Morning News Roundup

I usually post my roundups during the evening, but there are a lot of stories out there this morning that require some attention.

- The Washington Post reports that 'Up to 105 Die in Fierce Afghan Violence'. This is the battle that took the life of Calgary's Capt. Nichola Goddard on Wednesday.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Some of the fiercest violence since the Taliban's ouster in 2001 erupted across southern Afghanistan, with militants battling U.S. and Canadian forces, detonating car bombs and attacking a small village. Up to 105 people were killed, officials said Thursday.

Much of the violence occurred in the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar, where thousands of extra NATO troops are scheduled to deploy this summer to counter an increasing number of attacks from a stubborn insurgency.

Just a reminder, this is what Foreign Affairs Minister Peter McKay said on May 10th:

I would disagree that things are unstable in the south," he said. "You're going to see more insurgents at various times. It will ebb and flow like the tide."

Yet, people actually trust the Conservatives to take care of our soldiers until 2009?

- Former NYT reporter, Judith Miller, claims that she was tipped off about a large scale al Qaeda attack prior to 9/11, but she and her editor decided they didn't have enough information (and she was just too damn busy with other things - like writing her book) at the time to publish a story. I have no use for Miller since she clearly acted as a willing shill for Bushco by pushing fake Iraqi WMD stories and one has to wonder why she's only telling this story now - some 5 years later.

- Wayne Madsen reports that a Rove indictment is coming on Friday and that Rove's lawyer, Luskin, is now a subject of Fitzgerald's investigation. Madsen has a very shady reputation, so take that news with a grain of salt. However, it is still possible that Rove's indictment is coming soon.

- Booman Tribune informs us that a senate committee 'approved a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage'. Not only that, Senators Specter (R-PA) and Feingold (D-WI) had it out in a battle over the Constitution.

"I don't need to be lectured by you. You are no more a protector of the Constitution than am I," Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., shouted after Sen. Russ Feingold declared his opposition to the amendment, his affinity for the Constitution and his intention to leave the meeting.

"If you want to leave, good riddance," Specter finished.

Nasty.

- Guess who's going to build that massive border fence? Hint: it won't be the Minutemen.

- Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) did Canadians a favour on Wednesday by getting the US senate to back off on tighter restrictions at the Canada/US border.

- Blog of note: People Get Ready has one of the largest list of Katrina/NOLA links I've ever seen. In fact, the whole collection of links on various items is very impressive.