grahamhgreen
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.
ADVERTISEMENT
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."
cleveland.com: NewsFlash - News groups challenge Ohio's revised exit polling directive
cleveland.com: NewsFlash - News groups challenge Ohio's revised exit polling directive: "0/24/2006, 5:45 p.m. ET
By JULIE CARR SMYTH
The Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio's new guidelines on conducting exit polls on Election Day, written after a judge threw out the old rules, are vague and confusing and should be rejected, a coalition of national news organizations argues in a lawsuit.
In the suit, television networks ABC, CNN, CBS, Fox News and NBC and The Associated Press ask U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson to spell out the rules for county election boards in his own words and force Secretary of State Ken Blackwell to post them so the plaintiffs can interview voters leaving polling places on Nov. 7."
Halliburton Cited For Iraq Overhead - washingtonpost.com
Halliburton Cited For Iraq Overhead - washingtonpost.com: "According to internal government documents released in March, auditors found that the company had repeatedly overcharged the government by, among other things, billing for work it didn't actually do and paying suppliers more than they were owed. Meanwhile, work schedules slid and company officials balked at requests for accurate cost estimates. At one point, officials threatened to terminate the deal. Instead, KBR -- which has received more money from the Iraq war effort than any other firm -- was allowed to keep the contract and is now winding up work."
Congressman From Arizona Is the Focus of an Inquiry - New York Times
Congressman From Arizona Is the Focus of an Inquiry - New York Times: "October 25, 2006
WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 — Federal authorities in Arizona have opened an inquiry into whether Representative Rick Renzi introduced legislation that benefited a military contractor that employs his father, law enforcement officials said Tuesday."
More U.S. Troops May Be Iraq-Bound - washingtonpost.com
More U.S. Troops May Be Iraq-Bound - washingtonpost.com: "Wednesday, October 25, 2006; Page A01
BAGHDAD, Oct. 24 -- The top American commander in Iraq said Tuesday that he may call for more troops to be sent to Baghdad, possibly by increasing the overall U.S. presence in Iraq, as rising bloodshed pushes Iraqi and American deaths to some of their highest levels of the war."
Hastert, Reynolds Testify About GOP's Handling of Foley Case - washingtonpost.com
Hastert, Reynolds Testify About GOP's Handling of Foley Case - washingtonpost.com: "The inquiry has been focused on the handling of Foley by House leaders. As far back as 2000, Foley's advances on former pages over the Internet had come to the attention of one congressman, Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.). Kolbe had brought the matter to then-House Clerk Jeff Trandahl, who reported to the speaker's office.
According to sources close to Trandahl, the former clerk repeatedly brought concerns about Foley to the congressman's chief of staff, Kirk Fordham. Fordham told the committee that when he was unable to stop Foley's advances, he asked Palmer to intervene in 2002 or 2003. Palmer has said Fordham's version of events did not happen.
Aides in the speaker's office have said that the matter did not come to their attention until the fall of 2005 and that it was handled without Hastert's involvement."
Cheney says Hillary Clinton could win White House - Yahoo! News
Cheney says Hillary Clinton could win White House - Yahoo! News: "Tue Oct 24, 5:22 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President
Dick Cheney said on Tuesday he thought Sen.
Hillary Rodham Clinton could win the White House in 2008 and that a potential Democratic opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, was too inexperienced.
Clinton, a New York Democrat who is running for re-election, is considered a likely contender for the White House in 2008. Obama, serving his first term as a U.S. senator from Illinois, has been touted recently as a possible candidate, something he said he would consider.
'I think
Hillary Clinton is a formidable candidate, 'Cheney said in an interview with Fox News Channel's 'Hannity & Colmes' due to air on Tuesday evening.
'I think she could win. I hope she doesn't. I disagree with her on nearly all the issues, but nobody should underestimate her. She's a very serious candidate for president.'
Cheney reiterated that he had no intention of running for president. 'I'm not coy about it. I made my decision a long time ago, and it's firm, final, fixed, irrevocable.'"
Hastert testifies in sex scandal probe - Yahoo! News
Hastert testifies in sex scandal probe - Yahoo! News: "Reynolds and Hastert have publicly provided conflicting recollections of what they knew about Foley.
Reynolds has said he first warned Hastert about Foley months ago, telling him about overly friendly e-mail by the then-congressman to a former intern.
But Hastert has said he does not recall such a conversation or one that House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said he had with the speaker about Foley earlier this year."
Poll shows Muslims in U.S. lean to Democrats - Yahoo! News
Poll shows Muslims in U.S. lean to Democrats - Yahoo! News: "Tue Oct 24, 2:42 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More American Muslims are now supporting the Democratic Party but their votes should not be taken for granted, an Islamic civil rights group said on Tuesday.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, released a poll of 1,000 registered Muslim voters in the United States it said showed the community has changed a great deal since supporting Republicans in 2000.
The poll found 42 percent of respondents were Democrats and 17 percent Republican, while some 28 percent had no party affiliation, said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad.
'It shows that Muslim community votes should not be taken for granted,' said Awad, adding: 'There's a shift in their political orientation.'
The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Estimates of the number of Muslim Americans vary between 3 million and 7 million. Eighty-nine percent of those surveyed said they vote regularly.
In 2000, American Muslims endorsed and voted for Republican candidate George W. Bush, but they switched to support the Democrats in 2004 to protest what was seen as anti-Muslim policies by the Bush administration."
