Another Angle 30 - January - 2006

ANOTHER ANGLE
News others won't tell you




NATIONAL:



Rice Admits U.S. Underestimated Hamas Strength
Ms. Rice's comments seemed to reflect a certain second-guessing over how the administration had failed to foresee, or factor into its thinking, the possibility of a Hamas victory.



Pentagon Can Now Fund Foreign Militaries
The move, included in a little-noticed provision of the 2006 National Defense Authorization Act passed last month, marks a legislative victory for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who pushed hard for the new powers to deal with emergency situations.


Study Says 80% of New Orleans Blacks May Not Return
If the projections are realized, the New Orleans population will shrink to about 140,000 from its prehurricane level of 484,000, and the city, nearly 70 percent black before the storm, will become majority white.



Grand theft New Orleans
San Francisco Bay View - National Black Newspaper of the Year
People heard about the numerous abuses by the military and Blackwater mercenaries who were called in to “restore order” by setting up a hostile military environment simulating martial law – but who did little to search for or save the residents, most of whom were still in need of rescue, food, water, health care and shelter.



New Black Cable Channel Mixes Old Shows, New Documentaries
TV One, recently added to Time Warner Cable on its digital tier, is the black channel for grown-ups. You wont find reality shows about dorm life on TV One or a hip-hop knockoff of the MTV Music Awards. It doesnt air music videos obsessed with bling and booty. It has a cooking show, a new financial advice show (with Michelle Singletary) and, coming soon, documentaries and new dramas.



INTERNATIONAL:



Iran's new bourse may threaten the dollar
Should the Iranian Oil Bourse gain momentum, it will be eagerly embraced by major economic powers and will precipitate the demise of the dollar. America's greatest export is currently the dollar and when "the balance of reserve holdings starts to shift from dollars to euros, that's very bad news for America's system of dollar hegemony.



EU inquiry may call Cheney
Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, the most hawkish members of the US administration, may be invited to appear before a European parliamentary committee investigating allegations of "extraordinary rendition" of terrorist suspects by the CIA.



Osama bodyguard is quietly let go
Tabarak was captured and taken to the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he was classified as such a high-value prisoner that the Pentagon repeatedly denied requests by the International Committee of the Red Cross to see him. Then, after spending almost three years at the base, he was suddenly released.

IRAQ:



Don't Call It Napalm
Little is known or seen of the air part of the American war of today, in Iraq. After the U.S. and Britain withdraw the bulk of their ground troops, plans call for the air war to be beefed up and kept that way for years to come.



U.S. invasion responsible deaths of over 250,000 civilians in Iraq
The on-going American Occupation has also created worsened civil strife as well as mass environmental destructions and related public health problems that is associated with American bomb-related released radioactive and other life-threatening pollutions.



BUSH CRIME FAMILY:



Rumsfeld's Roadmap to Propaganda
The 74-page "Information Operations Roadmap" admits that "information intended for foreign audiences, including public diplomacy and PSYOP, increasingly is consumed by our domestic audience and vice-versa," but argues that "the distinction between foreign and domestic audiences becomes more a question of USG [U.S. government] intent rather than information dissemination practices."



Bush once again playing on fears of U.S. public
With apologies to Garrett Morris, fear ''been beddy beddy good'' to the White House. That's why Sept. 11 has become Team Bush's fallback position, its default reply to every hard question.
A ruinous war fought under false pretenses? Sept. 11.
Indefinite detention of alleged terrorists? Sept. 11.
Torture? Sept. 11.
The right of the people to dissent? Sept. 11.
Spying on Americans in violation of federal law? Sept. 11.
A growing record of incompetence and lies? Sept. 11.



Gag Orders
And the secrets and secret deals continue to tumble out.



ECONOMY:



Petrodollar Warfare: Oil, Iraq and the Future of the Dollar
Asian countries hold approximately $2 trillion in dollars and dollar denominated securities. China has already announced its intention to diversity its foreign asset holdings, and India is considering a similar course. The Iranian oil bourse could be the pebble that starts an avalanche.Petrodollar Warfare will help you pick through the rubble.



OP-ED:



Memo to Big Oil Companies: Africa’s Oil Belongs to Africans ...
We must begin to encourage the African World to make honest assessments of the historical relationship between Africa and large foreign corporations generally. Too many Africans are mesmerized by the extent of western economic development, and a fallacious belief that Africa’s full-scale embrace of capitalism will replicate such prosperity on that continent. This myth must be punctured with the fact that western countries were able to prosper only because they exploited Africa.



They Know They Broke the Law
One can imagine George W. Bush silently thanking God each night for the fact that he has a Republican congress at his back. Were it otherwise, the man would be neck-deep in impeachment hearings. This road trip, and the tortured convolutions being put forth as justification for spying on Americans, leads to one inescapable conclusion: they know what they did was illegal.



SCIENCE&TECHNOLOGY:



Russia plans to mine the Moon
"We are planning to build a permanent base on the Moon by 2015 and by 2020 we can begin the industrial-scale delivery ... of the rare isotope Helium-3."



HEALTH&FITNESS:



Natural Food, Unnatural Prices
We started looking around for something to buy. As we stared bug-eyed at the lofty price tags, I wondered aloud what sort of income it would take to become a regular Whole Foods shopper. Why not give Whole Foods the Wal-Mart test?



FOOD&DRINK:



Grilled Pound Cake with Pineapple "Salsa" and Tequila Whipped Cream
The grill was the original toaster. And there's nothing like a quick sizzle on the grill to transform ordinary pound cake into a singular, even extraordinary dessert. Especially when paired with a pineapple "salsa" and tequila-scented whipped cream.



REVIEWS/INTERVIEWS:



Harry Belafonte on Bush, Iraq, Hurricane Katrina and Having His Conversations with Martin Luther...
He sent money to bail King out of the Birmingham City Jail and raised thousands of dollars to release other imprisoned protesters. He financed the Freedom Rides, and supported voter-registration drives and helped to organize the March on Washington in 1963.


