http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,59323,00.html

An online primary sponsored by a grass-roots political group is creating a stir among Democratic presidential contenders and pundits... The vote, sponsored by the left-leaning activist group MoveOn.org, will begin Tuesday at midnight and last for 24 hours. Voters, pooled from MoveOn's estimated 1,400,000 members, will choose from among nine Democrats who have officially put their hats in the presidential ring.

...MoveOn plans to announce the results Friday. If any candidate wins more than 50 percent of the votes cast, the group will endorse the winner's candidacy. If no one wins a majority, MoveOn said it will consider holding another primary vote... the online primary is significant because it will be one of the few political contests that will not rely on fund raising, said Bob Fertik, co-founder of Democrats.com... "What that means is this is pure democracy at work. This is people choosing the candidate with the best message and the best ideas," he said.

...The primary website provides campaign messages and answers to questions posed by voters. All candidates except Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) provided responses to questions seeking candidates' views on the Patriot Act, budget priorities and the Bush administration's environmental record.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://sify.com/news/international/fullstory.php?id=13179474

Beijing: In a determined bid to put the past behind them, India and China signed a joint declaration after a gap of 12 years, laying down goals and guiding principles for bilateral ties, and agreed to ''aggressively'' resolve the vexed border dispute while intensifying trade relations, including border trade.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/belgium_war_crimes

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Belgium presented changes Monday on a war crimes law used to target President Bush (news - web sites) and other U.S. leaders, and NATO's secretary-general said he hoped the amendments will avert a major crisis in the alliance... Belgium agreed Sunday to change the law by limiting its scope to cases where Belgians or Belgian residents are directly involved as victims or suspects.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=417787

22 June 2003 - In his weekly radio address yesterday, Mr Bush was forced to produce a new explanation of why the US has not found Iraq's alleged chemical and biological weapons. He told listeners that suspect sites had been looted in the closing days of Saddam Hussein's regime.

...According to a Gallup survey last week, 83 per cent of Americans believe Saddam was developing nuclear arms, despite no serious evidence to support that view.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/21/international/worldspecial/21ATOM.html?ex=1057215582&ei=1&en=cfd1605d5cf587d5

June 20 (AP) — Experts from the United Nations atomic agency have accounted for tons of natural and low-enriched uranium feared looted from Iraq's largest nuclear research facility, diplomats said today. The uranium was secured at the Tuwaitha facility, 12 miles south of Baghdad, the diplomats said on condition of anonymity. Tuwaitha was left unguarded after Iraqi troops fled the area on the eve of the war.

...The [UN] mission... was not allowed to perform medical examinations on Iraqis reported to have been sickened by contact with materials stolen from the Tuwaitha center, the diplomats said. The agency team also was unable to determine whether hundreds of radioactive materials used in research and medicine across the country were secure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A23974-2003Jun23?language=printer

According to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll [read it at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/vault/stories/data062403.htm] ...By 56 percent to 38 percent, the public endorsed the use of the military to block Iran from developing nuclear arms... About half said the current level of U.S. dead and wounded is "acceptable".

...About one in four Americans incorrectly believes Iraq used chemical or biological weapons against U.S. forces during the conflict. Slightly more than six in 10 said Iraq had not, while the remainder weren't sure... The national survey of 1,024 randomly selected adults conducted June 18-22 found that... 68 percent approved of the job Bush was doing as president.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/6136245.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

A third of the American public believes U.S. forces found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, according to a recent poll. And 22 percent said Iraq actually used chemical or biological weapons. Before the war, half of those polled in a survey said Iraqis were among the 19 hijackers on Sept. 11, 2001. But such weapons have not been found in Iraq, and were never used. Most of the Sept. 11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia. None were Iraqis. How could so many people be so wrong?

..."It's a striking finding," said Steve Kull, director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland, which asked the weapons questions during a May 14-18 poll of 1,265 respondents... Kull said the poll's data showed that the mistaken belief that weapons of mass destruction had been found "is substantially greater among those who favored the war."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

all about fox: relive the magic!

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig/steinreich8.html

March 14: On The Fox Report anchor Shepard Smith reports that Saddam is planning to use flood water as a weapon by blowing up dams and causing severe flood damage.

March 19: Fox anchor Shepard Smith reports that Iraqis are planning to detonate large stores of napalm buried deep below the earth to scorch coalition forces.

...March 23: The network begins 2 days of unequivocal assertions that a 100-acre facility discovered by coalition forces at An Najaf is a chemical weapons plant... Only weeks later is it briefly conceded that the chemicals definitively detected at the facility were pesticides.

March 24: Oliver North reports that the staff at the French embassy in Baghdad are destroying documents. [How could he know this?]

...March 28: Repeated assertions by Fox News anchors of a red ring around Baghdad in which Republican Guard forces were planning to use chemical weapons on coalition forces. A Fox "Breaking News" flash reports that Iraqi soldiers were seen by coalition forces moving 55-gallon drums almost certainly containing chemical agents.

April 7: Fox, echoing NPR, reports that U.S. forces near Baghdad have discovered a weapons cache of 20 medium-range missiles containing sarin and mustard gas... The missiles were never mentioned again.

