Virginia Metze Reading List for December 10-12, 2005

[Guest guest]

" Virginia Metze " <vmetze

Wed, 14 Dec 2005 16:29:42 -0600

Reading List for Saturday, Sunday, Monday weekend of December

10-12, 2005[via LSMTP - see www.lsoft.com]

 

 

 

Well, finally, after 5-6 years at least, the truth is beginning to

emerge. The " protection from terrorism " the Neoconservatives and Bush

and pals are ACTUALLY giving is protection of themselves from the

citizens of this country. The Pentagon is spying on citizens of this

country who seem to believe that no one repealed the First Amendment.

Hooray for NBC!

 

 

Now that Bush has heartily embraced DEMOCRACY FOR IRAQ, perhaps he and

the rest of his administration could leave the USA DEMOCRACY alone?

 

 

Another breaking news story to follow has to do with McCain's campaign

against torture. It appears the Army manual will be re-written to

explicitly allow torture. So why do we have troops prosecuted and

higher ups going free?

 

 

Durbin joins with Feingold's filibuster against the Patriot Act

ACLU Take Action web site

 

 

As a resident of Illinois, I pulled this paragraph out of Talking

Points to show you.

 

If you are from New Hampshire, Idaho, Alaska, Illinois, Wisconsin, or

Colorado, one of your Senators is a member of the " civil liberties

six " -- Sununu (R-NH), Craig (R-ID), Murkowski (R-AK), Durbin (D-IL),

Feingold (D-WI) and Salazar (D-CO) -- who is supporting the bipartisan

filibuster. Be sure to tell him or her " thank you " and to stand their

ground.

 

The Patriot Act reauthorization bill fails to protect the privacy of

ordinary Americans because it does not require that the government

have any connection between the records they want and a suspected

foreign terrorist. [...] Read it all and respond at

http://tinyurl.com/anycv

 

 

 

Doug Thompson talks about his quote of Bush:

From Capitol Hill Blue

The Rant

Where there's smoke, there's ire

By DOUG THOMPSON

Dec 12, 2005, 08:33

 

The firestorm over Friday's column quoting President George W. Bush's

obscene outburst over the Constitution continues to grow with our

email box overflowing from outraged readers who think the President

should be impeached along with pro-Bushites who want my head on a platter.

 

I'm surprised by the public's anger over this. When a GOP operative

first emailed me about the White House meeting where Bush called the

Constitution " just a goddamned piece of paper, " I put it aside as one

of many reports I get about the President's temper tantrums.

 

Bush lashed out at an aide who dared question him on the USA Patriot

Act. That's typical Bush. We started reporting on the President's

outbursts last year and those tantrums are now widely reported now by

the so-called " mainstream media. "

 

As Evan Thomas and Richard Wolfe write in the current edition of Newsweek:

 

" A White House aide, who like virtually all White House officials (in

this story and in general) refused to be identified for fear of

antagonizing the president… How many people dare to snap back at a

president? Not many, and not unless they have known the president a

long, long time. (Even Karl Rove, or " Turd Blossom, " as he is

sometimes addressed by the president, knows when to hold his tongue.)

In the Bush White House, disagreement is often equated with

disloyalty… his attitude toward Congress was " my way or the highway, "

according to a GOP staffer who did not want to be identified

criticizing the president. " [...] Read the rest at:

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7797.shtml or

http://tinyurl.com/ahmk8

 

 

 

U.S. Won't Join in Binding Climate Talks

Administration Agrees to Separate Dialogue

 

By Juliet Eilperin

Washington Post Staff Writer

Sunday, December 11, 2005; Page A01

 

MONTREAL, Dec. 10 -- Despite the Bush administration's adamant

resistance, nearly every industrialized nation agreed early Saturday

to engage in talks aimed at producing a new set of binding limits on

greenhouse gas emissions that would take effect beginning in 2012.

 

In a separate accord, a broader coalition of nearly 200 nations --

including the United States -- agreed to a much more modest " open and

nonbinding " dialogue that would not lead to any " new commitments " to

reduce carbon dioxide emissions associated with climate change.

 

The outcome of Saturday's negotiations -- which nearly collapsed at

the eleventh hour after Russia and the United States raised separate

objections -- underscored the promise and limits of international

talks aimed at confronting one of the world's most far-reaching

problems. The results also showed that foreign negotiators have

concluded they must press ahead without the Bush administration's

assent on the assumption that a burgeoning grass-roots movement will

eventually bring the United States back to the negotiating table.

[...] Read the rest at: http://tinyurl.com/d6yk5

 

 

 

Poll: Most say Bush has no Iraq victory plan

Tuesday, December 13, 2005; Posted: 9:20 a.m. EST (14:20 GMT)

CNN.com Politics section

 

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Despite a series of recent speeches spelling out

the administration's policies on Iraq, the majority of Americans in a

new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll said they do not believe President Bush

has a plan that will achieve victory in Iraq.

 

Fifty-eight percent of those polled said Bush doesn't have a clear

plan on Iraq, compared to 38 percent who said they believe Bush does

have a plan for victory.

