**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US ATrays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
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Boston.com
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/02/09/an_experienced_democratic_field?mode=PF
SCOT LEHIGH
An experienced Democratic field
By Scot Lehigh | February 9, 2007
BARACK OBAMA HAS proved to be the next new thing in the Democraticpresidential pre-season, but John Edwards apparently isn't worried.
He believes this race for the nomination will boil down to a contest betweenHillary Clinton and himself.
As for Obama? Voters aren't going to nominate a candidate with such limitedexperience, the North Carolinian is saying as he makes the rounds.
Irony, thy name is John Reid Edwards.
Certainly it's true that Obama is a relative rookie, having logged only twoyears in the US Senate; before that, he was a state senator.
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Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bundle9feb09,1,6573579,print.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
Fundraising, with no names attached
People called 'bundlers' round up donors on behalf of presidential hopefuls.
They also potentially collect clout under the public's radar.
By Tom Hamburger
Times Staff Writer
February 9, 2007
WASHINGTON - When Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) laid out thefinancial goals for her budding presidential campaign in a private meetingat her Washington home earlier this week, a key element in her fundraisingplan was a time-honored technique that relies on supporters who promise toround up big dollars - in this case, as much as $1 million each.
Instead of going through the slow, expensive process of obtainingcontributions one at a time, the technique - known in fundraising parlanceas "bundling" - relies on well-connected individuals such as lobbyists andother insiders to canvass blocs of potential donors from businesses, unionsand other groups. These canvassers then present the candidate with bundlesof checks that add up to significant amounts.
Clinton is not alone in embracing the technique, which over the years hasproved both lucrative and efficient. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and otherDemocratic hopefuls are using it too. So are Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), afront-runner for the GOP presidential nomination, and most of his Republicanrivals, including former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New YorkCity Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.
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Boston.com
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2007/02/08/gore_supporters_plotting_way_to_get_him_to_run_in_2008?mode=PF
Gore supporters plotting way to get him to run in 2008
By Philip Elliott, Associated Press Writer | February 8, 2007
CONCORD, N.H. --Veterans of Al Gore's past are quietly assembling a campaignto draft the former vice president into the 2008 presidential race --despite his repeated statements that he's not running.
His top policy adviser from his 2000 presidential campaign and other keysupporters met Thursday in Boston to mull a potential Gore campaign. Theparticipants and Gore's Nashville office both said Gore, who is in London,is not involved.
Elaine Kamarck, a veteran of the Clinton White House and Gore's policy guruin 2000, said the meeting was informal and shouldn't be taken as a signthere will be a Gore 2008 campaign.
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Boston.com
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/02/08/democrats_weigh_plan_to_clear_out_gitmo?mode=PF
Democrats weigh plan to clear out Gitmo
By David Espo, AP Special Correspondent | February 8, 2007
WASHINGTON --Key House Democrats said Thursday they are considering a planto close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by the end of 2008, with theexception of several dozen detainees in the war on terror who would be keptat the facility and tried there.
Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said he hopes to include the provision inlegislation this spring that Democrats also intend to use to try to preventfurther increases in troop strength in the war in Iraq.
Without public notice, Murtha dispatched Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., to thedetention center at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay on a one-day triplate last month to recommend ways for closing it. Both men said the prisonhas become counterproductive as the United States tries to win convertsoverseas in the war on terror.
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Detroit News
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070209/NATION/702090375/1020/rss09&template=printart
Rising Dem star loses luster
San Francisco mayor's admissions of affair, alcohol problems take veneer offhis success.
John M. Glionna and Lee Romney / Los Angeles Times
SAN FRANCISCO -- He's considered a darling of Democratic Party politics, asmooth-talking young millionaire with Kennedy good looks who has basked inthe media limelight while being courted as a possible national politicalfigure.
But beneath the surface, Mayor Gavin Newsom's Camelot has been crumbling.
After admitting recently to adultery and alcohol abuse, Newsom has suffereda public political meltdown that has rocked City Hall and led one countysupervisor to call for his resignation.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/47773/
A Budget for Permanent War
By Ari Berman, The Nation
Need proof that George W. Bush is not planning to withdraw US troops fromIraq on his watch? Just look at his latest budget.
The Bush Administration will ask Congress for $100 billion for Iraq andAfghanistan this year -- on top of the $70 billion already allocated -- and$145 billion for 2008. Why ask for the money if you're not planning to useit?
