Lock that bastard up!

"Madam Speaker, somebody ought to call the cops. Today I am not talking about collusion, corruption and cronyism and the leaking of sensitive classified information that has irreparably damaged the national security of the United States. No, I am not talking about Scooter Libby or Karl Rove, though their involvement in outing a female CIA agent to silence her husband's criticisms of the President's Iraq policy deserves closer scrutiny. No, I am talking about another shadowy character and administration ally, someone whose deception played a large role in leading the United States into war in Iraq. I am talking about Ahmad Chalabi. ...Mr. Speaker, call the cops. Mr. Chalabi should not be allowed to run free on the streets of this Nation's capital".

Congratulations, you beat the previous 42 COMBINED

Bush Borrowed More Than All Previous Presidents Combined

President Bush and the current administration have borrowed more money from foreign governments and banks than the previous 42 presidents combined, a group of conservative to moderate Democrats said Friday. Blue Dog Coalition, which describes itself as a group "focused on fiscal responsibility," called the administration's borrowing practices "astounding." According to the Treasury Department, from 1776-2000, the first 224 years of U.S. history, 42 U.S. presidents borrowed a combined $1.01 trillion from foreign governments and financial institutions, but in the past four years alone, the Bush administration borrowed $1.05 trillion. "The seriousness of this rapid and increasing financial vulnerability of our country can hardly be overstated," said Rep. John Tanner (D-Tenn.), a leader of the Blue Dog Coalition and member of the House Ways and Means Committee.

By Melanie Hunter CNSNews.com Senior Editor

It's Republican judges who are the 'Activist Judges"

Clarence 'Pubic Hair' Thomas - The most activist judge in the country Yesterday Karl Rove stuck his ugly head out to see if anyone had forgotten about his act of treason and his pout of the day was 'activist judges'. This is a subject that is totally misconstrued by Republicans because the fact of the matter is, it's Republican judges in this country who are the 'activists". What is it that phony conservatives say that makes an 'activist judge'? They say it's a judge that 'legislates' from the bench. In other words, they do from the bench what legislators are suppose to do. Well, if a judge overturns something that was approved through legislature than that judge would be an activist judge. So guess who is the biggest activist judge in the country? Clarence Thomas. And who is the least activist judge in the country? Stephen Breyer. In fact, the Republicans on the Supreme Court are the most 'activist', while all the 'liberals' on the Supreme Court, are the least 'activist'. As it generally turns out, Republicans and those who support them, have reality completely ass-backwards. You shouldn't be surprised. As you will learn from the study below that was done by a couple of guys from Yale Law, it's once again, Democrats who follow the constitution and Republicans who don't. And please note; the two Supreme Court justices that were selected by Bill Clinton, Breyer and Ruth Bader-Ginsburg, are the LEAST activist! "So Who Are the Activists?" --An Op-Ed by Prof. Paul Gewirtz and Chad Golder (This piece was originally published in the New York Times on July 6, 2005.)

When Democrats or Republicans seek to criticize judges or judicial nominees, they often resort to the same language. They say that the judge is "activist." But the word "activist" is rarely defined. Often it simply means that the judge makes decisions with which the critic disagrees. In order to move beyond this labeling game, we've identified one reasonably objective and quantifiable measure of a judge's activism, and we've used it to assess the records of the justices on the current Supreme Court. Here is the question we asked: How often has each justice voted to strike down a law passed by Congress? Declaring an act of Congress unconstitutional is the boldest thing a judge can do. That's because Congress, as an elected legislative body representing the entire nation, makes decisions that can be presumed to possess a high degree of democratic legitimacy. In an 1867 decision, the Supreme Court itself described striking down Congressional legislation as an act "of great delicacy, and only to be performed where the repugnancy is clear." Until 1991, the court struck down an average of about one Congressional statute every two years. Between 1791 and 1858, only two such invalidations occurred. Of course, calling Congressional legislation into question is not necessarily a bad thing. If a law is unconstitutional, the court has a responsibility to strike it down. But a marked pattern of invalidating Congressional laws certainly seems like one reasonable definition of judicial activism. Since the Supreme Court assumed its current composition in 1994, by our count it has upheld or struck down 64 Congressional provisions. That legislation has concerned Social Security, church and state, and campaign finance, among many other issues. We examined the court's decisions in these cases and looked at how each justice voted, regardless of whether he or she concurred with the majority or dissented. We found that justices vary widely in their inclination to strike down Congressional laws. Justice Clarence Thomas, appointed by President George H. W. Bush, was the most inclined, voting to invalidate 65.63 percent of those laws; Justice Stephen Breyer, appointed by President Bill Clinton, was the least, voting to invalidate 28.13 percent. The tally for all the justices appears below. Thomas 65.63 % Kennedy 64.06 % Scalia 56.25 % Rehnquist 46.88 % O'Connor 46.77 % Souter 42.19 % Stevens 39.34 % Ginsburg 39.06 % Breyer 28.13 % One conclusion our data suggests is that those justices often considered more "liberal" - Justices Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Souter and John Paul Stevens - vote least frequently to overturn Congressional statutes, while those often labeled "conservative" vote more frequently to do so. At least by this measure (others are possible, of course), the latter group is the most activist. To say that a justice is activist under this definition is not itself negative. Because striking down Congressional legislation is sometimes justified, some activism is necessary and proper. We can decide whether a particular degree of activism is appropriate only by assessing the merits of a judge's particular decisions and the judge's underlying constitutional views, which may inspire more or fewer invalidations. Our data no doubt reflects such differences among the justices' constitutional views. But it even more clearly illustrates the varying degrees to which justices would actually intervene in the democratic work of Congress. And in so doing, the data probably demonstrates differences in temperament regarding intervention or restraint. These differences in the degree of intervention and in temperament tell us far more about "judicial activism" than we commonly understand from the term's use as a mere epithet. As the discussion of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's replacement begins, we hope that debates about "activist judges" will include indicators like these. And please note; the two Supreme Court justices that were selected by Bill Clinton, Bryer and Paul Gewirtz is a professor at Yale Law School. Chad Golder graduated from Yale Law School in May.

"Its deeply regrettable...", George

...That a clear majority of the people now know you're a liar.

"Its deeply regrettable that the president is using Veterans Day as a campaign-like attempt to rebuild his own credibility by tearing down those who seek the truth about the clear manipulation of intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq war...Instead of providing open and honest answers about how we will achieve success in Iraq and allow our troops to begin to come home," the president reverted to the same manipulation of facts to justify a war we never should have fought."

Sorry George, the gig is up. We now know as FACT, that you, Dick Cheney and Condoleeza Rice went before the American people and repeatedly told of proof that Saddam Hussein had connections to al-Qaida even after you learned that the information was false. As for members of Congress having the 'same intelligence'? No, you didn't tell them you knew your source was lying. We also know for a fact, you knew the 16 words in your SOTU address were a lie. You took those words out of your Cincinnati speech several months earlier because the CIA told you it was bogus information so why did you lie about it later? You knew the Niger documents were forgeries. Congress didn't. They foolishly believed you and Dick Cheney! You knew the aluminum tubes couldn't be used for nuclear weaponry and you knew Mohammed Atta wasn't in Prague meeting with Iraqis-the CIA told you he was in Virginia at that same time. You knew a lot George. You knew a lot more than any member of Congress and you're only lying again when you say otherwise. The difference now is that a whole lot of those sheep who believed you before, know you're lying now...Good luck convincing them otherwise, George.

