carapace – Not your father's america

Helpful hint – How to cook a turkey

At:

http://www.emusing.com/hdtg_htct1103.asp

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BUTTERBALL

A representative from The Butterball Turkey Corporation went to see the Pope and asked him to change the Lord’s Prayer from “Give us our daily bread” to “Give us our daily turkey.”

The Pope said that it is impossible.

The Butterball rep said that the corporation is prepared to give the church a billion dollars to change it.

The Pope agrees to discuss it with the head Cardinals.

The next day the Pope calls them all together and announces he has good news and bad news.

“The good news”, he begins “is that the church is to come into a billion dollars. The bad news is that we are losing the Wonderbread account!”

From:

suddenlysenior.com

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W’S THANKSGIVING MESSAGE

“My fellow Americans, let’s be thankful for global warming, because as these winter months approach, it makes the world such a nice, toasty place.

Let’s be thankful to Rummy for doing such a good job, even if he doesn’t have it anymore.

Let’s be thankful that we live in a place like America and not in a place like China where the doors are really tricky to open.

Let’s be thankful that even though my approval numbers are falling, they’re still higher than my grades at Yale.

Let’s be thankful for the Sony PlayStation Portable, which really helps you get through those long cabinet meetings when they’re going on and on about the economy.

Let’s be thankful that in nine months it will be August and then I can go on summer vacation again.

Let’s be thankful that we have such courageous men and women working at the CIA, and that we all know their names.

And finally, my fellow Americans, let’s be thankful that, even though we still haven’t brought Osama bin Laden to justice, we did finally get Robert Blake.”

From:

suddenlysenior.com

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Borowitz Report – Lame Duck Shocker

Lame Duck Pardons Turkey

Bush Makes a Case for Poultry Solidarity

Sending a message to the newly elected Democratic congress that he has no intention of acting like a lame duck for the remainder of his term in office, President George W. Bush took the bold step of pardoning a turkey on the front lawn of the White House today.

In what White House insiders were calling an act of “poultry solidarity,” the president said that he had decided to pardon the turkey months ago and was determined to “stay the course.”

“I’m the decider, and I have decided that this turkey is innocent,” Mr. Bush told the White House press corps.

While the president clearly chose to pardon the turkey as a way of showing Democratic leaders that he was still a force to be reckoned with, one aide acknowledged that Mr. Bush had a much bolder move in mind before his party’s “thumping” in the midterm elections: “He wanted to pardon Jack Abramoff.”

But moments after Mr. Bush released the turkey from captivity, incoming speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi blasted the president’s decision as “unilateral” and “extrajudicial,” adding that congress was prepared to subpoena both Mr. Bush and the turkey.

The controversy over the president’s decision ended abruptly, however, when White House spokesman Tony Snow announced later in the day that Vice President Dick Cheney had accidentally shot the turkey to death.

“Apparently, the vice president mistook the turkey for a quail,” Mr. Snow said. “At least he’s getting closer.”

Elsewhere, Rupert Murdoch announced that he would author a new book about O.J. Simpson’s book, entitled “If I Cancelled It.”

http://www.borowitzreport.com/

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THANKSGIVING – 21 Reasons to Give Thanks

This Thanksgiving, progressives have a lot to be thankful for. Here’s our list:

We’re thankful for our country’s troops.

We’re thankful America dumped the 109th Congress.

We’re thankful Rick Santorum will have more free time to find the WMD.

We’re thankful we don’t have to go to war with the Secretary of Defense we had.

We’re thankful for “red state values,” like protecting reproductive rights, supporting stem cell research, and rejecting discrimination.

We’re thankful Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), who calls climate change the “greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people,” will no longer chair the Senate environmental committee.

We’re thankful that Matt Drudge does not rule our world.

We’re thankful Al Gore helped the country face the inconvenient truth.

We’re thankful Bill O’Reilly does not resort to name calling – well, besides labeling the Progress Report/ThinkProgress as “far left loons,” “kool-aid zombies,” “hired guns,” “vile,” “haters,” a “far left smear website,” and “a very well-oiled, effective character assassination machine.”

We’re thankful minimum wage ballot initiatives passed in six states.

We’re thankful the Dixie Chicks aren’t ready to make nice.

We’re thankful Ted Haggard bought the meth but never used it.

We’re thankful for the 100,000 readers who responded to our Tell the Truth About 9/11 campaign.

We’re thankful for “the Google” and “the email” (and the “series of tubes” that make them possible) — but not iPods, which are endangering our nation.

We’re thankful Maf54 isn’t online right now.

We’re thankful people send us Jack Abramoff’s email.

We’re thankful Keith Olbermann’s ratings are up and Bill O’Reilly’s ratings are down.

We’re thankful President Bush’s secret plan for Iraq is safe with Conrad Burns.

We’re thankful we won’t spend Thanksgiving turkey hunting with Dick Cheney.

We’re thankful the “Decider” only gets to make the decision 789 more days.

And last but not least: We’re thankful to the Progress Report readers for their tips, energy and support.

