In designing the political surge, the US failed to understand that the main problem is not simply the incompetence of the Iraqi government but its very legitimacy. The two main parties in the government—Dawa and the larger Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council—have a weak popular base. The government is seen as consisting mainly of "outsiders".
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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.
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We propose a new way to prod gun makers to reduce gun deaths, one that would be unlikely to put them out of business or to prevent law-abiding citizens from obtaining guns. By using a strategy known as "performance-based regulation," we would deputize private actors -- the gun makers -- to deal with the negative effects of their products.
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Maddow discusses international oil companies moving into Iraq with Keith Olbermann. She is 100% on the money. Anyone who can now doubt this is delusional and may require medication.
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The Supreme Court has spoken: Thanks to the court's blockbuster 5 to 4 decision Thursday, Washingtonians now have the right to own a gun for self-defense. I leave the law to lawyers, but the public health lesson is crystal clear: The legal ruling that the District's citizens can keep loaded handguns in their homes doesn't mean that they should.
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Awesome. And the Vogue video from Colbert's green screen challenge isn't too bad either.
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By David Korten, YES! Magazine - In a time when the old order is shattering, a global movement is emerging to challenge the use of war as a tool of statecraft.
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Olbermann's World's Worst 6/27 - Hannity Flip Flops on Korea
Posted by soul Labels: Keith Olbermann, North Korea, nuclear, nuclear weapons, politics, videoFox News’ Sean Hannity applauded the Bush Administrations for lifting some of the sanctions on North Korea. However, moments later when his guest, former UN Ambassador John Bolton disagreed, Hannity quickly changed mind.
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The Pentagon is preparing to order roughly 30,000 troops to Iraq early next year in a move that would allow the U.S. to maintain 15 combat brigades in the country through 2009, The Associated Press has learned.
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Pakistan on Saturday launched an offensive against the Taliban -- the biggest military push against militants in Pakistan's northwestern tribal region since a civilian government took power in March.
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Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who has introduced measures to impeach George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, said Thursday that oil executives who secretly met with the vice president in 2001 should be held criminally liable for pushing an illegal war.
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The AMA's med student branch, the Medical Student Section, unanimously passed a resolution supporting medical marijuana at the AMA national convention this month. With the other large national med student group, the American Medical Student Association, already supporting it, it looks like therapeutic cannabis has a future in US medicine.
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Obama will go to Iraq and Afghanistan next month, ABC News reported Friday. He has also announced plans to visit Iraq and Afghanistan as well as Britain, France and Germany in mid-July.
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The whistleblower at the heart of a lawsuit against AT&T for illegal eavesdropping says Congress is set to stage a 'coup against the Constitution' as it nears passage of a new spying bill. Former AT&T technician Mark Klein provided internal company documents that he claims show that AT&T spied on the internet inside the United States.
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Major General Doug Stone is trying to turn jailed Iraqi militants into citizens. Call him a do-gooder, but guess what? It's working.
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Over 4,000 American soldiers have lost their lives fighting George W. Bush's war in Iraq on "false pretenses", which are "unlawful deaths", requiring that Bush be indicted and prosecuted on murder and conspiracy to commit murder charges, as noted and documented by renowned prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi in his stunning, best selling book "The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder", watch video below
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by: Jeff Zeleny, The New York Times - Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois) and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-New York) wave while departing Obama's campaign plane on Friday. Obama and Clinton appeared together on Friday in a show of unity for Obama's presidential campaign.
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After years of using prescription antidepressants that offered no relief for her anxiety disorder, Patsy K. Eagan experiments with her drug of choice- marijuana
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The minister who married the daughter of President Bush launches a pro- Barack Obama web site.
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What's actually disturbing is the Swift Boat Media's complete indifference to McCain's bald-faced hypocrisy on the same issue. Amidst all the attacks on Obama's "flip-flop," how much have you read in the MSM about the fact that McCain has "completely reversed himself" on public financing -- and is currently breaking the law on a daily basis, making
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Introduced less than a month ago, Resolution 362, also known as the Iran War Resolution, could be passed by the House as early as next week.
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"Speaking as a private individual, I would not vote for John McCain under any circumstances," said James Dobson, founder of the Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family as well as the Focus Action cultural action organization set up specifically to provide a platform for informing and rallying constituents.
