The Cheney Observer
TX-28: A Statement from Ciro Rodriguez
Posted by Tracy Joan
This morning Ciro Rodriguez released the following statement:
“Last night we didn’t receive the outcome we had hoped for. The end result was true to the intentions of Tom Delay when he carved out this district for his friend — geographic rivalries won out over a true discussion of the issues for working families.
I congratulate Mr. Cuellar on his victory, however, and I hold no bitterness or ill will.
I do hope, however, that he takes seriously the message sent by over 47% of the voters — and by a community of progressive donors from across the country — that a Democratic congressman’s first responsibility is to stand up for the needs of seniors, of children and of working families.
Especially in South and Central Texas, where so many mothers and fathers have sacrificed their whole lives for their children, and so many veterans have answered the call of their country, we need a Democratic congressman to put his personal political ambitions aside and take a stand for Social Security, for quality, public schools, and for affordable health care for all.
The driving force behind our campaign was a group of volunteers who took such a stand — students, retirees, and working people from all parts of the District. For their commitment and dedication, Carolina and I will be forever grateful.
And I believe I speak for all our supporters and campaign team when I say that we were profoundly touched by the thousands of regular working families from throughout the country who helped fund our effort with their checks of $5, $10, and $20. They looked beyond geographic and cultural differences and sent a message that we are all Americans and that we must stand and act together to reclaim our government.
As educators, that inspiration will forever stay with Carolina and I as we take the next step in our lifelong commitment to public service.”
http://www.swingstateproject.com/2006/03/tx28_a_statemen.php
DeLay wins four-way battle for Republican congressional nomination in Texas
WENDY BENJAMINSON
HOUSTON (AP) - In his first election since he was indicted and forced to step aside as majority leader, Representative Tom DeLay held off three challengers to keep the Republican nomination to the U.S. House.
Now he faces what many consider the real contest - a general election fight against an organized, well-funded Democrat with a score to settle.
Nick Lampson, who was unopposed in Tuesday's primary, represented a district adjacent to DeLay's for four terms until it was redrawn in a redistricting plan engineered by DeLay. Lampson lost in 2004 to Republican Ted Poe.
DeLay, 58, held on to his ballot position by avoiding public discussions of his considerable political problems - a felony money-laundering indictment, close ties to lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the loss of his leadership position.
Instead, DeLay campaigned at carefully orchestrated events, avoided direct interviews with reporters and largely focused on his hometown of Sugar Land. It paid off with a 2-to-1 victory margin over lawyer Tom Campbell, who had ties to the first Bush administration, and two other candidates.
http://canadaeast.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060308/CPW/41355024
DeLay advances to face Lampson
Former House majority leader defeats three GOP challengers
01:17 PM EST on Wednesday, March 8, 2006
By Todd J. Gillman / The Dallas Morning News
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Indicted and stripped of power, Rep. Tom DeLay went into Tuesday's GOP primary seeking another chance. Voters gave it to him.
The former House majority leader beat three GOP challengers handily enough to secure a spot on the November ballot, when he'll face former Democratic Rep. Nick Lampson, a victim of the redistricting Mr. DeLay engineered two years ago. But Democrats say the race hobbled Mr. DeLay, and they hope not simply to unseat him but to leverage his ethical and legal troubles into a tectonic shift in congressional power.
Mr. DeLay remained upbeat after his first serious race in 22 years.
"I have always placed my faith in the voters, and today's vote shows they have placed their full faith in me," he said in a statement claiming victory.
His main rival was Tom Campbell, a soft-spoken lawyer who ran one TV spot that featured voters saying "integrity" over and over.
Mr. DeLay was indicted Sept. 28 in Austin on campaign finance charges he calls politically motivated. He resigned as majority leader in January to avoid a no-confidence vote among fellow Republicans, days after lobbyist Jack Abramoff agreed to cooperate with an FBI corruption inquiry.
Mr. Campbell, a former general counsel for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under the first President Bush, pitched himself as a conservative without that sort of baggage. But it wasn't enough.
Still, challengers said they sensed an outpouring of anti-DeLay feeling. "They want an honest congressman who will look after the district," said another primary rival, Mike Fjetland, adding that with Mr. DeLay on the fall ballot, "the Republican Party will crash and burn like the Hindenburg."
The contest is already the nation's costliest House race. Mr. DeLay has raised more than $3.2 million, 13 times more than his trio of primary challengers.
Mr. Lampson has topped $2 million, and with no primary fight he has more in the bank than an incumbent who has dipped deeply into his campaign chest to pay legal bills.
"We're seeing scandal after scandal," Mr. Lampson told supporters Tuesday night. "Americans are ready for a change."
Mr. DeLay started the day at the Sugar Land Country Club, casting his ballot and shaking hands.
"We've had every leftist organization in America down here for a year. But you know what — my constituents get it," he said.
