grahamhgreen
Convicted Republican Ney resigns from House - Yahoo! News
Convicted Republican Ney resigns from House - Yahoo! News: "Fri Nov 3, 7:50 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
Republican Bob Ney of Ohio resigned from the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday, three weeks after pleading guilty in the Jack Abramoff political corruption scandal.ADVERTISEMENT
Ney submitted a letter of resignation, effective immediately, to House Speaker
Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican who along with other lawmakers had urged him to step down immediately.
Ney had said in August he would not seek re-election to a seventh two-year term in the November 7 elections.
By staying on for a bit longer, he remained eligible to receive his paycheck and benefits, which drew widespread criticism.Ney was the first lawmaker convicted in the Abramoff influence-peddling scandal, and the fourth House Republican to step down under pressure in the 109th Congress.
Their cases have rocked Republicans as they seek to retain control of the House on Tuesday. Democrats have accused Republicans of 'a culture of corruption.'"
...
Other corruption-tainted Republicans who left the House were former Republican leader Tom DeLay of Texas, indicted on state campaign finance charges; Randy "Duke" Cunningham of California, convicted of accepting bribes, and Mark Foley of Florida, found to have sent sexually explicit e-mails to former interns.
Sniper Attacks Adding to Peril of U.S. Troops - New York Times
Sniper Attacks Adding to Peril of U.S. Troops - New York Times: "
In recent months, military officers and enlisted marines say, the insurgents have been using snipers more frequently and with greater effect, disrupting the military’s operations and fueling a climate of frustration and quiet rage.Across Iraq, the threat has become serious enough that in late October the military held an internal conference about it, sharing the experiences of combat troops and discussing tactics to counter it. There has been no ready fix.
The battalion commander of Sergeant Leach’s unit — the Second Battalion, Eighth Marines — recalled eight sniper hits on his marines in three months and said there had been other possible incidents as well. Two of the battalion’s five fatalities have come from snipers, he said, and one marine is in a coma. Another marine gravely wounded by a sniper has suffered a stroke.
A sniper team was captured in the area a few weeks ago, he said, but more have taken its place. “The enemy has the ability to regenerate, and after we put a dent in his activity, we see sniper activity again,” said the commander, Lt. Col. Kenneth M. DeTreux.
..................................
But as the insurgent sniper teams have become more active, the marines here say, they have displayed greater skill, selecting their targets and their firing positions with care. They have also developed cunning methods of mobility and concealment
, including firing from shooting platforms and hidden ports within cars."
Perle says he should not have backed Iraq war - Los Angeles Times
Perle says he should not have backed Iraq war - Los Angeles Times: "By Peter Spiegel, Times Staff Writer
November 4, 2006
WASHINGTON —
Richard N. Perle, the former Pentagon advisor regarded as the intellectual godfather of the Iraq war, now believes he should not have backed the U.S.-led invasion, and he holds President Bush responsible for failing to make timely decisions to stem the rising violence, according to excerpts from a magazine interview.Perle — a leading neoconservative who chaired the Pentagon's defense advisory board for the first three years of the Bush administration — is quoted in January's Vanity Fair as saying the U.S. might have been able to strip Saddam Hussein of his ability to build unconventional weapons 'by means other than a direct military intervention.'
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'I think if I had been Delphic, and had seen where we are today, and people had said 'Should we go into Iraq?' I think now I probably would have said, 'No, let's consider other strategies for dealing with the thing that concerns us most, which is Saddam supplying weapons of mass destruction to terrorists,' ' Perle said, according to interview excerpts released Friday by the magazine.
Perle's about-face is the latest in a series of war recriminations by neoconservatives, many of whom blame Iraq's spiraling violence on the administration's management of the postwar stabilization effort.
Others interviewed for the article included former Bush speechwriter David Frum and former Reagan administration official Kenneth L. Adelman.
Perle's prominent advocacy of invasion after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks — and his close relationship with the war's top architects, including Paul D. Wolfowitz, then the deputy Defense secretary, and Douglas J. Feith, the former Pentagon policy chief — makes his reversal particularly noteworthy.
Perle told Vanity Fair he did not anticipate the 'depravity' currently underway in Iraq, saying, 'The levels of brutality we've seen are truly horrifying.'"
U.S. Seeks Silence on CIA Prisons - washingtonpost.com
U.S. Seeks Silence on CIA Prisons - washingtonpost.com: "aturday, November 4, 2006; Page A01
The Bush administration has told a federal judge that terrorism suspects held in secret CIA prisons should not be allowed to reveal details of the 'alternative interrogation methods' that their captors used to get them to talk."
