Citizens For Legitimate Government

July 2002 Archives

July 31, 2002

Cheney's old skeletons rattle Bush White House attempts to clean up corporate America are dogged by the vice-president[sic]'s years in the oil business -- The White House is scrambling to deflate what some aides refer to as the "Cheney problem".
Bush faces storm over 'Enron' judge Controversial choice for appeal court accused of favouring big business -- Open warfare has broken out between the White House and Capitol Hill over pResident Bush's most controversial nomination to date to the bench of American high courts.
Stench: Corporate scandals (The Charleston Gazette) "President [sic] Bush is calling for a crackdown on boardroom crooks — but a Newsweek poll last week found that half of Americans think both Bush and Vice President [sic] Dick Cheney previously engaged in shady business tactics themselves."
Our Banana Republics - by Paul Krugman "The latest antics of the White House Office of Management and Budget have even the most hardened cynics shaking their heads. It's not just that projections for fiscal 2002 have gone from a $150 billion surplus to a $165 billion deficit in the space of a few months; it's not just that the O.M.B. projects a much smaller deficit next year, when everyone else — including the Republican staff of the Senate Budget Committee — says the deficit will increase. It's also the fact that O.M.B officials simply lie about what their own report says."
"Corporate Responsibility" (cartoon) -- by Steve Bell
Democrats Take on Tax Havens Issue Republicans are scrambling for a response to U.S. companies moving their headquarters to foreign tax havens after Democrats revealed the exodus as yet another example of corporate irresponsibility. In what's known as a "corporate inversion," a company sets up a shell headquarters in a tax haven such as Bermuda while keeping most operations and jobs in the United States, potentially saving millions of dollars in U.S. taxes. The practice is legal.
Dome owner in £1bn scandal over shares sale The right-wing American tycoon who took control of the Millennium Dome in a controversial deal with the Government made a $1.5bn (£929m) windfall selling his own stock when the company of which he was chairman was exaggerating its profits. It was revealed yesterday that Phillip Anschutz received the money after selling 33 million shares in Qwest Communications International, the telecommunications company in Colorado of which he was the main shareholder and founder.
UN keeps damning report on Afghan massacre secret The United Nations went into abrupt reverse yesterday and said it no longer intended to release a report compiled by a team of UN officials who visited the site where a US warplane attacked a wedding party in Afghanistan on 1 July.
Bush greases the wheels of war An American attack on Iraq could have serious effects on the United States economy because the US would have to meet most of the cost and bear the brunt of any oil price shock or other market disruptions, government officials, diplomats and economists say.
Holding terror suspects breaches rights, rules tribunal A British tribunal today ruled that detention without trial here of nine foreign terror suspects under emergency laws imposed after the September 11 attacks breached European human rights regulations. The Special Immigration Appeals Commission said Britain's new anti-terrorism powers, rushed through in December, were "not only discriminatory and so unlawful ... but also disproportionate".
Anti-terror laws in disarray after suspects win appeal Emergency anti-terrorism laws introduced by the Government were thrown into disarray yesterday when a tribunal ruled the powers used to detain nine alleged terrorists without charge were discriminatory. The internment powers that the Home Secretary, David Blunkett, rushed through Parliament last December after the 11 September attacks on America were ruled to be unlawful and in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.
White House acts to shed arrogant image New PR office to sell Bush policies and war on terror -- The White House will set up a new office to try to salvage America's plummeting image abroad, it was announced yesterday as an independent taskforce reported that even the country's allies saw the US as "arrogant", "hypocritical" and "self-absorbed".
'But Officer, I Didn't Do Anything!' -- by By Jim Sloan Lakeland (FL) - "They call it a "Voluntary Roadside Interview.'' But for hundreds of motorists flagged down by state troopers Monday on Interstate 4, there was nothing voluntary about it."
Democrats Assail Bush on Economy and Foreign Policy Leading Democrats launched a series of stinging attacks on pResident Bush here today, challenging his handling of the economy, response to corporate accountability scandals and conduct of the war on terrorism while charging there is a "leadership deficit" in Washington that they are prepared to fill.
Poll: Dems gain edge on economy -- Confidence in Bush slips The turmoil on Wall Street and corporate corruption scandals are eroding public confidence in pResident Bush's handling of the economy and improving Democratic chances of gaining seats in this year's congressional elections, a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup poll released Monday shows.
Merrill Replaced Research Analyst Who Upset Enron In the summer of 1998, when it was eager to win more investment banking business from Enron, Merrill Lynch replaced a research analyst who had angered Enron executives by rating the company's stock "neutral" with an analyst who soon upgraded the rating, according to Congressional investigators.
US may put Iranian nuclear plant on hit list A nuclear power plant being built in Iran has emerged as a potential test of the Bush mis-ministration's doctrine of pre-empting threats to United States security.
Iraq strike plan aimed at cutting off leaders A risky new United States strategy to depose Iraq's President, Saddam Hussein, involves seizing Baghdad and one or two key command centres and weapons depots.
Iraq attack plans alarm top military US and UK commanders 'scratching their heads' to make sense of invasion -- Military commanders on both sides of the Atlantic are privately expressing deep unease about American plans to invade Iraq, believing they are ill thought out with the strategy to achieve the ultimate objective - toppling Saddam Hussein - far from clear. It will be a "gargantuan task" which could spark off a conflagration across the Middle East, a European military official warned yesterday.
Blair given 'devastating' warning on attack King Abdullah of Jordan yesterday warned Tony Blair that US-led military action to remove Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq "would have devastating effects" on the Middle East.
Profound Effect on U.S. Economy Seen in a War on Iraq An American attack on Iraq could profoundly affect the American economy, because the United States would have to pay most of the cost and bear the brunt of any oil price shock or other market disruptions, government officials, diplomats and economists say.
Invading Iraq Has Little to Do With War on Terrorism -- by Jackson Thoreau "I understand why we're bombing Afghanistan - we had to bomb somebody after Sept. 11, didn't we? - but I hate to see civilians killed and the fact that Osama bin Laden was never captured or his ties to Sept. 11 proven in court. Contrast that to our response after the 1995 Oklahoma bombing, an act of terrorism that admittedly was different from Sept. 11. Did we bomb the neighborhoods where Timothy McVeigh lived, hoping to draw him out or get more of his conspirators?"
US accused of airstrike cover-up American forces may have breached human rights and then removed evidence after the so-called wedding party airstrike that killed more than 50 Afghan civilians this month, according to a draft United Nations report seen by The Times.
Cover-up suspected over Afghan wedding bombing A draft UN report has reportedly found the United States might have covered up evidence relating to the bombing of an Afghan wedding party that killed about 50 people.
Bush to Create Formal Propaganda Office to "Shape" U.S. Image Abroad The Bush Fourth Reich has decided to transform what was a temporary effort to rebut Taliban disinformation about the Afghan war into a permanent, fully staffed "Office of Global Communications" [Goebbels would be proud!] to coordinate the mis-ministration's foreign policy message and supervise America's image abroad, according to senior officials.
Largest-ever military exercise held 13,500 men and women of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines are staging the largest exercise in U.S. military history.
Conn. can bar Boy Scouts as charity, court rules Connecticut did not violate the rights of the Boy Scouts when it dropped the group from a list of charities that state employees contribute to through a payroll deduction plan, a federal judge has ruled. A state panel removed the Boy Scouts from the list in 2000, after a state human rights commission found that including the organization violates state anti-discrimination laws because of the scouts' ban on gay troop leaders.
Parched Colo. Targets Water Abuse Colorado is in its worst drought in a century and communities across the state are limiting water use. The mandatory restrictions in Denver and Aurora are the cities' first in 21 years.
Clinton Rips Bush on 90's Fraud Former President Clinton says the bull market of the 1990s bred corporate corruption but that pResident Bush's laying blame on his predecessor twists the truth. "There was corporate malfeasance both before he took office and after," Clinton told a Washington television reporter. "The difference is I actually tried to do something about it, and their party stopped it" in Congress. "And one of the people who stopped our attempt to stop Enron accounting was made chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission," Clinton said. "That is a fact; an indisputable fact."
Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., Calls for an Independent Investigation of Bush's and Cheney's Business Dealings Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., stepped up the political attack on the Bush mis-ministration when, last weekend, he called for an independent investigation into pResident Bush and Vice pResident Cheney's business dealings before they came to the White House, a call he reiterated Thursday night on CNN's "Crossfire."
Debt fuels US gas and power bankruptcy fears US and European banks and bondholders lent an estimated $500bn to the crippled US gas and power sector, new research commissioned by the Financial Times reveals. The figure raises fears that a further string of corporate failures in the wake of the Enron scandal would expose lenders to heavy losses.
Qwest Admits Accounting Errors, Will Restate Results (Update1) Qwest Communications International Inc., under a federal accounting investigation, said it will restate results because the telephone company incorrectly booked $1.16 billion in sales and some expenses.
Bush Cabal Strategy: The Pounding of Fists, The Gnashing of Teeth, and The Shredding of Documents -- by Al Martin "The aggregate losses over the last eleven trading sessions are over $1.5 trillion, as of last Monday. It's interesting to note that historically the New York Stock Exchange composite has lost more equity value in the last eleven trading sessions than it gained in the first two hundred years of its history. And the free fall continues, while George Bush's reaction is actually turning to anger."
Lieberman: Bush Veto Insulting to Union Workers A leading Senate Democrat said on Sunday pResident Bush was insulting unionized workers by threatening to veto new homeland security legislation if he is not allowed to hire and fire workers at will.
U.S. Exploring Baghdad Strike as Iraq Option As the Bush mis-ministration considers its military options for deposing Saddam Hussein, senior administration and Pentagon officials say they are exploring a new if risky approach: take Baghdad and one or two key command centers and weapons depots first, in hopes of cutting off the country's leadership and causing a quick collapse of the government.
Bush is becoming downright dangerous -- by Eric Margolis "Of all the bad ideas that have been pouring from the Bush administration - the faux war on terrorism, the Palestine mess, invading Iraq, curtailment of civil liberties, unilateralism, growing deficits, farm subsidies, steel tariffs - among the very worst is the dangerous proposal that U.S. military forces be given domestic police powers."
Stop the Corporate Takeover of our Water -- by Jim Hightower "The greater villains are loose in our world today, literally thirsting to take things that are yours and mine -- and this time they might make off with the greatest plunder of all: our water. Yes, the ideologues and greedheads who brought us the fairy tale of energy deregulation and the Ponzi scheme of Enron are aggressively pushing for deregulation and privatization of the world's water supplies and systems."
GM Food labels on Oregon ballot A measure to give consumers the right to know whether the food they purchase has been genetically engineered will appear on Oregon's statewide ballot this fall.
"Mosquito Alert" Issued at White House: West Nile Infected Bird Found Dead on Grounds "The insider scoffed at talk among low-ranking staffers that someone may have planted an infected bird on the White House grounds as a terrorist act." [Will Bush and Cheney flee to the bunkers, again??]
Review of the Bush-Cheney 2000 Recount Fund and 527 Disclosure Law The Bush-Cheney 2000, Inc-Recount Fund, created shortly after the November 2000 election to pay for the campaign’s legal and political activities in Florida and other contested areas, evaded a soft money campaign finance disclosure law for 18 months. The recount fund’s trustees did not file required disclosure forms until 3:25 p.m. on July 15, 2002 – meeting the deadline for an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) "amnesty" program to avoid millions of dollars in potential fines by less than nine hours.
Bush-Cheney Campaign Violated Soft Money Disclosure Law Soft Money Fund for Recount Narrowly Escapes $7 Million Fine by Filing Disclosure Statements Hours Before Deadline; Forms Still Not Publicly Available (press release)
Clinton Raps White House, Rejects Blame Claim Former president Bill Clinton has chastised the Bush mis-ministration for suggesting he bears part of the blame for the corporate accounting scandals and said pResident Bush made a mistake with his first-year Middle East policy.
Enron Probe Moves Offshore The Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has asked the chief executives of Citigroup Inc. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., to provide sworn affidavits about the nature of offshore entities allegedly used to help Enron Corp. hide its financial condition.
Clean Up Government Accounting, Democrat Says Now that Congress has passed a bill mandating reform in corporate accounting, it is time to reform government accounting with an eye on protecting Social Security, Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut said on Saturday.
The Private Interest -- by Paul Krugman "Since the early months of 2000, the Nasdaq has fallen about 75 percent, the broader S.&P. 500 more than 40 percent... Yet George W. Bush still wants to party like it's 1999. On Wednesday he insisted that he continued to favor partially privatizing Social Security."
'Attempted' crimes bill under attack by lawyers, police Defense attorneys and police, often at odds on criminal justice matters, have a surprisingly unified message for Congress: back off a plan to create thousands of new crimes. The House voted last week to make any attempt to break a federal law a punishable act. The proposal, approved with little notice in Washington, could cause headaches around the country, lawyers and law enforcement officers say.
Labor Issue May Stall Security Bill Establishing a Homeland Security Department in the near future could be jeopardized by the determination of what employment rights the new department's 170,000 government workers should have.
Strange Fruit -- by Chris Floyd " 'By their fruits ye shall know them.' And by their nuts as well. The acorns of any presidential administration never fall very far from the tree -- thus, the remarks made last week by one of George W. Bush's appointees to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission give us a pretty fair indication of what the future will look like if the Regime's seeds of tyranny ever come to full flower."
Some Top Military Brass Favor Status Quo in Iraq Containment Seen Less Risky Than Attack -- [Yes, but containment won't drive up Bush's sagging poll numbers -- he is trolling a war that he "needs".] Despite pResident Bush's repeated bellicose statements about Iraq, many senior U.S. military officers contend that President Saddam Hussein poses no immediate threat and that the United States should continue its policy of containment rather than invade Iraq to force a change of leadership in Baghdad.
The Case Of Dr. Hatfill: Suspect Or Pawn Former Army microbiologist Steven J. Hatfill is either a pawn in an FBI attempt to recharge its stalled anthrax investigation, or a potential suspect who holds critical clues to solving the case that has bedeviled the agency for the past nine months.
Bush Far Outspent Gore on Recount The Bush campaign poured $13.8 million into "winning" [stealing in a coup d'etat] the post-election battle for Florida's 25 electoral college votes, roughly four times what the Gore campaign spent, according to documents released yesterday.
Clintons Ask Millions from U.S. in Whitewater Legal Fees Former President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York have asked a special three-judge panel to order the United States government to reimburse them for several million dollars in outstanding legal fees from the Whitewater inquiry. "Pursuant to the explicit authorization of the statute, and following the precedent of Presidents Reagan and Bush, the Clintons have applied for reimbursement of their legal fees incurred in connection with the independent counsel's Whitewater investigation," David E. Kendall, the Clintons' personal lawyer, said tonight.
Gore maintains strong lead for 2004 Democratic nomination, Latest Zogby America Poll reveals President Al Gore maintains a near 30-point lead on his closest rival for the 2004 Democratic nomination, latest Zogby America results reveal.
Group Accuses White House of Obstructing Suit A public interest group on Friday accused the White House of preventing a courier from serving Vice pResident Dick Cheney with a lawsuit accusing him and the company he ran, Halliburton Co., of defrauding shareholders by overstating company revenues.
House Narrowly Passes Trade Legislation The House early this morning voted 215-212 to approve a broad trade package that would give pResident Bush the authority to negotiate trade deals. The razor thin vote at 3:30 a.m., came only after an evening of arm twisting by Republican leaders and hours after Bush himself made a rare appearance on Capitol Hill to lobby Republicans personally for a package that has been deadlocked for years.
House Passes Homeland Security Bill The House voted 295-132 on Friday to establish a Department of Homeland Security. It would bring together in the biggest U.S. government reorganization in a half century all or parts of 22 existing agencies, including the Coast Guard, Secret Service and Border Patrol.
Bush Wants Fast Senate Action on Homeland The proposal having passed in the House, pResident Bush is calling on the Senate to quickly approve a bill creating his proposed Homeland Security Department. But things might slow down instead. Bush and Senate Democrats are clashing over the pResident's insistence on broad powers over personnel.
Foundations are in place for martial law in the US -- by Ritt Goldstein "Recent pronouncements from the Bush Administration and national security initiatives put in place in the Reagan era could see internment camps and martial law in the United States... From 1982-84 Colonel Oliver North assisted FEMA in drafting its civil defence preparations. They included executive orders providing for suspension of the constitution, the imposition of martial law, internment camps, and the turning over of government to the president and FEMA."
Ed Whitfield of Greensboro, North Carolina gives a chilling First Amendment clampdown tale detailing Bush's July 25, 2002 visit to North Carolina. The Bush Visit -- by CLG member Ed Whitfield
Muslims outraged after deportation squad breaks into mosque Muslim community leaders in Britain are in uproar over the use of a battering ram by a police deportation squad to break into an English mosque to remove a young family of Afghan migrants who had taken refuge there.
Reservists called up in build-up for Iraq The Ministry of Defence is planning a mass mobilisation of key reservists beginning in September, heightening expectation that the United States and Britain are stepping up preparations for an attack on Iraq.
Report on 9/11 Finds Flaws in Response of Police Dept. The New York Police Department's response to the Sept. 11 attack was effective in many areas but suffered from lapses in leadership and coordination and a lack of proper planning and training, according to a draft report by an independent consultant for the department.
Democrats Say Slow Recall of Meat Threatened Consumers A sluggish investigation by the Agriculture Department into evidence that tainted meat had entered the marketplace exposed thousands of consumers to potentially deadly bacteria, possibly contributing to some illnesses, members of Congress said yesterday.
Fraud Charged in Sales to Military A Sun Valley company and its owner have been indicted on charges of selling the Army and Air Force substandard rotor pins for the workhorse UH-60 helicopter, which resulted in the temporary grounding of the fleet used to ferry troops and supplies into battle, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
Military Works on High-Tech IDs Future versions of military identification cards will encode information about fingerprints or other physical characteristics, the Pentagon's latest move to tighten security.
Enron exes managing English plant A company formed by former Enron managers in England will operate and manage the Teesside Power Station and Teesside Gas Processing Plant in northeast England.
Government Arrests the Owner of www.stopamerica.org and Seizes Two of Owner's Computers. The Stop America site is published by Global Alliance for US Foreign Policy Change, a group that opposes US foreign policy. Home of Muslim Suspect's Kin Raided Federal agents on Thursday seized two computers and two floppy disks from a house where an American Muslim activist had been staying when he was arrested as a material witness to terrorist activity, his brother said. Federal authorities speaking on condition of anonymity have said authorities believe James Ujaama, 36, took computer equipment to an al-Qaida terrorist camp in Afghanistan. [ROFL! From cavedwellers (when Colin Powell gave the Taliban $43million in May) to webmasters!]
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton: Remarks at The American Constitution Society Summer Washington Event Georgetown University Law Center, July 23, 2002 (transcript)
White House Security Rebuffs Attempt to Serve Lawsuit on Dick Cheney The legal group that's made a name for itself by filing numerous lawsuits against the nation's leaders is having trouble serving its latest complaint against Vice pResident Dick Cheney.
Corporate Crime: A Crime Drama in Eight Panels, being a metaphor for current infamous illegalities -- by Ruben Bolling (humor)
Poll: Bush support slips pResident Bush's job-approval rating slipped below 70% for the first time since Sept. 11, a new Gallup Poll shows. More Americans say they are worse off financially than a year ago.
Bush vacation plans criticized by Md. governor A leading Democrat criticized pResident Bush on Tuesday for planning to spend a month at his Texas ranch while the stock market plunges and foreign affairs remain volatile. "It's clearly the wrong signal," said Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening. [Well, Bush won't actually be "vacationing." He will be planning the "October Surprise" Iraq invasion, or possibly, some more terrorist attacks to boost his poll numbers...]
[Barf Alert!] Bush Warns Congress on Homeland Bill pResident Bush sternly warned Congress on Friday against passing a bill that limits the personnel and budgetary powers of the head of a new Department of Homeland Security, giving the clearest indication yet that he would veto a measure now before the Senate.
Senators question Ashcroft about fighting terror Attorney General John Ashcroft underwent some sharp questioning on Capitol Hill Thursday over the Justice Department's plans to pursue terror suspects. Sen. Patrick Leahy suggested the tactics might encourage a vigilante movement.
Buying Trouble Your Grocery List Could Spark a Terror Probe -- by Erik Baard "Regulars at a national grocery chain, these thousands and thousands of shoppers used the store's preferred-customer cards, in the process putting years of their lives on file. Perhaps they expected their records would be used by marketers trying to better target consumers. Instead, says the company's privacy consultant, the data was used by government agents hunting for potential terrorists."
Separate 9/11 inquiry OK'd by House The Republican-controlled House defied the Bush mis-ministration early Thursday and voted to establish an independent commission to investigate 9/11. The White House has wanted the probe confined to the House and Senate intelligence committees.
Dead bird found on White House lawn infected with West Nile Virus A dead crow discovered on the White House grounds was infected with West Nile virus, health officials said after the bird was tested. The crow is one of two found near a fountain on the South Lawn this week. The first was discovered late Sunday by Secret Service officers, who then found the second early Monday.
Colo. Inmates Are Fed Recalled Beef Hundreds of inmates were served meatloaf that prison officials knew was made with beef recalled because of E. coli contamination, state officials acknowledge.
Gore, Back on Capitol Hill, Blasts Bush on Economy President Al Gore visited Capitol Hill for the first time in 18 months on Thursday, blasting the Bush mis-ministration for mismanaging the economy, cozying up to corporate interests and misleading the public about the effects of its centerpiece tax cut. [The article mistakenly calls Gore's 2000 election bid a "failed White House race." Excuse me, but Gore not only won the popular vote by over a half a million votes, he also won Florida by at least 30,000! "Failed" my ass!]
Gore Questions Iraq Invasion Timing President Al Gore told young Democrats on Thursday that he supports the overthrow of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein but questioned whether it is a good idea to invade Iraq now. President Gore said that he will decide by year's end whether to run for re-election in 2004.
Clinton Says Republicans Blocked His Audit Reforms Former President Bill Clinton today hailed his own efforts to increase the oversight of corporate governance and criticized Republicans and Harvey L. Pitt, currently the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying they had frustrated Mr. Clinton's efforts at reform.
Papers Show Bush Played Active Role at Harken pResident Bush played an active role in Harken Energy Corp's business decisions and consulted with the head of the company shortly before a controversial 1989 transaction which drew scrutiny from the Securities and Exchange Commission, documents released on Thursday show.
Cheney Led Halliburton To Feast at Federal Trough State Department Questioned Deal With Firm Linked to Russian Mob -- by Knut Royce and Nathaniel Heller "Under the guidance of Richard Cheney, a get-the-government-out-of-my-face conservative, Halliburton Company over the past five years has emerged as a corporate welfare hog, benefiting from at least $3.8 billion in federal contracts and taxpayer-insured loans."
States Dig Deep Into Rainy Day Funds States have used up two-thirds of their cash on hand and their rainy-day funds trying to cope with budget crises, legislative leaders from across the country said Wednesday as they called for government help.
Broader SEC probe into AOL accounting expected AOL Time Warner faces the possibility of a wider inquiry by the Securities & Exchange Commission into the past accounting practices at its AOL unit.
Stocks Struggle on Another Volatile Day for Wall St. The stock market took a wild ride today as it struggled to hold on to some of Wednesday's big gains after two weeks of severe losses. Technology stocks fell sharply, with semiconductor stocks leading the retreat after a leading computer chip maker said it would reduce spending on plants and equipment.
U.S. Prepares to Expand Cuban Prison Camp The Bush mis-ministration is preparing to expand the high-security prison in Cuba where it is holding and interrogating hundreds of suspects from the "war on terrorism," officials said Thursday. The Pentagon has accepted bids and expects to award a contract in the next several days for construction of some 200 more cells at the facility it calls Camp Delta, two officials said on condition of anonymity. [Gee, I wonder if Halliburton will get that contract...]
Ashcroft Promotes TIPS Citizen Surveillance Plan Attorney General [and rightwing nutcase] John Ashcroft said Thursday a program that would ask millions of Americans to report suspicious activity will not create an Orwellian government database [Insert "Yeah, right!" commentary here.] that could be used against innocent Americans. A government database of terrorist tips, whether truthful or not, could be used against people, said Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.
Bush Threatens Veto of Homeland Security Bill pResident Bush threatened today to veto the Homeland Security bill as fifty-three House members, mostly liberal Democrats, wrote to Bush on Wednesday saying their support for the department depended on the civil service protections. The White House responded today with the veto threat.
Secret Service Agent Admits to Anti-Muslim Slurs A Secret Service agent has admitted he scrawled anti-Muslim statements on a prayer calendar during the home search of a man charged with smuggling bogus checks into the United States, authorities said Thursday.
Kiss My Posse Comitatus Kinky sexual position? New vodka drink? No, just another old law Dubya wants to poke at in the name of fear -- by Mark Morford "Of course they sneak the more diabolical stuff under your radar when they know you're too busy watching your WorldCom stock tank and your AOL stock tank and all those thick snickering gold-plated megaconglomerate CEOs smirk and shirk and declare bankruptcy and get their financial wrists slapped and do zero jail time and then get invited to Dubya's ranch for ribs and a new Cabinet post."
The Martial Plan: Ethics, Ethnics Both Under Fire -- by James Ridgeway "Are we headed toward martial law? Last week Peter Kirsanow, a Bush appointee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, said in Detroit that he envisions a situation in which the public will demand internment camps for Arab Americans. If terrorists attack the U.S. for a second time and if 'they come from the same ethnic group that attacked the World Trade Center, you can forget about civil rights,' he said."
Soldiers, not cops (The Plain Dealer) "No idea, it has been said, is so bad that it can't be debated. But some - like the suggestion now floating around Washington that the Posse Comitatus Act be relaxed to give the military a domestic law-enforcement role - should not get much time on anyone's agenda. It counters core American beliefs and presents the potential for problems, and dangers, this country does not need."
Operation TIPS -- animated cartoon by Mark Fiore
House OKs Independent 9/11 Probe The House voted Thursday to create an independent commission to study the Sept. 11 hijackings despite White House concerns [i.e., fear of the truth emerging] that the panel would distract intelligence agencies trying to prevent future attacks.
Israeli intelligence: Narco-terror profits funded Sept. 11 attack Profits from drugs shipped by Afghanistan were used by Al Qaida in carrying out the September 11 attacks, according to a classified report by Israel's police intelligence service.
Bush Touts Cap on Malpractice Awards pResident Bush pressed Congress Thursday for a proposed cap on malpractice awards to injured patients. Bush is calling for a $250,000 cap on pain and suffering awards. [That's Bush for you, looking out for the "little guy," and making sure he stays that way! While his buddies steal billions, he wants to limit malpractice suites to $250K! that's how little value Bush gives your life.]
Fla. Child Protection Under Fire Jeb Bush's Department of Children & Families has come under attack over two recent cases in which department workers allegedly lied about making visits to check up on children. In one case, the department learned 5-year-old Rilya Wilson was missing for more than a year; she still has not been found. In the other, a caseworker filed a report saying 2-year-old Alfredo Montez was fine, but police say he was beaten to death before the worker's reported visit. [This story speaks for itself. Another Bush mishandling of a 'fodder unit,' as they call us.]
Daughter of Rabin quits post in protest She opposes Sharon's policies on Palestinians -- Dalia Rabin-Pelosoff, daughter of the assassinated Israeli leader who signed the Oslo peace accord, resigned her post as deputy defense minister Tuesday in protest of the army's reoccupation of Palestinian towns in the West Bank.
Scandal-Ridden Cheney Mum at Urging of his Attorneys Sources told the Daily News yesterday that with the urging of his lawyers, Vice pResident Cheney has scaled back his crucial public cheerleading role during a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation of Halliburton's accounting practices while Cheney was chairman and CEO. [That's it, Dick, keep your mouth shut. A criminal should never be forced to speak in his own defense. That's what the fifth amendment is for, one these corporate criminals may want to salvage out of the ruins of the Bill of Rights.]
Harvey Pitt Raises a Promotion Commotion Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, Harvey L. Pitt, has requested to lawmakers to elevate his SEC job to Cabinet status -- with a higher salary -- as part of the corporate reform bill.
S.E.C. Chief Seeks Promotion Harvey L. Pitt, who barely goes a week without new calls for him to step down as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission because of his handling of the crisis in the markets, is asking Congress for a raise and more respect.
Investigators focus on Wall Street investment firms The Security and Exchange Commission has opened investigations into 12 Wall Street investment firms for possible conflict of interest violations, the lead SEC investigator said today.
AOL Time Warner Says SEC Is Investigating Transactions, Revenue Reports AOL Time Warner Inc., the world's largest media company, said Wednesday that the Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into a series of transactions that may have improperly boosted revenue.
Eyes Wide Shut -- by Bob Herbert "The amount of the thievery was breathtaking, scores of millions of dollars at last count. And it seemed to go on forever. But the people who should have been watching the money at the SG Cowen and Lehman Brothers brokerage firms never even noticed."
Bush Stands by Plan to Allow Social Security Funds in Stock Market Despite Wild Swings in Stock Prices Despite the stock market's recent roller coaster ride, pResident Bush is sticking by his proposal to allow younger workers to divert some of their Social Security taxes to stocks and other private investments.
Bush's job approval dips from post-9/11 high pResident Bush's approval rating has slipped to the mid-60s amid growing nervousness about the economy.
Democrats can save economy, Gore tells youths President Al Gore told a group of young Democratic activists yesterday that victories by Democrats in the upcoming November elections are the first step in rescuing the country from its current ''economic doldrums.''
Justice Dept. forges ahead with TIPS, despite Armey ban The Justice Department is forging ahead with establishing a network of domestic tipsters -- despite being dealt what may be a deathly blow to the plan: House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, inserted last week a ban on the program in the bill to form a new Homeland Security Department.
Homeland Security Summer Camp for Teens [!] Billed as one of the nation's first "homeland security training summer camps for teenagers," a program called Secure Corps in Bucks County [PA] is drilling 92 young men and women in essential skills for this new, uncertain era. And those skills include math: "If I have 40 acres of forest," runs a typical problem, "how many search dogs will I need to find a fugitive?"
General: U.S. Military Doesn't Want Police Power Despite the specter of new attacks on the United States, the U.S. military opposes any move to give civilian police powers to the armed forces to protect Americans, a top Army general said on Wednesday.
Critics Blast IT Loophole in Homeland Security Plan The White House proposal to create a Homeland Security department could allow corporate scofflaws to hide nefarious business activities from the public in the name of national security, critics warned today.
U.S. Defeated in Bid to Block UN Anti-Torture Pact The United States on Wednesday lost a bid to block a draft anti-torture treaty that would require U.N. inspections of prisons such as the U.S. base in Cuba set up to hold Taliban and al Qaeda detainees.
