The Chicago Tribune
Gases highest in 650,000 years
By Usha Lee McFarling
Tribune Newspapers: Los Angeles Times
Published November 25, 2005
A nearly 2-mile-long core of ice--the oldest frozen sample ever drilled from the underbelly of Antarctica--shows that levels of two greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide and methane, have not been as high as they are today for 650,000 years.
The research, published Friday in the journal Science, describes the content of the greenhouse gases within the core and shows that carbon dioxide levels today are 27 percent higher than they have been in the last 650,000 years and levels of methane, an even more powerful greenhouse gas, are 130 percent higher, said Thomas Stocker, a climate researcher at the University of Bern and senior member of the European ice-coring team that wrote two papers based on the core.
The work provides more evidence that human activity since the Industrial Revolution dramatically has altered the planet's climate system, scientists said.
"This is saying, `Yeah, we had it right.' We can pound on the table harder and say, `This is real,'" said Richard Alley, a Penn State University geophysicist and ice core expert not involved with the analysis.
Previous records, from an ice core drilled at the Russian Antarctic station Vostok, extended back 440,000 years.
Ice cores are plugs drilled from glaciers and ice sheets. They are composed of tens of thousands of layers of fallen snow and air bubbles that become compressed over time. The chemistry of the ice reveals what temperatures were in the distant past, while bubbles within the ice are minuscule time capsules that capture samples of air and greenhouse gases as they existed hundreds of thousands of years ago.
The ice core was drilled by the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica from a high plateau in East Antarctica called Dome C that rises about 2 miles above sea level.
The last time carbon dioxide levels were as high as or higher than today was probably tens of millions of years ago, Alley said. Over millions of years, carbon dioxide levels shift because of slow geological processes, such as weathering of rocks, swallowing of crust into subduction zones and the release of gases from volcanoes. But these processes are much slower and more gradual than the current rapid increase of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels, Alley said.
Scientists are enthusiastic about the ice core because it includes about eight full glacial cycles. The Vostok sample had four. The Vostok sample also showed that warm interglacial periods lasted about 10,000 years. Because the current temperate interglacial period has lasted about 12,000 years, many scientists speculated the planet was overdue for an ice age.
But the new core shows that the interglacial period of 440,000 years ago, when Earth's position relative to the sun was very similar to what it is today, lasted nearly 30,000 years and was not ended by natural decreases in carbon dioxide, Stocker said. The work suggests that the next ice age is about 15,000 years away.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0511250123nov25,1,5984206.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Patriot Act deal blocked
Left, right coalition holds up extension
By Jill Zuckman
Washington Bureau
Published November 19, 2005
WASHINGTON -- A near-agreement to extend the controversial USA Patriot Act was blocked Friday by an odd-bedfellows coalition of liberals and conservatives who protested that it did too little to protect Americans' civil liberties.
The act, which gives law-enforcement officials wide power to use wiretaps and to search people in the United States, was Congress' main response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
But critics have complained about the powers it gives police to invade the privacy of citizens. Among other things, the act allows officials to examine library records and to search homes without residents knowing it.
The concerns resulted in an unusual coalition of Republicans and Democrats in the Senate and House. The lawmakers were sufficiently upset at the latest proposed revisions in the act that on Friday leaders agreed to drop immediate consideration of it, partly to avoid a threatened filibuster in the Senate over the weekend.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0511190278nov19,1,4865736.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Ashcroft turns into hired gun
Justice Department drops case against company he counseled
By Andrew Zajac
Washington Bureau
Published November 19, 2005
WASHINGTON -- Less than a month after Oracle Corp. hired former Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft's lobbying firm, the Justice Department notified Oracle that an antitrust inquiry into its proposed $5.8 billion acquisition of a rival database software firm had been dropped.
The decision, announced Tuesday by the department, was no doubt welcome news for Ashcroft's budding lobbying and consulting career that began last May, just three months after he ended a tumultuous tenure as the nation's top law-enforcement officer.
The Justice Department said the case was decided on its merits.
