So many good articles out today I’m late posting because I couldn’t make my mind up. So today I’m just going to post the headlines a few words from the articles and the links.
Notice several new web sites today so you can bookmark them.
Also I cannot stress upon you enough to look at other articles at the links I post.
March 6th, 2008 8:31 pm
Military mother opposes Iraq war
By Margie Boulé / The Oregonian
Since the war in Iraq began, I've written many columns in support of people serving in the military. They are patriots. They make tremendous sacrifices in service to our country.
Most often, my stories have come from the parents of soldiers. I've quoted parents who strongly support the war in Iraq.
I've interviewed more parents whose children have served, been injured or been killed -- and most of those parents are against the war. But they never wanted to say so in the newspaper.
Suzi Sutherland-Martin is the first person who has contacted me and been willing to say, in print, that her son is serving in Iraq and she is opposed to the war.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=11046
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Make sure you read some of the comments like the one written by POTUS42
Law enforcement requests for postal info granted
By Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY WASHINGTON — U.S. postal authorities have approved more than 10,000 law enforcement requests to record names, addresses and other information from the outside of letters and packages of suspected criminals every year since 1998, according to U.S. Postal Inspection Service data.
In each of those years, officials approved more than 97% of requests to record the information during criminal inquiries. In 2004, 2005 and 2006, the most recent year provided, officials granted at least 99.5% of requests, according to partial responses to inquiries filed by USA TODAY under the Freedom of Information Act.
Postal officials have closely guarded the warrantless surveillance mail program, used for decades to track fugitives and to interrupt the delivery of illegal drugs or other controlled substances such as explosives. In other government surveillance, such as most wiretap programs, a judge approves requests. In this one, the USPIS' chief inspector has authority to grant or deny a request.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-03-05-mail_N.htm
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Think Again: FCC vs. The Public
By Eric Alterman, George Zornick
March 6, 2008
Regulation is to the Bush administration what frugality is to George Steinbrenner. Conservative distaste for government oversight is evident throughout the current federal government. But among its most dramatic manifestations lies in the decline of the Federal Communications Commission as a true regulatory body, empowered to protect the public's interest in public airwaves.
The FCC's duties, or neglect thereof, rarely enjoy much discussion in the mainstream media, as evidenced by the recent hubbub over John McCain and Vicki Iseman: at the heart of the issue isn't romance, but lobbying. Specifically, McCain allegedly lobbied the FCC to approve the sale of a television station to a major financial contributor. The issue beneath the screaming headlines and campaign spin is really how corporations use their financial influence to control media ownership.
In recent years, and particularly since 2000, big media has had their way, like some mustachioed cartoon villain, and its aide-de-camp has almost always been the FCC. The agency has repeatedly pursued relaxed ownership rules, declined to investigate the involvement of telecommunications companies in warrantless wiretapping, and moved to protect and enhance the interests of large media conglomerates.
The rush toward media deregulation was already afoot when George W. Bush took office in January 2001. Ownership caps on radio stations were removed in 1996 following a bitter battle in Congress that was never once mentioned on the nightly news. (In fact, the only times the words "Telecommunications Act of 1996" were ever mentioned on broadcast TV were once by Ted Koppel and once by Lisa Simpson. I swear I'm not making this up).
The act led to a dramatic reduction in the number of station owners-there are 30 percent fewer radio stations now than in 1996, and one company, Clear Channel, owns more than 1,200.
