The WAWG Blog

US Says it Has the Right to Kidnap British Citizens – America has told Britain that it can “kidnap” British citizens if they are wanted for crimes in the United States. A senior lawyer for the American government has told the Court of Appeal in London that kidnapping foreign citizens is permissible under American law because the US Supreme Court has sanctioned it. Until now it was commonly assumed that US law permitted kidnapping only in the “extraordinary rendition” of terrorist suspects. The American government has for the first time made it clear in a British court that the law applies to anyone, British or otherwise, suspected of a crime by Washington.

The Bush Administration Has Offered Iraq War Architect Paul Wolfowitz a New Position – Nearly three years after Paul Wolfowitz resigned as deputy Defense secretary and six months after his stormy departure as president of the World Bank—amid allegations that he improperly awarded a raise to his girlfriend—he’s in line to return to public service. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has offered Wolfowitz, a prime architect of the Iraq War, a position as chairman of the International Security Advisory Board, a prestigious State Department panel.

National Debt Grows by $1 Million per Minute – It means almost $30,000 in debt for each man, woman, child and infant in the United States. Even if you’ve escaped the recent housing and credit crunches and are coping with rising fuel prices, you may still be headed for economic misery, along with the rest of the country. That’s because the government is fast straining resources needed to meet interest payments on the national debt, which stands at a mind-numbing $9.13 trillion. And like homeowners who took out adjustable-rate mortgages, the government faces the prospect of seeing this debt — now at relatively low interest rates — rolling over to higher rates, multiplying the financial pain.

False and Misleading Statements by the Candidates During the Republican CNN/YouTube Debate
Romney claimed New York called itself a “sanctuary city” for illegal aliens. It didn’t.

Giuliani denied New York actually was a “sanctuary city.” But the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service has classified it as such, based on immigrant-friendly policies Giuliani still defends.

Huckabee claimed he would “abolish the IRS.” He failed to mention that he’d replace it with another big tax bureaucracy. Huckabee said he had proposed to make children of illegal aliens eligible for Arkansas scholarships if they “had been in our schools their entire school life.” Actually, the proposal required only three years in Arkansas schools.

Giuliani Twists Facts About Crime and Liberalism in the Big Apple – Rudy Giuliani’s latest TV ad falsely claims New York City experienced “record crime … until Rudy.” In fact, the city recorded its highest rates of both violent crime and property crime years before he took office. The downward trend was well established before he was sworn in.

The ad also claims New York is “America’s most liberal city,” but his campaign offers no evidence showing that the city is more liberal than, say, San Francisco; Berkeley; Washington, D.C.; or Detroit, all of which rank as more liberal in a study of voting behavior in the 2004 elections. In that study, New York ranked 21st among cities with populations of more than 100,000.

Giuliani’s ad also repeats some boasts found to be misleading in the past. It claims he cut taxes by $9 billion but counts several tax cuts that he didn’t initiate or sign, and one that he lobbied against before changing course. It also boasts that he cut welfare rolls by 60 percent but fails to note that the reduction in New York was a bit less than it was for the nation as a whole.

White House Blocking Congressional Plame Probe – President Bush is doing everything possible to delay, obfuscate and obstruct a congressional investigation of his possible role in exposing an undercover CIA agent, Rep. Henry Waxman, chair of the House Oversight Committee says. Former administration spokesman Scott McClellan recently revealed that Bush and Cheney were among those “involved” in his passing along “false information” regarding the Plame scandal, making the committee’s inquiry that much more pressing, Waxman says. “I recognize that President Bush and his counsel may not want this information provided to Congress. But the role of the Attorney General is to administer the laws with impartiality,” Waxman wrote Monday in a letter to Mukasey. “The Justice Department provided the exact same information to Congress during the Clinton Administration. There is no special standard for President Bush that exempts him and his senior advisors from responsible congressional oversight.”

Bush Administration Talking Tough on Iran Despite Intelligence That Iran Halted its Nuclear Weapons Program Four Years Ago – A new US intelligence report indicates that Iran halted its nuclear weapons development program four years ago — but the White House on Monday nevertheless urged global powers to “turn up the pressure” on the country. Newly declassified portions of the National Intelligence Estimate find that Iran abandoned its nuclear program in the fall of 2003 and does not currently possess a nuclear weapon. The country is still enriching uranium, however, and could still develop a weapon between 2010 and 2015, according to senior intelligence officials. U.S. report: Iran stopped nuclear weapons work in 2003

Rudy Giuliani, America’s Bully
During a Staten Island Town Hall meeting on June 27, 2001, Larry Hanley, President of ATU Local 726, tried to ask then Mayor Rudy Giuliani about an inside deal to grant bus routes to connected private bus companies that contributed to his campaigns. Not only does Giuliani shout him down, but he calls many other bus drivers idiots and morons at the mere suggestion that this was a compromised deal. And how could they even be bus drivers if they dared question his authority? A prime example of authoritarian, bullying tactics. Most of the union members stood up and walked out on Giuliani.

