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FCC Chief fast-tracks more concentration of media ownership| |
Excerpt: The Federal Communications Commission chairman wants an agency decision by year-end on whether to ease limits on how many media outlets a company can own in a market, an FCC source said Thursday.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is circulating a proposed schedule among four other commissioners that calls for public hearings in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 31 and in Seattle on Nov. 2, followed by publication of the proposed rule Nov. 13 and a commission vote Dec. 18, the source said.
Comment: Similar media-consolidation schemes have failed in the past due to public outcry. Now the FCC is making one last Hail-Mary attempt before sane people take over in 2009. They are counting on this story getting no publicity during the holiday/campaign season, and have basically cancelled the public’s right to make comments by only giving us a few days to do so.
PLEASE make a public comment to the FCC; write to your Senators to tell them to join Democrat Byron Dorgan and Republican Trent Lott in questioning this stealth rule change; and email your friends to do the same. Common Cause has a lot of great information about this issue if you want to find out more. We can stop this, but only if we make a huge amount of noise in a very short time. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
AG nominee Mukasey says President is above the law| |
Excerpt: Attorney general nominee Michael B. Mukasey suggested today that the president could ignore federal surveillance law if it infringes on his constitutional authority as commander in chief.
Under sharp questioning about the Bush administration's warrantless eavesdropping program, Mukasey said there may be occasions when the president's wartime powers would supersede legal requirements to obtain a warrant to conduct wiretaps.
Chihuahua Leahy expects Mukasey to be confirmed as Atty General
Excerpt: "There are still some within the administration that want the Department of Justice just to be a political arm of the White House," [Sen Patrick] Leahy said.
"I want that to change. I think he can change it," Leahy, a Vermont [alleged] Democrat, told reporters after a private meeting with the former federal judge. |
Iran -- Run-up to the next war
Bush warns Russia of World War III| |
Excerpt: President George W Bush today warned that world leaders risk helping bring about "World War Three" unless they do more to prevent Iran developing nuclear weapons.
Comment: It's laughably obvious that Bush and Cheney are out of their minds. And that the "opposition party" in America won't do diddlysquat to stop his armageddon games. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Russia vows to retaliate if we attack Iran| |
Excerpt: Russian President Vladimir Putin has given Iran's leaders a public morale boost in their nuclear dispute with the West by issuing a veiled warning to the US not to resort to military strikes over the issue.
Mr Putin called on Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Russia and Iran not to allow an outside power to use their territories to launch an attack on another member of the group.
Comment: So if we go through with our plans to attack Iran, which we would allegedly do in order to protect our country from a completely imaginary nuclear arsenal, we risk retaliation from a country who we know for sure has the second-biggest nuclear stockpile on the planet. This is what's known to sane, logical people as counter-productive.
But if anyone thinks this will slow down the nihilists in the White House, think again. Instead, look for them to do the same thing they did in Iraq: combine ever-shifting justifications for war (they've already ramped up the lies about Iran attacking our troops in Iraq) with lots of violent, tough-guy, apocalypse-y rhetoric (like Bush's comments this week about starting World War III). Madeline Zane PERMANENT LINK |
Afghan officials say US is lying about Iranians arming Taliban| |
Excerpt: "Iran is our neighbor, is our friend and Iran has had major role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan," Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta said during a visit to the western city of Herat on the border with Iran.
"The government of Afghanistan has no documents (to show) that Iran's government is involved in the shipment of arms," he told Reuters.
US leaders have accused Iran of supplying weapons to Taliban insurgents, but Afghan officials have refrained from repeating the charge and insist Iran and Afghanistan enjoy warm neighborly relations. Tehran strongly denies the charge. |
Former Bush administration policy experts say the goal has always been war with Iran
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Excerpt: Then came the moment that would lead to an extraordinary battle with the Bush administration. It was an average morning in April, about four weeks into the war. Mann picked up her daily folder and sat down at her desk, glancing at a fax cover page. The fax was from the Swiss ambassador to Iran, which wasn't unusual -- since the US had no formal relationship with Iran, the Swiss ambassador represented American interests there and often faxed over updates on what he was doing. This time he'd met with Sa-deq Kharrazi, a well-connected Iranian who was the nephew of the foreign minister and son-in-law to the supreme leader. Amazingly, Kharrazi had presented the ambassador with a detailed proposal for peace in the Middle East, approved at the highest levels in Tehran.
A two-page summary was attached. Scanning it, Mann was startled by one dramatic concession after another -- "decisive action" against all terrorists in Iran, an end of support for Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, a promise to cease its nuclear program, and also an agreement to recognize Israel.
This was huge. Mann sat down and drafted a quick memo to her boss, Richard Haass. It was important to send a swift and positive response.
Then she heard that the White House had already made up its mind -- it was going to ignore the offer. Its only response was to lodge a formal complaint with the Swiss government about their ambassador's meddling.
