Gallup Poll: No matter what we do in Iraq things will get worse

May 9, 2007
Gallup Poll: No matter what we do in Iraq things will get worse

Withdrawal Heightens Risk of Civil War, al Qaeda Base of Operations

The new poll tested public attitudes about the likelihood of seven outcomes of the Iraq war
happening either as a result of the United States keeping its troops in Iraq for the foreseeable
future, or as a result of the United States removing all of its troops by the middle of next year,
or -- where applicable -- under both scenarios.

While Americans consider the risk of terrorism against the United States the same regardless of whether U.S. troops stay in Iraq or leave, they do perceive greater negative consequences stemming from U.S. withdrawal in two areas.

• One is a full-scale civil war in Iraq: A substantial minority (47%) says this will happen if the United States remains in Iraq, but an even larger proportion (68%) foresees it occurring if the United States leaves the country.
• The other negative impact is the establishment of Iraq as a base of terrorist operations for al Qaeda: 47% say this will happen if the United States stays, while 66% say it will happen if the United States goes.

Poll: 25% of Americans satisfied with direction of the country

May 8, 2007
Poll: 25% of Americans satisfied with direction of the country

All of the candidates can perhaps take some solace in Americans' dissatisfaction with the way things are going in the United States at this time (only 25 percent are satisfied; 71 percent dissatisfied). American dissatisfaction ratings last hit 71 in the NEWSWEEK poll in May 2006, at the height of the scandal over secret government wiretapping inside the United States. The last time that even half of our survey respondents were happy with the direction of the country was in April 2003, shortly after the start of the Iraq war. With that many unhappy Americans, the nation should have a strong appetite for new leaders and new ideas.

11 House Republicans Meet with Bush - war is harming the GOP

May 10, 2007
11 House Republicans Meet with Bush - war is harming the GOP

WASHINGTON - House Republican moderates, in a remarkably blunt White House meeting, warned President Bush this week that his pursuit of the war in Iraq is risking the future of the Republican Party and that he cannot count on GOP support for many more months.

The meeting, which ran for an hour and a half Tuesday afternoon, was disclosed by participants yesterday as the House prepared to vote this evening on a spending bill that could cut funding for the Iraq war as early as July. GOP moderates told Bush they would stay united against the latest effort by House Democrats to end U.S. involvement in the war. Even Senate Democrats called the House measure unrealistic.

But the meeting between 11 House Republicans, Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, White House political adviser Karl Rove and presidential press secretary Tony Snow was perhaps the clearest sign yet that patience in the party is running out. The meeting, organized by Rep. Charlie Dent (Pa.), one of the co-chairs of the moderate "Tuesday Group," included Reps. Thomas M. Davis III (Va.), Michael N. Castle (Del.), Todd R. Platts (Pa.), Jim Ramstad (Minn.) and Jo Ann Emerson (Mo.).

Snow, who sat in on the meeting in the president's private quarters, said it should not be overdramatized or seen as another "marching up to Nixon," a reference to the critical moment during Watergate in 1974 when key congressional Republicans went to the White House to tell President Richard M. Nixon that it was time to resign.

Retired generals challenge GOP in ads

May 9, 2007
Retired generals challenge GOP in ads

CONCORD, N.H. - Three retired generals challenged a dozen members of Congress in a new ad campaign Wednesday, saying the politicians can't support, President Bush's policies in Iraq and still expect to win re-election.

"I am outraged, as are the majority of Americans. I'm a lifelong Republican, but it's past time for change," retired Maj. Gen. John Batiste told reporters.

"Our strategy in Iraq today is more of the same, a slow grind to nowhere which totally ignores the reality of Iraq and the lessons of history," Batiste said. "Our president ignores sound military advice and surrounds himself with like-minded and compliant subordinates."

Batiste and Paul Eaton, also a retired major general, are featured in the ads by VoteVets.org. They challenge the president's argument that he listens to his commanders on the ground in Iraq and say the president's Iraq policies endanger U.S. security.

Poll: Americans Alarmed About Declining US Global Reputation

May 3, 2007
Poll: Americans Alarmed About Declining US Global Reputation

Those are among the key findings of a just-released survey commissioned by Business for Diplomatic Action (BDA), an organization of multinational American companies working to improve the standing of America in the world by engaging the private sector in public diplomacy efforts. The survey of 1,000 likely voters conducted for BDA by Zogby International this April found that:

• 76 percent are concerned about America's global reputation;
• 74 percent believe the U.S. is viewed negatively by people in other countries;
• 66 percent of voters say U.S. relations with the rest of the world are on the wrong track;
• Nearly half of Americans (47 percent) say U.S. multinational corporations should play a “major role’ in trying to improve the reputation of the United States, while another 39 percent believe American companies have a “minor role’ to play.

