The Rooster

Bush from a top the only escape route in Baghdad, "To withdraw prematurely before the job is done would be disasterous."

This is the A380 by Airbus, the largest passenger aircraft in the world. We actually need them this big?

I would think one of the lessons of September 11, 2001 was to realize as sophisticated societies we need to view our infrastructure as potentially dangerous. I know people don't like to think about such things, especially those traveling on aircraft, but, realistically, the Boeing Dreamliner is a design human beings might actually be able to live with both environmentally and as an issue of National Security.

An Ancient Computer 

Arson

The Deccan Queen train burns after it was set afire by protestors demonstrating against the desecration of a statue, one of India's prominent freedom fighters and a leader of low-caste people (click on), in Ulhasnagar, India, on Nov 30. Low-caste groups protesting the desecration of their leader's statue burned train cars, buses and clashed with police at several places in western India, in violence that left at least two people dead and 40 injured, police said.

Morning Papers - It's Origins isn't back up yet, but, it is coming. There is a lot to add to the site.

The Cheney Observer

US Supreme Court Climate Case: Just Ask New Orleans

On Wednesday, the US Supreme Court heard its first case dealing with climate change when the state of Massachusetts (and eleven other states, three cities and environmental groups) challenged the US Environmental Protection Agency’s refusal to regulate carbon dioxide emissions.

The EPA maintains that carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases are not air pollutants and thus the agency has no authority or obligation to regulate them under the Clean Air Act. The EPA also argues that the science of climate change is uncertain, based on a 2001 National Academy of Sciences/National Research Counsel report entitled Climate Change Science.

However, the scientists who authored the report have hit back with an amicus brief which states that the EPA has misrepresented their findings. The brief states that “The science of climate change indicates that it is virtually certain that greenhouse gas emissions from human activities cause global climate changes, endangering human health and welfare,” and “there was and is sufficient scientific evidence to enable the EPA to make a determination under section 202 of the Clean Air Act that greenhouse gas emissions may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare.”

Representing the state of Massachusetts, Assistant Attorney General James Milkey first explained to the court the process by which greenhouse gases accumulate and cause rises in global temperatures, which cause ocean waters to expand and the seas to rise. When he began to explain how coastal areas will be particularly hard hit by global warming, Justice Antonin Scalia interjected, “Is this harm imminent? … I mean, when is the cataclysm?”

Had Justice Scalia let fly with a quip like that in New Orleans, he may well have had to shoot his way out of the courthouse. New Orleans is widely believed to have been one of the first major casualties of climate change. As global temperatures have risen, so have sea surface temperatures, doubling the number of category 4 and 5 hurricanes over the past thirty-five years. Last year, Louisiana took the brunt of two category 5 storms back-to-back with hurricanes Katrina and Rita. According to the web site of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, “The strongest hurricanes in the present climate may be upstaged by even more intense hurricanes over the next century as the earth´s climate is warmed by increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.” Meanwhile, increased hurricane activity also threatens the restoration of Louisiana’s coastline, which has taken on a new urgency.

One month before hurricane Katrina, Mayor Ray Nagin signed the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement in which cities work to meet or exceed the emissions reduction targets set in the Kyoto Treaty. At the time, Mayor Nagin said, "the rise of the Earth´s temperature, causing sea level increases that could add up to one foot over the next 30 years, threatens the very existence of New Orleans." Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels agreed, “Another foot of water in the ocean and New Orleans is gone. So in his case it´s their survival; it´s the future of his city.” Weeks later, the longer-term issue of rising sea levels was eclipsed by the devastation of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

A major producer of greenhouse gas emissions is the oil industry, which has a long history in Louisiana. It is perhaps encouraging that major oil companies are now acknowledging man-made climate change and saying that they want a set of federal regulations. Shell Oil president John Hofmeister recently told the National Press Club, “We cannot deal with 50 different policies. We need a national approach to greenhouse gases. From Shell´s point of view, the debate is over. When 98 percent of scientists agree, who is Shell to say, ‘Let´s debate the science’?”

There is also growing consensus among economists that climate change poses the single greatest threat to the world economy. The recently released Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change and Development states that, “if we don’t act, the overall costs and risks of climate change will be equivalent to losing at least 5% of global GDP each year. If a wider range of risks and impacts is taken into account, the estimates of damage could rise to 20% of GDP or more. In contrast, the costs of action – reducing greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the worst impacts of climate change – can be limited to around 1% of global GDP each year. Tackling climate change is the pro-growth strategy for the longer term, and it can be done in a way that does not cap the aspirations for growth of rich or poor countries.”

The Bush administration’s lack of leadership on climate change continues to isolate it from scientific and economic consensus, international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, affected domestic industries, and state and local governments who have been left to take up the slack. The Supreme Court case against the EPA will be decided by June 2007. If the court finds that the EPA is obliged to regulate emissions, this would force the federal government to develop a national policy to reduce emissions. In the meantime, it is also expected that there will be increased pressure on President Bush to develop more proactive environmental policies when the Democrat-majority Congress resumes in January.

Louisiana is already a major stakeholder in the debate on climate change, given the predictions of rising sea levels and more intense and frequent hurricanes. It seems clear that it would serve the state’s best interests to actively support the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to rein in climate change. Indeed, for a city like New Orleans, sitting below sea level a mere 100 miles from the hurricane-spawning Gulf of Mexico, losing the fight against climate change is not an option.
by Elaine McKewon

http://www.bayoubuzz.com/articles.aspx?aid=8995


Feds preserve VanPort licence rule with legislation
11/30/2006

OTTAWA -- A controversial truck licensing system enforced by the Vancouver Port Authority has officially been enshrined into law by the Conservative government. Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon says the enactment of new port regulations will stabilizing trucking operations at British Columbia's Lower Mainland ports.
"These new regulations will help to ensure the long-term reliability of Lower Mainland ports for shippers and clients worldwide," said Cannon. "We are taking action to ensure that the port licensing system is maintained and remains effective."
Under the new regulations published in the Canada Gazette Part II today, the Vancouver and Fraser River port authorities must, by law, establish, set conditions, and enforce a licensing system for all truckers entering the ports.
The regulation essentially solidifies a previous Memorandum of Agreement, which -- based on government mediator Vince Ready's 2005 recommendations -- establishes standard haulage rates container companies must pay truck operators who access port facilities.
The provisions drafted by Ready effectively ended a crippling six-week strike by 1,200 independent container haulers who were protesting rate-cutting, low wages, and skyrocketing fuel costs.

http://www.todaystrucking.com/news.cfm?intDocID=17068


The East African Standard (Nairobi)
November 30, 2006Posted to the web November 30, 2006
Patrick BejaNairobi
The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has again cast its net wide in Asia for technology and expertise necessary to lift the operational standards at the Mombasa port. The latest strategy is twinning with one of the six high-performing ports in Asia - Port Klang in Malaysia. After a year of talks, Mombasa port finally signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Asian port last Monday.
Two years ago, KPA was in China where it bought its key cargo handling cranes worth about Sh2 billion.
The cranes were recently praised for their performance of 1000 moves per 24 hours at Mombasa port. The deal signed between KPA chief executive officer, Mr Abdallah Mwaruwa, and Port Klang general manager, Ms Datin Paduka Phang, will see Mombasa port raise its cargo handling profile, marine projects and technology.
In the MoU, the two ports agreed to mutual assistance in port studies, training, exchange of information, technical assistance, traffic development and promotion of services. Other areas are port planning, information technology, environment, safety, organisation and operation of vessel traffic management systems (VTMS) in the port.
Mwaruwa said the new co-operation would be key to Kenya's economic growth.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200611300312.html


First Ports, Now Airlines?
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Is another dust-up over foreign investment in the U.S. to rival the Dubai Ports firestorm in the offing?
The White House seemed to hear lawmakers loud and clear when they disparaged its plan to loosen restrictions on foreign control of U.S. airlines: Introduced by the Department of Transportation at the end of last year, the rule change was put on ice in August.
But the administration may yet manage to relax the longstanding prohibition--despite even stiffer opposition from a Democratic-controlled Congress.
Congressional opponents fear that the DOT will push through the change in the coming days--just in time for European transportation ministers to ink a European Union-U.S. "open skies" deal when they meet on Dec. 15. The ban on foreign control of U.S. air carriers has been a sticking point in the negotiations.
The worry is that, once the deal is finalized, reneging on a main component of the bargain would likely arouse the anger of important trade partners.
"It may be too late to put the genie back in the bottle," says Jim Berard, the communications director for Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), the incoming chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Several major U.S. carriers, such as United Airlines (nasdaq: UAUA - news - people ), Delta (other-otc: DALRQ - news - people ) and U.S. Airways (nyse: LCC - news - people ), are pushing to lift the barriers to foreign investment. In financial dire straits, they could use a boost from cash-rich European and other foreign-owned airlines, like Dubai-based Emirates, for instance.

http://www.forbes.com/home/businessinthebeltway/2006/11/30/airlines-foreign-investment-biz-cx_jh_1201airlines.html


