"The American Bar Association calls upon the President to abide by the limitations which the Constitution imposes on a president under our system of checks and balances and respect the essential roles of the Congress and the judicial branch in ensuring that our national security is protected in a manner consistent with constitutional guarantees." See the report of the American Bar Association Task Force on Domestic Surveillance in the Fight Against Terrorism: http://www.abanet.org/op/domsurv/
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Non-communication has become WH's standard procedure http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2006/02/16/chn_ftz.html
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The day Cheney plotted to accidentally shoot NYT's Dowd http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-kenney15feb15,0,1216758.story?coll=la-news-comment Los Angeles Times Novelist John Kenney imagines it. He also writes about Dick Cheney accidentally shooting Michael Moore as the documentary filmmaker walked out of a Manhattan Denny's. Hillary Clinton was lucky because the veep tripped as he shot at her. I think Cheny ought to just shoot himself to put himself and us out of his misery.
Bad Reporter: Liberals now OK with Scalia hunting with Cheney (Chron) http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/02 15/DDASMUSSENBR.DTL
Bet the are!
CHENEY'S CHOICE OF BRIT HUME AS CONFESSOR DRAWS CRITICISM (LAT) In an interview with Fox News' Brit Hume, the vice president called last Saturday's accidental shooting "one of the worst days of my life," but said he was certain that he handled it correctly by waiting nearly a day to make it public. NYT: Cheney's choice of Fox News for his first TV interview since the incident is telling, writes Alessandra Stanley. WaPo: Hume was Cheney's choice for a "straight shooter." CSM: Media frenzy intensifies. Salon: The White House's secretive response to Cheney's misfire cannot be understood apart from the society of Texas royalty. Slate: Cheney's assault on the public's right to know. USAT: "[Fox News is] the house organ for the Republican Party," said CNN political analyst Paul Begala, a former Clinton aide. "It's like Khrushchev giving an interview to Pravda." http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-cheneytv16feb16,0,6154961.story?coll=la-home-headlines http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/16/politics/16watch.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/15/AR2006021502401.html?sub=AR http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0216/p02s02-uspo.html http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2006/02/15/cheney/index_np.html http://www.slate.com/id/2136323/?nav=tap3 http://www.usatoday.com/life/columnist/mediamix/2006-02-15-media-mix_x.htm
THE VICE PRESIDENT'S DECLASSIFICATION AUTHORITY "Is it your view that a Vice President has the authority to declassify information?" Vice President Cheney was asked yesterday by Fox News' Brit Hume. "There is an executive order to that effect," replied the Vice President. This was a simple answer to a straightforward question, but the matter is actually a bit more complicated. The executive order in question is E.O. 13292 on classified national security information, issued by President Bush in March 2003: http://www.fas.org/sgp/bush/eoamend.html
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"Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the number of insiders alleging wrongdoing in government - either through whistle-blower channels or directly to the press - has surged, as have reprisals against them." See "A surge in whistle-blowing ... and reprisals" by Gail Russell Chaddock, Christian Science Monitor, February 16, 2006: http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0216/p01s01-uspo.html
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Jack Shafer sorts out what appeared to be an early post-9/11 disclosure of warrantless domestic surveillance, and takes a poke at DCIA Porter Goss for flogging discredited leak allegations. See "NSA Scoop or Just Bad Writing?" by Jack Shafer, Slate, February 15, 2006: http://www.slate.com/id/2136184/
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Jonathan Schell, Goodbye to All That
http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?emx=x&pid=60579
THE CHENEY INTERVIEW [FISHBOWLDC] The complete interview between Dick Cheney and Brit Hume... http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC/teapot_tempests/the_cheney_interview_32503.asp
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"We cannot continue to claim we are a nation of laws and not of men if our laws, and indeed even the Constitution of the United States itself, may be summarily breached because of some determination of expediency or because the President says, 'Trust me'," said Sen. Robert Byrd in a Senate floor statement yesterday.
http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2006_cr/byrd021506.html
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NYC'S ALT-WEEKLY TURMOIL (BOSTON PHOENIX) Mark Jurkowitz: The turmoil at the New York Press and Village Voice reflects a similar uncertainty about their editorial missions. It's a sure indicator that the alt-weekly business, despite its long-entrenched emphasis on politics, pop culture, and stylistic license, is struggling for relevance. http://thephoenix.com/Article.aspx?id=4211&page=1
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Blocking Progress In New Orleans by Robert Reich, TomPaine.comBush wants market forces to rebuild New Orleans--the only problem is that there's no market. http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/02/16/blocking_progress_in_new_orleans.php
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Whoa! Saddam Hussein told aides in the mid-1990s that he warned the United States it could be hit by a terrorist attack, ABC News reported Wednesday, citing 12 hours of tapes the network obtained of the former Iraqi dictator's talks with his Cabinet.
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20060215201309990002&ncid=NWS00010000000001
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Bush's Health Care Scheme Would Create 600K More Uninsured Americanshttp://thinkprogress.org/2006/02/16/health-care-scheme/
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Venezuela: a revolution in contraflow
Ivan Briscoe 10 - 2 - 2006
FPRIVATE "TYPE=PICT;ALT="Ivan Briscoe, travelling west from Caracas to Macaraibo, listens to the voices of the unemployed, the mobilised, the empowered and the disillusioned to portray the hope and the paradoxes of Hugo Chávez's "Bolivarian revolution".
http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-protest/venezuela_3255.jsp
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Ray McGovern: Who Will Blow the Whistle Before We Attack Iran? -- A BuzzFlash Guest Contributionhttp://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/06/02/con06062.html

