Chalabi--WELCOME, LIARS AND THIEVES

love those cut outs!

Times and Reporter Reach Agreement on Her Departure
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
Published: November 9, 2005

The New York Times and Judith Miller, a veteran reporter for the paper, reached an agreement today that ends her 28-year career at the newspaper and caps more than two weeks of negotiations.

Times Editor's Memo to Staff on Judith Miller (November 9, 2005) Ms. Miller went to jail this summer rather than reveal a confidential source in the C.I.A. leak case. But her release from jail 85 days later and persistent questions about her actions roiled long-simmering concerns about her in the newsroom.

"We are grateful to Judy for her significant personal sacrifice to defend an important journalistic principle," said Arthur Sulzberger Jr., publisher of The New York Times. "I respect her decision to retire from The Times and wish her well."

In a memo sent the Times staff at 3:30 p.m. today, Bill Keller, the executive editor, wrote, "In her 28 years at The Times, Judy participated in some great prize winning journalism."

Ms. Miller could not be reached for comment.

more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/09/business/09cnd-judy.html?hp&ex=1131598800&en=c19400abb8be305c&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Lawyers for Ms. Miller and the paper negotiated a severance package whose details they would not disclose. Under the agreement, Ms. Miller will retire from the newspaper, and The Times will print a letter she wrote to the editor explaining her position. Ms. Miller originally demanded that she be able to write an essay for the paper's Op-Ed page refuting the allegations against her. The Times refused that demand - Gail Collins, editor of the editorial page, said, "We don't use the Op-Ed page for back and forth between one part of the paper and another" - but agreed to let her write the letter.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/09/business/09cnd-judy.html?hp&ex=1131598800&en=c19400abb8be305c&ei=5094&partner=homepage

well at least we posted different parts!!!

defarge,suz, native and others are you interested in helping me organize a save Anwr movement; Congressman Jeb Bradley may be our last hope and time is running short. Let him know that Republicans may be endangered species next Nov.and that he needs to stand up to Blount and the GOP lobbyist and stan firm in opposition to drilling.

"Moderate Republicans may need a political refuge somewhere in Alaska if they are repeatedly asked to approve drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, because that's where voters might send them a year from now," Markey said. "It will be a preserve of what a moderate Republican used to look like."

Two dozen moderate House Republicans have warned the leadership not to force a vote on the Arctic refuge as part of next week's budget bill, and House leaders are considering yanking the provision only to reinsert it during negotiations with the Senate.

"I feel very strongly about [opposing drilling], but I also feel strongly about the need to reduce the budget's deficit," said Rep. Jeb Bradley (R-N.H.), who wrote the warning letter to House leaders in August.

Massachusetts Rep. Edward J. Markey, who has led the Democrats' fight to preserve the refuge, warned Friday that Bradley and others may pay a price in the 2006 elections if they vote for oil exploration."

heard that Cincinnati elected a progressive mayor maybe that is some good news out of Ohio, how about the San diego mayor's race fe?

Ira:

No surprise. SD is a military town with border issues. As San Francisco competes with who can be more liberal than you, San Diego is conservative from the get go:

Here ya go:

Former police chief Jerry Sanders elected mayor of San Diego

ELLIOT SPAGAT
Associated Press
SAN DIEGO - A former police chief was elected mayor of scandal-plagued San Diego Tuesday, defeating a maverick councilwoman and surf-shop owner with a campaign that trumpeted his record of turning around troubled organizations.

Jerry Sanders, a mild-mannered Republican who was San Diego's youngest police chief, will inherit a $1.37 billion pension deficit that has triggered federal investigations of the nation's seventh-biggest city and fueled talk of bankruptcy.

"The city's problems won't be solved in eight weeks, they won't be solved in eight months, but the pursuit of solutions will begin tomorrow," Sanders told cheering supporters at his campaign headquarters.

With 97 percent of the precincts reporting, Sanders had 142,709 votes or 54 percent, while Councilwoman Donna Frye had 120,267 votes or 46 percent.

Sanders, 55, led the San Diego Police Department as chief from 1993 to 1999 and later held leadership positions at the American Red Cross and United Way local chapters. He hired a veteran local political consultant who helped two former Republican mayors win office. His fiscal recipe includes freezing salaries and hiring, potential layoffs, outsourcing some services and selling pension bonds.

Frye, a Democrat, said she will go back to work on San Diego's problems on the city council where she has often been a lone dissenter and a fierce advocate for open government.

"We need to come together, we need to unite and we need to work together," Frye told supporters as she conceded.

Frye, 53, who is married to the legendary surfer Skip Frye, was almost elected mayor in November 2004 in a write-in bid that garnered her 34 percent of the vote in a disputed contest. She lost to Republican Dick Murphy only after a judge refused to allow more than 5,500 ballots on which voters wrote her name but failed to darken the adjoining bubble.

