Scoop: Top Scoops + Just Politics

Friday, 17 January 2003, 5:30 pm
Article: Alastair Thompson

TODAY’S TOP SCOOPS
Mass Mobilisation Against War Stateside This Weekend
Big Brother Comes To The Land Of The Free
Flying On Deceit
Is the Smallpox Threat Hot Air?
Questionable Motives: In 1999 Bush Said He’d “Take Out!” Hussein
New Oil Shock Could Be Just Around The Corner
Countdown To War: Iraq War Talk Is Distracting - Anderton
Countdown To War: Inspectors Find Empty Chemical Warheads In Iraq
Countdown To War: Hawk Talk
Daily Katya Rivas

OTHER NEWS (Just Politics)
NZ Aid For Cyclone Ami
Kim Jong Il Gets A Goff Rev-Up
Margaret Shields Has Had Enough Of Tranz Rail
Auckland Mayors Unite For An End To Gridlock
Gordon Copeland On The State Of The Kiwi
Maori Science Funding
Muriel Newman Spots A PC Scab To Pick
Good Ole Days Of Kiwi Fishing Endangered
Tampa Refugees Welcomed By ACT
Nothing I Could Do About Child Abuser’s Release – Goff

Mass Mobilisation Against War Stateside This Weekend

- When Congress rejects the will of the people, the people must act themselves. Congress has rubber-stamped Bush's crimi-nal war that seeks to conquer the oil, land and resources of the Middle East. Bush and Congress have shown that they represent the interests of Corporate America rather than the people of the United States. See... Jan. 18 March On Washington To Demand No War [1] Links For Live Coverage (From Sunday NZT) DC Indymedia [2] - San Francisco Indymedia [3]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0301/S00084.htm
[2] - http://dc.indymedia.org
[3] - http://sf.indymedia.org

Big Brother Comes To The Land Of The Free

- The United States has now reached the point where a total “surveillance society” has become a realistic possibility, the American Civil Liberties Union warned in a report being released today. See... 'Big Brother' is No Longer a Fiction ACLU Warns [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0301/S00081.htm

Flying On Deceit

- Lyndon Johnson is remembered for lying about Vietnam, Richard Nixon for lying about Watergate, Bill Clinton for lying about adultery. George W. Bush is known as a straight shooter. What’s wrong with that picture? See... Bush Is Racking Up "Frequent Liar Miles" [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0301/S00062.htm

Is the Smallpox Threat Hot Air?

- We are told that there is new grave threat to our welfare. Smallpox. If we are indeed in danger of a smallpox outbreak (which is contradicted by medical testimony), the threat appears to be inflated. See... Smallpox in America: Into the Garden of Delights [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0301/S00061.htm

Questionable Motives: In 1999 Bush Said He’d “Take Out!” Hussein

- Here's a history lesson. Go back to December 1999 when President Bush was still governor of Texas and wasn't even the Republican candidate for President yet. Back then, Bush Jr. had said that if elected President of the United States he would use military force to "take out" Hussein and Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Most Americans believe Bush first mentioned the possibility of a war with Iraq after the September 11 terrorist attacks. See... Jason Leopold : Bush Sticks Closely To His Script [1] Will the USA’s Bloodlust be Satisfied? - For a year now, US President George Bush's administration's top foreign policy goal has been violent “regime change” in Iraq. On October 22, on the basis of a leak from the White House, the New York Times reported that the Bush administration plans to install a US military proconsul in Baghdad — along the lines of General Douglas MacArthur's six-and-half-year rule in post-1945 Japan — before handing Iraq over to a puppet government.. See... Green Left Weekly: Bush Plans Bloodbath In Iraq [2] Satire: Saddam’s War Diary - Dear Diary: This is a tough one. If I hang in there, I may just survive to carry out my plans. But if I make a wrong move, or misinterpret the wide variety of signals coming my way, I'm vaporized toast. See... Bernard Weiner: Inside Saddam Hussein's War Diary [3]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0301/S00059.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0301/S00060.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0301/S00058.htm

New Oil Shock Could Be Just Around The Corner

- The oil executives strike in Venezuela is beginning to bite on the United States mainland with conditions ripe for a further spike in crude oil prices to levels not seen since the oil shock of 1973. Scoop Editor Alastair Thompson reports. See... Oil Price May Spike As Venezuela Strike Bites US [1] MORE: - OPEC -123rd (Extraordinary) Meeting of OPEC [2] - US DoE - Summary of Weekly Petroleum Data - January 10 2002 [3]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0301/S00055.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0301/S00065.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/BU0301/S00028.htm

Countdown To War: Iraq War Talk Is Distracting - Anderton

- "Media speculation about a possible unilateral U.S.-led war in Iraq is damaging the world economy and diverting democratic nations' attention from the much more important issue of combating international terrorism," Progressive Coalition Leader Jim Anderton says. See... Talk of War on Iraq is Damaging World Economy [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0301/S00108.htm

