Protesters marched through the streets of several cities yesterday to call for an end to the funding of the Iraq war or the immediate return of U.S. troops. Demonstrators converged in San Francisco, New York, Portland, Ore., and elsewhere to mark the fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq and call on President Bush to heed what they said was the will of the people. In largely peaceful demonstrations, about 3,000 people in San Francisco closed Market Street, a major downtown thoroughfare; in New York, more than 1,000 protesters converged on a park near the headquarters of the United Nations. Dozens of police in San Francisco on foot and motorcycles blocked traffic and kept an eye on the crowd, which stretched for blocks through the financial district. No arrests were reported.... http://www.washingtontimes.com censor News |
Editor - 21:34:00 03-18-07 |
Seattle team in a political arena |
A bid by the city's oldest major pro sports team for taxpayer funding to build a new arena has hit a snag over gay politics.The SuperSonics, celebrating 40 years in the National Basketball Association this year, have asked the Legislature for a $300 million tax subsidy for a new home in suburban Renton. Team officials have threatened to move the Sonics, and the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association, if public financing is denied.A subsidy bill faced an uncertain fate even before reports surfaced last month, first in The Seattle Times, that two of the teams' out-of-state minority owners have been big contributors to a national group that opposes same-sex marriage.In politically liberal Washington state, where the Senate passed a domestic partnership bill this month that would give gay couples rights involving health care decisions, inheritances and other matters, the revelations could derail the Sonics' plans.... http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-03-18-seattle-arena_N.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 21:23:00 03-18-07 |
Barr calls for strengthening Libertarian Party |
Libertarian Party leaders gave a standing ovation to former Rep. Bob Barr after the ex-Republican called for "a multidecade effort" to build a movement to make the party nationally competitive. "The future of America is the future of the Libertarian Party," Mr. Barr told a weekend conference of state party chairmen. "And the future is bright." The former congressman from Georgia, who recently became the Libertarian Party's regional representative in the Southeast, told a Saturday luncheon that many "real conservatives" have become disillusioned with Republicans. "They are eager for a philosophical home," Mr. Barr said. "There are enough of them out there that a significant number can be weaned away" from the Republican Party. ... http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20070318-113636-9218r.htm
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Editor - 21:21:00 03-18-07 |
Army on alert amid tensions |
Turkey has put its army on alert to stave off any attacks by Kurdish rebels during a spring festival beset by unprecedented political problems this week. The crisis includes a widening rift between the military commanders and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, warnings of more attacks by Kurdish extremists and a rising nationalist fervor that is worrying Turkey's European partners. Complicating the task of the Erdogan government is the possibility of strained relations with the United States over the prospect of a separate Kurdish state in northern Iraq and the threat that the U.S. Congress might brand the World War I killings of Armenians by Turkey's Ottoman rulers as genocide. Turkish press reports have said the volume of problems is unprecedented in Turkey's modern history.... http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20070318-103746-5018r.htm
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Editor - 21:20:00 03-18-07 |
Senator predicts Gonzales will be forced out within a week |
A top Democrat predicted Sunday that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales would be forced from his job within a week for the Justice Department's mishandling of the firing of eight U.S. attorneys. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., also proposed a short list of three Republican replacements that he said could win Senate confirmation. "The White House has a real chance to clear the air, to restore faith that the rule of law will come first and politics second in the Justice Department, not the other way around," Schumer, who's leading the Senate's inquiry into the firings, said on NBC's "Meet the Press." Schumer's statement was just one of several by both Democrats and Republicans on Sunday that indicated that the controversy over the dismissals of the U.S. attorneys is not likely to die down anytime soon. ... http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/16930979.htm
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Editor - 21:10:00 03-18-07 |
Amid Concerns, FBI Lapses Went On Records Collection Brought Internal Questions But Little Scrutiny |
FBI counterterrorism officials continued to use flawed procedures to obtain thousands of U.S. telephone records during a two-year period when bureau lawyers and managers were expressing escalating concerns about the practice, according to senior FBI and Justice Department officials and documents. FBI lawyers raised the concerns beginning in late October 2004 but did not closely scrutinize the practice until last year, FBI officials acknowledged. They also did not understand the scope of the problem until the Justice Department launched an investigation, FBI officials said. Under pressure to provide a stronger legal footing, counterterrorism agents last year wrote new letters to phone companies demanding the information the bureau already possessed. At least one senior FBI headquarters official -- whom the bureau declined to name -- signed these "national security letters" without including the required proof that the letters were linked to ... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/17/AR2007031701451.html
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Editor - 21:07:00 03-18-07 |
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