Telephone Company Is Arm of Government, Feds Admit in Spy Suit --Judge says relationship isn't enough to squash rights group’s open records request By Ryan Singel 08 Oct 2009 The Department of Justice has finally admitted it in court papers: The nation’s telecom companies are an arm of the government -- at least when it comes to secret spying... The Electronic Frontier Foundation wanted to see what role telecom lobbying of Justice Department played when the government began its year-long, and ultimately successful, push to win retroactive immunity for AT&T and others being sued for unlawfully spying on American citizens. The feds argued that the documents showing consultation over the controversial telecom immunity proposal weren't subject to the Freedom of Information Act since they were protected as "intra-agency" records.
MDR's Word of the Day 11 Oct 2009 "Obamaholics Anonymous." n. an anonymous fellowship of recovering Ombamaniacs who admit that they are powerless over Obama's rhetoric and their lives have become unbearable. The only requirement for membership is the desire to stop drinking the Kool-Aid. Abbreviation: OA, O.A. --Michael Rectenwald, Ph.D.
ISI behind attack on Indian embassy: Afghan envoy to US 10 Oct 2009 Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI was behind the attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul which killed 17 people and wounded more than 60 others, Afghan envoy to the US has claimed. "Yes, we do," Afghan Ambassador to the US Said T Jawad told the PBS news channel in an interview when asked if he was pointing the finger at Pakistan for the suicide bombing that took place on Thursday. "We are pointing the finger at the Pakistan intelligence agency, based on the evidence on the ground and similar attack taking place in Afghanistan," Jawad said.
In Pakistan, Militants Attack Army Bastion --At Least Nine Killed, Officials Say 11 Oct 2009 Militants staged a deadly attack on the Pakistani army headquarters Saturday in the most audacious indication yet of their willingness to battle the government -- even at the doorstep of the nation's large and powerful security forces. The attack amounted to a stunning security breach [*stunning* I tell you, it was simply *stunning*] as the Pakistani military prepares what it says will be an all-out assault against militants in the Taliban and 'al-Qaeda' stronghold of South Waziristan, near the Afghan border. [See: Congress passes aid package for Pakistan worth $1.5 B a year for five years 06 Oct 2009 Congress just passed an aid package for Pakistan worth $1.5 billion a year for the next five years to help 'combat' extremism and foster social and economic development. [Well, thank *God* US taxpayers are paying to rebuild Pakistani infrastructure and paying Xe to train their army to attack the corrupt government we pay to 'fight' al-Qaeda (literally, 'the database') and *not* spend one dime on single-payer health care which, by God, everyone *knows* is just too damn expensive. Mr. Nobel/GOPigs/Baucus the Bastard: You are absof*ckinglutely useless. --LRP]
Contractors kill more US soldiers than the Taliban. Weapons failed US troops during Afghan firefight In the chaos of an early morning assault on a remote U.S. outpost in eastern Afghanistan, Staff Sgt. Erich Phillips' M4 carbine quit firing as militant forces surrounded the base. The machine gun he grabbed after tossing the rifle aside didn't work either. When the battle in the small village of Wanat ended, nine U.S. soldiers lay dead and 27 more were wounded. A detailed study of the attack by a military historian found that weapons failed repeatedly at a "critical moment" during the firefight on July 13, 2008... Eight years into the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, do U.S. armed forces have the best guns money can buy?