Administration officials, according to the Washington Post, "warned thateven more money will probably will be needed." The Los Angeles Times saysthe military wants "even larger defense budgets."
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/08/AR2007020801678_pf.html
The War And the Words
By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, February 9, 2007; A19
National Intelligence Estimates are not supposed to be amusing. And thelatest NIE on the situation in Iraq was uniformly grim. But the document'sdetermined effort to split the difference on the use of the phrase "civilwar" did verge on the comical. One can only imagine the interagencywrangling that produced the classic bureaucratic compromise: "TheIntelligence Community judges that the term 'civil war' does not adequatelycapture the complexity of the conflict," but "nonetheless, the term 'civilwar' accurately describes key elements of the Iraqi conflict."
In other words: yes, no, maybe. Multiple civil strife, but way too messy torank with the classics such as America in the 1860s or Spain in the 1930s.
I don't deny that this is a fair application of "civil war" to the currentsituation. What I note with dismay, however, is how important -- andabsurdly irrelevant -- the application of certain loaded words to thesituation has become.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/08/washington/08waxman.html?pagewanted=print
February 8, 2007
Army Says It Will Withhold $19.6 Million From Halliburton, Citing PotentialContract Breach
By PHILIP SHENON
WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 - The Army announced during a House oversight committeehearing on Wednesday that it would withhold $19.6 million from theHalliburton Company after recently discovering that the contractor had hiredthe company Blackwater USA to provide armed security guards in Iraq, apotential breach of its government contract.
The Army has said that its contracts with Halliburton, which has afive-year, $16 billion deal to support American military operations in Iraq,generally barred the company and its subcontractors from using private armedguards. But in a statement, Halliburton disagreed with the Army'sinterpretation and suggested that there was nothing to prohibit Halliburton'ssubcontractors from hiring such guards.
The announcement came during a hearing of the House Government OversightCommittee that included emotional testimony about the killing of fourBlackwater employees in Falluja, Iraq, in 2004.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/08/washington/08asylum.html?_r=1&adxnnl=0&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1170978638-fUA5A//B99TXnPoX1B434w&pagewanted=print
February 8, 2007
U.S. May Be Mishandling Asylum Seekers, Panel Says
By RACHEL L. SWARNS
WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 - A bipartisan federal commission warned on Wednesdaythat the Bush administration, in its zeal to secure the nation's borders andstem the tide of illegal immigrants, may be leaving asylum seekersvulnerable to deportation and harsh treatment.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, whichCongress asked to assess asylum regulations, found two years ago that someimmigration officials were improperly processing asylum seekers fordeportation. The commission, which also found that asylum seekers were oftenstrip-searched, shackled and held in jails, called for safeguards in thesystem of speedy deportations known as expedited removal, to protect thosefleeing persecution.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/washington/09feith.html?ei=5094&en=4eabd30f5f83ce6a&hp=&ex=1171083600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
February 9, 2007
Prewar Intelligence Unit at Pentagon Is Criticized
By DAVID S. CLOUD and MARK MAZZETTI
WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 — A Pentagon investigation into the handling of prewarintelligence has criticized civilian Pentagon officials for conducting theirown intelligence analysis to find links between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda,but said the officials did not violate any laws or mislead Congress,according to Congressional officials who have read the report.
The long-awaited report by the Pentagon’s acting inspector general, ThomasF. Gimble, was sent to Congress on Thursday. It is the first major review torebuke senior officials working for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld forthe way intelligence was used before the invasion of Iraq early in 2003.
Working under Douglas J. Feith, who at the time was under secretary ofdefense for policy, the group “developed, produced and then disseminatedalternative intelligence assessments on the Iraq and Al Qaeda relationship,which included some conclusions that were inconsistent with the consensus ofthe Intelligence Community, to senior decision-makers,” the reportconcluded. Excerpts were quoted by Senator Carl Levin, a Michigan Democratwho has long been critical of Mr. Feith and other Pentagon officials.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/washington/09cong.html?pagewanted=print
February 9, 2007
Democrats Set House Debate to Rebuke Bush Over Iraq Policy
By JEFF ZELENY
WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 — House Democratic leaders persuaded members of theirparty on Thursday to limit the scope of an Iraq war resolution next week toa simple repudiation of President Bush’s troop buildup plan, hoping totemporarily set aside divisive decisions over war financing and troopredeployments.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, and other party leaders metprivately for more than an hour with other Democratic lawmakers. They soughtto reassure Democrats that the symbolic, nonbinding resolution devised torebuke Mr. Bush was a first step — but not a final one — toward assertingCongressional powers on Iraq.
