Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens for Legitimate Government - 20 Novemb

[Guest guest]

" Lori Price " <lrprice

Sat, 19 Nov 2005 23:08:56 -0800 (PST)

U.S. seeks to secure Sahara Desert 20 Nov 2005

 

 

 

Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens for Legitimate Government

20 November 2005

http://www.legitgov.org/

 

 

 

All links to articles as summarized below are available here:

http://www.legitgov.org/index.html#breaking_news

 

 

U.S. seeks to secure Sahara Desert 17 Nov 2005 The U.S. government

will spend $500 million over five years on an expanded program to

secure a vast new front in its global war on [of] terrorism: the

Sahara Desert. Critics say the region is not a terrorist zone as some

senior U.S. military officers assert. They add that heavy-handed

military and financial support that reinforces authoritarian regimes

in North and West Africa could fuel radicalism where it scarcely

exists. [Yes, but Halliburton can get more no-bid contracts to build

prisons for the insurgent scorpions and sand foxes.]

 

British-trained police in Iraq 'killed prisoners with drills' 20 Nov

2005 British-trained police operating in Basra have tortured at least

two civilians to death with electric drills, The Independent on Sunday

can reveal. Militia-dominated police, who were recruited by Britain,

are believed to have tortured at least two men to death in the

station. Their bodies were later found with drill holes to their arms,

legs and skulls.

 

The Dirty War: Torture and mutilation used on Iraqi 'insurgents' 20

Nov 2005 Behind the daily reports of suicide bombings and attacks on

coalition forces is a far more shadowy struggle, one that involves

tortured prisoners huddled in dungeons, death-squad victims with their

hands tied behind their backs, often mutilated with knives and

electric drills, and distraught families searching for relations who

have been " disappeared " . This hidden struggle surfaced last week when

US forces and Iraqi police raided an Interior Ministry bunker only a

couple of hundred yards from where we were standing. They found 169

tortured and starving captives, who looked like Holocaust victims.

 

UN cancels Guantanamo visit after US refuses free access 20 Nov 2005 A

team of UN human rights experts has scrapped a scheduled visit to the

US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, saying Washington is

not allowing them free access to detainees.

 

Secret death squads feared among Iraq's commandos 19 Nov 2005 The

commandos are part of the Iraqi security forces that the Bush regime

says will gradually replace American troops in this war. But the

commandos are being blamed for a wave of kidnappings and executions

around Baghdad since the spring. One such group, the Volcano Brigade,

is operating as a death squad.

 

Bush rejects timetable on Iraq pullout 20 Nov 2005 Dictator George

Bush vowed yesterday to keep American troops in Iraq despite growing

calls for a timetable for withdrawal that have prompted a bitter

political fight in Washington. His tough words came as five American

soldiers were killed and another five wounded in a bomb attack in

northern Iraq.

 

American plan for first troop withdrawals within month 20 Nov 2005

American commanders of the war in Iraq have drawn up a bold plan to

start pulling troops out of the country after elections next month.

The plan, which has been submitted to Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence

secretary, calls for more than 60,000 troops — over a third of the

total — to leave by the end of next year.

 

Blasts Kill Nearly 50 Near Baghdad; Five U.S. Soldiers Killed, Five

Wounded in More Bombings 19 Nov 2005 A suicide bomber detonated his

car in a crowd of Shiite mourners north of Baghdad on Saturday,

killing at least 36 people... Five American soldiers died in roadside

bombings.

 

Car bombs kill 48 in Iraq 19 Nov 2005 Car bombs killed nearly 50

people in Iraq on Saturday, a day after more than 80 died in suicide

blasts across the country and as U.S. Dictator George W. Bush pledged

never to relent in his war on [of] terror.

 

Halliburton Allegations Are Sent to Justice Dept. --No-Bid Contracts

In Iraq Are at Issue 19 Nov 2005 An investigative arm of the Pentagon

has sent an Army Corps of Engineers whistle-blower's allegations of

wrongdoing against Halliburton Co. to the Justice Department.

 

Storm over CIA prisoner plane claims 19 Nov 2005 Reports that US

intelligence officials have been using European airports secretly to

transfer suspected Islamic extremists around the globe have unleashed

a storm across Europe.

