Do Not Pry Open Until Christmas - washingtonpost.com

Do Not Pry Open Until Christmas - washingtonpost.com: "This year, Consumer Reports magazine gave an award for the worst plastic clamshell packaging to a warehouse-store version of a Uniden cordless phone set: It took 9 minutes 22 seconds to unwrap completely and nearly caused injury to the person opening it. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, injuries from plastic packaging resulted in 6,400 visits to emergency rooms in 2004.

Uniden is trying to come up with easier-to-open packaging, but spokesman Rex Holloway said many retailers don't want change. 'We're kind of caught between a rock and a hard place,' he said.

On Amazon.com, one reviewer of the remote-controlled Roboreptile by Wow Wee singled out the toy's solitary confinement: 'Getting him out of the box was a major pain. Apparently they're concerned about packs of them escaping and running amok devouring Barbies in the stores at night or something.'

It's not just the difficulty that steams shoppers, it's the environmental impact of all that plastic. 'It's just so wasteful,' said Jessica McBride, 30, of Falls Church, who actively avoids buying anything that has too much plastic wrapping."

Brazil concerned over U.S. probe into forced labor - Yahoo! News

Brazil concerned over U.S. probe into forced labor - Yahoo! News: "Brazilian steel has been at the center of trade disputes with the United States for years. The United States ended safeguards on imports of certain steel products in December 2003 after a
World Trade Organization panel ruled against them.

The government statement said Brazilian steel companies signed an agreement in 2005 not to buy charcoal using forced labor. Over the past two years, 945 charcoal suppliers had been inspected and violators shut down, it said.

Most forced labor occurs along the agricultural frontier encroaching on the
Amazon rain forest. Poor migrants looking for jobs fall into debt peonage. Often, they are stripped of their documents and stopped from leaving by armed guards.

The International Labor Organization, a
United Nations agency, in a September report gave the government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva credit for freeing thousands of poor Brazilians from forced labor. But it said Brazil needed harsher fines, longer prison sentences and judicial enforcement of penalties to combat the forced labor."

Bush Dismisses Iraq Panel’s Pullback Plan - New York Times

Bush Dismisses Iraq Panel’s Pullback Plan - New York Times: "Mr. Bush dismissed a reported decision by an independent bipartisan panel to call for a gradual withdrawal of troops.

Transcript: President Bush’s News Conference With Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq (November 30, 2006)
Iraq Panel to Urge Pullback of Combat Troops (November 30, 2006)

'I know there's a lot of speculation that these reports in Washington mean there's going to be some kind of graceful exit out of Iraq,' the president said during a joint news conference with Mr. Maliki, referring to the panel's reports that are expected next week. 'We're going to stay in Iraq to get the job done so long as the government wants us there.'"

Judge says Dems can seek more than just phone costs in jam case - Boston.com

Judge says Dems can seek more than just phone costs in jam case - Boston.com: "He said Democrats can't include the entire cost of their seven-month-long, get-out-the-vote operation. The costs of 'postage, signs, rent and other such expenditures that were not proximately (almost directly) impacted by the telephone system interference would generally not be recoverable,' he ruled.

In rejecting Republicans' arguments, Mangones said jamming the phone lines prevented Democrats from communicating with field offices, volunteers and voting sites.

'To the extent that the (Democrats) can establish a direct link between the precluded communications and the hindered (voter turnout) activity, such evidence would warrant consideration for purposes of damages,' he said.

The Republicans hired a telemarketing firm to place hundreds of hang-up calls to phone banks for the Democratic Party and the Manchester firefighters union, a nonpartisan group offering rides to the polls. The election featured a hotly contested U.S. Senate race in which U.S. Rep. John Sununu defeated Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen.

Two Republican operatives served prison time after pleading guilty to criminal charges in the case, and Shaun Hansen, the telemarketer whose firm placed the calls, agreed this month to plead guilty. Hansen is scheduled to be sentenced in February.

A national GOP campaign official, James Tobin, was convicted by a jury and sentenced to 10 months in prison, but is appealing."

FOXNews.com - Iraqi PM Al-Maliki Tells Bush, Rice It's No 'Big Deal' to Control Mahdi Army - Politics | Republican Party | Democratic Party | Politica

FOXNews.com - Iraqi PM Al-Maliki Tells Bush, Rice It's No 'Big Deal' to Control Mahdi Army - Politics | Republican Party | Democratic Party | Political Spectrum: "AMMAN, Jordan — President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pressed the Iraqi prime minister on Thursday to disband a heavily armed Shiite militia blamed for much of the country's sectarian violence and were told by Nouri al-Maliki that controlling the group was no 'big deal.'"

CNN.com - CNN Political Ticker

CNN.com - CNN Political Ticker: "Thursday, November 30, 2006
Clinton calls Iraq 'civil war,' against withdrawal timetable
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former President Bill Clinton told CNN Thursday he agrees with those who have labeled the situation in Iraq a 'civil war,'"

US bound for recession, tips RBA board member - Business - Business - smh.com.au

US bound for recession, tips RBA board member - Business - Business - smh.com.au: "December 1, 2006
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AN INFLUENTIAL Reserve Bank board member, Warwick McKibbin, says the United States is heading for recession.

The chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, expects a smooth slowdown, but Professor McKibbin predicts a housing-induced contraction will make 'the Fed's job very difficult'.

'I think there will be a recession in the US next year because of the housing market coming off and consumers slowing down their spending,' the Australian National University economist told the Herald."

W's girls gone wild

New York Daily News - Home - W's girls gone wild: "U.S. officials ask twins to leave Argentina: report

BY HELEN KENNEDY
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

U.S. officials have reportedly asked a pair of embarrassing Americans to leave Argentina: the Bush twins.

Twins mania - including tabloid tales of nude hotel romps and serious security lapses - has gripped the media in Buenos Aires, where Jenna and Barbara Bush celebrated their 25th birthday over the Thanksgiving weekend.

ABC News reported that U.S. Embassy officials 'strongly suggested' the twins cut short their trip, but they refused."

BostonHerald.com - International: Goodbye girls: Bush twins told to go

BostonHerald.com - International: Goodbye girls: Bush twins told to go: "Tuesday, November 28, 2006 - Updated: 06:09 AM EST

Amid Argentinian tabloid reports that President Bush’s irrepressible twin daughters have run naked through a hotel hallway and were targeted by thieves, U.S. embassy officials have “strongly suggested” the spirited lasses cut short their trip to Buenos Aires, ABC News reported, citing diplomatic and security sources.
But the First Girls won’t go! They’ve stayed on, celebrating their 25th birthday over the weekend and garnering even more headlines. They aren’t due to leave till Thursday.
Officials told ABC the local media’s amor for Las Dos Bushitas upstaged publicity plans for newly arrived U.S. Ambassador Anthony Wayne. An embassy statement officially denied it wants them out, however: “The Embassy welcomes the visit and has provided close support and cooperation.”
The Argentinean press blitz followed a report last week that Barbara Bush’s purse and cell phone were lifted last weekend while she dined at the popular San Telmo outdoor marketplace, despite the vigilance of her Secret Service retinue. The report of nude hallway frolicking was denied by the hotel staff, by the way.
According to sources, the U.S. embassy encouraged the two girls to leave because the media spotlight was making security difficult. Last week, an ABC News producer was able to walk into their hotel unchecked and speak with Barbara Bush while she checked her e-mail in the lobby. Jenna sat talking with friends on a sofa nearby. There were no Secret Service agents to be seen."

Judge strikes down part of Bush anti-terror order - Yahoo! News

Judge strikes down part of Bush anti-terror order - Yahoo! News: "By Dan Whitcomb 1 hour, 44 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A federal judge in Los Angeles, who previously struck down sections of the Patriot Act, has ruled that provisions of an anti-terrorism order issued by
President George W. Bush after September 11 are unconstitutional.
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U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins found that part of the law, signed by Bush on September 23, 2001 and used to freeze the assets of terrorist organizations, violated the Constitution because it put no apparent limit on the president's powers to place groups on that list.

Ruling in a lawsuit brought against the
Treasury Department in 2005 by the Center for Constitutional Rights, Collins also threw out a portion of Bush's order which applied the law to those who associate with the designated organizations.

'This law gave the president unfettered authority to create blacklists, an authority president Bush then used to empower the Secretary of the Treasury to impose guilt by association,' said David Cole of the Washington-based Center for Constitutional Rights.

'The court's decision confirms that even in fighting terror, unchecked executive authority and trampling on fundamental freedoms is not a permissible option,' he said in a statement

The 45-page decision, made public on Monday, came in response to petitions by both sides to throw out the lawsuit and rule in their favor. The judge allowed to stand part of the order that would penalize those providing services to groups on the list.

The lawsuit was brought on behalf of five organizations, including the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam, which wants to create a separate state for the Tamil people in Sri Lanka, and Partiya Karkeran Kurdistan, which represents Kurds in Turkey.

Both groups had been designated by the United States as foreign terrorist organizations.

In 2004 Collins struck down a section of the Patriot Act that prohibited lawyers from providing expert advice to groups suspected of having terrorist links."

Justice Department reviews role in eavesdropping program - Yahoo! News

Justice Department reviews role in eavesdropping program - Yahoo! News: "Tue Nov 28, 12:23 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Justice Department is launching an internal review of its participation in the Bush administration's controversial domestic eavesdropping program, the department's inspector general told congressional leaders on Monday.
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The review, which congressional Democrats have sought for nearly a year, will examine the Justice Department's role in the warrantless domestic spying program run by the super-secret National Security Agency (NSA), Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine said.

'After conducting initial inquiries into the program, we have decided to open a program review that will examine the department's controls and use of information related to the program and the department's compliance with legal requirements governing the program,' Fine said in a letter.

The letter was sent to
House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican, and Rep. John Conyers (news, bio, voting record), the Michigan Democrat who will succeed Sensenbrenner as head of the panel in January."

Bush Pledges Continued U.S. Presence in Iraq - washingtonpost.com

Bush Pledges Continued U.S. Presence in Iraq - washingtonpost.com: "uesday, November 28, 2006; 1:22 PM

RIGA, Latvia, Nov. 28 -- President Bush, rejecting what he called 'pessimistic' assessments of his Middle East policy, pledged Tuesday to make necessary changes in Iraq but vowed never to pull out U.S. troops before completing the mission there."

Fed's Bernanke to join China mission in December - Yahoo! News

Fed's Bernanke to join China mission in December - Yahoo! News: "The 1-1/2-day visit in mid-December has an ambitious agenda to push, from urging China to let its yuan currency to appreciate further to persuading it to reduce barriers to foreign investment and crack down on piracy and theft of intellectual property."

American foes step into the Iraq fray | csmonitor.com

American foes step into the Iraq fray | csmonitor.com: "By Dan Murphy | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
CAIRO – This week, Iraq has drawn decisively closer to the two countries the US alleges are the greatest threats to peace and stability in the Middle East.

