369 Days until election day.
MORNING UPDATE:
As we contemplate our budget situation consider this: controlling spending is the ONLY solution…taxes will never catch up with politician’s propensity to spend!
The cause of Freedom and our cause for conservative values is a marathon…we need to get up every morning and do our part…whatever it is! Freedom was the original idea and Freedom isn’t free.
"Michigan Matters'' which airs today (Saturday) at 11a.m.on CBS Detroit and is repeated Sunday at 11:30 a.m. on CW Channel 50. The show is hosted by Carol Cain, Editorial Director of CBS Detroit and columnist at Detroit Free Press.
Also, see "Michigan Matters on the Web'' on the CBS Detroit website http://cbsdetroit.com/shows/detroit.shows.michigan.2.7080.html where the roundtable conversation continues...
My commentary on this weekend’s CBS Michigan Matters:
http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2007/11/my-commentary-o.html
I’ve also posted my Spotlight on the News interview with Chuck Stokes on Detroit TV:
http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2007/11/spotlight-on-th.html
Here is a great graphic the First Congressional District created that didn’t come through in all the emails I sent out yesterday…check it out:
Rep. Paul Opsommer introduced a resolution to memorialize the Congress of the United States to oppose a treaty with the United Nations known as the Law of the Sea Treaty.
The Education Action Group recently handed out two Legislative Leadership Awards for delivering a much-needed reform in SB 418 to school boards. They were given to State Senator Wayne Kuipers (R-Holland) and Speaker of the House Andy Dillon (D-Redford Township). Without these legislators, this significant reform would not have passed.
http://www.grandhaventribune.com/paid/298785305782920.bsp
Amtrak subsidies have costs American taxpayers around $40,000,000,000.00… and yes, it’s not a very good deal. Read this article:
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=M2QwZjNlYWQ0NjI3ODAwNWVmZTcwMDEwMjY2MjFiYzU=
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush comments on the Republican candidates running for President…pretty insightful.
As we debate health care coverage and options in Michigan, here is a great site where Newt describes what a 21st Century Intelligent Health System should look like:
http://www.healthtransformation.net/cs/our_strategies
Michigan vs Michigan State…got to hurry and get to my tailgate!!!
THE REST OF THE STORY
- Jeb Bush on the Republican candidates: He wouldn't endorse anyone but he gave his two cents on the Republican candidates' greatest strengths.
Rudy Giuliani: "Direct, sees the world the way it is, and he's direct and he communicates well and he has high energy and tremendous personality."
Fred Thompson: "Committed conservative." He added that Thompson is "new at the game."
John McCain: "His courage. I was in my bed watching this with my wife and I got out of bed and started cheering," when McCain mentioned the Woodstock line during the last debates.
Mitt Romney: "Intellectual curiosity. . .He's incredibly smart and asks the questions necessary to find that common ground for the next challenges we face, which politics is not very good at right now."
Mike Huckabee: "I like him. He's a great speaker and clear-minded about the importance of moral principles."
To see the article and complete interview go to: http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2007/11/jeb-bush-on-the.html
- Newt Gingrich’s vision for a 21st Century Intelligent Health System
The Center for Health Transformation is a collaboration of transformational leaders dedicated to the creation of a 21st century intelligent health system in which knowledge saves lives and saves money for all Americans.
This 21st century intelligent health system is based on the following overarching principles:
Individual-Centered
Values Driven
100% Coverage
Transparent Price and Quality Information
Knowledge Intense
Innovation Rich
Prevention and Health-Focused
Electronically-Based
Market-Mediated
Centered on Informed Patient Choice and Accountability
Increased Choices
Incentives-Pulled
21st Century System of Health Justice and Patient Safety
Focused on Quality of Care and Quality of Life
Metrics-Led and Outcomes-Focused
Collaborative Leadership
Higher Quality at Overall Lower Cost
See details and options at this site: http://www.healthtransformation.net/
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
http://www.mlive.com/news/statewide/index.ssf?/base/business-0/1194011265239560.xml&coll=6
Lawmakers look to repeal service tax
Friday, November 02, 2007By Peter Luke
Press News Service
LANSING -- Lawmakers say they intend to move quickly in repealing a Dec. 1 use tax on services that business critics say will damage Michigan's battered economy and drive more jobs out of state.
