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!