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/03/fcc_vs_public.html/print.html
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An open letter to President Talabani
KurdishMedia.com - By Dr Kamal Mirawdeli
05/03/2008 00:00:00
Don’t describe PKK as a terrorist organisation. Turks should define terrorism scientifically and apply it to themselves to before applying it to others.
http://www.kurdmedia.com/article.aspx?id=14638
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Talabani's brother in law threatens a leading Kurdish journalist :
Nabaz Goran is one of the leading Kurdish journalists from the generation of Halabja and uprising of 1991. He is a highly regarded journalist who has often been at the receiving end of the corrupt Kurdish system's threats and intimidation. Last year he was abducted in Arbil, beaten up and thrown in a road. But this has not diminished his determination as a young journalist committed to the concerns and aspirations of his people especially the new generations.
http://www.kurdmedia.com/article.aspx?id=14637
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March 7th, 2008 2:53 am
Highway blogger exonerated
Judge rules man with anti-Bush signs not a danger
By Clarke Morrison / Asheville Citizen-Times
ASHEVILLE, NC – A judge found highway blogger Jonas Phillips not guilty Thursday of breaking a city law when he hung a sign from an overpass urging the impeachment of President Bush.
Phillips, 36, of West Asheville, had been charged by police with blocking a city sidewalk on the Haywood Road bridge over Interstate 240.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=11048
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National Dragnet Is a Click Away
Authorities to Gain Fast and Expansive Access to Records
By Robert O'Harrow Jr. and Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, March 6, 2008; A01
Several thousand law enforcement agencies are creating the foundation of a domestic intelligence system through computer networks that analyze vast amounts of police information to fight crime and root out terror plots.
As federal authorities struggled to meet information-sharing mandates after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, police agencies from Alaska and California to the Washington region poured millions of criminal and investigative records into shared digital repositories called data warehouses, giving investigators and analysts new power to discern links among people, patterns of behavior and other hidden clues.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/05/AR2008030503656_pf.html
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Officials Lean Toward Keeping Next Iraq Assessment Secret
By Walter Pincus and Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, March 7, 2008; A07
A new National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq is scheduled to be completed this month, according to U.S. intelligence officials. But leaders of the intelligence community have not decided whether to make its key judgments public, a step that caused an uproar when key judgments in an NIE about Iran were released in November.
The classified estimate on Iraq is intended as an update of last summer's assessment, which predicted modest security improvements but an increasingly precarious political situation there, the U.S. officials said.
It is meant to be delivered to Congress before testimony in early April by Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, according to a letter sent last week by Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell to Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.).
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/06/AR2008030603900_pf.html
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Honoring Two Activist Parents
By Vincent L. Guarisco
March 6, 2008
Editor’s Note: One of the cruelest acts ever inflicted by the U.S. government on its own servicemen was a 1946 experiment that put 42,000 sailors in close proximity to the detonation of two atomic bombs to test the effects on humans.
The experiment, called Operation Crossroads, harmed the health of many sailors. It also was a turning point in the life of one, Anthony Guarisco, who dedicated his life -- working with his wife Mary -- to address the threat of nuclear weapons.
In this guest essay, their son, Vincent, pays tribute to his parents and what they gave to him and to the world:
(A Son’s Tribute to his parents' many accomplishments in life.)
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/030608b.html
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Iraqi president Talabani due in Turkey on Friday
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani is set to arrive in Turkey for a two-day working visit on Friday, a week after Turkis army ended its nine-day long ground operation against PKK targets in northern Iraq.
Observers say Talabani's visit has a symbolic meaning and at the same time considered as a start to a new period in relations between Turkey and Iraq. Ankara also considers this as a "comprehensive visit". Turkey considers itself as a gate for Iraq opening to Europe in geographical and political means as well as a source of inspiration for the future of Iraq.
http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/turkey/8394118.asp?gid=231&sz=56869
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Turkish army refuses to close bases in northern Iraq
The Turkish military leadership has rejected a request by Iraq's largely autonomous Kurdish region to shut down several military bases in northern Iraq, the Turkish daily Vatan reported yesterday, citing a statement by the Turkish General Staff.
Last week, while Turkey's recent eight-day ground operation inside Iraq to destroy the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) targets there was still going on, the regional Iraqi Kurdish Parliament had an extraordinary session in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil concerning the operation. Following the session, Deputy Speaker Kemal Kerkuki reiterated an earlier allegation, saying that about 350 Turkish soldiers rolled out of their barracks inside Iraq at Bamerne, west of Amadiyah, in 13 tanks to join their fellow soldiers coming from across the border and that they were prevented from doing so by local residents of the area.
