Sarah Palin: The view from Alaska

(Salon.com) - Oct. 11, 2008 | JUNEAU, Alaska — I sat on the bank of the Kobuk River in northwest arctic Alaska on a mid-September morning. Upstream somewhere, wolves were howling — their chorus filling the silence, close enough that I could hear the aspiration at the end of each wavering call. Behind me, the slate-gray heave of the Brooks Range spilled off toward the north, the shapes of some peaks so familiar I’ve seen them in my sleep. The nearest highway lay 250 miles away. This is the Alaska where I spent half my life, and the only place that’s ever felt like home — the land of Eskimo villages, waves of migrating caribou and seemingly limitless space.

Though I was beyond the reach of the Internet and cellphones, and life was filled with rutting bull moose, incandescent autumn light and fresh grizzly tracks, I knew that thousands of miles to the south, the rest of the country was getting a crash course on our governor, Sarah Palin — someone who believes that climate change isn’t our fault; is dead set against a woman’s right to choose; has supported creationism in the schools; and was prayed over by a visiting minister at her church to shield her against witchcraft.

READ MORE HERE

Angry anti-Obama taunts grip McCain, Palin events

(Associated Press) - LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) — Some of the anger is getting raw at Republican rallies and John McCain is mostly letting it flare. A sense of grievance spilling into rage has gripped some GOP events as McCain supporters see his presidential campaign lag against Barack Obama. They’re making it personal, against the Democrat. Shouts of “traitor,” “terrorist,” “treason,” “liar,” and even “off with his head” have rung from the crowd at McCain and Sarah Palin rallies, and gone unchallenged by them.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Associated Press, Philip Elliott and Beth Fouhy, Oct. 11, 2008 ]

Alaska probe finds Palin abused power

(Taiwan News, Reuters) - An Alaska ethics inquiry found that Gov. Sarah Palin, the U.S. Republican vice presidential candidate, abused the power of her office by pressuring subordinates to fire a state trooper involved in a feud with her family, a report released on Friday said.

The investigation also found that the removal of Walt Monegan, the state’s public safety commissioner whose firing triggered the probe, was likely due in part to his refusal to fire Michael Wooten, the trooper involved in a contentious divorce and custody battle with the governor’s sister.

The inquiry found that while it was within the governor’s authority to dismiss Monegan, Palin violated the public trust by pressuring those who worked for her in a way that advanced her personal wishes.

READ MORE HERE

Beware government deals made secretly

(The Calgary Herald) - Before you go into the voting booth next week and do your part to help give Stephen Harper’s Conservatives a parliamentary majority, there’s something you need to think about.

Though underreported in the media, over the past few years Canada has been involved in disturbingly secretive negotiations aimed at further integrating our country with the United States.

The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America was officially launched in 2005, though there have been multiple efforts in the same vein by various governments and think tanks for a lot longer than that.

READ MORE HERE

Conservatives losing support in key ridings: poll

(CTV.ca) - The Conservatives are losing steam in key swing ridings in Ontario, B.C. and Quebec, a development that could put a majority government out of arm’s reach for Stephen Harper.

 

“The numbers are going in the wrong direction for them to win a majority,” pollster Peter Donolo of The Strategic Counsel told CTV.ca. “This is the third time this has happened to them in a row.”

 

In the both the 2004 and 2006 elections, the Conservatives lost a significant amount in the final days leading up to the election.

 

The new Battleground 2008 poll of 45 close races, conducted by The Strategic Counsel for CTV and the Globe and Mail, comes slightly more than a week before Canadians head to the ballot boxes on Oct. 14.

 

The findings also come just days after the leaders’ debates, in which Stephen Harper was put on the defensive by his opponents over his economic and environmental record.

 

“(Harper) has to do something to regain momentum,” Donolo said. “The Conservatives are doing much better in these battleground ridings than they did last time, but they were doing much better just a few days ago.”

