Bad Deeds for 11-24-2007

Dirty Tricksters Caught on Video – California Counts, a cabal of right-wing political operatives linked to Rudy Giuliani, is working hard to steal the White House (again) in 2008. They want to fool California voters into changing the rules so Giuliani, or some other regressive Republican presidential nominee, can get at least 20 Electoral College votes from California next November. California Counts petition-gatherers at UC Santa Barbara were gathering signatures to help “children with cancer,” but the “children with cancer” was just a sneaky tactic to get people to sign the so-called “Electoral College Reform Initiative” — what is also called the dirty trick initiative.

A Gap in the Republican Candidates’ Healthcare Proposals – The gap is, under the Republican candidates’ plans, many people couldn’t get healthcare coverage.

Republican Lawmakers Oppose Any Cable Crackdown – A group of Republican lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives raised objections on Tuesday to a Federal Communications Commission proposal that could lead to tougher regulation on cable television operators. A letter signed by 23 House Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee expressed serious doubts about the prospect of a regulatory crackdown on the cable industry, raised in a report that FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has circulated among the agency’s other commissioners. The prospect of further cable regulation is contained in the latest annual report on video competition, that is expected to come up for a vote at a Nov. 27 FCC meeting. The report finds U.S. cable subscription levels have exceeded 70 percent where service is available, passing a threshold that would give the agency more authority over companies such as Comcast Corp and Time Warner Cable Inc.

Pentagon Leaves 20,000 Soldiers With Brain Injuries Off Official Wounded List – Soldiers and Marines whose wounds were discovered after they left Iraq are not added to the official casualty list, says Army Col. Robert Labutta, a neurologist and brain injury consultant for the Pentagon.

Government Tracking Cell Phone Locations Without Probable Cause – Federal officials are routinely asking courts to order cellphone companies to furnish real-time tracking data so they can pinpoint the whereabouts of drug traffickers, fugitives and other criminal suspects, according to judges and industry lawyers. In some cases, judges have granted the requests without requiring the government to demonstrate that there is probable cause to believe that a crime is taking place or that the inquiry will yield evidence of a crime. Privacy advocates fear such a practice may expose average Americans to a new level of government scrutiny of their daily lives.

Regards,

Jim