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POPSPresident Obama unshackles Global AIDS Work from ideological Bush restrictions In new guidelines for 2010, the Obama Pepfar team opened the way to linking AIDS work with strengthening of health systems generally, taking into account the development of human resources, maternal and child health, family planning and access to it for women, gender equality, malaria and tuberculosis, food and nutrition, education and local economies. While Pepfar money may not be involved directly, the program's door will be open for cooperation. It is, in short, a holistic and realistic policy. It will matter because the United States is the world's largest contributor to HIV/AIDS relief, and Bush restrictions have had a deadening effect on many international programs. An estimated tens of millions of women who want contraceptives are unable to get them, or may have no choice beyond crude sterilization or unsafe abortion.
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POPSIraqi shoe thrower to be released early Thousands demonstrated for al-Zeidi's release and hailed his gesture, which came in the waning days of the Bush administration. The incident also embarrassed al-Maliki, who was standing next to Bush at the time. Neither leader was injured, but Bush was forced to duck for cover as the journalist shouted in Arabic: "This is your farewell kiss, you dog! This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq."
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POPSTerror Alerts used in 2004 to help Bush win reelection More: Dave Weigel, writing for the Washington Independent, notes that in the past, Ridge has denied manipulating security information for political reasons. In 2004, for example, he said, "We don't do politics in the Department of Homeland Security." The Bush administration was forced to admit in the days after the 2004 alert that it was based on intelligence three or four years old. Officials then claimed there was a previously unmentioned "separate stream of intelligence" that justified the warning -- but offered little tangible information to support their new story.. Ridge's book, "The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege...and How We Can Be Safe Again," comes out September 1. Ridge reveals that he considered resigning because he was urged to issue a politically-motivated security alert on the eve of Bush’s re-election:
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POPSBush personally ordered visit to Ashcroft's Hospital Bed Continued: However, at 6:45 p.m., Card and the President called the hospital and, according to the agent’s notes, “insisted on speaking .” According to the agent’s notes, Mrs. Ashcroft took the call from Card and the President and was informed that Gonzales and Card were coming to the hospital to see Ashcroft regarding a matter involving national security. Jack Goldsmith remembers that after a seriously-ill Ashcroft told Gonzales and Card to follow Comey’s legal advice, Goldsmith seriously thought Ashcroft might actually die right then and there. Ashcroft earns himself a place in the patriot’s pantheon just for that. I truly can’t wait to see how Bush’s presidential library treats this incident.
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POPSBush era regulation, dump mine waste in pristine lakes, goes before Supreme Court
The action deepened a fracture line between environmentalists and industry. Moreover, it casts a spotlight on two federal regulators: the US Army Corps of Engineers, which gave Coeur the green light, and the US Environmental Protection Agency, which is accused of violating its own standards. Environmental attorney Tom Waldo with the firm Earthjustice says that the impetus for the Clean Water Act was a legacy of contamination and public health concerns caused by industrial companies, municipalities, and agriculture historically treating waterways as convenient, expendable repositories for waste. He points to a benchmark ruling during the 1970s against the Reserve Mining Co. in Minnesota, which disposed of taconite tailings, laden with asbestos, into Lake Superior from its processing facility, contaminating drinking water. In the US West, water quality in an estimated 40 percent of rivers has been impaired by historic mining sites long abandoned.
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POPSParty of McBush getting crushed in polls, key races More: In the polls, they are setting records (and not the good kind). The most recent Gallup Poll has 67 percent of voters disapproving of President Bush; those numbers are worse than Richard Nixon’s on the eve of his resignation. A CBS News poll taken at the end of April found only 33 percent of Americans have a favorable view of the GOP — the lowest since CBS started asking the question more than two decades ago. By comparison, 52 percent of the public has a favorable view of the Democratic Party. The Democratic National Committee polling, according to a memo it provided, has two-thirds of swing voters expecting McCain to pursue policies very similar to Bush’s. The voters’ top three concerns about McCain: his age, his support for the war and his similarities to Bush.
