AntiWar.com
Tuesday: 10 Iraqis Killed, 4 Wounded
Light violence left at least 10 Iraqis dead and four wounded today. More casualties were reported in an attack in Duluiya. Two U.S. soldiers were killed in a vehicular accident aw well. Also, British authorities opened an inquiry into allegations that British troops tortured and killed Iraqi civilians. Meanwhile, the two largest Iraqi parties are both claiming to lead in vote counts.
by Margaret Griffis
9 Mar 2010 at 1:35pm
Fiction of Marjah as City Was US Misinformation
For weeks, the U.S. public followed the biggest offensive of the Afghanistan
War against what it was told was a "city of 80,000 people" as well
as the logistical hub of the Taliban in that part of Helmand. That idea was
a central element in the overall impression built [...]
by Gareth Porter
9 Mar 2010 at 12:00am
Liz Cheney Wants to Keep America Safe
Kelley Vlahos on Dick 2.0
by Kelley B. Vlahos
9 Mar 2010 at 12:00am
Israel?s OECD Bid Poses Problems for Members
An exclusive club of the world’s most developed countries is poised to admit
Israel as a member even though, a confidential internal document indicates,
doing so will amount to endorsing Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian
and Syrian territories.
Israel has been told that its accession to the Organization for Economic [...]
by Jonathan Cook
9 Mar 2010 at 12:00am
ACLU Ad Challenges Military Commissions
Civil libertarians hit back hard Sunday at reports indicating that the Barack
Obama administration is about to cave in to pressure from Congress and local
groups in New York City and is not only considering transferring the cases
of suspected terrorists to another federal court, but even moving them [...]
by William Fisher
9 Mar 2010 at 12:00am
Monday: 6 Iraqis Wounded
After yesterday's spasm of violence, Iraq was unusually quiet. Only six people were wounded in overnight violence.
by Margaret Griffis
8 Mar 2010 at 2:04pm
The Trial of Azzam the American
Author?s note: It now looks like the subject of this column,
the “top al-Qaeda commander” arrested in Pakistan, is
not Adam Gadahn: CBS News is reporting
that the original story was “false.” Instead, the man arrested has been tentatively
identified as Abu Yahya Mujahdeen al-Adam ? also [...]
by Justin Raimondo
8 Mar 2010 at 12:00am
Mullen Wary of Israeli Attack on Iran
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, came home with sweaty
palms from his mid-February visit to Israel. He has been worrying aloud that
Israel will mousetrap the U.S. into war with Iran.
This is of particular concern because Mullen has had considerable experience
in putting the [...]
by Ray McGovern
8 Mar 2010 at 12:00am
Sunday: 55 Iraqis Killed, 157 Wounded
Updated at 9:46 p.m. EST, March 7, 2010
As predicted Iraq suffered a barrage attacks during the election day, particularly in Baghdad where scores of blasts were heard across the city. At least 54 Iraqis were killed and 140 more were wounded. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates claimed he saw very little election-related violence, but the reports coming from Iraq itself indicate otherwise. Meanwhile, U.S. President Obama congratulated Iraqis on their national vote.
by Margaret Griffis
7 Mar 2010 at 11:51am
Saturday: 4 Iraqis, 4 Iranians Killed; 20 Iraqis, 34 Iranians Wounded
Only two successful attacks were reported on election eve; however, one was not only significant, it also harmed pilgrims visiting from Iran. At least three Iraqis and four Iranians were killed. Another 17 Iraqis and 37 Iranians were wounded. Meanwhile, the Speaker of Parliament, Ayad al-Samarrai, warned of years of conflict if the new government is not seen as just and does not work to solve discrimination.
by Margaret Griffis
6 Mar 2010 at 12:16pm
Huffington Post
Drudge Report Embargo: Congress Urges Staffers Not To View Website, Says Coul...
A Senate committee has taken steps to black list the Drudge Report on Capitol Hill computers over concerns that the site may be "responsible for the many viruses popping up" recently.
Late Monday night, the Senate's Committee on Environment and Public Works sent out a letter urging employees to steer clear of the highly-trafficked news aggregating Web site as well as whitepages.org after a wave of virus attacks.
"Please avoid using these sites until the Senate resolves this issue," a committee e-mail read. "The Senate has been swamped the last couples (sic) days with this issue."
A spoke...
by Nick Wing
9 Mar 2010 at 5:00pm
Paul Loeb: How the Democrats Can Reclaim the Youth Vote
If the Democrats don't get the youth vote, they're toast. That happened in Virginia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, where young Obama voters stayed home in droves. It's an ugly conceivable future portended by a new Harvard poll that shows 41 percent of young Republicans planning on voting in November, compared to 35 percent of young Democrats and 13 percent of independents. A recent Pew poll showed a similarly disturbing pattern: Young voters still prefer the Democrats, but their margin is slipping and their enthusiasm level is worse.
