From American Progress:
Think Fast
In Iraq's Diyala province, U.S. soldiers are willing to risk teaming up with Sunni militias to fight insurgent groups. Ali al-Adeeb, a prominent Shiite lawmaker, said the United States is "trusting people who have previously attacked American forces and innocent people. They are trusting people who are loyal to the regime of Saddam Hussein."
Fallout from the U.S. attorney scandal is "starting to hit the [Justice] department in federal courtrooms around the country." Defense lawyers are "raising questions about the motives of government lawyers who have brought charges against their clients," and "are citing the furor over the U.S. attorney dismissals as evidence that their cases may have been infected by politics."
"A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., has heard evidence about a remodeling project at Sen. Ted Stevens' (R-AK) home as part of a burgeoning investigation into corruption in Alaska."
On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee will take up "a major reversal of energy tax policies," legislation that would "raise about $14 billion from oil companies over 10 years and would give about the same amount of money on new incentives for solar power, wind power, cellulosic ethanol and numerous other renewable energy sources."
"Seven children were killed in a U.S.-led coalition airstrike targeting suspected al-Qaida militants in eastern Afghanistan, a coalition statement said Monday. The strike came hours after the deadliest insurgent attack since the Taliban fell in 2001."
White House loyalists have begun arguing for a Libby pardon. "[S]everal Republicans, who sense a movement in Libby's favor, said a more likely possibility might be a presidential commutation -- a reduction or elimination of Libby's 2 1/2-year federal prison sentence.
Robert Novak writes that President Bush plans to go on a "veto offensive." Bush has pledged to veto the homeland security appropriations bill. After that, "Bush next plans vetoes of the energy-water and interior-environment bills." Novak predicts Bush's vetoes will "trigger an epochal political struggle in the months ahead."
And finally: For Father's Day, First Lady Laura Bush gave the President "several ties she purchased during their recent trip to Europe," and his daughters "gave him a CD they had made for him to listen to while exercising." President Bush also "squeezed in a bike ride at his ranch" and "spoke to his father, former President George H.W. Bush, over the phone."
Wrap...
Monday, June 18, 2007
Saturday, June 16, 2007
This guy Connects. The. Dots.
I'd like to introduce one of the most interesting bloggers...I cannot not check in to see what he has to say every day...and sometimes more than once a day. Talk about concise writing! Take a look:
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Cheney's Don't Ask, Don't Tell
In one of her books, Nora Ephron wrote about a man so paranoid that, at the end of each day, he would erase the entries in his appointment diary. Such furtiveness did not shock Ephron who, while married to Carl Bernstein, never learned from him the Secret of the Century, the identity of “Deep Throat.”
But the author of “When Harry Met Sally” had never met Dick Cheney, who in this century has been setting new records for secrecy.
Soon after taking office, he refused to reveal the names of those who advised him on energy policy while oil company executives denied any part in the process. It took four years to unearth a White House document that showed they were lying about what Cheney was hiding.
[click link below to continue reading]
http://ajliebling.blogspot.com/
Wrap....
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Cheney's Don't Ask, Don't Tell
In one of her books, Nora Ephron wrote about a man so paranoid that, at the end of each day, he would erase the entries in his appointment diary. Such furtiveness did not shock Ephron who, while married to Carl Bernstein, never learned from him the Secret of the Century, the identity of “Deep Throat.”
But the author of “When Harry Met Sally” had never met Dick Cheney, who in this century has been setting new records for secrecy.
Soon after taking office, he refused to reveal the names of those who advised him on energy policy while oil company executives denied any part in the process. It took four years to unearth a White House document that showed they were lying about what Cheney was hiding.
[click link below to continue reading]
http://ajliebling.blogspot.com/
Wrap....
Friday, June 15, 2007
From FEMA rip-off to Howard Dean musical!!!
From American Progress:
Think Fast
A controversial Sept. 2005 government memo suggests that in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, FEMA authorized private insurance companies to overbill the taxpayer-funded federal flood program "while shorting people on their wind damage payments."
The escalation is now complete. "The full contingent of new U.S. forces being sent to Iraq...was completed by Friday, with 28,500 additional troops now posted in the country." Five U.S. soldiers died yesterday.
"Senate leaders agreed on Thursday to revive a stalled immigration overhaul," announcing an effort "to overcome conservatives' objections" by immediately setting aside "more than $4 billion to beef up enforcement of immigration laws."
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), "dogged by a federal probe of political corruption in Alaska, disclosed Thursday that he has asked the Senate Ethics Committee to review his latest financial disclosure report." Ethics reviews of lawmakers' financial reports "are unusual unless they are under a legal cloud."
The Supreme Court struck a blow against unions yesterday, ruling that states may "force public sector labor unions to get consent from workers before using their fees for political activities." Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the court, said a Washington state law requiring such consent "does not violate the union's First Amendment rights."
"The increased demand for 'green' vehicles is spilling over to the rental car counter," as Hertz and Avis rental companies announced plans to add thousands more hybrid vehicles to their fleets.
"The Justice Department is investigating whether British defense giant BAE Systems, which supplies Bradley fighting vehicles to the U.S. military and is becoming a major player in the U.S. defense industry, paid bribes to win contracts in Saudi Arabia, Chile and elsewhere."
"The military's mental health system has 'fallen significantly short' of meeting the needs of troops and their families, according to a year-long task force study released Thursday." The report also notes that the "Pentagon must immediately start recruiting to fill a mental health staff 'woefully inadequate' to deal with conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder."
And finally: Yeeeaaaarrrrrggghhh!!: The Musical. An "unlikely subject may be headed for Broadway this fall: Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign. Last week, Oscar-nominated actor Jake Gyllenhaal did a private reading of 'Farragut North' (written by playwright and former Dean campaigner Beau Willimon) about the presidential hopes of a charismatic, unorthodox candidate and his staff."
Wrap...
Think Fast
A controversial Sept. 2005 government memo suggests that in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, FEMA authorized private insurance companies to overbill the taxpayer-funded federal flood program "while shorting people on their wind damage payments."
The escalation is now complete. "The full contingent of new U.S. forces being sent to Iraq...was completed by Friday, with 28,500 additional troops now posted in the country." Five U.S. soldiers died yesterday.
"Senate leaders agreed on Thursday to revive a stalled immigration overhaul," announcing an effort "to overcome conservatives' objections" by immediately setting aside "more than $4 billion to beef up enforcement of immigration laws."
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), "dogged by a federal probe of political corruption in Alaska, disclosed Thursday that he has asked the Senate Ethics Committee to review his latest financial disclosure report." Ethics reviews of lawmakers' financial reports "are unusual unless they are under a legal cloud."
The Supreme Court struck a blow against unions yesterday, ruling that states may "force public sector labor unions to get consent from workers before using their fees for political activities." Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the court, said a Washington state law requiring such consent "does not violate the union's First Amendment rights."
"The increased demand for 'green' vehicles is spilling over to the rental car counter," as Hertz and Avis rental companies announced plans to add thousands more hybrid vehicles to their fleets.
"The Justice Department is investigating whether British defense giant BAE Systems, which supplies Bradley fighting vehicles to the U.S. military and is becoming a major player in the U.S. defense industry, paid bribes to win contracts in Saudi Arabia, Chile and elsewhere."
"The military's mental health system has 'fallen significantly short' of meeting the needs of troops and their families, according to a year-long task force study released Thursday." The report also notes that the "Pentagon must immediately start recruiting to fill a mental health staff 'woefully inadequate' to deal with conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder."
And finally: Yeeeaaaarrrrrggghhh!!: The Musical. An "unlikely subject may be headed for Broadway this fall: Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign. Last week, Oscar-nominated actor Jake Gyllenhaal did a private reading of 'Farragut North' (written by playwright and former Dean campaigner Beau Willimon) about the presidential hopes of a charismatic, unorthodox candidate and his staff."
Wrap...
Thursday, June 14, 2007
The LA Times...This is why I subscribe....
From Editor & Publisher.com :
Why the 'L.A. Times' Called for Iraq Pullout
Few American papers of any size have called for a reversal of course in Iraq, so it was a shock to see one of the largest, the Los Angeles Times, take this step recently. How does the editorial page editor explain this sudden change in heart -- and will others finally follow?
By Greg Mitchell
(June 13, 2007)
“I see no moral reason to wait until fall,” Jim Newton, editorial page editor at the Los Angeles Times told me earlier today. “We need to evaluate in real time. That’s part of the motivation for the editorial this week. Besides Gen. Petraeus, others have a right to assess the facts as well.”
Newton was referring to an editorial in his paper on Tuesday calling for peace talks and a ceasefire in Iraq. It’s the kind of talk we heard often in relation to Vietnam and later conflicts but oddly missing in regard to Iraq. But the Times is taking all sorts of bold stands on the war these days. Six weeks ago the paper advocated – hold on to your hats – that the U.S. actually start to disengage in Iraq. That editorial was titled simply, if eloquently, “Bring Them Home.”
Rather than chide the vast majority of newspaper editorial pages, yet again, for continuing to endorse, or at least accept, the continuing (now expanding) U.S. mission in Iraq, I am happy to tip my hat to the only ultra-large paper that has come out for the start of an American pullout. That position, until now, has been left to papers such as the Seattle Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Orange County Register and Roanoke Times.
What’s happening at the L.A. paper, which as recently as January backed the “surge”? It’s as if a little-noted earthquake struck Spring Street this spring and really shook things up.
[click link below to continue reading]
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/columns/pressingissues_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003598764
Wrap...
Why the 'L.A. Times' Called for Iraq Pullout
Few American papers of any size have called for a reversal of course in Iraq, so it was a shock to see one of the largest, the Los Angeles Times, take this step recently. How does the editorial page editor explain this sudden change in heart -- and will others finally follow?
By Greg Mitchell
(June 13, 2007)
“I see no moral reason to wait until fall,” Jim Newton, editorial page editor at the Los Angeles Times told me earlier today. “We need to evaluate in real time. That’s part of the motivation for the editorial this week. Besides Gen. Petraeus, others have a right to assess the facts as well.”
Newton was referring to an editorial in his paper on Tuesday calling for peace talks and a ceasefire in Iraq. It’s the kind of talk we heard often in relation to Vietnam and later conflicts but oddly missing in regard to Iraq. But the Times is taking all sorts of bold stands on the war these days. Six weeks ago the paper advocated – hold on to your hats – that the U.S. actually start to disengage in Iraq. That editorial was titled simply, if eloquently, “Bring Them Home.”
Rather than chide the vast majority of newspaper editorial pages, yet again, for continuing to endorse, or at least accept, the continuing (now expanding) U.S. mission in Iraq, I am happy to tip my hat to the only ultra-large paper that has come out for the start of an American pullout. That position, until now, has been left to papers such as the Seattle Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Orange County Register and Roanoke Times.
What’s happening at the L.A. paper, which as recently as January backed the “surge”? It’s as if a little-noted earthquake struck Spring Street this spring and really shook things up.
[click link below to continue reading]
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/columns/pressingissues_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003598764
Wrap...
And Conyers said, "Bring it on!"
From truthout.org :
White House Subpoenas, and a Constitutional Showdown
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/061407J.shtml
Matt Renner reports: "Subpoenas issued Wednesday by Congress for testimony from former White House officials could lead to a constitutional crisis over the right of executive privilege. Experts in constitutional law believe that the Bush administration will not comply with the Congressional subpoenas and will force a showdown.
If individuals do not comply with the subpoenas, a vote can be taken to hold them in contempt of Congress. The issue would then be sent to the Washington, DC Circuit Court, where the US attorney for the District of Colombia could prosecute the case before a grand jury."
Wrap...
White House Subpoenas, and a Constitutional Showdown
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/061407J.shtml
Matt Renner reports: "Subpoenas issued Wednesday by Congress for testimony from former White House officials could lead to a constitutional crisis over the right of executive privilege. Experts in constitutional law believe that the Bush administration will not comply with the Congressional subpoenas and will force a showdown.
If individuals do not comply with the subpoenas, a vote can be taken to hold them in contempt of Congress. The issue would then be sent to the Washington, DC Circuit Court, where the US attorney for the District of Colombia could prosecute the case before a grand jury."
Wrap...
A selection of interesting books coming....
From Publishers Lunch Weekly:
MYSTERY/CRIME:
Shamus Award Winner Edward Wright's DAMNATION FALLS, in which a disgraced Chicago newspaper columnist agrees to ghostwrite a biography of his childhood friend and former Tennessee governor, but instead finds himself investigating a series of ghastly murders and a town legend from the Civil War in the Tennessee hills, to Daniela Rapp at Minotaur, in a nice deal, by Jonathan Lyons at Lyons Literary, on behalf of Jane Conway-Gordon (NA).
GENERAL/OTHER:
Tony Award-winning playwright whose works include Streamers and Hurlyburly, David Rabe's DINOSAURS ON THE ROOF, about the collision of two lives in a single night that uncovers their entire lives: a brittle old woman who believes she is living her last night before she is delivered up to The Rapture, and the daughter of her deceased friend, whose life is in a tailspin of self-destruction after a recent divorce, and whom the older woman recruits to look after her animals after she is gone, to David Rosenthal at Simon & Schuster, by Deborah Schneider at Gelfman Schneider (NA).
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Kinney's BY HOOK OR BY CROOK, the story of Martha Vineyard's annual fishing derby: a month-long affair which pits neighbor against neighbor, islander against mainlander, and turns the island upside down in the all-consuming quest for the biggest fish, exploring obsession, island culture and history, growing income-inequality and the lure of the sea, to Annik LaFarge at Bloomsbury, in a pre-empt, by Larry Weissman at Larry Weissman Literary (world).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Jerry Brotton's TWELVE MAPS THAT MADE THE WORLD, the story of humanity's cultural evolution through twelve pivotal maps -- beginning with the earliest Greek attempts to map the known world and ending with Google Earth -- each exploring a different aspect of culture including God, measurement, nationalism, race, commerce, and democracy, to Hilary Redmon at Viking and Stuart Proffitt at Penguin UK.
NARRATIVE:
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Kinney's BY HOOK OR BY CROOK, the story of Martha Vineyard's annual fishing derby: a month-long affair which pits neighbor against neighbor, islander against mainlander, and turns the island upside down in the all-consuming quest for the biggest fish, exploring obsession, island culture and history, growing income-inequality and the lure of the sea, to Annik LaFarge at Bloomsbury, in a pre-empt, by Larry Weissman at Larry Weissman Literary (world).
