carapace – Not your father's america

The June Southwest Climate Outlook is online.

This month’s outlook provides recent drought conditions and the latest seasonal forecasts. The feature article is entitled “Arizona drought coming back into focus.”
 

This month’s cover photo was provided by Gregg Garfin, ISPE Deputy Director of Outreach.

To download a printer-friendly PDF file (2.43 MB) of the June 2007 Outlook, visit:

http://www.ispe.arizona.edu/climas/end/packets/junepacket2007.pdf

As always, you can view the latest Southwest Climate Outlook in html format at:

http://www.ispe.arizona.edu/climas/forecasts/swoutlook.html

Highlights from the June 2007 Outlook

Drought – Severe to extreme drought conditions continue across Arizona while most of New Mexico remains drought-free this month. Western portions of Arizona along the Colorado River are experiencing the worst in drought conditions, with decreasing intensity eastward across the state.

Temperature – The same story continues this month with New Mexico experiencing below-average temperatures, and Arizona experiencing above-average temperatures in the short-term. North-central and south-eastern Arizona had the greatest positive departures from average, with temperatures 2–3 degrees F above-average over the past thirty days.

Precipitation – New Mexico continued to experience above-average precipitation this past month with many locations reporting 100–400 percent of normal precipitation. Several low pressure systems produced thunderstorms across central and eastern portions of New Mexico late in May and again in mid-June. Arizona saw some of this weather activity in southeastern and north-central portions of the state.

Climate Forecasts – Temperature forecasts remain confident that much of Arizona and eastern New Mexico will see above-average temperatures throughout the summer. No precipitation forecasts have been made for the Southwest, indicating equal chances of above-average, average, or below-average precipitation for the region.

The Bottom Line – Little has changed since last month, with severe to extreme drought conditions remaining over most of Arizona, while New Mexico holds on to generally drought-free conditions. Patterns of monsoon precipitation across the Southwest will be critical in determining where short-term drought conditions either improve or worsen over the summer.

Kristen E. Nelson
Associate Editor
Institute for the Study of Planet Earth
715 N. Park Ave., 2nd Floor
Tucson, AZ 85721
(520) 622-9001

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MSNBC’s Jansing asked Edwards: “Why give Ann Coulter more publicity?”

On the June 28 edition of MSNBC Live, anchor Chris Jansing interviewed Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, about her exchange with right-wing pundit Ann Coulter on the June 26 edition of MSNBC’s Hardball, in which Edwards asked Coulter to stop making “personal attacks” against her husband and others. At one point during the interview, Jansing said to Edwards: “There are people who support your opinion, I’m sure you know, who say, ‘Why even dignify it with a response? Why give Ann Coulter more publicity?’ ”

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200706280010?src=other

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BAE Systems gets U.S. Navy deal

June 29 2007

BAE Systems has won a $212.4 million (106 million pounds) U.S. Navy order for 271 vehicles designed to withstand roadside bombs in places like Iraq, the U.S. Defense Department said on Thursday. The order was the first of its kind for a BAE unit since the company, headquartered in Farnborough, Hampshire, disclosed this week the existence of a U.S. Justice Department anti-corruption investigation that includes its business in Saudi Arabia.

At:

http://business.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1016522007

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Cost of milk kicked up by demand for ethanol

Turning corn into fuel could push price to $4.50 a gallon

June 24, 2007

BY ALEJANDRO BODIPO-MEMBA

FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

Get ready to pay $4.50 a gallon this summer — for milk.

Gasoline prices over $3 a gallon have grabbed consumers’ attention, but dairy products and other corn-dependent foods are expected to rise at an even faster rate.

This is happening because of an explosion in the production of ethanol, a gasoline additive touted by the president, automakers and farmers as a way to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil.

Up to 20% of the nation’s corn crop — 18% in Michigan — is now being channeled to ethanol production. That increased demand means the price of corn used to feed cattle and pigs and to make cereals and sweeteners is going up — 61% between September and May.

Together with the rising costs of wheat and other commodities, corn demand is pushing overall food prices up 4% this year, compared with 2% a year ago, and driving up the costs of breakfast foods — eggs, bacon, cereal, milk and potatoes — as much as 10%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Chris Galen, a spokesman for the Arlington, Va.-based National Milk Producers Federation, predicts that the price of a gallon of reduced (2%) fat milk in metro Detroit, which started the year at $2.97 and is now around $3.08, could spike another $1.50 a gallon by the fall.

“Wow! Are you serious?” asked Danielle Conway, a 33-year-old nail technician from Detroit who said her four children go through milk pretty quickly. “That’s ridiculous.”

…

Complete article at:

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070624/BUSINESS06/706240589

Contact ALEJANDRO BODIPO-MEMBA at 313-222-5008 or abodipo@freepress.com

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Are Biofuels the Solution?

RACHEL SMOLKER, rsmolker@zoo.uvm.edu ,

http://www.globaljusticeecology.org

Research biologist at the Global Justice Ecology Project, Smolker said today: “In just the past week [the U.S. government] permitted field testing of a eucalyptus genetically engineered specifically for biofuel production, a $375 million DOE grant was made to fund three major bioenergy research centers, BP and DuPont fronted most of $400 million for a ‘world class’ biofuel plant in the U.K., and the U.S. Senate passed a bill to mandate a target of 36 billion gallons of biofuel by 2022. The pace at which biofuels are being promoted is staggering.

“Behind the corporate ‘greenwash’ that biofuels will help solve the problem of global warming is an unfolding environmental and social catastrophe. The idea that we can solve our problems by permitting huge multinational corporations to grab up agricultural lands and cut down forests in order to install massive industrial plantations of fuel feedstocks is ludicrous and extremely dangerous. The direct and
indirect impacts on food, soils, water, indigenous people and biodiversity are already evident. Any greenhouse gas emission savings is far outweighed by the emissions caused by deforestation and industrial agriculture.

The oil, biotechnology and agribusiness industries see massive profits and are forging alliances to consolidate food and fuel production under one collosal industrial roof.”

From: Institute for Public Accuracy

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THE GREAT BIOFUEL HOAX … amd more

By Eric Holt-Gimenez, Indypendent

Touted by politicians and industry as “green” energy, biofuels come with a high price tag.

http://www.alternet.org/environment/54218/

With demand for corn to make ethanol rising, cost of feed rises, too

Bartlesville Examiner Enterprise – Bartlesville,OK,USA

By Betsy Blaney AP Writer

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Motorists might save a few cents a gallon filling their tanks with ethanol, but they could soon be paying …

http://www.examiner-enterprise.com/articles/2007/06/22/news/national/news489.txt

Ethanol fuels higher costsfor products

The Republican – Springfield,MA,USA

By STAN FREEMAN The rush to fill America’s cars with ethanol as a way to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign oil is proving to have unintended …

http://www.masslive.com/news/topstories/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1182588398122450.xml&coll=1

Cost of milk kicked up by demand for ethanol – Turning corn into …

WZZM – Grand Rapids,MI,USA

This is happening because of an explosion in the production of ethanol, a gasoline additive touted by the president, automakers and farmers as a way to …

http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=77064

Amna Aziz column: Ethanol’s costs outweighing its benefits

Appleton Post Crescent – WI, USA

Ethanol is quickly becoming the poster child for American energy. It has the potential to reduce prices at the pump, greenhouse gas emissions, …

http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070626/APC06/706260624/1036

How More Ethanol Means Pricier Pizza

ABC News – USA

Dairy prices are rising because the price of corn is going up, thanks to greater demand for the corn-based fuel ethanol. Some experts predict milk prices …

http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/Consumer/story?id=3321005

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Tax Investigation of Wal-Mart in New Mexico

When the Wall Street Journal revealed that Wal-Mart was using investment vehicles, Real Estate Investment Trusts, to “rent” property to itself and evade billions of dollars in taxes, it sparked outrage in statehouses across the country.

http://www.ctj.org/pdf/walmart041607.pdf

On the legislative front, New York and West Virginia joined eighteen other states in enacting combined reporting, a requirement that corporations file a joint tax return for all subsidiaries in a state to prevent the Wal-Mart kind of tax avoidance schemes.  Other states still in session like North Carolina are debating introducing combined reporting as well.

http://www.charlotte.com/204/story/163568.html

However, legislators in states like New Mexico that have finished their sessions are still pushing to stop the Wal-Mart tax abuse. The top leadership of both legislative chambers and nineteen of their colleagues have signed onto a letter asking their governor to investigate Wal-Mart and shut down the tax loophole administratively:

“We urge you to exercise your authority to investigate Wal-Mart?s tax record in New Mexico. If Wal-Mart has used the captive REIT structure to avoid state income taxes, the state has the power and duty to make Wal-Mart return this money and pay what it owes.”

The reason states need such investigations is that in almost all states, companies don’t have to publicly report how much corporate income tax they are paying.  An exception is Wisconsin, where records show that Wal-Mart paid only $3 million in taxes on an estimated $852 million in Wisconsin profits between 2000 and 2003, a tax rate of only 0.35 percent.

