Foley To Resign Over Sexually Explicit Messages to Minors

Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL) planned to resign today, hours after ABC questioned him about sexually explicit internet messages with current and former Congressional pages under the age of 18.

A spokesman for Foley, the chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children, said the congressman submitted his resignation in a letter late this afternoon to Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert.

Hours earlier, ABC News had read excerpts of instant messages provided by former male pages who said the congressman, under the AOL Instant Messenger screen name Maf54, made repeated references to sexual organs and acts.

Pedophile

Take UK troops out of Iraq, senior military told ministers
Army chiefs wanted to move forces to Afghanistan but were prevented for political reasons

Senior military officers have been pressing the government to withdraw British troops from Iraq and concentrate on what they now regard as a more worthwhile and winnable battleground in Afghanistan.

They believe there is a limit to what British soldiers can achieve in southern Iraq and that it is time the Iraqis took responsibility for their own security, defence sources say. Pressure from military chiefs for an early and significant cut in the 7,500 British troops in Iraq is also motivated by extreme pressure being placed on soldiers and those responsible for training them.

"What is more important, Afghanistan or Iraq?" a senior defence source asked yesterday. "There is a group within the Ministry of Defence pushing hard to get troops out of Iraq to get more into Afghanistan."

Military chiefs have been losing patience with the slow progress made in building a new Iraqi national army and security services. Significantly, they now say the level of violence in the country will not be a factor determining when British troops should leave.

Guardian

The American people deserve an elections system that is beyond reproach -- a system where every vote counts and every vote is counted.

Unfortunately, as we've seen in recent primary elections in Maryland, California, Georgia and other states, new electronic voting machines designed to make it easier for more people to vote are failing, and poll workers haven't been trained to use the new technology properly. Consequently, untold thousands of voters have been turned away from the polls or cast votes that weren't properly counted.

This is unacceptable in the United States of America. We can't let the failure of electronic voting machines affect this November's elections -- especially with the future of our country on the line. So Tuesday I introduced new legislation, co-sponsored by Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), to address this problem -- and I hope you'll urge your Members of Congress to support it.

Urge your Members of Congress to support my "Confidence in Voting Act" now!

Time is of the essence here. Congress is slated to adjourn at the end of the week, and we need to get this bill passed by both the House and the Senate before then.

My "Confidence in Voting Act" is simple. It urges local jurisdictions to make paper ballots available at every polling place, so any voter who wants one can use one. What's more, my legislation defrays the cost by reimbursing local jurisdictions up to $.75 for each of these contingency paper ballots produced.

This is a win-win for local governments and for individual voters. The "Confidence in Voting Act" will make it easier for states to do the right thing in this November's election -- and it will make the American people more confident about the outcome.

Please forward an email to your Members of Congress now -- urge them to support my "Confidence in Voting Act" before Congress adjourns next week!

We can't let this important bill get lost in the typical chaos of the closing days of Congress' legislative session.

That's why it's so important for you to speak out and make sure that your Members of Congress act -- and then to forward this email to everyone you know.

Help me build a groundswell of grassroots support for this critical legislation, so the American people have more confidence in this November's elections.

Urge your Members of Congress to support my "Confidence in Voting Act" now!

Thanks so much for your continued help and support.

In Friendship,

Barbara Boxer
U.S. Senator

P.S. After you've sent your own email to your Members of Congress about my "Confidence in Voting Act," please forward this message to your friends & family and encourage them to do the same.

In front of the Senate right now is a bill that would require all voters to produce identification proving their citizenship. H.R. 4844 by Rep. Hyde (R-IL) would place severe burdens on voters – possibly the most restrictive since the policies of the Jim Crow era. It was passed by the House last week and now the Republican congressional leadership may be resorting to sneaky tactics to get it passed in the Senate.

H.R. 4844 must be stopped at all costs!
In yet another cynical exploitation of security issues in an election year, Republican congressional leaders are considering folding this bill into a must-pass appropriations bill. Whether the undemocratic restrictions in this bill are voted on in H.R. 4844 or they are attached to the conference report for an appropriations bill, your senators need to hear from you that they should OPPOSE this measure.

Call both of your senators NOW and urge them to:

1. Vote NO on H.R. 4844.

2. Do not allow H.R. 4844 to be attached to any appropriations conference report.

H.R. 4844 comes as a response to the right-wing fairy tale that undocumented immigrants are voting in mass numbers. But the only thing it would do is ensure that poor, minority and elderly voters, as well as students and voters with disabilities, would be disenfranchised.

