News and Current Events FOCUS | Bush Staff Wanted Bomb-Detect Cash Moved
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081206Y.shtml
While the British terror suspects were hatching their plot, the Bush administration was quietly seeking permission to divert $6 million that was supposed to be spent this year developing new explosives detection technology. A series of similar moves has left lawmakers and some of the Homeland Security Department's own experts questioning the administration's commitment to create better anti-terror technologies.

Muslim Leaders Say Foreign Policy Makes UK Target
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081206E.shtml
Leading UK Muslims have united to tell Tony Blair that his foreign policy in Iraq and on Israel offers "ammunition to extremists" and puts British lives "at increased risk." An open letter signed by three of the four Muslim MPs, three of the four peers, and 38 organisations including the Muslim Council of Britain and the Muslim Association of Britain, was greeted with dismay in Downing Street.

FOCUS | Ashcroft Profiting as National Security Lobbyist
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081206X.shtml
Former US attorney general John D. Ashcroft has emerged as the highest-ranking former Bush administration official to lobby for and invest in companies involved in homeland security. Privacy experts and civil libertarians warn that these types of businesses are fast becoming a de facto branch of the government, beyond traditional oversight.

Greenland's Melting Ice Sheet May Speed Rise in Sea Level
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081206G.shtml
Two new scientific studies measuring Greenland's rapidly melting ice sheet and the pace of Antarctic snowfall suggest that the sea level may be rising faster than researchers previously assumed. The Greenland ice sheet, Earth's second-largest reservoir of fresh water, is melting at three times the rate at which it had been melting over the previous five years.

State Department Predicts Beginning of the End for Cuban Regime
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081206H.shtml
A top State Department official said Friday that Castro's decision to temporarily hand over power to his brother signals "the beginning of political change in Cuba." Shannon's words were the most expansive US government comments on Cuba since the news of Castro's health crisis broke more than a week ago.

UN Lebanon Force Could Start Deploying in 7-10 Days
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081206A.shtml
The United Nations expects Israel's ground offensive to wind down within 48 hours and an expanded international force to begin deploying in southern Lebanon in a week to 10 days, the UN's envoy said on Saturday.

Three US Soldiers Die in Afghanistan
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081206B.shtml
Three US soldiers were killed and three wounded in a firefight in northeastern Afghanistan. US forces in recent weeks have been pushing to their northernmost points along the mountainous Afghan-Pakistan border, including Nuristan, opening military bases in one of the wildest regions in the country.

Pacific "Dead Zone" Worse Than Thought
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081206C.shtml
The oxygen-starved "dead zone" along the Pacific Coast that is causing massive crab and fish die-offs is worse than initially thought. Weather, not pollution, appears to be the culprit, scientists said, and no relief is in sight. Strong upwelling winds have pushed a low-oxygen pool of deep water toward shore, suffocating marine life.

FOCUS | Cindy Sheehan Hospitalized in Crawford
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081206Z.shtml
Peace activist Cindy Sheehan has been taken to a hospital in Waco Texas. Sheehan who has been on a liquids-only fast for 37 days was suffering from dehydration and exhaustion. Sheehan is in Crawford, again pressuring George W. Bush to meet with her regarding the death of her son Casey Sheehan, a US soldier KIA in Iraq.

NBC's Today, New York Times repeated GOP claim that arrests benefit Republicans in elections, when polling shows Democrats have erased GOP advantage on the issue
NBC's Today and The New York Times reported the GOP assertion that the UK arrests of several suspected terrorists would play to the Republicans' advantage in the midterm elections because the issue of terrorism is a weakness for Democrats, without noting recent polling that shows an erasure in the advantage President Bush and congressional Republicans once held on the issue. Read more

NY Times' Healy, Medina ignored own reporting, uncritically repeated Lieberman's hypocritical attacks on Lamont over foiled UK terror plot
A web-only New York Times article reported that Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman had used the recently foiled British terror plot to attack Connecticut Democratic Senate nominee Ned Lamont without mentioning Lieberman's criticism -- during the same campaign event -- of those who would "make it into a partisan political football," despite the writers of that article noting both statements in a Times weblog entry the previous day. Read more

Defending Rumsfeld, Novak cherry-picked from Sen. Clinton's list of past "rosy picture" statements
In his nationally syndicated column, Robert Novak claimed that Donald Rumsfeld was correct in asserting that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton would have a "dickens of a time" finding examples of Rumsfeld's making "rosy statements" about Iraq. But in making the assertion, Novak limited himself to four examples offered by Clinton of Rumsfeld's testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee. Clinton in fact cited a total of 13 instances, including the following, ignored by Novak, which Rumsfeld made before the House Appropriations Committee: "My impression is that the war was highly successful." Read more

In claiming Iraq war isn't unpopular, Coulter expressed her distrust of current Iraq polling -- after citing 2002 Iraq polling
On CNBC's Kudlow & Company, Ann Coulter objected to host Lawrence Kudlow's assertion that the Iraq war is widely unpopular, claiming: "All objective evidence is that it isn't." Coulter cited the "[v]ast support for the war" shown in polling from "throughout 2002 and before we went in." However, Coulter then dismissed current polling demonstrating the war's unpopularity. Read more

Wash. Post's Weisman: Cheney "utterances are losing their news value"
When asked in an online discussion why Vice President Dick Cheney "saying basically that people who exercised their constitutional right to vote for change (ie: Conn. primary) are helping terrorists" was "not the headline of a story," Washington Post staff writer Jonathan Weisman responded: "The vice president also said the insurgency in Iraq is in its death throes, and that U.S. troops would be greeted as liberators. I'm afraid to say his utterances are losing their news value." Read more

More Clinton-bashing on Glenn Beck
On CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck, radio host Roe Conn said of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, "Is it a surprise to you that [former President] Bill [Clinton] was running out on her all the time?" Read more

In wake of London arrests: Another attempt to terrorize the American people
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/aug2006/terr-a12.shtml

War now, peace later: Israel's doves line up behind war--Part one
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/aug2006/isr1-a12.shtml

Behind India's near-total silence on the Israeli assault on Lebanon
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/aug2006/indi-a12.shtml

Montreal: Thousands protest Israeli war on Lebanon
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/aug2006/mont-a12.shtml

Social inequality in Germany reaches record levels
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/aug2006/germ-a12.shtml

Oliver Stone's World Trade Center: a crude and dishonest work
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/aug2006/wtc-a12.shtml

BREAKING | UN Security Council Votes Peacekeepers Into Lebanon
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081106Y.shtml
The
United Nations' Security Council voted Friday to send a fifteen thousand strong
contingent of peacekeepers and monitors into southern Lebanon in a bid to halt
the ongoing violence. The US voted in favor of the measure, but will not send
troops. Israel has indicated they will accept the resolution.

CIA Gives Libby Overviews of Cheney Briefings
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081106R.shtml
The
CIA says it has provided short summaries of Vice President Dick Cheney's daily
security briefings to defense attorneys for his indicted former chief of staff.
The documents, which were provided in response to a March court order, summarize
a wide range of national security issues that consumed the working day of Cheney
and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who is accused of five counts of perjury,
obstruction and lying to the FBI.

US, France Agree on Middle East
Resolution
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081106S.shtml
France
and the United States reached a deal Friday on a final draft resolution aimed at
ending the month-long conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, and said the UN
Security Council would vote on the text later in the day.

AWOL War
Resister Sergeant to Turn Himself in Today
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081106T.shtml
Ricky
Clousing, a Sergeant in the US Army and a veteran of the Iraq War who has been
AWOL for a year, announced today at the Veterans for Peace convention in Seattle
that he will turn himself in later today at the gates of Fort Lewis and face
whatever punishment the military chooses to impose. Clousing said he did not
apply for conscientious objector status because he is not certain he would
oppose every possible war, such as one fought in self-defense. He said he has
spent the past year trying to figure out how to turn himself in, that the
military has refused to comment on his status and that he is now choosing to
force them to deal with it.

Cities, States Act Alone to Thwart Global
Warming
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/081106EA.shtml
With
Washington lawmakers deadlocked on how best to curb global warming, state and
local officials across the country are adopting ambitious policies and forming
international alliances aimed at reducing greenhouse gases. The initiatives,
which include demands that utilities generate some of their energy using
renewable sources and mandates for a reduction in emissions from motor vehicles,
have emboldened clean-air advocates who hope they will form the basis for
broader national action.

Amazon's Indigenous People Holding Back the "Arc
of Destruction"
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/081106EB.shtml
Across
the so-called "arc of destruction," the logging, ranching and farming operations
that are deforesting the Amazon basin, it is indigenous groups fighting for
their own lives who offer the best resistance. For the Yawanawans this has meant
casting aside traditional objections to allow a woman to become a shaman. Taska
Yawanawa, their young chief, explains how attitudes were changed: "We said no.
The spirit is the spirit, it has no sex, so a woman can be initiated into the
spirit."