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There is a growing expectation that politicians eschew the practice of actively seeking the number two slot on their partys' tickets. In other words, they're supposed to want it, but not seek it.
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Yeah, he's leading by 96 delegates now.
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Two Senators willing to stand for the Bill of Rights, surely there are more. Please call yours.
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George Carlin began his comedy career in the late 1950s. And he ended it with a show in Las Vegas just a week before his death Sunday of heart failure at age 71.
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Former rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton plan to campaign together Friday in the small New Hampshire town of Unity, their first joint appearance meant to ease tensions over the closely fought Democratic primary.
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TALKING POINT #1: Decriminalizing marijuana frees up police resources to deal with more serious crimes.
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TALKING POINT #1: Decriminalizing marijuana frees up police resources to deal with more serious crimes.
TALKING POINT #2: Far more harm is caused by the criminal prohibition of marijuana than by the use of marijuana itself.
TALKING POINT #3: Decriminalization does not lead to greater marijuana use.
TALKING POINT #4: Criminal laws prohibiting marijuana possession do not deter marijuana use.
McCain:"I do not support Roe v. Wade. It should be overturned."
Posted by soul Labels: 2008 Presidential Candidates, human rights, John McCainA daily dose of McBush, courtesy of Jed. It's a forceful reminder from the GOP nominee about his very, very, very right wing views on a woman's right to choose.
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"They’re going to try to make you afraid. They’re going to try to make you afraid of me. They're gonna say, 'You know what, he’s young and inexperienced and he’s got a funny name. And did I mention he’s black? He’s got a feisty wife.” Barack Obama
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Barack Obama’s black? Well that does it for me, I’m not voting for him…j/k
It’s incredibly sad that Obama has to actually “warn” people of the political rhetoric the repubs use to scare people into voting for John McCain.
The UN atomic watchdog chief warned on Saturday that an attack on Iran over its controversial nuclear programme would turn the region into a fireball as Tehran rejected an Israeli strike as impossible.
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Big Pharma, get ready for the FDA! The feds plan much heavier regulations for the industry, including penalties of up to $10 million for dosing us with risky drugs.
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A great, disturbing story about the state of drug research including bad science, industry bias, journals that don't have enough good research, bad media reporting and confused doctors.
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All pharmaceuticals can kill. I almost died from a serious reaction to Cymbalta and HCZT (a high-blood pressure medication). The wildest part was that I figured out why my blood pressure was plummetting and my heart was freaking out. Not the doctors who were treating me. Eventually, two different doctors agreed with me that the Cymbalta & HCZT messed up my heart. I'm off both medications and feeling much better now. But, I am extremely leary of all pharmaceuticals and don't just take a pill for everything anymore.
Everybody has one--even rats and pigeons, to say nothing of people. The ability to grasp small numbers and map them onto a number line in the brain is an evolutionary birthright of ours. Arithmetic, of course, is another matter.
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Part of any ethnic cleansing operation is not just wiping out the population and expelling it from the earth. A very typical part of ethnic cleansing is wiping people out of history.For ethnic cleansing to be an effective and successful operation you also have to wipe people out of memory and the Israelis are very good at it.
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The Bush administration refuses to turn over subpoenaed documents related to the agency's decision to prevent California from enacting stricter emissions standards than the federal government.
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Just Foreign Policy - It's a Slippery Slope to War
Posted by soul Labels: activism, anti-war, foriegn affairs, IranAsk Your Representative to Oppose H. Con. Res. 362
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1. The resolution is H. Con. Res. 362, introduced by Representative Gary Ackerman. The most allowing provision "demands that the President"initiate an international effort to immediately and dramatically increase the economic, political, and diplomatic pressure on Iran to verifiably suspend its nuclear enrichment activities by, inter alia, prohibiting the export to Iran of all refined petroleum products; imposing stringent inspection requirements on all persons, vehicles, ships, planes, trains, and cargo entering or departing Iran; and prohibiting the international movement of all Iranian officials not involved in negotiating the suspension of Iran's nuclear program.
You can find the full text of the resolution and list of co-sponsors here: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.CON.RES.362:
What should Obama's policy be for Afghanistan?
Posted by soul Labels: 2008 Presidential Candidates, anti-war, Barack ObamaWhat should Obama's policy be for Afghanistan?Ahmad: Take on the drug lords and support local leaders without seeking US strategic advantage
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Why did the US invade Iraq?
