Friday, May 9:

Beyond Unity - What Obama Needs Now Remarkably good analysis that Obama has failed to make the case he could actually be a good president and run the government effectively. He has said that he is not an operating officer and running the bureaucracy is not his job.

John Martin: Obama supporters to Clinton supporters: IT'S YOUR HOUSE, TOO! With the competitive part of the Democratic campaign now over, it's time for the Obama supporters to welcome the Clinton supporters into the fold.

Project Vote: Counter-Framing Voter ID: Voting is a Right, Not a Privilege Project Vote normally uses this update to give news roundups on voting rights-related stories from the past week. However, with the reverberations from the Supreme Court's Crawford vs. Marion County voter identification decision just starting to filter down into statehouses across the country, we felt it was necessary to spend this update concentrating solely on voter ID, giving progressives a concise summary of the problems a

Japanese People Tell Bush "No More War" Despite Bush Administration Pressure, the Japanese People Continue to Say "No More War", in keeping with Article Nine of their Constitution, WHICH WAS WRITTEN FOR THEM BY THE U.S. AFTER THEIR WW2 DEFEAT. By Ann Wright

David Michael Green: It's So Over Give it up, already, Hillary.

Mike Folkerth: Can This Economy Get Worse? Can and Will: Americans stand in amazement at the gas pump and grocery checkout saying things such as, "This is ridiculous." There is nothing ridiculous about it except our total disconnect with reality.

Bob Ryley: Dear Hillary: Now I Really Am Bitter...... At You Commentary on Hillary Clinton's comments regarding her alleged support among white no-college graduates and lower income white voters.

Thursday, May 8:

Jayne Lyn Stahl: Rocky Times Out (9 comments) Knowing when to leave the ring is half the battle.

chris rice: Big Oil Wants to Attack Iran (8 comments) How Big Oil runs America's foriegn policy.

Brad Friedman: *Keeping Vets from Voting (7 comments) GOP Photo-ID Requirement is vote suppression.

Ed Tubbs: The low-down on McCain's low-down voting record (3 comments) "You don't have to steal votes if you can prevent them from ever being cast. And so far, the Republicans have eliminated six million registered Democrats from the lists of those eligible and previously registered to vote in November's election."

How business starves the world's poor If the farmer gets less, the consumer pays more and the supermarket makes more, where's all the profit in the food chain going? EU agriculture commissioner, Mariann Fischer Boel says that only about two-thirds of the rise in food prices we have seen in Europe can be attributed to increases in the cost of ingredients. "Energy, transport and labour costs have risen" and then there are global agri-business firms, speculators

Mark Sashine: Human Coprophagia 3 ½. Russian Immigrants Love Bush! I wrote this as a diary in the Y2005. Now it seems more relevant than ever. Similar to Andy Bard Schmookler I want to explain what I have to endure. Those are my people. I belong to them. BUT!

Mike Malloy: Brokeback Military (4 comments) The Bush Crime Family has nearly destroyed the U.S. Military. So much so, in fact, that now the top commanders are realizing a warm body is a warm body. Gay? Straight? Get real. We need trigger-pullers, lots and lots of them in order to operate within the drooling insanity of the Bush Crime Family's foreign policy - which is: Kill them all! All of them! Let God sort them out!

Dave Lindorff: The Democratic Presidential Race: A View from Pennsylvania Pennsylvania was hard, Hillary was dirty. Maybe Obama needed that.

Debunking the Nader Nastiness A terrific article with great data that should finally set the record straight.

Pat Smith: Veterans vs Amnesty (2 comments) Our government is proposing amnesty for 20 million illegals, when they can not even help just a few hundred thousand new Veterans. We have an exact number of veterans with a tangible cost to help them. The cost of Amnesty is infinite...

Walter Uhler: Is the United States of America Addicted to War? (2 comments) Based upon both the number of wars involving America, as well as the number of its unnecessary wars, one must ask whether America is addicted to war.

Baldwin Park Democrat: McCain's Medical Records and His Health (1 comments) What do we need to know about the health of a potential President of the United States?

The Re-Education of Jay Leno: A Mother's Day Reminder to Respect Black Women (and all Women) - Between the Lines (5 comments) It was a moment that both he and the audience knew was totally inappropriate. If you've never seen 500 women's face freeze at one moment, it really not a good thing.

Obama's got his groove back Using the Tarheel basketball team as a metaphor, article tells about the year they were ahead in crucial contest, dominated the four corners and and kept the ball in their court. The key requirement is to remain ahead.

The Challenge Of Modern Slavery Almost every product we consume has a hidden dark history, from slave labor to piracy, from counterfeit to fraud, from theft to money laundering. We know very little about these economic secrets because modern consumers live inside the market matrix.

Georgianne Nienaber: Mr. Bill (Oh No!) Takes on Big Shell Oil at Jazz Fest

Bob Koehler: Apology Denied In Iraq, Blackwater rules. If we admit the humanity of those they've killed, we've lost.

Sandy Sand: Numbers Rule, But It's Still Too Soon For Hillary To Drop Out Numbers rule, and sometimes we have to take someone's word that they add up or hire a math expert.

Helen Thomas: A Picture Worth A Thousand Words (1 comments) Too often in this war, the news media seem to have tried to shield the public from the suffering this war has brought to Americans and Iraqis. It’s not the job of the media to protect the nation from the reality of war. Rather, it is up to the media to tell the people the truth. They can handle it.

Bob Burnett: Clinton's Last Stand (2 comments) Tuesday, May 6th, was the decisive night in the struggle for the Democratic nomination. It provided new insight into the character of the two competitors.

Crippled Election Commission (1 comments) The White House is removing a member of the Federal Election Commission for standing up for clean elections, while trying to install another member whose specialty is keeping eligible voters from casting ballots. The Senate, which must confirm nominees, should insist that President Bush appoint commissioners with a proven record of supporting voting rights and fair elections.

Stephen Lendman: Ramzy Baroud's "The Second Palestinian Intifada" (1 comments) Courageous Palestinian resistance against continued Israeli repression. Baroud's book is personal, moving and superb. Highly recommended.

McCain embraces Bush's radical views of executive power According to John McCain, executive power in the US now is exactly what it should be, perfectly in line with what the Founders envisioned -- except that it is too constrained by a judiciary which "show[s] little regard for the authority of the president." To McCain, the only real problem with our system of checks and balances is that the judiciary has too much power, and the President not enough.

Things that don't exist in Harry Reid's world The claim that Lieberman votes with Democrats "on everything but the war" -- made repeatedly by Reid [and two weeks ago in the NYT by "a member of the Senate Democratic leadership" too scared to be quoted (if it's not Reid)] -- is a total falsehood, but nonetheless quite revealing about how the Senate Democratic leadership thinks.

Jalil Bahar: Americans and Iranians Fooled For 30 Years (5 comments) Private Amity, Public Enmity, the secret relationship between US and IRI governments

Allen L Roland: *HILLARY WON'T FACE REALITY / JUST LIKE BUSH Hillary Clinton won't face the hard reality that she was not coronated on Super Tuesday, that she will not win the Democratic nomination and that the Clinton's are part of an inglorious past and not the hopeful future of a newly energized and inclusive Democratic party: Allen L Roland

Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed: Peak Food: Blaming the Victims (1 comments) As food prices rise, the blame game begins. Consumers, Third World breeding, the unrestrained CO2 emissions of irresponsible individuals, among other miscreants, are frequently pinpointed -- almost everyone except the real culprits: the global corporate food industry. Welcome to a dangerous, escalatingly expensive new era of food scarcity --from which even us Westerners have no escape.

Uzi Silber: Going 55, Approaching 60 (2 comments) On the occasion of Israel's 60th anniversary, an American relives events from a seventies childhood in Israel during the morning drive to his cubicle.

amazin: 'Leaders', and what to do about them (2 comments) Do we need leaders like these? How much do you relish your destruction?

