http://rense.com/general77/assassination.htm The Assassination Of Pat Tillman 8-5-7 WHY WOULD SOLDIERS WITH NOTHING TO HIDE, WHO MIGHT HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENTAL SHOOTING burn Tillman's uniform--and his body armor? After the shooting, the Rangers destroyed evidence that would be considered critical in any criminal case, the records show. They burned Corporal Tillman's uniform and his body armor. Months later, the Rangers involved said they did not intend to destroy evidence. "It was a hygiene issue," TILLMAN WAS ASSASSINATED He was shot in the forehead, THREE TIMES, and the "official" story, which changes faster than the wind, is that he was shot with an M-16. THIS IS UTTERLY IMPOSSIBLE. On fully automatic, from just about any distance, almost anyone with an M-16 can hit a solid target three times in a close proximity. But the FIRST bullet out of an M-16 into Tillman's head wouldn't have left anything else for the other two bullets to hit. Three different people firing ANY type of weapon would not have been able to make such a pattern in his FOREHEAD, so the three bullets had to have been fired from ONE weapon, by ONE person. I have no idea what type of weapon in a war zone, other than a pistol OR a sniper's rifle, could have made such a pattern. It was not his fellow troops who executed him. IT WAS AN ASSASSIN WHO HAD SUCH CLOSE TIES TO THE WHITE HOUSE OR THE RUMSFELD WOLFOWITZ DoD that they managed to "cover up" DOZENS of signs of his ASSASSINATION, for YEARS now, to the point that MANY GENERALS are LYING, too, and refusing to APPEAR BEFORE, Congress? The recent World Net Daily piece firstly fails to address clear indications that Tillman was murdered, as unveiled by Army medical doctors; that Tillman was triple-tapped to the head from just ten yards and that the bullet holes were very close together. Medical examiners were very suspicious and suspected murder, but were blocked from investigating the angle by higher-ups. The report also stated that no evidence of enemy fire was found at the scene, calling the explanation of friendly-fire into question. The Associated Press story also revealed that "Army attorneys sent each other congratulatory emails for keeping criminal investigators at bay as the Army conducted an internal friendly-fire investigation that resulted in administrative, or non-criminal, punishments." Anyone who considers the new evidence, along with the obvious motivation for killing Tillman - the fact that he was about to return home and become an anti-war icon, and rules out the obvious explanation of murder is in a severe state of denial. WND scoffs at the notion that Wesley Clark, during an appearance on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann recently, entertained the notion that Tillman could have been murdered and that a high level cover-up may have been at work. Anyone who watches the video and reads the transcript can readily ascertain that the context of Olbermann and Clark's conversation is clearly whether or not Pat Tillman was murdered and if that was covered up. "Does it not begin to look more and more like that, that we were going the wrong direction in this, that they were not trying to protect something, something slightly negative from coming out, but in fact coming- protecting the accusation that his mother has made and has not gotten a lot of attention to that, that perhaps he was indeed murdered?" Olbermann asks Clark. "It's very possible," responds Clark. Last year, we caught World Net Daily inventing evidence to smear 9/11 truth when they claimed that Professor Steven Jones had called "for the violent overthrow of the government" at a conference in LA. ***** http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/editorials/152 Dems in Senate Once Again Enable Bush and Cheney to Spy on Us: The GOP Three-Pronged Effort to Permanently Control America Submitted by mark karlin on Sat, 08/04/2007 A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL It’s a roller-coaster ride that we all can’t seem to get off of. Just when the Dems at least are talking tough (even if they aren’t acting tough), they let Bush and Cheney intimidate them into giving them more spying powers. This appears incomprehensible for a number of reasons, including the repeated illegal use of spying powers by the Bush Administration, perjury concerning that activity, and the generally accepted knowledge that the enhanced spying powers are meant for partisan purposes, not for fighting terrorism. Can’t the Democrats just say "no," as in "Sorry, you have proven that you can’t be trusted with increased spying powers, in fact you are still failing to fully inform Congress and the American people about the illegal spying you have conducted in the past and are still, apparently, conducting"? Now, wouldn’t that articulate a little bit of basic truth about the Bush-Cheney betrayal of America by using terrorism as a faux cudgel? Haven’t we seen the Democrats chased around the block by this political scare tactic countless times before? Can we get off the roller coaster of Democratic leaders teasing us with the expectation of enforcing accountability followed by craven submission to the demagogic threats of the White House? Apparently not. While the Republicans march lockstep under authoritarian marching orders to control the steering wheel of government indefinitely into the future, the Democrats in Congress appear unable to proceed beyond skirmishes into battling the overall GOP game plan of one-party rule. Congressional hearings have exposed the basic Republican three-pronged long-term plan for seizing the ship of state and turning it into something akin to a Brezhnev, Mussolini or Franco style of government. What we knew – and now have confirmed