Abramoff Admits Authenticity of Photos with Bush But Now is Fearful Their Publication Would Harm His Plea Agreement. In Short, As BuzzFlash Predicted the DOJ is Cutting a Plea Agreement with Jack A. that Will Protect the White House.
"They will come up with excuse after excuse as to how and why he did not know me. I could have spent four months alone with him in Bolivia and he would not know me."
http://www.washingtonian.com/inwashington/buzz/2006/abramoffpictures1.html
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Alberto Gonzales refuses to step aside in Abramoff case. Alberto is there as the Bush Consigliere and Needs to Protect the White House and Himself. 2/18
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060217/ap_on_go_co/abramoff_gonzales;_ylt=Ah9HAXNehFeMtvZthyVRckCWwvIE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3OXIzMDMzBHNlYwM3MDM
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Why Were the Abu Ghraib Photos Released Now? 2/18
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/02/17/why-were-the-abu-ghraib-photos-released-now/
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Bush administration seeks funds for regime change in Iran http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/feb2006/iran-f18.shtml
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Published on Friday, February 17, 2006 by the Independent/UK
Sea Levels Likely to Rise Much Faster Than Was Predictedhttp://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0217-06.htm
Sea Levels Likely to Rise Much Faster Than Was Predicted
by Steve ConnorGlobal warming is causing the Greenland ice cap to disintegrate far faster than anyone predicted. A study of the region's massive ice sheet warns that sea levels may - as a consequence - rise more dramatically than expected.
Scientists have found that many of the huge glaciers of Greenland are moving at an accelerating rate - dumping twice as much ice into the sea than five years ago - indicating that the ice sheet is undergoing a potentially catastrophic breakup.

AT&T Collaborated With NSA to Invade Americans' Privacy, Suit SaysBy LINDA COADY, ESQ., Andrews Publications Staff Writer
http://news.findlaw.com/andrews/bt/prv/20060217/20060217hepting.html
A purported class-action lawsuit against AT&T Corp. alleges the telecommunications giant has allowed the National Security Agency access to its facilities and databases for the purpose of spying on American citizens. ===Why the President's Defense of Executive Power to Wiretap Without Warrants Can't Succeed in the Strict Constructionist Court He WantsBy VIKRAM AMAR AND ALAN BROWNSTEIN
A few months ago, President Bush said he picked Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito largely because he considers them "strict constructionists." In the President's words, "[w]e've got to make sure . . . to have people who serve on the bench who are not going to try to legislate, but who will strictly interpret the Constitution." The President's message was clear: Justices should narrowly apply the law as it exists - derived from non-judicial sources like text, history and unbroken societal tradition - rather than "create" law in the context of adjudicating disputes.
Chief Justice Roberts in his confirmation hearings reinforced this idea with his memorable analogy to baseball umpiring. "I will remember," Roberts explained, "that it's my job to call balls and strikes, and not to pitch or bat."
Today, the President's warrantless spying on telephone and e-mail communications between people in the United States and in foreign countries is being aggressively challenged on constitutional grounds. A case involving the President's program could possibly reach the high Court. And given the fact that this is the first major constitutional controversy to arise since the new "strict constructionist" Justices have been confirmed, now seems like an ideal time to test the efficacy of the President's constitutional vision against the realities of constitutional practice.
Ironically, in order to resolve this dispute - and especially to resolve it in the way the President wants - the Court would very probably engage exactly the kind of creative "law making" policy-oriented analysis the President rejected so emphatically such a short time ago. For reasons we'll explain in this column, the President might be well-advised to hope that Roberts and Alito aren't quite the strict constructionists he touted.
To demonstrate the limits on the utility of the President's strict constructionism - and the unhelpfulness of the "balls and strikes" umpiring metaphor - we examine the eavesdropping question from three "strict constructionist" perspectives: The constitution's theoretical foundations, its text and its original understanding.
The First Strict Constructionist Tool: Foundational Principles
First, let's consider underlying foundational precepts - the mega-principles, if you will - that undergird the Constitution. Some of these, at least, are not open to serious argument. One is popular sovereignty - the idea that the expressed, considered will of the people be respected -- and its practical corollary, political accountability on the part of government officials. This comes straight out of the Declaration of Independence. "Governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." Nothing activist here.
Another basic principle is the need to diffuse power to avoid its abuse. Again, this is Constitutional Law 101. The basic structures of the United States government - the separation of powers and the system of checks and balances - are direct manifestations of this overriding concern. This axiom - like that concerning popular sovereignty - is clearly accepted.
The President's assertion of inherent executive power to conduct secret surveillance of telephone and e-mail messages of American citizens without prior congressional authorization or judicial oversight directly conflicts with both of these foundational principles.
Column continues below ¢ Ads by Google Vonage VoIP Phone ServiceSave money with the top-rated VoIP service, starting at just $14.99www.vonage.com Learn The Facts - VOIP {Find Out How VOIP Can Help You} Download Our VoIP White Paperwww.globalcrossing.com VOIP PBX SelectionFree guide to VOIP PBX selection and successful integration. www.ascendentsystems.com Secret surveillance of private communications, by its very nature, is immune from political accountability; the people cannot use the electoral process to sanction clandestine government conduct of which they are unaware.
Similarly, and obviously, no direct checks and balances apply to executive conduct that, according to the Administration, need not be authorized by congressional legislation and is immune from judicial review. Whether the spying that has already occurred has been limited to serve only legitimate, indeed, compelling government interests is largely irrelevant to this debate. The problem with unchecked power is not that it will be misused in every instance, but that over time it will always be abused.
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/commentary/20060217_brownstein.html
====Judge Orders Spying Documents Released
A federal judge ordered the Bush administration on Thursday to release documents about its warrantless surveillance program or spell out what it is withholding, a setback to efforts to keep the program under wraps. http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0217-03.htm --Current Administration Seems to Relish Media's Angerhttp://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0217-09.htm ===Sea Levels Likely to Rise Much Faster Than Was Predicted, not fast enough for my taste to drown out AndrewLleeds!http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0217-06.htm


