Grand Jury Countdown Coming for PlameGate

Dearest Readers, special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is wrapping up some things with the grand jury that will expire within the next 15 days.

Prissy will be very surprised if he waits until the very last day for these indictments. Look for the other shoe to drop very soon.

Fitz said this one year ago today (sorry, Prissy misread this before thinking it was what he had written today):

I am somewhat engrossed in my duties with the Grand Jury, but I hope to give regular updates and insight into the process and who I will be recommending for indictment.

That was about Scooter Libby, time is up for the rest. Will Fitz wait until the end? Hard to say! But the end is near.

Scooter should tell Fitz everything before Ambramoff beats him to it

Happy days may come again, Dearest Readers...

Hot Links

News Medical, for Prissy's Dearest beer drinking readers Moderate drinking reduces men's heart attack risk

Even as studies have consistently found an association between moderate alcohol consumption and reduced heart attack risk in men, an important question has persisted: What if the men who drank in moderation were the same individuals who maintained good eating habits, didn't smoke, exercised and watched their weight - How would you know that their reduced risk of myocardial infarction wasn't the result of one or more of these other healthy habits?

A new study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) helps answer this question. Reported in the October 23, 2006 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, the findings show for the first time that among men with healthy lifestyles, those who consumed moderate amounts of alcohol - defined as between one-half and two drinks daily - had a 40 to 60 percent reduced risk of heart attack compared with healthy men who didn't drink at all.

Crew Citizens for Ethics BREAKING: Hastert is testifying at Ethics Committee today

House Speaker Dennis Hastert on Tuesday sat down with ethics investigators trying to pin down when he and his staff learned about ex-Rep. Mark Foley's come-ons to former male pages and what they did to stop it.

The timeline that Hastert and his staff have given conflicts with the accounts of others. Hastert, R-Ill., has said that he didn't find out about Foley until late

September, when Foley's approaches to the former pages became public. Hastert's appearance followed that of Rep. Tom Reynolds of New York, the House GOP campaign chairman, who said he warned the speaker about Foley last spring.

Prissy is here to tell them, they best not cover for pedophile activity. Glad to see the pages coming forward too. Let's get this exposed so we can prevent it from occurring again without being managed. Pages should receive "training against problems with pedophiles" included in their orientation to the Hill.

CBC Canada Calgary could face water shortage: report

Calgary could face a water shortage in 10 to 15 years, says a new report by the Geological Survey of Canada.

The report, prepared by the federal government's geo-science research agency, says a warmer climate and a booming population mean Calgary could be headed for a water crisis.

U.S. says Iraq agrees timeline to peace

"The American people know that this is very important but the recent sectarian bloodshed in Iraq causes many to question whether the United States can succeed," Khalilzad said.

"Despite the difficult challenges we face, success in Iraq is possible ... on a realistic timetable."

Iraqi officials, marking holidays for the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, had no comment. Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's unity government issued a statement on Monday saying its forces would crack down on illegal armed groups.

Times Hastert says Republicans will keep House

The Illinois Republican, after speaking to about 500 Northeast Tennessee Republicans on behalf of 1st Congressional District GOP nominee David Davis, said the war and Foley scandal are overshadowing Republicans' good job performance with the economy.

"But, yeah, I think we can hold on to the majority," said Hastert, who indicated he would like to run for House speaker again. "Sometimes I look at the things we try to do. We try to pass real legislation, and we have good ideas about what to do about immigration, what to do about energy, what to do about taxes. And our friends on the other side of the aisle want us to swirl around in all this (Foley) controversy. I think American voters understand right and wrong and the people who are really working to get things done in this country, and I think they'll return a Republican Congress. ... The real issue is about this economy - how we've lowered taxes, how we've given more money to people to decide how they will spend it instead of some bureaucrat in Washington. That's the story we need to get out. ... Our message is better."

Are you sputtering at the ole boys audacity?

IHT Laptops at U.S. border: No privacy rights

Last week, an informal survey by the association, which has about 2,500 members worldwide, indicated that almost 90 percent of its members were not aware that U.S. customs officials have the authority to scrutinize the contents of travelers' laptops and even confiscate them for a period of time, without giving a reason. Appeals are under way in some confiscation cases, but the law is clear.

"They don't need probable cause to perform these searches under the current law," said Tim Kane, a Washington lawyer who is researching the matter for corporate clients. "They can do it without suspicion or without really revealing their motivations."

Laptops may be scrutinized and subject to a "forensic analysis" under the so-called border search exemption, which allows searches of people entering the United States and their possessions "without probable cause, reasonable suspicion or a warrant," a U.S. court ruled in July.

Time What's Missing From the New Timeline for Iraq

So today's announcement provides the U.S. with an opportunity, if it is willing to seize it: now that the Iraqis have agreed to a "timeline," they should be faced with consequences if they fail to meet it. And that means saying that the U.S. will leave Iraq at the end of 18 months.

So why didn't Casey and Khalilzad do so? Their refusal to utter the "w" word reflects the broader lack of candor that still characterizes our debate about what to do in Iraq. The White House now says it intends to stop using the phrase "staying the course," and Democratic leaders talk about the need for a "new strategy," but neither is willing to publicly commit to a definitive plan — also known by the more politically perjorative phrase "timetable" — for getting U.S. troops out. In the Washington Post today, Richard Holbrooke argues for Bush to "disengage" from Iraq and seek a political compromise there, but rules out "a fixed timetable for U.S. withdrawal, since it would give away any remaining American flexibility and leverage."

But would it? Might the reverse be just as true? Wouldn't the establishment of a definitive departure date give the Iraqi leadership more incentive, not less, to get their house in order? Declaring that the bulk of U.S. troops will depart within 18 months may allow insurgents to crow that the U.S. is cutting and running, but after $1 trillion and 3,000 dead, we're in 11th-hour, face-saving, loss-cutting mode now. It's possible that 18 months isn't enough time for the Iraqis to meet the goals set out by Khalilzad today. The truth is that no one knows how long it will take for Iraq to make peace with itself. But it's time for the U.S. to make it clear that we don't intend to stay to find out.

There is speculation that soldiers were hurt and possibly more killed than was announced. Sure hope not. This google video shows the explosions caused when the ammo dump caught on fire or was attacked in Iraq US Army AMMO DUMP FIRE with secondarys

USA Today Cheney says Hillary Clinton could win, hopes she doesn't

Probably the only thing in politics Prissy and the ole boy would agree upon.

Mercury News Pat Tillman's Brother Calls War Illegal

The article in Truthdig, a Web magazine that looks at current affairs from a progressive viewpoint, is accompanied by a photo of the smiling brothers, arms around each other, standing in front of a Chinook helicopter in Saudi Arabia before their 2003 tour of duty in Iraq.

``Somehow the more soldiers that die, the more legitimate the illegal invasion becomes,'' wrote Kevin Tillman. ``Somehow American leadership, whose only credit is lying to its people and illegally invading a nation, has been allowed to steal the courage, virtue and honor of its soldiers on the ground.''

His essay did not spare the American public, which he suggests too often relies on superficial gestures to support the troops instead of holding politicians accountable.

Boston Herald Priest who admitted molesting altar boys released from prison

WORCESTER - A retired Roman Catholic priest from Bellingham who was convicted of molesting altar boys has been freed from prison but will not find out until later this year whether he has to undergo further sex offender treatment.

The Rev. Paul M. Desilets, 82, left the state prison in Shirley on Monday after serving a year and five months behind bars. He was sentenced in May 2005 after pleading guilty to 32 counts of assault and battery committed from 1978 to 1984 at Our Lady of the Assumption parish, where he was associate pastor.

Most shrinks agree, treatment is valid-but there is no cure. The best one can hope for is to convince them why they must stay away from children.

Cheney visitor logs subject to FOIA

A judge declares the vice president's visitor information is a public record and directs the Secret Service to review the records immediately.

China View Russian prime minister to visit China

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov will pay an official visit to China at the invitation of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao announced Tuesday.

Liu said at a press conference that the visit will run from Nov. 9 to 10. Fradkov and Wen Jiabao will both attend the 11th regular meeting between the prime ministers of the two countries, and activities celebrating the closing ceremony of the Year of Russia in China.

What will happen when the puppetmaster is gone?

