Gates On $50 Billion War Funding Request: "This Is News To Me" - Huffington Post
Sphere: Related ContentFriday
Bush E-Mail Mystery Deepens: White House Won't Name Tech Contractor
Excerpt:
"The White House will not identify a private company which appears to be involved in the disappearance of millions of White House e-mails.
The company was responsible for reviewing and archiving White House e-mails, a White House official told congressional staff in May, according to a letter yesterday from House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif. Congressional investigators asked then for the name of the company and "have repeatedly requested" the information since then, according to Waxman."
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/08/bush-e-mail-mys.html
Forbes: Merkel most powerful woman
Excerpt:
"Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel tops Forbes magazine's list of the world's 100 most powerful women for the second year in a row, while Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice slipped to fourth from second last year.
Merkel "continued to impress the world with her cool leadership at two back-to-back summits," Forbes said.
The magazine cited her work getting leaders at the Group of Eight summit to agree to goals for cutting greenhouse gas emissions and persuading European Union leaders to get moving on a treaty to replace their failed constitution.
China's vice premier Wu Yi was No. 2, and Ho Ching of Singapore, chief executive of Temasek Holdings, was third ahead of Rice."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070831/ap_on_re_eu/most_powerful_women
Thursday
By BARACK OBAMA - Hit Iran where it hurts
Excerpt:
"Americans need to come together to confront the challenge posed by Iran. Yet the Bush administration and an anonymous senator are blocking a bill with bipartisan support that would ratchet up the pressure on the Iranian regime. It's time for this obstructionism to stop.
The decision to wage a misguided war in Iraq has substantially strengthened Iran, which now poses the greatest strategic challenge to U.S. interests in the Middle East in a generation. Iran supports violent groups and sectarian politics in Iraq, fuels terror and extremism across the Middle East and continues to make progress on its nuclear program in defiance of the international community. Meanwhile, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has declared that Israel must be "wiped off the map.""
Read Story
Hillary Hatred Is "Hard For John To Talk About, But It's The Reality"
Excerpt:
""The media goes to this very engaging story about a legitimate woman candidate and a legitimate candidate with an African-American heritage, and that drives up their fund-raising numbers," says Elizabeth, the unfiltered voice of the campaign, during an interview on the bus a week before that speech."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/08/30/hillary-hatred-is-hard-f_n_62461.html
Clinton to Give Away Funds From Donor With Outstanding Warrant
Excerpt:
"Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton will donate to charity the $23,000 in direct contributions she has received from "Hillraiser" Norman Hsu, her campaign announced last night, citing concerns about published reports that Hsu faces an outstanding arrest warrant in California.
Hsu, who owns a number of New York clothing concerns, has over the past few years emerged as a major donor and fundraiser for numerous Democratic congressional candidates. But the bulk of his energies over the past year have been dedicated towards getting Clinton elected president."
Read Story
A More Pessimistic Report on Iraq
Excerpt:
"Add another assessment of the Iraq surge to the pile. A draft of a progress report requested by Congress from the Government Accountability Office is “strikingly negative” and questions a more optimistic report by the administration in July, according to The Washington Post, which obtained a copy.
Five benchmarks separated the two reports. In July, the White House said eight benchmarks were met satisfactorily; the G.A.O. puts the figure at three."
Read Story
Pakistan's Sharif to End Exile, Oppose Musharraf (Update3)
Excerpt:
"Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan's former prime minister, will return to the country on Sept. 10, ending almost seven years in exile in an attempt to block President Pervez Musharraf's re-election.
``On the 10th of September we will be landing at Islamabad and from there onwards we will go to Lahore,'' Sharif told a news conference in London today. Sharif said he was answering ``the call of duty'' and wanted to see a Pakistan that respected the rule of law and was free from ``military dictatorship.''
Pakistan's Supreme Court in an Aug. 23 ruling rejected the government's argument that Sharif couldn't return until December 2010 under the terms of an exile agreement."
Read Story
Wednesday
Collins responds to Gonzales resignation - MaineToday.com
Excerpt:
"Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said errors in judgment doomed the leadership of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who announced his resignation on Monday.
“The Attorney General’s decision to step down is a positive step forward for the Department of Justice,” Collins said in a written statement.
“Attorney General Gonzales’ ability to lead the Department of Justice had been undermined by his serious errors in judgment and conflicting statements. I am hopeful that the President will name a strong successor who will begin to restore confidence in the Department.”"
http://news.mainetoday.com/updates/015062.html
Castro's tip: Clinton-Obama the winning ticket
Excerpt:
"Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro is tipping Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to team up and win the U.S. presidential election.
Clinton leads Obama in the race to be the Democratic nominee for the November 2008 election, and Castro said they would make a winning combination.
"The word today is that an apparently unbeatable ticket could be Hillary for president and Obama as her running mate," he wrote in an editorial column on U.S. presidents published on Tuesday by Cuba's Communist Party newspaper, Granma."
Read Story
Beijing police launch virtual Web patrol - Cartoon officers to offer warnings to surfers to abide by the law
Excerpt:
"Police in China's capital said Tuesday they will start patrolling the Web using animated beat officers that pop up on a user's browser and walk, bike or drive across the screen warning them to stay away from illegal Internet content.
Starting Sept. 1, the cartoon alerts will appear every half hour on 13 of China's top portals, including Sohu and Sina, and by the end of the year will appear on all Web sites registered with Beijing servers, the Beijing Public Security Ministry said in a statement.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20477258/
Report: Bush to seek $50B more for Iraq - United Press International
Sphere: Related ContentOlmert and Abbas discuss core issues of contention
Excerpt:
"Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, discussed the core issues of contention between their peoples at a meeting here Tuesday, but it was unclear how detailed their talks had been.
The core issues are the final borders of the two states, the status of Jerusalem and the Old City and a solution to the problem of Palestinian refugees.
The meeting took place at Olmert's official residence here, after a previous meeting three weeks ago in the West Bank city of Jericho."
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/08/28/africa/mideast.php
U.N. Secretary General to Meet Sudanese Leader
Excerpt:
"Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced Tuesday that he would travel to Sudan, Chad and Libya next week to press for an end to fresh violence in Darfur and for speedy deployment there of a joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force.
“I want to go and see for myself the very difficult circumstances under which our forces will operate,” he said in a news conference at United Nations headquarters. “I also want to know, firsthand, the plight of those they seek to help.”"
Read Story
Clinton grabs major union endorsement
Excerpt:
"Democrat Hillary Clinton on Tuesday grabbed a key endorsement from a major transportation union, in a new boost to her front-running 2008 White House campaign.
The New York senator promised to be an advocate for American workers in the White House, as she snapped up the politically valuable vote of confidence from the United Transportation Union -- the first endorsement by a top labor union.