Happy Thanksgiving! – The Progress Report Team.

From The Progress Report – americanprogressaction.org

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six to see

Pat Bagley: showoff

http://cagle.com/news/Thanksgiving06/images/bagley.jpg

Mark Parisi: thanksgiving

http://www.offthemark.com/Images/thanksgiving/thanksg23.gif

Jeff Parker: I woulda’used a big knife

http://cagle.msnbc.com/working/061121/parker.gif

Thanksgiving cartoon

http://www.grinningplanet.com/2005/11-15/thanksgiving-cartoon.htm

Mike Lester: I can’t believe

http://cagle.com/news/Thanksgiving06/images/lester.gif

Rick McKee: at least we have our health

http://cagle.com/news/Thanksgiving06/images/wells7.gif

Israeli robot no bigger than a hornet

“Israel is using nanotechnology to try to create a robot no bigger than a hornet that would be able to chase, photograph and kill its targets, an Israeli newspaper reported on Friday. The flying robot, nicknamed the ‘bionic hornet,’ would be able to navigate its way down narrow alleyways to target otherwise unreachable enemies such as rocket launchers, the daily Yedioth Ahronoth said. It is one of several weapons being developed by scientists to combat militants, it said. Others include super gloves that would give the user the strength of a ‘bionic man’ and miniature sensors to detect suicide bombers.”

Learn more at News.com.

http://news.com.com/Report+Israel+developing+bionic+hornet+weapon/2100-11394_3-6136468.html?tag=nefd.top

From:

http://www.futurebrief.com/

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Schieffer repeated GOP claim that newly elected Democratic House members are “a bunch of new conservative Democrats”

CBS’ Bob Schieffer baselessly claimed that many of the freshman Democratic House members are “conservative”; Tucker Carlson called newly elected Democratic Rep. Heath Shuler “more conservative than most Republicans in the House.” In fact, the Democratic candidates who won Republican-held seats in the November 7 midterm elections, including Shuler, have said they support central issues in the Democratic platform.

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200611200007?src=other

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GOP fundraiser gets 18 years in prison for: theft, corrupt activity, money laundering, forgery and tampering with records

At:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061120/ap_on_re_us/investment_scandal

From: Poacnewsletter

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Preachers and Ministers

Ex-minister charged in cold case rape

News 14 Carolina – Raleigh,NC,USA

By: AP. CHARLOTTE — A former minister who already served a sentence for raping a teen has been charged with a rape that occurred 19 years ago.

…

http://rdu.news14.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=94364

Minister charged with using stepmother’s pension for himself

WHAS 11.com (subscription) – Louisville,KY,USA

… at Forest Tabernacle Baptist Church, James Anderson, Junior, is still a minister at the … He is charged with knowingly exploiting an adult by another person. …

http://www.whas11.com/topstories/stories/111806cckrTopMinisterCharged.2114886.html

Dyersburg youth minister charged with raping teen

WMC-TV – Memphis,TN,USA

Knoxville Police have charged a West Tennessee youth minister with raping a teenage girl competing in a state track meet in Knoxville. …

http://www.wmcstations.com/Global/story.asp?S=5703762

Youth minister charged with sex crimes

Reporter-Times – Martinsville,IN,USA

The Morgan County Sheriff’s Department has charged the youth minister of Liberty Christian Church with two counts of child seduction and two counts of child …

http://www.reporter-times.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=36883&format=html

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CACI: TORTURE IN IRAQ, INTIMIDATION AT HOME

By Joshua Holland, AlterNet

Dogged by serious allegations of human rights abuses in Iraq, a leading profiteer from the Iraq war engages in intimidation campaigns against journalists in America who seek to expose its practices.

At:

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/44506/

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Terrorism Risk Insurance:

Report of the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets

“An analysis regarding the longterm availability and affordability of insurance for terrorism risk, including group life coverage; and coverage for chemical, nuclear, biological, and radiological events.”

At:

http://www.treas.gov/offices/domestic-finance/financial-institution/terrorism-insurance/pdf/report.pdf

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CIA Findings on Iran

The Bush administration has denounced Seymour Hersh’s latest piece, “The Next Act: Is a damaged administration less likely to attack Iran, or more?”

In the article, Hersh writes: “The Administration’s planning for a military attack on Iran was made far more complicated earlier this fall by a highly classified draft assessment by the CIA challenging the White House’s assumptions about how close Iran might be to building a nuclear bomb. The CIA found no conclusive evidence, as yet, of a secret Iranian nuclear-weapons program running parallel to the civilian operations that Iran has declared to the International Atomic Energy Agency.”

Complete article at:

http://www.newyorker.com/printables/fact/061127fa_fact

From: Institute for Public Accuracy

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EXPERTS WRESTLE WITH CRISES IN AFGHANISTAN, IRAN

Joshua Kucera 11/17/06

Experts attending the Middle East Institute’s recent 60th Anniversary Annual Conference grappled with ways to reverse discouraging trends in Afghanistan and Iran.

