CLG's BREAKING NEWS and COMMENTARY

Breaking: House Clears Path for Vote on Health Care Bill 21 Mar 2010 The House on Sunday took the most critical step yet toward adoption of legislation to overhaul the nation's health care system, approving the key procedural measure necessary to pass the bill. The procedural vote, 224 to 206, showed that Democrats and President Obama had succeeded in cobbling together the votes they need to achieve a goal sought by presidents and progressives for more than a half-century. [Click back to this link for updates on this story.]

Breaking: Health Care Vote Count: Dems Appear to Reach Enough Votes for Passage 21 Mar 2010 CBS News has been tracking the undecided Democrats ahead of today's vote on the bill. As the House nears a vote on the health care bill tonight, here is the current count.

Under the guise of health care reform aka anti-democratic, wholesale giveaway to the insurance cartel: U.S. may expand use of its prison in Afghanistan --The White House is considering housing international terrorism suspects at Bagram air base, as is done at Guantanamo Bay. 21 Mar 2010 The White House is considering whether to detain international terrorism suspects at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan, senior U.S. officials said, an option that would lead to another prison with the same purpose as Guantanamo Bay, which it has promised to close. Although it has been known for some time that the administration was seeking options other than Guantanamo for holding existing prisoners, it has not been reported previously that it was considering Bagram for suspected terrorists that might be captured in the future. [Did anyone else notice that Obama's soaring oratory returned only *AFTER* he ensured that the public option would not be included in the corporaterrorist bailout bill? As soon as Obusha knew that the insurance cartel would be safely ensconced in endless profiteering with no end in sight, he started to give great speeches for the need for quote, unquote health care reform. --LRP]

Taliban say 8 US soldiers killed in Afghanistan 21 Mar 2010 At least 8 US soldiers have been killed in two separate bomb blasts in the eastern province of Khost in Afghanistan, Taliban claimed Sunday. Taliban militants said two roadside bombs targeted convoys of US forces in the region, leaving at least 8 American soldiers killed.

Taliban controlling Marjah by night 18 Mar 2010 Militants are regaining control of Marjah, residents have reported, less than a month after Western military officials claimed to have seized the Afghan town from the Taliban. Marjah is now home to an occupation force numbering more than one Nato soldier or Afghan police officer for every eight residents. But militants are stepping up an underground campaign against officials loyal to the Western-backed Karzai regime.

Blackwater is a busy little bee! Afghanistan blast 'kills 10' in Helmand province 21 Mar 2010 Ten people have been killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, officials say. The victims were civilians, killed as a suicide bomber targeted an Afghan army convoy on a bridge, a spokesman for the provincial government said.

Special Forces now Report to McChrystal 16 Mar 2010 Most of the U.S. Special Operations forces in Afghanistan now are under direct control of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in that country said. McChrystal said the decision to bring most of the special operations troops under his control was made in response to high civilian casualties and reports the Special Forces troops were operating as cowboys [well, war criminals], The New York Times reported Tuesday.

US drone attack kills 4 in Pakistan 21 Mar 2010 Missiles fired from US drones Sunday killed at least four militants in a restive Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan, security officials said. According to Pakistani officials, the missiles targeted a compound located west of Miranshah in the North Waziristan tribal region. The death toll is expected to rise as some of the injured are said to be in critical condition.

Clashes leave 32 dead in NW Pakistan 21 Mar 2010 At least 32 people have been killed and several others injured in two separate incidents in troubled northwestern Pakistan. On Saturday, the Pakistani army helicopters bombed what officials called five militant training camps in the Orakzai tribal area, killing at least 10 people and injuring several others, the Press TV correspondent reported.

US-style election theft and vote fraud brought to Iraq with its puppet oil dictatorship: Iraq: Request for ballot recount denied 21 Mar 2010 Iraq's electoral commission said Sunday it would not recount votes from the March 7 parliamentary election, despite accusations of fraud and requests for a manual recount from Iraq's president and prime minister. The 95 percent of votes that have been counted show that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who appealed to a largely Shiite base, is in the lead in a very tight race with Ayad Allawi, whose constituency is largely made up of Sunni Arabs, for the largest electoral bloc in Iraq's future parliament.

