skippy the bush kangaroo

leaked emails from two former prosecutors claim the military commissions set up to try detainees at guantanamo bay are rigged, fraudulent, and thin on evidence against the accused.

two emails, which have been obtained by the abc, were sent to supervisors in the office of military commissions in march of last year - three months before australian detainee david hicks was charged and five months before his trial began. - australian broacasting corporation

as the pentagon was making its final preparations to begin war crimes trials against four detainees at guantánamo bay, cuba, two senior prosecutors complained in confidential messages last year that the trial system had been secretly arranged to improve the chance of conviction and to deprive defendants of material that could prove their innocence. - nytimes

the commission process does away with any of the basic fundamental protections you would find either in a court martial or our civil criminal justice system.

"the system is set up and designed to only reach convictions." - the australian

a federal appeals court ruled friday that the bush administration's plan to convene military tribunals to try terrorist detainees at the u.s. naval base on guantanamo bay is constitutional, a decision that promises to jump-start a controversial and historic process that has been waylaid for eight months by legal challenges.

...his tribunal was in its early pre-trial stages in guantanamo bay when it was suddenly halted last november after u.s. district court judge james robertson of washington ruled that tribunals were illegal and violated military law and the geneva convention.

it was robertson's ruling that was reversed by the three appellate judges -- stephen f. williams, a. raymond randolph, and john g. roberts. (you know, that supreme court nominee...)

in addition to finding that the geneva convention did not apply, the three also determined that the tribunals were properly set up the white house, authorized by congress, and should go forward. - los angeles times via detroit news

it is a decision that will horrify his legion of worldwide fans and leave grown women in tears.

scottish screen legend sir sean connery has almost drawn the
curtain on his long and glittering career by revealing it would take a mafia-style "offer he couldn't refuse" to tempt him to make another film.

...in an interview with a new zealand newspaper, the actor says he has no time for the "idiots" now making films in hollywood. - the scotsman

it was nothing more than an empty promise when president bush vowed to fire any white house staffer involved in the revenge outing of cia operative valerie plame. now that rove and vice president cheney's chief of staff, lewis "scooter" libby, have been ‘identified’ as the culprits, bush changed the standards he himself set by saying -- they must've "committed a crime." - aljeezera.com

"in politics, as in life generally, a lot of what one does is oppose bad ideas," he told the new york times. "opposition is worthwhile for its own sake, good for the country." with the gop out of power, (bill) kristol had his major success with what he called "cheerful obstructionism" of the clinton health care plan. at a time when even senator dole was in agreement witht he clinton administration that the country faced a "health care crisis," the glib krostol coined a counterslogan" "there is nohealth care crisis" (hmmmm....and now the rethugs are slimming democrats with being "obstructionists" when they themselves relished in the idea?)

congressman randy cunningham compared a visit clinton made to moscow in 1969 while he was studying at oxford to the treasonous tokyo rose during world war ii. (for good measure, cunningham said the entire democratic congressional leadership "should be lined up and shot." (randy, randy, randy....and now you face the music of your own evil kickback scams. and haven't some current rethugs, like rep. peter king, call upon violence against democrats?)

sitting on an overstuffed sofa not far from me, (armstrong) williams had soemthing else besides strange justice on his mind. as he began to pepper me with graphic questions about wheather i was dominant or submissive in bed, i shuffled uncomfortably in my seat, looked away, and tried to change the subject. **some years later, williams was sued for sexucal harassment by his producer and former trainer, who charged that williams repeatedly kissed him on the mouth and grabbed his buttocks and genitals on business trips. the suit was settled out of court. (wow....that's leaving no child's behind)

my dinner mate john fund of the (wall street) journal's editorial page was a close political associate of gringrich, and similarly hypocritical. though he took positions aligned with those of the christian right, fund had not discouraged a young ex-girlfriend-the daughter of another fund ex-girlfriend-from seeking an abortion he offered to pay for. "i respect life, but i also make judments and i have different variations on that theme," fund told the young woman, according to a transcript of a telephone conversation she released to a reporter. (now mr. fund is frequently found on television being hypocritical)

police believe they have caught four men suspected of trying to explode bombs on london's transport system last week after armed raids on friday in the british capital and an arrest in rome, a police source said.

"my belief is we have all four people we are seeking in custody," the source told reuters. - reuters canada

uzbekistan formally evicted the united states yesterday from a military base that has served as a hub for combat and humanitarian missions to afghanistan since shortly after the attacks of sept. 11, 2001, pentagon and state department officials said yesterday.

..the united states will face several logistical problems for its operations in afghanistan. scores of flights have used k2 monthly. it has been a landing base to transfer humanitarian goods that then are taken by road into northern afghanistan, particularly to mazar-e sharif -- with no alternative for a region difficult to reach in the winter. k2 is also a refueling base with a runway long enough for large military aircraft. the alternative is much costlier midair refueling.

...pentagon spokesman bryan whitman called access to the airfield "undeniably critical in supporting our combat operations" and humanitarian deliveries. - wapo

it is a regular pastime for co-workers to chat during a coffee break, at a union hall, or over a beer about workplace issues, good grilling recipes, and celebrity gossip. yet a recent ruling by the national labor relations board (lnlb) allows employers to ban off-duty fraternizing among co-workers, severely weakening the rights of free association and speech, and violating basic standards of privacy for america's workers. - american rights at work

lightning struck a group of boy scouts taking shelter from a summer storm, killing the troop leader and a 13-year-old scout, according to a ranger and the boy's parents. - ap

the boy scouts marched onto the field singing, plopping down in the grass to wait for president bush. but hours later, the news that bush couldn't make it was drowned out by sirens and shouts as hundreds fell ill because of the blistering heat. - abc

the four adults killed yesterday at fort a.p. hill after a tent pole apparently touched an overhead electrical line included two scout leaders who were fathers of boys attending the jamboree, a spokesman said today. - richmond times dispatch

tuna, swordfish and other species favored by fishing fleets gather in "hotspots" across the world's oceans -- but these are in serious decline, according to a survey published on thursday.

...the hotspots -- off the east coasts of the united states, australia, and sri lanka; south of hawaii; and in the southeastern pacific -- seem to be linked to a type of zooplankton, the researchers found to their surprise. - reuters via planet ark

half of all sea fish species have disappeared from the major fishing grounds of the world, according to a study that shows how ocean life has declined rapidly in the past 50 years.

the dramatic fall in the diversity of fish is blamed on overfishing rather than pollution or climate change, the scientists behind the study said yesterday. - the independent

a combination of overfishing, habitat destruction and climate change has
narrowed the range of fish across the globe, wrote biologists boris worm and
ransom a. myers of dalhousie university in nova scotia and three other
scientists. in some areas, such as off northwest australia where a wide variety
of tuna and billfish used to thrive, diversity has declined precipitously - wapo

lack of species diversity is a problem, dr. worm said, because ecosystems with fewer species are less robust in the face of environmental disruptions like climate change.

for example, he said, the world's tuna fishery today is largely a matter of yellowfin and skipjack tuna because bluefin, albacore and other species rarely appear on fishermen's lines.

"if the ocean changes in a way that doesn't favor these two species any more, we have very little to fall back on," he said. "Ii you have a rich portfolio of species, it's like a diverse stock portfolio. you are better off." - nytimes

a youth baseball coach on thursday was ordered to stand trial for allegedly paying one of his players $25 to hurt a 9-year-old mentally disabled teammate.

..."he told me if I would hit (the teammate) in the face, he would pay me $25," keith said.

...a motive for the beaning was not discussed in court thursday. but the injured boy's mother had told police that the coach looked for ways to keep her son out of games because he was not as good as other kids. - ustoady

a bug discovered in an operating system that runs the majority of the world's computer networks would, if exploited, allow an attacker to bring down the nation's critical infrastructure, a computer security researcher said wednesday against threat of a lawsuit.

...lynn closed his talk by directing the audience to his resume and asking if anyone could give him a job.