The burgeoning Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan is the direct result of the Pakistani government’s courtship of Islamist groups, and the best hope for improvement is for Pakistan to return to civilian rule and for NATO to take a more aggressive role in Afghanistan, experts said during a panel discussion held in Washington on November 13.

Violence is increasing in all parts of Afghanistan, “not just the contested south and east,” said Marvin Weinbaum, an Afghanistan expert at the Middle East Institute. Poppy cultivation in the country is setting records. Meanwhile, the leadership of President Hamid Karzai and the protection afforded by the international troops in Afghanistan are increasingly suspect, Weinbaum added. But the root of the problem is Pakistan, he maintained. “Unless Pakistan’s policies change it will be impossible to turn the tide of the insurgency” in Afghanistan, Weinbaum said.

“If there’s a central front in the war on terrorism, it’s Pakistan,” James Dobbins, a scholar at the RAND Corporation, added during the panel, titled “Afghanistan, Pakistan and Regional Stability.”

For decades Pakistan has been creating a complex “stew” of intertwined interests. “The intimacy of these relationships between Kashmiri groups, the Taliban, al Qaeda, ISI [Pakistani intelligence] and others has been clear for a very long time,” said Bruce Riedel, a former official at the National Security Council, and now a scholar at the Brookings Institution.

Over the last several decades military-led governments in Pakistan, including the incumbent administration of Gen. Pervez Musharraf, have been especially susceptible to this “stew.” The reason, Riedel said, is that military rulers have tended to sublimate every other national goal to Pakistan’s conflict with India, which leads to unsavory alliances with Kashmiri Islamists and the other groups.

…

Complete article at:

http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav111706c.shtml

Editor’s Note: Joshua Kucera is a Washington, DC,-based freelance writer who specializes in security issues in Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Middle East.

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Borowitz Report – Blame Game Shocker

Rove, Satan Split Over Midterm Defeat
Beelzebub Accuses Bush Aide of Playing the Blame Game

One of the longest-standing and most successful political partnerships in recent history came to an abrupt end today as White House strategist Karl Rove and Satan publicly split over the GOP’s thumping in the midterm elections.

In Washington, where political infighting is often played out on a public stage, the ferocity of the Rove-Beelzebub feud still took many observers aback.

The nasty split took the form of two dueling press conferences, with Mr. Rove’s at the White House and the Prince of Darkness’s at the airport Marriott.

Appearing with his trademark red horns and a smoldering pitchfork, Satan wasted no time in lashing out at his former protégé.

Ina forty-five minute tirade, Satan accused Mr. Rove of “playing the blame game,” and said that the longtime Bush aide had rejected his demonic offer to possess the soul of Rep. Stenny Hoyer (D-Md.) and make him hit on congressional pages.

“Every time I came up with an awesome idea like that, Karl was like, ‘Don’t worry, I’ve got this under control,’” Satan said. “I was like, who’s the supreme evil being here?”

Mr. Rove wasted no time firing back, calling the Lord of Misrule “a has-been,” adding. “He’s got about as much power right now as Donald Rumsfeld.”

For his part, the Prince of Darkness denied that he was over the hill, arguing that he had proved his effectiveness in the days following the election: “I got that O.J. book deal done, didn’t I?”

Elsewhere, exclusive photos of the Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes wedding will be published in the next issue of “Like I Care” magazine.

http://www.borowitzreport.com/

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three to see

This Modern World: What’s your solution?

http://www.workingforchange.com/webgraphics/WFC/TMW112206.jpg

Ted Rall: iraq study group

http://img.slate.com/media/318/content.todayscartoons.uclick.gif

Dan Wasserman: religions find common ground

http://content.todayscartoons.uclick.com/?feature=84f4c5b79730784c01ba3ea22f1c8396&resize=yes&width=235

Wikinomics – How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything

Today, encyclopedias, jetliners, operating systems, mutual funds, and many other items are being created by teams numbering in the thousands or even millions. While some leaders fear the heaving growth of these massive online communities, Wikinomics proves this fear is folly. Smart firms can harness collective capability and genius to spur innovation, growth, and success. A brilliant primer on one of the most profound changes of our time, Wikinomics challenges our most deeply-rooted assumptions about business and will prove indispensable to anyone who wants to understand the key forces driving competitiveness in the twenty-first century. This groundbreaking work is inspired by a nine million dollar research project led by bestselling author Don Tapscott and sponsored by some of the world’s largest companies. Wikinomics builds on this research elucidating a new age where thanks to the Web 2.0 masses of people can participate in the economy like never before—creating a TV news story, sequencing the human genome, remixing their favorite music, designing software, finding a cure for disease, editing a school text, inventing a new cosmetic, or even building a motorcycle.

…

At:

http://www.wikinomics.com/

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Savage: Anti-gay remarks will “wind up tomorrow” on “blogs run by gays,” who are “like drug addicts”

Days after telling his listeners that the “radical homosexual agenda … threaten[s] your very survival,” on the November 16 edition of his radio show, Michael Savage asserted that a “society that embraces homosexuality is a society that will not last much longer.” Savage then predicted his remarks would “wind up tomorrow in several of the blogs run by gays — and they think only of that ’cause they’re like drug addicts.” Later in the broadcast, Savage claimed, “There is not a mean bone in my body,” and concluded: “With God’s will and your listenership, we shall nuke Iran.”