 

In Quebec’s battleground polling from Oct. 1-4, which looked at 15 close races in the province, the Conservatives were neck-and-neck with Liberal support and well behind the Bloc Quebecois (brackets show percentage-point change from Sept. 30-Oct. 2 poll):

READ MORE HERE [ Source: CTV.ca, Oct. 5, 2008 ]

Wary of Public Outcry, Revised $800B Wall St. Bailout Stuffed with Earmarks to Sway Election-Year Incumbents

(DemocracyNow.org) - On Capitol Hill, the House is preparing to vote again on the revised $800 billion Wall Street bailout plan after rejecting a similar bill on Monday. All 432 seats in the House are up for election next month, and many “no” votes on Monday reflected lawmakers’ fears of a voter backlash for the unpopular bill. An array of “pork barrel” projects have been inserted into the legislation to win support from nervous incumbents.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: DemocracyNow.org, Oct. 3, 2008 ]

Sarah Palin Wins Debate by Darn

(dissidentvoice.org) - The vice-presidential debates proved one thing. At the very least, Sarah Palin can be trained.

For several days, she had camped out in one of John McCain’s Arizona houses, where she underwent Debate Boot camp conducted by drill instructors who make Marine DIs appear to be slaggers.

With a few “darns,” “betchas,” and “ya”s, Palin managed to get all her talking points into the debate, even if she constantly changed the question to suit her note cards.

During the 90-minute debate, Palin six times referred to her experience as the mayor of a 6,000 resident village. Seven times, she specifically mentioned Ahmadinejad. Iran’s president, proud she knew the name, proud that she could pronounce it. No one asked if she knew his first name or anything else about him. Shades of George W. Bush in his first term trying to prove he knew something about foreign affairs by enunciating the names of a few world leaders?after several gaffes early in the campaign. Of course, twice Palin was wrong about the name of the U.S. commander in Iraq. Several times she noted she and John McCain are mavericks. About the sixth time she mentioned it, Joe Biden finally unleashed his debating skills. John McCain is no maverick he said in measured response. The Republican nominee voted with President Bush four times to extend the budget deficit, said Biden, who also pointed out that McCain went along with Bush on numerous health care and education issues, most of which were regressive rather than progressive, was one of the strongest backers of going to war with Iraq, and opposed tax cuts.

READ MORE HERE

Are You Ready for President Palin?

(dissidentvoice.org) - Despite setting extremely low expectations, Republicans showed relief that Sarah Palin didn’t blow the vice presidential debate.

The difference between the two candidates was glaring. Senator Biden has participated in many momentous decisions since entering Congress in 1972. Being mayor of a town of 6300 at the remote edge of the U.S. and the governor of Alaska for 20 months pales in comparison.

“My experience as mayor will be of great use to the country,” Sarah said, before she gushed excitedly over meeting Biden at the end of the debate. Agree or disagree with his positions, Biden was elegant in his arguments. Sarah was a Lulu.

Hearing the debate on the radio missed Sarah’s winks and frozen smiles, but focused on what was said. Sarah sounded like a bright, if immature, 19-year-old on the college debate team. She avoided questions, changed or evaded the subject, delivered well-rehearsed statements, and went off on totally unrelated subjects. She avoided details and gave vast platitudes about “victory,” “mavericks,” “greed,” “U.S. exceptionalism,” and “energy independence.”

READ MORE HERE

Harper foes whip up a net storm

(rabble.ca news) - This isn’t the U.S. yet, and the results of this fall’s peculiar electoral mix won’t be decided mano-a-mano. We are a country full of different contests with their own dramas. In many ridings, unpredictable vote splits could alter the outcome. And perhaps because Stéphane Dion is so weak and the vote-shifting opportunity is so ripe, the grassroots are starting to sprout.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: rabble.ca news, Alice Klein, Sep. 18, 2008 ]

The climate crisis: Five parties, no solutions

(rabble.ca news) - Despite much sound and fury, none of the major political parties is proposing effective measures for dealing with the climate change crisis. The differences between them amount to ?Don’t do anything? versus ?Don’t do much.?