CNN, NPR will not promote Bush assassination movie - Yahoo! News
CNN, NPR will not promote Bush assassination movie - Yahoo! News: "Tue Oct 24, 8:19 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Major U.S. news outlets CNN and National Public Radio will not air paid ads or sponsor announcements for a controversial movie depicting the assassination of
President George W. Bush, citing the film's content, network spokeswomen said on Tuesday.
The movie, 'Death of a President,' caused a stir at the Toronto Film Festival in September where it debuted, and two major U.S. theater chains have declined to screen the movie when it debuts in the United States on Friday.
'CNN has decided not to take the ad because of the extreme nature of the movie's subject matter,' the cable television network said in a statement."
Iraqi Realities Undermine the Pentagon’s Predictions - New York Times
Iraqi Realities Undermine the Pentagon’s Predictions - New York Times: "Pentagon noted in an August report to Congress that Iraq had more than 277,000 troops and police officers, including some 115,000 army combat soldiers.
But those figures, which have often been cited at Pentagon news conferences as an indicator of progress and a potential exit strategy for American troops, paint a distorted picture. When the deep-seated reluctance of many soldiers to serve outside their home regions, leaves of absence and AWOL rates are taken into account, only a portion of the Iraqi Army is readily available for duty in Baghdad and other hot spots.
The fact that the Ministry of Defense has sent only two of the six additional battalions that American commanders have requested for Baghdad speaks volumes about the difficulty the Iraqi government has encountered in fielding a professional military. The four battalions that American commanders are still waiting for is equivalent to 2,800 soldiers, hardly a large commitment in the abstract but one that the Iraqis are still struggling to meet."
To Lower Costs, Hospitals Try Free Basic Care for Uninsured - New York Times
To Lower Costs, Hospitals Try Free Basic Care for Uninsured - New York Times: "With the number of uninsured Americans reaching a record 46.6 million last year, up by 7 million from 2000, Seton is one of a small number of hospital systems around the country to have done the math and acted on it. Officials decided that for many patients with chronic diseases, it would be cheaper to provide free preventive care than to absorb the high cost of repeated emergencies."
Bush's New Tack Steers Clear of 'Stay the Course' - washingtonpost.com
Bush's New Tack Steers Clear of 'Stay the Course' - washingtonpost.com: "Tuesday, October 24, 2006; Page A01
President Bush and his aides are annoyed that people keep misinterpreting his Iraq policy as 'stay the course.' A complete distortion, they say. 'That is not a stay-the-course policy,' White House press secretary Tony Snow declared yesterday.
Where would anyone have gotten that idea? Well, maybe from Bush.
'What you have is not 'stay the course' but in fact a study in constant motion,' White House press secretary Tony Snow said yesterday. (By Ron Edmonds -- Associated Press)
'We will stay the course. We will help this young Iraqi democracy succeed,' he said in Salt Lake City in August.
'We will win in Iraq so long as we stay the course,' he said in Milwaukee in July.
'I saw people wondering whether the United States would have the nerve to stay the course and help them succeed,' he said after returning from Baghdad in June.
"
Skilling Gets 24 Years for Fraud at Enron - washingtonpost.com
Skilling Gets 24 Years for Fraud at Enron - washingtonpost.com: "Tuesday, October 24, 2006; Page A01
HOUSTON, Oct. 23 -- Jeffrey K. Skilling, the brash former chief executive of Enron Corp., was ordered to serve 24 years and four months in prison Monday after an emotional court hearing in which he watched a series of former employees blame him for the fraud at the heart of the company's collapse.
Skilling's face reddened but he remained impassive as he listened to five angry and tear-choked workers tell the court about their difficulties since losing their jobs and retirement savings after the Houston energy company hurtled into bankruptcy five years ago."
Hackers Zero In on Online Stock Accounts - washingtonpost.com
Hackers Zero In on Online Stock Accounts - washingtonpost.com: "Stark said perpetrators are breaking into customer accounts and buying shares of thinly traded, microcap securities, also known as penny stocks. The hacker gains access using the customer's user name and password, then liquidates that person's existing stock holdings and uses the proceeds to buy shares in the microcap. The goal, regulators said, is to boost the price of a stock the hacker has already bought at a lower price in another account. The hacker then liquidates the stock and wires the money either to an offshore account or through a series of straw men, or dummy corporations, Stark said. The straw man may not know he is participating in fraud; he may have been told he is helping, say, an offshore business.
The entire operation can take a matter of minutes, or at most, hours.
'The unwitting victim opens the account in the morning and finds he or she owns thousands of shares in a microcap company that they have never heard of,' Stark said."
Researchers See Privacy Pitfalls in No-Swipe Credit Cards - New York Times
Researchers See Privacy Pitfalls in No-Swipe Credit Cards - New York Times:
"Tom Heydt-Benjamin tapped an envelope against a black plastic box connected to his computer. Within moments, the screen showed a garbled string of characters that included this: fu/kevine, along with some numbers.Mr. Heydt-Benjamin then ripped open the envelope. Inside was a credit card, fresh from the issuing bank. The card bore the name of Kevin E. Fu, a computer science professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, who was standing nearby. The card number and expiration date matched those numbers on the screen.The demonstration revealed potential security and privacy holes in a new generation of credit cards — cards whose data is relayed by radio waves without need of a signature or physical swiping through a machine. Tens of millions of the cards have been issued, and equipment for their use is showing up at a growing number of locations, including CVS pharmacies, McDonald’s restaurants and many movie theaters.
