U.Q.B.T.K.K.S....

The Swiss Lombardi engineering firm has won the contract to design a railway tunnel between Europe and Africa running under the Strait of Gibraltar.

Man Accused In Rape Of 2-Year-Old Relative...

In the fight for the retiring Bill Frist's Tennessee Senate seat, it's starting to appear as if Harold Ford Jr. may soon be heading to Washington, giving Democrats one more key battleground state in their quest to pick up six seats and regain control.

SC Republican Councilman Calls for the Sterilization of Parents with Bad Kids...

Washington, D.C., September 29th 2006: “Some very unhappy people here but not about the mid term elections. It seems that after the Second World War, the Soviets captures all of the records of the Nazi concentration camps…from 1935 to 1945….and put them in their archives in Moscow. Because they pretty much knock a hole in the legend of six millions gassed, Jewish groups pressured Russia not to ever allow any researcher to see or copy any of these and for certain, never to release the contents of these files to anyone, ever. Russians are easy to bribe and apparently someone in the States got the whole file (on microfilm) and there is fury and panic over this. Jewish groups have asked the DoJ to declare these “improperly released” classified documents and grab them. Unfortunately, there is no legal basis for doing this. The original documents were German and the microfilms are Russian, not American. Some of these groups have built up a thriving business on the subject and anything concrete that could sink their boat is something not to put up with. This is a subject that most people don’t care about but to those who do, it is a real bell-ringer. All of this hinges on whether or not the present owner got these legally. If our people can’t prove he didn’t, it looks like fun and games in the History department!”

September 27 marks the anniversary of the publication of the first of the Antifederalist Papers in 1789. The Antifederalists were opponents of ratifying the US Constitution. They feared that it would create an overbearing central government, while the Constitution's proponents promised that this would not happen. As the losers in that debate, they are largely overlooked today. But that does not mean they were wrong or that we are not indebted to them.

After the fall of Saddam Hussein's government in April 2003, the opportunity to participate in the U.S.-led effort to reconstruct Iraq attracted all manner of Americans -- restless professionals, Arabic-speaking academics, development specialists and war-zone adventurers. But before they could go to Baghdad, they had to get past Jim O'Beirne's office in the Pentagon.

To pass muster with O'Beirne, a political appointee who screens prospective political appointees for Defense Department posts, applicants didn't need to be experts in the Middle East or in post-conflict reconstruction. What seemed most important was loyalty to the Bush administration.

From Harken to Halliburton, the backrooms deals that have netted war profiteers billions.

HOUSE ROLL CALL VOTE ON TORTURE BILL...

Votes > Roll Call Vote" href="http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00259" target="_blank">SENATE ROLL CALL VOTE ON THE TORTURE BILL...

Votes > Roll Call Vote" href="http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00261" target="_blank">Roll call vote for Senate on Defense Spending...

These are grim days for the Constitution. The House and the Senate have passed the catastrophic "compromise" negotiated by senators McCain & Co. to the President's "enemy combatants" bill. The only thing compromised is the rule of law; the bill still strips detainees of the right to appeal, broadens the President's unilateral powers to decide who is an enemy and which interrogation methods violate the Geneva Conventions, and fatally undermines the War Crimes Act. The bill was rushed to passage just days after the Canadian government exonerated Maher Arar, "rendered" by the United States to Syria, imprisoned and tortured for nearly a year.

The legislation gives the president waiver authority over the sanctions, but only when he demonstrates that it is in the vital national interest.

US President George W. Bush called for fighting America's enemies "across the world" as he stepped up his counteroffensive following charges that his policies were breeding a new generation of Islamic terrorists.

Washington Post Changes Boehner Quote on Foley...

With little public attention or even notice, the House of Representatives has passed a bill that undermines enforcement of the First Amendment's separation of church and state. The Public Expression of Religion Act - H.R. 2679 - provides that attorneys who successfully challenge government actions as violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment shall not be entitled to recover attorneys fees. The bill has only one purpose: to prevent suits challenging unconstitutional government actions advancing religion.

Karl Rove, the beloved ‘Turdblossom’ and Boss Hogg of your corrupt and fascist administration has promised an October Surprise. It is an indication of the prevailing hubris that he can actually say something like that and no one pays any attention.

Underneath all this is the definition of "enemy combatant" that has been established by this legislation. An "enemy combatant" is now no longer just someone captured "during an armed conflict" against our forces. Thanks to this legislation, George W. Bush is now able to designate as an "enemy combatant" anyone who has "purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States."

Consider that language a moment. "Purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States" is in the eye of the beholder, and this administration has proven itself to be astonishingly impatient with criticism of any kind. The broad powers given to Bush by this legislation allow him to capture, indefinitely detain, and refuse a hearing to any American citizen who speaks out against Iraq or any other part of the so-called "War on Terror."

