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NEWS DISSECTOR: MAN ARRESTED FOR THREAT TO KILL BARACK OBAMA; DEAL ON IRAQ MAY BE CLOSE
NEWS DISSECTOR August 8, 2008
MAN ARRESTED FOR THREAT TO KILL BARACK OBAMA; DEAL ON IRAQ MAY BE CLOSE
READ THE NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY DRAFT PROGRAM
MAN BUSTED IN OBAMA ASSASSINATION THREAT
US -IRAQ DISCUSS WITHDRAWAL PLANS
MORE UNANSWERED QUESTIONS ON ANTHRAX PROBE
"VIOLENCE IS AS AMERICAN AS CHERRY PIE" (H.Rap Brown)
MIAMI (AP) - A man is being held in Florida by federal authorities on charges of threatening to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Raymond Hunter Geisel was ordered held without bail Thursday at a brief court hearing.
The Secret Service says Geisel made the threat during a training class for bail bondsmen in Miami in late July. Another tipster said Geisel also threatened President Bush.
A search of Geisel's SUV and hotel room uncovered a loaded handgun, knives, dozens of rounds of ammunition, body armor and a machete. The SUV was wired with emergency lights.
Iraqis: Deal close on plan for US troops to leave (AP)
AP - Iraq and the U.S. are near an agreement on all American combat troops leaving Iraq by October 2010, with the last soldiers out three years after that, two Iraqi officials told The Associated Press on Thursday. U.S. officials, however, insisted no dates had been agreed.
NEW MARKER: The US loses 500th soldier in Afghanistan
LISTEN: BETWEEN THE LINES:
U.S./NATO Face Deepening Afghanistan Quagmire
WAR IN THE EAST ERUPTS, US DEEPLY INVOLVED
Sam Gardiner goes behind the news:
Last night Georgia launched an attack to take back the breakaway republic of South Ossetia. The attack is being led by the 4th Motorized Brigade which has been the focus of U.S. training and support effort over the past few years. The attack is most likely being supported by reconnaissance troops that have been trained by Israel since October and drones purchased by Georgia from Israel.
The oil pipeline that runs from Baku, Azerbaijan to Chehan, Turkey is very close to where the fighting is taking place. That pipeline was cut earlier in the week by the Iraq-based PKK, and the Ossetians had threatened to cut it if Georgia launched an offensive. This pipeline was heavily supported by the U.S. in order to cut the vulnerability of oil flows from the Gulf. Approximately 1% of the world supply of oil comes through this route.
Since last night, the situation has escalated at a very rapid pace. At first volunteers from Russia were reported to be flowing into South Ossetia. Within the last hour, Russian units have been reported moving into the area. Russia reported seven minutes ago that 10 Russian peacekeepers have been killed and 30 wounded. Putin warned from Beijing that he will not tolerate the killing of Russians.
The situation is made more delicate for the United States because the 4th Brigade is the unit that has supplied troops for Iraq and Afghanistan. Also 1,200 U.S. troops have also just completed a joint exercise with the 4th Brigade in the past few days in Georgia.
And now Gardiner's earlier uopdate on the Iranian Guns Of August:
Earlier this week the Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard announced the test of a new anti-ship cruise missile. According to the Iranian news agency, this new missile has a range of 300km (~180 miles).
I am normally skeptical of Iranian technology claims. I'm particularly skeptical of their claims about range and capabilities of the Shaab missiles. Just by looking at the parade pictures of the Shaabs, one gets the impression of a hobby-shop for missiles rather than a serious military production. Almost every missile is different, different fins, different connectors, different nose guards and different launchers. The Iranians exaggerate, and the United States exaggerates the Iranian exaggeration. The truth serves the objective of neither country.
The new anti-ship missile got my attention, however. Recall in 2006 Hezbollah struck an Iranian ship that was shelling Beirut airport with a C-802 missile. Even before that eye-opening shot, there were reports the Iranians were working on an extended range of the missile. My guess is the new missile is a version of the C-802.