...April 7: Repeated ominous footage of barrels buried in a below-ground shed near Karbala. The implication is that the Iraqi landscape is replete with these types of shelters, all of them brimming with evidence of chemical weapons. [These were revealed to be agricultural chemicals

...April 9: The crowd around coalition troops toppling the Saddam statue in Baghdad looks strangely sparse despite the network's assertions to the contrary.

...April 10 (3 p.m. EDT: Reporter Rick Leventhal) Fox "Breaking News" report: A mobile bioweapons lab is found. Video of a tiny tan truck—about the size of the smallest truck that U-Haul rents – which had its cargo bed and fuel tank shot up with bullets after a looter tried to drive it away. Repeated assertions that this is most definitely a "bioweapons" lab.

...April 10: To show that France is in bed with Saddam Hussein, Fox begins running old footage of Saddam Hussein's September 1975 trip to Paris to meet with Jacques Chirac and tour a nuclear power plant.

Because Fox strives so hard to be "Fair and Balanced," it's all the more curious how it fails to inform its audience about another trip four years later, this one to Baghdad on December 19, 1983 made by Reagan envoy and then former secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld... [Later,] in 1986 when he was considering a run for the Republican presidential nomination of 1988, he listed his restoration of diplomatic relations with WMD-using Iraq as one of his proudest achievements. But all that's an eternity ago for Imperial Conservatives with a 20-second attention span.

The Fox newscasters rename Jacques Chirac "Jacques Iraq".

...April 13: Fox Graphic: "Bush: Syria Harboring Chemical Weapons."

...April 15: Fox analyst Mansoor Ijaz claims that the top 55 Iraqi leaders (along with the whole stash of chemical and biological WMDs they have taken with them) are now living it up in Latakia, Syria.

...April 18: Bill O'Reilly opens his show calling Iraqis "ungrateful."

April 21: Bill O'Reilly opens his show calling Iraqi Shiites "ungrateful SOBs" and "fanatics."

...April 22: Lt. Colonel Robert Maginnis states on The O'Reilly Factor that the probability of finding WMDs is a 10 out of 10.

...May 8: Fox News Military Analyst Major General Paul Vallely states on The O’Reilly Factor that "Middle East agents" have told him that Iraq’s WMDs along with 17 mobile weapons labs (1 of which was captured around May 2) are now buried in the Bakaa Valley in Syria 30 meters underground. He also claims that France helped Iraqi leaders escape to Europe by providing them with travel papers.

...May 19: O'Reilly discusses a number of inflammatory and bogus charges that were floated in the U.S. media about France.

...May 20: O'Reilly concedes that the Private Jessica Lynch rescue story could be a fraud.

...May 22 (5:54 a.m. CDT): Richard King, a military doctor, appears on Fox and Friends with promises by the show's hosts that he will verify that the Jessica Lynch rescue wasn't staged. King doesn't prove anything. He states that he arrived at Saddam Hospital the day after the rescue, concedes damage and mal-treatment of doctors at the hospital, and that he "was told " that the hospital was guarded by hostile forces but doesn't specify who told him.

...June 2: A video clip on Fox and Friends is shown with Bush in Poland claiming that "[w]e found" weapons of mass destruction. His evidence? Two trailers found near Mosul that were supposedly used as mobile bioweapons labs.

...June 4: O'Reilly says that the WMD issue has now been politicized.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

view from the beeb

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,981171,00.html

During my year as a television executive in the United States, I was continuously struck by the difference between the two countries... Hours of cloned entertainment jostle with lame comedies and drama-by-numbers. Every hour is crammed full of commercials, encouraging a form of television attention deficit disorder. In this environment, Americans watch anything... But it is on news and current affairs that American TV is shown at its most dispiriting.

...A year in America taught me just how lucky we are to have not just the BBC but also a range of diversely funded channels with different layers of public service ambitions and obligations. The lesson from America is that, if news and public affairs are left purely to the market, it will most likely give the government what it wants. This swamp of political cravenness was a timely reminder of the values and obligations of public television.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A17954-2003Jun20?language=printer

UNITED NATIONS, June 20 -- Fifteen months after the U.N. Security Council imposed travel and arms sanctions on individuals linked to al Qaeda, no terrorist or weapon targeted by the embargo has been detained or seized in transit across an international border, according to a draft of a U.N. report. "Despite the travel ban, members of the al Qaeda network have retained a high degree of mobility, and have been able to carry out and contribute to terrorist attacks in several countries around the world," says the report, which has not been made public.