After winning control of Congress, in part because of discontent over theIraq war, Democrats are eager to send a strong signal of disapproval to theWhite House. To make the proposal palatable to at least some Republicans,the Democrats said their resolution would express support for the troops,but reject the plan to send 21,500 more of them to Iraq.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/washington/09libby.html?pagewanted=print
February 9, 2007
NBC’s Russert Wraps Up Prosecution Case in Libby Trial
By NEIL A. LEWIS
WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 — The prosecution finished presenting its case in theperjury trial of I. Lewis Libby Jr. on Thursday, leaving his defense lawyersto try to undo the government’s contention that Mr. Libby lied under oathduring an investigation into the leak of a C.I.A. officer’s identity.
Mr. Libby’s legal team will begin with a parade of Washington journalists aswitnesses for the defense when the proceedings resume Monday. But lawyersfor Mr. Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, leftit a mystery as to whether they would call the two star attractions on theirwitness list: Mr. Cheney and Mr. Libby himself.
The last day of the prosecution’s case was largely consumed with an intensebattle of wills between Mr. Libby’s chief defense lawyer, Theodore V. WellsJr., and the final prosecution witness, Tim Russert of NBC News. Before thejurors left for a long weekend, they were bombarded as they have been eachday with a fast-moving and complex torrent of information.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/opinion/09fri3.html?pagewanted=print
January 9, 2007
Editorial
The A.B.A.’s Judicial Ethics Mess
At a moment when judicial independence is under heightened political attack,the nation’s legal establishment should be doing everything it can to shoreup public trust. Instead, the special commission charged with recommendingrevisions to the Model Code of Judicial Conduct of the American BarAssociation has been flip-flopping around on some of the most importantaspects of the code, which the states use to set standards for their courts.
For decades, the code’s overarching charge to judges has been to avoid notonly actual impropriety, but also the appearance of impropriety. Recently,however, quietly adopted changes to the commission’s “final” report demotedthis gold standard of judicial conduct from an enforceable rule to a mereaspirational guideline.
When the misguided switch came to light, the panel reversed field againyesterday and went back to the previous formulation. But that does notexcuse the fact that the panel was following internal politics, not soundlegal principle. The change might have eluded pubic attention if RobertTembeckjian, the administrator of the New York State Commission on JudicialConduct, had not protested and Adam Liptak had not reported on the matter inThe Times this week.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/washington/09feith.html?ei=5094&en=4eabd30f5f83ce6a&hp=&ex=1171083600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
February 9, 2007
Pentagon Group Criticized for Prewar Intelligence Analysis
By DAVID S. CLOUD and MARK MAZZETTI
WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 — A Pentagon investigation into the handling of prewarintelligence has criticized civilian Pentagon officials for conducting theirown intelligence analysis to find links between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda,but said the officials did not violate any laws or mislead Congress,according to Congressional officials who have read the report.
The long-awaited report by the Pentagon’s acting inspector general, ThomasF. Gimble, was sent to Congress on Thursday. It is the first major review torebuke senior officials working for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld forthe way intelligence was used before the invasion of Iraq early in 2003.
Working under Douglas J. Feith, who at the time was under secretary ofdefense for policy, the group “developed, produced and then disseminatedalternative intelligence assessments on the Iraq and Al Qaeda relationship,which included some conclusions that were inconsistent with the consensus ofthe Intelligence Community, to senior decision-makers,” the reportconcluded. Excerpts were quoted by Senator Carl Levin, a Michigan Democratwho has long been critical of Mr. Feith and other Pentagon officials.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/opinion/09fri1.html?pagewanted=print
February 9, 2007
Editorial
Making Democracy Credible
Time is growing short to head off more embarrassing voting machine scandals.The presidential election looms, yet nearly half of the states offer noreassuring paper trail so voters who use electronic voting machines cancheck that their ballot choices are accurately recorded.
With a proper sense of urgency, Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California,who leads the Senate committee in charge of elections, is asking all of theright questions about voting technology. This week, she ordered aninvestigation of the case of as many as 18,000 electronic votes that turnedup missing in a tight Congressional race in Florida last November.
