U.S. Drops Key Reconstruction Projects in Iraq
In other news from Iraq -- the top U.S. auditor monitoring Iraq's reconstruction says rebuilding projects will be dropped as security and maintenance costs continue to soar. The auditor, Stuart Bowen, said money needed for Iraq's health, water, oil and electrical infrastructure and current rebuilding projects "will outstrip the available revenue." Bowen said up to 26 percent of U.S. reconstruction money has gone to security costs.
Rumors In DC : Will Cheney Resign Over CIA Leak?
This update in the investigation of the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame: Rumors spread through the Capitol Tuesday that Vice President Dick Cheney might possibly resign over the leak scandal. Speculation is running high on whether Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald will indict anyone in the investigation. The Washington Post reported Tuesday Fitzgerald is focusing in on the role of Cheney's office. The New York Times reported today that Fitzgerald does not plan to issue a report on the findings of the grand jury. This leaves Fitzgerald with two options: issue indictments or close the investigation with no public disclosure of his findings.
Harriet Miers Openly Opposed Abortion in 1989
This news on Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers: A document submitted to the Senate yesterday shows Miers previously expressed support for banning abortion. In 1989, when Miers was running for Dallas city council, she filled out a questionnaire that shows she advocated banning abortions except when necessary to save the life of the mother. Miers also said she would support legislation to ban abortions if the Supreme Court ruled states could do so, and would participate in "pro-life rallies and special events." The questionnaire was written by the group Texans United for Life. Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein responded to the revelation by saying: "The answers clearly reflect that Harriet Miers is opposed to Roe v. Wade."
The above three items are from today's Democracy Now! Headlines and were selected by Brady, Campbell and Micah. Democracy Now! ("always worth watching," as Marcia says):
- Saddam Hussein Pleads Innocent At War Crimes Trial
- Iraq Referendum Results Delayed as Vote Audit Commences
- Rumors In DC : Will Cheney Resign Over CIA Leak?
- Judith Miller Receives First Amendment Prize, Defends Actions
- Harriet Miers Openly Opposed Abortion in 1989
- Pakistan Quake Death Toll Reaches 79,000
- Chertoff Pledges Crackdown on Undocumented Immigrants
- Study: Greenhouse Gases Causing Extreme Weather
We spend the hour with Mike Davis author of the new book, "The Monster At Our Door: The Global Threat of Avian Flu." Davis says, "2005 is the year in which avian flu, now has acquired a critical mass amongst birds that it won't be eradicated and it's unclear whether it can be contained. Most likely, avian flu will fly to every corner of the world. It will probably reach Alaska and Northern Canada, for instance, in the near future. Avian flu - the threat of pandemic avian flu - has become, like HIV AIDS, a fundamental test of human solidarity." [includes rush transcript]
Despite being brutalized, Khan has been charged with disorderly conduct, trespassing at his own university and resisting arrest and has a court date set for Nov. 14.(www.campusantiwar.net).
Like Peterson, Khan is receiving widespread support.
Army sources are warning that the mood among soldiers of all ranks is at its gloomiest since the invasion in March 2003. The outlook has become darker as the war proves increasingly intractable and much more dangerous than troops had expected.
A string of incidents in the past week has contributed to the sense of crisis:
* The Ministry of Defence has launched an inquiry into the apparent suicide of Captain Ken Masters, a military police investigator who was found hanged at his barracks in Basra.
* A decision by Private Troy Samuels, who was awarded a Military Cross seven months ago for his bravery under fire in Iraq, to abandon the military rather than return for another tour of duty.
* Seventy soldiers from Private Samuels' battalion, the Princess of Wales Regiment (1PWRR), have also decided to leave the Army during the past year rather than return to Iraq
* An RAF officer, Flt-Lt Malcolm Kendall-Smith, said he was prepared to face jail rather than serve in Iraq, in a war he considers to be illegal. He is to be court-martialled for "refusing to obey a lawful command" and is the first British officer to face criminal charges for challenging the legality of the war.
The increasingly desperate position of British troops in southern Iraq was highlighted last night by the former cabinet minister Clare Short. "The Government are putting the armed forces into an impossible position," she said. "It is obviously affecting morale."
Colin e-mails to note Shea Howell's "Ending the Torture" (Michigan Citizen via The Boggs Center):
President Bush addressed the nation last week with a speech that was billed as a major policy address. It turned out to be little more than recycled slogans, reworked lists of so-called foiled terrorists plots, and an effort to demonstrate leadership by dire warnings of the bird flu. It was a speech designed to create fear and uncertainty. It was a speech largely ignored. By the end of the day, polls showed Bush's approval rating at an all time low of just about 37% of the public. Then the firestorm over the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court and the indictments of Tom DeLay seemed to reveal a party in chaos. Democrats started talking about parallels to the 1993 whent he Republicans swept into power in Congres based on the disillusionment with then president Clinton.
