Our World's Environment
Brown Plans to Build Team, Enforce Global Warming Law
By STEVEN CISCHKE, Staff Writer
California Attorney General-Elect Jerry Brown said yesterday he is looking forward to working with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to create regulations for the enforcement of California’s new Global Warming legislation.
Brown, who defeated state Sen. Chuck Poochigian, R-Fresno, by a decisive margin in Tuesday’s election, told the MetNews he wants regulations that are “practical, defendable and effective.”
Noting that the California Department of Justice—which the attorney general heads—has sent six officers to Oakland to help with its crime problem Brown said he is also looking forward to expanding the program to help other cities in need. Poochigian focused on Oakland crime rates in the campaign, blaming Brown, who has been the city’s mayor for eight years.
He said he has not chosen a chief deputy attorney general yet, and will meet with current members of the department before making any staff decisions. “Building a team is my number one priority,” he added.
When asked to explain his large victory margin—he won by more than 18 percentage points—Brown responded:
“People believed me, and didn’t believe him.”
http://www.metnews.com/articles/2006/brow110906.htm
Mercury limits for power plants
N.C. tops federal rules in restricting release of toxic substance from new, existing coal-fired facilities
BRUCE HENDERSON
bhenderson@charlotteobserver.com
North Carolina set its first limits Thursday on the amount of mercury that coal-fired power plants may release, joining several states that have set tougher standards than the Bush administration's for the widespread contaminant.
Mercury, which occurs naturally in coal, takes especially hazardous form when it spews from smokestacks and falls into water. Pregnant women who eat contaminated fish risk giving birth to babies with lower intelligence and learning problems.
In March, state health authorities broadened their warnings about eating mercury-contaminated fish. In addition to four freshwater species caught in Eastern North Carolina, the list now includes largemouth bass caught anywhere in the state.
The state Environmental Management Commission, which held packed mercury hearings in Charlotte and other cities last spring, struck a compromise Thursday that utilities and environmentalists praised.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/15975990.htm
Strong storms expected today
Ryan Slight © 2006, Springfield News-Leader Strong to severe thunderstorms with walnut-size hail may move across the Springfield area today, the National Weather Service reported.A cold front is shifting east across the Missouri Ozarks, creating storms capable of damaging wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour, the service said.The NWS said spotter assistance may be needed for areas northwest of Interstate 44 this morning, and the entire region in the late morning and afternoon.The high temperature is expected to drop to 48 degrees tomorrow, but no hazardous weather is anticipated.
Liberia: Oil Deal, in Whose Interest?
The NEWS (Monrovia)
November 9, 2006Posted to the web November 9, 2006
In whose interest was the oil deal negotiated is the question that has been raised by three human rights groups who are demanding documents from the Managing Director of the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC).
Mr. Harry Greaves who negotiated the oil deal on behalf of the Liberian government with the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has been requested by the three human rights organizations to provide or make available detailed information of major and sub-contractual agreements surrounding the oil deal to them.
The human rights organizations said they want the LPRC boss to also provide copies of the Act establishing the LPRC and all regulations and administrative decisions promulgated under the authority of the Act with reference to import, sale and distribution of petroleum products as well as regulations that provide for monitoring and regulation of the sale and distribution, transport, storage and safe handling of petroleum products.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200611090389.html
Oil majors at crossroads in Venezuela's tar oil patch
By Peter Millard
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
CARACAS (MarketWatch) -- Six hundred former employees from the likes of Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) and Repsol YPF SA (REP) were chanting pro-government slogans on Tuesday, offering a preview of what the corporate atmosphere at four multi-billion-dollar Venezuelan tar oil projects will look like in a year's time.
Six western oil majors must forfeit operational control or face the wrath of an administration steeped in oil nationalism at the peak of a domestic electoral cycle.
On Tuesday, the workers picked up identification cards from their new boss, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PVZ.YY) President Rafael Ramirez, who has spearheaded a nationalist drive to convert 32 privately-run oil fields into state-dominated joint ventures.
With that process nearly completed, PdVSA is now pressuring its six partners in the Orinoco belt, the world's largest oil deposit, to ink similar contract overhauls that would put day-to-day operations under the control of PdVSA, one of the country's most politicized public institutions.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/story.aspx?siteid=mktw&guid={5511F833-78E8-453A-B756-B71871A00EDA}
Wesleyan Spotlights Global Warming
November 10, 2006 By DAVID FUNKHOUSER, Courant Staff Writer
MIDDLETOWN -- As the political winds shift in Washington, the global warming debate may change as well, from a focus on dire warnings of melting ice sheets and flooded coastlines to a pragmatic discussion over what can be done about it.Prominent scientists will gather at Wesleyan University Saturday morning to discuss how climate change might affect everything from hurricanes and human health to the international political landscape.
http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-ctwarmingup1110.artnov10,0,2833256.story?coll=hc-headlines-local
Storm shuts Rainier park for first time in 26 years
YAKIMA, Washington (AP) -- Heavy rain has caused so much damage at Mount Rainier National Park that officials have closed the attraction for the first time in 26 years.