As attorney general at the time of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Ashcroft oversaw a sharp increase of domestic surveillance in the name of national security. Critics on both the left and right said some of his policies damaged civil liberties.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0511190256nov19,1,3161796.story
Ex-FEMA chief to launch disaster preparedness firm
Items compiled from Tribune news services
Published November 25, 2005
DENVER, COLORADO -- Former FEMA Director Michael Brown, heavily criticized for his agency's slow response to Hurricane Katrina, is starting a disaster preparedness consulting firm to help clients avoid the sort of errors that cost him his job.
"If I can help people focus on preparedness, how to be better prepared in their homes and better prepared in their businesses--because that goes straight to the bottom line--then I hope I can help the country in some way," Brown told the Rocky Mountain News for its Thursday editions.
Brown said officials need to "take inventory" of what's going on in a disaster to be able to answer questions to avoid appearing unaware of how serious a situation is.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0511250126nov25,1,7229619.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Stormier pattern: 1"+ thundery rains late Sunday, then snow next week
Published November 25, 2005
Chicagoans shiver Friday in readings more typical of January than November. Overnight readings have been the coldest here since Jan. 28's low of 2(degrees). Friday, which is the busiest shopping day of the year, will feature highs so cold, readings at such levels occur this early in a cold season only once every 10 years on average. But, the thermal pendulum is about to swing the other way. An active atmospheric pattern is taking hold across North America, threatening a parade of storm systems across the Lower 48. The collapse of a high pressure ridge aloft is allowing Pacific storms access to U.S. airspace. The first of the coming series sends a warm front north across the area Friday night. Light overrunning snowfall with the front begins this afternoon, then gradually shifts north overnight. South winds behind it boost temperatures 20 degrees with highs approaching 60(degrees) by Sunday afternoon. Big rains--some with thunder--develop later that night. Rain totals could reach 1-2". And while flurries or snow showers linger Tuesday, a second storm system's approach later next week could introduce more general snowfall Thursday and Friday.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0511250093nov25,1,671195.column?coll=chi-news-hed
Vigil keeps light on missing woman
Aurora drug counselor was last seen Oct. 30
By James Kimberly
Tribune staff reporter
Published November 19, 2005
In the stillness of a nearly vacant building at the College of DuPage, 23 women clasped hands Friday evening and prayed for the safe return of an Aurora woman whose mysterious disappearance three weeks ago continues to vex Aurora police.
Marilyn Bethell, 47, recently graduated from the school and began working as a state-licensed substance abuse counselor. She was last seen Oct. 30 at the SHARE program in Hoffman Estates, where she was a counselor.
Some of those who gathered Friday had known Bethell for years, others had only recently met her. They came, they said, to make sure their missing friend was remembered.
"I think she will stay in our hearts forever," said Linda Tkachenko of Addison.
Aurora police spokesman Dan Ferrelli said the investigation into Bethell's disappearance continues. There were no developments to report as of Friday, Ferrelli said.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0511190132nov19,1,81371.story?coll=chi-news-hed
2nd grand jury to get evidence in leak probe
By Cam Simpson
Washington Bureau
Published November 19, 2005
WASHINGTON -- For the first time since he secured the indictment of a senior White House official three weeks ago in the CIA leak case, special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald said Friday he would present evidence to a new federal grand jury.
Fitzgerald's latest statement set off a new round of speculation in Washington about whether he would seek charges against any other Bush administration officials, even though he had previously suggested he would "keep a grand jury available" for the case.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0511190249nov19,1,3882694.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Grizzly bears around Yellowstone could lose status as endangered species
By MARY CLARE JALONICK
Associated Press Writer
Published November 15, 2005, 11:40 AM CST
WASHINGTON -- Grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone National Park should be removed from the endangered species list after 30 years of federal protection, the Department of Interior said Tuesday.
The number of grizzlies in the Yellowstone area has grown at a rate of 4 to 7 percent per year since the bear was listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1975, Interior Secretary Gale Norton said. Federal wildlife officials estimate that more than 600 grizzly bears now live in the region, which includes parts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/chi-051115grizzly,1,3968874.story?coll=chi-homepagetravel-hed
Iran has warhead papers, EU says
By George Jahn
Associated Press
Published November 25, 2005
VIENNA -- The European Union accused Iran on Thursday of having documents that show how to make nuclear warheads and joined the United States in warning Tehran it faced referral to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.
