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Please call Nancy Pelosi and tell her to impeach Bush, Cheney, Gonzales, et al: (202) 225-4965.
This week's top headlines:
Ohio election officials violated court order, destroyed 1.6-million 2004 ballots| |
Excerpt: Despite a federal judge's order to preserve all ballots from the 2004 presidential election -- in which Ohio provided President Bush's margin of victory -- boards of elections in 56 of Ohio's 88 counties lost, shredded or dumped nearly 1.6 million ballots and election records.
In 39 letters of explanation sent to newly elected Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, county election officials offered a litany of excuses for the missing and destroyed ballots -- including spilled coffee, a flooded storage area and miscommunication with a county "Green Team" assigned to pick up recyclables. About half the lost ballots were unused, but even those are important for double-checking election results.
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More evidence of vote-tampering in 2004 Ohio vote
Excerpt: The groups behind the lawsuit say they have uncovered evidence of possible tampering in Clermont County, a traditionally Republican-leaning county where Bush won easily.
For example: oval-shaped stickers were inexplicably found on at least 10 ballots in Clermont County, for several state and local races as well as president and the same-sex marriage ballot issue.
The tiny white stickers would have blocked an optical scanner from counting a vote for the pencil mark that's visible below. Two of those ballots from Pierce Township were preserved and observed by Enquirer reporters Thursday. |
Karl Rove to resign at the end of August| |
Excerpt: "Obviously it's a big loss to us," White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino said. "He's a great colleague, a good friend, and a brilliant mind. He will be greatly missed, but we know he wouldn't be going if he wasn't sure this was the right time to be giving more to his family, his wife Darby and their son. He will continue to be one of the president's greatest friends."
Comment: This might mean Rove sees Congressional investigations getting too close to him, and wants to make his numerous scandals seem less pertinent by having news accounts refer to him as Bush's "former aide". For the practical purposes of running the country and operating the President, however, it's pretty much irrelevant whether Rove sits in the White House or in a private office six blocks away. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Republicans plan change in electoral rules to steal California in 2008| |
Excerpt: A Republican-backed ballot proposal could split left-leaning California between the Democratic and GOP nominees, tilting the 2008 presidential election in favor of the Republicans.
California awards its cache of 55 electoral votes to the statewide winner in presidential elections -- the largest single prize in the nation. But a prominent Republican lawyer wants to put a proposal on the ballot that would award the statewide winner only two electoral votes.
The rest would be distributed to the winning candidate in each of the state's congressional districts. In effect, that would create 53 races, each with one electoral vote up for grabs.
California has voted Democratic in the last four presidential elections. But the change -- if it qualifies for one of two primary ballots next year and is approved by voters -- would mean that a Republican would be positioned the following November to snatch 20 or more electoral votes in GOP-leaning districts.
That's a number equal to winning Ohio.
Democratic consultant Chris Lehane called the plan "an effort to rig the system in order to fix the election."
"If this change is made, it will virtually guarantee that a Republican wins the White House in 2008," Lehane said in an e-mail.
Comment: Americans have evolved past the Republican mindset, and Republicans simply can not win national elections without rigging the rules or rigging the count. But if we let Republicans steal elections, they can, they have, and they will. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Iran -- Run-up to the next war:
Cheney urging military strikes on Iran| |
Excerpt: Behind the scenes, however, the president's top aides have been engaged in an intensive internal debate over how to respond to Iran's support for Shiite Muslim groups in Iraq and its nuclear program. Vice President Dick Cheney several weeks ago proposed launching airstrikes at suspected training camps in Iraq run by the Quds force, a special unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to two U.S. officials who are involved in Iran policy.
Comment: We found out this week that the U.S. military lost track of 190,000 weapons given to Iraqi "security forces." In other words, there's no proof that Iran's government has armed Iraqi insurgents, as the Bush administration claims, but there is no question that the U.S. has done so. So it would actually make more sense for Ahmadinejad to urge Bush to bomb the Pentagon than for the U.S. to start bombing Iran. Madeline Zane PERMANENT LINK |
Bush lies about Iran's "proclaimed desire" for nuclear weapons| |
Excerpt: US President George W. Bush charged Monday that Iran has openly declared that it seeks nuclear weapons -- an inaccurate accusation at a time of sharp tensions between Washington and Tehran. "It's up to Iran to prove to the world that they're a stabilizing force as opposed to a destabilizing force. After all, this is a government that has proclaimed its desire to build a nuclear weapon," he said during a joint press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
But Iran has repeatedly said that its nuclear program, which is widely believed in the West to be cover for an effort to develop atomic weapons, is for civilian purposes.
Comment: The Bush-Cheney administration has been habitually demonizing Iran, announcing over and over again (with little evidence) that Iran is lying when it says it wants nuclear power, not nuclear bombs. But as that almost-certain lie loses traction, here's the new version, a flat-out indisputable lie that Iran "has proclaimed its desire to build a nuclear weapon." Nobody who speaks for the Iranian government has never claimed that. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
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Iraq cabinet can't get quorum to approve laws, after more ministers boycott| |
Excerpt: Iraq's government, already unable to reconcile Sunni and Shiite Muslim factions, seemed headed for complete paralysis Monday as five more Cabinet ministers announced that they would boycott government meetings.
If the ministers from the secular Iraqiya political list hold to their decision, Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki will be unable to convene a quorum of the council of ministers to approve legislation or take other action weeks before U.S. officials are to make a crucial mid-September assessment of American policy here.
Last week, six members of the Sunni Accordance Front quit, saying that Maliki, a Shiite, had ignored 12 demands, including that he stop the infiltration of the country's security services by members of Shiite militias. That followed a decision in April by six ministers loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr to leave, saying Maliki had failed to insist on a timetable for a U.S. withdrawal. |
Congress hopes you won't notice
that they've burnt the Constitution
Now have a great vacation!
New law gives government six months
to turn internet and phone systems
into permanent spying architecture| |
Excerpt:
A new law expanding the government's spying powers gives the Bush Administration a six-month window to install possibly permanent back doors in the nation's communication networks. The legislation was passed hurriedly by Congress over the weekend and signed into law Sunday by President Bush.