D.C. antiwar march draws thousands on seventh-anniversary of Iraq invasion 21 Mar 2010 Thousands of demonstrators protested the seventh anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq on Saturday in a march through downtown Washington. Many expressed concern that health care and the dismal economy have begun to overshadow the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Iraq War protesters gather near AirFest 2010 at MacDill Air Force Base 20 Mar 2010 (Tampa, FL) Protestors against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan used the popularity of the MacDill Airfest as a way to spread their message Saturday. Members of Veterans for Peace sponsored a vigil for peace. For about four hours, they held signs at the corner of Dale Mabry Highway and Gandy Boulevard near MacDill Airforce Base. Saturday is the anniversary of the start of the Iraq War.

Blair's secret oil links to Mideast revealed --Blair allowed to keep details of deals from public since June 2008 20 Mar 2010 A watchdog in Britain has revealed that former UK Premier Tony Blair has secretly received cash from a South Korean energy company and from Kuwaiti royals. The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments says Tony Blair has been receiving cash from the Kuwaiti government and the South Korean UI Energy Corporation which has oil interests in the US and Iraq. The Advisory Committee had allowed Blair to keep details of both deals from the public for 20 months, since June 2008, as the former prime minister claimed the deals were commercially sensitive.

2nd mystery 'hit' --Israeli jet flyover amid Hungary slay 19 Mar 2010 In a possible sequel to the Dubai assassination, Israeli spy planes flew uninvited and unannounced over Budapest the same day a Syrian man was shot to death in his car, Hungarian media reported yesterday. Two Israeli air force Gulfstream V-type jets, equipped with sophisticated intelligence gear, flew more than 1,300 miles over Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania on Wednesday before flying over eastern Budapest and then disappearing, the reports said. The incident occurred the same day Budapest police said a 52-year-old Syrian was gunned down while stopping his black luxury car at a traffic light on the east side of the capital.

Report: Jerusalem drops more construction to avoid U.S. tensions 21 Mar 2010 The Jerusalem municipality has canceled a meeting scheduled for Monday regarding the expansion of a neighborhood in East Jerusalem, according to Army Radio. The municipality would not explain why it has postponed the meeting, but members of the Jerusalem District Building and Planning Committee told Army Radio that the decision was made to avoid tensions during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington this week.

IDF kills Palestinian teen --IDF forces clash with Palestinians at village near Nablus; 16-year-old boy dies after being shot in stomach, another teen in critical condition; Army says it used crowd dispersal means to quell rioters heading to settlement 20 Mar 2010 A 16-year-old boy was killed Saturday and a 19-year-old Palestinian sustained grave head wounds in clashes between IDF troops and Palestinians in a village near Nablus. Army officials said dozens of rocks were hurled at the forces, which were forced to respond with crowd dispersal means.However, doctors in Nablus said the killed teen was hurt by live ammunition.

UC Berkeley student senate votes in favor of divestment 19 March 2010 Early yesterday morning, the University of California Berkeley Student Senate (ASUC) passed a bill to divest from companies that provide military support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Debate began the night before at 9:00pm and ended and six hours later when the vote was held at 3:00am... Ultimately, the bill passed with 16 senators in favor and 4 against.

Partial results show French left wins regions vote 21 Mar 2010 France's opposition Socialists and their allies handily defeated President Nicolas Sarkozy's conservatives in regional elections Sunday, according to partial official results after a vote that helps set the stage for the 2012 presidential race. With 80.2 percent of ballots counted, the Socialist Party and its allies won 53.7 percent of the overall national vote, according to the Interior Ministry.

Dozens arrested as anti-Muslim English Defence League protestors battle rivals 20 Mar 2010 Riot police battled to control thousands of rival demonstrators taking part in an ill-tempered city centre protest organised by a controversial right-wing group. Hundreds of officers, some horse-mounted and armed with batons, separated supporters of the English Defence League (EDL) and members of Unite Against Fascism (UAF). Two officers were injured following ugly clashes... A police helicopter was also dispatched to assist the officers on the ground. There was a total of 67 arrests, 55 of which were UAF supporters and the remaining 12 EDL, police said. [Notice the racist UK police arrested a lot more anti-fascist demonstrators and allowed the anti-Muslim Nazis to run rampant?]