READ MORE HERE [ Source: rabble.ca news, Ian Angus, Sep. 23, 2008 ]

Hurricane Harper

(rabble.ca news) - As Nova Scotia faced up to the fearful prospect of Hurricane Kyle, all of Canada must now face the prospect of a Harper majority government. Hurricane Harper does not threaten the Atlantic provinces directly, people remember all to well the “culture of dependence” theme which Harper once evoked in talking about the region.

The Harper threat is receding in Quebec, as his negative comments about the arts and culture, and the announced intent of his government to imprison 14-year-olds with adults, has caused the popularity of his government to plummet.

Ontario is where Harper has picked up the pace and can win the seats he needs to form a majority government. Coupled with continued support on the prairies, and Liberal weakness in B.C., if the Conservatives hold on to their existing seats East of the Ottawa river, major gains in Ontario will unleash Hurricane Harper.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: rabble.ca news, Duncan Cameron, Sep. 30, 2008 ]

Indigenous people lead Bolivian democracy struggle

(rabble.ca news) - On September 11, rightist gangs massacred more than 30 unarmed supporters of the government of Evo Morales in the Bolivian state of Pando. The government of Stephen Harper has said not a word about the political terrorism in Bolivia.

A popular uprising in Bolivia is defending its government and democratic institutions against U.S.-inspired minority violence.

On September 23, about 20,000 peasants and miners marched on the eastern city of Santa Cruz, where the right-wing government has been encouraging terrorism and intimidation of Bolivia’s indigenous majority and trying to oust the government of President Evo Morales.

Popular assemblies in La Paz, Cochabamba and elsewhere in the country added to the pressure against this disruptive minority, whose supporters have killed dozens of Bolivians in recent weeks. The right-wing opposition’s banner is “autonomy” for the provinces they rule, but their real goal is to return the rich oligarchy to power.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: rabble.ca news, John Riddell, Sep. 29, 2008 ]

An open letter to Stephen Harper

(rabble.ca news) - Monsieur le premier ministre,

We are neighbours. We work across the street from one another. You are Prime Minister of the Parliament of Canada and I, across the way, am a writer, theatre director and Artistic Director of the French Theatre at the National Arts Centre (NAC). So, like you, I am an employee of the state, working for the Federal Government; in other words, we are colleagues.

Let me take advantage of this unique position, as one functionary to another, to chat with you about the elimination of some federal grants in the field of culture, something that your government recently undertook. Indeed, having followed this matter closely, I have arrived at a few conclusions that I would like to publicly share with you since, as I’m sure you will agree, this debate has become one of public interest.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: rabble.ca news, Wajdi Mouawad, Oct 1, 2008 ]

Conservative support slipping, poll suggests

(CBC.ca) - Voter support for the Conservative party has fallen a bit while that of the Liberals remains stable, the four-day running poll released by Harris/Decima on Sunday suggests.

The results are “the first bit of good news for the Liberals in a while,” Harris/Decima president Bruce Anderson said in a commentary.

The Conservatives will need to reverse the momentum suggested by the poll if they are to win a majority, Anderson said. READ MORE HERE

We Can’t Afford McCain and Palin’s Anti-Science Beliefs

(AlterNet.org: Environment) - Their combined anti-science positions may be devastating for the economy, the environment and our health.

One of the peculiar oversights of the Sarah Palin media blitz is her strong anti-science views. In keeping with her Pentecostal faith and alignment with the far right of the Republican Party, Palin is opposed to stem cell research, declaims evolution, and believes global warming to be a hoax. Of her many controversial qualities, this anti-science ideology may be the most troubling — in fact, devastating — for the economy, ecology, and health.

If the McCain-Palin ticket is elected, we would have the prospect of an administration constantly at odds with scientific advance. As vice-president, Palin would not only be the proverbial “heartbeat away” from the presidency, but the leading contender for the top spot eight years hence.

