Citizens for Legitimate Government

November 2004 Archives, Page Two

Top general warns Iran not to underestimate U.S. military --A top U.S. commander is warning Iran and others against thinking they can exploit the U.S. military because its ground troops are fighting two major missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. [Oh. I thought the 'mission' was 'accomplished.']

Iran Backs Away From a Demand on A-Bomb Fuel --Iran on Sunday backed off a demand to operate uranium enrichment equipment that could be used either for energy purposes or in a nuclear bomb-making project, European and Iranian officials said.

Iraqi Foreign Minister escapes car bomb --Assassins tried to kill Hoshyar Zebari, the Iraqi Foreign Minister, yesterday morning by leaving a car packed with explosives on a road where he was about to travel. His guards discovered the bomb shortly before his convoy went past.

Bombs Kill 4 Civilians and 2 Marines in Attacks in Iraq --Four Iraqi civilians were killed Sunday afternoon when a car bomb exploded 60 miles north of here in Samarra, and another was wounded, military officials said. In raids to the north, in Mosul, American and Iraqi troops detained 43 people suspected of being insurgents, military officials said.

Seven US soldiers killed in three days --Two US marines have been killed in action south of Baghdad, bringing to seven the total number killed in Iraq over the past three days, according to US authorities.

Baghdad Bombing Injures Two Soldiers --Two soldiers were injured and a military vehicle was damaged today after a car bomb exploded in central Baghdad. The blast occurred on the airport access road leading out of the International Zone, also known as the Green Zone, which houses interim Iraqi government offices as well as the U.S. Embassy

Fallujah Napalmed --US uses banned weapon ..but was Tony Blair told? US troops are secretly using outlawed napalm gas to wipe out remaining insurgents in and around Fallujah. News that Dictator George W. Bush has sanctioned the use of napalm, a deadly cocktail of polystyrene and jet fuel banned by the United Nations in 1980, will stun governments around the world.

U.S. uses napalm gas in Fallujah – Witnesses --The U.S. military is secretly using banned napalm gas and other outlawed weapons against civilians in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, eyewitnesses reported. Residents in Fallujah reported that innocent civilians have been killed by napalm attacks, a poisonous cocktail of polystyrene and jet fuel which makes the human body melt.

Turk Compares U.S. to Hitler --An official says the 'genocide' being committed in Iraq is the worst in human history. The head of Turkey's parliamentary human rights group has accused Washington of genocide in Iraq and behaving worse than Adolf Hitler, in remarks that underscore the depth of Turkish opposition to U.S. policy in the region.

Nobel Laureate Saramago Warns of Danger After Bush Re[s]election --Portuguese writer José Saramago, winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize for Literature, spoke to writers and journalists this week in Caracas. Saramago used the occasion to express his views on what a second term under U.S. Dictator George W. Bush will mean for the region. "Things will undoubtedly be very bad for Latin America," the writer predicted. "You only have to consider the ambitions and the doctrines of the empire, which regards this region as its backyard," he said. At an earlier speaking engagement in Bogotá, Colombia, Saramago called Bush "the biggest liar on the planet." He added that if Bush ever decides to focus on the region, Latin America should tremble with fear.

Congress threatens to cut aid in fight over criminal court --The US Congress has launched a fresh attack on the international criminal court at The Hague, threatening to cut off development aid to countries who refuse to guarantee immunity from prosecution for Americans at the tribunal.

Neocons join the lynch mob for 'arrogant' Rumsfeld --The American defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, should be sacked, according to a growing chorus of conservative commentators who want him replaced by a figure with wider appeal.

Audit: Halliburton lost track of government property in Iraq --A third or more of the government property Halliburton Co. was paid to manage for the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq could not be located by auditors, investigative reports to Congress show. Halliburton's KBR subsidiary ''did not effectively manage government property'' and auditors could not locate hundreds of CPA items worth millions of dollars in Iraq and Kuwait this summer and fall, Inspector General Stuart W. Bowen reported to Congress in two reports. [See: The Fallout Shelter News presents . . . - a page as big and wide as the whole outdoors! - BUCK CHENEY - DUCK MASTER! --by Mary Titus]

Israel shocked by image of soldiers forcing violinist to play at roadblock --Of all the revelations that have rocked the Israeli army over the past week, perhaps none disturbed the public so much as the video footage of soldiers forcing a Palestinian man to play his violin.

US to sell 50 medium-range missiles to Jordan --The Pentagon is to sell 50 US-made air-to-air missiles to Jordan, along with supporting equipment, in a deal worth about 39 million dollars, despite objections from Israel.

Global Eye --by Chris Floyd "There has been much throwing about of brains on the subject of George W. Bush's further lurch to the Right since he limped over the election finish line with his tiny, 1 percent, fraud-marred majority. And to be sure, the wholesale purges he has instituted throughout his regime -- replacing a slew of merely cringing sycophants with cringing, drooling, groveling sycophants -- will indeed hasten the United States' degeneration into corpo-religious authoritarianism along the lines of Franco's Spain. But all the earnest disquisitions about Bush's Franco-U.S. 'ideology' entirely miss the point -- and increase the fog that the Regime deliberately spreads over its true interests. For the heart of this slouching beast is neither left-wing nor right-wing; it's strictly Bush-wing."

Ottawa prepares for anti-Bush protests over everything from war to capitalism --They're protesting everything from capitalism and corruption to criminality, and they're blaming it all on U.S. Dictator George W. Bush. Thousands of activists are expected to march on the capital Tuesday, clogging streets and shouting complaints over all manner of perceived wrongs - imperialism, racism, elitism, torture, treaties and terrorism.

Ukraine's parliament calls presidential election invalid --Ukraine's parliament yesterday declared the country's disputed presidential election invalid - a move that is has no legal effect but is symbolically potent, boosting opposition hopes for a new vote. [It is time to declare the 2004 U.S. presidential 'election' invalid.]

The revolution televised --The western media's view of Ukraine's election is hopelessly biased --by John Laughland "This week both the anti-war Independent and the pro-war Telegraph excitedly announced a 'revolution' in Ukraine. Across the pond, the rightwing Washington Times welcomed 'the people versus the power'. Whether it is Albania in 1997, Serbia in 2000, Georgia last November or Ukraine now, our media regularly peddle the same fairy tale about how youthful demonstrators manage to bring down an authoritarian regime, simply by attending a rock concert in a central square. Two million anti-war demonstrators can stream though the streets of London and be politically ignored, but a few tens of thousands in central Kiev are proclaimed to be 'the people', while the Ukrainian police, courts and governmental institutions are discounted as instruments of oppression." [a must read]

Blair ally wanted for questioning over coup --Police in South Africa want to question Peter Mandelson, the new European Union trade commissioner and one of British Prime Minister Tony Blair's closest friends, over any knowledge he may have of a coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea.

Int'l conference calls for total landmine ban --Nairobi --An international conference on landmine opened here on Sunday with participants calling for total ban of production, stockpiling and use of anti-personnel landmine to make the world mine-free.

US stays away from landmine conference --Nairobi: For the first time since it entered into force five years ago, the international treaty to ban anti-personnel landmines comes up for review here, but no official US delegates will be present among the hundreds of diplomats, campaigners and mine survivors.

Two more top spies quit troubled CIA --Shake-up by new director blamed for resignations --Two more of America's top spies were reported yesterday to be leaving the CIA, as an attempt to fix the troubled agency appeared increasingly to be dividing its ranks and driving out its most experienced officials.