UK anti-militant project stirs Muslim unease 20 Mar 2010 A British anti-radicalization campaign called Prevent is a pressing priority in the European country experts see as the most at risk from Al-Qaeda [al-CIAduh] attack. But to listen to its critics, the project, aimed mainly at Muslim communities, might more accurately be named Provoke. Security officials are struggling to stem a tide of unease among Muslim communities about the program, which seeks among other things to identify people most vulnerable to recruitment by Al-Qaeda-aligned groups and wean them away from extremism.

Homeland Security seeking clearance to fly drones over Texas 20 Mar 2010 The federal government may soon send unmanned aircraft to scour West Texas and the state's coastal waters in an effort to 'boost border security,' U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a letter to the governor sent Friday. Governor Rick Perry (R) had formally requested the assistance a week ago. Homeland Security has six drones and is working with the Federal Aviation Administration to get the necessary clearance to begin flying over Texas, Napolitano wrote.

Paper in China Sets Off Alarms in U.S. 20 Mar 2010 Larry M. Wortzel, a military strategist and China specialist, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on March 10 that it should be concerned because "Chinese researchers at the Institute of Systems Engineering of Dalian University of Technology published a paper on how to attack a small U.S. power grid sub-network in a way that would cause a cascading failure of the entire U.S." When reached by telephone, Wang Jianwei [a graduate engineering student in Liaoning, China] said he and his professor had indeed published "Cascade-Based Attack Vulnerability on the U.S. Power Grid" in an international journal called Safety Science last spring. But Mr. Wang said he had simply been trying to find ways to enhance the stability of power grids by exploring potential vulnerabilities. ['Alarms set off in U.S.' Translation: The corporaterrorists want their trolls in Congress want to deregulate the electricity industry and make a killing on pseudo-security measures.]

World votes to continue trading in species on verge of extinction 19 Mar 2010 Their sheer size and strength have made them among the most celebrated of endangered species, yet they have all been betrayed -- by vested interests at a UN meeting on wildlife protection. Proposals to ban trade in bluefin tuna and polar bears were overwhelmingly rejected yesterday at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), meeting in Doha, Qatar.

New safeguards for polar bears voted down at CITES meeting --Defenders of Wildlife fears trade will lead to continued population declines for species threatened by climate change --The United States proposal would have banned the international commercial trade in polar bear parts and products --During debate, virtually all parties agreed with the serious threat posed to the polar bear’s survival by climate change DOHA, Qatar 18 Mar 2010 Defenders of Wildlife expressed its disappointment today over the decision by the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) not to give greater protection to the polar bear.

'We're well past 216 now.' Stupak to Vote Yes on Health Care Bill 21 Mar 1010 Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan, a strong opponent of abortion rights, has decided to vote in favor of the House version of the health care bill despite his objections to its language on abortion. "We've been able to come up with an agreement to respect the sanctity of life on health care reform," Stupak said at an afternoon press conference, where he was joined by like-minded lawmakers.

'We will be part of history.' Democratic leadership: "We've got the votes" 21 Mar 2010 As the House prepares to convene this afternoon for action on President Barack Obama's long-pursued overhaul of 'healthcare,' the House's Democratic leadership is voicing confidence in passage of the bill. "We've got the votes,'' said Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) in an appearance this morning on CNN's State of the Union. "This is a [sic] historic day, and we are happy warriors,'' Larson said. "We will be a part of history, joining Franklin Delano Roosevelt's passage of Social Security, Lyndon Johnson's passage of Medicare and now Barack Obama's passage of healthcare.''

Fact Sheet: The Truth About the Health Care Bill By Jane Hamsher 19 Mar 2010 [We] ...have come up with 18 often stated myths about this health care reform bill. Real health care reform is the thing we’ve fought for from the start. It is desperately needed. But this bill falls short on many levels, and hurts many people more than it helps... 2. Insurance companies hate this bill - This bill is almost identical to the plan written by AHIP, the insurance company trade association, in 2009. The original Senate Finance Committee bill was authored by a former Wellpoint VP. Since Congress released the first of its health care bills on October 30, 2009, health care stocks have risen 28.35%.

