mind-blowing war news o'the day for tuesday april first 2003.

featuring a few stories of compassion and bravery, amongst the mind-blowing mind-blowingness.

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http://www.nationnews.com/StoryView.cfm?Record=36030&Section=LO&Current=2003%2D03%2D30%2000%3A00%3A00

Within the next few days, the United States plans to ask Barbados and its Caricom neighbours to help block any attempt to haul Washington before the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Tribunal to answer charges of abuses in Iraq.

...A diplomatic source at the UN [said that] “Jamaica, Barbados, St Vincent, Guyana and so on should expect to receive a diplomatic note in the next few days asking for support in this regard. The United States would consider it a supreme international embarrassment if the matter goes before a human rights panel."

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=544&e=3&u=/ap/20030331/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush

PHILADELPHIA - President Bush said Monday that... Iraqi President Saddam Hussein "may try to bring terror to our shores" in retaliation for the war in Iraq.

..."We're coming with a mighty force to end the reign of your oppressors," Bush said, addressing Iraqis who might be listening from afar. "We are coming to bring you food and medicine and a better life. And we are coming and we will not stop, we will not relent until your country is free."

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http://www.salon.com/politics/wire/2003/03/26/torture/index.html

Foreigners who have tortured and abused people overseas should not be allowed into the United States, according to a bipartisan bill introduced Wednesday in the Senate. ‘‘We are not a nation that tolerates evil, and cannot do so in this instance," said Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah... Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., and Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., are introducing a companion bill in the House. ‘‘We cannot allow torturers and killers in other countries to enjoy freedom in America," Foley said.

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http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=focusIraqNews&storyID=2482845

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - "The Iraqi people will be free of decades and decades and decades of torture and oppression the likes of which I think the world has not ever seen before," Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke told a Pentagon news conference... Saddam has been condemned for his exceptional brutality against his own people but historians generally agree that Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler and Soviet leader Josef Stalin were responsible for killing more people than any other dictators in world history.

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http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20030331&Category=NEWS28&ArtNo=103310088&Ref=AR

DOHA, Qatar - The ground war began when it did because the U.S. military saw an opportunity to prevent Saddam Hussein from destroying the oilfields in southern Iraq, Gen. Tommy Franks told reporters here yesterday.

..."The very best plan is one that ensures ultimate success but that permits early success," he said. "Where we stand today is not only acceptable in my view, it is remarkable."

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http://sg.news.yahoo.com/030331/1/39lp1.html

Twenty people, including 11 children, were killed Saturday when a nighttime air raid hit a farm near Baghdad, relatives told AFP. Another 10 people were wounded in the attack, according to... the two survivors [who] were the only residents to escape unharmed from the ruins of the homes.

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http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Iraq/0,6119,2-10-1460_1341016,00.html

Janabiyah, Iraq - Bloodied school books and children's shoes lie amidst animal carcasses on the road leading to the Ismails' farm... A neighbour told an AFP journalist that two missiles fired by coalition warplanes on Saturday night caught five sleeping families living on the farm... "Five children were turned into human torches in this house because of the gas cylinders inside," one of the two survivors said... "Their bodies protected me because I was in a corner." A neighbour, with missile debris in his hands, said: "That is Bush's democracy. They want us to welcome them with flowers. Look what they've done."

...AFP journalists have witnessed five such incidents in which civilians were the primary victims of a coalition strike... US and British war planners have declared their intent to minimise civilian casualties... [and] have also suggested that some of the blasts might have been the result of misguided Iraqi anti-missile missiles.

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=540&ncid=716&e=2&u=/ap/20030331/ap_on_re_mi_ea/war_us_military

U.S. troops killed seven Iraqi women and children at a checkpoint Monday when the Iraqis' van would not stop as ordered, U.S. Central Command said.

...The Pentagon, meanwhile, said U.S. warplanes dropped 3,000 precision-guided bombs over the weekend.

