S. Carolina Republican Heckles President 10 Sep 2009 It was a rare breach of the protocol that governs ritualistic events in the Capitol. In an angry and very audible outburst, Representative Joe Wilson, a South Carolina Republican, interrupted President Obama’s speech Wednesday night with a shouted "You lie." His eruption -- in response to Mr. Obama’s statement that Democratic health proposals would not cover illegal aliens -- stunned members of both parties in the House chamber. Democrats said it showed lack of respect for the office of the presidency and was reminiscent of Republican disruptions at August town meetings on health care.
'You lie': Rep. Wilson apologizes 09 Sep 2009 Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) apologized Wednesday night for heckling President Barack Obama as a liar during the president's speech to a joint session of Congress. Wilson shouted to the president "you lie" after Obama said illegal immigrants would not benefit from health insurance coverage from the reform bill. Obama glared disgustedly in the direction the remark came from, as did Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Vice President Joe Biden.
Obama's Health Care Speech to Congress --The prepared text of President Obama’s speech to Congress on the need to overhaul health care in the United States, as released by the White House. 10 Sep 2009 (Transcript)
Prosecutor eyeing war crimes in Afghanistan 09 Sep 2009 The prosecutor for the International Criminal Court said Wednesday he is collecting information on possible war crimes by NATO forces and the Taliban in Afghanistan. Luis Moreno Ocampo said he is also conducting preliminary inquiries on possible war crimes in Georgia, Colombia, Kenya, Ivory Coast, and by Israeli forces in Gaza. Asked whether any NATO soldier is now a potential target of the court if he or she commits a war crime in a country under the court's jurisdiction, he replied that NATO's legal adviser was at the court's headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands last week discussing this issue. In the training NATO is doing, Ocampo said, it is explaining to colonels that in the future they could end up before the court if they commit atrocities.
European Leaders Call for Conference to Assess Progress in Afghanistan --Letter clearly suggested that decisions should not be left solely to the United States 10 Sep 2009 The leaders of France, Britain and Germany have called for a high-level international conference on Afghanistan, saying it is time to "take stock of progress . . . and to evaluate the challenges that lie ahead." In a letter to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the leaders said the conference, which they suggested take place outside Afghanistan under U.N. and Afghan sponsorship, would facilitate agreement on "new benchmarks and timelines" for gradually turning responsibility for the country over to Afghans.
Attack on NATO base kills two people 10 Sep 2009 A bomb attack in a NATO base in Afghanistan has reportedly killed at least two civilians and injured several foreign troops and local residents. The bomb went off outside a British NATO base in the southern province of Helmand late on Wednesday, NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.
Suicide bombers strike at Kabul airport gate 09 Sep 2009 Three Afghans were killed in a suicide bombing at Kabul's main airport that also injured four international soldiers. Three American soldiers and a Belgian soldier were injured in the attack yesterday, which happened at the main gate of the international military airport just east of Kabul. Six civilians were injured.
UK reporter freed in Afghanistan 09 Sep 2009 A UK journalist abducted in Afghanistan has been freed by Nato troops in a dramatic pre-dawn raid. New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell was kidnapped on Saturday along with Afghan interpreter Sultan Munadi while investigating a Nato air strike. Mr Munadi - a father of two - was killed during the rescue operation.
Truck bomb in north Iraq Kurdish village kills 19 09 Sep 2009 A suicide bomber drove a truck packed with explosives into a Kurdish village in northern Iraq before dawn on Thursday, killing at least 19 villagers and wounding 13, police said. Police said the initial death toll from the blast in the village of Wardek, about 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, was likely to rise. Women and children were among the dead and many houses were completely destroyed.
Ban slams Israel's settlement work 09 Sep 2009 The UN Secretary General has denounced Israel's plan for building new settlements as "contrary to international law", calling on Tel Aviv to stop all settlement activities. In a statement issued on Wednesday to denounce the Israeli approval of the construction of 455 new houses in the West Bank, Ban Ki-moon called on Israel "to stop all settlement activity, including natural growth, and dismantle all outposts erected since March 2001 in the occupied Palestinian territory."
Bush White House Sought to Shield Those Running Secret CIA Prisons --U.S. Tried to Quietly Soften Treaty on Detainees 07 Sep 2009 From 2003 to 2006, the Bush regime quietly tried to relax the draft language of a treaty meant to bar and punish "enforced disappearances" so that those overseeing the CIA's secret prison system would not be criminally prosecuted under its provisions, according to former officials and hundreds of pages of documents recently declassified by the State Department... The documents suggest that initial U.S. support for the negotiations collided head-on with the then-undisclosed goal of seizing suspected terrorists anywhere in the world for questioning by CIA interrogators or indefinite detention by the U.S. military at foreign sites. ...The United States pressed in 2004 for a more limited prohibition on intentionally placing detainees outside legal protections for "a prolonged period of time."