Poll: 39% support impeaching Bush AND Cheney

May 8, 2007
Poll: 39% support impeaching Bush AND Cheney

About four out of 10 Americans favor impeaching the president and vice president. But the biggest news from this survey is not the overall results, but the opinions of independent voters, who usually decide presidential elections.

Forty-two percent of independents want Bush and Cheney impeached. These aren't just voters who disapprove of the White House. Instead, they're for initiating a process that could remove them from office.

Oil execs plead guilty to bribing Alaskan lawmaker

May 8, 2007
Oil execs plead guilty to bribing Alaskan lawmaker

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- The founder of a multinational oil services company and one of his top executives have admitted to illegally paying more than $400,000 to Alaska lawmakers in a widening political corruption scandal.

Bill J. Allen, chief executive of Anchorage-based VECO Corp., and Rick Smith, a vice president, pleaded guilty Monday to bribing state legislators with cash and the promise of jobs and favors for their backing on bills supported by the company.

Allen, 70, and Smith, 62, appeared separately in U.S. District Court to plead guilty to extortion, bribery and conspiracy to impede the Internal Revenue Service.

The pleas came days after the indictment of one current and two former Republican members of the Alaska House of Representatives on federal bribery and extortion charges related to last year's negotiations for a new oil and gas tax and a proposed natural gas pipeline that would have benefited VECO.

NATO air raid kills 21 Afghans

May 9, 2007
NATO air raid kills 21 Afghans

Kandahar, Afghanistan: A NATO air strike killed 21 civilians, including women and children, in southern Afghanistan, a provincial governor said on Wednesday, the latest in a string of civilian casualties that have riled Afghans.

The air strike late on Tuesday night hit houses in a village in the Sangin district on Helmand province, where Western forces have been hunting Taliban militants in recent weeks, Helmand governor Assadullah Wafa told Reuters.

"Last night, NATO forces carried out an operation in Sangin and as a result of its bombing, 21 civilians, including women and children and men, have been killed," he said

Sharp increase in mortar attacks on the Green Zone

May 9, 2007
Sharp increase in mortar attacks on the Green Zone

BAGHDAD - A sharp increase in mortar attacks on the Green Zone — the one-time oasis of security in Iraq's turbulent capital — has prompted the U.S. Embassy to issue a strict new order telling all employees to wear flak vests and helmets while in unprotected buildings or whenever they are outside.

The order, obtained by The Associated Press, has created a siege mentality among U.S. staff inside the Green Zone following a recent suicide attack on parliament. It has also led to new fears about long-term safety in the place where the U.S. government is building a massive and expensive new embassy.

The situation marks a sharp turnaround for the heavily guarded Green Zone — long viewed as the safest corner of Baghdad with its shops, restaurants, American fast-food outlets and key Iraqi and American government offices.

Iraq is a lost cause

May 6, 2007
Iraq is a lost cause

Roanoke Times Editorial (Virgina): We have come to the painful conclusion that Iraq is a lost cause. Further expenditure of blood, lives and treasure will not lead to victory.

Though President Bush seems psychologically incapable of the act, it is time for everyone else in the United States to recognize the inevitable: The occupation of Iraq is an utter, irredeemable failure. We cannot win there militarily or politically.

Further expenditure of blood, lives and treasure will gain the United States nothing. Nor will it gain anything for the Iraqi people, who have seen only chaos and bloodshed from this intervention.

CIA Officers Letter to Tenet

April 28, 2007
CIA Officers Letter to Tenet

We agree with you that Vice President Dick Cheney and other Bush
administration officials took the United States to war for flimsy
reasons. We agree that the war of choice in Iraq was ill-advised and
wrong headed. But your lament that you are a victim in a process you
helped direct is self-serving, misleading and, as head of the
intelligence community, an admission of failed leadership. You were
not a victim. You were a willing participant in a poorly considered
policy to start an unnecessary war and you share culpability with Dick
Cheney and George Bush for the debacle in Iraq.

Officers: Ex-CIA chief Tenet a 'failed' leader

April 29, 2007
Officers: Ex-CIA chief Tenet a 'failed' leader

(CNN) -- In a letter written Saturday to former CIA Director George Tenet, six former CIA officers described their former boss as "the Alberto Gonzales of the intelligence community," and called his book "an admission of failed leadership."

