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Latest Articles: Dead Constitution
Poison Justice Stevens, Coulter jokes
Post Date: 2006-01-27 13:08:08 by aristeides
22 Comments
Poison Justice Stevens, Coulter jokes Friday, January 27, 2006; Posted: 12:09 p.m. EST (17:09 GMT) LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (AP) -- Conservative commentator Ann Coulter, speaking at a traditionally black college, joked that Justice John Paul Stevens should be poisoned. Coulter had told the Philander Smith College audience Thursday that more conservative justices were needed on the Supreme Court to change the current law on abortion. Stevens is one of the court's most liberal members. "We need somebody to put rat poisoning in Justice Stevens' creme brulee," Coulter said. "That's just a joke, for you in the media." Coulter has made a career of writing and lecturing on ...
The Iraqi Constitution is looking better all the time
Post Date: 2006-01-27 12:12:47 by aristeides
1 Comments
The Iraqi Constitution is looking better all the time JB My friend Sandy Levinson has pointed out that under the new Iraqi Constitution passed with the blessing of the Bush Administration, the NSA spying program would be unconstitutional. Article 38 provides: The freedom of communication, and mail, telegraphic, electronic, and telephonic correspondence, and other correspondence shall be guaranteed and may not be monitored, wiretapped or disclosed except for legal and security necessity and by a judicial decision. Well, it looks like we are bringing freedom to Iraq. Now if we could only get some of that freedom here in the United States. Posted 11:57 AM by JB [link]
MADSEN: BUSH VISITS THE NSA
Post Date: 2006-01-27 11:31:50 by aristeides
4 Comments
January 25, 2006 -- Bush at NSA Headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland today. According to NSA sources, NSA personnel pre-selected to attend President Bush's speech today at the headquarters were told to applaud and show visual support for the president. NSA Security will be at the event in force to detect any rumblings from the gathered employees or other signs of displeasure with Bush.
MADSEN: GEN. HAYDEN AND THE NSA LAWYERS
Post Date: 2006-01-27 11:25:53 by aristeides
7 Comments
January 24, 2006 -- Hayden Ducks Questions On NSA Whistleblowing, Says Three Top NSA Lawyers Reviewed and Approved Bush Warrantless Wiretap Program. Speaking yesterday at the National Press Club in Washington, Deputy Director of National Intelligence Gen. Michael Hayden said that when President Bush issued his order on warrantless wiretaps by the NSA of U.S. persons, Hayden consulted separately with three NSA lawyers who concluded that the eavesdropping program was legal. Essentially, three NSA lawyers determined the legality and constitutionality of a presidential order, trumping the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court set up in 1978 to deal with NSA wiretaps of "U.S. ...
MADSEN: MORE ON USIS, CARLYLE GROUP, AND "SUICIDING" OF COL. WESTHUSING
Post Date: 2006-01-27 10:24:30 by aristeides
2 Comments
January 26, 2006 -- The problems with the 1997 privatization of the Office of Federal Investigations (OFI), which ultimately became U.S. Investigations Services (USIS), now owned by The Carlyle Group, were known to members of Congress, according to a former OFI official. A number of employees of OFI, which was part of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) before privatization, refused to accept the terms of the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). The late Democratic Senator Paul Simon of Illinois was particularly opposed to the privatization of OFI. After OFI became USIS, the timeliness and quality of the security background checks conducted on Federal employees quickly deteriorated ...
SPIES LIKE BUSH
Post Date: 2006-01-26 20:58:47 by SKYDRIFTER
6 Comments
Think for yourself – know the “Authorization for Use of Military Force.” Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This joint resolution may be cited as the “Authorization for Use of Military Force”. SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES. (a) IN GENERAL.--That the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organiza- tions, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to ...
ACLU Releases Government Photos (protestors at Honey Baked Ham)
Post Date: 2006-01-26 19:48:54 by Zipporah
3 Comments
A government photo shows Caitlin Childs protesting.Caitlin Childs, shown at an ACLU news conference The ACLU of Georgia released copies of government files on Wednesday that illustrate the extent to which the FBI, the DeKalb County Division of Homeland Security and other government agencies have gone to compile information on Georgians suspected of being threats simply for expressing controversial opinions. Two documents relating to anti-war and anti-government protests, and a vegan rally, prove the agencies have been "spying" on Georgia residents unconstitutionally, the ACLU said. (Related: ACLU Complaint -- PDF file)For example, more than two dozen government surveillance ...
Bush team flip-flopped on spy standards
Post Date: 2006-01-26 16:57:53 by aristeides
7 Comments
Bush team flip-flopped on spy standards By David G. Savage Los Angeles Times WASHINGTON - Four years ago, top Bush administration lawyers told Congress they opposed lowering the legal standard for intercepting the phone calls of foreigners who were in the United States, even while the administration secretly adopted a lower standard on its own. The government's public position then was the mirror opposite of its rationale today in defending its warrantless domestic spying program, which has come under attack as a violation of civil liberties. Government wiretapping - and who sets the rules - has emerged at the center of a growing debate between the White House and Congress since the ...
