The Talk Show American

THE TALK SHOW AMERICAN: 10/16/2005 - 10/23/2005

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Stench Prompted U.S. Troops to Burn Corpses

There simply wasn't enough room on the rocky hilltop above Gonbaz village in southern Afghanistan for the U.S. platoon and the corpses of the two Taliban fighters. The Taliban men had been killed in a firefight 24 hours earlier, and in the 90 degree heat, their bodies had become an unbearable presence, soldiers who were present have told TIME. Nor was the U.S. Army unit about to leave � the hilltop commanded a strategic view of the village below where other Taliban were suspected to be hiding.

Earlier, Lt. Eric Nelson, the leader of B Company, I-508 platoon leader had sent word down to Gonbaz asking the villagers to pick up the bodies and bury them according to Muslim ritual. But the villagers refused � probably because the dead fighters weren't locals but Pakistanis, surmised one U.S. army officer.

It was then that Lt. Nelson took the decision that could jeopardize his service career. "We decided to burn the bodies," one soldier recounts, "because they were bloated and they stank." News of this cremation may have remained on these scorching hills of southern Afghanistan, had the gruesome act not been recorded on film by an Australian photojournalist, Stephen Dupont. Instead, when the footage aired on Australian TV on Wednesday, it unleashed world outrage.

Fueling the furor was the fact that the TV report showed that after the bodies were torched, a U.S. Psychological-Operations team descended on Gonbaz in Humvees with their loudspeakers booming: "Taliban, you are cowardly dogs. You are too scared to come down and retrieve the bodies. This just proves you are the lady-boys we always believed you to be."

Muslims traditionally bury their dead, and as one Kabul cleric Mohammed Omar told newsmen, "The burning of these bodies is an offense against Muslims every where. Bodies are burned only in Hell." But as one U.S. officer in Kandahar pointed out, the Taliban and al Qaeda never show any qualms about defiling the bodies of dead Afghan or American soldiers.

Friday, October 21, 2005

Patient wants to live, but old 'living will' mandates death

Wife's efforts to have husband's feeding tube removed echoes Schiavo case

He says he wants to live. But his wife, caregivers and South Carolina state officials are so focused on carrying out a decade-old, out-of-state living will that 79-year-old Jimmy Chambers can't get a word in edgewise.

That's the account of 10 of Chambers's children and their spouses who signed sworn affidavits in an attempt to block their mother from removing his life-sustaining ventilator, which would cause his death.

It's a case that's reminiscent of the Terri Schiavo controversy which captured the attention of millions around the world, in which a fault line opened up in the middle of a formerly close-knit family, splitting it into pieces over whether to end a loved one's life or allow them to live.

Chambers's wife of 58 years, Viola, and one daughter began advocating removal of the ventilator and ending his life, according to Potter. Mrs. Chambers presented a living will her husband signed in 1990 when the couple lived in Iowa. The document indicated that should he have an "incurable or irreversible condition that will result either in death within a relatively short period of time" it was his desire that his life not be prolonged by the administration of life-sustaining procedures.

Chambers did not designate a power of attorney or anyone to serve as medical decision maker in the event of his incapacitation. He has not been declared incapacitated, however, so the family decided to put the life-or-death question to him.

"He was asked specifically if he wanted to stay on the ventilator and his answer was 'yes,'" wrote Bookman in a notarized letter documenting the event, a copy of which was supplied to WND.

"He was asked if he understood that he would likely never go home again, and would likely live in a ventilator facility, on the ventilator, for the rest of his life and his answer was, 'yes,'" Bookman's letter continued. "He was asked if he wanted to be removed from the ventilator and his answer was 'no.' He was asked if he understood that he would die if he would be removed from the ventilator and his answer was, 'yes.'"

Bookman states he felt that Chambers was off of sedation and aware enough to comprehend and make decisions regarding life support.

What reportedly happened next shocked Potter: "When my father said that he wanted to live and he wanted to be treated, my mother said to him in very emphatic tones, 'Jim, do you really want to live in this body? Don't you want to go to heaven and be with Jerry?' He's my younger brother who died. And she said it twice. And the room absolutely went nuts. Everybody was outraged that she was trying to talk him into dying. ... He just stared at her as if she lost her mind. He didn't respond at all."

Bookman, Potter and her siblings considered the Iowa living will revoked and transferred Chambers two weeks later to Anne Maria Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, a facility that specializes in rehabilitating ventilator patients, in North Augusta, South Carolina.

According to documents filed with the court, Chambers's new treating physician, Dr. Nicholas Sanito, found Chambers "awake, alert and interactive" during an examination on September 26.

"He shakes my hands. He was trying to speak, but I couldn't read his lips all that well," Sanito wrote.

Another assessment completed of Chambers on Sept. 28 by Angie Beverly, the activities director at the facility, found Chambers could see, hear and comprehend and that he "tried to communicate."

