World-News

"Staying in Iraq is not an option," write George S. McGovern and William R. Polk. "Many Americans who were among the most eager to invade Iraq now urge that we find a way out. These Americans include not only civilian 'strategists' and other 'hawks,' but also senior military commanders and, perhaps most fervently, combat soldiers."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/110906C.shtml

The editors of the New York Times write: "... we're still waiting for a sign that Mr. Bush has grasped the urgency of the unfolding disaster in Iraq as anything beyond a political problem. Mr. Rumsfeld's departure is merely the first step. It has to be followed by a major change in policy if American troops can be brought home without leaving a disaster behind."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/110906N.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Rumsfeld

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/5269/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

by Peter Phillips

Published on Wednesday, November 8, 2006
by CommonDreams.org

Human Rights belong to people collectively. To believe in rights for some and not others is a denial of the humanness of people worldwide. Yet, denial is exactly what Congress and George W. Bush did with the signing of the Military Commission Act of 2006. The new official U.S. policy is that torture and suspension of due process are acceptable for anyone the president deems to be a terrorist or terrorist supporter. This act is the overt denial of the inalienable rights of human beings propagated in our Declaration of Independence and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Our famous words, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness," did not declare that some men (and women) are without unalienable rights. Our independence was founded on the belief that all men and women are recognized by this nation as having innate rights derived from their humanness.

Likewise, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, created by the United Nations in 1948 and signed and ratified by the U.S. Congress, specifies in its preamble that "recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world."

The Universal Declaration of Human rights is a treaty that legally binds the United States government. Article 10 states that "everyone is entitled to full equality, to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him," and Article 5 specifically prohibits torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

For the U.S. government to unilaterally declare that our country will not comply with international human rights laws, nor uphold the core values of our nation's foundation is an indication of extremism that supersedes the values and beliefs of the American people. When such an extremism exists, we may need to take seriously the founders' declaration that, " to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, - That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

The U.S. government is actively torturing people to death. One need only read the 44 official U.S. military autopsy reports on civilian detainees from Afghanistan and Iraq in 2002 to 2004 posted on the American Civil Liberties website to see the horrendous details of deaths by "strangulation," "asphyxiation" and "blunt force injuries."

The Military Commission Act retroactively approved the use of torture to the beginning of the 9/11 Wars. Congress's reaction to the ACLU report in October of 2005 was to pass legislation banning further use of the Freedom of Information Act to request documents on current military operations.

We are in a time of extremism, permanent war, and the unilateral manifestation of ethnocentrism and power by an openly public cabal of people in the U.S. government. Those in power are set on the U.S. military domination of the world. They seem willing to defy the foundational values of the American people to achieve their ends. We have no choice but to declare openly our belief in universal human rights and demand the immediate impeachment of George W. Bush and Richard Cheney and a full accounting of those in their administration.


Peter Phillips is a professor of sociology at Sonoma State University and director of Project Censored. He is co-editor with Dennis Loo of the new book "Impeach the President: the Case Against Bush and Cheney," available at: http://www.projectcensored.org/impeach.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=torture
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Military+Commission+Act
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Cheney
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=impeach
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=impeach

By seizing on a conservative strategy, progressives showed what ballot initiative drives can accomplish.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/11/08/using_the_rights_ballot_playbook.php



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=ballot

A message from Pilvi


Ok.. I snagged this from one of my groups.. Please sign the petitions, this video must get banned.. This guy is one f....ing a....hole..

MySpace.com showing animal cruelty/

This monster needs to be caught. http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1168364365

Here's the petition:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/748505556

Let us be absolutely clear on what has taken place. This was not simply a midterm election, not just a historic running of the table, not just a scathing repudiation of virtually everything the Bush administration has stood for since they swaggered into Washington six long years ago. It was so very much more than this.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/110906Z.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=election

Rather than attacking record, activists painted incumbent as a corrupt servant of businesses.

By Bettina Boxall Times Staff Writer November 9, 2006 http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-me-defenders9nov09,1,6713843.story


Informant: Teresa Binstock



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Pombo

Salon
by Sidney Blumenthal

11/08/06

The Bush administration and the Republican Congress could not defend themselves on their public record and urgently needed to change the subject. They required new fields of combat -- not the Iraq war, certainly not convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, convicted Rep. Duke Cunningham, investigated Rep. Mark Foley or indicted House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. So they launched offensives on Michael J. Fox's Parkinson's disease, Jim Webb's novels and gay marriage. Yet battle-hardened cultural warriors -- Rush Limbaugh, Lynne Cheney and the Rev. Ted Haggard, among others -- did not find themselves triumphant as in the 2004 campaign, but unexpectedly wounded at their own hands." [subscription or ad view required]

http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2006/11/08/election/



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Abramoff
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Cunningham
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Foley
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Tom+DeLay
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Cheney
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Haggard
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=vote



Post mortem

The Weekly Standard
by Fred Barnes

11/08/06

This one is pretty easy to explain. Republicans lost the House and probably the Senate because of Iraq, corruption, and a record of taking up big issues and then doing nothing on them. Of these, the war was by far the biggest factor. Unpopular wars trump good economies and everything else. President Truman learned this in 1952, as did President Johnson in 1968. Now, it was President Bush's turn, and since his name wasn't on the ballot, his party took the hit. The defeat for Republicans was short of devastating -- but only a little short...

http://tinyurl.com/ycxuzj


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

National Review
by William F. Buckley, Jr.

