San Francisco Chronicle
Schumer: Miers Lacks Confirmation Votes
By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer
Monday, October 24, 2005
(10-24) 00:47 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP) --
Two weeks before Harriet Miers begins confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, a Democrat on the panel says she lacks the votes to win a Supreme Court seat.
Republicans countered that Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., cannot predict how the GOP-controlled Senate will decide Miers' fate. Many Republicans have yet to commit to approve President Bush's second nominee to the high court.
The hearings begin Nov. 7. Meanwhile, Schumer said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," that lawmakers of both parties are concerned about Miers' independence and judicial philosophy.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/10/24/national/w004736D08.DTL
S.F. Hall of Justice -- a 'shameful' danger
Hurricane disasters renew concerns about quake safety
Jaxon Van Derbeken, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, October 24, 2005
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, cities throughout the country have been re-examining their vulnerability to calamity. San Francisco officials need look no further than the Hall of Justice, a building that could be a death trap to police who are being counted upon to preserve order after an earthquake.
City officials say that although an outright collapse of the 1950s-era monolith in the South of Market is unlikely, the building does not meet current earthquake code and its walls probably would crack in a strong quake, rendering it unusable and possibly endangering occupants' lives.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/10/24/HALL.TMP
Britain: Bird Flu Is Deadly H5N1 Strain
By MICHAEL McDONOUGH, Associated Press Writer
Monday, October 24, 2005
(10-24) 00:11 PDT LONDON, United Kingdom (AP) --
The British government said Sunday that a strain of bird flu that killed a parrot in quarantine is the deadly H5N1 strain that has plagued Asia and recently spread to Europe.
Scientists determined that the parrot, imported from South America, died of the strain of avian flu that has devastated poultry stocks and killed 61 people in Asia the past two years, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
The virus is spread by migrating wild birds and has recently been found in birds in Russia, Turkey and Romania, spurring efforts around the globe to contain its spread.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/10/23/international/i174410D79.DTL
All 117 Feared Dead in Nigeria Plane Crash
By DULUE MBACHU, Associated Press Writer
Sunday, October 23, 2005
(10-23) 22:44 PDT LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) --
Twisted chunks of metal, ripped luggage and mangled bodies turned a swath of woods into a grisly scene after a Nigerian passenger plane carrying 117 people crashed shortly after takeoff and officials said Sunday that all aboard were feared dead.
Red Cross and government officials said search teams found no sign that anyone on the Boeing 737 survived when it plunged to earth Saturday night after leaving Lagos, the biggest city in Nigeria.
"It was a very pitiable sight. The aircraft was partly submerged (in the ground) and broken into several pieces," said Fidelis Onyenyiri, chief of the National Civil Aviation Authority. "There were similarly no survivors from what we saw."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/10/23/international/i105023D54.DTL
More Than 20 Iraqis Killed in Attacks
By LEE KEATH, Associated Press Writer
Sunday, October 23, 2005
(10-23) 13:23 PDT BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) --
An insurgent blew up his car in a Baghdad square Sunday, killing four people in the first significant suicide bombing in the capital in weeks. More than 20 Iraqis died in a swell of violence, including a bomb that killed a police colonel and four children.
Still, with the toll among American service members in the Iraq war approaching 2,000 dead, the U.S. military said it has hampered insurgents' ability to unleash more devastating suicide bombings with a series of offensives in western towns that disrupted militant operations.
"We have interrupted the flow of the suicide missions into the large urban areas. Certainly, we have had success denying free movement of car bombs into Baghdad," Brig. Gen. Donald Alston told reporters in the capital.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/10/23/international/i132318D53.DTL
Stories in the stones
High-desert canyon a canvas for massive rock-art collection
Spud Hilton, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Coso Mountains (Inyo County) -- Our group stops for a minute under the rotisserie lamp of the high-desert sun and considers a crude, 1,000-year-old picture chipped into the sunburned lava wall. Most likely it's of an ancient holy man garbed in the elaborate headdress and robes of his sacred calling.
Or maybe it's a cheese grater.
