FBI Don't Tell All

Originally posted: March 9, 2007
FBI abused Patriot Act
Posted by Mark Silva at 6:55 am CST


The FBI has taken unchecked advantage of the "National Security Letters'' that enable it to obtain telephone calls, emails and banking records without warrants, according to an inspector general's report to be released today that reportedly will depict far-reaching abuses of the USA Patriot Act.

FBI agents have underreported their uses of this tool they were given after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, according to the report expected to be made public before noon. As it is, the FBI had reported to Congress that in 2005 it issued a total of 9,254 national security letters involving 3,501 U.S. citizens and legal residents. But shoddy record-keeping resulted in the FBI underreporting its use of these letters by 20 percent, the report by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine is said to conclude.

Some members of Congress were briefed on the report last night. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) issued this statement: “In late 2005, I requested that the U.S. Department of Justice investigate the use of National Security Letters and other powers granted under the USA Patriot Act. The Justice Department’s own investigation, which is now concluded, confirms the American people’s worst fears about the Patriot Act. It appears that the Administration has used these powers without even the most basic regard for the privacy of innocent Americans.

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_theswamp/2007/03/fbi_abused_patr.html

The FBI's Secret Scrutiny
In Hunt for Terrorists, Bureau Examines Records of Ordinary Americans
By Barton Gellman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 6, 2005; Page A01

The FBI came calling in Windsor, Conn., this summer with a document marked for delivery by hand. On Matianuk Avenue, across from the tennis courts, two special agents found their man. They gave George Christian the letter, which warned him to tell no one, ever, what it said.

Under the shield and stars of the FBI crest, the letter directed Christian to surrender "all subscriber information, billing information and access logs of any person" who used a specific computer at a library branch some distance away. Christian, who manages digital records for three dozen Connecticut libraries, said in an affidavit that he configures his system for privacy. But the vendors of the software he operates said their databases can reveal the Web sites that visitors browse, the e-mail accounts they open and the books they borrow...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/05/AR2005110501366.html

Review Ongoing Rush Holt Paper Ballot Bill

Rush Holt's bill is still pending in the House of Representatives. The bill may undergo changes... Some voting integrity and security organizations have raised objections and forwarded to Holt's office.

See Black Box Voting » Latest Consumer Reports from Black Box Voting » 2-8-07: Beware of the Bandwagon -- A concise list of problems with Holt Bill HR 811


http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/1954/46667.html?1171504136

Note: Holt offers explanation for use of the term "paper ballots" in material posted on his website.

54 counties may be poll-axed
New federal standards could make most voting machines in Pa. obsolete after 1 year
Friday, March 09, 2007
By Ed Blazina, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Nine counties in Pennsylvania have the type of optical scanner voting machines that easily will meet proposed new federal standards. Another 54 -- including Allegheny County -- will have to buy new machines or find a way to retrofit millions of dollars worth of equipment they bought just last year, according to VotePA, a voters' rights organization.

U.S. Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., has 198 co-sponsors of a bill to make additional changes to voting procedures as a follow to the Help America Vote Act of 2002. The changes would require that each voting machine have a paper trail using archival-quality paper so results can be verified, and that they be fully accessible to handicapped people.

The changes could be costly.

Last year, Congress made $3 billion available to help counties comply with HAVA. Mr. Holt's bill would provide another $300 million to upgrade or replace machines that wouldn't meet the proposed standards.

In Pennsylvania alone, 54 counties use a type of electronic machine that doesn't have an appropriate printer available, said Marybeth Kuznik, executive director of VotePA. Allegheny County, for example, used a $12 million federal grant to buy 4,600 iVotronic touch-screen machines.

Electronic Systems & Software, which manufactures iVotronic, currently doesn't have a printer available that would meet the new standards. Across the country, there are 97,000 iVotronic machines in use, including in the counties of Beaver, Butler, Cambria, Greene, Mercer and Westmoreland.

Those machines can be attached to a printer, but the only model currently available uses paper similar to a cash register receipt, which doesn't meet the standard of archival paper because it smudges with repeated handling and deteriorates.

Similar electronic machines are used in 36 percent of the nation's counties, serving 38.4 percent of registered voters.

"If a vendor could come up with a system or add on to a system, then counties wouldn't have to replace their equipment," said Ms. Kuznik. "That's really unlikely to happen in the short period of time we have [before the 2008 election]."

The other 13 counties in Pennsylvania use optical scanners, where voters fill in bubbles on a card. Those ballots qualify as archival paper, so the machines don't need a separate printer.

"It is certainly [Mr. Holt's] intent that optical scanners would qualify," said Ms. Kuznik, who worked with the congressman's staff to develop the legislation.

Mr. Holt proposed additional changes to voting machine requirements after problems occurred in some areas that used electronic machines last fall. For example, machines used in one congressional race in Sarasota County, Fla., recorded 18,000 fewer votes than they should have and there was no verifiable paper trail to correct the error.

Nine Pennsylvania counties have what is considered the "gold standard" of optical scanners -- they have scanners at each precinct and a device known as a ballot marker to allow disabled people to vote. Those counties are Indiana, Huntingdon, Fulton, Franklin, Adams, Mifflin, Juniata, Snyder and Montour.

Four other counties -- Bedford, Lancaster, Susquehanna and Chester -- use other types of optical scanners that may need different access for the disabled or have some other shortcoming that could be corrected easily.

Some county election officials have been skeptical about optical scanners because they believe they could be expensive to operate in heavily populated areas due to the amount of paper and different ballots involved. Ms. Kuznik said her research has shown optical scanners are less expensive to use over the long haul because they last longer, have fewer problems, and don't require the special-order batteries used by electronic machines...

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07068/768071-103.stm

Local leaders cast votes for paper trail
By Bobby Kerlik
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Proposed changes in federal voting law that would require electronic voting machines to produce a paper trail gained support from local officials Monday.
Allegheny County Council President Rich Fitzgerald, D-Squirrel Hill, and county Councilman John DeFazio, D-Shaler, joined U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, in announcing their support for pending legislation in Congress requiring paper trails and audits that test the paper results against the electronic tally.

"Before you leave the voting booth, you would be able to look at the paper ballot, and they would be available for recounts," Doyle said. "We would like to move quickly enough for the '08 presidential election."

In 2006, Allegheny County bought 4,700 iVotronic machines from Nebraska-based Election Systems & Software for nearly $12 million. The change from traditional lever machines was mandated by the federal Help America Vote Act.

Pennsylvania does not allow for voter-verified paper audit trails because of privacy concerns, but, Doyle said, this federal legislation would trump that.

Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato said the voting machines the county bought last year can be upgraded, if necessary, to produce a paper record.

"We factored that (cost) in," Onorato said. "I'm for a paper trail."

The county locked in a price of $3 million to retrofit the machines with the capacity to print voters' results, said Kevin Evanto, Onorato's spokesman.

The Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act would require the machines be more user-friendly for disabled voters. For example, blind voters should get a printout in Braille to verify their votes, Doyle said.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., has nearly 200 co-sponsors and would provide $300 million to the states for the upgrades.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/election/s_496315.html

The following Post Gazette article deals in what ifs when it is apparent Holt's bill hasn't yet passed.

Holt's explanation of his bill

http://holt.house.gov/voting.shtml

http://holt.house.gov/HR_811.shtml

Pennsylvania organization, Vote PA, message board has also had a running discussion of the Holt legislation and its position on the Holt Bill HR 811.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VotePA/messages

New voting machines could be trashed
Altered U.S. law would require radical changes
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
By Ed Blazina, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Allegheny and other counties may have to throw away millions of dollars worth of new voting machines unless the manufacturer can develop a printer that meets proposed changes in federal law.

The new Democratic leadership in Congress is pushing for a change in federal law that would require voting machines to have verifiable paper trails so that officials can check routinely for accuracy or hold a recount if there are problems with vote totals.

If the change is approved, election officials across the country could face the same type of mad scramble next year that they had in 2006 to have approved machines in place in time for the 2008 primary.

U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, said at a news conference in Pittsburgh yesterday that he is among more than 190 co-sponsors of the bill and expects it to be acted on by early summer.

The proposed change calls for all voting machines to print the type of ballot that can be stored and counted by hand, if necessary, for several years. That type of printer currently isn't available for the touch-screen machines purchased last year by Allegheny and six other counties in Western Pennsylvania and may not be available for any other type of voting machine.

"The bill right now requires a printer with archival paper. As of right now, I don't know of any system that has archival paper," said Regis Young, director of elections in Butler County.

"I hope that doesn't mean we have to scrap what we have."

Butler purchased 490 iVotronic machines from Nebraska-based Electronic Systems & Software for $1.3 million last year, about $400,000 of it local money. In Allegheny County, a $12 million federal grant under the Help America Vote Act covered the cost of 4,600 touch-screen machines.

The machines also were used for the first time last year in Beaver, Cambria, Greene, Mercer and Westmoreland counties.

Nationally, the federal government made $3 billion available last year to help counties buy new machines. Some settled on touch screens and others on optical scanners, where voters fill in bubbles with a pencil to cast their votes. None of them has the type of printer proposed under the House bill.

Mr. Doyle, who appeared at the news conference with Allegheny County Councilmen Rich Fitzgerald and John DeFazio, said the federal government may have moved too quickly last year when it allowed new machines without paper trails. There were a variety of problems across the country, including in Sarasota County, Fla., where an iVotronic system undercounted votes in a congressional race by 18,000.

