From the Palm Beach Post

WASHINGTON - Sudan has denied a visa for U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson to visit the country, which has been accused by the U.S. government since 2004 of genocide in the Darfur region.

The denial was the first for a member of Congress but the third this week for a U.S. government delegation, Nelson’s office said.

“The Sudanese government clearly has reversed its long’standing position of allowing official visits and engaging in dialogue,” Nelson said in a statement. “Preventing a U.S. senator from visiting Darfur won’t stop the international community from pressuring the Sudanese to end the genocide and other atrocities.”

The U.S. Embassy in Sudan informed Nelson’s office of the denial this week.

Nelson spokesman Bryan Gulley said the senator’s office was told that two administration delegations also were denied visas, but he did not have specific information about what agencies were involved.

A spokesman for the Sudanese Embassy in Washington did not return phone calls Wednesday.

Instead of going to Sudan, Nelson said he plans to visit refugee camps on the Chad border with Sudan during the Memorial Day recess. Nelson is a member of the Senate committees on foreign relations and intelligence.

Gulley said he did not believe the visa denial was linked to a bill passed during the Florida Legislature’s recent session calling for the state pension fund to divest itself from any Sudanese investments.

WASHINGTON - The Democratic-controlled House voted Thursday night to pay for military operations in Iraq on an installment plan, defying President Bush’s threat of a second straight veto in a fierce test of wills over the unpopular war.

The 221-205 vote, largely along party lines, sent the measure to a cool reception in the Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is seeking compromise with the White House and Republicans on a funding bill.

Under increasing political pressure from Republicans, Bush also signalled flexibility, offering to accept a spending bill that sets out standards for the Iraqi government to meet.

More at MSNBC
Rollcall here

From PressTV

Condoleezza Rice the US Secretary of State has said Washington and its European allies were ‘very concerned’ about the Kremlin’s policy.

The concentration of power amassed by President Vladimir Putin has been ‘troubling,’ she told Congress shortly after the Russian leader and US President Bush held telephone talks on the state of bilateral ties.

“It’s fair to say that there has been a turning back from some of the reforms that led to the decentralization of power out of the Kremlin: a strong legislature, strong free press, an independent judiciary,” she said ahead of a visit to Moscow next week.

Kremlin spokesman Alexei Gromov said the two presidents “discussed preparations for the G8 summit (in June), questions of bilateral Russian-American relations and several other questions of international relations,” the Interfax news agency reported.

On Wednesday at a massive military parade on Red Square to mark the defeat of Nazi Germany, Putin attacked US unilateralism by seeming to equate the Bush administration with Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich.

He warned of ‘new threats’ based on ‘the same contempt for human life and the same claims of exceptionalism and diktat in the world as in the Third Reich.’

Russian officials later told the US embassy in Moscow that ‘there was no intent’ by Putin to draw a parallel between US policies and the Nazi era, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

Putin’s speech still struck a confrontational note ahead of the talks in Moscow next week between Rice and senior Russian leaders, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and possibly the president.

Relations between Moscow and Washington have been increasingly tense in recent months over US plans to deploy elements of a new missile defense system in two former Soviet states near Russia’s border.

Ron Wexler (D-Fl) cuts Gonzales no slack today.

Feist - “1 2 3 4″

I’ve been enjoying this song on the radio for a while, but the video is fantastic. Here’s Leslie Feist’s Wiki entry.

When outsourcing gets ridiculous. Time for more phone calls and emails everybody. Let the City of Pasadena, California know that they’ve taken outsourcing way too far. To outsource a reporting job for the city because the labor is cheaper? How foolish can you get?

By JUSTIN PRITCHARD, Associated Press Writer

PASADENA, Calif. - The job posting was a head’scratcher: “We seek a newspaper journalist based in India to report on the city government and political scene of Pasadena, California, USA.”

A reporter half a world away covering local street-light contracts and sewer repairs? A reporter who has never gotten closer to Pasadena than the telecast of the Rose Bowl parade?

Outsourcing first claimed manufacturing jobs, then hit services such as technical support, airline reservations and tax preparation. Now comes the next frontier: local journalism.

James Macpherson, editor and publisher of the two-year-old Web site pasadenanow.com, acknowledged it sounds strange to have journalists in India cover news in this wealthy city just outside Los Angeles.

But he said it can be done from afar now that weekly Pasadena City Council meetings can be watched over the Internet. And he said the idea makes business sense because of India’s lower labor costs.