is this: the GOP is using three basic techniques, and the Democrats are doing little – even now – to stop their nefarious implementation. The Republicans are proceeding on a broad array of fronts to expand their institutionalized suppression of minority and other Democratic votes. This was a key component of the ongoing scandal known as ProsecutorGate, but it is also being implemented through a number of other vehicles, including: state voter suppression laws, partisan judicial verdicts on voting rights, a decrease in voting rights prosecutions by the DOJ, the privatizing of vote counting software, misleading robo-calls, etc. This is a fundamental usurpation of the basic process of democracy and allows the GOP to steal elections. It has been a highest priority for the Republicans to ensure a partisan federal court system, loaded with GOP hacks, which will generally rule in favor of Republican administrations and issues that will benefit the Republican agenda. As recently as this week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was demanding an "up or down" vote on a racist Bush nominee to the appellate court, Leslie Southwick, even as McConnell continued to obstruct the passage of Democratic bills in the senate by invoking cloture to prohibit "up or down" votes. This travesty was not denounced by the Dems. In fact Dianne Feinstein aided the ongoing right-wing silent coup of the federal courts by helping the Republicans to vote Southwick’s nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The third prong relates to the immediate occasion for this BuzzFlash editorial. The continued pressure to expand Bush Administration spying powers, despite past illegal spying conducted by the Bush Administration and the opposition of the FISA court (which now consists primarily of Republican appointees), should be among the top priorities of Congressional Democrats to stop dead in its tracks. We recall in one Gonzales appearance before Congress when the illegal spying story first broke that he could not provide assurance that the spying was not being used for political purposes. Does anyone think that given past experience the Bush White House would NOT use domestic spying powers to gain political advantage? The continued full court press on all three of these fronts by the White House indicates that they have not in any way given up on the goal of controlling the Executive Branch by – as in 2000 – seizing the presidency, whatever the will of the voters. Would the Bush Administration be so concerned about expanding unitary authority powers at a time when a Democrat could assume the presidency in about a year and a half? We highly doubt it, don’t you? Why the Democrats continue to enable the Bush Administration to vigorously pursue this three-pronged approach to subvert democracy is mind boggling. It’s kind of like handing over to the White House the noose to hang yourself. The Democrats in Congress should be impeaching Gonzales, Cheney and Bush for high crimes and misdemeanors, not enabling their continued efforts to establish a de facto dictatorship for radical extremists. Bush is as low in the polls as a president has historically gone. He and Cheney are one door away from being nailed with multiple counts of illegal activity – and that’s just from what is visible to us at this time. God knows what is still hidden below the tip of the iceberg. Amidst this sordid unraveling of a corrupt administration that is intent on destroying democracy and the Constitution, the Democrats in the Senate give Bush more legal power to spy on us! This is democracy committing suicide. A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL Technorati Tags: Editorials Bush Spying Democratic Leadership Wimps Impeachment ***** http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Voting-Machines.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin August 4, 2007 California Restricts Voting Machines By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- California's secretary of state placed rigorous security conditions on voting equipment used in dozens of counties and limited the use of two of the most widely used machines statewide. Secretary of State Debra Bowen announced the measures minutes before midnight Friday night -- making good on a promise to tell counties if their voting equipment would be decertified at least six months before California's Feb. 5 presidential primary. The announcement leaves the most affected counties with little time to find alternate equipment in time for the primary. The decision follows an eight-week security review of voting systems used in all but a few of California's 58 counties. University of California computer experts found that voting machines sold by three companies -- Diebold Election Systems, Hart InterCivic and Sequoia Voting Systems -- were vulnerable to hackers and that voting results could be altered. Bowen said she had decertified the machines for use and then recertified them on the condition they meet her new security standards. When asked what would happen if the companies failed to do so, Bowen responded, ''I think they will.'' She also limited the Diebold and Sequoia machines to one per polling place. That will force some counties to find replacement equipment on a tight schedule. Bowen ordered the review, which was released last week, to ensure that California would not face the same doubts about the accuracy of its voting systems that hit Florida after the 2000 election and Ohio in 2004. The additional security requirements she imposed included banning all modum or wireless connections to the machines to prevent them from being linked to an outside computer or the Internet. Each machine that must be recertified also has a lengthy list of additional conditions