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20080728

Jim D Adkisson

Religious

Terrorism

Politics

Tennessee

Police

Law

"Police: Killer targeted church for liberal views: 2 people killed, seven hurt, after man opens fire in Tennessee church." ... "An unemployed man accused of opening fire with a shotgun and killing two people at a Unitarian church apparently targeted the congregation out of hatred for its liberal social policies, police said Monday." ... "Knoxville Police Chief Sterling Owen IV said a letter had been been recovered from the SUV of Jim D. Adkisson, 58, by investigators seeking clues about the motive behind the attack. Authorities said he was an apparent stranger to the Tennessee church where gunfire punctuated a children's performance based on the musical "Annie." Two people were killed and seven wounded Sunday." ... ""It appears that what brought him to this horrible event was his lack of being able to obtain a job, his frustration over that and his stated hatred of the liberal movement," Owen said at a news conference."

-AP via -Yahoo

Jim David Adkisson

Terrorism

Media

Politics

Radio

TV/Channel

Tennessee

Religion

Law

Police

"Bill O'Reilly, Michael Savage, Sean Hannity on accused shooter's reading list: 4-page letter outlines frustration, hatred of 'liberal movement'." ... "Police found right-wing political books, brass knuckles, empty shotgun shell boxes and a handgun in the Powell [Tennessee] home of a man who said he attacked a church in order to kill liberals "who are ruining the country," court records show." ... "Knoxville police Sunday evening searched the Levy Drive home of Jim David Adkisson after he allegedly entered the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church and killed two people and wounded six others during the presentation of a children's musical." ... "Knoxville Police Department Officer Steve Still requested the search warrant after interviewing Adkisson. who was subdued by several church members after firing three rounds from a 12-gauge shotgun into the congregation." ... "Adkisson targeted the church, Still wrote in the document obtained by WBIR-TV, Channel 10, "because of its liberal teachings and his belief that all liberals should be killed because they were ruining the country, and that he felt that the Democrats had tied his country's hands in the war on terror and they had ruined every institution in America with the aid of media outlets."" ... "Adkisson told Still that "he could not get to the leaders of the liberal movement that he would then target those that had voted them in to office."" ... "Inside the house, officers found "Liberalism is a Mental Health Disorder" by radio talk show host Michael Savage, "Let Freedom Ring" by talk show host Sean Hannity, and "The O'Reilly Factor," by television talk show host Bill O'Reilly [the latter two work for Rupert Murdoch's News Corp subsidiary Fox TV]." ... "The shotgun-wielding suspect in Sunday's mass shooting at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church was motivated by a hatred of "the liberal movement," and he planned to shoot until police shot him, Knoxville Police Chief Sterling P. Owen IV said this morning." ... "Adkisson, 58, of Powell wrote a four-page letter in which he stated his "hatred of the liberal movement," Owen said. "Liberals in general, as well as gays."" ... "Owen said Adkisson specifically targeted the church for its beliefs, rather than a particular member of the congregation." -By Hayes Hickman with contributions by Bob Fowler, J.J. Stambaugh, Frank Munger and Amy McRary

-KnoxNews.com

Jim Adkisson

People

Emergency

Church

Terrorism

Politics

Police

Law

Tennessee

"Witnesses recall Knoxville church shooting horror: ‘He had gun leveled in our direction,’ says man who helped stop rampage." ... "Jamie Parkey thought the blast that ripped through the sanctuary of the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church was part of the play his daughter and other children were putting on. Then he saw blood on another parishioner behind him and saw a man with a 12-gauge shotgun calmly firing away at the congregation." ... "“He had the gun leveled in our direction,” Parkey told TODAY’s Matt Lauer on Monday, one day after the gunman killed two church members and wounded six others before being wrestled to the ground by parishioners. “That’s when I pushed my mother and daughter to the floor and got under the pew. When I saw the men rushing him was when I got up to join them.”" ... "Parkey was one of the people who tackled 58-year-old Jim D. Adkisson, kicking the shotgun away and holding the gunman on the floor with an arm-bar hold. Parkey’s 16-year-old daughter was in the play, and he had been sitting in the front of the church with his mother and his 6-year-old daughter when the attack began." ... "“For the situation, everyone responded phenomenally,” Parkey said. “June and Kevin Spooner mobilized and got the kids out the back.” Vicki Masters, the director of the play the children had been rehearsing for all summer, yelled for people to get out of the building. Another woman ushered children to the Presbyterian church next door after the gunman was subdued." ... "“Everybody did exactly what they needed to do,” Broyles added. “There was very little panic, very little screaming or hysteria. It’s a remarkable congregation of people. I’ve never seen such a loving response to such an overwhelming tragedy.”" ... "Adkisson is being held in lieu of $1 million bail while local police, with the assistance of FBI agents, gather evidence and search his home in a neighboring town. Police say they found a letter in Adkisson’s car which said that he planned the attack, that he couldn’t find a job, and “stated his hatred for the liberal movement.”" -By Mike Celizic

