Hookers 'Jimmy-Up' for the Upcomming Democratic National Convention
By Christopher Cox
Sunday, June 20, 2004

 Only 20% of American's say Bush is 'mostly lying'

     Rupert Cornwell
     June 30 2004 at 04:34AM

Washington - George Bush's battle to return to the White House has been dealt a severe blow with the release of a poll showing his job rating was at its lowest point ever.

According to the latest New York Times/CBS poll released on Tuesday, the US president's job rating has fallen to its lowest of his term, with just 42 percent approving of his performance, compared to 51 percent who disapprove.

And while Bush was making a speech on the sunlit shores of the Bosphorus in Turkey extolling the virtues of a free and democratic Iraq, a separate survey showed that the transfer of power in Baghdad is regarded by Americans as a failure rather than a success.

A CNN/Gallup poll found six out of 10 people believed that Monday's hasty handover - at a moment when Iraq remained so perilous - was a sign of failure. Just a third regarded it as a sign of success.

 Hysterical leech song from NPR's All Things Considered

Satirical View of FDA's Approval of Marketing Leeches

Satirists Bruce Kluger and David Slavin find humor in the announcement that a French company is the first since 1976 to receive clearance to market leeches as medical devices in the United States. Leeches are already widely used in American hospitals, and companies that sold them before 1976 were allowed to continue doing so. Kluger and Slavin create a commercial for the product.

» E-mail this audio link

» FDA: French Company Can Market Leeches

 

AP
Theresa Heinz Kerry and John Kerry

A U.S. newspaper says Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of presidential candidate John Kerry, controls a family fortune worth $1 billion, double the amount widely cited in the media.

The Los Angeles Times says it arrived at the estimate through an examination of Senate financial disclosure reports and other public records.

It says some of the fortune has been used to provide capital for Anheuser-Busch, Procter and Gamble, and other major corporations.

The paper cites political analysts who say if her husband is elected president, Mrs. Heinz Kerry may have to place her assets in a blind trust to head off questions about conflicts of interest.

Mrs. Heinz Kerry inherited her wealth from her first husband, the late Senator John Heinz, a member of the Heinz ketchup-making family.

"Smile God Damn it! - Photo of the Day.

Mother of dead soldier protests Pentagon ban

Monday 28 June 2004 7:26 PM GMT

Flag-draped casket arrived in Sacremento on Sunday night

The mother of a soldier killed in Iraq asked US media to photograph her son's flag-draped casket arriving at Sacramento International Airport.

Nadia McCaffrey said she wanted to protest a Pentagon policy banning media coverage of America's war dead.

Nearly a dozen reporters, photographers and television crews watched as the coffin of Army Sargeant Patrick McCaffrey, 34, was transferred to a hearse outside an airport cargo terminal shortly before midnight on Sunday, officials said.

"I don't care what President Bush wants," McCaffrey, told the Los Angeles Times. Patrick "did not die for nothing ... The way he lived needs to be talked about. Patrick was not a fighter, he was a peacemaker."

Patrick McCaffrey was killed on 22 June along with 1st Lt. Andre Tyson, both members of the 579th Engineer Battalion, when the two were ambushed by fighters near Balad, Iraq.

Both were promoted posthumously on Friday, Tech. Sgt. Andrew Hughan of the California National Guard said.

Debate

The debate over whether Americans should see the coffins of McCaffrey and other troops flared last April after The Seattle Times published a front-page photograph of caskets in a cargo plane in Kuwait and a First Amendment activist posted on his Web site dozens of like images from Dover in Delaware, home to the nation's largest military mortuary.

The Pentagon's rules "are specifically for the airlift command, when the caskets are on the military plane," said Lt. Jonathan Shiroma, spokesman for the California National Guard. "This is a commercial jet, so it's a different jurisdiction, so to speak. We cannot stop the media from filming."