Debating Impeachment: Your Letters by TomPaine.com Readers What Muslims really want; the big "I" question; New Orleans' free market: Readers react in this week's letters. http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/02/17/debating_impeachment_your_letters.php
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Rumsfeld says we're losing the propaganda war. Hey, Rummy, we're losing the real one, too, or did someone forget to mention that to you? He thinks the U.S. needs a blog. Really. Oh, that'll stop an IED.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060217/pl_nm/security_rumsfeld_dc_6
Rumsfeld's Pet Tyrants by Tom Porteous, TomPaine.comThe defense secretary's North African deals show that freedom is on the march -- a death march. http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/02/17/rumsfelds_pet_tyrants.php
There is no AXIS of EVIL, but there sure is a HUB of EVIL.
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Whittington sorry for what Cheney has gone through. He's sorry? The VP shot him in the face and heart, but he's sorry that Cheney had a bad week? Who apologizes for being shot? Obviously, a pellet entered his brain and caused some serious damage. Well, it's that or he's an idiot, a lily-livered sycophant or Cheney has compromising pictures of the guy. If the guy is that much of an idiot that he'd step in front of a properly wielded gun, why did they take him hunting?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060217/ts_alt_afp/ uspoliticscheney_060217191838
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SacBee: Libby revelation shows priority of secrecy over security 2/17
http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/editorials/v-print/story/14195104p-15021738c.html
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2006 Fleischer sides with White House reporters on Cheney issue http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5220808
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Washingtonpost.com allows comments again on post.blog http://poynter.org/forum/view_post.asp?id=11103
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The new strategic plan is a handsome document, but largely devoid of significant content. See "DHS Intelligence Enterprise Strategic Plan," January 2006 (3.3 MB PDF file): http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/dhs/stratplan.pdf And see "Intelligence Integration and Management," DHS Management Directive 8110, January 30, 2006: http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/dhs/md8110.pdf
Relatedly, "DHS Has Not Implemented an Information Security Program for Its Intelligence Systems," according to the title of a new DHS Inspector General report (flagged by BeSpacific.com): http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interweb/assetlibrary/OIG_06-13-Dec05.pdf
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Guantanamo's Invisible Men by Dahlia Lithwick, Slate We now have proof that most of the prisoners are guilty only of bad luck and that we are casually destroying their lives. http://www.slate.com/id/2136422/?nav=tap3