Bush Says 'America Loses' Under Democrats - washingtonpost.com
Bush Says 'America Loses' Under Democrats - washingtonpost.com: "October 31, 2006; Page A01
SUGAR LAND, Tex., Oct. 30 --
President Bush said terrorists will win if Democrats win"
U.S. Drops Bid Over Royalties From Chevron - New York Times
U.S. Drops Bid Over Royalties From Chevron - New York Times: "The reversal in the case, which involves Chevron’s accounting of natural gas sales to a company it partly owned, has renewed criticism that the Bush administration is reluctant to confront oil and gas companies and is lax in collecting royalties.
“The government is giving up without a fight,” said Richard T. Dorman, a lawyer representing private citizens suing Chevron over its federal royalty payments. “If this decision is left standing, it would result in the loss of tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions, of dollars in royalties owed by other companies.”
In return for the right to drill on federal lands and in federal waters, energy companies are required to pay the government a share of their proceeds. Last year, businesses producing natural gas paid $5.15 billion in government royalties."
Democrat may be first black Massachusetts governor - Yahoo! News
Democrat may be first black Massachusetts governor - Yahoo! News:
"
Patrick has a polling lead of as much as 25 points over his Republican rival, Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, who would be the state's first female elected governor. She lacks his charisma but has gathered support by branding Patrick a tax-and-spend liberal who is soft on crime."
Conservative NY Post endorses Hillary Clinton - Yahoo! News
Conservative NY Post endorses Hillary Clinton - Yahoo! News: "Mon Oct 30, 11:27 AM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The conservative New York Post endorsed Democratic Sen.
Hillary Clinton for re-election on Monday in the latest sign of closeness between the Clintons and the Post's media mogul owner Rupert Murdoch."
Bush accuses Democrats of lacking plan for Iraq - Yahoo! News
Bush accuses Democrats of lacking plan for Iraq - Yahoo! News: "'The Democratic goal is to get out of Iraq. The Republican goal is to win in Iraq,' Bush told a rally in a gymnasium at Georgia Southern University."
BBC NEWS | UK | UK Politics | No 10 warning ahead of Iraq vote
BBC NEWS | UK | UK Politics | No 10 warning ahead of Iraq vote: "Downing Street has warned of 'very real consequences' for British troops in Iraq if MPs defeat the government over calls for an inquiry into the war.
The Commons will debate a Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru call for a probe now into the war and aftermath, backed by Lib Dems and Labour rebels.
The Tories say they may also support it if ministers do not agree to hold a broader inquiry once troops leave.
No 10 says an inquiry now would be seen by the enemy as a sign of weakness.
Ministers had said that the Hutton Inquiry, into the death of government adviser David Kelly, and the Butler Inquiry into the pre-war intelligence were enough."
51% of Americans want Bush impeached (hidden in) NEWSWEEK Poll: GOP Losing Its Base - Newsweek Politics - MSNBC.com
NEWSWEEK Poll: GOP Losing Its Base - Newsweek Politics - MSNBC.com:
"Other parts of a potential Democratic agenda receive less support, especially calls to impeach Bush: 47 percent of Democrats say that should be a “top priority,” but only 28 percent of all Americans say it should be, 23 percent say it should be a lower priority and nearly half, 44 percent, say it should not be done."
Telegraph | News | Secret Cabinet memo admits Iraq is fuelling UK terror
Telegraph | News | Secret Cabinet memo admits Iraq is fuelling UK terror: "Secret Cabinet memo admits Iraq is fuelling UK terror
By Patrick Hennessy and Sean Rayment, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 11:30pm BST 28/10/2006
Tony Blair's claim that there is no link between Britain's foreign policy and terrorist attacks in this country is blown apart by a secret cabinet memo revealed today.
A classified paper written by senior Downing Street officials says that everything Britain does overseas for the next decade must have the ultimate aim of reducing 'terror activity, especially that in or directed against the UK'.
It admits that, in an ideal world, 'the Muslim would not perceive the UK and its foreign policies as hostile' – effectively accepting the argument that Britain's military action in Iraq and Afghanistan has served as a recruiting sergeant for Islamist terrorist groups. Publicly, Mr Blair has resisted this line fiercely. During his final speech as leader to Labour's annual conference last month, he described such claims as 'enemy propaganda'."
Afghanistan war is 'cuckoo', says Blair's favourite general | UK News | The Observer
Afghanistan war is 'cuckoo', says Blair's favourite general | UK News | The Observer: "Sunday October 29, 2006
The Observer
Tony Blair's most trusted military commander yesterday branded as 'cuckoo' the way Britain's overstretched army was sent into Afghanistan.
The remarkable rebuke by General the Lord Guthrie came in an Observer interview, his first since quitting as Chief of the Defence Staff five years ago, in which he made an impassioned plea for more troops, new equipment and more funds for a 'very, very' over-committed army.