Tuesday, Syria restored diplomatic ties with Iraq that were broken by Saddam Hussein in 1980 back when Iraq was fighting Iran. Also Tuesday, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's office said he would travel to Tehran this weekend to meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to talk about restoring order to Iraq.
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The US has repeatedly accused Iran and Syria of stirring up violence inside Iraq, but recently the notion of isolating them as punishment has lost favor in Washington. A growing number President Bush's advisers are urging direct dialogue with both nations. They argue that engagement could convince Syria to do more to prevent foreign fighters from entering Iraq; Iran could exert more influence on Iraq's dominant Shiite political parties (and their militias) to compromise more."

U.S. Fights Highly Trained Militants in Iraq - New York Times

U.S. Fights Highly Trained Militants in Iraq - New York Times: "November 23, 2006

FORWARD OPERATING BASE CALDWELL, Iraq, Nov. 23 — Sunni Arab militant groups suspected of ties to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia have established training camps east of Baghdad that are turning out well-disciplined units willing to fight American forces in set-piece battles, American military commanders said Thursday.

American soldiers fought such units in a pitched battle last week in the village of Turki, 25 miles south of this Iraqi Army base in volatile Diyala Province, near the Iranian border. At least 72 insurgents and two American officers were killed in more than 40 hours of fighting. American commanders said they called in 12 hours of airstrikes while soldiers shot their way through a reed-strewn network of canals in extremely close combat.

Officers said that in this battle, unlike the vast majority of engagements in Diyala, insurgents stood and fought, even deploying a platoon-sized unit that showed remarkable discipline and that one captain said was in “perfect military formation.” Insurgents throughout Iraq usually avoid direct confrontation with the Americans, preferring to use hit-and-run tactics and melting away at the sight of American armored vehicles.

Lt. Col. Andrew Poppas, commander of the Fifth Squadron, 73rd Cavalry, a unit of the 82nd Airborne Division, said in an interview that the fighters at Turki “were disciplined and well-trained, with well-aimed shots.”

“We hadn’t seen anything like this in years,” he said."

Chile's Student Activists: A Course in Democracy - washingtonpost.com

Chile's Student Activists: A Course in Democracy - washingtonpost.com: "Saturday, November 25, 2006; Page A01

SANTIAGO, Chile -- When the Class of 2006 graduates in a few weeks, its members will look back at a year in which some of the most important lessons took place outside the classroom.

In their black and white school uniforms, they launched what became known here as the 'Penguin Revolution,' filling the streets, calling for educational reforms, occupying school buildings and sparking a nationwide debate that was quickly labeled a milestone for the nation's young democracy.


Chilean police detain a high school student during a demonstration for education reforms last month in Santiago.
Chilean police detain a high school student during a demonstration for education reforms last month in Santiago. (By Claudio Santana -- Associated Press)
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Extracurricular activities for student leaders this year meant negotiating with senior government officials. When they text-messaged friends, at times it was to organize rallies that attracted as many as 800,000 people. A few became nationally known public figures in their own right."

U.S.: Recent Iraq violence aimed at toppling gov't - Yahoo! News

U.S.: Recent Iraq violence aimed at toppling gov't - Yahoo! News: "President George W. Bush is to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Wednesday and Thursday in Amman, Jordan to discuss the increasingly dire situation in Iraq.

'Securing Baghdad and gaining control of the violent situation will be a priority agenda item when
President Bush meets with Prime Minister al-Maliki in just a few days,' Stanzel said."

Pentagon May Suggest Short-Term Buildup Leading to Iraq Exit - washingtonpost.com

Pentagon May Suggest Short-Term Buildup Leading to Iraq Exit - washingtonpost.com: "Monday, November 20, 2006; Page A01

The Pentagon's closely guarded review of how to improve the situation in Iraq has outlined three basic options: Send in more troops, shrink the force but stay longer, or pull out, according to senior defense officials.

Insiders have dubbed the options 'Go Big,' 'Go Long' and 'Go Home.' The group conducting the review is likely to recommend a combination of a small, short-term increase in U.S. troops and a long-term commitment to stepped-up training and advising of Iraqi forces, the officials said."

Embittered Insiders Turn Against Bush - washingtonpost.com

Embittered Insiders Turn Against Bush - washingtonpost.com: "Since the Nov. 7 elections, Republicans have pinned their woes on the president.

'People expect a level of performance they are not getting,' former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said in a speech. Many were livid that Bush waited until after the elections to oust Rumsfeld.

'If Rumsfeld had been out, you bet it would have made a difference,' Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said on television. 'I'd still be chairman of the Judiciary Committee.'

And so, in what some saw as a rebuke, Senate Republicans restored Trent Lott (Miss.) to their leadership four years after the White House helped orchestrate his ouster, with some saying they could no longer place their faith entirely in Bush.

Some insiders said the White House invited the backlash. 'Anytime anyone holds themselves up as holy, they're judged by a different standard,' said David Kuo, a former deputy director of the Bush White House's faith-based initiatives who wrote 'Tempting Faith,' a book that accused the White House of pandering to Christian conservatives. 'And at the end of the day, this was a White House that held itself up as holy.'"

BBC NEWS | UK | Poisoned ex-spy 'slightly worse'

BBC NEWS | UK | Poisoned ex-spy 'slightly worse': "Mr Litvinenko had been investigating the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, an outspoken critic of Mr Putin and Russian policy in Chechnya, who was shot dead at her Moscow apartment building last month.

Speaking to the BBC last week, he said a contact had approached him to say they should talk, and they arranged to meet at a restaurant in Piccadilly.


'He gave me some papers which contained some names - perhaps names of those who may have been involved in the murder of Anna Politkovskaya - and several hours after the meeting I started to feel sick.'

Two weeks later Mr Litvinenko was taken seriously ill and admitted to hospital.

Mr Henry said Mr Litvinenko was 'quite seriously sick' and there was 'no doubt' he had been poisoned by thallium, probably on 1 November.

'It is tasteless, colourless, odourless. It takes about a gram - you know, a large pinch of salt like in your food - to kill you', he said.

Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky, who also lives in Britain, said thallium was a 'special' poison, that 'you couldn't just get over the counter'.

'You could say it is only available to secret services,' he said."

Rape law reform roils Pakistan's Islamists | csmonitor.com

Rape law reform roils Pakistan's Islamists | csmonitor.com: "Putting an end to a skirmish but not to the longer battle, Pakistan's lower house of parliament voted on Wednesday to amend the Hudood Ordinances, the country's religious-based laws that govern rape and vice.

Before, women who reported rape were compelled to produce four male witnesses to the crime or face charges that they had committed adultery. If the law passes the upper house, it will replace that burden of proof, deemed both virtually impossible and misogynistic, with standard evidentiary procedures.
In the Monitor
Thursday, 11/16/06

If Delta merges: fares up, fewer seats

Now, how to put Iraqis in charge
Prices fall, US inflation worries ease
Sudan closing off Darfur to outside world
Opinion: A role for Iran in an Iraq exit strategy
More stories...

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Wednesday's vote was a chance for lawmakers to show that secular law trumps religious edict in Pakistan. But this small victory for secularism comes only a day after provincial legislators in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), a stronghold of conservatism, passed a bill establishing an Islamic accountability bureau - a kind of vice and virtue squad with analogies to the Taliban."

BREITBART.COM - White House dismisses Hersh article

BREITBART.COM - White House dismisses Hersh article: "'If the Democrats won on November 7th, the vice president said, that victory would not stop the administration from pursuing a military option with Iran,' Hersh wrote, citing a source familiar with the discussion.

The Democrats wrested control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate from President George W. Bush's Republican Party in the November 7 vote.

Cheney said the White House would circumvent any restrictions imposed by a Democratic legislature 'and thus stop Congress from getting in its way' on Iran, which denies accusations it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons.

In his New Yorker article, Hersh also reported that a classifed draft CIA assessment had found no firm evidence of a secret drive by Iran to develop nuclear weapons, as alleged by the White House."

Democrats to quickly target oil industry tax breaks - CNN.com

Democrats to quickly target oil industry tax breaks - CNN.com:

"WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Democrats are targeting billions of dollars in oil company tax breaks for quick repeal next year. A broader energy proposal that would boost alternative energy sources and conservation is expected to be put off until later.

Hot-button issues such as a tax on the oil industry's windfall profits or sharp increases in automobile fuel economy probably will not gain much ground given the narrow Democratic majorities in the House and Senate.

Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in an outline of priorities over the first 100 hours of the next Congress in January, promises to begin a move toward greater energy independence 'by rolling back the multibillion dollar subsidies for Big Oil.'"

Senior Democrat renews call for military draft - Yahoo! News

Senior Democrat renews call for military draft - Yahoo! News: "Asked on CBS' 'Face the Nation' if he was still serious about the proposal for a universal draft he raised a couple of years ago, he said, 'You bet your life. Underscore serious.'

'If we're going to challenge
Iran and challenge
North Korea and then, as some people have asked, to send more troops to
Iraq, we can't do that without a draft,' he said.

Rangel, who opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq, also said he did not think the United States would have invaded Iraq if the children of members of Congress were sent to fight. He has said the U.S. fighting force is comprised disproportionately of people from low-income families and minorities.

'I don't see how anyone can support the war and not support the draft. I think to do so is hypocritical,' he said."

Kissinger says US victory in Iraq is impossible - Yahoo! News

Kissinger says US victory in Iraq is impossible - Yahoo! News: "47 minutes ago

LONDON (Reuters) - Former U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger said on Sunday it was impossible for the United States to achieve military victory in
Iraq.
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'If you mean by clear military victory an Iraqi government that can be established and whose writ runs across the whole country, that gets the civil war under control and sectarian violence under control ... I don't believe that is possible,' he said."

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Kidnappers seize Iraqi minister

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Kidnappers seize Iraqi minister: "Gunmen have kidnapped an Iraqi deputy health minister from his home in Baghdad, security sources have said.

Several men, some in uniform, arrived in police cars and pick-up trucks to seize Ammar al-Saffar, police said.

Mr Saffar's kidnap comes less than a week after dozens of people were abducted from the education ministry."

Democrats Split on How Far to Go With Ethics Law - New York Times

Democrats Split on How Far to Go With Ethics Law - New York Times:

"Their initial proposals, laid out earlier this year, would prohibit members from accepting meals, gifts or travel from lobbyists, require lobbyists to disclose all contacts with lawmakers and bar former lawmakers-turned-lobbyists from entering the floor of the chambers or Congressional gymnasiums.

None of the measures would overhaul campaign financing or create an independent ethics watchdog to enforce the rules. Nor would they significantly restrict earmarks, the pet projects lawmakers can anonymously insert into spending bills, which have figured in several recent corruption scandals and attracted criticism from members in both parties. The proposals would require disclosure of the sponsors of some earmarks, but not all.

Some Democrats say their election is a mandate for more sweeping changes, and many newly elected candidates — citing scandals involving several Republican lawmakers last year — made Congressional ethics a major issue during the campaign. After winning the House on election night, Representative Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader, promised “the most honest, most open and most ethical Congress in history.”

