OpEdNews In Between Time, and Evil Persists in the White House

[Guest guest]

Mon, 26 Dec 2005 21:09:21 -0500 (EST)

OpEdNews In Between Time, and Evil Persists in the White House

rob

 

 

 

 

click here to read articles

 

http://www.opednews.com/flyer/news_20051226.html

 

 

 

It's a funny, in-between time of the year. Congress is on break. Talk

show hosts and journalists are on vacation. But that doesn't stop the

criminals in the White house from continuing their reign of terror,

their unrelenting assault against America's democracy and freedom.

 

Maybe we in the progressive media will make a difference. We're trying

and we'll keep trying until they shut us down. We're pushing for the

truth, fighting to keep America the land that the founding fathers

intended it to be.

 

We're going into the end of this month about $2000 short of our target

for the year. Believe me, we are not aiming very high, so it's

important that we reach our goal. It's the only way we can keep on

going is to see that we're getting financial support as well as people

writing us telling us the! y read us every day, seeing the thousands

of people who forward articles we publish. So please, dig deep and

help make 2005 a year that moved us forward with strong momentum.

Contribute Here

 

Let's make 2006 the year we impeach the SOBs, clean up the vote and

take back at least one of the houses of congress.

 

Happy Holidays,

 

Rob Kall

 

 

 

Newest Articles

 

By Mike Whitney

What Everyone Should Know About Jose Padilla

The case against Jose Padilla has nothing to do with Padilla, a

hapless gang-banger caught up in a Bush dragnet. It has everything to

do with habeas corpus, the presumption of innocence, and the rule of

law. The final verdict could decide the future of freedom in America.

 

By Sallie E. Gratch

Introducing: The Women Founders Collective

The Women Founders Collective (WFC) serves as a support network to

women founders. All women founders are welcomed at any point of their

journey, including women who have " let go " of their organization yet

still want to be part of/add to this network/support group.

 

By Larry Scott

Why Doesn't The VA Tell Veterans About Their Benefits?

Millions of veterans lose out on billions in benefits because the VA

doesn't tell them they qualify. Why? Money! And, because the VA isn't

required to tell them. Republicans oppose legislation that would

require the VA to inform veterans and dependents of their benefits.

 

By David Swanson

Fog Facts

Larry Beinhart, author of " Wag the Dog " and " The Librarian, " has done

us a remarkable service with the publication of a new small nonfiction

book titled " Fog Facts. "

 

By Doug Thompson

Are We That Good? Damn Right We Are

" Why is it, " the emailer who signed their name only as " skeptical "

wanted to know, " that your story about President Bush's remarks about

the Constitution has not been reported by any other news media?

 

By Mark S. Tucker

Questions For Kemp

Anyone remember Jack Kemp? Anyone??? On Dec. 22, he reminded us why,

thankfully, no one does, through an exercise in tortured rhetoric so

hideous a dog would hesitate to claim it.

 

By David Swanson

Bush Administration Refuses To Comply With FOIA Request On Pre-War

Intelligence

The White House and the Departments of State and Defense have for six

months refused to comply with a request filed under the Freedom of

Information Act by 52 Congress Members – a request seeking information

on the Bush Administration's reasons for going to war.

 

By Melinda Ribner

Listen To Light- Meditation On Chanukkah

 

By Jason Miller

May A Flock Of Thrushes Disrupt Your Hologram This Yuletide Season

Pagans get the ultimate credit for the holiday season, Fundamentalist

Christians want ownership, some of us don't care, art imitates life,

and a bunch of infernal birds threaten to subvert America's

Corporatocracy.

 

By Joan Brunwasser, Submitted By Karen Barth Menzies, Esq.

While You Were Sleeping: Legal Shield For Vaccine Makers, Part 2

The below website provides a fast and easy way to participate in some

" public backlash " by telling your representatives your concerns about

this back-door attempt to protect Big Pharma.