Democrats Who Back Terror Bill Get Cover...

A Russian newspaper has voiced indignation at a U.S. government statement on tensions in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, saying it amounted to “active interference” in the country, which has become a bone of contention between Moscow and Washington, AFP reports.

On Wednesday, the House rubber-stamped (253-168) the White House-backed legislation governing the interrogation and trial of terror suspects, "a tyrannical law that will be ranked with the low points in American democracy, our generation's version of the Alien and Sedition Acts." Yesterday, the Senate passed the measure in a 65-34 vote. This legislation was the result of a supposed "compromise" between conservative lawmakers and the administration. But in reality, the bill was more about making sure President Bush has the opportunity to sign high-profile terrorism legislation before the midterm elections. The bill was drafted in Vice President Cheney's office and gives Bush "the power to jail pretty much anyone he wants for as long as he wants without charging them, to unilaterally reinterpret the Geneva Conventions, to authorize what normal people consider torture," and to deny habeas corpus to detainees

With its expansion to 25 member states, the European Union is poised to become a vast federal superstate. As it seeks to be a “counterweight” to U.S. Global interests, will Europe replace America as the world’s leading superpower?

There was a vast difference between what the White House and the Pentagon knew about the situation in Iraq and what they were saying publicly. But the discrepancy was not surprising. In memos, reports and internal debates, high-level officials of the Bush administration have voiced their concern about the United States' ability to bring peace and stability to Iraq since early in the occupation.

With the law passed on September 28th by Congress, we have become the Republic of torture. We not only have lost our claim to be a civilizing force among nations and abandoned our Constitution, we have appeased the terrorists by doing so.

After all, Jesus was a dark skinned Semite, who was outspoken, very visible, and lived in the middle east. Today he could have easily been one of the people rounded up for Abu Ghraib.

Bring out the nails to be hammered into the coffin of the fast approaching death of the dream of American Empire which has started to wane badly in its staging outposts of Afghanistan and Iraq. Bring out the nails.

Police say Nielsen took a 14-year-old Westminster boy as his sex partner in 2003 and maintained a huge cache of man-boy pornography.

But prosecutors have allowed their case against Nielsen, once an intern in the district attorney’s office, to stall for 40 months.

In 1979, depleted uranium (DU) particles escaped from the National Lead Industries factory near Albany, N.Y.,which was manufacturing DU weapons for the U.S military. The particles traveled 26 miles and were discovered in a laboratory filter by Dr. Leonard Dietz, a nuclear physicist. This discovery led to a shut down of the factory in 1980, for releasing morethan 0.85 pounds of DU dust into the atmosphere every month, and involved a cleanup of contaminated properties costing over 100 million dollars.

STRANGER THAN FICTION...

After a long court battle, a three-member Court of the House of Lords, the highest appellate tribunal in the UK, found that Pinochet's claims to immunity as former head of state and to legislative immunity were invalid in the face of charges of violation of international laws against genocide, torture and crimes against humanity. The Blair Government ended up sending him back to Chile, where the new democratic government and courts stripped his immunity, and placed Pinochet, now 87 years old, under indefinite house arrest.

from Spain. After a long court battle, a three-member Court of the House of Lords, the highest appellate tribunal in the UK, found that Pinochet's claims to immunity as former head of state and to legislative immunity were invalid in the face of charges of violation of international laws against genocide, torture and crimes against humanity. The Blair Government ended up sending him back to Chile, where the new democratic government and courts stripped his immunity, and placed Pinochet, now 87 years old, under indefinite house arrest. There should be a lesson here for Bush and the GOP Congress. While you might believe today that you can legalize torture and other crimes against humanity, some day they will come for you. Power does not trump the law forever. You are naked before the world, and it's only a matter of time.

Right now you are being fed a load of economic propaganda by both the Bush administration and most mainstream media. The goal of the establishment is to keep American consumers happy about the economy so that they keep doing the patriotic thing – SPENDING AND BORROWING. In reality, many sharp people see a likelihood of serious economic recession coming soon. When will you hear the truth? After the coming elections!

Eventually, after we leave, a new dictatorship will emerge, probably a Shi'ite version. The Shi'ites might keep the trappings of democracy like Egypt, but there will be no question about who runs the show. They will have a strong secret police and an army to shut down the dissidents.

In the meantime, use your common sense. Ask yourself just what it is that America's young men and women are dying for. To make Iraq a happy place? To make Israel feel safer? To help corporations with insider connections get richer? Not one of those reasons is worth the life of a camel, much less a human being.

Israel has gone on heightened alert over a possible war with Syria amid reports that President Bashar Assad may be considering military strikes to regain the Golan Heights.

Israeli reports have revealed that the threat level had been raised after intelligence assessments that Damascus is "seriously examining" military action.

