Free Internet Press Newsletter - Thursday April 19 2007 - (813)

Thursday April 19 2007 edition
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4 Blasts In Baghdad Kill At Least 183 2007-04-19 01:46:32 Suspected Sunni insurgents penetrated the Baghdad security net Wednesday, hitting Shiite targets with four bomb attacks that killed 183 people - the bloodiest day since the U.S. troop increase began nine weeks ago. The most devastating blast struck the Sadriyah market as workers were leaving for the day, charring a lineup of minibuses that came to pick them up. At least 127 people were killed and 148 wounded, including men who were rebuilding the market after a Feb. 3 bombing left 137 dead. Wednesday's car bombing appeared meticulously planned. It took place at a pedestrian entrance where tall concrete barriers had been erected after the earlier attack. It was the only way out of the compound, and the construction workers were widely known to leave at about 4 p.m. - the time of the bombing. Read The Full Story Commentary: Memo To Mendacity 2007-04-19 01:45:44 Intellpuke: In the following commentary, the Guardian's security affairs editor Richard Norton-Taylor writes that the evidence could not be clearer that British Prime Minister Tony Blair subverted the truth to take Britain to war in Iraq. Mr. Norton-Taylor's commentary follows: The full extent of Tony Blair's mendacity over the invasion of Iraq has been emphatically revealed in classified Downing Street documents leaked since the invasion. They make up a devastating indictment of the way we were led into an adventure with the U.S. whose bloody consequences show no sign of relenting. One of the crucial documents is known as the Downing Street Memo. It consists of the minutes of a meeting chaired by Blair on July 23, 2002, when ministers were being warned by their officials and the attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, that an invasion to topple Saddam would be unlawful. The minutes reveal that Sir Richard Dearlove, then head of MI6, reporting on his talks in Washington, D.C., warned that "the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy". In a phrase with added resonance in the light of Wednesday's bloodshed in Baghdad, he said: "There was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military action." The minutes also reveal that Jack Straw, then foreign secretary, warned that the case for military action against Iraq was "thin". This document saw the light of day only because it was leaked. Lord Butler told the Guardian Wednesday that it was seen by his committee, set up to investigate the use and abuse of intelligence in the build-up to the invasion. He said his report did not refer to its explosive contents on the grounds that they related to U.S. use of intelligence, which was outside his terms of reference. The explanation exposes as a sham Blair's citing of Butler as a reason why there is no need for any further investigation into the war. Read The Full Story Pet Food Recall Expanded, Industrial Chemical Found In 2nd Ingredient 2007-04-19 01:44:44 An industrial chemical that led to the nationwide recall of more than 100 brands of cat and dog food has turned up in a second pet food ingredient imported from China. The discovery expands the monthlong cascade of recalls to include more brands and varieties of pet foods and treats tainted by the chemical. "This has exposed that the safety standards for pet foods are not in place in any significant way and the kind of drumbeat, day after day, of recalls has shaken consumers' confidence in the pet food industry's adherence to food safety standards," said Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive officer of the Humane Society of the United States. The chemical, melamine, is believed to have contaminated rice protein concentrate used to make a variety of Natural Balance Pet Foods products for both dogs and cats, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday. Read The Full Story FBI Served Warrant On Consulting Firm Owned By Congressman's Wife With Ties To Abramoff 2007-04-18 20:31:59 The FBI served a search warrant Friday in Northern Virginia on a consulting business owned by the wife of Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-California), whose ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff have been under investigation for more than a year, sources familiar with the matter said Wednesday. Doolittle's wife, Julie, operates Sierra Dominion Financial Services Inc. out of the couple's home in Oakton, Virginia. Since 2005, investigators have been looking at payments made by Abramoff and his colleagues to Doolittle's wife, as well as to the spouses of other lawmakers. Julie Doolittle has denied any wrongdoing. Read The Full Story Cho: 'When The Time Came, I Did It. I Had To.' 2007-04-18 19:23:15 Sometime after he killed two people in a Virginia university dormitory but before he slaughtered 30 more in a classroom building Monday morning, Cho Seung-Hui mailed NBC News a large package, including photographs and