NYT Bush Seeks to Reverse G.O.P.'s Declining Fortunes

Someone notify him that poor leadership the reason for the decline.

Quotes of the Day

All men's souls are immortal, but the souls of the righteous are immortal and divine.--Socrates

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.--Plato

When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader.--Plato

You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.--Plato

JFK Speech on Secret Societies and Freedom of the Press

JFK Speech on Secret Societies and Freedom of the Press

As fresh today, as when JFK made this speech! No wonder Bush 41 was always jealous of him...

Hot Links

WaPo, slow on the draw as usual... Major Change Expected In Strategy for Iraq War

The growing doubts among GOP lawmakers about the administration's Iraq strategy, coupled with the prospect of Democratic wins in next month's midterm elections, will soon force the Bush administration to abandon its open-ended commitment to the war, according to lawmakers in both parties, foreign policy experts and others involved in policymaking.

Senior figures in both parties are coming to the conclusion that the Bush administration will be unable to achieve its goal of a stable, democratic Iraq within a politically feasible time frame. Agitation is growing in Congress for alternatives to the administration's strategy of keeping Iraq in one piece and getting its security forces up and running while 140,000 U.S. troops try to keep a lid on rapidly spreading sectarian violence.

Wa Po GOP Aims to Scare Up Big Voter Turnout With House Losses Likely, Tactics Focus on Warnings About Democrats

Won't work and Prissy will tell them why. Half the republicans will cross over to the dems. About 30% will stay home and pout, refusing to vote at all. The 20% left will not carry them to another neorepublican victory.

Should they attempt to steal another election, it won't be pretty. The cops, also middle class, also hurt by Dubya's policies will choose to uphold the law and not the illegal smothering of dissent.

Most police in the last twenty years have been taught community policing, aka public service. Most of them don't consider dissenters (now the majority) to be trouble. We all want our country back.

Zaman Turkey Kurdish Side Claims to Fight against PKK

Iraq’s Foreign Minister Hosyar Zebari has announced that an official from the Kurdish Local Administration is participating in the joint Turkey-USA-Iraq bid to curb Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) terrorism.

In a statement in the Kurdish Nwe newspaper, Zebari said: “Of course the representative of the Kurdish administration is also attending the meetings. And that is Interior Minister Kerim Senkali.”

While the Turkish foreign ministry has denied such claims, the Iraqi embassy in Ankara said it had assigned Senkali and Shirvan al-Vaili as Iraqi delegates to fight terrorism.

BBC One-third support 'some torture'

Although 59% were opposed to torture, 29% thought it acceptable to use some degree of torture to combat terrorism.

While most polled in the US are against torture, opposition there is less robust than in Europe and elsewhere.

Reuters UK Britain and Germany warn Putin on energy access

LAHTI, Finland (Reuters) - Britain and Germany warned President Vladimir Putin before talks on Friday he must give European firms a fair chance to exploit Russia's huge energy resources or risk seeing foreign investors take flight.

Putin is the guest at a European Union dinner where the bloc's 25 leaders will push him for better energy ties but also raise the killing of journalist Anna Politkovskaya and the Kremlin's heavy-handed treatment of former Soviet Georgia.

The Europeans are dismayed by Kremlin moves questioning contracts signed in the 1990s by firms including Royal Dutch Shell and Total, and by a decision to shut foreign capital out of development of the Shtokman gas field.

Mr. Putin, considered nearly a progressive, considering his former KGB background, seems to be withdrawing a bit with "problems at home." Let's hope he reconsiders, as next thing you know Dick Cheney will be whipping up anti-Russian sentiment. Prissy thinks already got plenty of hatred going around, like an infectious virus...

More on Team Fitz' big Chicago case. Chicago Tribune Rezko pleads not guilty

Federal prosecutors charge that Rezko leveraged his influence with state leaders to extort illegal payments and a campaign contribution from investment firms seeking to do business with Illinois. He is separately accused of setting up a phony transaction involving the sale of his pizza restaurants.

Despite the official escort--agents met Rezko's plane as it landed Thursday at O'Hare International Airport--Rezko walked into court seemingly unconcerned, waving to family members and shaking his lawyer's hand.

His attorney, Joseph J. Duffy, said Rezko's travel back to Chicago had begun in his native Syria after he concluded a business trip to the Middle East.

Funny political ad. Prissy has done some press stuff for Bob. Doesn't he look dapper? Set to the rousing Anvil Chorus, Pat Tiberi (Tee-bear-ee) shows his loyalty to G.W. Bush in Bob Shamansky's latest T.V.

Stepping on the flag again

Seattle PI Families angry after bones found at WTC

Five years after 2,749 people died in the World Trade Center attack, families of about 1,150 victims still have not received word that their loved ones' remains were found amid the rubble.

The remains of Charles Wolf's wife, Katherine, 40, were never recovered. He said his wife, an employee of insurer Marsh & McLennan, was on the 97th floor of the north tower when the building collapsed.

"I am totally shocked that this was found in the pit," said Wolf, 52, who was notified of the discovery by television stations.

"The fact that they were found in ground zero says there was some major, major shortfall in the recovery effort," Wolf said. "Where else are we going to find them next?"

Harpers The Next War By Daniel Ellsberg

Years later, though, the thought hit me: What if I had told Congress and the public, later in the fall of 1964, the whole truth about what was coming, with all the documents I had acquired in my job by September, October, or November? Not just, as Morse had suggested, the contents of a few files on the events surrounding the Tonkin Gulf incident—all that I had in early August—but the drawerfuls of critical working papers, memos, estimates, and detailed escalation options revealing the evolving plans of the Johnson Administration for a wider war, expected to commence soon after the election. In short, what if I had put out before the end of the year, whether before or after the November election, all of the classified papers from that period that I did eventually disclose in 1971?

Had I done so, the public and Congress would have learned that Johnson’s campaign theme, “we seek no wider war,” was a hoax. They would have learned, in fact, that the Johnson Administration had been heading in secret toward essentially the same policy of expanded war that his presidential rival, Senator Barry Goldwater, openly advocated—a policy that the voters overwhelmingly repudiated at the polls.

I would have been indicted then, as I was seven years later, and probably imprisoned. But America would have been at peace during those years. It was only with that reflection, perhaps a decade after the carnage finally ended, that I recognized Morse had been right about my personal share of responsibility for the whole war.

Not just mine alone. Any one of a hundred officials—some of whom foresaw the whole catastrophe—could have told the hidden truth to Congress, with documents. Instead, our silence made us all accomplices in the ensuing slaughter.

We need more patriots! Know something? Contact below: National Security Whistleblowers Coalition NSWBC,P.O. Box 20210, Alexandria, VA 22320

Media Matters The Rules of the Game (center of page)

For his part, Boehner hosted weekly meetings with top Washington business lobbyists and conservatives for a few years right after the GOP won control of Congress in 1994. Boehner, who like DeLay boasted very strong ties to the tobacco lobby in Washington, once earned notoriety by handing out checks from the industry on the House floor.

Ultimately, in the struggle to succeed DeLay in early 2006, Boehner won out largely because the ties between Blunt's world and DeLay's seemed more obvious. But Boehner, who briefly talked tough about lobbying reforms in early 2006, soon backed away from almost all stringent measures to reform the pay-to-play system, as did many of his colleagues in the House. One perk that Boehner was particularly concerned to preserve was the ability of members to take privately funded junkets, not unlike the kind that Abramoff was so good at organizing. According to an independent survey done by the Campaign for a Cleaner Congress, Boehner had taken 180 trips since 1999 outside his district -- including quite a few to such golfing destinations as St. Andrews in Scotland and Pebble Beach in California -- ranking him among the ten most prolific travelers in the House.

Boehner's views about the importance of preserving private travel ultimately prevailed. At the start of 2006, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert publicly proclaimed that he favored putting "an end" to private travel because of abuses. But the very weak lobbying reform bill that passed the House -- but never was enacted -- included a much-watered-down provision that only suspended such trips and only until June 15, 2006, a token gesture at best.

Ironically, just as they were caving on the idea of banning private travel, studies showed such trips proliferating. PoliticalMoneyLine in early 2005 revealed that some 600 members of Congress since the year 2000 have gone on 5,410 trips that were privately funded at a cost of $16 million.

Boehner is in a lot of trouble...

