http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21163806/site/newsweek/page/0/
The Blackwater File
By Rod Nordland and Mark Hosenball
Newsweek
Oct. 15, 2007 issue - The colonel was furious. “Can you believe it? They actually drew their weapons on U.S. soldiers.” He was describing a 2006 car accident, in which an SUV full of Blackwater operatives had crashed into a U.S. Army Humvee on a street in Baghdad’s Green Zone. The colonel, who was involved in a follow-up investigation and spoke on the condition he not be named, said the Blackwater guards disarmed the U.S. Army soldiers and made them lie on the ground at gunpoint until they could disentangle the SUV. His account was confirmed by the head of another private security company. Asked to address this and other allegations in this story, Blackwater spokesperson Anne Tyrrell said, “This type of gossip has led to many soap operas in the press.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/10/11/today-show-scores-first-l_n_68147.html

NBC News announced that Valerie Plame Wilson will sit down with Meredith Vieira for “her first-ever live television interview.” The interview will occur a week from Monday, October 22, on the Today show.
Plame Wilson is the former CIA agent whose identity was revealed by columnist Robert Novak, which led to the conviction of Scooter Libby. She will discuss her new book, Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House

TENS OF THOUSANDS EXPECTED TO CONVERGE IN 11 CITIES ACROSS NATION TO PROTEST AGAINST IRAQ WAR ON OCTOBER 27TH Contact: Mahdis Keshavarz (New York) Mahdis@mahdis.org
United for Peace and Justice Coalition Calls for the 70% Majority of Anti-War Americans to Participate
New York, NY, October 9, 2007 - United for Peace and Justice, the largest anti-war coalition in the U.S., today announced plans for 11 massive anti-war rallies to take place around the nation on Saturday, October 27th 2007. As polls indicate that 70% of the U.S. population disapproves of the widely unpopular war, organizer’s believe the October 27th action will provide a platform for those who have remained silent thus far to express their message of disapproval to the Bush Administration and demand decisive action. Participating organizations include veterans and military family groups as well as hundreds of national and local peace groups.
Leslie Cagan, National Coordinator of United for Peace and Justice said, “Never before have we seen anything like this. In regional centers throughout the nation people will gather in an expression of the wide spread opposition to the war. This war, with its senseless death and destruction in Iraq, is draining our communities as resources we need here at home are squandered every day. It is time to bring our troops home.”
Tens of thousands are expected to participate in the coordinated day of opposition to the Bush Administration war in Iraq. The protest will take place in 11 regional centers including New York, Boston, New Orleans, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Jonesborough (TN), Seattle, Salt Lake City, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Orlando. Several other cities are conducting smaller gatherings for those who are unable to travel.
Nancy Lessin, co-Founder of Military Families Speak Out stated, “In the coming weeks, Congress will decide whether or not to continue funding the war in Iraq for another year. Military families and Iraq veterans will participate in the regional demonstrations on October 27th to join people from around the country to remind Congress that funding this war is killing our troops.”
Each month, nearly 100 service-people and countless more Iraqis are killed, some $12 billion of U.S tax dollars are spent, and the death and destruction continue. Communities throughout the nation bear the brunt of the Administrations neglect whether it be cuts to education or health care.
For more information about the October 27th actions visit www.oct27.org or www.unitedforpeace.org
United for Peace and Justice is a coalition of more than 1400 local and national groups throughout the United States who have joined together to protest the immoral and disastrous Iraq War and oppose our government’s policy of permanent warfare and empire-building. For more details go to www.unitedforpeace.org

First, a disclaimer: Drinking Liberally does not endorse candidates or issues, and nothing in my posts should be interpreted to be a Drinking Liberally position.

Is it just me, or does it really seem that Dave Buhler is trying hard to bait Ralph Becker? It seems like every time I open the newspaper I see another headline where Buhler is attacking Becker for one thing or another, and each time Becker comes out looking like the bigger man because he always brushes it off and doesn’t take the bait.

If you’ve met Ralph, you know this is very much part of his character. It’s not that he’s a wimp, he probably just realizes these petty little jabs won’t amount to anything in the end. Buhler is grasping at straws, and Becker refuses to be pulled into the dirty campaigning that Buhler seems to want.

Buhler runs as the “reasonable” candidate, and I’ve got to say that after seeing him in one of the Mayoral debates at Westminster, I left thinking that maybe he wasn’t all that bad. Sure, he didn’t even answer our request to speak at Drinking Liberally (the only candidate at the time that didn’t come out), but after hearing him at the debate I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. I still won’t vote for him because there are too many things for which I disagree with him. Lately however, he doesn’t seem to be the “reasonable” candidate. Reasonable would be standing on your own record and credentials. Reasonable is not trying to pull someone else down.

One of my favorite things to read in the Tribune has been this: