Thanks once again to Brad Friedman at Bradblog, who has covered the election fraud issue(s) exhaustively.
As promised, in my long, and much-updated original piece from last night, first expressing concerns and asking questions about the NH results, folks today have been looking at the precinct numbers to compare the difference between those which "counted" ballots on Diebold op-scan systems (for about 80% of NH's voters), versus those that still hand-count ballots in the Granite State (about 20% of the votes).
Ben Moseley of The Contrarian, most succinctly covers what other folks have found as well today. Namely, a 7 point overall bump for Clinton over Obama where the machines were used instead of hand-counts...
I just spent the last two hours putting together a spreadsheet of the Democratic results of the NH primary for each town with almost all but a few towns reporting, and the results were somewhat surprising....I say "somewhat" because some people will say this entirely foreseeable. What the informal statistics show is that Hillary Clinton received a 4.5% boost in towns using Diebold voting machines compared to towns that didn't. Meanwhile, Obama was hurt in these towns showing a 2.5% decrease in the Diebold towns.
Moseley responsibly notes, however, that there could well be other reasons for Clinton's popularity in areas where Diebold's machines are used, in lieu of actually counting ballots. For example, hand-counting in NH is generally done in the more rural areas and smaller precincts. Perhaps Obama is more popular, or Clinton less, in such areas for any number of reasons. (Unless I miss my guess, Edwards should have been the strongman in the rural aras, like he was in Iowa...)
The comparisons are only anecdotally useful for that reason. However, had the hand-counted results matched up similarly to those in Diebold areas, it might well have been a sign that there was little to worry about. (Even if I personally think not counting ballots is always something to worry about. But that's just me, one of those whacky pro-Democracy fellers, I guess.)
Moseley a blogger and political science student from American University, writes about Clinton's Diebold bump: "Does this show election fraud? Right now I'm not sure, but the possibility definitely remains and must not be taken off the table."
Then, in two updates, he offers a coupla more eye-brow raisers...
Update: Some more statistics from the data shows that Obama in non-Diebold towns garnering 38.7% of the vote to Clinton's 36.2%. The results in Diebold towns show the exact opposite: Clinton with 40.7% of the vote and Obama with 36.2%. Not only are the positions swapped but the informal statistics have the second place candidate holding 36.2% in both cases, which could easily be a pure coincidence. What doesn't make a lot of sense to me right now and this could be a mathematical mistake on my part is where Clinton got the extra 2% of votes in Diebold towns. All the other numbers almost exact for every candidate, even Edwards who recieved 17% of the vote in Diebold towns compared to 17.6% in non-Diebold towns. That still doesn't make up for the extra 2% vote Clinton is receiving when she leads in certain towns compared to when Obama has the lead.
Update II: Another thing to keep in mind when looking at these statistics is that the Diebold machines create a 7 point difference (+4.5 for Clinton, -2.5 for Obama) which is exactly what the polls had been predicting. Again, I'm not explicitly stating there has been fraud, but in a supposed democracy such as ours, skepticism is a virtue and necessity.
"In a supposed democracy such as ours, skepticism is a virtue and necessity."
Bless you, Mr. Moseley. (Ditto from JEP)For that, and for your good work on the numbers, you win the BRAD BLOG Patriot of the Week Award (if we had one.)
Here were my comments on Brad's posting:
Doesn't Rove still command a small cadre of fake Democrats in New Hampshire, the same ones he used to caller-ID those Democratic call centers and jam them?
So, considering that Rove knows something the rest of us as yet don't (Hillary's "fatal flaw" was never articulated, but it was referenced by the Rovian, so we might assume it's a trump card held close for the general election)is it any wonder they might make certain Hillary gets the nomination, so they can skewer her with their dirty little secret(s) when the time comes?
And what of the billion-dollar campaign projections that a New Hampshire loss for Clinton would have halved? Those media moguls aren't about to give this newest Diebold deception any coverage, Matthews keeps questioning the results, but no one seems to want to make this Diebold connection on the MSM.
And who benefits most from a continuation of Clinton's campaign?
1. The Republicans who think they have some dirt that will bury her in the general, or
2. the MSM that wants that easy-money campaign advertising revenue?
Hillary may not even know what happened, but no doubt someone on her staff does.
Something's rotten in New Hampshire this time around.
Once again...
COMMENT #15 [Permalink]... JEP said on 1/10/2008 @ 8:16 am PT...
This couldn't happen in Iowa, where you must have the courage to show yourself and your loyalties, in person, physical, a regular live body count, up front, no secrets, no machines to bend the results.
Maybe Iowa's got a good thing going after all.
Showing posts with label Voter fraud. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Voter fraud. Show all posts
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Tuesday Morning News
Red text is the "real" story buried in the news.
Blue text is my own commentary.
Violet text is the blog quote of the day.
BUSH WARS
The deaths of more than 100 American troops in April made it the deadliest month so far this year for U.S. forces in Iraq, underscoring the growing exposure of Americans as thousands of reinforcements arrive for an 11-week-old offensive to tame sectarian violence.
More than 60 Iraqis also were killed or found dead across Iraq on Monday. Casualties among Iraqi civilians and security forces have outstripped those of Americans throughout the war. In March, a total of 2,762 Iraqi civilians and policemen were killed, down 4 percent from the previous month, when 2,864 were killed. Iraq's government has yet to release any monthly totals for April. (...and they aren't going to release them anymore, it seems, can't imagine why...)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/30/AR2007043001929.html?referrer=email
The largest bloc of Sunni Arabs in the Iraqi Parliament threatened to withdraw its ministers from the Shiite-dominated cabinet on Monday in frustration over the government’s failure to deal with Sunni concerns. The bloc, known as the Iraqi Consensus Front and made up of three Sunni Arab parties, “has lost hope in rectifying the situation despite all of its sincere and serious efforts to do so,” the statement said. If the Sunni group followed through on its threat, it would further weaken a government already damaged by the pullout two weeks ago of six cabinet ministers aligned with the renegade Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr and further erode American efforts to promote reconciliation between Sunnis and Shiites. (...1400 years of vendetta, and the U.S. is going to step in and fix it??? RIIIIGHTTT. Try food instead of guns, feed em', don't fight em', maybe they will begin to trust us as an honest broker, not an international oil thief...)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/01/world/middleeast/01iraq.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
Brushing aside White House opposition, Republican leaders in Congress said yesterday that negotiations on a second war spending bill should begin with benchmarks of success (how about our own contractors accounting for all that wasted reconstruction money) for the Iraqi government, and possible consequences if those benchmarks are not met. Democratic leaders will send a $124 billion war funding bill to President Bush today that would establish such benchmarks and tie them to troop withdrawals, which would begin as early as July 1 if they are not met. The bill will arrive at the White House on the fourth anniversary of Bush's speech aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, when he declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq before a banner that proclaimed "Mission Accomplished."