Senator Feinstein called on the Government Accountability Office and theNational Institute of Standards and Technology to conduct “top to bottom”federal investigations of the machines used in Sarasota County, where the18,000 votes may have disappeared. Florida is now moving to toss outelectronic voting machines that do not produce a paper trail. But this is nocomfort to Christine Jennings, the Democrat in the 13th CongressionalDistrict race, which includes Sarasota County. She lost by 369 votes and isnow in court trying to find out what went wrong in the election.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/world/middleeast/09saudi.html?ei=5094&en=b8db4692c77bc501&hp=&ex=1171083600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
February 9, 2007
Accord Is Signed by Palestinians to Stop Feuding
By HASSAN M. FATTAH
MECCA, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 8 — The main rival Palestinian factions agreedlate Thursday to form a government of national unity aimed at ending a waveof violence between them and an international boycott.
The agreement, signed here in Islam’s holiest city under Saudi auspices,appeared likely to end, at least for now, weeks of fighting that had ravagedthe West Bank and Gaza Strip. Still, it seemed to stop short of meeting thedemands of the international community for resuming relations and supportfor the Palestinian Authority.
The accord, signed by Khaled Meshal of Hamas and Mahmoud Abbas, thePalestinian Authority president and leader of Fatah, its main rival, is thefirst time that the two parties have agreed to share authority. It sets outprinciples for a coalition government, like the distribution of ministerialportfolios, but leaves many of the details for later.
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Forwarded from Leon Van Dyke
Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 8:58 PM
Subject: NEW Scam on Visa & Master Card
I checked on snopes.com to verify that this was true and felt it was worthsharing with everyone..... Note boldface paragraph below. --The bulk of thetext as passed to me, I also verified as issuing from snopes.com
Leon
Hi Everyone, this came from a friend who works at a Bank:
We have received the following from at Whitford City - you may need to readand take note. This could be relevant to all of us.
FYI... This one is pretty slick since they provide YOU with all theinformation, except the one piece they want.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2003559797_spoofed07
.html
Editorial--Go forth and initiate
Good message, bad tactic. Of the many ways to make a point, using - or inthis case, misusing - the citizen initiative process is not the best way towin an argument.
A group of gay-marriage supporters plans to begin gathering signatures for astatewide initiative that would limit the institution of marriage to coupleswho have children. And not those who have children at just any old time inthe marriage - within three years of the vows.
Otherwise, the marriage would be dissolved. No one means any of this tooseriously; the initiative is designed to take a purposeful dig at a stateSupreme Court ruling denying gays the right to marry in part because suchunions don't advance procreation.
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The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/opinion/09friedman.html
February 9, 2007
Op-Ed Columnist
Not Their Parents’ Russia
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
MOSCOW
Russia today is a country that takes three hands to describe.
On the one hand, it is impossible any more to call Vladimir Putin’sgovernment “democratic,” given the way it has neutered the RussianParliament, intimidated or taken over much of the Russian press,subordinated the judiciary and coercively extended its control over thecountry’s key energy companies.
On the other hand, it is obvious talking to Russians how much thehumiliating and dispiriting turmoil that accompanied Boris Yeltsin’s firststab at democracy — after the collapse of Communism — left many people herestarved for a strong leader, a stable economy and stores with Westernconsumer goods. Mr. Putin is popular for a reason.
And on the third hand, while today’s Russia may be a crazy quilt ofcapitalist czars, mobsters, nationalists and aspiring democrats, it is notthe totalitarian Soviet Union. It has more than a touch of theauthoritarianism of postwar Gaullist France and a large spoonful of thecorruption and messiness of postwar Italy — when those countries emergedfrom World War II as less than perfect democracies.
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From recent past...
Fox News: "The more you watch the less you know." Quote from the MemphisMedia Conference.
medialifemagazine.com
Cable
Fox News ratings take a steep tumble
By Kevin Downey
Nov 2, 2006, 01:20
October was the 10th anniversary of Fox News, and in that 10 years it hasrisen to the No. 1 cable news network, riding on the tagline "Fair andBalanced."
Yet Fox News is showing serious signs of aging, led by steep audiencedeclines.
Fox News’s total audience fell 24 percent in the past year, to 1.3 millionviewers from 1.7 million, and its key primetime audience, viewers ages25-54, was down 7 percent in October on a year-to-year basis, to an average363,000 viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research data.
