carapace – Not your father's america

Negotiation in the New Strategic Environment: Lessons from Iraq

With thousands of negotiations being conducted by U.S. soldiers in Iraq “from junior to senior leaders” the aggregate effect of successful or failed negotiations has an impact on the ability of the U.S. military to accomplish its mission there as well as meet American strategic goals. The author argues that the military’s strategic success in the future may increasingly depend on an expanded range of training that includes negotiation skills and practice. By analyzing the negotiating experience of U.S. Army and Marine Corps officers in Iraq, he offers recommendations to improve negotiating effectiveness and predeployment negotiation training.

Published August 2007, Authored by Mr. David M Tressler

At:

http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?pubID=792

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Olbermann named Fox’s Gibson “Worst Person” for claiming Clinton “makes a deal with Al Qaeda”

MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann named Fox News host John Gibson the “winner” of his “Worst Person in the World” segment for claiming that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton made “a deal with Al Qaeda” to “go easier” on terrorists if elected president.

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708290006?src=other

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The Coalition of the Bribed: Army turns to National Guard for recruiting help

Aug 28  2007

The U.S. Army is turning to the National Guard for help recruiting would-be soldiers in hometowns across America. Army leaders, struggling to meet recruitment goals in the midst of a long and unpopular war in Iraq, are quietly working out final details of a program that would give ‘bonuses’ of $2,000 per recruit to any National Guard soldier who brings somebody into the active duty Army.

At:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-08-28-army-recruiting_N.htm

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REPUBLICAN LOBBY FIRM BGR UNDERCUTS IRAQI LEADER AL-MALIKI

http://www.prwatch.org/node/6377

Allawi and Bush in 2004″Republican lobbyists with close ties to the Bush administration are aiding and supporting the efforts of an Iraqi opposition leader who is calling for the ouster of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki,” reports IraqSlogger. On behalf of former prime minister Ayad Allawi, the firm Barbour, Griffith and Rogers purchased the website domain Allawi-for-Iraq.com and sent “hundreds of email messages in Allawi’s name” to Congressional staffers and others in Washington. The emails included copies of a Washington Post op/ed by Allawi in which he wrote “there will be no lasting political reconcilitation under Maliki’s sectarian regime” and “Maliki has squandered Iraq’s credibility in Arab politics, and he cannot restore it.” The firm’s international president, Robert Blackwill, was Bush’s Presidential Envoy to Iraq in 2004, when Allawi was in power. Barbour Griffith, and Rogers also works for the Kurdistan Regional Government.

SOURCE: IraqSlogger, August 23, 2007

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Katrina, Two Years Later: Where’s the Progress?

CHRIS KROMM, chris@southernstudies.org , http://www.southernstudies.org

Kromm is the executive director of the Institute for Southern Studies and author or co-author of several reports on the post-Katrina recovery, including “The Mardi Gras Index,” “One Year after Katrina,” and the Institute’s new report, “Blueprint for Gulf Renewal: The Katrina Crisis and a Community Agenda for Action.” He said today: “On September 15, 2005, President Bush declared that the federal government would ‘do what it takes, and stay as long as it takes,’ to rebuild the Gulf Coast. Instead, Washington has turned its back on those who lost so much after Katrina. Our research shows that, by most measures, the recovery is failing. Over 80,000 people are still in ‘temporary’ FEMA trailers; schools and hospitals are shuttered; people can’t find good jobs. The only thing that can turn this around is a bold, new federal commitment to making the region whole again. Drawing on the ground-level insights of over 40 Gulf Coast leaders, our report shows not only what’s gone wrong, but what — with the right political will — could be done to create a more vibrant, safe and just future for all in the Gulf South.”

From: Institute for Public Accuracy

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NEOLIBERALISM DISMANTLES SERVICES TO MAKE ELITES EVEN RICHER

By George Monbiot, Comment Is Free

Neoliberalism demands minimal taxes, the dismantling of public services and social security and union busting to make the elite even richer, while leaving everyone else to sink or swim.

At:

http://www.alternet.org/workplace/61002/

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TWO YEARS AFTER KATRINA, BILLIONS IN RELIEF FUNDS ARE MISSING

By Jeffrey Buchanan, Chris Kromm, AlterNet

The federal government has promised more than $116 billion in recovery aid, but residents of the still-devastated Gulf Coast wonder whether the check bounced.

At:

http://www.alternet.org/rights/60494/

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Seismic readings at Utah mine do not point to quake 

USA Today

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-08-28-mine-collapse-quake_N.htm?csp=34

William M. Welch, USA Today

August 29, 2007

Scientists studying the collapse of a Utah mine that trapped six miners said Tuesday that “all of the evidence” from reviews of seismic readings overwhelmingly supports the conclusion that the collapse was caused by the mine and not an earthquake.

DOUGLAS DREGER, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF GEOPHYSICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, said comparisons of the Aug. 6 collapse with a blowout of the mine walls Aug. 16 that killed three rescue miners has buttressed the conclusion that the mine collapsed on its own.

Mining officials, among them Crandall Canyon Mine co-owner Robert Murray, have said the disaster was probably caused by an earthquake. Murray did not respond to a request for comment placed with his personal assistant.

Dreger said data from the blowout, or “bump” as it is known in mining parlance, showed the initial motion of the earth was the same, though smaller in force, to the initial collapse. He said that analysis confirmed that the mine collapse was triggered by shifting of rock in response to activity in the mine and not other seismic forces….

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Borowitz Report – To Catch a Senator Shocker

NBC Launches ‘To Catch a Senator’

Chris Hansen to Stake Out Airport Bathrooms

“Dateline,” the NBC newsmagazine which has scored big ratings for its “To Catch a Predator” investigations, announced today that it would introduce a new investigative series this fall, entitled “To Catch a Senator.”