 

By Stephen Crockett

Republicans To Poor " Freeze To Death "

Republican policy demonstrate strongly bias against poor in contrast

to Christian doctrine during this Christmas season. Article examines

latest outrages and cites Bible verses on the value of the poor and

rich from the story of Jesus birth.

 

By Mark S. Tucker

Carl Weingarten: American Guitar Player

With 18 releases under his belt, fusion player Carl Weingarten has

released a set of sparkling and mysterious instrumentals harking back

to the Fripp & Eno landmarks.

 

By William Fisher

PLEASE, MISS CONDI… MAY I?

President George W. Bush is famous for not admitting mistakes. But

every now and then he tries to correct one –without fanfare and well

under the radar.

 

By Ken Sanders

Democracy On Holiday

 

By Carol Wolman

A Christmas Prayer

 

By Stephen Soldz

The 1914 Christmas Truce And The Possibility Of Peace

The Christmas truce of 1914 has been brought to screen, proving as

occasion to mediate on the psychological requirements for peace.

 

 

 

Best News Links from the Web

 

Please go to www.opednews.com to view these articles.

 

MSNBC Poll Shows 86% Approval For Bush Impeachment

 

Bush Impeachment Buzz Gains Momentum

The " I " word has been all the buzz for almost a year, but the

persistent buzz turned to action, PACs and open calls for impeachment

in December 2005.

 

First Step To Impeachment

Next year might be decisive for US President George W. Bush, accused

of lying, showing total disregard for US and international laws,

Constitution violations, living in a bubble, promoting abuses,

torture, indefinite detention of and spying on US citizens and

foreigners. For similar crimes, former president Richard Nixon -dabbed

as Dirty Dick- was impeached almost thirty years ago as a consequence

of what is known as the Watergate scandal. In the impeachment of

Nixon, the argument in its Article 2 said that Nixon committed a crime

" by directing or authorizing (intelligence) agencies or personnel to

conduct or continue electronic surveillance or other investigations

for purposes unrelated to national security, the enforcement of laws,

or any other lawful function of his office. "

 

Paul Krugman: Medicine; Who Decides?

 

Terrorist Attack In Shreveport

A firebomb was thrown at an abortion clinic in Shreveport. Note the

minimal coverage. Check google news and see how terrorism in America

is ignored.

 

Economic Policy Institute: What's Wrong With The Economy?

 

Scholar Stands By Post-9/11 Writings On Torture, Domestic Eavesdropping

Widely considered the intellectual architect of the most dramatic

assertion of White House power since the Nixon era, he has seen

constitutional scholars skewer his reasoning and students call for his

ouster from the University of California at Berkeley. Civil liberties

advocates were appalled by a memo he helped draft on torture. The

State Department's chief legal adviser at the time called his analysis

of the Geneva Conventions " seriously flawed. " Supreme Court Justice

Sandra Day O'Connor wrote, in a critique of administration views

espoused by Yoo, " a state of war is not a blank check for the

President when it comes to the rights of the Nation's citizens. " Yoo

has alienated so many influential opponents that he is considered

unconfirmable for a judgeship or high office, not unlike a certain

conservative jurist rejected by the Senate for the Supreme Court.

 

For CIA's `Rendering' Teams, A Lavish Overseas Lifestyle

When the CIA decides to " render " a terrorism suspect living abroad for

interrogation in Egypt or another friendly Middle East nation, it

spares no expense. Italian prosecutors wrote in court papers that the

CIA spent " enormous amounts of money " during the six weeks it took the

agency to figure out how to grab a 39-year-old Muslim preacher called

Abu Omar off the streets of Milan, throw him into a van and drive him

to the airport...two CIA operatives managed to ring up more than

$9,000 in room charges alone... In all, records show, the CIA paid 10

Milan hotels at least $158,000 in room charges.

 

Pivotal Enron Plea Talks Ongoing

HOUSTON -- Prosecutors and attorneys for Enron Corp.'s former chief

accounting officer, Richard Causey, are in negotiations on a plea

bargain on the eve of trial for founder Kenneth Lay and former chief

executive Jeffrey Skilling, according to people familiar with the

discussions. If Causey agrees to a deal to plead guilty, his

co-operation could prove enormously helpful to the government's case

against Lay and Skilling. All three face trial next month.