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=135688
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Bardakoglu voices support for compulsory religious education
Directorate of Religious Affairs head Ali Bardakoglu said yesterday that courses on religion should be compulsory and that raising children who have no knowledge of religion will lead to serious problems.
In a press conference, Bardakoglu criticized a recent ruling of the Council of State that declared Turkey's religion courses cannot be obligatory in their current form, saying these courses are absolutely necessary for children.
The Council of State ruled on Monday that students should not be required to attend religion courses under the current curriculum, which focuses solely on Sunni Islam.
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=135793
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CAN THE TROOPS COME HOME NOW?
Also many other good articles found on the right of the page
Iraq OKs agreements with foreign oil firms
Posted: 05-03-2008 , 12:49 GMT
Iraq's cabinet has given the nod to the Oil Ministry to ink agreements with foreign oil firms to help boost the country's crude output, a ministry official said Wednesday. According to the AP, the two-year deals, known as technical support agreements, or TSAs, are meant to develop five producing fields to add 500,000 barrels per day to Iraq's 2.4 million barrels per day output.
Late last year, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, BP PLC, ExxonMobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. submitted technical and financial proposals for the five fields and received counterproposals from the Iraqi side. In January, representatives from the firms and Iraq met again in Amman and they will hold a third round of discussions later this month, said the official.
http://www.menareport.com/en/business/223142
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This site has some of the best articles
Not for the feeble minded. LOL
Welcome to Global Geopolitics Net
Global Geopolitics Net
The purpose of this site is to present information, analysis, and opinion on global politics, problems of intelligence gathering and analysis, counter-terrorism, human rights, globalization, and other world issues today as well as the internal politics of major countries and crisis areas around the Globe. The site is an offshoot and expansion of the Eurasia Research Center web site which originally covered the Central Eurasian Region. Regional coverage has been expanded to include Africa, Latin America, the Greater Middle East, and East and Southeast Asia.
The site is offered as a free public service which will allow scholars, journalists, and members of the informed public to exchange ideas and information on important issues facing the world of the 21st century. The site offers in depth articles and reports on global issues and specific countries or regions.
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I want to go!!!!
If you’re a blogger living in Chicago please send me a link about what happened at this meeting
"An Afternoon with David Cay Johnston in Chicago on March 9th" is being sponsored by BuzzFlash.com. The event will be hosted by Columbia College.
Sunday, March 9, 2008 1:00 - 2:30 PM
Columbia College Chicago, 600 S. Michigan, Ferguson Theater (enter through Harrison Street doors)
David Cay Johnston, a New York Times investigative journalist, will discuss, "Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You With the Bill)!"
Questions and answers will follow his remarks followed by the opportunity to buy his book, Free Lunch, and have it signed.
Who:
David Cay Johnston is the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The New York Times who revealed that Enron did not pay taxes, that some companies use a Bermuda mail box to escape American taxes and that Congress raises your income taxes if you get seriously ill, using the money to finance tax cuts for the richest Americans.
His reporting prompted the only major tax policy change made by the Bush Administration, which dropped a stealth plan to cut taxes on the super rich by a quarter of a trillion dollars over ten years.
Free and open to the public until seating capacity of 100 is reached.
http://www.buzzflash.com/freelunch/
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I cannot believe I missed this. So did all the radio talk show hosts.
Think you aleady know the secrets of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo? Here's what you've been missing.
March 1, 2008
Four years after photos of naked Abu Ghraib detainees starting appearing on the web, America is still letting out a collective yawn over our torture practices. But you don't have to just sit on your hands and wait out the clock on the war. Armed with our compendium of exclusive investigative reports, first-person accounts, audio, photos, and stats, you'll not only know which songs the military plays to break prisoners, you'll be ready to decode the next batch of scandal headlines.
Please use the menu above to navigate.
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2008/03/torture-index.html
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And Bush said he supports this government!!!
Well the CIA does need it’s cocaine so it can continue funding it’s black ops and wet works.