Please stand up for voting rights by calling your senators today and then forward this alert to your friends and ask them to do the same.

Thank you for defending democracy from the Far Right's unscrupulous attacks.

Maybe on September 12th of 2001 I would have said yes.

But 5 years later, we are winning BOTH fronts of the WOT, our intel services are less hindered than they were, our military is strong and will only continue to get stronger, and our will isn't anywhere near being broken.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

8 posted on 09/27/2006 10:29:12 PM PDT by MikefromOhio ("...America has confronted evil before, and we have defeated it...")
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welcome to the freepshow

"War on Terror: Do We Need To Mobilize?"

First our leaders need to STOP with the political correctness and recognize that ISLAM is the enemy and it NOT a religion of peace.

Secondly, STOP THE APPEASEMENT DAMMIT! It only makes them bolder.

Third, do all we can to ensure that the RATS NEVER get control of ANYTHING.

Fourth, "F" the UN and go after the head of the snake and nuke Irans nuclear facilities already and get some spec ops guys in there to take out Imanutjobonjihad.

3 posted on 09/27/2006 10:24:51 PM PDT by diverteach
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The House approved legislation yesterday giving the Bush administration authority to interrogate and prosecute terrorism detainees, moving President Bush to the edge of a pre-election victory with a key piece of his antiterrorism plan.

The mostly party-line vote, 253 to 168, in the Republican-run House came shortly after senators agreed to limit debate on their own nearly identical bill, all but assuring its passage today.

The bill also gives the president the ability to interpret international standards for prisoner treatment when an act does not fall under the definition of a war crime, such as rape or torture.

US press unmoved by terror report

The three declassified pages from what is certainly a voluminous report told us what any American with a newspaper, television or internet connection should already know. The invasion of Iraq was a cataclysmic disaster. The current situation will get worse if American forces leave. Unfortunately, neither the report nor the president provide even a glimmer of a suggestion about how to avoid that inevitable disaster.

As a defence of his policies, it [the extract] serves only to highlight the maddening circular logic that passes for a White House rationale. It goes like this: The invasion of Iraq has created an entire new army of terrorists who will be emboldened by an American withdrawal. Therefore, the United States has to stay indefinitely and keep fighting those terrorists.

By that logic, the more the United States fights, the longer the war stretches on.

BBC

"I watch FOX News because I trust that the journalists will give the whole story about events of the day. They don't pick out portions of those events in order to put a certain spin on it. I don't have to sort through the spin to determine reality."
- Antia (Gaffney, SC)

The week I put this sticker on my car, a lady in the Target parking lot said, "Hey, I love your sticker!" I asked her if she wanted one - I had bought extra. She said sure. I gave it to her and she put it on her car right away! The next day, I was shopping at Whole Foods. When I came out, there was a little gum wrapper under my wiper blade, with writing....it said: "I want to know where to get the DUMPRICK sticker. Can you please call me and tell me where to get one?"

To my knowledge, they are only available at a little gift shop in Squirrel Hill in Pittsburgh (email us for info). I think they had them made in fact. That's why they're hard to find. If any of your readers in PA want to get one, they can call the store and I'm sure they'd be happy to mail a few out!

"People don't want me making decisions based on politics," Bush said. "They want me making decisions based on the recommendations of our generals on the ground. And that's exactly who I'll be listening to.
Bush Nov. 29 2005"

Well, George, you didn't listen back then, when they 1) asked for more troops, 2) said you needed to plan to secure Iraq after the fall of Baghdad, 3) said you needed an exit strategy, and 4) suggested that maybe this isn't such a great idea to begin with. We're waiting to see if you'll listen now, when they tell you that your Secretary of Defense is "incompetent strategically, operationally and tactically" and that "Rumsfeld and his immediate team must be replaced or we will see two more years of extraordinarily bad decision making" (Retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton). Or when they tell you "I believe that Secretary Rumsfeld and others in the administration did not tell the American people the truth for fear of losing support for the war in Iraq," and how "Rumsfeld at one point had threatened to fire the next person who mentioned the need for a postwar plan" (retired Major General John R.S. Batiste). How about when they point to you and Rummy and say "that not providing the best equipment was a 'serious moral failure on the part of our leadership'." (retired Colonel Paul X. Hammes).

Lest you dismiss these honorable men as old has-beens from the Jimmy Carter era, as is the habit of the GOP whenever they are criticized by retired military men, all three of these men have way more street cred than any of the suits on D.C.