"I think one of the things we're saying is we've learned," said Mr. Doyle. "This [proposed change] is an indication there were some glitches. We didn't get this to where we want to be."

The bill would provide $300 million to help counties retrofit or replace machines to meet the new standards.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07065/767130-85.stm

Different article

New voting machines obsolete?
Election bill will require paper trail
By Tom Victoria
Eagle Staff Writer

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=new+voting+machines+obsolete+Election+bill+will+require+paper+trail&btnG=Search

H.R. 811: The Voter Confidence & Increased Accessibility Act
Q: What are the bill’s fundamental requirements?

A: -- The bill:
• Requires a voter verified paper ballot for every vote cast
• Requires routine random audits by hand count of the paper ballots in 3% of the precincts in every federal race, unless the race is very close, in which case the percentage of precincts required to be audited would be higher; allows states to use alternative mechanisms, if determined to be equally effective and transparent
• Establishes an Independent State Audit Board to administer the audits (but would allow the Audit Board to utilize the existing election administration personnel to carry them out). Authorizes such funds as may be necessary to cover the reasonable costs of the audits.
• Mandates that the entire process of conducting the audits be publicly observable
• Enhances the accessibility requirements of the Help America Vote Act by:
o requiring not just that voting systems be equipped for individuals with disabilities, but that the entire process of ballot verification and casting be equipped for individuals with disabilities;
o requiring that all voters be able to verify the contents of their paper ballots; and
o explicitly applying the language access requirements of the Voting Rights Act not just to the voting systems used but also to the paper ballots required by the bill.
• Provides, as a “Manual Audit Capacity” requirement, that the voter verified paper ballots “shall be the true and correct record of the votes cast and shall be used as the official ballots for purposes of any recount or audit”
• Prohibits the use of undisclosed software and wireless devices in voting systems, and prohibits connecting devices upon which votes are cast to the Internet.
• Mandates an arms-length relationship between voting system vendors and test labs, and publication of test results
• Establishes additional security requirements that manufacturers and election officials must meet with respect to voting systems and supplies, including maintaining and documenting secure chain of custody
• Authorizes $300 million to fund the requirements for durable paper ballots and accessible ballot verification mechanisms, and allows the funds to be used for reimbursements to states that already met the requirements and, if a jurisdiction chooses to do this, to replace systems even if purchased with HAVA funds
• Authorizes $1 million in funding for the study of improved methods by which the disabled and those with language assistance needs can create and verify voter verified paper ballots.

Q: Does the bill ban direct recording electronic (DREs) voting machines?

A: No. The bill bans voting systems that do not produce or require the use of a durable voter-verified paper ballot that is created by or made available for inspection and verification before the voter’s vote is cast and counted. Voter-verified paper ballots may be made by hand or created through the use of an assistive device (such as a ballot marking device or a DRE). Assistive devices are necessary to facilitate language access and access for the disabled. Under the bill, all such “voter-verified paper ballots” are treated as the vote of record in recounts and audits. That is, in the first instance, software counts produced by optical scan machines and electronic voting machines are permissible; however, because either is subject to error, neither can be certified without audit. Therefore, in recounts and audits, the voter verified paper ballots themselves (and not a software translation of them) must be counted by hand...

Q: What is the relationship between usage of the term “paper ballot” and requests for a “DRE ban?”

A: -- There is some confusion. Some activists are insisting upon the use of the term “paper ballot” (which H.R. 811 does use) and some are simply requesting a “DRE ban” (which HR 811 does not do).

Some, however, are arguing that using the term “paper ballot” should not be applied to DRE print-outs, because it gives “false” gravitas to something made by a machine vs. something marked by hand. Of course, thousands of voters require the assistance of a machine to create a paper ballot, and it would be inappropriate to use different terminology to refer to a “hand marked” ballot than is used to refer to a “machine-marked” or “machine printed” ballot, as the ballots of the able-bodied and those not seeking language assistance would come to be treated differently under the law.

Whether DREs are banned or not, the term “paper ballot” must apply to any machine-marked or machine-printed ballot, just the same as it applies to a hand-marked ballot, so that the “paper ballots” of all voters are treated the same.

Q: How do requests for a “DRE ban” relate to H.R. 811?

A: -- H.R. 811 does not ban DREs, nor does it require DREs. It removes the problem presented by unauditable DREs. If DREs were banned, the other requirements of H.R. 811 – the paper ballot requirement, the audit requirements, the security requirements, etc., all would remain. H.R. 811 establishes the principle of auditability that must be observed in every federal election, but H.R. 811 does not specify or certify individual equipment, systems or designs for achieving the principle. It requires only that whatever system is provided for the voter requires the use of durable paper ballots and must be fully accessible to individuals with disabilities.

http://holt.house.gov/HR_811.shtml

League Women Voters
H.R. 811, introduced by Representative Rush Holt (D NJ)

The legislation requires that all voting equipment produce a paper ballot that can be verified by the voter and that serves as the official ballot in any recount or audit. As a federal requirement, it mandates that each state set up special audit boards separate from existing voting administration systems and requires that they carryout an audit of each federal election by sampling select precincts for discrepancies between electronic vote counts and hand counts of the paper ballots. Other requirements are added for voting systems as well. The effective date of the legislation requires compliance before the 2008 election. Three hundred million dollars is authorized.

A section-by-section description follows:

Section 2. Voter-Verifiable Permanent Paper Ballots

Paper Ballots
1) All voting systems must provide an “individual voter-verified paper ballot” for inspection and verification by the voter before the vote is cast and counted.
2) The voting system must give the voter an opportunity to correct any error “made by the system” in the permanent paper ballot.
3) The voting system must not allow the paper ballot to be linked to a voter after it is cast.
4) The permanent paper ballot is the “true and correct” record of the vote in the event of any “inconsistencies or irregularities” between electronic tallies and hand counts.
5) The permanent paper ballot must be used as the “official” ballot for any recount or audit.

http://www.lwv.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&CONTENTID=7743&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm

Anybody else catch the replay of the Christmas videotape (Extra TV) of J. Howard Marshall relaying his last will wishes regarding Vickie Lynn??

We did, and subsequently did more digging.

Anna Nicole, J. Howard Marshall Tape Surfaces
November 17, 2005

"Extra" has the never-before-seen images and sounds of billionaire J. Howard Marshall, whose candid appearance on tape could cost Anna Nicole Smith nearly a half billion dollars.

The video was shot inside what was once Anna Nicole's sprawling 15-acre ranch just outside of Houston on Christmas morning, 1992.

Separated by 63 years, but united for their first Christmas together, J. Howard Marshall opens a string of unusual chachkes from Anna Nicole.

Then, Anna Nicole gets down to business, saying, "Go ahead, Howard, start talking. What you told me last night."

In a shocking turn of events, Anna Nicole then urges J. Howard to deliver a last will and testament on videotape, stating, "I, Howard Marshall, being of disposing mind, express this, my last will and testament. I love you."

As the video rolls on, J. Howard says, "And everything else that I have ever given her."

Elaine Tabers, Anna Nicole's aunt, came straight to "Extra" with the video will, in which J. Howard does not promise Anna Nicole half of his fortune.

"I heard him say he wanted her taken care of," Tabers said. "And he wanted her to have things she never had. Many times he said that."

"[The tape] seemed like an inappropriate time," Tabers continued. "Christmas morning, opening gifts."

Tabers said she and her husband saw plenty of surreal scenes play out while they lived with Anna Nicole at her ranch for nearly two years. They even served as unofficial photographers at J. Howard and Anna Nicole's secret wedding.

While Tabers said she does not consider Anna Nicole a gold digger, she did say, "I think it was like putting a child in a candy store and saying, 'Here's all this candy, get whatever you want. You can have as much as you want for as long as you want.'"

Now, Tabers' video of J. Howard's Christmas will and testament could end up closing that candy store forever. Anna Nicole is headed for a showdown in the U.S. Supreme Court against Pierce Marshall, J. Howard's son. At stake is the $474 million that Anna Nicole says was promised to her by J. Howard.

But so far, there is no video of that comment.

Tabers does not think Anna Nicole deserves half of the money, and she thinks the court will agree. "Pierce will spend every bit of it fighting her in court and nobody will have any," she said. "He has his own money, and he will spend what was left I believe before he lets her have it."

Tabers also told us about a "pre-honeymoon" trip the couple took, during which J. Howard got an early wedding gift when the one-time topless dancer surprised him in his room.

"She came out about 30 minutes afterward and the nurse went in to check on him, and she comes to the door and says, 'Ya'll need to come help me,'" Tabers recalled. "And we're going, 'Oh God, is he dead?' We walked in and his pajamas had been ripped open and the buttons were all over the floor, and he was passed out."

Tabers said that while living in Anna Nicole's guest house for two years, she and her husband saw bizarre scene after bizarre scene, like Anna Nicole piloting her octogenarian husband around on an ATV on the front driveway.

They even videotaped J. Howard's Christmas morning will

http://telepixtvcgi.warnerbros.com/v2/news/1105/17/2/text.html

And why is nobody catching on to what makes a marriage a legal contract - it isn't a piece of paper, people...

