Global
The prosecutor investigating the outing of covert CIA operative Valerie
Plame Wilson has secured at least one indictment in the case from a majority
of the 23 grand jurors, lawyers and intelligence officials close to the case
said Wednesday.
The final outcome of Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's 22-month federal probe is expected to end Friday with indictments of White House officials. The situation remains fluid, however, and several new scenarios have developed over the past 48 hours that could delay an announcement, lawyers close to the probe said late Wednesday.
Rumors swirled Wednesday afternoon that Fitzgerald was going to seek an extension of the grand jury, which expires Friday. That scenario now seems highly unlikely, sources close to the case said.
However, intelligence officials and those familiar with the case have indicated that Fitzgerald could convene a new grand jury to investigate forged documents used by the Bush Administration that purported to show Iraq was seeking to buy uranium from Niger.
The final outcome of Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's 22-month federal probe is expected to end Friday with indictments of White House officials. The situation remains fluid, however, and several new scenarios have developed over the past 48 hours that could delay an announcement, lawyers close to the probe said late Wednesday.
Rumors swirled Wednesday afternoon that Fitzgerald was going to seek an extension of the grand jury, which expires Friday. That scenario now seems highly unlikely, sources close to the case said.
However, intelligence officials and those familiar with the case have indicated that Fitzgerald could convene a new grand jury to investigate forged documents used by the Bush Administration that purported to show Iraq was seeking to buy uranium from Niger.
The unholy duo of Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell and Reverend Rod Parsley are back. Last year, they conspired to deliver the presidency to the corrupt and war-mongering Bush klan.
You see, Kenny and Rodney traveled the state together on behalf of Issue One – a constitutional amendment that made all forms of domestic partnership illegal in Ohio. Never mind that the Ohio legislature had already passed a Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that made gay marriage illegal in the state, or that there’s only one Democrat on the Ohio Supreme Court, so the chances of gays getting married anytime soon in Ohio were slim to none.
But, it was pimpin’ the baby Jesus time. With Ohio having lost more jobs than any other state but Michigan during the first four years of the Bush administration, and having lost more high-paying jobs than any other state in the year before the election, it was time to praise the Lord and pass the blasphemy.
You see, Kenny and Rodney traveled the state together on behalf of Issue One – a constitutional amendment that made all forms of domestic partnership illegal in Ohio. Never mind that the Ohio legislature had already passed a Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that made gay marriage illegal in the state, or that there’s only one Democrat on the Ohio Supreme Court, so the chances of gays getting married anytime soon in Ohio were slim to none.
But, it was pimpin’ the baby Jesus time. With Ohio having lost more jobs than any other state but Michigan during the first four years of the Bush administration, and having lost more high-paying jobs than any other state in the year before the election, it was time to praise the Lord and pass the blasphemy.
Re: In essence, the GAO study makes it clear that no bank, grocery store
or mom & pop chop shop would dare operate its business on a computer
system as flimsy, fragile and easily manipulated as the one on which
the 2004 election turned.
Not true. Almost every major organization has significant flaws in their computer security (user passwords are just one example). Minor organizations like mom and pop stores are likely to have far more security problems than the voting machines did.
Banks might do an ok job, but the other organizations wouldn't.
Just notice how often that windows (sic) comes out with security releases that you need to install to avoid someone gaining possible control of your computer (Eg a total security breach). It's about once a month.
The more complex a computer system is, the more likely there is to be a major security flaw. Most of them just don't get noticed, because you'd have to stumble into the flaw (get lucky).
Not true. Almost every major organization has significant flaws in their computer security (user passwords are just one example). Minor organizations like mom and pop stores are likely to have far more security problems than the voting machines did.
Banks might do an ok job, but the other organizations wouldn't.
Just notice how often that windows (sic) comes out with security releases that you need to install to avoid someone gaining possible control of your computer (Eg a total security breach). It's about once a month.
The more complex a computer system is, the more likely there is to be a major security flaw. Most of them just don't get noticed, because you'd have to stumble into the flaw (get lucky).
Right Wing Power Politics Overwhelm President’s Supreme Court Pick
Harriet Miers’ withdrawal from her Supreme Court nomination demonstrates that ultraconservatives are so determined to swing the Supreme Court sharply to the right that they pounded their own president’s nominee into submission, and now demand a nominee with unquestioned far-right credentials, said Ralph G. Neas, President of People For the American Way.
“It’s an astonishing spectacle. The unelected power-brokers of the far right have forced the withdrawal of President Bush’s own Supreme Court nominee, before a confirmation hearing has even been held. President Bush’s complete capitulation to the far-right interest groups is astounding. The ultra-right wing dominance of Republican Party politics is complete, and they have dealt a terrible blow to an already weakened President and his administration,” said Neas. “Right-wingers are openly saying they elected Bush to put a battle-ready ultraconservative on the court to replace the moderate Sandra Day O’Connor, and they’re demanding a new choice – bipartisanship, moderation and mainstream Americans be damned.”