videos, boasting that "when the time came, I did it. I had to." Cho, 23, a senior English major at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, killed 32 people in two attacks before taking his own life. NBC News President Steve Capus said the network received the package in Tuesday afternoon's mail delivery, but it was not opened until Wednesday morning. The network immediately turned the materials over to FBI agents in New York. The package included an 1,800-word manifesto-like statement diatribe in which he expresses rage, resentment and a desire to get even. The material is "hard-to-follow ... disturbing, very disturbing," Capus said in an interview late Wednesday afternoon. Read The Full Story Republicans Block Bill To Let Medicare Negotiate Lower Drug Prices 2007-04-18 14:32:26 Intellpuke: I updated my commentary at this end of this article with some additional and, I believe, helpful information. The article follows, then my commentary. A pillar of the Democratic political program tumbled today when Republicans in the Senate blocked a proposal to allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices for millions of older Americans, a practice now forbidden by law. Democrats could not muster the 60 votes needed to take up the legislation in the face of staunch opposition from Republicans, who said that private insurers and their agents, known as pharmacy benefit managers, were already negotiating large discounts for Medicare beneficiaries. Fifty-five senators, including 6 Republicans, supported a Democratic motion to limit debate and proceed to consideration of the bill, while 42 senators voted against it. Such motions require a three-fifths majority under Senate rules. Without a limit on debate, opponents can prevent legislation from ever coming to a vote. Read The Full Story House Judiciary Committee Considers Immunity For Ex-Gonzales Aide 2007-04-18 13:40:49 The confrontation between Congress and the Bush administration over the dismissal of eight U.S. attorneys escalated again Tuesday as Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee said they are weighing an offer of immunity to a potential key witness in the investigation. At the same time, the Republican National Committee (RNC) Tueday turned down congressional demands that it hand over e-mails related to the firings, angering Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.). Frustrated by Monica M. Goodling's refusal to testify, committee Democrats said they may grant limited-use immunity to the former counsel to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. Such a grant of immunity, which would require the approval of two-thirds of the nearly 40-member panel, would free Goodling to speak about the plan to fire the U.S. attorneys and the dismissals' aftermath, without fear that prosecutors could use her testimony in a criminal proceeding. Goodling has invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself. Read The Full Story U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Ban On Late-Term Abortions 2007-04-18 13:40:14 The Supreme Court Wednesday narrowly upheld a nationwide ban on a controversial late-term abortion procedure, handing a major victory to President Bush and his social conservative allies. In a 5-4 vote, the court ruled that the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, which Bush signed into law in 2003, does not violate a woman's right to have an abortion, which has been the law of the land since the landmark 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade. The dramatic decision delivered to abortion opponents the promise of a more conservative court reconstituted by Bush. The ruling marked the first time that the court has upheld a ban on a specific abortion procedure. It also marked a departure from the Supreme Court's past practice of requiring a "health exception" in laws governing abortion to allow the procedure when a woman's health would otherwise be at risk. Read The Full Story U.K. Nuclear Plants Kept Body Parts Of Dead Workers 2007-04-18 02:30:58 The government will announce an independent inquiry today into claims that body parts of workers who died in suspicious circumstances at Sellafield and other nuclear plants were secretly taken for medical examination without their families' consent for more than 30 years. It was not immediately clear whether skin samples only or limbs and tissues were taken for laboratory examination from the 1960s until the practice was stopped in the early 90s but there are suggestions that almost 70 bodies may have been affected. Mindful of Liverpool's Alder Hey hospital scandal and other cases involving children's body parts being retained without consent for research, the government moved quickly to investigate the claims. Alistair Darling, the trade and industry secretary, will make a House of Commons statement Wednesday promising to appoint a leading Queen's Counsel to establish the facts and issue a report. "The prime concern is the feelings of the families. There are clearly a number of matters that need