The decision by Guthrie, an experienced Whitehall insider and Blair confidant, to go public is likely to alarm Downing Street and the Ministry of Defence more than the recent public criticism by the current army chief Sir Richard Dannatt. 'Anyone who thought this was going to be a picnic in Afghanistan - anyone who had read any history, anyone who knew the Afghans, or had seen the terrain, anyone who had thought about the Taliban resurgence, anyone who understood what was going on across the border in Baluchistan and Waziristan [should have known] - to launch the British army in with the numbers there are, while we're still going on in Iraq is cuckoo,' Guthrie said."
BBC NEWS | Americas | Brazil voters choose president
BBC NEWS | Americas | Brazil voters choose president: "He has also suggested Mr Alckmin would sell off Brazil's remaining state companies.
Privatisation is generally viewed with suspicion in Brazil."
The Seattle Times: Nation & World: Airport screeners fail to see most test bombs
The Seattle Times: Nation & World: Airport screeners fail to see most test bombs: "Airport screeners fail to see most test bombs
By Ron Marsico
Newhouse News Service
NEWARK, N.J. —
Screeners at Newark Liberty International Airport, one of the starting points for the Sept. 11 hijackers, failed 20 of 22 security tests conducted by undercover U.S. agents last week, missing concealed bombs and guns at checkpoints throughout the major air hub's three terminals, according to federal security officials.The tests, conducted Oct. 19 by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents, also revealed failures by screeners to follow standard operating procedures while checking passengers and their baggage for prohibited items, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
'We can do better, and training is the path to improved performance,' said Mark Hatfield Jr., the Newark airport's federal security director. The poor test results at Newark come after heightened security procedures that the TSA put in place at U.S. airports in August.
One of the security officials familiar with last week's tests said Newark screeners missed fake explosive devices hidden under bottles of water in carry-on luggage, taped beneath an agent's clothing and concealed under a leg bandage another tester wore.The official said screeners also failed to use handheld metal-detector wands when required, missed an explosive device during a pat-down and failed to properly hand-check suspicious carry-on bags. Supervisors also were cited for failing to properly monitor checkpoint screeners, the official said. 'We just totally missed everything,' the official said."
Annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index - 2006
Reporters sans frontières - Annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index - 2006:
"
The United States (53rd) has fallen nine places since last year, after being in 17th position in the first year of the Index, in 2002. Relations between the media and the Bush administration sharply deteriorated after the president used the pretext of “national security” to regard as suspicious any journalist who questioned his “war on terrorism.” The zeal of federal courts which, unlike those in 33 US states, refuse to recognise the media’s right not to reveal its sources, even threatens journalists whose investigations have no connection at all with terrorism.
Freelance journalist and blogger Josh Wolf was imprisoned when he refused to hand over his video archives. Sudanese cameraman Sami al-Haj, who works for the pan-Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera, has been held without trial since June 2002 at the US military base at Guantanamo, and Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein has been held by US authorities in Iraq since April this year."
In Border Fence's Path, Congressional Roadblocks - washingtonpost.com
In Border Fence's Path, Congressional Roadblocks - washingtonpost.com: "Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 6, 2006; Page A01
No sooner did Congress authorize construction of a 700-mile fence on the U.S.-Mexico border last week than lawmakers rushed to approve separate legislation that ensures it will never be built, at least not as advertised, according to Republican lawmakers and immigration experts."
Bloomberg.com: Latin America
Bloomberg.com: Latin America: "By Guillermo Parra-Bernal
Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez leads his closest rival ahead of the Dec. 3 vote by 35 percentage points in a Zogby International poll, the fourth survey this month suggesting a landslide win for the president.
Chavez had the backing of 59 percent of the 800 people in the Oct. 1-16 survey, compared with 24 percent for opposition candidate Manuel Rosales, Zogby said on its Web site. The poll, commissioned by University of Miami School of Communication, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
The lead in polls reflects Chavez's efforts to push ``for reforms at home to pull Venezuelans out of poverty and to improve the public health care system in the nation,'' Zogby said in a statement on the Web site.
The Zogby poll is the fourth in a week showing voters will re-elect Chavez for a second, six-year term. In September, Chavez said that if re-elected, he would call a referendum in 2010 to change the constitution to allow him to hold office without any term limit.
Since taking office in 1999, Chavez, 52, has used a record oil windfall to spend about half the national budget in healthcare and education services as well as food subsidies for the nation's poor."
Electronic voting blamed for Quebec municipal election 'disaster'
Electronic voting blamed for Quebec municipal election 'disaster': "Quebec's chief electoral officer is urging the province to stop using electronic voting systems.
In a new report on problems with Quebec's 2005 municipal election, chief electoral officer Marcel Blanchet targets the electronic voting system used to collect and count the votes.
