Drug Traces Common in Drinking Water

We take drinking water for granted. No more. Our food is less safe and so will be our drinking water. We have a government that doesn't believe in protecting the public. They are too busy fighting wars abroad or taking payoffs from lobbyists from the same people that are polluted our environment. How ironic that our troops are being poisoned by water in Iraq just as in the U.S.:

A vast array of pharmaceuticals -- including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones -- have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows.

To be sure, the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose. Also, utilities insist their water is safe.

But the presence of so many prescription drugs -- and over-the-counter medicines like acetaminophen and ibuprofen -- in so much of our drinking water is heightening worries among scientists of long-term consequences to human health.

In the course of a five-month inquiry, the AP discovered that drugs have been detected in the drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas -- from Southern California to Northern New Jersey, from Detroit to Louisville, Ky.

Water providers rarely disclose results of pharmaceutical screenings, unless pressed, the AP found. For example, the head of a group representing major California suppliers said the public ''doesn't know how to interpret the information'' and might be unduly alarmed.

Newsweek: Clintons "Always Their Own Worst Enemies"

Great point that Obama should pick up on:

She has implied that she shared a kind of co-presidency with her husband during her White House years in the 1990s. That suggests the co-presidency would continue in another Clinton administration. If the phone rings at 3 a.m. in the Hillary Clinton White House, will she awaken her husband to discuss what to do? (No one really thinks that a First Spouse would be deeply involved, say, in picking bombing targets in response to a terror attack, but the campaign rhetoric and red-phone ad do suggest experience in dealing with security crises.) In fact, a terrorist attack did occur late on the Clintons' first watch: in August 1998, Al Qaeda blew up two U.S. Embassies in Africa. At that time, Hillary Clinton may not have been as engaged as she usually was talking through the president's problems. A couple of weeks earlier, independent counsel Ken Starr had turned up the semen-stained blue dress in the Monica Lewinsky scandal, and, at the time of the embassy bombings, the Clintons were reportedly not speaking.

The myth of the Clinton superior campaign team:

The biggest crisis facing Hillary Clinton in recent times is her own campaign. Mixed and ever-changing messages and tactics have confused voters. The Obama campaign out-organized the Clinton campaign, especially in the caucus states. Reports of vicious feuds between her top aides have leaked into the press. It seems that Clinton has been saved mostly by her own gutsiness, not by any particular flair for strategy or for running a large organization.

Water Makes US Troops in Iraq Sick

Adding insult to injury. The Bush gang is killing our troops needlessly while sickening those who haven't been killed yet. Meanwhile, making money while at it:

Dozens of U.S. troops in Iraq fell sick at bases using "unmonitored and potentially unsafe" water supplied by the military and a contractor once owned by Vice President Dick Cheney's former company, the Pentagon's internal watchdog says.

A report obtained by The Associated Press said soldiers experienced skin abscesses, cellulitis, skin infections, diarrhea and other illnesses after using discolored, smelly water for personal hygiene and laundry at five U.S. military sites in Iraq.

The Defense Department's inspector general's report, which could be released as early as Monday, found water quality problems between March 2004 and February 2006 at three sites run by contractor KBR Inc., and between January 2004 and December 2006 at two military-operated locations.

It was impossible to link the dirty water definitively to all the illnesses, according to the report. But it said KBR's water quality "was not maintained in accordance with field water sanitary standards" and the military-run sites "were not performing all required quality control tests."

Studies: Iraq Costs US $12B Per Month

That's money we don't have:

The flow of blood may be ebbing, but the flood of money into the Iraq war is steadily rising, new analyses show. In 2008, its sixth year, the war will cost approximately $12 billion a month, triple the "burn" rate of its earliest years, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and co-author Linda J. Bilmes report in a new book.

Beyond 2008, working with "best-case" and "realistic-moderate" scenarios, they project the Iraq and Afghan wars, including long-term U.S. military occupations of those countries, will cost the U.S. budget between $1.7 trillion and $2.7 trillion — or more — by 2017.

Interest on money borrowed to pay those costs could alone add $816 billion to that bottom line, they say.

60 Minutes Transcript: John McCain Interview

The Republican nominee had interesting answers (read the transcript/article) during his interview on 60 Minutes:

"I wonder at what point do you stop doing what you think is right and you start doing what the majority of the American people want?" Pelley asked.

