RIGHTS: U.N. Report Slams Use of Torture to Beat Terror

U.N. Report Slams Use of Torture to Beat Terror excerpt: According to Francis A Boyle, who teaches international law at the University of Illinois, ''As White House counsel, Alberto Gonzales originated, authorised, approved and aided and abetted grave breaches of the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions of 1949, which are serious war crimes.” ''In other words, Gonzales is a prima facie war criminal. He must be prosecuted under the Geneva Conventions and the U.S. War Crimes Act,'' Boyle told IPS. In any event, the U.S. Senate must reject his nomination, because, as a presumptive war criminal, Gonzales is not fit to be attorney general of the United States, he continued. ''Should Gonzales travel around the world in that capacity, human rights lawyers such as myself will attempt to get him prosecuted along the lines of what happened to (former Chilean dictator) General (Pinochet,'' said Boyle, author of 'Destroying World Order'. Jordan J Paust, law foundation professor at the University of Houston, agrees with Boyle's thesis. ''The denial of protections under the Geneva Conventions is a violation of the Geneva Conventions, and every violation of the laws of war is a war crime. Complicity in connection with war crimes (such as aiding and abetting the denial of protections) is also criminally sanctionable,'' Paust told IPS. more at http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=26261

Negotiators Add Abortion Clause to Spending Bill

Negotiators Add Abortion Clause to Spending Bill: "Negotiators Add Abortion Clause to Spending Bill By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and CARL HULSE Published: November 20, 2004 WASHINGTON, Saturday, Nov. 20 - House and Senate negotiators have tucked a potentially far-reaching anti-abortion provision into a $388 billion must-pass spending bill, complicating plans for Congress to wrap up its business and adjourn for the year. The provision may be an early indication of the growing political muscle of social conservatives who provided crucial support for Republican candidates, including President Bush, in the election." Continued...... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And awaaayyy we go ............! Mycos

Now outspoken, Cronkite rips Bush's record

No longer the just-the-facts newsman, retired CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite, 88, blasted the Bush administration during a charity appearance on Fisher Island. BY GLENN GARVIN ggarvin@herald.com What America needs right now, legendary TV anchor Walter Cronkite said Thursday, is a new election -- and, he warned a laughing press conference full of reporters, he wasn't kidding. ''That's not entirely a joke,'' Cronkite said solemnly, arguing that the Bush administration has spent itself into ruin while embroiling the country in a war that will eventually make public revulsion to the war in Vietnam look like peanuts.''" Continued........

Grand Jury Hears Testimony From Powell

"Grand Jury Hears Testimony From Powell By The Associated Press The New York Times Sunday 01 August 2004 Warsaw, Poland - The U.S. grand jury investigating the leak of an undercover CIA operative's name has interviewed Secretary of State Colin Powell, but he is not a subject of the inquiry, the State Department said Sunday. Department spokesman Richard Boucher, traveling with Powell on a diplomatic visit to Poland, said Powell appeared on July 16 at the grand jury's invitation. 'The secretary is not a subject of inquiry,' Boucher said. 'He was pleased to cooperate with the grand jury.' Powell is the latest official from the Bush administration to be called before the grand jury in Washington. White House counsel Alberto Gonzales and spokesman Scott McClellan have been summoned, and grand jury investigators have interviewed President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney in their offices. Powell's appearance was first reported Sunday by Newsweek. Continued.... "

The Smoking Gun That The Election Was "Hacked"?

FAQ/Feedback: "FAQ / Feedback Q: How'd you get involved with this? Aren't you a Republican? A: I get asked this a lot, and it really shows how focused our country is on partisan politics. I am a voter, first and foremost. That being said, yes, I am a Republican and have been since being sent to Republican Indoctrination Camp at age 2. That's where we are taught supply-side economics and the values of mutually assured destruction. :-) continued..... The money quote: " What I found truly shocked me, and made me physically ill. That's what is documented on the other page. It IS that bad. I personally don't have conclusive evidence that voter fraud was perpetrated, but I can tell you as an Information Security professional that it would have been very, very easy to do. If I had to choose between someone conspiring with exit poll workers nationwide or someone changing values in an Access Database as the cause of the difference between the poll numbers and the "actual" results, I'll go with the easier, more effective option every time. Why choose the hard way when it's more trouble and you're less likely to succeed? Again, I'm staying clear of making specific allegations - I'll leave that to the activists who are gathering data - but I would be much more surprised if the election weren't hacked than to find out that it was. "

UC Berkely: Florida electronic voting favored Bush

In visual form, with the summary of the findings at: -- JULES SIEGEL Apdo. 1764 77501-Cancun Q. Roo Mexico http://www.cafecancun.com/portfolio Newsroom-l, news and issues for journalists http://www.newsroom-l.net/blog

Backward, Christian soldiers.

This article should clarify exactly who and what the real threat to democracy is. It should also make clear, for those who care about America, where and against who they should be combining their efforts to push back. The mess George W. Bush has made of the economy, privacy laws, wars, ecology.....on every yardstick one can think of , is just a small taste of what's to come should they succeed in turning America into a theocracy.And have no doubts about it. That is what they intent is, and so far they have been overwhelmingly successful. Gary Williams http://mycos.blogspot.com/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Backward, Christian Soldiers By ROBYN E. BLUMNER, Times Perspective Columnist Published November 14, 2004 excerpt: "What we are experiencing is the rise of Dominion Theology. This ideology says Christians must begin to take over all secular institutions of government, reclaiming them for Jesus Christ. It is seen as a readying for the Second Coming. See www.theocracywatch.org for more information. "Our aim is to gain dominion over society," Pat Robertson told a gathering in 1984. He later described how this would be accomplished: By gaining a working control of the Republican Party.And they've succeeded.In 2004, 41 out of 51 Republican senators were given 100 percent ratings by the Christian Coalition for their votes on behalf of fundamentalist issues. Meanwhile, 31 out of 48 Democrats scored zero. Similar splits can be found in the House, where Minority Leader Tom DeLay expressly uses dominionist language. During a "Worldview Weekend" conference in 2002, he said: "(God) is using me, all the time, everywhere, to stand up for a biblical worldview in everything that I do." continued........ --