One of the best drummers EVER with one of the coolest band leaders ever. In his 70’s, I got the great chance to meet Mr. Goodman after a performance at Ravinia in Highland Park, Illinois, many years ago. Goodman was there with Krupa, Teddy Wilson on Piano and Lionel Hampton on vibes. The original Benny Goodman Quartet. Sat on the lawn, ate chicken, drank wine and danced. One of th most wonderful and memorable days of my life. I’ll never for get it. - JS

The Webb amendment did not pass. The vote was 56/44.

Speaking on the Senate floor this morning, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), an ardent opponent of a pro-troop measure to relieve the stress on the overstretched armed forces, announced he will propose a toothless, watered-down substitute to the Webb amendment.

McCain said he and Sen. John Warner (R-VA) have teamed up to put together a “sense of the Senate” amendment to express “very clearly that we all want all our troops home and we understand the stress and strain that’s been inflicted on the men and women in the military and the guard and reserves.”

McCain’s rhetoric belies his intentions - to kill the Webb amendment. Webb’s bill would force the Bush administration to provide active duty troops at least the same time at home as the length of their previous tour of duty overseas. After learning of the McCain-Warner proposal, Webb immediately rejected it, stating that the troops don-t need the “sense of the Congress” but rather “the will of the Congress”:

I have just learned from Sen. McCain’s comments that Sen. Warner will be offering a side-by’side amendment that goes to the sense of the Congress rather than the will of the Congress. And I would like to state emphatically at the outset that this is a situation that calls for the will of the Congress.

Continue reading and watch video at Think Progress

Here’s video of Webb on CNN, Sen. Webb slams Sen. McCain for his opposition to his dwell-time amendment for troops serving in Iraq, telling him he “needs to read the Constitution.”

By Monte Hayes
The Associated Press

LIMA, Peru - A fiery meteorite crashed into southern Peru over the weekend, experts confirmed on Wednesday. But they were still puzzling over claims that it gave off fumes that sickened 200 people.

Local residents told reporters that a fiery ball fell from the sky and smashed into the desolate Andean plain near the Bolivian border Saturday morning.

Jose Mechare, a scientist with Peru’s Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Institute, said a geologist had confirmed that it was a “rocky meteorite,” based on the fragments analyzed.

He said water in the meteorite’s muddy crater boiled for maybe 10 minutes from the heat and could have given off a vapor that sickened people, and scientists were taking water samples.

“We are not completely certain that there was no contamination,” Mechare said.

Jorge Lopez, director of the health department in the state where the meteorite crashed, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that 200 people suffered headaches, nausea and respiratory problems caused by “toxic” fumes emanating from the crater, which is some 65 feet wide and 15 feet deep.

read more HERE

From TPM:

Another Congressional Republican is headed for the door. Congressman Jerry Weller (R-IL) will reportedly announce tomorrow that he is not seeking re-election.

President Bush carried his district with 53% in 2004, and Weller was re-elected with 55% in 2006. With those non-landslide margins in a district that simply was not targeted, we might just see the Democrats trying for a pick-up in a possible wave election next year.

Weller is perhaps best known for a series of land deals in Nicaragua and for his marriage to Guatemalan Congresswoman Zury Ríos Montt, daughter of former right-wing dictator Efraín Ríos Montt.

From CNN:

Dan Rather filed a $70 million lawsuit Wednesday against CBS, alleging that the network made him a “scapegoat” for a discredited story about President Bush’s National Guard service.

The 75-year-old Rather, whose final months were clouded by controversy over the report, says the complaint stems from “CBS’ intentional mishandling” of the aftermath of the story.

The lawsuit, filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, also names CBS President and CEO Leslie Moonves, Viacom Inc. Chairman Sumner Redstone, and former CBS News President Andrew Heyward.

CBS spokesman Dana McClintock said: “These complains are old news, and this lawsuit is without merit.”

You know what’s really sad? The general public doesn’t know it’s the Republicans that are keeping anything from getting done in congress. They just look at what doesn’t get done and they know the Democrats are supposedly in control. We’re really no better off than we were before the 06 elections as far as the senate goes. We need a clear majority, then if nothing gets done we can bitch about the Democrats not doing it. The Post headline here is “Senate Rejects Expanding Detainee Rights.” It should read GOP REFUSES TO RESTORE HABEAS CORPUS BECAUSE THEY HATE THE CONSTITUTION.