 

Terrorism Drill Reveals Flaws In Response

An anti-terrorism drill at Logan International Airport revealed flaws

in law-enforcement's ability to respond to an attack, according to a

newly released report. On June 4, a team of federal, state and local

law-enforcement officials gathered at Logan for a simulated hijacking

of a commercial jet. A report analyzing the outcome of " Operation

Atlas " found that the agencies' response was lacking in some areas.

 

Almost 500 Katrina Children Still Missing; FEMA's Reluctance To

Release Information

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has a database

with close to 500 names, all of them children whose whereabouts are

still unknown. Walter Fahr, manager of the Louisiana Clearing House

for Missing Children, said FEMA has names, addresses, phone numbers,

and social security numbers of evacuees that could help connect

parents with children.

 

Gunmen Kill Five Police At Iraq Checkpoint

Gunmen shot and killed five police officers at a checkpoint north of

Baghdad on Monday, and six vehicle bombs exploded in the capital,

leaving another five people dead and wounding more than 40.

 

Beyond The Imperial Presidency

But the theory boils down to a consistent and self-serving formula:

What's good for George W. Bush is good for America, and anything that

weakens his power weakens the nation. To call this an imperial

presidency is unfair to emperors.

 

Iraqis Want US Out As Soon As Possible: US Commander

An opinion survey conducted in Iraq in October and November by ABC

News and a pool of other US and foreign media outlets showed that

despite some improvements in security and living standards, US

military operations in the country were increasingly unpopular.

 

Saga Of Incompetence

As Post reporters Susan B. Glasser and Michael Grunwald showed in

their two-part series last week [ " Prelude to Disaster, " Dec. 22-23],

the failures of FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security predate

Hurricane Katrina by several years. Although both Mr. Chertoff and Mr.

Brown made mistakes during the storm, far more fingers should have

been pointed at the haphazard, irrational and unabashedly political

process that led to the creation of DHS, as well as the inept

leadership of the department's first boss, Tom Ridge.

 

The Political Scandal That Won't Die

Pardon all the mixed metaphors, but according to news reports super

influence peddler Jack Abramoff is talking about a deal in the Federal

investigation that openly has targeted one House member and is delving

into the activities of a number of others, including the former

Republican majority leader Tom DeLay, already under indictment in his

home state of Texas.

 

DNA Tests On Stem Cell Research Completed

South Korea's top university said Monday it has received some DNA test

results for its investigation of disgraced stem cell researcher Hwang

Woo-suk and it will complete a final report on the findings next week.

 

Study: Climate Change May Melt Permafrost

Climate change could melt the top 11 feet of Alaska permafrost by the

end of the century, according to a new study.

 

Gunmen Kill 10 Iraqi Police And Soldiers

Guerrillas killed at least 10 Iraqi policemen and soldiers in separate

attacks north of Baghdad on Monday in the latest flare-up of violence

after a largely peaceful election nearly two weeks ago.

 

White House Aids Playboy Playmate -- Anna Nicole Smith - In Court

Playboy playmate Anna Nicole Smith has an unusual bedfellow in the

Supreme Court fight over her late husband's fortune: the Bush

administration. The administration's top Supreme Court lawyer filed

arguments on Smith's behalf and wants to take part when the case is

argued before the justices.

 

Powell Supports Government Eavesdropping

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell on Sunday supported government

eavesdropping to prevent terrorism but said a major controversy over

presidential powers could have been avoided by obtaining court

warrants. Powell said that when he was in the Cabinet, he was not told

that President Bush authorized a warrantless National Security Agency

surveillance operation after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks...but supports

actions.