Clinton Callahan: BEWARE THE PSYCHOPATH, MY SON... (3 comments) Since psychopaths have no limitations on what they can or will do to get to the top, all hierarchies inevitably become top-heavy with psychopaths. Behind the apparent insanity of contemporary history is the actual insanity of psychopaths, fighting to preserve their disproportionate power while we behave like sheep. Psychopaths lack a genetic sense of remorse or empathy with others, and this deficit shows up in brain scans!

Wednesday, May 7:

Soltz: Pentagon's Spin On GI Bill Is 'Offensive Nonsense' That 'Insults The Intelligence' Of Soldiers The latest spin by the Pentagon isn't just nonsense – it's offensive nonsense, because it insults the intelligence of the service members who recognize that the administration has never been serious about retention. Otherwise, they would have done something about contractors a long, long time ago who target and aggressively pirate US soldiers.

Martha Rose Crow: *Are Vampire Capitalists About to Descend on Crisis Wrought Myanmar? (3 comments) The day Cyclone Nargis slammed into Myanmar, Bush ordered a new round of sanctions on Burmese state companies to pressure the military leadership there over human rights abuses and to push for political change. There appears to be a hidden agenda...

steve young: No Child Left Behind Leaving 70% Of Our Children Behind (5 comments) War has nothing on our failing education system when it comes to extinguishing the futures of our young.

Ann Kramer: Go all the way upstream..... (5 comments) A crisis driven world needs to examine why, despite all our intelligence, we have half the world hungry, millions homeless etc. In this article, the 'domination value system' is explored as the root cause for all of today's crisis.

E Nelson: Has the Reverend Wright Story Run its Course Thanks to the Gas Tax Controversy?

The delusion of markets (2 comments) US market leadership has become the world's most celebrated laggardship. Since late March 2008, we have seen an unbroken series of worsening economic data. February, March and April saw net losses in US employment, stagnant to negative income growth, near zero gross domestic product growth and rising inflation. The most recent 1Q 2008 GDP Advance Estimate from the Bureau of Economic Analysis makes clear just how bad things are

Ernest Partridge: Pity the Poor Mainstream Media! (1 comments) It is very difficult for an old liberal like me to be sympathetic about the plight of the corporate media, given the way they have behaved of late. Here's a plan whereby an independent, internet-based, mass media might be financed, and eventually supplant the (so-called) "mainstream media."

Tom Hayden: Turning Point for Obama, Limbaugh Winning Indiana for Hillary (1 comments) Barack got his game back. Hillary needs a reality check. Barack had the voters at his back against all the forces trying to bring him down. He held his lead in NC, and only the Rush Limbaugh Republican vote stands between Barack and victory in Indiana. Hillary needed two wins. She failed utterly. But she will not stop, not on her own. The superdelegates should intervene tomorrow to send Hillary a message. Out now!

Mike Ghouse: With friends like Clinton, Israel don't need enemies. (2 comments) With friends like Clinton, Jews don't need enemies. Her words fuel the anti-Semitic repressed sentiments among average Americans and certainly evoke anger in the Middle East; where as McCain's Islamophobic attitude fuels terrorist outfits like Al-Qaeda. Do we need these two to run our nation down?

earl ofari hutchinson: McCain Didn't Need to Rap Obama to Relax Evangelicals (1 comments) Republican presidential candidate John McCain feigned fury at Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama for voting against the confirmation of Supreme Court justice John Roberts. This was not simply a cheap political shot at Obama, since Hillary Clinton, and 20 other Democrats also opposed Robert's confirmation.

Executive or Imperial Branch? More memos recently have surfaced that were written early in the Bush administration by John C. Yoo from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel -- the man who gave us the administration's horrifyingly narrow definition of torture. As difficult as it is to believe, the recently released memos are even scarier than the original torture memo.

J. Edward Tremlett: The BNP - As Bad as You Think They Are (10 comments) Now that the British National Party has actually gotten somewhere in its drive to win respectability, and elections, it's time to pull the curtain away from the propaganda and reveal them for what they were, and still are -- White Separatists with a racist agenda.

Mission Impossible The Times asked nine military “experts” to each write a blurb on the “significant challenges facing the US and Iraqi leadership and propose one specific step to help overcome that challenge. Three currently hold positions with the deliriously hawkish AEI. Seven supported or participated in the war from its infancy. Four currently support the US occupation of Iraq without any mention of a troop reduction.

Stephen Fox: Dalai Lama's Translator Lhalungpa's widow forgives Driver; Dalai Lama expresses condolences; New NM DWI Legislation (2 comments) In Memorial Service honoring Lhalungpa, his wife Gisela Minke stated she had no anger, only sorrow, towards Santo Domingo Pueblo DWI driver; Drepung monks chant farewells with family's speeches; serious legislation proposed for New Mexico. All Americans have been touched by the ghastly tragedies resultant from DWI fatalities; when will we get smart like Norway and take away all driving permanently after first DWI offensE?

Melina Brown: Sam Seder and Marc Maron; Air America's Wrestlemania Meets American Idol. What if You Threw a Contest and No-One Came? (2 comments) Air America Radio is holding a competition of sorts to choose the new host for their 3-6PM drive time slot. In doing this they are asking for input from listeners as to who will be another voice for the left. I urge all readers to contact Air America and to let them know who you feel represents you best: smart, insightful, liberal veterans or the likes of Roseanne Barr or Joy Behar. Sign in to AAR and let them know your choice

George Washington: No Brain Cell Left Behind (3 comments) "No Child Left Behind" leaves no brain cells behind for kids to learn how to think for themselves

Saleem Khan: Russia After May 8 The future of Russia after the election may be dependent upon its history--and a lot of factors that are not commonly understood in the West.

Idea of the Day: Eliminate the Employer Social Security Payroll Tax Cap (1 comments) Eliminate the payroll tax cap on the employer side to make businesses pay Social Security taxes on all of the income of the highest paid employers, just like they do for those earning less than $97,500. This is the fairest way to help shore up the finances of Social Security.

Jump-Starting Local Economies As Congress brings to the floor two crucial bills to address the crisis in U.S. housing markets, the Center for American Progress has found that the positive effect of the legislation will spread far beyond the estimated 500,000 at-risk borrowers to be helped through refinancing opportunities.

The End of the Clinton Era (2 comments) With her defeat in North Carolina and a narrow lead in Indiana, the race is over for Clinton. Barring a miracle, Barack Obama will become the Democratic Party's nominee. His lead may be narrow, but it's a gap that can no longer be closed.

Iraq's 'Special Groups': A 'Useful Fiction' for Bush Admin In a story on the continuing fighting in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood, the LA Times reports that "the U.S. military has tied itself into a verbal knot as it tries to avoid further inflaming tensions with Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr while confronting members of his Mahdi Army militia."

Ed Komarek: Shadow Government, Precursor to Global Holocaust? (3 comments) The greatest threat to American and global security is shadow government. This shadow government is a cancer on democratic society and must be exposed and brought under ligitimate constitutional control.

Deborah Emin: It Really Does Matter How Politicians Behave Using the case of Rep. Vito Fossella's drunk driving charges as a case for holding all politicians to the law and its consequences when broken.

Paul Donovan: Will the Olympic Torch Pass Through Iraq? Pass the Hypocrites Bean Dip China, the Olympics, Bush and the Dalai Lama, Nancy Pelosi, lies

Mark Sashine: May 9. Glory and Sorrow. (3 comments) This is my traditional article and I am in a hurry. On May 9 there will be a Victory Parade in Moscow but I will not have an access to a computer. Traditions, though, must be preserved. On this day of Glory and Sorrow I, a US citizen of the Russian/Jewish origin do my duty and express my everlasting gratitude to those who won the WWII- to the Russian soldiers.

David Swanson: Clinton Must Now Win 90 to 10 or Quit (2 comments) It's reached a point that everyone has known for months it had to reach, the point at which even people paid to do so cannot keep it going with a straight face.