McCain himself shows some worrisome tendencies as well, supporting the teaching of “intelligent design”– the beard for anti-evolution propaganda — in schools, for example. Overall, the prospect of 8-16 years of this kind of bias sends a chill through the science community, even after years of dealing with the Bush anti-science agenda.

The Union of Concerned Scientists, an independent watchdog group, has documented dozens of cases where the U.S. government has interfered with, undermined, or falsified science in public policy over the last seven years. It is a shocking record, revolving mainly around environmental issues but ranging from abstinence-only AIDS prevention (shown repeatedly to be ineffective) to phony information about breast cancer. Bush cut funding for the National Institutes of Health and the Center for Disease Control, among other science agencies, in his final budget. Overall, he has starved non-defense R&D at a time when China, the EU and other rivals are investing vigorously.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: AlterNet.org: Environment, John Tirman, Sep. 23, 2008 ]

Sarah Palin’s Creationism Will Rape the Environment

(AlterNet.org: Environment) - The Bush admin has been a nightmare for the environment — and the nomination of Palin is an insurance policy taken out on its continuation.

Despite the media feeding frenzy, we still may be asking ourselves, “Just who exactly is Sarah Palin?” Mixed in with the Davy-Crockett-meets-SuperMom vignettes — all those moose hunting, ice fishing, snowmobiling, baby-juggling, and hockey-momming moments — we’ve also learned that she doesn’t care much for her former brother-in-law and wasn’t afraid to use her office to go after his job as a state trooper; that she was for the “bridge to nowhere” before she was against it; that she’s against earmarks unless they benefit her constituents; that she can deliver a snappy wisecracking speech, thinks banning books in libraries is okay, considers herself a pit bull with lipstick, and above all else, wants to drill the ever-lovin’ daylights out of every corner of her home state (which John McCain’s handlers have somehow translated into being against Big Oil, since she insisted on a marginally bigger cut of the profits for Alaskans).

 

Oh, and — not that this is very important to Americans or the planet — she now thinks that global warming might possibly be human-made sorta though she didn’t before, despite the fact that the state she governs is on the frontline of climate change. And, of course, she’s a classic right-wing, fundamentalist Christian: against abortion — check; against same-sex marriage — check; against stem-cell research — check; favors teaching Creationism in public schools — check.

 

It’s that last item, her willingness to put Creationism up against the teaching of evolutionary science in the classroom on a he-says-she-says basis, that’s far more revealing of just who our new Republican vice presidential candidate is than we generally assume. It deserves the long, hard look that it hasn’t yet gotten. Most Democrats and progressives tend to think of the teaching of Creationism as a mere sidebar item on their agenda of political don’t-likes, but it’s not. Sarah Palin’s bias towards Creationism is a window into her political soul and a measure of John McCain’s hypocrisy.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: AlterNet.org: Environment, Chip Ward, Tomdispatch.com, Sep. 22, 2008 ]

A Telling Palin Scandal: Her Environmental Record

(AlterNet.org: Environment) - Sarah Palin has an environmental policy so toxic it would make George W. Bush blush.

Seen from the air, Sarah Palin’s state is an environmental wonderland. From Anchorage to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, there is a vast landscape of snow-capped peaks, fjords, crystal glaciers, coastal lagoons, wide river deltas and tundra.

The guardian of this wilderness — and Governor of Alaska — has, this week, become one of the most recognisable faces in the world. But behind her beaming smile and wholesome family values is a woman aligned with the big oil and coal firms that are racing to exploit Alaska’s vast energy reserves. In the short term, that has bought her popularity at home.

“I love the woman,” the pilot on our flight shouts over the noise of the engine, “especially what she wants to do with oil, we just have to drill more, there is no alternative. What’s the point of leaving it all in the ground?”

It is a stance that guaranteed John McCain’s new running mate a rapturous reception at the Republican convention this week where the response to the coming energy crisis was a chant of “drill, baby, drill.”

But the woman who could soon be a 72-year-old’s heartbeat away from the United States presidency has an environmental policy so toxic it would make the incumbent, George Bush, blush.