Murphy resigned in July - only seven months into his second term - after failing to tackle the pension mess.

Frye finished first in the July primary with 43 percent of the vote, short of the majority needed to avoid a runoff. Sanders finished second with 27 percent and Steve Francis, a Republican businessman who quickly endorsed Sanders, captured 24 percent.

Frye began her political career with the support of San Diego's surfing community became more polished in recent months, replacing her familiar hairstyle parted straight down the middle with a dyed haircut she calls a "mayor-do." She may have hurt her chances by suggesting she might ask voters in tax-averse San Diego to approve a half-cent sales tax increase. Frye also spent much of her campaign trying to dispel her image as a lightweight surfer chick.

Voters also cast ballots in two council districts to choose replacements for Michael Zucchet and Ralph Inzunza, who were convicted in July on federal corruption charges. They are due to be sentenced Thursday.

link to story:

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/13117041.htm

A Song For Judas Miller:

Ding dong! the witch is dead. which old witch? the wicked witch!
Ding dong! the wicked witch is dead.

Wake up - sleepy head, rub your eyes, get out of bed.
Wake up, the wicked witch is dead. she’s gone where the goblins go,
Below - below - below. yo-ho, let’s open up and sing and ring the bells out.
Ding dong’ the merry-oh, sing it high, sing it low.
Let them know
The wicked witch is dead!

You know that when I go to these protests, it is always a challenge to remember why we are there--usually the tactical issues and the sheer production energy take over.

Not so today. Despite my light-hearted comments in the thread header, it was tough to know that the architect of the lies that led us into the mess that is Iraq was so close.

It was hard to know that there were Americans who were actually listening to him. Call me crazy, but in my experience, after someone lies to you, leads you into a huge brouhaha, is responsible for many deaths as a result of his own selfish actions, and self-aggrandizes on top of it all, perhpas you should reconsider whether or not to listen anymore...

I thought of Casey Sheehan, and the other 2,039 or so dead soldiers. I thought of Abu Graib, and GITMO, and the torture we all go through every day, knowing what is being done in our name.

Often, I can get into the rather cynical repartee of the old-timers in the peace and justice movement here in DC.

Today I wanted to cry.

sorry fe but all we heard about Donna Frye was that she was uneducated surf shop owner, as Ed Schultz repeated that she was singly known as the surfer chick, which was a sexist label,an airhead. CNN kept repeating that message over and over which I am sure got picked up.

We care about San Diego and are buying a place in Carlsbad, so yes I do care. San Diego' pension fund is really a mess and personally I wouldn't want the mayor's job if you handed it to me on a silver platter. Sanders may rue the day he becomes mayor.

My conclusion and you may not like this comment fe, but California with all of your dumb initiatives has become readioactive and ungovernable. I don't know why anyone would want the job.I want to live there, its a magnificantly beautiful place, but your politics are insane.

Warren Beatty on Ed Schultz right now. Go Bullworth!

"I don't want to run for governor but I perfectly may change my mind", said Beatty. I am not slamming the door on it he said. That sounds promising.

My conclusion and you may not like this comment fe, but California with all of your dumb initiatives has become readioactive and ungovernable. I don't know why anyone would want the job.I want to live there, its a magnificantly beautiful place, but your politics are insane.

Warren Beatty on Ed Schultz right now. Go Bullworth!

Posted by: Ira at November 9, 2005 05:25 PM

Ira, no need to apologize. I cannot condone with either the far right or far left of this state. Just know that I am a pocketbook Repub and a social Dem. We should be careful with our money and do the right thing.

You're absolutely right about CA politics. They are insane, particularly in the major metro areas. There are and continue to be sacred cows in CA politics. They are:

1) Prop 13-keeping a ceiling on the amount of property taxes owed;

2) The Water: Keeping Northern CA with the heaviest concentration of high-tech mega-billion dollar industry happy AND keep the agribusinesses in the Central Valley content;

3) The Coastline: If you were a congressperson who allows this to be drilled, consider yourself marked for death.

4) Pro-business, anti-business: Again regional and the bluer your region the harder it is to do business here. Took five years for a Home Depot to be allowed to build here in SF.

The NIMBY rules here.

This is why a Mayor Newsom is such a polarizing force here and a welcome change from the old blue-state knee-jerk. He welcomes a healthy business climate yet is socially conscious. He makes a real effort to stop crime and proactively addresses urban blight and poverty.

Now handling the homeless, that's another $20...

The rest is regional and based on historic precedent. And in your case, until some major development happens that causes a major demographic change in that area, you will STILL have a republican in that region. That's as far as I know.

Casey suggests I Google "Dana and the Taliban". I think I will. I'm a bit giggly from last night.

