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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sandintoes who wrote (709567)	10/28/2005 9:22:11 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Respond to of 769670

<G> When was the last time you knew of a speedy 'official commission'? :) I thought that the quantification of the fraud amounts was fairly interesting: <$64 Billion program, $1.8 Billion siphoned off in kickbacks to Saddam. That's a little over 2.8%.> Mr. Volcker noted that in the years immediately preceding the program, smuggling of Iraqi oil in much larger amounts had been going on for years to the benefit of the economies of American allies, including Jordan and Turkey. In his last report, Mr. Volcker said this smuggling amounted to $10.99 billion. <Thus, pre-program smuggling, through the territories of American allies amounted to a much larger total: over 17% of the total dollar amount of the sanctioned Oil for Food program.>

To: sandintoes who wrote (709567)	10/29/2005 11:40:35 AM
From: paret	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

[MUSLIM] Extremists behead three Christian students in Indonesia Bangkok Post ^ \| 29 October 2005 \| Bangkok Post Jakarta (dpa) - Three Christian students were beheaded and three others wounded in the eastern Indonesian province of Central Sulawesi Saturday, following a new violence in the region torn by sectarian conflict. The bodies of the Christian students, who lived at the same village in Poso district town, were found at different places, with their heads taken as far as 25 kilometres away, the state-run Antara news agency reported. The three students were killed while they were on their way to school, about nine kilometres from their homes. Another three students had suffered serious stab wounds in the attack, Antara said. Local police authorities were investigating the murders, the latest incident in a series of violence in Central Sulawesi in recent months. Meanwhile, Central Sulawesi police pursued a suspect believed to have detonated a bomb in a minibus in the nearby district of Parigi on Thursday. One person had been seriously in jured in the blast. Investigations had shown that the bomb was a low-explosive home- made device using black powder - a mixture of sodium nitrate, charcoal and sulphur - and ball bearings, police said. Detonators, a fuse and nine-volt battery had also been found inside the van. In late May, two powerful blasts had ripped an open market in Tentena sub-district of Poso regency, killing at least 22 people and injuring more than 50 others. Poso and its nearby regions have been wracked by communal clashes between Moslem and Christian communities, leaving more than 1,000 dead in 2000 and 2001. Indonesia is the world's most populous Moslem nation, but Central Sulawesi has roughly equal numbers of Moslems and Christians. ------------------------------------------------------------- NEVER says the MUSLIMS did it. Never will.

To: sandintoes who wrote (709567)	10/29/2005 11:43:27 AM
From: paret	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Some See Indictment as 'a Devastating Day for Journalism' Los Angeles Times ^ \| October 29, 2005 \| James Rainey and Matea Gold, Times Staff Writers Accustomed to telling the story rather than being at the center of it, three journalists faced the extraordinary prospect Friday of holding key information that could send a top White House operative to prison. A variety of media watchers said they found that prospect chilling. In what promises to be an uncommonly media-centric prosecution, Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald charged vice presidential Chief of Staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby largely based on the testimony of journalists: NBC's Tim Russert, Time magazine White House correspondent Matthew Cooper and New York Times reporter Judith Miller. They contradicted Libby under oath, exposing him to charges of obstructing justice, making false statements and perjury. And Libby, who had been Vice President Dick Cheney's top aide until he resigned Friday, sought to use the media in his alibi — telling investigators he had not leaked the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame but was at the end of a long chain of journalists who passed on a rumor. On at least three occasions during his news conference Friday, Fitzgerald cautioned journalists and the public not to fear that the case would open the floodgates to prosecutors demanding testimony from journalists about their confidential sources. "I do not think that reporters should be subpoenaed anything close to routinely," said the prosecutor. "It should be an extraordinary case. But … what is different here is the transaction here is between a person and a reporter; they're the eyewitness to the crime." Some media analysts said they appreciated Fitzgerald's assurances and acknowledgment of the importance of reporters protecting confidential sources. But they also worried that the prosecutor's actions could set an unfortunate precedent. (Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...