-TODAYShow.com -MSNBC

20080722

Listen

Pete Sessions

Texas

Political

Lawmaker

Entertainment

"PACs put the fun in fundraising: Think all political contributions go toward campaigns? Maybe if those campaigns include golf trips and nights at the burlesque house. In the last installment of his PAC Men series, Steve Henn reports." ... "Monica Notzen is a Republican consultant who plans parties like this for lawmakers." ... "Basically, her job consists of calling lobbyists and other insiders and inviting them to parties. But to come, she tells them they have to contribute to a politician's leadership political action committee, or PAC, first." ... "[Texas Republican] Congressman Pete Sessions, a Republican from Texas, is one of Monica Notzen's clients and he doesn't see anything wrong with this picture."

"Pete Sessions: I don't think that lobbyists in and of themselves are deceptive or deceitful people. I don't have any problem with people going and doing things whether it's at a pool or horse racing. What bothers me is if you say one thing and do something else."

"In the past three years, unions and corporate executives contributed more than $77 million to these leadership PACs according to Federal Election Commission reports. Lobbyists kicked in millions more." ... "Working together, Notzen and Pete Sessions run one of the more successful PACs on Capitol Hill and last spring, Notzen's company planned an event for Pete Session's PAC in Vegas {Las Vegas, Nevada]: a fundraiser at Ivan Kane's Forty Deuce."

"Sessions: That's right, we do a Las Vegas fundraiser every year and not only raise money, but see Las Vegas. It's a beautiful town."
"Henn: Forty Deuce is a strip club."
"Sessions: You know, I've never seen that. It is what I would call a burlesque show where there's a woman who comes out and has a dress on... Uh, she never get's naked. There's no nudity, there's no nudity in there."

"This is how the club's owner, Ivan Kane, describes his brand of burlesque."

"Ivan Kane: The key component would be to have girls who were dancers taking their clothes off, not just girls taking their clothes off."

"Sessions spent more than $5,000 at Kane's club that night in March, according to federal disclosures. Those reports show Sessions spent another $2,100 on his hotel." ... "Officially, Pete Sessions' leadership PAC picked up the tab, but just days before the party at Forty Deuce, casino interests donated $5,000 to his PAC. Payday lenders threw in another $2,500." -By Steve Henn

-Marketplace via -PublicRadio.org

20080718

Hillary Clinton

Women's

Medical

Science

Abortion

Language

Politics

Family

Federal

Money

New York

"Clinton vows to fight "insulting" abortion plan." ... "A [Republican President] Bush administration plan to define several widely used contraception methods as abortion is a "gratuitous, unnecessary insult" to women and faces tough opposition, [New York Democratic Senator] Sen. Hillary Clinton said on Friday." ... "The former Democratic presidential candidate joined family planning groups to condemn the proposal that defines abortion to include contraception such as birth control pills and intrauterine devices." ... "It would cut off federal funds to hospitals and states where medical providers are obligated to offer legal abortion and contraception to women." ... ""We will not put up with this radical, ideological agenda to turn the clock back on women's rights," the New York senator told a joint news conference with New York [Democratic Representative] Rep. Nita Lowey, also a Democrat, at Bellevue Hospital." ... ""Women would watch their contraceptive coverage disappear overnight," said Clinton." (1, 2) -By Michelle Nichols with contributions by Ellen Wulfhorst and Eric Beech

-Reuters

20080715

McCain

Obama

2008 Election

Politics

Law

"McCain uses 'bundler' money more than Obama campaign." ... "Republican [2008 Election Presidential Candidate] John McCain's elite fundraisers have helped collect more than half of his presidential campaign money, while Democratic [2008 Election Presidential] rival Barack Obama has relied on his own top fundraisers for nearly one-fifth of his coffers, a USA TODAY analysis shows." ... "More than 500 top McCain fundraisers brought in at least $75.6 million, or about 53% of the presumptive GOP presidential nominee's receipts through June." ... "Obama, who also counts more than 500 people among his main fundraising corps, has collected at least $50.1 million through them. That's about 17% of the presumptive Democratic nominee's receipts through May. He has not released June totals." ... "The money from these fundraisers illustrates how McCain, who co-authored a 2002 law curbing the influence of special interests in campaign finance, is relying on a group of well-connected Republicans to fuel his bid. It also demonstrates that Obama has turned to wealthy donors to help collect cash — even though the bulk of his donations are from contributors who give $200 or less." ... ""This really proves how enormously valuable it is to have a network of fundraisers out there shaking the bushes for you," said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks money in politics. "For McCain, who wants to project an image as a maverick on reform, it is precisely the wrong message to be so reliant on this tiny set of well-heeled donors."" -By Fredreka Schouten

