Morning Papers - continued...

Cheney Observer

Iraq Hearing with Secretary Rice: Waxman on Closed Hearings
Condi Rice admits that corrupt money, funnelled through Iraq, is funding 'militias' in the south of Iraq - because if the US dooesn't fund the militias in the south of Iraq, then Iran will.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op5XJEByJfk



The politics of hypocrisy
UK business interests in Burma are more important to this government than justice
John Pilger
Saturday October 27, 2007
The news is no more from Burma. The young monks are quiet in their cells, or they are dead. But words have escaped: the defiant, beautiful poetry of Aung Than and Zeya Aung; and we know of the unbroken will of the journalist U Win Tin, who makes ink out of brick powder on the walls of his prison cell and writes with a pen made from a bamboo mat - at the age of 77. These are the bravest of the brave. What shame they bring to those in the west whose hypocrisy and silence helps to feed the monster that rules Burma.
Condoleezza Rice comes to mind. "The United States," she said, "is determined to keep an international focus on the travesty that is taking place in Burma." What she is less keen to keep a focus on is that the huge American company, Chevron, on whose board of directors she sat, is part of a consortium with the junta and the French company, Total, that operates in Burma's offshore oilfields. The gas from these fields is exported through a pipeline that was built with forced labour and whose construction involved Halliburton, of which Vice-President Cheney was chief executive.
For many years, the Foreign Office in London promoted business as usual in Burma. When I interviewed Aung San Suu Kyi a decade ago I read her a Foreign Office press release that said, "Through commercial contacts with democratic nations such as Britain, the Burmese people will gain experience of democratic principles." She smiled sardonically and said, "Not a bit of it."

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2200311,00.html



Russian Missiles (at 18:40 - 22:15)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_4670000/newsid_4679900/4679986.stm?bw=nb&mp=wm&news=1&ms3=6


That Old Time Religion
Published: October 27, 2007
President Bush was back in campaign mode this week, resurrecting two tried-and-true red-meat issues to rally the cadres in his dispirited Republican Party — fervent supporters of missile defense and of squeezing Fidel Castro’s Cuba. Seven years in the White House have done nothing to change his views. Campaigning now for his legacy, he is still wrong on both issues.
Mr. Bush has brought his 1960s Cuba policy into the Internet age by allowing private organizations to send computers to Cuban youths — if the government does not control their use. That is unlikely. And he proposed an international fund to provide grants, loans and debt relief to the Cuban government — but only after it allows free speech and open elections. Until then, Mr. Bush will cling stubbornly to the half-century-old economic embargo that has failed to unseat Mr. Castro while giving him an ever ready excuse for his government’s economic failings and repression.
No one knows what will happen when Mr. Castro, who is ailing, dies. The United States is denying itself any chance to help influence Cuba’s future by sticking to the failed policies of the past. Its overriding interest should be in a peaceful transition to the democratic and economically dynamic society that Cubans have dreamed of for decades.
Easing the embargo could strengthen Cuba’s battered middle class and help it play a more active role in whatever comes next. Mr. Bush’s call for the Cuban people to rise up is more likely to persuade the government’s supporters — the only ones with guns — to hang on even more stubbornly or brutally.
Mr. Bush’s blind faith in missile defense is equally disquieting. The president has already wasted billions on a small and unproven system in Alaska. Now he wants to build one in Europe to guard against a possible attack on American allies by Iran.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/27/opinion/27sat1.html?ref=opinion



Corporate corruption of the Average American to invest them in destroying their own planet

http://www.energytomorrow.org/


It's not who you think. As Congress debates national energy policy, a new study finds that ownership of oil and natural gas company shares is made up of a broad cross section of Americans.

http://www.energytomorrow.org/



The Distrubution of Ownership of U.S. Oil and Natural Gas Companies

http://www.energytomorrow.org/media_center/Shapiro_Pham_Study.pdf


The more there are Bush Cronies involved in acquisitions of USA companies the less chance of ridding the country of immoral agendas of war while running skyhigh deficits.

Allison Transmission excited about new ownership
By: James Menzies
TORONTO, Ont. -- Allison Transmission has announced its change of ownership signals a positive change for the company.
The company issued a release saying it plans significant business growth under its new owners, The Carlyle Group and Onex Corporation. Formerly, the manufacturer of fully-automatic transmissions was owned by General Motors. The transaction has now been completed.
“Under our new owners, Allison remains committed to the fulfillment of its brand promise of providing an unrivalled combination of quality, reliability, durability, vocational value and customer service,” said Larry Dewey, CEO, Allison Transmission.
The company said it is coming off a record year for global transmission sales in 2006, generating revenue of more than US$2.3 billion. The company plans to expand into new vocations under its new ownership group, said Dewey.

http://www.trucknews.com/issues/ISArticle.asp?id=74293&issue=09282007




FCC’s Secret Studies — Reading Between the Lines
From StopBigMedia.com, October 7, 2007
By Craig Aaron
On Friday, the FCC’s Inspector General released a report on two studies reportedly deep-sixed by the agency because they didn’t support former Chairman Michael Powell’s views on media consolidation.
The IG’s conclusion: Move along, nothing to see here.
Not so fast.
History of the Hidden Research
The first secret study surfaced after a whistleblower contacted California Sen. Barbara Boxer — who grilled FCC Chairman Kevin Martin about the missing report at his September 2006 reconfirmation hearing. (You can watch him squirm here.)
That spiked study showed that locally owned stations do more local news. Since the conclusions contradicted Powell’s pro-consolidation agenda, they were shelved.
As Adam Candeub, who worked as a lawyer in the FCC’s Media Bureau, explained to the Associated Press:
Senior managers at the agency ordered that “every last piece” of the report be destroyed. “The whole project was just stopped — end of discussion.”
Soon a second secret study turned up. This one tackled the negative impacts of radio consolidation, showing that the 1996 Telecom Act had diminished the number of radio station owners — even as the actual number of commercial stations increased.

http://www.freepress.net/news/26838



Brevard police to enforce mask ban
Brevard robberies revive 1951 law used against KKK
BY JEFF SCHWEERS
FLORIDA TODAY
As Halloween nears, police departments throughout Brevard County are dusting off a law regulating the use of masks by adults that was drafted in 1951 in part to combat Ku Klux Klan members.
According to sections of the Florida statute titled "Criminal Anarchy, Treason and Other Crimes Against Public Order," wearing a mask in public if you are 16 or older is a misdemeanor and makes the wearer subject to arrest.
In Cocoa, where masked culprits have robbed several hotels recently, enforcing the law is a matter of public safety -- not a plan to rid Halloween of its spooky fun, police say.

http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071025/NEWS01/710250337/1006



