This week on NOW with Bill Moyers
Posted Friday, July 25, 2003 by vgdesign

Will Congress stop big media from getting even bigger? In light of Wednesday's 400-21 vote in the House to overturn part of the FCC's ruling to further deregulate the media industry, NOW goes to Capitol Hill to take the pulse of lawmakers on what has turned into a stunning political event in CHANGING CHANNELS.
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Go inside some of the most hotly debated topics of a new age, including stem cell research, gene therapy, and cloning, as Bill Moyers talks to Leon Kass, a scientist, physician, and scholar wrestling with contemporary ethical issues.
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The findings of the congressional investigation into the 9/11 attacks are out, and NOW interviews former Senator Max Cleland about what his own organization, the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, has to say about what led up to 9/11.
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Updates on the stories covered on NOW. >>More

Clear Channel faces US inquiry
Posted Friday, July 25, 2003 by vgdesign

By Chris Tryhorn, Media Guardian

Radio giant Clear Channel is being investigated over claims of abusing its market dominance, a US government official has revealed.

The justice department official said an "open investigation" was being conducted into the US' largest radio group 18 months after a congressman first called for an inquiry.

Hewitt Pate, the department's head of antitrust, told a congressional committee investigators had made "significant efforts to find additional evidence" and had held "a number of interviews".

"The Clear Channel matter is one of importance to us," Mr Pate said. "We have an open investigation and we're going to continue to pursue that."

Mr Pate was replying to congressman Howard Berman, who had criticised officials for their "unwillingness" to follow up formal complaints he made against the radio group in January 2002. >>More

Mark Morford: Watching BushCo Crumble
Posted Friday, July 25, 2003 by vgdesign

Ratings slipping, economy tanking, lies spiraling, credibility shot. Try not to cheer

This is what happens when it's all a house of cards.

This is what happens when you build your entire presidency on an intricate network of aww-shucks glibness and bad hair and cronyism and corporate fellatio and warmongering and sham enemies and economy-gutting policies and endless blank-eyed smirks that tell the world, every single day, whelp, sure 'nuff, the U.S. is full of it.

Shrub's ratings have dropped below 50 percent for the first (and probably not the last) time since they surged hugely right after 9/11 and he was hoisted in front of a wary America and puffed out his chest and pretended like he could find Afghanistan on a map and promised he would bomb every damn country on the planet that didn't have a McDonald's or an Exxon or a secret U.S. chemical-weapons deal.

Shrub's numbers are down. The nation is catching on. The armor of money and power is cracking. The smirk is waning. Dick's defibrillator is running on fumes.

And Karl Rove, Shrub's master strategist, is scrambling, rushing down hallways, sweating hard, mapping out lib-killer tactics and frantically redirecting blame (CIA! FBI! The NSA!) as nine Demo candidates have a field day knocking all of Shrub's shortcomings out of the ideological park. >>More

FCC Chairman's Star a Little Dimmer
Posted Friday, July 25, 2003 by vgdesign

Defeat on Capitol Hill Raises Questions About Powell's Political Savvy
By Christopher Stern, Washington Post

When Michael K. Powell took over as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission three years ago he was considered a young star of the Republican Party. His deregulatory agenda was regarded as a breath of fresh air by the nation's biggest media and telecommunications companies.

But this week's 400-to-21 vote in the House in favor of a bill that included language to strike down a FCC decision to allow broadcasting companies to buy more television stations is just the latest example of how Powell's fortunes have shifted.
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Even lobbyists for the nation's media and telecommunications companies question whether Powell has the political savvy to deliver on his agenda. After all, the Republican-controlled House voted to block the broadcast ownership rule despite the objections of the House leadership and a veto threat from the White House.

"Never before have I seen an FCC chairman's decision repudiated by the House of Representatives so quickly and so emphatically," Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) observed after the vote Wednesday. >>More

[Have THE MEDIA WORMS TURNED on the Bush Regime because it failed to deliver what was promised and paid for? They were VERY nice while the FCC rule changes were still in p(l)ay.]

Haggard Single Critical of Media Coverage of Iraq War
Posted Friday, July 25, 2003 by vgdesign

By John Gerome, Associated Press

A new Merle Haggard song that's critical of the media's coverage of the war in Iraq is garnering so much attention that it's being rushed to thousands of radio stations around the country, a spokesman for the country singer said Thursday.

"We're mailing it out as we speak," Tom Thacker, vice president of Hag Records, said of the song "That's the News." "It's going to a broad range of stations."

Thacker said the song has generated interest from media and fans.
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The new song chides the media for focusing on celebrity news and the death of Laci Peterson and her unborn child while fighting continues in Iraq. >>More

Suddenly it's over / The war is finally done
Soldiers in the desert sand / Still clinging to a gun.
No one is the winner / And everyone must lose
Suddenly the war is over / That's the news.