In related action, Maine’s Governor John Baldacci signed the Informed Growth Act, LD 1810, the first law in the nation to require an economic impact analysis of big-box retail stores to assure that tax and other benefits generated by such stores balance out any subsidies or other tax subsidies used by companies building them.

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Wal-Mart’s massive imports of cheap Chinese-made goods plays a major role in the meltdown of U.S. manufacturing jobs.

A new report by the Economic Policy Institute shows that Wal-Mart’s share of the record trade deficit with China cost nearly 200,000 of the 1.8 million U.S. jobs–mainly manufacturing–lost since 2001 because of the massive trade imbalance. So much for the retailer’s claim it creates U.S. jobs.

…

Complete article at:

http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/06/27/wal-marts-china-imports-cost-200000-us-jobs/

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National Security Archive Update, June 27, 2007 – “FAMILY JEWELS” COLLECTION NOW SEARCHABLE BY KEY WORD

For more information contact:
Thomas Blanton – 202/994-7000

http://www.nsarchive.org

Update – June 27, 2007 – As an aid to researchers, the full 703-page “family jewels” collection, released yesterday by the Central Intelligence Agency, is now available as a searchable PDF document on the Archive’s Web site.

Please follow the link below to read the document:

http://www.nsarchive.org

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three to see

David Horsey: you’ve gone too far this time …

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart/20070629/cartoon20070629.gif

Pat Bagley: bush’s war

http://cagle.com/news/BushIraqWar07/images/bagley.jpg

Stephanie McMillan: The Secret

http://www.workingforchange.com/webgraphics/WFC/minsecurity062707.jpg

SUBPOENAS NOW, IMPEACHMENT LATER?

By David Edward and Muriel Kane

A Georgetown law professor tells Keith Olbermann that Bush has committed a “criminal offense” and the Congress’ subpoenas could be the first steps toward impeachment proceedings.

At:

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/55444/

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Luntz — PBS’ pick to survey public response after Democratic forum — was longtime Giuliani pollster

As Media Matters for America has noted, Republican pollster Frank Luntz, who the Public Broadcasting Service has announced will provide “public feedback” following PBS’ coverage of the June 28 Democratic presidential forum, has shown open disdain for Democratic priorities and candidates and has reportedly been reprimanded and censured by his peers for withholding and misrepresenting polling data and methodology. But, in addition to leaving out these facts from its press release announcing Luntz’s participation, PBS, which referred to Luntz only as a “noted pollster,” made no mention of the fact that Luntz has worked for former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a potential general election opponent of one of the forum’s participants, and has heaped praise on Giuliani this year. On the February 7 edition of PBS’ Tavis Smiley, after referring to Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) as the “[b]est communicator out there,” Luntz said: “Giuliani, it’s about results and success. … [T]his is a guy who took a city that was on its knees and brought it back to its feet. You can now take your kids there. You can hang out on Times Square at 11 p.m. on a Friday night and not be afraid.” Luntz concluded: “Imagine if you could do that for New York, what he could do for America

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200706260002?src=other

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FAKE NEWS FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY

http://www.prwatch.org/node/6168

“Today’s video PR campaigns must include both traditional and online components,” counsels PR Week. “Leave nothing on the cutting-room floor … put it on YouTube or another video-sharing site. … The use of viral video and other new-media initiatives is essential in connecting with teens,” but “equally important is engaging parents, educators, and other adult influencers via traditional broadcast vehicles,” such as video news releases (VNRs), B-roll video and satellite media tours. For example, Boston Market hired Fleishman-Hillard and On the Scene Productions to promote its “Time for Your School” program. The PR campaign included a partnership with Students Against Destructive Decisions, a page on the MySpace social networking site, and “traditional broadcast components” such as TV satellite and radio media tours. To promote its PlayStation 3, Sony had the PR firm Medialink Worldwide issue VNRs, B-roll, “multimedia offerings distributed via its digital newsroom,” and viral videos posted to social networking sites.

SOURCE: PR Week, June 18, 2007

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Would-Be Terrorists: Baneful Or Bumbling?

June 25 2007

Three Guyanese and a Trinidadian face charges of plotting to blow up John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. The allegations have generated widespread skepticism in the region… There are a number of odd features about the plot, which the United States is treating very seriously. U.S. Attorney Roslynn Mauskopf said the scheme was “one of the most chilling plots imaginable, which could have resulted in unfathomable damage, deaths and destruction.” However, there is a widespread feeling in Guyana that the affair is being wildly exaggerated by U.S. authorities and that Washington is seeking to generate political capital out of a case that has little substance to it.

 At:

http://www.forbes.com/business/2007/06/22/caribbean-terror-extremism-biz-cx_0625oxford.html

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Tancredo sends head of lettuce to Chertoff

June 27 2007

It’s not every day a presidential hopeful sends Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff a head of lettuce, but that’s what Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., is doing Wednesday to show his disagreement with Chertoff’s recent comments on how failure of passing immigration reform might affect the agricultural industry.

 At:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/06/27/tancredo-sends-head-of-lettuce-to-chertoff/

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The “Use of the Armed Forces” in America under a National Emergency – Unrestricted & Arbitrary Powers conferred to the President & Vice President

by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky
 

Global Research, June 27, 2007
GlobalResearch.ca 

In October 2006, Bush signed into law the Department of Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007.

DDAA 07 includes specific provisions which allow the military to take control of  normal policy and law enforcement functions at the Federal and State levels.

Sec. 1042 of the DDAA 07 overturns the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which prevents the military from intervening in the conduct of civilian government activities, including the conduct of Justice and Law Enforcement. Posse Comitatus has been central to the functioning of constitutional government. (It should be noted that other previous pieces of legislation have already invalidated the substance of Posse Comitatus).

What is significant in these specific provisions of DDAA 07 (Sec. 1042) is that  they dovetail the provisions of Bush’s National Security Presidential and Homeland Directive (NSPD 51, HSPD 20) enacted on May 9, 2007.

NSPD 51 would essentially scrap Constitutional government in the case of a so-called  “Catastrophic Emergency”. .

If an emergency situation were to be called by the President, NSPD 51 would instate martial law under the authority of the White House and the Department of Homeland Security. It would suspend constitutional government under the provisions of Continuity in Government (COG). It would establish extraordinary powers for the president and vice-president.

…

Complete article at:

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=20070627&articleId=6169

From: www.GlobalResearch.ca

Full text of DDAA 07: Department of Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s109-2767

Michel Chossudovsky is the author of the international best America’s “War on Terrorism”  Second Edition, Global Research, 2005. He is Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa and Director of the Center for Research on Globalization.

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Iraqi Oil Law Challenged

The Associated Press reports today: “Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki’s cabinet approved a U.S.-backed draft oil law and the Parliament is expected to start discussing it next week.” The law, which institutes privileges for foreign companies at a level unseen anywhere else in the Middle East, has been challenged inside and outside Iraq. The Iraqi oil workers union went on a strike last month
to protest the law.

GREG MUTTITT, greg@platformlondon.org ,

http://www.carbonweb.org/showitem.asp?article=4&parent=3,

http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/oil/2005/crudedesigns.htm

Muttitt is a researcher at the London-based organization platform, where he has been researching Iraqi oil policy since 2003. He’s the author of the chapter titled “Hijacking Iraq’s Oil Reserves” in the recent book “A Game As Old As Empire.” He said today: “In the last two weeks, there have been three high-level meetings between senior U.S. administration and military figures and the Iraqi prime minister. They told the Iraqi prime minister to pass a law giving control of Iraq’s oil fields to multinational companies — or be forced from power. … The current model being pushed in Iraq is based on contracts known as production sharing agreements (PSAs). These agreements technically keep legal ownership of oil reserves in state hands while in actuality lock in multinationals’ control and extremely high profit margins — up to 13 times oil companies’ minimum target. This would completely break from normal practice in the region where all the major oil producing industries are in the public sector. Iraq would be the only major Middle Eastern oil producing nation where production is controlled by foreign companies.”

Muttitt added: “ExxonMobil, Chevron, Total and ENI are funding efforts at influencing the oil legislation in Iraq. … The oil companies and governments are planning to take advantage of the occupation and the general weak position of Iraqi state institutions to push through deals on highly profitable terms, at the expense of the Iraqi people. Future Iraqi governments could be constrained in their ability to pass new laws or policies. For example, if a future elected Iraqi government wanted to pass a human rights law, or wanted to introduce a minimum wage [and this] affected the company’s profits, either the law would not apply to the company’s operations or the government would have to compensate the company for any reduction in profits.”

From:  Institute for Public Accuracy

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Nobel Peace Laureates Oppose Iraqi Oil Law Imposition

In the past few weeks, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and the chief U.S. commander in the Mideast, Admiral William Fallon, have all traveled to Baghdad to press Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki to pass a controversial oil law.