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POPSDemocrat tied to Obama wins special election in Mississippi More: The special election was held to fill the seat of former Rep. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who was appointed to serve out the remainder of Sen. Trent Lott’s term last December. Wicker had never faced a competitive race since first elected in 1994, and the district gave President Bush 62 percent of the vote in 2004. The results amount to a rebuke of the Republican strategy of trying nationalize the race by tying Childers to Sen. Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Obama held low approval ratings in the district, but the nearly $2 million that GOP groups poured into northern Mississippi failed to make the race a referendum on the national political landscape. A GOP House leadership aide told Politico last week that “if we don’t win in Mississippi, I think you are going to see a lot of people running around here looking for windows to jump out of.”
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POPSGOP Senator Chafee: New Book is tough on Pro-War Democrats, Bush, and Republicans More: The most startling revelation: Chafee must be the only senator in U.S. political history who says his defeat was the result of voters acting logically. “The system works best when power remains in the hands of the voters,” writes Chafee. “I was a casualty of the system working in 2006, and while defeat is never easy, I give the voters credit: They made the connection between electing even popular Republicans at the cost of leaving the Senate in the hands of a leadership they had learned to mistrust.” “I find it surprising now, in 2008, how many Democrats are running for president after shirking their constitutional duty to check and balance this president,” writes Chafee. “They argue that the president duped them into war, but getting duped does not exactly recommend their leadership. Helping a rogue president start an unnecessary war should be a career-ending lapse of judgment.”
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POPSRomney, like Bush, Cheats in Debate with an Earpiece After you watch the video youtube shows a total of seven clips about Romney's earpiece and the whispering that can be heard over the microphone. In one of the videos to the right there is whispering for another question but you have to turn up the volume really loud. I still remember Bush interrupting himself as he was speaking, and no one else at the debate had said anything. He was rambling through an answer and he stopped in mid answer and says "Let me finish".........but no one had said anything. This was the debate with the mysterious lump in the back of his jacket and a power cord line. What a pack of losers.
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POPSRomney's: 5 Strapping Sons - None in Iraq! Hypocrisy More: Of more interest to his combat readiness, David was arrested in April of 2007 for trying to board a plane in Little Rock with a loaded Glock pistol in his carry on bag. So we know that the boy can shoot. Why isn't he on the front lines of the war his father so ardently supports in the name of Christ? (By the way, the reaction of Dad Huckabee to David's gun arrest is notable. "It's one of those stupid things," Mike Huckabee said. "He knows better." Ah, yes, nothing like a forgiving preacher. Do you feel safer now knowing that a gun toting animal abuser's father might be president? Clear the squirrels from the White House lawn now.) Huckabee says the war in Iraq is part of a "World War III' against Islamic fascism
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POPSFormer CIA: Evidence Abounds for Impeachment of Bush & Cheney The recent report detailing Iran's stopping its nuclear weapons program four years ago, is an example of how the administration knows it can no longer hide such "incontrovertible evidence" from the American people in the fallout from the misinformation they received on the Iraq War, McGovern said. He added that he had almost given up believing their were people still working at the top with a conscious and enough people at the top willing to let analysts do their job and accept independent analysis. McGovern also addressed the reasoning he believes is behind the threat of war with Iran. He believes Israel thinks they have a pledge from the White House to deal with Iran before Bush leaves office and relayed the story of the U.S.S. Liberty, which was attacked by the Israelis in 1967 and covered up by the U.S. Thirty-four U.S soldiers were killed and about 170 were seriously injured. "On June 8, 1967 Israel realized it could literally get away with murder," McGovern said.
3
POPSHistory Lesson: Bloated Republican Spending, W. and the 109th Congress Some of the rightwingers are trying to make hay over Nancy Pelosi having spend $16,000 over the course of a year for flowers. Many of which are used to entertain foreign dignatories who visit the U.S. at the request of the Bush White House. When you compare that to, (1) the record spending and deficits of the Republican controlled 109th Congress, and (2) Bush never casting a single veto to stop a spending bill, you see how desperate the Republicans are. Shjould we talk about the $2 trillion dollars of waste in Iraq? This article is from the Cato Institute. A conservative think tank (possible oxymoron).
