carapace – Not your father's america

Open Government: a journal on freedom of information

Journal Aim: To publish research and communications related to Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation from the perspective of academics, practitioners and FOI users. ISSN 1745-8293

You can now register to receive email alerts or submit articles

The Journal is funded by the School of Business Information at Liverpool John Moores University

August 2006 – Volume 2 Issue 1 now available

At:

http://www.opengovjournal.org/

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Beck, Carlson noted that apocalyptic August 22 predictions were wrong; Beck still foresees a “world war of biblical proportions”

Having previously floated August 22 as the possible date of Armageddon, CNN Headline News host Glenn Beck and MSNBC host Tucker Carlson admitted on the August 22 editions of their respective programs that the date had not, in fact, brought about the end of days. But the lack of apocalyptic events on August 22 didn’t stop Beck from warning, “I have been throwing a lot of scarier scenarios your way lately, and some of them may or may not come to fruition. But if they do … we are going to be experiencing the joys of vaporization.”

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200608230009?src=other

 

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After months of widespread frustration in Afghanistan over corruption, the economy and a lack of justice and security, doubts about President Hamid Karzai have led to a crisis of confidence in the country.

At:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/08/22/news/karzai.php

From: Poacnewsletter

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IRAQ FOR SALE: THE MOVIE

At:

http://iraqforsale.org
Robert Greenwald, the director of last year’s influential “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price,” has a new film coming out in October, titled “Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers.” The film will expose the hidden truth of rampant profiteering in Iraq through the stories of soldiers, whistleblowers, survivors, and families of loved ones lost to corporate greed. The filmmakers are organizing screenings in homes, churches, businesses and schools. You can visit the Iraq for Sale website now to sign up for a screening or pre-order the DVD.

SOURCE: Iraq for Sale website

For more information or to comment on this story,

visit:

http://www.prwatch.org/node/5101

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Distorted view from Bush’s rabbit hole

Marianne Means: The Iraq war is getting away from President Bush. He acknowledged these times are “straining the psyche of our country.” For someone who never admits a mistake, this was a highly unusual — and not altogether wise — political statement.

Complete at:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/282281_means24.html

Marianne Means is a Washington, D.C., columnist with Hearst Newspapers. Copyright 2006 Hearst Newspapers.

She can be reached at 202-263-6400 or means@hearstdc.com .

 

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Will the U.S. Accept Iran Talks Without Preconditions?

ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN, ervand_abrahamian@baruch.cuny.edu,

 http://www.globalagendamagazine.com/2005/ervandabrahamian.asp
Author of the article “Iran: The Next Target?” and several books including “Inventing the Axis of Evil” and “Iran Between Two Revolutions,” Abrahamian said today: “Some seem to want to move to air strikes in the near future as if Iran were on the verge of having a nuclear bomb when the CIA and other experts predict that Iran needs at least five to six years to develop a bomb.”

From: Institute for Public Accuracy

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Borowitz Report – Saddam Confession Shocker

Saddam: I Killed JonBenet
Stunning Confession Rocks Former Dictator’s Trial

In the latest and possibly most bizarre twist in his trial for crimes against humanity, former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein told a stunned courtroom in Baghdad today that he was responsible for the death of child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey.

Mr. Hussein, who is currently being tried for the deaths of thousands of Kurds, appeared to be listening to the prosecution’s evidence against him when he suddenly rose to his feet and, in an emotional outburst, said, “I did not kill all of those Kurds, but I did kill JonBenet.”

The judge in Mr. Hussein’s trial immediately called a recess and contacted American authorities about transferring the former Iraqi president to Boulder County to stand trial for the murder of Ms. Ramsey.

But in the hours after his stunning confession, questions began to cloud Mr. Hussein’s story, including how he could have gotten to Boulder to commit a murder at a time when he was still busy repressing millions of Shiites in Iraq.

In addition, a prison guard who has been watching over the incarcerated former dictator in recent days said that Mr. Hussein watched “with great interest” news reports about JonBenet suspect John Mark Karr’s first-class flight from Bangkok to the U.S., during which he was served fried prawns and champagne.

“Now that’s livin’,” Mr. Hussein reportedly remarked.

Mr. Karr himself seemed to cast doubt on Mr. Hussein’s confession, releasing the following statement from his prison cell in Los Angeles: “I was with JonBenet when she died, and I don’t recall seeing Saddam Hussein there.”

