Free Internet Press Newsletter - Thursday November 30 2006 - (813)

Thursday November 30 2006 edition
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Analysis: Al-Sadr Casts Shadow Over Bush-Maliki Talks 2006-11-30 03:24:23 When President Bush meets Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Amman, Jordan, on Thursday, it will be clear that the real power in Iraq rests with radical cleric and militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr. In one swift maneuver Wednesday, Sadr cast a shadow over the diplomacy in Amman and issued a reminder of his growing influence in Iraq when a bloc of his party's lawmakers and cabinet members suspended their participation in the government to protest Maliki's decision to meet with Bush in Jordan. The move raises concerns about the ability of Maliki and Iraq's fragile unity government - beset by political paralysis, feuding rivalries and corruption - to survive. If Sadr decides to prolong his departure from government, it could lead to deeper crisis in a nation already divided by sectarian strife. Read The Full Story EPA Backtracks On Easing Toxin Rule 2006-11-30 03:22:55 Under pressure from Democratic senators, the Bush administration has modified its proposal to ease public reporting requirements for companies that handle or release toxic chemicals. The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed new rules for the Toxics Release Inventory, an annual accounting of more than 650 chemicals that industry releases into the air, land and water. The changes would raise the threshold for reporting releases of toxic chemicals in detail from 500 to 5,000 pounds and would allow companies to report every other year instead of annually. In response, New Jersey Democratic senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez in July blocked confirmation of Bush's nominee to head the EPA's Office of Environmental Information, Molly O'Neill. Read The Full Story U.S. Will Pay $2 Million To Lawyer Wrongly Jailed 2006-11-30 03:21:17 The federal government agreed to pay $2 million Wednesday to an Oregon lawyer wrongly jailed in connection with the 2004 terrorist bombings in Madrid, Spain, and it issued a formal apology to him and his family. The unusual settlement caps a two-and-a-half-year ordeal that saw the lawyer, Brandon Mayfield, go from being a suspected terrorist operative to a symbol, in the eyes of his supporters, of government overzealousness in the war on terrorism. “The United States of America apologizes to Mr. Brandon Mayfield and his family for the suffering caused” by his mistaken arrest, the government’s apology began. It added that the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which erroneously linked him to the Madrid bombs through a fingerprinting mistake, had taken steps “to ensure that what happened to Mr. Mayfield and the Mayfield family does not happen again”. Read The Full Story Judge Orders FEMA To Resume Housing Payments To Katrina Victims 2006-11-29 21:37:07 The Bush administration must immediately resume housing payments for thousands of people displaced by Hurricane Katrina, a federal judge said Wednesday, heaping more criticism on the government's handling of the 2005 disaster. U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon's ruling sharply criticized the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for illegally cutting housing funding and subjecting storm victims to a convoluted application process he called "Kafkaesque". It is the second court victory for Katrina victims this week. A federal judge in Louisiana said Monday that many homeowners might be entitled to more insurance money for flood damage. Read The Full Story Ancient Astonmical Computer Surprises Scientists 2006-11-29 21:35:08 A computer in antiquity would seem to be an anachronism, like Athena ordering takeout on her cellphone. But a century ago, pieces of a strange mechanism with bronze gears and dials were recovered from an ancient shipwreck off the coast of Greece. Historians of science concluded that this was an instrument that calculated and illustrated astronomical information, particularly phases of the Moon and planetary motions, in the second century B.C. The Antikythera Mechanism, sometimes called the world’s first computer, has now been examined with the latest in high-resolution imaging systems and three-dimensional X-ray tomography. A team of British, Greek and American researchers was able to decipher many inscriptions and reconstruct the gear functions, revealing, they said, “an unexpected degree of technical sophistication for the period.” Read The Full Story Halliburton's KBR Unit To Pay $8 Million To Settle Overbilling - In Kosovo 2006-11-29 21:33:13 A Halliburton subsidiary agreed to pay the government $8 million to resolve accusations of overbilling related to the firm's work for the Army in the Balkans, the Justice Department said Wednesday. The allegations against KBR, formerly known as Kellogg Brown & Root, stemmed from orders placed with 10 foreign subcontractors that were working for KBR on military logistics support in 1999 and 2000. The accusations, made under the federal False Claims Act, included double-billing, inflating prices and providing products that didn't fit the Army's needs during the construction of Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo. "The Department of Justice remains committed to vigorously pursuing allegations of procurement abuses affecting the military," Assistant Attorney General Peter D. Keisler said in a written statement. Read The Full Story Radioactive Material Found On Two British Airways Planes 2006-11-29 20:04:15 The investigation into the death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko