Private wars we can believe in: Military Weighs Broad Use of Mercenaries on Front Lines --Contract would award a commercial company unusually broad "theater-wide" authority to protect forward operating bases in a war zone 26 Jul 2009 The U.S. military command is considering contracting a private firm to manage security on the front lines of the war in Afghanistan, even as Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates says that the Pentagon intends to cut back on the use of private security contractors mercenaries. On a Web site listing federal business opportunities, the Army this month published a notice soliciting information from prospective mercenaries who would develop a security plan for 50 or more forward operating bases and smaller command outposts across Afghanistan. Although the U.S. military has contracted out security services to protect individuals, military bases and other facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan, this contract would award a commercial company unusually broad "theater-wide" authority to protect forward operating bases in a war zone. [Well, thank *God* Bush is out of there and we have Barack Obama!]
Secrets of CIA 'ghost flights' to be revealed --Guantánamo detainee's lawyers hail UK air firm's U-turn that allows rendition case to go to court 26 Jul 2009 Confidential documents showing the flight plans of a CIA "ghost plane" allegedly used to transfer a British resident to secret interrogation sites around the world are to be made public. The move comes after a Sussex-based company accused of involvement in extraordinary rendition dropped its opposition to a case against it being heard in court. Lawyers bringing the case against Jeppesen UK on behalf of the former Guantánamo Bay prisoner, Binyam Mohamed, claimed last night the climbdown had wide-ranging legal implications that could help expose which countries and governments knew the CIA was using their air bases to spirit terrorist suspects around the world.
Senior naval officer from Gitmo torture chamber files lawsuit against reporter: The Complaint: Navy Commander v. Miami Herald Reporter --A copy of U.S. Navy Commander [nutjob] Jeffrey D. Gordon's sexual harassment complaint against Miami Herald reporter Carol Rosenberg obtained by FishbowlDC 24 Jul 2009 'Her [the reporter's] behavior has often undermined good order [!] and discipline at Guantanamo, making it extremely difficult to carry out military commissions trips.'
Government Might Allow U.S. Trial for Detainee --Govt lawyers conceded that much of their evidence to justify Mr. Jawad's detention consisted of statements he had made that a military judge had previously ruled were obtained after he was tortured. 25 Jul 2009 The Obama administration changed course Friday in the case of one of the youngest prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, saying he would no longer be considered a military detainee but would be held for possible prosecution in American civilian courts. The decision came after a federal judge said last week that the government’s case for continuing to detain the prisoner, Mohammed Jawad, was "riddled with holes" and that the Justice Department had been "dragging this out for no good reason."
Bush mulled sending troops into Buffalo: Report --While dispatching troops into the streets is virtually unheard of, the White House considered doing just that in 2002. 25 Jul 2009 The Bush regime in 2002 considered sending U.S. troops into a Buffalo, N.Y., suburb to arrest a group of terror suspects in what would have been a nearly unprecedented use of military power, The New York Times reported. Vice President [sic] Dick Cheney and several other Bush advisers at the time strongly urged that the military be used to apprehend men who were suspected of plotting with al Qaida, who later became known as the Lackawanna Six, the Times reported on its Web site Friday night.
Bush contemplated deploying troops on US soil to make terror arrests 25 Jul 2009 The Bush administration considered sending federal troops to arrest a group of terror suspects in Buffalo, New York in 2002. The proposal, which would have risked falling foul of the US constitution if enforced, called on the president to deploy troops to make arrests on American soil for the first time since the Civil War. The move was backed by Dick Cheney, the former vice president [sic], who wanted the military to apprehend the men, who were suspected of plotting with al Qaeda, so that they could be declared enemy combatants.
About as welcome as the swine flu virus: Texas Tech faculty oppose Gonzales --More than 40 faculty members sign petition against former AG 25 Jul 2009 More than 40 Texas Tech professors have objected in a petition to Chancellor Kent Hance's decision to hire former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, according to the petition's creator. Petition creator Walter Schaller, a Tech philosophy professor since 1986, said Friday he decided to take action because "with the emphasis on ethics the university has adopted, a guy that misled Congress is not the kind of person we want to represent Texas Tech." Judge: Terror shield law doesn't apply to officers 25 Jul 2009 A shield law for those who report suspected terrorist activities does not apply to law enforcement, a judge ruled Friday in a discrimination lawsuit filed by six imams who were removed from a US Airways flight in 2006. U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery said it was apparently the first time a court has had to decide whether a 2007 law that provides legal immunity for individuals who report suspected terrorist activities in good faith specifically protects law enforcement officers. Congress passed the law in response to the imams' lawsuit.