"in large part i had to quit to give this presentation because iss and cisco would rather the world be at risk, i guess," lynn said. "they had to do what's right for their shareholders; i understand that. but i figured i needed to do what's right for the country and for the national critical infrastructure." - wired

"It's a little bit like biblical pharisees, you know, who basically are always trying to undermine jesus christ.... You know, it goes on the same way. If they can catch him in something, they can then criticize and the outside groups will go berserk."

- sen. orrin g. hatch (r-utah), on fox news, describing the nature of potential democratic opposition to supreme court nominee judge john g. roberts jr.

The Sadducees were a Jewish religious sect that flourished from about 200 BC until the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. A priestly and aristocratic group, the Sadducees owed their power to political alliance with the Romans, who ruled their land. They ... differed with the Pharisees on many theological tenets: for example, they did not believe in resurrection and the immortality of the soul. According to the New Testament, the Sadducees played a leading role in the trial and condemnation of Jesus.

more gore?

matt yglesias is enthusiastic about a possible gore run in '08, and atrios said he "certainly wouldn't be upset" if big al jumped into the race. well, include me in. unlike any of the other candidates, he's proved he can get elected. plus, the stiff public gore is gone, and the new gore is a charismatic keeper with passion and integrity. he's more like the witty, brilliant guy we heard about who was tommy lee jones' roommate and pal at harvard.

gore's been a reliable spokesman for progressive causes since his 2000 victory. and as matt points out, he's been articulately and forcefully against the iraq war since the beginning. plus his candidacy promises some great bumper stickers, like:

more gore, less blood: vote democratic and bring our troops home

i also think the public has come to recognize that he got robbed, and the "fairness" vote might give him a little extra lift. now he just has to make sure that tipper stays out of that music-censoring silliness and I think he's got a real shot.

sales of cold medicines used to make methamphetamine would be restricted under a bill that cleared the senate judiciary committee thursday after lawmakers forged a compromise protecting state prerogatives.

...consumers would have to show a photo id, sign a log, and be limited to 7.5 grams — or about 250 30-milligram pills — in a 30-day period. computer tracking would prevent customers from exceeding the limit at other stores, according to the bipartisan bill co-sponsored by sens. dianne feinstein, d-calif.,(e. note - ok...i'm crossing her officially off the xmas card list) and jim talent, r-mo.

...after initial opposition to the bill, retailers had been won over with a series of compromises, including an exception for stores without a pharmacist on duty, such as convenience stores and some grocery chains. that exception allowed states to work with the drug enforcement administration to license certain employees who are not pharmacists to sell the medicines. - ap

case of c.i.a. officer's leaked identity takes new turn - washington, july 26 - in the same week in july 2003 in which bush administration officials told a syndicated columnist and a time magazine reporter that a c.i.a. officer had initiated her husband's mission to niger, an administration official provided a washington post reporter with a similar account. [--snip--]

mr. pincus has not identified his source to the public. but a review of mr. pincus's own accounts and those of other people with detailed knowledge of the case strongly suggest that his source was neither karl rove, mr. bush's top political adviser, nor i. lewis libby, the chief of staff to vice president dick cheney, and was in fact a third administration official whose identity has not yet been publicly disclosed.

in his article in the summer 2005 issue of nieman reports, mr. pincus wrote that he did not write about ms. wilson when he first heard the account "because i did not believe it true that she had arranged" mr. wilson's trip.

mr. pincus first disclosed the july 12, 2003, conversation with an administration official in an oct. 12, 2003, article in the washington post, but did not mention in that article that he himself had been the recipient of the information. he wrote in nieman reports that he did not believe the person who spoke to him was committing a criminal act, but only practicing damage control by trying to get him to write about mr. wilson.

presidential visit to scouts jamboree is postponed -despite storm delay and heat stress, youths carry on with activities after deaths of 4 troop leaders fort a.p. hill, va., july 27 -- tens of thousands of boy scouts, hoping to get things back to normal at their national jamboree after four scout leaders were killed on opening day, endured more disappointment and hardship wednesday as they learned that president bush had delayed his visit and as hundreds of people were treated for heat-related conditions.

the announcement that severe storms prompted the president's postponement came after the scouts waited for more than two hours in the blazing sun in their dress uniforms, and was met with loud boos.

last night, officials announced on the boy scouts web site that about 300 people were treated yesterday for conditions due to excessive heat. the statement said that most were seen at an on-post medical facility and released. a small number were transported to hospitals, where they were reported to be in stable condition. scout officials declined further comment late last night.

a former city commissioner recently indicted on corruption charges fatally shot himself in the lobby of the miami herald building the same day another newspaper published lurid accusations against him.

subcontractor's story details post-9/11 chaos - new company had little oversight - three years ago, sunnye l. sims lived in a two-bedroom apartment north of san diego, paying $1,025 in monthly rent. then she landed a dream job, with $5.4 million in pay for nine months of work. [--snip--]

eclipse came out of nowhere, starting as a one-woman operation based in sims's apartment. she was hired in a hurry, through word of mouth, recommended by someone who did not review her background in detail. she had worked for more than a decade as an event planner for the four seasons hotels and resorts. but her company, eclipse, did not exist as a corporation until sims got the pearson subcontract; two weeks later, she filed incorporation papers. over the next several months, sims hired hundreds of freelance meeting planners, many of them sight unseen. [--snip--]

the auditors said $15 million in expenses submitted by eclipse could not be substantiated. for example, auditors were able to find supporting documents for only $326,873 of the $5.8 million that eclipse spent directly on accounting, administration, consulting, management and contract labor.

the auditors noted that sims not only paid herself $5.4 million in compensation as "president/owner" but also that she gave herself a $270,000 pension.

in addition to focusing on the direct eclipse expenses, auditors raised concerns about expenses eclipse employees charged to separate accounts at the hotels chosen by pearson. auditors highlighted scores of other expenses run up or approved by eclipse: hundreds of thousands of dollars for valet parking, unexplained cash advances, dry cleaning and other spending at the hotels, many of which were high-end or resort-style establishments.

kathy artandi worked with sullivan on the passenger-screener contract out of sullivan's florida home. she said sullivan now works as a youth mentor at a church and lives with her ailing mother. [--snip--]

today, sims helps run a program for recovering alcoholics and drug abusers at seacoast community church, an evangelical free church by a freeway in encinitas, calif. pastor dave simonson credits sims with changing the lives of some church members.

f.b.i.'s translation backlog grows - washington, july 27 - the federal bureau of investigation's backlog of untranslated terrorism intelligence doubled last year, and the time it takes the bureau to hire translators has grown longer, officials said wednesday.

safety worries ground shuttles - nasa halts all flights after finding that a piece of foam fell off discovery during liftoff, the same problem that sealed columbia's fate. - houston — with discovery's crew about 200 miles above earth, nasa on wednesday abruptly suspended all scheduled shuttle flights after determining that a piece of insulating foam — nearly as large as the piece that doomed columbia in 2003 — had peeled off the craft's external fuel tank during launch.

the space agency said there was no evidence that discovery was hit or damaged by the debris.

priest's son to get a boost in assistance - catholic order pledges more child support and counseling for whittier cleric's 12-year-old. - a roman catholic religious order that had until now refused to increase child support payments for a boy fathered by one of its priests pledged wednesday to provide additional financial support and counseling for the 12-year-old.

father thomas picton, who heads the denver province of the redemptorists, said he would also encourage the whittier priest, arturo uribe, to get counseling to learn how to be a proper father.

under the direction of portland's archbishop at the time, william j. levada, church attorneys tried to get the suit dismissed in 1994 on several grounds. in a motion, they argued that the "birth of the plaintiff's child and the resultant expenses ... are the result of the plaintiff's own negligence" because she engaged in "unprotected intercourse."

according to nti's global security newswire:

u.s. customs and border protection agents are lax in checking that sensitive chemical and biological cargo is shipped in accordance with u.s. export regulations, the associated press reported today.

how bad is it?

millions of dollars worth of goods are shipped out of the country every day and many customs agents might not have the training to readily identify chemical and biological products with dual-use potential, said scott jones of the center for international trade and security at the university of georgia.

A customs agency spokesman says "the bureau is updating its databases," but adds: "you just can't catch everything." what's the urgency, after all?

that's your "national security" gop administration at work.

