Shrubs partner in "crime" may be spending time in jail for a crime. I hope this is some forshadowing for our "commanders in thieves". . .

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20041112/wl_nm/crime_berlusconi_dc

This latest offensive is not going to do much for Iraq but move the enemy and level a town. It is little progress. . .

Why?

Before the invasion there was thought to be 3 to 5 thousand insurgents in Falluja and a 1/4 million inhabitants:

There have been differing accounts on the number of insurgents in Fallujah, anywhere between 3,000 and 5,000. However, U.S. commanders were saying Monday that numbers have dropped to about 1,500.
(. . .)
It's unknown how many civilians are left behind. Estimates range between 50,000 and 100,000, compared to a normal population of about 285,000.

but as the pending siege of the city was building any important targets did what any guerilla army would do when facing a superior foe, they flee to fight another day. Any remaining fighters are probably not the brutal "terrorists" that will be the largest problem to the elections, but really "freedom fighters" who think they are protecting there city and mosques. I don't think we are doing anything that will benefit us and Iraq for the Jan. elections, but we are, however, breeding more hatred toward us and more importantly the troops, whom that hatred will be taken out on.

To back this up, we have killed or captured an estimated 750+ "insurgents but who believes that there is not civilians mixed in that number? Now we are in a stand off with "Iraqis" in a mosque, 300 or so. . .

The best case is that we kill or capture 1050 enemies, I'll leave the rest of the math up to you.

Meanwhile in Falluja:

22 Americans and five Iraqis have been killed and almost 180 US soldiers wounded.

In Iraq:

-A US blackjack helicopter is shot down north of Baghdad, wounding three crew members
-Insurgents shoot dead an American soldier after attacking a US patrol in southern Baghdad; clashes continue in other parts of the capital
-Armed insurgents rampaged Thursday through mogul, Iraq's third-largest city, detonated a massive car bomb in the capital and apparently seized control of two smaller urban centers.

Who is the suspected replacement for Ashcroft?


It's Alberto Gonzales: {update} He is the nominated replacement : (

"Gonzales publicly defended the administration's policy — essentially
repudiated by the Supreme Court and now being fought out in the lower courts —
of detaining certain terrorism suspects for extended periods without access to
lawyers or courts."

"He also wrote a controversial February 2002 memo in which Bush claimed
the right to waive anti-torture law and international treaties providing
protections to prisoners of war. That position drew fire from human rights
groups, which said it helped led to the type of abuses uncovered in the Abu
Ghraib prison scandal."

"[H]e once was a partner in a Houston law firm which represented the
scandal-ridden energy giant Enron."

LINK

"An Aug. 1, 2002, memo from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel,
addressed to Gonzales, said that torturing suspected al Qaeda members abroad
"may be justified""

(...)

"Attorney General John D. Ashcroft
yesterday refused senators' requests to make public the memo, which is not
classified, and would not discuss any possible involvement of the president."

Here is that memo

LINK2


And who is Mike Ledeen's pick to replace Powell???
ZELL MILLER!!

http://nationalreview.com/ledeen/ledeen200411090750.asp

Asscroft gone!! Asscroft gone!!

And he lied on his way out:

“The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved,”

Lets hope that his replacement has read the Bill of Rights!

in Ohio:

Dear writer,

Because of the massive requests for information I am unable to give you a more detailed response at this time. I hope this fact sheet answers your concerns.

Thank you,

Dan Trevas, Ohio Democratic Party Communications Director

----------------------------------------------------

Every Vote Will Be Counted!

The Ohio Democratic Party shares Sen. John Kerry's insistence that every vote be counted.

Here is where we stand in Ohio:

► After the Unofficial Results reported Nov. 2 - George Bush leads John Kerry by 136,483 votes.

► Provisional ballots will be counted.

155,000 provisional ballots have been cast and not yet been counted.

County Boards of Elections have until Friday to verify the eligibility of those who cast a provisional vote. Counting will begin, Saturday, November 13. County Boards have until. Dec. 1, 2004 to certify their vote totals and report them to the Secretary of State.

► Two Democrats and Two Republicans sit on each County Board of Elections.

Tabulations of the votes will be done in a bi-partisan manner. Only if there is a tie vote on the board does the decision go to the Secretary of State.

► Overseas absentee ballots have not been counted.

Overseas Absentee ballots by civilians may have been received by County Boards of Elections by Nov. 2 that have not yet been counted. The Boards of Elections will count those votes.

Overseas absentee ballots by military have until, Friday, Nov. 12 to arrive and be counted by the Boards of Elections in the final total.

► 93,000 punch cards were cast, but a vote for president was not counted.

The votes were not counted either because the voter voted for more than one candidate or did not vote for a presidential candidate. These ballots will be reexamined if there is a recount.

Ohio has a uniform, statewide system for recounting punch card ballots. Hanging chads and dimpled chads are treated uniformly throughout the state.

► Examination for errors going on in all 88 Ohio counties.

A Vote Error on Election night gave George Bush 3,893 more votes in a Franklin County precinct than actually cast for him. That error was found by comparing the unofficial abstract of votes casts by precinct to votes for each candidate. Officials in all 88 counties have been contacted and requested to review for a similar error.

► No Ohio County used Diebold Electronic Voting Machines

Ohio did not use modern electronic voting machines in this election. Six counties use an older form of electronic voting, which has a means of verifying the accuracy of the vote. In 69 Ohio Counties, punch card ballots were used.

► Recount - In Ohio a recount is automatic for statewide election if difference in the vote is within 0.25% of the total votes cast.

For a recount is the presidential race, this is probably about a 19,000-vote margin between Kerry and Bush.

Only a losing candidate can request a recount. A recount may always be requested regardless of the closeness of the race. The recount is requested by the losing candidate. The request for a recount must be made within 5 days of the official announcement of the results by the Secretary of State.

The fee for a recount is set by each Board of Elections and may be between $5 and $10 per precinct. You can limit the recount to specific precincts. The cost is deposited by the person making the recount request at the time of the application based on the number of precincts requested to be recounted. The entire recount and contest procedures are outlined at ORC 3515.

► Vote Fraud or Mistakes - Information about fraud or mistake can be reported the Ohio Democratic Party.

You can leave a message at (614) 221-6563 ext. 134 or email dan@ohiodems.org This information will be share with our legal counsel as the official election tabulations are being made.