the/diseased/republik

US military officers in Iraq are attempting to negotiate ceasefires with some insurgent groups that have been responsible for the violence in the country. I wonder if this is a tacit admission of defeat or a bona fide plea for peace so that some progress can be made towards solidifying the central Iraqi government. read more | digg story

Wellington, Colorado - Michael Welch II paced frantically across the living room of his parents' farmhouse. His father lay dead in an adjoining room, shot through the heart by the lawmen who had the house surrounded. His terrified wife, Lori Romero, whimpered nearby. Put the gun down, she begged him, so that they could all walk out with their hands up. read the Full Story

Wellington, Colorado - Michael Welch II paced frantically across the living room of his parents' farmhouse. His father lay dead in an adjoining room, shot through the heart by the lawmen who had the house surrounded. His terrified wife, Lori Romero, whimpered nearby. Put the gun down, she begged him, so that they could all walk out with their hands up. read the Full Story

from TSG MAY 18--Prompted by a legal threat by a former contributor, the editor of Page Six has acknowledged taking cash from a New York businessman whose restaurant has been frequently mentioned in the New York Post column, the gossip industry's ground zero. The admission by Richard Johnson came today in a preemptive strike against Jared Paul Stern, the former Page Six freelancer who was bounced last year after being accused of trying to shake down billionaire Ron Burkle (federal investigators have declined to pursue charges against Stern). The admission by Johnson came a week after Stern's lawyer forwarded a Post attorney an affidavit from Ian Spiegelman, a former Page Six contributor, that details an assortment of alleged unethical practices by Johnson and fellow Posties.

Ron Paul says Osama bin Laden is delighted we invaded Iraq. Does the man not have a point? The United States is now tied down in a bloody guerrilla war in the Middle East and increasingly hated in Arab and Islamic countries where we were once hugely admired as the first and greatest of the anti-colonial nations. Does anyone think that Osama is unhappy with what is happening to us in Iraq? Of the 10 candidates on stage in South Carolina, Dr. Paul alone opposed the war. He alone voted against the war. Have not the last five years vindicated him, when two-thirds of the nation now agrees with him that the war was a mistake, and journalists and politicians left and right are babbling in confession, "If I had only known then what I know now ..."

Unable to resort to their favoured method for dealing with peaceful political demonstrations - violence - the authorities were going to have to come up with some other means to stop it going ahead. read more | digg story

MSNBC has an update on the six foreign nationals who were arrested for plotting to attack Fort Dix Army base and it looks like they might have been a bunch of bumblers egged on by over-aggressive FBI informants -- leading to speculation that an entrapment defense is upcoming . the might-a-been plotters: "The FBI learned of the alleged plot when the men went to a Circuit City store and asked a clerk to transfer a jihad training video of themselves onto a DVD." the would-be informants: "One of the [accused plotters]... called a Philadelphia police officer in November, saying that he had been approached by someone who was pressuring him to obtain a map of Fort Dix, and that he feared the incident was terrorist-related, according to court documents." one of the informants actions: "He railed against the United States, helped scout out military installations for attack, offered to introduce his comrades to an arms dealer and gave them a list of weapons he could pr

"It's not that money buys votes," said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the lone vote against the bill. "But you have a culture in which big money has significant influence. Big money gains you access, access gives you the time to influence people." Is this guy dense or what?! The money bought the vote, it mattered not what the person said after the money changed hands. Politicians are bought and sold, period.

• A measure that blocked an effort to allow drug importation passed, 49-40. The 49 senators who voted against drug importation received about $5 million from industry executives and political action committees since 2001 — nearly three quarters of the industry donations to current members of the Senate, according to a USA TODAY analysis of data compiled by two non-partisan groups, Center for Responsive Politics and PoliticalMoneyLine. • Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said he demanded removal of language that would have allowed the FDA to ban advertising of high-risk drugs for two years because it would restrict free speech. Roberts has raised $18,000 from drug interests so far this year, records show, and $66,000 since 2001. His spokeswoman, Sarah Little, said he "takes great pains to keep fundraising and official actions separate." • Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., claimed authorship of a change that reduced the FDA's power to require post-market safety studies. He said he wanted to