(..how ironically appropriate...)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/30/AR2007043001527.html?referrer=email
"A new study ordered by the Pentagon warns that the rising cost and dwindling supply of oil -- the lifeblood of fighter jets, warships, and tanks -- will make the US military's ability to respond to hot spots around the world "unsustainable in the long term." The study, produced by a defense consulting firm, concludes that all four branches of the military must "fundamentally transform" their assumptions about energy, including taking immediate steps toward fielding weapons systems and aircraft that run on alternative and renewable fuels."
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/05/01/pentagon_study_says_oil_reliance_strains_military/
VOTER FRAUD FRAUD
A GOP-majority committee split along party lines to send the Senate a substitute version of the House-approved measure requiring voters to prove their identity before casting ballots. Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, tweaked the House-approved proposal by not exempting any voters from the identification requirement. ...Proponents, including the Republican Party of Texas, say it’s necessary to reduce chances of voter fraud....Opponents, including the Texas Democratic Party, say the changes attack a problem (voter impersonation) that doesn’t exist. They also say the mandate will serve mainly to drive down turnout of minorities, the elderly and the young.
(...Kansas' Republican controlled legislature is doing the same thing, the Red States are getting more desperate every day trying to prevent their "redness" from turning purple or blue...)
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/legislature/index.html
DOJ SCANDAL
SYSTEMIC FEDERAL POLITICIZATION UNDER INTERNAL SCRUTINY
Don't miss this editorial, it really goes to the core of the DOJ scandal, and why Bush kkeps giving Gone-Zo the vote of confidence...!!!
"NO MATTER how many members of Congress lose confidence in Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales, President Bush is unlikely to let him go. If Gonzales resigns, the vacancy must be filled by a new presidential nominee, and the last thing the White House wants is a confirmation hearing. All this is reminiscent of the Watergate scandal. In 1973, as the coverup was unraveling, the Senate imposed a condition on the confirmation of President Nixon's nominee for attorney general, Elliot Richardson. Richardson's predecessor had resigned because of Watergate troubles. Concerned that the Justice Department would not get at the truth, the Senate insisted that Richardson would name a special prosecutor to investigate Watergate. Richardson duly appointed Archibald Cox. The rest is history. Cox's aggressive investigations led to the prosecution of top administration officials and the naming of Nixon as an unindicted co-conspirator in the coverup. When Cox sought White House tapes of Nixon's conversations with his staff, the president had him fired, unleashing a firestorm of protests. Americans demanded that a previously reluctant Congress start impeachment proceedings against Nixon. Congress complied; the House Judiciary Committee, of which I was a member, voted for impeachment, and Nixon resigned. Aspects of this history could easily repeat themselves. The Senate could demand, as it did in 1973, that a new attorney general appoint a special prosecutor, (...sounds like a plan...) and this could again have dire consequences for the White House."
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-holtzman1may01,0,3365495.story?track=ntothtml
A true US Attorneys/Abramoff link uncovered...
(Thanx to emptywheel at "The Next Hurrah" for this link to MPW at "Wampum")
...And boy, is it a doozy!
"The discussion has continued over at Marcy's place, spurred on by this excellent post documenting recent changes in the make-up of the Native American Issues Subcommittee at the DoJ. Of particularly interesting note, the 2006 appointment of Colorado USA, Troy Eid. Seems that Eid was a 2003 hire of Greenberg Traurig in their Denver office. While Eid tried to whitewash his involvement in the firm at the same time as Abramoff's tenure, such claims turn out to be patently false. First, from the Denver Post upon Eid's appointment: Eid, a shareholder at the law firm of Greenberg Traurig, practices land use and environmental law, federal Indian law, American Indian tribal law, business negotiations and public law. Jack Abramoff, the Washington lobbyist who recently pleaded guilty to bribery, mail fraud and other charges, previously worked at Greenberg Traurig. Eid and Abramoff both worked in divisions that represented American Indian tribes. But Eid has said he joined Greenberg Traurig in 2003, about the time Abramoff was being fired. However, not only did Eid and Abramoff overlap in 2003-2004 (Abramoff wasn't fired until March, 2004), Eid was directly involved in at least two clients handled by "Team Abramoff". (...triple snark; Bush doesn't remember knowing Jack, either...)
http://wampum.wabanaki.net/vault/2007/05/003621.html
So, is Bloch the next Archie Cox,
OR IS HE JUST RUNNING COVER?
At first glance, Scott J. Bloch seems to fit the profile of the "loyal Bushie," the kind of person the White House salted through the Washington bureaucracy to make sure federal agencies heeded administration priorities. But Bloch, 48, is a man who defies expectations. The lifelong Republican runs an agency — the Office of Special Counsel — that is turning its investigative spotlight on the White House, in particular the political operation headed by Karl Rove. His office is investigating whether Bush administration personnel violated civil statutes by inserting GOP electoral politics into Cabinet agency meetings, firing at least one U.S. attorney, and discussing some of the activities in private e-mails that are missing...Bloch says he felt compelled to initiate the broad investigation after reviewing results from two seemingly separate inquiries. The first was a preliminary interview with the fired U.S. attorney from New Mexico, David C. Iglesias, who said, among other things, that his termination might have resulted from his failure to swiftly pursue a corruption case against Democrats.The second involved a PowerPoint presentation highlighting upcoming battleground election races that a Rove aide, J. Scott Jennings, made at the General Services Administration this year.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bloch1may01,0,2406788.story?track=ntothtml
And this from Murray Wass at The National Journal,
Waas is really covering this DOJ scandal from the roots up, he broke the story yesterday about Gone-Zo's secret deal giving sweeping hire-and-fire powers to young, inexperienced, and hostile partisan politicos at the DOJ...
"Shortly before Attorney General Alberto Gonzales advised President Bush last year on whether to shut down a Justice Department inquiry regarding the administration's warrantless domestic eavesdropping program, Gonzales learned that his own conduct would likely be a focus of the investigation, according to government records and interviews. Bush personally intervened to sideline the Justice Department probe in April 2006 by taking the unusual step of denying investigators the security clearances necessary for their work."
http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/0315nj1.htm
ANOTHER TOP DOJ "OUT-OF-THE-LOOPER"
ADMITS ONLY IGNORANCE
Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty told congressional investigators that he had limited involvement in the firing last year of eight U.S. attorneys and that he did not choose any to be removed, congressional aides familiar with his statements said yesterday. McNulty said he provided erroneous testimony to Congress in February because he had not been informed that Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and his aides had been working with the White House on the firings for nearly two years, the congressional aides said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/30/AR2007043001526.html?referrer=email&referrer=email&referrer=email
"CHILDREN" IN CHARGE OF THE DOJ PERSONNEL DECISIONS
In a previously undisclosed move, Gonzales approved an order in March 2006 that delegated to his chief of staff and the department's White House liaison broad authority over 135 department positions designated for political appointees, a copy of the order obtained by The Times shows. Their authority did not cover high-level positions that required Senate confirmation, such as the 93 U.S. attorneys. (that might be somewhat inaccurate, it seems as if these two had quite a hand even in that highest-level hiring process, especially Griffin's appointment in Arkansas) Gonzales' chief of staff at the time was D. Kyle Sampson, who resigned in March after it became known that he was the point man on the controversial firing of eight U.S. attorneys last year. Not long after the order was signed, the position of White House liaison was filled by Monica M. Goodling, a former Justice Department public affairs officer. She recently resigned because of disclosures about her role in the firings. Some Democrats on Capitol Hill, where two committees are investigating allegations of improper political interference at the Justice Department, said they were troubled by the disclosure and how Sampson and Goodling might have exercised their powers. (apparently they did it with a neoconic iron hand...)
