WI GOV

01 28 2007

World

LA Times:  Despite widespread accusations by US officials that Iran is arming fighters in Iraq, there appears to be no evidence of advanced weaponry beyond occasional mortar shells or rifles crossing the border, and absolutely nothing tying recovered items to Iranian authorities. The lack of publicly disclosed evidence raises questions about whether the White House is overstating its case. Some suggest the government is pointing to Iran to deflect blame for US setbacks in Iraq. Others see it as the foundation for a military strike against Iran.

Remarks: In the process of demonstrating there’s basically nothing to the case that Iran is supplying Iraqi insurgents with weapons, this article sure does scrounge for such evidence and treat US claims as being made in good faith, despite the history on this matter. Nevertheless, it’s refreshing to see a corporate media outlet looking skeptically on the matter at all. Not something we should get used to. –BD

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Congress' unanimous vote to nuke Iran

By Jorge Hirsch

What is going on in America today is equivalent to the following fictitious news story:

Jan. 31, 2007: By unanimous vote, the two Houses of Congress passed today a joint "sense of Congress" resolution directing President Bush to "launch nuclear strikes against any non-nuclear-weapon state that undertakes military programs or operations that threaten US interests or those of allies and friends".

http://www.ichblog.eu/content/view/104/2/

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U.S. military reports seven more soldier deaths :

Seven U.S. soldiers have been killed across Iraq, raising the U.S. death toll in the past three days to at least 12, the U.S. military said in a statement on Saturday.
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200701/28/eng20070128_345477.html

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Speaking at a panel discussion on the role of women in building a better world, Prof Jody Williams, American winner of the Peace Prize in 1997 for her work on the landmines campaign, said South Africa’s behaviour was appalling: "It’s shameful that the South African government could use their first vote at the Security Council to stifle democracy in Burma that is under military rule; where people are suffering and being degraded the way they went through the apartheid era."

Williams was referring to the South African government’s recent vote – with Russia and China – against a UN resolution that condemned Burma’s injustices to its people.

Iranian rights activist Sharin Ebadi, winner of the prize in 2003, said that despite human rights violations in Iran, America had no right to interfere with Iran’s nuclear programme.

"The people of Iran have to arm themselves with two swords – one to fight the Americans who are trying to impose their will on them and the other to fight for their rights within Iran that are being trampled on by the government," she said.

According to Ebadi, peace in the world would only come if the world put in more money into education and health.

"If we increase the sums that we spend on education and health, rather than the enormous budgets that we have on military equipment, then the world would be a better place to live in."

Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Mathai, the winner in 2004, said that global super powers should ensure that there is equitable distribution of resources in the world.

"Until we see equitable distribution of resources in the world we will never know world peace," she said.

http://www.ipsterraviva.net/TV/Nairobi/EN/viewstory.asp?idnews=821

Pentagon says 3,200 soldiers face extended tour of duty in occupied Afghanistan:

The Pentagon has decided to extend the combat tour of 3,200 soldiers from a 10th Mountain Division brigade in Afghanistan for four months in hopes of quelling the violence.
http://tinyurl.com/yolxv3

Argentina, Brazil join WTO complaint against U.S. corn subsidies

The Associated Press

Published: January 22, 2007

DAVOS, Switzerland : South American agricultural leaders Argentina and Brazil have joined Canada in a complaint against the United States over what they claim are illegal government handouts to American corn growers, trade officials said Monday.

The request for consultations, filed by the two countries and Guatemala last week at the Geneva-based World Trade Organization, threatens a major commercial dispute in the Western Hemisphere at a time when global free trade talks remain stalled over agricultural tariffs and subsidies and the U.S. begins debating a new multibillion-dollar farm bill.

Under WTO rules, a three-month consultation period is required before a country can ask the trade body to launch a formal investigation. A WTO case can result in punitive sanctions being authorized, but panels take many months, and sometimes years, to reach a decision.