UK:
Historian Simon Schama's THE AMERICAN FUTURE: A History, called a thematic history of America, moving within the Random UK group to Will Sulkin at Bodley Head, for six figures, for publication in fall 2009, by Michael Sissons of PFD.
Wrap...
MYSTERY/CRIME:
Shamus Award Winner Edward Wright's DAMNATION FALLS, in which a disgraced Chicago newspaper columnist agrees to ghostwrite a biography of his childhood friend and former Tennessee governor, but instead finds himself investigating a series of ghastly murders and a town legend from the Civil War in the Tennessee hills, to Daniela Rapp at Minotaur, in a nice deal, by Jonathan Lyons at Lyons Literary, on behalf of Jane Conway-Gordon (NA).
GENERAL/OTHER:
Tony Award-winning playwright whose works include Streamers and Hurlyburly, David Rabe's DINOSAURS ON THE ROOF, about the collision of two lives in a single night that uncovers their entire lives: a brittle old woman who believes she is living her last night before she is delivered up to The Rapture, and the daughter of her deceased friend, whose life is in a tailspin of self-destruction after a recent divorce, and whom the older woman recruits to look after her animals after she is gone, to David Rosenthal at Simon & Schuster, by Deborah Schneider at Gelfman Schneider (NA).
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Kinney's BY HOOK OR BY CROOK, the story of Martha Vineyard's annual fishing derby: a month-long affair which pits neighbor against neighbor, islander against mainlander, and turns the island upside down in the all-consuming quest for the biggest fish, exploring obsession, island culture and history, growing income-inequality and the lure of the sea, to Annik LaFarge at Bloomsbury, in a pre-empt, by Larry Weissman at Larry Weissman Literary (world).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Jerry Brotton's TWELVE MAPS THAT MADE THE WORLD, the story of humanity's cultural evolution through twelve pivotal maps -- beginning with the earliest Greek attempts to map the known world and ending with Google Earth -- each exploring a different aspect of culture including God, measurement, nationalism, race, commerce, and democracy, to Hilary Redmon at Viking and Stuart Proffitt at Penguin UK.
NARRATIVE:
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Kinney's BY HOOK OR BY CROOK, the story of Martha Vineyard's annual fishing derby: a month-long affair which pits neighbor against neighbor, islander against mainlander, and turns the island upside down in the all-consuming quest for the biggest fish, exploring obsession, island culture and history, growing income-inequality and the lure of the sea, to Annik LaFarge at Bloomsbury, in a pre-empt, by Larry Weissman at Larry Weissman Literary (world).
UK:
Historian Simon Schama's THE AMERICAN FUTURE: A History, called a thematic history of America, moving within the Random UK group to Will Sulkin at Bodley Head, for six figures, for publication in fall 2009, by Michael Sissons of PFD.
Wrap...
DOJ and Civil Rights to musical scientists...
From American Progress:
Think Fast
The Bush administration has recast the Justice Department's role in civil rights "by aggressively pursuing religion-oriented cases while significantly diminishing its involvement in the traditional area of race." The Department "has transferred or demoted some experienced civil rights litigators" while bringing in "graduates of religious-affiliated law schools...who favor the new priorities."
"Three months into the new U.S. military strategy that has sent tens of thousands of additional troops into Iraq, overall levels of violence in the country have not decreased, as attacks have shifted away from Baghdad and Anbar, where American forces are concentrated, only to rise in most other provinces, according to a Pentagon report released yesterday."
"Responding to shabby treatment of wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center," a bipartisan group of senators yesterday introduced a measure "to boost disability pay to those hurt in combat and improve care for brain injury."
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) announced she would join Rep. Dennis Kucinich's (D-OH) push for impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney. "Before, it was speculated that no one else would support impeachment," Kucinich said. His measure has also gained the support of Reps. Al Wynn (D-MD), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Lacy Clay (D-MO), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA).
Fox News Channel (FNC) is parting ways with Gen. Wesley Clark after two years of being an FNC contributor. A Fox source told the Politico that Clark was ditched in favor of new guest contributor former Rep. Harold Ford (D-TN), because Fox viewers "tell us they prefer looking at Ford to Clark." Clark will now be joining MSNBC as a military analyst.
In a call yesterday "with a group of liberal bloggers," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) "called Marine Gen. Peter Pace, the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 'incompetent.'"
And finally: Live Earth Antarctica has been announced, living up to the extravaganza's promise to hold concerts on all seven continents. The indie rock band Nunatak -- which is "made up of five scientists aged 22 to 28 who are stationed on the generally unpopulated continent" -- will be the sole performer. Nunatak will be playing to the smallest Live Earth audience -- just 17 people -- but will be broadcast to approximately 2 billion people.
Wrap...
Think Fast
The Bush administration has recast the Justice Department's role in civil rights "by aggressively pursuing religion-oriented cases while significantly diminishing its involvement in the traditional area of race." The Department "has transferred or demoted some experienced civil rights litigators" while bringing in "graduates of religious-affiliated law schools...who favor the new priorities."
"Three months into the new U.S. military strategy that has sent tens of thousands of additional troops into Iraq, overall levels of violence in the country have not decreased, as attacks have shifted away from Baghdad and Anbar, where American forces are concentrated, only to rise in most other provinces, according to a Pentagon report released yesterday."
"Responding to shabby treatment of wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center," a bipartisan group of senators yesterday introduced a measure "to boost disability pay to those hurt in combat and improve care for brain injury."
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) announced she would join Rep. Dennis Kucinich's (D-OH) push for impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney. "Before, it was speculated that no one else would support impeachment," Kucinich said. His measure has also gained the support of Reps. Al Wynn (D-MD), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Lacy Clay (D-MO), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA).
Fox News Channel (FNC) is parting ways with Gen. Wesley Clark after two years of being an FNC contributor. A Fox source told the Politico that Clark was ditched in favor of new guest contributor former Rep. Harold Ford (D-TN), because Fox viewers "tell us they prefer looking at Ford to Clark." Clark will now be joining MSNBC as a military analyst.
In a call yesterday "with a group of liberal bloggers," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) "called Marine Gen. Peter Pace, the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 'incompetent.'"
And finally: Live Earth Antarctica has been announced, living up to the extravaganza's promise to hold concerts on all seven continents. The indie rock band Nunatak -- which is "made up of five scientists aged 22 to 28 who are stationed on the generally unpopulated continent" -- will be the sole performer. Nunatak will be playing to the smallest Live Earth audience -- just 17 people -- but will be broadcast to approximately 2 billion people.
Wrap...
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
$63 million and Prez Candidate Hunter's plane won't fly....
From American Progress:
CONGRESS -- REP. HUNTER DEFENDS FAILED PET PROJECT:
Yesterday, members of the House Committee on Science and Technology watched videos "of what they got for $63 million spent on an experimental aircraft the military did not want: repeated crashes and significant failures."
According to testimony from the Office of Naval Research, the DP-2, a plane "designed to take off like a helicopter and then fly at high speed, failed to remain in the air for more than a few seconds in 49 separate tests last year."
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), who had "aggressively supported the program over decades even though the Pentagon repeatedly questioned the jet's feasibility and lambasted the contractor's work," defended his role in leading the effort to secure funding "on behalf of a hometown company, DuPont Aerospace."
"The idea around here that if the Pentagon doesn't come up with something, that if the services don't like it, you're not going to build it is ridiculous," said Hunter, who received $36,000 in campaign contributions from DuPoint Aerospace.
But experts who testified before the committee claimed that "the aircraft was nowhere near delivering on the promises cited by DuPont and its congressional supporters. 'It's a pipe dream,' said John Eney, an aerospace engineer who led a Navy team that evaluated the project in 1999."
As the San Diego Union Tribune notes, "Hunter's support of the DP-2 has thrust him into the center of the debate about earmarks, which congressmen sponsor to fund everything from new roads and museums in their districts to defense contracts that sometimes provide hundreds of jobs for constituents."
Wrap...
CONGRESS -- REP. HUNTER DEFENDS FAILED PET PROJECT:
Yesterday, members of the House Committee on Science and Technology watched videos "of what they got for $63 million spent on an experimental aircraft the military did not want: repeated crashes and significant failures."
According to testimony from the Office of Naval Research, the DP-2, a plane "designed to take off like a helicopter and then fly at high speed, failed to remain in the air for more than a few seconds in 49 separate tests last year."
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), who had "aggressively supported the program over decades even though the Pentagon repeatedly questioned the jet's feasibility and lambasted the contractor's work," defended his role in leading the effort to secure funding "on behalf of a hometown company, DuPont Aerospace."
"The idea around here that if the Pentagon doesn't come up with something, that if the services don't like it, you're not going to build it is ridiculous," said Hunter, who received $36,000 in campaign contributions from DuPoint Aerospace.
But experts who testified before the committee claimed that "the aircraft was nowhere near delivering on the promises cited by DuPont and its congressional supporters. 'It's a pipe dream,' said John Eney, an aerospace engineer who led a Navy team that evaluated the project in 1999."
As the San Diego Union Tribune notes, "Hunter's support of the DP-2 has thrust him into the center of the debate about earmarks, which congressmen sponsor to fund everything from new roads and museums in their districts to defense contracts that sometimes provide hundreds of jobs for constituents."
Wrap...
Invaders from Mars...
Note: SDARI is an skeptics organization in San Diego...A member of that group just emailed a recap of one of their meetings:
A San Diegan named Alex Boese has garnered a bit of nationwide fame as the owner of the web site Museum of Hoaxes. I had him as a guest speaker in 2003. He was going great until he told about the ramification of the famed Orson Wells radio show about the war of the world (invaders from mars who were marching across New Jersey. Boese said that outside of the New York area nobody paid any particular attention to it.
He was interrupted by a gruff gentleman in the back, "I get to differ" Then the gruffian told of how he was on the (something or other) desk of the Minneapolis Star. He said there was near panic in the newsroom and it was spreading. They were trying to get out an early morning special."
Boese stood his ground. The grump fired back volley for volley. Pretty soon he prevailed. Beose admitted that he just might be wrong.
I've tried to get him back several times, but he always begged off.
I don't think he liked being taken to task by Lionel Van Deerlin.
[Van Deerlin is a columnist for the San Diego Union-Tribune, and a former US Representative]
Wrap....
A San Diegan named Alex Boese has garnered a bit of nationwide fame as the owner of the web site Museum of Hoaxes. I had him as a guest speaker in 2003. He was going great until he told about the ramification of the famed Orson Wells radio show about the war of the world (invaders from mars who were marching across New Jersey. Boese said that outside of the New York area nobody paid any particular attention to it.
He was interrupted by a gruff gentleman in the back, "I get to differ" Then the gruffian told of how he was on the (something or other) desk of the Minneapolis Star. He said there was near panic in the newsroom and it was spreading. They were trying to get out an early morning special."
Boese stood his ground. The grump fired back volley for volley. Pretty soon he prevailed. Beose admitted that he just might be wrong.
I've tried to get him back several times, but he always begged off.
I don't think he liked being taken to task by Lionel Van Deerlin.
[Van Deerlin is a columnist for the San Diego Union-Tribune, and a former US Representative]
Wrap....
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Actually, von Spakovsky should be in jail....
From Raw Story:
Obama: FEC nominee unfit to oversee elections
RAW STORYPublished:
Tuesday June 12, 2007
Sen. Barack Obama says President Bush's nominee to the Federal Election Commission is more interested in denying voters' rights than expanding enfranchisement and should not be installed on a panel tasked with ensuring fair elections.
Obama says Hans von Spakovsky's partisan influence within the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and his prior roles as a Republican appointee make him unfit for the job.
"Individuals named to the Commission should have a demonstrated record of fair administration of the law and an ability to overcome partisan biases," Obama wrote to the chair and ranking member of the Senate Rules Committee.
"Unfortunately, Mr. von Spakovsky's experience ... [does] not demonstrate the evenhandedness required of an FEC Commissioner."
Obama cited von Spakovsky's role in creating a Georgia voter identification law, which career Justice Department lawyers determined would create undue hardship for black voters. Federal and state courts eventually overruled von Spakovsky and found the program unconstitutional.
The Illinois senator and Democratic presidential candidate also noted von Spakovsky's reported role in overriding objections of Justice Department lawyers to what critics say were politically motivated decisions to approve a redistricting plan in Texas.
According to a 2004 New Yorker article, von Spakovsky was "the Administration's chief operative on voting rights," and prior to serving in government he was the architect of an idea aimed at purging felons from voter roles that led to the mistaken disenfranchisement of thousands of mostly Democratic voters in Florida before the 2000 election.
President Bush appointed von Spakovsky to the Commission in January 2006, using another of his infamous recess appointments, which allow him to temporarily delay his requirement to subject nominees for congressional approval.
Excerpts from Obama's letter:
#
Mr. von Spakovsky’s role in supporting the Department of Justice’s quixotic efforts to attack voter fraud raises significant questions about his ability to interpret and apply the law in a fair manner, as does his decision to ignore the recommendations of long-serving career attorneys on several occasions. Moreover, his role in the creation of the Georgia voter ID law should have led to his recusal from the Department of Justice’s evaluation of the law. His failure to recuse himself from that case further demonstrates a lack of judgment that is not befitting an FEC Commissioner. Unless Mr. von Spakovsky can provide legitimate explanations for his conduct in these matters, I believe that he should not be confirmed to this important position.
Wrap....
Obama: FEC nominee unfit to oversee elections
RAW STORYPublished:
Tuesday June 12, 2007
Sen. Barack Obama says President Bush's nominee to the Federal Election Commission is more interested in denying voters' rights than expanding enfranchisement and should not be installed on a panel tasked with ensuring fair elections.
Obama says Hans von Spakovsky's partisan influence within the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and his prior roles as a Republican appointee make him unfit for the job.
"Individuals named to the Commission should have a demonstrated record of fair administration of the law and an ability to overcome partisan biases," Obama wrote to the chair and ranking member of the Senate Rules Committee.
"Unfortunately, Mr. von Spakovsky's experience ... [does] not demonstrate the evenhandedness required of an FEC Commissioner."
Obama cited von Spakovsky's role in creating a Georgia voter identification law, which career Justice Department lawyers determined would create undue hardship for black voters. Federal and state courts eventually overruled von Spakovsky and found the program unconstitutional.
The Illinois senator and Democratic presidential candidate also noted von Spakovsky's reported role in overriding objections of Justice Department lawyers to what critics say were politically motivated decisions to approve a redistricting plan in Texas.