Air Force Arranged No-Work Contract
Experts Question Official's Deal With Nonprofit
By Robert O'Harrow Jr.
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 1, 2007; Page A01
While waiting to be confirmed by the White House for a top civilian post at the Air Force last year, Charles D. Riechers was out of work and wanted a paycheck. So the Air Force helped arrange a job through an intelligence contractor that required him to do no work for the company, according to documents and interviews.
For two months, Riechers held the title of senior technical adviser and received about $13,400 a month at Commonwealth Research Institute, or CRI, a nonprofit firm in Johnstown, Pa., according to his resume. But during that time he actually worked for Sue C. Payton, assistant Air Force secretary for acquisition, on projects that had nothing to do with CRI, he said.
Charles Riechers, an Air Force procurement official, says he had no problem with his interim contract. (U.s. Air Force Photo - U.s. Air Force Photo)
TOOLBOXRiechers said in an interview that his interactions with Commonwealth Research were limited largely to a Christmas party, where he said he met company officials for the first time.
"I really didn't do anything for CRI," said Riechers, now principal deputy assistant secretary for acquisition. "I got a paycheck from them."
Riechers's job highlights the Pentagon's ties with Commonwealth Research and its corporate parent, which has in recent years received hundreds of millions of dollars worth of grants and contracts from the military, and more than $100 million in earmarks from lawmakers.
Commonwealth Research and its parent company, Concurrent Technologies, are registered with the Internal Revenue Service as tax-exempt charities, even though their primary work is for the Pentagon and other government agencies. In a recent report Concurrent, also based in Johnstown, Pa., said it was among the Defense Department's top 200 contractors, with a focus on intelligence, surveillance, force readiness and advanced materials.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/30/AR2007093001402.html




Suicide Is Not Painless
By FRANK RICH
Published: October 21, 2007
IT was one of those stories lost in the newspaper’s inside pages. Last week a man you’ve never heard of — Charles D. Riechers, 47, the second-highest-ranking procurement officer in the United States Air Force — killed himself by running his car’s engine in his suburban Virginia garage.
Mr. Riechers’s suicide occurred just two weeks after his appearance in a front-page exposé in The Washington Post. The Post reported that the Air Force had asked a defense contractor, Commonwealth Research Institute, to give him a job with no known duties while he waited for official clearance for his new Pentagon assignment. Mr. Riechers, a decorated Air Force officer earlier in his career, told The Post: “I really didn’t do anything for C.R.I. I got a paycheck from them.” The question, of course, was whether the contractor might expect favors in return once he arrived at the Pentagon last January.
Set against the epic corruption that has defined the war in Iraq, Mr. Riechers’s tragic tale is but a passing anecdote, his infraction at most a misdemeanor. The $26,788 he received for two months in a non-job doesn’t rise even to a rounding error in the Iraq-Afghanistan money pit. So far some $6 billion worth of contracts are being investigated for waste and fraud, however slowly, by the Pentagon and the Justice Department. That doesn’t include the unaccounted-for piles of cash, some $9 billion in Iraqi funds, that vanished during L. Paul Bremer’s short but disastrous reign in the Green Zone. Yet Mr. Riechers, not the first suicide connected to the war’s corruption scandals, is a window into the culture of the whole debacle.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/21/opinion/21rich.html?hp



Preschoolers? Come on, knock it off !

Wednesday, October 24, 2007
More Preschoolers Facing Increased Academic Pressure.....
Chicago, IL-When architect Joan Wallace dropped her 3-year-old daughter Hannah off at preschool this morning, she hugged her, handed over her lunchbox, and took one more opportunity to go over a few flash cards.
"A caterpillar!" Hannah exclaimed proudly as her mother held up a card featuring a lepidoptera in its larval form. Her mother sighed. "Caterpillar won't get you into Harvard sweetheart."
"Flowers!" She excitedly yelled out, a frown formed on her mother's face. "It's only partial credit. These are Siam Roses. Come on Hannah, you know these!"

http://knudsensnews.blogspot.com/2007/10/more-preschoolers-facing-increased.html




Resistance is Futile
October 22, 2007
Resistance is futile: You will be (mis)informed.

http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp/resistance-is-futile.htm




Islamo-Facism Week?

Writer outlines terrorist links
Journalist explains the apparent ties between American groups and Islamic fundamentalists
...The council was founded by Hamas, an Islamic militant organization. Both Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, a multinational Islamic political group, have helped start many Islamic groups across the world, according to Kaufman, including the Muslim Student Association.
Monica Rowand, a first-year communication studies student, said she came to the event to hear a different point of view from her own.
“I don’t agree with what the Bruin Republicans are saying and I want to know the logic behind their statements,” Rowand said.
Salomon Hossein, a member of MSA, said Kaufman rarely mentioned the club in his speech, and when he did, he lumped them in with Islamic radicals.
“(The speech) hardly ... was about MSA. He went on about known terrorist organizations,” which MSA is not, Hossein said.
Later in his speech, Kaufman was especially concerned with a past issue of Al-Talib, the UCLA newsmagazine geared toward the Muslim community. In a July 1999 editorial titled “Jihad in America,” the Al-Talib staff wrote, “When we hear someone refer to ... Osama bin Laden as a ‘terrorist,’ we should defend our brother and refer to him as a freedom fighter.”...

http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/2007/oct/26/writer-outlines-terrorist-links/




Saturday, October 27, 2007
Valerie Plame Wilson: The real reason to blow the cover of a CIA operative
Fair Game by Valerie Plame Wilson
The latest entry into the Newsnight Book Club is Valerie Plame's Fair Game.
Valerie Plame Wilson is the woman at the centre of the scandal that, ultimately, led to the downfall, prosecution and conviction of the former White House chief of staff, Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, for revealing her identity as a CIA spy.
In Fair Game, Valerie Plame Wilson tells her side of the story, and details her life as a spy. The following extract covers the moment her identity was revealed. Click here to read more.

http://ledaro.blogspot.com/2007/10/valerie-plame-wilson-real-reason-to.html




Plame Fights Back Against White House in CIA-Censored Memoir
By Charles Taylor
Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Reading Valerie Plame Wilson's memoir ``Fair Game'' is like trying to listen to a radio broadcast in which the signal keeps fading in and out.
The former CIA operative, whose undercover identity was revealed by the columnist Robert Novak after a carefully orchestrated campaign emanating from the office of Vice President Dick Cheney, submitted her memoir to the CIA before publication, as the agreement she signed on joining the agency required her to do. Censors there expurgated sentences, whole batches of pages, even chapter titles.
Plame and her publisher, Simon & Schuster, are suing, claiming the redactions go far beyond the terms of the agreement. But in a middle-finger gesture, the book has been published with the offending passages left in but hidden behind gray bars.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aV.krs0brRzI&refer=home