Senator Barack Obama, an Illinois Democrat tapped by party leaders last year to spearhead ethics proposals, said he was pushing for changes with more teeth. “The dynamic is different now,” Mr. Obama said Friday. “We control both chambers now, so it is difficult for us to have an excuse for not doing anything.”

He is pushing to create an independent Congressional ethics commission and advocates broader campaign-finance changes as well. “We need to make sure that those of us who are elected are not dependent on a narrow spectrum of individuals to finance our campaigns,” he said."

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Metro & Tri-State :: Man sets himself on fire on Kennedy

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Metro & Tri-State :: Man sets himself on fire on Kennedy: "As horrified Friday-morning commuters watched, a man apparently doused himself with gasoline and lit himself on fire along the Kennedy Expy. near a 25-foot-tall Loop sculpture titled 'Flame of the Millennium.'

A homemade sign was found near his charred body that read, 'Thou Shalt Not Kill,' said State Police Lt. Lincoln Hampton. Police are reviewing a videotape that also was found near the body."

Khaleej Times Online - Saudi threatens to cut ties with Britain over probe: report

Khaleej Times Online - Saudi threatens to cut ties with Britain over probe: report: "19 November 2006


LONDON - Saudi Arabia has threatened to suspend diplomatic links with Britain unless it blocks a probe into an alleged multi-million pound slush fund for some members of its royal family, the Sunday Times reported.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO), which investigates and prosecutes complex fraud cases, has been examining claims that British defence company BAE Systems established a 60 million pound fund (89 million euros, 114 million dollars).

This allegedly provided perks such as luxury cars to ensure that the Saudis kept buying from BAE, the paper said.

The Saudi ambassador to London, Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf, visited Prime Minister Tony Blair’s chief of staff, Jonathan Powell, at Downing Street in September, the Sunday Times reported, quoting anonymous sources.

He said that unless the inquiry was dropped, diplomatic ties would be cut, the paper added.

Intelligence co-operation over Al Qaeda would also be stopped, it said.

The ultimatum came after SFO lawyers persuaded a Swiss magistrate to force disclosure of details about confidential Swiss bank accounts, it added."

Drug Doubles Endurance, Study Says - New York Times

Drug Doubles Endurance, Study Says - New York Times: "Published: November 16, 2006

Given that some athletes will take almost anything to gain a one percent edge in performance, what might they do for a 100 percent improvement? That temptation is made somewhat more real by a report today in a leading journal about a drug that doubles the physical endurance of mice running on treadmills. And it could only be more tempting, because the drug in question has also been reported to extend the lifespan of mice.

An ordinary lab mouse will run about one kilometer — five-eights of a mile — on a treadmill before collapsing from exhaustion. But mice given resveratrol, a minor component of red wine and other foods, run twice as far.

They also have a reduced heart rate and energy-charged muscles, just as trained athletes do, according to an article published online in Cell by Johan Auwerx and his colleagues at the Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology in Illkirch, France.

“Resveratrol makes you look like a trained athlete without the training,” Dr. Auwerx (pronounced OH-wer-ix”) said in an interview."

Debate Grows Over Beefing Up U.S. Force in Iraq - washingtonpost.com

Debate Grows Over Beefing Up U.S. Force in Iraq - washingtonpost.com: "'Without additional combat forces, we will not win this war,' McCain said, describing inadequate U.S. troop numbers to clear insurgent strongholds, stem sectarian violence and train Iraqi security forces. 'We need to do all these things if we are to succeed. And we will need more troops to do them.'

Military officials and defense experts, however, said yesterday that significantly escalating the number of U.S. combat troops in Iraq is largely implausible because it would severely strain the military, would be unsustainable for more than a few months and would offer no discernable long-term benefit."

In Visit to Vietnam, Bush Cites Lessons for Iraq - New York Times

In Visit to Vietnam, Bush Cites Lessons for Iraq - New York Times: "Published: November 17, 2006

HANOI, Nov. 17 — In his first day in the capital of a country that was America’s wartime enemy during his youth, President Bush said today that the American experience in Vietnam contained lessons for the war in Iraq. Chief among them, he said, was that “we’ll succeed unless we quit.”"

U.S. Searching for Americans Abducted in Southern Iraq - New York Times

U.S. Searching for Americans Abducted in Southern Iraq - New York Times: "Published: November 17, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov. 17 — American and British military forces scoured farmland in southern Iraq today looking for four American security contractors and their Austrian colleague, who were abducted from a supply convoy on Thursday afternoon at a checkpoint operated by men in Iraqi police uniforms, American officials said."

Florida opens criminal probe in Mark Foley case - Yahoo! News

Florida opens criminal probe in Mark Foley case - Yahoo! News: "Thu Nov 16, 9:37 PM ET

MIAMI (Reuters) - Florida has opened a full criminal investigation into sexually explicit Internet messages from disgraced former Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record), whose resignation amid scandal helped Democrats win control of Congress, officials said on Thursday."

IRAQ MINISTER CLAIMS IRAQ HAS NO EFFECTIVE GOV'T

Iraq government in crisis as staff abducted, tortured - Yahoo! News: "10 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Kidnappers tortured many of the dozens of hostages seized from a government building and killed some of them, a minister said, warning that
Iraq no longer had an effective government.
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Higher Education Minister Abed Dhiab al-Ujaili, a Sunni Arab member of the Shiite-led unity government, said some 75 hostages -- 40 of them his ministry's staff -- were in captivity after the raid by militiamen wearing police-style uniforms.

'Those who were set free told us that a few of the hostages have been killed, while most of them were tortured,' he told AFP. 'I'm very much concerned about their welfare,' he said of the remaining hostages.

Ujaili's comments came as the sectarian violence in the capital showed no let-up.

Gunmen stormed a bakery in the mixed Zayuniyah neighbourhood and killed nine Shiite workers in the latest attack by Sunni insurgents on a trade that has traditionally been carried out by the majority community.

Fifteen other civilians were killed in Iraq, including 10 in shootings in Baquba, north of the capital.

Ujaili said he was stepping down from the government until it secures the release of all hostages and takes action against Shiite militias suspected of infiltrating the security forces to carry out kidnappings and murders.

'I am stepping down until something has been taken actively, there's not just talking,' he told BBC radio. 'The police force should be investigated and should put the right people in the right place.'

Asked if he felt there was currently no effective government in Iraq, Ujaili replied: 'That's right, I feel, yeah, there is no effective government.'"

NEW BILL 'LEGALIZES' GOV'T WIRETAPS ON YOU

27B Stroke 6:

"The outgoing chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee, Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), introduced a new spying bill on Tuesday that would increase the number of personnel involved in issuing warrants, makes minor expansions to the number of legislators told about warrantless surveillance and transfer lawsuits challenging the warrantless wiretapping program to the Supreme Court. In September, a Specter-written bill that dramatically loosened the nation's surveillance laws passed out of committee but was never voted on by the full Senate.

The American Civil Liberties Union immediately blasted the bill as an last minute attempt to legalize the government's warrantless wiretapping program, despite the fact that the new bill has no such language. The ACLU sees the bill as a Trojan Horse that could be approved by the Senate and then sent to a committee to be reconciled with an already-passed House bill written by Heather Wilson. That bill immunizes telecoms such as AT&T from pending lawsuits, allows the government to engage in wide-spread warrantless surveillance without getting warrants, and legalizes snooping on Americans' communications with anyone outside the country by redefining the term 'electronic surveillance.'

'Now is not the time for Congress to focus on controversial issues,' Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office said in a press release. 'The majority of the appropriations bills have yet to be adopted. If there is to be a new spirit of bipartisan cooperation in Congress, lawmakers must not legislate in haste and without a full understanding of the facts. If the new Specter bill were adopted, it would be reconciled with the horrible Wilson bill, putting the privacy of innocent Americans at great risk.'"

Ex-lobbyist in corruption scandal goes to prison - Yahoo! News

Ex-lobbyist in corruption scandal goes to prison - Yahoo! News: "CUMBERLAND, Maryland (Reuters) - Disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, at the center of a political corruption scandal that contributed to the Republican loss of Congress in last week's elections, began serving his prison sentence on Wednesday.
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The federal Bureau of Prisons said Abramoff, who has been cooperating in the government's influence-peddling investigation, arrived at about 6:30 a.m. (1130 GMT) at a minimum security federal prison camp in Cumberland, Maryland, 130 miles west of Washington.

The bureau said he is beginning to serve a sentence of five years and 10 months in prison handed down by a federal judge in Miami for fraud in the purchase of a Florida casino cruise line.

The Abramoff election-year scandal has reached into the White House and the Congress. Democrats in the mid-term elections were aided by voter anger over a series of congressional scandals, including the one involving Abramoff, a onetime Republican lobbyist.

Former Republican Rep. Bob Ney (news, bio, voting record) of Ohio pleaded guilty last month to illegally accepting trips, meals, drinks, tickets to concerts and sporting events and other items worth tens of thousands of dollars in return for official acts performed on behalf of Abramoff and his clients.

Two former aides to ex-Rep.
Tom DeLay of Texas, the former House majority leader, also have pleaded guilty. DeLay resigned in June while fighting unrelated campaign-finance charges in Texas and being dogged by questions about relations with Abramoff.

The scandal also has reached into the White House, with the conviction of former Bush administration official David Safavian and the resignation of Susan Ralston, an aide to top presidential political adviser Karl Rove."

US, Saudi, China rank among worst on climate change: group - Yahoo! News

US, Saudi, China rank among worst on climate change: group - Yahoo! News: "Mon Nov 13, 12:57 PM ET

NAIROBI (AFP) - Oil-consuming giants the United States and China along with oil-producing behemoth Saudi Arabia rank among the world's worst countries in dealing wth climate change, a report said.
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Their dependence on fossil fuels coupled with what some see as short-sighted energy policies earned them the dubious distinction of placing at or near the bottom of a survey of 56 industrialized or industrializing nations, it said.

The United States, the world's leading polluter, ranked 53 in the annual study by Germanwatch, a German environmental group, released here on the sidelines of a UN climate change conference.

Saudi Arabia placed dead last, while China fell from 29 on last year's list to 54, according to the survey based on an evaluation of greenhouse gas emissions and climate policy, it said.

The United States has refused to accept mandatory cuts of the emissions blamed for the earth's rising temperatures and has consistantly rated poorly on environmental policy matters, according the group.

Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, was chided for its poor national and international climate policy and energy inefficiency.

Experts suggested that China, the world's number two polluter, tumbled so significantly because of its growing dependence on carbon-intensive electricity generation to fuel its exploding economy.

At the upper end of the scale, seven European countries -- led by Sweden, Britain and Denmark, respectively -- and a trio of developing economies -- Argentina, Brazil, and India -- were deemed among the top ten, it said.

Others in the top ten were Malta, Germany, Hungary and Switzerland, while France ranked 12th, leading the group to call for Europe to take the lead in global efforts to combat climate change."