August 1, 1994 People Archives Anna Nicole Smith Weds J. Howard Marshall II (1994)
The Houston oilman and former Playboy Playmate pledge their love before 11 people
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 09, 2007 03:30 PM EST

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,1536410_20011436,00.html

August 21, 1995 People Archives Anna Nicole Smith Buries Husband (1995)
After burying oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II, widow Anna Nicole Smith says she'll fight for control of his estate
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 09, 2007 03:35 PM EST

By Anne Maier and Laurel Brubaker Calkins

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,1536410_20011450,00.html

Law students studying cases

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/topics/J.+Howard+Marshall

Selected articles listing

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/anna_nicole_smith/index.html?query=WILLS%20AND%20ESTATES&field=des&match=exact

Rulings early on

&3.35:
“IT IS THEREFORE, ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED by the Court as a matter of law that VICKIE LYNN MARSHALL, A/K/A ANNA NICOLE SMITH, does not possess any interest in and is not entitled to possession of any property within the Estate of J. HOWARD MARSHALL II or any property of the J. Howard Marshall, II, Living Trust because of any representations, promises, or agreements made by J. HOWARD MARSHALL II to or with VICKIE LYNN MARSHALL, A/K/A ANNA NICOLE SMITH;”



&3.37:



“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED by the Court that J. HOWARD MARSHALL II did not intend to give and did not give to VICKIE LYNN MARSHALL, A/K/A ANNA NICOLE SMITH, a gift or bequest from the Estate of J. HOWARD MARSHALL II or from the J. Howard Marshall, II, Living Trust either prior to or upon his death;”

http://factweb.net/Quotes_from_Judge_Wood.htm

Anna Nicole Death Timeline
Posted Mar 8th 2007 1:48PM by TMZ Staff
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Anna Nicole Smith

TMZ has pieced together some of the events that ended in the discovery that Anna Nicole Smith was dead.

http://www.tmz.com/category/anna-nicole-smith/

Anna's Bodyguard Reveals Secrets Surrounding Death
Posted Mar 7th 2007 3:10PM by TMZ Staff
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Anna Nicole Smith

http://www.tmz.com/category/anna-nicole-smith/

Pro-impeachment Congressman backs off
Wednesday, 07 March 2007
By BOB HOTAKAINEN
McClatchy Newspapers

If campaign talk means anything, there would be at least one sure vote on the House Judiciary Committee to impeach President Bush if the matter ever came up.

It would come from freshman Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison, the Minneapolis lawyer and former state legislator who got a plum assignment when he was named to the storied House panel earlier this month. It has jurisdiction over impeachment.

At a rally last October, Ellison said Bush has been "running amok" and needed to be reined in: "There is one way that you can truly hold this president accountable, and it's impeachment."

But for the time being anyway, Ellison seems in no hurry to push the matter.

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cm/content/view/169/159/

Under bill, Ariz. would opt out of national ID card
Mary Jo Pitzl
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 8, 2007 12:00 AM

The state Senate is poised to approve a bill to bar Arizona from participating in a federal program that would create a standardized national identification card.

The move comes as the federal Real ID Act is getting strong resistance from states nationwide. Earlier this week, the Washington state Senate voted to delay participation in the program pending more-specific guidelines, and last week, the federal Homeland Security Department announced it would delay its effective date for two years, to the end of 2009.

In Arizona, Senate Bill 1152 would prevent the state from taking part in the national standards for state-issued driver's licenses and identification cards.

It passed on an uncontested voice vote Wednesday; a formal vote is scheduled for today.

State Sen. Karen Johnson, the bill's sponsor, said the two-year delay does nothing to dim her opposition.

"I am absolutely against a national ID," said Johnson, R-Mesa. "If we do this, we'll have a nationwide databank that would be a gold mine for ID theft."

Plus, Johnson said, she is troubled that such a national repository could be privatized, further imperiling privacy rights.

State Sen. Jorge Garcia, D-Tucson, questioned how Arizonans would be able to board aircraft for national travel if the state opted out of the program. Johnson said his concerns are premature because guidelines are still being drafted for the federal program...

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0308realid0308.html

Joseph Wilson under scrutiny of Jack Cashill
Seriously, now, why did George W. Bush acquiesce and restate all by himself that there were no weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq?

August 23, 2006 posted to You Tube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_A77N5WKWM

unofficial transcript (Net the Truth Online)

...part of the reason we went into Iraq - the main reason we went into Iraq at the time - was we thought Saddam had weapons of mass destruction...it turns out he didn't but he had the capacity to make weapons of mass destruction... imagine a world in which Saddam Hussein was there, stirring up trouble... in the Middle East... what did Iraq have to do... nothing except it's part of... nobody in this administration has ever suggested that Saddam Hussein ordered the attack...nobody has ever suggested that the attacks of September 11 were ordered by Iraq... I have suggested that resentment and lack of hope create the breeding grounds for terrorists willing to use suiciders to kill to achieve an objective... (George W. Bush)

Joseph Wilson's original sin
Posted: March 8, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
World Net Daily

Anyone who has followed the Scooter Libby trial closely knows that Patrick Fitzgerald tried the wrong man. Among other things, Wilson has lied conspicuously about who sent him to Niger, who did not send him, what he found, what he did not find, and how he reported his findings.

Wilson did all of this during wartime in an effort to undermine the commander in chief. If there is not a law about this sort of mischief, there should be.

For all the reporting on the Wilson affair, however, the media have been preposterously silent about two critical and related understandings: the first is why Joseph Wilson originally insisted we not go into Iraq; and the second is why the Bush administration chose not to "find" what Wilson assured us we would find.

Both of these stories have been hiding in plain sight.

At the suggestion of his CIA agent wife, Valerie Plame, Wilson made his critical trip to the African hellhole of Niger in February 2002. He had been there before. In the preface to the paperback version of his comically titled book, "The Politics of Truth," Wilson claims he went to Niger in 1999 "at the request of the CIA to look into other uranium-related matters."

The Joseph Wilson that mainstream America knows is a man of conscience who began to oppose the impending war with Iraq because his trip to Niger had proved to him the emptiness of Saddam's WMD boasts. This is the storyline that the major media continue to run with. Unfortunately, however, it is simply and demonstrably not true.

Conveniently overlooked by the media is an op-ed piece that unravels this lie in a stroke. Wilson wrote it for the San Jose Mercury News on Oct. 13, 2002. Although ant-war in its thrust, its message runs fully counter to the one that would make Wilson famous.

In it, Wilson argues that threatening to oust Saddam "will ensure that Saddam will use every weapon in his arsenal to defend himself." By every weapon, of course, he means the soon-to-be mocked WMDs. "As the just-released CIA report suggests," Wilson continues, "when cornered, Saddam is very likely to fight dirty."

Two weeks before the op-ed, in fact, the CIA had published a National Intelligence Estimate titled "Iraq's Continuing Programs for Weapons of Mass Destruction." Wilson's trip eight months earlier had obviously failed to persuade him or Plame that Iraq was not planning to fight dirty.

"Iraq [has been] vigorously trying to procure uranium ore and yellowcake," reads the CIA report. "Acquiring either would shorten the time to produce nuclear weapons." Plame was a WMD specialist, by the way.

In his Mercury News op-ed, Wilson proceeds to make an elaborate and unconvincing argument that Saddam will desist from using his WMDs only if he is assured of keeping his job.

"One of the strongest arguments for a militarily supported inspection plan," continues Wilson, "is that it doesn't threaten Saddam with extinction, a threat that could push him to fight back with the very weapons we're seeking to destroy."

Unlike the U.S. Senate under Clinton, which had voted unanimously to make "regime change" official U.S, policy, Wilson wants Saddam to remain in power.

To understand why Wilson was working overtime to keep Saddam on the job is to understand that Saddam did indeed have something to hide. Although the evidence strongly suggests that Saddam was able to move most of his WMDs out of country with Russian help, he did not move them all.

A few weeks back I received an e-mail from a scientist affiliated with a major university's nuclear program. In the e-mail, he casually referred to the "1.77 tons of enriched uranium" the U.S. found in Iraq.

More than a little skeptical, I e-mailed the scientist back, "Tell me how we know about the 1.77 tons." He referred me to a fascinating article from BBC News online dated July 7, 2004.

Titled "U.S. reveals Iraq nuclear operation," the article details how 20 experts from the U.S. Energy Department's secret laboratories packaged and removed 1.77 tons of enriched uranium and then flew the material out of Iraq aboard a military plane.

The article quotes a smiling Spencer Abraham, secretary of energy, saying, "This operation was a major achievement." And just as suddenly as the story appeared, it disappeared. Not a word was heard of it from the major networks. The only American media to follow up on it was WorldNetDaily.

This is exactly the kind of story that the major media do not want to disseminate. They much prefer the Wilson storyline, however absurd on the face of it, that Bush lied us into war with manufactured stories of WMDs that never existed.

The question remains, though, why did the administration cooperate in spiking the story? "My feeling is that Abraham didn't get the memo," writes my scientist contact. "He opened his mouth and then everybody scrambled to have him never do it again."

The scientist speculates that Abraham may not have understood what the American forces had discovered. "He made enriched-u look like dirty bomb material, and that's that," adds the scientist. "But that isn't that."

"Enriched uranium = nuclear weapons," the scientist continues. He argues that the administration prefers that the American people remain ignorant on the subject, possibly to avoid panic.

"'Enriched uranium' means nothing to them. But it's everything. A machinist, a physicist and plastic explosive are all you need to make a Hiroshima-sized bang."

There is a second reason for discretion, namely that this material was not manufactured by Saddam. "I think that the French gave Saddam the enriched-u," observes the scientist, "and once Saddam decided to quit fighting Iran and start supporting Abu Nidal in earnest, we decided 'enough of that.'"

