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Thursday, October 05, 2006

The "World Can't Wait" event in Boston, October 5-6, 2006

The following is extracted from an e-mail I just received.

The Boston, October 5th protest will start at 12:00 noon, at the bandstand on Boston Common.

The protest will go on for 24 hours.

On October 5th, we will have orators and music. Orators will be speaking on the following subjects:
Labor & Fair Wages - The Environment/Our Safety - Impeachable Offences - Katrina/Our Safety - The WAR & WMD - Health Care – Education - Election Fraud - Women's Rights - The 1st & 4th Amendments - Torture - Gay Rights and Science.

At dusk on the 5th the protest will move to street corners where we will hold all night vigils.

At 7:00 am on October 6th we will return to the Boston Common bandstand and engage in a morning meditation. At 10:00 am the public address system will be turned back on and we will have a two-hour open mike wrap-up.

Then…. We start planning a march on Washington!
John Lerner, Boston World Can't Wait: 617 669-7028
Message from Sean Penn:
Wednesday 04 October 2006
The following is a statement by actor Sean Penn given on October 2, 2006, at the Great Hall of Cooper Union, New York City. It was read by Mark Ruffalo (Penn's co-star in "All the King's Men") at an emergency meeting of "World Can't Wait - Drive Out the Bush Regime" held in response to passage of the Torture Bill and in preparation for protests happening on Thursday, October 5, in over 190 cities nationwide.
The arrogant, the misguided, the cowards would argue that an immediate pull-out of our troops from Iraq would inspire lack of confidence and the lost credibility of the United States. President Bush and his functionaries indeed have caused an enormous loss of credibility in the perception of our country internationally. Perhaps more damaging than that, they have created the greatest cultural, religious, and political divide domestically since our own Civil War.

We the people of the United States have a unique opportunity. We can show each other and the world that what the Bush administration claims is their mission is not ours. And, by leading our country as a citizenry and demanding of our government an immediate end to our own military and profit investments in Iraq, display for the entire world that democracy is a government of the people. What more powerful message to send the world than that we ourselves can choose - in policy, in peace, and in humanitarian support.

In fascism, one serves the State. Let's show the world that with democracy, we can make the State do our bidding, and that such bids would not be the blind ones, given exclusively to the friends of power. But rather, the domain of the people of freedom everywhere. This is an administration that advocates torture, deceives the public, spends billions of dollars on a failed war. This is an administration where in the year of Katrina, Exxon Mobil claimed the highest profit margin in the history of world business. It is an administration that belittles, demeans, deceives, and indeed kills our brothers, our sisters, our sons, and our daughters.

At the US/Mexico border, we panic at the notion of illegal entry, without blinking an eye as our elderly line up every Saturday morning with wheelchairs, walkers, canes and joint pain, queued up in the desert heat to enter Mexico where they can purchase affordable medication. In the human family, this president is indeed pushing his wheelchair-bound grandmother down the stairs with a smile on his face. Everyone knows that these are true statements. Everyone. Some are ashamed of where they've put their support in the past, their passivity in the present, with the courage of their minds and hearts at bay. What an exciting thing to reverse this as one America and show the world who wears the pants in this house.

Stand up as an American and join World Can't Wait and those demonstrating this Thursday, October 5th.

Out of Iraq. And out with Bush.

Monday, October 02, 2006

October 2, 2006: Recent links of interest

Foley's Behavior No Secret on Capitol Hill

Monday, 2 October 2006 6:05 P GMT-05
A former page has come forward to tell ABC News warnings were issued about Foley to the pages in 2001. Matthew Loraditch says pages were told to watch out for Foley. "It was a slight cautionary statement, you know, 'Don't get too wrapped up in him being too nice to you and all that kind of stuff.' You know, 'He's a nice guy, but he's a little bid odd,' and that sort of thing," Loraditch said.

The New Enabling Act

Monday, 2 October 2006 6:01 P GMT-05
Forget, for the moment, that the proposed “compromise” torture legislation effectively abrogates the Geneva Conventions. Forget that it effectively licenses torture in the name of every American. Focus instead on the fact that it “vests in the administration the singularly most tyrannical power that exists – namely, the power unilaterally to decree someone guilty of a crime and to condemn the accused to eternal imprisonment without having even to charge him with a crime, let alone defend the validity of those accusations.”

Condi's Killer Pen

Monday, 2 October 2006 5:55 P GMT-05
Not only did Condi's office give final approval for the press release that has affected 1000's of New Yorkers, "two devastating memos, written by the U.S. and local governments, show they knew. They knew the toxic soup created at Ground Zero was a deadly health hazard. Yet they sent workers into the pit and people back into their homes." What do you say to that media? U.S. and local Governments knowingly sent New Yorkers to their death. Is that "newsworthy" enough for you?

Is your daughter a future detainee?

Monday, 2 October 2006 5:33 P GMT-05
The Senate just passed by a vote of 65-34 a bill that, among other things, allows the president to imprison forever, without trial, your neighbor's son -- a lawful permanent resident in the United States -- for emailing his Muslim roommate who went home to visit his family. Your daughter who organizes a protest at the Pentagon that gets a little more attention than the president thinks it should could become a detainee, held indefinitely. The bill says generally what activities qualify one as an "unlawful enemy combatant" subject to detention, but if the government can postpone that review indefinitely, who's going to tell the president that detention is illegal?