Ann Weaver Hart: Bush to Block Foreclosure Relief Bush sides with big business again, calls help for homeowners in trouble a "bailout."

George Washington: WANTED: Dead or Alive . . . REWARD! (1 comments) WANTED: Confirmation of whether or not the Constitution is DEAD or ALIVE.

Stewart Nusbaumer: Missing The Clinton Party Again, the Clinton Black List sends me to a seedy bar.

Stuart Nachbar: A Student Government Election Made for TV-The Sequel A high school student election is declared a do-over, and the do-over will be done over again.

Steven Leser: Barack Obama is the new Comeback Kid History will record May 6, 2008 as the day when Senator Barack Obama sealed the Democratic nomination for President.

Deb Della Piana: Move over, Nancy. You may have taken impeachment off the table, but Shirley Golub is determined to put it back on! Meet Shirley Golub, a grassroots activist challenging the powerful Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco's 8th district this June. In a wide-ranging interview, Shirley lays her cards on the table about her uphill, but winnable battle.

Dean Powers: Worldwide: Headlines Change As Night Wears On, NYTimes Steady The headlines at the Los Angeles Times, Yahoo.com and elsewhere changed ominously over the course of the night like the barometer on a fishing vessel on calm dark waters: the eerie readout indicating something big on the way.

Dwayne Hunn: *Winning strategy for Scott Ritter, Sun Tzu, and our Constitutional goal of promoting the general welfare Americans are capable of building and leading a strategy to change the character of America's public policy to one that successfully wages peace via pushing People's Lobby's citizen-initiated American World Service Corps (AWSC) Congressional Proposals. For a nation founded on "We the people..." having citizen-initiated legislation change the world should not be considered too far "out of the box."

TheSeeker: McCain's Genie in the Bottle. McCain may be long in the tooth but with this mastermind steering his campaign, there may be some surprises in store for the Democrats.

David Glenn Cox: My Last Day of Work How could this happen to me? My sector, my department, had always been the best in our employee evaluations. In every category we scored in the highest possible percentile; efficiency, timeliness, loyalty, patriotism, and yes, even in dogma, we were number one. So how could this happen? It must be a mistake, that's it! A mistake,

Bruce K. Gagnon: REPORT ON TRIP TO BRAZIL FOR GLOBAL GREENS CONGRESS My task was to speak about the impacts of militarism on climate change at Global Greens conference.

Mike Ghouse: With friends like Clinton, Israelis don't need enemies. (1 comments) With friends like Clinton, Jews don't need enemies. Her words fuel the anti-Semitic repressed sentiments among average Americans and certainly evoke anger in the Middle East; where as McCain fuels Islamophobia. Do we need these two to run our nation down? Absolutely not!

Dennis Diehl: Is We Better Off Now Than We Was Twenty Minutes Ago? Sometime you have to ask ourselves, "is we learning?"

Heather Moore: A vegetarian perspective on in-vitro meat (1 comments) Why in-vitro meat has ethical, environmental, health, and humanitarian benefits.

Tuesday, May 6:

The Republicans simply have no ideas left (9 comments) Gingrich is freaking out over the fact that the Republicans have now lost two special elections for congressional seats. First, watch him freak, then see what he prescribes

John Kerry: Investigate the Pentagon Pundit Program (11 comments) we can't let this story slide. We need to push hard to get a full accounting of this program. The Pentagon now says that it has suspended this program, but we still don't know what really happened. What was the extent of the program? Did the Pentagon leverage the financial interests of the analysts? And what steps are being taken to make sure, now that it's cancelled, that it will never happen again.

Barbara Peterson: The Trilateral Commission, John, Hillary, Obama, and the NWO of Feudalism (11 comments) Our Presidential elections are an emotional parade in which charlatans called candidates create a false reality for a nation of Stockholm Syndrome victims who desperately need to believe that someone in a high place actually cares about what happens to them.

Brasch: People. People Who Don't Need People (10 comments) From seven billion people in the world, People magazine's New York college-educated editors could find only 100 of the world's most beautiful people. And, here's the surprise--get ready for it--they;re rich American celebrities,

steve young: WARNING BARACK! O'REILLY INTERVIEWS HILLARY THEN USES MILLER TO TRASH HER (3 comments)

Pentagon Targeted Iran for Regime Change after 9/11 Three weeks after the 9/11 attacks, former Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld established an official objective of not only removing the Saddam Hussein regime by force but overturning the regime in Iran, as well as in Syria and four other countries in the Middle East, according to a document quoted extensively in then Undersecretary of Defence for Policy Douglas Feith's recently published account of the Iraq war decisions.

Daniel Pearl's Last Words, Uncensored (1 comments) Daniel Pearl was a victim. He was helpless in front of his captors. He didn't die a hero, he died a martyr. BUT WHY can't we accept that? Why does the Jewish world, the Jewish establishment, the caretakers of the image of the Jewish people, have to airbrush out the part where Pearl calls down America and Israel - even though Jews, like everyone else, know that he said what he said under orders from armed terrorists?

Under U.S. Law Torture is Always Illegal What does torture have in common with genocide, slavery, and wars of aggression? They are all jus cogens. Jus cogens is Latin for "higher law" or "compelling law." This means that no country can ever pass a law that allows torture. There can be no immunity from criminal liability for violation of a jus cogens prohibition.

Insurrection Of The Famished Over the past few months in multiple places in the world we have been seeing riots caused by food shortages – the revolt of the famished. Every day 100,000 people die from silent hunger, until very recently seen as a normal phenomenon by the people in the North. According to Jean Ziegler there are today 854 million permanently undernourished people in the world.

Daniel Pearl's last words, uncensored (5 comments) I was surfing YouTube one day and decided, just out of curiosity, to listen to Daniel Pearl's last words. I heard the famous part, "My name is Daniel Pearl... My father is Jewish. My mother is Jewish. I am a Jew." Then he went on to mention his father's Zionism, his family's trips to Israel -All this was in line with the heroic story of Daniel Pearl as it has come to be known. But then I heard Pearl go on to say

William Astore: Coming Down to Earth Consider the Air Force's new slogan: "Air Force -- Above All." I admit it's catchy, even cute, if, that is, you can get past the "high ground" conceit and ignore the Germanic über alles overtones. Its literal meaning is obvious enough and it does fit with the Air Force's most basic precept, that mastery of the air means mastery of the ground. It's yet another manifestation of our military's quest for "full spectrum dominance"

Bob Herbert: Doing the Troops Wrong Who wouldn’t support an effort to pay for college for G.I.’s who have willingly suited up and put their lives on the line, who in many cases have served multiple tours in combat zones and in some cases have been wounded? We did it for those who served in World War II. Why not now? Well, you might be surprised at who is not supporting this effort. The Bush administration opposes it, and so does Senator John McCain.

Shame of the Media: It's About Nothing Reporters busied themselves with personal tasks-rubbing eyes, cleaning eyeglasses, reading the newspaper, fiddling with BlackBerrys or studying the blank pages of notebooks. One deputy press secretary, Gordon Johndroe, rested his chin in his hand. There was nothing left to be said--which was the cue for Kinsolving, who demanded to know Bush's view on the disparity in pro-football eligibility for players from military academies

Cliff Schecter Discusses "The Real McCain" with BuzzFlash.com -- And It ain't a Pretty Picture BuzzFlash talks with Cliff Schechter about why McCain should never be president and how the media gives him a free ride. From a certain prism -- the one shown in Schecter's book -- McCain is more of a Frankenstein with an ingratiating streak for the media than a maverick.

Arianna: What John McCain Told Me, and What it Says About How Far He's Fallen Through a spokesperson with the colorful name Tucker Bounds, McCain has denied telling me he didn't vote for Bush in 2000. McCain's fall has been Shakespearean -- and really hard to watch for those, like myself, who so admired and even loved him. His nobility and his true reformer years have given way to pandering in the service of ambition.

