"In 1991 Carlyle did only one deal: It advised Prince Alwaleed bin Talal on his $590-million investment in Citibank preferred stock for a 9.9 percent stake."

Can a system where less than one-tenth of one percent of the U.S. population gives 83 percent of all campaign contributions of $200 or more – as data from the Center for Responsive Politics shows – truly represent the will of all the people?

mred - Freedom Tower? good grief.

We refer, of course, to the $40 million contract awarded by occupation authorities to a private security company called Erinys Iraq. This plucky start-up is one of the great success stories of the occupation, having already bagged big money to ride shotgun for Halliburton and Bechtel as they spread their beneficent tentacles throughout the conquered land. Now little Erinys will guard the Holy Grail of the entire invasion project: Iraq's oil industry.
And Chalabi was always their main man, the horse they were going to ride in on. Despite his conviction in Jordan for massive bank fraud, despite his dubious husbandry of the millions in covert aid thrown at him by U.S. officials, despite the fact that even the CIA finally washed its hands of him, dismissing him as an ineffectual poseur peddling false intelligence to inflate his importance and attract more funding, the PNAC boys kept faith with Chalabi, as American Prospect reports.
Now, Chalabi's cronies at Erinys are hiring Chalabi's militiamen for the new "security" contract. In other words, Bush has given Chalabi armed control over Iraq's oil industry.


A British man is facing charges of plotting to supply a terrifying crude nuclear device to al Qaeda terrorists in America. London-based arms dealer Hemant Lakhani allegedly offered to provide a socalled "dirty bomb" capable of spreading radioactive contamination over a major city. He will appear in court within days, American government lawyer Christopher Christie said. The charges would be a coup for the US war against terrorism following a series of setbacks.
mr ed - welcome back hemant - we've missed u since u last scared us all. curious the ashcroft isnt trumpeting.

Well, gwb is getting so bold in his hubris that he is now issuing edicts - in writing - commanding that the press only, "Write positive stories," covering his visit yesterday to Ft. Carson in Colorado. In fact, he handed out a 10 commandments to all members of the press, which he labeled "10 ground rules" for covering his visit to the base, as reported by Jim Spencer of the Denver Post

Among the "10 ground rules" handed out to all members of the press, according to Spencer, were:
Rule 9: "Write positive stories about Ft. Carson and the U.S. Army."
Rule 3: No talking to soldiers or their families before, during, or after the event.
Talk about un-American - the soldiers must serve their commander but not even their families can be talked to to get their opinions about how the war is going so people can do what people do in democracies, namely decide if they want to keep their leader or not.
Rule 6: "No roaming."
In other words, we want to be able to keep an eye on all of you - we are watching you - and so will not allow the free reporters of the free press in free America to so much as move out of our sight. Wow.
Rule 2: "Remain in press riser at all times; you will be escorted to the bathroom."
They wouldn't even let them go on their own to the bathroom, because they didn't want to lose sight - or control - of them for a single second.
Rule 1: "No video at Butts (the base) until the President arrives."
And then, in true dictator style, they add a sarcastic rule number 10:
Rule 10: "Have fun."
Now, he is putting his unspoken code in writing, having no qualms about distributing on paper his anti-freedom, dictator-like edicts. The only step left to make his complete conversion to dictator is to issue directly a list of consequences should the rules not be followed.

Putin has steadily been consolidating power, rolling back freedoms and rights, and openly calling for creating a majority for his party that will rule a generation. Yes, no protests from President Bush anywhere along the way - he can hardly afford a tiff with Russia while we are so thinly spread.
Putin, unlike Bush, has been a master diplomat and politician. He has gained the support and trust of much of the world while President Bush has lost it for America. By siding with Germany and France during the lead up to the Iraq War, Russia more than made a whole host of new friends - which it took directly from the U.S. When President Bush singled out Iran as part of his Axis of Evil, Putin took yet another opportunity to make a friend and gain power in the world by stepping in and renewing Russia's alliance with Iran. We make a move, he makes beautiful and subtle countermoves that go unnoticed by our PNAC-bullied, unthougthtful, incurious President.

In the meantime, Bush's borrow and spend policies have America's economy in a huge financial ditch. Again, does anyone remember what led to Russia's collapse? Yes, bad fiscal policy and overextended military campaigns - including a disastrous decade-long one in Afghanistan - that bankrupted it.

United Russia's candidates also avoid participating in debates. As the Post reports, "Refusing to participate in nationally televised debates, (head of United Russia Borris) Gryzlov recently said publicly that his party would not let itself be placed at the same level as the others... They also don't routinely talk to independent Russian media."


As his second act as Governor, Arnold immediately, “suspended all regulations.” as reported by KPCC radio in Los Angeles.
All regulations – more specifically, all regulations, “passed during the last five years.” In other words, he undid every regulation passed under Governor Davis – who was re-elected after passing most of them. The immediate effect: pollution controls, regulations protecting workers, healthcare, every protective regulation suddenly vanished. All the work of the legislature and Governor over the last five years done in protection of the people wiped out in a single stroke. Businesses need no longer worry about having to operate in ways that protect employees, the environment, prevent corporate fraud.