No 'Holiday' in Gitmo

Monday, 2 October 2006 5:22 P GMT-05
Some people think that Amnesty International's description of the camp as the "gulag of our times" is too harsh. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, for instance, recently rejected the "gulag" label, telling conventions of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion that Guantanamo is more akin to a holiday resort, complete with a volleyball court, basketball court, soccer field and library. During my years of incarceration, I never once encountered the things Rumsfeld mentioned and never met anyone who had. What people don't seem to understand about Guantanamo is that the prisoners there who protest their innocence have no way to prove it. The principle "innocent until proven guilty" is turned on its head. Everyone's guilty without charges, convicted without a trial. That is why it's like a gulag — even if it's one that provides "Harry Potter" books for reading material (as Rumsfeld noted).

Boston Police officer pleads not guilty to shooting fellow officer

Monday, 2 October 2006 5:17 P GMT-05
A Boston police officer today pleaded not guilty to criminal charges stemming from an incident last June when he allegedly shot and wounded a fellow Boston police officer while both were off-duty.

Are You an 'Unlawful Combatant'?

Monday, 2 October 2006 4:47 P GMT-05
Congress has now granted the president the powers of a dictator. The rest of the story of our slide into absolutism is merely a matter of filling in the details.

Appeasement Driven by Oil

Sunday, 1 October 2006 6:35 P GMT-05
The President, by failing to support a bill that would certainly have defined the nation's moral position, and might even have saved tens of thousands of lives, was choosing to appease, not confront the very "Islamo-fascists" against whom he rails in the abstract.

Report says detainee plan would pardon U.S. officials

Sunday, 1 October 2006 6:24 P GMT-05
A report in the Chicago Tribune summarized the bill as shielding U.S. officials from prosecution under the War Crimes Act retroactively to 1997. That's when the original law was passed criminalizing violations of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions.
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NORAD scrambles jets to intercept Russian bombers

Sunday, 1 October 2006 5:53 P GMT-05
"It was the Americans who found the bombers first. They came to within metres of the bombers," reported CTV's David Akin. "There was no radio contact. After a period of time, the Russians turned and went home." The bombers never crossed over into Canadian or U.S. airspace. And according to Major Jason Proulx, such incidents are not rare.

Blood & guts: At the front with the poor bloody infantry

Sunday, 1 October 2006 5:49 P GMT-05
"You see the Taliban cutting around on dirt bikes, their weapons in one hand, their kids in the other," said an email reported by The Mail on Sunday. "They think we will not shoot them. There have been some terrible accidents. It is horrible to kill a kid, nothing could prepare you for it."

Humiliation at 33,000 feet: Top British architect tells of terror 'arrest'

Sunday, 1 October 2006 5:44 P GMT-05
To the applause of fellow passengers, the Jewish designer was escorted from a New York flight as a potential bomber. Because, he tells Sophie Goodchild, of his holiday tan

Scandal involving Chicago police officers could precipitate over 100 dropped cases

Sunday, 1 October 2006 5:37 P GMT-05
According to the Chicago Tribune, that memo instructed prosecutors to drop cases handled by four Chicago police officers who were later charged with robbery and kidnapping.

On Friday, September 29, It's Mourning in America

Saturday, 30 September 2006 5:56 P GMT-05
Just as it is hard to fully comprehend the grief of a beloved friend or relative killed needlessly in an accident, it is excruciatingly painful to try to come to terms with the pernicious betrayal of our Constitution and liberty that occurred in the Senate on Thursday, September 28.

We're There Now. The Nightmare Came True

Saturday, 30 September 2006 5:33 P GMT-05
So, let's say the nightmare came true, and out of fear, we all shut up--all us Democrats, all us dissenters, all us Bush-haters, all us upholders of the Constitution, all us liberals and secular humanists? What if all journalists and all bloggers and even Keith Olberman and the generals at the Pentagon, starting right now, gave Bush a free pass? Here is what would happen. His policies in Iraq would still fail. His attack on Iran would still be a disaster. His War on Terror would still be a bust. And everyone knows it.

Gonzales Cautions Judges on Interfering

Saturday, 30 September 2006 5:30 P GMT-05
He said the Constitution makes the president commander in chief and the Supreme Court has long recognized the president's pre-eminent role in foreign affairs. "The Constitution, by contrast, provides the courts with relatively few tools to superintend military and foreign policy decisions, especially during wartime," the attorney general told a conference on the judiciary at Georgetown University Law Center. "Judges must resist the temptation to supplement those tools based on their own personal views about the wisdom of the policies under review," Gonzales said.

What the new US terror legislation means

Saturday, 30 September 2006 5:15 P GMT-05
lthough it specifically outlaws rape and mutilation, defining them as war crimes, human rights groups fear this leeway could allow George Bush to authorise methods viewed as illegal under international law. Sleep deprivation, light and sound deprivation, 20-hour interrogations, induced hypothermia, the use of hoods, isolation and the removal of clothing are amongst methods already believed to be in use that could be given official approval by Mr Bush.

Do you believe any 9/11 conspiracy theories?

Saturday, 30 September 2006 5:05 P GMT-05

Neocons Gunning for Kevin Barrett

Saturday, 30 September 2006 5:00 P GMT-05
Check out the names listed on the left-hand side of this letter regarding Professor Barrett, and this letter regarding Professor William Woodward. I can understand poor Lynne Cheney's involvement: she does not want to see her husband prosecuted as a traitor and war criminal as one of the apparent perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks.