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/hBOJ40RvPwf0G2B0IXxq0E3
85 US-A CO-CONSPIRATORS? (also see this previous post)
When a jury acquitted Carl J. Marlinga, a former county prosecutor from suburban Detroit, of bribery charges last year, his initial reaction was to write off the episode as a terrible mistake that at least had been corrected. “Prosecutors can make mistakes for innocent reasons,” Mr. Marlinga said. “I know that first hand.” But as he looks back at the case, Mr. Marlinga, 60, who was charged while he was a Democratic candidate for Congress, no longer has such confidence in the integrity of the legal system. “Was there some extra pressure on the United States attorney’s office, whether articulated or tacitly understood, by their superiors in Washington who would not look favorably upon the office if this case was not pursued?” he asked. “I have to wonder.” That kind of second guessing has surfaced with increasing frequency in recent weeks in states including Alabama, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Since the dismissals of eight United States attorneys, local lawyers, politicians, editorial writers, members of Congress and defendants are questioning what they say is a pattern of investigating Democrats. They point to inquiries that drag on for years but end with no charges, an acquittal or convictions for relatively modest infractions.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/01/washington/01corrupt.html?ei=5088&en=301d72e7b39b9fca&ex=1335672000&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=all
WHICH BRINGS US TO THE BLOG QUOTE OF THE DAY
...and today is a first, I'm quoting myself in an older post...
85 US Attorneys as co-conspirators? from "Between the Lines" 3/18/2007
"Let me press the issue of the SURVIVING US-A's, if Iowa is any indicator, there is an ongoing conspiracy against Democrats, by Republican-planted US-A's, and it may have actually accelerated since this exposure of their colleagues questionable removal and replacements. Matt McCoy, the Democratic state senator from Des Moines' south side, is being persecuted in a classic case of entrapment, by the US-A that was appointed to that district. If there's a provable passel of politics in this process, wouldn't these US-A's themselves be subject to some serious scrutiny from Congress? One thing is for certain, it immediately opens the door for McCoy's defense attorney to demand charges be dropped. This political hackery makes our US-A's impotent."
http://jep-betweenthelines.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.html
WOLFOWITZ REFUSES TO GO QUIETLY,
BRINGS HIGH-PAID GAL PAL TO COURT WITH HIM
Wolfowitz, an architect of the Iraq war as deputy U.S. Defense secretary from 2001 to 2005, appeared with his partner, Shaha Ali Riza, and his lawyer, Robert S. Bennett, before an investigative committee of the bank's board Monday to plead his case. The investigative panel met behind closed doors into the evening without resolving the issue. While the committee was meeting, Wolfowitz received an endorsement from President Bush, his former boss, (and Iraq War co-conspirator) but only a noncommittal statement from a key European official. ...Bush nominated Wolfowitz to the World Bank job in 2005. But the bank's board, whose 24 members come from 24 countries, will decide his future. The board includes Germany, whose chancellor, Angela Merkel, met Monday with Bush. Merkel, appearing with Bush, offered Wolfowitz no endorsement, saying only that the bank board's inquiry "should be a very transparent conversation." The Europeans, with whom the Iraq war has never been popular, are among Wolfowitz's most outspoken detractors on the bank's board. However, the board has never unseated a bank president, and bylaws apparently do not contemplate the possibility.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-wolfowitz1may01,0,3103606.story?track=ntothtml
UNIONS TAKE ON BEHEMOTH WAL MART
In its first study of how an American company treats its workers, Human Rights Watch said Monday that Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s aggressive efforts to keep out labor unions often violated federal law and infringed on workers' rights. The group said that when Wal-Mart stores faced efforts to unionize employees, the company often broke the law by eavesdropping on workers, training surveillance cameras on them and firing those who favored unions, among other actions. "While many American companies use weak U.S. laws to stop workers from organizing, the retail giant stands out for the sheer magnitude and aggressiveness of its anti-union apparatus," the group wrote. Wal-Mart has more than 1.3 million workers at almost 4,000 U.S. stores, and none belongs to a union. (.. the lowest wages, ALWAYS!..)
http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/other/05/01/1walmart.html
THE ENVIRONMENT
The Bush administration proposed on Monday leasing out millions of acres along the coasts of Alaska and Virginia to oil and gas drillers, a move that would end a longstanding ban on drilling in those environmentally sensitive areas. Both areas have been closed to new drilling for many years. The areas off Virginia are still covered by laws that prohibit new drilling in all areas along the Atlantic and Pacific seaboards. But Congress lifted the prohibition on Bristol Bay off Alaska in 2003, and President Bush lifted an executive order in January that had blocked drilling there through 2012. In the case of Virginia, administration officials are hoping to capitalize on interest in drilling expressed by the state legislature, which passed a bill last year asking the federal government to allow exploration for natural gas in waters 50 miles or farther from the state coastline. Both proposals are part of a broader five-year plan to open up 48 million acres along the outer continental shelf to oil and gas drilling. Unless Congress objects within 60 days, most of the five-year plan will go into effect, though resistance has been voiced. Starting this year, the Interior Department plans to offer leases on about 8.3 million acres in the central region of the Gulf of Mexico, which Congress specifically approved for offshore drilling late last year. (...before they leave, the neocons plan their final travesty...)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/01/washington/01drill.html?th&emc=th
The United States and China want to amend a major report by U.N.-sponsored climate researchers to play down its conclusion that quick, affordable action can limit the worst effects of global warming, according to documents reviewed Monday by The Associated Press. The critiques, among hundreds of government comments on the draft, are the prelude to what is expected to be a contentious weeklong meeting as scientists and national delegations wrangle over final wording (to spin the truth) in the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, to be issued Friday.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/313789_climate01.html
Blue text is my own commentary.
Violet text is the blog quote of the day.
BUSH WARS
The deaths of more than 100 American troops in April made it the deadliest month so far this year for U.S. forces in Iraq, underscoring the growing exposure of Americans as thousands of reinforcements arrive for an 11-week-old offensive to tame sectarian violence.