The writers said Tenet has "a moral obligation" to return the Medal of Freedom he received from President Bush.

The letter, signed by Phil Giraldi, Ray McGovern, Larry Johnson, Jim Marcinkowski, Vince Cannistraro and David MacMichael, said Tenet should have resigned in protest rather than take part in the administration's buildup to the war.

Johnson is a former CIA intelligence official and registered Republican who voted for Bush in 2000. McGovern is a former CIA analyst.

Cannistraro is former head of the CIA's counterterrorism division and was head of intelligence for the National Security Council in the late 1980s.

The writers said they agree that Bush administration officials took the nation to war "for flimsy reasons," and that it has proved "ill-advised and wrong-headed."

Federal student loan official resigns

May 8, 2007
Federal student loan official resigns

WASHINGTON — The head of the Education Department's student loan office is stepping down amid growing criticism that the agency has been lax in overseeing the student loan industry.

Theresa Shaw is leaving her post as chief operating officer of the Federal Student Aid office, a job she has held since 2002, the department said in a statement. The office administers federal student aid programs.

The statement said Shaw told Education Secretary Margaret Spellings in February that she planned to leave the department, but not until June 1.

GOP 'Poison pill' kills prescription drug plan

May 8, 2007
GOP 'Poison pill' kills prescription drug plan

WASHINGTON -- The Senate on Monday effectively killed a measure that would have let Americans buy prescription medicines from foreign suppliers, which sponsors said could have saved consumers billions of dollars.

By a 49-40 vote, senators approved a provision requiring the government to certify that imports are safe -- a step the Bush administration is unlikely to take. The amendment, offered by Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), was seen as a major victory for the pharmaceutical industry.

Cochran's caveat "is clearly a poison pill," said Sen. Bernard Sanders, a Vermont Independent and a strong supporter of allowing imports.

Iraq Child Mortality Rate Soars

May 8, 2007
Iraq Child Mortality Rate Soars

(AP) The chance that an Iraqi child will live beyond age 5 has plummeted faster than anywhere else in the world since 1990, according to a report released Tuesday, which placed the country last in its child survival rankings.

One in eight Iraqi children died of disease or violence before reaching their fifth birthday in 2005, according to the report by Save the Children, which said Iraq ranked last because it had made the least progress toward improving child survival rates.

Iraq's mortality rate has soared by 150 percent since 1990. Even before the latest war, Iraq was plagued by electricity shortages, a lack of clean water and too few hospitals.

Poll: Most back Congress over Bush in war funding

May 8, 2007
Poll: Most back Congress over Bush in war funding

Former Sen. John Edwards said Congress shouldn't back down. "If we don't have the votes to override the veto, the Congress should send him another bill with the funding authority for the troops, with a timetable for withdrawal," the Democratic presidential candidate said.

The public agrees. In the new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Tuesday, 57 percent want Congress to pass another bill with funding and timetables.

The poll surveyed 1,028 American adults between Friday and Sunday. It has a sampling error of 3 percentage points.

Commanders in Iraq See 'Surge' Into '08

May 8, 2007
Commanders in Iraq See 'Surge' Into '08

U.S. commanders in Iraq are increasingly convinced that heightened troop levels, announced by President Bush in January, will need to last into the spring of 2008. The military has said it would assess in September how well its counterinsurgency strategy, intended to pacify Baghdad and other parts of Iraq, is working.

"The surge needs to go through the beginning of next year for sure," said Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the day-to-day commander for U.S. military operations in Iraq. The new requirement of up to 15-month tours for active-duty soldiers will allow the troop increase to last until spring, said Odierno, who favors keeping experienced forces in place for now.

Resignations Hit Bush Security Team

May 7, 2007
Resignations Hit Bush Security Team

At the White House, four top officials have stepped down, including Crouch; Meghan O'Sullivan, another deputy national security adviser who worked on Iraq; Tom Graham, the senior director for Russia, and director for Asian affairs Victor Cha, point man for the Koreas.

O'Sullivan's departure has set off a search for a "war czar" to oversee operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, a job reportedly turned down by a number of senior or retired generals.

Graham's resignation comes as tensions with Russia rise over U.S. missile defense plans in Europe, and Cha leaves amid concerns over North Korea's failure to comply with deadlines to eliminate its nuclear weapons programs.

Former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld resigned under fire in November and is not included in the list of 20.