Mr McCain has stressed he is concerned about global warming and has come out against drilling in the Arctic reserve. But, in recent weeks, he has wobbled on the issue. And environmentalists are describing Mrs Palin, who denies climate change is man-made, as “either grossly misinformed or intentionally misleading.”

READ MORE HERE [ Source:  AlterNet.org: Environment,  Leonard Doyle, Independent UK, Sep. 10, 2008 ]

Weird Theology in Wasilla: A Look Inside Sarah Palin’s Pentecostal Church

(Alternet.org) - On June 8, 2008 Palin was publicly blessed, with the "laying on of hands" before six thousand Wasilla area church members, by Head Wasilla Assembly of God Pastor Ed Kalnins and on the same day both Kalnins and Palin described, at a "Masters Commission" ceremony at the Wasilla Assembly of God church, how she had been blessed prior to winning the Alaska governorship by an African cleric known for driving the "spirit of witchcraft" out of a town in Kenya, after which town supposedly crime rates dropped "almost to zero."

Sarah Palin's churches are actively involved in a resurgent movement that was declared heretical by the Assemblies of God in 1949. This is the same 'Spiritual Warfare' movement that was featured in the award winning movie, "Jesus Camp," which showed young children being trained to do battle for the Lord. At least three of four of Palin's churches are involved with major organizations and leaders of this movement, which is referred to as The Third Wave of the Holy Spirit or the New Apostolic Reformation. The movement is training a young "Joel's Army" to take dominion over the United States and the world.

Along with her entire family, Sarah Palin was re-baptized at twelve at the Wasilla Assembly of God in Wasilla, Alaska and she attended the church from the time she was ten until 2002: over two and 1/2 decades. Sarah Palin's extensive pattern of association with the Wasilla Assembly of God has continued nearly up to the day she was picked by Senator John McCain as a vice-presidential running mate.

Palin's dedication to the Wasilla church is indicated by a Saturday, September 7, 2008, McClatchy news service story detailing possibly improper use of state travel funds by Palin for a trip she made to Wasilla, Alaska to attend, on June 8, 2008, both a Wasilla Assembly of God "Masters Commission" graduation ceremony and also a multi-church Wasilla area event known as "One Lord Sunday."

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Alternet.org, Bruce Wilson, September 8, 2008 ]

Sarah Palin’s Big, Sleazy Safari

(Alternet.org) - Most people had never heard of Sarah Palin when she was named the Republican VP nominee. But I'd been hearing her name all too often, because I belong to a group called Defenders of Wildlife -- and in her time as governor of Alaska, Palin has used her position as governor of Alaska to ruin the Alaskan wilderness in every way she could.

Her most recent "victory" came on Aug. 26, when Alaska's voters defeated Measure 2, an initiative that would have banned hunting wolves from airplanes for sport.

Palin organized a campaign against Measure 2 and funded it with $400,000 of state money. For most of us, the idea of zooming around in a private airplane over snowbound wilderness just for the chance to spot a terrified wild dog and blow it apart with a high-powered rifle is insane. But there's a whole culture out there in love with the idea. Palin did her part by playing the tired old Alaskan pioneer card, saying that lower-48 naysayers who dared to object to the idea of dive-bombing wildlife didn't "understand rural Alaska."

Alaska isn't really very hard to understand. It consists of a minority that loves the wilderness and an overwhelmingly Republican majority that wants to squeeze all the cash it can get out of the state before the oil dries up, the fish die out and the wildlife disappears. Nowhere else does the Republican formula of manipulating the suckers by playing on their silly hatreds and even sillier vanities play out more clearly than in Alaska.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Alternet.org, John Dolan, September 2, 2008 ]

What is the Carbon Footprint of McCain’s Countless Homes?

(Alternet.org) - If McCain can't even keep count of the number of homes he has, you can bet he has no idea on their environmental impact.