Dallas Republicans Misrepresented Election Returns to File a False Voter Fraud Claim – A 2006 cynical smear campaign and voter suppression scheme orchestrated by Republican State House Representative Tony Goolsby (HD102, Dallas), along with Dallas County Republican Party Chair Kenn George and a Dallas GOP consultant, may have backfired. Monday, former challenger Harriet Miller, with support from the Lone Star Project, filed a lawsuit in the 192nd State District Court showing that their attack “constitutes slander” and was committed with “actual malice.” The Goolsby/George scheme entailed the blatant misrepresentation of election returns in order to file a false voter fraud complaint against Goolsby’s Democratic challenger, Harriet Miller, with the Dallas County District Attorney. The false complaint was then used as a political prop to libel and attack Ms. Miller, while also suppressing African American voter turnout in House District 102.

Regards,

Jim

CNN Has Different Standards for Republican and Democratic Debate Questions – CNN Washington bureau chief David Bohrman, who’s executive producing the CNN You Tube debate, said that YouTube videos “asking the Republican candidates to defend their opposition to gay marriage and abortion” would not be asked. “Those kinds of ‘lobbying grenades’ would be disqualified by the CNN selection team, Mr. Bohrman said. ‘There are quite a few things you might describe as Democratic “gotchas,” and we are weeding those out,’ Mr. Bohrman said. CNN wants to ensure that next Wednesday’s Republican event is ‘a debate of their party.'” So if that’s what CNN is doing now, surely they applied the same rules to the previous CNN/YouTube Democratic Debate? No gotchas, no questions from Republicans, a debate of their own party?

However, look at some of the grenades lobbed at the Democratic presidential candidates’ debate:

I’d like to know, if the Democrats come into office, are my taxes going to rise like usually they do when a Democrat gets into office?

To all the [Democratic] candidates: Tell me your position on gun control, as myself and other Americans really want to know if our babies are safe. This is my baby [indicating his gun], purchased under the 1994 gun ban…

Don’t you think if we pulled out [of Iraq] now that it would open it up for Iran and Syria, God knows who — Russia — how do we pull out now? And isn’t it our responsibility to get these people up on their feet? I mean, do you leave a newborn baby to take care of himself? How do we pull out now?

My question is for Mike Gravel. In one of the previous debates, you said something along the lines of, “The entire deaths of Vietnam died in vain.” How do you expect to win in a country where probably a pretty large chunk of the people voting disagree with that statement and might very well be offended by it? I’d like to know if you plan to defend that statement, or if you’re just going to flip-flop. Thanks. I’m a proud serving member of the United States military. I’m serving overseas.

This question is to Senator Hillary Clinton. The Arab states, Muslim nations, believe its women as being second-class citizens. If you’re president of the United States, how do you feel that you would be even be taken seriously by these states in any kind of talks, negotiations, or any other diplomatic relations? I feel that’s a legitimate question.

CNN’s Campbell Brown Calls MoveOn.org “American Insurgents” – Following Wednesday night’s CNN/YouTube Republican debate, recent CNN arrival Campbell Brown hosted a special entitled Campaign Killers, which dealt with the negative nature of campaign advertising in American politics. Unfortunately, Brown decided to do some dirty and rather offensive campaigning herself, referring to MoveOn.org as “American Insurgents.”

Equal Time Not So Equal at Democratic Debate
Why do some candidates get lots of attention while others are ignored?

Don’t Mess with [Creationism in] Texas – Texas Education Agency officials said they recommended firing the director of science curriculum, Chris Comer, for repeated acts of misconduct and insubordination. But Comer said she thinks political concerns about the teaching of creationism in schools were behind what she describes as a forced resignation. Comer was put on 30 days paid administrative leave shortly after she forwarded an e-mail in late October announcing a presentation being given by Barbara Forrest, author of “Inside Creationism’s Trojan Horse,” a book that says creationist politics are behind the movement to get intelligent design theory taught in public schools. Forrest was also a key witness in the Kitzmiller v. Dover case concerning the introduction of intelligent design in a Pennsylvania school district. Comer sent the e-mail to several individuals and a few online communities, saying, “FYI.”

Republicans Requiring Loyalty Oaths From Primary Voters – The State Board of Elections on Monday approved a state Republican Party request to require all who apply for a GOP primary ballot first vow in writing that they’ll vote for the party’s presidential nominee next fall. Virginia Democrats aren’t seeking such an oath for their presidential primary, which is held the same day — February 12th. The Roanoke Times editorialized, “The Republican Party of Virginia has no interest in thoughtful voters. It only wants mindless party loyalists who will vote Republican no matter what.

The Kansas state Republican Party is forming a loyalty committee so that it can punish officers who endorse or contribute to Democrats. “Ironically, it smacks most of the Communist Party,” Bob Beatty, a Washburn University political scientist, said Monday. “That’s the kind of public irony that most parties try to avoid — the party of freedom telling people they have no freedom.”