Alternative Medicine Goes Mainstream
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/081106HA.shtml
About
a decade ago, doctors began to be trained in what health guru Dr. Andrew Weil
dubbed "integrative medicine," a new kind of doctoring that combines Western
medicine with the best, most evidence-based alternative therapies. Creating such
centers - and making them cost-effective - has proved challenging. Yet today
there are an array of such clinics in Southern California. And the interest is
growing.

Study Finds Immigrants Don't Hurt US Jobs
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/081106LA.shtml
High
levels of immigration in the past 15 years do not appear to have hurt employment
opportunities for American workers, according to a new report. The Pew Hispanic
Center analyzed immigration state-by-state using US Census data, evaluating it
against unemployment levels. No clear correlation between the two could be
found.

"New Middle East" Out of Control
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081106A.shtml
There
is a sense that the growing number of crises in the "new Middle East" - proudly
midwifed by the administration of President George W. Bush - is rapidly spinning
out of control with potentially catastrophic consequences for the entire region
and beyond. The first cracks in Israeli support for the war in Lebanon emerged
Thursday, with leading intellectuals and mainstream politicians criticizing the
government's decision to send more soldiers into Hezbollah
territory.

9/11 Commissioner: Iraq War Hinders Anti-Terrorism
Efforts
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081106B.shtml
Former
9/11 Commissioner Tim Roemer argued that the recent terror plot in Britain
illustrated why we need to direct resources from Iraq to the global terrorist
threat. Roemer said, "It's very important that we don't put all our intelligence
and military resources in Iraq and take our eye off the ball in other places in
the world."

David Swanson | Bush Versus the Constitution
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081106C.shtml
"Last
December, when Congressman John Conyers released a huge report documenting the
evidence that Bush and Cheney had lied us into a war, he also introduced a bill
to start a preliminary investigation of the matter and make recommendations on
impeachment. Last week, Conyers released an expanded report, including new
superfluous evidence of proved crimes related to the war, plus a lengthy Section
2 focused on illegal spying programs. The evidence of blatant criminality and
threat to the Constitution in this new section is devastating. And the crimes
have been confessed to," writes David Swanson.

Eugene Robinson | The War
Bush Isn't Fighting
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081106D.shtml
"When
unsmiling agents at the airport take away your contact lens solution, your
toothpaste, and your cologne or after-shave, remember Osama bin Laden. Remember
the real war on terrorism that the Bush administration and its allies decided
not to fight, preferring cowboy-style military adventures," reminds Eugene
Robinson.

Paul Krugman | Nonsense and Sensibility
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081106F.shtml
"After
Ned Lamont's victory in Connecticut, I saw a number of commentaries describing
Joe Lieberman not just as a 'centrist' - a word that has come to mean 'someone
who makes excuses for the Bush administration' - but as 'sensible.' But on what
planet would Mr. Lieberman be considered sensible?" asks Paul Krugman.

Recipients of "Leaks" May Be Prosecuted, Court Rules
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081106G.shtml
In
a momentous expansion of the government's authority to regulate public
disclosure of national security information, a federal court ruled that even
private citizens who do not hold security clearances can be prosecuted for
unauthorized receipt and disclosure of classified information.

Serge
Truffaut | Metamorphosis: The Changing Face of Terrorism
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081106H.shtml
Serge
Truffaut writes, "The plot foiled by the British bloodhounds confirms that
terrorist networks are constantly readapting their methods to Western security
measures."

Jason Leopold | Documents Show BP Ignored Pipeline Woes for Years
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081106J.shtml
"Hundreds
of pages of documents highlighting BP's nearly decade-long neglect of its
Prudhoe Bay pipelines, its internal safety regulations, and the company's
alleged cover-up of past oil spills that resulted from severely corroded
pipelines are archived on a little known web site maintained by a former oil
industry analyst who also acts as a spokesman for BP whistleblowers," writes
Jason Leopold, "The documents showcase the genesis of a corporate scandal that
parallels the financial machinations that brought down Enron Corp."

Bush
Seeks Political Gains From Plot
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081106K.shtml
Bush
seized on a foiled London airline bomb plot today to hammer unnamed critics he
accused of having forgotten the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Weighed
down by the unpopular war in Iraq, Bush and his aides have tried to shift the
national political debate from that conflict to the broader and more popular
global war on terrorism ahead of the November Congressional
elections.

Israel Asks US to Ship Rockets With Wide Blast
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081106L.shtml
Israel
has been using illegal cluster munitions in populated areas of Lebanon. Human
Rights Watch researchers working on the ground confirmed that an attack with
cluster weapons was carried out on the village of Blida on July 19, killing one
and wounding at least 12 civilians, including seven children.

Mark
LeVine | 101 Uses of Chaos
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081106M.shtml
Mark
LeVine writes, "With George Bush still insisting on the need to fight 'Islamic
fascism' to the bitter end, Labor Party Defense Minister Amir Peretz imploring
Israeli soldiers to turn southern Lebanon 'to dust,' and Iran's Mahmud
Ahmedinejad declaring the need to wipe Israel off the map, the hubris,
arrogance, and utter disdain for human life that has brought the Middle East to
its latest precipice continues to harden the hearts of leaders and peoples
alike. And all will be the losers because of it."

Jeremy Scahill |
Mercenary Jackpot
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081106N.shtml
"While
the Bush administration calls for the immediate disbanding of what it has
labeled 'private' and 'illegal' militias in Lebanon and Iraq, it is pouring
hundreds of millions of dollars into its own global private mercenary army
tasked with protecting US officials and institutions overseas. The secretive
program, which spans at least twenty-seven countries, has been an incredible
jackpot for one heavily Republican-connected firm in particular: Blackwater
USA," writes Jeremy Scahill.

Bush Planning Medicare, Medicaid and Social
Security Cuts
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081106O.shtml
The
Bush administration has begun sounding out lawmakers and other key figures about
mounting a new bipartisan effort to rein in the costs of Medicare, Medicaid and
Social Security after the midterm elections.

Joe Conason | War Critics
Are Mainstream, Not Fringe
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081106P.shtml
"For
the neoconservatives," writes Joe Conason, "the answer to every international
conflict is shock and awe, so long as they remain safely distant from the
carnage. The American people are turning away from that mindless and dangerous
attitude, which is leading us toward disaster. Politicians of both parties
should do likewise."

FOCUS | Marc Ash: Fascists of All Varieties
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081106Z.shtml
Marc
Ash writes: "Since, Mr. Bush, you have chosen to put the issue of fascism before
the public, it begs a broader dialog on fascism's role in our lives today. I
accept the challenge to enter that dialog. Frankly Mr. Bush, many Americans
refer to you as a fascist."

Network
morning shows provided forum for Lieberman's attacks, no forum for
Lamont
During their August 9 coverage of the Connecticut Democratic
Senate primary, the three major broadcast networks' morning news programs
interviewed Sen. Joseph Lieberman but failed to host the winner, Ned Lamont, or
any of his representatives. Additionally, NBC's Today and CBS' The
Early Show aired twice as much footage of Lieberman's statements following
the election as they ran of Lamont's statements. Read
more

ABC News
posted article lamenting Lamont primary victory without identifying author as
Lieberman campaigner
ABC News failed to identify Lanny Davis, the
author of an opinion piece posted on its website supportive of Sen. Joseph I.
Lieberman, as an active campaigner for Lieberman. Read
more

Cal
Thomas: Lamont's victory "completes the capture of the Democratic Party by its
Taliban wing"
In his column, Fox News' Cal Thomas claimed that Ned
Lamont's victory over Sen. Joe Lieberman in the Connecticut Democratic Senate
primary "completes the capture of the Democratic Party by its Taliban wing."
Thomas explained that they are called the "Taliban Democrats because they are
willing to 'kill' one of their own, if he does not conform to the narrow and
rigid agenda of the party's kook fringe." Read
more

Kristol:
Democrats oppose Lieberman because he is "pro-American"; Coulter claimed Lamont
supporters are "anti-American"
William Kristol claimed that Democrats
who oppose Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman do so because Lieberman is "unashamedly
pro-American," while Ann Coulter asserted that those favoring Ned Lamont as
Connecticut's U.S. senatorial candidate are "anti-American." Read
more

Fox's
Gibson on Daily Kos and Michael Moore: "Pol Pots," "Khmer Rouge wing of the
Democratic Party"
In an August 9 "My Word" online column,
Fox News host John Gibson characterized posters on The Daily Kos
weblog and "multi-millionaire propagandist Michael Moore" as the "Pol
Pots of Democratic Party," and as the party's "Khmer
Rouge wing." Citing an August 9 letter
in which Moore advised Democratic politicians who support the Iraq war to change
their position or face "defeat" at the polls, and a purported Daily Kos posting
that "laid out plans" to "slime" Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, get him "kicked off
all committees," and get "all Dems" to support Connecticut Democratic Senate
nominee Ned Lamont, Gibson asserted: "The Khmer Rouge wing of the Democratic
Party is making a bid for a complete takeover." He added: Read
more