Fair Plame
After years of enforced silence, Valerie Plame Wilson finally tells all -- except for the stuff the CIA blacked out.
By Rebecca Traister
Reuters/Kevin Lamarque
Background photo: Valerie Plame Wilson and her husband, Joseph Wilson, hold a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, July 14, 2006.
For four years, Valerie Plame Wilson has existed for most Americans largely as a one-dimensional figure, a symbol at best. She was a misspelled scrawl -- "Valerie Flame" -- in New York Times reporter Judith Miller's notebook. She was a beautiful woman swathed in shades and scarf in a Vanity Fair photo spread. She was deemed "little more than a glorified secretary" by a Republican congressman, trying to defuse growing suspicion that her outing as a CIA covert operative, by someone high up in the Bush administration, had been an illegal breach of national security. By the left, she and her husband, former ambassador and weapons of mass destruction whistle-blower Joe Wilson, were lionized as martyrs to the antiwar cause.

http://www.salon.com/books/review/2007/10/24/valerie_plame/index_np.html



Plame Dares Call It Treason
Posted October 26, 2007 10:32 AM (EST)
On MSNBC last night Valerie Plame called the Bush Administration's outing of her undercover CIA status TREASON. Asked if she anticipated that Bush and Cheney would retaliate for Joe Wilson's Op-Ed article outing the Administration's case for the Iraq War by attacking her, she said that that was not on their list of contemplated consequences of speaking the truth to power. Never, she said, did she think that the Administration would compromise national security for domestic political gain.
Parenthetically, we have learned how gigantic the fraud perpetrated by the Administration was. Hans Blix, the weapons' inspector leader whose mission was cut short by the US invasion, said that IAEA knew in a day that the claimed Niger connection was a complete fraud. Blix was astounded that such an obvious fraud nonetheless made its way from Italian intelligence to the British and then to the Americans.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-abrams/plame-dares-call-it-treas_b_69979.html



Rudy's Secretary of Health and Human Services

Senate approves Frist for international aid board
Date created: 10/26/2007 11:30:34 PM
Last updated: 10/26/2007 11:31:05 PM
The U.S. Senate has approved the nomination of former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to the board of an international aid program that seeks to encourage democracy and openness in poor countries.
Frist, a Nashville Republican, was nominated by President Bush to replace former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman on the board of the Millennium Challenge Corporation.
Bush in 2002 announced the creation of the Millennium Challenge to distribute foreign aid to poor countries committed to tackling corruption and to dedicating themselves to certain economic policies and human rights.
The idea was that little good comes from pouring aid into a country that has corrupt or unstable leadership. The program was formally launched in 2004.
Frist, a surgeon, abandoned a widely expected presidential bid last year. He is now focusing on global health issues.

http://www.wbir.com/news/regional/story.aspx?storyid=50592



Friday, October 26. 2007
NOTED: US Government states 63 Million, 20% of population!, has wagered online and other oddness
The Guardian Unlimited has an interesting article by John Sterlicchi about the aftermath of the signing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act UIGEA.
The most surprising information was that the US Government claims that 63 Million citizens have wagered online (20% of the population!). I suspect this number is... "hokum" (see previous article about the RCMP and their interesting counterfeiting numbers). 20% of the population would probably map to around 1/3 of the total population that wagers in a casino or other legal, face-to-face venue if scaled to the 70 odd percent of the population that is online.
Now, if the government REALLY BELIEVED THIS, you'd think that they would have put more thought into a piece of legislation that was slipped into the Port Security Act by former Senator Bill Frist.
There is some other interesting, but well-known information about the several bills to legalize skill games and poker in the US and Antigua's victory in the WTO. The WTO case is very interesting as the US is one of the major advocates of free trade, but is being sued for billions in damages for restricting free trade in online gambling. And a lot of countries are looking for US blood including: the European Union, India, Antigua and Barbuda, Japan, Costa Rica, Macao, Canada and Australia.

http://playnoevil.com/serendipity/index.php?/archives/1694-NOTED-US-Government-states-63-Million,-20%25-of-population!,-has-wagered-online-and-other-oddness.html



New Jersey Prescription Drug Price Registry
By Flexo on Friday, October 26th, 2007 in Consumer
Over 100 of the most common prescription drugs are listed in the New Jersey Prescription Drug Price Registry, maintained by the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs. This website lets you search by medication name, type, and form to find the prices for these drugs by zip code.

http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2007/10/26/new-jersey-prescription-drug-price-registry/


Nursing homes owned by private equity face U.S. inquiries
By Charles Duhigg
Published: October 24, 2007
Two U.S. congressional committees have announced that they will investigate business practices at nursing homes owned by private investment groups.
The inquiries will be led by two Democratic representatives, John Dingell of Michigan, chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and Barney Frank of Massachusetts, head of the Financial Services Committee. The scope of the inquiries is still being determined, but will probably include hearings and proposed legislation, a committee spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The investigations are the latest scrutiny of private equity investments in nursing homes.
Last week, two senators - Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana and chairman of the Finance Committee, and Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican and the committee's ranking minority member - sent letters to five private investment firms seeking information on their ownership and management of nursing home chains.
The senators also asked the agency that is responsible for many payments to nursing homes, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, about its oversight of such homes.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/10/24/business/nursing.php



Plight of Afghan Children

http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_4670000/newsid_4679900/4679986.stm?bw=nb&mp=wm&news=1&ms3=6



Supreme Court Justices Unethical Behavior?
We have all read about Jack Abramoff and how lobbying is done in Washington. Trips, dinners, campaign funding, and other perks paid for by lobbyists in return for favors the politicians can do for their clients.
But our Supreme Court Justices should be beyond reproach. They are not elected, but appointed. They are in that position for life or until they decide to retire. They also should go out of their way to be unbiased and out of the reach of special interest groups, people whose cases might come before the Supreme Court, and lobbyists.
While other Justices may walk the line of impropriety, Justice Scalia proudly struts over the ethical line and is smug about it. Remember Leona Helmsly when arrested for income tax evasion? She said "taxes are for the little people", or something to that effect. Justice Scalia has a similar attitude when questioned about his activities.
Not too long ago, the Supreme Court was hearing a case that affected the ability for the Bush administration to hold prisoners indefinitely. Just before the case was to be heard, Justice Scalia went on a hunting trip with Dick Cheney that didn't cost Scalia a dime. When asked if that might present a conflict of interest and that he should possibly recuse himself from the case, he called the idea ridiculous and stayed on the case. His vote favored the Bush Administration.
Yes, it might have been in favor of them anyway. No, the trip may not have influenced him in any way. However the appearance of impropriety, unethical behavior, or conflict of interest is enough to make going on that trip the wrong theng to do. And after doing so, thumbing his nose at people who raised the question was also the wrong thing to do.
Now, all the justices were at the swearing in of Justice Roberts, well all of them but Antonin Scalia. He was playing tennis and going fly fishing at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Bachelor Gulch, Colo, all on the dole. All paid for by the Federalists Society.
"I was out of town with a commitment that I could not break, and that's what the public information office told you," he said.

http://cuttingedgers.blogspot.com/2007/10/supreme-court-justices-unethical.html



The Pro-War Constituents of the Right Wing can't take issue with the war so they take issue with the 'personalities' of the activists. Cindy Sheehan as well left a former life to become a leader toward peace. Perhaps Ms. Fairozz should seek the opportunity to run for office as Cindy has.