HUMOR?:



Candorville

Another Angle 25 - January - 2006

ANOTHER ANGLE
News others won't tell you



NATIONAL:



White House Declines to Provide Storm Papers
The Bush administration, citing the confidentiality of executive branch communications, said Tuesday that it did not plan to turn over certain documents about Hurricane Katrina or make senior White House officials available for sworn
testimony before two Congressional committees investigating the storm response.



Alaska: Raw votes 'can't be made public'
The official vote results from the last general election are riddled with discrepancies and impossible for the public to make sense of. At this point, it's impossible to say whether the correct candidates were declared the winner in all Alaska races from 2004. The private contractor hired to provide Alaska's electronic voting machines is Diebold Election Systems. It has told Alaska officials it owns the "structure of the database" though the data itself is public.



"VIDEO - Belafonte Smacks Down Blitzer"



Duke Professor Skeptical of bin Laden Tape
Bruce Lawrence has just published Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama Bin Laden, a book translating bin Laden's writing. Lawrence recently analyzed more than 20 complete speeches and interviews of the al Qaida leader for his book. He says the new message is missing several key elements.



N.C. Police Chief Resigns After Racial Scandal
A racial profiling scandal has forced the resignation of the police chief in Greensboro, N.C. He used an internal affairs unit to secretly investigate 14 black officers for alleged misconduct. Rusty Jacobs of WUNC North Carolina Public Radio reports.



Roundtable: Domestic Surveillance, Black Jesus
Topics include President Bush's defense of domestic surveillance, and controversy over a new film featuring a black Jesus. Guests: Mary Frances Berry, professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania; Roland Martin, executive editor of The Chicago Defender; and Nat Irvin, professor of future studies at Wake Forest University.



INTERNATIONAL:



Iran official threatens oil blockades
"if Europe does not act wisely with the Iranian nuclear portfolio and it is referred to the UN Security Council and economic or air travel restrictions are imposed unjustly, we have the power to halt oil supply to the last drop from the shores of the Persian Gulf via the Straits of Hormuz."


IRAQ:



Iraq abuse lenience 'affects' US image
Such cases erode US credibility at a time when it is urging other countries to increase human-rights protections. They could also set human rights progress back by giving countries such as Libya an excuse to justify abuses.



BUSH CRIME FAMILY:



NSA Director Hayden--One Needle in a Growing Bush "Hay"stack of Lies
General Hayden should reconcile his contradictory statements.



OP-ED:



New Blood, New Visions, and a New Political Party
Working class people, especially progressives, must come to understand that our interests are not being served by hitching our political wagons to either the Democratic or the Republican Party. Whichever party we choose represents a system that favors plutocrats—those of wealth and privilege. It is a system of their creation, for their sole benefit. We cannot possibly compete in this system. We have no alternative but to create a new system in place of the old.



Alito Filibuster: It Only Takes One
A filibuster could touch a public nerve if it concentrates on protecting the Founding Fathers' framework of checks and balances, the Bill of Rights, and the rule of law - all designed specifically to prevent an abusive Executive from gaining dictatorial powers.



FOOD&DRINK:



MISS SHIRLEY'S EASTERN SHORE CRAB CAKES
Shirley Phillips was raised on Hooper Island, Maryland, in Chesapeake Bay, and grew up surrounded by the finest seafood imaginable. Given her upbringing, it's not surprising that she married a waterman, Brice Phillips. The couple made their way to Ocean City, Maryland, and opened a crab shack, selling "jimmies" — heavy, fat, perfectly seasoned crabs — to tourists and locals alike. Almost fifty years later, that roadside crab shack has evolved into one of the largest seafood operations in America.



REVIEWS/INTERVIEWS:



Watch Out for Barbers' Clippers, and Zingers
MTV plans to bring to its viewers next month "The Shop," a new reality series that chronicles all the goings-on at Mr. Rooney's - all the debates, the "yo momma" jokes, the pseudopolitical commentary, and the wry observations. The show, part "McLaughlin Group," part BET's video show "106 and Park," is the brainchild of Corey Rooney, a popular R&B producer and founder of the shop.



New Book Examines Black Youth, Economic Boom of the 90s
Black Males Left Behind showcases the research of 17 leading scholars and gives policymakers an essential starting point and reference for addressing the complex problems of young black men with limited education. This book gives us a clear, detailed look at a growing crisis in black America. It’s a critical first step toward helping less-educated young black men get on track so they can fulfill their promise.



HUMOR?:



Has Bush Fallen Off The Wagon?

Another Angle 24 - January - 2006

ANOTHER ANGLE
News others won't tell you




NATIONAL:



Abramoff shopping Bush photos
Appearing on MSNBC, Newsweek correspondent Michael Isikoff reported that it was indeed Abramoff who floated the photographs to Washingtonian.



Homeland Security To Confiscate Bank Safe Deposit Box Contents
In the event of a national disaster no weapons, cash, gold, or silver will be allowed to leave the bank - only various paperwork will be given to its owners.



Boxer, Waxman, Solis Denounce Leaked Bush Administration Plan to Promote Human Pesticide Experiments
This is yet another example of the Bush Administration choosing to ignore the letter of the law and going its own way. Congress passed legislation to curb the practice of unethical pesticide testing on humans, but with this rule the Bush Administration is authorizing systematic testing of pesticides on humans which not only fails to meet its congressional mandate but which will increase the number of unethical studies.



White House Was Told Hurricane Posed Danger
A Homeland Security Department report submitted to the White House at 1:47 a.m. on Aug. 29, hours before the storm hit, said, "Any storm rated Category 4 or greater will likely lead to severe flooding and/or levee breaching."



Pentagon study: U.S. may lose Iraq
Army leaders are not sure how much longer they can keep up the unusually high pace of combat tours in Iraq before they trigger an institutional crisis.


A Perfect Spiderweb
NSA whistle-blower wants to tell congress, but they don't have clearance to hear.



FLASHBACK: The Man Behind The Vaccine Mystery
Just before President Bush signed the homeland security bill into law an unknown member of Congress inserted a provision into the legislation that blocks lawsuits against the maker of a controversial vaccine preservative called "thimerosal," used in vaccines that are given to children.