Why is it making noises about invading
Iran?
Is it about oil...or something else?
The Petro-Dollar War
The first thing the US did when it invaded and took over Iraq was reverse Saddam Hussein's recently policy of demanding Euros in payment for his countries oil.
Some think that's what the war was all about and that Iran's insistence on receiving Euros for its oil is the real reason that country has been targeted.
Dollars? Euros? What's the difference?
The difference is this...if you are the dominant currency, you can support your lifestyle and war machine by printing more when you run out.
Take that power away and there will be a very economic painful dislocation in the US.
By Patrick Cockburn, The Independent UK - The return of the four major Western oil companies will be greeted with dismay by many Iraqis who fear losing control of their vast oil reserves.
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States that have authorized the use of medical cannabis by qualified patients have not experienced an increase in pot use by the general population, according to a report issued this week by the Marijuana Policy Project. In seven of the twelve states, marijuana use among young people declined at rates that exceeded the national average.
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By Michael T. Klare, The Nation - Oil companies, speculators and OPEC played their part, but ruinous Bush Administration policies have compounded the crisis.
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TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran called Israel a ''dangerous regime'' on Saturday after a U.S. report that the Jewish state had carried out a large military exercise, apparently a rehearsal for a potential bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities. The comments by...
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The munitions dealer, Efraim E. Diveroli, was charged with selling prohibited Chinese ammunition to the Pentagon to supply Afghan security forces.
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The Democratic leadership cleared the way for the president and his collaborators to evade punishment for defying the law.
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"We can never forget that everything that Hitler did in Germany was 'legal,' and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did was 'illegal.' It was 'illegal' to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany, but I am sure that if I lived in Germany during that time I would have comforted my Jewish brothers even though it was illegal ... we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive." Martin Luther King Jr.
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While Congressional leaders silently opt to table impeachment articles against President Bush, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) vows to speak out and keep the articles alive and in the public conscience. Kucinich spoke on Tuesday to Truthout about his resolution.
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Pictures from a protest outside the police barricade near 10Downing St., on Sunday 15 June 2008. About 200-300 people wereprotesting President Bush's terrorism and Middle East policies. President Bush was in London on his "farewell" tour of theUnited Kingdom. Protest located directly in front of the Houses ofParliament, Westminster
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Pictures from a protest outside the police barricade near 10 Downing St., on Sunday 15 June 2008. About 200-300 people were protesting President Bush's terrorism and Middle East policies. President Bush was in London on his "farewell" tour of the United Kingdom. Protest located directly in front of the Houses of Parliament...
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Government official says losses in the fraud cases total about $1 billion. More than 700 people have been arrested over mortgage fraud as part of an investigation by the FBI and Justice Department that has been going on since March 1, a government official told CNN Thursday. A Press conference is scheduled for today.
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On the same day that former GOP presidential contender Mike Huckabee told his party that demonizing Barack Obama is a 'fatal mistake,' Obama told a reporter from CBN news that the GOP needs to lay off his family. Obama told CBN News that he is deeply disappointed that John McCain has not spoken out against political attacks leveled at his wife.
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Jeremy Scahill: Blackwater is Still in Charge, Deadly, Above the Law and Out of Control
Posted by soulThink Blackwater's days are numbered? Think again. Jeremy Scahill explains why its slaughter of Iraqis has not stopped the notorious mercenary firm.
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After years of reporting on the drug war, I'm convinced that this "war" does more harm than any drug.
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The central problem facing the antiwar movement isn’t a lack of support at the level of ideas, but a lack of participation by the millions of Americans who agree with the demands of the movement, but don’t have any outlet for the active expression of their views.
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Base an entire society and economic system on human greed and the acquisition of wealth and material goods, and this is what happens. The powerful exploit the weak. The rich buy political influence, and the working class gets an insulting pittance with a super-sized helping of condescension. Should anyone be surprised?
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Olbermann slams mccain on enron link. special report.
Posted by soul Labels: 2008 Presidential Candidates, John McCain, Keith Olbermann, politicsOlbermann investigates how enron created the energy speculation market to drive up the price of gas and how mccain now has Phil Graham (his chief economic adviser), the same lobbyist that worked to deregulate the market to make that happen working for him. Succinctly summed up by Olbermann.