Nearly 18 inches of rain in 36 hours swamped roads and bridges and cut power and sewer lines.
Initial cleanup will take weeks. Park officials say they hope to return to normal operations by Christmas. In some places, they won't know the extent of the damage until after the snow melts in the spring.
"Some places get that much rain in a year, and we had it in 36 hours," said park spokeswoman Lee Taylor, noting the 17.9 inches of rain that fell Sunday and Monday. "When we were finally able to get out and start assessing the damage, it was a very sobering day."
The Pineapple Express storm, named for its origin in warm Pacific waters, wreaked havoc across the region. It damaged hundreds of homes, washed out a major highway near Oregon's Mount Hood, closed part of the North Cascades Highway in Washington, and was blamed for at least three deaths in the two states.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WEATHER/11/10/rainier.ap/index.html
US crude oil prices climb higher
November 10, 2006 - 7:49AM
US crude oil prices were sharply higher on Thursday, up 1.8 per cent on government data showing domestic natural gas supplies fell last week.
A supply report from the US Energy Information Administration Thursday morning pegged domestic natural gas storage down seven billion cubic feet last week.
At 1408 EST on the New York Mercantile Exchange, December crude was up $US1.07 at $US60.90 a barrel.
It had traded from $US59.90 to $US61.26.
In London, ICE December Brent crude rose $US1.37 to $US60.96, having traded $US59.76 to $US61.43.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Business/US-crude-oil-prices-climb-higher/2006/11/10/1162661861134.html
I like to know what is happening with weather in Australia. Antarctica is getting hot so quick it’s good to know how the folks in Australia are fairing.
Queenslanders in for severe storms
FORECASTERS yesterday warned Queenslanders to brace themselves for an onslaught of steamy summer weather from next week.
The Bureau of Meteorology said the severe storms that swept across southeast Queensland on Wednesday night had moved off the coast, and scattered showers would ease over the next few days.
A northwesterly change over the weekend will bring fine weather and temperatures in the low to mid-30s.
“By Monday, everyone will definitely know that summer has arrived,” Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Bryan Rolstone said.
The dry change spells bad news for the state’s water crisis, but relief for the hundreds of residents between the Sunshine and Gold coasts who are still mopping up after Wed-nesday night’s storms.
More than 100 SES members worked through the night, repairing roofs damaged by strong winds.
Seven properties in Esk, including the local police station, were damaged, while one home in Caboolture, north of Brisbane, lost its roof.
A Gold Coast Catholic school, Aquinas College, is set to remain closed today after the storm tore the roof from its music room and damaged many other classrooms.
Spokesman for NRMA Frank Alder said insurance claims already were starting to pour in.
The Bureau of Meteorology says that patchy showers will push north into central Queensland today.
http://www.bordermail.com.au/news/bm/national/517491.html
Unseen rivers are the answer
By RICCARDA BURLEY
THE answer to the Border’s water shortages is right under our feet, according to a Tallangatta water diviner.
Alec Turnbull says there are thousands of streams, some as large as the Murray River, running underground that can be tapped for homes or livestock.
A water diviner since the 1982 drought, Mr Turnbull first experimented on the family farm, Fairyknowe, at Tallangatta South.
“The son ran out of water so I took a piece of willow stick and took a walk around,” he said.
“I found a stream about 20m from the shed and we had a fellow come in and put a bore down.
“He went about 80 feet and hit rock and he wasn’t too keen but I said ‘keep going’.
“At 120 feet we hit water and it gushed into the air about 40 feet and showered us with water and sand — it was beautiful water and they still use it.”
Mr Turnbull believes about 96 per cent of fresh water is underground.
“I use willow stick because it’s strong but flexible because the pull on it towards the ground is incredibly strong,” he said.
“It screws the skin up on my hands and if I do it too long it knocks me up.
“I can’t explain what it is, it’s just something in your body — I can feel the force in the stick about 30 to 40 yards away from the stream.”
Mr Turnbull also mineral divines and found a gold seam for a miner at Tennant Creek and will do some work for the Maude and Yellow Girl mine at Glen Wills in March.
“What I’d really like to do is travel from Albury up to Swan Hill on the NSW side and back again on the Victorian side, mapping all the major underground streams,” he said.
Ghana: Climate Change Will Affect Future Food Availability – FAO
November 8, 2006Posted to the web November 8, 2006
GNA
Climate change will directly affect future food availability and compound the difficulties of feeding the world's rapidly growing population, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said at the opening of a UN climate change conference in Nairobi on Monday.