Racist Web Posts Traced to Homeland Security 25 Jul 2009 After federal border agents detained several Mexican immigrants in western New York in June, an article about the incident in a local newspaper drew an onslaught of vitriolic postings on its Web site. Some were racist. Others attacked farmers in the region, accusing them of harboring illegal workers. Still others made personal attacks about the reporter who wrote the article. Most of the posts were made anonymously. But in reviewing the logs of its Internet server, the paper, The Wayne County Star in Wolcott, traced three of them to Internet protocol addresses at the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees border protection.
Feds Investigate "Border Patrol" Web Posts 21 Jul 2009 The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Department of Homeland Security, at the request of Wayne County District Attorney Richard Healy, are investigating posts on the Wayne County Star’s website that purport to have been made from U.S. Border Patrol/Homeland Security computers. There were three posts showing different Border Patrol/Homeland Security Internet Protocol addresses in response to a story on the Star’s website about a June 12 Border Patrol detention of Mexican nationals on Lake Ontario... The Star discovered they all had Internet protocol addresses that showed as originating from cbp.dhs.gov... The response indicated it came from bcp3.cbp.dhs.gov. [The DHS is a busy little bee! They visit the CLG site frequently... hope they enjoy themselves! From a short snip in the logs: gateway.vsp.virginia.gov, gateway-101.energis.gsi.gov.uk, gateway-202.energis.gsi.gov.uk, smtp.dsc.wa.gov.au, b249-138.house.gov, wallwhale-pub.fda.gov, lfi-cits-pr04.langley.af.mil, u-152-61-43-133.xr.usgs.gov, mib-cits-pr02.minot.af.mil, cache1.nccr.epa.gov, mcintyre-pc.jpl.nasa.gov, sprxy2.nrl.navy.mil, gate5-norfolk.nmci.navy.mil, gate6-norfolk.nmci.navy.mil, gate4-norfolk.nmci.navy.mil, sbcp1.dhs.gov, digger2.defence.gov.au, rodnn.jtfn.northcom.mil, u349.dtra.mil, baladproxy.iraq.centcom.mil, bcp1.cbp.dhs.gov, vict-cache2.iraq.centcom.mil, bcp2.cbp.dhs.gov, sbcp1.dhs.gov, sbcp6.dhs.gov, bcp4.cbp.dhs.gov, sbcp4.dhs.gov, ssanccfw.ssa.gov, knox-cache.amedd.army.mil, tias-gw1.treas.gov ...Just a sample.]
US service member killed in battle in Afghanistan --July has been the deadliest month for U.S. and NATO forces in the Afghan war. 26 Jul 2009 An American service member was fatally wounded by insurgent fire in southern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said Sunday, bringing to at least 39 the number of U.S. troops killed this month in the country. Officials released no other details about the Saturday battle, which was reported by the NATO command.
Karzai to 'curb US-led troops' if reelected 25 Jul 2009 Afghan President Hamed Karzai vows more control over US-led troops in a bid to limit civilian casualties inflicted by indiscriminate counterinsurgent attacks if he is 're-elected.' Speaking at a campaign rally in the capital Kabul, Karzai said Friday that he would review agreements with foreign nations deploying troops in the war-ravaged country to make them operate with greater respect for the rights of Afghan citizens.
Casualties of War, Part I: The hell of war comes home By Dave Philipps 24 Jul 2009 Before the murders started, Anthony Marquez’s mom dialed his sergeant at Fort Carson to warn that her son was poised to kill. It was February 2006, and the 21-year-old soldier had not been the same since being wounded and coming home from Iraq eight months before... Marquez was the first infantry soldier in his brigade to murder someone after returning from Iraq. But he wasn’t the last. Marquez's 3,500-soldier unit -- now called the 4th Infantry Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team -- fought in some of the bloodiest places in Iraq, taking the most casualties of any Fort Carson unit by far. Back home, 10 of its infantrymen have been arrested and accused of murder, attempted murder or manslaughter since 2006.
North Korea threatens deadly blow on Washington 26 Jul 2009 North Korea's defence chief has threatened attacks on the US and South Korea if the communist nation is attacked. Amid the tense standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, North Korea’s Defence Minister Kim Yong Chun said the US would be dealt an unimaginable blow if it should invoke sanctions from the UN.