investigating dating back to the 1960s," said the Department for Trade and Industry. Read The Full Story	Hormone Replacement Therapy Link To 1,000 Women's Deaths From Cancer 2007-04-19 01:46:00 Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may have caused the deaths of more than 1,000 women in the U.K. from ovarian cancer since 1991, scientists revealed Thursday. HRT has been used by millions of women to alleviate the symptoms of menopause or - in some cases - because they hope it will help them remain youthful and active for longer. But Thursday's authoritative study by Professor Valerie Beral and colleagues from Oxford University reveals that those who take HRT for five years or more are risking death from a particularly lethal form of cancer. The research, published online by the Lancet medical journal Thursday, will not be the last straw for HRT, but it may well reduce the numbers willing to take the risk of hormone treatment. It is the first firm calculation of deaths related to HRT, but Prof. Beral and her colleagues have already shown that women who take the therapy are at increased risk of breast cancer and womb cancer. The risks of breast cancer are the highest, accounting for a probable 20,000 cases over a decade. Read The Full Story World Reaction To Virginia Tech Killings Mixes Condolences With Criticism Of Policies 2007-04-19 01:45:17 Officials, newspaper columnists and citizens around the world Tuesday described the Virginia Tech massacre as the tragic reflection of an America that fosters violence at home and abroad, even as it attempts to dictate behavior to the rest of the world. From European countries with strict gun-control laws to war-ravaged Iraq, where dozens of people are killed in shootings and bombings each day, foreigners and their news media used the university attack to condemn what they depicted as U.S. policies to arm friends, attack enemies and rely on violence rather than dialogue to settle disputes. "I'm not saying that it could only happen in the U.S.A.; no one could prevent someone from shooting people in the Sorbonne," said Pierre Chiquet, a 77-year-old retired aerospace engineer, referring to a Paris university. "But violence is more imbued in American society than in ours. The most dramatic aspect is that they even transport their violence to the rest of the world." Read The Full Story Poll: Giuliani's Lead Shrinks, Clinton's Margin Holds 2007-04-18 20:32:22 Former New York City mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani's lead over his Republican presidential rivals has narrowed considerably, while Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (New York) has maintained her advantage in the race for the Democratic nomination, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Sen. John McCain (Arizona), whose candidacy has been buffeted by lackluster fundraising and his embrace of President Bush's troop surge policy in Iraq, runs a solid second among GOP hopefuls; but there is fresh evidence in the new survey that his focus on the war and on attracting conservative support have made him more polarizing as a potential general-election candidate. Giuliani remained the front-runner in the national poll, but his support has eroded. In a late-February Post-ABC News poll, 44 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents preferred Giuliani for the nomination; that figure is down to 33 percent. Support for McCain held steady at 21 percent. Read The Full Story Rare Kremlin Admission Of Fault Follows International Outcry Over Beating Of Protesters 2007-04-18 20:31:39 A Kremlin spokesman said Tuesday that the beating of demonstrators at opposition rallies in Moscow and St. Petersburg over the weekend was an "overreaction" by riot police who were attempting to ensure "law and order on the streets." The statement by Dmitry Peskov, on the Russia Today television station, followed strong international criticism of the police. Germany, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, said the police tactics were unacceptable, while the United States said the policing was "heavy-handed". Peskov's statement was a rare admission of fault by the Russian government, which has largely defended the violent dispersal of demonstrators. Officials have charged that the organizers, led by former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, deliberately chose not to rally at an approved location in order to spark street clashes. Read The Full Story Virginia Tech Shooter Contacted NBC News Between First And Second Shootings 2007-04-18 16:20:36 Sometime after he killed two people in a dormitory but before he slaughtered 30 more in a classroom building Monday morning, Cho Seung-Hui sent NBC News a rambling communication and videos about his grievances, the network said Wednesday. Network officials turned the material over to the FBI and said they would not immediately disclose its contents pending the agency’s review beyond characterizing the material as “disturbing.” It included a written communication, photographs and video. The network said it would release a statement shortly. Cho, 23, a senior English major at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, killed 32 people in two separate attacks Monday before taking his own life. Read The Full Story Baghdad Bombs Kill At Least 127, More Than 100 Injured 2007-04-18 13:43:12 A string of bombings killed at least 127 people across Baghdad Wednesday, police said, as bloodshed spiked two months into a U.S.