• Retired Colonel Paul X. Hammes responsible for establishing bases for the Iraqi armed forces.
• Retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton was responsible for training the Iraqi military and later for rebuilding the Iraqi police force.
• Retired Major General John R.S. Batiste commanded the Army's First Infantry Division in Iraq.

Are you listening George? Will you ever listen?
We didn't think so.

FULL STORY

The ex-President can't control every town hall meeting and interview like he did when he was in office. Then, he would just have the Secret Service arrest anyone who didn't stick to his program and said something he didn't like. Anyone who knows this stuff and still works on his "staff" is a glutton for punishment. Now, everyone doesn't fawn all over him, but if Hillary got him into the position of First Lady, it would be "payback" time I imagine.

7 posted on 09/25/2006 4:40:24 PM PDT by Twinkie (Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.)
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1708158/posts#comment?q=1

An authoritative US intelligence report pooling the views of 16 government agencies concludes America's campaign in Iraq has increased the threat of terrorism.

The National Intelligence Estimate was completed in April but not made public. Its conclusions, which were first reported by the New York Times, contradict assertions made by President George Bush and White House officials during the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

"It's a very candid assessment," said one official who has seen the report. "It's stating the obvious.
Full Story"

Why do we let these animals do this to our guys !!! Enough already...we need to start kicking some serious moose-alam butt ! This is a disgrace. Why can't we light these guys on fire, why can't we slit their throats, why can't we slaughter these sub humans !!!

Why are we sleeping ???

1 posted on 09/23/2006 4:52:56 PM PDT by NEPAConservative
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1707130/posts

At their lowest points of popularity, do you recall anyone who claimed that Presidents' Carter and Nixon stole their elections or that they didn't win fair and square? Did any analysts or activist groups clam massive election fraud in the elections that brought these ultimately very unpopular presidents to office?
(snip)
This is a remarkable result. Nearly two years into the second term of his presidency, less than half of those polled think that the 2004 election victory was "fair and square." 20% say they are "somewhat" confident, which is hardly an endorsement of legitimacy. Webster's defines "somewhat" as follows: "in some degree or measure: SLIGHTLY." This does not exactly qualify as an endorsement of a critical democratic process. The 32% who are "not at all confident" represent a major portion of the population holding the belief that Bush failed to win without cheating. Combining "not at all confident" with "somewhat" "slightly", according to Webster's, produces a category of 52% who "doubt" the legitimacy of the election. Altogether, these results are a clear vote of no confidence.

I dated Nancy Grace...for about half an hour...

In early 2006 I was a guest on Nancy Grace's show. I was part of a panel discussing a double murder in New England, from which the perpetrator fled overseas. (Thankfully, the accused was extradited back to the U.S. and is currently awaiting trial.) My role, as explained to me by Nancy's producer, was that of the moderate defense attorney who ultimately would agree with Ms. Grace that the accused, by virtue of the fact that he is not a U.S. citizen, has no rights in this situation.

Fast forward to April 2006. I was on vacation in Phoenix and stayed at a hotel at the same time as Nancy, who was a headline speaker at a law enforcement conference. I really did not expect to see her, and doubted that she would remember me on the off chance we crossed paths. On the second evening of my stay I was dropped off at the hotel by a shuttle van from a nearby golf course where I played. I was lugging my golf bag in through the lobby when who should I see striding toward me but Nancy. She is a striking person with a confident walk, and she was really turned out. She wore a very stylish two-piece suit of green and lavender, with black heels. She came right up to me and said, "Hey! You were on my show in January, right? Aren't you ***?"

I agreed it was me, and apologized for my appearance, having just come off the golf course. She laughed and said something to the effect of, "You're much more handsome in person than I expected, despite your condition." We chatted a bit more, and then I begged off, telling her that the golf bag was really heavy, and I hoped she was doing well. Then she stunned me. "Would you like to get a drink or something? I don't really know anyone here, and my speech is all done. I have nothing to do until my flight leaves in the morning." I'm sure I hemmed and hawed and maybe even blushed, but ultimately I agreed to have a drink, as long as I could go take a shower first. She asked me what room I was in, and I told her. "I'm on the fifth floor, too" she said. "Let me go change and we'll meet back down here in, say, 30 minutes?"

So I grabbed the next elevator while she went over to the concierge about something. I dumped my clubs in the closet of my suite and hit the shower. Really, I couldn't believe I was going to have drinks with a celebrity. Nothing like that ever happened to me before. I have to confess, I was really nervous, and a little excited. In fact, with all that soaping going on in the shower, I got half a woody going. I finished up and grabbed a towel and headed back out to check out the closet again, wondering if I'd have time to iron a shirt and pants. Imagine my shock when I walked out of the bathroom to find Nancy Grace standing in my living room wearing nothing but her black heels and hose.

