ABA: Bush violating Constitution

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/07/24/lawyers.bush.ap/index.html
"The ABA group, which includes a one-time FBI director and former federal appeals court judge, said the president has overstepped his authority in attaching challenges to hundreds of new laws."
"The task force said the (signing) statements suggest the president will decline to enforce some laws. Bush has had more than 800 signing statement challenges, compared with about 600 signing statements combined for all other presidents, the group said."

Vox has blogged about signing statements before (see "Another Bush "signing statement"..." from Friday, March 24,2006)

Here's an amusing quote from one of the supporters of the President's use of signing statements:
"I think it's good that the debate is taking place at a public level,".
What public is he talking about? The public's ignorance is the only way this administration can get away with the GWB version of these signing statements.

- Vox

Afghanistan close to anarchy, warns general

http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,1826479,00.html
"The most senior British military commander in Afghanistan yesterday described the situation in the country as "close to anarchy" with feuding foreign agencies and unethical private security companies compounding problems caused by local corruption."

U.S. OKs rushing bombs to Israel

You have got to be kidding.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/07/22/MNGTRK3SDG1.DTL&feed=rss.news
"Bush administration is rushing a delivery of precision-guided bombs to Israel, which requested the expedited shipment last week after beginning its air campaign against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, U.S. officials said Friday."
"The new U.S. arms shipment to Israel has not been announced publicly, and the officials who described the administration's decision to rush the munitions to Israel would discuss it only after being promised anonymity. The officials included employees of two government agencies, and one described the shipment as just one example of a broad array of armaments that the United States has long provided Israel"

Oh, and get this: "Its disclosure threatens to anger Arab governments and others because of the appearance (emphasis by Vox) that the United States is actively aiding the Israeli bombing campaign."
Appearance?!?!?!?!

The US will feel the negative repercussions of our support of the oppressive Israeli Government and the IDF for years, perhaps decades to come.

- Vox

Republican lawmakers losing positive tone on course of war

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/07/22/MNGIHK3KE11.DTL&feed=rss.news
During a debate last month, Gutknecht intoned, "Members, now is not the time to go wobbly." This week, he conceded "I guess I didn't understand the situation,"...

WHAT A DUNCE! How many troops and innocent civilians have to DIE before these dopes in congress "understand the situation"?
Or perhaps they do understand the situation?
Perhaps it's no coincidence that his illumination comes around mid-term election time?

It doesn't take much to find more accurate media sources on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Don't rely on the mainstream. THINK INDEPENDENTLY.

- Vox

How free are we? Ruling sets a bad precedent.

Judge Orders Teen to Cancer Treatment
"A judge ruled Friday that a 16-year-old boy fighting to use alternative treatment for his cancer (emphasis by Vox) must report to a hospital by Tuesday and accept treatment that doctors deem necessary,..."
"The judge also found Starchild Abraham Cherrix's parents were neglectful for allowing him to pursue alternative treatment of a sugar-free, organic diet and herbal supplements supervised by a clinic in Mexico,..."

Are we not free to choose the diet on which we raise our children?
Do we not have the right to choose the life-effecting treatment our (minor)children are given?
Who has made the determination that so-called "alternative" treatments are ineffective? Especially regarding cancer?
Does the "State" know better how to raise our kids, or is it "Big Pharma"?

- Vox

Teacher under fire for his Cheney-9/11 theory

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/07/21/Sept.11.prof.ap/index.html
"MADISON, Wisconsin (AP) -- More than 60 state lawmakers are urging the University of Wisconsin-Madison to fire an instructor who has argued that the U.S. government orchestrated the September 11 terrorist attacks."
"Republican Rep. Steve Nass said the lawmakers' letter, which called Barrett's views "academically dishonest," sends a strong message to top U.W. leaders."

I look forward to the day when a bright light is shed on the events of Sept. 11, 2001, so that the masses will then see that the "official" reporting of these events is acedemically and intellectually "dishonest".

- Vox

Evidence Chicago Police Tortured Suspects

http://abcnews.go.com/US/LegalCenter/wireStory?id=2211448
"CHICAGO Jul 19, 2006 (AP)— Special prosecutors investigating allegations that police tortured nearly 150 black suspects in the 1970s and '80s said Wednesday they found evidence of abuse, but any crimes are now too old to prosecute."
"In three of the cases, the prosecutors said the evidence was strong enough to have warranted indictments and convictions."
...""Regrettably, we have concluded that the statute of limitations would bar any prosecution of any offenses our investigation has disclosed," the prosecutors said. The statute of limitations on the allegations is three years."