"The UTU has a long history of picking winners early. Hillary will be a president that America's working families can count on," said UTU President Paul Thompson in a statement sent out by the Clinton campaign."
Read Story
Firefighters Endorse Dodd
Excerpt:
"Senator Christopher J. Dodd is set to accept the endorsement of the International Association of Fire Fighters tomorrow. The union’s decision — in choosing Mr. Dodd over the top tier of Democratic candidates — lends a little heft to the Connecticut lawmaker’s campaign, which emphasized how the organization’s support helped Senator John Kerry’s 2004 campaign in Iowa.
“The endorsement of America’s firefighters isn’t just a great validation for Senator Dodd’s leadership, but also is going to provide the boots on the ground in the early states that are going to make the difference,” said Hari Sevugan, the campaign’s communication director. “One of the reasons we’re so excited about this endorsement is because firefighters have proven that they know how to win.”"
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/08/28/firefighters-endorse-dodd/
Musharraf nears deal with Bhutto
Excerpt:
"General Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistan president, and Benazir Bhutto, his exiled rival, have almost reached a power-sharing agreement, a minister said today.
The two have been conducting not-so secret negotiations for months on such a deal, with Ms Bhutto, who has lived outside of Pakistan since 1998, calling for Gen Musharraf to step down as head of the army and become a civilian president.
Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, the railways minister and a close ally of the general, said the issue had been settled."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/pakistan/Story/0,,2158268,00.html
Ain't gay & won't quit, says Senator Craig
Excerpt:
"Disgraced Sen. Larry Craig insisted he's "not gay" yesterday, defying demands he resign even as fellow Republicans demanded a probe of his airport rest room rendezvous.
"Let me be clear, I am not gay and never have been gay" and "did nothing wrong," said the 62-year-old Idaho lawmaker, who's accused of coming on to a handsome young cop at a notorious gay cruising spot in Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
As his wife, Suzanne, looked on, Craig offered the bizarre excuse that he pleaded guilty in the airport incident because he was "under stress" from being hounded by the local newspaper's investigation of his sex life."
Read Story
Tuesday
Schumer claims scalp in latest Bush win
Excerpt:
"The resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has many of the familiar features of President Bush's high-profile second-term failures: the firm resistance, the partisan acrimony, the eventual surrender.
And one hallmark of second-term executive train-wreck: the fingerprints of New York Sen. Chuck Schumer.
The Brooklyn Democrat has been a singular scourge of Bush's unhappy second term."
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0807/5538.html
Obama supported by Wilder
Excerpt:
"Douglas Wilder of Virginia, who made history as the nation's first elected black governor, is preparing to campaign aggressively for Barack Obama, and predicted in an interview that the charismatic young candidate could shatter the Republican Party's virtual lock on the South.
"He's not race-less," Wilder said of Obama, "but the skin color is of no moment. I don't think he would be an easy target for the Republicans."
The unstinting embrace by Wilder, now the mayor of Richmond, could be important in Virginia and other southern states, where his reputation still looms large and the African-American vote could prove decisive in the Democratic nominating contest."
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0807/5518.html
China's top 100 companies - Banks with hot IPOs, plus surging energy demand, propelled a dozen new arrivals onto our list of China's largest companies
Excerpt:
"(Fortune Magazine) -- A rush of listings on the Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges added a dozen newcomers to Fortune's annual list of China's 100 largest publicly traded companies. One of them had the largest share offering in the world: Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, which raised $21.9 billion last October. As China's biggest bank by revenue and Asia's most profitable bank, with profits of $6.2 billion last year, it grabbed the No. 4 spot on this year's list.
The Bank of China, which also had a successful IPO, debuted at No. 5. While China's economy grew nearly 11 percent last year, the revenue cutoff for this year's list rose 46 percent, to $1.9 billion, compared with last year's $1.3 billion."
Read Story
Thompson pushes communications director out
Excerpt:
"Fred Thompson's communications director Linda Rozett has been let go, a sign of new campaign manager Bill Lacy exerting his authority and yet another indication of the uncertainty within the still-undeclared Thompson campaign."
Read Story
Bill Clinton to Be Interviewed by Oprah
Excerpt:
"Former President Clinton will appear on Oprah Winfrey's TV talk show next Tuesday, Sept. 4, his first interview to promote "Giving," a book on philanthropy and civic action coming out the same day.
Clinton's appearance was announced Monday in an e-mail _ "The first interview about his new passion!" _ sent to members of Winfrey's book club.
Winfrey, who interviewed Clinton in 2004 for his memoir "My Life," has good reason to think highly of the new book. "Giving" praises Winfrey's "Angel Network," which has donated millions of dollars around the world, from money for schools in Africa to relief aid for victims of Hurricane Katrina."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070827/oprah-clinton/
By Mia Farrow - The Dying Continues
Excerpt:
"My first visit to Darfur was in 2004. It changed the way I needed to live my life. I have just returned from my seventh trip to the region. I don't think I have the words to adequately represent what I have seen and heard there.
Incomprehensibly, it has now been more than four years since the killing began. Some experts believe a half a million human beings have died thus far. Others bicker about the exact death toll -- as if it makes a shred of difference to how we must respond. Only the perpetrators dispute that hundreds of thousands of innocent men women and children have been killed, in ways that cannot be imagined or described. It is all the more appalling that we cannot know -- that no one is yet able to count the dead. And the dying continues."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mia-farrow/the-dying-continues_b_62055.html
GOP Senator Enters Guilty Plea Over Lewd Incident In Public Men's Room
Excerpt:
"Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested in June at a Minnesota airport by a plainclothes police officer investigating lewd conduct complaints in a men's public restroom, according to an arrest report obtained by Roll Call Monday afternoon."
Read Story
Fox News' John Gibson's "interpretation" of Clinton comment: "Hillary makes a deal with Al Qaeda"
Excerpt:
"Summary: Fox News' John Gibson stated that it "appears" a comment Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton made at an August 23 campaign event about the potential consequences of another terrorist attack "was sending this signal, as they say, to Al Qaeda, that it would, it would not be smart to attack the United States of America before the election." Gibson went on to assert that "Hillary makes a deal with Al Qaeda.""
http://mediamatters.org/items/200708270007?f=h_latest
Giuliani, in Detroit, wants Chertoff for top attorney
Excerpt:
"Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani suggested Monday before a fundraiser here that President Bush might want to look to Michael Chertoff, whom Giuliani once hired, when seeking a replacement for embattled outgoing Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
Gonzales, the nation's first Hispanic attorney general, announced Monday he was stepping down next month.
"I think Judge Gonzales has given service with his contribution both at the White House and as attorney general," the former New York mayor and federal prosecutor said outside the Fox Theatre. "He made his choice. I know he's lived through a lot of fire in many areas.""