More than 60 Iraqis also were killed or found dead across Iraq on Monday. Casualties among Iraqi civilians and security forces have outstripped those of Americans throughout the war. In March, a total of 2,762 Iraqi civilians and policemen were killed, down 4 percent from the previous month, when 2,864 were killed. Iraq's government has yet to release any monthly totals for April. (...and they aren't going to release them anymore, it seems, can't imagine why...)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/30/AR2007043001929.html?referrer=email
The largest bloc of Sunni Arabs in the Iraqi Parliament threatened to withdraw its ministers from the Shiite-dominated cabinet on Monday in frustration over the government’s failure to deal with Sunni concerns. The bloc, known as the Iraqi Consensus Front and made up of three Sunni Arab parties, “has lost hope in rectifying the situation despite all of its sincere and serious efforts to do so,” the statement said. If the Sunni group followed through on its threat, it would further weaken a government already damaged by the pullout two weeks ago of six cabinet ministers aligned with the renegade Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr and further erode American efforts to promote reconciliation between Sunnis and Shiites. (...1400 years of vendetta, and the U.S. is going to step in and fix it??? RIIIIGHTTT. Try food instead of guns, feed em', don't fight em', maybe they will begin to trust us as an honest broker, not an international oil thief...)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/01/world/middleeast/01iraq.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
Brushing aside White House opposition, Republican leaders in Congress said yesterday that negotiations on a second war spending bill should begin with benchmarks of success (how about our own contractors accounting for all that wasted reconstruction money) for the Iraqi government, and possible consequences if those benchmarks are not met. Democratic leaders will send a $124 billion war funding bill to President Bush today that would establish such benchmarks and tie them to troop withdrawals, which would begin as early as July 1 if they are not met. The bill will arrive at the White House on the fourth anniversary of Bush's speech aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, when he declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq before a banner that proclaimed "Mission Accomplished."
(..how ironically appropriate...)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/30/AR2007043001527.html?referrer=email
"A new study ordered by the Pentagon warns that the rising cost and dwindling supply of oil -- the lifeblood of fighter jets, warships, and tanks -- will make the US military's ability to respond to hot spots around the world "unsustainable in the long term." The study, produced by a defense consulting firm, concludes that all four branches of the military must "fundamentally transform" their assumptions about energy, including taking immediate steps toward fielding weapons systems and aircraft that run on alternative and renewable fuels."
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/05/01/pentagon_study_says_oil_reliance_strains_military/
VOTER FRAUD FRAUD
A GOP-majority committee split along party lines to send the Senate a substitute version of the House-approved measure requiring voters to prove their identity before casting ballots. Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, tweaked the House-approved proposal by not exempting any voters from the identification requirement. ...Proponents, including the Republican Party of Texas, say it’s necessary to reduce chances of voter fraud....Opponents, including the Texas Democratic Party, say the changes attack a problem (voter impersonation) that doesn’t exist. They also say the mandate will serve mainly to drive down turnout of minorities, the elderly and the young.
(...Kansas' Republican controlled legislature is doing the same thing, the Red States are getting more desperate every day trying to prevent their "redness" from turning purple or blue...)
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/legislature/index.html
DOJ SCANDAL
SYSTEMIC FEDERAL POLITICIZATION UNDER INTERNAL SCRUTINY
Don't miss this editorial, it really goes to the core of the DOJ scandal, and why Bush kkeps giving Gone-Zo the vote of confidence...!!!
"NO MATTER how many members of Congress lose confidence in Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales, President Bush is unlikely to let him go. If Gonzales resigns, the vacancy must be filled by a new presidential nominee, and the last thing the White House wants is a confirmation hearing. All this is reminiscent of the Watergate scandal. In 1973, as the coverup was unraveling, the Senate imposed a condition on the confirmation of President Nixon's nominee for attorney general, Elliot Richardson. Richardson's predecessor had resigned because of Watergate troubles. Concerned that the Justice Department would not get at the truth, the Senate insisted that Richardson would name a special prosecutor to investigate Watergate. Richardson duly appointed Archibald Cox. The rest is history. Cox's aggressive investigations led to the prosecution of top administration officials and the naming of Nixon as an unindicted co-conspirator in the coverup. When Cox sought White House tapes of Nixon's conversations with his staff, the president had him fired, unleashing a firestorm of protests. Americans demanded that a previously reluctant Congress start impeachment proceedings against Nixon. Congress complied; the House Judiciary Committee, of which I was a member, voted for impeachment, and Nixon resigned. Aspects of this history could easily repeat themselves. The Senate could demand, as it did in 1973, that a new attorney general appoint a special prosecutor, (...sounds like a plan...) and this could again have dire consequences for the White House."
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-holtzman1may01,0,3365495.story?track=ntothtml
A true US Attorneys/Abramoff link uncovered...
(Thanx to emptywheel at "The Next Hurrah" for this link to MPW at "Wampum")
...And boy, is it a doozy!
"The discussion has continued over at Marcy's place, spurred on by this excellent post documenting recent changes in the make-up of the Native American Issues Subcommittee at the DoJ. Of particularly interesting note, the 2006 appointment of Colorado USA, Troy Eid. Seems that Eid was a 2003 hire of Greenberg Traurig in their Denver office. While Eid tried to whitewash his involvement in the firm at the same time as Abramoff's tenure, such claims turn out to be patently false. First, from the Denver Post upon Eid's appointment: Eid, a shareholder at the law firm of Greenberg Traurig, practices land use and environmental law, federal Indian law, American Indian tribal law, business negotiations and public law. Jack Abramoff, the Washington lobbyist who recently pleaded guilty to bribery, mail fraud and other charges, previously worked at Greenberg Traurig. Eid and Abramoff both worked in divisions that represented American Indian tribes. But Eid has said he joined Greenberg Traurig in 2003, about the time Abramoff was being fired. However, not only did Eid and Abramoff overlap in 2003-2004 (Abramoff wasn't fired until March, 2004), Eid was directly involved in at least two clients handled by "Team Abramoff". (...triple snark; Bush doesn't remember knowing Jack, either...)
http://wampum.wabanaki.net/vault/2007/05/003621.html
So, is Bloch the next Archie Cox,
OR IS HE JUST RUNNING COVER?
At first glance, Scott J. Bloch seems to fit the profile of the "loyal Bushie," the kind of person the White House salted through the Washington bureaucracy to make sure federal agencies heeded administration priorities. But Bloch, 48, is a man who defies expectations. The lifelong Republican runs an agency — the Office of Special Counsel — that is turning its investigative spotlight on the White House, in particular the political operation headed by Karl Rove. His office is investigating whether Bush administration personnel violated civil statutes by inserting GOP electoral politics into Cabinet agency meetings, firing at least one U.S. attorney, and discussing some of the activities in private e-mails that are missing...Bloch says he felt compelled to initiate the broad investigation after reviewing results from two seemingly separate inquiries. The first was a preliminary interview with the fired U.S. attorney from New Mexico, David C. Iglesias, who said, among other things, that his termination might have resulted from his failure to swiftly pursue a corruption case against Democrats.The second involved a PowerPoint presentation highlighting upcoming battleground election races that a Rove aide, J. Scott Jennings, made at the General Services Administration this year.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bloch1may01,0,2406788.story?track=ntothtml
And this from Murray Wass at The National Journal,
Waas is really covering this DOJ scandal from the roots up, he broke the story yesterday about Gone-Zo's secret deal giving sweeping hire-and-fire powers to young, inexperienced, and hostile partisan politicos at the DOJ...