I'd estimate it's about 150 tons of carbon dioxide, some 10 times that of the average American. But someone should ask Senator McCain. After all, he says he wants to require all Americans to cut greenhouse gas emissions 60 percent to 70 percent by 2050.

As probably the whole country knows by now, John McCain does not know how many homes he owns. But the number seems to be between seven and 12, depending on whether you count his Sedona ranch as one house or six.

Given how conservatives beat up Vice President Gore for the supposed energy excesses of his one Nashville home, I can't wait until they start running TV ads attacking McCain's climate hypocrisy. [Note to self: Don't hold your breath.] After all, McCain fashions himself as a leader on global warming, just like Gore, but his combined homes have a considerably larger square footage than Gore's -- and thus presumably a much larger energy use. That said, the energy use of McCain's homes is infinitely less relevant than their greenhouse gas emissions (see "GOP Attack on Gore Makes No Sense At All").

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Alternet.org, Joseph Romm, August 22, 2008 ]

The medal table will demonstrate the new world order – with China on top

(BlackListed News) - Gold medal tables throughout the modern Olympic era have offered a fascinating snapshot of global power – coupled, it must be said, with home advantage

They are little golden baubles that signify only athletic prowess, in disciplines as irrelevant to raw political muscle as gymnastics and beach volleyball.

But gold medal tables throughout the modern Olympic era have offered a fascinating snapshot of global power – coupled, it must be said, with home advantage. And with resignation rather than any burning sense of failure, America is virtually conceding in advance that at the Beijing Games of August 2008, China will seal its international emergence by knocking the United States off its golden throne.

If you have any doubts that the past 100 years have been the American century, the Olympics should banish them. True, back when a quarter of the world was coloured pink in the atlas, Britain dominated proceedings at the Home Games in London in 1908, winning 56 golds, more than double the American haul of 23. But thereafter the US ruled, until the emergence of a rival superpower. Between 1956 and 1988, America and the Soviet Union (abetted on occasion by its steroid-fuelled surrogate East Germany) battled for gold medal supremacy, a duel interrupted only by the reciprocal boycotts of the 1980 and 1984 Games in Moscow and Los Angeles respectively.

After the collapse of Communism in 1991, the US was back in the driving seat. But China was creeping up in the rear view mirror. In Los Angeles in 1984 – the Middle Kingdom's first Games after a quarter-century boycott during the Mao era – China won 15 gold medals, the fourth largest national haul.

By Sydney 2000, it had climbed to third, and at the last Olympics, in Athens four years ago, it came second, behind the US. This time the progression should reach its climax. If the old yardstick of global might plus home advantage is any guide, China should make it to number one. Such, too, is the best guess of US prognosticators. An analysis in yesterday's USA Today predicts that China will top the medal count over the next fortnight, with 51 golds compared with 43 for the US.

It will be the first time in 72 years that a country other than the US or the former Soviet Union heads the table – the last being Germany at the Hitler Games of 1936, (another example of how rising national power plus home advantage has been a reliable gauge of Olympic dominance). But there is no gnashing of teeth here, merely an acceptance that the US is looking at second place. "We're not used to being an underdog," Pete Ueberroth, who ran the Los Angeles Games and now chairs the US national Olympic Committee, told USA Today. "So we'll get used to that and do our best."

This may be a case of the politicians' game of downplaying expectations. But all the non-sporting, as well as the sporting, indicators are pointing south for the US. Its economy is in the biggest crisis of a generation, its global reputation has tumbled, its relative power is waning. It is tempting to see these Games as a hinge of history, the passage from the former American century to a new Chinese one. But there is little of the bitter antagonism that used to mark the US rivalry with the Soviets during the Olympics of the Cold War. For one thing, there is relatively little sporting overlap. The US still dominates in track and field and swimming, while much of China's medal haul will come in events which barely figure on the radar screen here.

More important, however, for all the complaints about its human rights record, China just isn't perceived to be that threatening.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Times Online, Rupert Cornwell ]

ACTIVISM: Beijing Olympics: How to stage a protest

(Telegraph.co.uk) - But for those who do not wish to take the risk of arrest and deportation, there is another, perfectly legal way to get heard at the Olympics: Chinese authorities have earmarked three “designated protest zones” around the capital city.