It get juicier

In New York City, Bush welcomes Abbas... to 'Washington, D.C.'

President George W. Bush today told Palestine Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, "Welcome to Washington, D.C.," although the two were at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.

Bush made the error during the meeting with Abbas, whom he described as "a man of peace."

The president is known for his verbal gaffes, often referred to as "Bushisms," collections of which are readily available on the Internet.

RawStory

Demonstrators want Saddam back

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - There was a pro-Saddam Hussein demonstration today in his hometown of Tikrit, Iraq.

About 500 people turned out to demand his return to power.

Saddam currently is on trial on genocide charges in Baghdad. The crowd demanded his release.

The demonstration was organized by two religious organizations. Protesters also condemned Pope Benedict's recent remarks on Islam.

Foreign Policy

The ad features one woman telling another: "Dr. King was a real man. You know he was a Republican."

In the ad, the woman goes on to say, "Democrats passed those black codes and Jim Crow laws. Democrats started the Ku Klux Klan." Her companion replies, "The Klan? White hoods and sheets?"
LINK

To: beyond the sea

The FBI should have grabbed both Chavez and the Iranian nutjob, sent them down to Gitmo, and then put both of them in a nude pyramid just like at Abu Graib.....

posted on 09/20/2006 9:31:01 AM PDT by july4thfreedomfoundation (Before It's Too Late, Tancredo in '08 !)
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right-wing insanity

The amendment might have passed had two Democrats not missed the vote; the two were at a news conference on the Medicare drug benefit. A spokesman for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, one of the two, said she was rushing back for the vote but just missed it. "She's obviously disappointed," said the spokesman, Jonathan Beeton. "It was unfortunate timing."
LINK

Earlier today, the panel voted 20-17 against the bill, which opponents said would weaken protections against abuse for both U.S. and enemy prisoners of war.

(snip)

All 17 Democrats on the committee voted against the bill, as did two Republicans, Jeff Flake of Arizona and Bob Inglis of South Carolina. They cited the legislation's potential to expose captured U.S. service members to retaliation and to undermine U.S. prestige and values.

"The honor of our nation would be stained by this detestable legislation," said Representative Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat.
LINK

(e)(1) Except as provided for in this subsection, and notwithstanding any other law, no court, justice, or judge shall have jurisdiction to hear or consider any claim or cause of action, including an application for a writ of habeas corpus, pending on or filed after the date of the enactment of the Military Commissions Act of 2006, against the United States or its agents, brought by or on behalf of any alien detained by the United States as an unlawful enemy combatant, relating to any aspect of the alien's detention, transfer, treatment, or conditions of confinement.
Read the text of the bill here

To: MNJohnnie

No No No! Nuking them is like a quick shot to the back of the head. To easy. To quick. To painless. Start carpet bombing their cities one at a time until they don't have any left.

posted on 09/21/2006 12:04:15 AM PDT by Lancer_N3502A
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Freepers

The commander of US forces in Baghdad, Maj Gen James Thurman, has said he was pushing Iraqi leaders to start doing more about the sectarian militias responsible for killing thousands of people.

"Militias are holding the rule of law in contempt. We're pushing this government to get a policy as to how they're going to deal with it so their own people know how to deal with the militias," he told the Associated Press news agency.

(snip)

Terror attacks, the growth of militias and the emergence of organised crime reflects a lack of centralised and authorised control over the use of force in the country, which results in indiscriminate killings of civilians, the report says.

President Bush said Wednesday he would order military action inside Pakistan if intelligence indicated that Osama bin Laden or other top terror leaders were hiding there. "Absolutely," Bush said in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

In a news conference last week, Bush said he could not send thousands of troops into Pakistan to search for bin Laden without an invitation from the government. "Pakistan's a sovereign nation," Bush said then.

H.R.4844

Title: To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require any individual who desires to register or re-register to vote in an election for Federal office to provide the appropriate State election official with proof that the individual is a citizen of the United States to prevent fraud in Federal elections, and for other purposes.

Sponsor: Rep Hyde, Henry J. [IL-6] (introduced 3/2/2006)

Republican - 223 Ayes / 0 Noes
Democratic - 0 Ayes / 195 Noes
Independent - 0 Ayes / 1 Noes
Totals - 223 Ayes / 196 Noes


More Info

Global warming could put Walker's Point under water

PORTLAND, Maine - The Bush family property in Kennebunkport could be under water if sea levels continue rising because of global warming in the decades ahead, according to an analysis released Tuesday.