Some reasons and some solutions:
The Democrats need...
by Paul Loeb
9 Mar 2010 at 4:55pm
Eliza Manningham-Buller: Former MI5 Head Says U.S. Lied To Allies About Torture
"The Americans were very keen that people like us did not discover what they were doing," Manningham-Buller told a meeting at Britain's Parliament.
Britain's spy agencies have come under heavy criticism for their alleged collusion in the torture overseas of terrorist suspects, including detainees held in U.S. custody.
In a recent court ruling, one of Britain's most senior judges questioned MI5's record on human rights and claimed the agency may have misled Parliament and the courts about how much it knew about mistreatment.
Manningham-Buller said that in 2002 or 2003 she questioned how t...
by Jeff Muskus
9 Mar 2010 at 4:50pm
Still Surging: Public Option Picks Up Three More Backers
Three more Democratic senators said on Tuesday that they would either support the public option in a Senate floor vote or were heavily leaning that way.
Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) told HuffPost that if the public insurance option comes up for a vote under reconciliation, he will vote for it it. "I would support it, yes," he said.
That puts the number of publicly committed supporters at 38 and the number of likely supporters well into the forties. With a push from the White House, the public option is now within striking distance.
Two of those likely supporters are Sens. Byron Dorgan ...
by Ryan Grim
9 Mar 2010 at 4:44pm
Gabriel London: Eric Massa's Revenge becomes Fox News's Latest Attack: Not Si...
There is nothing 'silly and ridiculous' about Eric Massa's flameout departure from Congress. All the White House needs is Ramin Hedayati, the Daily Show's famous Fox-News watcher, to know that Eric Massa is as serious as a case of flesh-eating clap.
It's foolish to be so dismissive of a man who just added a ton of proverbial coal to the conspiracy spewing powerplant that is Fox News. He's got the full hour on Beck tonight and Hannity repeatedly replayed a Massa radio interview - full of conspiracies and accusations so base only a deviant mind could have thought them - on yesterday's show. ...
by Gabriel London
9 Mar 2010 at 4:20pm
Bill Sweetland: Education in Chicago: Mr. Secretary: Quo Vadis?
In 1959, Jacques Barzun, the most perceptive 20th-century observer of American schooling, declared in The House of Intellect that to change any part of our pedagogy, "more will than we have ever used about 'education' is needed to make the least of our hopes into a deed."
Why is it so difficult to change the smallest feature of our schools? Because, in Barzun's words,
The schools are as fully the product of our politics, business, and public opinion as these are the products of our schools. It is because the link is so close that the schools are so hard to change.The virtual identity ...
by Bill Sweetland
9 Mar 2010 at 4:18pm
Richard (RJ) Eskow: Bernanke Pulls a Kanye On CFPA, Then Gets Sideswiped
Almost everyone knows that to "pull a Kanye" means to steal the limelight when it rightfully belongs elsewhere. With Sen. Dodd's suggestion that the Consumer Financial Protection Agency be housed in the Federal Reserve, it looked as if Ben Bernanke had successfully "pulled a Kanye" on an independent CFPA. But before Bernanke had time to say "Imma let you finish" to Elizabeth Warren, the Fed Chair was sideswiped by a group of Senators who want to strip away his authority over any but the largest banks.
Now we've got a real mess on our hands. If the CFPA is housed in the Fed, but the Fed ...
by Richard (RJ) Eskow
9 Mar 2010 at 4:05pm
Thomas W. Carroll: What Would Diane Do?
Diane Ravitch is an inspired writer, one of the few education analysts with a historical perspective, and a professional skeptic and contrarian. These admirable traits are in short supply these days but in full display in her new book The Death and Life of the Great American School System.
The basic story line is predictable for anyone who has been reading Ravitch in recent years. After earlier embracing school choice, accountability, and testing, Ravitch has had a late-life conversion and now expresses views on these issues that largely line up with the American Federation of Teachers p...
by Thomas W. Carroll
9 Mar 2010 at 4:01pm
Andrew Young To Prison: Former John Edwards Aide And Wife Ordered To Jail Ove...
Former John Edwards aide Andrew Young and his wife Cheri were ordered to spend up to 75 days in jail today over their handling of a purported sex tape allegedly made by the one-time presidential candidate and his mistress, according to ABC affiliate WTVD
by Lila Shapiro
9 Mar 2010 at 3:55pm
Brian Keeler: NYS Senate: A story of Fallen Leadership and Vision
A quick glance into the history books about New York State reveals how far our government in Albany has fallen.