Viola Chambers, however, informed Sanito and the nursing staff about the Iowa living will and a Do- Not-Resuscitate order and acted to enforce both. Potter asserts her mother requests morphine and another drug be dispensed to her father in such a way that he is infrequently sober enough to communicate and ordered the removal of all communication devices from his room, including his nurse call button.

Mrs. Chambers also denied her husband medical treatment for pneumonia and ordered he only be given "comfort care," according to Potter.

Following South Carolina law, the nursing home staff considers Viola Chambers to be the person with the authority over the patient and the person they need to answer to. The Adult Health Care Consent Act gives the spouse the highest priority to make medical decisions in the absence of a health care power of attorney.

After Potter and her siblings filed a police report accusing their mother of "elder abuse," the state agency designated by the Department of Social Services to investigate such complaints looked into the matter. Susan Garen, the regional Long Term Care Ombudsman, confirmed Viola Chambers had the authority to direct her husband's care. After consulting with the State Long Term Care Ombudsman, Jon Cook, Garen concluded no investigation would be done.

"Mr. Cook determined that it is not within the scope of the long term care ombudsman to determine if the decisions made by the medical decision maker were in the best interest of the resident or not," Garen wrote in an October 6 report.

"No agency gets involved in family disputes. If there is a family dispute then we ask that they settle that in court to determine guardianship," Cook told WND. "On cases where there's a legal representative, we really have to do what they say. Especially when there's a living will that hasn't been revoked."

When WND informed Cook that family members assert the living will was revoked, he replied: "That's up in the air. I haven't seen anything that says it's revoked. Nobody can prove it is. That's why I wanted the probate court to handle that. We just can't get involved."

The hands-off approach to the case by state agencies charged with the responsibility of advocating on behalf of the vulnerable was similarly experienced by those seeking to preserve Terri Schiavo's life.


Dispute lands in court

On October 6, Randall Chambers filed an emergency petition seeking appointment as temporary guardian of his father. Six days later, according to court documents, Viola Chambers countered with her own petition.

"As his wife of 58 years, I am far more intimately aware of my husband's wishes and desires as it pertains to his health care treatment than any of my children," stated Viola Chambers in the petition. "I therefore object to the appointment of my son, Randall Chambers, as temporary Guardian for my husband as his appointment will undermine and deprive my husband of the healthcare he wishes and desires and which he has expressed to me on many occasions and also in writing."

The court appointed an independent guardian ad litem, Paige Weeks Johnson, to investigate the case and make a recommendation to the court on behalf of Chambers. In her preliminary report, Johnson recommended the court order the ventilator and feeding tube not be removed until further order of the court, and until she has the opportunity to speak with the treating physician. Still, the authority to make other treatment decisions rests with Viola Chambers.

As their father crept closer to death in the absence of antibiotics, according to Potter, the siblings trained their sights on the treating physician at the nursing home. They faxed him a letter asserting their mother had breached her fiduciary responsibility to their father. They attached Bookman's letter along with the 10 affidavits from family members all swearing Chambers had revoked the living will and wanted to live.

"We told the doctor, 'We will sue you if anything happens to our father.' We believe that has gotten him to be a little more involved," said Potter.

Chambers was subsequently transported to the hospital where he is now receiving treatment for the pneumonia. Meanwhile, the guardianship battle continues.

"I can't believe what you have to come up with in order to preserve this life � this vibrant, strong man who wants to live," said Potter. "It's incredible."

RNC Maintains 2-1 Fundraising Edge

The Republican National Committee continued to raise more money than its counterpart on the Democratic side by a 2-1 margin in the third quarter of the year, party officials said Thursday.

The RNC raised just over $19 million in the third quarter of the year, while the Democratic National Committee raised $10.7 million.

The national Republican party has raised $78.5 million so far this year, said communications director Brian Jones.

The national Democratic party has raised $39.2 million, according to Josh Earnest, a party spokesman.

The RNC has $34 million in the bank, while the DNC has $6.8 million on hand, the officials said.

Leaks Abound in Leakgate Probe

Reporters insist that Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald runs such a tight ship that it's impossible to discover what's going on with his Valerie Plame Leakgate investigation - before reporting in the next breath their latest "scoop" based, apparently, on leaked information.

Our favorite recipient of insider info is MSNBC commentator Lawrence O'Donnell, who confidently predicted last week that Fitzgerald was about to hit the Bush White House with 22 indictments of senior officials.

On Tuesday, one left-leaning Web site breathlessly reported that a top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney was secretly cooperating with Fitzgerald's probe in exchange for not being indicted himself. The next day, the same Web site claimed that a second Cheney aide was talking to prosecutors.

The Cheney aides were identified by name in both reports - but since we can't vouch for the veracity of the leaks in question, we'll leave the Fitzgerald moles anonymous here.

In fact, based on a tsunami of leaks, rumors and tidbits emanating from "lawyers close to the investigation," pundits have been assuring for weeks now that indictments are on the way.

How can the media be so certain? There are only two possibilities. Either Fitzgerald's probe is so leaky that these reporters know things they can't discuss. Or they're simply making it up.