The Natural Resources Council of Maine created maps that showed portions of the Maine coast and how they would be affected under two scenarios: where the sea level rises by 3 feet and by 20 feet.

Either way, Maine stands to lose thousands of acres of coastal real estate and suffer severe economic and environmental impacts, according to the study.

"The results are alarming," said Dylan Voorhees, energy project director for the conservation organization.

Agua

To: Peach
This was an amazing speech. It caught me in the shower but I was there naked and clean and cheering. I am very proud of our president today. We never hear truth spoken outside of FR and talk radio, and here our PRESIDENT was, telling it to the WHOLE WORLD (depending of course on honest translations).

743 posted on 09/19/2006 11:16:45 AM PDT by Yaelle
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1704173/posts?q=1&&page=701

U.S. to Maintain Iraq Force Levels

The top American commander in the Middle East said the more than 140,000 soldiers now in Iraq are likely to be needed there at least until next spring because of continuing sectarian violence and the effort to secure Baghdad.

"I think that this level probably will have to be sustained through next spring, and then we'll re-evaluate," General John P. Abizaid told reporters at a breakfast roundtable.

American commanders have said previously that they expected current troop levels to be maintained through the end of the year unless security improved, but General Abizaid's comment were the first indication that commanders believe reductions are unlikely until well into next year.

His comment were immediately seized upon by Democrats, who said they indicated that the administration's strategy for stabilizing Iraq was not working

Quagmire

Watch the video

What all of us will agree on, is that we have the right - we have the duty - to think about the comparison. And, most importantly, that the other guy, whose opinion about this we cannot fathom, has exactly the same right as we do: to think - and say - what his mind and his heart and his conscience tell him, is right.

All of us agree about that.

Except, it seems, this President.

With increasing rage, he and his administration have begun to tell us, we are not permitted to disagree with them, that we cannot be right. That Colin Powell cannot be right.And then there was that one, most awful phrase.

"It's unacceptable to think..." he said. It is never unacceptable... to think.

Read the full transcript.

Bush says education is path to democracy

NEW YORK - President Bush on Monday linked his push for democratic reform across the world with first lady Laura Bush's call for governments to embrace literacy programs to improve lives.

"The simple act of teaching a child to read or an adult to read has the capacity to transform nations and yield the peace we all want," the president said at the White House Conference on Global Literacy being hosted in New York by the first lady. "You can't realize the blessings of liberty if you can't read a ballot."

Bush attended his wife's event, which was being held on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly sessions this week. Later in the day, he had bilateral talks scheduled with several foreign leaders to kick off his attendance at the world body's annual meetings.

"You can't have prosperity unless people can read. It's just as simple as that," Bush said. "To be a productive worker you have to be able to read the manual."

Misunderestimated

• Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO)
• Rep. Randy Cunningham (R-CA)
• Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL)
• Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA)
• Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO)
• Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH)
• Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA)
• Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ)
• Rep. Charles Taylor (R-NC)
• Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)
• Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT)
• Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN)
• Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)

Beyond DeLay

In the few short years since the first shackled Afghan shuffled off to Guantanamo, the U.S. military has created a global network of overseas prisons, its islands of high security keeping 14,000 detainees beyond the reach of established law.

(snip)

Many say they were caught up in U.S. military sweeps, often interrogated around the clock, then released months or years later without apology, compensation or any word on why they were taken. Seventy to 90 percent of the Iraq detentions in 2003 were "mistakes," U.S. officers once told the international Red Cross.

(snip)

"If you, God forbid, are an innocent Afghan who gets sold down the river by some warlord rival, you can end up at Bagram and you have absolutely no way of clearing your name," said John Sifton of Human Rights Watch in New York. "You can't have a lawyer present evidence, or do anything organized to get yourself out of there."

After the fall of Saddam Hussein's government in April 2003, the opportunity to participate in the U.S.-led effort to reconstruct Iraq attracted all manner of Americans -- restless professionals, Arabic-speaking academics, development specialists and war-zone adventurers. But before they could go to Baghdad, they had to get past Jim O'Beirne's office in the Pentagon.

O'Beirne's staff posed blunt questions to some candidates about domestic politics: Did you vote for George W. Bush in 2000? Do you support the way the president is fighting the war on terror? Two people who sought jobs with the U.S. occupation authority said they were even asked their views on Roe v. Wade.

"I'm not here for the Iraqis," one staffer noted to a reporter over lunch. "I'm here for George Bush."