The bill, known [for pure propaganda value] as the Protect America Act, removes the prohibition on warrantless spying on Americans abroad and gives the government wide powers to order communication service providers such as cell phone companies and ISPs to make their networks available to government eavesdroppers.
Comment: I'm trying, scrunching my forehead and really trying hard, but I just can't think of any compelling reason why members of Congress who voted for this measure shouldn't be tarred, feathered, and shot three times in the forehead at close range. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Bush uses new spy-on-anyone law to
argue for dismissal of NSA spying lawsuit| |
Excerpt: Four days after President Bush signed controversial legislation legalizing some warrantless surveillance of Americans, the administration is citing the law in a surprise motion today urging a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the NSA spy program.
The lawsuit was brought by lawyers defending Guantanamo Bay prisoners. The lawyers and others alleged the threat of surveillance is chilling their First Amendment rights of speech, and their clients' right to legal representation.
Justice Department lawyers are asking U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker to toss the case, citing the new law -- which says warrantless surveillance can continue for up to a year so long as one person in the intercepted communications is reasonably believed to be located outside of the United States. |
New spying law lets Gonzales "oversee"
his own decisions about who to spy on| |
Excerpt: The Bush administration plans to leave oversight of its expanded foreign eavesdropping program to the same government officials who supervise the surveillance activities and to the intelligence personnel who carry them out, senior government officials said yesterday.
The law, which permits intercepting Americans' calls and e-mails without a warrant if the communications involve overseas transmission, gives Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell and Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales responsibility for creating the broad procedures determining whose telephone calls and e-mails are collected. It also gives McConnell and Gonzales the role of assessing compliance with those procedures.
How far does the new wiretap law go?
Excerpt: The new law effectively expands the National Security Agency's power to eavesdrop on phone calls, e-mail messages and other Internet traffic with limited court oversight. Telecommunications companies can be required to comply with government demands, and if they do so they are immune from all lawsuits.
It also says, as George Washington University law professor Orin Kerr notes, that 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants are not needed for Internet or telephone "surveillance directed at a person reasonably believed to be located outside of the United States." What that means is that the National Security Agency can plug into a switch inside the United States (when monitoring someone outside the country) without seeking a court order in advance.
Pelosi gives lip service to
possible "changes" in draconian
spying law passed last week
Excerpt: Barely an hour after the House voted, 227-183, to clear the legislation (S 1927) late Aug. 4, Speaker Nancy Pelosi released a letter calling on the Judiciary and Intelligence committees to "send to the House, as soon as possible after Congress reconvenes, legislation which responds comprehensively to the administration's proposal while addressing the many deficiencies in S 1927." The legislation expires in February.
Comment: Excuse me? Isn't it Nancy Pelosi's damn job as leader of the MAJORITY PARTY in the House to craft a response to unconstitutional legislation BEFORE it passes? Like maybe trying to stop it from passing in the first place?
The legislation, by the way, "expires in February," but it also includes a grandfather clause, so that any eavesdropping begun now, under this law, remains "legal" through the end of the Bush-Cheney administration, even if the law is repealed. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Data-mining for terrorists:
Sounds great, but can't work| |
Excerpt: Finding terrorism plots is not a problem that lends itself to data mining. It's a needle-in-a-haystack problem, and throwing more hay on the pile doesn't make the problem any easier. Real security comes from old-fashioned investigative work: putting people in charge of investigating potential plots and letting them direct the computers, instead of putting the computers in charge and letting them decide who should be investigated. |
ACLU demands end to secrecy on secret
court's super-secret rulings on secret spying| |
Excerpt: A U.S. civil liberties group said on Wednesday it is asking a federal court to disclose its recent legal opinions on the Bush administration's authority to engage in secret wiretapping of Americans.
The American Civil Liberties Union said such an unusual disclosure was needed because of legislation adopted by the U.S. Congress over the weekend to temporarily expand the government's power to conduct electronic surveillance without a court order in tracking foreign enemy suspects. |
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| COMMENTARY
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Worldwide economic
collapse is no accident
by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News| |
Excerpt: Think of the example of the "Wreckers," a phenomenon that has been repeated in many places throughout history, where people take advantage of storm conditions to deliberately lure vessels onto the rocks so that they can be attacked and looted. The world's economy is now controlled by wreckers and, in light of this understanding, the current world financial meltdown is really nothing more than a manufactured opportunity to loot the wreckage and achieve even greater degrees of concentration of wealth, ownership of land and resources, and the power that comes with this sort of control, at the externalized expense of general destruction. |
The System, like the
Berlin Wall, must come down
by Hazel Burke, Unknown News| |
Excerpt: It's standard operating procedure in our "free market" system. When corporate profits and asset prices are rising, the wealthy get wealthier and Larry Kudlow reiterates for the 10 gazillionth time on CNBC that "It is always morning in America." But when corporate profits and asset prices actually start falling the government -- through its authorized agent, the Fed -- immediately socializes the losses. |
Bail-out of the rich has begun
by Mr. Chuckles, Unknown News| |
Excerpt: I think we can lay to rest the urban myth of the Bush "free market" economy, which is often used as justification for not implementing universal health care, and for allowing corporations worth tens or hundreds of billions of dollars and which earn billions of dollars in profits to receive special tax breaks and government hand-outs. |
Revenge of the X's
by Kevin Good, Unknown News| |
Excerpt: Inspired by the internet videos of the 2008 Presidential campaign, the former wives, lovers, concubines and sexually harassed campaign workers of the candidates have formed a union and produced their own video to help stitch America back together again. |
Did lead ruin your child?
by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News| |
Excerpt: Is childhood lead exposure the bedrock of success for the prison/industrial complex? The research of economist Rick Nevin seems to demonstrate that this is true. |
Hoppin' onto (and off)
the Ron Paul bandwagon
by FOMAD and Helen & Harry Highwater, Unknown News| |
Excerpt: The big picture of these libertarian ideals is, if you don't have money you can go to hell. And Ron Paul is definitely a "big picture" libertarian. |
Some U.S. carrier groups
withdrawn from Gulf
by The Canadian, Unknown News| |
Excerpt: The leaders of Syria and Iran saw what happened to Iraq even though Saddam complied with the UN. It is known that the leadership of Iran and Syria are convinced that a US/Israeli strike is inevitable and that it may occur as early as this year.