Michael Moore, members of Congress and other Washingtonians gathered on June 23 at the Cineplex Odeon Uptown for the D.C. premiere of Moore's controversial new film, "Fahrenheit 9/11." Moore and others took the opportunity to voice their views about the movie, which criticizes George W. Bush and his administration.

Click here to watch the video.

Hot Numbers for "Fahrenheit 9/11"
by Bridget Byrne
Jun 27, 2004, 5:33 PM PT

Fahrenheit 9/11 ignited the box-office this weekend.

Michael Moore's clip package assault on President Bush was even hotter than anticipated, earning a searing $21.8 million at only 868 sites, for a blockbuster $25,115 per screen average.

Embraced by left-wingers and winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes, Fahrenheit 9/11 was scorned by the right-wingers and dumped by Disney. Producers Harvey and Bob Weinstein then collaborated with Lions Gate Films and IFC Entertainment to bring the film to what turns out to be the eager masses. Costing only $6 million to produce and less than $10 million to market, the pay-off is obvious for this provocative R rated documentary critically praised for its wit, heart and chutzpah.

This is not only the best opening ever for a documentary, it's already the most money ever taken in by a documentary ever, beating Moore's anti-gun Bowling for Columbine, which has taken in $21.5 million since opening in October 2002. That movie actually had a slightly higher per screen average - $26,144 - but only debuted at eight sites and, despite winning an Oscar, never played at more than 248 locations.

Moore, during a Sunday morning teleconference, described his documentary as presenting "my opinion based on fact." He said he didn't feel under attack. "Hearing this news this morning - these are mind blowing numbers. And the fact that all the predictions that the movie would only speak to the choir, that it would only be those who don't like Bush coming to the movie, I don't think have turned out to be true. This movie has played in the Red states as strongly as it's played in the Blue states."

"This is maybe the sleeper hit of all time," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations Inc., the company that tallies the studios' grosses.

Lions Gate Films Releasing President Tom Ortenberg said he'd never witnessed such a positive response before on exit surveys. In the around 15 cities surveyed the results were "91 percent 'excellent' and 93 per cent 'definite recommend.'"

The audience was almost 50/50 male/female and the highest demographic was 25-34 year olds. Anticipating that excellent word of mouth will carry over, the distributors plan to add hundreds more screens next week, although they will be going up against the anticipated summer blockbuster Spider-Man 2.

IFC Entertainment's President Jonathan Sehring said they were "happy to announce the efforts of a small minded few to suppress and censor the film have failed miserably." But he said he would not include Michael Eisner, Disney's head honcho, in that group.

However making the Disney duck-out look particularly bad business is the fact that the Mouse House's ultra expensive family adventure Around the World in Eighty Days, which only opened an abysmal ninth last week, dropped out of the top ten. Falling 44 percent to eleventh place, it earned just $4.2 million from a $1,520 per screen average to brings its currently gross to a woeful $18.2 million.

Left in "Fahrenheit"'s shade in second place was the new Wayans Bros. comedy White Chicks. At more than three times as many sites - 2,726 - the PG-13 Sony release in which the bros play FBI agents who change color to go undercover, averaged $7,190 for $19.6 million.

In fifth place The Notebook, a romantic drama, starring Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling as parted lovers and Gena Rowlands and James Garner as their older selves, had a solid enough opening. The PG-13 New Line release (s)wept in to 2,303 sites where it averaged $5,656 for $13 million.

Universal's Two Brothers, the save-the-tigers or at least leave-'em-alone-to-save-themselves tale, opened in ninth place. The PG rated Universal release, starring magnificent beasts and < a href="/Facts/People/0,12,23139,00.html">Guy Pearce, averaged $2,851 at 2,175 sites, to paw up a cub size $6.2 million.