• classified u.s. personnel used a sledgehammer handle to beat prisoners in iraq, according to a national guard soldier who testified during a closed military hearing involving four colorado-based soldiers in march. - casper star tribune
• a company of the california army national guard has been put on restricted duty and its battalion plunged into disarray amid allegations that battalion members mistreated detainees in iraq and extorted shopkeepers, according to military officials and members of the unit. - latimes
• a sunday herald investigation has discovered that coalition forces are holding more than 100 children in jails such as abu ghraib. witnesses claim that the detainees – some as young as 10 – are also being subjected to rape and torture - sunday herald

in 1999, former president bush said those who would expose the identities of covert sources are the most insidious of traitors. here we are, just six years later, and not a single republican of national stature has even stood up to say that what mr. rove ... has done was wrong.

remember that in 2008, when sen. "straight talk" mccain and sen. "bush is a democrat" hagel try to tell you what "mavericks" they are. james garner was maverick. the so-called independent republicans - let's throw chris shays into the mix, too - are the frightened townspeople in "high noon," who know the bullies have taken over the town but are too afraid to speak up. yet come the next election, they're going to claim to be a "different kind of republican."

jesus christ almighty, when is a real hero going to step in and clean up this town?

footnote: liberal oasis writes up "straight talk" mccain's doubletalking, mealy-mouthed equivocations regarding rove and the betrayal of of intelligence secrets this sunday on abc's 'this week with stephanopoulos,' and crooks and liars has the video. maverick, my ass.

report says childhood poverty rose between 2000 and 2003 - the annie e- casey foundation says a half (m) million more american children were living in poverty in 2003 than in 2000.

in addition, the percentage of low-birthweight babies increased and infant mortality was up for the first time in 40 years.

the study also finds an increase in families where no parent has a full-time job, and a rise in the teen death rate.

the army, which expects to miss its 2005 recruiting goal by about 12,000, already is falling behind for next year.

the pool of recruits who sign up as much as a year before they report for training is dwindling.

...next year's recruits may also not be as qualified as this year's, because the army will be looking for enlistees it can quickly ship to basic training. that means recruits whose options are limited, "are not in school and not in a job," said cheney, chief operating officer of business executives for national security in washington, d.c.

.."if you think of the army as a watershed, their reservoir is about to run dry." - ustoady

pataki decides to forgo a 4th term as governor of new york - mr. pataki's announcement came as polls showed him trailing attorney general eliot spitzer, the democrat who hopes to succeed him as governor. but it sets the stage for mr. pataki to explore a possible run for president in 2008.

president bush says he won't publicly comment about the plame case while the investigation continues. but the reason the investigation continues is partly his fault. he should have determined early on who leaked plame's cia identity to members of the press, and dealt with it.

why didn't bush two years ago just ask karl rove and a few others in the administration whether they had leaked plame's identity to bob novak and the others? why doesn't he ask rove now? is it because he knows the answer? or because he doesn't want to have to fire rove?

as a precaution against such a catastrophe, bush now says he will fire anyone found to have broken the law by outing an undercover intelligence operative. previously he had said he would fire anyone who outs an intelligence officer, period. - l.a. times

or for the readers digest really short version....journalists gave plame's name to white house? we don't buy it.

british police arrest 4 men in connection with failed attacks - london, july 27 - in a major breakthrough in the london bombing investigation, british security forces arrested four men in birmingham early today, one of whom is believed to be a would-be suicide bomber in the attempted attack on subways and a bus on july 21.

some roberts documents released - eight senators want records of the high court nominee's work under kenneth starr, but the white house says they have enough to vet him. - other documents that the senate will not get include roberts' tax returns for the last three years, the washington post reported today, citing a shift in policy. instead, the irs will provide a one-page "tax check" summary of his three most recent returns. though it was not publicly announced at the time, a long-standing policy of requiring judicial nominees at all levels to release three years' of tax information was changed in 2001, when the bush administration took office, "to reduce the duplicative paperwork and streamline the process," white house spokeswoman dana perino told the post.

army probes guard unit - members of a california battalion in iraq are under investigation for alleged abuse of detainees and extortion of merchants.

a company of the california army national guard has been put on restricted duty and its battalion plunged into disarray amid allegations that battalion members mistreated detainees in iraq and extorted shopkeepers, according to military officials and members of the unit. [--snip--]

one high-ranking officer held a meeting with company leaders in recent weeks and declared that "this is us against them," — active-duty army investigators versus part-time "citizen soldiers" from the national guard — said the battalion member.

"there is a lot of fear," a second member of the battalion said. "there is a lot of uncertainty."

members of the battalion caused a stir last year when several were quoted in a times story expressing concerns that their training was poor and inadequate. some soldiers in the battalion blame its current woes on their allegedly poor training.

"this is a battalion that is just rotting," one said. "there is no trust in each other. there is no confidence in leadership." [--snip--]

among the allegations now under investigation is that at least six soldiers from the battalion took part in a scheme to extort money from iraqi shopkeepers, apparently in exchange for protection from insurgents.

the payments allegedly exceeded $30,000, two sources said, and were made in u.s. currency, according to one member of the battalion who has been briefed on the investigation. another soldier said the scheme allegedly was carried out during night patrols in the baghdad area.

for years, political insiders in the lone star state have whispered about rove’s close friendship with lobbyist karen johnson, a never-married, forty-something gop loyalist from austin, texas. the two first became close when johnson sat on the board of then-governor george w. bush’s business council over a decade ago. their friendship reportedly deepened after Bush appointed johnson—a little-known spokesperson for the texas good roads association—to a seat on his transportation department transition team in 2000. the plum appointment enabled johnson’s lobbying firm, infrastructure solutions, to snare such high-paying clients as aetna and the city of laredo. sources say johnson now frequently travels between washington d.c. and austin, where she frequently appears at rove’s side at parties and unofficial functions.

although there is no evidence that their relationship is anything but professional, the
close association between the married white house aide and the comely lobbyist has long raised eyebrows in conservative texas circles. asked about the pair, a prominent political journalist who has written extensively about rove says, “i’ve heard the stories, but i would never write about karl and karen. if you want to keep your job as a reporter in texas, you make believe you don’t see them together.”

in the post-lewinsky era, washington’s press corps has mostly avoided reporting on the private lives of public officials. but as the political climate in the capitol grows more poisonous, rove’s close friendship with the lobbyist has attracted increased scrutiny from opponents eager to prove that bush’s dirty trickster is sitting on some dirty laundry of his own.

asked to comment on rove’s relationship with johnson, a white house spokesman firmly declined to discuss the matter, saying that their relationship was “the business of these two individuals who have personal lives…i don’t think that’s something that the white house should comment on.” a new air of civility in washington? don’t count on it. - radar online and daily kos

extra! o'reilly and friedman form mccarthyite conglomerate

public trials to be broadcast live from fox tower

we learn from news hounds (via alternate brain) that bill o'reilly has started "naming" the "names" of what he calls "terrorist sympathizers," starting with bob herbert and the aclu (for demanding the us enforce the geneva conventions). His rabid guests from the wall street journal eagerly added the names of such terror-symps as michael moore and the bbc. o'reilly has apparently made an unholy compact with tom friedman of the times, who said just two days ago that "the excuse makers are just one notch less despicable than the terrorists and deserve to be exposed."

so the new mccarthyism is a movement - perhaps a coordinated one - and it's in "full effect," as the young people would say. o'reilly says that, given the gravity of his accusation, he will give each "terrorist sympathizer" the opportunity to come onto his show and respond. What does that remind you of? Here's one clue:

(rant continues here)

appellant griswold is executive director of the planned parenthood league of connecticut. appellant buxton is a licensed physician and a professor at the yale medical school, who served as medical director for the league at its center in new haven a center open and operating from november 1 to november 10, 1961, when appellants were arrested. they gave information, instructions, and medical advice to married persons as to the means of preventing conception. they examined the wife and prescribed the best contraceptive device or material for her use.

