"AIDS is spreading quickly in rural Mexican states with the highest migration rates to the United States, researchers say. The greatest risk of contracting AIDS that rural Mexican women face is in having sex with their migrant husbands, a new study found, a problem that is compounded by their husbands' refusal to use condoms."This'll make LouDobbs very happy.
Cunningham Report Portrays Entangled Panel
By Greg Miller, The Los Angeles Times, Monday 16 July 2007
Washington - An internal investigation that the House Intelligence Committee has refused to make public portrays the panel as embarrassingly entangled in the Randy "Duke" Cunningham bribery scandal.
The report, a declassified version of which was obtained by the Los Angeles Times, describes the committee as a dysfunctional entity that served as a crossroads for almost every major figure in the ongoing criminal probe by the Justice Department.
The document describes breakdowns in leadership and controls that it says allowed Cunningham - the former congressman (R-Rancho Santa Fe) who began an eight-year prison term last year for taking bribes and evading taxes - to use his House position to steer millions of dollars to corrupt contractors.
When the committee's investigation was completed last year, the Republican-controlled panel would not release the results; now that the committee is controlled by Democrats, it still will not release the findings.
The report provides the most detailed account to date of how former CIA Executive Director Kyle Dustin "Dusty" Foggo, whose indictment on charges of defrauding the government was recently expanded, allegedly used committee connections to advance his career at the agency.
And the report sheds new light on the roles of senior committee aides, including retired CIA case officer Brant Bassett, who had ties to Cunningham and Foggo as well as to contractors accused of paying the congressman millions of dollars.
Overall, the document provides a penetrating look into how the committee itself became central to the scandal, describing an atmosphere in which senior aides were deeply troubled by Cunningham's actions but nevertheless complied with his requests out of fear.
But the report and committee members' ongoing disagreement over whether it should be released also reflect the political currents still swirling around the scandal.
For all its finger-pointing at staffers, the document fails to address whether other committee members were aware of Cunningham's abuses or were culpable. For instance, the report avoids any scrutiny of former Rep. Porter J. Goss (R-Fla.), who was chairman of the panel when Cunningham's most egregious abuses occurred. Goss went on to serve as CIA director, from September 2004 to May 2006.
Democrats complained bitterly a year ago when Republicans blocked release of a declassified version of the final report. But two weeks ago, several Democrats joined Republicans to block the report's release only to other members of Congress. Five Democrats objected to keeping the report secret.
Chairman Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas), who assumed leadership of the committee after Democrats won control of Congress last fall, said some Democratic members were reluctant to release a document that singled out staff members for criticism.
"My view was that the report was an internal review, principally of staff activity, and that the full report - with all of the names of staff - was not intended for dissemination beyond the committee," Reyes said. "The important thing is that the committee took the review seriously and incorporated changes" designed to prevent future abuses.
Congressional sources said Reyes and other Democrats had initially voted to let other members of Congress see the document, but reversed course after a fierce protest by the panel's ranking GOP member, Peter Hoekstra of Michigan.
"They are so nervous about this report being out," said one congressional official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Members oppose putting this thing out because you read this and the natural question is: 'Did you know this, and what did you do about it?' I don't think any members wanted that scrutiny."