Diebold Added Secret Patch to Georgia E-Voting Systems in 2002, New Whistleblowers Say

Saturday, 30 September 2006 4:10 P GMT-05
"We were told that it was intended to fix the clock in the system, which it didn't do," Hood told Rolling Stone. "The curious thing is the very swift, covert way this was done."

When Democracy Fails Us

Friday, 29 September 2006 7:58 P GMT-05
We need to be afraid of our own representatives of both parties and their willingness to dismantle democracy as they jockey for political edge and stretch for a few more votes in a moral vacuum. We need to be afraid of the economic fallout that might occur if tens of thousands of American immigrants, in this country legally, start to leave out of the fear that they can now be arrested with no evidence and held by a jailer who, accountable to no one, can throw away the key. We need to be afraid that some day soon, any American who speaks out could hear that late-night knock on the door emblematic of every totalitarian state where people are forced to lower their voices to a whisper. Far-fetched, you say? After Thursday's vote in the U.S. Senate, I’m not so sure.

In Case I Disappear

Friday, 29 September 2006 7:55 P GMT-05
By writing this essay, I could be deemed an "enemy combatant." It's that simple, and very soon, it will be the law. I always laughed when people told me to be careful. I'm not laughing anymore. In case I disappear, remember this. America is an idea, a dream, and that is all. We have borders and armies and citizens and commerce and industry, but all this merely makes us like every other nation on this Earth. What separates us is the idea, the simple idea, that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are our organizing principles. We can think as we please, speak as we please, write as we please, worship as we please, go where we please. We are protected from the kinds of tyranny that inspired our creation as a nation in the first place.

9/11 Reveals the Rotten Machine Behind the Curtain

Friday, 29 September 2006 7:54 P GMT-05
One day I received a massive number of emails from people asking for more information regarding 9/11, and the possibility it was an inside job. Stunned, I contacted one of these people to find out how they'd gotten my email address, and found that my email address had been published in a major North American newspaper. The article had begun as a "grassy knoll" "tin foil hats" hit piece on 9/11 truth seekers, but oddly it listed point by point the disturbing facts around 9/11 I had collected and sent out. Then it said if you want more information on 9/11, contact ... and they gave my email address. I called the reporter, who immediately apologized for the "hit piece" quality of the article. He said that in order to get the facts out about the disturbing questions around 9/11, he had to write it in the form of a hit piece in order to get it past his editor. He spoke of other reporters at major papers who'd already lost their jobs for critically analyzing the events of 9/11, and this was only a few months after 9/11/2001.
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Christians: We'll fight for Israel

Friday, 29 September 2006 7:17 P GMT-05
"The line between the political and the biblical is disappearing," Josh Reinstein, Director of the Caucus, told the meeting. "Around the world, we see the rise of radical Islam come against our Judeo-Christian values, and we must meet it with a well organized response," Reinstein said. "We formed the Christian Allies Caucus to coordinate cooperate and communicate with our Christian allies around the world… we want to work with you, and we thank you for your support," he told delegates.

Twilight Struggle: Finally Standing Up as the Republic Crashes Down����

Friday, 29 September 2006 7:11 P GMT-05
The Times has taken a good, strong first step; now they need to march forward boldly and tell the rest of the truth. Bush's "War on Terror" is coming to the Homeland, and its target is the American people. Bush and his handlers want to destroy the ability of anyone to oppose their hard-right – and overwhelmingly unpopular – agenda. It's the only way the Faction can maintain its domination – and avoid prosecution for its many crimes. They're fighting for their freedom – so they'll take ours. They're fighting for their lives – so they'll take ours. Next time, the NYT should put a piece like this on the front page – and end it with a call for mass marches in the street, exhorting the American people to rally for their liberty and bring down the bloodstained tyrants who have usurped the Republic and dishonored our name.

Twistedchick's Free Speech Zone -- Twistedchick on the "Torture Bill"

Friday, 29 September 2006 6:38 P GMT-05
Most people in this country may not realize the difference. Most may not understand that the world they live in changed in a deep and serious manner yesterday, and they no longer possess the rights that were written into law by James Madison, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton and the authors of the Bill of Rights. Avedon Carol had it right when she published yesterday a list of the Bill of Rights with all of them crossed out except the third one, because we have not yet been told to quarter foreign or domestic troops in our spare bedrooms.

"When the final history is written on Iraq, it'll look like just a comma."

Friday, 29 September 2006 5:36 P GMT-05
Some comments in Russian.

'Idiot' barb gets passenger detained

Friday, 29 September 2006 5:25 P GMT-05
A Wisconsin man who wrote "Kip Hawley is an Idiot" on a plastic bag containing toiletries said he was detained at an airport security checkpoint for about 25 minutes before authorities concluded the statement was not a threat. Ryan Bird, 31, said he wrote the comment about Hawley -- head of the Transportation Security Administration -- as a political statement. He said he feels the TSA is imposing unreasonable rules on passengers while ignoring bigger threats.

They cry and pray to Bush - welcome to Jesus Camp

Friday, 29 September 2006 5:19 P GMT-05
At one point Pastor Fischer equates the preparation she is giving children with the training of terrorists in the Middle East. "I want to see young people who are as committed to the cause of Jesus Christ as the young people are to the cause of Islam," she tells the camera. "I want to see them radically laying down their lives for the gospel, as they are over in Pakistan and Israel and Palestine." Those comments caught the eye of Talking Heads singer David Byrne, who saw the film at a festival in Washington in June. "I kept saying to myself, OK, these are the Christian version of the Madrasas," he wrote on his blog. "So both sides are pretty much equally sick."