-USATODAY

20080710

Karl Rove

Don Siegelman

US Attorney

Politics

Investigation

Alabama

California

"Rove, Defying Subpoena, Doesn't Appear at Hearing (Update2)." ... "Former [Republican President Bush] White House political director Karl Rove, defying a subpoena, failed to appear before a [United States] U.S. House panel investigating whether the Justice Department prosecuted people for political reasons." ... "Rove's action today prompted the House Judiciary subcommittee to rule that his reasons for skipping the appearance weren't legally valid, a first step toward a possible contempt of Congress vote." ... "The panel is trying to determine whether Rove influenced the Justice Department's decision to bring a corruption case against former Alabama [Democratic] Governor Don Siegelman, a Democrat. Rove has rejected the claim and said he would speak with the committee only in private, not under oath and without a transcript. He also proposed answering questions in writing." ... "[California Democratic Representative Linda] Sanchez noted that Rove's offer was limited to discussing the Siegelman case. The panel also wants to question him about other topics, including the 2006 firing of nine U.S. attorneys, she said." ... "The Justice Department's ethics office also is probing whether Siegelman was the victim of selective prosecution. " -By Robert Schmidt

-Bloomberg

John Cowdery

Kott

Kohring

Weyhrauch

Oil

Money

Politics

VECO

Federal

Crimes

Alaska

"Cowdery indicted on two corruption charges." ... "The federal indictment filed today against state [Alaska state Republican Senator] Sen. John Cowdery revolves around the oil tax legislation pushed so hard by Veco Corp. [Corporation] and its executives in 2006." ... "The Anchorage Republican is charged with conspiracy and bribery, accused of scheming with Veco executives to win over another senator in the battle for the tax favored by North Slope oil producers." ... "According to the 16-page indictment, Cowdery and others conspired to give the other state senator $25,000, characterized as campaign contributions." ... "[Veco chief executive Bill] Allen and Veco vice president Rick Smith have pleaded guilty to bribing legislators, including Cowdery, to push through a version of an oil tax favored by North Slope producers." ... "Two former legislators, [Republican] Pete Kott of Eagle River [Alaska] and [Republican] Vic Kohring of Wasilla [Alaska], are serving federal prison sentences after being convicted of corruption charges related to the push for the tax. A third former legislator, [Republican] Bruce Weyhrauch of Juneau [Alaska's capital], was indicted too and is awaiting trial while courts consider an appeal on what evidence can be heard." -By Lisa Demer

-ADN.com

20080707

John McCain

Money

Law

Politics

2008 Election

"How McCain Is Skirting His Own Spending Caps." ... "When you combine [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain's individual war chest with his party's bankroll, it turns out the Republican nominee has about $90 million currently burning a hole in his pocket, while Obama and the DNC weigh in at a relatively paltry $47 million, or half as much. And even though McCain has agreed to an $84.1 spending limit by accepting public funds--a decision he likes to portray as a principled stand against the corrupting influence of money on politics--at least double that sum will be dropped on his behalf before Election Day thanks to loopholes in the law that allow outside groups to effectively skirt such limits with largely unregulated "soft money" contributions." ... "Currently, Team McCain is soliciting checks of up to $70,100 from each donor--$28,500 for the RNC, $40,000 for a quartet of state parties and $2,300 for the candidate himself. But if the Governors' Association actually works on a local level to boost McCain's bid, even that ceiling on individual contributions--which is already high enough to ensure that the senator's publicly-financed campaign will raise about half of its money from private sources--would be shattered." ... "The irony here, of course, is that it was McCain who co-sponsored the 2002 law meant to curtail the influence of wealth on presidential politics by limiting direct donations to the campaigns. Now he's the one's doing everything imaginable to circumvent the very caps he fought to create." -By Andrew Romano