Our state government, which once had the vision to build the Erie Canal, set aside the Adirondack Park as "forever wild," and connect our far-flung state by constructing the Thruway, has fallen into such a funk of dysfunctional paralysis that it can no long perform even the most basic tasks of government.
How far have we fallen? This past summer, during the Senate "coup," the legislative process was reduced to, "Gavel in... Gavel out," where nothing was accomplished while the ...
by Brian Keeler
9 Mar 2010 at 3:54pm
MSNBC: Politics
Massa says 'groping' of male aide wasn't sexual
A New York congressman who resigned under an ethics cloud has been under investigation for allegedly groping multiple male aides, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.
9 Mar 2010 at 5:16pm
Conservatives trade barbs over detainee lawyers
An organization co-founded by the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney is under fire from prominent conservative lawyers who say a new Web ad unfairly questions the motives of Justice Department lawyers who previously represented suspected terrorists.
9 Mar 2010 at 12:13pm
Jobless aid measure clears Senate hurdle Legislation to give additional months of unemployment benefits to people who have been out of a job for more than half a year cleared a key hurdle Tuesday that guarantees it will soon pass the Senate.
9 Mar 2010 at 4:37pm
Fact-checking Stupak on abortion If health care passes, will the federal government directly subsidize abortion coverage? First Read reads the fine print.
9 Mar 2010 at 3:08pm
Dem Lincoln opposes fast-track health bill
A moderate Democrat insisted Tuesday she remained opposed to pushing a health care bill through the Senate with a simple majority vote, despite saying she wanted to see what was in the legislation.
9 Mar 2010 at 3:11pm
Newsweek: Brown only Democratic nominee in Calif. race? In one of the nation's bluest states, why is Jerry Brown the only Democrat running for governor?
9 Mar 2010 at 1:35pm
Woes at family bank loom over Ill. Senate race With the public still furious over bank bailouts, Democrats desperate to keep President Barack Obama's old Senate seat are scrambling to counter revelations that a bank owned by their candidate's family may be nearing collapse.
9 Mar 2010 at 12:55pm
Massa details 'salty' talk, slams Dem leaders
Rep. Eric Massa, D-N.Y., admitted that he made a sexually-charged comment to an aide but implied that Democratic leaders used the investigation to pressure him to resign before the House holds a close vote on health care legislation that Massa has opposed.
8 Mar 2010 at 5:21pm
Calif state senator says he's gay after DUI arrest
Republican state Sen. Roy Ashburn said Monday he is gay, ending days of speculation that began after his arrest last week for investigation of driving under the influence.
8 Mar 2010 at 6:21pm
Bankers winning financial reform battle As Congress inches toward a new set of rules to avert another global financial collapse, the score so far looks like Bankers 1, Consumers 0.
9 Mar 2010 at 9:42am
About -> Liberal Politics
House Health Care Vote Hinges on Trust (or Fear) of Obama
If House Democrats had the requisite votes to pass the Senate health care reform bill, Speaker Pelosi would be calling for a vote today. This very hour, if possible.
But Democrats don't have the votes right now, which is why President Obama is hitting the road this week, railing for voters to force their Congressmen to support his health care reform proposal. And tempting Americans with his inviting list of First Year Changes Under Obama's Health Care Reform Bill.
And which is why Speaker Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer are mercilessly pressuring reluctant House Democrats to ...
8 Mar 2010 at 2:04pm
Obama Urges Passage of "My Proposal" for Health Care Reform Speaking to a roomful of health professionals yesterday, President Obama finally... FINALLY!... expressed specific support for what he termed "my proposal" for health care reform.
Per President Obama, his proposal incorporates ideas from both Democratic and Republican legislators, and "gives Americans more control over their health insurance and their health care by holding insurance companies more accountable." Railed the President: "I don't believe we should give government bureaucrats or insurance company bureaucrats more control over health care in America...
"I don't believe we ca...
4 Mar 2010 at 8:50am
Obama Team Causes Democratic Chaos in 2010 Senate Races For Democrats lately, the 2010 Senate election races feel more like a flailing game of musical chairs than thoughtfully plotted strategy by DNC Chair Tim Kaine and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to hold control of the U.S. Senate for another two years.
Democratic chaos in the 2010 Senate election season is another indicator of how unintelligently and uncollegially the Obama team, most notably Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, a former House leader, works with the U.S. Senate. (See 2010 U.S. Senate Races - Who's Winning, Who's Not.)
New York: The Disappearing Ford Campaign
Take the New York...