Media
uncritically repeated false GOP attacks on Lamont, Democrats
ABC
News' George Stephanopoulos and MSNBC's Chris Matthews, among others, repeated,
without challenge, the false attacks from Tony Snow, Ken Mehlman, and Dick
Cheney that Democrats "purged" Sen. Joe Lieberman from the Democratic Party and
that Ned Lamont's primary victory over Lieberman represents a takeover of the
Democratic Party by the far left. Read
more

Beck
presented segment mocking Egyptian students' names
On his CNN
Headline News program, Glenn Beck aired a segment mocking the names of 11
Egyptian students who went missing on July 29. Read
more

MSNBC's
Carlson called Gore a "religious zealot," after previously labeling him a
"wild-eyed religious nut"
On MSNBC, Tucker Carlson said, "[I]t's fair
to say that Al Gore is a religious zealot." Carlson previously called Gore a
"wild-eyed religious nut" whose "religion is the environment." Read
more

Beck has
a warning for Muslims "who have sat on [their] frickin' hands" and have not
"lin[ed] up to shoot the bad Muslims in the head"
On the August 10
broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio program, Glenn
Beck warned that "[t]he world is on the brink of World War III" and that
"Muslims who have sat on your frickin' hands the whole time and have not been
marching in the streets" will face dire consequences. Beck made his comments
toward Muslims who he claimed "have not been saying, 'Hey, you know what? There
are good Muslims and bad Muslims. We need to be the first ones in the
recruitment office lining up to shoot the bad Muslims in the head.' " He
predicted that the result will be that "[h]uman beings are not strong enough,
unfortunately, to restrain themselves from putting up razor wire and putting you
on one side of it," adding that "when people become hungry, when people see that
their way of life is on the edge of being over, they will put razor wire up and
just based on the way you look or just based on your religion, they will round
you up." He concluded: "Is that wrong? Oh my gosh, it is Nazi, World War II
wrong, but society has proved it time and time again: It will happen." Read
more

Randi
Rhodes tells Larry King to check Media Matters for audio of Boortz's
anti-Muslim remarks -- as Boortz continues making them
On Larry
King Live, Randi Rhodes accused nationally syndicated radio host Neal
Boortz of making slanderous statements against Muslims, and she urged King, his
producers, and viewers to "go to mediamatters.org and look up what Neal Boortz
said." The next day on his radio show, Boortz continued smearing Muslims. Read
more

Despite
GOP attacks, Hotline's Todd claimed that Republicans invoked national security
"in a positive" way in '02 and '04
On Hardball, Chuck Todd,
editor in chief of the National Journal's weblog The Hotline, asserted
that Republicans had invoked the issue of national security "in a positive
[way]" in the 2002 and 2004 elections. In fact, Republicans launched numerous
attacks on Democrats such as former Sen. Max Cleland in 2002 and Sen. John Kerry
in 2004. Read
more

Ignoring
recent CNN poll, Blitzer left uncontested Buchanan's assertion that Americans
won't support timetable for Iraq withdrawal
On CNN's The
Situation Room, Wolf Blitzer failed to challenge Bay Buchanan's assertion
that the public would not back Democrats if they pushed for a timetable for
withdrawing from Iraq. An August 3 CNN poll found that 57 percent of Americans
backed a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. Read
more

Coulter:
Without affirmative action, Rep. Waters couldn't get a job "that didn't involve
wearing a paper hat"
In her August 9 column,
right-wing pundit Ann
Coulter wrote of African-American Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA): Read
more

On CNN
and Fox, Robertson claimed he was "misquoted" about God punishing Sharon for
"dividing God's land"
In appearances on CNN and Fox News, Pat
Robertson claimed that comments he made about a stroke suffered by former
Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon had been "misquoted" and "misrepresented" by
media. But in his remarks about Sharon, Robertson emphasized that, according to
the Bible, "God has enmity against those who, quote, 'divide my land.' " He went
on to say of Sharon, "[H]ere he is at the point of death. He was dividing God's
land, and I would say woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar
course." Read
more

MSNBC's
Olbermann: Media Matters "just loves checking out
footnotes"
During an interview with Media Matters for
America President and CEO David Brock, Keith Olbermann said that "the
complexity [of evolution] is why fake authors with fake ideas can still peddle
their crap" but "[f]ortunately, Media Matters just loves checking out
footnotes." Read
more

AP
reports Lieberman's attack on Lamont over British terror plot, omits Lieberman's
description of such attacks as "unacceptable and un-American"
In an
August 10 article, the Associated Press quoted Sen. Joseph Lieberman's use of
the recently foiled terrorist plot in Britain in his attack on Ned Lamont, but
the article omitted Lieberman's statement that using national security issues
for political purposes is "just unacceptable and in my opinion un-American." Read
more

Britain's airline terror plot: Questions that need to be answered
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/aug2006/lond-a11.shtml

Arab League offers its services to Washington in Lebanon crisis
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/aug2006/arab-a11.shtml

Antiwar
protesters arrested at Scottish airport
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/aug2006/ukpr-a11.shtml

Egypt Says US Losing Credibility in Mideast
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081006R.shtml
Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak said the United States and the West were losing
credibility in the Middle East because they were dragging their feet on a
ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas. In an interview
with the Egyptian magazine October, released on Thursday, Mubarak also said it
would be impossible to implement quickly a UN resolution which requires
Hezbollah to disarm - one of the steps Israel and the United States want to see
in a political settlement of the month-old conflict.

San Diego Press
Telegram | Enron-by-the-Sea
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081006S.shtml
San
Diego's awful audit leaves it looking for ways to pay its pension bills. The
all-but-bankrupt city of San Diego has earned the comparison with such financial
failures as Enron, WorldCom and Orange County, according to Arthur Levitt Jr.,
and he ought to know. He is the former chairman of the Security and Exchange
Commissions and a respected figure in the field of finance.

NOW | Can
Artists Help Fix Our Broken World?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081006T.shtml
NOW's
David Brancaccio sits with award-winning playwright and performer Anna Deavere
Smith to discuss an artist's role and responsibility in a world wracked by war.
This time on NOW.

Environmentalists Burn Ethanol Hype as Empty
Promise
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/081006EA.shtml
Prompted
by climbing gas prices and mandates to promote alternative fuels, Washington is
pouring public money into ethanol production. But watchdogs and
environmentalists fear that corporate and political agendas are eclipsing
environmental concerns in a headlong rush for "green" energy.

Detroit's
Answer to $3-$4 Gas: New Muscle Cars
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/081006EB.shtml
As
gasoline prices surge past $3 a gallon in most of the country and closer to $4
in some cities, sales figures show Americans are snapping up small cars that go
easier on fuel and on their wallets. But none of the smallest cars are designed
or developed by Detroit companies, which in the face of high gas prices are now
highlighting another kind of automobile not usually thought of as energy
efficient: the muscle car.

US Nursing Home Care Found Wanting
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/081006HA.shtml
There
are too many bad US nursing homes and too few good ones. That's the conclusion
of a new report, titled "Nursing Home Quality Monitor," published in the
September issue of Consumer Reports. "We have seen little evidence that the
quality of care has improved much since the first list came out in 2000,"
Charles Bell, programs director for Consumers Union, said at a Monday
teleconference.

Report Says Sugary Drinks Pile on Pounds
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/081006HB.shtml
Americans
have sipped and slurped their way to fatness by drinking far more soda and other
sugary drinks over the last four decades, a new scientific review concludes. An
extra can of soda a day can pile on 15 pounds in a single year, and the "weight
of evidence" strongly suggests that this sort of increased consumption is a key
reason that more people have gained weight, the researchers say.

Wal-Mart
Raises Pay for Some - But Caps It for Others
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/081006LA.shtml
The
world's biggest retailer, Wal-Mart, is to raise starting salaries at nearly a
third of its American stores in an effort to remain "competitive." But critics
attacked the increase as a shield to disguise new wage caps imposed on
longer-term staff.

Labor Federation Forms a Pact With Day Workers
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/081006LB.shtml
The
AFL-CIO and the nation's largest organization of day laborers signed a
partnership agreement yesterday intended to help the languishing labor movement
tap into the potent energy of the immigrant rights movement. The AFL-CIO said
its partnership with the group, the National Day Labor Organizing Network, would
also seek to improve wages and conditions for tens of thousands of laborers and
other immigrant workers.

Sara Rich | The Waiting Game
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/081006WA.shtml
Sara
Rich writes, "It has now been 60 traumatic days since my daughter - who signed
up with the Army as an MP, and after bravely serving one tour in Iraq, chose to
go AWOL rather than engage in the two more tours to Iraq that awaited her - was
forcibly taken from our home in handcuffs. Like many soldiers, she was suffering
from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. What we didn't know, what she couldn't tell
us, is that she was also suffering Military Sexual Trauma."

Bush Proposes Retroactive War Crime Protection
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081006A.shtml
The
Bush administration drafted amendments to the War Crimes Act that would
retroactively protect policymakers from possible criminal charges for
authorizing any humiliating and degrading treatment of detainees, according to
lawyers who have seen the proposal. The move by the administration is the latest
effort to deal with treatment of those taken into custody in the war on
terror.