Five Nobel Peace Prize laureates have just released a statement against the U.S. pressure on the Iraqi government.

The Nobel Peace Prize Laureates — Betty Williams, Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi and Wangari Maathai — have released the statement in opposition to the Iraq Oil Law and U.S. pressure on the Iraqi government to pass the law, which favors foreign companies.

ANTONIA JUHASZ, antoniajuhasz@gmail.com,

http://www.nobelwomensinitiative.org/news.php?WEBYEP_DI=113,

http://www.TheBushAgenda.net

The Laureates’ statement is as follows: “In support of the people of Iraq, we the undersigned Nobel Peace Prize Laureates state our opposition to the Iraq Oil Law. We also oppose the decision of the United States government to require that the Iraq government pass the Oil Law as a condition of continued reconstruction aid in legislation passed on May 24, 2007. A law with the potential to so radically transform the basic economic security of the people of Iraq should not be forced on Iraq while it is under occupation and in such a weak negotiating position vis-à-vis both the U.S. government and foreign oil corporations. The Iraq Oil Law could benefit foreign oil companies at the expense of the Iraqi people, deny the Iraqi people economic security, create greater instability, and move the country further away from peace. The U.S. government should leave the matter of how Iraq will address the future of its oil system to the Iraqi people to be dealt with at a time when they are free from occupation and more able to engage in truly democratic decision-making. It is immoral and illegal to use war and invasion as mechanisms for robbing a people of their vital natural resources.”

From: Institute for Public Accuracy

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Congressman Paul’s weekly column for Monday, June 25th – Rights of Taxpayers is Missing Element in Stem Cell Debate

The debate in Washington has again turned to federal funding of stem cell research, with President Bush moving to veto legislation passed recently by Congress. Those engaged in this debate tend to split into warring camps claiming exclusive moral authority to decide the issue once and for all.

Full article here:

http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2007/tst062507.htm

Ron Paul’s Texas Straight Talk – A weekly Column

Rights of Taxpayers is Missing Element in Stem Cell Debate

June 25, 2007 

The debate in Washington has again turned to federal funding of stem cell research, with President Bush moving to veto legislation passed recently by Congress. Those engaged in this debate tend to split into warring camps claiming exclusive moral authority to decide the issue once and for all.

On one side, those who support the President’s veto tend to argue against embryonic stem cell research, pointing to the individual rights of the embryo being discarded for use in research. On the other hand are those who argue the embryo will be discarded any way, and the research may provide valuable cures for people suffering from terrible illnesses.

In Washington, these two camps generally advocate very different policies. The first group wants a federal ban on all such research, while the latter group expects the research to be federally-subsidized. Neither side in this battle seems to consider the morality surrounding the rights of federal taxpayers.

Our founding fathers devised a system of governance that limited federal activity very narrowly. In doing so, they intended to keep issues such as embryonic stem cell research entirely out of Washington’s hands. They believed issues such as this should be tackled by free people acting freely in their churches and medical associations, and in the marketplace that would determine effective means of research. When government policies on this issue were to be developed, our founders would have left them primarily to state legislators to decide in accord with community standards.

Their approach was also the only one consistent with a concern for the rights and freedom of all individuals, and for limiting negative impacts upon taxpayers. When Washington subsidizes something, it does so at the direct expense of the taxpayer. Likewise, when Washington bans something, it generally requires a federal agency and a team of federal agents— often heavily-armed federal agents—to enforce the ban. These agencies become the means by which the citizenry is harassed by government intrusions. Yet it is the mere existence of these agencies, and the attendant costs associated with operating them, that leads directly to the abuse of the taxpayers’ pocketbooks.

If Congress attempts to override the President’s veto, I will support the President. As a physician, I am well aware that certain stem cells have significant medical potential and do not raise the moral dilemmas presented by embryonic stem cell research. My objection is focused on the issue of federal funding. Unfortunately, in the Washington environment of “either subsidize it, or else ban it,” it is unlikely there will be much focus given to the issue of federal funding. Instead, virulent charges will fly regarding who is willing to sacrifice the lives and health of others to make a political point.

Only when Washington comes to understand that our founders expressly intended for our federal government to be limited in scope, will policy questions such as this be rightly understood. But that understanding will not come until the people demand their elected officials act in accordance with these principles.

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Borowitz Report – Nader Shocker

Nader’s Ego Enters 2008 Race

Massive Ego Fills Madison Square Garden

The field of presidential candidates got a little more crowded today as the massive ego of consumer activist Ralph Nader announced that it was entering the 2008 race.

For its historic announcement, Mr. Nader’s ego chose New York’s Madison Square Garden, the only venue available large enough to contain the candidate’s bloated self-esteem.

After being loaded into the Garden’s freight elevator and wheeled out onto the stage, Mr. Nader’s ego said the words that its faithful had been waiting to hear.

“This gigantic ego has sat on the sidelines long enough and watched others’ egos get all of the attention!” the candidate’s ego roared.

Mr. Nader’s ego went on to enumerate the reasons for its latest candidacy, telling the audience, “I want to see an America where I am on campaign buttons, banners, and Larry King Live.”

His ego added that it hoped to fill what it saw as a void in the 2008 campaign: “There is no other narcissistic whackjob in the race, unless you count Kucinich.”

The consumer activist’s bloated ego received rave reviews from those in attendance, many of whom had fond memories of Mr. Nader’s successful bid to wreck the 2000 presidential race.

“It was great to see that ego back on stage,” said Nader supporter Ralph Nader, 73. “Finally, a candidate who speaks for me.”

Others echoed that sentiment, including Nader supporter Ralph Nader, 73: “I couldn’t believe how handsome he was.”

Elsewhere, in a serious setback for former Florida governor Jeb Bush, new research finds that the eldest children in families tend to have higher I.Q.’s than their younger siblings.

http://www.borowitzreport.com/

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three thousand words

Slowpoke: Slouching Towards Hypocrisy

http://www.workingforchange.com/webgraphics/WFC/js062507.gif

David Horsey: how rock slides begin …

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart/20070628/cartoon20070628.gif

Jack Ohman: complete autonomy

http://images.ucomics.com/comics/tmjoh/2007/tmjoh070626.gif

A CALAMITOUS VIEW OF IRAQ’S FUTURE-FROM BASRA

By Barry Lando

A report just issued by the International Crisis Group on the horrific situation in Basra after the British equivalent of the U.S. surge. A presage of what lies ahead.

At:

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/55242/

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George Will: Wallace’s 1968 presidential campaign spoke “for people furious about the ’60s tumults”

In his column in the July 2 edition of Newsweek, George F. Will described former Alabama Gov. George Wallace as an independent candidate who “succeed[ed] in giving an aggrieved minority a voice.” According to Will, the “aggrieved minority” Wallace’s 1968 presidential campaign spoke for was made up of “people furious about the ’60s tumults.” In fact, Wallace openly campaigned against civil rights legislation, and, in the words of The Washington Post’s obituary of Wallace, ran a presidential campaign “in which he vilified blacks.”

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200706250006?src=other

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Bush’s offices reportedly refused probe

June 26 2007

A federal watchdog agency planned to inspect the president’s executive offices in the White House in 2005 for evidence of suspected leaks of classified information, but it was rebuffed by Bush administration officials, congressional investigators have been told. The report of the White House’s refusal to be inspected comes amid criticism from congressional Democrats of how President [sic] Bush signed an executive order requiring federal agencies to submit to independent oversight of their handling of classified information, but did not enforce it for his office or that of Vice President [sic] Dick Cheney. The blocked inspection was described in an April 23 letter to former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card from Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), who provided a copy of the letter to the Los Angeles Times on Monday.

At:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-security26jun26,1,4141790.story

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Fred Thompson defends lobbying record

June 26 2007

Fred Thompson, a likely Republican presidential candidate, on Tuesday defended his work as a Washington lobbyist to The Associated Press… Thompson, who likes to cast himself as a political outsider, earned more than $1 million lobbying the federal government for more than 20 years. He lobbied for a savings-and-loan deregulation bill that helped hasten the industry’s collapse and a failed nuclear energy project that cost taxpayers more than a billion dollars. He also was a lobbyist for deposed Haitian Dictator Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was widely criticized for endorsing “necklacing,” the gruesome practice of execution where gasoline-soaked tires are thrown over a person’s neck and set ablaze. In September 1991, Aristide said: “The burning tire, what a beautiful tool! … It smells good. And wherever you go, you want to smell it.” Lobbying records show that in 1991 Thompson called then-White House Chief of Staff John Sununu on Aristide’s behalf.

At:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070626/ap_on_el_pr/fred_thompson_lobbying

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POLL FINDS MOST MASS. RESIDENTS SUPPORT NEW HEALTH REFORM LAW, INCLUDING INDIVIDUAL MANDATE, AS INITIAL DEADLINE NEARS

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

The Main Reason: They Believe It is “the Right Thing to Do”

Many Residents Are Skeptical About the Affordability of Health Coverage for Families Required to Buy Insurance Without State Subsidies

As a key July 1 implementation milestone approaches, most Massachusetts residents support a new state law to provide health coverage to almost all residents, including the individual mandate that requires residents to obtain coverage or pay a penalty, according to a new June poll of 1,003 Massachusetts residents. 