Iran suggested it was considering a compromise to reduce tensions.
Britain, in a statement on behalf of the 25-nation EU, offered new negotiations meant to lessen concerns over Iran's insistence that it be in full control of uranium enrichment, a possible pathway to nuclear arms.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0511250142nov25,1,6508495.story?coll=chi-news-hed
The Calgary Herald
Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan after armoured vehicle rolls over
Stephen Thorne
Canadian Press
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Private Braun Scott Woodfield of Victoria, B.C., was killed in Afghanistan Thursday. (Department of National Defence
OTTAWA (CP) - A Canadian soldier has been killed and four others injured when their armoured vehicle rolled over in southern Afghanistan.
No explosive devices nor enemy action were involved in the accident, which occurred during a routine patrol Thursday on the main highway 45 kilometres northeast of Kandahar, said the deputy chief of defence staff, Lt-Gen. Marc Dumais. The dead soldier was identified as 24-year-old Pte. Braun Scott Woodfield, who was born in Victoria and raised in Eastern Passage, N.S.
In Kelowna, B.C., Prime Minister Paul Martin called it a "sombre day," saying he was deeply saddened by what he called a tragic accident.
http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=c6b255d9-37e8-4894-8529-5e36f04e94f8
Abandoned baby's rescuer wonders where she is now
'Mary' turns 18; city man hoping for reunion
Gwendolyn Richards
Calgary Herald
Friday, November 25, 2005
CREDIT: Dean Bicknell, Calgary Herald
Blaine MacLean holds up a note of thanks he received from Mary's adoptive parents in 1988. He hasn't heard of her since.
That afternoon replays like a movie in Blaine MacLean's mind. The icy, biting cold, the quiet whimper and the chance encounter with a tiny baby whose life he saved.
Now, 18 years later, MacLean is hoping for a reunion with the girl who became known to everyone in Calgary as Mary.
"I'd like to meet her, be part of her life," he said.
Baby Mary, the infant who captured city's hearts when she was found abandoned in a northeast parking lot, will turn 18 today.
She can vote in the next federal election, and take her first legal sip of alcohol.
http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/news/city/story.html?id=65a72f59-ef00-4515-8ab1-c6eb6904c2da
Alberta news roundup: Nov. 24
Broadcast News
Thursday, November 24, 2005
An Edmonton man has been charged with having sex and making child pornography with a 13-year-old girl he met on the Internet.
Thirty-year-old Quentin Noel Tarry is facing six charges.
An Edmonton judge has refused to grant bail.
RCMP say the girl met the man through an on-line dating service and told him she was 19.
The two had a couple of dates before the man learned the girl's real age, but kept the relationship going anyway.
http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=4000258f-68d0-4094-a054-d835663c84f4
Bird flu throughout Indonesian capital; spreads through Vietnam's poultry
Chris Brummitt
Canadian Press
Friday, November 25, 2005
A government official throws a bird cage into fire during a poultry culling at the neighborhood where it has been confirmed that a teenage girl died of bird flu earlier this month, in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Friday. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Bird flu has been detected throughout the Indonesian capital, while hard-hit Vietnam reported another outbreak as farmers there struggle to sell poultry, officials said Friday.
"It is very serious," said Indonesian Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono. "Based on our research, the virus has spread all over the city" of Jakarta. The findings were announced after random samples were gathered from backyard farms throughout the sprawling capital. Authorities on Friday also destroyed 400 fowl in a residential area of Jakarta near the home of a young girl who died from the disease.
http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=2811c2fc-e3d6-4e09-a82b-625dd965aa9c
NHL hit by doping claims
Head of watchdog agency says drugs widespread
Jim Kernaghan, with a file from Kerry Williamson, Calgary Herald
The Canadian Press
Friday, November 25, 2005
Dick Pound, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, says he suspects as many as one-third of the National Hockey League's 700 players may take some form of performance-enhancing substance.