Bush Clears Way for Nevada Nuclear Waste Dump Risking a backlash by Nevada's voters, pResident Bush signed legislation in a private ceremony on Tuesday to make Yucca Mountain the burial ground for the nation's deadly nuclear waste. A poll earlier this year showed that 83 percent of Nevadans oppose the Yucca Mountain site.
Michael Rectenwald replies to a rightwinger who wants to join the "Demoncrats"
Hillary Clinton Says Presidential Election Case Example of Supreme Court Gone Awry The Bush v. Gore presidential election case is an example of a hypocritical Supreme Court majority that broadens the rights of states only when it serves conservative ends, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday.
Bush re-election [sic] support falls Scandals, stocks drag down Bush's standing -- The economy and the accounting scandals surrounding large corporations appear to be taking a heavy toll on pResident Bush’s popularity, according to two opinion surveys released Monday. In one of the polls, fewer than half of the likely voters questioned said they believe he should be re-elected [sic].
July 25, 2002
***Quick Action!*** Take the Wall Street Journal/NBC poll "Do you approve or disapprove of the job pResident Bush is doing on the financial markets and corporate scandals?"
Stocks Fall Sharply Once Again as Recovery Attempt Fails Stocks fell once again today in volatile trading after they failed in their attempt to recover from two weeks of heavy selling. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell below the 800 mark for the first time in more than five years.
Bush's role in corporate fraud -- by Bill Black and James Galbraith "President [sic] George W. Bush has reassured us that 'From the antitrust laws of the 19th century to the S&L reforms of recent times, America has tackled financial problems when they appeared.' But the savings & loan reforms came seven years and 150 billion taxpayer dollars late. Nor did that problem merely 'appear.' It was created by a deregulation bill in 1982 overseen at that time by Vice President George Bush."
Twice as Bad as Hoover (Consortiumnews) "George W. Bush is shattering records for the worst first 18 months in office for a U.S. president [sic] as measured by the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500. In his first year-and-a-half in the White House, Bush presided over a 36.9 percent decline, almost twice the percentage drop of Herbert Hoover, the president who led the nation into the Depression."
Ashcroft's Terrorism Policies Dismay Some Conservatives Many religious conservatives who were most instrumental in pressing pResident Bush to appoint John Ashcroft as attorney general now say they have become deeply troubled by his actions as the leading public figure in the law enforcement drive against terrorism.
House Approves $28.9 Billion Anti-Terrorism Package Congress prepared Tuesday to ship pResident Bush a compromise $28.9 billion anti-terrorism package.
US army to engage in largest military simulation exercise yet Some 13,500 people in 26 locations across the United States will take part in one of the largest US Army exercises in history beginning Wednesday and lasting three weeks.
Democrats Say G.O.P. Add-ons Threaten Bill for Security Dept. A substantial number of Democrats say they are considering voting against the proposed Department of Homeland Security when it reaches the House floor on Thursday, complaining that Republicans had larded the bill with pet ideological projects.
Police State in a land of superlatives --by Doreen Miller "Today, we are standing on the threshold of the addition of yet another superlative to our long, dubious list of boasts: soon we are to be the largest police state that has ever existed. Our government, under the pretext of homeland security, is in the process of creating a division of secret informants whose scope promises to far surpass the level of spying achieved by the Stasi, secret police, in former Communist East Germany."
U.S. planes attack site in southern Iraq For the second time in recent days U.S. warplanes bombed a military communications site in southern Iraq, officials said Tuesday.
Drop plans to attack Saddam, Tehran tells US Iran's president, Mohammad Khatami, warned the US yesterday to abandon its plans to attack Iraq and denounced what Tehran believes is a calculated Bush mis-ministration campaign to provoke mass insurrection in Iran.
What Price the American Empire? -- by Patrick J. Buchanan "[Regarding terrorism on U.S. soil:] But there has been no debate over the most critical question. Why? Why do these Islamic radicals so hate us they are willing to commit suicide, if they can take hundreds or thousands of us with them? In our focus on improved intelligence, preemptive strikes, color-coded alerts and evacuation plans, have we overlooked a course of action that could end the threat of cataclysmic terror? Like Poe's 'Purloined Letter,' is a way out right there on the mantelpiece in front of us?"
Records of 9/11 Response Not for Public, City Says The Bloomberg mis-ministration has concluded that many of the audio and written records of the Fire Department's actions on Sept. 11 should never be released to the general public.
Civil rights groups ask Bush to remove appointee after comments on Arab-Americans Two civil rights groups asked pResident Bush on Monday to remove Peter Kirsanow from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights after he said people might demand internment camps for Arab-Americans if Arab terrorists strike the United States again.
Judicial Nominee Challenged on Abortion Views Senate Democrats sparred with pResident Bush's nominee to a key federal appeals court yesterday, suggesting repeatedly that she has interpreted the law to suit her own conservative views on abortion.
Torture Victims Win Lawsuit Against Salvadoran Generals A federal jury in a civil lawsuit ruled yesterday that two retired Salvadoran generals now living in South Florida were responsible for acts of torture committed 20 years ago by troops under their command.
Ann Coulter, it's time to meet the truth police -- by Richard Roeper "Coulter peppers her prose with terribly faulty analogies, e.g., 'Hiring [George] Stephanopoulos [to do television] would be the equivalent of a major network hiring Chuck Colson immediately after Watergate.' Well, no. Chuck Colson was convicted of obstruction of justice, a felony, and served seven months in prison. Stephanopoulos' biggest crime was writing a self-aggrandizing tell-all book. Coulter also has a habit of chastising liberals for their methodology and then using the same techniques to make her own points."
Stocks Tumble, and the Fallout Is Going Global The United States stock market fell sharply again yesterday. Investors seemed to fear a slowdown in the world economy and shrugged off pResident Bush's statement that "there is value in the market" now.
Citigroup Said to Mold Deal to Help Enron Skirt Rules Senior credit officers of Citigroup misrepresented the full nature of a 1999 transaction with Enron in the records of the deal so that the energy company could ignore accounting requirements and hide its true financial condition, according to internal bank documents and government investigators.
No Confidence; Bush Cabal Drives US to the Brink of Collapse -- by Al Martin "Another week has passed, as we inch ever closer to the economic collapse of the United States. During this week we have reached several new important milestones. Another $750 billion of market capitalization has been lost, thus bringing the total loss in market capitalization (during the eighteen months of the George Bush II Regime) to $4.75 trillion."
Northern Command chief backs domestic use of US military US Air Force General Ralph E. Eberhart, head of the newly established Northern Command, says he supports giving greater domestic powers to the military in the Bush mis-ministration’s "war on terrorism."
GOP Looks to Create New Crimes Class Legislation passed by the House last week to get tough on corporate wrongdoers contains a little-noticed provision that would make any attempt to break a federal law a punishable act. Under the House legislation, every federal crime would have a new partner provision covering the "attempted" crime, which would carry the same penalty as the crime itself.
Informant Fever (The New York Times) "The Bush administration plans to enlist millions of Americans to spy on their fellow Americans, and to feed that information into a centralized database. This ill-considered domestic spying program should be stopped before it starts."
President [sic] doesn't have absolute military authority over Americans by Robyn E. Blumner "While the president [sic] has broad power to conduct war, he does not have the absolute and unreviewable authority to hold any suspected American for as long as this indefinite 'war' on terror continues."
US moves closer to war against Iraq Despite the claims that the purpose of a war against Iraq is to overthrow Saddam Hussein and establish democracy in Iraq, the Bush administration—itself the product of an anti-democratic coup in the 2000 elections—has no intention of installing a popular regime in Baghdad. Instead, its goal is the seizure of Iraq’s huge oil reserves and the establishment of unchallenged US strategic dominance in the two most important oil-producing regions of the world, the Persian Gulf and Central Asia.
War on Saddam will drag on, warns Turkey Turkey has repeated its concern about United States military action against Iraq as European governments expressed alarm at talk of overthrowing Saddam Hussein.
Calif. Governor Signs Landmark Auto Emissions Law California Gov. Gray Davis signed a landmark law Monday making his state the first in the nation to regulate vehicle greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to curb global warming.
Calif. Takes Lead on Auto Emissions Gov. Davis to Sign Law On Pollution That May Affect All U.S. Drivers -- The new law, to be signed today by Gov. Gray Davis (D), is the first in the United States to directly affect consumers and to enlist American drivers in reducing the potential of global warming.
Reno makes candidacy official today Janet Reno, 64 and a day, will formally qualify as a candidate for governor today, leading a walk of state workers to the Capitol to file campaign papers.
Senate Hearing Set on Enron's Bankers In the six years before Enron filed for bankruptcy protection, major banks helped the company camouflage more than $8 billion in financing and increase its cash flow through deals permitting Enron to raise money without listing it as loans on financial statements, Senate investigators have found.
Rep. Waxman has Directed his Staff to Begin Investigating Cheney's Involvement with Halliburton Rep. Henry A. Waxman, a California Democrat who was one of the earliest members to begin investigating the collapse of the Enron Corp., said last week that he has directed his staff to begin investigating Vice pResident Cheney's involvement with Halliburton.
Arabs in U.S. could be held, official warns Rights unit member foresees detainment A member of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission said in Detroit on Friday he could foresee a scenario in which the public would demand internment camps for Arab-Americans if Arab terrorists strike again in this country.
Citizen-spy plan facing opposition in public, House The Postal Service itself said Wednesday that it would not participate in Operation TIPS because it has a process for reporting suspicious activities. On Friday, a House special committee on Homeland Security approved legislation that would kill Operation TIPS.
Officials call for study of military police powers Homeland security Director Tom Ridge says the threat of terrorism may force government planners to consider using the military for domestic law enforcement, which is largely prohibited by federal law. pResident Bush has asked Congress to thoroughly review the law that bans the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines from participating in arrests, searches, seizures of evidence and other police-type activity on U.S. soil.
Debate on Court Nominee Centers on Abortion The White House is heading toward a confrontation with Senate Democrats and their allies in liberal advocacy groups over pResident Bush's effort to give a federal appeals court seat to a conservative state judge from Texas with a strong judicial record opposing abortion.
Anti-nuclear activists in sea protest Two environmental activists have jumped into the sea in front of armed cargo vessels carrying nuclear waste to Britain from Japan.
In pictures: Nuclear ship protest Activists from the environmental group Greenpeace set sail to protest against a consignment of nuclear waste being transferred by cargo ship from Japan to Britain.
Project in Bahrain benefited Harken, Bush Five days after former President Bush was inaugurated in 1989, an official from Bahrain set in motion a chain of events that allowed the Texas oil company where the president's son was a director to beat out Amoco for drilling rights with huge profit potential. George W. Bush was on the board at Harken Energy Corp. when the company won the right to drill for oil off the coast of Bahrain, a tiny Persian Gulf island.
Possible Minefields (extended) -- List of SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt's law clients at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson. The list was filed by Pitt with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics on May 24, 2001. It contains only clients from whom he received $5,000 or more since Jan. 1, 1999.
No Strong Voice Is Heard on Bush's Economic Team With the stock market plunging the other day and surveys depicting Americans as increasingly worried about the way the Bush mis-ministration is dealing with the economy and corporate fraud, Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill, the administration's main voice on economic issues, was in Kyrgyzstan.
The Road to Perdition -- by Frank Rich "Wagging the dog no longer cuts it. If the Bush administration wants to distract Americans from watching their 401(k)'s go down the toilet, it will have to unleash the whole kennel. Maybe only unilateral annihilation of the entire axis of evil will do."
WorldCom Files for Chapter 11 WorldCom Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Sunday, almost four weeks after the telecommunications giant disclosed nearly $4 billion in deceptive accounting.
U.S. Should Consider Giving Military Powers to Arrest and Fire Their Weapons on U.S. Soil , Ridge Says The government should consider reversing a more than a century of tradition and law to give the military authority to make arrests and fire their weapons on U.S. soil in the event of a terrorist attack, Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge said.
Beyond the Rubber Bullet The U.S.'s nonlethal-weapons programs are drawing their own fire, mostly from human-rights activists who contend that the technologies being developed will be deployed to suppress dissent and that they defy international weapons treaties. Through public websites, interviews with defense researchers and data obtained in a series of Freedom of Information Act requests filed by watchdog groups, TIME has managed to peer into the Pentagon's multimillion-dollar program.
Bush rallies US for strike on Iraq pResident Bush has told US troops to be ready for 'pre-emptive military action' against Iraq, as security sources warned that a massive assault against President Saddam Hussein could be likely at 'short notice'. Whitehall sources confirmed that Tony Blair had decided Britain must back any US assault and had ordered defence planners to begin the preparations for a new war in the Gulf.
Mounting anger over US atrocities in Afghanistan Three weeks after an American AC-130 gunship killed and injured more than 100 civilians in the small Afghan village of Kakarak, US military officials have refused to admit that the raid was a mistake or to rule out similar actions in the future.
The NSA Draws Fire A scathing House report charges the agency is badly mismanaged -- The intelligence panel's Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security, which released an unclassified summary of its report last week, found that the NSA is "unable to identify" how it spends the money it gets from Congress each year "to any level of detail."
U.S. to Withhold Family Plan Money In a policy reversal, the Bush mis-ministration will not pay $34 million it earmarked for U.N. family planning programs overseas, an initiative that conservative groups charge tolerates abortions and forced sterilizations in China.
1970 - 85 Famine Blamed on Pollution Nearly two decades after one of the world's most devastating famines in Africa, scientists are pointing a finger at pollution from industrial nations as one of the possible causes.
Critics urge reform of beef-recall rules The U.S. Department of Agriculture's decision in February not to warn companies about ConAgra ground beef suspected of having E. coli reveals a weak and elusive recall system in which alerts are issued too late to matter, critics say.
Files: Bush Knew Firm's Plight Before Stock Sale As a businessman in 1990, George W. Bush was deluged with confidential information about the financial plight of a Texas oil company before he sold the majority of his holdings and triggered a federal investigation, according to Securities and Exchange Commission records.
Gore: Bush has lied to U.S. about economy President Al Gore accused the Bush mis-ministration Saturday of lying to Americans about the nation's economy. He also said, "I don't care what anybody says. I think Bill Clinton and I did a damn good job."
Brace for assault on sharemarket Investors are bracing for a "Black Monday" as news of yet another corporate scandal in the US pushed Wall Street to its lowest level since October 1998.
Biggest US failure is official next week WorldCom plans to file for bankruptcy protection from its creditors by early next week, making it the biggest bankruptcy in US history, people briefed on the matter said yesterday.
No-one is safe from US carnage by David Potts "Hang on to your hats. The fun, or horror, depending on whether you're a share buyer or seller, is just beginning."
Wider Military Role in U.S. Is Urged The four-star general in charge of defending the United States against attack said he would favor changes in existing law to give greater domestic powers to the military to protect the country against terrorist strikes.
FBI to interrogate Congress on leaks The FBI is interrogating congressional aides, and members of Congress believe they are next, in an extraordinary inquiry into leaks of classified information from a congressional probe of Sept. 11 intelligence failures, lawmakers and other officials said Thursday. Recent leaks have infuriated the White House and prompted Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to warn staffers about news leaks.
Flaws in U.S. Air War Left Hundreds of Civilians Dead The American air campaign in Afghanistan, based on a high-tech, out-of-harm's-way strategy, has produced a pattern of mistakes that have killed hundreds of Afghan civilians.
2nd Calif. Officer Removed From Duty The partner of a white policeman who was videotaped punching a handcuffed black teenager has been removed from active duty after acknowledging that he too struck the youth.
House clears way for congressional pay raise House lawmakers cleared the way Thursday to give themselves a pay raise for the fourth straight year, increasing their salaries about $5,000. If the raise goes into effect, members of Congress will make $155,000 a year.
Janet Reno Hosts a Dance Party The turnout -- more than 2,500 people paying $25 apiece -- was a welcome sight for Reno, who has become more aggressive in her underdog campaign lately, proposing last week that Florida require lower prescription drug prices.
Reno's War Chest Is Lacking, but Her Dance Card Is Full Janet Reno, the pickup-driving, sensible-pump-wearing former United States attorney general who is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor of Florida. Ms. Reno drew about 2,200 people Friday night to Level, one of the hottest night spots in the neon-lit oceanside club district of Miami.
Department of CorporateLand Security Restoring confidence in corporate America! -- by Mark Fiore (humor)
G.O.P. Lawmakers Bolt Bush's Herd Less than four months before the midterm elections, nervous rank-and-file Republicans are going their own way on issue after issue in Congress, fearful about the economy and no longer counting on pResident Bush's wartime approval ratings to carry them back into office.
White House business ties Following the recent spate of accounting scandals and cases of corporate malfeasance, Americans increasingly are worried that the Bush mis-ministration is too closely tied to big business, according to a poll released Thursday.
Dick Cheney, an '02 Liability? Halliburton Probe Is Growing Worry for Bush, Hill Republicans As Vice pResident Dick Cheney travels the country to raise money for Republican candidates, local news coverage has begun to focus on the SEC investigation and Democrats have begun making an issue of Cheney's lucrative stewardship of Halliburton.
Statement from DNC Chairman McAuliffe on Vice pResident Cheney and Halliburton " Vice President [sic] Cheney should explain to the people of Houston why his company misled investors while he was CEO of Halliburton. The people of Houston know all too well the painful results of corporate accounting tricks."
Whose bubble burst? -- by Ellen Goodman "Our first MBA president [sic], the man who once thought it was a compliment to be called CEO of the United States, now has a credibility gap on the economy as great as his predecessor had on fidelity...But even less credible than Bush's economic analysis is his moral analysis."
Stocks Continue Four-Month Rout; Dow Plunges 390 Stocks continued their plunge yesterday in a four-month rout that has sent the major indexes below their lows of last September and to levels that, if they hold, will make this the worst year for the market since the 1970's.
AOL boss sold £47m of shares before quitting A senior director of AOL Time Warner, who resigned after its market value fell by more than three quarters in a year, managed to cash in shares worth £47 million before he left.
House Panel Approves Homeland Agency A divided House committee voted Friday to create the giant Homeland Security Department sought by pResident Bush, but not before a contentious debate that led to a one-year extension of a looming deadline for airports to begin screening airline bags for explosives.
Alabama Activates Tank Unit A day after pResident Bush's release of a homeland defense strategy calling for the possible domestic use of U.S. military forces, Alabama activated a 300-soldier Army National Guard tank battalion as part of a homeland defense force.
U.S. secretly held 600 immigrant hearings Justice letter raises questions about sweeping antiterror laws -- More than 600 immigrants nationwide have been jailed and subject to secret immigration hearings since Sept. 11, according to new Justice Department statistics.
Bush's snoop troops -- by Derrick Z. Jackson "It looks more ridiculous when the same White House that is encouraging Americans to spy on one another is smashing every magnifying glass placed over its own activities... When he was not hiding in a bunker, Vice President [sic] Dick Cheney spent the bulk of 2001 and 2002 fighting some order to release the guest list for his energy task force, the task force that turned Bush into marionette for oil, gas, coal, and cars."
Bush Renews Pledge to Strike First to Counter Terror Threats pResident Bush today used a visit to the troops that battled Al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan to renew his vow that the United States will strike pre-emptively against countries developing weapons of mass destruction, telling 2,000 cheering troops that "America must act against these terrible threats before they're fully formed."
Who is stonewalling the US anthrax investigation? (WSWS) "Two commentaries by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, published July 12 and July 19, raise further questions about the refusal of the FBI and the Bush administration to take any action against the most likely suspect in the anthrax terrorist attacks that killed five people last fall. These columns—and the near-universal silence in the rest of the media—underscore the high-level complicity in the suppression of any serious investigation into the terrorist attacks that targeted two leading Democratic senators."
Infusion of stock holdings can bolster Social Security, Bush maintains The plunging stock market and recent corporate implosions won't stop the White House from driving ahead with plans to overhaul Social Security to allow personal investment accounts.
Study Fuels Worry Over Glacial Melting Alaska's glaciers are melting at more than twice the rate previously thought because of warming temperatures, dramatically altering the majestic contours of the state and driving up sea levels, according to a new study.
ConAgra Launches the Nation's Second-Largest Recall of Beef Consumer groups and some Democrats criticized the Bush mis-ministration for delays in recalling the ConAgra beef. Carol Tucker Foreman, food policy director for the Consumer Federation of America, said the USDA was more concerned about protecting big agribusiness companies than consumers.
Iranians Demonstrate Against U.S. Tens of thousands of Iranians took to the streets of the capital Tehran on Friday, chanting "Death to America" in a furious backlash against pResident Bush's overtures to Iranian reformists.
Nigerian Women Take Two Hostages Unarmed women occupying at least four ChevronTexaco flowstations in southeastern Nigeria took two oil workers hostage Friday in a bid to force company officials to come to them for negotiations.
pResident's Niece Released from Florida Jail Noelle Bush, the daughter of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and the niece of the pResident, was released on Friday from a Florida jail where she was held for three days for violating the terms of a court-ordered drug treatment program.
Michael Rectenwald replies to a rightwinger who declares, "ann coulter is right about you guys"
Michael Rectenwald replies to a rightwinger who tries to tell the CLG staff about "Some Hard Facts"
Katherine Harris: No regrets over role in Florida results Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris told a small crowd of Republican loyalists in Texas that in her bid for a seat in Congress she expects to be targeted by the national Democratic Party. Harris said she has no regrets about the pivotal role she played in the 2000 presidential recount. ''We didn't have a constitutional crisis or a threat to democracy in Florida -- we had a close election,'' Harris said.
How You Help the President [sic] Help the President's [sic] Brother. He Ain't Heavy -- by Ryan Lizza "It is difficult to overestimate the importance the Bush administration places on Florida. ...it is the state in which the president's younger brother Jeb is running for reelection as governor this November. As a result, it seems that no federal grant, no business loan, no tinkering with federal policy that might give Jeb a political leg up is too small to merit White House attention."
Mystery of Harvard's rescue at Harken When George Bush was later involved in the struggling company Harken Energy, it was his alma mater's endowment that came to the rescue. The Harvard Management Co poured about $US30million into Harken, keeping it afloat and helping to sustain Mr. Bush's career.
Bush takes beating on business links Americans worry that the Bush mis-ministration is too heavily influenced by big business, fear that pResident Bush is hiding something about his own corporate past, and judge the economy to be in its worst shape since 1994, the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll shows.
Senators Question Credibility of Army Secretary on Enron Thomas E. White, the Army secretary and a former top executive for the Enron Corporation, told a Senate committee today that he was unaware of any efforts by Enron to manipulate energy prices in the California power crisis of 2000 and 2001.
Wall Street plunge swells US government deficit The Bush mis-ministration announced July 12 that the federal government would run a deficit of $165 billion during the current fiscal year, a turnaround of nearly $300 billion from the $127 billion surplus in the fiscal year which ended last September 30.
House Leadership Bows to pResident on Security Dept. The Republican leaders of the House said today that they planned to give the Bush mis-ministration almost all of what it wanted in a new Department of Homeland Security, proposing to restore to the department most of the agencies that committees had voted to remove.
Prosecutors Ordered to Explain Holding Man Who Isn't Charged Government lawyers have a week to explain why an American captured with Taliban fighters is being held without any charges filed against him, Judge Robert G. Doumar of Federal District Court ordered today.
Your Neighbor Is Watching -- by Peter Y. Sussman "Operation Snitch is coming next month to a neighborhood near you."
The rats are coming -- by Gabriel Ash "One of the current Administration's 'anti-terror' initiatives is slowly taking shape, and it isn't a pretty sight."
Insanity or security? -- by John Chuckman "Informing as part of an open society? Indeed, under Mr. Bush's proposed Terrorism Information and Prevention System (TIPS for short) - a kind of national, atomic-mutation of Neighborhood Watch - an estimated four percent of Americans will join a long and glorious tradition of state-security informants."
The great charade As the West prepares for an assault on Iraq, John Pilger argues that "war on terror" is a smokescreen created by the ultimate terrorist ... America itself: "It is 10 months since 11 September, and still the great charade plays on. Having appropriated our shocked response to that momentous day, the rulers of the world have since ground our language into a paean of cliches and lies about the 'war on terrorism' - when the most enduring menace, and source of terror, is them."
Case of the Missing Anthrax -- by Nicholas D. Kristof "It's bad enough that we can't find Iraqi anthrax hidden in the desert. But it turns out that we also misplaced anthrax and Ebola kept in a lab outside Washington D.C. Internal Army documents about the U.S. biodefense program describe missing Ebola and other pathogens, vicious feuds, lax security, cover-ups and a 'cowboy culture' beyond anyone's scrutiny."
Mock battle in SoCal and Nevada to test battle technology Preparations are underway in Southern California and Nevada for the largest military experiment in U.S. history.
Gore Leads Polls on '04 Democratic Race GOP Seen Losing Ground in Presidential, Congressional Contests
Still the One Democrats Overwhelmingly Prefer Al Gore to be Their Presidential Nominee in 2004, a New ABCNEWS Poll Finds
Child-Agency Troubles Rise for Gov. Bush Pressure is mounting on Gov. Jeb Bush, from fellow Republicans as well as Democrats, to take drastic steps to overhaul Florida's troubled child welfare system.
Tenn. Primary Has GOP on Edge Seven-term Democratic Rep. Bob Clement has been touring the state, racking up positive coverage with a study showing that Tennesseans pay about twice what Canadians and Europeans do for prescription drugs.
Increased clamor for cameras in cop cars It took only hours for a videotape showing a police officer roughing up a handcuffed teenager in Inglewood, Calif., to hit round-the-clock national television newscasts. And it took barely as long for Roosevelt Dorn, mayor of the Los Angeles suburb, to demand that video cameras be installed in all of his city's patrol cars to record police activity.
Reality Check: It's Business as Usual -- by Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman "The predominant view in Washington right now is that the corporate reformers are in control. President [sic] Bush's Wall Street speech last week was a bomb, immediately discarded in Washington circles as containing proposals that were too weak to constitute serious reform."
The right of thousands of defendants to trial by jury could be scrapped in a radical overhaul of the criminal justice system, a leaked document has revealed. (UK) It contains proposals to reduce the number of trials heard by a jury, and to scrap the rule whereby suspects cannot be tried twice for the same serious offence. Judges would be allowed to sit alone to hear particularly complex cases or ones which could expose jurors to intimidation.
Call in Congress for Full Airing of Iraq Policy Concerned that the United States is rushing headlong toward a full-scale military confrontation with Iraq, many Congressional Democrats and a growing number of Republicans are urging the Bush mis-ministration to provide a public accounting of its plans.
Senate Panel to Defy Bush, Vote on Women's Treaty In an almost unheard-of challenge to presidential [sic] prerogative, the Democratic Senate is preparing to consider ratification of an international treaty the White House has indicated it may not want approved.
Poll Finds Concerns That Bush Is Overly Influenced by Business Americans worry that pResident Bush and his mis-ministration are too heavily influenced by big business, fear that Mr. Bush is hiding something about his own corporate past and judge the economy to be in its worst shape since 1994, the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll shows.
Poll: Worries On The Rise Trust in government is eroding amid increasing concerns about the economy, the declining stock market and American business ethics. And that could spell trouble for the White House and the GOP as the fall elections near, a CBS News/New York Times poll finds.
S.E.C. Chief to Take Role in Cases of Former Clients Harvey L. Pitt, the embattled head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said today that with the expiration of ethics restrictions that have bound him during his first year in office, he would play a direct role in enforcement cases involving companies and accounting firms that were once his law clients.
Accounting giant fined $9 million Accounting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers agreed to pay a $US5 million ($A8.99 million) fine to settle charges that its independence as an audit firm was compromised, officials said today.
Energy Companies Exploited California Market, GAO Says Deregulation of electricity in California "created almost textbook conditions" for energy companies to keep power prices unfairly high in 2000 and 2001, a congressional investigation found.
Enron Natural Gas Subsidiary Ordered to Return Windfall Profits Federal energy regulators on Wednesday ordered an Enron Corp. subsidiary to return windfall profits it earned for moving natural gas into California during the state's energy crisis.
Panel Urged to Resist Bush Proposal pResident Bush would get several key priorities for his new Homeland Security Department despite resistance from powerful lawmakers under legislation being drafted Wednesday by leaders of a select House panel.
USA Freedom Corps, part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Operation TIPS - the Terrorism Information and Prevention System - will be a nationwide program giving millions of American truckers, letter carriers, train conductors, ship captains, utility employees, and others a formal way to report suspicious terrorist activity. Operation TIPS, a project of the U.S. Department of Justice, will begin as a pilot program in 10 cities that will be selected.
Postal Service Won't Join TIPS Program The Postal Service has decided not to take part in a government program touted as a tip service for authorities concerned with terrorism, but which is being assailed as a scheme to cast ordinary Americans as "peeping Toms."
Ashcroft vs. Americans (The Boston Globe) OPERATION TIPS - the Terrorism Information and Prevention System - is a scheme that Joseph Stalin would have appreciated. Plans for its pilot phase, to start in August, have Operation TIPS recruiting a million letter carriers, meter readers, cable technicians, and other workers with access to private homes as informants to report to the Justice Department any activities they think suspicious. This is not an updating of George Orwell's '1984.' It is not a satire on the paranoid fantasies of right-wing kooks who see black helicopters swooping across their big sky. It will be a nationwide program run by Attorney General John Ashcroft's Justice Department."
An American Stasi -- by Brian Doherty "It’s like they aren’t even trying to pretend anymore... The banner in the eagle’s mouth on the back of the Great Seal of the United States might as well change from reading 'E Pluribus Unum' to 'The innocent have nothing to fear.'"
Rotten to the (Citizen) Corps Rat 'Em Out -- by James Ridgeway "Not since the heyday of McCarthyism has there been anything like it. On its Web site, the White House tells how it is putting together the Citizen Corps, a vast network of amateur spies who tattle on any neighbors, friends, acquaintances, fellow workers, church parishioners, and family members they suspect of having terrorist ties."
Ex-U.S. officials warn that U.S. policies threaten repression Former Secretary of State Warren Christopher and former FBI and CIA chief William Webster challenged administration policies dealing with terrorism suspects Tuesday, and Christopher warned that secrecy threatens to lead America down a path to repression.
Special Agent John Walker Lindh -- by Jennifer Van Bergen "John Walker Lindh's plea agreement means that the government knew it had a weak case against Lindh. It also means that the government has a new employee."
2 Policemen Indicted in Boy's Beating Courts: Grand jury charges one Inglewood officer with assault under color of authority and the other with filing a false report. They are expected to appear today. The Los Angeles County Grand Jury indicted two Inglewood police officers Wednesday on felony charges in the videotaped beating of a 16-year-old boy who was handcuffed, then slammed onto the trunk of a patrol car and punched in the face, according to officials and others close to the case.
U.S. Jet Mistakenly Drops Bombs [What, again???] An Air Force stealth fighter accidentally dropped three dummy bombs into rural areas near the Texas-New Mexico border, including one that may have struck a home, officials said Tuesday.
