SPB News for Friday.

MEDGAR EVERS: Marks 45 years since assassination of civil rights activist.

Ron Paul damns McCain's 'values,' praises Libertarian Barr

Abstinence group grants questioned

Organization founded by well-connected Republican receives $1 million grant.

Bush shrugs off protests in Italy

Ron Paul to End Campaign, Launches New Effort — Supporters Plot Shadow Convention, More Revolution — Rep. Ron Paul's presidential campaign, a pugnacious, ideological crusade against big government and interventionist leanings in the Republican party, will officially end Thursday …
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Obama moves DNC operations to Chicago — In a major shakeup at the Democratic National Committee — and a departure from tradition — large parts of the committee's operations are relocating to Chicago to be fully integrated with the Obama campaign. — The DNC's political department …

House Republicans vow push on oil drilling — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional Republicans vowed on Thursday to make a major push for more U.S. oil and gas drilling and in the process force Democrats to cast difficult votes at a time of skyrocketing gasoline prices.


Marine expelled, another punished over puppy-tossing video The Marine Corps said Wednesday it was expelling one Marine and disciplining another for their roles in a video showing a Marine throwing a puppy off a cliff while on patrol in Iraq. The clip shows two Marines joking before one hurls the puppy into a rocky gully. A yelping sound is heard as it flips through the air.

George W Bush builds a coalition against Iran Too little, too late. That’s how most European governments will judge American President [sic] George W. Bush’s belated efforts to mend fences with his European partners this week as he concludes his farewell tour of Europe by visiting Britain this weekend. ...Mr Bush received strong support for tighter sanctions against Iran from Mrs Merkel, and the European Union is expected to follow Washington’s policy of targetting Tehran’s banking sector.

9/11 Petition Read In Canadian Parliament New Democratic Party Deputy House Leader Libby Davies delivers a Parliamentary Petition signed by over 500 Canadians demanding a new 9/11 investigation, in Canada's House of Commons during Routine Proceedings on June 10, 2008... 'That, scientific and eyewitness evidence shows that the 9/11 Commission Report is a fraudulent document and that those behind the report are consciously or unconsciously guilty of covering up what happened on 9/11/2001. This evidence overwhelmingly supports the conclusion that World Trade Center Towers 1, 2 and 7 were brought down by demolition explosives and that the official theory of the towers collapsing from the airplanes and the ensuing fires is irrefutably false. We further believe that elements within the US government were complicit in the murder of thousands of people on 9/11/2001.

Russian Group Had $97M Deal With U.S. Missile Defense Agency
The other day we told you about the Russian not-for-profit group that was giving undisclosed payments to the wife of former Rep. Curt Weldon's chief of staff.

Weldon, a Pennsylvania Republican who lost his reelection bid in 2006, had sought federal grants for International Exchange Group, which was run by a Russian with ties to the Kremlin. IEG was involved in "promoting U.S.-Russia business exchange, including nonproliferation issues."

IEG popped up again this week. Over at Wired Sharon Weinberger, who recently co-wrote a book about nuclear weapons, pointed out another connection the group had to the U.S. government.

IEG signed a deal with the U.S. military's Missile Defense Agency back in 2004 promising to provide "Russian radar data" for use with the U.S. missile defense's early warning system.

From Wired:
But the entire structure of IEG was suspect, and smacked of conflict of interest: why should the U.S. government have to pay an openly Kremlin-linked nonprofit in order to ensure government cooperation?