USA: BUSH POLLS ALL TIME LOW

CBS: Poll: Bush Ratings Hit New Low

President George W. Bush's overall job approval rating has reached the lowest ever measured in this poll, and evaluations of his handling of Iraq, the economy and even his signature issue, terrorism, are also at all-time lows. More Americans than at any time since he took office think he does not share their priorities.

PRESIDENT BUSH'S JOB APPROVAL

Approve

Overall
Now
37%
9/2005
41%
8/2005
41%

Terrorism
Now
46%
9/2005
50%
8/2005
54%


Iraq
Now
32%
9/2005
36%
8/2005
38%

Economy
Now
32%
9/2005
35%
8/2005
37%

Hurricane Katrina
Now
45%
9/2005
44%
8/2005
54%

USA: PLAME GATE

NY Times: Rove Ordered to Talk Again in Leak Inquiry

The special prosecutor in the C.I.A. leak case has summoned Karl Rove, the senior White House adviser, to return next week to testify to a federal grand jury in a step that could mean charges will be filed in the case, lawyers in the case said Thursday.

The prosecutor, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, has held discussions in recent days with lawyers for several administration officials suggesting that he is considering whether to charge them with a crime over the disclosure of an intelligence operative's identity in a 2003 newspaper column.

WAR ON TERROR

Rense: The Unwinnable War by Charley Reese

The so-called war against terrorism is unwinnable. It was designed to be unwinnable so that it can be carried on for an indefinite duration and thus support the vast military-industrial-anti-terrorism complex. The end of the Cold War scared this complex half to death. It can only survive with an enemy at the gates.

Conventional wars can be won because they are fought against governments. Either the enemy government can be destroyed or it is made to pay such a high price in casualties and assets that it will sue for peace. Either way, everybody knows the war is over. The Cold War ended when the Soviet Union collapsed and the Russians ended their occupation of Eastern Europe. We should have dismantled the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, as they did the Warsaw Pact, and moved to a peacetime situation.

Too many people in this country, however, have a vested interest in war, and they were in desperate need of a new enemy and some dramatic event to get the people all riled up. Osama bin Laden obliged on both counts.

PROPAGANDA WATCH

Bloomberg: Blair Says Bombs Used in Iraq May Be Linked to Iran

Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair today said that there is evidence tying Iran to bombings in neighboring Iraq in the first public accusation that the Shiite Muslim country is supporting militants in Iraq.

``There have been new explosive devices used against British troops and elsewhere,'' Blair said. ``The particular nature of those devices leads us to either Iranian elements or Hezbollah that is funded and supported by Iran.

``We can't be certain of this at this time,'' he told a news conference in London with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, carried live by international broadcasters. ``Obviously, we will continue our investigations'' and ``discussions'' with Iran.

"What is Mr. Blair trying to sell? He fucked up his whole credibility. Fucked up Iraq. Its not the fault of the British Imperialists that they have little to zero progress in Iraq.it is not the fault of the british that Shia Death Squads roam the streets, that the sunni guerilla kill civilians everyday, that women have far less rights than they had under saddam, that people still have no electricy, that people still have no water in theyre homes, that iraq is on the brink of a civil war..lets blame IRAN..it was Iran who told Bush and Blair that they should invade Iraq in the first place"

Update:

Reuters: Iran not interfering in Iraq-Iraqi prime minister

ISRAEL SPYING ON USA

AP: US official admits spying for Israel


A top US Defence Department analyst with expertise in the Middle East has pleaded guilty to giving classified information to an Israeli embassy official and members of a pro-Israel lobbying group.

Lawrence Franklin, 58, said in court on Wednesday that he was frustrated with government policy and that he had hoped the two members of American Israel Public Affairs Committee could influence policy with their connections at the National Security Council.

He also admitted giving classified information to a political official at the Israeli embassy, but said the information he received from the official was far more valuable than what he gave.

PROPAGANDA WATCH

Washington Times: Iran Army Given Control Of Entire Nuclear Program
by David R. Sands

Iran's new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has placed the military firmly in control of his nation's nuclear program, undercutting his government's claim that the program is intended for civilian use, according to a leading opposition group.

"The military under the new president is firmly in control of the nuclear program and the nuclear negotiations with the United Nations and the West," said Mohammad Mohaddessin, chairman of the NCRI's foreign affairs committee, in a telephone interview yesterday.