Reuters Pentagon to resume forced anthrax vaccine program

But William Winkenwerder, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said the Pentagon has no plans to vaccinate troops serving elsewhere, including those in the United States -- site of the only major anthrax attack against Americans, which killed five people in 2001.

"There are terrorists operating in and around Iraq and in that part of the world," Winkenwerder said. "That's a higher threat area."

And..."The forthcoming mandatory program is just as senseless as before and the FDA's new determination remains legally and scientifically flawed," said Mark Zaid, one of the attorneys.

Winkenwerder, who has not taken the anthrax vaccine, said the FDA's final order settles legal questions and the Pentagon is prepared for a court challenge.

Winkenwerder, you go first. Then we'll let the kids get theirs. Unless, of course, it makes you sick or kills you. But you have lived a full life, unlike the young ones he wishes to experiment upon.

The Day, CT. Is the Pope listening? Group Calling For Pardons For State's Accused Witches

Not many know of Connecticut's witch trials because they were eclipsed, both at the time and today, by Salem's sensational trials in 1692, said Walter Woodward, Connecticut's official state historian.

The Massachusetts Colony hanged 19 accused witches before the hysteria was spent, though five others accused of witchcraft died as well, either during interrogations or in prison.

Many of the accused witches here and in Massachusetts were women, in part because they dealt in the healing arts or as midwives.

Avery's ancestor was Mary Sanford, a 39-year-old mother of five who was accused of witchcraft by neighbors because she drank sherry at night in the woods behind her home. She was tried in Hartford, found guilty and hanged.

DW World, Germany N. Korea plans no further tests: Yonhap

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reports North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told a visiting Chinese envoy that Pyongyang plans to conduct no further nuclear tests. Kim made the statement in Pyongyang on Thursday during talks with Chinese State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan, the agency quoted an unidentified 'informed diplomatic source' as saying in Beijing. Japan's Foreign Ministry said it could not confirm or deny the report, which came as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in Beijing to rally support for UN sanctions against North Korea in response to its nuclear test on October 9.

Wonkette, hat tip to Fitz Rape, Murder, It's Just a Shot Away

A couple of mysterious 911 calls to Las Vegas police — all apparently made from the bathroom of a Starbucks on Paradise Road by a terrified drunk gal — have suddenly derailed Congressman Jim Gibbons and his campaign to be Nevada’s next governor.

The story is changing so quick we can’t even get a timeline in order, so let’s just randomly toss together some of the filthier details, after the jump. * Casino waitress (or interior designer?) invited to join drinking party with Gibbons and some other gals at McCormick & Schmick’s, one of those upscale-chain seafood & steak joints at Paradise and Flamingo. * Something happens, she makes three 911 calls over 45 minutes, claiming assault and the threat of rape. Also, she’s drunk.

Are all republicans weird about sex? At least Bill Clinton didn't beat up the women he chased, no indeed, he was willing to love them all...

The Australian News Baghdad operation backfires on US

The operation "has not met our overall expectations of sustaining a reduction in the levels of violence", Major General Caldwell said.

"We are working very closely with the Government of Iraq to determine how best to refocus our efforts."

In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Mark Ballesteros called Major General Caldwell's assessment "accurate and candid".

His comments are a rare public admission that an American strategy in Iraq hasn't worked, and it came as Republicans and Democrats in Washington press the Bush administration to devise a new approach.

General, how many times must we tell you that the United States cannot and will not "win" an unjust, illegal, immoral war? Pack them up and get outta there! Prissy wonders if he paid any attention in Officer Candidate School or did these generals sleep through it, like their commander in chief?

Esnipes Scooter's in big trouble

The latest court documents from the Scooter Libby case. Thanks, Fitz. Prissy and her Dearest Readers appreciate the time you take to keep us informed.

Dearest Readers, Prissy will post excerpts from them later this evening. She is sure they'll be very interesting...

USAToday Maltese diocese to investigate case of priest who said he was naked with Foley

On Wednesday, he told the Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune by telephone that he massaged the boy in the nude and was naked in the same room on overnight trips with him. On Thursday, he told The Associated Press that he was naked in a sauna with Foley and had gone skinny-dipping with him.

Also Thursday, he told WPTV of West Palm Beach, Fla., that he touched Foley "once, maybe."

In all of the interviews, he denied having sexual intercourse with Foley.

"It's not something you call, I mean, rape or penetration or anything like that, you know," he told the TV station in a telephone interview. "It was just fondling."

Only? People need to know most pedophiles are not aggressive about it, they don't have to be to coerce children. Back in the days of old, the adult- congressman or priest- would have been given credible standing over a youth.

Isn't that right, Mr. Foley? Why, he had counted on it for years...

Quotes of the Day

"Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide." --John Quincy Adams

"So long as we have enough people in this country willing to fight for their rights, we'll be called a democracy." --Roger Baldwin

"...Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth." --Abraham Lincoln

"It is honourable to be accused by those who deserve to be accused." --Latin Proverb

When America Got Punked

That would be the short version of it in history. Well-dressed thugs took over the government and thought they were going to keep it for themselves. If they could make it legal while in office, all would be well. For them, anyway.

Some used to say Americans were rebels because of their freedom. May be. Prissy used to know kids that went abroad in the 1980's and were stunned to find out they didn't take their American laws and privileges with them.

But those were the good old days, when many of us thought and were even encouraged to believe dissent was truly American. Prissy still believes it is and always should be.

Dearest Readers, the lawsuits in Ohio over the vote will be ongoing for quite some time. More have been filed against the Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell. The lawyers have plenty of evidence, in fact if we get a decent Attorney General the investigation is complete, although more evidence and whistleblowers continue to emerge. All a new AG will have to do is present it.

Shame on John Kerry for not giving a dime to the folks who worked so hard on their own time and dime because they could not give up on justice or our right to vote. He had $14 million dollars left over from his 2004 campaign.

When Kerry came to Columbus, Prissy got the impression from him he was feeling out the crowd and stumping for another run. No thanks...between this and the war- where were you when we needed you, Senator?

At least Senator Edwards was coming into town, finding out how we were doing with his poverty initiatives. He knew we were scared of what this government was doing and that made him angry. You could sense his protectiveness of everyone in the room. He actually cares about the American people and this nations standing in the world. That kind of anger is a virtue...

The CIA Leak case will conclude within the next 20 some days. Not saying Fitz is going to be predictable, however he did indict Gov Ryan on the last day before the grand jury was set to expire. Did Prissy mention the governor was convicted? And it looks like that appeal won't be keeping him out of jail in the mean time, either.

So its no wonder a gift of shamrocks from the Irish prime minister makes Dubya nervous. It reminds him too much of Prosecutors Pat Fitzgerald and Paul McNulty...Not too much water, Dubya. Prissy's shamrocks are growing all over the place.

Hot Links

Reuters CIA holds an al Qaeda leader in secret jail: report

MADRID (Reuters) - A suspected al Qaeda leader, accused of being involved in September 11 and planning the 2004 Madrid train bombings, has been imprisoned in a secret U.S. jail for the past year, Spain's El Pais newspaper reported on Sunday.

Mustafa Setmarian, 48, a Syrian with Spanish citizenship, was captured in Pakistan in October 2005 and is held in a prison operated by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, Pakistani and European security service officials told El Pais.

A spokesman for the U.S. embassy in Spain declined to comment on the report

Haaretz Israeli President succumbs to pressure, cancels Knesset appearance - Attorney: He will resign if indicted

Moshe Katsav cancelled a planned appearance at the formal opening of the Knesset winter session on Monday, after lawmakers threatened to remain seated when the Presidet entered the parliamentary chamber, contrary to tradition.

On Sunday, the police team investigating allegations against the president recommended that he be charged with rape, sexual assault, eavesdropping, fraud, breach of trust and improprieties in gift distribution.

Katsav's attorney, Zion Amir, said Monday morning that if and when an indictment was submitted, Katsav will resign his post as president.

Notice how Dubya's buddies seem to be finding themselves in hot water, regardless of where they reside...

From Prissy's Inbox: Living Solder's Mom Gets Letter Stamped 'Deceased'

AP ST. PAUL (Oct. 14) - A Duluth mother who has been outspoken against the war in Iraq and against her son's deployment there said she was shocked when a letter she had sent to him came back with the word "DECEASED" stamped on it.