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200611180004?src=other

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Independent Institute’s Ivan Eland looks back at the Iran-Contra scandal and what it means for George W. Bush to appoint Robert Gates, an Iran-Contra veteran, to be the next Secretary of Defense

At:

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/111406a.html

From: Poacnewsletter

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Plant and Factory Closings

News Channel 9 – WTVC
Athens, TN Plant Closing Rachel Remele November 17, 2006 – 5:42PM … will eventually close the mill, which is located on Congress Parkway in Athens.
…
http://www.newschannel9.com/engine.pl?station=wtvc&id=7645&template=breakout_story1.shtml

Green Bay Press-Gazette – Tecumseh closing New Holstein plant …
NEW HOLSTEIN — The union representing about 200 workers at a Tecumseh Power Co. plant said Friday that the facility is closing March 31.

…
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061118/GPG03/611180508/1247

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NASCAR COST REPUBLICANS THE 2006 ELECTION

By Robert Lipsyte, Tomdispatch.com
There’s a curious link between the Democrats’ victory on November 7 and the end of the NASCAR racing season.

Read more

http://www.alternet.org/stories/44515/

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The Minimum Necessary

By Joseph R. Biden Jr.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
As the Baker-Hamilton commission deliberates recommendations for Iraq, it faces a tremendous opportunity and responsibility. The opportunity is to help generate for the president and Congress a bipartisan way forward. The responsibility is to make the hard choices that are required to turn our Iraq policy around. If it fails to make those choices, its efforts will be in vain.

Our current policy in Iraq is a failure. We are past the point of an open-ended commitment. We are past the point of adding more troops. We are past the point of vague policy prescriptions. It is not an answer just to stay. Nor is it an answer — though it may become a necessity — just to go with no concern for what follows. The fundamental question we must answer is whether, as we begin to leave Iraq, there are still concrete steps we can take to avoid leaving chaos behind.

Six months ago Les Gelb, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, and I proposed a detailed answer to that question, which can be found at http://www.planforiraq.com . We had two fundamental premises: first, that the main challenge in Iraq is sectarian strife, for which there is no military solution; second, that putting all of our chips on building a strong central government cannot pay off because there is no trust within or of the government and no capacity on the part of the government to deliver basic services to the Iraqi people.

Full Story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/17/AR2006111701590_pf.html

From: Blackwater Tactical Weekly

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Bush Administration and Legal Accountability

MARJORIE COHN, libertad48@san.rr.com,

http://nlg.org
AP is reporting: “Lawyers for inmates of Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison and Guantanamo Bay filed a lawsuit in Germany Tuesday against outgoing U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, hoping his resignation and
testimony from a former general will help prosecute him for war crimes.”
Cohn, a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, is president of the National Lawyers Guild, one of the plaintiffs in the case. She is author of the forthcoming book “Cowboy Republic: Six Ways the Bush Gang Has Defied the Law.” Her latest piece is “The War Crimes Case Against Donald Rumsfeld”

at

http://www.alternet.org/story/44213 .

Detailed information about the case is available from the Center for Constitutional Rights at:

http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/GermanCase2006/germancase.asp .

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Plans for Redrawing the Middle East: The Project for a “New Middle East”

by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya

Global Research, November 18, 2006
GlobalResearch.ca
“Hegemony is as old as Mankind…” -Zbigniew Brzezinski, former U.S. National Security Advisor
The term “New Middle East” was introduced to the world in June 2006 in Tel Aviv by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (who was credited by the Western media for coining the term) in replacement of the older and more imposing term, the “Greater Middle East.”

This shift in foreign policy phraseology coincided with the inauguration of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) Oil Terminal in the Eastern Mediterranean. The term and conceptualization of the “New Middle East,” was subsequently heralded by the U.S. Secretary of State and the Israeli Prime Minister at the height of the Anglo-American sponsored Israeli siege of Lebanon. Prime Minister Olmert and Secretary Rice had informed the international media that a project for a “New Middle East” was being launched from Lebanon.

This announcement was a confirmation of an Anglo-American-Israeli “military roadmap” in the Middle East. This project, which has been in the planning stages for several years, consists in creating an arc of instability, chaos, and violence extending from Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria to Iraq, the Persian Gulf, Iran, and the borders of NATO-garrisoned Afghanistan.

The “New Middle East” project was introduced publicly by Washington and Tel Aviv with the expectation that Lebanon would be the pressure point for realigning the whole Middle East and thereby unleashing the forces of “constructive chaos.” This “constructive chaos” –which generates conditions of violence and warfare throughout the region– would in turn be used so that the United States, Britain, and Israel could redraw the map of the Middle East in accordance with their geo-strategic needs and objectives.