Comment: This is a longish article, but it's worthwhile and strikes me as big news. What do you want to bet it'll never be mentioned in the mainstream media again? Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
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White House says Boeing can’t be sued for torture flights because of “national security”| |
Excerpt: The US government asked a federal court late on Friday to dismiss a lawsuit against a unit of Boeing Co that charges the firm helped fly suspects abroad to secret prisons.
"Allowing plaintiffs' claims to proceed would risk the disclosure of highly classified information concerning the alleged 'intelligence activities, sources, and methods' of the CIA," said the filing, signed by Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bucholtz.
Comment: In what way does being the country that doesn’t prosecute companies for aiding and abetting in war crimes make America any more safe? Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Democratic Congressman calls out Republicans on their preference for war| |
Excerpt: [Congressman Pete] Stark (D-California), who's in his 18th term representing the liberal East Bay near San Francisco, took to the floor to accuse Republicans of funding the Iraq war but not children's health.
"You don't have money to fund the war or children," Stark declared. "But you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the President's amusement."
Stark ain't going to apologize
Excerpt: When asked if he would take back any of his statements, Stark told KCBS "Absolutely not. I may have dishonored the commander in chief, but I think he‘s done pretty well to dishonor himself without any help from me." |
Corporations sponsor testing at new FDA facility| |
Excerpt: At a time when the FDA‘s reputation has been battered by perceptions that it is lax on some safety issues and too cozy with drug makers, consumer advocates say the loosely defined partnership increases the agency‘s vulnerability to industry clout despite its promise of groundbreaking success. It‘s an ambitious undertaking that puts regulators and companies in a relationship unlike that of any other industry. |
Blackwater -- America's most famous mercenaries
Blackwater to Iraqi officials: You'll never take us alive| |
Excerpt: A defiant Blackwater Chairman Erik Prince said yesterday he will not allow Iraqi authorities to arrest his contractors and try them in Iraq's faulty justice system.
"We will not let our people be taken by the Iraqis," Mr. Prince told editors and reporters at The Washington Times. At least 17 of 20 Blackwater guards being investigated for their roles in a Sept. 16 shooting incident are still in a secure compound in Baghdad's Green Zone and carrying out limited duties. |
State Dept considers giving Blackwater's lawless murderers shiny new uniforms| |
Excerpt: [Blackwater] employs more people and has more equipment than its two competitors in Iraq. Any outside company that might replace Blackwater would have to provide trained US citizens, with security clearances. That may mean that if Blackwater leaves, competitors hired some of its workers.
It is practically impossible to eliminate private security contractors altogether in Iraq because there are not enough department security agents to fill the gap, officials said.
Comment: AP buried the exact same lead in a different story last week. The talk about firing Blackwater or even just not renewing their contract is nothing but PR. Even if it happens, all it means is that another company will come in and replace the arm patches on the uniforms. No one has any doubt that the mercenaries, the equipment, the mission -- and the complete lawlessness -- will remain firmly in place. Madeline Zane PERMANENT LINK |
Blackwater to expand into weapons building, foreign drug wars| |
Excerpt: Even as Blackwater USA seeks to extricate itself from a firestorm over the conduct of its private-security forces in Iraq, company founder Erik Prince is laying plans for an expansion that would put his for-hire forces in hot spots around the world doing far more than guard duty.
Mr. Prince wants to vault Blackwater into the major leagues of US military contracting, taking advantage of the movement to privatize all kinds of government security. The company wants to be a one-stop shop for the US government on missions to which it won't commit American forces.
Mr. Prince says he is planning to build Blackwater's expertise in training, transportation and military support while expanding into making everything from remotely piloted blimps to an armored truck called the Grizzly that is tough enough to compete for the Army's latest armored-vehicle contract.
The Defense Department recently tapped Blackwater to compete for parts of a five-year, $15 billion budget to fight terrorists with drug-trade ties. The US government wants to use contractors to help its allies thwart drug trafficking and provide equipment, training and people. |
Bushies fear contractors might technically be "unlawful combatants"| |
Excerpt: As the Bush administration deals with the fallout from the recent killings of civilians by private security firms in Iraq, some officials are asking whether the contractors could be considered unlawful combatants under international agreements.
The designation of lawful and unlawful combatants is set out in the Geneva Convention. Lawful combatants are nonmilitary personnel who operate under their military's chain of command. Others may carry weapons in a war zone but may not use offensive force. Under the international agreements, they may only defend themselves.
The amount of force being used in Iraq by security firms like Blackwater has raised questions. |
Blackwater staff tried to steal Iraqi planes| |
Excerpt: Blackwater USA tried to take at least two Iraqi military aircraft out of Iraq two years ago and refused to give the planes back when Iraqi officials sought to reclaim them, according to a congressional committee investigating the private security contractor. |
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Pfizer had no authorization for drug tests on Nigerian children and infants| |
Excerpt: A panel of Nigerian medical experts has concluded that Pfizer Inc. violated international law during a 1996 epidemic by testing an unapproved drug on children with brain infections at a field hospital. ... Pfizer's experiment was "an illegal trial of an unregistered drug," the Nigerian panel concluded, and a "clear case of exploitation of the ignorant."