Is it possible that they would think to strike first at specific targets in the hopes of catching their adversaries off-guard and attaining the upper political hand? |
Nagasaki and a
nuclear energy renaissance
by Marie K., Unknown News| |
Excerpt: Do they think Chernobyl has finally been forgotten? There IS a new generation of youth who probably don't remember. ... |
Drugs in our water supply?
by J.S. Magruder, Why Not Resist?| |
Excerpt: Why do you suppose there are so many pharmaceuticals getting into water supplies? Oh wait, I know-because they are aggressively marketing drugs to people that do not need them. Geez. |
"Who would Jesus bomb?
-- the song AUDIO
by Ten Story Relapse
Requiem for the Blaster
by Chris Rosen, 42InchTelevision
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Excerpt: After the game, Bonds was asked if the moment was tainted, an obvious reference to his massive use of steroids. He responded: "This record is not tainted. At all. Period."
Umm, excuse me? Of course the record is tainted! You took steroids, Barry! You are a cheater. Christ, own f*cking up to it. |
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"Christians" send apocalypse video-game
to U.S. troops in Iraq with Pentagon's OK| |
Excerpt: [The group]'s care packages contain the controversial Left Behind: Eternal Forces video game. The game is inspired by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins' best-selling pulp fiction series about a blood-soaked Battle of Armageddon pitting born-again Christians against anybody who does not adhere to their particular theology.
Comment: In the game, players either convert people to Christianity or kill them. Which makes American attempts to convince Iraqis that this isn't our underlying mission there a little awkward. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Despite news blackout, more Americans favor impeachment| |
Excerpt:
Commentators expressed shock when Rosie O'Donnell dared to mention impeachment on The View, asking: "What do you have to do to get impeached in this country? What do you have to do?" She might have added: What do you have to do to get impeachment discussed by the news media?
O'Donnell is not alone in her interest in impeachment. Thirty-nine percent of people favor impeaching the president, reported columnist and pollster Matt Towery in the conservative Townhall. com. InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion found only 55 percent in opposition, and the "biggest news"-42 percent of independents favor impeachment. Former Rep. Bob Barr (R.-Ga.) told Townhall that he and other leaders of the Clinton impeachment had never experienced polling numbers so favorable. |
Bush's "War Czar" says draft should be considered| |
Excerpt: Frequent tours for U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan have stressed the all-volunteer force and made it worth considering a return to a military draft, President Bush's new war adviser said Friday.
''I think it makes sense to certainly consider it,'' Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute said in an interview with National Public Radio's All Things Considered [sic]. |
China threatens economic "nuclear option" against U.S.| |
Excerpt: The Chinese government has begun a concerted campaign of economic threats against the United States, hinting that it may liquidate its vast holding of US treasuries if Washington imposes trade sanctions to force a yuan revaluation.
Two officials at leading Communist Party bodies have given interviews in recent days warning -- for the first time -- that Beijing may use its $1.33 trillion (£658bn) of foreign reserves as a political weapon to counter pressure from the US Congress. Shifts in Chinese policy are often announced through key think tanks and academies.
Described as China's "nuclear option" in the state media, such action could trigger a dollar crash at a time when the US currency is already breaking down through historic support levels. |
Bush's bail-out of the rich has begun| |
Excerpt: I think we can lay to rest the urban myth of the Bush "free market" economy, which is often used as justification for not implementing universal health care, and for allowing corporations worth tens or hundreds of billions of dollars and which earn billions of dollars in profits to receive special tax breaks and government hand-outs.
Central banks in the U.S., Europe, Japan, Australia and Canada add
$135.7 billion to the banking system to avert global credit market crisis
Excerpt: Money market rates rose worldwide the past two days on evidence the subprime crisis is spreading after global investors piled into U.S. securities backed by mortgages. By the end of the day, the central bank actions helped spark a turnaround in American stocks and drive the U.S. overnight bank lending rate below the Fed's target. |
America spends record half-trillion on defense ... BEFORE you start counting the war| |
Excerpt: On Capitol Hill, the House has approved a record four hundred and sixty billion dollar budget for the Pentagon. The massive military budget represents a nearly $40 billion increase over current levels. The measure does not include President Bush's 2008 funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush is expected to soon ask Congress to approve an additional one hundred and forty seven billion dollars for the Iraq war. |
Life in liberated Afghanistan & Iraq
Gov't report: 190,000 guns missing in Iraq| |
Excerpt: A new Congressional report has revealed that the Pentagon has lost track of about 190,000 AK-47 assault rifles and pistols given to Iraqi security forces.
It is unclear how many of the weapons fell into the hands of insurgents fighting U.S. forces.
The Government Accountability Office says U.S. military officials do not know what happened to 30 percent of the weapons the United States distributed to Iraqi forces since 2004.
Defense analyst Rachel Stohl noted that the Bush administration frequently complains that Iran and Syria are arming insurgents but has paid little attention to whether the U.S. military has inadvertently played a role. |
Tension grows between US soldiers and mercenaries| |
Excerpt: [The mercenaries] operate with little or no supervision, accountable only to the firms employing them. And as the country has plummeted toward anarchy and civil war, this private army has been accused of indiscriminately firing at American and Iraqi troops, and of shooting to death an unknown number of Iraqi citizens who got too close to their heavily armed convoys.
Not one has faced charges or prosecution.
There is great confusion among legal experts and military officials about what laws -- if any -- apply to Americans in this force of at least 48,000. |
Top member of Iraqi Prime Minister's party: No new oil law until occupiers leave| |
Excerpt: A top member of the Iraqi prime minister's party says a law governing oil reserves should be delayed until occupation forces leave the country.