Rather than watch returns in the district, he flew to Washington, where he cast an evening vote on the Patriot Act, chatted on the House floor with colleagues and replenished his campaign chest at a high-dollar reception hosted by lobbyists, including former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson.
Critics called the election night fundraising unseemly. Mr. DeLay slipped in and out a side door, avoiding cameras.
Democrats are itching for the fight.
"He's wounded no matter what. Just the fact that he had to campaign, and call on the people he's supposed to be leading to bail him out," said Matt Angle, a longtime Texas Democratic strategist. But he added, "You never want to call him dead."
http://www.wcnc.com/sharedcontent/washington/politics_gillman/030806ccdrPolGillman.6035b8a.html
Sen. Clinton Says Rove Obsesses About Her
Feb 27th - 6:06pm
By MARC HUMBERT AP Political Writer
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Reacting to a new book quoting Karl Rove as saying she will be the 2008 Democratic nominee for president, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that President Bush's chief political strategist "spends a lot of time obsessing about me."
The former first lady also said she believed Rove, national GOP Chairman Ken Mehlman and other Republicans are using her to divert attention from Republican problems as the 2006 congressional elections approach.
"Karl Rove is a brilliant strategist. So, if I were thinking about this," she told WROW-AM radio in Albany, "I'd say, why are they spending so much time talking about me?"
"What they're hoping is that all of their missteps, which are now numbering in the hundreds, are going to somehow be overlooked because people, instead of focusing on the '06 election, will jump ahead and think about the next one," said Clinton, D-N.Y.
In the new book out Monday from Regnery Publishing, "Strategery" by Bill Sammon, Rove is quoted as saying: "Anybody who thinks that she's not going to be the candidate is kidding themselves."
Rove is also quoted as says he thinks Clinton could have difficulty in the general election, in part, because there is a "brittleness about her."
Clinton wouldn't say if she would run for president in 2008, saying she is completely focused on her re-election bid this year.
http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=213&sid=710783
What is James Baker up to now?
In the thick of the port deal
by Carol Wolman
I urge everyone to look at:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20041101/klein
James Baker's Double Life: A Special Investigation by Naomi Klein
This is an old article, which basically says that James Baker, senior advisor to the Bush family and major investor in the Carlyle group, was placed in charge of getting other countries to reduce or forgive Iraq's debt to them. The biggest creditor of Iraq is Kuwait, to which Iraq has been paying huge sums in reparations for the 1990 invasion by Saddam.
In essence, the US taxpayer is subsidizing the Iraqi government, whose limited funds are going to wealthy Kuwait rather than to rebuilding Iraq or providing basic services or security there.
According to the article, Baker has NOT reduced Iraq's payments to Kuwait, but rather has enriched the Carlyle corporation by funneling some of the payments through Kuwait to Carlyle. The article is very long and detailed, and I did not follow it all, but I urge people to look at it.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_carol_wo_060307_what_is_james_baker_.htm
James Baker's Double Life: A Special Investigation
When President Bush appointed former Secretary of State James Baker III as his envoy on Iraq's debt on December 5, 2003, he called Baker's job "a noble mission." At the time, there was widespread concern about whether Baker's extensive business dealings in the Middle East would compromise that mission, which is to meet with heads of state and persuade them to forgive the debts owed to them by Iraq. Of particular concern was his relationship with merchant bank and defense contractor the Carlyle Group, where Baker is senior counselor and an equity partner with an estimated $180 million stake.
Until now, there has been no concrete evidence that Baker's loyalties are split, or that his power as Special Presidential Envoy--an unpaid position--has been used to benefit any of his corporate clients or employers. But according to documents obtained by The Nation, that is precisely what has happened. Carlyle has sought to secure an extraordinary $1 billion investment from the Kuwaiti government, with Baker's influence as debt envoy being used as a crucial lever.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20041101/klein
SS&C Technologies Announces Record Revenue Numbers for 2005
WINDSOR, Conn. --(Business Wire)-- March 7, 2006 -- SS&C Technologies, Inc.(www.ssctech.com), a global provider of financial services software and outsourcing solutions, today announced record revenue results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2005. Reported revenue on a GAAP basis for the fourth quarter and the year 2005 was $47.4 million and $161.6 million, respectively. Included in reported revenue for the fourth quarter and the year 2005 is a $0.7 million reduction in revenue caused by purchase accounting adjustments to reflect November 23, 2005 deferred revenue at its estimated fair value. Excluding the purchase accounting adjustment, revenue for the fourth quarter of 2005 was $48.1 million, a 78% increase from the fourth quarter of 2004. Revenue for the year 2005 was $162.4 million, an increase of 69% over 2004. Net loss, on a GAAP basis, for the fourth quarter and the year 2005, was $23.5 million and $3.9 million, respectively. Merger costs related to the sale of SS&C were $44.7 million in the quarter and $45.8 million for the year 2005.