Last week's number one Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story got bruised, but not totally beamed, dropping only 38 percent to earn $18.5 million in third place, bringing the Ben Spiller's goofy comedy's two week total to $67.1 million. Last week's number two Tom Hanks' immigrant-in-limbo The Terminal held on a bit better. dropping only 27 percent for a fourth place $13.9 million to bring its current gross to $41.8 million.

Overall the top 12 movies grossed $135.6 million, up 3.8 percent for last weekend and a solid 20.4 percent above this time last year when Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle flew in first with $37.6 million, but a much lower per screen average than Fahrenheit 9/11 - just $10,880 at 3,459 sites.

Final figures are due Monday. Meantime here's the top 12 estimated by Exhibitor Relations.

1. Fahrenheit 9/11, $21.8 million
2. White Chicks, $19.6 million
3. Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, $18.5 million
4. The Terminal, $13.9 million
5. The Notebook, $13 million
6. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, $11.4 million
7. Shrek 2, $10.5 million
8. Garfield, $7 million
9. Two Brothers, $6.2 million
10. The Stepford Wives, $5.2 million

Though the traditional Labor Day start of the campaign is still two months away, a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll taken Monday through Wednesday shows that swing voters already are scarce. Eight of 10 registered voters say there is "no chance whatsoever" that they will switch from their candidate to the other guy.

There are fewer voters who might be lured by TV ads or position papers than in previous elections, one more sign of a polarized electorate. About this time in 1992, 62% of registered voters said they were open to changing their minds. In 1996, that number dropped to 39%. In 2000, it was 28%.

Now, 18% of registered voters say they might be persuaded to change their minds, and 2% are undecided.

by David Sirota, Christy Harvey, Judd Legum and Jonathan Baskin SIGN UP >> SEND TIP >> PERMALINKS >> MOBILE >>

IRAQ

MEDIA PUSHED THE MYTH: In the lead up to war, many major media outlets made a conscious decision to refuse to adequately cover criticism and questions about the administration's assertions. The 3/28/03 WP reported that an influential television news consulting firm advised news executives that "covering war protests may be harmful to a station's bottom line." Similarly, AP reported on 4/3/03 that a top consulting firm to 150 radio stations across the country published a "War Manual," suggesting stations covering the war play "patriotic music that makes you cry, salute, get cold chills." And Clear Channel, which owns more than 1,200 radio stations and is run by a major Bush campaign contributor, "organized pro-war rallies in Atlanta, Cleveland, San Antonio, Cincinnati, Sacramento, Charleston, S.C., and Richmond, Va."

Felons Paid in Voter Registration Drive

By DAVID A. LIEB
The Associated Press
Thursday, June 24, 2004; 12:21 AM

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - A Democratic group crucial to John Kerry's presidential campaign has paid felons - some convicted of sex offenses, assault and burglary - to conduct door-to-door voter registration drives in at least three election swing states.

America Coming Together, contending that convicted criminals deserve a second chance in society, employs felons as voter canvassers in major metropolitan areas in Missouri, Florida, Ohio and perhaps in other states among the 17 it is targeting in its drive. Some lived in halfway houses, and at least four returned to prison.

ACT canvassers ask residents which issues are important to them and, if they are not registered, sign them up as voters. They gather telephone numbers and other personal information, such as driver's license numbers or partial Social Security numbers, depending on what a state requires for voter registration.

Felons on probation or parole are ineligible to vote in many states. Doug Lewis, executive director of the Election Center, which represents election officials, said he is unaware of any laws against felons registering others to vote.

A review of federal campaign finance and state criminal records by The Associated Press revealed that the names and hometowns of dozens of ACT employees in Missouri, Florida and Ohio matched those of people convicted of crimes such as burglary, forgery, drug dealing, assault and sex offenses.

Although it works against the re-election of President Bush, ACT is an independent group not affiliated with Kerry's campaign - federal law forbids such coordination. Yet ACT is stocked with veteran Democratic political operatives, many with past ties to Kerry and his advisers.