...A key weakness in the U.N. sanctions regime, the panel says, is the submission by U.N. members of lists of terrorist suspects who are inadequately identified or whose names are misspelled. For instance, 34 individuals on the list are identified by only a single name.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-06-21-terror-tape_x.htm

A masked militant, speaking in a video filmed in a mud hut, warns of new al-Qaeda suicide attacks... Obtained Saturday by The Associated Press, the video also appeared to reflect an increasing alliance between three top opponents of the United States in Afghanistan: al-Qaeda; the remnants of the former Taliban regime; and the followers of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, an Afghan [warlord]... The man on the scratchy videocassette, who identified himself as Abu Haris Abdul Hakim, said he speaks in the name of all three groups... The videotape was obtained from a senior intelligence official in Hekmatyar's Hezb-e-Islami organization. The official confirmed that the speaker on the tape was speaking for Hekmatyar's party, which he said was working with al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

..."Oh our brothers in Palestine, Chechnya, Kashmir and Iraq: We will have good news for you very soon. And it will be about our supremacy over the Americans. This will be in the shape of martyrdom (suicide) attacks against Americans in the current month," Hakim said... The speaker in the videotape said al-Qaeda and its allies were "alive and have started operations again. And very soon we will bring the Americans and their agents to justice."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.thisislondon.com/news/articles/5438945?source=Evening%20Standard

American soldiers have allegedly been handed a letter from Saddam Hussein offering his terms of surrender... In the letter Saddam called for "fair treatment" by the allied forces for himself and that his family be allowed safe passage from Iraq to another Arab country. In return he promised order an end to the rebel attacks on the occupying American soldiers.

...King Abdullah of Jordan... in an interview with American television... said reports that Saddam had been seen were "like Elvis".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=540&u=/ap/20030624/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_turned_away_5&printer=1

BALAD, Iraq - On a scorching afternoon, while on duty at an Army airfield, Sgt. David J. Borell was approached by an Iraqi who pleaded for help for his three children, burned when they set fire to a bag containing explosive powder left over from war in Iraq. Borell immediately called for assistance. But the two Army doctors who arrived about an hour later refused to help the children because their injuries were not life-threatening and had not been inflicted by U.S. troops. Now the two girls and a boy are covered with scabs and the boy cannot use his right leg. And Borell is shattered. "I have never seen in almost 14 years of Army experience anything that callous," said Borell, who recounted the June 13 incident to The Associated Press. A U.S. military spokesman said the children's condition did not fall into a category that requires Army physicians to treat them — and that there was no inappropriate response on the part of the doctors.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-woclus0623,0,2922917.story?coll=ny-worldnews-headlines

Hundreds and possibly thousands of Iraqi civilians have been killed or maimed by outdated, defective U.S. cluster weapons that lack a safety feature other countries have added, according to observers, news reports and officials. U.S. cluster weapons fired during the war in March and April dispersed thousands of small grenades on battlefields and in civilian neighborhoods to destroy Iraqi troops and weapons systems. But some types of the grenades fail to explode on impact as much as 16 percent of the time, according to official military figures. Battlefield commanders have reported failure rates as high as 40 percent... Former military officials and defense experts say the effort to improve the grenades was given a low priority and little funding... As small as medicine bottles and often draped with short ribbons, unexploded grenades attract children who mistake them for toys.

...The Defense Department defended its recent use of cluster weapons in Iraq. Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff [said]... "War is not a tidy affair. It's a very ugly affair."

...Cluster-weapon use was "significantly more extensive than in Afghanistan," where the United States dropped 1,228 cluster bombs containing 248,056 grenades in a six-month span, according to Human Rights Watch. A report by the Air Force in late April said U.S. aircraft over Iraq dropped 1,714 cluster bombs containing about 275,000 grenades. No report is available on the number of ground-fired cluster weapons.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

news from orange county, california

http://www.ocweekly.com/printme.php?&eid=44981

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is a busy man... His staffers have been phoning city officials, including some in Orange County, and strongly urging them to structure Fourth of July celebrations around the war in Iraq. "I got the impression that they had a list of every city in the nation that had applied for a pyrotechnics permit, and were calling them to persuade them to be part of the program," said one OC city official.

...The project even has a name: Operation Tribute to Freedom, putatively overseen by Air Force general Richard B. Myer. Check out the website at www.defendamerica.mil/otf/photos/index.html... Therein, it is claimed that Pentagon officials had been "inundated" with requests from communities asking how they could show support for the troops... Why, then, does the Department of Defense deem it necessary to cold-call cities to sell them on a military salute?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

jessica lynch lives

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?section_id=40&screen=news&news_id=24013

Dear Jessica, I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out how to "get" you to talk to me instead of all those others. You're now the interview to get, you know. So what can I offer?

I know you've been offered a free Hawaii vacation... NBC's Katie Couric sent you a bunch of patriotic books, including Rudy Giuliani's 'Leadership'... ABC's Diane Sawyer sent you a locket with a picture of your house in it... Next I read that one CBS correspondent was so desperate for an interview that she started sharing astrological signs. Puleez. So Jane Clayson and you are both Tauruses... I don't know how you stand all this baloney. On the other hand, for what it's worth, I'm a Libra.

The bunker buster, I guess, has to be the CBS proposal: a two-hour CBS documentary, another program with MTV Networks, a concert in Palestine, W.Va., by a "star act" — Ashanti or Ja Rule. And oh yeah, a book deal with Simon & Schuster... Let me translate a line from the CBS proposal. Here's how it reads in part: "From the distinguished reporting of CBS News to the youthful reach of MTV, we believe this is a unique combination of projects that will do justice to Jessica's inspiring story." Translation: "If we can just get this kid to sign on the bottom line, we'll make Iraq's oil look like the penny ante in a round of five-card draw."