I think in this case, the Iranian claims have to be taken seriously. Two reason for that. First, they have proven the technology. Second, with a range of 180 miles, the Gulf equation changes significantly.
The Iranians might now be able to reach tankers as they are loading and unloading on the western side of the Gulf. In addition, it means the U.S. capability to defend tankers almost evaporates. During the Tanker War, 1984-1987, it was possible to use U.S. Navy ships to convoy tankers out of the Gulf because the threat was short range weapons.
With a new weapon of this range, the U.S. would be forced to go after the missiles offensively, attacking missile locations in Iran. A little Google Earth analysis shows how difficult that would be. The Iranians have all their anti-ship missiles in covered shelters and probably in other locations. It would be a problem similar to the Scud hunting during Gulf I.
The threat to the flow of oil has just gone up a couple notches.
RICE WILL NOT RULE OUT ISRAELI RAID
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday in an interview:
Q: Since we're such a close ally of Israel, do you worry that if Israel were to act against Iran, that we [the U.S.] would be blamed?
Rice: We don't say yes or no to Israeli military operations. Israel is a sovereign country. But we are in very close contact with the Israelis and we talk about the diplomatic track that we're on. I think they believe that diplomacy - they've said that diplomacy can work here. And I know they're doing their part to talk to all of the countries with which they have good relations to explain why it's important to have a tough edge to our diplomacy.
Q: Twenty percent of the world's oil goes through water controlled by Iran. Is oil Iran's secret weapon?
Rice: I don't know what the Iranians would do without the revenue that they receive from selling oil. And so the idea that they would somehow deprive the world of Iranian oil exports would have to have a pretty devastating effect on Iran itself. (State Department)
OLYMPICS OPEN TODAY (FRI) IN BEIJING
"To borrow a phrase from the sportswriters: 'How about those Olympics, huh?' As the gaudy opening ceremony finally arrives tomorrow, the constantly shifting global image of China ever since this Olympiad's locale was first chosen, so controversially, might just about come to some kind of rest …"
WATCH: FINANCIAL TIMES ARTICLE ON OLYMPICS AS A BRAND BUILDING EXERCISE FOR CHINA INC.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A day before the Olympics kick off in Beijing, NBC Universal announced it has garnered more than $1 billion in advertising revenue for the event for which it spent $894 million to acquire the U.S. broadcast and digital rights.
The network is planning 3,600 hours of TV and Internet coverage of the 17-day event, which begins with the opening ceremony Friday.NBC says it has made significant profits from the Olympics since the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta.
The network has owned the U.S. broadcast rights for every Games since then, except for the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, which were bought by CBS for $375 million.NBC spent a total of $2 billion for the rights to the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and the 2012 Summer Games in London.
IFJ: MEDIA CONCERNS IN CHINA
In early August, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) called on the Chinese authorities to unblock certain Internet sites that have become unavailable for foreign journalists arriving in Beijing to cover the Olympic Games .
"We learn with dismay from the Chinese government that some Internet sites are blocked", said Aidan White, General Secretary of the IFJ. "This is a serious breach of the promise given that all journalists, particularly those in the Main Press Centre for the Games, would have unfettered access to the Internet. We demand that all restrictions are lifted so that our colleagues can work freely and search access to the information they need."
The Chinese foreign ministry spokesman who admitted the Internet restrictions said they concerned the Falun Gong spiritual movement, but reporters working already in that country are also unable to seek information from sites such as those related to Tibet or Amnesty International.
Several thousand journalists are already in Beijing and they are complaining about the way certain sites are censored, either because they are unavailable or they prompt suspiciously slow download rates when attempting access.
"This is a bad start for journalism," said White. "We call on the All China Journalists Association and the Chinese authorities to keep their promise and open the Internet to access by all journalists. Censorship has no place at the Olympic Games."