According to a 2004 New Yorker article, von Spakovsky was "the Administration's chief operative on voting rights," and prior to serving in government he was the architect of an idea aimed at purging felons from voter roles that led to the mistaken disenfranchisement of thousands of mostly Democratic voters in Florida before the 2000 election.
President Bush appointed von Spakovsky to the Commission in January 2006, using another of his infamous recess appointments, which allow him to temporarily delay his requirement to subject nominees for congressional approval.
Excerpts from Obama's letter:
#
Mr. von Spakovsky’s role in supporting the Department of Justice’s quixotic efforts to attack voter fraud raises significant questions about his ability to interpret and apply the law in a fair manner, as does his decision to ignore the recommendations of long-serving career attorneys on several occasions. Moreover, his role in the creation of the Georgia voter ID law should have led to his recusal from the Department of Justice’s evaluation of the law. His failure to recuse himself from that case further demonstrates a lack of judgment that is not befitting an FEC Commissioner. Unless Mr. von Spakovsky can provide legitimate explanations for his conduct in these matters, I believe that he should not be confirmed to this important position.
Wrap....
Cheney's got Fred Thompson already....
[Note: You see where this is going...Thompson being groomed by Cheney goons. Keep in mind that this is an article by Republicans for Republicans]
From the Daily Standard via Raw Story:
Hawks for Thompson
Thompson puts together a foreign policy team.
by Stephen F. Hayes
06/12/2007 3:27:00 PM
FRED THOMPSON IS adding more big-name policy talent as his testing-the-waters committee continues to grow into a real presidential campaign. Among the new additions: Mark Esper, national security adviser to former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist; Joel Shin, a top policy staffer on Bush-Cheney 2000; and Elizabeth Cheney, a former top official in the State Department's Near East and South Asia department.
Esper, who worked for Thompson when he was a Senator in the 1990s, currently serves as executive vice president of the Aerospace Industries of America and is a member of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Thompson previously served on the commission. Before joining AIA, Esper was Bill Frist's director of National Security Affairs. According to a biography on the U.S.-China commission website, Esper's "portfolio in that position included all defense, foreign policy, and intelligence matters for the United States Senate, where he also worked on trade and homeland security issues." He worked on executive-legislative national security matters--an important job given the Bush Administration's posture on a robust executive branch. Esper's current AIA obligations have limited his participation to that of an informal adviser.
Joel Shin was a top policy staffer on George W. Bush's presidential campaign in 2000. He coordinated the activities of senior outside policy advisers advising then-Governor Bush and worked on the Bush transition. Although many of his colleagues took jobs in the Bush administration, Shin did not. A former Rhodes Scholar, Shin is currently an associate with The Scowcroft Group in Washington, DC. Shin declined to
comment on his role, directing all questions to Thompson's communications staff.
Liz Cheney, the older of Vice President Dick Cheney's two daughters, served most recently as principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs and coordinator for Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiatives. That title--no doubt one of the longest in the federal government--means that Cheney was on the leading edge of President Bush's effort to bring democratic and market-based reform to the region. A longtime democracy advocate, Cheney was a strong proponent of women's rights in the region. Her previous experience includes time at the World Bank, two prior stints at the State Department, and service as a US AID officer in Poland and Hungary.
Esper, Shin, and Cheney are well known and well respected in the Washington foreign policy community and generally regarded as hawkish in their views on national security. They will continue to give Thompson's foreign policy advice as the effort becomes a formal campaign. The informal group began meeting late last month and current plans are for weekly policy sessions. Like most campaign advisory groups, the foreign policy team will hash out current foreign policy issues and make recommendations to the candidate (or, in this case, the non-candidate). Its members will also seek to anticipate the kinds of foreign policy and national security crises that might require answers from Thompson.
Even as he spends much of his time putting together the infrastructure of his campaign, Thompson has been focused on developing the policy proposals that will form the backbone of his presidential run. He spent several hours yesterday at the Hoover Institution, affiliated with Stanford University, meeting with scholars from the conservative think tank. He is set to appear on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno later this evening.
Stephen F. Hayes, a senior writer at THE WEEKLY STANDARD, is the author of Cheney: The Untold Story of America's Most Powerful and Controversial Vice President, which will be published next month by HarperCollins.
Wrap...
From the Daily Standard via Raw Story:
Hawks for Thompson
Thompson puts together a foreign policy team.
by Stephen F. Hayes
06/12/2007 3:27:00 PM
FRED THOMPSON IS adding more big-name policy talent as his testing-the-waters committee continues to grow into a real presidential campaign. Among the new additions: Mark Esper, national security adviser to former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist; Joel Shin, a top policy staffer on Bush-Cheney 2000; and Elizabeth Cheney, a former top official in the State Department's Near East and South Asia department.
Esper, who worked for Thompson when he was a Senator in the 1990s, currently serves as executive vice president of the Aerospace Industries of America and is a member of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Thompson previously served on the commission. Before joining AIA, Esper was Bill Frist's director of National Security Affairs. According to a biography on the U.S.-China commission website, Esper's "portfolio in that position included all defense, foreign policy, and intelligence matters for the United States Senate, where he also worked on trade and homeland security issues." He worked on executive-legislative national security matters--an important job given the Bush Administration's posture on a robust executive branch. Esper's current AIA obligations have limited his participation to that of an informal adviser.
Joel Shin was a top policy staffer on George W. Bush's presidential campaign in 2000. He coordinated the activities of senior outside policy advisers advising then-Governor Bush and worked on the Bush transition. Although many of his colleagues took jobs in the Bush administration, Shin did not. A former Rhodes Scholar, Shin is currently an associate with The Scowcroft Group in Washington, DC. Shin declined to
comment on his role, directing all questions to Thompson's communications staff.
Liz Cheney, the older of Vice President Dick Cheney's two daughters, served most recently as principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs and coordinator for Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiatives. That title--no doubt one of the longest in the federal government--means that Cheney was on the leading edge of President Bush's effort to bring democratic and market-based reform to the region. A longtime democracy advocate, Cheney was a strong proponent of women's rights in the region. Her previous experience includes time at the World Bank, two prior stints at the State Department, and service as a US AID officer in Poland and Hungary.
Esper, Shin, and Cheney are well known and well respected in the Washington foreign policy community and generally regarded as hawkish in their views on national security. They will continue to give Thompson's foreign policy advice as the effort becomes a formal campaign. The informal group began meeting late last month and current plans are for weekly policy sessions. Like most campaign advisory groups, the foreign policy team will hash out current foreign policy issues and make recommendations to the candidate (or, in this case, the non-candidate). Its members will also seek to anticipate the kinds of foreign policy and national security crises that might require answers from Thompson.
Even as he spends much of his time putting together the infrastructure of his campaign, Thompson has been focused on developing the policy proposals that will form the backbone of his presidential run. He spent several hours yesterday at the Hoover Institution, affiliated with Stanford University, meeting with scholars from the conservative think tank. He is set to appear on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno later this evening.
Stephen F. Hayes, a senior writer at THE WEEKLY STANDARD, is the author of Cheney: The Untold Story of America's Most Powerful and Controversial Vice President, which will be published next month by HarperCollins.
Wrap...
From Mueller's use of FBI jet to fake 811 call in Italy..
From American Progress:
Think Fast
"When the FBI asked Congress this spring to provide $3.6 million in the war spending bill for its Gulfstream V jet, it said the money was needed to ensure that the aircraft, packed with state-of-the-art security and communications gear, could continue to fly counterterrorism agents on 'crucial missions' into Iraq." Instead, it is "now routinely used to ferry FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III to speeches, public appearances and field office visits."
"Male U.S. veterans are twice as likely to die by suicide than people with no military service, and are more likely to kill themselves with a gun than others who commit suicide, researchers said on Monday."
"For the first time in five years, President Bush will attend the Senate Republicans' weekly policy lunch today as he pushes to revive his moribund overhaul of the nation's immigration laws." But several Republican senators "issued a terse warning yesterday: Don't expect much."
"The nation's growing cadre of home healthcare workers are not entitled to minimum wages or overtime pay under federal law, even if they work for private employers, the Supreme Court ruled today."
"The first priority for the next president of the World Bank is to smooth ruffled feathers among the staff after the turbulent exit of Paul Wolfowitz, according to the leading contender to replace him." Robert Zoellick acknowledged the staff has been "bruised and somewhat frustrated and there will be a need to calm the waters."
A new U.N. report concludes that "civilian casualties continue to mount”" in Iraq, despite the Bush administration's escalation. Violence has now spread beyond Baghdad, "to other parts of the country," and the Baghdad morgue is overflowing with corpses.
"The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan has worsened in the last year and civilians are bearing the brunt of suicide attacks and aerial bombing raids, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Tuesday."
280: Number of colleges and universities that "have agreed to raise awareness about global warming and limit their institutions' emissions in moving toward 'climate neutrality.'"
And finally: Frustrated that he "risked being late for a TV interview on Saturday" because streets around the Italian Senate were blocked for President Bush's visit, Italian Sen. Gustavo Selva called an ambulance to rush him to the studio. As he later boasted on television, Selva "dialed 118 for an ambulance asking to be rushed to his heart specialist -- giving the TV studio's address." Selva may now face criminal charges for his stunt.
Wrap...
Think Fast
"When the FBI asked Congress this spring to provide $3.6 million in the war spending bill for its Gulfstream V jet, it said the money was needed to ensure that the aircraft, packed with state-of-the-art security and communications gear, could continue to fly counterterrorism agents on 'crucial missions' into Iraq." Instead, it is "now routinely used to ferry FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III to speeches, public appearances and field office visits."
"Male U.S. veterans are twice as likely to die by suicide than people with no military service, and are more likely to kill themselves with a gun than others who commit suicide, researchers said on Monday."
"For the first time in five years, President Bush will attend the Senate Republicans' weekly policy lunch today as he pushes to revive his moribund overhaul of the nation's immigration laws." But several Republican senators "issued a terse warning yesterday: Don't expect much."
"The nation's growing cadre of home healthcare workers are not entitled to minimum wages or overtime pay under federal law, even if they work for private employers, the Supreme Court ruled today."
"The first priority for the next president of the World Bank is to smooth ruffled feathers among the staff after the turbulent exit of Paul Wolfowitz, according to the leading contender to replace him." Robert Zoellick acknowledged the staff has been "bruised and somewhat frustrated and there will be a need to calm the waters."
A new U.N. report concludes that "civilian casualties continue to mount”" in Iraq, despite the Bush administration's escalation. Violence has now spread beyond Baghdad, "to other parts of the country," and the Baghdad morgue is overflowing with corpses.
"The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan has worsened in the last year and civilians are bearing the brunt of suicide attacks and aerial bombing raids, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Tuesday."
280: Number of colleges and universities that "have agreed to raise awareness about global warming and limit their institutions' emissions in moving toward 'climate neutrality.'"
And finally: Frustrated that he "risked being late for a TV interview on Saturday" because streets around the Italian Senate were blocked for President Bush's visit, Italian Sen. Gustavo Selva called an ambulance to rush him to the studio. As he later boasted on television, Selva "dialed 118 for an ambulance asking to be rushed to his heart specialist -- giving the TV studio's address." Selva may now face criminal charges for his stunt.
Wrap...
Getting a replacement for Bush...
From Charlie Cook's "Off To the Races":
The constant complaint I hear traveling around the country is that the 2008 presidential campaign started too early and is lasting too long, two propositions that are difficult to argue with.
Citizens might find solace in the notion that increased fundraising demands on candidates will force them to ramp up early. In addition, once the nominations are settled -- most likely in the first half of February -- there will probably be a month or two of intermission or halftime. By this time, both winning campaigns should be flat broke and the candidates and operatives alike will likely be on the verge of a physical, if not emotional, breakdown.
NOTE: I absolutely agree with the above. But people will do anything to have a good, honest, competent presidential candidate in place as soon as possible to replace the horrendous Bush-Cheney administration.
Wrap...
The constant complaint I hear traveling around the country is that the 2008 presidential campaign started too early and is lasting too long, two propositions that are difficult to argue with.
Citizens might find solace in the notion that increased fundraising demands on candidates will force them to ramp up early. In addition, once the nominations are settled -- most likely in the first half of February -- there will probably be a month or two of intermission or halftime. By this time, both winning campaigns should be flat broke and the candidates and operatives alike will likely be on the verge of a physical, if not emotional, breakdown.
NOTE: I absolutely agree with the above. But people will do anything to have a good, honest, competent presidential candidate in place as soon as possible to replace the horrendous Bush-Cheney administration.
Wrap...
Sickening K Street Lobbyists....
From TomPaine.com:
And Still They Rise
Bill Berkowitz
June 12, 2007
Bill Berkowitz is a freelance writer who covers right-wing groups and movements.
Paraphrasing General Douglas MacArthur’s famous quote about old soldiers not fading away, old conservative politicians don’t fade away; they join high-powered lobbying firms and right-wing think tanks.
If you thought you’d heard the last from such conservative stalwarts as former California Congressman Richard Pombo, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum and former Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, fuhgeddaboutit. Despite each of them being handily defeated last November by Democrats, these three right wing ideologues have landed squarely on their feet in well-funded positions, affording them multiple opportunities to continue agitating for various aspects of their political agenda.
During his tenure in the House, Pombo was an ethical and environmental nightmare. As chairman of the House Resources Committee—before he lost his seat in 2006 to Democrat Jerry McNerney—Pombo was the proud author of a number of environmentally insensitive proposals, including the authored the "Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act of 2005" which gives the authority to charge and retain recreation fees for the use of public lands and which serves as the bedrock upon which the pay-to-play Disneyfication of the national parks and other public lands, is being constructed.
Pombo was closely linked to GOP uber-lobbyist and now imprisoned Jack Abramoff, and in September 2005, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington named Pombo one of the "13 Most Corrupt Members in Congress."
Pombo’s defeat has move him from the electoral arena to a lobbying position, having recently been appointed chairman of an organization called Partnership for America. Earlier this year he signed on with Pac/West as a senior partner.
Partnership for America bills itself as a "grass-roots alliance" promoting freedom, jobs and a clean environment.
Pac/West Communications is a lobbying/consulting firm that has managed to secure a $3 million contract with the state of Alaska to "educate" Americans about the value and importance of drilling for oil in the state, a project dear to the heart of Pombo.