Republicans denounce racist and anti-gay slurs 21 Mar 2010 Following reports yesterday that black and openly gay Democratic lawmakers were subjected to spitting and epithets from anti-health care reform protesters outside the Capitol, Republican leaders said Sunday that the incidents were "isolated" and "reprehensible." On CNN's "State of the Union," Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) denounced the use of such slurs "in the strongest terms." House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that the "isolated incidents" were "reprehensible."

Tea party protesters scream 'nigger' at black congressman 20 Mar 2010 Demonstrators outside the U.S. Capitol, angry over the proposed health care bill, shouted "nigger" Saturday at U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia congressman and civil rights icon who was nearly beaten to death during an Alabama march in the 1960s. Protesters also shouted obscenities at other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, spat on at least one black lawmaker and confronted an openly gay congressman with taunts. Capitol Police escorted the members of Congress into the Capitol after the confrontation.

Protester spits on Rep. Cleaver 20 Mar 2010 A congressman who was spat on by a protestor on Capitol Hill says he is declining to press charges, but turns out the Capitol Police say they made no arrests. Missouri Democrat Emanuel Cleaver was making his way through a group of angry protestors when the incident occurred. Cleaver, who is black, was also one of several lawmakers who faced racial epithets as they walked to the Capitol to vote.

Brick thrown through window of Rep. Slaughter's office 19 Mar 2010 The "Slaughter Solution" on health care isn't the only thing that has come under attack in U.S. Rep. Louise M. Slaughter's world this week. Sometime early this morning, someone threw a brick through the front window of her Pine Avenue office. The damage was discovered about 12:30 a.m., city police said. Slaughter, D-Fairport, NY, is head of the House Rules Committee, which will structure the debate on health care reform votes set for this weekend.

'I heard people saying things that I have not heard since March 15, 1960 when I was marching to try and get off the back of the bus.' Members of Congress Called 'Ni**er,' 'Fa**ot,' Spat On By Tea Party Protesters 20 Mar 2010 Abusive, derogatory and even racist behavior directed at House Democrats by Tea Party protesters on Saturday left several lawmakers in shock. Preceding the president's speech to a gathering of House Democrats, thousands of protesters descended around the Capitol to protest the passage of health care reform. The gathering quickly turned into abusive heckling, as members of Congress passing through Longworth House office building were subjected to epithets and even mild physical abuse. A staffer for Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) told reporters that Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) had been spat on by a protester. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a hero of the civil rights movement, was called a 'ni--er.' And Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was called a "faggot," as protestors shouted at him with deliberately lisp-y screams. Clyburn said he had not witnessed such treatment since he was leading civil rights protests in South Carolina in the 1960s.

Tea Partiers Call Lewis 'N****r', Frank 'F****t', At Capitol Hill Protest By Brian Beutler 20 Mar 2010 Civil rights hero Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) and fellow Congressional Black Caucus member Andre Carson (D-IN) related a particularly jarring encounter with a large crowd of [tea party and anti-healthcare] protesters on screaming "kill the bill"... and punctuating their chants with the word "nigger." Standing next to Lewis, emerging from a Democratic caucus meeting with President Obama, Carson said people in the crowd yelled, "kill the bill and then the N-word" several times, while he and Lewis were exiting the Canon House office building.

State of the health care debate: Talk radio attacks an 11-year old 18 Mar 2010 Conservative talk show hosts and columnists have ridiculed an 11-year-old Washington state boy's account of his mother's death as a "sob story" exploited by the White House and congressional Democrats like a "kiddie shield" to defend their health care legislation. Marcelas Owens, whose mother got sick, lost her job, lost her health insurance and died, said Thursday he's taking the attacks from [sociopaths] Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Michelle Malkin in stride.

Grand jury subpoenas GOP in Ensign probe 20 Mar 2010 A federal grand jury has issued subpoenas to a Republican campaign committee and Nevada firms in a probe of Sen. John Ensign, under scrutiny for his efforts to find lobbying work for the husband of his former mistress. One subpoena went to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, formerly chaired by Mr. Ensign, R-Nev., committee spokesman Brian Walsh said. A Las Vegas TV station reported Thursday that grand jury subpoenas in the Ensign probe went to six Las Vegas businesses it did not name.