Ten Nobel Peace Prize laureates called for world peace and took aim at U.S. policy makers, asking an enthusiastic crowd of 7,000 youth to demand that the United States pull back its military, spread its wealth and offer aid to developing countries.
(snip)
"You taught us no government worth its salt can subvert the rule of law. We believed you," said Archbishop Desmond Tutu. "That's part of what you have as a gift for the world. Then how can you commit Guantanamo Bay? Take back your country."
LINK

Adolfo Perez Esquivel, the 1980 winner for his Latin American human-rights work ompared the nearly 3,000 persons killed on September 11 with the tens of thousands of children who die every day of hunger. "I call that economic terrorism," he said.

Shirin Ebadi, who won the peace prize in 2003 for advocating democracy and human rights in the Middle East, said she was "very sorry for the sad events of September 11," but added that it would have been better for the United States to build a school in Afghanistan for each victim, rather than invading the country.
LINK

Keith Olbermann's opening story on Countdown tonight. Howard Fineman joins the discussion, and later Jonathan Turley. Turley discusses the point that Bush is trying to rush congress to pass this law quickly so he can retroactively say that the things the CIA did in the past were legal (even though only under current law upon bill passage). Turley points out that the 14 prisoners that are now awaiting trial have now had access to Red Cross and may start talking about how they were tortured. He also points out that Bush has already commited 30 felonies from the eavesdropping program and now torture, which is regarded as one of the worst things that can be approved by a head of state under International Law.

The Federal Communications Commission ordered its staff to destroy all copies of a draft study that suggested greater concentration of media ownership would hurt local television news coverage, a former lawyer at the agency says.

(snip)

Adam Candeub, now a law professor at Michigan State University, said senior managers at the agency ordered that "every last piece" of the report be destroyed. "The whole project was just stopped -- end of discussion," he said. Candeub was a lawyer in the FCC's Media Bureau at the time the report was written and communicated frequently with its authors, he said.

The report showed local ownership of television stations adds almost 5 1/2 minutes of total news to broadcasts and more than three minutes of "on-location" news. The conclusion is at odds with FCC arguments made when it voted in 2003 to increase the number of TV stations a company could own in a single market. It was part of a broader decision liberalizing ownership rules.
LINK

The president bristled when asked about Powell's comment Thursday that "the world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism." "It's unacceptable to think that there's any kind of comparison between the behavior of the United States of America and the action of Islamic extremists who kill innocent women and children to achieve an objective," he said.

The president said he would shut down the CIA interrogation program permanently if Congress didn't pass legislation that gave the agency latitude in dealing with suspects and protected interrogators from prosecution for war crimes.

When he was asked how he'd react if captive Americans were subjected to the same treatment as the CIA's prisoners, Bush said "the world would be better" if other countries observed his treatment standards.
LINK

Bush: They're going to attack us again

In an apparent swipe at Senate Republicans who refused to go along with his wishes, Bush told a White House news conference the legislation he has submitted to Congress clarifying Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions is essential to Americans' safety.

"We need the tools necessary to protect America," Bush said. "Time is running out."

Bush said the questioning of Khalid Sheik Mohammed produced intelligence that allowed the United States to thwart planned attacks on U.S. targets in Africa and Pakistan and also revealed information on planned attacks on U.S. buildings and efforts to acquire biological weapons.

"It's a dangerous world," Bush said.

"The enemy wants to attack us again."

Waaaaaa

Bush asks GOP to back terror bills

WASHINGTON - President Bush visited Capitol Hill Thursday where he conferred behind closed doors with House Republicans on legislation to give the government more power to spy on, imprison and interrogate terrorism suspects.

"I will resist any bill that does not enable this plan to go forward," Bush told reporters back at the White House after his meeting with lawmakers.

Bush's proposals would narrow the U.S. legal interpretation of the Geneva Conventions in a bid to allow tougher interrogations and shield U.S. personnel from being prosecuted for war crimes.

But Bush's former secretary of state, Colin Powell, endorsed efforts to block the president's plan.

Fuehrer

UPDATE - In probably not even vaguely related news:

Maybe this: Pacific Cycle Inc. Announce Recall of Mongoose 20-Inch Mountain Bicycles

Pacific Cycle Inc. has received two reports of the frames on these bicycles breaking, resulting in abrasions and bruises to the rider.

explains this:

The president hit some loose soil and tumbled off his mountain bike down a slope, grazing his chin, upper lip, nose, both knees, and his right hand. LINK

Or it could just be the ex-crackhead thing.

"One member of our team can consistently pick the lock in under 10 seconds."