"I almost shudder at the thought of alluding to the most fatal example of the abuses of grief which the history of mankind has preserved -- the Cross. Consider what calamities that engine of grief has produced!"--in a letter to Thomas Jefferson
"During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What have been its fruits? More or less in all places, pride and indolence in the Clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution."and
"What influence, in fact, have ecclesiastical establishments had on society? In some instances they have been seen to erect a spiritual tyranny on the ruins of the civil authority; on many instances they have been seen upholding the thrones of political tyranny; in no instance have they been the guardians of the liberties of the people. Rulers who wish to subvert the public liberty may have found an established clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just government, instituted to secure and perpetuate it, needs them not."--both quotes from his 'Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments'
"Question with boldness even the existence of a god."--letter to Peter Carr, 1787
"You say you are a Calvinist. I am not. I am of a sect by myself, as far as I know."--letter to Ezra Stiles Ely, 1819
"If we look back into history for the character of the present sects in Christianity, we shall find few that have not in their turns been persecutors, and complainers of persecution. The primitive Christians thought persecution extremely wrong in the Pagans, but practiced it on one another. The first Protestants of the Church of England blamed persecution in the Romish church, but practiced it upon the Puritans. These found it wrong in the Bishops, but fell into the same practice themselves both here [England] and in New England."--from his essay, "Toleration"
"It is much to be lamented that a man of Franklin's general good character and great influence should have been an unbeliever in Christianity, and also have done as much as he did to make others unbelievers"--from Priestley's Autobiography
"Of all the systems of religion that ever were invented, there is no more derogatory to the Almighty, more unedifiying to man, more repugnant to reason, and more contradictory to itself than this thing called Christianity."and:
"I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my church."--from Paine's book, "The Age of Reason"
Those last are words you will NEVER hear spoken by the vile, fascist motherfuckers in the Bushevik regime. Can you say 'Torture', Prof. Yoo, you reeking, hypocritical piece of shit?“We must make clear to the Germans that the wrong for which their fallen leaders are on trial is not that they lost the war, but that they started it. And we must not allow ourselves to be drawn into a trial of the causes of the war, for our position is that no grievances or policies will justify resort to aggressive war. It is utterly renounced and condemned as an instrument of policy.”
“If certain acts of violation of treaties are crimes, they are crimes whether the United States does them or whether Germany does them, and we are not prepared to lay down a rule of criminal conduct against others which we would not be willing to have invoked against us.” - Nuremberg Tribunal
In his speech to the carefully vetted crowd in Cleveland last week, the Chimp muttered "Ah bleeve" SEVENTY-FUCKING-FIVE times.APThere's an old saying: "Bleeve" in one hand, and shit in the other, and sniff to discover which hand gets stinky.
"I wouldn't ask a mother or a dad -- I wouldn't put their son in harm's way if I didn't believe this was necessary for the security of the United States and the peace of the world. I strongly believe it, and I strongly believe we'll prevail. And I strongly believe that democracy will trump totalitarianism every time. That's what I believe. And those are the belief systems on which I'm making decisions that I believe will yield the peace."
-- George W. Bush, Cleveland, July 10, 2007
Who gives a flying fig for what you believe, Mr. President? You believed trading Sammy Sosa to the White Sox was a good move. You believed Saddam was making nukes from Nigerien yellowcake. You believed Senators of both parties would acclaim Harriet Miers as a "superb choice" for the Supreme Court," an American of "unwavering devotion to the Constitution and laws of our country." You said you had faith in General Casey (until you fired him). You keep telling us you have faith in Alberto Gonzales. We know you believe in a Higher Power, Mr. Bush -- hey, if AA works for you, you go, guy -- but why should any American mother or dad let you put their son in harm's way just because you "strongly believe" that his being wasted by a roadside IED in an Islamic civil war makes the world more peaceful and the United States more secure?
I have always suspected the regime--Cheney, since his brief was intelligence--knew just about everything about the AlQaeda plans except (I'll be charitable) the exact date and the targeted flight numbers. They withheld this information, and refused to act upon it for purely political reasons: they feared harming the airline & travel industry which 1) was a major source of campaign donations and 2) was teetering so precariously on the edges of financial instability that precautions necessary to protect the flights (and their passengers) would have flipped the balance. Instituting the security measures now in place through the TSA, before the attacks of IX/XI would have spooked the traveling public to drive them away from air-travel.
The Haj Musheen Abdul Aziz Az-Kubaysi mosque complex in Fallujah was the sight of an intense and deadly battle in the initial days of the seige of Fallujah. Marines were searching the city for those responsible for the murder and mutilation of four American contractors. Heavy resistance was encountered in this neighborhood and gunfire and RPG's were observed coming from the mosque comlex. Permission was granted to assault the mosque, no longer protected by The Law of Land Warfare, and a laser guided bomb was directed to the eastern wall. The 500 lb. bomb took the wall out, the Marines stormed the compound, and all enemy forces were killed.It is worth noting that the person 'responsible' for the deaths of the four mercenaries killed that day in fallujah--the proximal casus belli for the all-out assault on the place in 2004--was a venal, profit-driven company man from Blackwater Inc., who sent the patrol into Fallujah without normal precautions and with an under-manned vehicle in the first place.