gathered pace dramatically Wednesday as it emerged that a number of British Airways aircraft that fly between Moscow and London have been contaminated with radioactive material. Two BA Boeing 767s were grounded at Heathrow following tests ordered by Scotland Yard, and a third aircraft was being tested in Moscow after its pilot was warned not to take off. Last night the airline appealed to around 800 passengers to come forward. They flew on four flights between London and Moscow in the days either side of Litvinenko's poisoning on November 1. However, the Guardian understands that the airline is scrambling to contact up to 33,000 passengers and 3,000 of its own staff who flew on the aircraft, on 10 different routes, since October 25. The aircraft are known to have been used for a total of 220 flights. The airline said that only "very low traces" of the substance had been discovered on the Boeing 767s and the risk to public health was low. Passengers concerned about their health should call NHS Direct, it said. Read The Full Story Bush Postpones Maliki Summit After Memo Leak 2006-11-29 20:03:06 George Bush Wednesday postponed a meeting in Jordan with Iraq's embattled prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, after a leaked White House memo revealed deep U.S. misgivings about Maliki's willingness or ability to curb sectarian violence. The 12-hour delay was officially to allow Bush the chance to have a bilateral meeting with the host, Jordan's King Abdullah, but White House officials were forced to assure Maliki that he still had the U.S.  president's confidence. The memo - leaked to the New York Times (Editor: see related article on the memo elsewhere on Free Internet Press' mainpage today.) and confirmed as accurate by administration officials - exposed a relationship of mutual dependence clouded by distrust and strained by the steadily escalating civil war inside Iraq. A bipartisan U.S. commission, the Iraq Study Group, said it would deliver a report on America's remaining options next Wednesday, but the Bush administration is looking for even more immediate answers as it struggles to contain a dire situation that it is getting worse by the day. Read The Full Story Cracks Showing In Three Of U.S. Economy's Pillars 2006-11-29 02:47:09 Three pillars of the economy - consumer confidence, orders for manufactured goods and home prices - showed surprising cracks on Tuesday, flashing signals that growth may slow more heading into the important holiday shopping season. The New York-based Conference Board said its widely watched consumer confidence index fell to 102.9 in November from a revised reading of 105.1 in October. November’s figure was the lowest since August’s 100.2 and well below economists’ expectations of a 106 reading. That news arrived on the heels of a government report on durable goods that showed orders for big-ticket manufactured goods plunged 8.3 percent in October - the largest drop in more than six years. Read The Full Story 'Step Away From The Constitution, Mr. Gingrich, And Put Your Hands Where We Can See Them' 2006-11-29 02:45:20 Intellpuke: The following opinion column is written by Bob Cesca and was posted on the Huffington Post website on Tuesday, November 28, 2006. As you may have guessed, Mr. Cesca's column deals with Freedom of Speech, specifically Newt Gingrich's suggestion that America needs to curtail it. Mr. Cesca's column begins here: I don't think it can be said more clearly: we should be willing to die at the hands of a thousand terrorist attacks before giving up our liberties. Actually, it can be said more clearly - by Patrick Henry. But at no time in present memory has that declaration been more applicable. You, me and every human being who calls him- or herself an American ought to be willing to sacrifice ourselves before acquiescing to the tyranny of those who advocate such unconstitutional laws as the USA Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act and other yet-to-be-proposed ideas put forth by reactionary Republican cowards. And "reactionary Republican cowards" includes Newt Gingrich who said, according to the Union Leader, we need to "reexamine freedom of speech" in order to "get ahead of the curve before we actually lose a city, which I think could happen in the next decade." The irony is that he said this at an event honoring the First Amendment. The scary side of this statement isn't the idea of losing a city but rather the notion that Mr. Gingrich wants to be our next president. Read The Full Story NYC Mayor Bloomberg Meets With Groom's Family In NYPD Slaying 2006-11-29 02:44:09 New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg met with the family of a black man who was killed on his wedding day in a barrage of police gunfire as he and two of his friends left his bachelor party. All three men were unarmed. Three days after the fatal encounter, it remained unclear Tuesday why four detectives and one police officer opened fire while conducting an undercover operation at a strip club. Police also questioned an unidentified witness who was on a darkened block in Queens when five police officers killed 23-year-old Sean Bell and injured two friends as the three sat inside a car, said officials. There are two other civilian witnesses: One woman on the street who says she saw officers firing their weapons, and a second woman who from her window spotted a man running away from the area around the time of the shooting. Investigators tried to determine if that man had been with the three who were shot. Read The Full Story Fight Breaks Out In Mexico's Congress 2006-11-29 02:42:30 Mexican President-elect Felipe Calderon named a