New Middle East Map

…

Complete article at:

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=NAZ20061116&articleId=3882

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Borowitz Report – AWOL Shocker

Bush Goes AWOL in Vietnam

Pays Emergency Visit to Alabama

President George W. Bush raised eyebrows in diplomatic circles over the weekend when he inexplicably went AWOL during his historic first visit to Vietnam.

The president had been expected to discuss such pressing issues as trade and security with Vietnamese leaders, making his mysterious disappearance all the more controversial.

But according to reporters traveling with Mr. Bush on Air Force One, the summit was ill-fated from the start, as the president was overheard muttering, “How the heck can I get out of going to Vietnam?”

Shortly after his arrival in Hanoi, Mr. Bush craftily eluded his Secret Service escorts, escaping through the window of his hotel room via a makeshift rope of bed sheets.

When the president was a no-show at a state dinner later that evening, it fell to White House spokesman Tony Snow to report to the gathering of dignitaries and reporters, “I’m afraid the president has flown the coop.”

According to Mr. Snow, Mr. Bush left behind a scrawled note on hotel stationery indicating that he had to attend to an “emergency” in Alabama.

The mystery deepened, however, when Alabama authorities issued a statement indicating that there was no evidence that the president had shown up in their state at all.

Within minutes of Mr. Bush’s disappearance from Hanoi, the Vietnamese government invited Vice President Dick Cheney to take his place, but Mr. Cheney deferred accepting that invitation five times.

“I have other priorities,” the vice president explained.

Elsewhere, in a meeting of two of Britain’s most famous fictitious characters, the premiere of the new James Bond film was attended by Queen Elizabeth II.
http://www.borowitzreport.com/

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three to see

Steve Benson: I have a dream…

http://www.azcentral.com/sshow/News/Benson/4271_72216.jpg

Khalil Bendib: impeach or not impeach

http://www.bendib.com/newones/2006/november/small/11-19-Impeach.jpg

Tom the Dancing Bug(Ruben Bolling): definitely-not-gay-man

http://www.uclick.com/feature/06/11/18/td061118.gif

DHS OIG Report Assesses How Security Incidents Have Been Reported and Handled at SFO

Review of Allegations Regarding San Francisco International Airport, OIG-07-04 November 16, 2006.

At:

http://www.dhs.gov/xoig/assets/mgmtrpts/OIG_07-04_Oct06.pdf

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Media stressed that Clinton had avoided Vietnam service when he visited there, but ignored Bush’s military service in reporting on his first visit

At the time of President Bill Clinton’s November 2000 visit to Vietnam — the first by a U.S. president since the end of the Vietnam War — numerous media reports noted Clinton’s lack of service during the conflict, in many cases specifically referring to his having “avoided service” and noting that it was Clinton’s first visit to the country. In contrast, network and cable news coverage of President Bush’s recent visit to Vietnam as part of his trip to Southeast Asia has largely failed to note that Bush had never been to Vietnam, and no reports have thus far mentioned that during the Vietnam War, Bush was instead in the Texas division of the Air National Guard and requested transfer to Alabama so he could work on a Senate campaign. Both Clinton’s and Bush’s trips occurred late in their presidencies, and the merits of their military service were issues in the 1992 and 2004 presidential campaigns, respectively.

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200611180005?src=other

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A senior al-Qaida operative deliberately planted information to encourage the US to invade Iraq.

At:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1949927,00.html

From: Poacnewsletter

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Bush Administration and Legal Accountability

ELIZABETH HOLTZMAN, via Stephen Kent, skent@kentcom.com,

http://www.impeachbushbook.com

Holtzman has been a Congresswoman and the district attorney of Brooklyn; she was a member of the House panel that impeached Richard Nixon. Holtzman is co-author with Cynthia L. Cooper of the new book “The Impeachment of George W. Bush: A Practical Guide for Concerned Citizens.”

Her most recent articles are “Calling Nancy Pelosi: The People’s Case for Impeaching Bush” at

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1114-22.htm

and “Breathing the ‘I’ Word” at

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1110-25.htm .

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ONE “BAD EVENT” COULD RUIN AN INDUSTRY … AND A WHOLE LOT MORE

At:

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/38983/story.htm

Jim Rogers, the Chief Executive of Duke Energy, a power company that is keen to build nuclear power plants in North and South Carolina, told reporters at an energy conference that he was “cautiously optimistic on nuclear, but public opinion turns on a dime.” The nuclear industry faces considerable hurdles. Nuclear plants are prohibitively expensive, have long lead times before they deliver any power, lack support from private investors, increase the risk of nuclear proliferation and haven’t yet solved the problem of long-term disposal of nuclear waste. If those hurdles aren’t enough, the safety of nuclear plants remains a persistent persistent problem. “One bad event anywhere in the world could impact the future of nuclear,” Rogers conceded. One more “bad event” – such as the meltdown at Chernobyl – could also cause numerous deaths and irreparably damage the environment.

SOURCE: Reuters, November 15, 2006

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

http://www.prwatch.org/node/5477

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Pity — almost — the GOP true believers

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Marianne Means: I almost feel sorry for conservative Republican true believers. Almost, mind you. They were so cocky and self-assured that it didn’t occur to them they were going to lose, and their figureheads still can’t accept it.