A Republican filibuster in the Senate today shot down a bipartisan effort to restore the right of terrorism suspects to contest their detentions and treatment in federal courts, underscoring the Democratic-led Congress’s difficulty with terrorism issues.

The 56-43 vote fell short of the 60 needed to cut off debate and move to a final vote on the amendment to the Senate’s annual defense policy bill. But the measure did garner the support of six Republicans, a small victory for its supporters.

The Senate then moved to the first big showdown over Iraq war policy of the fall, taking up a measure by Sens. James Webb (D-Va.) and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) to guarantee that troops receive home stays at least as long as their last combat deployments before being sent back to war.

More at the Washington Post

Stop Funding It!

Democratic legislation to regulate troop combat tours in Iraq ran into stiff resistance in the Senate Wednesday from Republicans who said the military, not Congress, should manage deployments.

The proposal by Sen. Jim Webb, a former Navy secretary and Vietnam veteran, would require that troops be allowed as much time at home as they do deployed. Currently, Army soldiers spend about 15 months in combat and 12 months home.

One of several Democratic proposals intended to challenge President Bush on the Iraq war, Webb’s bill was seen as having the best shot at achieving the 60 votes needed to advance. The bill attracted three dozen co’sponsors, including Republicans Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Olympia Snowe of Maine and Gordon Smith of Oregon.

“You cannot continue to load on to 1 percent of our society all the burdens, all the sacrifices as we are doing. It’s wrong,” Hagel told reporters at a Capitol Hill news conference.

More at the Guardian

By DEB RIECHMANN,
Associated Press Writer

Why don’t we all just print out all our emails, record all our phone conversations and make photocopies of our bills, letters, etc.? Sheesh! - JS

FORT MEADE, Md. - President Bush said Wednesday that a law hastily passed in August to temporarily give the government more power to eavesdrop without warrants on foreign terror suspects must be made permanent and expanded.

If this doesn’t happen, Bush said, “Our national security professionals will lose critical tools they need to protect our country.”

“Without these tools, it will be harder to figure out what our enemies are doing to train, recruit and infiltrate operatives into America,” he said on a visit to the super’secret National Security Agency’s headquarters in suburban Fort Meade, Md. “Without these tools, our country will be much more vulnerable to attack.”

The 30-year-old Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act governs when warrants for eavesdropping must be obtained from a secret intelligence court. This year’s update - approved by the Senate and House just before Congress adjourned for an August break - allows more efficient interceptions of foreign communications.

Under the new law - the Protect America Act - the government can eavesdrop, without a court order, on communications conducted by a person reasonably believed to be outside the United States, even if an American is on one end of the conversation - so long as that American is not the intended focus or target of the surveillance.

read more HERE

Jim Webb makes an exclusive video to explain why his new Amendment must be passed in Congress to help support our troops!

H/T C&L

There were 5 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq yesterday, 9/18/2007.

The International Organization for Migration reported Tuesday that there are 50,000 more displaced Iraqi’s since July and things are getting worse, despite the U.S. surge.

Two civilians who survived who survived Sunday’s Blackwater shootout in Iraq state the attack was unprovoked. Hassan Jaber Salma, 50, a lawyer who suffered eight gunshot wounds in the incident, said he and other motorists were attempting to clear a path for the convoy when the Blackwater guards suddenly strafed the line of traffic with gunfire.

Due to the Blackwater incident, the U.S. has suspended all land travel for U.S. citizens and diplomats outside the Green Zone.

After meeting with General David Petraeus, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is expected to announce drawdown plans next month. It’s reported the U.S. and Britian are split over strategy in Southern Iraq, where the British have withdrawn troops and placed them at the Basra Airport.

In case Countdown checks in here (as if) my vote for worst person…..Matt Radula.

The U.S. senate is set to vote on four proposals regarding troop withdrawals in the next few weeks.

Kurdish women are dying of suspicious burns. Why? Since August 10, Kurdistan has had nine deaths from its cholera epidemic; in the same period, there were 25 young women dead of burns.

Sunni Arabs in Baghdad fear seeking medical treatment will be a death sentence.

Security developments in Iraq 9/19/2007

Bush had a roundtable talk with military bloggers last week…. pro Bush bloggers. What’s the point? Singing to the choir…….