The poll, conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Harvard School of Public Health and the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, finds support for the new health insurance law has increased. In this recent poll, two-thirds (67%) of state residents who have heard of the new health insurance law support it, compared with 16% who oppose it. In a poll conducted last September, six in 10 residents (61%) who had heard of the law said they supported it.

In addition, more than half (57%, compared to 52% in September) saythey support the law’s individual mandate requirements, compared with 36% who oppose it.

“Given reports of sticker shock and ongoing debate about the law, we might have expected overall support to fall, but in fact, support is widespread and has gone up,” said Kaiser President and CEO Drew E. Altman, Ph.D.  “If Massachusetts succeeds, it will have a big impact on the momentum for national health reform.”

Residents who support the law mainly say it is because they believe “it is the right thing to do” (90% of those who support say this is a major reason) and because they believe broader coverage will keep costs down by providing more incentives for preventive care (79%).  Among the small group of residents who oppose the law, most say people shouldn?t be required to buy insurance if they can’t afford it (72%) or if they don?t want it (61%).

The random-sample telephone poll was conducted between May 29 and June 10 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points for results based on the full sample.  The margin of error is higher for results based on subgroups.

The full results are available online at

http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/pomr062707pkg.cfm .

                          ==========

Senate Testimony: Why Well-Designed Universal Health Insurance Is Essential to a High Performing Health System

Dear Colleague:

A major culprit in the inconsistent performance of the U.S. health care system is its failure to provide health insurance to nearly 45 million people, as well as adequate financial protection to an additional 16 million more who are “underinsured,” said Commonwealth Fund assistant vice president Sara Collins, Ph.D., today in invited testimony before the Senate Budget Committee.

http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/publications_show.htm?doc_id=506778&#doc506778

Speaking at a hearing entitled, “Health Care and the Budget: The Healthy Americans Act and Other Options for Reform,” Collins explained that universal coverage is essential to placing the system on a path to high performance. For example, billions of dollars in uncompensated care is now paid for through pools of federal, state, and local government revenues and through cost-shifting to other payers–making efficiency in the operation of provider institutions and financing arrangements very difficult.

Collins also emphasized that the design of the universal coverage system “will matter greatly in terms of whether the overall health system is ultimately able to make sustainable and systematic improvements in access to care, efficiency and cost control, equity, and quality of care.”

Browse and download the associated charts in ChartCart.

http://www.commonwealthfund.org/chartcart/

From: The Commonwealth Fund   http://www.commonwealthfund.org/

                          ==========

Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Highlights Recent Legislative Action in Three States

Access this story and related links online:

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=45845

Newspapers recently reported on legislative action related to health care in Indiana, New Hampshire and Wisconsin. Summaries of the Indiana coverage appears below:

Indiana: A state cigarette tax increase from 55.5 cents to 99.5 cents per pack took effect Sunday, the AP/Indianapolis Star reports. Revenue from the increase will be used to provide health insurance to more than 100,000 lower-income state residents and will fund other health initiatives (Smith, AP/Indianapolis Star, 6/24). The tax is expected to generate $206 million annually. If the health plan receives federal approval, the tax could leverage additional federal funding for a total of $750 million to $800 million annually (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 5/15).

                          ==========

The Hill Publishes Several Op-Eds Addressing U.S. Health Care System

Access this story and related links online:

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=45390

The Hill on Wednesday published several opinion pieces related to health care. One summary of the articles is below.

Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas), The Hill: “For the physicians of today, there is no more important task than to fix the programmed cuts to Medicare that are the most pernicious and pervasive obstacle to preserving the medical workforce” and to “ensur[ing] our Medicare patients can receive care,” Burgess writes. According to Burgess, allowing the cuts to go into effect “will result in fewer physicians accepting Medicare patients, reduced access for beneficiaries, and a constriction of the physician workforce pipeline over a period when demand for medical services is projected to explode.” Burgess adds that Congress must address the issue “in a long-term nature or face future catastrophe because the problem only becomes more expensive if it is allowed to persist” (Burgess, The Hill, 6/6).

                          ==========

Borowitz Report – Nader Shocker

Nader’s Ego Enters 2008 Race

Massive Ego Fills Madison Square Garden

The field of presidential candidates got a little more crowded today as the massive ego of consumer activist Ralph Nader announced that it was entering the 2008 race.

For its historic announcement, Mr. Nader’s ego chose New York’s Madison Square Garden, the only venue available large enough to contain the candidate’s bloated self-esteem.

After being loaded into the Garden’s freight elevator and wheeled out onto the stage, Mr. Nader’s ego said the words that its faithful had been waiting to hear.

“This gigantic ego has sat on the sidelines long enough and watched others’ egos get all of the attention!” the candidate’s ego roared.

Mr. Nader’s ego went on to enumerate the reasons for its latest candidacy, telling the audience, “I want to see an America where I am on campaign buttons, banners, and Larry King Live.”

His ego added that it hoped to fill what it saw as a void in the 2008 campaign: “There is no other narcissistic whackjob in the race, unless you count Kucinich.”

The consumer activist’s bloated ego received rave reviews from those in attendance, many of whom had fond memories of Mr. Nader’s successful bid to wreck the 2000 presidential race.

“It was great to see that ego back on stage,” said Nader supporter Ralph Nader, 73. “Finally, a candidate who speaks for me.”

Others echoed that sentiment, including Nader supporter Ralph Nader, 73: “I couldn’t believe how handsome he was.”

Elsewhere, in a serious setback for former Florida governor Jeb Bush, new research finds that the eldest children in families tend to have higher I.Q.’s than their younger siblings.

http://www.borowitzreport.com/

                          ==========

three thousand words

This Modern World: Conservative Jones

http://www.workingforchange.com/webgraphics/WFC/TMW06-27-07colorlowres.jpg

David Horsey: sure this screw up with millions of passports is annoying …

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart/20070627/cartoon20070627.gif

Tom Toles: oh, you get used to it after a while

http://images.ucomics.com/comics/tt/2007/tt070625.gif

HEAT STRESS RISK

Purdue University researchers project a 200 to 500 percent increase in the number of dangerously hot days in the Mediterranean by the end of the 21st century if the current rate of greenhouse gas emissions continues. The study found that France would be subjected to the largest increase of high-temperature extremes. The study also showed a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions could reduce the intensity of dangerously hot days by up to 50 percent.

A 2003 heat wave led to 15,000 deaths in France and almost 3,000 in Italy. The researchers found that global warming causes summer temperatures to dramatically exceed the range that was correlated with the increased number of deaths. “Rare events today, like the 2003 heat wave in Europe, will become much more common as greenhouse gas concentrations increase,” said Noah Diffenbaugh, the Purdue assistant professor of earth and atmospheric sciences who led the study. “The frequency at which that scale of events occurs at high greenhouse gas concentrations is staggering, and the extreme events of the future are unprecedented in their severity.”

The study covered the entire Mediterranean area, which includes 21 countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia. The researchers used a supercomputer in the National Climate Center in Beijing to run the climate model. The researchers found that with the projected shift to more severe temperatures, the daily temperatures currently found in the hottest two weeks of the summer instead are found in the coldest two weeks of the summer in the future climate scenario.

Visit http://link.abpi.net/l.php?20070625A2 for more information.

                          ==========

Limbaugh guest host Sullivan used Clinton’s Sopranos parody to peddle debunked conspiracy theories

On the June 22 broadcast of nationally syndicated The Rush Limbaugh Show, guest host Tom Sullivan, a financial columnist for The Sacramento Bee and local radio host, used Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (NY) campaign video spoof of a scene from the series finale of HBO’s The Sopranos to resurrect debunked right-wing conspiracy theories about the deaths of Clinton deputy White House counsel Vince Foster and Clinton Commerce Secretary Ron Brown: “I think the next episode could bring in the question about what happened to Vince Foster. … [W]hat’s the real story behind Ron Brown? I mean … the episodes on this would go on forever.”

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200706250005?src=other

                          ==========

Generals campaign against war –’It’s time for us to get the hell out of there’

June 24 2007

Two retired Army generals [Lt. Gen. Robert Gard and Brig. Gen. John Johns] toured New Hampshire last week, hoping to pressure New Hampshire’s congressional delegation to stand up to President [sic] Bush and put an end to the war in Iraq.

Read more

http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070624/REPOSITORY/706240337

                          ==========

THE MAKING OF AN AMERICAN SOLDIER: WHY YOUNG PEOPLE JOIN THE MILITARY

By Jorge Mariscal, Sojourners

George Bush likes to say it’s because they’re patriots, but the truth may have more to do with financial need and recruiters targeting those with limited economic options.