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In PHR’s new report, Broken Laws, Broken Lives, we have for the first time medical evidence to confirm first-hand accounts of men who endured torture by US personnel in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantánamo Bay. These men were never charged with any crime.
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If the George W. Bush Administration is going to protect us from terrorists by illegally (without warrant) spying on us, who will protect us from the G.W.B. administration?
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Some backers of the surge even argue that the Iraqi civil war is over and that victory on Washington's terms is in sight -- so long as the United States has the will to see its current efforts through to their conclusion. Unfortunately, such claims misconstrue the causes of the recent fall in violence and, more important, ignore a fatal flaw in the
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An alarmist John McCain is using Iran as a political weapon against Barack Obama -- even as he misjudges our Middle East adversary.
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www.infowars.comwww.prisonplanet.comWhy is America so brainwashed by the corporate media? Why do we care more about American Idol and sports games than being poisoned with mercury in our vaccinations and sodium fluoride in our water supply? America needs to wake up and get the facts about our chemical manipulation before it's too late.
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To some whites, more than a lot of us would like to admit, blacks are specimens to be examined because blacks are so foreign to them. Michelle Obama is so foreign, even though she's lived in the same country with whites all this time, because she is a member of a race that still doesn't have fair representation of the variety within it in media.
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When it comes to presidential elections, Ohio has been- in recent years- a boon to the GOP. But this time around, things are looking bright for the Obama campaign in the Buckeye State, where three consecutive polls have given Obama a comfortable lead over John McCain in the general election.
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If you have nothing to hide, then how come you hide so much????? From the best...McClatchy newspapers
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An eight-month McClatchy investigation of the detention system created after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has found that the U.S. imprisoned innocent men, subjected them to abuse, stripped them of their legal rights and allowed Islamic militants to turn the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba into a school for jihad.
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A conference to plan the prosecution of President Bush and other high administration officials for war crimes will be held September 13-14 at the Massachusetts School of Law at Andover.
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Four Western oil companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing their oil concession to nationalization as Saddam Hussein rose to power.
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After years of excuses and delays, the FDA endorses safe and effective emergency birth control method, but only for adult women.
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Bear witness. The photos the evil empire does not want you to see.
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By Caren Bohan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says if Osama bin Laden is captured alive, the United States should bring him to justice but in a way that avoids turning the al Qaeda leader into a martyr. After...
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By David Schwartz PHOENIX (Reuters) - Frustrated by a steady flow of illegal Mexican immigrants into Arizona, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has decided to take matters into his own hands. Arpaio dispatches teams of sheriff's deputies into his own hands.Arpaio dispatches teams of sheriff's deputies into Hispanic communities where they stop people and arrest anyone who cannot prove he or she is a legal U.S. resident.Now he faces an onslaught of criticism from Hispanic activists, local lawmakers and the Phoenix mayor, who call his crackdown on immigrants a clear case of racial profiling in which only people who look Hispanic are targeted.
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CBS' Lara Logan Slams US Iraq War Coverage
Posted by soul Labels: media, news, video, war, war on terrorCBS News Chief Foreign Correspondent Lara Logan feels responsible for Americans not understanding what's going on in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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left-of-center bloggers, Ron Paul activists, and the ACLU join forces to wage an offensive against “Blue Dog” Dems who cave to the GOP demand for telcom immunity. At the center of this war lies the FISA bill being drafted by Steny Hoyer - a bill that news reports say will include retroactive immunity to telcoms that participated in illegal wiretaps
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A US House of Representatives Resolution effectively requiring a naval blockade on Iran seems fast tracked for passage, gaining co-sponsors at a remarkable speed, but experts say the measures called for in the resolutions amount to an act of war.
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Rep. Dennis Kucinich warned the House Judiciary Committee that it would be wise not to ignore the 35 articles of impeachment against President Bush last week. If the committtee does not act within a month, he plans to introduce even more articles...
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The two-star general who led an Army investigation into the horrific detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib has accused the Bush administration of war crimes and is calling for accountability. In a preface to a Physicians for Human Rights report based on medical examinations of former detainees, Taguba adds an epilogue to his own investigation.
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two former hedge fund managers at investment bank Bear Stearns were arrested Thursday morning after a federal criminal probe into the collapse of funds they oversaw, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The former...