Activist group Code Pink scored a fantastic photo with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice this week. The message is a simple one we have heard before: Condi and her President have blood on their hands from the Iraq War. The remarkable thing I think is the crazy look in that lady's eyes. (via Rob Thurman)

http://www.omgblog.com/2007/10/code_pink_and_condi_rice.php



Arlington woman nurturing Code Pink activists in D.C.
Teacher leaves job behind for role as 'den mother'
10:55 PM CDT on Friday, June 22, 2007
By CHRISTINE MacDONALD / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
WASHINGTON – Desiree Fairooz has never been "a pink person," but her new home is replete with pink lampshades, pink throw pillows and pink quilts. The back yard has pink flowers.
MICHAEL TEMCHINE/Special Contributor
Desiree Fairooz quit her job as a Grand Prairie teacher and left her family in Arlington to serve as 'den mother' for Code Pink activists in Washington, D.C. She manages a house that serves as Code Pink's Washington operations base and provides lodging and meals for members in town to participate in Code Pink protests.
It's appropriate for Code Pink, an anti-war group known for using humor and outlandish costumes to publicize its views.
Stored in the basement are pink slips to suggest that President Bush and his vice president should be fired, pink police uniforms to push for the arrest of Attorney General Al Gonzales, and pink hospital scrubs and prescription pads to promote the message that the country is ailing.
And in the middle of all this pink activism is Ms. Fairooz, who quit her teaching job in Grand Prairie and left her family behind in Arlington to become den mother to the women of Code Pink.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/062307dnnatcodepink.34f0383.html




The Ban on Meatpacker Ownership should go forward as it would benefit the Small Family Farmer.

Pretty much business as usual
The Senate Ag Committee's Farm Bill
Posted by Tom Philpott at 4:26 PM on 26 Oct 2007
No jaded observer will be surprised: The Senate Agriculture Committee yesterday released its version of the 2007 Farm Bill, leaving the subsidy mechanisms in the 2002 bill pretty well intact. I'm still trying to chase down details of the proposal, but here are a couple of tidbits.
The big news is that the version contains a ban on meatpacker ownership of livestock. This is (potentially) huge. Currently, dominant meatpackers like Smithfield Foods and Tyson also raises hundreds of thousands of animals themselves each year. These "captive herds" give them enormous leverage over independent farmers, allowing these corporate giants to dictate price, growing conditions, etc. A so-called "packer ban" would go some way in leveling the playing field between farmers and corporate giants.

http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2007/10/26/82852/556




University of Minnesota graduate student searches for answers in the abduction of his nieces in Sudan
For Gabriel Solomon - who was kidnapped at age 6 in his native Sudan and forced to become a soldier - the abduction of his nieces has made his quest to defend children's rights personal.
RUBÉN ROSARIO
Article Last Updated: 10/21/2007 01:12:20 AM CDT
Gabriel Kou Solomon, one of the "Lost Boys of Sudan," has already undergone quite a schooling in his young life. The 27-year-old African refugee graduated from Oak Grove Lutheran High School in Fargo, N.D. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison last year with a degree in international studies and history. He is pursuing a graduate degree in a similar professional discipline at the University of Minnesota.
But it's the education he got back home that no child or adult should ever receive. Solomon was taken from his parents' village 21 years ago by roving members of the southern Sudan Liberation Army.
Solomon, then 6, and many other boys were eventually transported to Ethiopia under the thinly disguised ruse that they would be schooled in the three R's. Instead, they were taught how to shoot an AK-47, fling grenades and hopefully take lives without hesitation, conscience or remorse.

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_7233502




TV Ratings for High Court Arguments Would Be Awful, Alito Says
Mark Sherman
The Associated Press
10-22-2007
Justice Samuel Alito doubts the public is clamoring for Supreme Court sessions to be televised and predicts they would battle Congress for last place in the ratings.
Alito said Friday that the same-day availability of oral argument transcripts on the Internet and extensive media coverage means the "only thing missing is pictures of the justices and the lawyers with their lips moving as they ask and answer questions."
"I am concerned that if our arguments were televised we'd be competing neck and neck with Congress ... for the lowest ratings that have ever been recorded by the Nielsen system," Alito said in an often humorous speech at the University of Virginia's Center for Politics conference on the need for major changes to the Constitution.

http://www.law.com/jsp/law/LawArticleFriendly.jsp?id=1192784613440



New Orleans DA hit with one problem after another
NEW ORLEANS -- Confidence in beleaguered District Attorney Eddie Jordan slipped further this week as city officials said they aren't inclined to pay off $3.7 million his office owes in a discrimination lawsuit, and as news broke that a robbery suspect briefly took refuge at an unsuspecting Jordan's home.
Now a pair of lawmakers are threatening to begin impeachment proceedings against Jordan.
"There is a widely held perception that the office is ineffective," said John Penny, chair of the criminal justice program at Southern University-New Orleans. "There seems to be a lack of efficiency and organization. Citizens' confidence in the office is definitely shaken, and Mr. Jordan has not done much to restore it."
That failure in confidence is one of the reasons the state Legislature should impeach Jordan, said Rep.-elect Cameron Henry, whose district includes Orleans and Jefferson parishes.

http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=7272066



The Master Liquidity Enhancement Con (duit)
In a stunning editorial leap of faith, the New York Times headlines that “3 Major Banks Offer Plan to Calm Debts in Housing.” What three major banks have actually suggested, with Secretary of Treasury Henry Paulson safely in tow, is that someone else sail in to save their considerably-at-risk bacon.
Paulson, to his credit, is able to announce the laughably named Master Liquidity Enhancement Conduit without so much as the hint of a smile. Not even a little smirk at the corner of the lip. Hank is not a fan of irony, nor does he much embrace nuance. Liquidity enhancement is, in this master-stroke of name over content, a fund to keep a bunch of banks from losing their collective asses on bad loans they made. Loans dashed off, knowing full well they weren't worth anything and had little chance of being paid. Greed was the engine of their penmanship, pure greed.