Ali al-Adeeb, a senior member of the Dawa Party and a member of Iraq's Parliament, also said the Iraq National Oil Co. should take the lead in developing and managing Iraq's discovered but undeveloped oil, the Al Sabah newspaper reports. |
63% of Iraqis oppose Bush-backed oil privatization| |
Excerpt: Iraqis oppose plans to open the country's oilfields to foreign investment by a factor of two to one, according to a poll released today. Iraqis are united in this view: there are no ethnic, sectarian or geographical groups that prefer foreign companies.
The poll also finds that most Iraqis feel kept in the dark about the oil plans -- with fewer than a quarter feeling adequately informed about a proposed new law to govern Iraq's oil sector.
The US government is pressing Baghdad to pass the oil law by September, as one of its "benchmarks". |
Fatigue cripples US army in Iraq| |
Excerpt: Exhaustion and combat stress are besieging US troops in Iraq as they battle with a new type of warfare. Some even rely on Red Bull to get through the day. As desertions and absences increase, the military is struggling to cope with the crisis ...
Comment: But shhh ... don't tell the American media ... E13 PERMANENT LINK |
British MoD issues gag order on military blogs, emails,
websites and text messages| |
Excerpt: Sweeping new guidelines barring military personnel from speaking about their service publicly have been quietly introduced by the Ministry of Defense, the Guardian has learned.
Soldiers, sailors and airforce personnel will not be able to blog, take part in surveys, speak in public, post on bulletin boards, play in multi-player computer games or send text messages or photographs without the permission of a superior if the information they use concerns matters of defense.
Comment: Keep in mind the Brits are with us in Iraq -- so this IS relevant to Americans. It means yet another news channel of potential truth from Iraq has been cut. JR Mooneyham PERMANENT LINK |
Bomb kills southern Iraq Governor, Police Chief| |
Excerpt: A powerful roadside bomb has killed the governor and police chief of the southern Iraqi province of Diwaniya.
The governor was a key figure in the Badr Organization, the military wing of the largest Shia Muslim party, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC). |
Iran, Iraq sign oil pipeline deal| |
Excerpt: Iran and Iraq signed an agreement to build pipelines for the transfer of Iraqi crude oil and oil products, the state-run Iran news network Saturday quoted the oil ministry as announcing. |
Bush threatens Iraqi prime minister over ties to Iran| |
Excerpt: In a warning to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, President Bush said Thursday that Iran is a danger to the Middle East and promised that if al-Maliki does not share that view, the president would have a "heart-to-heart" talk with him.
His comments came as al-Maliki, a Shiite, wrapped up a visit to Iran, where he held apparently harmonious meetings with top Iranian officials.
In a joint appearance, al-Maliki told Ahmadinejad that Iran has a "positive and constructive" role in improving security in Iraq, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Comment: You know, someone who actually had the good of the Middle East in mind might think that conciliation between the former bitter enemies of Iraq and Iran was actually a good thing. It's enough to make me wonder if the conspiracy theorists are right when they claim that the goal of the Iraq war was to destabilize the region so that warring factions never unite against the real threat ... America. Madeline Zane PERMANENT LINK |
U.S. attack kills 32 in Sadr city| |
Excerpt: American military raids causing Iraqi deaths, particularly in Sadr City, frequently lead to conflicting stories. Residents describe some or all of the victims as innocent, while American military statements typically describe those killed by American weapons as militants.
Comment: Stop right now and read that again. Now ponder that more than three quarters of a million Iraqis have been killed in this insanity, and it's almost as if the U.S. military and media want you to believe all the dead were "militants" ... Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Record number of troops in Iraq| |
Excerpt: The United States has more troops in Iraq now than at any previous time in the war, with around 162,000 members of the military in the country, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.
Comment: There will be more, many more before there's ever less, 'cuz there's still room to get plenty more American soldiers killed in Bush's briar patch. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
As British leave, Basra deteriorates| |
Excerpt: As British forces pull back from Basra in southern Iraq, Shiite militias there have escalated a violent battle against each other for political supremacy and control over oil resources, deepening concerns among some U.S. officials in Baghdad that elements of Iraq's Shiite-dominated national government will turn on one another once U.S. troops begin to draw down. |
Brits will simply abandon Iraqi translators| |
Excerpt: This morning, The Times disclosed that the Government had ignored personal appeals from senior Army officers in Basra to relax asylum regulations and make special arrangements for 91 Iraqi interpreters whose loyal services have put their lives at risk. |
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Guantanamo prisoner's family reveals details of U.S. torture| |
Excerpt: A British resident held by the US as an alleged terrorist has claimed his captors repeatedly tortured him, subjecting him to beatings, sexual abuse and threats of execution.
Omar Deghayes, 37, is one of five British residents who the United Kingdom government last week asked the US to release from Guantanamo Bay, after years of refusing to help them because they were not UK citizens.
Yesterday the family of Mr Deghayes decided to release a detailed dossier of alleged torture which the former law student dictated to a lawyer who visited him in the Cuban internment camp. |
Top-secret Red Cross report says yes, America tortures| |
Excerpt: The Red Cross described the agency's detention and interrogation methods as tantamount to torture, and declared that American officials responsible for the abusive treatment could have committed serious crimes.
The source said the report warned that these officials may have committed "grave breaches" of the Geneva Conventions, and may have violated the U.S. Torture Act, which Congress passed in 1994. The conclusions of the Red Cross, which is known for its credibility and caution, could have potentially devastating legal ramifications.
What the Red Cross learned has been kept from the public. The committee believes that its continued access to prisoners worldwide is contingent upon confidentiality, and therefore it addresses violations privately with the authorities directly responsible for prisoner treatment and detention. For this reason, Simon Schorno, a Red Cross spokesman in Washington, said, "The ICRC does not comment on its findings publicly. Its work is confidential."
