Bush Administration Releases 2008 Budget Plan

Bush's budget calls for cuts to Key Domestic Programs.

Julianne Malveaux discusses the budget situation on NPR's News and Notes Program.

Listen To Program

Congress Holds Hearings On Iraq Contractors

Congress finally held hearings this week on the subject of U.S. Government contractors in Iraq.
(Watch Video Below).

In the first segment, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee listens to testimony from relatives of Security workers who were killed in Iraq due to carelessness by the Blackwater Security Co., one of the main Private Security companies profiteering from the war in Iraq. Watch how Republicans on the Committee belittle the family members.

The next segment covers the issue of wasted money, fraud, and the lack of overall accountability.

WATCH FULL HEARING

Also listen to a great public radio discussion about the government replacing permanent full time civil servants with private contractors....and about tax dollars being wasted.

Listen To Program Here (choose Audio Option at top of page).

Related Article from the L.A. Times

Democracy Now Report

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Previous Blog Entries On This Subject

War Profiteering In Iraq

How Halliburton is Stealing Your Tax Money

*Use the Search function to find other postings on this issue

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The African American Political Pundit Covered Story of Missing Money In Iraq

Army officers have been indicted in Iraq in connection with major fraud/theft case. Dozens of other cases are pending. Report from Democracy Now.

Atlanta Police Officers To Face Charges

Atlanta cops said to face murder charges

By GREG BLUESTEIN
Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA — Prosecutors intend to seek murder charges against three Atlanta police officers involved in the shooting death of a 92-year-old woman in her home, according to a letter sent to an attorney for one of the officers.

Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard sent a letter that said he will ask a grand jury on Feb. 26 to deliver a murder indictment against officers Gregg Junnier, J.R. Smith and Arthur Tesler, said Rand Csehy, Junnier's attorney.

Kathryn Johnston died and three officers were wounded in the Nov. 21 shootout when police used a no-knock warrant to search for drugs in Johnston's northwest Atlanta home.

When officers entered her home without first announcing their presence, police say Johnston fired a handgun and officers returned fire, killing her. An autopsy concluded she was shot five or six times.

Narcotics officers said an informant had claimed there was cocaine in the home, but none was found.

A copy of the letter obtained by The Associated Press said that prosecutors would ask the grand jury to indict Junnier on charges of felony murder, as well as counts of violation of oath, burglary, criminal solicitation, aggravated assault and false imprisonment.

"I expect an acquittal across the board," Csehy said. "I don't think there's any evidence supporting any of these charges."

A spokeswoman for Howard declined to comment on the letter.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, Patrick Crosby, said his office and the FBI have not been contacted by Howard's office "regarding the issuance of such notices."

John Garland, an attorney for Smith, declined to comment on the letter, while William McKenney, an attorney for Tesler, did not immediately return several calls to his office seeking comment.

Junnier, 40, was hit in the leg, the face and his bulletproof vest in the shootout. Two other officers also suffered bullet wounds, one in the leg and one in the arm.

The shooting has brought renewed scrutiny to the police use of no-knock warrants, with which officers are allowed to raid homes where criminal activity is suspected without first announcing their presence.

Civil rights leaders, including the NAACP, have called on politicians and judges to restrict how often and how easily the warrants are issued, and for cities like Atlanta to create citizen review boards to oversee police actions.

Source

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Previous Blog Entry Regarding This Case

American Empire To Spread Its Tentacles Over Africa

Emperor George Bush II has just announced that the U.S. Empire will move into Africa, permanently, with the creation of a new major military command (the first in years). The new military command will be called AFRICOM. It will join the other 5 major commands already in operation: U.S. Northern Command (NorthCom), Southern Command (SouthCom), U.S. Central Command (CentCom), U.S. European Command (EuCom), and U.S. Pacific Command (PaCom).

I thought I was having a bad dream when I saw this.

Now they claim this is because of their sudden concern for Africa. All of a sudden they want to see Africa thrive and hope to work alongside Africans to help keep terrorists out of their countries. Nonsense!!!!

Now all of a sudden they have a sincere interest in Africa??? Please!

If they really wanted to help Africa, they could send more food and medicine!!! How about helping Africa become self sustaining, so that they won't need your handouts? How about doing more about the AIDS crisis, where 6,000 people die daily. Let me say that again..... where 6,000 people die DAILY... DAILY!!!!! Not to mention all of the other problems that the continent is dealing with, like the genocide in Darfur.