Veteran's Day

Veterans and Armistice Day

Twin Sons Of Different Mothers

Conflict of interest allegation dogging Alito

"Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito said Thursday he was "unduly restrictive" in promising in 1990 to avoid appeals cases involving two investment firms and said he has not made any rulings in which he had a "legal or ethical obligation" to step aside. In a letter to Sen. Arlen Specter, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Alito said a 1990 questionnaire he filled out covered his plans for "initial service" as a judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. "I respectfully submit that it was not inconsistent with my questionnaire response for me to participate in two isolated cases seven and 13 years later, respectively," he wrote. Alito issued the letter one day after all eight Democrats on the committee called for voluminous records involving a 2002 case in which Vanguard was a defendant. They noted that Alito had promised at the time of his confirmation to the appeals court to avoid cases involving Vanguard, Smith Barney, a savings bank and his sister's law firm. Democrats did not accuse Alito of bending his ruling to favor Vanguard. Instead, they raised possible conflict of interest concerns, and said he had violated the promise he made to the committee 15 years ago. The Democratic challenge prompted a letter from Specter, R-Pa., in which he wrote Alito suggesting a quick response. "I think it is important that the issues be addressed promptly since a number of senators have expressed concerns," Specter advised".

Nice photo..... gravitation?.. Twin Sons Of Different Mothers

Pennsylvania Voters Show Country They Are Not Utah or Kansas!

The people of the Dover Pennsylvania showed their school board the other night that they're not going to become part of the laughing stock of the world like the morons who live in Kansas and Utah. The citizens of Dover voted out of office eight school board members who tried to sneak creationism into the science curriculum of their school district. Intelligent Design supporters lose in Pa. school board election

Supporters of a Pennsylvania school district’s policy to make high school science students aware of Intelligent Design say they will not be dissuaded by a school board election that swept candidates into office who ran on a platform opposed to the policy. All eight seats on the nine-member Dover Area School Board that were up for election Nov. 8 were narrowly won by candidates affiliated with the Citizens Actively Reviewing Educational Strategies (CARES). The organization’s platform calls for removing Intelligent Design from the district’s science curriculum. The school district is a defendant in a federal trial over its policy to inform ninth-grade science students about the existence of Intelligent Design. Testimony in the case ended in early November. U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III is expected to issue a ruling by early January.

DOD News Release

U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2005/nr20051110-5091.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------- No. 1174-05 IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 10, 2005 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- DoD Identifies Marine Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Lance Cpl. Jeremy P. Tamburello, 19, of Denver, Colo., died Nov. 8 from wounds sustained from an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations just west of Rutbah, Iraq. He was assigned to the 1st Light Armor Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. --------------------------------------------------------------------------

They have no 'political capital'

There's nothing better for this country than Republicans losing their mythical 'political capital'. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge - (ANWR) Arctic drilling dropped from House bill

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. Twenty-five Republicans, led by Rep. Charles Bass of New Hampshire, signed a letter asking GOP leaders to strike the Alaskan drilling provision from the broader $54 billion budget cut bill.

Those 25 Republicans aren't crawling over each other to line up with Bush on ANWR when a majority of their constituents have made it clear that they do not want oil drilling at ANWR. Personally, I don't care much one way or the other but I DO know that the oil at ANWR isn't some gigantic bonanza-with high-end estimates of 17 billion barrels. For a country that uses 21-22 million barrels a day, that comes out to about two years of oil at current daily consumption levels. Big deal. Update-my comment about '17 billion barrels' of oil at ANWR was incorrect. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimates there are only 7.7 billion barrels at ANWR so that means with all the bellyaching and whining about ANWR, the whole project will supply enough oil for the U.S for 1 year (366 days). Big deal! The Sierra Club on ANWR

How much of the $9M did Bush get?

Lobbyist Sought $9 Million to Set Bush Meeting

The lobbyist Jack Abramoff asked for $9 million in 2003 from the president of a West African nation to arrange a meeting with President Bush and directed his fees to a Maryland company now under federal scrutiny, according to newly disclosed documents. The African leader, President Omar Bongo of Gabon, met with President Bush in the Oval Office on May 26, 2004, 10 months after Mr. Abramoff made the offer. There has been no evidence in the public record that Mr. Abramoff had any role in organizing the meeting or that he received any money or had a signed contract with Gabon. White House and State Department officials described Mr. Bush's meeting with President Bongo, whose government is regularly accused by the United States of human rights abuses, as routine.

We know it was 'routine' for this administration and that's exactly why there needs to be an investigation into how much of the $9 million was kicked-back to Bush. Bush's close relationship with Abramoff, who is possibly a suspect in a gangland murder as well as several cases of embezzlement involving 10's of millions, also needs to be further investigated.

$24 Million! What a deal!

A large-scale metal sculpture by American artist David Smith has become the most expensive work of contemporary art ever sold at auction, fetching 23.8 million dollars at Sotheby's in New York. Five bidders competed for Smith's "Cubi XXVII" which was the starting lot at a Wednesday evening sale of 54 contemporary works that brought in 114.5 million dollars. The 1965 sculpture was finally snapped up by Manhattan dealer Larry Gagosian at nearly twice its high estimate of 12 million dollars. You gotta be shittin' me? Are people that stupid? I could build that on a weekend and I'd sell it for 1/2 that!

Rove missed the second 'lesson'

Unethical revenge by Rove would not surprise his poli-sci prof

SALT LAKE CITY -- When the dean of Utah political scientists, J.D. Williams, retired from the classroom, he received a note from his most famous student -- Karl Rove. In the 1992 letter to the die-hard Democrat, Rove wrote, "My career has been to fight for causes and candidates I'm certain you disapprove of, but I am equally confident that you approve of my being in the fight." Rove, who considers Williams to be one of his first political mentors, may have been a little overly confident. Williams believes President Bush's top adviser and famed GOP mastermind failed to grasp one of the two key lessons he was taught at the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics. One: Participate in politics. Two: Do so in a decent and honorable way. "Karl Rove magnificently fulfilled the first goal," Williams says. "He never learned the second part of the message." ...."And Williams says he is "certain" that Rove played a vital role in outing the covert CIA agent Valerie Plame as retribution for criticism of the White House by her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson. Rove remains under investigation for his role in the leak".