Allison Dobson, a spokeswoman with the Kerry campaign, said there is no coordination with ACT, and of the policy: "We're unaware of it and have nothing to do with it."

CIA official blasts White House in anonymous book

From Wolf Blitzer CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- It's not every day that a top CIA counterterrorism official -- still serving in the government -- is allowed to publish a book that blasts the White House.

But that's precisely what has happened.

The book is titled "Imperial Hubris." The author is a veteran of the CIA for more than two decades, and is identified only as "Anonymous."

Sources say he ran the hunt for Osama bin Laden from 1996 to 1999.

Among his charges:

-- That Saddam Hussein posed no immediate threat to the United States.

-- That the war in Iraq undermined the overall war against terror and actually played into bin Laden's hands.

-- That the United States is now losing that war on terror.

"Anonymous" also predicts that al Qaeda will attack the continental United States and that it will be even more damaging than the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.

He says the biggest mistake made after 9/11 was that top intelligence community leaders were not fired.

Sen. Bill Nelson, who serves on the Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, says he agrees with the author's assessment:

"As we try to prepare ourselves in this new era of terrorism, we have to just assume that we're going to have an attack. And the only way that we prevent it is to have accurate and timely intelligence."

MICHAEL MOORE vs. RAY BRADBURY

Arts Briefing

By LAWRENCE VAN GELDER

Published: June 22, 2004

Angering Ray Bradbury has upset Michael Moore, Canadian Press reported. Mr. Bradbury is the author of the 1953 science-fiction classic "Fahrenheit 451." Mr. Moore is the auteur of the new documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11," opening tomorrow. Mr. Bradbury, whose novel of a totalitarian, book-burning society derived its title from the temperature at which paper burns, has demanded an apology from Mr. Moore for not seeking permission for the title. Mr. Moore says his film, an indictment of the Bush administration's handling of the events of Sept. 11, deals with the temperature at which freedom burns. "It has just broken my heart," Mr. Moore said about upsetting Mr. Bradbury. "I've called to try and apologize and work it out, and he's just . . . oh, jeez, I don't know what to say." Besides an apology, Mr. Bradbury wanted the film retitled, but Mr. Moore said, "He suddenly realized he's let too much time go by." Mr. Moore said he tried to explain to Mr. Bradbury that "Fahrenheit 9/11" would attract young readers to "Fahrenheit 451." He said he argued that if he called his film "The Diary of Michael Moore," no one would mistake it for "The Diary of Anne Frank." Mr. Bradbury said a new edition of his novel, made into a 1966 François Truffaut film, is scheduled for publication in eight weeks, and a new film version is also in the works.

U.S. Amends Report to Show Rise in Terror

By BARRY SCHWEID
The Associated Press
Tuesday, June 22, 2004; 11:18 AM

WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Colin Powell is prepared to announce a sharp increase last year in victims of terrorism worldwide, correcting findings that were used to bolster President Bush's claim of success in countering this scourge of violence.

A revised State Department report ready to be released shows a dramatic increase in both the number of deaths and other casualties, as well as a less dramatic boost in incidents, a senior department official said Monday.

Still, the revised report shows that international cooperation and a heightened awareness of the terror threat were bringing positive results, said the official, who agreed to discuss the still-unreleased report only on condition of anonymity.

The initial report was issued in April. On June 10, the State Department acknowledged the findings were inaccurate. Powell attributed the errors partly to a new data system and said there was no attempt to manipulate the figures to buttress Bush's argument.

When the report was issued, senior administration officials claimed that it showed Bush's counter-terror campaign was a success.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the report was based "on the facts as we had them at the time. The facts that we had were wrong."

The April report said attacks had declined last year to 190, down from 198 in 2002 and 346 in 2001. The 2003 figure would have been the lowest level in 34 years and a 45 percent drop since 2001, Bush's first year as president. The department is now working to determine the correct figures.