Report: FBI Finds Link Between 9/11, Madrid Bombs [al CIA-duh?] --The FBI has established the clearest link yet between the March 11 Madrid train bombings and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, a Spanish newspaper reported Sunday.

First-hand Accounts of Underground Explosions In the North Tower --This article from Chief Engineer magazine presents eyewitness account of the moments after the first plane crash, and describes evidence of large explosions in the lobby, parking garage and subbasement levels of WTC-1 at the time of the crash... One of the most remarkable is the story of Mike Pecoraro, who was working in the 6th sub-basement of the North Tower when the first plane hit...

Public Extermination Project --by Janet C. Phelan "A specific public works project became 'classified' following 911. This project, which has been on-going throughout the U.S., has lethal capabilities for innocent U.S. citizens... Following 911, there began intensive and concentrated infrastructure work that has lethal capabilities and intent. In an extremely non-forthcoming governmental atmosphere, I have been able to document a small portion of this work, which was ongoing in Los Angeles County in the spring of 2004. Through the use of T-valves, the government can regulate, on an individualized, residence by residence basis, the introduction of another substance into the water lines. As fluoride goes in at the plant, we are not dealing with the capability to add fluoride. It is quite a bit more nefarious than that."

Colombian official: Rebels planned to kill Bush --U.S. Dictator George W. Bush was targeted for assassination by freedom fighters this week when he visited the city of Cartagena, a Colombian official said Saturday. "We found out through informers and various sources that groups within the [Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia] had been instructed from its leadership to make an assassination attempt on President Bush," Colombian Defense Secretary Jorge Alberto Uribe told Caracol TV, a Bogota-based satellite network.

One gulp, and Bush was gone --Behind the scenes at the Clinton library, we saw America's future --by Sidney Blumenthal "...[W]hen the presidents were announced, [George W.] Bush tried to push his way past [Bill] Clinton at the library door to be first in line, against the already accepted protocol for the event, as though the walk to the platform was a contest for alpha male... Bush appeared distracted, and glanced repeatedly at his watch. When he stopped to gaze at the river, where secret service agents were stationed in boats, the guide said: 'Usually, you might see some bass fishermen out there.' Bush replied: 'A submarine could take this place out.'"

Chat rooms targeted in hunt for 'terrorists' --CIA reportedly funding research into surveillance of discussions --The U.S. is looking at monitoring Internet chat rooms to identify potential 'terrorists.' According to CNET News.com, the CIA is quietly funding research into surveillance of online discussion halls. [If the CIA wants to identify *actual* terrorists, they should investigate 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.]

Federal Plan to Keep Data on Students Worries Some --A proposal by the federal government to create a vast new database of enrollment records on all college and university students is raising concerns that the move will erode the privacy rights of students.

U.S. Opposes Passport Privacy Protections --The Bush dictatorship opposed security measures for new microchip-equipped passports that privacy advocates contended were needed to prevent identity theft, government snooping or a terror attack, according to State Department documents released Friday. The passports, scheduled to be issued by the end of 2005, could be read electronically from as far away as 30 feet, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which obtained the documents under a Freedom of Information Act request.

Records being shredded before Information Act (UK) Government departments have been shredding record numbers of official files in the months leading up to the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act. Julian Lewis, shadow minister for the Cabinet Office, said: "I was wondering how a government with such a culture of evasion would be able to cope with an era of openness and it seems The Telegraph has found the answer. "They are going to destroy the evidence."

New Mexico Voting Oddity: --Post by indigoblue on democraticunderground, summarized here: In every single county, the Democratic Justice and Judge candidates received a higher percentage of votes than Senator Kerry. If Kerry got the average percentage of votes that the Democratic justice and judge candidates received, he would have received about 55,000 more votes.

Voting Machines Count Backwards in Okla. --by Bob Nichols --57 Rural Counties Affected - Vote Fraud Suspected --"Rural Oklahoma Voting machines know how to count backwards. That looks like what the secretly programmed machines did for Sen. Kerry in President [sic] Bush's easily won Presidential Election victory in Oklahoma. All 77 counties use the Optech Eagle voting machines and Tabulator's made by ES&S, Sen Hagel's Republican company. The respectable, conservative 'Tulsa World' newspaper reported Nov 3rd that Kerry was winning in 57 of the states' rural counties., with 70% of the vote counted. Turns out that the famous November 3rd report was probably not supposed to be printed... The 'official' State of Oklahoma Election Board vote totals released later show Kerry not winning; but, losing in all the state's 77 counties, including the 57 rural counties."

Jesse Jackson demands Ohio presidential recount, blasts GOP election officials, and says Kerry supports the process --Preaching to a packed, wildly cheering central Ohio citizen congregation, Rev. Jesse Jackson blasted the presidential election back into the national headlines Sunday. Jackson said new findings cast serious doubt on the idea that George W. Bush beat John Kerry in Ohio November 2. A GOP "pattern of intentionality" was behind a suspect outcome, he said.

Kerry Supports Ohio Vote Investigation, Jackson says --John Kerry supports a "full investigation" into voting irregularities in Ohio, Rev. Jesse Jackson said Saturday, during a teleconference with media regarding a recount and legal challenge of the Nov. 2 vote.

Chief Justice Won't Return to the Court This Year --Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who missed the Supreme Court's November argument session while being treated for thyroid cancer, will be absent for the December session as well, the court announced on Friday.

Senate GOP set to go 'nuclear' over judges --Senate Republicans, boldly confident after their Nov. 2 election theft, are preparing to end months of frustrating delays over Dictator Bush's judicial picks by hitting Democrats with Republican's ultimate legislative weapon. But the Republican threat to neuter long-cherished filibuster rules by steamrolling Democrats is risky — so potentially destructive that Capitol Hill calls it the "nuclear option."

Courts first to go in right-wing revolution --by George McEvoy "Every time the so-called Christian Right has tried to turn this country into a theocracy, those pesky federal courts have stymied things. So now — according to the liberal Americans United for Separation of Church and State — the right-wingers have come up with a new scheme. All they plan to do is to strip the federal judges of their right to hear cases involving the separation of church and state.

Scalia: founding fathers never advocated the separation of church and state --Scalia in shul: State must back religion --by Uriel Heilman "US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia used an appearance at an Orthodox synagogue in New York to assail the notion that the US government should maintain a neutral stance toward religion, saying it has always supported religion and the courts should not try to change that."

Texas District Attorney Blasts U.S. House GOP --A Texas prosecutor has lashed out at congressional Republicans for changing their rules in order to protect House Majority Leader [and Reichwing nutball] Tom DeLay.

Alabama Vote Opens Old Racial Wounds --School Segregation Remains a State Law as Amendment Is Defeated --On Nov. 2, Alabama voters refused to approve a constitutional amendment to erase segregation-era wording requiring separate schools for "white and colored children" and to eliminate references to the poll taxes once imposed to disenfranchise blacks.

Vast Borrowing Seen in Altering Social Security --The White House and Republicans in Congress are all but certain to embrace large-scale government borrowing to help finance Dictator Bush's plan to create personal investment accounts in Social Security, according to regime officials, members of Congress and independent analysts.

Tanker Spills Crude Oil in Delaware River --A tanker spilled 30,000 gallons of crude oil into the Delaware River between Philadelphia and southern New Jersey, creating a 20-mile-long slick that threatened fish and birds, Coast Guard officials said Saturday.

