Link: http://intershame.com/on/Max_Baucus__D_Mont___Kent_Conrad__D_ND___Blanche_Lincoln__D_Ark___Bill_Nelson__D_Fla__and_Tom_Carper__D_Del_/

People who identify themselves as Democrats favor the public option by a margin of 81% to 12%. That's nearly 7 to 1 in favor of, yet the representatives of the Democrat party in the Senate Finance Committee only voted for the public option at a ratio of 8 to 5. Perhaps the most interesting number revealed by this poll is that Republican voters favor the public option 47% to 42%.

Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8282670.stm

Thousands of people are trapped under rubble and at least 21 are dead after a strong earthquake shook the Indonesian island of Sumatra, officials say. The epicentre of the 7.9 quake was about 50km (30 miles) off the coast, near the city of Padang. There are reports of widespread destruction to buildings and bridges. Vice-President Jusuf Kalla said the death toll was likely to continue to rise sharply, as so many buildings including schools, shops and hotels had collapsed. Rustam Pakaya, head of the health ministry's crisis centre, told Reuters news agency that a hospital was among the collapsed buildings. Medical teams were on their way to Padang, capital of West Sumatra province, from neighbouring provinces, he said. Local media reported the roof of the city's airport had also collapsed. Witnesses said residents ran out of buildings in Padang - which has a population of 900,000 - and surrounding cities. Reuters: At least 21 people had been killed and "thousands of people are trapped in the rubble of buildings".

Link: http://www.uruknet.info/index.php?p=m58424&hd=&size=1&l=e

THE US design to destabilize Pakistan is becoming clearer by the day, even for the most blinkered Pakistani. As the US continues to be stalemated in Afghanistan, it has sought to move the centre of gravity of the "war on terror" to Pakistan.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbjgDERSuiI&feature

Like the conventional weapons aren't bad enough, Israel has several hundred nukes as well. Allen L Roland/TPV: ISRAEL'S HIDDEN NUCLEAR WEAPONS FACTORY / VIDEO

Link: http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2009/09/johnson-barack-obama-like-louis-xiv.html

Many people assume that Obama doesn't understand that his economic team - Summers, Geithner, Bernanke, Gensler and the boys - are preserving the status quo, and failing to make the fundamental reforms needed to stabilize the economy. They assume that the economy is a mysterious subject for experts, and that Obama innocently thinks his team is doing good for the American people.

Link: http://thinkprogress.org/2009/09/29/arab-media-white-house/

"I found that I think they really think that if you make it to cover the White House then you must be bigger than God, therefore, you know, you have to be treated as such. So for them the foreign media is invisible. … So I think they’re opportunistic, rude, as I said, really self-centered. … I find them, not even on like a – people again, the people at the State Department, it’s a different story altogether. But what I’m talking to now are the people in the White House that occupy the first two, three rows, with exception to two or three people you know. I’m talking about all the networks and all the organizations. So I find the relationship is a bit strange."

Link: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/sep2009/germ-s30.shtml

The Interior Ministry, currently headed by Wolfgang Schäuble, plans to expand the authority of the German state to spy on its own citizens. The domestic secret service will be given far-reaching powers and the separation of the police and secret services will be largely abolished. The Süddeutsche Zeitung recently reported the existence of a six-page catalogue of demands, entitled “Preparations for Coalition” and dated September 22, that was approved by the head of the Department for Public Security, who serves under Schäuble. The interior minister has already combined the formerly separate departments of the police and the domestic secret service into the Department for Public Security.

Link: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/sep2009/pove-s30.shtml

The overall poverty rate in the US rose to 13.2 percent in 2008, as workers across all sectors of the economy became jobless and increasing numbers of families were forced into destitution, according to a new government report. Real median household income also declined by 3.6 percent.

Link: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/75729.html

The man who was Tasered, Gregory Williams, 40, a double-leg amputee, spent six days in jail on suspicion of domestic violence and resisting arrest, but the Merced County District Attorney's office hasn't filed any charges.

Link: http://www.legitgov.org/pandemic_action.html

When people arrive for their shots, they will get an ID bracelet with a barcode. Basic information - name, age, gender, address - will be entered into the database. There will be electronic records, too, of who gave the vaccine and whether it was injected into the right arm or the left, and time-stamped for that day.

Link: http://original.antiwar.com/porter/2009/09/29/us-story-on-iran-nuke-facility-doesnt-add-up/

The story line that dominated media coverage of the second Iranian uranium enrichment facility last week was the official assertion that U.S. intelligence had caught Iran trying to conceal a "secret" nuclear facility. But an analysis of the transcript of that briefing by senior administration officials that was the sole basis for the news stories and other evidence reveals damaging admissions, conflicts with the facts, and unanswered questions that undermine its credibility. AntiWar: US Repeats ‘Demands’ on New Iran Site.

Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=107452&sectionid=351020104

Iran owns 10 percent of a French nuclear plant that produces a quarter of the world's enriched uranium, France's state-controlled nuclear reactor maker Areva said. The weekly Le Canard Enchaine said in its edition to be published on Wednesday that Iran has had the stake for more than 30 years, Reuters reported. “Iran has never received a single gram of enriched uranium from France,” an Areva spokeswoman said. Reuters: Iran owns 10 pct of French nuclear fuel plant. PressTV: 'Iran will not back down'.

Link: http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_5176.shtml

The Herald reported on a telephone interview with Zelaya and said the Honduran leader said he was being subjected to “high-frequency radiation” from Israeli mercenaries who are supporting the Honduran junta. The paper also reported that Zelaya said that the Israelis were using “mind-altering” gas and radiation. In actuality, that is not what Zelaya stated in his conversation on September 24 with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who was attending the UN General Assembly session in New York. Chavez said he spoke to Zelaya by phone at 1:00 pm EDT and the Honduran leader said a piece of equipment on the rooftop of a neighboring home had been recovered and brought into the embassy by Zelaya loyalists. When Zelaya checked the gear’s serial number on the Internet, it turned out the equipment was a cell phone jamming device manufactured in Israel.

Link: http://aangirfan.blogspot.com/2009/09/child-abuse-and-american-government.html

A declassified Pentagon report, Bioeffects of Selected Non-Lethal Weapons , obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, reveals that the US government is interested in some very nasty weapons. The "Voice of God" device is intended to create voices in people's heads.

Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=107462&sectionid=351020406

The death toll from a major earthquake and its following tsunami in South Pacific island of Samoa has hit 85, officials and witnesses say. According to Samoan officials, at least another 145 people have been injured and a large number of villages destroyed. Al Jazeera: Deadly tsunami hits Samoan islands.

Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2009/09/200992923457659707.html

Guinea's government has promised an investigation into why members of the military opened fire on an opposition protest killing, by some accounts, more than 150 people. Moussa Dadis Camara, Guinea's military leader, apologised for the violence and announced two days of national mourning to begin on Wednesday, but also banned any further "subversive" gatherings. The Independent: Horror of Guinea stadium massacre that killed 157. WikiPedia: Guinea.

Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=107443&sectionid=351020202

British lawmakers and pro-Palestinian activists have pilloried the governing Labour Party for entertaining Israeli War Minister Ehud Barak at their annual conference instead of calling for his arrest for war crimes committed against the Palestinians. A demonstration was held to protest against Barak's presence in the British coastal resort of Brighton on September 29. The protestors said he should be held accountable for the 22-day Israeli onslaught against the 1.5 million Palestinians living in the blockaded Gaza Strip, which killed over 1,400, including more than 900 civilians, between December 2008 and January 2009. Nine Labour MPs participated in the protest near the party's conference venue, which was organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC).

Link: http://rawstory.com/2009/09/bryan-whitman-part-1/

In an examination of Pentagon documents the New York Times obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request — which reporter David Barstow leveraged for his April 2008 Pulitzer Prize-winning exposé on the program – Raw Story has found that Bryan Whitman surfaces in over 500 emails and transcripts, revealing the deputy assistant secretary of defense for media operations was both one of the program’s senior participants and an active member. Barstow’s Times expose revealed a comprehensive, covert Pentagon campaign — beginning during the lead-up to the Iraq War and continuing through 2008 — that shaped network military analysts into what internal documents referred to as “message force multipliers” and “surrogates” who could be trusted to parrot Bush administration talking points “in the form of their own opinions.” Barstow’s reporting also detailed how most of the military analysts, traditionally viewed as authoritative and independent, had ties to defense contractors with a stake in the same war policies they were interpreting daily to the American public.

Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090929/ap_on_go_co/us_health_care_overhaul;_ylt=Am3WNhQJpqibVeyaAAYXez2s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTM1MGV2djUzBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkwOTI5L3VzX2hlYWx0aF9jYXJlX292ZXJoYXVsBGNwb3MDMQRwb3MDMgRwdANob21lX2Nva2UEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsDcHVibGlj

The Senate Finance Committee has voted against creating a new government health insurance plan to compete with the private market. The 15-to-8 vote could forecast the fate of the public option in the Senate as a whole. + Big Win for the Insurance Industry: Senate Panel Rejects a ‘Public Option’ in Health Plan.

Link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/30/2700660.htm

A young Afghan girl died after a box of public information leaflets, dropped by a British Royal Air Force plane over Afghanistan, landed on her, a newspaper said. Britain's Ministry of Defence said it was investigating the accident which it described as "highly regrettable," The Times said. The drop occurred over a rural area of Afghanistan's southern Helmand province on June 23 as part of an information campaign, the newspaper said. TimesOnline: Young girl is killed by RAF leaflet drop in Afghanistan.

Link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/orvaratli/2244937606/sizes/o/in/set-72157603007440604/

Northern Lights Blaze Neon Bright Over Iceland (PIC)