"Well, again, I disagree with what the majority of the American people want. Failure will lead to chaos, withdrawal will lead to chaos," McCain said at the time.

"That was not what the American people wanted to hear at that time," Pelley pointed out.

"That's exactly right. It's not what they wanted to hear. I can read the polls very well," McCain said.

"But you said it anyway," Pelley said.

"Well, I said, at the time I'd much rather lose a campaign than lose a war. Now, more and more Americans are believing that the surge is succeeding. I'm very glad of that," McCain replied.

What about waterboarding:

Pelley asked him about American interrogation methods today. Asked if water boarding is torture, McCain said, "Sure. Yes. Without a doubt."

"So the United States has been torturing POWs?" Pelley asked.

"Yes. Scott, we prosecuted Japanese war criminals after World War II.
And one of the charges brought against them, for which they were convicted, was that they water-boarded Americans," McCain said.

"How did we lose our way?" Pelley asked.

"I don't know the answer to that. I think one of the failures maybe was not to listen more to our military leadership, including people like General Colin Powell, on this issue," McCain said.

No answers on the economy:

"What do you do for the person who just saw gasoline go from three and a quarter to three fifty on its way to $4?" Pelley asked.

"I would love to tell you that I have an immediate answer for that. And I don't. The only way we are going to fix it is to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil. We've got to have a crash program, a all out effort," McCain said. "But, I can't give you straight talk and tell you that tomorrow I can change the price of a gallon of gas."

Aren't you part of the culture of corruption, John?:

"You point your finger at other senators and claim that there is a culture of corruption on Capitol Hill. But you take money from lobbyists who have business before your committee as other senators do. So, how is it that you call the system corrupt?" Pelley asked.

"Well, one of the reasons why I call the system corrupt is because we have members of Congress who are in jail, who are former members of Congress. But it’s not the individuals, it's the system we have today. I believe that I serve with honorable men and women. And I believe that the people who bring their case to government, the overwhelming majority of them are honorable people," McCain said.

"The lobbyists?" Pelley asked.

"Retirees have a lobbyist. Firemen have a lobbyist. Your business has a lot of lobbyists," McCain said.

McCain claims he’s never done a favor for money. He believes he’s being held to a higher standard because of his criticism.

Meet The Press Transcript: Obama, Clinton Surrogates Debate

This was the next best thing to a debate between Obama and Clinton (read the entire transcript):

MR. RUSSERT: Should the candidate who has the most elected delegates be the nominee?

FMR. SEN. DASCHLE: Absolutely. I don't see how we could possibly do anything other than respect the will of the people who have voted in caucus and primary states all over the country. And what it would say to the world, to the country that we'd overturn the verdict of those, of those elections would be travesty for, for the party and for the country.

[...]MR. RUSSERT: Governor Rendell, if, in fact, Barack Obama goes to the convention in Colorado in August with the most elected delegates, having won more contests and a higher popular vote, the cumulative vote, could he be denied the nomination?

GOV. RENDELL: Well, sure, Tim, because, number one, Hillary Clinton has won states with about 260 electoral votes. Barack Obama has won states with about 190. And we decide the presidency not by a popular vote, we decide it by the electoral vote. And the traditional role of the superdelegates is to determine who's going to be our strongest candidate. Tim, you and I have been doing this for a long time, as Tom has, and we know the big four in any presidential election recently are Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida and Michigan. And in all four of those states--Pennsylvania hasn't voted yet, but I assume we're going to do real well--Hillary Clinton will have taken those states, if it--she takes Pennsylvania, and will have taken them by significant majorities. She's clearly the strongest candidate in the states that Democrats must win to have a chance. Look, it's great that Barack Obama is doing wonderfully well in Wyoming and Utah and, and places like that, but there's no chance we're going to carry those states. Whether he gets 44 percent as opposed to 39 percent doesn't matter, but we're not going to carry those states. We do have a chance to carry the big four. We've got to in three of the big four. Hillary Clinton's the strongest candidate to do that. That's been proven by the voters in the--those states and hopefully by Pennsylvania as well.

MR. RUSSERT: But, Governor, you're counting Florida when, in fact, the candidates did not campaign in Florida. So you--are you suggesting Hillary Clinton won?