'How long a material witness will be held is determined by the court.' Afghan Men Tricked Into U.S. Trip, Detained --Possible Witnesses Have Been Forced to Stay Since 2008 10 Oct 2009 And what began as a celebration in the summer of 2008 has become an agonizing extended stay for Ziaulhaq, who is not accused of any crime but has been forced to stay thousands of miles away from his sick wife and six children at home. Ziaulhaq and two countrymen have spent more than a year confined to a hotel in a drab industrial area near Chicago's sooty Midway Airport. Their saga highlights anew the power of a controversial U.S. statute that allows prosecutors to hold people, without suspicion or criminal charges, as material witnesses in ongoing investigations. After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist strikes, the Bush 'Justice' Department used the law to round up Muslim men, giving rise to a lawsuit against then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft that experts say could make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Deadly Blasts Target Police, Government Buildings in Iraq 11 Oct 2009 Three car bombings targeted a police station and a government headquarters in Ramadi in western Iraq on Sunday, killing at least 25 people and underlining the precarious situation in Anbar province. The first bombing occurred in a parking lot when a 1991 Opel vehicle rigged with explosives detonated at 12:30 p.m. killing the parking lot's attendant and another civilian.
14 killed, 64 injured in Iraqi car bombings 11 Oct 2009 Fourteen people were killed and 64 others injured in three car bomb attacks in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi Sunday, the interior ministry said. 'The latest police reports said a total of 14 people were killed and 64 others injured, including policemen, in twin car bombings and a suicide car bomb attack outside a hospital in Ramadi,' an official requesting anonymity said.
400 Wis. National Guard Members Going to Iraq 10 Oct 2009 Nearly 400 Wisconsin National Guard troops are headed to Iraq in March. The troops are from the 724th Engineer Battalion which has companies based in Chippewa Falls, Hayward, Medford, Spooner and Superior.
McCain Says 40,000 More Troops Needed to Win in Afghanistan 11 Oct 2009 Senator John McInsane, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, said it will take at least 40,000 additional U.S. troops to win in Afghanistan and cautioned the Obama administration against a "half-measure." McCain says General [war criminal] Stanley McChrystal is seeking to add 30,000 to 40,000 troops to the 68,000 the U.S. will have there by the end of the year.
Turkey cancels joint drill over Israel's Gaza crimes 11 Oct 2009 Turkey has canceled a planned joint military drill with Israel to protest against Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip earlier this year. Turkey informed Israel of cancellation of the Anatolian Eagle exercise last week, Jerusalem Post reported on Sunday. The US, Italy and NATO air forces were also to participate in the air force drill, which was to be held this week.
Multi-national military maneuver canceled due to US outcry over Turkey pullout 11 Oct 2009 A joint military exercise that Israel, the US, NATO, Turkey and Italy were scheduled to conduct this week, was taken off the table because of American disappointment with Ankara's decision to withdraw from the maneuver due to Israel's planned participation, Israeli defense officials said Sunday. Turkey informed Israel of the cancellation of the Anatolian Eagle exercise last week, saying this was because the planes that Israel was going to send likely bombed Hamas targets during Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip earlier this year.
Israel, US to simulate response to war 11 Oct 2009 Israel and the United States, amid growing tensions with Iran, will simulate interoperability between missile defense systems this week during the biennial Juniper Cobra missile defense exercise. The exercise, set to simulate a response in the event of war between Israel, the Islamic republic, Syria and Hizbullah, will begin on Monday and end on Friday. More than 1,000 American troops from the European Command in Stuttgart, Germany have deployed in Israel for the exercise - mostly in the Negev - in addition to some 15 missile ships, some of them carrying the Aegis ballistic missile defense system.
25 lawmakers still held in Israeli prisons 11 Oct 2009 The Palestinian ministry for prisoners' affairs says at least 25 lawmakers along with two former ministers are still being held in Israeli prisons under appalling conditions. According to a press release published on Saturday, the highest number of detainees were from al-Khalil, 10, followed by Ramallah, 6, Al-Quds, 4, Bethlehem, 3, and one prisoner from the occupied West Bank towns of Nablus and Ariha (Jericho) each.
Landowners in Honduras hired Colombian paramilitaries, UN says --Members of the AUC, classified as a terrorist organisation by the US, reportedly hired to offer protection for landowners 09 Oct 2009 Honduran landowners have reportedly hired former Colombian paramilitaries as mercenaries to protect them against possible violence stemming from government tensions, a UN panel said today. The UN working group on mercenaries said that it has received reports that some 40 former members of United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia, or AUC. The US government classifies the AUC as a terrorist organisation.