…

Complete article at:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/292785_means19.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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The Republicans’ curse – they’re always right

November 19, 2006

Jonathan Chait

If they win, it’s because they were conservative; if they lose, it’s because they weren’t conservative enough.

…

Complete article at:

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-chait19nov19,0,1323401.story?track=tothtml

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What You May Not Know About Your Credit Card Bill

November 3, 2006

Contact: Press Office
Phone: 202.228.3685

When you get your credit card bill this month, take a good look at the fine print. Are there any charges or fees you don’t recognize? Is it difficult to find details on what you’re being charged for and why? If so, you are not alone. Credit card companies are making more and more of their money off of hidden and unfair fees, complex interest charges and poor disclosure practices that take advantage of working families.

Millions of Americans use their credit cards every day to purchase essentials like groceries and gas. In fact, Americans used nearly 700 million credit cards last year to purchase more than $1.8 trillion in goods and services, a 25-fold increase since 1980. Credit cards make it easier to purchase the things we need, but there are also traps that can be difficult to avoid.

Not surprisingly, this increased use of credit cards has put many families in debt. The Federal Reserve estimates that the average American household owed about $5,100 in credit card debt in 2004. I often hear from constituents that they are having a hard time figuring out their credit card bill and climbing out of that debt.

With that in mind, I asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress, to look into the billing practices of credit card companies. The GAO report helped to shine a light on several abusive or confusing practices that are hurting Americans’ efforts to pay off debt and ought to be stopped as a matter of simple fairness.

…

Complete article at:

http://levin.senate.gov/newsroom/release.cfm?id=265688

Carl Levin is the senior U.S. senator from Michigan.

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Electronic voting machines represent a grave threat to fair and accurate elections

“Last week in Florida’s 13th Congressional district, the victory margin was only 386 votes out of 153,000. There’ll be a mandatory lawyered-up recount, but it won’t include the almost 18,000 votes that seem to have disappeared.

The electronic voting machines didn’t include them in their final tallies, and there’s no backup to use for the recount. The district will pick a winner to send to Washington, but it won’t be because they are sure the majority voted for him. Maybe the majority did, and maybe it didn’t. There’s no way to know. Electronic voting machines represent a grave threat to fair and accurate elections, a threat that every American–Republican, Democrat or independent–should be concerned about. Because they’re computer-based, the deliberate or accidental actions of a few can swing an entire election. The solution: Paper ballots, which can be verified by voters and recounted if necessary.”

Learn more at Forbes.com.

http://www.forbes.com/technology/2006/11/10/voting-fraud-security-tech-security-cz_bs_1113security.html

From:

http://www.futurebrief.com/

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three to see

Tom Toles: get a second opinion

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Mike Peters: change in iraq

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Ted Rall: bush’s compromises

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Presentation on Deconstructing Information Warfare

K. A. Taipale, “Deconstructing Information Warfare,” presented to the Committee on Policy Consequences and Legal/Ethical Implications of Offensive Information Warfare, The National Academies, Washington, DC (Oct. 30, 2006)

At:

http://www.information-retrieval.info/PIW/deconstructing/Taipale-IW-103006.pdf

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Blitzer, Hannity praised Steele’s “spectacular” and “principled” campaign, ignoring misleading campaign tactics

Wolf Blitzer failed to challenge the assertion of Michael Steele, a losing Republican candidate for a Senate seat in Maryland, that he “did not see … until a couple of days after the fact” a flier that misleadingly referred to “Ehrlich-Steele Democrats” and falsely suggested that certain prominent African-American Maryland Democrats endorsed Steele and Republican Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. Both Blitzer and Sean Hannity praised Steele’s campaign in their interviews with him without noting Steele’s 10-point margin of defeat.

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200611170005?src=other

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Corporations in charge of post-Katrina reconstruction funds pull a reverse Robin Hood.

At:

http://www.reconstructionwatch.org/index.php?s=20&n=87

From: Poacnewsletter

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Plant and Factory Closings

Hosiery plant closing, 83 jobs lost

WTVF – Nashville,TN,USA

… several years ago. Hammontree said the closing announced today will certainly affect the economy in McMinn County. He said efforts …

http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=5698761

Plant to close in 2007; 97 jobs cut

Jackson Sun – Jackson,TN,USA

… Thursday. The plant’s closing is expected to occur on Jan. 15 or within a two-week period after that date, according to the release. …

http://www.jacksonsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061117/BUSINESS/611170305

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“STILL NOT THE NEWS”: READ THE REPORT AND TAKE ACTION!

At:

http://www.prwatch.org/fakenews2/execsummary

If you thought an ongoing Federal Communications Commission investigation?launched in response to the Center for Media and Democracy’s April 2006 report “Fake TV News”?would get fake news off your television screen, think again. CMD just released its follow-up report on video news releases (VNRs), the sponsored public relations videos designed to mimic news reports. The six-month investigation, titled, “Still Not the News: Stations Overwhelmingly Fail to Disclose VNRs,” names 46 stations in 22 states that inserted corporate VNRs into their newscasts. Nearly 90 percent of the time, absolutely no attempt to provide any disclosure to viewers even when VNRs dealt with controversial issues like global warming. Read the report, watch the videos of the original VNRs and the newscasts that incorporated them and take action!