At a press conference in New York, NBC News president Steve Capus said that “To Catch a Senator” would focus the “Dateline” investigation team’s energies on “the number one menace in America today: pervy Republican senators.”

While he indicated that plans for the program are still being developed, Mr. Capus said that “To Catch a Senator” would use an airport bathroom as the nerve center for its sting operation.

Specifically, he said that the program would deploy “Predator” host Chris Hansen as a decoy to lure depraved senators into lewd contact.

“Chris will be waiting in one of the bathroom stalls, and when the senator taps on the wall, Chris will kind of pop out of the stall and start grilling him,” Mr. Capus said. “We’ll nail that bastard faster than he can say ‘I’m not gay.’”

But even as NBC trumpeted its latest “Dateline” spin-off, industry insiders wondered whether there would be an adequate supply of sex-crazed senators to keep the program going for more than a few episodes.

For his part, Mr. Capus brushed off such concerns, telling reporters, “As long as there are Republican senators out there who oppose gay marriage, there will always be plenty of pervs.”

Elsewhere, President Bush praised Pakistan’s General Pervez Musharraf for agreeing to stand for election, saying, “If free and fair elections work in Pakistan, we may eventually try them here.”

Andy in Seattle – Labor Day Weekend!

Andy brings “Next Week’s News” to Seattle’s Bumbershoot festival for three performances over Labor Day weekend. See Andy at the Charlotte Martin Theater, 201 Thomas Street, at 4:30 PM on September 1, 2, and 3. Tickets available at www.bumbershoot.org .

http://www.borowitzreport.com/

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three thousand words

Jeff Danziger: Jenna Bush Marries, Henry Hager

http://danzigercartoons.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/dancart3348.jpg

Jack Ohman: katrina anniversary week… start swimming

http://images.ucomics.com/comics/tmjoh//2007/tmjoh070827.gif

Ed Gamble: new rule of law

An editorial cartoon by Ed Gamble caused a nationwide controversy last week. The cartoon, which appeared in the Florida Times Union on Friday, Aug. 17, dealt with the “Don’t Snitch” culture prevalent in many inner-city neighborhoods

“Expressions of outrage came quickly, including from the local president of the NAACP,” wrote Wayne Ezell, the reader advocate for the Times-Union. Within days, the Jacksonville Leadership Coalition called for Gamble to be fired, and the Rev. Al Sharpton had gotten involved in the public argument over the cartoon.

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoons/GamblE/2007/GamblE20070817_low.jpg

Prediction Markets: Another Tool in the Intelligence Kitbag 

Weigle, Brett D.

ARMY WAR COLL CARLISLE BARRACKS PA

20 FEB 2007

Prediction markets (or information markets) are an efficientmechanism to aggregate information from diverse sources to develop the probability of an event. Such markets have accurately forecast presidential elections, Hollywood Academy Award winners and marketing campaigns in corporations, to name a few examples. The U.S. Intelligence Community does not lack for data in the global war on terrorism. However, the 9/11 Commission Report highlights the difficulty of pooling information gathered by multiple collectors and fusing it into a coherent, comprehensive analysis to be used by strategic leaders. This paper explores the viability of prediction markets to support intelligence analysis

At:

http://stinet.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA469632&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf

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Hannity is Olbermann’s “Worst Person” for defending Nugent’s comments

MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann named Fox News host Sean Hannity the “winner” of his nightly “Worst Person in the World” segment for defending musician and right-wing activist Ted Nugent after airing video footage of Nugent’s smears of Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Olbermann also named Fox News’ Brit Hume the “runner-up” for distorting recently published research on global warming.

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708280008?src=other

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American Nightmare: Gonzales “wrong and illegal and unethical”

By Greg Palast

Aug 28 2007

Specifically, Attorney General Gonzales, [David] Iglesias told me, wanted him to bring what the prosecutor called “bogus voter fraud” cases. In effect, US Attorney Iglesias was under pressure from the boss to charge citizens with crimes they didn’t commit. Saddam did that. Stalin did that. But Iglesias would NOT do that – even at the behest of the Attorney General. Today, Captain Iglesias, reached by phone, told me, “I’m not going to file any bogus prosecutions.” But it wasn’t just Gonzales whose acts were “unethical, wrong and illegal.” It was Gonzales’ boss. Iglesias says, “The evidence shows right now, is that [Republican Senator Pete] Domenici complained directly to President [sic] Bush. And that Bush then called Alberto Gonzales, the Attorney General, and complained about my alleged lack of vigorous enforcement of voter fraud laws.”

At:

http://www.gregpalast.com/american-nightmare-gonzales-wrong-and-illegal-and-unethical/

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Gonzales Resignation

MARJORIE COHN, Libertad48@san.rr.com, http://www.marjoriecohn.com,

http://marjoriecohn.com/2005/01/gonzales-indictment.html

Cohn is a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and president of the National Lawyers Guild. She is the author of the book “Cowboy Republic: Six Ways the Bush Gang Has Defied the Law” and the article “The Gonzales Indictment.” She said today: “Alberto Gonzales should not only be prosecuted for perjury for the false statements he made to Congress about the U.S. attorneys firing scandal; he should also be tried under the U.S. War Crimes Act for spearheading a common plan by the Bush administration to violate the Geneva Conventions and the Convention Against Torture.”

From: Institute for Public Accuracy

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US Opposition Political Leaders Issue Urgent False Flag Terror Warning –Warn of imminent plot to “orchestrate and manufacture a new 9/11 terror incident”

By Steve Watson

Aug 27 2007

A group of former government officials along with current Congressional candidates, authors and activists has issued an urgent warning that a faction of the US government allied with Dick Cheney is planning to stage a terror event or provocation as a pretext for launching military attacks against Iran and implementing emergency powers in America.