Read Story
War Deadenders Take Hope: The Surge May Not Be Working, But a US-Allawi Coup May Be On Its Way
Excerpt:
"As we all await the Petraeus Report on the state of the surge, we may also need to be anticipating the Allawi Coup.
I'm talking, of course about Ayad Allawi, longtime C.I.A. asset and former interim prime minister of Iraq. He's making quite the PR push to get his old job back, penning an op-ed for the Washington Post, hooking up with Wolf Blitzer on Late Edition on Sunday, and even putting the high-powered GOP lobbying firm Barbour Griffith & Rogers on a $300,000 retainer.
It says everything you need to know about who the true power holders in Iraq are that Allawi, who has a "six-point plan" for Iraq that involves replacing the current Prime Minister, is campaigning in Washington -- not Baghdad. He clearly knows that despite Bush's bathetic paeans to Iraqi sovereignty, the real deciders in Iraq are not the Iraqi people, but a few dozen folks in the White House and the Pentagon. They are Allawi's true constituency."
Read Story
Spitzer Talks of Suing to Expand Health Plan
Excerpt:
"Gov. Eliot Spitzer said Monday that New York would consider suing federal health officials if the state was not granted a waiver to expand its federally subsidized health insurance program for children.
The announcement followed a decision by federal authorities to place new restrictions on such programs, which are partly financed under the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program and highly popular with state lawmakers.
The new restrictions, announced this month, would make it effectively impossible for Mr. Spitzer to make health coverage virtually universal for children in New York, one of his priorities."
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/28/nyregion/28child.html?ref=health
We oppose hacking, China tells Germany
Excerpt:
"China responded to German media reports that Chinese hackers had penetrated into government computer systems in Berlin, saying it prohibits attacks on computer networks.
The foreign ministry's statement, issued late today as German Chancellor Angela Merkel was heading for China, came after a report that key ministries in Berlin had been infected with spy software made in China."
Read Story
French president Nicolas Sarkozy calls for European strength
Excerpt:
"French president Nicolas Sarkozy has made his first foreign policy speech and he called for European strength in creating more harmony in the world and that the EU needed better defence, immigration and environmental policies
Nicolas Sarkozy said that a "strong Europe as a major player" would be needed to "rebuild a more efficient, fair and harmonious world order.""
http://www.enjoyfrance.com/content/view/1007/36/
Support for Japanese cabinet jumps after reshuffle
Excerpt:
"Support for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's new veterans-packed cabinet jumped sharply to about 40 percent, according to a survey released on Tuesday, although media warned the crisis for the Japanese leader was not over.
Abe, 52, whose ratings had been in tatters after his ruling camp suffered a disastrous election defeat last month, ditched most of his close allies and tapped experienced politicians for key posts in a reshuffle on Monday."
Read Story
Gonzales Kicked On His Way Out The Door
Excerpt:
"Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' resignation caught the news media and the nation's political establishment by surprise yesterday morning. Up until then, the only public hint that the resignation may be coming was an item in this week's U.S. News and World Report's "Washington Whispers" column, which reported "the buzz among top Bushies" that Gonzales may be considering leaving his post. The New York Times says "there had been rumblings over the weekend," but "the White House sought to quell the rumors." In his "Washington Sketch" column for the Washington Post, Dana Milbank writes that faced with the rumors, "the attorney general directed his spokesman to deny" them. Adds Milbank, "For a man accused of lying to Congress, it was a fitting way to go out."
Milbank's dig at Gonzales is representative of the tenor of the media coverage on his departure. Overwhelmingly, opposition to Gonzales is being cast as deep and bipartisan and even unnamed sources in the Administration are said to be glad the embattled Attorney General decided to leave. The New York Times reports Gonzales "offered no clear explanation of the reasons for his departure or its timing. The announcement caught his top aides at the Justice Department by surprise, leading to speculation among lawmakers and department officials that Mr. Gonzales may have felt pressure from within the administration to step down." The Politico says Gonzales' departure came "to the relief of many administration officials who have long considered him an embarrassment.""
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/bulletin/bulletin_070828.htm
Taliban Hostage Deal Reported
Excerpt:
"Representatives of the Taliban and the South Korean government said they had concluded face-to-face negotiations today over the fates of 19 South Korean church volunteers the Taliban has held captive in Afghanistan since mid-July.
But it was not immediately clear whether reports in Seoul and elsewhere that the Taliban had agreed to release the 19 hostages were accurate.
In Afghanistan, Qari Yusaf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, confirmed that the talks in the central Afghan town of Ghazni had concluded, but he declined to give further information. He said he was not yet aware of how the talks had ended."
Read Story
Monday
Super Tube Debate - From: current - Views: 166,997
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SiP79MFoKs
Newt Advises Fred - by Robert Novak
Excerpt:
"Fred Thompson's decision to announce his presidential candidacy with a video was suggested by Newt Gingrich, who is considered a possible contender himself.
Former House Speaker Gingrich has indicated he will run only if Thompson does not or his late-starting campaign crashes and burns. Actor-politician Thompson plans to follow the model of Democrat Hillary Clinton by launching his campaign with a video, followed by a fly-around to several cities."
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=22096
Bush's Statement on Gonzales
Excerpt:
"Text of President Bush on Monday, as transcribed by CQ Transcriptions.
This morning Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced that he will leave the Department of Justice after two and a half years of service to the department.
Al Gonzales is a man of integrity, decency and principle, and I have reluctantly accepted his resignation with great appreciation for the service that he has provided for our country.
As attorney general and before that as White House counsel, Al Gonzales has played a critical role in shaping our policies in the war on terror and has worked tirelessly to make this country safer. The Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act and other important laws bear his imprint."
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8R9FHVO0&show_article=1
Obama Field Organizers Plot A Miracle
Excerpt:
"In the 2008 cycle, however, two things have changed the calculus of presidential primary organizing and now raise the possibility of a hard-fought precinct-by-precinct field battle in states as large as California and as numerous as 20 possible February 5 primaries and caucuses. Many of these states have not seen serious electoral field organizing in decades.
First, an unprecedented amount of money is now available. The Obama campaign has a mountain of cash on hand and the ability to raise tens of millions more before February 5, 2008.
Second, use of campaign websites now makes hundreds of thousands of volunteer campaign workers available to campaigns in states before a single staffer is hired to work in them. At virtually no cost, campaigns are able to contact those volunteers via email, turning them out to events and trainings and giving them valuable work to do for the campaign in key states."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zack-exley/obama-field-organizers-pl_b_61918.html
Rumored book from Rove highly anticipated by publishers
Excerpt:
"HE'S THE MAN that Democrats blame for everything from Hurricane Katrina to the breakup of Britney and K-Fed. He's the supposed puppet master of the 43rd president's administration; Bush's brain, he's been called. And now, Karl Rove has set imaginations ablaze with his recent comments that he plans to teach and write a book.