Politicians do all the talking / Soldiers pay the dues
Suddenly the war is over / That's the news.

Bush supporters use carrier photo in raising money
Posted Friday, July 25, 2003 by vgdesign

By Glen Johnson, Boston Globe

The White House said that President Bush's landing on an aircraft carrier to declare the end of war in Iraq was not intended for his political gain. But a conservative group that supports Bush's policies has built a fundraising campaign around an official Navy photo of the president on the ship's deck.

Citizens United for the Bush Agenda is asking up to $1,000 from 30,000 people who were mailed the photo in the past month. For an additional $43, which refers to Bush being the 43d president, donors can also receive an official baseball cap bearing the name and image of the carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln. For $75, they can get two. >>More

Troops bear 'Moor Killer' badges
Posted Friday, July 25, 2003 by vgdesign

By Giles Tremlett in Madrid, The Guardian

A row broke out in Spain yesterday after the country sent its first troops to patrol Iraq wearing on their shoulders the Cross of St James of Compostela - popularly known in Spain as "the Moor Killer".

Patches bearing the cross, the symbol of a saint who allegedly guided the medieval Christian re conquista of Spain from the Muslims, are to be worn by a 2,000-strong Spanish brigade in central Iraq, who will patrol the sacred Shia city of Najaf.

While newspapers and radio stations reacted with astonishment at the choice of symbol, politicians avoided the argument.
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"To put the Cross of St James of Compostela on the uniforms of Spanish soldiers supposes an absolute ignorance of the society in which they will have to carry out their mission," fumed El Mundo newspaper in an editorial.

"It would be difficult to come up with any symbol more offensive to the Shia population than this cross." >>More

["There existed knowledge and learning everywhere except in Catholic Europe. At a time when even kings could not read or write, a Moorish king had a private library of six hundred thousand books. At a time when ninety-nine percent of the Christian people were wholly illiterate, the Moorish city of Cordova had eight hundred public schools, and there was not a village within the limits of the empire where the blessings of education could not be enjoyed by the children of the most indigent peasant, ...and it was difficult to encounter even a Moorish peasant who could not read and write." - S.P. Scott in 'The History of the Moorish Empire in Europe.']

Reuters Sees Baghdad Bodies, Faces 'Rebuilt'
Posted Friday, July 25, 2003 by vgdesign

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Officials from the U.S.-led administration in Iraq showed journalists two corpses on Friday that Washington says it is sure are the bodies of Saddam Hussein's sons.

U.S. officials said morticians had touched up the faces of Qusay and Uday to repair damage sustained in a gunbattle with U.S. troops on Tuesday in which they were killed.

"I've been shown the bodies and they do appear to be those of Uday and Qusay," Reuters correspondent Andrew Marshall said from an air-conditioned, tented U.S. military morgue at Baghdad's international airport.

A U.S. military official said they had undergone some post-mortem facial reconstruction -- standard practice they said, not an attempt to deceive the Iraqi people. There was no sign that either of them had committed suicide, they added. >>More

Revealed: the secret cabal which spun for Blair
Posted Friday, July 25, 2003 by symbolman

The existence of Operation Rockingham has been confirmed by Scott Ritter, the former UN chief weapons inspector, and a US military intelligence officer.

He knew members of the Operation Rockingham team and described the unit as 'dangerous', but insisted they were not 'rogue agents' acting without government backing. 'This policy was coming from the very highest levels,' he added.

'Rockingham was spinning reports and emphasising reports that showed non-compliance (by Iraq with UN inspections) and quashing those which showed compliance. It was cherry-picking intelligence.'

Ritter and other intelligence sources say Operation Rockingham and MI6 were supplying skewed information to the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) which, Tony Blair has told the Commons, was behind the intelligence dossiers that the government published to convince the parliament and the people of the necessity of war against Iraq.

Sources in both the British and US intelligence community are now equating the JIC with the Office of Special Plans (OSP) in the US Pentagon. The OSP was set up by Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to gather intelligence which would prove the case for war.

In a staggering attack on the OSP, former CIA officer Larry Johnson told the Sunday Herald the OSP was 'dangerous for US national security and a threat to world peace', adding that it 'lied and manipulated intelligence to further its agenda of removing Saddam'.

He added: 'It's a group of ideologues with pre-determined notions of truth and reality. They take bits of intelligence to support their agenda and ignore anything contrary. They should be eliminated.'>> More

Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith twisted CIA data in order to justify a war against Iraq
Posted Friday, July 25, 2003 by symbolman

But Democrats in the Senate are now asking what role the secret committee set up by Wolfowitz played in hyping the intelligence on Iraq's weapons programs.