It's a mystery, really. Experts aren't even positive who carved more than 6,000 images on the walls of the milelong Little Petroglyph Canyon in the Coso Mountains. What message were they trying to convey? Why this place? Were carvings sacred? Did these people shred cheese?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/23/TRGHPFAVM71.DTL&type=travel
Michael Moore Today
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
Stage is Set
White House braces for leak week
Lawyers in CIA-leak case say charges possible this week
By Adam Entous / Reuters
WASHINGTON - Federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald appears to be laying the groundwork for indictments this week over the outing of a covert CIA operative, including possible charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, lawyers involved in case said on Sunday.
Top administration officials are expected to learn from Fitzgerald as early as Monday whether they will face charges as the prosecutor winds up his nearly two-year investigation, the lawyers said.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4622
Prelude to a Leak
Gang fight: How Cheney and his tight-knit team launched the Iraq war, chased their critics—and set the stage for a special prosecutor's dramatic probe.
By John Barry, Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball / Newsweek
Oct. 31, 2005 issue - It is the nature of bureaucracies that reports are ordered up and then ignored. In February 2002, Vice President Dick Cheney received a CIA briefing that touched on Saddam Hussein's attempts to build nuclear bombs. Cheney, who was looking for evidence to support an Iraq invasion, was especially interested in one detail: a report that claimed Saddam attempted to purchase uranium from Niger. At the end of the briefing, Cheney or an aide told the CIA man that the vice president wanted to know more about the subject. It was a common enough request. "Principals" often ask briefers for this sort of thing. But when the vice president of the United States makes a request, underlings jump. Midlevel officials in the CIA's clandestine service quickly arranged to send Ambassador Joseph Wilson to Niger to investigate the uranium claims. A seasoned diplomat, Wilson had good connections in the region. He would later say his week in Africa convinced him that the story was bogus, and said so to his CIA debriefers. The agency handed the information up the chain, but there is no record that it ever reached Cheney. Like hundreds of other reports that slosh through the bureaucracy each day, Wilson's findings likely made their way to the middle of a pile. The vice president has said he never knew about Wilson's trip, and never saw any report.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4625
Hutchinson: Indictments Should Be “On a Crime and Not Some Perjury Technicality”
On Meet the Press, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson picks up where Bill Kristol left off:
I certainly hope that if there is going to be an indictment that says something happened, that it is an indictment on a crime and not some perjury technicality where they couldn’t indict on the crime so they go to something just to show that their two years of investigation were not a waste of time and dollars.
Perjury is just a little technicality punishable by up to five years in prison.
UPDATE: Video on Crooks and Liars.
http://thinkprogress.org/2005/10/23/hutchinson-technicality/
Patrick J. Fitzgerald
Special Counsel
Chicago Office:
Dirksen Federal Building
219 South Dearborn Street, Fifth Floor
Chicago, Illinois 60604
(312) 353-5300
Washington Office:
Bond Federal Building
1400 New York Avenue, NW, Ninth Floor
Washington D.C. 20530
Please address all correspondence
to the Washington Office
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/iln/osc/
Suspected Illegal Workers Found at Halliburton Job Site
By Griff Witte / Washington Post
Federal agents have identified 10 suspected illegal immigrants working at a naval base near New Orleans where the Halliburton Co. subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root is leading hurricane reconstruction, according to a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
A spokesman for the base said last night that 13 workers were barred from the base this week for lack of proper work papers, and that they were employees of Texas-based BMS Catastrophe. Officials of the company could not be reached yesterday for comment.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4615
Little Support for Bush Immigration Plan
Congress and Advocates Question Guest Worker and Return Proposals
By Darryl Fears / Washington Post
The Bush administration's plan to allow illegal immigrants and foreign nationals to work in the United States for up to six years before being sent home is being criticized by observers on both sides of the political spectrum as "vague," "lacking detail" and unlikely to gain support in Congress.
"The administration hasn't given any detail. They're not interested in passing it. They're just interested in talking about it," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that seeks to limit immigration. "In the software business, they call this vaporware. They don't want to offend this side or the other side, so they punt."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4614
DeLay makes first court appearance
By R. Jeffrey Smith / Washington Post
AUSTIN, TEXAS - Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, appeared in court for the first time Friday to answer the money-laundering and conspiracy charges against him, but the presiding judge quickly adjourned the proceedings after DeLay's lawyers accused him of bias and asked him to withdraw.