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http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/fortwayne/news/local/5523981.htm

AMMAN, Jordan - Bruised and bleeding, in need of medical care, the Americans stranded in Iraq's western desert [after crashing their car] approached the mud-brick town and found the hospital destroyed by bombs. "Why? Why?" a doctor demanded of them. "Why did you Americans bomb our children's hospital?" ...The account of a group of American peace activists, which includes Cliff Kindy of North Manchester, Ind., was the first confirmation of a report last week that a hospital in Rutbah was bombed Wednesday... The U.S. military has said it is doing its best to avoid civilian casualties.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63045-2003Mar31.html

U.S. commanders have instructed troops to... employ a range of tougher tactics... "Everyone is now seen as a combatant until proven otherwise," a Pentagon official said, detailing some of the new measures... Army Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, briefing reporters at U.S. Central Command headquarters in Qatar yesterday, said... U.S. forces remain "primarily focused on protecting civilian populations, not destroying them. We'll continue with that."

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http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour/story/0,9061,927131,00.html

Labour MP George Galloway defended himself today against accusations of treachery after he... [gave ] an interview with Abu Dhabi TV broadcast on Friday... Mr Galloway insisted today that he stood by all of his comments, arguing that the war was illegal and urging British soldiers to refuse to obey what were "illegal orders".

"The wolves are Bush and Blair, not the soldiers. The soldiers are lions led by donkeys, sent to kill and be killed. As for being a traitor, the people who have betrayed this country are those who have sold it to a foreign power and who have been the miserable surrogates of a bigger power for reasons very few people in Britain can understand," he said.

The MP denied that his interview amounted to incitement for Arabs to kill British troops. He added: "The best thing British troops can do is to refuse to obey illegal orders." His comments were condemned by the armed forces minister Adam Ingram. "Are there no depths to which George Galloway will not sink?" he said.

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/04/01/nhoon01.xml/

Substantial reinforcement of British forces in Iraq was ruled out for the time being by Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, yesterday... About 45,000 servicemen and women had been judged to be sufficient. "Nothing has changed my assessment of that position," he told Bernard Jenkin, shadow defence spokesman.

Mr Hoon and [Tony Blair] launched a concerted effort to counter suggestions of splits among military chiefs and political leaders over the running of the war. He claimed that much of the problem had been caused by commentators suggesting that it would be a short conflict with little or no resistance.

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http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=focusIraqNews&storyID=2480723

TOTALS:

U.S. AND BRITISH MILITARY CASUALTIES-- 46 U.S. killed and 17 missing; 25 British killed.

IRAQI CASUALTIES-- Iraqi military -- no reliable figures. Iraqi civilians (Iraqi estimates) -- At least 589 killed.

...JOURNALISTS KILLED: ...Australian cameraman Paul Moran killed by car bomb in northern Iraq blamed by Kurdish officials on militant Islamic group Ansar al-Islam... Terry Lloyd, a journalist from Britain's Independent Television News, killed.

...MISSING: Two journalists from Britain's Independent Television News are still believed missing... Molly Bingham, an American journalist who was former Vice President Al Gore's photographer is missing... The New York newspaper Newsday said it still had no word on its reporter Matt McAllester, 33, and photographer Moises Saman, 29.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61888-2003Mar31.html

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Daily Mirror said on Tuesday it had hired veteran U.S reporter Peter Arnett, sacked by American TV network NBC after he told Iraqi television the U.S, war plan against Saddam Hussein had failed. "I report the truth of what is happening in Baghdad and will not apologize for it," he told the tabloid newspaper.

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http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_766180.html?menu=news.wariniraq

The CIA has stopped trying to persuade Iraqi generals and political leaders to defect... A three-month campaign using telephone calls, e-mails and face-to-face appeals has failed to convince any help overthrow Saddam Hussein. "We misjudged their tenacity," an American intelligence official has told USA Today. "These guys are driven by a hatred of the US that we may have underestimated."

...Iraqi Major General Ali Musa Ramadan said [that]... he and his colleagues "laugh and hang up" on Iraqi opposition leaders when they make the offers, he said.