hard-line conservative as interior minister Tuesday, and lawmakers slapped and pushed one another in a deepening political crisis three days before Calderon takes power. Francisco Ramirez Acuna was chosen to spearhead the new government's handling of unrest, with Mexico reeling from leftist street protests over Calderon's election, violence in the popular tourist city of Oaxaca and a spate of bombings in the capital. Ramirez Acuna, a close ally of the president-elect from the right wing of the ruling National Action Party, also will play a key role in trying to win support in Congress for tax, energy and labor reforms. Read The Full Story	Iraq Study Group To Call For Major Troop Withdrawal 2006-11-30 03:23:39 The Iraq Study Group, which wrapped up eight months of deliberations yesterday, has reached a consensus and will call for a major withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, shifting the U.S. role from combat to support and advising, according to a source familiar with the deliberations. The recommendation includes a series of conditions and qualifications that would govern any drawdown of forces, said the source. "It describes a process by which combat brigades could be pulled out, but there wasn't a specific timetable on it," he said. The source demanded anonymity because members of the bipartisan panel have been pledged to secrecy until the report is officially issued Dec. 6. The issue of a timeline for drawing down troops - both a specific date to begin a withdrawal and the pace - had been major points of contention within the panel. The Bush administration has firmly rejected specifying a date for withdrawal, but Democrats have favored setting a time frame as a way to put pressure on the Iraqi government. Read The Full Story U.S. State Dept. Official: Tony Blair's U.S. Influence A 'Myth' 2006-11-30 03:22:04 In a devastating verdict on Tony Blair's decision to back war in Iraq and his "totally one-sided" relationship with President Bush, a U.S. State Department official has said that Britain's role as a bridge between America and Europe is now "disappearing before our eyes". Kendall Myers, a senior State Department analyst, disclosed that for all Britain's attempts to influence U.S. policy in recent years, "we typically ignore them and take no notice - it's a sad business". He added that he felt "a little ashamed" at Bush's treatment of the Prime Minister, who had invested so much of his political capital in standing shoulder to shoulder with America after 9/11. Read The Full Story Turkey Furious As E.U. Suspends Portion Of Talks On Membership 2006-11-30 03:20:31 Turkey reacted furiously yesterday to the proposed suspension of a large section of its talks on joining the European Union as a punishment for its refusal to open trade with Cyprus. Eight of 34 areas of negotiation will be frozen under the European Commission's plan until Ankara fulfils an agreement signed last year to open its ports to Cyprus, an E.U. member that it does not recognize. The Commission’s move was criticised by Britain, Sweden and Spain, but - in a sign of the faultlines within the Community over Turkish accession - was applauded by France and Germany. Turkey was defiant, insisting that it was not prepared to make any further concessions. “We have set out the framework [for progress on Cyprus],” Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minister, said. “If they are approaching the issue with the idea that they might grab a new concession, then we have no concession to make.” Read The Full Story Ahmadinejad Urges Americans To Reject Bush Policies 2006-11-29 21:36:38 Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, told the American people on Wednesday that he was certain they detested President Bush’s policies - his support for Israel, war in Iraq and curtailed civil liberties - and he offered to work with them to reverse those policies. The call came in the form of a six-page letter in English addressed to “noble Americans” that discussed “the many wars and calamities caused by the U.S. administration.” It suggested that Americans had been fooled into accepting their government’s policies, especially toward Israel. “What have the Zionists done for the American people that the U.S. administration considers itself obliged to blindly support these infamous aggressors?” Ahmadinejad wrote. “Is it not because they have imposed themselves on a substantial portion of the banking, financial, cultural and media sectors?” Read The Full Story Panel Urges Overhaul Of Wall Street Regulations 2006-11-29 21:34:26 Saying it is concerned about a loss of American competitiveness, an independent committee will call on Thursday for a sweeping overhaul of securities market regulations. It recommends making it harder for companies to be indicted by the government or sued by private lawyers, and urges policies to keep the Securities and Exchange Commission from adopting rules that impose high costs on business. The committee, formed with the endorsement of Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr., said the S.E.C. should be required to perform cost-benefit analyses on all rules before they are adopted. It said the S.E.C. should also take steps to rein in private securities litigation and adopt policies to shield corporate directors and auditors from some lawsuits. Read The Full Story 38,000 Unionized Employees Take Ford Buyouts 2006-11-29 21:32:19 Almost half of Ford Motor's hourly production workers - 38,000 of them - have accepted buyouts or early retirement offers this year as the nation's second-biggest automaker shrinks in the face of multibillion-dollar losses and competition from Asian carmakers. The figure includes