|
Notes
and cases for:
Events
and meetings
read
the news, oh, boy
links
local
area political directory
|
How the missing $21 billion in Iraq came to be missing
- David Lindorff, Counterpunch. Hint - Bush signing statement involved
http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff06072006.html
Zarqawi killed in Iraq air raid. You'll be able to hear about/read
about that anywhere. Try BBC first.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5058304.stm
BP faces Alaska oil spill probe. "The Financial Times newspaper
has obtained internal emails which show it is under investigation
by a grand jury." BP has been ordered to hand over documents
relating to pipline spill in March of this year.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5057954.stm
Veterans groups sue Gov. over records theft. Now it appears that
up to 1.1 million active-duty personnel may be affected.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/060706O.shtml
The Immigrant Gold Rush: "Private prison companies are salivating
after the billions in public money that will be spent on new superjails
to hold immigrants for trial or deportation."
http://www.alternet.org/rights/36282/
According to Alberto Gonzales, the Government has the "legal
authority to prosecute journalists who leak classified material.
(But it's ok for the Prez. to do it. (of course.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/22/washington/22gonzales.html
(Requires free registration.)
Greenpeace Press Release: "A leaked document on the vulnerability
to terrorist attack of the new European Pressurised Reactor (EPR)
- being considered or already under construction in several countries
including UK, France and Finland - reveals a dangerously flawed
approach to security, according to a study commissioned by Greenpeace
International." http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/0519-02.htm
US Groups Hail UN Censure of Washington's "Terror War"
"Human rights organisations here are hailing the recommendations
of the United Nations Committee Against Torture that the United
States close its Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention centre, cease holding
detainees in secret prisons, and stop the practice of "rendering"
prisoners to countries where they are likely to be tortured.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0520-01.htm
Commentary: " Middle America: Welcome to the Centre of the
USA
The United States used to be so sure of its place in the world.
To come from the land of the free was truly to be blessed. Not any
more. Disillusionment with the President is growing. American self-confidence
is draining away. There's a malaise gnawing at the nation's soul.
Where did it all go wrong?"
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0519-05.htm
The unmentioned about the Goss resignation: FBI investigations "focused
on the Watergate poker parties thrown by defense contractor Brent
Wilkes, a high-school buddy of Foggo's, that were attended by disgraced
former Rep. Randy (Duke) Cunningham and other lawmakers." (NY
Daily News)
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050706A.shtml
As promised during the recent campaign, the Morales government in
Bolivia has nationalized Bolivia's oil and gas reserves. Many are
now asking "now what?" Brazil, Spain, and France are countries
affected by the nationalization. Lula speaks of a "gentle"
approach.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/08/world/
How even harder times may be approaching:: "America's 'Near
Poor' Are Increasingly at Economic Risk, Experts Say." The
high cost of housing, the healthcare crisis, layoffs/ and "a
decline in low-end wages and benefits" combine to make the
situation of the working poor even more precarious.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/08/us/
Federal study sidesteps following White House line on global warming.
Bush says it's only the first of 21 studies. (So, it doesn't count??)
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/050306EA.shtml
BUSH
How Bush Sidesteps Intent of Congress. The San Francisco
Chronicle looks at the relation of "signing statements"
as used by Bush in the doctrine of the unitary executive.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0507-01.htm
Even apart from job performance, most Americans now
don't like Bush much personally, either. "Losing that political
protection - dubbed "Teflon" when Ronald Reagan had it
- is costing Bush what the late political scientist Richard Neustadt
called the "leeway" to survive hard times and maintain
his grip on the nation's agenda."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0521-04.htm
CANADA
The expected happens in Canada. The Harper government
decides to scrap marijuana decriminalization.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-marijuana.html
A tightening border between US and Canada has Canadian's worried.
" 'It's become the war on tourism, not the war on terrorism,'said
J. Ross S. Robinson, the president of Canadiana Productions, owner
of the 'Oh Canada Eh?'revue"
http://www.nytimes.com/
(Under World, then Americas )
CHICKENHAWKS (US)
Rumsfeld's Fall Drags Hawks in Its Wake (by Jim Lobe ). "Rumsfeld's
departure would almost certainly cripple the coalition of neo-conservative
and aggressive nationalist war hawks in and around the administration
for the remainder of Bush's term." The Wall St. J. editorializes
that the cricism is really aimed at Bush. The alliance is as strong
between Rumsfeld and Cheney, a relationship which dates back at
least to the Ford administration, when Cheney was WH chief of staff
and Rumsfeld Secretary of Defense. (Inter-Press Service)
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0418-07.htm
CLIMATE CHANGE
"Greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere reached
record highs in 2004, are still climbing and show no signs of leveling
off, according to the World Meteorological Organization. Carbon
dioxide atmospheric concentrations grew last year by 2.6 ppm - well
above the 1.9 ppm average over the past decade. The sharp increase
in CO2 levels now places its concentration at 381 parts per million
(ppm) - 100ppm above the pre-industrial average." Climate Change
Blog on http://www.climateark.org/
Cape wind under attack. "Alaska Representative Don Young has
attached an amendment to the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act (HR.