David Michael Green See No Evil, Become That Evil: Supporting the War As An Act of Unpatriotic Cowardice. That would be douchebag Lleedsidrewnoff!http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0216-28.htm
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We in Basra have decided not to cooperate in any way with the British troops," 43 year-old food merchant Ali Shehab Najim told IPS. "These occupiers of Basra are invaders and we will not sell them any of their requirements." Najim added, "None of us will work with them any longer either. My cousin used to work with them inside their base, but not any more. He refuses to go to work, and we have decided to show our contempt for them in every way possible."
http://www.ipsnews.net/
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CAFFERTY: "TOTALLY OUT OF LINE?" [TVNEWSER] CNN's Jack Cafferty hit a nerve yesterday when he called Fox News the "F-word network" and suggested that Brit Hume would toss Dick Cheney softballs. http://www.mediabistro.com/news/original/jcaff.jpg
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THE FISHBOWLLA SEX TAPE POLL [FISHBOWLLA] It sure seems like a lot of celebrities get taped having sex, especially if one assumes that for every tape that makes its way to the public, there are several that don't.The tape of one AndrewLeed's in his stall with his mutton, however, is drawing, raves. http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlLA/on/the_fishbowlla_sex_tape_poll_32551.asp
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In short, Cheney is a rich man who pretends to be a hunter, but really just might as well have the domesticated birds brought dead to him on a platter. In Pennsylvania awhile back, he killed hundreds of pheasants by just standing around and basically randomly shooting buckshot into the air...The problem with the Cheney/Bush Administration is that long ago the rumors became a lot more credible than the cover stories. Who else but America's Rasputin, Dick Cheney, could be the GOP Hypocrite of the Week
http://www.gophypocrites.com/2006/02/hyp06007.html
Veteran hunters and shooting experts said Thursday that they still did not understand how the vice president injured his fellow hunting partner so badly if he was actually 30 yards away as Cheney says.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/02/16/news/shot.php
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Destined to be Overruled by the Bushevik Supreme Court: "A federal judge dealt a setback to the Bush administration on its warrantless surveillance program, ordering the Justice Department on Thursday to release documents about the highly classified effort within 20 days or compile a list of what it is withholding."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060216/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/domestic_spying_courts
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The Growing Importance of Japan's Engagement in Central Asia
Drafted By: Christopher Len http://www.pinr.com
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Bush Plans Huge Propaganda Campaign in Iran http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0216-08.htm
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National Security Whistle-Blowers Allege Retaliationhttp://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0215-12.htm
Cheney Invokes Monarchal Powers, Claims That He Can Unilaterally Declassify Information. This is to Protect Him from Libby's Claim that Cheney Authorized Him to Use Classified Information to Go After Joe Wilson with a Chainsaw. When Will America Wake Up That We Have Dictators Running the Country?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060216/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/cheney_cia_leak;_ylt=AhYQ2.uKi46eNy37deHuedas0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3OXIzMDMzBHNlYwM3MDM
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"We can't get bin Laden, but we nailed a 78-year-old attorney," comedian David Letterman said on his CBS Late Night Show. Yesterday the joke suddenly became a good deal less funny. Actually Letterman's Quip Was True, Not Just a Laugh Line.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10368594...
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Thursday the latest images of abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison showed clear violations of international humanitarian law.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/iraq_abuse_cross_dc;_ylt=Ary7UBMH7.6zdeHYVZd0xKys0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ
Iraq Death Squad Claims Being Investigated
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/iraq;_ylt=AmzaI4ZBZlyxkUdvvZmEeras0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--
Russ Feingold On the Patriot Act Dealhttp://www.commondreams.org/views06/0215-34.htm
How is It Possible that the Anti-Patriot Act Provisions is Still Moving Toward Re-Passage? Bush and Cheney are Daring the Congress to Give Them Dictatorial Powers and the Rubber Stamp Congress Deli! vers Them on a Platter. 2/16
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060216/ap_on_go_co/patriot_act;_ylt=AjqoNa2SQ3hg0_GrhtbEsUus0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3OXIzMDMzBHNlYwM3MDM -
Jeremy Harding on the benefits of self-censorship
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n04/hard01a.html
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Russ Feingold On the Patriot Act Dealhttp://www.commondreams.org/views06/0215-34.htm
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International Study on Arctic Climate Change Produces Startling Findingshttp://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0215-07.htm
A variety of stories keep trickling out about jack abromoff having photos of himself and the bushwacker, and of e-mail exchanges between the two. am just wondering whether any of the heavy bettors are willing to wager on the appr. date that Jacko will be pardoned??? === http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2092-2035 [...] === The challenges posed by so-called "sensitive but unclassified" http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=UNCLASSIFIED-02-02-06&cat=AN ==== Cheney "doesn't seem to worry about reporters' outrage" (USA Today) http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20060215/a_cheney15.art.htm http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/gwbush/chnyshooting21106rpt.html Texas Attorney and Shooting Victim Harry Whittington http://pview.findlaw.com/view/3008369_1 Whittington's Litigation Record http://pview.findlaw.com/view/3008369_1?channel=LP Justice Scalia Discusses Duck Hunting With Cheney http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/scotus/chny22304scrbrf24.html What Is Negligence? http://injury.findlaw.com/personal-injury/personal-injury-a-z/personal-injury-law-negligence/ Frameshop: 13, 2006: http://www.nysun.com/article/27429 === Op-ed: 'Ignotum per Ignotius'!" by Sibel Edmonds, February 11: http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/06/02/con06058.html === A HEARING ON WHISTLEBLOWERS The House Government Reform Committee held an extraordinary hearing yesterday on the vulnerabilities of national security whistleblowers http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2006_hr/index.html === Responsibility for the accident lies squarely on Cheney's shoulders" (DNT) http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/13871266.htm Leggett: "Stand up. Take responsibility. Be a man. You shot a guy." (A-S) http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/other/02/14leggettcolumn.html http://dickcheneyquailhunt.cf.huffingtonpost.com/ === Feds want to know how Bee reporters got terror case file http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/14187598p-15014676c.html The FBI is investigating http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/ongoing/investigation/ === U.S. Quadrennial Defense Review Reveals a Strategy Void Drafted By: Dr. Michael A. Weinstein http://www.pinr.com == Corruption and Impunity in Mexico's Now Famous Press Freedom Case is One More Stain on the Fox Presidency http://www.coha.org/NEW_PRESS_RELEASES/New_Press_Releases_2006/COHA%20Opinion/COHA_Opinion_06.04_Lydia_Cacho.html === Dereliction Of Duty by David Corn, TomPaine.com Republican leaders in Congress are failing the public by choosing not to question King George and his courtesans. http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/02/15/dereliction_of_duty.php === Security & Terrorism Whistleblower says NSA violations biggerWASHINGTON, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- A former NSA employee said Tuesday there is another ongoing top-secret surveillance program that might have violated millions of Americans' Constitutional rights. http://www.upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/view.php?StoryID=20060214-053955-9494r === Congressional Probe of NSA Spying Is in Doubt http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/14/AR2006021401812_pf.html

MID FEBRUARY ROUNDUP WITH FOCUS ON THE AMAZING DICK CHENEY

BETWEEN RUMSFELD WHO LIKE TO BOMB COUNTRIES SUCH AS IRAQ WHICH "HAVE MORE TARGETS" AND CHENEY WHO PROJECTS HIS OWN MURDEROUSNESS
ONTO THE REST OF THE WORLD, ONE CAN ONLY CONCLUDE THAT THE U.S.A. IS GOOD FOR THE WORL, NOT EVEN FOR ITS OWN MAJORITY

There was, of course, no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork. . . . But at any rate they would plug in your wire whenever they wanted to. You had to live—did live, from habit that became instinct—in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and except in darkness, every movement scrutinized. George Orwell
"One morning, in his Supreme Court chambers, Justice William Brennan was giving me a lesson on the American Revolution. "A main precipitating cause of our revolution," he said, "was the general search warrant that British customs officers wrote—without going to any court—to break into the American colonists' homes and offices, looking for contraband." Everything, including
From Wars to Oil Profiteering to Torture to Shooting People, Cheney is Consistent: He Lies. Now We Find Out Cheney's Shooting Victim Was Shot in the Heart and is Back in Intenstive Care.http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060214/ap_on_re_us/cheney_whittington
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Molly Ivins: Dick Cheney goes hunting; Accident or not, Cheney's responsiblehttp://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=20358
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Pass It On: Cheney's Guide To Game Birds by Wonkette.com A handy pictorial guide for the vice president. http://tompaine.com/#passiton