Bush Daughter Is Sent to Jail After Breaking Drug Regimen Noelle Bush, the 24-year-old daughter of Gov. Jeb. Bush, was sent to Orange County jail in Orlando this afternoon after failing to meet conditions of a court-ordered rehabilitation plan stemming from her drug arrest in January.
Michael Rectenwald responds to a sympathetic correspondent who writes, "My concern is that argumentative pieces fuel Dubya’s claim that ALL criticisms are fringe."
See what Scott Pakin's automatic complaint-letter generator has to say about Ann Coulter
Vist the new version of FreeRepublic.com, designed specifically for hicks.
House GOP Plans to Fight Parts of Senate Fraud Bill Hastert and others will seek to delay, and likely dilute, proposed changes. House GOP leaders, risking a backlash from a disgruntled public and many of their own members, will fight some of the Senate's proposed restrictions on fraudulent accounting practices that have rocked Wall Street and frightened investors, key legislators said yesterday.
State Officials Ask Bush to Act on Global Warming In a letter that attacks what it says is the Bush mis-ministration's failure to address the looming crisis of global warming, the attorneys general of 11 states have written to the president pressing for strong federal measures to limit emissions of so-called greenhouse gases.
Expert: Palm Beach's New Voting Machines Have Problems The voting machines that replaced butterfly ballots and hanging chad are checked by an "Enron-style of auditing" and don't provide voters any assurance that their votes are being cast, an expert testified Tuesday.
Rumsfeld out to unshackle the military Donald Rumsfeld is pushing a series of sweeping proposals that will weaken congressional supervision of the Pentagon and give the military more freedom to manage itself. The Pentagon has proposed eliminating requirements for filing hundreds of reports on its activities to Congress every year. It also plans to ban strikes by contract workers, axe rules protecting civilian workers at the Pentagon and to bypass environmentalists in Congress.
Shares 'may crash to six-year low' World stock markets could plumb depths not seen for nearly six years, experts warned last night. This followed a week in which share prices on both sides of the Atlantic crashed to their lowest levels since the 11 September terrorist attacks.
Cheney's Grimy Trail in Business His career offers a textbook example of shady doings -- by Robert Scheer "Vice President [sic] Dick Cheney has spent most of the past year in hiding, ostensibly from terrorists, but increasingly it seems obvious that it is Congress, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the media and the public he fears. And for good reason: Cheney's business behavior could serve as a textbook case of much of what's wrong with the way corporate CEOs have come to play the game of business."
Government itself guilty of deceptive accounting, critics say -- by Martin Crutsinger, AP economics writer "Lost in all the outrage over the corporate accounting scandals is one fact politicians do not like to acknowledge: The auditing problems at American companies cannot rival the bookkeeping shambles of the world's largest enterprise - the U.S. government."
Steps to Wealth -- by Paul Krugman "Why are George W. Bush's business dealings relevant? Given that his aides tout his 'character,' the public deserves to know that he became wealthy entirely through patronage and connections. But more important, those dealings foreshadow many characteristics of his administration, such as its obsession with secrecy and its intermingling of public policy with private interest."
July 17, 2002
The watchdog didn't bark Why didn't the media question Bush's shady stock dealings before he became president? [well, actually, before he stole the office in a coup d'etat] -- by Harold Evans "...It is clear that in the course of making roughly $16 million, Bush flouted securities laws, rode roughshod over the rights of others and found protection among his father's friends. (Bush's memory is fuzzy on some of the details.) But the real mystery -- and it is every bit as important in a democracy as what Bush knew and when he knew it -- is the one memorialized by the 'curious incident' of the dog that roused Sherlock Holmes' interest in 'Silver Blaze.' The dog did nothing, Watson protested. But that was the point, said Holmes: Why didn't the dog bark on the night of the murder?"
Battered market threatens many Americans' dreams -- by Beth Healy "For most Americans, the collapse of the market since March of 2000 has not only delivered a crushing blow to investment accounts, but also to their plans, indeed to their present way of life. Many people have lost a quarter to a half of their life savings in two years."
Bush Signed Stock 'Lockup' Letter Two and a half months before George W. Bush sold his stock in a struggling Texas energy company where he was a director, he signed a letter promising to hold onto the shares for at least six months, internal company documents show.
A Houston man on trial for taking photos of police from his own yard "Got the shot, he saw the flash" -- Two Houston court cases are putting a new focus on your rights to take still pictures of or videotape law enforcement officers in action.
Outrage over police beating of black youth in Los Angeles suburb The violent police assault of 16-year-old Donovan Jackson in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California on July 6 has drawn public outcries and charges of police brutality and civil rights violations.
Man who taped arrest to serve 7 months Just six days after Mitchell Crooks videotaped the violent arrest of a teenager by police, the aspiring disc jockey was headed to jail. Crooks was flown Friday to Placer County in northern California, where he has to serve a 7-month sentence on an outstanding warrant, said county sheriff's Capt. Rick Armstrong.
Guilty Verdict in Perjury Count in Louima Case Charles Schwarz, the former police officer convicted twice before in the assault of Abner Louima five years ago, was convicted of perjury yesterday, but the jury deadlocked on three other charges.
The Man Who Gave a Ride to Zacarias Moussaoui, and His Descent Into Indefinite Federal Detention His name is Hussein al-Attas. He is 24 years old. Ten months ago, he was arrested by federal agents at the mosque where he worshipped... His attorneys, silenced by a federal gag order, defend their client during closed hearings and in legal motions filed under seal. Al-Attas has not been charged with a crime.
Rowland Lead Shrinks A burst in the number of undecided voters is narrowing Republican Gov. John G. Rowland's lead over Democrat Bill Curry in this year's gubernatorial race, according to a new University of Connecticut poll released Tuesday.
Military jets escort plane after passengers seen passing notes [?!?] Military jets escorted a plane to LaGuardia Airport on Tuesday night after a passenger became alarmed by others passing notes, officials said.
Check out Foxy’s exclusive interview with George Michael as he sets the record straight on that song and video.
Wednesday Editorial Cartoon from The Miami Herald -- by Jim Morin
Rumsfeld Criticizes News Leaks Disclosure of military secrets to news organizations is hurting the Bush Fourth Reich's "war against terrorism," Defense Secretary [and rightwing nutcase] Donald H. Rumsfeld told senior civilian and military officials.
Bush Unveils Homeland Security Plan The proposals include the creation of a top-secret plan to protect the nation's critical infrastructure and a review of the law that could allow the military to operate more aggressively within the United States.
House Votes to Increase Online Surveillance Spurred by worries about electronic terrorism, [?!?] computer viruses and other Internet intrusions, [?!?] the U.S. House of Representatives voted on Monday to increase online surveillance and stiffen penalties for computer crime.
New bombing raids on Iraq as US seeks pretext for war US warplanes over the weekend carried out an intensive bombardment of both military and civilian targets in Iraq’s Dhi Qar province, about 200 miles south of Baghdad, as Washington continued casting about for a pretext for another war against the Arab country.
Pentagon Stands Behind Attack Story A senior military officer appeared Monday to change part of the U.S version of the July 1 attack that killed dozens of Afghan civilians, but later the Pentagon insisted there had been no shift.
Yahoo! Agrees to Censor Chinese Web Portal Internet portals in China, including Yahoo!'s Chinese-language site, have signed a voluntary pledge to purge the Web of content that China's communist government deems subversive, organizers of the drive say.
Calif. Gov. Urged to Free Man Who Taped Cop Beating Black activist Al Sharpton issued a moral appeal on Monday to California Gov. Gray Davis to free the man whose videotape of a white police officer beating a black teenager triggered angry protests.
Amateur Cameraman Accuses Prosecutors An amateur cameraman who taped the violent arrest of a black teenager said Tuesday he believes his own arrest was retribution for not cooperating with prosecutors.
Cheney's Halliburton Tarnish Firm's Fall Raises Questions About Vice pResident's Leadership There -- by Dana Milbank "An executive sells shares in his energy company two months before the company announces unexpected bad news, and the stock price eventually tumbles to a quarter of the price at which the insider sold his. George W. Bush at Harken Energy Corp. in 1990? Yes, but also Richard B. Cheney at Halliburton Co. in 2000."
Bush Shatters Fund-Raising Record pResident Bush demolished his own record for a single fund-raising appearance Monday, hauling in nearly $4 million for Alabama's financially trailing Republican gubernatorial candidate, Rep. Bob Riley.
Bush to Seek New Powers in Homeland Security Plan pResident Bush will unveil the nation's first homeland security plan on Tuesday, calling for new measures to prevent nuclear attacks and for Congress to grant him expanded powers.
The Minutes Waltz and a Skeptical Press Corps -- by Dana Milbank "The White House's head fake over the Harken minutes helps to explain the increasingly contentious coverage of the administration. Arguably for the first time since Sept. 11, if not since Bush's inauguration, [installation] the White House press corps showed its teeth last week after smaller flare-ups over Enron and the terrorism intelligence failures."
Fla. Agency Under Fire for Kid's Death The beating death of a 2-year-old boy has put Florida's child welfare system on the defensive again and led to calls for the department chief's resignation.
GOP Concerned Over HIV-Positive Muppet HIV-Positive TV Muppet Worries U.S. Lawmakers -- Republican lawmakers [rightwing nutcases] are worried about plans to introduce an HIV-positive Muppet to the "Sesame Street" gang, Hollywood trade paper Daily Variety reported in its Monday edition. A day after show executives announced they would develop the as-yet-unnamed character for audiences in AIDS-ravaged South Africa, five members of the House committee on energy and commerce said the Muppet would be unwelcome on American TV.
Stocks Continue Slide as Mistrust Plagues Markets Plunging confidence slammed stocks on Monday, yanking major market gauges to 1997 levels, as reports of accounting investigations, widespread mistrust of balance sheets and a weakening U.S. dollar plagued the market.
Euro Hits $1 for First Time Since 2000 The euro became worth more than the battered American dollar today for the first time in more than two years, giving Europeans a shot of pride at a time when many of them view the United States with some resentment.
Why US press didn't give Bush a burning The papers knew about Dubya's deals in 2000. Strangely, they kept quiet -- by Harold Evans "Last week another candidate for obloquy emerged, the Harken Energy Corporation, and along with it one of its directors and consultants from 1986 to 1990, GW Bush. This is the very same GW Bush who told several hundred business leaders last Tuesday, as their President, that he was determined to jail any of them caught with a hand in the cookie jar."
S.E.C. Chief Rejects Calls for His Resignation Harvey L. Pitt, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said today that he would not resign despite calls for him to do so by lawmakers who say he has been lax in enforcing commission rules and shares responsibility for the nation's corporate accounting scandals.
Rise of the Garrison State (Excerpt) -- by William F. Jasper "Using the pretext of responding to terrorist threats, President [sic] Bush proposed changes that, in reality, have long been planned to consolidate police-state powers at the federal level."
U.S. Taliban Lindh Pleads Guilty in Surprise Deal John Walker Lindh, an American captured by U.S. forces during the war in Afghanistan ( news - web sites), pleaded guilty on Monday to two charges of aiding the Taliban and carrying explosives, in a surprise plea deal that spared him a possible life prison sentence.
Lindh Pleads Guilty in Surprise Deal John Walker Lindh, the American captured in Afghanistan fighting for the Taliban, agreed Monday to plead guilty to two charges in a surprise deal with prosecutors that spared him from life in prison.
U.S. Stockpiling Precision Weapons U.S. weapons makers have doubled the production rate of laser-guided bombs, added a shift to assemble satellite-guided bomb tailkits and boosted production at one ammunition factory to its highest level in 15 years.
Farmers Win in Mexico Airport Battle Farmers supported by anarchists and anti-globalization activists released their last hostages Monday after winning the freedom of jailed comrades, a victory in their battle to halt construction of a new Mexico City airport.
US planning to recruit one in 24 Americans as citizen spies The Bush Fourth Reich aims to recruit millions of United States citizens as domestic informants in a program likely to alarm civil liberties groups. The Terrorism Information and Prevention System, or TIPS, means the US will have a higher percentage of citizen informants than the former East Germany through the infamous Stasi secret police. The program would use a minimum of 4 per cent of Americans to report "suspicious activity".
Governors Blast Corporate Scandals Governors meeting at a national conference say the corporate scandals shaking Wall Street have also hit Main Street USA -- from plunging revenues that are prompting program cuts to declines in pension funds and layoffs.
British clerics denounce plan to strike Iraq British religious leaders, including the priest widely expected to become the next Archbishop of Canterbury, have described United States and British plans to invade Iraq and overthrow President Saddam Hussein as immoral and illegal.
Rise of a new imperialism In his latest book, The New Rulers of the World, John Pilger argues that the "war on terrorism" is a charade, masking an all-powerful oppressor that dares not speak its name.
State Department Detains Reporter Over Leaked Saudi Cable State Department officials detained a young National Review reporter for questioning at the daily briefing yesterday after he asked about a classified cable involving embarrassing problems with U.S. visas in Saudi Arabia.
Illinois braces for surge of nuclear waste traffic As the federal government moves closer to approving Yucca Mountain as the graveyard for spent fuel from nuclear power plants, Illinois and other states must prepare for the decades-long procession of trucks, trains and barges hauling the material to Nevada.
Globe warms; Bush fiddles (Denver Post) "Coloradans [sic] have reason to feel profoundly disappointed by President [sic] Bush's tepid response to global warming. Our Rocky Mountain environment could suffer significantly if Earth's average temperatures continue creeping upward, yet the administration advocates a do-nothing policy."
Mexican Protesters Freed in Bid to End Standoff Mexican authorities said on Sunday they were releasing jailed protesters on bail in a bid to end a four-day standoff with machete-wielding farmers who oppose the construction of a new airport outside Mexico City.
Monsanto urges farms to lobby for GM crops The chemical giant Monsanto has written to more than a thousand Australian farmers asking them to lobby the Federal Government in support of its genetically modified canola crops.
Bush recount troops land plum D.C. jobs Many of pResident's appointees fought Gore's bid to take Florida, White House -- John Bolton, undersecretary of state for arms control, caused a stir in May by accusing the Cuban government of transferring bioweapons technology to rogue nations. Nineteen months ago, he caused a different stir -- bursting into a Tallahassee library on behalf of the Bush-Cheney campaign to stop a recount of Miami-Dade County ballots.
Newsweek: Halliburton CEO Says Cheney Knew About Firm's Accounting Practices; 'The Vice President [sic] Was Aware of Who Owed Us Money, And He Helped Us Collect It'
U.S. Representative David Phelps (IL-19) Democratic Radio Response for July 13, 2002: Defending the US Economy "We cannot allow another day to go by without action, and I call on every Member of Congress to join with me in passing the Sarbanes-LaFalce Comprehensive Investor Protection Act."
Ottawa says Bush 'Texans' tried to bully G8 host 'In your face with a boxing glove' -- Canadian officials say George W. Bush's entourage at last month's G8 summit in Alberta behaved like bully-boy Texas cowboys as they tried to take control of the agenda set by Jean Chrétien. Officials said the Americans got into shouting and swearing matches with their Canadian counterparts over everything from photo-ops to the topics to be discussed by the leaders of Canada, the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Italy and Russia.
Judge says Bush view of executive privilege is too expansive A federal judge says the Bush Fourth Reich has a disturbingly broad legal view of confidential advice to the pResident that would keep a huge amount of government information secret.
Feingold's Warnings on Patriot Act Proving True Statement by Senator Russ Feingold on the Anti-Terrorism Bill from the Senate Floor, October 25, 2001
Harken Papers Offer Details on Bush Knowledge A confidential Harken chronology, obtained by the nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity, said that 16 days before he sold the 212,140 shares of Harken stock, Bush was sent the company's "weekly flash report," giving "information provided by subsidiaries regarding estimated historical and projected earnings."
Corporate Abuses Giving Democrats a Campaign Issue From scouring the voting records and business backgrounds of Republican opponents to preparing television advertisements promising to "hold corporate executives accountable," Democrats are moving to turn the battle over corporate governance to their advantage this fall.
Suit on Cheney Energy Files to Proceed A federal judge chastised the Bush mis-ministration for seeking "aggrandizement of executive power" in a ruling that allows a lawsuit seeking information about the mis-ministration's energy policy to proceed.
In Tough Times, a Company Finds Profits in Terror War The Halliburton Company, the Dallas oil services company bedeviled lately by an array of accounting and business issues, is benefiting very directly from the United States efforts to combat terrorism.
Bush's U.S. Corporate Watchdog Served at Troubled Firm Providian Settled Allegations of Fraud -- pResident Bush's top official on corporate crime and responsibility was a director of a credit card company that paid more than $400 million to settle allegations of consumer and securities fraud.
Youth Was Punched by a Second Officer Investigation: Blows were struck before the events recorded on a widely publicized videotape, an Inglewood police incident report reveals. The partner of Inglewood Police Officer Jeremy Morse twice punched 16-year-old Donovan Jackson before the suspect was handcuffed and a bystander shot the videotape of Morse hitting him, according to a report signed by both officers.
$10,000 Is Sought for Defense of Man Who Videotaped Beating Coalition: Inglewood community leaders say the fugitive's alleged offenses were "minor." Waving four checks in the air, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) announced Saturday that a coalition of Inglewood organizations and leaders is trying to raise $10,000 for the legal defense of Mitchell Crooks, the man who videotaped Inglewood police officers beating a 16-year-old boy last week.
Get over it? Not this filmmaker -- by C.B. Hanif "For Americans who consider it a patriotic duty to ensure that every citizen has an equal opportunity to vote and to have his or her vote counted, restoring confidence in the electoral process means looking first at Florida. That's what Faye Anderson has done as producer of Counting on Democracy."
Interviewer of Captured American Must Testify, Judge Rules With critical legal arguments beginning next week in the government's case against John Walker Lindh, the judge ruled today that his lawyers should be able to question in court a reporter who interviewed Mr. Lindh shortly after his capture in Afghanistan.
Democrats See Scandals as Chance to Attack Privatizing Social Security Seizing on the Wall Street scandals to press their agenda on Social Security, Democratic leaders in Congress demanded today that pResident Bush and his party renounce efforts to shift part of Social Security into private investment accounts.
Protests seek officer's arrest in taped beating Irate activists -- including the son of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. -- loudly protested the police treatment of African-American teen Donovan Jackson on Friday, saying the officers involved should be fired and jailed.
White House: Deficit to Hit $165B The White House released new budget deficit projections today that showed the federal government to be about $165 billion in the red this fiscal year.
GOP Figure Behind Greens Offer, N.M. Official Says The chairman of the Republican Party of New Mexico said yesterday he was approached by a GOP figure who asked him to offer the state Green Party at least $100,000 to run candidates in two contested congressional districts in an effort to divide the Democratic vote.
Lawmen Seize Maker of Tape of Boy's Arrest The bystander who videotaped a violent arrest by the police in Inglewood was arrested today. The bystander, Mitch Crooks, 27, was seized outside a CNN studio, where he was scheduled to be interviewed.
Man who taped police incident leaves hospital Screams 'Help! Help!' as he is driven away -- The man who videotaped Inglewood police roughing up African-American teenager Donovan Jackson was released from a hospital early Friday after being taken into custody. [?!? Incident #5,467,338 in AshKKKroft's nascent Fascist police state...]
American-Born Taliban Suspect Is Denied a Lawyer A court must reconsider his order allowing an American-born suspected Taliban to meet with his lawyers, because the judge did not adequately consider the government's position that the prisoner is an enemy combatant, an appeals court ruled Friday.
Order on Prisoner's Access to Lawyers Overturned A court must reconsider its order allowing an American-born suspected Taliban to meet with his lawyers, because the judge did not adequately consider the government's position that the prisoner is an enemy combatant, an appeals court ruled Friday.
Bush Violated Security Laws Four Times, SEC Report Says George W. Bush violated federal securities laws at least four times when he was a director of a Texas oil firm in the late 1980s and early 1990s, according to an internal government report.
Judge: Material witnesses can be held in 9/11 probe without charges A federal judge on Thursday declared as constitutional the government's jailing of witnesses in the September 11 investigation without bringing charges.
FBI Eyes Americans in Terror Search American citizens may be among those serving as behind-the-scenes advisers to al-Qaida cells operating in the United States, law enforcement officials say.
Scientists Create a Live Polio Virus Scientists reported yesterday that they had constructed a virus from scratch for the first time, synthesizing a live polio virus from chemicals and publicly available genetic information.
Polio-Causing Virus Created in N.Y. Lab Researchers in New York have created infectious polioviruses from ordinary, inert chemicals they obtained from a scientific mail-order house, marking the first time a functional virus has been made from scratch and raising a host of new scientific and ethical concerns.
The Anthrax Files -- by Nicholas D. Kristof "When someone expert in bio-warfare mailed anthrax last fall, it may not have been the first time he had struck. So while the F.B.I. has been unbelievably lethargic in its investigation so far, any year now it will re-examine the package that arrived on April 24, 1997, at the B'nai B'rith headquarters in Washington D.C."
The Insider Game -- by Paul Krugman "The bottom line is that in the last week any hopes you might have had that Mr. Bush would make a break from his past and champion desperately needed corporate reform have been dashed. Mr. Bush is not a real reformer; he just plays one on TV."
Bush As Corporate Reformer -- by Molly Ivins "It is not Bill Clinton's fault that George Bush's business career reeks. From Arbusto to Spectrum 7 to Harken Energy to the baseball deal, all of it smells - and the efforts to perfume it with spin are embarrassing. Will someone inform Ari Fleischer that after Bush unloaded his Harken stock at $4 a share, the price promptly slid to $1.25? Perhaps this will prevent more misleading statements."
Rowland Political Work Faulted Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Curry Thursday blasted Gov. John G. Rowland for having his office staff spend state time handling the business of the Republican Governors Association, of which Rowland has been chairman since last year.
The USA TODAY newspaper's website was broken into late Thursday evening by hackers who put up a series of stories blasting George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld. One headline entitled 'Bush proposes another new Cabinet post' linked to an article purportedly filed by the Associated Press: Today, George W. Bush has proposed yet another cabinet level position. The Cabinet Minister for Propoganda [sic] and Popular Englightenment [sic], will be setup to complement the recent addition of the department of Homeland Defense. It is reported that, if approved, Bush would appoint Dr. Joseph Goebbels to the post... If the move is succesful [sic], people close to the Whitehouse [sic] think there could be a turf war between Goebbels and White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer. Since September 11th, Fleischer has come to enjoy controling [sic] public opinion and has expressed dissatisfaction with the idea of a Popular Englightement [sic] Minister."
Ralph Nader Praises George W. Bush's Corporate Reform Proposals Ralph Nader said on Tuesday that pResident Bush was in a unique position to clean up corporate America. "If it takes one to know one [irresponsible corporatist], he should be in a very experienced position to advocate a comprehensive corporate reform package and get it through Congress," Nader, the Green Party 2000 presidential candidate, told reporters on a visit to Cuba.
Ross Perot Denies He Helped Manipulate Energy Market H. Ross Perot, whose computer company has been accused of helping energy traders manipulate the California power market, flatly denied any wrongdoing today by saying at a State Senate hearing that the company had tried to sell its services to the traders but was rejected.
US House candidate says incumbent too liberal and Jewish for district Rep. Sander Levin's opponent in a Democratic primary says the incumbent shouldn't represent the redrawn Detroit-area congressional district because he is liberal and Jewish. Michigan state Rep. William Callahan said redistricting has made the 12th District more conservative and mostly Roman Catholic. "I mean, that man has never owned a Christmas tree. He's not a Christian," Callahan said in an interview.
Keep Drug Coverage Private, Bush Says pResident Bush warned Congress today not to adopt a system of prescription drug coverage for older Americans that is run directly by the government, saying such federal control would "stifle innovation" in drug treatments and restrict patients' ability to get the medicine they need. [Not to mention, dig into the corporate-gouging profiteering by his installers in the 2000 coup...]
Bush Refuses to Release Harken Energy Corp. Records The White House refused to release records of Bush’s service on Harken’s board. Bush had pointed to those records during a news conference on Monday when asked about his role in the sale of a subsidiary. The transaction later was used by Harken to mask losses.
White House Stand on Florida Manatee is Faulted A federal judge has ruled that the Bush mis-ministration's failure to create adequate sanctuaries for Florida's endangered manatees violated a settlement reached last year with private groups that had sued to improve protections.
FBI Searching for Sleeper [?!?] Cells [ROFL! Trolling desperately for ends to justify the means...] FBI agents are searching for Americans and others they suspect of advising al-Qaida cells operating underground on U.S. soil and preparing for another terror attack, law enforcement officials say.
5,000 in U.S. suspected of ties to al Qaeda U.S. intelligence [sic] agencies are watching several groups of Middle Eastern men thought to be part of an infrastructure of as many as 5,000 al Qaeda terrorists and their supporters in the United States, The Washington Times has learned. Small groups of about a half-dozen men in Seattle, Chicago, Detroit and Atlanta are under surveillance by FBI and other intelligence agencies.
Will Three Unlicensed Smallpox Vaccines be Used to Immunize 500,000 Americans? -- by Meryl Nass, MD "An estimated 500,000 first responders, lab and hospital workers will receive smallpox vaccine, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced yesterday. This is an interesting announcement, because to my knowledge there exist no FDA-licensed smallpox vaccines. There are three vaccine candidates whose safety and efficacy are uncertain at this time."
Smallpox Mass Inoculations Could Produce Disease Outbreak Before fall, hundreds of Illinois medical and emergency personnel will be given the smallpox vaccine as a "first line of defense" against a disease-bioterrorism attack. Critics are very concerned that forcing medical personnel to have the smallpox vaccine could cause a massive outbreak of the disease.
George Michael Feels Unsafe in U.S. George Michael says he's nervous to return to his home in the United States because of the criticism he's received for his new song and video, "Shoot the Dog."
Details of Homeland Plan Assailed House Panels Vote to Block Transfers of Some Agencies -- pResident Bush's plan to create a Homeland Security Department came under sharp congressional criticism yesterday, with some House committees voting to prevent key agencies from moving into the new department.
Businesses see bonanza in homeland security As government workers browse the booths at a high-tech expo here, a large placard declares, "Homeland Security and Defense is SERIOUS BUSINESS." New federal outlays for homeland defense are expected to hit $57.2 billion by next year, and pResident Bush has made it clear the investment will continue for years to come. In a faltering economy, it's one of the few things growing.
U.S. Capital Unveils $800 Million Security Plan Retractable steel posts, low walls, reinforced benches and street lamps would replace the ugly concrete barriers and planters that barricade the U.S. capital's landmarks, under a costly new security plan released on Wednesday.
Bush Calls for End to Loans of a Type He Once Received pResident Bush received two low-interest loans to buy stock from an oil company where he served as a board member in the late 1980's. He then benefited from the company's relaxation of the terms of one loan in 1989 as he was engaged in the most important business deal of his career. On Tuesday, Mr. Bush called for a halt to those types of insider transactions.
Bush Got Harken Low-Interest Loans pResident Bush received two low-interest loans in the 1980s from a Texas oil company where he was a director, a practice he asked companies to end as part of his proposal to discourage corporate wrongdoing, according to published reports.
Cheney named in fraud suit Vice pResident Richard B. Cheney was named yesterday with the energy company he headed in a lawsuit by investors that cited bookkeeping practices under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Cheney praises Arthur Andersen in 1996 video A 1996 promotional videotape has surfaced that features Dick Cheney praising now-disgraced Arthur Andersen LLP for going above and beyond routine audits for the company he ran for five years.
Bristol-Myers Confirms SEC Probe Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. on Thursday said that U.S. regulators are probing its sales-incentive programs that led to excessive wholesaler purchases of its prescription drugs last year and bolstered fourth-quarter earnings.
Feds Approve US Airways Loan Guarantee The federal government gave conditional approval Wednesday to US Airways' application for a $900 million federal loan guarantee the airline says it needs to avoid bankruptcy.
Jordan Rejects Force Against Iraq Jordan rejects the use of force against Iraq and will not allow foreign troops to use its territory in an attack against its eastern neighbor and main trade partner, a Cabinet minister said Wednesday.
Amnesty Condemns Palestinian Attacks Amnesty International condemned Palestinian suicide bombings and other attacks on Israeli civilians Thursday as "crimes against humanity" and unjustified by Palestinian political grievances.
Stocks Drop Sharply Again, Hitting Lowest Point Since '97 The worst bear market in a generation deepened today as stocks fell sharply for their third straight session, leaving several of the leading market indexes at their lowest levels since 1997.
Bush speech lacks substance, style -- by Bill Barnhart "Teddy Roosevelt, he wasn't. Investors turned thumbs down Tuesday on President [sic] Bush's effort to buck them up.
Officer Relieved of Duty in Inglewood Beating An Inglewood "police officer" [actually, a Fascist pig] was relieved of duty Monday after television broadcast a videotape of him lifting a limp, handcuffed teenager by his clothes, smashing his head on a car trunk and then punching him in the face.
Beaten Teen Sues Police Over Arrest The black teenager videotaped being punched in the face by a white policeman sued the officer, Inglewood and Los Angeles County on Wednesday in a case that has drawn comparisons to the Rodney King beating.
Violent behavior of police under investigation The FBI has opened another investigation into a videotaped incident in Oklahoma City where two white officers used batons to subdue a black suspect.
N.J. Court Reject Detainees' Appeal The New Jersey Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an ACLU request to force the government to release the names of Muslims and Arabs being held in jail as part of the terrorism investigation. [...shades of Nazi Germany, circa 1939..]
Injustice Dept. Investigating Email "Leaks" in Walker Lindh Case Government prosecutors have revealed that they've opened an investigation, through the Justice Department's inspector general's office, of a leak of Injustice Department emails withheld from John Walker Lindh's defense team.
U.S. Drops Demand for War Court Immunity The Bush mis-ministration agreed today to drop its demand that the U.N. Security Council grant Americans serving in U.N. peacekeeping missions permanent immunity from the international war crimes tribunal.
House Passes Bill to Allow Airline Pilots to Carry Guns The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly today to let airline pilots carry guns in their cockpits. A similar proposal is gaining support in the Senate, making it likely that Congress will try to overrule an mis-ministration decision that pilots should not be armed.
Nomination is Gore's for the taking -- by Steve Neal "Al Gore has decided to make another run for the presidency, and his renomination by the Democrats in 2004 is inevitable. He could very well be the next president of the United States."
From Justice Scalia, a Chilling Vision of Religion’s Authority in America -- by Sean Wilentz "Justice Scalia's remarks show bitterness against democracy, strong dislike for the Constitution's approach to religion and eager advocacy for the submission of the individual to the state. It is a chilling mixture for an American."
Britain overturns ban on selling arms to Israel Britain’s Labour government has effectively overturned its official ban on exporting arms to Israel.
US preparing full-scale invasion of Iraq Recently leaked Pentagon documents as well as reports on strategic preparations by the US military indicate that the Bush mis-ministration is preparing a massive invasion of Iraq within the next several months.