Wal-Mart Cuts Forecast Amid Reports of Retail Strength --Wal-Mart cut its November sales forecast Saturday, citing declining customer traffic over the past week. Two other reports released Saturday showed strong retail sales on Friday.

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Aid threatened as US fights war crimes court --The Republican-controlled US Congress has stepped up its campaign to curtail the power of the International Criminal Court by threatening to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in economic aid to governments that refuse to sign immunity accords that shield US personnel from being surrendered to the tribunal. The move marks an escalation in US efforts to ensure that the first world criminal court can never judge US citizens for crimes committed overseas.

Is the Annexation of Canada part of Bush's Military Agenda? --by Michel Chossudovsky "For nearly two years now, Ottawa has been quietly negotiating a far-reaching military cooperation agreement, which allows the US Military to cross the border and deploy troops anywhere in Canada, in our provinces, as well station American warships in Canadian territorial waters. This redesign of Canada's defense system is being discussed behind closed doors, not in Canada, but at the Peterson Air Force base in Colorado, at the headquarters of US Northern Command (NORTHCOM)... Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced unilaterally that US Northern Command would have jurisdiction over the entire North American region. Canada and Mexico were presented with a fait accompli."

Saudis, Enron money helped pay for US rigged election --by Wayne Madsen "According to informed sources in Washington and Houston, the Bush campaign spent some $29 million to pay polling place operatives around the country to rig the election for Bush. The operatives were posing as Homeland Security and FBI agents but were actually technicians familiar with Diebold, Sequoia, ES&S, Triad, Unilect, and Danaher Controls voting machines. These technicians reportedly hacked the systems to skew the results in favor of Bush."

Election Company Has Long Criminal History -- Thugs, Racketeers Counting American Votes --by Daniel Hopsicker "While Ukrainians poured into the streets of their capital Kiev to protest a presidential election they say was stolen by that country’s current regime, here in the U.S. a little-known election company called Sequoia Pacific, responsible for putting our own 'current regime' in power four years ago, was at the center of controversy last week... for the second Presidential election in a row."

Hearings on Ohio voting put 2004 election in doubt --by Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman "The unavoidable conclusion is that this year's election in Ohio was deeply flawed, that thousands of Ohioans were denied their right to vote, and that the ultimate vote count is very much in doubt... By depriving precincts of adequate numbers of functioning voting machines, [Republican Secretary of State J. Kenneth] Blackwell created waits of three to 11 hours, driving tens of thousands of likely Democratic voters away from the polls and very likely affecting the outcome of the Ohio vote count, which in turn decided the national election."

Jackson plans rally with ministers to call for election investigation --The Rev. Jesse Jackson said he plans a Sunday rally in Columbus with ministers from around Ohio to call for an investigation of election irregularities in the state. Jackson will be speaking:
Sunday, December 5, 2004
Mt. Herman Baptist Church
2283 Sunbury Road
Columbus, OH
3:30 P.M.

More voting questions raised (OH) Several new voting concerns surfaced yesterday as lawyers combed totals from the Nov. 2 presidential election. Attorneys for various citizen action groups that plan to contest the results said they are puzzled that vote totals in the presidential race in Warren County far exceed totals in most other statewide and countywide races.

Wyoming: 106% Turnout of Registered Voters In 2004 General Elections --According to the 'Profile of Wyoming's Voters - Voter Registration and Voter Turnout' on the Wyoming Secretary of State's website, Wyoming had a turnout of 106% registered voters on November 2, 2004. Wyoming had 232,396 registered voters, 62% of eligible voters for the 2004 General Elections; turnout of registered voters was 245,789, or 106% of registered voters. [Document last modified: 10-November-2004] Note: Voter turnout percentage highest since 1978 --The Wyoming Secretary of State's office counted 245,646 voters unofficially, statewide. The number of registered voters before Tuesday's election was 232,396, meaning the ultimate voter turnout among registered voters was about 106 percent, Secretary of State Joe Meyer said. "It is possible to have a voter turnout of more than 100 percent because Wyoming statutes allow voters to register at the polls on election day."

Margin Now Just 42 Votes in Washington State Race --The election was already achingly close, but the recount in the race for governor of Washington State was almost absurdly close, the results showed Wednesday. Former State Senator Dino Rossi, the Republican who was declared the winner last week by 261 votes, won the recount by a mere 42, of almost three million cast. And the bizarre contest is anything but settled.

Ukraine Court Delays Results in Vote Dispute --Ukraine's Supreme Court on Thursday temporarily blocked the victory of Prime Minister Viktor F. Yanukovich in the disputed presidential election, barring publication of the Central Election Commission's results until the court reviews complaints of widespread fraud and abuse.

Crowds blockade Kiev government --Thousands of demonstrators have laid siege to government buildings in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, in protest at the presidential election results.

Iraq considers call for 'election' delay --Iraq's 'election' commission said today it would consider a call by top political parties to delay the January vote because of violence gripping the country. In Baghdad, four Nepalese nationals who once served with Britain's elite Gurkha army regiment were killed in a rocket attack on the highly fortified Green Zone claimed by an al-Qaeda linked group, their firm said.

Blix plays down chemical laboratory claims Former UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix says he will be "surprised" if a chemical laboratory found in Iraq was capable of creating weapons. "Let's see what the chemicals are," Mr Blix said, after Iraqi officials claimed to have uncovered a chemical bomb factory in Fallujah. "Many of these stories evaporate when they are looked at more closely," he said.

2,000 killed in Fallujah offensive --More than 2,085 people were killed and 1,600 detained in the massive US-Iraqi offensive on the rebel city of Fallujah, Iraqi national security adviser Qassem Daoud has said. The US military had previously said at least 1,200 rebels had been killed.

Four Killed in Baghdad's Green Zone --A mortar attack killed four employees of a British security firm and wounded 15 others in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, the company and British officials said Friday. "The mortar landed in their camp," said a Foreign Office official on condition of anonymity

Two Marines Killed in Fallujah Clash --Two Marines were killed and three others wounded when they came under fire during 'house-clearing operations' [U.S. terrorism] in Fallujah, the U.S. military said Friday.

Loud explosion rocks Baghdad as smoke rises over capital --A loud explosion rocked central Baghdad on Thursday, sending column of smoke rising above the protected Green Zone, witnesses said. Black smoke could be seen rising over the area north of the Green Zone complex which houses the offices of Iraq's interim government, the US and British embassies, according to the witnesses.

Deaths as blasts rock Samarra --Two people have been killed and 14 wounded in bomb attacks, one of them involving a human bomber, in the Iraqi town of Samarra, police and hospital officials said.

Japanese want troops to leave Iraq --Most people in Japan want their troops to leave Iraq, according to a poll carried out by a leading business newspaper.

Guardsmen Say They're Facing Iraq Ill-Trained --Troops from California describe a prison-like, demoralized camp in New Mexico that's short on gear and setting them up for high casualties. Members of a California Army National Guard battalion preparing for deployment to Iraq said this week that they were under strict lockdown and being treated like prisoners rather than soldiers by Army commanders at the remote desert camp where they are training.

28,002 troops wounded in Iraq: Veterans Affairs chief vows to work for the wounded --As of Tuesday, 20,802 troops have been treated at Landstuhl from injuries received in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

U.S. struggles to find troops for Iraq, Afghanistan --The Army, which has been hard pressed to find enough soldiers to man the rotations to Iraq and Afghanistan, may soon be faced with an urgent request to find another 5,000 to 7,000 troops to increase the number of boots on the ground in Iraq.