How did we sink so low in just 6 years?���

Friday, 29 September 2006 5:17 P GMT-05
In a 253 to 168 “party-line” vote, the congress repealed habeas corpus and approved the torturing of prisoners in American custody. It is breathtaking assault on human rights and personal liberty and puts the United States well-outside the community of civilized nations. It will ultimately be up to the Supreme Court to decide whether to strike down this "affront to democracy" or let the law stand as is. If the bill passes the Senate, the administration will be able to arrest whomever it chooses and lock them up indefinitely without due process. Suspects in Bush’s war on terror will no longer have the right to challenge the terms of their detention or to even know why they have been incarcerated.

The REAL List Of Assholes Responsible for Torture

Friday, 29 September 2006 3:36 P GMT-05
Keep this in mind. If your neighbor's mean-ass pit bull comes into your yard and bites you, you don't get mad at your own dog for not protecting you. First order of business is to get rid of the god-damned pit bull. After all, he's the one that's really responsible for your wounds. Once that's done, then you can worry about giving your own sorry pooch some watch-dog training.

Bush Given Authority To Sexually Torture American Children

Friday, 29 September 2006 2:53 P GMT-05
We have established that the bill allows the President to define American citizens as enemy combatants. Now let's take it one step further. Before this article is dismissed as another extremist hyperbolic rant, please take a few minutes out of your day to check for yourself the claim that Bush now has not only the legal authority but the active blessings of his own advisors to torture American children.

Oliver Stone says "conspiracy-mongering on 9/11" a "waste of time"

Friday, 29 September 2006 2:43 P GMT-05
"I think that conspiracy-mongering on 9/11 is a waste of time," he said. "The far greater conspiracy occurred after 9/11 when basically a neo-cabal inside our government hijacked policy and went to war. That was as broad a conspiracy as we can get and it was about 20, 30 people. That's all, they took over and all these books are coming out and they are pointing it out," said Stone.

Left Blindspot

Thursday, 28 September 2006 4:55 P GMT-05
Alot has been written about the left gatekeepers. But I'm constantly amazed at the blind spot - about false flag terror - among so-called progressives who are not conscious gatekeepers. These are people who can see other issues just fine, but just can't see what's in their blind spot: the frequent use of false flag terror by the U.S. and our allies.

If You Can't March When They Are Torturing People, When Can You March?

Thursday, 28 September 2006 4:53 P GMT-05
We must speak these words clearly: the right to protest the actions of the US government is simply not negotiable. What our leaders so plainly do not understand is that, in a democracy, the exercise of government power is paid for by the right of the people to voice their opinions. There is no other currency. Where the people are silenced and stripped of their liberties, the government exercises power unjustly, and must be removed. We are at a critical moment in time. Even as it strips our liberties and presides over the willful destruction of the US economy, the current administration has sought to further insulate itself from the citizens it is supposed to serve. We cannot afford to allow this trend to continue. We urge all concerned citizens to join WCW in a work stoppage next week, and in helping to create the conditions for the removal of a criminal regime.

Colorado sheriff: High school assault of 'sexual nature'

Thursday, 28 September 2006 4:42 P GMT-05
A gunman who killed a student hostage and then himself during a high school standoff in Colorado "traumatized and assaulted" his hostages and the attack "was of a sexual nature," police said Thursday.

US school siege ends in bloodshed

Thursday, 28 September 2006 4:34 P GMT-05
A gunman and one of the teenage girls he was holding hostage have died after police stormed a school in the US state of Colorado.

Poll: Iraqis back attacks on U.S. troops

Thursday, 28 September 2006 4:32 P GMT-05
Almost four in five Iraqis say the U.S. military force in Iraq provokes more violence than it prevents. About 61 percent approved of the attacks — up from 47 percent in January. A solid majority of Shiite and Sunni Arabs approved of the attacks, according to the poll. The increase came mostly among Shiite Iraqis.

Decimating the Constitution with Military Tribunals

Thursday, 28 September 2006 4:22 P GMT-05
The truth is that the “war on terrorism” rhetoric has been a sham from the beginning — a sham to enable federal officials to do what they’ve been trying to do for decades, especially in another sham war — the “war on drugs” — emasculate the Bill of Rights to enable federal officials to run roughshod over people — and not just foreigners. The military-tribunal legislation is just the culmination of decades of federal officials’ mocking and ridiculing the “constitutional technicalities” whose only real purpose, U.S. officials have long claimed, is to let “guilty” people go free.

House approves bill on terror detainees

Thursday, 28 September 2006 4:19 P GMT-05
The legislation would establish a military court system to prosecute terror suspects, a response to the Supreme Court ruling in June that Congress' blessing was necessary. While the bill would grant defendants more legal rights than they had under the administration's old system, it nevertheless would eliminate rights usually granted in civilian and military courts.

USA Today/Gallup Poll: 42% of Americans Believe Bush Administration Manipulating Gas Prices to Help GOP

Thursday, 28 September 2006 3:46 P GMT-05
A USA Today/Gallup poll conducted September 15-17 reveals that an astounding 42% of Americans believe that the current drop in prices at the pump are the direct result of manipulation by the Bush administration.