Elsewhere, Paramount Pictures announced that they had found an exit strategy from Tom Cruise.

http://www.borowitzreport.com/

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three to see

Mr. Fish(Dwayne Booth)

http://cagle.msnbc.com/working/060818/booth.jpg

Jeff Danziger: Commander in Denial, Bush, Iraq War

http://danzigercartoons.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/dancart2890.jpg

Trouble Town (Lloyd Dangle): islammyfascism

http://troubletown.com/cartoons/cartoons/ttown.825.gif

The latest from NASA’s Earth Observatory (22 August 2006)

In the News:

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/

* Latest Images:
Mass Concentration in Antarctica
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17375

Oil Spill Near Beirut
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17374

Eruption of Tungurahua
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17373

Garig Gunak Barlu National Park
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17372

Ash Cloud from Mount Ubinas, Peru
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17371

Charleston Fire, Northern Nevada
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17370

Oil Spill Along the Lebanese Coast
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17369

Hurricane-Ready Sea Surface Temperatures
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17368

* Media Alerts

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/
- Charting New Territory with Hurricane Relief Mapping
- Climate Change was Major Factor in Erosion of Alps 6 Million Years Ago
- More Carbon Dioxide May Help Some Trees Weather Ice Storms
- Establishing a Connection between Global Warming and Hurricane Intensity
- Bacteria Can Help Predict Ocean Change
- More Fires, Droughts and Floods Predicted

* Headlines from the press, radio, and television:

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Headlines/
- Grey Jays Hit by Warming as Birds Freezer Fails
- Malaysia’s Development Race Puts Mangroves at Risk
- Ethiopia Steps up Flood Warnings as Death Toll Rises
- Bacteria Warnings Hit New Hampshire, Maine Coast
- Atlantic Hurricanes Could Rev Up Any Time
- Ozone-Friendly Chemicals Lead to Warming
- Moderate Earthquake Hits Mexico Coast, Felt in City
- Scientists Add Years to Ozone Recovery
- Greenhouse Gas Good for Some Trees
- Report Blames Keys Algae Blooms on Roads
- Hurricane Katrina, Rita Oil Spills Mostly Minor, Didn’t Reach Shore
- Typhoon Saomai Death Toll Rises in China
- Chinese Drought Affects Millions
- Japan Heat Wave to Continue
- Thousands of Katrina Evacuees Seen as Climate Refugees
- Australia Formed by Three-Continent Collision
- Scientists Collaborate on Quake Research
- 60 Missing as Ecuador Volcano Erupts
- Global Warming Affects Hurricane Intensity, U.S. Study Shows
- Philippine Volcano’s High Alert to Last Weeks
- Researchers Probe What Spawns Hurricanes
- ‘More Disasters’ for Warmer World

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Citizen journalism makes debut

Daily News

valleynews.com  

Months in the making, the Daily News goes live today with a citizen journalism venture that invites community members – from soccer moms and budding rock stars to pet lovers and gardeners – to write and upload news that matters to them to valleynews.com.
 …

Complete article at:

http://dailynews.com/news/ci_4212518

 

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ANOTHER 9/11 COVER-UP IN THE MAKING?

Rory O’Connor, AlterNet

The author of a new book about the mistakes that led to 9/11 accuses the National Geographic Channel of diluting a documentary about the book in order to protect the government.

At:

http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/40693/

 

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Homeland Security Dept. says your credit rating is imperative to avoiding another 9/11 attack

At:

http://tinyurl.com/fkdpa

From: Poacnewsletter

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“respectfully” disagreed with Bush’s pledge to not question opponents’ patriotism: “We most certainly can. We most certainly should”

On his radio show, Rush Limbaugh “respectfully” disagreed with President Bush’s statement that “I will never question the patriotism of somebody who disagrees with me,” saying, “I am going to challenge the patriotism of people who disagree with him because the people that disagree with him want to lose.”

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200608220006?src=other

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Taxpayer Alert: We’re Paying for Bush Propaganda

by Tula Connell

Once upon a time, in democratically elected governments around the globe, a notion evolved in which employees staffing government agencies should be outside the political process—representing taxpayers rather than political parties.

For its part, the United States created what we call the “civil service” system to help ensure the people we pay to work for us actually work for us, and are not beholden to any political group. Employees of the federal government—accountants and social service administrators, agriculture officials and tax preparers—are held to professional standards that mean no matter which political party is in power, they will continue to serve all taxpayers appropriately.

Unless they’re Bush Republican cronies.

In the latest conflict of interest by a Bush mouthpiece, er, public servant, The Washington Post reports that Labor Department Deputy Assistant Secretary Karen Czarnecki regularly appears on Fox News television under the label “conservative strategist.”

She also is a  regular “conservative analyst” on the PBS show “To the Contrary” and, according to her department biography, has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, Canadian Public Broadcasting and C-SPAN.

And according to Justin Rood at TPM Muckracker, the Bush administration not only is aware of Czarnecki’s media appearances but also required PBS not to disclose the fact she’s a federal employee.