Far be it from us to accuse these fine journalists of fabricating news, so we can only presume that the leaks they base their predictions on are as genuine as they are ominous.
But that raises a different issue. In 1998, when all sorts of insider information from Independent Counsel Ken Starr's impeachment probe turned up in the press, Democrats cried foul and then-Attorney General Janet Reno launched a very public investigation.

Given the proliferation of Leakgate leaks seven years later, it would seem the same type of Justice Department investigation would be entirely appropriate.

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Rove & Libby Advised They May Be In Legal Jeopardy

As he weighs whether to bring criminal charges in the C.I.A. leak case, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the special counsel, is focusing on whether Karl Rove, the senior White House adviser, and I. Lewis Libby Jr., chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney, sought to conceal their actions and mislead prosecutors, lawyers involved in the case said Thursday.

Among the charges that Mr. Fitzgerald is considering are perjury, obstruction of justice and false statement - counts that suggest the prosecutor may believe the evidence presented in a 22-month grand jury inquiry shows that the two White House aides sought to cover up their actions, the lawyers said.

Mr. Rove and Mr. Libby have been advised that they may be in serious legal jeopardy, the lawyers said, but only this week has Mr. Fitzgerald begun to narrow the possible charges. The prosecutor has said he will not make up his mind about any charges until next week, government officials say.

Hurricane WILMA Public Advisory

BULLETIN
HURRICANE WILMA ADVISORY NUMBER 33
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
10 AM CDT SUN OCT 23 2005

...WILMA MOVING NORTHEASTWARD OVER WARM GULF WATERS...COULD
INTENSIFY TODAY OR TONIGHT...

A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF THE FLORIDA
KEYS...INCLUDING THE DRY TORTUGAS AND FLORIDA BAY...ALONG THE
FLORIDA WEST COAST FROM LONGBOAT KEY SOUTHWARD...AND ALONG THE
FLORIDA EAST COAST FROM TITUSVILLE SOUTHWARD...INCLUDING LAKE
OKEECHOBEE.

A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT ALONG THE FLORIDA WEST
COAST NORTH OF LONGBOAT KEY TO STEINHATCHEE RIVER...AND ALONG THE
FLORIDA EAST COAST NORTH OF TITUSVILLE TO FLAGLER BEACH.

A TROPICAL STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT ALONG THE EAST COAST OF
FLORIDA FROM NORTH OF FLAGLER BEACH TO FERNANDINA BEACH.

AT 10 AM CDT...1500Z...THE GOVERNMENT OF MEXICO HAS DISCONTINUED ALL
HURRICANE WARNINGS FOR THE YUCATAN PENINSULA. HOWEVER...A TROPICAL
STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTHEASTERN COAST OF THE
YUCATAN PENINSULA FROM SAN FELIPE TO TULUM...INCLUDING COZUMEL AND
THE NEARBY ISLANDS. THE TROPICAL STORM WARNING FROM WEST OF SAN
FELIPE TO PROGRESO HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED.

A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE CUBAN PROVINCES OF
CIUDAD DE LA HABANA...LA HABANA...AND PINAR DEL RIO. A TROPICAL
STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE ISLE OF YOUTH. A HURRICANE
WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE PROVINCE OF MATANZAS.

A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTHWESTERN
BAHAMAS...INCLUDING THE ABACOS...ANDROS ISLAND...BERRY ISLANDS...
BIMINI...ELEUTHERA...GRAND BAHAMA ISLAND...AND NEW PROVIDENCE.

FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...INCLUDING POSSIBLE
INLAND WATCHES AND WARNINGS...PLEASE MONITOR PRODUCTS ISSUED
BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE.

AT 10 AM CDT...1500Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE WILMA WAS LOCATED
NEAR LATITUDE 22.7 NORTH... LONGITUDE 85.8 WEST OR ABOUT 285
MILES... 460 KM... WEST-SOUTHWEST OF KEY WEST FLORIDA... OR ABOUT
340 MILES... 545 KM... SOUTHWEST OF THE SOUTHWESTERN COAST OF THE
FLORIDA PENINSULA.

WILMA IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST NEAR 8 MPH...13 KM/HR. A
GRADUAL INCREASE IN FORWARD SPEED IS EXPECTED TODAY AND TONIGHT.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 100 MPH...160 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER
GUSTS. WILMA IS A CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON
SCALE. SOME STRENGTHENING IS POSSIBLE TODAY OR TONIGHT.

HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 70 MILES...110 KM...
FROM THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP
TO 200 MILES...325 KM.

ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE IS 961 MB...28.38 INCHES.

STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 8 TO 13 FT ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS IS
POSSIBLE ALONG THE SOUTHWEST FLORIDA COAST NEAR AND TO THE
SOUTH OF WHERE THE CENTER OF WILMA MAKES LANDFALL. STORM SURGE
FLOODING OF 5 TO 8 FT ABOVE NORMAL IS POSSIBLE IN THE FLORIDA KEYS
AND FLORIDA BAY...AS WELL AS IN LAKE OKEECHOBEE. STORM SURGE
FLOODING OF 2 TO 4 FEET IS POSSIBLE ALONG THE EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN
COAST OF FLORIDA. STORM SURGE FLOODING ALONG THE YUCATAN PENINSULA
AND THE NEARBY ISLANDS SHOULD GRADUALLY SUBSIDE AS WILMA MOVES
AWAY.