 

U.S. Seeks To Escape Brutal Cycle In Iraqi City

3rd Try at Pullout Depends on Iraqi Police

 

Trying To Have It Both Ways: Banks, Bankruptcy, And Credit Cards

It might seem counterintuitive that many credit card companies would

inundate the recently bankrupt with solicitations for new cards. It's

especially perplexing that those same companies would do so after

having spent more than eight years and $100 million lobbying Congress

to protect them from irresponsible borrowers with a draconian new

bankruptcy law. But the truth is that credit card companies aren't all

that interested in customers who pay their bills in full every month.

They really want the so-called revolvers, people who don't cover their

balances and pony up those juicy interest payments and fees. The

tighter repayment provisions in the new law will encourage companies

to trawl for even less-qualified customers. This is all a stark

reminder of just how one-sided the new bankruptcy law is.

 

Winners And Losers In Iraq

The final votes must still be counted in Iraq, but the trend is

already clear. The biggest winners appear to be the Shiite religious

parties whose politicians have run the ministries and whose militias

have run the streets of southeastern Iraq for a year or more. The

Kurdish separatist parties that supported this arrangement in exchange

for absolute control of the Kurdish northeast also appear to have

fared well. Sunni Arabs did a lot better than they did last January,

when most boycotted the polls. But political fragmentation left them

with fewer seats than they expected. In a further blow, a court ruled

last week that at least 90 candidates, most of them Sunni, could not

serve if elected because of their Baath Party ties. Still, the biggest

losers were secular parties and those who tried to appeal to all of

Iraq's communities, not just one religion or ethnic group.

 

On Gulf Coast, Big Difference Between Corps And Private Cleanups

There are many reasons for the difference between the lack of progress

in Pascagoula and the quick cleanup in the Biloxi area. But officials

here point fingers at what they consider the No. 1 culprit: the

federal government and, in particular, the Army Corps of Engineers...A

choice they have regretted ever since...

 

Just Googling It Is Striking Fear Into Companies

Wal-Mart, the nation's largest retailer, often intimidates its

competitors and suppliers. Makers of goods from diapers to DVD's must

cater to its whims. But there is one company that even Wal-Mart eyes

warily these days: Google, a seven-year-old business in a seemingly

distant industry.

 

Bush Personally Pressuring Press Editors To Curb Spying Story

President Bush has been summoning newspaper editors lately in an

effort to prevent publication of stories he considers damaging to

national security. The efforts have failed, but the rare White House

sessions with the executive editors of The Washington Post and New

York Times are an indication of how seriously the president takes the

recent reporting that has raised questions about the administration's

anti-terror tactics. Leonard Downie Jr., The Post's executive editor,

would not confirm the meeting with Bush before publishing reporter

Dana Priest's Nov. 2 article disclosing the existence of secret CIA

prisons in Eastern Europe used to interrogate terror suspects. Bill

Keller, executive editor of the Times, would not confirm that he,

publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and Washington bureau chief Philip

Taubman had an Oval Office sit-down with the president on Dec. 5, 11

days before reporters James Risen and Eric Lichtblau revealed that

Bush had authorized eavesdroppin! g on Americans and others within the

United States without court orders. But the meetings were confirmed by

sources who have been briefed on them but are not authorized to

comment because both sides had agreed to keep the sessions off the

record. The White House had no comment.

 

Courts Criticize Judges' Handling Of Asylum Cases

Federal appeals court judges around the nation have repeatedly

excoriated immigration judges this year for what they call a pattern

of biased and incoherent decisions in asylum cases. In one decision

last month, Richard A. Posner, a prominent and relatively conservative

federal appeals court judge in Chicago, concluded that " the

adjudication of these cases at the administrative level has fallen

below the minimum standards of legal justice. "

 

Motive Behind Abramoff/SunCruz Affair: Good Old Greed

Abramoff and Kidan put together a sham financial package to buy the

11-boat SunCruz armada from Gus Boulis in 2000. They were $20 million

light. Gus was not pleased. He raised a ruckus. So Abramoff, king of

the lobbyists, prevailed on a U.S. Rep. Bob Ney, to insert a statement

in the Congressional Record attacking Boulis. Why would a Republican

congressman from Ohio take an interest in Florida casino boat fleet?