The card companies have implied through their marketing that the data is encrypted to make sure that a digital eavesdropper cannot get any intelligible information. American Express has said its cards incorporate “128-bit encryption,” and J. P. Morgan Chase has said that its cards, which it calls Blink, use “the highest level of encryption allowed by the U.S. government.”
But in tests on 20 cards from Visa, MasterCard and American Express, the researchers here found that the cardholder’s name and other data was being transmitted without encryption and in plain text. They could skim and store the information from a card with a device the size of a couple of paperback books, which they cobbled together from readily available computer and radio components for $150.They say they could probably make another one even smaller and cheaper: about the size of a pack of gum for less than $50.And because the cards can be read even through a wallet or an item of clothing, the security of the information, the researchers say, is startlingly weak. “Would you be comfortable wearing your name, your credit card number and your card expiration date on your T-shirt?” Mr. Heydt-Benjamin, a graduate student, asked."
Bartlett: White House flexible on Iraq - Yahoo! News
Bartlett: White House flexible on Iraq - Yahoo! News:
"'It's never been a stay the course strategy,' he said."
Active-Duty Troops Launch Campaign to Press Congress to End U.S. Occupation of Iraq
ActiveDuty Troops Launch Campaign to Press Congress...:
Active-Duty Troops Launch Campaign to Press Congress to End U.S. Occupation of Iraq"65 Members to Send 'Appeals for Redress' Under the Military Whistle-blower Protection Act
10/23/2006 9:58:00 AM
To: Assignment Desk, Daybook Editor
Contact: Trevor Fitzgibbon, 202-246-5303, or Alex Howe, or Laura Gross, 202-822-5200, for Fenton Communications
News Advisory:
For the first time since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, active- duty members of the military are asking Members of Congress to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq and bring American soldiers home.
Sixty-five active-duty members have sent Appeals for Redress to Members of Congress. Three of these people (including two who served in Iraq) and their attorney will speak about this on Wednesday, Oct. 25 at 11 a.m. EDT.
Under the Military Whistle-Blower Protection Act (DOD directive 7050.6), active-duty military, National Guard and Reservists can file and send a protected communication to a Member of Congress regarding any subject without reprisal.
What: Three active-duty members of the military and their lawyer, a retired U.S. Marine Corps JAG, make comments and take questions from the media.
When: Wednesday, Oct. 25, 11 a.m. EDT
Conference Call Details: 800-362-0574, Conference ID: 'Active Duty'
http://www.usnewswire.com/
-0-
/© 2006 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/"
More than 750,000 Iraqis displaced since US invasion: UNHCR - Yahoo! News
More than 750,000 Iraqis displaced since US invasion: UNHCR - Yahoo! News: "Fri Oct 20, 10:21 AM ET
GENEVA (AFP) - More than 750,000 Iraqis have been displaced by violence since the US-led invasion of their country in March 2003 and their resources are running out, the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said.
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Iraqis were also fleeing abroad in tens of thousands every month, it said Friday.
'We remain extremely concerned about the rapidly deteriorating situation in
Iraq and the ongoing displacement this is creating both inside and outside Iraq,' UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond told a news conference in Geneva.
He said nearly half the 0.75 million internally displaced Iraqis had been forced to flee their homes in the past eight months because of the sharp rise in sectarian attacks that had followed the destruction in February of a holy Shiite shrine in Samarra, north of Baghdad.
'Our Iraq unit estimates 754,000 Iraqis have been internally displaced since 2003 -- some 365,000 of them just since February in sectarian violence sparked by the Samara bombings,' he said."
Spies' Iraq outlook bleak | News | The Australian
Spies' Iraq outlook bleak | News | The Australian: "October 21, 2006
JOHN Howard has been delivered a bleak intelligence assessment on Iraq which highlights a country gripped by sectarian violence and little improvement in economic conditions since the US-led invasion in 2003.
The considered verdict of the Prime Minister's intelligence advisers is that Iraq's path to democracy is far from assured as the al-Maliki Government struggles to consolidate its authority.
The top-secret analysis provided by intelligence agencies led by the peak assessment agency, the Office of National Assessments, this month shows an increasing risk to coalition forces from sectarian militias and terrorist groups operating inside Iraq.
A key judgment is that Iraq has been clearly used as a recruiting tool for terrorist groups around the globe with the number of jihadis steadily increasing.
The assessment comes as Mr Howard, writing in today's The Weekend Australian, says the nation could still be fighting the global war on terror in 2026."
Blair: Britain out of Iraq in 16 months-United Press International - NewsTrack - Blair: Britain out of Iraq in 16 months
United Press International - NewsTrack - Blair: Britain out of Iraq in 16 months:
"
Blair: Britain out of Iraq in 16 monthsLONDON, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- Prime Minister Tony Blair during Question Time told Parliament that British troops will be withdrawn from Iraq in about 16 months.Blair said Wednesday British forces could become 'a provocation,' The Telegraph reported. But at the same time, he said Britain must stay in the country until 'the job is done.''I don't have the date but I can see over the next 12 to 18 months the Iraqi security forces progressing to a point where they can take on the security responsibilities for the country,' Blair said. 'That is the policy of ourselves, our allies -- not just America -- but the other 20 or so countries there.'General Sir Richard Dannatt, the Chief of the General Staff, said last week Britain should leave Iraq soon."
United States numb to Iraq troop deaths: experts - Yahoo! News
United States numb to Iraq troop deaths: experts - Yahoo! News: "'But now that it's kind of accumulated it doesn't have as much of a shock value. This is reminiscent of (Soviet dictator Joseph) Stalin's phrase about how 'one death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic.' There's some truth to that.'"