Such talk by Democrats, suggesting politics operates on some kind of natural cycle, is dangerous. It fosters complacency and aparthy at the very time when critical thought and organizing are the most essential. Politics is the result of human choices, not natural forces. It is an effort to create collective actions to bring to life our vision of the kind of country we want to have for our children and ourselves.
Violence within personal relationships is a continuing problem, so law enforcement, community organizations and state agencies are offering many educational and counseling programs this month to help reduce those numbers.
"We held a candlelight vigil last week to acknowledge the victims but also to acknowledge that we've come a long way in terms of addressing the way police respond to these incidents," Sgt. Kathy Argentino of the Chicago Police Department told the Chicago Defender. "We've found that in the majority of cases, especially when there's a homicide, the victims never notified police. They need to reach out to us or another agency for help before things get worse or turn deadly."
Chicago police officers and members of the Central District Domestic Violence Subcommittee will hold another such vigil tonight at the new location of the Domestic Violence Court, 555 W. Harrison St. from 5: 30 p.m. until 6: 30 p.m.
This is my very life at stake. Forget for just a moment about the rights I should have but don't yet like the right to marry the person I love someday, or adopt a child anywhere in the country. My very right to have sex with another guy in my own bedroom could be taken away. It was only just officially guaranteed a couple of years ago, remember. My right not to be fired from a job (or to be hired at all) because of my sexuality could be taken away.
These are issues that matter to millions of real people in this country, and the Senate Democrats seem to be doing nothing about it. They need to oppose and filibuster Miers and any other nominee who either can't demonstrate they won't be an extremist on the court of has already demonstrated they will be.
I know how we got stuck with this gang of incompetent thugs in the White House. Some old fashioned electoral fraud (not once, but twice!) took care of that. But how did a putz like Harry Reid end up as the leader of the left in the Senate?
This is my very life at stake. Forget for just a moment about the rights I should have but don't yet like the right to marry the person I love someday, or adopt a child anywhere in the country. My very right to have sex with another guy in my own bedroom could be taken away. It was only just officially guaranteed a couple of years ago, remember. My right not to be fired from a job (or to be hired at all) because of my sexuality could be taken away.
These are issues that matter to millions of real people in this country, and the Senate Democrats seem to be doing nothing about it. They need to oppose and filibuster Miers and any other nominee who either can't demonstrate they won't be an extremist on the court of has already demonstrated they will be.
I know how we got stuck with this gang of incompetent thugs in the White House. Some old fashioned electoral fraud (not once, but twice!) took care of that. But how did a putz like Harry Reid end up as the leader of the left in the Senate?
shocked!
simply shocked!
who would have known?
who could have known?
anyone not in a coma.
isn't it about time harry reid started finding something to say other than, 'you go, girl!' everytime harriet miers comes around?
he does realize that he's a democrat, doesn't he?
he does realize that it is his job to oppose anti-choice nominees, doesn't he?
of did the fact that the party made a huge mistake and picked an anti-choice democrat as a leader translate to him as 'screw reproductive rights, they want me for my anti-choice stance?"
it's sickening.
bendy buddy harry reid is no democrat's buddy if he can't find his spine. the drawing is by isaiah. one of his the world today just nuts comics.
hope everybody checked out beth's column at the common ills last night.
the common ills
harry reid
the world today just nuts
They want to take my control over my body away from me, they better be prepared for a damn fight. "They" includes Democrats like Harry Reid. They better start fighting this nomination.
Disgust for Bully Boy alone isn't going to help them at the polls. They better start standing up and fighting. If Harry Reid continues to be weak and ineffectice, he needs to be replaced.
He's so damn busy proving how well he can "get along" and how he can "play nice" that he's putting women's rights at risk.
charter election
constitution
the new york times
mikey likes it
dexter filkins
democracy now
harriet miers
harry reid
Miers: "No One Knows My Views on Abortion"
Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers denied a published report saying two close friends had said she would vote against abortion rights. Wall Street Journal columnist John Fund wrote Monday on the day she was nominated October 3rd, the two friends spoke with the Arlington Group, a coalition of conservative Christian organizations, in a conference call organized by Karl Rove. During the conversation, Fund wrote, the friends assured Arlington members Miers would vote to overturn Roe vs. Wade. Democratic Senator Charles Schumer met with Miers yesterday. After the meeting, he said she told him: "No one knows how I would rule on Roe v. Wade."
No one knows my views about abortion execpt for the fact that in 1989 I filled out a questionnaire pledging to be anti-choice. That news came out late this afternoon. She's a hack with no qualifications and no one should be shocked that she's anti-choice. But will Democrats do anything about it?
I'm sick of Harry Reid. I'm sick of his sucking up to the Republican Party and I'm sick of all his "Harriet is a great gal!" C.I. said over and over that Dems needed to get in there and start making their points but most of them have either stayed silent or been like Harry Reid telling the world how great she is.
I think Harry Reid needs to step down and let a real leader take over.
The mystery of Miers remains a mystery only to those as bright as a post hole digger. But she wants you to keep playing. Which may explain her own intellectual capabilities.
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