, not considered a danger to society.
But he has been in custody for five years.
His name is Ali Partovi. And according to the Department of Homeland Security, he is the last to be held of about 1,200 Arab and Muslim men swept up by authorities in the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
There has been no full accounting of all of these individuals...
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20061015/D8KONLJ80.html
????UK Observer: London bomber's suicide video is 'linked to traitor'
Californian masterminded al-Qaeda propaganda, claim terrorism experts
Jamie Doward
British intelligence believes Gadahn produced a 31-minute video featuring 7 July bomber, Shehzad Tanweer, extracts of which were released by Arab satellite station al-Jazeera earlier this year on the anniversary of the London bombings...
Gadahn is believed to have been responsible for cutting the footage of Tanweer to make his 'martyr's will', although a study of the full video suggests he struggled with the task.
In clips towards the end of the tape, which have not been broadcast by Western media but have been obtained by The Observer, Tanweer is seen becoming increasingly agitated. Stumbling over a script that appears to have been written for him, he is seen to take deep breaths as he points a finger at the camera.
Tanweer - thought to have been filmed several months before carrying out his bombing mission - finds reading passages of his will difficult, tripping over the sentences and repeating words...
'The likes of Tanweer may not be the sharpest tacks in the box,' said Josh Devon, senior analyst with think-tank Search for International Terrorist Entities (SITE), which monitors Islamic fundamentalist media. 'This is a guy reading a script; you don't get to say some of the things Tanweer said without coming into contact with senior Koranic scholars.'..
The video, one of hundreds produced by al-Sahab, al-Qaeda's video production unit and downloaded by sympathisers across the globe, includes extracts of speeches by Osama bin Laden, radical cleric Ayman al-Zawahiri and the now dead terrorist, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
An unidentified narrator emphasises a key al-Qaeda message: that Tanweer, like all suicide bombers, wanted to become a martyr because of his love of Allah, not because of 'poverty, unemployment and emptiness as some of the mercenary media try to portray it to us'...
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1922856,00.html
(MORE REASON TO BELIEVE TANWEER WAS PICKED UP ON 7/7 AND FORCED TO READ THIS SCRIPT??)
TheNewsPak: ‘Madrid bombings mastermind imprisoned in secret CIA jail’
MADRID: A suspected al Qaeda leader, accused of being involved in Sept 11 and planning the 2004 Madrid train bombings, has been imprisoned in a secret US jail for the past year, Spain’s El Pais newspaper reported on Sunday.
Mustafa Setmarian, 48, a Syrian with Spanish citizenship, was captured in Pakistan in Oct 2005 and is held in a prison operated by the US Central Intelligence Agency, Pakistani and European security service officials told El Pais.
A spokesman for the US embassy in Spain declined to comment on the report. Setmarian’s 2005 capture was reported in May of this year after the United States put a $5 million bounty on the head of the alleged founder of al Qaeda’s Spanish network.
A photograph of the red-haired Setmarian has been removed from the US Federal Bureau of Intelligence’s most-wanted Web page. Pakistan has not answered requests from Madrid about the whereabouts of Setmarian, wanted in Spain for allegedly training Sept 11 hijackers in Afghanistan and ordering Madrid commuter train attacks that killed 191 people, according to El Pais.
Spain’s high court is unable to request his extradition as he has not been officially imprisoned, the newspaper reported. Spanish high court officials were not immediately available to comment. Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon in June complained US officials were concealing information on his whereabouts.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=3692
READ ALL: UK Times: Muslims are the new Jews
India Knight
Especially since July 7, it has become acceptable to say the most ignorant, degrading things about Islam. And then we all sit around wondering why young Muslim men appear to be getting angrier and more politicised, or why “westernised” young Muslim women whose mothers go bare-headed are suddenly, defiantly, opting for the full-on niqab-style veil that leaves only a slit for the eyes...ETC
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2088-2404281,00.html
Huffington Post: Nora Ephron: Moneychangeseverything.com
Does money change everything? It must, or there wouldn't be a song that says so. But I couldn't help thinking so this morning, because I went to hear Nathan Myrvold, the former Microsoft genius-prognosticator, and Marissa Mayer, the Google goddess, be interviewed about the future by the New Yorker's Ken Auletta. "We're going to peer over the horizon," Auletta said, and got right to the point: What did Myrvold think about the YouTube deal?
Myrvold replied: "The only way to know if a deal is good or bad is in retrospect."
I couldn't believe it. This is the answer to a question from a futurist?
From a provocateur? I mean, obviously. Obviously the only way to know if
a deal is good or bad is in retrospect, but that's not the way the world works. That's not the Nathan Myrvold I went to see. What's going on?..ETC
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nora-ephron/moneychangeseverythingco_b_31629.html
thinkprogress: Chris Wallace Ignores 20,000 Emails Demanding He Ask Rice About The U.S.S. Cole
More than 20,000 people emailed Chris Wallace and demanded he ask Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice this question today:
-Prior to 9/11, you had eight months to respond to the al-Qaeda attack on the U.S.S. Cole. Why didn’t the Bush administration take action and put al-Qaeda out of business?-
Wallace didn’t ask the question or any question on the topic. It’s the twenty-fourth time Rice has been on Fox News Sunday since 9/11 without being asked about the U.S.S. Cole. ..
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/10/15/wallace-ignores-emails/
Springfield State Journal Register: CHRIS WETTERICH: Study: Local TV newscasts give elections about 21 seconds
The study measured election coverage at the ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox affiliates in the largest media market and the state capital in Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinois and Minnesota...
They divided the time on each newscast into the categories. Advertising, sports and weather, crime, other, local interest, teasers or intros, non-campaign government news, health and business news all beat out election coverage in terms of time devoted to each subject.
The only items newscasts spent less time on was foreign policy and "unintentional injury."..
http://www.sj-r.com/sections/news/stories/98100.asp
Badger Herald: ourtney Johnson: News broadcasts fail to deliver, study says
The average Midwestern television news broadcast devotes 36 seconds to election coverage during a 30-minute newscast, according to a new University of Wisconsin study released Thursday...
“TV is acting as if it’s allergic to democracy,” said Mike McCabe, executive director for the political watchdog group the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. “Democracy is being treated as a non-story, and that’s a horrible message to send to a public in a democratic society.”
The study was funded by the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation, which is also a sponsor of the WDC...
In addition, results of the study show local broadcasts give more airtime to teasers and promos for upcoming stories than to politics. Typical early- and late-evening 30-minute news broadcasts also contain more than 10 minutes of advertisements...
http://badgerherald.com/news/2006/10/13/news_broadcasts_fail.php
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