Read Kennedy and learn something

Ted Kennedy has no problem calling the liars liars. Kennedy, being one of the 23 patriots in the Senate who had the courage to vote against Bush's war in Iraq has the right to tell it the way he sees it. And the way he sees it is the way it actually happened. November 10, 2005 KENNEDY STATEMENT ON THE ADMINISTRATION'S EFFORTS TO EXAGGERATE THREATS IN THEIR MARCH TO WAR AS CHALABI, THE PENTAGON'S FAVORITE IRAQI DISSIDENT, VISITS D.C., KENNEDY REMINDS SENATE OF CHALABI'S OWN WORDS Earlier this week, several of our Republican colleagues came to the Senate floor and attempted to blame individual Democratic Senators for their errors in judgment about the war in Iraq. It was little more than a devious attempt to obscure the facts and take the focus off the real reason we went to war in Iraq. 150,000 American troops are bogged down in a quagmire in Iraq because the Bush Administration misrepresented and distorted the intelligence to justify a war that America never should have fought. As we know all too well, Iraq was not an imminent threat. It had no nuclear weapons. It had no persuasive links to Al Qaeda, no connection to the terrorist attacks of September 11th, and no stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. But the President wrongly and repeatedly insisted that it was too dangerous to ignore the weapons of mass destruction in the hands of Saddam Hussein, and his ties to Al Qaeda. In his march to war, President Bush exaggerated the threat to the American people. It was not subtle. It was not nuanced. It was pure, unadulterated fear-mongering, based on a devious strategy to convince the American people that Saddam's ability to provide nuclear weapons to Al Qaeda justified immediate war. Administration officials suggested the threat from Iraq was imminent, and went to great lengths to convince the American people that it was. At a roundtable discussion with European journalists last month, Secretary Rumsfeld deviously insisted: "I never said imminent threat." In fact, Secretary Rumsfeld told the House Armed Services Committee on September 18, 2002, "…Some have argued that the nuclear threat from Iraq is not imminent -- that Saddam is at least 5-7 years away from having nuclear weapons. I would not be so certain." In May 2003, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer was asked whether we went to war "because we said WMD were a direct and imminent threat to the United States." Fleischer responded, "Absolutely." What else could National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice have been suggesting, other than an imminent threat -- an extremely imminent threat -- when she said on September 8, 2002, "We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud." President Bush himself may not have used the word "imminent", but he carefully chose strong and loaded words about the nature of the threat -- words that the intelligence community never used -- to persuade and prepare the nation to go to war against Iraq. In the Rose Garden on October 2, 2002, as Congress was preparing to vote on authorizing the war, the President said the Iraqi regime "is a threat of unique urgency." In a speech in Cincinnati on October 7, President Bush Specifically invoked the danger of nuclear devastation: "Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof -- the smoking gun -- that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud." At an appearance in New Mexico on October 28, 2002, after Congress had voted to authorize war, and a week before the election, President Bush said Iraq is a "real and dangerous threat." At a NATO summit on November 20, 2002, President Bush said Iraq posed a "unique and urgent threat." In Fort Hood, Texas on January 3, 2003, President Bush called the Iraqi regime a "grave threat." Nuclear weapons. Mushroom cloud. Unique and urgent threat. Real and dangerous threat. Grave threat. These words were the Administration's rallying cry for war. But they were not the words of the intelligence community, which never suggested that the threat from Saddam was imminent, or immediate, or urgent. It was Vice President Cheney who first laid out the trumped up argument for war with Iraq to an unsuspecting public. In a speech on August 26, 2002, to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, he asserted: "…We now know that Saddam has resumed his efforts to acquire nuclear weapons…Many of us are convinced that Saddam will acquire nuclear weapons fairly soon." As we now know, the intelligence community was far from certain. Yet the Vice President had been convinced. On September 8, 2002, he was even more emphatic about Saddam. He said, "[We] do know, with absolute certainty, that he is using his procurement system to acquire the equipment he needs in order to enrich uranium to build a nuclear weapon." The intelligence community was deeply divided about the aluminum tubes, but Vice President Cheney was absolutely certain. One month later, on the eve of the watershed vote by Congress to authorize the war, President Bush said it even more vividly. He said, "Iraq has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes…which are used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons. If the Iraqi regime is able to produce, buy, or steal an amount of highly enriched uranium a little larger than a single softball, it could have a nuclear weapon in less than a year. And if we allow that to happen, a terrible line would be crossed…Saddam Hussein would be in a position to pass nuclear technology to terrorists." In fact, as we now know, the intelligence community was far from convinced of any such threat. The Administration attempted to conceal that fact by classifying the information and the dissents within the intelligence community until after the war, even while making dramatic and excessive public statements about the immediacy of the danger. In October 2002, the intelligence agencies jointly issued a National Intelligence Estimate stating that "most agencies" believed that Iraq had restarted its nuclear program after inspectors left in 1998, and that, if left unchecked, Iraq "probably will have a nuclear weapon during this decade." The State Department's intelligence bureau, however, said the "available evidence" was inadequate to support that judgment. It refused to predict when "Iraq could acquire a nuclear device or weapon." About the claims of purchases of nuclear material from Africa, the State Department's intelligence bureau said that claims of Iraq seeking to purchase nuclear material from Africa were "highly dubious." The CIA sent two memorandums to the White House stressing strong doubts about those claims. But the following January, in 2003, the President included the claims about Africa in his State of the Union Address, and conspicuously cited the British government as the source of that intelligence. Information about nuclear weapons was not the only intelligence distorted by the Administration. On the question of whether Iraq was pursuing a chemical weapons program, the Defense Intelligence Agency concluded in September 2002 that "there is no reliable information on whether Iraq is producing and stockpiling chemical weapons, or whether Iraq has -- or will -- establish its chemical warfare agent production facilities." That same month, however, Secretary Rumsfeld told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Saddam has chemical weapons stockpiles. He said, "We do know that the Iraqi regime has chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction," that Saddam "has amassed large clandestine stocks of chemical weapons." He said that "he has stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons," and that Iraq has "active chemical, biological and nuclear programs." He was wrong on all counts. Yet the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate actually quantified the size of the stockpiles, stating that "although we have little specific information on Iraq's CW stockpile, Saddam probably has stocked at least 100 metric tons and possibly as much as 500 metric tons of CW agents -- much of it added in the last year." In his address to the United Nations on February 5, 2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell went further, calling the 100 to 500 metric ton stockpile a "conservative estimate." Secretary Rumsfeld made an even more explicit assertion in his interview on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" on March 30, 2003. When asked about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, he said, "We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat." The Administration's case for war based on the linkage between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda was just as misguided. Significantly here as well, the Intelligence Estimate did not find a cooperative relationship between Saddam and Al Qaeda. On the contrary, it stated only that such a relationship might develop in the future if Saddam was "sufficiently desperate" -- in other words, if America went to war. But the estimate placed "low confidence" that, even in desperation, Saddam would give weapons of mass destruction to Al Qaeda. A year before the war began, senior Al Qaeda leaders themselves had rejected a link with Saddam. The New York Times reported last June that a top Al Qaeda planner and recruiter captured in March 2002 told his questioners last year that "the idea of working with Mr. Hussein's government had been discussed among Al Qaeda leaders, but Osama bin Laden had rejected such proposals." According to the Times, an Al Qaeda chief of operations had also told interrogators that it did not work with Saddam. Mel Goodman, a CIA analyst for 20 years, put it bluntly: "Saddam Hussein and bin Laden were enemies. Bin Laden considered and said that Saddam was the socialist infidel. These were very different kinds of individuals competing for power in their own way and Saddam Hussein made very sure that Al Qaeda couldn't function in Iraq." In February 2003, investigators at the FBI told the New York Times they were baffled by the Administration's insistence on a solid link between Al Qaeda and Iraq. One investigator said: "We've been looking at this hard for more than a year and you know what, we just don't think it's there." But President Bush was not deterred. He was relentless in playing to America's fears after the devastating tragedy of 9/11. He drew a clear link -- and drew it repeatedly -- between Al Qaeda and Saddam. On September 25, 2002, at the White House, President Bush flatly declared: "You can't distinguish between Al Qaeda and Saddam when you talk about the war on terror." In his State of the Union Address in January 2003, President Bush said, "Evidence from intelligence sources, secret communications, and statements by people now in custody reveal that Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, including members of Al Qaeda," and that he could provide "lethal viruses" to a "shadowy terrorist network." Two weeks later, in his Saturday radio address to the nation, a month before the war began, President Bush described the ties in detail, saying, "Saddam Hussein has longstanding, direct and continuing ties to terrorist networks …" He said: "Senior members of Iraqi intelligence and Al Qaeda have met at least eight times since the early 1990s. Iraq has sent bomb-making and document-forgery experts to work with Al Qaeda. Iraq has also provided Al Qaeda with chemical and biological weapons training. An Al Qaeda operative was sent to Iraq several times in the late 1990s for help in acquiring poisons and gases. We also know that Iraq is harboring a terrorist network headed by a senior Al Qaeda terrorist planner. This network runs a poison and explosive training camp in northeast Iraq, and many of its leaders are known to be in Baghdad." Who gave the President this information? The NIE? Scooter Libby? Chalabi? In fact, there was no operational link and no clear and persuasive pattern of ties between the Iraqi government and Al Qaeda. A 9/11 Commission Staff Statement in June of 2004, put it plainly: "Two senior bin Laden associates have adamantly denied that any ties existed between Al Qaeda and Iraq. We have no credible evidence that Iraq and Al Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States." The 9/11 Commission Report stated clearly that there was no "operational" connection between Saddam and Al Qaeda. That fact should have been abundantly clear to the President. Iraq and Al Qaeda had diametrically opposing views of the world. The Pentagon¹s favorite Iraqi dissident, Ahmed Chalabi, is actually proud of what happened. "We are heroes in error," Chalabi said in February 2004. "As far as we're concerned, we've been entirely successful. That tyrant Saddam is gone and the Americans are in Baghdad. What was said before is not important. The Bush Administration is looking for a scapegoat. We're ready to fall on our swords, if he wants." What was said before does matter. The President's words matter. The Vice President's words matter. So do those of the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense and other high officials in the Administration. And they did not square with the facts. The Intelligence Committee agreed to investigate the clear discrepancies, and it's important that they get to the bottom of this, and find out how and why President Bush took America to war in Iraq. Americans are dying. Already more than 2000 have been killed, and more than 15,000 have been wounded. The American people deserve the truth. It's time for the President to stop passing the buck and for him to be held accountable.