The public-affairs office at the CIA and officials at the congressional intelligence-oversight committees would not even acknowledge the existence of the report. Among the few people who are believed to have seen it are Condoleezza Rice, now the Secretary of State, and Stephen Hadley, the national-security adviser. |
Republicans use Justice Department to subvert justice
Prosecution and imprisonment of Democratic Governor
looks more and more purely political| |
Excerpt: Today former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman is interned at the Oakdale Federal Correctional Institution in Louisiana, where it is said he is being given routine chores including cleaning floors. He was dragged away from his sentencing hearing bound in handcuffs and manacles on orders of federal judge Mark Fuller, who was appointed by the current President Bush and is a former member of the Executive Committee of the Alabama Republican Party.
The scene was sufficiently shocking that even staunchly conservative Republican Rep. Spencer Bachus of Birmingham questioned the treatment given the former governor. Forty-four former attorneys general from around the country, a good many of them Republicans, taking note of the often-crude irregularities in the prosecution, trial and sentencing proceedings, petitioned Congress for a special probe of the case. Congress, in the form of the House Judiciary Committee, decided to act, issuing as a first step a demand that the Justice Department supply documents relating to its prosecution of Siegelman.
Two Fridays ago, the Department of Justice missed a deadline for compliance with Congress' demand that it turn over documents related to its case on Siegelman. So far, the Justice Department appears to have directed its efforts not to compliance with the congressional mandate but to the issuance of crude and ethically dubious propaganda volleys in the media. This only reinforces the public's growing impression that the entire process has been politicized. |
Leahy offers White House yet another 'deadline' for eavesdropping subpoena| |
Excerpt: In a letter to White House Counsel Fred Fielding today, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) set a new return date of August 20 for subpoenas served to the executive branch in June. After the White House missed the original due date of July 18, Leahy granted them an extension until Aug. 1, which they also missed.
Comment: This is the Democrats' barking watchdog? Leahy is a Chihuahua. He ought to just drop by the White House and curl up at Fred Fielding's feet. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Corrupt U.S. Attorney General visits Iraq to help shape its legal system| |
Excerpt: The attorney general was accompanied by Michael Sullivan, director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and John Clark, director of the U.S. Marshals Service, and other department staff.
Gonzales got an update from Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and also planned to meet with Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, and other U.S. and Iraqi officials, the statement said. ...
Gonzales also was an architect of U.S. policy on the treatment of prisoners abroad and author of a 2002 memo saying the president had the right to waive laws and treaties that protect war prisoners. |
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Utah mine owner fined millions in 19 states| |
Excerpt: The chairman of the company that co-owns the Utah coal mine where six workers are trapped has "campaigned to improve mine safety," but his companies have incurred millions of dollars in fines over the past 18 months.
Robert Murray's Cleveland-based Murray Energy Corp. has 19 mines in five states that vary widely in the number of fines, citations and injuries, according to an Associated Press review of federal Mine Safety and Health Administration records.
At Utah's Crandall Canyon mine, where the fate of the miners was unknown after a cave-in Monday, the safety record was remarkably good, said R. Larry Grayson, a professor of mining engineering at Penn State University.
Mine executive lies that earthquake caused cave-in
Excerpt: A fierce dispute erupted over that question Tuesday, with a top mine executive declaring on national television that he has the science to prove a quake caused the collapse. But seismologists said their instruments recorded shaking from the cave-in and not a natural temblor.
Comment: Did you spot the lie in that excerpt from AP? It's not a "fierce dispute", it's a fact: There was no earthquake.
And as this mine tragedy and the subsequent tragedy in Indiana kill a few more working men and ruin the lives of a few more families, I'd just like to point out something else, something that's oddly, rarely mentioned in the coverage.
In civilized, industrial nations like Canada, mine workers are protected by union contracts and/or laws that require food and air stocks underground, in case of cave-ins. U.S. mine owners refuse to do this, because it would cost money.
So to make a long story short, these deaths aren't accidents. These workers were murdered by their bosses. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Pearl Jam urges net neutrality after having political lyrics snipped by AT&T| |
Excerpt: Fans at the event got to hear the words in all their glory, but in the webcast, the lines were censored-AT&T made the decision to silence them, apparently believing that they would prove offensive to listeners. When Pearl Jam found out about the censorship, the band posted a strongly-worded message on its web site.
AT&T lied: Not the first time they've censored political content
Excerpt: The company's initial response was a mistake, and that it "does not edit or censor performances." However, after confronted with an email sent to Wired News claiming that AT&T had erased artists' political commentary from two previously-webcast shows, the company admitted that it had, in fact, excised political speech from "a handful" of its previous webcasts. |
US hegemony spawns Russian-Chinese military alliance| |
Excerpt: This week the Russian and Chinese militaries are conducting a joint military exercise involving large numbers of troops and combat vehicles. The former Soviet Republics of Tajikistan, Kyrgkyzstan, and Kazakstan are participating. Other countries appear ready to join the military alliance. |
U.S. promotes free elections in Middle East, only to see allies lose| |
Excerpt: There has been talk of the Christian vote and the Armenian vote, of history and betrayal. One explanation, however, that all agree on proved crucial in this race: Gemayel's support by the Bush administration, and the implied agendas behind such support, seem to have helped doom him.
"It's the kiss of death," said Turki al-Rasheed, a Saudi reformer who watched Sunday's elections closely. "The minute you are counted on or backed by the Americans, kiss it goodbye, you will never win." |
Bush's increasingly obvious dementia could be a symptom of untreated lyme disease| |
Excerpt: ["Brain fog"]involves episodes of cognitive dysfunction or confused thinking. Brain fog is associated with forgetfulness, losing one's train of thought, depersonalization, the inability to remember the correct words when speaking or writing (aphasia).
Brain fog is so named because the sufferer can feel like a cloud literally surrounds him or her that reduces the speed at which things can be recognized or clearly seen. Brain fog causes forgetfulness, and promotes feelings of detachment (depersonalization), discouragement and depression.
Comment: I'm skeptical. I mean, George W. gets to go to the rich-people doctors. Could he really have had untreated lyme disease for the past 50 years? Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Congress investigates Yahoo for lying about role in arrest of Chinese journalist| |
Excerpt: A US congressional committee is investigating whether Yahoo intentionally misled Congress over its role in exposing the identity of a Chinese journalist who was sent to prison for a decade.