Ohio Judge: Bro Wasn't Tased As of mid-April, 68 wrongful-death or injury lawsuits have been dismissed or judgments entered in favor of Taser, according to the company. The company has not lost any product-liability lawsuits.

Endless War: Is the U.S. Trying to Set Whole World on Fire? In April, of the 51 American deaths in Iraq, more than twenty evidently took place in the ongoing battle for Sadr City or greater Baghdad. Many of them have died under the circumstances most feared by American commanders (and thought for a time to have been avoided) before the invasion of Iraq -- in block to block, house to house fighting in the warren of streets in one of this planet's many slum cities.

Chertoff: Stop Complaining About the Fascist Control Grid (1 comments) Chertoff said that once laws are written, the public should not second-guess government actions and claim that federal officials are overstepping their authority. He decried critics who make such accusations, despite the widespread pubic calls after the September 11, 2001 attacks for the U.S. government to do more to protect the country.

Norman Soloman: War Made Easy Routinely lost in the current uproar is the extent to which media managers have gone out of their way to suck up to the Pentagon. Top network executive Eason Jordan - who ran CNN's news operation during the invasion of Iraq - is a case in point. He repeatedly asked the Pentagon for approval of the "military analysts" who were under consideration for on-air roles.

Kathy Bay Malloy: Thank God its Tuesday! I think I finally understand how my three-year-old feels on road trips: "Are we there YET?!?!!?" Let's give it a name, call it primary fatigue syndrome (PFC), I've got it bad. I'm so over the back-and-forth battling, I'm not nearly as invested in the outcome as I once was. I have to imagine many superdelegates are feeling the same way.

Fed rate cuts helped boost food prices, spark shortages The Federal Reserve's seven interest rate cuts in as many months, which helped protect the U.S. economy from the full effects of the housing crisis and the resulting credit crunch, also contributed to the spike in raw material costs that has been felt across the globe, experts say.

Living in a Non-Polar World Today's world is dominated not by one or two or even several powers, but rather is influenced by dozens of state and non-state actors exercising various kinds of power. A twentieth century dominated first by a few states, then, during the Cold War, by two states, and finally by American preeminence at the Cold War's end, has given way to a twenty-first century dominated by no one. Call it non-polar.

Let's Bank On Rebuilding America Isaiah J. Poole, writing for The Campaign for America's Future, states, "Instead of a silly argument over a 'gas tax holiday,' we desperately need a serious discussion about the nation's infrastructure. And there is a good legislative proposal that could be the basis for that discussion."

Mark A. Goldman: Why you should not support the parties or their candidates. (2 comments) This is why you should not vote for anyone but Nader or me. Because all the candidates knew this but only the two of us have been willing to say so and demand that these criminals be impeached:

If I Were A Terrorist- A James Pence Video! nah- they'd never let them......

Big Oil's Corporate Welfare: Doing The Numbers In its report "Federal Financial Interventions and Subsidies in Energy Markets 2007," the U.S. Energy Information Admin estimated that FY 2007 subsidies for the oil & natural gas industry totalled $2.1 billion. Center for American Progress identifies the worst of these tax loopholes and lost royalties that involve Big Oil. Correcting these provisions would raise $25.9 billion over 10 years.

Global Famine With large sectors of the World population already well below the poverty line, the short-term hike in the prices of food staples is devastating. Millions of people around the World are unable to afford food. These hikes are contributing in a very real sense to "eliminating the poor" through "starvation deaths". In the words of Henry Kissinger: "Control oil and you control nations; control food and you control the people."

W. Christopher Epler (Bill): Institutional conditioning: the crown of thorns of humanity. The core evil of human existence is the Have and Have Not distinction, but this distinction has nothing to do with the power and cleverness of the Haves. It has to do with the power of around 6,000 years of institutional conditioning. The cattle pens the Have Not's live in have fences made only of years of brain washing. We think it is just "the way things are", but it's really a conditioned game we must "snap out of". NOW!

Roads to Prosperity :: Guns, Drugs, and Financial Markets Is free trade always the best policy? Should developing countries open their financial systems? Do foreign-exchange controls serve any useful purpose in our globalized world?

CHINA & TIBET: Soft Power and Hard Batons The Dalai Lama is not a devious terrorist. China does itself no favors by remaining time-warped in the Maoist 1960's when discussing this issue. The Chinese have been so smart in so many areas. They devised the "one country, two systems" formula for Hong Kong. Is it really beyond the capacity of their political system to work out a formula for Tibet that recognizes its cultural and religious autonomy within the Chinese state?

Zeina Zaatari :: The War Against Iraqi Women Iraqi women's organizations and international observers point to an escalating war against women in Iraq, aided by the widespread chaos and lawlessness under the US occupation. In addition to violence by US troops inside and outside of prisons, women in Iraq face daily violence from militants under the guise of religion and "liberation."

SCOTT RITTER :: The Pentagon vs. America Lacking a common understanding of the foundational principles upon which the nation was built, a citizenry will grow to view military service as an imposition, as opposed to an obligation. Simply put, one cannot willingly defend that which one does not know and understand. The fundamental ignorance that exists in America today about the Constitution creates the conditions which foster the divide between citizen and soldier

Hillary's Fake Populism (2 comments) So that's her calculation: if you disagree with her you are a sinner. This ruthlessness is also a promise about how she'd behave in office.

kpominville: John McCain is a Victim, not a Hero (12 comments) How progressives can redefine John McCain and turn his greatest strength into his greatest weakness.

Dwight Black: Partisan Politics And Presidential Powers (1 comments) Poking fun at average Joe Voter's lack of understanding how to vote and what effects the president has on the policies that affect their life. Voting 101 and alternative uses for the Oval Office are all covered.

Gustav Wynn: ABC News Shielding Cheney after DC Madam Hanging? (7 comments) Palfrey's purported suicide raises the stakes in the game between the public and ABC News, who tried to close Pandora's Box after Dick Cheney's number flew out. Palfrey's handwritten note complains of a"modern day lynching", eerily forecasting her impending manner of death.

The Lorita Doan Story Ms. Doan exits the Bush administration as a minor but revealing character in a far more sweeping tale of the partisan undermining of public service.

Notes From the War on Terror (1 comments) The next president and Congress will have to work very hard to uncover all the ways President Bush has twisted or evaded the law, and then set things right.

(More...)

Friday, May 9:

No War on Iran Coalition-Chicago: Chicago City Council Considers Resolution Opposing War on Iran Leading experts to testify against military action as tensions rise. Other American cities have passed a similar resolution but Chicago, if successful, would become the largest in America to do so.

Assoc. Press: *Indiana nuns turned away for lack of picture ID Photo ID requirement disqualifies nuns

Eight killed when rockets hit US base EIGHT people were killed and eight more wounded, including four soldiers from US-led coalition forces, in new violence in Iraq's southern city of Basra today, the American military said. It did not immediately identify the nationalities of the civilian contractors nor of the wounded soldiers.

Thursday, May 8:

Israeli PM denies taking illicit donations from American Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert denied fresh accusations that he illegally accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from a U.S. citizen, but said Thursday night that he will step down if he is indicted. The latest investigation into corruption allegations involving Olmert has distracted Israel for nearly a week and has the potential to derail delicate peace talks with the Palestinians.

Jason Leopold: Introducing The Public Record - A Real News Magazine It has been a lifelong dream of mine to edit my own investigative news magazine.I hope you will join me in celebrating the launch of The Public Record,a nonprofit,online political magazine that promises In-Depth, Incisive, Independent Reporting.We believe the independent and mainstream media have become saturated with individuals who opine and pontificate instead of report.Sadly,that means many important topics are not being

Special Counsel shut down probe of Siegelman case last year The investigation was being conducted by a task force formed at the agency a year ago to pursue high-profile political investigations in Washington,most notably whether the White House played politics in firing U.S. attorneys.It began gathering information on the Siegelman case in September and was planning to request documents from the Justice Department in October before Special Counsel Scott Bloch ordered the case closed.