The Bush administration yesterday faced a raft of legal challenges to a sweeping new regime for Guantánamo that would deny court oversight to detainees in the war on terror, and would bar prosecution of US personnel for war crimes.

FLASHBACK: Iran And Syria Sign Defense Agreement...

Bush hails liberation of Afghanistan as a `great achievement'...

President Bush asserted Friday that critics who claim the Iraq war has made America less safe embrace "the enemy's propaganda." He acknowledged setbacks in Afghanistan against a Taliban resurgence but predicted eventual victory.

“There was no offer of more troops. There were some encouraging signs but it is unlikely anything will be decided until our next meeting in Riga in November,” said a British official at the talks.

President Bush asserted Friday that critics who claim the Iraq war has made America less safe embrace "the enemy's propaganda." He acknowledged setbacks in Afghanistan against a Taliban resurgence but predicted eventual victory.

The Iraqi Kurds are not seeking statehood, calculating that this is not now in their interests, but they want a degree of autonomy that amounts almost to the same thing. "If there is no federal solution there is no hope for this country," Mr Barzani told The Independent in his mountain-top headquarters in Salahudin overlooking the Kurdish capital, Arbil.

US Congress approves USD 500 million for development of joint defense systems with Israel; projects include development of short-range missile interception system

Israel is guilty of "collective punishment" of the Palestinian people through its military actions in the Gaza Strip, a United Nations human rights official said on Friday.

"Israeli action has failed to discriminate between militants and civilians. In summary, its action in Gaza constitutes collective punishment of the Palestinian people," John Dugard said.

Tensions over Georgia boiled over at NATO-Russia talks on Friday as Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov accused some alliance nations of illicitly selling weapons to the ex-Soviet country, Reuters said.

Ivanov did not name the countries, but he was referring to some of the seven eastern European nations that joined NATO in 2004. He said Soviet arms exports to the region were made under the strict understanding they would not get into the hands of third parties. “It means these countries are breaching world practice,” he said.

The crisis in the Caucasus escalated last night as Georgia accused Russia of advancing troops towards its borders after four Russian army officers were charged with spying.

The worst breakdown in relations between the two ex-Soviet neighbours in 15 years seemed to worsen hour by hour on a day of high drama.

The U.S. intelligence service, obsessed with the risk of Taliban infiltration in Somalia, inadvertently helped the Union of Islamic Courts seize power this past June.

Nazarbayev, who first visited the Oval Office as Kazakhstan's chief executive when Bush's father was president, has become one of the current administration's favored allies in a troubled region, with officials downplaying questions critics have raised about his commitment to democracy and about government corruption.

Top Diebold corporation officials ordered workers to install secret files to Georgia’s electronic voting machines shortly before the 2002 Elections, at least two whistleblowers are now asserting, Atlanta Progressive News has learned.

Former Diebold official Chris Hood told his story concerning the secret “patch” to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., for Kennedy’s second article on electronic voting in this week’s Rolling Stone Magazine.

Fierce clashes in Baghdad; government imposes curfew....

I won't say "Republican pedophile ring" but feel free to think it......

ANTIWAR CANDIDATE: Steve Osborn / Indiana Steve Osborn...

ANTIWAR CANDIDATE: Scotty Boman / Michigan...

Total curfew declared in Baghdad...

A design flaw in the federal government's $140 million study of the health effects of Agent Orange on Vietnam veterans has resulted in a quarter-century of inaccurate findings, two scientists involved with the study told The Greenville News.

September 29 - In yet another blow to the US rice industry, the world’s largest rice processing company, Ebro Puleva,(1) which controls 30% of the EU rice market, has confirmed to Greenpeace International that it has stopped all imports of rice from the USA to the EU due to the threat of contamination by genetically engineered (GE) rice.

The move follows a summer of scandals, with illegal GE contamination found in rice products all over Europe. As a result of Bayer’s recklessness, the global food industry is facing massive costs associated with this contamination, including testing costs, product recalls, brand damage, import bans and cancelled imports and contracts.

Russia took measures against Georgia yesterday that usually precede military action. The Russian ambassador was recalled, and today the evacuation military and embassy personnel begins.

UN: Israel used precision bomb to hit UN officers UN: Israel used precision bomb to hit UN officers...

Live Vote: Do you believe 9/11 conspiracy theories?...

Exclusive: The Sexually Explicit Internet Messages That Led to Fla. Rep. Foley's Resignation...

What do Dick Cheney's wife, Irving Kristol and Laurence Silberman have in common? They are all arch-neoconservatives (or married to them). And they have all been working to get Professor Barrett fired from UW and to prevent other 9/11 truthers from teaching.

Due to a fire at the Factory the Chimfex product is no longer available.