Smoking while Iraq burns --Its idolisation of 'the face of Falluja' shows how numb the US is to everyone's pain but its own --by Naomi Klein "Impunity - the perception of being outside the law - has long been the hallmark of the Bush regime. What is alarming is that it appears to have deepened since the election, ushering in what can only be described as an orgy of impunity. In Iraq, US forces and their Iraqi surrogates are no longer bothering to conceal attacks on civilian targets and are openly eliminating anyone - doctors, clerics, journalists - who dares to count the bodies. At home, impunity has been made official policy with Bush's appointment of Alberto Gonzales as attorney general, the man who personally advised the president in his infamous 'torture memo' that the Geneva conventions are 'obsolete'."

US campaign behind the turmoil in Kiev --by Ian Traynor "Ukraine, traditionally passive in its politics, has been mobilised by the young democracy activists and will never be the same again. But while the gains of the orange-bedecked 'chestnut revolution' are Ukraine's, the campaign is an American creation, a sophisticated and brilliantly conceived exercise in western branding and mass marketing that, in four countries in four years, has been used to try to salvage rigged elections and topple unsavoury regimes. Funded and organised by the US government, deploying US consultancies, pollsters, diplomats, the two big American parties and US non-government organisations, the campaign was first used in Europe in Belgrade in 2000..."

Putin Warns Bush: Ukraine vote on hold after court ruling --The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, yesterday accused the US and the European Union of encouraging "mayhem" on the streets of Ukraine, and warned them against interfering further in the current election crisis.

Fighting to Keep One World of Human Rights and Law: Building a Resistance to Bush --by Greg Moses "By continuing to withdraw his administration from the spirit and letter of human rights and global law, President [sic] Bush is seceding from the rest of the world. Through a moral equivalent of Civil War, we must prevent this secession from taking place. If we agree with the terse thesis of Francis A. Boyle-- that the Bush movement constitutes 'a comprehensive and malicious assault upon the integrity of the international legal order'--then the muscle of the Bush grip at home is connected through sinews of illegality to the trigger finger in Falluja."

Lawyers Attempt to Bar Bush From Canada --"LAW [Lawyers against the War (LAW) a Canada-based committee of jurists and others with members in thirteen countries] sends letter to Martin in an attempt to bar Bush from Canada - Nov 19, 2004 --The following letter was sent to Prime Minister Martin (pour la version française cliquetez ici) and additional letters were sent to Minister of National Defence Bill Graham and Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Irwin Cotler. ...Dear Prime Minister Martin: It was with absolute dismay that we learned of the planned visit of President [sic] Bush to Canada on November 30th 2004...."

Bush avoiding Parliament; no desire to be 'booed' --Dictator George W. Bush will avoid a potentially hostile reception in Parliament and travel to Halifax next week after his first official trip to American officials involved in planning the trip were worried about a cranky audience on Parliament Hill, sources said. "We didn't see the need and, frankly, we didn't want to be booed..." said one U.S. official.

Protesters gear up for Bush --Protesters are frantically organizing to yank the welcome mat out from under U.S. Dictator George W. Bush when he arrives here Tuesday. Sporadic graffiti heralds what could be a nasty reception as he starts a two-day visit to Canada.

U.S. Operating Secret 'Torture Flights' (democracynow.org) "The Sunday Times of London is reporting that it has obtained evidence that the US government is leasing a special Gulfstream Jet to transport detained suspects to other nations that routinely use torture in their prisons. We speak with the reporter who broke the story."

2 Top Officials Are Reported to Quit C.I.A. --Two more senior officials of the Central Intelligence Agency's clandestine service are stepping down, intelligence officials said Wednesday, in the latest sign of upheaval in the agency under its new chief, Porter J. Goss. [The 2 new CIA rats have been added to Mary Titus's 'Weasel Watch Tracks Bush Staff Exodus.']

Massive D.C. Counter-Inaugural Demonstration Jan 20 --Moment Building Fast - A War Criminal Will Be Inaugurated On January 20 and the People Will Protest (ANSWER Coalition.org) "Pinochet and Bush - The Troubles Facing War Criminals Learning a lesson from the trials and tribulations of the dictator Augusto Pinochet, who was indicted for crimes against humanity when he traveled outside of Chile, George W. Bush arranged for his being granted 'diplomatic immunity' by Chilean president Lagos as a precondition for Bush's trip to Chile for the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference."

Conservative Republican group urges UN's expulsion from US --A right-wing Republican group launched a television campaign calling for the United Nations to be kicked out of the United States, alleging the world body is a "safe harbor" for terrorism.

Electronic passports raise privacy fears --The US State Department will soon begin issuing passports that carry information about the traveller in a computer chip embedded in the cardboard cover as well as on its printed pages.

U.S. Opposed Passport Privacy Protections --The Bush dictatorship opposed security measures for new microchip-equipped passports that privacy advocates contended were needed to prevent identity theft, government snooping or a terror attack, according to State Department documents released Friday.

For Blair there is no such thing as legal principle Sadly, Labour's law and order drive is more than an election strategy --by Helena Kennedy "Anti-terror laws cannot be vacuum packed; they seep into the policing culture and create new paradigms of state power. During a visit to India this spring, the home secretary suggested that governments may have to consider whether the burden of proof might have to be lowered from 'beyond reasonable doubt' to the civil test of the 'balance of probabilities' in terrorist trials. Two days later, the prime minister agreed that such a change should be considered, and he went further, suggesting that the lower standard might also apply to other serious crime. What is introduced today for terrorism almost invariably enters general usage shortly thereafter."

Area man stirs debate on WTC collapse --South Bend firm's lab director fired after questioning federal probe --The laboratory director from a South Bend (IN) firm has been fired for attempting to cast doubt on the federal investigation into what caused the World Trade Center's twin towers to collapse on Sept. 11, 2001.

'Blue' states may lose in Bush tax plan --Dictator Bush's plan for "revenue-neutral" tax reform needs losers to balance its winners, and people who take the federal deduction for state and local taxes may be in administration planners' sights, news reports say. That could leave the so-called blue states seeing red. In the past election, the states that collect the most income tax were solidly "blue" supporters of Democratic challenger John Kerry. [It's time to secede.]

Paper Charts Values Gap: Red States Love 'Desperate Housewives' and 'Playboy' --Much of the post-selection analysis in the press has centered on so-called red state values and the alleged "values gap" in America. Perhaps with that in mind, The New York Times presented two stories which seemed to give lie to some of the post-selection chatter concerning superior values in the red states.

FDA Scientist Says He Faces Retaliation --Star witness who criticized his agency's drug safety record contends he's under pressure to be 'exiled' to a different job. Dr. David J. Graham, the Food and Drug Administration scientist who publicly criticized the agency's approach to drug safety during a Senate hearing last week, said Wednesday that he was facing pressure to transfer to a different job in the FDA — a move he said was in retaliation for his remarks.

WHO warns of dire flu pandemic [...that the Bush terror team is busy working on, even as we speak? A biological (terror) disaster would provide Dictator Bush an excuse to quickly pass Patriot II, set up Dr. Frist's quarantines, insure the pharmaceutical companies receive windfall profits, and dump Social Security due the ensuing economic disaster --all in one fell swoop!] --The World Health Organization has issued a dramatic warning that bird flu will trigger an international pandemic that could kill up to seven million people. The influenza pandemic could occur anywhere from next week [?!?] to the coming years, WHO said.