Senate rejects Democratic plan for ports

WASHINGTON - Senate Republicans on Wednesday rejected a Democratic attempt to attach dozens of national security programs to legislation intended to protect seaports.

The Democrats' proposal had threatened the overall ports security bill, which would install monitors at the 22 largest ports. These devices would screen for materials used to make radiological bombs or nuclear weapons.

The ports bill could come to a final vote on Thursday.

The plan by Democratic leader Harry Reid would have put Republicans in the awkward position of opposing security measures that many people in the United States believe are long overdue. Examples include improving safeguards on trains and buses and at chemical plants.

Dubai

Terrorist Attacks Bill Clinton Stopped

Just for the record, under Richard Clarke's leadership as Czar of Counterterrorism:

• CLINTON developed the nation's first anti-terrorism policy, and appointed first national coordinator of anti-terrorist efforts.
• Bill Clinton stopped cold the Al Qaeda millennium hijacking and bombing plots.
• Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to kill the Pope.
• Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up 12 U.S. jetliners simultaneously.
• Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up UN Headquarters.
• Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up FBI Headquarters.
• Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up the Israeli Embassy in Washington.
• Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up Boston airport.
• Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up Lincoln and Holland Tunnels in NY.
• Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up the George Washington Bridge.
• Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up the US Embassy in Albania.
• Bill Clinton tried to kill Osama bin Laden and disrupt Al Qaeda through preemptive strikes (efforts denounced by the G.O.P.).
• Bill Clinton brought perpetrators of first World Trade Center bombing and CIA killings to justice.
• Bill Clinton did not blame the Bush I administration for first WTC bombing even though it occurred 38 days after Bush left office. Instead, worked hard, even obsessively - and successfully - to stop future terrorist attacks.
• Bill Clinton named the Hart-Rudman commission to report on nature of terrorist threats and major steps to be taken to combat terrorism.

Commanders privately express needing 3X more troops

U.S. Commanders in Iraq have privately expressed the need for an increase of three times the number of troops currently serving in Iraq, reports Michael Ware of CNN. Officially, the military continues to say that "we have an appropriate level of force to do what we have to do within the confines of our mission."

Ramadi has become a base of operations for Al Qaeda. Ware says, "Al Qaeda is almost untouched in its area of operations, and in the city of Ramadi itself, al Qaeda fighters are constantly attacking U.S. troops. Brigades sent to Ramadi are losing, on average, 100 American soldiers and Marines every year. And we don't see that abating. So, here's the heart of Al Qaeda in Iraq, and there's simply not enough troops and no strategy to combat it."

Al Qaeda leadership enjoys near free reign in an area north of the Euphrates which is the size of New Hampshire. The U.S. can only deploy a few hundred troops to this area. Ware laments, "They can do nothing to hamper al Qaeda's leadership in that area."

RawStory w/video

Click on the image to watch the video

The polite phrase for how so many of us were duped into supporting a war, on the false premise that it had 'something to do' with 9/11, is "lying by implication."

The impolite phrase, is "impeachable offense."

(snip)

Who has left this hole in the ground?
We have not forgotten, Mr. President.
You have.
May this country forgive you.

Click on the image to play video

(song lyrics)

Video-WMP Video-QT

Wallace:...but when you put somebody on the screen and say that's Madeleine Albright and she said this in a specific conversation and she never did say it, I think it's slanderous, I think it's defamatory and I think that ABC and Disney should be held to account. --it better be what she said or I think she has a heck of a case...

The dimwit over at F&F's tried to change the topic, but Wallace got him back on track and brough up the Reagan/CBS project

Pentagon sources tell NBC News that the Army brass considers the Israeli system a threat to an Army program to develop an RPG defense system from scratch.

The $70 million contract for that program had been awarded to an Army favorite, Raytheon.

As one senior official put it, "We don't really have a problem if the Army thinks it has a long-term solution with Raytheon. But what are our troops in the field supposed to do for the next five or six years?"

(snip)

Officials also tell NBC News that according to the Pentagon's own method of measuring a weapons system's readiness, Trophy is "between a 7 and an 8" out of a possible score of 9. Raytheon's system is said to be a "3."
FULL STORY

Bush, Lieberman Polling Company Pleads Guilty to Fraud

BRIDGEPORT, Connecticut - The owner of DataUSA Inc., a company that conducted political polls for the campaigns of President George W. Bush, U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman and other candidates, pleaded guilty to fraud for making up survey and poll results.

