BBC NEWS | Middle East | War draws condemnation: "Russian President Vladimir Putin said the US-led military action was completely unjustified"

So Torture Is Legal? (washingtonpost.com)

Iraq on the Record Handy link to see who said what when about Saddam and al Quaeda.

Patriot Act Provision Invoked, Memo Says (washingtonpost.com): "The FBI asked the Justice Department last fall to seek permission from a secret federal court to use the most controversial provision of the USA Patriot Act, four weeks after Attorney General John D. Ashcroft said that part of the law had never been used, according to government documents disclosed this week."

Infoshop News - New York Times calls for Bush regime apology: "There are two unpleasant alternatives: either Mr. Bush knew he was not telling the truth, or he has a capacity for politically motivated self-deception that is terrifying in the post-9/11 world."

A Contractor Calls In the Big Guns (washingtonpost.com): "In the section of his report that is supposed to disclose gifts of more than $285, House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) pointed readers to attached correspondence concerning his wedding gifts. Blunt married Abigail Perlman, a lobbyist for Altria Corp., the parent company of Philip Morris, in October.

On Sept. 15, Blunt wrote to Rep. Joel Hefley (R-Colo.), chairman of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, and noted his impending marriage. 'I anticipate receiving wedding gifts in connection with this event and I would like to request a waiver of the limitations of the gift rule to allow me to accept gifts in connection with my wedding,' he wrote."

The waiver, and a subsequent request to waive reporting of the gifts, was granted.

FT.com / US elections: "We are all career public servants,' explained William Harrop, former ambassador to Israel and several African countries who helped organize the initiative. 'Most of us are not comfortable about going partisan in a domestic arena. But we feel strongly that this must be stopped and the administration must be changed."

Iraq Letter As members of university faculties in law, international relations, diplomacy, and public policy, we write to register our objection to the systematic violation of human rights practiced or permitted by authorities of the United States within occupied Iraq during recent months: we request Congressional action to ensure accountability for such violations and to safeguard against such egregious abuses in the future. Current circumstances require that all transcend partisan politics or considerations. Action by Congress is necessary to promote a rule of law produced and enforced through a democratic process and to protect the physical and psychological integrity of all people consistent with the traditions of our nation.

Wired 12.06: VIEW: "The Bush administration has systematically manipulated scientific inquiry into climate change, forest management, lead and mercury contamination, and a host of other issues."

Subtle Messages at Clinton Lovefest (washingtonpost.com): "How many Bush administration officials it takes to change a light bulb? Seven.
One to deny that a light bulb needs to be replaced.
One to attack and question the patriotism of anyone who has questions about the light bulb.
One to blame the previous administration for the need of a new light bulb.
One to arrange the invasion of a country rumored to have a secret stockpile of light bulbs.
One to get together with Vice President Cheney and figure out how to pay Halliburton one million dollars for a light bulb.
One to arrange a photo-op session showing Bush changing the light bulb while dressed in a flight suit and wrapped in an American flag.
And finally, one to explain to Bush the difference between screwing a light bulb and screwing the country. "

Welcome to DMCC web site - Diplomats & Military Commanders for Change Official web site An unprecedented bipartisan coalition of 27 career chiefs of mission and retired four-star military leaders will launch a nationwide campaign to press for the need for change in U.S. foreign and defense policy because they are deeply concerned by the damage the Bush Administration has caused to our national and international interests.

The Unofficial Paul Krugman Web Page: "No question: John Ashcroft is the worst attorney general in history"

GOP Refusing to Allow Testimony on Halliburton Spending

The New York Times>The Public Editor :
"By reading every bylined A-section news story published in December 2003, Williams determined that 40 percent of the articles invoked at least one anonymous source, that the average day's paper brought 36 such sources into the reader's home and that more than half of these people were identified, at least in part, as 'officials.'
...The Times promulgated a revised policy on the use of anonymous sources in February...As it happens, the most important part of the new policy involves something that cannot be checked independently....[In April, the numbers] show a slightly greater rate of anonymous quotation than his December study."

Yahoo! News - Malpractice Debate Takes Ugly Turn
: "It all adds to 'an alarming trend in a kind of vigilante-style behavior for what appears to be an extremist group of doctors ... looking to punish innocent patients and their attorneys who help them exercise their constitutional rights.' "

Yahoo! News - Study: Sea Protection Costs Less Than Fish Subsidies: "Nearly 75 per cent of fisheries are categorized as overfished or fished to the limit. Some, like the once teeming cod fishery off the east coast of Canada, have completely collapsed and may never recover. WWF said marine habitat loss now equals or exceeds that of rain forests, with 60 per cent of coral reefs expected to be lost by 2030 if present rates of decline continue."

CounterPunch: America's Best Political Newsletter: "Never mind the moral obtuseness of opposing an armchair-psychopath like Bush with arguments in favor of a man who did his own killing, there's a weird market niche out there to be reached."

U.S. PIRG Consumers Pay at the Pump for Outdated Gas Mileage Policies: The Bush Administration Fails to Reduce America's Oil Dependence

Bush's USDA: Frozen Fries Are 'Fresh' Veggies

DeLay to Be Subject of Ethics Complaint (washingtonpost.com): "A DeLay ally, Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.), said Republicans 'are going to have to respond in kind' by filing ethics charges against key Democrats. From now on, he said in an interview, it's a matter of 'you kill my dog, I'll kill your cat.' Doolittle said he plans to file ethics charges against a prominent Democrat but would not name the target. "

The Daytona Beach News-JournalAnother Reagan legacy: all the '82 air traffic controllers are reaching retirement age, so we get a whole new round of ATCs with abbreviated training.

Committee on Government Reform Minority Office: "Many questions have been raised about the Iraq contracting process, including questions on the seemingly inflated prices charged by Halliburton"

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Weekend feature: American homeland security: "Deport? Me? 'Why?' I asked, incredulously.

'You came here as a journalist, and you don't have a journalist's visa.' I had never heard of it. He swiftly produced the visa waiver (I-94W) I had signed on the plane, and pointed to what it said in tiny print: in addition to not being a drug smuggler, a Nazi or any other sort of criminal, I had inadvertently declared that I was not entering the US as a representative of foreign media."

Yahoo! News - Fla. Voting Machines Have Recount Flaw

Group Seeks Change In Security Policy (washingtonpost.com): "Angered by President Bush's conduct of foreign policy and dismayed about America's diminished reputation abroad, more than two dozen former top diplomats and military leaders will release a statement this week calling for a change in U.S. national security policy. "