don't even know where to start

[Guest guest]

yer suppose to scream on halloween anyways...

 

Cheney: Attacks in Iraq Meant to Affect U.S. Elections

With the mid-term elections a week away, Vice President Dick Cheney has claimed

that anti-U.S. forces in Iraq have increased their attacks in order to influence

the result of the election.

Dick Cheney: “Whether it’s al Qaeda or the other elements that are active in

Iraq, they are betting on the proposition they can break the will of the

American people. They think we won`t have the stomach for the fight long-term…

It’s my belief that they’re very sensitive of the fact that we have got an

election scheduled. And, you know, they can get on the websites like anybody

else. There isn’t anything that’s on the Internet that’s not accessible to

them. They’re on it all the time. They’re very sophisticated users of it.â€

The Vice President offered no evidence to back up his assertion.

Bush on a Dem Victory: “The Terrorists Win and America Losesâ€

On Monday President Bush said that the terrorists will win if the Democrats

succeed in next week’s election. At a campaign rally in Georgia, Bush said

“The Democrat approach in Iraq comes down to this: The terrorists win and

America loses. That's what's at stake in this election.â€

 

81 People Die in Iraq

Meanwhile the bloodshed continues in Iraq. At least 81 people died across the

country on Monday. The death toll from the massive bombing in Sadr City has

increased to 33. Shiite militants called for a general strike in Sadr City which

has been under a U.S. siege for almost a week.

 

150,000 U.S. Troops Now in Iraq

This comes as the United States is increasing the number of troops on the

ground. There are now 150,000 troops inside Iraq – the largest number since

January.

 

10,000 Protest In Oaxaca; Zapatistas Back People’s Movement

In Mexico, over 10,000 protesters demonstrated in Oaxaca on Monday calling for

the removal of federal police from the city and the resignation of Oaxaca

governor Ulises Ruiz. Over the weekend, Mexican president Vicente Fox sent in

thousands of special police into the city but the non-violent resistance

movement remains in control of much of Oaxaca. The Zapatistas have called for

roadblocks on Wednesday throughout Chiapas to show solidarity with the people of

Oaxaca. They also encouraged others to stage roadblocks throughout Mexico and

the United States. In addition, the Zapatistas called for a nation-wide shut

down on November 20th. Meanwhile Mexico’s Senate and House have urged Ruiz to

resign. Javier Gonzalez Garza, Mexican Congress member: “The House of

Representatives urges the governor of the State of Oaxaca, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, to

resign in the interest of re-establishing governability, judicial order and

peace in the state. "

 

State Dept: U.S. Won’t Press Mexico Over Death of Brad Will

In Washington the State Department has indicated it is not going to press the

Mexican government over the murder of American journalist Brad Will. He was shot

dead on Friday by Mexican gunmen tied to the government. He died with his video

camera in his hand.

 

State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack: “Well anytime you resort to

violence which results in the death of a citizen whether it's American or any

other nationality, it's a source of concern. But that is really going to be up

to the Mexican government – to deal with - how they deal with this I

understand originally started out as a series of protests - they turned violent

and the Mexican authorities are dealing with them.â€

McCormack was later asked whether the Bush administration would demand the

Mexican government investigate who is responsibility for the murder of Will.

McCormack claimed the State Department is not aware that anyone linked to

Will’s death has been identified. However the Mexican press has published a

photograph taken at the scene showing the armed men. They have been identified

as Juan Carlos Soriano, Manuel Aguilar, Abel Santiago Zárate and Pedro

Caramona. All four men are connected to the local government. They are

reportedly now in custody.

 

Hundreds Blockade Mexican Consulate in NYC

In New York, hundreds of friends and supporters of the slain journalist Brad

Will blockaded the entrance to the Mexican Consulate for over an hour on Monday.

12 people were arrested including a Reuters photographer. Nine of them were held

overnight. Brad Will’s former roommate and fellow Indymedia journalist Brandon

Jourdan was arrested after he laid down in the street while wearing a shirt

covered in red ink – depicting where Brad was shot.

 

Father Frank Morales: “If anything, what Brad's death is going to do is to

force us to step it up. And we're going to step it up in Brad's memory, because

he may be absent, but he's present. And you know, I'm angry, and I know a lot of

people are angry, and we're just not going to go for this. If we have to go

directly to Oaxaca ourselves, we'll bring thousands of people down there. We're

gonna take back - we're gonna make some justice here.â€

Protests took place in at least 13 other U.S. cities.â€

 

Report: U.S. Predator Drone Carried Out Airstrike in Pakistan

In Pakistan a mass funeral was held on Monday for up 80 people that were killed

in an airstrike at a religious school near the Afghan border. The Pakistani

government has said its own military helicopters carried out the attack but ABC

News is reporting the bombing was actually carried out by a U.S. Predator drone.