PBS and the show’s host have defended their practice of using Czarnecki without disclosing her day job. According to show host Bonnie Erbe, the administration required that Czarnecki’s position not be disclosed as a condition of her appearing on the show.
…

At:

http://blog.aflcio.org/2006/08/21/taxpayer-alert-we%e2%80%99-paying-for-bush-propaganda/

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Behind Bush’s Rhetoric on Iraq

ANTONIA JUHASZ, antoniajuhasz@gmail.com,

http://www.thebushagenda.org
Juhasz is the author of the book “The Bush Agenda: Invading the World, One Economy at a Time” and a visiting scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies. She said today: “More than three years since the war began, President Bush is finally telling the truth about why the U.S. is in Iraq: Oil. Bush told reporters today that U.S. troops must stay in Iraq because ‘terrorists and extremists’ must be denied access to Iraq’s oil sales. Of course, Bush not only wants to keep oil out of his enemies’ hands, he also wants to put it into the hands of his friends. And this front in the war is right on track.
“Iraq’s new oil law is set to be implemented this year, possibly within a month. It opens Iraq’s oil sector to private foreign corporate investment using Production Sharing Agreements. No other Middle Eastern nation uses PSAs because they provide unnecessarily lucrative terms to the foreign companies, at the expense of the national government. Oil companies including Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Conoco are ready to sign PSAs once the law is passed. They will, however, need security to get to work. This is where the U.S. troops come in. It is this ‘oil timeline’ that is determining how long U.S. troops will stay in Iraq.”
Juhasz has recently written about the findings of the July 2006 report to Congress from the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.

See

http://www.thebushagenda.net/article.php?id=238 .

From: Institute for Public Accuracy

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When war is on the horizon, follow the money

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

GARY FERDMAN AND MYRIAM MIEDZIAN
GUEST COLUMNISTS

Pop quiz: Who founded the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq?

A. A prominent Iraqi political exile.

B. Bruce Jackson, former Lockheed Martin vice president

C. Neoconservatives William Kristol and Paul Wolfowitz.

Answer: b.

What does this mean? To understand our nation’s foreign policy, including military interventions, follow the money.

This should come as no surprise. Our country is built on the profit motive; we proved its effectiveness by outlasting the Soviet Union.

While Americans understand that making money motivates McDonald’s or Wal-Mart, and some are concerned about businesses donating large sums to influence politicians, most are unaware of how the profit motive helps shape U.S. foreign policy.

This is caused in part by our leaders draping decisions, especially wars, in patriotism. Take Iraq; President Bush leads Americans to believe that Saddam Hussein was involved in 9/11, has weapons of mass destruction, and threatens our national security. Once he invades Iraq, any questioning is portrayed as endangering our troops and homeland.

By the time most Americans realize that none of it is true, thousands of young soldiers are killed or maimed and hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars are flowing to often incompetent, politically connected Pentagon contractors.

…

Complete article at:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/282139_corporatewar23.html

Myriam Miedzian is the author of “BOYS WILL BE BOYS: Breaking the Link between Masculinity and Violence.” Gary Ferdman is former executive director of Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, dedicated to increasing federal support for education and health care using funds spent on Pentagon weapons.

 

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Borowitz Report – Axis of Eviler Shocker

Bush Promotes Iran to Axis of Eviler

Calls Iranian President Ahmadinejad ‘Evilerdoer’

Furious at Iran’s decision to test-fire surface-to-surface missiles and push forward with its nuclear program, President George W. Bush today named Iran to a newly-formed “Axis of Eviler.”

The president said that he had invented the new Axis specifically for Iran because “evil does not describe just how evil these folks really are.”

Mr. Bush singled out Iranian Mahmud Ahmadinejad for special condemnation, calling the provocative head of state an “evildoer.”

The president said that at first he was not sure whether “eviler” or “evilerdoer” were actually words, “but then I checked with [Secretary of Defense] Don Rumsfeld who assured me that they were.”

While the promotion of Iran from the Axis of Evil to the Axis of Eviler drew no initial response from President Ahmadinejad, it sparked an angry reaction from North Korean President Kim Jong-Il, who said today, “North Korea will not sit idly by and allow another nation to be called eviler than it.”

President Kim said that he would double the number of missile tests it conducts and ramp up its uranium enrichment program in the hopes of being named to what he called the “Axis of Evilest.”

In Washington, reporters asked Mr. Bush if he had unintentionally ignited a competition between Iran and North Korea to see which nation could do eviler things.

Mr. Bush responded, “Mission accomplished.”

