On the Eve of the July 4th holiday weekend….

NET NEUTRALITY FUTURE UP TO SENATE
ISRAEL “ARRESTS” HAMAS LEADERS
THE DECLARATION OF IMPEACHMENT


“I read the news today, oh boy…..”

As the net neutrality debate moves to the Senate, media activists prepare for a big push against many vested interests, conservative Republicans and collusive Democrats. Senator John McCain is voting against web freedom and with the Telecom industry.

JONATHAN RINTELS: “Public Nearly Wins”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-rintels/stunning-development-on-c_b_24063.html

MOVEON: Procedural tie leads to huge political win

Media says failure to protect Net Neutrality could derail entire telecom bill.

USA TODAY, July 29, 2006

Headline: ‘Net neutrality’ battle may sink sweeping telecommunications reform bill
http://tinyurl.com/sx86v

WALL STREET JOURNAL, July 29, 2006

“disagreement over the issue now threatens to scuttle Congress’s effort to rewrite the nation’s telecommunications laws this year.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115153164120893476.html?mod=politics_primary_hs

WASHINGTON POST, July 29, 2006

“It’s a bad sign for the prospects of this bill on the Senate floor without significant changes to network-neutrality provisions.” - - David Kaut, telecom analyst at Stifel Nicolaus.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/28/AR2006062802176.html

RED HERRING – THE BUSINESS OF TECHNOLOGY

“Calling a telecommunications bill passed by the U.S. Senate “badly flawed” because it does not include an outright ban on Internet tolls, a Democratic senator threatened to torpedo the bill unless Net neutrality provisions are included.

http://tinyurl.com/oa25x

ISRAEL HAMMERS GAZA, HAMAS, DEAL UNDERWAY

AP: GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli warplanes struck the Palestinian Interior Ministry early Friday, setting it ablaze as Arab leaders tried to forge a deal that would halt the Israeli offensive and free a 19-year-old soldier held by gunmen allied with the ruling Islamic Hamas. Israel called off a planned ground invasion of northern Gaza on Thursday in order to give diplomacy another chance.”

NY TIMES ANALYSIS: “PART OF A PLAN”

“The seizures are partly intended to warn Hamas leaders that they could lose their power and liberty, if not their lives, unless they act to release a captured Israeli soldier, a senior Israeli military official said. But Israel has also concluded that Hamas, which had largely kept to a cease-fire before, is now openly engaged in violent acts against Israel and must be treated differently.

“It was unclear what would happen to those held if the Israeli soldier were released, but the officials described the seizures as part of a plan well beyond seeking that.”

“HEADING FOR THE ABYSS”

Haaretz (Israel) “Israel plans to arrest more Hamas leaders”

UN aid chief warns Gaza is on the verge of humanitarian crisis. Relief chief: “Gazans ‘heading for the abyss’ unless utilities restored”

ISRAEL’S RETURN TO GAZA: MULTIPLE MOTIVES

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0629/p01s04-wome.htm

ANSWER COALITION CALLS FOR US PROTESTS

http://answer.pephost.org/site/News2?abbr=ANS_&page=NewsArticle&id=7851

WAR RAGES IN AFGHANISTAN

The Center For American Progress reports:

“Violence has surged in Afghanistan this year to its worst level since the Taliban were ousted in 2001 for refusing to give up Osama bin Laden. More than 1,100 people, including nearly 50 foreign troops, have been killed.” Bin Laden’s deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, released a videotape in recent days calling on Afghans to rise up in violence against the U.S. forces and the Karzai government. NBC Nightly News recently reported (6/22), “U.S. officials say Taliban Islamist fighters, numbering in the thousands, now control at least a third of Afghanistan. How did it happen?

First, the Taliban’s tactics have improved. Roadside and suicide bombs, techniques borrowed from Iraq, are on the rise.” As evidence of this, two car bombs detonated in a southern province during Rice’s visit yesterday. The Taliban are also surging on the backs of improved leadership and organization. Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, the U.S. commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan, told the House Armed Services Committee yesterday, “We are seeing enemy forces now operate in formations of 40 to 50 fighters; they are demonstrating better command and control, and they are fighting hard.”

ARE AMERICANS GULLIBLE?

Paul Craig Roberts argues we are:
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/article.php?sid=26704&mode=nested&order=0

IRAQ: DAHR JAMAIL ON IRAQ “PLAN”

”Recent days have found a media feeding frenzy at the trough of the “National Reconciliation” plan by the US puppet “prime minister” of Iraq, Nuri al-Maliki. This “plan” was clearly a political move orchestrated from within Pentagon and State Department circles in preparation for the upcoming November mid-term elections in the US and has effectively changed, on the ground in Iraq, approximately nothing.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13781.htm

Lynching Saddam –The More You Watch the Less You Know

http://www.thecatsdream.com/blog/2006/06/lynching-saddam-part-6-more-you-watch.htm

SUPREME COURT REBUKES BUSH ON GUANTANAMO

By James Vicini

In a sharp rebuke of President George W. Bush’s tactics in the war on terrorism, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday struck down as unlawful the military tribunal system set up to try Guantanamo prisoners.”

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13788.htm

WASHINGTON POST: A GOVERNING PHILOSOPHY REBUFFED

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/29/AR2006062902300.html?referrer=email

PILGER: UNREPORTED COUP IN EAST TIMOR

John Pilger reports:

“On 28 April last, a section of the East Timorese army mutinied, ostensibly over pay. An eyewitness, Australian radio reporter Maryann Keady, disclosed that American and Australian officials were involved. On 7 May, Alkatiri described the riots as an attempted coup and said that “foreigners and outsiders” were trying to divide the nation. A leaked Australian Defence Force document has since revealed that Australia’s “first objective” in East Timor is to “seek access” for the Australian military so that it can exercise “influence over East Timor’s decision-making”. A Bushite “neo-con” could not have put it better.”

http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2006-06/23pilger.cfm

FINANCIAL CRISIS: A VIEW FROM UTAH

For those fighting debt, the end of the month can bring a painful experience of seeing bills with expenses that outnumber the money they have in their bank account.

The financial burden of debt plagues many Americans today living in a “buy now, pay later” kind of culture. Today you are able to purchase just about anything on credit. TV’s, furniture, computers, and cars are all frequently purchased on credit. The allure of having these kinds of items contributes to many people living their lives in a constant state of financial crisis.

http://www.hilltoptimes.com/story.asp?edition=254&storyid=7002

GIVE ME YE TIRED, YE POOR

WAPO: “A Medicaid rule takes effect tomorrow that will require more than 50 million poor Americans to prove their citizenship or lose their medical benefits or long-term care.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/29/AR2006062902093.html?referrer=email