Democratic Rep. Henry A. Waxman of California had challenged the initial findings. He said he was pleased that officials "have now recognized that they have a report that has been inaccurate, and based on the inaccurate information they tried to take self-serving political credit for the results that were wrong."

Bush's Ratings Erode as Anti-Terror Fighter

Mon Jun 21, 2004 09:23 PM ET

The ABC News/Washington Post poll also found, for the first time, that more than half of Americans believe the Iraq war was not worth fighting.

The poll's findings could spell trouble for Bush, whose ratings in the anti-terrorism fight have been one of his strongest suits as he seeks re-election on a national-security platform.

The poll said that approval of Bush's handling of the U.S. campaign against terrorism had fallen to 50 percent, down 8 points in the last month and 29 points below its post Iraq-war peak.

"Bush ... has weakened in his once-strongest area," ABC said in reporting the poll on its Web site. (http://abcnews.go.com)

In addition, Americans now rate Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry level with Bush in ability to combat terrorism. Bush had led Kerry by 13 percentage points on the issue a month ago, and by 21 points the month before, but the new poll showed Kerry with 48 points to Bush's 47 points.

However, the poll also found that Americans continued to pick Bush over Kerry as someone who could make the country more secure.

Moore bark than bite

The Times also reported that Moore "has consulted with lawyers who can bring defamation suits against anyone who maligns the film or damages his reputation," and that he's established a "war room" to monitor attacks on the film. Lest anybody miss his threat, the filmmaker repeated it the same day on This Week With George Stephanopoulos and in the pages of the San Francisco Chronicle, and will probably whistle the same libel tune all week long in publicity interviews for the film, which opens Friday.

The first peculiar thing about Moore's libel-mongering is that most American journalists disdain libel suits as a matter of principle. Even when they have good cause for a suit, most journalists refrain from filing, believing that libel threats keep topics of controversy from being aired. They'd rather contest hostile attacks on their work in the marketplace of ideas, not courtrooms. Why Moore, the former editor of the Michigan Voice and a regular purveyor of controversial journalism, has chosen to break with this tradition is anybody's guess. (One irony too good to pass up: Stringent libel laws, the sort that Moore appears to be advocating this week, have essentially blocked the publication of journalist Craig Unger's book House of Bush, House of Saud in the United Kingdom. Noteworthy only because Unger and his book are important Fahrenheit 9/11 sources.)

Democrat Convention Credentials Bloggers

By ANICK JESDANUN
The Associated Press
Sunday, June 20, 2004; 4:53 PM

NEW YORK - A handful of scribes publishing in a newer medium will join the thousands of newspaper, magazine and broadcast journalists at this summer's political conventions. They'll be blogging.

The Democrats are holding true to their "party of inclusion" billing vis-a-vis the online chroniclers, whose Web logs have leapt in popularity this year as political junkies increasingly get their fix with mouse clicks. Democrats say they'll offer media credentials to a handful of bloggers. The Republicans say they've yet to decide what to do about them - credentialing deadlines passed with no announcement on whether bloggers could even apply.

GOP spokesman Leonardo Alcivar said details are still being worked out, but some analysts believe the party is wary of bloggers, who tend to be less predictable than mainstream journalists.

Michele Catalano of The Command Post, a mostly news-as-it-happens blog, said she'll cover the Aug. 30-Sept. 2 convention at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan from outside if necessary.

"To compete with the regular media, it's important to be where the media is," the 31-year-old East Meadow, N.Y., blogger said.

Scott Schmidt, 28, a GOP activist who blogs from Los Angeles, said Republicans were "late to the game" but now appear serious about granting some access.

He has traded e-mails informally with convention officials about getting inside. But Schmidt is not waiting. As a backup, he sought credentials as a guest of the California delegation.

More than 50 bloggers met last Tuesday's deadline to apply for the Democratic National Convention credentials, of which an undetermined number will be selected based on originality, readership level and professionalism, said convention spokeswoman Lina Garcia.