… On November 23, 2005, SS&C Technologies, Inc. was acquired by Sunshine Acquisition Corporation, a corporation affiliated with The Carlyle Group, a global private equity firm. Bill Stone, SS&C's Chairman and CEO stated, "Being a privately-held company allows us to channel all of our resources on growing our business and continuing to produce excellent financial results."
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/03/07/1436306.htm
Bush firmly standing up for his buddies in port deal
Tuesday, March 7, 2006
By David Hunt
Recently, the George W. Bush administration approved the sale of six port terminals to a ``private'' company wholly owned by the United Arab Emirates. The UAE is an oil-rich Muslim nation whose despotic monarchy has long-standing financial ties to the Bush family. They are, therefore, our ``allies.'' It also produced two of the 9-11 terrorists, has long-standing and continuing ties with the Taliban, and long-standing (if not continuing) ties with Osama bin Laden. But, no matter.
It's worth noting, in passing, that administering port authorities was once the job of our various governments. The Republicans ``privatized'' all that, saying it wasn't an ``appropriate government function.''
For all its incompetence and disinterest in governing, this administration has always had keen political instincts. How do we account for its political tone deafness in this deal? Is Bush truly so concerned that we not ``send the wrong message'' and ``damage Muslim sensibilities?''
Can you imagine the UAE saying, ``You've killed more than 100,000 innocent Muslims. You torture us. You destroy our nation's infrastructures. Your supporters call us `ragheads' and `camel jockeys' and you do not chastise them. But now you dare to renege on a business contract! Really, Mr. President, this time you have gone too far!''
http://www.mlive.com/columns/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/columns-2/1141752005317100.xml&coll=7
Who Profits from Dubai Deals? Bush - Carlyle Group
by AL MARTIN
There are two Dubai deals under scrutiny. The first was the Dubai Ports World buyout of P&O, a UK based company that manages ports around the world.
The second is the buyout of the British defense contractor called Doncasters by the Dubai Investment Capital Group, which is a private company not a Dubai state controlled company.
The Dubai Investment Capital Group has investors, which include the ruling family of Kuwait and Dubai, the Bush-family-controlled Pilgrim Investment Trust, the Dick and Lynne Cheney Trust as well as the usual Bushonian Cabal like Henry Kissinger, Paul Bremer, James Baker, George Schultz et al. By the way, the group was put together by the lead securities consultant, which is, of course, the Carlyle Group. It is essentially a large investment capital group that has been formed which is very similar to a limited partnership. And this is what it all means...This group has purchased a large British defense contractor, Doncasters, which was formerly called Doncaster Aviation, now Doncaster Group.
http://www.conspiracyplanet.com/channel.cfm?channelid=49&contentid=3304
Desperate G.O.P. Attacks the Clintons
When Republican politicians get in trouble, their defense often includes one or both of the following arguments: The Democrats are equally guilty, and it’s all Bill Clinton’s fault anyway. Such claims may be inaccurate as well as irrelevant, but if echoed often enough by conservative pundits on the airwaves and in the papers, they can serve to distract from the original embarrassment.
Consider the example of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who diligently greased his fellow Republicans. The Indian tribes represented by Mr. Abramoff greatly increased the proportion of their political donations to Republicans, while diminishing their donations to Democrats. But many in the media regurgitated the Republican spin that implicated both parties equally.
The controversy over Dubai’s attempt to purchase control of American ports is provoking a similar response. Quickly and mindlessly, the Bush administration approved the takeover by Dubai Ports World, a state-owned company. By pushing the Dubai deal—with a veto threat against any Congressional interference—Mr. Bush has drawn fresh attention to his family’s Middle East entanglements. (Remember his handholding with that Saudi prince?) The Carlyle Group boasts deep financial connections to the United Arab Emirates as well as the Bush family. The President’s father and brother Neil have both benefited directly from the largesse of Emirate rulers.
As Dubya’s public approval plunged toward Nixonian levels and shudders of fear wracked the Republican Party, a snarling counterattack was predictable. Just as inevitable was that the target would be the Clintons.
The sideshow began after the Financial Times reported, with more than a touch of exaggeration, that Dubai Ports World executives had received advice from the former President. What should have remained a minor story swiftly blossomed into headlines—and a concerted effort to damage his wife, Hillary Clinton, the junior Senator from New York and possible Presidential candidate.
http://www.observer.com/20060313/20060313_Joe_Conason_politics_joeconason.asp
Dutch media giant VNU agrees to public offer from private equity group
08/03/2006. Source: AltAssets.
Haarlem, the Netherlands and New York, US-headquartered media giant VNU and Valcon Acquisition, a holding company controlled by a private equity consortium consisting of AlpInvest Partners, The Blackstone Group, The Carlyle Group, Hellman & Friedman, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Thomas H. Lee Partners, have agreed to a public offer for VNU that values the company's equity at €7.5bn, or €28.75 per common share.
The closing of the transaction is conditioned, among other things, on 95 per cent of VNU shareholders in each class, common and preferred, tendering their shares.
