Iraq fails to sign contracts with foreign oil majors
Iraq said on Monday it has failed to sign technical support agreements with global oil majors which were aimed at helping boost the war-torn country's oil production.
Iraq is negotiating with Shell, BP, ExxonMobil, Chevron and Total, and a consortium of other smaller oil companies, Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani said at press briefing.
"We did not finalise any agreement with them because they refused to offer consultancy based on fees as they wanted a share of the oil," he said.
"The TSAs (technical support agreements) are only simple consultancy contracts to help us raise the production during the interim period" before the ministry enters into long-term contracts to develop the oil and gas fields.
Clark: Getting 'shot down in plane' doesn't make McCain qualified
Retired U.S. Gen. Wesley Clark, a supporter of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, on Sunday questioned whether Sen. John McCain's military experience qualified him to be commander-in-chief.
The McCain campaign called for Obama to condemn the remarks.
The dust-up began with Clark's appearance Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation," where moderator Bob Schieffer asked him about his interview with the Huffington Post earlier this month.
In the interview, Clark said McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, was "untested and untried."
A nearly 700-page study released Sunday by the Army found that "in the euphoria of early 2003," U.S.-based commanders prematurely believed their goals in Iraq had been reached and did not send enough troops to handle the occupation.
President George W. Bush's statement on May 1, 2003, that major combat operations were over reinforced that view, the study said.
It was written by Donald P. Wright and Col. Timothy R. Reese of the Contemporary Operations Study Team at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., who said that planners who requested more troops were ignored and that commanders in Baghdad were replaced without enough of a transition and lacked enough staff.
Gen. William S. Wallace, commanding general of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, said in a foreword that it's no surprise that a report with these conclusions was written.
U.S. escalating covert operations against Iran: report
U.S. congressional leaders agreed late last year to President George W. Bush's funding request for a major escalation of covert operations against Iran aimed at destabilizing its leadership, according to a report in The New Yorker magazine published online on Sunday.
The article by reporter Seymour Hersh, from the magazine's July 7 and 14 issue, centers around a highly classified Presidential Finding signed by Bush which by U.S. law must be made known to Democratic and Republican House and Senate leaders and ranking members of the intelligence committees.
"The Finding was focused on undermining Iran's nuclear ambitions and trying to undermine the government through regime change," the article cited a person familiar with its contents as saying, and involved "working with opposition groups and passing money."
Hersh has written previously about possible administration plans to go to war to stop Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons, including an April 2006 article in the New Yorker that suggested regime change in Iran, whether by diplomatic or military means, was Bush's ultimate goal.
Big trouble for small minds! posted by
Clyde 3:29 AM
With Three Already Down, Eight More House Incumbents Face Primary Worries
Republican Rep. Chris Cannon's loss to challenger Jason Chaffetz in Utah's 3rd District Tuesday marked the third defeat of a U.S. House incumbent in this year's congressional primaries. With Cannon joining the two Maryland representatives, Republican Wayne T. Gilchrest and Democrat Albert R. Wynn, who lost their seats in their state's Feb. 12 party voting, the number of primary-defeated House members already exceeds the total for all of 2006.
With the primary season extending all the way into the early fall, will more members fall to intraparty dissent?
Recent election history suggests there will not be many more incumbents ousted by their own party base. Only two, Republican Rep. Joe Schwarz of Michigan and Democratic Rep. Cynthia A. McKinney of Georgia, were denied renomination by primary voters in 2006, coincidentally on the same day of Aug. 8. Only once in the previous six election cycles were more than three House members denied renomination. A list of incumbent defeats in primary elections dating to 1968, can be found on CQ Politics' "Greg's List" feature.
Yet it is still quite early in the 2008 primary season, with roughly half the states still left to go. The next primary elections aren't until July 15, when Georgia will vote and Alabama will hold Republican runoffs in two congressional districts. And CQ Politics has identified eight incumbents facing primary challenges in the remaining states that are to some degree threatening -- two of which are in Georgia.
Iraqi officials outraged by U.S. raid in prime minister's hometown
Outraged Iraqi officials demanded an investigation into an early morning U.S. military raid Friday near the birthplace of Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, saying the operation violated the terms of the handover of Karbala province to Iraqi security forces.
