Gen. Sanchez says Iraq war planning "catastrophically flawed"; Gen. Clark says Pentagon planned to attack "7 countries in 5 years"...

13 October :: Fmr commander of US forces in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, yesterday declared the war plan "catastrophically flawed", said the soldiers on the ground and Iraqi civilians are "living a nightmare with no end in sight", and added that "The administration, Congress and the entire interagency, especially the State Department, must shoulder the responsibility for this catastrophic failure, and the American people must hold them accountable"; criticism is significant because Sanchez is attacking the very plan he was ordered to execute while in command as the insurgency burst forth and Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal surfaced... A passage in Gen. Wesley Clark's new book says that Pentagon insiders informed him in Sept. 2001 that Defense Dept. was planning to impose "regime change" in "seven countries in five years" across the Middle East, that Iraq was only one part of the long-term strategy; Clark was Supreme Allied Commander for NATO forces in 1990s Balkan war... GAO has reported FCC has violated rules governing its regulatory enforcement powers, leaked information to corporate interests prior to publishing it, possibly harming investigatory procedure; FCC ordered to follow rules, hold violators accountable... New York Post devotes front page above-fold to covering its own story from yesterday about naked man on Manhattan streets, ignores war, famine, climate change, Russia security talks, Pakistan vote, contractors thrown out of Afghanistan; owner Murdoch still negotiating takeover of Wall Street Journal, which he promises will not be subjected to tabloid-quality distortions...

UN Security Council unanimously 'deplores' Burma crackdown; Gore wins Nobel Peace Prize; Afghanistan closes 2 security firms, probing 10 more...

12 October :: UN Security Council passes unanimous non-binding declaration that it "strongly deplores" the violence used by Burma's military gov't against peaceful demonstrators; statement also calls for release of "all political prisoner and remaining detainees", as well as urging direct talks with opposition, pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, significant action to move Burma toward a lasting democratic process; statement is first ever Council action on Burma's military junta... Fmr US VP Al Gore and the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to raise global awareness of the climate change crisis; since spring 2007, Gore has won an Academy Award, an Emmy and now the Nobel, he said in response "We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity", two advisers told the press the award does not make it more likely he will run for US presidency... CNN reported yesterday "Afghan authorities this week shut down two private security companies and said more than 10 others —some suspected of murder and robbery— would soon be closed, Afghan and Western officials said Thursday"; move comes amid growing concerns over role of private security firms in Iraq violence, UN urging US to investigate alleged crimes... Crude oil hits record high trading price of $84/barrell, just after noon New York time; cost for alternative fuels expected to drive adoption of new fuel sources, transport costs straining overall economic output... Russian Soyuz rocket launched from Kazakhstan carrying American, Russian, Malaysian to Int'l Space Station; Peggy Whitson to be first woman to command Space Station, Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor 9th Muslim in space, 1st Malaysian...

China facing Three Gorges fallout; Turkey says US Armenian genocide resolution strains ties; UN calls for Iraq contractors to face justice...

11 October :: China plans to relocate some 4 million additional people to curb ecological fallout from massive reservoir, "irrational development", ecological collapse around Three Gorges Dam; move comes after top officials, engineers at site warned gov't the project could lead to "environmental catastrophe"; ENN reports "Environmentalists have long criticized the project, saying silt trapped behind the dam is causing erosion and warning that the dam's reservoir will turn into a cesspool of raw sewage and industrial chemicals backing onto Chongqing"... Turkey's gov't has condemned a resolution passed by the US House recognizing the WWI massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide; PM Tayyip Erdogan, head of the conservative ruling party, has been preparing to push for permission from Parliament for a military incursion into Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq, says US resolution will damage strategic relationship "make relations with a friend and ally, and a strategic partnership nurtured over generations, more difficult"... Reuters reports "The United Nations wants probes to determine whether private security contractors in Iraq have committed war crimes and for governments to ensure that the rule of law is applied, U.N. officials said on Thursday"; statement comes after a shooting incident in which a Dubai-based security firm allegedly "shot randomly" at security checkpoint, killing two female civilians, amid mounting pressure to rein in security firms after Blackwater guards allegedly killed 17 Iraqi civilians in mid September shooting... Monks detained by Burmese junta reportedly told "you are no longer monks", as guards abused, threatened them, forced them to stand in cages for days with no toilet or wash area...

House panel rejects immunity for telecoms in domestic spying; China's richest person is 26-year-old heiress, worth $16 billion...

10 October :: US House panel rejects White-House-proposed corporate immunity amendment to eavesdropping legislation; amendment would have retroactively shielded telecoms from penalties for illegally cooperating in the secret NSA domestic spying operation from 2001 through this summer; Pres. Bush warned blocking the retroactive amendment would "take us backward", while Democratic leaders said they were driven to protect "our precious rights and liberties" against impunity in violating Constitutional protections... 9 Republican contenders of US presidency answered questions in debate, giving positions on possible war with Iran, economic relations, ideological differences with "Communist China"; 8 of the 9 candidates said they believed a Dubai company should be allowed to buy a 20% stake in NASDAQ; each of the polling 'frontrunners' said they would consult Congress before any military action against Iran... Richest person in China is 26-year-old heiress to developer's fortune, her fortune now worth $16 billion, after company's Hong Kong IPO; in 2005, "rags-to-riches" father gave her his stake in the company he founded; Yang Huiyan is one of 40 dollar-billionaires in China, compared with just 15 one year ago; rapidly widening gap between super-rich and abject poor said to be of concern to authorities in Beijing, who consider it a threat to "social stability"... Federal judge blocks administration crackdown on undocumented workers; ACLU, AFL-CIO brought suit alleging the "no-match" program that cross-referenced documents with a gov't database was rife with errors, violated civil liberties of legal workers; Judge Charles Breyer wrote in his opinion "The balance of hardships tips sharply in plaintiffs' favor and plaintiffs have raised serious questions", while a spokeswoman for the AFL-CIO said the program was "targeting workers rights generally"... Global carbon footprint passes 25 billion tons, as news of record ice-melt in Arctic, "autumnless autumn" in parts of US, suggest climate irregularities accelerating...