Credit Card Firm: We Were Subpoenaed By Feds In Ensign Case 19 Mar 2010 Here's a statement from eCommLink, one of the Nevada companies at the center of the mushrooming John Ensign investigation, acknowledging that it has received a subpoena from the Justice Department: 'eCommLink, like a number of other Nevada companies, has received subpoenas regarding the Federal investigation of Senator John Ensign. We are cooperating fully in this investigation.' KLAS-TV reported yesterday that the company, and other credit card firms, contributed to Ensign's NRSC in exchange for Ensign's help in fighting new regulations.

Click here to donate.
Or, please mail a check or money order to CLG:
Citizens for Legitimate Government (CLG)
P.O. Box 1142
Bristol, CT 06011-1142
Contributions to CLG are not tax deductible.

*****

Synagogue Bomb Suspects: Feds Badgered Us to Do It --Lawyers: Alleged NY bomb plot 'hatched and directed' by federal informant 19 Mar 2010 Defense attorneys say an alleged plot to bomb New York synagogues was hatched and directed by a federal informant. Lawyers for four men from Newburgh have filed a motion to dismiss the terror indictment against them. They said the informant badgered the defendants until they got involved in the plot. They said the informant chose the targets, supplied fake bombs for the synagogues and a fake missile to shoot down planes. The motion said he also offered to pay the defendants, who attorneys alleged weren't inclined toward any crime until the informant began recruiting them.

Links with torture countries to go on 18 Mar 2010 Britain must continue to work with international intelligence agencies in the fight against terrorism even if they are not committed to UK standards on the abuse or torture of detainees, the Foreign Office has warned. In its annual report on human rights around the world published last night, the Foreign Office said the UK could not afford the "luxury" of co-operating only with agencies in countries which do not share UK standards on human rights.

MI5 and MI6 have to deal with torturers, government says --The security services "cannot afford the luxury" of dealing only with countries which respect human rights, the government has said. 17 Mar 2010 A report by the Foreign Office said the government could not "reduce the risk to zero" of torture or mistreatment at the hands of foreign powers but had to use intelligence gained from such methods to save British lives. [?!?] The department’s annual report on human rights said the Government has been "absolutely clear that the UK stands firmly against torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment." But it added: "We cannot always have that same level of assurance when [prisoners] are held overseas by foreign governments."

UK has 5,700 "secret agents" --Britain employs more than 2,200 spies to 'protect the country' against terrorism and the threat from foreign enemies, it has been disclosed. 18 Mar 2010 It is the first time that the number of foreign intelligence gathering officers employed by MI6, also known as the Secret Intelligence Service, has been published. The figure was disclosed yesterday in the annual report of the parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee. According to the ISC’s report, there are now 2,252 MI6 officers and it aims to increase that to 2,527 this year.

Russians Give Message to U.S. Generals in Afghanistan: Bribe the Taliban --Minutes of Secret Meeting Between Russian Veterans and Gen. Stanley McChrystal Also Say 'More Troops Won't Make a Difference' 18 Mar 2010 Two Russian veterans of the Soviet Afghan war privately warned Gen. Stanley McChrystal last summer that the key to winning the war would be to pay off the Taliban. The official who wrote a summary of two meetings between the Russians and U.S. military commanders also wrote that one of the "key take-aways" from the meetings was that extra troops were not the key to victory. ABCNews.com has obtained a document summarizing the discussions between two veterans of the Soviet Union's failed Afghan war and McChrystal, the top U.S. general in Afghanistan, during an August 2009 video teleconference. [USociopaths are already doing that. See: US to pay Taliban fighters to 'lay down their arms' 23 Jan 2010.]

Defense official says Afghan 'track and kill' program was authorized 19 Mar 2010 Michael D. Furlong, the senior Defense Department employee under investigation for allegedly running an unauthorized intelligence-gathering [and track and kill] operation in Afghanistan, says his now-suspended program was fully authorized by top U.S. military commanders. According to Furlong, the program, which began in late 2008, was requested by Army Gen. David D. McKiernan, the former top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, and approved by the U.S. Central Command.