In an address to the conference's scientific and technical body, Mr Castro Paulino Camarada, FAO Representative in Kenya, stressed that greater attention must be given to the impact of climate change on agriculture, forestry and fisheries, and on mitigation and adaptation measures.
According to a statement received in Accra yesterday, Mr Camarada said there were a number of areas where FAO's expertise could contribute to mitigating the effects of climate change.
"There is likely to be a significant transition toward biofuels during the next 50 years, with agriculture and forestry among the leading sources for both liquid and solid fuels," he said
. http://allafrica.com/stories/200611080417.html
America's anti-environmentalist streak
By KENNETH ROGOFF
CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts -- As an American, I am appalled, ashamed and embarrassed by my country's lack of leadership in dealing with global warming. Scientific evidence on the risks mounts by the day, as most recently documented in England's magisterial Stern Report. Yet, despite the fact that the United States accounts for roughly 25 percent of all man-made global carbon emissions, Americans show little will or inclination to temper their manic consumption.
The first Bush administration was probably right to refuse to sign the Kyoto Protocol, albeit for the wrong reasons. Among other problems, the Kyoto Protocol does not go far enough toward redistributing carbon emission rights toward developing countries. But why can't the United States bring itself to raise taxes on gasoline and other sources of carbon emission like coal-burning power plants?
Many people seem to think that the Bush administration is the problem. Put a Texas oilman and his buddies in charge and what do you expect, conservation? Unfortunately, that is a facile excuse.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20061109a2.html
Ski for Global Warming
Good for ski resorts all around the US. This season, many resorts are running their facilities with "Green Power". Yeah! At least 45 resorts in 14 states are chosing to use clean energy, and 16 resorts are going to 100% of their power sources from clean energy. They will be using sources which include, wind, solar, hydroelectric, bio-mass, and geothermal.
The resorts do admit, they went green not only to help the enviornment, but to keep skiing around as long as they can. I'm sure you all have heard of Global Warming. Well, if it continues to happen, we wouldn't have all the nice fluffy white stuff-snow, to play in. This is a great thing, in my opinion, because the resorts are going to be a big billboard for saving our enviornment. It will educate people about what they can do to help, as well as show people that something does need to be done about this matter.
Aspen is going to have upcoming ads in outdoor magazines and this will also help spread the news that green is good! I am very happy and proud of the people involved in making this happen. The change to better the earth was not easy nor inexpensive. Good for them for taking a step in the right direction. As for me, I am just one person, but I have pledged to switch to energystar lightbulbs through out my house. As of now, I only have 3 more regular lightbulbs to go before my house is lit by all energystar bulbs. You wanna know something-it lowers my electric bill too- I promise. Now, I am trying to get my parents into the mix and have them switch out too.
For more cool ideas, go to www.energystar.gov
http://www.progressiveu.org/123435-ski-for-global-warming
Your view: Work against global warming
By MARSHALL DAHLIN La Crosse
The war in Iraq, the epidemic of terrorism and hurricane Katrina all have something in common: global warming.Does anyone think we’d be “spreading democracy” in Iraq, if we didn’t need Middle East oil? Would we have been meddling in the Middle East for the past 60 years and stirring up hatred of the United States if not for oil? If we had not been dependent on fossil fuels would the oceans be warming, creating monster storms like Katrina and Rita?Fossil fuels deserve our gratitude for having given us the modern technological world we now inhabit. But now the gift has turned to curse, and we have to chart a new future based on renewable energy. Failure to meet this challenge will cause our descendents to curse us.What can we do? I don’t think we can wait for the people now occupying the White House to save us. We can vote for candidates who accept scientific evidence. We can support national movements fighting global warming. We can march. We can do all the practical things to minimize our individual carbon footprints such as using fluorescent light bulbs, driving economical cars, etc.But maybe what we need in addition to the above is to come together here in La Crosse County to support each other in our efforts to make a difference. The challenge is so big that it is easy to despair and we must resist if we are to meet this crisis. As Joan Rivers used to say, “Can we talk?”
http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2006/11/09/opinion/letters/02letter09.txt
Boxer pledges shift on global warming policy with new Senate role
SAMANTHA YOUNG
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Sen. Barbara Boxer on Thursday promised major policy shifts on global warming, air quality and toxic-waste cleanup as she prepares to head the U.S. Senate's environmental committee.
"Time is running out, and we need to move forward on this," Boxer said of global warming during a conference call with reporters. "The states are beginning to take steps, and we need to take steps as well."
Boxer's elevation to chairwoman of the Senate Environmental Public Works Committee comes as the Democrats return to power in the Senate. It also marks a dramatic shift in ideology for the panel.
The California Democrat is one of the Senate's most liberal members and replaces one of the most conservative senators, Republican James Inhofe of Oklahoma. Inhofe had blocked bills seeking to cut the greenhouse gases contributing to global warming, calling the issue "the greatest hoax perpetrated on the American people."