GOV. RENDELL: Oh, there's no question. In an even playing field, nobody campaigned, 1.7 million Floridians voted, and she won by 17 percent. But I have a suggestion, if you don't like that, Tim, or if Tom doesn't like that, let's revote in Michigan and Florida. Let's end all the suspense. If our campaign is wrong and we are not going to be the strongest in those states, let the voters choose it. And Tom always talks about--the Obama folks talk about undemocratic. How can the Democratic Party go to Denver and deny the people of Michigan and Florida, two crucial states, a voice in this, in this nominating process? Makes no sense at all. Let's revote, and let's see how we do.

MR. RUSSERT: But in Michigan, you'll acknowledge that you have said repeatedly that the Clinton campaign cannot make the statement that they won Michigan.

GOV. RENDELL: Right. Which is why I'm calling for a revote.

Here's the shocker. This idiot has the nerve to talk about democracy. Part of democracy means playing by the rules, not making them as you go along:

MR. RUSSERT: Would you accept the caucus in Michigan?

GOV. RENDELL: No. Caucuses are undemocratic. That's another thing. We talk about the superdelegates being undemocratic. If you're a caucus, older people can't vote, older people who vote by absentee ballot. There's no absentee ballots in a caucus. Tim, if you're a shift worker and a lot of our workers, because they're low-income workers, are shift workers, you can't vote in a caucus. So we want primaries. That's the way we elect presidents. We don't have caucuses to elect presidents in the fall. Let's have a primary. Let's decide this. Let's hear from the Obama campaign about a revote in Florida and Michigan.

MR. RUSSERT: So the Iowa caucus, the Nevada caucus were undemocratic.

GOV. RENDELL: Undemocratic compared to primaries, yes.

MR. RUSSERT: Senator...

GOV. RENDELL: Absolutely.

MR. RUSSERT: Senator...

GOV. RENDELL: Tim, do you believe, do you believe older people should have the right to vote? They can't in a caucus because they can't get out of the house. So you're disenfranchising some of the most important voters in the fall election. How about that shift worker who works 4 to 12? He can't vote. He might really want to vote, but he can't.

[...]MR. RUSSERT: Senator Daschle, a proposal from the Clinton campaign to have new primaries in Florida, in Michigan, paid for by private donors.

FMR. SEN. DASCHLE: Well, Tim, first of all I think it'll come as a real shock to Iowa and to Nevada and to many other states that they don't have a democratic process. I think that it's very democratic, and we saw yesterday in Wyoming we had a lot of seniors and older people to participate. People from all walks. They were participating in unprecedented numbers, so I, I don't concede that point at all. But let me just say...

GOV. RENDELL: What about shift workers, Tom? What about shift workers and people who can't get out of their homes?

FMR. SEN. DASCHLE: Shift workers, too, Ed. Absolutely.

GOV. RENDELL: What about people who can't get out of their homes?

FMR. SEN. DASCHLE: No, I think--I think everybody--we'll accommodate. We'll accommodate them.

GOV. RENDELL: You can't. There's no absentee ballots in caucuses.

FMR. SEN. DASCHLE: Well, listen, let me--there are a lot of issues with primaries as well that you'd have to address. But, but the bottom line is, you got to play by the rules. We all agreed to the rules earlier in this campaign, Tim, and one campaign now has broken those rules, has decided not to abide by them; and our campaign has chosen to do that, to, to abide by the rules and to, and to work something out. We recognize that those are two very important states. We want to see this resolved. We want the parties to work with the states to come up with a resolution. We'll be competitive, whatever it is. Whatever fair approach that we can employ, we'll forward, we'll take it, we'll do it. But it has to be fair, and it has to be worked out in concert with the parties and, and abide as much as possible with the rules that everybody agreed to six months ago.

MR. RUSSERT: So you would be open to primaries in Michigan and Florida?

FMR. SEN. DASCHLE: Oh, of course. Absolutely. We would be.

Dick Morris: It's Over

Dick Morris was largely responsible for Bill Clinton getting elected in 1992. He knows the Clintons very well. He is also a master strategist. So when Morris says Hillary Clinton can't win he knows what he's talking about:

The real message of Tuesday’s primaries is not that Hillary won. It’s that she didn’t win by enough.

The race is over.