The election was an expensive disaster marked by errors, which produced inaccurate numbers and unreliable results, the report said. And the new electronic system is to blame, it adds."
Cleric 'should go for rape comments' | | The Australian
Cleric 'should go for rape comments' | | The Australian: "October 26, 2006
AUSTRALIA'S top Muslim cleric Sheik al-Taj al-Din al-Hilaly should be sacked and deported for comments which essentially excused young Muslim men who committed rape, federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward said today.
Ms Goward said the sheik had a history of making such comments and many would feel Australia's tolerance had been abused.
'It is incitement to a crime. Young Muslim men who now rape women can cite this in court, can quote this man ... their leader in court,' she told Channel 9.
'It's time we stopped just saying he should apologise. It is time the Islamic community did more then say they were horrified. I think it is time he left.'
Sheik al-Hilaly's comments were delivered in a Ramadan sermon to 500 worshippers in Sydney last month, The Australian newspaper reported.
'If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it ... whose fault is it, the cats' or the uncovered meat,' he said.
'The uncovered meat is the problem.
'If she was in her room, in her home, in her hajib (Islamic headdress), no problem would have occurred.'"
War Now Works Against GOP - washingtonpost.com
War Now Works Against GOP - washingtonpost.com: "'When we went there in 2003, we had a mission to get rid of Saddam Hussein and weapons of mass destruction. We're still in Iraq 3 1/2 years later and the mission isn't clear,' Murphy told an audience here last week. 'Together we can change it. We can change what we're doing in Iraq.'
Just three months ago, Republican strategists believed that doubts about Iraq could be contained -- or even turned into an electoral advantage -- if the battle was framed as a vital front in the war against terrorism. Voters would be invited to choose: Stand firm or capitulate.
But the issue is not playing out that way. In both parties, a consensus now exists -- buttressed by polls -- that disaffection with a war grown costly and difficult to manage is the gravest threat to continued Republican rule.
Iraq is not only a potent issue in its own right, but is also a resonant metaphor for doubts about the competence and accountability of the Republican Party."
Bush, Republicans turn to talk shows for help - Yahoo! News
Bush, Republicans turn to talk shows for help - Yahoo! News: "On Tuesday the White House invited more than three dozen hosts from both sides of the political spectrum so they could interview top administration officials.
Radio personalities and programs play a political role in many countries. In America, they have become largely a powerful ally for conservatives, even as the rise of Internet blogs has broadened the spectrum of voter voices being heard.
'The liberal media wants to suppress the vote, they want to convince you that this race is over, they want you to go away and they want us to lose. I'm here to tell you that you have the power (to prove them wrong),' conservative talk radio host Sean Hannity told a Republican rally in Cincinnati last week in a jab at what conservatives call a liberal mainstream media.
Hannity, who does a show for ABC Radio that reaches 13 million people a week as well as a television show for Fox News, said his shows give politicians the opportunity for 'real interviews, not soundbites' -- the sort of unfiltered access to voters that mainstream media don't offer."
Bush says not satisfied with Iraq war - Yahoo! News
Bush says not satisfied with Iraq war - Yahoo! News: "Wed Oct 25, 5:24 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
President Bush said on Wednesday he was not satisfied with the way the
Iraq war was going and bore the blame for it, as he sought to tamp down election-year demands for a dramatic course correction.
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Sounding testy at times during an hour-long news conference in the White House East Room, Bush insisted 'we're winning, and we will win' the war."
BBC NEWS | Americas | Bush 'dissatisfied' with Iraq war
BBC NEWS | Americas | Bush 'dissatisfied' with Iraq war: "US President George W Bush says he is unhappy with the progress of the war in Iraq, admitting that a recent upsurge in violence is a 'serious concern'.
'I know many Americans are not satisfied with the situation in Iraq,' he said. 'I'm not satisfied either.'"
Republican base loses faith | csmonitor.com
Republican base loses faith | csmonitor.com: "A Gallup poll earlier this month found white religious voters 'equally as likely to say they will vote Democratic as Republican.' And a Pew Research poll last week found just 57 percent of white Evangelicals planning to vote Republican, a drop from 68 percent in 2002 and 74 percent in 2004. Among white Catholics, the decline was even greater.
'The GOP's problems with white Evangelicals are important, but they have even bigger problems with white Catholics,' says John Green, senior fellow at Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. 'The survey shows a majority of white Catholics saying they'll vote for a Democratic congressional candidate; that's a return to where white Catholics would have been a decade or two ago.'
The shift reflects plummeting support for the Republican administration and Congress over the war in Iraq and multiplying political scandals. But it appears that Democratic candidates' efforts to articulate their faith and values - and tie them to a broader range of issues - are also resonating with voters."