889) that would ban offshore wind farms within 1.5 nautical miles
of a shipping channel or ferry route. The Young Amendment would
effectively destroy the Cape Wind project" See the following
for more:
http://www.climatecrisiscoalition.org/
ENVIRONMENTAL STRUGGLES
Environmentalists: Tests Show High Levels of Formaldehyde
Found in FEMA Trailers. (AP) "Gillette said the Sierra Club
inserted vapor monitors in 50 trailers, though it said it had only
gotten results back from a Florida lab on 32 of the tests. Formaldehyde
concentrations were reported within a range of 0.06 to 0.34 parts
per million in the air. ... The colorless, pungent gas can irritate
eyes, nose and throat, and cause difficulty breathing and nausea
at levels above .1 part per million in the air, officials say. ...
It is also known to cause cancer in the upper throat, the International
Agency for Research on Cancer said." http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/052106G.shtml
Burst Oil Pipeline Causes 'Catastrophe' in Alaska
(UK
Independent). BP estimates of damage were proved overly optimistic
and are now estimated to be some 250,000 gallons of crude.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0314-09.htm
Groups Demand Water Rights, Cite Millions of Deaths.
A coalition of groups opposed to efforts to give private enterprise
control over water resources and distribution systems called on
governments attending the Fourth World Water Forum in Mexico City
to agree a formal declaration at the nascent UN Human Rights Council
that would stiffen their commitment to ensuring basic water rights.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0322-07.htm
US: Did a Group Financed by Exxon Prompt IRS to Audit Greenpeace?
Two and a half years ago, Public Interest Watch, a self-described
watchdog of nonprofit groups, wrote to the Internal Revenue Service
urging the agency to audit Greenpeace and accusing the environmental
group of money laundering and other crimes. http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0322-10.htm
GOV. SECRECY - RIGHT TO KNOW
Press Release, Public Citizen: Latest Revelation Underscores Bush
Administration’s Manipulation of Access to Information for
Political Gain. (Regarding Bush himself authorizing leak from National
Intelligence Estimate, classified info)
http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/0407-11.htm
"National Archives Pact Let C.I.A. Withdraw Public Documents"
An agreement signed in 2001 allowed the CIA to choose documents
they considered improperly de-classified, which documents were then
withdrawn from public access. The agreement "required that
archives employees not reveal to researchers why documents they
requested were being withheld. " (NY Times) (Last week, a similar
agreement with the Air Force was made public.)
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0418-06.htm
"A Bush administration proposal to roll back
Americans' right to know about chemical hazards in their neighborhoods
would let California industries handle almost 1.5 million pounds
of toxic chemicals a year without telling the public, according
to an investigation of federal data by Environmental Working Group
(EWG)." The proposal is to raise the amount of toxics requiring
reporting in the Toxic Release Inventory from 500 to 5,000 lbs.
annually, thus denying the public's right to know about numerous
toxic substances. How many in Michigan? Nobody knows. http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/041706HA.shtml
HEALTH CARE
Creating demand as usual: " Drug Firms Accused of Turning Healthy
People Into Patients." Also, see the book, Selling Sickness,
by Ray Mohnihan and Alan Cassels
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/041206HA.shtml
IMPEACHMENT, CENSURE (Bush-cheney and GOP)
"The patriarch of US conservatives has urged his followers
to halt their financial support of the Republican Party and start
an independent movement, signaling a major political shift that
could result in heavy losses for the US ruling party in upcoming
elections."
(Agence France Presse) http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0521-03.htm
Sen. Russ Feingold's standing among voters is seen
as actually surging after his call for censure of Bush and Cheney.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032606Y.shtml
New Mexico Dems call for impeachment of Bush in one
sentence amendment to the state party platform made from the floor
and supported by approximately 80% in a show of hands.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032306F.shtml
IRAQ
White House issues new edition of "the National
Security Strategy of the United States," the 2002 document
which asserted the doctrine of pre-emptive warfare. (AP)
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031606K.shtml
De-classified US military study concludes that Saddam never planned
insurgency (Agent France Presse). The study is to appear in May/June
issue of Foreign Affairs (CFR journal.)
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0314-06.htm
In an occupation increasingly based on air power,
US Launches Largest Iraqi Air Assault Since Invasion. The assault
involves over 50 helicopter gunships and 1500 ground troops, 1000
of them Iraqi. (CNN) http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031606A.shtml
Iraq war as unpopular now as the Vietnam war was in
1968, when 20,000 had died, analysts say. The comparative lack of
people in the streets is said to be due to no military draft at
present and "no clear war out."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0323-13.htm
Halliburton provided water causes bacterial infections in US troops.