Article 111 of the Iraqi Constitution...states that the oil and gas of Iraq are owned by the Iraqi people and they have the right to control it. But when you look into the details of the law, many of the articles of the law actually conflict with this preamble of the law, the most important point of which is the issue of the production-sharing agreements, which allows the international oil companies, especially the American ones, to exploit the oil fields without our knowledge of what they are actually doing with it. And they take about 50% of the production as their share, which we think it’s an obvious robbery of the Iraqi oil...We also object to the procedure by which these companies are given the contracts for exploiting the oil, because it allows the granting of the contracts with the aid of foreign advisers. We demanded that it’s actually the Iraqi experts that need to be consulted with regards to the granting of the contracts.Yup, it's robbery. And the passage of it will be the only measure of 'success' USers may EVER see in consequence of the ICORP of Iraq.
Cindy Sheehan said she will run as an independent against the San Francisco Democrat in 2008 if Pelosi does not file articles of impeachment against Bush by July 23. "I think all politicians should be held accountable. Democrats and Americans feel betrayed by the Democratic leadership. We hired them to bring an end to the war," reports Angela K. Brown of the Associated Press.
"President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have used demagoguery and fear to quell Americans' demands for an end to this war. They say withdrawing will create bloodshed and chaos and encourage terrorists. Actually, all of that has already happened - the result of this unnecessary invasion and the incompetent management of this war. It is time for the United States to leave Iraq, without any more delay than the Pentagon needs to organize an orderly exit."
Said law, the passage and adoption of which would retroactively (and economically) 'justify' (to the war-mongering CorpoRat/PNAC/Zionist cabal) the Bushevik ICORP in Iraq, dissolves any pre-ICORP energy contracts in favor of contracts negotiated since the ICORP with British and USer multi-nationals, and puts the Iraqi economy in the caring hand of those self-same multinationals for the next 20 years.Followers of Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Thursday joined a growing chorus of Sunni Arab, Kurdish and Shiite opposition to a draft oil law backed by Washington. (Ed: the last two words contain the key to understanding both the reason for the anth opposition to, the measure.)
His opposition, apparently motivated by anger at the idea of US and British oil firms snapping up contracts after their countries invaded Iraq, promises to feed a fierce debate but will not necessarily derail the legislation...(Ed: Funny that they can virtually admit to the venal purposes of this horror, and in the next breath, assert that this won't 'necessarily' influence the outcome. Any wonder that the Iraqis regard maliki as a pupper?)
...Sadr's supporters said they would not support any law that would allow firms "whose governments are occupying Iraq" -- a reference to the United States, Britain and their coalition allies -- to sign Iraqi oil deals. (Ed: Well, fucking DUH! It only makes sense to the invaders to fucking reward them for the murder of a couple hundred thousand of your countryfolks and co-religionists!)
"The most serious problem with the law is the production-sharing agreements, which we categorically reject," said Nassar al-Rubaie, spokesman for Sadr's 32-member parliamentary bloc.
Such agreements, which provide for foreign oil companies to share investment and profits with the state, would "undermine Iraq's sovereignty in the short run and will strip it of its sovereignty in the long run", he added. (Ed: The agreements COMPEL the State to split the profits about 80-20 in favor of the fucking cartels, for the next fucking 20 years, fer chrissake!)
The Kurdish Regional Government, on the other hand, has demanded that the new oil law accommodate contracts it has already signed with foreign companies to exploit oil in northern Iraq.
ANKARA - The button of the stopwatch counting down the invasion of northern Iraq by the Turkish army was probably pressed on Tuesday, at an impromptu meeting between Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.If the Turks take on the PKK inside Iraq, there will be no reason for the Iraqi Kurds to fore-swear returning the favor and 'protecting' Turkish Kurds from the genocide which the Turks so plainly wish to inflict upon them.