INTERNATIONAL:



Saudi plans Islamic megabank
The authorised capital shall be $1 billion to be paid in instalments according to demand. Hence, it shall be the first private Islamic bank of its kind in capital terms.



Argentina Breaks Plutocrat, Banker Stranglehold
Argentina learned, just like Brazil and other nations in the region before it, that being tied to the IMF meant being forced to follow its promotion of globalization, free trade and privatization. Those were policies which often turned out to be of no benefit to ordinary people or to the economies of the countries subjected to them.



IRAQ:



Nothing depleted about 'depleted uranium'
Conservatively, at least 300 tons and 1,700 tons of depleted uranium were used in the Gulf War and the current Iraq War, resectively. This is about 70 grams of depleted uranium per Iraqi citizen, and if inhaled or ingested, it is enough to kill them all. Disturbing photos of children



ECONOMY:



Currency market wary of Iran
What we are concerned about is that going forward they may decide to remove petrodollars and redirect them elsewhere. If they do, it is negative for the bond market and ultimately for the U.S. dollar.



Wolfowitz under Fire
The immediate cause of the turmoil at the World Bank is the appointment of an adviser to Mr Wolfowitz with close ties to the Republican party as the new director of the internal watchdog that investigates suspected fraud and staff misconduct.



OP-ED:



Let’s Get Rid Of Congress
We don’t need Congress. Those folks are doing a lot to us but very little for us? Are they really representin’ you? They voted for a bankruptcy bill that allows big corporations to continue to file but prevents poor people from doing so. They voted for a raid on Iraq’s natural resources, disguised as a “war on terror,” in which thousands have been slaughtered. They allow King George to lock-up U.S. citizens without due process, tap our phones, and check our records. What’s next? Internment camps?



Democrats:Get Up and Walk Out
George W. Bush's delivery of the State of the Union address will take place on Tuesday, January 31, a little more than a week from now. It is my strong belief that every single Democrat present in the House chamber for the speech should, at a predetermined moment, stand up and walk out. No yelling. No heated words. Every Democrat should simply stand silently and leave.



FOOD&DRINK:



Beef Pinwheels with Arugula Salad
10 minutes to prepare(as long as you have a sharp knife), looks terribly stylish on the plate, and most of all tastes amazing!


REVIEWS/INTERVIEWS:



Miles at the Cellar Door
The new box set Miles Davis: The Cellar Door Sessions 1970 is the latest in a crop of critical anthologies that add perspective to the history of jazz.



HUMOR?:



Tom Tomorrow: The Terrifying World of the Average Conservative

Another Angle 23 - January - 2006

ANOTHER ANGLE
News others won't tell you



NATIONAL:

Rice: Time for talk with Iran is over
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Monday there was strong international consensus against Iran's nuclear plans and time had run out for talking to Tehran.



Anti-Alito ad targets Thomas marriage
This is a slam dunk ad on Alito by the National Black Justice Coalition. It will be published in black newspapers in Baltimore and Washington, and in Roll Call, the Congressional newspaper.



San Francisco Bay View - National Black Newspaper of the Year
The title of this piece, "Rise of a Black Messiah," is in direct contention with not only the U.S. military, state and local police, but also the CIA and the FBI's war on Blacks, not only in America, but internationally. It is particularly an undeviating response to one of the 1966 long-term goals of the Counterintelligence Program (Cointelpro), issued by then FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover: to "'prevent the rise of a 'messiah' who could unify, and electrify, the militant Black Nationalist Movement."

Assclowns of the Week: “Just Do It” Edition
So just scroll down and laugh and cry with us. C’mon, just do it!



INTERNATIONAL:



Iran’s Oil Exchange threatens the Greenback
The Bush administration will never allow the Iranian government to open an oil exchange (bourse) that trades petroleum in euros. If that were to happen, hundreds of billions of dollars would come flooding back to the United States crushing the greenback and destroying the economy. This is why Bush and Co. are planning to lead the nation to war against Iran. It is straightforward defense of the current global system and the continuing dominance of the reserve currency, the dollar.



Swiss bank drops Iranian clients
The idea that the world's sixth-largest bank had made the decision in order to protect ties with the United States, where it does a huge part of its business and which is one of Tehran's fiercest opponents (was rejected).



IRAQ:



Moqtada al-Sadr Enters the Iran Attack Fray
Firebrand Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has assured Iran that his Shi’ite Muslim militiamen will support the Islamic Republic if it comes under attack, the official IRNA news agency reported on Sunday. Reuters notes. "If neighboring Islamic countries, including Iran, should come under attack, then the Mehdi Army will support them," Sadr said in Tehran.



Saddam's lawyers to launch legal bid against illegal foreign invasion
Saddam Hussein's lawyers are aiming to file a case against Tony Blair and US president George Bush at a European international court regarding the alleged illegal invasion and occupation of a sovereign state.



BUSH CRIME FAMILY:



Bush nominee broke law
A judge nominated by President Bush to one of the highest courts in the nation apparently violated federal law repeatedly while serving on the federal bench. Judge James H. Payne, 64, who was nominated by Bush in late September to join the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Denver, issued more than 100 orders in at least 18 cases that involved corporations in which he owned stock, a review of court and financial records shows.



ECONOMY:



Oil, conflict and the future of global energy supplies
Saddam’s selling of Iraq’s oil in the Euro (as of 2000) was more of an explosive threat to US interests than any WMDs so far found in Iraq by George Bush. If not by political persuasion for continued Iraqi oil sales in the US dollar, then by invasion to finally fix the problem. Consider the precipitous impact on the US economy when petrodollars rapidly cease to subsidise US living standards.



Petrodollar Warfare: Dollars, Euros and the Upcoming Iranian Oil ...Bourse
Tensions between the United States and Iran likely include a proposed Iranian “petroeuro” system for oil trade. Similar to the Iraq war, the unpublicized but real challenge to U.S. dollar supremacy from the euro as an alternative oil transaction currency. It is now obvious the invasion of Iraq had less to do with gaining strategic control over Iraq’s hydrocarbon reserves and in doing so maintain the U.S. dollar as the monopoly currency for the critical international oil market. Barring a U.S. attack, it appears imminent that Iran’s euro-denominated oil bourse will open in March 2006.

