The Obusha AfPak Money Pit: Unlike the 'public option,' Congress doesn't ask if funding the Taleban to blow up contractors' bridges will add to the US deficit By Lori Price, www.legitgov.org 03 Oct 2009 Ever wonder WHY (besides protecting gas and opium pipelines) the US is *still* in Afghanistan? Ever ponder WHY US taxpayers are funding infrastructure programs in *Afghanistan,* instead of in the US? Today, this tidbit: Arrest Warrant Out for USAID Contractor in Afghanistan --A federal arrest warrant was quietly issued last month for a former official employed by the major US government reconstruction contractor here in Afghanistan, in a case that underscores the lure of potential contract fraud in Afghanistan. Scott "Max" Anthony Walker was a "security coordinator" for the $1.4 billion infrastructure program commissioned by US Agency for International Development and funded by US taxpayers.
Iraqis capture 150 'insurgents' 03 Oct 2009 Iraqi security forces are today wrapping up an operation that has led to the capture of at least 150 suspected insurgents. The crackdown was expected to end today in Mosul, seen as the last stronghold in Iraq for 'al-Qaeda' and other Sunni insurgent groups. Security sources said the suspects detained included senior commanders and financiers.
Hidden bomb kills preacher-cop in Iraq 02 Oct 2009 An Iraqi police official says a blast from a bomb smuggled into a mosque has killed a village imam who also worked as a police officer in northern Iraq. The bomb was placed under a platform where Narjis Shiwash was leading Friday prayers in Namrood, a mostly Sunni village about 18 miles (30 kilometers) south of Mosul.
Obama agrees to keep Israel's nukes secret 02 Oct 2009 President Obama has reaffirmed a 4-decade-old secret understanding that has allowed Israel to keep a nuclear arsenal without opening it to international inspections, three officials familiar with the understanding said. The officials, who spoke on the condition that they not be named because they were discussing private conversations, said Mr. Obama pledged to maintain the agreement when he first hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in May.
EU agency recommends Baxter's H1N1 flu shot 02 Oct 2009 European drugs regulators recommended Baxter's Celvapan vaccine 'against' H1N1 flu for approval on Friday and said it expected the shot to get a licence from the European Commission "shortly". The recommendation from the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) comes after its expert committee on new drugs also gave a green light last week to the first H1N1 swine flu vaccines from GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis, called Pandemrix and Focetria. [See: Baxter: The 'Lucky Larry' of swine flu Baxter Vaccine 'Oddities' By Lori Price 17 Jul 2009 Baxter files swine flu vaccine patent year ahead of outbreak; Baxter working on vaccine to stop swine flu, though admitted sending live pandemic flu viruses to subcontractor 26 Apr 2009; Baxter not to provide anti-swine flu vaccine to Czechs --Czech Health Ministry: Baxter unable to guarantee its vaccine is safe, won't be responsible for its side-effects 03 Aug 2009 The U.S. pharmaceutical firm Baxter which manufactures a vaccine against the swine flu in its Czech branch will not ensure the vaccine for the Czech Republic in the case of a pandemic, Baxter media representative Jana Cechova told CTK today.]
NY Health Workers Protest Mandatory Vaccines 02 Oct 2009 Healthcare workers in the state of New York are resisting and protesting government-mandated vaccinations against the seasonal and swine influenzas, drawing a great deal of media coverage. Hundreds of protestors rallied Tuesday at the Capitol in Albany chanting "No forced shots" to demand that the rule be overturned. Hundreds more also gathered at demonstrations around the state.
NV gov. urges reconsideration of flu shot rules 01 Oct 2009 Gov. Jim Gibbons on Thursday urged the Nevada Board of Medical Examiners to seek reconsideration of a judge's ruling that voided an emergency regulation allowing medical assistants to give flu shots. Clark County District Judge Kathleen Delaney this week voided the board's Sept. 18 approval because of Open Meeting Law violations.