Kansas Governor: Guard Troops Needed at Home

May 7, 2007
Kansas Governor: Guard Troops Needed at Home

CHICAGO — For months, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and other governors have warned that their state National Guards were ill-prepared for the next local disaster, be it a tornado or a flash flood or a terrorist's threat, because of large deployments of their soldiers and equipment in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Then, on Friday night, a deadly tornado all but cleared the small town of Greensburg off the Kansas map. With 80 square blocks destroyed, Sebelius said her fears had come true: The emergency response was too slow, she said, and there was only one reason.

"As you travel around Greensburg, you'll see that city and county trucks have been destroyed," Sebelius, a Democrat, said on Monday. "The National Guard is one of our first responders. They don't have the equipment they need to come in, and it just makes it that much slower."

Wolfowitz offered deal to step down

May 4, 2007
Wolfowitz offered deal to step down

WASHINGTON, May 7 — Leading governments of Europe, mounting a new campaign to push Paul D. Wolfowitz from his job as World Bank president, signaled Monday that they were willing to let the United States choose the bank's next chief, but only if Mr. Wolfowitz stepped down soon, European officials said.

European officials had previously indicated that they wanted to end the tradition of the United States picking the World Bank leader. But now the officials are hoping to enlist American help in persuading Mr. Wolfowitz to resign voluntarily, rather than be rebuked or ousted.

The goal, they said, is to avert a public rupture of the bank board over a vote, possibly later this week, to sanction Mr. Wolfowitz. Even if the vote is a reprimand, they said, it could effectively make it impossible for him to stay on.

UN Report: Global Warming can be mitigated

May 7, 2007
UN Report: Global Warming can be mitigated

Insurance Journal: The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has already produced several reports detailing the rise in global temperatures, their probable cause(s) and the devastating effects they will have on the environment, if they remain unchecked.

In its summary of the report [available at: www.ipcc.ch.] notes: "A range of policies, including those on climate change, energy security, and sustainable development, have been effective in reducing GHG emissions in different sectors and many countries. The scale of such measures, however, has not yet been large enough to counteract the global growth in emissions [citations]."

The IPCC report summarizes the growth of GHG emissions as follows [some citations omitted]:

"Global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have grown since pre-industrial times, with an increase of 70 percent between 1970 and 2004 (high agreement, much evidence).

World Bank panel finds Wolfowitz broke rules

May 7, 2007
World Bank panel finds Wolfowitz broke rules

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A World Bank panel has found that bank President Paul Wolfowitz's handling of a promotion and pay increase for his companion represented a conflict of interest and broke rules, but made no recommendation on how he should be reprimanded, board sources said on Monday.

The former U.S. deputy defense secretary, a key architect of the Iraq war, has been given several days to respond to the findings of the panel involving a lucrative deal for his companion, Shaha Riza, a World Bank Middle East expert.

One source close to the World Bank board said the panel found Wolfowitz's actions amounted to conflict of interest, while another source said the panel found he broke internal rules by personally directing Riza's transfer to the State Department with a promotion and salary increase.

Wolfowitz aide resigns from World Bank

May 7, 2007
Wolfowitz aide resigns from World Bank

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One of two key aides to World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz resigned on Monday, saying he could no longer effectively help advance the mission of the institution under the current leadership crisis.

Kevin Kellems, who was an advisor to Wolfowitz since 2002 at the Pentagon and throughout the planning of the Iraq war, told Reuters he was leaving "for other opportunities."

"Given the current environment surrounding the leadership of the World Bank Group, it is very difficult to be effective in helping to advance the mission of the institution," Kellems said.

Iraqis jail many innocents

May 6, 2007
Iraqis jail many innocents

BAGHDAD — U.S. officers here say they are increasingly troubled by the high number of innocent Iraqis being detained and held — in some cases for many months — by the Iraqi army.

Several officers who serve as advisers to the Iraqis said at least half the people detained by the Iraqi army in Baghdad are innocent.

And the advisers say their close association with the units doing the detaining is placing the Americans on the horns of an ethical dilemma: On one hand, they are forbidden from taking unilateral action in order to free the prisoners; on the other hand, by not freeing innocent detainees being held by their close allies, they feel complicit in what some termed "a war crime."

Iraq war costs spinning out of control

May 7, 2007
Iraq war costs spinning out of control

Even if the war were to end in days, its costs to taxpayers will drag on for decades. A study by Linda Bilmes, an economist at Harvard University, and Columbia University's Joseph Stiglitz last fall estimated total costs could reach $2.2 trillion – "and counting." That was before the president's recent "surge" plan.