-Newsweek

Barack Obama

Faith

Civil Liberties

Law

Economics

History

US_Debt

Iraq

Military

2008 Election

"Why some conservatives are backing Obama." ... "The "Obamacans" that [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama used to joke about - Republican apostates who whispered their support for his candidacy - have morphed into a new phenomenon, or syndrome, as detractors like to call it: the Obamacons." ... "These are conservatives who have publicly endorsed the presumptive Democratic nominee, dissidents from the brain trust of think tanks, ex-officials and policy magazines that have fueled the Republican Party since the 1960s." ... ""The untold story of the [Republican President] Bush administration is the deliberate annihilation of the Reaganite, small-government wing of the Republican Party," said Michael Greve, director of the Federalism Project at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. "A lot of people are very bitter about it."" ... "Many conservatives are aghast at the rise in spending and debt under the Bush administration, its expansion of executive power, and what they see as a trampling of civil liberties and a taste for empire." ... "Douglas Kmiec is former chief of the Office of Legal Counsel in the [former Republican Presidents] Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, and now a constitutional law professor at Pepperdine University and a devout Catholic. Kmiec endorsed Obama earlier this year, despite his conviction that Obama "believes in a pretty progressive agenda."" ... "Kmiec said his support deepened after meeting with Obama and other faith leaders last month, during which the busy candidate spent 2 1/2 in a freewheeling discussion with people who differed with him." ... ""I think he's the right person at the right time to re-establish principles of constitutional governance that have been ill treated by the current administration, and to free us from the tar paper that we know is Iraq," Kmiec said, adding that many Republicans privately agree. "I think he's a man in the market for every good idea he can find, and he doesn't care what label it comes with."" ... "David Friedman, the son of late conservative icon and Nobel economist Milton Friedman, has also endorsed Obama." ... "[Conservative Bruce Bartlett:] "People don't understand that there has always been a small but very significant element of conservatives who have been against the war from day one and who, like me, also hate George Bush and think he's the most incompetent president in American history," said Bruce Bartlett, a supply-side economist who coined the term Obamacons. "The few people who are slavishly pro-Republican, live or die, slavishly pro-Bush like the Weekly Standard crowd, have gotten lot more publicity than they deserve."" -By Carolyn Lochhead

-SFGate.com

20080706

Don Young

Ted Stevens

Tom DeLay

Federal

Investigation

Legislative

Politics

2008 Election

Alaska

Texas

Virginia

Florida

Transportation

Construction

"When Alaska's Young needed help, lobbyists ponied up." ... "Facing bad publicity and a dwindling campaign account, [United States Alaska Republican Representative] U.S. Rep. Don Young last year turned to the "AK Wolfpack," a group of more than 20 lobbyists, including former Young staffers and retired former congressmen, with close ties to the Alaska Republican." ... "Young's chief of staff, Mike Anderson, sent the Wolfpack an e-mail to tell them that national Democrats planned aggressive fundraising and claims of misconduct by Young to topple the 35-year incumbent congressman and his fellow Alaska Republican [Senator], U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens." ... "If they succeed, Anderson warned, "you and your clients will be impacted."" ... "They include Rick Alcalde, the lobbyist at the heart of a Young earmark that is under federal investigation. They also include lobbyists Colin Chapman, Anderson's immediate predecessor as Young's chief of staff, and Randy DeLay, the brother of former Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas. Randy DeLay lobbied on a Virginia highway project before Young's transportation committee." ... "Anderson e-mailed his note a day after The New York Times ran a front-page story about Young's earmarking $10 million to study a Florida interchange that would benefit a developer who had raised money for an earlier Young campaign. The paper described the earmark as an "obvious" trade of campaign contributions for legislative favors." -By Sean Cockerham and Erika Bolstad