Would Rove, the nation's man of mystery who is legendary for his loyalty, actually write a book that revealed life behind the White House's wrought-iron fence? That's the question publishers are asking themselves, and eager to take a chance on.
The White House's deputy chief of staff actually hadn't done anything about a book other than "what everybody does, and that is talk to Bob Barnett," he told reporters Aug. 13 on Air Force One. Barnett, the Washington attorney-turned-super-powered-book-agent who brokered deals for everyone from Bill and Hillary Clinton to Jenna Bush, declined to comment."
http://www.contracostatimes.com/books/ci_6725140?nclick_check=1
Support For Google Government
Excerpt:
"Support For Google Government
It is one of the unlikelier alliances in the 2008 presidential campaign: what possibly could bring together Barack Obama, Sam Brownback and Ron Paul? The answer: the highly ambitious, if infelicitously named, Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act.
The act is meant to bring average Americans a kind of Google for the federal government, an online search engine that will allow citizens to look up any company, organization or other entity receiving federal contracts, grants and earmarks. The act was passed by Congress and signed by President Bush last year, but some of its supporters charge that federal agencies are already dragging their feet on its implementation."
Read Story
Obama camp: Clinton obsessed with GOP "attack machine"
Excerpt:
"A top adviser for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said Friday that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), the front-runner for her party’s presidential nomination, is obsessed “with what she calls the Republican attack machine.”
“I think we need a candidate who is obsessed with unifying this country again,” said Obama adviser David Axelrod. He added that Obama could break “the sort of decades-long battle we’ve had over this jagged divide — red state, blue state, American against American — and try to bring people together and attract disaffected Republicans and attract independent voters so that we could build not just a victory, but a governing coalition in this country.”"
Read Story
As Counsel, Thompson Walked Capital’s Fine Line
Excerpt:
"But the White House’s worries were quickly set to rest by the man the Senate had chosen to get to the bottom of the matter, Fred D. Thompson. In July 1981, just one day into his job as special counsel to the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mr. Thompson assured the White House that there was no “smoking gun,” documents show. He had yet to interview a single witness."
Read Story
Armstrong Forum Skipped By Candidates With "Close Personal History" With Cancer
Excerpt:
"Yesterday on NBC's Meet the Press, Armstrong spoke out:
ARMSTRONG: I spoke to most of them personally. Either scheduling conflicts or family time. You know, for me, listen, I'm not going to sugar-coat it, it's a disappointment. When you -- when you can't show up or you, for whatever reason, won't show up and discuss such a devastating illness, it is a disappointment, especially when you have a close personal history."
Read Story
AOL logs on 'Dissent' - Website streams Moore-bashing documentary
Excerpt:
"Some serious Michael Moore bashing will turn up this week on AOL's True Stories website thanks to 40 minutes of excerpts from the documentary "Manufacturing Dissent."
Web users will be able to stream the digital video at no extra cost.
Debbie Melnyk and Rick Caine, creator-producers of the docu, describe themselves as progressive liberals who started out as admirers of Moore's work. But two years of filming ended up documenting the thesis that Moore manipulates his movies to favor an ingrained left-wing ideology, leaving himself open to the charge of dishonest writing and editing."
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117970893.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
Conyers: We Will Press on
"From House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI):
"It is a sad day when the Attorney General of the United States resigns amid a cloud of suspicion that the system of justice has been manipulated for political purposes. More than accountability, we need answers. Unfortunately, the continued stonewalling of the White House in the U.S. Attorney scandal has deprived the American people of the truth. If the power of the prosecutor has been misused in the name of partisanship, we deserve a full airing of the facts. The responsibility to uncover these facts is still on the Congress, and the Judiciary Committee in particular.""
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004002.php
Gonzales resigns: Reid reaction
"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, issued a statement reacting to Alberto Gonzales' resignation Monday.
"Alberto Gonzales was never the right man for this job. He lacked independence, he lacked judgment, and he lacked the spine to say no to Karl Rove," he said. "This resignation is not the end of the story. Congress must get to the bottom of this mess and follow the facts where they lead, into the White House.""
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/08/27/gonzales-resigns-reid-reaction/
Ron Paul's campaign buzz resonates on Internet - What remains to be seen is whether his online backing translates at polls
Excerpt:
"In a New Hampshire meadow on a recent weekend, Ron Paul is without a doubt the main draw at a Republican presidential straw poll that attracts several long shot candidates.
Paying little heed to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Rep. Tom Tancredo, the immigration-control firebrand from Colorado, a crowd circles the Texan to quiz him on everything from foreign policy to the Federal Reserve's intervention in the jittery financial markets.
In quiet, deliberative fashion, Paul answers all questions, sketching a deeply minimalist philosophy. "I want to be president mainly for what I don't want to do: I don't want to run your life, I don't want to run the economy and I don't want to police the world," he tells a man who asks about his dislike of the Federal Reserve."
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5083907.html
10 Arrested in Murder of Russian Journalist
Excerpt:
"Authorities said Monday they have arrested and will soon charge 10 people in the killing of journalist Anna Politkovskaya — an outspoken critic of the Kremlin whose death sparked global concern about the safety of reporters in Russia.
"We have made serious progress in the case of the murder of the journalist Politkovskaya," Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika told President Vladimir Putin in televised remarks. "As of today, 10 people have been arrested in this case, and literally in the nearest future they will be charged with the commission of this grave crime."
Politkovskaya, a critic of Putin who exposed human rights abuses in Chechnya, was shot dead in her Moscow apartment building in October."
Read Story
Attorney General Gonzales Resigns
Excerpt:
"Embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, under fire from congressional Democrats, has resigned, senior Bush administration officials said Monday.
A senior Justice Department official said that a likely temporary replacement for Mr. Gonzales is Solicitor General Paul Clement, who would take over until a permanent replacement is found.
Another official, also speaking on grounds of anonymity, said that Mr. Gonzales had submitted a resignation letter last Friday. These officials declined to be identified because the formal announcement about Mr. Gonzales was still pending."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117408132373139865.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Saturday
Friday
Wikipedia Edits Cause Australian Political Scandal
Excerpt:
"The Australian press also discovered that staff from the Australian Department of Defence were the most active Wikipeda editors among Australian Government Departments, having made over 5000 Wikipedia edits. DOD edits included changes to pages ranging from the 9/11 Truth Movement, the Australian Defence Force Academy and the Vietnam War-era Pentagon Papers. A Defence spokesman said that the Department would move to ban access to Wikipeda for all staff."
Read Story
The spin that sticks - BuzzMachine
Excerpt:
"Daylife.com (where, full disclosure, I am a partner) gathers and analyzes the world’s news and that allows it to learn some fascinating things about the media’s coverage of the presidential race. Their latest looks at the quotes that were picked up most often by press. In short, these are the sound bites that resonated in the press this week, the spin that sticks. For each candidate:
Barack Obama:
“All of our top military commanders recognize that there is no military solution in Iraq”
Hillary Rodham Clinton:
“I do not think that a president should give away the bargaining chip of a personal meeting with any leader unless you know what you are going to get out of that”"
http://www.buzzmachine.com/2007/08/24/the-spin-that-sticks/
Yahoo, MSN sign blogging 'self-discipline' pact in China
Excerpt:
"US Internet giants Yahoo and MSN confirmed Friday they had signed a code of conduct for their blogging operations in China that committed them to protecting the interests of the Chinese state.
Yahoo, Microsoft's MSN and other blog providers in China this week signed the "self-discipline" pact, under which they pledged to "safeguard state and public interests," according to a statement from the China Internet Society.
The pact "encourages" the Internet firms to register the real names, addresses and other personal details of the bloggers, and then keep this information.
The firms also committed to delete any "illegal or bad messages", according to a copy of the pact posted on the society's website."
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070824172813.nxh2cvmq&show_article=1
By John Edwards - To Build One America, End the Game
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/08/the_path_to_one_america.html
Behind Giuliani's Tough Talk - Time Magazine
Excerpt:
"A TIME investigation into what he did — and didn't do — to prepare for a major catastrophe is revealing. In addition to extraordinary grace under fire, Giuliani developed an intimate knowledge of emergency management and an affinity for quantifiable results. On 9/11, he earned the trust of most Americans; one year later, 78% of those surveyed by the Marist Institute had a favorable impression of Giuliani. This magazine also named Giuliani its Person of the Year in 2001. Assuming he can keep it, trust is a priceless resource in psychological warfare.
The evidence also shows great, gaping weaknesses. Giuliani's penchant for secrecy, his tendency to value loyalty over merit and his hyperbolic rhetoric are exactly the kinds of instincts that counterterrorism experts say the U.S. can least afford right now."
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1655262,00.html
Hillary Locks Up The Backing Of The DC Democratic Establishment
Excerpt:
"From the K Street lobbyist corridor to the major gay and lesbian organizations to the city's kingpin consultants and fundraisers to the big feminist groups, Hillary Clinton has acquired a near-lock on the Democratic establishment in the nation's capital.
The level of support here for the junior New York Senator approaches what an incumbent president seeking re-election might expect."
Read Story
Allawi Pays $300k for Anti-Maliki US Campaign - Bush's Former Envoy to Iraq is Top US Lobbyist for Key Iraqi Critic of Iraqi PM
Excerpt:
"Documents obtained by IraqSlogger show Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki's chief Iraqi opponent, Ayad Allawi, is paying Washington lobbyists with close ties to the White House $300,000 to help with Allawi's efforts in the U.S. to promote himself and undermine Maliki."
Read Story
Joint Chiefs Chair Expected To Call For Iraq Troop Cut
Excerpt:
"The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is expected to advise President Bush to reduce the U.S. force in Iraq next year by almost half, potentially creating a rift with top White House officials and other military commanders over the course of the war.
Administration and military officials say Marine Gen. Peter Pace is likely to convey concerns by the Joint Chiefs that keeping well in excess of 100,000 troops in Iraq through 2008 will severely strain the military. This assessment could collide with one being prepared by the U.S. commander in Iraq, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, calling for the U.S. to maintain higher troop levels for 2008 and beyond."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/08/24/joint-chiefs-chair-expect_n_61661.html
By Arianna Huffington - The Utah Mine Disaster: A Teachable Moment About Workplace Safety
Excerpt:
"Before the hordes of reporters move on from the Crandall Canyon Mine disaster, taking their note pads, satellite trucks, and the nation's attention with them, we should seize the opportunity to turn this tragedy into a teachable moment -- one that will allow us to look beyond the tragedy in Utah and the dreadful safety record of the mining industry, and focus on the larger issue of worker safety.
During the Bush administration, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the agency meant to oversee workplace safety, has been more intent on providing protection to employers than workers -- eliminating dozens of safety regulations since 2001."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/the-utah-mine-disaster-a_b_61616.html
Arab media condemn Bush flip-flop on Iraq prime minister
Excerpt:
"U.S. President George W. Bush's conflicting remarks on the effectiveness of the Iraqi government prompted comments in the Arab media which described them as yet another sign of the failure of U.S. policies in the war torn country.
Bush on Wednesday said he supported Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, calling him a "good guy, good man" — after having expressed frustration with the lack of political progress in the country just the day before."
Read Story
MySpace, MTV Plan Candidate Chats
Excerpt:
"The popular social networking site MySpace is teaming up with MTV to hold a series of “candid, unfiltered discussions” this fall between young voters and the major Republican and Democratic presidential candidates.
The events will be held on college campuses across the country, broadcast on MTV and streamed live on MTV.com and MySpace.com. Organizers say the dialogues will be interactive, allowing the audience to talk with the candidates in real-time by submitting questions though MySpaceIM, cell phones and e-mail, and by registering feedback using live polling tools.
“We are lowering the barriers to entry, setting a high-water mark for direct engagement between presidential candidates and average Americans,” Chris DeWolfe, co-founder and C.E.O. of MySpace, said in a statement."
Read Story
Jail threat hangs over former PM's return to Pakistan
Excerpt:
"The vowed return of opposition leader and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to Pakistan after six years in exile came under further threat Friday when a government official said a life sentence against him could be reinstated.
A day after the Supreme Court in Islamabad ruled that Sharif is free to return home, Attorney General Malik Qayuum warned that the matter of his earlier crimes was still not closed."
Read Story
Ex-Pakistan PM aims to bring down Musharraf
Excerpt:
"There has been a dramatic shift in the political landscape in Pakistan, after the Supreme Court ruled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif can return home after seven years in exile.
He was ousted in a 1999 military coup by General Pervez Musharraf, who is now the President.
Mr Sharif was sentenced to life in prison on tax evasion and treason charges, but he was exiled the following year.
Now he says he will be back home next month to begin his campaign to bring down the Musharraf regime."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/24/2014305.htm
Thursday
Bush's 'parting gift to the coal industry'
Excerpt:
"The Bush administration is set to issue a regulation on Friday that would extend the coal mining practice of mountaintop removal. The technique involves blasting off the tops of mountains and dumping the rubble into valleys and streams.
It has been used in Appalachian coal country for 20 years under a cloud of legal and regulatory confusion.
The new rule would allow the practice to continue and expand, providing only that mine operators minimize the debris and cause the least environmental harm, although those terms are not clearly defined and to some extent merely restate existing law."