She said the Democrats consider blogs important for engaging younger voters and expanding journalism to the citizenry.

Military Booted 770 in 2003 for Being Gay

By BETH FOUHY
The Associated Press
Sunday, June 20, 2004; 9:50 PM

SAN FRANCISCO - Even with concerns growing about military troop strength, 770 people were discharged for homosexuality last year under the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, a new study shows.

The figure, however, is significantly lower than the record 1,227 discharges in 2001 - just before the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Since "don't ask, don't tell" was adopted in 1994, nearly 10,000 military personnel have been discharged - including linguists, nuclear warfare experts and other key specialists.

The statistics, obtained from the Defense Manpower Data Center and analyzed by the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military at the University of California, Santa Barbara, offers a detailed profile of those discharged, including job specialty, rank and years spent in the service.

"The justification for the policy is that allowing gays and lesbians to serve would undermine military readiness," said Aaron Belkin, author of the study, which will be released Monday. "For the first time, we can see how it has impacted every corner of the military and goes to the heart of the military readiness argument."

"Don't ask, don't tell" allows gays to serve in the military as long as they keep their sexual orientation private and do not engage in homosexual acts.

The study, which analyzed discharges between 1998 and 2003, found the majority of those let go under "don't ask, don't tell" were active duty enlisted personnel in the early stages of their careers.

Of the nearly 6,300 people discharged during that seven-year period, only 75 were officers. Seventy-one percent of those discharged were men.

The study found that the Army, the largest of the services, was responsible for about 41 percent of all discharges. The Army has invoked "stop-loss" authority to keep soldiers from retiring or otherwise leaving if they are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. Lawmakers' votes to increase troop strength reflected the concerns voiced by families of military personnel whose tours in Iraq keep getting extended.

About 27 percent of the discharges came from the Navy, 22 percent from the Air Force, and 9 percent from the Marines.

Clinton-haters vs. Bush-bashers? No contest

Take Back America | www.ourfuture.org

Ready to Pay $5,500 More for College Loans?
Congress is pushing the plan this week - another great idea from the Bush team

Dear Blogger,

This week, Congress is considering the Bush plan to hike student loan costs by an average of $5,500 per student. And this week, First Lady Laura Bush begins another campaign swing about the Bush education plan.

Mrs. Bush made national news with a campaign internet ad about George Bush and education. Taking our cue from late night TV, we put together an internet ad of our own about the REAL Bush education plan - where big banks win and we pay.

The President's plan to eliminate fixed interest rate consolidation on federal student loans will cost the average student borrower about $5,500 more in interest payments, according to the Congressional Research Service. Nonpartisan groups like the United States Student Association, Consumers Union, the Consumer Federation of America, and PIRG vehemently oppose the Bush plan.

By Sending Bush Your Student Loan Bill, we will let him know that there is a price to pay for making college unaffordable. Studies show that young people with student loan payments have a tough time buying a car, saving for a down payment on a home, and starting a family.

The Bush plan would force young Americans to put off the American dream just to reward big banks who have contributed generously to his campaign.

Enough is enough.

Send Bush Your Student Loan Bill today!

(CNN) -- Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo announced Tuesday that he will be fighting to get the widest available audience for Michael Moore's movie "Fahrenheit 9/11."

The film is critical of the Bush administration's response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

"I am personally committed, as well as many other Americans, to do everything I possibly can to be sure that as many Americans as possible get to see this extraordinary film," Cuomo told reporters at a news conference in Manhattan.

Cuomo is also profesionally committed. He has been hired by Lions Gate Films and IFC Films to champion the film. The distributors want him to ask the Motion Picture Association of America for a PG-13 rating, down from its current R rating.