Karbala Gov. Oqeil al Khazaali said U.S. forces killed an unarmed civilian and arrested at least one person in the raid in the southern town of Janaja. The governor's brother, Hassanein al Khazaali, said late Friday that the Iraqi killed in the operation was a relative of the U.S.-backed prime minister.
The U.S. military command in Baghdad had no comment. Two senior aides to Maliki weren't available for comment; one was still in a meeting with the prime minister after midnight. The governor is said to belong to the prime minister's Dawa Party.
Iraqi officials in Karbala said the operation began at dawn Friday, when U.S. aircraft delivered dozens of American troops to the rural Shiite Muslim town of Janaja, which is populated mostly by members of the Maliki tribe.
Keeping the system rigged! posted by
Clyde 3:30 AM
Supreme Court Strikes Down 'Millionaire's Amendment'
The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a law meant to level the financial playing field when rich candidates pay for their own political campaigns.
The 5-to-4 decision, legal experts said, was significant for rejecting the rationale behind the law, known as the "millionaire's amendment," and for confirming the court's continuing skepticism about the constitutionality of campaign finance regulations.
"Supporters of reasonable campaign finance regulation are now zero for three in the Roberts court," said Richard L. Hasen, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. "This is a signal of what is to come. What could easily fall following this case are the longstanding limits on corporate and union spending in federal elections."
The law at issue in Thursday's decision imposed special rules in races with candidates who finance their own campaigns. Those candidates are required to disclose more information, and their opponents are allowed to raise more money.
I can't make this stuff up posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 12:13 PM
Larry Craig and David Vitter co-sponsor Marriage Protection Amendment
Two United States Senators implicated in extramarital sexual activity have named themselves as co-sponsors of S. J. RES. 43, dubbed the Marriage Protection Amendment. If ratified, the bill would amend the United States Constitution to state that marriage "shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman."
Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID), who was arrested June 11, 2007 on charges of lewd conduct in a Minneapolis airport terminal, is co-sponsoring the amendment along with Sen. David Vitter (R-LA).
No Big Deal, it's just a little ice posted by
Clyde 7:12 AM
No ice at the North Pole
It seems unthinkable, but for the first time in human history, ice is on course to disappear entirely from the North Pole this year.
The disappearance of the Arctic sea ice, making it possible to reach the Pole sailing in a boat through open water, would be one of the most dramatic - and worrying - examples of the impact of global warming on the planet. Scientists say the ice at 90 degrees north may well have melted away by the summer.
Seasoned polar scientists believe the chances of a totally icefree North Pole this summer are greater than 50:50 because the normally thick ice formed over many years at the Pole has been blown away and replaced by hugeswathes of thinner ice formed over a single year.
The polar regions are experiencing the most dramatic increasein average temperatures due to global warming and scientists fear that as more sea iceis lost, the darker, open ocean will absorb more heat and raise local temperatures even further. Professor Peter Wadhams of Cambridge University, who was one of the first civilian scientists to sail underneath the Arctic sea ice in a Royal Navy submarine,said that the conditions are ripe for an unprecedented melting of the ice at the North Pole.
Rut Roh - A camel farted on an oil pipeline! posted by
Clyde 7:07 AM
Oil jumps to new above $142 as equities wilt
Oil leapt to a new record high above $142 a barrel on Friday, extending gains after surging nearly 4 percent in the previous session, as tumbling global stock markets helped to trigger a wider commodities rally.
U.S. light crude for August delivery was $1.70 up at $141.34 a barrel by 8:12 a.m. EDT, off a record high of $142.26.
London Brent crude was $1.39 up at $141.22, off a record high of $142.13.
World stocks fell to a three-month low as a fast deteriorating global inflation picture intensified concerns over the outlook for corporate profits, hastening the rush of investors' funds into commodities.
One good thing about high gas prices: posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:26 AM
Highway deaths down in 35 states
Highway deaths across the nation are down sharply so far this year compared with 2007, according to preliminary data tracked by state police and transportation agencies.