It's a very simple rule. If you are a Democrat not named Joe Lieberman, ESPN will play a tape of boos previously recorded and insert them into the audio after the Democrat is announced. If you are a Republican and ESPN is expecting boos, ESPN will play a pre-recorded tape of cheers unrelated to the Republican.

Buried amongst the untold affronts to the Bill of Rights, the Constitution and the very spirit of America, the torture bill contains a definition of "wrongfully aiding the enemy" which labels all American citizens who breach their "allegiance" to President Bush and the actions of his government as terrorists subject to possible arrest, torture and conviction in front of a military tribunal.

Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf has disclosed that Omar Sheikh, who kidnapped and murdered American journalist Daniel Pearl and is now facing death penalty, was actually the British secret Agency MI6’s agent and had executed certain missions on their behest before coming to Pakistan and visiting Afghanistan to meet Osama and Mullah Omar.

The similarity between practices used by the Khymer Rouge and those currently being debated by Congress isn't a coincidence. As has been amply documented ("The New Yorker" had an excellent piece, and there have been others), many of the "enhanced techniques" came to the CIA and military interrogators via the SERE [Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape] schools, where US military personnel are trained to resist torture if they are captured by the enemy. The specific types of abuse they're taught to withstand are those that were used by our Cold War adversaries. Why is this relevant to the current debate? Because the torture techniques of North Korea, North Vietnam, the Soviet Union and its proxies--the states where US military personnel might have faced torture--were NOT designed to elicit truthful information. These techniques were designed to elicit CONFESSIONS.

Rep. Mark Foley, R-Florida, submitted a letter of resignation from Congress on Friday in the wake of questions about e-mails he wrote a former male page, according to a congressional official. Foley, 52, had been considered a shoo-in for re-election until the e-mails surfaced in recent days.

I have been told a thousand times at least, in the years I have spent reporting on the astonishing and repugnant abuses, lies and failures of the Bush administration, to watch my back. "Be careful," people always tell me. "These people are capable of anything. Stay off small planes, make sure you aren't being followed." A running joke between my mother and me is that she has a "safe room" set up for me in her cabin in the woods, in the event I have to flee because of something I wrote or said.

I always laughed and shook my head whenever I heard this stuff. Extreme paranoia wrapped in the tinfoil of conspiracy, I thought. This is still America, and these Bush fools will soon pass into history, I thought. I am a citizen, and the First Amendment hasn't yet been red-lined, I thought.

Matters are different now.

Lawyer for Saddam Hussein found slain...

UK borrowers account for one third of unsecured debt in western Europe On average, a Briton has twice the debt of a European Total consumer debt in the UK is at a record £1.3 trillion New debt last year came to an unprecedented £215bn Citizens Advice faced 1.25 million new debt cases last year - the figure is rising

Under a broad new set of laws criminalizing speech that ridicules the government or its officials, some resurrected verbatim from Saddam Hussein’s penal code, roughly a dozen Iraqi journalists have been charged with offending public officials in the past year.

Hussein judge brother-in-law shot dead...

Germane to the crisis in a fundamental sense is the hard reality that no matter the oft-repeated factor of a reasonably secure cross-border sanctuary in Pakistan, the Taliban have indeed staged a comeback in essence as an indigenous guerilla force capable of waging a long-term struggle. That is to say, the central issue is that the US has simply failed to come up with a winning political and military strategy in Afghanistan.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who is defending President Bush's anti-terrorism tactics in multiple court battles, said Friday that federal judges should not substitute their personal views for the president's judgments in wartime.

He said the Constitution makes the president commander in chief and the Supreme Court has long recognized the president's pre-eminent role in foreign affairs

The Internet is also the jihadis' network. "At Internet cafes," Negroponte told a blue-ribbon audience at Washington's Woodrow Wilson Center, "young jihadis, armed with laptops and DVD players, are constantly aiming to further extremist ideology and...replicate training via the Internet."

Are Arms Tests Responsible for Childhood Leukaemia in the Elbe Marshland Region?...

Fischer runs an organisation called Kids in Ministry. She is the central character in a new documentary which raises uncomfortable questions about religious education and politics in the United States.

FLASHBACK: WRH: THE POINT OF NO RETURN...

Pinochet Also Thought He Could "Legalize" Torture...

September 28, 2006 will go down as the day that the abolishment of freedom began and the torture descended on what was once a noble experiment.

Despite all the skepticism, the US and Israel do have a military option in Iran: preemptive nuclear annihilation.

The US and Israel, or the US by itself, or maybe even Israel by itself, can destroy Iran and its 69 million people, probably in a matter of hours or even less, and then nobody in the world will have to worry about those crazy maniacs getting the bomb. Things would be sort of weird afterward, it's hard to say what the consequences might be, but the Iranian threat would be behind us.

America...You deserve what is being done to you! We are a bunch of gutless wonders who would make our forefathers nauseous if they knew how we act. We are letting our country be taken away from us and all we do is talk about it.