Missy Comley Beattie | From Tony Snow to Cindy Sheehan: Drink
Gatorade
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081006B.shtml
"'Look
at all the stone people.' This is what one of my children said years ago when we
drove past a military cemetery. Row after row of stone people, standing on
mounds of dirt, covering the flag-draped coffins of real people ... now
numbering 2,822 in this war that is beyond catastrophic. Almost 2,600 of these
are US soldiers." writes Missy Beattie, who speculates that "It is Tony who
requires his liquids."

Lebanese Direct Growing Anger at US
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081006C.shtml
With
his arm raised and fist clenched, Sheikh Hussein furiously expressed a sentiment
rapidly taking hold here. "We know who our first enemy is: America." Hospitals
were running out of food, fuel and other supplies in southern Lebanon. Medecins
Sans Frontieres said that since an Israeli air strike destroyed the last coastal
river crossing for trucks to the south on Monday, aid agencies had been reduced
to carrying supplies by hand over a log across the Litani river.

Anti-War
Challengers Across US Get a Vote of Confidence
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081006D.shtml
In
October 2002, lawmakers in Congress were presented with a pre-election test
about where they stood on Iraq, and most answered it by siding with President
Bush, voting to authorize his use of force against Saddam Hussein and promising
an anxious electorate that they would be protected against a potential threat
from Iraq. Four years later, with nearly 2,600 US soldiers dead and no trace of
the weapons of mass destruction that the White House said Hussein possessed, it
is the Iraq war hawks who are on the defensive.

Security Chief: Airline
Terror Plot "Close to Execution"
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081006E.shtml
Terrorists
were in the final stages of planning to blow up planes heading from the United
Kingdom to the United States, US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff
said Thursday. The plans were "suggestive of an al Qaeda plot."

New York Times | Voter Suppression in Missouri
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081006G.shtml
"Missouri
is the latest front in the Republican Party's campaign to use photo-ID
requirements to suppress voting. Missouri's new ID rules - and similar ones
adopted last year in Indiana and Georgia - are intended to deter voting by
blacks, poor people and other groups that are less likely to have driver's
licenses," writes the New York Times.

British Police Thwart Aircraft Bomb Plot
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081006J.shtml
British
authorities said Thursday they had thwarted a terrorist plot to simultaneously
blow up several aircraft heading to the US using explosives smuggled in carry-on
luggage. British Airways canceled all flights between London's Heathrow airport
and all points in Britain, Europe and Libya for the day.

Israel Set to
Invade Lebanon Despite Lessons of 1982 War
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081006K.shtml
Israel
has approved a major escalation of war by voting to send thousands more troops
deeper into Lebanon in an expanded offensive echoing its invasion nearly a
quarter of a century ago.

Bombing Near Iraq Shrine Leaves 35 Dead
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081006M.shtml
A
suicide bomber blew himself up while being patted down by policemen near the
Imam Ali Mosque, a highly revered Shiite shrine, in the Shiite holy city of
Najaf in southern Iraq Thursday, killing at least 35 people and injuring
122.

Geoffrey Millard | US Peace Delegation and Iraqi Officials Open
Dialogue
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081006N.shtml
Geoffrey
Millard writes, "On the 9th of August, what began as the words to a bad joke ('A
priest, a shrimp boat captain, an ex-diplomat, and an ex-soldier walk into a
room of Iraqis ...') ended as a successful mission of diplomatic communication
that found four of its members continuing on into Lebanon to do humanitarian
work, including being human shields if necessary."

Shimon Peres: "We Are
at War"
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081006O.shtml
Newsweek's
Lally Weymouth interviews Israel's vice prime minister Shimon Peres and finds
that for Peres, victory means keeping Hezbollah away from Lebanon's southern
border.

No-Bid Katrina Contractors Win More FEMA Work
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081006P.shtml
The
four giant construction firms that received controversial no-bid contracts to
house Hurricane Katrina evacuees last September will be earning up to $250
million apiece to do similar work after future disasters, the Federal Emergency
Management Agency said yesterday.

FOCUS | Baghdad Morgue Tallies 1,815 Bodies in July
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081006Z.shtml
Figures
compiled by the city morgue indicated Wednesday that the number of killings in
the Iraqi capital reached a new high last month, and the US military said a new
effort to bring security to Baghdad will succeed only if Iraqis "want it to
work." The Baghdad morgue took in 1,815 bodies during July, according to the
facility's assistant manager, Abdul Razzaq al-Obeidi. The previous month's tally
was 1,595. Obeidi estimated that as many as 90 percent of the total died violent
deaths.

  Is Israel Lying About Using Cluster Bombs?
When asked "Are you using
cluster bombs in Lebanon?" Israeli ambassador
Daniel Ayalon replied on
Sunday: "No, we are not. We are not using
anything which is not approved by
the UN Conventions and Charters."
(Ayalon, along with former House speaker
Newt Gingrich, was questioned
by IPA's Sam Hussseini and reporters from NBC
and CNN outside Fox
studios. Audio and text are at:
<http://dc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/135082/index.php>.)
On
July 24, Human Rights Watch reported that Israel "has used
artillery-fired
cluster munitions in populated areas of Lebanon.
Researchers on the ground
in Lebanon confirmed that a cluster munitions
attack on the village of Blida
on July 19 killed one and wounded at
least 12 civilians, including seven
children. Human Rights Watch
researchers also photographed cluster munitions
in the arsenal of
Israeli artillery teams on the Israel-Lebanon
border."
The group identified the munitions as "M483A1 Dual Purpose
Improved
Conventional Munitions, which are U.S.-produced and -supplied,

artillery-delivered cluster munitions" and added: "Human Rights Watch

believes that the use of cluster munitions in populated areas may

violate the prohibition on indiscriminate attacks contained in

international humanitarian law."
Israeli officials have admitted to
using cluster bombs during the
current conflict. See a New York Times
article of July 27:
<http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/27/africa/web.0727lebanon.php>.
Pictures
of Israeli cluster bomb munitions are at:
<http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/07/24/isrlpa13798.htm>.
LUCY
MAIR, via (212) 216-1295, cell: (646) 288-1685, mairl@hrw.org,
http://hrw.org
    Mair is a researcher in the
Mideast and North Africa division of
Human Rights Watch.
CESAR
CHELALA, (202) 337-2953, (212) 925-7265, cchelala@aol.com,
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0809-29.htm
   
Chelala is an international public health consultant. In a piece
titled
"Cluster Attacks and International Law" published in the Seattle

Post-Intelligencer on Aug. 9, he writes: "What makes those munitions

particularly lethal is that they consist of a container that breaks open

in mid air and disperses smaller sub-munitions. Those weapons are

designed to explode on impact, right before and immediately after

impact, saturating an area with flying shards of steel. These

sub-munitions generally have a higher explosive charge than

anti-personnel land mines."
For more information, contact at the
Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020, (202) 421-6858;
or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167

A week
passes, more promises from Horowitz and Poe, but still no "exhaustive" rebuttal
to Media Matters
David Horowitz and Richard Poe have yet to
issue their promised rebuttal to Media Matters' item documenting
doctored quotes, shoddy scholarship, factual errors, and baseless insinuations
in their book The Shadow Party. Poe has claimed, however, that he and
Horowitz are working on an "effective" rebuttal and vowed that Media
Matters "will regret having asked for it." Read
more

Horowitz:
Democrats are "apologists for terrorists," "leftists now support[]
Hezbollah"
On Hannity & Colmes, David Horowitz claimed
that Democrats are "apologists for terrorists" and that "the [Joe] Lieberman
campaign is the final nail in the coffin of any kind of a centrist Democratic
Party." Horowitz also said that "leftists now support[] Hezbollah." Read
more

Ignoring
his own attack on liberals, O'Reilly accused liberal columnists of "labeling
people" with whom they may disagree as "bigots"
On The O'Reilly
Factor, Bill O'Reilly accused liberal columnists of consistently "labeling
people" with whom they may disagree "bigots." By contrast, O'Reilly claimed, "we
have researched right-wing columnists" and "[w]e didn't come up with anybody on
the right who did" the same. In fact, O'Reilly himself has. Read
more

O'Reilly
used Davis's op-ed to conclude "far left in America is dominated by
haters"
Addressing "anti-Semitic stuff directed at [Sen.] Joe
Lieberman," Bill O'Reilly stated that "the far left in America is dominated by
haters, people who despise their own country," adding that "[t]he smear
merchants are now all over the mainstream media and have spread like lice on the
net." Read
more

Fox's
Hill and Doocy confronted Horowitz with Media Matters
research
On Fox & Friends, E.D. Hill and Steve Doocy
confronted David Horowitz with Media Matters for America's August 2
item exposing the "doctored quotes, shoddy scholarship, factual errors, and
baseless insinuations on matters both small and large" in Horowitz's latest
book, The Shadow Party. Read
more

MSNBC's
Carlson continued Hillary-bashing
MSNBC host Tucker Carlson continued
his recent attacks on Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, stating that the difference
between Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman and Clinton is that "he actually believes
something, and she's just craftier." Read
more