U.S. Considers Wary Jordan as Base for an Attack on Iraq American military planners are considering using bases in Jordan to stage air and commando operations against Iraq in the event the United States decides to attack Iraq, senior defense officials said today.
Senate Panel to Ask Bush Aides to Give Details on His Iraq Policy The Senate Foreign Relations Committee plans to hold hearings later this summer to question senior mis-ministration officials on their Iraq policy, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., the committee chairman, said today.
Democrats Question Arms Control Treaty Democratic senators criticized the Bush mis-ministration's approach to nuclear arms control yesterday, questioning the wisdom of a U.S.-Russia treaty that makes deep cuts in long-range nuclear arsenals but provides few verification measures and no guarantee that decommissioned weapons would be destroyed.
U.S. Rep Hooted Off AIDS Stage About 50 AIDS activists shouted, whistled and booed their way though a speech Tuesday by U.S. Secretary of Health [and rightwing nutcase] Tommy Thompson, who delivered the entire, inaudible address shielded by nearly a dozen Secret Service and other security agents.
Thompson Shouted Down at Conference Health and Human Services Secretary [and rightwing nutcase] Tommy Thompson was shouted down Tuesday by protesters demanding more U.S. funding for the fight against AIDS, as delegates to an international conference discussed how to finance the global war against the deadly virus.
Senate Approves Nuclear Waste Site in Nevada Mountain The Senate gave final Congressional approval today for the establishment of a nuclear waste repository deep inside Nevada's Yucca Mountain.
Vice pResident Cheney Sued Personally for Alleged Stock Fraud Alleged Fraudulent Accounting Practices Occurred at Halliburton -- Judicial Watch, the group that investigates and prosecutes corruption by government officials, announced today that it is filing a shareholders suit in Dallas, Texas, against Vice pResident Dick Cheney and the other involved directors of Halliburton, as well as Halliburton itself, for alleged fraudulent accounting practices which resulted in the overvaluation of the company’s shares, thereby deceiving investors and others.
Watch Group to File Suit Vs. Cheney Judicial Watch said Tuesday it will file a shareholders lawsuit against Vice pResident Dick Cheney and his former employer, Halliburton Co., claiming they engaged in accounting fraud.
Bush, Lay Shielded Errant TX Businesses from Lawsuits With a thicket of high-profile lawsuits pending against Enron and its henchmen, it’s time to review pResident Bush and Ken Lay’s ménage a trois with tort reform.
WorldCom Considering Reorganization WorldCom Inc. says it will know within three weeks whether it will pursue what would be the largest corporate bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.
Wall Street Cold to Bush Remarks Investors sent stocks sharply lower for a second consecutive session Tuesday as worries about second-quarter earnings reports overshadowed pResident Bush proposal to increase the penalties for corporate fraud.
Stock Tumble During Bush Term is Biggest Since Nixon (Update2) The U.S. stock market has declined more during George W. Bush's first 17 months as pResident than at any time since Richard Nixon took office in 1969.
FBI To Investigate Calif. Cops The FBI has launched a civil rights investigation into the case of a California officer captured on video as he slammed a handcuffed teenager's face into a police car.
FBI Joins Probe of Calif. Teen's Beating by Police The FBI on Tuesday began investigating the videotaped beating of a black teenager by a police officer in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, but the city's mayor demanded that the officer face assault, battery and child abuse charges without further delay.
Texas Boy Nearly Beaten to Death by Pastor- Police Texas police on Tuesday sought a Baptist pastor and his twin brother on charges they used a tree branch to beat an 11-year-old boy nearly to death for misbehaving in a Bible class.
New York Court Rules Inmate Cannot be Executed New York's highest court ruled today that the first man condemned to death under the 1995 death-penalty law cannot be executed because the statute included a constitutional flaw at the time of his trial.
Britain to relax laws against marijuana use Britain will respond this week to a dramatic surge in cannabis use by easing laws and allowing millions of marijuana users to smoke without fear of arrest.
Why I won't serve Sharon -- by Shlomi Segall "I remember talking to a friend, trying to justify why I'd collaborated with a policy that denied a Palestinian father the only means of bringing food to his children. No more. No more excuses. We members of Courage to Refuse, reserve soldiers who have vowed not to serve in the occupied territories, will not set foot beyond the 1967 line unless it is in civilian clothes and as invited guests."
Jewelry Stores Raided in Al Qaeda-Related Probe The FBI and the Immigration and Naturalization Service have raided 75 jewelry stores [?!?] and kiosks in U.S. shopping malls as part of an investigation into suspected money laundering by the al Qaeda terrorist network, officials said yesterday.
Bond tells NAACP there's a conspiracy to cut back rights The right-wing conspiracy is operating out of the Department of Justice and the office of White House Counsel, Julian Bond said last night in a keynote address to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
ACLU asks California to monitor FBI spying The American Civil Liberties Union has urged state Attorney General Bill Lockyer to prevent FBI spying on political dissidents after recent revelations the agency had done so in the past.
Bush Invokes Sovereignty Wrongly, Sacrifices It Recklessly -- by Margaret Krome "The Free Trade Area of the Americas is an outrageous attack on our nation's sovereignty. Corporate free traders should hide their heads at proposing these shameful provisions."
Bush’s past business dealings come back to haunt him On the eve of a much publicized speech to business executives on Wall Street, George W. Bush held an impromptu press conference Monday at which he was peppered with questions regarding his own dealings as a board member of Texas-based Harken Energy more than a decade ago.
Bush's Business Ethics -- by Eric Alterman "Bush claims to have a stellar record of honesty and integrity as both an oil man and part-owner of the Texas Rangers. But as Talk Magazine and the Center for Public Integrity have revealed:"
Bubonic plague detected in Kazazhstan A case of bubonic plague has been detected in southwestern Kazakhstan, and doctors have placed those in contact with the infected person in isolation, state television channel Khabar said on Monday.
Ex-WorldCom Execs Take the Fifth Invoking his Fifth Amendment right, WorldCom's former chairman refused to answer questions Monday from a congressional panel investigating nearly $4 billion in accounting irregularities at the telecommunications giant.
McCain Says SEC's Pitt Should Resign Sen. John McCain on Monday joined Senate Democratic leader Thomas Daschle in calling for the resignation of Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Harvey Pitt, accusing him of an inadequate response to the accounting scandals plaguing corporate America.
Rep. Meek's Son to Run for Fla. Seat Democratic state Sen. Kendrick Meek said Monday that he will run for the congressional seat his mother is giving up after five terms.
Trade Concerns With Homeland Security Business groups and port officials are raising new objections to transferring the Customs Service to a new Homeland Security Department.
Bond opens NAACP conference with swipe at Bush 'dynasty' Veteran civil rights leader Julian Bond opened the 93rd annual convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on Sunday night with an uncompromising attack on the Bush Fourth Reich, Attorney General John Ashcroft and what Bond called "a right-wing conspiracy."
NAACP Head: Preserve Civil Liberties NAACP President Kweisi Mfume said Monday that Americans must work to preserve their civil rights in the post-Sept. 11 world because fear of terrorism can lead to individual liberties being trampled.
Video Shows Cop Punching Teenager An amateur video shows Inglewood police officers [Fascists] punching a teenager and slamming his head against the hood of a patrol car, and the department said it will investigate.
Florida High Court Delays Executions Court to Review June Death Penalty Ruling by Supreme Court -- Two executions set for this week were put off Monday by the Florida Supreme Court so it can consider whether the state's capital punishment law is constitutional.
Was anthrax to blame for mail deaths? Eight Brentwood postal workers have died since the anthrax scare. Brentwood workers and their families are suspicious of official explanations, given the tardy government response to threats to their health after an anthrax-filled letter arrived Oct. 15 at Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's office.
Solving the Anthrax Case -- Amid unusually intense political pressure, FBI officials are sharply divided over the next steps in their nine-month-old anthrax investigation, law-enforcement sources say. The senators and their staffs were demanding answers in the wake of media criticism.
July 8, 2002
Fatal Innocence, Ours -- by Marc Ash "It is difficult to imagine what it would take to make the case to the American center that Mr. Bush and his associates are up to no good. The information in the public record to date is so damning that it should have toppled this regime five times over."
US 'to attack Iraq via Jordan' Military planners prepare to use British forces in an allied assault within months -- American military planners are preparing to use Jordan as a base for an assault on Iraq later this year or early in 2003, The Observer can reveal.
Washington Wants to Ensure Iraq is Free of Nonconventional Weapons Before Strike, Iraqi Paper "If they exist, as they (the Americans) think they do, they will dismantle them so that they can start their aggression on Iraq," the newspaper wrote. "Once they enter the country and accomplish their objective, they will launch their aggression within 15 days or a month."
Earth 'will expire by 2050' -- by Mark Townsend and Jason Burke Earth's population will be forced to colonise two planets [?!?] within 50 years if natural resources continue to be exploited at the current rate, according to a report out this week.
Despite assertions they knew little, Enron directors ignored repeated warnings about problems, Senate report says Enron's board closed its eyes to evidence the company was heading for financial disaster, and claims by former directors that they were kept in the dark are untrue, a Senate report concludes.
Bush and Cheney face scrutiny in financial scandals Some financial skeletons are starting to rattle in the cupboard for both pResident Bush and Vice pResident Dick Cheney, increasing the political danger to the Republican Party posed by the series of accounting and insider trading scandals.
All the President's [sic] Enrons -- by Frank rich "It is now more than six months since the president [sic] promised 'a lot of government inquiry into Enron.' Since then, Playboy has done a better job of exposing the women of Enron than the Bush administration has done at exposing its men. Just as the Justice Department rounded up some 1,000 alleged Sept. 11 suspects and failed to indict a single one of them for terrorist activity, so it has made a big show of its shaky Andersen conviction while failing to indict a single Enron executive or individual Andersen accountant."
Succeeding in Business -- by Paul Krugman "The point is the contrast between image and reality. Mr. Bush portrays himself as a regular guy, someone ordinary Americans can identify with. But his personal fortune was built on privilege and insider dealings — and after his Harken sale, on large-scale corporate welfare."
Farm Subsidies That Kill -- by Nicholas D. Kristof "Could there be a worse indictment of American agricultural policy, rendered even more scandalous by the new $180 billion farm bill signed by President Bush [sic] ? Actually, there is a worse indictment. By inflating farm subsidies even more, Congress and the Bush administration are impoverishing and occasionally killing Africans whom we claim to be trying to help."
US Supports Afghan Pipeline U.S. Ambassador Laura Kennedy told Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper that the US government supports a proposed 1,500 kilometer pipeline to facilitate gas transportation from Turkmenistan, through Afghanistan and into Pakistan.
U.S. approved Hussein kin's training The U.S. government knew as early as June 24 that Mohammad Nour Al-Din Saffi wanted to come to Miami from New Zealand for training at the same flight school used by one of the Sept. 11 terrorists.
German Police Say Terror Suspect Worked for Them A man investigated in a crackdown on suspected Islamic extremists in Hamburg, the city where three September 11 suicide hijackers lived, had been working for the police, police said on Saturday. A spokesman said the man questioned on Wednesday was a 41-year-old Moroccan who worked as a state police archivist.
Officials debunk report of Florida cell Local, state and federal officials have rushed to refute a statement by Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz that there is an al Qaida cell active in Jacksonville.
U.S. to Vaccinate 500,000 Workers Against Smallpox The federal government will soon vaccinate roughly a half-million health care and emergency workers against smallpox as a precaution against a bioterrorist attack, federal officials said. The government is also laying the groundwork to carry out mass vaccinations of the public — a policy abandoned 30 years ago — if there is a large outbreak.
A Tale of Two Coups New Internationalist Magazine -- by Greg Palast "George W Bush is an oil man; he owned oil companies, now it looks like they own him. Certainly the Keystone Kops-style plot against Chávez by Venezuela's military-industrial complex served Big Oil's interests. But that's an old-style shoot'em-up coup, likely to fail."
The Power to Imprison -- by Philip Heymann "The Bush administration is claiming the power to decide alone and in secret whether Americans shall be imprisoned indefinitely to protect us against terrorism... The president [sic] claims the power to detain citizens as well as illegal immigrants as "combatants" until the war on terrorism is over. That war, like the war on drugs, is likely to continue indefinitely; terrorism in Northern Ireland and Israel have been facts of life for 35 years."
NAACP to Focus on Voter Turnout Still feeling the sting of lost votes in Florida during the 2000 s-election, [and, still living the effects of the Bush coup d'etat] the NAACP is turning the focus of its annual convention that starts Sunday to voter registration and election reform in a year when control of Congress is up for grabs.
Navy Hires Agency for Anti-Drug Ads An advertising agency criticized for overcharging the government for ineffective anti-drug ads has won a $152 million contract to run the ad program for at least another year.
An Afghan Vice President Is Assassinated in Capital A senior member of Afghanistan's government was assassinated by gunmen lurking outside his office in Kabul today, prompting confusion in the capital and marking the latest political attack on the American-backed government.
Afghan civilians pay heavy price for faulty intelligence US forces gain reputation for shooting first and asking questions later after another tragic accident -- by Kim Sengupta "Despite pledges by the American military authorities, given unofficially, that more care would be taken over air strikes, deaths have continued. And not only Afghan civilians have fallen victim. A US pilot, with the call sign 'Psycho', killed four Canadian soldiers, when he dropped a 500lb bomb on them."
Anti-US protest in Kabul: a sign of wider anger in Afghanistan The slaughter of at least 45 civilians by US warplanes in a raid in central Uruzgan province on Monday has prompted the first anti-US demonstration in Kabul.
Venezuelan Political Unrest Rekindles [And, with Bush on "vacation," it should rekindle a whole lot more!] "The non-constitutional, non-democratic forces are gathering," a Bush mis-ministration official said. [LOL, he should know! Actually, the mis-ministration official thought the interviewer was asking him about John AshKKKroft's Injustice Department.]
Investigator Who Cleared Bush Gets WorldCom Job A former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman appointed court monitor of WorldCom Inc. on Wednesday was previously responsible for clearing pResident Bush of insider trading concerning his involvement in Harken Energy during the lead up to the 1991 Gulf War.
Loophole Lets Lobbyists Hide Clients' Identity Thanks to a loophole in the federal lobbying law, some companies and individuals — especially those pursuing controversial or potentially embarrassing causes — are using coalitions to conceal their identities.
Stalled progress (Concord Monitor) (NH) "President Bush [sic] has continued his war on the environment, and New Hampshire has suffered yet another casualty."
Bombing the Mind The Pentagon's Program for Psychopharmalogical Warfare -- by Edward Hammond "The Advantages and Limitations of Calmatives for Use as a Non-Lethal Technique, a 49 page report obtained last week by the Sunshine Project under US information freedom law, has revealed a shocking Pentagon program that is researching psychopharmacological weapons. The team, which is based at the Applied Research Laboratory of Pennsylvania State University, is assessing weaponization of a number of psychiatric and anesthetic pharmaceuticals as well as 'club drugs' (such as the 'date rape drug' GHB)."
[Library Police make first pre-emptive strike in Florida] Deputies seize computer hard drives from Naples college Deputies seized computer hard drives from a community college's library to examine them for possible terrorist activity after three Middle-Eastern-looking men were seen accessing Islamic Web sites, authorities said Thursday.
Cops, FBI lied about probe, juror says Woman speaks out on Earth First trial after gag order lifted -- Three weeks after they ordered Oakland police and the FBI to pay Earth First organizers $4.4 million, jurors were allowed to speak for the first time Tuesday, and one of them said "investigators were lying so much it was insulting."
Some Democrats Hike Bush Criticism Some Democrats pondering a run for the White House in 2004 have started to step up criticism of pResident Bush for his conduct of the "war on terrorism."
Man Arrested at Maine Airport A man was arrested on weapons charges Friday near a small airport shortly before pResident Bush arrived on his way to his family's seaside home, police said. A home phone number for Willey could not be located and he was not allowed to accept calls at the York County jail.
U.S. Plan for Iraq Is Said to Include Attack on 3 Sides An American military planning document calls for air, land and sea-based forces to attack Iraq from three directions — the north, south and west — in a campaign to topple President Saddam Hussein, according to a person familiar with the document.
The Rogue State -- by John Pilger "FOR 101 days, Royal Marines have been engaged in a farcical operation as mercenaries of the United States whose lawlessness now qualifies it as the world's leading rogue state. Shooting at shadows, and the occasional tribesman, blowing up mounds of dirt and displaying 'captured' arms for the media, all have been part of the Marines' humiliating role in Afghanistan - a role foisted upon them by the Blair government, whose deference to and collusion with the Bush gang has become a parody of the imperial courtier."
A Time for Dissent in America -- by Richard Reeves "The presidency [sic] seems to be going to George Bush's head. With each morning's paper or evening's news, depending on your preference, our leader [sic] is jumping up and saying truly extraordinary things, some of them preposterous, some stupid, some terrifying."
Supreme Court Injustice Scalia on capital punishment: "Death is no big deal" Injustice Antonin Scalia spoke in January at the University of Chicago at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. "Indeed, it seems to me that the more Christian a country is, the less likely it is to regard the death penalty as immoral. Abolition has taken its firmest hold in post-Christian Europe and has least support in the church-going United States. I attribute that to the fact that for the believing Christian, death is no big deal."
US media silent on anthrax cover-up charge Several days have passed since a leading writer for the New York Times charged that the FBI and the Bush mis-ministration were refusing to arrest the man believed responsible for last fall’s anthrax attacks that killed five people. But not a single major American media outlet has reported or commented on the charge, nor has the issue been raised at the daily press briefings given by White House spokesman [and rightwing nutcase] Ari Fleischer and other government officials.
Anti-US protest in Kabul Up to 200 Afghans have demonstrated in Kabul against a US bombing raid that is believed to have killed more than 40 civilians on Monday.
US Bombing Threatens Kabul Ties, Experts Hunt Clues Locals in the area of Deh Rawud in central Uruzgan province had said more than 170 civilians were killed or injured when U.S. aircraft dropped bombs and sprayed bullets on a wedding party in the area on Sunday night and Monday morning.
U.S. Air Force: Israel has 400 nukes, building naval force A United States Air Force report asserts that Israel is building a nuclear naval force meant to respond to any nuclear strike by such countries as Iran or Iraq. It is the first time a U.S. military institution has stated that Israel has produced a hydrogen bomb.
U.S. Mulls Missile Transfer to Taiwan The Bush mis-ministration may let Taiwan take delivery of advanced air-to-air missiles originally sold on condition they not be delivered straight away for fear of triggering a regional arms race, the Pentagon said on Thursday.
U.S. military commander apologizes to South Koreans The top U.S. military commander in South Korea apologized Thursday for the deaths of two South Korean students who were fatally struck by a U.S. armored vehicle last month.
Ship Loaded With Rejected Nuclear Fuel Leaves Japan for Britain Amid protests from environmental groups, a freighter loaded with rejected nuclear fuel left port in Japan Thursday for a return voyage to the fuel's maker in Britain.
Black Farmers Seek Firing Of Agriculture Secretary USDA Office Sit-In in Tennessee to go Through Holiday -- Black farmers called yesterday for the removal of the U.S. agriculture secretary and vowed to continue their occupation of one of her department's loan offices in west Tennessee through the Fourth of July holiday.
Norton Versus the Environment The oil, gas, mining and timber industries cheered loudly when Gale Norton was named Secretary of the Interior. "She’s a fantastic choice," gushed Jack Ekstrom, director of governmental and industry affairs at the Denver-based Forest Oil Corporation. They had good reason to celebrate.
Fewer Freedoms on 4th Checkpoints and Jet Patrols Mark Post-Sept. 11 Celebration -- Military jets will patrol the skies over the District, New York and other cities today, as Independence Day festivities take place amid unprecedented precaution by federal and local law enforcement agencies.
George Michael defends political lampoon Pop singer George Michael said Wednesday that his newest song, a political satire skewering the British and U.S. leaders for their decisions regarding Iraq, was intended purely to spur public debate.
pResident Bush considered canceling Independence Day Yellow is the “escalated” alert status of the intelligence agencies that track the terrorist threat to America. pResident Bush’s national security advisers considered raising it to orange. That, in effect, would have canceled the July 4 festivities by mobilising the Armed Forces and restricting access to public events. “Stars, stripes and searches” has become the unofficial theme of the traditional Independence Day.
Byrd challenges Bush’s ideas on war W.Va. senator warns of another Vietnam Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., gave a major speech Friday, urging the Senate to play a central role in determining whether the nation will initiate military action against Iraq or any other nation. Byrd criticized the Bush mis-ministration for "saber-rattling" and "unwise and dangerous effort to keep the public and Congress largely in the dark. ..."
Bush Corporate Record Examined The White House acknowledged Wednesday that when he was a corporate director, pResident Bush failed to promptly disclose stock sales as required by federal law. A spokesman blamed it on a "clerical mistake" by company lawyers, though Bush has said government regulators lost it.
Memo Cited Bush's Late SEC Filings An internal Securities and Exchange Commission memo from 1991 says pResident Bush repeatedly failed to file timely reports of his business interests and transactions before his election as Texas governor.
Bush Faces Scrutiny Over Disclosing '90 Stock Sale Late As pResident Bush prepared to make a major speech on Wall Street next week about corporate responsibility, the White House found itself on the defensive again today over the kind of action for which Mr. Bush is assailing corporate executives: his own failure in 1990 to disclose a stock sale as promptly as required by law.
UK proposes compulsory ID cards The British government Wednesday unveiled controversial proposals to introduce compulsory identity cards for the first time since World War II. Home Secretary David Blunkett told Parliament that he envisioned a universal entitlement card for which everyone in Britain would register to gain the right to social services, benefits and employment.
Two detained in shooting ... photos William P. Madeira and Jonas Lundquist - were in handcuffs, on their way to Philadelphia's South Detective station at 24th and Wolf. Their offense? Photographing the Sunoco Inc. refinery at 3144 Passyunk Ave. in South Philadelphia.
Bush Expected to Approve Resumption of Anti-Drug Flights pResident Bush is expected to allow resumption of a program to force down - or shoot down - airplanes suspected of carrying drugs in Latin America, a senior administration official said Thursday.
Koreans Protest Deaths of Teenagers Hit by U.S. Military Vehicle About 400 people marched outside a U.S. military base Thursday demanding American troops withdraw after two South Korean teenagers were killed by a U.S. armored vehicle last month.
Virginia Beach tests facial-recognition software ACLU of Virginia: 'This is a Big Brother contraption' The city will become the second in the nation -- Tampa, Florida, is the first -- to employ facial-recognition software.
Judge denies DNA request for death row inmate (TX) Attorneys for death row inmate Henry Watkins Skinner promise to appeal a recent ruling by a Pampa judge who denied a request for further DNA testing.
The Corporate Theft Of The World's Water An Excerpt From Blue Gold
Why is the US government protecting anthrax terrorist? (WSWS) "Top officials of the US government—President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Attorney General Ashcroft, CIA Director Tenet, FBI Director Mueller—are linked to a criminal conspiracy to protect a government-trained military assassin. And their Democratic opponents, the apparent targets of the killer, are too cowed to say anything publicly... This is not a Costa-Gavras film, but the real state of affairs in the America of 2002."
Anthrax? The F.B.I. Yawns -- by Nicholas D. Kristof "Almost everyone who has encountered the F.B.I. anthrax investigation is aghast at the bureau's lethargy. Some in the biodefense community think they know a likely culprit, whom I'll call Mr. Z.... Mr. Z's résumé also claims involvement in the former South African Defense Force; all else aside, who knew that the U.S. Defense Department would pick an American who had served in the armed forces of two white-racist regimes to work in the American biodefense program with some of the world's deadliest germs?" [Note: this story was not worthy of mention on CoupNewsNetwork's Bang-Your-Head-line News cycle.]
Afghan Government Denounces Attack In an unprecedented statement, the Afghan government demanded Tuesday that the United States take "all necessary measures" to avoid civilian casualties following an air attack in which scores of villagers died.
US warplanes massacre villagers in central Afghanistan The bombing of the village of Kararak in central Afghanistan in the early hours of Monday morning adds another tragic chapter to the long list of criminal acts carried out by the US military since its invasion of the country last October.
U.S. Might Refuse New Peace Duties Without Immunity Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld warned today that America might not send its forces to join future peacekeeping missions without a grant of full immunity from the jurisdiction of the new International Criminal Court. [Then, Rumsfeld took his toys and went upstairs to his room to pout. Waaaahhh!!]
AIDS Epidemic Surges, 70 Million May Die, UN Says AIDS will kill 70 million people over the next 20 years unless rich nations step up their efforts to curb the disease, the United Nations warned on Tuesday in a report showing the epidemic is still in its early stages.
G8 summit rejects Africa aid plea Despite protestations of concern and support, world leaders at the G8 meeting in Kananaskis, Canada turned down African leaders’ request for more aid, investment and the lifting of trade barriers.
Florida Law on Execution Is Found Constitutional Only a week after the Supreme Court held that juries and not judges must make the factual findings to support death sentences, a trial court here ruled today that Florida's capital sentencing statute, which relegates juries to an advisory role, is constitutional.
Patriot Revolution? Cities From Cambridge to Berkeley Reject Anti-Terror Measure -- Cities across the country have been quietly staging a revolt against the USA Patriot Act, saying it gives law enforcement too much power and threatens civil rights.
General Is Paid $183,372 for Domestic Security Role As the director for protection and prevention in the Office of Homeland Security, General Lawlor is the highest-paid member of the White House staff, with an annual salary of $183,372.
Video Surveillance on the Mall A new network of security cameras will monitor the Mall tomorrow during Independence Day festivities, the U.S. Park Police announced yesterday -- moving up by months the introduction of video surveillance.
Everyone Is Outraged -- by Paul Krugman "As Chuck Lewis of the nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity delicately put it, Mr. Bush 'has more familiarity with troubled energy companies and accounting irregularities than probably any previous chief executive.' Mr. Lewis was referring to the saga of Harken Energy, which now truly deserves a public airing."
Bush Brushes Off Question About His Business Past pResident Bush brushed off a question on Tuesday about whether he may have benefited from a sweetheart deal as a Texas oil man more than a decade ago, saying "everything I do is fully disclosed."
At the Front on Pollution California has once again declared its intention to challenge the federal government for the lead in setting environmental policy in the United States. If signed by Gov. Gray Davis, a bill given final approval in the Assembly on Monday night would require cuts in the tailpipe emissions of greenhouse gases by cars and light trucks.
Congress to Postpone Revamping of FBI, CIA Congress will put off a reorganization of the FBI and CIA to improve the performance of the intelligence community until it establishes a Department of Homeland Security, according to Bush Fourth Reich and congressional sources.
Nuclear stores 'on verge of exploding' Almost 90 per cent of Britain's hazardous nuclear waste stockpile is so badly stored it could explode or leak with devastating results at any time.
New U.N. War Crimes Court Opens Equipped only with a fax machine and a phone, a four-member team opened for business Monday at the temporary office of the world's first permanent war crimes court, as international criticism mounted against U.S. opposition to the tribunal.
Irradiating Mail to Congress May Be Making Workers Ill The process used to sterilize Congressional mail after the anthrax attacks last fall could itself be making Capitol Hill workers sick, a report to be issued on Tuesday says.
US prepares to extend its military presence in the Philippines When the US dispatched more than 1,000 troops to the Philippines earlier this year, both Washington and Manila claimed that the Balikatan "training exercise" would last only six months and be completed by July 31. As the deadline approaches, the signs are growing that US soldiers will remain in the country, under one pretext or another, well into the future.
Bolivian candidates blast U.S. "interference" The usually at-odds presidential candidates in Bolivia's upcoming elections united Thursday to denounce as interference in their country's affairs a recommendation by the U.S. ambassador not to vote for the leader of peasant coca-leaf growers.
Bosnia Veto by the U.S. Is Condemned by Britain Britain, America's staunchest ally in Europe, joined in the widespread expressions of disappointment today over the American repudiation of the new International Criminal Court but said it would use its close trans-Atlantic ties to try to change Washington's attitude.
Natural Resources Defense Council Sues Interior Department to Obtain More Administration Energy Task Force Secrets -- Interior is Withholding Documents Detailing Exploitation of Public Lands
Unhealthy Air -- by Jim Jeffords "It is already too late for the United States to lead the world in the fight against global warming. President [sic] Bush saw to that last year, when he abandoned his promise to make power plants reduce the amount of carbon dioxide they send into the air. But if the president [sic] won't lead the world, then the business community, the American people and their elected representatives in Congress must lead the president [sic].
Democrats Assail Bush on Superfund The Bush mis-ministration is coming under attack from congressional Democrats for holding back money to clean up dozens of Superfund toxic waste sites in at least 18 states.
Tuesday's bad economic update: Accounting Worries Drag Stocks Down Persistent worries about corporate accounting scandals dragged stock prices lower Tuesday as many investors decided to take money off the table ahead of the long holiday weekend.
Monday's bad economic update: The Bush Economy: Dow Ends Down 133; Nasdaq Drops 60 Mounting concerns about accounting scandals and the health of the nation's companies prompted investors to again sell stocks sharply lower Monday. The high-tech dominated Nasdaq composite index finished under its post-Sept. 11 closing low, while the Dow Jones industrials tumbled more than 130 points. The Nasdaq also reached its lowest close in five years.
Tenn. Wrestles With Gov't Shutdown Residents hoping to get driver's licenses and summer tourists looking for information ran into "closed" signs Monday, the first day of a partial government shutdown while the Tennessee Legislature tries to resolve the state's budget.
Argentina’s police killings raise specter of dictatorship The execution-style murder of two unemployed youth during a jobless protest in Buenos Aires last Wednesday marks a new stage in Argentina’s class struggle—raising once again the specter of military dictatorship.
Spelling Slows Terror War As U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies try to prevent the next terrorist attack, they have a basic problem to solve: how to spell the enemy's name. [Does the fact that Bush can't spell his own name impede the "war on terror" as well?]
Tom Cruise: U.S. is "Terrifying" He's an all-American movie star, but Tom Cruise said his children will be making All the Right Moves — by moving out of America. "I think the U.S. is terrifying and it saddens me," he told the British paper the Daily Express. "You only have to look at the state of affairs in America."
George Michael Mocks Bush and Blair "Shoot The Dog," the single, has a cover include of a front page of the Daily Mirror, headlined "Howdy Poodle," criticising the Prime Minister's apparent sucking up to pResident Bush. The lyrics expose the culture of fear, retribution and often mindless bigotry pervading world affairs right now - and particularly in America.
Fairness Schmairness: The end of fairness: Right-wing commentators have a virtual monopoly when it comes to talk radio programming -- by Edward Monks "In recent years almost all nationally syndicated political talk radio hosts on commercial stations have openly identified themselves as conservative, Republican, or both: Rush Limbaugh, Michael Medved, Michael Reagen, Bob Grant, Ken Hamblin, Pat Buchanan, Oliver North, Robert Dornan, Gordon Liddy, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, et al.."