20 Damning Facts About Voting In The USA

Thursday, 28 September 2006 3:43 P GMT-05
DECEMBER 2004 GALLUP POLLS 1 in 5 Americans believe the elections were fraudulent. That's over 41 Million Americans. You are NOT alone!

9/11: Pathetic "Left" Disinformation

Thursday, 28 September 2006 3:51 A GMT-05
Commentators on the left, like pundits elsewhere on the political spectrum, are hesitant to go far astray of the limits on accepted discourse regarding controversial questions, especially, as in the case of 9-11, when corporate media and the state heavily police these boundaries. There is a left bias toward explanations of terror as the result of exploitation and revolt of the underprivileged. Finally, the left is averse to conspiracy theories spun by critics of the system, seeing such theories as antithetical to systematic analysis based on larger factors, like class struggle or globalization.

Gitmo From the Inside

Thursday, 28 September 2006 3:04 A GMT-05
When Moazzam Begg was abducted from his home in the middle of the night on Jan. 31, 2002, he thought he was being kidnapped by thugs. Those thugs turned out to be the U.S. military and CIA. Begg was shuffled from Kandahar to Bagram to Guantanamo and held for three years before he was finally released in January 2005. As with the majority of the other detainees, Begg was never charged with any crime.

Regarding Evil and American Identity, Part 1

Thursday, 28 September 2006 1:00 A GMT-05
Just because al-Qaeda members commit evil deeds doesn't mean that Donald Rumsfeld does not. A man who murdered someone in a drive-by shooting is not excused because he is put into a jail cell next to a serial killer.

Are You an Enemy Combatant?

Thursday, 28 September 2006 12:38 A GMT-05
Of course, many would argue that the key word here is “foreigners” and this legislation poses no threat to Americans. However, considering previous comments of “key negotiator” Lindsey Graham, we can likely expect this legislation to be used against “fifth columnists,” as the good senator from South Carolina deems all who oppose the neocon doctrine of forever war.

Losing a War, Winning a Police State

Thursday, 28 September 2006 12:31 A GMT-05
Although the Iraq War has cost about 2,700 American lives and hundreds of billions of dollars from the Treasury, the war has created great business opportunities for well-connected corporations such as Halliburton and Bechtel, which have registered substantial profits from the occupation and “rebuilding” of Iraq. Also, although U.S. intelligence agencies now agree that the terrorist threat has ballooned due to the Iraq War, the Bush administration has found the conflict useful in simultaneously expanding its powers, abrogating constitutional rights and justifying more government secrecy. Those trends seem likely to continue – and even accelerate – as the “war on terror” remains a powerful excuse for transforming the United States from a historically free and open society to a frightened nation where citizens eagerly trade their constitutional rights for government promises of more security.

Keith Olbermann Receives a Death Threat, and the New York Post Thinks It's Pretty Darn Funny

Wednesday, 27 September 2006 11:53 P GMT-05
The New York Post's unctuous Page Six "reported" it, but it's also been independently confirmed that MSNBC's Keith Olbermann -- whose brave commentaries of late taking to task the Bush Administration (and President Bush himself) have invited genuine comparisons to Edward R. Murrow -- opened a suspicious letter with a California postmark that was mailed to his New York City home late Tuesday night and out poured a white powdery substance. A threatening note inside reportedly indicated that this represented revenge for his outspoken on-air views of late.
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Barbaric Buckley

Wednesday, 27 September 2006 11:36 P GMT-05
Currently, the Administration proposes to torture only "terrorist suspects." Almost none of its victims are American citizens. But no government in history has ever contented itself with torturing foreigners: very soon, it starts on its own people. Political opponents, dissenters, intellectuals and writers are usually among the first to be seized.
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Mini-gulags, hired guns and lobbyists

Wednesday, 27 September 2006 9:56 P GMT-05
Camp Cropper itself turns out to be an interesting story, but one with a problem: while the emptying of Abu Ghraib made the news everywhere, the filling of Camp Cropper made no news at all. And yet it turns out that Camp Cropper, which started out as a bunch of tents, has now become a US$60 million "state-of-the-art" prison. The upgrade, on the drawing boards since 2004, was just completed and hardly a word has been written about it. We really have no idea what it consists of or what it looks like, even though it's in one of the few places in Iraq that an American reporter could safely visit, being on a vast US military base constructed, like the prison, with taxpayer dollars.

Colorado school evacuated as gunman holds hostages

Wednesday, 27 September 2006 9:41 P GMT-05
Clem said five people had been taken hostage at Platte Canyon High School in Bailey, Colorado, about 35 miles southwest of Denver, but that one, a young girl, had already been released.

Political Ponerology: A Science on The Nature of Evil adjusted for Political Purposes

Wednesday, 27 September 2006 9:19 P GMT-05
Pathocracy is a disease of great social movements followed by entire societies, nations, and empires. In the course of human history, it has affected social, political, and religious movements as well as the accompanying ideologies… and turned them into caricatures of themselves…. This occurred as a result of the … participation of pathological agents in a pathodynamically similar process. That explains why all the pathocracies of the world are, and have been, so similar in their essential properties.

Jesse Ventura Highlights Government Plan To Attack U.S. Cities & Kill Americans

Wednesday, 27 September 2006 8:49 P GMT-05
"It was very disappointing to believe in your country that they would lie to you to get into a war - that they would perpetrate a lie and that the media would go along with it - it's a real eye opener and you realize that if they would do it in the sixties they'll do it again - and if it works once it will work again - government very much operates that way," said Ventura.