Now, I'm not saying you shouldn't tell your story. You should. It's a great story. And I'm not saying you shouldn't get as rich as possible. Why not, and who wouldn't? But first please consider my offer, which I extend in the spirit of "the un-get": Wait, wait, and wait some more... Patiently yours, An admirer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=417714

22 June 2003 - As temperatures reached a scorching 45C (113F) in Baghdad last week people in al-Thawra, a sprawling working-class slum, unearthed hidden rifles and threatened to kill the manager of the local electrical sub-station if he did not resume power supplies... Without it there is no air-conditioning, no refrigerators to prevent food rotting and no light in a city terrified by looters. The failure to get the electrical system working has become a symbol for Iraqis in the capital of the general failure of the American occupation to provide living conditions even at the miserable level they enjoyed under Saddam Hussein.

...Asked about Baghdad's lack of electricity at an air-conditioned press conference, Paul Bremer, the American head of the occupation authority, looking cool in a dark suit and quiet purple tie, simply asserted that, with a few exceptions, Baghdad was now receiving 20 hours of electricity a day. "It simply isn't true," said one Iraqi, shaking his head in disbelief after listening to Mr Bremer. "Everybody in Baghdad knows it."

..."They can take our oil, but at least they should let us have electricity and water," said Tha'ar Abdul Qader, a worker at the Central Teaching Hospital for Children, the main door of which can only be entered by walking through a fast-flowing stream of raw sewage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/iraq/6146827.htm

AUGUSTA, Ga. - A soldier recently returned from the war in Iraq spoke against the military action at a Democratic Party breakfast Saturday... "A lot of soldiers have returned from this war with the idea that this war was unnecessary," he said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.economist.com/World/na/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1863097

BRETT BURSEY will be back in court again, fighting the forces of reaction, on June 24th. The veteran protester was arrested last October for trespassing at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport as he held a sign (“No War for Oil”) while waiting for George Bush to arrive... In March the local US attorney, Strom Thurmond junior, suddenly brought federal charges against Mr Bursey under a little-known law that allows the Secret Service to restrict access to areas the president is visiting... If convicted, Mr Bursey, who is 54, faces six months in jail and a $5,000 fine.

...Last month, 11 members of Congress, including one Republican and several members of the House Judiciary and Homeland Security committees, sent a letter to Mr Ashcroft urging him to drop charges against Mr Bursey. They insisted that “no plausible argument can be made that Mr Bursey was threatening the president by holding a sign which the president found politically offensive.”

...None of the other protesters with him was arrested. Neither were any of the several hundred supporters of the president who were holding equally dangerous (but pro-Bush) signs as they stood near the hangar where the president was to speak. The prosecutors say that Mr Bursey was not in a special “free-speech zone” that was set up for protesters half a mile from the hangar... Mr Bursey told the cops, defiantly, that he was under the impression that the whole of America was a free-speech zone.

...Mr Bursey has been arrested dozens of times. Three decades ago he spent nearly two years in prison for spraying anti-war slogans on government property during the Vietnam war. Whether he deserves to go to prison next week for waving a sign is another matter entirely.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/06/21/BA308128.DTL

In an about face, San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan on Friday filed new charges against 350 protesters who were arrested during the anti-war protests that erupted after the invasion of Iraq but challenged by defense attorneys.

The district attorney also said his office would file new charges against another 1,900 people arrested during the demonstrations... Most were originally arrested on misdemeanor charges of obstructing or interfering with police officers. But Hallinan's deputies reduced the misdemeanors to infractions by crossing out the word "misdemeanor" on the citations and replacing it with "infraction"... Each demonstrator now faces charges of blocking a sidewalk, jaywalking or obstructing traffic. They are infractions comparable to a traffic ticket.

..."We just have more hoops to jump through," said Hallinan spokesman Mark MacNamara. "Nothing else has changed. We intend to refile these charges" [as misdemeanors rather than 'infractions'].

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22270-2003Jun23.html

RAMADI, Iraq - U.S.-led civil administrators announced the creation of a new Iraqi army Monday and said recruitment will begin next week.

...In Baghdad, the first U.S. Senate delegation to visit Iraq cautioned that Americans should expect their forces to remain in Iraq for as long as five years.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://asia.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=2966114

RAMADI, Iraq (Reuters) - They rammed their vehicles into metal gates to smash them open, rounded up Iraqi men from their homes at gunpoint and wrote a code on their arms with marker pens. Hundreds of U.S. soldiers from the First Battalion of the 124th Infantry Regiment staged the raid in a suburb of Ramadi, 100 km (60 miles) west of Baghdad, after sunrise on Saturday. The raid on the homes of suspected guerrillas was part of a campaign to stamp out mounting armed resistance to the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