Iran: US nationals to be fingerprinted
By ASSOCIATED PRESSTEHERAN, Iran
Iran has passed a law requiring immigration officials to fingerprint US passport holders despite President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's opposition to the measure.
A spokesman for the Guardian Council, a constitutional watchdog that must examine all bills before they become law, announced the approval of the legislation Saturday, the official Iranian News Agency reported.
"The Guardian Council approved the bill requiring inspecting and fingerprinting American nationals upon arrival in Iran," council spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei said Saturday, IRNA reported.
Kadkhodaei said the government "is required to inspect and fingerprint all American nationals at entry ports and visa issuance centers in consistency with the US behavior." The council approved the law earlier this week, he said.
Iran's parliament passed the bill on Nov. 19th.Ahmadinejad last month said he was against the bill because has no quarrel with ordinary Americans.
The power to cancel the law lies with parliament and the Guardian Council, which must pass a new legislation that annuls the measure.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c=JPArticle&cid=1164881801186&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull


Premier honours Marine & Ports workers
In 1958 when Roy Kenneth Todd was only 11 years old his imagination was sparked listening to tales of tugboat crew member Reginald (Deckhand) Dill.From that day on he set his sights on becoming a tugboat captain. Despite leaving school at 14 his single-mindedness and determination led him to fulfil his dream, and 40 years after joining the Department of Marine and Ports he this week shook hands with Premier Ewart Brown and received long service gifts for a lifetime of service as a tugboat man.As Mr. Todd and 13 other Marine and Ports staff, who together have clocked up 345 years of duty collected long service awards, Dr. Brown took the opportunity to encourage young Bermudians to follow in their footsteps and maintain the high standards the Island’s Marine and Ports section has established.He was especially pleased that all the long service award honours were for “home-grown staff” and told them: “We must find young people to enter the service to come behind you if we want the standards to be upheld. We have to bring on young Bermudians.”Dr. Brown said he would dread the Island needing to seek overseas workers to fill jobs within its Marine and Ports Service.

http://www.theroyalgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061201/NEWS/112010141


Morocco moves to improve ports' competitiveness
Reuters
Rabat: Morocco, eager to lure more foreign investment and speed up exports, is scrapping a state monopoly operating its ports to improve competitiveness, Transport and Public Works minister Karim Ghellab said.
More than 90 per cent of the country's exports pass through the 16 ports on the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts.
The government sees exports as the engine of Morocco's $52 billion economy as it seeks to raise average annual economic growth to 7 per cent in the next decade after 4.0 per cent in the past 10 years.
The ports reform will be effective on December 5, eight days before Morocco signs an air agreement with the European Union to expand the kingdom's tourism industry.
The Ports Exploitation Office (ODEP), the state monopoly running the ports, will be replaced by a new Ports Exploitation Company (Sodep), which could be privatised later on, Ghellab said late on Thursday.

http://www.gulfnews.com/business/Shipping/10086649.html


New trucking policy outlined for Vancouver’s ports
By: Steven MacleodVANCOUVER, B.C. -- The Vancouver Port Authority (VPA) has released details of a new trucking policy, including a new licence agreement, in support of its strategic trucking program.
The new policy will introduce new and more rigorous licensing, audit and enforcement provisions that will apply to container trucks and container truck operations at the Port of Vancouver.
"The VPA's new licence agreement will give our port a greater role in ensuring that trucking companies comply with the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that was developed by Vince Ready in the aftermath of the 2005 container trucking dispute," said Captain Gordon Houston, president and CEO of the VPA. "This new policy supports the VPA's goal to develop a more stable model for the container-trucking sector in the Lower Mainland."
The announcement of the new trucking policy from the VPA comes on the heels of the federal government’s decision to officially enact new regulations aimed at stabilizing trucking operations at B.C.’s Lower Mainland ports.

http://www.trucknews.com/issues/ISArticle.asp?id=62962&issue=12012006&btac=no


A Repuglican is a Repuglican, they always feed their cronies regardless of the competency of the donor. I scratch your back, you scratch mine.

Ehrlich awards grant for Port of Baltimore study to donor
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP)
A businessman who contributed to Governor Ehrlich's re-election campaign has been awarded a grant of up to 500-thousand dollars to study the future of the Port of Baltimore.The (Baltimore) Sun reports that the Ehrlich administration went around the agency that runs the port to give the grant to U-S Ports Management Group.
The grant came through a program that allows the state Department of Business and Economic Development to give money to companies without the public review that's required for similar state contracts or grants.
Stephen Amos, the chairman and sole board member of U-S Ports Management Group, tells The Sun he has no experience in the maritime industry.
--- Information from: The (Baltimore) Sun,

http://www.baltimoresun.com http://www.wmdt.com/wires/displaystory.asp?id=56240689


Getting into the cruise business
Small Maritime ports want to get piece of industry
By TOM PETERS Business Reporter
STELLARTON — A number of small Maritime ports are taking a close look at getting into the cruise ship business.
The cruise industry, mainly through the region’s larger ports, contributes an estimated $56 million annually to the region.
The industry is up 33 per cent in Atlantic Canada since 2000 and cruise lines, large and small, continue to look for itineraries with new destinations offering something different for passengers.
The region’s smaller ports feel they can help the cruise lines with smaller vessels build on the niche adventure cruise market.
The small ports see this segment of the industry as a way to bring tourism and economic benefits to their areas.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/544652.html


Dubai Ports drops bid to manage Gwadar port
DUBAI: The UAE”s DP World has dropped a bid to manage Gwadar port due to commercial reasons, a local newspaper said on Friday. “We have looked carefully at this opportunity and have decided not to pursue it,” Gulf News quoted a Dubai Ports World official as saying.The deep-sea port, built with Chinese assistance, is on the Arabian Sea, about 120km from the Iranian border.The UAE company, the world”s third-largest container port operator, was one of the bidders for the project alongside PSA International of Singapore, Globe Marine Services of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan International Container Terminal. Courtesy Dawn Delay in ATT cargo supply Afghan importers demand more PR wagons
By Imran Ayub
KARACHI: Afghan importers have asked Pakistan Railways (PR) to make available more wagons for timely supply of Afghan Transit Trade (ATT) consignments as delay may divert their interest to Iran as other option.
Trade sources said the PR recently failed to meet demand of local operators of ATT cargoes from the country, which pushed them to approach the higher authorities of PR for continuous wagons’ supply to lift consignments from the two ports of Karachi.
“Similarly, Afghan importers have also demanded increased number of Railways wagons as the current number is not enough to fulfill the demand,” said a source close to the Railways and customs agents.
“There is a strong possibility that the PR would call a meeting to review the situation as the situation may encourage Afghan importers to shift ATT consignments to Iran, which would deprive Railways of huge revenues.”
He said there was a need of more than 2,000 wagons for timely departure of ATT consignments stuck at the two ports, but the supplied number was well short of even 100 wagons and also the supply remained irregular.
Supply of ATT goods almost came to a halt in August 2005 as lesser-than-demanded supply of wagons by Railways stuck large quantity of containers at the two ports. The situation pushed the authorities for a major move.
Local operators say the current situation is not as worst as last year but they fear with the passage of time the crisis would further deepen and it may cause serious damage to local operators, Karachi Port Trust and Pakistan Railways in terms of revenues.
“Though the NLC (National Logistic Cell) facilitates transportation of ATT consignments, it is much expensive than Railways, which discourage Afghan importers and local operators to prefer such service,” said the source.
He said in November 2005 government allowed customs agents to transport ATT cargoes on NLC trucks bringing an end to four-decade old monopoly of PR to move such cargoes from the ports but it didn’t return desired results.
Before November 2005 decision, as per the ATTA regulation in the first phase the containers were dispatched to Peshawar through Railways and from there, the consignments crossed borders on trucks. However, local customs agents, involved in clearing ATT consignments have been complaining of higher transportation fare of the NLC. “We have asked the higher authorities to review the situations,” said Amir Altaf, Secretary, Pak-Afghan Transit Trade Clearing Agents Group.
“It doesn’t only increase operational cost but also discourages Afghan importers to rely Pakistan as transit for imports and they (Afghan importers) have approached the government time and again on the issue.”
He said the volume of ATT could increase manifold if better transportation services with reasonable fares were offered.
Imports under ATTA started increasing some three years ago as what traders said improving posture of the landlocked Afghanistan and increasing construction activity paved the way for increased trading activities in the neighbouring country.
The imports under ATTA touched Rs20 billion mark during financial year 2003-04 first time ever up by 48.7 per cent compared to figures of 2002-03 and crossed almost Rs30 billion by the end of June 2006.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=33986


Lott Attacks Rove, Says ‘I’ve Had Problems With Some Of His Conduct’
Earlier this month, rumors began swirling that Karl Rove may soon leave the White House, in part because he and incoming Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-MS) have failed to get along. The New York Times then reported that Rove would be staying on, but claimed the White House was compensating for his “limited influence in Congress.”
In an interview this morning on Fox News, Lott intensified the growing discord between him and Rove, stating, “I’ve had problems with some of the conduct of Karl Rove.” He added that he has a good relationship with “most of the people” around the President. Watch it:

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/11/26/lott-rove-divide/


Hail to the chief
Dick Cheney's mission to expand -- or 'restore' --the powers of the presidencyBy Charlie Savage, Globe Staff November 26, 2006
ANN ARBOR, MICH. -- In July 1987, then-Representative Dick Cheney, the top Republican on the committee investigating the Iran-contra scandal, turned on his hearing room microphone and delivered, in his characteristically measured tone, a revolutionary claim.
Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail Breaking News Alerts President Reagan and his top aides, he asserted, were free to ignore a 1982 law at the center of the scandal. Known as the Boland Amendment, it banned US assistance to anti-Marxist militants in Nicaragua.
"I personally do not believe the Boland Amendment applied to the president, nor to his immediate staff," Cheney said.
Most of Cheney's colleagues did not share his vision of a presidency empowered to bypass US laws governing foreign policy. The committee issued a scathing, bipartisan report accusing White House officials of "disdain for the law."
Cheney refused to sign it. Instead, he commissioned his own report declaring that the real lawbreakers were his fellow lawmakers, because the Constitution "does not permit Congress to pass a law usurping Presidential power."
The Iran-contra scandal was not the first time the future vice president articulated a philosophy of unfettered executive power -- nor would it be the last. The Constitution empowers Congress to pass laws regulating the executive branch, but over the course of his career, Cheney came to believe that the modern world is too dangerous and complex for a president's hands to be tied. He embraced a belief that presidents have vast "inherent" powers, not spelled out in the Constitution, that allow them to defy Congress.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/11/26/hail_to_the_chief/


Prison blazes technological trail with kiosks
The system doesn't cost the county anything.Money can be dropped off for inmates soon at automated teller.By Romy Varghese Of The Morning Call In a few months, the lobby in Lehigh County Prison will look a bit different — thanks to technology that would be the first for any county jail in the state.
Instead of lining up at a window, friends and family members will head to an ATM-like kiosk to deposit money into inmates' accounts.

