Archive: June 28th, 2007
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28
Jun
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by Batocchio • 10:30 pm
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Dido - “White Flag”
A snippet of this song is used in the non’stop ads for the film Evening, so it’s been stuck in my head. Here’s the real thing. (Plus, I love what Dido does on the break for this song.)
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28
Jun
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by Jim Swanson • 10:22 pm
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By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer
from YAHOO! NEWS
WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidates stood united Thursday night against the Supreme Court and its historic ruling rolling back a half-century of school desegregation laws. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said the conservative court “turned the clock back” on history.
 Sen. Barack Obama, the only black candidate in the eight-person field, spoke of civil rights leaders who fought for Brown v. Board of Education and other precedents curbed by the high court. “If it were not for them,” he said, “I would not be standing here.”
The 90-minute debate was the third gathering of the Democratic hopefuls in a presidential campaign that has gotten off to an unusually early start. While the first two debates focused on their narrow differences on Iraq, moderator Tavis Smiley promised to steer the candidates to other issues that matter to black America, including health care, education, criminal justice, police accountability, housing and voting rights.
The debate was held at Howard University, a historically black college in the nation’s capital.
Black voters are a large and critical part of the Democratic primary electorate, making the debate a must-attend for candidates seeking the party’s presidential nomination. Civil rights activist Al Sharpton and Princeton University scholar Cornel West were among those in the audience.
Segregation was not the only issue. In turn, the candidates discussed their hopes to stem poverty, close the economic gap between rich and poor, fight AIDS and overhaul a judicial system that doesn’t always seem colorblind.
read more at YAHOO! NEWS
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28
Jun
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by QuestionGirl • 10:11 pm
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I am now convinced….. I’m living in bizaaro world. That the president of the United States makes statements this stupid (and this isn’t the first time he’s let this one rip) is ……. crazy.
NEWPORT, R.I. –President Bush held up Israel as a model for defining success in Iraq, saying Thursday the U.S. goal there is not to eliminate attacks but to enable a democracy that can function despite violence.(emphasis mine)
With his Iraq policy under increasing criticism from the public and lawmakers in both parties, Bush went to the U.S. Naval War College to declare progress and plead for patience. At the same time, his top national security went to Capitol Hill to hear out Republican critics.
Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, the senior Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, said this week U.S. troops should start leaving now because Bush’s strategy will not have time to work.
National security adviser Stephen Hadley met with Lugar, GOP Sen. John Warner of Virginia and others. Warner said a defense policy bill expected to attract several war-related amendments in July was a main topic.
More at Boston.com
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28
Jun
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by QuestionGirl • 1:41 pm
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His bosses responded by slapping Proenza with what amounted to a reprimand, saying he may have misinformed the American public. They also expressed displeasure that he had gone to the media to state his case, making them look bad in the process.
Ahhhhh I think you do a real good job of making yourselves look bad. As is always the case, do your job and do it right…..and you won’t have to worry about looking bad, now will you?
By Ken Kaye
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
He hasn’t even dealt with his first serious threat as new director of the National Hurricane Center. Yet Bill Proenza already is in the eye of a storm, one raging not in the atmosphere but in the federal bureaucracy.
Proenza touched off a heated exchange when he publicly protested that his superiors in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have failed to plan a replacement for QuikSCAT, a doomed satellite considered crucial for tropical weather forecasts.
His bosses responded by slapping Proenza with what amounted to a reprimand, saying he may have misinformed the American public. They also expressed displeasure that he had gone to the media to state his case, making them look bad in the process.
But members of Congress, meteorologists and ordinary people who live in hurricane-threatened areas swiftly came to Proenza’s aid, saying it took guts for him to confront the brass at NOAA, a huge federal agency not used to being prodded or questioned from inside.
“He spoke up when someone needed to speak up. This problem has been percolating for a while,” said U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton.
“By identifying these issues, Dr. Proenza was upholding the highest standards of public service,” U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, wrote to the U.S. Department of Commerce, which oversees NOAA.
More at the Sun Sentinel
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28
Jun
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by QuestionGirl • 12:05 pm
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From Reuters:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush suffered a major defeat on his plan to overhaul immigration laws on Thursday when the Senate refused to close debate and advance the legislation.
The bill that would have given a path to U.S. citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants fell 14 votes short of the 60 needed in the 100-member Senate to advance toward a final vote.
Bush has sought an overhaul of U.S. immigration laws for years and this bill may have been his last chance for a significant domestic legislative victory before leaving office when his second term ends in a year and a half.
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28
Jun
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by QuestionGirl • 12:01 pm
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From McClatchy:
By Kevin G. Hall | McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON - Unless you planned a vacation to New Zealand, you probably don’t care much that its central bank raised its lending rate to a record high earlier this month.
But U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke does care, and his concern is likely to arise when the Fed’s policy-making body begins a two-day meeting on Wednesday.
New Zealand raised its rate to 8 percent because the global economy, enjoying the longest streak of above-average growth in more than three decades, is so hot that it’s sparking inflation, or rising general prices.
