Midday News Roundup (15 Feb)

Missed out on doing the rounds this morning as I was suffering from a bit of roasted root veg hangover. I'm serious. Anyhoo, let's see what's doing...

First, Salon's War Room reports on the pictures and video that the Dateline news programme (from Australia's SBS network) aired:

The images are arguably more graphic and more disturbing than those released previously: As Reuters reports, they depict show prisoners "bleeding or hooded, bound to beds and doors, sometimes with a smiling guard beside them," as well as images of "two naked men handcuffed together, a pile of five naked detainees photographed from the rear, and a dog straining at a leash close to the face of a crouching man wearing a bright orange jumpsuit." The Associated Press says that one videotape shows "a group of naked men with bags over their heads standing together" in an instance of "forced masturbation."

They are indeed graphic--Raw Story has a sampling of the photos. Also, here's the link to the Dateline segment's transcript. The story seems to be getting great coverage around the world (here are story links to the BBC, Guardian, Agence France Presse, Canada's CBC); it will be interesting to see who quickly and how widely this gets covered in the US press.

[UPDATE - 2:55pm PST: the story is indeed getting coverage at NYTimes, WaPo, MSNBC, and CNN]

Speaking of Abu Ghraib, the British have their own pictorial violent dalliance (a story broken by the UK's News of the World) that's making headlines this week--a group of British soldiers videotaped (with commentary from other soldiers) beating up a defenseless group of Iraqi teenagers.

In the ongoing Cheney Cock & Bull story, Raw Story has some tidbits from the crumbs released by FoxNews of their interview with the Vice President (to be shown more fully later tonight).

"Ultimately, I'm the guy who pulled the trigger. It was not Harry's fault. I'm the guy who pulled the trigger" that hit "my friend," Cheney told Britt Hume on Fox, "it's a day that I'll never forget."

Cheney told Hume that Katharine Armstrong made the call to the local media because she was an "acknowledged expert," a former official with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and also since she was an eyewitness to the shooting. Cheney also said that Rove communicated with Armstrong since he knew her, and had hunted at the Armstrong Ranch.

In related news, Harry Whittington is in stable condition after suffering a mild heart attack yesterday related to the fact that the Vice President shot him with a shotgun (WaPo).

Hospital officials said Whittington, an Austin attorney, had regained a normal heart rhythm with the help of medications. They said he was sitting up in a chair, eating regular food and planning on doing some legal work.

Here's a bit more on Whittington from an interview with Wayne Slater, Austin bureau chief for The Dallas Morning News, by NPR Day to Day host Madeleine Brand (transcribed by yours truy):

Slater: He's an interesting guy. Strong Republican. Part of the emerging Republican hegemony here in Texas. He's a fundraiser, he's very wealthy real estate person here in Austin. He's a lawyer. He has a building in downtown Austin, not far from where I'm sitting, which has long been the home of virtually any Republican statewide office holder, including George Bush and the current governor, for their political campaigns. When George Bush was first going to run for governor, Karl Rove steered Bush to Harry's office. Harry Whittington was one of the first people he talked to. Whittington was a guy who drove Bush's father around when he first ran for Congress in the 70s.

Finally, if you want some lurid rumor milling/mongering, check out this HuffPo post by RJ Eskow on Cheney's hunting date--Pamela Willeford, the US Ambassador to Switzerland-- and even more speculation by Alan Dershowitz about the 14-hour delay.

OK, let's do a quick spin of other news, and then I gotta get back to playing with... I mean working on my review of the Sirius Streamer satellite radio.

• But before we go onto another topic, here's Abu Ghraib again: the NYTimes reports that "the overcrowded Abu Ghraib prison has become a breeding ground for extremist leaders and a school for terrorist foot soldiers."
  
  
• A "former NSA employee said Tuesday there is another ongoing top-secret surveillance program that might have violated millions of Americans' Constitutional rights" (UPI).
  

  [Russel D.] Tice said he believes it violates the Constitution's protection against unlawful search and seizures but has no way of sharing the information without breaking classification laws. He is not even allowed to tell the congressional intelligence committees - members or their staff - because they lack high enough clearance.

• Two people died in Peshawar, Pakistan as Danish cartoon protesters targeted anything linked to foreign firms (including this innocent KFC, doing nothing but producing delicious fried chicken).
  
  
• Three children were killed by an IED on their way to school in Baghdad (Agence France Presse).
  
  
• The Nigerian military launched a helicopter gunship attack on targets in the oil-producing Delta state on Wednesday, and militants threatened to shoot down aircraft unless military flights stopped (Reuters).
  
  
• Ann Coulter committed a third-degree felony in Florida by voting in the wrong precinct (PalmBeachPost).
  
  
• Finally, there's a new Axis in town: the Axis of Good (Reuters):
  

  The anti-U.S. campaign rhetoric is fading out of public statements by the new Bolivian government but its long-term ambition is alive and well: a new leftist movement known as "Evism" as part of an "axis of good" -- Bolivia, Venezuela, and Cuba.
  
  "Evism" comes from Evo Morales, the first name of the Aymara Indian who won Bolivia's presidency after a campaign in which he described himself as a nightmare for the U.S. Evism joins "Fidelism" (after Cuba's Fidel Castro) and "Chavism" (after Venezuela's Hugo Chavez) on the list of Latin American "isms."
  
  The phrase "axis of good" emerged from a meeting between the left-wing troika before Morales was sworn into office. It was meant to make a counter-point to U.S. President George W. Bush's characterization, four years ago of Iraq , Iran and North Korea as an axis of evil.