Read more

http://www.alternet.org/stories/52233/

                          ==========

Thanks to Bush: U.N.: Afghan opium production up

June 25 2007

Afghanistan produced dramatically more opium in 2006, increasing its yield by nearly 50 percent from a year earlier and pushing global opium production to a new record high, a U.N. report said Tuesday. In 2006, Afghanistan accounted for 92 percent of global illicit opium production… The area under opium poppy cultivation in the country has also expanded, from nearly 257,000 acres in 2005 to more than 407,000 acres in 2006 — an increase of about 59 percent.

Read more

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070625/ap_on_re_eu/un_drug_report

                          ==========

Iraqi Oil Law Challenged

The Associated Press reports today: “Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki’s cabinet approved a U.S.-backed draft oil law and the Parliament is expected to start discussing it next week.” The law, which institutes privileges for foreign companies at a level unseen anywhere else in the Middle East, has been challenged inside and outside Iraq. The Iraqi oil workers union went on a strike last month
to protest the law.

HASHMEYA MUHSIN HUSSEIN, FALEH ABOOD UMARA, [via Denice Lombard,
denicez@verizon.net ,

http://www.dclabor.org/ht/display/EventDetails/i/47365/pid/541

Faleh Abood Umara is the general secretary of the Federation of Oil Unions. Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein is the president of the Electrical Utility Workers Union. They are currently touring the United States. This week they will be in D.C. speaking with members of Congress and later will attend the U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta, GA.

Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein is the first woman to head a national union in Iraq. Faleh Abood Umara is a founding member of the oil workers union and worked for the Southern Oil Company in Basra for 28
years. In 1998, he was detained by the Saddam Hussein regime for his activities on behalf of his coworkers. He has served on the union’s negotiating team with both the Oil Ministry and British occupation authorities to defend the rights and interests of oil industry workers in the post-Saddam era.

Earlier in his tour, Umara told Reuters that the “proposed law amounted to a raid by the international oil cartel” and “unions representing thousands of workers in the industry would take strong measures to oppose it, including strikes if necessary. … We think the proposed oil law doesn’t serve the interests of the Iraqi people at all. It emphasizes or confirms American hegemony over Iraqi oil fields.”

From: Institute for Public Accuracy

                          ==========

The WasteBasket: A Bulletin on Wasteful Government Spending by Taxpayers for Common Sense

www.taxpayer.net

The WasteBasket: A Bulletin on Wasteful Government Spending
by Taxpayers for Common Sense

www.taxpayer.net

Another Day in the Farm Bill Kangaroo Court
Volume XII No. 13 – June 22, 2007

With all the pomp and circumstance of a real legislative hearing, this week a subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee unanimously rubberstamped an extension of existing commodity farm subsidies for the next five years. This bizarre step signals to the rest of Congress that the agriculture committee hopes to continue failed Dust Bowl era farm-support programs that have cost taxpayers billions of dollars and hurt family farmers by funneling federal subsidies into the hands of a few agribusiness companies and consolidating the farming business.

The 18-member committee ignored barrels of ink spilled in hundreds of articles and editorials and virtually every independent expert on the urgent need for commodity subsidy reform. The committee also decided that innovative proposals – such as FARM 21 offered by Congressmen Ron Kind (D-WI) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) – deserved nothing more than a wisecrack or two. “Seems like a kind of flaky way to get into the farm bill,” quipped Congressman Earl Pomeroy (D-ND). “This is a threat toeveryone, the entire world,” added Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK).

The FARM 21 proposal would fix the commodity portion of the farm bill and save taxpayers an estimated $20 billion in the next five years. The existing pot of subsidy dollars would be transitioned into farmer-owned “risk management” accounts. These accounts could be tapped by farmers when their revenues dip below a certain historical average, or for certain rural investment undertakings. For tax purposes, the accounts are treated like traditional IRAs. Among other things, $5 billion worth of the savings would go to debt reduction over the first five years. After five years, the transition period would be over and the taxpayer would be off the hook for propping up agribusiness.

When the 2002 farm bill expires at the end of September, commodity subsidies will have cost taxpayers upwards of $100 billion. Just five crops – corn, cotton, rice, wheat, and soybean – get 95% of taxpayer subsidies. And according to some number-crunching (reg. required) of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) data by Environmental Working Group, recipients of government farming handouts include a former pro basketball player, millionaires, and a talk show host. If it weren’t for all the taxpayer cash involved, we might think they were casting a bad reality TV show – Farming with the Stars.

Not that the subcommittee didn’t take a stand about something. At least one member, with a straight face, expressed outrage about a proposal to keep wealthy farmers from receiving subsidies. Apparently,
the existing $2.5 million cap should remain in place to ensure that small, hardscrabble family farmers get their fair share.

In the 1930s farmers accounted for 20 percent of the U.S. population and agriculture made up nearly 8 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Today, farmers make up less than 2 percent of the U.S.
population and agriculture accounts for less than 1 percent of GDP. The average farm used to be about 200 acres, but now that has increased to approximately 500 acres per farm. And according to USDA, in 2003 median wealth of farm households ($416,250) was five times the estimated median wealth of all U.S. households ($89,578).

Maybe we are naïve, but we thought we recently noted a whiff of farm subsidy reform in the beltway air. The committee would have none of it. In addition to FARM 21, proposals by the President and by Citigroup, Inc. were offered as “straw man” amendments to the underlying legislation. All received their share of ridicule and rhetoric, which seemed to be the point of the day’s deliberations (the President’s proposal to revamp the farm bill earned the lone single vote of support). In fact, pro-corporate subsidy lawmakers seem to have thought up the reform proposals just so they could knock them down before the Farm Subsidy Hallelujah Chorus. Seems like a sinister way to discredit important alternatives when they end up being considered on the floor of the House.

Rubber stamping bad legislation that would continue to hurt family farms and line the pockets of people who don’t need the money is terrible policy and rates as one of most embarrassing blemishes on the 110th Congress. Show trials among sycophants and agribusiness subsidy apologists cannot substitute for legitimate legislative deliberation.

Going on at Taxpayer.net This Week

TCS Analysis of House Legislative Branch Spending Bill

TCS Analysis of House State/Foreign Operations Spending Bill

Coalition Letter to Senate: End Unnecessary Handouts to Big Oil: Vote Yes on Wyden-Sununu Amendment

TCS Analysis and Database: FY2008 Senate Military Construction and Veteran Affairs Appropriations Bill

TCS Statement on Agriculture Subcommittee’s Missed Opportunity

TCS Applauds Defeat of Costly Coal-to-Liquid Amendments

TCS Analysis of House Energy & Water Appropriations Bill

TCS in the News

Mining companies digging our pockets (Mountain Mail Newspaper, Colorado)
Pelosi’s House Brushes Off CNN’s Questions on Earmarks (NewsBusters Blog)
Our view: Exposing the pork (Florida Today)
‘Open’ US Congress not forthcoming (United Press International)
Flake targets Obey earmark and others like it (The Hill)
Controversial contributions paid for steak, sedans during congressman’s visit (Naples Daily News)
Senators mum on earmarks (Florida Today)
$10M earmark for Florida road draws scrutiny (Detroit News)
Katrina Contracts Worth $2.4 Billion Offer Profit Guarantees (Center for Public Integrity Blog)
Tennis Shoes, Plus Spikes? (National Journal)
Lawmakers debate earmarks (Pensacola News Journal)
Rep. Mack mum on federal budget wishlist (The News-Press, Florida)
Sessions’ prints on defense projects (Birmingham News)
Another Cunningham conspirator pleads guilty (North County Times, California)

Notable Quote

“Now, let me make it clear that I am not against earmarks. I am more than willing to get up here on the floor and defend each and every earmark that I have ever gotten or tried to get for my district. And I think that all Members should have the opportunity to defend their projects and their requests, but more importantly, tax paying citizens have the right to know exactly how their hard-earned dollars are being spent. To make this process closed is an insult to taxpayers, and if Democrats have nothing to hide, they should live up to their promise and open the process back up to the American people and hold themselves accountable for their spending.”

–Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI), on June 12th in the House of Representatives (Congressional Record). As of press time for the Wastebasket, Rep. Miller has not released a list of her earmark requests to her constituents.

From: weekly wastebasket at www.taxpayer.net

                          ==========

FEMA Katrina Contracts Merit Analysis

A recent Center analysis of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) contracts revealed that the agency was responsible for nearly 94 percent of all Hurricane Katrina-related cost-plus-fixed-fee contracts. Unlike fixed-price contracts, the cost-plus version allows contractors to bill the government for costs, offer few incentives to control expenses and earn a guaranteed profit.

http://ga6.org/ct/_7L-oud1PuhG/

The bulk of FEMA’s cost-plus-fixed-fee contracts went to installing and arranging temporary trailers for evacuees in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, and were paid to Bechtel National Inc., Fluor Enterprises Inc., Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure Inc. and CH2M Hill Inc. Of the $3.3 billion awarded for those FEMA contracts,nearly $1.97 billion were cost-plus-fixed-fee, according to the Center’s analysis of figures from the Federal Procurement Data System.