http://www.opinion-columns.com/praguewriter/2007/10/the-master-liqu.html



At Law Center Talk, Paulson Bemoans Housing Market
The picture of housing and mortgage markets nationwide isn't rosy, Secretary of the Treasury Henry M. Paulson told a Law Center audience on Oct. 16.
Sales of existing single-family homes are down 25 percent from their 2005 peak, he said, and the number of unsold homes has increased to early 1990s levels. Mortgage defaults and foreclosures are on the rise -- and with today's decentralized mortgage system, a homeowner on the verge of default may not know where to go for help.
"Buying a home today is a complex process, but that in no way excuses homebuyers from their obligation for due diligence," he said. "Just as investors in the stock market have a responsibility to understand the risks associated with their investment, homebuyers have a responsibility to understand their mortgages."

http://explore.georgetown.edu/news/?ID=28594



Treasury's Paulson wants faster China yuan rise
Tue Oct 23, 2007 9:49pm EDT
By Glenn Somerville
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson urged China on Tuesday to let its currency rise faster in value and warned that rising protectionism threatened U.S.-China relations.
"Policy-makers in both countries must resist the impulse to discard the hard-fought and long-term gains of open economies by pursuing short-term and misguided policy responses," Paulson told the George H.W. Bush U.S.-China Relations Conference.
There would be greater chances of balanced economic growth in China and the world if China let its yuan currency rise faster in value immediately and let markets set its value completely in the medium term, he said..
"Accelerating the rate of appreciation and introduction of flexibility will help China deal with the imbalances that have grown in the economy and make monetary policy much more effective in responding to inflation," Paulson said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN2332620920071024




Makes excuses if you want, but, Goldman Sachs as benefitted from insider information in the US Secretary of the Treasury office. It's just too obvious.

Goldman Sachs is promotion-happy
While most investment banks are struggling, Goldman Sachs is doing well enough to promote 299 employees to managing director. Amy Scott deciphers the true meaning behind the title.

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/10/26/goldman_sachs_promotes_record_numbers



Goldman, Macquarie to invest in PTC Inida arm-paper
Fri Oct 26, 2007 12:30am EDT
MUMBAI, Oct 26 (Reuters) - U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Australia's Macquarie (MBL.AX: Quote, Profile, Research) are close to buying 40 percent in the investment arm of state-run PTC India (PTCI.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) for about 1.2 billion rupees ($30 million), the Economic Times said on Friday.
"We have reached an advanced stage of negotiations. But I would not like to comment on the details at this point," the company's chairman, T.N. Thakur, told the paper.
Quoting sources close the development, the paper said the deal would be signed shortly, with Goldman Sachs and Macquarie to each take a 20 percent stake in PTC Financial Services.
Goldman Sachs spokesman Edward Naylor declined comment while a spokeswoman at Macquarie could not be reached. ($1 = 39.6 Indian rupees)

http://www.reuters.com/article/mergersNews/idUSBOM19383420071026



Goldman Sachs investing $100m in startup Mobileye
By Eran Gabay and Raphael Fogel
Another huge deal for Israeli high-tech: Only two days after the sale of Traiana for $247 million to British firm ICAP, U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs is investing $100 million in the Israeli company Mobileye. This reflects a valuation of $600 million.
Mobileye develops vision systems to prevent imminent accidents and assist drivers. These systems work as a "third eye" for the driver. Applications support the driver in performing several routine driving tasks, such as keeping distance between vehicles and dynamic cruise control, and provide timely warnings in dangerous situations.
Mobileye develops the chips and algorithms for the systems.
Advertisement
The company was founded in 1999 by Professor Amnon Shashua and Ziv Aviram. Aviram is CEO, and Chairman Shashua is a professor of computer science at the Hebrew University, and is an expert in 3D vision and pattern recognition.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/912422.html

continued...

Cheney says administration will not tap oil reserves to counter rising prices
10.26.07, 5:07 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Thomson Financial) - US Vice President Richard Cheney today said the Bush administration would not tap the strategic petroleum reserve in order to offset rising oil prices, and said the reserve would only be used if there were a supply crisis.
'In fact, back in the Clinton administration, it was used to try to manage prices -- that's not what it's for,' he said in a television interview taped for CNBC today.
Cheney did say that the reserve could be used if political unrest in the Middle East led to supply problems. 'The best short-term response we have for that is the strategic petroleum reserve,' he said.
Cheney declined to say whether US sanctions announced against Iran yesterday would prevent Iran from selling oil on the world market. Those sanctions are aimed at breaking ties between Iran's military and state-owned companies and the international banking system.

http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2007/10/26/afx4268350.html



Cheney Attacks Democratic Plan to Revamp Tax Code
By STEVEN LEE MYERS
Published: October 27, 2007
WASHINGTON, Oct. 26 — Vice President Dick Cheney on Friday joined a chorus of Republican opposition to a sweeping overhaul of the tax code proposed by the House’s leading Democratic tax writer.
The Republican response to the proposal by Representative Charles B. Rangel of New York, the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, underscored the hardening positions of the two parties on taxes as they head into the 2008 elections.
In a television interview, Mr. Cheney said Mr. Rangel’s proposal would reverse the Bush administration’s tax cuts from 2001 and 2003, one of the president’s signature accomplishments and one the vice president credited with “driving this economy.”
“There is a fundamental difference between the parties in terms of how we look at the world with respect to tax policy,” Mr. Cheney said in an interview on CNBC.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/27/washington/27cheney.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&ref=us&adxnnlx=1193508440-aRZ2zK/RlJQ9sS1PrHe6rA



Vice president Cheney on "Cousin Barack" ...
About a week ago, Lynne Cheney informed the world that Vice President Dick Cheney and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama are eighth cousins.
While doing research for her new book, Mrs. Cheney discovered that Obama and the veep share a common ancestor, Maureen Duvall, a 17th century immigrant from France.
As shocking revelations go, it was right up there with the news earlier this year that black civil rights activist Al Sharpton was descended from a slave owned by the family of the late senator and segregationist Strom Thurmond.
A spokesman for Obama quipped of Cheney: "Every family has a black sheep."
Now Cheney himself has weighed in with his own take on the news. During an interview with Larry Kudlow on CNBC, Cheney was asked if he had spoken to Obama about there shared heritage.
"Cousin Barack?" replied Cheney. "No, we haven't, haven't had the opportunity to talk about that."
Kudlow: "You haven't once called him up, and say, well, heck, the family tree ..."
Cheney: "No. Well, I didn't know whether that would help him or hurt him, so I thought I'd probably stay away from him, so."

