OpEdNews - Diary: GATES HEARING HAS NEW URGENCY

Senators who were inclined to rubber-stamp Gates's nomination may have reason to think twice."

::::::::

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 Robert Parry | Gates Hearing Has New Urgency http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120406K.shtml Robert Parry writes, "George W. Bush's back-of-the-hand to the Baker-Hamilton Commission's Iraq War troop drawdown plan - and the disclosure that Bush ousted Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld after he sought a major shift in war policy - has given new urgency to the December 5 hearings on Robert M. Gates to be Bush's new Pentagon chief. Senators who were inclined to rubber-stamp Gates's nomination may have reason to think twice." ----- R.W. Behan | The Surreal Politics of Premeditated War http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120406P.shtml R.W. Behan writes, "Ron Suskind of the New York Times learned how the Bush administration works, from a 'senior advisor to Bush' (Karl Rove is a suspect): 'We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality.' They have done that, incessantly, and it is the source of the surrealism. Spins, evasions, omissions, jingoisms, distortions, 'perception management' (i.e., propaganda), and deliberate lying, all contribute to a political discourse adrift from what is honest, true, and reliable." ----- Paul Krugman | Two More Years http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120406B.shtml Paul Krugman writes: "We need people in Washington who are willing to stand up to the bully in chief. Unfortunately, and somewhat mysteriously, they're still in short supply." ----- Tom Engelhardt | How to Stay in Iraq http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120406H.shtml Tom Engelhardt writes: "On Wednesday, at the end of a gestation period nearly long enough to produce a human baby, the Baker committee - by now, according to the Washington Post's Robin Wright, practically 'a parallel policy establishment' - will hand over to the president its eagerly anticipated 'consensus' report, its 'compromise' plan that takes the 'middle road,' that occupies a piece of inside-the-Beltway 'middle ground,' and that will almost certainly be the policy equivalent of a still birth. Whatever satisfaction it briefly offers, it might as well be sent directly to the Baghdad morgue." ----- The House of Death http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120406L.shtml When 12 bodies were found buried in the garden of a Mexican house, it seemed like a case of drug-linked killings. But the trail led to Washington and a cover-up that went right to the top. David Rose reports from El Paso. ----- William Fisher | Bush's Second-Biggest Mistake http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120406A.shtml ----- US Rendition Foiled in Norway .. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120406C.shtml ----- Brown vs. Board of Education Could Be in Jeopardy http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120406E.shtml With the arrival of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., civil rights lawyers believe there may be a five-member majority determined to strike down race-based integration programs. ----- Justice Breyer: Justices Must Protect Minorities' Rights http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120406F.shtml ----- Democrats Who Opposed War Move Into Key Positions http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120406D.shtml ----- Annan Calls Iraq a Civil War; 9 US Troops Killed, 50 Iraqi Bodies Found http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120406J.shtml Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary general, said Sunday that Iraq had descended into a civil war that was even deadlier and more anarchic than the 15-year sectarian bloodshed that tore apart Lebanon. "When we had the strife in Lebanon and other places, we called that a civil war; this is much worse," Mr. Annan said in an interview with the BBC. On Monday, 50 bodies had been found in Baghdad and nine US soldiers had been killed. ----- Report Finds Afghan Police Poorly Trained By US http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120406N.shtml [snip] ... managers of the $1.1 billion training program cannot say how many officers are actually on duty or where thousands of trucks and other equipment issued to police units have gone. ----- White House Under Fire Over Iraq Memos http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120406M.shtml ----- DOE Proposes Nuclear Waste Dumps for 11 Communities http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/120406EA.shtml ----- Dingell Seeks Energy and Commerce Oversight http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/120406EB.shtml "There has been literally no oversight in the last six years," Representative John Dingell (D-Mich.), incoming chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, told Muckraker yesterday. "It's been nothing more than Kabuki theater."................ [snip] ----- Bolton Resigns From UN ... http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120406Z.shtml ----- Cindy Sheehan | Respecting the Murdered? In Search of Peace http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120406R.shtml ----- Lame-Duck Congress May Be Lamest Ever http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120406S.shtml ----- J. Sri Raman | Sri Lanka's Silenced Constituency http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120406T.shtml ----- VIDEO | Keith Olbermann: We Fight for Liberty by Having More Liberty and Not Less http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120106S.shtml _________________________________ .ron corvuswire@verizon.net : Jimmy's new book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid" Jimmy Carter says Israel is holding over 300 Palestinian children in Israeli prisons - some as young as 12 years old. Jimmy Carter says Israel's incarceration of children constitutes a violation of the Geneva Conventions and international law. Israel also denies the Palestinian parents of those incarcerated Palestinian children visitation rights. Jimmy's new book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid" confronts Israeli crimes committed against Palestinians inside Palestine. President Carter appeared on C-SPAN 2 tonight discussing his latest book when a female caller called in and called President Carter an anti-semite. Jimmy handled her with the utmost dignity and class, despite the caller's total lack of dignity and class. .r o n _________________________________ Submitted by: http://jablankfort@earthlink.net ISRAEL IS ON FRESHMAN LAWMAKERS' TO-DO LIST By Alana Y. Price and Lindsay Blakely ... Times Washington Bureau WASHINGTON | New office on Capitol Hill? Check. Orientation to congressional protocols? Check. All-expense paid trip to Israel? Add that to the freshman lawmaker's calendar. click here ----- JEWISH GROUPS TO CHALLENGE ETHICS REFORM The lobby is not really worried. They stopped this last year and whatever piece of legislation passes there will be a large loophole that can well be called, "the Israeli exemption." Pelosi has already committed herself to Israel and she is not about to break her commitments. (Notice the headline says "Jewish" not "Zionist" groups. Perhaps, the language enforcers in the movement who always tell us to say "Zionist" not "Jewish" should be told about this. >> Jewish Groups To Challenge Ethics Reform Aipac, UJC To Face Off With Dems on Junkets, Earmarks Nathan Guttman: http://www.forward.com/articles/jewish-groups-to-challenge-ethics-reform/ _________________________________ Excerpted from: http://onlinejournal.com Federal government launches marketing campaign for psychiatric industry By Richard A. Warner | Online Journal Contributing Writer Under the guise of combating the stigma of mental illness, the U.S. government will soon begin a massive campaign of psychiatric indoctrination, designed to increase the acceptance of psychiatric chemical imbalance theories and labeling, and to pave the way for national psychiatric screening, driving more Americans into seeking psychiatric drug treatment. http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_1480.shtml ----- Selective outrage over assassinations By Linda S. Heard | Online Journal Contributing Writer A Lebanese minister is shot at point blank range and the US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, almost had apoplexy trying to indict Syria for the crime without actually mouthing "Damascus." The pro-Zionist presidential appointee was later unable to contain himself, warning there would be "a serious problem" if Damascus were to be implicated. http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_1479.shtml ----- The Iraq Study Group: Official damage control and cover-up By Larry Chin | Online Journal Associate Editor The Iraq Study Group (ISG) is a "bipartisan task force" created by the US Congress in response to the failure of the Bush administration to better manage the occupation of Iraq. Mainstream media reporting and official statements from Washington have characterized the ISG as proof of a "shift towards diplomacy" in the Middle East. These same reports cite the sponsorship of the so-called US Institute for Peace as evidence that the ISG represents a "change of course." In fact, the ISG is another official damage control apparatus, spearheaded by notorious Western political and corporate elites, former military intelligence officers, and "experts" from right-wing and intelligence-connected Western think tanks -- one of which is the US Institute for Peace itself. http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_1481.shtml _________________________________ Excerpts from: OpEdNews Bush Authorizes Pentagon To Resume 'Certain Types' Of Training To Latin American Militas >> http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/link.html?id=27137 ----- Bush May Lift Alaska Oil Drilling Ban As Early Christmas Present To Oil Companies The Spoiler-in-Chief is deciding whether to lift a ban on oil and gas drilling in federal waters off Alaska's Bristol Bay, home to endangered whales and sea lions and the world's largest sockeye salmon