And Ira:

Don't fall in love with another movie star until you know his real platform!!

and fe you should be giggly. congratulations on a great night in California.I am pro rational business, pocketbook Dem, and social moderate.
now please try and save your sinking school system and dump prop 13. California deserves better.
prop 13 was dumb 20 years ago today it is just a relic of your past and cause for your state's deficit. I understand it is sacronsanc politically, just like Texas' no state income tax slant, but a reality both of our states need to re examine and appreciate how damaging they have become.

Interesting response on the CNN quick vote:

Is the U.S. government doing enough to reduce the nation’s dependence on oil?

Yes .... 4% .... 5138 votes

No .... 96% .. 125554 votes

Total: 130692 votes

I don't think I've ever seen such a lopsided vote on the CNN quick vote.

If you want to vote...
http://us.cnn.com/

For those who are brave enough to watch tonight's evening newsspin on yesterday's results and listen to the WH minimize & marginalize the winners, here are two analyses to read that will help you cope...

Bush's Approval Ratings Will Not Recover -- There Will Be No Comeback by Cenk Uygur from Young Turks (I really like Uygur; he gets it and can articulate it.)

I've already seen the so-called "narrative of comeback" being bandied about in the mainstream media. They tell us that the story line is supposed to go: 1. Rise 2. Fall 3. Comeback. Now that George Bush has suffered the fall, the media now gets busy writing the comeback. There are two problems with this.

First, this isn't a movie. The media is supposed to report what happens, not write a pre-ordained script. We're in serious times; we need our reporters to be serious people. Not a bunch of second-rate wannabe script writers. The country isn't your amusement park. Do your job - report the facts!

Second, Bush isn't going to make a comeback. He's fallen and he can't get up.
--snip--
There can be temporary blips that improve the President's poll numbers for awhile, there can be some fleeting good news and some fake milestones accomplished. But none of that will change the fact that this man is not up to the job.

He is lazy, uninterested and incompetent. He views the presidency as homework. He seems to enjoy politics (at least while he's up), but he doesn't enjoy policy. He is detached from decision making and his decision makers have led him dangerously astray. Finally and most importantly, he doesn't care to get it right.

George W. Bush will never put in the long hours to make sure we have the right policy in Iraq, in the war on terror, in the budget or anything else that concerns actual governing. He finds these things to be tedious. In reality, they are essential to the job of being President. He is overmatched.

And when you're overmatched, you don't put together second half comebacks. You get crushed.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/bushs-approval-ratings_b_10291.html

***
Bush gambles, loses on Virginia governor's race
Results Tuesday heighten GOP anxieties about 2006 midterm elections
ANALYSIS
By Ron Fournier
WASHINGTON - Iraq, Katrina, CIA leak, Harriet Miers. Things couldn't possibly get any worse for President Bush.

Wait, they just did.

Bush put his wispy political prestige on the line in the Virginia governor's race and lost Tuesday when the candidate he embraced in a last-minute campaign stop was soundly defeated. While there are many reasons for Jerry Kilgore's defeat, chief among them his poor campaign, giddy Democrats said the Virginia race as well as a Democratic victory in New Jersey prove that Bush is a political toxin for Republicans.
--snip--
Polls had Kilgore tied with Kaine headed into the final day when Bush flew from Panama to Virginia and laid his bets. It was a risky decision, ensuring that the president would be blamed for a Kilgore defeat. White House officials said Bush might as well go because in the current environment he would be blamed anyhow.

They were right.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9975248

Here's a radical idea to lower petroleum consumption in this country, create jobs, and boost American business.

Repeal all the Bush tax cuts, and replace them with targeted, pro-growth & pro-enviroment tax credits, like a multi-year credit for every consumer purchase of a American-made fuel-hybrid automobile.

And let's replicate this kind of credit with other alternative energy technologies, like solar panels.

I understand it is sacronsanc politically, just like Texas' no state income tax slant, but a reality both of our states need to re examine and appreciate how damaging they have become.

Posted by: Ira at November 9, 2005 06:16 PM

Ira:

Imagine the property tax on $2.m luxury homes in Malibu coming in at roughly $2700 per year and you get how crazy it is. Even Warren Buffet said Sacto needs to face it and it can't. Its an addiction to stupidity.

Bush, GOP mired in political quicksand
NBC/WSJ poll shows president at new lows in all job approval categories

By Mark Murray
Political reporter
NBC News
Updated: 6:30 p.m. ET Nov. 9, 2005

WASHINGTON - Democrats might be overstating that their gubernatorial victories Tuesday in New Jersey and Virginia are glaring signs for next year’s midterm congressional elections and beyond, but one thing is pretty clear: President Bush and the GOP seem to be mired in political quicksand.

The latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, released Wednesday night, finds that all five of Bush’s job approval ratings — on overall job performance, the economy, foreign policy, terrorism and Iraq — are at all-time lows in the survey. In addition, the CIA leak scandal seems to be taking a toll on the administration, with nearly 80 percent believing the indictment of Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, Lewis “Scooter” Libby, is a serious matter, and with Bush experiencing a 17-point drop since January in those who see him as honest and straightforward.

With the midterms a year away, these numbers could spell trouble for the GOP. “These are not good times for Republicans,” says Republican pollster Bill McInturff, who conducted the survey with Democratic pollster Peter D. Hart. “This is a very unhappy electorate that’s going to be unstable, and they are terrifically unstable numbers for a Republican majority.”

Perhaps the best news for Republicans in the poll is that Democrats aren’t necessarily faring much better. “Both parties are having difficulties,” McInturff observes.

According to the poll, Bush’s approval rating stands at an all-time low of 38 percent, a one-point decline since October; in fact, this is the third consecutive NBC/Journal survey showing Bush at an all-time low on his job approval. And it doesn’t stop there: Approval for his handling of the economy (34 percent), foreign policy (35 percent), terrorism (39 percent), and Iraq (32 percent) have all hit rock bottom.

more... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9981177/

Posted by: Ira at November 9, 2005 04:35 PM

Ira,

Do you have a specific proposal?

Ira,

Email me if you'd like. I'm not here tonight.

The Final Tally: (for you Ira, a taste of Sacramento politics sans Willie Brown)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/11/09/BAG3JFL3CG1.DTL

Big Money: Initiative campaigns hugely costly
Phillip Matier, Andrew Ross
Wednesday, November 9, 2005

When all is said and done, the amount spent on Tuesday's election in California will easily surpass the more than $241 million that John Kerry spent running for president last year, and could even top the $306 million that President Bush spent to win re-election.

Kerry and Bush, whose 2004 spending totals were compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, had to run in 50 states. Here in California it was all about eight initiatives. Democratic media adviser Bill Carrick -- whose "No on 77" ads had three "retired judges" cutting up California and reshaping it as Texas -- estimated that about two-thirds of the campaign pie, or about $200 million, went into "communicating with voters" in one form or another. The biggest chunk of that went for TV ads.

"It was an off-year election," Carrick said. "And unlike ads for candidates, the television stations don't have to sell initiative ads at a low rate. So the business they got out of this election was all gravy." Right behind the TV stations in the campaign sweepstakes were the political consultants, pollsters and ad buyers, who will probably walk away with 10 percent of everything that was spent on this election, or about $30 million.

"It's going to be a record," Bob Stern of the nonpartisan Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles said of the mega-millions passing from one hand to another. "Maybe until next year."

By the way, for all the special interest money that went into this election, it turns out that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was the campaign's biggest individual contributor, cutting personal checks totaling a $7.75 million. "He put his money where his mouth is,'' said Marty Wilson, the governor's chief fundraiser.

So now what? In case you haven't noticed, state Senate leader Don Perata made a point of not getting personal with the governor in this election. It wasn't by accident.

Today, the Oakland Democrat will launch a "back to basics'' campaign in hopes of getting Schwarzenegger on board for a multibillion-dollar, bipartisan bond drive to fix up California's ailing infrastructure. "Nothing of any bearing on the real issues of California was resolved in this election," Perata said Tuesday. "So we're going to talk about going back to the basics, homing in on things that matter -- education, transportation, housing and health."
The centerpiece: a transportation and housing bond, which has already been the subject of talks between Perata and Schwarzenegger.

"My first idea was for a $9 billion bond," Perata said. "The governor called it 'Mickey Mouse,' so now we're trying to pump it up to be Mighty Mouse." That means a bond measure in the neighborhood of $12 billion, possibly with money to rebuild roads, ports, hospitals and other public projects.

In other words, something for everyone.

The goal appears to be twofold: A) come up with money to fix the state and B) show that Sacramento can actually get something done. The bond would go on the June ballot, with a big bipartisan sales job. At least, that's Perata's hope.

Original John: Former state Senate President Pro Tem John Burton looked unusually relaxed Monday as he held court at San Francisco's Original Joe's, where he offered up some very Burton-esque observations on the election. For starters, he figured that Schwarzenegger was dodging a bullet with his own Proposition 76, going down to defeat. Burton's reasoning: Given the power to reduce spending unilaterally, Schwarzenegger would be forced to make unpopular budget cuts just as he faced re-election next year.

Still, next year's big issue will be Arnold himself, Burton said.

"And once people start not liking you in politics or show biz, then forget it," Burton said. "It happened to Gray Davis. The day they wrote checks for the recall, he was f -- .''