...would we allow the police to search the sacred precincts of marital bedrooms for telltale signs of the use of contraceptives? the very idea is repulsive to the notions of privacy surrounding the marriage relationship. we deal with a right of privacy older than the bill of rights older than our political parties, older than our school system. marriage is a coming together for better or for worse, hopefully enduring, and intimate to the degree of being sacred. it is an association that promotes a way of life, not causes; a harmony in living, not political faiths; a bilateral loyalty, not commercial or social projects. yet it is an association for as noble a purpose as any involved in our prior decisions.

for the first time, a study has found an increase in brain cancer deaths among gulf war veterans who might have been exposed to the nerve agent sarin by the destruction of iraqi weapons in 1991.

about 100,000 of the 350,000 army soldiers in the persian gulf could have been exposed to sarin after soldiers blew up two large ammunition caches in khamisiyah, iraq, in march 1991, according to a study commissioned by the military and performed by the institute of medicine. the institute advises the government on health policy. - ustoady

congress is scrambling to cover an embarrassing shortfall in funding for our nation's heroes. the department of veterans affairs will need more than $2 billion to pay for healthcare for troops returning from iraq. - abc

talib abu younes put his lips to a glass of tap water recently and watched worms swimming in the bottom.

electricity flickers on and off for two hours in muthana naim's south baghdad home then shuts off for four in boiling july heat that shoots above 120 degrees.

fadhel hussein boils buckets of sewage-contaminated water from the tigris river to wash the family's clothes.

the capital is crumbling around angry baghdadis. narrow concrete sewage pipes decay underground and water pipes leak out more than half the drinking water before it ever reaches a home, according to the u.s. military.

over 18 months, american officials spent almost $2 billion to revive the capital ravaged by war and neglect, according to army gen. william g. webster, who heads the 30,000 u.s. and foreign troops and 15,000 iraqi soldiers known collectively as task force baghdad. but the money goes for long-term projects that yield few visible results and for security to protect the construction sites from sabotage.

as a result, iraqis have seen scant evidence of improvement in their homes, streets or neighborhoods. they blame american and iraqi government corruption. -knight ridder.

nearly $9 billion of money spent on iraqi reconstruction is unaccounted for because of inefficiencies and bad management, according to a watchdog report...- cnn

once health regulators, now partners - private groups limit patient access to medical files, rarely punish doctors - the case illustrates how the private groups sometimes play a conflicted and controversial role. by law, qios, which are dominated by doctors and health executives, operate in secrecy with little oversight or accountability. consumers say they are difficult to contact and rarely uphold complaints. at the same time, the number of sanctions qios recommend against doctors each year has dwindled from hundreds to a few.

today, qios are also leading proponents of a new brand of regulation that favors cooperation over discipline. qios increasingly view themselves not as regulators but as partners of hospitals, nursing homes and doctors, working to improve care. some have leveraged their positions to become highly profitable businesses, paying generous salaries and perks to executives and board members. [--snip--]

the qios' expanding mission has been lucrative for some executives and board members. eleven qio executives collected $300,000 or more in salary and benefits, according to the latest tax records. thirty others received more than $200,000. highest-paid was martin margolies, chief executive of pronj in new jersey. he received $519,084 and had the use of a 2001 bmw, according to records and interviews.

jim anderson, chief financial officer for the new jersey qio, who was paid $309,860, offered several reasons for margolies's pay package. he said the 58-year-old executive, who has worked at pronj since 1977, was "one of, if not the longest-serving" qio managers. in addition, anderson said, margolies works 75 hours a week and is responsible for four affiliates, including a for-profit company.

bill wouldn't wean u.s. off oil imports, analysts say - despite repeated calls by president bush and members of congress to decrease u.s. dependence on oil imports, a major energy bill that appears headed for passage this week would not significantly reduce the country's need for foreign oil, according to analysts and interest groups.

the united states imports 58 percent of the oil it consumes. federal officials project that by 2025, the country will have to import 68 percent of its oil to meet demand. at best, analysts say, the energy legislation would slightly slow that rate of growth of dependence.

but the emerging package does not do what some analysts said would have the greatest impact on reducing u.s. oil demand and cutting imports: a requirement to increase fuel-efficiency standards for trucks and cars. under strong pressure from the automobile industry, the house and senate rejected higher efficiency standards. lawmakers argued that doing so would require redesigns that would make vehicles unsafe and result in a loss of manufacturing jobs -- arguments sharply disputed by advocates of fuel efficiency.

the united states consumes more than 20 million barrels of oil a day, an amount forecast to grow steadily. the house-senate conference committee rejected a measure calling on the president to reduce oil consumption by 1 million barrels a day by 2015. the bush administration opposed the provision, saying it would require increasing fuel-efficiency standards beyond what technology would allow at an affordable price.

new name for 'war on terror' reflects wider u.s. campaign - washington, july 25 - the bush administration is retooling its slogan for the fight against al qaeda and other terrorist groups, pushing the idea that the long-term struggle is as much an ideological battle as a military mission, senior administration and military officials said monday.

in recent speeches and news conferences, defense secretary donald h. rumsfeld and the nation's senior military officer have spoken of "a global struggle against violent extremism" rather than "the global war on terror," which had been the catchphrase of choice. administration officials say that phrase may have outlived its usefulness, because it focused attention solely, and incorrectly, on the military campaign.

skirmish over a query about roberts's faith - an opinion-page article in the los angeles times on monday by jonathan turley, a george washington university law professor, included an account of mr. durbin's question. professor turley cited unnamed sources saying that judge roberts had told mr. durbin he would recuse himself from cases involving abortion, the death penalty or other subjects where catholic teaching and civil law can clash.

a spokesman for mr. durbin and senator john cornyn, republican of texas, who spoke to judge roberts on monday about the meeting, said professor turley's account of a recusal statement was inaccurate.

but in an interview last night, professor turley said mr. durbin himself had described the conversation to him on sunday morning, including the statement about recusal.

bush to seek more funding for faith-based charities - he tells black leaders that he will pressure corporate foundations to adjust their policies. - his pledge marked a return to an issue that he first raised in may 2001, when he told a commencement audience at the university of notre dame: "the federal government will not discriminate against faith-based organizations, and neither should corporate america." [--snip--]

although bush has had some success in redirecting government dollars and shifting the debate about the line between church and state, he may find corporations a harder sell. companies are loath to risk alienating customers by wading into topics as emotional as religion.

many companies give to groups such as habitat for humanity and the salvation army, which have religious components but are considered credible charities. experts said corporate foundations tended to adhere to strict guidelines, giving only to established groups and benign causes such as education and the arts.

vice president dick cheney is leading a white house lobbying effort to block legislation offered by republican senators that would regulate the detention, treatment and trials of detainees held by the american military.

in an unusual, 30-minute private meeting on capitol hill on thursday night, mr. cheney warned three senior republicans on the armed services committee that their legislation would interfere with the president's authority and his ability to protect americans against terrorist attacks.

the legislation, which is still being drafted, includes provisions to bar the military from hiding prisoners from the red cross; prohibit cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees; and use only interrogation techniques authorized in a new army field manual.

...on thursday, just before mr. cheney's meeting, the white house warned in a blunt statement that senate approval of a republican or democratic amendment was likely to prompt mr. bush's top advisers to recommend he veto the measure. - nytimes

“a report by maj. gen. antonio taguba on the abuse at the prison outside baghdad says videotapes and photographs show naked detainees, and that groups of men were forced to masturbate while being photographed and videotaped. taguba also found evidence of a ‘male mp guard having sex with a female detainee.’ “rumsfeld told congress the unrevealed photos and videos contain acts 'that can only be described as blatantly sadistic, cruel and inhuman.’”