WILMA IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE ADDITIONAL RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 10
TO 15 INCHES THROUGH SUNDAY ACROSS PORTIONS OF WESTERN CUBA AND 2 TO
4 INCHES ACROSS THE NORTHEASTERN YUCATAN PENINSULA... WITH ISOLATED
MAXIMUM STORM TOTAL AMOUNTS APPROACHING 50 INCHES. RAINFALL ACROSS
SOUTHERN FLORIDA INCLUDING THE KEYS THROUGH TUESDAY IS EXPECTED TO
BE 4 TO 8 INCHES... WITH ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF 12 INCHES
POSSIBLE.

LARGE SWELLS GENERATED BY WILMA WILL CONTINUE TO PROPAGATE INTO THE
EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO. THESE SWELLS COULD AFFECT PORTIONS OF THE
NORTHERN GULF COAST TODAY AND TONIGHT.

ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE OVER THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN
FLORIDA PENINSULA AND THE FLORIDA KEYS TODAY AND TONIGHT.

REPEATING THE 10 AM CDT POSITION...22.7 N... 85.8 W. MOVEMENT
TOWARD...NORTHEAST NEAR 8 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED
WINDS...100 MPH. MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE... 961 MB.

AN INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE
CENTER AT 1 PM CDT FOLLOWED BY THE NEXT COMPLETE ADVISORY AT 4 PM
CDT.

FORECASTER KNABB

Defense lawyer in Saddam trial kidnapped

A defense lawyer involved in the trial of Saddam Hussein and seven others has been kidnapped by gunmen, said police and Interior Ministry sources on Thursday.

Police said initial reports identified the abducted lawyer as Saadoun Dulaimi. A legal source confirmed the kidnapped man was involved in the trial which started on Wednesday.

Saddam was represented by two lawyers in the court, lead attorney Khalil Dulaimi and Khamees al-Ubaidi.

Rove Told Jury Libby May Have Been His Source In Leak Case

White House adviser Karl Rove told the grand jury in the CIA leak case that I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, may have told him that CIA operative Valerie Plame worked for the intelligence agency before her identity was revealed, a source familiar with Rove's account said yesterday.

In a talk that took place in the days before Plame's CIA employment was revealed in 2003, Rove and Libby discussed conversations they had had with reporters in which Plame and her marriage to Iraq war critic Joseph C. Wilson IV were raised, the source said. Rove told the grand jury the talk was confined to information the two men heard from reporters, the source said.

Rove has also testified that he also heard about Plame from someone else outside the White House, but could not recall who.

The account is the first time a person familiar with Rove's testimony has provided clues about where the deputy chief of staff learned about Plame, and confirmed that Rove and Libby were involved in a conversation about her before her identity became public. The disclosure seemed to further undermine the White House's contention early in the case that neither man was in any way involved in unmasking Plame.

But it leaves unanswered the central question of the more than two-year-old case: Did anyone commit a crime in leaking information about Plame to the media?

House Passes Gun Manufacturers Protection Bill

The U.S. House of Representatives Thursday passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act by a vote of 283 to 144.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) strongly supported the bill.

Only four Republicans voted against the bill designed to protect manufacturers and sellers of firearms from lawsuits arising out of the criminal acts of third parties. Fifty-nine of 199 Democrats also voted for the measure, which included a provision mandating that gun manufacturers and sellers provide gun purchasers with a secure gun storage or safety device.

"Freedom, truth, and justice prevailed," said NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre upon the bill's passing. "No other industry is forced to defend themselves when a violent criminal they do not know, have never met and cannot control, misuses a legal non-defective product. American firearms manufacturers will now receive the same fair treatment."

Not all gun advocates agree. Larry Pratt is the Executive Director of Gun Owners of America, an organization billing itself as the "only no-compromise gun lobby in Washington." Pratt believes the bill is a mistake because of the clause requiring mandated safety devices.

With a pro-gun Congress," Pratt says, "it's not worth it to do anything that ends up having something anti-gun. It's just unnecessary." Pratt was joined in opposition by the pro-gun control Brady Center.

Denis Hennigan, Director of the Brady Center's Legal Action Project, promises to challenge the constitutionality of the bill.

"The Congress can pass it. The President can sign it," Hennigan says, "But this shameful law will not stand. [This] bill is an unprecedented attack on the due process rights of victims injured by the misconduct of an industry that seeks to escape the legal rules that govern the rest of the country."

Representative Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., one of the bill's sponsors, said Henigan's comments are precisely what is wrong with the current legal environment.

"These folks," Stearn told NewsMax earlier this week, "have failed in the legislative process and so now they're abusing the judicial process to achieve their goals by suing the gun manufacturers rather than going after the violent criminals."