“I think it could be a significant way to increase the quality of journalism on the local level without the expense that is a major problem for local publications,” said the 51-year-old Pasadena native. “Whether you’re at a desk in Pasadena or a desk in Mumbai, you’re still just a phone call or e-mail away from the interview.”

The first articles, some of which will carry bylines, are slated to appear Friday.

The plan has its doubters.

“Nobody in their right mind would trust the reporting of people who not only don’t know the institutions but aren’t even there to witness the events and nuances,” said Bryce Nelson, a University of Southern California journalism professor and Pasadena resident. “This is a truly sad picture of what American journalism could become.”

Be sure to contact pasadenanow.com and let them know how you feel.

There is no email address or any way to email them at all, for that matter. But you can make a phone call to: James MacPherson, Editor and Publisher. Phone (626) 403-6698

Read more at YAHOO! NEWS

Most Americans (72%) say the United States government does not give enough support to the soldiers who have served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; just 21% believe that the government gives adequate support to the troops.

By comparison, a narrow majority (51%) believes the American people give enough support to the returning soldiers, while 44% view the public’s support as inadequate. Partisan divisions on this subject are striking: Nearly three times as many conservative Republicans as liberal Democrats believe that the government generally does give enough support to these troops (35% vs. 12%).

There also are sharply contrasting views about whether the American people give enough support to the returning soldiers. A majority of all Democrats (55%) — including 63% of liberal Democrats — say that the public gives enough support to those who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. But fewer than half of Republicans agree (44%). Just 42% of conservative Republicans think that the American people give enough support to the returning troops while a majority (54%) says they do not.

read more at YAHOO! NEWS

poll data from the Pew Research Center

Hopefully, this time, the big bully in the White House will get a clue and sit down and not only negotiate, but concede a few things. As for the Democratically led Congress, I am becoming disillusioned with their stance and constant backing off from Bush, letting him have his way.. Take a stand, Democrats…and keep it. We voted you IN office in 2006. We can vote you out in 2008. End this illegal war, bring our men and women home. As seen by the recent tornado and flood devastation, the troops (Nat’l Guard) are needed here. The fact that there’s such slow response to this recent tornado and flooding on the Mississippi, only makes me believe that we’re in huge trouble if there’s a massive disaster or some kind of attack. - Jim Swanson

By ANNE FLAHERTY Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush, under growing political pressure, agreed Thursday to negotiate with Congress on a war’spending bill that sets benchmarks for progress in Iraq.

The turnabout in Bush’s position came as Republicans expressed anxieties about the war and the House was expected to pass legislation that would cut off funding for U.S. troops as early as July.

Bush said he would veto the measure. “We reject that idea. It won’t work,” the president said, speaking to reporters at the Pentagon after a briefing on Iraq and Afghanistan.

The bill being voted on Thursday is opposed by nearly all Republicans and unlikely to survive in the Senate. But House Democratic leaders say the measure shows they refuse to back down in challenging Bush on a deeply unpopular and costly war.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told reporters he has felt a shift in the administration’s approach to Democrats.

“It’s very clear that the people around the president recognize there are some problems,” said Reid, D-Nev. “And I think I have felt with my conversations with administration officials that there is a right admission that things are not going very well.”

Senate Democrats said they anticipate a vote on a war bill by next week, although Reid said it remains unclear what the Senate bill might look like.

“There are 150 scenarios as to how this matter is going to be handled,” said Reid. Finding a bill the Congress will pass and the president will sign is “extremely difficult,” he added.

Bush pressured Iraqi leaders to move swiftly on a number of long- pending measures, including legislation to share Iraq’s oil wealth, hold provincial elections and update the constitution.

“They have got to speed up their clock,” the president said. Washington is unhappy that Iraq’s parliament plans to take a two-month vacation this summer in the midst of the war.

Bush’s willingness to put benchmarks in a war-funding bill represented a shift by the president.

“One message I have heard from people of both parties is that benchmarks make sense and I agree,” Bush said. He said his chief of staff, Joshua Bolten, would talk with congressional leaders “to find common ground” on benchmarks.

White House officials decided Bush, after refusing to discuss his negotiating stand, should change course and declare what he is for since he been emphatic about what he is against.

The Democrats’ bill in the House would provide the military with $42.8 billion to keep operations going through July, buy equipment and train Iraqi and Afghan security forces. Congress would decide shortly before its August recess whether to release an additional $52.8 billion for war spending through September.

read more at BREITBART.COM

By LAURIE KELLMAN Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - A confident Attorney General Alberto Gonzales endured another congressional grilling on the botched firings of federal prosecutors Thursday, seeming secure enough to call it a “somewhat liberating” experience.