A doctor serving in the US army has linked water to a as yet small
number of infections, citing testing revealing coliform and e-coli
bacteria, in an email to Senate Democrats.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040906D.shtml
Forgers of Iraq war document asserting Niger-Saddam Hussein yellowcake
purchase agreement named. This is a report in the London Times based
on "NATO sources."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-2125630_1,00.html
Massive new embassy, being constructed currently on the banks of
the Tigris, flaunts US power, critics say. It's "the largest
of its kind in the world, the size of Vatican City, with the population
of a small town, its own defense force, self-contained power and
water, and a precarious perch at the heart of Iraq's turbulent future."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0415-07.htm
Neocon ambitions and the spectacular disaster of Iraq,
commentary by Eric Margolis. Unfortunately, this is a very long
link, so please go to the site and use the search at the top to
find the article. Probably just "Eric Margolis" will work.
A good article worth the effort.
www.khaleejtimes.com/
IRAN
Commentary: is another 9/11 in the works? Based on
the focus on Iran, which has been in evidence since the attack on
Iraq, and which was given further impetus in the whole long crisis
over Iran's Nuclear Energy program, Paul Craig Roberts suggests
the possibility that "another 9/11 event will prepare the ground
for a nuclear attack on Iran." http://www.antiwar.com/roberts/?articleid=8713
More commentary: Chossudovsky on the meaning of Bush doctrine on
nuclear weapons and the various dangers proposed thereby, including
nuclear war in the Mideast. (exactly a month old, but even better
now, after yesterday's national security announcement from the WH.)
Link is on http://globalresearch.ca,
center partition. See also "Is the Bush administration planning
a Nuclear Holocaust" right above it.
"Iran Plans"--a long, but excellent article
by Seymour Hersh from The New Yorker. Well
worth the read. " The Bush Administration, while publicly advocating
diplomacy in order to stop Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon,
has increased clandestine activities inside Iran and intensified
planning for a possible major air attack."
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040906Y.shtml
Who's kidding who(m)? Britain took part in
mock Iran invasion in wargames, code-named Hotspur2004 at US base,
Fort Belvoir, Va., in July, 2004 (UK Guardian)
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041506X.shtml
LATIN AMERICA
Front-runner in Peru's election for President, on
a nationalist platform, pledges opposition to trans-national corporations,
which have been cheating citizens and the crooked politicians who
have plundered Peru. In a symbolic horseback ride to the central
plaza of MOQUEGUA, Ollanta Humanta, 43, promises to revolutionize
the country and ally with Chavez. (If link doesn't work, the article
is under most popular far right on world index.) (Morales did win
election.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/02/world/americas/02peru.html
MIDDLE EAST
Spreading sectarianism mixes with economic grievances
in Bahrain ,
headlined, an Island kingdom
feels the ripples from Iraq and Iran
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/16/world/middleeast
(click on "An Island Kingdom ...)
MILITARISM, TERRORISM, COUNTER-TERRORISM
Interview with Eugene Jarecki, director of the documentary,
"Why We Fight" (Inter Press Service)
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0323-10.htm
A 22 year old Federal law is undergoing scrutiny after reports that
it has been abused in terrorism investigations. It has been used
to detain persons the government projects may commit terrorist
acts in the future. No probably cause is required for "preventative
detention." http://www.nytimes.com/
(4th article of 6 under Washington)
PORTS WORLD CONTROVERSY
US hiring Hong Kong Co. with close ties to Chinese
Government to scan nukes "passing through the Bahamas and elsewhere."
(Comment: amazing following Dubai Ports World controversy.)
(AP) Yahoo News (Search using
"Bahamas")
Carlyle Group Explores Acquisition of Port Operations
(The Washington Business Journal) (dated March 10-previous to the
above). "D.C.-based Carlyle Group announced an eight-person
team would invest in public-purpose infrastructure projects such
as ports, transportation and water facilities, airports, bridges
and stadiums. The team [began?] work March 13." http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031406A.shtml
RELIGION AND POLITICS
Are mainstream churches in Ohio finally standing up to the GOP’s
Hateful “Christian” Blitzkrieg? More than fifty Columbus
area clergy have "signed formal complaints with the Internal
Revenue Service demanding an investigation of the practices of two
extremist churches in regards to their tax exempt status."
More are also openly opposing Right Wing take on social issues and
WH dictated "science."
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0409-25.htm
RENEWABLE ENERGY
NY Times carries an article on Brazil cutting
petroleum dependency with ethanol from sugar cane. "Brazil's
ethanol yields nearly eight times as much energy as corn-based options,
according to scientific data. Yet heavy import duties on the Brazilian
product have limited its entry into the United States and Europe."
(Requires free registration)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/10/world/americas/10brazil.html
Cape wind under attack. "Alaska Representative Don Young
has attached an amendment to the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act
(HR. 889) that would ban offshore wind farms within 1.5 nautical
miles of a shipping channel or ferry route. The Young Amendment
would effectively destroy the Cape Wind project" See the following
for more:
http://www.climatecrisiscoalition.org/
US ECONOMY
The view from Morgan Stanley, authored by "Stephen
Roach," who writes of "disappointment and frustration
over America’s attitude toward two of its major providers of
foreign capital. The United States has been having a good deal of
trouble with its overseas image in recent years. The feedback from
Beijing and Dubai is that this image is going rapidly from bad to
worse -- something a saving-short US economy can ill afford."
http://www.morganstanley.com
|