Secretary of State Colin Powell appears to be the only White House official who questioned the accuracy of the intelligence information coming out of the Office of Special Plans. A day before he was set to appear before the United Nations Feb. 5 to argue about the Iraqi threat and to urge the Council to support military action against the country, Powell omitted numerous claims provided to him by the Office of Special Plans about Iraq's weapons program because the information was unreliable, according to an early February report in U.S. News and World Report.

Powell was so disturbed about the questionable intelligence on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction that he put together a team of experts to review the information he was given before his speech to the U.N.

Much of the information Powell's speech was provided by Wolfowitz's Office of Special Plans, the magazine reported, to counter the uncertainty of the CIA's intelligence on Iraq.

Powell's team removed dozens of pages of alleged evidence about Iraq's banned weapons and ties to terrorists from a draft of his speech, the magazine said. At one point, he became so infuriated at the lack of adequate sourcing by the Office of Special Plans to intelligence claims he said, "I'm not reading this. This is bullshit," according to the magazine.

Spokespeople for Wolfowitz, Rice and the Vice President all denied the accusations, saying it was the CIA who provided the White House with the bulk of intelligence on Iraq and that there is no reason to believe the information isn't accurate. Tenet's spokespeople would not return several calls for comment.>> More

CIA probe finds secret Pentagon group manipulated intelligence on Iraqi threat
Posted Friday, July 25, 2003 by symbolman

By Jason Leopold - Online Journal

July 25, 2003—A half-dozen former CIA agents investigating prewar intelligence have found that a secret Pentagon committee, set up by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in October 2001, manipulated reams of intelligence information prepared by the spy agency on the so-called Iraqi threat and then delivered it to top White House officials who used it to win support for a war in Iraq.

The former CIA agents were asked to examine prewar intelligence last year by Rumsfeld and CIA Director George Tenet. The former agents will present a final report on their findings to the Pentagon, the CIA and possibly Congress later this year. More than a dozen calls to the White House, the CIA, the National Security Council and the Pentagon for comment were not returned.

The ad hoc committee, called the Office of Special Plans, headed by Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith and other Pentagon hawks, described the worst-case scenarios in terms of Iraq's alleged stockpile of chemical and biological weapons and claimed the country was close to acquiring nuclear weapons, according to four of the CIA agents, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the information is still classified, who conducted a preliminary review of the intelligence. ---

More than a dozen CIA agents responsible for writing intelligence reports for the agency told the former CIA agents investigating the accuracy of the intelligence reports they were pressured by the Pentagon and the Office of Special Plans to hype and exaggerate intelligence to show Iraq as being an imminent threat to the security of the U.S. --- >> More

WMD missing in Iraq, Bush speeches
Posted Thursday, July 24, 2003 by symbolman

DEARBORN, Mich., July 24 (Reuters) - Weapons of mass destruction have proven hard to find in Iraq and now they've disappeared from President George W. Bush's speeches.

A reliable staple of past addresses, the four-words did not cross his lips during two public appearances in Pennsylvania and Michigan on Thursday. Nor did Bush use the phrase on Wednesday in a formal update on the progress U.S. forces have made in Iraq that he delivered from the White House Rose Garden.

Before the U.S.-led invasion and during the war's early stages, Bush speeches were peppered with references to weapons of mass destruction and the specter of apocalyptic havoc that chemical and biological arms might wreak on the United States, its friends and allies. He used the words so much that sometimes they became simply "WMD."

It was his only reference to Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction -- the main U.S. justification for going to war...>> More

Fighter jets scrambled after pilot enters Phila. no-fly zone
Posted Thursday, July 24, 2003 by symbolman

BERLIN, N.J. - A pilot ventured into a 30-mile no-fly zone as President Bush was visiting Philadelphia around noon, authorities said.

Four F-16 fighters were scrambled and forced the Cessna four-seater to land at the Camden County Airport in Berlin, New Jersey.

Awaiting him were 30 police officers, all with guns drawn. The man got out of the plane and was told to lay on the runway tarmac. Officers carted him off in handcuffs to the Winslow Police station, witnesses said.>> More

Gee, wouldn't it have been nice to have FOUR F-16 FIGHTERS scrambled when the FIRST Trade tower was hit? Where the hell were they then? Oh, BUSH wasn't IN those buildings so that was okay. Wonder how fast they would have scrambled F-16s if one of those wayward airliners had been headed for that Elemetary School on 911?

BP and Shell to resume shipments from Iraq
Posted Thursday, July 24, 2003 by symbolman

BP and Shell were among the first foreign companies to benefit from resumption of Iraqi oil exports when the country signed its first long-term supply contracts yesterday since the war was declared over.

The British oil giants are among 10 international companies that will be taking Iraqi crude, produced from the southern fields around Basra.