Northwest passage open across Arctic Ocean for the first time; Calderón says border fence will harm both Mexico, US; Olmert vows to work for peace...

9 October :: The fabled 'Northwest Passage' through northern Canada was ice-free this summer for the first time in recorded history, and is being explored by a Canadian Coast Guard ice-breaker, whose journey will be far easier than any before through the glacial route; climate models had not foreseen such intense Arctic-wide ice-melt until one or two decades further into the future; Canada, Denmark, the US and Russia, may now compete for the right to use or control parts of what may become a seasonal shipping route as the planet keeps warming... Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) proposes national cap on greenhouse gas emissions, auction system that would force polluters to pay, saying "No business will be allowed to emit any greenhouse gases for free"; plan would bring US emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, to 80% below that by 2050... Mexico pres. Felipe Calderón has criticized US pres. Bush for building security barrier between two countries, saying nations should "build bridges, not fences", says he believes economic expansion in Mexico is best way to solve problem of mass economically-driven migration to the north... Israel PM Ehud Olmert has told MPs he will devote the coming year to security a lasting peace with Palestinians; while conservative ministers berated him, Olmert said he believed the Abbas gov't was devoted to peace and its commitment to that end should not be squandered; senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat welcomed the remarks saying it showed Olmert understood that "time is of the essence"... CA group reported to be collecting signatures to put former VP Al Gore's name on ballot for 5 February primary elections; 2000 Democrat candidate for presidency has repeatedly said running is not in his plans, but has never fully ruled out running... Burmese junta names retired general as liaison to Nobel-laureate opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, under house arrest; move is direct response to suggestion by UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari, opposition worries it is "cosmetic" step meant to deflect attention from violent crackdown; Singapore arrested 6 demonstrators who criticized Burma's military gov't, as it does not allow gathering of more than 5 people in public without permission...

Costa Rica referendum appears to narrowly approve CAFTA; Serbian police arrest 56 neo-Nazis when they attack anti-fascist march...

8 October :: 65% of electorate reported to have participated in Costa Rica free trade referendum; preliminary data suggested likely rejection of proposed CAFTA trade deal with US; with 89% of precincts reporting, a narrow majority of 52% appeared to have passed the trade agreement with the US, Costa Rica's pres. declaring the deal had passed, while Eugenio Trejas, leader of the opposition to the deal said his group would demand a ballot-by-ballot manual recount of all votes cast... Police detain 56 neo-Nazis in Novi Sad, Serbia, when they attacked a protest against fascism; UPI reports "At least four people were injured, including a Belgrade B92 television cameraman and the head of Novi Sad’s Helsinki Human Rights committee, when about 80 neo-Nazis hurled stones and bottles on several hundred citizens protesting against the rise of fascism in Serbia"... New Mexico authorizes construction of world's first commercial spaceport; structure will house 7 spacecraft, be hub to Virgin Galactic, which hopes to launch its first commercial flight in 2009... Vandals broke into Musée d'Orsay, in Paris, tore hole Claude Monet's 1874 painting “The Argenteuil Bridge"; French minister of culture Christine Albanel said the act was "an attack against our memory and our heritage"; the vandalism is the latest in a series of attacks against and thefts of cultural objects in France this year... CNN reports WWII veterans dying at rate of 1,000 per day; Arlington National Cemetery has plans to expand its terrain in order to keep operating until 2060...

'Brain-eating' amoeba found in Tucson water, chlorination should help; Musharraf regime wins 5 more years, Court may invalidate vote...

7 August :: Brain-eating amoeba found throughout Tucson, AZ, water supply, authorities say no need to worry, as chlorination kills parasite; at least 6 young men and boys have been killed by the Naegleria fowleri amoeba this year in warm lakes, according to NIH researcher for recreational water-born diseases; scientists say rising temperatures may mean more cases in coming years... Musharraf wins Pakistan vote in 'landslide' denounced by opposition as "sham" election; more than 150 ministers quit seats in protest before vote, Supreme Court to decide whether Musharraf military leadership invalidates presidential vote... LA Times reports "The State Department, which is facing growing criticism of its policy on private security contractors, overlooked repeated warnings from U.S. diplomats in the field that guards were endangering Iraqi civilians and undermining U.S. efforts to win support from the population, according to current and former U.S. officials"... Iraqi officials have revised to 17 the number of deaths from the September shooting involving Blackwater; originally, it was suspected 11 were killed; the Iraqi gov't also says those alleged to be involved were not fired upon... Reports suggest US troops in Iraq have been persecuted, threatened for resisting participating in Christian religious prayer, or for forming atheist and agnostic support group; Military Religious Freedom Foundation, along with one soldier, filed suit on 17 September against Defense Dept., alleging violation of soldier's civil rights, including being forced to submit to a "religious test" to qualify to serve... Individual internet user Jammie Thomas ordered to pay $220,000 in fines for allegedly making 24 songs available for sharing online; lawyer says record companies never proved who uploaded music into folder assigned to Thomas on Kazaa music service; Thomas earns only $36,000 per year, may have 1/4 of her wages taken for the rest of her life to pay record companies...