Judge Rules U.S. Death Penalty Violates the Constitution A federal judge in New York declared the death penalty unconstitutional today, saying evidence has shown that there is an "undue risk" that a meaningful number of innocent people have been executed.
Judge Finds Federal Executions Unconstitutional A federal trial judge on Monday became the first U.S. judge to declare the current federal death penalty unconstitutional, a ruling that is sure to set off fierce national debate over the issue.
Why we should be worried about George W Bush -- by Bruce Wilson "The world outside the US is now getting used to the fact Americans have a fraudulently elected nitwit as their president [sic], but George W. Bush excelled himself this week with a 'long-awaited' definitive speech on Middle East policies that stretched even the weirdest imaginations... If it were not for September 11, Bush would be in serious political trouble in America. He may be yet, in the mid-term November elections."
Rep. Diane E. Watson States that pResident Bush has an IQ of 88. Rep. Diane E. Watson, California Democrat, proclaimed pResident Bush has a low IQ — "of 88." "That tells you something," she said, insisting that a "shadow government" consisting of Mr. Bush's "father and the guy who calls himself the vice president" was actually making the decisions in this country. "The '88' certainly isn't making the decisions," she said.
Residents Say U.S. Bombs Kill or Wound Scores at Afghan Wedding At least 120 members of an Afghan wedding party were either killed or wounded when a U.S. plane bombed a village in the central province of Uruzgon on Monday, 105 miles northeast of the southern city of Kandahar, residents said. The Pentagon said at least one bomb dropped by Western warplanes missed its target in southern Afghanistan.
U.S. Bombs Afghan Wedding U.S. helicopter gunships and jets attacked a house Monday while a wedding was under way, killing and injuring scores, witnesses and hospital officials said.
Bush Renews School Voucher Fight pResident Bush forcefully defended school voucher systems on Monday, praising programs that allow taxpayer money for private schools after the Supreme Court upheld such a program here.
Children Suffer as Florida Agency Struggles [under Jeb] Ask Ashley Rhodes-Courter about Rilya Wilson, the 4-year-old Miami girl who vanished more than a year ago from Florida's child welfare system, and she replies with much of the regret that others have voiced, but none of the shock.
No. 4 Republican in House Will Not Seek Re-election Representative J. C. Watts Jr. of Oklahoma, the fourth-ranking Republican leader in the House, [and rightwing nutcase] announced today that he would not run for re-election.
Airport security failures persist Checkpoint screeners at 32 of the nation's largest airports failed to detect fake weapons — guns, dynamite or bombs — in almost a quarter of undercover tests by the Transportation Security Administration last month, documents obtained by USA TODAY show.
Screeners miss even obvious items -- Failed checkpoint test may signal continuing problems When officials with the Transportation Security Administration hire at least 45,000 airport screeners by late this year, they most likely will be forced to choose from among a group that has difficulty spotting even obvious weapons.
Some Conservatives Question the Value of Reorganizing Domestic Security Representative John J. Duncan, a Republican from Tennessee with a record of trying to knock down government projects, is the sole member of Congress who openly speaks of opposing the proposed Department of Homeland Security. But several other conservatives on and off Capitol Hill are asking whether rearranging agencies will truly improve the nation's defense against terrorism.

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CLG News Archives



Citizens For Legitimate Government™ is a multi-partisan activist group established to expose and resist US imperialism, corpora-terrorism, and the New World Order.
	July 2002 Archives July 31, 2002 Cheney's old skeletons rattle Bush White House attempts to clean up corporate America are dogged by the vice-president[sic]'s years in the oil business -- The White House is scrambling to deflate what some aides refer to as the "Cheney problem". Bush faces storm over 'Enron' judge Controversial choice for appeal court accused of favouring big business -- Open warfare has broken out between the White House and Capitol Hill over pResident Bush's most controversial nomination to date to the bench of American high courts. Stench: Corporate scandals (The Charleston Gazette) "President [sic] Bush is calling for a crackdown on boardroom crooks — but a Newsweek poll last week found that half of Americans think both Bush and Vice President [sic] Dick Cheney previously engaged in shady business tactics themselves." Our Banana Republics - by Paul Krugman "The latest antics of the White House Office of Management and Budget have even the most hardened cynics shaking their heads. It's not just that projections for fiscal 2002 have gone from a $150 billion surplus to a $165 billion deficit in the space of a few months; it's not just that the O.M.B. projects a much smaller deficit next year, when everyone else — including the Republican staff of the Senate Budget Committee — says the deficit will increase. It's also the fact that O.M.B officials simply lie about what their own report says." "Corporate Responsibility" (cartoon) -- by Steve Bell Democrats Take on Tax Havens Issue Republicans are scrambling for a response to U.S. companies moving their headquarters to foreign tax havens after Democrats revealed the exodus as yet another example of corporate irresponsibility. In what's known as a "corporate inversion," a company sets up a shell headquarters in a tax haven such as Bermuda while keeping most operations and jobs in the United States, potentially saving millions of dollars in U.S. taxes. The practice is legal. Dome owner in £1bn scandal over shares sale The right-wing American tycoon who took control of the Millennium Dome in a controversial deal with the Government made a $1.5bn (£929m) windfall selling his own stock when the company of which he was chairman was exaggerating its profits. It was revealed yesterday that Phillip Anschutz received the money after selling 33 million shares in Qwest Communications International, the telecommunications company in Colorado of which he was the main shareholder and founder. UN keeps damning report on Afghan massacre secret The United Nations went into abrupt reverse yesterday and said it no longer intended to release a report compiled by a team of UN officials who visited the site where a US warplane attacked a wedding party in Afghanistan on 1 July. Bush greases the wheels of war An American attack on Iraq could have serious effects on the United States economy because the US would have to meet most of the cost and bear the brunt of any oil price shock or other market disruptions, government officials, diplomats and economists say. Holding terror suspects breaches rights, rules tribunal A British tribunal today ruled that detention without trial here of nine foreign terror suspects under emergency laws imposed after the September 11 attacks breached European human rights regulations. The Special Immigration Appeals Commission said Britain's new anti-terrorism powers, rushed through in December, were "not only discriminatory and so unlawful ... but also disproportionate". Anti-terror laws in disarray after suspects win appeal Emergency anti-terrorism laws introduced by the Government were thrown into disarray yesterday when a tribunal ruled the powers used to detain nine alleged terrorists without charge were discriminatory. The internment powers that the Home Secretary, David Blunkett, rushed through Parliament last December after the 11 September attacks on America were ruled to be unlawful and in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights. White House acts to shed arrogant image New PR office to sell Bush policies and war on terror -- The White House will set up a new office to try to salvage America's plummeting image abroad, it was announced yesterday as an independent taskforce reported that even the country's allies saw the US as "arrogant", "hypocritical" and "self-absorbed". 'But Officer, I Didn't Do Anything!' -- by By Jim Sloan Lakeland (FL) - "They call it a "Voluntary Roadside Interview.'' But for hundreds of motorists flagged down by state troopers Monday on Interstate 4, there was nothing voluntary about it." Democrats Assail Bush on Economy and Foreign Policy Leading Democrats launched a series of stinging attacks on pResident Bush here today, challenging his handling of the economy, response to corporate accountability scandals and conduct of the war on terrorism while charging there is a "leadership deficit" in Washington that they are prepared to fill. Poll: Dems gain edge on economy -- Confidence in Bush slips The turmoil on Wall Street and corporate corruption scandals are eroding public confidence in pResident Bush's handling of the economy and improving Democratic chances of gaining seats in this year's congressional elections, a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup poll released Monday shows. Merrill Replaced Research Analyst Who Upset Enron In the summer of 1998, when it was eager to win more investment banking business from Enron, Merrill Lynch replaced a research analyst who had angered Enron executives by rating the company's stock "neutral" with an analyst who soon upgraded the rating, according to Congressional investigators. US may put Iranian nuclear plant on hit list A nuclear power plant being built in Iran has emerged as a potential test of the Bush mis-ministration's doctrine of pre-empting threats to United States security. Iraq strike plan aimed at cutting off leaders A risky new United States strategy to depose Iraq's President, Saddam Hussein, involves seizing Baghdad and one or two key command centres and weapons depots. Iraq attack plans alarm top military US and UK commanders 'scratching their heads' to make sense of invasion -- Military commanders on both sides of the Atlantic are privately expressing deep unease about American plans to invade Iraq, believing they are ill thought out with the strategy to achieve the ultimate objective - toppling Saddam Hussein - far from clear. It will be a "gargantuan task" which could spark off a conflagration across the Middle East, a European military official warned yesterday. Blair given 'devastating' warning on attack King Abdullah of Jordan yesterday warned Tony Blair that US-led military action to remove Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq "would have devastating effects" on the Middle East. Profound Effect on U.S. Economy Seen in a War on Iraq An American attack on Iraq could profoundly affect the American economy, because the United States would have to pay most of the cost and bear the brunt of any oil price shock or other market disruptions, government officials, diplomats and economists say. Invading Iraq Has Little to Do With War on Terrorism -- by Jackson Thoreau "I understand why we're bombing Afghanistan - we had to bomb somebody after Sept. 11, didn't we? - but I hate to see civilians killed and the fact that Osama bin Laden was never captured or his ties to Sept. 11 proven in court. Contrast that to our response after the 1995 Oklahoma bombing, an act of terrorism that admittedly was different from Sept. 11. Did we bomb the neighborhoods where Timothy McVeigh lived, hoping to draw him out or get more of his conspirators?" US accused of airstrike cover-up American forces may have breached human rights and then removed evidence after the so-called wedding party airstrike that killed more than 50 Afghan civilians this month, according to a draft United Nations report seen by The Times. Cover-up suspected over Afghan wedding bombing A draft UN report has reportedly found the United States might have covered up evidence relating to the bombing of an Afghan wedding party that killed about 50 people. Bush to Create Formal Propaganda Office to "Shape" U.S. Image Abroad The Bush Fourth Reich has decided to transform what was a temporary effort to rebut Taliban disinformation about the Afghan war into a permanent, fully staffed "Office of Global Communications" [Goebbels would be proud!] to coordinate the mis-ministration's foreign policy message and supervise America's image abroad, according to senior officials. Largest-ever military exercise held 13,500 men and women of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines are staging the largest exercise in U.S. military history. Conn. can bar Boy Scouts as charity, court rules Connecticut did not violate the rights of the Boy Scouts when it dropped the group from a list of charities that state employees contribute to through a payroll deduction plan, a federal judge has ruled. A state panel removed the Boy Scouts from the list in 2000, after a state human rights commission found that including the organization violates state anti-discrimination laws because of the scouts' ban on gay troop leaders. Parched Colo. Targets Water Abuse Colorado is in its worst drought in a century and communities across the state are limiting water use. The mandatory restrictions in Denver and Aurora are the cities' first in 21 years. Clinton Rips Bush on 90's Fraud Former President Clinton says the bull market of the 1990s bred corporate corruption but that pResident Bush's laying blame on his predecessor twists the truth. "There was corporate malfeasance both before he took office and after," Clinton told a Washington television reporter. "The difference is I actually tried to do something about it, and their party stopped it" in Congress. "And one of the people who stopped our attempt to stop Enron accounting was made chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission," Clinton said. "That is a fact; an indisputable fact." Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., Calls for an Independent Investigation of Bush's and Cheney's Business Dealings Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., stepped up the political attack on the Bush mis-ministration when, last weekend, he called for an independent investigation into pResident Bush and Vice pResident Cheney's business dealings before they came to the White House, a call he reiterated Thursday night on CNN's "Crossfire." Debt fuels US gas and power bankruptcy fears US and European banks and bondholders lent an estimated $500bn to the crippled US gas and power sector, new research commissioned by the Financial Times reveals. The figure raises fears that a further string of corporate failures in the wake of the Enron scandal would expose lenders to heavy losses. Qwest Admits Accounting Errors, Will Restate Results (Update1) Qwest Communications International Inc., under a federal accounting investigation, said it will restate results because the telephone company incorrectly booked $1.16 billion in sales and some expenses. Bush Cabal Strategy: The Pounding of Fists, The Gnashing of Teeth, and The Shredding of Documents -- by Al Martin "The aggregate losses over the last eleven trading sessions are over $1.5 trillion, as of last Monday. It's interesting to note that historically the New York Stock Exchange composite has lost more equity value in the last eleven trading sessions than it gained in the first two hundred years of its history. And the free fall continues, while George Bush's reaction is actually turning to anger." Lieberman: Bush Veto Insulting to Union Workers A leading Senate Democrat said on Sunday pResident Bush was insulting unionized workers by threatening to veto new homeland security legislation if he is not allowed to hire and fire workers at will. U.S. Exploring Baghdad Strike as Iraq Option As the Bush mis-ministration considers its military options for deposing Saddam Hussein, senior administration and Pentagon officials say they are exploring a new if risky approach: take Baghdad and one or two key command centers and weapons depots first, in hopes of cutting off the country's leadership and causing a quick collapse of the government. Bush is becoming downright dangerous -- by Eric Margolis "Of all the bad ideas that have been pouring from the Bush administration - the faux war on terrorism, the Palestine mess, invading Iraq, curtailment of civil liberties, unilateralism, growing deficits, farm subsidies, steel tariffs - among the very worst is the dangerous proposal that U.S. military forces be given domestic police powers." Stop the Corporate Takeover of our Water -- by Jim Hightower "The greater villains are loose in our world today, literally thirsting to take things that are yours and mine -- and this time they might make off with the greatest plunder of all: our water. Yes, the ideologues and greedheads who brought us the fairy tale of energy deregulation and the Ponzi scheme of Enron are aggressively pushing for deregulation and privatization of the world's water supplies and systems." GM Food labels on Oregon ballot A measure to give consumers the right to know whether the food they purchase has been genetically engineered will appear on Oregon's statewide ballot this fall. "Mosquito Alert" Issued at White House: West Nile Infected Bird Found Dead on Grounds "The insider scoffed at talk among low-ranking staffers that someone may have planted an infected bird on the White House grounds as a terrorist act." [Will Bush and Cheney flee to the bunkers, again??] Review of the Bush-Cheney 2000 Recount Fund and 527 Disclosure Law The Bush-Cheney 2000, Inc-Recount Fund, created shortly after the November 2000 election to pay for the campaign’s legal and political activities in Florida and other contested areas, evaded a soft money campaign finance disclosure law for 18 months. The recount fund’s trustees did not file required disclosure forms until 3:25 p.m. on July 15, 2002 – meeting the deadline for an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) "amnesty" program to avoid millions of dollars in potential fines by less than nine hours. Bush-Cheney Campaign Violated Soft Money Disclosure Law Soft Money Fund for Recount Narrowly Escapes $7 Million Fine by Filing Disclosure Statements Hours Before Deadline; Forms Still Not Publicly Available (press release) Clinton Raps White House, Rejects Blame Claim Former president Bill Clinton has chastised the Bush mis-ministration for suggesting he bears part of the blame for the corporate accounting scandals and said pResident Bush made a mistake with his first-year Middle East policy. Enron Probe Moves Offshore The Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has asked the chief executives of Citigroup Inc. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., to provide sworn affidavits about the nature of offshore entities allegedly used to help Enron Corp. hide its financial condition. Clean Up Government Accounting, Democrat Says Now that Congress has passed a bill mandating reform in corporate accounting, it is time to reform government accounting with an eye on protecting Social Security, Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut said on Saturday. The Private Interest -- by Paul Krugman "Since the early months of 2000, the Nasdaq has fallen about 75 percent, the broader S.&P. 500 more than 40 percent... Yet George W. Bush still wants to party like it's 1999. On Wednesday he insisted that he continued to favor partially privatizing Social Security." 'Attempted' crimes bill under attack by lawyers, police Defense attorneys and police, often at odds on criminal justice matters, have a surprisingly unified message for Congress: back off a plan to create thousands of new crimes. The House voted last week to make any attempt to break a federal law a punishable act. The proposal, approved with little notice in Washington, could cause headaches around the country, lawyers and law enforcement officers say. Labor Issue May Stall Security Bill Establishing a Homeland Security Department in the near future could be jeopardized by the determination of what employment rights the new department's 170,000 government workers should have. Strange Fruit -- by Chris Floyd " 'By their fruits ye shall know them.' And by their nuts as well. The acorns of any presidential administration never fall very far from the tree -- thus, the remarks made last week by one of George W. Bush's appointees to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission give us a pretty fair indication of what the future will look like if the Regime's seeds of tyranny ever come to full flower." Some Top Military Brass Favor Status Quo in Iraq Containment Seen Less Risky Than Attack -- [Yes, but containment won't drive up Bush's sagging poll numbers -- he is trolling a war that he "needs".] Despite pResident Bush's repeated bellicose statements about Iraq, many senior U.S. military officers contend that President Saddam Hussein poses no immediate threat and that the United States should continue its policy of containment rather than invade Iraq to force a change of leadership in Baghdad. The Case Of Dr. Hatfill: Suspect Or Pawn Former Army microbiologist Steven J. Hatfill is either a pawn in an FBI attempt to recharge its stalled anthrax investigation, or a potential suspect who holds critical clues to solving the case that has bedeviled the agency for the past nine months. Bush Far Outspent Gore on Recount The Bush campaign poured $13.8 million into "winning" *[stealing* in a coup d'etat] the post-election battle for Florida's 25 electoral college votes, roughly four times what the Gore campaign spent, according to documents released yesterday. Clintons Ask Millions from U.S. in Whitewater Legal Fees Former President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York have asked a special three-judge panel to order the United States government to reimburse them for several million dollars in outstanding legal fees from the Whitewater inquiry. "Pursuant to the explicit authorization of the statute, and following the precedent of Presidents Reagan and Bush, the Clintons have applied for reimbursement of their legal fees incurred in connection with the independent counsel's Whitewater investigation," David E. Kendall, the Clintons' personal lawyer, said tonight. Gore maintains strong lead for 2004 Democratic nomination, Latest Zogby America Poll reveals President Al Gore maintains a near 30-point lead on his closest rival for the 2004 Democratic nomination, latest Zogby America results reveal. Group Accuses White House of Obstructing Suit A public interest group on Friday accused the White House of preventing a courier from serving Vice pResident Dick Cheney with a lawsuit accusing him and the company he ran, Halliburton Co., of defrauding shareholders by overstating company revenues. House Narrowly Passes Trade Legislation The House early this morning voted 215-212 to approve a broad trade package that would give pResident Bush the authority to negotiate trade deals. The razor thin vote at 3:30 a.m., came only after an evening of arm twisting by Republican leaders and hours after Bush himself made a rare appearance on Capitol Hill to lobby Republicans personally for a package that has been deadlocked for years. House Passes Homeland Security Bill The House voted 295-132 on Friday to establish a Department of Homeland Security. It would bring together in the biggest U.S. government reorganization in a half century all or parts of 22 existing agencies, including the Coast Guard, Secret Service and Border Patrol. Bush Wants Fast Senate Action on Homeland The proposal having passed in the House, pResident Bush is calling on the Senate to quickly approve a bill creating his proposed Homeland Security Department. But things might slow down instead. Bush and Senate Democrats are clashing over the pResident's insistence on broad powers over personnel. Foundations are in place for martial law in the US -- by Ritt Goldstein "Recent pronouncements from the Bush Administration and national security initiatives put in place in the Reagan era could see internment camps and martial law in the United States... From 1982-84 Colonel Oliver North assisted FEMA in drafting its civil defence preparations. They included executive orders providing for suspension of the constitution, the imposition of martial law, internment camps, and the turning over of government to the president and FEMA." Ed Whitfield of Greensboro, North Carolina gives a chilling First Amendment clampdown tale detailing Bush's July 25, 2002 visit to North Carolina. The Bush Visit -- by CLG member Ed Whitfield Muslims outraged after deportation squad breaks into mosque Muslim community leaders in Britain are in uproar over the use of a battering ram by a police deportation squad to break into an English mosque to remove a young family of Afghan migrants who had taken refuge there. Reservists called up in build-up for Iraq The Ministry of Defence is planning a mass mobilisation of key reservists beginning in September, heightening expectation that the United States and Britain are stepping up preparations for an attack on Iraq. Report on 9/11 Finds Flaws in Response of Police Dept. The New York Police Department's response to the Sept. 11 attack was effective in many areas but suffered from lapses in leadership and coordination and a lack of proper planning and training, according to a draft report by an independent consultant for the department. Democrats Say Slow Recall of Meat Threatened Consumers A sluggish investigation by the Agriculture Department into evidence that tainted meat had entered the marketplace exposed thousands of consumers to potentially deadly bacteria, possibly contributing to some illnesses, members of Congress said yesterday. Fraud Charged in Sales to Military A Sun Valley company and its owner have been indicted on charges of selling the Army and Air Force substandard rotor pins for the workhorse UH-60 helicopter, which resulted in the temporary grounding of the fleet used to ferry troops and supplies into battle, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. Military Works on High-Tech IDs Future versions of military identification cards will encode information about fingerprints or other physical characteristics, the Pentagon's latest move to tighten security. Enron exes managing English plant A company formed by former Enron managers in England will operate and manage the Teesside Power Station and Teesside Gas Processing Plant in northeast England. Government Arrests the Owner of www.stopamerica.org and Seizes Two of Owner's Computers. The Stop America site is published by Global Alliance for US Foreign Policy Change, a group that opposes US foreign policy. Home of Muslim Suspect's Kin Raided Federal agents on Thursday seized two computers and two floppy disks from a house where an American Muslim activist had been staying when he was arrested as a material witness to terrorist activity, his brother said. Federal authorities speaking on condition of anonymity have said authorities believe James Ujaama, 36, took computer equipment to an al-Qaida terrorist camp in Afghanistan. [ROFL! From cavedwellers (when Colin Powell gave the Taliban $43million in May) to webmasters!] Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton: Remarks at The American Constitution Society Summer Washington Event Georgetown University Law Center, July 23, 2002 (transcript) White House Security Rebuffs Attempt to Serve Lawsuit on Dick Cheney The legal group that's made a name for itself by filing numerous lawsuits against the nation's leaders is having trouble serving its latest complaint against Vice pResident Dick Cheney. Corporate Crime: A Crime Drama in Eight Panels, being a metaphor for current infamous illegalities -- by Ruben Bolling (humor) Poll: Bush support slips pResident Bush's job-approval rating slipped below 70% for the first time since Sept. 11, a new Gallup Poll shows. More Americans say they are worse off financially than a year ago. Bush vacation plans criticized by Md. governor A leading Democrat criticized pResident Bush on Tuesday for planning to spend a month at his Texas ranch while the stock market plunges and foreign affairs remain volatile. "It's clearly the wrong signal," said Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening. [Well, Bush won't actually be "vacationing." He will be planning the "October Surprise" Iraq invasion, or possibly, some more terrorist attacks to boost his poll numbers...] [Barf Alert!] Bush Warns Congress on Homeland Bill pResident Bush sternly warned Congress on Friday against passing a bill that limits the personnel and budgetary powers of the head of a new Department of Homeland Security, giving the clearest indication yet that he would veto a measure now before the Senate. Senators question Ashcroft about fighting terror Attorney General John Ashcroft underwent some sharp questioning on Capitol Hill Thursday over the Justice Department's plans to pursue terror suspects. Sen. Patrick Leahy suggested the tactics might encourage a vigilante movement. Buying Trouble Your Grocery List Could Spark a Terror Probe -- by Erik Baard "Regulars at a national grocery chain, these thousands and thousands of shoppers used the store's preferred-customer cards, in the process putting years of their lives on file. Perhaps they expected their records would be used by marketers trying to better target consumers. Instead, says the company's privacy consultant, the data was used by government agents hunting for potential terrorists." Separate 9/11 inquiry OK'd by House The Republican-controlled House defied the Bush mis-ministration early Thursday and voted to establish an independent commission to investigate 9/11. The White House has wanted the probe confined to the House and Senate intelligence committees. Dead bird found on White House lawn infected with West Nile Virus A dead crow discovered on the White House grounds was infected with West Nile virus, health officials said after the bird was tested. The crow is one of two found near a fountain on the South Lawn this week. The first was discovered late Sunday by Secret Service officers, who then found the second early Monday. Colo. Inmates Are Fed Recalled Beef Hundreds of inmates were served meatloaf that prison officials knew was made with beef recalled because of E. coli contamination, state officials acknowledge. Gore, Back on Capitol Hill, Blasts Bush on Economy President Al Gore visited Capitol Hill for the first time in 18 months on Thursday, blasting the Bush mis-ministration for mismanaging the economy, cozying up to corporate interests and misleading the public about the effects of its centerpiece tax cut. [The article mistakenly calls Gore's 2000 election bid a "failed White House race." Excuse me, but Gore not only won the popular vote by over a half a million votes, he also won Florida by at least 30,000! "Failed" my ass!] Gore Questions Iraq Invasion Timing President Al Gore told young Democrats on Thursday that he supports the overthrow of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein but questioned whether it is a good idea to invade Iraq now. President Gore said that he will decide by year's end whether to run for re-election in 2004. Clinton Says Republicans Blocked His Audit Reforms Former President Bill Clinton today hailed his own efforts to increase the oversight of corporate governance and criticized Republicans and Harvey L. Pitt, currently the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying they had frustrated Mr. Clinton's efforts at reform. Papers Show Bush Played Active Role at Harken pResident Bush played an active role in Harken Energy Corp's business decisions and consulted with the head of the company shortly before a controversial 1989 transaction which drew scrutiny from the Securities and Exchange Commission, documents released on Thursday show. Cheney Led Halliburton To Feast at Federal Trough State Department Questioned Deal With Firm Linked to Russian Mob -- by Knut Royce and Nathaniel Heller "Under the guidance of Richard Cheney, a get-the-government-out-of-my-face conservative, Halliburton Company over the past five years has emerged as a corporate welfare hog, benefiting from at least $3.8 billion in federal contracts and taxpayer-insured loans." States Dig Deep Into Rainy Day Funds States have used up two-thirds of their cash on hand and their rainy-day funds trying to cope with budget crises, legislative leaders from across the country said Wednesday as they called for government help. Broader SEC probe into AOL accounting expected AOL Time Warner faces the possibility of a wider inquiry by the Securities & Exchange Commission into the past accounting practices at its AOL unit. Stocks Struggle on Another Volatile Day for Wall St. The stock market took a wild ride today as it struggled to hold on to some of Wednesday's big gains after two weeks of severe losses. Technology stocks fell sharply, with semiconductor stocks leading the retreat after a leading computer chip maker said it would reduce spending on plants and equipment. U.S. Prepares to Expand Cuban Prison Camp The Bush mis-ministration is preparing to expand the high-security prison in Cuba where it is holding and interrogating hundreds of suspects from the "war on terrorism," officials said Thursday. The Pentagon has accepted bids and expects to award a contract in the next several days for construction of some 200 more cells at the facility it calls Camp Delta, two officials said on condition of anonymity. [Gee, I wonder if Halliburton will get that contract...] Ashcroft Promotes TIPS Citizen Surveillance Plan Attorney General [and rightwing nutcase] John Ashcroft said Thursday a program that would ask millions of Americans to report suspicious activity will not create an Orwellian government database [Insert "Yeah, right!" commentary here.]