Deaths declined in 35 of the 37 states that provided data for January through April, May or June. Fatalities also were down in the District of Columbia. Many of the declines were significant - more than 10% in 30 states, and more than 20% in 14 states and the District of Columbia.
.....
"The decline in fatalities is great news, and 2008 has the potential to be a banner year for highway safety," says Barbara Harsha, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), which represents state highway safety offices. "However, it's way too early to reach conclusions about what the trend means. It's impossible to draw significant policy implications from one full year of data, let alone the limited data we have for 2008."
Harsha says high gasoline prices discouraging some Americans to drive might be a factor in the decline of fatalities, but it's "premature" to draw that conclusion. Other factors might be stronger laws for seat-belt use and stepped-up enforcement, she says.
But...but....CLINTON!! posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:16 AM
75% blame Bush's policies for deteriorating economy
Three out of four Americans, including large numbers of Republicans, blame President Bush's economic policies for making the country worse off during the last eight years, according to a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll released today, reflecting a sharp increase in public pessimism during the last year.
Nine percent of respondents said the country's economic condition has become better off since Bush became president, compared with 75% who said conditions had worsened. Among Republicans, 42% said the country is worse off, while 26% said it is about the same, and only 22% thought economic conditions had improved...
.....
The economic pessimism has deepened sharply in the last year, intensified by higher fuel prices, the poll found. When the question was asked in March 2007, 24% of respondents said Bush's policies had improved the nation's economy and 46% said they had made it worse.
The increased unhappiness is reflected in an all-time low in Bush's approval rating -- just 23% now, compared with 34% in February....
D.L. speaking the truth posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:31 AM
D.L. Hughley on Obama: "He's like a tall Urkel dude'
If Barack Obama ever planned to show up to Tuesday's BET Awards, he'd have done well to prepare for a roasting by host D.L. Hughley.
"He does look like the dude from 'Mad' magazine," Hughley joked of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee in an interview with AP Television. "It's so funny because he ain't a cool dude to me. He's like a tall Urkel dude (the bespectacled nerd from the '90s sitcom 'Family Matters'). But for the first black president, I'll take him. ... Like, how bad a president is George Bush, when the country goes, 'You know, we'll try the black guy'?"
Obama's competitors are also possible targets for the 44-year-old actor-comedian, who recently starred on TV's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip."
.....
"And then you've got John McCain. And it's so funny, because you've got a guy who's half-black running against a guy who's half-dead."
McDole getting b*tchslapped posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:21 AM
Obama Leads McCain by 15 Points as Voters Reject Republicans
Democrat Barack Obama has opened a 15-point lead in the presidential race, and most of the political trends -- voter enthusiasm, views of President George W. Bush, the Republicans, the economy and the direction of the country -- point to even greater trouble for rival John McCain.
Illinois Senator Obama, winning support from once skeptical women and Democrats, beats McCain 48 percent to 33 percent in a four-way race, a Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll shows. Independent candidates Bob Barr and Ralph Nader get 7 percent combined, with the remainder undecided.
Obama's margin and most of the poll's findings in other areas give the Democrats a commanding advantage more than four months before the November election, says Susan Pinkus, the Los Angeles Times polling director.
"The Obama voters are much more energized and motivated to come out to vote than the McCain voters; McCain is still struggling to win over some of his core groups," she says. "The good news for Obama is also that he seems to be doing better on the issue that is uppermost in voters' minds, and that is the economy."
He rejects Republican's too? posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:19 AM
McClellan Says He Hasn't Ruled Out voting Democrat in November
Scott McClellan - the longtime supporter of President George W. Bush who served as his White House press secretary for nearly three years - said today he hasn't ruled out registering as a Democrat or voting Democratic for president this year. "I haven't made any long-term decisions," McClellan said after an address to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, where he received a warm reception from an audience numbering in the hundreds at the Fairmont Hotel.
McClellan said his 2008 vote may be determined by which presidential candidate - Democratic Sen. Barack Obama or Republican Sen. John McCain - is true to his word about running a positive, issue-oriented campaign that would end the "game of gotcha politics" and change the current destructive and insular political culture in Washington. "I certainly got caught up in it, like a lot of people in Washington do," he said. "You get attacked and you automatically want to attack back. It becomes a cycle of retribution and payback."