Republicans Despise Our Veterans

This man is totally useless to Republicans! Republicans are once again showing their disdain for American veterans. After 55 consecutive years of meeting with a joint session of Congress to discuss disabled veteran's needs, Disabled American Veterans(DAV)discovered earlier this week that Republicans have had enough of listening to the needs of those who fought and were injured fighting for our country. It has been said here many times before, the hypocrites who call themselves Republicans hate our veterans and our military and regardless of all their chest-thumping patriotic 'support our troops' bullshit, they absolutely abhor those of us who served. Veterans, below the surface Republicans hate you and if you're not currently dying for their phony causes, than they have absolutely no use for you. Veterans Lash Out at Loss of Voice on Capitol Hill

A proposal to end the long-standing practice of veterans groups addressing a joint session of the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees is an insult to all who have fought, sacrificed and died to defend the Constitution, according to the Disabled American Veterans (DAV). And in a strongly worded letter to House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Steve Buyer (R-Indo.), the DAV has urged him to continue the joint hearings as an invaluable tool in formulating public policy toward America's veterans. Chairman Buyer recently announced that veterans service organizations will no longer have the opportunity to present testimony before a joint hearing of the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees. "The tradition of legislative presentations by veterans service organizations dates back to at least the 1950s. And the timing of this announcement -- just before Veterans Day -- could not have been worse," said DAV National Commander Paul W. Jackson. For several decades now, these joint hearings have been held each year to allow the elected leaders of veterans groups to discuss their organization's legislative agenda and foremost concerns with the lawmakers who have jurisdiction over federal veterans programs. Senators and Representatives who serve on those committees also get the rare opportunity to address the hundreds of constituent members from these organizations' who make the annual pilgrimage to Capitol Hill.

Republicans Leak on Themselves

...Boy, I guess we fucked that one up too, huh Bill? ..Denny, shut up, fatass! Remember all the fuss from Republicans the other day about the 'leak' to the Washington Post about the 'black prisons' being used off-shore by the CIA? You know, the big uproar from Bill Frist and Dennis Hastert where they were grandstanding and trying to deflect attention away from the real criminals in Washington? Does it seem as though that uproar sort of died down a little over the last couple of days? It has, and it has because Republicans realized the leak came from a Republican senator or some one on a Republican senator's staff! So typical. The Republicans will now whitewash that investigation, too.

Some More "Bush Meat"

Remember the Democrat mayor from St. Paul, Minnesota who endorsed George Bush for president last November? His name is Randy Kelly and he was a huge topic on all the phony conservative talk radio and TV shows last year. Randy Kelly got his ass kicked, 69%-31% on Tuesday. He was trounced by a man named Chris Coleman and "it was the widest margin of defeat ever suffered by an incumbent mayor in St. Paul". Did anyone hear Randy Kelly's name mentioned on any of those same radio or TV shows yesterday? Didn't think so.... Bush meat: Kelly clobbered in St. Paul

"The polls were right. As had been forecast for weeks, incumbent St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly was trounced yesterday, 69 to 31 percent. He received just 18,203 votes, compared with 40,601 for challenger Chris Coleman. It was the widest margin of defeat ever suffered by an incumbent mayor in St. Paul. The Coleman victory also ends 16 years of futility for DFL-endorsed mayoral candidates in the city. National politics undoubtedly played a central role in the contest. The candidates were barely distinguishable in their ideological track records, but Kelly enraged fellow Democrats by endorsing the re-election of President Bush last year. The President garnered support from just 26 percent of St. Paul voters in the 2004 contest".

Former St. Paul City Council Member Chris Coleman and his wife, Connie, react to hearing mayor Randy Kelly had just endorsed George W. Bush

"If not, why not?"

(My joke the other day about Patrick Fitzgerald going to subpoena Ahmad Chalabi isn't that far off as it turns out...)

WASHINGTON (AP) - Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi offered Wednesday to be questioned by the Senate on his role in prewar Iraq but refused to apologize for fueling allegations that Saddam Hussein had hidden caches of weapons of mass destruction. Accorded a warm reception by the Bush administration, Chalabi lined up Vice President Dick Cheney and five Cabinet officers, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, for meetings this week and next. Chalabi, whose reputation in Washington has soared, fallen and now revived, was welcomed by administration officials whom he briefed on Iraq's reconstruction efforts, particularly on energy and financial issues. But on Capitol Hill, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., urged the Senate and House intelligence committees to subpoena Chalabi regarding allegations that he provided false information about Saddam's weapons and leaked U.S. secrets to Iran. Sens. Durbin, Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., told Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales that Chalabi should be sitting down with FBI investigators rather than meeting with Cabinet secretaries. ``Will the FBI interview Mr. Chalabi during his visit to the United States?'' the senators asked in a letter. "If not, why not?"

Judith Miller Agrees to Leave the NY Times

"The New York Times and Judith Miller, a veteran reporter for the paper, reached an agreement yesterday that ended her 28-year career at the newspaper and capped more than two weeks of negotiations. Ms. Miller leaves the paper after serving for many years as an investigative and national security correspondent. She has written four books and in 2002 was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism for reporting, before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, about the growing threat of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda".

Judy Miller will be remembered for writng Sunday morning articles with information fed to her by Dick Cheney's office through Scooter Libby and then willfully watching Cheney, Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice use her articles as proof as they made the Sunday morning talk shows. She's a co-conspirator and guilty as hell.

Why do 82% of Iraqis want us out of Iraq?

"Well according to the Houston Chronicle, even Blair's favourite data source, the Iraqi health ministry, reports that twice as many Iraqis - and most of them civilians - are being killed by US and UK forces as by insurgents. When the Pentagon claims that it has just killed 50 or 70 or 100 rebel fighters, we have no means of knowing who those people really were. Everyone it blows to pieces becomes a terrorist".