The Columbus Dispatch - Business

The Columbus Dispatch - Business: "Suspect arrested yesterday, to be arraigned Thursday
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Denise Trowbridge
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

A KeyBank vice president has been arrested after being accused of embezzling $29 million from the company, the FBI said yesterday.

David Francis Verhotz, a senior vice president and managing director of KeyBank’s international banking Global Trade Services division, was arrested Saturday at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport after an investigation by the FBI and KeyBank."

Top U.S. official warns China on piracy anger - Yahoo! News

Top U.S. official warns China on piracy anger - Yahoo! News: "Tue Nov 14, 6:45 AM ET

BEIJING (Reuters) - Rampant Chinese counterfeiting is eroding American support for expanding bilateral trade, U.S. Commerce Secretary
Carlos Gutierrez said on Tuesday, holding out a complaint to the
World Trade Organization (WTO) as an option.
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Gutierrez told business executives in Beijing that illegal copying of medicines and other kinds of intellectual property (IP) threatened consumers' health."

Guantanamo detention cases must be dismissed: U.S. - Yahoo! News

Guantanamo detention cases must be dismissed: U.S. - Yahoo! News: "Mon Nov 13, 7:37 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration said on Monday that Guantanamo prisoners have no constitutional right to challenge their detention before U.S. federal judges, and the lawsuits by hundreds of detainees must be dismissed.
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In papers filed with a U.S. appeals court in Washington, Justice Department attorneys gave their most detailed argument yet that the cases must be dismissed because of the tough anti-terrorism law signed by
President George W. Bush last month.

Lawyers for the prisoners have argued the new law does not give the U.S. government the power to arrest suspects overseas and imprison them indefinitely without any charges and without allowing them to challenge their detention in U.S. court.

They say a provision of the law unconstitutionally suspends the right under habeas corpus, a long-standing principle of American law, for detainees to contest their imprisonment.

Justice Department attorneys disagreed. 'There is no constitutional habeas right for an enemy alien held outside the United States to challenge his detention,' they said. 'No actual habeas rights have been suspended.'

After Bush signed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 into law, the Justice Department told federal district court judges they no longer have jurisdiction over some 200 cases covering more than 400 prisoners at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Department lawyers told the appeals court the new law and a similar law, the Detainee Treatment Act that Congress approved late last year, provide 'an unprecedented level of judicial review for the claims of the enemy aliens held at Guantanamo.'"

Gunmen snatch 150 Iraq ministry staff - World - smh.com.au

Gunmen snatch 150 Iraq ministry staff - World - smh.com.au: "Gunmen snatch 150 Iraq ministry staff
November 15, 2006
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GUNMEN wearing Iraqi police commando uniforms kidnapped about 150 staff from a government building in central Baghdad yesterday, the head of the parliamentary education committee said.

Alaa Makki interrupted a parliamentary session to say that about 150 people, both Shiites and Sunnis, had been abducted in the 9.30am raid on the Higher Education Ministry building.

However, a public servant who saw the raid said the gunmen checked identity cards to sort Sunnis from Shiites, then drove off with only Sunni men.

'They were checking identity cards in the car park. They picked only the Sunni employees. They even took the man who was just delivering tea,' the man said.

Police were watching, but did nothing, he said.

Mr Makki urged the Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, and the interior and defence ministers to rapidly respond to what he called a national catastrophe.

The gunmen had a list of names of those to be taken and claimed to be on a mission from the Government's anti-corruption body, Mr Makki said. Those kidnapped included the ministry's deputy general directors, employees, and visitors."

Olbermann taps a well of discontent as the anti-O'Reilly

Olbermann taps a well of discontent as the anti-O'Reilly: "'I think,'' says MSNBC General Manager Dan Abrams, 'that Keith Olbermann may become a model for the newscast of the future.''

And sure, Abrams is going to say that because he's Olbermann's boss. Besides, the MSNBC ratings have been on a roll lately -- helped by the 67 percent jump in viewership for Olbermann's show in the year...

Suddenly, everyone wants Olbermann. Last week, he and political veteran Chris Matthews teamed up to anchor MSNBC's midterm election coverage.

The result? Abrams called it "a major turning point for this network.'' Ratings were up across the board and the coveted 25-to-54 age demographic increased 111 percent from the 2002 midterm election.

"

Pelosi Endorses Murtha as Next Majority Leader - washingtonpost.com

Pelosi Endorses Murtha as Next Majority Leader - washingtonpost.com:

"in her first real decision as the incoming speaker, Pelosi said she was swayed by Murtha's early stance for a withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. Her letter of endorsement yesterday made clear that she sees Iraq as the central issue of the next Congress and that she believes a decorated Marine combat veteran at the helm of the House caucus would provide Democrats ammunition in their fight against congressional Republicans and President Bush on the issue.

'I salute your courageous leadership that changed the national debate and helped make Iraq the central issue of this historic election. It was surely a dark day for the Bush Administration when you spoke truth to power,' she wrote. 'Your strong voice for national security, the war on terror and Iraq provides genuine leadership for our party, and I count on you to lead on these vital issues.'

Murtha responded, 'I am deeply gratified to receive the support of Speaker Pelosi, a tireless advocate for change and a true leader for our Party and our country.'"

Despite Billions Spent, Rebuilding Incomplete - washingtonpost.com

Despite Billions Spent, Rebuilding Incomplete - washingtonpost.com: "'What reconstruction?' Othman said in an interview last week. 'Today we are drinking untreated water from a plant built decades ago that was never maintained. The electricity only visits us two hours a day. And now we are going backwards. We cook on the firewood we gather from the forests because of the gas shortage.'

Othman's view is shared by many across the country. In interviews last week, Iraqis expressed frustration not just with the United States but with Iraqi leaders, too, for pocketing aid money that was supposed to be for everyone.

'When the occupation came and we heard the promises, we said, 'Now the conditions in the city will improve.' But things got worse,' said Ahmed Mohammed, 45, a teacher in the central province of Salah al-Din. 'We know that large amounts of money have been dedicated to the city, but they were all stolen.'"

Bush approval drops, Democrats' goals backed: poll - Yahoo! News

Bush approval drops, Democrats' goals backed: poll - Yahoo! News: "Sat Nov 11, 9:58 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Just days after Democrats took over Congress, Americans embraced their top goals and
President George W. Bush's job approval rating slid to 31 percent, according to a Newsweek poll issued on Saturday.
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Huge majorities of those polled said they approved of the legislative priorities cited by Democratic leaders after their party seized control of the Senate and the House of Representatives from Republicans, the magazine said.
...............................
The strongest support, 92 percent, was for lowering drug prices for retirees on Medicare by allowing the government to negotiate directly with drug companies. Some three-quarters of respondents said it should be a top priority, according to Newsweek.

Americans also supported raising the federal minimum wage (89 percent), investigating government contracts in Iraq (89 percent) and cutting the interest rate of federal student loans (88 percent).

Bush's 31-percent job approval rating, down from 35 percent a week earlier, was a new low in Newsweek's polling. Some 63 percent disapproved of the Republican president's job performance, and a full two-thirds agreed that 'he won't be able to get much done' in the last two years of his term.

The drop in Bush's approval rating came after Wednesday's resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who had been a lightning rod for criticism of the administration's handling of the war in Iraq."

Democrats are set to subpoena - Los Angeles Times

Democrats are set to subpoena - Los Angeles Times: "WASHINGTON — Rep. Ike Skelton knows what he will do in one of his first acts as chairman of the Armed Services Committee in the Democratic-led House: resurrect the subcommittee on oversight and investigations.

The panel was disbanded by the Republicans after they won control of Congress in 1994. Now, Skelton (D-Mo.) intends to use it as a forum to probe Pentagon spending and the Bush administration's conduct of the Iraq war.

It has been 12 years since Democrats were in control of both the House and Senate. But they are looking to make up for lost time, and in some cases, make the Bush administration and its business allies sweat.
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BBC NEWS | Americas | Rumsfeld may face abuse charges

BBC NEWS | Americas | Rumsfeld may face abuse charges: "Donald Rumsfeld, who quit as US defence secretary this week, may face criminal charges in Germany for alleged abuses in Guantanamo Bay and Iraq.

A complaint has been launched by the US-based Centre for Constitutional Rights, representing a Saudi detained in Cuba and 11 Iraqis held in Baghdad.

German law allows the pursuit of cases originating anywhere in the world."

Waxman set to probe areas of Bush gov‘t

Waxman set to probe areas of Bush gov‘t: "10 November, 2006


By ERICA WERNER, Associated Press Writer 5 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES - The Democratic congressman who will investigate the Bush administration‘s running of the government says there are so many areas of possible wrongdoing, his biggest problem will be deciding which ones to pursue.

There‘s the response to Hurricane Katrina, government contracting in Iraq and on homeland security, political interference in regulatory decisions by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration , , , ), D-Calif., told the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce.

Waxman, who‘s in his 16th term representing West Los Angeles, had plenty of experience leading congressional investigations before the Democrats lost control of the House to Republicans in 1994."

Poll: More evangelicals sour toward Republicans | Politics News | Reuters.com

Poll: More evangelicals sour toward Republicans | Politics News | Reuters.com: "DALLAS (Reuters) - U.S. evangelicals have lost some of their enthusiasm for the Republican Party, a factor contributing to the party's drubbing in Tuesday's congressional elections, a new survey found.

In a Beliefnet poll of 771 evangelical Christians from Tuesday to Thursday, 30 percent said they voted for fewer Republicans than in previous elections. Evangelicals have been a core base of Republican support."

Gates no stranger to contention - Yahoo! News

Gates no stranger to contention - Yahoo! News:

(GATES - BUSH'S CHOICE FOR SEC-DEF - GG)

"Gates, 63, who directed the CIA from 1991-93, was first nominated as CIA director in 1987 by President
Ronald Reagan but withdrew amid questions over his and the CIA's role in the secret sales of arms to
Iran and the diversion of profits to Nicaragua's contra rebels.

In Senate hearings in 1991, when Gates was renominated as CIA chief by Bush's father, he admitted mistakes in what became known as the 'Iran-Contra' affair and said he should have done more to get at the truth. The Senate confirmed him 64-31.
.....................

Beyond charges that he hid the truth about the Iran-Contra affair from Congress when that scandal was breaking in the 1980s, Gates in 1991 overcame potentially disqualifying claims that he skewed intelligence reports in the 1980s to suit the Reagan administration's hardline anti-Soviet views.
..............

But rushing into the confirmation process now caught flak from Democrat James Webb, Navy secretary under Reagan, who was leading Virginia Sen. George Allen (news, bio, voting record) in Tuesday's election results. "I believe that the new Senate should be the body that examines Bob Gates' qualifications for confirmation," Webb said."

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iraq corruption 'costs billions'

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iraq corruption 'costs billions': "Corruption within the Iraqi government is costing the country billions of dollars, the US official monitoring reconstruction in Iraq has said.