A measure approved Thursday by the GOP-run Senate pushes back the effective date of the service tax by three weeks to give lawmakers more time to come up with a fix.
http://www.michronicleonline.com/articlelive/articles/1930/1/Saving-your-tax-dollars/Page1.html
Saving your tax dollars
By Bernard Parker | Published 11/1/2007 | Main News
Unfortunately, Michigan, specifically Wayne County, has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. It has been well documented in many national publications that it is a buyer’s market, where foreclosure home sales are greater than traditional home sales. This is true in residential real estate, as well as commercial real estate. If this is the case, the question that Wayne County commissioners pose to County Executive Robert Ficano is, Why wouldn’t the County take advantage of the much more cost effective and convenient 1001 Woodward Building and save the taxpayers over $14 million? Or at least take a chance and explore the opportunity.
http://www.mlive.com/news/statewide/index.ssf?/base/business-0/119400575514970.xml&coll=6
Chrysler job cuts add to state economic woes
Friday, November 02, 2007By Rick Haglund
Press News Service
DETROIT -- Michigan's troubled economy is taking another hit as Chrysler slashes as many as 12,100 jobs and eliminates four vehicle models.
The Auburn Hills-based automaker said Thursday between 8,500 and 10,000 hourly jobs, 1,000 salaried jobs and about 1,100 contract positions would be cut through 2008.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071103/METRO/711030363/1409/METRO
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Governor touts energy industry
Granholm plans to embark on a monthlong tour promoting the state's alternative energy businesses.
Mark Hornbeck / Detroit News Lansing Bureau
LANSING -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm announced today she will embark Monday on a monthlong, nine-city tour of Michigan businesses engaged in alternative energy work, to call attention to the state's efforts in this area and ask industry leaders what the state can do to help them.
"We have to diversify this stubborn economy," Granholm said at a news conference, flanked by alternative energy business leaders and officials from universities doing work in the field.
Several of the business executives said they are hiring 50 to 200 workers during the next year.
http://www.themorningsun.com/stories/110207/loc_ruling.shtml
PUBLISHED: Friday, November 2, 2007
Judge's ruling strikes down part of law
By SUSAN FIELD
Clare Managing Editor
Prosecutor Larry Burdick plans to ask the Michigan Court of Appeals to overturn Chief Judge Paul Chamberlain's ruling that prosecutors can't charge defendants with felony drunken driving using convictions that predate the amendment.
Prior to the state Legislature adopting "Heidi's Law," a defendant could only be charged with felony drunken driving if they had two or more drunken driving convictions within the previous 10 years.
http://noise.typepad.com/election_countdown/2007/11/in-god-we-trust.html
In God We Trust license plates?
"In God We Trust" is a motto at the center of a national controversy. It adorns our money and is written below the glass floor of the Michigan Capitol rotunda. Now the motto could be coming to a license plate near you.
The Senate Thursday passed a bill that would create an "In God We Trust" license plate. Interestingly enough, no opposition was lodged on church/state grounds - the big hangup that had prevented the Capitol display of the Ten Commandments in recent years.
http://www.grandhaventribune.com/paid/298785305782920.bsp
Kuipers honored by school advocacy group
Thu, Nov 1, 2007
State Sen. Wayne Kuipers, R-Holland, and a Detroit-area state representative were named Wednesday as Legislative leaders by a school advocacy group.
The Muskegon-based Education Action Group Inc. said it will present Kuipers and Speaker of the House Andy Dillon, D-Redford Township, with bronze eagle statues for helping pass legislation they say will further their cause to "ease the financial pain" of Michigan schools.
As a part of the legislative deal Oct. 1 to reach consensus on a new state budget, the Legislature passed and the governor signed Senate Bill 418, "which will increase competition and drive down costs in offering health care benefits to school employees," said Kyle Olson, vice president of strategy for the Education Action Group.
http://www.mlive.com/news/flintjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-47/1194065419161980.xml&coll=5
Detroit councilwoman blasts Democrats
HOMETOWN HEADLINES
FLINT
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Saturday, November 03, 2007
By Marjory Raymer
mraymer@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6325
FLINT - Detroit Mayor Pro-Tem Monica Conyers criticized the state Democratic Party on Friday for getting involved in Flint's nonpartisan mayoral race.
The party is funding television and radio advertisements critical of Mayor Don Williamson, which Conyers called inappropriate.