The media reform group Free Press is urging concerned citizens to contact the FCC and demand an end to fake news.

SOURCE: Center for Media and Democracy, November 14, 2006

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

http://www.prwatch.org/node/5474

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Bush Administration and Legal Accountability

ELIZABETH DE LA VEGA, ElizabethdelaVega@Verizon.net,

http://www.thenation.com/directory/bios/elizabeth_de_la_vega,

http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=126958

Elizabeth de la Vega served as a federal prosecutor in Minneapolis and San Jose for 20 years. She is author of the new book “U.S. v. George W. Bush et. al.”

She said today: “Over half the people in the United States believe that the president misled the country into a war that has left 2,800 U.S. soldiers dead, over half a million Iraqis dead and countless Iraqis homeless. Analyzed in light of longstanding principles of criminal law, there is, indeed, overwhelming evidence — a quantum that far exceeds the standard of probable cause — that shows that the president, the vice president, and their senior aides have perpetrated a massive fraud upon the people of the United States. They deceived American citizens and Congress, not only about the grounds for an invasion of Iraq, but also the likely cost of the war, the likely length and consequences of the war, and even the timing of their decision to invade.

“Given the magnitude of this fraud — it is far more serious in scope and effect than the Enron fraud — we cannot simply shrug our shoulders and walk away. It is Congress’ constitutional obligation to conduct oversight of the executive branch and they appear to be poised now, finally, to do just that by conducting hearings.

“But imagine if the Justice Department lawyers assigned to handle the Enron case had announced, on the day they received their assignment, that ‘indictment was off the table.’ The public would have been outraged, and rightly so, by the declaration of a preordained conclusion to the investigation.

“We should be equally outraged — and many American citizens are — by the newly elected Democratic majority’s arbitrary announcement that ‘impeachment is off the table.’ Congress needs to do its job, conduct the long-overdue hearings into the conduct of the executive branch and let the chips fall where they may.”

From: Institute for Public Accuracy

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Neocons blame Bush for Iraq fiasco

By HELEN THOMAS

HEARST NEWSPAPERS

WASHINGTON — The mid-term elections sounded the requiem for the group of neoconservatives who helped design the disastrous U.S. invasion of Iraq.

It’s over for them and their big dreams of pre-emptive wars and conquest of the Middle East. If anything, this group has left America weakened by the tragic military misadventure in Iraq. They convinced President Bush it would be a “cakewalk” to invade and occupy Iraq but it has turned out otherwise. Those power-driven ideologues have learned that the price for their dream was high — too high.

So much for their calamitous “Project for A New American Century,” which laid out the agenda to transform several Arab nations to their liking. It also meant sending Americans to kill and die for reasons yet to be explained by the president.

The neocons now blame a dysfunctional Bush administration — not their own ignorance of the history of the Arab world. They have belatedly learned that Iraqis — like any other people — will fight any foreign invader and occupier. History would have shown them that overcoming an insurgency in the form of internal resistance has been a losing proposition. Look at the experiences of such high-powered nations as the U.S. in Vietnam, the Soviet Union in Afghanistan and the French in Algeria.

…

Complete article at:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/292666_thomas17.html

Helen Thomas is a columnist for Hearst Newspapers. E-mail: helent@hearstdc.com .

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Congress’s sci-tech agenda to shift under Democrats

Issues like global warming and stem-cell research will give bipartisanship on the Hill an early test.

Click here to read this article.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1113/p02s01-stgn.html

==========

IEF Homeland Security Report

In a report released today, state homeland security and emergency management officials from across the United States express serious concerns about key aspects of domestic security, including communications, immigration, critical infrastructure, safety of schools, shipping and cargo transport, and funding allocations.

“These results tell me that we have a way to go before our state officials are willing to say ‘mission accomplished,’” said Daniel Ostergaard, a senior policy fellow at WCU’s Institute for the Economy and the Future and a former executive director of the federal Homeland Security Advisory Council. “These dedicated public servants are not holding back their real concerns. They are telling it like it is. Strides must be taken to address components of national security that are still falling short of goals.”