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http://civ.moveon.org/publicbroadcasting/o.pl?id=9851-5533006-xEmkt7ienmASzh651m4wsA&t=3
George W. Bush is trying—yet again—to slash funding for NPR and PBS.
This week, Bush proposed a new budget with devastating cuts to publicbroadcasting.1 "Sesame Street" and other ad-free kids' shows are under theknife. So is the independent journalism our country needs.
Enough is enough. We've fought this fight before and won—but we can't affordthe risk anymore. With the new Congress, we can make sure this never happensagain. We need Congress to insulate NPR and PBS from the political winds.
We can make it happen if enough of us sign this petition: "Congress mustsave NPR and PBS once and for all. Congress should guarantee permanentfunding and independence from partisan meddling." Clicking here will addyour name to the petition:
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Boston.com
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2007/02/08/gore_supporters_plotting_way_to_get_him_to_run_in_2008?mode=PF
Gore supporters plotting way to get him to run in 2008
By Philip Elliott, Associated Press Writer | February 8, 2007
CONCORD, N.H. --Veterans of Al Gore's past are quietly assembling a campaignto draft the former vice president into the 2008 presidential race --despite his repeated statements that he's not running.
His top policy adviser from his 2000 presidential campaign and other keysupporters met Thursday in Boston to mull a potential Gore campaign. Theparticipants and Gore's Nashville office both said Gore, who is in London,is not involved.
Elaine Kamarck, a veteran of the Clinton White House and Gore's policy guruin 2000, said the meeting was informal and shouldn't be taken as a signthere will be a Gore 2008 campaign.
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Boston.com
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/02/08/democrats_weigh_plan_to_clear_out_gitmo?mode=PF
Democrats weigh plan to clear out Gitmo
By David Espo, AP Special Correspondent | February 8, 2007
WASHINGTON --Key House Democrats said Thursday they are considering a planto close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by the end of 2008, with theexception of several dozen detainees in the war on terror who would be keptat the facility and tried there.
Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said he hopes to include the provision inlegislation this spring that Democrats also intend to use to try to preventfurther increases in troop strength in the war in Iraq.
Without public notice, Murtha dispatched Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., to thedetention center at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay on a one-day triplate last month to recommend ways for closing it. Both men said the prisonhas become counterproductive as the United States tries to win convertsoverseas in the war on terror.
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Detroit News
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070209/NATION/702090375/1020/rss09&template=printart
Rising Dem star loses luster
San Francisco mayor's admissions of affair, alcohol problems take veneer offhis success.
John M. Glionna and Lee Romney / Los Angeles Times
SAN FRANCISCO -- He's considered a darling of Democratic Party politics, asmooth-talking young millionaire with Kennedy good looks who has basked inthe media limelight while being courted as a possible national politicalfigure.
But beneath the surface, Mayor Gavin Newsom's Camelot has been crumbling.
After admitting recently to adultery and alcohol abuse, Newsom has suffereda public political meltdown that has rocked City Hall and led one countysupervisor to call for his resignation.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/47773/
A Budget for Permanent War
By Ari Berman, The Nation
Need proof that George W. Bush is not planning to withdraw US troops fromIraq on his watch? Just look at his latest budget.
The Bush Administration will ask Congress for $100 billion for Iraq andAfghanistan this year -- on top of the $70 billion already allocated -- and$145 billion for 2008. Why ask for the money if you're not planning to useit?
Administration officials, according to the Washington Post, "warned thateven more money will probably will be needed." The Los Angeles Times saysthe military wants "even larger defense budgets."
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/08/AR2007020801678_pf.html
The War And the Words
By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, February 9, 2007; A19
National Intelligence Estimates are not supposed to be amusing. And thelatest NIE on the situation in Iraq was uniformly grim. But the document'sdetermined effort to split the difference on the use of the phrase "civilwar" did verge on the comical. One can only imagine the interagencywrangling that produced the classic bureaucratic compromise: "TheIntelligence Community judges that the term 'civil war' does not adequatelycapture the complexity of the conflict," but "nonetheless, the term 'civilwar' accurately describes key elements of the Iraqi conflict."
In other words: yes, no, maybe. Multiple civil strife, but way too messy torank with the classics such as America in the 1860s or Spain in the 1930s.