Joan Najbar's son, 21-year-old Sam Eininger, is alive, a National Guard spokesman said Friday.

"It's very upsetting, and somebody obviously did it," Najbar said. "I think this is somebody's cruel little joke."

Najbar, 55, works as a mental health therapist in Duluth and hasn't been shy about her feelings on the deployment that took her son out of Concordia College and sent him to Iraq in April.

She has written monthly letters to the local newspaper, appeared on television, met with Gov. Tim Pawlenty and protested in St. Paul and Duluth. She performed a poetry and dance program at the College of St. Scholastica about the struggle of a mother sending her child to war.

"I've been the most verbal mom protesting the war in this town," she said. "And I've been trashed for being a military mom speaking out. It just makes me wonder if this is a malicious thing."

Lt. Sheree Savage, a spokeswoman for the Minnesota National Guard, said the Army does not handle letters to dead soldiers that way.

"The U.S. Army does not return letters to deceased members as 'deceased,"' she said. "It would just never go back to the family like that."

When a soldier dies, she said, all of his or her personal effects are returned to the family by a casualty assistance officer, Savage said.

Angus Reid Poll which leans to the right... Americans Question Bush on 9/11 Intelligence

Many adults in the United States believe the current federal government has not been completely forthcoming on the issue of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, according to a poll by the New York Times and CBS News. 53 per cent of respondents think the Bush administration is hiding something, and 28 per cent believe it is lying.

Only 16 per cent of respondents say the government headed by U.S. president George W. Bush is telling the truth on what it knew prior to the terrorist attacks, down five points since May 2002.

Scooter better flip, they all better flip or go to prison forever. The 911 truth is a bottle with a cork about to pop. Prissy heard from a very reliable source that Mayor Michael Bloomberg is sick from the post 911 toxic air.

Lexis News Wal-Mart Faces At Least $62M In Damages

PHILADELPHIA — A state jury found Thursday that Wal-Mart broke Pennsylvania labor laws by forcing employees to work through rest breaks and off the clock, a decision plaintiffs' lawyers said would result in at least $62 million in damages.

Jurors will return Friday to determine damages in the class-action lawsuit, which covers up to 187,000 hourly current and former workers.

"I think it reinforces that this company's sweatshop mindset is a serious problem, both legally and morally," said Chris Kofinis, a spokesman for WakeUpWalMart.com, a union-funded effort to improve working conditions at the stores.

Channel News Asia North Korea considering return to six-party talks: Russian envoy

MOSCOW : North Korea still hopes six-party talks on its nuclear programme will continue and will decide on returning to the negotiating table after studying sanctions set out in a UN resolution, a Russian envoy said Sunday after visiting Pyongyang.

Speaking in Beijing, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alexeyev told the RIA-Novosti news agency that North Korea was still interested in returning to negotiations.

"They said that only after analysing the UN resolution would they plan the subsequent character of their actions ... including in relation to the resumption of the six-sided process," said Alexeyev.

ABC Ban Ki-Moon: Rice Should Talk with North Korea

Oct. 15, 2006 — U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice should have diplomatic talks with North Korea, U.N. Secretary-General designate Ban Ki-moon told Bill Weir on Sunday's "Good Morning America Weekend Edition."

"If possible, it would be a good opportunity," he said. "The United States has expressed on many occasions that they will be prepared to talk with North Korea if and when they return to six-party talks. … I hope North Korea will take this opportunity to discuss all their concerns."

The United Nations Security Council unanimously passed a resolution Saturday that will impose harsh sanctions against North Korea just six days after Kim Jong Il's rogue regime declared that it conducted an underground nuclear test.

The Security Council said the North Korean test amounted to a "clear threat to international peace and security."

Senate Majority Project McCain Criticizes House Handling of Page Scandal

... but raises money for member that handled it.

John McCain has called for the appointment of a panel of "credible" people to investigate the House Republican Page scandal.

"I think it needs to be addressed by people who are credible," he said.

Still on the books, however, is an October 20 McCain fundraiser for NRCC chair Tom Reynolds, who is currently up to his neck in the scandal.

Political Cortex Escape to Paraguay? Rumors of Bush Land Deal

At least two sources, including Upsidedownworld and Prensa Latina, report rumors of a Bush family purchase of land in northern Paraguay.

Upsidedownworld writes, on October 11: The Governor of Alto Paraguay, Erasmo Rodríguez Acosta has admitted to hearing that George Bush Sr. owns land in the Chaco region of Paraguay, in Paso de Patria. Acosta says that rumor has it that Bush owns near to 70 thousand hectares (173,000 acres) as part of an ecological reserve and/or ranch. However, the governor said he had no documents to prove the rumor.

Prensa Latina, writing on October 13, gives a similar story but names George W. Bush rather than his father: An Argentine official regarded the intention of the George W. Bush family to settle on the Acuifero Guarani (Paraguay) as surprising, besides being a bad signal for the governments of the region...Luis D Elia, undersecretary for the Social Habitat in the Argentine Federal Planning Ministry, issued a memo partially reproduced by digital INFOBAE.com, in which he spoke of the purchase by Bush of a 98,842-acre farm in northern Paraguay, between Brazil and Bolivia.

A visit by Jenna Bush on behalf of Unicef may have triggered speculation, as Upsidedownworld also suggests. But, could there be truth to the rumors? As calls increase for his impeachment, the President could well be thinking that South America would make a fine place to retire. Another rumored land deal, this one involving the U.S. military, attracted the attention of Project Censored, which listed "U.S. Military in Paraguay" as one of its top 25 censored stories of 2007.

Tom Dispatch Tomgram: De la Vega, Debunking the Armitage Story

Tomgram: De la Vega, Debunking the Armitage Story In the first of her two-part series on the Libby case (Pardon Me?), former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega suggested that George Bush, Dick Cheney, and their supporters might already be preparing the groundwork for a Libby presidential pardon, perhaps even before the case begins in mid-January. After all, who wants all that ugly 2002-2003 linen aired, as it will be, under oath? Aren't things bad enough?

Well, not exactly. As the Republicans brace for House losses that, according to the Washington Post, could go as high as 30 seats (a veritable tsunami in our thoroughly gerrymandered age), as that Senate majority begins to look more wobbly, as the President fights for a little media air (with a tad of help from his old axis-of-evil pal, Kim Jong Il), as Iraq simply melts down in a bloodbath of civilians and we're told that the Army's Chief of Staff is planning to maintain present troop levels into the year 2010 (or even go higher), as the Bush Bump of September morphs into the Bush polling freefall of October and every trend turns against the Republicans, as Americans now claim to find Democrats more "trustworthy" on any issue you care to mention, including (for the first time in what seems forever) "moral values" and "the war on terror," as the corruption bullet the Republicans thought they ducked when next to no one seemed to pay attention to the various Abramoff lobbying scandals circles around and comes in for the kill in a number of races nationwide, thanks to Rep. Foley's instant sex messages and the Congressional cover-up of his behavior, a Libby trial, not to speak of a Special Counsel who is still on the loose, must seem an ever less palatable proposition to look forward to.

Call it a Hobson's choice: Face the firestorm of a pardon scandal before January 15 or a riveted public focused on the political equivalent of an OJ trial later that month. In the meantime, the CIA leak case that left agent Valerie Plame twisting, twisting in the wind back in 2003, has itself gained so many twists and turns, not to speak of blind alleys and treacherous cul-de-sacs that many people have simply lost the ability to follow it -- which is why Elizabeth de la Vega offers a complex guided tour to some pretty venal territory that no one should skip. Before we're done, one way or the other, this case is guaranteed to take some more air out of the Bush political room. Tom

Hermes Press Bush -Saudi connection

The Bush dynasty has always been comfortable putting profits before patriotism. Prescott Bush, Bush Senior’s father, extended credit to Adolph Hitler and supplied him with raw materials during Word War II. The U. S. seized his assets under the Trading with the Enemy Act, but grandfather Bush found other ways to replenish the family coffers.

Bush Senior struck it rich in oil and in the defense industry. Mahfouz (yes, that Mahfouz), Prince Bandar and Prince Sultan (Bandar’s father) were also heavily invested in the defense industry through their holdings in the Carlyle Group, where Bush Senior served on the board of directors. Founded in 1987 as a private investment group with strong connections to the Republican Party establishment, Carlyle increased its original investment of $130 million to $900 million when it went public in 2001.