 

At the same time, the poll found that 63 percent of the respondents

believe Iraqis have made real progress toward establishing a

democratic state over the past two years. Thirty-four percent said

they don't believe Iraq has made real democratic strides. (See

interactive approval ratings for President Bush during his second

term) [...] Read the rest at http://tinyurl.com/98cgx

 

 

 

The Next Retirement Time Bomb

By MILT FREUDENHEIM

and MARY WILLIAMS WALSH

December 11, 2005

 

SINCE 1983, the city of Duluth, Minn., has been promising free

lifetime health care to all of its retired workers, their spouses and

their children up to age 26. No one really knew how much it would

cost. Three years ago, the city decided to find out.

 

It took an actuary about three months to identify all the past and

current city workers who qualified for the benefits. She tallied their

data by age, sex, previous insurance claims and other factors. Then

she estimated how much it would cost to provide free lifetime care to

such a group.

 

The total came to about $178 million, or more than double the city's

operating budget. And the bill was growing.

 

" Then we knew we were looking down the barrel of a pretty high-caliber

weapon, " said Gary Meier, Duluth's human resources manager, who

attended the meeting where the actuary presented her findings.

[...] Read the rest at The New York Times: http://tinyurl.com/9jz3s

 

 

 

Some interesting stories in this week's Environmental News Service,

including $50 a Barrel Oil Forecast for Next 25 Years.

http://tinyurl.com/8t7u3

 

 

North Carolina Sued for Illegally Certifying Voting Equipment

December 08, 2005

Electronic Frontier Foundation

 

EFF Asks Court to Void Approval of Diebold and Others Without Source

Code Review

 

Raleigh, North Carolina - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) on

Thursday filed a complaint against the North Carolina Board of

Elections and the North Carolina Office of Information Technology

Services on behalf of voting integrity advocate Joyce McCloy, asking

that the Superior Court void the recent illegal certification of three

electronic voting systems.

 

North Carolina law requires the Board of Elections to rigorously

review all voting system code " prior to certification. " Ignoring this

requirement, the Board of Elections on December 1st certified voting

systems offered by Diebold Election Systems, Sequoia Voting Systems,

and Election Systems and Software without having first obtained – let

alone reviewed – the system code.

 

" This is about the rule of law, " said EFF Staff Attorney Matt

Zimmerman. " The Board of Elections has simply ignored its mandatory

obligations under North Carolina election law. This statute was

enacted to require election officials to investigate the quality and

security of voting systems before approval, and only approve those

that are safe and secure. By certifying without a full review of all

relevant code, the Board of Elections has now opened the door for

North Carolina counties to purchase untested and potentially insecure

voting equipment. " [...] Read the rest at

http://www.eff.org/news/, scrolling down to this article.

 

 

 

Watch the video of Byrd taking Frist to school!

http://streaming.americanprogress.org/ThinkProgress/2005/frist.320.240.mov.htm

 

 

 

 

This piece of information is being sent around the Internet and is

also on web pages. I don't know whose work it is, but the information

is very important to everyone.

 

20 Amazing Facts About Voting in the USA

from " Angry Girl " web site at Nightweed.com

 

Did you know....

1. 80% of all votes in America are counted by only two companies:

Diebold and ES & S.

 

http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting/042804Landes/042804landes.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diebold

 

2. There is no federal agency with regulatory authority or oversight

of the U.S. voting machine industry.

 

http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0916-04.htm

 

http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting/042804Landes/042804landes.html

 

 

See the rest of the list of 20 facts at

http://nightweed.com/usavotefacts.html

 

 

 

 

 

Like to see the DLC beat up on? Check out Sirotablog at

Workingforchange.com: http://tinyurl.com/avb4l

 

 

 

Two stories from Mydd.com web site:

Frist Still Under Investigators' Watch

by Jonathan Singer

http://mydd.com/story/2005/12/12/13658/308

 

Right-wing Threatens Kennedy, Biden, over Alito

by Matt Stoller

http://mydd.com/story/2005/12/11/20396/961

 

 

 

 

Bush in the Bubble

He has a tight circle of trust, and he likes it that way. But members

of both parties are urging Bush to reach beyond the White House walls.

How he governs—and how his M.O. stacks up historically.

 

By Evan Thomas and Richard Wolffe

Newsweek

Dec. 19, 2005 issue

(posted to internet on 11th or 12th)

 

Dec. 19, 2005 issue - Jack Murtha still can't figure out why the

father and son treated him so differently. Every week or so before the

'91 gulf war, President George H.W. Bush would invite Congressman

Murtha, along with other Hill leaders, to the White House. " He would

listen to all the bitching from everybody, Republicans and Democrats,

and then he would do what he thought was right. " A decorated Vietnam

veteran, ex-Marine Murtha was a critical supporter for the elder Bush

on Capitol Hill. " I led the fight for the '91 war, " he says. " I led

the fight, for Christ's sake. "

 

Yet 13 years later, when Murtha tried to write George W. Bush with

some suggestions for fighting the Iraq war, the congressman's letter

was ignored by the White House (after waiting for seven months, Murtha

received a polite kiss-off from a deputy under secretary of Defense).