Sources tell ABC that Al Qaeda’s Ayman al Zawahiri was the intended target.

Pakistan is denying the ABC report but it has admitted it relied on U.S.

intelligence to carry out the bombing.

 

 

 

Iran Says Israel is Preventing a Nuke-Free Middle East

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned the United Nations not to impose

sanctions over its disputed nuclear program. He said Iran would respond with a

" appropriate and firm response " to any U.N. sanctions. Iran’s deputy UN

ambassador, Mehdi Danesh-Yazdi, criticized the international community for its

stance on Israel and its secret nuclear weapons program.

 

Mehdi Danesh-Yazdi: “The Israeli regime is allowed to acquire a large

stockpile of nuclear weapons in the volatile Middle East region and defy the

will of all regional states and the international community to turn the Middle

East into a zone free from nuclear weapons. Emboldened by few powers

irresponsible approach, the Israeli regime has also become so audacious to lead

a masquerade of lies and deception against Iran's peaceful nuclear program. "

 

UN Official: New U.S. Military Commissions Act Violates Int’l Treaties

A top United Nations expert on human rights says the new U.S. Military

Commissions Act violates international treaties protecting detainees. The

official, Martin Scheinin, said one of the most serious aspects of the law is

the power of the president to declare anyone, including U.S. citizens, without

charge as an 'unlawful enemy combatant.†Scheinin also deplored the denial of

the habeas corpus rights of foreigners - including legal, permanent U.S.

residents - to challenge the legality of their detention. He said this is in

contradiction with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a

treaty the U.S. ratified in 1992.

 

British Gov’t Warns of Disastrous Consequences of Global Warming

In Britain, Tony Blair’s government has launched a new initiative to fight

global warming. The British government issued a major report on Monday that said

global warming would have a cataclysmic effect on the global economy.

 

British Prime Minister Tony Blair: “The scientific evidence of global warming

caused by greenhouse gas emissions is overwhelming. It is not in doubt that if

the science is right the consequences for our planet are literally disastrous

and this disaster is not set to happen in some science fiction future many years

ahead, but in our lifetime. "

 

British Chancellor Gordon Brown outlined the government’s plan of action

 

Gordon Brown: " Our proposal is to provide a new European wide emissions target

of 30 percent by 2020 and at least 60 percent by 2050 providing greater long

term certainty for business as we extend the framework for four more decades.

Our proposal is also to expand it to cover more sectors and more emissions, to

take it beyond Carbon Dioxide to other greenhouse gasses and then to extend it

from Europe across the world. "

Tony Blair said the consequences of inaction are literally disastrous for the

planet but he said other nations must step up.

Tony Blair: " We have got to ensure that there is a framework that America will

come into and China and India because the reality of this is unless you get

those three actors in this framework it isn't going to succeed. "

Meanwhile a new report from the United Nations has found that the amount of

greenhouse gas emissions from the industrialized world is growing again, despite

the Kyoto Protocol.

 

 

Israeli Cabinet Approves Far-Right Member

The Israeli cabinet approved by a large majority Monday the appointment of

Avigdor Lieberman to become deputy prime minister and strategic threats

minister. Lieberman is a far-right wing politician who has called for Arabs

living in Israel to be transferred to the Palestinian territories. Ahmed Tibi, a

Palestinian member of the Knesset, criticized the move.

 

Ahmed Tibi: " We are talking about a black day for the Israeli democracy.

Lieberman - fascist number one of the Israeli society of Israel, the parallel of

(French far right-wing leader) Jean-Marie Le Pen and (Austrian right-wing

leader) Jorg Heider is being upgraded to the degree of deputy prime minister.

It's a message sent by Mr. Olmert to the Arab minority, to the region, about his

direction, about his feelings towards the Arab citizens of the state of Israel.

Lieberman is calling for deportation of the Arab minority and for assassination

of the Arab members of the Knesset. He is the wrong appointment in the wrong day

by the right government to do exactly this fascist action. "

Report: U.S. Training Fatah Guards in West Bank

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz is reporting the Bush administration has

undertaken efforts to arm and train the Presidential Guard of Palestinian

Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in order to prepare it for a potential violent

confrontation with Hamas. Palestinian sources say that the training started in

August, under the guidance of an American military instructor. The training is

occurring at a compound in Jericho where reporters were recently barred access.

 

 

As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances,

there's a twilight where everything remains seemingly unchanged, and it is in

such twilight that we must be aware of change in the air, however slight, lest

we become unwitting victims of the darkness.

William O. Douglas