You Only Get One View of the News in Centre, Pensylvania – In Centre, Pensylvania, Fox television affiliate WWCP plans to stop production on its inhouse nightly newscast Jan. 14, the station announced Wednesday. Instead, NBC affiliate WJAC Channel 6 News will produce a 10 p.m. broadcast seven days a week for WWCP-TV. Channel 6 News will also simulcast its 11 p.m. broadcast on ABC affiliate WATM. That station currently offers a 35-minute nightly news broadcast produced with the WWCP news staff. Both WWCP and WATM are owned and operated by Peak Media of Pennsylvania LLC. WJAC-TV is a Cox Television station. (Is your town next? – JLV)

Proposed FCC Media-Ownership Rules Only Helps Media Conglomerates – Contrary to statements from Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin that couch the media-ownership rules proposal as a compromise, it is bad policy that helps only media conglomerates. The only compromise will be from corporations figuring out how to add more news outlets in an attempt to meet the bottom-line journalism demanded by Wall Street. Media reformers, consumer groups and parts of the press oppose the plan because it allows for cross-ownership of a newspaper and broadcast station in the nation’s 20 largest media markets. The plan is made more dangerous because the commission could grant waivers outside the proposed criteria.

Regards,

Jim

In Congress is drilling a dry hole, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison tries to scare us into supporting the poor abused CEOs of the oil industry. I couldn’t resist. I had to send her the following message via her web site.

Senator,

First of all, as an elected representative of the state of Texas, shouldn’t you be listening to your constituents – not telling them what the oil industry wants?   I would only expect this kind of commentary from a lobbyist for the American oil companies.   You even admit that “CEOs consistently bring to my attention”  the “constant meddling in the tax codes” by Congress.    Well poor under-appreciated and over-compensated CEOs.   If they aren’t complaining, then Congress isn’t doing its job of keeping the power of these CEOs checked and balanced, just like Congress hasn’t done with GWB.

Secondly, your mild attempt at fear mongering does not help.   As you have done in other communications with me, you over use the phrase “national security” like you are trying to scare us into believing you.  Also, near the end of your comments, you state that if we follow your suggestions we will “reduce our dangerous dependence on foreign oil.”  What about our dependence [on] China and Japan for their money to pay for the war you and GWB got us into?   With the recent devaluation of the dollar, what will happen to this nation’s economy when China and Japan decide to stop investing here and invest in the European Union where the Euro is worth fifty percent more than the dollar?  Who will pay for the war then?

As for the $16 billion in additional taxes on the oil industry, over what time period does this apply?   What is the annual impact on oil profits?  Why don’t you tell us that?   Probably because it is not that significant.    In fact, if I go to Yahoo Finance and look up the three year total profit for BP, ConocoPhillips, Chevron and ExxonMobil, I find that this $16 billion tax, if spread over those three years, would reduce their profits, $927 billion, by  only 1.7 percent.   That’s what these CEOs are complaining about, 1.7 percent over three years or 0.6 percent a year?

A little over half way through your commentary, you refer to diversification of resources.   You state, “In particular, biofuels are vital to making our nation more energy independent” and you don’t like what “Some in Congress” want to do – “increase the renewable fuel standard.”   Poor industry – why can’t Congress just leave them alone.    On the other hand, biofuels will not make any real long-term difference.  You mention biofuel goals of 7.5 billion gallons by 2012 or 36 billion gallons by 2022 and it appears these are annual goals from your writing.   Now compare these very meager goals to the 2006 total U. S. supply of crude oil, both domestic and foreign, of 233.31 billion gallons.   Biofuels will not break this addiction to crude oil and I have yet to see Congress or industry present a real long term solution.

What ever the solution is, it will take sacrifice by not only the oil industry but also the citizens of the United States and the world.   Do you, Senator, have what it takes to not only make such self sacrifices but to also require your favorite industry CEOs to make similar sacrifices?  

Do your voting constituents a favor.   The next time you meet with these poor tax abused CEOs, ask them about their company vision, goals and objectives.   Is there anything in them that indicates they include, in the least little way, anything about doing what is best for our national interest?   I doubt, and would not expect, that they will respond in the affirmative.   After all that is the job of Congress and you – our national interest.   And what is in the best interest for the nation is not necessarily best for industry.

I wonder, when the senator retires – which oil company or K-Street oil lobby will provide her first non-government paycheck?

Firefighters Asked to Report People Who Express Discontent With the U. S. Government – It’s like the novel “Fahrenheit 451” has come to life. Firefighters are being trained to not only keep an eye out for illegal materials in the course of their duties, but even to report back any expression of discontent with the government. A year ago, Homeland Security gave security clearances to nine New York City fire chiefs and began sharing intelligence with them. Even before that, fire department personnel were being taught “to identify material or behavior that may indicate terrorist activities” and were also “told to be alert for a person who is hostile, uncooperative or expressing hate or discontent with the United States.” Unlike law enforcement officials, firemen can go onto private property without a warrant, not only while fighting fires but also for inspections.