Brad Friedman Hosting 'Election Year Special Coverage' Today on KPFK with Special Guest: MO SoS Robin Carnahan And, once again, we'll be looking less at the election "horse race" and much more at the "track conditions," with a special eye on the Supreme Court's unconstitutional support of polling place Photo ID restrictions such as the one that disenfranchised a bunch of 80 & 90 year-old nuns (along with many others) yesterday in Indiana.

FL SoS Browning, Sarasota County's Dent Fight Against Election Integrity in Sunshine State "Why in the world would either the Legislature or the secretary of state or anybody object to local elections officials trying to ensure that their system operates as intended and that they get it right?," asked FL Supreme Court Justice Harry Lee Anstead as he crawled out of his cave to officiate at a hearing yesterday in Tallahassee.

Melinda Pillsbury-Foster: Relight the Flame of Freedom in Denver – End WAR The Libertarian Party will hold its Presidential Nominating Convention in Denver just a few weeks from now. If the LP chooses to renew its original mission their candidate will be a woman who understands that none of us are free until freedom is given to everyone.

JGideon: 'Daily Voting News' For May 8, 2008 a collection of local, state, national and international articles on electronic voting and election issues

Directors of Developmental Disabilities Meets in Nashville This arrived late in my newsletter folder. Last Day is May 9. However, it is possible there will be reports coming from the meeting. Developmental Disabilities seems to cover more issues than the usual Autism Spectrum discussion.

9/11 theorist not curtailing his research (6 comments) Sixteen months ago, Brigham Young University and Steven Jones parted ways, but he said this week he isn't bitter about the academic divorce. He certainly hasn't curtailed his volatile research on the collapse of the three World Trade Center towers after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. In fact, Jones is the lead author of a paper on the collapses published April 18 in a civil engineering journal.

Cheney aide subpoenaed to testify to Congress U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff was subpoenaed on Wednesday to testify in a congressional probe of the administration's treatment and possible torture of enemy combatants. The subpoena orders Addington to appear on June 26 before the House Judiciary's subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, which is examining the administration's treatment of detainees.

Bob Barr to run as Libertarian Bob Barr, the conservative former Georgia congressman, will announce next week that he's running for president as a Libertarian, according to a source familiar with his plans. The Libertarian nomination will be decided in Denver on May 22nd.

43,000 deployed unfit for combat More than 43,000 U.S. troops listed as medically unfit for combat in the weeks before their scheduled deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan since 2003 were sent anyway, Pentagon records show.

IWW Delegation Returns from Haiti (1 comments) An Industrial Workers of the World delegation has just returned from Haiti where we spent twelve days meeting with representatives of the Confederation des Travailleurs Haïtiens (Haitian Confederation of Workers) and other worker and peasant movements....We kept a detailed blog and are making a video from the trip. There will be organized report backs with photos and video in June.

Feds take over NCC fairgrounds for May training exercise WATERLOO--- Normal operations on the National Cattle Congress fairgrounds have been suspended for most of May as the federal government has leased out virtually the entire facility for a training exercise, NCC general manager Doug Miller said Saturday.

FBI withdraws digital library's national security letter nonprofit digital library has successfully fought an FBI attempt to seize information about one of its users, and is calling on other groups to challenge government agencies attempting to obtain online customer information without a judge's order. The FBI presented the San Francisco-based Internet Archive with a national security letter in November asking for a library patron's records.

FBI Withdraws Unconstitutional National Security Letter After ACLU and EFF Challenge The NSL was served on the Internet Archive - a digital library recognized by the state of California - and its attorneys in November of 2007. The letter asked for personal information about one of the Archive's users, including the individual's name, address, and any electronic communication transactional records pertaining to the user. Kahle, who is also a member of EFF's Board of Directors, decided to fight the NSL

One million voters cancelled in Indiana In April 2008 when Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita announced the release of "record high" voter registration rolls, with 4.3 million voters set to vote in the Tuesday May 6 primary, he didn't mention that a whopping 1,134,427 voter registrations have been cancelled.

McCain's Big Idea: Create A Human Trafficking Task Force (That Already Exists) While McCain's proposal sounds great and creates the illusion that he is a champion of this particular cause, there is one problem -an "Inter-Agency Task Force on Human Trafficking" already exists. And McCain's "proposal" does not match his past rhetoric. In 2001, he opposed an earmark that funded the fight against human trafficking. "There is also a $200,000 earmark for a conference in human trafficking" McCain complained

Amnesty International USA - Action for Human Rights Sami al Hajj was a detainee at Gitmo who was allegedly tortured. When released, he was carried off in a stretcher. Amnesty Intl has made a replica cell and is showing it up and down the East Coast of the US. Link shows the exhibit in Miami and also tells more about the detainee.

U.S. deploys more than 43,000 unfit for combat More than 43,000 U.S. troops listed as medically unfit for combat in the weeks before their scheduled deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan since 2003 were sent anyway, Pentagon records show. This reliance on troops found medically "non-deployable" is another sign of stress placed on a military that has sent 1.6 million servicemembers to the war zones, soldier advocacy groups say.

Lebanon unrest widens amid government, Hizbullah tension What started as a demonstration by unions for better wages to offset high food prices has escalated into major clashes between the US-backed govt and Hizbullah. Article details various parties in the govt coalition. And details violent activities of tire burnings and sniping.

BBC NEWS | Europe | Russia 'expels US embassy staff' At the time of Russian change of leaders, this comes up although it's old news. Two Russian envoys were sent home by the US previously, and the two from Russia back to US are not a sudden development. Reason to post: Didn't see it in AP etc. so used BBC's newsletter.

Bush Comment on Food Crisis Brings Anger, Ridicule in India (3 comments) Bush noted that much of the developing world was prospering and that US businesses could benefit. As an example, he cited India, where the "middle class is larger than our entire population." But "when you start getting wealth, you start demanding better nutrition and better food," he said. "And so demand is high, and that causes the price to go up." Indians were outraged at the suggestionthey were to blame for inflation.

FBI Backs Off From Secret Order for Data After Lawsuit (1 comments) The FBI has withdrawn a secret administrative order seeking the name, address and online activity of a patron of the Internet Archive after a suit was filed to block the action. Every time it has been challenged the FBI has backed off, said ACLU attorney Melissa Goodman. "That calls into question how much the FBI needed the info in the first place, and whether it needs this kind of sweeping and unchecked surveillance power."

Air pollution in Wyo. community rivals that of big cities Another case of what's under the ground is more important than what's on it. In Southwest Wyoming there is a bonanza of oil and gas drilling. And a horde of diesel guzzling heavy equipment. Blue skies are vanishing and finally energy companies are being impacted by EPA regulations. Smog knows no boundaries.

Researchers map DNA of platypus The mapping of the platypus genome has huge implications for researchers in evolution and human disease.

Cheryl Abraham: May Day 2008: Powerful Protests! And a Requiem for Mainstream Media (1 comments) The crowds were huge, the marches long and the protesters were boisterous and loud. The ILWU proudly proclaimed that they'd had enough of the Iraq war. Immigrants proclaimed they'd had enough of the ICE raids.

ACLU Lauds House Judiciary Committee on Torture Investigation Now that David Addington has been added to the list of officials who are to testify before House Judiciary Committee, ACLU lists others in the administration who should be interrogated. ACLU comments John Conyers and Jerrold Nadler for their work.

Howard Dean speaks of voter suppression on CNN today..anchor squirms. Howard Dean, looking and sounding good, speaks about McCain's major shortcomings and the voter suppression upheld in the recent Supreme Court decision One minute YouTube. Go, Howard!

Chris Matthews Admits: MSNBC Bosses Were "Basically Pro-War" (1 comments) In a speech at Harvard's Institute of Politics on Monday, Chris Matthews admitted that MSNBC bosses were "basically pro-war during the war." The remark came in a larger discussion of top-down editorial control at the network - of which Matthews claimed there was none, citing the fact that many of his bosses supported Hillary Clinton while he has been very vocal for Obama.