-led crackdown meant to placate the Iraqi capital. Some news accounts suggested the death toll may be higher. The Reuters news agency, quoting local officials, said as many as 170 people had been killed, and the Associated Press said 157 had been killed. The carnage underscored the profound insecurity that continues to plague the nation, where additional American soldiers are being deployed in an attempt to curb sectarian violence. The attacks came as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki pledged to have Iraqi troops assume full security control of the nation's 18 provinces by the end of the year, news services reported. The deadliest attack occurred Wednesday afternoon when a car bomb ripped through the Sadriyah market in a predominantly Shiite area of central Baghdad and killed at least 82 people, police said. The same market was the site of a Feb. 3 bombing that killed more than 125 people, the gravest single bombing since the war in Iraq began. Read The Full Story Campus Police: Cho Questioned In 2005 After Students Complained 2007-04-18 13:40:35 The Centreville, Virginia, man responsible for Monday's shooting rampage at Virginia Tech was questioned by police twice in 2005 after female students complained he was harassing them and was hospitalized after he was reported to be suicidal, the campus police chief said this morning. Cho Seung Hui, 23, was not charged with a criminal violation in either incident involving his contact with female students in November and December of 2005, said campus Police Chief Wendell Flinchum. Neither of the female students who notified police about Cho's behavior were among those killed in Monday's rampage, said Flinchum, and police have not found any definitive link between Cho and any of those slain. He is believed to have killed two students in a dormitory shortly after 7 a.m. and 30 students and faculty in a classroom building more than two hours later, before fatally shooting himself. In 2005, two female students complained separately to the campus police department about contacts Cho was having with them in person and on the telephone, said Flinchum. Read The Full Story Virginia Tech Student Wrote About Death And Spoke In Whispers 2007-04-18 02:31:50 They met across the professor's desk. One on one. The chairman of the English department and the silent, brooding student who never took his sunglasses off. He had so upset other instructors that Virginia Tech officials asked whether the professor wanted protection. Lucinda Roy declined. She thought Cho Seung Hui exuded loneliness, and she volunteered to teach him by herself, to spare her colleagues. The subject of the class was poetry. Roy, other officials, investigators, acquaintances and neighbors helped fill in a dark portrait Tuesday of the bespectacled young South Korean citizen who had sought bizarre expression in literature and then massacred 32 fellow students and teachers here Monday in the worst shooting rampage in U.S. history. As police closed in, he shot himself and was found on the floor of a classroom building with his weapons nearby. Cho, of Centreville, Virginia, the son of immigrants who run a dry cleaning business and the brother of a State Department contractor who graduated from Princeton, was described by those who encountered him over the years as at times angry, menacing, disturbed and so depressed that he seemed near tears. Read The Full Story Saudi Arabia To Write Of 80 Percent Of Iraq's $15 Billion Debt 2007-04-18 02:30:20 Saudi Arabia has agreed to forgive 80 percent of the more than $15 billion that Iraq owes the kingdom, Iraqi and Saudi officials said Tuesday, a major step given Saudi reluctance to provide financial assistance to the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad. Iraqi Finance Minister Bayan Jabr said in an interview that Russia was holding out on debt forgiveness until talks begin on concessions that Russian oil and gas companies had under Saddam Hussein. Russian Embassy officials in Washington, D.C., declined to comment late Tuesday. The Bush administration has been working for months to persuade other governments to follow the U.S. lead and write off all of their shares of Iraq's debts, which Jabr said total $140 billion. Most of those loans date to Iraq's war with Iran from 1980 to 1988, when the United States, Saudi Arabia and other governments saw Iraq as a buffer against Iran. Iraq also owes $199 billion in compensation for the Persian Gulf War that followed Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait, said analysts. Read The Full Story
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