Tom DeLay Booked on State Charges in Texas

U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay on Thursday turned himself in at the Harris County sheriff's bonding office, where he was photographed, fingerprinted and released on bond on state conspiracy and money-laundering charges.

"He posted $10,000 bond and they have left the bonding office," Lt. John Martin with the sheriff's department said.

DeLay, accompanied by his attorney, Dick DeGuerin, showed up about 12:15 p.m., appeared before a judge and was gone in less than 30 minutes, Martin said.

The appearance came a day after a state court issued an arrest warrant for DeLay and set an initial bail, a routine step before the Texas Republican's first court appearance Friday in Austin.

Court sides with 5-year-old after school censors Jesus

School's suppression of kindergartner's artwork may violate constitutional rights

Officials at a New York state school may have violated the constitutional free-speech rights of a kindergarten student who included an image of Jesus in his homework assignment, according to an appeals court decision.

The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in Manhattan remanded the case back to a federal district court Monday for further consideration.

Antonio Peck, who attended Catherine McNamara Elementary School in Baldwinsville, N.Y., as a kindergarten student during the 1999-2000 school year, included an image of Jesus and other religious elements in a poster created in fulfillment of a homework assignment on the environment.

The student reportedly was expressing his belief that God was the only way to save the environment.

School officials rejected one version of the poster and then obscured a portion of the second version when it was placed on display at an assembly, citing concerns over its "religious" nature.

Liberty Counsel, a Florida-based public-interest law firm, filed suit over the second poster.

"To allow a kindergarten poster to be displayed for a few hours on a cafeteria wall, along with 80 other student posters, is far from an establishment of religion," said Mathew D. Staver, president and general counsel of Liberty Counsel. "To censor the poster solely because some might perceive a portion of it to be religious is an egregious violation of the Constitution."

The case was funded by the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund from 1999-2003.

The second version of the poster depicted a robed, praying figure of Jesus, a church with a cross, people picking up trash for recycling, children holding hands around a globe, clouds, trees, a squirrel and grass.

In its opinion, the 2nd Circuit panel said the district court "overlooked evidence that, if construed, in the light most favorable to Peck, suggested that Antonio's poster was censored not because it was unresponsive to the assignment ... , but because it offered a religious perspective on the topic of how to save the environment."

In 2000, the federal trial court ruled the school had the right to censor the poster because of "church and state" concerns. In March 2001, a unanimous federal court of appeals reversed the decision and sent the case back to the trial court.

Last year, the same federal trial court again ruled for the school. Liberty Counsel noted the 2nd Circuit joined the 9th and the 11th Circuits in holding that viewpoint discrimination is forbidden, even in the public school classroom context.

However, the 1st and 10th Circuits hold that viewpoint discrimination in the public school context is permissible, making it likely the Peck case will end up in the Supreme Court.

Staver said, "I'm elated with the decision. Now Antonio will have his day in court. The school humiliated Antonio when the teacher folded his poster in half so that the cutout drawing of Jesus could not be seen."

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

South Florida black Republicans defend President Bush, response to Katrina

President Bush cares about black Americans, despite what hip-hop artist Kanye West says, a group of leading South Florida black Republicans said Monday.

The Coalition of South Florida African and Caribbean American Republican Party members from the tri-county region didn't blame Bush, but New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco for the slow response to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

"The real culprit in Katrina was and is the lack of local and state and planning and a bumbling, bickering bureaucracy at all levels, including Washington, D.C.," said Levi Williams, a lawyer and leading Republican voice in Broward County.

They took offense to the comparison some black leaders have made to the president and "Bull" Connor, the late Montgomery, Ala., police chief who turned water hoses and dogs on civil rights demonstrators in the 1960s.

And they rejected what West said in an off-script comment during an NBC fund-raising telethon for Katrina relief: "President Bush doesn't care about black people.''

The coalition also criticized black leaders and Democrats.

"We have watched and listened over the last several weeks with a great deal of frustration and dismay while political opportunists and race-baiting black leaders and Democratic politicians took advantage of the tragedy and suffering in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, particularly in New Orleans, to engage in political opportunism and playing the race card," Williams said, reading from a four-page statement.

"Equally disturbing is that many have used this tragedy to fabricate and distort the truth on the president's commitment to poor Americans," Williams said.

He cited a litany of examples of what the Bush administration has done, including $368 billion for programs to fight poverty in the 2006 budget, a 49 percent increase in education funding, a $4.6 billion increase in Title I funds, more money for black colleges and homeowner initiatives.

Law Bars Patrick Fitzgerald from Issuing Report

The New York Times reports in Wednesday editions that sources familiar with the Leakgate investigation say that Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has decided not to issue a final public report - a move that the Times claims heightens the "expectation that he intends to bring indictments."

But according to former Independent Counsel Joseph DiGenova, Fitzgerald's decision not to issue a report is meaningless - because the law forbids him from doing so.