VNU is an information and media company with brands such as ACNielsen in marketing information, Nielsen Media Research in media measurement and information and Adweek, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Computing, Intermediair in business information. The company employs nearly 41,000 people. Total revenues were €3.5bn in 2005.
The private equity consortium said in a joint statement, 'We are investing in the future of a company with an unmatched portfolio of market-leading assets, a highly knowledgeable and dedicated employee base and a sound strategy for the future. We intend to capitalise on these strengths by keeping VNU substantially together as an integrated company and continue to pursue its long-term strategy of improving operational efficiency and investing in product development and innovation.
'VNU's businesses bring together a unique combination of market intelligence, analysis, advice and service. We are confident that the company is well positioned to build further on these strengths,' they continued.
Originally, Permira was part of the private equity consortium but later withdrew from the group. At an earlier stage there was also another private equity consortium interested in buying VNU.
AlpInvest has approximately €30bn of assets under management. Approximately 80 per cent of these funds are invested in private equity funds globally, with the remainder invested directly in companies as a co-investor in Europe and the US. AlpInvest has approximately 55 investment professionals based in Amsterdam and New York. Its shareholders and main clients are ABP and PGGM, two large pension funds.
Blackstone, founded in 1985, has raised over $50bn for alternative asset investing. In addition to private equity investments, the Group's core businesses include real estate investments, corporate debt investments, distressed debt, marketable asset management, corporate advisory services and restructuring advisory services. Blackstone has offices in New York, Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, London, Hamburg, Paris and Mumbai.
Carlyle has approximately $35bn under management. Carlyle invests in buy-outs, venture capital, real estate and leveraged finance in North America, Europe and Asia. Since 1987 the Group has invested approximately $15bn of equity in over 440 transactions.
Hellman & Friedman, founded in 1984, has raised and, through its affiliated funds, managed approximately $8bn of committed capital. The firm has offices in San Francisco, New York and London.
KKR specialises in management buy-outs. The company, founded in 1976, has completed approximately 140 transactions globally with a total value of approximately $186bn.
THL Partners, founded in 1974, has invested approximately $10bn of equity capital in more than 100 businesses with an aggregate purchase price of more than $70bn. The firm currently manages approximately $12bn of committed capital.
http://www.altassets.com/news/arc/2006/nz8275.php
C-I-A says information sought by Libby is highly classified
WASHINGTON The C-I-A appears ready to fight the release of classified presidential intelligence briefings that Lewis Libby wants to use in his defense.
Vice President Cheney's former top aide is charged with perjury linked to the leak of a C-I-A officer's identity.
A sworn statement from a C-I-A information review officer says it would take up to nine months to gather the material Libby's defense has requested. The officer says the C-I-A thinks releasing it would damage national security. She says the agency wants to be heard in court before any material is turned over to Libby.
The official's affidavit was filed last Friday, but made public today.
Libby's lawyers want access to nearly a year of the President's Daily Brief. It summarizes intelligence on threats against the U-S.
http://www.ktvotv3.com/Global/story.asp?S=4597232&nav=1LFs
The Towering Solons of Abortion
Posted on Mar. 7, 2006
By Molly Ivins
AUSTIN, Texas—South Dakota is so rarely found on the leading edge of the far out, the wiggy, the California-esque. But it has now staked its claim. First to Outlaw Abortion This Century. The state legislature of South Dakota, in all its wisdom and majesty, a legislature comprised of sons and daughters of the soil from Aberdeen to Zell, have usurped the right of the women of that state to decide whether or not to bear the child of an unwanted pregnancy. They will decide. Women will do what they decide.
These towering solons, representing citizens from the great cosmopolitan centers of Rapid City and Sioux Falls to the bosky dells near Yankton, are noted for their sagacity and understanding. When you think “enlightenment,” the first thing that comes to your mind is “the South Dakota Legislature,” right?
As well it might. The purpose of the law is to force a decision from the United States Supreme Court, where the appointments of John Roberts and Sam Alito have now shored up the anti-choice forces.
The South Dakota Legislature has made it a crime for a doctor to perform an abortion under any circumstances except to save the life of the mother. There are no exceptions for rape, incest or to preserve the health of the mother. Should this strike you as hard cheese, State Sen. Bill Napoli, R-Rapid City, explains how rape and incest could be exceptions under the “life” clause. Napoli believes most abortions are performed for “convenience,” but he told “The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer” about how he thinks a “real-life example” of the exception could be invoked:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20060307_ivins_abortion/
Supreme Court Lawyer Goldstein to Join Akin Gump
By Tony Mauro
Legal Times
Monday, March 6, 2006
Washington, D.C., attorney Thomas Goldstein, who rocked the rarified world of Supreme Court advocacy by his aggressive pursuit of cases, will join the powerhouse law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld as a partner May 1.