Our grandkids are going to hate us!

With a smug stroke of his pen, President Bush is set to wipe out a safeguard against illegal imprisonment that has endured as a cornerstone of legal justice since the Magna Carta.

I suppose if you've been on vacation and bought that jug of Maple Syrup; you're going to have to drink all but three ounces! This is what happens when billions of dollars are thrown to the wind to create these ridiculous alphabet agencies. Transportation Security Screeners will now be called 'Supervisors'; because an important title makes it appear that the recent GED graduate or former employee of Block Buster ­ knows what they're doing; as they (feeling impotent) order folks around (who can afford to travel and they can't) pawing them, swabbing their hands and briefcases, ordering wheelchair bound seniors to remove orthopedic shoes ­ with colostomy bags and heart medications scrutinized! Nursing mothers are made to prove that that's milk that has their breasts hanging heavy and not nitroglycerin.

Two priests have been accused of stealing more than $8.6 million in cash from the collection plates at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church to bankroll secret lives that included steady girlfriends, real estate investments in Florida and Ireland, and gambling junkets to casinos in Las Vegas and the Bahamas.

For more than a decade, government and agribusiness have declared cow's milk with artificial growth hormones to be perfectly safe. But more and more, America's new moms aren't buying it.

Senate approves $70B for war spending...

"Iraqi citizens have reported our U.S. Troops & Coalition Forces will be the intended target of a major chemical/biological attack in the "Green Zone" 10 - 14 days from the November, 2006 U.S. Elections."

A bipartisan Congressional report documents hundreds of contacts between White House officials and the corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his partners, including at least 10 direct contacts between Mr. Abramoff and Karl Rove, the president’s chief political strategist.

9/11 and the Greenberg Familia...

Writer Tim Starks at CQ describes the intelligence authorization bill as "a potential Pandora’s box for Republicans in the run-up to the November midterm elections," given the perception that Senate Democrats would use such a bill to hammer President Bush's Iraq war policies. "Frist does not want to give them the platform to do so," writes Starks, "because he considers a rehash of the war to be a waste of the Senate's time."

“Former Army Lieutenant and candidate for Congress in Vermont, Dennis Morrisseau, today called for the arrest of President Bush and Vice President Cheney by the American military ‘if necessary’ to prevent an unauthorized attack upon the nation of Iran.

Thermonuclear fusion seeks to generate power by joining nuclei of atoms together, releasing energy that can be tapped without producing greenhouse gases but creating a small amount of nuclear waste.

Hundreds of suspects connected with the war on terror in Pakistan have "disappeared," and some detainees have been captured by bounty hunters and sold to America, according to Amnesty International.

The Washington Post reports this week that George W. Bush has signed an executive order giving himself the right to issue death warrants for any individual he deems a terrorist or terrorist supporter. These people will be killed in secret by the CIA, without any pretense of due process, without defense or appeal.

I want you to consider the frightening possibility that we are spending far too much money on schooling, not too little. I want you to consider that we have too many people employed in interfering with the way children grow up--and that all this money and all these people, all the time we take out of children's lives and away from their homes and families and neighbourhoods and private explorations--gets in the way of education.

A last-minute change to a bill currently before Congress on the rights of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay could have sweeping implications inside the United States: It would strip green-card holders and other legal residents of the right to challenge their detention in court if they are accused of being ``enemy combatants."

Senior military officers have been pressing the government to withdraw British troops from Iraq and concentrate on what they now regard as a more worthwhile and winnable battleground in Afghanistan.

They believe there is a limit to what British soldiers can achieve in southern Iraq and that it is time the Iraqis took responsibility for their own security, defence sources say. Pressure from military chiefs for an early and significant cut in the 7,500 British troops in Iraq is also motivated by extreme pressure being placed on soldiers and those responsible for training them.

Russia told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council last night that the arrest in Georgia of five Russian officers and other actions were unacceptable and dangerous provocations, and asked members to demand that the country exercise restraint and refrain from actions that could threaten peace in the region.

Heavy burden on families as military stretched thin, and rules on rotation, recruitment have been loosened

Kazakhstan has become a key strategic ally of the United States in recent years, in large part due to its wealth of oil and gas reserves. Nazarbeyev has sent troops to Iraq and cooperated with flyovers during the invasion of Afghanistan.

Under a broad new set of laws criminalizing speech that ridicules the government or its officials, some resurrected verbatim from Saddam Hussein’s penal code, roughly a dozen Iraqi journalists have been charged with offending public officials in the past year.

Ridge, who said he was asked by former Republican Montana Gov. Marc Racicot to share his views with Montana reporters, said Tester's recent call to repeal the Patriot Act is "unfathomable, almost inexplicable."

