…But just as surely as the media went after those in positions of power, and sought to expose them as witless in all respects, it was even more adept at framing (pun very much intended) low-income black folks in the streets of New Orleans as a collection of deviant criminals. In other words, the more things changed, the more they ultimately stayed the same, with the press presenting images of the desperate and left behind that reinforce negative and racist stereotypes, to the utter exclusion of accuracy and fair-mindedness.
counterpunch.org

…But all this was besides the real point. The AIDS donation was a mere quarter of the moolah Microsoft was lobbing at the Indian computer market and astute journalists noted the contrast between the Bill-g fan club in Delhi and Cyberabad (as the Andhra capital of Hyderabad was nicknamed) and the media neglect of Richard Stallman, President of the Free Software Foundation, who was in India at the same time. Stripped of the AIDS hoopla, Gates’ visit was actually a major skirmish in Microsoft’s ongoing jihad against the free soft ware, GNU+Linux, which Stallman was promoting and which is broadly popular with governments all over the world, especially in developing countries.
counterpunch.org

…Fear and sex have had a complex, intertwined evolutionary history, ever since our amphibious ancestors first mated ecstatically in the midst of fearsome predators, up to our modern desire to expose ourselves in risky places, from the Internet to the Oval Office. Hot sex and a touch of fear–risk, danger, taboo–seem to go together. Why is this?
counterpunch.org

…Bono, his voice cracking with emotion, concurred. “We are talking about $25bn of new money…. The world spoke and the politicians listened.”

Journalists and campaigners broke into spontaneous applause; the next day’s media coverage led with Geldof’s “mission accomplished” verdict. But as the millions who signed up to Make Poverty History (MPH) and Live8 rejoiced, inside the upper echelons of MPH all hell was breaking loose. “They’ve shafted us,” a press officer from a British development organization screamed down the phone.
counterpunch.org

Tariq Aziz, the former deputy prime minister of Iraq, has denied telling investigators that George Galloway personally profited from the UN oil-for-food programme for Iraq.

Mr Aziz’s lawyer, Badia Aref, described claims regarding the Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow as “lies”. Republican Senator Norm Coleman used interviews with Aziz as evidence that Saddam’s regime granted 23 million barrels of oil to Mr Galloway and his Mariam Appeal fund. The US Congressional report said Aziz, under questioning by the subcommittee, had discussed oil allocations with Galloway. “These are lies … He [Aziz] denied this,” Mr Aref said. “It is part of a media campaign aimed at smearing Galloway’s reputation,” said the lawyer.
independent.co.uk

Sleaze, leaks and an indictment add up to the worst presidential crisis since Nixon. And it will get worse. The White House has lost one key man but the whole chain of command may be engulfed by a scandal slowly revealing the lies that led to war.

…”The responsibility for lying to the American people and targeting critics and dissidents needs to go all the way up the chain of command. Scooter Libby was clearly one of the administration’s attack dogs unleashed on opponents of this fraudulent war, but he serves higher masters.”
independent.co.uk

The political meltdown around a coming election in Haiti could tarnish Canada’s peacekeeping reputation. Canada is taking a lead role in Haiti’s reconstruction, but increasing violence and political repression is making free and fair elections impossible, critics warn.

Canada is the third largest donor to Haiti, after the United States and the European Union. Canada has contributed $180 million for Haiti’s reconstruction over the next two years, including over $26 million for the upcoming elections.

But there are thousands of political prisoners in Haiti, according to journalist Kevin Pina, and Canada has the daunting task of reforming the police, court and prison systems

“The situation is horrible right now,” said Pina, an American who has lived in Haiti for the past six years. “You have a situation where the majority political party is basically confronting a campaign of extermination. It’s a nightmare situation and Canada is up to its neck in it.”
thetyee.ca

FBI Raises National Security Concerns Amid Military Corruption
WASHINGTON, Oct. 26, 2005 — – Several cases of corruption in the military ranks have revealed a dangerous vulnerability in the nation’s security, ABC News has learned.

Dozens of active and former soldiers have abused their military uniforms and authority in a drug smuggling ring, government sources tell ABC News.

A U.S. army sergeant fighting the war on drugs in Colombia was recently sentenced to six years in prison for using military aircraft to smuggle cocaine into the United States.

In April, an Air National Guard pilot and a sergeant used a C-5 Galaxy military transport plane to sneak nearly 300,000 Ecstasy pills from Germany into New York.

In another case, three U.S. airmen were arrested in March for stealing military-issue bulletproof vests from Moody Air Force Base in Georgia and selling them to drug dealers for $100 each.

Chip Burrus, the deputy assistant director of the FBI’s criminal division, says the corruption “has the potential to be a cancer that spreads in individual units.”

The FBI has launched a major initiative to find out whether other members of the military and law enforcement are willing to engage in similar behavior for profit.
abcnews.go.com