I don't deny that this is a fair application of "civil war" to the currentsituation. What I note with dismay, however, is how important -- andabsurdly irrelevant -- the application of certain loaded words to thesituation has become.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/08/washington/08waxman.html?pagewanted=print
February 8, 2007
Army Says It Will Withhold $19.6 Million From Halliburton, Citing PotentialContract Breach
By PHILIP SHENON
WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 - The Army announced during a House oversight committeehearing on Wednesday that it would withhold $19.6 million from theHalliburton Company after recently discovering that the contractor had hiredthe company Blackwater USA to provide armed security guards in Iraq, apotential breach of its government contract.
The Army has said that its contracts with Halliburton, which has afive-year, $16 billion deal to support American military operations in Iraq,generally barred the company and its subcontractors from using private armedguards. But in a statement, Halliburton disagreed with the Army'sinterpretation and suggested that there was nothing to prohibit Halliburton'ssubcontractors from hiring such guards.
The announcement came during a hearing of the House Government OversightCommittee that included emotional testimony about the killing of fourBlackwater employees in Falluja, Iraq, in 2004.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/08/washington/08asylum.html?_r=1&adxnnl=0&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1170978638-fUA5A//B99TXnPoX1B434w&pagewanted=print
February 8, 2007
U.S. May Be Mishandling Asylum Seekers, Panel Says
By RACHEL L. SWARNS
WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 - A bipartisan federal commission warned on Wednesdaythat the Bush administration, in its zeal to secure the nation's borders andstem the tide of illegal immigrants, may be leaving asylum seekersvulnerable to deportation and harsh treatment.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, whichCongress asked to assess asylum regulations, found two years ago that someimmigration officials were improperly processing asylum seekers fordeportation. The commission, which also found that asylum seekers were oftenstrip-searched, shackled and held in jails, called for safeguards in thesystem of speedy deportations known as expedited removal, to protect thosefleeing persecution.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/washington/09feith.html?ei=5094&en=4eabd30f5f83ce6a&hp=&ex=1171083600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
February 9, 2007
Prewar Intelligence Unit at Pentagon Is Criticized
By DAVID S. CLOUD and MARK MAZZETTI
WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 — A Pentagon investigation into the handling of prewarintelligence has criticized civilian Pentagon officials for conducting theirown intelligence analysis to find links between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda,but said the officials did not violate any laws or mislead Congress,according to Congressional officials who have read the report.
The long-awaited report by the Pentagon’s acting inspector general, ThomasF. Gimble, was sent to Congress on Thursday. It is the first major review torebuke senior officials working for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld forthe way intelligence was used before the invasion of Iraq early in 2003.
Working under Douglas J. Feith, who at the time was under secretary ofdefense for policy, the group “developed, produced and then disseminatedalternative intelligence assessments on the Iraq and Al Qaeda relationship,which included some conclusions that were inconsistent with the consensus ofthe Intelligence Community, to senior decision-makers,” the reportconcluded. Excerpts were quoted by Senator Carl Levin, a Michigan Democratwho has long been critical of Mr. Feith and other Pentagon officials.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/washington/09cong.html?pagewanted=print
February 9, 2007
Democrats Set House Debate to Rebuke Bush Over Iraq Policy
By JEFF ZELENY
WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 — House Democratic leaders persuaded members of theirparty on Thursday to limit the scope of an Iraq war resolution next week toa simple repudiation of President Bush’s troop buildup plan, hoping totemporarily set aside divisive decisions over war financing and troopredeployments.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, and other party leaders metprivately for more than an hour with other Democratic lawmakers. They soughtto reassure Democrats that the symbolic, nonbinding resolution devised torebuke Mr. Bush was a first step — but not a final one — toward assertingCongressional powers on Iraq.
After winning control of Congress, in part because of discontent over theIraq war, Democrats are eager to send a strong signal of disapproval to theWhite House. To make the proposal palatable to at least some Republicans,the Democrats said their resolution would express support for the troops,but reject the plan to send 21,500 more of them to Iraq.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/washington/09libby.html?pagewanted=print
February 9, 2007
NBC’s Russert Wraps Up Prosecution Case in Libby Trial
By NEIL A. LEWIS
WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 — The prosecution finished presenting its case in theperjury trial of I. Lewis Libby Jr. on Thursday, leaving his defense lawyersto try to undo the government’s contention that Mr. Libby lied under oathduring an investigation into the leak of a C.I.A. officer’s identity.