..“basically what happened is that those women who were arrested with young boys/children in cases that have been recorded. the boys were sodomized with the cameras rolling. the worst about all of them is the soundtrack of the boys shrieking that your government has. they are in total terror it's going to come out.” - editor and publisher

roberts listed in federalist society '97-98 directory - court nominee said he has no memory of membership - supreme court nominee john g. roberts jr. has repeatedly said that he has no memory of belonging to the federalist society, but his name appears in the influential, conservative legal organization's 1997-1998 leadership directory. [--snip--]

roberts has burnished his legal image carefully. when news organizations have reported his membership in the society, he or others speaking on his behalf have sought corrections. last week, the white house told news organizations that had reported his membership in the group that he had no memory of belonging. the washington post, the los angeles times, usa today and the associated press printed corrections.

over the weekend, the post obtained a copy of the federalist society lawyers' division leadership directory, 1997-1998. it lists roberts, then a partner at the law firm hogan & hartson, as a member of the steering committee of the organization's washington chapter and includes his firm's address and telephone number.

yesterday, white house spokeswoman dana perino said roberts "has no recollection of being a member of the federalist society, or its steering committee." roberts has acknowledged taking part in some federalist society activities, perino said.

modified genes from crops in a gm crop trial have transferred into
local wild plants, creating a form of herbicide-resistant"superweed", the guardian can reveal.

the cross-fertilisation between gm oilseed rape, a brassica, and a distantly related plant, charlock, had been discounted as virtually impossible by scientists with the environment department. it was found during a follow up to the government's three-year trials of gm crops which ended two years ago.

the new form of charlock was growing among many others in a field which had been used to grow gm rape. when scientists treated it with lethal herbicide it showed no ill-effects. - the guardian

bomber kills 40 in baghdad - the blast is iraq's fourth major attack recently, adding to the growing pressure on politics. - baghdad — a suicide bomber aiming to blow up an iraqi police station killed 40 people sunday when his explosives-laden truck detonated as he maneuvered across a highway median in east baghdad, the u.s. military said.

some of the victims were incinerated in their cars by the blast, which u.s. military officials estimated had the force of nearly 500 pounds of tnt. the explosion destroyed 18 vehicles, a line of shops and a house. u.s. troops and iraqi police rushed to the scene of the bombing in a poor neighborhood that is home mainly to shiite muslims.

the bombing, the fourth major blast in two weeks, occurred as the transitional national assembly continued to struggle with the fallout from last week's assassination of a sunni arab member of the constitution-writing committee.

congregation doesn't fault father over son - a whittier pastor has the support of his parish after it is revealed that he has a 12-year-old son. parishioners offered support for their pastor on sunday after it was revealed that he is the father of a 12-year-old son and had recently faced a legal battle over child support payments.

in a short statement read on his behalf, father arturo uribe said he takes his child support commitment seriously and that his religious order, the redemptorists, was paying more than what was required by the courts.

after the statement was read at the end of the 9:30 a.m. mass, parishioners reacted with loud, sustained applause. at the next mass, reaction was more muted. [--snip--]

uribe this month faced a legal battle with stephanie collopy, whom he met in 1991 in portland, ore., when he was working as a seminarian. the two had a seven-month relationship that ended when she told uribe she was pregnant. their son was born in february 1993; uribe has never seen his child.

in 1994, just before uribe was ordained as a priest, the redemptorists agreed to pay monthly child support payments to collopy and she agreed to drop a lawsuit. this month, collopy asked a court to raise the monthly $323 child support payments she receives, citing her son's chronic asthma, allergies, his numerous prescriptions and her unemployment.

collopy also asked the court to place her son on his father's health insurance plan. the court sided with uribe, who argued that his vow of poverty means that he does not have the money to support his son and that his insurance plan does not cover children. the judge, however, said uribe must request that his insurer make some provision for his son.

shots to the heart of iraq - angered by the growing number of unarmed civilians killed by american troops in recent weeks, the iraqi government criticized the shootings and called on u.s. troops to exercise greater care.

u.s. officials have repeatedly declined requests to disclose the number of civilians killed in such incidents. police in baghdad say they have received reports that u.s. forces killed 33 unarmed civilians and injured 45 in the capital between may 1 and july 12 — an average of nearly one fatality every two days. this does not include incidents that occurred elsewhere in the country or were not reported to the police.

the continued shooting of civilians is fueling a growing dislike of the united states and undermining efforts to convince the public that american soldiers are here to help. the victims have included doctors, journalists, a professor — the kind of people the u.s. is counting on to help build an open and democratic society.

"of course the shootings will increase support for the opposition," said farraji, 49, who was named a police general with u.s. approval. "the hatred of the americans has increased. i myself hate them."

someone get the feeling that someone "upstairs" doesn't like jeb?

we all know how far radiation can travel. radiation from chernobyl reached wales and in britain you sometimes get red dust from the sahara on your car." the speaker is not some alarmist doom-sayer. he is dr. chris busby, the british radiation expert, fellow of the university of liverpool in the faculty of medicine and uk representative on the european committee on radiation risk,
talking about the best-kept secret of this war: the fact that, by illegally using hundreds of tons of depleted uranium (du) against iraq, britain and america have gravely endangered not only the iraqis but the whole world. -coastal post online

a cloud of dust from the sahara desert could move over large sections of florida by early next week, although forecasters do not expect the system to cause widespread problems or pose any serious health risks.

the massive cloud - nearly the size of the continental united states - should arrive between monday and wednesday. dust clouds, especially at this time of year, are not uncommon. - gainesville.com

"every time i interview lance after a tour de france, i am moved to see the hundreds of cancer survivors waiting outside to catch a glimpse of him. last year a young boy was among them, his mother in tears, saying how she had told her son during his struggle that he would survive just like lance. ... lance armstrong's greatest achievement is pulling cancer patients up the french alps with him on the tour de france, inspiring them to never give up even no matter the odds. and in inspiring the sick and suffering, he reminds us all to have the heart to win." - ann curry, nbc's todaynews anchor (ustoady)

judith coburn has written a thoughtful, detailed report on one of the most glaring journalistic failures in iraq. "publishing or pronouncing the names of the american dead everyday without ever mentioning the names of the iraqi dead offers a powerful message that only american dying matters," she writes. "but there's no way to count, protest american journalists. what they mean is that the pentagon doesn't count for them. ... the lack of 'official' figures, however, shouldn't absolve the media—or americans—from their blindness to iraqi suffering, since available figures, incomplete as they are, are staggering for a guerrilla war." a recent study documented 25,000 civilian deaths in iraq since the war began (almost certainly a low estimate). baghdad's main mortuary "looks more like a bus station: dozens of minibuses line up as crowds of men stream in with empty wooden coffins, then out again bearing loaded ones on their shoulders, chanting prayers as they go." according to war correspondent oliver poole, "the people of baghdad do not need statistics to tell them that they are living through terror unimaginable in the west. every two days for the past two years more civilians have died in iraq than in the july 7 london bombings."

sony bmg music entertainment, the nation's second-largest music company, is expected as early as monday to agree to a settlement with new york atty. gen. eliot spitzer in a payola investigation, said sources familiar with the talks.

sony bmg is one of four record companies that spitzer subpoenaed last fall as part of his inquiry into whether music corporations were skirting payola laws by hiring intermediaries to influence which songs were heard on public airwaves. should sony bmg reach an accord with spitzer, it would be the first settlement in the investigation.

...insiders at other record companies said they expected that a sony bmg settlement would spur other music corporations to agree to similar deals with spitzer's office. those executives said whatever fine sony bmg might accept probably would also set the standard for other companies, which would be fined in proportion to each company's share of the u.s. market. - latimes

kcra 3 has obtained a memo that warns california hospitals they should consider themselves potential al-qaida targets.

earlier this month, the u.s. government learned that hospitals across the country could be terror targets, which is why the california hospital association sent a letter to hospitals statewide, warning them of the threat.

in the letter, the california department of homeland security warns that al-qaida may be planning attacks on hospitals in september or october of this year.

• john bolton was regular source for judith miller wmd and national security reporting - the washington note
• msnbc stands by its story that bolton gave testimony to the grand jury about the state department memo in question.
• john bolton did not disclose any legal proceedings he'd recently been involved in as required for his confirmation hearings.

former u.s. intelligence officers criticized president bush on friday for not disciplining karl rove in connection with the leak of the name of a cia officer, saying bush's lack of action has jeopardized national security.

..."i wouldn't be here this morning if president bush had done the one thing required of him as commander in chief _ protect and defend the constitution," said larry johnson, a former cia analyst. "the minute that valerie plame's identity was outed, he should have delivered a strict and strong message to his employees."

...johnson, who said he is a registered republican, said he wished a gop lawmaker would have the courage to stand up and "call the ugly dog the ugly dog."