Asked Sunday whether he thought the Leakgate prosecutor would issue a report on his nearly two-year-old probe, DiGenova told ABC's "This Week": "He's not legally entitled to do so. He cannot issue a public report."

Sounding disappointed, "This Week" host George Stephanopoulos insisted: "Well, [he can] if the court says he can."

Once again, DiGenova set the record straight, explaining that Fitzgerald would "have to get a very special court order which is rarely granted."

Even Democratic lawyer Richard Ben-Veniste, who was also on 'This Week," said he agreed with DiGenova that Fitzgerald cannot legally issue a report.

Wilma becomes season's 12th hurricane

Storm poses 'significant threat' to Florida by the weekend

Hurricane Wilma whirled into the record books as the 12th such storm of the season, strengthening late today and setting a course to sideswipe Central America or Mexico. Forecasters warned of a "significant threat" to Florida by the weekend.

Wilma became a Category 2 hurricane late today with winds reaching 110 mph, up from 80 mph earlier in the day.

Forecasters warned that Wilma was likely to rake Honduras and the Cayman Islands before turning toward the narrow Yucatan Channel between Cuba and Mexico's Cancun region � then move into the storm-weary Gulf

"It does look like it poses a significant threat to Florida by the weekend. Of course, these are four- and five-day forecasts, so things can change," said Dan Brown, a meteorologist at the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

While some Florida residents started preparing by buying water, canned food and other supplies, hurricane shutters hadn't gone up yet in Punta Gorda, on Florida's Gulf coast, and no long lines had formed for supplies or gas.

Still, Wilma's track could take it near that city and other Florida areas hit by Hurricane Charley, a Category 4 storm, in August 2004. The state has seen seven hurricanes hit or pass close by since then, causing more than $20 billion in estimated damage and killing nearly 150 people.

The storm is the record-tying 12th hurricane of the season, the same number reached in 1969; 12 is the most in one season since record-keeping began in 1851.

On Monday, Wilma became the Atlantic hurricane season's 21st named storm, tying the record set in 1933 and exhausting the list of names for this year.

'Black Hawk Down' Somali leader seized

A Somali suspected of leading militia forces during the 1993 "Black Hawk Down" battle has been arrested in Sweden for war crimes.

Abdi Hassan Awale, 57, was attending a conference on development in the Horn of Africa when Somali exiles recognised him and reported him to police.

Mr Awale, also known as Abdi Qeybdiid, was a commander in warlord Farah Aidid's militia when they fought a 19-hour battle in which 18 US troops died in Mogadishu on October 3, 1993.

Although a police spokesman would not confirm the suspect's identity, he said the Somali was arrested at a hotel in the university town of Lund and taken to the west coast city of Gothenburg to be questioned by prosecutors.

Mr Awale was arrested on suspicion of genocide, although police did not specify what crimes he had allegedly committed.

Hans Olvebro, head of the Swedish national police's war crimes unit, said: "The guy came here for a conference and some other Somalis in Sweden went to the police in Gothenburg and told them about him and brought a videotape."

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

World is a safer place despite people's fears

Widespread fears about a world in a perpetual state of war are unfounded, a study says today. It emphasises that the number of conflicts between nations, civil wars, battle deaths, coups and genocides has been falling steeply for more than a decade.

While the authors note that bloody wars continue in Iraq, Afghanistan and Congo, they argue that there are substantial grounds for optimism.

The first Human Security Report, written by academics led by Andrew Mack, of the University of British Columbia, cites popular notions that war is becoming more common and deadlier, that genocide is rising and that terrorism poses the greatest threat to humanity.

"Not one of these claims is based on reliable data," it says. "All are suspect; some are demonstrably false. Yet they are widely believed because they reinforce popular assumptions."

The authors say there are 40 per cent fewer armed conflicts than in the early 1990s. Between 1991 and last year 28 wars for self-determination began but 43 were ended or contained.

In 1992, when the Yugoslav wars of secession began, there were 51 state-based conflicts around the world. The figure dropped to 32 in 2002 and 29 in 2003. The arms trade declined by a third from 1990 to 2003 and the number of refugees fell by 45 per cent between 1992 and 2003.

In 1950 each conflict killed 38,000 people on average. By 2002 that had dropped to 600.

Cheney resignation rumors fly

Sparked by today's Washington Post story that suggests Vice President Cheney's office is involved in the Plame-CIA spy link investigation, government officials and advisers passed around rumors that the vice president might step aside and that President Bush would elevate Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

"It's certainly an interesting but I still think highly doubtful scenario," said a Bush insider. "And if that should happen," added the official, "there will undoubtedly be those who believe the whole thing was orchestrated � another brilliant Machiavellian move by the VP."

Said another Bush associate of the rumor, "Yes. This is not good." The rumor spread so fast that some Republicans by late morning were already drawing up reasons why Rice couldn't get the job or run for president in 2008.

"Isn't she pro-choice?" asked a key Senate Republican aide. Many White House insiders, however, said the Post story and reports that the investigation was coming to a close had officials instead more focused on who would be dragged into the affair and if top aides would be indicted and forced to resign.