-McClatchyDC.com

20080703

John McCain

Carl H Lindner Jr

BobPerry

Money

Politics

Accounting

Marketing

2004 Election

2008 Election

Texas

Ohio

Arizona

Illinois

Obama

"McCain Allies Find Finance-Law Holes: Governors' Fund Recruits Big Donors; Bid to Catch Obama." ... "Allies of [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain have found new loopholes in the campaign-finance law he helped write -- and they're using them to reel in huge contributions to help him compete with [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama." ... "In one method, a Republican Party fund aimed at electing governors has started marketing itself as a home for contributions of unlimited size to help Sen. McCain. His 2002 campaign law limits donations to presidential races to try to curtail the influence of wealth." ... "The Republican Governors Association isn't subject to those limits, and has long gathered up large donations from individuals and companies. Now it is telling donors it can use their contributions to benefit Sen. McCain in some key battleground states." ... "Altogether, individuals can give $108,000 to federal campaigns within each two-year election cycle." ... "Donors with deep pockets also can avoid limits completely by contributing to groups called 527 organizations, after a provision in the tax code." ... "The [Republican] governors group counts a number of large corporations among its donors, including WellPoint Inc. [Incorporated] at $200,000, and Pfizer Inc. [Incorporated], Bank of America Corp. [Corporation] and Travelers Cos. [Companies] at $150,000 or more." ... "Texas developer Bob Perry, the largest financial backer of the Swift Boat group [that attacked the military service of 2004 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate John Kerry], also is the largest individual donor to the governors group, at $250,000. Carl Lindner, a retired insurance executive in Ohio and another top Swift Boat financier, has contributed $100,000 to the governors' fund. The campaign-finance lawyer for the Swift Boat group in 2004 now serves the same role for the governors association." ... "In another Republican strategy, the McCain campaign itself last month began soliciting its biggest donations yet -- up to $70,100 per check." -By Brody Mullins and T.W. Farnam

-WSJ.com

20080702

John McCain

Carl H Lindner Jr

Terrorism

Money

Illegal

Military

Politics

Federal

Investigation

International

Food

Colombia

Arizona

Ohio

2008 Election

"McCain Backer's Firm Pleaded Guilty To Funding Terrorist Group In Colombia." ... "The co-host of a recent top-dollar fundraiser for [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain oversaw the payment of roughly $1.7 million to a Colombian paramilitary group that is today designated a terrorist organization by the United States." ... "Carl H. Lindner Jr., the billionaire Cincinnati [Ohio] businessman, was CEO [Chief Executive Officer] of Chiquita Brands International from 1984 to 2001, and remained on the company's board of directors until May 2002. Beginning under his tenure, Chiquita executives paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (known by the Spanish acronym AUC), which is described by George Washington University's National Security Archive as an "illegal right-wing anti-guerrilla group tied to many of the country's most notorious civilian massacres."" ... "Following a Justice Department indictment [pdf] last year, Chiquita admitted to illegally funding the paramilitaries and agreed to pay a $25 million fine. Chiquita's payments to the AUC began in 1997 and lasted seven years; roughly half of the funds came after the group was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. State Department in 2001." ... "According to the Justice Department, the payments "were reviewed and approved by senior executives" of Chiquita, who knew by no later than September 2000 "that the AUC was a violent, paramilitary organization."" ... "Late last week, Lindner co-hosted a $25,000-per-person fundraiser for McCain and the Republican Party in the wealthy Indian Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. The event raised about $2 million; Lindner also serves on McCain's Ohio Victory Team." ... "While Lindner was CEO of Chiquita, the company began sending money to the AUC through its shipping subsidiary Banadex. A report by the Organization of American States states that Banadex also engaged in arms trafficking, helping to deliver 3,000 Nicaraguan AK-47 rifles and millions of rounds of ammunition to the AUC in 2001. According to federal prosecutors, when company officials realized the arrangement was illegal, they switched to making the payments in cash." -By Nico Pitney

-HuffingtonPost.com

20080702

Secret

Torture

War Crimes

Prisons

Guantanamo

Cuba

Chinese

Korean

History

Medical

Science

Psychological

Military

Intelligence

Politics

Investigators

"China Inspired Interrogations at Guantánamo." ... "The military trainers who came to Guantánamo Bay [Cuba] in December 2002 based an entire interrogation class on a chart showing the effects of “coercive management techniques” for possible use on prisoners, including “sleep deprivation,” “prolonged constraint,” and “exposure.”" ... "What the trainers did not say, and may not have known, was that their chart had been copied verbatim from a 1957 Air Force study of Chinese Communist techniques used during the Korean War to obtain confessions, many of them false, from American prisoners." ... "The recycled chart is the latest and most vivid evidence of the way Communist interrogation methods that the United States long described as torture became the basis for interrogations both by the military at the base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and by the Central Intelligence Agency." ... "Some methods were used against a small number of prisoners at Guantánamo before 2005, when Congress banned the use of coercion by the military. The C.I.A. is still authorized by [Republican] President Bush to use a number of secret “alternative” interrogation methods." ... "Several Guantánamo documents, including the chart outlining coercive methods, were made public at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing June 17 that examined how such tactics came to be employed." ... "But committee investigators were not aware of the chart’s source in the half-century-old journal article, a connection pointed out to The New York Times by an independent expert on interrogation who spoke on condition of anonymity." ... "The 1957 article from which the chart was copied was entitled “Communist Attempts to Elicit False Confessions From Air Force Prisoners of War” and written by Alfred D. Biderman, a sociologist then working for the Air Force, who died in 2003. Mr. Biderman had interviewed American prisoners returning from North Korea, some of whom had been filmed by their Chinese interrogators confessing to germ warfare and other atrocities." ... "Those orchestrated confessions led to allegations that the American prisoners had been “brainwashed,” and provoked the military to revamp its training to give some military personnel a taste of the enemies’ harsh methods to inoculate them against quick capitulation if captured." ... "In 2002, the training program, known as SERE, for Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape, became a source of interrogation methods both for the C.I.A. and the military. In what critics describe as a remarkable case of historical amnesia, officials who drew on the SERE program appear to have been unaware that it had been created as a result of concern about false confessions by American prisoners." ... "The only change made in the chart presented at Guantánamo was to drop its original title: “Communist Coercive Methods for Eliciting Individual Compliance.”" (1, 2) -By Scott Shane