In a debate with Burns in Butte on Saturday, Tester said he wants to repeal the act, which he said puts in jeopardy the individual freedoms that make America unique. If those freedoms are sacrificed, then the terrorists will have won, he said

The organization's website lists participants as already including those from Hawaii Nation, Alaska Independence Party, League of the South and several of its chapters, Southern National Congress Committee, Southern Caucus, Christian Exodus, New State Movement, Puerto Rico Independence Party, Parti Quebecois, the State of Jefferson, and the Second Vermont Republic.

AMERICA: FROM FREEDOM TO FASCISM at Regency Theatres Tamarac Square Denver, Colorado (Friday, September 29, 2006)...

ABC Affliliate Sees No, Hears No Dissent on "Path to 9/11"...

So the New York Times has finally roused itself and laid out the straight facts about the presidential tyranny that has been erected around the pathetic figure of George W. Bush: Rushing Off a Cliff. The Times is to be lauded for this eloquent and powerful depiction of our degraded political state, and you should read it in full. But a few vital points must mitigate our praise of this otherwise remarkable editorial.

Lap dance cops...

LIKELY VOTERS’ SUPPORT OF CONGRESSIONAL DEMS CLIMBS 13 POINTS IN ONE MONTH...

t is impossible to know with any precision whether the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have created more terrorists than they've killed, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Thursday.

In his first extensive remarks about a recent U.S. intelligence report saying the threat of terrorism has risen, Rumsfeld told reporters at a NATO meeting that, in general, the value of intelligence reports can be uneven, and "sometimes it's just flat wrong."

But he added that, "the implication that if you stop killing or capturing people who are trying to kill you, then therefore the world would be a better place, is obviously nonsensical."

First friction between UN peacekeepers, Israeli troops in Lebanon...

CIA counter-proliferation front company's cover blown by State Department official two years before White House leak to media....

Tanks belonging to French contingent of UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon were involved in a brief confrontation with Israeli tanks Thursday on a road where Israeli troops had been erecting checkpoints. Four French Leclerc tanks with UN peacekeepers moved to the entrance of the border village of Marwaheen where at least five Israeli Merkava tanks were operating in the area for the past two days, preventing civilians and journalists from entering the village.

Israeli movement inside Lebanese territory have caused great dismay in the Lebanese government which is considering filing a complaint to the UN Security Council over Israel's delay in withdrawing troops, a foreign ministry source told Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa.

A TIMELINE OF OIL AND VIOLENCE...

U.S. Interests in the Central Asian Republics...

The director of the American Civil Liberties Union's National Prisoner Project Wednesday accused U.S. governments past and present of honing torture tactics in American prisons before they were allegedly implemented in terrorist detention centers in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The new "American value": torture.

Doesn't it make you proud??? - M. R.

Philip Zack Steals Anthrax

It's been five years since anthrax killed innocents and fueled America's paranoia. But the FBI keeps dragging its feet on the case.

Can we finally waterboard (It's legal now) the obvious suspect? - M. R.

What If Israel Had Never Been Created?

What If Israel Had Never Been Created?...

I thought a long time about whether to link to this, and had it been any less carefully written, I would not have.

The reason I did finally link to it is that I have long ago independently come to the conclusion that Israel is a failure. Created supposedly as an independent state for the safety of the World's Jewish people, everything Israel's government has done makes the world MORE dangerous for Jewish people (and everyone else). Plus, having cost the US Taxpayers more than four times the entire cost of the Apollo Moon Program, Israel hardly qualifies as "Independent". - M. R.

Neocons' Middle East Scheme Is Backfiring

"Back in 1996, a clique of Neocons, led by Richard Perle, concocted a scheme for Israel to “destabilize” the Middle East. The Palestinians were to be crushed and Iraq and Lebanon balkanized. The U.S. and UK were conned into doing the Neocons’ dirty work in Iraq. Now, Hezbollah fighters have tossed a huge wrench into the not-so-clever plot. Instead of Israel becoming “safer,” the Neocons have put its citizens at risk and its army in danger of defeat."

I say we waterboard the lot of them (It's legal now) and ask a few pointed questions about 9-11. - M. R.

Deal to monitor media

Deal to monitor media...

Company that paid reporters for favorable stories about Iraq will "monitor" the news on behalf of the US Government. - M. R.

Something bad is about to happen. Only you can stop it, and the clock is ticking.

Under SPA . . .
* The President can spy on you without a warrant
* You'll never learn that his spys have done so, until they use the information against you (legally or not)
* Your phone and internet providers can't refuse to provide information about you
* Or tell you they've done so after the fact

Update on "Runaway Major" in Kyrgyzstan

Update on "Runaway Major" in Kyrgyzstan...

Israel's Population Secret

The real population figures for Israel are a very closely guarded secret. They are not easily found and the "official" numbers provided by the Israeli state are not at all correct. They are greatly exaggerated.