"I spoke with (NHL commissioner) Gary (Bettman) and he said: 'We don't have the problem in hockey,' " Pound said Thursday in an interview after speaking at the University of Western Ontario's law school.
"I told him he does. You wouldn't be far wrong if you said a third (of hockey players are gaining some pharmaceutical assistance)."
http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=affd67fe-eea1-4c8e-9326-3faeca917b6f
Satellite radio hits Canada
Calgary Herald
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Canada's first satellite radio service -- boasting commercial-free music, news and even hockey -- was launched Tuesday.
We want to know what you think. Would you be willing to pay $13 a month for ad-free satellite radio? Give us your thoughts in our canada.com Soundoff! below.
XM Canada's service includes eight Canadian channels and 72 foreign offerings. The radios needed to receive the signals, costing from $100 to $400, go on sale next week.
"This is a historic day for consumer choice, for music lovers, hockey fans and for all Canadians," said XM Canada CEO Stephen Tapp.
http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/soundoff/story.html?id=20c645e8-d494-4f77-9861-d89cf17c3099
Police ordered to write more tickets
Council seeks extra $1M a year in fine revenue
Colette Derworiz and Emma Poole
Calgary Herald
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Calgary's top cop said he's not interested in turning the force into a money-maker, despite calls from city council to increase fine and other revenues within the service's budget.
Chief Jack Beaton said it's unlikely the service will be able to meet council's $3-million revenue expectation next year -- more than $1 million more than what was projected.
Aldermen approved the change in a 9-6 vote as they tried to find ways to cut millions from its 2006-08 budget, which calls for a 5.4 per cent tax increase next year.
Beaton was disappointed with council's expectation of the police service as a revenue generator.
"We don't want to write tickets for the sake of writing tickets," Beaton said late Monday. "We do traffic enforcement for one reason -- safety."
The police budget for 2006 is $187 million, with nearly $2.1 million in projected revenues. The amendment would add an extra $1 million next year.
Ald. Bob Hawkesworth, who proposed the change, said it will be a good incentive for drivers to obey the rules of the road.
"These are expenses people can avoid by driving within the speed limit," he said, noting it would bring additional revenues to one of the city's biggest departments while reducing property taxes.
Hawkesworth said it's a wise move if it makes the streets safer.
But Ald. Craig Burrows, who sits on the Calgary Police Commission, said it would be difficult for police to generate $1 million in extra revenue.
http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/soundoff/story.html?id=0d58b5a1-2d80-42c7-b5a1-9efdd4e077e2
The Miami Herald
Make South Florida evacuation a priority
OUR OPINION: PLANNING TODAY CAN AVERT TOMORROW'S STORM DISASTERS
Florida's Department of Community Affairs failed to live up to its responsibility when it approved Homestead's plans to build 2,600 more homes smack in the evacuation path of the Florida Keys and South Miami-Dade County, despite serious objections by regional planners. Overbuilding at the southern tip of Florida spells disaster for residents who may have to flee from a killer hurricane via inadequate roads.
North on clogged roads
The Legislature and Gov. Jeb Bush should intervene to protect residents and prevent a calamity. Florida also must adjust its growth management to take into account a predicted decades-long cycle of active hurricane seasons. Evacuation concerns are not a technicality that the DCA can brush aside. Before getting the go-ahead for major development, Homestead and other areas must resolve questions about the impact of new buildings and more people on hurricane evacuation.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/13253007.htm
Margate trailers ready, waiting
Aztec Estates is the latest FEMA travel-trailer community to sprout up in Broward County after Hurricane Wilma. Yet many trailers still lack occupants.
BY NATALIE P. McNEAL
nmcneal@herald.com
Margate's Aztec Estates is a winding mobile home community with cul-de-sacs and interesting street names such as Cortez and Sundial.
Nowadays, this community is also home to new neighbors: Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers, brought in to house victims of Hurricane Wilma.
For about a week and a half, residents have made note of the new travel trailers in their community.