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b3-5kiosknov26,0,5701615.story


Poll: Karl Rove's Approval Rating Dips Below 20 Percent
By Greg Sargent bioIn the aftermath of the midterm election, the approval rating of Karl Rove, the "architect" of the drubbing suffered by the GOP, has dipped below 20 percent. A new Gallup poll out today finds that Rove's approval rating has slipped to 19 percent, down three points from 22 percent in July -- a downturn that Gallup describes as "essentially no change." Says Gallup: "Given Rove's political image as the architect of the Republican Party's victories of the last six years, it would stand to reason that he might now be singled out for blame over the GOP losses in this past election. But the data show otherwise, at least based on this favorability measure." While Rove's approval rating held steady among Republicans at 45 percent, only 14 percent of independents and seven percent of Democrats have a favorable view of Rove. Full poll here.

http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral/2006/nov/28/poll_karl_roves_approval_rating_below_20_percent


Karl Rove, the man who has helped guide
George W. Bush's political career stretching back to Bush's first election as Texas governor in 1994, has a more negative than positive image in the eyes of the average American. About 4 out of 10 Americans have never heard of Rove or don't know enough about him to have an opinion. Of those who do, unfavorable impressions outnumber favorable impressions by more than a two to one ratio. While Democrats are highly negative about Rove, Republicans' opinions of him remain positive. Although Rove was blamed by some for the Republicans' failure to hold on to either legislative body in this year's midterm elections, Rove's image is unchanged from earlier this year.

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_theswamp/2006/11/karl_rove_as_un.html


Bush, Rove Face Criticism over Martinez for RNC
By: Nicole Belle on Wednesday, November 29th, 2006 at 11:14 AM
PST Could it be that Bush's Brain is becoming more like Bush's brain as the years go on? Reverse osmosis, perhaps?
Bloomberg:
Grassroots grousing over the plan to install Senator Mel Martinez as Republican national chairman reflects the new reality facing President George W. Bush and his top political strategist, Karl Rove: The party faithful aren't as faithful any more.
The choice of the Florida lawmaker represents both the president's penchant for picking long-time Bush family loyalists and Rove's view that Hispanic voters are vital to the future of the party.
The move is running up against party activists who since the Republicans' Nov. 7 election drubbing are far less susceptible than before to Bush's and Rove's control. Read on…
Guess who is objecting to this appealing to potential Hispanic voters? That's right, Tom Tancredo. Surprise, surprise, surprise.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/11/29/bush-rove-face-criticism-over-martinez-for-rnc/


Generation Dem
Beyond the failure of Karl Rove, the momentous 2006 elections signaled the emergence of a younger, bluer America that could reshape politics for years to come.
By Sidney Blumenthal
Nov. 30, 2006 The midterm elections of 2006 may be among the most momentous in two generations -- if their trends carry through the 2008 presidential election and beyond. These changes include a Democratic Congress that reflects a more politically cohesive national majority than any previous one; shifts of crucial constituencies that may represent a decisive repudiation of the Republican Party in its current incarnation; and the emergence of a younger generation that is overwhelmingly Democratic. In retrospect, it is conceivable that the 2006 results will be revealed to be just one movement of a rapidly swinging pendulum whose internal mechanism is a fickle electorate of no discernible loyalties or commitments but propelled by constant and uncontrollable moods of discontent. Or it may be that the long conservative ascendancy has merely encountered a slight stumbling block that will soon be overcome once the difficulties associated with Iraq are neatly squared away. Or it may be that the Democrats are as incorrigibly self-destructive as they were when the Republican era began. Or it may that the newly elected Democrats are really conservative Republicans operating under another party label. But these possibilities are not foretold by the 2006 results.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2006/11/30/2006_election_trends/index.html


How America dumped Bush, part 1
A new American generation has arisen that fundamentally repudiates President Bush and the Republican party.The midterm elections of 2006 may be among the most momentous in two generations - if their trends carry through the 2008 presidential election and beyond. These changes include a Democratic Congress that reflects a more politically cohesive national majority than any previous one; shifts of crucial constituencies that may represent a decisive repudiation of the Republican Party in its current incarnation; and the emergence of a younger generation that is overwhelmingly Democratic.
In retrospect, it is conceivable that the 2006 results will be revealed to be just one movement of a rapidly swinging pendulum whose internal mechanism is a fickle electorate of no discernible loyalties or commitments but propelled by constant and uncontrollable moods of discontent. Or it may be that the long conservative ascendancy has merely encountered a slight stumbling block that will soon be overcome once the difficulties associated with Iraq are neatly squared away. Or it may be that the Democrats are as incorrigibly self-destructive as they were when the Republican era began. Or it may that the newly elected Democrats are really conservative Republicans operating under another party label. But these possibilities are not foretold by the 2006 results.

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/sidney_blumenthal/2006/11/how_american_dumped_bush_part.html

How America dumped Bush, part 2
The failure of the Republican Southern Strategy in the 2006 elections heralds not only the rejection of Bush but also the end of the long Republican era.
The modern Republican rise was first apparent in the midterm elections of 1966, in the wake of early frustrations over Vietnam and racial turmoil after passage of civil rights legislation. The closely fought presidential contest of 1968, whose outcome was hardly inevitable, in which Richard Nixon was elected, was ratified four years later in his 49-state landslide. Nixon's strategy was to revitalize the Republicans as a party by assimilating Southern Democrats and ethnic suburban white-flight Catholics in reaction to a post-New Deal Democratic party tainted by antiwar dissent, minority protest and countercultural experimentation - "amnesty, acid and abortion," as Vice President Spiro Agnew captiously put it.
Nixon's Republican majority was the template for Reagan's consolidation. Reagan's grin replaced Nixon's scowl, but the strategy was basically unaltered. Watergate had only temporarily derailed the project. Reagan's chief innovation was to acknowledge and encourage the nascent religious right as an evolved form of Southern Democrats metamorphosing into Southern Republicans.

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/sidney_blumenthal/2006/12/how_america_dumped_bush_part_2.html


How About We Export The W, Rove and CO to Iraq In 2009?
"I know there´s a lot of speculation that these reports in Washington mean there´s going to be some kind of graceful exit out of Iraq. This business about a graceful exit just simply has no realism to it whatsoever. We´re going to stay in Iraq to get the job done as long as the government wants us there."Who's "We" white man? This quote doesn't bode well for a resolution to the Iraq conflagration any time soon.
Well, we know that the W, Rove and CO is totally committing us to staying in Iraq indefinitely. I suggest that if there is no resolution to the disaster before they leave office that we export our "leaders" to Iraq so they can be more closely linked to fixing the problem they built.
Who's with me? I vote we send GW and the whole of the W, Rove and Co over to Iraq in 2009, once they are removed from office so that they can finish the job they started. And, we should not let them return until there is peace in Iraq.

http://educationalwhisper.blogspot.com/2006/12/how-about-we-export-w-rove-and-co-to.html


Are George W. Bush lovers certifiable?
November 23, 2006By Andy Bromage A collective “I told you so” will ripple through the world of Bush-bashers once news of Christopher Lohse’s study gets out.
Lohse, a social work master’s student at Southern Connecticut State University, says he has proven what many progressives have probably suspected for years: a direct link between mental illness and support for President Bush.
Lohse says his study is no joke. The thesis draws on a survey of 69 psychiatric outpatients in three Connecticut locations during the 2004 presidential election. Lohse’s study, backed by SCSU Psychology professor Jaak Rakfeldt and statistician Misty Ginacola, found a correlation between the severity of a person’s psychosis and their preferences for president: The more psychotic the voter, the more likely they were to vote for Bush.
But before you go thinking all your conservative friends are psychotic, listen to Lohse’s explanation.
“Our study shows that psychotic patients prefer an authoritative leader,” Lohse says. “If your world is very mixed up, there’s something very comforting about someone telling you, ‘This is how it’s going to be.’”

http://www.ctnow.com/custom/nmm/newhavenadvocate/hce-nha-1123-nh48bushbash48.artnov23,0,1695911.story


Court Rejects N.Y. Times on Leak Probe
By PETE YOST 11.27.06, 3:35 PM ET The Supreme Court ruled against The New York Times on Monday, refusing to block the government from reviewing the phone records of two Times reporters in a leak investigation of a terrorism-funding probe.
The one-sentence order came in a First Amendment battle that involves stories written in 2001 by Times reporters Judith Miller and Philip Shenon. The stories revealed the government's plans to freeze the assets of two Islamic charities, the Holy Land Foundation and the Global Relief Foundation.
Like the CIA leak investigation into who in the Bush administration revealed the identity of Valerie Plame, the current Justice Department probe is being conducted by Patrick Fitzgerald, who is prosecuting Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff in the Plame case.
In June 2005, the Supreme Court refused to take up the Times' request to hear an appeal in the Plame investigation. Fitzgerald was seeking to compel Miller, who retired from the Times a year ago, to reveal her sources in that case.
That leak probe led to Miller's jailing for 85 days before she eventually agreed to testify in Fitzgerald's investigation. Her testimony was crucial in the indictment of former vice presidential chief of staff I. Lewis
Libby.

http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2006/11/27/ap3206586.html


With Friends Like These…
Members of the Libby Legal Defense Trust’s Advisory CommitteeIn preparation for the January 2007 trial of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby on federal charges of obstruction of justice, making false statements and perjury during the investigation into the leaking of CIA operative Valerie Plame’s name, friends of Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff have banded together to raise an estimated $5 million for his defense. The Trust’s Web site, <http://www.scooterlibby.org>, provides the names and biographies of advisory committee members.