DeLay did not speak during the brief session, in which his attorneys posted a bond for his appearance and explained the grounds for alleging that the judge's record of campaign contributions to Democrats and liberal organizations demonstrated "a personal bias" against DeLay.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4617
Blasts rattle Baghdad and Kirkuk as US toll rises
By Aseel Kami / Reuters
BAGHDAD - At least three car bombs and several roadside bombs hit U.S. and Iraqi security forces in Baghdad and the northern city of Kirkuk on Sunday, killing at least eight people and wounding dozens more, Iraqi police said.
The past 10 days have seen a relative lull in violence despite a constitutional referendum on October 15 and the start of Saddam Hussein's trial for crimes against humanity. But U.S. commanders have warned of more attacks in the run-up to December 15 elections that they fear insurgents will try to disrupt.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4624
They are Not Numbers
...a message from Cindy Sheehan
I received this email the other day. I have removed the names:
Dear Ms. Sheehan ~ I wasn't sure how else to contact you, so am sending this thru the gsfp website. I just want to thank you for posting your essay entitled, 'A Peaceful Day' dated October 17th on the commondreams.org website, a site I visit every weekday.
My cousin, "brave soldier", 30, originally of Indiana, was one of the five U.S. soldiers killed on Saturday, October 15th -- Iraq's 'peaceful day.' He is survived by his wife, his two children, his parents, his sister, our grandma, his aunt, his two uncles and his two cousins. We are currently awaiting confirmation per dna identification.
I thank you for taking notice. The loss of his life and that of his comrades does not make for a peaceful day ~ may their souls will rest in peace.
Thank you for your efforts.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=524
Poll shows Iraqis back attacks on UK, US forces
LONDON (Reuters) - Forty-five percent of Iraqis believe attacks on U.S. and British troops are justified, according to a secret poll said to have been commissioned by British defense leaders and cited by The Sunday Telegraph.
Less than 1 percent of those polled believed that the forces were responsible for any improvement in security, according to poll figures.
Eighty-two percent of those polled said they were "strongly opposed" to the presence of the troops.
The paper said the poll, conducted in August by an Iraqi university research team, was commissioned by the Ministry of Defense.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4620
The Australian
UN talks on sanctions for Syria
October 25, 2005
BEIRUT: A special session of the UN Security Council is tonight expected to consider sanctions on Syria as the US, Britain and France call for international action to be taken over a UN investigation that implicated Syrian officials in the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.
German investigator Detlev Mehlis will brief the 15 member-states of the Security Council on his report into Hariri's murder.
Mr Mehlis is likely to be given a mandate to continue his investigation for another two months. That will probably give Damascus a few more weeks to consider its options -- none of them good.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17024592%255E601,00.html
Bush not a prototype
Anti-US bigots should recognise that Americans are not unblinkingly right-wing, argues Mal Bozic
October 25, 2005
ON a recent visit to an inner-east Sydney cafe, I was confronted with that popular new intellectual pastime of many Australians: radical anti-Americanism. Prominently displayed under the wall-mounted menu was a faded American flag and next to it a supposedly thought-provoking question: "Would you like world domination with that?"
The tone of the Chomskyesque quote was like something out of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion while the message was reminiscent of the Sinophobic gold rush-era cartoons. After it was pointed out that the wall was being used for what amounted to racist sloganeering, the best the barista could come up with was a "so what?" expression on her face. Apparently, anti-Americanism is the prejudice du jour.
No longer afflicting only those mythical tribes with a fondness for latte or chardonnay, the loud and proud hatred of everything the US stands for is becoming the default ideological setting across political, economic and municipal lines. My awareness of this fledgling mood received a shot in the arm when I was made out to be the intellectual outcast at a recent dinner party among educated Westerners. My sin? Failure to find a moral justification for suicide bombings.
Yet such a public endorsement of xenophobic sentiments as exhibited by the said cafe was surprising, not least given the location. Apparently, under the prevailing political correctness regime, some nationalities are more equal than others.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17020330%255E7583,00.html
Aborigines up in arms at rape of reef
Mark Dodd
October 25, 2005
ABORIGINES at One Arm Point are angry at the plundering by Indonesians of valuable trochus shell from their traditional fishing grounds.