"I know Williamson. He's a pretty good guy," Conyers said by telephone on her way to Flint for a news conference on the issue. "This is a nonpartisan race. It's up to individuals to decide."
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071103/METRO/711030349/1409/METRO
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Mayor's press secretary is charged in assault
Aide pleads not guilty to domestic violence, resisting arrest; he's out on bond.
David Josar / The Detroit News
DETROIT -- Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's press secretary, Matt Allen, pleaded not guilty Friday to domestic violence assault and resisting and obstructing charges after he allegedly shoved his wife into a wall of their Indian Village home during a pre-dawn dispute.
Later Friday night, Allen announced at his lawyer's office that he was immediately checking himself into an undisclosed treatment facility.
"Clearly I have a problem," he said. "The gravity of today has not escaped me the past 24 hours have forced me to take a very hard look at myself."
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071103/NEWS01/711030321
Mayoral aide issues tearful apology to wife
'Clearly, I have a problem'
November 3, 2007
Matt Allen, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's spokesman, apologized profusely Friday evening to his wife "for any emotional and physical pain I have inflicted," hours after he was arrested on a charge of domestic violence.
Allen, who also was charged with resisting arrest, is accused of grabbing his wife's neck and bashing her head through a window at their home early Friday morning.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071103/METRO/711030355/1409/METRO
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Wayne County
County puts two on leave
Officials out pending probe of time, contract records
Paul Egan / The Detroit News
Two high-ranking Wayne County officials have been placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation into allegations of fraudulent time sheets and work assignments in the Department of Technology, a spokeswoman confirmed Friday.
Larry Simmons, director of the Department of Technology and Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano's campaign manager in the 2002 election, was placed on paid leave from his $142,500 post Tuesday and required to turn in his county equipment and building access cards, spokeswoman Sharon Banks said.
"It has to do with time cards and assignments of time to particular contracts," Banks said.
http://www.pridesource.com/article.shtml?article=27732
Covey poised to become next mayor of Ferndale
Candidate shines light on accomplishments and plans for the future
By Donald V. Calamia
Originally printed 11/1/2007 (Issue 1544 - Between The Lines News)
FERNDALE - With less than one week left before Ferndale residents determine his political future, a confident Craig Covey sat in his office at the Midwest AIDS Prevention Project - which is based in the city - and reflected upon a campaign that will end Nov. 6 with his possible election to the city's highest office.
"It's really gratifying," the three-term city councilman said of the support his mayoral campaign has received from all corners of his south Oakland County community. "This is my fourth election, and the campaign is running like a fine-tuned watch."
http://macombdaily.com/stories/110307/loc_miller001.shtml
PUBLISHED: Saturday, November 3, 2007
Miller knocks Bush on lake pollution veto
By Chad Selweski
Macomb Daily Staff Writer
A $20 million allocation to battle Lake St. Clair pollution was vetoed Friday by President Bush, as he rejected a massive $23 billion water projects bill that the White House labeled excessively expensive.
The Bush veto, however, may prove to be a largely symbolic act because the bill was approved by veto-proof margins in the House and Senate.
The Water Resources Development Act authorizes federal funding to implement environmental projects for Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair River that were proposed in 2005 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The WRDA legislation also would fund a study aimed at restoring water quality on the Clinton River.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071103/METRO/711030356/1409/METRO
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Veto cuts Mich. water projects
Michigan Republicans, Democrats vow to override president; bill contained funds for new Soo lock.
Deb Price / The Detroit News
WASHINGTON -- Citing its "excessive" costs, President Bush vetoed a bill Friday authorizing $23 billion worth of water projects nationwide, including a new, $342 million commercial shipping lock at Sault Ste. Marie, $3 million for shoreline protection along the Detroit River, and $20 million to clean up St. Clair River and Lake St. Clair.
The veto drew protests from both Michigan Republicans and Democrats and vows to override it.
U.S. Rep. Candice Miller, R-Harrison Township, said she was "incredibly disappointed"; U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Detroit, called the veto "wrong."
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071102/NEWS07/71102030/1008
Bush's veto of water projects expected to fail
Legislation would help protect Great Lakes
November 2, 2007
WASHINGTON – President George W. Bush today vetoed legislation authorizing more than $20 billion in water projects, setting the stage for a congressional override on a measure that enjoyed wide bipartisan support.