Third Way: New Name For Old Concepts
Post Date: 2006-01-26 16:48:08 by eyeswideoopen
10 Comments
Commentary on the 'Third Way' http://www.channelingreality.com/News/third_way.htm
DeLay in the Time of RICO (TOM DELAY SETTLED RICO SUIT AGAINST HIM)
Post Date: 2006-01-26 16:33:29 by aristeides
0 Comments
DeLay in the Time of RICO Posted: 1/26/06 Reflections on a Lawsuit A few days ago, Joshua Micah Marshall at http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/007477.php reminisced about the RICO suit filed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee against Mr. DeLay, some of his closest associates and various organizations operating under his effective control. Marshall is interested in how the suit was received at the time. He recalls that it was "laughed off the political stage," a stinging assessment but not far from the truth. The following, one account of the party and press reaction to the suit, is prompted by the questions Marshall asked: "[The DCCC] had the nub of ...
TALKING POINTS MEMO: WHITE HOUSE SCRUBBING PHOTOS OF BUSH & ABRAMOFF?
Post Date: 2006-01-26 16:18:00 by aristeides
30 Comments
In his press conference today, President Bush suggested that the existence of photographs of himself and Jack Abramoff are no big deal and generally pooh-poohed the press's focus on the story. But our reporting suggests that the White House is actively involved in covering up and possibly destroying photographic evidence of the two men together. Earlier this month, we were alerted to the existence of a series Abramoff photos at the website of Reflections Photography, a studio that does photo shoots for many Republican political events and sells copies to the individuals who attended the events and other members of the public through an online photo database. Reflections was an official ...
The significance of the Administration's July, 2002 statements about FISA
Post Date: 2006-01-26 15:39:28 by aristeides
3 Comments
The significance of the Administration's July, 2002 statements about FISA The Administration has tried to explain away its opposition to the DeWine legislation which would have loosened eavesdropping requirements under FISA by claiming that the DeWine standard of "reasonable suspicion" was lower than the standard which Bush’s secret program used ("reasonable basis to believe") and they were concerned that DeWine’s standard would be unconstitutional. Think Progress today compellingly demonstrates that the Administration’s response to this story is both false and contradictory. But in addition to being false, the Administration’ explanation is also ...
CSI: K Street (ABRAMOFF AND THE BOULIS MURDER)
Post Date: 2006-01-26 11:19:14 by aristeides
7 Comments
CSI: K Street (53 comments ) Why is the White House so desperate to downplay any contact between the president and Jack Abramoff -- even though the photos of Bush making nice with Abramoff are bound to surface sooner or later? And why is the White house refusing requests to release information about Abramoff's White House meetings -- what today's Washington Post described as "a legitimate inquiry about what an admitted felon might have been seeking at the highest levels of government"? I mean, sure, the former uber-lobbyist has become the poster boy for the GOP's culture of corruption -- famously guilty of mail fraud, tax evasion, bribery, federal conspiracy, and taking in $80 ...
Prosecutors Investigating: Did DeLay Use Abramoff And Scanlon To Take Down House Speaker Livingston...
Post Date: 2006-01-26 07:26:34 by aristeides
2 Comments
Prosecutors Investigating: Did DeLay Use Abramoff And Scanlon To Take Down House Speaker Livingston... NY Post | Cindy Adams | Posted January 25, 2006 09:53 PM Jack Abramoff's partner Mike Scanlon admitted to digging up former Congressman Robert Livingston's private life. Set to become speaker, Livingston then got sidelined for Tom DeLay's man Denis Hastert. Prosecutors now checking if Abramoff and Scanlon took Livingston down at DeLay's behest. Excerpted From NY Post Story.
List of Printers Which Do or Do Not Display Tracking Dots
Post Date: 2006-01-25 17:05:21 by Itisa1mosttoolate
3 Comments
Electronic Frontier Foundation List of Printers Which Do or Do Not Display Tracking Dots Introduction This is a list in progress of color laser printer models that do or do not print yellow tracking dots on their output. We are in the process of trying to interpret the information conveyed by these dots as part of our Machine Identification Code Technology Project. Limitations of this information A "no" simply means that we couldn't see yellow dots; it does not prove that there is no forensic watermarking present. (For example, the HP Color LaserJET 8500 series does not include any yellow tracking dots that we can see, but it may still include some kind of forensic marking, ...
Slim Majority of Americans Say Bush Wiretapping Was Wrong: Majority support appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate wiretapping incidents
Post Date: 2006-01-25 15:26:42 by aristeides
7 Comments
Slim Majority of Americans Say Bush Wiretapping Was Wrong Majority support appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate wiretapping incidents by Joseph Carroll GALLUP NEWS SERVICE PRINCETON, NJ -- The American public continues to be divided in its views about whether it was right or wrong for the Bush administration to wiretap conversations between U.S. citizens living in the United States and suspected terrorists living in other countries without previously acquiring a court order. A new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll finds that a slim majority of Americans say the administration was wrong to authorize these wiretaps, and nearly 6 in 10 Americans say a special prosecutor should be ...
