Breaking: Beck Strikes Again [Obama Surrenders Again]; Yosi Sergant Reassigned at NEA 10 Sep 2009 The National Endowment for the Arts has reassigned former communications director Yosi Sergant, who had become the latest target of FOX News talk show host Glenn Beck. Acting NEA communications director Victoria Hutter said Thursday that Sergant had left the communications post. The move came after he had come under attack from Beck, a conservative commentator who accused Sergant of attempting to use taxpayer money to fund art to support the president's initiatives.
U.S. eyes military equipment in Iraq for Pakistan 09 Sep 2009 The Pentagon has proposed transferring U.S. military equipment from Iraq to Pakistani security forces to 'help' Islamabad step up its offensive against the Taliban, according to officials and government documents. The Pentagon request for the authority to "transfer articles no longer needed in Iraq" to the army of Pakistan received a cool reception in the U.S. Congress. [Gee, if the *equipment* goes, is it not logical to assume that the *people* (mercenaries, soldiers) who *operate* the equipment will soon follow?]
Why did you kill my son? Backlash against Afghan rescue operation grows 11 Sep 2009 The operation to free the journalist Stephen Farrell was enmeshed in controversy and recrimination last night as Gordon Brown appeared to distance himself from ordering the rescue bid which ended in British and Afghan deaths. Now the father of Sultan Munadi, the Afghan colleague of Mr Farrell who was killed in the raid, has demanded to know why ongoing negotiations, which he believes could have led to a peaceful outcome, were abandoned in favour of a military strike.
Negotiators shocked by special forces rescue raid on Taleban 10 Sep 2009 Hostage negotiators expressed shock and anger at Gordon Brown’s decision to approve a commando raid to free a kidnapped British journalist, saying that they were within days of securing his release through peaceful means. Stephen Farrell -- who was in Afghanistan for The New York Times -- was not harmed in the raid but his Afghan translator, Sultan Munadi, and a British soldier from the Special Forces Support Group were killed. The men were being held at a house in Kharudi in northern Afghanistan. Just after midnight on Tuesday US helicopters dropped British special forces and Afghan troops in the village... At least one civilian and scores of militants were killed.
Taliban presence seen across almost all Afghanistan --Substantial Taliban activity in at least 97 percent of the country 10 Sep 2009 The Taliban have a significant presence in almost every corner of Afghanistan, data from a policy think tank showed on Thursday. A security map by policy research group the International Council on Security and Development (ICOS) however showed a deepening security crisis with substantial Taliban activity in at least 97 percent of the country. The ICOS data, obtained by Reuters before its release on Thursday, painted an even darker picture than an Afghan government map last month that showed almost half of Afghanistan at either a high risk of attack or under "enemy control".
Congress wary of more US Afghanistan troops-Pelosi 10 Sep 2009 There is little support in Congress for sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives said on Thursday, indicating possible trouble ahead for President Barack Obama. Obama may decide in the coming weeks whether to expand the size of the U.S. military force in Afghanistan... But U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said deploying more U.S. troops could be a tough sell.
Iraq: Car Bomb Kills 8 Family Members 10 Sep 2009 A car bomb killed eight members of a family on Wednesday in Kirkuk. Maj. Gen. Jamal Taher Bakr, Kirkuk’s police chief, said a displaced family from Diyala Province had been taking refuge in a house close to where the bomb exploded.
30 killed in Iraq attacks 10 Sep 2009 At least 30 people were killed and 99 injured in attacks that shook different parts of Iraq on Thursday, security sources said. In northern Iraq, 25 people died and 43 were injured in a truck bombing in eastern Mosul. The vehicle blew up early morning in Kurdish-dominated Wardak village, security sources said.
Senate panel votes to kill F-22 fighter 10 Sep 2009 The Senate Appropriations Committee voted unanimously on Thursday to kill Lockheed Martin Corp's F-22 fighter jet, the most advanced U.S. fighter, and largely backed other program cuts sought by President Barack Obama. By a 30 to 0 vote that took 15 minutes and featured no debate, the panel approved a $636.3 billion defense budget for fiscal 2010, which starts October 1.