Elsewhere, after it was reported that JonBenet Ramsey murder suspect John Mark Karr was flown first class and dined on fried prawns and champagne, over one hundred other people came forward to confess to the crime.

http://www.borowitzreport.com/

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three to see

John de Rosier: The most powerful Iraq war cartoon?

http://blogs.timesunion.com/derosier/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/2006-08-20.gif

This Modern World: Taking terror seriously

http://www.workingforchange.com/webgraphics/WFC/TMW08-23-06.jpg

David Horsey: america the dutiful

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart/20060822/cartoon20060822.gif

NEW PULSE POSTED

At:

http://www.ornl.gov/news/pulse/pulse_v216_06.htm

That’s the url to the August 21, 2006, issue of DOE Pulse. Pulse is a newsletter about accomplishments at the Department of Energy’s national laboratories. Here is some of what you’ll find in this issue:

* Argonne: Hydrogen combustion images

* NREL: Green energy collaboration

* Fermilab: Disappearing neutrinos

* Idaho: Cancer therapy isotope tested

Feature: Ames Lab’s ‘Marvelous Metamaterials’

Researcher profile: NETL’s Bill O’Connor and CO2 sequestration

==========

“New Christian broadcasting TV special featuring Ann Coulter blames Darwin for Hitler”

At:

http://tinyurl.com/pjpxe

From: Poacnewsletter

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Blitzer left unchallenged Bennett’s claim that U.K. terror arrests “help[ed] the president”

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer failed to challenge Bill Bennett’s assertion that the recent arrests of terrorism suspects in the United Kingdom “helps the president.” In fact, national polling conducted after the alleged terror plot was exposed indicates that President Bush has received no appreciable boost in public support.

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200608210007?src=other

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Al-Qaeda: The Many Faces of an Islamist Extremist Threat

Report of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

At:

http://intelligence.house.gov/Media/PDFS/IslamicExtremism051506v2.pdf

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Behind Bush’s Rhetoric on Iraq:

RAED JARRAR, jarrar.raed@gmail.com,

http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com

Jarrar, the Iraq Project director for Global Exchange, is just back from a trip to the Mideast which included meetings with Iraqi Parliament members in Jordan and a visit to Syria.
Bush said today at his news conference: “The United States of America must understand it’s in our interests that we help this democracy succeed. As a matter of fact, it’s in our interests that we help reformers across the Middle East achieve their objectives.”
Jarrar said: “Our meetings with the Iraqi Parliament members were very fruitful, especially with the mainstream Sunni and Shia parties, because we got this strong united message from Iraqi Sunnis and Shia demanding a timetable for pulling out the U.S. troops.
“What is developing in Iraq is an anti-occupation parliament, especially after the war on Lebanon, where people are in the streets in Iraq rallying against the British, the U.S. and Israeli occupations.
“So, rhetoric aside, the U.S. will try to go back to their original plan and insert yet another dictatorship in the Middle East in Iraq that will take its cues from Washington like the dictatorships in Egypt or Jordan or Saudi Arabia which are supported by the U.S. government.”

From: Institute for Public Accuracy

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Bush Now Says What He Wouldn’t Say Before War: Iraq Had ‘Nothing’ To Do With 9/11

President Bush was in the midst of explaining how the attacks of 9/11 inspired his “freedom agenda” and the attacks on Iraq until a reporter, Ken Herman of Cox News, interrupted to ask what Iraq had to do with 9/11. “Nothing,” Bush defiantly answered.

At:

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/08/21/bush-on-911/

==========

Michael Schwartz, Tomdispatch.com

A short guide to understanding a flood of new Iraqi developments — and the fate of both the American occupation and Iraqi society.

At:

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/40629/

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Return to Kandahar: The Taliban threat

Nelofer Pazira, the journalist who starred in the film ‘Kandahar’, has gone back to the southern Afghan city for the first time in four years. There she found residents living in fear as Islamic insurgents extend their deadly reach still deeper into the country

Belfast Telegraph

21 August 2006

Fear permeates Kandahar. Eyes watch every passer-by, every car. Everyone is suspect. People shrink away from me when I ask to interview them. They run when they see a camera. The few brave souls who agree to talk do so either anonymously or because they are desperate.

There is no war, no shooting, no rockets. At least not yet, although the Taliban wave is reconquering Afghanistan, and fighting is spreading through Kandahar province.

Only a few months ago, the city of Kandahar was on the road to prosperity. Newly-paved streets with proper signs – one even named after Queen Soraya, wife of the 1920s reformer King Amanullah Khan – a park with a playground for children and several smart guesthouses were part of the new image. Near the Kandahar market, the foundations of many new modern buildings and houses had been laid.
…

Complete article at:

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/features/story.jsp?story=703377

==========

Borowitz Report – Credibility Shocker

JonBenet Suspect ‘Lacks Credibility,’ Says O.J.
Urges Search For Real Killers

Former football great O.J. Simpson weighed in on the latest developments in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case today, holding a press conference to say that the prime suspect in the case, John Mark Karr, “lacks credibility.”

Mr. Simpson, who said that he has spent almost every waking moment of the past eleven years searching for the real killers of his wife Nicole, remarked that it was unusual for him to take time out from that tireless search to comment on another murder investigation.