"In recent years, Carlyle has been successful both at raising and making money. It has raised $14 billion in the last five years or so, and its annual rate of return has been 36 percent. Its 550 investors consist of institutions and wealthy individuals from around the world including, until shortly after September 2001, members of the bin Laden family of Saudi Arabia. The family — which has publicly disavowed links with Osama bin Laden — had been an investor since 1995."

Sydney Morning Herald, Israelis Anti-what? Israeli envoy faces sack over race slur

THE immediate future of Israel's ambassador to Canberra hangs in the balance after he reportedly told a newspaper that Australians and Israelis stood out in Asia because "we don't have yellow skin and slanted eyes".

If Naftali Tamir is found to have made "this grave and unacceptable remark", the Israeli Foreign Ministry said, there would be no return to "business as usual".

The Federal Government refused to comment, but Labor's foreign affairs spokesman, Kevin Rudd, said yesterday: "If accurate, these comments are completely unacceptable. We welcome reports that the Israeli Foreign Ministry is dealing with this incident as a matter of top priority."

BBC Bush's Iraq options limited Oct 9, 2006

A warning by a senior Republican senator that "bold decisions" will be required on Iraq if progress is not made soon has prompted talk that the White House might be forced into policy changes after the mid-term elections in November.

Among the options is one to divide Iraq up into three loosely federated parts -- Shia, Sunni and Kurd. That has some serious drawbacks.

But some change is in the political air in Washington. The former US Secretary of State James Baker, who co-chairs a panel tasked by Congress to examine options, said on ABC News over the weekend: "I think it's fair to say our commission believes that there are alternatives between the stated alternatives, the ones that are out there in the political debate, of 'stay the course' and 'cut and run.'"

Toronto Star Sunnis tortured in revenge attack

BAGHDAD—Seeking revenge for the killing of 17 Shiite farm workers, Shiite militiamen surged into a town north of Baghdad yesterday to launch attacks that by nightfall killed at least 27 Sunni Arabs, many of them brought to a hospital bearing the marks of electric drills and other signs of torture, according to medical workers, police and militia leaders.

Sounds of shooting suggested the killing in Balad continued into the night as reinforcements from the Shiite-controlled Interior Ministry arrived and residents cowered in their homes.

"You hear nothing but gunshots," Hasanein Ali, assistant director of Balad's hospital, said by telephone.

Have you notice that violence began to spike in Iraq after Negroponte signed on to the cabal? Some say he and Rummy planned to start using the ‘The Salvador Option’ in Iraq. Probably another "coincidence."

Flashback from MSNBC :

Now, NEWSWEEK has learned, the Pentagon is intensively debating an option that dates back to a still-secret strategy in the Reagan administration’s battle against the leftist guerrilla insurgency in El Salvador in the early 1980s. Then, faced with a losing war against Salvadoran rebels, the U.S. government funded or supported "nationalist" forces that allegedly included so-called death squads directed to hunt down and kill rebel leaders and sympathizers. Eventually the insurgency was quelled, and many U.S. conservatives consider the policy to have been a success—despite the deaths of innocent civilians and the subsequent Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages scandal. (Among the current administration officials who dealt with Central America back then is John Negroponte, who is today the U.S. ambassador to Iraq. Under Reagan, he was ambassador to Honduras. There is no evidence, however, that Negroponte knew anything about the Salvadoran death squads or the Iran-Contra scandal at the time. The Iraq ambassador, in a phone call to NEWSWEEK on Jan. 10, said he was not involved in military strategy in Iraq. He called the insertion of his name into this report "utterly gratuitous.")Jan 14, 2005

AP News British Debate on Muslim Veils Heats Up

LONDON (AP) - A British government minister joined an increasingly bitter debate about the rights of Muslim women to veil their faces, saying a teaching assistant should be fired for insisting on wearing one in school.

Prissy isn't going to wade too far into this one, except to say men (no offense) shouldn't be telling women how they should or should not dress,period. Whether Prissy wants to wear a bikini or a dress to the floor its no one else's call...

This Canadian Revolving Door to Blackwater Causes Alarm at CIA

Plus: More on the Agency's “Wehrmacht”, Posted on Tuesday, September 12, 2006. By Ken Silverstein. Blackwater USA, the private security contractor that has operated in places such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, and New Orleans, has been booming the past few years. Founded in December of 1996, the company spent its early years “paying staff with an executive's credit card and begging for customers,” according to the Virginian-Pilot.

But today, Blackwater reportedly has revenues of about $100 million annually, almost all of it from government contracts, and maintains “a compound half the size of Manhattan and 450 permanent employees,” according to the newspaper. How did Blackwater rise so high, so fast? The “war on terrorism” got the ball rolling for the firm, but one suspects that political connections played a big part as well. Erik Prince, Blackwater's founder, is a former SEAL who is deeply involved in Republican Party politics. Since 1998, he has funneled roughly $200,000 to GOP committees and candidates, including President Bush. In 2004, Blackwater retained the Alexander Strategy Group, the PR and lobbying firm that closed down earlier this year due to its embarrassing ties to Jack Abramoff and Tom DeLay. (Paul Behrends, a former national security adviser to Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, handled the account for Alexander.

After the firm shut down, Behrends moved on to a firm called C&M Capitolink, and took the Blackwater account with him.) A number of senior CIA and Pentagon officials have taken top jobs at Blackwater, including firm vice chairman Cofer Black, who was the Bush Administration's top counterterrorism official at the time of the 9/11 attacks (and who famously said in 2002, “There was before 9/11 and after 9/11. After 9/11, the gloves came off.”)

Robert Young Pelton, author of the new book, Licensed to Kill, says that an early Blackwater contract—a secret no-bid $5.4 million deal with the CIA—came in 2002 after Prince placed a call to Buzzy Krongard, who was then the CIA's executive director. A CIA source with whom I spoke said that Prince is very tight with top agency officials and has a “green badge,” the security pass for contractors who have access to CIA installations.

Prissy does not care for this kind of "security." Blackwater could be called mercenaries or corporate America's soldiers, whom have no oath sworn to uphold the constitution...

Truthout A Nation Still at War By Cindy Sheehan

While Democrats are busy counting their unhatched chickens and Republicans are getting muscle cramps from pointing fingers at everyone - including the pages that Foley hunted down - but themselves, Congress has been busy erasing from common law and our Constitution our centuries-old rights to habeas corpus. (If anyone thinks that this abomination will only extend to "terrorists," I say: "How do you like living in fantasyland?")

The Foleygate scandal may be the thing that finally brings the corrupt party of gloat and bloat down, but it should be Iraq. It should be suspending habeas corpus. It should be the lies and subsequent cover-ups of the lies that led to now 2,738 of our young people coming home to 2,738 families in flag-draped coffins - not the scandal and subsequent cover-up of Foley and his corruption.

The war, which was never a popular news story, has fallen far behind Foley in coverage. However, the most important and potentially damaging story of all - Congress voting, once again, to consolidate power in the executive branch, by giving BushCo power to imprison us without our due process - is not in the public awareness at all. I guess I should also be jumping for joy that something is bringing the party of the corporations and hypocrites down, but I feel molested, and by the entire Congress. We the people who do feel violated by Congress and by this out-of-control administration know that Congress has been busy invalidating themselves during the past six years and it may be very hard to regain any power, because by George, George has already exonerated himself from the crimes against humanity he and the rest of the ne'er do well neo-cons have committed.

Cindy you are quite the writer. Thank you for all you continue to do for our troops.

The Baptist Standard with some good news this Sunday Italian Baptists ask U.S. Baptists to appeal for peace in Iraq

It also criticizes the Italian and American governments' rhetoric surrounding the war. "We all see our leaders, in the same vein as the exponents of Islamic fundamentalism and of terrorism, waving the flag, talking of a war between civilizations and claiming that God is on their side.

"We believe that God, who said, 'You shall not kill' and who sent Jesus to die for our sin, is a God of peace, of reconciliation and of justice--that he is on the side of the victims of war, whoever they are, military or civilian, Iraqi, American, widows, parents, orphans, prisoners, whole peoples reduced to misery and famine."