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/08/23/europe/coal.php
Obama Girl has Hil thrill - NY Daily News
Excerpt:
"Sen. Barack Obama's sexiest fan respects the presidential candidate more than ever now that he has knocked her Web video, "I Got a Crush on Obama."But "Obama Girl"actually may vote for Hillary Clinton."
Read Story
Top GOP Leader: Bush Employs Thousands Of Undocumented Workers
Excerpt:
"If President Bush is serious about getting tough on U.S. employers who hire illegal aliens, he can start with his own administration, which employs thousands of unauthorized workers, says the top Republican on the House immigration subcommittee."
Read Story
EU allows Britain to resume nearly all meat exports
Excerpt:
"European Union veterinary experts agreed on Thursday to let all of Britain, except part of the county of Surrey, resume exports of live animals, meat and dairy products to other EU countries, the EU executive said.
The vets, representing the EU's 27 member countries, backed a European Commission proposal to limit export restrictions to a surveillance zone in Surrey, 10 km around the area where two outbreaks of foot and mouth disease were confirmed this month."
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL2372060020070823
Reacting to Bush speech, Vietnam focuses on present
Excerpt:
" Vietnamese fought for "a righteous cause" during the U.S. war but preferred to focus on the present, a government spokesman said on Thursday in reaction to President George W. Bush's speech comparing the Iraq and Vietnam conflicts.
"The war leaves consequences that are still visible today, and so are our memories," Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Le Dung said at one of his twice-monthly media briefings."
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSHAN20461920070823
The MySpace/MTV Candidates Forum - The social networking site and music channel will present intimate talks with Presidential candidates. Will their youthful audiences care?
Excerpt:
"Want to be friends with Obama? Or Hillary? How about Rudy or Mitt, or any of the other Presidential candidates? MySpace and MTV figure there's a growing number of young people just itching to ask questions of the major candidates. Together, they're launching a series of one-on-one discussions with each of the Presidential candidates that will be shown on the Web and on television.
It's the latest experiment in participatory democracy, Internet style, that has become a huge new outlet for every political candidate worth his (or her) fund-raising committee. The joint deal between News Corp.'s (NWS) MySpace unit and Viacom's (VIA) MTV network was hammered out "literally in a few days," says MySpace Chief Executive Officer Chris DeWolfe, as both outlets saw the opportunity to help educate younger viewers."
Read Story
Pakistan's Exiled Former Leader Sharif Can Return (Update3)
Excerpt:
"Exiled former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif can return, the Supreme Court said in a decision that clears the way for him to run for parliament and increases political pressure on President Pervez Musharraf.
Lawyers for Sharif, who founded the Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz and has been living in London, appealed to the country's highest appellate bench to allow him back into Pakistan, saying the constitution guarantees him the right to return.
``I want to return as soon as possible,'' Sharif said in a news conference broadcast from London after today's ruling. ``My priority would be to restore democracy in Pakistan. I am not afraid to face more court cases from the government or if the government plans to arrest me on my arrival.''"
Read Story
Wednesday
Bill Clinton Authors New Book on Citizen Activism
Excerpt:
"Former President Bill Clinton has written a book about citizen activism and public service that will be published in September by Alfred A. Knopf.
"Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World" is a look at how the act of giving takes many forms, and how offerings of time, skills, objects, and ideas can be just as important as contributions of money.
"I've done my best in this book to demonstrate what I've seen firsthand through my foundation's work in Africa and around the world: that all kinds of giving can make a profoundly positive difference," said President Clinton."
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/aug2007/2007-08-21-097.asp
IBM Consumer Survey Shows Decline of TV as Primary Media Device
Excerpt:
"A new IBM (NYSE: IBM) online survey of consumer digital media and entertainment habits shows audiences are more in control than ever and increasingly savvy about filtering marketing messages. The global findings overwhelmingly suggest personal Internet time rivals TV time.
Among consumer respondents, 19 percent stated spending six hours or more per day on personal Internet usage, versus nine percent of respondents who reported the same levels of TV viewing. 66 percent reported viewing between one to four hours of TV per day, versus 60 percent who reported the same levels of personal Internet usage.
Consumers are seeking consolidated, trustworthy content, recognition and community when it comes to mobile and Internet entertainment. Armed with PC, mobile and interactive content and tools, consumers are vying for control of attention, content and creativity. Despite natural lags among marketers, advertising revenues will follow consumers' habits."
http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/22206.wss
Views: 1,010,402 - FedEx vs. Government Bureaucracy -- Newt Gingrich - Video From: ngingrich
Sphere: Related ContentMost US adults in the dark about world politics
Excerpt:
"Two-thirds of US adults admit to being in the dark about political issues outside the United States, and only a third are well-versed in US politics, the results of a poll published Tuesday showed.
Candidates in the US presidential primaries "may have their work cut out for them as they work to get people interested in the election," wrote the Harris Poll group, which surveyed 2,225 adults between July 6 and 13 for the poll."
Read Story
Taliban chief says Bin Laden alive: video
Excerpt:
"A top Taliban commander said Al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden is alive and well, according to US-based analysts monitoring extremist publications.
"All praise be to Allah, he is extremely healthy and active," the commander Mansour Dadullah said in a video interview, according to a transcript of the video's English subtitled translation, released Tuesday by the analyst IntelCenter.
Dadullah, whose brother Mullah Dadullah was also a top commander in the Afghanistan-based militants and was killed this year, said he had been contacted by Bin Laden, the man blamed for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States."
Read Story
Daily Show Video Appears on Yahoo - Yahoo Home Page to Host Comedy Central Series’ ‘Operation Silent Thunder’ Reports
Excerpt:
"For the first time, legally anyway, video clips from Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart will be featured outside of The MotherLoad, the network’s broadband-video platform.
All this week, Yahoo will feature on its home page exclusive video from The Daily Show’s “Operation Silent Thunder” -- reports filed from Iraq by correspondent (and Marine Corps Reserve Major) Rob Riggle."
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6470793.html
By Michelle Malkin - Beltway-itis: When Politicians Attack
Excerpt:
"Everything you hate about the culture of Washington is symbolized in two recent altercations involving two obnoxious Beltway buttinskis, one Democrat and one Republican.
"Buttinskis," you say? I've written about them before. They're the bipartisan pushers and shovers, the VIP line-cutters who invoke the "Don't you know who I am?" card to elbow past the little people, circumvent security lines and exempt themselves from the rules the rest of us have to follow."
Read Story
'All Recording Devices' Banned From Obama-Oprah Event
Excerpt:
"GUESTS forking out $2,300 a head for Oprah Winfrey's big bash for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama had better leave their cameras at home. All recording devices are banned from the Sept. 8 event at the talk-show queen's $50 million estate in Montecito, Calif., reports Santa Barbara News-Press columnist Richard Mineards. And to avert limo-lock, the 2,000 guests must go to a "Greeting Center" eight miles away to have their cars valet-parked before shuttling to the bash by bus. The guest list is secret, but such Obama supporters as Jamie Foxx, George Clooney, Halle Berry, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen are expected."