Lauro Chavez Clarifies Points For His Critics

Wednesday, 27 September 2006 8:30 P GMT-05
How did I know Cheney was in charge of NORAD, prior to it becoming public? - Easy, in the Army and whole of the DoD there is a thing called chain of command. Every solider is supposed to be aware of who his superiors are. When Cheney was announced to be taking over NORAD, the CoC was updated and passed out to all of us. This, I’m sure, was prior to the public release of this information. There were many military friends of mine, at the time, that questioned this action.

Bush Makes Public Parts of Report on Terrorism

Wednesday, 27 September 2006 8:11 P GMT-05
“The Iraqi jihad is shaping a new generation of terrorist leaders and operatives; perceived jihadist success there would inspire more fighters to continue the struggle elsewhere,” the excerpts said.

The Importance of Civil Disobedience in Post Katrina New Orleans

Wednesday, 27 September 2006 8:10 P GMT-05
The virtual, corporate-owned, media blackout is a sure sign that those in power feel intimidation. The ignoring of public housing in the local media, and now apparently acts of civil disobedience, is a sign the ruling class doesn't want the word to get out.

Two terror cases expose Bush's double standard

Wednesday, 27 September 2006 6:59 P GMT-05
In fact, the Bush administration has contradictory standards — one for people who are thought to be enemies of this country, such as Arar, and another for Posada, an accused terrorist, who is the enemy of its enemies.

The innocent man at Guantanamo

Wednesday, 27 September 2006 6:46 P GMT-05
``THE INTERROGATOR shut her file and said, `Congratulations! Your interrogation is complete. You're innocent! You'll be leaving soon.' "`When did this happen?" I asked. Abdulnasir searched his memory. His foot moved back and forth the short length of the chain clipped to the floor. Then the young man spoke softly, ``The year after we got here -- 2003. In the spring, I think -- a long time ago." Abdulnasir is in Guantanamo today, more than three years later.

How much torture?

Wednesday, 27 September 2006 6:39 P GMT-05
If we have to become as evil as they are to defeat them, then what joy will there be in victory? If we become them, to defeat them, why do we not just already open up the gates and welcome them as victors now?

You're Dishonoring The Family Members

Wednesday, 27 September 2006 6:10 P GMT-05
I'm very tired of seeing people say that to members of this movement. Let's be clear on what's being said here.
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CIA Mole Killed in Basra

Wednesday, 27 September 2006 6:04 P GMT-05
Dead men don’t talk and Omar al-Farouk is dead, so he won’t be telling us about his exploits as a CIA recruit.

The Case of Cory Maye

Wednesday, 27 September 2006 6:02 P GMT-05
A cop is dead, an innocent man may be on death row, and drug warriors keep knocking down doors.

Could Rove's October Surprise Be Osama's Dead Carcass?

Wednesday, 27 September 2006 6:12 A GMT-05
We are already witnessing the wheels of propaganda begin to turn in anticipation of a major announcement of Bin Laden's death.

The United States of Barbarism

Wednesday, 27 September 2006 6:10 A GMT-05
But more important, the Senate-White House torture deal should cause Americans to doubt the moral basis of their entire government.

Mass. home prices fall 6.1% as downturn gathers speed

Wednesday, 27 September 2006 6:06 A GMT-05
The downturn in the Massachusetts housing market gained momentum in August, with the median price of a single-family home falling 6.1 percent, to $352,000, and the number of sales down 21.6 percent from last year, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors said yesterday.

Are We Mice or Men?

Monday, 25 September 2006 5:31 P GMT-05
The October edition of Harper’s contains a powerful piece by Daniel Ellsberg. He calls on real Americans who love this country, those who value constitutional process over neoconservative wet dreams, true and dedicated public servants to bring forth the primary evidence of illegalities into the light. Evidence, plans and papers showing that the invasion of Iran, using Iraq, the Persian Gulf, Pakistan, Turkey, Kurdistan, Iraqis and American soldiers and Marines in a battle is not only planned, but is indeed underway. Illegally underway.

Broken Bench: In Tiny Courts of New York, Abuses of Law and Power

Monday, 25 September 2006 4:33 P GMT-05
In 2003 alone, justices disciplined by the state included one in Montgomery County who had closed his court to the public and let prosecutors run the proceedings during 20 years in office. Another, in Westchester County, had warned the police not to arrest his political cronies for drunken driving, and asked a Lebanese-American with a parking ticket if she was a terrorist. A third, in Delaware County, had been convicted of having sex with a mentally retarded woman in his care. New York is one of about 30 states that still rely on these kinds of local judges, descendants of the justices who kept the peace in Colonial days, when lawyers were scarce. Many states, alarmed by mistakes and abuse, have moved in recent decades to rein in their authority or require more training. Some, from Delaware to California, have overhauled the courts, scrapped them entirely or required that local judges be lawyers. But New York has no such requirement. It demands more schooling for licensed manicurists and hair stylists.

Court victory lets preserved Ohio '04 ballots tell new tales of theft and fraud as convictions mount

Monday, 25 September 2006 4:22 P GMT-05
Ohio election protection activists have won a landmark court battle to preserve the ballots from 2004’s disputed presidential election, and researchers studying those ballots continue to find new evidence that the election was, indeed, stolen. Among other things, large numbers of consecutive votes in different precincts for George W. Bush make it appear ever more likely that the real winner in 2004 should have been John Kerry. Meanwhile, indictments and prison terms are mounting among key players in that tainted contest.