Such calculations are rough and depend on assumptions. Nonetheless, the sum is miles away from the administration's original estimate that the war would cost $50 billion. Lawrence Lindsay, a White House economic adviser at that time, lost his job after suggesting the war might cost $200 billion.

Professors Bilmes and Stiglitz put the long-term budgetary costs, assuming the US maintains a small presence in Iraq through 2016, in the $1.4 trillion range. If all troops are home by 2010, the Iraq operations would cost $1 trillion.

These numbers include veterans' healthcare and disability compensation. In addition, there are demobilization costs. And the military will have to replace or refurbish much worn-out equipment. For instance, the Army's tanks were not built for sandy desert conditions and deteriorate rapidly in Iraq.

America's Idiotic Political Debates

May 4, 2007
America's Idiotic Political Debates

If you go back to the time of H.L. Mencken or Mark Twain, the educated classes also complained that American politicians were divided into two classes, vapid windbags and screeching baboons. Yet the country prospered.

If things are worse today it is because the windbags are gone. Most of today's pols are not able to deliver a sustained utterance in their own words of five minutes' duration. That leaves us with baboons emitting their loud short cries when the TV ringmaster tells them it's their turn. And still the Republic endures.

US troops 'condone torture'

May 4, 2007
US troops 'condone torture'

The Pentagon survey found that less than half the troops in Iraq thought Iraqi civilians should be treated with dignity and respect.

More than a third believed that torture was acceptable if it helped save the life of a fellow soldier or if it helped get information about the insurgents.

About 10% of those surveyed said they had actually mistreated Iraqi civilians by hitting or kicking them, or had damaged their property when it was not necessary to do so.

Iraqi lawmakers demand U.S. withdrawal

May 2, 2007
Iraqi lawmakers demand U.S. withdrawal

BAGHDAD, May 2 (UPI) -- As calls in the U.S. Congress grow for a scheduled troop withdrawal from Iraq, similar demands are escalating in Iraq's National Assembly.

Some 133 Iraqi lawmakers from different political blocs, calling themselves the "free deputies," signed a document demanding a scheduled withdrawal of the U.S.-led multinational troops from their country, according to the Sadrist bloc in Parliament.

A legislator from the Sadrist bloc, Saleh al-Okaili, told reporters Wednesday that his group initiated the document ahead of a U.N. Security Council review on Iraq slated for next month. The Sadrist bloc, whose Cabinet ministers had resigned, represents members of a group led by Shiite maverick leader Moqtada Sadr, who has been calling for setting a timetable to end the U.S.-British occupation of Iraq.

Peaceful Protestors Arrested - Charged with disturbing a public assembly

April 30, 2007
Peaceful Protestors Arrested - Charged with disturbing a public assembly

Four undergraduate protesters arrested at the Federal Bureau of Investigation director's speech last Thursday are now saying that their removal from the event was a breach of Harvard policy. And they said their subsequent arrest may have been a violation of their first amendment rights.

The students, who were arrested on charges of disturbing a public assembly, face a hearing before Middlesex County Court on May 10. Michael A. Gould-Wartofsky '07, one of the students, said that they are in close contact with the American Civil Liberties Union and several other civil liberties organizations regarding pro bono legal representation, though they have not yet chosen an attorney.

Gould-Wartofsky, Kelly L. Lee '07, J. Claire Provost '07, and Maura A. Roosevelt '07 were placed under arrest by Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) officers when they staged a protest against federal law enforcement practices during FBI Director Robert S. Mueller's talk at the Institute of Politics.

Conservative think tank linked to Abramoff scandal

May 5, 2007
Conservative think tank linked to Abramoff scandal

WASHINGTON - When Rep. Tom Feeney first told Congress about a 2003 golf junket he took with lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the Oviedo, Fla., Republican named a conservative think tank called the National Center for Public Policy Research as the trip's sponsor.

In the years since - and as recently as January - the think tank's directors said it played no role in the Scotland visit.

But congressional records show a direct link between the Washington-based policy group and a foundation identified by Senate investigators as Abramoff's personal "slush fund" that he used to evade taxes and lavish luxuries on his friends on Capitol Hill.

Palestinian POWs Tortured in Israel

May 6, 2007
Palestinian POWs Tortured in Israel

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli rights groups in a report published on Sunday condemned ill-treatment of Palestinian detainees, saying that in some cases it amounted to torture and calling for a halt to the practice.