How may Iraqi civilians have we killed? The lowest estimate is 30,000 with other estimates exceeding 100,000. That must be what happened with all those bouquets of flowers Cheney was talking about. Kill that many civilians and they don't need those 72 virgins as an incentive for martyrdom anymore. "82%"?

DOD News Release

U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2005/nr20051109-5088.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------- No. 1170-05 IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 9, 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- DoD Identifies Marine Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Gunnery Sgt. Darrell W. Boatman, 38, of Fayetteville, N.C., died on Nov. 4 at Landstuhl Reginal Medical Center, Germany, from wounds sustained on Nov. 2 from an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations in the vicinity of Habbaniyah, Iraq. He was assigned to 8th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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57% Know Bush Lied

57% now realize Bush 'deliberately misled' the country into going to war. "Deliberately misled"? "Misled"? No, when you cherry-pick the intelligence to needlessly go to war, it's a little more serious than "misled". It's an diabolical and grievous lie! Pat Roberts and the Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee need to stop stonewalling the investigation ('phase II') into how Cheney and his gang manipulated the intelligence. Roberts is again trying to cover-up for the Bush White House by implementing ridiculous stipulations to the investigation. Email or call Pat Roberts at 202-224-4774 and tell that shady bastard we want a fair and open investigation where the witnesses are required to tesitfy under oath.

The public doesn't care about Valerie Plame?

Fox News: Out of Touch with America FOX ANCHOR JON SCOTT: Fred, I guess I don’t get the sense that Americans, you know, across this great country are outraged about the Valerie Plame incident. They have some vague sense that something is amiss at the White House. FRED BARNES: This is a pretty minor scandal, I believe, when it involves the chief of staff of the vice president, and merely a perjury charge and false statements… [BREAK] I think this is a scandal that elites across America and people who are really interested in politics and Washington are aware of, but most people don’t care about it, nor should they. O'REILLY: All right. My thesis is this story dies for the public, it dies for the public on Monday. The public doesn't care about it. As Nico Pitney at Think Progress notes, there's an abundance of polls concluding that the public does indeed find the leak case of importance. The non-partisan Pew Research Center puts it succinctly here, comparing it with Clinton lying about sex: In contrast, fully 79% of Americans say the recent indictment of I. Lewis Libby, formerly a top aide to Vice President Cheney, on perjury and other charges is a matter of at least some importance to the nation; that is greater than the percentage who said that in 1998 about charges that former President Clinton lied under oath about a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky (65%). through Al Franken

DOD News Release-4 listed as KIA

U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2005/nr20051109-5086.html No. 1166-05 IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 9, 2005 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- DoD Identifies Army Casualties The Department of Defense announced today the death of four soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died in Baghdad, Iraq, on Nov. 7, when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated near their dismounted patrol. The soldiers were assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Carson, Colo. Killed were: 1st Lt. Justin S. Smith, 28, of Lansing, Mich. Staff Sgt. Brian L. Freeman, 27, of Lucedale, Miss. Spc. Robert C. Pope II, 22, of East Islip, N.Y. Pfc. Mario A. Reyes, 19, of Las Cruces, N.M. --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just in case there was any question...

..... on whether Bush's last minute appearance Monday hurt Jerry Kilgore's chances of being elected governor of Virginia here is what was written on how the race had been going as recently as Monday;

"Despite his own political woes and declining popularity, Bush hoped to rally Republicans to vote on Tuesday in a contest that polls show is too close to call" "Kilgore, whose early lead in polls has slipped to a statistical tie" "Kaine, the state's lieutenant governor, was the choice of 45 percent of voters, and Kilgore, a former attorney general, had 44 percent in the survey" "Kilgore, the former state attorney general, was favored by 44 percent of likely voters, while 42 percent chose Kaine"

Bush went to Virginia the day before the election to pull Kilgore through his 'statistical tie' with Timothy Kaine. Kaine won by 6 percentage points. Thanks George-I really think you need to start doing some more stumping for Republicans.

Virginia Voters Snub the Shrub

Jerry Kilgore finally relented the night before the election and had Bush come to his state to campaign. It didn't help and in fact, it more than likely did what Kilgore was afraid of; It, the new Bush curse, cost him an election.

Democrat Timothy M. Kaine easily defeated Republican Jerry W. Kilgore for governor last night, dealing the GOP a blow in a second consecutive gubernatorial election. The contest for governor was also a defeat for President Bush, who put his prestige on the line Monday night by making an eleventh-hour campaign stop for Kilgore.

Arnold Smacked Down in California

Voters Reject Schwarzenegger's Bid to Remake State Government November 9, 2005 In a sharp repudiation of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, voters rejected his most sweeping ballot proposals on Tuesday in an election that shattered his image as an agent of the popular will. Voters turned down his proposals to curb state spending, redraw California's political map and lengthen the time it takes teachers to get tenure. With most of the votes counted, Californians were leaning against Proposition 75, his plan to require unions for public workers to get written consent from members before spending their dues money on politics. The Republican governor had cast the four initiatives as central to his larger vision for restoring fiscal discipline to California and reforming its notoriously dysfunctional politics. The failure of Proposition 76, his spending restraints, and Proposition 77, his election district overhaul, represented a particularly sharp snub of the governor by California voters.

DOD News Release

U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2005/nr20051108-5085.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------- No. 1167-05 IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 8, 2005 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Capt. Joel E. Cahill, 34, of Norwood, Mass., died in Ad Dawr, Iraq, on Nov. 6, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV. Cahill was assigned to the Army's 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

DOD News Release

U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2005/nr20051108-5084.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------- No. 1165-05 IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 8, 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- DoD Identifies Marine Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Lance Cpl. Ryan J. Sorensen, 26, of Boca Raton, Fla., died Nov. 6 from enemy small-arms fire while conducting combat operations during Operation Steel Curtain in Husaybah, Iraq. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. -------------------------------------------------------------------------

What leak?

How can it be a 'leak' if it was about something that didn't exist? That would be a mere rumor. Or do those 'black prisons' in fact, exist? Sounds to me like there are 'secret' prisons so therefore, the 'leak' is true, and if true, it's justified. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) wrote in a letter to the chairmen of the House and Senate intelligence committees that stated; "If accurate, such an egregious disclosure could have long-term and far-reaching damaging and dangerous consequences, and will imperil our efforts to protect the American people and our homeland from terrorist attacks". Shouldn't these two U.S. Congressmen be concerned about the laws being broken if the reports of these secret prisons are 'accurate'? Republicans demand a 'Senate investigation' into some one leaking the truth about ongoing criminal activity. Maybe they should schedule their investigation into who told the truth right after Democrats get their 'Senate investigation' of those who didn't tell the truth. Exposing war crimes committed by your country is patriotic-it's not a 'leak'. Top Republican Leaders Demand Probe Into Prison Leak

Congress's top Republican leaders today demanded an immediate joint House and Senate investigation into the leak of classified information to The Washington Post that detailed a web of secret prisons being used to house and interrogate terrorism suspects. The Post's story, (THE LEAK?)published Nov. 2, has led to a rash of new questions about the treatment of detainees and the use of so-called "black prisons" in Eastern Europe and elsewhere by the Central Intelligence Agency. The issue dogged President Bush in his recent trip to Latin America. washington post

"Wow! Brazil is big!"

