"Bill to Screen, Medicate Kids May Hit Senate This Week"

Christopher Getzan, The NewStandard

   Legislation to test children for "mental health disorders" and then provide them commercial drugs — which would be highly controversial if people knew about it — could reach Congress during this month's lame duck session.

Funding for a controversial Bush administration plan to submit the nation's school children to mental health testing and drug treatment may end up reaching the Senate floor this week, as GOP congressional leaders look to clear the legislative slate in order to set the table for George W. Bush's second term.

The plan, called the New Freedom Initiative (NFI), is the keystone of a package of initiatives by the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, a group of doctors and mental health care professionals established by the Bush Administration in 2002.

"US Accused of 'Torture Flights'"

Stephen Grey, London Times

AN executive jet is being used by the American
intelligence agencies to fly terrorist suspects to
countries that routinely use torture in their prisons.

The movements of the Gulfstream 5 leased by agents from
the United States defence department and the CIA are
detailed in confidential logs obtained by The Sunday
Times which cover more than 300 flights.

Countries with poor human rights records to which the
Americans have delivered prisoners include Egypt, Syria
and Uzbekistan, according to the files. The logs have
prompted allegations from critics that the agency is
using such regimes to carry out 'torture by proxy' — a
charge denied by the American government.

"Dogs Eating Bodies in the Streets of Fallujah"
Dahr Jamail

It never fails to get my adrenaline flowing when my hotel rumbles from a car bomb detonating in central Baghdad.

Last night around 7 pm the explosion occurred at a hotel compound which houses foreign contractors over near Firdos Square.

Shortly there after the “Green Zone” took a sustained mortar attack which went on long enough for them to hit the blaring sirens which warn the inhabitants to take cover, long after the mortar rounds had stopped falling.

Iraq’s borders with Syria and Jordan remain closed, according to US-appointed prime minister Allawi since declaring Iraq in a state of “national emergency.”

nolympics writes: see video of US Troops executing an injured Iraqi in a Falluja mosque here.

"Marines Self-Destruct"
Robert S. Finnegan, Southeast Asia News

There isn’t a trick in the racketeering bag that the military gang is blind to. It has its ’finger men’ to point out enemies, its ‘muscle men’ to destroy enemies, its ‘brain guys’ to plan war preparations, and a ‘Big Boss, Supra-nationalistic Capitalism. It may seem odd for me a military man, to adopt such a comparison. Truthfulness compels me to do so. I spent thirty-five years and four months in active service as a member of our country’s most agile military force, the Marine Corps.

U.S. Says Troops Now Occupy Fallujah

Jim Krane, Associated Press

FALLUJAH, Iraq — U.S. military officials said Saturday that American
troops had now "occupied" the entire city of Fallujah and there were no
more major concentrations of insurgents still fighting after nearly a
week of intense urban combat.

A U.S. officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Fallujah was
"occupied but not subdued." Artillery and airstrikes also were halted
after nightfall to prevent mistaken attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces who
had taken up positions throughout the city.

U.S. Judge Finds Islamic Groups Liable in West Bank Death
Michael Conlon

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Two U.S. Islamic organizations and a man charged with bankrolling the Palestinian group Hamas were found liable for damages on Wednesday in the death of an American-born student gunned down in the West Bank in 1996.

"This ruling is very significant because it sends a message that organizations which try to pose as charities or individuals who are actually fronts for Hamas... run the risk of being held liable for harming people," said Stephen Landes, a lawyer who brought the suit on behalf of the victim's family.

"Blue States Buzz Over Secession"

Joseph Curl, Washington Times

Secession, which didn't work very well when it was tried once before,
is suddenly red hot in the blue states. In certain precincts, anyway.

One popular map circulating on the Internet shows the 19 blue
states won by Sen. John Kerry — Washington, Oregon, California,
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Maryland and the
Northeastern states — conjoined with Canada to form the "United States
of Canada." The 31 red states carried by Mr. Bush are depicted as a
separate nation dubbed "Jesusland."

The idea isn't just a joke; one top Democrat says, "The segment of
the country that pays for the federal government is now being governed
by the people who don't pay for the federal government."

U.S. Green Party Posts 2004 Electoral Victories

Green Party USA

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Green Party of the United States has
announced several new victories as election results poured in late
last week and during the weekend.

Results are given below:

$17 an Hour Technology Nomads:

IT Unemployment Now Exceeds Overall Jobless Rate

Greg Schneider, Washington Post

YORK, Pa. — David Packman knocks on the motel room door and his wife lets him in. His 9-year-old son is waiting with sneakers on, hoping for a trip outside after a day of sitting around. Packman's other son, 4, dances gleefully around the room. Dad's home from work.

This is no holiday getaway; this motel room, for the moment, is where the family lives. Packman, 34, is one month into a four-month contract fixing computers at a local company, and one day closer to the end of the line. It's Monday, and the $50 in Packman's pocket will have to cover food, laundry and incidentals for the coming week.

Guantanamo Tribunals Derail
As Judge Invokes
Geneva Convention

Jess Bravin, Wall Street Journal

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba — A federal judge ruled the Geneva
Conventions protect prisoners captured in Afghanistan and
that suspected terrorists can't be tried before military
commissions that deny defendants the right to see evidence
against them.

The order stunned military officials here and halted a
hearing under way for Salim Hamdan, a Yemeni who admits
serving as Osama bin Laden's driver but denies involvement
with terrorism.