OP-ED:



Being Black when no one is looking
You cannot run or move away from being Black; you cannot graduate from being Black; and you cannot gain enough wealth to remove your Blackness. Unfortunately, some of us think we can, and we are sadly disappointed when we find our efforts are futile.



Harry Belafonte Reaffirms a Proud Tradition
Harry Belafonte did more than speak truth to a President who lied to justify an invasion that has taken the lives of more than 2,000 Americans and tens of thousands of Iraqis. He became part of a proud African American tradition Frederick Douglass started in 1848.



FOOD&DRINK:



Dinner in the Fireplace
As with so many great culinary discoveries, this one was an accident. Johanne Killeen and George Germon, co-owners of the famed Al Forno in Providence, R.I. first put it on their menu in 1985. Killeen says that one very busy night at the restaurant, Germon unknowingly dropped a steak in the fire. When he finally found and tasted it, a dish was born.

REVIEWS/INTERVIEWS:



King Britt Marks a Big Year
Former Digable Planets DJ King Britt has recently released three new albums, including King Britt Presents: Sister Gertrude Morgan, a groovy remix of archival gospel music. Gertrude Morgan was an artist and preacher, who often sang on a corner in the French Quarter of New Orleans in the 1960s. Morgan, who believed she was the bride of Christ, made the record that became the source for Britt's album in 1970. The original recording consisted of Morgan and her tambourine..



HUMOR?:



Sutton Impact: Political Debates of Tomorrow

Another Angle 22 - January - 2006

ANOTHER ANGLE
News others won't tell you



NATIONAL:



Time: Bush-Abramoff Photos "Suggest A Level Of Contact Between Them That Bush's Aides Have Downplayed"...
In one shot that TIME saw, Bush appears with Abramoff, several unidentified people and Raul Garza Sr., a Texan Abramoff represented who was then chairman of the Kickapoo Indians, which owned a casino in southern Texas. Garza, who is wearing jeans and a bolo tie in the picture, told TIME that Bush greeted him as "Jefe," or "chief" in Spanish. Another photo shows Bush shaking hands with Abramoff in front of a window and a blue drape. The shot bears Bush's signature, perhaps made by a machine. Three other photos are of Bush, Abramoff and, in each view, one of the lobbyist's sons (three of his five children are boys). A sixth picture shows several Abramoff children with Bush and House Speaker Dennis Hastert.



Belafonte: Bush administration backs Gestapo tactics
"We've come to this dark time in which the Gestapo of Homeland Security lurks here, where citizens are having their rights suspended. You can be arrested and not charged, you can be arrested and have no right to counsel," said Belafonte, who called President Bush "the greatest terrorist in the world" during a trip to Venezuela two weeks ago. Belafonte, 78, made that comment after a meeting with Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez. The Harlem-born Belafonte, who was raised in Jamaica, said his activism was inspired by an impoverished mother "who imbued in me that we should never capitulate to oppression."



Fear of the intelligent thug: When Black power gets gangsta
You see them every morning same time, same place. “Dem boyz in da hood sell anything for profit, five in the morning on the corner clockin’.” I wonder if anyone has ever taken the time to tell these 14-year-old kids about Fred Hampton, who by the age of 21, had already become one of the most powerful leaders we’d ever produced? Wonder if anyone ever took the time to tell them about Huey P. Newton or Bunchy Carter organizing tha hood to protect Black people?



Putting Black Women in Power in Alabama
Tanya Ott reports on an organization that's working to put black women in leadership roles throughout the state.



The Black Commentator - Cover Story: Fighting the Theft of New Orleans
The overwhelmingly Black New Orleans diaspora is returning in large numbers to resist relentless efforts to bully and bulldoze them out of the city's future.



Walking Wounded
Hatred comes easily. There are wounds and there are wounds. The memory haunts him. He was not a joyous killer. He remembers what he did, knows now that he was had. It gnaws at him.



Public School left behind
“For everyone of those we are saving through a variety of these kinds of programs, we are losing nine or 10 and we’ve got to confront it,” says Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund. “The Black community has got to confront it. The country’s got to confront it.”



Photography: Who Owns Seydou Keïta?
Okwui Enwezor, a scholar of photography and curator of a 1996 exhibition at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum that included Mr. Keïta's work, maintained that in the amount of information he conveys about his middle-class subjects, in the controlled complexity of the portraits and the high level of quality maintained over a great volume, his work is "comparable to the portraiture of Rembrandt."
The Ghosts of Seydou Keita



INTERNATIONAL:



Iran's Really Big Weapon
Tehran is preparing to open a bourse, a mercantile exchange and potentially a futures market, where traders can buy and sell oil and gas, along the lines of the International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) in London and the NYTMEX in New York. The differences are first, that this one would price its energy in euros, not dollars, and second, that it would not use West Texas Intermediate or Brent Crude (from the North Sea) as its standard oil for pricing. It would use a Persian Gulf-produced oil instead.



US navy captures Somali 'pirates'
When I started reading this my first thought was what right do we have to hunt pirates in the INDIAN OCEAN? But as the story tells you, it's always about money. AND this part is very telling...Piracy, including hijackings and hostage-taking, has become common off anarchic Somalia, where there has been no effective central government since 1991... The Somali government has signed a $50m (£28m) two-year deal with a private US marine security company to carry out coastal patrols.
If there is no central government who hired the private company? I am still on my original question.



Pakistan accused of Baluchistan abuses
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said it had "received evidence that action by armed forces had led to deaths and injuries among civilians". It also said that "populations had also been subjected to indiscriminate bombing" in a crackdown in the southwestern province launched last month, after rocket attacks by tribal fighters battling for greater autonomy and control of natural gas fields.



Hydropolis - The World's First Underwater Hotel
Currently under construction in Dubai, Hydropolis is the world's first luxury underwater hotel. It will include three elements: the land station, where guests will be welcomed, the connecting tunnel, which will transport people by train to the main area of the hotel, and the 220 suites within the submarine leisure complex.