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POPSWhen will Bush invade Saudi Arabia and Libya? NOT! If you've got oil and you've been in bed with the Bush's for decades you can send all the fighters you want to Iraq to kill U.S. soldiers. Is this treason? There have been 700 Al Qaeda soldiers enter Iraq since August 2006 and Al Qaeda is to blame for all the violence in Iraq? It should be obvious to anyone with half a brain that Al Qaeda and foreign fighters were always a minor player in the violence and chaos released by Bush and the neocons in Iraq.
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POPSBush Lies about Veterans' Bill More: The veterans’ bill adds $3.7 billion over Bush’s request for the Veterans Affairs Department’s budget. The increase would ease waiting times to claim VA health benefits and add money to treat post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries. Bush urged the public to remember the service of members of the armed forces in wartime on Sunday, Veterans Day. The White House is planning an event Sunday during which the president will honor veterans, spokesman Gordon Johndroe said from Texas, where Bush is spending the weekend at his ranch. That's what Republicans do best. Organize "honor our veterans" events while turning their backs on veterans. Pathetic.
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POPSU.S./Bush ignoring crisis of displaced Iraqis More: The report is critical of the U.S. inability to make good on its promises. Despite talk of allowing 7,000 Iraqi refugees into the U.S. this year, only 1,608 had been admitted by the end of September, 450 entered in October. By comparison, the U.S. government has resettled nearly three times that many Iranians this year — 5,481 With one Cairo-based coordinator handling cases for 15 countries, the U.S. lacks the human resources to keep up with thousands of referrals that continue to pile up from the United Nations' refugee agency, according to Refugees International. Officials at the Arab League, representing 22 nations, said Americans had never approached them about Iraqi refugees. Countries such as Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt — all American allies — receive little or no assistance from the U.S. and have begun refusing to admit Iraqis Meanwhile, the report continues, the U.S. is reluctant to recognize that its longtime foe Syria stands alone in its open-door policy for I
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POPSFor Republicans, New Pessimism Spells Trouble More: Republican front-runner Rudy Giuliani has wide appeal for his leadership as New York City mayor after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but his social liberalism and two divorces are a show-stopper for many. So is the Mormon faith of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney Their short descriptions of Giuliani were a mixed bag: along with "confident" and "leader," there was "cocky," "cold," and "arrogant." Asked which family member he most reminds them of, one woman answered, "the evil stepfather." The group was vaguely aware of his two divorces and estrangement from his two children One man guessed that Mr. Thompson has children in their 40s; none seemed to know that his second wife isn't even that old, and he has two small children. As for Vice President Dick Cheney, two voters said he should retire. Others called him "cold," "sick," "weak," "secretive," "calculating" and, at best, "very influential."
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POPSUS General & Envoy: Bush unwittingly driving Turkey and Iran together. More: The White House and the U.S. military have appeared leery about opening a new front in the war in Iraq — particularly in generally stable northern Iraq — by launching assaults against the PKK. Neither the U.S.-backed Iraqi government nor the semiautonomous Kurdish Regional Government has shown any inclination to go after the group. The officer who commands U.S. forces in northern Iraq, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Nixon, last week said he planned to do "absolutely nothing" to curb PKK activities. Ralston, a vice chairman of the Washington-based Cohen Group, a consulting firm, said the statement was "directly opposite" promises Bush has made to Turkey. Asked whether the Turkish military would invade northern Iraq, which PKK fighters use to launch attacks into Turkey, Ralston said: "They're going to have to, in the absence of the U.S. doing anything."
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POPSIRAQ: Reduction in Violence = Ethnically Cleansed Neighborhoods More: Christoff’s conclusions echo that of ret. Gen. James Jones last month, who observed “progress” in a Shi’a-led ethnic cleansing campaign. Also in attendance at the hearing was Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) Stuart Bowen. In his quarterly report to Congress released today, Bowen acknowledged the reduction in violence but stated that it has not been accompanied by tangible political reconciliation, a finding that was neglected by the traditional media in its reporting today. In Baghdad, for example, Provincial Reconstruction Team officials note: Despite reduced violence, officials are pessimistic that lasting reconciliation is occurring. … In Diyala, there is a desire to work toward reconciliation, but it will take years to overcome ill-will between tribes. Earlier this month, Gen. David Petraeus confidently declared, “There’s a local reconciliation” in Diyala province.