"Shortly before Attorney General Alberto Gonzales advised President Bush last year on whether to shut down a Justice Department inquiry regarding the administration's warrantless domestic eavesdropping program, Gonzales learned that his own conduct would likely be a focus of the investigation, according to government records and interviews. Bush personally intervened to sideline the Justice Department probe in April 2006 by taking the unusual step of denying investigators the security clearances necessary for their work."
http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/0315nj1.htm
ANOTHER TOP DOJ "OUT-OF-THE-LOOPER"
ADMITS ONLY IGNORANCE
Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty told congressional investigators that he had limited involvement in the firing last year of eight U.S. attorneys and that he did not choose any to be removed, congressional aides familiar with his statements said yesterday. McNulty said he provided erroneous testimony to Congress in February because he had not been informed that Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and his aides had been working with the White House on the firings for nearly two years, the congressional aides said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/30/AR2007043001526.html?referrer=email&referrer=email&referrer=email
"CHILDREN" IN CHARGE OF THE DOJ PERSONNEL DECISIONS
In a previously undisclosed move, Gonzales approved an order in March 2006 that delegated to his chief of staff and the department's White House liaison broad authority over 135 department positions designated for political appointees, a copy of the order obtained by The Times shows. Their authority did not cover high-level positions that required Senate confirmation, such as the 93 U.S. attorneys. (that might be somewhat inaccurate, it seems as if these two had quite a hand even in that highest-level hiring process, especially Griffin's appointment in Arkansas) Gonzales' chief of staff at the time was D. Kyle Sampson, who resigned in March after it became known that he was the point man on the controversial firing of eight U.S. attorneys last year. Not long after the order was signed, the position of White House liaison was filled by Monica M. Goodling, a former Justice Department public affairs officer. She recently resigned because of disclosures about her role in the firings. Some Democrats on Capitol Hill, where two committees are investigating allegations of improper political interference at the Justice Department, said they were troubled by the disclosure and how Sampson and Goodling might have exercised their powers. (apparently they did it with a neoconic iron hand...)
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/hBOJ40RvPwf0G2B0IXxq0E3
85 US-A CO-CONSPIRATORS? (also see this previous post)
When a jury acquitted Carl J. Marlinga, a former county prosecutor from suburban Detroit, of bribery charges last year, his initial reaction was to write off the episode as a terrible mistake that at least had been corrected. “Prosecutors can make mistakes for innocent reasons,” Mr. Marlinga said. “I know that first hand.” But as he looks back at the case, Mr. Marlinga, 60, who was charged while he was a Democratic candidate for Congress, no longer has such confidence in the integrity of the legal system. “Was there some extra pressure on the United States attorney’s office, whether articulated or tacitly understood, by their superiors in Washington who would not look favorably upon the office if this case was not pursued?” he asked. “I have to wonder.” That kind of second guessing has surfaced with increasing frequency in recent weeks in states including Alabama, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Since the dismissals of eight United States attorneys, local lawyers, politicians, editorial writers, members of Congress and defendants are questioning what they say is a pattern of investigating Democrats. They point to inquiries that drag on for years but end with no charges, an acquittal or convictions for relatively modest infractions.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/01/washington/01corrupt.html?ei=5088&en=301d72e7b39b9fca&ex=1335672000&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=all
WHICH BRINGS US TO THE BLOG QUOTE OF THE DAY
...and today is a first, I'm quoting myself in an older post...
85 US Attorneys as co-conspirators? from "Between the Lines" 3/18/2007
"Let me press the issue of the SURVIVING US-A's, if Iowa is any indicator, there is an ongoing conspiracy against Democrats, by Republican-planted US-A's, and it may have actually accelerated since this exposure of their colleagues questionable removal and replacements. Matt McCoy, the Democratic state senator from Des Moines' south side, is being persecuted in a classic case of entrapment, by the US-A that was appointed to that district. If there's a provable passel of politics in this process, wouldn't these US-A's themselves be subject to some serious scrutiny from Congress? One thing is for certain, it immediately opens the door for McCoy's defense attorney to demand charges be dropped. This political hackery makes our US-A's impotent."
http://jep-betweenthelines.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.html
WOLFOWITZ REFUSES TO GO QUIETLY,
BRINGS HIGH-PAID GAL PAL TO COURT WITH HIM
Wolfowitz, an architect of the Iraq war as deputy U.S. Defense secretary from 2001 to 2005, appeared with his partner, Shaha Ali Riza, and his lawyer, Robert S. Bennett, before an investigative committee of the bank's board Monday to plead his case. The investigative panel met behind closed doors into the evening without resolving the issue. While the committee was meeting, Wolfowitz received an endorsement from President Bush, his former boss, (and Iraq War co-conspirator) but only a noncommittal statement from a key European official. ...Bush nominated Wolfowitz to the World Bank job in 2005. But the bank's board, whose 24 members come from 24 countries, will decide his future. The board includes Germany, whose chancellor, Angela Merkel, met Monday with Bush. Merkel, appearing with Bush, offered Wolfowitz no endorsement, saying only that the bank board's inquiry "should be a very transparent conversation." The Europeans, with whom the Iraq war has never been popular, are among Wolfowitz's most outspoken detractors on the bank's board. However, the board has never unseated a bank president, and bylaws apparently do not contemplate the possibility.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-wolfowitz1may01,0,3103606.story?track=ntothtml
UNIONS TAKE ON BEHEMOTH WAL MART
In its first study of how an American company treats its workers, Human Rights Watch said Monday that Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s aggressive efforts to keep out labor unions often violated federal law and infringed on workers' rights. The group said that when Wal-Mart stores faced efforts to unionize employees, the company often broke the law by eavesdropping on workers, training surveillance cameras on them and firing those who favored unions, among other actions. "While many American companies use weak U.S. laws to stop workers from organizing, the retail giant stands out for the sheer magnitude and aggressiveness of its anti-union apparatus," the group wrote. Wal-Mart has more than 1.3 million workers at almost 4,000 U.S. stores, and none belongs to a union. (.. the lowest wages, ALWAYS!..)
http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/other/05/01/1walmart.html
THE ENVIRONMENT
The Bush administration proposed on Monday leasing out millions of acres along the coasts of Alaska and Virginia to oil and gas drillers, a move that would end a longstanding ban on drilling in those environmentally sensitive areas. Both areas have been closed to new drilling for many years. The areas off Virginia are still covered by laws that prohibit new drilling in all areas along the Atlantic and Pacific seaboards. But Congress lifted the prohibition on Bristol Bay off Alaska in 2003, and President Bush lifted an executive order in January that had blocked drilling there through 2012. In the case of Virginia, administration officials are hoping to capitalize on interest in drilling expressed by the state legislature, which passed a bill last year asking the federal government to allow exploration for natural gas in waters 50 miles or farther from the state coastline. Both proposals are part of a broader five-year plan to open up 48 million acres along the outer continental shelf to oil and gas drilling. Unless Congress objects within 60 days, most of the five-year plan will go into effect, though resistance has been voiced. Starting this year, the Interior Department plans to offer leases on about 8.3 million acres in the central region of the Gulf of Mexico, which Congress specifically approved for offshore drilling late last year. (...before they leave, the neocons plan their final travesty...)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/01/washington/01drill.html?th&emc=th
The United States and China want to amend a major report by U.N.-sponsored climate researchers to play down its conclusion that quick, affordable action can limit the worst effects of global warming, according to documents reviewed Monday by The Associated Press. The critiques, among hundreds of government comments on the draft, are the prelude to what is expected to be a contentious weeklong meeting as scientists and national delegations wrangle over final wording (to spin the truth) in the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, to be issued Friday.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/313789_climate01.html
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Wednesday's news
Red text is the "real" headline in these stories and articles.