Sixty-seven percent of those asked said they were subjected to "beatings, painful binding, swearing, humiliation and denial of basic needs" from the moment of their arrest to their transfer to the Shin Beth internal security service for interrogation, the report said.

Such measures "are defined by international law as ill-treatment and may reach the level of torture," it said.

Bush mentioned only once during debate

May 4, 2007
Bush mentioned only once during debate

SIMI VALLEY – The 10 Republican presidential candidates eagerly embraced the legacy of Ronald Reagan yesterday while barely acknowledging the current occupant of the White House.

In fact, President Bush's name was mentioned only once by one candidate during a 90-minute, nationally televised debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.

The debate marked the first time the Republican White House hopefuls appeared together, and there was broad agreement about continuing the present policy in Iraq for now. But some of the candidates offered pointed criticism about how the war has been waged.

Iraq is hemorrhaging doctors as violence racks the nations

May 5, 2007
Iraq is hemorrhaging doctors as violence racks the nations

BAGHDAD -- Iraq is hemorrhaging doctors as violence racks the nation. To stem the flow, the Iraqi government has recently taken a cue from Saddam Hussein: Medical schools are once again forbidden to issue diplomas and transcripts to new graduates.

Hussein built a fine medical system in part by withholding doctors' passports and diplomas. Although physicians can work in Iraq with a letter from a medical school verifying their graduation, they say they need certificates and transcripts to work abroad.

Bar Criticizes Proposed POW Rules

April 30, 2007
Bar Criticizes Proposed POW Rules

In a court filing this month, the department said that the lawyers' use of mail to communicate with their clients had "enabled detainees' counsel to cause unrest on the base by informing detainees about terrorist attacks."

The mail system was "misused" to inform detainees about military operations in Iraq, activities of terrorist leaders, efforts to fight terrorism, a Hezbollah attack on Israel and abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison, the department said in the filing.

In his letter to Mr. Gonzales, the bar association's president, Barry M. Kamins, said, "This is an astonishing and disingenuous assertion."

"Blaming counsel for the hunger strikes and other unrest is a continuation of a disreputable and unwarranted smear campaign against counsel," the letter said.

Many POWs at Guantánamo Rebuff Lawyers

May 5, 2007
Many POWs at Guantánamo Rebuff Lawyers

Some of the lawyers accuse Guantánamo officials of feeding the detainees' suspicions of the lawyers, a charge Pentagon officials deny.

Lawyers said many of the relationships appeared to have deteriorated as the detainees' legal cause has suffered setbacks in Congress and the courts, and as Justice Department officials have begun efforts to limit lawyers' access to detainees, raising new concerns among the detainees about their lawyers' effectiveness.

"Every lawyer is afraid, every time they go down there, that their clients won't see them," said Mark P. Denbeaux, a professor at Seton Hall University School of Law who represents two Guantánamo detainees. "And it's getting worse, because it's pretty hard to say we're offering them anything."

Justice Department Asked to Limit Lawyers Access at Guantánamo

April 26, 2007
Justice Department Asked to Limit Lawyers Access at Guantánamo

The Justice Department has asked a federal appeals court to impose tighter restrictions on the hundreds of lawyers who represent detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and the request has become a central issue in a new legal battle over the administration's detention policies.

Saying that visits by civilian lawyers and attorney-client mail have caused "intractable problems and threats to security at Guantánamo," a Justice Department filing proposes new limits on the lawyers' contact with their clients and access to evidence in their cases that would replace more expansive rules that have governed them since they began visiting Guantánamo detainees in large numbers in 2004.

NRA: Don't Ban Gun Sales to Terror Suspects

May 4, 2007
NRA: Don't Ban Gun Sales to Terror Suspects

In a letter this week to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, NRA executive director Chris Cox said the bill, offered last week by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., "would allow arbitrary denial of Second Amendment rights based on mere 'suspicions' of a terrorist threat."

"As many of our friends in law enforcement have rightly pointed out, the word 'suspect' has no legal meaning, particularly when it comes to denying constitutional liberties," Cox wrote.

A 2005 study by the Government Accountability Office found that 35 of 44 firearm purchase attempts over a five-month period made by known or suspected terrorists were approved by the federal law enforcement officials.