The results are already clear. Obama will go to the Democratic Convention with a lead of between 100 and 200 elected delegates. The remaining question is: What will the superdelegates do then? But is that really a question? Will the leaders of the Democratic Party be complicit in its destruction? Will they really kindle a civil war by denying the nomination to the man who won the most elected delegates? No way. They well understand that to do so would be to throw away the party’s chances of victory and to stigmatize it among African-Americans and young people for the rest of their lives. The Democratic Party took 20 years to recover from the traumas of 1968 and it is not about to trigger a similar bloodletting this year.

John McCain’s nomination guarantees that the superdelegates wouldn’t dare. A perfectly acceptable alternative for most Democrats, McCain would harvest so large a proportion of Obama’s votes if Hillary steals the nomination that he would probably win. Even putting Obama on the ticket would not allay the anger of his supporters; it would just make him complicit in the robbery.

Will Hillary win Pennsylvania? Who cares? Even if she were to sweep the remaining primaries and caucuses by 10 points, she would move just 60 votes closer to Obama’s total of elected delegates. And she won’t sweep them all. Even if Hillary wins Pennsylvania, the largest prize up for grabs, Obama will probably win North Carolina, which is almost as large. He’s likely to win Mississippi and Wyoming and has a good shot in Oregon and Indiana. The most likely result of these coming contests is that Obama will be roughly where he is now, about 140 elected delegates ahead of Hillary.

Economic Crisis Report 3-9-08

This is a transcript of a report given on Lou Dobbs:

• ROMANS: Employers cut 63,000 jobs in February, the largest number in five years. The losses were widespread, coming from many sectors, including construction and manufacturing. And if not for government hiring, job losses would have topped 100,000. President Bush today tried to put the crisis in the best possible light.
• ROMANS: But many fear growth is a long way off. The president's top economic adviser today said the nation could experience negative growth this quarter. And for many middle-class Americans, a recovery doesn't seem to be in their future.
• Alarming since consumer spending drives economic growth. And according to the Labor Department, the number of long-term unemployed remains high especially in the Midwest and Northeast. Those are people out of work for at least six months. At this New York City career center, the number of people looking for work has skyrocketed 50 percent during the past year.
• ROMANS: Grim jobs news, a new record high in oil, a housing market deteriorating by the day, according to new data from the Federal Reserve, consumers are increasingly turning to their credit cards to get by. And the Central Bank is making available billions of dollars, tens of billions of dollars to banks to encourage them to keep lending so the economy can grow.
  
  It was a bad day on Wall Street as well as investors reacted to that grim economic news. Stocks tumbled. The Dow closed under 12,000, its lowest level in almost a year and a half.

Meanwhile the CEOs responsible for the collapse of the housing market make millions:

SCHIAVONE: Golden parachutes (ph) to Angelo Mozilo Countrywide CEO, who made $120 million in stocks and options last year and 400 million in stock sales since 1998. Stan O'Neal, former Merrill Lynch CEO who got $161 million in stock options and retirement benefits. Charles Prince, former Citigroup CEO, leaving the company last year with a $10 million bonus, 28 million in stocks and options and 1.5 million in other perks.

REP. HENRY WAXMAN (D), CALIFORNIA: You're in the middle of an enormous debacle that ended up costing your companies and shareholders billions of dollars. It cost people their homes. It cost other people their jobs. It seems like everyone is hurting except for you.

SCHIAVONE: Mozilo says he worked hard for the millions he made at Countrywide, the company he co-founded.

ANGELO MOZILO, CEO, COUNTRYWIDE FINANCIAL: I'm very found of the home ownership opportunities that Countrywide has provided for over 20 million families.

SCHIAVONE: Many such opportunities on the ropes as credit- challenged homeowners across the nation face the threat of foreclosure. The executives before Congress and their company's compensation officers said they were paid for their talent, skills for which evidently there is no price ceiling.

Clinton Openness to Obama as VP is a Political Ploy

The polls show that the public would love to see Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama as running mates. This would explain why the "monster" continually mentions the idea during her speeches. It is only the latest ploy coming from the Clinton propaganda machine. Hillary has no intention of choosing Obama as VP. Nor is Obama interested. It's a cheap way of getting votes.

By the way, those same polls still show Barack ahead nationally, and as the most electable.