Comment: And you know and I know, nothing will happen to the bastards responsible, because Pfizer's money trumps all morality, justice, law, ethics, and humanity. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Congress lets Bush keep kids from getting health care| |
Excerpt: Supporters of a bill to provide health insurance for 10 million children failed this afternoon, as expected, to muster enough support in the House to override President Bush's veto.
Comment: Surprise! Bush wins again, and it grows increasingly obvious that the whole political show is a sham. Quick quiz: Can you name three things that matter that Bush hasn't gotten his way on, in six years since stealing the Presidency? There's a word for it when the "opposition party" doesn't really oppose anything and a nation's head of state gets everything he wants, and that word ain't 'democracy'. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK
Bush admits he's ruining kids lives to boost his own ego
Excerpt: House Democratic leaders have identified only one additional vote for expanding a children's health insurance, not nearly enough to prevail in Thursday's vote on overriding President Bush's veto of the measure.
Explaining his use of the veto, Bush said: "That's one way to ensure that I am relevant."
Comment: You know, people have been attacking Congressman Pete Stark this week for his rhetoric about Bush sending kids to their deaths in Iraq for his own amusement. And we have to agree that it was a pretty careless remark. Bush isn't sending kids to die in Iraq for his own amusement. He's killing kids here in America for his own amusement and ego gratification by withholding medical care. He's sending kids to die in Iraq because Jesus told him to. Get it straight, Pete. Madeline Zane PERMANENT LINK |
Big Brother is watching you
Pentagon illegally sought hundreds of citizens' bank records| |
Excerpt: "Once again, the Bush administration's unchecked authority has led to abuse and civil liberties violations," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero in a statement. "The documents make clear that the Department of Defense may have secretly and illegally conducted surveillance beyond the powers it was granted by Congress." |
Telecoms won't answer questions from Congress| |
Excerpt: Major US telephone carriers refused to answer questions from the Democratic-led Congress about their possible participation in President George W. Bush's warrantless domestic spying program, according to documents released by lawmakers on Monday.
Comment: Corporations can now publicly pull rank on Congress, and get away with it. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK
Verizon admits breaking privacy laws "tens of thousands" of times
Excerpt: In an October 12 letter to members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, a senior Verizon official says that from 2005 through this September there were 63,700 such requests, and of those, 720 came from federal authorities.
The company refused to discuss the content of those requests outside the several examples provided in the letter. |
Dodd blocks FISA/telecom immunity bill| |
Excerpt: "The Military Commissions Act. Warrantless wiretapping. Shredding of Habeas Corpus. Torture. Extraordinary Rendition. Secret Prisons.
"No more.
"I have decided to place a "hold" on the latest FISA bill that would have included amnesty for telecommunications companies that enabled the President's assault on the Constitution by illegally providing personal information on their customers without judicial authorization.
"I said that I would do everything I could to stop this bill from passing, and I have."
Alleged Democrat Reid plans to dump Senate rules and tradition and ignore Dodd's hold
Excerpt: Tim Starks of Congressional Quarterly reports that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) plans to bring the Senate‘s surveillance bill up for floor debate in mid-November. That‘s despite the hold that Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) plans to place on the measure |
Key goal of Bush‘s "Protect America Act of 2007" was spying on Americans abroad| |
Excerpt: The law states: "Notwithstanding any other law, the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General may for periods of up to one year authorize the acquisition of foreign intelligence information concerning persons reasonably believed to be outside the United States."
The law‘s advocates claimed that this provision was intended to intercept communications when at least one party was linked to a terrorist group or a terrorist affiliate and was outside the United States.
But the law‘s language didn‘t limit the surveillance to "terrorists" or "enemy combatants" -- indeed those words were not mentioned in the legislation. |
Rerun from last week, but still "unknown news"...
NSA domestic surveillance began 7 months before 9/11, convicted Qwest CEO claims| |
Excerpt:
Did the NSA's massive call records database program pre-date the terrorist attacks of 9/11?
That startling allegation is in court documents released this week which show that former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio -- the head of the only company known to have turned down the NSA's requests for Americans' phone records -- tried, unsuccessfully, to argue just that in his defense against insider trading charges.
Comment: It's outrageous, but it's not a "startling allegation" that NSA spying began months before 9/11. It's been known since at least January 2006, but, like so many other slivers of astounding news, it's had a long and curious delay reaching the mainstream media. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
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Comcast slows internet traffic for selected customers| |
Excerpt: Comcast Corp. actively interferes with attempts by some of its high-speed Internet subscribers to share files online, a move that runs counter to the tradition of treating all types of Net traffic equally.
The interference, which The Associated Press confirmed through nationwide tests, is the most drastic example yet of data discrimination by a US Internet service provider. ...