Read Story
Huckabee finally breaks out fightin' words
Excerpt:
"What success Mike Huckabee has found as a presidential candidate stems largely from his homespun charm – a folksy populism that gets heads nodding when he muses about the Lava soap his skin had to endure during a childhood filled with more want than wealth.
But if the former Arkansas governor wants to find greater success and become a first-tier player in the Republican primary race, he faces having to turn his wise-cracking image on its head and start trying to turn attack dog.
And that transformation has already begun."
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0807/5462.html
Judge Orders Bush Administration to Issue Global Warming Report
Excerpt:
"The Bush administration violated U.S. law by failing to produce a study on the impact of global warming and must issue a summary by March, a federal judge ruled.
District Judge Saundra Armstrong in Oakland, California, said the U.S. government ``unlawfully withheld action'' required under the Global Change Research Act of 1990 to update a research plan and scientific assessment of climate change."
Read Story
Newt group reaps money campaigns can't
Excerpt:
"The Hasan Family Foundation wouldn't be able to give $50,000 to a presidential candidate because foundations can't give to federal campaigns and -- even if they could -- that's way over the contribution limit.
But that didn't stop the Colorado-based foundation from shelling out $50,000 in July to a political group run by might-be presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, according to a monthly financial report his group filed this week with the IRS. The organization, American Solutions for Winning the Future, raised $526,000 in July and spent $313,000."
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0807/5477.html
Senate earmark battle turns very personal
Excerpt:
"A battle between the offices of Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) over a controversial earmark intensified earlier this month, displaying how debates on Capitol Hill sometimes can turn personal.
The senators had been at odds over the matter for much of the summer, but it would reach a new level when John Hart, communications director for Coburn, forwarded a news article detailing his boss’s request for an investigation of a defense contractor."
Read Story
White House Fights Disclosure
Excerpt:
"The Justice Department said Tuesday that records about missing White House e-mails are not subject to public disclosure, the latest effort by the Bush administration to expand the boundaries of government secrecy.
Administration lawyers detailed the legal position in a lawsuit trying to force the White House Office of Administration to reveal what it knows about the disappearance of White House e-mails.
The Office of Administration provides administrative services, including information technology support, to the Executive Office of the President.
The office has prepared estimates that there are at least 5 million missing White House e-mails from March 2003 to October 2005, according to the lawsuit filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a private advocacy group."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070821/white-house-secrecy/
Iraqi PM Lashes Out at U.S. Critics
Excerpt:
"Iraq's prime minister lashed out Wednesday at U.S. criticism, saying no one has the right to impose timetables on his elected government and that his country "can find friends elsewhere."
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki blamed the U.S. presidential campaign for the recent tough words about his government _ from President Bush and from other U.S. politicians.
Bush on Tuesday said he was frustrated with Iraqi leaders' inability to bridge political divisions. But he added that only the Iraqi people can decide whether to sideline al-Maliki."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070822/syria-iraq/
Ron Paul to Celebrate Birthday with BBQ Bash - TransWorldNews (press release)
Sphere: Related ContentRomney Ad Takes on Immigration and Giuliani
Excerpt:
"Mitt Romney has stepped up his broadside of his Republican rival, Rudolph W. Giuliani, over immigration with a new radio ad in New Hampshire.
The 60-second spot opens with a narrator sternly declaring: “Immigration laws don’t work if they’re ignored. That’s the problem with cities like Newark, San Francisco and New York City that adopt sanctuary policies. Sanctuary cities become magnets that encourage illegal immigration and undermine secure borders.”"
Read Story
Ryan loses appeal but remains free - Reprieve a small victory as options shrink
Excerpt:
"After losing his appeal for a new trial Tuesday, former Gov. George Ryan and his legal team were pinning their hopes on a blistering dissent by an appellate judge who called the jury's controversial deliberations "dysfunctional" and cited "a flood of errors."
With the appellate ruling Tuesday morning, Ryan was within 72 hours of reporting to prison to serve his 6 1/2 -year sentence for a sweeping corruption conviction. But late Tuesday his lawyers won a reprieve, allowing the former governor to remain free on bail for likely at least several weeks while they try to persuade the full 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review the decision."
Read Story
India, Japan agree on strategic, global partnership
Excerpt:
"In a boost to bilateral ties, India and Japan Wednesday agreed to lay down a roadmap for giving a new dimension to their strategic and global partnership. Observing that relations between both countries had weakened over the last decade, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Japan has "rediscovered" India.
"The India-Japan relations have been conspicuous by the silence in the past 10 years," he said at a reception hosted in his honour here.
Read Story
Bush dismisses talk of an EU-like bloc
Excerpt:
"Two years ago, President Bush and the leaders of Canada and Mexico agreed to establish what they called the Security and Prosperity Partnership, a framework for cooperation on economic matters and shared security concerns.
It has drawn increasing concern from critics, fueled by speculation on the Internet that it is masking plans to open U.S. borders and create an entity similar to the European Union at the cost of U.S. sovereignty. These critics fear the creation of a NAFTA "superhighway" from Mexico to Canada as a gateway into the U.S. market."
Read Story
Bush Says U.S. Leaving Iraq Early Risks Bloodshed as in Vietnam
Excerpt:
'President George W. Bush laid out his argument for maintaining the U.S. presence in Iraq, asserting that an early pullout would lead to the kind of bloodshed Southeast Asia experienced after American forces left Vietnam.
Bush, who in the past has drawn distinctions between the conflict in Iraq and the Vietnam war, said the situation in the Middle East is comparable to that in Southeast Asia before the U.S. left Vietnam in 1975."
Read Story
Bush Takes a Step Away From Maliki
Excerpt:
"When President Bush and Nuri Kamal al-Maliki stood side by side in Jordan last November, the president proclaimed the prime minister “the right guy for Iraq.”
By Tuesday, that phrase had all but evaporated from Mr. Bush’s lexicon.
Instead, Mr. Bush acknowledged “a certain level of frustration” with the Iraqi government’s failure to unify its warring ethnic factions. His comments at a meeting of North American leaders in Canada came just hours after the top American diplomat in Baghdad, Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, called political progress in Iraq “extremely disappointing” and warned that United States support for the Maliki government did not come with a “blank check.”"
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/22/world/middleeast/22cnd-maliki.html?hp
White House Defends Bush Comments After al-Maliki Criticism
Excerpt:
"The White House on Wednesday defended President Bush from criticism by Nouri al-Maliki after the embattled Iraqi prime minister lashed out at American lawmakers calling for a no-confidence vote on his regime.