Limbaugh
agrees "Soros is a self-hating Jew," claims "there is so much anti-Semitism in
the Democratic Party"
On his radio show, Rush Limbaugh agreed with a
caller who called George Soros "a self-hating Jew." Limbaugh also proclaimed
that "[t]here is so much anti-Semitism today in the Democratic Party," later
adding: "The seat of this anti-Semitism right now is focused in kooks, like
[anti-war activist Cindy] Sheehan and the blogs and the MoveOn.org people and
Soros." Read
more

News
analysis or GOP "fact sheet"? Mike Allen's Time column stitched
together from Republican talking points
Rehashing a slew of GOP
talking points, Time magazine White House correspondent Mike Allen's
online column on Democratic candidate Ned Lamont's victory over Sen. Joseph I.
Lieberman in the Connecticut Senate primary concluded that Lamont's victory
gives Republicans "a potentially powerful new weapon to use against the
Democrats this fall." Read
more

New
Republic's Peretz: Bill Clinton's appearance "began Lieberman's
decline"
In a post on The New Republic's weblog The Plank,
editor-in-chief Martin Peretz blamed Bill Clinton for Sen. Joseph Lieberman's
defeat in the Connecticut Democratic Senate primary. Peretz wrote: "Lieberman
and [Ned] Lamont were running dead even in the polls, more or less. Clinton's
appearance began Lieberman's decline. Within two or three days, Lieberman was
down by ten points." Read
more

CNN's
Cooper and Crowley: Lamont victory shows that centrists cannot win Democratic
primaries
Discussing incumbent Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman's defeat in
the Connecticut Democratic Senate primary, CNN host Anderson Cooper and senior
political correspondent Candy Crowley both suggested that the election result
shows that "moderates" or "centrists" cannot win a Democratic primary race.
Their assertions are based on a false premise: that on the issue on which
challenger Ned Lamont primarily ran -- the Iraq war -- Lamont's view that the
United States should withdraw is one held only by liberals, and that Lieberman's
opposition to withdrawal is the "centrist" position. Read
more

On NY
Post list of "losers" in Lieberman defeat: "the troops"
In the
August 9 New York Post, a list
of political "winners" and "losers" from Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman's defeat in
the August 8 Connecticut Democratic primary included "the troops" among "the
losers." The Post explained: "Lieberman's hawkishness and support for the
war on terror had played well among military members." Read
more

NYT's
Nagourney contradicted his own reporting to suggest Dems in
disarray
An article by New York Times reporter Adam
Nagourney about Ned Lamont's victory over incumbent Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman in
the Connecticut primary stated that Democrats are "struggling to arrive at a
unified position about the [Iraq] war," contradicting an article Nagourney wrote
just eight days earlier, in which he reported that "most of the Democratic
leadership had unified around a position" on the war. Read
more

Fox News'
Cameron misrepresented election returns to argue that Lieberman had support
among "blue-collar" voters
Fox News' Carl Cameron claimed that during
the Connecticut Democratic Senate primary election, Sen. Joseph Lieberman "has
done very well" in "some of the more blue-collar cities, New Haven [and]
Bridgeport." In fact, Lieberman lost in New Haven and won narrowly in
Bridgeport. Read
more

CNN's
Bash uncritically repeated GOP spin on Lamont victory, casting Democrats as
"defeatist," "weak on security"
CNN congressional correspondent Dana
Bash twice uncritically reported that Republicans planned to cast a victory by
businessman Ned Lamont over incumbent Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman as evidence that
Democrats are "defeatist" and "weak on security" because of Lamont's criticism
of Lieberman's support for the Iraq war, but she did not point out in either of
her reports that a majority of Americans oppose the Iraq war. Read
more

US Congress moves to sanction domestic spying
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/aug2006/nsau-a10.shtml

Leak Is Latest of Alaska's Pipeline Woes
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/080906EA.shtml
Despite
what industry supporters say are more environmentally friendly ways of
extracting oil from the North Slope today, the 30-year-old Alaska pipeline is
becoming dangerously decrepit. In some places pipeline walls have lost as much
as 80 percent of their thickness as a result of corrosion, industry officials
say.

Free Market Champion Tapped to Head Regulatory Office
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/080906EB.shtml
Environmentalists
and government watchdogs are condemning the president's nomination to head an
"obscure but powerful" regulatory office - the Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) - saying Bush's pick would prioritize corporate
interests over protecting the public.

Neil Peirce | Ocean Power Can Be a
Global Warming Cure
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/080906EC.shtml
Ocean
tides and currents are an overlooked source of energy: "A major pilot
demonstration seems ready to launch in San Francisco Bay, where an immense tidal
flow enters and exits every day at a narrow point of the Golden Gate.... It will
produce electrical energy that can then be transmitted to shore by cable,"
writes Neil Peirce.

Thompson's Medicaid Reforms Could Benefit His
Employers
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/080906HA.shtml
Last
week, Tommy G. Thompson, the former secretary of health and human services,
proposed overhauling Medicaid in ways that he says would be good for the
country. Critics contend that his recommendations would benefit companies that
he works for, like VeriChip Corp., which makes microchips that store data and
can be implanted in humans. The company might benefit if Medicaid were to
embrace electronic medical records.

Robert Reich | Pension "Reform"
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/080906LA.shtml
Robert
Reich says, "With last week's passage of a 907-page pension reform bill, you may
think you have more retirement security. Think again." According to Reich, the
new law will only create more incentives for companies to declare bankruptcy in
order to get out from under pension funding requirements.

William Fisher | Birth Pangs of What?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080906A.shtml
"President
Bush sees the Israel-Hezbollah conflict as 'an opportunity.' Condoleezza Rice
calls it 'the birth pangs of a new Middle East.' These statements are likely to
be remembered by history as even more iconically absurd than Vice President's
Cheney's description of the Iraqi insurgency as being 'in its last throes,'"
writes William Fisher, who suggests that "the real winner in this game of smoke
and mirrors will be neither Israel nor Hezbollah."

Top Democrats Throw
Support to Lamont
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080906B.shtml
Senate
Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
chairman Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) threw their support behind Connecticut
upset winner Ned Lamont this morning, saying, in part, "Both we and the
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) fully support Mr. Lamont's
candidacy."

Problems Continue for DeLay and Ney
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080906C.shtml
Former
majority leader Tom DeLay said Tuesday he is taking the necessary steps to
remove his name from the November ballot, giving his party a chance to field a
write-in candidate in hopes of holding the House seat. The leading Republican
candidate to replace scandal-scarred congressman Bob Ney on the November ballot
may be ineligible, party officials said Tuesday.

Republicans Cut Budget
of Center for War-Related Brain Injuries
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080906D.shtml
Congress
appears ready to slash funding for the research and treatment of brain injuries
caused by bomb blasts, an injury that military scientists describe as a
signature wound of the Iraq war ... "I find it basically unpardonable that
Congress is not going to provide funds to take care of our soldiers and sailors
who put their lives on the line for their country," says Martin Foil, a member
of the center's board of directors. "It blows my
imagination."

Connecticut Democrats to Unite Behind Lamont
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080906E.shtml
Despite
Senator Joe Lieberman's loss to challenger Ned Lamont in Tuesday's primary,
Connecticut Democrats plan to present a unified front Wednesday when they unveil
the party's ticket for the November election.

Shiites Press for a
Partition of Iraq
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080906F.shtml
They
have a new constitution, a new government and a new military. But faced with
incessant sectarian bloodshed, Iraqis for the first time have begun openly
discussing whether the only way to stop the violence is to remake the country
they have just built. Almost 2,000 bodies were brought to Baghdad's morgue last
month, the highest number since an attack in February.

California Voters
File to Stop Use of Electronic Voting Systems
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080906G.shtml
VoterAction
has announced that California voters are challenging the use of the Diebold TSx
touch screen voting system and that they have filed a motion for preliminary
injunction in state court.

Unfazed, Hezbollah Fighters Dig In
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080906H.shtml
Today
is the official date for the handover of responsibilities from the US coalition
to NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, where Taliban incursion and coalition
failure to keep aid promises complicate NATO's task.

Jason Leopold | BP's Neglect of North Slope Pipeline Led to Disaster
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080906J.shtml
Jason
Leopold writes, "Chuck Hamel, a highly regarded activist based in Alexandria,
Virginia, who is credited with exposing dozens of oil spills and the subsequent
cover-ups related to BP's shoddy operations at Prudhoe Bay, sounded early
warning alarms about the issues at BP's North Slope facilities ... the oil
behemoth's executives have routinely lied to Alaskan state representatives and
members of the United States Senate and Congress about the steps they're taking
to correct the problems."

Bush Attempts to Change War Crimes Act to Avoid Prosecution
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080906O.shtml
The
Bush administration has drafted amendments to a war crimes law that would
eliminate the risk of prosecution for political appointees, CIA officers and
former military personnel for humiliating or degrading war prisoners, according
to US officials and a copy of the amendments.