Goldstein, 35, who has argued 16 cases before the Court, currently runs his three-member firm Goldstein & Howe from his house with wife Amy Howe. "I decided it was time to take on a bigger platform for my Supreme Court work, and this is a great fit." Goldstein declined to put a price tag on the deal, but said he was approached by several firms in the last few years before agreeing to join Akin Gump.
For the 900-lawyer Akin Gump, the hire instantly raises its profile in the increasingly prized Supreme Court practice area. "This is an answer to a prayer," said Akin Gump chairman R. Bruce McLean in an interview. "When clients go to the Supreme Court, they often go to the handful of specialists in this field. We wanted to offer this service to our Fortune 500 client base." Arguing at the Supreme Court is "a very prestigious practice,' McLean added, "and this increases the prestige of our entire firm."
http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/PubArticleTX.jsp?id=1141652120908
Breyer: Supreme Court more relaxed under Chief Justice Roberts
JAY REEVES
Associated Press
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Adding two new members to the Supreme Court has changed its dynamics, with discussions about cases more free-flowing under new Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Stephen Breyer said Monday.
Long the junior member of the court under the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist, Breyer said operations are "a little more relaxed" under Roberts, who tends to let justices discuss issues at more length during closed-door meetings.
The court's justices have "very nice" interpersonal relationships with the addition of Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, Breyer said, and members may even be trying harder than normal to get along, as evidenced by a flurry of unanimous decisions.
Breyer said he doesn't know if the newly formed Roberts court is intentionally trying to agree, perhaps to keep its decisions narrow in focus.
"Whether unconsciously or not people are trying to get more agreement, it's possible," said Breyer, addressing law students at the University of Alabama.
On Monday, the court unanimously decided that the government can make colleges open their campuses to military recruiters despite objections to the Pentagon's policy on gays.
The court last month unanimously overturned a lower court's decision that white managers at a chicken plant couldn't be sued for calling black employees "boys," and it unanimously ruled that a small religious sect could use mind-altering tea in a ritual.
"If we are being a little more unanimous it's a good sign," said Breyer. But he cautioned that the agreement might not last because more contentious issues tend to "stack up" at the end of court sessions.
Breyer, a President Clinton appointee, generally sides with the liberal members of the court, but also has been a swing voter. Sometimes the target of conservatives who call him an activist judge, Breyer said everyone on the court believes more in judicial restraint, or not imposing their own beliefs in rulings.
Breyer declined to label his own philosophy.
"I don't characterize myself. It is up to others," he said.
Breyer didn't discuss any cases before the court, but he said "a lot of hesitancy" is needed to overturn past rulings - a key point as the newly constituted court could consider whether to let stand the 1973 decision legalizing abortion.
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/local/14032816.htm
Story Based on Leaks Stirs Up Debate About Leakers and Leakees
Submitted by editor4 on March 7, 2006 - 2:57pm.
By Edward B. Colby
Source: CJR Daily
Far and away the most talked-about news on Technorati at the moment is a front-page Sunday story from the Washington Post, "White House Trains Efforts on Media Leaks."
"The Bush administration, seeking to limit leaks of classified information, has launched initiatives targeting journalists and their possible government sources," reported the Post 's Dan Eggen. "The efforts include several FBI probes, a polygraph investigation inside the CIA and a warning from the Justice Department that reporters could be prosecuted under espionage laws."
Eggen reported that dozens of employees from the CIA, the NSA and other intelligence agencies have been interviewed in recent weeks by FBI agents "investigating possible leaks that led to reports about secret CIA prisons and the NSA's warrantless domestic surveillance program," while numerous employees at agencies including the CIA, FBI, and Justice Department "have received letters from Justice prohibiting them from discussing even unclassified issues related to the NSA program." "Some media watchers, lawyers and editors say that, taken together, the incidents represent perhaps the most extensive and overt campaign against leaks in a generation," wrote Eggen, "and that they have worsened the already-tense relationship between mainstream news organizations and the White House."
http://mediachannel.org/blog/node/3592
John Bolton Does AIPAC
Kurt Nimmo
March 6, 2006
It should be obvious, considering the photo to the left, who John Bolton, the Straussian neocon "representative" to the United Nations, works for—the American-Israel Political Action Committee. "U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, speaking at a convention of Jewish-Americans, said it is too soon for the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions on Iran but other countries are talking about doing so and Washington is 'beefing up defensive measures to cope with the Iranian nuclear threat,’" in other words the Pentagon is preparing to shock and awe Iran, maybe later this month, but probably down the road, sooner before later.
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m21283&l=i&size=1&hd=0
Details Emerge in Latest Round of Plame E-mails
‘Found’ by the White House
by Jason Leopold
March 3, 2006
The White House confirmed Tuesday that it recently turned over to Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald 250 pages of e-mails from the Office of Vice President Dick Cheney related to covert CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson and her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, a vocal critic of the Bush administration's pre-war Iraq intelligence. The e-mails were not submitted three years ago when then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales ordered White House staffers to turn over all documents that contained any reference to Valerie and Joseph Wilson.