2 Mar 2010 at 9:44am
Obama Health Care Summit: Saturday Night Live Fodder The best I can say about President Obama's bipartisan health care summit is that it yielded interesting moments of clarity, particularly about Obama's views. And that it should prove to be rich fodder for Saturday Night Live.
Encouragingly, some Congressional attendees, both Democratic and Republican, were thoughtful and engaged, but others used their C-SPAN podium for cynical political hackery... of course. (Do you even listen to yourself, John Boehner?)
Fortified by strong black coffee and my new BlackBerry Bold, I half-watched all 6 hours, 11 minutes of what looked like a hotel-site ...
26 Feb 2010 at 9:24am
Three Reasons to Not Take Obama's Health Plan Seriously (Yet) President Obama's newly released, long awaited health care reform package is not to be taken seriously. At least not yet, for three rational reasons:
Reason #1 - No one has any objective idea as to what the President's plan actually costs because the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office hasn't reviewed or scored it... confusion that was exemplified yesterday when MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan quibbled on-air with Ezra Klein of the Washington Post over the real price tag.
Ratigan quoted a Republican talking point of $1.07 trillion; Klein unquestioningly parroted the White House line of $950 b...
23 Feb 2010 at 1:02pm
Cancel Obama's Hyper-Political Health Summit: Pass Bill by Reconciliation The fate of health care reform legislation remains an enigma, fully 13 months after President Obama took office and kicked-off the debate.
The fault lies squarely on President Obama for his lack of imaginative, firmly flexible leadership on the issue despite holding historic Democratic majorities in Congress.
Frankly, his oddly conflicted actions about health care have left most wondering what, behind closed doors, he genuinely desires to accomplish...
In particular, the Obama administration's wishy-washy stance on a public option apparently depends on whom he is addressing. The Presi...
21 Feb 2010 at 12:42pm
Senate Democratic Prospects Are Dismal in 2010 Fellow liberals, I've been studying the latest on the Senate 2010 races, and let's face it: the prospects are dismal for Democrats.
By my count, eight Senate seats (eight!) may quite possibly change political parties, none going our way. Two, in Missouri and New Hampshire, could possibly swing from Republican to Democratic, but the odds are long.
As far as centrist Evan Bayh's last-minute "damn-the-Democrats" announcement that he won't seek a third term, I say "Don't let the door hit you on the way out!"
Bayh's whiny "It's no fun for me anymore" decision came just one day before red-s...
16 Feb 2010 at 11:07am
"Race to the Top" Mandates Radical Education Reform Agenda If more Americans, both liberal and conservative, understood the direction that President Obama is already taking reform of K-12 education, the uproar would far exceed that for health care reform. As if Americans aren't already unhappy with federal government misdirection and intrusion...
The Obama administration's "Race to the Top" initiative is the first shot fired by the administration in reforming public K-12 schools across the nation... and a gargantuan shot it is, with $4.35 billion in initial funds allocated from the 2009 stimulus package.
"Race to the Top" was recently described ...
11 Feb 2010 at 8:01am
RIP John Murtha, Grand American Patriot and Great Democrat I'm terribly saddened to report that Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) passed away today from complications after surgery.
Congressman Murtha is a hero for courageously and forcefully speaking out in 2005 against the Iraq War, then a very unpopular move, especially for decorated, 37-year Marine veteran and longtime war hawk.
Mr. Murtha was a Vietnam War combat veteran who was awarded two purple hearts, a bronze star, the Navy Distinguished Service Award, and an American Spirit Honor Medal.
When I named Mr. Murtha one of Five Liberals Who Made a Difference in 2005, I wrote: "Almost immediate...
8 Feb 2010 at 9:44am
Two Supreme Court Justices May Retire in 2010 The best political news in the last few weeks for liberals... other than President Obama (finally!) smacking down snarky Congressional Republicans last Friday... is the ABC News report today that "Lawyers for President Obama have been working behind the scenes to prepare for the possibility of one, and maybe two Supreme Court vacancies this spring." Per ABC News: "Court watchers believe two of the more liberal members of the court, justices John Paul Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, could decide to step aside for reasons of age and health. That would give the president his second and third...
4 Feb 2010 at 9:15am
Yahoo News Search : Gay News
Gay Rights Supporters Meet At UVA (NBC 29 Charlottesville)
Gay rights supporters are meeting at UVA Tuesday night to protest proposed Virginia legislation.
9 Mar 2010 at 3:46pm
US anti-gay rights senator comes out (BBC News)
Roy Ashburn, a state senator who has voted against gay rights during his 14 years in office, confesses he is gay.