"Knowing the French," he adds, "they'd demand their hooch back after starting all the trouble with it."

The French connection almost assuredly got Joseph Wilson involved in this story in the first place. In 2002, he worked as an international consultant and had a long and deep involvement with French interests, mining interests in particular. Plame herself boasted of her husband's numerous "French contacts."

To be sure, the French government and hundreds of its key industries wanted to keep Saddam in power. Saddam had long been among the very best customers of its defense industry.

Along with the Russians, the French were also the primary beneficiaries of the shamefully corrupt United Nations Oil-for-Food program.

Even if Wilson had no involvement with the ill-concealed scandal, he had to know how Saddam's continued reign benefited his clients and potential clients. Why else would a Washington-based consultant write an op-ed for a San Jose newspaper?...


http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54590

Read all the transcripts on the page

Bush: 'We're not leaving so long as I'm president'
RAW STORY
Published: Monday August 21, 2006

...QUESTION: A quick follow-up. A lot of the consequences you mention for pulling out seem like maybe they never would have been there if we hadn't gone in. How do you square all of that?

BUSH: I square it because imagine a world in which you had a Saddam Hussein who had the capacity to make a weapon of mass destruction, who was paying suiciders to kill innocent life, who would -- who had relations with Zarqawi. Imagine what the world would be like with him in power. The idea is to try to help change the Middle East.

Now, look, I -- part of the reason we went into Iraq: was -- the main reason we went into Iraq: at the time was we thought he had weapons of mass destruction. It turns out he didn't, but he had the capacity to make weapons of mass destruction.

But I also talked about the human suffering in Iraq, and I also talked the need to advance a freedom agenda. And so my question -- my answer to your question is, is that imagine a world in which Saddam Hussein was there, stirring up even more trouble in a part of a world that had so much resentment and so much hatred that people came and killed 3,000 of our citizens.

You know, I've heard this theory about, you know, everything was just fine until we arrived and, you know, kind of -- the "stir up the hornet's nest" theory. It just doesn't hold water as far as I'm concerned. The terrorists attacked us and killed 3,000 of our citizens before we started the freedom agenda in the Middle East. They were --

QUESTION: What did Iraq: have to do with that?

BUSH: What did Iraq: have to do with what?

QUESTION: The attack on the World Trade Center.

BUSH: Nothing, except for it's part of -- and nobody's ever suggested in this administration that Saddam Hussein ordered the attack. Iraq: was a -- Iraq: -- the lesson of September the 11th is take threats before they fully materialize, Ken.

Nobody's ever suggested that the attacks of September the 11th were ordered by Iraq. I have suggested, however, that resentment and the lack of hope create the breeding grounds for terrorists who are willing to use suiciders to kill to achieve an objective. I have made that case. And one way to defeat that -- you know, defeat resentment, is with hope. And the best way to do hope is through a form of government.

Now, I said going into Iraq: we got to take these threats seriously before they fully materialized. I saw a threat. I fully believe it was the right decision to remove Saddam Hussein, and I fully believe the world was better off without him. Now, the question is, how do we succeed in Iraq? And you don't succeed by leaving before the mission is complete, like some in this political process are suggesting...

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Bush_calls_Lebanon_aid_troops_0821.html

Partial Transcript Press conference and link

Bush Admits Iraq Had No Weapons of Mass Destruction, No Link to 9/11
The following transcript snippet is taken from this morning's presidential news conference. This exchange took place near the end of President George W. Bush's remarks and responses.

In this excerpt, the President flatly refutes the two reasons he and his administration used to goad Congress and frighten the American public into the US invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

This is the first time the President or Vice President have publicly admitted that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction, and was not connected to the 9/11 attacks.

"BUSH: Now, look, I -- part of the reason we went into Iraq was -- the main reason we went into Iraq at the time was we thought he had weapons of mass destruction. It turns out he didn't, but he had the capacity to make weapons of mass destruction...

You know, I've heard this theory about, you know, everything was just fine until we arrived and, you know, kind of -- the "stir up the hornet's nest" theory. It just doesn't hold water as far as I'm concerned. The terrorists attacked us and killed 3,000 of our citizens before we started the freedom agenda in the Middle East. They were --

QUESTION: What did Iraq have to do with that?

BUSH: What did Iraq have to do with what?

QUESTION: The attack on the World Trade Center.

BUSH: Nothing, except for it's part of -- and nobody's ever suggested in this administration that Saddam Hussein ordered the attack. Iraq was a -- Iraq -- the lesson of September the 11th is take threats before they fully materialize, Ken.

Nobody's ever suggested that the attacks of September the 11th were ordered by Iraq.."

http://usliberals.about.com/b/a/257723.htm

PETA to Gore: go vegan for global warming

Appearing on Fox 'n Friends this morning, a spokeswoman for PETA says go vegan and save the environment. Lisa... said former Vice President Al Gore as a spokesperson on global warming needs to send the message. She said raising animals and slaughtering them emits more greenhouse gases than all other human methods, combined. (that was a shocking statistic which we covered days ago) While Gore may be able to cut back on consumption of fossil fuels, employ fuel and energy efficiency measures, etc. everyone may not be able to afford to do so. She said everyone can afford to go vegan.

PETA Wants to Fight Global Warming With Food
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
By Brit Hume
Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:
Diet Change Beats Car Switch

The folks at PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, are calling out Al Gore, saying if he really wants to fight global warming, he should become a vegetarian.

PETA has sent Gore a letter saying giving up meat is the quickest and most effective way to combat climate change because the meat industry is one of the most significant sources of environmental damage.

PETA claims, "raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gases than all the cars and trucks in the world combined." And, it says, researchers have determined that switching to a vegan diet is more effective against global warming than switching from a standard American car to a Toyota Prius hybrid.

Gore's office told FOX News this afternoon it had not yet seen the letter.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,257598,00.html

Clearing a Few Things Up for Al Gore
The PETA Files
...This morning, PETA sent Al a letter to remind him that, among other things, animals raised for food generate more greenhouse gases than all cars and trucks combined, and that (according to a recent University of Chicago study), switching to a vegan diet is more effective in countering global warming than switching from a standard American car to a Prius...

http://blog.peta.org/archives/2007/03/clearing_a_few_1.php

....YOU CAN’T BE A MEAT-EATING ENVIRONMENTALISTTue Mar 06 2007 17:08:05 ET

The Most ‘Inconvenient Truth’: According to U.N., Animals Raised for Food Generate More Greenhouse Gases Than All Cars and Trucks Combined

Norfolk, Va. — This morning, PETA sent a letter to former vice president Al Gore explaining to him that the best way to fight global warming is to go vegetarian and offering to cook him faux “fried chicken” as an introduction to meat-free meals. In its letter, PETA points out that Gore’s film, An Inconvenient Truth—which starkly outlines the potentially catastrophic effects of global warming and just won the Academy Award for “Best Documentary”—has failed to address the fact that the meat industry is the largest contributor to greenhouse-gas emissions.

In the letter, PETA points out the following:

· The effect that our meat addiction is having on the climate is truly staggering. In fact, in its recent report “Livestock’s Long Shadow—Environmental Issues and Options,” the United Nations determined that raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gases than all the cars and trucks in the world combined.

· Researchers at the University of Chicago have determined that switching to a vegan diet is more effective in countering global warming than switching from a standard American car to a Toyota Prius...

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?t=1642310

Cut global warming by becoming vegetarian
Global warming could be controlled if we all became vegetarians and stopped eating meat. That's the view of British physicist Alan Calverd, who thinks that giving up pork chops, lamb cutlets and chicken burgers would do more for the environment than burning less oil and gas.
Writing in this month's Physics World, Calvert calculates that the animals we eat emit 21% of all the carbon dioxide that can be attributed to human activity. We could therefore slash man-made emissions of carbon dioxide simply by abolishing all livestock.

Moreover, there would be no adverse effects to health and it would be an experiment that we could abandon at any stage. "Worldwide reduction of meat production in the pursuit of the targets set in the Kyoto treaty seems to carry fewer political unknowns than cutting our consumption of fossil fuels," he says...

http://www.physorg.com/news4998.html

Libertarian viewpoint

http://veritasnoctis.blogspot.com/

The Great Global Warming Swindle

The google video was available - not any longer

this one still works

http://www.passionateamerica.com/global-warming-is-a-lie-the-great-global-warming-swindle-video/

The Great Global Warming Swindle

1 hr 15 min 56 sec - Mar 9, 2007

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9005566792811497638&q=the+great+swindle

search for transcript

http://www.google.com/search?q=great+global+warming+swindle+transcript&hl=en&sourceid=gd&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2006-40,GGLD:en

'The Great Global Warming Swindle'
Channel 4 Thursday 8 March at 9pm

In a polemical and thought-provoking documentary, film-maker Martin Durkin argues that the theory of man-made global warming has become such a powerful political force that other explanations for climate change are not being properly aired.

The film brings together the arguments of leading scientists who disagree with the prevailing consensus that a 'greenhouse effect' of carbon dioxide released by human activity is the cause of rising global temperatures.

Instead the documentary highlights recent research that the effect of the sun's radiation on the atmosphere may be a better explanation for the regular swings of climate from ice ages to warm interglacial periods and back again.

The film argues that the earth's climate is always changing, and that rapid warmings and coolings took place long before the burning of fossil fuels. It argues that the present single-minded focus on reducing carbon emissions not only may have little impact on climate change, it may also have the unintended consequence of stifling development in the third world, prolonging endemic poverty and disease.