So thoughtful of Cheney. And to think they call him Darth Vader ...

http://communities.canada.com/shareit/blogs/theelephant/archive/2007/10/26/vice-president-cheney-on-cousin-barack.aspx



National briefs: NASA to search for 1965 UFO files
WASHINGTON NASA has agreed to search its archives once again for documents on a 1965 UFO incident in Pennsylvania, a step the space agency fought in federal court.
The government has refused to open its files about what, if anything, moved across the sky and crashed in the woods near Kecksburg, Pa., 40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. The Air Force’s explanation: a meteor or meteors. Eyewitnesses said that a flatbed truck drove away a large object shaped like an acorn and about the size of a Volkswagen bus.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/nation/story/335205.html



White House Leak: Cheney's Plan for Iran Attack Starts With Israeli Missile Strike
US Vice President Dick Cheney -- the power behind the throne, the eminence grise, the man with the (very) occasional grandfatherly smile -- is notorious for his propensity for secretiveness and behind-the-scenes manipulation. He's capable of anything, say friends as well as enemies. Given this reputation, it's no big surprise that Cheney has already asked for a backroom analysis of how a war with Iran might begin.
In the scenario concocted by Cheney's strategists, Washington's first step would be to convince Israel to fire missiles at Iran's uranium enrichment plant in Natanz. Tehran would retaliate with its own strike, providing the US with an excuse to attack military targets and nuclear facilities in Iran.

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/66157/



Libertarian echoes call for Cheney impeachment
October 26th, 2007
posted by sgreenhut
From Steven Greenhut:
Don’t forget Bush! Libertarian presidential candidate George Phillies issued this statement:
Phillies Praises Kucinich on Impeachment for Cheney
In a surprising statement aired September 27, 2007 on the Ed Schultz radio show, U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) said, “I’m seriously thinking about calling a privileged resolution on impeachment of the vice president, and forcing a vote on the floor of the house…”
On April 24, 2007, Dennis Kucinich introduced three Articles of Impeachment of the Vice President to the floor of the House, alleging that the Vice President pressured the intelligence community to change its findings to support the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and to suggest a connection between al Qaeda and Iraq. The articles also accuse Cheney of openly threatening Iran, which posed no real threat to the United States, and undermining national security interests.
Kucinich believes the time has come to force the vote. “We have a government in place right now that we need to challenge,” said Congressman Kucinich. “People have to stand up and say whether they believe in the Constitution anymore, or whether we’re going along with an administration that defies the principles that founded this country…”
“I absolutely support Mr. Kucinich in his efforts to bring those who deceived the American people and our Congress to justice,” said George Phillies, leading Libertarian candidate for President. “There is an old story from ancient Greece. An injured veteran from the Battle of Marathon trying to find a seat at the Olympic games. His fellow Athenians urged each other to give up their seats for the old man, but no one did. Unable to find a seat, the old man limped toward the exit. On his way, he passed the Spartans. To a man, every one of them stood to offer his seat to the veteran.

http://orangepunch.freedomblogging.com/2007/10/26/libertarian-echoes-call-for-cheney-impeachment/



Kucinich to Force Vote on Cheney Impeachment Resolution
by ralphlopez, Fri Oct 26, 2007 at 03:02:15 PM EST
This is a report from the Northeast Impeachment Coalition, which was present on the nationwide conference call in which Rep. Dennis Kucinich announced action on HR 333, before Thanksgiving. Also in this report are some answers from the membership of NEIC in response to a call for clear talking points to answer citizens hesitant on impeachment.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FROM: NORTHEAST IMPEACHMENT COALITION
At 9 pm EDT, Tuesday, October 23rd, in a nationwide conference call organized by Progressive Democrats of America (PDA,) Rep. Dennis Kucinich announced he will go before the U.S. House of Representatives on a point of personal privilege to move the impeachment of Dick Cheney before Thanksgiving. This legislative maneuver will force the House of Representatives to a vote on further action regarding HR 333, which are the articles of impeachment filed by Kucinich against Vice President Cheney last April.

http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/10/26/15215/312



McCain concerned about Giuliani and torture (but not Mukasey)
Posted October 26th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
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This week, Rudy Giuliani played the crazy-person card in response to a question at an event in Iowa about torture. Asked if he thought waterboarding constituted torture, Giuliani said, “It depends on how it’s done,” adding that he was skeptical about the practice based on descriptions from the “liberal media.” Giuliani went on to say, “It depends on the circumstances. It depends on who does it.”
John McCain followed up on Giuliani’s comments with some incredulity yesterday.
“Anyone who knows what waterboarding is could not be unsure. It is a horrible torture technique used by Pol Pot and being used on Buddhist monks as we speak,” said McCain after a campaign stop at Dordt College here.
“People who have worn the uniform and had the experience know that this is a terrible and odious practice and should never be condoned in the U.S. We are a better nation than that.”
McCain added, “All I can say is that it was used in the Spanish Inquisition, it was used in Pol Pot’s genocide in Cambodia, and there are reports that it is being used against Buddhist monks today.” As for his GOP rivals, McCain said, “They should know what it is. It is not a complicated procedure. It is torture.”
In light of McCain’s response, Faiz raised a good point. By taking a firm stand against waterboarding, McCain is not only one up on Giuliani, he’s also one up on Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey, who refused to say whether he thought the barbaric tactic qualified as torture.

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13377.html



McCain, Huckabee talk tough on Social Security
Updated 1d 6h ago Comments106 Recommend10
CAMPAIGN ISSUES: 2008
Click on the titles to learn more about where the presidential candidates stand on the issues:
• Iraq war
The war in Iraq is the dominant issue in the 2008 race for the White House. The early primary votes will be cast as the conflict completes its fifth year. The next president will be the first to take the oath of office during an ongoing war since Richard Nixon in 1969.
• Immigration
Immigration is a highly divisive issue, as concerns about terrorism amplify the debate about border security. Congress has failed to enact immigration legislation because of differences between supporters of tougher enforcement to limit illegal entry into the country and advocates of amnesty for illegal immigrants.
• Health care
Polls indicate that health care is one of the most important issues to voters heading into the 2008 presidential elections. The rising cost of health insurance and the growing number of uninsured give the issue added urgency. Several candidates have called for universal health care; others have said these plans amount to socialized medicine.
• Education
White House hopefuls are divided on the federal government's role in education as Congress considers changes to President Bush's signature schools law, the No Child Left Behind Act, and how to make college affordable.
By Jared Strong, The Des Moines Register
SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Two Republican presidential candidates had some tough talk Thursday about Social Security's future at a forum sponsored by the nation's largest group for seniors.
John McCain, a U.S. senator from Arizona, called for another debate on President Bush's plan to create private savings accounts as part of Social Security. He also urged citizens to become less reliant on Social Security as a retirement income.
"The dirty secret in America today is that Medicare and Social Security are going broke. They're going broke and they're not going to be there for future generations of young Americans, and we owe them the responsibility to make hard choices now," McCain said.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2007-10-26-mccain-huckabee_N.htm