Do Unto Your Enemy...

Monday, 25 September 2006 4:21 P GMT-05
A year later on the streets of Baghdad, I saw countless insurgents surrender when faced with the prospect of a hot meal, a pack of cigarettes and air-conditioning. America’s moral integrity was the single most important weapon my platoon had on the streets of Iraq. It saved innumerable lives, encouraged cooperation with our allies and deterred Iraqis from joining the growing insurgency. But those days are over. America’s moral standing has eroded, thanks to its flawed rationale for war and scandals like Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo and Haditha. The last thing we can afford now is to leave Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions open to reinterpretation, as President Bush proposed to do and can still do under the compromise bill that emerged last week. Blurring the lines on the letter of Article 3 — it governs the treatment of prisoners of war, prohibiting “violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture” and “outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment” — will only make our troops’ tough fight even tougher. It will undermine the power of all the Geneva Conventions, immediately endanger American troops captured by the enemy and create a powerful recruiting tool for Al Qaeda.

Torture as Investigation

Monday, 25 September 2006 4:04 P GMT-05
While you can obviously imagine or gerrymander or stipulate a situation in which torture might yield useful information, in practice the systematic authorization of torture creates an army of butchers, not a crack investigative team. Bush, Cheney, and those around them remind me of Nietzsche's line about staring too long into the abyss. They've become transfixed, hypnotized almost, by the evils they believe themselves to be fighting. Obsessed to the point where they've clearly developed an admiration for the brutal methods, ruthless dishonesty, and utter secrecy with which the enemies of liberalism conduct themselves.

Joe Stalin is Alive and Living on Pennslyvania Avenue�

Monday, 25 September 2006 3:52 P GMT-05
In the same way that cops often make the best criminals with many believing that many who joined the police would have just as comfortably have signed up with the mafia (and some did both) -- many of the professional anti-communists were just as authoritarian and dogmatic in their instincts.

What's Wrong With Calling Bush A Devil?

Monday, 25 September 2006 3:39 P GMT-05
Conservatives were quick to lash out at Hugo Chavez for calling President Bush a "devil," but that's exactly what Rush Limbaugh was calling Democrats only a few years ago.

5 Years Later, FBI Discovers Anthrax Wasn't "Near-Military-Grade Biological Weapon"

Monday, 25 September 2006 3:34 P GMT-05
Law enforcement officials confirmed that the anthrax bacteria, initially described as a near-military-grade biological weapon, showed no signs of processing that would make it more deadly, the Post reported. The officials also said scientific analysis found the strain of anthrax used in the attack to be more common than was initially believed, the newspaper reported.
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U.S. Economy Losing Its Global Dominance

Monday, 25 September 2006 3:29 P GMT-05
The share of global exports purchased by U.S. consumers and businesses fell to 17.9 percent in 2005 from 21.8 percent in 2000 as demand increased in the European Union, Japan and emerging markets in Asia and Eastern Europe. Exporting nations in Europe and Asia are poised to grab a larger share of world markets with trade agreements that do not include the United States.
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Fate of some CIA detainees still unknown

Monday, 25 September 2006 3:26 P GMT-05
President Bush's announcement this month that the CIA has emptied out its secret prisons has raised new questions about what has happened to dozens of Al Qaeda suspects who were believed to have been in US custody. One of them is Aafia Siddiqui , an MIT-educated Pakistani scientist and Roxbury mother of three who disappeared with her children in 2003. A newly declassified government document says Siddiqui married a top Al Qaeda operative who is among the 14 suspects moved by President Bush from a secret prison to Guantánamo Bay for trials.

Pope: 'Total and profound respect for Muslims'

Monday, 25 September 2006 2:55 P GMT-05
Benedict told the envoys that he would "continue to consolidate the strong ties of friendship with the faithful of all religions and particular (with) respect to the dialogue between Muslims and Christians."

Osama bin Laden “confession video” unplugged

Monday, 25 September 2006 2:22 P GMT-05
Please note that the Department of Defense is now on record as saying that it conducted a search of its files and located no records responsive to the Muckraker Report’s FOIA request to document the circumstances, logistics and dates surrounding the discovery of the videotape, nor has the Department of Defense located records demonstrating the authenticity process and authenticity of the December 13, 2001 Osama bin Laden “confession video” – a video that the U.S. government used to fully solidify already strong American support for the invasion of Afghanistan that began 68 days prior to the video’s release

Gunmen open fire on Florida mosque; no injuries, damage reported

Monday, 25 September 2006 1:53 P GMT-05
Shots were fired at a mosque in Melbourne, Florida as worshippers celebrated the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, but no injuries or arrests were reported, authorities said Saturday.

Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terror Threat

Sunday, 24 September 2006 5:15 P GMT-05
The classified National Intelligence Estimate attributes a more direct role to the Iraq war in fueling radicalism than that presented either in recent White House documents or in a report released Wednesday by the House Intelligence Committee, according to several officials in Washington involved in preparing the assessment or who have read the final document.

CHALLENGE TO MAINSTREAM JOURNALISTS... DARE TO REALLY INVESTIGATE 9/11

Sunday, 24 September 2006 4:55 P GMT-05
So guys, do you have the courage to stand up to power? To investigate without a fore drawn conclusion? We need you. We need you to see what we see. Not holographic projections of ghost planes, not alien scalar demolition, but an unbelievably implausible official story, rife with glaring inconsistencies and outright lies. It’s the story of a lifetime begging to be written. I dare you.