Iraq has held two sales of oil since Saddam Hussein was deposed but these were "spot" deals that sold an immediately available quantity of oil. The contracts won by BP and Shell, announced by Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organisation (Somo) yesterday, are the first to offer long-term supply arrangements.

BP and Shell will each send one very large tanker every month to Iraq to pick up their 2 million barrels. Among the other companies that are thought to have signed deals with Iraq are ChevronTexaco and ConocoPhillips of the US and the Chinese organisation Sinochem. Iraqi officials are still negotiating with other companies.>> More

THIS IS HUMAN BLOOD BEING PUMPED BEFORE OUR VERY EYES. The Blood of our Countrymen, our men and women of the armed forces who are DYING daily so that these OIL COMPANIES can do business now that the WAR IS OVER. All this is brought to you by the BUSH REGIME and his band of Liars. Where is the OUTRAGE over this? Our soldiers are nothing more than "Venture Capital" to this Cabal. We are cutting up our CHEVRON Credit card today - YOU KNOW WHO TO BOYCOTT. WE DO NOT TRAFFIC IN AMERICAN BLOOD FOR OIL. Impeachment is the only answer. Start with CHENEY.

G.W. NIXON! (CBS)
Posted Thursday, July 24, 2003 by symbolman

Excessive Force?
Posted Thursday, July 24, 2003 by symbolman

It was much-needed tangible proof that America was making progress in the war in Iraq.

The U.S. military is celebrating the deaths of Saddam’s sons. But some are questioning whether Uday and Qusay could—and should—have been taken alive.

After several weeks of drooping morale and a daily, if single-digit body count, the U.S. military on Tuesday announced its soldiers had killed Saddam Hussein’s sons in a ferocious firefight in their Mosul hideout.

AMERICAN OFFICIALS crowed about it, troops around Iraq high-fived each other, friendly Iraqis fired their guns in the air in celebration. Even the stock markets rose on the news.

Certainly only a few diehards mourned the passing of Uday and Qusay Hussein; the regime’s Caligula and its Heir Apparent were if anything despised and feared even more than their dad. But as details became clearer of the raid that eliminated what the U.S. military calls High Value Targets (HVTs) Nos. 2 and 3, a lot of people in the intelligence community were left wondering: why weren’t they just taken alive?

At a news briefing today, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, squirmed his way past that question repeatedly.

It was, he said, the decision of the commander on the ground based on the circumstances and his judgment—”and it was the right decision.” But was it? Who beside the sons might have better information about the one HVT that really matters, Saddam?

“The whole operation was a cockup,” said a British intelligence officer. “There was no need to go after four lightly armed men with such overwhelming firepower. They would have been much more useful alive.” But Sanchez insisted it wasn’t overkill. “Absolutely not. Our mission is to find, kill or capture high-value targets. We had an enemy that was barricaded and we had to take measures to neutralize the target.”>> More

If the ENEMY [three guys with rifles and a 14 year old's bullet riddled body you don't see splashed on Yahoo - where's the KID you assassinated, BUSH?] WAS BARRICADED then that meant they WERE TRAPPED under CONTROLLED conditions. This was INTENTIONAL and useful to the BUSH Regime in that DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES. Like WHERE the WMD are - or ARE NOT. These people follow ORDERS - the American people demand to know WHO GAVE THESE ORDERS. And don't forget THIS is the same UNIT that FAKED the Lynch "rescue" Hollywood style. This Administration has NO CREDIBILITY and never will - they have SHAMED our country for generations. IMPEACH THEM before they get us all killed as surely Retribution will follow and more troops will die for BUSH'S LIES. Two words Regarding the Dead Hussein Brothers: Freezer Burn.

Bush Lied - Soldiers Died Postcard at Buzzflash.com
Posted Thursday, July 24, 2003 by symbolman

The Faltering Bush Presidency
Posted Thursday, July 24, 2003 by symbolman

Democracy Corps is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to making the government of the United States more responsive to the American people.

It was founded in 1999 by James Carville, Stanley Greenberg, and Bob Shrum. Democracy Corps provides free public opinion research and strategic advice to those dedicated to a more responsive Congress and Presidency.

The organization was born out of outrage over the impeachment of President Clinton when the leadership in Congress preferred radical partisanship to addressing the issues which really matter to American families.>> More

Read their PDF "The Faltering Bush Presidency" - A good Analysis and reference.>> MUST READ!

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Featuring Ambassador Joe Wilson
Posted Thursday, July 24, 2003 by symbolman

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Featuring Ambassador Joe Wilson July 24, 11:00pm, Comedy Central

Wilson, not one to be easily intimidated, has been speaking out against the Administration's attempts to silence him. Tonight he appears on Comedy Central's Daily Show with Jon Stewart.