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http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=1503&u=/afp/20030329/ts_afp/iraq_war_civilians_030329211652&printer=1

CENTRAL IRAQ (AFP) - Iraqi civilians fleeing heavy fighting have stunned and delighted hungry US marines in central Iraq by giving them food. Sergeant Kenneth Wilson said Arabic-speaking US troops [!!! --mrs.h] made contact with two busloads of Iraqis fleeing south along Route Seven towards Rafit, one of the first friendly meetings with local people for the marines around here. "They had slaughtered lambs and chickens and boiled eggs and potatoes for their journey out of the frontlines," Wilson said... Women passed out food to the troops, who have had to ration their army-issue packets of ready-to-eat meals.

...Corpsman Tony Garcia said... "They gave us eggs and potatoes to feed our marines and corpsmen. I feel the local population are grateful and they want to see an end to Saddam Hussein," he said... Lance Corporal David Polikowsky stood guard over 70 POWS... He said another group of POWS, largely conscripts, had been moved south. "They told me they wanted to go to America after the war. I said where. They said California. I said why? They said the song Hotel California and they left singing Hotel California."

...Garcia and Wilson are attached to a Shock Trauma Platoon with the Marine Expeditionary Force and have treated about 20 civilians for war-related wounds in the past five days. As troops munched on their feast, one medic warned the food could have been deliberately contaminated. He was quickly disregarded as the hungry marines forged ahead..."Man I never thought a boiled egg could taste so damn good," one burly marine observed.

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http://www.prolog.net/webnews/wed/dh/Qiraq-war-vatican.RjYY_DMV.html

VATICAN CITY, March 31 (AFP) - Radio Vatican is going all out to spread Pope John Paul II's anti-war message around the world... "Unlike other broadcasters, we don't go on about the number of missiles fired at Baghdad or the number of tanks charging through the desert," Arregui, a Jesuit from Spain's Basque region, told AFP. "... [We] bring live coverage of the consequences of the destruction of the communications and water infrastructures. In other words, the disasters caused by the conflict," he added.n"Our interviews are devoted to public health workers and hospitals, to the sicknesses and epidemics that may end up killing more people than bombs." ...Between 500 and 600 Catholic stations on four continents -- concentrated in the Americas, Europe and the Near and Middle East -- broadcast Radio Vatican's daily coverage of the war.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,926965,00.html

The first American conscientious objector from the Iraq war will give himself up at a marine base in California this morning. He said he believed the war was "immoral because of the deception involved by our leaders". Stephen Eagle Funk, 20, a marine reserve who was due to be sent for combat duty, is currently on "unauthorised absence" from his unit. He faces a possible court martial and time in military prison for his action. "I know I have to be punished... but I would rather take my punishment now than live with what I would have to do [in Iraq] for the rest of my life."

..."The ads make the armed forces look so cool - 'Call this number and we'll send you a free pair of boxer shorts' - and a lot of kids don't realise what's involved," he said.

Although he graduated from the famously tough marine boot camp in San Diego and excelled as a rifleman during the 12-week induction period, Mr Funk said he had started to have doubts about military service during his training. "Every day in combat training you had to yell out 'Kill! Kill!' and we would get into trouble if you didn't shout it out..." The recruits were also encouraged to hurt each other during hand-to- hand combat training. "I couldn't do that so they would pair me up with someone who was very violent or aggressive."

Mr Funk said many recruits were envious of those who were being sent to the Gulf. "They would say things like, 'Kill a raghead for me - I'm so jealous.'" As a Catholic who attended mass most Sundays during training, he eventually decided to take his concerns to the chaplain. "He said, 'It's a lot easier if you just give in and don't question authority.' He quoted the Bible at me and said, 'Jesus says to carry a sword.' But I don't think Jesus was a violent man-- in fact, the opposite. And I don't think God takes sides in war."

...At shooting practice, although he scored well, the instructor told him he had an attitude problem: "I was a little pissed off and I said, 'I think killing people is wrong.' That was the crystallising moment because I had never said it out loud before. It was such a relief."

This morning, accompanied by his lawyer...he will arrive at his home base in San Jose, change into his uniform and give himself up.

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remember this story? from sunday march 30th

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s819685.htm

Thousands of marines have been given a pamphlet called "A Christian's Duty," a mini prayer book which includes a tear-out section to be mailed to the White House pledging the soldier who sends it in has been praying for Bush.... according to a journalist embedded with coalition forces. The pamphlet, produced by a group called In Touch Ministries, offers a daily prayer to be made for the US president, a born-again Christian who likes to invoke his God in speeches.