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Cheney's Pellets Will Stay in Victim's Face. "Mr Whittington will probably have the pellets in his body for the rest of his life."http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4711372.stm
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What the country has is a totally murderous Vice President, the psysiognomic expression on his face, all that gritted together anger tells the story. Billions have kept him unhappy; last he "bagged" I think it was six dozen captive pheasants in Pennsylvania. How about going skeet shooting... No, the reason he is so heart sick, that his arteries are in such dreadful shape is that he needs serious anger management training. Plus a few good time recreational drugs. The Road Rager as el Jefe! The ultimate angry white man. If you recall Nixon's phlebitis after he was forced to resign, think of the Veep's recent episode with varicose veins. A blue stocking! What a dreadful country to have the likes of him in such a powerful position. Do you recall the vice presidential debate with John Edwards where the president of the Senate claimed never to have met the Senator from North Carolina -- and a day after we had the photos of the two of them at a prayer breakfast? A man who does not recall his prayers is beyond redemption. It is really not an accident that he shot his corrupt Texas hunting buddy, not properly speaking it is, in the case of someone who is blindly trigger angry: not happy!

=
Washington's confrontational rhetoric is fuelling the power of Iran's hardline leaders
http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-irandemocracy/again_3267.jsp
====
Intelligence
Ex-C.I.A. Official Says Iraq Data Was Distorted
Top of Form 1
Bottom of Form 1

By SCOTT SHANE
Published: February 11, 2006
WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 — A C.I.A. veteran who oversaw intelligence assessments about the Middle East from 2000 to 2005 on Friday accused the Bush administration of ignoring or distorting the prewar evidence on a broad range of issues related to Iraq in its effort to justify the American invasion of 2003.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/11/international/middleeast/11intel.html
Jack And Dubya "I did not have relations with that man." Track the e-mails contradicting President Bush's claim he doesn't know Jack Abramoff. http://www.tompaine.com/uncommonsense/index.php#7492
US right responds to anti-Muslim cartoon controversy New York Times columnist David Brooks proposes the 'good crusade' http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/feb2006/broo-f11.shtml
FEMA's Unholy Trinity by Russ Baker, TomPaine.comOne question not asked when Michael Brown appeared today on Capitol Hill was why someone so unqualified got such an important job. A new investigation has the answers. http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20060210/femas_unholy_trinity.php
Changing The Winds Of Surveillance by E. J. Dionne Jr., The Washington Post Bush, Cheney and Rove put national security below their goals of increasing presidential power and winning elections. http://www.tompaine.com
Abramoff's political BBQ continues to blaze: Three more congressmembers exposed as linked to him: Republicans Shelly Moore Capito of West Virginia, Steve LaTourette of Ohio and Don Young of Alaska.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060211/ap_on_go_co/lobbyist_probe;_ylt=At4tMrh3SRHVt9_e70fDIhes0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--
President Bush's marks on overall job approval and for handling the economy are mired near their lowest levels despite a spike in consumer confidence over the past month, an AP-Ipsos poll found. If the Democrats Blow This, Once Again, It's Time to Conduct a Revolution in the Democratic Party Leadership. In Fact, It's the Only Thing That Will Give the Dems in D.C. a Spine. We'll Have to Import the Talent from the Grassroots.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060211/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_ap_poll;_ylt=AqZnSLS6OAqtbz0HWqZHqLys0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3OXIzMDMzBHNlYwM3MDM-
Robert Scheer: Terrorism: a president's best frie! nd; Bush morphs 'War on Terror' into war on common sense 2/11
http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=20346


American Bar Association Denounces Bush's NSA Wiretaps
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-briefs14.1feb14,0,1870850.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
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REPUBLICAN WEDGE ISSUES, 2006 EDITION By Harold Meyerson Warrantless wiretapping and immigrant bashing are what the GOP will run on in ’06. http://taponline.c.topica.com/maaeuvKaboigObOgIFMbaehosu/
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It’s voting season in Latin America, and as controversy in Venezuela and strife in Haiti has revealed, managing the elections is a complex challenge that has rarely been met by regional governments.
http://www.coha.org/NEW_PRESS_RELEASES/New_Press_Releases_2006/COHA%20Research/COHA_Research_06.01_Electoral_Courts.html
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Impeach: Yes, But... by Jamin B. Raskin, TomPaine.comReconciling support for impeachment with the Republican lockdown on our political institutions requires a three-part strategy. http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/02/14/impeach_yes_but.php
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Can You Say "Permanent Bases"?
The American Press Can'tBy Tom Engelhardt