McCain top advisor thinks another 9/11 would be a good thing posted by
Wally 11:45 PM
Of course, in Rovian fashion, all he cares about is McCain winning the election. The rest of the country can go to hell.
McCain adviser sorry for terror attack comment
A top adviser to Republican presidential candidate John McCain apologized on Monday after he was quoted as saying a September 11-type attack before the November election would benefit McCain.
Fortune magazine said Black, in discussing how national security was McCain's strong suit, had said when asked about another terrorist attack on U.S. soil that "certainly it would be a big advantage to him."
Is that the kind of advantage we want our president to be looking for? Only a republican could find that kind of logic reasonable - fuck the country, as long as a republican wins the election.
Boo F*cking Hoo posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 1:14 PM
Nader to Democrats: Stop Blaming Me for '00 Election
Ralph Nader is angry with Democrats who he says are holding a grudge against him for George W. Bush’s election in 2000. In an interview with The Washington Times Tuesday, the independent presidential candidate expressed frustration over his failed efforts to be invited to testify on Capitol Hill on consumer issues. He also lamented the current political system, which he says is slanted away from allowing third party candidates to have a reasonable run at winning the White House.
Nader said he finds congressional Republicans more approachable than their Democratic counterparts due to the lingering grudge over the 2000 election, when George W. Bush defeated Al Gore by 537 votes in Florida. Nader won about 96,000 votes in the state, many of which were siphoned from would-be Gore voters.
Nader said Republicans are better at developing relationships and legislation on issues of accord. He accuses Democrats of selling out to corporate interests and noted that Democrats need to realize they lost the past two elections themselves in a thousand different ways.
Nader claimed the grudge extends past the election, and even today he is excluded from testifying in areas of his expertise. A spokesperson for Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor, whom Nader used to exemplify his point, denied Nader was being blackballed.
Unity @ Unity posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:29 AM
Former rivals (Obama, Clinton) to meet in Unity, N.H.
Former rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton are planning their first joint general election appearance Friday in Unity, N.H.
The location was announced Monday. It was chosen not only for the symbolism of its name, but because each candidate received exactly 107 votes there in the Jan. 8 primary that Clinton won. New Hampshire is a critical battleground state in November.
The rally will be the morning after the two meet privately Thursday at a Washington hotel with former Clinton donors.
How to make a strong dollar... posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 2:39 PM
Gas could fall to $2 if Congress acts, analysts say
Limiting speculation would push prices to fundamental level, lawmakers told
The price of retail gasoline could fall by half, to around $2 a gallon, within 30 days of passage of a law to limit speculation in energy-futures markets, four energy analysts told Congress on Monday.
Testifying to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Michael Masters of Masters Capital Management said that the price of oil would quickly drop closer to its marginal cost of around $65 to $75 a barrel, about half the current $135.
Fadel Gheit of Oppenheimer & Co., Edward Krapels of Energy Security Analysis and Roger Diwan of PFC Energy Consultants agreed with Masters' assessment at a hearing on proposed legislation to limit speculation in futures markets.
.....
"Energy speculation has become a growth industry and it is time for the government to intervene," said Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., chairman of the full committee. "We need to consider a full range of options to counter this rapacious speculation."
.......click. posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 12:18 PM
FISA Overhaul Set to Clear Senate
Despite a deep divide among Democrats, the Senate is expected to clear legislation this week overhauling electronic surveillance rules that would grant President Bush much of what he has sought in a lengthy struggle with Congress.
With no senators threatening to hold up the bill (HR 6304), one of the last hopes for opponents faded June 20 when Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois announced he would vote for the legislation. Some civil liberties groups that oppose the measure had called on Obama to use his position in the party to derail it.
The bill to rewrite the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA, PL95-511) would almost certainly lead to the dismissal of lawsuits against telecommunications companies accused of aiding the Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance program. In the House, the measure passed with the support of 105 Democrats and 188 Republicans.
Senators agreed to take up the measure quickly and could clear it as early as Monday.
