Complete Convention Coverage

Read all about my trip to NYC for The Republican Convention, including the epic story

H.L.Does Time

October 26, 2004.

The War President, with War on his mind, fouls up again. (Big Time)

NY Times

Huge Cache of Explosives Vanished From Site in Iraq

380 TONS of Explosives. How do you lose 380 Tons of anything. The report said that The Cache of weapons was unguarded! So now the Iraqi insurgents have enough fire power to kill our soldiers for a very long time. The quagmire deepens, and Cowboy George has nothing to say on the matter. John Kerry had a few things to say about it

He called it "One of the great blunders of Iraq" and said, "President Bush's incredible incompetence had put American troops at risk. Indeed. How many bombs can you make out of 380 Tons of explosives. I would imagine that 5 pounds of explosives could rip a pretty big hole in a building, and kill dozens. But they haven't lost 5 pounds, or 10 pounds, or 100 pounds, or even 2000 pounds, which is one ton. They lost 380 Tons. Thats got to be enough to blow Iraq right off the map. They probably left that munitions depot unguarded on purpose, because if the insurgents have all those weapons then we will have to stay and fight them much longer, and the longer were over there the Richer Bush and his cronies get, becase they can build more bombs. (We have to replace the ones we just lost right.) War profit, thats what its all about. I wonder how much those 380 Tons cost us taxpayers. I guess we will be paying again. Meanwhile Bush made speech, after speech, today, and did not mention it once.

John Kerry has an Ace up his sleeve

MSNBC

Thousands cheer Clinton at Philly rally for Kerry

Clinton was asked if he had anything in common with Bush, after thinking for a second he said: "In 8 days and 12 hours we will both be ex-presidents." See now that the kind of positive thinking from a winner that we need.

Who do the terrorists want to win the election? Heres another Bush lie exposed

American Politics Journal

Who Wants Who to Win

Only 5 more days until Halloween. Be careful at those spooky dark houses while you are Trick or Treating.

Some artists are starting to come right out and say (as H.L. did many years ago)That Bush was behind 9/11

FTW

Popular Culture vs. Bush

By Michael Kane

They will stop at nothing to take away our rights. While the campaign has been quietly going on, our Government is making plans to screen all travelers backgrounds.

Tom Paine

Flight Insecurity

Have you ever seen Triumph The Insult Comic Dog? Well if you haven't check this out. He's a real wise ass.

ifilms

Triumph The Insult Comic Dog Takes on Spin Alley.

Heres a story about how the courts are trying to silence Journalists who uncover things that the Government doesn't want us to know

AP

Journalists, Sources Face Legal Scrutiny

By SETH SUTEL, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK - With several reporters facing possible jail sentences and fines, there are signs mounting legal pressure on journalists to reveal confidential sources is having a chilling effect on newsgathering. Clark Hoyt, the Washington editor of Knight Ridder, the nation's second-largest newspaper company, said he has seen two examples in recent weeks of sources declining to provide information after initially agreeing to do so confidentially. The sources feared they might be investigated, or that their identities could be discovered from a subpoena of the reporter's phone records, Hoyt said. "I think there is no question that there is greater anxiety among sources about talking to journalists," he said.

The ability of reporters to gather sensitive information confidentially received another challenge Thursday, when a federal judge approved an unusual request by bioterror expert Steven Hatfill to question journalists who wrote stories relating to the 2001 anthrax attacks. Hatfill is suing Attorney General John Ashcroft and other government officials who named him as a "person of interest" in the attacks, which killed five people. Hatfill says his reputation has been ruined, and he is seeking damages. As part of the arrangement, the Justice Department will distribute waiver forms to members of its staff next month, allowing them to release journalists from pledges of confidentiality. Hatfill's attorneys would then question reporters who wrote about the attacks using information they may have received from confidential sources.

Similar waivers have been used by prosecutors in a separate investigation into the disclosure of the identity of Valerie Plame, an undercover CIA (news - web sites) operative. Investigators suspect her name may have been revealed as retribution by the government against her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, for writing a newspaper opinion column criticizing President Bush (news - web sites)'s claim that Iraq (news - web sites) had sought uranium in Niger. Some reporters gave testimony after government officials released them from pledges of confidentiality, but Judith Miller of The New York Times and Time magazine's Matt Cooper were both found in contempt of court for declining to disclose their sources. Appeals are pending, but the two face possible penalties including jail time. Use of the waivers has frightened at least one source for a Hearst reporter. Eve Burton, the general counsel for Hearst Corp., which owns 12 newspapers across the country, said a reporter's source recently warned he would never release the journalist from a pledge of confidentiality. "My response back as a lawyer is that you ought to be sure that this is a story you're willing to go to jail for," Burton said.

Also, reporter Jim Taricani of WJAR-TV in Rhode Island was found in contempt for refusing to say how he obtained a videotape showing a Providence official taking a bribe. Taricani is being assessed a fine of $1,000 per day. The ruling comes as former Providence Mayor Vincent "Buddy" Cianci Jr. serves five years in prison for masterminding a scheme that took bribes in exchange for tax breaks, favors and city jobs. Much of the recent legal action against reporters has occurred in federal courts, where there is no clear law protecting journalists from revealing confidential sources. Such "shield" laws exist in 31 states. "The press simply cannot perform its intended role if its sources of information ? particularly information about the government ? are cut off," Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. wrote Oct. 10 in a statement with company CEO Russell T. Lewis, calling for a federal shield law.

OK gotta go. As the good Doctor (HST) says: "Its down to nut cutting time." Stay cool everyone see ya tomorra H.L.

Read The Next H.L. Back Issue

Read The Previous H.L. Issue

To see all of the Issues. Go to our Back Issues Page