BBC NEWS | Americas | Anger as 9/11 remains discovered
BBC NEWS | Americas | Anger as 9/11 remains discovered: "Human remains - some reportedly as large as arm or leg bones - have been found at the site of the 11 September 2001 attacks in New York.
The remains were found in rubble excavated from a manhole near the site of the World Trade Center.
Relatives say the find proves the need for a thorough new search of the area around Ground Zero.
'We can no longer rely on accidental discoveries,' said WTC Families for Proper Burial in a statement.
'Never fully searched'
'This must be a deliberate search. May this awful news be the catalyst needed to go back and do the job well.'"
House Intel Chair suspends staff member - Yahoo! News
House Intel Chair suspends staff member - Yahoo! News: "Fri Oct 20, 11:30 AM ET
WASHINGTON - Democrats say the Republican head of the House Intelligence Committee had no grounds to suspend a staff member who's come under scrutiny for the leak of a secret intelligence assessment.
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The unidentified staff member, a Democrat, was suspended this week by Chairman Peter Hoekstra and is being denied access to classified information pending the outcome of a review. In an interview on Friday, Hoekstra said the step was the least aggressive he could take while the committee investigates.
The Michigan Republican said the committee aide will be interviewed and other information will be collected. That could include correspondence, phone records and interviews with people who interacted with the aide."
Diocese opens inquest of Foley priest - Yahoo! News
Diocese opens inquest of Foley priest - Yahoo! News: "Fri Oct 20, 5:34 PM ET
ROME - A Roman Catholic diocese has opened an investigation of a priest who said he fondled and shared saunas while naked with Mark Foley when the former U.S. congressman was a boy in Florida.
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In interviews in the past two days, the Rev. Anthony Mercieca, 69, who is now retired and lives on the Maltese island of Gozo, has given different details about his encounters with Foley four decades ago.
On Wednesday, he told the Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune by telephone that he massaged the boy in the nude, was naked in the same room on overnight trips with him and had gone skinny dipping with him. On Thursday, he told The Associated Press that he was naked in a sauna with Foley.
Also Thursday, he told WPTV of West Palm Beach, Fla., that he touched Foley 'once, maybe.'
In all of the interviews, he denied having sexual intercourse with Foley.
'It's not something you call, I mean, rape or penetration or anything like that, you know,' he told the TV station in a telephone interview. 'It was just fondling.'"
Rocky Mountain News: Elections
Rocky Mountain News: Elections: "By Stuart Steers, Alan Gathright and Marilyn Robinson, Rocky Mountain News
October 19, 2006
A criminal investigation that now involves the FBI sent shock waves through the race for Colorado governor Wednesday.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation announced that it had determined that someone accessed information in an FBI database on Carlos Estrada Medina, who has been the star of a TV attack ad against Democrat Bill Ritter.
That ad was sponsored by Republican Congressman Bob Beauprez, and he and his campaign staff will now be interviewed by FBI agents."
Judge orders Cheney visitor logs opened - Yahoo! News
Judge orders Cheney visitor logs opened - Yahoo! News: "Thu Oct 19, 5:36 PM ET
WASHINGTON - A federal judge has ordered the Bush administration to release information about who visited Vice President
Dick Cheney's office and personal residence, an order that could spark a late election-season debate over lobbyists' White House access.
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While researching the access lobbyists and others had on the White House, The Washington Post asked in June for two years of White House visitor logs. The
Secret Service refused to process the request, which government attorneys called 'a fishing expedition into the most sensitive details of the vice presidency.'"
Top Republican testifies in sex scandal | Politics News | Reuters.com
Top Republican testifies in sex scandal | Politics News | Reuters.com: "By Thomas Ferraro
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top U.S. Republican testified on Thursday in the investigation of a Capitol Hill sex scandal, and afterward said the sordid affair was not hurting his party's chances of retaining control of the U.S. Congress in the November 7 elections.
'It does not appear to be affecting any of our races,' House of Representatives Republican leader John Boehner said after emerging from a closed-door meeting with a congressional ethics panel."
Diocese opens inquest of Foley priest - Yahoo! News
Diocese opens inquest of Foley priest - Yahoo! News: "Fri Oct 20, 5:34 PM ET
ROME - A Roman Catholic diocese has opened an investigation of a priest who said he fondled and shared saunas while naked with Mark Foley when the former U.S. congressman was a boy in Florida.
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In interviews in the past two days, the Rev. Anthony Mercieca, 69, who is now retired and lives on the Maltese island of Gozo, has given different details about his encounters with Foley four decades ago.
On Wednesday, he told the Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune by telephone that he massaged the boy in the nude, was naked in the same room on overnight trips with him and had gone skinny dipping with him. On Thursday, he told The Associated Press that he was naked in a sauna with Foley."
BBC NEWS | Americas | Anger as new 9/11 remains found
BBC NEWS | Americas | Anger as new 9/11 remains found: "Human remains - some reportedly as large as arm or leg bones - have been found at the site of the 11 September 2001 attacks in New York.
The remains were found in rubble excavated from a manhole near the site of the World Trade Center.
Relatives say the find proves the need for a thorough new search of the area around Ground Zero.
'We can no longer rely on accidental discoveries,' said WTC Families for Proper Burial in a statement.
'This must be a deliberate search. May this awful news be the catalyst needed to go back and do the job well.'
Families of more than 1,100 of the victims of 9/11 have never received any remains of their loved ones."