Rulings That Denied Endangered Species Increased Protection Were Tainted by Political Pressure – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday reversed seven rulings that denied endangered species increased protection, after an investigation found the actions were tainted by political pressure from a former senior Interior Department official. In a letter to Rep. Nick Rahall, D-West Virginia., the agency acknowledged that the actions had been “inappropriately influenced” and that “revising the seven identified decisions is supported by scientific evidence and the proper legal standards.” The rulings came under scrutiny last spring after an Interior Department inspector general concluded that agency scientists were being pressured to alter their findings on endangered species by Julie MacDonald, then a deputy assistant secretary overseeing the Fish and Wildlife Service. Rahall in a statement said that MacDonald, who was a civil engineer, “should never have been allowed near the endangered species program.” He called MacDonald’s involvement in species protection cases over her three-year tenure as an example of “this administration’s penchant for torpedoing science.” MacDonald resigned her position last May.

Giuliani Billed Obscure Agencies for His Trips – As New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani billed obscure city agencies for tens of thousands of dollars in security expenses amassed during the time when he was beginning an extramarital relationship with future wife Judith Nathan in the Hamptons, according to previously undisclosed government records. The costs had nothing to do with the functions of the little-known city offices that defrayed his tabs, including agencies responsible for regulating loft apartments, aiding the disabled and providing lawyers for indigent defendants.

State Department’s Iraq Weekly Status Report is a Copy and Paste of News Articles – The State Department’s “Iraq Weekly Status Report” is filled with sloppily credited cut and pastes from major media articles. What are the more than 1,600 State Dept employees in Iraq doing that they don’t submit enough information back to State so they can file their own report? State Dept. seeks $1.5B for Iraq

US is ‘Worst’ Imperialist According to Archbishop of Canterbury – The Archbishop of Canterbury has said that the United States wields its power in a way that is worse than Britain during its imperial heyday. Rowan Williams claimed that America’s attempt to intervene overseas by “clearing the decks” with a “quick burst of violent action” had led to “the worst of all worlds”. He said the crisis was caused not just by America’s actions but also by its misguided sense of its own mission. He poured scorn on the “chosen nation myth of America, meaning that what happens in America is very much at the heart of God’s purpose for humanity”. Williams suggested American leadership had broken down: “We have only one global hegemonic power. It is not accumulating territory: it is trying to accumulate influence and control. That’s not working.”

Thought for the day:
“Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.”

Regards,

Jim

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Bad Deeds for 11-28-2007 (Add-On to Earlier Post)

Giuliani’s Business Contracts Tie Him to the Man Who Let 9/11’s =20
Mastermind Escape the FBI
Three weeks after 9/11, when the roar of fighter jets still haunted =20
the city’s skyline, the emir of gas-rich Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin =20
Khalifah al-Thani, toured Ground Zero. Although a member of the =20
emir’s own royal family had harbored the man who would later be =20
identified as the mastermind of the attack=97a man named Khalid Sheikh =20=

Muhammad, often referred to in intelligence circles by his initials, =20
KSM=97al-Thani rushed to New York in its aftermath, offering to make a =20=

$3 million donation, principally to the families of its victims. =20
“We had a very good meeting yesterday. Very good,” said Giuliani, =20
adding that he was “very, very grateful” for al-Thani’s generosity. =20
Giuliani Partners, the consulting company that has made Giuliani =20
rich, feasts at the Qatar trough, doing business with the ministry =20
run by the very member of the royal family identified in news and =20
government reports as having concealed KSM=97the terrorist mastermind =20=

who wired funds from Qatar to his nephew Ramzi Yousef prior to the =20
1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, and who also sold the idea of =20=

a plane attack on the towers to Osama bin Laden=97on his Qatar farm in =20=

the mid-1990s. This royal family member is Abdallah bin Khalid al-=20
Thani, Qatar’s minister of Islamic affairs at the time, who was later =20=

installed at the interior ministry in January 2001 and reappointed by =20=

the emir during a government shake-up earlier this year. Abdallah al-=20
Thani is also said to have welcomed Osama bin Laden on two visits to =20
the farm. What’s most shocking is that Abdallah al-Thani has been =20
widely accused of helping to spirit KSM out of Qatar in 1996, just as =20=

the FBI was closing in on him. In other words, as incredible as it =20
might seem, Rudy Giuliani=97whose presidential candidacy is steeped in =20=

9/11 iconography=97has been doing business with a government agency run =20=

by the very man who made the attacks on 9/11 possible.
Much, much more…
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0748,barrett,78478,6.html

Regards,

Jim=

Texas Oilman Was At Center of Corruption in Iraq Oil for Food Program – Texas oilman Oscar Wyatt Jr. paid millions of dollars to Iraqi officials to get an unfair share of contracts connected to the oil-for-food program, which ran from 1996 to 2003. The program permitted the Iraqi government to sell oil primarily to buy food and medicine for suffering Iraqis. It was meant to help Iraqis cope with U.N. sanctions, but authorities said the program was corrupted when Iraqi officials began demanding illegal surcharges in return for contracts to buy Iraqi oil.