Several soldiers on the raid were wounded by a grenade and came under gunfire in the same district around 10 days earlier. Some were clearly braced for trouble as they returned to the area, leaving their base after a blast over loudspeakers of Wagner's rousing "Ride of the Valkyries" -- a favorite with troops for its use in the Vietnam war film "Apocalypse Now." One unit of soldiers pulled half a dozen men from their homes as women wailed in distress... They removed a handful of weapons and a computer hard disk... The raid was part of Operation Desert Scorpion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/23/international/worldspecial/23OIL.html?ex=1057390361&ei=1&en=fec17deca18adf8c

KIRKUK, Iraq, June 22 — The first Iraqi oil to be exported since the end of the war was loaded today... Six major oil companies, including the French concern TotalFinaElf and the American company ChevronTexaco, had won the right to buy the oil in Ceyhan and another approximately two million barrels that had been stored in the Iraqi Persian Gulf port of Mina al-Bakr... The oil from Mina al-Bakr will be sent to ChevronTexaco in the coming weeks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.latimes.com/la-fg-halliburton21jun21,0,3130620.story

A unit of Halliburton Co., the Texas oil giant once led by Vice President Dick Cheney, has received more than $800 million in work orders in Iraq so far, according to military figures obtained Friday. Most of the orders are under a military contract awarded in December 2001 to Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root, which a Democratic lawmaker labeled "obscure and lucrative." That contract, called the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program, does not have a spending ceiling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3010570.stm

Iraq fuel pipeline 'blown up': Sabotage has been blamed for an explosion at a pipeline which supplies gas to the Iraqi capital. Flames were seen shooting into the sky after the blast late on Saturday near the town of Hit nearly 140 kilometres (90 miles) north-west of Baghdad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=615&e=2&u=/nm/20030621/pl_nm/iraq_debt_dc_2

DEAD SEA, Jordan (Reuters) - World donors must provide money as well as debt relief to Iraq whose massive reconstruction needs dwarf its potential income from the world's second largest oil reserves, a senior U.S. Treasury official said on Saturday. John Taylor, Treasury undersecretary for International Affairs, told Reuters in an interview... "There is not going to be enough (oil revenues) to do the reconstruction that is why this donor activity that is under way is so important."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/06/23/1056220529069.html

Australian servicemen and women who served in the recent Iraq war were reporting symptoms of uranium sickness, a United States nuclear weapons expert said today. Dr Douglas Rokke is a former US Army nuclear health physicist and was formerly the Pentagon's expert on the health effects of depleted uranium ammunition. Speaking in Melbourne today, Dr Rokke said Iraqi women and children and American and Iraqi military personnel had reported respiratory illnesses and rashes after the recent conflict, and he had also been told of Australian servicemen and women with similar symptoms.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-06-23-japan-okinawa_x.htm

TOKYO (AP) — Okinawa's governor demanded U.S. forces leave the southern island... Nearly half of the 53,000 U.S. military personnel stationed in Japan are on Okinawa.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.sptimes.com/2003/06/22/Columns/Israel_s_building_of_.shtml

Among the most moving exhibits at Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial, is the story of the Warsaw Ghetto. But black and white photos can only hint at the horror that began in 1940 when the Nazis erected a brick wall around the Jewish quarter of Warsaw, Poland, and condemned thousands of Jews to a terrible fate.

...In the West Bank [today], contractors are building a 25-foot wall - twice as high as the one in Warsaw - as part of an elaborate barrier that eventually will stretch more than 200 miles and restrict Palestinian movement into Israel. In Gaza, 1.2-million Palestinians have been sealed into a narrow strip of land, and may enter or leave only with Israeli permission.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,983071,00.html

Israel's Holocaust memorial council has accused two British MPs of malicious distortion of history for comparing conditions endured by a million Palestinians trapped in Gaza to the Warsaw ghetto under Nazi occupation...

Oona King, who is Jewish and the Labour MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, and Jenny Tonge, the Liberal Democrat MP for Richmond Park... said they were shocked by what they saw during a visit to Gaza earlier this month. Ms King wrote a commentary nearly a fortnight ago in the Guardian drawing the analogy with the Warsaw ghetto to which Jews were confined by the Germans. "The original founders of the Jewish state could surely not imagine the irony facing Israel today: in escaping the ashes of the Holocaust, they have incarcerated another people in a hell similar in its nature - though not its extent - to the Warsaw ghetto," she wrote.

Ms Tonge compared the situation in Gaza to apartheid.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-06-23-israel-palestinians_x.htm

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas and other militant groups are on the verge of agreeing to halt attacks on Israelis, Palestinian officials said Monday... An agreement by Palestinian militias to suspend their armed uprising could be a major breakthrough.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

down is up. black is white.

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=322938

An Israeli general leading security talks with the Palestinians says a temporary truce, or "hudna", with Islamic militants will lead to more violence.

...Further complicating efforts to bolster the road map, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told his cabinet on Sunday Israelis could continue settlement-building "but just don't publicise it, wave it in the air", a senior political source said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/06/23/1056220517970.html

The Israeli army has charged a female soldier with forcing a Palestinian woman at a checkpoint to drink the cleaning fluid she was carrying, a military spokesman said today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/310736.html

About 34 percent of the young people of conscription age are either not recruited to the army or are ejected from service after joining, the Israel Defense Forces' manpower division commander Major General Gil Regev said Monday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

israeli op-ed

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=307181&contrassID=2&subContrassID=4&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

The defense minister and the prime minister may have wrapped themselves in crafty silence after the failed attempt to assassinate the top Hamas

man Abdel Aziz Rantisi, and the big suicide bus bombing in Jerusalem that immediately followed it - but it was business as usual for the chief of

staff. Lieutenant General Moshe "Bogy" Ya'alon spoke more than freely.