According to the Anchorage Daily News , Pac/West is run by Paul Phillips, a former Republican state senator from Oregon, “known as his legislature's ‘premier operator,’ both praised and criticized for his sly mastery of the legislative process.
“A consummate dealmaker and pro-business Republican, Phillips was investigated for mixing politics and private consulting. A 1990 ethics fine may have derailed congressional aspirations, said the Oregonian.” Phillips retired in 1996 and joined up with Pac/West. “Using Alaska's funds, Pac/West funded a media-message group, Americans for American Energy,” the Anchorage Daily News reported.
The group was located in the same Golden, Colo. office of a subcontractor called Policy Communications Inc., “which received $125,000 for professional services in May and June last year, according to state billing records.”
And here, according to the Anchorage Daily News , is where the story really gets interesting:
[click link below to continue reading]
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/06/12/and_still_they_rise.php
Wrap...
And Still They Rise
Bill Berkowitz
June 12, 2007
Bill Berkowitz is a freelance writer who covers right-wing groups and movements.
Paraphrasing General Douglas MacArthur’s famous quote about old soldiers not fading away, old conservative politicians don’t fade away; they join high-powered lobbying firms and right-wing think tanks.
If you thought you’d heard the last from such conservative stalwarts as former California Congressman Richard Pombo, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum and former Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, fuhgeddaboutit. Despite each of them being handily defeated last November by Democrats, these three right wing ideologues have landed squarely on their feet in well-funded positions, affording them multiple opportunities to continue agitating for various aspects of their political agenda.
During his tenure in the House, Pombo was an ethical and environmental nightmare. As chairman of the House Resources Committee—before he lost his seat in 2006 to Democrat Jerry McNerney—Pombo was the proud author of a number of environmentally insensitive proposals, including the authored the "Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act of 2005" which gives the authority to charge and retain recreation fees for the use of public lands and which serves as the bedrock upon which the pay-to-play Disneyfication of the national parks and other public lands, is being constructed.
Pombo was closely linked to GOP uber-lobbyist and now imprisoned Jack Abramoff, and in September 2005, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington named Pombo one of the "13 Most Corrupt Members in Congress."
Pombo’s defeat has move him from the electoral arena to a lobbying position, having recently been appointed chairman of an organization called Partnership for America. Earlier this year he signed on with Pac/West as a senior partner.
Partnership for America bills itself as a "grass-roots alliance" promoting freedom, jobs and a clean environment.
Pac/West Communications is a lobbying/consulting firm that has managed to secure a $3 million contract with the state of Alaska to "educate" Americans about the value and importance of drilling for oil in the state, a project dear to the heart of Pombo.
According to the Anchorage Daily News , Pac/West is run by Paul Phillips, a former Republican state senator from Oregon, “known as his legislature's ‘premier operator,’ both praised and criticized for his sly mastery of the legislative process.
“A consummate dealmaker and pro-business Republican, Phillips was investigated for mixing politics and private consulting. A 1990 ethics fine may have derailed congressional aspirations, said the Oregonian.” Phillips retired in 1996 and joined up with Pac/West. “Using Alaska's funds, Pac/West funded a media-message group, Americans for American Energy,” the Anchorage Daily News reported.
The group was located in the same Golden, Colo. office of a subcontractor called Policy Communications Inc., “which received $125,000 for professional services in May and June last year, according to state billing records.”
And here, according to the Anchorage Daily News , is where the story really gets interesting:
[click link below to continue reading]
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/06/12/and_still_they_rise.php
Wrap...
Monday, June 11, 2007
Inept judges part of immigration problem...
From truthout. org :
Immigration Judges Often Picked Based on GOP Ties
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/061107M.shtml
The Bush administration increasingly emphasized partisan political ties over expertise, in recent years, when selecting the judges who decide the fate of hundreds of thousands of immigrants, despite laws that preclude such considerations. Immigration judges are considered civil service employees who may not be chosen based on political factors, unlike judges in federal criminal courts.
Wrap...
Immigration Judges Often Picked Based on GOP Ties
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/061107M.shtml
The Bush administration increasingly emphasized partisan political ties over expertise, in recent years, when selecting the judges who decide the fate of hundreds of thousands of immigrants, despite laws that preclude such considerations. Immigration judges are considered civil service employees who may not be chosen based on political factors, unlike judges in federal criminal courts.
Wrap...
Arming Iraq for their Civil War to talking with the dead..
From American Progress:
Think Fast
American commanders are turning to a strategy “that they acknowledge is fraught with risk: arming Sunni Arab groups that have promised to fight militants linked with Al Qaeda who have been their allies in the past.” Critics say the plan “could amount to the Americans’ arming both sides in a future civil war.”
“The Taliban carried out an apparent attempt to assassinate Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday, firing rockets that missed him by several hundred yards as he spoke to a group of elders. No one was injured.”
“In what may be a sign of things to come, the lawyers for I. Lewis Libby Jr. last month invoked the rarely used courtroom tactic: the ‘bloggers can be mean’ defense.” Libby’s lawyers urged the judge not to publicly release letters written in support of their client, given “the real possibility that these letters, once released, would be published on the Internet and their authors discussed, even mocked, by bloggers.”
“Acting under pressure from Congress, the CIA has decided to trim its contractor staffing by 10 percent. It is the agency’s first effort since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to curb what critics have decried as the growing privatization of U.S. intelligence work, a circumstance that has sharply boosted some personnel costs.”
“A tribal coalition formed to oppose the extremist group al-Qaeda in Iraq, a development that U.S. officials say has reduced violence in Iraq’s troubled Anbar province, is beginning to splinter, according to an Anbar tribal leader and a U.S. military official familiar with tribal politics.”
“Senate Democrats opened the door to reviving the stalled immigration measure on Sunday, calling on Republicans to resolve their internal divisions and produce an agreement on how to move the legislation forward.”
And finally: HHS Secretary requests meeting with dead Senator. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt called Sen. Craig Thomas’s (R-WY) office Thursday afternoon to request a meeting with the late senator. Thomas passed away on Monday after a seven month battle with leukemia. The Washington Post writes, “Needless to say, grief-stricken Thomas staffers were stunned.”
Wrap...
Think Fast
American commanders are turning to a strategy “that they acknowledge is fraught with risk: arming Sunni Arab groups that have promised to fight militants linked with Al Qaeda who have been their allies in the past.” Critics say the plan “could amount to the Americans’ arming both sides in a future civil war.”
“The Taliban carried out an apparent attempt to assassinate Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday, firing rockets that missed him by several hundred yards as he spoke to a group of elders. No one was injured.”
“In what may be a sign of things to come, the lawyers for I. Lewis Libby Jr. last month invoked the rarely used courtroom tactic: the ‘bloggers can be mean’ defense.” Libby’s lawyers urged the judge not to publicly release letters written in support of their client, given “the real possibility that these letters, once released, would be published on the Internet and their authors discussed, even mocked, by bloggers.”
“Acting under pressure from Congress, the CIA has decided to trim its contractor staffing by 10 percent. It is the agency’s first effort since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to curb what critics have decried as the growing privatization of U.S. intelligence work, a circumstance that has sharply boosted some personnel costs.”
“A tribal coalition formed to oppose the extremist group al-Qaeda in Iraq, a development that U.S. officials say has reduced violence in Iraq’s troubled Anbar province, is beginning to splinter, according to an Anbar tribal leader and a U.S. military official familiar with tribal politics.”
“Senate Democrats opened the door to reviving the stalled immigration measure on Sunday, calling on Republicans to resolve their internal divisions and produce an agreement on how to move the legislation forward.”
And finally: HHS Secretary requests meeting with dead Senator. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt called Sen. Craig Thomas’s (R-WY) office Thursday afternoon to request a meeting with the late senator. Thomas passed away on Monday after a seven month battle with leukemia. The Washington Post writes, “Needless to say, grief-stricken Thomas staffers were stunned.”
Wrap...
In Constitutional Rights, this is the #1 law....
From truthout.org :
Keith Olbermann: Restoring Habeas Corpus
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/061107B.shtml
Keith Olbermann applauds the Senate Judiciary Committee's efforts to restore habeas corpus and discusses this issue with Jonathan Hurley, professor of constitutional law at George Washington University
Wrap...
Keith Olbermann: Restoring Habeas Corpus
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/061107B.shtml
Keith Olbermann applauds the Senate Judiciary Committee's efforts to restore habeas corpus and discusses this issue with Jonathan Hurley, professor of constitutional law at George Washington University
Wrap...
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Torture.."Do unto others.."He did..Now it's his turn..
From Information Clearing House:
We got it wrong, says former torturer
By Tim Shipman
06/10/07
"SMH"
Washington -- A FORMER US Army torturer has described the traumatic effects of American interrogation techniques in Iraq - on their victims and on the perpetrators themselves.
Tony Lagouranis said he conducted mock executions, forced men and boys into agonising stress positions, kept suspects awake for weeks on end, used dogs to terrify prisoners and subjected others to hypothermia.
But he said he was deeply scarred by the realisation that what he did had contributed to the plight of US forces in Iraq.
Mr Lagouranis, 37, said he suffered nightmares and anxiety attacks after returning to Chicago, where he works as a pub doorman.
Between January 2004 and January 2005, first at Abu Ghraib prison and then in Mosul, in northern Babil province, he tortured suspects, most of whom he said were innocent. He realised he had entered a moral dungeon when he found himself reading a Holocaust memoir, hoping to pick up torture tips from the Nazis.
[click link below to continue reading]
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17860.htm
Wrap...
We got it wrong, says former torturer
By Tim Shipman
06/10/07
"SMH"
Washington -- A FORMER US Army torturer has described the traumatic effects of American interrogation techniques in Iraq - on their victims and on the perpetrators themselves.
Tony Lagouranis said he conducted mock executions, forced men and boys into agonising stress positions, kept suspects awake for weeks on end, used dogs to terrify prisoners and subjected others to hypothermia.
But he said he was deeply scarred by the realisation that what he did had contributed to the plight of US forces in Iraq.
Mr Lagouranis, 37, said he suffered nightmares and anxiety attacks after returning to Chicago, where he works as a pub doorman.
Between January 2004 and January 2005, first at Abu Ghraib prison and then in Mosul, in northern Babil province, he tortured suspects, most of whom he said were innocent. He realised he had entered a moral dungeon when he found himself reading a Holocaust memoir, hoping to pick up torture tips from the Nazis.
[click link below to continue reading]
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17860.htm
Wrap...
Hafetz and Gen Powell on torture....
From truthout.org :
Jonathan Hafetz
Let Torture Into Court
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/061007E.shtml
"Should federal courts hear claims alleging torture by US officials? They should indeed. Denying a federal forum for torture claims does not merely undermine the United States' commitment to a universally condemned practice. It also weakens the institutional role of the courts as a check on executive power and tarnishes their reputation as guarantors of individual rights," says Jonathan Hafetz.
******************************
Powell: Close Guantanamo Now, Restore Habeas
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/061007F.shtml
This morning on NBC's Meet the Press, General Colin Powell strongly condemned the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, calling it "a major problem for America's perception" and charging, "if it was up to me, I would close Guantanamo - not tomorrow, this afternoon."
[click links above to continue reading each article]
Wrap...
Jonathan Hafetz
Let Torture Into Court
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/061007E.shtml
"Should federal courts hear claims alleging torture by US officials? They should indeed. Denying a federal forum for torture claims does not merely undermine the United States' commitment to a universally condemned practice. It also weakens the institutional role of the courts as a check on executive power and tarnishes their reputation as guarantors of individual rights," says Jonathan Hafetz.
******************************
Powell: Close Guantanamo Now, Restore Habeas
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/061007F.shtml
This morning on NBC's Meet the Press, General Colin Powell strongly condemned the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, calling it "a major problem for America's perception" and charging, "if it was up to me, I would close Guantanamo - not tomorrow, this afternoon."
[click links above to continue reading each article]
Wrap...
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Fred Thompson: Corporation bought & paid for...
From David Sirota:
http://www.workingassetsblog.com/2007/06/what_else_should_we_expect_fro.html{http://www.workingassetsblog.com/2007/06/what_else_should_we_expect_fro.html}
What Else Should We Expect From a Lifelong K Street Lobbyist?
By David Sirota
USA Today this week finally broke the national media silence about the one-third of Fred Thompson's life that he spent as a high-paid corporate lobbyist in Washington, D.C. Thompson's campaign, which is being run by his fellow K Street lobbyists, responded by saying only that being a K Street lobbyist "is an honorable endeavor that goes back to the beginnings of this republic."
I love this pathetic attempt to liken corporate lobbying right up there on the "honorable"scale with George Washington heroically crossing the Delaware. What's funny is that you could say a lot of things "go back to the beginningof this republic." Prostitution, as just one example, "goes back to the beginning of this republic." But that doesn't mean you want a prostitute - sexual or corporate - running the nation.
Not surprisingly, the National Association of Manufacturers has a post on its blog trumpeting Thompson's first major policy declaration: His decision to make enacting new corporate tax breaks the centerpiece of his campaign.
Here's what he declared on CNBC: "We have, you know-if you include state taxes-the highest corporate tax rate in the world. That makes us less competitive. All those things have to be looked at. And all those-especially as far as the corporate tax rate is concerned, need to be clearly reduced."
The claim that America has "the highest corporate tax rate in the world," of course, is a lie handed to Thompson from corporate-backed front groups like the Cato Institute.
Here's what I documented in my book Hostile Takeover: "Groups like the Cato Institute and Americans for Tax Reform, which are funded by some of America's wealthiest corporations, have for years pushed to eliminate all corporate taxes. They claim 'the federal government takes 35 percent' of corporate income for taxes, that such a rate is the fourth highest in the industrialized world, and therefore oppresses U.S. companies and hurts the economy.
Yes, it is true, the official corporate tax rate in America is 35 percent. It is also true, however, that because of lax enforcement, loopholes and evasion, most corporations never come close to paying that rate.
As the Government Accountability Office reported in 2004, 94 percent of corporations pay less than 5 percent of their income in taxes, and corporate tax payments are at their second lowest level in 60 years -lower than in every other industrialized country other than Iceland."
But then, why should we expect a lifelong corporate lobbyist like Thompson to push anything other than more corporate tax breaks? That's what he's been getting paid a nice fat paycheck to do most of his life. And no record-setting deficit or lack of funds for protective equipment for our soldiers in harms way is going to stop him from pushing to get his corporate cronies as many giveaways as possible.