Marines see sharp increase in suicides 09 Oct 2009 Recently released figures show Marines are taking their own lives at alarmingly high rates, and deployments appear to be taking a toll. Through September, the Marines have recorded 38 confirmed or suspected suicides in 2009. Should the pace continue through the end of the year, the Marines would be facing a 20 percent increase from 2008 figures. Suicides also rose 27 percent from 2007 to 2008.
Obama Pledges Again to End 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' but Offers No Timetable 11 Oct 2009 President Obama on Saturday renewed his vow to allow gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the military, but failed to offer a timetable for doing so -- an omission likely to inflame critics who say he is not fighting aggressively enough for gay rights. "I will end ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,' " Mr. Obama told an audience of nearly 3,000 people at a fund-raising dinner for the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay advocacy group.
Nuclear terror suspect is top physicist --Was a leading scientist working on Cern's Large Hadron Collider plotting with al-Qa'ida to sabotage sites in France? 11 Oct 2009 The scientist suspected of plotting terrorist attacks on nuclear sites in France is a brilliant, internationally known physicist who has worked on research projects in Britain and the US, it emerged yesterday. Adlène Hicheur, 32, who currently works on the "Big Bang" Large Hadron Collider experiment on the Swiss-French border, was once a research fellow at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Chilton, Oxfordshire.
Man held in France over 'Qaeda links' released: official 10 Oct 2009 The younger of two brothers arrested in France on suspicion of links to the 'Al-Qaeda' militant network was released on Saturday without charge, a judicial official said. The detention of the elder brother, a 32-year-old engineer at the CERN nuclear research lab, was extended, the source said. He may be handed over by Monday to authorities in Paris who deal with anti-terrorist matters.
Could take years to lower pandemic alert level - WHO 09 Oct 2009 It could take years for the World Health [Homicide] Organisation to downgrade the H1N1 flu from a pandemic to seasonal-like virus, the U.N. agency said on Friday. The WHO moved its six-point pandemic alert level to the top rung in June in response to the spread of the new virus widely known as swine flu, which has killed at least 4,500 people, especially in North America.
CDC official downplays risk from swine flu vaccine 11 Oct 2009 A top U.S. health official says the risks from not getting the swine flu vaccine are greater than any potential risks associated with the vaccine. Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says she's surprised by all the misinformation going around about the new [squalene-laden, mercury-filled, Polysorbate 80-laced] vaccine.
Nurse Challenges Mandatory Vaccines For Health Workers 10 Oct 2009 A registered nurse has asked a judge to block New York State's requirement that all health care workers receive vaccines against the seasonal and H1N1 flu viruses. Suzanne Field, a nurse in Dutchess County, told NY1 that she filed last week temporary restraining order on behalf of the nearly 60,000 medical workers who are required by state law to get both vaccines before November 30.
(Satire) GOP On Obama's Peace Prize: ACORN Rigged the Voting --"Barack Hussein Obama has not yet proven he was born on this planet," said Minnesota Rep Michele Bachmann, "and without an earth birth certificate, he is not eligible for the prize." By R J Shulman 10 Oct 2009 Upon the news of the surprise announcement that President Barack Obama won this year's Nobel Peace Prize, Republicans began protesting like a mad tea party on steroids. "We need to begin a full scale investigation of how ACORN illegally helped Obama win," said House Minority Leader John Boehner. "We have to call a spade a spade and start calling him Obamacorn from now on," said Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell.
Polling shows little to please Republicans in 2010 --California looks bluer than the nation as a whole 11 Oct 2009 [According to last week's Field Poll of California voters] former governor and current Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown was clocking not only San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (D), but also his potential GOP general election foes, each by more than 20 points. Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, like Brown a longtime punching bag and fundraising tool to the Republican Party, was also running double digits ahead of her two potential Republican challengers in the 2010 race.