These bastards don't give a damn about the Continent of Africa or the African people.
They are only concerned about the natural resources, and establishing military installations that they can use to launch wars. Once they use up the natural resources, get all the slave labor they want, or no longer see a selfish strategic benefit from being in the region, they leave & leave the Continent worse off than it was when they came. At least this is how things have gone in the past. Although, this appears to be part of a more permanent colonization plan.

Genuine concern for Africa or African people is not what is motivating these bloodsuckers.You want to know what has sparked this sudden interest in Africa by Emperor George? It was caused by China's rise and growing influence in Africa. China has been investing billions in Africa, as well as other parts of the globe, hoping to secure the natural resources and the cheap labor needed to support its rapid growth. So the U.S. wants to compete with China for the natural resources there (oil, gas, and other precious resources). I suppose they want to find out which country is better at raping the Continent of its resources. As opposed to getting us off of foreign oil....it seems they want to make us more dependent on it. The U.S. would be much better off investing its time and money into the development of new energy technologies so that we could free ourselves from oil imports. They also want a bigger presence in the region as a way to discourage China, India, Russia and others from coming into the Continent to get the natural resources, or to invest, and to prevent other countries from establishing a strategic position in Africa.

I can see Africa becoming a new battle ground, like it was during the old Cold War..... except this new era will be worse. During the Cold War, Africa was used for Proxy-wars. But I can see China and the U.S. (and other nations) fighting directly for the resources there, particularly as oil resources begin to dry up in other parts of the world.
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Additional Reports

Report from U.S. Military paper the Stars and Stripes

Commentary

New York Times Report

Report from Mail & Guardian

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UPDATE

U.S. Running Into Opposition From African Countries (1) (2) (3)

And Despite the new AFRICOM Command, there will be no help for Darfur, According to the Defense Department. (1)

Clinton, Edwards and Obama: Strike Iran

Clinton, Edwards and Obama Seem to Support War With Iran, according to the great commentary below.

This is why I have a hatred for the Democratic Party that runs almost as deep as my hatred for the Republican Party. Don't be fooled by my friendly remarks about Democrats.... I am simply choosing the Demon over the Devil. If there were more major Political Parties to choose from, I would not support Democrats or Republicans. Democrats and Republicans are two heads from the same snake, in my opinion.

I don't think there are any Democrats that I will be able to support, since all of the serious contenders support the idea of war with Iran (despite their grand standing about Iraq). Damn Hypocrites!
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Clinton, Edwards and Obama: Strike Iran

Why the Democrats Won’t Save Us

Over the past weekend Hillary Clinton pledged to end the war in Iraq if she is elected. “If we in Congress don't end this war before January 2009, as president, I will,” she told a large crowd at the Democratic National Committee’s winter convention in Washington.

It was the first time since announcing her candidacy that Hillary acknowledged the growing movement against the war when discussing Iraq, which faced its bloodiest period since the invasion almost four years ago with over 1,000 reported deaths in the last seven days alone. Also in attendance at the DNC meeting were other presidential hopefuls, including John Edwards and Sen. Barack Obama, who both attempted to paint themselves as the best antiwar candidate in the hunt for the White House.

The top candidates’ tepid words on Iraq were a sign of what’s to come over the next year and a half as their rhetorical talents are turned on high. Despite Obama’s reassurance that he did not support the war from the beginning, along with Edwards’ claims that he’s had a change of heart on his past pro-war votes -- neither candidate distinguished their position from the Bush administration when it came to the looming Iran confrontation.

In fact two weeks earlier, while visiting Israel, Edwards laid out his position on Iran quite succinctly:

"Let me be clear: Under no circumstances can Iran be allowed to have nuclear weapons … The vast majority of people are concerned about what is going on in Iraq. This will make the American people reticent toward going for Iran. But I think the American people are smart if they are told the truth, and if they trust their president. So Americans can be educated to come along with what needs to be done with Iran.”

Hillary Clinton pushed virtually the same bitter line while addressing the annual AIPAC convention held in New York City last week. “U.S. policy must be clear and unequivocal: We cannot, we should not, we must not permit Iran to build or acquire nuclear weapons,'' Clinton told the crowd of Israel supporters. “In dealing with this threat ... no option can be taken off the table.''

Barack Obama has also been upfront about how he would deal with Iran, arguing that he would not rule out the use of force and supports surgical strikes of alleged nuclear sites in the country if diplomacy (read: coercion) fails. To put it bluntly, none of the front running Democrats are opposed to Bush’s dubious “war on terror” or his bullying of Iran. They support his aggression in principle but simply believe a Democratic presidency could handle the job more astutely. All put Israel first and none are going to fundamentally alter U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.