 

CIA agents reveal interrogation tactics 20 Nov 2005 CIA agents have

revealed details of six interrogation tactics approved by top brass

for use at secret CIA jails in Asia and Eastern Europe, ABC News

reported Saturday.

 

Security adviser named as source in CIA scandal 20 Nov 2005 The

mysterious source who gave 'journalist' Bob Woodward a tip-off about

the CIA agent at the centre of one of Washington's biggest political

storms was Stephen Hadley, the White House national security adviser,

according to lawyers close to the investigation.

 

Aide: Rice Was Not Woodward's Source 19 Nov 2005 Secretary of State

Condoleezza Rice was not the senior Bush administration official who

told Washington Post editor Bob Woodward that White House critic

Joseph Wilson's wife worked for the CIA, a Rice aide said Saturday.

 

Prosecutor to Take CIA Leak Case Before New Grand Jury --The move

could indicate new charges or evidence. He also seeks to limit the

news media's access. 19 Nov 2005 The prosecutor investigating the leak

of a CIA officer's identity disclosed Friday that he will enlist a

different grand jury than the one that indicted the top aide to Vice

pResident Dick Cheney last month.

 

Destruction of Nerve Gas Resumes in Ind. --Destruction of Deadly VX

Nerve Gas Resumes in Indiana Three Weeks After Spill 19 Nov 2005

Workers fixed faulty gaskets on a chemical reactor built to neutralize

the Newport Chemical Depot's stockpile of VX and restarted destruction

of the deadly nerve agent Saturday, the Army said.

 

Thousands march to back Chavez 19 Nov 2005 Thousands of supporters of

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez marched in Caracas on Saturday to

support the leftist leader in his dispute with Mexico's [rightist]

president over U.S. free trade proposals. [Why does the media label

Chavez a 'leftist,' but does not label Bush, Blair, Howard, Fox and

all the other Nazis 'rightists?']

 

Let Us Blow Up Bill O'Reilly --Of course the PR-sucking Fox News

blowhard is off his nut. Again. Question is, Should you care? By Mark

Morford 16 Nov 2005 " And he [bill O'Reilly] is one who now suggests

that because San Francisco dared to ban aggressive military recruiting

in our high schools so disadvantaged 18-year-olds won't be unwittingly

sucked into the brutish military vortex so they can be shipped off to

Iraq to die for appalling and indefensible reasons, al Qaeda should

blow up Coit Tower... But I would never go so far as to wish

terrorists would blow up, say, Washington, D.C. Or Bill O'Reilly's

personal fetish dungeon at Fox HQ in New York. "

 

Ashcroft turns into hired gun --Justice Department drops case against

company he counseled 19 Nov 2005 Less than a month after Oracle Corp.

hired former Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft's lobbying firm, the Justice

Department notified Oracle that an antitrust inquiry into its proposed

$5.8 billion acquisition of a rival database software firm had been

dropped.

 

Jesse Jackson tells Bush to scrap hurricane deadlines 19 Nov 2005 The

U.S. government must extend its Dec. 1 deadline to stop paying hotel

bills for many victims of Hurricane Katrina and come up with a proper

plan for people to return home, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said on Saturday.

 

Army Engineers: Levee Warnings Unreported 19 Nov 2005 Engineers

responsible for monitoring the levees that failed following Hurricane

Katrina were never told that canal water had been pooling in yards

beside a flood wall months before the storm, an Army Corps of

Engineers manager said Friday.

 

Pharmacists, Doctors Prohibited From Giving Medicare Advice

--Extensive Federal Guidelines Add to Confusion Over New Drug Plans 18

Nov 2005 172 pages of federal guidelines for Medicare Part D prevent

pharmacists from instructing seniors on which plan to choose. The

restriction applies to physicians, as well.

 

Schumer: Medicare drug plan baffling millions of New York's seniors 17

Nov 2005 Across upstate New York, 1.3 million seniors are eligible for

the new Medicare prescription drug plan, but because it is so

complicated, many are unable to make an informed decision. With

enrollment set to begin this week, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer,

during a conference call on Wednesday, called on Congress to pass

legislation to give seniors an additional six months to make an

informed decision.