Gonzales's directive in October 2003 came 12 hours after he was told by the Justice Department that it was launching an investigation to find out who leaked Plame Wilson's undercover CIA status to reporters in what appeared to be an attempt to discredit and silence her husband from speaking out against the administration's rationale for war. Gonzales spent two weeks with other White House attorneys screening e-mails and other documents his office received before turning them over to Justice Department investigators.
News of the 250 pages of e-mails was revealed to Libby's attorneys during a court hearing Friday.
In addition to witness testimony, investigators working with Fitzgerald are said to have discovered the existence of the e-mails from computers that investigators had confiscated from the Office of the Vice President, people familiar with developments in the investigation said.
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Mar06/Leopold03.htm
Farmer: Republicans fear getting too close to Bush
John Farmer, THE STAR-LEDGER (NEWARK, N.J.)
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
The campaign flier is elegantly done. One page on fine stock paper, multicolored on both sides, with a detailed list of the money and projects Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Jim Gerlach has brought to his 6th District. There's a photograph of the handsome two-term congressman and several hundred words outlining his record in this mailing to his constituents.
One word, however, is conspicuously missing: Republican.
Instead, the mailing bills Gerlach as "An Independent Voice, Working for You." You could have fooled the disgraced ex-House GOP majority leader Tom DeLay, who brooked no independence among GOP troops in his leadership days. His political action committee ponied up money for Gerlach's last campaign. But it's a reflection of how things have changed in Republican ranks.
DeLay is under indictment for laundering corporate contributions into GOP campaign coffers. And more than a few Republican House members who face difficult re-election races are doing their darnedest these days to distance themselves from the klutzy Bush White House and the Republican record in Washington.
Gerlach is typical of these under-fire Republicans. He's a moderate by any reading of GOP ideology, a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership, which supports embryonic stem cell research in defiance of Bush administration policy. The Philadelphia suburbs that make up his district are historically Republican — but only narrowly and with a growing tendency to favor the occasional Democrat.
http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/stories/03/7farmer_edit.html
The Capital Journal
Authorities: Stay off the ice
By LETA NOLAN CHILDERS
Capital Journal Staff
Authorities are warning anglers to remain diligent about ice conditions before they set foot on the river.
“It’s dangerous,” said Sgt. Darin Johnson, of the Hughes County Sheriff’s Office. “We haven’t had the deep freezing where it’s stayed cold to make good ice.”
March 5 is the date for fishermen to remove their ice shacks on some lakes in the state, according to the Game, Fish & Parks department.
River ice, unlike lake or still water body ice, is subject to the currents of the river. While the top of the ice may look thick and safe, the river currents can erode the bottom of the ice. While it can be safely thick in one place, a few feet away it can be dangerously thin, according to Johnson.
http://www.capjournal.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=2&ArticleID=14676
The Argus Leader
Rounds explains abortion decision
Governor doesn't embrace ban he signed
PIERRE - Gov. Mike Rounds on Tuesday carved a bit of space between him and the abortion ban he signed into law, repeatedly saying it's not his bill.
Rounds also said he wouldn't campaign actively for it if a threatened referral drive materializes.
Rounds, a Republican, held his first news conference since signing the bill at the same time Tuesday that U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson issued a statement in which he suggested the bill is out of the mainstream.
There's been political speculation that if Rounds wins re-election as expected this year, he might be pressured by the state GOP to challenge Johnson, a Democrat who won his last race by 528 votes.
"This law is an extreme and radical approach to a very difficult and personal subject, and I do not support it," Johnson's statement said.
Rounds, responding to questions from reporters, reminded them at least twice that it's not his legislation.
He signed the bill Monday.
http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060308/NEWS/603080302/1001
State predicts bird flu deaths
Summit preps for epidemic
About 5,000 South Dakotans would die if a severe mutation of bird flu strikes the United States and another 230,000 state residents would become ill, health officials estimate.
The projections come as Gov. Mike Rounds prepares to host a statewide summit Thursday in Sioux Falls about the potential emergency.
These projections also come amid a climate of disbelief that such a crisis could occur.
Up to 400 state and local officials and health and education specialists are expected for Thursday's session at the Ramkota Hotel.
To them, the bird flu threat is valid.
"It's not if, but when," said Lynn DeJong, emergency management director for Minnehaha County.
South Dakotans dealing with everyday problems might not yet be persuaded.
"People are worried about drought. They're worried about paying their bills with higher utility costs. Until bird flu becomes a little more real, they might not be too interested," said Pam Nielson Boline, associate professor of human services at Dakota Wesleyan University.
The casualty estimates come from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060308/NEWS08/603080317
Officials aim to persuade skeptics danger is real
Preparing for a world flu emergency includes selling the idea to some who doubt the threat is real, says South Dakota’s top state health official.