..."Bogy" justified the oddly timed and botched assassination attempt, citing as his rationale, "the need togo crazy for a few days, so as not to slide down the slope."

...[However,] the fact is that more than once - and more than twice too - thanks to some sort of wonderful prophetic or intelligence sense, the reprisal raids, the "targeted assassinations" and the "need to go crazy" manifested themselves before, rather than after, the revenge terrorism that came in their wake.

...Look where you will these days, you will not be able to find even the trace of another narrative, an alternative opinion to that of the "senior figures in the defense establishment," on the coldness of their calculations, the heat of their rage, and their gang-war approach to the conflict, including vendettas and blood revenge... All that remains of Israel's ramified and complex policies - the policies of a state that once purported to be of moral character - are awkward reflex actions lacking any morality, inhibition or integrity.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=309958&contrassID=2&subContrassID=2&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

At the end of successful talks before the weekend between a treasury team, headed by director general Ohad Marani and the U.S. Treasury, the

U.S. team agreed to recommend to President George Bush the approval of loan guarantees to the Israeli government. Bush is expected to approve the first $3,000,000,000.00 in guarantees from a total of $9,000,000,000.00.

...The U.S. team were keen to see the Israeli government forge ahead with privatization plans, and insisted that at least two of four state-controled companies - El Al, Bezeq, Oil Refineries and Bank Leumi - should be sold off by the end of next year.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

to protect our precious bodily fluids!!!

http://www.sundayherald.com/34768

IT SOUNDS like the stuff of the darkest sci-fi fantasies, but it's not. The Air Force Space Command Strategic Master Plan is a clear statement of the US's intention to dominate the world by turning space into the crucial battlefield of the 21st century. The document details how the US Air Force Space Command is developing exotic new weapons, nuclear warheads and spacecraft to allow the US to hit any target on earth within seconds. It also unashamedly states that the US will not allow any other power to get a foothold in space.

The rush to militarise space will also see domestic laws and foreign agreements torn up. As the document warns: 'To fully develop and exploit [space] some US policies and international treaties may need to be reviewed and modified'.

The Strategic Master Plan (SMP) changes the nature of war. No longer will battles be fought by ships, aircraft and ground forces. Instead the US will use its technology to dominate any theatre of war from space. The document also opens the door for the US to become the only global policeman. Control of space will give it uniquely instantaneous reach, capable of 'worldwide military operations.'

The first page of the document clearly spells out America's agenda. General Lance W Lord, of Air Force Space Command, writes in his foreword: 'As guardians of the High Frontier, Air Force Space Command has the vision and the people to ensure the United States achieves space superiority today and in the future.'

...General Lord says the strategy of the SMP 'will enable us to transform space power to provide our nation with diverse options to globally apply force in, from, and through space with modern intercontinental ballistic missiles ... and new conventional global strike capabilities... This is not a vision of the future. This is space today!'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.latimes.com/la-op-arkin22jun22,0,4841105.story

They rescued Jessica Lynch, helped to capture Iraqi leaders, secured oil fields, stopped saboteurs from flooding the Karbala Gap... and positioned themselves to stop Saddam Hussein from firing missiles at Israel or perhaps using weapons of mass destruction. They are special operations forces... Is a secretive and largely unaccountable collection of troops an appropriate model for the "new" U.S. military?

...According to military sources, some 16,000 special operations forces fought in or supported the war. More than 100 "strategic reconnaissance" teams were moved forward into southern Iraq to act as eyes and ears for coalition ground forces... In many cases, special operations officers said, super-secret or "black" special operators were engaged in missions so sensitive that they needed "white" counterparts, who operated somewhat more openly, to ensure that coalition aircraft and advancing troops did not inadvertently fire upon the secret teams.

In the end, of course, there were no Scud missiles for Iraq to launch at Israel, and there were no weapons of mass destruction on the battlefield. At Hadithah and other dam sites, the U.S. found no firm evidence that Iraqis were preparing to blow them up. [et cetera.] ...What special operators actually achieved on the ground is therefore difficult to confirm.

...Rumsfeld has increased the peacetime authority of special operations, and in January he asked Congress to increase the annual budget for special operations by more than 30% to $6,700,000,000.00. He has planned for the number of commandos to grow by roughly 10% over the next five years. Today, special operations is larger than it was in 1991, even though all elements of U.S. conventional forces have been dramatically downsized.

