Hoping to give a quick adrenaline shot to the ailing economy, President Bush and House leaders struck a deal on Thursday for a $150 billion fiscal stimulus package, including rebates for most tax filers of up to $600 for individuals, $1,200 for couples and, for families, an additional $300 a child. 

With its international mandate in Iraq set to expire in 11 months, the Bush administration will insist that the government in Baghdad give the United States broad authority to conduct combat operations and guarantee civilian contractors specific legal protections from Iraqi law, according to administration and military officials. 

As the middle and poorer classes get crushed under a mounting pile of debt, and living costs grow faster than wages, we're becoming a country of two classes: the top 1% and everyone else.

The news that US citizen Jose Padilla has received a prison sentence of 17 years and four months should provoke outrage in the United States, although it is unlikely that there will be much more than a whimper of dissent.  

from the Centre for American Progress ….. 

Bush's Stimulus Misses The Target 

This past weekend, as most Americans celebrated the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., markets all across the world were experiencing precipitous declines. 

Malcolm Turnbull has accused the Treasurer of being almost schizophrenic in his comments.  

The Federal Opposition has accused Treasurer Wayne Swan of adding to inflationary concerns with his recent statements about the economy. 

With less than a year remaining in President Bush's term, the public is finally beginning to crack open the administration's secrets.  

The west must be ready to resort to a pre-emptive nuclear attack to try to halt the "imminent" spread of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, according to a radical manifesto for a new Nato by five of the west's most senior military officers and strategists.  

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton defended her recent remarks on civil rights Sunday, as Sen. Barack Obama weighed in on the controversy for the first time, describing Clinton's earlier comments about the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. as "unfortunate" and "ill-advised." 

A humanitarian crisis is underway as the Gaza Strip's only power plant began to shut down on Sunday & the tiny coastal territory entered its third full day without shipments of vital food and fuel supplies due to Israel's punitive sanctions.

The Gaza Strip's power plant has completely shut down on Sunday because it no longer has the fuel needed to keep running. One of the plant's two electricity-generating turbines had already shut down by noon.

The Australian share market is experiencing its biggest one-day fall since the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. 

Local stocks have plunged 6.4 per cent, after heavy losses on Asian and European markets overnight. 

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said that if she became president, the federal government would take a more active role in the economy to address what she called the excesses of the market and of the Bush administration. 

The Republican presidential contest entered a new phase on Sunday as the campaigns descended on Florida for the first primary in which all the candidates are participating full force, using as their stage a state famous for divisive election battles.  

I'm feeling a bit sad tonight. The main reason that I orginally came here, to warn of the US military takeover of Adelaide, has been finalised over the last few days, and South Australia has had the last nails driven into the coffin of its independence from global events. In fact, we've been globalised "military style."

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[The Australian Paul Maley | January 19, 2008]

A BRITISH firm yesterday became the Australian Defence Force's biggest supplier, in a $775 million deal that also consolidated Adelaide as the nation's defence industry hub.

from Crikey …..