Stuart Bowen told the BBC that Iraq was facing a second insurgency of corruption and mismanagement.

He said Iraqi government corruption could amount to $4bn (£2.1bn) a year, over 10% of the national income, with some money going to the insurgency.

Many government workers also lack the skills to manage funds, Mr Bowen said.

'This money that's stolen doesn't merely enrich criminals,' Mr Bowen said.

'(It) frequently goes out to fund criminal militias or insurgents. That means lost lives for US troops.'

Missing weapons

A clause in a military spending bill signed by President George W Bush three weeks ago will terminate the work of the auditor on 1 October next year."

New Democrats Pose Challenge - New York Times

New Democrats Pose Challenge - New York Times: "November 9, 2006

WASHINGTON, Nov. 8 — Carol Shea-Porter is a New Hampshire social worker who campaigned on the cheap and ran hard against the war in Iraq. Heath Shuler is a North Carolina football star who is pro-gun and anti-abortion. Jerry McNerney is a California alternative-energy entrepreneur with a doctorate in mathematics.
.......................

“Every type of Democrat won last night, Northeastern, Midwestern, Southern, Texan, Western, liberal, moderate, conservative and many whose ideology defies easy description and should be best described just as a Democrat,” said Simon Rosenberg, head of the New Democrat Network, an advocacy group.

.........................

Mr. McNerney is a giant killer who, with help from the party and environmental groups, knocked off Representative Richard Pombo, chairman of the Natural Resources Committee. Mr. Shuler, one of the most conservative incoming Democrats, defeated Representative Charles H. Taylor, an eight-term Republican who had served on the Appropriations Committee since 1993. Ms. Shea-Porter, with no help from the party, pulled off one of the upsets of the night in defeating Jeb Bradley.

Keith Ellison of Minnesota, a state lawmaker and the first Muslim elected to the House, sees himself as a champion of economic justice. John Hall of New York, a rock musician and writer of pop hits like “Still the One,” is a longtime critic of the nation’s energy policy. Harry Mitchell, the former mayor of Tucson, is a veteran politician with a keen interest in immigration policy who is already the subject of a statue in his hometown.

.....
They include Ed Perlmutter of Colorado, a former state senator who had a legislative reputation for working with Republicans; Michael A. Arcuri of upstate New York, a seasoned district attorney; and Tim Mahoney, the Florida businessman who won the seat that the Republican representative Mark Foley resigned because of the Congressional page scandal.
.....


"

From Tunis to Tehran, the great veil debate | csmonitor.com

From Tunis to Tehran, the great veil debate | csmonitor.com: "There is little hard data on how many women cover their hair in Muslim societies, but what is certain is that the rising popularity of the head scarf is increasingly bumping up against both official and societal resistance:

• In Turkey, where the head scarf is banned in government offices and universities, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer last week refused to allow women wearing the scarf to attend a ball marking independence. He said 'compromise' on the issue would undermine the secular state founded by Kemal Atatürk.

• In Tunisia, Foreign Minister Abdel Waheb Abdallah recently described the covering as 'inspired by sectarianism ... foreign to our culture and our traditions.''

• In Morocco, Islamist activists complain that women who wear the head scarf, usually called a hijab, are hounded out of jobs and schools."

Shift coming in US policy on Iraq | csmonitor.com

Shift coming in US policy on Iraq | csmonitor.com: "Among many options under consideration, these are the ones most likely to see the light of day, judging from lawmakers, experts, and steps the White House is already taking:

• A new diplomatic push to engage all of Iraq's neighbors - including Iran and Syria - to stabilize the country and help pull it back from the brink of full-blown civil war.

• More insistence that the Iraq government make the decisions needed to help quell sectarian violence - including such things as combatant amnesty and the sharing of oil revenue.

• Reduction of US troop numbers over the next year to a level sustainable among both the American and Iraqi publics.

The US elections may have held up decisionmaking until now, some experts say. But now, they add, changes are not only possible, but unavoidable because of such forces as deteriorating conditions in Iraq,"

Ortega Wins Back Presidency of Nicaragua - washingtonpost.com

Ortega Wins Back Presidency of Nicaragua - washingtonpost.com: "Wednesday, November 8, 2006; Page A18

MANAGUA, Nicaragua, Nov. 7 -- Former Marxist revolutionary Daniel Ortega won back Nicaragua's presidency, according to updated results released Tuesday.

With 91 percent of precincts reporting, the Cold War icon continued his lead with 38 percent of the ballots cast in Sunday's vote, assuring a first-round victory. Under Nicaraguan election law, a candidate can win a first-round with 35 percent of ballots and a five-point lead."

Democrats win majority of governorships - Yahoo! News

Democrats win majority of governorships - Yahoo! News: "Wed Nov 8, 4:28 AM ET

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Democrats won a majority of U.S. governors' offices for the first time since 1994, taking seats from Republicans in six states and scoring a potential advantage in 2008 presidential battlegrounds.
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New York, Ohio, Maryland, Massachusetts, Colorado and Arkansas switched to Democratic governors, but in California, celebrity Republican
Arnold Schwarzenegger crushed his opponent."

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | U2 open tour with political plea

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | U2 open tour with political plea: "Last Updated: Wednesday, 8 November 2006, 10:51 GMT

Irish rock band U2 opened their tour with a political message asking for the only Australian terror suspect at Guantanamo Bay to be sent home.

Bono made the plea as he sang Sunday Bloody Sunday at the Brisbane gig.

He asked that David Hicks, who has been held at the US military prison without trial for five years, be sent home to be tried 'fairly'."

Los Angeles Paper Ousts Top Editor - New York Times

Los Angeles Paper Ousts Top Editor - New York Times: "Published: November 8, 2006

Dean Baquet, the editor of The Los Angeles Times, who defied orders from his corporate bosses to cut jobs, was forced out of his own job yesterday, shocking the newsroom just as it was gearing up to cover election returns."

KRT Wire | 11/05/2006 | FBI willing to go undercover in Congress if necessary

KRT Wire | 11/05/2006 | FBI willing to go undercover in Congress if necessary: "FBI willing to go undercover in Congress if necessary

By Greg Gordon

McClatchy Newspapers

(MCT)

WASHINGTON - The new chief of the FBI's Criminal Division, which is swamped with public corruption cases, says the bureau is ramping up its ability to catch crooked politicians and might run an undercover sting on Congress.

Assistant FBI Director James Burrus called the bureau's public corruption program 'a sleeping giant that we've awoken,' and predicted the nation will see continued emphasis in that area 'for many, many, many years to come.'

So much evidence of wrongdoing is surfacing in the nation's capital that Burrus recently committed to adding a fourth 15- to 20-member public corruption squad to the FBI's Washington field office."

The new business cycle: comfy bikes aimed at commuters | naplesnews.com | Naples Daily News

The new business cycle: comfy bikes aimed at commuters | naplesnews.com | Naples Daily News: "By NANCY KEATES, The Wall Street Journal

Thursday, October 12, 2006

A radical idea is sweeping the world of American bicycle manufacturing: building bikes that people will use for actual transportation.

After decades of pushing models designed for recreation, from full-suspension mountain bikes to ever-faster road bikes, industry heavyweights are now moving into commuters — rugged specimens made for riding to work.

Nearly every major manufacturer has a new or revised commuter model for 2007. They may look like 1940s Schwinns, but materials like aluminum and carbon make the frames lighter, while technological advances mean better brakes, shock-absorbing seats, smoother shifters and even electric power.

The models usually come with practical accessories, like racks for carrying briefcases, fenders for splash protection on wet roads, lights that turn on automatically at dusk and big chain guards to keep legs and clothing away from chain grease.

Specialized’s new Globe commuter line has nine selections, from $410 to $1,300. The 2007 Transporter from Diamondback is billed as an “AWB” (All-Weather Bike), thanks to fenders and lightly treaded, all-purpose tires.

Breezer, which came out with its first commuter models in 2002, has added a new version of its Uptown 8 this season, with LED headlights, more comfortable handlebars, a full chain case and more puncture-resistant tires.

Europeans, of course, have been riding commuter bikes for decades. In Holland, there are twice as many bikes as cars, and nearly as many bicycles as people. Now, in the U.S., the industry is pitching the new models as gas prices remain high and concerns over obesity grow. They also come as cities and states move to become more bike-friendly."

Evangelical Leader Says He Bought Drugs - New York Times

Evangelical Leader Says He Bought Drugs - New York Times: "Published: November 3, 2006

The Rev. Ted Haggard, the former president of the National Association of Evangelicals and one of the nation’s most influential Christian leaders, admitted today that he had purchased the illegal drug methamphetamine from a gay escort in Denver, but denied that he ever had sex with the man."

Saturday, November 04, 2006

Sniper Attacks Adding to Peril of U.S. Troops - New York Times Sniper Attacks Adding to Peril of U.S. Troops - New York Times:

"In recent months, military officers and enlisted marines say, the insurgents have been using snipers more frequently and with greater effect, disrupting the military’s operations and fueling a climate of frustration and quiet rage.

Across Iraq, the threat has become serious enough that in late October the military held an internal conference about it, sharing the experiences of combat troops and discussing tactics to counter it. There has been no ready fix.

The battalion commander of Sergeant Leach’s unit — the Second Battalion, Eighth Marines — recalled eight sniper hits on his marines in three months and said there had been other possible incidents as well. Two of the battalion’s five fatalities have come from snipers, he said, and one marine is in a coma. Another marine gravely wounded by a sniper has suffered a stroke.

A sniper team was captured in the area a few weeks ago, he said, but more have taken its place. “The enemy has the ability to regenerate, and after we put a dent in his activity, we see sniper activity again,” said the commander, Lt. Col. Kenneth M. DeTreux.
..................................
But as the insurgent sniper teams have become more active, the marines here say, they have displayed greater skill, selecting their targets and their firing positions with care. They have also developed cunning methods of mobility and concealment, including firing from shooting platforms and hidden ports within cars." ¶ 1:07 PM 0 comments

Perle says he should not have backed Iraq war - Los Angeles Times Perle says he should not have backed Iraq war - Los Angeles Times: "By Peter Spiegel, Times Staff Writer
November 4, 2006

WASHINGTON — Richard N. Perle, the former Pentagon advisor regarded as the intellectual godfather of the Iraq war, now believes he should not have backed the U.S.-led invasion, and he holds President Bush responsible for failing to make timely decisions to stem the rising violence, according to excerpts from a magazine interview.

Perle — a leading neoconservative who chaired the Pentagon's defense advisory board for the first three years of the Bush administration — is quoted in January's Vanity Fair as saying the U.S. might have been able to strip Saddam Hussein of his ability to build unconventional weapons 'by means other than a direct military intervention.'

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'I think if I had been Delphic, and had seen where we are today, and people had said 'Should we go into Iraq?' I think now I probably would have said, 'No, let's consider other strategies for dealing with the thing that concerns us most, which is Saddam supplying weapons of mass destruction to terrorists,' ' Perle said, according to interview excerpts released Friday by the magazine.

