Obama Closes Doors on Openness........

As a senator, Barack Obama denounced the Bush administration for holding "secret energy meetings" with oil executives at the White House. But last week public-interest groups were dismayed when his own administration rejected a Freedom of Information Act request for Secret Service logs showing the identities of coal executives who had visited the White House to discuss Obama's "clean coal" policies. One reason: the disclosure of such records might impinge on privileged "presidential communications."...Link

N.Korea accuses Obama of nuclear war plot.

North Korea has accused US President Barack Obama of plotting a nuclear war on the communist nation by reaffirming a US assurance of security for South Korea, the North's state media said. In a first official response to last week's US-South Korean summit, the state-run weekly Tongil Sinbo said in its Saturday edition Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak "are trying to ignite a nuclear war"...Link

Fissures form in Iranian government.........

As the upheaval in Iran heads into its second week, there are growing indications of severe fissures in Iran’s theocratic government, with high-ranking government officials disputing the validity of the June 12 election results on national television...Link

A Supreme Leader Loses His Aura.............

TEHRAN — The Iranian police commander, in green uniform, walked up Komak Hospital Alley with arms raised and his small unit at his side. “I swear to God,” he shouted at the protesters facing him, “I have children, I have a wife, I don’t want to beat people. Please go home.”...Link

Gunfire heard in northern Tehran...........

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Gunfire rang out in Tehran late on Sunday and pro-reform clerics stepped up criticism of Iran's authorities after more than a week of unprecedented popular defiance against the leadership of the Islamic Republic...Link

Thousands of Iranians took to the streets on Saturday in defiance of an ultimatum from supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for an end to protests over last week’s disputed presidential election. A suicide bomber meanwhile struck a key regime monument — the south Tehran mausoleum of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei, killing himself and wounding at least two people, state media reported. The demonstrators braved tear gas and water cannon to assemble in Enghelab Square in the heart of the capital, witnesses said, as foreign media were again barred from covering the opposition event...Link

Super Freak out.......