Top Scoops: Comment & Opinion Digest May 25 2007

Sunday, 27 May 2007, 8:28 pm
Article: Alastair Thompson

SCOOP COMMENT & OPINION:
Scoop Satire: Hood: Govt Struggles to Overreact to Tragedies
Mormons: LDS Church - Mexico Drug Money Connection?
Motornet: A Bit Of Swagger
Whistle Blowing: Exec. Blows The Whistle On Pfizer
Spying In The USA: Michael Collins - Comey’s Evidence Of A Crime
Video/Cartoon: Jim Hightower on Why We're in Iraq
Israel/OT: M Shahid Alam - Chosenness & Israeli Exceptionalism
US Attorneys: Missing Rove Emails A Violation of Records Act
American Coup: Inconvenient Truths About Stolen Elections?
Impeachment: 13 State Democratic Parties Demand Impeachment
Iraq War: Dean Baker - The Peace Weenies Were Right
LATEST SOUTH ASIAN NEWS & COMMENT:
RIP: Bill Berkowitz - Jerry Falwell
Budget 2007: Budget Crisis - Lack of Nickname
MORE SCOOP COMMENT & OPINION:

Scoop Satire: Hood: Govt Struggles to Overreact to Tragedies

Satire by Lyndon Hood - The purpose of the State, it is widely accepted, is to stop bad things happening. Recent events show this Government's spectacular failure in this regard. Their only hope is that other role was ask of our leaders, finding the right overreaction in a crisis. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00456.htm

Mormons: LDS Church - Mexico Drug Money Connection?

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has had a presence in what is now Mexico since the 1870s. Some of those early polygamist Mormon settlers of Chihuahua's Colonia Dublan and Colonia Juarez – where Mitt Romney’s father George W. was ... See... More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00311.htm

Motornet: A Bit Of Swagger

Rightly or wrongly, Jaguar’s are often seen as stately, even genteel cars – cars that convey their passengers in comfort and silence, cosseted, removed even from the real world. It’s the smoking jacket effect, lingering on even in the face of some modern and technologically advanced product. See... More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00453.htm

Whistle Blowing: Exec. Blows The Whistle On Pfizer

- On November 17, 2005 Pfizer’s CEO Jeff Kindler, who was then Pfizer’s General Counsel, received and read a highly unusual e-mail, according to the internal read receipt on that mail. See... More >> [1]

MORE WHISTLE BLOWING NEWS:
• Peter Rost M.D. - PFE Exec. Blowe Whistle - Pfizer CFO Resigns [2] & Will Pfizer CEO Mr. Kindler Also Resign? [3]
• William Fisher - Whistleblowers Charge Retaliation; Seek Protection [4]
• James J Murtagh - Modern Day Paul Reveres Ride to Washington [5]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00454.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00413.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00428.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00426.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00368.htm

Spying In The USA: Michael Collins - Comey’s Evidence Of A Crime

Tuesday was a remarkable day at the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearings . The exchange between Sen. Charles Schumer, R, NY and former Deputy Attorney General James Comey provides clear evidence pointing to criminal activity by the president, U.S ... See... More >> [1]

MORE ON THE COMEY TESTIMONY:
• Bernard Weiner - Thuggery In Iraq & In A Hospital Room [2]
• Jason Leopold - Comey: "White House Tried to Coerce Ashcroft" [3]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00343.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00423.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00395.htm

Video/Cartoon: Jim Hightower on Why We're in Iraq

US national radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and author of Thieves In High Places: They've Stolen Our Country And It's Time to Take It Back, Jim Hightower has spent three decades battling the Powers That Be. Here's his recent video-cartoon. See... More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00316.htm

Israel/OT: M Shahid Alam - Chosenness & Israeli Exceptionalism

No idea has played a more seminal role in the recent history of Jewish and Christian Zionism than the Jewish doctrine of divine election or chosenness.[1] Since this doctrine is the cornerstone of Zionism, divine sanction for Jewish uniqueness has ... See... More >> [1]

MORE ISRAEL & PALESTINE:
• Uri Avnery - A Swiss Cheese [2]
• Middle East News Service - Haaretz: First, We'll Shoot A Bit, Flex A Muscle [3] , Malcolm Fraser: Not Talking Is Never Good Enough [4] & Perpetuating Conflict [5]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00411.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00412.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00450.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00449.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00396.htm

US Attorneys: Missing Rove Emails A Violation of Records Act

Three years ago, Robert Luskin, the attorney who defended White House Political Adviser Karl Rove in the CIA leak case, made a startling discovery: a July 2003 email Rove sent to then-Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley proved Rove was ... See... More >> [1]

MORE US ATTORNEYS:
• Bradblog.Com - White House 'Last Chance' On Voluntary Cooperation [2]
• Truthout Links - The Rule Of Law & The Media vs Gonzales & Bush [3]
• Jason Leopold - Waxman Threatens to Subpoena CIA's Plame Documents [4]
• William Fisher - Special Counsel's Ties to White House Mar Probe [5]
• Palast Goodman & RFK - The Firing Of David Iglesias [6]
• Truthout Links - US Attorneys: Voter-Fraud Complaints & Dismissals [7]
• Greg Palast - Greg Palast: An Army of Rove-Bots [8]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00435.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00433.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00447.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00305.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00304.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00303.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00302.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00363.htm

American Coup: Inconvenient Truths About Stolen Elections?