Perle's about-face is the latest in a series of war recriminations by neoconservatives, many of whom blame Iraq's spiraling violence on the administration's management of the postwar stabilization effort.

Others interviewed for the article included former Bush speechwriter David Frum and former Reagan administration official Kenneth L. Adelman.

Perle's prominent advocacy of invasion after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks — and his close relationship with the war's top architects, including Paul D. Wolfowitz, then the deputy Defense secretary, and Douglas J. Feith, the former Pentagon policy chief — makes his reversal particularly noteworthy.

Perle told Vanity Fair he did not anticipate the 'depravity' currently underway in Iraq, saying, 'The levels of brutality we've seen are truly horrifying.'" ¶ 1:02 PM 0 comments

U.S. Seeks Silence on CIA Prisons - washingtonpost.com U.S. Seeks Silence on CIA Prisons - washingtonpost.com: "aturday, November 4, 2006; Page A01

The Bush administration has told a federal judge that terrorism suspects held in secret CIA prisons should not be allowed to reveal details of the 'alternative interrogation methods' that their captors used to get them to talk." ¶ 12:59 PM 0 comments

U.S. Analysts Had Flagged Atomic Data on Web Site - New York Times

U.S. Analysts Had Flagged Atomic Data on Web Site - New York Times: "Published: November 4, 2006

Two weeks before the government shut down a Web site holding an archive of Iraqi documents captured during the war, scientists at an American weapons laboratory complained that papers on the site contained sensitive nuclear information, federal officials said yesterday. Two documents were quickly removed.
Skip to next paragraph
Related
U.S. Web Archive Is Said to Reveal a Nuclear Primer (November 3, 2006)

The Reach of War
Go to Complete Coverage »

The Bush administration set up the Web site last March at the urging of Congressional Republicans, who said giving public access to materials from the 48,000 boxes of documents found in Iraq could increase the understanding of the danger posed by Saddam Hussein.

But among the documents posted were roughly a dozen that nuclear weapons experts said constituted a basic guide to building an atom bomb. They were accounts of Mr. Hussein’s nuclear program, which United Nations inspectors dismantled after the 1991 Persian Gulf war.

The site was shut down on Thursday night after The New York Times asked questions about the disclosure of nuclear information and complaints that experts had raised. Yesterday, federal officials said they were conducting a review to understand better how and when the warnings had originated and how the bureaucracy had responded.

The House Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi of California, called the posting of the weapons information “a serious security breach,” and other Democrats called for an investigation. The Republican congressman who had led the campaign for the creation of the Web site, Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, questioned whether the government had received any serious warnings about the site, and said he had always stressed the need to “take whatever steps necessary to withhold sensitive documents.”

The complaints two weeks ago by the American weapons scientists, as outlined by federal officials yesterday, indicated for the first time that warnings about the site had come from the government’s arms experts, as well as from international weapons inspectors."

Convicted Republican Ney resigns from House - Yahoo! News

Convicted Republican Ney resigns from House - Yahoo! News: "Fri Nov 3, 7:50 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Bob Ney of Ohio resigned from the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday, three weeks after pleading guilty in the Jack Abramoff political corruption scandal.
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Ney submitted a letter of resignation, effective immediately, to House Speaker
Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican who along with other lawmakers had urged him to step down immediately.

Ney had said in August he would not seek re-election to a seventh two-year term in the November 7 elections.

By staying on for a bit longer, he remained eligible to receive his paycheck and benefits, which drew widespread criticism.

Ney was the first lawmaker convicted in the Abramoff influence-peddling scandal, and the fourth House Republican to step down under pressure in the 109th Congress.

Their cases have rocked Republicans as they seek to retain control of the House on Tuesday. Democrats have accused Republicans of 'a culture of corruption.'"
...
Other corruption-tainted Republicans who left the House were former Republican leader Tom DeLay of Texas, indicted on state campaign finance charges; Randy "Duke" Cunningham of California, convicted of accepting bribes, and Mark Foley of Florida, found to have sent sexually explicit e-mails to former interns.

Buffalo News - Anti-gay minister in sex scandal

Buffalo News - Anti-gay minister in sex scandal: "11/3/2006
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The leader of the 30 million-member National Association of Evangelicals, a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage, resigned Thursday after being accused of paying for sex with a man in monthly trysts over the past three years.

The Rev. Ted Haggard, a married father of five who has been called one of the most influential evangelical Christians in the nation, denied the allegations. His accuser refused to share voice mails that he said backed up his claim."

Top Preacher Steps Down After Sex Charges Aired -- Colorado Papers Cautious

Top Preacher Steps Down After Sex Charges Aired -- Colorado Papers Cautious: "Top Preacher Steps Down After Sex Charges Aired -- Colorado Papers Cautious

By Anna Crane

Published: November 02, 2006 3:00 PM ET updated 7:45 PM ET

NEW YORK Yesterday, Denver area residents tuned to radio or TV started hearing about allegations by self-proclaimed male escort Mike Jones, suggesting that he had a sexual business relationship with nationally known Colorado Springs evangelical leader Rev. Ted Haggard for three years. Today, area newspapers debated how to cover the story.

Late today, Haggard ended the caution when he stepped down.

The story broke Wednesday morning when Jones went on air at a Denver radio station to expose his alleged relationship with the married and anti-gay rights Haggard. That evening, Denver NBC affiliate KUSA-TV 9News ran an interview with Haggard.

Haggard, founder of the 14,000-member New Life Church, has denied the accusations but said in a statement released by the church today that he could 'not continue to minister under the cloud created by accusations made on Denver talk radio this morning.' He has placed himself on administrative leave.
...........................

Haggard has boasted of chatting with the Bush White House at least once a week. "

U.S. Lags in Several Areas of Health Care, Study Finds - washingtonpost.com

U.S. Lags in Several Areas of Health Care, Study Finds - washingtonpost.com: "Friday, November 3, 2006; Page A14

Americans have a harder time than residents of several other countries getting after-hours appointments with a nurse or primary care physician without going to an emergency room, a study released yesterday found.

Forty percent of U.S. primary care doctors said they had arrangements for after-hours care, according to the survey of more than 6,000 physicians in seven countries. That compared with 95 percent in the Netherlands, 90 percent in New Zealand, 87 percent in the United Kingdom, 76 percent in Germany and 47 percent in Canada."

Revealed: U.S. Soldier Killed Herself After Objecting to Interrogation Techniques

Revealed: U.S. Soldier Killed Herself After Objecting to Interrogation Techniques: "By Greg Mitchell

(November 01, 2006) -- The true stories of how American troops, killed in Iraq, actually died keep spilling out this week. On Tuesday, we explored the case of Kenny Stanton Jr., murdered last month by our allies, the Iraqi police, though the military didn’t make that known at the time. Now we learn that one of the first female soldiers killed in Iraq died by her own hand after objecting to interrogation techniques used on prisoners.

..............................
“Peterson objected to the interrogation techniques used on prisoners. She refused to participate after only two nights working in the unit known as the cage. Army spokespersons for her unit have refused to describe the interrogation techniques Alyssa objected to. They say all records of those techniques have now been destroyed. ...".

She was was then assigned to the base gate, where she monitored Iraqi guards, and sent to suicide prevention training. “But on the night of September 15th, 2003, Army investigators concluded she shot and killed herself with her service rifle,” the documents disclose. "

BBC NEWS | Americas | Father jailed for US mutilation

BBC NEWS | Americas | Father jailed for US mutilation: "A man has been sentenced to 10 years in jail for the genital mutilation of his two-year-old daughter, in what is said to be first such case in the US.

Khalid Adem, an Ethiopian immigrant, was found guilty of aggravated battery and cruelty to children by the court in the state of Georgia.

Prosecutors said he used scissors to remove his daughter's clitoris in 2001.

A US women's rights group described the verdict as a victory against female genital mutilation worldwide.

Girl's testimony

Adem, 30, wept loudly as the jury's verdict was read in the town of Lawrenceville."

Ex-Judges: Detainee Law Unconstitutional - Newsday.com

Ex-Judges: Detainee Law Unconstitutional - Newsday.com: "Ex-Judges: Detainee Law Unconstitutional
By MATT APUZZO
Associated Press Writer

November 2, 2006, 2:39 AM EST

WASHINGTON -- Seven retired federal judges from both political parties have joined dozens of Guantanamo Bay detainees in urging an appeals court to declare key parts of President Bush's new anti-terrorism law unconstitutional.

The judges, in a rare court filing Wednesday, said stripping courts of the right to question how the military handles terrorism suspects 'challenges the integrity of our judicial system' and effectively sanctions the use of torture."

Britain asks Syria for help in Iraq | Chicago Tribune

Britain asks Syria for help in Iraq | Chicago Tribune: "London wants Assad to restrain insurgency

By David Stringer
Associated Press
Published November 2, 2006

LONDON -- Britain held official talks with Syria for the first time since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, in an effort to press Damascus to support U.S.-led coalition attempts to quash sectarian violence in the neighboring state, officials said Wednesday.

Prime Minister Tony Blair sent his top foreign policy adviser, Nigel Sheinwald, for the talks Monday with Syrian President Bashar Assad and senior ministers, said Nicola Davies, the British Embassy spokeswoman in Damascus.

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The visit comes as the United States and Britain seek ways to reduce bloodshed in Iraq."

Army General Retires, Blames Abu Ghraib - Newsday.com

Army General Retires, Blames Abu Ghraib - Newsday.com: "November 2, 2006, 2:24 AM EST

McALLEN, Texas -- Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who served a tumultuous year as commander of all U.S. forces in Iraq, retired from the Army on Wednesday, calling his career a casualty of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.

'That's the key reason, the sole reason, that I was forced to retire,' Sanchez said for a story in Thursday's editions of The (McAllen) Monitor. 'I was essentially not offered another position in either a three-star or four-star command.'

Sanchez had been a candidate to become the next commander of U.S. Southern Command but was passed over after the prisoner abuse scandal exploded into an international controversy. He was criticized by some for not doing more to avoid mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners.

An Army spokeswoman declined comment early Thursday.

The Army's inspector general, Lt. Gen. Stanley E. Green, concluded last year that allegations of criminal wrongdoing by Sanchez were unsubstantiated.

Sanchez, 55, served for 33 years. As commander of the Army's 5th Corps in 2003, he issued three memos authorizing harsher interrogation techniques such as stress positions, sleep deprivation and dogs at Abu Ghraib -- but only with written authorization.

The changing policies confounded Col. Thomas M. Pappas, an intelligence officer who assumed the prison's management in late 2003. Pappas was reprimanded last year for approving a request to use dogs in an interrogation without Sanchez' approval -- something Pappas testified he believed at the time the policy allowed.

'We were all confused at one time or another,' Pappas testified in June at the court-martial of an Army dog handler.

Sanchez retired in a formal ceremony at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. He told the newspaper he expects to stay in the San Antonio area and will try 'to contribute to the Hispanic community, developing young Hispanic leaders.'"