The Water Resources Development Act vetoed by Bush today is of particular importance to Michigan, as it authorizes a barrier to the invasive Asian Carp entering the Great Lakes, provides money for dredging and opens the way to a new super-sized lock to be built at Sault Ste. Marie.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071103/METRO/711030402/1409/METRO
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Kennedy criticizes Bush policies
Norman Sinclair / The Detroit News
DETROIT -- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. brought his passion for the environment to Wayne State University Friday night where a standing-room only crowd in the Community Arts Auditorium applauded his condemning Bush administration's policies that he said is harming the public.
Kennedy told the crowd of more than 600 the fight to protect the environment is not to save birds, or fish or wildlife but to preserve our natural resources for our children and future generations.
"Every child has a right to clean water. Every child has a right to go to the Detroit River with a fishing rod and pull out a fish and take it home and serve it safely for dinner," he said.
http://noise.typepad.com/election_countdown/2007/11/romney-a-michig.html
Romney a Michigan man?
Since Mitt Romney's brother Scott Romney is a Michigan State trustee, you'd figure he'd lean green during the annual Michigan-Michigan State football game.
Apparently not.
Romney attended Brigham Young University, so he doesn't have a home school in this fight.
However, a photograph sent to us by a staffer from the Giuliani campaign shows he might actually be a Michigan fan. I'll be talking to Romney on Saturday, while he campaigns at the MSU-Michigan game, so I'll try to get to the bottom of this.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-39/1194070576325060.xml&coll=6
McCain raises funds
Saturday, November 03, 2007
ADA -- Ariz. Sen. John McCain will be in West Michigan on Wednesday for a fundraising event. This time, he is scheduled to appear at the home of Ada resident Chris Beckering. McCain attended a similar event in July at the home of Ada residents Stephan and Kim Waltman.
Nov 2, 7:30 PM EDT
Gardner on N.H. primary date: "It's all Michigan"
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -- Secretary of State William Gardner said Friday that his announcement of a New Hampshire primary date depends on the maneuverings of Michigan, which he believes still may move its Jan. 15 vote.
"It's all Michigan," Gardner said on Friday evening, at the close of New Hampshire's three-week filing period - the eighth of his tenure - for candidates to get on the primary ballot. He previously said Friday would be the earliest a date could be announced.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071103/POLITICS/711030415/1022/POLITICS
Saturday, November 3, 2007
N.H. eyes Michigan primary election
State will take action to maintain its status as the first in the nation to hold presidential voting.
Beverley Wang / Associated Press
CONCORD, N.H. -- Secretary of State William Gardner said Friday that his announcement of a New Hampshire primary date depends on the maneuverings of Michigan, which he believes still may move its Jan. 15 vote.
"It's all Michigan," Gardner said on Friday evening, at the close of New Hampshire's three-week filing period -- the eighth of his tenure -- for candidates to get on the primary ballot.
He previously said Friday would be the earliest a date could be announced.
NATIONAL STORIES
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071103/D8SM34700.html
Clinton Presses for White House Papers
Nov 3, 4:30 AM (ET)
By JESSICA MINTZ
REDMOND, Wash. (AP) - Former President Clinton said Friday that a letter he wrote to the National Archives was to expedite release of his papers, not slow the process or hide anything as rivals are suggesting in criticism of his wife.
Hillary Rodham Clinton was quizzed during this week's Democratic presidential debate as to why correspondence between her and her husband from their White House years remained bottled up at the National Archives. Barack Obama said that was a problem for her as a candidate after "we have just gone through one of the most secretive administrations in our history."
November 2, 2007
Clinton and Obama Clash on ‘Piling On’ Remarks
CONCORD, N.H., Nov. 2 — Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama tangled today over whether women should be treated equally to men in the boxing ring of presidential politics as Mrs. Clinton backed away from her “politics of pile on” strategy portraying her as the lone woman under assault from the six male candidates at the recent Democratic debate.
“I don’t think they’re picking on me because I’m a woman, I think they’re picking on me because I’m winning,” Mrs. Clinton said at a news conference here after filing papers to run in the New Hampshire primary.
Then she added, in a reversal of a famous remark she once made about how she didn’t want to stay home and bake cookies: “I anticipate it will get even hotter — and if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. And I’m very comfortable in the kitchen.”
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NO_CHILD_LAW?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Nov 3, 5:55 AM EDT
Senate won't take up new education law
By NANCY ZUCKERBROD
AP Education Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The top two lawmakers on the Senate Education Committee said Friday they are putting off consideration of a new No Child Left Behind law until next year.