Lithuania Parliament Rejects CIA Prison Probe 10 Sep 2009 Lithuania's parliament on Thursday rejected holding an inquiry into a U.S. report that the country hosted a secret CIA prison for 'al Qaeda' suspects. ABC News reported in August that Lithuania was the third European country after Poland and Romania to have provided the Central Intelligence Agency with facilities for detaining and, possibly, interrogating suspects.
FBI Informant Says Agents Missed Chance to Stop 9/11 Ringleader --Mohammed Atta Undercover Operative 'One Million Percent Positive' Attacks Could Have Been Prevented 10 Sep 2009 On the eve of the eight year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, an FBI informant who infiltrated alleged terrorist cells in the U.S. tells ABC News the FBI missed a chance to stop the al Qaeda [al CIAduh] plot because they focused more on undercover stings than on the man who would later become known as 9/11 ringleader Mohammed Atta. Former undercover operative Elie Assaad says he spotted and became suspicious of Atta in early 2001, when he was sent by the FBI to infiltrate a small mosque outside Miami.
Ground broken on $3.4 billion Homeland Security complex --It is biggest federal building project in D.C. area since Pentagon 68 years ago 09 Sep 2009 Washington notables broke ground on the future home of the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday, symbolically starting construction on the biggest federal building project in the Washington area since the Pentagon 68 years ago. The project will bring together more than 15,000 employees now scattered in 35 offices in the region, placing them on a 176-acre campus strewn with historic buildings in a long-neglected corner of Washington, five miles from the Capitol building.
Biotech companies benefiting from flu outbreak --List of biotech companies whose shares may rise or fall depending on the course of the swine flu pandemic. 10 Sep 2009 Gilead Sciences Inc - Receives royalties on sales of the Tamiflu pill, which Roche Holding AG sells under license from Gilead. According to analysts at Barclays Capital, current projections for the second half of the year suggest combined seasonal and pandemic Tamiflu sales of $1 billion.
Most U.S. campuses already reporting flu-like sicknesses 09 Sep 2009 Almost three-quarters (73%) of American colleges and universities are reporting cases of influenza-like illnesses among students, with the highest rates in the Southeast and Midwest, the American College Health Association says. There were 4,045 new flu-like illness cases between Aug. 29 and Sept. 4 among 204 schools taking part in voluntary reporting, the new data show.
GOP lawmaker: 'One mistress wears skimpy underwear and likes to be spanked.' Disgraced California lawmaker denies affairs --The Republican is married with two children. 10 Sep 2009 A pro-family values California lawmaker who resigned after being caught on tape boasting about his sexual conquests denied Thursday that he had extramarital affairs, saying "my offense was engaging in inappropriate storytelling." Mike Duvall stepped down Wednesday after a videotape surfaced in which he was overheard telling a lawmaker about having sex with a lobbyist and another woman, including salacious details about how one mistress wears skimpy underwear and likes to be spanked.
House Democrats to Wilson: Apologize or Face Censure --House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (SC) asked Wilson to apologize on the House floor in front of his colleagues. 10 Sep 2009 On the House floor where President Obama spoke just a half-day earlier, two words shouted by a Republican congressman reverberated louder than the finer points of health care debate. House Democrats seized on House rules Thursday to demand South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson offer a high-profile apology to President Obama for shouting, "You lie," during the president's health care address. Democrats have threatened to censure Wilson absent such an apology.
Specter Calls for Censure of Wilson 10 Sep 2009 Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) called Thursday for the censure of Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) for shouting "You lie!" at President Obama as the president addressed a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night. "There ought to be a reprimand or censure of Rep. Joe Wilson to discourage that kind of conduct in the future," he Tweeted. "Rep. Wilson apologized immediately afterward but I don't think that's adequate," he wrote just moments before.
Joe Wilson Foe, Rob Miller, Gets Windfall From 'You Lie' Comment By Frank James 10 Sep 2009 A major beneficiary of Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst towards President Barack Obama last night is the lawmaker's Democratic rival Rob Miller who is raising oodles of money. Miller, an Iraq War veteran, lost to Wilson 54 percent to 46 percent last November. But just since last night, he has raised $450,000 according to a CNN report.
Shimkus walked on Obama: 'Frustrated' 10 Sep 2009 Rep. Joe Wilson, the South Carolina Republican who yelled at President Barack Obama during his address to Congress this week, wasn't the only one unhappy with what he heard. Rep. John Shimkus, a Republican from Illinois, walked out.
