Top Scoops: Comment & Opinion Digest 17 March 2007

Saturday, 17 March 2007, 12:17 am
Article: Alastair Thompson

SCOOP COMMENT & OPINION:
Scoop Satire: Mr Field Goes To Wellington
Foreign Affairs: What Is To Gain From A Cosy NZ/US Relationship?
Foreign Affairs: Is NZ Poised For A Major Foreign Policy Shift?
US Attorneys Scandal: Michael Collins Exposes The American Coup Nexus
American Coup: Lynn Landes On The Good & Bad In HR 811
Plamegate: Fitzgerald To Be Gagged When He Appears Before Congress
Iraq: War Protestors Set Up Camp In Downtown Washington D.C.
UQ Wire: David Swanson Interviews FBI Whistleblower Sibel Edmonds
Nepal: A Flurry Of Commentary On Nepal's Democracy In Crisis
Iraq: Green Left Weekly On The High Cost Of Occupation
MORE SCOOP COMMENT & OPINION:
Lent 2007: Katya Rivas' Passion Part 10

Scoop Satire: Mr Field Goes To Wellington

- Plot Outline: An idealistic man joins the New Zealand Parliament filled with a selfless desire to make the world a better place for his constituents, and for many people from places quite removed from his constituency. However, he rapidly discovers that the administration has been corrupted by the powerful and ruthless children's lobby. See... Lyndon Hood: Mr Field Goes To Wellington [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00278.htm

Foreign Affairs: What Is To Gain From A Cosy NZ/US Relationship?

Paul G. Buchanan writes that the upcoming state visit to the White House by Prime Minister Helen Clark confirms the view that US-New Zealand relations are warming up. After a cooling of relations during the first term of George W. Bush, notable for the intemperate remarks by US envoys about the obstacles New Zealand’s anti-nuclear policy and refusal to send combat troops (at least publicly) to Iraq pose for the achievement of a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries, recent statements by US diplomatic and congressional officials point towards a softening of the US stance. Scoop Image of Paul Buchanan by Jason Dorday. See... Paul G. Buchanan: When Beggars can be Choosy [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00248.htm

Foreign Affairs: Is NZ Poised For A Major Foreign Policy Shift?

- A Free Trade Agreement between New Zealand and the United States may well be a longstanding goal of New Zealand governments going back to 1990. But in 2007, is an FTA with the United States a clever disguise, a red herring masking a more significant shift in New Zealand foreign policy? Does the goal of an FTA provide cover for more meaningful business shaping between New Zealand and the White House? Scoop's Selwyn Manning analyses an emerging union of common foreign interests. See... State Visit Signals Shift In NZ/US Foreign Policy [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00277.htm

US Attorneys Scandal: Michael Collins Exposes The American Coup Nexus

- Top U.S. law enforcement official Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez engineered a Pearl Harbor Day for eight Republican appointed federal prosecutors. From one end of the country to the other, previously well regarded prosecutors were summarily fired (allowed to resign) on December 7, 2006. Chief of the Office of U.S. Attorneys, Michael Battle spread the news. In a rare case of the messenger shooting himself, Battle abruptly decided that he too would resign after the firings turned into a major scandal this month. See... Fired Federal Prosecutors And Election Fraud [1] MORE US ATTORNEYS COMMENT:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00213.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00244.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00257.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00260.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00267.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00265.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00259.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00240.htm
[9] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00224.htm

American Coup: Lynn Landes On The Good & Bad In HR 811

- This is a good news / bad news story. The good news - If the Holt bill (HR 811) passes into law, it will be the first time since Feb.14, 1899 that paper ballots will be required in federal elections. Americans will finally regain their right to a paper ballot, to verify their ballot, and to correct their ballot, if necessary. See… HR 811: Electronic Tallies Can Still Trump Ballots [1] MORE AMERICAN COUP NEWS & VIEWS:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00218.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00252.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00258.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00236.htm

Plamegate: Fitzgerald To Be Gagged When He Appears Before Congress

- Patrick Fitzgerald has made clear the limitations of his possible testimony regarding the Valarie Plame Wilson leak-investigation set to begin in the House of Representatives on Friday. On March 8, 2007, Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform - the central investigative arm of the House - issued an invitation to Fitzgerald for a private sit-down to discuss the upcoming investigation. In a written response, Fitzgerald made clear that the Department of Justice will not permit him to discuss any non-public information with Congress. See... DOJ Limits What Fitzgerald Can Reveal to Committee [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00266.htm

Iraq: War Protestors Set Up Camp In Downtown Washington D.C.

- The Democrats in Congress are doing less to oppose the war now that they have the majority than they did in the minority. While in the minority, Democrats in a sizable and growing number voted against funding more war. See... David Swanson: No Mo Money for War [1] & David Swanson: Only Nonviolence Will End the War [2] MORE:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00253.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00242.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00223.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00245.htm

David Swanson Interviews FBI Whistleblower Sibel Edmonds

- It did. Her name was Sibel Edmonds. This is her story, as she told it to me. Edmonds discusses what she knows, whom it implicates, and what she's been through and what hope there is in the new Congress to start an investigation. See... If the FBI Hired Someone Honest to Look Into 9-11? [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00241.htm

A Flurry Of Commentary On Nepal's Democracy In Crisis

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00234.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00215.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00256.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00273.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00233.htm

Iraq: Green Left Weekly On The High Cost Of Occupation

- Four years after the US-led invasion of Iraq, the country is wracked by ongoing and escalating violence. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died, according to a study published in the respected British medical journal The Lancet in October. See… Occupation, Resistance And Sectarianism In Iraq [1] MORE IRAQ WAR NEWS & VIEWS:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00270.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00222.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00217.htm

MORE SCOOP COMMENT & OPINION:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00225.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00276.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00262.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00246.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00226.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00274.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00272.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00271.htm
[9] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00269.htm
[10] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00255.htm
[11] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00254.htm
[12] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00243.htm
[13] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00239.htm
[14] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00238.htm
[15] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00237.htm
[16] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00221.htm
[17] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00219.htm

Lent 2007: Katya Rivas' Passion Part 10

- While My Heart offers to suffer all these ordeals, Peter, whom I had named “Leader and Head of the Church” and who hours before had promised to follow Me unto My death, denies Me in response to a simple question that is asked of him and which ... See... Katya Rivas: Peter Denies Jesus [1] EARLIER PARTS:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00268.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00251.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00235.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00216.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00180.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00170.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00109.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00094.htm

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Alastair Thompson

Scoop Publisher

Alastair Thompson is the co-founder of Scoop. He is of Scottish and Irish extraction and from Wellington, New Zealand. Alastair has 24 years experience in the media, at the Dominion, National Business Review, North & South magazine, Straight Furrow newspaper and online since 1997. He is the winner of several journalism awards for business and investigative work.

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