Marchers condemn Colombia violence
Thousands of Colombians have marched in the capital, Bogota, in support of victims of violence carried out by the country's paramilitary groups. Families of victims carried photographs of those killed or missing during the country's civil war, which has pitted rebel groups such as the Farc against various militias and government forces.
Marchers called on Alvaro Uribe, the Colombian president, to acknowledge rights abuses by the army and by paramilitaries guilty of many of the worst massacres of the country's decades-long conflict. Smaller protests were held in other Colombian cities as well as in Venezuela, Ecuador and the UK.
A larger anti-Farc rebel group protest was held in Colombia and in cities across the world in February.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F8998970-CB25-4C56-8767-95CA41957720.htm
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Nicaragua breaks off Colombia ties
Daniel Ortega, the Nicaraguan president, has said he will break off diplomatic relations with Colombia over its raid on a Farc rebel camp inside Ecuador at the weekend. Ortega said he was ending relations with Bogota "in solidarity" with Ecuador, whose president, Rafael Correa, was on a visit to Nicaragua amid regional tension over the raid.
"We are breaking off relations because of the political terrorism being carried out by the government of Alvaro Uribe, not because of the Colombian people," Ortega said alongside Correa in Managua, the Nicaraguan capital, on Thursday.
Regional tensions have risen following the raid, in which a senior Farc leader was killed and Ecuador and Venezuela have sent troops to their Colombian borders.
'Colombian aggression'
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/AD106062-8013-44C1-959B-9F764577D23A.htm
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Libya Blocks UN From Condemning Violence
By JOHN HEILPRIN – 5 hours ago
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — For the second time in two months, Libya on Thursday blocked the U.N. Security Council from condemning violence and unrest in the Middle East.
The move came after a gunman entered the library of a rabbinical seminary in Jerusalem and opened fire on a crowded nighttime study session, killing eight people and wounding nine before he was slain. Israeli defense officials said the attacker came from east Jerusalem, the predominantly Palestinian section of the city.
Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the obstruction undermines the council's effectiveness in the region.
"What happened today was clearly a terrorist act," he told reporters after the council's almost two-hour emergency session. "We regret that this makes it difficult for the council to contribute positively to developments in this region, but those who blocked this possibility bear responsibility for that."
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jBPlt_Tm5R4AtqFpaRdXCXoYlJdgD8V8G7MG0
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IRAQ
Iraqi Women More Oppressed Than Ever
by Dahr Jamail
Iraq, where women once had more rights and freedom than most others in the Arab world, has turned deadly for women who dream of education and a professional career.
Former dictator Saddam Hussein maintained a relatively secular society, where it was common for women to take up jobs as professors, doctors and government officials. In today's Iraq, women are being killed by militia groups for not conforming to strict Islamist ways.
Basra police chief Gen. Jalil Hannoon told reporters and Arab TV channels in December that at least 40 women had been killed during the previous five months in that city alone.
"We are sure there are many more victims whose families did not report their killing for fear of scandal," Gen. Hannoon said.
The militias dominated by the Shi'ite Badr Organization and the Mahdi Army are leading imposition of strict Islamist rules. The Shi'ite-dominated Iraqi government is seen as providing tacit and sometimes direct support to them.
http://www.antiwar.com/jamail/?articleid=12477
03/07/08 Xinhua: Suicide car bomb kills 4 policemen in Iraq's Mosul
03/07/08 BBC: Death toll rises in Baghdad bombs
03/07/08 AP: Psychiatrists Needed on Warfronts
03/06/08 BostonGlobe: Top Iraq contractor skirts US taxes offshore
03/06/08 AP: Iraq, China nearing oil deal
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AFGHANISTAN
03/07/08 worcesternews: Four ‘remarkable’ men who fought the Taliban
03/07/08 Reuters: Norwegian named as new U.N. envoy to Afghanistan
03/07/08 NYTimes: Rice Presses NATO Allies to Expand Afghan Force
03/05/08 AKI: Maternal health biggest challenge facing women, says UN agency
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