Did Rush Limbaugh Tilt Result In Indiana? In Indiana, 10 percent of Democratic primary voters described themselves as Republicans, a higher rate than in any state but Mississippi, and they went for Clinton by eight percentage points, according to exit polls. In North Carolina, they were 5 percent of the electorate, and went for her by 29 points.

Wednesday, May 7:

Bush Vows to Veto Housing-Relief Bill in House “I will veto the bill that’s moving through the House today if it makes it to my desk,” the president said at the White House, after meeting with Republican House leaders. “I urge members on both sides of the aisle to focus on a good piece of legislation that is being sponsored by Republican members.”

Lawyers for Guantánamo Inmates Accuse U.S. of Eavesdropping One lawyer for Guantánamo detainees said he replaced his office telephone in Washington because of sounds that convinced him it had been bugged. Another lawyer who represents detainees said he sometimes had other lawyers call his corporate clients to foil any government eavesdroppers. Guantánamo lawyers are seeking records to determine whether they have been targets of surveillance.

Lawyers for Guantánamo Inmates Accuse U.S. of Eavesdropping One lawyer for Guantánamo detainees said he replaced his office telephone in Washington because of sounds that convinced him it had been bugged. Another lawyer who represents detainees said he sometimes had other lawyers call his corporate clients to foil any government eavesdroppers. Guantánamo lawyers are seeking records to determine whether they have been targets of surveillance.

Bush to America: The Dog Ate My Homework (Again) The White House quietly filed documents Monday night claiming the crucial records showing whether or not the Bush administration fudged pre-Iraq war intel are lost and cannot be recovered, a similar fate to records considered the crucial evidence in the Plamegate affair. Violations of the Presidential Records Act are being investigated by Congress, but will this make the major news media?

Laura Carlsen | May 5, 2008: A Primer on Plan Mexico (1 comments) The Bush Administration Has Put Its Proposal to Militarize Mexico into the Upcoming Iraq Supplemental Bill On Oct. 22, 2007 President Bush announced the $1.4 billion dollar "Merida Initiative," security aid package to Mexico and Central America. The initiative has fatal flaws in its strategy; instead of leading to a stable binational relationship and peaceful border communities, its military approach...

Andrew Kishner: Speak now or for the next five years hold your peace The Nevada Test Site, formerly the 'proving grounds' for 100s of nuclear detonations through 1992, continues to this day host nuclear simulation experiments. Yet these activities, often associated with nuclear contamination, were never evaluated in the 'permit' that the American people signed off on in 1996. Americans should insist that a new permit process (a site-wide EIS) be initiated for the Nevada Test Site.

Gorbachev: US could start new Cold War Mikhail Gorbachev has accused the United States of mounting an imperialist conspiracy against Russia that could push the world into a new Cold War.

Army May Have to Borrow to Meet Payroll The Army may have to ask the Navy and the Air Force for funding for mid June 2008 payroll. A description of legislature that must be passed in order to pay the troops. From whom will the Army borrow to meet the July payroll?

U.S. Consumer Debt Rises More Than Forecast in March U.S. consumer borrowing jumped more than double the amount economists forecast in March, indicating a slowing economy is forcing Americans to accumulate credit-card and other forms of debt.

JGideon: 'Daily Voting News' For May 7, 2008 a collection of local, state, national and international articles on electronic voting and election issues

Chris Lugo: Green Party of Tennessee Nominates Lugo for Senate (1 comments) The Green Party of Tennessee has nominated Chris Lugo as their candidate for US Senate in Tennessee this year at their state nominating convention in Nashville held Saturday. Lugo said that he was excited to be representing the most progressive political party in the state of Tennessee.

Beirut Paralysed By Labour Strike Protesters allied to Lebanon's Hezbollah-led political opposition have blocked streets in the capital Beirut to enforce an anti-government labour strike. Security forces said Hezbollah and pro-government supporters, opposing the strike, exchanged gun fire in three Beirut neighbourhoods.

McCain on equal pay: "˜I don't think you're doing anything to help the rights of women.' (3 comments) McCain doesn't give a crap about women's rights because McCain has little respect for women in his own life...his wife is worth $100 million, CEO of a huge company, and he calls her a 'cu*t' in public.

Deja Vu: NYT, US Propaganda and War with Iran Greg Mitchell of Editor and Publisher notes that New York Times military reporter Michael Gordon, "who contributed several false stories about Iraqi WMD in the run-up to the U.S. attack in Iraq," has been writing about Iran's alleged involvement in attacks against U.S. service members in Iraq. Gordon's latest article, "Hezbollah Trains Iraqis in Iran, Officials Say," is "based solely on unnamed sources," notes Mitchell.

Gore: It Is 'Obscene' That Bush Has Dismissed 'George Washington's 200-Plus Year Prohibition On Torture' During an interview this morning on NPR, former Vice President Al Gore criticized Bush for approving the techniques, calling it "obscene," adding that his use of signing statements is "a raw assertion of authority outside the boundaries of the law"

Dem Senators Berate EPA Official AGAIN Boxer was most direct, saying at the end of his testimony that Gray's insistence that only science had been considered "is a big lie.... You've tried to defend the indefensible, and you have failed as far as this senator is concerned."

With Nominations, Bush Seeks End to FEC Impasse (1 comments) Impasse continues. There are only 2 sitting members of the Federal Election Commission, so President submited 4 names, one of which is opposed by Dems (citing his civil rights record). So the impasse exists in Senate between Reid and McConnell. Until someone blinks, no FEC action is possible.

State Department Says "˜Missing' Laptops Now Located (2 comments) Previous report of missing laptops used for training purposes in State Dept found after CQ made a report. They were in depots waiting for shipment, but the record keeping is faulty, per spokesman. Never in jeopardy because data is not sensitive.

Clinton lends herself $6.4M as Obama's lead grows Wednesday morning and they're tooling up. Hillary needs money so she dipped into her mad money account. Obama went home to sleep. Both Senators remembered their day job. First week of June primaries end. No guarantees when Super delegates get peace.

House Panel Subpoenas Top Cheney Aide David Addington is the latest attorney added to the list of administration legal personnel to be brought up before the House Judiciary Committee concerning torture. John Conyers is still negotiating for George Tenet's appearance.

Gene Cappa: What Really Happened on 9-11? (31 comments) Lacking an official scientific investigation of 9-11, serious doubts remain about the official story stating that the planes, fires, and hijackers caused all 3 world trade center buildings to collapse straight down at free fall.

Broke GOP Leaders Warn Shellshocked Reps of Election Disaster Shellshocked House Republicans got warnings from leaders past and present Tuesday: Your party's message isn't good enough to prevent disaster in November, and neither is the NRCC's money. Recent defeats in long held republican strongholds in Illinois and Louisiana have put the RNCC members in a panic.

Press Release: We did it! Clint Curtis is on the ballot for FL-24! (1 comments) Now the work begins.It will not be an easy campaign. The national party has chosen to ignore political protocol by endorsing my opposition in the primary election and has gone to great lengths to set new district records for "out of district" campaign contributions. I realize that I am facing an intense campaign but I am up for it and ready to win.

Mary Mancini: "Uncounted": On the Road, On the Radio, and Onward in Oregon "From the swarm of people who come up to me and tell me 'Thanks for doing this documentary' to the long standing ovations at the end of the film and the invigorating 45-minute Q&A discussions that follow, traveling with UNCOUNTED has been an astonishing experience. But what's best about this particular journey are the people..."

Mary Ann Gould: We the People: The Constitution, Our Vote Tonight, 5/7 on "Voice of the Voters" As Americans struggle with the technology used to vote,what legal foundation supports them?Tonight our expert panelists explore the principles in our History, Constitution and current election process as they pertain to suffrage and principles of Democracy.Are elections as currently run unconstitutional?As 2008 primaries march on, is democracy as we knew it, defunct? What needs to be addressed, why. How? Don't miss this show.