Countdown To War: Inspectors Find Empty Chemical Warheads In Iraq

- United Nations inspectors today found empty chemical warheads at a storage area in Iraq, according to a spokesman for the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) in Baghdad. See... Inspectors report finding empty chemical warheads [1] . See also NZ Govt. response... Judgement on weapons finding must await evaluation [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0301/S00080.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0301/S00112.htm

Countdown To War: Hawk Talk

Rather: Earlier today, I talked exclusively with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. I asked his opinion on the possibility that Saddam Hussein might choose exile instead of war. See... Rumsfeld Interview with Dan Rather, CBS News [1] , Wolfowitz And Afghan Foreign Minister Availability [2] and Downing St Briefing 16 Jan. War On Terror / Iraq [3] ...See also COUNTDOWN TO WAR FEATURE PAGE [4]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0301/S00078.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0301/S00077.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0301/S00076.htm
[4] - http://scoop.co.nz/mason/features/?s=countdowniraq

Daily Katya Rivas

- From Advent 2002 through to Lent 2003 Scoop will be publishing selected extracts from Katya Rivas’s writings, extracts will be taken from each of the four books so far translated into English. See... Katya Rivas: I Want to Establish a New Kingdom [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0301/S00057.htm

NZ Aid For Cyclone Ami

- New Zealand has made an initial emergency contribution of $20,000 to the Fijian emergency relief appeal launched today in Suva, announced Phil Goff, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Marian Hobbs, Minister responsible for NZAID. See... New Zealand gives emergency relief to Fiji [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0301/S00107.htm

Kim Jong Il Gets A Goff Rev-Up

- New Zealand Foreign Minister Phil Goff has written again to his North Korean counterpart Paek Nam-sun, calling on North Korea to accept its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and renounce development of nuclear weapons. See... NZ reiterates disarmament message to North Korea [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0301/S00104.htm

Margaret Shields Has Had Enough Of Tranz Rail

- Margaret Shields, Chairperson of Greater Wellington – The Regional Council, has welcomed the Minister of Transport’s statement that the Government is moving to resolve the problems with the rail service. See... It’s Time For Tranz Rail To Go Says Shields [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/AK0301/S00036.htm

Auckland Mayors Unite For An End To Gridlock

- The National Party's giving its whole hearted support to Auckland mayors who now agree the Land Transport Management Bill isn't going to deliver the funding the city needs to get moving again. See... National Party backs Auckland mayors [1] MORE: - Mayoral Forum - Transport Bill won't deliver the funding needed [2] - Auckland Chamber Of Commerce - At last! Auckland speaking with one voice [3]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0301/S00120.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/AK0301/S00039.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/AK0301/S00037.htm

Gordon Copeland On The State Of The Kiwi

- New Zealand needs to watch very carefully the present combination of high interest rates and a strengthening kiwi dollar. See... High Rates & A Strong Kiwi Have Their Downside [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0301/S00119.htm

Maori Science Funding

- The National Party's calling on the Government to justify the special science funding it plans to allocate to projects benefiting Maori. See... Govt must justify special Maori science funding [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0301/S00118.htm

Muriel Newman Spots A PC Scab To Pick

- New Zealand has formed a reputation as a great country to make movies. This lucrative standing is being placed at serious risk. See... Muriel Newman: "Have We Gone Too Far?" [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0301/S00117.htm

Good Ole Days Of Kiwi Fishing Endangered

- New Zealanders' ability to gather coastal seafood goes back to the days of the country's earliest habitation, yet greed and ignorance are putting that opportunity at risk. See... Recreational Fishermen Endangered Species [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0301/S00116.htm

Tampa Refugees Welcomed By ACT

- ACT Deputy Leader Ken Shirley said today that he was extremely concerned that 150 queue jumping refugees have arrived in New Zealand. See... 150 Queue Jumping Refugees Arrive in NZ [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0301/S00115.htm

Nothing I Could Do About Child Abuser’s Release – Goff

National MP Tony Ryall is being deliberately dishonest in stating that I or any Minister could have stopped Barry Ryder’s release, Justice Minister Phil Goff said today. See... Ryall dishonest in parole decisions claims [1] and his accusers… Government Lets Monsters Be [2] and Goff released repeat sex offender [3]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0301/S00113.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0301/S00111.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0301/S00109.htm

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Alastair Thompson

Scoop Publisher

Alastair Thompson is the co-founder of Scoop. He is of Scottish and Irish extraction and from Wellington, New Zealand. Alastair has 24 years experience in the media, at the Dominion, National Business Review, North & South magazine, Straight Furrow newspaper and online since 1997. He is the winner of several journalism awards for business and investigative work.

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