"For his Brazilian audience, Bush's words were a vivid reminder of their own recent history. Democracy was only restored here in 1985, after 21 years of right-wing military rule. The speech was both a promotion of Bush's vision of democracy, a central theme of his second term, and an implicit response to criticism in the region that the United States is too unilateral in its actions. Bush reaffirmed U.S. support for the Organization of American States and the Inter-American Development Bank, the two main bodies of regional cooperation. Bush, who was in the Brazilian capital on the third day of a four-day trip to Latin America, tried earlier on Sunday to play down his administration's differences with Brazil and three of its neighbors that led to the collapse of trade talks late Saturday in Mar del Plata. Bush, who was in the Brazilian capital on the third day of a four-day trip to Latin America, tried earlier on Sunday to play down his administration's differences with Brazil and three of its neighbors that led to the collapse of trade talks late Saturday in Mar del Plata... ...At one point, da Silva even exhibited a map of his country, which is larger than the continental United States, when Bush reportedly proclaimed, "Wow! Brazil is big,"...

Hey, don't blame me...I voted for the other guy.....Twice!!

Bad Uncle Dickie

Dubya-Cheney ties frayed by scandal 'There has been some distance for some time' The CIA leak scandal has peeled back the veil on the most closely held White House secret of all: the subtle but unmistakable erosion in the bond between President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Multiple sources close to Bush told the Daily News that while the vice president remains his boss' valued political partner and counselor, his clout has lessened - primarily as a result of issues arising from the Iraq war. "The relationship is not what it was," a presidential counselor said. "There has been some distance for some time."

Mapes should be "unrepentant"

Mary Mapes was right about what she reported and all she has to do is wait for vindication. Just like Michael Mooore, Joe Wilson, Paul O'Neill, General Shinseki and others who have been vindicated, it will eventually be proven that Bush deserted his unit in Texas just like he no-showed in Alabama. It'll all come out sooner or later. Fired CBS News Producer Unrepentant

Nov. 8, 2005 — - In her first interview since being fired, former CBS News producer Mary Mapes maintains that her controversial "60 Minutes II" story on President Bush's National Guard service was "true" and that no one has proved that the documents were not authentic."

Mary Mapes speaks with ABC News correspondent Brian Ross

War atrocities, or not?

A very interesting video at OpEdNews on some strange ordnance being used by our soldiers who are now being accused of using 'chemical' weapons in Fallujah. There are a lot of unanswered questions about the accuser, former U.S. GI, Jimmy Massey, but the video does raise some questions of it's own. US Used Chemical WMD in Fallujah-- video; US GI witness being swiftboated. by Rob Kall

Italian state TV reported this morning that the US used chemical weapons-- white phosphorous, which melts human flesh to the bones "I saw the burned bodies of women and children. The phosphorous explodes and forms a plume. Whoever is within a 150 metre radius has no hope," one former US GI, Jimmy Massey reports. The Italian Documentary reported, on Tuesday, November 8th, that white phosphorous is supposed to be used "to illuminate enemy emplacements" purposes, to light up the sky. This documentary claims the shells were fired indiscriminately and the documentary claims to show images of Americans strafing the city with phosphorous. Mohamad Tareq, a biologist who was in Fallujah, reported in the film, "A rain of fire fell on the city, the people struck by this multicolored substance started to burn. We found people dead with strange wounds, the bodies burned but the clothes intact." The film also reveals the use of a new kind of Napalm, called MK77, reporting that "The use of these incendiary substances on civilians is prohibited from the conventions of the UN since 1980." In the US, Massey, author of a book published in France, Kill, Kill, Kill is being Swift-boated by "fellow GIs and the mainstream media are reporting that he has never actually witnessed what he's reported. The US military has denied the accusations as "disinformation.

Boo

George W. Bush - "We do not torture ... There's an enemy that lurks and plots and plans and wants to hurt America again. And so, you bet we will aggressively pursue them..." James Madison - "If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy".

"They blew up their poster boy"

"Pat Tillman, the Arizona Cardinals defensive back who famously volunteered for the Army in the spring after 9/11, giving up a $3.6 million N.F.L. contract extension. Tillman wanted to pay something back to his country by pursuing the enemy that actually attacked it, Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. Instead he was sent to fight a war in Iraq that he didn't see coming when he enlisted because the administration was still hatching it in secret. Only on a second tour of duty was he finally sent into Taliban strongholds in Afghanistan, where, on April 22, 2004, he was killed. On April 30, an official Army press release announcing his Silver Star citation filled in vivid details of his last battle. Tillman, it said, was storming a hill to take out the enemy, even as he "personally provided suppressive fire with an M-249 Squad Automatic Weapon machine gun." It would be a compelling story, if only it were true. Five weeks after Tillman's death, the Army acknowledged abruptly, without providing details, that he had "probably" died from friendly fire. Many months after that, investigative journalists at The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times reported that the Army's initial portrayal of his death had been not only bogus but also possibly a cover-up of something darker". "They blew up their poster boy," - Patrick Tillman Sr.

Oh shit....Strike that!

Official Reveals Budget for U.S. Intelligence

In an apparent slip, a top American intelligence official has revealed at a public conference what has long been secret: the amount of money the United States spends on its spy agencies. At an intelligence conference in San Antonio last week, Mary Margaret Graham, a 27-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency and now the deputy director of national intelligence for collection, said the annual intelligence budget was $44 billion. The number was reported Monday in U.S. News and World Report, whose national security reporter, Kevin Whitelaw, was among the hundreds of people in attendance during Ms. Graham's talk. "I thought, 'I can't believe she said that,' "

Forty-four billion? That's no drop in the bucket. Add that to the almost 1/2 trillion reported military budget and it starts to add up. The U.S. spends as much on defense as all the other countries in the world combined...

More Smells Emerge from Cheney's Stalls

"Another attempt by the Bush regime to throw investigators off the scent is collapsing. This oil-for-slush part of the ever-widening scandal hits U.S. CEO Dick Cheney right where he lives: inside Halliburton's bulging vault. The press isn't fully onto the scope of this overall, monumental scandal yet, reporting bits and pieces but not tying them together. Like last year's tsunami and this year's Indo-Pak quake, it's so big that putting a name to it is difficult. Maybe we ought to just call it Profligate, in honor of the wastrels of lives and money who are running our constitutional democracy into the ground. To be fully informed on the oil-for-slush segment of the scandal — I've used that phrase to describe a narrower part of the Iraq "reconstruction" skullduggery — you have to rely on such watchdogs as Halliburton Watch, which thoroughly charts our country's progress (or Halliburton's — same difference) through the dismal swamp of this vast field of muck, not only in the Persian Gulf but in the Gulf of Mexico".