The film features an impressive roll-call of experts, including nine professors – experts in climatology, oceanography, meteorology, environmental science, biogeography and paleoclimatology – from such reputable institutions as MIT, NASA, the International Arctic Research Centre, the Institut Pasteur, the Danish National Space Center and the Universities of London, Ottawa, Jerusalem, Winnipeg, Alabama and Virginia.

The film hears from scientists who dispute the link between carbon dioxide levels and global temperatures.

http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/G/great_global_warming_swindle/index.html

http://www.channel4.com/search/results.jsp

LP Commentary

http://libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=179803

Web-bot Predicts Future 2012 Catastrophies

Webbot was developed to make predictions... predicted the anthrax attacks of 2001... Hurricane Katrina... predicts series of catastrophies in 2012... is it true prophecy, or random noise. History Channel Special.

Mayan Calendar predicts... dark rift... black hole... Dec. 21, 2012 the earth in exact alignment with sun and the black hole of the Milky Way...

Pole Shift causing worldwide disaster earthquakes, massive tsunamis, Albert Einstein in 1955... Alaska was at the Equator... poles shifted...

2012 in prophecy China I Ching, book of changes

Decoding The Past
Episode: Doomsday 2012: The End of Days
There are prophecies and oracles from around the world that all seem to point to December 21, 2012 as doomsday. The ancient Mayan Calendar, the medieval predictions of Merlin, the Book of Revelation and the Chinese oracle of the I Ching all point to this specific date as the end of civilization. A new technology called "The Web-Bot Project" makes massive scans of the internet as a means of forecasting the future... and has turned up the same dreaded date: 2012. Skeptics point to a long history of "Failed Doomsdays", but many oracles of doom throughout history have a disturbingly accurate track record. As the year 2012 ticks ever closer we'll speculate if there are any reasons to believe these doomsayers...

http://www.history.com/shows.do?episodeId=214250&action=detail

Skeptics waiting to see what happens... if they're convinced the end is happening in 2012, they'll break their dieting goals for the next year...

Decoding The Past: Doomsday 2012: The End of Days, a history channel show scheduled for Thursday, March 1, at 9:00 p.m. EST


The show features a writer we respect and recommend, Richard Smoley author of Forbidden Faith: The Gnostic Legacy from the Gospels to the Da Vinci Code and The Essential Nostradamus. But we’re skeptical at SoW about 2012 doom predictions. The Mayan Calendar simply ends there, doesn’t really predict anything, from what we’ve heard, and the book of Revelation gives no specific year for Judgment Day and anyway that scripture was about the generation after it was written, and ancient Rome, not about our time (despite what hysterical evangelicals claim), and the other “prophecies” of doom in 2012 are probably quite strained connections… but who knows, maybe they’ll convince us; we’ll be watching to see. If we’re convinced, we’ll purchase a great many donuts and pies in 2011 as it will no longer be important to diet.

http://signsofwitness.com/?p=403

Web-bot Project

All contents (c) 1998-2003 by George A. Ure, MBA, except authors as linked or noted

http://urbansurvival.com/simplebots.htm

The Insider & Entertainment Tonight Clones

The pair are obviously clones of each other. covering the Anna Nicole Smith burial, the two programs have the same exact clips, exact same coverage, camera shots, down to the words used by different anchors.

opening the doors to AN's funeral... the only show inside the Bahamas Baptist church... and Virgie, almost a no-show...

flip over to the Insider and it's the same exact wording.

Notice the heavy promo of Howard K. Smith (freudian slip) by both... love of his life... heartfelt tribute from the man Anna Nicole left behind...

Howard K. Stern still has a lot of explainin to do, but obviously no questions of him are asked by The Insider & Entertainment Tonight.

No wonder Howard K. Stern let the Insider and Entertainment Tonight inside his "private" farewell to Anna Nicole Smith - so the world could see him cry, cry, cry... hear him bash Anna Nicole's mother... good thing the casket wasn't open...

OK same executive producer for both programs...

LINDA BELL BLUE, executive producer of "Entertainment Tonight" and "The Insider

http://www.snarkygossip.com/2007/02/09/howard-k-stern-meets-with-entertainment-tonight-execs-at-hotel/

The Insider series

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Insider_(TV_series)

Sunday, February 11, 2007
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT / THE INSIDER INTERVIEWS HOWARD K. STERN.

http://tabloidwhore.blogspot.com/2007/02/entertainment-tonight-insider.html

"Entertainment Tonight" and "The Insider," both owned by CBS Paramount Television, have denied paying for interviews. But I'm told their method — it's semantics — is to "license" footage either directly from Stern or through a third party.

Recently, "ET" used Solana Productions of Southern California in such a deal. Neither Solana nor anyone from CBS Paramount answered calls yesterday.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C256069%2C00.html

Anna Nicole Funeral: Cheap Shots at the Frenzy That Wasn’t

http://www.hollywoodtoday.net/?p=406

Anna Nicole Burial Doesn't End Wrangling
By BEN FOX

http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2007/03/03/ap/entertainment/d8nkqvn81.txt

Bill O'Reilly Uncovered Between Book Cover You Decide

Keith Olbermann interviewed Marvin Kitman Thursday night. I happened to catch the entire session because Smallville was a repeat. Kitman's book, entitled The Man Who Would Not Shut Up, is about Bill O'Reilly. Right off, Kitman called O'Reilly a hypocrit who professed an interest in telling it like it is, but who doesn't when it comes to himself. Kitman said O'Reilly went around to visit Fox anchors to intimidate them to refuse to have Kitman on their programs. Kitman also said Bill O'Reilly will not make any reference to his work which overall treats O'Reilly in a postitive way. Kitman and Olbermann gave each other Cheshire cat smiles throughout the interview. At one point, Kitman said he hopes O'Reilly sues him over the contents of the book, like he did Al Franken.

Olbermann responded (transcript)Yes, he made Franken. He made me and now maybe he can make your book. All right Marv, take care.

I came away wondering whether the real Bill O'Reilly (or anybody) could be uncovered between the covers of a book written by someone who laughs at his own work.

Countdown Transcript March 1, 2007

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17419934/

Marvin Kitman Bill O'Reilly search

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=marvin+kitman+bill+o%27reilly&btnG=Google+Search

Writing the Book on O’Reilly
By: SilentPatriot @ 2:45 PM - PST
Marvin Kitman of Newsday has a new book out titled The Man Who Would Not Shut Up: The Rise of Bill O'Reilly. At first Bill was very supportive of Mr. Kitman and even promised to help promote the book on The Factor. That was until it came out, of course. Keith talks to Kitman about BillO's 180 and his strategy to deal with the whole Andrea Mackris ordeal.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/

Tracks O'Reilly

http://www.crooksandliars.com/category/fox-news/bill-oreilly/

Ilana Mercer Wrong on Bush by Net the Truth Online

Libertarian writer Ilana Mercer's, "Slouching Toward Socialism," World Net Daily, March 2, 2007, concocts a George W. Bush who never was.

Mercer's title holds up George W. Bush as a political leader "slouching" toward socialism - veering left.

Bush isn't leaning there.

Like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a red and blue top hat that appears empty, Mercer conjures a George W. Bush as Mercer wants us to see him becoming.

She doesn't show us George W. Bush as he has been all along.

Mercer's lead 3-worded sentence sets the stage for illusion. "Bully for Bush".

Horrah for Bush, when Mercer isn't cheering. Her entire performance is designed for us to acknowledge as accurate her unmasking George W. Bush as an almost-decided socialist.

Mercer whisks her wand to the right, to the left, resting closer on the latter position as the next line reads: "The president has achieved another milestone in his mission to bridge the philosophical gap between conservatism and left-liberalism."

Bush on a mission, achieving another milestone in that mission, but not quite transformed from conservativism to left-liberalism.

With wand in hand, Mercer jabs at Bush's own moniker for himself as "The Decider."

As if we're watching the wand tap the left side of the hat, that description leads the reader's mind to smile. A bit of laughter early on puts us at ease, rather than at attention.

Like any good magician, Mercer focuses our attention exactly where she wants it, and where she wants our attention is a Bush leaning (slouching) toward socialism, with evidence of Bush's actions - recent.

Mercer writes: “The Decider” recently endorsed the socialist concept of a wealth gap, and promised to do his level best to level the playing field through the familiar distribution schemes: “helping people afford health insurance and providing more money for education, including increased Pell grants for college,” to quote the Wall Street Journal."

Mid-piece, Mercer writes: "Since he has already adopted the language of “class struggle” and inequality under the law, Bush is unlikely to point out anytime soon that the much-maligned rich also pay most of the nation’s taxes."

(Actually, Bush usually raises his shoulders and snickers when addressing the U. S. taxation system and indeed points out the greater burden placed on the top 5 percent of taxpayers in the nation's graduated income-taxation system.)

Further in her commentary, Mercer claims to "offer another correction for defecting conservatives like the president..."

Wrapping up her commentary, Mercer states: "Whether he is addressing the “wealth gap,” galvanizing government to “create jobs”; capitulating to climate-change crazies or rabbiting on about renewable energy — Bush just cannot tell his left from his right.

That ends Mercer's magical presentation of a President on his way to clasping socialism - his mission, unaccomplished as of the writing of her piece.

President George W. Bush isn't slouching toward socialism. He's been there, done that from the very beginning of his presidency.