it must meet, many of them highly technical. She also required a full manual count of all votes cast on Diebold or Sequoia machines to ensure accuracy. Bowen said the study revealed some vulnerabilities that would allow hackers to manipulate the systems ''with little chance of detection and with dire consequences.'' Her review also found that the machines posed problems for disabled voters. Steve Weir, president of the state association of registrars, warned that the companies would have to get federal approval if Bowen's conditions for recertification require any more than minimal changes to a machine's software and hardware. That process could take up to eight months -- well past California's presidential primary. Company officials have downplayed the results of Bowen's review, saying they reflected unrealistic, worst-case scenarios that would be counteracted by security measures taken by the companies and local election officials. The companies also complained that the examiners had access to computer coding, manuals and other information that is not available to the public. Officials with Sequoia said they were disappointed with Bowen's withdrawal of the company's certification but would make necessary improvements. They defended their equipment as accurate and secure. ''Electronic voting systems have never been successfully tampered with in an actual election,'' the company said in a statement. ''That same statement cannot be made about lever machines and paper-based voting systems throughout our nation's history.'' Messages left with Diebold and Hart InterCivic early Saturday morning were not immediately returned. Machines made by a fourth company, Election Systems & Software, were not included in the review because it was late providing information the secretary of state's office needed, said Nicole Winger, a spokeswoman for Bowen. The secretary of state launched a separate review of that company's Inkavote Plus system, which is used only in Los Angeles County. On Friday, Bowen said she had decertified that equipment but would review and reconsider it. A message left for a company spokesman early Saturday morning was not immediately returned. ***** http://www.buzzflash.com/store/reviews/717 Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush (Paperback) By Robert Parry, Sam Parry and Nat Parry BUZZFLASH REVIEWS Just released, the BuzzFlash copies of "Neck Deep" are signed by the lead author, Robert Parry. Parry is a former AP and Newsweek reporter, who runs one of our favorite websites, Consortiumnews.com. Parry is a mainstream journalist who came in from the cold, having seen the duplicity and buried truth that came out of governmental misdeeds in Central America and Iran-Contra. Consortiumnews, launched way back in 1995, has been a key source of analytical commentaries exposing the right wing for their betrayal of the Constitution and democracy. "A real-life who-done-it, Neck Deep unravels what may become one of history's great mysteries: Who killed the American Republic? How did plutocrat George W. Bush come to lead the United States at the start of the 21st century - and how did he get away with using the 9/11 tragedy to overwhelm the constitutional safeguards that had protected the nation's liberties for more than two centuries? Neck Deep shows how this crime was committed and then lines up the suspects - aggressive Republicans, accommodating Democrats, abrasive pundits, careerist journalists - for an assessment of collective guilt." A solid overview of the nightmarish years known as the Bush Administration. "It was a perfect storm that has been building for a quarter of a century," says Parry. "Aggressive Republicans, accommodating Democrats,and a press corps driven more by careerism than a search for truth have caused our country to become what the Founders fought against." "Tracking the investigative work of the Web site Consortiumnews.com, Neck Deep also reveals that the mystery's secrets often were in plain view in real time. Much of the damage could have been avoided, the book shows, except that the Washington establishment itself was implicated.... The book opens with a first-person account of the cold, rainy, dreary winter day - January 20, 2001 - when George W. Bush was sworn in as President of the United States. Neck Deep's remarkable narrative goes on to reveal how the American Republic, even at that moment, was undergoing decay that would accelerate dangerously after the 9/11 attacks. The Bush administration soon was hollowing out many of America's most treasured principles, including the nation's founding belief in the "unalienable rights" of all mankind. But Neck Deep does more than critique Bush's presidency. The book explains how - across the board - the Washington political/media elite failed the country. The book also strips away the public myths surrounding leaders - from Colin Powell to John Kerry - and reintroduces them as real people with strengths and weaknesses. Neck Deep weaves in, too, historical perspective that gives context to the extraordinary events in the six years since Bush became President, including revelations about his father's secret dealings in the Middle East." ***** http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20121795/site/newsweek/ Govt. Looks for Leaker on Warrantless Wiretaps Newsweek Aug. 13, 2007 issue - The controversy over President Bush's warrantless surveillance program took another surprise turn last week when a team of FBI agents, armed with a classified search warrant, raided the suburban Washington home of a former Justice Department lawyer. The lawyer, Thomas M. Tamm, previously worked in Justice's Office of Intelligence Policy and Review (OIPR)—the supersecret unit that oversees surveillance of terrorist