At the same time, the IFJ has called on the International Olympic Committee to put pressure on China to ensure that it keeps the Internet open to all by reminding the Chinese government about their undertakings to grant unrestricted access for the period of the Games.
BUSH MAKES HUMAN RIGHTS REMARKS IN SPEECH IN BANGKOK, NOT BEIJING; WARMLY WELCOMED TO CHINA
TIBETANS PROTESTING
Thousands of angry Tibetans staged anti-China protests in the capitals of India and Nepal on Thursday, with hundreds detained by baton-wielding police in Kathmandu, a day before the Olympic Games open in Beijing.
In one of the biggest rallies in recent months, nearly 4,000 Tibetans, including maroon-robed nuns and monks, took to New Delhi's streets, saying China had no right to hold the Games.
PROTESTERS FACE FEDERAL CHANGES IN SAN FRANCISO
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Two anti-China activists are facing federal criminal charges for climbing onto the roof of the Chinese consulate in San Francisco to protest human rights abuses in Tibet.
Nyendak Wangden and Brihannala Morgan appeared in court Thursday to be advised of the charges of a law that prohibits infringing diplomatic properties "with intent to intimidate, coerce, threaten or harass."
If convicted, they face a maximum penalty of six months in prison. They were released on $25,000 bonds with orders to stay away from the consulate.
On Wednesday, the two women staged a mock hanging off the consulate's roof. Morgan held a rope and Wangden dangled from it until her rope snapped and she fell to a balcony about 15 feet below. Morgan has alleged consular personnel cut the rope.
ASHVILLE GLOBAL REPORT: To provoke war, Cheney considered proposal to dress up Navy Seals as Iranians and shoot at them
Speaking at the Campus Progress journalism conference earlier this month, Seymour Hersh - a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist for The New Yorker - revealed that Bush administration officials held a meeting recently in the Vice President's office to discuss ways to provoke a war with Iran.
In Hersh's most recent article, he reports that this meeting occurred in the wake of the overblown incident in the Strait of Hormuz, when a US carrier almost shot at a few small Iranian speedboats. The "meeting took place in the Vice-President's office. 'The subject was how to create a casus belli between Tehran and Washington,'" according to one of Hersh's sources.
IRIN-MYANMAR: Food shortages "significant"
AYEYARWADY DELTA, 4 August 2008 (IRIN) - Three months after Cyclone Nargis hit southern Myanmar, hundreds of thousands of people are still not back on their feet.
"The situation in Myanmar remains dire," Chris Kaye, World Food Programme (WFP) country director, said. "The vast majority of families simply don't have enough to eat."
According to the recent Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA), 42 percent of all food stocks were destroyed and 55 percent of families only had stocks for one day or less.
Moreover, 924,000 people will need food assistance until the November harvest this year, while around 300,000 will need relief until April 2009.
NEW SCANDAL IN SOUTH AFRICA: CHARGE THAT PRESIDENT TOOK $30 MILLION IN ARMS DEAL; PRESIDENCY DENIES IT
MORE DESPAIR IN PALESTINE REPORTS ISRAELI PEACE ACTIVIST GERSHON BASKIN:
By: Gershon Baskin
A Palestinian friend who is a senior official in the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah spoke with me this morning. Usually optimistic and positive, this morning she said to me "We lost it all; it is just a matter of time before the West Bank turns into Gaza". That is the overall mood and sense of reality held by most Palestinians today. Over the past month I have participated in international conferences with senior Palestinian leaders at the European Parliament, in a regional meeting in Athens, in several Israeli-Palestinian Track II meetings held in Israel - all of the Palestinian participants, officials and non-officials voiced expressions of pessimism and despair. The same message can be heard on the grass-roots as well throughout the West Bank and even East Jerusalem.