The principle of equal treatment of traffic, called "Net Neutrality" by proponents, is not enshrined in law but supported by some regulations. Most of the debate around the issue has centered on tentative plans, now postponed, by large Internet carriers to offer preferential treatment of traffic from certain content providers for a fee.
Comcast's interference, on the other hand, appears to be an aggressive way of managing its network to keep file-sharing traffic from swallowing too much bandwidth and affecting the Internet speeds of other subscribers. |
Pentagon pushes for ‘high-profile’ convictions of detainees ahead of ‘08 elections| |
Excerpt: Senior defense officials discussed in a September 2006 meeting the “strategic political value” of putting some prominent detainees on trial, said Air Force Col. Morris Davis. He said that he felt pressure to pursue cases that were deemed “sexy” over those that prosecutors believed were the most solid or were ready to go. ...
“There was a big concern that the election of 2008 is coming up,” Davis said. “People wanted to get the cases going. There was a rush to get high-interest cases into court at the expense of openness.”
Comment: Plain and simple and blunt, they're talking about staging kangaroo trials and sham verdicts to convince voters to support anti-Constitution candidates and policies. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Republicans use Justice Department to subvert justice
Justice Dept changes its story on Guantanamo evidence, from "We won't produce it" to "We can't find it"| |
Excerpt: ... in a petition filed last Friday in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the DoJ argues that it cannot possibly comply with the federal appeals court's order of last July to turn over this evidence. Reasoning: 1) Disclosure could "seriously disrupt the Nation's intelligence-gathering programs" and cause "exceptionally grave damage to national security." No surprise there. But it also argues that 2) the information used against the detainees at the ["Combatant Status Review Tribunals"] "is not readily available, nor can it be reasonably recompiled." |
Gonzales investigated subordinates who were likely to testify against him| |
Excerpt: Senior federal law enforcement privately question the propriety of Gonzales receiving such sensitive information about subordinates being scrutinized in one inquiry when those same individuals were likely to be witnesses about alleged misconduct by Gonzales for the other investigations. |
Justice Dept sought to prosecute scapegoats for revealing illegal surveillance program| |
Excerpt: In a lengthy article posted today at the Huffington Post site, well-known investigative journalist Murray Waas reveals that the Justice Department earlier this year asked two individuals to plead guilty to criminal charges "that they leaked classified information about the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance program to the New York Times, federal law enforcement sources say.
"But the evidence against the two people asked to plead guilty was scant, according to other federal investigators involved in the case, and the guilty pleas were sought as a last ditch effort by the Justice Department to avoid having to compel testimony from the Times against its own sources. |
Gonzales may face criminal charges| |
Excerpt: At a speech on Friday, ousted U.S. attorney John McKay revealed that the “U.S. Inspector General may recommend criminal prosecution of departed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales at the conclusion of an investigation, possibly as early as next month.”
Comment: Yeah, and our newly-carved jack o'lantern might come to life and grow legs and dance a tango on the porch. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
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Nobel economics winner says not to trust market forces| |
Excerpt: "Societies should not rely on market forces to protect the environment or provide quality health care for all citizens, [Eric Maskin], a winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize for economics said on Monday.
"The market doesn't work very well when it comes to public goods," "Markets work well with goods that economists call private goods" like cars or other consumer durables...But there are many other sorts of goods, often very important goods, which are not provided well through the market. Often, these go under the heading of public goods," he said.
Comment: The point raised in the article is straight out of my own college Economics 101 class from decades back. And it's pretty simple and straightforward. But somehow the average American can't seem to grasp the concept. JR Mooneyham PERMANENT LINK |
Law enforcement data show major changes in law enforcement during Bush-Cheney years| |
Excerpt: The prosecution of all kinds of white-collar criminals is down by 27% since FY 2000, before President Bush came to office. ...
Also substantially down were federal prosecutions against individuals the government accused of various kinds of official corruption. They dropped in the same period by 14%. ... Charges against organized crime figures were slightly up in the last year, but their number currently is about half (48%) of what it was in FY 2000. ... |
Bush quips he might stay in power| |
Reporter: "Mr. President, following up on Vladimir Putin for a moment, he said recently that next year, when he has to step down according to the constitution, as the president, he may become prime minister; in effect keeping power and dashing any hopes for a genuine democratic transition there ..."
Bush: "I've been planning that myself."
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Why what they're doing to Ron Paul matters| |
Excerpt: You may not care about Ron Paul, but you should care about the way the media directs our attention to mainstream candidates.
There's no doubting that the media has a bias towards candidates that are "electable"--a term that has much more to do with money raised than ideology. Take Ohio Congressman and Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich as an example. During the first Democratic debate in April, The Nation's Bob Moser, wrote that "As the first big question about Iraq was lobbed at the Big Three--Clinton, Obama and Edwards--the mediocracy collectively pounded away at their laptops, taking down every word in a veritable symphony of typing. When the same question then went to Kucinich, the man who intrepidly preached against the war in 2004 when the others would not, all hands rested. All typing ceased. The music stopped. Attention wandered."