Rocky Mountain News: Elections
Rocky Mountain News: Elections: "A criminal investigation that now involves the FBI sent shock waves through the race for Colorado governor Wednesday.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation announced that it had determined that someone accessed information in an FBI database on Carlos Estrada Medina, who has been the star of a TV attack ad against Democrat Bill Ritter.
That ad was sponsored by Republican Congressman Bob Beauprez, and he and his campaign staff will now be interviewed by FBI agents.
The CBI said it has asked the FBI to join in an investigation of the circumstances surrounding the use of the database. It is illegal to use federal databases for anything other than law enforcement purposes and violators can be sentenced to prison and fined."
Judge orders Cheney visitor logs opened - Yahoo! News
Judge orders Cheney visitor logs opened - Yahoo! News: "If Cheney's visitor logs show meetings with lobbyists, releasing them just weeks before Election Day could provide ammunition to Democrats.
'The political price is very high,' said L. Sandy Maisel, director of the Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs at Colby College. 'Even more than that, Cheney has a vested interest in keeping them out of public eye at a time when people will pay attention to them. After the election, they will pay much less attention.'
The newspaper sought logs for anyone visiting Cheney, his legal counsel, chief spokesman and other top aides and advisers.
The Secret Service had no comment on the ruling Thursday. In court documents, government attorneys said releasing the documents would infringe on Cheney's ability to seek advice.
'This case is about protecting the effective functioning of the vice presidency under the Constitution,' attorneys wrote.
A lawsuit over similar records revealed last month that Republican activists Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed — key figures in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal — landed more than 100 meetings inside the Bush White House."
Top Republican testifies in sex scandal | Politics News | Reuters.com
Top Republican testifies in sex scandal | Politics News | Reuters.com: "By Thomas Ferraro
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top U.S. Republican testified on Thursday in the investigation of a Capitol Hill sex scandal, and afterward said the sordid affair was not hurting his party's chances of retaining control of the U.S. Congress in the November 7 elections.
'It does not appear to be affecting any of our races,' House of Representatives Republican leader John Boehner said after emerging from a closed-door meeting with a congressional ethics panel. Boehner of Ohio said voters were more interested in such matters as taxes and national security.
Yet polls show Democrats making big gains nationally since the scandal broke on September 29 with the resignation of Rep. Mark Foley after it was disclosed that the Florida Republican sent sexually explicit e-mails to teenage male interns, known as pages.
THE 21st CENTURY IN PICTURES
Patterns of Belief
View Slideshow
A Time magazine poll earlier this month found that most Americans believe Republicans tried to coverup the matter"
Diocese opens inquest of Foley priest - Yahoo! News
Diocese opens inquest of Foley priest - Yahoo! News: "ROME - A Roman Catholic diocese has opened an investigation of a priest who said he fondled and shared saunas while naked with Mark Foley when the former U.S. congressman was a boy in Florida.
ADVERTISEMENT
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In interviews in the past two days, the Rev. Anthony Mercieca, 69, who is now with a diocese on an island off Malta, has given different details about his encounters with Foley four decades ago.
On Wednesday, he told the Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune by telephone that he massaged the boy in the nude, was naked in the same room on overnight trips with him and had gone skinny dipping with him. On Thursday, he told The Associated Press that he was naked in a sauna with Foley.
Also Thursday, he told WPTV of West Palm Beach, Fla., that he touched Foley 'once, maybe.'
In all of the interviews, he denied having sexual intercourse with Foley.
'It's not something you call, I mean, rape or penetration or anything like that, you know,' he told the TV station in a telephone interview. 'It was just fondling.'"
Diocese opens inquest of Foley priest - Yahoo! News
Diocese opens inquest of Foley priest - Yahoo! News: "ROME - A Roman Catholic diocese has opened an investigation of a priest who said he fondled and shared saunas while naked with Mark Foley when the former U.S. congressman was a boy in Florida.
ADVERTISEMENT
In interviews in the past two days, the Rev. Anthony Mercieca, 69, who is now with a diocese on an island off Malta, has given different details about his encounters with Foley four decades ago.
On Wednesday, he told the Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune by telephone that he massaged the boy in the nude, was naked in the same room on overnight trips with him and had gone skinny dipping with him. On Thursday, he told The Associated Press that he was naked in a sauna with Foley.
Also Thursday, he told WPTV of West Palm Beach, Fla., that he touched Foley 'once, maybe.'
In all of the interviews, he denied having sexual intercourse with Foley.
'It's not something you call, I mean, rape or penetration or anything like that, you know,' he told the TV station in a telephone interview. 'It was just fondling.'
Foley, a 52-year-old Florida Republican, resigned from Congress last month after the release of his sexually explicit computer messages to young male pages."
Top Republican testifies in sex scandal | Politics News | Reuters.com
Top Republican testifies in sex scandal | Politics News | Reuters.com: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top U.S. Republican testified on Thursday in the investigation of a Capitol Hill sex scandal, and afterward said the sordid affair was not hurting his party's chances of retaining control of the U.S. Congress in the November 7 elections.
'It does not appear to be affecting any of our races,' House of Representatives Republican leader John Boehner said after emerging from a closed-door meeting with a congressional ethics panel. Boehner of Ohio said voters were more interested in such matters as taxes and national security.
Yet polls show Democrats making big gains nationally since the scandal broke on September 29 with the resignation of Rep. Mark Foley after it was disclosed that the Florida Republican sent sexually explicit e-mails to teenage male interns, known as pages.
A Time magazine poll earlier this month found that most Americans believe Republicans tried to coverup the matter."