Political Prisoner in America – For most Americans, the very concept of political prisoners is remote and exotic, a practice that is associated with third-world dictatorships but is foreign to the American tradition. The idea that a prominent politician could be tried on charges that many observers consider to be trumped-up, convicted in a trial that involved numerous questionable procedures, and then hauled off to prison in shackles immediately upon sentencing would be almost unbelievable. But there is such a politician: Don Siegelman, Democratic governor of Alabama from 1999 to 2003. Starting just a few weeks after he took office, Siegelman was targeted by an investigation launched by his political opponents and escalated from the state to the federal level by Bush Administration appointees in 2001. Shortly before the sentencing, however, suspicions expressed by Alabama observers that there was something “fishy” about the case began to reach the national stage. What initially appeared to be merely a whiff of possible political corruption became something stronger, with allegations that Karl Rove and the Bush Justice Department had been operating behind the scenes. Part 2

Iraq Vet Forced to Pay Back Army Bonus – Former Private First Class Jordan Fox was injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq. He suffered a serious back injury, and he lost sight in his right eye. A few short weeks after his honorable discharge from the Army, a letter came by mail from the Defense Department. Was it a letter informing him of local veterans’ clinics where he could receive vocational rehabilitation or counseling? No. A signed “thank you for your service” from the Secretary of Defense, or perhaps the President? No. It was a bill for nearly $3,000. Since Fox was too severely injured to complete his military service, the Defense Department was demanding that he return part of his enlistment bonus. In the Army bureaucracy, his wounds didn’t matter. The Army machine wanted its money back. Sadly, he is not alone. Some troops seriously wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan are being denied their full enlistment bonus by the Pentagon, while others are being asked to return money they have already received.

Bush Committed Federal Crime According to Constitutional Law Professor – The Bush administration has been using the “state secrets” defense in order to have federal law suits challenging their illegal eavesdropping programs thrown out of court. So far, they have been successful; thanks, in most cases, to lazy or partisan judges who have given little or no scrutiny of the validity of their claims which, according to Constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley on Tuesday’s Countdown, are nothing more than unconstitutional attempts to cover up their own federal crimes.

Olbermann: “With or without this new law, suppose one of the anti-wiretapping civil lawsuits succeeds, what does that legal victory actually mean then in terms of stopping the government or punishing Alberto Gonzales or any other top officials who were responsible for this?”

Turley: “Well, it can mean a lot and that’s one of the reasons there’s a lot of people, both Democrats and Republicans, who don’t want to see it happen. They don’t want a court to say that the president did something that is a federal crime. That’s why they’re trying to get all these cases thrown out of court because it is rather clear that what the president ordered was a federal crime, clearly defined in federal law. But that causes a problem because many of the Democratic leaders and Republican leaders have promised each other that they would not start impeachment proceedings, but when a federal judge says the president committed a crime, it’s pretty darn hard to ignore that.”

Iraq War Contract Scandal Widens = The apparent suicide last year in Baghdad of Army Maj. Gloria D. Davis set in motion a chain of events that has shed light on the Lee case and others in the web. Before her death on Dec. 12, Davis told Army investigators she had received $225,000 in bribes from Lee in return for granting his company $14 million in contracts to provide warehouses and management services in Iraq.

Media Trumpets Unreliable Poll; Fails to Mention Reliable Poll With Opposite Results – Recently, two polls came out — a Zogby Interactive poll (with questionable methodology) showing Hillary Clinton struggling against the top GOP candidates, and a Gallup poll (with more reliable methodology) showing the opposite. Guess which one got too much attention? While the Zogby poll was mentioned by multiple reporters and pundits, the only mentions the Gallup poll got on TV were from Hillary advisers who had to bring it up themselves on the air in order to inject it into the conversation. Of course, every political reporter, editor, and producer in the country knew that Zogby Interactive results were unreliable, but they trumpeted the results anyway. Wouldn’t responsible journalism require news outlets to a) note why professional pollsters discount Zogby Interactive data; and b) also highlight the Gallup numbers with equal enthusiasm?