There is no known progress in the peace process. Despite ongoing negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, since President Bush's Annapolis summit in November 2007, no noticeable change can be felt or seen in Palestine. In fact, there is a growing sense that the Israeli occupation is becoming harsher and that the hopes and promises of President Bush and Tony Blair for stability, prosperity and peace have once again blown away with the shifting sands of the Middle East.
Israel's settlements continues to expand instead of removing unauthorized outposts and freezing all settlement growth, as Prime Minister Olmert promised to President Bush.
Bank Of America Under Investigation; FreddieMac Loss UP; ANTHRAX PROBE CONTINUES
Bank of America gets subpoenas, reports SEC probe - Yahoo! News
THE ECONOMIST ON THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THE CREDIT CRISIS ASSESSES THE ROLE OF THE FED
RGE: FreddieMac Loss Mounts, Agency Spreads Near Highs Despite Rescue Bill: Now What?
* August 6: FreddieMac reports Q2 net loss of $821 million due to rising foreclosures and will slash its dividend at least 80 percent -> "Freddie had credit-related expenses of $2.8 billion, double the first quarter, and wrote down the value of subprime and low-quality mortgage securities by $1 billion as the biggest housing slump since the Great Depression increased delinquencies."
* In the statement, the company said foreclosures on properties owned by Freddie increased 20 percent. Credit losses were 17.3 basis points over the average total mortgage portfolio, up from 11.6 basis points in the first quarter
SHAMING BANKS TO DO WHAT'S RIGHT
ANTHRAX FOLLOW UP
RAW STORY: ROVE KNEW OF PROBLEMS WITH ANTHRAX VACCINE
LOCAL ABC 7 STORY: Army Refuses Study of Biodefense Lab's Environmental Risks
LOCAL GROUP DEMANDS BIOLAB SAFETY IN FREDERICK MD
TELEGRAPH:
Anthrax case against bio-weapons expert 'staggering for lack of evidence' The case against the lone suspect in the 2001 anthrax case, who killed himself last week, has been blasted by his lawyer as based on nothing but "innuendo and a staggering lack of real evidence".
BALTIMORE SUN: DOUBTS PERSIST IN IVINS GUILT
CSM: How did anthrax suspect Ivins keep security clearance?
The army microbiologist sought aid for mental health years ago.
BLOOMBERG: Experts Question FBI's Genetic Test in Anthrax Case
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt?
U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Taylor said at a Justice Department news conference, "We regret that we will not have the opportunity to present evidence to the jury.",,,
Everybody else regrets it too-since what came out today was another pastiche of innuendo and circumstantial evidence, with an awful lot of holes. Time for the FBI to present all of what it has to the court of public opinion, don't you think? A major benefit for the FBI of sharing its case would be restoration of confidence in the US' system of justice, the Justice Department and its FBI.,,,
Anthrax widow: It's time for the feds to pay up
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Victims of the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks said Thursday they are satisfied with the investigation's outcome that pinned the blame on a scientist. And now, the widow of a dead photo editor says, it's time for the government to settle her lawsuit and pay up.
Victims and family members were briefed by the FBI on Wednesday, about a week after former Army scientist Bruce Ivins committed suicide before he could be charged.
"This investigation, as far as I'm concerned, is closed," Maureen Stevens said Thursday during a news conference. Stevens' husband, Robert, was a photo editor at American Media Inc., the publisher of the National Inquirer gossip tabloid, when he was exposed to anthrax mailed to his office in Boca Raton.
Stevens died Oct. 5, 2001, the first of five people to be killed and 17 others to be sickened in the attacks.
"I would hope now they (the FBI) can see they were in the wrong and we've been right from the beginning," Maureen Stevens said. "I hope they will stand there and admit it was their fault and make some kind of settlement."
Stevens filed a $50 million lawsuit against the government two years after her husband's death. She claims the government was negligent because it failed to safeguard strains of the deadly anthrax bacteria at the U.S. Army disease research center at Fort Detrick, Md.