Too Much Monkey Business

Sunday, 24 September 2006 4:50 P GMT-05
This time, it's the words of activist and street performer Roberto Borges that stuck with me. Speaking of the opposition, he says "It's not only the weapon that fires. It's the weapon that seeks to make us idiots, which is the media."

Personal surveillance in U.S. everywhere

Sunday, 24 September 2006 4:46 P GMT-05
Women and men will Google prospective dates. Neighbors check what the house next door sold for on Zillow.com. People use online satellite imagery to sneak a peek into the backyards of the rich and famous. Hidden nanny cams record baby-sitters. More than 75 percent of employers monitor what their workers do on the job - and more than a third record every computer keystroke. "You really have, in a good and bad sense, a democratization of surveillance technology," said Lee Tien, senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit technology advocacy group.

Pataki pushed EPA

Sunday, 24 September 2006 4:28 P GMT-05
Pataki chief of staff John Cahill and two other top aides had a closed-door sitdown in Washington last Monday with the No.2 official at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a regional EPA spokeswoman confirmed. Pataki's aides requested the meeting to let EPA know "about the need for the project to move forward quickly," according to EPA spokeswoman Mary Mears.

Rep. Weldon: Pentagon Report a 'Whitewash'

Sunday, 24 September 2006 4:10 P GMT-05
The report, conducted by the Pentagon Inspector General, investigated claims brought to Weldon's office by active duty military officers and other Defense Department officials about information they had developed on al-Qaida cells in the United States more than one year before the Sept. 11 attacks on America. The data-mining operation was designated Able Danger, and the operation was run out of the U.S. Special Operations Command at Fort Belvoir, not far from the Pentagon. It was part of an experimental program to collect intelligence on terrorist networks and on illicit Chinese high-technology procurement efforts from open source material.

Killing the Fourth: Bush Blames Your Cellphone

Sunday, 24 September 2006 4:05 P GMT-05
Once upon a time, before everything changed, it was the “right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,” a right that shall “not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” If we are to believe the Bushcons, all of this changed when mobile phones, email, packet switching, SMS for text messaging, and the internet collided with September 11, 2001, the inside job par excellence.

It's the Maniupulated Economy, Stupid

Sunday, 24 September 2006 3:58 P GMT-05
Using his research and recent gas price drops as a guide, Henwood accurately predicted last Thursday that it "wouldn't be surprising to see his approval numbers rise into the mid-40s." Polls over the weekend showed Bush's approval climbing all the way to 44%, his highest in a year.

If America's So Great, Where's Our Health Care?

Sunday, 24 September 2006 3:54 P GMT-05
Among politicians and pundits, a universal, publicly funded system is off the table. But Americans in increasing numbers know what their leaders seem not to -- that the United States is the only industrialized nation where such stories as Joel's and Kiki's can happen. And most Americans know why: the United States leaves the health of its citizens at the mercy of an expensive, patchwork system where some get great care while others get none at all. The overwhelming majority -- 75 percent, according to an October 2005 Harris Poll -- want what people in other wealthy countries have: the peace of mind of universal health insurance.

Secrets in the Mountains of Afghanistan

Sunday, 24 September 2006 3:50 P GMT-05
What distinguishes these two fatalities from scores of other questionable deaths in U.S. custody is that they were successfully concealed — not just from the American public but from the military's chain of command and legal authorities. The deaths came to light only after an investigation by The Times and a nonprofit educational organization, the Crimes of War Project, led the Army to open criminal inquiries on the incidents. Two years later, the cases remain under investigation and no charges have been filed.

No evidence bin Laden is dead - Saudi Arabia

Sunday, 24 September 2006 3:46 P GMT-05
Saudi Arabia said on Sunday it had no evidence that Osama bin Laden had died, shedding further doubt on a secret document leaked in France that said Saudi secret services believed he had died last month.

Researchers: Homes have more TVs than people

Sunday, 24 September 2006 3:35 P GMT-05
The average American home now has more television sets than people. That threshold was crossed within the past two years, according to Nielsen Media Research. There are 2.73 TV sets in the typical home and 2.55 people, the researchers said.

Slain woman's kids were in washer, dryer

Sunday, 24 September 2006 3:32 P GMT-05
Two of the children were nude, the third wearing only underpants, Hart said. The oldest, 7-year-old DeMond Tunstall, was found in the dryer, the younger two children -- 2-year-old Ivan Tunstall-Collins and 1-year-old Jinela Tunstall -- in the washer.

New York City’s Reservists Are Asked to Return Iraq Pay

Sunday, 24 September 2006 3:30 P GMT-05
When they were called up for military service in the wake of 9/11, hundreds of uniformed city workers in the Reserves faced the suspension of their city health and pension benefits. The city offered them an option: it would keep paying their salaries and continue their benefits, but when they returned they would have to repay the city their city salary or their military pay, whichever was less.

Blair 'turned blind eye to Iraq intelligence' in Bush meeting

Sunday, 24 September 2006 3:23 P GMT-05
A note of a private meeting between Mr Blair and President Bush in January 2003 shows that Tony Blair failed to confront Mr Bush when he claimed Saddam Hussein had tried to buy aluminium tubes for nuclear weapons production.

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