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well, here's the pamphlet. not a satire. excerpted, obviously, to highlight the "christian's duty"

http://www.intouch.org/War/duty_38088298.html

...Not only should we respond to a crisis with prayer, we should respond with fervent prayer... When you begin to seek the Lord during this time, He will show you things that you may not sense at other times.

...In our prayer, it is also important that we focus on the Person and power of God... First concentrate on the many wonderful characteristics of God; for example, the fact that He is merciful, forgiving, always in control, and willing to intervene.

...Our prayers should be offered with a spirit of... total dependence upon God... despite the great military forces of today, we cannot trust our own abilities, but must depend upon the almighty God. Though He may choose to use the military to accomplish His purposes, He alone ordains what happens during warfare. The important thing is that we do not attempt to proudly handle situations on our own.

...We can also pray with confidence that God is always with us, and that He alone determines the outcome of the battle... God not only hears us, He also carries out His sovereign will... We do not know what may happen or what we should do at times; so, we must pray for the Lord’s will.

...We should also be willing to do whatever the Lord requires of us. Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah are great examples of obedience to God. He told them not to fight, but to simply stand on the battlefield... They obeyed Him, and the Lord saved Judah by destroying their enemies right before their eyes!

...Foremost, God desires that we surrender our pride... He will fulfill His perfect will for our good and for His glory. God is the only defense for a nation under attack.

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today's "Tuesday" prayer for the president.

http://www.itmimg.org/images/duty_brochure2.pdf

PRAY that the President and his advisors will have the unified support of the American people as well as that of other countries around the world. "Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed." - TITUS 3:1

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What will the Marines be praying on Friday?

http://www.itmimg.org/images/duty_brochure2.pdf

PRAY that the President and his advisors will recognize their divine appointment, and will govern accordingly, in compassion, mercy, and truth. "Every person is to be in subjection to the gove rn i n g a u t h o ri t i e s. Fo r there is no authori t y except from God, and those which exist are established by God." - ROMANS 13:1

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http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_222087,0008.htm

Tucked in the classifieds of national Indian dailies on Wednesday was an advertisement that... calls for applications from "non-Muslims only" for sundry jobs at the US base in northern Kuwait. The US base "urgently requires" lift operators, store keepers, clerks, typists, security guards and drivers. The advertisement insists that the applicants, besides being non-Muslims, should speak English and be below 35.

..."The Americans are strict that we should only process applications sent in by non-Muslims," [temp agency] Rehman Enterprises' head Abdul Rehman told the Hindustan Times on Wednesday... There is an unmistakable sense of urgency in the advertisement which asks applicants to "contact immediately with relevant documents".

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http://www.prospect.org/print-friendly/webfeatures/2003/03/kuttner-r-03-27.html

Thanks to the distractions of war, bizarre budget resolutions are swiftly moving through Congress and will be law by mid-April... We [sic] are rushing through an immense tax cut... The budget enacted by the Republican House... is astonishing. It not only gives Bush his entire tax cut but proposes to balance the budget within six years.

...The House Republicans are cutting, of all things, veterans benefits... The Republicans want to charge premiums [for health care] to "well-to-do" vets -- with well-to-do defined as earning $26,000.00 a year... The House budget cuts an amazing $14,600,000,000.00 in vets' programs, including money for disabilities caused by war wounds, rehabilitation and health care, pensions for low income veterans, education and housing benefits, and even -- nice touch -- burial benefits.

...The House Republican budget cuts education funding by 10.2% below the reduced level proposed by President Bush, which had proposed to cut several billion previously approved by Congress.

...The Republicans are [also] shortchanging the Nunn-Lugar program, the bipartisan effort to dismantle the nuclear arsenal of the former Soviet Union. ...There's more: $93,000,000,000.00 in Medicaid cuts; a skimpy prescription drug program financed by other massive cuts in Medicare; huge environmental cuts. As astonishing as the slap to veterans is a slight cut in real outlays for homeland security... There is no new money for port security. Even the administration's "first-responder" initiative comes from cuts in other law enforcement aid.