The letter asks U.S. Baptists for two responses: To organize peacemaking-focused "manifestations, round tables, focus groups, meetings for reflection on the alternative to war, that involve people of diverse religious confession, cultural tendency and nationality."

To lead "ecumenical prayer meetings in which we pray that God touches our leaders' hearts and those of terrorist and resistance leaders and that he brings them to repent, to change direction, to stop the fighting and open up a dialogue with their enemies," and to encourage the exchange of coalition forces "for U.N.-led peacekeeping forces" to occupy the country.

Chicago NBC5 Shimkus Testifies Before Ethics Committee On Foley Scandal

The downstate lawmaker who oversees the Congressional page program said, "Having 20-20 hindsight ... a lot of things would have been done differently."

Some critics have called on Shimkus to resign in the wake of the Foley page scandal.

Cox News Sailor Stabbed To Death At The VFW

A sailor is stabbed to death at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Center in Norfolk.

Police say about 2:00 Sunday morning, 23-year-old Devon Brathwaite was stabbed inside the VFW after some sort of altercation.

Investigators say he stumbled outside the building and collapsed in the parking lot. Medics pronounced him dead at the scene.

Brathwaite was a sailor on the USS Harry S Truman.

Let's hope the altercation wasn't differing views of the war in Iraq or the Naval deployment of ships near Iran. Prissy asked one "conservative" against the war, also a long time VFW member how on earth those veterans could support the war in Iraq. He gave the best logic she's heard yet "Cause they're drunk. Been sitting on a barstool for 30 or 50 years and they'll have the nerve to say war didn't affect them..."

Khaleej Times Iran and Iraq to strengthen security and intelligence ties

BAGHDAD - Iraq and Iran have formed a working group to build closer security and intelligence ties, the Iraqi government announced Sunday, despite US concerns over Teheran’s role in the country.

Iraqi National Security Advisor Muwaffaq Al Rubaie and his Iranian counterpart Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, minister of security and intelligence, recently discussed putting into effect a prior deal to share intelligence.

“The two sides agreed to form a working group to lay down suitable mechanisms to implement the agreement to strengthen security and intelligence cooperation,” said a statement issued by the Iraqi cabinet.

The United States, which maintains 142,000 troops in Iraq, has expressed concern over what it describes as Iran’s role in fuelling the deadly violence sweeping Iraq and has accused Teheran of smuggling weapons to Iraqi militias

Quotes of the Day "Before a war military science seems a real science, like astronomy; but after a war it seems more like astrology." - Rebecca West, (60% of the victims of every war are women and children)

Shouldn't we already be there? "I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy."--John Adams

All wars are civil wars, because all men are brothers.--Francois Fenelon

The victor will never be asked if he told the truth.--Adolf Hitler

Leaders are responsible not for running public opinion polls but for the consequences of their actions.--Henry A. Kissinger, wanted war criminal by France

But when a young lady is to be a heroine, the perverseness of forty surrounding families cannot prevent her. Something must and will happen to throw a hero in her way.--Jane Austen (1775 - 1817), Northanger Abbey

Sex and the City : The 109th Congress and Friends Update

This is not the first time congress has lied to the American people. They have proved by lying us into Iraq, that laws do not matter to them.

A crime has been alledged to have been committed against a minor. The media is responding almost like the good all days.

They should, it could be their own child next...Keep in mind the pedophile priest episode, which is still not over- educated most parents about this kind of predator.

The list of pedophiles of the GOP

And Oh my, Rove's spin machine is broken. He has dealt so with many things, but he is not a specialist in kiddie sex crimes. Or is he? We shall soon know.

Anyone who condones or defends the "Foley Five" is either a dabbler themselves, or an enabler as there is no gray area on this crime. How's that for your black and white world view neorepublicans?

Children are off limits for perverts

As many of her Dearest Readers already are aware-this kind of crime against children also happens to be the field she has experience in while working in juvenile corrections.

By the time Prissy was in receipt of these youth, the damage to their young souls had been done. It was her job to help undo it. It was a difficult task, but very worthwhile work.

The first time we helped the youth to understand why they were not at fault, a large anger began to melt away from their hearts. Some had turned the anger onto others and some on themselves.

Contrary to myth, most people molested as children do not go on to molest others. In the case of children (or teens) molesting other children, that may not be the case.

Regardless, anger is the overriding characteristic left from such a life altering event.

Case in point, when Prissy was growing up, there was a boy named Drew in the neighborhood. He was about five years older than she. Drew didn't get along well with other three neighborhood boys his age.

Prissy didn't know why and didn't pay that much attention to him. There was also group of four more children, about five years younger than she and her three friends who did pay attention to Drew.

Everyone tended to play together in accordance with age- except Drew. He played with the children ten years younger-the three-five years old group.

The only game he played with them was hide and seek- at dusk. There were four little ones this age group- two little boys and two little girls.

All the parents thought that because there was almost no crime in our safe suburban street, certainly the children were safe playing in the spacious backyards-no one's was fenced.

When Drew was 19, he was picked up by police near a grade school. The police thought he was selling pot and he ended up doing a few years in prison. His mother went around with a petition to get him out and interestingly, most neighbors wouldn't sign...

We all grew-up and moved away, some of the kids parents are there to this day. It was a quiet suburban neighborhood and still is.

The little ones are now in their thirties, some with kids of their own. The four younger ones all seemed to have problems, dropping out of college, not holding jobs or working a job below their level of ability.

Prissy didn't think much about this until one of them fessed up to her-about four years ago. Drew had been molesting them all-for nearly four years, until they were about eight, since that was when Drew went to jail for selling pot.

To this day, none of them told their parents. People say all four of them? Yes, that's right. All of them and he still to this day has not done one day in jail for his crime.

In fact, Drew still lives in the same town, different house.

There are far more children there, than in the old neighborhood...

Note to politicians: The typical child molester is a married, heterosexual, middle aged white man. He usually prefers girls, but will molest boys too. One in four female children has been or will be molested, one in seven boys. Those are the stats.

Should our leaders let this go- well, you can see what determined mothers can do about how a nation views a war.

Fifty-two year old men, coming on to sixteen year old boys, will make it so much easier to throw you out. While a nation can somewhat support a war based on lies, knowing your own child can molested by these same politicians- those who pretend it was not classic grooming behavior- you might as well resign right now if you fail accountability on this issue.

You see, the people can forgive powerfule men's extra marital affairs (not Prissy) they may "forgive" their congressman for being gay-but forgive a child molester? Never!

Age of consent or not-this old goat made a nice young man very uncomfortable. He was trying to show respect the congressman. Of course he doesn't deserve that respect...

Everyone of them (Hastert, Reynolds, Tony Snow and others) to whom it was known before Friday should resign immediately or face indictment. It is a crime to know that pedophile behavior is going on and not report it.

A sixteen year old "good kid" IE- one who tends to obey and respect authority figures-like congressmen-should have been protected right away. Anything less is complicity.

By the way, Prissy has never seen a juvenile deliquent who said they wanted to be a page in congress.

Shame on anyone who would ever blame this youth.

Hot Links

Star-Telegram TX Foley reportedly made teens uncomfortable

WASHINGTON -- More than a dozen former House pages say Rep. Mark Foley was known to be extraordinarily friendly in a way that made them uncomfortable but none say they received a sexual or suggestive overture from him during their time on Capitol Hill.

Yet many of them said they were uneasy about Foley's actions and felt awkward complaining to anyone about them.

"Mark Foley knew that he could get away with this type of behavior with male pages because he was a congressman," said Mark Beck-Heyman, a Democrat. "But many people on Capitol Hill, including many high-level Republican staffers and members, have known for over 11 years about what was going on and chose to do nothing."

In 1995, Beck-Heyman said, male House pages were warned to steer clear of the freshman Republican from Florida, who was already learning the names of the teen-agers, dashing off notes, letters and e-mails to them and asking them to join him for ice cream.

From the Desk of Patrick J Fitzgerald- nicely cited as always. Prissy just adores him, but who doesn't-besides the neocons? A Prissy Patriot hat tip to Fitz Chicken And Egg..?

Let's ask a few former pages their thoughts on Rep. Foley and which came first - being a page or turning gay?