Local Bardi community fishermen raised the alarm, leading to the arrest of 21 Indonesian fishermen on Saturday, when their boat was found high and dry on Brue Reef, about 250km north of Broome.
Local teacher Jon Faulkiner said the Indonesians' bags were stuffed with undersize and oversize trochus, as well as other reef plunder.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17025041%255E2702,00.html
Proof we've made a meal of fish stocks
Seafood menus going back 150 years have helped chart the changing fortunes of dozens of marine species, writes Mark Henderson
October 25, 2005
RESTAURANT menus dating back to the 1850s have allowed scientists to track the decline of marine species, providing crucial information that will help protect the most vulnerable sea life.
A study of the cost of seafood on more than 200,000 American restaurant menus has revealed fluctuating prices that reflect the changing abundance of dozens of species over the past 150 years.
The records show how the price, adjusted for inflation, of fish and shellfish, including lobster, swordfish, oysters, halibut, haddock and sole, has climbed as stocks have collapsed.
Lobster, for example, fetched little more than a couple of US dollars a pound in the 1850s.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17024645%255E30417,00.html
Suspect troops on Timor border
Mark Dodd
October 25, 2005
A NOTORIOUS Indonesian army battalion implicated in mass killings, torture and mutilation - including the 1999 murder of a Dutch journalist - is in charge of security along the border with East Timor.
The UN Serious Crimes Unit in East Timor charged Indonesian battalion 745 with the 1999 murders of 21 civilians, including journalist Sander Thoenes.
The head of the UN in Dili, Sukehiro Hasegawa, warned last week about the notorious battalion's presence along the border.
In a cable to UN headquarters in New York dated October 17 -- a copy of which has been obtained by The Australian -- Mr Hasegawa raised serious concerns about militia-related violence along the border surrounding the Oecussi enclave. He also flagged worries about the unit's presence so close to East Timor.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17025193%255E31477,00.html
Labor backs 'late' deal with chemists
Patricia Karvelas, Steve Lewis
October 25, 2005
LABOR has backed an $11.75billion agreement with pharmacists for essential medicines to be made available to all consumers -- but criticised Health Minister Tony Abbott for being tardy.
As revealed by The Australian yesterday, the minister and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia have agreed on a five-year plan that will force chemists to cut their retail margins. Taxpayers will also underwrite a $150million plan to deliver medicines to the bush, through a new Community Service Obligation.
Location rules will be relaxed to allow new chemists to operate in shopping malls and all-night medical centres.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17024968%255E23289,00.html
Bird flu spreads in Europe
From correspondents in London
October 22, 2005
A PARROT imported from Latin America has become the first bird to die of avian flu in Britain, bringing the danger of the deadly virus much further west across the European Union as the global battle against the disease continued today.
Meanwhile yet another avian flu outbreak was reported in Russia, this time in the southern Urals region of Chelyabinsk, and among swans at a Croatian lake.
Officials confirmed cases of the virus found in the parrot from Surinam, which died in British quarantine.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16999928%255E23289,00.html
Australia to ban Canadian birds
October 21, 2005
AUSTRALIA will immediately impose a ban the import of birds from Canada until there is an adequate explanation about how pigeons that tested positive for avian flu antibodies reached Australia.
Federal agriculture minister Peter McGauran will ask officials at the Canadian embassy about the consignment of pigeons which arrived in Australian with full veterinary documentation from Canadian authorities that said they were disease-free.
Three of the 102 birds tested positive to avian influenza antibodies and for Newcastle Disease antibodies.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16988666%255E23289,00.html
EU draws up flu pandemic plans
From correspondents in London
October 21, 2005
EU member states have drawn up plans to deal with a flu pandemic and organise stockpiles or orders for antiviral drugs, the bloc's health commissioner said today.
But Markos Kyprianou told a news conference after an informal meeting of European health ministers that despite the discovery of the deadly H5N1 virus in birds in Romania and Turkey, the risk to the general population in Europe was low.
"The appearance of flu in birds in Europe does not increase the risk of a pandemic," he said.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16988657%255E23289,00.html
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