Sens. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., have decided that there's not enough time this year to complete work on the legislation, which has not yet been formally introduced.
The five-year-old law, up for a scheduled rewrite, requires math and reading tests in grades three through eight, and once in high school. Schools that miss testing benchmarks face increasingly stiff sanctions. The law, originally passed in 2001, is among President Bush's top domestic policy priorities.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SENATE_MUKASEY?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Nov 3, 6:12 AM EDT
Bush attorney general nominee gets boost
By DEVLIN BARRETT and LARA JAKES JORDAN
Associated Press Writers
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Michael Mukasey drew closer to becoming attorney general Friday after two key Senate Democrats said they would vote for him despite his refusal to say whether waterboarding is torture.
The decision by Sens. Charles Schumer and Dianne Feinstein to back President Bush's nominee came shortly after the chairman of the committee, Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., announced he would vote against Mukasey, a former federal judge.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PASSPORT_FEES?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Nov 3, 5:57 AM EDT
Feds overcharge for new US passports
By LARRY MARGASAK
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. government has overcharged Americans by more than $100 million a year in its fee for new passports, according to cost figures uncovered by congressional investigators and analyzed by two senators and The Associated Press.
The two senators said Americans have been quietly gouged since 2002. The report they initiated showed the costs incurred by the State Department and the U.S. Postal Service, for accepting passport applications, were considerably less than the fee charged.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BUSH_VETO?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Nov 3, 5:58 AM EDT
Bush vetoes water projects bill
By JENNIFER LOVEN
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- An increasingly confrontational President Bush on Friday vetoed a bill authorizing hundreds of popular water projects even though lawmakers can count enough votes to override him.
Bush brushed aside significant objections from Capitol Hill, even from Republicans, in vetoing legislation that provides $23 billion for projects like repairing hurricane damage, restoring wetlands and preventing flooding in communities across the nation.
It appears certain Bush will have his veto overridden for the first time in his presidency. The bill passed in both chambers of Congress by well more than the two-thirds majority needed to override Bush's decision and make the measure law.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PENTAGON_SPY_PROBE?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Nov 3, 3:31 AM EDT
Rice to face subpoena in espionage case
By MATT APUZZO
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and some of President Bush's top foreign policy advisers must testify about their conversations with pro-Israel lobbyists, a federal judge ruled Friday in a trial over the misuse of classified information.
The two lobbyists, who are accused of passing U.S. secrets to an Israeli official, argue that Rice and others can verify their claim that the United States regularly uses the American Israel Public Affairs Committee to send back-channel communications to Israel.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BUSH?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Nov 3, 5:59 AM EDT
Bush: Iraqis are 'taking back' Iraq
By JENNIFER LOVEN
Associated Press Writer
FORT JACKSON, S.C. (AP) -- A reopened historic market. A butcher selling more sheep. A parade in Anbar province. Electricity production above the level under Saddam Hussein. President Bush cited such indicators of normal life in Iraq along with evidence of decreased violence to argue Friday that the war is paying dividends.
"They're taking their country back," Bush said of Iraqis. "Slowly but surely the people of Iraq are reclaiming a normal society."
The president addressed a ceremony for 1,300 soldiers graduating from basic training here, many of whom will end up in Iraq. It was his first major speech on the topic since he announced in September that progress from this year's military buildup justifies keeping a large U.S. troop presence in Iraq at least until next summer.
Op-Ed Contributor
How Iraq’s Elections Set Back Democracy
By AYAD ALLAWI
Published: November 2, 2007
IN the six weeks since Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker delivered their report to Congress on the situation in Iraq, there has been much criticism over the lack of progress made by the Baghdad government toward national reconciliation. Unfortunately, neither Washington nor the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki seems to understand that reconciliation between Iraq’s ethnic and religious groups will begin only when we change the flawed electoral system that was created after the fall of Saddam Hussein.
The paralysis that has afflicted the government in Baghdad, the sectarian disputes across the country and the failure to move toward reconciliation were all predictable outcomes of the senseless rush to hold national elections and put the Constitution in place. At the time, leaders from all major parties produced a memorandum calling for a delay of the elections, which I presented to Ghazi al-Yawer, then the interim president of Iraq.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IRAQ?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Nov 3, 5:57 AM EDT
Anbar officials: US should stay
By ANNE FLAHERTY
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Declaring near-victory against al-Qaida, Sunni officials from Iraq's Anbar province laid out Friday what they want now from the United States: money to rebuild its battle-damaged cities, help expanding its police force by a third and private U.S. investment in its oil reserves.