Why did Mercer choose to portray George W. Bush as if his actions showing him as adopting socialist policies are something new and unachieved?

Why the mirage, hiding the reality of Bush as was and as is?

Adopting the language of socialism immediately after September 11, 2001 should've been the billboard announcing George W. Bush wasn't slouching on his way left. He was there, then, and has remained there ever since.

A defecting conservative? Bush never was a true conservative.

He never will be a true conservative.

He and each and every other national office-holder who proclaim on the one hand how they are conservative yet continue a federal income taxation system that is the embodiment of socialism.

When they all had the chance, a conservative Republican majority in both the House and Senate with a Republican president, they didn't once attempt to revert the nation to its original foundation.

For the first time in some forty years, a majority Republican Congress with a Republican president, and not once was there a piece of legislation known as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to abolish the graduated income tax - the embodiment of socialism.

The reality of a socialist nation is there for all to see every single time an individual is forced to pay taxes on his or her labor to a national government.

A true political conservative would make noticeable attempts to return the federal government to its limitations as envisioned by the Framers of the United States Constitution. Instead, President George W. Bush expands the federal government and its reach to include the No Child Left Behind Act which Bush unveiled on September 10, 2001 and planned to continue to press on September 11, 2001. Though his plan to impose a national education standard on states was interrupted in the aftermath of 9/11, it wasn't deterred or stopped. Since then, President Bush has done more than any other president in the history of our nation to force national influence and national concepts on local education.

Mercer missed the evidence that reveals Bush as he has always been.

Her conclusion "Bush just cannot tell his left from his right" is continuation of the fallacy that Bush has a right. He doesn't, and that's the reality.

Resources of note:

Ten Planks of the Communist Manifesto

http://educate-yourself.org/cn/communistmanifestortenplanks12sep06.shtml

Title: COMPASSIONATE SOCIALISM: The Ideology Of George W. Bush
Source: The Intellectual Activist
URL Source: http://none
Published: Nov 1, 1999
Author: By Andrew Lewis
Post Date: 2004-05-01 06:30:52 by Uncle Bill

http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=47839&Disp=53&Trace=on

Needed: Catchword For Bush Ideology; 'Communitarianism' Finds Favor
Dana Milbank, The Washington Post
February 1, 2001, Thursday, Final Edition SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. A01
http://janda.org/b20/News%20articles/GW,%20the%20Communitarian.htm


google search results

http://www.google.co.vi/search?q=communitarian&hl=en&sourceid=gd&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2006-40,GGLD:en

George Bush's Move to the Left
And How Clinton Shifted the Center of American Politics.
© 2004 - Jefferis Kent Peterson, I

http://www.scholarscorner.com/didache/socialism.htm

GWB's CONTRIBUTION TO BIG GOVERNMENT
HUNDREDS OF WAYS IN WHICH GEORGE W. BUSH HAS CONTRIBUTED TO THE GROWTH OF GOVERNMENT
THIS LIST LAST UPDATED JANUARY 30, 2004

http://libertyvault.com/gwb.html

Bush: Biggest Spender Ever!
By Chuck Baldwin
The Covenant News ~ February 4, 2003

http://www.covenantnews.com/baldwin030204.htm

November 10, 2003
GEORGE W. BUSH, TROTSKYITE
Is the U.S. really launching a 'global democratic revolution'?
Justin Raimondo

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j111003.html

Bush signs order opening 'faith-based' charity office for business
January 29, 2001
Web posted at: 7:47 p.m. EST (0047 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- After devoting his first week in office to education reform, President Bush opened his second week by concentrating on more controversial issues, including his proposals to allow religious groups to receive federal funding for the provision of vital life and social services to the needy.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/stories/01/29/bush.faithbased.01/index.html

Slouching toward socialism by Ilana Mercer
Posted: March 2, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
World Net Daily

Bully for Bush. The president has achieved another milestone in his mission to bridge the philosophical gap between conservatism and left-liberalism. "The Decider" recently endorsed the socialist concept of a wealth gap and promised to do his level best to level the playing field through the familiar distribution schemes: "helping people afford health insurance and providing more money for education, including increased Pell grants for college," to quote the Wall Street Journal.

Some people are richer than others. Others don't like it. It's called envy. Aggregate individual differences in the ability to accrue wealth are not the best measure of the country's economic well-being. The demand to reduce these differences, or soak the rich, is, however, a good measure of envy. Substitute wealth with another individual difference: beauty, for example. Is it fair that some are more beautiful than others? Since it's impossible to lay claim to their physical assets, perhaps government ought to compel the beautiful to subsidize plastic surgery for the congenitally ugly...

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54509

Al Gore Carbon Offsets Paid to Company Partly Owned

Gore's 'carbon offsets' paid to firm he owns
Critics say justification for energy-rich lifestyle serves as way for former VP to profit
Posted: March 2, 2007 4:13 p.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com


Al Gore's Nashville mansion (PajamasMedia.com)
Al Gore defends his extraordinary personal energy usage by telling critics he maintains a "carbon neutral" lifestyle by buying "carbon offsets," but the company that receives his payments turns out to be partly owned and chaired by the former vice president himself.

Gore has built a "green money-making machine capable of eventually generating billions of dollars for investors, including himself, but he set it up so that the average Joe can't afford to play on Gore's terms," writes blogger Dan Riehl.

Gore has described the lifestyle he and his wife Tipper live as "carbon neutral," meaning he tries to offset any energy usage, including plane flights and car trips, by "purchasing verifiable reductions in CO2 elsewhere."

But it turns out he pays for his extra-large carbon footprint through Generation Investment Management, a London-based company with offices in Washington, D.C., for which he serves as chairman. The company was established to take financial advantage of new technologies and solutions related to combating "global warming," reports blogger Bill Hobbs.

Generation Investment Management's U.S. branch is headed by a former Gore staffer and fund-raiser, Peter S. Knight, who once was the target of probes by the Federal Election Commission and the Department of Justice.

Hobbs points out Gore stand to make a lot of money from his promotion of the alleged "global warming" threat, which is disputed by many mainstream scientists.

"In other words, he 'buys' his 'carbon offsets' from himself, through a transaction designed to boost his own investments and return a profit to himself," Hobbs writes. "To be blunt, Gore doesn't buy 'carbon offsets' through Generation Investment Management – he buys stocks."...

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54528

Al Gore’s Personal Energy Use Is His Own “Inconvenient Truth”
Gore’s home uses more than 20 times the national average

Last night, Al Gore’s global-warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, collected an Oscar for best documentary feature, but the Tennessee Center for Policy Research has found that Gore deserves a gold statue for hypocrisy.

Gore’s mansion, located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES).

In his documentary, the former Vice President calls on Americans to conserve energy by reducing electricity consumption at home.

The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh—more than 20 times the national average.

Last August alone, Gore burned through 22,619 kWh—guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year. As a result of his energy consumption, Gore’s average monthly electric bill topped $1,359...

http://bobmccarty.wordpress.com/2007/02/26/group-uncovers-al-gores-real-inconvenient-truth/

Of interest

http://suitablyflip.blogs.com/suitably_flip/homeland_security/index.html

A new twist to an intriguing family history
Census records, genealogical research show forebears of Obama's mother had slaves
WASHINGTON // Many people know that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's father was from Kenya and his mother from Kansas.

But an intriguing sliver of his family history has received almost no attention until now: It appears that forebears of his white mother owned slaves, according to genealogical research and census records.

The records - which had never been addressed publicly by the Illinois senator or his relatives - were first noted in an ancestry report compiled by William Addams Reitwiesner, who works at the Library of Congress and practices genealogy in his spare time. The report, on Reitwiesner's Web site, carries a disclaimer that it is a "first draft" - one likely to be examined more closely if Obama is nominated...

...Reitwiesner, the researcher, declined to be interviewed for this article. "I'll let my Web page [wargs.com] speak for itself," he said in an e-mail. The Obama report contains a disclaimer that appears on all of Reitwiesner's work: "The following material ... should not be considered either exhaustive or authoritative, but rather as a first draft."

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/politics/bal-te.obama02mar02,0,3453027.story

New 'Bible' says Christ born of gorilla, not virgin
'If Jesus was alive today, he would understand that his ancestors ... were beasts'
Posted: March 2, 2007
by Jay Baggett
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

A new, lavishly illustrated book – described by its marketer as a "postmodern" edition of the Bible – takes Darwin's theory of evolution as gospel and presents Jesus as being born, "not to a virgin, but to a gorilla."

According to Ruth Rimm, Bronx school teacher and book artist, her version of the Scriptures – titled "Lost Spiritual World" – "explores the emergence of a new global spirituality that mixes the best of each wisdom tradition with the latest findings in psychology, quantum physics, neuroscience, and linguistics."

It is a "Bible for skeptics, seekers, and people of different faiths." ...

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54518

Cardinal: Antichrist pacifist ecologist ecumenist

From The Times March 02, 2007
Pope is warned of a green AntichristRichard Owen in Rome
Read Ruth Gledhill's Articles of Faith weblog

An arch-conservative cardinal chosen by the Pope to deliver this year’s Lenten meditations to the Vatican hierarchy has caused consternation by giving warning of an Antichrist who is “a pacifist, ecologist and ecumenist”.

Cardinal Giacomo Biffi, 78, who retired as Archbishop of Bologna three years ago, quoted Vladimir Solovyov (1853-1900), the Russian philosopher and mystic, as predicting that the Antichrist “will convoke an ecumenical council and seek the consensus of all the Christian confessions”.