In an October 2006 report requested by House Democrats, a Katrina task force criticized the trailer contracts: “While many FEMA contracts resulted in waste, fraud and abuse, none were more poorly designed or administered than the trailer contracts.”;This March, the House voted 347-73 to pass the Accountability in Contracting Act, sponsored by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., to restrict the use of cost-plus-fixed-fee and no-bid contracts and require that overcharges of more than $10 million be disclosed to Congress.

The Center’s analysis also includes an updated Katrina contracts database searchable by the name of the vendor, place of performance or name of the contracting agency.

http://ga6.org/ct/MdL-oud1PuhV/ 

From: Center for Public Integrity publicintegrity.org

                          ==========

Hundreds of Bills Target Illegal Immigrants 

Frustrated with Congress’s inability to pass an immigration-overhaul bill, state legislatures are considering or enacting a record number of strongly worded proposals targeting illegal immigrants. By the time most legislatures adjourned in May, at least 1,100 immigration bills had been submitted, more than double last year’s record total, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

MORE:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/24/AR2007062401662.html

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three to aee

David Horsey: the three branches of government

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart/20070625/cartoon20070625.gif

Jeff Darcy: who does he work for?

http://editorialcartoonist.com/cartoons/DarcyJ/2007/DarcyJ20070626_low.jpg

Ann Telnaes: richard III and the princes in the tower

http://img.slate.com/media/20/070625_ed.gif/

Virtual World SIG 

The 3D Virtual Worlds Special Interest Group (SIG) is a bi-monthly meeting for developers of virtual world platforms and related applications.
This series of events brings together the programmers, content developers, and visionaries required to build virtual worlds.

At:

http://www.virtualworldsig.com/

                          ==========

On Fox News Sunday, Wallace did not note Inhofe changed his story about talk radio allegations

On the June 24 edition of Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace reported on Sen. James Inhofe’s (R-OK) disputed claim that he had overheard Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) discussing a “legislative fix” for right-wing talk radio, but Wallace did not note that Inhofe had altered a crucial element of the story since his allegations were first made public. Wallace said Inhofe “says that he overheard Barbara Boxer and Hillary Clinton three years ago complaining about talk radio and saying there should be a legislative fix.” Wallace was referring to comments Inhofe had made during a June 22 interview on Fox News’ Your World. However, as blogger Greg Sargent observed, Inhofe had first asserted during a June 21 interview on Los Angeles radio station KFI 640 AM’s The John Ziegler Show that he had overheard the conversation between Boxer and Clinton “the other day” but then said on Your World that the conversation had occurred “three years ago.”

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200706240004?src=other

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Brother, Can You Spare a Grand? Abramoff-Tied Lawmaker Passes Hat to Pay Legal Bills

June 22 2007

Reportedly under scrutiny by federal prosecutors for his role in a 2003 Scottish golf trip paid for by disgraced former superlobbyist Jack Abramoff, a Florida congressman is starting a fundraising push to help cover his legal bills. Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Fla., on Wednesday filed papers establishing a legal defense fund, to pay legal expenses “arising from Tom Feeney’s ongoing voluntary cooperation with inquiries” stemming from the federal investigation into the Abramoff scandal, Feeney spokeswoman Pepper Pennington told the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

At:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/06/brother-can-you.html

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Putin’s War-whoop: The impending clash with Russia – What is a “unipolar” world?

by Mike Whitney
 

Global Research, June 22, 2007
GlobalResearch.ca 

What is a “unipolar” world?

It is a world in which there is one master, one sovereign— one center of authority, one center of force, one center of decision-making. And at the end of the day this is pernicious not only for all those within this system, but also for the sovereign itself because it destroys itself from within.

It has nothing in common with democracy, which is the power of the majority in respect to the interests and opinions of the minority.

In Russia , we are constantly being lectured about democracy. But for some reason those who teach us do not want to learn themselves.”   (Russian President Vladimir Putin’s address to the Munich Conference on Security Policy 2-10-07)

The deployment of the US Missile Defense System in Eastern Europe is a de-facto declaration of war on the Russian Federation . As Russian President Putin said in a recent press conference, “If this missile system is put in place, it will work automatically with the entire nuclear capability of the United States . It will be an integral part of the US nuclear capability.” This will disrupt the current configuration of international security and force Russia to begin work on a new regime of tactical nuclear weapons. This is a very serious development. Russia will now have to rethink its current policy vis a vis the United States and develop a long-range strategy for fending off further hostile encroachments into former-Soviet states by NATO.

Welcome to the new Cold War.

Putin cannot ignore the gravity of the proposed system or the threat it poses to Russia ’s national security. Bush’s Missile Defense is not defensive at all, but offensive. His plan would put American military bases–with nuclear infrastructure and sophisticated radar-systems– right on Russia’s doorstep giving the US a clear advantage in “first-strike” capability. That means that Washington will be able to intimidate Russia on issues that are of critical international importance. Putin cannot allow this. He must force Bush to remove this dagger held to Moscow ’s throat.

Bush’s Pyrrhic Victory at the G-8

…

Complete article at:

From: www.GlobalResearch.ca

                          ==========

A LOOK INSIDE THE DICTATORS’ LOBBY

http://www.prwatch.org/node/6147

To investigate high-powered lobbying firms’ advocacy for “corrupt, dictatorial foreign regimes,” Harper’s Washington editor Ken Silverstein posed as “Kenneth Case” of “The Maldon Group,” a fictitious London-based firm which he said had “a financial stake in improving the public image” of Turkmenistan. An excerpt of Silverstein’s article on Harper’s website describes his meeting with Cassidy & Associates. Cassidy lobbyists said their work for Equatorial Guinea was “a very similar sort of representation to what you’re talking about” for Turkmenistan, and boasted of getting President Teodoro Obiang off Parade Magazine’s “worst dictator” list. They also trumpeted the firm’s “strong personal relationships” with policymakers. According to the Wall Street Journal, both Cassidy and APCO Associates suggested “an aggressive campaign against ‘biased’ news stories, organizing conferences at which sympathetic views could be aired, finding ways to get members of Congress to take paid trips to Turkmenistan and emphasizing how much the U.S. would benefit if Turkmenistan further opened its economy to outside investment.” APCO further “recommended holding forums for journalists, academics and politicians, hosted by a third party, where a Turkmen politician could give a speech.”

SOURCE: Harper’s Magazine, July 2007

                          ==========

Dunce-Cap Nation

We asked Americans about current events, history and cultural literacy. And we got some pretty disheartening results.

Web Exclusive

By Brian Braiker
Newsweek
Updated: June 23, 2007

July 2-9, 2007 issue – For our What You Need to Know Now cover story, we asked our polling firm to test 1,001 adults on a variety of topics, including politics, foreign affairs, business, technology and popular culture. The results were mixed, to be charitible. NEWSWEEK’s first What You Need to Know Poll found many gaps in America’s knowledge—including a lingering misperception about an Iraqi connection to the September 11 terror attacks, an inability to name key figures in the American government and general cultural confusion.

Even today, more than four years into the war in Iraq, as many as four in 10 Americans (41 percent) still believe Saddam Hussein’s regime was directly involved in financing, planning or carrying out the terrorist attacks on 9/11, even though no evidence has surfaced to support a connection. A majority of Americans were similarly unable to pick Saudi Arabia in a multiple-choice question about the country where most of the 9/11 hijackers were born. Just 43 percent got it right—and a full 20 percent thought most came from Iraq.

Still, seven in 10 (70 percent) are aware that the United States has not discovered any hidden weapons of mass destruction in Iraq since the war began. And perhaps because most (85 percent) are aware that Osama bin Laden remains at large, roughly half of the poll’s respondents (52 percent) think that the United States is losing the fight against his terror group, Al Qaeda, despite no military defeats or recent terrorist attacks to suggest as much.

…

Complete article at:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19390791/site/newsweek/

                          ==========

YouTube Video On Avoiding U.S. Job Applicants Angers Programmers

IT professionals criticize a law firm’s video play-by-play description on how to expediate the PERM process to more easily hire foreign workers.

By Mary Hayes Weier
InformationWeek
Jun 18, 2007

YouTube bites again. A law firm’s attempt to get positive exposure for an immigration law conference by posting it on You Tube backfired when an organization that’s been tough on H-1B visas and offshore outsourcing copied it and made a controversial video of its own.

In the original video, posted by the firm Cohen & Grigsby from a May 15 conference, an attorney is shown advising attendees on how to meet the minimum requirements of advertising a job to U.S. candidates so that a foreign worker can more easily be hired. The firm’s conference dealt with the U.S. government’s labor certification requirement for foreign workers, the first step in helping them obtain green cards. The law requires that an employer prove there are no qualified U.S. citizens for a permanent job being offered before hiring a non-citizen.