It's all about that SunCruz mystique, of course. Despite being

pummeled by Abramoff's congressional supplicant, Boulis wouldn't shut

up. Not until Feb. 6, 2001, when he was gunned down in Fort Lauderdale.

 

NY Times Readers Concerned About Voting Integrity

People are starting to wake up to the difficulties involved in making

sure our elections are free, fair and transparent. Read what five

readers wrote in their letters to the editor of the Sunday NY Times.

 

A Buzzflash Holiday Message (News Analysis)

If our lives are manifestation of a divine force, than we bear

responsibility for our lives and the good that we do, not God. And if

we bear responsibility for our lives, then we are accountable for our

behavior. And if we are accountable for our behavior, then we must

live a life of good deeds, benevolence, love and peace.

 

Another Look: Bush Administration's Moral Compass Is Lost By Cathleen

Falsani

Mired in political corruption of one variety or another, hamstrung

(economically and spiritually) by an unjust war, and publicly shamed

by the most despicable display of institutionalized racism since the

slave era, as demonstrated in the unforgivably inept early response to

the victims of Hurricane Katrina, the Bush administration has lost

whatever moral voice it might have had.

 

In Case You Missed This The First Time: Sen. Frist Inserts Legal

Shield For Vaccine Makers Into Military Bill

The provision would provide immunity from lawsuits to any company that

made " countermeasures " - broadly defined as drugs, vaccines or medical

devices - to protect Americans against pandemics, epidemics or

biological attacks. It would give the secretary of health and human

services authority to determine what constituted a pandemic or an

epidemic. An outside advocacy group, the Foundation for Taxpayer and

Consumer Rights, said the provision posed a conflict of interest for

Mr. Frist and 41 other senators who, it said, own as much as $16

million in pharmaceutical stock.

 

Bush's False Choice By Ellen Goodman

''Whatever it takes " does not mean ''whatever the president says it

takes. " It does not mean becoming our own worst enemies. It does not

mean approving torture or domestic spying. And it most certainly does

not mean watching silently as a commander in chief takes on the

uniform of a generalissimo.

 

Conservative Business Magazine, Barron's, Excoriates Bush For

Committing A Potentiatly Imeachable Offense

Putting the president above the Congress is an invitation to tyranny.

The president has no powers except those specified in the Constitution

and those enacted by law.

 

Silent Nights On The Gulf Coast

The tragedy of Katrina will worsen if the Gulf Coast is forgotten.

People can't survive in tents. And FEMA trailers aren't meant to be

longtime homes.

 

A Chilling Departure From The Capitol -- Let Them Freeze, Starve, -

Not Our Problem

One of the shabbiest shell games of the year was played out in the

closing hours of Congress in its now-you-see-it, now-you-don't

offering of some badly needed winter heating aid to the nation's

working poor. [Think of it as a GOP Christmas -- not Scrooged but

Screwed...

 

Voters Seek Order Barring Touchscreen Purchase In New Mexico

Eight New Mexico voters allege that the machines are not accessible by

disabled voters and violate a state law requirement for voter

verifiable paper trail printers, necessary for meaningful audits and

recounts. Plaintiffs also submitted substantial evidence that the

Sequoia touchscreen voting systems are inaccurate and unreliable,

having lost thousands of votes and switched countless others in recent

elections.

 

December 25

Whether you believe with an absolute literalism or with a more

analogic faith, whether you believe at all, whether you are Christian

or Jewish or Muslim or merely human, the word we would like to feel

most profoundly now is Peace.

 

Tsunami's Legacy: Extraordinary Giving And Unending Strife

At first, the tsunami seemed to dangle the hope of reconciliation. It

struck both government-held land and territory controlled by the Tamil

rebels, and it brought the two sides together to heal and divide aid.

Today, squabbles over aid combined with the legacy of recrimination

have so worsened the conflict that Sri Lanka seems closer to war now

than it has at any time since the peace process began nearly four

years ago. Clashes between government troops and suspected Tamil

separatist rebels have become routine.