Environmentalists were overjoyed at the change.
"That's like a tsunami hit the committee," said Karen Steuer, who heads government affairs at the National Environmental Trust, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. "You can't find two members or people more ideologically different.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/15973523.htm
Gore Keynotes S.F. Global Warming Summit
Leaders Tackling Air Quality Problems
By Amy Hollyfield
Nov. 10 - KGO - Former Vice President Al Gore and Bay Area leaders are putting their heads together at a summit to fight global warming in San Francisco today.
It's the first-ever summit of its kind in San Francisco. It's organized by the Bay Area Air Quality Management and they managed to attract a big name for their keynote speaker -- Al Gore. He agreed to speak -- but journalists and cameras were not allowed in.
Five hundred people from various businesses, government agencies and even schools are at the summit to share and steal ideas on how to improve air quality.
Here's just one example they'll hear of how one business can make a difference.
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=local&id=4750094
Global Warming Action Cuts Cost
Two sets of headlines on global warming converged early last week, one dealing with the future and one with the past, and the upshot was especially discouraging.
In London, a former World Bank president issued a 700-page report suggesting that the price of averting catastrophe might be 1 percent of the globe's gross domestic product for the next half-century - and that was the good news.
The cost of failing to throttle back on greenhouse gases, Sir Nicholas Stern calculated, would fall somewhere between 5 percent and 20 percent, enough to create a worldwide equivalent of the Great Depression.
Meanwhile, the New York Times reported that federal spending on energy research has fallen to about half the levels of 1980, after adjustments for inflation.
This is not just an American problem; among the world's other industrial powers, only Japan keeps raising its spending on research into future energy technologies.
One percent of global gross domestic product may sound like a lot, and in fact it is in the neighborhood of a half-trillion bucks.
But there's a matter of perspective; overall, military spending worldwide consumes 2.5 percent (here the United States is well above average at 3.7 percent).
And, as the Stern report underlines with elegant simplicity, it really is just a question of whether we pay a lot now or a lot more later - and of what we get for the money.
For the 1 percent investment, we get nonpolluting, perpetually renewing power from the sun and wind in place of our smoggy infrastructures powered by burning coal, oil and, in stunningly large parts of the developing world, wood. For the larger investments, we get the costs of coping with refugees in the hundreds of millions in flight from coastal flooding, droughts, famines and pandemic disease.
For the 1 percent investment, the world's industrialized nations might also divvy up an annual savings in energy costs of well over $2 trillion a year. Poorer nations would measure their share of the payback in lives not lost and lands not abandoned.
For all the imprecision of their figures, Sir Nicholas and his colleagues have solidly countered the Bush administration's key arguments on global warming - that joining Britain, Canada and other industrial leaders in sharply cutting carbon emissions would bring economic ruin, and that there's plenty of time to figure out the best responses.
The truth is exactly opposite. The problem has grown only more urgent since President Bush took office and immediately reversed his promise to throttle back U.S. carbon emissions, and the costs of inaction are growing larger still.
With each passing year, the cost of each unspent dollar shifts toward the $20 end of the spectrum.
Still, the Stern report is optimistic about the potential of urgent and concerted worldwide action, in part because of technological progress on capturing carbon and making clean electricity. That requires U.S. leadership in two forms: making a serious cut in our 25 percent share of the world's emissions, and demonstrating a concern that extends beyond our short-term economic pain.
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/sunnews/news/opinion/15976810.htm
Michael Moore Today
Democrats Take Senate; Concession in Virginia Completes Midterm Sweep
By John M. Broder / New York Times
WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 — Democrats gained control of the Senate on Thursday, giving them a majority in both houses of Congress for the first time since 1994 and increased influence over President Bush’s policies at home and abroad, starting with the war in Iraq.
The Democrats picked up the seat they needed to capture the Senate when the Republican incumbent in Virginia, George Allen, conceded to Jim Webb, his Democratic challenger, completing a broad realignment of power in Washington. Including two independents who align themselves with the Democrats, Democrats will have a 51-to-49 advantage in the new Senate.
Within moments of Mr. Allen’s announcement, Democrats rallied outside the Capitol to celebrate their victory, cheering and chanting, while their leaders began planning how to proceed after a dozen years in which their only taste of power in Congress was when they controlled the Senate for a period in 2001 and 2002.
“The election’s over,” said Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, who will be the new majority leader. “It’s time for a change.”
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/the06fix/index.php?id=530
MichaelMoore.com's photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmflint/
Youth turnout in election biggest in 20 years
By Jason Szep / Reuters
BOSTON - Young Americans voted in the largest numbers in at least 20 years in congressional elections, energized by the Iraq war and giving a boost to Democrats, pollsters said on Wednesday.
