SPB News for Wednesday.

Dole Dumps $10K Of Stevens' Money
In an early bit of fallout from the indictment of Ted Stevens, Sen. Dole gave the money she had received from his PAC to charity. Will other recipients follow suit?

Taser Deaths
What would you call it when a person was juiced for 37 seconds?

Air Force brigadier general dies of gunshot wound An Air Force brigadier general died of a gunshot wound that likely was self-inflicted [!?!], a spokesman said Monday. Brig. Gen. Thomas L. Tinsley, the commander at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, suffered a gunshot wound to his chest late Sunday night and was pronounced dead within a half hour, said Col. Richard Walberg, who assumed command at Elmendorf after Tinsley's death. "To the best information, it's possible it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound," Walberg said at a news conference. The weapon was likely a handgun. His previous 22-month assignment was executive officer to the Air Force chief of staff, Gen. T. Michael "Buzz" Mosely, who in June resigned under pressure in an agency shake-up. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates ousted both Mosely, the Air Force military chief, and Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne, the agency's civilian head, holding them accountable for failing to fully correct an erosion of nuclear-related performance standards.

Gravel: Take Bush to The Hague Former Democratic candidate Mike Gravel says President [sic] George W. Bush should be taken to The Hague for war crimes rather than being impeached. In a Monday video conference with Press TV, the former Alaska senator said President Bush does not 'deserve' to be impeached for invading Afghanistan and Iraq, which has resulted in the loss of 'millions of lives'. "An Impeachment just means you would only take away his (Bush's) presidency. Well, he is almost done (with) his presidency. What really needs to happen is that these people have to be held accountable for the crimes they have committed," the Libertarian said referring to the US president and Vice President [sic] Dick Cheney.

US lawyer seeks to sue US over Iran threats An American lawyer has offered to represent Iran in an international lawsuit against Israel and his own government in an effort to stop Washington and Tel Aviv from initiating further sanctions against Tehran. Francis A. Boyle says following Washington's latest ultimatum to Tehran to freeze uranium enrichment within two weeks or face further isolation, Iran needs to act quickly. In an email interview with Press TV, Boyle urged Iran to begin drafting lawsuits for presentation to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague before the two-week ultimatum expires.

Inspector questions Blackwater contracts --Millions at stake over guards' classification A high-stakes dispute that flared Monday between Blackwater and the federal government boils down to a definition: Are the hundreds of Blackwater guards protecting diplomats in Iraq and Afghanistan employees or contractors? By labeling them contractors, Blackwater and its affiliates qualified for federal small-business contracts worth nearly $110 million. Those contracts and others were called into question Monday when the Small Business Administration's inspector general said Blackwater got dozens of the contracts even though the private security company may have exceeded size limits for a small business.

Perle Linked to Kurdish Oil Plan Influential former Pentagon official Richard Perle has been exploring going into the oil business in Iraq and Kazakhstan, according to people with knowledge of the matter and documents outlining possible deals. Mr. Perle, one of a group of security experts who began pushing the case for toppling Iraqi president Saddam Hussein about a decade ago, has been discussing a possible deal with officials of northern Iraq's Kurdistan regional government, including its Washington envoy, according to these people and the documents.

BP profits soar on record oil price Record crude prices and soaring natural gas prices helped BP on Tuesday to report a 28 per cent rise in second-quarter profits to $9.46bn (£4.74bn), from $7.37bn a year ago. Replacement cost profit, which excludes gains from the value of the company’s crude oil inventories, was up 6 per cent to $6.85bn for the quarter. It rose 23 per cent to $13.44bn for the second half.

BP boss warns of more pain for consumers from oil prices --Mr Hayward unveiled another set of bumper profit figures as BP benefited from the soaring oil price. The chief executive of BP, Tony Hayward, has warned that the long term trend for oil and gas prices spells more pain for consumers. Earlier this year, Mr Hayward said that the era of cheap energy was over, at least for the medium term. Today he added: "Events are playing out even faster than any of us expected."

US-produced al-Qaida movie played at Gitmo trial A Pentagon-produced movie about al-Qaida [al-CIAduh] had its premiere Monday at the first Guantanamo war crimes 'trial' -- shown to an audience of military jurors hearing evidence against a former driver for Osama bin Laden. "The Al-Qaida Plan," is a 90-minute documentary that traces the origins and goals of the terrorist group, highlighting such milestones as the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa and the Sept. 11 attacks

Afghan drug lords hire foreign chemists to make refined heroin -- Afghanistan now supplies more than 90 per cent of the world's heroin. Drug lords in Afghanistan, where poppy growing has soared in spite because of the billions that western powers have spent in trying to stamp it out expand production, have started to recruit foreign chemists to help turn raw opium into highly refined heroin, the United Nations warned yesterday. Christina Orguz, Afghanistan country director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, said Afghanistan's drug lords were behaving like businessmen and recruiting the best people available.

Businesses owe $58 billion in tax withholdings Congressional investigators say businesses have failed to pay the IRS some $58 billion over the past decade in taxes they were supposed to have withheld from their employees' paychecks and forwarded to the government. The Government Accountability Office says more than one and a half million businesses owed the supposedly withheld income, Social Security and Medicare taxes as of the end of September last year. Because the taxes weren't paid, the government had to dip into its general fund to cover shortfalls in Social Security and Medicare.