Arnold's real Achilles heel? "The guy thinks he can sell iceboxes to Eskimos," Burton said. "He's a good B.S.er, and people are starting to understand that he's a B.S.er."

Speaking of Chalabi, I posted on my blog this evening about indications of renewed collusion between Chalabi and Iran against other Shi'ite politicians in Iraq and Ayatollah Sistani.

Karen

Good work! Remember, Chalabi was standing with Laura Bush at the State of the Union Address where Bush lied the "sixteen words" to the American people.

Wikipedia has a good section on Chalabi, a common criminal.

In other news:

I heard Tony Blair on the BBC while driving to work & heard him speak, with Parliamentarians groaning in the background. You know how Bush whines? Well Tony was overarticulating, in a very defensive and almost hysterical voice.

I was so grateful to them for voting against his version of the Patriot Act, written by police officials & which goes way too far.

Then this was the lst email I saw after work:

From the BBC website:
"Tony Blair says his authority is intact despite suffering his first House of Commons defeat as prime minister. He said he hoped MPs "do not rue the day" they rejected his call to allow police to detain terror suspects for up to 90 days without charging them."

Prior to the vote, Blair - trying to defend his proposal - went on to say the following, which chilled me to the bone when I first heard it:
"The reason why we are accepting what the police have put forward is because the reasons they give, in my view, to any reasonable person, is compelling. This is a different type of terrorism. It requires them to arrest people
earlier. It requires them to develop the evidence to charge them later. That's why they need this power."

Scary stuff.

Since we are educating ourselves & others on the GAO voting report, I'm submitting a first person report from the country I work in (adjacent to the country I live in). Any advice appreciated or feel free to send to anyone knowledgeable collecting voting irregularities.

For any doubting Thomas on our voting system here in America, here was my experience this morning:

While I voted absentee ballot for the presidential election, I enjoy heading down to the polls, where I "cast my ballot but not necessarily the vote I intended" this morning Interesting that before even having the opportunity to vote on the I-330 Initiative or for the Court Judge of Appeals, my voting machine already had I-330 marked "yes" and Judge Leach was checked for Court of Appeals.

I contacted the Snohomish County Auditor's office to voice my concerns, and Sharon told me "Your machine was out of calibration and was set on 'automatic selection'." I had no idea a voting machine would even have a program of "automatic selection", so would the machine always default to its programmed setting and over-ride my vote? If you have a definitive anwer on that question, I would love to know the answer. My stylus was not working as well, so the poll worker recommended that I use my finger to vote. I am pretty certain what finger needs to be used now that the entire farcical experience is over.

Phone calls went out to the Secretary of State, the Seattle Times, The Post-Intelligencer, "No-on I-330", and letters to Jay Inslee, Maria Cantwell, Patty Murray, and President Carter. Every individual, who wishes to participate in our democratic process, should walk away from the polling booth assured that their vote registered and registered correctly. This is very troubling, whether you are Republican or Democrat. Glenda

If you care to read the entire experience, here is the letter sent to my Representatives. Today on 11-8-2005, I voted at 621 ˆ 164th St. SE in Mill Creek, WA (44th Legislative District). At approximately 8:40 AM, my electronic voting machine card was inserted. Immediately, there was a problem. The stylus would not respond, while attempting to vote on the first initiative (auditing of government) located in the upper left hand corner of the first page of the ballot. The page was divided into quadrants. Realizing I needed help, I started to step back slightly, when I noticed a green „YES‰ check mark for I-330 in the lower right hand corner. Explaining to the poll worker that my stylus was not working and that I-330 had a green check mark, I said, „I haven‚t even had a chance to vote on that initiative yet, as I just got here. This is the reason people lack faith in the system.‰

She erased the „yes‰ vote and told me that it usually worked best to place pressure with your finger on the screen rather than using the stylus. I completed that page, pressed next, completed the 2nd page, pressed next, and when the next page flashed on the screen, there was already a green check mark by „Leach‰ for judge of the appeals court. I hadn‚t even voted yet. I erased the mark, finished voting, and left the polling site extremely upset.

I called the Snohomish County Auditor‚s Office at 9:24 AM (425-388-3444) and Sharon answered. Explaining to her my voting experience, she asked if I had reported the machine to the workers. I stated, a woman had come over to help me with my difficulties. Sharon said, „The machine is out of calibration, and it is doing an automatic selection‰. I told her I had the number of the machine in question #18578 DRE. She stated she would report it. When I asked why the machine would have an automatic selection program, she said I could talk to the elections manager, Carolyn Diepenbrock. The transfer went into Carolyn‚s voice message, where my concerns were aired. I haven‚t heard back as of late this afternoon.