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Thursday he has decided to forgo public financing of his election campaign against Republican John McCain. The decision frees him up to collect money privately, which...
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Britain was the world’s biggest arms seller last year, accounting for a third of global arms exports, the Government’s trade promotion organisation said.
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Is the oil crisis being manufactured?
Lindsey Williams says it is.
He was crystal clear over a year ago that gasoline was headed straight to $4.00 a gallon and he says he knows why.
Williams became an oil industry insider by virtue of his success at mediating labor disputes in the Alaska oil fields.
Little did his colleagues know, he had no intention to become a "good old boy."
A powerful essay about individualism and GenY's resistance to partisanship, groupthink, and empire. - By Courtney E. Martin, AlterNet.At a stimulating confab on the election, our author declares: My feminism is about gender and racial justice, global security and community ethics
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Other key finding: "Despite the fact that the national focus seems to be on the economy, among pro-choice Independent women, pro-choice Republican women, and liberal to moderate Republican women, the issue of abortion produces a larger advantage for Democrats than the economy, the war in Iraq, or health care."
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From McClatchyFollowing are excerpts from some of the documents released today by the Senate Armed Services Committee:"The CIA is not held to the same rules as the military. In the past when the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) has made a big deal about certain detainees, the DOD has 'moved' them away from the attention of th
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As the Taliban offensive expands in southern Afghanistan, retaliatory actions by NATO and Afghani forces become increasingly likely. On Sunday, Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai threatened to send troops across Pakistan’s border in quote “hot pursuit.” Amid a general uproar in Pakistan over Karzai’s comments, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani retorted that Pakistan will defend itself at any cost. The Real News Network's Senior Editor Paul Jay discusses the geopolitics of the region with Senior News Analyst Aijaz Ahmad.
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Young Voters Breaking Records In 2008, Doubling From 2000
Posted by soul Labels: 2008 Presidential Candidates, votingThis year, 6.5 million voters under 30 turned up at the polls.
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"If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children."- Mahatma Gandhi
Tents, sacks of food and a replica of a burnt-out village hut appeared in Trafalgar Square on Tuesday as a tourist hotspot became a refugee camp to highlight the plight of millions of people displaced in Darfur and elsewhere.
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Democrat Barack Obama says he'll take no lectures from Republicans on who will keep America safer. GOP rival John McCain's campaign criticized Obama Tuesday for speaking approvingly of the successful prosecution of terrorists.
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Olbermann's "Countdown" show has bested "The O'Reilly Factor" in the ratings for the first time ever. This is remarkable not only because O'Reilly is the nation's second-finest bloviating caricature of smart cultural insight (next to Colbert), but because "Countdown" has only been around for about five years to the "Factor's" dozen. And more.......
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ARGHANDAB, Afghanistan (AFP) — Afghan and NATO troops backed by helicopter gunships launched a massive "clean-up" operation Wednesday to drive Taliban militants from villages near Kandahar, leaving 23 rebels and two soldiers dead.
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Jon Stewart Mocks Media For Peddling Insane Obama Rumors
Posted by soul Labels: 2008 Presidential Candidates, Barack Obama, Jon Stewart, political satire, politics, videoOn Monday night's "Daily Show," Jon mocked the media's willingness to peddle insane rumors about Barack Obama — and their tendency to blame the rumor-mongering on internet sites. Calling it "Baracknophobia," Stewart showed clips of anchor and pundits from all three cable networks repeating baseless rumors (Muslim, plagiarist, sexist, etc.) .
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By Sheryl Gay Stolberg - WASHINGTON: President George W. Bush, reversing a longstanding position, planned to call on Congress on Wednesday to end a ban on offshore oil drilling, according to White House officials who said Bush now wanted to work with states to determine where drilling should occur.
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The eulogies for Tim Russert ignore his role as the War Party's sounding board
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Look at the lies see the truth !!
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Something strange happened to Chuck Hagel over the last couple of years: He started to turn into McCain. Not the McCain who's running for president this year, the McCain of old - the man who used to be a democrat's republican. Now Hagel's being discussed as a contender for Barack Obama's vice-presidential pick. A bold idea or political fantasy?
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These photos may seem disturbing, but there are far worse images out there and the incriminating evidence of war crimes continues to mount. Eventually, the Bush Administration will have to answer for the authorization of this “harsh” form of interrogation.