The same publisher that distributed the 2004 best-seller that took aim at John Kerry's Vietnam service is planning a summer release of what's scheduled to be the first critical book on Barack Obama.
Conservative journalist David Freddoso's "The Case Against Barack Obama" will offer "a comprehensive, factual look at Obama," according to Regnery Publishing president and publisher Marjory Ross.
But the book's subtitle makes clear its perspective: "The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media's Favorite Candidate."
Ross contends that the mainstream media has offered insufficient scrutiny of Obama and likens the goal of Freddoso's book to that of "Unfit for Command," the scathing assessment of Kerry's war record that rocketed to No. 1 on The New York Times best-seller list.
You know it's over when... posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:21 AM
Utah's largest newspaper bashes you:
Bush's crude: President's gas plan is a political ploy
Once an oil man, always an oil man. And once a con man, always a con man. No doubt, President Bush is showing his true colors with a four-prong strategy he erroneously claims will bring skyrocketing gasoline prices back to Earth.
None of his election-year proposals - building new refineries, opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil rigs, drilling in long-restricted areas of America's coastline and bypassing a ban on leasing federal land for oil shale development - will save you a nickel any time soon, if ever.
What the strategy would do, however, is devastate environmentally sensitive coastal areas, hasten the demise of threatened species like the polar bear, open pristine public lands for commercial exploitation, enrich the president's pals in the oil industry and extend our perilous dependence on carbon-based fossil fuels.
Refineries aren't built in a day. And the world's growing gluttony for crude, not the ability to process it, is the primary reason for soaring gas prices.
Offshore oil reserves should remain exactly that - reserves. They should not be viewed as an alternative to accelerated development of the sustainable energy sources that will provide power to future generations.
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the home of polar bears and other species in decline, should remain exactly that - a wildlife refuge. The disruption and pollution resulting from rampant drilling would harass wildlife and degrade critical habitat.
And oil shale - rocky deposits that can be brewed into a synthetic crude - isn't the answer. It's environmentally destructive, a drain on dwindling water supplies and, with the current state of the technology, not commercially viable. The president's ludicrous claim that deposits in Utah, Colorado and Wyoming hold 800 billion barrels of "recoverable" oil is at best an attempt to con commodities traders.
Bush's push is also an attempt to con the public into prodding the Democratic-controlled Congress to embrace his fossil-fuel agenda, and, if Congress balks, lay the blame for high gas prices in the Democrats' laps.
Don't be fooled. A wise man would chart a course that weans us, not off foreign oil, but all oil. Wise voters will be looking for such a man in November.
Goodnight funnyman posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:01 AM
George Carlin Has Died
ET breaks the news that comedian George Carlin has died from heart failure. The man who made famous the "seven words you can never say on television" passed away at 5:55 p.m. Sunday at Saint John's Hospital in Santa Monica, his longtime publicist said. He was 71.
Carlin, who has had several heart attacks and a history of cardiac issues, went into the hospital this afternoon after complaining of heart problems.
What could possibly get the racist hate groups' panties in a bunch more than the thought of having a black man as President? That thought has to scare the crap out of the sonsabitches. Good. Except that it's bringing them attention, when they should be ignored as the whack-job fringe groups that they are. Same goes for FoxNews talking heads.
It seems that ever since Barack Obama won the Democratic primary election, the Klansmen, Nazis, etc. - you know, the Republican base - have a new target. They are increasing their recruiting efforts and hoping to once again gain some of the attention they so desperately crave.
Hate Groups' Newest Target White Supremacists Report an Increase in Visits to Their Web Sites
Sen. Barack Obama's historic victory in the Democratic primaries, celebrated in America and across much of the world as a symbol of racial progress and cultural unity, has also sparked an increase in racist and white supremacist activity, mainly on the Internet, according to leaders of hate groups and the organizations that track them.
Neo-Nazi, skinhead and segregationist groups have reported gains in numbers of visitors to their Web sites and in membership since the senator from Illinois secured the Democratic nomination June 3. His success has aroused a community of racists, experts said, concerned by the possibility of the country's first black president.