- Al Gore has just made his second major contribution to our national political dialog. His first, "An Inconvenient Truth," has helped make the perils of global warming real to the American mainstream. See... More >> [1]

MORE AMERICAN COUP:
• Slate.Com - Link: The Fraudulent Voting Rights Fraud Squad [2]
• Bradblog.Com - McClatchy On Bush FEC Operative Von Spakovsky [3]
• John Gideon - Daily Voting News For May 19-23, 2007 [4] , May 15-18, 2007 [5] , May 14, 2007 [6] & May 13, 2007 [7]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00364.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00425.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00434.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00446.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00403.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00314.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00299.htm

Impeachment: 13 State Democratic Parties Demand Impeachment

It took 13 colonies to throw out the last King George. Thirteen state Democratic parties have now passed resolutions demanding impeachment, nine of them since Nancy Pelosi ordered the Democratic Party away from impeachment. See... More >> [1]

MORE IMPEACHMENT NEWS:
• David Swanson - W Stands for Wisconsin Impeachment Summer [2] , What Do These Crimes Have in Common? [3] , Detroit City Council Passes Impeachment Resolution [4] , Agnew v Cheney: How Did the Good Guys Finally Win? [5]
• Bernard Weiner - The Roots of Disaster: Impeachment As Remedy [6]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00445.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00427.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00406.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00398.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00390.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00391.htm

Iraq War: Dean Baker - The Peace Weenies Were Right

Last week I was struck to see a well-respected centrist foreign policy analyst discuss President Bush's "surge" as a serious policy for bringing stability to Iraq. This sight was striking, because at this point it is very difficult to imagine the surge ... See... More >> [1]

MORE IRAQ WAR:
• Hearst Newspapers - Link: US Secretly Launches Second Iraq Troop Surge [2]
• David Swanson - Peace Movement Not So Good With Media or Elections [3] , Accusing Bush of Abandoning Troops Via His Veto [4] & Yr 5, Do You Know Where Your Senators Are? [5]
• Scoop Link - Iraqi Parliament Won't Accept US-Written Oil Law [6]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00432.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00424.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00418.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00410.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00397.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00301.htm

LATEST SOUTH ASIAN NEWS & COMMENT:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00430.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00419.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00417.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00296.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00416.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00300.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00407.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00366.htm
[9] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00360.htm
[10] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00357.htm
[11] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00356.htm

RIP: Bill Berkowitz - Jerry Falwell

The Reverend Jerry Falwell, who died Tuesday at the age of 73, is perhaps best known for his fundamentalist social positions and tirades against lesbians, gays and feminists, not to mention "pagans", "abortionists" and assorted other miscreants. See... More >> [1]

MORE ON THE DEPARTURE OF JERRY FALWELL:
• John Chuckman - Falwell's Legacy [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00409.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00394.htm

Budget 2007: Budget Crisis - Lack of Nickname

- Concern is mounting in political and media circles that Michael Cullen's latest budget may not receive a proper nickname. This puts media coverage of an important economic issue in jeopardy and raises the terrifying possibility that no part of the Government's ... See... More >> [1]

MORE BUDGET 2007 COMMENT:
• Keith Rankin - NZ's 2007 Budget and the Overvalued Dollar [2]
• Molesworth & Featherston - Budget 2007 May Surprise [3]
• Transtasman - Political Letter – Budget Special [4]
• C.D. Sludge - Sludge Report #175: Save Some – Get More!!! [5]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00344.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00342.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00339.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00338.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00337.htm

MORE SCOOP COMMENT & OPINION:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00431.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00421.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00312.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00452.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00369.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00358.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00441.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00359.htm
[9] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00440.htm
[10] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00439.htm
[11] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00436.htm
[12] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00438.htm
[13] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00402.htm
[14] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00401.htm
[15] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00297.htm
[16] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00437.htm
[17] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00420.htm
[18] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00408.htm
[19] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00405.htm
[20] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00404.htm
[21] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00400.htm
[22] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00399.htm
[23] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00392.htm
[24] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00298.htm
[25] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00315.htm
[26] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00310.htm
[27] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00306.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.

Contact Alastair Thompson

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