 

U.S., Citing Abuse In Iraqi Prisons, Holds Detainees

The commander of American-run prisons in Iraq says the military will

not turn over any detainees or detention centers to Iraqi jailers

until American officials are satisfied that the Iraqis are meeting

United States standards for the care and custody of detainees. [iraq

gets taste of Bush & Neocon democracy? You have the " freedom " to do

anything we say you can...don't even think about thinking for

yourselves...

 

6 Million Muslims Living In U.S. Have Been Watched By Domestic Spy

Agencies

The U.S. government says tips led intelligence agents to stake-out

over 100 Muslim sites across the country, often using radiation

detectors. The surveillance included homes, businesses and mosques. In

each case, search warrants were not issued by the courts. [How does

White House define " few? "

 

U.S. Bars Cubean Baseball Team From From Participating Next March In

The Inaugural World Baseball Classic.

American lovers of Baseball - a game whose following knows no bound of

colour, creed or class - will be especially annoyed over the latest

anti-Castro move to ban a Cuban team from participating next March in

the inaugural World Baseball Classic. The event was scheduled to bring

together teams from 16 top Baseball playing-nations for games in

Puerto Rico, mainland USA and Japan.

 

Bush Calls 9 U.S. Service Members Deployed To The Persian Gulf - Happy

Holiday Message!

Placing the telephone calls from his mountaintop presidential retreat

at Camp David, Md., Bush talked to eight men and one woman, a member

of the Coast Guard stationed in the Gulf. " The president wished them a

Merry Christmas and thanked them for their service to our country "

[Heh Heh...better you than me...Heh Heh or a Ho Ho...whatever?]

 

Kerry Won!!! Statistical Tools Everyone Can Use

The 2004 Election Controversy will not stop. Statistical analysis of

polls is now more accessible with free interactive Excel-based

election models available on the Internet. Plus an interview with

TruthIsAll. Special for " Scoop " Independent Media from Washington DC

Michael Collins

 

California Activists Call The Cops On Diebold

Dave Berman is a nationally known internet activist who blogs under

the name GuvWurld. He is calling on all Californians to ensure

election integrity by holding public officials accountable for what he

argues are gaping security holes and illegal alterations of Diebold

voting machines.

 

California Threatens To Pull Plug On ES & S

This isn't the first time the company's equipment has been called into

question. In a 2004 primary in Hawaii, about 6,000 votes were

miscounted because of problems with the optical scan system. More

recently, a county election in Kershaw, S.C., found that the iVotronic

system recorded 3,208 votes, but only 768 voters. It took a manual

recount to get a true result in the election.

 

From The New Deal To The Dirty Deal By Elizabeth Jordan And Oliver T.

Dawshed

If elections are being stolen - a suspicion that must be regarded as

not yet proven - the theft will only stop when someone pays a heavy

price. If elections are not being stolen, then a proper investigation

might reestablish some degree of faith in our institutions. It is not

rational to wait for a favorable election cycle for change to be

ushered in. Faith in fair elections is essential to a free country,

since without confidence that votes will be counted, voters have no

reason to go to the polls.

 

Testing Egypt, Mubarak Rival Is Sent To Jail

An Egyptian court sentenced Ayman Nour, a leading opposition figure,

to five years at hard labor on Saturday after convicting him in a

forgery case widely seen as a political prosecution aimed at silencing

a challenge to President Hosni Mubarak's monopoly on power.

 

Iraqi Court Bars At Least 90 Candidates For Parliament

While it was not clear whether more than a handful of the affected

candidates would have won seats among the 275 in Parliament, the

ruling bars some Sunni Arab leaders who probably would have won. And

it is sure to fuel an already deep resentment among Sunni Arabs, who

are likely to again have a limited role in the new government despite

a large turnout at the ballot box nine days ago.