The House foreign affairs committee announced the probe last week after new documents showed possible discrepancies in Yahoo's 2006 testimony at a congressional hearing about its co-operation with Chinese authorities in the case against Shi Tao. The Chinese reporter and editor was arrested after posting material on a website about a government crackdown on media and democracy. |
Police to use terror laws on Heathrow climate protesters| |
Excerpt: Armed police will use anti-terrorism powers to "deal robustly" with climate change protesters at Heathrow next week, as confrontations threaten to bring major delays to the already overstretched airport.
Up to 1,800 extra officers will be drafted in to prevent an estimated 1,500 people disrupting the airport over the period of the camp for climate change, which is due to begin on Tuesday. The police have been told to use stop and search powers against the protesters, who have pledged to take direct action on August 18 and 19 but not to endanger life. |
Lutherans to allow pastors in gay relationships| |
Excerpt: The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America passed a resolution at its annual assembly urging bishops to refrain from disciplining pastors who are in "faithful committed same-gender relationships." ...
The ELCA, which has 4.8 million members, had previously allowed gays to serve as pastors so long as they abstained from sexual relations. |
Consumer Reports: Half of Americans financially unprepared for medical emergency| |
Excerpt: According to the report, 49 percent of all those surveyed, and 43 percent of those with insurance, said they were "somewhat" to "completely" unprepared for a costly medical emergency.
One in four Americans with health insurance are still underinsured -- meaning they are often using up their savings or turning to credit cards to cover medical expenses, according to a survey in the September Consumer Reports. |
Airlines sue for access to super-duper-secret 9/11 investigations| |
Excerpt: Airlines and aviation-related companies sued the CIA and the FBI on Tuesday, asking a federal court to let them interview investigators who can tell whether the aviation industry was to blame for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks or whether it had acted reasonably. |
Texas court denies final appeal of man on death row for driving| |
Excerpt: Foster, who was in a car about 100 yards from the crime when it was committed, was convicted under the controversial Texas state "law of parties", under which the distinction between principal actor and accomplice in a crime is abolished.
Texas is the only state where a person can be factually innocent of murder and still face the death penalty. |
ACLU sues TSA, JetBlue for banning passenger with Arabic t-shirt| |
Excerpt: A discrimination lawsuit charges federal officials and JetBlue Airways with racial profiling for refusing to let an Iraqi man board an August 2006 flight at Kennedy International Airport because he wore a T-shirt inscribed with an Arabic phrase.
Jarrar was told to cover up the message if he wanted to board the flight to his home in Oakland, California. The TSA official equated wearing Jarrar's an Arabic shirt to an airport with "wearing a T-shirt at a bank stating, 'I am a robber,'" the complaint said.
Comment: It would take a barbarian judge to say that such a stupid and insulting practice should be allowed. Sadly, appointing barbarian judges have been a specialty of the Bush administration, so our fingers are crossed. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Court says searches cannot be refused "near" airport security checkpoints| |
Excerpt: U.S. airline passengers near the security checkpoint can be searched any time and no longer can refuse consent by leaving the airport, the nation's largest federal appeals court ruled Friday. ... Citing threats of terrorism, the court ruled passengers give up all rights to be free of warrantless searches once a "passenger places hand luggage on a conveyor belt for inspection" or "passes though a magnetometer." |
Cops caught driving drunk get special breaks| |
Excerpt: Although the samples are very different in size and demographics, a member of the general public's chance of getting a license suspension because of a breath test over the 0.08 blood-alcohol limit was double that of a cop, according to a [newspaper] comparison. Only one of four current and former officers who refused a breath test lost her driver's license, while the public's rate is 16 out of 17.
Comment: This has certainly been obvious to us for a long, long time, as we try to track bad cops on our page of Cops you won't see on TV's Cops. The laws are often interpreted 'differently' -- leniently -- if the lawbreaker is a cop. Still, it's double dang delightful to see the plain facts of the matter stated plainly. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Protesters show up in force near Cheney's home| |
Excerpt: Some 200 people gathered in a Wilson field Saturday afternoon for a "Peace Rally" to protest the Iraq war and send a message to Vice President Dick Cheney, who owns a home just up the road.
"We organized it because of the war in Iraq and what an injustice it has been," Walt Farmer, retired Air Force captain and registered Republican said. "The Vice President has received a pass in Jackson [Wyoming] long enough. We want to let them know we don't approve of the war or how they play fast and loose with the Constitution." |
Amnesty: China breaking human rights promises ahead of Olympics| |
Excerpt: As the one year countdown begins, time is running out for the Chinese government to fulfil its promise of promoting human rights as part of the Olympics legacy, Amnesty International's Secretary General Irene Khan said today. ...
Amnesty International finds that several Beijing-based activists continue to face 'house arrest' and tight police surveillance, while activists in other parts of China are facing heightened patterns of abuse as attention is focused on Beijing in the run-up to the Olympics. |
German journalists face prosecution over rendition reports| |
Excerpt: Seventeen German journalists from leading national publications are being investigated for having quoted from classified documents in covering the "rendition" of terror suspects. |
U.K. Prime Minister Brown to Bush: 'Let my people go' from Guantanamo| |
Excerpt: Britain's new Prime Minister Gordon Brown asked the United States on Tuesday to free five British residents from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay -- a policy reversal that was welcomed by the Bush administration.
The U.S. has been working to reduce the detainee population at Guantanamo with an eye toward closing the controversial detention center.
Comment: Please note, there's nothing to suggest that U.S. officials want to close Guantanamo -- except that once a year or so since about 2003, someone in the Bush-Cheney all-lies administration says it, and the media parrots it. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
There are more than three stooges (and one of them will be America's next President)
Clinton defends her coziness with lobbyists| |
Excerpt: "I don't think, based on my 35 years fighting for what I believe in, anybody seriously believes I'm going to be influenced by a lobbyist or a particular interest group," Clinton said.