At:

http://infowars.net/articles/august2007/270807Warning.htm

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Porker of the Month:   Rep. Jim Oberstar

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) has named House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.) Porker of the Month for calling for a 5-cent increase in the federal gasoline tax in the wake of the deadly bridge collapse in his home state.  Rep. Oberstar says the “temporary” tax increase will raise $25 billion for a new bridge repair trust fund.  Sadly and ironically, that’s almost exactly the same amount members of Congress siphoned off from the 2005 transportation bill to pay for nearly 6,500 pet, pork-barrel projects, including most notably $223 million for Alaska’s “Bridge to Nowhere.”  Rep. Oberstar himself was a participant in the earmark melee, securing $14.6 million that could have gone to highway and bridge repairs for five special-interest projects in his district, including $3.2 million for the Willard Munger State Trail.  For seizing an opportunity to turn tragedy into a tax increase and an unnecessary new trust fund and for protecting transportation pork, CAGW names Rep. Jim Oberstar the August 2007 Porker of the Month.

Read more about the Porker of the Month     

Citizens Against Government Waste www.cagw.org

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White House ignores our financial woes

August 28, 2007

Jim Wright, guest columnist: Thanks to Bush-sponsored tax cuts, this country has been receiving substantially lower payments from the top 5 percent of high-income earners. That small, elite group has reaped a tax cut boon measured in the billions.

…

Complete article at:    

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/329364_wright29.html

Jim Wright is a former speaker of the U.S. House.

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HURRICANE KATRINA: WHO’S TO BLAME FOR THIS UNNATURAL DISASTER

By Ari Berman, The Nation

A batch of new books on Hurricane Katrina investigate who is responsible for the tragedy.

At:    

http://www.alternet.org/katrina/61003/

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Katrina, Two Years Later: Where’s the Progress?

JEFFREY BUCHANAN, buchanan@rfkmemorial.org ,

http://rfkmemorial.org/legacyinaction/2005_HumanLevee

Buchanan is the communications officer for the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial and co-author of “Where did the Katrina money go?” — a special investigation in the Institute for Southern Studies report on the two-year anniversary of Katrina. He said today: “The White House continues to mislead the public on how little money is actually available for rebuilding the Gulf Coast. While President Bush claims to have sent a ‘big check’ to rebuild the region, residents two years later still see battered and closed schools and hospitals and neighbors still struggling to return and wonder whether his check bounced. Our research shows that money for rebuilding has been scarce — and on top of that, only about half of long-term recovery funds have been spent. Slow, insufficient and misguided federal policy is keeping tens of thousands of displaced American families from realizing their human right to return and rebuild their lives and communities.”

From: Institute for Public Accuracy

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three thousand words

This Modern World: They repeated the mantra all summer long…

http://www.workingforchange.com/webgraphics/WFC/TMW08-29-07Large.jpeg

Sandy Huffaker: I have top secret intel that iran is …

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoons/HuffaS/2007/HuffaS20070828_low.jpg

Trouble Town (Lloyd Dangle): lonely, lonely days

http://troubletown.com/cartoons/cartoons/ttown.875.gif

New Chicago Fed Letter Information posted

 

The September 2007 Chicago Fed Letter (Number 242b) “Using Payment Innovations to Improve Transportation Networks: A conference summary” by Gene Amromin, Carrie Jankowski, Elizabeth Nieman, Richard D. Porter, William A. Testa

On June 12, 2007, Chicago Metropolis 2020 and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago jointly hosted a conference to discuss road pricing strategies, as well as other issues related to reducing transportation congestion and improving economic efficiency in the Chicago region and around
the world.

Simply click on the following link to review it.

http://tracker.ease.lsoft.com/trk/click?ref=znwrbbrs9_2-2ba9x11026x&

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Hannity refused to disavow Ted Nugent’s slurs against Obama and Clinton

On the August 24 edition of Fox News’ Hannity & Colmes, co-host Sean Hannity aired video footage of musician and right-wing activist Ted Nugent at an August 21 concert calling Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) a “piece of shit” and referring to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) as a “worthless bitch.” In the video clip, Nugent holds up what appear to be two assault rifles and says he told Obama “to suck on my machine gun” and says he told Clinton “you might want to ride one of these into the sunset.” After airing the clip, Hannity referred to Nugent as a “friend and frequent guest on the program,” and then compared Nugent’s comments to recent statements by Obama, which Hannity again distorted by claiming Obama “accus[ed] our troops of killing civilians.” Hannity then asked Democratic strategist Bob Beckel: “What’s more offensive to you? Is it Barack Obama’s statement about our troops or Ted Nugent?” Beckel responded by asking Hannity if he was “prepared to disavow this lowlife,” to which Hannity responded: “No, I like Ted Nugent. He’s a friend of mine.” When Beckel said that Nugent “ought to never come on your show again, and if you have him on, you ought to be ashamed of yourself,” Hannity responded: “Not at all. We have you on.”

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708270006?src=other

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HANNITY DEFENDS TED NUGENT’S DEATH THREATS ON OBAMA

By Steve Benen

This is a reminder that in conservative circles, there is no line to be crossed. There are no
limits, and there are no consequences.