"where are these men and women with any integrity to speak out against this?" johnson asked. "i expect better behavior out of republicans." - wapo

another 100+ day instore for us again today.

"the karl rove controversy highlights the hypocrisy infecting washington's most powerful politicians and reporters.

republicans are quickly lining up to support mr. rove, while democrats are calling for his head. massachusetts senator john kerry has called for rove's resignation — a silly suggestion from a silly man.

but there is nothing funny about the republican's treatment of the rove affair.

assuming rove leaked a cia agent's identity to time magazine, gop leaders should be lining up to condemn the white house wizard's actions. why? because they would have shredded a democratic administration for outing an undercover cia agent during a time of war.

imagine bill clinton's top political advisor leaking a cia agent's identity because of the actions of the agent's spouse. republicans, including yours truly, would have been demanding that official's resignation at once. but with one of their own in the white house, republicans are instead focusing their attacks on former ambassador joe wilson.

.... do republicans suggest that a cia agent can be called out during a time of war because of their spouse's misdeeds?

...if so, it is a frightening new world for undercover agents who are paid to protect our country."

republican theft...coming back to haunt them like a bad penny

coingate!

tom noe converted millions of dollars in ohio money for personal use, while using a “ponzi” scheme to hide what was taking place within his $50 million state-funded rare-coin venture, the state’s top attorney charged today.

attorney general jim petro said there is evidence that mr. noe may have pocketed nearly $4 million in money invested with him through the ohio bureau of workers’ compensation, including a $1.375 million wire transfer to tom noe, inc., a company mr. noe owned and controlled, on the same day he received the first of two $25 million payments from the ohio bureau of workers’ compensation in 1998. - toledo
blade

bloomberg news has slotted a story alleging that senior bush advisor karl rove and vice president dick cheney's chief of staff 'scooter' libby provided false testimony to the special prosecutor to a washington-based grand jury, raw story has been told.

unhitchin'

enough christopher hitchens, already. he did great work on kissinger and several other topics, but he's spent the last several years saying supposedly "outrageous" things in an increasingly desperate bid for attention. i've knocked him around for it a few times, as have others, but finally it got too easy. it's like slapping a rottweiler puppy - it doesn't take much effort to do, but in the end you feel soiled and you've only helped it reveal its true nature.

yesterday salon's always-terrific war room (subscription required) picked up his shrill attack on the wilsons and defense of rove. hey, that's a great way to draw some attention to myself! I'll defend karl rove! and liberal avenger, among others, picks up on his deceitful rant against ron reagan regarding the Iraqi war.

I\in the heat and light of argument, a couple of items get lost. the first is that his arguments, while vociferous and personal, don't make much sense. they are the simulacra of rational arguments, containing enough ersatz facts and pseudo-logic to appear real. but under it? nothing. the second is that his writing is not very good these days.

anyone who's ever been in a fifth-grade classroom knows there's always a kid - usually smart, but maladjusted - who'll do or say anything for negative attention. and they know the best thing to do is ignore him. if you chastise him for making fart noises, pretty soon he'll end up strangling the classroom's pet mouse.

war room, we agree he's being sleazy, but just drop it. liberal avenger, he's worth no more than an indifferent shrug. without attention the dyspeptic old tart with just wither up and drift away. with it, he'll continue on his campaign to become the ann coulter of the ex-left.

incidents on the tube - 1315 we're getting new reports of a "series of incidents" on the tube network. warren street, oval and shepherd's bush tubes have all been evacuated, and emergency services are attending. services on the victoria line and northern line have been suspended.

sky news is reporting a minor explosion on one tube at 1254. a passenger's backpack blew apart, but did not cause further damage. there was panic on the train, but passengers were able to disembark.

iraqis not ready to fight rebels on their own, u.s. says -- washington, july 20 - about half of iraq's new police battalions are still being established and cannot conduct operations, while the other half of the police units and two-thirds of the new army battalions are only "partially capable" of carrying out counterinsurgency missions, and only with american help, according to a newly declassified pentagon assessment.

only "a small number" of iraqi security forces are capable of fighting the insurgency without american assistance, while about one-third of the army is capable of "planning, executing and sustaining counterinsurgency operations" with allied support, the analysis said. [--snip--]

level 1 units are able to plan, execute and sustain independent counterinsurgency operations. by late last month, american commanders said, only 3 of the 107 military and paramilitary battalions had achieved that standard. at the lower end, level 4 units are just forming and cannot conduct operations. units graded at levels in between need some form of allied support, often supplies, communications and intelligence. [--snip--]

about a half of their police battalions are still being formed and are "not yet capable of conducting operations," general pace wrote.

the active denial system weapon, classified as "less lethal" by the pentagon, fires a 95-gigahertz microwave beam at rioters to cause heating and intolerable pain in less than five seconds.
the idea is people caught in the beam will rapidly try to move out of it and therefore break up the crowd.

but new scientist magazine reported on wednesday that during tests carried out at kirtland air force base in new mexico, participants playing the part of rioters were told to remove glasses and contact lenses to protect their eyes.

in another test they were also told to remove metal objects like coins from their clothing to avoid local hot spots developing on their skin. - abcnews

iraq's justice minister on tuesday accused the united states of trying to delay iraqi efforts to interrogate saddam hussein, saying "it seems there are lots of secrets they want to hide."

..."there should be transparency and there should be frankness, but there are secrets that if revealed, won't be in the interest of many countries," he said. "who was helping saddam all those years?"

shandal said he was speaking with the authority of a cabinet minister who personally nominated several of the judges on the tribunal and was in close contact with the investigators. - ustoady

• $8.8 billion dollars in unaccounted for iraq reconstruction funds?
• allegations that the former coalition provisional authority was involved in election fraud?
• chaos in the training of iraq's security force?

saudi arabia's u.s. ambassador, prince bandar bin sultan, is resigning for what the saudi foreign ministry said wednesday were "private
reasons.'' - the guardian

guy who has his own cable-tv show comes onto your cable-tv show and calls you a slang term for a piece of male anatomy. a clip of that moment—also including his assertions that you, and others like you, are “hurting america”—gets widely circulated thanks to the internet. in large part because of the clip, you are fired from your aforementioned cable show. but being a resourceful person,
you find a new job at a competing network. and when it comes time to promote your new home, where do you decide to advertise?

introducing bob, uh, i mean, john roberts

best 2-word description of john roberts is by atrios:

made man.

can't improve on that. won't try.

("bob roberts" was, of course, the folksinging conservative hero played by tim robbins. His biggest hit was "the times are a-changin' back." wonder why he came to mind?)

[ed. note: spontaneous arising points out that billmon's mind runs in the same gutters as rj's...and here's a link to an interview with bob roberts' creator, tim robbins.]

caribou coffee company, inc., the large minnesota-based chain of premium coffeehouses trying to compete with starbucks, describes itself as “a classic american growth company” with “the look and feel of an alaskan lodge.” but, in fact, caribou is not “classic american.” it is owned by the bahrain-based first islamic investment bank—to the tune of 87.8%.

first islamic’s officers and board of directors consist primarily of saudis, and its key religious advisor is al-qaradawi, spiritual advisor to the terrorist group, the muslim brotherhood, according to one of daniel pearl’s last wall street journal articles. al-qaradawi’s association with the muslim brotherhood—home to mohammed atta and bin-laden boss ayman al-zawahiri--is the reason al-qaradawi was imprisoned for several years in egypt and was banned from preaching in cairo mosques. in addition to praising homicide bombers, al-qaradawi has issued numerous anti-american and
anti-semitic fatwas, including a boycott of american and israel products. -political usa (thanks to democratic veteran for the linkage)