Sheen wants to discuss his 9/11 theories with Obama 09 Sep 2009 Actor Charlie Sheen has written a letter to President Barack Obama requesting a meeting over Sheen's theories about the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Sheen has always been outspoken about his views on the attacks, supporting a conspiracy theory that the U.S. government at the time defrauded the public with its official story about the incident. The star has now written to Obama asking him to reopen the investigation into 9/11.
Howard, Va. Tech Join U.S. Intelligence Program --21 colleges and universities are in DNI's Centers of Academic Excellence program, begun in 2004. 07 Sep 2009 Howard University and Virginia Tech have joined forces in a $2.5 million academic program funded by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence designed to teach undergraduates skills [for] the nation's intelligence agencies. The aim of the program receiving the five-year grant is to develop a pipeline of graduates "who will come to work for us," said Ronald Sanders, the chief human capital officer for the intelligence community.
Girl Scouts called to action in defense of homeland: DHS launches partnership campaign with US Girl Scouts 08 Sep 2009 The United States wants to enlist its 3.4 million Girl Scouts in the effort to combat hurricanes, pandemics, terror attacks and other disasters. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) launched a campaign Tuesday to entice the blue, brown and green-clad multitudes to be even more prepared, with the promise of a new patch if they pitch in. The young scouts will be able to emblazon their sashes or vests with the patch if they undergo the training which readies them for an emergency. The unveiling of the patch marks a partnership between the scouts and Citizen Corps, a community-based initiative under the DHS's Federal Emergency Management Agency, which coordinates national response to disasters.
Banks, credit unions seek looser regulations due to H1N1 flu --Doctors, bankers and others told House Committee on Small Business they need 'regulatory changes' to handle H1N1 pandemic 09 Sep 2009 Doctors asked the government on Wednesday to pay them more for giving [deadly] vaccines and prescribing drugs on the telephone as the flu pandemic hits their communities. Meanwhile, small bankers said they should get relief from some regulatory requirements during the worst of the pandemic. They would include better Medicaid payments for giving flu vaccines -- some pediatricians may have to vaccinate some children four times this year [!] -- and looser regulations for banks and credit unions.
Most Germans don't want swine flu vaccinations --The German govt has ordered 18 million more vaccinations against swine flu. But two-thirds of Germans say they don't want to be immunized. 09 Sep 2009 A new study conducted by the Forsa Institute for DAK, one of Germany's largest health insurers, revealed that a surprising number of Germans do not plan to get immunized. In the study of 1,001 people aged between 18 and 60 years, 62 percent said they would "definitely not," or "almost definitely not" let themselves be vaccinated this in autumn when the first swine flu vaccines become available.
Group opposes Swine Flu quarantine bill 09 Sep 2009 The Liberty Preservation Association of Massachusetts, which has ties to Springfield, held a "lobby bomb" Wednesday at the State House to oppose a bill regarding Swine Flu. Bill S-2028, which recently passed the Massachusetts Senate, states that if there is a swine flu pandemic and you do not get the swine flu vaccine, you can be ordered into quarantine. If you refuse the quarantine, you can face a fine of $1,000 per day that you resist.
Forced Catheterization Used In DUI Case --Suit Claims Police, Hospital Acted Improperly --Attorney said client was shackled to gurney and had catheter inserted against his will 03 Sep 2009 An Indiana man has filed a lawsuit claiming that police forcibly withdrew blood and urine from his body during a drunken driving arrest, WLWT-TV reported. According to the suit, police arrested Jamie Lockard on suspicion of drunken driving in March. A Breathalyzer test showed he was under the legal limit, but Officer Brian Miller doubted the findings. Lockard and his attorney claim in the suit that police took him to Dearborn County Hospital and forced him to submit to a urine and blood test.
Hijacked AeroMexico plane lands at Mexico City, passengers freed 09 Sep 2009 An AeroMexico passenger plane was hijacked in the Mexican resort of Cancun on Wednesday and flown to Mexico City's international airport, where all of the passengers were released. Local newspaper websites said three men had seized control of the Boeing 737 plane and threatened to blow it up unless they were allowed to speak to President Felipe Calderon. Mexican radio said the plane was carrying 104 passengers.
Birthers Want to See Obama's Penis By Kay Steiger 25 Aug 2009 Birthers have now decided that what makes a person a true, blue, red-blooded American is not the color of your complexion but how much foreskin you have. Commenters (and circumcised Americans) over at Free Republic struck on a revelation yesterday: if Barack Obama has not been circumcised, then he must not have been born in the United States. [We all know Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh are dying to see it, even if they weren't birthers.]
Assemblyman Mike Duvall resigns after his sex comments are broadcast --KCAL-TV in Los Angeles played a tape of the married Yorba Linda Republican speaking about sex with two women. He apparently did not realize a microphone was on during a legislative hearing. 09 Sep 2009 An Orange County lawmaker who inadvertently broadcast explicit remarks about his sexual conquests over an open microphone during a lull in a Sacramento hearing abruptly resigned from office this afternoon. Assemblyman Mike Duvall (R-Yorba Linda) stepped down after legislative leaders stripped him of his committee posts this morning and launched an ethics probe of his actions.