Republicans are Behind the Effort to Censor Fahrenheit 9/11

by Kurt Nimmo
www.dissidentvoice.org
June 14, 2004

So desperate are Bush Republicans to kill Michael Moore's latest film, Fahrenheit 9/11, they have hired a public relations firm to set up a web site attacking Moore. The site, MoveAmericaForward.com, claims to be "non-partisan," but a glance at the "About" page of the site reveals the director and staff of Move America Forward are all diehard Republicans, anti-tax activists, and former legislative staffers. The PR firm is Russo Marsh & Rogers.

Russo Marsh & Rogers is a GOP consultation firm. In 2002, Ron Rogers teamed up with Reagan heavyweight Lyn Nofziger and Ed Rollins to work on the gubernatorial campaign of Bill Simon (see Campaign movements -- People & Organizations.)

Thanks to the detective work of WhatReallyHappened.com, it was revealed that Move America Forward's web site was registered in the name of Russo Marsh & Rogers. In other words, Move America Forward is about as partisan as it gets without putting the GOP seal of approval on the web site. In short, Move America Forward's campaign is a Republican dirty trick designed to smear Moore and pressure move theater owners not to run his film.

"Time is short," the Move America Forward web site declares, "we must act now to have our voices heard in time to make a difference. Help us get messages from millions of Americans sent to these film industry executives."

Certainly, time is short for the Republicans -- millions of Americans are about to learn how George Bush had a business relationship with the Bin Laden family -- and they will learn it right before the election. Russo and the "non-partisan" Republicans want to make sure you never see Moore's film. They don't want you to know the truth about Bush and his buddy-buddy dealings with the Saudis.

By Edward Cody
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, June 14, 2004; Page A01

BAGHDAD, June 13 -- In an early test of its imminent sovereignty, Iraq's new government has been resisting a U.S. demand that thousands of foreign contractors here be granted immunity from Iraqi law, in the same way as U.S. military forces are now immune, according to Iraqi sources.

The U.S. proposal, although not widely known, has touched a nerve with some nationalist-minded Iraqis already chafing under the 14-month-old U.S.-led occupation. If accepted by Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, it would put the highly visible U.S. foreign contractors into a special legal category, not subject to military justice and beyond the reach of Iraq's justice system.

The question of the contractors' status also has arisen because of two U.S. contract employees at Abu Ghraib prison who were accused in a Pentagon report of participating in illegal abuse of Iraqi prisoners. The two -- Steven Stephanowicz of CACI International, an Arlington-based defense firm, and John B. Israel of the Titan Corp. of San Diego -- have not been charged with any crimes in Iraq or the United States, although some of their Army colleagues face military tribunals.

Dear Blogger,

The Bush/Cheney campaign has spent more than $78 million on television advertising that is explicitly fraudulent.  Our President is willing to pay for lies to stay in power. 

Fraud corrupts the very core of our democracy. Now, you can counter Bush's lies by helping spread the truth with ACT. 

Sign the petition and forward it on to everyone you know right away!

Stop the fraud! Shout as loud as you can! Don’t sit back while the Bush campaign lies again, and again, and again, in paid advertising.

Newsweek says the Bush campaign is using a "made up number" to bash Kerry, Bush's "word is no longer good." Newsweek, 3/29/04   The Washington Post says "the charges are all tough, serious -- and wrong." The Washington Post, 5/25/04

One of George Bush’s recent ads says John Kerry supports a $900 billion dollar tax hike. This is completely false, but the average voter has no way of knowing it -- and every reason to trust that the FCC would be empowered to keep false ads like this off the air.

Bush's ad also claims Kerry supported a 50 cent gas tax -- a powerfully damaging, and untrue claim.  Again, most voters won’t know the truth.

Tell everyone you know that Bush is using the airwaves for fraud.  Join ACT in taking Boston Globe’s advice to "flag these ads and call the foul. If these high cost lies and distortions are allowed to continue, they will gut the core of American democracy.