"it is with reluctance that we have accepted dr. yusuf abdullah al-qaradawi's long contemplated decision to retire from his position as chairman of first islamic's shari'ah supervisory board. dr. al-qaradawi has acted as chairman of the bank's shari'ah board since its inception in 1997 and we are grateful for his wise counsel and service to first islamic. - media moniters network

our compliance with shari’ah principles may make it difficult for us to obtain financing and may limit the products we sell.our majority shareholder operates its business and makes its investments in a manner consistent with the body of islamic principles known as shari’ah. consequently, we operate our business in a manner that is consistent with shari’ah principles and will continue to do so for so long as arcapita is a significant shareholder. shari’ah principles regarding the lending and borrowing of money are complicated, requiring application of qualitative and quantitative standards. the negotiation and documentation of financing that is compliant with these principles are generally complex and time consuming. as such, if we have immediate liquidity needs, we may not be able to obtain financing that is compliant with shari’ah principles on a timely basis. a shari’ah-compliant company is prohibited from engaging in derivative hedging transactions such as interest rate swaps or futures, forward options or other instruments designed to hedge against changes in interest rates or the price of commodities we purchase. also, a shari’ah-compliant company is prohibited from dealing in the areas of alcohol, gambling, pornography, pork and pork-related products. - blah3.com

southland log homes, inc is the largest and most sophisticated manufacturer and marketer of pre-cut log home kits in north america.

church’s chicken is one of the world’s largest quick-service chicken restaurant concepts.

loehmann’s holdings, inc. is a leading off-price specialty retailer in the united states.

tlc health care services, inc. is one of the largest home healthcare and hospice services providers, and one of the largest medicare home care service providers, in the united states.

smart document solutions, llc is a leading health document processor in the united states.

destination outdoors, inc. is the holding company for yakima products, inc., a leading manufacturer of multi sport racks and rack accessories for automobile

report tallies almost 25,000 civilians slain - many iraqis were killed by u.s.-led forces and criminals as well as insurgents between the invasion and march 19, antiwar groups say. - baghdad — violence in iraq left nearly 25,000 civilians dead and 42,500 injured in the two years after the u.s.-led invasion began in march 2003, according to a detailed compilation and analysis of news reports released tuesday by a pair of britain-based groups opposed to the war. [--snip--]

a close look at the timing of civilian deaths caused by the u.s. military show that they occurred mainly in three periods. the vast majority happened between march 20 and april 9, 2003. the other two peaks were during battles in fallouja in 2004, when u.s.-led troops mounted large-scale operations aimed at rooting out insurgents in which civilians also died, according to the report.

by contrast, the number of civilian deaths resulting from attacks by insurgents, criminals and unknown individuals was almost zero during and just after the major combat phase of the war, but then rose fairly steadily and in most months far outstripped the deaths blamed on the u.s.

pentagon says china seeks to extend military reach- with the arms buildup, beijing could flex its muscle across asia, the report cautions. - washington — china has long-term ambitions to extend its power across the asian continent and its leaders in the future "may be tempted to resort to force or coercion more quickly to press diplomatic advantage, advance security interests or resolve disputes," the pentagon told congress on tuesday. [--snip--]

the more hawkish report comes at a time the defense department is conducting a top-to-bottom review of its own arsenal. the high-level assessment — known as the quadrennial defense review — will serve as the blueprint for military budgets for the next four years, and some in the defense department point out that a growing threat from china helps the pentagon justify multibillion-dollar weapons that would be ill-suited for fighting amorphous terrorist networks.

a state department memo that has caught the attention of prosecutors describes a
cia officer's role in sending her husband to africa and disputes administration claims that iraq was shopping for uranium, a retired department official said tuesday.

the classified memo was sent to air force one just after former u.s. ambassador joseph wilson went public with his assertions that the bush administration overstated the evidence that iraq was interested in obtaining uranium from niger for nuclear weapons. - ap

during the run-up to the war, cheney's office served as sort of a clearing house for phony iraq intel, with the vp pressuring the cia to come up with better, stronger, more compelling intelligence to 'prove saddam hussein posed an imminent threat. one way cheney made his feelings known was through a series of unprecedented trips to langley, va., where he met with cia analysts. cheney's office said the visits were routine. inside the agency, where everyone understood that if cheney really wanted to look over cia intel reports all he had to do was ask and they'd be delivered to his desk within hours, the heavy-handed sit-downs were seen as obvious attempts to intimidate the work being done. - eric boehlert at the huffington post

the white house calculated--correctly--that before anyone would make an issue of the fact that this key piece of "intelligence" was based on a forgery, congress would vote yes. the war could then be waged and won. in recent weeks, administration officials have begun spreading the word that cheney was never told the iraq-niger story was based on a forgery. i asked a senior official who recently served at the national security council if he thought that was possible. he pointed out that rigorous nsc procedures call for a very specific response to all vice presidential questions and added that "the fact that cheney's office had originally asked that the iraq-niger report be checked out makes it inconceivable that his office would not have been informed of the results." - ray mcgovern, a cia analyst from 1964 to 1990,

multiple visits to the cia by the united states vice-president, dick cheney, created an environment in which some analysts felt they were being pressured to make their assessments on iraq fit with bush administration policy objectives, intelligence officials said.

they said mr cheney and his chief of staff, "scooter" libby, questioned analysts studying iraq's weapons programs and alleged links to al-qaeda.

...the visits "sent signals, intended or otherwise, that a certain output was desired from here", one agency official said. - wapo via smh.com.au

on the d.c. circuit, roberts voted with two colleagues to uphold the arrest and detention of a 12-year-old girl for eating french fries on a metro train, though his opinion noted, "no one is very happy about the events that led to this litigation." in another case, roberts wrote a dissenting opinion that suggested congress might lack the constitutional power to regulate the treatment of a certain species of wildlife. -wapo

a human rights group has sued three u.s. companies in federal court in los angeles to force them to step up efforts to end child labor on african farms that supply cocoa beans used to make chocolate products.

the international labor right fund filed suit on behalf of former child laborers against nestle, archer daniels midland co. and privately held cargill inc. on thursday claiming the companies are involved in trafficking, torture and forced labor of mali children who were enslaved to work on ivory coast farms.

the lawsuit comes soon after u.s. and european chocolate and cocoa industry missed a july 1 deadline imposed by federal law for adopting protocols to eliminate child labor from the west african cocoa supply chain.

u.s. sen. tom harkin, one of the protocol's authors, said earlier this month he was disappointed that the industry had been unable to certify that its chocolate products were not made with child labor but was satisfied it was "committed to moving forward." - reuters.uk

moved by the sworn testimony of u.s. officials and human-rights advocates that the 91 percent of the workforce who were immigrants -- from china, the
philippines, sri lanka and bangladesh -- were being paid barely half the u.s. minimum hourly wage and were forced to live behind barbed wire in squalid shacks
minus plumbing, work 12 hours a day, often seven days a week, without any of the legal protections u.s. workers are guaranteed, murkowski wrote a bill to extend the protection of u.s. labor and minimum-wage laws to the workers in the u.s.. territory of the northern marianas.

so compelling was the case for change the alaska republican marshaled that in early 2000, the u.s. senate unanimously passed the murkowski worker reform bill.

but one man primarily stopped the u.s. house from even considering that worker-reform bill: then-house republican whip tom delay. - more at cnn

rep. george miller just joined us in hour one. learn more about rep. miller's work on the marianas islands through his website: http://www.house.gov/georgemiller/

yesterday, rep. miller wrote a letter to the doJ providing more providing more information on the poor conditions in the deregulated commonwealth of the northern marianas (cnmi). read the letter, as it provides a background to the working conditions there, and the role of jack abramoff and his associates in lobbying against worker protections.

i have a partner of 23 years and i have a cocker spaniel who turned two--what’s today?--she turned two on friday, june 4th. little billie, named after billie holiday, one of my favorite singers. and i thought, you know, a little gender confusion makes a better person. a little adversity in life at an early age. it’s character building.