-NYTimes

PDF Documents via NYTimes:

"Communist Attempts to Elicit False Confessions From the Air Force Prisoners of War (pdf) [September 1957 article by A. D. Biderman, Bull, N.Y. Acad. Med, Vol. 33, No.9, pp 616-625. 10 pages. NB: p. 4 (619), Communist Coercive Methods for Eliciting Individual Compliance]."

"Documents Released at Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing on SERE Tactics (pdf)."

20080628

Afghanistan

Pakistan

Military

Terrorism

Intelligence

Illegal

Drug

Money

Human Rights

Reconstruction

Police

"Pentagon report: Taliban regroups, likely to up pace of attacks in Afghanistan." ... "The Taliban has regrouped after its initial fall from power in Afghanistan and the pace of its attacks is likely to increase this year, according to a Pentagon report that offers a dim view of progress in the nearly seven-year-old war." ... "Noting that insurgent violence has climbed, the report said that despite U.S. and coalition efforts to capture and kill key leaders, the Taliban is likely to "maintain or even increase the scope and pace of its terrorist attacks and bombings in 2008."" ... "The Taliban, it said, has "coalesced into a resilient insurgency."" ... "Vast problems — corruption, the illegal poppy trade, human rights abuses and slow progress in reconstruction — were detailed, as well as the struggle to train and equip the Afghan Army and police." ... "The report described a dual terror threat in Afghanistan that includes the Taliban in the south, and "a more complex, adaptive insurgency" in the east. That fragmented insurgency is made up of groups ranging from al-Qaida and Afghan warlords such as Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's radical Hezb-i-Islami group to Pakistani militants such as Jaish-e-Mohammed." ... "Insurgents will continue to challenge the government in southern and eastern Afghanistan, and the may also move to increase their power in the north and west, the report predicted." (1, 2, 3) -By Lolita C. Baldor with contributions by Robert Burns

-AP via -StarTribune

-Defenselink.mil Publications

[PDFs]

"Report on Progress toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan."

"United States Plan for Sustaining the Afghanistan National Security Forces."

Defenselink.mil

Pubs

20080627

David Vitter

Larry Craig

Sam Brownback

James Inhofe

Gay

Family

Law

Politics

Idaho

Kansas

Oklahoma

"The Federal Marriage Amendment is back — with Vitter’s and Craig’s support." ... "Republicans are looking at the political landscape, and they’re feeling awfully discouraged. The polls look bad, the base looks depressed, and fundraising looks iffy. Rallying the far-right troops with an anti-gay amendment to the Constitution — even though it has no chance at even getting so much as a hearing — might be helpful to the conservative movement." ... "But the funny part is looking over the list of the 10 original sponsors. Most of the names are predictable — [Kansas Republican Senator Sam] Brownback and [Oklahoma Republican Senator James] Inhofe, for example — but there are two others whose names stand out: [Republican Senators] Sens. David Vitter (R-La. [Republican-Louisiana]) and Larry Craig (R-Idaho [Republican])." ... "Yes, two of the principal sponsors of a constitutional amendment to “protect” marriage include one far-right Republican who hired prostitutes and another far-right Republican who was arrested for soliciting gay sex an airport men’s room." ... "As my friend Kyle put it, these two are “not exactly the poster boys of the family values crowd or particularly upstanding examples of the supposed sanctity of the ‘union of a man and a woman.”‘" -By Steve Benen -

