OpEdNews - Diary: DON'T JUST ASK GATES QUESTIONS; DIG DEEP

"...both parties who will be more interested in scoring political points, providing non-substantive drama in the form of hotly posed - but thoroughly scripted - questions? Or will there be some other form of non-inquiry?"

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DIANE'S NEWS CLIPS begins here :)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> IF LINK DOESN'T WORK, THEN PASTE ARTICLE LINK(S) INTO YOUR BROWSER -- OR GO DIRECTLY TO >> http://www.truthout.org Winslow T. Wheeler | Don't Just Ask Gates Questions; Dig Deep http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/113006C.shtml Winslow T. Wheeler writes: "Are we doomed to a Grade B political Kabuki dance between nominee Gates and the various senators from both parties who will be more interested in scoring political points, providing non-substantive drama in the form of hotly posed - but thoroughly scripted - questions? Or will there be some other form of non-inquiry?" ----- NOW | Norman Lear: Why Is the Media Not Serving the Public Interest? http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/113006U.shtml Public opinion polls unanimously show that trust in mainstream media - the institution most responsible for keeping us all informed and aware - is at an all-time low. How did we get here, and more importantly, how can we repair the damage? This time on NOW. ----- Robert Scheer | Learning to Live With the Ayatollahs http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/113006D.shtml Robert Scheer writes: "The White House is desperately twisting itself into knots to find a way out of an Iraq debacle sure to top the political agenda in the '08 presidential election. Having idiotically dug ourselves a terribly deep hole in Iraq - remember when protesters against the war were mocked for using the word 'quagmire?' - Bush is now forced to beg Syria and Iran to throw us a rope." ----- US to Send More Troops to Baghdad http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/113006K.shtml America's top military commander has confirmed the United States is sending more troops to Baghdad from other parts of Iraq. ----- Democratic Leaders Seek Special Iraq Envoy to Try to Stem the Violence http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/113006L.shtml ----- FEMA Ordered to Resume Katrina Housing Payments http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/113006O.shtml The Bush administration unconstitutionally denied aid to tens of thousands of Gulf Coast residents displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita and must resume payments immediately, a federal judge ordered yesterday. ----- Alleged CIA Torture Victim Speaks Out http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/113006F.shtml ----- Global Warming Urgent Say Unions for 10,000 EPA Workers http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/113006EA.shtml Union representatives for more than 10,000 US Environmental Protection Agency scientists are calling on Congress to take immediate action against global warming, according to a petition that calls for an end to censorship of agency scientists and other specialists on topics of climate change and the effects of air pollution. ----- Justices' First Brush With Global Warming http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/113006EB.shtml A Supreme Court argument Wednesday on the Bush administration's refusal to regulate carbon dioxide in automobile emissions offered three intertwined plot lines to the audience that had come to watch the court's first encounter with the issue of global climate change. ----- Bush Fails Women With Global AIDS Plan http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/113006HA.shtml Chris Floyd | Pale Fire and London Fog http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/113006J.shtml Chris Floyd writes: "Everyone knows that Russian exile Alexander Litvinenko was killed by radiation poisoning in London last month. But beyond that bare fact, almost nothing is clear about the case. The truth has disappeared, probably forever, into the shadowlands - that murky confluence of crime, violence, money and politics where so much of the real business of the world is conducted." ----- Ohio County May Junk E-Voting Machines http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/113006M.shtml Officials in the state's most populous county are considering scrapping touch-screen voting machines for the 2008 presidential election. ----- FOCUS | Iraq Study Group to Call for Troop "Pullback" http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/113006Z.shtml ----- H.E. Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad | Letter to the American People http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/113006N.shtml ----- J. Sri Raman | Force-Fed Sharmila Fights On for Freedom From Armed Oppression http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/113006P.shtml ----- Kelpie Wilson | The Fallible Patriarch http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/113006R.shtml Kelpie Wilson writes about Pope Benedict XVI's statements regarding Islam as well as his belief in prohibiting condom use, "There is not much evidence of logic, fair play or compassion in Pope Benedict's dealings with families, women and now, with the Islamic religion itself." ----- Catholics Urge Pope Benedict XVI to Lift Ban on Condoms http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/113006HB.shtml ----- Congress to Look at Voting Problems http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/113006S.shtml ----- Secrets, Lies, and Sweatshops .. http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/113006LB.shtml _________________________________ Talking Points Memo 11.30.06 IT REALLY DOES seem as though the cardinals of DC punditry are constitutionally incapable of believing that George W. Bush has ever -- in the real sense -- gotten anything wrong or that they, the Washington establishment, has gotten anything wrong over the last six years. I don't like to use such words but I can only think to call the denial and buck-passing sickening. I can't think of another word that captures the gut reaction. Here's the lede to Mort Kondracke's new column in Roll Call (emphasis added) ... >> http://www.rollcall.com/issues/1_1/breakingnews/16143-1.html All over the world, scoundrels are ascendant, rising on a tide of American weakness. It makes for a perilous