Wrap...
http://www.workingassetsblog.com/2007/06/what_else_should_we_expect_fro.html{http://www.workingassetsblog.com/2007/06/what_else_should_we_expect_fro.html}
What Else Should We Expect From a Lifelong K Street Lobbyist?
By David Sirota
USA Today this week finally broke the national media silence about the one-third of Fred Thompson's life that he spent as a high-paid corporate lobbyist in Washington, D.C. Thompson's campaign, which is being run by his fellow K Street lobbyists, responded by saying only that being a K Street lobbyist "is an honorable endeavor that goes back to the beginnings of this republic."
I love this pathetic attempt to liken corporate lobbying right up there on the "honorable"scale with George Washington heroically crossing the Delaware. What's funny is that you could say a lot of things "go back to the beginningof this republic." Prostitution, as just one example, "goes back to the beginning of this republic." But that doesn't mean you want a prostitute - sexual or corporate - running the nation.
Not surprisingly, the National Association of Manufacturers has a post on its blog trumpeting Thompson's first major policy declaration: His decision to make enacting new corporate tax breaks the centerpiece of his campaign.
Here's what he declared on CNBC: "We have, you know-if you include state taxes-the highest corporate tax rate in the world. That makes us less competitive. All those things have to be looked at. And all those-especially as far as the corporate tax rate is concerned, need to be clearly reduced."
The claim that America has "the highest corporate tax rate in the world," of course, is a lie handed to Thompson from corporate-backed front groups like the Cato Institute.
Here's what I documented in my book Hostile Takeover: "Groups like the Cato Institute and Americans for Tax Reform, which are funded by some of America's wealthiest corporations, have for years pushed to eliminate all corporate taxes. They claim 'the federal government takes 35 percent' of corporate income for taxes, that such a rate is the fourth highest in the industrialized world, and therefore oppresses U.S. companies and hurts the economy.
Yes, it is true, the official corporate tax rate in America is 35 percent. It is also true, however, that because of lax enforcement, loopholes and evasion, most corporations never come close to paying that rate.
As the Government Accountability Office reported in 2004, 94 percent of corporations pay less than 5 percent of their income in taxes, and corporate tax payments are at their second lowest level in 60 years -lower than in every other industrialized country other than Iceland."
But then, why should we expect a lifelong corporate lobbyist like Thompson to push anything other than more corporate tax breaks? That's what he's been getting paid a nice fat paycheck to do most of his life. And no record-setting deficit or lack of funds for protective equipment for our soldiers in harms way is going to stop him from pushing to get his corporate cronies as many giveaways as possible.
Wrap...
Friday, June 08, 2007
Clintons' Secret Trade Deal with Columbia...
From David Sirota:
SECRET TRADE DEAL: Can the Clinton Machine Get Congress to Deliver Another NAFTA?
Can the Clinton machine deliver another NAFTA? That is the question in Washington on trade these days, as dynamic similar to the NAFTA debate begins to take shape.
The Colombian government, which has been tied to paramilitary gangs that execute union organizers, is spending lavishly to enlist top Clinton administration officials - including Hillary Clinton's top campaign strategist and President Clinton himself - to pressure Democrats on Capitol Hill to pass the Colombian Free Trade Agreement - an agreement that is part of the bigger secret deal.
This campaign is being backed up by a wide array of businesses such as Wal-Mart and Citigroup.
To date, the legislative language of the secret trade deal has still not been released - but that hasn't stopped the furious efforts to build a coalition of Clinton administration officials-turned-lobbyists, a handful of top Democrats in Congress and corporate interests to ram the secret deal through Congress.
To see today's full report, go to:
http://www.workingassetsblog.com/2007/06/secret_trade_deal_day_29_can_t.html{http://www.workingassetsblog.com/2007/06/secret_trade_deal_day_29_can_t.html}
If you have trouble with the link above, please go to:
http://www.workingassetsblog.com/sirota
{http://www.workingassetsblog.com/sirota}
Wrap...
SECRET TRADE DEAL: Can the Clinton Machine Get Congress to Deliver Another NAFTA?
Can the Clinton machine deliver another NAFTA? That is the question in Washington on trade these days, as dynamic similar to the NAFTA debate begins to take shape.
The Colombian government, which has been tied to paramilitary gangs that execute union organizers, is spending lavishly to enlist top Clinton administration officials - including Hillary Clinton's top campaign strategist and President Clinton himself - to pressure Democrats on Capitol Hill to pass the Colombian Free Trade Agreement - an agreement that is part of the bigger secret deal.
This campaign is being backed up by a wide array of businesses such as Wal-Mart and Citigroup.
To date, the legislative language of the secret trade deal has still not been released - but that hasn't stopped the furious efforts to build a coalition of Clinton administration officials-turned-lobbyists, a handful of top Democrats in Congress and corporate interests to ram the secret deal through Congress.
To see today's full report, go to:
http://www.workingassetsblog.com/2007/06/secret_trade_deal_day_29_can_t.html{http://www.workingassetsblog.com/2007/06/secret_trade_deal_day_29_can_t.html}
If you have trouble with the link above, please go to:
http://www.workingassetsblog.com/sirota
{http://www.workingassetsblog.com/sirota}
Wrap...
Drought in 1/3 of USA to Alabama Senate brawl....
From American Progress:
"Drought, a fixture in much of the West for nearly a decade, now covers more than one-third of the continental USA. And it's spreading," USA Today reports. "As summer starts, half the nation is either abnormally dry or in outright drought from prolonged lack of rain that could lead to water shortages."
G-8 countries backed down yesterday from their strong global warming stance, instead embracing President Bush's proposal to move toward unspecified "substantial cuts" in carbon emissions. The "agreement says the G-8 countries will 'seriously' consider cutting emissions in half by 2050, but it sets no mandatory goals for all."
"Senior House Democrats threatened Thursday to issue subpoenas to obtain secret legal opinions" and other Justice Department documents related to the NSA's warrantless domestic surveillance program, "the most aggressive action yet by Congress in its oversight of the...program."
"Turkey is stepping up its presence along its border with Iraq to levels not seen in years in an effort to root out Kurdish separatist guerrillas who take refuge in northern Iraq. That means that as the American military struggles to control the violence in central Iraq, a second conflict could spill across its northern border."
4: Number of U.S. deaths in Iraq per day in June, with a total of 23 deaths in the first six days of the month. The total death toll for American forces is now 3504.
"Consumer confidence tumbled to a 10-month low" in the face of "nagging worries about gasoline prices, if the yearlong housing slump will worsen and drag down home prices further and whether the economy will, in fact, snap out of its sluggish spell."
"Governors from eight U.S. states on Thursday protested to Congress about possible legislation that they claim will limit their efforts to cut automobile and small-truck emissions. If passed as written in draft form, the legislation would wipe out California's landmark effort to cut auto and light-truck greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 30 percent by 2030."
"While the Government Accountability Office (GAO) contended with controversy surrounding a pay-for-performance system that denied nearly 17 percent of its employees cost-of-living increases last year, 72 senior executives and senior-level employees received bonuses totaling more than $900,000 in fiscal year 2006."
And finally: Yesterday in the Alabama Senate, "harsh words" led to "a punch being thrown" between Sens. Charles Bishop (R) and Lowell Barron (D). "Bishop said he punched Barron after the senator called him a 'son of a b*tch.' ... Bishop said he regretted throwing the punch because ‘that’s not the way grown men solve their problems,’ but he said he would not immediately apologize to Barron." (Watch video HERE.)
Wrap...
"Drought, a fixture in much of the West for nearly a decade, now covers more than one-third of the continental USA. And it's spreading," USA Today reports. "As summer starts, half the nation is either abnormally dry or in outright drought from prolonged lack of rain that could lead to water shortages."
G-8 countries backed down yesterday from their strong global warming stance, instead embracing President Bush's proposal to move toward unspecified "substantial cuts" in carbon emissions. The "agreement says the G-8 countries will 'seriously' consider cutting emissions in half by 2050, but it sets no mandatory goals for all."
"Senior House Democrats threatened Thursday to issue subpoenas to obtain secret legal opinions" and other Justice Department documents related to the NSA's warrantless domestic surveillance program, "the most aggressive action yet by Congress in its oversight of the...program."
"Turkey is stepping up its presence along its border with Iraq to levels not seen in years in an effort to root out Kurdish separatist guerrillas who take refuge in northern Iraq. That means that as the American military struggles to control the violence in central Iraq, a second conflict could spill across its northern border."
4: Number of U.S. deaths in Iraq per day in June, with a total of 23 deaths in the first six days of the month. The total death toll for American forces is now 3504.
"Consumer confidence tumbled to a 10-month low" in the face of "nagging worries about gasoline prices, if the yearlong housing slump will worsen and drag down home prices further and whether the economy will, in fact, snap out of its sluggish spell."
"Governors from eight U.S. states on Thursday protested to Congress about possible legislation that they claim will limit their efforts to cut automobile and small-truck emissions. If passed as written in draft form, the legislation would wipe out California's landmark effort to cut auto and light-truck greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 30 percent by 2030."
"While the Government Accountability Office (GAO) contended with controversy surrounding a pay-for-performance system that denied nearly 17 percent of its employees cost-of-living increases last year, 72 senior executives and senior-level employees received bonuses totaling more than $900,000 in fiscal year 2006."
And finally: Yesterday in the Alabama Senate, "harsh words" led to "a punch being thrown" between Sens. Charles Bishop (R) and Lowell Barron (D). "Bishop said he punched Barron after the senator called him a 'son of a b*tch.' ... Bishop said he regretted throwing the punch because ‘that’s not the way grown men solve their problems,’ but he said he would not immediately apologize to Barron." (Watch video HERE.)
Wrap...
Blackwater USA's perfect timing....
From truthout.org:
Blackwater Sues Slain Employees' Families to Silence Them
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/060807C.shtml
After filing its suit against the dead men's estates, Blackwater demanded that its claim and the families' existing lawsuit be handled in private arbitration. By suing the families in arbitration, Blackwater has attempted to move the examination of their wrongful conduct outside the eye of the public and away from a jury. This comes at the same time Congress is investigating Blackwater.
Wrap...
Blackwater Sues Slain Employees' Families to Silence Them
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/060807C.shtml
After filing its suit against the dead men's estates, Blackwater demanded that its claim and the families' existing lawsuit be handled in private arbitration. By suing the families in arbitration, Blackwater has attempted to move the examination of their wrongful conduct outside the eye of the public and away from a jury. This comes at the same time Congress is investigating Blackwater.
Wrap...
Thursday, June 07, 2007
70% of intel spending goes to contractors at NSA...
From Secrecy News:
NSA REPORTS HUGE GROWTH IN CONTRACTOR BASE
The industrial base of contractors in industry seeking to do business with the National Security Agency has mushroomed in recent years, according to an NSA acquisition official. In 2001, only 140 contractors were eligible to compete for NSA contracts. Today, there are six thousand such contractors, said Deborah Walker of the NSA.
She spoke at a contractor conference sponsored by the Defense Intelligence Agency last month. The number of contractor facilities cleared by the NSA has grown from 41 in 2002 to 1265 in 2006, according to a chart that she presented in her talk.The result is an increase in competitiveness and improved communication with industry, Ms. Walker indicated.
"Partnerships with industry [are]vital to mission success," she said.
See "Acquisition Resource Center," presentation by Deborah Walker, National Security Agency, May 2007, Unclassified/FOUO:
http://www.fas.org/irp/nsa/walker.pdf
Contractors now consume as much as 70% of U.S. intelligence spending, reported Tim Shorrock in Salon last week.
Wrap...
NSA REPORTS HUGE GROWTH IN CONTRACTOR BASE
The industrial base of contractors in industry seeking to do business with the National Security Agency has mushroomed in recent years, according to an NSA acquisition official. In 2001, only 140 contractors were eligible to compete for NSA contracts. Today, there are six thousand such contractors, said Deborah Walker of the NSA.
She spoke at a contractor conference sponsored by the Defense Intelligence Agency last month. The number of contractor facilities cleared by the NSA has grown from 41 in 2002 to 1265 in 2006, according to a chart that she presented in her talk.The result is an increase in competitiveness and improved communication with industry, Ms. Walker indicated.
"Partnerships with industry [are]vital to mission success," she said.
See "Acquisition Resource Center," presentation by Deborah Walker, National Security Agency, May 2007, Unclassified/FOUO:
http://www.fas.org/irp/nsa/walker.pdf
Contractors now consume as much as 70% of U.S. intelligence spending, reported Tim Shorrock in Salon last week.
Wrap...
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Impeaching Cheney...Let's get on with it...
From Atlanta Progressive News:
BREAKING: Five US Reps Support Cheney Impeachment
By Matthew Cardinale, News Editor, Atlanta Progressive News (June 06, 2007)
(APN) ATLANTA – US Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY) has become the fifth total co-sponsor of US Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s (D-OH) bill to impeach Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. In addition to Kucinich, the additional three Members of Congress who have signed on to H. Res 333 are US Rep. Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), William Lacy Clay (D-MO), and Albert Wynn (D-MD).
"This Administration has continued to erode the trust of the American people and enough is simply enough," stated US Rep. Clarke in a press release issued first to Atlanta Progressive News.
"H.Res. 333 was introduced to the House of Representatives by Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio on April 24, 2007, and asserts that the vice president manipulated intelligence to make the case for going to war with Iraq, falsified a connection between Iraq and al-Qaeda, and has threatened aggression against Iran," US Rep. Clarke says.
"When the American people voted on November 7th, they asked for a change in direction by electing the Democratic party in the House and Senate. I have heard the loud cries of my constituents, and they want accountability. My support of HRes 333 reflects the voices of the residents of central Brooklyn."
Congresswoman Clarke replaced US Rep. Major Owens (D-NY), who retired at the end of the 109th Session. US Rep. Owens had been one of the early supporters of Conyers's bill, H Res 635, which would have created a Select Committee to look into the possible grounds for impeaching President Bush.
Congresswoman Clarke is her own woman and "does not follow the crowd," her spokesperson said, adding that constituents had regularly lobbied her to co-sponsor this bill.
"Vice President Dick Cheney is the architect of the Administration's deception about the war. Cheney persistently and deliberately deceived the Congress and the American people about the existence of Weapons of Mass Destruction and the alleged link between Saddam Hussein and the attack on September 11th. There should be a serious dialogue about the conduct of this Administration. Cheney should be held accountable for purposely misleading the American people. Despite the obvious lack of success on the ground, Vice President Cheney continued a barrage of propaganda claiming that we were winning the war and successfully rebuilding Iraq which is patently false. His statements and representations about the situation in Iraq amount to malfeasance for which he should be taken to task," said Wynn in a press release prepared for Atlanta Progressive News.