TheCarpetbaggerReport.com

20080625

Faith

Politics

Justice

Obama

2008 Election

"James Dobson Doesn't Speak For Me." ... "Dr. James Dobson recently attacked [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama for a 2006 speech that Obama gave on his Christian faith. Does he speak for you?" ... "James Dobson doesn't speak for me. He doesn't speak for me when he uses religion as a wedge to divide; He doesn't speak for me when he speaks as the final arbiter on the meaning of the Bible; James Dobson doesn't speak for me when he uses the beliefs of others as a line of attack; He doesn't speak for me when he denigrates his neighbor's views when they don't line up with his; He doesn't speak for me when he seeks to confine the values of my faith to two or three issues alone; What does speak for me is David's psalm celebrating how good and pleasant it is when we come together in unity; Micah speaks for me in reminding us that the Lord requires us to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with Him; The prophet Isaiah speaks for me in his call for all to come and reason together and also to seek justice, encourage the oppressed and to defend the cause of the vulnerable; The book of Nehemiah speaks for me in its example to work with our neighbors, not against them, to restore what was broken in our communities; The book of Matthew speaks for me in saying to bless those that curse you and pray for those who persecute you; The words of the apostle Paul speak for me in saying that words spoken and deeds done without love amount to nothing. The apostle John speaks for me in reminding us of Jesus' command to love one another. The world will know His disciples by that love." ... "READ Barack Obama "Call to Renewal" Speech. [Barack Obama on Faith and Politics: WATCH: Barack Obama "Call To Renewal" (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) ... Barack Obama: "10 Questions: Religion in America."]" -By Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell et al

-JamesDobsonDoesntSpeakForMe.com

"Call to Renewal"

by Barack Obama

20080624

Tom Ridge

John McCain

Money

Politics

Albania

Pennsylvania

2008 Election

"Ridge lobbies for Albania, but doesn't report it." ... "[Republican President Bush's] Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge registered with the Department of Justice as a lobbyist for the government of Albania nearly two years after winning an almost half-million dollar lobbying contract, Roll Call reports this morning." ... ""I didn't think it was [necessary] to register," the Capitol Hill newspaper quotes the former [Republican] Pennsylvania governor and national co-chair of [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain's presidential campaign as saying." -By Brett Lieberman

-PennLive.com

20080623

Abortion

Money

Medical

Law

2008 Election

Portland

Oregon

Woman

"Oregon City woman details abortion, relationship with Mike Erickson: Now a "pro-life" congressional candidate, he gave her $300 and took her to the clinic in Northeast Portland, Tawnya says." ... "An Oregon City [Oregon] woman who dated [Republican] congressional candidate Mike Erickson seven years ago said she asked him directly whether he wanted to have a baby. He shook his head no, she said, and paid for her abortion." ... "In interviews with The Oregonian, the woman said she met Erickson in September 2000, and she had the abortion in January 2001. They saw each other afterward, she said, even going on a trip to Mexico in March, before the relationship ended. She spoke on the condition that only her first name, Tawnya, be used." ... "Her story is backed up by medical and other records, and the accounts of two friends, one of whom was with her at the abortion. Their story conflicts directly with Erickson's version." ... "He agrees that he gave Tawnya $300 for medical help, and a ride to a doctor's office near Lloyd Center [in Portland, Oregon], but said he didn't know she was pregnant or planned to get an abortion. He said he doesn't think he saw her again after that day." ... "Erickson, a Lake Oswego [Oregon] businessman, is the Republican candidate for the 5th Congressional District and is running on a "pro-life" platform. The charge that he provided money to Tawnya nearly derailed his campaign for the May 20 primary and could hobble his chances in the [2008 Election November] Nov. 4 general election against state [Oregon Democratic Senator] Sen. Kurt Schrader, D[Democratic]-Canby [Oregon]." ... "Erickson has campaigned on a strict anti-abortion platform that favors abstinence education and adoption over abortion." (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) -By Janie Har and Steve Mayes

-Oregonian

Media

Radio

Communications

Corporations

Government

Politics

"July 18 Deadline for Cross-Ownership Move Requests: Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Gives Broadcasters, Media Activists Until July 18 to File Requests for Moving Appeal of FCC Decision." ... "The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals gave broadcasters and media activists until July 18 to file their requests for moving the appeal of the Federal Communications Commission's decision to loosen the ban on newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership." ... "That's according to one of the parties involved." -By John Eggerton