Donor names and contribution amounts are confidential.

Ambassador Mel Sembler, chair, real estate and shopping center developer; former ambassador to Italy, Australia and Nauru; member of the board, American Enterprise Institute

Hon. Spencer Abraham, former secretary of energy and U.S. senator (R-MI)

Lawrence E. Bathgate II, attorney and senior partner at Bathgate, Wegener and Wolf; former finance chairman of the Republican National Committee

Hon. Wayne Berman, principal of the Federalist Group lobbying firm; former assistant secretary of commerce for policy

Ambassador Stuart Bernstein, real estate developer; former ambassador to Denmark

Ambassador Richard Carlson, vice chairman, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies; board member, Institute for the Study of Terrorism & Political Violence; former director of the Voice of America; former ambassador to the Seychelles

Lewis M. Eisenberg, finance chairman, Republican National Committee; member of the board, Republican Jewish Coalition; former chairman (1995-2001) of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, owner of the World Trade Center; member of Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Authority, which will spearhead the rebuilding of Ground Zero

Hon. David M. Flaum, real estate developer; member, board of directors, Republican Jewish Coalition; finance committee chairman, U.S. Holocaust Museum Council

http://www.wrmea.com/archives/November_2006/0611037.html


Project for New American Century (PNAC)
What is the PNAC?
It is a neo-conservative think-tank that promotes an ideology of total U.S. world domination through the use of force. The group embraces and disseminates an ideology of faith in force, U.S. supremacy, and rejection of the rule of law in international affairs.
The group's core ideas are expressed in a September 2000 report produced for Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Jeb Bush, and Lewis Libby entitled, "Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources For a New Century."

http://americansbeingdeceived.blogspot.com/2006/11/pnac-project-for-new-american-century.html


Project for the New American Century (PNAC)
Project for the New American Century is a neo-conservative think-tank that promotes an ideology of total U.S. world domination through the use of force. The group embraces and disseminates an ideology of faith in force, U.S. supremacy, and rejection of the rule of law in international affairs.
The group's core ideas are expressed in a September 2000 report produced for Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Jeb Bush, and Lewis Libby entitled Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources For a New Century. The Sunday Herald referred to the report as a "blueprint for U.S. world domination."
According to the Sonoma State University media research group Project Censored, The Neoconservative Plan for Global Dominance was the Top Censored Media Story of 2002-2003.
PNAC's membership includes people such as Richard Perle, Elliot Abrams, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and William Kristol.
PNAC began to enter the public consciousness when journalist Neil Mackay wrote about the September 2000 report in the September 15th, 2002 edition of the Sunday Herald. According to the article, the report sparked outrage from British Labour MP Tom Dalyell:

http://home.earthlink.net/~platter/neo-conservatism/pnac.html


Iraq: To stay and 'help,' or just leave?
Wednesday, November 29, 2006Now that the Iraq war has lasted longer than U.S. involvement in World War II, it's time to take stock of what we have done. We quickly ousted a leader we didn't like, destroyed his government, organized elections without taking time to create the infrastructure of democracy, and have allowed the country to destroy itself.
It's going to be tough to explain this project to our grandchildren, particularly when they begin paying for it.
EDWARD C. WOLF, Northeast Portland
It is high time to stop blaming so many in President Bush's inner circle of advisers on Iraq over the past five years. Yes, it is true that Douglas Feith, Paul Wolfowitz, Dick Cheney, Elliot Abrams, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby and others -- except for Donald Rumsfeld -- evaded military service and then rendered self-serving advice.
These men were scarcely competent to lead our nation into the utter disaster that Iraq now is, but let us never forget that there is ultimately only one person responsible for this war, and that man is the commander-in-chief himself.
He has told the nation that he is "the decider" and he alone decided to wage this war that has destroyed Iraq and brought Islamic terrorism to be the greatest threat to humanity today.
There were many ways a rational "decider" could have eliminated Saddam Hussein from his heinous role as dictator of Iraq. This war was the worst possible choice for our loyal military, our nation's economic future, and most of all for the welfare of the Iraqi people.
Resignation is the only honorable way for this man to apologize to the world.
DON FELLER, Southwest Portland

http://www.oregonlive.com/letters/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1164763531179170.xml&coll=7


Court records may preview Libby trial
AP - Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby says that during the investigation into the leak of a CIA agent's identity he was preoccupied with terrorist threats, Iraq's new government and emerging nuclear programs in Iran, Pakistan and North Korea.
Court records released Friday offered the first glimpse of the type of classified information Libby wants to share with jurors at his upcoming perjury and obstruction trial.
Libby, the former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, is accused of lying to investigators and a grand jury about his conversations with journalists regarding former CIA operative Valerie Plame.
Libby plans to testify that he had other, more weighty issues on his mind and simply misspoke or forgot when interviewed by the FBI and the grand jury.
Among those issues were the 2003 rise of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, a diplomatic crisis in Turkey, the ousting of Liberian President Charles Taylor and the role of the Iraqi military after the fall of Saddam Hussein.
U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton ruled last month that Libby must have access to some classified information at trial but, until Friday, the topics were sealed.
A redacted copy of Walton's opinion revealed that Libby wants to use 129 classified documents. Walton said Libby could discuss documents that fell on or near key dates in the case, such as when the aide spoke to reporters and investigators.
Libby's bid for classified information is significant for two reasons. If the government decides the material Walton orders released cannot safely be made public, the case could be dismissed.

http://www.libertylounge.net/forums/6973-court-records-may-preview-libby-trial.html


Libby trial may discuss terror, nukes
Yahoo/AP ^ 12-1-06 Matt Apuzzo
Posted on 12/02/2006 12:04:15 AM PST
by STARWISE
Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby says that during the investigation into the leak of a CIA agent's identity he was preoccupied with terrorist threats, Iraq's new government and emerging nuclear programs in Iran, Pakistan and North Korea.
Court records released Friday offered the first glimpse of the type of classified information Libby wants to share with jurors at his upcoming perjury and obstruction trial.
Libby, the former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, is accused of lying to investigators and a grand jury about his conversations with journalists regarding former CIA operative Valerie Plame.
Libby plans to testify that he had other, more weighty issues on his mind and simply misspoke or forgot when interviewed by the FBI and the grand jury.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1747366/posts


Treasury appoints deputy assistant secretary
Vanessa Singh 01 Dec 2006
The US Treasury has promoted a senior advisor to become the deputy assistant secretary for federal finance.
Related Stories Hank Paulson warns on growing protectionism 28 Nov 2006 Ex-Goldman bankers to reunite at US Treasury 07 Sep 2006 Matthew Abbott will succeed James Clouse, who is joining the Federal Reserve board as a deputy associate director in monetary and financial market analysis section.
Abbott has served as a senior advisor to the under secretary for domestic finance since joining the Treasury last year. He formerly worked in the fixed income division at Credit Suisse. He has also worked as a political coordinator for vice presidential operations during the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign.
Abbott will be based in Washington DC, and will report to the new assistant secretary for financial markets when one is appointed. The assistant secretary position is expected to be filled by Anthony Ryan, who has a senate hearing for his nomination next week, according to a spokeswoman for the Treasury.