INCONVENIENT TRUTH
"In addition, more than 100 people had access to the anthrax in question, a larger number than many had previously believed. The FBI didn't find any anthrax spores in Dr. Ivins's three cars or in his house."
"THE JUDGE AND THE GENERAL" COMES TO POV ON PBS; CO-OPTING CIVIL RIGHTS ORGS
Last night, I was back at the movies, this time at Lincoln Center for an advance screening of an amazing documentary "THE JUDGE AND THE GENERAL" about the investigation and indictment of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. The beautifully made and told story directed by the aways excellent reporter Elizabeth Farnsworth of the NewsHour on PBS and Patricio Lanfranco is about a conservative Pinochet rationalizing Judge who iw arbitrarily chosen to investigate charges that Pincohet was behind the murders, disappearances and torture of thousands of his fellow countryman.
The film airs on the POV series on PBS on August 19. See it if you can. It is almost a thriller and the story of a conscientious jurist who personally gets involved in the hunt for truth.
Afterwards, Farnsworth joined Judge Juan Guzman in a conversation moderated by former PBS anchor Robert McNeil who praised the film. I asked one question, noting that Chile had its 9/11 before ours-that was the date of coup against the democratically elected President Salvatore Allende. I wondered about other parallels in our post 9/11 culture. The Judge acknowledged they existed. I also asked McNeil to los his anchoristic impartiality and share his thoughts. He declined.
Someone asked about the Chilean media which barely covered the massive human rights abuses after the coup or the Judge's investigation. He said that his concerns were not covered, and that the media only serves 3% of the population there, and he had to go to the international media to get the story out. Sound familiar?
MEANWHILE, BACK IN THE USSA….
Speaking of torture and anti-terror abuses, Oaama Bin Laden's driver who prosecutors accused of conspiracy, a capital crime was given but 5 months. No doubt a way to for the GITMO torturers rio
MJ: SOME CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS DEFEND PREDATORY LENDING
At the end of June, as the subprime mortgage crisis was driving the economy into a tailspin, Charles Steele Jr., the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), took to the op-ed page of the Washington Post to decry the devastating effect the meltdown was having on minority homeowners. But rather than support currently pending measures to better regulate the credit markets, the leader of one of the nation's oldest civil rights groups instead attacked them. Steele was particularly upset about a Federal Reserve proposal that would crack down on subprime credit cards-high-interest cards marketed to people with bad credit.
Steele rose to the card issuers' defense, invoking his group's founder, Martin Luther King Jr., and claiming that any move to regulate the cards would deny minorities access to much-needed credit. (In July, after another op-ed piece on a similar topic appeared under Steele's byline in a a handful of papers, he claimed he didn't write it or authorize its release; according to Steele's lawyer, a Washington public relations and lobbying firm was behind the commentary.) The argument was an odd one coming from a civil rights group. Most consumer groups believe that the subprime industry is largely predatory, and rife with abuses that disproportionately affect minorities. But Steele's op-ed makes a lot more sense when you consider a detail the Post at first left out: In August 2007, the SCLC formed a partnership with CompuCredit, a subprime credit card issuer and payday lending company. (The Post later updated its story to reflect this.) The deal included plans for an affinity card that would put the famous civil rights group's name on CompuCredit Visa cards and joint "economic empowerment" workshops around the country to help educate minorities about credit. When Steele announced the deal last year, he said, "Consistent with SCLC's historic commitment to civil rights and economic justice, this partnership represents a critical part of our campaign for economic empowerment."
Information Clearing House Publisher Threatened
Mike Whitney - Fly by News August 6, 2008
My friend Tom Feeley is in Big trouble. He runs the web site informationclearinghouse.info which updates "news you won't find in the corporate media" every day. The site is strongly anti-war.
Tom has gotten his share of death threats over the years, but what happened this week is a lot more serious.