Blue text is my own personal commentary.
Violet text is the blog quote of the day.
AFRICA (still the most important stories of the day)
Sudanese Janjaweed militiamen killed as many as 400 people in the volatile eastern border region near Sudan, leaving an "apocalyptic" scene of mass graves and destruction, the U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday. The attacks took place March 31 in the border villages of Tiero and Marena, about 550 miles from Chad's capital, N'Djamena. Chadian officials initially said that 65 people had died but that the toll was certain to rise. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/10/AR2007041001775.html?referrer=email
As a former accountant and stockbroker, Father Paul Spellman knows money talks. So when he found out last month that his retirement funds could be contributing to bloodshed in Sudan, he decided to send a message. His target: Fidelity Investments, which manages the retirement plan for the 350 priests in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and is one of the leading U.S. shareholders in PetroChina Co., part of a company involved in one of Sudan's largest oil projects. Oil revenues fund Sudan's military, which is accused of arming militias whose four-year battle against rebels has killed more than 200,000 people and left millions homeless.(it sure worked in South Africa)
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-sudan11apr11,0,1417586.story?track=ntothtml
The acknowledgment by Ethiopia of its role in detaining terrorism suspects prompted officials in Washington to speak more candidly about American interrogations of the captives. Those officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak publicly, said Tuesday that American intelligence agents had questioned several of the detainees in Ethiopian jails over the past several months. But they denied that the United States had played any part in transferring or detaining the prisoners, and denied that the prisoners were part of a covert rendition program in which suspects are captured by American forces and flown to another country to be interrogated. In the past, many rendition suspects have been taken to countries where torture is routine.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/world/africa/11ethiopia.html?th&emc=th
While the Bush administration is dispatching another top envoy — this time Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte — (another round of the El Salvador solution?) to deliver another strong message to the Sudanese government about the killing in the Darfur region, critics say the diplomacy is allowing Sudan to play for time as the death toll mounts.The administration has been trying to come up with a way to make good on repeated threats that the United States will hold President Omar Hassan al-Bashir accountable for the violence in Darfur, where 200,000 people have been killed and more than 2.5 million displaced. But even now, Democrats are demanding a plan to address the Darfur crisis, and suggesting their own proposals, including one to impose a no-flight zone over Darfur, and another to authorize American states to divest from foreign companies invested in Sudan. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/washington/11darfur.html?th&emc=th
President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria likes to present himself as the man who led his country toward democracy. But his reputation — and that of his country — will be deeply marred unless he moves quickly to rein in the chaos and corruption threatening this month’s elections. With regional elections scheduled for this Saturday and national elections a week after that, hundreds of election monitors have yet to be accredited, and several leading opposition candidates have been barred from seeking the presidency for dubious reasons. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/opinion/11wed3.html?th&emc=th
blog quote of the day once again goes to Christy at FDL
"Any person who has ever worked with law enforcement knows that all it takes is one rotten apple in an investigative unit to stink up the entire place. The rules and regs are there for a very, very good reason — because you cannot tinker with essential notions of liberty and the rule of law without seeing some very grave consequences on the back end of that. Good cops and prosecutors take that very seriously, because with substantial power also comes a substantial responsibility to use it with great care." So what do we do when the whole basket of apples turns rotten?
http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/04/11/secure-the-blessings-of-liberty/
ROVE WATCH
The poll also found that 74 percent of the public (and 49 percent of Republicans) think that Karl Rove and other White House aides should testify before Congress under oath. (thanx to Paul Kiel at TPMMuckraker) http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/
VOTER FRAUD STUDY SKEWED BY REPUBLICAN PARTISANS
Panel Said to Alter Finding on Voter Fraud
A federal panel responsible for conducting election research played down the findings of experts who concluded last year that there was little voter fraud around the nation, according to a review of the original report obtained by The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/washington/11voters.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
MEDIA, THE BLOGS AND THE INTERNET
Viacom said yesterday that it picked Yahoo as its online advertising partner in a multi-year deal that could help Yahoo become a more formidable challenger to Google -- Viacom's opponent in a legal squabble over video copyrights. Small text-based ads will appear next to search results and other relevant content on 33 Web sites owned by Viacom, including MTV.com, VH1.com, ComedyCentral.com, Nickelodeon.com and BET.com. The deal is a victory for Yahoo, which has been losing ground to Google in the online advertising business. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/10/AR2007041001488.html
DOJ SCANDAL
In 2001, the RNC bestowed computers and other equipment on Rove and other presidential aides in an apparent attempt to avoid the questions that dogged the Clinton administration about the use of government resources for partisan political purposes. Now Democratic critics of the Bush administration say the electronic back channel was used to transact government business without creating a historical record. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said the dual system may violate the Presidential Records Act. Waxman may be right, at least about e-mails that dealt with governmental matters. But whether or not the Presidential Records Act was violated, Congress is entitled to at least some of these messages as part of its oversight role. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-email11apr11,0,887927.story?track=ntothtml
Two former administrators at a Texas Youth Commission lockup were indicted on felony sex charges Tuesday, almost two months after allegations that they had preyed on incarcerated teenage boys ignited a statewide corruption scandal. The development came as the West Texas prosecutor who did not file charges after learning of the accusations in 2005 was named in two ouster petitions and he filed one against his chief local critic, the county attorney. (this mess may well have started with Gonzales' negligence, SEE BELOW) http://letters.statesman.com/W3RH02DDC47A4E458372E30195D7A0
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, both already under siege for other matters, are now being accused of failing to prosecute officers of the Texas Youth Commission after a Texas Ranger investigation documented that guards and administrators were sexually abusing the institution's teenage boy inmates. Among the charges in the Texas Ranger report were that administrators would rouse boys from their sleep for the purpose of conducting all-night sex parties. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54861
THE BUSH WARS
Unless locals rat out the snipers, we will continue to see US casualties mount while the Iraqi forces hang back and let us be the primary targets. Last month, for example, US forces suffered more casualties than the Iraqi forces. So much for those assholes standing up and taking charge. (by Larry Johnson at No Quarter )
http://noquarter.typepad.com/my_weblog/
Recent graduates of the US Military Academy at West Point are choosing to leave active duty at the highest rate in more than three decades, a sign to many military specialists that repeated tours in Iraq are prematurely driving out some of the Army's top young officers. (so, our best and brightest are just too bright to fight for a worthless cause? Who's surprised? I'm not.) http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/04/11/west_point_grads_exit_service_at_high_rate/
The White House wants to appoint a high-powered czar to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with authority to issue directions to the Pentagon, the State Department and other agencies, but it has had trouble finding anyone able and willing to take the job, according to people close to the situation. At least three retired four-star generals approached by the White House in recent weeks have declined to be considered for the position, the sources said, underscoring the administration's difficulty in enlisting its top recruits to join the team after five years of warfare that have taxed the United States and its military. (...just another "personnel" problem?)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/10/AR2007041001776.html?referrer=email
from the WaPo, via ThinkProgress
Retired Marine Gen. John J. “Jack” Sheehan: Sheehan rejected the offer because he “believes that Vice President Cheney and his hawkish allies remain more powerful within the administration than pragmatists looking for a way out of Iraq.” He stated, “There’s the residue of the Cheney view — ‘We’re going to win, al-Qaeda’s there’ — that justifies anything we did. And then there’s the pragmatist view — how the hell do we get out of Dodge and survive? Unfortunately, the people with the former view are still in the positions of most influence.”