 

Bush Grants Pardons To 11 Including Moonshiners, Bank Robber, And GOP

Lawyer

Three moonshiners and a bank robber are among those pardoned, as is a

Denver lawyer with Republican political ties. The pardons were issued

yesterday, in keeping with a tradition of granting clemency during the

holidays.

 

Congressman Benefits From Homeland Security Spending

As a small start-up company in Massachusetts sought to become a major

player in the business of homeland security, it hired a lobbyist and

attended a fundraiser for one of the most powerful members of

Congress. The company was Reveal Imaging Technologies Inc. The

congressman was Rep. Harold " Hal " Rogers (R-Ky.). The fundraiser, held

Oct. 22, 2003, brought in $14,000 from Reveal and was the beginning of

a mutually beneficial association.

 

Iraqi Court Disqualifies Prominent Sunni Candidates

An Iraqi court has ruled that some of the most prominent Sunni Muslims

who were elected to parliament last week won't be allowed to serve

because officials suspect that they were high-ranking members of

Saddam Hussein's Baath Party. Knight Ridder has obtained a copy of the

court ruling, which has yet to be circulated to the public. The ruling

is likely to dampen Bush administration hopes that the election would

bring more of the disaffected Sunni minority into Iraq's political

process and undermine Sunni support for the insurgency. Instead, the

decision is likely to stoke fears of widening sectarian divisions in a

nation already in danger of descending into civil war. [so much for

Democratic elections....]

 

Justice Department Reveals Social Security Numbers

A document on the Justice Department Executive Office for Immigration

Review's site listed the name and Social Security number of a woman

involved in a 2003 immigration review case. Other searches of the site

yielded more Social Security numbers and identifying information.

 

Poland Supresses CIA Prisons Report

The Polish Government has decided not to make public the results of an

inquiry into the possible existence of United States CIA prisons on

Polish soil. " The report should not be made public, " Jan Dziedziczak

said. Mr Dziedziczak, who has refused to give details, says the matter

is considered closed by the authorities.

 

Gov't Probes $39M In Katrina Aid Charges

Congressional Investigators Probe $39M Worth of Katrina-Related

Government Credit Card Charges

 

Barron's Editorial Calls For Congress To Consider Impeachment

Barron's editorial page editor Thomas G. Donlan penned a column for

Monday's edition entitled " Unwarranted Executive Power " which calls on

members of the House Judiciary Committee to investigate if the Bush

Administration violated the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act

and to either change the law or consider impeachment,

 

Uncovered! ES & S ALSO Threatened By Decertfication By California Sec.

Of State

Holy cow...perhaps this explains why California Sec. of State Bruce

McPherson suddenly started turning inexplicably back to Diebold some

time around mid-November of this year after having decertified them

already back in 2004, and then finding them to have failed massively

in a recent mock election test over the summer.

 

Story Of UMass Student A Hoax

NEW BEDFORD -- The UMass Dartmouth student who claimed to have been

visited by Homeland Security agents over his request for " The Little

Red Book " by Mao Zedong has admitted to making up the entire story.

 

The Low Bar The MSM Has Set For Pres. Bush

No matter how many times they are deliberately misled by this

mendacious administration, the Washington press corps continues to try

to find some way to assure Americans that somehow everything's going

to be alright … this time.

 

Why Won't Americans Sacrifice A Little For A Just Society? By Ralph

Martire

I know it's Christmas Eve, but making these public investments isn't a

gift, charity or handout. It's the cost of a just society. It's either

that, or allow feckless political spin to justify underfunding

programs that counter domestic threats to the health and well-being of

America's poor, low- and middle-income families. All so that taxpayers

won't have to sacrifice a little wealth to invest in creating the just

society our military gives their lives to defend.

 

69 Year-Old Man Jailed For Over A Year In Texas With No Lawyer

A man was jailed for more than a year without ever seeing a lawyer as

he waited for a repeatedly postponed court hearing, gaining release

only after a cellmate told an attorney about the case. [surprised they

didn't execute him!