About 24 percent of Americans under the age of 30, or at least 10 million young voters, cast ballots in Tuesday's elections that saw Democrats make big gains in Congress. That was up 4 percentage points from the last mid-term elections in 2002.
"This looks like the highest in 20 years," said Mark Lopez, research director of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, which compiled the data based on exit polls. "Unfortunately, we can't say if it's a record because don't have good comparable data before 1986."
Rock the Vote, a youth-and-civics group, said young voters favored Democrats by a 22-point margin, nearly three times the margin Democrats earned among other age groups and dealing a potentially decisive blow to Republicans in tight races.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/the06fix/index.php?id=520
Youth turnout biggest in 20 yearsAMERICA HAS SPOKEN:END THIS WAR
Exclusive: Charges Sought Against Rumsfeld Over Prison Abuse
A lawsuit in Germany will seek a criminal prosecution of the outgoing Defense Secretary and other U.S. officials for their alleged role in abuses at Abu Ghraib and Gitmo
By Adam Zagorin / Time Magazine
Just days after his resignation, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is about to face more repercussions for his involvement in the troubled wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. New legal documents, to be filed next week with Germany's top prosecutor, will seek a criminal investigation and prosecution of Rumsfeld, along with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, former CIA director George Tenet and other senior U.S. civilian and military officers, for their alleged roles in abuses committed at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison and at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The plaintiffs in the case include 11 Iraqis who were prisoners at Abu Ghraib, as well as Mohammad al-Qahtani, a Saudi held at Guantanamo, whom the U.S. has identified as the so-called "20th hijacker" and a would-be participant in the 9/11 hijackings. As TIME first reported in June 2005, Qahtani underwent a "special interrogation plan," personally approved by Rumsfeld, which the U.S. says produced valuable intelligence. But to obtain it, according to the log of his interrogation and government reports, Qahtani was subjected to forced nudity, sexual humiliation, religious humiliation, prolonged stress positions, sleep deprivation and other controversial interrogation techniques.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8322
Borat Home Page
http://www.borat.tv/
'Humble Suggestions for Reid and Pelosi'
...by Adam McKay
Huffington Post
I'm out of practice dealing with good political news. It's been a bit of an overload these past two days. It's kind of like getting a letter from my doctor informing me that I can now suddenly windmill dunk a basketball. I almost hesitate to bring up the House and Senate victories to people for threat they might inform me I feel asleep near some model glue with CNN on and the whole thing's a Testor's-induced hallucination. We.... won the House.... and the Senate? And Rumsfeld resigned?! And Bush said he's meeting with Democrats?!!! It's so wonderful I'm a tad suspicious.
Okay, here's what I think Bush and Rove cooked up. I think they figured that we were all in shock from winning the House and, at the time, likely the Senate, and they thought "Hey, this pony ain't used to the sugar. Let's put him into toxic shock." And so they had Rumsfeld resign. It was an attempt to overload us with goodness so we'd all faint from joy and injure ourselves. I'm telling you... And they had no idea how close they were. I almost wrecked my car driving west on the 10 from whooping when I heard Bush announce Rumsfeld's resignation. If Bush had then gone right to Cheney announcing that he was coming out of the closet my head would have exploded and Bush would have won. Brilliant I tell you.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=765
LANDSLIDE! ...a big thanks from Michael Moore
November 8th, 2006
Friends,
You did it! We did it! The impossible has happened: A majority of Americans have soundly and forcefully removed Bush's party from control of the House of Representatives and the Republicans have also, miraculously, been tossed out of running our United States Senate. This was done because the American people wanted to make two things crystal clear: End this war, and stop Mr. Bush from doing any more damage to this country we love. That is what this election was about. Nothing else. Just that. And it's a message that has sent shock waves throughout Washington -- and a note of hope around this troubled world.
Now the real work begins. Unless we stay on top of these Democrats to do the right thing, they will do what they've always done: Screw it up. Big Time. They helped Bush start this war, and now they should make amends.
But let's take a day to rejoice and revel in a rare victory for our side -- the side that doesn't believe in unprovoked invasions of other countries. This is your day, my friends. You have worked hard for it. I can't tell you how proud I am to count all of you as part of the greater American mainstream we now occupy. Thank you for all the time you gave this week to get out the vote. Some of you have been at this since the large demonstrations of February 2003 when we tried to stop the war before it started. Only 10-20% of the country agreed with us at that time. Remember how lonely that was? Some people were even booed! Now, 60% of the country agrees with our position. They are us and we are them. What a nice, strange, hopeful feeling.