In one 10-minute segment of the conference video, a panel of lawyers are shown discussing Program Electronic Review Management (PERM), an electronic labor certification system the government put in place two years ago to reduce certification to under 60 days. It was that portion of the video lambasted by the Programmers Guild, an organization of IT professionals that is staunchly protectionist against the loss of U.S. jobs to foreign workers both onshore and offshore.

…

Complete article at:

http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199905192

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JOBS, WAGES, HEALTH CARE, PENSIONS: ALL IN JEOPARDY AS CHRYSLER IS SOLD TO PRIVATE FIRM … and more

by Chris Kutalik and Tiffany Ten Eyck

http://labornotes.org/node/910

Auto workers are bracing for a bumpy road ahead at Chrysler, following the May 14 announcement that Daimler-Chrysler (DCX) would sell off 80 percent ownership of the company to Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity firm.  This article explores some of the possible consequences of the sale, as well as auto workers’ possible responses.

Who Gets H-1B Visas? Check Out This List

Five of the top 10 were Indian outsourcers, but Microsoft is number three, IBM number eight, and Oracle USA number nine. The New York City Public School system ranks 22nd on the list.

By Marianne Kolbasuk McGee,  InformationWeek

May 17, 2007

URL: http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199601616

Whirlpool Cutting 700 Jobs

Jobs cuts at Tennessee plant that manufactures air purifiers, dehumidifiers and cooking ranges; company also negotiating licensing agreements with global partners.

…continue http://www.manufacturing.net/article.aspx?id=142304

American Axle Plant In Buffalo Could Close

Autoworkers said the company ”unofficially” told them the plant, which employs 650, will close for good when the union contract expires in March.

…continue  http://www.manufacturing.net/article.aspx?id=142132

P&G Closing Connecticut Plant

Houston Chronicle – United States

2007 AP CINCINNATI — Procter & Gamble Co. said Thursday it will close its hair-care product plant with 615 employees in Stamford, Conn., by early 2010. …

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4871344.html

Hershey’s Move To Mexico

By Philly.com

But Hershey Co., Oakdale’s biggest employer and the nation’s biggest candy company, is closing its plant here, eliminating all 575 jobs. The company will open a factory in Monterrey, Mexico, to handle the
production. …

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1847758/posts

Whirlpool Cuts 730 Manufacturing Jobs in Tennessee

Last year it acquired Maytag Corp. and announced plans to eliminate 4500 jobs by closing Maytag laundry washer and dryer plants and consolidating corporate offices. Benton Harbor, Michigan-based Whirlpool has annual sales of approximately …

http://www.ere.net/inside-recruiting/news/whirlpool-cuts–manufacturing-jobs-in-180774.asp

Carlisle Closing Wisconsin Plant

Tire Review – Akron,OH,USA

(Akron/Tire Review) Reports say that Carlisle Tire & Wheel Co. plans to close its plant in Slinger, Wisc. The move will result in the loss of  105 jobs for …

http://www.tirereview.com/default.aspx?type=wm&module=4&id=2&state=DisplayFullText&item=8388

Stunned workers worry Lucent will vanish after plant closing

Eagle Tribune – North Andover,MA,USA

The closing is not a complete surprise. Many said the writing was on the wall after layoffs in 2002 and then the merger last December. …

http://www.eagletribune.com/punews/local_story_165093847

Monaco Coach closing Elkhart plant

Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly (subscription) – Fort Wayne,IN,USA

The company is closing its Elkhart factory, where the Holiday Rambler and McKenzie fifth-wheel and travel-trailer recreational vehicles are made. …

http://www.fwdailynews.com/articles/2007/06/14/greater_fort_wayne/news/today/6-14story5.txt

Visteon closing 685-worker Bedford plant

nwitimes.com – Munster,IN,USA

The economic blow of the Bedford plant closing has worried community leaders in Lawrence County. Gene McCracken, executive director of the Lawrence County …

http://nwitimes.com/articles/2007/06/18/ap-state-in/d8prekr00.txt

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Independent Report on Iraq

JAMES PAUL, james.paul@globalpolicy.org
CELINE NAHORY, celine.nahory@globalpolicy.org,

http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/occupation/report/index.htm

Paul is executive director of Global Policy Forum, which has just released a 117-page report titled “War and Occupation in Iraq.” He said today: “While most people focus on the sectarian bloodshed, our report highlights the enormous violence of the occupation forces. There is an increasing air war that results in heavy casualties as well as the daily killing of civilians at checkpoints, during house searches, by snipers, and by ground bombardment. Nearly a million Iraqis have died due to the effects of the occupation and 4 million have fled from their homes. A dozen cities have been destroyed by U.S. attacks.

“Our report includes a map of the major prisons and U.S. bases. The five biggest bases are gigantic and built for decades of use. Their airfields can launch air strikes around the clock. The new U.S. embassy complex is the biggest U.S. diplomatic facility in the world.

“Under the control or influence of U.S. authorities, public funds in Iraq have been drained by massive corruption and stolen oil, leaving the country unable to provide basic services and incapable of rebuilding. The U.S. government has repeatedly violated many international laws, but top officials reject any accountability.”

Nahory, Security Council Program Coordinator at Global Policy Forum and a co-author of the report, said: “Those that understate the violence of the occupation make U.S. forces look like the solution, when in fact they are a large part of the problem. Even polls by the U.S. and U.K. governments show a large majority of Iraqis want a speedy withdrawal of occupation forces.

“The UN Security Council should be looking into this crisis, but under pressure from Washington, the Council has done almost nothing so far. During the June 13 Council meeting on Iraq, most delegates made shockingly empty statements with no creative ideas. One exception was South Africa, whose delegate actually cited our report and used it as the basis for her remarks. The Security Council can’t keep its head in the sand much longer. It will have to do something about the huge humanitarian crisis and the worsening violence.

“The Council should end the mandate it has given to the U.S. Coalition. Only a speedy and complete withdrawal of the occupation can begin to bring peace and reconciliation to Iraq.”

From: Institute for Public Accuracy

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As Civilian Casualties Mount, Air War Is Questioned

NORMAN SOLOMON, norman@accuracy.org

http://www.normansolomon.com

Executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, Solomon is the author “War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death” — adapted into a documentary film that was
released nationwide yesterday. He said today: “In the United States, many advocates of U.S. withdrawal from Iraq have focused on what the war has been doing to Americans. This approach may seem like
political pragmatism and tactical wisdom, but in the long run it’s likely to play into the hands of White House strategists who will try to regain domestic political ground by reducing American losses while boosting the use of high-tech weaponry against Iraqi people. … The available evidence is strong that the U.S. air war is escalating — with a surge of resulting casualties among Iraqi civilians.” (Solomon is currently in Washington, D.C.) A full transcript of the “War Made Easy” documentary is posted at:

http://warmadeeasythemovie.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=35

From: Institute for Public Accuracy

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three thousand words

Rob Rogers: embryo guard

http://www.post-gazette.com/images4/062107%20Embryo%20Guard.gif

Steve Benson: the look conservative republicans are yearning for

http://azcentral.com/sshow/News/Benson/4776_84786.jpg

Ted Rall: evolution of the left

http://picayune.uclick.com/comics/trall/2007/trall070625.gif

The latest from NASA’s Earth Observatory (19 June 2007)

In the News:

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

* Latest Images:

Landslide buries Valley of the Geysers
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17681

Aftermath of Griffith Park Fire
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17680

Global Landslide Risks
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17679

Volcanic Ash on Slopes of Karymsky
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17678

Iceberg A22A, South Atlantic Ocean

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17677

Drought in Southeastern United States
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17676

Torrential Rain in China

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17675

Three Gorges Dam, China
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17674

* NASA News

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

- NASA Satellites Watch as China Constructs Giant Dam

* Media Alerts

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

- Marine Phytoplankton Changes Form to Protect Itself from Different Predators

* Headlines from the press, radio, and television:

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

- Garden Sprinklers May Save Reef from Bleaching
- Arctic Ice No Barrier for Plants
- Fertile Forests Absorb More CO2
- Scientists Examine Cause of Bee Die-Off
- Intensive Farming of Tequila Plant Harming Biodiversity
- Pollution, Ships Threaten Coral Reefs
- Scorching Summers in Store for Mediterranean
- Hurricane ‘Cone of Danger’ Under Fire
- Salvage Logging Harms Forests
- Global Warming Is Speeding up Ocean Waves
- Lava Microbes Lived on Early Earth
- Charred Farm Waste Gobbles Carbon
- Global Warming Not Behind Kilimanjaro Meltdown
- ‘Nuclear Winter’ Could Bring Years of Failed Crops

* New Research Highlights

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

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Olbermann named Beck, Graham “Worst Persons” for Graham’s “whack” the Clintons comment

On the June 21 edition of MSNBC’s Countdown, host Keith Olbermann named radio talk show host Michael Graham and CNN’s Glenn Beck the winners of his nightly “Worst Person in the World” award for Graham’s remark that while watching the Clintons’ video spoof of The Sopranos, he wanted to “see somebody come in here and just whack them both right there.”