Killer flu recreated in the lab --Thursday, 7 October, 2004, 05:02 GMT 06:02 UK [Why?] --Scientists have shown that tiny changes to modern flu viruses could render them as deadly as the 1918 strain which killed millions. A US team added two genes from a sample of the 1918 virus to a modern strain [Why?] known to have no effect on mice. Animals exposed to this composite were dying within days of symptoms similar to those found in human victims of the 1918 pandemic.

Flu victim exhumed after 85 years --Friday, 30 January, 2004, 20:08 GMT --Scientists are preparing to exhume the body of a woman who died of flu 85 years ago to find out how the virus killed millions across Europe. [Why?] Phyllis Burn died aged 20 in 1918, a victim of the 20th Century's worst flu epidemic, which killed more than 50 million people. She was buried in a lead coffin, thought to be virtually airtight, in Twickenham, south-west London. Scientists wearing protective clothing will remove lung samples from the body. ...The move has the support of Miss Burn's niece, Hilary Burn-Callander, who told BBC London she was a bit surprised at first by the request. "I didn't know what to think to be honest," she said.

Satellites show human destruction of Amazon rainforest --About half of Brazil's original Amazon rainforest has been occupied by man, deforested or used for industry, and its destruction is worse than government figures show, an environmental group says. A study using satellite photographs shows that land occupation and deforestation covers about 47 per cent of the world's largest jungle, an area bigger than the continental United States, the Brazilian non-government organisation Imazon said.

Toxic chemical discovered in Lake Michigan --Concentrations of a flame retardant banned by many European countries have been found in Lake Michigan and are increasing, adding to concerns over previous findings that the chemicals were showing up in supermarket foods and women's breast milk.

Turnpike runs free on 1st day of strike Union workers walk out, leaving toll gates wide open --The first strike in the 64-year history of the Pennsylvania Turnpike meant free rides for about 650,000 vehicles yesterday, the first travel day of the Thanksgiving weekend. But the labor dispute that has deteriorated into a war of words could get worse.

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Auditor to Army: Dock Halliburton's Pay --The U.S. Army should withhold some payments to Halliburton Co. for its 'work' in Iraq, a government auditor said on Wednesday, in a move that could cost the contractor tens of millions of dollars a month.

Group Finds Problems With Voting Machines --An organization that put more than 400 poll watchers in Maryland precincts on election day reported Tuesday that its volunteers found scattered problems with the state's electronic voting machines. Among the problems were machines that crashed, incorrect ballots and touch-screens that failed to work properly.

E-mails released Monday show lockdown pre-planned - November 16, 2004 (OH) Warren County finished its vote count Monday without any results changing... Warren County has drawn national attention for its election night problems, from three-hour-plus lines at the polls to locking down the administration building during the vote count because of terrorism [?!?] concerns [so that the results could be manipulated]. Federal and local homeland security officials say they didn't know of an increased threat in Warren County. County Commissioner Pat South has said the decision to lock the doors election night was made during an Oct. 28 closed-door meeting (the Thursday before Election Day). But in e-mailed memos dated Oct. 25 and Oct. 26 - released Monday after an Enquirer public records request - other county officials were already detailing the security measures, down to the wording of signs that would be posted on the locked doors.

GOP's Rossi Wins Wash. Governor Recount --Republican Dino Rossi came out ahead of Democrat Christine Gregoire by just 42 votes Wednesday in the recount for Washington governor, but the Democrats are expected to seek another recount.

Ukraine Liberal Calls for Strike, Civil War Warning [Why is this not happening in the U.S., following ***TWO*** stolen elections?] --Ukraine opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko on Wednesday called for a national strike that would halt transport and shut factories in protest at the declaration that his Moscow-backed rival had won election as president. [And, in the United States, we are calling for The Grand Refusal, to overturn ***OUR*** (second) illegitimate election!!!]

U.S. Rejects Ukraine Election Results --Powell Says Election Does Not Meet International Standards --The United States today rejected the announced results of Ukraine's disputed presidential election and warned the government of the former Soviet republic to uphold democracy or face "consequences" in its relationships with the United States and Europe. [Why doesn't a country force the U.S. to 'uphold democracy,' and remove the illegitimate Bush dictatorship???]

Zogby Vs. Mitofsky --by Keith Olbermann "It was a spectacular irony - a Republican senator using the word 'fraud' about the presidential election. More spectacular still, he was visiting his condemnation of apparent election manipulation on the incumbent party. And beyond all that, he and others based their conclusions largely on the incredible disparity between the last exit polls and the vote count itself. Of course, Indiana’s Richard Lugar was talking about the presidential election in the Ukraine. But in so doing, he underscored that once again, the exit polls appear to have fulfilled the time-honored international tradition of the canary in the mine shaft. If only we could have used them in that way here."

Republican Challenges Presidential Election Based On Exit Polls (Comments by Greg Palast) "Tuesday, November 23, 2004 --from The New York Times 'Citing the disturbing fact that official results diverged sharply from a range of surveys of voters at polling places, Lugar [Sen. Richard G. Lugar, R- hypocrite - Indiana] said, 'A concerted and forceful program of election-day fraud and abuse was enacted with either the leadership or cooperation of governmental authorities.' ...This reporter was unable to reach Senator Lugar regarding the inconsistency of official election results and exit polls in the USA; the intimidation of minority voters in Florida and Ohio; nor the failure to count two million ballots cast, half by African-American voters, in America's first post-democratic election held earlier this month."

Rights group sues over election results (FL) The aftermath of the general election in Volusia County grew more tangled Tuesday, as a local voting rights advocate sued to throw out the results. While the suit focuses on the most prominent countywide race, it asks that all general election results in the county be set aside.

Felons list audit faults state A new state audit criticized how Florida put together a central voter database and a felons list that was sent to election supervisors this year. A new audit shows that Florida's attempt to rid the voting rolls of felons this past election season was marred by lax oversight by the Department of State, which failed to follow legal settlements and relied on seriously flawed data when it put together the controversial felons list. [Article cites 'other key audit findings.']

8,099 Cuyahoga ballots ruled invalid (OH) The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections voted Monday to reject one out of three of the 24,472 provisional ballots cast in the Nov. 2 election. Seventy percent of the rejected ballots, or 5,595, won't count because there was no record of their registration. "I find it inconceivable that over 5,000 voters in the county would wait an hour in the pouring rain to vote if they haven't registered," said Dr. Norm Robbins, a neurosciences professor at Case Western Reserve University who volunteered for the Greater Cleveland Voter Registration Coalition.

Ohio Democrats Offer Support for Recount Effort --The Ohio Democratic Party announced this week that it is supporting a third-party-led effort to force the battleground state to recount its presidential vote. The organization, whose decision is expected to give more legitimacy to the recount push, complained that Ohio voters faced long lines at the polls Nov. 2, that some voting machines malfunctioned and that some absentee ballots were never delivered.

Judge Denies Demand for Ohio Recount --A federal judge on Tuesday denied a request by third-party presidential candidates who wanted to force a recount of Ohio ballots even before the official count was finished. Judge James G. Carr in Toledo ruled that the candidates have a right under Ohio law to a recount, but said it can wait. The judge wrote that he saw no reason to interfere with the final stages of Ohio's electoral process. [Why does democracy have to 'wait?' Why aren't people building toward the second American Revolution, in order to undo the (second) coup?]

US Congress to investigate irregularities in November 2 vote --The Government Accountability Office, the investigating arm of the US Congress, will probe allegations of irregularities in the November 2 US presidential vote, lawmakers said.