New York Federal Judge Denies Request For CIA Secret Documents 01 Oct 2009 A U.S. federal judge has ruled that hundreds of documents detailing the Central Intelligence Agency's now-shuttered overseas secret detention program of suspected terrorists, including extreme interrogation torture methods, may be kept secret. U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein on Wednesday refused to release documents describing Central Intelligence Agency terror interrogations, and the names of detainees prisoners or CIA contractors mercenaries involved in the secret rendition program. He said he would defer to the CIA's judgment [!] on the need to keep the papers secret in order to protect intelligence methods and sources.
US Supreme Court to decide terrorism support law 30 Sep 2009 The U.S. Supreme Court said on Wednesday it would hear an Obama administration appeal defending part of the Patriot Act, which has been criticized by civil liberties groups for giving the government broad powers. The justices agreed to review a U.S. appeals court ruling that struck down as unconstitutionally vague a law that makes it a crime to provide support to a foreign terrorist group.
American Police Force official has extensive criminal record --AFP's Hilton pleaded guilty in March 1993 to 14 felonies, according to Orange County court records. 01 Oct 2009 (MT) Michael Hilton of American Police Force arrived in Hardin with promises of Mercedes police cars and expertise in operating prisons. He delivered the cars last week, but may have learned about prisons following a 1993 conviction for grand theft. Public records from police and state and federal courts in California show that Michael Anthony Hilton, using that name and more than a dozen aliases over several years, is cited in multiple criminal, civil and bankruptcy cases, and was sentenced in 1993 to two years in state prison in California. He was sentenced to two years in prison, but it is unclear how much time he served.
Aurora set to pass new assault weapon law 17 Sep 2009 (IL) A new proposal to allow security guards and private investigators to carry assault weapons is all but guaranteed to pass next week. The law closes a loophole that could have seen PI's and security guards held criminally liable in Aurora for the assault weapons the state legally allows them to carry. The new law would bring the city's codes in line with state rules.
Surveillance state 'a good thing' 30 Sep 2009 "The surveillance state is in many circumstances a jolly good thing," an adviser to the NHS has told a fringe meeting at the Labour Conference. Tim Kelsey urged more "surveillance" of personal data to cut hospital deaths and improve public services in general. Steve Bundred, chief executive of the Audit Commission, backed his call but warned the quality of data held by public bodies was often "appalling".
Official: Jets Were Prepared to Shoot Plane Down 02 Oct 2009 The F-16 military jets that intercepted an out of control plane Wednesday were prepared to take any necessary action, including shooting it down. Listen: Michael Kucharek, a spokesman for the U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command, says the chain of command is set into motion quickly during such incidents. Kucharek says the ultimate decision to bring down a plane would be up to the Secretary of Defense or the President.
Thousands of 9/11 workers can sue over illnesses 29 Sep 2009 Thousands of sickened 9/11 recovery workers whose legal claims have been barred because of missed deadlines can now join a massive group suing New York City under a law signed by Gov. David A. Paterson, officials said. The law immediately allows more than 3,000 Ground Zero workers to revive lawsuits that were thrown out by a federal judge in July on the technical ground that they were not filed within 90 days of the workers' conditions being diagnosed.
Michigan's Warren Bank is 96th failure of 2009 02 Oct 2009 Warren, Mich.-based Warren Bank was closed by regulators Friday, marking the 96th U.S. bank failure of the year. Warren Bank had $538 million in assets and $501 million in deposits as of July 31, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The FDIC said in a statement that the bank's failure will cost the deposit-insurance fund $275 million.
Banks With 20% Unpaid Loans at 18-Year High Amid Recovery Doubt 02 Sep 2009 The number of U.S. lenders that can’t collect on at least 20 percent of their loans hit an 18-year high, signaling that more bank failures and losses could slow an economic recovery. ...26 firms with more than one-fifth of their loans 90 days overdue or not accruing interest as of June 30 -- a level of distress almost five times the national average -- according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data compiled for Bloomberg News by SNL Financial, a bank research firm. Three reported almost half of their loans weren’t being paid.
