Bad Deeds for 12-04-06

CONDITIONS OF DETENTION… UNPRECEDENTED IN THE MILITARY JUSTICE SYSTEM
Jose Padilla was denied access to counsel for 21 months. His lawyers argue that he has been so damaged by his interrogations and prolonged isolation that he suffers post-traumatic stress disorder and is unable to assist in his own defense. His interrogations, they say, included hooding, stress positions, assaults, threats of imminent execution and the administration of “truth serums.” A lawyer specializing in military law, said, “There’s nothing comparable in terms of severity of confinement, in terms of how Padilla was held, especially considering that this was pretrial confinement.”

Evangelical Crusade To Hide Kenya’s Pre-Human Fossils
Evangelical church leaders who are pressing Kenya’s national museum to relegate to a back room its world-famous collection of hominid fossils showing the evolution of humans’ early ancestors.

Bush May Lift Alaska Oil Drilling Ban…”An Early Christmas Present To The Big Oil Companies”
President Bush is deciding whether to lift a ban on oil and gas drilling in federal waters off Alaska’s Bristol Bay, home to endangered whales and sea lions and the world’s largest sockeye salmon run. Leasing in a portion of the area rich in oil and natural gas ended nearly two decades ago — while Bush’s father was president — in the outcry after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989.

US-Trained Afghan Police “Largely Incapable’ Of Routine Work

Condoleezza Rice says that now is not the time to talk about U.S. mistakes in Iraq
She says that once her tenure as secretary of state is over and she is back at Stanford University, she will reflect on the war.

(They are too busy making more mistakes to think about it right now – JLV)

The Juarez ‘House of Death’, is part of a web of connivance and cover-up stretching from the Texas borderland to top Washington officials close to President Bush
America’s ‘war on drugs’ has moved to a new phase of cynicism and amorality, in which the loss of human life has lost all importance – especially if the victims are Hispanic. The US agencies and officials in this saga appear to have thought it more important to get information about drugs trafficking than to stop its perpetrators killing people.

Conservative media site claims Bush will seek funding of orbital anti-missile satellites
The Bush administration pending request for an orbital battle station will surely touch off a brawl over space weaponization. President Bush unilaterally withdrew from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty in June, 2002. The treaty prohibited development of missile defense programs, “based on the premise that if either superpower constructed a strategic defense, the other would build up its offensive nuclear forces to offset the defense,” according to Arms Control Today. “The superpowers would therefore quickly be put on a path toward a never-ending offensive-defensive arms race as each tried to balance its counterpart’s action.”

(So long to use of space for peaceful purposes – JLV)

Right-wing extremist indicted for sending white powder and making threats to liberals, while our media ignores it
A right-winger sent threats and white powder to liberals, the LA Times buries the story in local news, and nobody else picks up on it. Can somebody explain to me why this case isn’t treated and reported as a case of domestic terrorism? If Rush Limbaugh had been targeted, as opposed to Jon Stewart, we’d be seeing wall-to-wall, 24/7 coverage of this.

White right-wing extremist convicted of attempting to obtain a chemical weapon and possession of stolen explosives ignored by Fox News and other conservative media
The accused told undercover FBI agents of his desire to explode a briefcase bomb while Congress was in session. If he was Muslim, do you suppose that the case would then be relegated to the back pages of the local Jackson Sun newspaper? Do you suppose it would go unmentioned by the 101st Keyboard Kommandos in their ever-vigilant search for proof that the War on Terror is right here in our midst? Of course not. You can be certain Fox News would have splashed the case as a Fox News Alert, and conservative pundits would have been all over it. In the eyes of conservatives, it’s not terror if you’re not Muslim.

Our whiny, lazy, tired Congress
Operating most weeks on a Tuesday-through-Thursday schedule, Congress is poised to finish this year with just 100 working days under its belt — the fewest since 1948, when then-President Harry Truman famously blasted what he called a “do-nothing Congress.” The year is likely to end with no final action on a number of major issues, including Social Security and immigration reform and tighter ethics standards for lawmakers. This year, Congress will probably end up meeting for about 100 days — an average of about two days a week in return for a salary of $165,000.

Fox News suggests that record sales at high-end stores means that the middle-class has more money
Stuart Varney on “Your World with Neil Cavuto” on 11/30/06 said, “Alright. Is the middle class movin’ on up? The media may be jumping all over the fact that Wal-Mart’s sales slipped this month for the first time in a decade, but sales are up at Saks, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s and Neiman Marcus, all high-end retailers. Is that proof the middle class has more cash on hand?”

(Maybe it’s that the rich have more money than ever. – JLV)

Bill O‘Reilly lies about what he said after Sadam’s statue fell
Bill O‘Reilly said to a guest on his show, “I don‘t know whether you were watching the Factor on the night that Saddam‘s statue fell, but what I said on the air, hey, look at these guys looting the armories. As soon as I saw that, I went holy you know what, there‘s no plan to institute marshal law and to take step by step reconstruction of this country.” He didn‘t say anything like that. That was April 9th, 2003. What O‘Reilly did say included attacks on the losers of the war, like Howard Dean, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, al-Jazeera, the Russians, the French, the Germans, hysterical Hollywood celebrities, CNN, CBS, and ABC, and when Dick Morris said that this would all mean the death of network news, O‘Reilly agreed with him.

Fox News Turns an “Unconfirmed Cyber Threat” into an “Al Qaeda Jihad on Your Money”

Reality-based news report from December 1, 2006:

U.S. stocks fell on Friday after a manufacturing index showed its weakest reading in more than three years and a Federal Reserve official said more rate hikes may be required to control inflation.

Fox News version (reported by Neil Cavuto)

Well, Fox on top of your money. Under attack. Cyber terrorists targeting the capital of capitalism. What if they succeed and shut down your bank or the stock market? Stocks taking a hit [live shot of the “big board” at the NYSE]. Stocks slip after Al Qaeda cyber threat revealed.

The opening graphics and music played and Cavuto began speaking again:

THIS IS A FOX NEWS ALERT! The day after the threat, the sell-off. Stocks falling after Washington warns of an Al Qaeda jihad on your money.

With that, “senior business correspondent” Brenda Buttner gave a two minute report on why we should all be terrified.
The U.S. government said the “cyber threat” seemed to pose no danger.

Regards,

Jim