Murtha, who has always preferred to operate behind the scenes, finally

went public, calling for an orderly withdrawal from Iraq. In the furor

that followed, a White House spokesman compared the Vietnam War hero

to " Michael Moore and the extreme liberal wing of the Democratic

Party. " When that approach backfired, President Bush called Murtha a

" fine man ... who served our country with honor. " The White House has

made no attempt to reach out to Murtha since then. " None. None. Zero.

Not one call, " a baffled Murtha told NEWSWEEK. " I don't know who the

hell they're talking to. If they talked to people, they wouldn't get

these outbursts. If they'd talked to me, it wouldn't have happened. "

[...] Read the whole article at

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10417159/site/newsweek or

http://tinyurl.com/dzowm

 

 

 

 

Another web site you may enjoy: http://www.freewayblogger.com

There are some great pictures. The ones below were posted by the

person telling us about the site:

http://www.freewayblogger.com/freewayblogger_nation.htm

http://www.freewayblogger.com/sot_gallery.htm

http://www.freewayblogger.com/aboutpictures.htm

http://www.freewayblogger.com/quotations.htm

http://www.freewayblogger.com/hof.htm

http://www.freewayblogger.com/strategies.htm

 

 

 

 

What Viveca Novak Told Fitzgerald

By VIVECA NOVAK

TIME

Sunday, Dec. 11, 2005

 

It was in the midst of another Washington scandal, almost a decade

ago, that I got to know Bob Luskin. He represented Mark Middleton, a

minor figure in the Democratic campaign-finance scandals of 1996.

Luskin kept Middleton out of the spotlight and never told me much.

Still, there is the occasional source with whom one becomes friendly,

and eventually Luskin was in that group.

 

We'd occasionally meet for a drink--he didn't like having lunch--at

Cafe Deluxe on Wisconsin Avenue, near the National Cathedral and on my

route home. In October 2003, as we each made our way through a glass

of wine, he asked me what I was working on. I told him I was trying to

get a handle on the Valerie Plame leak investigation. " Well, " he said,

" you're sitting next to Karl Rove's lawyer. " I was genuinely

surprised, since Luskin's liberal sympathies were no secret, and here

he was representing the man known to many Democrats as the other

side's Evil Genius. I began spending a little more time than usual

with Luskin as I tried to keep track of the investigation. But how it

all bought me a ticket to testify under oath to special counsel

Patrick Fitzgerald still floors me.

 

The week of Oct. 24, 2005, was Indictment Week--that Friday, the grand

jury's term would expire, and it was expected that Fitzgerald would

finish up his probe by then so he wouldn't have to start working with

a new grand jury. It seemed clear that Scooter Libby, chief of staff

to Vice President Dick Cheney, was in deep trouble, but Rove's status

was uncertain. Sometime during that week, Luskin, who was talking at

length with Fitzgerald, phoned me and said he had disclosed to

Fitzgerald the content of a conversation he and I had had at Cafe

Deluxe more than a year earlier and that Fitzgerald might want to talk

to me. [...] Read the rest at: http://tinyurl.com/d2mlj

 

 

 

 

Where are Republican moderates? They are becoming more and more

visible. Here is a website they have: http://www.mypartytoo.com/

 

 

 

This happened back in 2002 election; you probably remember it.

Interesting but probably not unusual, is the fact that he has not yet

been tried. Well, dare we hope his talents will be sidelined by 2006?

 

Ex-GOP Official Faces Conspiracy Charge

Former GOP Official Faces One Federal Count of Conspiring Against

Voters' Rights in 2002

By BEVERLEY WANG Associated Press Writer

 

CONCORD, N.H. Dec 6, 2005 — A former national Republican Party

official played a key role in an Election Day 2002 phone jamming plot

against New Hampshire Democrats, the prosecution said Tuesday during

opening statements.

 

James Tobin, President Bush's onetime New England campaign chairman,

is being tried on one federal count of conspiring against voters'

rights and several counts involving telephone harassment. He could

face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

 

U.S. Attorney Andrew Levchuk said the state GOP's former executive

director, Chuck McGee, had Tobin's blessing for the scheme as well as

his help in the plot to disrupt Democratic get-out-the-vote phone

banks and a nonpartisan ride-to-the-polls line. [...] Read about it

in ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1380055 or

http://tinyurl.com/9f35d

 

 

 

 

The ongoing 2000-2004 election fraud news is not going away. Someone

told us all about this interesting web page:

http://www.whoscounting.net/Test.htm This seems to be a pretty

comprehensive site.

 

 

 

 

There will never be a charge for this reading list and I won't ask for

contributions.

 

It may be freely distributed as long as it is sent out in its entirety

with this statement attached and no charge is made. Of course you are

free to use the URLs in your own posts, etc.

 

© Virginia Metze

 

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