http://thinkprogress.org/
Sunni militants and residents of the Baghdad neighborhood of Fadhil fought a fierce daylong battle with the Iraqi Army and American soldiers on Tuesday in what appeared to be the most sustained confrontation since the start of the security plan to calm violence in the capital. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/world/middleeast/11iraq.html?th&emc=th
THE ENVIRONMENT
The sinking of Ghoramara can be attributed to a confluence of disasters, natural and human, not least the rising sea. The rivers that pour down from the Himalayas and empty into the bay have swelled and shifted in recent decades, placing this and the rest of the delicate islands known as the Sundarbans in the mouth of daily danger. Certainly nature would have forced these islands to shift size and shape, drowning some, giving rise to others. But there is little doubt, scientists say, that human-induced climate change has made them particularly vulnerable. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/world/asia/11india.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=login
Gore and the Live Earth producers had hoped to bring the North American Live Earth show to Washington, but finding a suitable venue here proved difficult. The obvious choice -- the Mall -- was booked for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival as well as a Christian festival called Together One Unity, and a bipartisan resolution to bring the concert to the Capitol grounds ran into Republican roadblocks. A last-ditch effort to find an alternative location in Washington proved futile. So yesterday, Gore and Live Earth Executive Producer Kevin Wall announced that they were going to the Garden State. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/10/AR2007041001769.html?referrer=email
A federal court ruling on salmon should provoke soul searching within the Bush administration and searching in Congress for systemic solutions. Science needs to be restored to an honest place in the federal government's decision making. In strong and appropriate terms, a federal court has rejected the false ways the administration tried to revise science and the law to ignore the role of four lower Snake River dams in destroying salmon runs. The administration claimed the dams had to be treated as part of the natural landscape. A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled the feds had indulged themselves in "sleight of hand," manipulation and a uniquely "cramped view" of their ability to protect endangered species. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/311018_damsed.html
MEDICAL NEWS
RESEARCHERS have demonstrated for the first time that the progression of Type 1 diabetes can be halted — and possibly reversed — by a stem-cell transplant that preserves the body's diminishing ability to make insulin, according to a study published today. The experimental therapy eliminated the need for insulin injections for months or even years in 14 of 15 patients recently diagnosed with the disease. One subject, a 30-year-old male, hasn't taken insulin since his stem-cell transplant more than three years ago, according to the study in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. (So where has this treatment been hiding the last few years?)
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-stemcells11apr11,0,971736.story?track=ntothtml
MOST OUTRAGEOUS
The chief financial officer of Menu Foods sold about half of his stake in the company three weeks before the widespread pet food recall, Canadian insider-trading reports showed. Finance chief Mark Wiens called it a "horrible coincidence" in the Toronto Globe and Mail newspaper, adding that he did not hear of any problems with the company's products until at least a week later. Wiens sold 14,000 shares on Feb. 26 and 27 for about $90,000. The shares now are worth about $54,000. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/10/AR2007041001691.html?referrer=email
Blue text is my own personal commentary.
Violet text is the blog quote of the day.
AFRICA (still the most important stories of the day)
Sudanese Janjaweed militiamen killed as many as 400 people in the volatile eastern border region near Sudan, leaving an "apocalyptic" scene of mass graves and destruction, the U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday. The attacks took place March 31 in the border villages of Tiero and Marena, about 550 miles from Chad's capital, N'Djamena. Chadian officials initially said that 65 people had died but that the toll was certain to rise. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/10/AR2007041001775.html?referrer=email
As a former accountant and stockbroker, Father Paul Spellman knows money talks. So when he found out last month that his retirement funds could be contributing to bloodshed in Sudan, he decided to send a message. His target: Fidelity Investments, which manages the retirement plan for the 350 priests in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and is one of the leading U.S. shareholders in PetroChina Co., part of a company involved in one of Sudan's largest oil projects. Oil revenues fund Sudan's military, which is accused of arming militias whose four-year battle against rebels has killed more than 200,000 people and left millions homeless.(it sure worked in South Africa)
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-sudan11apr11,0,1417586.story?track=ntothtml
The acknowledgment by Ethiopia of its role in detaining terrorism suspects prompted officials in Washington to speak more candidly about American interrogations of the captives. Those officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak publicly, said Tuesday that American intelligence agents had questioned several of the detainees in Ethiopian jails over the past several months. But they denied that the United States had played any part in transferring or detaining the prisoners, and denied that the prisoners were part of a covert rendition program in which suspects are captured by American forces and flown to another country to be interrogated. In the past, many rendition suspects have been taken to countries where torture is routine.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/world/africa/11ethiopia.html?th&emc=th
While the Bush administration is dispatching another top envoy — this time Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte — (another round of the El Salvador solution?) to deliver another strong message to the Sudanese government about the killing in the Darfur region, critics say the diplomacy is allowing Sudan to play for time as the death toll mounts.The administration has been trying to come up with a way to make good on repeated threats that the United States will hold President Omar Hassan al-Bashir accountable for the violence in Darfur, where 200,000 people have been killed and more than 2.5 million displaced. But even now, Democrats are demanding a plan to address the Darfur crisis, and suggesting their own proposals, including one to impose a no-flight zone over Darfur, and another to authorize American states to divest from foreign companies invested in Sudan. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/washington/11darfur.html?th&emc=th
President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria likes to present himself as the man who led his country toward democracy. But his reputation — and that of his country — will be deeply marred unless he moves quickly to rein in the chaos and corruption threatening this month’s elections. With regional elections scheduled for this Saturday and national elections a week after that, hundreds of election monitors have yet to be accredited, and several leading opposition candidates have been barred from seeking the presidency for dubious reasons. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/opinion/11wed3.html?th&emc=th
blog quote of the day once again goes to Christy at FDL
"Any person who has ever worked with law enforcement knows that all it takes is one rotten apple in an investigative unit to stink up the entire place. The rules and regs are there for a very, very good reason — because you cannot tinker with essential notions of liberty and the rule of law without seeing some very grave consequences on the back end of that. Good cops and prosecutors take that very seriously, because with substantial power also comes a substantial responsibility to use it with great care." So what do we do when the whole basket of apples turns rotten?