Much of the growth in special operations forces since 9/11 has come in the more secretive "special mission units," which have been activated and beefed up to get the military more into covert operations and to fight the dirtiest battles in the war on terror. The government declines to even acknowledge the existence of these units. But their growing influence is undeniable.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AFGHAN_US_OPERATION?SITE=DCTMS&SECTION=HOME

U.S.-led coalition forces poured into border areas in eastern Afghanistan to prevent insurgents from crossing in from Pakistan to launch attacks, the U.S. military said. Operation Unified Resolve began this week in Gosta and nearby districts of Nangarhar province, an area near the Pakistan frontier... The bulk of the U.S. forces involved Saturday "conducted an air assault and ground movement in order to rapidly position forces along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to prevent threat elements from crossing the border," [U.S. military spokesman Col. Rodney] Davis said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;$sessionid$KNYZJFSHYOV03QFIQMFCFFWAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2003/06/23/walq23.xml/

The American al-Qa'eda operative unmasked last week as having planned to bring down the Brooklyn Bridge was first detained in March, and has been used by the FBI for months as a double agent, it was reported yesterday. US authorities waited until last week to announce a plea bargain struck with Iyman Faris, a Pakistani-born lorry driver ordered to scout out terror targets, including the New York landmark.

They did not say that Faris, who was also ordered to study ultralight aircraft, and the possibility of derailing a train into a chemical storage facility in Washington, had been under FBI control for months.

...Installed in a safe house in Virginia, Faris sent messages to his terrorist commanders by mobile phone and email. "He was sitting in the safe house making calls for us. It was a huge triumph," a senior Bush administration official told Time [magazine]. After pleading guilty to offering material support to al-Qa'eda, Faris will be sentenced in August. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030623-122741-5014r.htm

American military women saw their most extensive combat action ever in a major war in Operation Iraqi Freedom. But their expanded role has not spurred calls in Congress to open up even more combat roles to women, as happened after Desert Storm 12 years ago. Both the Senate and House armed services committees, which write military laws and policies, passed 2004 defense authorization bills this spring without any amendments debated or passed to expand women's war missions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16218

With little comment or scrutiny, the Labor Department and Congress have declared open season on the 40-hour week... House Republicans have vowed to continue fighting for a bill, brazenly titled the "Family-Time Flexibility Act," that... would allow employees asked to work overtime to opt for compensatory time off, instead of overtime pay.

The choice of being paid in time or money would be at the employee's discretion. But the bill leaves extremely vague how an employee can actually take that time, saying only that an employer should permit the employee to take the comp time "within a reasonable period" so long as it doesn't "unduly disrupt the operations of the employer."

...The bill requires employers to pay for unused comp time within 30 days of the end of the calendar year, but that would theoretically allow employers to wait up to 13 months before paying someone the overtime he or she worked for – without having to compensate him until the end of the year – giving the company, in effect, an interest free loan.

Meanwhile, the Department of Labor has issued a proposal for new wage and hour regulations that would radically alter the definition of the term "salaried employee," a move likely to dramatically increase the ranks of workers who are not paid for overtime. The proposals can't go into effect until a 90-day public comment period passes – which will be June 30 – but it's quite possible they will then become law by the end of the year, without even a vote in Congress.

...Some 63 percent of Americans log more than 40 hours a week, according to a new survey by the Internet travel company Expedia.com. Two other polls found that nearly 40 percent of Americans work more than 50 hours per week... Expedia's polling found that Americans hand back $21,000,000,000.00 in unused vacation time to their employers each year, with the explanation that they have too much work to take time off.

... Currently, to be considered a salaried employee and thus exempt from overtime, you have to manage other people or have a job that allows for significant autonomy in decisionmaking. The White House wants to modify the exempt employee category to include anyone who holds "a position of responsibility," which could include anyone who's breathing. Corporate America wants these changes, because they have been taking it on the chin in court for misclassifying employees exempt from overtime pay requirements in an epidemic of phony salaries. The Wall St. Journal has estimated that such practices result in $19,000,000,000.00 of lost overtime wages a year.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=O0HMKK01F1YASCRBAE0CFEY?type=businessNews&storyID=2964050

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. mortgages in foreclosure climbed to a record high in the first three months of 2003 as job losses and personal bankruptcies forced more people out of their homes, a mortgage industry group said on Friday.

...The housing market has been a pillar of strength for the sluggish U.S. economy. Ultra-low interest rates have fueled record home sales and an unprecedented mortgage refinancing boom that has freed up billions of dollars in cash for consumers to pay down debt, save or spend.

While benefiting from the lowest borrowing costs in more than four decades, Americans have been straining to meet their mortgage payments and credit card bills... Until the economy improves and companies hire again, more Americans will default on their debt, economists say.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/Stories/0,1413,101~6267~1472482,00.html

Head Start... has worked pretty well for 38 years, and the Bush administration is messing around with it for no good reason... The administration still wants to shift the program's emphasis to academic achievement and, characteristically, to do it on the cheap or with no funding at all.

...The success of Head Start lies with its acknowledgment that many of the 900,000-plus children enrolled in it have less than perfect home situations. The idea is to help compensate for the handicaps of poverty with balanced meals, medical and dental care, and sometimes literacy and other programs for parents. Head Start already has an academic component that readies children for kindergarten reading programs. And, not least, Head Start also offers safe, reliable day care for parents who otherwise might not be able to afford it while they work or attend school.

