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Politics : Right Wing Extremist Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (51372)	10/22/2005 4:10:17 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 59480

Lies Judith Miller Told Us By Joel Bleifuss In the last few months all manner of gas has been expended on the Valerie Plame case. Did Karl Rove and Scooter Libby out Plame as a CIA officer to punish her husband Joseph Wilson IV? Who else in the White House knew of or condoned this crime? And is there some kind of medal we can bestow on Judith Miller, who suffered prison to protect her First Amendment rights? Yes it makes for good drama, but in a perverse way the Plame case obscures the larger story. The media understandably finds it more interesting to ferret out the specific crimes of a Karl Rove than to reflect on the larger, more profound crime: how we were misled into invading Iraq. First, the Bush administration created a catalogue of lies and misinformation in order to justify invasion. Second, some prominent members of the national media parroted those lies. And no one squawked louder than the New York Times’ Miller. As a former CIA analyst told Salon’s James C. Moore: “The White House had a perfect deal with Miller. [U.S.-funded Iraqi dissident Ahmed] Chalabi is providing the Bush people with the information they need to support their political objectives with Iraq, and he is supplying the same material to Judy Miller. Chalabi tips her on something and then she goes to the White House, which has already heard the same thing from Chalabi, and she gets it corroborated by some insider she always describes as a ‘senior administration official.’ “ For example, on September 8, 2002, Miller reported on the front page of the Times that intercepted aluminum tubes indicated that Saddam was developing a nuclear bomb. That day, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and Dick Cheney all appeared on Sunday morning talk shows, citing Miller’s sensational exposé, which was debunked, with much less fanfare, five days later. On May 26, 2004, Times Executive Editor Bill Keller explained that an internal audit “found a number of instances of coverage that was not as rigorous as it should have been.” He cited six faulty stories about the threat posed by Iraq, all but one of which was written or co-written by Miller, who was not mentioned by name. Miller has not been hesitant to voice her belief that Saddam posed a threat. She told Moore, “I understood that these people … who hated us so much … that if they ever got their hands on WMD, they would use them. Do I have a belief that the WMD exist, and a fear? Yeah, I have a real fear for my country.” Salon’s Juan Cole, however, cautions against viewing Miller as a puppet of the neocons. He writes, “In the end, it seems that Miller will go down in history not so much as a true believer as a useful idiot.” Over the course of her legal travails, the Times published 15 editorials defending Miller’s right to protect her sources. In October, the Society of Professional Journalists bestowed Miller with its “First Amendment Award.” The decision was not without controversy. The Northern California Chapter tried to introduce a resolution that defended her right to protect her sources, but was critical of her conduct as a journalist, particularly her decision to permit Libby to “hide administration responsibility for attacks on WMD critic Joseph Wilson by allowing [Libby] to change his pre-agreed attribution from ‘senior administration official’ to ‘former hill staffer.’” In slamming the award to Miller, Fairness and Accurancy in Reporting’s Jim Naureckas wrote, “By rewarding a reporter who was apparently collaborating with and protecting a powerful official [Scooter Libby] in an effort to punish the free speech of a government critic [Joeseph Wilson], the SPJ is undermining, not advancing, the principles of the First Amendment.” Out of prison, Miller promised that once she returned to work she would cover “the same thing I’ve always covered—threats to our country.” Which means, we presume, she’ll be covering the White House. Joel Bleifuss is the editor of In These Times, where he has worked as an investigative reporter, columnist and editor since 1986. Bleifuss has had more stories on Project Censored’s annual list of the “10 Most Censored Stories” than any other journalist.

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (51372)	10/24/2005 9:58:00 AM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 59480

Oil Prices Slip As Wilma Strikes Florida By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 9:29 a.m. ET VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- Crude-oil prices slipped below $60 a barrel Monday as Hurricane Wilma crashed ashore in Florida, avoiding already battered Gulf of Mexico oil producing and refining facilities. Analysts also said perceptions of relatively plentiful supply and revised assessments showing less damage from previous hurricanes also contributed to the downward trend. Wilma made landfall near Cape Romano in southwest Florida, battering the area with 125 mph winds and pounding waves. The hurricane had sent large swells into the Gulf of Mexico on Friday, forcing several operators to evacuate workers and shut down platforms, and supporting a brief run-up in crude futures. Light, sweet crude for December delivery slipped 92 cents to $59.71 a barrel by midday in Europe in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract closed Friday at $60.63 a barrel, up 61 cents up. December Brent crude futures on the International Petroleum Exchange in London also eased, falling 89 cents to $57.59 a barrel. There was relief Monday that Wilma was staying out of the way of Gulf facilities, said commodity strategist David Thurtell of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. After moving slowly through the Caribbean and along the Mexico coast, Wilma picked up speed and strength. The storm stayed on track to spare the oil and gas production platforms and rigs concentrated in the central Gulf of Mexico, but analysts warned the hurricane season's threat to oil and gas facilities in the U.S. Gulf was not over. At least four companies operating in the U.S. Gulf evacuated nonessential workers and shut down production platforms ahead of the weekend. With the latest shutdowns, the federal Minerals Management Service said Friday more than half of oil and gas production remains off line in the aftermath of recent hurricanes. ''The hurricane season goes on till the end of November, so we're not out of the woods yet,'' Thurtell said. ''But at least the chances of another hurricane forming are getting narrower and narrower.'' Traders also watched the approach of the Northern Hemisphere winter, with some expecting big run-ups in crude prices if the winter is colder than expected. Angus McPhail of ING Financial Markets in Edinburgh, Scotland, said oil and related products are still ''vulnerable to supply tightness, particularly as we get into the Northern Hemisphere winter. ''This is not a (permanent) downturn,'' he said. Heating oil fell 3 cents to $1.8340 a gallon while gasoline dropped 4 cents to $1.6000. Natural gas fell 24 cents to $12.630 per 1,000 cubic feet. ------ Associated Press Writer Gillian Wong in Singapore contributed to this report.

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (51372)	10/24/2005 10:48:04 AM
From: Hope Praytochange	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 59480

kennyboymarketdepressed, dont bite tongue to commit suicide:Euro Dips Below $1.20 Mark in Europe By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: October 24, 2005 Filed at 10:34 a.m. ET BERLIN (AP) -- The euro dipped below $1.20 in European trading Monday, as forecasts of slower growth in Germany dimmed hopes that the European Central Bank would alter its interest rates. ''Many felt doubtful about the ECB rate-hike speculation from the start, so it's fading quickly,'' said Tetsu Aikawa, vice president of UFJ Bank's derivatives and foreign exchange marketing department. The 12-nation euro bought $1.1964 in afternoon trading, down from $1.2092 in New York late Friday. The British pound strengthened against the dollar, buying $1.7665, up from $1.7645. The dollar edged down against the Japanese currency, buying 115.37 yen compared to 115.92 yen on Friday. After weak consumer spending and high oil prices caused Germany's leading research institutes, and its outgoing government, to lower growth forecasts for this year and next to 0.8 and 1.2 percent, there was concern among traders that it could force the ECB to keep interest rates unchanged at 2 percent well in to 2006. In London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair warned Monday that European nations must form a cohesive financing plan among the 25 EU members to make it more competitive with China and India. EU leaders are set to meet Thursday to discuss it, among other things, even though the 25-member bloc is split among deregulation and protecting entrenched labor and social programs. Also Tuesday, the closely watched German Ifo business confidence survey is to be released, which could affect the euro. More Articles in Business >