Probe Into Halliburton
Subsidiary Role in Nigeria Bribe Case
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080906P.shtml
A
subsidiary of Halliburton is under investigation by the UK's Serious Fraud
Office over the US oil service company's part in an alleged plot to pay more
than $170 million in bribes to win billions of dollars of work at a giant
Nigerian gas plant.

FOCUS | William Rivers Pitt: It Wasn't About the War
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080906Z.shtml
William
Rivers Pitt writes that it wasn't just the war. It was a long, slow slide that
eventually tipped Lieberman's applecart. It was a process of insinuation into
the cash-and-carry culture of Washington, DC. It was a series of astonishingly
bad votes on incredibly important issues. It was, above all, political
cowardice; Lieberman attached himself to Bush while Bush was riding high, and
was unable to extract himself as Bush's popularity collapsed.

CNN's
Nguyen failed to challenge claims that Qana photos were staged
CNN's
Betty Nguyen left unchallenged the suggestion by blogger Charles Johnson that
photographs taken after the July 30 Israeli air strike in Qana, Lebanon, were
staged "for propaganda purposes," and that "Hezbollah controls a lot of the
pictures and a lot of the media that you see coming out of Lebanon." In fact,
Reuters, the Associated Press, and Agence France-Presse -- each of which has
published photos from Qana -- have all denied allegations that photographs were
staged. Read
more

AP
uncritically reported Mehlman's claim that Pelosi and Dean oppose "NSA
technology"
An AP article about a speech by RNC chairman Ken Mehlman
uncritically reported his claim that, if in power, Democrats -- specifically
Rep. Nancy Pelosi and DNC chairman Howard Dean -- would "surrender" the U.S.
government's ability to monitor the communications of suspected terrorists. But
Pelosi and Dean both have explicitly acknowledged the need for U.S. intelligence
agencies to spy on suspected terrorists, although they have said that the
government should conduct such surveillance in accordance with the law Read
more

Horowitz
and Poe promised "full-blown" rebuttals to Media Matters' debunking of
The Shadow Party -- so what's taking so long?
August 8 marks
the official release date of David Horowitz and Richard Poe's new book, The
Shadow Party: How George Soros, Hillary Clinton, and Sixties Radicals Seized
Control of the Democratic Party (Nelson Current). In separate responses
to Media Matters for America's August 2 item exposing
the doctored and misrepresented quotes, misstatements, and false and previously
debunked claims in The Shadow Party, Horowitz and Poe both promised to
provide complete rebuttals to Media Matters' work. In an August 4 article
on FrontPageMag.com, Horowitz responded to "a sampling of one particular set of
charges," noting that it was "not a full-blown response to these slanders --
that will come." Poe, in an August 2 entry
to the weblog ShadowParty.com (which also appears at two other Poe-authored
blogs, Poe.com and Scribe
and Scroll, that largely repeat the content at ShadowParty.com) offered
"just a quick rebuttal to a single minor -- yet richly illustrative -- point,"
promising that "an exhaustive, point-by-point refutation" is "in the works." Read
more

Savage:
CNN's Blitzer and King "would have pushed Jewish children into the oven"; "curry
favor with the turbanned hoodlums"
Michael Savage declared that CNN
hosts Wolf Blitzer and Larry King "look like the type that would have pushed
Jewish children into the oven to stay alive one more day to entertain the
Nazis." Read
more

Only on
Fox: Onscreen graphic suggests "a Lamont win" would be "bad news for democracy
in Mideast," would show Democrats have "forgotten the lessons of
9/11"
During August 8 coverage of the Connecticut Democratic Senate
primary election, Fox News host Gregg Jarrett offered a stream of Republican
talking points, suggesting that a win by Ned Lamont would be a sign of Democrats
"becom[ing] the sort-of modern-day George McGovern, who got really creamed
politically for his anti-war stance." Jarrett's rhetoric was accompanied by a
series of onscreen graphics that suggested a Lamont victory would be "bad news
for democracy in [the] Mideast," and would show that the Democratic Party has
"forgotten the lessons of 9/11" and is "soft on terror." Read
more

Cable
conservatives: CT Senate primary "could be the death of the Democratic Party";
Dems "are totally losing their soul"; the "Democratic approach to our enemies in
the world ... is essentially appeasement"
Numerous conservative
figures on cable TV news have made dire predictions for the Democratic Party if
Greenwich businessman Ned Lamont defeats incumbent Sen. Joe Lieberman in the
August 8 Connecticut Democratic Senate primary. Read
more

After
repeatedly touting terrorism as advantage for GOP, Wash. Post ignored
own poll finding that public trusts Democrats to do a better
job
The Washington Post has routinely touted terrorism and
other national security issues as political advantages for Republicans, even
though the Post's own polls show that a plurality of Americans trust
Democrats over Republicans to handle the "campaign against terrorism" and "the
situation in Iraq." Read
more

On
MSNBC's Tucker, Carlson falsely claimed "[t]here's no consensus" on
"why" the "world is getting warmer"
On MSNBC, Tucker Carlson claimed
"[t]he world is getting warmer," but we don't know "why" because "[t]here's no
consensus on that." In fact, as Media Matters for America has
repeatedly documented, organizations representing thousands of scientists share
the consensus view that "human activities are responsible for much of the recent
warming" of the planet, according to a June 2006 National Academies of Science
report. Read
more

Cameron
asserted that Democrats' anti-war stance "plays right into Republican
hands"
In yet another example of the false storylines currently being
perpetuated by the media in their coverage of the 2006 midterm elections, Fox
News' Carl Cameron reported that Democratic opposition to the war in Iraq "plays
right into Republican hands" and gives the Republican Party "an opportunity to
say that Democrats aren't being serious about protecting the United States,
protecting the world, and stopping terrorism." Read
more

CNN's
Crowley suggests anti-war Dems want to leave Iraq "before the job is
done"
CNN's Candy Crowley reported that Sen. Joe Lieberman is
"opposed to leaving [Iraq] before the job is done." But Crowley's description of
Lieberman's stance on the Iraq war falsely suggested that those calling for the
withdrawal of U.S. forces want to abandon "the job" of establishing a stable,
secure, and democratic Iraq. Read
more

Israeli war crimes aimed at "cleansing" south Lebanon
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/aug2006/leba-a09.shtml

Crisis
atmosphere builds in Israel
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/aug2006/isra-a09.shtml

Canada:
Conservative government unconditionally defends Israel's assault on
Lebanon
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/aug2006/cana-a09.shtml

Pro-war
Democrat Joseph Lieberman defeated in Connecticut primary
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/aug2006/lieb-a09.shtml

GDP growth down, housing sector suffering
Only 113,000 jobs added in US
in July
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/aug2006/jobs-a09.shtml

BREAKING | Lamont Defeats Lieberman in CT Primary
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080806Y.shtml
Just
after 11:00pm on Tuesday night, Senator Joeseph Lieberman stepped to the podium
to congratulate his primary challenger, Ned Lamont, on his victory. A bit of
history has been made in this Connecticut race; more than 95% of incumbents are
re-elected to Congress, and a long-time incumbent losing a primary race is
almost unheard of.

UN: Lebanese Oil Spill Could Rival Exxon Valdez
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080806R.shtml
An
oil spill caused by Israeli raids on a Lebanese power plant could rival the 1989
Exxon Valdez disaster that despoiled the Alaskan coast if not urgently
addressed, the United Nations has said.

Iraqi PM Incensed at American
Raid on Shia Militia Stronghold
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080806S.shtml
A
clear rift opened between the Iraqi Prime Minister and the American military
yesterday after Nouri al-Maliki lashed out at Americans for raiding the
stronghold of a powerful Shia militia. Al-Maliki said that yesterday's raid on
Sadr City had damaged his efforts to convince political parties to stand down
their militias.

Mexican Activists Seize Toll Booths
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080806T.shtml
Supporters
of presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took over tollbooths on
four Mexican federal highways, part of protests to demand a full recount of last
month's vote. Obrador is stepping up protests after a federal court rejected his
demand for a full recount that he says would uncover fraud.

Protesters
Block Entry to Southern Oregon Logging Site
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/080806EA.shtml
Protesters
used a log this morning to block a bridge to a timber sale in southern Oregon.
One protester dangled on the edge of the log on a platform 40 feet above the
river. The sale is the first logging allowed in a national forest roadless area
since the Bush administration replaced the popular 2001 Roadless Area
Conservation Rule in 2005.

The Seattle Times | America's Empty Pipe
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/080806EB.shtml
The
Seattle Times writes: "With the Mideast at best uncertain, with the decline of
North Slope and domestic oil production more certain, Congress can begin by
offering a coordinated energy policy. That may seem remote today, given the
indenture of Congress to special interests, but the shock of an empty pipe
should be a start."

The New York Times | A Reprieve for Public
Lands
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/080806EC.shtml
A
federal court decided last week that the Bush administration had rushed to sell
oil and gas leases on public lands without considering their wilderness
characteristics. The New York Times says, "With any luck, the decision will send
a signal to Ms. Norton's successor, Dirk Kempthorne, that the administration's
policy of indiscriminately fast-tracking leases in fragile areas needs a fresh
look."