'The lobbyists are winning.' Lobbyists Fight Last Big Plans to Cut Health Care Costs 11 Oct 2009 As the health care debate moves to the floor of Congress, most of the serious proposals to fulfill President Obama’s original vow to curb costs have fallen victim to organized interests and parochial politics. Lobbying by doctors, hospitals and other health care providers, meanwhile, dimmed the prospects of various proposals to cut into their incomes, including allowing government negotiation of Medicare drug prices and creating a government insurer with the muscle to lower fee payments.
Anthem sued over denial of transplant 11 Oct 2009 Ephram Nehme was gravely ill when Anthem Blue Cross of California agreed to pay for a liver transplant his physician said he needed to survive. Then, his condition went downhill fast. Nehme's doctor told him he could die waiting for an organ in California and urged him to go to Indiana, where the waiting list was shorter. But Anthem Blue Cross, an affiliate of Indianapolis-based WellPoint, said no. It would not pay for a transplant in Indiana.
10,000 apply for 90 factory jobs 08 Oct 2009 In the latest sign of weakness in Louisville-area employment, about 10,000 people applied over three days for 90 jobs building washing machines at General Electric for about $27,000 per year and hefty benefits.
Quick action! Save Orphan Bears: End Cruel Den Hunts --Target: PM Vladimir Putin Sponsor: International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) 11 Oct 2009 (Petition) During Russia's annual bear hunt, hibernating mother bears are lured out of their dens by dogs to be shot and killed, leaving their infant cubs to freeze or starve to death. Each year, den hunting leaves up to 4,000 cubs motherless. Some of these homeless cubs end up as pets to local villagers, while others are taken as cruel props for entertainment or to be eaten in restaurants. Most are abandoned and left to die. You can give these tiny bundles of fur a second chance at life.
Previous lead stories: 'The investigation doesn't list what kind of bug it was.' Military says 'large insect' distracted Minot AFB missile driver --Shipment also contained two 14-gallon tanks of liquid rocket fuel 09 Oct 2009 A truck driver who lost control of a semi-trailer carrying missile parts from North Dakota's Minot Air Force Base was distracted by a "large insect" that flew in a window and landed on the driver's back, the military said in a report released Friday. The Air Force said the truck from the base's 91st Missile Wing, which overturned Aug. 31 on a gravel road in northwest North Dakota, was carrying rocket engine parts for intercontinental ballistic missiles but no nuclear material. It was the second crash of a base vehicle in just more than a year. The Air Force spent about $5.6 million last year to recover an unarmed booster rocket for an intercontinental ballistic missile after the truck carrying it overturned in July 2008. [And the Minot AFB Clandestine Nukes 'Oddities' keep on coming.]
Broward Republicans go gunning --GOP congressional candidate shoots at target bearing rival's initials 08 Oct 2009 (FL) Armed with handguns and AK-47 and AR-15 assault rifles, the members of the Southeast Broward Republican Club abandoned the usual community center for their club meeting this week, and gathered at the Pembroke Gun and Range on Tuesday night... Though most of the targets of gunfire were standard gun-range fare, a few shooters used large color posters instead. They depicted a menacing figure, adorned in a kaffiyeh. One of the shooters at the Tuesday evening event was Robert Lowry, a Republican candidate hoping to unseat U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston. Lowry's target had the letters "DWS" next to the silhouette head. Lowry said he didn't know who wrote Wasserman Schultz' initials on his target, but said he knew they were there before he started shooting.
MDR's Word of the Day 10 Oct 2009 "Obamapologetics." Obamapologetics is a systematic excusing of Barack Obama for actions blatantly contradicting his change rhetoric simply on the grounds that Obama committed said actions. The term can be applied more broadly to any justificatory rhetorics used by or on behalf of supposed "liberals" or those claiming to work for progress on behalf of the people, while acting in fact against their interests. --Michael Rectenwald, Ph.D.