Chavez: US seeks to legitimize Honduran coup 26 Jul 2009 The Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has accused the United States of seeking to drag on the power confusion in Honduras while the coup leaders win themselves recognition. On Saturday, Chavez said that Washington was after extending the indeterminate state of affairs until the interim government won the upcoming election thus legitimizing its rule, Reuters reported. "What they (the US and its regional allies) are trying to do is freeze the battle until the election in November, when the coup (leaders) will wash their hands," he was quoted as saying. "Any government that comes out of that coup, that comes out of elections even, we will never recognize it as the government of Honduras." [Too bad the whole world didn't do the same, when Bush was installed *twice* in GOP coups.]
Ex Honduran president blocked from entering Honduras 25 Jul 2009 The ousted Honduran president traveled to the border between Nicaragua and Honduras in an effort to press the de facto government to allow him to return home. Scores of Honduran security forces lined up to block his entry. Ousted President Manuel Zelaya rode by jeep across northern Nicaragua to a small border town in an effort to return home, nearly a month after being removed from power.
Mega barf alert! Council approves KBR for projects 25 Jul 2009 (TX) The San Marcos City Council last week voted in unison to approve Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) for two road projects, one for improvements to McCarty Lane and the other to widen a portion of Hunter Road in anticipation of the opening of the Wonder World Drive Extension.
Part 4 of 4: Did Fluorine Cause the WTC Destruction? By Barry Ball, Barbara Ellis, and Russ Hallberg --Portland 9/11 Legislative Alliance 26 Jul 2009 This is the fourth article in a four-part series stemming from our organization’s crafting and presenting a proposed bill in late 2008 to nine members of the U.S. House. It urges an independent investigation by national and international experts in science/technology to determine which of the 14 major theories about primary causal agents—fire and thermite to directed energy weapons—destroyed the World Trade Center Twin Towers.
Europe fast-tracking swine flu vaccine 26 Jul 2009 In a drive to inoculate people 'against' swine flu before winter, many European governments say they will fast-track the testing of a vaccine, arousing concern among some experts about safety and proper doses. The European Medicines Agency, the EU's top drug regulatory body, is accelerating the approval process for swine flu vaccine, and countries such as Britain, Greece, France and Sweden say they'll start using the vaccine after it's greenlighted -- possibly within weeks. [See: Refuse and Resist Mandatory Flu Vaccines (Petition).]
'We haven't gotten this many calls on a study since our smallpox vaccine research post-Sept. 11.' Hundreds volunteer for SLU swine flu vaccine study 25 Jul 2009 Saint Louis University has received 500 calls from people interested in volunteering to try a new swine flu vaccine. "We haven't gotten this many calls on a study since our smallpox vaccine research post-Sept. 11," said Nancy Solomon, a university spokeswoman. SLU’s Center for Vaccine Development is among eight sites picked to help develop a vaccine for swine flu, officially called H1N1 influenza. The government wants several thousand volunteers nationwide to test the flu shots. [See: Vaccine May Be More Dangerous Than Swine Flu --Vaccine contains squalene and gp120 By Dr. Russell Blaylock 07 Jul 2009 and Legal immunity set for swine flu vaccine makers 17 Jul 2009 Vaccine makers and federal officials will be immune from lawsuits that result from any new swine flu vaccine, under a document signed by Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius.]
2 billion may get swine flu virus worldwide 25 Jul 2009 More than two billion people could become infected with swine flu, an expert said yesterday. The World Health Organisation's flu chief, Keiji Fukuda, said the estimate over the course of the global pandemic was "a reasonable ballpark to be looking at". His comments came as US health officials said 40% of Americans could get the illness in the next two years.