** that could be used against innocent Americans. A government database of terrorist tips, whether truthful or not, could be used against people, said Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. Bush Threatens Veto of Homeland Security Bill pResident Bush threatened today to veto the Homeland Security bill as fifty-three House members, mostly liberal Democrats, wrote to Bush on Wednesday saying their support for the department depended on the civil service protections. The White House responded today with the veto threat. Secret Service Agent Admits to Anti-Muslim Slurs A Secret Service agent has admitted he scrawled anti-Muslim statements on a prayer calendar during the home search of a man charged with smuggling bogus checks into the United States, authorities said Thursday. Kiss My Posse Comitatus Kinky sexual position? New vodka drink? No, just another old law Dubya wants to poke at in the name of fear -- by Mark Morford "Of course they sneak the more diabolical stuff under your radar when they know you're too busy watching your WorldCom stock tank and your AOL stock tank and all those thick snickering gold-plated megaconglomerate CEOs smirk and shirk and declare bankruptcy and get their financial wrists slapped and do zero jail time and then get invited to Dubya's ranch for ribs and a new Cabinet post." The Martial Plan: Ethics, Ethnics Both Under Fire -- by James Ridgeway "Are we headed toward martial law? Last week Peter Kirsanow, a Bush appointee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, said in Detroit that he envisions a situation in which the public will demand internment camps for Arab Americans. If terrorists attack the U.S. for a second time and if 'they come from the same ethnic group that attacked the World Trade Center, you can forget about civil rights,' he said." Soldiers, not cops (The Plain Dealer) "No idea, it has been said, is so bad that it can't be debated. But some - like the suggestion now floating around Washington that the Posse Comitatus Act be relaxed to give the military a domestic law-enforcement role - should not get much time on anyone's agenda. It counters core American beliefs and presents the potential for problems, and dangers, this country does not need." Operation TIPS -- animated cartoon by Mark Fiore House OKs Independent 9/11 Probe The House voted Thursday to create an independent commission to study the Sept. 11 hijackings despite White House concerns [i.e., fear of the truth emerging] that the panel would distract intelligence agencies trying to prevent future attacks. Israeli intelligence: Narco-terror profits funded Sept. 11 attack Profits from drugs shipped by Afghanistan were used by Al Qaida in carrying out the September 11 attacks, according to a classified report by Israel's police intelligence service. Bush Touts Cap on Malpractice Awards pResident Bush pressed Congress Thursday for a proposed cap on malpractice awards to injured patients. Bush is calling for a $250,000 cap on pain and suffering awards. [That's Bush for you, looking out for the "little guy," and making sure he stays that way! While his buddies steal billions, he wants to limit malpractice suites to $250K! that's how little value Bush gives your life.] Fla. Child Protection Under Fire Jeb Bush's Department of Children & Families has come under attack over two recent cases in which department workers allegedly lied about making visits to check up on children. In one case, the department learned 5-year-old Rilya Wilson was missing for more than a year; she still has not been found. In the other, a caseworker filed a report saying 2-year-old Alfredo Montez was fine, but police say he was beaten to death before the worker's reported visit. [This story speaks for itself. Another Bush mishandling of a 'fodder unit,' as they call us.] Daughter of Rabin quits post in protest She opposes Sharon's policies on Palestinians -- Dalia Rabin-Pelosoff, daughter of the assassinated Israeli leader who signed the Oslo peace accord, resigned her post as deputy defense minister Tuesday in protest of the army's reoccupation of Palestinian towns in the West Bank. Scandal-Ridden Cheney Mum at Urging of his Attorneys Sources told the Daily News yesterday that with the urging of his lawyers, Vice pResident Cheney has scaled back his crucial public cheerleading role during a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation of Halliburton's accounting practices while Cheney was chairman and CEO. [That's it, Dick, keep your mouth shut. A criminal should never be forced to speak in his own defense. That's what the fifth amendment is for, one these corporate criminals may want to salvage out of the ruins of the Bill of Rights.] Harvey Pitt Raises a Promotion Commotion Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, Harvey L. Pitt, has requested to lawmakers to elevate his SEC job to Cabinet status -- with a higher salary -- as part of the corporate reform bill. S.E.C. Chief Seeks Promotion Harvey L. Pitt, who barely goes a week without new calls for him to step down as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission because of his handling of the crisis in the markets, is asking Congress for a raise and more respect. Investigators focus on Wall Street investment firms The Security and Exchange Commission has opened investigations into 12 Wall Street investment firms for possible conflict of interest violations, the lead SEC investigator said today. AOL Time Warner Says SEC Is Investigating Transactions, Revenue Reports AOL Time Warner Inc., the world's largest media company, said Wednesday that the Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into a series of transactions that may have improperly boosted revenue. Eyes Wide Shut -- by Bob Herbert "The amount of the thievery was breathtaking, scores of millions of dollars at last count. And it seemed to go on forever. But the people who should have been watching the money at the SG Cowen and Lehman Brothers brokerage firms never even noticed." Bush Stands by Plan to Allow Social Security Funds in Stock Market Despite Wild Swings in Stock Prices Despite the stock market's recent roller coaster ride, pResident Bush is sticking by his proposal to allow younger workers to divert some of their Social Security taxes to stocks and other private investments. Bush's job approval dips from post-9/11 high pResident Bush's approval rating has slipped to the mid-60s amid growing nervousness about the economy. Democrats can save economy, Gore tells youths President Al Gore told a group of young Democratic activists yesterday that victories by Democrats in the upcoming November elections are the first step in rescuing the country from its current ''economic doldrums.'' Justice Dept. forges ahead with TIPS, despite Armey ban The Justice Department is forging ahead with establishing a network of domestic tipsters -- despite being dealt what may be a deathly blow to the plan: House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, inserted last week a ban on the program in the bill to form a new Homeland Security Department. Homeland Security Summer Camp for Teens [!] Billed as one of the nation's first "homeland security training summer camps for teenagers," a program called Secure Corps in Bucks County [PA] is drilling 92 young men and women in essential skills for this new, uncertain era. And those skills include math: "If I have 40 acres of forest," runs a typical problem, "how many search dogs will I need to find a fugitive?" General: U.S. Military Doesn't Want Police Power Despite the specter of new attacks on the United States, the U.S. military opposes any move to give civilian police powers to the armed forces to protect Americans, a top Army general said on Wednesday. Critics Blast IT Loophole in Homeland Security Plan The White House proposal to create a Homeland Security department could allow corporate scofflaws to hide nefarious business activities from the public in the name of national security, critics warned today. U.S. Defeated in Bid to Block UN Anti-Torture Pact The United States on Wednesday lost a bid to block a draft anti-torture treaty that would require U.N. inspections of prisons such as the U.S. base in Cuba set up to hold Taliban and al Qaeda detainees. Bush Clears Way for Nevada Nuclear Waste Dump Risking a backlash by Nevada's voters, pResident Bush signed legislation in a private ceremony on Tuesday to make Yucca Mountain the burial ground for the nation's deadly nuclear waste. A poll earlier this year showed that 83 percent of Nevadans oppose the Yucca Mountain site. Michael Rectenwald replies to a rightwinger who wants to join the "Demoncrats" Hillary Clinton Says Presidential Election Case Example of Supreme Court Gone Awry The Bush v. Gore presidential election case is an example of a hypocritical Supreme Court majority that broadens the rights of states only when it serves conservative ends, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday. Bush re-election [sic] support falls Scandals, stocks drag down Bush's standing -- The economy and the accounting scandals surrounding large corporations appear to be taking a heavy toll on pResident Bush’s popularity, according to two opinion surveys released Monday. In one of the polls, fewer than half of the likely voters questioned said they believe he should be re-elected [sic]. July 25, 2002 *Quick Action!* Take the Wall Street Journal/NBC poll "Do you approve or disapprove of the job pResident Bush is doing on the financial markets and corporate scandals?" Stocks Fall Sharply Once Again as Recovery Attempt Fails Stocks fell once again today in volatile trading after they failed in their attempt to recover from two weeks of heavy selling. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell below the 800 mark for the first time in more than five years. Bush's role in corporate fraud -- by Bill Black and James Galbraith "President [sic] George W. Bush has reassured us that 'From the antitrust laws of the 19th century to the S&L reforms of recent times, America has tackled financial problems when they appeared.' But the savings & loan reforms came seven years and 150 billion taxpayer dollars late. Nor did that problem merely 'appear.' It was created by a deregulation bill in 1982 overseen at that time by Vice President George Bush." Twice as Bad as Hoover (Consortiumnews) "George W. Bush is shattering records for the worst first 18 months in office for a U.S. president [sic] as measured by the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500. In his first year-and-a-half in the White House, Bush presided over a 36.9 percent decline, almost twice the percentage drop of Herbert Hoover, the president who led the nation into the Depression." Ashcroft's Terrorism Policies Dismay Some Conservatives Many religious conservatives who were most instrumental in pressing pResident Bush to appoint John Ashcroft as attorney general now say they have become deeply troubled by his actions as the leading public figure in the law enforcement drive against terrorism. House Approves $28.9 Billion Anti-Terrorism Package Congress prepared Tuesday to ship pResident Bush a compromise $28.9 billion anti-terrorism package. US army to engage in largest military simulation exercise yet Some 13,500 people in 26 locations across the United States will take part in one of the largest US Army exercises in history beginning Wednesday and lasting three weeks. Democrats Say G.O.P. Add-ons Threaten Bill for Security Dept. A substantial number of Democrats say they are considering voting against the proposed Department of Homeland Security when it reaches the House floor on Thursday, complaining that Republicans had larded the bill with pet ideological projects. Police State in a land of superlatives --by Doreen Miller "Today, we are standing on the threshold of the addition of yet another superlative to our long, dubious list of boasts: soon we are to be the largest police state that has ever existed. Our government, under the pretext of homeland security, is in the process of creating a division of secret informants whose scope promises to far surpass the level of spying achieved by the Stasi, secret police, in former Communist East Germany." U.S. planes attack site in southern Iraq For the second time in recent days U.S. warplanes bombed a military communications site in southern Iraq, officials said Tuesday. Drop plans to attack Saddam, Tehran tells US Iran's president, Mohammad Khatami, warned the US yesterday to abandon its plans to attack Iraq and denounced what Tehran believes is a calculated Bush mis-ministration campaign to provoke mass insurrection in Iran. What Price the American Empire? -- by Patrick J. Buchanan "[Regarding terrorism on U.S. soil:] But there has been no debate over the most critical question. Why? Why do these Islamic radicals so hate us they are willing to commit suicide, if they can take hundreds or thousands of us with them? In our focus on improved intelligence, preemptive strikes, color-coded alerts and evacuation plans, have we overlooked a course of action that could end the threat of cataclysmic terror? Like Poe's 'Purloined Letter,' is a way out right there on the mantelpiece in front of us?" Records of 9/11 Response Not for Public, City Says The Bloomberg mis-ministration has concluded that many of the audio and written records of the Fire Department's actions on Sept. 11 should never be released to the general public. Civil rights groups ask Bush to remove appointee after comments on Arab-Americans Two civil rights groups asked pResident Bush on Monday to remove Peter Kirsanow from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights after he said people might demand internment camps for Arab-Americans if Arab terrorists strike the United States again. Judicial Nominee Challenged on Abortion Views Senate Democrats sparred with pResident Bush's nominee to a key federal appeals court yesterday, suggesting repeatedly that she has interpreted the law to suit her own conservative views on abortion. Torture Victims Win Lawsuit Against Salvadoran Generals A federal jury in a civil lawsuit ruled yesterday that two retired Salvadoran generals now living in South Florida were responsible for acts of torture committed 20 years ago by troops under their command. Ann Coulter, it's time to meet the truth police -- by Richard Roeper "Coulter peppers her prose with terribly faulty analogies, e.g., 'Hiring [George] Stephanopoulos [to do television] would be the equivalent of a major network hiring Chuck Colson immediately after Watergate.' Well, no. Chuck Colson was convicted of obstruction of justice, a felony, and served seven months in prison. Stephanopoulos' biggest crime was writing a self-aggrandizing tell-all book. Coulter also has a habit of chastising liberals for their methodology and then using the same techniques to make her own points." Stocks Tumble, and the Fallout Is Going Global The United States stock market fell sharply again yesterday. Investors seemed to fear a slowdown in the world economy and shrugged off pResident Bush's statement that "there is value in the market" now. Citigroup Said to Mold Deal to Help Enron Skirt Rules Senior credit officers of Citigroup misrepresented the full nature of a 1999 transaction with Enron in the records of the deal so that the energy company could ignore accounting requirements and hide its true financial condition, according to internal bank documents and government investigators. No Confidence; Bush Cabal Drives US to the Brink of Collapse -- by Al Martin "Another week has passed, as we inch ever closer to the economic collapse of the United States. During this week we have reached several new important milestones. Another $750 billion of market capitalization has been lost, thus bringing the total loss in market capitalization (during the eighteen months of the George Bush II Regime) to $4.75 trillion." Northern Command chief backs domestic use of US military US Air Force General Ralph E. Eberhart, head of the newly established Northern Command, says he supports giving greater domestic powers to the military in the Bush mis-ministration’s "war on terrorism." GOP Looks to Create New Crimes Class Legislation passed by the House last week to get tough on corporate wrongdoers contains a little-noticed provision that would make any attempt to break a federal law a punishable act. Under the House legislation, every federal crime would have a new partner provision covering the "attempted" crime, which would carry the same penalty as the crime itself. Informant Fever (The New York Times) "The Bush administration plans to enlist millions of Americans to spy on their fellow Americans, and to feed that information into a centralized database. This ill-considered domestic spying program should be stopped before it starts." President [sic] doesn't have absolute military authority over Americans by Robyn E. Blumner "While the president [sic] has broad power to conduct war, he does not have the absolute and unreviewable authority to hold any suspected American for as long as this indefinite 'war' on terror continues." US moves closer to war against Iraq Despite the claims that the purpose of a war against Iraq is to overthrow Saddam Hussein and establish democracy in Iraq, the Bush administration—itself the product of an anti-democratic coup in the 2000 elections—has no intention of installing a popular regime in Baghdad. Instead, its goal is the seizure of Iraq’s huge oil reserves and the establishment of unchallenged US strategic dominance in the two most important oil-producing regions of the world, the Persian Gulf and Central Asia. War on Saddam will drag on, warns Turkey Turkey has repeated its concern about United States military action against Iraq as European governments expressed alarm at talk of overthrowing Saddam Hussein. Calif. Governor Signs Landmark Auto Emissions Law California Gov. Gray Davis signed a landmark law Monday making his state the first in the nation to regulate vehicle greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to curb global warming. Calif. Takes Lead on Auto Emissions Gov. Davis to Sign Law On Pollution That May Affect All U.S. Drivers -- The new law, to be signed today by Gov. Gray Davis (D), is the first in the United States to directly affect consumers and to enlist American drivers in reducing the potential of global warming. Reno makes candidacy official today Janet Reno, 64 and a day, will formally qualify as a candidate for governor today, leading a walk of state workers to the Capitol to file campaign papers. Senate Hearing Set on Enron's Bankers In the six years before Enron filed for bankruptcy protection, major banks helped the company camouflage more than $8 billion in financing and increase its cash flow through deals permitting Enron to raise money without listing it as loans on financial statements, Senate investigators have found. Rep. Waxman has Directed his Staff to Begin Investigating Cheney's Involvement with Halliburton Rep. Henry A. Waxman, a California Democrat who was one of the earliest members to begin investigating the collapse of the Enron Corp., said last week that he has directed his staff to begin investigating Vice pResident Cheney's involvement with Halliburton. Arabs in U.S. could be held, official warns Rights unit member foresees detainment A member of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission said in Detroit on Friday he could foresee a scenario in which the public would demand internment camps for Arab-Americans if Arab terrorists strike again in this country. Citizen-spy plan facing opposition in public, House The Postal Service itself said Wednesday that it would not participate in Operation TIPS because it has a process for reporting suspicious activities. On Friday, a House special committee on Homeland Security approved legislation that would kill Operation TIPS. Officials call for study of military police powers Homeland security Director Tom Ridge says the threat of terrorism may force government planners to consider using the military for domestic law enforcement, which is largely prohibited by federal law. pResident Bush has asked Congress to thoroughly review the law that bans the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines from participating in arrests, searches, seizures of evidence and other police-type activity on U.S. soil. Debate on Court Nominee Centers on Abortion The White House is heading toward a confrontation with Senate Democrats and their allies in liberal advocacy groups over pResident Bush's effort to give a federal appeals court seat to a conservative state judge from Texas with a strong judicial record opposing abortion. Anti-nuclear activists in sea protest Two environmental activists have jumped into the sea in front of armed cargo vessels carrying nuclear waste to Britain from Japan. In pictures: Nuclear ship protest Activists from the environmental group Greenpeace set sail to protest against a consignment of nuclear waste being transferred by cargo ship from Japan to Britain. Project in Bahrain benefited Harken, Bush Five days after former President Bush was inaugurated in 1989, an official from Bahrain set in motion a chain of events that allowed the Texas oil company where the president's son was a director to beat out Amoco for drilling rights with huge profit potential. George W. Bush was on the board at Harken Energy Corp. when the company won the right to drill for oil off the coast of Bahrain, a tiny Persian Gulf island. Possible Minefields (extended) -- List of SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt's law clients at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson. The list was filed by Pitt with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics on May 24, 2001. It contains only clients from whom he received $5,000 or more since Jan. 1, 1999. No Strong Voice Is Heard on Bush's Economic Team With the stock market plunging the other day and surveys depicting Americans as increasingly worried about the way the Bush mis-ministration is dealing with the economy and corporate fraud, Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill, the administration's main voice on economic issues, was in Kyrgyzstan. The Road to Perdition -- by Frank Rich "Wagging the dog no longer cuts it. If the Bush administration wants to distract Americans from watching their 401(k)'s go down the toilet, it will have to unleash the whole kennel. Maybe only unilateral annihilation of the entire axis of evil will do." WorldCom Files for Chapter 11 WorldCom Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Sunday, almost four weeks after the telecommunications giant disclosed nearly $4 billion in deceptive accounting. U.S. Should Consider Giving Military Powers to Arrest and Fire Their Weapons on U.S. Soil , Ridge Says The government should consider reversing a more than a century of tradition and law to give the military authority to make arrests and fire their weapons on U.S. soil in the event of a terrorist attack, Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge said. Beyond the Rubber Bullet The U.S.'s nonlethal-weapons programs are drawing their own fire, mostly from human-rights activists who contend that the technologies being developed will be deployed to suppress dissent and that they defy international weapons treaties. Through public websites, interviews with defense researchers and data obtained in a series of Freedom of Information Act requests filed by watchdog groups, TIME has managed to peer into the Pentagon's multimillion-dollar program. Bush rallies US for strike on Iraq pResident Bush has told US troops to be ready for 'pre-emptive military action' against Iraq, as security sources warned that a massive assault against President Saddam Hussein could be likely at 'short notice'. Whitehall sources confirmed that Tony Blair had decided Britain must back any US assault and had ordered defence planners to begin the preparations for a new war in the Gulf. Mounting anger over US atrocities in Afghanistan Three weeks after an American AC-130 gunship killed and injured more than 100 civilians in the small Afghan village of Kakarak, US military officials have refused to admit that the raid was a mistake or to rule out similar actions in the future. The NSA Draws Fire A scathing House report charges the agency is badly mismanaged -- The intelligence panel's Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security, which released an unclassified summary of its report last week, found that the NSA is "unable to identify" how it spends the money it gets from Congress each year "to any level of detail." U.S. to Withhold Family Plan Money In a policy reversal, the Bush mis-ministration will not pay $34 million it earmarked for U.N. family planning programs overseas, an initiative that conservative groups charge tolerates abortions and forced sterilizations in China. 1970 - 85 Famine Blamed on Pollution Nearly two decades after one of the world's most devastating famines in Africa, scientists are pointing a finger at pollution from industrial nations as one of the possible causes. Critics urge reform of beef-recall rules The U.S. Department of Agriculture's decision in February not to warn companies about ConAgra ground beef suspected of having E. coli reveals a weak and elusive recall system in which alerts are issued too late to matter, critics say. Files: Bush Knew Firm's Plight Before Stock Sale As a businessman in 1990, George W. Bush was deluged with confidential information about the financial plight of a Texas oil company before he sold the majority of his holdings and triggered a federal investigation, according to Securities and Exchange Commission records. Gore: Bush has lied to U.S. about economy President Al Gore accused the Bush mis-ministration Saturday of lying to Americans about the nation's economy. He also said, "I don't care what anybody says. I think Bill Clinton and I did a damn good job." Brace for assault on sharemarket Investors are bracing for a "Black Monday" as news of yet another corporate scandal in the US pushed Wall Street to its lowest level since October 1998. Biggest US failure is official next week WorldCom plans to file for bankruptcy protection from its creditors by early next week, making it the biggest bankruptcy in US history, people briefed on the matter said yesterday. No-one is safe from US carnage by David Potts "Hang on to your hats. The fun, or horror, depending on whether you're a share buyer or seller, is just beginning." Wider Military Role in U.S. Is Urged The four-star general in charge of defending the United States against attack said he would favor changes in existing law to give greater domestic powers to the military to protect the country against terrorist strikes. FBI to interrogate Congress on leaks The FBI is interrogating congressional aides, and members of Congress believe they are next, in an extraordinary inquiry into leaks of classified information from a congressional probe of Sept. 11 intelligence failures, lawmakers and other officials said Thursday. Recent leaks have infuriated the White House and prompted Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to warn staffers about news leaks. Flaws in U.S. Air War Left Hundreds of Civilians Dead The American air campaign in Afghanistan, based on a high-tech, out-of-harm's-way strategy, has produced a pattern of mistakes that have killed hundreds of Afghan civilians. 2nd Calif. Officer Removed From Duty The partner of a white policeman who was videotaped punching a handcuffed black teenager has been removed from active duty after acknowledging that he too struck the youth. House clears way for congressional pay raise House lawmakers cleared the way Thursday to give themselves a pay raise for the fourth straight year, increasing their salaries about $5,000. If the raise goes into effect, members of Congress will make $155,000 a year. Janet Reno Hosts a Dance Party The turnout -- more than 2,500 people paying $25 apiece -- was a welcome sight for Reno, who has become more aggressive in her underdog campaign lately, proposing last week that Florida require lower prescription drug prices. Reno's War Chest Is Lacking, but Her Dance Card Is Full Janet Reno, the pickup-driving, sensible-pump-wearing former United States attorney general who is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor of Florida. Ms. Reno drew about 2,200 people Friday night to Level, one of the hottest night spots in the neon-lit oceanside club district of Miami. Department of CorporateLand Security Restoring confidence in corporate America! -- by Mark Fiore (humor) G.O.P. Lawmakers Bolt Bush's Herd Less than four months before the midterm elections, nervous rank-and-file Republicans are going their own way on issue after issue in Congress, fearful about the economy and no longer counting on pResident Bush's wartime approval ratings to carry them back into office. White House business ties Following the recent spate of accounting scandals and cases of corporate malfeasance, Americans increasingly are worried that the Bush mis-ministration is too closely tied to big business, according to a poll released Thursday. Dick Cheney, an '02 Liability? Halliburton Probe Is Growing Worry for Bush, Hill Republicans As Vice pResident Dick Cheney travels the country to raise money for Republican candidates, local news coverage has begun to focus on the SEC investigation and Democrats have begun making an issue of Cheney's lucrative stewardship of Halliburton. Statement from DNC Chairman McAuliffe on Vice pResident Cheney and Halliburton " Vice President [sic] Cheney should explain to the people of Houston why his company misled investors while he was CEO of Halliburton. The people of Houston know all too well the painful results of corporate accounting tricks." Whose bubble burst? -- by Ellen Goodman "Our first MBA president [sic], the man who once thought it was a compliment to be called CEO of the United States, now has a credibility gap on the economy as great as his predecessor had on fidelity...But even less credible than Bush's economic analysis is his moral analysis." Stocks Continue Four-Month Rout; Dow Plunges 390 Stocks continued their plunge yesterday in a four-month rout that has sent the major indexes below their lows of last September and to levels that, if they hold, will make this the worst year for the market since the 1970's. AOL boss sold £47m of shares before quitting A senior director of AOL Time Warner, who resigned after its market value fell by more than three quarters in a year, managed to cash in shares worth £47 million before he left. House Panel Approves Homeland Agency A divided House committee voted Friday to create the giant Homeland Security Department sought by pResident Bush, but not before a contentious debate that led to a one-year extension of a looming deadline for airports to begin screening airline bags for explosives. Alabama Activates Tank Unit A day after pResident Bush's release of a homeland defense strategy calling for the possible domestic use of U.S. military forces, Alabama activated a 300-soldier Army National Guard tank battalion as part of a homeland defense force. U.S. secretly held 600 immigrant hearings Justice letter raises questions about sweeping antiterror laws -- More than 600 immigrants nationwide have been jailed and subject to secret immigration hearings since Sept. 11, according to new Justice Department statistics. Bush's snoop troops -- by Derrick Z. Jackson "It looks more ridiculous when the same White House that is encouraging Americans to spy on one another is smashing every magnifying glass placed over its own activities... When he was not hiding in a bunker, Vice President [sic] Dick Cheney spent the bulk of 2001 and 2002 fighting some order to release the guest list for his energy task force, the task force that turned Bush into marionette for oil, gas, coal, and cars." Bush Renews Pledge to Strike First to Counter Terror Threats pResident Bush today used a visit to the troops that battled Al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan to renew his vow that the United States will strike pre-emptively against countries developing weapons of mass destruction, telling 2,000 cheering troops that "America must act against these terrible threats before they're fully formed." Who is stonewalling the US anthrax investigation? (WSWS) "Two commentaries by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, published July 12 and July 19, raise further questions about the refusal of the FBI and the Bush administration to take any action against the most likely suspect in the anthrax terrorist attacks that killed five people last fall. These columns—and the near-universal silence in the rest of the media—underscore the high-level complicity in the suppression of any serious investigation into the terrorist attacks that targeted two leading Democratic senators." Infusion of stock holdings can bolster Social Security, Bush maintains The plunging stock market and recent corporate implosions won't stop the White House from driving ahead with plans to overhaul Social Security to allow personal investment accounts. Study Fuels Worry Over Glacial Melting Alaska's glaciers are melting at more than twice the rate previously thought because of warming temperatures, dramatically altering the majestic contours of the state and driving up sea levels, according to a new study. ConAgra Launches the Nation's Second-Largest Recall of Beef Consumer groups and some Democrats criticized the Bush mis-ministration for delays in recalling the ConAgra beef. Carol Tucker Foreman, food policy director for the Consumer Federation of America, said the USDA was more concerned about protecting big agribusiness companies than consumers. Iranians Demonstrate Against U.S. Tens of thousands of Iranians took to the streets of the capital Tehran on Friday, chanting "Death to America" in a furious backlash against pResident Bush's overtures to Iranian reformists. Nigerian Women Take Two Hostages Unarmed women occupying at least four ChevronTexaco flowstations in southeastern Nigeria took two oil workers hostage Friday in a bid to force company officials to come to them for negotiations. pResident's Niece Released from Florida Jail Noelle Bush, the daughter of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and the niece of the pResident, was released on Friday from a Florida jail where she was held for three days for violating the terms of a court-ordered drug treatment program. Michael Rectenwald replies to a rightwinger who declares, "ann coulter is right about you guys" Michael Rectenwald replies to a rightwinger who tries to tell the CLG staff about "Some Hard Facts" Katherine Harris: No regrets over role in Florida results Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris told a small crowd of Republican loyalists in Texas that in her bid for a seat in Congress she expects to be targeted by the national Democratic Party. Harris said she has no regrets about the pivotal role she played in the 2000 presidential recount. ''We didn't have a constitutional crisis or a threat to democracy in Florida -- we had a close election,'' Harris said. How You Help the President [sic] Help the President's [sic] Brother. He Ain't Heavy -- by Ryan Lizza "It is difficult to overestimate the importance the Bush administration places on Florida. ...it is the state in which the president's younger brother Jeb is running for reelection as governor this November. As a result, it seems that no federal grant, no business loan, no tinkering with federal policy that might give Jeb a political leg up is too small to merit White House attention." Mystery of Harvard's rescue at Harken When George Bush was later involved in the struggling company Harken Energy, it was his alma mater's endowment that came to the rescue. The Harvard Management Co poured about $US30million into Harken, keeping it afloat and helping to sustain Mr. Bush's career. Bush takes beating on business links Americans worry that the Bush mis-ministration is too heavily influenced by big business, fear that pResident Bush is hiding something about his own corporate past, and judge the economy to be in its worst shape since 1994, the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll shows. Senators Question Credibility of Army Secretary on Enron Thomas E. White, the Army secretary and a former top executive for the Enron Corporation, told a Senate committee today that he was unaware of any efforts by Enron to manipulate energy prices in the California power crisis of 2000 and 2001. Wall Street plunge swells US government deficit The Bush mis-ministration announced July 12 that the federal government would run a deficit of $165 billion during the current fiscal year, a turnaround of nearly $300 billion from the $127 billion surplus in the fiscal year which ended last September 30. House Leadership Bows to pResident on Security Dept. The Republican leaders of the House said today that they planned to give the Bush mis-ministration almost all of what it wanted in a new Department of Homeland Security, proposing to restore to the department most of the agencies that committees had voted to remove. Prosecutors Ordered to Explain Holding Man Who Isn't Charged Government lawyers have a week to explain why an American captured with Taliban fighters is being held without any charges filed against him, Judge Robert G. Doumar of Federal District Court ordered today. Your Neighbor Is Watching -- by Peter Y. Sussman "Operation Snitch is coming next month to a neighborhood near you." The rats are coming -- by Gabriel Ash "One of the current Administration's 'anti-terror' initiatives is slowly taking shape, and it isn't a pretty sight." Insanity or security? -- by John Chuckman "Informing as part of an open society? Indeed, under Mr. Bush's proposed Terrorism Information and Prevention System (TIPS for short) - a kind of national, atomic-mutation of Neighborhood Watch - an estimated four percent of Americans will join a long and glorious tradition of state-security informants." The great charade As the West prepares for an assault on Iraq, John Pilger argues that "war on terror" is a smokescreen created by the ultimate terrorist ... America itself: "It is 10 months since 11 September, and still the great charade plays on. Having appropriated our shocked response to that momentous day, the rulers of the world have since ground our language into a paean of cliches and lies about the 'war on terrorism' - when the most enduring menace, and source of terror, is them." Case of the Missing Anthrax -- by Nicholas D. Kristof "It's bad enough that we can't find Iraqi anthrax hidden in the desert. But it turns out that we also misplaced anthrax and Ebola kept in a lab outside Washington D.C. Internal Army documents about the U.S. biodefense program describe missing Ebola and other pathogens, vicious feuds, lax security, cover-ups and a 'cowboy culture' beyond anyone's scrutiny." Mock battle in SoCal and Nevada to test battle technology Preparations are underway in Southern California and Nevada for the largest military experiment in U.S. history. Gore Leads Polls on '04 Democratic Race GOP Seen Losing Ground in Presidential, Congressional Contests Still the One Democrats Overwhelmingly Prefer Al Gore to be Their Presidential Nominee in 2004, a New ABCNEWS Poll Finds Child-Agency Troubles Rise for Gov. Bush Pressure is mounting on Gov. Jeb Bush, from fellow Republicans as well as Democrats, to take drastic steps to overhaul Florida's troubled child welfare system. Tenn. Primary Has GOP on Edge Seven-term Democratic Rep. Bob Clement has been touring the state, racking up positive coverage with a study showing that Tennesseans pay about twice what Canadians and Europeans do for prescription drugs. Increased clamor for cameras in cop cars It took only hours for a videotape showing a police officer roughing up a handcuffed teenager in Inglewood, Calif., to hit round-the-clock national television newscasts. And it took barely as long for Roosevelt Dorn, mayor of the Los Angeles suburb, to demand that video cameras be installed in all of his city's patrol cars to record police activity. Reality Check: It's Business as Usual -- by Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman "The predominant view in Washington right now is that the corporate reformers are in control. President [sic] Bush's Wall Street speech last week was a bomb, immediately discarded in Washington circles as containing proposals that were too weak to constitute serious reform." The right of thousands of defendants to trial by jury could be scrapped in a radical overhaul of the criminal justice system, a leaked document has revealed. (UK) It contains proposals to reduce the number of trials heard by a jury, and to scrap the rule whereby suspects cannot be tried twice for the same serious offence. Judges would be allowed to sit alone to hear particularly complex cases or ones which could expose jurors to intimidation. Call in Congress for Full Airing of Iraq Policy Concerned that the United States is rushing headlong toward a full-scale military confrontation with Iraq, many Congressional Democrats and a growing number of Republicans are urging the Bush mis-ministration to provide a public accounting of its plans. Senate Panel to Defy Bush, Vote on Women's Treaty In an almost unheard-of challenge to presidential [sic] prerogative, the Democratic Senate is preparing to consider ratification of an international treaty the White House has indicated it may not want approved. Poll Finds Concerns That Bush Is Overly Influenced by Business Americans worry that pResident Bush and his mis-ministration are too heavily influenced by big business, fear that Mr. Bush is hiding something about his own corporate past and judge the economy to be in its worst shape since 1994, the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll shows. Poll: Worries On The Rise Trust in government is eroding amid increasing concerns about the economy, the declining stock market and American business ethics. And that could spell trouble for the White House and the GOP as the fall elections near, a CBS News/New York Times poll finds. S.E.C. Chief to Take Role in Cases of Former Clients Harvey L. Pitt, the embattled head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said today that with the expiration of ethics restrictions that have bound him during his first year in office, he would play a direct role in enforcement cases involving companies and accounting firms that were once his law clients. Accounting giant fined $9 million Accounting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers agreed to pay a $US5 million ($A8.99 million) fine to settle charges that its independence as an audit firm was compromised, officials said today. Energy Companies Exploited California Market, GAO Says Deregulation of electricity in California "created almost textbook conditions" for energy companies to keep power prices unfairly high in 2000 and 2001, a congressional investigation found. Enron Natural Gas Subsidiary Ordered to Return Windfall Profits Federal energy regulators on Wednesday ordered an Enron Corp. subsidiary to return windfall profits it earned for moving natural gas into California during the state's energy crisis. Panel Urged to Resist Bush Proposal pResident Bush would get several key priorities for his new Homeland Security Department despite resistance from powerful lawmakers under legislation being drafted Wednesday by leaders of a select House panel. USA Freedom Corps, part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Operation TIPS - the Terrorism Information and Prevention System - will be a nationwide program giving millions of American truckers, letter carriers, train conductors, ship captains, utility employees, and others a formal way to report suspicious terrorist activity. Operation TIPS, a project of the U.S. Department of Justice, will begin as a pilot program in 10 cities that will be selected. Postal Service Won't Join TIPS Program The Postal Service has decided not to take part in a government program touted as a tip service for authorities concerned with terrorism, but which is being assailed as a scheme to cast ordinary Americans as "peeping Toms." Ashcroft vs. Americans (The Boston Globe) OPERATION TIPS - the Terrorism Information and Prevention System - is a scheme that Joseph Stalin would have appreciated. Plans for its pilot phase, to start in August, have Operation TIPS recruiting a million letter carriers, meter readers, cable technicians, and other workers with access to private homes as informants to report to the Justice Department any activities they think suspicious. This is not an updating of George Orwell's '1984.' It is not a satire on the paranoid fantasies of right-wing kooks who see black helicopters swooping across their big sky. It will be a nationwide program run by Attorney General John Ashcroft's Justice Department." An American Stasi -- by Brian Doherty "It’s like they aren’t even trying to pretend anymore... The banner in the eagle’s mouth on the back of the Great Seal of the United States might as well change from reading 'E Pluribus Unum' to 'The innocent have nothing to fear.'" Rotten to the (Citizen) Corps Rat 'Em Out -- by James Ridgeway "Not since the heyday of McCarthyism has there been anything like it. On its Web site, the White House tells how it is putting together the Citizen Corps, a vast network of amateur spies who tattle on any neighbors, friends, acquaintances, fellow workers, church parishioners, and family members they suspect of having terrorist ties." Ex-U.S. officials warn that U.S. policies threaten repression Former Secretary of State Warren Christopher and former FBI and CIA chief William Webster challenged administration policies dealing with terrorism suspects Tuesday, and Christopher warned that secrecy threatens to lead America down a path to repression. Special Agent John Walker Lindh -- by Jennifer Van Bergen "John Walker Lindh's plea agreement means that the government knew it had a weak case against Lindh. It also means that the government has a new employee." 