DC insiders could deal with McCain, Richardson
by Frank James
The National Journal's latest poll of Washington insiders asked the question: "Which presidential candidate of the other party could your party most easily work with if he or she were elected?"
In a response that will further hurt him among Republican activists, most Democrats, 34 percent, said Sen. John McCain is the kind of man they can work with.
Said one insider:
“He is the most consistent and honest of the major Republican candidates. You are never certain of the other major candidates.”
Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney tied at 22 percent.
For their part, Republican Washington insiders said New Mexico Bill Richardson would be the Democrat they could most readily work with while 22 percent chose Sen. Hillary Clinton.

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2007/10/dc_insiders_easiest_to_deal_wi.html



Romney: 'Bombardment' on the table for Iran
Republican Mitt Romney says he'd be willing to use a military blockade or "bombardment of some kind" to prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon, the AP reports. Those options would be on the table "if severe economic and diplomatic sanctions" aren't enough, he said.
The former Massachusetts governor made the remarks to a group of doctors and nurses in Manchester, N.H.
This morning the Bush administration upped the pressure on Iran by imposing sweeping economic sanctions on three state-owned banks and the Revolutionary Guard Corps, part of the Iranian military.
Iran has become a flashpoint in the presidential campaign. Read our earlier post about friction between Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama here.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2007/10/romney-bombardm.html



Romney Says Giuliani's Support Will Fade
By MIKE GLOVER – 22 hours ago
JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) — Mitt Romney says the campaign for the Republican presidential nomination will come down to Rudy Giuliani and a more conservative challenger. Like Mitt Romney.
It's no surprise that Giuliani is doing well in national polls of Republicans, Romney said Friday, because candidates with more conservative views on social issues such as abortion and gay rights are splitting the support of like-minded voters.
At some point, the former Massachusetts governor said, the party's conservative base will coalesce around a single candidate, making it tougher for Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City.
"Those of us who represent that base will find that we can get that support and ultimately face up one-to-one with Mayor Giuliani," Romney said. "At that point he'll have a more challenging time because I do not believe the Republican Party is going to keep Hillary Clinton out of the White House by acting like Hillary Clinton."

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gyStaQl_Y24WE5sELR_lL2b3P5FwD8SH4E700



Top Conservative Romney Supporter: I'd Support Rudy In General Election
By Greg Sargent - October 26, 2007, 1:30PM
A lot of people are holding out hope that if Rudy wins the GOP nomination social conservatives will organize a third party challenge from the right that will split the Republican Party. Prominent social conservative leaders have been suggesting as much lately in various forums.
Well, this isn't going to give people holding out for this very much hope.
As I noted below, a top conservative backer of Mitt Romney, the prominent conservative attorney James Bopp, told me in an interview that he was outraged that conservative Senator Sam Brownback is dallying with pro-choice Rudy.
But that isn't all Bopp said. He also told me that he thinks that if Rudy wins the nomination, a third-party challenge just isn't a serious possiblitiy -- and even said he himself would back Rudy.
"I think there are people who would consider voting for a minor party candidate rather than Giuliani if he got the nomination," Bopp told me. "Frankly I'm not one of those. I don't think the idea of a third party is being seriously considered by anyone."

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/10/_top_conservative_romney_supporter_id_support_rudy_in_general_election.php



Report on Second Hill Hearing on Arbitration Fairness Act
On Thursday, October 25, 2007, the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law held its second hearing on H.R. 3010, Rep. Hank Johnson’s Arbitration Fairness Act. (This Subcommittee has jurisdiction over the bill.) H.R. 3010 would ban the use of pre-dispute binding mandatory arbitration in consumer, employment, franchise and medical contracts. (The first hearing was held on June 12th. I testified at it, and my testimony and a transcript of the hearing can be found on the Public Justice website, www.publicjustice.net.)
Three members of the Subcommittee attended the hearing. The first is Subcommittee Chairwoman Linda T. Sanchez. Rep. Sanchez has not yet co-sponsored the bill, but she spoke very sympathetically towards the situation of consumers and employees who have been treated poorly in mandatory arbitration systems. It also can’t be understated that Rep. Sanchez showed that she has put a lot of time into understanding the details of the issue, and she (along with her staff) have obviously put a great deal of work into interviewing and locating witnesses and giving both sides an opportunity to develop an extensive record. The second is Rep. Johnson, the sponsor of the bill, who is a courtly freshman representative from Georgia and a powerful orator. The third member was Ranking Subcommittee member Chris Cannon, who is a huge and uncritical fan of mandatory arbitration. In the course of carrying the water of the Chamber of Commerce on the issue, Rep. Cannon’s duties apparently include trying to craft personal attacks on anyone who comes forward with an individual story of having been abused by mandatory arbitration.

http://www.tortdeform.com/archives/2007/10/report_on_second_hill_hearing.html



GHS
Fri Oct 26, 2007, 12:29 AM EDT
Hiking tolls to pay off Bechtel
I am mad as hell and I am not going to take it any more.
I am not going to pay for Bechtel and the Pike's misuse of funds resulting in death and debt, and neither should you. I do not use the Big Dig. I get off at the Allston/Cambridge Tolls from Framingham.
Yet I will be hit twice paying for the Turnpike's misuse of funds while we sit by and get fleeced again. The last hike of the tolls resulted in the back roads filling up to the point it was taking me two hours to go 20 miles into Boston. Taking the pike takes me now an hour. Yeah, can I spend more money to take me longer to get to work? Please can I?
Now with the "new" toll hike that they keep speaking about as if it is a done deal, it will take me even longer, both ways. What happened to no taxation without representation? Yes, they are having little meetings in the towns that they will completely disregard. Their rhetoric has already been put into the past tense. Today it came out that the forecast of windfall from this hike is actually more than they thought.
But instead of lowering the fees they are going to apply it to their debt. First, that rhetoric states they are hiking the tolls regardless of any town meetings. Second, maybe I can legally change my name to Bechtel Parson and murder someone through negligence and then have the Mass Turnpike Authority pay off my debts.
Seriously with these hikes and having to go to work every day in Cambridge I am going to go into debt. I suggest that before they hit the people creating industry and commerce in Boston (an economy), they should actually go after the people that stole the money in the first place, Bechtel.
We must stand up and say no! We don't get to create phony taxes to pay off our debts, why should they? Who are they, anyway? We are the citizens of this state and country, they work for us. We need to remember it and they need to remember it. Let's get a backbone and fight this, it is not right that we are being put in the position of the victim to be bled once again. Go after the real criminals, Bechtel, and make the Turnpike Authority accountable for its misuse and mere existence.
TIFFANY CAMPBELL, Framingham