11/08/06

It is sobering to remind ourselves that the alternatives open to Congress come down finally to categorical action. When Congress decided to act on the unpopularity of the Vietnam War, it passed a series of resolutions and laws which prevented President Nixon from taking basic tactical steps to thwart the total defeat that lay ahead for us. If comparable laws were passed today they would forbid American money to be used in Iraq for hostile purposes, which would be tantamount to forbidding armed resistance to the claims of the insurgents. Merely to suggest such alternatives is to remind ourselves of the inherent inadvisability of contemplating them. The Constitution makes the president the commander in chief. To permit the continuance of his responsibility while stripping him of the means to act is a device for modifying the Constitution, for which critics would be reluctant to accept responsibility. If a crisis is of such a reach, then the orderly procedure is the impeachment of the president. But the people who went to the polls on Tuesday intending to register opposition to the war are not of revolutionary mettle. Still, they have found the means to make demands that the President will need to appease...

http://tinyurl.com/yffm9z


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Tennessean
by James Jones

There are more than a half million veterans -- soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen and Coast Guardsmen -- now living in Tennessee, and no single group has a greater stake in today's election than veterans. Veterans have always heeded the call to service for many reasons, but one characteristic unites all -- a deep, enduring love of country. Loyalty and integrity are second nature to veterans, and this loyalty, unlike most jobs, includes a sworn oath to protect the Constitution of the United States. Veterans and their loved ones realize that this higher devotion may demand the ultimate sacrifice. At times, the sense of loyalty and integrity may conflict; soldiers who feel doubts about a superior's decisions may suppress those feelings due to loyalty. For many veterans, the time has come to speak out: Our higher loyalty is to our country and the Constitution...

http://tinyurl.com/ygc2b6


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Cato Institute
by Neal McCluskey

11/09/06

'Local schools remain under local control,' Bush declared in his radio address, though NCLB dictates everything from how reading is taught to teacher qualifications. Similarly, in response to a question about the expansion of federal power during her tenure, Secretary Spellings recently insisted that 'I'm a good Federalist and a good Republican.' But the billion-dollar question remains: How can the administration hew to the ideal of local control while simultaneously advocating federal intrusion into the classroom? They can't. Either they stick to the Constitution and keep the federal government out of education, or they chuck it and run the schools from Washington...

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6763


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Boston Globe

11/08/06

The Democratic victory last night did not mark the end of the war in Iraq, but it seemed to mark the end of America's patience with the war. President Bush, whose 'stay the course' mantra became a rallying cry for Democratic challengers, now will come under intense pressure to choose a new course. He will have to contend with more than just the demands of a Democratic-led House. Congressional Republicans, who once marched in lock step with their commander in chief, are also likely to break with the White House, having now tasted electoral defeat. 'The Iraq war has opened up some big divisions in the Republican Party and that's the next thing to play out,' said Boston University political scientist Julian Zelizer, author of a book on congressional politics. 'There'll be a lot of Republicans looking toward 2008'...

http://tinyurl.com/ym4xf6


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=vote

Elkhart Truth

11/08/06

Activist Cindy Sheehan was arrested Wednesday as she led about 50 protesters to a White House gate Wednesday to deliver anti-war petitions she said were signed by 80,000 Americans. The Berkeley, Calif., woman, whose son was killed in Iraq more than two years ago, was arrested along with three other women on the sidewalk outside the White House gate, said Lt. Scott Fear, a U.S. Park Police spokesman. They were charged with interfering with a government function, he said...

http://tinyurl.com/yayqxa


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Sheehan

>From archaeological ruins in Scotland to 13th century mosques in the Sahara, the effects of climate change could destroy some of the world's most important natural and cultural heritage sites, a report has revealed. Heritage sites that have existed for thousands of years "may, by virtue of climate change, very well not be available to future generations," said Achim Steiner, head of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/110806EB.shtml

The 21 species of albatross are some of the world's most majestic birds. An adult has a wingspan of up to 3.5 meters and can circumnavigate the world in a single flight. Yet each year, 100,000 of them are killed by longline fishing, where nets up to 80 miles long with thousands of hooks are towed by fishing boats catching birds as well as fish. As a consequence of this indiscriminate slaughter, 19 of the 21 species are under threat of extinction ... But a body of legal opinion is proposing what are being called "wild laws," which would speak for birds and animals, and even rivers and nature.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/110806EA.shtml

It has been claimed that CIA is using Britain's air space to carry out "extraordinary rendition" – secret, international transfers of terrorism suspects across the world.

http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/73920.html


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=extraordinary+rendition

British policy in Iraq has been a "rank disaster", a former diplomat told MPs on Wednesday as he pledged to reveal secret evidence about the war.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-6200901,00.html



A shameful vote in the House of Commons

On Tuesday 31 October MPs missed an historic opportunity to pass judgement on the Iraq war. The following MPs voted with the government:
http://www.stopwar.org.uk/_Current/Parl31Oct06.htm#VotingWithGovernment


From Information Clearing House

The antiwar wave that has been rising for months crashed and broke over the heads of the Republican Party, sweeping away all but the most entrenched incumbents. This election, in the broadest sense, was a referendum on the Iraq war – and the results are a dramatic rebuke to the War Party.