"Prime Minister Maliki knows where the president stands," National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe told reporters.
Johndroe said that after Bush's comments Tuesday in Canada, the White House had tried to make clear that Bush was not distancing himself from Maliki."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,294068,00.html
Tuesday
Ex-Illinois governor's conviction upheld
Excerpt:
"A federal appeals court upheld former Gov. George Ryan's racketeering and fraud conviction Tuesday and refused to grant a new trial that could delay his 6 1/2-year prison sentence in the biggest political scandal to rock Illinois in decades."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070821/ap_on_re_us/governor_s_trial
CIA missed chances to thwart al-Qaida
Excerpt:
"The CIA's top leaders failed to use their available powers, never developed a comprehensive plan to stop al-Qaida and missed crucial opportunities to thwart two hijackers in the run-up to Sept. 11, the agency's own watchdog concluded in a bruising report released Tuesday."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070821/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/cia_sept11
NewsMax/Zogby Iowa Poll: Hillary Clinton Makes Big Move to Lead Democratic Pack
Excerpt:
"Hillary's move in Iowa mirrors her national gains as others fade; Bill helps her cause.
After months of nipping at the heels of former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards among likely Iowa Democratic caucus뻝oers, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton has made a move to the top of the heap in the race for her party's presidential nomination, a new NewsMax/Zogby telephone poll shows.
Clinton's move up in Iowa replicates what she has done nationally, building a powerhouse campaign and benefiting in part from the positive opinions of her husband, the survey shows.
Clinton leads with 30% support, followed by Edwards at 23% and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama at 19%. She added six points to her column since the last Zogby Iowa polling in May, while Edwards and Obama have each lost three points during the same time period."
Read Story
GMI Says MySpace Can Tilt the Vote for President
Excerpt:
"A poll conducted by Global Market Insite (GMI) has found that voters are using social networks to help them decide who to vote for in the upcoming presidential elections.
Sites like MySpace are being frequented to gain information about candidates, with 17% of those surveyed saying they’ve checked out a candidate’s MySpace, Facebook or other social networking profile, with 53% claiming they’re more likely to vote for that candidate after seeing their profile. Sixty-two percent of these people that have gone to MySpace or Facebook to see a candidate’s profile are over the age of 30.
So does this have an actual affect on how people decide which way to vote? GMI says yes, noting that these social networks and the information therein can shift the way people decide to support one candidate or another, or shift the way people decide on a political perspective as well. This is due to the conversations that are arising within the social networks."
http://mashable.com/2007/08/20/gmi-presidential-elections-social-networks/
JK Rowling Meets President Bush - Video From: CBS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpE3Cl5HoOE
Tenn. Nuclear Fuel Problems Kept Secret
Excerpt:
"A three-year veil of secrecy in the name of national security was used to keep the public in the dark about the handling of highly enriched uranium at a nuclear fuel processing plant - including a leak that could have caused a deadly, uncontrolled nuclear reaction.
The leak turned out to be one of nine violations or test failures since 2005 at privately owned Nuclear Fuel Services Inc., a longtime supplier of fuel to the U.S. Navy's nuclear fleet.
The public was never told about the problems when they happened. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission revealed them for the first time last month when it released an order demanding improvements at the company, but no fine."
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070820/D8R4VNS01.html
Leahy Threatens Bush Aides With Contempt
Excerpt:
"A top Senate Democrat on Monday threatened to hold members of the Bush administration in contempt for not producing subpoenaed information about the legal justification for President Bush's secretive eavesdropping program.
"When the Senate comes back in the session, I'll bring it up before the committee," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "I prefer cooperation to contempt. Right now, there's no question that they are in contempt of the valid order of the Congress."
Leahy's committee on June 27 subpoenaed the Justice Department, National Security Council and the offices of the president and vice president for documents relating to the National Security Agency's legal justification for the wiretapping program."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070820/democrats-subpoenas/
Leahy: Cheney Told GOP-Led Congress It Was ‘Not Allowed To Issue Subpoenas’
Excerpt:
"Today in a press briefing, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) revealed that the White House had missed its 2:30 PM deadline to turn over documents to the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding legal justifications for the National Security Agency’s eavesdropping program. The Committee had already pushed back the original July 18 deadline twice after the White House requested more time."
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/08/20/cheney-leahy-subpoena/
By Lane Hudson - FEC Complaint Filed Against Fred Thompson
Excerpt:
"Fred Thompson is breaking the law and it's time somebody did something about it. For far too long, he has been ignoring the letter and spirit of federal election law for his own political benefit. It reeks of the same disregard for the law that we have seen from the Bush Administration, Bob Ney, Duke Cunningham, Tom Delay, and Mark Foley.
By filing this complaint, posted below, the FEC can now proceed with action to right this injustice. According to FEC regulations, Thompson will have 15 days to respond to the complaint. Then, their lawyers will write an opinion on the basis of the complaint."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lane-hudson/fec-complaint-filed-again_b_61036.html
Arianna Huffington: Connect the Dots: Karl Rove's Politics Uber Alles Strategy and the Utah Mine Disaster
Excerpt:
"What makes Karl Rove's politics uber alles strategy chilling is connecting the dots between it and the Utah mining disaster.
Rove's unprecedented use of federal assets for political gain, laid out in yesterday's Washington Post, meant that every tool at his disposal was employed to help foster his goal of a permanent Republican majority. "It was all politics, all the time," Rep. Henry Waxman told WaPo.
"It was total commitment," marveled Rep. Thomas Davis III, who worked closely with Rove in 2002 on the GOP's House reelection campaign. "We knew history was against us, and [Rove] helped coordinate all of the accoutrements of the executive branch to help with the campaign.""
Read Story
Blogger launches FEC complaint against Thompson
Excerpt:
"Progressive blogger Lane Hudson filed a complaint against Fred Thompson (R-TN) on Monday, accusing the former Senator of violating the Federal Election Commission’s (FEC) “testing the waters” clause. The complaint argues that Thompson is running a full-blown campaign and should be held to the same regulations as the other candidates."
Read Story
Authorities expected the Xintai mining disaster - AsisNews.it
Excerpt:
"For days official media had openly discussed flood-related risks. It might take 40 days to pump the mines dry. Few people still hope the 181 miners trapped underground will be rescued. Authorities issue orders banning work underground when rains are heavy but fail to explain why they did not act before."
http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=10103&size=A
Rep. Bob Filner Charged With Assault on Virginia Airport Worker
Excerpt:
"California Rep. Bob Filner was facing charges Monday for allegedly assaulting an airline worker at Dulles International Airport after becoming upset that his luggage had not arrived at a baggage carousel."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293834,00.html
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