150 million-year-old dinosaur unearthed in Argentina

May 4, 2007
150 million-year-old dinosaur unearthed in Argentina

BUENOS AIRES (AFP) - Paleontologists unearthed a flesh-eating dinosaur some 150 million years old in southern Argentina with all its joints in place, the first time such a beast has been dug up so intact, one of the finders told AFP on Friday.

The seven-meter (23-foot) tall, two-legged dinosaur, dubbed the Condorraptor, was found fossilized with parts of its jaw and head showing in rock near the village of Cerro Condor in Patagonia, at a site where paleontologists had been working for five years.

"It is an unprecedented discovery. It is the first time in the world that a carnivorous dinosaur of the Middle Jurassic period has been found fully jointed," said Pablo Puerta, a paleontologist at the Egidio Feruglio museum in the town of Trelew.

Evolution Splits GOP

May 5, 2007
Evolution Splits GOP

On one level the debate can be seen as a polite discussion of political theory among the members of a small group of intellectuals. But the argument also exposes tensions within the Republicans' "big tent," as could be seen Thursday night when the party's 10 candidates for president were asked during their first debate whether they believed in evolution. Three — Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas; Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas; and Representative Tom Tancredo of Colorado — indicated they did not.

For some conservatives, accepting Darwin undercuts religious faith and produces an amoral, materialistic worldview that easily embraces abortion, embryonic stem cell research and other practices they abhor. As an alternative to Darwin, many advocate intelligent design, which holds that life is so intricately organized that only an intelligent power could have created it.

Study finds lapses in battlefield ethics

May 5, 2007
Study finds lapses in battlefield ethics

WASHINGTON - In a survey of U.S. troops in combat in Iraq, less than half of Marines and a little more than half of Army soldiers said they would report a member of their unit for killing or wounding an innocent civilian.

More than 40 percent support the idea of torture in some cases, and 10 percent reported personally abusing Iraqi civilians, the Pentagon said Friday in what it called its first ethics study of troops at the war front. Units exposed to the most combat were chosen for the study, officials said.

"It is disappointing," said analyst John Pike of the Globalsecurity.org think tank. "But anybody who is surprised by it doesn't understand war. ... This is about combat stress."

Transportation Depatment Lost 100,000 Records

May 5, 2007
Transportation Depatment Lost 100,000 Records

WASHINGTON - The Transportation Security Administration has lost a computer hard drive containing Social Security numbers, bank data and payroll information for about 100,000 employees.

Authorities realized Thursday the hard drive was missing from a controlled area at
TSA headquarters. TSA Administrator Kip Hawley sent a letter to employees Friday apologizing for the lost data and promising to pay for one year of credit monitoring services.

"TSA has no evidence that an unauthorized individual is using your personal information, but we bring this incident to your attention so that you can be alert to signs of any possible misuse of your identity," Hawley wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press. "We profoundly apologize for any inconvenience and concern that this incident has caused you."

Goodling's Lawyers Protest Justice Department Probe Revelation

May 4, 2007
Goodling's Lawyers Protest Justice Department Probe Revelation

May 3 (Bloomberg) -- Lawyers for former U.S. Justice Department aide Monica Goodling protested the agency's announcement of an internal investigation into whether she improperly considered the political affiliation of applicants to be prosecutors.

Goodling, 33, who resigned last month as an aide to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, has invoked her constitutional right against self-incrimination to refuse to tell Congress about her role in the firing of eight U.S. attorneys.

Her Washington lawyers, John Dowd and Jeffrey King, said in a letter they are disturbed that the Justice Department revealed the inquiry eight days after a House committee voted to compel Goodling's testimony by authorizing a grant of limited immunity from prosecution.

Projectile Bomb Attacks Hit Record High in Iraq

May 4, 2007
Projectile Bomb Attacks Hit Record High in Iraq

BAGHDAD -- Attacks in Iraq involving lethal weapons that U.S. officials say are made in Iran hit a record high last month, despite efforts to crack down on networks supplying the armor-piercing weapons known as explosively formed projectiles, according to a senior U.S. commander.

The number of attacks with the projectiles rose to 65 in April, said Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, who oversees day-to-day U.S. military operations in Iraq. "The overwhelming majority" were in predominantly Shiite eastern Baghdad, Odierno said in an interview this week. Officials have said the projectiles are used almost exclusively by Shiite fighters against U.S. military targets.

The growing use of the projectiles is a major concern for American commanders because the weapons are powerful enough to punch through the heaviest U.S. armored vehicles, including the Abrams tank. As a result, the weapons are far more lethal than other roadside bombs, and have been a factor in keeping U.S. troop casualties from dropping despite improvements in the military's ability to detect and defeat roadside bombs.