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Officials looked into interrogation methods early on - A Senate investigation has concluded that top Pentagon officials began assembling lists of harsh interrogation techniques in the summer of 2002 for use on detainees at Guantanamo Bay and that those officials later cited memos from field commanders to suggest that the proposals originated
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an email from Congressman John Olver on protecting our civil liberties...
I write today to update you on the efforts of the 110th Congress to protect and strengthen our civil liberties in the wake of President George W. Bush’s extraordinary expansion of executive power. Since 9/11, this nation has struggled to find a balance between protecting national security and safeguarding civil liberties. In my view, the current Administration has adhered to an expansive interpretation of Presidential power that has endangered our civil liberties.
Despite these setbacks, Congress is now working to responsibly restore our civil liberties.
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FISA
In February, the House of Representatives defied President Bush and allowed the Protect America Act to expire. This law, passed by the House of Representatives last August, amended the framework for electronic surveillance, giving the government authority for six months to conduct electronic surveillance on potential terror suspects without court-approved warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). I voted against the Protect America Act because it severely diminished the role of the intelligence court and left innocent American citizens open to a violation of their private interactions.
The government now relies upon the original FISA law, which requires our intelligence community to obtain warrants approved by a special intelligence court to eavesdrop on phone conversations, e-mail messages, and other electronic communications between U.S. citizens and people overseas. Contrary to the heated rhetoric surrounding this issue, the expiration of the Protect America Act has neither endangered American lives nor impeded the efforts of our intelligence community. Both the House and Senate have passed legislation to reform FISA, and negotiations are ongoing. The House-passed bill I supported did not extend retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies who cooperated with the President’s unauthorized Terrorist Surveillance Program. I will closely scrutinize any agreement to ensure it maintains strong protections for our civil liberties while granting the intelligence community the proper tools to target those planning attacks on American soil.
TORTURE
The Administration maintains that the Central Intelligence Agency and other intelligence entities should not be limited in their use of harsh interrogation techniques. This past March, the President vetoed an Intelligence Authorization bill which required all government agencies to abide by the U.S. Army Manual on Interrogation. The Army Manual outlines acceptable interrogation techniques while outlawing waterboarding (simulated drowning) and other unduly harsh forms of interrogation. While the veto override failed to garner the two-thirds majority required, I joined over 200 of my colleagues in standing up to the President. The 110th Congress will continue to fight for an interrogation policy that outlaws torture.
MILITARY COMMISSIONS
Nearly seven years after 9/11 we have yet to implement an effective justice system for detainees apprehended in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere. By treating captives from the war on terror as enemy combatants rather than prisoners of war, this Administration has denied individuals due process and often held them for months or years without charge or trial. In June 2006, the Supreme Court rejected key aspects of the military tribunal system. The Republican led Congress responded by passing the Military Commissions Act, which further restricted detainee access to federal courts. I voted against this legislation because it allows the submission of evidence gathered through coercive means, permits the President to selectively interpret the Geneva Convention and denies detainees the right of habeas corpus, a mainstay of western jurisprudence. As a result of these and other objections, I have cosponsored legislation to restore Habeas Corpus, reform the Military Commissions process, end the practice known as extraordinary rendition, and close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. It is imperative that the U.S. embrace a military tribunal system that does not demean but honors our founding principles.
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Regardless of partisan affiliation, we all recognize the importance of the rights and privileges granted to citizens of the United States. In recent years the debate surrounding the protection of our civil liberties has too often devolved into accusations of siding with the enemy or silencing domestic dissent. This is deeply unfortunate because when our rights are denigrated and when our civil liberties are curtailed, democracy suffers.
Over the coming months I will continue to defend and expand our civil liberties while seeking a proper balance between protecting national security and safeguarding our individual rights and freedoms.
As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
John W. Olver
Member of Congress
P.S. If you would like to receive occasional updates on issues before Congress please sign up for my newsletter at http://www.house.gov/olver.
The weddings were a powerful opening salvo in what is expected to be a bruising fall campaign over the issue of same-sex marriage.
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Some US experts worry that a smuggling ring gave rogue states plans for a light warhead, apparently from Pakistan.
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Israel and militant group Hamas have agreed on a truce starting on Thursday, Palestinian and Israeli officials have told the BBC.