DOD Releases on 6 Americans killed

U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2005/nr20051107-5082.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------- No. 1157-05 IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 7, 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sgt. 1st Class James F. Hayes, 48, of Barstow, Calif., died in Taji, Iraq, on Nov. 6, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV during patrol operations. Hayes was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2005/nr20051107-5081.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------- No. 1162-05 IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 7, 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Staff Sgt. Jason A. Fegler, 24, of Virginia Beach, Va., died in Baghdad, Iraq, on Nov. 4, during combat operations. Fegler was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky. The circumstances of the soldier's death are under investigation as a potential friendly-fire incident. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2005/nr20051107-5080.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------- No. 1161-05 IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 7, 2005 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Lt. Col. Thomas A. Wren, 44, of Lorton, Va., died in Tallil, Iraq, on Nov. 5, when a civilian vehicle pulled in front of his HMMWV causing it to roll-over. Wren was an Army Reservist assigned to the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq in Tallil, Iraq. The incident is under investigation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2005/nr20051107-5079.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------- No. 1160-05 IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 7, 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Spc. Darren D. Howe, 21, of Beatrice, Neb., died at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, on Nov. 3, of injuries sustained in Samarra, Iraq, on Oct. 17, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Bradley Fighting Vehicle. Howe was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2005/nr20051107-5077.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ No. 1159-05 IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 7, 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DoD Identifies Army Casualties The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died in Baghdad, Iraq, on Nov. 4, when an improvised explosive device detonated near their HMMWV during convoy operations. The soldiers were assigned to the 26th Forward Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga. Killed were: Capt. James M. Gurbisz, 25, of Eatontown, N.J. Pfc. Dustin A. Yancey, 22, of Goose Creek, S.C. --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Car bomb kills 4 U.S. soldiers

Iraq offensive continues BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — U.S. and Iraqi troops battled insurgents house to house Monday, the third day of an assault against al-Qaeda-led insurgents in a town near the Syrian border. The U.S. command reported the first American death in the operation, and four U.S. soldiers were killed when a suicide car bomber attacked their checkpoint south of Baghdad. The latest fighting came as the military said five U.S. members of an elite Army unit have been charged with kicking and punching detainees in Iraq. The charges were issued Saturday against five soldiers from the 75th Ranger Regiment in connection with a Sept. 7 incident "in which three detainees were allegedly punched and kicked while awaiting movement to a detention facility," the U.S. military said in a statement. (Related: Five soldiers accused of abuse)

Spc. Timothy D. Brown

U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2005/nr20051107-5076.html Media contact: Army Public Affairs - (703) 692-2000 Public contact: http://www.dod.mil/faq/comment.html or +1 (703) 428-0711 +1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No. 1155-05 IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 7, 2005 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Spc. Timothy D. Brown, 23, of Cedar Springs, Mich., died in Habbaniyah, Iraq, on Nov. 4, when a land mine detonated near his HMMWV during combat operations. Brown was assigned to the Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 125th Infantry Regiment, Saginaw, Mich. For further information related to this release, contact Army Public Affairs at (703) 692-2000. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bush & Ethics

Bush sends staff back to ethics class With his chief political aide under investigation as part of a probe into the public unmasking of a CIA operative, President Bush is sending his staff back to school -- ethics school.

Separation? Only if you agree with us...

Antiwar Sermon Brings IRS Warning Rector J. Edwin Bacon

The Internal Revenue Service has warned one of Southern California's largest and most liberal churches that it is at risk of losing its tax-exempt status because of an antiwar sermon two days before the 2004 presidential election. Rector J. Edwin Bacon of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena told many congregants during morning services Sunday that a guest sermon by the church's former rector, the Rev. George F. Regas, on Oct. 31, 2004, had prompted a letter from the IRS. In his sermon, Regas, who from the pulpit opposed both the Vietnam War and 1991's Gulf War, imagined Jesus participating in a political debate with then-candidates George W. Bush and John Kerry. Regas said that "good people of profound faith" could vote for either man, and did not tell parishioners whom to support. But he criticized the war in Iraq, saying that Jesus would have told Bush, "Mr. President, your doctrine of preemptive war is a failed doctrine. Forcibly changing the regime of an enemy that posed no imminent threat has led to disaster." On June 9, the church received a letter from the IRS stating that "a reasonable belief exists that you may not be tax-exempt as a church..." The federal tax code prohibits tax-exempt organizations, including churches, from intervening in political campaigns and elections. The letter went on to say that "our concerns are based on a Nov. 1, 2004, newspaper article in the Los Angeles Times and a sermon presented at the All Saints Church discussed in the article." The IRS cited The Times story's description of the sermon as a "searing indictment of the Bush administration's policies in Iraq" and noted that the sermon described "tax cuts as inimical to the values of Jesus."

This harassment by the IRS would NOT be happening if it came from some phony rightwing evangelical preacher who supported Bush's war. Why isn't the IRS harassing Pat Robertson, Tony Perkins or Jerry Falwell?

More Evidence of More Lies

This is what the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) was telling Bush and the neocons before invading Iraq on whether there were links between Iraq and Al-Qaeda; "Saddam’s regime is intensely secular and is wary of Islamic revolutionary movements" ........ "Moreover, Baghdad is unlikely to provide assistance to a group it cannot control." The DIA report, dated February 2002, on the reliablity of the informant that George Bush and Colin Powell would later (below) use as their source; "Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, "was intentionally misleading the debriefers" in making claims about Iraqi support for Al Qaeda’s work with illicit weapons". and "It is possible he does not know any further details; it is more likely this individual is intentionally misleading the debriefers," Using the same intelligence, the same captured informant's information, here is what George Bush told the American people and Colin Powell told the UN; George Bush at a major speech in October 2002 in Cincinnati - "we’ve learned that Iraq has trained Al Qaeda members in bomb making and poisons and gases." Colin Powell before the UN on 2/3/03, a full year after the DIA debunked the information he used [I have been]..."tracing the story of a senior terrorist operative telling how Iraq provided training in these weapons to Al Qaeda." Two more clear examples of this administration lying in the lead up to invading Iraq. They knew...you should have... Report Warned Bush Team About Intelligence Doubts

A top member of Al Qaeda in American custody was identified as a likely fabricator months before the Bush administration began to use his statements as the foundation for its claims that Iraq trained Al Qaeda members to use biological and chemical weapons, according to newly declassified portions of a Defense Intelligence Agency document. The document, an intelligence report from February 2002, said it was probable that the prisoner, Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, "was intentionally misleading the debriefers" in making claims about Iraqi support for Al Qaeda’s work with illicit weapons. The document provides the earliest and strongest indication of doubts voiced by American intelligence agencies about Mr. Libi’s credibility. Without mentioning him by name, President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Colin L. Powell, then secretary of state, and other administration officials repeatedly cited Mr. Libi's information as "credible" evidence that Iraq was training Al Qaeda members in the use of explosives and illicit weapons. Among the first and most prominent assertions was one by Mr. Bush, who said in a major speech in Cincinnati in October 2002 that "we’ve learned that Iraq has trained Al Qaeda members in bomb making and poisons and gases." The newly declassified portions of the document were made available by Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Mr. Levin said the new evidence of early doubts about Mr. Libi’s statements dramatized what he called the Bush administration’s misuse of prewar intelligence to try to justify the war in Iraq. That is an issue that Mr. Levin and other Senate Democrats have been seeking to emphasize, in part by calling attention to the fact that the Republican-led Senate intelligence committee has yet to deliver a promised report, first sought more than two years ago, on the use of prewar intelligence.

NEWS RELEASE HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND 7115 South Boundary Boulevard MacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101 Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 ----------------------------------------------------------------- November 7, 2005 Release Number: 05-11-13C FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE II MEF MARINE KILLED BY SMALL-ARMS FIRE CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq – A Marine assigned to Regimental Combat Team 2, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), was killed in action conducting combat operations against the enemy Nov. 6. While conducting clearing operations in Husaybah during Operation Steel Curtain, he was killed by enemy small-arms fire. The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kin and release by the Department of Defense. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT THE MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-WEST PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE AT CEPAOWO@CEMNF-WIRAQ.USMC.MIL.