What good is it to have the right to vote if you don’t have the right to know who the candidates are? When your neighbor says, "well, I’d support Kerry but he wants a $900 billion dollar tax hike," do you think you’ll be able to convince her that the television spot was a blatant, conscious, lie? When ACT canvassers, going door-to-door, encounter "Kerry wants a 50 cent gas tax hike," how do they explain that the FCC isn't empowered to stop it - as they can with other types of advertising?

Click here to sign the petition to demand truth and accountability in political ads on our nation's airwaves.

Spain to End Compulsory Catholic Education
Gay Marriage, Legalized Abortion, Domestic Violence Penalties on Government's Agenda

By Keith B. Richburg
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, June 12, 2004; Page A10

MADRID, June 11 -- In less than two months since taking power through an election few analysts thought it could win, Spain's Socialist Workers' Party has begun implementing a domestic agenda to remake this historically conservative society to resemble the more open, secular models of northern Europe.

On the day he was confirmed as prime minister in April, socialist leader Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told parliament he planned to change the civil code to allow gays and lesbians to marry, and to end all legal discrimination against homosexuals. This was followed days later with appointment of a new-look cabinet of eight men and eight women, including a female deputy premier -- gender parity that puts traditionally macho Spain on a par with Sweden.

The Socialists' first bill in parliament proposed increasing the penalties for domestic violence, which Zapatero called an "unacceptable evil" accounting for the death of one woman every week in Spain. The rules of royal succession would be changed, he said, to allow women to take the throne. Sex-change surgery would be paid for by the national health plan.

The socialists governed Spain for 13 years before losing to the Popular Party in 1996. Back in control, they are resuming an agenda of bringing Spain more in line with much of the rest of Western Europe after its long isolation during the rule of Gen. Francisco Franco. With money in short supply, however, they are holding back on traditional socialist goals of more generous social programs.

So far, their efforts have been supported by more than a majority of the Spanish public. Sociologist Alberto Moncado said the government's initiatives were particularly popular among young people, indicating the Roman Catholic Church's waning influence. "In Spain, like everywhere, young people are less church-going," he said.

The government has also announced plans to change Spain's restrictive abortion laws, to make all abortions legal during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Currently, abortion is allowed only in cases of a deformed fetus, rape or if the physical or mental health of the mother is endangered. There are also plans to roll back the previous government's law making religious education -- in Spain that means Catholic education -- compulsory in public schools.

By Edward Cody
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, June 12, 2004; Page A01

BAGHDAD, June 11 -- A pair of AH-64 Apache helicopter gunships thumped back and forth overhead, scouring residential streets for insurgents. Dun-colored Bradley Fighting Vehicles snorted and wheeled around, their tracks gouging holes in the tarmac. A dozen Humvees stood sentry, closing off the four-lane avenue to Iraqi cars, while nervous American soldiers with M-16 automatic rifles forbade local residents from approaching.

"Look at this," said Ghassan Abu Ahmed, raising his hand in a sweeping gesture toward the tableau of military might. "This is freedom? It is crazy."

A car bomb had just hit a U.S. military convoy passing down the main avenue Friday afternoon in southwest Baghdad's Sayediyeh neighborhood, one of the near-daily attacks on occupation troops across Iraq. By the standards of Iraqi violence over the past two months, it was not particularly bloody. The U.S. military reported no serious casualties. But for what it told about Iraqis' attitudes toward the 13-month-old U.S. occupation, the attack was devastating.

"What Saddam did was awful, but what the Americans are doing is worse," said Abu Ahmed, a laborer who lives with his wife and four sons in a government-built apartment house flanking the road. "They say they are bringing us freedom. But this is what they bring."

Since U.S. forces drove to Baghdad and overthrew President Saddam Hussein in April 2003, the 138,000 American soldiers stationed here have lost their status as liberators in the eyes of most Iraqis. Polling by the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority has chronicled a steady souring of opinion, with the most recent surveys showing about 80 percent of Iraqis with an unfavorable opinion of U.S. troops.