The “masses” would follow the Antichrist, “with the exception of small groups of Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants” who would fight to prevent the watering down and ultimate destruction of the faith, he said.

The Pope traditionally withdraws from public view during the first week of Lent, conducting “spiritual exercises” in retreat with close advisers.

The choice of Cardinal Biffi raised eyebrows in the Vatican, given his sometimes eccentric views. The cardinal gave a warning of the coming of the Antichrist during his two decades as the Archbishop of Bologna, and said that an “invasion” of Muslim immigrants was undermining Europe’s Christian values.

Cardinal Biffi said that the Antichrist was not necessarily a person but “the reduction of Christianity to an ideology . . . The teaching that the great Russian philosopher left us is that Christianity cannot be reduced to a set of values. At the heart of being a Christian is the personal encounter with Jesus Christ.” But he quoted with approval from Solovyov’s Three Dialogues on War, Progress and the End of History, which suggests that the Antichrist is a real figure.

Cardinal Biffi said that Christianity stood for “absolute values, such as goodness, truth, beauty”. If “relative values” such as “solidarity, love of peace and respect for nature” became absolute, they would encourage “idolatry” and “put obstacles in the way of salvation”.

When he was still Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict sternly defended core Roman Catholic doctrines and opposed calls for an ecumenical Third Vatican Council advanced by Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, the liberal former Archbishop of Milan.

The choice of Lenten speaker has in the past given a clue to Vatican policy, although one source said that Cardinal Biffi had perhaps been chosen because his “verbal fireworks” would keep listeners awake...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1459003.ece

Evidence of Top Prosecutor Lying?

Surely, that NEVER happens in the United States of America? The charges are made against U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton. However, this happens every day across the U.S. Prosecutors withhold exculpatory evidence. They lie and deceive. Look what happened in the Timothy McVeigh case. Evidence was never known that might have if nothing else enabled a life-sentence.

We all want justice when murder is committed, and when any crime is committed.

What justice is it when prosecutor Johnny Sutton withholds key evidence and that evidence could lead the jury to a different conclusion? That isn't justice.

Justice urged to release Ramos-Compean documents
Bush administration accused of withholding evidence prosecutor misled jury, public
Posted: March 2, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila
The father-in-law of imprisoned Border Patrol agent Ignacio Ramos is calling on the Justice Department to release documents that indicate prosecutors misled the jury and public about the drug smuggler granted immunity to testify against Ramos and co-officer Jose Compean.

"There must be a reason why the government does not want the documents released," Joe Loya told WND. "The only person the Justice Department is protecting is U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton."

Loya said the investigative reports by the Drug Enforcement Agency – referenced in a news conference Wednesday by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif. – are essential to the current appeal of the convictions of Ramos, 37, and Compean, 28, who began serving 11- and 12-year prison sentences last month.

As WND reported, a federal jury convicted the agents one year ago, after a two-week trial on charges of causing serious bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon, discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence and a civil rights violation.

The DEA documents, first reported Tuesday by the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin of Southern California, show drug smuggler Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila tried to take another load of marijuana across the border after he was given immunity by Sutton to testify at the Ramos-Compean trial.

Earlier, WND reported a Nov. 21, 2005, memo by the Department of Homeland Security that documented the second drug offense.

After repeated calls from WND, the Department of Justice declined to comment on this story.

Rohrabacher did not release the documents – the DOJ called his office early Wednesday to make sure no material that is part of an ongoing investigation be unsealed. But he held up a redacted copy to reporters and asserted the information is extremely damaging to the prosecutor's case.

"Upon review of these documents, it is obvious that U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton knowingly presented a false picture of the drug smuggler in order to justify his ruthless prosecution of Border Patrol Agents Ramos and Compean," Rohrabacher said.

The congressman said that under Sutton's direction, "the prosecution characterized the drug smuggler in this case as an innocent victim, which is clearly not true. Evidence now emerging indicates that Sutton's office was notified by the DEA of Davila's direct involvement in a second offense. Sutton chose to disregard the information despite the evidence presented by the DEA."

Both the DHS and DEA documents reveal that in October 2005, the smuggler, Aldrete-Davila, drove a second load of 750 pounds of marijuana across the border in a 1990 Chevy Astro van. He stopped at the home of Cipriano Ortiz-Hernandez in Clint, Texas, because his van had engine problems and Ortiz-Hernandez was a mechanic who also ran a drug safe house. The two men were connected through family friendships that date back to their childhood in San Ysidro, Mexico.

Those in possession of the DEA and DHS documents refuse to make them public for fear of being prosecuted, but the Ramos-Compean trial transcript, not released until some 11 months after the trial ended, openly refers to the second drug offense.

The transcript also makes it clear the prosecution had the records of Aldrete-Davila's second drug offense sealed from the jury and from the public.

As WND reported, the evidence in the trial transcript begins at Part VII, page 32, in a discussion without the jury between defense attorney Mary Stillinger, prosecutor Debra Kanof and Judge Kathleen Cardone.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54514

Media too balanced on global warming? What planet Gore residing?

Update

'Global Warming Is Lies' Claims Documentary
Sunday, 4th March 2007, 11:04
Accepted theories about man causing global warming are "lies" claims a controversial new TV documentary.

‘The Great Global Warming Swindle’ - backed by eminent scientists - is set to rock the accepted consensus that climate change is being driven by humans.

The programme, to be screened on Channel 4 on Thursday March 8, will see a series of respected scientists attack the "propaganda" that they claim is killing the world’s poor.

Even the co-founder of Greenpeace, Patrick Moore, is shown, claiming African countries should be encouraged to burn more CO2.

Nobody in the documentary defends the greenhouse effect theory, as it claims that climate change is natural, has been occurring for years, and ice falling from glaciers is just the spring break-up and as normal as leaves falling in autumn.

A source at Channel 4 said: "It is essentially a polemic and we are expecting it to cause trouble, but this is the controversial programming that Channel 4 is renowned for."

Controversial director Martin Durkin said: "You can see the problems with the science of global warming, but people just don’t believe you – it’s taken ten years to get this commissioned.

"I think it will go down in history as the first chapter in a new era of the relationship between scientists and society. Legitimate scientists – people with qualifications – are the bad guys.

"It is a big story that is going to cause controversy.

"It’s very rare that a film changes history, but I think this is a turning point and in five years the idea that the greenhouse effect is the main reason behind global warming will be seen as total bollocks.

"Al Gore might have won an Oscar for ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, but the film is very misleading and he has got the relationship between CO2 and climate change the wrong way round."

One major piece of evidence of CO2 causing global warming are ice core samples from Antarctica, which show that for hundreds of years, global warming has been accompanied by higher levels of CO2 in the atmosphere.

In ‘The Great Global Warming Swindle’ Al Gore is shown claiming this proves the theory, but palaeontologist Professor Ian Clark claims in the documentary that it actually shows the opposite.

He has evidence showing that warmer spells in the Earth’s history actually came an average of 800 years before the rise in CO2 levels.

Prof Clark believes increased levels of CO2 are because the Earth is heating up and not the cause. He says most CO2 in the atmosphere comes from the oceans, which dissolve the gas.

When the temperature increases, more gas is released into the atmosphere and when global temperatures cool, more CO2 is taken in. Because of the immense size of the oceans, he said they take time to catch up with climate trends, and this ‘memory effect’ is responsible for the lag.

Scientists in the programme also raise another discrepancy with the official line, showing that most of the recent global warming occurred before 1940, when global temperatures then fell for four decades.

It was only in the late 1970s that the current trend of rising temperatures began.

This, claim the sceptics, is a flaw in the CO2 theory, because the post-war economic boom produced more CO2 and should, according to the consensus, have meant a rise in global temperatures.

http://www.lse.co.uk/ShowStory.asp?story=CZ434669U&news_headline=global_warming_is_lies_claims_documentary

Wednesday, 02/28/07
Gore says media miss climate message
Journalists have leaned toward balance at expense of consensus data, he says
By BEVERLY KEEL
Staff Writer
Back in Tennessee on Tuesday, Gore told a crowd of about 50 people at the U.S. Media Ethics Summit II that the presentation's single most provocative slide was one that contrasts results of two long-term studies. A 10-year University of California study found that essentially zero percent of peer-reviewed scientific journal articles disagreed that global warming exists, whereas, another study found that 53 percent of mainstream newspaper articles disagreed the global warming premise.

He noted that recently the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its fourth unanimous report calling on world leaders to take action on global warming...

They have failed to report that it is the consensus and instead have chosen … balance as bias...

http://www.dicksonherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070228/NEWS01/702280434/1297/MTCN02

Al Gore's Convenient Lie:
The Global Warming Spin
NewsMax Magazine's special report "Al Gore Spins Global Warming" debunks many widely promulgated notions about the global warming threat and finds that truth is the first casualty in Gore's apocalyptic film.

The compelling report by Lowell Ponte - author of the best-selling book about changing climate, "The Cooling" - and Marc Morano details the propaganda blitz about global warming … and the facts it obscures.

http://www.newsmax.com/adv/jul06/?PROMO_CODE=2E6E-1

Titled "HYSTERIA: Exposing the secret agenda behind today's obsession with global warming," Whistleblower tells the rest of the story the "mainstream press" will never reveal.
Posted: March 1, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

The U.N. recently announced global warming is leading inexorably to global catastrophe. Al Gore won the "best documentary" Oscar for his disaster film "An Inconvenient Truth." The news media beat the drum of "climate catastrophe" daily, all but ignoring scientists who say the threat is overblown or nonexistent. And across America, school children are frightened to death with tales of rising oceans, monster tornadoes, droughts and millions dying – all because of man-made global warming.