Another Incompetent Bush Crony – Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief Julie Myers has been criticized as an unfit nominee because of her lack of immigration experience and close ties to the Bush administration. Her performance at that first press conference was panned when she “struggle[d] to pronounce Nuevo Laredo,” a Mexican border town that is a hot spot of criminal activity and drug trafficking into the US. President Bush elevated Myers to the position with a controversial “recess appointment” that subverted the Senate’s ability to confirm the nominee. Critics say Myers’ ascension to the top spot at ICE was another example of Bush’s “cronyism” because she is married to a US Attorney who formerly served as chief of staff DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff and her uncle is Gen. Richard Myers, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “This nomination is a monumental political and policy blunder in the wake of the Michael Brown/FEMA fiasco,” wrote conservative blogger Michelle Malkin, a fierce critic of the administration’s immigration policies, before Myers took on her new job. More recently, Myers was forced to apologize after an ICE employee showed up at a costume party in what many thought was a racist costume and she was on a panel that judged the costume “most original.” Lou Dobbs transcript – search for myers   Julie Myers: ICE Princess Holds Court, Acts Like Jester

Giuliani’s Business Contracts Tie Him to the Man Who Let 9/11’s Mastermind Escape the FBI – Three weeks after 9/11, when the roar of fighter jets still haunted the city’s skyline, the emir of gas-rich Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifah al-Thani, toured Ground Zero. Although a member of the emir’s own royal family had harbored the man who would later be identified as the mastermind of the attack—a man named Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, often referred to in intelligence circles by his initials, KSM—al-Thani rushed to New York in its aftermath, offering to make a $3 million donation, principally to the families of its victims. “We had a very good meeting yesterday. Very good,” said Giuliani, adding that he was “very, very grateful” for al-Thani’s generosity. Giuliani Partners, the consulting company that has made Giuliani rich, feasts at the Qatar trough, doing business with the ministry run by the very member of the royal family identified in news and government reports as having concealed KSM—the terrorist mastermind who wired funds from Qatar to his nephew Ramzi Yousef prior to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, and who also sold the idea of a plane attack on the towers to Osama bin Laden—on his Qatar farm in the mid-1990s. This royal family member is Abdallah bin Khalid al-Thani, Qatar’s minister of Islamic affairs at the time, who was later installed at the interior ministry in January 2001 and reappointed by the emir during a government shake-up earlier this year. Abdallah al-Thani is also said to have welcomed Osama bin Laden on two visits to the farm. What’s most shocking is that Abdallah al-Thani has been widely accused of helping to spirit KSM out of Qatar in 1996, just as the FBI was closing in on him. In other words, as incredible as it might seem, Rudy Giuliani—whose presidential candidacy is steeped in 9/11 iconography—has been doing business with a government agency run by the very man who made the attacks on 9/11 possible.

Regards,

Jim

Karl Rove Says “Congress Pushed Bush to War in Iraq Prematurely” – According to Karl Rove on the Charlie Rose show on PBS, the Bush Administration did not want Congress to vote on the Iraq War resolution in the fall of 2002, because they thought it should not be done within the context of an election. Rove says he did not think the war vote should be “political”. Moreover, according to Rove, that “premature vote” led to many of the problems that cropped up in the Iraq War. Had Congress not pushed, he says, Bush could have spent more time assembling a coalition, and provided more time to the inspectors. (Has Karl Rove completely lost his memory? -JLV) More from Huffington Post

News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch said he maintains editorial control over which political party his U.K. newspapers support in U.K. general elections – Murdoch’s comments came in an interview with the U.K.’s House of Lords Communications Committee, which traveled to New York on Sept. 17 as part of its inquiry into media ownership and the news. In addition to Murdoch, the committee met privately with officials from U.S. papers such as The New York Times and TV stations such as Fox News, CNN, ABC, NBC and CBS. On Friday, the committee issued minutes of its discussions in New York. News Corp.’s assets in the U.S. include the Fox cable business, the 20th Century Fox film studio and the New York Post. It also owns the MySpace social networking site and has agreed to acquire Dow Jones & Co. (DJ), owner of The Wall Street Journal, for about $5 billion.

Another Bogus ‘Press Conference’ Revealed, This Time at Homeland Security – The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s fake October news conference wasn’t a first. A Homeland Security public affairs official acted like a reporter asking questions during a briefing in San Antonio in January 2006. A Homeland Security Department investigation found that an official with Immigration and Customs Enforcement asked a question during that news conference.

Facebook Violating Privacy – When you buy a book, movie, or gift online, do you want that information automatically shared with everyone you know? Last week, the social networking site Facebook began doing just that. Private purchases made by Facebook users on other sites were posted on Facebook for people’s co-workers, friends, and random acquaintances to see.1 Why? To benefit corporate advertisers. Other sites are looking at Facebook’s example to see if they can get away with similar privacy breaches.

Regards,

Jim

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

Bush, Cheney, Rove and Others Passed Along False Information Says Former White House Press Secretary – President Bush, Karl Rove, and other top administration officials were involved in misleading the White House press corps about the outing of ex-CIA agent Valerie Plame, a forthcoming book from former Press Secretary Scott McClellan alleges:

The most powerful leader in the world had called upon me to speak on his behalf and help restore credibility he lost amid the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. So I stood at the White house briefing room podium in front of the glare of the klieg lights for the better part of two weeks and publicly exonerated two of the senior-most aides in the White House: Karl Rove and Scooter Libby.