Higher interest rates douse inflation, but also slow an economy. If the Fed is forced to raise rates here later this year just as New Zealand has, that would slow the U.S. economy, too.
Bernanke and the Fed are watching New Zealand’s central bank because global inflation can pass through to the U.S. economy through import prices. Already the European Central Bank has raised its benchmark lending rate to a six-year high. And Chinese banking authorities are warning that they may raise rates to cool China’s overheated stock market. That would raise the cost of making Chinese goods and thus the cost of importing them.
Read more »
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28
Jun
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by QuestionGirl • 11:47 am
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The average schmoe (like me) has figured out that they’re never going to “stand up”, so when will congress figure it out?
By By Renee Schoof | McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — After spending $19 billion to train and equip 346,500 Iraqi security forces, the Pentagon doesn’t know how many of them are on the job or whether their weapons have been stolen or turned against American forces, according to a bipartisan congressional report that was released Wednesday.
It found that Iraqi security forces aren’t ready to take full responsibility for their country’s security and the central government of Iraq isn’t capable of funding and guiding them. It demands that the Pentagon do a better job of accounting for the Iraqis it’s trained and equipped.
“What we have found has been a lot of disappointment,” said Rep. Martin Meehan, D-Mass. The Iraqi forces are “nowhere near ready to operate independently.”
The report’s findings are likely to contribute to the debate on Iraq policy because they go to the heart of the issue of how the United States eventually can leave behind a country that’s capable of providing its own stability.
President Bush said in March 2006 that as Iraqi forces stand up, “we-ll stand down.” But as the number of Iraqis trained and equipped has increased, the violence hasn’t diminished and U.S. forces haven-t been redeployed.
More at McClatchy
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28
Jun
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by QuestionGirl • 11:42 am
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What Americans want…..not so important. What China wants……very important.
By Michael Abramowitz
Washington Post Staff Writer
One of China’s top government officials reached out to the leading U.S. presidential contenders last week, holding an unpublicized meeting with several of their top foreign policy advisers during a visit to Washington for high-level talks with Bush administration officials.
Among those present for the dinner with Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo on June 19, according to people familiar with the encounter, were top advisers to Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), former senator John Edwards (D-N.C.), Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (R).
The meeting underscored the intense interest in the U.S. presidential campaign among foreign leaders, particularly in China, which has historically been uneasy about transitions in the White House. China is especially nervous about rising complaints from U.S. politicians over the handling of its economy, as well as criticism of its role in protecting the Sudanese government from international sanctions for its role in the atrocities in Darfur.
“The Chinese are trying to figure out how to affect domestic U.S. politics,” said Michael J. Green, a former adviser on Asia to President Bush. “They know that changes in U.S. government lead to different China policies that are uncomfortable for them.”
More at the Washington Post
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28
Jun
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by QuestionGirl • 11:38 am
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From BBC News:
The managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Rodrigo de Rato, is to step down in October “for personal reasons”.
Mr de Rato, Spain’s former finance minister, was appointed to his post in 2004.
His replacement will come from Europe, as traditionally the continent provides the IMF leader, while the US provides the top person at the World Bank.
Mr de Rato has predicted that global growth for 2007 would be close to 5%.
“I have taken this decision for personal reasons. My family circumstances and responsibilities, particularly with regard to the education of my children, are the reason for relinquishing earlier than expected my responsibilities at the Fund,” Mr de Rato said.
Under Mr de Rato, the IMF has taken an increasing role in what it calls “surveillance” of currencies, and has been a strong advocate of China revalunig its currency.
But it has struggled to find a role in managing global financial crises, as many Asian countries have built up large currency reserves following the Asian crisis ten years ago.
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28
Jun
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by QuestionGirl • 11:26 am
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Jonathan Turley (my favorite guest on Keith Olbermann’s Countdown)
Jonathan Turley discusses warrantless eavesdropping program and
The Senate Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed the White House and Dick Cheney’s office over the warrantless eavesdropping program. Johnathon Turley weighs in.
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28
Jun
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by QuestionGirl • 10:22 am
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So which is it?
From Reuters:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Thursday asserted “executive privilege” on documents and testimony requested by the Senate and House Judiciary Committees in subpoenas over the firings of several U.S. prosecutors.
“We had hoped this matter could conclude with your committees receiving information in lieu of having to invoke executive privilege. Instead, we are at this conclusion,” Fred Fielding, President George W. Bush’s counsel, wrote in a letter to Sen. Patrick Leahy and Rep. John Conyers.
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28
Jun
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by QuestionGirl • 10:18 am
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From Lew Rockwell:
by Chris Floyd
As Glenn Greenwald, among others, has pointed out, the new Bushist line is that everyone killed by American forces in Iraq is “al Qaeda” - a transparent falsehood belied by the Pentagon’s own assessments but now mindlessly adopted by almost every corporate media venue, with the honorable exception (as always) of McClatchy Newspapers. Of course, the Invader-in-Chief and his multitude of bootlickers in traditional media and the blogosphere have always vastly inflated the numbers and importance of those elements in Iraq that are associated with al Qaeda in some way, however tenuous. Indeed, we know, again from the Pentagon itself, that the exaggeration of al Qaeda’s influence in Iraq has been part of a deliberate, well-funded “psy-ops” scheme. (See “Hubub in Hibhib: The Timely Death of al-Zarqawi.”) But now they have decided to dispense with the subtleties of psy-ops and simply repeat “al Qaeda” with every breath, in an effort to demonize all resistance (both in Iraq and at home, both violent and non-violent) to Bush’s murderous boondoggle.