Army wants to know if Ky. Guard women posed nude

The U.S. Army is investigating allegations that women in a Kentucky National Guard unit posed nude for pictures with their M-16s and other military equipment, and if so, whether they should be sanctioned for bringing discredit to the military, officials said.

Okay, so the US has invaded at least two nations without any real cause, on the basis of lies and deceptions, and (condoned by the President) engaged in torture and other war crimes such as collective punishment, and the brass thinks that these women showing a little skin has brought "discredit" to the military?

Are these guys on crack? - M. R.

Top lawyer convicted of causing death through negligence

According to the prosecution, Klagsbald's negligence lasted for 14 crucial seconds in which he could have prevented the accident, and the court should not take into account the attorney's social status in determining his sentence.

Klagsbald is held to be one of Israel's expert lawyers in defending white-collar offenders, and was the personal attorney of former prime minister Ariel Sharon.

Heralded Iraq Police Academy a 'Disaster'

"They may have to demolish everything they built," said Robert DeShurley, a senior engineer with the inspector general's office. "The buildings are falling down as they sit."

New Hope for Democrats in Bid for Senate

Six weeks before Election Day, the Democrats suddenly face a map with unexpected opportunities in their battle for control of the Senate.

A Vote That Will Live in Infamy -- Who Will Betray Their Country Today and Who Will Stand Up for America?

There is no excuse. Democrats who vote for this bill because of cowardly political expediency will forever be tainted. We will never forget. This is the most un-American bill I have ever seen. Republicans have proven themselves to be craven sycophants who will do Vice President Cheney's bidding no matter what, over and over. There is almost no hope for any of them. They will go down in history as the leaders of the worst Congress of all time. But the Democrats ...

For the love of God, you are supposed to be our last line of defense.

Christians: We'll fight for Israel

Millions of Evangelical Christians around the world support and constantly pray for the State of Israel , representatives at a meeting of the Knesset's Christian Allies Caucus said Wednesday.

Let's see them ENLIST! - M. R.

Congressman wants FBI anthrax briefing

A New Jersey congressman said Wednesday it should have taken the FBI days, not years, to determine the anthrax used in 2001 that killed five people was much less sophisticated than believed.

You can send Rep. Holt a message HERE Please include the Hartford Courant news story that identifies Dr. Philip Zack as having been caught entering the Ft. Detrick where the Anthrax used in the letters was stored, WITHOUT proper authorization and AFTER being fired from his job over a racially motivated attack on an Egyptian co-worker. Ask Rep. Holt to ask WHY Zack was left alone while Dr. Stephen Hatfill's life was destroyed. Ask Rep. Holt WHY the FBI let itself be led around by Dr. Barbara Rosenberg, who pointed the finger at Hatfill.

Then ask if this sudden "discovery" of the much simpler anthrax is';t just another FBI deception to take the heat off of Ft. Detrick and Dr. Zack.

Do it now. I'll wait. - M. R.

Iraq war was terrorism 'recruiting sergeant'

The Iraq war has acted as a "recruiting sergeant" for extremists in the Muslim world, according to a paper prepared for a Ministry of Defence thinktank, which also said the British government sent troops into Afghanistan "with its eyes closed".

U.S. soldiers' overseas votes ripe for fraud

U.S. soldiers' overseas votes ripe for fraud...

If a government cannot prove the honesty and accuracy of the elections by which they claim authority over the people, then the people are neither legally nor morally obligated to obey that government nor to pay its bills, and CERTAINLY, not to die for it. - M. R.

For Real Estate Brokers, Business ‘Has Dropped Dead'

"Business here is just not quiet; it has dropped dead over the past few weeks," she said. "At the same time, there's a flood of inventory on the market. We run open houses, we run advertisements, but nothing works. There are no buyers, and without buyers, there are no sales."

Taliban to ABC News: OBL Alive and Safe

"Sheikh Osama is all right. He is safe," Dadullah told ABC News' Rahimullah Yusufzai. Dadullah would not disclose the location from where he was calling.

When pressed for evidence to show that bin Laden is alive, Dadullah hinted that there is a possibility of a tape being sent to media organizations to prove that the al Qaeda head isn't dead. Dadullah, however, declined to say as to when this tape would be made available.

How did a member of the Taliban in Afghanistan get hold of the phone number of an ABC news producer? Afghan 411 must be REALLY good! - M. R.

Keith Olbermann Terrorized and Gov Tries to Hide it

We have serious reason to worry about Olbermann's safety. Last night, he reported that he'd been threatened, apparently with some anthrax-like substance that required him to be subjected to 10 hours of detention in a hospital. He was discharged with a prescription for Cipro. Worse, he and his network were told to keep this off the air.