“But I felt that I had to say something about this, because I strongly believe that the police got the wrong guy,” Mr. Simpson said. “And all I could think of was, man, déjà vu.”

The former Heisman Trophy winner said that after hearing Mr. Karr speaking at a news conference in Bangkok, “There were holes in his story you could drive a white Bronco through.”

Mr. Simpson urged Boulder Country District Attorney Mary Lacey not to “rush to judgment” and instead to focus on finding “the real killers” of JonBenet: “From all the evidence I’ve seen, I think Columbian drug lords could have been involved.”

The NFL legend said that while no one in Boulder had asked him to lend his investigative skills to the search for JonBenet’s real killers, it was unlikely he would be joining such an effort in any event.

“What with looking for my wife’s real killers and all, my plate is pretty full,” he said.

Elsewhere, one day after Tiger Woods won the PGA Championship at Medinah Country Club in Illinois, Hezbollah claimed that they actually won.

http://www.borowitzreport.com/

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three to see

Slowpoke: Stand your ground

http://www.workingforchange.com/webgraphics/WFC/sp082106.gif

Ted Rall: thankless journey

http://picayune.uclick.com/comics/trall/2006/trall060821.gif

Mike Keefe: JonBenet Frenzy

http://www.intoon.com/toons/2006/KeefeM20060820.jpg

epolitics

Dissecting the craft of online politics, advocacy and political marketing

Lots of websites talk about politics — talk and talk and talk — but only a tiny handful discuss anything other than a particular point of view. Very few discuss online advocacy and online politics broadly and as a craft, focusing on what methods work and when, and without selling a particular product or consultancy.
…

At:

http://www.epolitics.com/

==========

Corporate Greed Aug 16

Wal-Mart Won’t Pay Workers Well, But Now Tells Them How to Vote

It’s not enough for the world’s largest retailer to contribute millions of dollars to support presidential candidates who will do the bidding of corporations at the expense of America’s workers. Now it turns out, Wal-Mart is trying to tell its employees how to vote—and you can bet its list doesn’t include any candidate who supports working families.

Wal-Mart is mailing 18,000 “voter guides” to its employees in Iowa, state of the first presidential primary in 2008. The guides attack potential candidates for president—all Democrats—for supporting groups that oppose Wal-Mart’s everyday low wages that mean many workers require public assistance to support their families.

In an effort to smear lawmakers who seek to improve Wal-Mart’s treatment of its workers, Wal-Mart vice president of corporate communications, Bob McAdam, says those lawmakers—including Govs. Bill Richardson (N.M.) and Tom Vilsack (Iowa), Sen. Evan Bayh (Ind.) and former Sen. Joe Biden (Del.)—are “playing to a small, increasingly special-interest audience” (made up of millions of working families).

The four are taking part in a 35-city bus tour sponsored by the union-backed organization WakeUpWalMart.com this month to educate elected officials about how Wal-Mart’s low wages, poor benefits and shoddy treatment of its employees damage entire communities.

In his letter to Iowa Wal-Mart workers, regional manager Tom Underwood writes:

…

Complete article at:

http://blog.aflcio.org/2006/08/16/wal-mart-won%e2%80%99t-pay-workers-well-but-now-tells-them-how-to-vote/

==========

Pipelines To 9/11:

Bush said the attacks of 9/11 were the reason to invade Afghanistan. This article shows that preparations for this war took place well before.

At:

http://www.countercurrents.org/us-ruijter170806.htm

From: Poacnewsletter

==========

THE LOOSE CANNON OF 9/11

Michael Slenske, SMITH Magazine

How a 23-year-old Army grunt-turned-film producer is undermining the 9/11 Commission Report with $8,000 and a laptop.

At:

http://www.alternet.org/story/40476/

==========

Digital Surveillance: The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act

CORPORATE AUTHOR: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS WASHINGTON DC CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE
PERSONAL AUTHORS:Figliola, Patricia M.
REPORT DATE: 10 MAY 2006
PAGINATION: 17 PAGES
REPORT NUMBER: CRS-RL30677

At:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/intel/RL30677.pdf

==========

Borowitz Report – JonBenet Suspect Shocker

JonBenet Suspect Says He Also Killed Amelia Earhart

Claims Aviator’s Death Was ‘Accident’

Just days after confessing to the 1996 murder of child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey, itinerant schoolteacher John Mark Karr took full responsibility for the 1937 death of aviatrix Amelia Earhart.

Mr. Karr made the stunning announcement at a chaotic airport press conference upon his arrival in Los Angeles from Bangkok.

“I was with Amelia Earhart when she died,” Mr. Karr told reporters. “It was an accident. I loved Amelia Earhart.”