Impeachment activist Tracie Stern of Atlanta World Can't Wait said the new co-sponsorships are exciting, but at the same time, the case for impeachment is so clear that these Members of Congress are actually just doing their duty.
Those Members who do not co-sponsor H Res 333 are enabling the Bush Adminstration, Stern said, adding "People need to step on to the stage of history."
"At the urging of my constituents in Missouri's 1st Congressional District, and from Americans across the country, I cosponsored Congressman Kucinich's resolution regarding the impeachment of the Vice President because I believe that Mr. Cheney deliberately manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the Congress of the United States and the American people. That deception has resulted in a tragic, unnecessary war that has already cost the lives of over 3,300 brave Americans and has cost the taxpayers over $400 billion. The arrogant abuse of power and the complete disregard for the truth needs to stop," US Rep. Clay said in a statement prepared for Atlanta Progressive News.
US Rep. Schakowsky (D-IL) recently told The Daily Northwestern college newspaper that Cheney misled the public by "intentionally manipulating intelligence in order to launch an elective war against Iraq. I believe it is crucial that the U.S. House of Representatives investigate the vice president's actions to determine if he should be impeached for lying to the American people to justify the war in Iraq."
Missing in action was US Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) who had told WAOK radio in December 2005 he would sign a bill of impeachment of President Bush should it come across his desk [crimes committed by Bush would equally apply to Cheney in this case]. Of course, Lewis did not cosponsor US Rep. Cynthia McKinney’s (D-GA) bill filed at the end of the last Session which would have impeached Bush either.
Other MIAs include US Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) who recently made comments that she thought impeaching Cheney was a good idea, as reported by AfterDowningStreet.org [Waters’s Office has not returned a call seeking comment]; and US Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), who supported impeachment in the Minnesota legislature and campaigned for US Congress on the issue. This list could go on.
The new cosponsorships on Kucinich’s bill are significant for a number of reasons. First, it shows there is more than one Member of Congress willing to entertain real accountability for the Bush Administration, despite the insistence of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) that impeachment is off the table.
Also, this bill is calling for actual Articles of Impeachment for Cheney, unlike the last bill which not only was related to Mr. Bush, but created an investigative committee to look into possible impeachment rather than providing for actual possible impeachment.
Therefore, cosponsorships on H Res 333 have even more weight than those which were listed on H Res 635 last Session.
Also, since the time of H Res 635, Democrats have taken control of both the US House and Senate. Thus, impeachment is even more a real possibility on account of having the potential Democratic support for the bill, even though most Democrats currently aren’t rushing to impeach Bush.
Because Democrats are now the Majority in Congress, we also now know that Bush refuses to be accountable to Congress, particularly on the US Invasion of Iraq. Bush has now vetoed historic legislation to attach funding for the Occupation with a deadline for withdrawal. Thus, it is now even more clear that traditional oversight mechanisms will not be effective.
The House Judiciary Committee told APN there are no plans to have hearings on impeachment of Cheney or anyone else at this time.
"It’s not at this time on the Committee’s immediate agenda," Conyers’s spokesperson said.
"Once its referred it has to be on the Committee’s agenda for the Committee to take it up," they said.
"In order to move a bill you have to have hearings scheduled on it," they said.
When asked by APN if Conyers taking impeachment "off the table" meant based on present information or whether it was complete abdication of a constitutional mechanism no matter what information comes forward, "All we can speak to is the present time," the spokesperson said, adding it would be unwise to speculate about the future.
"I don’t think it’s prejudging," they said.
The 39 total co-sponsors of H Res. 635 were US Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA), Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA), Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO), Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL), Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA), Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA), Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA), Rep. Jackson, Jr., (D-IL), Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI), Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN), Rep. John Olver (D-MA), Rep. Major Owens (D-NY), Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ), Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), Rep. Steve Rothman (D-NJ), Rep. Martin Sabo (D-MN), Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA), Rep. Fortney Pete Stark (D-CA), Rep. John Tierney (D-MA), Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Dianne Watson (D-CA), Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), and Rep. David Wu (D-OR).
It was largely viewed that US Rep. Conyers, the original sponsor of H Res 635, did not re-file his bill out of respect to Pelosi and his desire to be appointed Chair of the Judiciary Committee. Moreover, several Members of Congress have stated that they have followed in Conyers’s steps in choosing not to introduce similar bills of their own.
About the author:
Matthew Cardinale is the News Editor of Atlanta Progressive News and may be reached at matthew@atlantaprogressivenews.com.
Syndication policy:
This article may be reprinted in full at no cost where Atlanta Progressive News is credited.
Wrap...
BREAKING: Five US Reps Support Cheney Impeachment
By Matthew Cardinale, News Editor, Atlanta Progressive News (June 06, 2007)
(APN) ATLANTA – US Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY) has become the fifth total co-sponsor of US Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s (D-OH) bill to impeach Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. In addition to Kucinich, the additional three Members of Congress who have signed on to H. Res 333 are US Rep. Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), William Lacy Clay (D-MO), and Albert Wynn (D-MD).
"This Administration has continued to erode the trust of the American people and enough is simply enough," stated US Rep. Clarke in a press release issued first to Atlanta Progressive News.
"H.Res. 333 was introduced to the House of Representatives by Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio on April 24, 2007, and asserts that the vice president manipulated intelligence to make the case for going to war with Iraq, falsified a connection between Iraq and al-Qaeda, and has threatened aggression against Iran," US Rep. Clarke says.
"When the American people voted on November 7th, they asked for a change in direction by electing the Democratic party in the House and Senate. I have heard the loud cries of my constituents, and they want accountability. My support of HRes 333 reflects the voices of the residents of central Brooklyn."
Congresswoman Clarke replaced US Rep. Major Owens (D-NY), who retired at the end of the 109th Session. US Rep. Owens had been one of the early supporters of Conyers's bill, H Res 635, which would have created a Select Committee to look into the possible grounds for impeaching President Bush.
Congresswoman Clarke is her own woman and "does not follow the crowd," her spokesperson said, adding that constituents had regularly lobbied her to co-sponsor this bill.
"Vice President Dick Cheney is the architect of the Administration's deception about the war. Cheney persistently and deliberately deceived the Congress and the American people about the existence of Weapons of Mass Destruction and the alleged link between Saddam Hussein and the attack on September 11th. There should be a serious dialogue about the conduct of this Administration. Cheney should be held accountable for purposely misleading the American people. Despite the obvious lack of success on the ground, Vice President Cheney continued a barrage of propaganda claiming that we were winning the war and successfully rebuilding Iraq which is patently false. His statements and representations about the situation in Iraq amount to malfeasance for which he should be taken to task," said Wynn in a press release prepared for Atlanta Progressive News.
Impeachment activist Tracie Stern of Atlanta World Can't Wait said the new co-sponsorships are exciting, but at the same time, the case for impeachment is so clear that these Members of Congress are actually just doing their duty.
Those Members who do not co-sponsor H Res 333 are enabling the Bush Adminstration, Stern said, adding "People need to step on to the stage of history."
"At the urging of my constituents in Missouri's 1st Congressional District, and from Americans across the country, I cosponsored Congressman Kucinich's resolution regarding the impeachment of the Vice President because I believe that Mr. Cheney deliberately manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the Congress of the United States and the American people. That deception has resulted in a tragic, unnecessary war that has already cost the lives of over 3,300 brave Americans and has cost the taxpayers over $400 billion. The arrogant abuse of power and the complete disregard for the truth needs to stop," US Rep. Clay said in a statement prepared for Atlanta Progressive News.
US Rep. Schakowsky (D-IL) recently told The Daily Northwestern college newspaper that Cheney misled the public by "intentionally manipulating intelligence in order to launch an elective war against Iraq. I believe it is crucial that the U.S. House of Representatives investigate the vice president's actions to determine if he should be impeached for lying to the American people to justify the war in Iraq."
Missing in action was US Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) who had told WAOK radio in December 2005 he would sign a bill of impeachment of President Bush should it come across his desk [crimes committed by Bush would equally apply to Cheney in this case]. Of course, Lewis did not cosponsor US Rep. Cynthia McKinney’s (D-GA) bill filed at the end of the last Session which would have impeached Bush either.
Other MIAs include US Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) who recently made comments that she thought impeaching Cheney was a good idea, as reported by AfterDowningStreet.org [Waters’s Office has not returned a call seeking comment]; and US Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), who supported impeachment in the Minnesota legislature and campaigned for US Congress on the issue. This list could go on.
The new cosponsorships on Kucinich’s bill are significant for a number of reasons. First, it shows there is more than one Member of Congress willing to entertain real accountability for the Bush Administration, despite the insistence of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) that impeachment is off the table.
Also, this bill is calling for actual Articles of Impeachment for Cheney, unlike the last bill which not only was related to Mr. Bush, but created an investigative committee to look into possible impeachment rather than providing for actual possible impeachment.
Therefore, cosponsorships on H Res 333 have even more weight than those which were listed on H Res 635 last Session.
Also, since the time of H Res 635, Democrats have taken control of both the US House and Senate. Thus, impeachment is even more a real possibility on account of having the potential Democratic support for the bill, even though most Democrats currently aren’t rushing to impeach Bush.
Because Democrats are now the Majority in Congress, we also now know that Bush refuses to be accountable to Congress, particularly on the US Invasion of Iraq. Bush has now vetoed historic legislation to attach funding for the Occupation with a deadline for withdrawal. Thus, it is now even more clear that traditional oversight mechanisms will not be effective.
The House Judiciary Committee told APN there are no plans to have hearings on impeachment of Cheney or anyone else at this time.
"It’s not at this time on the Committee’s immediate agenda," Conyers’s spokesperson said.
"Once its referred it has to be on the Committee’s agenda for the Committee to take it up," they said.
"In order to move a bill you have to have hearings scheduled on it," they said.
When asked by APN if Conyers taking impeachment "off the table" meant based on present information or whether it was complete abdication of a constitutional mechanism no matter what information comes forward, "All we can speak to is the present time," the spokesperson said, adding it would be unwise to speculate about the future.
"I don’t think it’s prejudging," they said.
The 39 total co-sponsors of H Res. 635 were US Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA), Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA), Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO), Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL), Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA), Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA), Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA), Rep. Jackson, Jr., (D-IL), Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI), Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN), Rep. John Olver (D-MA), Rep. Major Owens (D-NY), Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ), Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), Rep. Steve Rothman (D-NJ), Rep. Martin Sabo (D-MN), Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA), Rep. Fortney Pete Stark (D-CA), Rep. John Tierney (D-MA), Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Dianne Watson (D-CA), Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), and Rep. David Wu (D-OR).
It was largely viewed that US Rep. Conyers, the original sponsor of H Res 635, did not re-file his bill out of respect to Pelosi and his desire to be appointed Chair of the Judiciary Committee. Moreover, several Members of Congress have stated that they have followed in Conyers’s steps in choosing not to introduce similar bills of their own.
About the author:
Matthew Cardinale is the News Editor of Atlanta Progressive News and may be reached at matthew@atlantaprogressivenews.com.
Syndication policy:
This article may be reprinted in full at no cost where Atlanta Progressive News is credited.
Wrap...
From Out of Iraq to English/Boston accent...
From American Progress:
Think Fast
A bipartisan group of senators, including "several conservative Republicans," introduced legislation Tuesday to use the Iraq Study Group's recommendations "as the foundation for future U.S. policy in Iraq." The bill aims to "begin the withdrawal of U.S. combat brigades by early 2008 if certain benchmarks are met."
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has approved a proposal that would allow an independent outside panel to decide which ethics complaints merit investigation by the House ethics committee. "This is gigantic," said Sarah Dufendach of the watchdog group Common Cause. "If they really do this, it will be a very serious step forward."
The House oversight committee is expanding its investigation "into ties between jailed GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the White House and have contacted several Abramoff associates recently about testifying to Congress."
"The United States will refuse to agree to targets and timetables for cutting greenhouse gases" at G8 summit, President Bush's science adviser reiterated yesterday. "At this point in time we are not prepared to adopt that proposal," James Connaughton told reporters.
Iraq and Afghanistan "have overstretched the U.S. foreign service, damaging its staffers' morale and threatening its performance around the world," diplomats' advocates charge. They say the State Dept. needs 1,100 new foreign service officers "simply to restore the capabilities it had" when Condoleezza Rice took her post in 2005.
Yesterday, the House unanimously passed a resolution calling on China to "act consistently with the Olympic standard of preserving human dignity in Darfur, Sudan and around the world." It urges China to "stop selling Sudan arms and suspend economic cooperation with Sudan until Sudan 'stops its attacks on civilians' in Darfur."
"Oman and Iran girded for heavy flooding and winds today as the strongest cyclone ever recorded by scientists in the northwestern Arabian Sea began to hit coastlines that have little experience with such powerful storms."
Ignoring a veto threat, a House spending committee yesterday approved a homeland security bill that includes "about $50 million more for customs and border protection than Bush sought and $2 billion more than his February request for security preparedness and disaster relief."
And finally: Does David Hyde Pierce's (best known as Niles on the television show "Frasier") accent in the new Tony-nominated show "Curtains" sound familiar? Pierce said he based his "highly acclaimed Boston accent" on Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA). "It sort of comes from almost an English accent -- you lose your R's and your A's get a little bent," said Pierce. Markey's reaction? "He sounds like me, but I don't know if that is good or bad."
Wrap...
Think Fast
A bipartisan group of senators, including "several conservative Republicans," introduced legislation Tuesday to use the Iraq Study Group's recommendations "as the foundation for future U.S. policy in Iraq." The bill aims to "begin the withdrawal of U.S. combat brigades by early 2008 if certain benchmarks are met."
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has approved a proposal that would allow an independent outside panel to decide which ethics complaints merit investigation by the House ethics committee. "This is gigantic," said Sarah Dufendach of the watchdog group Common Cause. "If they really do this, it will be a very serious step forward."
The House oversight committee is expanding its investigation "into ties between jailed GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the White House and have contacted several Abramoff associates recently about testifying to Congress."
"The United States will refuse to agree to targets and timetables for cutting greenhouse gases" at G8 summit, President Bush's science adviser reiterated yesterday. "At this point in time we are not prepared to adopt that proposal," James Connaughton told reporters.