future. President Bush bet his presidency - and America's world leadership - on the war in Iraq. Tragically, it looks as though he bit off more than the American people were willing to chew. The U.S. is failing in Iraq. Bush's policy was repudiated by the American people in the last election. And now America's enemies and rivals are pressing their advantage, including Iran, Syria, the Taliban, Sudan, Russia and Venezuela. We have yet to hear from al-Qaida. Let's first take note that the 'blame the American people for Bush's screw-ups' meme has definitely hit ... [snip] Continued >> http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/011343.php _________________________________ Submitted by: http://eddiestinson@gmail.com DEMOCRATS REJECT KEY 911 PANEL SUGGESTION Neither Party Has an Appetite for Overhauling Congressional Oversight of Intelligence By Jonathan Weisman ...Washington Post Staff Writer 11.30.06 It was a solemn pledge, repeated by Democratic leaders and candidates over and over: If elected to the majority in Congress, Democrats would implement all of the recommendations of the bipartisan commission that examined the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001...................... [snip]................................... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/29/AR2006112901317_pf.html _________________________________ [In case you missed this]: U.S. WON'T CONDEMN MASS MURDER AMERICA SUPPORTS ISRAEL'S GENOCIDE OF PALESTINIANS By Richard Walker On Nov. 11, the United States for the 38th time since 1972 used its veto in the UN Security Council to protect Israel from condemnation for murdering Palestinian civilians in the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun. The deaths of the 19 civilians, who included nine children, four women and six men, all from one family, and the injuring of 40 others came at the end of a five-day Israeli military operation in which a total of 50 Palestinians were killed. The 19 who died were asleep in adjoining homes when Israeli artillery shells blew apart their dwellings. http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/u_s__won_t_condemn.html _________________________________ [NEWSDISSECTOR] Oops, Hello, I Must Be Going... BUSH FLIES TO JORDAN, AL-MALIKI FLIES COOP THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS | THE PERSONAL DEBT CRUNCH http://www.newsdissector.com/blog/2006/11/30/oops-i-am-sorry-i-must-be-going/ _________________________________ By Robert Parry ... Why Trust Robert Gates On Iraq? While in charge of the CIA's analytical division in the mid-1980s, Robert M. Gates made wildly erroneous predictions about the dangers posed by leftist-ruled Nicaragua and espoused policy prescriptions considered too extreme even by the Reagan administration, in one case advocating the U.S. bombing of Nicaragua. http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_robert_p_061128_why_trust_robert_gat.htm ----- By Doug Thompson ... Some Uncivil Thoughts About Iraq's Civil War Amazing. Two staunch members of the Legion of Mainstream Media (otherwise known as the LMSM) have declared the debacle in Iraq to be just what it is: a civil war. http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_doug_tho_061128_some_uncivil_thought.htm _________________________________ Excerpted from: http://mediamatters.org Time.com headline proclaimed that Bush "Takes Charge on Iraq," but article, and other reporting, suggest otherwise Read more >> http://mediamatters.org/items/200611300001?src=other ----- Asserting incoming Senate GOP leader's "conciliatory" tone, Wash. Post article left out GOP's dumping of unfinished spending bills on Democrats Read more >> http://mediamatters.org/items/200611290010?src=other ----- Wash. Post's Ignatius cast Hagel as among earliest "national politician[s]" to criticize Iraq war, ignoring his support for 2002 war resolution Read more >> http://mediamatters.org/items/200611290012?src=other _________________________________ Weekly GRIST ..................................OSHA, No He Didn't Federal agency threatens asbestos-warning writer with suspension What if we said a federal agency was pressuring one of its own to weaken an environmental opinion? Crazy, right? But it's true. Again. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a warning this summer that brakes could contain asbestos, putting mechanics at risk for mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis. Three weeks later, former OSHA head John Henshaw apparently requested that the alert be changed to include industry-financed studies saying eh, asbestos isn't so bad. Henshaw -- allegedly linked with firms used by the Big Three automakers to fight asbestos lawsuits -- says the carcinogen is no longer used in the U.S., but critics say otherwise. What to do? Last week, OSHA opted for bullying, by threatening scientist Ira Wainless with a 10-day, unpaid suspension if he didn't change the warning. He has, so far, refused. "It is outrageous," said government-employee union rep Ed Stern, "that OSHA would try to intimidate one of its own scientists for doing his job with integrity." straight to the source: The Baltimore Sun >> http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.osha20nov20,0,5836362.story straight to the source: Asbestos safety and health information bulletin >> http://www.osha.gov/dts/shib/shib072606.html _________________________________ http://www.hanini.org | http://www.vanityfair.com | http://www.currentissues.tv _________________________________ ...................Want to save a buck or two?: ) If you like paying full price, today's Cool Site isn't for you. But if you like to save, you're in for a treat! Many online stores use promo codes. These are similar to coupons. They entitle you to a lower price or free shipping. The codes are generally sent to preferred customers. But you don't have to be a preferred customer to get one. You just need to know where to look! 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This one comes from Canada, to see the others go to our new Hot On the Web section! http://www.break.com/index/houselights3.html _________________________________ NationalGeographic.com http://lava.nationalgeographic.com/pod/ _________________________________ NASA Astronomy picture of the day http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html _________________________________ Leisure tends to corrupt, and absolute leisure corrupts absolutely. ~ Edgar A. Shoaff