BUSH CRIME FAMILY:



Bush Empire's Version of the News
The clandestine Bush administration is so afraid of letting the public see what it's doing that it has denied the president himself all access to outside information except for the sports pages and religious news. It's not nice to turn the president, almost an emperor, into a figure of ridicule.



Chain of Fools
Things are looking a bit grim for the Bush faction these days. Their chief bagman, Jack Abramoff, is in the clink, naming names. Their top congressional enforcer, Tom DeLay, is in the dock, sinking fast. Their "war of choice" in Iraq has stalled in murderous quagmire. Their poll numbers are plummeting as scandal after scandal turn the American people against them. What, then, will be the fate of these brutal, bungling, bloodstained goons when they face the voters in the coming elections?Why, victory, of course!



OP-ED:



Impeachment Would Make Matters Worse
"We could impeach Cheney, but then we'd get Bush as president." All right, for the sake of argument let's assume that Bush is impeached and Cheney is carted off to The Hague to be tried as a war criminal along with Rumsfeld. What does that leave us? With President Hastert. That's an improvement?



SCIENCE&TECHNOLOGY:



Astronaut says space shuttle a deathtrap
It was this lack of ejector seats that ensured the deaths of Challenger's astronauts. Such a powered escape system could have blasted them from their stricken ship and saved them. 'That was the true tragedy of Challenger. Nothing was learnt. Only janitors and cafeteria workers at Nasa were blameless in the deaths of the Challenger seven.'



HEALTH&FITNESS:



New Mexico Begins Legislative Process To Ban Aspartame
A senate bill to rid New Mexico of what has been called "Rumsfeld's Disease" was introduced Thursday by Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, as 15 other senators from both sides of isle also signed on, supporting legislation to ban the deadly artificial sweetener, aspartame. Linked to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for his efforts in the 1970s for putting the sweetener on the market, New Mexico is the first state to consider banning the artificial additive linked to numerous ill-health affects, including cancer.



Live-in bugs fight HIV
Some of the 'friendly bacteria' found in yoghurt have been genetically modified to release a drug that blocks HIV infection.



FOOD&DRINK:



CHERRY CHEESECAKE WITH CHOCOLATE ALMOND CRUST
This cheesecake pops off the plate after you add SALT!!!!



REVIEWS/INTERVIEWS:



Blige's 'Breakthrough'
Before there was any such thing as American Idol, kids who aspired to singing careers had to find other paths to stardom. In 1989, a young girl from the New York projects stepped into a Karaoke booth at a White Plains mall and sang an Anita Baker tune. Today it's Mary J. Blige's songs that young girls sing.



JUST WEIRD:



Villagers Shun Man They Believe Is Dead
Is Raju Raghuvanshi alive or dead? Ask Raghuvanshi, he'll tell you he is alive.
Believed by his friends and family to have died in prison, Raghuvanshi returned home earlier this month from his short jail stint to shouts of "Help! Ghost!" and the sounds of neighbors locking their doors in his home village of Katra(India).

Another Angle 21 - January - 2006

ANOTHER ANGLE
News others won't tell you




NATIONAL:



Report: 5 photos of Abramoff, Bush
If the White House can’t find the photos, prosecutors already know where to look. The Washingtonian has seen five photos of the President with Abramoff or his family. One photo shows the President and Abramoff shaking hands at a meeting in the Old Executive Office Building, where a bearded-Abramoff introduced Bush to several of the lobbyist’s native-American clients.



KIA in Alabama
On January 16th, after having talked quite normally on the phone with at least two other people that same day, Douglas Barber, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) living in Lee County, Alabama, changed the answer-message on his telephone. "If you're looking for Doug," it said in his Alabama drawl, "I'm checking out of this world. I'll see you on the other side."



Claim: Insider trades from House offices
After a comment by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) on Air America's Majority Report Wednesday evening, RAW STORY has learned that House Democrats are pushing the ethics committee to investigate allegations of congressional offices providing privleged information to Wall Street investors. On Air America, Slaughter alleged that "day traders" in the offices of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) and former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) had aided such investors. She mentioned as a specific example that individuals got advance notice that an asbestos bill was not going to emerge from the Senate (Audio here).



Mystery firm linked to US lobbyist scandal
Abramoff recorded Rose Garden's address as a luxury flat in Tai Hang, above Causeway Bay, and its business as international trade. Hong Kong's Companies Registry has no record of Rose Garden Holdings; nor does the telephone directory. The apartment listed by Abramoff as Rose Garden's premises has been owned since 1992 by Luen Thai Shipping and Trading, according to the Land Registry.



Powerful Men Who Meet Secretly and Plan
The first group met at the Bilderberg Hotel in Holland. The first meeting was called by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands in response to his concerns regarding the increasingly antagonistic relationship between the U.S. and Western Europe thus providing the Group with a declared purpose - to further the understanding between Western Europe and North America through informal meetings between powerful individuals. The Group has grown since that first meeting in 1954 and has met once a year every year since that time.



Latest Bin Laden Tape: Another of the NeoCons' "Greatest Hits"
Just like Orwell's ubiquitous Emmanuel Goldstein, Bin Laden always seems to pop up right on cue so we can disengage our minds from reality and join in the two minutes hate.



INTERNATIONAL:



Iran will be taught a lesson: Burns
Undersecretary of State R Nicolas Burns has called Iran “a threat to world peace” and vowed to “teach it a lesson”. He said this in a press conference following talks with Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran on Friday. Iran has “crossed so many international red lines, that it has to know that will be a penalty to be paid.



Japan again halts import of US beef
The discovery of bone in a veal shipment from New York prompted the order. Asian countries believe the presence of bone indicates a risk of mad cow disease and restrictions against it in beef shipments have remained.



In Bolivia, a $100 Million Question
What will become of the U.S.-financed program to eradicate coca, the plant used to make cocaine, now that the longtime head of the coca growers' union, Evo Morales, is about to become the country's president?