http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?emx=x&pid=59774

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World press saw shooting as a metaphor for veep's political outlook (LAT)
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-comics14feb14,0,4538 426.story?coll=la-home-headlines
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Study: Sunday political talk shows are leaning more to the right (WM) http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0603.waldman.html
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Voice of America plans to silence many of its broadcasts in English (WP) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/13/AR2006021 301896.html
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Okrent: Poor news coverage allowed Iraq war to happen http://www.mediagiraffe.org/artman/publish/article_438.shtml
Former New York Times public editor Daniel Okrent told a Williams College audience: "The general rolling over on the part of the American press allowed the war to happen. I do believe that is true, and I think the press is extremely chastened by that. I think we all know how bad it was." He also said investigative journalism has declined as a form "because it is frightfully expensive to do" and can tie up teams of reporters for years. "There are very few newspapers that can afford to do that ... and the TV networks don’t feel they are rewarded when they do it." (The 63-minute talk is available for download.)
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NYT.com makes it easier for readers to contact reporters http://poynter.org/forum/view_post.asp?id=11081
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Insurgents Resurgenthttp://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0213-08.htm
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MILLER, FITZGERALD FACE OFF AGAIN (NY SUN)Journalist Judith Miller and U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald squared off in court again yesterday, with a lot less public attention than last year, when the dogged special prosecutor had the then-New York Times reporter jailed for 85 days to force her to disclose the identity of an anonymous source.http://www.nysun.com/article/27523
YAHOO CALLS ON NATIONS TO STOP WEB CENSORSHIP (BLOOMBERG VIA LAT)The web company will work with other companies, governments, academia and nongovernmental organizations to develop policies for working in countries where content is more restricted than in the U.S., according to a company statement.http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-yahoo14feb14,1,790940.story?coll=la-headlines-business
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Bush-Bashing on the Rise within GOPhttp://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0213-06.htm
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IRAQ WAR CONTINUES ON, UNREPORTED (CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS)Eric Alterman: Obviously, stories are still coming out of Iraq, but as more reporters leave, as they did en masse after the November 2005 bombing of the al-Hamra Hotel in Baghdad (one of the most popular among western reporters), the quantity of the coverage has decreased. NYT: Report finds Iraq is deadliest place in the world for journalists.http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=1418651http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/14/international/middleeast/14journalists.html===
Thom Hartmann Rumsfeld and Cheney Revive Their 70's Terror Playbookhttp://www.commondreams.org/views06/0213-28.htm
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Cheney Violates Hunting Law, But It's Not His Fault. Of Course. There are Those of Us Who Obey the Rule of Law, And Then There a! re Members of the Bush Administration Who Don't.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/cheney_hunting_accident;_ylt=Au9NhDm33Fn1_SlmTwZOSTCs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ --===-----------------------------------------Congressional report condemns government response to Hurricane Katrinahttp://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/feb2006/katr-f14.shtmlPentagon prepares for military strikes against Iranhttp://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/feb2006/iran-f14.shtmlHaiti: mass protests erupt over vote counthttp://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/feb2006/hait-f14.shtml
Intelligence Brief: Recognizing Hamas, Iran Welcomes Shi'a Control in Iraq Drafted By: http://www.pinr.com
Report: Thousands Would Die in US Strikes on Iranhttp://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0213-02.htm

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New U.N. Report Says Gitmo Treatment Includes Torture
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gitmo13feb13,0,3215042.story?coll=la-home-headlines
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Tom Noe, prominent GOP fundraiser, charged in Ohio with theft and money laundering in an investigation of a controversial state investment in rare coins that has embroiled Republicans in scandal during an election year.
http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/ base/news-23/1139843644282920.xml&storylist=cleveland
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Valerie Plame Leak Sabotaged America's Iran-Watching Intelligence Efforthttp://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/001246.php
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This is Brilliant: "Bush and senior aides were told Saturday night by the staff of the White House Situation Room that somebody in the Cheney's hunting party was shot, but he said he was not told until Sunday morning that Cheney was the shooter." They didn't want to disturb the President's bubble bath?
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=
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Third hunter revealed in Cheney hunting party; U.S. ambassador to Switzerland and Bush family crony Pamela Willeford.
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Third_hunter_revealed_in_Cheney_hunting_0213.html
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Cheney's Last Hunting Disaster The last time one of the vice president's hunting trips made the news, the victim was judicial ethics. http://www.tompaine.com/uncommonsense/index.php#7504
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Texas Sheriff Barred From Interviewing Cheney About Shooting Incident http://thinkprogress.org/2006/02/13/sheriff-barred-from-interviewing/
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The Caliphate Myth by Tom Porteous, TomPaine.comA new bad idea is being used to justify the "long war" against terrorism: the revival of the Islamic caliphate. http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20060213/the_caliphate_myth.php
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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2006 WP editor won't let comments area become an attack zone http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/11/AR2006021100840_pf.html
Washington Post
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WashingtonPost.com executive editor Jim Brady wonders why people became so angry during the Deborah Howell column http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/14/AR2006011400859 .html flap. "Maybe this level of anger has been out there for a long time, waiting to be enabled by technology. Forget about writing a letter, getting a stamp and mailing it in. Anger now has an easy and immediate outlet," he writes. But "we won't allow our comments area to become a place where people can use whatever vulgar language they want, personally attack Post staffers or bully other contributors to our pages or discussions." Posted at 11:23:45 AM
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New Yorker editor: "I do what I want, what interests me" (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/680598.html) Haaretz.com
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Study: Very few blogs draw large numbers of readers (http://newyorkmetro.com/news/media/15967/) New York Magazine
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Report: U.S. Is Abusing Captives; A U.N. inquiry says the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay at times amounts to torture and violates international law. http://news.ft.com/cms/s/88cbf9a8-9c7c-11da-8762-0000779e2340.html
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The War On Privacy by Nat Hentoff, The Village Voice Rumsfeld warns that the enemy can succeed in changing our way of life. It already has. http://www.tompaine.com
==JOURNALISM UNDER SEIGE (WAPO) Howard Kurtz: Influencing public opinion increasingly means manipulating information and controlling how — http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/04/11/LI2005041100587.html ===Video of eight soldiers beating Iraqi youths will be investigated, says Blair By Terri Judd and Kim Sengupta Published: 13 February http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article345115.ece====Suicide bombings and firefights, Western troops under attack, sectarian clashes between Shia and Sunni, foreigners taken hostage. http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article345104.ece===WHY IS KRISTOF PICKING ON O'REILLY? (SLATE) Jack Shafer: Don't get me wrong. Bill O'Reilly deserves it in the shins — http://www.slate.com/id/2135552/?nav=fix ...CUDDLING UP WITH RUPE (GUARDIAN) A young British artist talked News Corp. boss Rupert Murdoch into sitting for a portrait — ====EX [?] CIA POLLACK, WHO ENDORSED THE IRAQ WAR ["I BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE Wombats of Mass Distraction..." ah all those a.h. believers] has yet anotherNEW STRATEGY TO GET TO THE GLIMMER OF LIGHT IN THE TUNNELLL http://www.brookings.edu/comm/events/20060215iraq.htm====================Do Bush supporters hate their country?By Jaime O'Neill Sometimes the people who still fervently support George W. Bush seem just plain stupid, and other times it seems they must be dishonest and even malevolent, harboring a hatred for their country... http://www.paradisepost.com/columns/ci_3498492====Bush budget targets 141 programs for elimination or drastic cutbacks http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/feb2006/gm-f13.shtml ===13 February 2006In light of today's analysis, PINR encourages you to read a past in-depth report on China that is still very relevant: "China's Geostrategy: Playing a Waiting Game" http://www.pinr.com/report.php?ac=view_report&report_id=253---The Emerging Cold War on Asia's High Seas Drafted By: Chietigj Bajpaee http://www.pinr.com ===Think the Internet will always be the freewheeling, democratic information superhighway you've grown to rely on? http://www.freepress.net/netfreedom/=threat=================CIA chief sacked for opposing tortureSarah Baxter and Michael Smith, WashingtonThe CIA's top counter-terrorism official was fired last week because he opposed detaining Al-Qaeda suspects in secret prisons abroad, sending them to other countries for interrogation and using forms of torture such as "water boarding", intelligence sources have claimed. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2036182,00.html===Katrina Report Spreads BlameHomeland Security, Chertoff Singled Out By Spencer S. HsuWashington Post Staff WriterSunday, February 12, 2006; Page A01 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/11/AR2006021101409.html