It is this kind of deviousness that explains why Hillary is hiding her tax returns. Those tactics would include accusing a fellow Democrat of being the Bill Clinton persecutor, Kenneth Starr. This is not the behavior of an honorable person.

Despite all the mud being slung at Barack Obama he continues to gain superdelegates, even when he loses a State.

Bush to Veto Bill Banning Waterboarding

It's official--Bush is a Fascist:

The White House says President Bush will veto legislation on Saturday that would have barred the CIA from using waterboarding - a technique that simulates drowning - and other harsh interrogation methods on terror suspects.

Bush has said the bill would harm the government's ability to prevent future attacks. Supporters of the legislation argue that it preserves the United States' right to collect critical intelligence while boosting the country's moral standing abroad.

"The bill would take away one of the most valuable tools on the war on terror, the CIA program to detain and question key terrorist leaders and operatives," deputy White House press secretary Tony Fratto said Friday.

Employers Slash Jobs by Most in 5 years

Economic news just keeps getting worse:

Employers slashed jobs by 63,000 in February, the most in five years, the starkest sign yet the country is heading dangerously toward recession or is in one already.

The Labor Department's report, released Friday, also showed that the nation's unemployment rate dipped to 4.8 percent as hundreds of thousands of people — perhaps discouraged by their prospects — left the civilian labor force. The jobless rate was 4.9 percent in January.

The consumer thinks things are bad:

Confidence in the economy dropped to a new low as worries about a possible recession, persistent problems in the housing and credit markets and lofty energy prices put people in a more gloomy mind-set.

According to the RBC Cash Index, confidence sank to a mark of 33.1 in early March, down from 48.5 in February. The new reading was the worst since the index began in 2002 and surpassed the previous low reached in February.

[...]The continued deterioration in confidence comes even as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has signaled that the central bank will keep on cutting a key interest rate to bolster the economy. Congress and the White House, meanwhile, have speedily enacted a relief package that includes tax rebates for people and tax breaks for businesses. Rebates of up to $600 for individuals or $1,200 for married couples should start going out in May.

Over the past year, consumer confidence has fallen sharply, underscoring the toll of the ailing housing market and a credit crunch that has made it more difficult for people to secure financing for big-ticket purchases such as homes and cars. Last March, confidence stood at 92.3. The index is based on results of the international polling firm Ipsos.

House Panel Questions High Pay for CEOs

Corporations make big profits from debt and CEOs get obscene salaries and bonuses. Congress wants to investigate this greed, but they themselves are to blame for the subprime mess:

The heads of three companies implicated in the mortgage crisis have been asked to explain how they collectively received hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation while their companies were losing money.

[...]The committee, chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., has held several hearings on the issue of high executive compensation. Last December it looked at large, publicly traded companies that hire compensation consultants who are receiving millions of dollars from corporate executives whose compensation they were supposed to assess.

Republicans on the committee questioned the need for the hearing, saying it falls outside the panel's primary role of investigating waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government.

Larry David: "Does Anyone Want this nut Answering the Phone?"

Another Hollywood lefty whose turned on Hillary:

Here's an idea for an Obama ad: a montage of Clinton's Sybillish personalities that have surfaced during the campaign with a solemn voiceover at the end saying, "Does anyone want this nut answering the phone?"

[...]A few weeks ago, I started to feel sorry for her. Oh Christ, let her win already...Who cares...It's not worth it. There's not that much difference between them. She can have it. Anything to avoid watching her descend into madness. So I switched. I started rooting for her. It wasn't that hard. Compromise comes easy to me. I was on board.

And then I saw the ad.

I watched, transfixed, as she took the 3 a.m. call...and I was afraid...very afraid. Suddenly, I realized the last thing this country needs is that woman anywhere near a phone. I don't care if it's 3 a.m. or 10 p.m. or any other time. I don't want her talking to Putin, I don't want her talking to Kim Jong Il, I don't want her talking to my nephew. She needs a long rest. She needs to put on a sarong and some sun block and get away from things for a while, a nice beach somewhere -- somewhere far away, where there are...no phones.