HeraldNet: McGavick criticizes Bush over Iraq war

HeraldNet: McGavick criticizes Bush over Iraq war: "Washington state's Republican U.S. Senate candidate, Mike McGavick, stepped up efforts to distance himself from President Bush by accusing the president of failing to understand voter frustrations about the Iraq war.

'President Bush isn't getting our frustrations. It's time to be decisive - beat the terrorists,' McGavick says in a new TV ad running this week. 'Partition the country if we have to and get our troops home in victory.'

The new ad, which is running statewide, follows recent comments by McGavick that he would have voted against the Iraq invasion if he'd known there were no weapons of mass destruction. McGavick also urged Bush to fire Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

The president on Wednesday repeated his support for Rumsfeld, saying he was doing a 'fantastic' job.

The new ad is the strongest yet, and takes on Bush directly. McGavick praises two other Senate candidates - Libertarian Bruce Guthrie and Aaron Dixon of the Green Party - for having 'the guts to say what they think' about the war. Both Guthrie and Dixon oppose the war and have called for immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops.

McGavick's spokesman, Elliott Bundy, said the Iraq ad was not intended to boost Guthrie or Dixon - although it is highly unusual in political advertising to favorably cite an opponent.

'We're simply making the point that of the major candidates in this race, the only one with a position that is vague is the incumbent,' Bundy said, referring to freshman Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell.

In the ad, McGavick says Cantwell is 'vague' about the war and notes that she voted to authorize the use of force in 2002 and generally supported the war for three years after that.

'And now suddenly, she's become vague?' McGavick asked."

Cluster bomb victims overwhelmingly civilian: report - washingtonpost.com

Cluster bomb victims overwhelmingly civilian: report - washingtonpost.com: "Cluster bomb victims overwhelmingly civilian: report

Reuters
Thursday, November 2, 2006; 4:44 AM

GENEVA (Reuters) - Civilians, a quarter of them children, make up almost all the
victims of cluster bombs over the last three decades, a humanitarian agency said
on Thursday.

In a study of 24 countries and regions, Handicap International said the controversial
weapons, which scatter munitions over a wide area, had killed, wounded or maimed
11,044 people of whom 98 percent were civilians.

-snip-

Some 27 percent of the victims were children, mainly boys, who were working or
playing in areas where munitions were lying around after failing to explode on impact.

"For 30 years governments have failed to address the disproportionate, long-term
harm these weapons cause to civilian populations," Angelo Simonazzi, the agency's
director general, said in a statement."

GOP launches 'robocall' campaign attack - Yahoo! News

GOP launches 'robocall' campaign attack - Yahoo! News:

"In at least 53 competitive House races, the National Republican Campaign Committee has launched hundreds of thousands of automated telephone calls, known as 'robocalls.'

.......................................
n at least 53 competitive House races, the National Republican Campaign Committee has launched hundreds of thousands of automated telephone calls, known as "robocalls."

...

Bruce Jacobson, a software engineer from Ardmore, Pa., received three prerecorded messages in four hours. Each began, "Hello, I'm calling with information about Lois Murphy," the Democrat running against two-term incumbent Rep. Jim Gerlach (news, bio, voting record) in the Philadelphia-area district. "Basically, they go on to slam Lois," said Jacobson, who has filed a complaint with the FCC because the source of the call isn't immediately known.

...

In North Carolina's 11th Congressional District, Republicans are going after challenger Heath Shuler, whose campaign said the calls are coming as late as 2:30 a.m. "Calling people up, making people think it's me when it's actually them — it's acts of desperation. ... I think it's part of the corruption in Washington," Shuler said."

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Depleted uranium risk 'ignored'

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Depleted uranium risk 'ignored': "UK and US forces have continued to use depleted uranium weapons despite warnings they pose a cancer risk, a BBC investigation has found.

Scientists have pointed to health statistics in Iraq, where the weapons were used in the 1991 and 2003 wars.

A report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2001 said they posed only a small contamination risk.

But a senior UN scientist said research showing how depleted uranium could cause cancer was withheld.
...............................

Risk from particles'

But Dr Keith Baverstock, who worked on the project, said research conducted by the US Department of Defense suggested otherwise.

He described a process known as genotoxicity, which begins when depleted uranium dust is inhaled.

"The particles that dissolve pose a risk - part radioactive - and part from the chemical toxicity in the lung," he said.

Later, he said, the material enters the body and the blood stream, potentially affecting bone marrow, the lymphatic system and the kidneys.

The research was not included in the WHO report, and Dr Baverstock believes it was blocked.

Mr Repacholi said the findings were not collaborated by other reports and it was not WHO policy to publish "speculative" data. He denied any pressure was brought to bear.

But other senior scientists have pointed to worrying health statistics in Iraq, which show a rise in cancer and birth defects.

"

grahamhgreen

grahamhgreen: "Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Bush Says 'America Loses' Under Democrats - washingtonpost.com
Bush Says 'America Loses' Under Democrats - washingtonpost.com: 'October 31, 2006; Page A01

SUGAR LAND, Tex., Oct. 30 --

President Bush said terrorists will win if Democrats win'
¶ 7:28 AM 0 comments
U.S. Drops Bid Over Royalties From Chevron - New York Times
U.S. Drops Bid Over Royalties From Chevron - New York Times: 'The reversal in the case, which involves Chevron’s accounting of natural gas sales to a company it partly owned, has renewed criticism that the Bush administration is reluctant to confront oil and gas companies and is lax in collecting royalties.

“The government is giving up without a fight,” said Richard T. Dorman, a lawyer representing private citizens suing Chevron over its federal royalty payments. “If this decision is left standing, it would result in the loss of tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions, of dollars in royalties owed by other companies.”

In return for the right to drill on federal lands and in federal waters, energy companies are required to pay the government a share of their proceeds. Last year, businesses producing natural gas paid $5.15 billion in government royalties.'
¶ 7:27 AM 0 comments

Democrat may be first black Massachusetts governor - Yahoo! News Democrat may be first black Massachusetts governor - Yahoo! News:

"Patrick has a polling lead of as much as 25 points over his Republican rival, Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, who would be the state's first female elected governor. She lacks his charisma but has gathered support by branding Patrick a tax-and-spend liberal who is soft on crime." ¶ 7:21 AM 0 comments

Conservative NY Post endorses Hillary Clinton - Yahoo! News Conservative NY Post endorses Hillary Clinton - Yahoo! News: "Mon Oct 30, 11:27 AM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The conservative New York Post endorsed Democratic Sen.
Hillary Clinton for re-election on Monday in the latest sign of closeness between the Clintons and the Post's media mogul owner Rupert Murdoch." ¶ 7:19 AM 0 comments

Bush accuses Democrats of lacking plan for Iraq - Yahoo! News Bush accuses Democrats of lacking plan for Iraq - Yahoo! News: "'The Democratic goal is to get out of Iraq. The Republican goal is to win in Iraq,' Bush told a rally in a gymnasium at Georgia Southern University." ¶ 7:18 AM 0 comments

BBC NEWS | UK | UK Politics | No 10 warning ahead of Iraq vote BBC NEWS | UK | UK Politics | No 10 warning ahead of Iraq vote: "Downing Street has warned of 'very real consequences' for British troops in Iraq if MPs defeat the government over calls for an inquiry into the war.

The Commons will debate a Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru call for a probe now into the war and aftermath, backed by Lib Dems and Labour rebels.

The Tories say they may also support it if ministers do not agree to hold a broader inquiry once troops leave.

No 10 says an inquiry now would be seen by the enemy as a sign of weakness.

Ministers had said that the Hutton Inquiry, into the death of government adviser David Kelly, and the Butler Inquiry into the pre-war intelligence were enough." ¶ 7:14 AM 0 comments

51% of Americans want Bush impeached (hidden in) NEWSWEEK Poll: GOP Losing Its Base - Newsweek Politics - MSNBC.com NEWSWEEK Poll: GOP Losing Its Base - Newsweek Politics - MSNBC.com:

"Other parts of a potential Democratic agenda receive less support, especially calls to impeach Bush: 47 percent of Democrats say that should be a “top priority,” but only 28 percent of all Americans say it should be, 23 percent say it should be a lower priority and nearly half, 44 percent, say it should not be done." ¶ 6:44 AM 0 comments

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Telegraph | News | Secret Cabinet memo admits Iraq is fuelling UK terror Telegraph | News | Secret Cabinet memo admits Iraq is fuelling UK terror: "Secret Cabinet memo admits Iraq is fuelling UK terror

By Patrick Hennessy and Sean Rayment, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 11:30pm BST 28/10/2006

Tony Blair's claim that there is no link between Britain's foreign policy and terrorist attacks in this country is blown apart by a secret cabinet memo revealed today.

A classified paper written by senior Downing Street officials says that everything Britain does overseas for the next decade must have the ultimate aim of reducing 'terror activity, especially that in or directed against the UK'.

It admits that, in an ideal world, 'the Muslim would not perceive the UK and its foreign policies as hostile' – effectively accepting the argument that Britain's military action in Iraq and Afghanistan has served as a recruiting sergeant for Islamist terrorist groups. Publicly, Mr Blair has resisted this line fiercely. During his final speech as leader to Labour's annual conference last month, he described such claims as 'enemy propaganda'." ¶ 9:33 AM 0 comments

Afghanistan war is 'cuckoo', says Blair's favourite general | UK News | The Observer Afghanistan war is 'cuckoo', says Blair's favourite general | UK News | The Observer: "Sunday October 29, 2006
The Observer

Tony Blair's most trusted military commander yesterday branded as 'cuckoo' the way Britain's overstretched army was sent into Afghanistan.

The remarkable rebuke by General the Lord Guthrie came in an Observer interview, his first since quitting as Chief of the Defence Staff five years ago, in which he made an impassioned plea for more troops, new equipment and more funds for a 'very, very' over-committed army.

The decision by Guthrie, an experienced Whitehall insider and Blair confidant, to go public is likely to alarm Downing Street and the Ministry of Defence more than the recent public criticism by the current army chief Sir Richard Dannatt. 'Anyone who thought this was going to be a picnic in Afghanistan - anyone who had read any history, anyone who knew the Afghans, or had seen the terrain, anyone who had thought about the Taliban resurgence, anyone who understood what was going on across the border in Baluchistan and Waziristan [should have known] - to launch the British army in with the numbers there are, while we're still going on in Iraq is cuckoo,' Guthrie said." ¶ 9:30 AM 0 comments

BBC NEWS | Americas | Brazil voters choose president BBC NEWS | Americas | Brazil voters choose president: "He has also suggested Mr Alckmin would sell off Brazil's remaining state companies.