Revealed: the secret evidence of global warming Bush tried to hide --Photos from US spy satellites declassified by the Obama White House provide the first graphic images of how the polar ice sheets are retreating in the summer. The effects on the world's weather, environments and wildlife could be devastating 26 Jul 2009 Graphic images that reveal the devastating impact of global warming in the Arctic have been released by the US military. The photographs, taken by spy satellites over the past decade, confirm that in recent years vast areas in high latitudes have lost their ice cover in summer months. The pictures, kept secret by Washington during the presidency [sic] of George W Bush, were declassified by the White House last week. President Barack Obama is currently trying to galvanise Congress and the American public to take action to halt catastrophic climate change caused by rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Palin departing office amid biting criticism --In Alaska, wildlife metaphors tend to be as abundant as their flesh-and-blood counterparts, and Republican Gov. Sarah Palin has helped herself to them in explaining why she's stepping down today, barely halfway through her term. 26 Jul 2009 In Alaska, wildlife metaphors tend to be as abundant as their flesh-and-blood counterparts, and Republican Gov. Sarah Palin has helped herself to them in explaining why she's stepping down today, barely halfway through her term. She didn't want the state to be stuck with a "lame-duck" chief executive, she said. She could hang around the Statehouse and go with the flow, she allowed, but "only dead fish go with the flow..." State legislators are scrambling to convene a special session to recover $28.6 million in federal energy funds Palin rejected as one of her parting salutes to independence from Washington, D.C.
Detroit schools "financial czar" orders teachers to reapply for their jobs By Walter Gilberti 25 Jul 2009 2,600 Detroit Public School teachers, counselors and administrators from nearly 50 schools have been forced to reapply for their jobs at the schools where they teach. All of these supposedly "failed" schools are being "reconstituted" as mandated under the Bush administration’s 2001 No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The punitive provisions of NCLB are being ruthlessly carried out by the Detroit Public Schools emergency financial manager, Robert Bobb, who enjoys the complete support of the Obama administration and its education secretary, Arne Duncan.
Meria Enters her 10th Year on the Net! --9th Anniversary Show By Meria Heller 25 Jul 2009 Meria's start of her 10th year on the net, is celebrated today at the free/sample show on site with her 2 1/2-hour anniversary show taped yesterday. There are loads of surprises in the show, and it was a lot of fun doing it... As Meria always says "people can recognize truth when they hear it." A big thank you to all who participated, and looking forward to more years of bringing you the best people out there.
Cop Won't Apologize For Arresting Obama Trying To Get Into White House By R J Shulman 24 Jul 2009 Metro DC police officer Mark Conyers says he will not apologize to President Obama for arresting him for disorderly conduct when Obama tried to get into the White House when the front door stuck... Apparently, the front door of the White House stuck and Obama was trying to get it open with his shoulder when Sgt. Conyers asked him for identification. "I told him he couldn't go in there," Conyers wrote in his police report, "but he looks at me and says 'yes I can.'" (Satire)
Previous lead stories: Bush Administration Debated Using Military On U.S. Soil In Terror Sweeps --Yoo document: Neither Posse Comitatus Act nor Fourth Amendment 'tied a president's hands' 25 Jul 2009 Top Bush regime officials in 2002 debated testing the Constitution by sending American troops into the suburbs of Buffalo to arrest a group of men suspected of plotting with Al Qaeda, according to former administration officials. Some of the advisers to President [sic] George W. Bush, including Vice President [sic] Dick Cheney, argued that a president had the power to use the military on domestic soil to sweep up the terrorism suspects [the Lackawanna Six], and declare them enemy combatants. The lawyers [John C. Yoo and Robert J. Delahunty], in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, wrote that the Constitution, the courts and Congress had recognized a president’s authority "to take military actions, domestic as well as foreign, if he determines such actions to be necessary to respond to the terrorist attacks upon the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, and before." The document added that the neither the Posse Comitatus Act nor the Fourth Amendment tied a president’s hands.
DHS, agencies to go on high alert for first nationwide terror exercise --Exercise will include agencies in Britain, Mexico, Canada and Australia; federal, regional, state, tribal, local and private sector officials throughout U.S. 24 Jul 2009 Law enforcement and intelligence agencies in the United States and abroad are preparing to go on high alert as part of a massive terrorism prevention exercise -- the first of its kind here. Beginning Monday, security officials at all levels in the United States and four other countries will scramble into action in the wake of a fictional terrorist attack somewhere outside the United States. The scenario envisions the receipt of intelligence that a follow-up attack is planned inside the United States, forcing agencies inside and out of the country to test their coordination, intelligence and terror prevention skills.
'We have to prepare for the worst.' U.S. panel prepares to OK swine flu vaccine trials 23 Jul 2009 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration wants to help rush through approval of new vaccine to fight foment the pandemic H1N1 virus, promising to watch closely bad effects from the immunization, officials said on Thursday. The FDA said it would help companies design ways to quickly test experimental versions of the vaccine. [See: Legal immunity set for swine flu vaccine makers 17 Jul 2009.]