Notable pages: John Kolbe - 1958 (later U.S. Congressman) Bauman, Robert - (later U.S. Congressman)

Speaker says he won't resign

"That e-mail they call an 'overly friendly' e-mail, that had predator stamped all over it," said Bay Buchanan, president of American Cause, a conservative advocacy group.

Meanwhile, Hastert said he has no intention of resigning.

"I'm not going to do that," he told conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, warning of a Democratic takeover of Congress in November.

"We could lose and let the Democrats be in power for 10 or 15 or 20 years, 40 years, like they were the last time."

Star Tribune, hat tip to Bolixi Powell: Staying course in Iraq isn't enough

In Iraq, "staying the course isn't good enough because a course has to have an end," Powell said.

More than any other event of this era, the war will define the Bush presidency and Powell's own tenure as Secretary of State, Powell said.

In the U.S. today, a challenge the war poses is a question of whether an essential "bond of trust that must exist within a nation...has been shaken," he said. The extent of the damage to trust will be measured in the November elections, he said.

Oh it sure will...

CNN Money Remember the "Puts for Oct 6?" A big rally gave the S&P 500 its best 3rd quarter in 9 years and pushed the Dow near record highs.

The third quarter is usually the worst of the year. And this year it was supposed to be especially bad since 2006 is a mid-term election year, and third quarters in those years tend to be the worst of the worst (see chart at right).

The rally has put the S&P 500 at another 5-1/2-year high and pushed the Dow near its record close set in January 2000, at the end of the 1990s boom. How did all this happen? And what's next for the market?

"A good third quarter in any year is unusual and one in a mid-term election year is even more unusual," said Jeffrey Hirsch, editor of Stock Trader's Almanac. "But there's no historical record of what it means for the fourth quarter."

Dearest Readers, this wasn't just a joke on South Park, unfortunately:

NAMBLA -The National Man-Boy Love Association. They are a group of men, mostly over 30, who like to date/have sex with underage boys. They like to use historical "evidence" like how in ancient Greece, this sort of thing was tolerated, to try and support their movement. (They also like to take text from books, out of context, to support their movement, the author unaware of their doing so, thus making that author look bad.)

(From the Urban Dictionary)

About that CIA Leak Case...by Elizabeth del la Vega

Tom Dispatch A Libby Pardon for Christmas?

Indeed, a review of court documents makes it abundantly clear that Judge Reggie Walton has no intention of letting this matter laze around on his docket. Filings in the case make it no less clear that Lewis Libby's opportunities to make the charges go away by exercising his rights within the judicial system are dwindling rapidly. Early on, Walton ruled that any motions to dismiss that the defendant wished to bring should be filed by February 24, 2006. Libby's attorneys filed one such motion and it was denied.

In that motion, Libby's defense team argued that the case should be dismissed because it was "obtained, approved and signed by an official -- Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald -- who was appointed and exercised his powers" in violation of the Constitution. Without getting too technical, the defense argument was that Fitzgerald was taking actions that could only be taken by a presidential appointee. This was essentially a more lawyerly version of accusations the Republican National Committee (directly tied into the Bush administration's political arm, the Office of Strategic Initatives) had begun hurling even before Libby's indictment. In various veiled -- and sometimes not so veiled -- attacks, they argued that Patrick Fitzgerald was "overzealous" and had exceeded his authority by bringing perjury and false-statements charges when he was, according to the Libby defense team and the RNC, only authorized to investigate the possible unauthorized disclosure of a CIA officer.

Not surprisingly, Judge Walton was unimpressed with Libby's motion. He ruled that it was perfectly appropriate and prudent for the Department of Justice to appoint someone outside the hierarchy of the Executive Branch when its highest officials were under investigation. He also said that Fitzgerald's letters of authority "unambiguously" authorized him to investigate and prosecute not only the disclosure of a CIA employee's identity, but also "any violations of federal law that arise during the course of that investigation."

All the prosecutors Prissy has asked about this say his "Greymail" defense, while commonly used in these kinds of cases-won't fly. Fitz nailed him tight, there is no way out-except a pardon from the king. Prissy wouldn't advise it, the troubles it would cause in democract controlled congress make it political suicide. Besides, the king himself may be indicted by then...

Talk Left. Coloradan Sues Cheney Secret Service Agent

Steven Howards and his son were walking by a Dick Cheney event this summer in Beaver Creek, on their way to a piano lesson. Howards told Cheney he didn't approve of his war policy. When Howards walked back from the lesson, passing the site again, he was arrested. Charges later were dropped.

Colorado First Amendment Lawyer David Lane (think Ward Churchill) sued the secret service agent today, for violating his First and Fourth Amendment rights. The full complaint is here (pdf). Here are the factual recitations:

APFN via tbr...gossip about Karl Rove Karl Rove’s “good friend” ‘Jeff Gannon’

Malice and disapproval aside, the real problem here is this: George W. Bush, supported closely by Karl Rove, was reelected as President of the United States on the so-called Moral Majority vote. In sum, Bush, via Rove, was projected as a moral man who would return a hedonistic America to the simpler virtues of a bygone era. This would be a moral crusade with strong religious overtones. Rove, who is brilliant if depraved, saw this and was successful. A large part of the American public, unhappy with what they saw as debilitating liberalism, abortion on demand, disgusting gay marriage and other forms of what they considered moral decay, put Bush back in office.

What will happen when these devout and angry people discover that their beloved symbolic President is just as bad as the evil, liberal Clinton? It was the Christian Right, financed by the weird Mellon heir, who harassed Clinton and got him impeached because of a seedy affair with the zaftig Monica Lewinski. Now they have to deal with rampant male whores prancing around the White House in consort with a small army of closet queens and all of whom very obviously have the ear, and the confidence, (and hopefully, that’s all they have) of their “moral” choice for President. Shakespeare said that hell had no fury like a woman scorned and from the letters and emails we are getting here, the duped and conned Moral Majority types are going to be a source of great trouble for Bush. How can this happen, you ask? After all, Bush has been elected for four more disastrous years.

The Congressional Mid-Term elections are coming up and betrayed and angry members of the Religious Right will not vote for Bush-type Congressmen and will either not vote or will vote out what they will see as co-conspirators and traitors to their cause. This is the very real danger and since the smelly and mangy cat is out of the bag now, all Bush and Rove can do is to try to find some kind of sensational disaster to cloud the issue as much as possible. (‘Al Quaeda-trained Eskimo terrorists have just blown up the Alaska pipeline!’)

In addition to exposing the freak show in the Monkey Palace, here is a bit more information for your mills to grind. I did not go to Europe with St. George but have access to the official, and unofficial, reports (I have connections with the tour) and you all might be interested to note that the so-called ‘New Beginning with Old Europe’ was a dismal failure. There were the obligatory press PR pictures of Bush smiling and shaking hands with various European heads of state but his goal, to have Europe send troops to Iraq so he could deal militarily with Iran and Syria, ended in complete disaster. The French treated George very coldly and he was told to stop threatening world peace and get out of Iraq.

Apparently white supremist groups don't like pedophiles either German White Nationalists Stand Against Pedophiles from 2003

As many Conservative/Republican spokesmen piously spout their rhetoric about “Family Values” in America and Germany, White nationalists show the courage to take their message against moral/racial decay to the streets in direct confrontation. A corollary to this “all talk no action” syndrome is the trend of “Conservative” talk show hosts like Mike Savage, Rush Limbaugh, Howie Carr and Alex Jones to call for a crackdown on illegal immigration -- but remain silent and avoid endorsement when true patriots stand together in public to confront the illegals, as members of the National Alliance recently did in New Jersey. In Hamburg, and all across Germany, more and more citizens are willing to take that stand against racial decline and not just talk about it.

Under the slogan of “Death Penalty for Child Molesters” members of the Free Network of White Nationalists assembled in front of a residence on 7 Sven-Hedin Street housing known child molesters belonging to a NAMBLA-like (Man Boy Love Association) group named “Krumme 17” to send a strong message to the public that upright citizens in Germany will no longer tolerate clemency for perverts and non-White criminals.

BBC Washington sex e-mail row deepens It was actually instant messenges which got Foley outed, not emails.

The BBC's Justin Webb in Washington says that over the weekend it has become clear that a minor embarrassment for the Republican party might become something far worse.