Terrorism & incitement trial date certain for Trinidad’s Muslim leader
Abu Bakr will face a jury after he allegedly said during a sermon that there will be “war” and “bloodshed” , if rich Muslims did not contribute zakaat; a compulsory contribution which is usually made twice a year to be given to poorer people.



Black TV Channel Ignites Ire in Brazil
A Brazilian TV channel dedicated especially to black people has been provoking controversy. Not only Brazil, but parts of Europe, the western U.S., Asia and Angola have been watching "Canal da Gente," or "Our Channel," since Nov. 20, 2005.



IRAQ:



Italy to pull troops out of Iraq
Italy will withdraw 1 000 of its 2 600 troops in Iraq by June and aims to finish its mission there by the end of this year, Defence Minister Antonio Martino said on Thursday.



ECONOMY:



Steve Clemons: Paul Wolfowitz Busy Neo-Conning the World Bank ...
Wolfowitz may be showing his stripes now -- and may be finally tilting the Bank into a groove where it becomes a harsher instrument of U.S. foreign policy -- rewarding friends and punishing those who don't fall into lockstep behind George W. Bush's vision.



Collapse of U.S. Economy Imminent
Should America (along with British & Israeli forces) launch a war against Iran, or another country, without yet paying for, or even recovering from the current losses in Iraq and elsewhere - the costs of such of an invasion will overwhelm an already crippled economy and push the U.S. over the edge into oblivion.



OP-ED:



Jesse Jackson Jr.: The Right to Vote
"The vote" is a human right. It is seen as an American right. In a democracy there is nothing more fundamental than having the right to vote. And yet the right to vote is not a fundamental right in our Constitution. Some liberals argue that the fundamental right to vote for every American citizen is implied in the Constitution, based on Supreme Court precedent. Yet when I ask them about the denial of voting representation in Congress to District of Columbia citizens, or about the denial of ex-felons' voting rights in most states, many liberals concede that the current structure of our Constitution limits the ability of the courts and Congress to adequately address important voting-rights issues.



Medicare Drug Plan Looks Like a Big Scam
The Medicare drug benefit is shaping up as the single most cynical scam perpetrated by the Bush administration on American consumers. Designed to maximize profits for drug makers and health insurers, the program was launched so ineptly Jan. 1 that hundreds of thousands of patients have been prevented by computer glitches from filling their prescriptions. California and 25 other states have had to step in temporarily to pay for improperly rejected prescription claims.



FOOD&DRINK:



BANANA NUT BREAD
Mother's learned to cook this bread during the Depression, when nothing was wasted — especially overripe bananas. I've discovered that overripe bananas can be peeled, mashed, and frozen, then defrosted whenever you want to bake up a memory.



REVIEWS/INTERVIEWS:



A Coming of Age, an Era of Change
"Quinceañera," which will premiere Monday afternoon at the Sundance Film Festival is a heartfelt story about — as the filmmakers put it — "what happens when teenage sexuality, age-old rituals and real-estate prices collide."



'Glory Road' Plays Fast and Loose with Facts
Hollywood sports films often ignore facts in favor of plot, and the new hit Glory Road is no exception.



HUMOR?:



Fiore: Welcome to Greater Georgelandia!

Another Angle 17 - January - 2006

ANOTHER ANGLE
News others won't tell you




NATIONAL:



Spotlight on Lobbying Swings to Little-Known Congressman
According to Mr. Abramoff's plea agreement, Mr. Ney provided a stream of official favors to Mr. Abramoff and his associates. In one case, the court papers say, Mr. Ney helped an Israeli company win a contract in 2001 to provide wireless service to Congress.



McCain campaigns for George Wallace, Jr.
McCain's Alabama visit drew fire from the Democratic National Committee, which said McCain should have denounced past speeches Wallace has made to the "racist Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC)," a group which opposes "all efforts to mix the races".



White House: Gore guilty of hypocrisy
McClellan said the Clinton-Gore administration had engaged in warrantless physical searches, and he cited an FBI search of the home of CIA turncoat Aldrich Ames without permission from a judge.



In Desperation, Gonzales Smears Gore
The issue with the Bush’s warrantless domestic wiretapping program is that it violates a federal criminal law, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Despite what Gonzales is implying, the Clinton administration never violated FISA and never claimed they could violate FISA.



American who advised Pentagon says he worked at magazine that found forged Niger documents
While most Americans have yet to hear of Ledeen or Panorama, the confirmation of his work with the publication adds yet another dimension to the Niger forgeries scandal and possible U.S. government involvement in pre-war intelligence manipulation.


Nuclear War: Depleted Uranium
Since 1991, the U.S. has staged four nuclear wars using depleted uranium weaponry, which, like Agent Orange, meets the U.S. government definition of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Vast regions in the Middle East and Central Asia have been permanently contaminated with radiation.



IRAQ:



Iraq captors threaten to kill journalist
Aljazeera aired a brief video on Tuesday showing Jill Carroll speaking to the camera, without broadcasting her voice. Carroll's former employers The Jordan Times published a Sunday editorial, stating: "The kidnappers who abducted her could not have chosen a more wrong target. True, Jill is a US citizen. But she is also more critical of US policies towards the Middle East than many Arabs… Jill has been from day one opposed to the war, to the invasion and occupation of Iraq. "



BUSH CRIME FAMILY:



The man cannot even keep the lies straight any more
Bush at his best. Speaking off script.



Bush Can Be Sued on Faith Based Initiative
A three-judge panel of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday reinstated the lawsuit brought by the Freedom From Religion Foundation. The group claims Bush's program, which helps religious organizations get government funding to provide social services, violates the separation of church and state.



ECONOMY:



Worry as Chinese reserves poised to touch historic US$1 trillion level
China has been investing its reserves in US government debt and held US$247 billion in treasury bonds at the end of October, making it the largest investor after Japan. The bank said the Government was looking for new ways to invest the money to seek higher returns.



OP-ED:



Black Students Under Fire: Racial Profiling in Public Schools
In the past year black students have gotten dumped from classrooms or hauled off to jail for using a cell phone, talking in class, or simply calling names. And those being severely punished are getting younger. The arrest and manhandling by police of a five year old in Florida earlier this year ignited a firestorm of protest.