"Folks on the inside and near inside are holding their breath and wondering what's next," said a Bush adviser. But, he added, they aren't focused on the future of the vice president. "Not that, at least not seriously," he said.

Judith Miller Exonerates Bush Officials

The media, of course, are not interested in probing Wilson and Plame, only the Bush administration.

The true facts in the CIA-leak case are now becoming astonishingly clear. New York Times reporter Judith Miller's testimony, as she describes it in the Sunday edition of her paper, proves that the wrong people are under investigation. It's not really a story about Bush officials Lewis Libby and Karl Rove and their conversations with the press. Rather, it's a story about a CIA bureaucracy working to undermine the Bush administration through the media and cover up for its own mistakes.

It's now obvious that Bush officials are spending time before a grand jury and big money on lawyers for the alleged "crime" of trying to use the press to get out their side of the story. They trusted the press and got burned. Now, if the media have their way, these officials may be further punished by being indicted by Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. This would be a gross miscarriage of justice.

The case has been a revealing and disappointing look into how Bush administration officials tried to work with various reporters, in order to counteract false accusations about the administration's Iraq policy that had appeared in the press. In the end, they failed. It's a failure that demonstrates the folly of trying to curry favor with the liberal press.

U.S. nabs al-Qaida Web site producer

Propaganda site was unusually quiet during weekend referendum

The Web site run by al-Qaida in Iraq was strangely quiet
during the referendum on the new Iraqi constitution. There were no threats
against voters, no boasts of disrupting the vote.

And now we know one reason why. A top propaganda agent for al-Qaida in Iraq,
known as Abu Dijana, was captured shortly before the vote, according to the
U.S. military. Abu Dijana was responsible for much of what has appeared on
the Web site called "al-Qaida in Iraq," including provocative videos of
suicide bombings and crucial communications to al-Qaida fighters.

Here is how the al-Qaida Web site works: On any given day in Baghdad,
Baquba, or any of a dozen cities, a suicide car bomb explodes. The target is
an American convoy, local Iraqi police or perhaps civilians exiting a
mosque. Within minutes, a report is sent out by news services like The
Associated Press and MSNBC.com. But, the news also circulates on a
fascinating and, some would say, disturbing Web site operated by al-Qaida.

The "al-Qaida in Iraq" Web site immediately takes "credit" for the bombing.
In one typical case, just three hours after an attack, the site showed video
of a man identified as the suicide bomber Abu Musab al-Iraqi, who says, "I
have dreamed about this moment. I am sure if my family is watching this they
will be more proud of me."

Musab's words are followed by a video of a car he is said to be driving,
blowing up in the midst of an American convoy. The incident is replayed
again and again with more of Musab's speech superimposed over the ball of
flames and smoke rising above the U.S. convoy. "Thank God this day I went to
kill many crusaders." His declaration ends, "Today I will be in heaven."

Among propagandist Abu Dijana's responsibilities, say his American captors,
was to gather information of impending attacks and provide equipment to his
cell members to record attacks. Afterward, Dijana collected the photographs
and video for distribution through the "al-Qaida in Iraq" Web site.

Shocker: There is no world oil shortage!

Forget everything you think you know about oil
'Black Gold Stranglehold' explodes common myths

If you believe that oil is a fossil fuel, be prepared to have your thoughts turned upside down.

If you believe that the U.S. has no choice but to rely on foreign oil until we ultimately run out of the precious resource, prepare to be challenged by new views that "have the opportunity to help give birth to a new generation of oil politics and economics."

"Black Gold Stranglehold: The Myth of Scarcity and the Politics of Oil," by Jerome R. Corsi and Craig R. Smith, explores and debunks some of the popular myths surrounding the international and domestic politics of oil production and consumption to provide Americans with beneficial information while being held in a virtual stranglehold at the gas-pumps.

Be prepared to be challenged by:


The myth of fossil fuels: Corsi and Smith argue that the deep abiotic theory of oil is a more reliable theory than the fossil fuel theory. It rejects the contention that oil was formed from the remains of plant and animal life that died millions of years ago. Instead, they believe in Thomas Gold's argument that oil is abiotic: "a primordial material that the earth forms and exudes on a continual basis" and is "pushed upward toward the earth's surface by the intense pressures of the earth's core and the influence of the centrifugal force that the earth exerted upon the specific gravity of oil as a fluid substance."

The running-out-of-oil myth: The 1970s scientific study known as Hubbert's Peak, predicting we would exhaust oil reserves by 2003, has been proven false. We are currently sitting on "more proven petroleum reserves than ever before despite the increasing rate at which we are consuming petroleum products. New and gigantic oil fields are being discovered at an increasing rate, in places the fossil fuel theory would never have been predicted as possible.

The global warming hoax and other environmental myths: Corsi and Smith present compelling evidence that "burning fossil fuels does not release into the air chlorofluorocarbons or halon compounds, the types of chemicals identified as the culprits causing holes in the ozone." Instead, "human beings breathe in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide" while "plants absorb carbon dioxide and throw out oxygen."

