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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: steve harris who wrote (221256)	3/1/2005 10:19:16 AM
From: Raymond Duray	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1573216

steve, In fact, al qaeda is certainly not the unified hierarchical organization that it is so often portrayed to be by government and the duplicitous media in the U.S. It is more of a loose network of like minded individuals who have only the vaguest of "command & control" structures in place. Terrorists do exist, but it is certainly not anything like the organized menace that the Bushies conjure up in order to justify outrageous military budgets. One of the very best myth-busting videos I've ever seen concerning the fraudulent "war on terror" that is being perpetrated on the gullible public is called "The Power of Nightmares". It aired to great critical acclaim and popular regard in Britain on BBC2 in October and again earlier this month. Here's a link to an excellent review of the program, and a link to a fairly high-res version of the third hour of the documentary: Review: commondreams.org Video: prisonplanet.com Transcript: Message 20884147

To: steve harris who wrote (221256)	3/1/2005 11:10:01 AM
From: Road Walker	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 1573216

The right is getting out of hand: Judge Finds Spouse, Mom Dead at Ill. Home 23 minutes ago U.S. National - AP By DON BABWIN, Associated Press Writer CHICAGO - A federal judge who was once the target of a failed murder plot by a white supremacist found two bodies in a pool of blood in her basement, and a source said the victims were her husband and her mother. AP Photo U.S. District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow, 61, found the bodies about 6 p.m. Monday when she returned home from work, police spokesman Pat Camden said. The source close to the investigation told The Associated Press the victims were Lefkow's husband, attorney Michael F. Lefkow, and her mother, Donna Humphrey, 89, who was visiting from Denver. Michael Lefkow, 65, and Humphrey were each shot in the head, said the source, who spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity. No weapon was found Monday but authorities discovered two .22-caliber shell casings, the Chicago Tribune reported, quoting unidentified sources. Authorities gave no indication that the deaths were related to the judge's involvement in the case of white supremacist Matthew Hale, who was convicted in April 2004 of soliciting an undercover FBI (news - web sites) informant to kill her. He is awaiting sentencing on one count of murder solicitation and three counts of obstruction of justice. Lefkow received police protection after Hale was arrested in 2003. Prosecutors alleged that he was angry because Lefkow ruled that he could no longer use the name World Church of the Creator for his group since another organization had a copyright on that name. Hale, 33, became notorious in 1999 when a follower, Benjamin Smith, went on a deadly shooting rampage in Illinois and Indiana. Targeting minorities, Smith killed two people, including former Northwestern University basketball coach Ricky Byrdsong, and wounded nine others before killing himself as police closed in. Hale's reaction to Smith's three-day shooting spree — Hale laughed about it and imitated gunfire in secretly recorded tapes played for the jury — was part of the prosecution's case last year. Members of a Chicago police forensics team could be seen inside the two-story Lefkow home on the city's North Side late Monday evening wearing white clothing and surgical-style headgear. FBI spokesman Ross Rice confirmed that agents had been called in to help with the investigation but provided no further details. Randall Samborn, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, said he would have no comment. The Lefkows were active in the Episcopal church. "This is a real shock. I'm really saddened and outraged. I hope the people responsible will be apprehended soon," said William Persell, bishop of the Chicago Diocese of the Episcopal Church. Neighbors described the Lefkows as a model family. "This is someone who adored his daughters," Nan Sullivan said. "They were the kind of family everyone aspires to be, very close-knit, very supportive." Hale never testified during his two-week trial. His defense attorney, Thomas Anthony Durkin, called no witnesses, saying the prosecution's evidence was the weakest he had seen in a major case. A key witness, Anthony Evola, testified he secretly taped Hale for the FBI while posing as a follower. Among the conversations were ones in which they discussed the judge. "Are we gonna exterminate the rat?" Evola can be heard asking Hale, who responds a short time later: "I'm going to fight within the law and, but, ... if you wish to, ah, do anything, yourself, you can." The defense argued that Hale never asked anyone to kill the judge and that the FBI used Evola to draw him into a murder plot. Lefkow, 61, served as a federal magistrate and a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge before President Clinton (news - web sites) nominated her for the District Court bench in 2000. Michael Lefkow was a graduate of North Central College in Naperville and earned a law degree from Northwestern University. The two married in 1975, and he ran unsuccessfully for Cook County judge in 2002, according the Tribune.

To: steve harris who wrote (221256)	3/1/2005 2:45:48 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1573216

THE NATION Montana Governor Isn't Cowed by Bush By Peter Wallsten, Times Staff Writer WASHINGTON — President Bush often quips that the aura of the White House intimidates visitors, leaving would-be critics to express only niceties. But the presidential mansion — and its current occupant — apparently did not have that effect Monday on Montana's new governor, who made some sharp comments after Bush tried to promote his Social Security overhaul to a group of governors consumed by other matters. A no-nonsense rancher and wheat farmer who took office six weeks ago in a Republican state, Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer likened the president's pitch to a magic show trick featuring a rabbit in a hat. He also compared it to a bull auction hawking lousy studs. "I was watching the governors around the room," said Schweitzer, comparing the group to potential livestock buyers who assess the wares and express their intentions with head-nods or nose-crinkles. "I was seeing more of this," he said, crinkling his nose as if detecting a foul odor, "than I was of this," he said, nodding his head. "I didn't see a lot of buyers in the room." Such harsh words were surprising coming from Schweitzer, who was elected after building a public image as a non-ideological problem-solver; he even chose a Republican running mate. His comments were another sign of the growing frustration with the White House among state chief executives of both parties as they enter the last day of the National Governors Assn.'s winter meeting today. The governors are hoping to persuade Bush to roll back at least a portion of his proposed Medicaid cuts, which would total $60 billion over 10 years. Many states are struggling with the soaring costs of giving healthcare to the poor, and they told Bush during a private session Monday that their Medicaid budgets were surpassing those for education and other needs. Bush has made transforming Social Security his top domestic priority, contending that workers younger than 55 should be able to divert a portion of their payroll taxes to privately owned investment accounts. Though some Republicans are wary of the proposal, the president is scheduled to continue his campaign for the plan on Friday in New Jersey and Indiana. "I'm coming to your states — I'm coming to a lot of states between now and whenever Congress decides to take this issue on, head-on — to remind people not only we have a problem, but we have an obligation to fix it," Bush told the governors Monday. Schweitzer's more seasoned colleagues were not quite as blunt as he was. Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, a Democrat, called Bush "gracious" in his willingness to negotiate on Medicaid financing. But Schweitzer compared Bush's promotion of Social Security changes to a magician with a hat in his right hand that he is waving around with "wide gestures" to distract his audience. "Today we're talking about Social Security, something that might happen 20, 30, 40 years from now," Schweitzer said. "But guess what's really happening, over in the left hand? We're cutting Medicaid. We're cutting programs in the heartland." Several governors complimented Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, a former Utah governor, as an ally inside the White House on the Medicaid issue. Not Schweitzer, who likened the secretary to ranch hands who "ride a brand." "Once they come in and work for your ranch, they toe the company line," Schweitzer said. "He seemed to be riding for the president's brand right now." latimes.com