''We welcome them,'' said Bissoon Maharaj, 45, a nine-year resident of Aztec. ``We are lucky to have a place to stay after the storm. We can't turn them away.''
Along Aztec's circular streets, the small stark white trailers stand out among the park's double-wide trailers.
The FEMA trailers are new, but built to house three people. And most of them are empty.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13252333.htm
Rainy weekend ahead as Gamma edges closer
By MARTIN MERZER
mmerzer@herald.com
Thousands of hurricane-weary South Floridians living under blue tarps or in other damaged structures faced a new threat this weekend: Heavy rain and gusty wind from Tropical Storm Gamma.
Forecasters said the storm -- much weaker than Hurricane Wilma, which rampaged through the region less than four weeks ago -- could follow a similar trail on Monday.
Uncertain predictions carried the center of Gamma across the western tip of Cuba and had it brushing the Florida Keys and the rest of South Florida as it raced into the Atlantic.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13207287.htm
A bittersweet $60.9 million
A judge has awarded a Hialeah couple $60.9 million for a Navy hospital's negligence during their son's birth.
BY NIKKI WALLER AND NOAKI SCHWARTZ
nwaller@herald.com
A federal judge this week awarded $60.9 million to a Hialeah couple whose son suffered severe brain damage when he was born in a Jacksonville Navy hospital two years ago.
The award is believed to be the largest ever under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which allows private citizens to sue the federal government for the negligent conduct of government employees.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13253002.htm
Tut exhibit fails to face facts, some scholars say
The much-anticipated King Tutankhamun exhibit has provoked discussion about the historical portrayals of ancient Egyptians.
BY DARRAN SIMON
dsimon@herald.com
The new King Tut exhibit coming to Fort Lauderdale's Museum of Art next month revisits an old discussion that has burned for decades: What did ancient Egyptians look like?
The exhibit, which runs Dec. 15 to April 23, features computer-generated re-creations of Tut that some activists say portray the young king with white features.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13253025.htm
Government blinks in 'dirty bomber' case
OUR OPINION: ADMINISTRATION SHOULD DISCLAIM 'ENEMY COMBATANT' THEORY
Announcing the indictment of alleged ''dirty bomber'' José Padilla, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales dismissed questions about the civil-liberties implications of this troubling case. The president was authorized to detain the alleged ''dirty bomber'' as an enemy combatant, Mr. Gonzales declared, hence justifying Mr. Padilla's three-year-long incarceration without being charged. ''I'll leave it at that,'' he added. That's not good enough.
Legal system at work
Americans need to know whether the administration still claims the right to arrest U.S. citizens on U.S. soil, place them in military custody and strip them of virtually all their civil liberties. That's what happened to Mr. Padilla, once portrayed as so evil that it was necessary to resort to the ''enemy combatant'' designation to keep him locked up. But this week, just days before the theory could be tested before the Supreme Court, the administration blinked. Apparently, the legal system that has served this country well for more than 200 years can, after all, accommodate the likes of José Padilla.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/13253005.htm
The Moscow Times
Putin Backs Turkey as Energy Hub
By Christian Lowe and Ercan Ersoy
Reuters
Sergei Zhukov / Itar-Tass
Putin, left, inspecting the Turkish-Russian gas pipeline with Erdogan and Berlusconi in Samsun, Turkey, on Thursday.
SAMSUN, Turkey -- The leaders of Russia, Turkey and Italy pledged on Thursday to boost oil and gas cooperation and bring Europe greater energy security after inaugurating a natural gas pipeline under the Black Sea.
The inauguration of the Blue Stream line also capped a big improvement in economic ties between Russia and NATO member Turkey as they set aside historic rivalries in favor of trade.
President Vladimir Putin raised the possibility of a second pipeline carrying Russian natural gas and oil to Turkey, while Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said his country aimed to become a key energy hub for Europe and the Middle East.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/11/18/042.html
Putin Stands By Tough NGO Bill
By Anatoly Medetsky
Staff Writer
Alexei Panov / Itar-Tass
Putin meeting with Pamfilova at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence on Thursday.