The two men have, in theory, scheduled meetings on Thursdays, which are often not maintained, as they do not see politically eye-to-eye. The surprise meeting on Tuesday has sparked speculation that the assault is near. Cynics, however, say this is just another coup de theatre, which aims at shaking from the shoulders the United States and Iraq, who are clearly opposed to military action against the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) on Iraqi soil.
False alarms have been almost a routine since the beginning of this year, when the general staff of the armed forces energetically requested the government's approval to move into northern Iraq in large numbers in order to avenge the weekly casualties by the army in eastern Turkey, caused by PKK armed militants stationed in refugee camps and villages in Iraq.
The Turkish army has been drawing plans since last year for a "total cleanup" of that region, but the government has avoided responding clearly. A wait-and-see strategy has prevailed within the Justice and Development Party (AKP), the ruling political formation.
Other events this week corroborate the growing belief that the incursion is near. The U.S. ambassador to Ankara on Monday had to publicly reject in dismay allegations by the Turkish press that his government has been selling weapons to PKK members. The United States, as well as the EU and Turkey, consider this organization a terrorist one.
If you be's black in Jena, LA, you best bettah keep thet broad, flat nose clean, knee-grow!By IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 39 minutes ago
Israel said its troops were on a routine foray against Palestinian rocket squads when they came under fire from the militants about half a mile inside the Gaza Strip. Hamas said its fighters surprised an Israeli undercover unit.
Witnesses reported a heavy exchange of fire as Israeli tanks and bulldozers moved in, backed by air power.
As soldiers took up positions on rooftops, militants fought back by laying mines and firing small arms and mortars.
Two mortars landed on the Israeli side of the Erez crossing, which has been closed to most traffic since Hamas wrested control of Gaza last month, the army said. No one was hurt.
Hospital officials said six militants were killed in the clash. All belonged to Hamas, the group said, adding that the dead included its central Gaza field commander.
Two more Hamas militants were killed later Thursday in Israeli missile strikes targeting the same area, the army and hospital officials said. The fighting erupted near the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza Strip, a site of frequent clashes between Palestinian gunmen and the Israeli army.
Elsewhere along Gaza's northern border with Israel, Hamas officials said some 15 tanks and three bulldozers had moved into Palestinian farms and were leveling the land. The army said it had no such vehicles in the area.
FTC ABANDONS "NET NEUTRALITY"Just in time to stem the popular tide.The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has decided to abandon net neutrality and allow telecoms companies to charge websites for access.
The FTC said in a report that, despite popular support for net neutrality, it was minded to let the market sort out the issue.
This means that the organisation will not stand in the way of companies using differential pricing to make sure that some websites can be viewed more quickly than others. The report also counsels against net neutrality legislation.
"This report recommends that policy makers proceed with caution in the evolving dynamic industry of broadband internet access, which is generally moving towards more, not less, competition," FTC chairman Deborah Platt Majoras wrote.
"In the absence of significant market failure, or demonstrated consumer harm, policy makers should be particularly hesitant to enact new regulation in this area."
The report has caused outrage in the online community. Many are worried that any abandonment of net neutrality will harm competition, since it will allow big companies to outspend start-ups.
"Mostly the FTC suggests ways that the telephone and cable companies could have new ways to make money from content and applications providers," said Art Brodsky, of internet advocacy group Public Knowledge.
"Or lower-income subscribers could be charged lower prices, subsidised by 'prioritization revenues' much as supported email services now provide free email accounts. Nowhere is there discussion of what the consumer gets out of the deal."
Moore argues that Americans take dead-end jobs for insurance and stay because employers have them over a barrel. He says transform health care, and you'll remake society. History suggests the health-care industry will pay through the nose to ensure that the system never changes. But after Sicko, how can Americans let politicians feed them sugar pills?
One of the indefatigables at TruthOut.Org, Dean Baker, has a a piece up on TO discussing the 'let's kill Michael Moore' phenomenon:"The pundits are working overtime trying to defuse the message from "SiCKO," Michael Moore's new film. They are trying to convince the public that the United States could not possibly do what every other rich country (and even some not so rich countries) have managed to do: guarantee their people decent health care."