Click Here for Full Report

ief.wcu.edu/pdf/HSReport.pdf

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three to see

Sandy Huffaker: loser resurrection

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/26998/

Jack Ohman: timetable for pullout

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Signe Wilkinson: Outreach

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NEW PULSE POSTED

At:

http://www.ornl.gov/news/pulse/pulse_v222_06.htm

That’s the url to the November 13, 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:

* Pacific Northwest: Safe, abundant chelator

* NREL: Biofuels, hydrogen alliance

* Oak Ridge: Tracking truck performance

* NETL: Armor for the Army

Feature: Neutrino experiment at China’s Daya Bay

Researcher profile: Savannah River’s Brian Looney

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DOE Releases Climate Change Technology Program Strategic Plan

Plan Outlines Strategies for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Development and Deployment of Advanced Technologies

20 September 2006

From the United States Department of Energy, Office of Public Affairs

http://www.climatetechnology.gov/stratplan/final/index.htm

==========

Beck characterized letter criticizing Al Qaeda as “surprising,” because “the man who wrote it is a Muslim”

On November 15, during his one-hour CNN Headline News special titled “Exposed: The Extremist Agenda,” Glenn Beck described as “surprising” a letter by Islamic Society of Nevada director Aslam Abdullah criticizing Al Qaeda in Iraq. The reason it is surprising, according to Beck? Because “the man who wrote it is a Muslim.” Abdullah criticized Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Hamza al-Muhajer for “abandon[ing] God” and accused the leaders of Al Qaeda of “hid[ing] in your caves and behind the faces of civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq.” Beck began the program “by airing some unbelievable propaganda used by extremists,” and he pledged to devote the hour to those who “use religion to justify their hatred.”

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200611160005?src=other

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Bush administration’s new chief of family-planning programs comes from Christian organization that regards the distribution of contraceptives as “demeaning to women.”

At:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15757100/

From: Poacnewsletter

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Lloyd’s urges insurers to take climate change seriously or risk being swept away

5 June 2006

Lloyd’s has urged the insurance industry to act now or face the risks associated with climate change.As part of Lloyd’s new ‘360 Risk Project’, which aims to generate debate on key industry issues, it has released a new report urging insurers to face up to the growing threat of climate change.

At:

www.lloyds.com/News_Centre/features_from_Lloyds/Climate_Change_Adapt_Or_bust.htm

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FCC COMMISSIONERS PLEDGE EXPANDED INQUIRY INTO FAKE NEWS

At:

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/14/1518200
Federal Communication Commissioners (FCC) Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein have promised an investigation into each of the 46 television stations revealed by the Center for Media and Democracy’s report, Still Not the News to have used undisclosed video news releases (VNRs). Democracy Now presenter, Amy Goodman, found it difficult getting a comment from any of the stations. Fifteen declined to comment or did not respond to inquiries while San Diego CBS affiliate KFMB-TV stated a VNR they used should not have been aired without disclosure. The Radio-Television News Directors Association and the newly-minted VNR-industry lobby group, the National Association of Broadcast Communicators, both declined to be interviewed. O’Dwyer’s PR Daily reported Copps praised CMD for its “hard work” in producing the report. Adelstein criticized television stations for broadcasting “corporate propaganda” and flagged the need for tighter FCC regulation. “If the flock ignores the shepherd, it is time to build a fence,” he said.
SOURCE: Democracy Now (US), November 14th, 2006

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

http://www.prwatch.org/node/5478

==========

Neocons blame Bush for Iraq fiasco

Helen Thomas: WASHINGTON — The mid-term elections sounded the requiem for the group of neoconservatives who helped design the disastrous U.S. invasion of Iraq.

…

Complete article at:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/292666_thomas17.html
Helen Thomas is a columnist for Hearst Newspapers. E-mail: helent@hearstdc.com . Copyright 2006 Hearst Newspapers.

==========

THE MEDIA’S CRUSH ON KARL ROVE ISN’T OVER

By Eric Boehlert, Media Matters for America
Even though Karl Rove’s fingerprints are all over the Republicans’ huge losses this November, the media still treats him like Washington’s biggest genius.

Complete article at:

http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/44307/

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Borowitz Report – Grounded For LIfe Shocker

Bush’s Dad Asks For Keys to White House Back

Air Force One, President Grounded For Life

In yet another setback for President George W. Bush, his father, former President George H.W. Bush, appeared in the Oval Office today and demanded that his son give back the keys to the White House at once.

For the elder Mr. Bush, who has largely taken a hands-off approach during his son’s first six years in office, the decision to demand the keys to his erstwhile residence was regarded as extraordinary.

But according to witnesses to the unprecedented confrontation, the senior Mr. Bush also demanded the keys to Air Force One and informed his son that he was “grounded for life.”

After the 41st president reprimanded the 43rd president for invading Iraq, the younger Mr. Bush attempted to offer a defense for his unilateral action, telling his father, “All of my friends said that it was a good idea.”

“Oh, and if all your friends told you to go AWOL from the Alabama National Guard, would you do that, too?” his father thundered. “Okay, well maybe that wasn’t the best example, but you get the point.”

Speaking to reporters later, the 41st president said that he forbade his son from spending time with Vice President Dick Cheney, calling him “a bad influence.”

“I told George to spend the weekend mowing that big lawn in front of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,” he said. “I want him to think long and hard about what he’s done.”

Elsewhere, the bipartisan Iraq Study Group issued recommendations for winning the war in Iraq, including putting former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in charge of the insurgents.

http://www.borowitzreport.com/

==========

three to see

Tom the Dancing Bug: lucky ducky

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David Horsey: we’re here to clean up the mess

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Clay Jones: The New Poster

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