Privatisation is generally viewed with suspicion in Brazil." ¶ 9:29 AM 0 comments

Saturday, October 28, 2006

The Seattle Times: Nation & World: Airport screeners fail to see most test bombs The Seattle Times: Nation & World: Airport screeners fail to see most test bombs: "Airport screeners fail to see most test bombs

By Ron Marsico

Newhouse News Service

NEWARK, N.J. — Screeners at Newark Liberty International Airport, one of the starting points for the Sept. 11 hijackers, failed 20 of 22 security tests conducted by undercover U.S. agents last week, missing concealed bombs and guns at checkpoints throughout the major air hub's three terminals, according to federal security officials.

The tests, conducted Oct. 19 by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents, also revealed failures by screeners to follow standard operating procedures while checking passengers and their baggage for prohibited items, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

'We can do better, and training is the path to improved performance,' said Mark Hatfield Jr., the Newark airport's federal security director. The poor test results at Newark come after heightened security procedures that the TSA put in place at U.S. airports in August.

One of the security officials familiar with last week's tests said Newark screeners missed fake explosive devices hidden under bottles of water in carry-on luggage, taped beneath an agent's clothing and concealed under a leg bandage another tester wore.

The official said screeners also failed to use handheld metal-detector wands when required, missed an explosive device during a pat-down and failed to properly hand-check suspicious carry-on bags. Supervisors also were cited for failing to properly monitor checkpoint screeners, the official said. 'We just totally missed everything,' the official said." ¶ 11:14 AM 0 comments

Annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index - 2006 Reporters sans frontières - Annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index - 2006:

"The United States (53rd) has fallen nine places since last year, after being in 17th position in the first year of the Index, in 2002. Relations between the media and the Bush administration sharply deteriorated after the president used the pretext of “national security” to regard as suspicious any journalist who questioned his “war on terrorism.” The zeal of federal courts which, unlike those in 33 US states, refuse to recognise the media’s right not to reveal its sources, even threatens journalists whose investigations have no connection at all with terrorism.

Freelance journalist and blogger Josh Wolf was imprisoned when he refused to hand over his video archives. Sudanese cameraman Sami al-Haj, who works for the pan-Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera, has been held without trial since June 2002 at the US military base at Guantanamo, and Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein has been held by US authorities in Iraq since April this year." ¶ 5:14 AM 0 comments

In Border Fence's Path, Congressional Roadblocks - washingtonpost.com In Border Fence's Path, Congressional Roadblocks - washingtonpost.com: "Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 6, 2006; Page A01

No sooner did Congress authorize construction of a 700-mile fence on the U.S.-Mexico border last week than lawmakers rushed to approve separate legislation that ensures it will never be built, at least not as advertised, according to Republican lawmakers and immigration experts." ¶ 5:11 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Bloomberg.com: Latin America Bloomberg.com: Latin America: "By Guillermo Parra-Bernal

Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez leads his closest rival ahead of the Dec. 3 vote by 35 percentage points in a Zogby International poll, the fourth survey this month suggesting a landslide win for the president.

Chavez had the backing of 59 percent of the 800 people in the Oct. 1-16 survey, compared with 24 percent for opposition candidate Manuel Rosales, Zogby said on its Web site. The poll, commissioned by University of Miami School of Communication, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

The lead in polls reflects Chavez's efforts to push ``for reforms at home to pull Venezuelans out of poverty and to improve the public health care system in the nation,'' Zogby said in a statement on the Web site.

The Zogby poll is the fourth in a week showing voters will re-elect Chavez for a second, six-year term. In September, Chavez said that if re-elected, he would call a referendum in 2010 to change the constitution to allow him to hold office without any term limit.

Since taking office in 1999, Chavez, 52, has used a record oil windfall to spend about half the national budget in healthcare and education services as well as food subsidies for the nation's poor." ¶ 10:22 PM 0 comments

Electronic voting blamed for Quebec municipal election 'disaster' Electronic voting blamed for Quebec municipal election 'disaster': "Quebec's chief electoral officer is urging the province to stop using electronic voting systems.

In a new report on problems with Quebec's 2005 municipal election, chief electoral officer Marcel Blanchet targets the electronic voting system used to collect and count the votes.

The election was an expensive disaster marked by errors, which produced inaccurate numbers and unreliable results, the report said. And the new electronic system is to blame, it adds." ¶ 10:21 PM 0 comments

Cleric 'should go for rape comments' | | The Australian Cleric 'should go for rape comments' | | The Australian: "October 26, 2006
AUSTRALIA'S top Muslim cleric Sheik al-Taj al-Din al-Hilaly should be sacked and deported for comments which essentially excused young Muslim men who committed rape, federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward said today.

Ms Goward said the sheik had a history of making such comments and many would feel Australia's tolerance had been abused.

'It is incitement to a crime. Young Muslim men who now rape women can cite this in court, can quote this man ... their leader in court,' she told Channel 9.

'It's time we stopped just saying he should apologise. It is time the Islamic community did more then say they were horrified. I think it is time he left.'

Sheik al-Hilaly's comments were delivered in a Ramadan sermon to 500 worshippers in Sydney last month, The Australian newspaper reported.

'If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it ... whose fault is it, the cats' or the uncovered meat,' he said.

'The uncovered meat is the problem.

'If she was in her room, in her home, in her hajib (Islamic headdress), no problem would have occurred.'" ¶ 10:20 PM 0 comments

War Now Works Against GOP - washingtonpost.com War Now Works Against GOP - washingtonpost.com: "'When we went there in 2003, we had a mission to get rid of Saddam Hussein and weapons of mass destruction. We're still in Iraq 3 1/2 years later and the mission isn't clear,' Murphy told an audience here last week. 'Together we can change it. We can change what we're doing in Iraq.'

Just three months ago, Republican strategists believed that doubts about Iraq could be contained -- or even turned into an electoral advantage -- if the battle was framed as a vital front in the war against terrorism. Voters would be invited to choose: Stand firm or capitulate.

But the issue is not playing out that way. In both parties, a consensus now exists -- buttressed by polls -- that disaffection with a war grown costly and difficult to manage is the gravest threat to continued Republican rule.

Iraq is not only a potent issue in its own right, but is also a resonant metaphor for doubts about the competence and accountability of the Republican Party." ¶ 10:18 PM 0 comments

Bush, Republicans turn to talk shows for help - Yahoo! News Bush, Republicans turn to talk shows for help - Yahoo! News: "On Tuesday the White House invited more than three dozen hosts from both sides of the political spectrum so they could interview top administration officials.

Radio personalities and programs play a political role in many countries. In America, they have become largely a powerful ally for conservatives, even as the rise of Internet blogs has broadened the spectrum of voter voices being heard.

'The liberal media wants to suppress the vote, they want to convince you that this race is over, they want you to go away and they want us to lose. I'm here to tell you that you have the power (to prove them wrong),' conservative talk radio host Sean Hannity told a Republican rally in Cincinnati last week in a jab at what conservatives call a liberal mainstream media.

Hannity, who does a show for ABC Radio that reaches 13 million people a week as well as a television show for Fox News, said his shows give politicians the opportunity for 'real interviews, not soundbites' -- the sort of unfiltered access to voters that mainstream media don't offer." ¶ 10:15 PM 0 comments

Bush says not satisfied with Iraq war - Yahoo! News Bush says not satisfied with Iraq war - Yahoo! News: "Wed Oct 25, 5:24 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
President Bush said on Wednesday he was not satisfied with the way the
Iraq war was going and bore the blame for it, as he sought to tamp down election-year demands for a dramatic course correction.
ADVERTISEMENT

Sounding testy at times during an hour-long news conference in the White House East Room, Bush insisted 'we're winning, and we will win' the war." ¶ 10:13 PM 0 comments

BBC NEWS | Americas | Bush 'dissatisfied' with Iraq war BBC NEWS | Americas | Bush 'dissatisfied' with Iraq war: "US President George W Bush says he is unhappy with the progress of the war in Iraq, admitting that a recent upsurge in violence is a 'serious concern'.

'I know many Americans are not satisfied with the situation in Iraq,' he said. 'I'm not satisfied either.'" ¶ 10:12 PM 0 comments

Republican base loses faith | csmonitor.com Republican base loses faith | csmonitor.com: "A Gallup poll earlier this month found white religious voters 'equally as likely to say they will vote Democratic as Republican.' And a Pew Research poll last week found just 57 percent of white Evangelicals planning to vote Republican, a drop from 68 percent in 2002 and 74 percent in 2004. Among white Catholics, the decline was even greater.

'The GOP's problems with white Evangelicals are important, but they have even bigger problems with white Catholics,' says John Green, senior fellow at Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. 'The survey shows a majority of white Catholics saying they'll vote for a Democratic congressional candidate; that's a return to where white Catholics would have been a decade or two ago.'

The shift reflects plummeting support for the Republican administration and Congress over the war in Iraq and multiplying political scandals. But it appears that Democratic candidates' efforts to articulate their faith and values - and tie them to a broader range of issues - are also resonating with voters." ¶ 1:24 AM 0 comments

cleveland.com: NewsFlash - News groups challenge Ohio's revised exit polling directive cleveland.com: NewsFlash - News groups challenge Ohio's revised exit polling directive: "0/24/2006, 5:45 p.m. ET
By JULIE CARR SMYTH
The Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio's new guidelines on conducting exit polls on Election Day, written after a judge threw out the old rules, are vague and confusing and should be rejected, a coalition of national news organizations argues in a lawsuit.

In the suit, television networks ABC, CNN, CBS, Fox News and NBC and The Associated Press ask U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson to spell out the rules for county election boards in his own words and force Secretary of State Ken Blackwell to post them so the plaintiffs can interview voters leaving polling places on Nov. 7." ¶ 1:22 AM 0 comments

Halliburton Cited For Iraq Overhead - washingtonpost.com Halliburton Cited For Iraq Overhead - washingtonpost.com: "According to internal government documents released in March, auditors found that the company had repeatedly overcharged the government by, among other things, billing for work it didn't actually do and paying suppliers more than they were owed. Meanwhile, work schedules slid and company officials balked at requests for accurate cost estimates. At one point, officials threatened to terminate the deal. Instead, KBR -- which has received more money from the Iraq war effort than any other firm -- was allowed to keep the contract and is now winding up work." ¶ 1:21 AM 0 comments

Congressman From Arizona Is the Focus of an Inquiry - New York Times Congressman From Arizona Is the Focus of an Inquiry - New York Times: "October 25, 2006

WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 — Federal authorities in Arizona have opened an inquiry into whether Representative Rick Renzi introduced legislation that benefited a military contractor that employs his father, law enforcement officials said Tuesday." ¶ 1:19 AM 0 comments

More U.S. Troops May Be Iraq-Bound - washingtonpost.com More U.S. Troops May Be Iraq-Bound - washingtonpost.com: "Wednesday, October 25, 2006; Page A01

BAGHDAD, Oct. 24 -- The top American commander in Iraq said Tuesday that he may call for more troops to be sent to Baghdad, possibly by increasing the overall U.S. presence in Iraq, as rising bloodshed pushes Iraqi and American deaths to some of their highest levels of the war." ¶ 1:19 AM 0 comments

"