Clinton Campaign Behind Canada-Nafta Scandal

Will the Clinton gang get away with this latest dirty trick that might've cost Barack votes during Tuesday's primaries? It once illustrates how Hillary and her thug campaign workers will do anything to win this election. The press should be all over this story. So far it looks like this major scandal is being given little publicity. It's almost as if the Hillary is being rewarded for dirty tricks. All the talk is about how Barack has to, and has, changed his campaign tactics. No, it should be about how the press could start reporting on dishonest Clinton campaign tactics:

The Hillary Clinton campaign has again denied any communication with Canadian officials indicating her anti-NAFTA statements should be taken with "a grain of salt."

The allegation was made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's chief of staff Ian Brodie in an informal discussion with journalists in Ottawa in the midst of the Ohio Democratic primary.

"We flatly deny this report," said Clinton spokesperson Phil Singer.

"It didn't happen."

It is at least the third time the Clinton campaign has issued such a denial.

Clinton used a Canadian memo, leaked to The Associated Press, to great advantage in Ohio this week, painting rival Barack Obama as soft on trade because a Canadian diplomat believed the Illinois senator's top economic adviser had told him Obama's anti-NAFTA statements were "political positioning."

The scandal is rocking Canada:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expanding the investigation into the government leaks that rocked the U.S. presidential race, a decision that could put the future of his own senior aide in jeopardy.

Harper announced the broader probe by an internal security team yesterday after The Canadian Press said it was unguarded comments by Ian Brodie, his chief of staff, that set the controversy in motion and eventually undermined presidential hopeful Barack Obama in a key race this week.

"We will investigate this entire matter and take whatever action is deemed to be necessary, based on the facts we are able to discover," the Prime Minister said in the Commons yesterday.

As well, David Wilkins, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, signalled Washington's quiet displeasure at the controversy.

"I guess you could say it shouldn't have happened. It was interference. But again, I don't think it's something the Canadian government did in its official capacity," Wilkins said in an interview with CBC Radio's The House, to be aired tomorrow.

"I think they've expressed their deep regret and, quite frankly, I accepted that," Wilkins said.

Criminal Charges for Poison Toothpaste Dealers

How many other companies are knowingly selling dangerous products imported from China to Americans:

Criminal charges have been filed against a company that prosecutors say imported and distributed nearly 90,000 tubes of Chinese toothpaste containing a poisonous substance and a wholesaler supplier of the tubes, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo announced.

Selective Imports Corp. sold the toothpaste containing diethylene glycol to distributors nationwide between December 2005 and May 2007, prosecutors said Thursday. Vernon Sales Inc. is accused of buying some of the tubes and reselling them to Los Angeles stores.

Diethylene glycol is a chemical used in antifreeze and as a solvent. Chinese manufacturers have used the chemical, known as DEG, as a cheaper alternative to glycerin, which thickens toothpaste. Exposure to DEG, however, can cause kidney and liver damage over time.

[...] China's reputation as an exporter has taken a beating in the past year following recalls of products including the toothpaste, toys tainted with lead, and pet food fortified with the toxic chemical melamine.

Last month, a federal grand jury indicted Las Vegas-based ChemNutra Inc. and two Chinese businesses in the tainted pet food incidents that killed potentially thousands of animals.

Study: U.S. troop Morale up in Iraq, those in Afghanistan Depressed

It won't be long before U.S. troop morale declines in Iraq as well as the quagmire continues with no end in sight:

U.S. troop morale improved in Iraq last year, but soldiers fighting in Afghanistan suffered more depression as violence there worsened, an Army mental health report says.

And in a recurring theme for a force strained by its seventh year at war, the annual battlefield study found once again that soldiers on their third and fourth tours of duty had sharply greater rates of mental health problems than those on their first or second deployments, according to several officials familiar with the report.

- Read entire article

Who Leaked Details of a CIA-Mossad Plot Against Iran?

There are those in the Bush administration whom refuse to go along with the neocon conspiracy:

The Bush administration is prolonging the hunting season against journalists. The latest victim is James Risen, The New York Times reporter for national security and intelligence affairs. About three months ago, a federal grand jury issued a subpoena against him, ordering Risen to give evidence in court. A heavy blackout has been imposed on the affair, with the only hint being that it has to do with sensitive matters of "national security."

But conversations with several sources who are familiar with the affair indicate that Risen has been asked to testify as part of an investigation aimed at revealing who leaked apparently confidential information about the planning of secret Central Intelligence Agency and Mossad missions concerning Iran's nuclear program.