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200706220004?src=other

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New study from Pilots for 9/11 Truth: No Boeing 757 hit the Pentagon

June 21 2007

(PRWEB) Pilots for 9/11 Truth http://pilotsfor911truth.org/ obtained black box data from the government under the Freedom of Information Act for AA Flight 77, which The 9/11 Report claims hit the Pentagon. Analysis of the data contradicts the official account in direction, approach, and altitude. The plane was too high to hit lamp posts and would have flown over the Pentagon, not impacted with its ground floor. This result confirms and strengthens the previous findings of Scholars for 9/11 Truth http://911scholars.org/ that no Boeing 757 hit the building.

At:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/prweb/20070621/bs_prweb/prweb534642_1

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Mobile phones may soon be used on planes

22 June 2007

One of the last telephone-free environments on the planet, the airplane, is about to be connected, allowing travellers to make mobile phone calls at high altitude. Requests to switch off cellphones and fasten seatbelts are a familiar part of the take-off routine for airline passengers, but a European company has found a way to make dialling safe and link up people from above the clouds. [Apparently, the passengers aboard 'hijacked' United Airlines Flight 93 utilized a time machine, in order to make their calls. See: Alleged Oddities of Phone Calls from Doomed Flights

http://911research.wtc7.net/planes/analysis/phonecalls.html

and More Holes in the Official Story: The 9/11 Cell Phone Calls By Michel Chossudovsky 10 Aug 2004.]

http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO408B.html

At:

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn12123

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General Pace fired to clear way for “national emergency,” Iran nuclear strike?

by Paul Craig Roberts
 

Global Research, June 21, 2007
Online Journal – 2007-06-19

“It is the absolute responsibility of everybody in uniform to disobey an order that is either illegal or immoral.” –General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, National Press Club, February 17, 2006.

“They will be held accountable for the decisions they make. So they should in fact not obey the illegal and immoral orders to use weapons of mass destruction.” –General Peter Pace, CNN With Wolf Blitzer, April 6, 2003

The surprise decision by the Bush regime to replace General Peter Pace as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has been explained as a necessary step to avoid contentious confirmation hearings in the US Senate. Gen. Pace’s reappointment would have to be confirmed, and as the general has served as vice chairman and chairman of the Joint Chiefs for the past six years, the Republicans feared that hearings would give war critics an opportunity to focus, in Defense Secretary Gates words, “on the past, rather than the future.”

This is a plausible explanation. Whether one takes it on face value depends on how much trust one still has in a regime that has consistently lied about everything for six years.

General Pace himself says he was forced out when he refused to “take the issue off the table” by voluntarily retiring. Pace himself was sufficiently disturbed by his removal to strain his relations with the powers that be by not going quietly.

The Wall Street Journal editorial page interpreted Pace’s removal as indication that “the man running the Pentagon is Democratic Senator Carl Levin of Michigan. For that matter, is George W. Bush still President?” [General Retreat, June 11, 2007]

The Wall Street Journal editorial writers’ attempt to portray Pace’s departure as evidence of a weak and appeasing administration does not ring true. An administration that escalates the war in Iraq in the face of public opposition and pushes ahead with its plan to attack Iran is not an appeasing administration. Whether it is the war or Attorney General Gonzales or the immigration bill or anything else, President Bush and his Republican stalwarts have told Congress and the American people that they don’t care what Congress and the public think. Bush’s signing statements make it clear that he doesn’t even care about the laws that Congress writes.

A president audacious enough to continue an unpopular and pointless war in the face of public opinion and a lost election is a president who is not too frightened to reappoint a general. Why does Bush run from General Pace when he fervently supports embattled Attorney General Gonzales? What troops does Bush support? He supports his toadies.

…

Complete article at:

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=ROB20070621&articleId=6110

From: www.GlobalResearch.ca

Paul Craig Roberts [ paulcraigroberts@yahoo.com ] was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan Administration. He is the author of Supply-Side Revolution : An Insider’s Account of Policymaking in Washington; Alienation and the Soviet Economy and Meltdown: Inside the Soviet Economy, and is the co-author with Lawrence M. Stratton of The Tyranny of Good Intentions : How Prosecutors and Bureaucrats Are Trampling the Constitution in the Name of Justice.

Click here http://www.vdare.com/pb/death_of_due_process.htm

for Peter Brimelow’s Forbes Magazine interview with Roberts about the recent epidemic of prosecutorial misconduct.

                          ==========

Reason for concern in Halliburton’s books

JONATHAN WEIL GUEST COLUMNIST

Investors have shrugged off almost all the bad news at Halliburton Co. the past few years — accusations of overbilling the Army and bribing foreign officials, along with scrutiny over business dealings in Iran and non-compete bids on government work.

Instead of tanking, the company’s stock has soared.

The same investors might take notice, though, if Halliburton’s financial statements were in doubt, and a former company accounting executive says they are.

Anthony Menendez, who was Halliburton’s director of technical accounting research and training, has accused the world’s second-largest oilfield-services company of using so-called bill-and-hold accounting and other undisclosed practices to “distort the timing of billions of dollars in revenue.” In short, Menendez says this allowed Halliburton to book product sales improperly, before they occurred.

The allegations are part of a 54-page complaint Menendez filed against Halliburton with a Labor Department administrative law judge in Covington, La., who released the records in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. Menendez, who resigned last year and is seeking unspecified damages, says Halliburton retaliated against him in violation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act’s whistle-blower provisions after he reported his concerns to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the company’s audit committee.

…

Complete article at:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/320954_halliburton24.html

Jonathan Weil is a Bloomberg News columnist; jweil6bloomberg.net

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THE PENTAGON GETS ITS OWN TONY SNOW

http://www.prwatch.org/node/6160

Citing an unnamed “senior administration official,” The Politico reports that Geoff Morrell, “previously a White House correspondent for ABC News, has been hired as the Defense Department’s on-camera briefer. … The official said that a working journalist was chosen by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in an effort to improve press relations at a time when the administration is under pressure to show progress in Iraq.”

SOURCE: The Politico, June 18, 2007

                          ==========

As Civilian Casualties Mount, Air War Is Questioned

The Associated Press is reporting today that NATO air strikes “left 25 civilians dead.” AP also reports that NATO “blamed [the insurgents] for the deaths of any innocents, saying they had launched ‘irresponsible’ attacks from civilian homes.”

This week, Reuters reported: “At least seven children were killed in a U.S.-led coalition air strike on a religious school in Afghanistan … amid rising anger over civilian deaths from foreign military operations. Up to 60 civilians have been killed in the past three days in the southern Uruzgan province alone, a senior provincial official said.”

See:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070622/ap_on_re_as/afghanistan

and

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/18/AR2007061800270.html

When asked about the civilian casualties in Iraq resulting from air power, a U.S. Central Command Air Force spokesman stated that “we do not track such numbers.”

See:

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/163152/nick_turse_america_s_secret_air_war_in_iraq

DAHR JAMAIL, mail@dahrjamailiraq.com ,

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/42286/dahr_jamail_on_the_missing_air_war_in_iraq

After doing extensive reporting from war-torn Iraq, Jamail wrote in December 2005: “I have worked as an independent reporter in Baghdad for over eight months during the U.S. occupation of Iraq thus
far and I can confirm that a day never passed in the capital city when the low rumblings of an Apache helicopter or the supersonic thundering roar of an F-16 fighter jet didn’t cause me to look up for
the source of the noise. … The Air Force claims that ‘nearly 70 percent of all munitions used by the air component since the start of the operation have been precision-guided,’ and ‘every possible precaution is taken to protect innocent Iraqi civilians, friendly coalition forces, facilities and infrastructure.’ … [However] even Pentagon figures indicate that 10-15 percent of laser-guided munitions don’t land where intended.”

Jamail added: “If current trends continue, the end of the U.S. occupation in Iraq may more closely resemble the ending in Vietnam…. The political climate at home may force a decrease in the number of U.S. troops in Iraq, [with a] compensatory upswing in air power meant to offset this.” Jamail’s book “Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq” will be published in October.

From: Institute for Public Accuracy

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U.S. OFFICIALS HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE ABOUT IRAQ’S OIL LAW

By Ben Lando, UPI

In Washington, lawmakers and military officials say that Iraq’s new oil law is vital for the country’s future. But, as one reporter learned, most have no idea what they’re talking about.

At:

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/54997/

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three to see

Tom Toles: the smart money?

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/uc/20070621/ltt070621.gif

Rob Rogers: google’s been accused of violatining people’s privacy …

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoons/RogerR/2007/RogerR20070624_low.jpg

Jim Borgman: New Conservative White Guy

http://frontier.cincinnati.com/blogs/borgman/uploaded_images/borg-fri-070615-copy-758330.gif