Pataki taps Cheney aide for fundraising work
By Marc Humbert, AP Political Writer December 1, 2006
ALBANY, N.Y. --Gov. George Pataki, eyeing a 2008 presidential run, has named a former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney to head fundraising operations for the political action committee used by the New York Republican to boost his national profile.
Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail Breaking News Alerts Kara Ahern will serve as national finance director for Pataki's Virginia-based 21st Century Freedom PAC. The PAC pays for Pataki's travel around the country and makes donations to other GOP candidates.
"Kara Ahern is one of the brightest and most talented people I have had the opportunity to work with as I've traveled across the nation supporting Republican candidates," Pataki said in a statement issued by the PAC on Friday.
A former political director for Cheney, Ahern was northeast finance director for the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign in 2004 and was a chief fundraiser for Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey's unsuccessful run for governor this year in Massachusetts.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2006/12/01/pataki_taps_cheney_aide_for_fundraising_work/

Phased recovery likely, Nagin says
Mayor, other leaders attend Loyola forum Friday, December 01, 2006By Gwen FilosaThe city of New Orleans has the best recovery plan in Louisiana but so far does not have the federal money or the state's cooperation to fully support every aspect of rebuilding, Mayor Ray Nagin said Thursday night.
"At the end of the day, there are not going to be enough federal dollars to do everything," Nagin said. "It's a shame, and it's a problem, and it's something we need to come to grips with. In my opinion, this recovery is going to be done in phases."
Recovery began in the highest and driest neighborhoods, and is branching out to Lakeview and eastern New Orleans, he said, allowing every homeowner ruined by last fall's hurricanes to rebuild by choice -- not government mandate.
"The fundamentals driving our recovery is that government investment will follow citizen investment," Nagin said. "We now have clarity on where our citizens are making their investments. Every segment of the city is now open."
Nagin balked at the suggestion that he has not helped devise a clear recovery plan. He said the months of painstaking planning meetings have paid off for the city.
"We have the most comprehensive plan in the state. People keep saying we don't have a plan. You want a plan? I got a plan for you. Probably more than you want."

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-18/1164956708166850.xml&coll=1

Basically the United States Treasury 'floats' Halliburton Stock until it has enough to pay back the government for overages. Then it's considered a settlement with no hard feelings until next time. In order for Halliburton to stay afloat, there has to be chronic wars It is time for Halliburton to pay off their criminal past and declare bankruptcy while turning over all enterprises to 'open bids' and companies that operate an honest bottom line.

Halliburton Unit to Pay $8 Million for Overbilling
KBR Settlement Ends Kosovo Case
By Griff Witte
Washington Post Staff WriterThursday, November 30, 2006; Page A09
A Halliburton subsidiary agreed to pay the government $8 million to resolve accusations of overbilling related to the firm's work for the Army in the Balkans, the Justice Department said yesterday.
The allegations against KBR, formerly known as Kellogg Brown & Root, stemmed from orders placed with 10 foreign subcontractors that were working for KBR on military logistics support in 1999 and 2000. The accusations, made under the federal False Claims Act, included double-billing, inflating prices and providing products that didn't fit the Army's needs during the construction of Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo. Washington Post stories and multimedia reports about Iraq, Afghanistan, the War on Terror and more.
"The Department of Justice remains committed to vigorously pursuing allegations of procurement abuses affecting the military," Assistant Attorney General Peter D. Keisler said in a written statement.
KBR, which is being spun off by Halliburton, said in a written statement that the company was "pleased" with the resolution. "The government closed its investigations without making allegations of fraud or filing a complaint."
According to the company, it paid the government $2.1 million in 2001 as the result of an internal investigation.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/29/AR2006112901305.html


Civilian Iraq death up 43 pct. in Nov.
By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer Fri Dec 1, 10:38 PM ETBAGHDAD, Iraq - An Interior Ministry official said Friday that 1,846 civilians were killed in Iraq in November, a 43 percent increase from the estimated toll in October. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons, did not elaborate on the monthly figure, which was up from an estimated 1,289 civilians killed in October.
According to a count by The Associated Press, 1,923 civilians were killed in Iraq in November.
Rising sectarian tensions have pushed the country toward the verge of civil war. Last month saw the worst attack of the war when suspected Sunni insurgents killed at least 215 people in Sadr City, Baghdad's Shiite slum, on Nov. 23.
The United Nations put the number of civilian deaths in October at 3,709, the highest monthly toll since the 2003 U.S. invasion.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061202/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_civilian_deaths


Carlyle Group to seek out investment opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa
November 30, 2006
WASHINGTON, DC – DC-based private equity firm, the Carlyle Group, plans to hire up to 15 people to identify and seek out investment opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa, Bloomberg reported.
"This region's now launching itself into the private equity sphere," said Managing Director Walid Musallam, the former CEO of the Abu Dhabi Investment Co, who will be heading the project. "Its potential is enormous."
David Rubenstein, Carlyle Co-founder and Managing Director, said of Musallam, "[He] brings significant experience and stature to this new position. His knowledge of the MENA region and investment experience will quickly establish Carlyle as a serious and credible presence in this important, growing region of the world."
Carlyle, which was founded in 1987 and has in excess of $44 billion under management, said that its Middle East and North Africa (MENA) team will focus on high growth companies in energy, financial services, healthcare, industrial, infrastructure, technology and transportation. The team will operate out of offices in Cairo, Dubai, and Istanbul.

http://www.techjournalsouth.com/news/article.html?item_id=2277

and

http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2006/11/27/daily46.html?jst=b_ln_hl


Group completes Freescale acquisition
Chip maker Freescale Semiconductor Inc. said Friday a group of private equity funds, led by the Blackstone Group, has completed its acquisition for $17.6 billion.
The group also includes the Carlyle Group, funds advised by Permira Advisers LLC and Texas Pacific Group.
The company's stock will be delisted at market close. Freescale's stockholders will receive $40 for each share they own.
Freescale is a spinoff of cell phone maker Motorola
Inc.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8LO9S780.htm


U.S. requires e-data like e-mails to be tracked more closely
WASHINGTON: U.S. companies will need to know more about where they store e-mail messages, instant messages and other electronic documents generated by their employees in the event they are sued, following changes in federal rules that took effect Friday, legal experts say.
The changes, approved by the Supreme Court's administrative arm in April after a five-year review, require companies and other parties involved in federal litigation to produce "electronically stored information" as part of discovery, the process by which both sides share evidence before a trial.
Federal and state courts have increasingly been requiring the production of electronic evidence in individual cases. The new rules clarify that the data will be required in federal cases.
Under the new rules, an information technology employee who routinely overwrites data on a backup computer tape could be committing "virtual shredding" once a lawsuit has been filed, said Alvin Lindsay, a partner at Hogan & Hartson and an expert on technology and litigation.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/01/business/email.php


France is selling historical buildings to pay off debt
http://www.iht.com
posted by Editors 1 day 18 hours ago view profile
France is selling off dozens of historic properties in Paris and the provinces, using the proceeds to move government bureaucrats into less-expensive properties and to help pay off the national debt. So far it has unloaded dozens of châteaux, villas and "hôtels particuliers," the stone mansions of Paris's golden age. Foreigners, including pension funds and private equity firms, are so far the biggest buyers. For all their Gallic pride, the French seem happy to have anyone take them off taxpayers' hands. "All the locations are great, and they are all beautiful pieces of real estate," said Eric Sasson, European head of real estate for Carlyle Group, the global private equity firm that has bought several properties.

http://news.france.com/story/France-is-selling-historical-buildings-to-pay-off-debt/


Open thread by John in DC
11/30/2006 01:00:00 AM
So, in reading Joe's post below, I'm trying to fully comprehend if the Baker commission is adopting "cut & run" or "Vietnam"? Because it sounds a little of both.
What it sounds like they're saying is the following:
Tell the Iraqis we're pulling out, yes we are, but don't make any real plans to pull out because that would be setting a deadline/timetable, and those are bad things, unless they're good things. The fact that the Iraqis think WE have a deadline, that's good, because it will inspire them to fight harder. (I suppose we're just assuming that the Iraqis are stupid and that they don't read the New York Times and thus they don't know that Bush's threat to withdraw is apparently a feint.) But at the same time, the insurgency won't, somehow (I'm assuming with the help of magic pixie dust) find out that we have set a timetable for withdrawal (or then again, we haven't) and thus insurgents won't just wait for us to cut and run before they fight even harder.
A bit more trouble on the horizon, the plan wants us to kind of, sort of withdraw some of our troops, maybe to big bases in Iraq, or even to move them to surrounding countries. Well, that doesn't sound like bringing our boys home, and let's not forget, this war is costing us hundreds of billions of dollars that we don't have, and our military is already overstretched and can't really fight any more wars, so how does this solution solve those problems? It doesn't. It also begs the very large question of, if our troops are withdrawing to finally get them the hell out of Iraq, then why deploy them on the periphery of Iraq, unless you're considering sending them back in, if needed, and if you are, then here we go all over again.
And finally, to the extent Bush does adopt a partial troop withdrawal, where does that leave the remaining tens of thousands of US service members still in Iraq? It leaves them with fewer comrades to support them. So in that sense, this is Vietnam in reverse. Rather than upping our engagement slowly, to death, we're going to withdraw-but-not-withdraw slowly, to death.
All I can say is, this is the Republicans' war and I'll be very interested to watch how out it turns out as the 2008 elections approach.
Okay, so it's not an open thread. Invade me.

http://americablog.blogspot.com/2006/11/open-thread_30.html


Too bad he didn't swing
by kos Tue Nov 28, 2006 at 06:02:47 PM PST

Bush, being a petulant prick again:
At a private reception held at the White House with newly elected lawmakers shortly after the election, Bush asked Webb how his son, a Marine lance corporal serving in Iraq, was doing.
Webb responded that he really wanted to see his son brought back home, said a person who heard about the exchange from Webb.
“I didn’t ask you that, I asked how he’s doing,” Bush retorted, according to the source.
Webb confessed that he was so angered by this that he was tempted to slug the commander-in-chief, reported the source, but of course didn’t. It’s safe to say, however, that Bush and Webb won’t be taking any overseas trips together anytime soon.
Despite the title of this post, it's good Webb didn't slug Bush. Democrats will get back at him by making 2007 and 2008 the most miserable two years of his
life.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/11/28/205621/02