Comment: Bottom line is, if there's any chance of installing democracy in America, giant conglomerates must be stripped of media control. And have we mentioned that everyone should start kicking up a fuss about the FCC’s “stealth” rule changes on media ownership (see top of page)? Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Big banks in emergency meetings to stave off financial collapse| |
Excerpt: In a far-reaching response to the global credit crisis, Citigroup Inc. and other big banks are discussing a plan to pool together and financially back as much as $100 billion in shaky mortgage securities and other investments. |
Bush names opponent of contraception to be responsible for contraception programs| |
Excerpt: Susan Orr, who will be acting deputy assistant secretary for population affairs, has been directing child welfare programs in another branch of HHS. Prior to joining the Bush administration, Orr was senior director for marriage and family at the Family Research Council, a conservative group that favors abstinence-only education and opposes federal money for contraception. |
Life in liberated Afghanistan & Iraq
Ordinary Iraqis killed in Iraq. Routinely.| |
Excerpt: It's clear to me that what we're getting is a big lie. Just as in Vietnam the troops would just count the bodies and turn in a report saying that was how many VC were killed, in Iraq (and Afghanistan), they count the men and call them the enemy. ...
The truth: we are conducting a slaughter of innocents in Iraq that is as bad as anything the Nazis did in their Eastern Front campaign. |
US raid kills Iraqi 'criminals'| |
Excerpt: Forty-nine Iraqi "criminals" have been killed in three separate raids in Sadr City in the capital, Baghdad, the US military says. ...
Iraqi sources said women and children were among those killed, but the US said it was not aware of this. |
US buying loyalty of 'concerned' Iraqis| |
Excerpt: One [Sunni sheik] mentions weapons, but the general insists: "I can give you money to work in terms of improving the area. What I cannot do -- this is very important -- is give you weapons."
The gravity of the war council in a tent at the US forward operating base at Camp Assassin is suspended for a few moments as one of the local Iraqi leaders says jokingly but knowingly: "Don't worry! Weapons are cheap in Iraq."
Comment: This used to be known as bribery. Sooner or later this policy will come back to bite us. Wig PERMANENT LINK |
Lightning round:
US attack kills infant insurgents
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Activists send female underwear to Burmese embassies| |
Excerpt: Embassies in the UK, Thailand, Australia and Singapore have all been targeted by the "Panties for Peace" campaign, coordinated by an activist group based in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The maneuver is a calculated insult to the junta and its leader, General Than Shwe. Superstitious junta members believe that any contact with female undergarments -- clean or dirty -- will sap them of their power, said Jackie Pollack, a member of the Lanna Action for Burma Committee.
Five million Burmese are going hungry, warns UN
Excerpt: Burma used to be known as the rice bowl of Asia and, on paper at least, it still has a food surplus. But according to Paul Risley, an official with the World Food Program, who has just returned from the country, many people are struggling to survive on meager meals. "We can presently only provide food to about 500,000 vulnerable persons -- far less than is needed," Mr Risley said. "There are points of real poverty and food insecurity in parts of Burma's urban areas. |
Congress bails on Armenian genocide bill| |
Excerpt: Turkey, one of America's closest Muslim allies, responded to the resolution by recalling its ambassador to the United States -- a stern diplomatic signal -- and threatening to chill cooperation with America in the region.
The result: Many House members withdrew their support for the resolution. It started with 226 co-sponsors and a solid majority, but so many dropped off that it's now unlikely that Pelosi will even bring it up for a vote. |
Chertoff operates above the law, "legally"| |
Excerpt: Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is weighing whether to invoke a section of federal law that allows him to exempt border construction projects from any law, his press aide, Russ Knocke, told Capitol Media Services. That includes requirements for studies on environmental impacts of federally funded projects.
The move would not be unprecedented: Chertoff used the power at least twice since it was granted.
In 2005 he decided to build fencing near San Diego without conducting environmental studies. And in January he issued a waiver from all laws for a project along the edge of the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range in Southwestern Arizona.
Comment: Of course, you don't need to be a lawyer, just have a smidgen of common sense, to know that Chertoff's super-legal powers are unconstitutional. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Robot cannon kills 9, wounds 14| |
Excerpt: We're not used to thinking of them this way. But many advanced military weapons are essentially robotic -- picking targets out automatically, slewing into position, and waiting only for a human to pull the trigger. Most of the time. Once in a while, though, these machines start firing mysteriously on their own. The South African National Defense Force "is probing whether a software glitch led to an antiaircraft cannon malfunction that killed nine soldiers and seriously injured 14 others during a shooting exercise on Friday." |
Journalists jailed in Arizona| |
Excerpt: Jailed employees of The Phoenix New Times said they were practicing civil disobedience in alerting the public the paper had been subpoenaed by a grand jury.