At:

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/60922/

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Was the office of General Betrayus arming ‘insurgents’ in Iraq? Iraq Weapons Are a Focus of Criminal Investigations

Aug 28  2007

Several federal agencies are investigating a widening network of criminal cases involving the purchase and delivery of billions of dollars of weapons, supplies and other matériel to Iraqi and American forces, according to American officials. The officials said it amounted to the largest ring of fraud and kickbacks uncovered in the conflict here. The inquiry has already led to several indictments of Americans, with more expected, the officials said. One of the investigations involves a senior American officer who worked closely with Gen. David H. Petraeus [Betrayus] in setting up the logistics operation to supply the Iraqi forces when General Petraeus was in charge of training and equipping those forces in 2004 and 2005, American officials said Monday.

At:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/28/world/middleeast/28military.html

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Now, what’s interesting about New-Fields? (‘We find new-fields for you.’)

New-Fields, http://www.new-fields.com/whoweare.htm uniting and marketing corpora-terrorists who are trying to start (and profit from) an avian flu pandemic, are also actually hosting the Iraqi Oil & Gas Technology Conference in Istanbul, Turkey, 5-6 September 2007.

http://www.new-fields.com/iraq8/index.php

(New-Fields) It has been estimated that with its natural resources Iraq has the potential to earn between $10 billion and $15 billion over the next few years. The Iraqi oil industry faces three distinct phases of development… The immediate task is restoring historical capacity which could require an investment of $5-10 billion and take 18 to 24 months. This work could be carried out under the auspices of an occupation regime… The second phase is developing prospects already found, raising capacity significantly. Cost is estimated at $40-80 billion, with a lead-time of seven to 10 years, depending upon the scope of the program. This work would need a legitimate government to assign new contracts… The third phase would be new exploration… and that also would require a legitimate government to negotiate fresh exploration rights. Iraq also has a substantial natural gas potential that could be used for industrial and power generation purposes. [People need to question the possible links between those running/managing (mismanaging) and profiting from the Iraq war and those who are poised to run/manage (mismanage) and profit from an avian flu pandemic. --LRP] http://www.legitgov.org/flu_oddities.html

 

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Realities of Iraq

DAHR JAMAIL, mail@dahrjamailiraq.com, http://dahrjamailiraq.com

An independent journalist who has spent over eight months reporting from Iraq, Jamail is author the forthcoming book “Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq.”

He said today: “There is no need to wait for a September report to tell us what every Iraqi source I have can already confirm, much of which has been released recently in an Oxfam report: 8 million Iraqis are in need of emergency assistance, over 2 million are displaced inside Iraq, and over 2 million Iraqis have fled to neighboring countries, mainly Syria and Jordan, making this the fastest-growing refugee crisis in the world. According to the Oxfam report: ‘forty-three percent of Iraqis suffer from “absolute poverty.” … Children are hit the hardest by the decline in living standards. Child malnutrition rates have risen from 19 per cent before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 to 28 per cent now. … The number of Iraqis without access to adequate water supplies has risen from 50 percent to 70 percent since 2003, while 80 percent lack effective sanitation.’”

From: Institute for Public Accuracy

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ATF Gun Site Sparks State Finger Pointing

 

Monday, August 27, 2007

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has released data to the public showing where guns, many of which used in violent crimes, come from. Now the public can go to the ATF Firearms Trace Data site to find out what kind of guns were used in what kind of violent crime and from which states those guns came. It takes a bit of clicking through the site to find out which states are the biggest supplier of guns, but it eventually becomes clear: Southern states (namely Texas, Georgia and Virginia) and California.

That information is important to states like New York, according to an editorial in NYDailyNews.com. Of the 6,085 guns traced in New York in 2006, only 29 percent came from a New York gun dealer, according to the ATF gun tracing Web site. The rest of the guns found their way to New York from other states. Those states, in descending order, were: Virginia, Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

Read more:

http://blogs.govexec.com/techinsider/archives/2007/08/atf_gun_site_sparks_state_fing.php

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Federal Prosecutions Down in Large Districts

“A new TRAC study shows that criminal prosecutions in eight of the nation’s twelve largest districts are substantially lower than they were in the past. The report is based on TRAC’s analysis of millions of Justice Department records covering the period from FY 1986 through the end of April 2007. Among the most populous districts with many fewer federal filings are California Central (Los Angeles), California North (San Francisco) Illinois North (Chicago), Massachusetts (Boston) and New York East (Brooklyn) [Table 1]. Texas South (Houston) was one of the four largest districts where prosecutions have increased.”

Read more:

http://trac.syr.edu/tracreports/pros/180/

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Vehicle Fuel Economy:  Reforming Fuel Economy Standards Could Help Reduce Oil Consumption by Cars and Light Trucks, and Other OptionsCould Complement These Standards.

GAO-07-921, August 2.

http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-921

Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d07921high.pdf

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three thousand words

Cartoon du Jour – By Khalil: w.l.o.r.s

http://www.bendib.com/newones/2007/august/small/8-19-Iraq-Oil-Law-.jpg

Ted Rall: I, not rudy giuliani, am the true hero of september 11

http://picayune.uclick.com/comics/trall/2007/trall070827.gif

Slowpoke: Strip Mining

http://www.workingforchange.com/webgraphics/WFC/JS.082707.Large.jpeg

NEW PULSE POSTED 

At:

http://www.ornl.gov/news/pulse/pulse_v242_07.htm

That’s the url to the August 27, 2007, 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:

* Idaho: Nanoscale suncatcher

* Berkeley: Nanowiring living cells

* Fermilab: Spare-part science

* Los Alamos: Tracking ‘killer electrons’

Feature: Jefferson Lab’s Excited Baryon Analysis Center

Researcher profile: Ames Lab’s Victor Lin

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AP, ABC’s Tapper reported on Giuliani’s tax cut plans, but not how he would pay for them

Reporting on Rudy Giuliani’s tax cut proposals, the Associated Press and ABC News’ Jake Tapper gave no indication that they asked Giuliani or that Giuliani had spoken about how he would make up for the decrease in revenue that would result from enacting his proposals.