Frank J. Ranelli: Should Hillary drop out of the race? (19 comments) Hillary Clinton took a drubbing in North Carolina's primary – losing by virtually 15 points – and escaped with a disappointing win of less than two-percent in Indiana. Barack Obama erased any momentum Hillary gained from Pennsylvania and Barack is now considered by some to be the presumptive nominee. Now, with no plausible path to the nomination, should Hillary drop out of the race and help unite a fractured Democratic Party?

Tuesday, May 6:

Who should MDs let die in a pandemic? Report offers answers (1 comments) some patients needing lifesaving care won't get it in a flu pandemic or other disaster. The gut-wrenching dilemma will be deciding who to let die. Now, an influential group of physicians has drafted a grimly specific list of recommendations for which patients wouldn't be treated. They include the very elderly, seriously hurt trauma victims, severely burned patients and those with severe dementia.

Forget Nuclear (1 comments) from Rocky Mountain Inst: There's a major propaganda campaign underway to convince us that nuclear power is necessary to replace dwindling supplies of fossil fuels and forestall global warming. The truth is that nuclear power is so expensive that even with massive govt subsidies it cannot attract corporate investment. And this is true before considering the long-term costs of nuclear waste or avoiding attacks or sabotage.

Richard Hayes Phillips: *"Witness to a Crime" Available Online Richard Hayes Phillips has been the leading investigator of the fraudulent 2004 presidential election in Ohio. His work was relied upon by John Conyers in challenging the Ohio electors in Congress, by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. in his article for Rolling Stone magazine, and by Algenon L. Marbley in issuing his federal court order protecting the ballots from destruction.

Bev Harris: Cancelled or changed, there's a whole lotta shuffling going on in W. Indiana database Because IN is implementing an ID requirement,& this requires that voters' name and address match when the voter registration database is compared with their ID,an unscrupulous data entry person would no longer need to PURGE registrations in order to knock people off the voting rolls.All that's required is CHANGING the registration slightly,to introduce typos.Alter Bev Harris to Ben Harris and change 973 to 793.Gone.Poof.

Post-War Suicides May Exceed Combat Deaths Bloomberg reported this week on yet another devastating and deadly aspect of the war in Iraq: the U.S. troops, burdened with post-traumatic stress, who commit suicide. The number of suicides among veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may exceed the combat death toll because of inadequate mental health care, the U.S. government's top psychiatric researcher said.

Yoo Subpoenaed To Discuss Interrogation Practices John Yoo, a former Justice Department lawyer who wrote a now-repudiated memo allowing harsh interrogations of military prisoners, now a law professor at University of California-Berkeley, has agreed to testify to the House Judiciary Committee voluntarily about the Bush administration's interrogation practices after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Newly Unredacted Report Confirms Psychologists Supported Illegal Interrogations In Iraq and Afghanistan Uncensored documents from the Church Report, obtained as a result of the ACLU's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, include new details exposing the role of psychologists in military interrogations. "The documents reveal that psychologists and medical personnel played a key role in sustaining prisoner abuse - a clear violation of their ethical and legal obligations" said Amrit Singh, a staff attorney with the ACLU.

We didn't mean to kill them Israel says it doesn't mean to kill Palestinian children, yet they keep on dying. Yet as usual, even though we didn't mean it – we hit them. We have killed a total of 1,000 Palestinian children since the second Intifada broke out on September 29, 2000. A thousand.

Iran cites Israeli nuclear activity as example of world's hypocrisy Tehran says stringent IAEA inspections are unfair as Israel not partner to non-proliferation treaty, and claims western countries practice 'nuclear apartheid'. Iran on Monday rejected pressure to submit to intrusive nuclear inspections, claiming it is unfair to subject Iran to such pressure while Israel is outside the global treaty to curb atomic weapons.

Google Ends Microsoft’s Yahoo Search Microsoft and Yahoo were pushed to the brink of a multibillion-dollar marriage and then to a sudden breakup this weekend by the same player. It was Google, in the odd dual role of both unwitting matchmaker and self-interested spoiler.

Democrats Set to Defy Bush on War Bill (1 comments) Defying President Bush, House Democrats are preparing to forge ahead with a war spending measure that would include extended unemployment assistance and new educational benefits for returning veterans. After a meeting Monday of House Democratic leaders, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she hoped to bring a $178 billion measure to the floor this week. What could be a contentious debate on the matter is likely to be held on Thursday.

Justice System For Detainees Is Moving At a Crawl The most notorious alleged terrorists in US custody are supposed to face charges related to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Nearly seven years later, however, not one of the approximately 775 terrorism suspects who have been held on this island has faced a jury trial inside the new complex, and US officials think it is highly unlikely that any of the Sept. 11 suspects will before the Bush administration ends.

Analyst warns of oil at $200 a barrel (2 comments) Crude oil prices could surge to $200 a barrel in the next two years, according to the Goldman Sachs analyst who three years ago correctly predicted a price “super-spike” above $100 a barrel. The warning by Arjun Murti came as oil prices hit a fresh high above $122 a barrel, boosted by supply disruptions in Nigeria, lower output in Russia and continued robust demand in China ahead of the Olympics.

House panel subpoenas top Cheney aide The House Judiciary Committee voted Tuesday to compel a top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney to testify to the committee about the Bush administration's interrogation practices. David Addington, Cheney's chief of staff, refused to testify without a subpoena. No date has been set for his appearance before Congress.

Yoo, Ashcroft To Testify On Interrogation Policies; Subpoena Authorized For Addington John Yoo, a former top Justice Dept. official who authored hugely controversial memos on interrogation techniques that can be used on detainees, and former Attorney General John Ashcroft, will testify before House Judiciary Committee.

JGideon: 'Daily Voting News' For May 06, 2008 a collection of local, state, national and international articles on electronic voting and election issues

FBI Raids Office of Special Counsel It’s been weeks since a corruption scandal humiliated the Bush administration, so I suppose we were overdue. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents raided the Office of Special Counsel here, seizing computers and documents belonging to the agency chief Scott Bloch and staff. The Special Counsel looking into a potential cover-up appears to have been engaged in his own cover-up.

How many Joses can you see? A lot. Jose A. Reyes moved to Portage from IL about three years ago.With his IL driver's license about to expire,Reyes went to the Portage License Branch the first week of January to get an Indiana license.He provided all the necessary IDs,passed all the tests and waited while they made sure his license photo made him look as deranged as possible,as is required by law.That's when things entered the bureaucratic twilight zone...

Democratic Congress to Voters: What Election Problems? Unfortunately, without meaningful reforms from Congress, the national picture is almost as grim. As Robert Fitrakis observes, "The system is still broken and instead of voting being a universally guaranteed federal right, it lingers under the shadow of Jim Crow and states' rights."

Austin Plans 'Point-by-Point' Review of Hart InterCivic E-Vote System in Light of Federal Fraud Lawsuit Hart technician William Singer's lawsuit alleges that Hart stretched reports of the performance of the eSlate in Ohio in order to secure its share of the $4 billion set aside in the Help America Vote Act.Singer's futile July 2004 efforts, attempting to notify the Secretaries of State in both Texas and Ohio, were originally reported in exclusive detail by The BRAD BLOG in March of 2006.

Report: 12 of First 15 Voters at NC Precinct Not Found in Pollbooks Anectodal for the moment.But a sign of a larger problem?We're doing our best to keep an eye on this,and related incidents today,as you may suspect.I was just contacted by a good friend in Granville County about what is turning into, at best a problem, but most likely IMO, a concerted effort to supress Democrats from voting in Granville County [North Carolina].