8 Mar 2010 at 5:47pm
Gay rights groups want to meet Abbott (Sydney Morning Herald)
Gay rights advocates have written to Tony Abbott asking the opposition leader to meet with them.
9 Mar 2010 at 3:21am
Gay rights groups want to meet Abbott (Daily Telegraph)
GAY rights advocates have written to Tony Abbott asking the opposition leader to meet with them.
9 Mar 2010 at 2:38am
California state senator who opposed gay rights announces he is homosexual (D...
Roy Ashburn, a California state senator who has staunchly opposed gay rights has announced that he is homosexual.
9 Mar 2010 at 4:14am
Gay rights critic says he's gay (Toronto Star)
A California state senator who has staunchly opposed homosexual rights now says he is gay, ending days of speculation that began after his arrest last week for investigation of driving under the influence.
9 Mar 2010 at 4:08am
I'm gay, anti-gay rights politician confesses (The Age)
A California senator who has staunchly opposed homosexual rights now says he is gay, ending days of speculation that began after his arrest last week for investigation of driving under the influence.
8 Mar 2010 at 3:13pm
Anti-Gay Rights Calif. Lawmaker Comes Out (CBS 2 Los Angeles)
A state senator with a record of voting against gay rights has now come out saying he is homosexual, CBS station KOVR-TV reports. Less than a week after being arrested for allegedly driving drunk after leaving a gay nightclub in midtown Sacramento, Senator Roy Ashburn has confirmed he is gay.
8 Mar 2010 at 12:27pm
Anti-gay rights senator says he's gay (Appeal-Democrat)
SACRAMENTO ? Republican state Sen. Roy Ashburn said Monday he is gay, ending days of speculation that began after his arrest last week for investigation of driving under the influence. Ashburn, who consistently voted against gay rights measures...
8 Mar 2010 at 1:37pm
Gay-rights groups assail Cuccinelli?s opinion (Danville Register & Bee)
Virginia?s governor needs to change the law that he and the attorney general say keeps the state from banning discrimination against gays and lesbians, a gay-rights group says.
8 Mar 2010 at 9:22am
Yahoo News Search: Death Panels
Rep. Anthony Weiner: Sarah Palin's trip to Canada (The Huffington Post)
Socialist. Death panels. Downright evil. Those are just some of the talking points Sarah Palin uses to describe the Democrat's health care plan. Well, I...
9 Mar 2010 at 5:45pm
Lessons of a $618,616 death (MSN Money)
Two years after her husband's death and almost 10 years after his cancer diagnosis, a woman examines the wrenching emotional and financial costs of keeping him alive.
8 Mar 2010 at 4:07pm
Chanel does climate change, with real icebergs (AP via Yahoo! News)
Models in head-to-toe yeti suits picked their way around towering but quickly melting icebergs, sloshing through a deep puddle of Arctic melt in their shaggy fake fur.
9 Mar 2010 at 3:37pm
Alcatraz to install solar panels with stimulus cash (Poughkeepsie Journal)
SAN JOSE, Calif. ? The Rock is going solar.
7 Mar 2010 at 2:14am
Alcatraz to go solar (San Jose Mercury News)
'The Rock' will get more than 1,300 solar panels under new funding released Friday by the National Park Service. Document: Projects funded by stimulus money More green: Energy | Living
8 Mar 2010 at 1:25am
Immense canvases complete at St. Joseph (The Bismarck Tribune)
Mural artist Craig Gallagher was still applying tiny finishing details to the face of Christ on Tuesday.
9 Mar 2010 at 5:35pm
Colorado Editorial Roundup (CBS4 Denver)
A sampling of recent editorials from Colorado newspapers: NATIONAL: Montrose Daily Press, March 7, on health care:
9 Mar 2010 at 4:06pm
Thoughtful drama in Silk Road's ' DNA ' (Chicago Sun-Times)
Hedy Weiss: "The DNA Trail" is comprised of seven short playscommissioned from as many different playwrights (each of whom was askedto take a genealogical DNA test, which suggests how living individualscompare to historic populations, rather than providing medicalinformation), is, as advertised, "a genealogy about ancestry, identityand utter confusion."
9 Mar 2010 at 5:29am
Suicide car bomber destroys offices (The Herald)
A suicide car bomber destroyed offices used to interrogate suspected militants in Lahore yesterday, killing up to 13 people in the latest attack on Pakistan?s cultural capital.
9 Mar 2010 at 5:30pm
Quality makes judging difficult (The Press)
A traditional English garden, a floral lighthouse and a student-designed courtyard were among the winners at the Ellerslie International Flower Show in Christchurch yesterday.
9 Mar 2010 at 10:12am