Bad Deeds for 3-13-2008

Four Consecutive Years of Privacy Breaches by FBI – A long-anticipated audit, to be released Thursday, is expected to show a fourth consecutive year of privacy breaches by FBI agents using so-called national security letters to gain access to telephone, e-mail, and financial records of Americans and foreigners without a judge’s approval.

McCain Spiritual Adviser Calls for Destruction of Islam – Televangelist Rod Parsley, hailed by Senator John McCain as a spiritual adviser, has called upon Christians to wage a “war” against the “false religion” of Islam with the aim of destroying it.

Islamophobia Threatens Global Peace and Security – A report by a special OIC monitoring group said the organization was struggling to get the West to understand that Islamophobia “has dangerous implications on global peace and security” and to convince western powers to do more. Islamic leaders have long warned that perceptions linking Muslims to terrorism, especially since the September 11, 2001 Al-Qaeda attacks on the United States, would make Muslims more radical. The West must understand that “the war against terror cannot be successful without the support of Muslim countries,” said the report.

Justice Department Says Legal Opinion on Bush’s Executive Orders is Classified – The Bush Administration’s Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel is refusing to turn over a document providing its analysis of Bush’s justification for executive orders. Responding to a Freedom of Information Act request from the Federation of American Scientists, the office said the document was “classified.”

More Rough Interrogations of Prisoners Held Indefinitely Without Charges – The Defense Department is conducting an extensive review of the videotaping of interrogations at military facilities and so far it has identified nearly 50 tapes, including one that showed what a military spokesman described as the forcible gagging of a terrorism suspect. Other rough treatment was shown of a prisoner held for five years without being charged.

Feds Knew of Formaldehyde in FEMA Trailers Before They Were Issued – Federal officials issued trailers to Hurricane Katrina victims even though some workplace safety tests detected high levels of formaldehyde at government staging areas for the structures just weeks after the storm, a lawyer for hundreds of occupants said Wednesday

Citing Faith, Bush Says War with Iraq Will Forever be the Right Decision – Speaking Tuesday to the National Religious Broadcasters’ convention, President Bush declared the decision to “remove” Saddam Hussein in 2003 the “right decision at this point in my presidency, and it will forever be the right decision.” Bush also pledged to veto the “fairness doctrine,” which would enjoin radio stations to give even time to opposing views.

White House Won’t Remove Loophole Allowing Foreign Contractors to Ignore Fraud – The White House has indicated it will not remove a loophole quietly inserted into a budget rule which allows contractors abroad to keep silent if they observe fraud or abuse on US government contracts. The proposed rule, put forth by the White House Office of Management and Budget last year, exempts all companies who do work overseas from a new regulation requiring US contractors to report waste, fraud or abuse they encounter while doing work for the government. More than $100 billion in contracts have been awarded for work in Iraq and Afghanistan in the last five years. “This sends the message that if you’re going to do waste, fraud and abuse, don’t do it at home, do it abroad,” said Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT).

White House Spokesman Says the Problem with the Economy is That You’re Not Spending Your Money – The White House, buffeted by a stronger than expected drop in monthly US retail sales, urged US consumers Thursday to shop and said they should be confident in long-term US economic health. “We do want to see the consumer spend, and that’s one of the reasons for the rebate checks,” spokesman Tony Fratto said. With consumer spending the main engine of the US economy, the February report showing Americans were closing their wallets heightened concerns the world’s biggest economy is falling into, or already is in, recession. (Consumers, why do you hate America? – JLV)

Regards,

Jim