...These budget assaults are not mainly the result of war. Mainly they go to pay for the cost of tax cuts. The final cost of the war, occupation and rebuilding may reach $200,000,000,000.00 [though Bush expects it to be less than half of that --mrs. h]. The cost of the two Bush tax cuts is over $3,000,000,000,000.00 [that's FIFTEEN TIMES MORE dollars, fellas --mrs. h].

... One final issue lost in the fog of war is the effort by tax reformers to close the loophole that allows [expletive deleted] U.S. companies to move to offshore tax havens. The IRS puts the cost to the U.S. Treasury at around $70,000,000,000.00 a year -- about the direct cost of the Iraq war. It's an instructive contrast: ordinary American soldiers slogging through the sands of Iraq while Bush's corporate cronies relax on a sandy, tax-free beach.

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http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,58270,00.html

A Justice Department proposal to create a database containing the DNA of suspected terrorists has raised fears that the measure would lead to so-called DNA dragnets... The Terrorist Identification Database Act of 2003 is buried deep within the department's secretly drafted Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003 -- known colloquially as Patriot Act II. It would empower the attorney general to collect DNA samples for the purpose of "detecting, investigating, prosecuting, preventing or responding to terrorist activities."

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http://www.tvweek.com/technology/030303isyourtv.html

Under the USA Patriot Act, passed a month after the 9/11 terrorist attack, the feds can force a noncable TV operator to disclose every show you have watched. The government just has to say that the request is related to a terrorism investigation, said Jay Stanley, a technology expert for the American Civil Liberties Union. Under Section 215 of the Act, you don't even have to be the target of the investigation. Plus, your TV provider is prohibited from informing you that the feds have requested your personal information.

...David Sobel, general counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington think tank, said the Cable Act of 1984 gives cable operators greater protection against the Patriot Act. Cable companies do not have to release an individual's records unless the feds show that the person is the target of a criminal investigation. Even then, the individual must be notified of the request, which he can then challenge in court. "The Patriot Act does not override the Cable Act," Mr. Sobel said.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2894987.stm

A band of US politicians are angered over plans to build a communication system in post-war Iraq based upon European wireless standards. Members of the US Congress are adding their names to a letter drafted by Californian republican Darrell Issa objecting to the use of US funds to build a GSM network in Iraq after Saddam has gone. They want the government to use the US-developed CDMA standard instead.

..."If European GSM technology is deployed in Iraq, much of the equipment would be manufactured in France, Germany and elsewhere in western and northern Europe," reads the letter addressed to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. "CDMS is widely recognised as technically superior to European GSM technology. If the US Government deploys US-developed CDMA in Iraq, then American companies will manufacture most of the necessary equipment," the letter goes on.

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http://www.austin360.com/aas/news/iraq/0303/0327bagdad.html

As the war in Iraq raged, life went on as usual inside the secure gates of Bagdad, the elementary school that teachers and students will tell you is not spelled with an "h." ...In addition to the elementary, there is a Bagdad Cemetery in Leander and a Bagdad Road... There's also Bagdad Avenue in Round Rock, another Bagdad Road in Grand Prairie and Bagdad Way in El Paso. There are at least four U.S. cities called Bagdad, in Arizona, Kentucky, Tennessee and Florida.

...[Locals now report that] Bagdad comes from the name of a town settled just to the west... The settlers named it after a community in Jackson County, Tenn... Bagdad, Tenn., got its name from a farmer and his son who were shelling grain, said Ronny West, a Jackson County historian. "They would say, 'Bag, Dad, bag, Dad,' " he said.

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http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1035780144097&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968350060724

SANTA FE, N.M.—New Mexico state lawmakers have set about exorcising Satan from the state highway system. U.S. 666 is the accursed road in question, a tortuous stretch of federal highway that runs north from Gallup, in western New Mexico, into Colorado and Utah... [now demonized] thanks to the Biblical reference in the Book of Revelation to 666 as the "Number of the Beast.'' ...New Mexico legislators voted to change the name, passing a resolution that cited the "cloud of opprobrium" that has attached to the road and the concern of some motorists that "the devil controls events" there.