"We united and that's why we obtained victory. So we are asking now that we compensate this province for all of the destruction it has faced," said Sheik Ahmed Abu Risha, whose older brother was assassinated after leading a revolt against al-Qaida terrorists.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/R/RICE?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Nov 3, 8:50 AM EDT
Iraq pledges to fight Kurdish rebels
By ANNE GEARAN
AP Diplomatic Writer
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki pledged Saturday to work with his country's neighbors to fight terrorism, comments that come under intense pressure from Turkey and the United States for his government to help put an end to attacks from Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq.
A short time later, Iraqi authorities shut down an office of the Kurdistan Democratic Solution party in Irbil , an organization that allegedly had close ties to Kurdish guerrillas.
The top U.S. diplomat, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, was playing go-between with Turkish and Iraqi officials as escalating tensions along the Turkish-Iraqi border overshadowed an international meeting on Iraq's future. Turkish troops are massed on the border, and world leaders are trying to prevent an assault that could open a new front in the Iraq war.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_NKOREA_REMAINS?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Nov 3, 4:26 AM EDT
Effort to recover US troops could resume
By FOSTER KLUG
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Defense Department says a joint U.S.-North Korean program to recover the remains of American troops killed during the Korean War could be restarted if six-nation nuclear disarmament talks succeed.
In response to a letter sent by Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson, Eric Edelman, an undersecretary of defense, wrote, "We are hopeful we can make verifiable progress in the six-party talks, and, in that context, we are prepared to discuss resuming joint field activities" with North Korea.
The Pentagon letter, given to The Associated Press on Friday by Richardson's office, said a resumption of the program would have to deal with "issues related to the safety and the security of our teams." It said the Defense Department was prepared to return the teams when the talks with - and conditions in - North Korea permit.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/01/60minutes/main3440577.shtml
Faulty Intel Source "Curve Ball" Revealed
60 Minutes: Iraqi's Fabricated Story Of Biological Weapons Aided U.S. Arguments For Invasion
(CBS) 60 Minutes has identified the man whose fabricated story of Iraqi biological weapons drove the U.S. argument for invading Iraq. It has also obtained video of "Curve Ball," as he was known in intelligence circles, and discovered he was not only a liar, but also a thief and a poor student instead of the chemical engineering whiz he claimed to be.
60 Minutes correspondent Bob Simon's two-year investigation will be broadcast this Sunday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1192380720002&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
'Iran trying to acquire nuclear weapons'
Bahrain's Crown Prince, Sheik Salman bin Isa al-Khalifa, said Friday that Iran is striving to acquire nuclear weaponry, Israel Radio reported.
Al Khalifa said that at the very least, Iran is attempting to gain the ability to produce nuclear weaponry.
The statement would make Bahrain the first Arab nation in the Persian Gulf to claim that Iran is attempting to deceive world leaders in relation to its nuclear aspirations.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8SM7GC80&show_article=1
Pakistan's Musharraf Declares Emergency
Nov 3 09:29 AM US/Eastern
By MATTHEW PENNINGTON
Associated Press Writer
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - President Gen. Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency in Pakistan on Saturday, state TV said, ahead of a crucial Supreme Court decision on whether to overturn his recent election win.
The report gave no reason for the emergency but it follows weeks of speculation that the president—who is also chief of the army—could take the step, amid rising political turmoil and Islamic militant violence.
"The chief of army staff has proclaimed a state of emergency and issued a provisional constitutional order," a newscaster on Pakistan TV said.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2007/11/02/do0203.xml
Coffee at Claridge's with Prince Saud
By Con Coughlin
Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 02/11/2007
The concept of hospitality lies at the very heart of Arab culture. Whether it is a powerful potentate welcoming a guest to the gilded luxury of his palace or a humble Bedouin offering the weary traveller shelter in his desert tent, being both gracious and generous to any visitor is as deeply ingrained in the Arabs' psyche as their fondness for dates and camel's milk.
Which makes the treatment the Saudi royal family received during King Abdullah's state visit to Britain this week seem all the more inexcusable.