http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/04/11/secure-the-blessings-of-liberty/
ROVE WATCH
The poll also found that 74 percent of the public (and 49 percent of Republicans) think that Karl Rove and other White House aides should testify before Congress under oath. (thanx to Paul Kiel at TPMMuckraker) http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/
VOTER FRAUD STUDY SKEWED BY REPUBLICAN PARTISANS
Panel Said to Alter Finding on Voter Fraud
A federal panel responsible for conducting election research played down the findings of experts who concluded last year that there was little voter fraud around the nation, according to a review of the original report obtained by The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/washington/11voters.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
MEDIA, THE BLOGS AND THE INTERNET
Viacom said yesterday that it picked Yahoo as its online advertising partner in a multi-year deal that could help Yahoo become a more formidable challenger to Google -- Viacom's opponent in a legal squabble over video copyrights. Small text-based ads will appear next to search results and other relevant content on 33 Web sites owned by Viacom, including MTV.com, VH1.com, ComedyCentral.com, Nickelodeon.com and BET.com. The deal is a victory for Yahoo, which has been losing ground to Google in the online advertising business. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/10/AR2007041001488.html
DOJ SCANDAL
In 2001, the RNC bestowed computers and other equipment on Rove and other presidential aides in an apparent attempt to avoid the questions that dogged the Clinton administration about the use of government resources for partisan political purposes. Now Democratic critics of the Bush administration say the electronic back channel was used to transact government business without creating a historical record. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said the dual system may violate the Presidential Records Act. Waxman may be right, at least about e-mails that dealt with governmental matters. But whether or not the Presidential Records Act was violated, Congress is entitled to at least some of these messages as part of its oversight role. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-email11apr11,0,887927.story?track=ntothtml
Two former administrators at a Texas Youth Commission lockup were indicted on felony sex charges Tuesday, almost two months after allegations that they had preyed on incarcerated teenage boys ignited a statewide corruption scandal. The development came as the West Texas prosecutor who did not file charges after learning of the accusations in 2005 was named in two ouster petitions and he filed one against his chief local critic, the county attorney. (this mess may well have started with Gonzales' negligence, SEE BELOW) http://letters.statesman.com/W3RH02DDC47A4E458372E30195D7A0
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, both already under siege for other matters, are now being accused of failing to prosecute officers of the Texas Youth Commission after a Texas Ranger investigation documented that guards and administrators were sexually abusing the institution's teenage boy inmates. Among the charges in the Texas Ranger report were that administrators would rouse boys from their sleep for the purpose of conducting all-night sex parties. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54861
THE BUSH WARS
Unless locals rat out the snipers, we will continue to see US casualties mount while the Iraqi forces hang back and let us be the primary targets. Last month, for example, US forces suffered more casualties than the Iraqi forces. So much for those assholes standing up and taking charge. (by Larry Johnson at No Quarter )
http://noquarter.typepad.com/my_weblog/
Recent graduates of the US Military Academy at West Point are choosing to leave active duty at the highest rate in more than three decades, a sign to many military specialists that repeated tours in Iraq are prematurely driving out some of the Army's top young officers. (so, our best and brightest are just too bright to fight for a worthless cause? Who's surprised? I'm not.) http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/04/11/west_point_grads_exit_service_at_high_rate/
The White House wants to appoint a high-powered czar to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with authority to issue directions to the Pentagon, the State Department and other agencies, but it has had trouble finding anyone able and willing to take the job, according to people close to the situation. At least three retired four-star generals approached by the White House in recent weeks have declined to be considered for the position, the sources said, underscoring the administration's difficulty in enlisting its top recruits to join the team after five years of warfare that have taxed the United States and its military. (...just another "personnel" problem?)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/10/AR2007041001776.html?referrer=email
from the WaPo, via ThinkProgress
Retired Marine Gen. John J. “Jack” Sheehan: Sheehan rejected the offer because he “believes that Vice President Cheney and his hawkish allies remain more powerful within the administration than pragmatists looking for a way out of Iraq.” He stated, “There’s the residue of the Cheney view — ‘We’re going to win, al-Qaeda’s there’ — that justifies anything we did. And then there’s the pragmatist view — how the hell do we get out of Dodge and survive? Unfortunately, the people with the former view are still in the positions of most influence.”
http://thinkprogress.org/
Sunni militants and residents of the Baghdad neighborhood of Fadhil fought a fierce daylong battle with the Iraqi Army and American soldiers on Tuesday in what appeared to be the most sustained confrontation since the start of the security plan to calm violence in the capital. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/world/middleeast/11iraq.html?th&emc=th
THE ENVIRONMENT
The sinking of Ghoramara can be attributed to a confluence of disasters, natural and human, not least the rising sea. The rivers that pour down from the Himalayas and empty into the bay have swelled and shifted in recent decades, placing this and the rest of the delicate islands known as the Sundarbans in the mouth of daily danger. Certainly nature would have forced these islands to shift size and shape, drowning some, giving rise to others. But there is little doubt, scientists say, that human-induced climate change has made them particularly vulnerable. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/world/asia/11india.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=login
Gore and the Live Earth producers had hoped to bring the North American Live Earth show to Washington, but finding a suitable venue here proved difficult. The obvious choice -- the Mall -- was booked for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival as well as a Christian festival called Together One Unity, and a bipartisan resolution to bring the concert to the Capitol grounds ran into Republican roadblocks. A last-ditch effort to find an alternative location in Washington proved futile. So yesterday, Gore and Live Earth Executive Producer Kevin Wall announced that they were going to the Garden State. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/10/AR2007041001769.html?referrer=email
A federal court ruling on salmon should provoke soul searching within the Bush administration and searching in Congress for systemic solutions. Science needs to be restored to an honest place in the federal government's decision making. In strong and appropriate terms, a federal court has rejected the false ways the administration tried to revise science and the law to ignore the role of four lower Snake River dams in destroying salmon runs. The administration claimed the dams had to be treated as part of the natural landscape. A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled the feds had indulged themselves in "sleight of hand," manipulation and a uniquely "cramped view" of their ability to protect endangered species. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/311018_damsed.html
MEDICAL NEWS
RESEARCHERS have demonstrated for the first time that the progression of Type 1 diabetes can be halted — and possibly reversed — by a stem-cell transplant that preserves the body's diminishing ability to make insulin, according to a study published today. The experimental therapy eliminated the need for insulin injections for months or even years in 14 of 15 patients recently diagnosed with the disease. One subject, a 30-year-old male, hasn't taken insulin since his stem-cell transplant more than three years ago, according to the study in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. (So where has this treatment been hiding the last few years?)
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-stemcells11apr11,0,971736.story?track=ntothtml
MOST OUTRAGEOUS
The chief financial officer of Menu Foods sold about half of his stake in the company three weeks before the widespread pet food recall, Canadian insider-trading reports showed. Finance chief Mark Wiens called it a "horrible coincidence" in the Toronto Globe and Mail newspaper, adding that he did not hear of any problems with the company's products until at least a week later. Wiens sold 14,000 shares on Feb. 26 and 27 for about $90,000. The shares now are worth about $54,000. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/10/AR2007041001691.html?referrer=email
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