Chertoff declares:Expel all illegals


Homeland Security chief aims to eliminate 'catch and release'

Anyone who enters the United States illegally should be expelled without exception, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told a Senate hearing today.

"Our goal at DHS is to completely eliminate the 'catch and release' enforcement problem, and return every single illegal entrant, no exceptions," he said.

"It should be possible to achieve significant and measurable progress to this end in less than a year."

Chertoff said U.S. authorities are immediately returning thousands of Mexicans entering the country illegally, but "other parts of the system have nearly collapsed under the weight of numbers."

"The problem is especially severe for non-Mexicans apprehended at the southwest border," he said.

"Today, a non-Mexican illegal immigrant caught trying to enter the United States across the southwest border has an 80 percent chance of being released immediately because we lack the holding facilities," Chertoff explained.

"Through a comprehensive approach, we are moving to end this 'catch and release' style of border enforcement by reengineering our detention and removal process."

Bush Panel Backs Simplified Tax System

President Bush's tax panel on Tuesday endorsed a drastically simplified income tax system that envisions eliminating most deductions, credits, savings incentives and other tax breaks, replacing them with a few simpler benefits.

Taxpayers would pay roughly the same amount of tax under the simplified system as they do now, panel members said. But most of the confusing tax paperwork would be gone, and complex tax equations that baffle taxpayers would be simplified.

The President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform is tasked with making multiple recommendations for different tax methods that make income taxes a fairer, simpler and more economically productive system. Its final report is due Nov. 1.

The plan includes savings accounts for retirement and major family expenses very similar to a proposal put forward by President Bush.

The panel would shrink the number of income tax rates from six to four and put 75 percent of individuals and families in the bottom 15 percent tax bracket.

The proposal abolishes the alternative minimum tax, a levy designed to prevent the wealthy from evading taxes but which is increasingly creeping into the middle class. Individuals would not pay tax on roughly three-quarters of the capital gains on corporate stock.

However, the federal tax deduction for state and local taxes paid would disappear. Myriad personal and family tax breaks would be replaced with one family credit.

Benefits and savings accounts for retirement, health and education would be eliminated in favor of three savings accounts, all funded with taxed income that would be allowed to grow and be withdrawn tax free.

One account would let workers save for retirement through their employers. Taxpayers could also put $10,000 every year into each of two accounts, one for retirement and the other for health, education and home-buying expenses. Low income taxpayers could get a savers' credit worth up to $500.

The plan incorporates two ideas discussed at the panel's last meeting. One would convert the mortgage interest deduction to a credit, while also limiting the size of eligible mortgages to the area's mortgage limit as set by the Federal Housing Administration.

Health benefits that businesses provide to workers would be tax free up to $11,500 for families and $5,000 for individuals - the size of the benefit provided to members of Congress.

It retains the earned income tax credit, a benefit designed to lift the working poor out of poverty, but gives workers the option of letting the IRS make that complicated calculation.

Sunday, October 16, 2005

US car theft rings probed for ties to Iraq bombings

The FBI's counterterrorism unit has launched a broad investigation of US-based theft rings after discovering that some of the vehicles used in deadly car bombings in Iraq, including attacks that killed US troops and Iraqi civilians, were probably stolen in the United States, according to senior government officials.

Inspector John E. Lewis, deputy assistant director of the FBI for counterterrorism, told the Globe that the investigation hasn't yielded any evidence that the vehicles were stolen specifically for car bombings. But there is evidence, he said, that the cars were smuggled from the United States as part of a widespread criminal network that includes terrorists and insurgents.

Cracking the car theft rings and tracing the cars could help identify the leaders of insurgent forces in Iraq and shut down at least one of the means they use to attack the US-led coalition and the Iraqi government, the officials said.

The inquiry began after coalition troops raided a bomb-making factory in Fallujah last November and found a sport utility vehicle registered in Texas that was being prepared for a bombing mission.

New Study Reveals Networks� Overwhelmingly Negative Portrayal Of Iraq War

�The Big Three Nightly Newscasts Have Become Megaphones For The Anti-War Movement�

A new study released today by the Media Research Center, TV�s Bad News Brigade, reveals the three commercial network nightly news broadcasts have been overwhelmingly biased in their coverage of Iraq. The MRC analyzed all broadcasts of ABC�s World News Tonight, NBC Nightly News, and the CBS Evening News from January 1 through September 30 and found 61 percent of the stories were negative or pessimistic while only 15 percent of the stories were positive or optimistic � a four-to-one ratio. The trend in coverage has also become increasingly negative during 2005, with pessimistic stories rising to nearly three-fourths of all Iraq news by August and September. The MRC will release a study on cable news coverage early next year.

�The big three nightly newscasts have become megaphones for the anti-war movement,� Bozell said. �Coverage is badly skewed toward terrorist attacks instead of the bravery of the troops and progress made by the Iraqi government. The nightly network newscasts have become propaganda for the far-left anti-war movement instead of balanced journalism.