and espionage targets. The agents seized Tamm's desktop computer, two of his children's laptops and a cache of personal files. Tamm and his lawyer, Paul Kemp, declined any comment. So did the FBI. But two legal sources who asked not to be identified talking about an ongoing case told NEWSWEEK the raid was related to a Justice criminal probe into who leaked details of the warrantless eavesdropping program to the news media. The raid appears to be the first significant development in the probe since The New York Times reported in December 2005 that Bush had authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on the international phone calls and e-mails of U.S. residents without court warrants. (At the time, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said of the leak: "This is really hurting national security; this has really hurt our country.") A veteran federal prosecutor who left DOJ last year, Tamm worked at OIPR during a critical period in 2004 when senior Justice officials first strongly objected to the surveillance program. Those protests led to a crisis that March when, according to recent Senate testimony, then A.G. John Ashcroft, FBI Director Robert Mueller and others threatened to resign, prompting Bush to scale the program back. Tamm, said one of the legal sources, had shared concerns about he program's legality, but it was unclear whether he actively participated in the internal DOJ protest. The FBI raid on Tamm's home comes when Gonzales himself is facing criticism for allegedly misleading Congress by denying there had been "serious disagreement" within Justice about the surveillance program. The A.G. last week apologized for "creating confusion," but Senate Judiciary Committee chair Sen. Patrick Leahy said he is weighing asking Justice's inspector general to review Gonzales's testimony. The raid also came while the White House and Congress were battling over expanding NSA wiretapping authority in order to plug purported "surveillance gaps." James X. Dempsey of the Center for Democracy and Technology said the raid was "amazing" and shows the administration's misplaced priorities: using FBI agents to track down leakers instead of processing intel warrants to close the gaps. A Justice spokesman declined to comment. -Michael Isikoff ***** http://www.thedailygreen.com/2007/08/03/kroger-milk-goes-rbgh-free/4736/ Kroger Milk Will Go rbST Free By Early 2008 Supermarket to get rid of rbST-laden dairy products by early next year Supermarket giant Kroger, with locations in the Southeast and Midwest, is in the process of pulling milk produced with the artificial growth hormone rbST (also known as rbGH) from its store shelves by February 2008. The genetically engineered hormone is injected into cows for the purpose of boosting milk production. Although the FDA approved it for use in 1993, the hormone has not been without controversy. The genetically engineered growth hormone is known to cause harm to cows and may pose health risks to humans. Consumers have not been convinced of its safety and their demand for restaurants and retailers to provide organic milk only is on the rise. Earlier in the year, Publix supermarkets replaced its store-brand dairy products (milk, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream) using milk from untreated cows only. Other noted food service industry players such as Safeway, Chipotle and Starbucks, are taking an active part in reducing milk products produced with hormones too. A step in the right direction, the growing attractiveness of the natural and organic foods movement is spurring on consumer awareness and demand for food free of antibiotics and hormones. ***** http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070806/ap_en_mo/forbes_star_payback Forbes: Damon's a `Bourne' moneymaker Mon Aug 6, 2007 Matt Damon is Hollywood's best investment, says Forbes. com. For every dollar he was paid for his last three roles, Damon brought in $29 of gross income, the site calculated. That put the 36-year-old "Bourne" star atop a Forbes list of 22 film heavyweights, ranked by the same financial formula. The first two "Bourne" movies grossed an estimated $850 million at the box office and in DVD sales, Forbes said. The third installment, "The Bourne Ultimatum," opened last weekend and raked in $70.2 million at the box office. It was the biggest August film opening ever. Brad Pitt took second place on the list, with a gross income return of $24 for each dollar of his pay, and Vince Vaughn tied with Johnny Depp for third with $21. Pitt's ex-wife, Jennifer Aniston, is the most profitable actress with a gross income return of $17. Pitt's current significant other, Angelina Jolie, ranked sixth with $15. "The biggest stars in Hollywood are not the actors that deliver the biggest returns," Forbes senior editor Michael Ozanian said in a statement Monday. Russell Crowe is at the bottom of the list. His last three films — "A Good Year," "Cinderella Man" and "Master and Commander" — averaged just $5 in gross income for every dollar spent on the Oscar winner, Forbes said. Movies starring the two Toms — Hanks and Cruise — averaged $12 and $11 of gross income, respectively. Will Smith and Denzel Washington each brought in $10. On the comedic front, Adam Sandler brought in $9 per dollar earned, Will Ferrell and Jim Carrey $8 each). Forbes.com calculated the net revenue for a film by adding the worldwide box office and revenues from U.S. DVD and video rentals and then subtracting its budget. The net revenue was divided by the actor's total compensation to derive gross income. The average gross income of an actor's last three films produced their box-office return. The "Ultimate Star Payback" list was posted Monday. ___ On the Net: Forbes: http://www.forbes.com