run. >> http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/link.html?id=27125 ----- Kafka And Katrina This week a US District Court judge found that FEMA's aid application process was so convoluted and confusing as to be unconstitutional' - and likened it to something out of a horror story by Kafka. >> http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/link.html?id=27127 _________________________________ NOTE from Diane in the New World Ordwell of the 'Rumsfeld Memo': Excuse me, but when you consider how truthful this administration has been from day one and before, why are pundits giving credence to the so-called 'Rumsfeld memo'? I'm living in the twilight zone. Even that series makes more sense than this. It doesn't end -- true is false, fake is real. Beam me up, I've had it ... almost. And what is wrong with programmers? Doesn't the Countdown/Olbermann explosion prove telling the truth is actually a viable commodity? Selling one's soul is becoming so, so ... retro. When are they going to get it? I'm not getting any younger. _________________________________ Submitted by: http://Rockysma1@msn.com US RIDES WEAPONS WAVE By Frida Berrigan War, instability and high oil prices have created a perfect storm of profit for the world's weapons manufacturers. This year, military analysts predict the biggest arms bonanza since 1993, which is saying something, because in the aftermath of the first Gulf War the global industry reaped the benefits of a US $42 billion arms race. As the world's largest producer and exporter, the United States is riding the wave. For fiscal year 2006, which ended on September 31, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) churned out notices for $21 billion in arms sales offers. In most cases, that agency is required to notify Congress of all potential major arms deals worth more than $14 million. In one typical day - September 28 - the DSCA issued notification on $5.5 billion in agreements. South Korea would get $1.5 billion in Patriot missile equipment and other hardware, Turkey was offered a $2.9 billion package including 30 F-16 fighter planes, while Jordan and Chile were also offered weapons packages. .......................... [snip] Continued >> http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/HK21Dj03.html _________________________________ People who flavor their diets with plenty of onions and garlic might have lower odds of several types of cancer, a new study suggests. In an analysis of eight studies from Italy and Switzerland, researchers found that older adults with the highest onion and garlic intakes had the lowest risks of a number of cancers- including colon, ovarian and throat cancers. The findings appear in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Full Story >> http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061201/hl_nm/onions_garlic_dc _________________________________ http://www.commondreams.org | http://english.aljazeera.net | http://www.rawstory.com _________________________________ VUNLERABILITIES FOUND IN ADOBE READER AND ACROBAT Recently discovered flaws in Adobe Reader and Acrobat could cause the program to crash. Additionally, they could allow a hacker to take over an affected computer. This flaw affects Adobe Reader 7.0.0 through 7.0.8. It also affects both Standard and Professional versions of Acrobat 7.0.0 through 7.0.8. The flaw can only be exploited in Internet Explorer on Windows machines. Adobe is currently working on a patch. In the meantime you can use Firefox. Or you can use a workaround for Internet Explorer. Browse to C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\ActiveX. Delete AcroPDF.dll. The workaround will prevent PDF files from opening in Internet Explorer. If you click on a PDF link, you may be prompted to save the file on your hard drive. Or, a separate instance of Acrobat may open. Be sure to listen to me Monday through Friday. Use my map to find me near you http://www.komando.com/listen/index.aspx _________________________________ eHEALTHY NEWS Ketek: Why Did the FDA Approve This Deadly Antibiotic? - The study that purportedly demonstrated this drug's safety was so rife with fabrications that it led to jail sentences. click here ----- Americans are Sicker Than Most of the World - Even wealthy Americans have higher rates of diabetes, heart disease, strokes, and cancer than people in other countries. http://www.mercola.com/2006/may/18/americans_are_sicker_than_most_of_the_world.htm _________________________________ VIDEO: Dinner With Christopher Walken 2:27 8/3/2006 - This is a hilarious clip from the Lance Krall show on Spike TV. This dude pranks a restaurant and makes a dinner reservation as Christopher Walken. Amazing how much this dude sounds like him. http://www.break.com/movies/dinner_with_chris_walken.html _________________________________ NationalGeographic.com http://lava.nationalgeographic.com/pod/ _________________________________ NASA Astronomy picture of the day http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html _________________________________ Christmas is the season when you buy this year's gifts with next year's money. ~ Author Unknown