-BroadcastingCable.com

20080622

Blackwater

Corporate

Military

Federal

Crime

North Carolina

"Blackwater using cache of AK-47s: Rifles given to sheriff in deal that skirts law." ... "The private military company Blackwater [owned by Erik Prince] has found an unusual way to skirt federal laws that prohibit private parties from buying automatic weapons. Blackwater bought 17 Romanian AK-47s and 17 Bushmasters, gave ownership of the guns to the Camden County [North Carolina] sheriff and keeps most of the guns at Blackwater's armory in Moyock [North Carolina]." ... "Tiny Camden County -- population 9,271 -- is one of the most peaceful in North Carolina. In the last 10 years, there have been two murders, three robberies and seven rapes reported. The sheriff has just 19 deputies." ... "Sheriff Tony Perry said his department has never used the 17 AK-47s outside of shooting practice at Blackwater. None of his 19 deputies are qualified to use the AK-47s, Perry said, and his department's need for automatic weapons is "very minimal."" ... "In the summer of 2005, Blackwater CEO Gary Jackson signed two agreements with [Major] Maj. Jon Worthington of the Sheriff's Office. Worthington has worked as a firearms instructor for Blackwater." ... ""Blackwater has financed the purchase of 17 Romanian AK-47 rifles for the Camden County Sheriff's Office for use by Sheriff's Office," the agreement says. "The Camden County Sheriff's Office will have unlimited access to these rifles for training and qualification, and state of emergency use." Worthington and Jackson also signed an agreement for the purchase of 17 Bushmaster XM15 E2S automatic rifles." ... "Why did Blackwater strike this deal with the Camden County sheriff?" ... ""Because they needed guns, I imagine," Jackson said." ... "Under federal law, it is illegal for a person to receive or possess an automatic weapon that is not registered to that person in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record." -By Joseph Neff

-NewsObserver.com

20080621

China

Hackers

GOV

Lawmakers

Human Rights

Politics

Military

Intelligence

Investigation

Ill

"More congressional computers hacked from China." ... "More Members of Congress have had their computers infiltrated by hackers within China than initially suspected, a lawmaker has revealed." ... "[Representatives] Reps. Frank Wolf (R-Va. [Republican-Virginia), Chris Smith (R-N.J. [Republican-New Jersey), and Mark Kirk (R-Ill. [Republican-Illinois]) admitted to having data removed from their Capitol Hill computers last week, but Wolf says there are more." ... "“I would suspect that the Foreign Affairs, Armed Services, Intelligence, (and) Appropriations committees would all be top targets,” Kirk said." ... "Wolf and Smith said they believe the hackers focused on them because of their continued objections to China’s human rights violations, and suspected that the hackers were looking for information on dissidents." ... "The FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] asked the lawmakers not to speak publicly, fearing that if they did, they would be unable to track the IP addresses of the hackers, Kirk said." ... "“When you’re in the middle of a criminal investigation, you try not to alert the criminal of what’s happened so you can track it down,” he said." -By Jordy Yager

-TheHill.com

20080620

John McCain

Criminal

Financing

Lawyering

Politics

Federal

2008 Election

"McCain Breaking the Law in Plain Sight." ... "I mentioned earlier today that it was quite a thing to see John McCain denouncing Barack Obama for breaking his word on public financing when McCain himself is at this moment breaking the law in continuing to spend over the spending limits he promised to abide by through the primary season in exchange for public financing. (By the FEC's [Federal Election Commission's] rules, we're still in the primary phase of the election and will be until the conventions.)" ... "I want to return to this subject though because this is not hyperbole or some throw away line. He's really doing it. McCain opting into public financing, accepted the spending limits and then profited from that opt-in by securing a campaign saving loan. And then he used some clever, but not clever enough lawyering, to opt back out. And the person charged with saying what flies and what doesn't -- the Republican head of the FEC -- said he's not allowed to do that. He can't opt out unilaterally unless the FEC says he can." ... "The most generous interpretation of what happened is that McCain's lawyer came up with an ingenious legal two step that allowed him to double dip in the campaign finance system, eat his cake and spend it too. But even if you buy that line, successful gaming of the system doesn't really count as strict adherence. And the point is irrelevant since the head of the FEC -- a Republican -- says McCain cannot do this on his own. " -By Josh Marshall

-TalkingPointsMemo.com

WATCH: "TPMtv: [McCain] Campaign Finance Deformed"

By Josh Marshall -Veracifier

20080619

John McCain

Barack Obama

Iowa

Flood

Disaster

Law

Enforcement

2008 Election

"Culver aides: McCain ignored request to cancel Iowa visit." ... "An aide to [Iowa Democratic Governor] Gov. Chet Culver said Thursday that [2008 Election] Republican presidential candidate John McCain ignored the governor's request to cancel a campaign visit amid a massive flood recovery effort in the state." ... "Patri