Local governments, emergency workers and medical industry leaders are on board in the preparations, said Health Secretary Doneen Hollingsworth. They are coming from across the state to a five-hour program Thursday in Sioux Falls.
Others need persuading, she said. They should consider that the potential crisis concerns an unknown flu strain and that history points to three such epidemics every 100 years, she said.
Hollingsworth answered questions about the flu Tuesday.
http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060308/NEWS/60308003
Ex-chief financial officer takes stand against former bosses
KRISTEN HAYS
Associated Press
Article Published: 03/8/06, 3:43 am
HOUSTON – Former Enron Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow testified Tuesday he crafted and ran partnerships to help the company hide losses and inflate profits with the blessing of his boss, Jeffrey Skilling.
Fastow appeared contrite in his much-anticipated courtroom confrontation with Skilling and Enron founder Kenneth Lay, who are on trial for fraud and conspiracy stemming from Enron’s spectacular 2001 collapse.
But Fastow portrayed himself as a cog in a corrupt machine, with Skilling telling him, “Get me as much of that juice as you can,” regarding the partnerships.
Fastow, 44, also fought back tears as he told jurors in a federal courtroom that his wife, Lea, pleaded guilty to a tax crime and finished a yearlong prison term last July for signing a tax return that didn’t include illegal income from business deals unrelated to the partnerships. The partnerships that he said Skilling approved – LJM1 and LJM2 – were named with initials of his wife and sons, Jeffrey and Matthew, though Fastow didn’t share that detail with jurors.
Fastow, who agreed as part of his plea deal to serve 10 years in prison, is a key pillar of the government’s quest to prove Lay and Skilling lied to Wall Street and to their own employees to conceal the crumbling finances that drove the company to seek bankruptcy protection in 2001.
http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060308/BUSINESS/60308001/1003
WTO rules Mexican tax on corn illegal
U.S. corn growers were pleased this week when the World Trade Organization ruled that Mexico violated global trade rules in a soft-drink dispute with the United States.
A WTO panel rejected a Mexican appeal, supporting U.S. claims that Mexico was in breach of international law in imposing a 20 percent tax on drinks that are sweetened with anything other than cane sugar grown in Mexico - namely high fructose corn syrup.
The dispute about sugar and corn sweetener has cost U.S. corn refiners $944 million annually, according to the Washington-based Corn Refiners Association.
Only a small amount of South Dakota corn goes to production of corn syrup, said Lisa Richardson, executive director of the South Dakota Corn Growers Association.
"So it's not as big a deal here as in other states," Richardson said.
But some corn grown in the northeast corner of the state goes to a plant in North Dakota, said Del Strasser, a member of the corn growers association from Wilmot.
The tariff ruling could work to raise prices for corn syrup and make transportation costs seem more reasonable for growers to sell corn for syrup rather than ethanol, Strasser said.
http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060308/BUSINESS/603080314/1003
Asia Times
China goes back to the land
By Kent Ewing
HONG KONG - When Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao presented his third Government Work Report this week to the National People's Congress (NPC), there was plenty to boast about.
With China's economy racing along at 9.9% growth last year and surpassing Britain as the fourth-largest economy in the world, the premier clearly enjoyed basking in the nearly constant applause
of the faithful 3,000 delegates assembled at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing for his speech.
But the emphasis in this year's report on building a "new socialist countryside" betrays a worrying trend for the central government: outside of the urban centers - which, following the old Soviet model, have been the focus of economic development since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 - there is growing civil unrest over the gross inequities of China's phenomenal economic growth.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/HC09Ad03.html
The Organization of Labor-intensive Exporting Countries
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/others/olec.html
PART 4: Toward living wages in the modern era
By Henry C K Liu
(For the other articles in this series, click here.)
Modern finance has shown that the bulk of capital comes nowadays from the pension funds of workers, which is the deferred income of currently employed labor.
In the US economy, no one saves voluntarily anymore, not because of a change in Americans' character, but because with low wages and rising asset values not registered as inflation, no one can afford to save, having to spend all income plus
accumulating debt just to manage. This is why the entire US economy is operating on debt. Most savings now come from pension funds, to which the average worker has no legal choice but to contribute, with his company matching payments from his first day of work, with benefits not collectable until some three decades later.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/HC09Dj01.html
Blaming the victims as Iraq disintegrates
By Stephen Zunes
(Posted with permission from Foreign Policy in Focus)
The sectarian violence which has swept across Iraq following last month's terrorist bombing of the Shi'ite Golden Mosque in Samarra is yet another example of the tragic consequences of the US invasion and occupation of Iraq. Until the 2003 US invasion and occupation, Iraq had maintained a longstanding history of secularism and a strong national identity among its Arab population despite its sectarian differences.