2 Policemen Indicted in Boy's Beating Courts: Grand jury charges one Inglewood officer with assault under color of authority and the other with filing a false report. They are expected to appear today. The Los Angeles County Grand Jury indicted two Inglewood police officers Wednesday on felony charges in the videotaped beating of a 16-year-old boy who was handcuffed, then slammed onto the trunk of a patrol car and punched in the face, according to officials and others close to the case. U.S. Jet Mistakenly Drops Bombs [What, again???] An Air Force stealth fighter accidentally dropped three dummy bombs into rural areas near the Texas-New Mexico border, including one that may have struck a home, officials said Tuesday. Bush Daughter Is Sent to Jail After Breaking Drug Regimen Noelle Bush, the 24-year-old daughter of Gov. Jeb. Bush, was sent to Orange County jail in Orlando this afternoon after failing to meet conditions of a court-ordered rehabilitation plan stemming from her drug arrest in January. Michael Rectenwald responds to a sympathetic correspondent who writes, "My concern is that argumentative pieces fuel Dubya’s claim that ALL criticisms are fringe." See what Scott Pakin's automatic complaint-letter generator has to say about Ann Coulter Vist the new version of FreeRepublic.com, designed specifically for hicks. House GOP Plans to Fight Parts of Senate Fraud Bill Hastert and others will seek to delay, and likely dilute, proposed changes. House GOP leaders, risking a backlash from a disgruntled public and many of their own members, will fight some of the Senate's proposed restrictions on fraudulent accounting practices that have rocked Wall Street and frightened investors, key legislators said yesterday. State Officials Ask Bush to Act on Global Warming In a letter that attacks what it says is the Bush mis-ministration's failure to address the looming crisis of global warming, the attorneys general of 11 states have written to the president pressing for strong federal measures to limit emissions of so-called greenhouse gases. Expert: Palm Beach's New Voting Machines Have Problems The voting machines that replaced butterfly ballots and hanging chad are checked by an "Enron-style of auditing" and don't provide voters any assurance that their votes are being cast, an expert testified Tuesday. Rumsfeld out to unshackle the military Donald Rumsfeld is pushing a series of sweeping proposals that will weaken congressional supervision of the Pentagon and give the military more freedom to manage itself. The Pentagon has proposed eliminating requirements for filing hundreds of reports on its activities to Congress every year. It also plans to ban strikes by contract workers, axe rules protecting civilian workers at the Pentagon and to bypass environmentalists in Congress. Shares 'may crash to six-year low' World stock markets could plumb depths not seen for nearly six years, experts warned last night. This followed a week in which share prices on both sides of the Atlantic crashed to their lowest levels since the 11 September terrorist attacks. Cheney's Grimy Trail in Business His career offers a textbook example of shady doings -- by Robert Scheer "Vice President [sic] Dick Cheney has spent most of the past year in hiding, ostensibly from terrorists, but increasingly it seems obvious that it is Congress, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the media and the public he fears. And for good reason: Cheney's business behavior could serve as a textbook case of much of what's wrong with the way corporate CEOs have come to play the game of business." Government itself guilty of deceptive accounting, critics say -- by Martin Crutsinger, AP economics writer "Lost in all the outrage over the corporate accounting scandals is one fact politicians do not like to acknowledge: The auditing problems at American companies cannot rival the bookkeeping shambles of the world's largest enterprise - the U.S. government." Steps to Wealth -- by Paul Krugman "Why are George W. Bush's business dealings relevant? Given that his aides tout his 'character,' the public deserves to know that he became wealthy entirely through patronage and connections. But more important, those dealings foreshadow many characteristics of his administration, such as its obsession with secrecy and its intermingling of public policy with private interest." July 17, 2002 The watchdog didn't bark Why didn't the media question Bush's shady stock dealings before he became president? [well, actually, before he stole the office in a coup d'etat] -- by Harold Evans "...It is clear that in the course of making roughly $16 million, Bush flouted securities laws, rode roughshod over the rights of others and found protection among his father's friends. (Bush's memory is fuzzy on some of the details.) But the real mystery -- and it is every bit as important in a democracy as what Bush knew and when he knew it -- is the one memorialized by the 'curious incident' of the dog that roused Sherlock Holmes' interest in 'Silver Blaze.' The dog did nothing, Watson protested. But that was the point, said Holmes: Why didn't the dog bark on the night of the murder?" Battered market threatens many Americans' dreams -- by Beth Healy "For most Americans, the collapse of the market since March of 2000 has not only delivered a crushing blow to investment accounts, but also to their plans, indeed to their present way of life. Many people have lost a quarter to a half of their life savings in two years." Bush Signed Stock 'Lockup' Letter Two and a half months before George W. Bush sold his stock in a struggling Texas energy company where he was a director, he signed a letter promising to hold onto the shares for at least six months, internal company documents show. A Houston man on trial for taking photos of police from his own yard "Got the shot, he saw the flash" -- Two Houston court cases are putting a new focus on your rights to take still pictures of or videotape law enforcement officers in action. Outrage over police beating of black youth in Los Angeles suburb The violent police assault of 16-year-old Donovan Jackson in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California on July 6 has drawn public outcries and charges of police brutality and civil rights violations. Man who taped arrest to serve 7 months Just six days after Mitchell Crooks videotaped the violent arrest of a teenager by police, the aspiring disc jockey was headed to jail. Crooks was flown Friday to Placer County in northern California, where he has to serve a 7-month sentence on an outstanding warrant, said county sheriff's Capt. Rick Armstrong. Guilty Verdict in Perjury Count in Louima Case Charles Schwarz, the former police officer convicted twice before in the assault of Abner Louima five years ago, was convicted of perjury yesterday, but the jury deadlocked on three other charges. The Man Who Gave a Ride to Zacarias Moussaoui, and His Descent Into Indefinite Federal Detention His name is Hussein al-Attas. He is 24 years old. Ten months ago, he was arrested by federal agents at the mosque where he worshipped... His attorneys, silenced by a federal gag order, defend their client during closed hearings and in legal motions filed under seal. Al-Attas has not been charged with a crime. Rowland Lead Shrinks A burst in the number of undecided voters is narrowing Republican Gov. John G. Rowland's lead over Democrat Bill Curry in this year's gubernatorial race, according to a new University of Connecticut poll released Tuesday. Military jets escort plane after passengers seen passing notes [?!?] Military jets escorted a plane to LaGuardia Airport on Tuesday night after a passenger became alarmed by others passing notes, officials said. Check out Foxy’s exclusive interview with George Michael as he sets the record straight on that song and video. Wednesday Editorial Cartoon from The Miami Herald -- by Jim Morin Rumsfeld Criticizes News Leaks Disclosure of military secrets to news organizations is hurting the Bush Fourth Reich's "war against terrorism," Defense Secretary [and rightwing nutcase] Donald H. Rumsfeld told senior civilian and military officials. Bush Unveils Homeland Security Plan The proposals include the creation of a top-secret plan to protect the nation's critical infrastructure and a review of the law that could allow the military to operate more aggressively within the United States. House Votes to Increase Online Surveillance Spurred by worries about electronic terrorism, [?!?] computer viruses and other Internet intrusions, [?!?] the U.S. House of Representatives voted on Monday to increase online surveillance and stiffen penalties for computer crime. New bombing raids on Iraq as US seeks pretext for war US warplanes over the weekend carried out an intensive bombardment of both military and civilian targets in Iraq’s Dhi Qar province, about 200 miles south of Baghdad, as Washington continued casting about for a pretext for another war against the Arab country. Pentagon Stands Behind Attack Story A senior military officer appeared Monday to change part of the U.S version of the July 1 attack that killed dozens of Afghan civilians, but later the Pentagon insisted there had been no shift. Yahoo! Agrees to Censor Chinese Web Portal Internet portals in China, including Yahoo!'s Chinese-language site, have signed a voluntary pledge to purge the Web of content that China's communist government deems subversive, organizers of the drive say. Calif. Gov. Urged to Free Man Who Taped Cop Beating Black activist Al Sharpton issued a moral appeal on Monday to California Gov. Gray Davis to free the man whose videotape of a white police officer beating a black teenager triggered angry protests. Amateur Cameraman Accuses Prosecutors An amateur cameraman who taped the violent arrest of a black teenager said Tuesday he believes his own arrest was retribution for not cooperating with prosecutors. Cheney's Halliburton Tarnish Firm's Fall Raises Questions About Vice pResident's Leadership There -- by Dana Milbank "An executive sells shares in his energy company two months before the company announces unexpected bad news, and the stock price eventually tumbles to a quarter of the price at which the insider sold his. George W. Bush at Harken Energy Corp. in 1990? Yes, but also Richard B. Cheney at Halliburton Co. in 2000." Bush Shatters Fund-Raising Record pResident Bush demolished his own record for a single fund-raising appearance Monday, hauling in nearly $4 million for Alabama's financially trailing Republican gubernatorial candidate, Rep. Bob Riley. Bush to Seek New Powers in Homeland Security Plan pResident Bush will unveil the nation's first homeland security plan on Tuesday, calling for new measures to prevent nuclear attacks and for Congress to grant him expanded powers. The Minutes Waltz and a Skeptical Press Corps -- by Dana Milbank "The White House's head fake over the Harken minutes helps to explain the increasingly contentious coverage of the administration. Arguably for the first time since Sept. 11, if not since Bush's inauguration, [installation] the White House press corps showed its teeth last week after smaller flare-ups over Enron and the terrorism intelligence failures." Fla. Agency Under Fire for Kid's Death The beating death of a 2-year-old boy has put Florida's child welfare system on the defensive again and led to calls for the department chief's resignation. GOP Concerned Over HIV-Positive Muppet HIV-Positive TV Muppet Worries U.S. Lawmakers -- Republican lawmakers [rightwing nutcases] are worried about plans to introduce an HIV-positive Muppet to the "Sesame Street" gang, Hollywood trade paper Daily Variety reported in its Monday edition. A day after show executives announced they would develop the as-yet-unnamed character for audiences in AIDS-ravaged South Africa, five members of the House committee on energy and commerce said the Muppet would be unwelcome on American TV. Stocks Continue Slide as Mistrust Plagues Markets Plunging confidence slammed stocks on Monday, yanking major market gauges to 1997 levels, as reports of accounting investigations, widespread mistrust of balance sheets and a weakening U.S. dollar plagued the market. Euro Hits $1 for First Time Since 2000 The euro became worth more than the battered American dollar today for the first time in more than two years, giving Europeans a shot of pride at a time when many of them view the United States with some resentment. Why US press didn't give Bush a burning The papers knew about Dubya's deals in 2000. Strangely, they kept quiet -- by Harold Evans "Last week another candidate for obloquy emerged, the Harken Energy Corporation, and along with it one of its directors and consultants from 1986 to 1990, GW Bush. This is the very same GW Bush who told several hundred business leaders last Tuesday, as their President, that he was determined to jail any of them caught with a hand in the cookie jar." S.E.C. Chief Rejects Calls for His Resignation Harvey L. Pitt, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said today that he would not resign despite calls for him to do so by lawmakers who say he has been lax in enforcing commission rules and shares responsibility for the nation's corporate accounting scandals. Rise of the Garrison State (Excerpt) -- by William F. Jasper "Using the pretext of responding to terrorist threats, President [sic] Bush proposed changes that, in reality, have long been planned to consolidate police-state powers at the federal level." U.S. Taliban Lindh Pleads Guilty in Surprise Deal John Walker Lindh, an American captured by U.S. forces during the war in Afghanistan ( news - web sites), pleaded guilty on Monday to two charges of aiding the Taliban and carrying explosives, in a surprise plea deal that spared him a possible life prison sentence. Lindh Pleads Guilty in Surprise Deal John Walker Lindh, the American captured in Afghanistan fighting for the Taliban, agreed Monday to plead guilty to two charges in a surprise deal with prosecutors that spared him from life in prison. U.S. Stockpiling Precision Weapons U.S. weapons makers have doubled the production rate of laser-guided bombs, added a shift to assemble satellite-guided bomb tailkits and boosted production at one ammunition factory to its highest level in 15 years. Farmers Win in Mexico Airport Battle Farmers supported by anarchists and anti-globalization activists released their last hostages Monday after winning the freedom of jailed comrades, a victory in their battle to halt construction of a new Mexico City airport. US planning to recruit one in 24 Americans as citizen spies The Bush Fourth Reich aims to recruit millions of United States citizens as domestic informants in a program likely to alarm civil liberties groups. The Terrorism Information and Prevention System, or TIPS, means the US will have a higher percentage of citizen informants than the former East Germany through the infamous Stasi secret police. The program would use a minimum of 4 per cent of Americans to report "suspicious activity". Governors Blast Corporate Scandals Governors meeting at a national conference say the corporate scandals shaking Wall Street have also hit Main Street USA -- from plunging revenues that are prompting program cuts to declines in pension funds and layoffs. British clerics denounce plan to strike Iraq British religious leaders, including the priest widely expected to become the next Archbishop of Canterbury, have described United States and British plans to invade Iraq and overthrow President Saddam Hussein as immoral and illegal. Rise of a new imperialism In his latest book, The New Rulers of the World, John Pilger argues that the "war on terrorism" is a charade, masking an all-powerful oppressor that dares not speak its name. State Department Detains Reporter Over Leaked Saudi Cable State Department officials detained a young National Review reporter for questioning at the daily briefing yesterday after he asked about a classified cable involving embarrassing problems with U.S. visas in Saudi Arabia. Illinois braces for surge of nuclear waste traffic As the federal government moves closer to approving Yucca Mountain as the graveyard for spent fuel from nuclear power plants, Illinois and other states must prepare for the decades-long procession of trucks, trains and barges hauling the material to Nevada. Globe warms; Bush fiddles (Denver Post) "Coloradans [sic] have reason to feel profoundly disappointed by President [sic] Bush's tepid response to global warming. Our Rocky Mountain environment could suffer significantly if Earth's average temperatures continue creeping upward, yet the administration advocates a do-nothing policy." Mexican Protesters Freed in Bid to End Standoff Mexican authorities said on Sunday they were releasing jailed protesters on bail in a bid to end a four-day standoff with machete-wielding farmers who oppose the construction of a new airport outside Mexico City. Monsanto urges farms to lobby for GM crops The chemical giant Monsanto has written to more than a thousand Australian farmers asking them to lobby the Federal Government in support of its genetically modified canola crops. Bush recount troops land plum D.C. jobs Many of pResident's appointees fought Gore's bid to take Florida, White House -- John Bolton, undersecretary of state for arms control, caused a stir in May by accusing the Cuban government of transferring bioweapons technology to rogue nations. Nineteen months ago, he caused a different stir -- bursting into a Tallahassee library on behalf of the Bush-Cheney campaign to stop a recount of Miami-Dade County ballots. Newsweek: Halliburton CEO Says Cheney Knew About Firm's Accounting Practices; 'The Vice President [sic] Was Aware of Who Owed Us Money, And He Helped Us Collect It' U.S. Representative David Phelps (IL-19) Democratic Radio Response for July 13, 2002: Defending the US Economy "We cannot allow another day to go by without action, and I call on every Member of Congress to join with me in passing the Sarbanes-LaFalce Comprehensive Investor Protection Act." Ottawa says Bush 'Texans' tried to bully G8 host 'In your face with a boxing glove' -- Canadian officials say George W. Bush's entourage at last month's G8 summit in Alberta behaved like bully-boy Texas cowboys as they tried to take control of the agenda set by Jean Chrétien. Officials said the Americans got into shouting and swearing matches with their Canadian counterparts over everything from photo-ops to the topics to be discussed by the leaders of Canada, the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Italy and Russia. Judge says Bush view of executive privilege is too expansive A federal judge says the Bush Fourth Reich has a disturbingly broad legal view of confidential advice to the pResident that would keep a huge amount of government information secret. Feingold's Warnings on Patriot Act Proving True Statement by Senator Russ Feingold on the Anti-Terrorism Bill from the Senate Floor, October 25, 2001 Harken Papers Offer Details on Bush Knowledge A confidential Harken chronology, obtained by the nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity, said that 16 days before he sold the 212,140 shares of Harken stock, Bush was sent the company's "weekly flash report," giving "information provided by subsidiaries regarding estimated historical and projected earnings." Corporate Abuses Giving Democrats a Campaign Issue From scouring the voting records and business backgrounds of Republican opponents to preparing television advertisements promising to "hold corporate executives accountable," Democrats are moving to turn the battle over corporate governance to their advantage this fall. Suit on Cheney Energy Files to Proceed A federal judge chastised the Bush mis-ministration for seeking "aggrandizement of executive power" in a ruling that allows a lawsuit seeking information about the mis-ministration's energy policy to proceed. In Tough Times, a Company Finds Profits in Terror War The Halliburton Company, the Dallas oil services company bedeviled lately by an array of accounting and business issues, is benefiting very directly from the United States efforts to combat terrorism. Bush's U.S. Corporate Watchdog Served at Troubled Firm Providian Settled Allegations of Fraud -- pResident Bush's top official on corporate crime and responsibility was a director of a credit card company that paid more than $400 million to settle allegations of consumer and securities fraud. Youth Was Punched by a Second Officer Investigation: Blows were struck before the events recorded on a widely publicized videotape, an Inglewood police incident report reveals. The partner of Inglewood Police Officer Jeremy Morse twice punched 16-year-old Donovan Jackson before the suspect was handcuffed and a bystander shot the videotape of Morse hitting him, according to a report signed by both officers. $10,000 Is Sought for Defense of Man Who Videotaped Beating Coalition: Inglewood community leaders say the fugitive's alleged offenses were "minor." Waving four checks in the air, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) announced Saturday that a coalition of Inglewood organizations and leaders is trying to raise $10,000 for the legal defense of Mitchell Crooks, the man who videotaped Inglewood police officers beating a 16-year-old boy last week. Get over it? Not this filmmaker -- by C.B. Hanif "For Americans who consider it a patriotic duty to ensure that every citizen has an equal opportunity to vote and to have his or her vote counted, restoring confidence in the electoral process means looking first at Florida. That's what Faye Anderson has done as producer of Counting on Democracy." Interviewer of Captured American Must Testify, Judge Rules With critical legal arguments beginning next week in the government's case against John Walker Lindh, the judge ruled today that his lawyers should be able to question in court a reporter who interviewed Mr. Lindh shortly after his capture in Afghanistan. Democrats See Scandals as Chance to Attack Privatizing Social Security Seizing on the Wall Street scandals to press their agenda on Social Security, Democratic leaders in Congress demanded today that pResident Bush and his party renounce efforts to shift part of Social Security into private investment accounts. Protests seek officer's arrest in taped beating Irate activists -- including the son of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. -- loudly protested the police treatment of African-American teen Donovan Jackson on Friday, saying the officers involved should be fired and jailed. White House: Deficit to Hit $165B The White House released new budget deficit projections today that showed the federal government to be about $165 billion in the red this fiscal year. GOP Figure Behind Greens Offer, N.M. Official Says The chairman of the Republican Party of New Mexico said yesterday he was approached by a GOP figure who asked him to offer the state Green Party at least $100,000 to run candidates in two contested congressional districts in an effort to divide the Democratic vote. Lawmen Seize Maker of Tape of Boy's Arrest The bystander who videotaped a violent arrest by the police in Inglewood was arrested today. The bystander, Mitch Crooks, 27, was seized outside a CNN studio, where he was scheduled to be interviewed. Man who taped police incident leaves hospital Screams 'Help! Help!' as he is driven away -- The man who videotaped Inglewood police roughing up African-American teenager Donovan Jackson was released from a hospital early Friday after being taken into custody. [?!? Incident #5,467,338 in AshKKKroft's nascent Fascist police state...] American-Born Taliban Suspect Is Denied a Lawyer A court must reconsider his order allowing an American-born suspected Taliban to meet with his lawyers, because the judge did not adequately consider the government's position that the prisoner is an enemy combatant, an appeals court ruled Friday. Order on Prisoner's Access to Lawyers Overturned A court must reconsider its order allowing an American-born suspected Taliban to meet with his lawyers, because the judge did not adequately consider the government's position that the prisoner is an enemy combatant, an appeals court ruled Friday. Bush Violated Security Laws Four Times, SEC Report Says George W. Bush violated federal securities laws at least four times when he was a director of a Texas oil firm in the late 1980s and early 1990s, according to an internal government report. Judge: Material witnesses can be held in 9/11 probe without charges A federal judge on Thursday declared as constitutional the government's jailing of witnesses in the September 11 investigation without bringing charges. FBI Eyes Americans in Terror Search American citizens may be among those serving as behind-the-scenes advisers to al-Qaida cells operating in the United States, law enforcement officials say. Scientists Create a Live Polio Virus Scientists reported yesterday that they had constructed a virus from scratch for the first time, synthesizing a live polio virus from chemicals and publicly available genetic information. Polio-Causing Virus Created in N.Y. Lab Researchers in New York have created infectious polioviruses from ordinary, inert chemicals they obtained from a scientific mail-order house, marking the first time a functional virus has been made from scratch and raising a host of new scientific and ethical concerns. The Anthrax Files -- by Nicholas D. Kristof "When someone expert in bio-warfare mailed anthrax last fall, it may not have been the first time he had struck. So while the F.B.I. has been unbelievably lethargic in its investigation so far, any year now it will re-examine the package that arrived on April 24, 1997, at the B'nai B'rith headquarters in Washington D.C." The Insider Game -- by Paul Krugman "The bottom line is that in the last week any hopes you might have had that Mr. Bush would make a break from his past and champion desperately needed corporate reform have been dashed. Mr. Bush is not a real reformer; he just plays one on TV." Bush As Corporate Reformer -- by Molly Ivins "It is not Bill Clinton's fault that George Bush's business career reeks. From Arbusto to Spectrum 7 to Harken Energy to the baseball deal, all of it smells - and the efforts to perfume it with spin are embarrassing. Will someone inform Ari Fleischer that after Bush unloaded his Harken stock at $4 a share, the price promptly slid to $1.25? Perhaps this will prevent more misleading statements." Rowland Political Work Faulted Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Curry Thursday blasted Gov. John G. Rowland for having his office staff spend state time handling the business of the Republican Governors Association, of which Rowland has been chairman since last year. The USA TODAY newspaper's website was broken into late Thursday evening by hackers who put up a series of stories blasting George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld. One headline entitled 'Bush proposes another new Cabinet post' linked to an article purportedly filed by the Associated Press: Today, George W. Bush has proposed yet another cabinet level position. The Cabinet Minister for Propoganda [sic] and Popular Englightenment [sic], will be setup to complement the recent addition of the department of Homeland Defense. It is reported that, if approved, Bush would appoint Dr. Joseph Goebbels to the post... If the move is succesful [sic], people close to the Whitehouse [sic] think there could be a turf war between Goebbels and White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer. Since September 11th, Fleischer has come to enjoy controling [sic] public opinion and has expressed dissatisfaction with the idea of a Popular Englightement [sic] Minister." Ralph Nader Praises George W. Bush's Corporate Reform Proposals Ralph Nader said on Tuesday that pResident Bush was in a unique position to clean up corporate America. "If it takes one to know one [irresponsible corporatist], he should be in a very experienced position to advocate a comprehensive corporate reform package and get it through Congress," Nader, the Green Party 2000 presidential candidate, told reporters on a visit to Cuba. Ross Perot Denies He Helped Manipulate Energy Market H. Ross Perot, whose computer company has been accused of helping energy traders manipulate the California power market, flatly denied any wrongdoing today by saying at a State Senate hearing that the company had tried to sell its services to the traders but was rejected. US House candidate says incumbent too liberal and Jewish for district Rep. Sander Levin's opponent in a Democratic primary says the incumbent shouldn't represent the redrawn Detroit-area congressional district because he is liberal and Jewish. Michigan state Rep. William Callahan said redistricting has made the 12th District more conservative and mostly Roman Catholic. "I mean, that man has never owned a Christmas tree. He's not a Christian," Callahan said in an interview. Keep Drug Coverage Private, Bush Says pResident Bush warned Congress today not to adopt a system of prescription drug coverage for older Americans that is run directly by the government, saying such federal control would "stifle innovation" in drug treatments and restrict patients' ability to get the medicine they need. [Not to mention, dig into the corporate-gouging profiteering by his installers in the 2000 coup...] Bush Refuses to Release Harken Energy Corp. Records The White House refused to release records of Bush’s service on Harken’s board. Bush had pointed to those records during a news conference on Monday when asked about his role in the sale of a subsidiary. The transaction later was used by Harken to mask losses. White House Stand on Florida Manatee is Faulted A federal judge has ruled that the Bush mis-ministration's failure to create adequate sanctuaries for Florida's endangered manatees violated a settlement reached last year with private groups that had sued to improve protections. FBI Searching for Sleeper [?!?] Cells [ROFL! Trolling desperately for ends to justify the means...] FBI agents are searching for Americans and others they suspect of advising al-Qaida cells operating underground on U.S. soil and preparing for another terror attack, law enforcement officials say. 5,000 in U.S. suspected of ties to al Qaeda U.S. intelligence [sic] agencies are watching several groups of Middle Eastern men thought to be part of an infrastructure of as many as 5,000 al Qaeda terrorists and their supporters in the United States, The Washington Times has learned. Small groups of about a half-dozen men in Seattle, Chicago, Detroit and Atlanta are under surveillance by FBI and other intelligence agencies. Will Three Unlicensed Smallpox Vaccines be Used to Immunize 500,000 Americans? -- by Meryl Nass, MD "An estimated 500,000 first responders, lab and hospital workers will receive smallpox vaccine, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced yesterday. This is an interesting announcement, because to my knowledge there exist no FDA-licensed smallpox vaccines. There are three vaccine candidates whose safety and efficacy are uncertain at this time." Smallpox Mass Inoculations Could Produce Disease Outbreak Before fall, hundreds of Illinois medical and emergency personnel will be given the smallpox vaccine as a "first line of defense" against a disease-bioterrorism attack. Critics are very concerned that forcing medical personnel to have the smallpox vaccine could cause a massive outbreak of the disease. George Michael Feels Unsafe in U.S. George Michael says he's nervous to return to his home in the United States because of the criticism he's received for his new song and video, "Shoot the Dog." Details of Homeland Plan Assailed House Panels Vote to Block Transfers of Some Agencies -- pResident Bush's plan to create a Homeland Security Department came under sharp congressional criticism yesterday, with some House committees voting to prevent key agencies from moving into the new department. Businesses see bonanza in homeland security As government workers browse the booths at a high-tech expo here, a large placard declares, "Homeland Security and Defense is SERIOUS BUSINESS." New federal outlays for homeland defense are expected to hit $57.2 billion by next year, and pResident Bush has made it clear the investment will continue for years to come. In a faltering economy, it's one of the few things growing. U.S. Capital Unveils $800 Million Security Plan Retractable steel posts, low walls, reinforced benches and street lamps would replace the ugly concrete barriers and planters that barricade the U.S. capital's landmarks, under a costly new security plan released on Wednesday. Bush Calls for End to Loans of a Type He Once Received pResident Bush received two low-interest loans to buy stock from an oil company where he served as a board member in the late 1980's. He then benefited from the company's relaxation of the terms of one loan in 1989 as he was engaged in the most important business deal of his career. On Tuesday, Mr. Bush called for a halt to those types of insider transactions. Bush Got Harken Low-Interest Loans pResident Bush received two low-interest loans in the 1980s from a Texas oil company where he was a director, a practice he asked companies to end as part of his proposal to discourage corporate wrongdoing, according to published reports. Cheney named in fraud suit Vice pResident Richard B. Cheney was named yesterday with the energy company he headed in a lawsuit by investors that cited bookkeeping practices under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Cheney praises Arthur Andersen in 1996 video A 1996 promotional videotape has surfaced that features Dick Cheney praising now-disgraced Arthur Andersen LLP for going above and beyond routine audits for the company he ran for five years. Bristol-Myers Confirms SEC Probe Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. on Thursday said that U.S. regulators are probing its sales-incentive programs that led to excessive wholesaler purchases of its prescription drugs last year and bolstered fourth-quarter earnings. Feds Approve US Airways Loan Guarantee The federal government gave conditional approval Wednesday to US Airways' application for a $900 million federal loan guarantee the airline says it needs to avoid bankruptcy. Jordan Rejects Force Against Iraq Jordan rejects the use of force against Iraq and will not allow foreign troops to use its territory in an attack against its eastern neighbor and main trade partner, a Cabinet minister said Wednesday. Amnesty Condemns Palestinian Attacks Amnesty International condemned Palestinian suicide bombings and other attacks on Israeli civilians Thursday as "crimes against humanity" and unjustified by Palestinian political grievances. Stocks Drop Sharply Again, Hitting Lowest Point Since '97 The worst bear market in a generation deepened today as stocks fell sharply for their third straight session, leaving several of the leading market indexes at their lowest levels since 1997. Bush speech lacks substance, style -- by Bill Barnhart "Teddy Roosevelt, he wasn't. Investors turned thumbs down Tuesday on President [sic] Bush's effort to buck them up. Officer Relieved of Duty in Inglewood Beating An Inglewood "police officer" [actually, a Fascist pig] was relieved of duty Monday after television broadcast a videotape of him lifting a limp, handcuffed teenager by his clothes, smashing his head on a car trunk and then punching him in the face. Beaten Teen Sues Police Over Arrest The black teenager videotaped being punched in the face by a white policeman sued the officer, Inglewood and Los Angeles County on Wednesday in a case that has drawn comparisons to the Rodney King beating. Violent behavior of police under investigation The FBI has opened another investigation into a videotaped incident in Oklahoma City where two white officers used batons to subdue a black suspect. N.J. Court Reject Detainees' Appeal The New Jersey Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an ACLU request to force the government to release the names of Muslims and Arabs being held in jail as part of the terrorism investigation. [...shades of Nazi Germany, circa 1939..] Injustice Dept. Investigating Email "Leaks" in Walker Lindh Case Government prosecutors have revealed that they've opened an investigation, through the Justice Department's inspector general's office, of a leak of Injustice Department emails withheld from John Walker Lindh's defense team. U.S. Drops Demand for War Court Immunity The Bush mis-ministration agreed today to drop its demand that the U.N. Security Council grant Americans serving in U.N. peacekeeping missions permanent immunity from the international war crimes tribunal. House Passes Bill to Allow Airline Pilots to Carry Guns The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly today to let airline pilots carry guns in their cockpits. A similar proposal is gaining support in the Senate, making it likely that Congress will try to overrule an mis-ministration decision that pilots should not be armed. Nomination is Gore's for the taking -- by Steve Neal "Al Gore has decided to make another run for the presidency, and his renomination by the Democrats in 2004 is inevitable. He could very well be the next president of the United States." From Justice Scalia, a Chilling Vision of Religion’s Authority in America -- by Sean Wilentz "Justice Scalia's remarks show bitterness against democracy, strong dislike for the Constitution's approach to religion and eager advocacy for the submission of the individual to the state. It is a chilling mixture for an American." Britain overturns ban on selling arms to Israel Britain’s Labour government has effectively overturned its official ban on exporting arms to Israel. US preparing full-scale invasion of Iraq Recently leaked Pentagon documents as well as reports on strategic preparations by the US military indicate that the Bush mis-ministration is preparing a massive invasion of Iraq within the next several months. U.S. Considers Wary Jordan as Base for an Attack on Iraq American military planners are considering using bases in Jordan to stage air and commando operations against Iraq in the event the United States decides to attack Iraq, senior defense officials said today. Senate Panel to Ask Bush Aides to Give Details on His Iraq Policy The Senate Foreign Relations Committee plans to hold hearings later this summer to question senior mis-ministration officials on their Iraq policy, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., the committee chairman, said today. Democrats Question Arms Control Treaty Democratic senators criticized the Bush mis-ministration's approach to nuclear arms control yesterday, questioning the wisdom of a U.S.