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michaelroloff - 9:07 PM ET February 10, 2006 (#2660 of 2660)bushomoff!!
Thursday, February 09, 2006 Growing questions about whether Bush lied today about the supposed threat to LA that he supposedly foiled by John in DC - 2/09/2006 04:58:00 PM 1. Los Angeles Mayor knows nothing about the supposed threat: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Thursday he was blindsided by President Bush's announcement of new details on a purported 2002 hijacking plot aimed at a downtown skyscraper, and described communication with the White House as "nonexistent." "I'm amazed that the president would make this (announcement) on national TV and not inform us of these details through the appropriate channels," the mayor said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I don't expect a call from the president — but somebody." 2. Bush's claim to have thwarted an attack on LA is disputed by former FBI official TODAY BUSH SAID: Bush Touted Thwarting of Post 9/11 U.S. Terrorism Plot. In a speech today, Bush told members of the National Guard Association of a foiled 2002 Al Qaeda plot to fly a plane into LA's US Bank Tower, the tallest building on the West Coast. Bush said that the terrorist's plan was put into place after 9/11 but "was derailed in early 2002, when a Southeast Asian nation arrested a key al Qaeda operative." Bush added, "Subsequent debriefings and other intelligence operations made clear the intended target and how al Qaeda hoped to execute" the plot, and helped other allies capture the ringleaders." - Washington Post, 2/9/06 BUT IN 2004: FBI Counterterrorism Official Said He Knew of No Thwarted Al Qaeda Attacks. After a CIA official claimed last year that the government had "probably prevented a few aviation attacks against both the East and West Coasts" since 9/11, John Pistole, the FBI's counterterrorism director, said he was "not sure what [the CIA] was referring to." - 9/11 Commission Testimony, 6/16/2004; New York Daily News, 6/17/04

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Who's in Guantanamo? "...40% have no definitive connection with al Qaeda at all and 18% are have no definitive affiliation with either al Qaeda or the Taliban." This is a human rights crime, but Bush doesn't care about human rights. Maybe the Hague will.
http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2006/02/whos_in_guantan.html
================== Vice President Cheney and The Fight Over "Inherent" Presidential Powers: His Attempt to Swing the Pendulum Back Began Long Before 9/11 By JOHN W. DEAN http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20060210.html Friday, Feb. 10, 2006 Vice President Dick Cheney has stirred up an old fight in Washington. He sent a rookie, however, to make his case publicly. It did not work. ============= William Kristol on the Danish cartoon "anguish": [is very funny indeed, if only LEEDS/ANDREW had a sense of humor!] "U.N., E.U. and Muslims link in call to curb protests," read the Financial Times headline last week. A "U.N.-brokered statement," the paper reported, was issued "in an effort to curb days of protests, some violent some peaceful, at the publication and republication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. 'The anguish in the Muslim world at the publication of the offensive caricatures is shared ..." Oh, the anguish! And why not? http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/006/697dhzzd.asp ================== Ex-CIA Official: Bush Administration Misused Iraq Intelligence http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0210-09.htm ================ L.A. Mayor says he was blindsided by Bush, who gave new details about supposed plot to blow up tower. Is this Bush propaganda? Does a Horse Eat Oats? http://americablog.blogspot.com/2006/02/growing-questions-about-whether-bush.html