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708260003?src=other

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Even I question the ‘truth’ about 9/11

By Robert Fisk

Aug 25  2007

I am increasingly troubled at the inconsistencies in the official narrative of 9/11. It’s not just the obvious non sequiturs: where are the aircraft parts (engines, etc) from the attack on the Pentagon? Why have the officials involved in the United 93 flight (which crashed in Pennsylvania) been muzzled? Why did flight 93′s debris spread over miles when it was supposed to have crashed in one piece in a field? …I am talking about scientific issues… What about the third tower – the so-called World Trade Centre Building 7 (or the Salmon Brothers Building) – which collapsed in 6.6 seconds in its own footprint at 5.20pm on 11 September? Why did it so neatly fall to the ground when no aircraft had hit it? …Journalistically, there were many odd things about 9/11.

At:

http://news.independent.co.uk/fisk/article2893860.ece

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The Great Iraq Swindle –

How Bush Allowed an Army of For-Profit Contractors to Invade the U.S. Treasury –How is it done? How do you screw the taxpayer for millions, get away with it and then ride off into the sunset with one middle finger extended, the other wrapped around a chilled martini? Ask Earnest O. Robbins — he knows all about being a successful contractor in Iraq. (Issue 1034, The Rolling Stone

Aug 23 2007

According to the most reliable ­estimates, we have doled out more than $500 billion for the war, as well as $44 billion for the Iraqi reconstruction effort. And what did America’s contractors give us for that money? They built big steaming shit piles, set brand-new trucks on fire, drove back and forth across the desert for no reason at all and dumped bags of nails in ditches… But what happened in Iraq went beyond inefficiency, beyond fraud even. This was about the business of government being corrupted by the profit motive to such an extraordinary degree that now we all have to wonder how we will ever be able to depend on the state to do its job in the future.

At:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/16076312/the_great_iraq_swindle

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Realities of Iraq

DAVID ENDERS, david.enders@gmail.com,

http://pulitzercenter.typepad.com/death_of_a_nation

Enders is a freelance journalist who has just returned from Iraq, where he spent time throughout the country. He said today: “The Bush administration says that ‘the surge is working,’ but the realities of Iraq are that violence is increasing, the electrical and water systems are approaching a state of collapse and most everyone in Iraq is expecting things to get worse. There are millions of refugees and displaced persons — I was able to interview many while in Syria on my way back from Iraq. Much of what the U.S. is doing is aggravating the violence. The recent bombing of the Yazidi village in northern Iraq also highlights the fight going on in areas in northern Iraq between Sunni Arabs and Kurds as a planned referendum on allowing some areas of northern Iraq to join the semi-independent Kurdish region draws closer.”

Enders has spent nearly half of the last four years in Iraq and is author of the book “Baghdad Bulletin.”

From: Institute for Public Accuracy

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BUSH GETS AWAY WITH LIES, LIES AND MORE LIES IN HISTORY-ILLITERATE AMERICA

By Larry Beinhart, AlterNet

George Bush and other Iraq War supporters have argued that if we withdraw from Iraq the result will be like the killing fields of Cambodia — an odd comparison considering that the US has direct responsibility for that holocaust.

At:

http://www.alternet.org/audits/60764/

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Congressman Ron Paul’s column for the week of August 27th

Aging Infrastructure

Infrastructure, in a capitalist model, is an asset worthy of maintaining to ensure continuity of revenue. In a government controlled model infrastructure is nothing but a cumbersome liability. This should be taken into consideration when developing plans to keep our current infrastructure safe. Privatization should be used to encourage maintenance and safety, and where private companies truly invest and bear the upfront costs in return for ability to collect tolls or usage fees in some form. But public/private partnerships that look more like corporate welfare must be avoided.

Full article here:

http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2007/tst082707.htm

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Gonzales Resignation

MICHAEL RATNER, mratner@igc.org, http://www.ccr-ny.org

President of the Center for Constitutional Rights, Ratner said today: “Until we get rid of the entire cabal, which includes Bush and Cheney, that has engaged in torture, off-shore prisons such as Guantanamo, violations of the Geneva Conventions and warrantless wiretapping, there is little to celebrate in Gonzales’ resignation. Guantanamo continues, as does torture, wiretapping, secret CIA sites, rendition, and illegal trials. Impeachment and prosecution of the authors and facilitators of these violations of fundamental rights is imperative and our Democratic Congress has fallen down on the job.”

From: Institute for Public Accuracy

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Borowitz Report – Gonzales Shocker

Gonzales to Spend More Time Eavesdropping on His Family

‘Domestic Surveillance Begins at Home,’ Former A.G. Says

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales resigned today, effective immediately, telling reporters that he wanted to spend more time eavesdropping on his family.

Mr. Gonzales, a champion of domestic surveillance and warrantless wiretaps while in office, said he was “totally stoked” about turning his prying eyes on his own family.

“Domestic surveillance begins at home,” Mr. Gonzales said at a White House press conference. “That means nobody in my family is above suspicion, not even the little ones,” an apparent reference to Mr. Gonzales’ children.

Standing by Mr. Gonzales’ side, President George W. Bush praised his former Attorney General, singling out his “courage” for ramping up his domestic spying program on his own family.

“If every head of every household was as willing to eavesdrop on his own family as my man Alberto is, we wouldn’t need a Homeland Security Department,” Mr. Bush chuckled.

Mr. Gonzales was noncommittal when a reporter asked him a question about the role that waterboarding and other forms of torture might play in his interrogation of family members.

“Nothing is off the table,” he said.