Risen included this information in his book, "State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration," which was published in 2006. In the book, he discusses a number of ideas which he says were thought up jointly by CIA and Mossad operatives to sabotage Iran's nuclear capabilities.

One of these ideas was to build electromagnetic devices, smuggling them inside Iran to sabotage electricity lines leading to the country's central nuclear sites. According to the plan, the operation was supposed to cause a series of chain reactions which would damage extremely powerful short circuits in the electrical supply that would have led to failures of the super computers of Iran's nuclear sites

Bush Endorsement May Be Risky for McCain

Run away, John:

Beware, John McCain. The money comes with a price. Sure, President Bush will raise millions of dollars for your Republican presidential campaign and GOP candidates. But he'll also give you the aura of a presidency tarnished by painful gasoline prices, a sagging economy, the threat of recession, a blemished U.S. reputation around the world, turbulence in the Middle East and many more problems.

[..]Al Gore's decision during his 2000 campaign against Bush not to embrace President Clinton was probably a gift to the GOP. Many people think that despite Clinton's personal troubles, Gore should have been standing shoulder to shoulder with Clinton, who had high approval ratings as he left office.

"McCain's got to make it very clear that this is not a third Bush term, but a John McCain presidency," said Republican pollster David Winston.

"As long as he can make that clear separation, then having a president of the United States on the road, helping with fundraising, going around and talking to people is a very different thing," Winston said.

[...]Raising money will clearly be priority No. 1. Even though Bush's approval ratings are low, he remains popular with the party faithful who still pay to get in a room with him. In 2007, Bush raised $66.3 million for the Republican Party and its candidates.

NAFTA Reform Just the Start - U.S. Trade Critics

U.S. trade policies have been catastrophic for America for decades. We need a dramatic reversal that probably won't come with the next administration:

The next U.S. president needs to fundamentally redirect U.S. trade policy to preserve manufacturing jobs and reduce the huge trade deficit -- not just tinker with the North American Free Trade Agreement, critics of U.S. trade deals said on Wednesday.

"We need to change the whole discussion about investment, about subsidies, about enforcement of trade laws," said Leo Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers union. "How does any country continue to prosper when it's accumulating an average annual trade deficit of about $700 billion per year?"

But Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, said it was more important in the short term to change the agreement's investment provisions because they encourage U.S. companies to move jobs to Mexico.

Similar reforms are needed in other trade agreements, including the one that set the terms of China's entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001, she said.

Wallach blamed NAFTA, China's WTO accession and other trade agreements for many of the roughly 3 million manufacturing jobs the United States has lost since 2000.

Seized Laptop Shows Chavez-Rebel Ties

Chavez is a big problem in Latin America:

A single laptop can reveal much, and so it is with the digital treasure chest that Colombian commandos found in the jungle quarters of slain rebel leader Raul Reyes.

Files in the computer seized in Saturday's raid into Ecuador that claimed the lives of Reyes and 23 of his comrades offer an intimate portrait of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's desire to undermine Colombia's U.S.-allied government.

If authentic, the documents show that sympathies Chavez first aired publicly in January grew out of a relationship that dates back more than a decade. But Chavez is not one of the correspondents, and his sentiments mentioned in these documents are relayed solely through the rebels.

Venezuela says the documents are lies and fabrications. If they are, they are expertly done.

Its a dangerous situation:

Ecuador broke off diplomatic ties with Colombia on Monday, after Colombian government commandos conducted a weekend strike against communist rebels inside Ecuador's borders.

Venezuela has also announced that it will be expelling Colombia's ambassador as a war of words erupted in South America over the raid that killed Raul Reyes, a prominent member of FARC -- the guerrilla army that is considered the world's richest insurgency.

Don't be surprised if warmonger Bush is inciting the hostilities:

Ecuador and Venezuela say they are moving thousands of troops to Colombia's borders, a day after Colombian forces killed a leftist rebel leader in Ecuadorean territory. Colombia later charged that high-ranking Ecuadorean officials met recently with the slain rebel, Raúl Reyes, to accommodate the guerrillas' presence there.

The developments raised tensions in a region that has been on edge in the several months since Colombian President Álvaro Uribe and Venezuela's Hugo Chávez had a bitter falling-out. Mr. Reyes was the second-ranking commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.