It has emerged that Mr Foley's behaviour had been known about for some time by senior colleagues, including the party's leader in the House.

They are now arguing about how much they knew - but the Democrats and some Republicans have called for the party's Congressional leaders to step down.

Our correspondent says the scandal could cost the Republicans votes in next month's mid-term elections - votes they cannot afford to lose.

They will lose, but America will win.

Wa Po. Fitz wasn't kidding-he said this last week! Attorney: Foley Was Abused by Clergyman

President Bush today professed shock, dismay and disgust over revelations that a disgraced former Republican congressman sent sexually explicit messages to teenaged boys who served as congressional pages, but he expressed confidence in House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) in the face of calls for his resignation over the matter.

Meanwhile, the lawyer for Mark Foley, the Florida Republican who resigned his House seat Friday as the scandal was emerging, said Foley was molested between the ages of 13 and 15 by a clergyman.

Well Mr. Foley, thousands of youth were molested by clergymen-and they did not go on to molest others.

Liberty Forum IRAN WAR PLAN EXPOSED! PREPARE FOR THE SINKING OF A U.S. AIRCRAFT CARRIER - The USS Enterprise CVN-65!

The Hal Turner Show has been told that within the next five (5) weeks, the United States will "suffer" a missile attack upon the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, presently on patrol near the Persian Gulf. This attack will appear to be from numerous "Silkworm" and/or "Sunburn" missiles which will sink the vessel and kill most of the 5,000 crew onboard.

The "attack" will be blamed on Iran and thus provide the Bush Administration with an excuse to go to war with that nation.

The Hal Turner Show has learned that the missiles used to attack the USS Enterprise will not be fired from or by Iran, but rather will be a "false flag operation" made to LOOK as though Iran carried out the attack!

The USS Enterprise is the worlds first nuclear powered aircraft carrier. It was Commissioned in 1961 and is due to be decommissioned in 2014 or 2015. The ship was selected to be the "victim" of this "attack" due to its age.

There are several ships stationed in the Gulf right now...and more headed there.

Howard Empowered Blogspot Excerpt from Woodwards Book re: 2004 Election

"At 2:43 a.m., someone noted that Bush was ahead in the popular vote nationwide, prompting the President to sneer, "If the popular vote made it, I wouldn't be here."

The campaign was left to anxiously wait for a statement from Kenneth Blackwell, a former black power student leader who had morphed into Ohio's gadfly Republican secretary of state.

"I'm the President of the United States," Bush fumed, "waiting on a secretary of state who is a nut."

Blackwell is a former black-power-saluting student leader who had decided to be a member of the Republican party. Hmm, wonder why$

Prissy warned him when all but bragged about messing up the vote that he would be the first one Dubya kicks to the curb when the truth comes out about the vote.

The voter fraud which took place in Ohio was on Mr. Blackwell, (also the chairman for the Ohio Bush/Cheney 2004 campaign) happened on Blackwell's watch.

Coming this week: John Kerry visits Ohioans to talk about the vote. On HBO Nov. 2nd watch "Hacking Democracy" by blackboxvoting.org

Killtown 911 Review Did Flight 93 Crash in Shanksville? Lot's of interesting photographic evidence Prissy had not seen before.

Westhawk Blogspot Mr. Rumsfeld’s gamble comes due

It seems apparent that U.S. ground forces are finding it very difficult to maintain the current pace of overseas deployments and combat operations. Well thought out deployment plans are fraying at their edges; the Army is now making frequent changes to deployment schedules in order to maintain troop levels in Iraq, as yet another recent press release from the Pentagon explained:

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26, 2006 – Adjustments to Iraq troop-rotation schedules announced yesterday will allow 15 U.S. combat brigades to be in Iraq through spring, DoD officials said today.

The 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Armored Division, based in Friedberg, Germany, will stay in Iraq for another 46 days. The brigade was scheduled to redeploy in mid-January 2007. This will shift to late February. The 4th Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, based at Fort Hood, Texas, will deploy 30 days earlier than originally scheduled, beginning in late October.

Perhaps the Hague will take care of Rummy, if our military leaders don't tribuanl him themselves...

Voices of Iraq or what the problem in the Green Zone was about. They say it was a coup attempt. Malki-Coup

Coup almost toppled Malki’s cabinet - MP

Baghdad, Oct 1, (VOI) – A coup almost toppled Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Malki’s government over the last two days, the Iraqi legislator Baha’ al-A’raji said on Sunday.

“Al-Malki’s government has survived a coup planned by Saddamists and Islamic extremists who wanted to send a clear message to the Iraqi government of their presence in Iraq,” Parliamentarian Baha’ al-A’raji, of Unified Iraqi Coalition, told reporters.

And...Only recently, A’raji pointed out, explosives were found in a well known law maker’s house , explosives that were used to make car bombs and charges. “These accusations were confirmed with clear evidence, which I do not have but surely the government would have, including CDs , photos and trigger devices,” A’raji said.

The U.S. army arrested a suspect working as a body guard with Legislator Adnan al-Duleimi, head of the Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front.

The U.S. army said in a statement the arrest was based on reliable intelligence the suspect was planning along with sevens others to blow up a car bomb inside the green zone in Baghdad. The U.S army statement also accused the arrested body guard of association with Qaeda in Iraq armed group.

Didn't see that in the msm.

Bangor Maine About 1,500 attend anti-war on Bangor Waterfront

Richard Clement’s wife, Rita, marched a few feet behind with Military Families Speak Out, the group to which she belongs.

"This war should have never been started in the first place, and we’ve got to do everything in our power to stop our politicians," said Rita Clement.

Brian Clement, 24, was stationed in Iraq, just north of Baghdad, from 2004 to 2005 as an Army specialist.

When he signed up for the military, he was confident that he was doing the right thing and would be able to make a difference in the lives of the Iraqi people.

Finland Terror fight sparks anguish in immigrant suburbs in Nordic region

"We have started to be afraid. I like Denmark, but nowadays I feel that people on the street stare at me", says one Palestinian-born woman in Odense, Denmark. Her feelings are shared by many Muslims in the Nordic Countries. The international fight against terrorism came into her neighbourhood store when a man working at the cash register was arrested along with eight others. Seven of the men are still being held. They are under investigation in a case which the Danish Minister of Justice has described as the most serious in the country's history.

A couple of weeks later four people were arrested on suspicion of planning a bomb attack against the embassies of the United States and Israel. In Sweden, meanwhile, three young men were given a prison sentence this past summer over a planned arson attack against a prayer room of a Christian congregation in Uppsala.

Chicago Tribune GOP faces 'inconvenient truth'

Hastert moved quickly over the weekend to call for a Justice Department investigation, which had the benefit of high-mindedness but also raised the prospect that the probe would not be finished by Election Day and would leave troubling questions hanging.

Bush offered his support for the Speaker during an appearance in California on Tuesday, reminding Americans of Hastert's prior life as a teacher and coach as measures of Hastert's concern for the well-being of children. The speaker clearly needed to hear the strong backing of the president in the face of mounting calls for his ouster.

Even that backing might not be enough. "There will be dramatic change," said one Republican consultant with ties to some of the House leadership. "It will either be imposed by a new set of leaders in the party or it will be imposed by the voters.

"The political environment today is such that Republicans feel defeated, all of America feels defeated and under siege at this point," he added. "You don't feel in control of your life. I think Republicans have felt the burden especially heavily because this is their president and their Congress. There hasn't been a lot of good news."

Bangkok Post Turkey hijacking protests Pope visit

Reports said the extremists hijacked the plane while it was flying over Greek airspace and asked to land in Italy.

The two reportedly seized control of the plane to protest against a trip to pre-dominantly Muslim Turkey by Pope Benedict planned for November 28.

The pontiff recently angered Muslims around the world by linking Islam to violence during a speech in Germany on September 12.

Anti-terror security measures were in place at Brindisi airport, which was closed off to traffic.

Quotes of the Day

“No one ever suddenly became depraved”--Juvenal, Roman satiris

“Do not separate text from historical background. If you do, you will have perverted and subverted the Constitution, which can only end in a distorted, bastardized form of illegitimate government.”--James Madison

“We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.”--Abraham Lincoln

“How do I know pornography depraves and corrupts? It depraves and corrupts me”--Malcolm Muggeridge,English iconoclast journalist