BBC

US Democrats mull climate change
By Nick Miles BBC News, Washington US Democrats want to emphasise climate change in Congress The issue of climate change and global warming hardly registered on the political radar in the United States during the recent Congressional elections.
On 7 November however, the Democratic Party secured both houses of Congress and that political shift is likely to mean a change of emphasis over key environmental issues.
The US is the world's largest greenhouse gas polluter but the country has refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol that sets limits on those gases.
Instead President George W Bush has emphasised the need for innovations that will reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
"America is addicted to oil," he said in this year's State of the Union address.
"Keeping America competitive requires affordable energy, the best way to break this addiction is through technology."
Democratic hope
Now that the Democratic Party has taken control of both houses of Congress there is hope amongst senior Democrats that they will be able convince the president that caps on greenhouse gases are needed as well.
"We have an opportunity to put an emphasis on issues of clean energy, renewable energy, global warming, climate change, in a way that wasn't possible during the last several years," says the incoming Democratic Party head of the Senate energy committee, Jeff Bingaman.
President Bush says America is addicted to oil Mr Bingaman supports set federal limits on greenhouse gases.
He recently co-authored a letter to President Bush urging him to work with the Democrats to develop solutions to the global warming problem.
As in other areas of legislation, the Democrats are emphasising bi-partisanship.
That is a necessity, rather than a sign of magnanimity.
There are still enough Republicans in the Senate to filibuster legislation - basically talk until it runs out of time for a vote, and if that does not happen the president can still wield his veto.
"If you stake out an extreme position you'll pass nothing," says Raymond Kopp, an analyst at Resources for the Future, a environmental think-tank.
"The Democrats have got to put in place sound policy, start it slow and give it a chance to ramp up over time."
Evangelical environmentalists
The Democratic Party's electoral victory has given it momentum over the issue of climate change and that is being bolstered because of the growing support of evangelical Christians - a group usually more closely allied to the Republican Party.
The Reverend Jim Ball is part of a new coalition of evangelical churches in favour of more stringent legislation to combat global warming being mooted by the Democrats.
Their starting position is that the poor are going to be most affected by global warming, so it is a Christian duty to do something about it.
But Mr Ball recognises that "we're not yet at Congressional Nirvana. Many democrats come from coal states and oil and gas states. So this issue isn't just a Republican versus Democrat issue".
He is right to be cautious.
The US is the world's largest greenhouse gas polluter There are still large numbers of people who are sceptical about the significance of climate change.
A recent poll carried out by the Pew Research Center in Washington suggested that only two out of five Americans think global warming is caused by human activity and only one in five were personally worried by climate change.
People in 15 countries, rich and poor, were asked that question. Concern in the US was the lowest of them all.
If there is ambivalence amongst the public about global warming, there is outright scepticism from some groups.
"There's a lot of global warming hysteria out there," says Myron Ebell from the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
"The facts are that the earth hasn't been warming up very quickly, that the predictions of coming catastrophe over-estimate the amount of warming that is likely to occur."
Supreme Court case
So for Mr Ebell, with the prospect of emission cap legislation, these should be dark days.
Well - only up to a point. He is optimistic that the Democrats will in fact achieve very little.
Concern over global warming ranks low in US polls "We've already heard that the Democrats are going to have lengthy Congressional hearings into global warming," says Mr Ebell.
"There'll be a great deal of rhetoric and that will gain them a lot of support in suburban constituencies, but in terms of passing major environmental legislation I don't see them going anywhere."
Whatever legislation comes, it will be incremental.
Public opinion is divided on global warming. It is not driving the politicians forward at breakneck speed.
It could in fact be the courts that give the issue added impetus.
The US Supreme Court has just begun hearing arguments over whether the government should regulate certain greenhouse gas emissions.
The case is limited to whether the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the authority to regulate vehicle emissions of four greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide.
Lawyers for the state bringing the case, Massachusetts, argue that the EPA has to apply the law and use its authority to address global warming.
Environmentalists hope a ruling in their favour would force changes in the policies of President Bush's administration. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6200748.stm
HIV stories from Latin America Three people living in Latin America who are affected by HIV/Aids spoke to BBCMundo.com, as part of the BBC's coverage of World Aids Day on 1 December. Read their stories below and send us your comments using the link at the bottom of the page. Justa Suazo, 36, from Trujillo, Honduras, was diagnosed with HIV five years ago.
When I was told I had HIV I felt that my life was finished, along with my dreams, hopes and plans.
It took me two years to be able to accept my condition. Once I got over it, I became involved in a support group, the Association of People Living with HIV/Aids, and that helped me a lot.
Now I am a leader of this group in my country.
Being an infected person has allowed me to do many things I would not otherwise have done, like participating in public debates to defend the rights of my comrades who are discriminated against because of their HIV status.
I am involved in rallies, meetings and forums to educate the general population about the reality of HIV and Aids.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/6160179.stm


Ailing Castro misses Cuban parade
Raul Castro has been acting president since August Cuban President Fidel Castro has missed a massive military parade held in his honour in Havana, fuelling more speculation about his health. President Castro, 80, had emergency intestinal surgery at the end of July and has not been seen in public since.
The parade marked the 50th anniversary of Fidel Castro's return from exile. His younger brother, Raul Castro, Cuba's acting leader, led the events.
He attacked the US but also renewed an offer to hold talks with Washington.
Until the last minute no-one knew if Fidel Castro would make an appearance at the parade, held as part of belated birthday celebrations for him and to mark this key date in Cuban history.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6201148.stm


Fracas mars Mexico inauguration
Felipe Calderon called for dialogue after a stormy inauguration Felipe Calderon has been sworn in as Mexico's president to jeers, after brawls in Congress between lawmakers, divided by the nation's tight election. Just an hour before the ceremony, deputies seized the speaker's platform and blocked the doors of the chamber.
Members of the left-wing Democratic Revolution Party say Mr Calderon, a conservative, won July's poll by fraud.
The row followed an unusual midnight ceremony in which the outgoing president handed power to Mr Calderon.
Opposition deputies argued Mr Calderon could not become president without taking the oath of office - as outlined in the constitution - and tried to derail Friday's official inauguration.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6199356.stm



Venezuela: A nation divided
By Nathalie Malinarich
BBC News, Caracas
That Venezuela is a deeply polarised nation is something no-one in the capital, Caracas, seems to dispute.
As campaigning intensifies, the divide gets worse, analysts say
"You'll find siblings who no longer speak to each other because one supports [President Hugo] Chavez and the other doesn't," says a man in the well-heeled Altamira neighbourhood. Like many others, he would rather not be named or photographed.
The tension ahead of the 3 December presidential elections is palpable everywhere.
Talk to a Chavez supporter (Chavista) in Chacao - a municipality where opposition candidate Manuel Rosales has widespread support - and some nervousness can be detected.
"I've heard of people going crazy when they hear you mention the president. They absolutely hate him in these middle-class places," says one Chavista.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6179612.stm


Viewpoints: What kind of a leader is Chavez?
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is up for re-election on 3 December. Since he was swept into power in 1998, he has proved to be controversial figure - loathed and revered - both at home and abroad.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6191348.stm


Colombian rebels kill 17 soldiers
Farc is Colombia's largest rebel group with about 16,000 fighters Left-wing Farc rebels in Colombia have killed 17 soldiers in the north-east of the country, the army has said. It said an army patrol was ambushed in Norte de Santander province near the Venezuelan border late on Thursday.
It said reinforcements were sent to the area to flush out the rebels and the operation was under way. So far there has been no comment from Farc.
The latest attack is one of the deadliest since the re-election of President Alvaro Uribe in May.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6200432.stm


Haiti donors in efficiency pledge
Mr Alexis wants a fast-track mechanism to channel the aid Haiti and delegates at a donors conference in Madrid have agreed to operate with greater efficiency in the use of funds in the Caribbean nation. The commitment came after Haiti's prime minister said that 99% of the $750m (£382m) pledged in July had not reached their intended destinations in Haiti.
Since 2004, foreign governments have promised more than $1.5bn (£763m) to the poorest country in the Americas.
Teams from 30 nations and aid agencies attended the forum in Spain's capital.
The conference was called to examine how much money Haiti had received since the aid pledge was made at a similar gathering in July in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6197244.stm


Fears over Haiti child 'abuse'
A BBC investigation commissioned as part of Generation Next - a week of programmes focusing on people under 18 - has uncovered fresh allegations of the sexual abuse of children by United Nations peacekeepers. Mike Williams reports from Port au Prince, Haiti. This 16-year-old tells Mike Williams about the alleged rape by a Brazilian serviceman
The heavily armoured United Nations patrol rolls through the dusty streets of Cite Soleil - the most dangerous and deprived part of a very dangerous and deprived country.
UN peacekeepers crouch low in the turrets of the armoured cars, their rifles tracking the rooftops and alleyways. They come under fire every day in this part of the capital, Port au Prince.
The week before I arrived, two of the peacekeepers were killed there.
Exploitation
There are about 9000 peacekeepers in the UN mission to Haiti, most of them soldiers who come from 19 different nations. Most of them have come to help. They work hard in dangerous conditions to bring security and aid to the desperate people.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6159923.stm