What I want to know is: How many of these suspects whose confessions were beaten out of them were actually innocent of the crimes they were charged with?

Oh, and by the way, what were the at home occupations of most of those responsible for the Abu Ghraid abuses? "...prison guards or corrections officials..." (from the Taguba report).

- Vox

Civil war spreads across Iraq as bomb at Shia mosque kills 59

Lest we forget.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article1185356.ece
"In the past 10 days, while the world has been absorbed by the war in Lebanon, sectarian massacres have started to take place on an almost daily basis, leading observers to fear a level of killing approaching that of Rwanda immediately before the genocide of 1994. On a single spot on the west bank of the Tigris river in north Baghdad, between 10 and 12 bodies have been drifting ashore every day."

- Vox

The "Ghetto Tax"

We all know it exists. But, as always, it takes acknowledgement by the RWM to validate it.

Here's the article in the NY Times:
Study Documents ‘Ghetto Tax’ Being Paid by the Urban Poor
"Drivers from low-income neighborhoods of New York, Hartford and Baltimore, insuring identical cars and with the same driving records as those from middle-class neighborhoods, paid $400 more on average for a year’s insurance."
"The poor are also the main customers for appliances and furniture at “rent to own” stores, where payments are stretched out at very high interest rates; in Wisconsin, a $200 television can end up costing $700."

Click here for the actual article by The Brookings Institute.

- Vox

On Afghanistan

Lest we forget...

Coalition vows to oust Taliban from Afghan towns
""The Taliban extremists have taken control of the areas of Garmser and Naway-i-Barakzayi. However, coalition forces do have them under observation (emphasis added by Vox)," military spokesman Col. Tom Collins told reporters in Kabul."

Huh? Under observation? - Vox

War on Afghan opium farming an "absolute disaster"
"Afghanistan is set to produce its largest ever opium crop, with the biggest rise in Helmand province, where British troops are engaged in combat with the Taliban, western officials said."

Two words: TOTAL SHAMBLES.

- Vox

Elvis. Tupac. Ken Lay?

Make sure you check that casket! (oh, that's right, he was cremated. Hmm...)

Reports: British Banker Found Dead
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/071206T.shtml
"LONDON (AP) -- A British banker who was questioned by U.S. authorities in connection with the Enron scandal has been found dead, British media said Wednesday. The man's body was found Tuesday in a park in east London, but police declined to identify him."

Probably nothing, but you know I don't believe in coincidences.

- Vox

What a joke

Israel's last resort
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/435068p-366373c.html
"Eleven months ago, Israel withdrew from every last inch of the Gaza Strip. They dismantled all military bases, turned over functioning greenhouses that could employ 4,000 people, expelled all 7,500 Israeli settlers at a huge financial and political cost and declared the lines that divide Israel from Gaza to be an international frontier, making Gaza the first independent Palestinian territory ever." (huh? - Vox)
..."At first, the Israelis tried nonlethal deterrence - diplomatic warnings, then sonic booms from jets. They failed. It was a sad demonstration of the truth in the metaphor that in the Middle East, the law of wild nature applies: An animal that is perceived as weak invites attack. The Israelis fell back on targeted assassinations against terrorist leadership, despite the unavoidable risk that nonterrorists might be killed since the terrorists - cynically and callously - hide among civilians."

This article from the publisher of the NY Daily News, Mort Zuckerman, is so biased and so full of revisionist history it's scary.
I wonder if this escalation by Israel is the bait for Iran, which would allow the US to use force on them. Lets see how it plays out.

- Vox

Halliburton update

Halliburton to lose exclusive Army deal
"Under the deal, Halliburton had exclusive rights to provide the military with a wide range of work that included keeping soldiers around the globe fed, sheltered and in communication with friends and family back home. Government audits turned up more than $1 billion in questionable costs. Whistle-blowers told how the company charged $45 per case of soda, double-billed on meals and allowed troops to bathe in contaminated water."

I found this amusing:
""By all accounts, KBR's logistical achievements in support of the troops in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan have been nothing short of amazing," company spokeswoman Melissa Norcross said in a statement."