Challenging the 'Imperial Eagle'

The easiest way to understand the institutional bias of western media is to analyze reporting from the developing world. The economic summit in Mar Del Plata, Argentina, provides an excellent opportunity to evaluate the coverage and decide whether such partiality exists. Although tens of thousands of working people came to protest George Bush and his suspiciously-named “free trade” economic policies; they were invariably smeared by the corporate media as “Leftists” or “radicals”; eliminating the possibility that they were simply concerned citizens participating in the democratic process. This is the familiar tactic of the media to marginalize ordinary people whose interests don’t correspond to those of the ruling elite. The rejection of FTAA is a mainstream position emerging from the political awakening of the people themselves. Simply put, the methods applied by the Washington Consensus have been tried and have failed rather spectacularly. The new majority doesn’t want to “destroy local industry, roll back social safety nets and labor protections”, destroy the environment, or prolong America’s supremacy in the region. "We have come to bury FTAA because it’s an old project of the imperial eagle that from the beginning planned to sink its claws into Latin America," said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

2,047

U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2005/nr20051106-5074.html Media contact: Army Public Affairs - (703) 692-2000 Public contact: http://www.dod.mil/faq/comment.html or +1 (703) 428-0711 +1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- No. 1153-05 IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 6, 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Capt. Jeffrey P. Toczylowski, 30, of Upper Moreland, Pa., died in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, on Nov. 3, from injuries sustained during combat operations. Toczylowski was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group, Panzer Kaserne, Germany. For further information related to this release, contact Army Public Affairs at (703) 692-2000. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2,047

Mullah Omar Free & Talking Shit!

Taliban Leader Mullah Omar Calls For Mujahideen In Afghanistan To Unite

'Taliban Supreme Leader and Commander of the Faithful Mullah Omar has issued a statement urging the Mujahideen to unite and warned of an increase in Taliban operations, while their Mujahideen killed five police in a mountain ambush in southern Afghanistan. The statement, in Omar’s native Pashto-language was e-mailed to news agencies on Tuesday by Abdul Hai Mutmahin, one of the newly appointed spokesmen for the Taliban following Abdul Latif Hakimi’s arrest. “I call upon the Muslim nation to be united against the clever occupation force until the aggressors leave our soil. Fighting jihad is an obligation. Abandoning jihad is a big sin and a cause for humiliation of Muslims. Stand with us with your resources, with your lives.” Omar also warned that the group will “intensify their attacks against the occupiers.” Meanwhile, Taliban Mujahideen killed five Afghan policemen after a fierce four-hour battle in the Bahramcha area of Helmand province on the border with Pakistan late Tuesday. Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammed Yousuf Ahmadi, told AFP in a telephone call the their Mujhideen had arrested five policemen on patrol and beheaded them'.

Instead of diverting our military resources unnecessarily into Iraq, where there was no threat and no involvement in 9/11, we should have continued our pursuit of Mullah Omar and the Taliban; who were directly involved in harboring Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. But, we didn't. And both Mullah Omar and bin Laden are still free and talking shit...

Shut up, Kerry...don't bore us with the obvious...

...and it's a little late, don't you think? If you didn't want to fight for it last November.... don't be whining about it this November. Kerry Suspects Election 2004 Was Stolen By Robert Parry November 6, 2005 Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate in 2004, has told acquaintances over the past year that he suspects that the election was stolen, but that he didn't challenge the official results because he lacked hard proof and anticipated a firestorm of criticism if he pressed the point. Kerry heard all the disquieting stories about voting irregularities in Ohio and other states, said Jonathan Winer, a longtime Kerry adviser and a former deputy assistant secretary of state. But he didn't have the evidence to do more. The Massachusetts senator conceded to George W. Bush on Nov. 3, 2004, the day after the election when it became clear that the uncounted votes in the swing state of Ohio were insufficient to erase Bush's narrow lead.The move infuriated some Democratic activists who felt Kerry should have lived up to his campaign promise that he would make sure every vote was counted. In January 2005, as Bush's victory was being certified by Congress, Kerry also refused to back a resolution challenging the fairness of the Ohio vote. The 2004 election was stolen in Ohio and there is "irrefutable evidence of large scale vote miscounts" in several prescints when analzying the exit polling. Ohio exit poll data...

Chalabi is Coming to Town...

Chalabi Back to Court Washington's Favor - Ahmed Chalabi, the Bush administration's co-conspirator in the misinformation campaign that led to the invasion of Iraq, is coming to Washington this week. Rumor has it that Patrick Fitzgerald will serve Mr. Chalabi with a subpoena in an attempt to force him to testify under oath. Stay tuned...... (I made up that last part ...)

WASHINGTON -- Face-to-face meetings with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and probably other senior Bush administration officials await Ahmed Chalabi as the Iraqi deputy prime minister pursues political rehabilitation in Washington. While some Senate Democrats want to probe the role of the Iraq National Congress, an exile group headed by Chalabi, in drumming up support for the war that deposed Saddam Hussein, he is about to receive high-profile attention from the Bush administration. Chalabi, who begins his eight-day visit on Tuesday, is due to see Rice on Wednesday and make a speech that day at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank that provides personnel and considerable support to the administration. He expects to see other senior U.S. officials as well, but he has not yet nailed down a meeting with Vice President Dick Cheney, another goal as Chalabi maneuvers to become Iraq's next prime minister after elections in December. Chalabi is linked with ultimately unfounded claims by President Bush and his top aides that Saddam had amassed hidden arsenals of weapons of mass destruction. The claim helped the president gain support from Congress and much of the American public for the war in 2003. A former banker and MIT graduate, Chalabi has been a controversial figure on several fronts, accused sometimes of being an Iranian agent.

Chalabi, here on Tuesday and Tehran yesterday.

US-owned cruise ship is attacked by pirates

Were the 'pirates' that attacked the crusie ship '100 miles off the Somali coast', al-Qaeda terrorists trying to capture U.S. hostages?

Gunmen in two speedboats – captured on a tourist's video camera – fired on the 100,000-tonne Seabourn Spirit, blasting its hull with rocket-propelled grenades. One grenade bounced off. Another ricocheted into a couple's cabin but failed to explode. The crew tried to ram the pirates before fending them off with high-powered hoses and using a sonic blaster to incapacitate them. The ship then powered out to sea and safety as the attackers escaped. None of the 300 passengers – who had paid as much as $20,000 for the 16-day trip – was injured, although one crewman was cut by shrapnel.

U.S. and Iraqi troops storm town

About 3,500 U.S. and Iraqi troops backed by warplanes dropping 500-pound bombs assaulted a town near the Syrian border Saturday reputed to be a crossing point for foreign fighters. House-to-house searches were planned to root out all resistance and hamper the guerrilla network operating in the Euphrates Valley. The operation in Husaybah, about 200 miles northwest of Baghdad, the capital, was one of the largest since U.S. forces retook the Sunni triangle city of Fallujah a year ago. Early reports, however, indicated only sporadic resistance, a sign that guerrillas might have fled the town before the attack began. As of midnight local time, there were no reported casualties among the coalition or civilians forces, as operations continued. The 2nd Marine Division said 1,000 soldiers of the Iraqi army were taking part alongside 2,500 U.S. Marines, soldiers and sailors. The assault was said to be the first time that battalion-size Iraqi units have fought alongside U.S. forces in restive Anbar province, stretching west almost from Baghdad to the Syrian border.

Hunger In America Rises By 43 Percent Over Last Five Years

Hunger in American households has risen by 43 percent over the last five years, according to an analysis of US Department of Agriculture (USDA) data released today. The analysis, completed by the Center on Hunger and Poverty at Brandeis University, shows that more than 7 million people have joined the ranks of the hungry since 1999. The USDA report, Household Food Security in the United States, 2004, says that 38.2 million Americans live in households that suffer directly from hunger and food insecurity, including nearly 14 million children. That figure is up from 31 million Americans in 1999. ScienceDaily