Not only has the United States failed to bring a functional democracy to Iraq, neither US forces nor the US-backed Iraqi government in Baghdad have been able to provide the Iraqi people
with basic security. This has led many ordinary citizens to turn to extremist sectarian groups for protection, further undermining the Bush administration's insistence that US forces must remain in Iraq in order to prevent a civil war.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HC09Ak01.html
Bombs rock India's foundations
By Siddharth Srivastava
NEW DELHI - The nature of the serial bomb blasts in the holy city of Varanasi is a strategy that has been followed by terror groups for some time.
The aim is to ignite social tensions by polarizing society along communal lines. Crude bombs that can be easily assembled without being detected by security agencies are planted at crowded places, more often religious sites, to inflict maximum damage within a short area as well as creating the symbolic
impact of attacking the beliefs of a population.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/HC09Df02.html
'Shark and Awe'
By Tom Engelhardt
The US already has "stealth" aircraft, but what about a little of the stealth that only nature can provide?
Navy SEALs, move over - here come the navy sharks. According to the latest New Scientist magazine, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the blue-sky wing of the
Pentagon, has set yet another group of American scientists loose to create the basis for future red-in-tooth-and-maw Discovery Channel programs.
In this case, they are planning to put neural implants into the brains of sharks in hopes, one day, of "controlling the animal's movements, and perhaps even decoding what it is feeling". In their dreams at least, DARPA's far-out funders hope to "exploit sharks' natural ability to glide quietly through the water, sense delicate electrical gradients and follow chemical trails. By remotely guiding the sharks' movements, they hope to transform the animals into stealth spies, perhaps capable of following vessels without being spotted."
No other country puts anything like such effort, planning and dreaming into the idea of projecting planet-spanning military power, caught so grimly in that phrase, "full-spectrum dominance". To Pentagon minds this seems to mean: from 20,000 leagues down to 30 kilometers up (and everything that creeps, crawls, swims or flies in between). The phrase first gained attention with the release in 2000 of the US Air Force's Joint Vision 2020 statement - a supposed look into a future world of US war-making.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/HC09Aa01.html
Putin's war with radical Islamists
By Dmitry Shlapentokh
Russia - which usually makes world news only in relation to gas and oil - has recently emerged as an important foreign-policy broker. President Vladimir Putin's government has engaged in shuttle diplomacy between Iran and the West and between Hamas and the West.
Dealing with Iran and Hamas, Putin tried to persuade them to abandon radical rhetoric and practices and incorporate
themselves into the Western international order. At the same time, he tried to convince Western partners that the Iranians and even Hamas are not the worst of all possible regimes or movements, and with certain encouragements and guarantees could be incorporated into the Western order.
… Udugov argues that any state in today's global community is an institution of oppression and corruption, and the Chechen state, if it were to be established, would inevitably fall into the same pit. What Chechens should have is not a regular state but an organization that is separate from the rest of the world; one that could be used for launching the global jihad that would finally lead to the establishment of the global khalifah (caliphate) and transcend present-day history.
One might state here that al-Qaeda's model is not just wishful thinking but is a reality, as can be seen in the North Waziristan region of Pakistan, where the Taliban and al-Qaeda have created a quasi-state designed exclusively for jihadist purposes (see Pakistan battles the forces within, March 7).
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/HC08Ag02.html
Pakistan battles the forces within
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
KARACHI - Protests against the administration of President General Pervez Musharraf and against the US took off in Pakistan about a month ago in the guise of rallies denouncing caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.
These protests have now reached the stronghold of al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan: the self-proclaimed "Islamic State of
North Waziristan", a volatile tribal area on the border with Afghanistan.
For the past few days this region has been the scene of fierce battles between the Pakistani armed forces and the Taliban and their supporters. This, analysts believe, is the starting point of taking the nascent Tehrik-i-Nizam-i-Mustafa movement to other areas in Pakistan, that is, to enforce the Prophet Mohammed's way of life, or sharia law, on society. Underground Islamic radical groups will surface in support of this struggle that could ultimately lead to the ousting of the Musharraf government.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/HC07Df04.html
A 'white coup' in Baghdad
By Sami Moubayed
DAMASCUS - What happened in Iraq over the weekend was a neatly planned "white" coup, carried out by the Americans, Kurds, secular Shi'ites and Sunnis, on the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) and its candidate for the premiership, Ibrahim al-Jaafari.
After much bickering, they came out and asked Jaafari to step down, demanding that the UIA nominate another Shi'ite politician for the job. For its part, the UIA has insisted on maintaining
Jaafari, but is bound to give in to the mounting pressure practiced by practically everybody in Iraq.
Jaafari's flaws apparently outnumber his positive attributes. The coalition wanting to bring him down complained that he had failed, as the previous premier, to bring security to Iraq, failed to combat unemployment, failed to advance infrastructure, failed to crush the insurgency, and failed to protect Sunnis and their places of worship during the bloody events that followed the terrorist attack on the Golden Mosque in Samarra on February 22.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HC07Ak01.html
continued …