http://www.milforddailynews.com/opinion/x901888647



Circling the Wagons
It’s been reported that FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is aggressively attempting to push through changes to media ownership laws which could result in further consolidation of not just radio, but also television and print media. Although the FCC claims to recognize the importance of localism, competition and diversity, Martin’s own actions indicate otherwise.
In 2003, FCC Chairman Michael Powell also tried to ram through rule changes, but was strongly rebuked by the general public, not to mention the House, Senate and Third Circuit Court of Appeals. The congressional and court reprimand included a stern admonishment to hold public hearings on localism, competition and diversity before voting on any rule changes.
The FCC took Congress' advice and the commissioners have, indeed, attended formal and informal hearings over the past 18 months in Chicago, Tampa, Portland, Harrisburg, Nashville, and Los Angeles, where thousands of concerned citizens overwhelmingly expressed their opposition to any rule changes that would let Big Media companies swallow up more local outlets.
But these hearings aren’t worth much if the public isn’t a): given adequate time to prepare arguments, or b): provided date and location info until the absolute last minute, as is the case with the next event. Hmm, could this be a strategy?

http://futureofmusiccoalition.blogspot.com/2007/10/circling-wagons.html



House Gets Subpoena For Doolittle Probe E-mails
By Patrick O'Connor
Oct 25, 2007
(The Politico) The top administrative officer in the House has been subpoenaed for e-mails related to the ongoing criminal investigation of Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.), according to a notification read on the House floor Thursday.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued the subpoena to Daniel P. Beard, the chief administrative officer of the House, whose office oversees electronic communications for members of Congress and their staff.
"The subpoena was issued in connection with the Justice Department investigation of Congressman Doolittle and seeks material from e-mail backup tapes maintained by the CAO," according to a notification of the subpoena.
This is the latest development in an ongoing Justice Department investigation of the California Republican. Doolittle and six members of his staff were subpoenaed by the same grand jury last month.
The Justice Department has been investigating the lawmaker and his wife in its ongoing public corruption investigation stemming from a probe of jailed former GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/25/politics/politico/thecrypt/main3413264.shtml




No one is Dissing anybody. The Blue Dogs are being challenged to attempt to undermine democracy AGAIN by putting back a majority leadership in the House and Senate to rake the American people over the coals with more wars. They are simply being smart and using their resources to fight for the USA Constitution.

Blue Dogs Diss the DCCC
by not paying their actual dues.
From The Politico:
A large group of “Blue Dog” Democrats has refused to give money to the party’s campaign committee so far this cycle, underscoring simmering tension inside the Caucus and concerns about the caustic language of at least one anti-war Democrat.
According to a review of Federal Election Commission records, 15 Blue Dogs have given no money to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee as of Sept. 30, despite heavy pressure from party leaders.
Rep. Sanford D. Bishop Jr. (D-Ga.), one of the 15, said he had donated on Oct. 1, but his staff would not say how much the congressman gave to the DCCC.
An additional 16 Blue Dogs have not given any cash but were exempt from party-mandated contributions because they are top GOP targets for defeat in 2008, party officials said.
...Members of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of 47 moderate-to-conservative House Democrats, point out that they often represent tough, hard-to-hold swing districts that could easily go Republican, meaning they must build sizable campaign war chests in order to ensure their reelections, even if they look safe right now.
But there is also lingering concern among the Blue Dogs — and resentment, in some cases — over comments made by Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) to leaders of the anti-war movement.
In a late-August conference call, Woolsey encouraged the anti-war groups to field primary challengers to any Democrat who does not vote to end the war. While she later moved to repudiate the remarks, saying they were misunderstood, Woolsey’s statement angered many Blue Dogs and led some to withhold their DCCC dues.
“What [Woolsey] said was reprehensible,” said one Blue Dog who has so far declined to hand over any money to the campaign committee.
A Democratic strategist with strong ties to the Blue Dogs said the Woolsey incident is being seized upon by some conservative Democrats, even those who don’t yet have an opponent, as an excuse not to give to the party committee.
“Some of these Blue Dogs are saying, ‘If I have to defend myself in a primary, the DCCC is just going to have to wait,’” said the strategist.
Further proof there are some Dems who would Stollerize (ie. purge those that think differently)
the party. What they either don't realize or care about is that they only have the majority in the house because of the Blue Dogs. In their quest for idealogical purity or party unity they would embrace the tactics of Tom Delay and browbeat/arm twist/and outright threaten those that vote the views of their constituents and ultimately doom the party to a minority in the process.

http://crapomatic.blogspot.com/2007/10/blue-dogs-diss-dccc.html



So, bottomline here is, 'Having Faith makes one rich.' I see. So much for the vow of poverty.

Poverty is Faith-Based
by Former Rep. Tom Delay (R-TX)
Poor people lack faith, and they
don't work hard like I do.
Two years ago , Hurricane Katrina put a spotlight on the issue of poverty. Unfortunately, too many Americans remain in the dark. The media does a good job covering the effects of poverty, but they completely ignore the root cause. Poverty is largely a faith-based problem. It is caused when people foolishly have faith in government instead of in God.
Good examples of this fact were provided every time a poor New Orleans resident complained about FEMA. It exposed a faith in government, and that faith was gloriously crushed by God. Sadly, it’s the only way the poor seem to learn, and it’s why God had to do what He did. It makes me feel sorry for God, and it’s why I hate the poor. Poor people, like homosexuals, force God to do mean things.
God tried to help everyone evacuate. He ordered New Orleans residents to leave the city, for instance, but only the faithful got His message. They didn’t actually hear God speak, of course. God worked his magic through their unconscious minds to coax them out of the city. Only President Bush and Pat Robertson actually get to hear His words and His voice.
After the hurricane, networks ran story after story about poor people struggling to find food, water, clothing, shelter, etc. But all they really needed to find was faith in God. If these poor people had had faith in God before the hurricane hit, they would have responded to His call and left New Orleans. They also wouldn’t have been so poor to begin with.

http://www.thegayblackjew.com/articles/Faithinpoverty.html

continued...

Amid Wildfires, Zoo Animal Rescues

Made It Through

A cheetah with a San Diego Zoo keeper. The facility's cheetahs were kept safe during the recent wildfires as workers continuously watered down the complexes.