Mr. Karr refused to give out details about Ms. Earhart’s death, including where and how she died and how he came to be in the same location as the legendary aviation pioneer.

But according to Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacey, “We had enough evidence linking John Mark Karr to the death of Amelia Earhart to bring him in.”

Some Amelia Earhart experts, however, expressed skepticism about Mr. Karr’s confession, including Professor Davis Logsdon at the University of Minnesota, who noted today that “there are problems with the timeline.”

“Amelia Earhart died in 1937, and John Mark Karr was not born until 1965,” Professor Logsdon said. “I’m having a hard time wrapping my brain around that.”

Regardless of the skepticism, D.A. Mary Lacey said she was “confident” that she had her man.

“It looks like we’ve solved both the JonBenet mystery and the Amelia Earhart mystery in the same week,” she said. “This is awesome!”

Elsewhere, President Bush said he was “not surprised” by federal judge Anna Diggs Taylor’s decision to declare his practice of warrantless wiretaps unconstitutional, telling reporters, “I heard her talking to her husband about it last week.”

http://www.borowitzreport.com/

==========

three to see

Tom Toles: the decider

http://www.buffalonews.com/graphics/2006/08/21/0821toles.jpg

Steve Sack: too subtle

http://images.ucomics.com/comics/tmssa/2006/tmssa060817.gif

Walt Handelsman: airport security

http://images.ucomics.com/comics/tmwha/2006/tmwha060811.gif

Columbia Journalism Review Daily

At:

http://www.cjrdaily.org/

The journalism school at Columbia University is held in high-regard by many for their commitment to training journalists that will hold a high standard of quality investigative reporting that will inspire future generations of like-minded individuals. As with many journalism schools, they have made great headway into offering both critique and comment on the changing world of journalism, and the Columbia Journalism Review Daily is a fine example of such efforts.  The Daily was born in 2004 with a mandate to monitor coverage of the presidential election campaign, and has continued over the past several years by offering daily (and, at times, hourly) critiques of political journalism and analyses of the broader forces affecting press performance. Visitors to the homepage can read their commentaries and analyses, and also search the entire contents of the Daily via a handy search feature. Additionally, visitors can make their way through the Daily’s archives, if they so wish.

                          ==========

Report Warns of More Frequent Coastal Flooding and Rising Sea Levels

The California Climate Action Team has released a summary report of 17 scientific studies examining the potential impacts of climate change on California.

At:

http://www.climatechange.ca.gov/biennial_reports/2006report/.

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O’Reilly: “Fund[ing] first responders … means after you’re dead, [they'll] have enough ambulances to carry your corpse to the funeral home”

On his radio show, Bill O’Reilly mocked Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s proposal to increase funding for first responders, stating of Kucinich’s four-point plan to increase national security: “Number three: Fund first responders in the U.S.A. That means after you’re dead, have enough ambulances to carry your corpse to the funeral home.”

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200608180006?src=other

                          ==========

John Prescott let slip yesterday that some of the 24 people arrested last week over the alleged transatlantic terror plot will not face serious charges.

At:

http://tinyurl.com/f82jn

From: Poacnewsletter

                          ==========

NINE WAYS REPUBLICANS ARE RUINING THE COUNTRY

Larry Beinhart, BuzzFlash

Republican are unimaginably bad on national security. Say it loud, say it often, it’s the truth.

At:

http://www.alternet.org/story/40438/

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What we still don’t understand about Hizbollah

This week, world terrorism expert Robert Pape will share with the FBI the findings of his remarkable study of 462 suicide bombings. He concludes that such acts have little to do with religious extremism and that the West must engage politically to halt the relentless slaughter

…

Complete article at:

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1838199,00.html

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PSYOPS: THE OTHER MIDDLE EAST AIR WAR

at:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/08/AR2006080800603_pf.html
“Cell phones and land lines across Lebanon have been ringing with automated, recorded messages — part of a propaganda war being waged along with Israel’s assault on Lebanon,” reports Associated Press. “The Israeli army has refused to confirm that is is behind the phone calls. But few Lebanese have any doubts.” One call asks, “Who is using you as human shields?” Similar messages appear on leaflets dropped by Israeli planes and in Israeli radio broadcasts into south Lebanon. The Los Angeles Times reports that “during three recent TV broadcasts, Israel has hacked into Hezbollah’s Al Manar channel. … The Israel Defense Forces had confirmed that the hacking was the work of the army’s intelligence corps.” Professor Charles Harb at the American University of Beirut called the approaches “a classic psychological ploy” meant to make Lebanese civilians feel closer to their government and more distant from Hezbollah.
SOURCE: Associated Press, August 8, 2006

For more information or to comment on this story, visit:

http://www.prwatch.org/node/5068

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How Many and Where Were the Nukes? What the U.S. Government No Longer Wants You to Know about Nuclear Weapons During the Cold War

National Security Archive Update, August 18, 2006

How Many and Where Were the Nukes?