Ecuador votes for break with past
By Daniel Schweimler BBC News, Quito
Rafael Correa is US-educated The people of Ecuador have spoken and spoken loudly.
When all expected a close contest in the second and final round of presidential elections, what they got was a clear-cut victory for the left-wing economist, Rafael Correa.
He beat his right-wing rival, the country's richest man, Alvaro Noboa, with ease - even in the coastal regions where he was thought to be weak.
The people of Ecuador, it seems, want the radical change that 43-year-old Mr Correa is promising.
He is talking about a "citizens' revolution" to overturn what he calls the discredited political establishment - an establishment that has produced eight presidents in the past 10 years.
Three of them were thrown out of office by angry crowds, including the last elected leader, Lucio Gutierrez.
Strong views
Mr Correa, who served briefly as economy minister in the last government of interim president Alfredo Palacio, wants to ensure that a greater share of Ecuador's wealth goes to its many poor.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6186662.stm


US manufacturing activity weakens
Manufacturing firms are finding life more difficult US manufacturing has weakened sharply in a fresh sign that the world's largest economy is slowing down, according to a key survey. National factory activity fell to its lowest level last month in more than three years, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) survey said.
The news may put extra pressure on the dollar as its value continues to fall sharply against other currencies.
Fears over a slowdown have pushed it to a 14-month low against sterling.
Rates focus
While interest rates have been rising across Europe, analysts believe recent economic indicators make a US rate cut a strong possibility next year.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6199978.stm


US retailers fear weak Christmas
US retailers are far from confident about Christmas trading US consumer spending picked up in October, but Wal-Mart, the nation's largest retailer, is now cautious about the key festive trading period. Consumer spending rose by 0.2% last month, the best showing in three months, said the Commerce Department.
The rise followed a 0.2% decline in September and a 0.1% rise in August.
But Wal-Mart said it expected December's like-for-like sales to rise by a mere 1% after they actually fell 0.1% in November.
US consumer spending is closely monitored because it accounts for two-thirds of the country's total economic activity.
Slowdown concern
October's spending increase was helped by a 0.4% rise in household incomes.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6160781.stm


Michael Moore Today

U.S. rethinking Iraqi unification goal
By Anne Gearan / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is re-evaluating its efforts to unite Iraq's fractious sectarian and political factions in an attempt to preserve U.S. options in Iraq no matter what happens, officials familiar with an internal administration review of Iraq policy said Friday.
A senior U.S. official said that as part of that examination, the administration has debated whether to abandon U.S. efforts to bring Sunni insurgents into the political process to stabilize Iraq and instead leave that outreach to the majority Shiites and Iraq's third major group, the Kurds. No decision has been made.
Some U.S. officials have argued that the outreach to Sunni dissidents has failed and may be alienating Shiites, who dominate the government and are the country's largest sect.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8539


Celeste Zappala, mother of Sgt. Sherwood Baker
Rumsfeld honored for citizenship amid protestsBy Jon Hurdle / Reuters
PHILADELPHIA, Dec 1 - Outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was honored for citizenship by a patriotic organization on Friday as peace protesters outside criticized his role as one of the architects of the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
Rumsfeld, whose departure was announced by President George W. Bush the day after the Republican defeat in the Nov. 7 midterm elections, was awarded a gold medal by the Union League, a Philadelphia organization founded in 1862 to support President Abraham Lincoln during the U.S. Civil War.
Rumsfeld's award outraged some Philadelphians who said the Union League should not be honoring the man who headed the Pentagon during the Abu Ghraib scandal involving the abuse of Iraqi prisoners and who played a leading role in what they said was a misguided and poorly executed war.
"This man is responsible for my son's death, and this place of wealth and privilege has given him an award," said Celeste Zappala, whose son Sgt. Sherwood Baker, a member of the Pennsylvania National Guard, was killed in Baghdad in April 2004.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8541


Pentagon intelligence chief to step down
WASHINGTON (AP) — Stephen Cambone, the Pentagon's top intelligence official and a close ally of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, will step down at the end of the year, becoming the first key department member to leave in the wake of Rumsfeld's resignation.
It had been widely speculated that Cambone, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence, would resign as the Pentagon prepares for the expected Senate confirmation of a new defense chief — former CIA director Robert Gates.
The Pentagon's intelligence-gathering has come under fire during Cambone's tenure, with critics accusing the Defense Department of trying to take expanded control over the nation's intelligence activities.
Cambone was in charge of intelligence when it was disclosed a year ago that a Pentagon database of suspicious activities contained the names of anti-war groups that had been found not be security risks. Cambone ordered a review of the program.
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Todd Vician said Gates did not request Cambone's resignation.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8542


Army Manual to Skip Geneva Detainee Rule
The Pentagon's move to omit a ban on prisoner humiliation from the basic guide to soldier conduct faces strong State Dept. opposition.
By Julian E. Barnes / Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has decided to omit from new detainee policies a key tenet of the Geneva Convention that explicitly bans "humiliating and degrading treatment," according to knowledgeable military officials, a step that would mark a further, potentially permanent, shift away from strict adherence to international human rights standards.
The decision could culminate a lengthy debate within the Defense Department but will not become final until the Pentagon makes new guidelines public, a step that has been delayed. However, the State Department fiercely opposes the military's decision to exclude Geneva Convention protections and has been pushing for the Pentagon and White House to reconsider, the Defense Department officials acknowledged.
For more than a year, the Pentagon has been redrawing its policies on detainees, and intends to issue a new Army Field Manual on interrogation, which, along with accompanying directives, represents core instructions to U.S. soldiers worldwide.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=7155


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


Rice says U.S. has made mistakes in Iraq
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday she is certain the United States has made mistakes in the Iraq war, but the world will have to wait until she is out of government to learn what she thinks they were.
"As to whether the United States has made mistakes: of course, I'm sure we have," Rice told interviewer Saad Sillawi of the Arabic satellite television station Al-Arabiya. "You can't be involved in something as big as the liberation of a country like Iraq, and all that has happened since, and I'm sure there are things that we could have done differently."
She told Sillawi, however, that the Bush administration is looking ahead, not backward.
"When I'm back at Stanford University," she said, "I can look back and write books about what we might have done differently."
Rice was a political science professor and later provost at Stanford. She was interviewed at a conference in Jordan, and the State Department distributed the transcript in Washington.

"The Office" deleted scenes

http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/

and

http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/video/


Best network TV show this season: 'Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip'

http://www.nbc.com/Studio_60_on_the_Sunset_Strip/


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.”

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8233


Walk To End The Wars
My name is Bill McDannell. I am a father of five and grandfather of four. I am a Vietnam era veteran and a former pastor of the United Methodist Church. Despite considerable evidence to the contrary, I still firmly believe that, as a citizen of the United States of America, I have a voice in the activities of our country, and that my voice can be heard and can have an impact.
On Saturday, November 4th, 2006 I began to put that belief to the test. Mindful of my constitutional right to petition my government, on that date I left my home in Lakeside, California to begin a walk that will end in Washington, D.C. I am carrying with me a petition I intend to present to both the executive and legislative branches of our government requesting that we, as a nation, declare an immediate end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

http://www.wtetw.com/index.html


THERE ISN'T A SELF RESPECTING JEW THAT WOULD EVER VOTE FOR THE GUY. He must have paid dearly for this honor. He's trying to win over the Jewish Vote early, Bush never could and still can't.

Sen. McCain to Receive Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree
Nov 17, 2006 -- U.S. Sen. John McCain III (R-AZ), one of the most respected voices in Congress for a strong national defense and sound foreign policy and widely believed to be the leading candidate for the Republican Presidential nomination in the 2008 election, will deliver the principal Convocation address at Yeshiva University’s 82nd Annual Hanukkah Dinner and Convocation on Sunday, Dec. 10.
The Hanukkah Dinner, which immediately follows the Convocation at 7 p.m. in the Waldorf’s Grand Ballroom, will be highlighted by a celebration of The Ronald P. Stanton Legacy, a $100 million gift from YU’s Trustee and past chairman and the single largest gift ever in North America in support of Jewish education and Jewish life. The Stanton Legacy provides seed money for the University’s growth initiatives, including facilities acquisition and renovation, faculty research, and recruitment and retention of top-quality faculty across the various disciplines.
Sen. McCain will also be awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at the Convocation, which begins at 5:30 p.m. at The Waldorf=Astoria in New York City.

http://spider.mc.yu.edu/news/articles/article.cfm?id=101268


Walk for Change January 3rd and 4th 2007 Washington DC
Walk the halls of Congress with Gold Star Families for Peace. Lets let the 110th congress know what is expected of them from Day 1. We will be insisting that an immediate exit stradegy from Iraq be implemented. We will be insisting that hearings begin immediately into Bushco's crimes against humanity and the lies told to the American people. We will demand IMPEACHMENT.
Let us know you are comingand where you are coming from City, State.
Schedule a meeting with your Representative or Senator. (Please check BACK). The 110th congressional directory is not yet completed.
Share a ride
Share a room
Impeachment Proceedings
Cindy SheehanWe the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establishJustice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence,promote the General Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselvesand our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America There are many important issues facing our nation and the 110th Congress. Minimum wage increases and universal health care are long past due.I certainly appreciate the stirrings about bringing our troops home from Iraq within 3 or 4 months, too! After all, sic more troops were killed yesterday while our politicoes are playing footsies with each other! We thought that Nov. 7th was a day to celebrate! When the last of our brave young people come limping home to their relieved families that will be a joy-filled and historic day.

http://www.gsfp.org/article.php?preview=1&cache=0&id=282


Bring the Mandate for Peace to Washington DC on Jan. 27!

http://www.unitedforpeace.org/


Support United for Peace & Justice!
United for Peace and Justice is a coalition of more than 1,400 local and national groups throughout the United States, which have joined together to protest the Iraq War and oppose our government's policy of permanent warfare and empire-building.
Please contribute as generously as you can -- and forward this page to your friends. Thank you for your support!
Below, you can make a one-time contribution, or become a member of the UFPJ Sustainers Program, which allows you to make automatic recurring donations. Becoming a sustainer saves you time and saves us money (and trees!), because we don't need to send as many mail solicitations.
For information on making a tax-deductible donation, please scroll to the bottom of this page. Donations made online are NOT tax-deductible.

https://secure.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/ufpj/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=1166


If you feel George W. Bush should be impeached, paint a sign that says "Impeach." and post it in a public place.

http://www.freewayblogger.com/impeachment_project2.htm

Veterans of War, Veterans of Peaceedited by Maxine Hong Kingstonfeaturing the writings of 80 veteran writers

http://www.vetsofwarvetsofpeace.org/


Civilian Iraq death up 43 pct. in Nov.
By Kim Gamel / Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq - An Interior Ministry official said Friday that 1,846 civilians were killed in Iraq in November, a 43 percent increase from the estimated toll in October.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons, did not elaborate on the monthly figure, which was up from an estimated 1,289 civilians killed in October.