Students, Nuns, Denied RIGHT to Vote in Indiana Today Following Supreme Court Approval of State Photo ID Restrictions, S Remember, the law was upheld by the Supremes just last week, despite Indiana's inability to point to a single instance of in-person, polling place, voter impersonation fraud (the type of "voter fraud" the law was purportedly meant to deter) in the entire history of the state.

Green Berets stretched by two-front war The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are making such heavy use of the nation's Green Berets and other elite warriors that they cannot fulfill their roles in other parts of the world, the military's top commando said. More of these specially trained, often secretive forces may be required in Iraq in order to fill a niche role in the development of Iraqi security forces as the number of conventional Army troops goes down.

Intel Community Moves Towards Performance-Based Pay The Director of National Intelligence last week issued several new Intelligence Community Directives (ICDs) that implement new community-wide personnel practices, including a performance-based compensation policy that rewards superior job performance. Can bounties be far behind?

Malaysian blogger charged with sedition for implying deputy PM involved in murder Sedition is punishable by up to three years in jail. Raja Petra's supporters called the government's move a blow to freedom of speech

Having Flipped To 'Securing Our Borders First,' McCain Flops Back To 'Comprehensive Immigration Reform' Whether it is Americans' economic situation, earmarks or bigoted right wing pastors, McCain's constant flip-flopping makes his presidential candidacy difficult to follow. You never who will McCain's 'bed fellow' du jour. Pathetic, old, pandering poop is 'dry humping' everybody for a vote.

Pentagon & AWOL Bush Warns Of "˜Harm' From Webb's Effort To Give Educational Benefits To Soldiers After 'Only' 2 Years More robust educational benefits will only help the military fill its enlistment quotas with qualified Americans. The notion that expanding educational benefits will have a negative effect on troop retention seems silly. The Webb bill would cover tuition at a rate comparable to the highest tuition at a state school...drawing talented individuals into the military in large numbers. Bush chews them up - spits them out - broken.

FBI Raids Home, Office of Office of Special Counsel Federal Bureau of Investigation agents raided the Office of Special Counsel here, seizing computers and documents belonging to the agency chief Scott Bloch and staff. Employees said the searches appeared focused on alleged obstruction of justice by Mr. Bloch during the course of an 2006 inquiry into his conduct in office.

Military and Homeland Security Dictate Who Lives And Who Dies In A Pandemic A new report compiled by a medical "task force" comprising physicians from prestigious universities, medical groups, the military and government agencies has outlined that specific groups of people should not be treated and be left to die should a flu pandemic or other deadly disease disaster infect millions throughout the USA: doctors must allow elderly, weak to perish after "trigger event"

NC: The fix is in already!! (3 comments) Purging voters from the rolls, election officials find only 3 registered votes on the rolls in one North Carolina precinct, of the first 15 people who showed up at 6:30 AM.

Russia-Georgia tensions escalate over breakaway republic (4 comments) Russia and Georgia are in dispute over a republic which broke away from Georgia. Current issue is that Georgia is flying surveillance craft over the area. The issue has been active since the late 90s. With a new head of state in Russia being inaugurated, comes the chance to have a military parade to show her strength. US has weighed in.

Kurtz: Media won't cover Pentagon propaganda "˜because they are embarrassed.' Post's media critic Howard Kurtz was asked why the television news media have largely failed to report on the Pentagon propaganda operation revealed recently by the New York Times. Kurtz said the media is too embarrassed to report the story:

Yoo Agrees to Testify AP reports that John Yoo, probably the most infamous of the infamous characters that walked the halls of the Justice Department during the Bush administration, has agreed to testify without compulsion. That's a departure from his original position, when he said that he could not testify about his role in authorizing the use of torture because he had not received the green light from the DoJ.

Senate GOP Blocks DOJ IG From Investigating Torture GOP lawmakers move to keep DOJ Inspector General Glenn Fine's hands tied in Bush administration investigations of torture.

Post-War Suicides for Iraq & Afghanistan May Exceed Combat Deaths, U.S. Says The number of suicides among veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may exceed the combat death toll because of inadequate mental health care, the U.S. government's top psychiatric researcher said.

REPORT :: Racial disparities persist in drug arrests for minorities, esp. African Americans The study found that, since 1980, the rate of drug arrests for African Americans increased by 225%, compared to 70% among whites.

Ohio Democrats talk impeachment after AG refuses to resign (2 comments) This time it's Democrats asking a Democrat (Atty Gen) to resign over a sex scandal. Reasoning seems to be that Republican misdeeds have finally been rectified through elections and there's no room for bad government practices now. Gov. Strickland & Sen. Brown are included in effort.

Corruption Eats Into Food Rations As Iraqi Civilians Starve Amidst unemployment and impoverishment, Iraqis now face a cutting down of their monthly food ration – much of it already eaten away by official corruption. "It is impossible for 80 percent of Iraqis now to buy the same items they used to get from the previous regime’s food rations.”

Rob Kall: Zogby Polling :Female Voters Deserting Hillary (17 comments)

A Gritty N.C. City Where Obama Has Appeal on Primary Day Analysis of Rocky Mount, NC and what will result in elections today gives a look at how Obama may do. Hard times and race are the issues. Rocky Mount is east of Raleigh.

Tens of thousands riot in Mogadishu in eruption of anger over food prices - Africa, World - The Independent (1 comments) Troops have fired into tens of thousands of rioting Somalis, killing two people in the latest eruption of anger over high food prices in Africa, witnesses said.

Freezing to show warming trend Among Zimov's findings: The release of greenhouse gases — particularly methane, a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide—from thawing permafrost underneath Siberian lakes could accelerate global warming and represents an especially worrisome trend in the battle to slow climate change.

Top U.S. officer says would prefer no war on Iran U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq would make it difficult to mount any attack on Iran, the Pentagon's top officer said in remarks broadcast on Monday, adding that he would prefer to avoid a new regional war. "It would be a very significant challenge for the United States right now to get into a third conflict in that part of the world," Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff added.

Monday, May 5:

TV News Blackout on Pentagon Pundits Two weeks after a New York Times story (4/20/08) revealed a Pentagon propaganda campaign that had been feeding talking points to TV military analysts, many of whom also had ties to military contractors, the cable and broadcast networks that employed these analysts have almost entirely failed to report this crucial news story.

San Diego Firm Named in Torture Suit (1 comments) Emad Al-Janabi, a 43-year-old blacksmith filed the action against Steven Stefanowicz and three business entities: Arlington, Va.-based defense contractor CACI International Inc., its subsidiary, CACI Premier Technology Inc., and L-3 Communications Titan Corp. of San Diego, according to Philadelphia-based law firm Burke O'Neil.

Iraq Says No Hard Evidence of Iran Support For Militia Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said there was no "hard evidence" of involvement by the neighbouring Shiite government of Iran in backing Shiite militiamen in the embattled country. Asked about US reports that weapons captured from Shiite fighters bore 2008 markings suggesting Iranian involvement, Dabbagh said: "We don't have that kind of evidence... If there is hard evidence we will defend the country."

Iran says new talks with U.S. on Iraq meaningless Iran on Monday dismissed any prospect of new talks with the United States on Iraq, accusing US-led forces on Monday of a "massacre" of the Iraqi people. Washington accuses Iran of funding, arming and training "rogue" elements of Sadr's Mehdi Army to attack US and Iraqi forces, despite its public commitment to stabilizing Iraq. Tehran blames the violence on the US presence in Iraq.

Gene Cappa: *Iraq War Crimes Report An official Report documenting the war crimes committed against humanity in Iraq from the very first day of the invasion.

'NYT' vs McClatchy on Iran's Link to Iraqi Insurgents The highlighting of the NYTs as a mouthpiece for the administrations assertions. The slow cooking of public opinion vs the informing of the public (McClatchy) through journalism.

It's Official: John And Elizabeth Edwards Will Not Endorse In Prez Race confirmed they will not endorse either candidate in the presidential race, because they are "saving their political capital for their own causes -- his, fighting poverty; hers, fighting for universal health care," reports, um, People mag.