But while this deceit is peddled for domestic consumption - avidly gobbled up and regurgitated by the bootlickers, and spreading the intended misinformation among casual consumers of the news (i.e., the vast majority of Americans) - Iraqis have to deal with the brutal reality of the war. And they know that everyone killed there by the invading forces is not “al Qaeda.” They know that many Iraqis being killed by the Anglo-American coalition are innocent civilians. And they are increasingly embittered at the American slander of their dead.
This slander is being applied even to those Iraqis who have taken up arms against the very “al Qaeda” terrorists that the American military is purportedly protecting them from, Iraqis who are cooperating with the American-backed government and its American-trained military and security forces. The BBC reports about an horrific massacre of Iraqi civilians last week - an air attack with missiles and gunships that literally ripped to shreds the bodies of village guards who had just returned from a raid with Iraqi government forces on a suspected terrorist hideout. These men were then accused of being “al Qaeda gunmen” in Pentagon press releases trumpeting this magnificent feat of arms - accusations then duly (not to mention dully) parroted in the press.
But the people in the village of al-Khalis tell a different story. (And for all the bootlickers out there who have fully entered into the spirit of the sectarian bloodbath unleashed by Bush and resolutely reject any contradiction of Pentagon propaganda by Sunni victims, al-Khalis is a largely Shiite village, on the side of the American-backed Iraqi government.) The BBC, which acknowledges that it too simply repeated the Pentagon line in its first reports on the “triumph,” has gone back to the village to dig up the truth - and to do what the Bush Regime never does, and what the American press does only with the most extreme rarity: give names to the “collateral damage” of Bush’s aggression.
Read more »
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28
Jun
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by QuestionGirl • 9:43 am
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Gee, the guy steps down a month early and the rape charges are dropped. Such a deal……. I can’t imagine the victims thoughts on this one. Well…..yes, I can.
JERUSALEM - Israeli President Moshe Katzav agreed to resign Thursday under an unexpected plea bargain that included no jail time for sex crimes, ending a year-long investigation.
Katzav admitted to charges of sexual harassment and obstruction of justice, but rape charges were dropped.
The plea deal was widely seen as a victory for the Israeli president, who holds a largely ceremonial post but is expected to set moral standards and help unify the country in times of trouble.
His accusers and women’s rights activists condemned the deal.
The announcement by Attorney General Meni Mazuz abruptly ended a case that captured the public’s attention, painting Katsav as a boss who repeatedly took advantage of his female employees.
In the space of a year, Katsav sank from being “Israel’s No. 1 citizen to a convicted sex offender,” Mazuz told a news conference.
Katsav is one of several high-level officials - including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert - who recently have been implicated in scandals.
The president, whose seven-year term was due to end next month, planned to formally resign later Thursday, said his spokesman, Ronen Tzur. Katsav suspended himself in January to fight the charges.
More at Yahoo News
The Supreme Court is expected to issue rulings today, including a decision in the appeal of a Texas death row inmate whose lawyers argue should be spared from execution because he is mentally ill.
Any bets as to how the right-leaning court will rule?
PANETTI V. QUARTERMAN, No 06-6407
(Argued April 18, 2007)
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on January 5 to hear another death penalty case from Texas, this one involving a defendant who may be mentally incompetent. In 1986, the Supreme Court held that it is unconstitutional to execute an inmate who is presently insane. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled that Scott Panetti, who was allowed to defend himself in his Texas trial despite his schizophrenia and 14 stints in mental hospitals, and who says the devil compelled his actions, was aware that he committed a crime and that he was to be punished. The question for the Supreme Court is whether mere awareness of one’s acts can be equated with mental competence, or whether the person also needs to rationally understand what is taking place. The National Alliance on Mental Illness had urged the Justices to take the case.
Read: (pdf)
Petitioner’s Cert. Petition.
Petitioner’s Brief
ABA Brief
Legal Historians’ Brief
Medical Association Brief
The Question presented is:
Does the Eighth Amendment permit the execution of a death row inmate who has a factual awareness of the reason for his execution but who, because of a severe mental illness, has a delusional belief as to why the State is executing him, and thus does not appreciate that his execution is intended to seek retribution for his capital crime?
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28
Jun
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by QuestionGirl • 8:48 am
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 Iraqi women look at the site of a blast at a bus station in the Baiyaa neighborhood in Baghdad, Iraq, on Thursday. 20 beheaded bodies found in Sunni neighborhood today.
37 U.S. deaths since June 20th
Car bomb kills 34 in Baghdad, 3 U.K troops in Basra
Always good coverage of the situation in Iraq at JuanCole.com
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