Times like these require bravery. They require a fight. A fight against immoral and illegal policies. A fight against tyranny. A fight for freedom. Freedom from hatred. Freedom from occupation. Americans and the people of the Middle East deserve better than Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama. They deserve to live their lives without the threat of warfare and bloodshed. They deserve to live without fear.

--Joshua Frank

Source

Astronaut Arrested for Attempted Kidnapping

UPDATE: Astronaut Now Charged With Attempted Murder
Report here

SHOULD WOMEN BE ALLOWED TO BECOME ASTRONAUTS?

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Now U.S. Astronauts are Losing Their Minds

Astronaut Lisa Nowak was Arrested Monday for Assault and Attempted Kidnapping

Nowak attacked another female Astronaut as she arrived at a Florida Airport. The women were competing for the affection of a male colleague.

This is a real embarassment for the country. It is amazing how some of the most respected members of our society could just flip out like this (and she did flip out...see the information in the article).

It is also sad because it may hurt the efforts of legendary NASA figures like Eileen Collins and Sally Ride..... women who really knocked down doors and paved the way for other women to pursue top careers in the U.S. Space program. This, in a sense, spits on the legacy that they built. Is this the way she wants to show her appreciation?

This also raises the question- Will this incident provide ammunition to those who say that women should not be allowed to hold such important positions? I think it will. I'm not saying that this idea is correct, but it will provide ammunition for this view.

Those who don't believe that women should hold these sensitive and important positions will say that this is the perfect example of why they should not be involved in the Space Program at such a high level. Having women in the Astronaut program could be seen as a distraction and a risk, because there is always the problem of colleagues of different sexes fraternizing. These kinds of relationships threaten the professionalism of the organization and could actually threaten the mission (and lives).

Imagine if this love triangle nonsense were taking place on a Space Shuttle or on the International Space Station, or during some highly important Space mission? Can the nation afford to take this risk in the future?

Just playing Devils Advocate here.


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Additional Reports

Update

Arrest stuns Space Community

White House Continues Campaign To Justify War On Iran

Now Bush & Co. has come out with the story of Jamal Jafaar Mohammed, a bombing suspect from Kuwait, who was never part of a trial by jury. Mohammed is now a member of the Iraqi Parliament.

The White House claims that Mohammed is an agent for the Iranian government, and they are now blaming him for helping insurgents.

This appears to be part of the continued PR effort to build the justification for an eventual U.S. attack on Iran. Even Malaki has said he is tired of the U.S. using his country as a proxy battleground for a war with Iran.

Even if he is wanted.... that is the business of Iraq and Kuwait to work out, since the charges are from Kuwait. If the U.S. wants him, they should charge him, and then try to get his governmental immunity dropped so that he can be extradited.

Study Sheds Light On Black Youth

NPR's News and Notes program examines the results of a new study of Black American youth, called the Black Youth Project.

My question is, when will Black youth begin to reject the negative influence of the rap culture?

Once they do that, half of their battle will be won, in my opinion. The study shows that there is at least an inkling of concern about the rap culture....but unfortunately that concern does not seem to be deep enough and there seems to be no motivation to act on what little concerns they may have.

Much of the problems facing Black youth and the wider so-called "Black Community" seem to be self-inflicted.

Listen To Program

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Visit the Website for the Black Youth Project

Great Discussion On Iran

The U.S. and Iran and the Growing Threat of War

The Public Radio Program 'On Point' offers In-depth Discussion On the Possible Upcoming Confrontation Between the U.S. and Iran.

Summary:

American forces are neck deep in the war in Iraq, but in recent weeks an awful lot of the tough talk out of the Bush administration has been about the much bigger country next door, Iran.

And it's not just talk. A second U.S. aircraft carrier is headed to the Persian Gulf. Minesweepers, too, and Patriot missiles. The U.S. Air Force is outlining "forceful patrols" on Iran's border.

When the U.S. invaded Iraq, a senior Bush official said Iran should "take a number". Now, with Iraq going badly and Iran defiantly pursuing its nuclear program, tensions are way up.

Some say it's a U.S. bluff. Some fear an accidental and devastating war. Some believe White House hardliners want a war with Iran, and are going for it.

Listen To Program Here (click RealPlayer audio option at top of page)