I then proceeded to contact the Secretary of State (360-902-4151) with my concerns. Suz (?) returned my call to say that she spoke with the Snohomish auditor‚s office, who assured her that the machine had been fixed and everything was working. Regarding my concern of an accurate count of my vote, the auditor‚s office assured Suz that with all the controls in place to test the machine before the vote, to test them after the vote, the tally after the election is over, and with all the „controls‰ in place that my vote was counted correctly - still skeptical.

I called the „No on I-330‰ campaign (206-697-4744) and Karen returned my call. She had a similar call from another Snohomish precinct. She asked for my details.

I have also placed calls to the Seattle Times (206-464-2111) and the P-I (206-448-8000) and Rep Jay Inslee and to my candidate in the Judge‚s race (Dwyer). Even if the „automatic selection‰ program had „voted‰ to my liking, I still would have called to voice my concerns. It gives the impression of fixed election results. This is NOT the principles of this country. These machines need to go!

Letters will be sent to Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell. I am serious about the clean-up of our elections. Every individual, who wishes to participate in our democratic process, should walk away from the polling booth assured that their vote registered and registered correctly. This is very troubling, whether you are Republican or Democrat.

http://kris.typepad.com/blog/2005/11/chalabi_in_dc.html

blogger at AEI today

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

New post from earlier in the week.

She sounds hopeless....:( I'm ashamed of us.

After EIGHT YEARS, Parliament finally produced a resounding NO!!! to Tony Blair. Hell no you can't hold someone for 90 days without charges!!

Let's hope that the Poodle is soon history, along with the Chimp & the Gropenator.

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,15935,1639028,00.html

I also perused a TIME magazine while at the health club - couldn't believe how rightwing it has gotten. They had a glowing interview with Lynn Cheney in there & a FULL-PAGE AD for Rush Limbaugh, American's sweetheart.

IT'S BEEN A YEAR SINCE FALLUJA

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1638829,00.html

A name that lives in infamy

The destruction of Falluja was an act of barbarism that ranks alongside My Lai, Guernica and Halabja

Mike Marqusee

One year ago this week, US-led occupying forces launched a devastating assault on the Iraqi city of Falluja. The mood was set by Lt Col Gary Brandl: "The enemy has got a face. He's called Satan. He's in Falluja. And we're going to destroy him."

The assault was preceded by eight weeks of aerial bombardment. US troops cut off the city's water, power and food supplies, condemned as a violation of the Geneva convention by a UN special rapporteur, who accused occupying forces of "using hunger and deprivation of water as a weapon of war against the civilian population". Two-thirds of the city's 300,000 residents fled, many to squatters' camps without basic facilities.

As the siege tightened, the Red Cross, Red Crescent and the media were kept out, while males between the ages of 15 and 55 were kept in. US sources claimed between 600 and 6,000 insurgents were holed up inside the city - which means that the vast majority of the remaining inhabitants were non-combatants.

On November 8, 10,000 US troops, supported by 2,000 Iraqi recruits, equipped with artillery and tanks, supported from the air by bombers and helicopter gunships, blasted their way into a city the size of Leicester. It took a week to establish control of the main roads; another two before victory was claimed.

The city's main hospital was selected as the first target, the New York Times reported, "because the US military believed it was the source of rumours about heavy casualties". An AP photographer described US helicopters killing a family of five trying to ford a river to safety. "There were American snipers on top of the hospital shooting everyone," said Burhan Fasa'am, a photographer with the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation. "With no medical supplies, people died from their wounds. Everyone in the street was a target for the Americans."

The US also deployed incendiary weapons, including white phosphorous. "Usually we keep the gloves on," Captain Erik Krivda said, but "for this operation, we took the gloves off". By the end of operations, the city lay in ruins. Falluja's compensation commissioner has reported that 36,000 of the city's 50,000 homes were destroyed, along with 60 schools and 65 mosques and shrines.

The US claims that 2,000 died, most of them fighters. Other sources disagree. When medical teams arrived in January they collected more than 700 bodies in only one third of the city. Iraqi NGOs and medical workers estimate between 4,000 and 6,000 dead, mostly civilians - a proportionately higher death rate than in Coventry and London during the blitz.

The collective punishment inflicted on Falluja - with logistical and political support from Britain - was largely masked by the US and British media, which relied on reporters embedded with US troops. The BBC, in particular, offered a sanitised version of the assault: civilian suffering was minimised and the ethics and strategic logic of the attack largely unscrutinised.

Falluja proved to be yet another of the war's phantom turning points. Violent resistance spread to other cities. In the last two months, Tal-Afar, Haditha, Husaybah - all alleged terrorist havens heavily populated by civilians - have come under the hammer. Falluja is still so heavily patrolled that visitors have described it as "a giant prison". Only a fraction of the promised reconstruction and compensation has materialised.