Asked about his tenure as Attorney General, Mr. Gonzales was candid about his stormy time in office: “Frankly, I can’t believe it took this long for them to shitcan me.” 

Andy in Seattle – Labor Day Weekend!

Andy brings “Next Week’s News” to Seattle’s Bumbershoot festival for three performances over Labor Day weekend. See Andy at the Charlotte Martin Theater, 201 Thomas Street, at 4:30 PM on September 1, 2, and 3. Tickets available at www.bumbershoot.org .

http://www.borowitzreport.com/

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three thousand words

Tom Toles: … a complete about-face …

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/uc/20070824/ltt070824.gif

Tom the Dancing Bug: u.s. recalls thousands of bombs

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Jack Ohman: phased withdrawal

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Thomas Jefferson said, 

“The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first.”

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O’Reilly asserted “most journalists give money to Democrats” — but study on subject refutes him

On The O’Reilly Factor, Bill O’Reilly stated: “[A]ll the money from the elites. We know that journalists — most journalists give money to Democrats.” However, the study O’Reilly was apparently referring to showed that of the small fraction of journalists who donated money at all to campaigns, more gave to Democrats than Republicans — not that “most journalists give money to Democrats.”

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708240007?src=other

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US ‘poised to strike Iran’

Aug 25 2007

Bob Baer, the former Middle East CIA operative… is working on a new book on Iran, but says he was told by senior intelligence officials that he had better get it published in the next couple of months because things could be about to change. Baer, in an interview with The Weekend Australian, says his contacts in the administration suggest a strategic airstrike on Iran is a real possibility in the months ahead. “What I’m getting is a sense that their sentiment is they are going to hit the Iranians and not just because of Israel, but due to the fact that Iran is the predominant power in the Gulf and it is hostile and its power is creeping into the Gulf at every level,” Baer says.

At:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,22303955-31477,00.html

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Spy chief’s disclosures stun Congress –McConnell is criticized for offering once-classified details about the wiretapping program in an interview.

Aug 24 2007

The nation’s top intelligence official drew sharp criticism from Capitol Hill and government watchdog groups Thursday for disclosing previously classified details about the Bush regime’s warrantless wiretapping program. In a newspaper interview last week, Director of National Intelligence J. Michael McConnell provided new details on the scope of the espionage program… He also disclosed details about a previously secret decision by a special intelligence court that ruled that the program was in violation of U.S. law. The deliberations of the court are generally classified. The disclosures stunned members of Congress. They were not allowed to discuss those details publicly during an intense debate this month on legislation sought by McConnell that granted the government significant new powers to eavesdrop on e-mails and phone calls that pass into or through data networks in the United States.

At:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-mcconnell24aug24,1,7754284.story

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Hurricane George:  How the White House Drowned New Orleans

by Greg Palast

Thursday, August 23

It’s been two years.  And America’s media is about to have another tear-gasm over New Orleans.  Maybe Anderson Cooper will weep again.  The big networks will float into the moldering corpse of the city and give you uplifting stories about rebuilding and hope.

Now, let’s cut through the cry-baby crap. Here’s what happened two years ago – and what’s happening now.

This is what an inside source me.  And it makes me sick:

“By midnight on Monday, the White House knew.  Monday night I was at the state Emergency Operations Center and nobody was aware that the levees had breeched.  Nobody.”

The charge is devastating:  That, on August 29, 2005, the White House withheld from the state police the information that New Orleans was about to flood. From almost any other source, I would not have believed it.  But this was not just any source.  The whistle-blower is Dr. Ivor van Heerden, deputy director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center, the chief technician advising the state on saving lives during Katrina.

I’d come to van Heerden about another matter, but in our talks, it was clear he had something he wanted to say, and it was a big one.  He charged that the White House, FEMA and the Army Corp hid, for critical hours, their discovery that the levees surrounding New Orleans were cracking, about to burst and drown the city.

Understand that Katrina never hit New Orleans.  The hurricane swung east of the city, so the state evacuation directors assumed New Orleans was now safe – and evacuation could slow while emergency efforts moved east with the storm.

But unknown to the state, in those crucial hours on Monday, the federal government’s helicopters had filmed the cracks that would become walls of death by Tuesday.

Van Heerden revealed:

“FEMA knew at 11 o’clock on Monday that the levees had breeched.  At 2p.m. they flew over he 17th Street Canal and took video of the breech.”

Question:  “So the White House wouldn’t tell you the levees had breeched?”

Dr. Van Heerden:  “They didn’t tell anybody.”

Question:  “And you’re at the Emergency Center.’

  
Dr. Van Heerden:  “I mean nobody knew.  The Corps of Engineers knew.  FEMA knew.  None of us knew.”

I could not get the White House gang to respond to the charges.

That leaves the big, big question:  WHY?  Why on earth would the White House not tell the state to get the remaining folks out of there?

The answer:  cost.  Political and financial cost.  A hurricane is an act of God – but a catastrophic failure of the levees is a act of Bush.  That is, under law dating back to 1935, a breech of the federal levee system makes the damage – and the deaths – a federal responsibility.  That means, as van Heeden points out, that “these people must be compensated.” 

The federal government, by law, must build and maintain the Mississippi levees to withstand known dangers – or pay the price when they fail.

Indeed, that was the rule applied in the storms that hit Westhampton Dunes, New York, in 1992.  There, when federal sea barriers failed, the flood waters wiped away 190 homes.  The feds rebuilt them from the public treasury.  But these were not just any homes.  They are worth an average of $3 million apiece – the summer homes of movie stars and celebrity speculators. 