Bush's deputy security adviser resigns

May 4, 2007
Bush's deputy security adviser resigns

WASHINGTON - Public support for them Iraq war is low. Lawmakers are battling the White House over money to pay for the combat. Suicide bombings continue in Baghdad.

Despite it all, J.D. Crouch, who is stepping down from his national security post at the White House, is confident history will prove that invading Iraq was the right thing to do.

Crouch, who has been President Bush's deputy national security adviser for more than two years, said the president never will be swayed by opposition to the war. Instead, Crouch said, Bush will use his resolve to help convince a broad section of Americans that it's important to be in Iraq.

General Motors profit plunges 90 per cent

May 3, 2007
General Motors profit plunges 90 per cent

Washington - General Motors Corporation Thursday reported a
90 per cent drop in first quarter profits, drained down by the slump
in its mortgage branch.

Net income dropped to 62 million dollars from 602 million dollars
in the same period last year, the Detroit automaker said. Revenues
were down 16 per cent to 43.9 billion dollars.

The overall slump in the US mortgage market has seen many
borrowers overextended and unable to keep up with payments, resulting
in a domino effect throughout the industry. The increasing number of
loans to high risk lenders is coming under scrutiny by the government
and consumer groups.

World's major economies no longer depend on America

May 2, 2007
World's major economies no longer depend on America

It's because of two great decouplings that have occurred in recent years. First, the rest of the worlds' major economies have decoupled from the United States economy. China, India, Japan, and Europe are now such large markets they can grow briskly even as America slows.

Second, America's largest corporations have decoupled from the United States. Their overseas subsidiaries are booming even as their American operations stagnate. General Electric expects more than half its revenue this year to come from outside the United States for the first time. More than half of Boeing's new orders are from overseas. Ford is struggling in America but doing well in Europe.

In other words, the president's supply-side tax cuts are great for America's global investors, who have been investing their extra money around the world -- either in foreign companies or in global American-based ones.

Coughlin and O'Reilly Propaganda Study

Posted May 2007
Coughlin and O'Reilly Propaganda Study

Prominent bad role-players and reasons

Honeybee Die-Off Threatens U.S. Food Supply

May 3, 2007
Honeybee Die-Off Threatens U.S. Food Supply

BELTSVILLE, Md. (May 3) - Unless someone or something stops it soon, the mysterious killer that is wiping out many of the nation's honeybees could have a devastating effect on America's dinner plate, perhaps even reducing us to a glorified bread-and-water diet.

Honeybees don't just make honey; they pollinate more than 90 of the tastiest flowering crops we have. Among them: apples, nuts, avocados, soybeans, asparagus, broccoli, celery, squash and cucumbers. And lots of the really sweet and tart stuff, too, including citrus fruit, peaches, kiwi, cherries, blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, cantaloupe and other melons.

In fact, about one-third of the human diet comes from insect-pollinated plants, and the honeybee is responsible for 80 percent of that pollination, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Number of Republicans in U.S. Hits New Low

May 2, 2007
Number of Republicans in U.S. Hits New Low

The number of people identifying themselves as Republicans has fallen to a new low. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of 15,000 adults in April found that just 31.0% now say they belong to the Grand Old Party. That's down from 31.5% the month before and reflects a drop of more than six percentage points from the peak of 37.3% during Election 2004.

However, the survey also found a decline in the number identifying themselves as Democrats. Today, 36.5% say they belong to Nancy Pelosi's party. That's the lowest total in eleven months and represents a decline from 38.0% since the Democrats began running Congress.

As a result, the number not affiliated with either major party has jumped to an all-time high—32.4%. That's up eight percentage points since Election 2004 and means that there are now more politically unaffiliated adults than Republicans.

New Documents Show Republican Involvement in U.S. Attorney Firings

May 2, 2007
New Documents Show Republican Involvement in U.S. Attorney Firings

WASHINGTON There's a new development in the aftermath of the firing of several U-S attorneys, including Nevada's Daniel Bogden.

The Associated Press has learned that the Justice Department is investigating whether its former White House liaison used political affiliations in deciding whom to hire as entry-level prosecutors in some U-S attorney offices around the country.

Such consideration would be a violation of federal law.

The inquiry involves Monica Goodling, a conservative Republican who recently quit as counsel and White House liaison for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. It raises new concerns that politics have cast a shadow over the independence of trial prosecutors who enforce U-S laws.