Like Jallianwallah Bagh, Guernica, My Lai, Halabja and Grozny, Falluja is a place name that has become a symbol of unconscionable brutality. As the war in Iraq claims more lives, we need to ensure that this atrocity - so recent, so easily erased from public memory - is recognised as an example of the barbarism of nations that call themselves civilised.

http://www.iraqoccupationfocus.org.uk

Go to this site if you want to download the Mp3 of the author of the LANCET study of the number of civilian casualties in Iraq. The article outlines the methodology & findings, as presented at the University of Minnesota this week.

http://silencedmajority.blogs.com/silenced_majority_portal/2005/11/iraqi_civilian_.html

How do we get a progressive agenda done today?

The answer appears in your wallet. I imagine each of you have studied the union movement. The union movement has brought us the 40 hour work week and the minimum wage. The union movement had focused on the individual employers to get these benefits.

Today corporations have taken over the Republican party and even write the legislation that hurts ordinary people.

We need to form our own ad hoc union and instead of going on a work strike we need to go on a purchasing strike. We need to target some of the major contributors of money to the Republican party as they pull the levers of power and they have the most to lose and they can get the pressure every day instead of the officeholders that only run every 2, 4 and 6 years.

We need to go on strike against Walmart, Wendy's, Outback Steak House, Dominos Pizza, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Eckerd, CVS and Walgreens, GE and Exxon/Mobil.

We need to call these companies and thell them we have gone on strike against them until they get the RNC to hold a press conference announcing that they will accede to our demands of a TEN dollar an hour minimum wage, an unemployment insurance benefit that will last 1 year instead of 6 months, a real prescription drug benefit under Medicare of 80 percent coverage and no privatization of social security and increasing the social security payroll tax,removing the 88,000 dollar a year FICA taxable income limit, and vote by mail throughout the US with paper ballots and an independent civil service that registers people to vote and counts votes. We need this and more. You make the demands, you go on strike. You have the money and the Republican contributors either do as we want or they go broke under our purchasing strike.

To learn how to force the Republican congress to pass progressive legislation, send email to webmaster@boycott-republicans.com with the subject PROGRESSIVE

"These are the times that try men's souls..."

Greetings from New Orleans.

Many times we have wondered what it is like for those trapped in a war zone...I am here...we are here...and this place once alive with music and life drenched in the heritage of every culture from around the world...the devestation is indiscribable.

I am working 60 hours a week on infrastructure projects, telecommunication and utility projects...another 10-20 at my sister's restaurant helping to feed the one's lucky enough to have survived the post-Katrina flooding or who have returned with the determination to make New Orleans a better place. The limited access to grocery stores, hardware stores and anything you can think of that we all take for granted in our modern lives is daunting and frustrating at best and yet politics continues to rule over reason.

I am currently wrtiting proposals for the Planning Commission Subcommittee on Education while preparing my 2 minute speech to present them with my findings and the rest of the time left (which is not much) I am helping my family to rebuild their lives.

I miss you all. Veritas and I have met, she is here in NOLA audting the troops and equipment. She came up to my office on the 41st floor to see the sunset...and the devastation from above...it is mind boggling...to say the least. I only wish I had more time to spend with her and her troops.

My energy and voice are focused on fighting the bigotry and hatred and elitism that still exists in this city from all sides.

"It is easier to educate a child than to repair a broken man. " ~ Frederick Douglass

There are many here broken and forgotten and ignored...and those in power still clinging to their own personal hell of what once was New Orleans...not what we can make New Orleans become today and for the future.

Monday night I will be speaking before the Educational Subcommittee...wish me luck...for the children of New Orleans and the future of the State of Louisiana.

This is a new beginning...the turmoil of a genuine civilization struggling to be reborn...redefined upon the ruin of Her former majesty...and the greatest need I see before us as citizens is to defeat our own individual shortcomings for the greater good.

The hope of a new New Orleans will rest squarely upon the shoulders and weigh heavily on the hearts of our greatest heritage...the children. Should we falter, any further than we have already, may their memory of us be kind...but we must not fail, for if we do not empower them to rebuild, restore and renew this once great culture of life...than there is little hope for saving our Nation as a whole.

To this end I leave you with little comfort...but know I carry a piece of each and every one of you with me every day and this hope gives me strength to move forward even within the midst of great cynicism and intolerance.

Peace, Love and Compassion,

Indy

Vive la Revolution!!!

Thank you Indy and everyone with you

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Top White House officials say they're developing a "campaign-style" strategy in response to increasing Democratic allegations that the Bush administration twisted intelligence to make its case for war.

White House aides, who agreed to speak to CNN only on the condition of anonymity, said they hoped to increase what they called their "hit back" in coming days.