There were no movie stars floating face down in the Lower Ninth Ward nor in Lakeview nor in St. Bernard Parish. For the ‘luvvies’ of Westhampton Dunes, the federal government even trucked in sand to replace the beaches.  But for New Orleans’ survivors, there’s the aluminum gulag of FEMA trailer parks. Today, two years later, 89,000 families still live in this aluminum Guantanamo – with no plan whatsoever for their return.

And what was the effect of the White House’s self-serving delay?

I spoke with van Heerden in his university office.  The computer model of the hurricane flashed quietly as I waited for him to answer.  Then he said, “Fifteen hundred people drowned.  That’s the bottom line.”

They could have survived Hurricane Katrina.  But they got no mercy from Hurricane George.

For the rest of the story, get the DVD (http://www.palastinvestigativefund.org/19), “BIG EASY TO BIG EMPTY:  The Untold Story of the Drowning of New Orleans,” as reported by Greg Palast from Louisiana for Democracy Now – with Amy Goodman and the music of “the city that care forgot.”

Watch a clip at  http://www.youtube.com/GregPalastOffice

And read the full story of our investigation in the added chapter on New Orleans in the paperback edition of “Armed Madhouse:  from Baghdad to New Orleans – Sordid Secrets and Strange Tales of a White House Gone Wild.”

Go to www.palastinvestigativefund.org to donate and receive a book signed by Greg Palast as a gift from us.

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Latin America’s New Security Reality: Irregular Asymmetric Conflict and Hugo Chavez.

Authored by Dr. Max G. Manwaring.

The author answers questions regarding “What is President Hugo Chavez doing in Venezuela?” “What are his plans for the future and for the rest of Latin America?” and “What are the implications for stability and instability in the Hemisphere?”

At:

http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?pubID=808

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DICK CHENEY REALLY IS THAT BAD

By Scott Ritter, Truthdig

The vice president is the single greatest threat to American and international security in the world today.

At:

http://www.alternet.org/stories/60474/

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SUBPRIME LOANS = PRIMETIME FOR VAMPIRE LENDERS

By Jim Hightower, Hightower Lowdown

How “reputable” financial firms are using an arsenal of tricks to extract high payments from homeowners, drain their equity and steal their homes.

At:

http://www.alternet.org/stories/60183/

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Meridian Automotive shuttering Jackson plant … and more

Bizjournals.com – Charlotte,NC,USA

based automotive company told the state the plant closing would result in 141 job cuts. CP Woods, Meridian’s human resources director, wrote in a letter to …

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2007/08/20/daily10.html

Silsbee mill will close indefinitely

Beaumont Enterprise – Beaumont,TX,USA

Local residents and employees were equally taken aback by news of the plant closing. “It’s going to have a pretty strong impact on Silsbee,” Terry Lewis …

http://www.southeasttexaslive.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18739227&BRD=2287&PAG=461&dept_id=512588&rfi=6

Fleetwood Closes Gold Shield Plant in Fontana, California

CNNMoney.com – USA

22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc. announced today the closing of its Gold Shield, Inc. facility in Fontana, California, …

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/LAW09722082007-1.htm

West Point in Marianna Closing Its Plant for Good This Friday

For years, the name “West Point” on a bed-spread or a set of sheets, meant a quality American-made product. But, it won’t not be that way much longer. West Point Homes is shifting its manufacturing operations overseas.

http://www.wjhg.com/home/headlines/9324692.html

Lee Laurel mill closing

Berkshire Eagle – Pittsfield,MA,USA

Unfortunately, Pignatelli said, this will not be the last plant closing in the next several months. “I think we will see more of this, and it’s not going to …

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/headlines/ci_6705500

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three thousand words

Jack Ohman: give peace a chance

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Paul Combs: looks perfectly safe to me

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Joe Sharpnack:  nafta journal

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Texas School District’s Graduation Prayer Policy Violates Constitution, Americans United Lawsuit Charge

August 21, 2007

Religious Liberty Watchdog Group Says School Officials May Not Promote ‘Majority Rules’ Prayer At Graduation

Americans United for Separation of Church and State has filed a lawsuit against a Texas public school district that sponsors prayer at high school graduation ceremonies.

Representing six parents and a former student, Americans United told the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas yesterday that the Round Rock Independent School District’s policy of allowing students to vote on whether to include prayer in its graduation ceremonies violates the First Amendment principle of church-state separation.

“Graduation ceremonies should welcome all students, regardless of their beliefs about religion,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “Religion is personal, and decisions about it should never be the subject of a ‘majority rules’ vote.”

The school district policy allows a yearly vote by seniors on whether to include prayer in graduation ceremonies. In 2007, three of the district’s four high schools decided in favor of prayer. Americans United charges in its lawsuit that school officials organize, oversee and attempt to manipulate the votes on whether to include prayer at the ceremonies.

For example, earlier this year, officials at the district’s four high schools conducted the votes on whether to include prayer at the 2007 graduation ceremonies. The senior class at Westwood High School was the only class to vote against prayer, and it was promptly ordered by district officials to conduct a re-vote. Westwood seniors, however, again voted against prayer at their graduation ceremonies.

“There could be no mistake among the students that the vote was an official school-sponsored event: school officials crafted the ballot and orchestrated and carried out ballot delivery, collection, and tabulation,” Americans United argues in its Does v. Round Rock Independent School District lawsuit. “And there could be no mistake among the students about which way the District expected them to vote: the one senior class that voted to reject the invocation was promptly ordered to re-vote on the issue.”

Although the seniors at Westwood High School withstood the district’s pressure, prayer was included in the graduation ceremonies at McNeil, Stony Point and Round Rock high schools.

Before filing the lawsuit, Americans United in May asked district officials to remove prayer from the high schools’ graduation ceremonies. Round Rock Independent School District Superintendent Jesus Chavez, however, defended the prayer policy.