Michael Lacey, the executive editor, and Jim Larkin, the chief executive, were arrested Thursday night in Phoenix on charges that a story they wrote revealed grand jury secrets, The New York Times reported Friday. The Phoenix New Times is owned by Village Voice Media, which also owns The Village Voice in New York.
Lacey and Larkin revealed in the story that Village Voice Media company, its executives, its reporters and the names of the readers of its website had been subpoenaed by a special prosecutor for the grand jury, the Times reported.
Comment: They've subpoenaed the company and demanded it turn over "the names of the readers of its website"? That ought to send a chill down your spine.
And the underlying "crime" here that triggered the legal action seems to be that the newspaper published the home address of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a lawman who's made himself a nationwide celebrity by dressing jail inmates in pink panties.
But I have to say with a sigh, I'm struck by the paper's headline, "Breathtaking abuse of Constitution". This is "breathtaking" to the Phoenix New Times because it's happening to them, a big media corporation, but is it "breathtaking" on the scale of America's recent rush to fascism? At least the victims of government abuse in this matter have the means to get their side of the story out and the money to fight back. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK
DA drops all charges against New Times after public embarrassment
Excerpt: "We are not going to proceed with this investigation," stated [Maricopa County Attorney Andrew] Thomas. "The charges are going to be dismissed. And the matter is going to end." |
Ex-Kansas A.G., now local D.A., re-files charges against abortion clinic| |
Comment: Until a few years ago we lived a few miles from the border of Kansas, on the Missouri side, but close enough that we can vouch for Phil Kline's thorough and unrelenting derangement. This case he's filed ain't going to be successful, but hopefully Planned Parenthood can countersue and make the residents of Johnson County cover their abortion budget for the next twenty years. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Coast guard opens new Alaska post in area that used to be too frozen for boats| |
Excerpt: For most of human history, the Arctic Ocean has been an ice-locked frontier. But now, in one of the most concrete signs of the effect of a warming climate on government operations, the Coast Guard is planning its first operating base there as a way of dealing with the cruise ships and the tankers that are already beginning to ply Arctic waters. |
Iraq to Cheney: ‘Big fat no‘ on bases in Iraq| |
Excerpt: Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffak Al-Rubaie ... told CNN ...
"The people of Iraq, the parliament, the council of representatives and the government of Iraq, they all say no, big fat no, N-O for the bases in Iraq. No military bases for Iraq because we believe that is in direct encroachment to our sovereignty, and we don‘t need it."
Comment: Sorry, but this smells like political posturing for the people back home -- in this case, for Al-Rubaie's people in Iraq. But his occupied nation doesn't have even the sovereignty to arrest Blackwater's mercenaries. They certainly don't have the sovereignty to order Americans out of the dozen or more US military bases on what was formerly Iraqi soil. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Putin says Iraq campaign 'pointless' and US official engaged in 'political erotica'| |
Excerpt: The United States is engaged in a "pointless" war in Iraq and should set a date for its final pull-out from Iraq to force the war-torn country's leadership to build up its security forces, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.
"One can wipe off a political map some tyrannical regime ... but it's absolutely pointless to fight with a people," he said. "Russia, thank God, isn't Iraq. It has enough strength and power to defend itself and its interests, both on its territory and in other parts of the world." |
Bush, of course, "grossly misjudged Putin"| |
Excerpt: The U.S.-Russian tensions are a far cry from June 2001, when Bush declared after his first meeting with Putin in Slovenia that he'd looked in the Russian leader's eyes, found him "trustworthy" and "was able to get a sense of his soul."
Bush and his aides "grossly misjudged Putin," considering him "a good guy and one of us," said Michael McFaul of Stanford University's Hoover Institution. |
New report: private/public insurance mix is most practical way to achieve universal coverage| |
Comment: As I'm an "insured" American citizen presently getting awful healthcare and losing my vision, while simultaneously paying huge bills (maybe $600 this month alone, and looking at $6000 next month), I have trouble reading this report. But I get the impression it's a political effort to divert public debate away from the roaring successes (compared to the US patchwork system) full or near full government funded healthcare in other industrialized nations are, and have been for decades now. The stats alone tell the story: Americans are getting ever sicker and poorer and even stunted growth-wise compared to those other peoples. Plus, folks who move here from other countries tend to deteriorate health-wise afterwards. Crap! Our current "private/public insurance mix" sucks!
JR Mooneyham PERMANENT LINK |
Early intervention dramatically improves
outcomes for new dialysis patients| |
Comment: Ah -- yet another report detailing how universal healthcare would save lives and reduce suffering among innocents (for the earliest intervention you can get comes from free or low cost access to services). I've seen literally hundreds of these covering just about every aspect of health you can imagine. But it seems apparent to pay for universal healthcare we'd have to drastically reduce our spending on killing and torturing worldwide. Unfortunately, many Americans would rather brag on how devastating our weapons are, than how healthy or educated our kids might be. JR Mooneyham PERMANENT LINK |
Microsoft Vista seizes computers for unauthorized downloads| |
Excerpt: In what appears to be a major glitch at Microsoft, Windows users are trickling in from across the globe reporting that their machines downloaded and installed updates they did not consent to. Rubbing salt in the wound, machines were also automatically and forcefully rebooted at the default 3am time frame."