GAO to Investigate Voting Irregularies --Congress' investigative agency, responding to complaints from around the country, has begun to look into the Nov. 2 vote count, including the handling of provisional ballots and malfunctions of voting machines. The Government Accountability Office usually begins investigations in response to specific requests from Congress, but the agency's head, Comptroller General David Walker, said the GAO acted on its own because of the many comments it received about ballot counting.

GAO Will Investigate 2004 Elections --Government Accountability Office to Conduct Investigation of 2004 Election Irregularities --posted by Murshed Zaheed (Washington, DC) "Reps. John Conyers, Jr., Jerrold Nadler, Robert Wexler, Robert Scott, and Rush Holt announced today that, in response to their November 5 and 8 letters to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the GAO has decided to move forward with an investigation of election irregularities in the 2004 election. The five Members issued the following statement..."
Here is the list of the GAO signatories: John Conyers (D-MI) Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) Robert Wexler (D-FL) Robert Scott (D-GA) Melvin Watt (D-NC) Rush Holt (D-NJ) Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) Louise Slaughter (D-NY) George Miller (D-CA) John Olver (D-MA) Bob Filner (D-CA) Gregory Meeks (D-NY) Barbara Lee (D-CA) Plus Jan Schakowsky (D-IL).

Bush Orders the CIA to Hire More Spies --Goss Told to Build Up Other Staffs, Too --Dictator Bush has ordered CIA Director Porter J. Goss to increase by 50 percent the number of qualified CIA clandestine operators and intelligence analysts, an ambitious step that would mean the hiring and training of several thousand new personnel in coming years.

Bush Wants Plan for Covert Pentagon Role --Dictator Bush has ordered an interagency group to devise a plan that could expand the Defense Department role in covert operations that have traditionally been the specialty of the Central Intelligence Agency, regime officials said Monday.

Bush Orders Review of Covert Operations --Dictator Bush has ordered an internal review into whether the Defense Department should run covert paramilitary operations traditionally mounted by the CIA, administration officials said on Tuesday.

Blair Impeachment Probe to Be Sought by 23 British Lawmakers --Tony Blair tomorrow will become the first U.K. prime minister in 156 years to face a call for an impeachment investigation as 23 lawmakers accuse him of misconduct in taking Britain to war in Iraq. [Is it time to put the Bush dictatorship on trial for treason, with all appropriate penalties for treason on the table?]

Falluja Rebels Had Enough Arms to Rule Iraq -U.S. --Arab militants and insurgents who ruled the volatile city of Falluja before a U.S.-led offensive this month had enough weapons to take over all of Iraq, Marine officers said on Wednesday.

Explosion rocks western Baghdad, four wounded -- A bomb planted inside a commercial building in western Baghdad detonated Wednesday, wounding four people including a police officer, witnesses said.

U.S. Military Finds Five Dead in Mosul Gunmen Ambush Convoy of Kurdish Militiamen --The U.S. military said five bodies were found Wednesday in northern Mosul, bringing the total to 20 bodies found in the past week.

SAS joins US forces in major Iraq offensive --British special forces joined an offensive yesterday involving more than 5,000 US and Iraqi troops, backed by fighter bombers and helicopters, aimed at regaining control of insurgent strongholds in central Iraq. The operation - dubbed Plymouth Rock [Mega barf alert] - appears to mark an escalation in the role of the SAS in Iraq.

Troops Hit Sites South of Baghdad --Raids Involve U.S., British, Iraqi Forces --British and Iraqi troops mounted raids Tuesday in a swath of territory south of Baghdad where armed insurgents have seized control of several cities and towns, imposed stringent Islamic law and carried out kidnappings and executions of Iraqi police officers and religious pilgrims at checkpoints along the main roads.

Occupation Forces Battle Iraq Insurgents --U.S. Marines, British Troops, Iraq Soldiers Launch Offensive Against Insurgents Near Baghdad --Some 5,000 U.S. Marines, British troops and Iraqi forces launched a new offensive Tuesday aimed at clearing a swath of insurgent hotbeds across a cluster of dusty, small towns south of Baghdad. [Oops! Looks like the 'mission' has not been 'accomplished.']

U.N.: War 'Wreaking Havoc' on Iraq Young --Fighting in Iraq is "wreaking havoc'' on the country's children, nearly doubling malnutrition rates since the start of the war and all but preventing relief groups from working in the country, the U.N. children's' agency said Tuesday.

Purported al-Zarqawi Tape Raps Scholars --An audiotape purportedly made by Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi lashed out Wednesday at Muslim scholars for not speaking out against U.S. actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying they have "let us down in the darkest circumstances."

Two U.S. Soldiers Killed in Afghan Attack --Two U.S. soldiers were killed and another wounded in an improvised-explosive-device attack in Afghanistan today.

Appeals Court Refuses to Hear Challenge to Stop-Loss Program --A Sacramento-area soldier who challenged the military's so-called "stop-loss" program will have to go to Iraq with the rest of his unit. On Monday a federal appeals court refused to intervene in the case. The military's "stop-loss" program involuntarily extends enlistments during wars and national [Halliburton] emergencies.

US Military Taps Bugs and Weeds in War on [of] Terror --Don't squash that bug! Cockroaches, beetles, spiders and worms may be the U.S. government's next line of defense in the war on terror. Backed by the Pentagon, scientists are recruiting insects, shellfish, bacteria and even weeds to act as "bio-sentinels," which give early warning of biological and chemical attacks, detect explosives or monitor the spread of contamination.

U.S. Military Rules 8 Stay at Guantanamo --U.S. military review tribunals have ordered eight more men to remain held at the U.S. Naval outpost in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, an official said Tuesday.

Justices Asked to Rule on Detainees --Yemeni's Attorneys Want to Bypass Federal Appeals Court --Attorneys for a detainee at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have asked the Supreme Court for immediate intervention to decide the legality of the "military commissions" set up by the Pentagon to prosecute alleged al Qaeda and Taliban fighters.

Suit Filed in GOP Convention Arrests --N.Y. Police Accused of Overstepping Bounds, Detaining Bystanders --Twenty-three people filed a lawsuit Monday in federal court here, saying New York city officials violated their constitutional rights by orchestrating massive arrests and detentions to sweep up political dissenters during the Republican National Convention in August. "It is a bedrock principle of our democracy that the police cannot simply sweep the streets because they find protest inconvenient or embarrassing because the RNC was in town," said lawyer Jonathan Moore, who filed the lawsuit with the National Lawyers Guild.

Home Office 'linked to discredited claim of al-Qa'ida plot' --The Home Office is suspected of being behind discredited media reports on the eve of the Queen's Speech that an al-Qa'ida plot to fly planes into London skyscrapers had been foiled. Supporters of David Blunkett were accused of trying to exploit public fears in an attempt to help the Government introduce anti-[pro] terrorism legislation.

Citing 'Terror' Issues, Britain Plans ID Cards --Invoking a global threat of 'terrorism,' the British government announced plans on Tuesday to introduce national identity cards for the first time since the World War II era. An opposition legislator said the government wanted to create a "climate of fear" in advance of elections expected next year.

Guess Who Could View Your 1040? Democrats said Tuesday they would block quick congressional withdrawal of a provision that would give more lawmakers access to income tax returns, demanding that majority Republicans first promise to stop rushing bills through Congress. "This extraordinary invasion of privacy did not have the majority support of either chamber," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in announcing her plans to block House passage on Wednesday. "It was a 'Saturday night massacre' on Americans' privacy made possible only by the Republicans' willingness to abuse the rules of the people's House."