The NCRI is the political arm of the People's Mujahadeen, a secular Iranian bloc that broke violently with the Islamic leaders of the revolution shortly after the ouster of the U.S.-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

The opposition group has had a checkered and at times contradictory role. Branded a terrorist group by U.S. and European governments, it also has proven to be the single best intelligence source on Iran's clandestine nuclear programs, exposing in recent years massive research and testing sites inside Iran unknown to U.N. and Western monitors.

"As Mr. Sands tells us late in the article, the MEK are actually regardet as Terrorist Group by the the US State Department. I wonder if he would call Al-qaida or Hamas an leading opposition group too. He doesn't tell us why they are branded by him as "single best intelligent source on Iran's "clandestine" Nuclear program. They are probably the single best source because there are no others. Anybody remembering Chalabis INC?

Irans Nuclear program is not "clandestine". Iran is under severe IAEA inspections and has the right to develop the nuclear fuel cycle for civilian purposes."

AOL: CENSORSHIP?

Prison Planet: AOL Time-Warner Censors Alex Jones Websites

Nationwide blackout a clear attempt to shut down free speech or just an error?

Has Time Warner's ISP, Road Runner, blocked access to all of Alex Jones' flagship websites across the entire United States or is this a wider Internet blackout issue?

We were first alerted to this problem early this morning when several locals in Austin reported that they were unable to access Infowars.com, PrisonPlanet.com or Prison Planet.tv.

Austin Time Warner had previously shut down access to our websites on a whim, claiming they were 'hate material' but in all cases had quickly restored them after receiving complaints.

However, this latest attack on free speech is occurring nationwide, with Time Warner subscribers from New York to California reporting that their access to the websites is being blocked. Is this deliberate or an Internet-wide issue? Only time will tell.

Update: Justin from Justin Buist's Log told me that Mr. Jones is wrong and i agree with him.
check what he is writing about the whole thing:

The Internet: It's broke!

This morning I see that an article has been written up on the subject: AOL Time-Warner Censors Alex Jones Websites

Simply put: I'm not buying that one bit.

ISRAEL: DEMOCRACY

Haaretz: More Israeli Jews favor transfer of Palestinians, Israeli Arabs - poll finds

Some 46 percent of Israel's Jewish citizens favor transferring Palestinians out of the territories, while 31 percent favor transferring Israeli Arabs out of the country, according to the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies' annual national security public opinion poll.

Some 72 percent of Jewish Israelis are opposed to Arab parties being part of a coalition government, compared to 67 percent last year and 50 percent in 1999.

"What Haaretz describes as "transfer" is called ethnic cleansing in the rest of the world"

IRAQ

Al-Ahram: Zarqawi's war whoop

University of Baghdad Political Science Professor Jinan Ali says there is more to the Zarqawi threat than appears on the surface.

"The so-called war against Shiites began after Moqtada Al-Sadr announced his opposition to drafting the constitution," says Ali. ""Most of the Shiites targeted are Moqtada's followers intended to force them to cast a "Yes" vote in the coming referendum".

Many Iraqis are now wondering whether Zarqawi is a real figure or not.

"Zarqawi is a good pretext for striking any Iraqi city or town," Professor Ali explains.

"If Zarqawi is defending the Sunnis and his followers are operating in the Sunni areas, why were Najaf and Sadr city (mostly Shiite areas) targeted by the Americans and Iraqi forces several times before?"

CHINA: CENSORSHIP

Time: China's Web Watchers

The Internet was supposed to be immune to censorship, but Beijing has found ways to stifle online dissent

IRAN: PATH TO WAR

Prisonplanet: Will Israel Start World War Three?

Israeli rhetoric towards Iran has considerably heated in the last few weeks as the world hurtles towards an inevitable confrontation over Iran's nuclear programs.
Last week three senior Israeli lawmakers went public to warn that Israel would act unilaterally to eliminate any perceived Iranian threat.

"Threats of sanctions and isolation alone will not do it, we feel we are obliged to warn our friends that Israel should not be pushed into a situation where we see no other solution but to act unilaterally."

Estimates of when Iran is likely to have acquired a usable nuclear arsenal range from five to ten years, but the Israelis have been fear mongering by saying it will be as soon as one or two.