Once again, as noted by Rivera, serious questions about usability, legal ramifications and more arise when Microsoft starts doing things behind everyone's back. |
Orlando Weekly sales staff arrested| |
Excerpt: Publisher Rick Schreiber called the arrests "an outrageous abuse of process and an attempt to censor the First Amendment rights of a newspaper that has reported critically on the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation." |
Egyptian can sue over his 2001 false arrest, detention| |
Excerpt: An Egyptian student detained after a pilot's aviation radio was found in his hotel room following the Sept. 11 attacks should be allowed to sue an FBI agent over his imprisonment, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. |
There are more than three stooges
(and one of them will be America's next President)
Some things you should know before canonizing Ron Paul| |
Excerpt: He wants to drill in ANWR. He doesn't want to increase gas mileage standards. He wants to allow new offshore drilling. He wants to protect oil companies from contamination lawsuits. He wants to stop having oil companies pay royalties for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
Oh, and did I mention he thinks Global Warming is for sissies? ...
I'm a big fan of the separation of church and state. It's one of the founding principles of America. Ron Paul? Wants that wall torn down and the individual bricks used to build a monument to Jesus. ...
He wants us out of the United Nations. Thinks it‘s a waste of our time. ...
Did you know he voted for that really awesome Bankruptcy bill that got shoved through Congress, saving the poor, dying credit card companies from having to help nearly as many people as before? He also protected companies near and far by voting to make it harder to file a class-action lawsuit. ...
There's a ton more out there for you to find and enjoy. I haven't touched on his cringing stances on gay rights, civil rights, Social Security (Go Privatization!), veterans care, and much, much more. ... |
More odd money men underwriting Clinton's campaign| |
Excerpt: "That Hillary Clinton's campaign is involved with this particular cast of characters should give people pause," says John Moscow, a former Manhattan prosecutor. In the late 1980s and early '90s he led the investigation of the corrupt Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) global financial empire--a bank whose prominent shareholders included members of the Harken board. "Too many of the same names from earlier troubling circumstances suggests a lack of control over who she is dealing with," says Moscow, "or a policy of dealing with anyone who can pay." |
Hillary gets the most weapon industry money| |
Excerpt: The US arms industry is backing Hillary Clinton for President and has all but abandoned its traditional allies in the Republican Party. Mrs Clinton‘s wooing of the defense industry is all the more remarkable given the frosty relations between Bill Clinton and the military during his presidency. An analysis of campaign contributions shows senior defense industry employees are pouring money into her war chest in the belief that their generosity will be repaid many times over with future defense contracts. |
Romney dumps on UN, wants US to re-withdraw from Human Rights Council| |
Excerpt: "The United Nations has been an extraordinary failure of late," Romney said in response to a question at a pancake house along the coast of early voting South Carolina. "We should withdraw from the United Nations Human Rights Council."
Actually, the United States doesn't have a seat on the human rights council, which it has been boycotting. |
Lightning round:
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Brits shut down website for linking to copyrighted content| |
Excerpt: Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) claims that tv-links.co.uk was providing links to illegal film content that had been camcorder recorded from cinemas and then uploaded to the internet. The site also provided links to TV shows that were being illegally distributed.
It's a pity the Gloucestershire Police started with such small fry. There are a couple of multibillionaires called Larry Page and Sergey Brin -- the founders of Google -- who provide vast numbers of links to content that is being illegally distributed. Indeed, as everyone knows, they actually host plenty of illegal content on their own video site, YouTube, which has a UK operation. ... |
Many in the US Military think Bush and Cheney are out of control, says Der Spiegel| |
Comment: This article plays into a hope I've heard often, that the US military will keep us out of another war, by flat-out refusing Bush's orders to attack Iran. Sorry, but this is all daydream stuff. Bush and Cheney are insane, and that's obvious to anyone who's not. But for practical reasons, the military is trained to follow orders, not to question orders. The buck doesn't stop there, never has, and never will. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Two weeks ago it was treason to criticize an American military General, but it's OK when Republicans do it| |
Excerpt: Republicans reacted with surprise and recrimination Sunday to blistering criticism of the Iraq war from former coalition commander retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez. |
FCC issues small fines in Armstrong Williams case| |
Excerpt: US communications regulators cited conservative commentator Armstrong Williams on Thursday for violating a ban on "payola" in promoting the Bush administration's education plan. |
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Lightning round news | |
Durbin, Feingold, Kennedy demand
Bush withdraw nominee for
DOJ Office of Legal Counsel
Days after claiming US less safe due to Iraq War, counterterrorism chief suddenly resigns
Bill Maher calls for beating of
unruly audience members (scroll down)
Justice system sexually abuses adolescents
2nd-grader suspended for drawing of gun
Huge strike hampers French commute| |
Comment: No chance of Americans ever doing this! Kathy Fisher PERMANENT LINK |
Why I know weapons expert Dr David Kelly
was murdered, by the MP who
spent a year investigating his death
Virginia rejects controversial immigration jail
Bush threatens to veto reporter shield law
Garry Kasparov explains the
political nature of oil VIDEO
Peruvian ex-President Fujimori
to be tried for murder| |
Comment: Well, let me tell you the story of another President who should stand trial for murder ... Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
A few Americans will freeze to death, because
federal gov't "can't afford" heating bill help
It's apparently a crime to stand still
on the streets of Manhattan
Immigration raids target political opponents,
and Lofgren (D-California) says so
Air Force punishes 70 after
'accidental' nuclear-weapons flight
College Republicans continue proud
tradition of hate- and fear-mongering
Why US won't remove tortured
Canadian from no-fly list
Viacom opens up Daily Show archive
Nobel Prizewinner Watson says "there is
no scientific basis" for his racist comments
Call (202) 224-6472, and say: "Hi, is this
the number I call to get retroactive
immunity for my past illegal acts?"