A woman, for the first time in our history, will be Speaker of the House. The attempt to ban all abortion in the conservative state of South Dakota was defeated. Laws to raise the minimum wage were passed. Democrats were elected to fill Tom DeLay's and Mark Foley's seats. Detroit's John Conyers, Jr. is going to be the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. The Democratic governor of Michigan beat the CEO from Amway. The little township next to where I live in Michigan voted Democratic for the first time since... ever. And on and on and on. The good news will continue throughout today. Let's enjoy it. Savor it. And use it to get Congress to finally listen to the majority.
If you want to do one thing today, send an email or a letter to both of your senators and your member of Congress and tell them, in no uncertain terms, what this election means: End the war -- and don't let George W. Bush get away with any more of his bright ideas.
Congratulations, again! Now let's go find a spine for the Dems to do the job we've sent them there to do.
Yours in victory (for once!),
Michael Mooremmflint@aol.comwww.michaelmoore.com
P.S. Thanks for all those photos you sent me of you with your brooms at your polling places. They're still coming in and we're posting them here throughout the day. And for those of you who asked how "Sicko" is coming along, the answer is: better than we ever expected! We're hard at work in the edit room and it will be in theaters in June. Thanks again, everyone, for your support.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=200
The Cheney-Gates Cabal
Ray McGovern
November 09, 2006
Ray McGovern, a CIA analyst from 1963 to 1990, is on the Steering Group of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity. Full disclosure: he is indebted to Defense Secretary Rumsfeld for TV notoriety on May 4, when McGovern’s impromptu questioning after a Rumsfeld speech in Atlanta elicited denials later shown to be false after fact-checks by the TV networks. McGovern’s acquaintance with Robert Gates, whom the president has picked to succeed Rumsfeld, goes back 36 years to when Gates was a journeyman analyst in the CIA’s Soviet
Foreign Policy branch led by McGovern.
As the Iraq war goes from bad to worse, President George W. Bush jettisoned “stay the course” in favor of “necessary adjustments.” Yesterday he showed how quickly he can adjust to the mid-term election results, when he jettisoned Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, barely a week after telling reporters Rumsfeld was doing a “fantastic job” and that he wanted him to stay on for the next two years.
It had been clear for weeks that the election would be a referendum on the war in Iraq and that Republican losses would be substantial. And Rumsfeld and Bush had every intention of avoiding the embarrassment likely to come of the grilling of Rumsfeld by congressional committees chaired by Democrats. Besides, who better to try to blame for the “long, hard slog” in Iraq than the fellow who coined the expression, and then implemented it with dubious distinction?
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/11/09/the_cheneygates_cabal.php
Waxman set to probe areas of Bush gov't
By Erica Werner / Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - The Democratic congressman who will investigate the Bush administration's running of the government says there are so many areas of possible wrongdoing, his biggest problem will be deciding which ones to pursue.
There's the response to Hurricane Katrina, government contracting in Iraq and on homeland security, political interference in regulatory decisions by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration, and allegations of war profiteering, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., told the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce.
"I'm going to have an interesting time because the Government Reform Committee has jurisdiction over everything," Waxman said Friday, three days after his party's capture of Congress put him in line to chair the panel. "The most difficult thing will be to pick and choose."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8326
British official: No shift in Iraq plan
By Beth Gardiner / Associated Press
LONDON - Iraq is at a critical juncture and faces a real risk that violence will escalate even further, British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said Thursday, warning against a precipitous withdrawal by the U.S.-led coalition. Beckett said the electoral wins by Democrats and the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld would prompt a reassessment of strategy in Iraq, but were unlikely to lead to a major shift in policy.
The recommendations of an independent U.S. commission led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton would be key to determining America and Britain's next moves, she said.
"What is really important is the development of the Baker-Hamilton report, the discussions, the conversations that are taking place on that," Beckett said. "I am not myself anticipating some major upheaval in policy. What I do think we will see is a reassessment ... of how the international community can best move forward."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8318
Bush says open to suggestions on Iraq
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush, signaling a more conciliatory approach after suffering electoral losses this week, said on Thursday he was "open to any idea or suggestion" on the Iraq war.
The incoming Democratic-controlled Congress is expected to exert more pressure on Bush for a course correction in Iraq amid rising U.S. casualties and violence.
"I'm open to any idea or suggestion that will help us achieve our goals of defeating the terrorists and ensuring that Iraq's democratic government succeeds," Bush said in a Rose Garden appearance with members of his Cabinet.
But Bush said the United States has a responsibility to give support to the 152,000 U.S. troops in Iraq -- an indirect challenge to those Democrats who have talked about cutting off funding for the Iraq mission.
"Whatever party you come from, we all have a responsibility to ensure that these troops have the resources and support they need to prevail," Bush said.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8320
Mubarak warns against hanging Saddam
By Nadia Abou El-Magd / Associated Press
CAIRO, Egypt - Egypt's president came out strongly against hanging Saddam Hussein, saying in remarks published Thursday that it could make Iraq explode into more violence. But Iraq's prime minister said the execution could take place by the end of the year.