According to a count by The Associated Press, 1,923 civilians were killed in Iraq in November.
Rising sectarian tensions have pushed the country toward the verge of civil war. Last month saw the worst attack of the war when suspected Sunni insurgents killed at least 215 people in Sadr City, Baghdad's Shiite slum, on Nov. 23.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8543



Having Pinned Little Hope on Talks, Many Iraqis Appear to Be Beyond Disappointment
By Kirk Semple / New York Times
BAGHDAD, Nov. 30 — Even if Sana al-Nabhani had cared about the summit meeting in Jordan on Thursday between Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki and President Bush, she would not have been able to watch the news. As usual, Iraqis went without electricity from the national grid for most of the day and she could not find any gasoline to run her personal generator.
Told by a reporter later in the day about the meeting’s outcome, Ms. Nabhani, a 34-year-old homemaker, scoffed: “Is that all? Was that even worth the fuel consumed by their airplanes?”
Her dismay was common among Iraqis who managed to follow the news on Thursday. So was a range of other emotions that probably would not hearten Mr. Maliki or Mr. Bush, including disappointment, indifference and despair.
For many, the talks promised little and delivered less and reaffirmed a widespread loss of faith in the elected government’s ability to turn things around.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8537


Congress to look at voting problems
By Jeremy Wallace / Herald-Tribune
Sarasota's voting controversy has given new life to election reform advocates in Congress, prompting the incoming leader of the House to make the issue a top priority for the new year and triggering hearings in the U.S. Senate.
More than being just a battle over who won the 13th Congressional District, officials on Capitol Hill say what happened in Sarasota has wider implications for the nation, giving a more substantive edge to what previously was mostly a theoretical debate over the reliability of touchscreen voting machines.
"What happened in Sarasota really does highlight the issue," said Howard Gantman, communications director for U.S. Sen. Diane Feinstein, a Democrat from California who is already vowing to hold hearings on the voting issues early in 2007.
With Democrats winning control of the House and Senate this year, Feinstein is in line to become the chairwoman of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, which has jurisdiction over federal election regulations.
Gantman said he is certain Sarasota officials will be called in to testify.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8536


I can't wait for al Qaeda to work their deceptions with these standards

U.S. rates travelers for terror risk
By Michael J. Sniffen / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Without their knowledge, millions of Americans and foreigners crossing U.S. borders in the past four years have been assigned scores generated by U.S. government computers rating the risk that the travelers are terrorists or criminals.
The travelers are not allowed to see or directly challenge these risk assessments, which the government intends to keep on file for 40 years.
The government calls the system critical to national security following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Some privacy advocates call it one of the most intrusive and risky schemes yet mounted in the name of anti-terrorism efforts.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8534


Al-Maliki faces revolt within government
By Hamza Hendawi / Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki faced a widening revolt within his divided government as two senior Sunni politicians joined prominent Shiite lawmakers and Cabinet members in criticizing his policies.
Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi said he wanted to see al-Maliki's government gone and another "understanding" for a new coalition put in place with guarantees that ensure collective decision making.
"There is a clear deterioration in security and everything is moving in the wrong direction," the Sunni leader told The Associated Press. "This situation must be redressed as soon as possible. If they continue, the country will plunge into civil war."

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8530


Iraq Panel to Recommend Pullback of Combat Troops
By David E. Sanger and David S. Cloud / New York Times
WASHINGTON, Nov. 29 — The bipartisan Iraq Study Group reached a consensus on Wednesday on a final report that will call for a gradual pullback of the 15 American combat brigades now in Iraq but stop short of setting a firm timetable for their withdrawal, according to people familiar with the panel’s deliberations.
The report, unanimously approved by the 10-member panel, led by James A. Baker III and Lee H. Hamilton, is to be delivered to President Bush next week. It is a compromise between distinct paths that the group has debated since March, avoiding a specific timetable, which has been opposed by Mr. Bush, but making it clear that the American troop commitment should not be open-ended. The recommendations of the group, formed at the request of members of Congress, are nonbinding.
A person who participated in the commission’s debate said that unless the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki believed that Mr. Bush was under pressure to pull back troops in the near future, “there will be zero sense of urgency to reach the political settlement that needs to be reached.”

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8519


Bush: U.S. troops will remain in Iraq
By Tom Raum / Associated Press
AMMAN, Jordan - President Bush pledged Thursday that U.S. troops will remain in Iraq to strengthen the authority of embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and said the two agreed to speed a turnover of security responsibility to Iraqi forces.
"One of his frustrations with me is that he believes that we've been slow about giving him the tools necessary to protect the Iraqi people," Bush said. "Today we had a meeting that will accelerate the capacity for the prime minister to do the hard work necessary to help stop this violence."
The two also agreed in high-stakes talks here Thursday that Iraq should not be partitioned into separate, semiautonomous zones.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8520


Iraqis plan to take over security in '07
By Thomas Wagner and Sameer N. Yacoub / Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Thursday he believed Iraqi forces would be ready by June 2007 to take full control of security in Iraq, an issue on which he pressed President Bush during their meeting in Amman, Jordan.
In making the argument that his military and police could handle security in the country, al-Maliki has routinely said the force could do the job within six months.
"I can say that Iraqi forces will be ready, fully ready to receive this command and to command its own forces, and I can tell you that by next June our forces will be ready," al-Maliki said in an interview with ABC News.
Bush and al-Maliki agreed that the United States would speed efforts to turn security over the Iraqi forces, although they mentioned no timetable during a post-summit news conference.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8523


Press Conference by the President White House Conference Center Briefing Room
Q Thank you, Mr. President. More than 3,500 Iraqis were killed last month, the highest civilian monthly toll since the war began. Are you disappointed with the lack of progress by Iraq's unity government in bringing together the sectarian and ethnic groups?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I am aware that extremists and terrorists are doing everything they can to prevent Iraq's democracy from growing stronger. That's what I'm aware of. And, therefore, we have a plan to help them -- "them," the Iraqis -- achieve their objectives. Part of the plan is political; that is the help the Maliki government work on reconciliation and to work on rehabilitating the community. The other part is, of course, security. And I have given our commanders all the flexibility they need to adjust tactics to be able to help the Iraqi government defeat those who want to thwart the ambitions of the people. And that includes a very robust security plan for Baghdad.
We've, as you may or may not know, Terry, moved troops from Mosul, the Stryker Brigade, into Baghdad, all aiming to help the Iraqi government succeed.
You know, I hear a lot of talk about civil war. I'm concerned about that, of course, and I've talked to a lot of people about it. And what I've found from my talks are that the Iraqis want a unified country, and that the Iraqi leadership is determined to thwart the efforts of the extremists and the radicals and al Qaeda, and that the security forces remain united behind the government. And one thing is clear: The Iraqi people are showing incredible courage.
The United States of America must understand it's in our interests that we help this democracy succeed. As a matter of fact, it's in our interests that we help reformers across the Middle East achieve their objectives. This is the fundamental challenge of the 21st century. A failed Iraq would make America less secure. A failed Iraq in the heart of the Middle East will provide safe haven for terrorists and extremists. It will embolden those who are trying to thwart the ambitions of reformers. In this case, it would give the terrorists and extremists an additional tool besides safe haven, and that is revenues from oil sales.
You know, it's an interesting debate we're having in America about how we ought to handle Iraq. There's a lot of people -- good, decent people, saying, withdraw now. They're absolutely wrong. It would be a huge mistake for this country. If you think problems are tough now, imagine what it would be like if the United States leaves before this government has a chance to defend herself, govern herself, and listen to the -- and answer to the will of the people.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/08/20060821.html


2886 U.S. MILITARY DEATHS IN IRAQ
December 2, 2006, 1:12 pm

http://www.michaelmoore.com/takeaction/deaths.php



21778 U.S. MILITARY WOUNDED IN IRAQ
December 2, 2006, 1:13 pm

http://www.michaelmoore.com/takeaction/wounded.php



THIS PAGE REPRESENTS 26,200 OF THE 655,000
Page 25 of 25
'EXCESS' IRAQI DEATHS SINCE WAR BEGAN

http://www.michaelmoore.com/takeaction/iraqi_deaths.php?page=25

continued ...