~snip~

An FBI affidavit from 2004 quotes a supervisor of the company estimating that 50 percent of the data sent to Bush's campaign was falsified. FBI Special Agent Jeff Rovelli, who wrote the affidavit, said Thursday that investigators were not able to verify the claim related to Bush because that data was not located and analyzed.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Chang said on several occasions when the company was running up against a deadline to complete a job, results were falsified. Sometimes, the respondent's gender or political affiliation were changed to meet a quota, other times all survey answers were fabricated.

Faux

"The first drafts of history are fragmentary. Important revelations arrive late, and out of order. In this timeline, we've assembled the history of the Iraq War to create a resource we hope will help resolve open questions of the Bush era. What did our leaders know and when did they know it? And, perhaps just as important, what red flags did we miss, and how could we have missed them? This is the first installment in our Iraq War timeline project."

GOP secretly channeled millions to Lieberman

The White House funneled millions of dollars through major Republican Party contributors to Sen. Joseph Lieberman's primary campaign in a failed effort to ensure the support of the former Democrat for the Bush administration.

A senior GOP source said the money was part of Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove's strategy to maintain a Republican majority in the Senate in November. The source said Mr. Rove, together with Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, directed leading pro-Bush contributors to donate millions of dollars to Mr. Lieberman's campaign for re-election in Connecticut in an attempt that he would be a "Republican-leaning" senator.

Mr. Rove has been responsible for the White House's effort to ensure a GOP majority in Congress for the last two years of Bush's presidency. Internal party polls show the GOP could lose between 30 and 40 seats in the House as well as its majority in the Senate. A Democratic majority in the Senate would require the GOP to lose at least six seats.

~snip~

The source said that under Mr. Rove's plan, Mr. Lieberman would vote with the GOP on national security issues and help provide the party with a 50-50 split on major legislation. The deciding vote would then be cast by Vice President Dick Cheney.

Nomentum

Keith: "More over, Mr. Bush, you are accomplishing in part what Osama Bin Laden and others seek - a fearful American populace, easily manipulated, and willing to throw away any measure of restraint, any loyalty to our own ideals and freedoms, for the comforting illusion of safety."

Nothing could be truer than that right there. It's not only insulting that Bush once said "they hate us for our freedoms" and then proceeded to strip away those freedoms with such things as the Patriot Act and the warrantless wiretapping, but he also constantly says how the key tactic of the terrorist is fear, while his administration is out on a daily basis delivering speeches that are geared towards scaring us.

Click the picture to watch the video

Clark for Pres. in '08?

Blair Aides Plan Star's Farewell

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair's exit from office should be planned to the last detail and show him as a "star'' on a "farewell tour,'' according to a memo leaked to a newspaper on Tuesday.

The memo, drawn up by a team of Blair's top aides and published in the Daily Mirror, shows how a government lampooned for its obsession with spin since Blair came to office in 1997 is still determined to manage his image to the end.

It proposes a whirlwind of television and radio appearances in the final months of Blair's premiership and declares: "His genuine legacy is not the delivery ... but the dominance of New Labour ideas, the triumph of Blairism.''

"As TB (Tony Blair) enters his final phase he needs to be focusing way beyond the finishing line, not looking at it. He needs to go with the crowds wanting more. He should be the star who won't even play that last encore,'' the memo says.

Puppet

Blair Aides Plan Star's Farewell

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair's exit from office should be planned to the last detail and show him as a "star'' on a "farewell tour,'' according to a memo leaked to a newspaper on Tuesday.

The memo, drawn up by a team of Blair's top aides and published in the Daily Mirror, shows how a government lampooned for its obsession with spin since Blair came to office in 1997 is still determined to manage his image to the end.

It proposes a whirlwind of television and radio appearances in the final months of Blair's premiership and declares: "His genuine legacy is not the delivery ... but the dominance of New Labour ideas, the triumph of Blairism.''

"As TB (Tony Blair) enters his final phase he needs to be focusing way beyond the finishing line, not looking at it. He needs to go with the crowds wanting more. He should be the star who won't even play that last encore,'' the memo says.

Puppet

Oil Prices Ease as Demand, Risk Fall

Crude oil prices fell to a 15-week low in New York yesterday as the U.S. summer travel season ended and traders speculated that a dispute with Iran about nuclear research may be resolved without curtailing exports.

Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil producer, wants a negotiated solution to a demand that it stop enriching uranium, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said yesterday.

U.S. gasoline use usually rises 5 percent in the summer, then drops after Labor Day.

"A lot of risk premiums haven't materialized," said Tom Hammervold, an oil trader at Norsk Hydro ASA in Oslo. "There are no issues at the moment to support the price."

Gouging