There was one problem. It was not true. I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice President, the President’s chief of staff, and the president himself.

Republican Front-Runners Turn Down Opportunity to Blog for Veterans – An organization representing veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan launched a new blog Tuesday, which will feature posts from some of the top presidential candidates. Only one GOP contender — maverick Ron Paul — responded to VoteVets.org’s invitation to blog while five Democratic candidates answered the organization’s call. VoteVets is a technically non-partisan group, but it works closely with mostly Democratic congressional candidates and aims to elect lawmakers who are “critical of the execution of the war in Iraq.”

The organization hopes its blog, VetVoice.com , becomes a clearinghouse for discussion of veterans’ issues as the presidential campaign continues. Posts will be added to the site throughout the day Tuesday from Paul and Democratic candidates, Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

“It’s heartening to know that the candidates who are posting think military and veterans issues are important enough to warrant a post on this new blog,” Brandon Friedman, an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran, and vice chairman of VoteVets.org, said in a news release. “VetVoice.com, we hope will become the hub on the web for those concerned about military and veterans’ issues, and where people can take a critical look at these issues, and proposed solutions. There’s no better way to kick it off than to begin with posts from those who are seeking to be our Commander in Chief.”

More Fear Mongering: The Internet Will Crash Soon If We Don’t Give the Telecom Companies What They Want – The Internet will start crashing down around us by the year 2010, David Lieberman writes, citing a recent “study” by Nemertes Research. The reason for our demise? We dastardly Net users have gone too far. By taking control of our own media, users are straining the Net to the limit. The only way to save the Internet from the coming “exaflood,” the report concludes, is to pay more federal money to the likes of AT&T and let them gut Net Neutrality protections so they can fix the problem. In their ceaseless efforts to become the gatekeepers to what we do online, the phone and cable companies funnel money to unscrupulous think tanks, which, in turn, churn out research, painting a picture of Internet Armageddon that can only be averted by giving the telcos exactly what they want: more money and control. Nemertes is a wind-up research group funded by the Internet Innovation Alliance, a group underwritten by AT&T.

A Bad Investment – Where do we invest in the future of energy?

Bush’s Mideast Conference: No Entrance Strategy – The good news is, the administration is now poised to hold a major Middle East peace conference. The bad news is, no one seems to have any idea who’s coming, when they’ll meet, or what they’ll do. But no conference date has been set. No invitations have been issued. And no one really agrees on what the participants will actually talk about once they arrive at the Naval Academy for the meeting, which is intended to relaunch Bush’s stillborn “road map” plan to create a Palestinian state. “No one seems to know what is happening,” one senior Arab envoy said last week, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid appearing out of the loop. “I am completely lost.”

Regards,

Jim

US Provides Haven to War Criminals From Abroad – More than 1,000 people from 85 countries who are accused of such crimes as rape, killings, torture and genocide are living in the United States, according to Department of Homeland Security figures. “America has become a haven for the world’s war criminals because it lacks the laws needed to prosecute them, Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said Wednesday. There’s been only one U.S. indictment of someone suspected of a serious human-rights abuse. Durbin said torture was the only serious human-rights violation that was a crime under American law when committed outside the United States by a non-American national.”

Tom Tancredo Says Irrational Fear Is More Important Than Healthcare, Education or Anything – Tancredo:

If you are going to ask people to actually vote for you for President of the United States of America, you’d better tell them what you are going to do about this problem, because I’m telling you it supercedes all other … It’s more important than healthcare. It’s more important than education policy. It’s more important than trade. It’s more important than anything, because what does all of that matter if you do not do what is necessary to protect this country?

Really? More important than healthcare? More important than anything?
Pardon me for even entertaining the specious link he makes between illegal immigration and terrorism, but let’s walk down that crooked path just a little, ok?

Not to say the threat of terrorism isn’t real or that we shouldn’t do anything about it, because of course we should, but we should have a rational, sensible policy based on the real threat, not an over-hyped perception of one. The fact is that even “if terrorists were able to pull off one attack per year on the scale of the 9/11 atrocity, … your risk of dying in a plausible terrorist attack is much lower than your risk of dying in a car accident, by walking across the street, by drowning, in a fire, by falling, or by being murdered.” Terrorists would have to pull off six 9/11s every year to equal the roughly 18,000 unnecessary deaths every year coming from the more than 40 million uninsured in this country, and if there is a terrorist with the will and the capability to pull that off, there will never be a border fence that will stop them, and nothing could be more dangerous to this country than a paranoid politician whose brain is so ate up with Lou Dobb’s Disease that he’s willing to sell every other issue down the river in search of a cure. Early Release of Estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, 2006