...Handing Head Start off to the states must look like a clever way to weaken a sizable federal program and make it more likely to fall apart over time... [The current] compromise plan lets just eight states take over Head Start, and Congress will see how they do.

...Strengthening the Head Start academic component sounds like a fine idea, but only if it's not at the expense of the social-services component... The administration wants to require that all Head Start teachers have four-year college degrees by 2008. Certified teachers, however, earn more than twice what Head Start teachers make. It's just another unfunded mandate, and a con job.

...House Republicans, at White House urging, have also inserted a rules change in Head Start law allowing religious groups to run programs and letting them refuse to hire staff whose faith is different from theirs... An administration that likes to dump on lawyers certainly does plenty to keep them busy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A60034-2003Jun14?language=printer

The year-end [Oakdale Elementary School] party in Catherine Poling's third-grade class this week was a bit unusual: Girls wore their best dresses and kids scribbled "Go Homework" and "I {Heart} Homework" on the whiteboard. It was different in another respect: It had a corporate sponsor. Dunkin' Donuts sent four dozen doughnuts and a representative to help celebrate the class's $6,000 grand prize victory in the company's contest to develop a one-minute commercial on "selling" the importance of homework.

...Last year, [Oakdale school] won $10,000 for performing the best interpretation of Oscar Mayer's well-known wiener song. This year it won another $10,000 from Oscar Mayer for singing its bologna song and two other melodies, written by music teacher Lori Bower, praising Oscar Mayer Lunchables, complete with children dressed up as dancing pieces of bologna, ham and cheese.

...Oakdale is the beneficiary of business's new efforts to market products inside schools... One way they're reaching kids is by offering cash prizes to schools. Nestle offers a $10,000 grand prize for the most creative art using SweeTarts. It also awards five $5,000 first-place awards. Angel Soft toilet paper sponsors "Angel in Action," awarding $10,000 to the school with the best community service program, along with another $1,000 for the teacher.

...School officials say corporate programs are likely to become even more prevalent. "We're looking at very dire fiscal conditions in the states," said Dan Fuller, director of federal programs for the National School Boards Association.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/06/23/supremecourt/main559919.shtml

The Supreme Court Monday... ruled that Congress can force the nation's public libraries to equip computers with anti-pornography filters... The 6-3 ruling reinstates a law that told libraries to install filters or surrender federal money. Four justices said the law was constitutional, and two others said it was allowable as long as patrons were not denied Internet access... Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, writing for the majority, said the law does not turn librarians into censors.

"We challenged this law because filters are very blunt instruments that block more than illegal speech, including a great deal of speech that is not even sexual in nature at all," said Paul M. Smith, the Washington attorney who represented the American Library Association.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/20/national/20PRIV.html?ex=1057144537&ei=1&en=3ee4d1bc59c0c1a2

Air traffic control has become a flashpoint of the Bush administration's effort to contract out hundreds of thousands of federal jobs to the private sector.

Both the House and Senate voted last week to forbid further privatization of the air traffic system... The underlying bill authorizes the Federal Aviation Administration to spend money for the next few years... The administration is threatening to veto the bill over the privatization provision... In May, the administration said that of 850,000 government jobs that it says could be handled by private contractors, it would like to open 15 percent of them to private-sector competition in the current fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30. Officials have said they would like to find some of those jobs at the F.A.A... In 2000, President Bill Clinton declared that the air traffic function was "inherently governmental," but last year, the Bush administration reversed that position.

The controllers argue that their jobs cannot be done by private workers. "Air traffic control is too important to the public's safety to be sold off to the lowest bidder," John Carr, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, known as Natca, told a House panel in March.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/auto/epaper/editions/sunday/news_e35f82f743a441ab00b2.html

Next month, a Medicare cap is expected to kick in that would limit the amount it pays for physical therapy (and speech therapy combined) to $1,590 a year... It's a cap that at least one in 10 Medicare patients will exceed, according to one study... And it's a cap few seniors know is coming.

... "Beneficiaries don't understand that three weeks of therapy on a broken hip could easily hit that cap," [Sharon] Brigner [spokeswoman for the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare] said. "They're confused, thinking $1,500 for my hip condition. They think the cap will begin again if they have a mini-stroke. But it's not $1,500 per injury; it's $1,500 a year."

Actually it's $1,590 -- thanks to an inflation adjustment. But Medicare pays only 80 percent -- $1,272 -- of that.

...The numbers of lawmakers in favor of repeal continue to grow. At last count, 177 members of the 435-member House and 40 of the 100-member Senate supported a repeal of the law... Meanwhile, Medicare recipients aren't getting any younger.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

it will be great

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/text/135051198_urbanwarfare22.html

YAKIMA — This summer, the federal government will build a new town on open land north of Yakima. Downtown will be as uptown as Selah, with streets and sewers to serve more than a dozen buildings. Most places will have a great view of the sage-covered desert between the scenic Saddle Mountains and Umtanum Ridge.

But you don't want to live there... It's a neighborhood so dangerous that locals will drive only armored rigs. Everybody will pack an assault rifle. And the denizens of this village won't be fashionable. They will all wear Army green. Worse yet is the tentative name for the place: Urban Assault Course.