Future of Calif.'s 9th Circuit Under Review --Many conservatives think their new clout following Dictator Bush's 're-election' may help put some weight behind a movement to split up the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, leaving the 9th in California, creating a new 12th Circuit for neighboring Idaho, Arizona, Montana and Nevada; and a new 13th Circuit for Washington, Alaska and Oregon.

Top-Giving PACs Favor GOP Candidates 10-1 --The top-giving corporate political action committees didn't hedge their bets in the fall elections despite the narrow division between the GOP and Democrats in Congress. They favored Republican candidates 10-to-1.

Attempt to stop mandatory mental screening [to ignite a pharmaceutical industry windfall] fails --Congressman pushed language requiring parental consent --An attempt by Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, to add language to the omnibus spending bill in Congress to require parental consent for any mental-health screening done to children with federal money has failed.

Top Economic Adviser to Bush Is Leaving Post --Stephen Friedman, who left Wall Street to assume one of the top economic posts in the White House, will return to the private sector Dec. 31 after two quiet years in Washington, White House officials announced yesterday.

Economic 'Armageddon' predicted --Stephen Roach, the chief economist at investment banking giant Morgan Stanley, has a public reputation for being bearish. But you should hear what he's saying in private. Roach met select groups of fund managers downtown last week, including a group at Fidelity. His prediction: America has no better than a 10 percent chance of avoiding economic "Armageddon.''

Krugman: Economic Crisis a Question of When, Not If --The economic policies of Dictator Bush have set the country on a dangerous course that will likely end in crisis, Princeton economics professor Paul Krugman told Reuters in an interview.

Dan Rather to step down as CBS News anchor --Veteran to remain with network as correspondent --Dan Rather, anchor of the "CBS Evening News," announced Tuesday that he will step down in March, on the 24th anniversary of taking over the job from Walter Cronkite.

Cattle Ranchers Want Their Own Mad Cow Tests --Greg Schoenbachler, with the Silver Springs Cattle Company, says he'd like to be able to test his entire herd to prove that it's mad cow free. But he can't; the government won't let him. Schoenbachler is part of a growing group of ranchers that wants every animal slaughtered tested for mad cow. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture refuses.

House Panel Joins Vioxx Inquiry --An influential House committee has joined in the congressional investigation of U.S. prescription drug safety, issuing extensive records requests Tuesday to the Food and Drug Administration and the drug manufacturer Merck & Co.

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U.S. Death Toll in Iraq for Nov. Tops 100 --Three Marines who were wounded in action during the Fallujah offensive later died at American hospitals in Germany and the United States, the Pentagon said Monday, raising the U.S. military death toll in Iraq for November to at least 101.

Volusia ballots may get 2nd look --Black Box Voting, a Seattle-based group fighting for improved voting systems, wants to inspect paper ballots from more than 25 percent of Volusia's precincts as part of its nationwide audit of the Nov. 2 presidential election.

First Hand Reports from Ohio Volunteers --by "ctsteve" --"RNC 'workers' were in our hotel. They were not there to do literature drops, canvas, or to make sure that people knew where their polling places were, as we were. One of them tried to infiltrate one of our hotel rooms (I removed him) to gather information on our activities. He and another RNC lawyer followed some of the canvassers the next day to try to intimidate them, telling them that they were 'putting them on notice, that what they were doing was breaking federal law' (among other more vile things)..."

Ohio Presidential Results to be Challenged (freepress.org) Ohio’s 2004 presidential vote will be challenged as soon as next week in the state Supreme Court, a coalition of public-interest lawyers announced Friday. The lawyers have taken sworn testimony from hundreds of people in hearings in Columbus and Cincinnati, and will use excerpts as well as documents obtained from county election officials and Election Day exit polls to make a case that thousands of votes were incorrectly counted or not counted on Election Day.

93,000 Extra Votes In Cuyahoga County - Outrage In Ohio (Nov. 12, 2004) by Teed Rockwell "The evidence discovered by some remarkably careful sleuthing would convince any reasonable court to invalidate the entire Ohio election. In last Tuesday's election, 29 precincts in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, reported votes cast IN EXCESS of the number of registered voters - at least 93,136 extra votes total. And the numbers are right there on the official Cuyahoga County Board of Elections website..."

Ohio Dems join recount effort --by Keith Olbermann "'Kerry/Edwards Campaign Joins Ohio Recount.' ...The statement ends nearly three weeks of official Democratic ambivalence towards the formal recount process in the election's decisive state. As late as Friday, Senator Kerry's email to 3,000,000 supporters contained a seemingly ambiguous reference to that process, which began with the phrase 'Regardless of the outcome of this election, once all the votes are counted, and believe me they will be counted, we will continue to challenge the administration.'"

Judge Refuses to Stop Wash. Recount --A federal judge Sunday denied the state Republican Party's bid to force Washington's most populous county to stop counting some ballots in the recount of the governor's race. In a conference call with lawyers, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman denied the GOP's request for a temporary restraining order barring the hand-counting of ballots in King County that were rejected because they could not be read electronically.

Republicans File Suit to Limit King County Recount --The Washington Republican Party filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court Saturday afternoon to try to stop King County from including certain ballots in its recount for the governor's race. The GOP is asking for a temporary restraining order against hand-counting of ballots that are rejected by voting machines and hopes to have a hearing on Sunday.

Complete US Exit Poll Data Confirms Net Suspicions ----by Scoop Co-Editor Alastair Thompson "Scoop.co.nz is delighted to be able today to publish a full set of 4pm exit poll data for the first time on the Internet since the US election... Figure 1: Graph showing the "red shift" between 2004 US General Election exit polls & the actual 2004 US Election results..."

Activists protest electronic voting --Opponents of the technology gather at the Capitol and question exit-poll data --About 200 protesters and curious onlookers stood at the steps of the state Capitol on Saturday, with protesters toting signs that read "the machine ate my vote" and "paper ballots protect democracy."

Academia Still Fixated on John Kerry [coup 2004] --As states certify final election returns, an academic debate over their accuracy is heating up. Internet buzz that perhaps the exit polls were correct and the actual returns might be flawed grew louder this week when sociology graduate students at the University of California at Berkeley went public with an analysis arguing that Florida results in counties using electronic ballots differed from historical voting patterns.

Media largely ignored Berkeley study on Florida voting irregularities (mediamatters.org) --by S.S.M. "The mainstream media have mostly ignored a statistical study conducted by faculty and students of the University of California at Berkeley sociology department on voting irregularities in Florida in the 2004 presidential election that found major discrepancies in vote counts between counties that utilized electronic voting machines (e-voting) and those that used traditional voting methods. The study, released on November 18, determined that President [sic] George W. Bush may have wrongly been awarded between 130,000 and 260,000 extra votes in Florida -- 130,000 if they were all 'ghost votes' created by machine error, or twice that if votes intended for Senator John Kerry were misattributed to Bush."

Another Stolen Election and the End of Formal American Democracy --by Anis Shivani "The result of this election was foregone. This is now a farcical, Third World type of situation, with a retarded dictator getting away with whatever he wants. Karl Rove must have told the President [sic] long ago, Relax, there’s nothing to worry about. The election is in our pocket. The fix was in when the country didn’t rise up with one voice against the theft of the 2000 election. The last nail in the coffin was the lack of surprise and protest at the utterly weird and incomprehensible 2002 election results, particularly in Southern states like Georgia. The liberal elite knows; everyone knows what’s happening; but no one can talk about it."