Such zones have been a feature of every Olympics since Sydney in 2000, and for China they are a response to criticisms that freedom of speech would be limited during the event. They are, however, a far cry from Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park.

For one, they are tucked away in hard-to reach suburbs, seven miles from the main Olympic stadium. And for another, the rules on exactly who can demonstrate and about what are as strict and complex and as any in China’s byzantine bureaucracy. Human rights activists have branded them as worthless “protest pens” and predict they are likely to stay empty for the duration of the Games.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Telegraph.co.uk, David Eimer, August 9, 2008 ]

ACTIVISM: Canadian among pro-Tibet protesters removed from Tiananmen Square

(CBC.ca) - Five activists, including a 24-year-old Canadian, were taken away by police Saturday after holding a protest in Tiananmen Square over China’s policies in Tibet.

Montrealer Chris Schwartz, a student at Concordia University and longtime member of the pro-Tibetan movement, was among a group of activists from Students for a Free Tibet.

The other protesters came from the United States and Germany. There are reports the five are facing deportation for staging the mock “die-in,” starting around 12:30 p.m. local time.

Members of the group covered their mouths with fake blood and pretended to be dead before rising up and chanting slogans in support of human rights and the Tibetan cause, according to journalists who were invited to witness the event.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: CBC.ca, August 9. 2008 ]

Bush criticizes China before visit to Beijing Olympics

(CBC.ca) - U.S. President George W. Bush delivered a strong condemnation of China’s approach toward the freedom and rights of its citizens Thursday in a speech on the eve of a visit to the host of the 2008 Olympic Games.

In Thailand as part of a three-country tour through Asia, Bush said his country supports a free press, free assembly and labour rights, and that China must follow that example if it hopes to prosper.

“America stands in firm opposition to China’s detention of political dissidents and human rights advocates and religious activists,” Bush said in Bangkok.

“We press for openness and justice not to impose our beliefs, but to allow the Chinese people to express theirs.”

READ MORE HERE [ Source: CBC.ca, August 7, 2008 ]

China tells Bush to stay out of other countries’ affairs

(CBC.ca) - Chinese officials have told U.S. President George W. Bush to stay out of other countries’ affairs after he condemned Beijing’s human rights record before heading to the Olympic Games.

“We resolutely oppose any words or actions which interfere in the internal affairs of another country in the name of issues such as human rights and religion,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Thursday in a statement on its website that was translated by the Associated Press.

The statement was published hours after Bush criticized China’s approach to freedom and rights of citizens in a speech in Thailand during a three-country tour of Asia before heading to China for Friday’s Olympic opening ceremonies.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: CBC.ca, August 7, 2008 ]

Pro-Tibet protesters defy security near Beijing’s Olympic Stadium

(CBC.ca) - Police in Beijing on Wednesday detained several foreign protesters who breached tight security and unfurled a banner calling for a free Tibet, as the Olympic torch made its way through the city.

Two of the protesters scaled a lamp post near the city’s now iconic stadium, known as “Bird’s Nest” Stadium, where in just two days the world’s athletes and thousands of spectators will gather for the Games’ Opening Ceremonies.

It came as Chinese authorities are on high alert after an attack in the northwestern province of Xinjiang that killed 16 police officers and wounded 16 others. The attack is believed to have been carried out by Muslim Uyghur separatists.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: CBC.ca, August 6, 2008 ]

Richard Viguerie: Bush White House Hides True Scope of Federal Deficit

Olympic journalists face web restraints

(CBC.ca) - Journalists covering the Beijing Games will not have uncensored internet access, Chinese and Olympic officials have confirmed.

Foreign media had complained about being unable to access politically sensitive websites such as that of Amnesty International, which on Tuesday accused China of failing to live up to its promise to improve human rights.