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Rove would only concede to “chit chat” with the McCain presidential campaign. Not surprisingly, there appears to be a little more to the relationship. McCain keeps trying to position himself as different from Still-President Bush, but that’s awfully difficult under the circumstances.
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A federal judge says a White House office that has records about millions of possibly missing e-mails does not have to make them public.
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Presidential impeachment is the only remedy the American people have against the establishment of rule by a dictator, and is not an action to be taken lightly (as it was in the recent past). However, neither should it be considered “optional” for political reasons when a sitting President has committed criminal acts.
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By Rebecca Harrison and Nidal al-Mughrabi NIR OZ, Israel/GAZA, June 17 (Reuters) - For Yossi Atzili, a truce with Hamas Islamists is the only way to stop mortar bombs from the Gaza Strip whizzing across the border and smashing into his paint factory...
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McCain Sets a New Record: 10 Flip-Flops in Two Weeks
Posted by soul Labels: 2008 Presidential Candidates, John McCain, video
In his eternal quest for the Republican presidential nomination, the supposed maverick John McCain has repeatedly reversed long-held positions and compromised purportedly core principles. From the Bush tax cuts, the religious right and immigration reform to overturning Roe v. Wade, proclaiming Samuel Alito a model Supreme Court Justice, bashing...
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Gee, why isn't a bill of Impeachment of the Chief Executive worth looking at? And why isn't it news?Behold censorship and dereliction of duty, Empire style. Only the People can change this.
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The press is distracted by personalities instead of policy because policy is far more work.
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McCain is “out of touch” with people who struggle to pay for college. Obama argued the Arizona senator cared more about helping big business than helping students pay for higher education.
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Welcome to the new Internet, where you pay per byte of bandwidth and can no longer quote parts of Associated Press stories without paying per word. [With Screenshot]
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Imagine a future apocalyptic world in which the Internet and all computer technology has been destroyed. Imagine you had the forethought to print out and save the content from the Web's most important sites, safeguarding the pages in a nuclear bomb shelter. Which would you save? Here is one man's list.
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The REAL McCain: Big Oil Fuels the Straight Talk Express
Posted by soul Labels: 2008 Presidential Candidates, John McCain, videoGas prices are hitting all-time highs. Our country is in the midst of a recession thanks in part to our crippling dependence on oil, so what's John McCain's plan? Will he hold the corporate leaders of the energy industry accountable when he addresses them today in Houston? Probably not, considering they are some of his biggest fund-raisers.
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Bush/Cheney Transcripts Subpoenaed By Jason Leopold June 17, 2008 A House committee has subpoenaed FBI transcripts of interviews with President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney regarding their possible roles in the exposure of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson.
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Despite graduating in the bottom 1 percent of his Annapolis class, McCain was offered the most sought-after Navy assignment -- to become an aircraft carrier pilot. The most accomplished midshipmen compete furiously for the few carrier pilot openings. After four abysmal academic years at Annapolis distinguished only by his misdeeds and malfeasance..
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The first legally recognised gay marriages were performed in California last night as the state became the second in the US to allow same-sex weddings.
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Powell said that every word of what he called his 'infamous' presentation about WMD (in Iraq) had been vetted by the intelligence community -- 'and I had no reason to disbelieve it.' The former secretary of state has previously described his prewar UN speech as a 'blot' on his record.
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The Bush administration has accelerated a problem in our economy that has caused a growing income inequality. There have been several eras in American history where our economy was faced with a growing income disparity but what is so frightening is there seems like little hope to find a solution.
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By DeWayne Wickham - The biggest thing Iraqi officials have going against them in their negotiations with the Bush administration over the status of U.S. forces in that country is history. What the United States wants from countries it occupies, it usually gets.
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MoveOn, AFSCME hit McCain on Iraq
Posted by soul Labels: 2008 Presidential Candidates, John McCain, videoA new ad targeting John McCain's position on Iraq goes straight for voters' heartstrings. The ad, which is funded by liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org in conjunction with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, is spare -- it's just a woman holding a child and looking into a camera -- but it's clearly meant to deliver the biggest emotional punch possible.
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Haunted by the ghosts of Vietnam, the media-manufactured 'maverick' has remade himself into a prototypical, dumbed-down Republican Party stooge.
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