Obama Keeps Up Health Care Push, Citing Uninsured 11 Sep 2009 President Obama, seeking to buttress his case for the kind of comprehensive health care overhaul that has eluded Washington for decades, said Thursday that the number of uninsured Americans rose by nearly 6 million as the recession intensified during the last 12 months. On the morning after his blunt address on health care to a joint session of Congress, Mr. Obama addressed a group of nurses on the White House campus -- and received the endorsement of their professional association, administration officials said.
More than 1 in 4 in Texas lack health insurance 10 Sep 2009 Once again, Texas has the nation's highest rate of people without health insurance. More than one of every four Texans -- 25.1 percent -- were uninsured in a two-year average ending last year, a Census Bureau report showed today. That's up from 24.1 percent for 2005 and 2006.
Fox News appeals ruling for U.S. Fed over bailout 10 Sep 2009 Fox News Network LLC on Wednesday appealed a U.S. judge's decision not to force the U.S. Federal Reserve to reveal the names of participants in its emergency lending programs. The news network, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. filed with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to over turn a July 30 ruling by U.S. District Judge Hellerstein that denied the network's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request of the U.S. central bank.
U.S. poverty rate hits 11-year high as recession bites 10 Sep 2009 The U.S. poverty rate hit its highest level in 11 years in 2008 as the worst recession since the Great Depression threw millions of Americans out of work, a government report showed on Thursday. The Census Bureau said the poverty rate -- the percentage of people living in poverty -- jumped to 13.2 percent, the highest level since 1997, from 12.5 percent in 2007.
Judge blocks release of names of R-71 signers 10 Sep 2009 A federal judge on Thursday blocked the release of names of people who signed Referendum 71, an effort to overturn the state's new "everything but marriage" same-sex domestic partner law. Gay rights activists want to post the names online... The group Protect Marriage Washington, which collected nearly 138,000 signatures to qualify R-71 for the November ballot, says those people could be harassed, amounting to an infringement on their free speech rights.
Polar bear, arctic fox, caribou hurt by climate change 10 Sep 2009 Polar bear cubs, the arctic fox and caribou herds are among the victims of dramatic changes in the Arctic due to climate change, a study published Thursday found. "Species on land and at sea are suffering adverse consequences of human behavior at latitudes thousands of miles away," said lead author and biologist Eric Post of Penn State University.
Previous lead stories: Prosecutor eyeing war crimes in Afghanistan 09 Sep 2009 The prosecutor for the International Criminal Court said Wednesday he is collecting information on possible war crimes by NATO forces and the Taliban in Afghanistan. Luis Moreno Ocampo said he is also conducting preliminary inquiries on possible war crimes in Georgia, Colombia, Kenya, Ivory Coast, and by Israeli forces in Gaza. Asked whether any NATO soldier is now a potential target of the court if he or she commits a war crime in a country under the court's jurisdiction, he replied that NATO's legal adviser was at the court's headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands last week discussing this issue. In the training NATO is doing, Ocampo said, it is explaining to colonels that in the future they could end up before the court if they commit atrocities.
Bush White House Sought to Shield Those Running Secret CIA Prisons --U.S. Tried to Quietly Soften Treaty on Detainees 07 Sep 2009 From 2003 to 2006, the Bush regime quietly tried to relax the draft language of a treaty meant to bar and punish "enforced disappearances" so that those overseeing the CIA's secret prison system would not be criminally prosecuted under its provisions, according to former officials and hundreds of pages of documents recently declassified by the State Department... The documents suggest that initial U.S. support for the negotiations collided head-on with the then-undisclosed goal of seizing suspected terrorists anywhere in the world for questioning by CIA interrogators or indefinite detention by the U.S. military at foreign sites. ...The United States pressed in 2004 for a more limited prohibition on intentionally placing detainees outside legal protections for "a prolonged period of time."
Obama Vows to 'Deliver on Health Care' -- President Urges, but Does Not Demand, Public Option 10 Sep 2009 President Obama sought to reframe the contentious debate over health care on Wednesday. "I am not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last," Mr. Obama told a joint session of Congress, adding, "Our collective failure to meet this challenge -- year after year, decade after decade -- has led us to a breaking point." ...The president placed a price tag on the plan of about $900 billion over 10 years, which he said was “less than we have spent on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars."
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