However, hidden just beneath the surface of the world's latest environmental craze is a stunningly different reality, as the March edition of WND's acclaimed Whistleblower magazine documents.

Titled "HYSTERIA: Exposing the secret agenda behind today's obsession with global warming," Whistleblower tells the rest of the story the "mainstream press" will never reveal.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54483

Developing nations hit back on climate change
27 Feb 2007 18:43:44 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Robin Pomeroy

ROME, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Developing countries, including emerging economic giants China and India, are not prepared to take the blame for climate change, the head of the G77 group of developing nations said on Tuesday. Some countries in Europe and North America want developing countries to accept limits on their emissions of greenhouse gases when the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol runs out in 2012, but the G77 looks likely to oppose that.

"Most environmental degradation that's happened has been historically caused by the industrial world," said Munir Akram, Pakistan's permanent representative to the United Nations and chairman of the G77 group in New York.

"China, India and others are at the stage where they are now taking off and it's quite natural that their emissions of carbon are increasing," he told a news conference after a two-day meeting of G77 diplomats in Rome.

"There's a sort of propaganda effort to try to shift the blame for environmental degradation on to these fast-growing economies, and the motives are not very well disguised."

One of the main reasons U.S. President George W. Bush pulled his country out of Kyoto was that the 1997 U.N. treaty only imposed emissions limits on developed countries.

The European Union remained in the pact but wants developing countries included in a second phase treaty which will be discussed at a U.N. climate change meeting in Bali, Indonesia in December.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) latest report, released earlier this month, predicted global temperatures would rise by between 1.8 and 4.0 Celsius (3.2 and 7.8 Fahrenheit) this century due to the greenhouse effect.

Emissions from industry and transport, especially carbon dioxide (CO2), a by-product of burning fossil fuels like oil and coal, are blamed for trapping heat in the atmosphere in a process set to increase disasters like floods and droughts.

"The developing countries contribute the least to environmental degradation but are affected the most," read a statement issued by the G77 after the Rome meeting, which covered everything from aid to U.N. reform...

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L27392364.htm

Are translations accurate

Lost Tomb of Jesus. Posting this item for the controversial aspects of the debate.

Discovery Channel video link

http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/tomb/tomb.html?dcitc=w99-502-ah-1024

Ossuary In 'Lost Tomb' Documentary On Display In Ft. Lauderdale
POSTED: 2:43 pm EST February 28, 2007
UPDATED: 6:56 pm EST February 28, 2007

http://www.nbc6.net/entertainment/11136658/detail.html

Hannity and Colmes gave attention to both sides of the controversy of the film.

Fox 'n Friends. Discovery channel shouldn't run this so-called documentary. Nonsense. Pure impossibility. Absolute nonsense. Findings give bad name to archaeology... deceiving the public by putting it on... if they went against Islam, the program wouldn't last five minutes... Brent Bosell, Media Research Center...

Following Bosell, Simcha Jacobovici, director of film that claims to have found Jesus Christ coffin.

Simcha Jacobovici: There is a tomb and there are names on the tomb... scholars know Mary Magdalin was a title... these are the facts...

Steve Doocy: Basing this on names, but names that were common back then. They were a poor family, how was he buried in an expensive tomb...

Simcha Jacobovici: Hasn't seen one statistician object... it's 600 to 1 weighing this is Jesus Christ bones in this tomb.

Bosell: This is man who oversaw last fraudulent film...

Scholars and clergymen criticize new Jesus documentary
By The Associated Press
Tuesday, February 27, 2007

NEW YORK (AP) — To resolve the question of whether the remains of Jesus and Mary Magdalene may have rested in two limestone boxes discovered in a Jerusalem suburb, the filmmakers of a new documentary took novel approaches — including turning to statisticians.
Some religious scholars and archaeologists, however, have not been convinced by the numbers.

Filmmakers showed the two boxes on Monday while promoting their documentary, "The Lost Tomb of Jesus," produced by Oscar-winning director James Cameron and airing on the Discovery Channel on March 4.

It argues that 10 first-century bone boxes, called ossuaries, discovered in 1980 may have contained the bones of Jesus and his family.

One of the boxes even bears the title, "Judah son of Jesus," hinting that Jesus had a son. The claim that Jesus even had an ossuary contradicts the Christian belief that he was resurrected and ascended to heaven.

A panel of scholars that joined the filmmakers Monday at the New York Public Library addressed that criticism and others.

James Tabor, a professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, said that while literal interpreters of the Bible say Jesus' physical body rose from the dead, "one might affirm resurrection in a more spiritual way in which the husk of the body is left behind."

But Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said Christianity "has always understood the physical resurrection of Christ to be at the very center of the faith."

Cameron, who won an Academy Award for directing "Titanic," said he was excited to be associated with the Jesus film, which was directed by Toronto filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici.

"We don't have any physical record of Jesus' existence," he said. "So what this film ... shows is for the first time tangible, physical, archaeological and in some cases forensic evidence."

He said that to a layman's eye "it seemed pretty darn compelling."

Jacobovici and archaeologist Charles Pellegrino also are the authors of "The Jesus Family Tomb," newly published by HarperSan Francisco. Jacobovici said that a name on one of the ossuaries, Mariamene, is a major support to the argument that the tomb is that of Jesus and his family. In early Christian texts, Mariamene is a name of Mary Magdalene, he said.

Most Christians believe Jesus' body spent three days at the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem's Old City. The burial site identified in the documentary is in a southern Jerusalem neighborhood nowhere near the church.

In 1996, when the British Broadcasting Corp. aired a short documentary on the subject, archaeologists challenged the link to Jesus and his family. Amos Kloner, the first archaeologist to examine the site, said the idea fails to hold up to archaeological standards but makes for profitable television


http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/multimedia/s_495085.html

Jesus' Tomb Claim Slammed By Scholars
Mati Milstein in Jerusalem
for National Geographic News
February 28, 2007
The archaeologist who excavated a Jerusalem burial cave featured in a new film is among the experts who have slammed the movie's claim that the cave is the tomb of Jesus, his wife, and their son.

The film—The Lost Tomb of Jesus, directed by Canadian journalist Simcha Jacobovici and produced by Hollywood director James Cameron—is set to air this Sunday on the Discovery Channel.

The movie presents what the filmmakers say is archaeological, statistical, and genetic evidence suggesting that the family of Jesus might have been interred in the burial cave.

"The evidence is compelling," Jane Root, president of the Discovery Channel, said during a press briefing. "The consequences are enormous."

But the Israeli archaeologist who originally excavated the tomb insists the claims are preposterous. And a leading Christian scholar who appears in the film agrees.

"Their movie is not serious," Amos Kloner, the Bar Ilan University professor who led the excavation in the 1980s, told National Geographic News.

"They [say they] are 'discovering' things. But they haven't discovered anything. They haven't found anything. Everything had already been published.

"And there is no basis on which to make a story out of this or to identify this as the family of Jesus."

Not Uncommon

Workers first discovered the burial cave in 1980 while building apartments in the Talpiot neighborhood of southern Jerusalem.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070228-jesus-tomb.html

The Improper Application of Statistics in "The Lost Tomb of Jesus"
By Stephen Pfann
"Is not this the carpenter’s (Luke: Joseph's) son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph (Mark: Joses) and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us?" (Matt. 13:55-56a)

"The filmmakers asked Andrey Feuerverger, professor of statistics and mathematics at the University of Toronto, to study the likelihood of the cluster of resonant names found in the Talpiot tomb being merely coincidental. He concluded, according to the Discovery Channel, that 'the odds are at least 600 to 1 in favor of the Talpiot Tomb being the Jesus Family Tomb. In other words, the conclusion works 599 times out of 600.'" Jerusalem Post, Feb 27, 2007

The starting point for the supposed scientific investigation of a tomb in Jerusalem's East Talpiot neighborhood is an amazing claim that statistically, the viewer must accept the fact that the tomb is certainly (600 to 1 probability) the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth and his family. This statement is based upon a number of fallacies and a general misuse of statistics...

... The names Mary* (2x), Joseph/Joseh (2x), Judas and even Jesus, found in the Talpiot tomb should well be expected there (or in almost any other tomb in the area, for that matter). These are simply the most common names of the day. The only difference is that the Talpiot tomb has so many names preserved among its ossuaries! If other tombs contained so many inscribed ossuaries, the name census in most other tombs would be very much the same. This being the case, there very well could be numerous tombs which could have claim to the title "a Jesus' family tomb." However in all cases, as in this, there would be no compelling reason to connect them with Jesus of Nazareth!

*The naming of Mary Magdalene as "Mariamne" (or "little Mary", a diminutive) in a fourth century Gospel of Philip should be considered irrelevant to the discussion, being three centuries too late for consideration.

L. Y. Rahmani, A Catalogue of Jewish Ossuaries, Israel Antiquities Authority and the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities (Jerusalem: 1994)

Copyright 2007. Stephen Pfann, University of the Holy Land. All rights reserved. (May be freely quoted if properly credited.)

http://www.uhl.ac/JudeanTombsAndOssuaries.

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