 

Facing Md. Vote on Health Care, Wal-Mart Hires Extra Lobbyists 19 Nov

2005 Wal-Mart has hired at least a dozen lobbyists and made a $10,000

donation to help pay for a recent conference for black lawmakers, as

the world's largest retailer prepares for a battle in January over a

law that would increase its health care costs for Maryland employees.

 

Bill Authorizes Private Purchase of Federal Land 20 Nov 2005 Private

companies and individuals would be able to buy large tracts of federal

land, from sagebrush basins to high-peak hiking trails around the

West, under the terms of the spending bill passed Friday by a two-vote

margin in the House of Representatives. Lawyers who have parsed its

language say the real beneficiaries could be real estate developers,

whose business has become a more potent economic engine in the West

than mining.

 

The old reverso votefraud trick (xymphora.blogspot) 15 Nov 2005 " There

were five ballot initiatives held in Ohio, four of which were to

reform that state's obviously corrupt voting system... The poll

numbers before the election showed that the reform would win

comfortably, or, at the very least, that the issue was still open and

dependent on undecided voters. In spite of this, all the election

reform initiatives were defeated, with dramatic discrepancies from the

pre-election poll results (the only non-election-related initiative

passed matching the poll results almost exactly)... The only results

that Rove cared about in the whole country are the ones where the

results didn't match the polls, and the ones where the electorate

provided the results that Rove wanted... Diebold computer voting

machines were used in almost half the voting stations to (create)

obtain the results. "

 

Millions face glacier catastrophe --Global warming hits Himalayas 20

Nov 2005 Himalayan glacier lakes are filling up with more and more

melted ice and 24 of them are now poised to burst their banks in

Bhutan, with a similar number at risk in Nepal... Eventually, the

Himalayan glaciers will shrink so much their meltwaters will dry up,

say scientists.

 

Tropical Storm Gamma kills 12 in Central America 19 Nov 2005 Tropical

Storm Gamma lashed Central America on Saturday and killed at least 12

people. Slow-moving Gamma is the 24th named storm of a record-breaking

Atlantic hurricane season...

 

California man to donate Thanksgiving dinner to Mississippi residents

19 Nov 2005 Bernie Rosen usually invites his whole town to

Thanksgiving dinner. Not this year. He's heading to Mississippi to

serve turkey and all the trimmings to survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

 

[19 Nov lead stories:] " You guys are pathetic, pathetic. " 18 Nov 2005

The Republican-controlled Congress helped itself to a $3,100 pay raise

on Friday, then postponed work on bills to curb spending on social

programs and cut taxes in favor of a two-week vacation. In the final

hours of a tumultuous week in the Capitol, Democrats erupted in fury

when House GOP leaders maneuvered toward a politically-charged vote _

and swift rejection _ of one war critic's call for the withdrawal of

troops from Iraq. " You guys are pathetic, pathetic, " Massachusetts

Rep. Martin Meehan yelled across a noisy hall at Republicans.

 

Bush 'an assassin, crazy man' 18 Nov 2005 Venezuelan President Hugo

Chavez, extending his war of words with Washington, on Thursday called

US pResident George W Bush " an assassin " and accused the United States

of meddling in his country's affairs. Chavez said: " The people of the

US are governed by an assassin ... a crazy man! I think the people of

the US are more aware of this situation every day. "

 

Venezuela's Chavez calls Bush 'killer', 'madman' 18 Nov 2005

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez lashed out at his US counterpart,

George Bush, late yesterday, calling him a 'killer' and a 'madman'

after a top US diplomat criticized Caracas. 'The planet's most serious

danger is the government of the United States. ...The people of the

United States are being governed by a killer, a genocidal murderer and

a madman,' Chavez said at a meeting of Venezuelan and Brazilian

business executives in Caracas.

 

CLGers: Please contribute for November's expenses, thank you! And,

thank you to all who have donated previously!!

http://www.legitgov.org/#contribute

 

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CLG Newsletter editor: Lori Price, General Manager. 2005,

Citizens For Legitimate Government ® All rights reserved. CLG Founder

and Chair is Michael Rectenwald, Ph.D.