Harriet Miers’ withdrawal from her Supreme Court nomination demonstrates that ultraconservatives are so determined to swing the Supreme Court sharply to the right that they pounded their own president’s nominee into submission, and now demand a nominee with unquestioned far-right credentials, said Ralph G. Neas, President of People For the American Way.
“It’s an astonishing spectacle. The unelected power-brokers of the far right have forced the withdrawal of President Bush’s own Supreme Court nominee, before a confirmation hearing has even been held. President Bush’s complete capitulation to the far-right interest groups is astounding. The ultra-right wing dominance of Republican Party politics is complete, and they have dealt a terrible blow to an already weakened President and his administration,” said Neas. “Right-wingers are openly saying they elected Bush to put a battle-ready ultraconservative on the court to replace the moderate Sandra Day O’Connor, and they’re demanding a new choice – bipartisanship, moderation and mainstream Americans be damned.”
My take on Imperial Ambitions: Conversations on the Post 9/11 World (featuring David Barsamian's interviews with Noam Chomsky)
Once Again "The Heretic" Takes the Empire to Task
As you read these words, I have little doubt that The Grand Inquisitor for the Bush regime is aching for a shot at The Empire’s ultimate heretic. Noam Chomsky has been a consistent intellectual thorn in the collective sides of the Machiavellians comprising the ruling elite in the United States for years. I recently had the pleasure of reading his latest, Imperial Ambitions: Conversation on the Post-9/11 World. Difficult as it is to imagine (if one has read Chomsky), I breezed through the nine chapters in about two hours. Throughout the 201 pages, interviewer David Barsamian poses probing questions, which serve to pry open the burgeoning treasure trove of knowledge and activate the analytical juggernaut comprising Avram Noam Chomsky's brain. With little prompting from Barsamian, Chomsky unleashes an onslaught of profound insights into how the world has changed since 9/11, and on America's role in shaping and effecting that change.
Glad he is only a "part-timer"
Once Again "The Heretic" Takes the Empire to Task
As you read these words, I have little doubt that The Grand Inquisitor for the Bush regime is aching for a shot at The Empire’s ultimate heretic. Noam Chomsky has been a consistent intellectual thorn in the collective sides of the Machiavellians comprising the ruling elite in the United States for years. I recently had the pleasure of reading his latest, Imperial Ambitions: Conversation on the Post-9/11 World. Difficult as it is to imagine (if one has read Chomsky), I breezed through the nine chapters in about two hours. Throughout the 201 pages, interviewer David Barsamian poses probing questions, which serve to pry open the burgeoning treasure trove of knowledge and activate the analytical juggernaut comprising Avram Noam Chomsky's brain. With little prompting from Barsamian, Chomsky unleashes an onslaught of profound insights into how the world has changed since 9/11, and on America's role in shaping and effecting that change.
Glad he is only a "part-timer"
At this moment, the polar bear's Arctic habitat is literally melting away
beneath it due to global warming. If we don't intervene now, these majestic
bears may not survive beyond the next few decades.
Please go to Polar Bear Action and send a message urging Interior Secretary Gale Norton to protect polar bears as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.
Global warming has already taken a serious toll on the large expanses of summer sea ice that polar bears depend on for survival. Since 1979, more than 20 percent of the polar ice cap has disappeared. Yet the Bush administration refuses to lift a finger to help the polar bear.
Leading scientists now warn that if current rates of global warming continue, the polar bear could face extinction by the end of this century.
To head off this unthinkable tragedy, NRDC is launching a campaign of intense public and courtroom pressure to compel the administration to act. We have just put the Interior Secretary on notice that we will be taking her agency to federal court on behalf of the polar bear.
Please go to Polar Bear Action and send a message urging Interior Secretary Gale Norton to protect polar bears as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.
Global warming has already taken a serious toll on the large expanses of summer sea ice that polar bears depend on for survival. Since 1979, more than 20 percent of the polar ice cap has disappeared. Yet the Bush administration refuses to lift a finger to help the polar bear.
Leading scientists now warn that if current rates of global warming continue, the polar bear could face extinction by the end of this century.
To head off this unthinkable tragedy, NRDC is launching a campaign of intense public and courtroom pressure to compel the administration to act. We have just put the Interior Secretary on notice that we will be taking her agency to federal court on behalf of the polar bear.
As a legal noose appears to be tightening around the Bush/Cheney/Rove inner circle, a shocking government report shows the floor under the legitimacy of their alleged election to the White House is crumbling.
The latest critical confirmation of key indicators that the election of 2004 was stolen comes in an extremely powerful, penetrating report from the Government Accountability Office that has gotten virtually no mainstream media coverage. Click here for GAO Report
The government's lead investigative agency is known for its general incorruptibility and its thorough, in-depth analyses. Its concurrence with assertions widely dismissed as "conspiracy theories" adds crucial new weight to the case that Team Bush has no legitimate business being in the White House.
Nearly a year ago, senior Judiciary Committee Democrat John Conyers (D-MI) asked the GAO to investigate electronic voting machines as they were used during the November 2, 2004 presidential election. The request came amidst widespread complaints in Ohio and elsewhere that often shocking irregularities defined their performance.