Mr. Libby’s legal team will begin with a parade of Washington journalists aswitnesses for the defense when the proceedings resume Monday. But lawyersfor Mr. Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, leftit a mystery as to whether they would call the two star attractions on theirwitness list: Mr. Cheney and Mr. Libby himself.
The last day of the prosecution’s case was largely consumed with an intensebattle of wills between Mr. Libby’s chief defense lawyer, Theodore V. WellsJr., and the final prosecution witness, Tim Russert of NBC News. Before thejurors left for a long weekend, they were bombarded as they have been eachday with a fast-moving and complex torrent of information.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/opinion/09fri3.html?pagewanted=print
January 9, 2007
Editorial
The A.B.A.’s Judicial Ethics Mess
At a moment when judicial independence is under heightened political attack,the nation’s legal establishment should be doing everything it can to shoreup public trust. Instead, the special commission charged with recommendingrevisions to the Model Code of Judicial Conduct of the American BarAssociation has been flip-flopping around on some of the most importantaspects of the code, which the states use to set standards for their courts.
For decades, the code’s overarching charge to judges has been to avoid notonly actual impropriety, but also the appearance of impropriety. Recently,however, quietly adopted changes to the commission’s “final” report demotedthis gold standard of judicial conduct from an enforceable rule to a mereaspirational guideline.
When the misguided switch came to light, the panel reversed field againyesterday and went back to the previous formulation. But that does notexcuse the fact that the panel was following internal politics, not soundlegal principle. The change might have eluded pubic attention if RobertTembeckjian, the administrator of the New York State Commission on JudicialConduct, had not protested and Adam Liptak had not reported on the matter inThe Times this week.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/washington/09feith.html?ei=5094&en=4eabd30f5f83ce6a&hp=&ex=1171083600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
February 9, 2007
Pentagon Group Criticized for Prewar Intelligence Analysis
By DAVID S. CLOUD and MARK MAZZETTI
WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 — A Pentagon investigation into the handling of prewarintelligence has criticized civilian Pentagon officials for conducting theirown intelligence analysis to find links between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda,but said the officials did not violate any laws or mislead Congress,according to Congressional officials who have read the report.
The long-awaited report by the Pentagon’s acting inspector general, ThomasF. Gimble, was sent to Congress on Thursday. It is the first major review torebuke senior officials working for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld forthe way intelligence was used before the invasion of Iraq early in 2003.
Working under Douglas J. Feith, who at the time was under secretary ofdefense for policy, the group “developed, produced and then disseminatedalternative intelligence assessments on the Iraq and Al Qaeda relationship,which included some conclusions that were inconsistent with the consensus ofthe Intelligence Community, to senior decision-makers,” the reportconcluded. Excerpts were quoted by Senator Carl Levin, a Michigan Democratwho has long been critical of Mr. Feith and other Pentagon officials.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/opinion/09fri1.html?pagewanted=print
February 9, 2007
Editorial
Making Democracy Credible
Time is growing short to head off more embarrassing voting machine scandals.The presidential election looms, yet nearly half of the states offer noreassuring paper trail so voters who use electronic voting machines cancheck that their ballot choices are accurately recorded.
With a proper sense of urgency, Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California,who leads the Senate committee in charge of elections, is asking all of theright questions about voting technology. This week, she ordered aninvestigation of the case of as many as 18,000 electronic votes that turnedup missing in a tight Congressional race in Florida last November.
Senator Feinstein called on the Government Accountability Office and theNational Institute of Standards and Technology to conduct “top to bottom”federal investigations of the machines used in Sarasota County, where the18,000 votes may have disappeared. Florida is now moving to toss outelectronic voting machines that do not produce a paper trail. But this is nocomfort to Christine Jennings, the Democrat in the 13th CongressionalDistrict race, which includes Sarasota County. She lost by 369 votes and isnow in court trying to find out what went wrong in the election.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/world/middleeast/09saudi.html?ei=5094&en=b8db4692c77bc501&hp=&ex=1171083600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
February 9, 2007
Accord Is Signed by Palestinians to Stop Feuding
By HASSAN M. FATTAH
MECCA, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 8 — The main rival Palestinian factions agreedlate Thursday to form a government of national unity aimed at ending a waveof violence between them and an international boycott.