Americans United’s lawsuit asks the federal district court to declare that the school district’s prayer policy violates the First Amendment and to issue an injunction barring prayer at future graduation ceremonies.

The plaintiffs in the case have chosen to remain anonymous because they are concerned about hostile reactions to the lawsuit.

Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.

Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.

From: www.au.org

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Reno diocese pays $328068 to settle abuse claims and more …

Las Vegas Sun – Las Vegas,NV,USA

Before the recent flurry of settlements in Reno, the diocese only reported one case of alleged priest abuse since its creation in 1995. …

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2007/aug/19/081910713.html

Lawyers submit hefty bill to Portland Archdiocese

OregonLive.com – Portland,OR,USA

Portland was the first archdiocese in the country to seek bankruptcy protection from priest sex abuse litigation. Dioceses in Tucson, Ariz.; Spokane; …

http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-20/118768356231840.xml&storylist=orlocal

There Is No Morality Without Religion

By DAN SAVAGE

A Bloomington minister and substitute teacher charged with abusing four underage boys may be headed to federal court on pornography charges. Assistant State’s Attorney Michelle Brooks said Tuesday morning that the US Attorney’s office …

http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/there_is_no_morality_without_religion

Despite New Church Rules, Sex Abuse in Catholic School Went Unreported

New York Times – United States

asked one of the plaintiffs, Remi Gonzalez, a director for the Niagara Falls Catholic Youth Council, a Eucharistic minister and the father of one of the …

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/23/nyregion/23abuse.html?ref=nyregion

Priest abuse cases might move forward

Reno Gazette Journal – Reno,NV,USA

SAN DIEGO — A federal bankruptcy judge said Thursday that she would decide by Monday whether to allow as many as 42 sex-abuse cases against the Roman
…

http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070824/NEWS/708240491/1321

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Darwin 200

Website for activities for British naturalist Charles Darwin’s “200th birthday in February 2009 … [which] will begin in July 2008 by commemorating 150 years since Darwin first presented his theory to fellow scientists … [and building] up to November 2009, which is the 150th anniversary of the publication of ‘On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.’” Provides a biography, links, and news about events and resources. From the Natural History Museum, London.

At:

URL: http://www.darwin200.org/

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GOD’S HARVARD: THE NEW GROOMING GROUND OF THE EVANGELICAL MOVEMENT

By Hanna Rosin, Harcourt

A small Christian school outside the nation’s capital is dispatching the next round of evangelicals to the front lines of science and politics, where they will battle for control of the nation.

At:

http://www.alternet.org/stories/60487/

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ANTI-CHOICER CLAIMS BIRTH CONTROL PILLS “DON’T WORK” AND ISN’T CORRECTED BY NEWSPAPERS

By Jill Filipovic

This is what I mean when I say that the media is failing to do its job.

At:

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/60525/

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Question of the day!

by Bridget Johnson

http://politicalmavens.com/index.php/2007/08/21/question-of-the-day-2/

If you’re an illegal immigrant taking sanctuary in a church to avoid deportation, do you have to put extra money in the collection plate?

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A suprising statistic for believers.

According to Amazon the most popular religious books are : The God Delusion, an anti-faith polemic by Richard Dawkins, the academic who has been dubbed ‘Darwin’s rottweiler’. Second is God is Not Great: and How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens.

Read more at Guardian Unlimited:

http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2147152,00.html

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WIFE-SPANKING 101: NEITHER PARODY NOR PORN

 

By Ann Friedman

What if you wife won’t “behave”? Uber-conservative Christian patriarchs everywhere now have a solution!

At:

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/60611/

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CONVICTED SEX OFFENDER IN SOUTHERN BAPTIST PULPIT

By Pam Spaulding

The Southern Baptists have been accused of ignoring the sex predator pastor problem in its ranks.

At:

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/60572/

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The Gospel and hate crimes

By Geoffrey R. Stone August 23, 2007

On May 3, the House voted to pass the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007. The Senate will take up a companion bill, known as the Matthew Shepard Act, when it returns from its summer recess. If enacted, this law would authorize the Justice Department, in certain narrowly defined circumstances, to criminally prosecute an individual who “willfully” causes bodily injury to another person or “through the use of fire, a firearm or an explosive . . . attempts to cause bodily injury” to another person because of that person’s race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.

A coalition of conservative African American pastors has aggressively lobbied against this legislation on the premise that it would make it unlawful for them to preach that homosexuality is a sin. Bishop Harry R. Jackson Jr., pastor of the Hope Christian Church in College Park, Md., for example, has asserted that the act would “keep the church from preaching the Gospel.”

This objection to the legislation is fanciful. To begin with, there is no doubt of the act’s constitutionality. In 1993, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld a virtually identical state law in Wisconsin vs. Mitchell. The court made clear that “a physical assault is not by any stretch of the imagination expressive conduct protected by the 1st Amendment.” Moreover, the court emphasized that the government has a perfectly legitimate interest in punishing “bias-motivated crimes” because such crimes are especially likely to inflict emotional harm on their victims, incite community unrest and provoke retaliatory violence.

Of course, the pastors do not intend to assault anyone physically. Their claim, rather, is that they could be prosecuted merely for preaching against homosexuality. They fear that such sermonizing might be transmogrified by the law into an attempt to incite members of their congregations to lynch gays because of their sexual orientation.

…

Complete article at:

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-stone23aug23,1,5252403.story?track=rss&ctrack=1&cset=true

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three thousand words

dhonig: The Rapture

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JEFF SWENSON: should’ve thought that through

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ReverendFun.com: young jesus found this to be a good thing in general …

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