Two days ago, Tom's wife found three well dressed men in their kitchen. The man who did all the talking, told Tom's wife (I won't give her name) that Tom must "Stop what he is doing on the Internet, NOW!" As crazy as it sounds, he pulled back his lapel and showed her a gun of some kind which she could not identify. Like I said, Tom has been threatened before, but nothing like this. 4 years ago, he was in a parking lot at Long's Drug store in Southern California and when he tried to open his door to get out, a man in a car next to him opened his door at precisely the same time which prevented Tom from getting out. Then, a 40-ish year old man got out of the passenger side of the vehicle and approached Tom saying, "You need to stop what you are doing on the web".
Tom said the man was overweight and had his shirt untucked. Tom was taken aback, but (after collecting himself) said "What the fuck? Who do you think you are telling me what I can do?"
The man answered, "Tom, I'm just giving you some good advice. You should take my advice, Tom."
This is all I know about the incident. Since then, there have been occassional death threats, but nothing like what happened on Sunday. Tom's wife is hysterical and has not returned to the house since the incident. She contacted the FBI but the FBI said there was nothing they could do. Tom and his wife separated recently after a 30 year marriage, so he is publishing from a different location.
The well-dressed man told Tom's wife that he knew where her son lived, what line of work he was in, and how many children he had.
EMPATHETIC LETTER OF CONCERN
Frank Scott writes. Very appreciated. Sometimes I get into the glass is half empty thinking and don't count those old and getting older blessings. (Not quite with him on holocaust denial but agree that all voices should be heard, even Irving.)
i appreciate your work, as do many others, for sure…and your latest column seems to indicate you need a little faith uplift which is why i'm sending this…
please don't feel lonely and isolated in what you say falling on deaf or non believing ears…there are worse situations for people trying to express an alert to society at large, or even just trying to express a view of reality that is different from accepted fables…
you have more company than you seem to realize re the economy, though there are and have been seemingly endless warnings that everything would go up in smoke tomorrow morning…too much of this is a bad thing and makes us all sound like alarmist anti-pollyanna types. but at least you're not threatened with prison or have your voice smothered by those who refuse to allow you the freedom to speak out…
i join in your criticism of the "pwogwessive" movement and its often regressive tendencies, but none strike me as more sickening and divisive than the treatment of the whole palestine-israel-jewish lobby issue, which is as short range dangerous as the economic issue is, long range…
and don't dare ask any questions about the story of the holocaust, even when you have written in some detail about the slaughter of european jews, as david irving has, but express doubts about the death toll, alleged extermination plan, and the means to carry it out - as do I - …lefties (?) proudly wrote about their nearly successful attempts to prevent him from speaking in new york recently, and not one fucking word of criticism was uttered about the ugly incident, except probably on right wing or libertarian or revisionist sites…or by someone like me
so, good buddy, look at the bright side: at least you do have a publisher and it is highly unlikely that you will ever be picketed, subject to hateful treatment by mobs of the deranged, or thrown into a prison cell for saying what you think…
in the midst of my own occasional decent into self sobbing, i draw some comfort from the fact that i can say, even to a small audience, things that get others jailed, beaten by idiots and thugs, or thrown onto the unemployment list…
it also helps to keep me angry enough to go on…
keep on keepin' on…
and thanks!
SAD: PENTAGON PAPERS" LEAKER ANTHONY RUSSO DIES
Whistleblower on Government Secrets Helped End Vietnam War
Anthony Russo, whose March 1971 leak of secret government archives
exposed how successive U.S. administrations manipulated America into
the Vietnam War, died August 5, 2008 at his home in Suffolk, Virginia.Russo, a member of the California Peace and Freedom Party who was
employed at Santa Monica based Rand Corporation, surreptitiously
copied and then leaked the documents along with his friend Daniel
Ellsberg to the New York Times and other newspapers.
While Dan Ellsberg has been primarily associated with the Pentagon Papers, Tony Russo's role should not be forgotten! And thanks to you Frank and all who write and support our work at Mediachannel.org. Have a great weekend. Your comments and suggestions appreciated.
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