"A lot of these lobbyists, whether you like it or not, represent real Americans. They actually do. They represent nurses, they represent social workers -- yes, they represent corporations that employ a lot of people."
Comment: Okay, wait. She's not influenced by the lobbyists in any way, but boy, they sure are a bunch of swell guys who really represent ordinary people. Forgive me if I'm less than reassured. Madeline Zane PERMANENT LINK |
Romney still defends putting family dog on roof of car| |
Excerpt: After a chuckle, Romney jovially explains how Seamus jumped up there on his own and how much he loved being on the roof of the car. He also assures [the bogus Fox News 'reporter'] that the kennel was airtight and safe, but admits that he had no idea that he was breaking the law. |
Giuliani says he was one of the 9/11 rescue workers| |
Excerpt: "I was at ground zero as often, if not more, than most of the workers. ... I was there working with them. I was exposed to exactly the same things they were exposed to. So in that sense, I'm one of them."
Okay, I wasn't really a 9/11 rescue worker
Excerpt: "I think I could have said it better," he told nationally syndicated radio host [and right-wing goon] Mike Gallagher. "You know, what I was saying was, 'I'm there with you.'" |
Ron Paul ad touts his tough stand against women's freedom| |
Excerpt: "Doctor Ron Paul had delivered over 4,000 babies. He knows that the unborn child's right to life is at the heart of our liberty." |
Hillary Clinton suffers acid flashback during debate, imagines herself standing up to right wing| |
Excerpt: "I want a united Democratic Party that will stand against the Republicans. And I will say that for fifteen years I have stood up against the right-wing machine and I've come out stronger. So if you want a winner who knows how to take them on, I'm your girl!"
Comment: Sorry about that headline, but that seems the most plausible explanation for what Sen Clinton is reported to have said. Yeah, she's occasionally said something to stand up for herself or her husband, but I'll offer two free bumper stickers to anyone who can point out a single goddamn time when Hillary Clinton has stood up to the right-wing machine in any effective way about anything that matters to Americans who aren't named Clinton. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Republican candidates delicately try to separate selves from Bush| |
Excerpt: The Republican presidential candidates walked a delicate line in their latest campaign debate, seeking some distance from President Bush and the war in Iraq while offering assurances of change in a new Republican administration.
"I can tell you I'm not a carbon copy of George Bush," former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said Sunday, even as he called for a "surge of support" for troops fighting in Iraq. |
On the stump, Rudy can't help spreading smoke and ashes about his lousy 9/11 record| |
Excerpt: It is all part of a devoutly partisan exploitation of his 9/11 legend. Though Giuliani volunteered to execute bin Laden himself after 9/11, he's never criticized Bush for the administration's failure to capture him or the other two top culprits in the attack, Mullah Omar and Ayman al-Zawahiri, a silence more revealing than anything he actually says about terrorism. |
Romney compares sons' campaign shilling to military service in Iraq| |
Excerpt: Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney on Wednesday defended his five sons' decision not to enlist in the military, saying they're showing their support for the country by "helping me get elected."
Romney, who did not serve in Vietnam due to his Mormon missionary work and a high draft lottery number, was asked the question by an anti-war activist after a speech in which he called for "a surge of support" for U.S. forces in Iraq. |
Clinton won't rule out nukes, except when she will| |
Excerpt: Once again, as with her stance on the Iraq war, Clinton's record has been inconsistent when it comes to how, when and against whom she would take military action were she to become the U.S. commander in chief.
Perhaps she has decided, or been urged by her advisers, to strike an aggressive pose in order to compensate for being a woman in a race for the presidency, a situation that some voters might view as virtually irreconcilable. |
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Mentally disabled man, wrongly deported to Mexico, found after 3-month search| |
Excerpt: A U.S. citizen who was wrongly deported in May was found at a border crossing and could be reunited with his family soon, a spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union said Tuesday.
Guzman's family is suing federal and county officials over the deportation. In the lawsuit, the family claims Guzman is mentally disabled and was asked about his immigration status in jail and responded that he was born in California. |
Nat'l Young Republicans president resigns over non-consensual gay sex| |
Excerpt: The President of the National Young Republicans, under allegations of sexually harassing another man, has resigned from his post.
An older complaint, from 1988 alleged that Glenn Murphy, whose term at the helm of the group began last month, "had the blankets pulled up over the waist of [redacted] and was committing oral sex on him when he awoke."
Murphy sent an email to friends saying he was resigning from the post he has held for a month for business reasons. Later in the day, his attorney confirmed that Murphy had a sexual encounter with a man, claiming, however, that it was consensual.
Republican Family Values |
NYPD gets to hide info in obviously-illegal surveillance files| |
Excerpt: The city must release hundreds of pages of documents related to police surveillance of protesters prior to the 2004 Republican National Convention, but they will be allowed to black out some information, a judge ruled Monday. |
Military develops metal that explodes on impact| |
Excerpt: Part of the Army's Active Protection System program, the warhead will detonate threats at a safe distance, while possibly limiting the risk of friendly fire. (Unlike steel shrapnel, RM shards can be made to burn out quickly.)
Comment: More voodoo weaponry. Just what is a "safe distance"? Looks like a WMD. But, of course, in our hands it would only be used to bring "democracy" to those we deem need it. Wig PERMANENT LINK |
News from America's very bestest ally, Israel
New Israeli highway separates Palestinians| |
Excerpt: Israel is constructing a road through the West Bank, east of Jerusalem, that will allow both Israelis and Palestinians to travel along it -- separately.
There are two pairs of lanes, one for each tribe, separated by a tall wall of concrete patterned to look like Jerusalem stone, an effort at beautification, indicating that the road is meant to be permanent. The Israeli side has various exits. The Palestinian side has few. |
Israeli soldier kills filmmaker on camera, but case is dismissed for "lack of evidence"| |
Excerpt: The army's first instinct ... is to protect its soldiers. A military spokesman said that "a cameraman who knowingly enters a combat zone, especially at night, endangers himself." |
Colored tags for Arabs' luggage discontinued at Ben Gurion airport| |
Excerpt: Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz announced on Tuesday that Ben Gurion International Airport security would no longer mark the luggage belonging to non-Jews with colored tags, in order to spare these passengers embarrassment.