Taliban rises again in Kunduz, forcing more U.S. troops toward north 18 Mar 2010 The past year has brought such a dramatic Taliban comeback in Kunduz that Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, is planning to shift some of the ongoing troop reinforcements to the north of the country, the first significant U.S. deployment to the region since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, U.S. officials say.

14 Palestinians injured in Gaza strike 19 Mar 2010 Palestinian sources in Gaza reported Friday that the Air Force (IAF) bombed targets near the airport in the southern Strip, injuring 14 people, two of them severely. The IDF stated that it had bombed a Hamas facility in Dahaniyeh, in response to the Qassam rocket fire towards Israel earlier Friday. Palestinian witnesses say four missiles were fired at structures on the airport grounds and that rescue forces were having trouble evacuating victims due to IAF activity in the area.

Israeli soldiers arrest five Palestinian children 19 Mar 2010 Israeli soldiers detain five Palestinian children in the West Bank city of Hebron (al-Khalil) after clashes break out. The soldiers claim that the children were pelting stones at a building inside the Beit Romano settlement on Thursday during clashes in the West Bank city of al-Khalil. But the parents of the arrested children complain that "the children were playing football in front of their house when suddenly the soldiers came and arrested them."

Heads up! US trolling for Yemen's oil: Yemen preacher urges jihad on United States 18 Mar 2010 A U.S.-born radical cleric linked to shootings at a U.S. army base and the failed bombing of a U.S. plane appeared to urge Muslims to conduct a jihad against the United States in an audiotape heard on Thursday. U.S. counterterrorism officials said in late February they were considering adding Anwar al-Awlaki to the U.S. target list to kill or capture top militants if he appeared to pose a direct security threat. He is believed to be living in southern Yemen.

Gay Dutch soldiers responsible for Srebrenica massacre says US general 19 Mar 2010 A Former American general [whackjob] blamed "open homosexuality" in the Dutch army for the failure to prevent the Srebrenica massacre in 1995. The Dutch government condemned the comments by Gen John Sheehan, a former NATO commander and senior Marine officer, as outrageous. Gen Sheehan made the remarks at a Senate hearing where he argued against plans by President Barack Obama to end a ban on allowing gays to serve openly in the US military.

Secret Document Calls Wikileaks 'Threat' to U.S. Army By David Kravets 15 Mar 2010 Wikileaks presents a "threat to the U.S. Army" and publishes "potentially actionable information" for targeting military personnel, according to a classified intelligence report posted Monday on the whistleblowing site. The 32-page report entitled Wikileaks.org - An Online Reference to Foreign Intelligence Services, Insurgents, or Terrorist Groups? indicates the government’s concern that "current employees or moles" within the Defense Department or the U.S. government "are providing sensitive or classified information to Wikileaks." To stop this, the 2008 report had suggested a campaign to expose and punish those who leak to the site, which was founded in 2007 by Chinese dissidents, journalists and mathematicians.

U.S. Woman Charged in Terror Plot Pleads Not Guilty 18 Mar 2010 The Pennsylvania woman accused of recruiting men on the Internet to wage jihad in southern Asia and Europe pleaded not guilty Thursday to all counts in federal court in Philadelphia. The authorities say the woman, Colleen R. LaRose, is a terrorist sympathizer known by her Internet name, "JihadJane," and had expressed a desire to become a martyr for an Islamist cause. According to a federal indictment unsealed this month, Ms. LaRose, 46, was intent on killing a Swedish artist who depicted the Prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog.

Antiwar coalition fined by US government 19 Mar 2010 A US antiwar organization says it has been targeted by the government because it wants US troops to immediately return from Afghanistan and Iraq. The ANSWER Coalition, which stands for "Act Now to Stop War and End Racism," has been a staunch critic of the Bush and Obama administrations for their role in the Iraqi and Afghan war. "The government is increasingly trying to limit or eviscerate or criminalize grassroots organizing itself", said Brian Becker from the ANSWER Coalition, Reported Press TV's Colin Campbell.