Pro-US former Prime Minister of Pakistan
Bhutto's welcome procession is
bombed, more than 125 killed
Gates speaks truth on US use of mercenaries,
but of course, he does nothing about it
One of the CIA's secret torture
gulags is allegedly on British soil
US seeks 'strategic partnership'
with Lebanese army
Priests protesting torture at Fort Huachuca jailed
Crack users do more time than
people convicted of manslaughter
"Love thy enemy" -- US soldier gets discharge
Maybe American airports should
not be concentration camps
Nicaragua has more press freedom
than USA (and so do 46 other nations)
Consumer group warns against
using Windows Vista
New law would require federal
employees to obey old law
New anti-whistleblower technology: Xerox's 'Intelligent Redaction' scanners
Pentagon acted with little oversight in
spying on Americans, documents show
Castro and Chavez celebrate Axis of Evilhood
Life-saving silly string is
finally on its way to US troops
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At least
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This week's commentary
Keeping America safe from artists and musicians
by Mr. Chuckles, Unknown News| |
Excerpt: These foreigners are likely not just dirty, badly dressed sexual deviants who don't know their instruments, they are probably terrorists, or have close ties to terror suspects, or are related to people who are known to have ties to terror suspects or people associated with networks of suspicious persons who know actual terrorists. |
War's orgy
by Don Nash, Unknown News| |
Excerpt: We're having some fun now! |
Uncomfortably numb
by Chris D., Unknown News| |
Excerpt: I might be a day behind or so (occupational hazard of the night shift) but I read in the paper that The Other Butcher of Baghdad gave some stiff and harshly worded warnings to Turkey about invading Iraq while pushing further for a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. These warnings included the allegation that Turkey was about to start WWIII. |
On the apparent paradox of
big things with no witnesses
by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News| |
Excerpt: Time sanitizes truth. As professional investigators well know, the period just after a crime holds forth the opportunity to reveal the truth, but with each passing hour, day, week, month, year, decade, that possibility becomes increasingly remote to the point of impossibility. |
Hoarding ammo at the Alamo
by Pavel C., Unknown News| |
Excerpt: The Bush Regime does not believe in "free markets" any more than they believe in freedom or human rights for all mankind. They believe in government bailouts when losses happen, and private profits in boom times. Their "free market" mantra has no basis in reality. |
President Relevant
by Don Nash, Unknown News| |
Excerpt: "I am relevant. Yes, I am." |
Iran, Israel, and the whole Middle East
is locked and loaded and ready to go
by The Canadian, Unknown News| |
Excerpt: The game in the Middle East is running its final diplomatic course. |
George W. Bush is not a douche bag!
by Michelle L., From Reason to Freedom| |
Excerpt: I have been known to visit websites that are frequented by, shall we say, somewhat less-than-politically-correct commentators. A rash of recent comments have stated, "George W. Bush is a douche bag".
I disagree. When used for it's intended purpose, a douche bag is a useful item -- one that renders previously contaminated areas clean and fresh. |
The big lie: "Iran is a threat."
by Scott Ritter, Encyclopedia Britannica| |
Excerpt: Iran has never manifested itself as a serious threat to the national security of the United States, or by extension as a security threat to global security. |
What is it about Mr. Gore
that drives right-wingers insane?
by Paul Krugman, New York Times| |
Excerpt: The worst thing about Mr. Gore, from the conservative point of view, is that he keeps being right. In 1992, George H. W. Bush mocked him as the "ozone man," but three years later the scientists who discovered the threat to the ozone layer won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. In 2002 he warned that if we invaded Iraq, "the resulting chaos could easily pose a far greater danger to the United States than we presently face from Saddam." And so it has proved. |
Previous commentary
America's coming war with China
by Leon Fisher, |
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