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POPSMethodists battle Bush over SMU Presidential Library More: SMU is a university of the church and is home to one of our outstanding theological seminaries. Its United Methodist identity and its moral authority would be seriously compromised were it to be identified with the policies of George W. Bush in this way." Executive Order 13233 Opponents are "questioning the educational value of the Bush complex" given that earlier in his administration Bush issued Executive Order 13233, "which," the press release notes, "provides former Presidents with virtually unlimited powers to deny or grant access to documents generated under their administrations." The Executive Order extends these powers to a president's heirs. a petition drive was launched by bishops, clergy and laity of the United Methodist Church that "call for the SMU trustees and the UMC to reject the Bush project. That petition now has the signatures of 15 UMC bishops and more than 10,800 Christians
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POPSUnder Bush, EPA pursuing fewer Polluters. More: Critics of the agency say its flagging efforts have emboldened polluters to flout U.S. environmental laws, threatening progress in cleaning the air, protecting wildlife, eliminating hazardous materials, and countless other endeavors overseen by the EPA. "You don't get cleanup, and you don't get deterrence," The actual number of investigators available at any time is even smaller, agents said, because they sometimes are diverted to other duties, such as service on EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson's eight-person security detail. "Environmental crimes are simply not in the U.S. attorney top 10 priorities," said one senior EPA official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the news media.
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POPSRevealed: W knew Saddam was Willing to Bargain for Exile W is suppose to be our first MBA President but he can not even conduct a cost benefit analysis. Cost: Whatever minuscule amount compared to what we have spent that Saddam would settle for; and any bogus information his generals had convinced him existed. Benefits: 28,000 soldiers not wounded; 3800 soldiers not killed; 600,000 to 1,000,000 Iraqis not killed; $600 Billion to $1 Trillion dollars not wasted; standing and trust within the world community preserved. Ultimate cost to Bush: not looking tough; not having Iraqi oil under the control of US oil producers.
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POPSSCOOP: Bush Promises Iraq Invasion Congress should never subjugate themselves to the ambitions of one individual ever again. The Founding Fathers foresaw this and wrote the Constitution with checks and balances giving Congress the responsibility of making declarations of war. Anybody, (1) who knew George Bush, (2) witnessed his pathetic address to the UN that showed it was a cursory walk-through before launching the invasion, knew he was lying all the time. I expect to hear the rightwing lunatic mythology that there was widespread support for this war but in fact the US was for the war only if Bush would secure a UN resolution and obtain a strong coalition mimicking the coalition in Kuwait in 1991. The Founding Fathers didn't want us to be ruled by Kings and Bush and Cheney are no exception. IMPEACH!
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POPSKucinich: Bush Cronies and privitization of Iraqi Oil More: The connections between Hunt Oil Company and the Bush Administration are numerous: * Mr. Ray Hunt, CEO of Hunt Oil, acted as the finance chairman of the Republican National Committee for President George W. Bush in 2002, led the Republican National Committee's Victory Fund for President George W. Bush and personally donated $20,000 to the Committee. * Mr. Hunt contributed $100,000 toward inaugural festivities for President George W. Bush in 2001, while Hunt Consolidated contributed $250,000 toward the 2005 Bush presidential inaugural gala. * Mr. Hunt has also given generously toward construction of the Bush library by securing $35 million in additional property for the endeavor. * President George W. Bush has twice appointed Mr. Hunt to a seat on the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB), which is said to have access to intelligence that experts acknowledge is advantageous to the international energy interest of the Hunt Oil Company.
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POPSMore Bush Lies from National Address: Grand Coalition More: The most substantial non-U.S. troop contribution, from the UK, pulled back from Basra earlier this month to assume the non-combat "overwatch" role that General Petraeus believes that the U.S. can adopt at some as-yet-undefined point in the (far) future. Others are pulling out: the Danes, proud contributors of 470 troops in Iraq, have said they would withdraw in August, but that seems not to have happened yet. South Korea is expected to get out at the end of the year. Then there's Fiji, which devotes 150 troops to helping secure the United Nations' assistance mission in Iraq -- a job mostly done from outside of the country, but with a new mandate approved by the Security Council last month, it may soon have a more substantial presence inside Iraq. Go Fijans!
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