'He is also now persona non grata in Barack Obama's supposedly more open and transparent United States.' U.S. Revokes Visa of Irish Anti-Renditions Activist By Jeff Kaye 16 Mar 2010 The North Carolina News Observer reports in a March 15 article that the co-founder of ShannonWatch, Edward Horgan, a well-known Irish activist and former Irish Defense Force officer, has had his 10-year, multiple-entry U.S. visa revoked without explanation. Horgan and others believe it is because of his principled stand against the U.S. use of renditions, and in particular, the use of Shannon Airport in western Ireland as a stopover for U.S. rendition flights. ShannonWatch has documented the use of the airport as a stopover for CIA rendition flights.

EFF Appeals Dismissal of Warrantless Wiretapping Case By Cindy Cohn 19 Mar 2010 EFF today filed its appeal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals of the dismissal of Jewel v. NSA, the case EFF brought against the U.S. government and government officials on behalf of AT&T customers to stop the National Security Agency's illegal, unconstitutional, and ongoing mass surveillance of their communications and communications records. The case arises from the still growing stacks of evidence confirming the surveillance, including the technical documents presented by former AT&T employee Mark Klein that describe the NSA's secret mass wiretapping facility in San Francisco.

Brown calls anti-police booby traps in Riverside County 'urban terrorism' 18 Mar 2010 Describing it as "urban terrorism," California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown joined with Riverside County officials Thursday in asking the public to help find those who tried at least three times to kill officers assigned to a Hemet-based gang task force. "It is incredible and even unprecedented for police officers here to be subject to terrorist attack," Brown said at a Riverside news conference. The attacks have involved booby traps aimed at either the headquarters of the Hemet-San Jacinto Gang Task Force or officers assigned to the unit, officials said.

'9/11 panel was warned not to probe too deeply' --Leaked confidential documents have revealed that senior officials from the former US administration had warned a 9/11 investigation panel against probing too deeply into the terrorist attacks. 18 Mar 2010 In a letter obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the 9/11 Commission was refused permission to question terror suspects, with the Bush administration arguing that by doing so the panel would "cross" a "line" and obstruct the administration's efforts to protect the nation. Citing the need to "Safeguard the national security, including protection of Americans from [their] future terrorist attacks," the government officials demanded the Commission not make further attempts at conducting a deeper probe into the September 11 terror attacks. [Right, they didn't want people to know that 9/11 was an inside job. Gibbs and DiNozzo would have had the investigation wrapped up in the first 42 minutes of 'NCIS.' Abby's mass spectrometer would reveal the explosive residue in WTC 1, 2 and 'Lucky' Larry 'the smartest thing to do is pull it' Silverstein's WTC 7 (not even hit by any planes), which was announced on the BBC as having fallen about a half hour before it actually did fall. Oops! McGee would analyze the insider trading (Pre-9/11 Put Options on Companies Hurt by Attack Indicates Foreknowledge) and have the whole kit and caboodle delivered with lots of time remaining for Tony and Ziva to do the flirt thing. I have an entire script penned. CBS: Are you interested? --LRP, (hopefully) invoking humor/sarcasm, including the script-writing comment, since those have been inquiring. It wouldn't take me long, though!]

Federal Judge Orders More Talks on 9/11 Deal 19 Mar 2010 The federal judge [Alvin K. Hellerstein] overseeing litigation between the city and workers at ground zero on Friday rejected a settlement reached by the two sides, telling lawyers that it did not provide enough compensation to plaintiffs and needed to be renegotiated under his supervision. It provided for payouts of $575 million to $657.5 million in cases filed by some 10,000 rescue and cleanup workers who say they suffered health damages from toiling at ground zero after the 2001 terrorist attack.

Genetically modified mosquitos could be used to spread vaccine for malaria --A genetically engineered mosquito that vaccinates as it bites has been developed by scientists. 19 Mar 2010 Experts believe "flying vaccinators" could eventually be a radical new way of tackling malaria. The new approach targets the salivary gland of the Anopheles mosquito. Scientists in Japan have engineered an insect producing a natural vaccine protein in its saliva which is injected into the bloodstream when it bites. [If this is the 'cover story,' what other projects and pandemics are underway by the Pentagon?]

Obama effigy hung at RI school with fired teachers 18 Mar 2010 A teacher at a failing school where he and all his colleagues are being fired hung an effigy of President Barack Obama in his classroom, apparently in reaction to Obama's support of extreme measures to ensure accountability in schools. The teachers union on Thursday condemned the effigy, discovered Monday in the teacher's third-floor classroom at Central Falls High School, saying it was wrong and cannot be condoned under any circumstances.