The right to caricature God…and his prophets Doug Ireland 7 - 2 - 2006 " Believers in free speech must resist Islamist attempts to enforce theocratic censorship, says Doug Ireland. http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-europe_islam/caricature_3245.jsp ============ A carnival of stupidity Neal Ascherson 6 - 2 - 2006 FPRIVATE "TYPE=PICT;ALT=" The conflagration over Danish cartoons of Islam's prophet reveals that Europe's balance of freedom, mutuality and coexistence is at a trigger-charge moment, says Neal Ascherson. http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-europe_islam/cartoons_3242.jsp ================== MORE BELT-TIGHTENING IN STORE FOR IRAQIS By Nidhal al-Laithi http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news%5C2006-02-08%5C184.htm Iraqis will have to do without their almost free food rations and stand yet another spiral of hikes in fuel prices. This exactly what any new government must to do to meet conditions the World Bank and international creditors and donors have set for the country.... ========================== The world as a battlefield Paul Rogers 9 - 2 - 2006 The linguistic shift from "war on terror" to the "long war" reflects a deeper rethinking among United States political and military leaders. http://www.opendemocracy.net/conflict/battlefield_3251.jsp =================== World Is at its Warmest For a Millennium ANDREW LEEDS BRAINS HAVE BEEN COOKED! THAT EXPLAINS THE WIDE SPECTRUM OF THEIR MUTUALLY INCLUSIVE VOCABULARY WHICH CONSISTS OF "LIAR LIAR LIAR MORON MORON MORON" http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0210-07.htm


michaelroloff - 5:50 PM ET February 9, 2006 (#2633 of 2660)a few more fine links to interesting pieces
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/18730 The Biggest Secret' By Thomas Powers State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration by James Risen Free Press, 240 pp., $26.00 1. The challenges posed to American democracy by secrecy and by unchecked presidential power are the two great themes running through the history of the Iraq war. How long the war will last, who will "win," and what it will do to the political landscape of the Middle East will not be obvious for years to come, but the answers to those questions cannot alter the character of what happened at the outset. Put plainly, the President decided to attack Iraq, he brushed caution and objection aside, and Congress, the press, and the people, with very few exceptions, stepped back out of the way and let him do it. =============== Think Again: Islamist Terrorism By C. Christine Fair, Husain Haqqani Posted January 2006 Pundits and politicians of all stripes are quick to offer their wisdom on what fuels Islamist terrorism. It just so happens that much of what they say is wrong. Poverty doesn’t produce terrorists, a solution to the Israel-Palestine problem isn’t a cure-all, and young Muslim men aren’t the most likely to turn to terror. If we are going to fight a war on terror, the least we can do is understand who we are fighting..... Other factors, such as perception of a threat to Islam and opinions about the role of religion in government, have a significantly greater impact on support for terrorism than age or gender. The bottom line? Ideology and beliefs matter more than social or economic status, age or gender. Focusing outreach and counterterrorism efforts on young, unmarried Muslim males will only overlook enormous sections of Muslim populations who support terrorists. Madrasas Are Terrorist Factories" That’s an exaggeration. Do madrasas (ultra-conservative religious schools) produce students who are less tolerant towards other religions, opposed to the rights of women, and more likely to support militant means for resolving disputes between Muslims and non-Muslims? Definitely. But this is not tantamount to training for terrorism. None of the 9/11 hijackers attended a madrasa. And there is no evidence that any of the terrorists involved in major international terror attacks during the last four years ever enrolled as regular students in a madrasa, though they may have passed through madrasas on the way to terrorist training camps. Given their total lack of Western education, madrasa students are not particularly useful to any modern day employer, including terrorist groups. They cannot blend into a Western nation or mount sophisticated operations requiring technical expertise. They lack linguistic ability and competence in even basic forms of technology because such skills are not generally taught at madrasas. Some madrasa students do not even have basic mathematical skills, necessary for mounting even moderately sophisticated terrorist operations.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3359&fpsrc=ealert060130

Secret Court's Judges Were Warned About NSA Spy Data Program May Have Led Improperly to Warrants By Carol D. Leonnig Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, February 9, 2006; Page A01 Twice in the past four years, a top Justice Department lawyer warned the presiding judge of a secret surveillance court that information overheard in President Bush's eavesdropping program may have been improperly used to obtain wiretap warrants in the court, according to two sources with knowledge of those events. The revelations infuriated U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly -- who, like her predecessor, Royce C. Lamberth, had expressed serious doubts about whether the warrantless monitoring of phone calls and e-mails ordered by Bush was legal. Both judges had insisted that no information obtained this way be used to gain warrants from their court, according to government sources, and both had been assured by House Committee Squashes Torture Queries By WILLIAM C. MANN, Associated Press Writer Wed Feb 8, 7:56 PM ET WASHINGTON - Republicans easily defeated three resolutions seeking information about the Bush administration's policies on torture after a heated committee hearing. Rep. Henry Hyde ( news, bio, voting record), R-Ill., chairman of the House International Relations Committee, said Democrats who submitted the resolutions should "at least silently confess to themselves that their
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0208-01.htmhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060209/ap_on_go_co/congress_torture;_ylt=AsCp2Z0_QP7MmEvSwx04EIFp24cA;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/08/AR2006020802511.html Russ Feingold On the President's Warrantless Wiretapping Program http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0208-34.htm Ted Rall The Bland Leading the Blind: The Nanny Press and the Cartoon Controversy http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0208-20.htm Alfred McCoy Why the McCain Torture Ban Won't Work http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0208-28.htm Look guys, over there! On your left! Amid the rubble of the worldwide uproar over the Danish cartoons depicting the Muslim prophet Muhammad, the Bush administration sees an opportunity -- to whip up ill will toward two of the many Islamic countries involved in the protests. In an amazing coincidence, they just happen to the two countries where the neocons have long coveted some type of military action in Bush's second term: http://www.pnionline.com/dnblog/attytood/archives/002763.html PINR's December 2005 in-depth analysis on Iraq is still very relevant, and can be found at: "What to Expect in Iraq After the December 15 Elections" http://www.pinr.com/report.php?ac=view_report&report_id=412 Sweden Plans to Be World's First Oil-Free Economy http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0208-05.htm