The latest critical confirmation of key indicators that the election of 2004 was stolen comes in an extremely powerful, penetrating report from the Government Accountability Office that has gotten virtually no mainstream media coverage. Click here for GAO Report
The government's lead investigative agency is known for its general incorruptibility and its thorough, in-depth analyses. Its concurrence with assertions widely dismissed as "conspiracy theories" adds crucial new weight to the case that Team Bush has no legitimate business being in the White House.
Nearly a year ago, senior Judiciary Committee Democrat John Conyers (D-MI) asked the GAO to investigate electronic voting machines as they were used during the November 2, 2004 presidential election. The request came amidst widespread complaints in Ohio and elsewhere that often shocking irregularities defined their performance.
Future historians will remember the George W. Bush administration for allowing two colossal catastrophes on U.S. soil: the 9/11 terrorist attack and the Katrina hurricane invasion. In both cases, Bush the Younger ignored mounds of evidence pointing to each impending disaster.
In December 2002, Bush announced that his administration planned to study the issue of climate change for five more years rather than be forced into any action regulating fossil fuel emissions. The question of global warming was put on the back burner.
Even if Bush refused on principle to read those boring policy papers he might have accidentally stumbled on the fact that New Orleans was in peril from leafing through the pages of Rolling Stone, glancing at the pictures and reading a paragraph or two.
The February 20, 2003 issue of Rolling Stone had a graphic of the U.S. Capitol under water, and citing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said “New Orleans, which has an average elevation of eight feet below sea level could become the next Atlantis.”
In December 2002, Bush announced that his administration planned to study the issue of climate change for five more years rather than be forced into any action regulating fossil fuel emissions. The question of global warming was put on the back burner.
Even if Bush refused on principle to read those boring policy papers he might have accidentally stumbled on the fact that New Orleans was in peril from leafing through the pages of Rolling Stone, glancing at the pictures and reading a paragraph or two.
The February 20, 2003 issue of Rolling Stone had a graphic of the U.S. Capitol under water, and citing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said “New Orleans, which has an average elevation of eight feet below sea level could become the next Atlantis.”
Would you pay $49.95 to watch women wrestling in mud? I did last week, and it was well worth the expense. I get the New York Times Online, and until a couple of weeks ago, all the features were free. Then, as some of you have no doubt discovered, the NYT's columnists started to have only their opening sentences on free display. To get the full columns of Paul Krugman, Frank Rich, Maureen Dowd and the others you have to pony up $49.95 for a 14-day free trial, and then a year's subscription to Times Select.
I held off until Saturday, when the Times nailed the sale with Dowd's column title, "Woman of Mass Destruction," and her ominous opening sentence, "I've always liked Judy Miller."
Miller has been the sport of a million stories, and there was nothing much by way of startling revelations in what Dowd wrote, but in operatic terms it was as though Maria Callas had suddenly rushed onto the stage and slugged Elizabeth Schwartzkopf.
I held off until Saturday, when the Times nailed the sale with Dowd's column title, "Woman of Mass Destruction," and her ominous opening sentence, "I've always liked Judy Miller."
Miller has been the sport of a million stories, and there was nothing much by way of startling revelations in what Dowd wrote, but in operatic terms it was as though Maria Callas had suddenly rushed onto the stage and slugged Elizabeth Schwartzkopf.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- America wants to install "a puppet government" in Burma and seize an island in the Andaman Sea and a mountain near China so the Pentagon can build military bases and attack Asia, according to Burma's official media.
"If the [U.S.] power has a naval base on our Coco Kyun Island, it can launch a blitzkrieg against the eastern or the western hemisphere," the military regime's official New Light of Myanmar newspaper said.
Burma, mainland Southeast Asia's biggest country, is also known as Myanmar and has been ruled by its military since 1962.
"If the big nation [America] can deploy troops and missiles in the north of Myanmar, it can target and attack any specified country in and around the region," it said.
The Coco Islands are two dots just north of India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands, off southern Burma where the Bay of Bengal mingles with the Andaman Sea, at about the same latitude as Thailand's capital, Bangkok.
China has constructed a "signals intelligence" unit on the Coco Islands, according to the Washington-based Federation of American Scientists, which monitors intelligence facilities worldwide.
"If the [U.S.] power has a naval base on our Coco Kyun Island, it can launch a blitzkrieg against the eastern or the western hemisphere," the military regime's official New Light of Myanmar newspaper said.
Burma, mainland Southeast Asia's biggest country, is also known as Myanmar and has been ruled by its military since 1962.
"If the big nation [America] can deploy troops and missiles in the north of Myanmar, it can target and attack any specified country in and around the region," it said.
The Coco Islands are two dots just north of India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands, off southern Burma where the Bay of Bengal mingles with the Andaman Sea, at about the same latitude as Thailand's capital, Bangkok.
China has constructed a "signals intelligence" unit on the Coco Islands, according to the Washington-based Federation of American Scientists, which monitors intelligence facilities worldwide.