about 30,000 employees who took buyouts during the open sign-up period that concluded Monday, and about 8,000 who took deals offered at individual plants this year. The automaker also said Wednesday that it expected to post cumulative cash outflows of about $17 billion from 2007 to 2009. Ford had hoped that 25,000 to 30,000 workers would accept the latest buyout offer. Read The Full Story Bush Aide's Memo Doubts Iraqi Leader 2006-11-29 20:03:41 A classified memorandum by President Bush’s national security adviser expressed serious doubts about whether Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki had the capacity to control the sectarian violence in Iran and recommended that the United States take new steps to strengthen the Iraqi leader’s position. The Nov. 8 memo was prepared for Bush and his top deputies by Stephen J. Hadley, the national security adviser, and senior aides on the staff of the National Security Council after a trip by Hadley to Baghdad. The memo suggests that if Maliki fails to carry out a series of specified steps, it may ultimately be necessary to press him to reconfigure his parliamentary bloc, a step the United States could support by providing “monetary support to moderate groups,” and by sending thousands of additional American troops to Baghdad to make up for what the document suggests is a current shortage of Iraqi forces. (You can read the text of Hadley's memo here: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/29/world/middleeast/29mtext.html .) The memo presents an unvarnished portrait of Maliki and notes that he relies for some of his political support on leaders of more extreme Shiite groups. The five-page document, classified secret, is based in part on a one-on-one meeting between Hadley and Maliki on Oct. 30. Read The Full Story Analysis: As Iraq Deteriorates, Officials Blame Iraqis 2006-11-29 02:47:54 From troops on the ground to members of Congress, Americans increasingly blame the continuing violence and destruction in Iraq on the people most affected by it: the Iraqis. Even Democrats who have criticized the Bush administration's conduct of the occupation say the people and government of Iraq are not doing enough to rebuild their society. The White House is putting pressure on the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and members of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group have debated how much to blame Iraqis for not performing civic duties. This marks a shift in tone from earlier debate about the responsibility of the United States to restore order after the 2003 invasion, and it seemed to gain currency in October, when sectarian violence surged. Some see the talk of blame as the beginning of the end of U.S. involvement. Read The Full Story 5 Years After Enron, Big Business Wants Less Regulation 2006-11-29 02:46:40 Business interests, seizing on concerns that a law passed in the wake of the Enron scandal has overreached, are advancing a broad agenda to limit government oversight of private industry, including making it tougher for investors to sue companies and auditors for fraud. A group that has drawn support from Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr., plans to issue a report Thursday that argues that the United States may be losing its preeminent position in global capital markets to foreign stock exchanges because of costly regulations and nettlesome private lawsuits. Interest groups are trying to build political support to review long-standing rules that govern companies, as well as parts of the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley law, which imposed stringent responsibilities on accountants, boards of directors and corporate executives. Some key members of Congress have recently expressed concern that U.S. companies may be over-regulated. Read The Full Story Opinion: Freedom Of Speech - Non-Negotiable 2006-11-29 02:44:48 Intellpuke: The following opinion column is written by Mark Jeffrey and appeared on the Huffington Post (HuffPo) website on Tuesday, November 28, 2006. It deals, as the headline states, with Freedom of Speech. Mr. Jeffrey's column follows: As regular readers of HuffPo no doubt have seen today, former Speaker and presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich recently made the interesting assertion that we "need to re-examine freedom of speech" in this post 9/11 world. Well, listen up, Newt: Freedom of speech is non-negotiable. It is a core American value. It is a core value of free societies in every time and place. It's bad enough that expression in the US and A has been recently restricted to "free speech zones" (I had previously been under the impression that in the Land of the Free, the whole place from Sea to Shining Sea was one big honkin' free speech zone). Read The Full Story Mexico Shocked By Surge In Violence 2006-11-29 02:43:24 Andres Sauzo collects newspapers, astoundingly grisly newspapers. There's the one with the close-up shot of a severed human head. There's the one with the wide-angle of a man hacked to death with a machete. But the worst in his bulky archive of drug-war gore rolled off the presses the day after someone found pieces of what used to be Sauzo's 24-year-old namesake. A hit man had decapitated Sauzo's son, then chopped off his arms and legs. The killer was so unconcerned about being brought to justice that he scrawled his own name and nickname - "El Barby" - on a note left with the mutilated corpse. Still, Sauzo's mother, Cristina Gomez, didn't bother to go to the police. "Why waste my time?" she said in an interview. "This is the way it is in a town without laws." Read The Full Story
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