China is known for rigid internet controls, but said during the Olympics bidding process that foreign media would have “complete freedom to report” at the Summer Games, which begin Aug. 8.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: CBC.ca ]

22 McCain Lies About Obama More than Just “Going Negative”

(BuzzFlash.net) - The news toady seems to be concentrating on the question of whether McCain’s "going negative" could have the effect of working against him. They pundits hem and haw, discuss the pros and cons and in the end determine it might hurt him some, but not near as much as it hurts Obama. They may be right, but only because the question is framed wrong. The question they should be asking is whether "lying" is helping McCain, because, whether out of his own mouth, through messages he’s approved, or through people speaking on behalf of his campaign, the "Straight Talk Express" is lying through his teeth. Here are 22 lies about Obama...

» original news

Forgetting His Vote To Allow Waterboarding, McCain (R-Idiot) Says ‘We Could Never Torture Anyone’

(BuzzFlash.net) - In February, Sen. John McCain (R-Idiot) voted against a bill banning the CIA from waterboarding and using other torture tactics in their interrogations. When the bill passed, McCain urged Bush to veto it, which he did. In an interview with Newsweek published this week, McCain defended his position, insisting that the CIA plays “a special role” in defending the U.S. and thus should be allowed to use harsh interrogation tactics such as waterboarding, but also said "We could never torture anyone". McCain’s vote against the waterboarding ban did make one thing clear: that he condones torture.

» original news

FactCheck.Org Gets It Right: McCain’s (R-Idiot) Troop Visit Attack Ad Is False

(BuzzFlash.net) - FactCheck.org comes through with a bracing takedown of the McCain (R-Idiot) ad falsely attacking Obama over the canceled troop visit, concluding the same thing we've been yelling all day: McCain's (R-Idiot) facts are literally true, but his insinuation -- that the visit was canceled because of the press ban or the desire for gym time -- is false. In fact, Obama visited wounded troops earlier -- without cameras or press -- both in the U.S. and Iraq. And his gym workouts are a daily routine...

» original news

Olympics Journalists Urged To Use Crypto, to Thwart Chinese Spying

(Wired: Threat Level) -  Journalists covering the Olympics in Beijing ought to consider using virtual private networks and avoiding the use of instant messenger to interview subjects for stories, says Rebecca MacKinnon, CNN's former Beijing bureau chief and University of Hong Kong new media professor.

"If you are trying to work on sensitive stories that may be beyond topics that perhaps the Chinese government might be happy about you reporting, if you’re communicating with sources who might be under surveillance, you  need to make sure that you’re using secure e-mail and that you’re using a secure internet connection," she says.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Wired: Threat Level, Sarah Lai Stirland, stirland@gmail.com ]

Geopolitics - July 9

(EnergyBulletin.net) - India left hits out at government, The Iraqi Oil Ministry's new fave five, Iran to "hit Tel Aviv, U.S. ships" if attacked.

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Education and an aging population

(Macleans) - Studies predict fewer teachers needed in Ontario, more "moderatist" profs in the United States. READ MORE HERE [ Source: Macleans.ca, Nick Taylor-Vaisey ]

Cyclists frown at fees for Yukon College bike lockers

Some Whitehorse residents are giving Yukon College the gears over its new bicycle lockers, for which the college is charging $25 a month.

About a dozen lockers have been installed around the college’s Whitehorse campus in an effort to encourage people to switch from cars to bikes.

But e-mails have been flying among cyclists and environmental advocates, who point out the irony of the college charging for bicycle storage while it offers free parking and free electrical plugs for cars in the winter.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: CBC.ca ]

US politicians find ways to play on racial fears

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Republican congressional candidate in a majority-white Mississippi district runs ads trying to tie his Democratic rival with Barack Obama’s former pastor, seen by some as an anti-white firebrand. Democrats distribute fliers accusing the Republican of wanting a statue to honor the founder of the Ku Klux Klan….

READ MORE HERE [ Source: The Associated Press ]

Poll: Terrorism fears are fading