Iraq and Afghanistan "have overstretched the U.S. foreign service, damaging its staffers' morale and threatening its performance around the world," diplomats' advocates charge. They say the State Dept. needs 1,100 new foreign service officers "simply to restore the capabilities it had" when Condoleezza Rice took her post in 2005.
Yesterday, the House unanimously passed a resolution calling on China to "act consistently with the Olympic standard of preserving human dignity in Darfur, Sudan and around the world." It urges China to "stop selling Sudan arms and suspend economic cooperation with Sudan until Sudan 'stops its attacks on civilians' in Darfur."
"Oman and Iran girded for heavy flooding and winds today as the strongest cyclone ever recorded by scientists in the northwestern Arabian Sea began to hit coastlines that have little experience with such powerful storms."
Ignoring a veto threat, a House spending committee yesterday approved a homeland security bill that includes "about $50 million more for customs and border protection than Bush sought and $2 billion more than his February request for security preparedness and disaster relief."
And finally: Does David Hyde Pierce's (best known as Niles on the television show "Frasier") accent in the new Tony-nominated show "Curtains" sound familiar? Pierce said he based his "highly acclaimed Boston accent" on Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA). "It sort of comes from almost an English accent -- you lose your R's and your A's get a little bent," said Pierce. Markey's reaction? "He sounds like me, but I don't know if that is good or bad."
Wrap...
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Sheesh! Dems should have seen this one coming!
From the Sacramento Bee:
GOP seeks to expel Jefferson from House
Republicans moved Tuesday to seek Rep. William J. Jefferson's expulsion from the House, a day after the Louisiana Democrat was indicted on charges of receiving more than $500,000 in bribes....(more)
Wrap....
GOP seeks to expel Jefferson from House
Republicans moved Tuesday to seek Rep. William J. Jefferson's expulsion from the House, a day after the Louisiana Democrat was indicted on charges of receiving more than $500,000 in bribes....(more)
Wrap....
Monday, June 04, 2007
Farmers screwed...Big Ag gets ALL the $$$$....
From In These Times:
> June 4, 2007
Whose Subsidy Is It Anyway?
Farmers take the heat, but Big Ag reaps the farm bill benefits
By David Moberg
The farm bill, which Congress will likely vote on this fall, will affect environmental, consumer, industrial, trade and anti-poverty policies as well as the prices and subsidies farmers receive for producing commodity crops such as corn, wheat and soybeans. Legislators are now conducting hearings and readying proposals, but the outcome is “more up in the air than it has been in 30 to 40 years,” says senior policy analyst Dennis Olson at the Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. A small opening exists for a new progressive farm policy based on some old principles.
The winners
Conventional wisdom says that the villains in farm policy are American farmers, who have in recent years collected about $20 billion a year in subsidies. But the government provides the subsidies because commodity prices have been so low that most farmers would have gone bankrupt without them. And prices have been low because legislators have written farm policy to drive those prices down to aid big business rather than farmers—or anyone else.
“The important thing for policymakers and the public to be clear on is that the people who get checks written for them under the farm bill are generally not the beneficiaries of those programs,” says Timothy Wise, deputy director of the Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University. “So the obvious question is: ‘Who benefited?’”
Consider for a moment Big Chicken—not the tacky 56-foot high tourist attraction near Marietta, Ga., but the industry that turns out more than 16 million tons of poultry each year. Once highly diversified, with nearly every farm producing chickens, the industry is now highly concentrated: The top four processors, led by giant Tyson Foods, control more than 56 percent of production.
Tyson and other giants have consolidated their power by purchasing chicken feed for, well, chicken feed. As soybean and corn prices dropped 21 percent and 32 percent, respectively, after the passage of the 1996 farm bill, the chicken industry effectively collected a subsidy of $1.25 billion a year, according to Tufts researchers Elanor Starmer, Aimee Witteman and Wise. The subsidy—worth $2.59 billion to Tyson from 1997 to 2005—represents the savings for the industry compared to paying for the full cost of producing the grain in its feed.
The cheap, subsidized grain also gave big factory farm operations an edge over diversified family farmers. By feeding animals their own grain rather than buying government-subsidized grain on the market, these farmers have to pay the full cost of producing grain they feed to their livestock. Politically, however, it remains “hard for farmers to make the case that they’re not the welfare cases,” says National Family Farm Coalition Executive Director Katherine Ozer, “but it’s Tyson and Cargill that are the real welfare cases.”
Big Chicken is not alone. International grain traders (like Cargill), industrial users of food and fiber products (ranging from the biggest users, the livestock and meat industry, to processors like Archer Daniels Midland and the vast array of junk food manufacturers), and the corporate producers of seed, fertilizers, equipment and other farm inputs all profit from overproduction and low commodity prices. Even after a long history of consolidation, tens of thousands of independent farm operators still must compete with highly concentrated agribusiness corporations that have the power to set both prices of products sold to farmers and prices paid for farmers’ products.
“You’re talking about a huge savings in a huge industry that never is getting a subsidy check written to it,” says Wise. Until biofuel demand recently drove up prices, most farmers sold corn or soybeans for less than it cost to produce. Government subsidies covered only some of their financial loss, and many had to take jobs off the farm to make up for their farm losses.
Grain traders then sold that corn and soybeans abroad at below-cost prices. Such dumping drives millions of peasants off their land. The displaced peasants flood urban labor markets and thus depress wages. Their exodus from the land also fuels waves of immigration to more developed countries, including the United States—where many get low-wage jobs processing chicken.
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3190/whose_subsidy_is_it_anyway/
[Click link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
> June 4, 2007
Whose Subsidy Is It Anyway?
Farmers take the heat, but Big Ag reaps the farm bill benefits
By David Moberg
The farm bill, which Congress will likely vote on this fall, will affect environmental, consumer, industrial, trade and anti-poverty policies as well as the prices and subsidies farmers receive for producing commodity crops such as corn, wheat and soybeans. Legislators are now conducting hearings and readying proposals, but the outcome is “more up in the air than it has been in 30 to 40 years,” says senior policy analyst Dennis Olson at the Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. A small opening exists for a new progressive farm policy based on some old principles.
The winners
Conventional wisdom says that the villains in farm policy are American farmers, who have in recent years collected about $20 billion a year in subsidies. But the government provides the subsidies because commodity prices have been so low that most farmers would have gone bankrupt without them. And prices have been low because legislators have written farm policy to drive those prices down to aid big business rather than farmers—or anyone else.
“The important thing for policymakers and the public to be clear on is that the people who get checks written for them under the farm bill are generally not the beneficiaries of those programs,” says Timothy Wise, deputy director of the Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University. “So the obvious question is: ‘Who benefited?’”
Consider for a moment Big Chicken—not the tacky 56-foot high tourist attraction near Marietta, Ga., but the industry that turns out more than 16 million tons of poultry each year. Once highly diversified, with nearly every farm producing chickens, the industry is now highly concentrated: The top four processors, led by giant Tyson Foods, control more than 56 percent of production.
Tyson and other giants have consolidated their power by purchasing chicken feed for, well, chicken feed. As soybean and corn prices dropped 21 percent and 32 percent, respectively, after the passage of the 1996 farm bill, the chicken industry effectively collected a subsidy of $1.25 billion a year, according to Tufts researchers Elanor Starmer, Aimee Witteman and Wise. The subsidy—worth $2.59 billion to Tyson from 1997 to 2005—represents the savings for the industry compared to paying for the full cost of producing the grain in its feed.
The cheap, subsidized grain also gave big factory farm operations an edge over diversified family farmers. By feeding animals their own grain rather than buying government-subsidized grain on the market, these farmers have to pay the full cost of producing grain they feed to their livestock. Politically, however, it remains “hard for farmers to make the case that they’re not the welfare cases,” says National Family Farm Coalition Executive Director Katherine Ozer, “but it’s Tyson and Cargill that are the real welfare cases.”
Big Chicken is not alone. International grain traders (like Cargill), industrial users of food and fiber products (ranging from the biggest users, the livestock and meat industry, to processors like Archer Daniels Midland and the vast array of junk food manufacturers), and the corporate producers of seed, fertilizers, equipment and other farm inputs all profit from overproduction and low commodity prices. Even after a long history of consolidation, tens of thousands of independent farm operators still must compete with highly concentrated agribusiness corporations that have the power to set both prices of products sold to farmers and prices paid for farmers’ products.
“You’re talking about a huge savings in a huge industry that never is getting a subsidy check written to it,” says Wise. Until biofuel demand recently drove up prices, most farmers sold corn or soybeans for less than it cost to produce. Government subsidies covered only some of their financial loss, and many had to take jobs off the farm to make up for their farm losses.
Grain traders then sold that corn and soybeans abroad at below-cost prices. Such dumping drives millions of peasants off their land. The displaced peasants flood urban labor markets and thus depress wages. Their exodus from the land also fuels waves of immigration to more developed countries, including the United States—where many get low-wage jobs processing chicken.
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3190/whose_subsidy_is_it_anyway/
[Click link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
From G8 to Affleck & DeLay....
From American Progress:
Think Fast:
"The protests in Europe started even before President Bush's scheduled departure Monday morning for an eight-day visit to six countries, including the G-8 summit in Germany. Over the weekend, demonstrators in Germany were out protesting many issues, but Bush and Iraq are near the top of their list."
"House Oversight and Government Reform Committee staffers appear close to an agreement that would limit the number of e-mails the panel will demand from the Republican National Committee as part of an investigation of political presentations given to federal agencies."
War critics in Congress "plan a summer of repeated Iraq-related votes" designed to force Bush supporters "to abandon the White House before the fall." The votes will be linked to expanded local campaigns to pressure members in their own states. "Our job is to go into the congressional districts of members and create a political environment that is toxic," said Tom Matzzie of Americans Against Escalation in Iraq.
A legal battle with global implications begins tomorrow with the Guantanamo Bay arraignment of Omar Ahmed Khadr, accused of killing a U.S. soldier with a grenade in 2002. "A range of legal experts describe as the first child fighter in decades to face war-crimes charges."
"After promising unprecedented openness regarding Congress' pork barrel practices, House Democrats are moving in the opposite direction as they draw up spending bills for the upcoming budget year." Democrats are sidestepping their own rules and adding earmarks when it is "too late for critics to effectively challenge them."
More than four years into the Iraq war, the Defense Department "has formed a task force comprised of military and federal law enforcement agencies" to "investigate contract fraud and public corruption related to Iraq reconstruction."
The Senate architects of a "delicate immigration compromise are increasingly convinced that they will hold together this week to pass an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws, with momentum building behind one unifying theme: Today's immigration system is too broken to go unaddressed."
Due to the growing climate crisis, The Weather Channel "has seen its primary subject turn into a hot-button issue," and "has decided not to tread gingerly," covering climate change and related science. "If The Weather Channel isn't talking about climate change and global warming, who is?" a network executive said.
The Philadelphia Inquirer editorial argues that "expanding coal isn't a smart choice for America right now. Although cheap and plentiful, it's dirty. Its environmental byproducts outweigh its benefits." It also criticizes "a bipartisan group of coal-state lawmakers wants to grant billions in taxpayer subsidies to turn coal into liquid fuel to power cars, trucks and airplanes." Find out more on coal-to-liquid fuels HERE.And finally: Last week at a conference, a colleague of actor
Ben Affleck asked former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay if he'd sign a copy of 'No Retreat, No Surrender' for the Hollywood actor." Even though Affleck is outspoken on liberal issues, DeLay admitted that he is a big fan of Affleck's 1995 film "Mallrats." DeLay’s inscription to Affleck: "Ben and Jen -- Loved you in Mallrats, this book is kind of like that. Keep the Faith -- Tom DeLay."
Wrap...
Think Fast:
"The protests in Europe started even before President Bush's scheduled departure Monday morning for an eight-day visit to six countries, including the G-8 summit in Germany. Over the weekend, demonstrators in Germany were out protesting many issues, but Bush and Iraq are near the top of their list."
"House Oversight and Government Reform Committee staffers appear close to an agreement that would limit the number of e-mails the panel will demand from the Republican National Committee as part of an investigation of political presentations given to federal agencies."
War critics in Congress "plan a summer of repeated Iraq-related votes" designed to force Bush supporters "to abandon the White House before the fall." The votes will be linked to expanded local campaigns to pressure members in their own states. "Our job is to go into the congressional districts of members and create a political environment that is toxic," said Tom Matzzie of Americans Against Escalation in Iraq.
A legal battle with global implications begins tomorrow with the Guantanamo Bay arraignment of Omar Ahmed Khadr, accused of killing a U.S. soldier with a grenade in 2002. "A range of legal experts describe as the first child fighter in decades to face war-crimes charges."
"After promising unprecedented openness regarding Congress' pork barrel practices, House Democrats are moving in the opposite direction as they draw up spending bills for the upcoming budget year." Democrats are sidestepping their own rules and adding earmarks when it is "too late for critics to effectively challenge them."
More than four years into the Iraq war, the Defense Department "has formed a task force comprised of military and federal law enforcement agencies" to "investigate contract fraud and public corruption related to Iraq reconstruction."
The Senate architects of a "delicate immigration compromise are increasingly convinced that they will hold together this week to pass an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws, with momentum building behind one unifying theme: Today's immigration system is too broken to go unaddressed."
Due to the growing climate crisis, The Weather Channel "has seen its primary subject turn into a hot-button issue," and "has decided not to tread gingerly," covering climate change and related science. "If The Weather Channel isn't talking about climate change and global warming, who is?" a network executive said.
The Philadelphia Inquirer editorial argues that "expanding coal isn't a smart choice for America right now. Although cheap and plentiful, it's dirty. Its environmental byproducts outweigh its benefits." It also criticizes "a bipartisan group of coal-state lawmakers wants to grant billions in taxpayer subsidies to turn coal into liquid fuel to power cars, trucks and airplanes." Find out more on coal-to-liquid fuels HERE.And finally: Last week at a conference, a colleague of actor
Ben Affleck asked former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay if he'd sign a copy of 'No Retreat, No Surrender' for the Hollywood actor." Even though Affleck is outspoken on liberal issues, DeLay admitted that he is a big fan of Affleck's 1995 film "Mallrats." DeLay’s inscription to Affleck: "Ben and Jen -- Loved you in Mallrats, this book is kind of like that. Keep the Faith -- Tom DeLay."
Wrap...
Machine turns water into fire! Amazing!