HEALTH&FITNESS:



FDA warns diet drugs contain Prozac and Librium
Emagrece Sim, also known as the Brazilian Diet Pill and Herbathin Dietary Supplement contain controlled substances, found in prescription drugs that could lead to serious side effects or injury.



Pesticides Raise Child Risk of Leukaemia - Study
Exposure to pesticides in the womb or as a child can double the risk of developing acute leukaemia, French scientists said on Tuesday.



FOOD&DRINK:



Nana Edie's Devil's Food Cake
This cake was very moist and chocolatey. Excellent frosting in terms of flavour and consistency. A very attractive homemade cake. And so easy and quick to put together. This is a classic old-fashoned chocolate cake, just like mom should have made!



REVIEWS/INTERVIEWS:



Justice, Texas Style
Early one morning in 1999, dozens of young men, most of them black, were rounded up by police in Tulia, Texas, and charged with dealing cocaine. Texas Observer reporter Nate Blakeslee discussed the defendants' eventual exoneration, the corruption of the system, and his new book, Tulia: Race, Cocaine, and Corruption in a Small Texas Town.




JUST WEIRD:



'Alien' Embryo Removed From Man’s Back
A 35-year-old tractor operator, Igor Namyatov, has undergone surgery to be relieved of what had initially been diagnosed as a tumor, but turned out to be the embryo of his unborn twin brother (with photo).



HUMOR?:



Tom Tomorrow: 2006: An Excessively Optimistic Look Ahead

Another Angle 16 - January - 2006

ANOTHER ANGLE
News others won't tell you




NATIONAL:



GORE CALLS FOR SPECIAL PROSECUTOR OVER WIRETAPS; 'CONSTITUTION IN GRAVE DANGER'
I endorse the words of Bob Barr, when he said, "The President has dared the American people to do something about it. For the sake of the Constitution, I hope they will."



Police Department gives officer medal for shooting black teen in the back of the head
There's only one plausible reason to give Sgt Dan May a Medal of Valor fifteen years later, for shooting an un-armed kid in the back of the head.



In Ga., Abramoff Scandal Threatens a Political Ascendancy
Ralph Reed's records have been subpoenaed by federal prosecutors, and neither he nor his staff will discuss whether Reed has been interviewed or has been called as a witness to grand jury proceedings.



TV Critic: Cronkite urges news anchors to push withdrawal
Television news anchors should be calling for U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq, former CBS newsman Walter Cronkite said Sunday, remembering his own editorial demand for American withdrawal from Vietnam as one of the proudest moments of his career.



CNN banned from Iran for misquoting president
During CNN's live translation of a press conference by Ahmadinejad on Saturday, the president was quoted as saying that "we believe all nations are allowed to have nuclear weapons" and that the West should not "deprive us to have nuclear weapons".
The president was, however, using a Farsi word that meant "technology" and not "weapons".



When the FBI tried to persuade Martin Luther King Jr....
The FBI campaign to discredit and destroy Dr. King was marked by extreme personal vindictiveness. As early as 1962, Director Hoover penned on an FBI memorandum, "King is no good."



MARTIN LUTHER KING - THE FATAL SHOT CAME FROM A DIFFERENT DIRECTION
After a recent trip to Memphis, and a visit to the crime scene, here's what I know. It was IMPOSSIBLE for the shot to have come from the bathroom in the rooming house without the shooter being seen by everyone. The ONLY way the shot came from there was if the shooter actually leaned two-four feet outside the window.



INTERNATIONAL:



Russia's SS-27 Makes Bush's Missile Defense A Fantasy
The Topol SS 27 can be manoeuvred mid-flight. this makes it impossible for radar systems to figure out its flight path. It is invulnerable to radiation and electromagnetic and physical interference. It can be mounted on the back of a truck, which makes it difficult to monitor how many of these missiles have been deployed and where.
It also acheived a speed of 180 miles a minute or 10,800 miles an hour.



Israel prepares to launch attack on Iran nuclear sites
A recent statement by the Israeli military chief of intelligence, General Aharon ZeeviFarkash, indicated that Israel had set a March 1 time limit for diplomatic means to deter Iran's plans. Sources in Tel Aviv say the general's remarks were based on a military planning timetable and could indicate a likely date for the missile strike.



Why an Economic Boycott of Israel is Justified
In a courageous initiative American-based Human Rights Watch recently called on the U.S. government to reduce significantly its financial aid to Israel until Israel terminates its illegal policies in the West Bank. An economic boycott would seem to be an equally judicious undertaking. A nonviolent tactic the purpose of which is to achieve a just and lasting settlement of the Israel-Palestine conflict cannot legitimately be called anti-Semitic.



BUSH CRIME FAMILY:



Bush Has Crossed the Rubicon
President Bush has used "signing statements" hundreds of times to vitiate the meaning of statutes passed by Congress. In effect, Bush is vetoing the bills he signs into law by asserting unilateral authority as commander-in-chief to bypass or set aside the laws he signs.



OP-ED:



The Black Commentator - The Demise of Public Schooling
Either turn all public schools into independent charter schools, revamp the public school system or come up with some better solutions. These are the only choices. The aftermath of hurricane Charter will be penitentiary schools and schooling.



REVIEWS/INTERVIEWS:



Billy Childs and the Lush Jazz of 'Lyric'
The Grammys will be awarded in less than a month and pianist Billy Childs' new CD Lyric is up for Best Jazz Instrumental Album -- one of several nominations for Childs.

Another Angle 14 - January - 2006

ANOTHER ANGLE
News others would keep from you




NATIONAL:



Should Black People Leave America?
In light of all that has happened to Black people in this country, in addition to what is occurring now in the new millennium, should Black people seriously consider leaving America? We have been here since the beginning, contributed more than anyone else to the foundational wealth of this country, sacrificed more than anyone else for this country, and yet we are still treated like the “three-fifths” they called us when they wrote their Constitution. Should we now walk away?