The statement from President Hosni Mubarak of Eygpt broke an uneasy silence among Arab leaders over Sunday's verdict by an Iraqi court, which convicted Saddam for the killings of some 150 Shiite Muslims after an assassination attempt against him in 1982.
Mubarak, a regional heavyweight and a top U.S. ally, appeared to speak for many in the region who are uneasy about seeing a former Arab president tried and sentenced — no matter how much they disliked Saddam's regime. Analysts suggested Arab leaders are worried about the precedent an execution would set, and said Arab publics often identify with their leaders.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8317
Rangel's itching to evict Cheney
By Austin Fenner / Mew York Daily News
Harlem's newly powerful Rep. Charles Rangel wants to stick it to his White House nemesis Vice President Cheney - by taking over his spacious House office.
At the same time, the veteran congressman offered a limp olive branch to the vice president yesterday, saying he regretted publicly calling him an SOB last week.
"I take back saying that publicly. I should have reserved that for him when we were together privately," said Rangel. "Believe me, he would have understood."
Rangel (D-Harlem), poised to become the next chairman of the important House Ways and Means Committee, spoke of the need for bipartisanship with the Republicans, even as he continued his feud with Cheney.
"Mr. Cheney enjoys an office on the second floor on the House of Representatives that historically has been designated as the Ways and Means chairman," Rangel mused. "And, I've talked with [future Speaker of the House] Nancy Pelosi ... and I'm trying to find some way to be gentle as I restore the dignity of that office to the chair."
The White House declined to comment.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/the06fix/index.php?id=531
Cross-country trek to be anti-war action
By Michael Stetz / Union-Tribune
It will be a grueling, tiring walk. But it's been a grueling, tiring war.
Bill McDannell is going to walk across the country – through desert, mountains, plains, towns, cities – and ask people to sign a petition to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He hates those two wars. He hates the one in Iraq, in particular. But until now, what has he done about it?
Grumbled.
Talked back at the TV set.
Attended a few anti-war rallies.
It's time, he said. Time to do something – anything – to try to put an end to it.
So Nov. 4 he will start walking from Lindo Lake Park near his home in Lakeside to Washington, D.C.
“I'm extremely bothered by what's happening, but I have felt powerless,” said McDannell, 57, a former Methodist minister. “There are a lot of voiceless and powerless people out there right now.”
McDannell has no idea what kind of reaction his near 3,000-mile walk will bring. He hopes to inspire people to walk with him for a time. He'd like to raise the kind of curiosity and interest that San Diegan Steve Vaught got when he trekked across country to lose weight. Dubbed “Fat Man Walking,” Vaught was on TV, in newspapers and the subject of a documentary.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8233
The Jordan Times
Holding his daughter Toleen, who was injured in a suicide bombing in the Amman Radisson Hotel last year, Samir Karim talks on Thursday to King Abdullah at the Royal Court. The King and Queen Rania yesterday hosted a lunch for the families of the Amman triple bombings’ victims, on the first anniversary of the terror attacks
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/index.htm
Iraq puts civilian toll at 150,000
BAGHDAD (AP) — A stunning new death count emerged Thursday, as Iraq's health minister estimated at least 150,000 civilians had been killed in the war — about three times previously accepted estimates.
Moderate Sunni Muslims, meanwhile, threatened to walk away from politics and pick up guns, while the Shiite-dominated government renewed pressure on the United States to unleash the Iraqi army — claiming it could crush violence in six months.
After Democrats swept to majorities in both Houses of the US Congress and Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld resigned, Iraqis appeared unsettled and seemed to sense the potential for an even bloodier conflict because of uncertainty of future American policy. As a result, positions hardened on both sides of the country's deepening sectarian divide.
Previous estimates of Iraq deaths held that about 50,000 had been killed in the nearly 44-month-old conflict, according to partial figures from Iraqi institutions and media reports.
No official count has ever been available and Health Minister Ali Shemari did not detail how he arrived at the new estimate of 150,000, provided to reporters during a visit to the Austrian capital.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/news/news1.htm
Amman attacks strengthened Jordan will to fight terror — King
AMMAN (Petra) — King Abdullah on Thursday reiterated Jordan’s pride in citizens’ unity and solidarity against the terror attacks that hit Amman on November 9 last year.
Jordanians are “great people, who, in their courageous stand, demonstrated coherence and utter keenness on the country’s security and stability”, the King said in remarks to the Jordan News Agency, Petra, on the first anniversary of suicide bombings at three Amman hotels.
The terror attacks killed 68 Jordanians and 22 foreigners, according to the Public Security Department.
The Monarch said the bombings “strengthened Jordanian solidarity and will to fight all forms of terror”.