Such groups have historically inflated their influence for self-promotion and as an intimidation technique, and they refused to provide exact membership numbers or open their meetings to a reporter. Leaders acknowledged that their numbers remain very small -- "the flat-globe society still has more people than us," Roper said. But experts said their claims reveal more than hyperbole this time.
"The truth is, we're finding an explosion in these kinds of hateful sentiments on the Net, and it's a growing problem," said Deborah Lauter, civil rights director for the Anti-Defamation League, which monitors hate group activity. "There are probably thousands of Web sites that do this now. I couldn't even tell you how many are out there because it's growing so fast."
John McCain -vs- Your Ovaries posted by
Wally 8:14 AM
If you know any pro-choice voters thinking about supporting John McCain, please get this video in front of them.
John McCain: "I do not support Roe v. Wade. It should be overturned."
In Related News:
The Supreme Court matters next election. Seriously.
The composition of the high court is one of the most important issues at stake in the November election. While the justices cannot bring down gas prices or bring home the troops, their decisions in the coming years will affect just about everything else: your rights regarding privacy, reproduction, speech and religion; how to count your vote and where your kids go to school; as well as your occupational and environmental protections. You name it, they'll decide it. Or they'll decide not to decide it (which may be even worse).
(snip)
Anybody who believes the current Supreme Court looks like America needs to take a few more trips on a Greyhound bus. Justice John Paul Stevens is 88, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 75. David Souter is 68, and it's widely rumored in legal circles that he wants out (see, New Hampshire, above). All three of these jurists recently voted against the proposition that the government can call you an enemy combatant based on your last name or area code, then hold you without charges for six years at Guantanamo Bay, on the promise that you're either a bad guy, or will very likely become one after being held for six years without charges at Guantanamo Bay. If just one of these three were to retire, we could easily return to a world in which decisions about who is or isn't a so-called "enemy combatant" are made by the military, in secret, and with roughly the same sophistication that seventh-grade girls use to decide who's "popular."
At the heart of the high court's biggest debates to come - questions about the scope of privacy and claims about presidential secrecy and power - there is a deeper question about the role of courts in this country. So, when you go to the voting booth on Nov. 4, don't think just in terms of which candidate will appoint judges who are "good for women" or "good for property rights." That's terribly important, but it's half the story. For eight years the Bush administration has treated the courts almost like an enemy: meddlers and elitists who cannot understand what it means to be at war. As a consequence, we find ourselves in a country where the rule of law is reduced to an occasional luxury, like heated seats. As you contemplate what you want your next Supreme Court to look like, ask yourself what happens when judges are sidelined - or when they're chosen for their inclination to sideline themselves. If we really want to restore the rule of law in America, and the reputation of the United States as a land in which laws matter, we need to vote for a president who believes that we still call it a Supreme Court for a reason.
The Crying Corporate Toady posted by
Clyde 5:24 AM
Bush says Democrats keep blocking his energy plans
President Bush is accusing Democrats in Congress of blocking his energy proposals, saying they are partly to blame for high gasoline costs pinching Americans' budgets.
In his Saturday radio address, Bush urged Congress to lift its long-standing ban on offshore oil and gas drilling to increase U.S. energy production. Democrats have rejected the idea.
"This is a difficult time for many American families," Bush said. "Rising gasoline prices and economic uncertainty can affect everything from what food parents put on the table to where they can go on vacation."
Bush said offshore drilling could yield up to 18 billion barrels of oil over time, although it would take years for production to start.
It is a vintage John McCain performance. Standing in a light-filled atrium at the University of Denver, McCain is espousing his vision for America's future relations with the world. He hits all the right notes, citing liberal icon John F Kennedy and conservative hero Ronald Reagan. He strikes a muscular tone against America's enemies, yet tempers it with restraint. He speaks of a 'common vision' among nations. 'I want us to rise to the challenges of our time, as generations before us rose to theirs,' he says. He addresses the audience as 'my friends' and promises a safer, more reasonable world. 'It still remains within our power to make in our time another, better world than we inherited,' he concludes. As the crowd applaud, McCain plunges into the throng to pump hands and sign autographs.