...Colorado and Utah [have] joined New Mexico in asking Washington to designate a more innocuous number for the road: 393.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/31/business/media/31RADI.html?pagewanted=print&position=top

Clear Channel Communications has long been the company that the music industry loves to loathe, so aggressively dominant as the nation's biggest radio broadcaster that some critics refer to it as the Microsoft of music... [owning] more than 1,200 [stations] now.

...An unusual series of pro-military rallies [has been] drummed up by Glenn Beck, whose talk show is syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks, a Clear Channel subsidiary... Clear Channel country music stations stopped playing the Dixie Chicks earlier this month after the group's lead singer, Natalie Maines, told fans during a London concert, "We're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas."

Clear Channel's opponents either imply or say outright that Clear Channel has taken these steps to build support within the Bush administration at a time the Federal Communications Commission is considering regulations over how many radio stations a single company can own.

...Along with Mr. Beck, the company also syndicates the talk-radio fixtures Rush Limbaugh and Dr. Laura Schlessinger, as well as Carson Daly, the ubiquitous D.J., among others. The widely diversified company's $8,400,000,000.00 in annual revenue also flows from hundreds of thousands of billboards around the world, dozens of television stations and management of sports figures like Andre Agassi and Michael Jordan.

But it is Clear Channel's bare-knuckle dealings with the music industry, and the way the company can leverage its broadcasting power to the advantage of its concert-promotion business, SFX Entertainment, that may explain why... all roads lead to Clear Channel.

... [Last week,] Clear Channel's concert promoters threatened to throw the activist singer Ani DiFranco off the stage of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center if she allowed representatives of antiwar groups to speak.

...Clear Channel, which hired Brainerd Communicators, a financial communications and crisis-management firm, last week to help deal with the controversy, did not make [pro-war promoter] Mr. Beckavailable for an interview. But in a draft op-ed article he circulated, Mr. Beck described the rallies as a grassroots response to his personal broadcast call to "Mr. and Mrs. America" to urge their local radio stations to hold rallies.

...Clear Channel was a small collection of stations until 1996, when Congress largely deregulated the industry and lifted many of the longstanding restrictions on how many stations a single company could own. A review of those rules is now pending at the Federal Communications Commission.

...One practice that galls record companies is Clear Channel's frequent demand that rising artists play at live concerts promoting individual Clear Channel stations. A seasoned recording executive said there was often an implication that a station would continue playing the group's music only if it appeared at the concert. Record companies often resent such concerts because they must bear the group's expenses.

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http://www.harpers.org/weekly-review/

Federal energy regulators concluded that the California energy crisis of 2000-2001 was created by widespread market manipulation and misconduct by Enron and 30 other energy companies but signaled that they were unlikely to overturn $40,000,000,000.00 worth of long-term contracts that resulted from the scheme. "I don't think it's fair to say there's an absolute correlation between the evidence of manipulation and the long-term contracts," said one regulator. Another, who disagreed, pointed out that "these two notions are kind of at war with one another."

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hooray for the brave Marlie Coleman!

http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,6196294%255E3102,00.html

A SIX-year-old girl became the first female to receive the [Australian] Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals's humane award for saving her kitten from a predatory python. Marlie Coleman did not think twice about taking on the scrub python when it wrapped its jaws around her kitten Sooty in their Cairns backyard earlier this year. The sharp-toothed python let go of the kitten, but attached itself to Marlie's lip... Her mother, Shakira, remembers seeing Marlie standing on the barbecue with a snake attached to her face, bleeding and sobbing "Snake trying to eat Sooty". RSPCA Queensland chief executive officer Mark Townend said Marlie's only concern on her way to hospital after the attack was for the kitten.

..."This little girl, who was only five at the time, showed exceptional bravery. Marlie performed a selfless and courageous act on behalf of her kitten friend and she has captured the spirit of animal welfare."

...Sooty recovered from minor injuries and the non-venomous python slipped away, never to be seen again.

...Scrub pythons grow to three metres in Cairns and are known to defend themselves by biting with their long, sharp teeth... They prey upon warm-blooded animals such as chickens, small dogs and cats.