Pope 'let molesting priest resume work' 19 Mar 2010 Pope Benedict XVI has been accused of turning a deaf ear to repeated warnings about a pedophiliac priest who was later convicted of carnal violation of theological pupils. Werner Huth, the psychiatrist tasked with treating the German priest Peter Hullermann, said on Thursday that he had audibly warned the current Pope about the future convict's immorality, The New York Times reported.

Federal Reserve Must Disclose Bank Bailout Records --Fed must release records of unprecedented $2 trillion U.S. loan program 19 Mar 2010 The Federal Reserve Board must disclose documents identifying financial firms that might have collapsed without the largest U.S. government bailout ever, a federal appeals court said. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled today that the Fed must release records of the unprecedented $2 trillion U.S. loan program launched primarily after the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. The ruling upholds a decision of a lower-court judge, who in August ordered that the information be released.

Fed loses appeal; must disclose bailout details 19 Mar 2010 The Federal Reserve will be required to identify the names of banks that could have collapsed if not for the central bank's emergency lending, a federal appeals court said Friday. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York ruled on Friday that the Fed needs to disclose documents in response to Freedom of Information Act requests by Bloomberg L.P. and other news organizations.

Top Democrats predict Sunday passage 19 Mar 2010 Democratic leaders are now confidently predicting victory in a Sunday health reform vote, saying the party will have the 216 votes needed to pass President Barack Obama’s top legislative priority by then. "We'll have the votes when the roll is called," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters Friday. The Democrats top vote-counter, Rep. Jim Clyburn, concurred. "I feel very sure that we'll vote on this some time Sunday, and the bill will pass," Clyburn said.

Democratic leaders in fierce negotiations for 'yes' votes on health-care bill 19 Mar 2010 Democratic leaders worked feverishly Friday to round up the votes they need to overhaul the nation's health-care system, as President Obama delivered a feisty closing argument to thousands of youthful supporters in Northern Virginia, declaring that "the time for reform is now." [Right, too bad it's missing from the bill.] In a speech at George Mason University in Fairfax, Obama predicted a "tough vote" Sunday in the House of Representatives, where 216 votes are needed to approve the health-care overhaul after more than a year of partisan wrangling.

Polar bear protections rejected 18 Mar 2010 Delegates gathered in Doha, Qatar for a global conference aimed at protecting imperiled species rejected a proposal Thursday that would have banned international trophy hunting and commercial trade in polar bear parts. The United States sponsored the measure, arguing that it is critical to reduce hunting pressure on polar bears at a time when their habitat is eroding due to melting sea ice. [Too bad the polar bears are unable to shoot the sociopaths who want to kill them in a 'trophy' hunt.]

Sleepy Bear Can't Stay Awake Posted by ableiman 29 Apr 2008 Sleepy Asian Sunbear cub falling asleep (CNN Video)

*****

1997 DoD Briefing: 'Others' can set off earthquakes, volcanoes remotely using electromagnetic waves By Lori Price 28 Feb 2010 Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, 28 April 1997: 'There are some reports, for example, that some countries have been trying to construct something like an Ebola Virus [OMG! Who would do such a thing?], and that would be a very dangerous phenomenon, to say the least. Alvin Toeffler has written about this in terms of some scientists in their laboratories trying to devise certain types of pathogens that would be ethnic specific so that they could just eliminate certain ethnic groups and races; and others [LOL] are designing some sort of engineering, some sort of insects that can destroy specific crops. Others are engaging even in an eco- type of terrorism whereby they can alter the climate, set off earthquakes, volcanoes remotely through the use of electromagnetic waves.' --Just switch 'yours,' 'others' and 'they' with 'U.S.,' 'U.S.' and 'U.S.' This was in 1997. Imagine, after eight years of George W. Bush turbo-funding these lunatics, what they can do now.

They don't 'hate us for our freedoms.' They hate us for our war crimes. --LRP

Short Term Archives - Recent news items

CLG News Archives - Archived news items

CLG is on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. New! The Rec Report --Join us!

Please send a donation. Thank you!