Bush tries to impose new terms of victory - World - Times Online
Bush tries to impose new terms of victory - World - Times Online: "A FRESH attempt by President Bush to redefine success in Iraq was undermined within hours by the American military and Iraqi officials.
Mr Bush surprised America by admitting yesterday to growing similarities between the wars in Iraq and Vietnam. But he also emphasised that success should not be measured by the body count, but in terms of the ability of Iraqis to defend themselves, their access to healthcare and education.
“
I define success or failure as whether or not the Iraqis will be able to defend themselves. I define success or failure as whether schools are being built or hospitals are being opened. I define success or failure as whether we’re seeing a democracy grow in the heart of the Middle East,” he told ABC News.
Only hours after his statement
Major-General William Caldwell, spokesman for the US forces in Iraq, said that the results of a vast security operation to secure Baghdad — the key to this war — had been “disheartening”.And there is little more heartening news from the results of the $30 billion (£16 billion) to $40 billion American reconstruction effort. Since the invasion not a single Iraqi hospital has been built, according to Amar al-Saffar, in charge of construction at the Health Ministry.
In fact, no hospital had been built since the Qaddumiya hospital opened in 1986 in Baghdad, he said. When the war started it had 20 intensive care unit beds. Now it has half that, with many patients forced to buy their own oxygen supplies on the black market.The only significant attempt to build a hospital was a project promoted by Laura Bush, the First Lady, in Basra. She frequently praised the $50 million paediatric hospital being built in the southern city. But Mr al-Saffar said that through financial mismanagement — the bane of postwar reconstruction across the country — it had never been completed.Another senior Health Ministry official was surprised that Mr Bush had latched on to healthcare as proof of progress in Iraq. “It is the worst situation that the Ministry of Health has been in in its entire history,” he said. Healthcare had become so dire that half of those who died of injuries from terrorist attacks might have been saved, according to Bassim al-Sheibani, of the Diwaniyah College of Medicine, writing in the British Medical Journal.
COUNTING COSTS
$30-40bn spent on reconstruction
None Hospitals built since invasion
200 Doctors and pharmacists murdered
15,000 Doctors who have fled abroad
3,000 out of 18,000 schools refurbished
5,000 Extra schools needed
24,000 Pupils who have fled abroad
72 Iraqi civilian fatalities reported yesterday
US casualties
2,784 killed
71 this month
Iraqi police casualties
4,000 killed
8,000 wounded in the past two years
3,000 Iraqi policemen sacked this month
"
Retired Priest Admits Encounters With Foley - washingtonpost.com
Retired Priest Admits Encounters With Foley - washingtonpost.com: "Friday, October 20, 2006; Page A03
A retired priest from Malta acknowledged yesterday that he had intimate contact with a young Mark Foley that involved nudity and -- on at least one occasion -- 'light touching,' but he denied that he and Foley had 'sexual intercourse.'
The Rev. Anthony Mercieca, in a telephone interview from the Maltese island of Gozo, said he was surprised that his long-ago interaction with Foley had become linked to the scandal that erupted last month and cost the former congressman his job."
...................
Mercieca, 69, told The Washington Post that issues such as molestation and sexual harassment are "in the eye of the beholder," and that Foley -- who was 12 or 13 at the time -- might have interpreted some of their contact "the wrong way."
During at least one encounter with Foley, "I was a little out of myself," Mercieca said, from using tranquilizers as a result of what the Sarasota paper described as a nervous breakdown. "The whole idea is . . . that I did something that he did not like, but at the time he did not say anything."
"It was not what you call intercourse. . . . There was no rape or anything. . . . Maybe light touches here or there," he said.
Mercieca said he could not explain why Foley might be attributing his broader problems to their contact.
"We had some kind of friendship. I was very friendly with him and his family," Mercieca said. "Then almost 40 years passed without him saying anything. . . . And now because he got caught, he recited these things."
Updated Iraq Survey Affirms Earlier Mortality Estimates
Updated Iraq Survey Affirms Earlier Mortality Estimates: "October 11, 2006
Updated Iraq Survey Affirms Earlier Mortality Estimates
Mortality Trends Comparable to Estimates by Those Using Other Counting Methods
As many as 654,965 more Iraqis may have died since hostilities began in Iraq in March 2003 than would have been expected under pre-war conditions, according to a survey conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Al Mustansiriya University in Baghdad. The deaths from all causes—violent and non-violent—are over and above the estimated 143,000 deaths per year that occurred from all causes prior to the March 2003 invasion."
One-Day Toll in Iraq Combat Is Highest for U.S. in Months - washingtonpost.com
One-Day Toll in Iraq Combat Is Highest for U.S. in Months - washingtonpost.com: "Thursday, October 19, 2006; 9:30 AM
BAGHDAD, Oct. 19 -- A roadside bombing and other attacks killed 10 American troops across Iraq on Tuesday, the U.S. military reported Wednesday, making it the deadliest day of combat for U.S. forces in 10 months.
The one-day toll, part of what the U.S. military has said is a 43 percent increase in attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces in the capital since midsummer, occurred as casualties among Iraqi troops and civilians are soaring far higher than at any previous time in the war, according to U.S. and Iraqi tallies.
Thursday morning, a suicide attacker drove an oil tanker into the Abu Tammam police station in Mosul, collapsing part of the building, triggering a huge fireball and killing 12 people"
Top Republican testifies in sex scandal - Yahoo! News
Top Republican testifies in sex scandal - Yahoo! News: "On Thursday, ABC News quoted a Republican familiar with the investigation as saying former House Clerk Jeff Trandahl was believed to have testified earlier in the day that a top Hastert aide was informed of 'all issues dealing with the page program.'