Instead, Mofaz explained, the luggage of non-Jewish passengers will be stamped with the same color sticker as the Jewish passengers, only with a different number. In the past, the color of the sticker on the passenger's luggage would indicate to airport security personnel the level of security check they must administer.
Comment: Now that they are pretending to play nice, we can see how far Israeli apartheid and terror tactics (terrifying West Bank citizens as paratrooper graduation exercise!) goes ... E13 PERMANENT LINK |
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"Evil" Venezuela gives $3.3 million to grassroots groups in Bronx| |
Excerpt: [CITGO President Alejandro] Granado says community associations in the South Bronx receiving aid total nine and they offer services to women and children, after-school activities, English classes, computing environment defense, education, healthy food and housing.
In the coming winter 200,000 poorer homesteads in 23 states of the USA will benefit from [CITGO's] cheap heating oil program. |
American Bar Association calls for end to Bush's terror policies | |
Excerpt: President Bush's recent order on CIA interrogations of terror suspects should be overturned because it still allows harsh treatment in violation of international treaties, two American Bar Association committees say.
The CIA should follow the same rigorous standards adopted by the military that are intended, in part, to ensure that captured U.S. soldiers are extended the same protections, according to a resolution the ABA is expected to adopt next week at its annual meeting here. |
Iraq war: Stupid from the start and nowhere near as bad as it's going to get| |
Excerpt: There are probably about 10,000 Arabists in the United States -- people who have lived for prolonged periods in the Middle East and speak Arabic. At the inception of the war you could not have rounded up more than about a dozen who thought this was a good idea. And I include all the Arabists in the State Department, the Pentagon and the intelligence community. Anyone who had spent significant time in Iraq knew this would not work.
The war was not doomed because Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz did not do sufficient planning for the occupation. The war was doomed, period. It never had a chance. And even a cursory knowledge of Iraqi history and politics made this apparent. |
Super-secret document nobody can see is at the heart of federal eavesdropping lawsuit| |
Excerpt: Each time the judges want to view the Document, a Department of Justice "court security officer" hand carries it from Washington to San Francisco, then returns with it and any notes the judges made that are deemed sensitive, according to court documents. |
Ontario's deputy premier marries gay partner| |
Excerpt: Deputy Premier George Smitherman and his partner Christopher Peloso made it official, exchanging vows yesterday before about 200 family members and well-wishers at Laurentian Lodge, a rustic and idyllic resort north of this small former mining community.
Comment: This news is no big deal up here in Sodom North. It is a true marriage, not some "civil partnership" substitute as they have in Great Britain or in some corners of America. Jart PERMANENT LINK |
Latest and final update on NAFTA Superhighway| |
Excerpt: There's no such thing as a proposed NAFTA Superhighway. Though opposition to the nonexistent highway is the cause célèbre of many a paranoiac, the myth upon which it rests was not fabricated out of whole cloth. Rather, it has been sewn together from scraps of fact.
Comment: Must say, I've been suspecting as much. When I first heard of it, this NAFTA Superhighway scheme sounded nefarious and, thus, perfectly plausible for the criminal Bush administration. We ran a link or two. But in subsequent months I've seen nothing about it that hasn't seemed gaseous or exaggerated.
Time to put aside worries about secret plots that don't exist, and concentrate our efforts instead on the myriad ways we the people are being screwed here in the real world, Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Churches get first glimpse of Australian government's new internet censorship program| |
Excerpt: The Prime Minister unveiled his new net commandments last night on a webcast to more than 700 churches and thousands of churchgoers around the country.
Comment: We're a long way from Australia, but it occasionally seems that Prime Minister Howard is almost as much a mental case as America's President Bush. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
"Baby Einstein" videos hawked by Bush actually make kids dumber| |
Excerpt: In the latest study on the effects of popular videos such as the "Baby Einstein" and "Brainy Baby" series, researchers find that these products may be doing more harm than good. And they may actually delay language development in toddlers.
Comment: Bush mentioned the Baby Einstein company several times in the last State of the Union address. Which seemed a little weird at first. Because how is a shameless White House attempt to line the pockets of friends by promoting something that actually harms Americans in any way relevant to the State of the Union? Oh, wait. Madeline Zane PERMANENT LINK |
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Lightning round news
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Diebold distributor tells investigative blog they're full of sh*t
Italian Mafia probe unearths huge Iraq arms deal
Mugabe cites U.S. program to justify wiretapping law
New Zealand newspapers outsource editorial production
Canada will build arctic bases to defend against Russian claims
Why economists are jittery about the stock market
Nutball Republican Senator wants biometric Social Security cards
Petraus says U.S. forces will be in Iraq for a decade
U.S. quietly drops out of international study comparing math and science students
Long-term forecast calls for scorching hot decade
Willie Nelson headlines concert for marijuana legalization,
but -- surprise! -- can't find any corporate sponsors
Church cancels funeral for dead gay veteran
Stupid, un-American new 'spy on anyone' law is apparently an invitation
to hackers (in some high-tech way the article only vaguely explains)
British military asks U.S. forces to leave Afghan province
What happens when rulers have absolute power?
New York subway system can't pump out three inches of rain
Anti-war protesters arrested at Rep Sanchez's (D-California) office
When President Bush's staff contacted him to request
a photo opportunity, "He was just, like, 'Nope,'"
E.U. threatens tit-for-tat retaliation for passenger prying
New York Times offers helpful hints for terrorists
New Republic and U.S. Army call each other liars over PFC's horrendous war reports
José Padilla's defense calls no witnesses, rests
Iraq's first no-frills airline takes flight (Iraqis not allowed)
TSA relaxes anti-terror standards for breast milk
Unlike Google and Yahoo, Wikipedia says it won't cooperate with censorship in China
Edwards stands with workers, while Clinton is embraced by management
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