UN ENVOY ACCUSES ISRAEL OF ETHNIC CLEANSING

United Nations Human rights envoy to the Palestinian territories John Dugard has published a report Tuesday where he does not shy away from sharply criticizing Israel and the West for the situation in Gaza. "Israel has turned the Gaza Strip into a prison for Palestinians and have thrown away the key," he said, adding that "in other countries this process might be described as ethnic cleansing."

Israel threatens Gaza invasion

Israel threatens Gaza invasion...

Gotta prove how butch they are after the Lebanon fiasco. - M. R.

GOP Slanders Dems With ‘Anti-Israel’ Ads

Over the last month, the Republican Jewish Coalition has placed ads in Jewish newspapers across the country making the outrageous and ridiculous assertion that Democrats are “turning their backs on Israel.” At the same time, the accusation has been made by individuals who have sent out thousands of e-mails to all those in their inboxes.

Any American politician concerned with Israel should move there and run for office.

The United States needs leaders who place the United States first, second, and third ahead of the interests and concerns of any foreign government. These ads flying back and forth accusing politicians of being pro or anti-Israel only serve as a reminder that Israel has become the uppermost priority in too many American politicians' minds.

"No man can serve two masters." - M. R.

Great Lakes machine guns raise ire in Canada

The United States Coast Guard has started to patrol the Great Lakes with machine guns mounted on their vessels and is conducting live-ammunition training drills on the U.S. side to prepare officers to combat terrorists flooding across the border from Canada by boat.

"terrorists flooding across the border from Canada by boat??????????????????"

Are these guys on crack?

"Stopping terrorism is simple. Just quit screwing around with other people's countries and the terrorists will go home. But the government of the United States wants to go on screwing around with other people's countries, refuses to stop, indeed views it as Manifest Destiny for the United States Government to persist in screwing around with other people's countries, and views the inconvenience, increased tax burden, loss of civil liberties, and even deaths among the American people as just another cost of doing business." -- seen on a beer stein. - M. R.

Microsoft issues immediate CRITICAL update patch

"Microsoft originally planned to release the update on Tuesday, October 10, 2006 as part of its regular monthly release of security bulletins. However, Microsoft is aware of the existence of a public attack utilizing the vulnerability. Since testing has been completed earlier than anticipated, Microsoft has released the update ahead of schedule to help protect customers. "

Congress just said it is legal to torture threats to the United States. By any reasonable definition that has to include the worm and virus writers. - M. R.

Americans favor diplomacy on Iran: Reuters poll

70 percent oppose the use of U.S. troops to thwart Iran, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Thursday.

"That'll change as soon as we ... I mean, as soon as Iran nukes the Golden Gate Bridge!" -- Official White Horse Souse - M. R.

Lt. Ehren Watada does his duty

US Army 1st. Lt Ehren Watada is facing an eight-year term in military prison for just doing his duty: .serving our country and protecting the Constitution.

The charges against Lt. Watada are conduct unbecoming an officer, missing movement, and contempt toward President Bush. But they boil down to the "crimes" of thinking, speaking and following his conscience.

No matter how the prosecution tries to spin this, the way Watada has stated his case is crystal clear: this trial will be a trial about the war itself. - M. R.

Why Some Republicans Want to Lose

As the White House and its Republican allies on Capitol Hill work to retain control of Congress in November's elections, a small but vocal band of conservative iconoclasts say they would prefer to see their own party lose.

This is consistent with reports that some Republicans will change parties after the election. - M. R.

Poll: Iraqis Back Attacks on U.S. Troops

About six in 10 Iraqis say they approve of attacks on U.S.-led forces, and slightly more than that want their government to ask U.S. troops to leave within a year, according to a poll in that country.

The Struggle For Survival

Judging by the size of the room, the organizers had not anticipated a large crowd. And yet, the small room was packed to capacity. The gathering group was there because they were seeking solutions. They were sick of the Middle East situation and the bullying stance of Israel and the United States. They were heartbroken about the devastation and brutality in Palestine and Lebanon. They were concerned about the endless wars. They were there because they deeply desire peace in the Middle East.

Blair pinched speech from The Grapes of Wrath

Blair pinched speech from The Grapes of Wrath...

Why not? He copied most of the "Dodgy Dossier" from a 12-year old student thesis paper! - M. R.

Confidence in Iraq Policies Drops to 20% in U.S

Confidence in Iraq Policies Drops to 20% in U.S...

Looking at current events in Iraq and Washington, I'm rather amazed that the numbers are this high! - M. R.

As Crazy As It Sounds, Pres Bush Might Bomb Iran for Israel

As Crazy As It Sounds, Pres Bush Might Bomb Iran for Israel...

It isn't crazy at all. Israel has been calling the war shots for the US all along, and if anything, their demands that the US attack Israel's enemies has become noticeably more arrogant since 9-11. - M. R.

Rogue State