Holy irony, Batman!!! U.S. Threatens Punitive Steps Over Ukraine Election --The United States on Monday threatened to review its relationship with Ukraine and to take punitive steps if the Ukrainian government fails to investigate allegations of fraud and abuse in its presidential election. [We have now had *two* stolen elections!! We DEMAND that allegations of fraud and abuse in OUR presidential 'election' are investigated HERE!!]

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South Iraq pipeline blast cuts oil flows --An oil pipeline explosion in southern Iraq cut flows to the main export outlet of Basra by at least 750,000 barrels per day on Monday, an oil industry official said.

Militant groups control 60 percent of Fallujah: witnesses --Militant groups in battle-torn Fallujah have controlled 60 percent of the central Iraqi city and surrounded dozens of US Marines in Jolan district,witnesses said Sunday. "Defenders of the city are controlling 60 percent of the city and they are encircling dozens of US soldiers in Jolan neighborhood," eyewitnesses who managed to sneak out of the city told Xinhua. [Oops! Looks like 'mission' *not* accomplished.]

Jackson fears Army will remain in Iraq for years --According to General Sir Mike Jackson [the officer commanding the Army], British troops will be sent to help the US in conflict zones anywhere inside Iraq, prompting fears that soldiers could be stuck in the most dangerous parts of the country fighting insurgents for years to come.

U.S. Soldier Dies in Attack in Baghdad --A U.S. soldier was killed in an attack in southwestern Baghdad, the U.S. military said Monday.

Baghdad: a city at war after raid on revered Sunni mosque, Fallujah fighting --A U.S.-Iraqi raid on the Abu Hanifa mosque one of the most revered sites for Sunni Muslims spawned a weekend of street battles, assassinations and a rash of bombings that changed Baghdad.

Several Die in Iraq violence as Blast Rocks Baghdad --A loud blast rocked central Baghdad early on Saturday and a large plume of gray smoke could be seen rising from the area near the 'Ministry of Health.'

'This is now the most dangerous place in Iraq. We are coming up against Zarqawi's people' --by Kim Sengupta in Mahmudiyah, Iraq 22 November 2004 --"The attack on Yusufiyah began at just after eight in the morning. Round after round of rockets, then mortar shells and machine-gun fire racked the US Marines' base, in an intense and unrelenting barrage. A relief patrol ran into a well-prepared ambush..."

Report: US discussing strikes on Iran --Pentagon officials are said to be discussing possible military action to neutralize Iran's nuclear weapons threat, according to a report in London's Observer. US administration sources are quoted as saying that air strikes – "either by the US or Israel" – to wipe out Iran's fledgling nuclear program would be difficult because of a lack of clear intelligence [?!?] about where key components are located. [Yes. This *truly* does boil down to a 'lack of clear intelligence.']

Powell 'pushed out' by Bush for seeking to rein in Israel --Colin Powell, the outgoing US secretary of state, was given his marching orders after telling Dictator George W Bush that he wanted greater power to confront Israel over the stalled Middle East peace process.

Air France Flight to Washington Diverted --Two Moroccan men were taken off a flight from Paris bound for Washington after officials determined one of the men was on the [insane] U.S. no-fly list.

News Release November 18, 2004 --by Karl W. B. Schwarz, author of One-Way Ticket to Crawford, Texas "Several key documents were delivered Wednesday, November 17, 2004 by one of my associates/friends to the Senior Assistant to Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General of the State of New York. ...[O]ut of the U.S. a party has come forth with information that there was a $120 billion deal that was to have closed on 9-11 or 9-12-2001 in WTC and that deal was apparently a debt that did not get paid due to 9-11. How fortunate for someone. We provided Mr. Spitzer with the routing codes and bank officer names of the parties that were to receive that payment and did not receive it."

Civil rights groups condemn Blunkett's anti-terror plans --Tony Blair faces a backlash from lawyers and civil rights campaigners over the string of anti-crime Bills and measures against international terrorism expected to dominate tomorrow's Queen's Speech. Shami Chakrabarti, director of the human rights group Liberty, warned that the generations-old principle of innocent until proven guilty risked being eroded by the expected anti-crime legislation. The Law Society, which represents solicitors, warned that the measures could be seen as a step "in the direction of a police state".

Government Uses Color Laser Printer Technology to Track Documents --Next time you make a printout from your color laser printer, shine an LED flashlight beam on it and examine it closely with a magnifying glass. You might be able to see the small, scattered yellow dots printer there that could be used to trace the document back to you.

Lawyer sues alleging "Guantanamo on the Hudson" conditions for R-N-C protesters --A "little Guantanamo on the Hudson." That's how a New York attorney describes conditions protesters were held under during the Republican National Convention. He's filing a lawsuit against the city. Jonathan Moore said the only things missing were the "orange jumpsuits."

Lawsuit: NYC Created 'Guantanamo' at RNC --Saying the city had created its "own little Guantanamo on the Hudson" during the Republican National Convention, a lawyer Monday filed a lawsuit on behalf of nearly 2,000 people arrested at demonstrations. The federal lawsuit claims protesters and bystanders alike were rounded up in mass arrests without cause; were kept without access to their lawyers or families at an old bus depot used as a temporary detention center; and were exposed for days to cruel and inhuman conditions.

Clinton to ABC News: It's payback time --The former president chastises Peter Jennings for ABC's "sleazy" coverage of Whitewater -- and he's right. --by Eric Boehlert "...Clinton flashed real irritation when Jennings suggested some historians thought that Clinton's presidency had lacked 'moral authority,' without mentioning its having been tarnished by independent counsel Kenneth Starr's multiple investigations. 'You don't want to go here, Peter,' snapped Clinton, who proceeded to criticize the reporting of ABC News, in particular, in the 1990s. 'Not after what you people did and the way you, your network, what you did with Kenneth Starr. The way your people repeated every little sleazy thing he leaked. No one has any idea what that's like.'"

Colombia Deploys 15,000 Troops for Bush --The Spanish colonialists who fortified this Colombian seaport 400 years ago to guard against pirates and rival imperial powers could only have dreamed of the security being implemented for Dictator Bush's visit here Monday. About 15,000 Colombian security forces — backed by warplanes, helicopters, battleships and two submarines — will safeguard Bush's four-hour trip to discuss the nation's war on drugs. That is the same number of American troops deployed in the Fallujah offensive in Iraq.

25,000 protest start of APEC --The start of the APEC summit being attended by Prime Minister John Howard in Chile has been marred by violent protests against US dictator George Bush. An estimated 25,000 people marched through the capital to oppose Bush's involvement in the war in Iraq. Marchers held up posters saying: "Bush, you stink," and "Terrorist Bush." Some chanted: "Bush, listen: Chile is not for sale!" and "Bush, fascist, thief, murderer!" [Great comments!]

Protesters get chilly reception outside Fort Huachuca (AZ) About thirty protesters gathered across the street from Fort Huachuca on Sunday to demonstrate against torture tactics they say the U.S. military is systematically using in the war on terror.

Arrests Made at Military School Protest --At least 20 people were arrested Sunday while protesting a U.S.-run military school for Latin Americans, some of whose graduates they claim later committed civil rights abuses including murder.

Bush's slapdown for Blair on climate change --Dictator Bush has reprimanded Tony Blair for sounding the alarm over global warming and pressing for international action to combat it, senior Washington sources say.

Surprise