Welcome to the John McCain show 2008. It's powerful stuff, portraying McCain as the decent patriot of the middle ground and a steady hand for difficult times. For a lot of Americans - including many Democrats - it is a beguiling vision. They see a war hero whose courage was forged in a North Vietnamese POW camp. They see a maverick who spoke against the tortures of Abu Ghraib. They see a reformer who acts against lobbyists and political favours. They see a politician who has spent a lifetime serving his country and won a place in the hearts of the nation.
Now McCain is also trying to win the White House. He has taken his campaign to places far from the projected Republican road map to victory. He has spoken in the 'black belt' of rural Alabama. He has toured Appalachian coal country to talk about poverty. He has gone to the hippy enclave of Oregon to lecture on global warming. In short, he is a Republican that even liberals can love. And many do. McCain's appeal to America's vital middle ground could easily propel him to the Oval Office.
But there is another, very different side to John McCain. Away from the headlines and the stirring speeches, a less familiar figure lurks. It is a McCain who plans to fight on in Iraq for years to come and who might launch military action against Iran. This is the McCain whose campaign and career has been riddled with lobbyists and special interests. It is a McCain who has sided with religious and political extremists who believe Islam is evil and gays are immoral. It is a McCain who wants to appoint extreme conservatives to the Supreme Court and see abortion banned. This McCain has a notoriously volatile temper that has scared some senior members of his own party. If McCain becomes the most powerful man in the world it would be wise to know what lies behind his public mask, to look at the dark side of John McCain.
Setting up a constitutional showdown, the White House on Friday asserted executive privilege in denying a congressional request for thousands of pages of documents related to the federal government's rejection of California's efforts to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions.
Congress is attempting to determine whether President Bush played a role in the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to deny California's request for permission to impose tougher air-quality regulations than federal law called for.
California had been granted such waivers numerous times over the years, but the Bush administration delayed and then rejected its request for authority to regulate carbon-dioxide emissions.
"I don't think we've had a situation like this since Richard Nixon was president," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which is conducting the investigation.
The Bush administration wants to rewrite the official evidence against Guantanamo Bay detainees, allowing it to shore up its cases before they come under scrutiny by civilian judges for the first time.
The government has stood behind the evidence for years. Military review boards relied on it to justify holding hundreds of prisoners indefinitely without charge. Justice Department attorneys said it was thoroughly and fairly reviewed.
Now that federal judges are about to review the evidence, however, the government says it needs to make changes.
The decision follows last week's Supreme Court ruling, which held that detainees have the right to challenge their detention in civilian court, not just before secret military panels. At a closed-door meeting with judges and defense attorneys this week, government lawyers said they needed time to add new evidence and make other changes to evidentiary documents known as "factual returns
The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.
The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.
No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken.
No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.
No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another; nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.
No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.
No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.
Lame Duck gets what he wants. posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 12:13 PM
Dumb f*cking Dems:
House passes new surveillance law
The House Friday easily approved a compromise bill setting new electronic surveillance rules that effectively shield telecommunications companies from lawsuits arising from the government's terrorism-era warrantless eavesdropping on phone and computer lines in this country.
The bill, which was passed on a 293-129 vote, does more than just protect the telecoms. The update to the 30-year-old Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is an attempt to balance privacy rights with the government's responsibility to protect the country against attack, taking into account changes in telecommunications technologies.
"This bill, though imperfect, protects both," said Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., and a former member of the intelligence committee.
Dems, GOP Agree To Take Up Wiretapping Bill Friday
House and Senate leaders have agreed to take up a new surveillance compromise bill, potentially settling a political dispute over whether to shield from lawsuits companies that helped the government tap phone and computer lines without court orders.
About 40 lawsuits have been filed against telecommunications companies from people who believe they were the targets of illegal surveillance. The bill would let a federal district court determine if the telecommunications companies received lawful orders from the government asking them to place wiretaps. If so, the lawsuits would be dismissed.
The decline of U.S. influence posted by
Clyde 9:24 AM
Oil drops as China says it will raise fuel prices
Oil prices dropped Thursday after China said it will raise fuel prices, a move that could dampen the booming Asian nation's oil consumption. Retail gas prices slid overnight.