Personal bankruptcies up 41 percent --Filings soar over last year as unemployment, housing crash take toll 02 Oct 2009 Consumer bankruptcies soared 41 percent in September from a year before and climbed from August, as high unemployment and the housing market crash took their toll, the American Bankruptcy Institute said on Friday. September filings totaled 124,790, the fourth-highest month since the bankruptcy law changed in 2005.
Unemployment rate is highest in 26 years 02 Oct 2009 The nation's unemployment rate ticked up to 9.8 percent in September, its highest level in 26 years, as employers hastened their pace of layoffs, the government reported Friday in a worse-than-expected jobs report that was sure to quash any notion that the economic downturn is over.
U.S. loses 263,000 jobs in September 02 Oct 2009 The United States lost 263,000 jobs in the month of September and unemployment continued to trend upward to 9.8 percent, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Jail Time We Can Believe In: Not Death Panels, Prison Panels --The Democratic insurance company-big pharma giveaway aka health-care reform: If you don't fork over your thousands to Barack Opharma's corpora-terrorist trolls, you go to prison. Now that's jail time we can believe in. --Lori Price
Rhetorical Tax Evasion --The IRS says it will fine or jail you for not paying Obama's mandate levy. (The Wall Street Journal) 29 Sep 2009 President Obama's effort to deny that his mandate to buy insurance is a tax has taken another thumping, this time from fellow Democrats in the Senate Finance Committee. Chairman Max Baucus's bill includes the so-called individual mandate, along with what he calls a $1,900 "excise tax" if you don't buy health insurance. (It had been as much as $3,800 but Democrats reduced the amount last week to minimize the political sticker shock.) And, lo, it turns out that if you don't pay that tax, the IRS could punish you with a $25,000 fine or up to a year in jail, or both. Under questioning last week, Tom Barthold, the chief of staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, admitted that the individual mandate would become a part of the Internal Revenue Code and that failing to comply "could be criminal, yes, if it were considered an attempt to defraud." Mr. Barthold noted in a follow-up letter that the willful failure to file would be a simple misdemeanor, punishable by the $25,000 fine or jail time under Section 7203.
Olympics 2016: Rio is the winner --Announcement sparks jubilation in host city after surprise elimination of Chicago despite Obama's plea 02 Oct 2009 Rio de Janeiro has won the contest to host the 2016 Olympics and take the games to South America for the first time after the shock elimination of Chicago in the first round of voting today. There were celebrations on the streets of the city this evening after the announcement by the IOC president Jacques Rogge. Chicago's early exit was seen as a snub for Barack Obama, who flew to Copenhagen to represent his former home town.
Previous lead stories: Italian lawyers seek jail for CIA agents 01 Oct 2009 Public prosecutors in Italy have urged a court in Milan to jail 26 Americans for the kidnapping of a terrorism suspect in a 2003 CIA operation. The Italian lawyers are seeking sentences of between 10 and 13 years for the US agents. They also want 13 years for the former head of Italy’s secret service, Nicolo Pollari. The trial is the most high profile case in Europe to challenge the extra-judicial transfers also known as 'renditions.'
Judge orders release of Cheney interview with FBI --Both Bush and Obama administrations said they wanted to keep interview confidential 01 Oct 2009 A federal judge ruled Thursday that the FBI must publicly reveal much of its notes from an interview with former Vice President [sic] Dick Cheney during the investigation into who leaked the identity of a CIA operative. Cheney agreed to be interviewed by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald in June 2004 during the investigation of the leak of Valerie Plame's identity after her husband publicly criticized the Bush regime.
Iran agrees to open up uranium enrichment plant to inspection --Provisional deal offers hope of defusing crisis 01 Oct 2009 Iran agreed in principle today to export much of its stock of enriched uranium for processing and to open its newly-revealed enrichment plant to UN inspections within a fortnight. The agreements, struck at negotiations in Geneva with six major powers, represented the most significant progress in talks with Tehran in over three years, and offered hope that the nuclear crisis could be defused, at least temporarily.