War Protester Sentenced to 6 Months for Damaging Upstate Recruiting Station (Asst US attorney: compares protestors to OKC bombers)
Post Date: 2006-01-25 10:30:08 by Zipporah
4 Comments
BINGHAMTON, N.Y., Jan. 23 - Expressing doubt that incarceration would make the defendant reform or repent, a federal judge nevertheless sentenced an antiwar campaigner on Monday to serve six months in prison for his role in damaging a military recruiting center during a protest in 2003. "You have obvious contempt for the laws of the U.S., and it bothers me," the judge, Thomas McAvoy of United States District Court, told the protester, Daniel J. Burns. Mr. Burns seemed to agree that prison would not change his views. When it was his turn to speak, he refused to apologize for any of his actions and said he had been acting "honorably and honestly" in demonstrating at ...
WHEN THE TAXMAN FREEZES YOUR BANK ACCOUNT. . . .
Post Date: 2006-01-24 23:38:00 by DeaconBenjamin
15 Comments
The following horror story is true. It's my story. If this can happen to me, it can happen to you. If this story will not persuade you to buy some gold coins or to set up a gold storage account outside the United States http://(www.goldmoney.com), I don't know what will. Check the daily price of gold here: http://snipurl.com/goldcourse If owning gold is more than you can handle, then you need to consider an off-shore banking account. I'll get to that at the end of this report. A month ago, I was planning a morning flight out of Memphis to Atlanta. I had a 6:15 flight. So, at about 5 a.m., I went to my local bank. There, I inserted my ATM debit card. I entered $100 to withdraw. I got a ...
General Hayden: Probable Wha...?
Post Date: 2006-01-24 21:34:56 by robin
8 Comments
General Hayden: Probable Wha...? by mcjoan Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 04:34:02 PM PDT To follow up on georgia10's post below, here is an interesting exchange between reporter Jonathan Landay and General Hayden: QUESTION: Jonathan Landay with Knight Ridder. I'd like to stay on the same issue, and that had to do with the standard by which you use to target your wiretaps. I'm no lawyer, but my understanding is that the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution specifies that you must have probable cause to be able to do a search that does not violate an American's right against unlawful searches and seizures. Do you use -- GEN. HAYDEN: No, actually -- the Fourth Amendment actually protects all of us ...
An American Hitler and his Gestapo
Post Date: 2006-01-24 10:20:04 by christine
19 Comments
The U.S. Department of Justice, led by Alberto “The Constitution is an outdated document” Gonzales, wants to know if you’ve been looking at any racy material on the Internet. Yahoo and MSN have already complied with subpoenas from Gonzales’ storm troopers demanding records on who is using their search services to look at porno sites on the Internet. Google, to their credit, said no and is now caught in a tough legal fight against the George Bush’s Gestapo. Ohmigod! Did he say Gestapo? Damn right I did. If you don’t think the rights-robbing, privacy-invading, Constitution ignoring administration of George W. Bush is anything less than a Hitler-style Gestapo ...
Unfathomed Dangers in PATRIOT Act Reauthorization
Post Date: 2006-01-24 06:45:15 by Itisa1mosttoolate
9 Comments
Unfathomed Dangers in PATRIOT Act Reauthorization by Paul Craig Roberts A provision in the "PATRIOT Act" creates a new federal police force with the power to violate the Bill of Rights. You might think that this cannot be true, as you have not read about it in newspapers or heard it discussed by talking heads on TV. Go to House Report 109-333 USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 and check it out for yourself. Sec. 605 reads: "There is hereby created and established a permanent police force, to be known as the 'United States Secret Service Uniformed Division.' This new federal police force is "subject to the supervision of the Secretary of Homeland ...
Searching for a New Direction
Post Date: 2006-01-23 17:19:45 by christine
2 Comments
The Abramoff scandal has been described as the biggest Washington scandal ever: bigger than Watergate; bigger than Abscam; bigger than Koreagate; bigger than the House banking scandal; bigger than Teapot Dome. Possibly so. It's certainly serious and significant. It has prompted urgent proposals of suggested reforms to deal with the mess. If only we have more rules and regulations, more reporting requirements, and stricter enforcement of laws, the American people will be assured we mean business. Ethics and character will return to the halls of Congress. It is argued that new champions of reform should be elected to leadership positions, to show how serious we are about dealing with the ...
DEEPBACKGROUND: NSA PROGRAM SPIES ON JOURNALISTS?
Post Date: 2006-01-23 16:13:25 by aristeides
3 Comments
No actual al-Qaeda terrorists have been identified and caught, but some American journalists might have been among the targets of the post-9/11 presidential order to the National Security Agency (NSA) to tap terrorist communications secretly without judicial oversight. Given the imminence of the threat, the White House's panicked response was understandable, but anyone who has worked in the intelligence community knows that teltap operations start with collecting and analyzing large volumes of raw data. Very few al-Qaeda members were known, much less their cellphone numbers, which meant that the investigation was of necessity wide in scope, seeking to establish linkages through identified ...
NSA and Communications Monitoring
Post Date: 2006-01-23 12:09:37 by eyeswideoopen
1 Comments
Commentary on Gen. Michael Hayden and NSA communications monitoring: http://www.channelingreality.com/News/national_security_and_al_qaeda.htm
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