From NBC San Diego Newsroom:
Fla. Man Invents Machine To Turn Water Into Fire
Man's Invention Stroke Of Luck
POSTED: 11:10 am PDT May 29, 2007
UPDATED: 10:36 am PDT June 1, 2007
SANIBEL ISLAND, Fla. -- A Florida man may have accidentally invented a machine that could help solve the gasoline and energy crisis plaguing the U.S., television station WPBF reported.
Sanibel Island resident John Kanzius is a former broadcast executive from Pennsylvania who wondered if his background in physics and radio could come in handy in treating the disease from which he suffers: cancer.
Kanzius, 63, invented a machine that emits radio waves in an attempt to kill cancerous cells while leaving normal cells intact. While testing his machine, he noticed that his invention had other unexpected abilities.
Filling a test tube with salt water from a canal in his back yard, Kanzius placed the tube and a paper towel in the machine and turned it on. Suddenly, the paper towel ignited, lighting up the tube like it was a wax candle.
"Pretty neat, huh?" Kanzius asked.
Kanzius performed the experiment without the paper towel and got the same result -- the salt water was actually burning.
Kanzius said he showed the experiment to a handful of scientists across the country who claim they are baffled at watching salt water ignite.
Kanzius said the flame created from his machine reaches a temperature of around 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. He said a chemist told him that the immense heat created from the machine breaks down the hydrogen-oxygen bond in the water, igniting the hydrogen.
"You could take plain salt water out of the sea, put it in containers and produce a violent flame that could heat generators that make electricity, or provide other forms of energy," Kanzius said.
He said engineers are currently experimenting with him in Erie, Pa. in an attempt to harness the energy. They've built an engine that, when placed on top of the flame, chugged along for two minutes, Kanzius told WPBF.
Kanzius admits all the excitement surrounding a new possible energy source was a stroke of luck. Someone who witnessed his work on the cancer front asked him if perhaps the machine could be used for desalinization.
"This was an experiment to see if I could heat salt water, and instead of heat, I got fire," Kanzius said.
Kanzius said he hoped that his invention could one day solve a lot of the world's energy problems.
"If I were to be bold enough, I think one day you could power an automobile with this, eventually," Kanzius said.
Distributed by Internet Broadcasting.
Wrap...
Fla. Man Invents Machine To Turn Water Into Fire
Man's Invention Stroke Of Luck
POSTED: 11:10 am PDT May 29, 2007
UPDATED: 10:36 am PDT June 1, 2007
SANIBEL ISLAND, Fla. -- A Florida man may have accidentally invented a machine that could help solve the gasoline and energy crisis plaguing the U.S., television station WPBF reported.
Sanibel Island resident John Kanzius is a former broadcast executive from Pennsylvania who wondered if his background in physics and radio could come in handy in treating the disease from which he suffers: cancer.
Kanzius, 63, invented a machine that emits radio waves in an attempt to kill cancerous cells while leaving normal cells intact. While testing his machine, he noticed that his invention had other unexpected abilities.
Filling a test tube with salt water from a canal in his back yard, Kanzius placed the tube and a paper towel in the machine and turned it on. Suddenly, the paper towel ignited, lighting up the tube like it was a wax candle.
"Pretty neat, huh?" Kanzius asked.
Kanzius performed the experiment without the paper towel and got the same result -- the salt water was actually burning.
Kanzius said he showed the experiment to a handful of scientists across the country who claim they are baffled at watching salt water ignite.
Kanzius said the flame created from his machine reaches a temperature of around 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. He said a chemist told him that the immense heat created from the machine breaks down the hydrogen-oxygen bond in the water, igniting the hydrogen.
"You could take plain salt water out of the sea, put it in containers and produce a violent flame that could heat generators that make electricity, or provide other forms of energy," Kanzius said.
He said engineers are currently experimenting with him in Erie, Pa. in an attempt to harness the energy. They've built an engine that, when placed on top of the flame, chugged along for two minutes, Kanzius told WPBF.
Kanzius admits all the excitement surrounding a new possible energy source was a stroke of luck. Someone who witnessed his work on the cancer front asked him if perhaps the machine could be used for desalinization.
"This was an experiment to see if I could heat salt water, and instead of heat, I got fire," Kanzius said.
Kanzius said he hoped that his invention could one day solve a lot of the world's energy problems.
"If I were to be bold enough, I think one day you could power an automobile with this, eventually," Kanzius said.
Distributed by Internet Broadcasting.
Wrap...
Friday, June 01, 2007
The torture techniques we use..the source...
From American Progress:
HUMAN RIGHTS -- PENTAGON 'MIGRATED' SOVIET COLD WAR TORTURE TECHNIQUES TO GUANTANAMO, IRAQ:
Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) is a program designed to train U.S. soldiers to withstand torture if they are ever captured as prisoners of war. Developed during the Cold War, U.S. solders are subjected to techniques based "on how the Soviet Union and its allies were believed to treat prisoners," including "prolonged use of stress positions, exposure to heat and cold, sleep deprivation and even waterboarding."
A recently declassified investigation from the Department of Defense's Inspector General confirms "how the military training was 'reverse engineered' for use by American interrogators," training them on more "effective" ways to elicit information.
"On at least two occasions, the JTF-170 (interrogators) requested that Joint Personnel Recovery Agency (the agency conducting SERE training) instructors be sent to Guantanamo to instruct interrogators in SERE counterresistance interrogation techniques," the report noted.
Those practices also migrated to Iraq:
"In September 2003...Joint Personnel Recovery Agency sent an interrogation assessment team to Iraq to provide advice and assistance to the task force interrogation mission." Because the techniques were so extreme, several intelligence officers "vehemently objected to the use of the techniques, but their protests were ignored."
Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) said he found the Pentagon report "very troubling" would hold hearings on how the SERE training methods "migrated" into Iraq and Guantanamo as the basis for interrogation. "They were put to a purpose that was never intended," he said.
Wrap...
HUMAN RIGHTS -- PENTAGON 'MIGRATED' SOVIET COLD WAR TORTURE TECHNIQUES TO GUANTANAMO, IRAQ:
Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) is a program designed to train U.S. soldiers to withstand torture if they are ever captured as prisoners of war. Developed during the Cold War, U.S. solders are subjected to techniques based "on how the Soviet Union and its allies were believed to treat prisoners," including "prolonged use of stress positions, exposure to heat and cold, sleep deprivation and even waterboarding."
A recently declassified investigation from the Department of Defense's Inspector General confirms "how the military training was 'reverse engineered' for use by American interrogators," training them on more "effective" ways to elicit information.
"On at least two occasions, the JTF-170 (interrogators) requested that Joint Personnel Recovery Agency (the agency conducting SERE training) instructors be sent to Guantanamo to instruct interrogators in SERE counterresistance interrogation techniques," the report noted.
Those practices also migrated to Iraq:
"In September 2003...Joint Personnel Recovery Agency sent an interrogation assessment team to Iraq to provide advice and assistance to the task force interrogation mission." Because the techniques were so extreme, several intelligence officers "vehemently objected to the use of the techniques, but their protests were ignored."
Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) said he found the Pentagon report "very troubling" would hold hearings on how the SERE training methods "migrated" into Iraq and Guantanamo as the basis for interrogation. "They were put to a purpose that was never intended," he said.
Wrap...
One good and honorable Senator: Barbara Boxer...
From Sen Barbara Boxer:
Thank you for contacting me about the war in Iraq . I appreciate hearing from you on the most important issue facing our nation today.
In March and in April, I voted for emergency spending legislation that would have fully funded our troops in Iraq but also changed their mission to a sound one - one that would have taken our troops out of the middle of a civil war and put them into a support role, training Iraqi soldiers and police and protecting U.S. security interests in the region.
However, President Bush would not agree to that. On May 1, 2007, the President vetoed an emergency spending bill that combined full funding for our troops with a new focus on diplomacy, a requirement to begin redeploying American forces by October 1, and a mandate for the Iraqi government to seek a political solution to the civil war in Iraq .
The spending bill that came after President Bush's veto did nothing more than maintain the status quo with a few words about benchmarks. On May 24, I voted against an emergency spending bill that allows the President to continue his one-man show in Iraq . I voted no because I believe that Congress must make it clear to the President that our commitment in Iraq cannot be open-ended and that it is time to start working to bring our troops home. We need to redeploy our troops out of Iraq as part of a sorely needed new policy, one that emphasizes diplomatic and political methods - not military strategies - as the best way of bringing stability to Iraq.
Since American forces went into Iraq in March 2003, more than 3,400 of our troops have been killed. Of those, 21 percent have been from California or based in California . Over 25,000 more have been wounded. Countless numbers of Iraqis have been killed, victims of an intensifying civil war. Furthermore, the first half of 2007 has already been deadlier than any six-month peri od since the war began more than four years ago.
Please be assured that I will continue doing all I can to see that Congress acts boldly to bring this tragic and ill-fated war to an end. Once again, thank you for your letter and for caring deeply about this critical matter.
Barbara Boxer
United States Senator
Please visit my website at
http://boxer.senate.gov
Wrap...
Thank you for contacting me about the war in Iraq . I appreciate hearing from you on the most important issue facing our nation today.
In March and in April, I voted for emergency spending legislation that would have fully funded our troops in Iraq but also changed their mission to a sound one - one that would have taken our troops out of the middle of a civil war and put them into a support role, training Iraqi soldiers and police and protecting U.S. security interests in the region.
However, President Bush would not agree to that. On May 1, 2007, the President vetoed an emergency spending bill that combined full funding for our troops with a new focus on diplomacy, a requirement to begin redeploying American forces by October 1, and a mandate for the Iraqi government to seek a political solution to the civil war in Iraq .
The spending bill that came after President Bush's veto did nothing more than maintain the status quo with a few words about benchmarks. On May 24, I voted against an emergency spending bill that allows the President to continue his one-man show in Iraq . I voted no because I believe that Congress must make it clear to the President that our commitment in Iraq cannot be open-ended and that it is time to start working to bring our troops home. We need to redeploy our troops out of Iraq as part of a sorely needed new policy, one that emphasizes diplomatic and political methods - not military strategies - as the best way of bringing stability to Iraq.
Since American forces went into Iraq in March 2003, more than 3,400 of our troops have been killed. Of those, 21 percent have been from California or based in California . Over 25,000 more have been wounded. Countless numbers of Iraqis have been killed, victims of an intensifying civil war. Furthermore, the first half of 2007 has already been deadlier than any six-month peri od since the war began more than four years ago.
Please be assured that I will continue doing all I can to see that Congress acts boldly to bring this tragic and ill-fated war to an end. Once again, thank you for your letter and for caring deeply about this critical matter.
Barbara Boxer
United States Senator
Please visit my website at
http://boxer.senate.gov
Wrap...
BushCo's secret visitors....So what are they hiding?
From NBC San Diego Newsroom:
Bush, Cheney Want Visitor Logs Secret
Over the past year, lawyers for President Bush and Vice President Cheney have directed the Secret Service to maintain the confidentiality of visitor entry and exit logs. More Details
Wrap...
Bush, Cheney Want Visitor Logs Secret
Over the past year, lawyers for President Bush and Vice President Cheney have directed the Secret Service to maintain the confidentiality of visitor entry and exit logs. More Details
Wrap...
On the matter of torture....
From The Village Voice:
Give Me Liberty
Dark Secrets at the Front
Prisoners and interrogators are both brutalized in a war that changes who we are.
by Nat Hentoff
May 30th, 2007 11:27 AM
In February 2006, then–Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned that our wars against terrorism "could last for decades." Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, he said of the multiplying enemy: "Compelled by a militant ideology that celebrates murder and suicide with no territory to defend, with little to lose, they will either succeed in changing our way of life, or we will succeed in changing theirs."
With a seemingly endless supply of suicide bombers in Iraq, the enemy certainly hasn't changed its way of life. However—as the world has witnessed—there's plenty of evidence that we've changed ours—namely, in America's professed values about how we treat our prisoners, euphemistically marginalized as "detainees."
Colin Powell, after his many years of military service, said that American forces using torture on prisoners has been an "innovation." And on May 7 of this year, General David Petraeus—now commanding our "surge" in Iraq, emphasized: "It's time to adhere to American values. We must not sink to the level of our enemies." That reminded me of John McCain admonishing the president and Cheney about brutalizing our prisoners: "We are Americans; our values are not those of the terrorists."
McCain finally got a law passed barring "cruel and inhuman treatment" of prisoners, but he later voted for the Military Commissions Act of 2006 that barred those we hold as terrorism suspects from going into our courts to speak of their "conditions of confinement"—including "coercive interrogations" permitted by the Military Commissions Act.
What caused the new alarm by General Petraeus about sinking to the level of the enemy is a startling official report from the Office of the Surgeon General, United States Army Medical Command. Dated November 17, 2006, the report—encompassing several years of research in the field, including repeated surveys—has found that:
[click the link below to continue reading]
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0722,hentoff,76819,6.html
Wrap....
Give Me Liberty
Dark Secrets at the Front
Prisoners and interrogators are both brutalized in a war that changes who we are.
by Nat Hentoff
May 30th, 2007 11:27 AM
In February 2006, then–Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned that our wars against terrorism "could last for decades." Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, he said of the multiplying enemy: "Compelled by a militant ideology that celebrates murder and suicide with no territory to defend, with little to lose, they will either succeed in changing our way of life, or we will succeed in changing theirs."
With a seemingly endless supply of suicide bombers in Iraq, the enemy certainly hasn't changed its way of life. However—as the world has witnessed—there's plenty of evidence that we've changed ours—namely, in America's professed values about how we treat our prisoners, euphemistically marginalized as "detainees."
Colin Powell, after his many years of military service, said that American forces using torture on prisoners has been an "innovation." And on May 7 of this year, General David Petraeus—now commanding our "surge" in Iraq, emphasized: "It's time to adhere to American values. We must not sink to the level of our enemies." That reminded me of John McCain admonishing the president and Cheney about brutalizing our prisoners: "We are Americans; our values are not those of the terrorists."
McCain finally got a law passed barring "cruel and inhuman treatment" of prisoners, but he later voted for the Military Commissions Act of 2006 that barred those we hold as terrorism suspects from going into our courts to speak of their "conditions of confinement"—including "coercive interrogations" permitted by the Military Commissions Act.
What caused the new alarm by General Petraeus about sinking to the level of the enemy is a startling official report from the Office of the Surgeon General, United States Army Medical Command. Dated November 17, 2006, the report—encompassing several years of research in the field, including repeated surveys—has found that:
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