The agreement, signed here in Islam’s holiest city under Saudi auspices,appeared likely to end, at least for now, weeks of fighting that had ravagedthe West Bank and Gaza Strip. Still, it seemed to stop short of meeting thedemands of the international community for resuming relations and supportfor the Palestinian Authority.
The accord, signed by Khaled Meshal of Hamas and Mahmoud Abbas, thePalestinian Authority president and leader of Fatah, its main rival, is thefirst time that the two parties have agreed to share authority. It sets outprinciples for a coalition government, like the distribution of ministerialportfolios, but leaves many of the details for later.
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Forwarded from Leon Van Dyke
Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 8:58 PM
Subject: NEW Scam on Visa & Master Card
I checked on snopes.com to verify that this was true and felt it was worthsharing with everyone..... Note boldface paragraph below. --The bulk of thetext as passed to me, I also verified as issuing from snopes.com
Leon
Hi Everyone, this came from a friend who works at a Bank:
We have received the following from at Whitford City - you may need to readand take note. This could be relevant to all of us.
FYI... This one is pretty slick since they provide YOU with all theinformation, except the one piece they want.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2003559797_spoofed07
.html
Editorial--Go forth and initiate
Good message, bad tactic. Of the many ways to make a point, using - or inthis case, misusing - the citizen initiative process is not the best way towin an argument.
A group of gay-marriage supporters plans to begin gathering signatures for astatewide initiative that would limit the institution of marriage to coupleswho have children. And not those who have children at just any old time inthe marriage - within three years of the vows.
Otherwise, the marriage would be dissolved. No one means any of this tooseriously; the initiative is designed to take a purposeful dig at a stateSupreme Court ruling denying gays the right to marry in part because suchunions don't advance procreation.
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The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/opinion/09friedman.html
February 9, 2007
Op-Ed Columnist
Not Their Parents’ Russia
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
MOSCOW
Russia today is a country that takes three hands to describe.
On the one hand, it is impossible any more to call Vladimir Putin’sgovernment “democratic,” given the way it has neutered the RussianParliament, intimidated or taken over much of the Russian press,subordinated the judiciary and coercively extended its control over thecountry’s key energy companies.
On the other hand, it is obvious talking to Russians how much thehumiliating and dispiriting turmoil that accompanied Boris Yeltsin’s firststab at democracy — after the collapse of Communism — left many people herestarved for a strong leader, a stable economy and stores with Westernconsumer goods. Mr. Putin is popular for a reason.
And on the third hand, while today’s Russia may be a crazy quilt ofcapitalist czars, mobsters, nationalists and aspiring democrats, it is notthe totalitarian Soviet Union. It has more than a touch of theauthoritarianism of postwar Gaullist France and a large spoonful of thecorruption and messiness of postwar Italy — when those countries emergedfrom World War II as less than perfect democracies.
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From recent past...
Fox News: "The more you watch the less you know." Quote from the MemphisMedia Conference.
medialifemagazine.com
Cable
Fox News ratings take a steep tumble
By Kevin Downey
Nov 2, 2006, 01:20
October was the 10th anniversary of Fox News, and in that 10 years it hasrisen to the No. 1 cable news network, riding on the tagline "Fair andBalanced."
Yet Fox News is showing serious signs of aging, led by steep audiencedeclines.
Fox News’s total audience fell 24 percent in the past year, to 1.3 millionviewers from 1.7 million, and its key primetime audience, viewers ages25-54, was down 7 percent in October on a year-to-year basis, to an average363,000 viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research data.
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http://civ.moveon.org/publicbroadcasting/o.pl?id=9851-5533006-xEmkt7ienmASzh651m4wsA&t=3
George W. Bush is trying—yet again—to slash funding for NPR and PBS.
This week, Bush proposed a new budget with devastating cuts to publicbroadcasting.1 "Sesame Street" and other ad-free kids' shows are under theknife. So is the independent journalism our country needs.
Enough is enough. We've fought this fight before and won—but we can't affordthe risk anymore. With the new Congress, we can make sure this never happensagain. We need Congress to insulate NPR and PBS from the political winds.
We can make it happen if enough of us sign this petition: "Congress mustsave NPR and PBS once and for all. Congress should guarantee permanentfunding and independence from partisan meddling." Clicking here will addyour name to the petition:
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