More Stories Rolling In About Levees Being Blown In New Orleans
More information and stories are rolling in, ignored by the media and scoffed at by conservative radio hosts, suggesting U.S. government operatives purposely detonated and blew the New Orleans levees to racially cleanse the city making way for a huge land grab by rich developers. Since the levees gave-way well after Hurricane Katrina passed over the Crescent City, major media outlets have ignored numerous eye witness accounts.



Standing With Dr. King in Memphis
"You just really can't describe it. He stopped everything, put everything aside to come to Memphis to see about the people on the bottom of the ladder, the sanitation workers. After his death, we marched. You couldn't hear a sound. You couldn't hear nothin' but leather against pavement."



INTERNATIONAL:



U.S. Bombs Pakistan
This incident is yet another evidence that Musharraf has made Pakistan a big loser after September 11 with the misconception that it had no option except bending backwards to the US demands.



Spain defies US on Venezuela
Earlier this week, Venezuela accused Washington of blocking the purchase of training jets from Brazil, because the planes contained protected US technology. The aircraft will be made with more expensive European parts because the US has blocked the use of its technology for Venezuela.


Sudan says Western forces in Darfur unwelcome
Sudan on Friday rejected a suggestion by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan that the United States and Europe help set up a possible mobile force in Darfur to supplement African troops now on the ground.



A proud nation surrounded by nuclear states
Iran is an ancient and proud nation and reacts badly to being treated as a pariah state. It can see how Pakistan's prestige was enhanced in the Islamic world when a Pakistani scientist developed the first Islamic bomb. Iran could do the same for Shia Islam.

I had an Iranian roomate in college. That was a while back, and much has changed there. But one constant is, they remember what our government did to them. And they will never let it happen again.



China map lays claim to Americas
A map due to be unveiled in Beijing and London next week may lend weight to a theory a Chinese admiral discovered America before Christopher Columbus. The map, which shows North and South America, apparently states that it is a 1763 copy of another map made in 1418. If true, it could imply Chinese mariners discovered and mapped America decades before Columbus' 1492 arrival.

I still see one problem. How could anyone DISCOVER land that already had people living on it?



ECONOMY:



Iran sanctions may cause $100 oil barrels
In response to the looming threat, crude futures soared to three-month highs yesterday after Britain, France and Germany called for Iran to be hauled before the UN Security Council, which has the power to impose sanctions for resumption of work at the country's nuclear facilities.

Just a thought here. For the last few days we have been seeing stories about how gas prices would be going up in the near future. Now we have this one.

Let's connect some dots.

We have a situation domestically where "The Family" is under intense scrutiny and pressure. What better way to divert attention for awhile than to artificially create market pressures that will make people look the other way.



REVIEWS/INTERVIEWS:



Melvin Van Peebles: The MVP of Black Cinema
Van Peebles, like hiphop, doesn't know the meaning of stop. He's never stopped working multiple hustles on multiple fronts. Some boomers will recall that after Sweet back he had two Tony-nominated Broadway musicals, that he took screenwriting credit for Richard Pryor's Greased Lightning, that in the '90s he reinvented himself as the first Black floor trader in history at the American Stock Exchange, and that he adapted the script for his son Mario's Panther from his own novel.

What are you prepared to do?

"The Negro is not struggling for some abstract vague rights but for concrete improvement in his way of life. Special measures for the deprived have always been accepted in principle by the U.S. It was the principle behind land grants to farmers who fought in the Revolutionary Army and other measures that the nation accepted as logical and moral." - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 1963

As we approach yet another so-called King holiday, I sit here on a slow simmer watching the buildup.

Monday, some will gather together, sing that repulsive song as they make that short symbolic march. Listen to a few speeches. And then go back and participate in the very thing that he was fighting.

This past week in Cincinnati, we had a young black man shoot a police officer. And while no one is condoning his actions, many so-called negroes in this city immediately started the "Let's lock them all up" talk within hours of the incident. One City Council member, a former officer himself, said "WE WILL SHOOT BACK". "If somebody is to the point where they are going to take pot shots at officers and not care, the only thing you can do about that is much more aggressive enforcement. If I approach that car, and I feel uncomfortable, I put my gun down by my leg until I feel comfortable," he said. "It's those veteran kind of tactics." said City Councilman Cecil Thomas, himself a former city officer. Cops: We'll shoot back And the very next day accepted an award in conjunction with King day celebrations. Honoree: Few feel King's 'dream'

I never met Dr. King but, I doubt he would advocate shooting back as the solution to the root causes that got that young man to that point. It is definately too late for that particular young man but "agressive enforcement" is a police reaction and tactic that will solve nothing and possibly led to another Roger Owensby. Outside Expert: Police Officer Killed Roger Owensby

The Dr. King that I watched and read about would probably have had issues with a covert government operation that was responsible for the crack cocaine epidemic that we face. The Dr. King that I admired would have issues with a government that does everything it can to take from its citizenry and give nothing in return. A government that is complicite in closing off most avenues for a person to rise up from despair. A nation that now uses the codeword of "being tough on crime" for what it wants to do to black and poor people. He would be out there doing something to bring about change, not saying lock their asses up and throw away the key. He would have been on the forefront of true economic change which would have included reparations.

Don't think so? Well consider this. I have a dream was the conclusion of the speech. He went to Washington to cash a check written to the desendants of slaves that this nation bounced. And before you say that was so long ago, there are still folks alive today whose parents WERE slaves. Daughter of Freed Slave Celebrates 100th Birthday

So go and march, sing that song and accept the awards. But at some point realize that action will be required. He did. What are you prepared to do?


All I'm trying to say is, our world hinges on moral foundations. God has made it so! God has made the universe to be based on a moral law. So long as man disobeys it he is revolting against God. That's what we need in the world today--people who will stand for right and goodness. It's not enough to know the intricacies of zoology and biology. But we must know the intricacies of law. It is not enough to know that two and two makes four. But we've got to know somehow that it's right to be honest and just with our brothers. It's not enough to know all about our philosophical and mathematical disciplines. But we've got to know the simple disciplines, of being honest and loving and just with all humanity. If we don't learn it, we will destroy ourselves, by the misuse of our own powers. "Rediscovering Lost Values"