President Vladimir Putin on Thursday responded to worries of a looming crackdown on nongovernmental organizations by insisting that foreign funding of any political activity in Russia must come under state control.
But Putin, making his first public remarks about a contentious NGO bill that the State Duma approved in a first reading Wednesday, also stressed that the legislation must not damage civil society.
The bill in its current version would, among other things, require NGOs to reregister with the Justice Ministry and empower authorities to check that NGOs do not use foreign grants to finance political activities. Foreign NGOs have warned that the bill would shut them down.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/11/25/001.html
A Parliament Built for Kadyrov
By Nabi Abdullaev
Staff Writer
Artur Magomadov / AP
A woman fixing an election poster for Khozh-Akhmed Khaladov, a candidate from Grozny, to a wall on Thursday.
The new Chechen parliament, which will be elected Sunday, looks likely to be packed with allies of powerful Chechen First Deputy Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov, and their main mandate promises to be to prepare the way for a Kadyrov presidency.
Other local clans and interest groups can expect to be shut out from making any major decisions in the parliament, and ordinary Chechens probably should not count on lawmakers to protect their interests.
"The lawmakers will not be allowed to lobby for any interests but Kadyrov's," said Alexander Cherkasov, a representative of Memorial, the respected human rights organization that has been sharply critical of both Kadyrov and the elections.
"With or without the parliament, Chechnya will still be ruled by the man who wields the biggest gun," he added, referring to Kadyrov.
Eight national parties are running in the elections, and many hastily set up their Chechen branches within the past two months with the backing of Chechen officials. Kadyrov loyalists have taken key posts in many of those branches. In addition, most of the top spots on the parties' electoral lists -- including those of United Russia -- are occupied by regional officials.
A ninth party, the liberal Republican Party, also applied but was rejected over a technicality. Its candidates are running in single-mandate districts.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/11/25/002.html
Gypsy Romance
The Bolshoi revives "Carmen Suite," the ballet that was almost too sensuous for the Soviet authorities at its 1967 debut.
By Raymond Stults
Published: November 25, 2005
As part of its celebrations honoring the 80th birthday of ballerina Maya Plisetskaya, the Bolshoi Theater last Friday revived "Carmen Suite," a ballet that Plisetskaya danced at the Bolshoi some 130 times following its 1967 premiere and one of her greatest triumphs. To accompany "Carmen Suite," the theater introduced a brand-new work called "The Card Game," choreographed by Bolshoi ballet artistic director Alexei Ratmansky to music of Igor Stravinsky.
The sexually charged "Carmen Suite" barely made it to the stage in the officially puritanical Soviet Union of the Brezhnev era. But thanks to her iron will and enormous prestige, Plisetskaya managed to overcome -- or at least circumvent -- opposition from the country's cultural authorities. The choreography, much of it reflecting the native dances of Spain, was created by Cuban master Alberto Alonso. Music and decor were a family affair, the former a score by Plisetskaya's husband, Rodion Shchedrin, loosely based on Georges Bizet's opera "Carmen," the latter devised by her artist cousin, Boris Messerer.
http://context.themoscowtimes.com/story/157814/
Global Eye
First Light
By Chris Floyd
Published: November 25, 2005
Last week, America's troubled sleep was shattered by a trumpet blast of truth sounding deep in Washington's corridors of power, where the rule of the Lie has held sway for so long. This intrusion of reality into the bloodstained fantasyland of the Bush Regime comes late in the day for the moribund Republic -- perhaps too late -- but it has struck a mighty blow against the Lie's adherents, driving them into spasms of hysterical panic, like rats exposed suddenly to the light.
The unlikely instigator of this historic upheaval was U.S. Representative John Murtha, the 73-year-old conservative Democrat and war hawk, one of many "opposition" leaders who once strongly backed President George W. Bush's murderous folly in Iraq. Murtha, a Vietnam vet, has been a stalwart of the military-industrial complex for decades, supporting U.S. wars around the world and showering legislative largess on the weapons industry -- which has obligingly kicked back lobbying contracts to his kin and friends, The Los Angeles Times reports.
http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/11/25/120.html
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