ABC quoted the source as saying Trandahl planned to name Hastert aide Ted Van Der Meid as the person regularly briefed about the program, including 'a problem group of members and staff who spent too much time socializing with pages outside official duties.' One of whom was Foley, ABC said.
Trandahl became House clerk in 1998 and left the post for another job late last year. As clerk, he helped oversee the page program.
'Jeff Trandahl has cooperated fully with the investigation,' his attorney, Cono Namorato, said after his client's private testimony. 'He answered every question asked of him and stands ready to render additional assistance if needed.'
But, the lawyer added, 'On my advice, Jeff will continue his position of not publicly airing his recollections,' pending completion of the probe.
A former top aide to Foley said earlier this month he told senior Hastert aides three years ago about Foley's troublesome behavior. Hastert's office denies it."
Texas lawmakers may revisit electric deregulation - Yahoo! News
Texas lawmakers may revisit electric deregulation - Yahoo! News: "Thu Oct 19, 8:28 PM ET
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Texas lawmakers should give state regulators the ability to cap or modify electricity prices as the state moves to full deregulation next year, a Houston legislator said on Thursday.
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Citing a significant rise in electric prices since Texas opened its $20 billion a year market in 2002, Texas Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, said he is 'nervous' that price competition may lead to volatility that could hurt consumers, especially low-income and elderly residents.
'It may not be attractive, but as a safety check, we must empower the Public Utility Commission with broad authority to do what it has to do to keep this market from going out of control,' Turner told a meeting of the Gulf Coast Power Association in Houston."
BBC NEWS | Middle East | Baghdad security plan 'failing'
BBC NEWS | Middle East | Baghdad security plan 'failing': "The US military has said a security initiative aimed at reducing violence in Baghdad has failed to meet expectations and is being reviewed.
Military spokesman Maj Gen William Caldwell said there had been a 'disheartening' 22% rise in attacks in Baghdad since the end of last month.
His comments came as a wave of bombings across Iraq killed at least 41 people.
President George W Bush has said the surge in Iraq may be equivalent to the US experience in the Vietnam War.
Mr Bush acknowledged that the escalation of violence 'could be' comparable to the 1968 Tet Offensive against US troops, which helped turn public opinion against the Vietnam War."
BBC NEWS | Business | Opec approves cut in oil output
BBC NEWS | Business | Opec approves cut in oil output: "The oil producers' cartel Opec has approved plans to cut crude output by 1.2 million barrels per day."
Ex-Stock Exchange Chief Told to Return Up to $100 Million - New York Times
Ex-Stock Exchange Chief Told to Return Up to $100 Million - New York Times: "October 20, 2006
A New York judge ruled yesterday that Richard A. Grasso, a former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, would have to return as much as $100 million he received as part of a fiercely contested $139.5 million payout.
Skip to next paragraph
Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News
Richard A. Grasso.
The judge, Justice Charles E. Ramos of State Supreme Court in Manhattan, said that Mr. Grasso did not disclose to his fellow directors on the board of the exchange the extent to which his soaring compensation had caused his pension and savings to balloon in size and that he violated his contract by withdrawing $87 million before his retirement. Interest and money from a separate retirement account would raise the total."
Top US general says Rumsfeld is inspired by God - Yahoo! News
Top US general says Rumsfeld is inspired by God - Yahoo! News: "Thu Oct 19, 3:35 PM ET
MIAMI (AFP) - The top US general defended the leadership of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, saying it is inspired by God.
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'He leads in a way that the good Lord tells him is best for our country,' said Marine General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff."
MiamiHerald.com | 10/17/2006 | Voting ban for felons could end with next governor
MiamiHerald.com | 10/17/2006 | Voting ban for felons could end with next governor: "Regardless of who becomes governor of Florida in three weeks, one thing now appears certain: The 136-year-old rule that keeps most felons from being able to vote after they have completed their sentences will be scrapped.
Republican Charlie Crist has switched his position and joined Democratic opponent Jim Davis in favoring restoring the civil rights of all felons automatically after they have served their time. Until recently, Crist opposed automatic restoration.
''It all comes down to one fundamental question: Do you believe that an individual has paid his debt to society?'' Crist said Tuesday in an interview with The Miami Herald editorial board. ``If they've really paid their debt to society, then why not restore their right to vote?''
Unlike other promises the candidates have made, undoing the 1870 rule is something a governor can do with a simple signature on an executive order, said Randall Berg, director of the Florida Justice Institute, a civil rights advocacy organization."
Bangkok Post : SUPERSTORES / FIVE-YEAR EXPANSION BAN URGED
Bangkok Post : General news: "More than 200 retailers yesterday petitioned Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont to ban superstore expansions for five years until laws are written to create a level playing field. They gathered at the Royal Plaza to urge the government to task the National Legislative Assembly with amending retail business, commodity and trade competition regulations to help them survive as the giant chains aggressively expand.
Panthep Suleesatira, chairman of the Federation of Thai Retailers against Transnational Hypermarkets, said the protesters were forced to defy martial law, which prohibits political gatherings, to make their plight heard."
Bush Sets Defense As Space Priority - washingtonpost.com
Bush Sets Defense As Space Priority - washingtonpost.com: "Wednesday, October 18, 2006; Page A01
President Bush has signed a new National Space Policy that rejects future arms-control agreements that might limit U.S. flexibility in space and asserts a right to deny access to space to anyone 'hostile to U.S. interests.'"