61 SC House Republicans call on governor to resign 09 Sep 2009 Sixty-one South Carolina House Republicans asked Gov. Mark Sanford to resign Wednesday, questioning his ability to lead the state since his unannounced summertime trip to see a mistress in Argentina and investigations of his state and private travel that followed. "Your decision to abandon our state for five days, with no defined order of succession and with no known way to contact you, is inexcusable," said a letter from the lawmakers signed by House Majority Leader Kenny Bingham.
Obama heckled by GOP during speech: 'You lie!' 09 Sep 2009 A Republican lawmaker from South Carolina apologized Wednesday after shouting "You lie" at President Barack Obama as he addressed Congress. In his speech in the House chamber, Obama was telling lawmakers that the Democratic plans for health care overhaul do not cover illegal immigrants. "You lie!" Republican Joe Wilson of South Carolina, shouted from his seat, jabbing a finger in the air.
Palin slams Obama healthcare 'death panels' 09 Sep 2009 Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin has blasted the US president's healthcare proposal, as Barack Obama prepares to revamp the dysfunctional system. The one-time Republican vice presidential candidate wrote in [Murdoch rag] The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, "Common sense tells us that a top-down, one-size-fits-all plan will not improve the workings of a nationwide healthcare system that accounts for one-sixth of our economy."
Schwarzenegger's death panels: State HMOs deny 1 in 5 claims, analysis shows --A nurses group says state government data show that denial rates among the five largest insurers ranged up to 39.6% in the first half of 2009. 03 Sep 2009 California HMOs reject one out of five medical claims, according to an analysis by the California Nurses Assn. of data the companies submit to the state. The analysis -- the first of its kind based on state government-collected data -- concluded that from 2002 through June 30, 2009, five of the largest insurers in the state rejected 31.2 million claims for medical care, or 21% of all claims.
Taxpayers Unlikely to Recover $81 Billion GM, Chrysler Investment 09 Sep 2009 U.S. taxpayers are unlikely to recover their $81 billion investment in General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC and were "left in the dark" on specifics of a decision to aid automakers, a congressional panel said. The Treasury Department should consider placing its GM and Chrysler ownership stakes into an independent trust to prevent "political pressure and government interference," the Congressional Oversight Panel said in a report today.
Deadline is Friday: Help Stop the International Polar Bear Trade 03 Sep 2009 In some countries, collectors can still buy polar bear skin rugs, claws, skulls and other parts of these animals -- even as these beloved bears struggle for survival in a warming world. The U.S. can strengthen protections for polar bears under international law by proposing to restrict trade in polar bear products -- a move that could save the lives of hundreds of polar bears each year. But officials need to hear from you. Take action now -- Urge the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to propose an international ban on the trade of polar bear products. Please take action today -- the deadline for comments is Friday, 11 September.
Previous lead stories: France to use swine flu to gut laws: report --The Syndicat de la Magistrature called the measures "revolting" and said they would amount to "liberticide." 08 Sep 2009 In case of a swine flu pandemic the French government has a plan to introduce emergency measures that would gut legal protections for citizens, the daily Liberation reported Tuesday. According to documents provided to the daily by a judges' union, the plan would extend the period police can keep a suspect in detention without charge or a hearing before a judge to up to six months. Suspects would also not be able to contact a lawyer until after spending 24 hours in custody. Under the plan, children could be tried in adult courts and more trials held behind closed doors.
Speculation: US planning 'Guantanamo Bay' prison in Pakistan --According to an estimate, Washington is planning to spend a whopping one billion dollars for revamping its main embassy building in Islamabad and increase the strength of its staff. 08 Sep 2009 Speculations are rife that the United States is planning a Guantanamo Bay kind of prison inside Pakistan. While the media reports have been claiming that the US is planning a massive expansion of its Islamabad Embassy, the latest report regarding establishing of a prison similar to that of Guantanamo Bay has heightened tension in the country. It is also being reported that Washington is planning to takeover a bombed luxury hotel in Peshawar, capital of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), Forbes.com reported. Sources said the US State Department is searching for a new site for a consulate in Peshawar, long believed to be a key hub for American spies, and are considering establishing the same in the Pearl Continental Hotel.
Spain: Judge Garzón revives Guantánamo case --Three ex-prisoners of Guantánamo add themselves to the Spanish complaint 06 Sep 2009 The District attorney's office labelled the complaint "fraudulent"; it troubles the Government and the Obama Administration does not want it. But the judge of the National Hearing, Baltasar Garzón, seems ready to open an explosive cause directed against the legal team of George W. Bush, which re-defined the concept of torture to use it in the "war on terrorism ", and that would affect also his secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld. [Translated from: Garzón aviva la causa de Guantánamo (Público) 06 Sep 2009.]