Nuclear Shutdowns Leave Swedes Debating
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/080806ED.shtml
An
incident last week that led to the shutdown of 4 of Sweden's 10 nuclear reactors
has thrust the issue of atomic power back onto the national agenda, with leading
politicians calling for a broad investigation into the safety of the nuclear
industry.

Ultrasound Can Affect Brain Development
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/080806HA.shtml
Exposure
to ultrasound can affect fetal brain development, a new study suggests. When
pregnant mice were exposed to ultrasound, a small number of nerve cells in the
developing brains of their fetuses failed to extend correctly in the cerebral
cortex.

Public Pension Plans Face Billions in Shortages
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/080806LA.shtml
Across
the nation, a number of states, counties and municipalities are courting trouble
with the way they manage their pension funds. It is hard to know the extent of
the problems, but by one estimate, state and local governments owe their current
and future retirees roughly $375 billion more than they have committed to their
pension funds.

An Uphill Battle for Working Women
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/080806WA.shtml
Basic
economic issues top the list of what working women are worried about, according
to a survey released Monday by the AFL-CIO. Women are struggling to make ends
meet and are concerned about the prospects for young people entering the
workforce.

Brutal US Attack on Unarmed Afghans Captured by Photos
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080806A.shtml
Claims
that US troops shot and killed up to six unarmed Afghan civilians two months ago
in Kabul have been given added credibility with a series of photographs offering
visual evidence of military misconduct.

15 States Expand Right to Shoot
in Self-Defense
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080806B.shtml
In
the last year, 15 states have enacted laws that expand the right of
self-defense, allowing crime victims to use deadly force in situations that
might formerly have subjected them to prosecution for murder. Supporters call
them "stand your ground" laws. Opponents call them "shoot first"
laws.

James Carroll | The Nagasaki Principle
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080806C.shtml
"Today
is the anniversary of what did not happen. Sixty-one years ago yesterday, the
atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. The scale of nuclear devastation was
apparent at once. The next day, no decision was made to call off the bombing of
Nagasaki. Why? Historians debate the justification of the Hiroshima attack, but
there is consensus that Nagasaki, coming less than three days later, was
tragically unnecessary. President Harry Truman's one order to use the atomic
bomb, given on July 25, established a momentum that was not stopped," writes
James Carroll.

Daniel Levy | Ending the Neoconservative Nightmare
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080806D.shtml
"Witnessing
the near-perfect symmetry of Israeli and American policy has been one of the
more noteworthy aspects of the latest Lebanon war. A true friend in the White
House. No de-escalate and stabilize, honest-broker, diplomatic jaw-jaw from this
president. The American ladder had gone AWOL. It is 28 days since Hezbollah
captured two Israeli soldiers, prompting a ground and air assault on Lebanon by
the Israeli army. In that time, 932 people have been killed in Lebanon, with 75
missing, presumed dead," writes Daniel Levy.

Scalia Rejects Texas GOP
Appeal on DeLay
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080806E.shtml
Supreme
Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Monday rejected a request by Texas Republicans
to block an appeals court ruling that says former House Majority Leader Tom
DeLay's name must appear on the November ballot.

Gilles Kepel | The Bush
Strategy's Failure
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080806F.shtml
The
new war Israel is conducting simultaneously in both Lebanon and the Gaza Strip
ratifies the failure of the Bush administration to secure the Middle East
through unilateral use of force, Gilles Kepel argues. After the fiasco of the
Iraq occupation ... the region's two great fault lines, which run through the
Israeli-Palestinian question and the tension in the Gulf, now join in
preparation of earthquakes to come.

Peter W. Galbraith | Mindless in Iraq
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080806N.shtml
As
we now know, Donald Rumsfeld's Pentagon had no plan to secure any part of
Baghdad. It allowed looters to destroy Iraq's governmental infrastructure and to
steal thousands of tons of high explosives, weapons, and radioactive materials.
And it had no coherent plan for Iraq's post-war governance.

A Higher
Power: James Baker Puts Bush's Iraq Policy Into Rehab
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080806O.shtml
You
might be excused for not noticing that a bipartisan commission quietly started
work last spring with a mandate to help the Bush administration rethink its
policy toward the war. James Baker, backed by a team of experienced
national-security hands, has been busily at work trying to devise a fresh set of
policies to help the president chart a new course in - or, perhaps, to get the
hell out of - Iraq.

David Bacon | Hundreds of Mexican Miners Fired for
Striking
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080806P.shtml
David
Bacon writes, "Just days after conservative candidate Felipe Calderon declared
himself the winner of Mexico's July 2 presidential election, the Mexican federal
labor board lowered the boom on striking miners ... The board said they'd
abandoned their jobs, and gave the mine's owner, Grupo Mexico, permission to
close down operations ... The Grupo Mexico board of directors include directors
of Kimberly Clark Mexico (the family business of US Congressman James
Sensenbrenner, author of last year's anti-immigrant bill HR 4437) and the
Carlyle Group (whose board included President George Bush Sr.)."

FOCUS | Life in Hell: A Baghdad Diary
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080806Z.shtml
In
the Red Zone (the name given to the rest of Baghdad by Green Zoners too nervous
to venture outside the walls), the sporadic spurts of violence between Shi'ites
and Sunnis have given way to a steady stream of blood. Partisans on both sides
are arming themselves for battle, and ordinary folks are looking for ways to
defend themselves.

On Fox,
Gingrich advanced false claim that Dingell said "there's no moral difference"
between Hezbollah and Israel
On the heels of several conservative
media outlets cropping a quote from Rep. John Dingell to suggest that he had
refused to condemn Hezbollah's actions in the ongoing conflict with Israel, Newt
Gingrich announced on Fox News Sunday that Dingell had said "there's no
moral difference" between Hezbollah and Israel. Read
more

In
monthly Washington Post column, Kagan baselessly accused Gore of
"astonishing reversal" on Iraq
In his monthly Washington
Post column, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace senior associate
Robert Kagan assailed Al Gore for what he called an "astonishing reversal" on
the United States' Iraq policy. Kagan did not identify the specific issue on
which Gore has supposedly reversed himself. Read
more

Parker
claimed that "no one" in Bush administration is listening to Apocalypse
predictors, joined media in ignoring alleged White House
invitation
Claiming that "no one in the Bush administration is
listening" to evangelical leaders who have recently espoused the view "that
Armageddon and the Second Coming are related to current events in the Middle
East," syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker joined numerous other media figures
in ignoring Christian author Joel C. Rosenberg's recent assertion that he has
"been invited to the White House, [and] Capitol Hill" to explain the issues
facing the Middle East "through the lens of biblical prophecies." Read
more

Horowitz
falsely accused Media Matters of engaging in "crass doctoring of
conservative statements" over his defense of Mel Gibson
David
Horowitz falsely accused Media Matters for America of "crass doctoring
of conservative statements" in a response to a Media Matters item
noting that several conservative media figures -- including Horowitz -- defended
Mel Gibson after he made a series of anti-Semitic remarks. In fact, Media
Matters reprinted verbatim Horowitz's defense of Gibson from his appearance
on the August 1 edition of Hannity & Colmes. Read
more

Endnotes
in Coulter's latest book rife with distortions and falsehoods
On July
7, Media Matters for America asked Random
House Inc. whether it would investigate charges of plagiarism lodged against
right-wing pundit Ann Coulter's latest book, Godless:
The Church of Liberalism (Crown Forum, June 2006). Steve Ross, senior
vice president and publisher of Crown Publishing Group and publisher of the
Crown Forum imprint -- divisions of Random House Inc. -- responded to
Media Matters by stating that charges of plagiarism against Coulter were
"trivial," "meritless," and "irresponsible," and defended Coulter's scholarship
by stating that she "knows when attribution is appropriate, as underscored by the nineteen pages of hundreds of endnotes
contained in Godless." Read
more

Olbermann
named Coulter "Worst Person," asking "why she has not been banned" from MSNBC;
Boortz awarded third
On MSNBC's Countdown, Keith Olbermann
named Ann Coulter "Worst Person in the World" for suggesting in a column that
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is a closeted lesbian. During the segment, Olbermann
also awarded Neal Boortz third place for falsely stating that most workers on
minimum wage are teenagers and for calling adult minimum-wage workers "pathetic"
and "worthless." Read
more

Behind Bush's "truce" plan: the drive towards a wider Middle East war
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/aug2006/bush-a08.shtml

Huge
protest in Baghdad against US-Israeli war in Lebanon
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/aug2006/iraq-a08.shtml

Mexico:
Election court rejects Lopez Obrador's demand for full recount
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/aug2006/mexi-a08.shtml

In
climate of wartime hysteria
Sri Lankan businessman dies after being arrested
and tortured
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/aug2006/sril-a08.shtml

Death
toll rises as NATO expands operations in Afghanistan
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/aug2006/afgh-a08.shtml

Turkey:
Protests in Istanbul against Israeli aggression
Islamic organizations seek
to dampen opposition to government
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/aug2006/turk-a08.shtml

Israel Intensifies Airstrikes in Lebanon
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080706S.shtml
Israel
intensified its strikes on Beirut and southern Lebanon on Monday, killing at
least 33 people in one of the heaviest tolls in days. Lebanon's prime minister
won strong support from Arab states to plead his case at the United Nations for
a full Israeli withdrawal.