Sixteen protesters arrested outside White House as Bush signs terror bill
Sixteen protesters arrested outside White House as Bush signs terror bill: "WHITE HOUSE While President Bush was signing the terror detainee bill, some opponents were being arrested outside.
Authorities say 16 people are charged with impeding access to a White House entrance. They were hauled away from a sidewalk.
The demonstrators come from a coalition of religious groups and had been shouting slogans like 'Bush is the terrorist' and 'Torture is a crime.'"
House page program leaders discuss trip - Yahoo! News
House page program leaders discuss trip - Yahoo! News: "WASHINGTON - Overseers of the House page program this week discussed a camping trip that Rep. Jim Kolbe (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz. took with two former pages and others in 1996 — an outing now under review by the Justice Department, a congressional source said Tuesday.
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The House Page Board, consisting of three lawmakers and two senior House officials, did not have any new information beyond recent news stories on the Kolbe trip. The source is familiar with the discussions but is not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
The conference call Monday involving the Kolbe trip shows that the people responsible for the teenage page program are casting a wider net following revelations that ex-Rep. Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record) was sending overly friendly e-mails and sexually explicit instant messages to former male pages.
The meeting was first revealed Monday by the lone Democrat on the Page Board, Rep. Dale Kildee (news, bio, voting record) of Michigan, who declined to say which lawmakers were discussed."
North Denver News - Bush approval sinks to 37% : Zogby
North Denver News - Bush approval sinks to 37% : Zogby: "Tuesday, 17 October 2006
Job approval for Congress drops below 20%; Just one in three say Iraq war has been worth it
After making headway improving his job approval rating over the course of several weeks, President Bush took a hit last week, dropping from 42% three weeks ago to 37% in a national live telephone survey conducted last week by Zogby International.
Bush was last at 37% positive job approval in a Zogby telephone poll taken in early September. In this latest survey, 63% gave him negative job marks."
Dubai Ports executive knocks U.S. port security law - Yahoo! News
Dubai Ports executive knocks U.S. port security law - Yahoo! News: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An executive with Dubai Ports World, the Arab-owned firm whose purchase of American port facilities caused an uproar this year, on Tuesday said a new U.S. port security law was fundamentally inadequate.
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'There's a fundamental shortcoming in the SAFE Port Act,' said David Sanborn, Dubai Ports World's managing director of the Americas. 'It's not ambitious enough.'
Dubai Ports, owned by the United Arab Emirates, became the center of a bitter debate in Congress after buying assets at six U.S. ports within its $6.8 billion purchase of Britain's Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. in February."
-ED NOTE - IT APPEARS THE UAE WOULD LIKE US TO GIVE THEM HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS SO THAY CAN 'SECURE' OUR PORTS, WHICH THEY DID, IN FACT, PURCHASE.
Bush signs law authorizing harsh interrogation - Yahoo! News
Bush signs law authorizing harsh interrogation - Yahoo! News: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
President George W. Bush signed a law on Tuesday authorizing tough interrogation and prosecution of terrorism suspects and took an indirect, election-year swipe at Democrats who opposed the legislation.
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Bush, trying to help Republicans maintain control of the U.S. Congress by emphasizing national security, called the Military Commissions Act of 2006 'one of the most important pieces of legislation in the war on terror.'
Human rights groups charge that the measure would allow harsh techniques bordering on torture, such as sleep deprivation and induced hypothermia."
FDA Is Set To Approve Milk, Meat From Clones - washingtonpost.com
FDA Is Set To Approve Milk, Meat From Clones - washingtonpost.com: "Tuesday, October 17, 2006; Page A01
Three years after the Food and Drug Administration first hinted that it might permit the sale of milk and meat from cloned animals, prompting public reactions that ranged from curiosity to disgust, the agency is poised to endorse marketing of the mass-produced animals for public consumption."
Will the Supreme Court shackle new tribunal law? | csmonitor.com
Will the Supreme Court shackle new tribunal law? | csmonitor.com: "The new law rejects much of the liberal wing's approach in the Rasul and Hamdan decisions.
• It rejects the high court's view (in the Rasul decision) that suspected Al Qaeda members detained at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, must be afforded the right to file habeas corpus challenges in US courts.
• It rejects Stevens's majority opinion (in the Hamdan decision) that the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 did not retroactively strip the Supreme Court (and other federal courts) of jurisdiction to hear habeas corpus challenges filed by Guantánamo detainees.
• It rejects the conclusion of four justices in the liberal wing (in Hamdan) that Al Qaeda defendants on trial before military commissions must be allowed to attend their entire trial and confront all evidence being used against them - even when the evidence is classified.
• It rejects the conclusion of the Stevens plurality in the Hamdan decision that conspiracy is not a war crime and thus cannot be the basis of a trial before a military commission operating under the Law of War.
• And it rejects the liberal wing's more expansive view (in Hamdan) of the applicability of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions to Al Qaeda suspects. That provision gives a base line of human rights protections for detainees.
Although Congress and the Bush administration acknowledge that Common Article 3 applies in the war on terror, the Military Commissions Act interprets the treaty in a way that narrows its protections and retroactively provides a defense for US officials who engaged in harsh interrogation tactics such as simulated drowning and induced hypothermia.
Human rights workers say such harsh tactics violate the treaty. Administration officials deny that US personnel have engaged in torture or unlawfully cruel conduct during interrogations."