Don't break your arm patting yourself on the back!

- Vox

Were soldiers killed by Iraqis as retribution?

U.S. probes link to civilian rape, death
"The rarity of kidnappings of U.S. troops -- only one other is missing in Iraq -- and the apparent complexity and brutality of the attack in Yousifiya have investigators looking further into the possible connections. Another American soldier was killed in the attack."
"The attack on the three American soldiers working alone at a checkpoint in Yousifiya, near Mahmoudiya, occurred in June. One soldier, Spc. David J. Babineau, 25, of Springfield, Mass., was killed immediately. The others, Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston and Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore., were kidnapped. When found, they had been beheaded and their bodies were brutalized."
"It was during counseling following the deaths of the three soldiers that military officials learned about the allegations that Americans, not insurgents, were responsible for the quadruple killing in Mahmoudiya."

Also very interesting:
"In Iraq yesterday, another high-ranking Iraqi official was briefly kidnapped on the outskirts of Baghdad. Gunmen seized the deputy minister of electricity and his 11 bodyguards as they were traveling toward the city in a four-car caravan."
"The minister, Raad Hareth, was ambushed by gunmen dressed in security force uniforms at a fake checkpoint and his bodyguards offered no resistance, officials. He was released last night with no explanation."

- Vox

DISGRACE

Iraq war vet charged with murder, rape of Iraqis
"Prosecutors said Green and other soldiers entered the home of a family of Iraqi civilians, where he and others raped a member of the family before Green shot her and three of her relatives to death."
"The Washington Post reported Monday that the rape victim was a 15-year-old girl and that her mother had worried her daughter had attracted the attention of U.S. soldiers..."

In case you haven't been paying attention to this case, THIS WILL BE WHAT PUSHES THIS CONFLICT IN IRAQ OVER THE EDGE!
WHEN WILL WE BELIEVE THAT AL QUEDA IS NOT THE THREAT TO OUR SOLDIERS IN IRAQ? WHEN WILL WE REALIZE THAT MOST OF THE SO-CALLED INSURGENTS ARE NOT FOREIGNERS BUT IRAQIS WHO WILL FIGHT AND FIGHT AND FIGHT AGAINST US AS LONG AS OUR SOLDIERS OCCUPY THEIR HOMELAND? WE ARE THE BIGGEST ENEMY OF ALL IRAQI PEOPLE. And if you don't believe that, well it doesn't matter. All that matters is that the Iraqis believe that. That is what fuels this resistance. LET'S STOP CALLING IT AND INSURGENCY. IT IS A RESISTENCE!

Also, notice how one of the accused is and "EX"-soldier. A 21-yr old "EX"-soldier who served in Iraq. Gee, I wonder how the timeline worked for that?
Ask yourself: Why do we fear a "timetable"? Change your thinking. Bring our soldiers home.

- a shamed and frustrated Vox

Fla.-made microchip to be used in volunteers with memory loss

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060702/APF/607020769
"Four hospitals in Puerto Rico will begin implanting a Florida.m.ade microchip the size of a rice grain in patients who suffer from illnesses that cause memory loss, like Alzheimer's disease,..."

Did you know: "VeriChip...has implanted more than 2,500 people worldwide with chips that give hospitals access to their identification, which is used to retrieve medical information from an Internet database."

Pay attention.

- Vox

Report: US-led Afghan mission is failing

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0629/dailyUpdate.html
"The Independent reports that the group, which specializes in drug policies, predicts violence in the south of the country will escalate because the Taliban has been so effective at exploiting the anger "felt by farmers at the destruction of opium crops and by civilians who have suffered in US-led operations.""

Also, NATO deplores that the international community has forgotten Afghanistan
"Kabul - The international community does not listen to the Afghan government enough and has allowed itself to be distracted by the war in Iraq, which has allowed the Taliban to regain power in Afghanistan, the Head of NATO forces in the country, General Dave Richards, declared."
"We didn't do enough in the south," General Richards also acknowledged. "The population in the south has benefited very little from the billions of aid dollars spent in Afghanistan by the international community, while the region is the cradle of the 'students of religions' movement," he further judged.

It's only a matter of time before we lose control and influence over BOTH Afghanistan AND Iraq. And that's not skepticism, that's reality.

- Vox