Governors Balk at Bid to Place Guard Under
Presidential Control
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080706T.shtml
The
nation's governors are closing ranks in opposition to a proposal in Congress
that would let the president take control of the National Guard in emergencies
without the consent of the governors. The idea is part of a House-passed version
of the National Defense Authorization Act. The Senate has not yet agreed to
it.

The War's Toll on Environment
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/080706EA.shtml
About
110,000 barrels of oil poured into the Mediterranean two weeks ago after Israeli
warplanes hit a coastal power plant. Oil has slicked one-third of Lebanon's
coast, and threatens beaches in Syria, Cyprus, Turkey and Greece, yet no cleanup
can begin until the fighting is over, says the UN. Meanwhile in northern Israel,
huge swaths of forests and fields have been scorched by thousands of Hezbollah
rocket strikes.

Tree Huggers Embrace Eco-Friendly Logging
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/080706EB.shtml
A
nonprofit organization buying California North Coast forestland aims to save
vital stands by taking over timber operations. Some say it's going out on a
limb.

In Coal Country, Mining Destroys Cemeteries and Faith
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/080706EC.shtml
Throughout
the coal-rich land of southern West Virginia and eastern Ohio, mining companies
are damaging and destroying burial sites. Massey Energy Company, Arch Mineral,
and their subsidiaries are accused of drilling under, mining over, or raining
sulfurous and acidic emissions down on tombstones and graves across the
region.

Administration Aims to Set Health Care Standards
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/080706HA.shtml
The
Bush administration will soon launch an ambitious effort to require that all
providers of federally financed health care adopt quality-measurement tools and
uniform standards for their information technology, Health and Human Services
Secretary Mike Leavitt said Sunday.

Economists: Raising Minimum Wage
Doesn't Cost Jobs
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/080706LA.shtml
Prominent
economists of all ideological persuasions long believed that raising the US
minimum wage would retard job growth, creating hardship for those at the bottom
of the ladder. Today, that consensus is eroding, and a vigorous debate has
developed as some argue that boosting the wage would pull millions out of
poverty.

Barbara Ehrenreich | Oh, Those Bad Bosses
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/080706LB.shtml
"The
AFL-CIO's Working America project has launched a 'bad boss' contest.
Unfortunately, the prize is only a free vacation, rather than the opportunity to
see your nominee drawn and quartered after a lengthy and humiliating public
trial," says Barbara Ehrenreich.

David R. Francis | Why the US Should
Mandate Paid Vacations
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/080706LC.shtml
"It's
vacation season. But a third of American working women are given no paid leave,
and a quarter of men get no pay from their employer if they take a week or more
off for rest and recreation. Unlike other industrialized nations, the United
States has no law requiring companies to give their workers a paid vacation of
any duration," writes David Francis.

Cindy Sheehan | Camp Casey: Hearts Connect
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080706A.shtml
"This
is the mission of Camp Casey this year: To remind George and the rest of his
heart-disconnected administration that their hearts are connected to ours and
the innocent people of the world being killed by their thoughtless greed. It is
also our mission to remind the people of the USA who still support the carnage
that their hearts are connected to the babies and children who are wantonly
being killed," writes Cindy Sheehan.

John Edwards Calls for Immediate
Troop Withdrawal From Iraq
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080706B.shtml
Former
vice presidential candidate John Edwards, who is considering another run for the
Democratic nomination for president, said Saturday that the United States should
start pulling troops out of Iraq immediately. The former US Senator from North
Carolina told reporters America should "make it clear (to Iraqis) we are
leaving, and the best way is to start leaving. We should take 40,000 combat
troops out now."

Justice Kennedy Questions American Democracy
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080706C.shtml
The
United States is not making the case for freedom, democracy and Western law to
the rest of the world, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy said Saturday.
"Make no mistake, there's a jury that's out. In half the world, the verdict is
not yet in. The commitment to accept the Western idea of democracy has not yet
been made, and they are waiting for you to make the case," Kennedy said in an
address to the American Bar Association.

Jimmy Breslin | Americans Are
Still Dying in Iraq
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080706D.shtml
With
the news being dominated by endless television coverage of Israel and
Hezbollah/Lebanon, Jimmy Breslin reminds us that Americans are still dying in
Iraq. "By the way, there are many American soldiers fighting in the Middle East.
In case you haven't noticed, they get killed. A lot of them get killed. The
strategy for the Middle East is to keep Israel and Hezbollah/Lebanon fighting.
Keep all attention on them. If they ever stop, then everybody would look at
Americans dying."

Norman Solomon | News Media's Love-Hate for Nuclear
Weapons
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080706E.shtml
"In
US news media, the implicit message is that American nuclear bombs are A-OK, and
the fact that Washington's ally Israel maintains a large nuclear arsenal is
supposed to be no cause for major concern," writes Norman Solomon. "Going deeper
than nationalistic blind faith, some important questions should be considered.
Last week, the Latin American writer Eduardo Galeano asked two of them: 'Who
calibrates the universal dangerometer? Was Iran the country that dropped atomic
bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima?'"

How the US Super-Rich "Dodge"
Taxes
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080706F.shtml
A
Senate probe that has examined hundreds of documents and issued 74 subpoenas
turns a spotlight on the murky tax dealings of some of America's richest
citizens.

"Dead Zone" Reappears off the Oregon Coast
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080706G.shtml
For
the fifth year in a row, unusual wind patterns off the coast of Oregon have
produced a large "dead zone," an area so low in oxygen that fish and crabs
suffocate.

The Re-Balancing of Global Growth
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080706H.shtml
Today
is the official date for the handover of responsibilities from the US coalition
to NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, where Taliban incursion and coalition
failure to keep aid promises complicate NATO's task.

William Fisher | Screw Up, Collect Reward
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080706K.shtml
"Millions
of us have shaken our heads in disbelief as President George W. Bush made a
cottage industry of rewarding the undeserving," writes William Fisher. "The cast
of characters is long and Orwellian."

Iraqi Medic Describes Carnage
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080706L.shtml
Testimony
begins in hearing for US soldiers accused of rape. An Iraqi medic who responded
to a home where US soldiers allegedly raped and killed a teenage Iraqi girl and
murdered her sister and parents described on Sunday a display of carnage so
horrific he said it made him sick for two weeks.

Major Alaskan Oil Field
Shutting Down
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080706M.shtml
In
a sudden blow to the nation's oil supply, half the production on Alaska's North
Slope was shut down Sunday after BP Exploration Alaska discovered severe
corrosion in a Prudhoe Bay oil transit line.

While the UN Fiddles ... the
Middle East Burns
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080706N.shtml
The
US and Britain warned that a UN resolution was only a "first step" toward ending
the violence, as Israel and Hezbollah militants used the window before a vote to
inflict maximum damage. Meanwhile, Arab leaders are rejecting the US-French
draft UN Security Council resolution that would bring a "full cessation of
hostilities" but enable Israeli forces to stay in southern Lebanon until
deployment of an international peacekeeping force.

Gene C. Gerard | The
Political Corruption of Science
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080706O.shtml
"Unions
representing thousands of scientists and other specialists employed by the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently complained that EPA officials are
ignoring science," Gene C. Gerard writes. "The unions indicated that agency
administrators are allowing numerous toxic substances to be used in agricultural
pesticides. This revelation comes on the heels of a survey of Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) scientists which found that the agency has become so
political that it's no longer protecting public safety. While all presidential
administrations, by their very nature, are political, it's increasingly clear
that the Bush administration is using politics to corrupt science."

Bush
Administration Set to Transform Welfare System
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080706P.shtml
Bush's
proposed work rules for the US Welfare system threaten education and health
programs for the poor. The Parents as Scholars program is suddenly on shaky
ground. The new rules, written by Congress and the Bush administration, require
states to focus intensely on making more poor people work, while discouraging
other activities that might help untangle their lives.

Japan Marks 61st
Hiroshima Anniversary
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080706Q.shtml
The
mayor of Hiroshima on Sunday called for the elimination of all nuclear weapons
as he marked the 61st anniversary of the world's first atomic bomb attack, which
killed more than 140,000 people in the Japanese city.

FOCUS | Cindy Sheehan Returns to Crawford
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080706Z.shtml
A
year after her first war protest in President Bush's adopted hometown attracted
thousands and reinvigorated the nation's peace movement, Cindy Sheehan resumed
her vigil Sunday. Under the blazing Texas sun, Sheehan and more than 50
demonstrators again marched a mile and a half toward Bush's ranch, stopping at a
roadblock. As Secret Service agents stood silently, Sheehan held up her
California driver's license and said she wanted to meet with the president. "It
doesn't say my new address, but I do live here now," said Sheehan, who lives in
Berkeley, California, and recently bought land in Crawford for war protests. "My
name is Cindy and Bush killed my son."

  ¶ 7:40 PM