I found that on the lesbian/bi site afterellen, which i discovered through the links thread on amanda's "girl pop" post. hey! santorum, falwell, and all your pals -- i know this is what you're trying to crush, this idea that someone like lesley gore can just come out and talk about her life, like she thinks she has a right to walk the earth right out there in the sunshine.

you want to roll the clock back to the repressed times of the 50's and 60's, times when quiet suffering went on in many homes and hearts while the mass-produced "ideal american family" existed only in tv shows and politician's speeches.

well, guess what? out here in the real world, there are millions of different kinds of ideal families. some even include longtime gay couples where one partner used to be a "girl singer" and there's a cocker spaniel playing on the floor. you don't like that world? too f**kin' bad. i do, and so do my pals, and we're gonna fight to keep it around. as hard as you keep resisting it, that's how hard we'll keep defending it.

some democrats will try to play along with you and your kind. it's called "triangulating." me, I'll stand up for the pink triangle instead.

culture wars? maybe. i call it the right to be who you are, the same right that made a lot of people get into leaky wooden boats and cross the atlantic a couple of centuries ago. so I'll see you on the battle lines, rick. and i'll be keeping you away from the cocker spaniel - we know what kind of thoughts you have about dogs.

after four years of public vituperation against the investigation of the iran-contra affair, abrams was finally run to earth in 1991, pleading guilty to two misdemeanor counts of lying to congress under oath, in order to avoid felony charges. white house spokesman ari fleischer called abrams “an outstanding diplomat” and said the president considered his legal troubles “a matter of the past.” - wsws.org

elliott abrams, a former assistant secretary of state under ronald reagan, was appointed earlier this summer by mr bush to the office for democracy, human rights and international operations. in 1991, mr abrams, who once described himself as a "gladiator" for president reagan's policies in central america, pleaded guilty to two misdemeanours. he had illegally withheld information from the investigation into the iran-contra affair, in which arms were sold to iran and the proceeds illegally funnelled to contra forces waging war against the leftwing sandinista government in nicaragua.

mr abrams was sentenced to two years' probation and 100 hours of community service, but was pardoned by george bush senior in 1991 - the guardian

"...last night i got an email from a longtime reader who is a retired us ambassador, a career foreign service officer and asia specialist"

...when you're on air force one, you are in a confined space. if someone -- anyone -- read that memo, they could have walked 10 feet and shared it with anyone else. all the bureaucratic boundaries of washington break down when you're in one of those situations. you're all together. bloomberg said that ari fleischer was seen reading it. plus according to other accounts, he started telling reporters on board that they should ask about how it was that wilson got to go on the trip. plus we know that ari made phone calls from the plane -- they could have been to rove, libby, novak, or whoever, to alert them to what he had just read. when rove says "I never read anything/saw any memo," he could very well be right. but someone should have asked him, "did you hear about the memo? did someone describe its contents to you?"

fiorina is paid $1 million a year and is eligible for bonuses based on the company's performance. when she was appointed hp's chief executive in 1999, media reports at the time estimated fiorina received a compensation package worth as much as $90 million.

..hewlett, an hp director who has led a proxy fight to derail the merger, alleged that fiorina and compaq chairman and ceo michael capellas were lobbying for the deal in part because they stood reap a financial windfall of more than $115 million in compensation, including bonuses and stock options, should the deal go through - eweek.com
(2002)

fiorina, whose six years at hp's helm brought a hotly contested $25 billion merger with rival compaq computer corp. and a 30 percent drop in hp's stock price, received a $21 million mostly cash payout, known in compensation circles as a golden handshake. - post gazette (2005)

computer and printer maker hewlett-packard co. said tuesday it will cut 14,500 jobs and overhaul its retirement program in a restructuring plan designed to save $1.9 billion annually and bring costs closer to those of competitors. - ap

studies: war radicalized most foreign fighters in iraq - saudi and israeli studies show that most foreign fighters were not terrorists before iraq war.

the globe also reports that american intelligence officials and terrorism experts have a very similar picture of these fighters: that prior to the iraq war, they were not extremists who wanted to attack the us in an al qaeda-like manner, but "are part of a new generation of terrorists responding to calls to defend their fellow muslims from 'crusaders and 'infidels.' "

law impedes flow of immunity in a vial - linda swim, who has a serious immune deficiency, went through two frantic months this spring when she was unable to receive the treatment she usually gets every month.

her doctor stopped treating her when medicare reduced its reimbursement. then three hospitals near her home in irving, tex., refused to accept her before her doctor finally found a clinic that would.

"if you've got insurance and you've got a life-threatening illness, why the devil won't they treat you?" said ms. swim, who faces an increased risk of serious infections without the treatment.

8 iraqis killed in attack on minivan - baqubah, iraq — gunmen in two cars opened fire on a minibus full of iraqis traveling to work at a u.s. base today, killing eight of them and injuring the driver, officials said.

the attack took place about three miles north of baqubah on the road to khalis. a relative of one of the victims confirmed that the iraqis worked at the american base in khalis.

on monday, at least 25 police, soldiers and government workers were slain in a series of ambushes and shootings, officials said. the deadliest attack was in the western baghdad district of khadra, where eight policemen died in a gun battle with insurgents, police said.

gunmen also killed at least five other police officers, including a colonel, in attacks around the capital, police and hospital officials said. three civilian government employees were killed in separate ambushes in baghdad, police reported.

a policeman died in a shootout between insurgents and security forces just north of baghdad in taji, police said. in samarra, 60 miles north of baghdad, gunmen killed a police colonel, an interior ministry official and three iraqi soldiers.

in the north, gunmen killed two iraqi soldiers in eastern mosul and assassinated abdul-ghani naimi, whose brother is a member of the iraqi parliament.

elsewhere, a car bomb targeted u.s. and iraqi troops in rawah, 175 miles northwest of baghdad, witnesses reported. at least one person, believed to have been a civilian, was killed, the witnesses said.

from prison to a paradise for atm - an l.a. man wrongly incarcerated for 18 years invested lawsuit money in cash machines. he's now in hawaii, and still pinching himself. dewayne mckinney has made a fortune selling convenience. he owns cash machines at nightclubs, pedestrian malls and other busy locations across the island of oahu. whenever a tourist withdraws cash, mckinney takes a cut. [--snip--]

mckinney could be forgiven for wondering if this could possibly be happening to him. until 5 1/2 years ago, he was in a california prison, serving a life sentence for murder. [--snip--]

investigators with the public defender's office contacted two of the trial witnesses whose testimony had helped put mckinney behind bars. shown a photo of the man implicated by the prisoners, the witnesses said that he — not mckinney — was the gunman.

in the summer of 2002, the city of orange paid $1.7 million to settle mckinney's lawsuit against its police department and the detective who built the case against him. [--snip--]

"if i wasn't careful, it would be gone and it wouldn't benefit anyone," mckinney said of the money. "i just put it in the bank and tried to find the best interest i could." [--snip--]

then, something clicked at a men's group meeting at zoe christian fellowship in whittier. the participants included a walt disney co. executive, the owner of an advertising firm and the head of a construction company.

the ad man mentioned that deregulation had made it possible for individuals to buy and operate automated teller machines. [--snip--]

"i was working and selling since i was a kid. selling papers. washing dishes. bagging groceries. selling candy. cut people's grass. everything i wanted, i worked and saved for all my life." [--snip--]

"i've just been lucky. i rely on my intuition a lot. i don't have a [college] degree. the way i look at it, god is still watching out for his boy. what else could it be?" he said.

in january, he marked the fifth anniversary of his release from prison. it was like any other day in paradise.

u.s. criticized on iraq rebuilding - iraqi and international officials contend that washington's effort is not moving fast enough. more loans are pledged for reconstruction.

they said the united states' $18.4-billion effort had fallen short of restoring essential services such as power, water and sanitation. the criticism reflected a growing belief in iraq and elsewhere that the bush administration had bungled the reconstruction by giving billions to private corporations to tackle major infrastructure projects.

"it is now clear that these mega projects, though essential, have not succeeded in providing quickly enough for iraqis' basic needs," said barham salih, iraq's minister of planning and development cooperation. "iraqis throughout the country remain dissatisfied." [--snip--]

more than $6 billion in u.s. funds and billions more in iraqi money have been spent so far, but the country's electricity supply is far from meeting demand; oil production is below prewar levels; and barely half of iraqis report having access to safe, stable supplies of drinking water.

unemployment is estimated at between 25% and 50%; fuel and food subsidies have resulted in a significant budget deficit; u.s. and iraqi audits have been unable to account for billions in spending; and at least three u.s. officials and scores of iraqis, including two former government ministers, are facing corruption charges.

in addition, more than 350 contractors working on reconstruction have been killed; scores have been kidnapped. insurgents have also targeted iraqi civilians working with u.s. firms.