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee fired tough questions at him-as their Senate counterparts had last month. But Gonzales seemed to weather the interrogation better this time around, and he didn’t hear any more calls for his resignation.

Just a few weeks ago, it seemed that only President Bush and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, had stood solidly behind him. But House Republicans at Thursday’s hearing echoed Gonzales’ call for Congress to move on.

Nevertheless, Democrats such as Reps. Maxine Waters of California and Robert Wexler of Florida shouted for more information about who decided which prosecutors to fire.

“You know who put them on the list but you wont tell us,” Wexler complained to Gonzales.

The attorney general said he had little to add to the story. “My feelings and recollections about this matter have not changed,” he said. Gonzales’ answers to the House panel were in sharp contrast to his testy responses to senators three weeks ago.

In contrast to Republican senators who shook their heads in exasperation at Gonzales’ failure to remember key details about the firings at the earlier hearing, House GOP lawmakers sprang to his defense.

“The list of accusations has mushroomed, but the evidence of wrongdoing has not,” said Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the committee’s senior GOP member. “If there are no fish in this lake, we should reel in our lines of questions, dock our empty boat and turn to more pressing issues.”

Democrats showed no willingness to quit asking questions about whether White House officials ordered the firings of prosecutors not sufficiently loyal to the Bush administration. Democrats probed whether the Justice Department scuttled more prosecutors than the eight jettisoned over the winter, asking about prosecutor resignations in Los Angeles and Missouri.

read more at Breitbart.com

CAMP SPEICHER, Iraq - Vice President Dick Cheney saluted U.S. troops stationed near former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s hometown on Thursday and defended the Bush administration’s recent decision to extend military deployments as “vital to the mission.”

“The Army and the country appreciate the extra burden you carry,” Cheney said.

He vowed to “stay on the offensive” despite growing public opposition in the United States to the war and efforts by the Democratic majority in Congress to restrict spending.

Cheney, who was defense secretary in the first Bush administration, spent the night on the base, about seven miles from Tikrit, Saddam’s former hometown and an area populated mostly by minority-party Sunnis.

Cheney had breakfast with troops and participated in classified briefings from military commanders.

“It was a good report and I come away with even more appreciation for all you do, and greater confidence for the days ahead,” Cheney said,

Between 10,000 and 12,000 troops are stationed at the base, which is located on the grounds of the former Iraqi Air Force Academy and is about 100 miles north of Baghdad, where Cheney spent Wednesday.

Read more at YAHOO! NEWS

Yet another story of doctors allowing “Big Pharma” to rule their profession when it comes to prescribing medications. Aside from fines, there should be jail terms for these evil drug companies.

ROANOKE, Va. - The maker of the powerful painkiller OxyContin and three of its current and former executives pleaded guilty Thursday to misleading the public about the drug’s risk of addiction, a federal prosecutor and the company said.

Purdue Pharma L.P. and the executives will pay $634.5 million in fines, U.S. Attorney John Brownlee said in the news release.

The plea comes two days after the Stamford, Conn.-based company agreed to pay $19.5 million to 26 states and the District of Columbia to settle complaints that it encouraged physicians to overprescribe OxyContin.

“With its OxyContin, Purdue unleashed a highly abusable, addictive, and potentially dangerous drug on an unsuspecting and unknowing public,” Brownlee said. “For these misrepresentations and crimes, Purdue and its executives have been brought to justice.”

read more about Oxycontin HERE and HERE

By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer

CONCORD, N.H. - Not everybody loves a winner. Some save their passion for the underdog. The presidential candidate whose last name isn’t Clinton or Giuliani treks through early voting states like New Hampshire promoting ideas despite crushing poll numbers and sluggish fundraising. These contenders, nearly a dozen, soldier on with encouragement from small knots of supporters for whom their message generates a special resonance.

Strong backers of the more improbable candidates readily acknowledge their favorite stands zero chance of winning New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary or anything beyond.

“No, he doesn’t have a shot,” Democratic activist Ben Clifford said of Dennis Kucinich, the Ohio congressman who barely registers in polls in his second White House bid. “But every time he comes, it invigorates me. He talks about the issues that are most important.”

Clifford, who drives a car with a “No Bush” license plate and organizes young activists in Manchester, N.H., gets fired up by Kucinich, who opposed the Iraq war before it began and wants to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney.