What the U.S. Government No Longer Wants You to Know about Nuclear Weapons During the Cold War

http://www.nsarchive.org

For more information: Dr. William Burr, Thomas Blanton, 202/994-7000

Washington, DC, 18 August 2006 – The Pentagon and the Energy Department have now stamped as national security secrets the long-public numbers of U.S. nuclear missiles during the Cold War, including data from the public reports of the Secretaries of Defense in 1967 and 1971, according to government documents posted today on the Web by the National Security Archive

http://www.nsarchive.org .

Pentagon and Energy officials have now blacked out from previously public charts the numbers of Minuteman missiles (1,000), Titan II missiles (54), and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (656) in the historic U.S. Cold War arsenal, even though four Secretaries of Defense (McNamara, Laird, Richardson, Schlesinger) reported strategic force levels publicly in the 1960s and 1970s.

The security censors also have blacked out deployment information about U.S nuclear weapons in Great Britain and Germany that was declassified in 1999, as well as nuclear deployment arrangements with Canada, even though the Canadian government has declassified its side of the arrangement.

The reclassifications come in an environment of wide-ranging review of archival documents with nuclear weapons data that Congress authorized in the 1998 Kyl-Lott amendments. Under Kyl-Lott, the Energy Department has spent $22 million while surveying more than 200 million pages of released documents. Energy has reported to Congress that 6,640 pages have been withdrawn from public access (at a cost of $3,313 per page), but that the majority involves Formerly Restricted Data, which would include historic numbers and locations of weapons, rather than weapon systems design information (Restricted Data).

Documents posted today by the National Security Archive include:

* Recently released Defense Department, NSC, and State Department reports with excisions of numbers of nuclear missiles and bombers in the U.S. arsenals during the 1960s and 70s.

* Unclassified tables published in a report to Congress by Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird as excised by Pentagon reviewers.

* A “Compendium of Nuclear Weapons Arrangements” between the United States and foreign governments that was prepared in 1968 and recently released in a massively excised version under Defense Department and DOE guidelines.

* Canadian and U.S. government documents illustrating the public record nature of some information withheld from the 1968 “Compendium.”

“It would be difficult to find better candidates for unjustifiable secrecy than decisions to classify the numbers of U.S. strategic weapons,” remarked Archive senior analyst Dr. William Burr, who compiled today’s posting. “This problem, as well as the excessive secrecy for historical nuclear deployments, is unlikely to go away as long as security reviewers follow unrealistic guidelines.”

“The government is reclassifying public data at the same time that government prosecutors are claiming the power to go after anybody who has ‘unauthorized possession’ of classified information,” said Archive director Thomas Blanton. “What’s really at risk is accountability in government.”

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Senator queries WMD claims

Suspicious chemicals in Iraq

The threat posed by WMD was the main reason cited for war

A senior US senator says he has evidence that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) deliberately withheld crucial information from the UN arms inspectors deployed to Iraq.

The claim comes as Congress prepares to open inquiries into whether the US Government misread or inflated threats posed by Iraq before going to war.

In London, parliament’s Foreign Affairs Select Committee has opened a hearing into whether the UK Government misled parliament on the threat posed by Iraq.

In both cases, a key question is over claims, made by the US and the UK, that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.

Since the war was officially declared over, no such weapons have been located – although their alleged existence was a key reason cited by the US President George W Bush and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair for going to war.

‘Not shared’

…

Complete article at:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2996752.stm

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three to see

Tom the Dancing Bug (Ruben Bolling): waiting for god-man

http://www.uclick.com/feature/06/08/19/td060819.gif

Pat Oliphant: congress – security legislation

http://www.uclick.com/feature/06/08/16/po060816.gif

Nick Anderson: no middle ground in the democratic party

http://www.uclick.com/feature/06/08/18/wpnan060818.gif

MICROBIAL FUEL CELL

Researchers at Washington University (St. Louis, MO) are working to make practical a microbial fuel cell that “runs” on wastewater. Scientists hope to boost a standing design’s output by a factor of 10, making the fuel cell available for commercial utilization. The Washington team devised a continually-fed upflow microbial fuel cell (UMFC), differing from past models that were closed and relied on a nutrient solution. The new model was reliant on a continuous flow of wastewater.

The organic matter in wastewater provided food for bacteria that developed a biofilm (a thick-layered colony of bacteria) on a simple electrode in an anode chamber. A proton exchange membrane inside the anode chamber separated the anode from the cathode. As the bacteria fed, they released electrons to the anodic electrode. These electrons moved to the cathodic electrode via a copper wire. Formed protons were transferred through the membrane towards the cathode where they reacted with electrons and oxygen to form water. Sustained power in the system averaged 20 watts per cubic meter, enough to run a small light
bulb.