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King, Queen mark 1st anniversary of hotel bombings with victims’ families
AMMAN (JT) — Her Majesty Queen Rania met with some of the victims of last year’s tragic hotel bombings as well as their families at Civil Defence Department headquarters on Thursday.
During a very emotional meeting, the Queen reiterated her support for everyone affected by the tragedy.
“The more we stand together, the stronger we stand,” she said. “Nothing can fill the void of your loss, but we stand by you to help you deal with it.”
The gathering observed a moment of silence and prayer for the 90 men, women and children who lost their lives in last year’s attacks.
A few of the injured and several of the victims’ family members recounted the emotional experiences of the past year. All the families at Thursday’s meeting had received psychological counselling, as well as medical and financial assistance to help ease the burden of the trauma from the Jordanian Society for the Prevention of Family Violence’s (JSPFV) National Compassion and Support Centre.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/homenews/homenews2.htm
Sudan says ready for talks with Darfur rebels
CAIRO (Reuters) — The Sudanese government is willing to start unconditional talks with the National Redemption Front rebel group to stop the violence in Darfur but sees no need for a new peace deal, a senior presidential adviser said.
Nafie Ali Nafie, addressing reporters in Egypt, South Africa, France, and Britain through a satellite link from Khartoum late on Wednesday, also said Sudan would not accept the presence of UN troops in the war-ravaged area, even in return for the United States lifting economic sanctions.
"We accept dialogue without imposing any condition on them and without accepting any condition. If we agree then we will thank God, and if we don't we will continue our dialogue," he said.
There was no comment on Thursday from the NRF, an alliance of rebel groups that rejected as inadequate a May peace accord signed in the Nigerian capital Abuja. The group has said it is ready to negotiate with Khartoum but wants a new agreement.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/news/news4.htm
Iraqis split over US pullout
BAGHDAD (Reuters) — An expected phased reduction in US troops in Iraq after the resignation of US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld left Iraqis split on Thursday whether a withdrawal would be in their best interest.
While a majority of Iraqis want to see the departure of Washington's 150,000 troops, according to a recent poll, many fear an early pullout would worsen an already bleak situation as rival groups may vie for control and violence escalates.
Abu Abdullah, a member of the Sunni minority from the northern city of Mosul, said his sect, fighting in an anti-US rebellion, needs US protection from Shiite factions.
"I prefer them to stay in Iraq because we Sunnis are very weak at the current time," said 38-year-old Abu Abdullah.
"If they withdraw, then the militias will become bolder and the fighting will increase," he added.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/news/news5.htm
Iran’s once active campuses falling silent
TEHRAN (Reuters) — Iran's university campuses are falling silent. Student activists, once at the vanguard of a movement seeking political and social change in the Islamic Republic, say they are increasingly afraid to speak out.
"I used to take part in so many protests. I was arrested twice, once in 2001 and once in 2003," said student Mehdi Aminzadeh, describing his role in rallies during the tenure of pro-reform former President Mohammad Khatami.
"The situation has changed a lot since that time. The pressures have pushed us to be more cautious," said the 29-year old, who says he has been barred from registering for a masters in political science.
Since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took power in August last year vowing a return to Islamic revolutionary principles, activists say 181 students have been summoned to university disciplinary boards and 105 of them were suspended.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/news/news6.htm
Egyptian president warns against hanging Saddam
CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak warned against carrying out the death sentence on Saddam Hussein, saying that hanging the former leader would lead to more sectarian strife in Iraq.
"Carrying out this verdict will explode violence like waterfalls in Iraq," Mubarak was quoted Thursday as saying to editors of state-run Egyptian dailies.
The verdict "will transform [Iraq] into blood pools and lead to a deepening of the sectarian and ethnic conflicts," the Egyptian president said in what appeared to be the most high profile Arab comment yet on Saddam's condemnation.
On Sunday, an Iraqi court sentenced Saddam to hang for the deaths of about 150 Shiite Muslims following an assassination attempt against him in 1982 in the town of Dujail.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/news/news7.htm
Hope for a change of course
The Democratic sweep of Tuesday’s elections in the US just may be a prelude to 2008. If the Democrats quickly get to work on all the ills that befell their country under the Republicans’ watch and keep their slate clean of scandals, they may be on the road to ending a very controversial era in US history.
That California Democrat Nancy Pelosi, tipped to become the first female speaker of the US House of Representatives, immediately pledged after her victory to spend the first 100 hours up on Capitol Hill advocating the Democrat’s “Six for ‘06” programme must be a genuine relief to the American citizens.
It cuts to the chase by calling for raising the minimum wage, revoking subsidies for oil companies and incentives for firms to outsource jobs abroad, slashing interest rates on student loans, empowering the government to negotiate with the pharmaceutical industry to reduce the price of prescription drugs and expand opportunities for embryonic stem cell research.
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