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=9981


From Information Clearing House

--------

The antiwar wave

AntiWar.Com
by Justin Raimondo

11/08/06

With a majority in the House and probably the Senate, the Democrats now have it in their power to at least halt the escalation of the war. The War Party is calling for sending as many as 50,000 additional troops to Iraq. If the Democrats sent to Washington in the wake of the November Revolution fulfill their mandate, they'll put a swift stop to this -- and take their opposition to the war one step further. Congress holds the purse strings and can cut off funds for the war whenever it likes: failure to do so will blur the differences between the two parties on this issue and betray the trust of millions who registered their opposition to the war by voting Democratic. The Democrats must either oppose the war and vote to rein in the president with their power of the purse -- or else they must take their share of responsibility for the failed policy of this administration, and also share the blame...

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=9981


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

By Morton Skorodin

It was no fluke that the reckless faction of the ruling elite picked up the ball and ran with it – the neoconservatives with their Project for a New American Century. These geniuses had and, presumably, still have the utopian plan of establishing permanent military predominance over the whole world.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15543.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Project+for+a+New+American+Century

By Mike Whitney

In the next few months, a financial crisis will arise somewhere in the world which will jolt the American economy and trigger a swift and precipitous decline in the value of the dollar.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15545.htm

By Chris Floyd

If anyone thinks the horrors of the Bush Imperium are somehow at an end – or will even be seriously impaired – by the results of yesterday's election, they have a harsh and bitter awakening to come.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15542.htm

By Charles Sullivan

The corporate financing of political campaigns is, in fact, a capital investment in the status quo that benefits the wealthy and marginalizes those with neither wealth nor property. That explains why substantive change is rarely accomplished through the vote in America. It also explains the remarkable consistency and homogeneity of governmental policy through the decades; domestic and foreign, regardless of which party is in power.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15540.htm

http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/1108-14.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=election

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1108-05.htm

Referendum against Iraq War Gaining Ground
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1108-07.htm

Iraq Wins the Election, What Now?
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1108-32.htm

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1108-01.htm

Referendum against Iraq War Gaining Ground
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1108-07.htm

Iraq Wins the Election, What Now?
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1108-32.htm

US Must Get out of Iraq — Now
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1108-22.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=vote

Urge Officials to Spare Virginia's Bears

The Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge is getting set to hold a cruel hunt in which as many as twenty bears will be killed in the name of recreation. This hunt is not taking place to curb overpopulation, nor is it to protect members of the public. It is simply to appease hunters' blood thirst and it's just not right.

According to The Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and the Nansemond National Wildlife Refuge Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan, "The main purpose of the hunt is to add a priority wildlife-dependent recreational opportunity for the public. There are limited public hunting opportunities in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. By implementing a bear hunt an additional 200 hunting days will be provided to the area."

Please "take action" to urge The Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine to call off the hunt. Also, please tell a friend and take a moment to sign our petition to Governor Kaine.

Then download your letters and fax or mail to the addresses indicated below.

Governor Timothy Kaine
Office of the Governor, 14th Floor
One Capitol Square, 830 E. Main Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Tel.: (804) 371-0840
Fax: (804) 371-0935
http://www.governor.virginia.gov/
Please click here for the online feedback form.

Suzanne Baird, Refuge Manager
The Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge
3100 Desert Road
Suffolk, Virginia 23434
Tel.: (757) 986-3705
greatdismalswamp@fws.gov

Marvin Moriarty, Regional Director
Northeast Regional Office
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
300 Westgate Center Drive
Hadley, MA 01035-9589
Tel.: (413) 253-8200
Fax: (413) 253-8308
northeast@fws.gov

Urge state officials to call off the killing
http://ga0.org/indefenseofanimals/notice-description.tcl?newsletter_id=4347341

Urge Chinese Ambassador to U.S. to stop the killing
http://ga0.org/indefenseofanimals/notice-description.tcl?newsletter_id=4349059

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig7/greenwald1.html

--------

The Bush Administration's Torture of U.S. Citizen Jose Padilla

By Glenn Greenwald

In an effort to gain Mr. Padilla’s "dependency and trust," he was tortured for nearly the entire three years and eight months of his unlawful detention. The torture took myriad forms, each designed to cause pain, anguish, depression and, ultimately, the loss of will to live.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15574.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Padilla
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=torture

After Rumsfeld: is Cheney next?
http://infowars.net/articles/november2006/081106Rumsfeld_Sacrifice.htm

--------

Is Cheney Next?

As a federal jury deliberates the fate of Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, several watchers agree that if the jury decides Libby knew he was lying to investigators, it could spur investigators to explore further whether Cheney was involved in conspiring to obstruct justice.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022207R.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Cheney
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Libby
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Rumsfeld