“The protests in Europe started even before President Bush’s scheduled departure Monday morning for an eight-day visit to six countries, including the G-8 summit in Germany. Over the weekend, demonstrators in Germany were out protesting many issues, but Bush and Iraq are near the top of their list.”
“House Oversight and Government Reform Committee staffers appear close to an agreement that would limit the number of e-mails the panel will demand from the Republican National Committee as part of an investigation of political presentations given to federal agencies.”
War critics in Congress “plan a summer of repeated Iraq-related votes” designed to force Bush supporters “to abandon the White House before the fall.” The votes will be linked to expanded local campaigns to pressure members in their own states. “Our job is to go into the congressional districts of members and create a political environment that is toxic,” said Tom Matzzie of Americans Against Escalation in Iraq.
A legal battle with global implications begins tomorrow with the Guantanamo Bay arraignment of Omar Ahmed Khadr, accused of killing a U.S. soldier with a grenade in 2002, when he was 15 years old. “A range of legal experts describe as the first child fighter in decades to face war-crimes charges.”
“After promising unprecedented openness regarding Congress’ pork barrel practices, House Democrats are moving in the opposite direction as they draw up spending bills for the upcoming budget year.” Democrats are sidestepping their own rules and adding earmarks when it is “too late for critics to effectively challenge them.”
More than four years into the Iraq war, the Defense Department “has formed a task force comprised of military and federal law enforcement agencies” to “investigate contract fraud and public corruption related to Iraq reconstruction.”
The Senate architects of a “delicate immigration compromise are increasingly convinced that they will hold together this week to pass an overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws, with momentum building behind one unifying theme: Today’s immigration system is too broken to go unaddressed.”
Due to the growing climate crisis, the Weather Channel “has seen its primary subject turn into a hot-button issue,” and “has decided not to tread gingerly,” covering climate change and related science. “If The Weather Channel isn’t talking about climate change and global warming, who is?” a network executive said.
And finally: Last week at a conference, a colleague of actor Ben Affleck asked former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay if he’d sign a copy of ‘No Retreat, No Surrender‘ for the Hollywood actor.” Even though Affleck is outspoken on liberal issues, DeLay admitted that he is a big fan of Affleck’s 1995 film “Mallrats.” DeLay’s inscription to Affleck: “Ben and Jen — Loved you in Mallrats, this book is kind of like that. Keep the Faith — Tom DeLay.”
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