Other candidates in the second tier inspire equal passion. Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo fires up his faithful with calls to fortify the U.S.-Mexican border. Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd focuses on a surge of diplomacy to restore the country’s international reputation. Sen. Joe Biden rallies Democrats with his foreign policy experience and expertise.

“For second-tier candidates, that’s the mantra: they are the idea candidates. They are in the race because they believe the issues they’re talking about and the ideas they have are not well-represented by the top-tier candidates,” said Mark Wrighton, who teaches politics at the University of New Hampshire.

read more at YAHOO! NEWS

About 30 detainees who were released from Guantnamo have re-joined the fight against the United States, according to Benkert.

Do these people just spew out whatever they think sounds good? So what…no other prisoners should ever be released? I’ll tell ya what, if I was held in the hell hole that is Guantanamo for years with no charges ever brought against me and then released, and I was innocent, I might take up a fight against the U.S. when released. George Bush has created more terrorists than any person on the face of the earth.

WASHINGTON — It will take several years to complete military commission trials for 60 to 80 Guantnamo Bay detainees if the Bush administration decides to conduct that many, a House subcommittee was told Wednesday.

The Pentagon estimate came as the appropriations panel chaired by Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., questioned how long the Bush administration will keep the prison open and whether to move the 380 detainees.

A week ago, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., introduced a measure to close the prison camps and move commission trials to the United States.

At the hearing, Rep. C.W. Bill Young, R-Fla., suggested that California should take the detainees.

Some serious thought should be given to reopening Alcatraz, Young said during the three-hour session.

”I certainly wouldn’t want to send them to any place else except San Francisco,” joked Rep. Jerry Lewis, a Republican from southern California.

After the hearing, Young said he was being serious about Alcatraz as a place to take the detainees in the event that Guantnamo Bay is closed. Young opposes closing Guantnamo.

The prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., has 70 open beds, said Marine Col. Dwight Sullivan, chief defense counsel for the Office of Military Commissions. The brig in Charleston, S.C., has space for an additional 100 prisoners, Sullivan told the congressional panel.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said Congress and the administration should work together to allow the United States to permanently imprison some of the more dangerous Guantnamo Bay detainees elsewhere so the facility can be closed.

It would take three years or so to complete a process of conducting 60 to 80 military commission trials, said Daniel J. Dell’Orto, principal deputy general counsel at the Defense Department.

In the months after Sept. 11, the military considered locations in the United States and elsewhere for the detention facility that ended up at Guantnamo Bay, said Joseph Benkert, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for global security affairs.

One factor in favor of Guantnamo was that its isolated Navy base would make it a difficult target for terrorists. About 30 detainees who were released from Guantnamo have re-joined the fight against the United States, according to Benkert.

More at The Miami Herald

Gonzales to tesitfy (I don’t recall) again today, as the list of fired prosecutors grows. More here. Gonzales starts his testimony at 9:30 ET, and you can watch it here.

WASHINGTON — As Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales prepares to testify Thursday on the controversial firings of federal prosecutors, congressional investigators are scrutinizing the role of a little-known but high-ranking Justice Department official who helped shape the department’s widely criticized response to those dismissals.

John Nowacki — who had limited courtroom experience when he was promoted into a senior position overseeing federal prosecutors — has quietly played a key role in the campaign to contain the fallout. That campaign, as much as the dismissals themselves, has crippled the department and threatens to topple Gonzales.

Gonzales has been under siege since February for his handling of the firings. In testimony to the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday, he is expected to affirm the case he made last month to a Senate panel: that the firings were badly handled but justified. Neither Gonzales nor other top Justice Department officials have explained precisely how each of the prosecutors turned up on the termination list.

More at the Chicago Tribune

(AFP/Peter Muhly)

Peace in Northern Ireland finally seems to be a reality, and a very welcome one at that. On NPR program The World, Lisa Mullens had an thoughtful talk with the Boston Globe’s Kevin Cullen, who passed on the intriguing line above.

For more background on the developments in Northern Ireland, here’s short pieces from NPR shows All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and a short segment from the same episode of The World. Or, if you prefer, here’s a brief AFP article.

Cullen talks about the similarities between South Africa near the end of apartheid and Northern Ireland, and how leaders from Ireland met with South Africans to discuss social and political dynamics. He speaks of talking with Mac Maharaj, who he describes as “the last ANC [African National Congress] fighter to give up.” Cullen asked Maharaj about the most important thing he told leaders from Northern Ireland. Maharaj said, “It sounds so simple, it sounds silly, but it really is: You don’t make peace with your friends, you make peace with your enemies, and the only way you end a conflict is to accept that premise.”
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