The officials say they plan to repeatedly make the point -- as they did during the 2004 campaign -- that pre-war intelligence was faulty, it was not manipulated and everyone was working off the same intelligence.

They hope to arm GOP officials with more quotes by Democrats making the same pre-war claims as Republicans did about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.

Democrats have pointed at declassified information they say shows the White House was "deceptive" in pre-war statements.

Telegraphing the beginning of a communications effort is a tactic the Bush team has used in the past, especially when it comes to Iraq.

The examination into the intelligence used to justify invading Iraq has intensified on the heels of the October 28 indictment of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, who resigned the day he was indicted.

Libby has been charged with obstruction of justice, perjury and making false statements to federal agents investigating who revealed the identity of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame. The agent's name was leaked to reporters after her husband publicly challenged a key element of the administration's case for war.

White House officials are determined to reverse President Bush's poor poll showings on the topics of Iraq and "honesty and trustworthiness."

The White House has been on the defensive about whether Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, was involved in publicly identifying Plame.

The White House is trying to coordinate a response from administration officials to congressional Republicans.

Republicans on Capitol Hill who have criticized the White House for failing to coordinate responses to a host of issues say Bush aides are working noticeably harder to set up meetings and conference calls to arrange a widespread response.

Aside from regular White House briefings, it is unclear which administration officials will participate in this "aggressive" response, which senior officials indicate will be unveiled in interviews and other public events.

It also is uncertain how much the president will be involved in the information campaign aside from "responding appropriately when asked," a third senior official said.

One senior official said Cheney would not participate in the White House response, despite that Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, has accused the vice president of being a key offender in manipulating intelligence.

Arctic drilling dropped from House bill
It could still return when, if Senate and House negotiate budget

Updated: 8:20 a.m. ET Nov. 10, 2005
WASHINGTON - House leaders late Wednesday abandoned an attempt to push through a hotly contested plan to open an Alaskan wildlife refuge to oil drilling, fearing it would jeopardize approval of a sweeping budget bill Thursday.

They also dropped from the budget document plans to allow states to authorize oil and gas drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts — regions currently under a drilling moratorium.

The actions were a stunning setback for those who have tried for years to open a coastal strip of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR, to oil development, and a victory for environmentalists, who have lobbied hard against the drilling provisions. President Bush has made drilling in the Alaska refuge his top energy priorities.

more... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9984545/

sparrow and others, some more really good news. Apparently the story I reported yesterday about the moderate Republicans in Congress turning on Bush was more than a pipe dream. Late last night 22 of them said no to Anwr being linked to the budget. 'For the time being' (I am sure it will come back in conference committee) they have blocked the Senate vote allowing drilling in Anwr. They need to be individually thanked and urged to stay the course.

CNBC Squawk Box not exactly a left wing show this morning has poll saying 65% of viewers do not believe Bush doing a good job as President. Another 1/2 hour to vote in that poll go to msnbc squawk box home page and go to the bottom, but even the Larry Kudlow station is turning on poor Bush.

Bush to appear in Pennsylvania minus Santorum
WASHINGTON - President Bush will appear at a Veterans Day event in Pennsylvania on Friday with the state's moderate Republican senior senator and a Democratic congressman but without the state's conservative junior senator, who is fighting a tough bid for re-election.

Read the rest, complete with explanations & excuses ==> http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/13124980.htm

Maybe Ricky thinks Boy George has bird flu and doesn't want to catch it...

Chair Invites Bush to Campaign in Wisconsin Next November

MADISON – Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Joe Wineke today sent a letter to President George W. Bush inviting him to campaign in Wisconsin next November. Wineke extended the invitation in light of Republican losses around the country due to the plummeting support of the Bush Administration.
http://www.wisdems.org/ht/display/ReleaseDetails/i/698567

Posted by: madame defarge at November 10, 2005 09:04 AM

I went to high school with Joe Wineke. That sounds just like his twisted sense of humor which was wicked and well in evidence even back then.

Buckfush
I agree with the strategy (type of boycott).
That is a more-than-symbolic action if done as a large bloc.

Indy
Good to hear about all your good work - was wondering!!

Ira
Good (so far) about ANWR - read about it last night & slept well.

About the R's strategy - a friend already heard some radio show where Clinton was being blamed for the war.

Received from an American in Germany:

Some people in the European news are talking about US war crimes.
Story only
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article325560.ece
Story & Pictures:
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=10017
There is more info and a video here:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10907.htm

Maybe Ricky thinks Boy George has bird flu and doesn't want to catch it...

Posted by: madame defarge at November 10, 2005 09:01 AM

md:

Et tu, Santorum?

Posted by: Indy at November 10, 2005 04:43 AM

I'm glad to hear from you in NOLA, Indy. I hope all will go well for you, but I also know you will work wonders for everyone in NOLA.