For more information, visit:

http://link.abpi.net/l.php?20060815A8

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NETL: Technologies: Oil and Natural Gas Supply

This government site focuses on innovative and ecologically sensitive methods to explore for and recover oil and natural gas. Find details and project information about exploration and production technologies, future supply and emerging resources (such as coal bed natural gas), and transmission, refining, and transportation (such as inspection technologies for pipelines). From the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), U.S. Department of Energy.

At:

http://www.netl.doe.gov/technologies/oil-gas/

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War College Study on the US Patriot Act and Civil Liberties

From the U.S. Army War College:

http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA449681

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CNN’s Blitzer, Dobbs, Arena baselessly characterized federal judge’s ruling against warrantless wiretapping as “damaging blow” to “key” program

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Lou Dobbs, and Kelli Arena characterized a judge’s ruling that the Bush administration’s warrantless domestic spying program is unconstitutional as a serious blow to the administration’s efforts to combat terrorists. But it’s not at all clear that the administration must violate the law to protect the country or that warrantless domestic wiretapping has been effective in combating terrorists.

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200608180011?src=other

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Our Major Ally in Bush’s war of choice (Turkey) is shelling and massing tanks on the border of our other major ally in Bush’s war of choice (Iraqi Kurds) with help from Iran.

At:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1852843,00.html

From: Poacnewsletter

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CHENEY GETS FLAWED NEOCON BRIEFINGS ON IRAN

Larisa Alexandrovna, Raw Story

In what has become an all-to-familiar storyline, Dick Cheney is receiving flawed intelligence briefings from a clique of neocons who are viewed skeptically by veteran analysts.

At:

http://www.alternet.org/story/40539/

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Using Terror Scare?

BEAU GROSSCUP, BGrosscup@csuchico.edu

Author of the book “The Newest Explosions of Terrorism,” Grosscup said today: “Of course it is playing politics with terrorism … to what end? Bush/Blair could have the political results of a 9/11 without an actual event — using the fear of a catastrophic event to (1) … change the very nature of our society to a more authoritarian ‘democracy’; (2) test how cowed the British/U.S. public is by the terrorism/national security issue; (3) focus attention back on their ‘war on terror’ and how effective they are being at getting an enemy that is still out there and away from their Iraq fiasco which is hurting their political prospects and their allies; (4) remind us all that this is a long permanent situation that requires ‘special warfare’ tactics at home and abroad to which there should be no objection.”

Grosscup is professor of international relations at California State University in Chico and author of the forthcoming book “Strategic Terror: The Politics and Ethics of Aerial Bombardment.”

From: Institute for Public Accuracy

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The CIA-Contra-Crack Connection, 10 Years Later

Reporter Gary Webb was the victim of his own hyperbole, but he never got credit for what he got right.

By Nick Schou, NICK SCHOU is an editor for OC Weekly. His book, “Kill the Messenger: How the CIA’s Crack-Cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb,” will be published in October.

August 18, 2006

TEN YEARS AGO today, one of the most controversial news articles of the 1990s quietly appeared on the front page of the San Jose Mercury News. Titled “Dark Alliance,” the headline ran beneath the provocative image of a man smoking crack — superimposed on the official seal of the CIA.

The three-part series by reporter Gary Webb linked the CIA and Nicaragua’s Contras to the crack cocaine epidemic that ripped through South Los Angeles in the 1980s.

Most of the nation’s elite newspapers at first ignored the story. A public uproar, especially among urban African Americans, forced them to respond. What followed was one of the most bizarre, unseemly and ultimately tragic scandals in the annals of American journalism, one in which top news organizations closed ranks to debunk claims Webb never made, ridicule assertions that turned out to be true and ignore corroborating evidence when it came to light. The whole shameful cycle was repeated when Webb committed suicide in December 2004.

…

Complete article at:

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-schou18aug18,0,2765183.story?track=tothtml

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Fighting Evolution

Sean O’Neill, Online Sub-Editor

Human beings, as we know them, developed from earlier species of animals: true or false? This simple question is splitting America, with a growing proportion thinking that we did not descend from an ancestral ape. A survey of 32 European countries, the US and Japan has revealed that only Turkey is less willing than the US to accept evolution as fact. So what is going on?

…

Complete article at:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19125653.700?DCMP=NLC-nletter&nsref=mg19125653.700

From issue 2565 of New Scientist magazine, 19 August 2006, page 11

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three to see

Bad Reporter(Don Asmussen): why does the constitution hate us?

http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2006/08/18/081806-950×316-badreporter.gif

Mike Luckovich: dell laptoptop with an exploding battery

http://www.creators.com/0813/LK/LK0817g.gif

Matt Wuerker: Meanwhile, Back With the Middle Class

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/19306/