Wounded Troops Face Home-Front Battle With Veterans Administration – More than 28,500 troops have been wounded in Operation Iraqi Freedom, including about 8,500 that have needed air transport, according to the U.S. military. A recent Harvard study found that the cost of caring for those wounded over the course of their lifetime could ultimately cost more than $660 billion. In Ty Ziegel’s case, he spent nearly two years recovering at Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas. Once he got out of the hospital, he was unable to hold a job. He anticipated receiving a monthly VA disability check sufficient to cover his small-town lifestyle in Washington, Illinois. Instead, he got a check for far less than expected. After pressing for answers, Ziegel finally received a letter from the VA that rated his injuries: 80 percent for facial disfigurement, 60 percent for left arm amputation, a mere 10 percent for head trauma and nothing for his left lobe brain injury, right eye blindness and jaw fracture. “I don’t get too mad about too many things,” he said. “But once we’ve been getting into this, I’m ready to beat down the White House door if I need to.”

Red Cross Was Barred From Guantánamo – A confidential 2003 manual for operating the Guantánamo detention center shows that military officials had a policy of denying detainees access to independent monitors from the International Committee of the Red Cross. The manual said one goal was to “exploit the disorientation and disorganization felt by a newly arrived detainee,” by denying access to the Koran and by preventing visits with Red Cross representatives, who have a long history of monitoring the conditions under which prisoners in international conflicts are held. The document said that even after their initial weeks at Guantánamo, some detainees would not be permitted to see representatives of the International Red Cross.

Fox News Host is For Tasing Anyone Belonging to the Code Pink Anti-War Group – Brian Kilmead shared his ever-so-evolved views on crowd control Monday morning in a Fox & Friends discussion of a Code Pink-disrupted Hillary Clinton speech. His answer to annoying anti-war types? Tasers or Billy clubs. “They should Tase this guy,” Kilmead says. “At one point with security so high and tensions on edge, don’t you think they’re going to get at the very least Tased or beaten to a pulp by somebody? These people look threatening.” Kilmead’s Taser-lust came one day after a 20-year-old Maryland man died after being shocked by police. Fox re-played the famous “don’t Tase me bro” sound-bite from a University of Florida student. The student’s screams seemed to delight the hosts, and Kilmead clearly wanted to hear more of them. “I would be for Tasing anyone in Code Pink,” he says. “I’m pro-Pink Tasing.”

Louisiana Democratic Rep. Jefferson Accused of Two New Schemes – Prosecutors are accusing Rep. William J. Jefferson of Louisiana of soliciting bribes in two suspected schemes that are separate from the bribery charges he already faces, according to a published report. The government alleges that in 2002 Jefferson, a Democrat, asked a lobbyist for a U.S. oil services company for payments of $10,000 a month for a family member. In exchange, Jefferson said he would help the company promote business in Africa. The lobbyist turned down the request, according to the document. Jefferson later made a deal to urge NASA to do business with a U.S. rocket launch services and technology company, according to the filing. The company is accused of agreeing to pay Jefferson’s family business and a relative in exchange for his help.

Army’s New $2.6 Billion Helicopter Can’t Fly in Temperatures Over 80-Degrees – The Army is spending $2.6 billion on hundreds of European-designed helicopters for homeland security and disaster relief that turn out to have a crucial flaw: They aren’t safe to fly on hot days. During flight tests in Southern California in mild, 80-degree weather, cockpit temperatures in the UH-72A Lakota soared above 104, the point at which the Army says the communication, navigation and flight control systems can overheat and shut down. The Army is scrambling to fix the problem — adding millions to the taxpayer cost.

Seventy Percent of Iraqis Without Access to Decent Water – Despite the fact that Iraq and U.S. officials have made water projects among their top priorities, the percentage of Iraqis without access to decent water supplies has risen from 50 percent to 70 percent since the start of the U.S.-led war, according to an analysis by Oxfam International last summer. The portion of Iraqis lacking decent sanitation was even worse — 80 percent.

Rudy Giuliani Jets to Campaign Stops Using Casino Kingpin’s Plane – Rudy Giuliani is jetting around the country wooing Bible-thumping conservatives, but his plane is often provided by a king of Sin City. The Republican presidential hopeful anted up more than $122,000 last summer alone for jets traceable to casino kingpin Sheldon Adelson, whose Las Vegas Sands empire has made him the third-richest American

Chris Dodd Gets Priorities Wrong at Debate
The candidates at the Democratic debate in Las Vegas were asked, “What is more important, human rights or national security?” Chris Dodd replied, “Obviously, national security, keeping the country safe. When you take the oath of office on January 20, you promise to do two things, and that is to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and protect our country against enemies both foreign and domestic. The security of the country is number one, obviously.” However, the president’s oath of office, as specified in Article II, Section 1, of the Constitution states, “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” The job of the president is to defend the Constitution. The Constitution first, the Constitution last, the Constitution always. Nowhere is the president given one inch of leeway to consider setting aside that Constitution in exchange for an illusion of security. Every citizen, as well as every candidate, should understand this.

Regards,

Jim