 

Tsunami Survivors Mark First Anniversary

Survivors launched a boat laden with flowers, candles and incense and

said prayers for the dead Saturday in ceremonies marking one year

since the Indian Ocean tsunami swept away at least 216,000 lives in

one of the worst natural disasters in memory.

 

POLL; LATimes - Bush's Secret Surveillance Program - Yes Or No?

Is President Bush justified in his use of a secret surveillance

program to monitor U.S. citizens' phone calls?

 

10.1% - Yes, the President should use all means possible to combat

terrorism.(342 responses)

 

89.3% - No, the President has overstepped his authority and is

violating civil liberties. (3013 responses)

 

0.6% - I don't know, call me later. (20 responses)

 

GOP Hitting Limits Of Aggressive Tactics

Since taking office, Bush has placed the highest priority on unifying

his party behind an agenda of bold conservative change, even at the

price of provoking intense resistance from Democrats and sharply

polarizing the electorate. That strategy was evident this week in the

high-stakes Senate showdowns over cuts in federal social programs,

drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and renewal of the

Patriot Act. On each front, Republicans commanded high levels of party

unity — but found that wasn't always enough to overcome almost united

Democratic resistance.

 

The Emperor's Powers

When Congress authorized the President to use all " necessary and

appropriate " military force to respond to the 9/11 attackers, little

did members know that in George W. Bush's mind they were freeing him

to wiretap innocent American citizens without probable cause or a

judicial warrant, to hold indefinitely without charge US citizens

arrested within US borders and to order torture and cruel, inhuman and

degrading treatment of suspects. Had the President forthrightly said

this was what he was seeking, Congress would almost certainly have

said no.

 

THE NATION: The Hidden State Steps Forward

The alarming argument is that as Commander in Chief he possesses

" inherent " authority to suspend laws in wartime. But if he can suspend

FISA at his whim and in secret, then what law can he not suspend? What

need is there, for example, to pass or not pass the Patriot Act if any

or all of its provisions can be secretly exceeded by the President?

 

Fear Overshadows Christmas Joy In Baghdad

The biggest celebration of the year for Christians is only a day away,

yet the Virgin Mary Church in Baghdad wears a deserted, almost forlorn

look...It wasn't always this way.

 

Iran Hails " first Islamist Arab State " In Iraq

The editorial of Iran's leading hard-line daily hailed the outcome of

Iraq's parliamentary elections as " the creation of the first Islamist

state in the Arab world " , and warned against " American plots " to

prevent the formation of the new Iraqi government by Iranian-backed

Shiite groups.

 

Military School Sexual Harassment Persists

Sexual assaults and harassment are still significant problems at the

nation's military academies, polls of students at the schools show,

despite recent scandals that triggered intensive training to prevent

the behavior. [bush unable to carry out one single recommendation!!]

 

Telecom Co. Executives Tell Of Vast Amounts Of Data On Ordinary

Citizens Kept By Second-rate Data Mining Companies

A former technology manager at a major telecommunications firm who,

for obvious reasons, asks not to be identified, says companies have

been storing information on calling patterns since the Sept. 11

attacks, and giving it to the federal government. " We have a police

state far beyond anything George Orwell imagined in his book 1984, "

says privacy expert Susan Morrissey. " The everyday lives of virtually

every American are under scrutiny 24-hours-a-day by the government. "

Paul Hawken, owner of the data information mining company Groxis,

agrees, saying the government is spending more time watching ordinary

Americans than chasing terrorists and the bad news is that they aren't

very good at it. " It's the Three Stooges go to data mining school, "

Hawken says. " Even worse, DARPA is depending on second-rate companies

to provide them with the technology, which only increases the chances

for errors. "

 

Ohio's Ney Claims He's Innocent

Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio, a focus of the criminal investigation into Jack

Abramoff's lobbying, says he's had no conversations with the Justice

Department and believes its probe will clear him of any wrongdoing.

 

Brown's Turf Wars Sapped FEMA's Strength Who Came to Symbolize Incompetence in Katrina Predicted

Agency Would Fail

 

 

 

 

 

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