Canada lodged its complaint on Jan. 8, claiming that some $9 billion paid out by the U.S. annually in export credit guarantees and other subsidies unfairly and illegally deflated international corn prices.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/22/business/web.0122davos.php

Men in New York and Georgia cleared by DNA evidence to be freed from prison Tuesday
By Associated Press
Wednesday, January 24, 2007 - Updated: 07:55 AM EST

AUBURN, N.Y. - Two inmates - a convicted rapist in Georgia and a man who was unjustly convicted of murder in New York but helped find the real killer from his prison cell - were granted their freedom Tuesday after DNA tests proved their innocence.

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Williams and Brown become the 193rd and 194th convicts nationwide exonerated through DNA testing, according to the Innocence Project.

    ”Changes got to be made in the justice system,” Brown said before leaving to eat a lasagna dinner with his family. ”The wheels are flat. There’s more innocent people like me.”

http://news.bostonherald.com/national/view.bg?articleid=178900

U.S. attorney was forced out, Feinstein says
January 19, 2007, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/19/BAGE1NLGHJ1.DTL

U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan, who announced his resignation Tuesday after 4 1/2 years as the top federal prosecutor in coastal Northern California, actually was fired by the Bush administration, Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Thursday. [She] made her assertion at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing while questioning Attorney General Alberto Gonzales about federal prosecutors who have been recently removed by President Bush. Two federal prosecutors in California have been "asked to resign ... from major jurisdictions, with major cases ongoing, with substantially good records as prosecutors,'' Feinstein said. She said four more have been asked to resign in other states. U.S. attorneys are appointed by the president to four-year terms. Being "asked to resign" amounts to being fired. "I am very concerned, because technically under the Patriot Act, you can appoint someone without confirmation for the remainder of the president's term,'' Feinstein said. Feinstein introduced legislation last week to repeal a provision of the USA Patriot Act that allows Bush to choose replacement prosecutors to serve until his term expires, without Senate confirmation. Her legislation would restore a previous law that limited an interim U.S. attorney chosen by the president to 120 days in office. Gonzales defended the Patriot Act's expansion of presidential appointment power. The Justice Department has not denied that Bush had sought the departure of Lam, who led the corruption prosecution of Republican Rep. Randy "Duke'' Cunningham.

Debate rages over genetically modified crops
January 19, 2007, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/19/BUGBONL8D91.DTL

The two sides in the debate over genetically modified crops issued warring reports assessing the first decade of the technology this week, as the industry's sunny view clashed with the darker vision of critics. The world's farmland planted with biotechnology crops reached 252 million acres in 2006, the industry-backed International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications calculated in a report ... that promotes the products as solutions for hunger and future fuel demand. The report concluded that biotechnology boosts crop yields and benefits the environment. That view was challenged by Friends of the Earth International and the Center for Food Safety in a report released Wednesday. The two groups argued that engineered plants don't produce larger harvests than conventional varieties, are often more vulnerable to drought and have increased the use of pesticides. The United States and Argentina host about 70 percent of the world's biotech crop acreage, both sides said. But adoption of the technology is growing at a faster rate in developing countries than in industrialized nations, according to the International Service. About 10 million farmers in 22 countries sow genetically modified crops, it said. The dominant biotech crop is soybeans, with 57 percent of world acreage, followed by maize, cotton and canola. Opponents said the crops are mainly a boon to agribusiness and big agricultural chemical companies trying to increase sales of seeds, weed-killers and bug sprays. Biotech crop seeds are often engineered to be resistant to the herbicides or pesticides sold by the same company.

Note: For reliable information showing that you may be eating genetically modified food every day which scientific experiments have repeatedly demonstrated can cause sickness and even death, click here.
  

Wisconsin

Court overturns Kaukauna man's sex assault conviction

An Outagamie County man sentenced to four years in prison for sexually assaulting a woman he met at a bar nearly five years ago deserves a new trial, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday. Read more

http://edit.wisinfo.gannettonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070123/APC0101/70123143/1979

Doyle proposes statewide smoking ban in all public places

Gov. Jim Doyle wants to ban smoking statewide in all public places, including restaurants, bars and workplaces. He also wants to increase the tax on cigarettes by $1.25 per pack, up from the 77 cents now charged. Read more