-Russia treaty that makes deep cuts in long-range nuclear arsenals but provides few verification measures and no guarantee that decommissioned weapons would be destroyed. U.S. Rep Hooted Off AIDS Stage About 50 AIDS activists shouted, whistled and booed their way though a speech Tuesday by U.S. Secretary of Health [and rightwing nutcase] Tommy Thompson, who delivered the entire, inaudible address shielded by nearly a dozen Secret Service and other security agents. Thompson Shouted Down at Conference Health and Human Services Secretary [and rightwing nutcase] Tommy Thompson was shouted down Tuesday by protesters demanding more U.S. funding for the fight against AIDS, as delegates to an international conference discussed how to finance the global war against the deadly virus. Senate Approves Nuclear Waste Site in Nevada Mountain The Senate gave final Congressional approval today for the establishment of a nuclear waste repository deep inside Nevada's Yucca Mountain. Vice pResident Cheney Sued Personally for Alleged Stock Fraud Alleged Fraudulent Accounting Practices Occurred at Halliburton -- Judicial Watch, the group that investigates and prosecutes corruption by government officials, announced today that it is filing a shareholders suit in Dallas, Texas, against Vice pResident Dick Cheney and the other involved directors of Halliburton, as well as Halliburton itself, for alleged fraudulent accounting practices which resulted in the overvaluation of the company’s shares, thereby deceiving investors and others. Watch Group to File Suit Vs. Cheney Judicial Watch said Tuesday it will file a shareholders lawsuit against Vice pResident Dick Cheney and his former employer, Halliburton Co., claiming they engaged in accounting fraud. Bush, Lay Shielded Errant TX Businesses from Lawsuits With a thicket of high-profile lawsuits pending against Enron and its henchmen, it’s time to review pResident Bush and Ken Lay’s ménage a trois with tort reform. WorldCom Considering Reorganization WorldCom Inc. says it will know within three weeks whether it will pursue what would be the largest corporate bankruptcy filing in U.S. history. Wall Street Cold to Bush Remarks Investors sent stocks sharply lower for a second consecutive session Tuesday as worries about second-quarter earnings reports overshadowed pResident Bush proposal to increase the penalties for corporate fraud. Stock Tumble During Bush Term is Biggest Since Nixon (Update2) The U.S. stock market has declined more during George W. Bush's first 17 months as pResident than at any time since Richard Nixon took office in 1969. FBI To Investigate Calif. Cops The FBI has launched a civil rights investigation into the case of a California officer captured on video as he slammed a handcuffed teenager's face into a police car. FBI Joins Probe of Calif. Teen's Beating by Police The FBI on Tuesday began investigating the videotaped beating of a black teenager by a police officer in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, but the city's mayor demanded that the officer face assault, battery and child abuse charges without further delay. Texas Boy Nearly Beaten to Death by Pastor- Police Texas police on Tuesday sought a Baptist pastor and his twin brother on charges they used a tree branch to beat an 11-year-old boy nearly to death for misbehaving in a Bible class. New York Court Rules Inmate Cannot be Executed New York's highest court ruled today that the first man condemned to death under the 1995 death-penalty law cannot be executed because the statute included a constitutional flaw at the time of his trial. Britain to relax laws against marijuana use Britain will respond this week to a dramatic surge in cannabis use by easing laws and allowing millions of marijuana users to smoke without fear of arrest. Why I won't serve Sharon -- by Shlomi Segall "I remember talking to a friend, trying to justify why I'd collaborated with a policy that denied a Palestinian father the only means of bringing food to his children. No more. No more excuses. We members of Courage to Refuse, reserve soldiers who have vowed not to serve in the occupied territories, will not set foot beyond the 1967 line unless it is in civilian clothes and as invited guests." Jewelry Stores Raided in Al Qaeda-Related Probe The FBI and the Immigration and Naturalization Service have raided 75 jewelry stores [?!?] and kiosks in U.S. shopping malls as part of an investigation into suspected money laundering by the al Qaeda terrorist network, officials said yesterday. Bond tells NAACP there's a conspiracy to cut back rights The right-wing conspiracy is operating out of the Department of Justice and the office of White House Counsel, Julian Bond said last night in a keynote address to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. ACLU asks California to monitor FBI spying The American Civil Liberties Union has urged state Attorney General Bill Lockyer to prevent FBI spying on political dissidents after recent revelations the agency had done so in the past. Bush Invokes Sovereignty Wrongly, Sacrifices It Recklessly -- by Margaret Krome "The Free Trade Area of the Americas is an outrageous attack on our nation's sovereignty. Corporate free traders should hide their heads at proposing these shameful provisions." Bush’s past business dealings come back to haunt him On the eve of a much publicized speech to business executives on Wall Street, George W. Bush held an impromptu press conference Monday at which he was peppered with questions regarding his own dealings as a board member of Texas-based Harken Energy more than a decade ago. Bush's Business Ethics -- by Eric Alterman "Bush claims to have a stellar record of honesty and integrity as both an oil man and part-owner of the Texas Rangers. But as Talk Magazine and the Center for Public Integrity have revealed:" Bubonic plague detected in Kazazhstan A case of bubonic plague has been detected in southwestern Kazakhstan, and doctors have placed those in contact with the infected person in isolation, state television channel Khabar said on Monday. Ex-WorldCom Execs Take the Fifth Invoking his Fifth Amendment right, WorldCom's former chairman refused to answer questions Monday from a congressional panel investigating nearly $4 billion in accounting irregularities at the telecommunications giant. McCain Says SEC's Pitt Should Resign Sen. John McCain on Monday joined Senate Democratic leader Thomas Daschle in calling for the resignation of Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Harvey Pitt, accusing him of an inadequate response to the accounting scandals plaguing corporate America. Rep. Meek's Son to Run for Fla. Seat Democratic state Sen. Kendrick Meek said Monday that he will run for the congressional seat his mother is giving up after five terms. Trade Concerns With Homeland Security Business groups and port officials are raising new objections to transferring the Customs Service to a new Homeland Security Department. Bond opens NAACP conference with swipe at Bush 'dynasty' Veteran civil rights leader Julian Bond opened the 93rd annual convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on Sunday night with an uncompromising attack on the Bush Fourth Reich, Attorney General John Ashcroft and what Bond called "a right-wing conspiracy." NAACP Head: Preserve Civil Liberties NAACP President Kweisi Mfume said Monday that Americans must work to preserve their civil rights in the post-Sept. 11 world because fear of terrorism can lead to individual liberties being trampled. Video Shows Cop Punching Teenager An amateur video shows Inglewood police officers [Fascists] punching a teenager and slamming his head against the hood of a patrol car, and the department said it will investigate. Florida High Court Delays Executions Court to Review June Death Penalty Ruling by Supreme Court -- Two executions set for this week were put off Monday by the Florida Supreme Court so it can consider whether the state's capital punishment law is constitutional. Was anthrax to blame for mail deaths? Eight Brentwood postal workers have died since the anthrax scare. Brentwood workers and their families are suspicious of official explanations, given the tardy government response to threats to their health after an anthrax-filled letter arrived Oct. 15 at Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's office. Solving the Anthrax Case -- Amid unusually intense political pressure, FBI officials are sharply divided over the next steps in their nine-month-old anthrax investigation, law-enforcement sources say. The senators and their staffs were demanding answers in the wake of media criticism. July 8, 2002 Fatal Innocence, Ours -- by Marc Ash "It is difficult to imagine what it would take to make the case to the American center that Mr. Bush and his associates are up to no good. The information in the public record to date is so damning that it should have toppled this regime five times over." US 'to attack Iraq via Jordan' Military planners prepare to use British forces in an allied assault within months -- American military planners are preparing to use Jordan as a base for an assault on Iraq later this year or early in 2003, The Observer can reveal. Washington Wants to Ensure Iraq is Free of Nonconventional Weapons Before Strike, Iraqi Paper "If they exist, as they (the Americans) think they do, they will dismantle them so that they can start their aggression on Iraq," the newspaper wrote. "Once they enter the country and accomplish their objective, they will launch their aggression within 15 days or a month." Earth 'will expire by 2050' -- by Mark Townsend and Jason Burke Earth's population will be forced to colonise two planets [?!?] within 50 years if natural resources continue to be exploited at the current rate, according to a report out this week. Despite assertions they knew little, Enron directors ignored repeated warnings about problems, Senate report says Enron's board closed its eyes to evidence the company was heading for financial disaster, and claims by former directors that they were kept in the dark are untrue, a Senate report concludes. Bush and Cheney face scrutiny in financial scandals Some financial skeletons are starting to rattle in the cupboard for both pResident Bush and Vice pResident Dick Cheney, increasing the political danger to the Republican Party posed by the series of accounting and insider trading scandals. All the President's [sic] Enrons -- by Frank rich "It is now more than six months since the president [sic] promised 'a lot of government inquiry into Enron.' Since then, Playboy has done a better job of exposing the women of Enron than the Bush administration has done at exposing its men. Just as the Justice Department rounded up some 1,000 alleged Sept. 11 suspects and failed to indict a single one of them for terrorist activity, so it has made a big show of its shaky Andersen conviction while failing to indict a single Enron executive or individual Andersen accountant." Succeeding in Business -- by Paul Krugman "The point is the contrast between image and reality. Mr. Bush portrays himself as a regular guy, someone ordinary Americans can identify with. But his personal fortune was built on privilege and insider dealings — and after his Harken sale, on large-scale corporate welfare." Farm Subsidies That Kill -- by Nicholas D. Kristof "Could there be a worse indictment of American agricultural policy, rendered even more scandalous by the new $180 billion farm bill signed by President Bush [sic] ? Actually, there is a worse indictment. By inflating farm subsidies even more, Congress and the Bush administration are impoverishing and occasionally killing Africans whom we claim to be trying to help." US Supports Afghan Pipeline U.S. Ambassador Laura Kennedy told Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper that the US government supports a proposed 1,500 kilometer pipeline to facilitate gas transportation from Turkmenistan, through Afghanistan and into Pakistan. U.S. approved Hussein kin's training The U.S. government knew as early as June 24 that Mohammad Nour Al-Din Saffi wanted to come to Miami from New Zealand for training at the same flight school used by one of the Sept. 11 terrorists. German Police Say Terror Suspect Worked for Them A man investigated in a crackdown on suspected Islamic extremists in Hamburg, the city where three September 11 suicide hijackers lived, had been working for the police, police said on Saturday. A spokesman said the man questioned on Wednesday was a 41-year-old Moroccan who worked as a state police archivist. Officials debunk report of Florida cell Local, state and federal officials have rushed to refute a statement by Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz that there is an al Qaida cell active in Jacksonville. U.S. to Vaccinate 500,000 Workers Against Smallpox The federal government will soon vaccinate roughly a half-million health care and emergency workers against smallpox as a precaution against a bioterrorist attack, federal officials said. The government is also laying the groundwork to carry out mass vaccinations of the public — a policy abandoned 30 years ago — if there is a large outbreak. A Tale of Two Coups New Internationalist Magazine -- by Greg Palast "George W Bush is an oil man; he owned oil companies, now it looks like they own him. Certainly the Keystone Kops-style plot against Chávez by Venezuela's military-industrial complex served Big Oil's interests. But that's an old-style shoot'em-up coup, likely to fail." The Power to Imprison -- by Philip Heymann "The Bush administration is claiming the power to decide alone and in secret whether Americans shall be imprisoned indefinitely to protect us against terrorism... The president [sic] claims the power to detain citizens as well as illegal immigrants as "combatants" until the war on terrorism is over. That war, like the war on drugs, is likely to continue indefinitely; terrorism in Northern Ireland and Israel have been facts of life for 35 years." NAACP to Focus on Voter Turnout Still feeling the sting of lost votes in Florida during the 2000 s-election, [and, still living the effects of the Bush coup d'etat] the NAACP is turning the focus of its annual convention that starts Sunday to voter registration and election reform in a year when control of Congress is up for grabs. Navy Hires Agency for Anti-Drug Ads An advertising agency criticized for overcharging the government for ineffective anti-drug ads has won a $152 million contract to run the ad program for at least another year. An Afghan Vice President Is Assassinated in Capital A senior member of Afghanistan's government was assassinated by gunmen lurking outside his office in Kabul today, prompting confusion in the capital and marking the latest political attack on the American-backed government. Afghan civilians pay heavy price for faulty intelligence US forces gain reputation for shooting first and asking questions later after another tragic accident -- by Kim Sengupta "Despite pledges by the American military authorities, given unofficially, that more care would be taken over air strikes, deaths have continued. And not only Afghan civilians have fallen victim. A US pilot, with the call sign 'Psycho', killed four Canadian soldiers, when he dropped a 500lb bomb on them." Anti-US protest in Kabul: a sign of wider anger in Afghanistan The slaughter of at least 45 civilians by US warplanes in a raid in central Uruzgan province on Monday has prompted the first anti-US demonstration in Kabul. Venezuelan Political Unrest Rekindles [And, with Bush on "vacation," it should rekindle a whole lot more!] "The non-constitutional, non-democratic forces are gathering," a Bush mis-ministration official said. [LOL, he should know! Actually, the mis-ministration official thought the interviewer was asking him about John AshKKKroft's Injustice Department.] Investigator Who Cleared Bush Gets WorldCom Job A former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman appointed court monitor of WorldCom Inc. on Wednesday was previously responsible for clearing pResident Bush of insider trading concerning his involvement in Harken Energy during the lead up to the 1991 Gulf War. Loophole Lets Lobbyists Hide Clients' Identity Thanks to a loophole in the federal lobbying law, some companies and individuals — especially those pursuing controversial or potentially embarrassing causes — are using coalitions to conceal their identities. Stalled progress (Concord Monitor) (NH) "President Bush [sic] has continued his war on the environment, and New Hampshire has suffered yet another casualty." Bombing the Mind The Pentagon's Program for Psychopharmalogical Warfare -- by Edward Hammond "The Advantages and Limitations of Calmatives for Use as a Non-Lethal Technique, a 49 page report obtained last week by the Sunshine Project under US information freedom law, has revealed a shocking Pentagon program that is researching psychopharmacological weapons. The team, which is based at the Applied Research Laboratory of Pennsylvania State University, is assessing weaponization of a number of psychiatric and anesthetic pharmaceuticals as well as 'club drugs' (such as the 'date rape drug' GHB)." [Library Police make first pre-emptive strike in Florida] Deputies seize computer hard drives from Naples college Deputies seized computer hard drives from a community college's library to examine them for possible terrorist activity after three Middle-Eastern-looking men were seen accessing Islamic Web sites, authorities said Thursday. Cops, FBI lied about probe, juror says Woman speaks out on Earth First trial after gag order lifted -- Three weeks after they ordered Oakland police and the FBI to pay Earth First organizers $4.4 million, jurors were allowed to speak for the first time Tuesday, and one of them said "investigators were lying so much it was insulting." Some Democrats Hike Bush Criticism Some Democrats pondering a run for the White House in 2004 have started to step up criticism of pResident Bush for his conduct of the "war on terrorism." Man Arrested at Maine Airport A man was arrested on weapons charges Friday near a small airport shortly before pResident Bush arrived on his way to his family's seaside home, police said. A home phone number for Willey could not be located and he was not allowed to accept calls at the York County jail. U.S. Plan for Iraq Is Said to Include Attack on 3 Sides An American military planning document calls for air, land and sea-based forces to attack Iraq from three directions — the north, south and west — in a campaign to topple President Saddam Hussein, according to a person familiar with the document. The Rogue State -- by John Pilger "FOR 101 days, Royal Marines have been engaged in a farcical operation as mercenaries of the United States whose lawlessness now qualifies it as the world's leading rogue state. Shooting at shadows, and the occasional tribesman, blowing up mounds of dirt and displaying 'captured' arms for the media, all have been part of the Marines' humiliating role in Afghanistan - a role foisted upon them by the Blair government, whose deference to and collusion with the Bush gang has become a parody of the imperial courtier." A Time for Dissent in America -- by Richard Reeves "The presidency [sic] seems to be going to George Bush's head. With each morning's paper or evening's news, depending on your preference, our leader [sic] is jumping up and saying truly extraordinary things, some of them preposterous, some stupid, some terrifying." Supreme Court Injustice Scalia on capital punishment: "Death is no big deal" Injustice Antonin Scalia spoke in January at the University of Chicago at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. "Indeed, it seems to me that the more Christian a country is, the less likely it is to regard the death penalty as immoral. Abolition has taken its firmest hold in post-Christian Europe and has least support in the church-going United States. I attribute that to the fact that for the believing Christian, death is no big deal." US media silent on anthrax cover-up charge Several days have passed since a leading writer for the New York Times charged that the FBI and the Bush mis-ministration were refusing to arrest the man believed responsible for last fall’s anthrax attacks that killed five people. But not a single major American media outlet has reported or commented on the charge, nor has the issue been raised at the daily press briefings given by White House spokesman [and rightwing nutcase] Ari Fleischer and other government officials. Anti-US protest in Kabul Up to 200 Afghans have demonstrated in Kabul against a US bombing raid that is believed to have killed more than 40 civilians on Monday. US Bombing Threatens Kabul Ties, Experts Hunt Clues Locals in the area of Deh Rawud in central Uruzgan province had said more than 170 civilians were killed or injured when U.S. aircraft dropped bombs and sprayed bullets on a wedding party in the area on Sunday night and Monday morning. U.S. Air Force: Israel has 400 nukes, building naval force A United States Air Force report asserts that Israel is building a nuclear naval force meant to respond to any nuclear strike by such countries as Iran or Iraq. It is the first time a U.S. military institution has stated that Israel has produced a hydrogen bomb. U.S. Mulls Missile Transfer to Taiwan The Bush mis-ministration may let Taiwan take delivery of advanced air-to-air missiles originally sold on condition they not be delivered straight away for fear of triggering a regional arms race, the Pentagon said on Thursday. U.S. military commander apologizes to South Koreans The top U.S. military commander in South Korea apologized Thursday for the deaths of two South Korean students who were fatally struck by a U.S. armored vehicle last month. Ship Loaded With Rejected Nuclear Fuel Leaves Japan for Britain Amid protests from environmental groups, a freighter loaded with rejected nuclear fuel left port in Japan Thursday for a return voyage to the fuel's maker in Britain. Black Farmers Seek Firing Of Agriculture Secretary USDA Office Sit-In in Tennessee to go Through Holiday -- Black farmers called yesterday for the removal of the U.S. agriculture secretary and vowed to continue their occupation of one of her department's loan offices in west Tennessee through the Fourth of July holiday. Norton Versus the Environment The oil, gas, mining and timber industries cheered loudly when Gale Norton was named Secretary of the Interior. "She’s a fantastic choice," gushed Jack Ekstrom, director of governmental and industry affairs at the Denver-based Forest Oil Corporation. They had good reason to celebrate. Fewer Freedoms on 4th Checkpoints and Jet Patrols Mark Post-Sept. 11 Celebration -- Military jets will patrol the skies over the District, New York and other cities today, as Independence Day festivities take place amid unprecedented precaution by federal and local law enforcement agencies. George Michael defends political lampoon Pop singer George Michael said Wednesday that his newest song, a political satire skewering the British and U.S. leaders for their decisions regarding Iraq, was intended purely to spur public debate. pResident Bush considered canceling Independence Day Yellow is the “escalated” alert status of the intelligence agencies that track the terrorist threat to America. pResident Bush’s national security advisers considered raising it to orange. That, in effect, would have canceled the July 4 festivities by mobilising the Armed Forces and restricting access to public events. “Stars, stripes and searches” has become the unofficial theme of the traditional Independence Day. Byrd challenges Bush’s ideas on war W.Va. senator warns of another Vietnam Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., gave a major speech Friday, urging the Senate to play a central role in determining whether the nation will initiate military action against Iraq or any other nation. Byrd criticized the Bush mis-ministration for "saber-rattling" and "unwise and dangerous effort to keep the public and Congress largely in the dark. ..." Bush Corporate Record Examined The White House acknowledged Wednesday that when he was a corporate director, pResident Bush failed to promptly disclose stock sales as required by federal law. A spokesman blamed it on a "clerical mistake" by company lawyers, though Bush has said government regulators lost it. Memo Cited Bush's Late SEC Filings An internal Securities and Exchange Commission memo from 1991 says pResident Bush repeatedly failed to file timely reports of his business interests and transactions before his election as Texas governor. Bush Faces Scrutiny Over Disclosing '90 Stock Sale Late As pResident Bush prepared to make a major speech on Wall Street next week about corporate responsibility, the White House found itself on the defensive again today over the kind of action for which Mr. Bush is assailing corporate executives: his own failure in 1990 to disclose a stock sale as promptly as required by law. UK proposes compulsory ID cards The British government Wednesday unveiled controversial proposals to introduce compulsory identity cards for the first time since World War II. Home Secretary David Blunkett told Parliament that he envisioned a universal entitlement card for which everyone in Britain would register to gain the right to social services, benefits and employment. Two detained in shooting ... photos William P. Madeira and Jonas Lundquist - were in handcuffs, on their way to Philadelphia's South Detective station at 24th and Wolf. Their offense? Photographing the Sunoco Inc. refinery at 3144 Passyunk Ave. in South Philadelphia. Bush Expected to Approve Resumption of Anti-Drug Flights pResident Bush is expected to allow resumption of a program to force down - or shoot down - airplanes suspected of carrying drugs in Latin America, a senior administration official said Thursday. Koreans Protest Deaths of Teenagers Hit by U.S. Military Vehicle About 400 people marched outside a U.S. military base Thursday demanding American troops withdraw after two South Korean teenagers were killed by a U.S. armored vehicle last month. Virginia Beach tests facial-recognition software ACLU of Virginia: 'This is a Big Brother contraption' The city will become the second in the nation -- Tampa, Florida, is the first -- to employ facial-recognition software. Judge denies DNA request for death row inmate (TX) Attorneys for death row inmate Henry Watkins Skinner promise to appeal a recent ruling by a Pampa judge who denied a request for further DNA testing. The Corporate Theft Of The World's Water An Excerpt From Blue Gold Why is the US government protecting anthrax terrorist? (WSWS) "Top officials of the US government—President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Attorney General Ashcroft, CIA Director Tenet, FBI Director Mueller—are linked to a criminal conspiracy to protect a government-trained military assassin. And their Democratic opponents, the apparent targets of the killer, are too cowed to say anything publicly... This is not a Costa-Gavras film, but the real state of affairs in the America of 2002." Anthrax? The F.B.I. Yawns -- by Nicholas D. Kristof "Almost everyone who has encountered the F.B.I. anthrax investigation is aghast at the bureau's lethargy. Some in the biodefense community think they know a likely culprit, whom I'll call Mr. Z.... Mr. Z's résumé also claims involvement in the former South African Defense Force; all else aside, who knew that the U.S. Defense Department would pick an American who had served in the armed forces of two white-racist regimes to work in the American biodefense program with some of the world's deadliest germs?" [Note: this story was not worthy of mention on CoupNewsNetwork's Bang-Your-Head-line News cycle.] Afghan Government Denounces Attack In an unprecedented statement, the Afghan government demanded Tuesday that the United States take "all necessary measures" to avoid civilian casualties following an air attack in which scores of villagers died. US warplanes massacre villagers in central Afghanistan The bombing of the village of Kararak in central Afghanistan in the early hours of Monday morning adds another tragic chapter to the long list of criminal acts carried out by the US military since its invasion of the country last October. U.S. Might Refuse New Peace Duties Without Immunity Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld warned today that America might not send its forces to join future peacekeeping missions without a grant of full immunity from the jurisdiction of the new International Criminal Court. [Then, Rumsfeld took his toys and went upstairs to his room to pout. Waaaahhh!!] AIDS Epidemic Surges, 70 Million May Die, UN Says AIDS will kill 70 million people over the next 20 years unless rich nations step up their efforts to curb the disease, the United Nations warned on Tuesday in a report showing the epidemic is still in its early stages. G8 summit rejects Africa aid plea Despite protestations of concern and support, world leaders at the G8 meeting in Kananaskis, Canada turned down African leaders’ request for more aid, investment and the lifting of trade barriers. Florida Law on Execution Is Found Constitutional Only a week after the Supreme Court held that juries and not judges must make the factual findings to support death sentences, a trial court here ruled today that Florida's capital sentencing statute, which relegates juries to an advisory role, is constitutional. Patriot Revolution? Cities From Cambridge to Berkeley Reject Anti-Terror Measure -- Cities across the country have been quietly staging a revolt against the USA Patriot Act, saying it gives law enforcement too much power and threatens civil rights. General Is Paid $183,372 for Domestic Security Role As the director for protection and prevention in the Office of Homeland Security, General Lawlor is the highest-paid member of the White House staff, with an annual salary of $183,372. Video Surveillance on the Mall A new network of security cameras will monitor the Mall tomorrow during Independence Day festivities, the U.S. Park Police announced yesterday -- moving up by months the introduction of video surveillance. Everyone Is Outraged -- by Paul Krugman "As Chuck Lewis of the nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity delicately put it, Mr. Bush 'has more familiarity with troubled energy companies and accounting irregularities than probably any previous chief executive.' Mr. Lewis was referring to the saga of Harken Energy, which now truly deserves a public airing." Bush Brushes Off Question About His Business Past pResident Bush brushed off a question on Tuesday about whether he may have benefited from a sweetheart deal as a Texas oil man more than a decade ago, saying "everything I do is fully disclosed." At the Front on Pollution California has once again declared its intention to challenge the federal government for the lead in setting environmental policy in the United States. If signed by Gov. Gray Davis, a bill given final approval in the Assembly on Monday night would require cuts in the tailpipe emissions of greenhouse gases by cars and light trucks. Congress to Postpone Revamping of FBI, CIA Congress will put off a reorganization of the FBI and CIA to improve the performance of the intelligence community until it establishes a Department of Homeland Security, according to Bush Fourth Reich and congressional sources. Nuclear stores 'on verge of exploding' Almost 90 per cent of Britain's hazardous nuclear waste stockpile is so badly stored it could explode or leak with devastating results at any time. New U.N. War Crimes Court Opens Equipped only with a fax machine and a phone, a four-member team opened for business Monday at the temporary office of the world's first permanent war crimes court, as international criticism mounted against U.S. opposition to the tribunal. Irradiating Mail to Congress May Be Making Workers Ill The process used to sterilize Congressional mail after the anthrax attacks last fall could itself be making Capitol Hill workers sick, a report to be issued on Tuesday says. US prepares to extend its military presence in the Philippines When the US dispatched more than 1,000 troops to the Philippines earlier this year, both Washington and Manila claimed that the Balikatan "training exercise" would last only six months and be completed by July 31. As the deadline approaches, the signs are growing that US soldiers will remain in the country, under one pretext or another, well into the future. Bolivian candidates blast U.S. "interference" The usually at-odds presidential candidates in Bolivia's upcoming elections united Thursday to denounce as interference in their country's affairs a recommendation by the U.S. ambassador not to vote for the leader of peasant coca-leaf growers. Bosnia Veto by the U.S. Is Condemned by Britain Britain, America's staunchest ally in Europe, joined in the widespread expressions of disappointment today over the American repudiation of the new International Criminal Court but said it would use its close trans-Atlantic ties to try to change Washington's attitude. Natural Resources Defense Council Sues Interior Department to Obtain More Administration Energy Task Force Secrets -- Interior is Withholding Documents Detailing Exploitation of Public Lands Unhealthy Air -- by Jim Jeffords "It is already too late for the United States to lead the world in the fight against global warming. President [sic] Bush saw to that last year, when he abandoned his promise to make power plants reduce the amount of carbon dioxide they send into the air. But if the president [sic] won't lead the world, then the business community, the American people and their elected representatives in Congress must lead the president [sic]. Democrats Assail Bush on Superfund The Bush mis-ministration is coming under attack from congressional Democrats for holding back money to clean up dozens of Superfund toxic waste sites in at least 18 states. Tuesday's bad economic update: Accounting Worries Drag Stocks Down Persistent worries about corporate accounting scandals dragged stock prices lower Tuesday as many investors decided to take money off the table ahead of the long holiday weekend. Monday's bad economic update: The Bush Economy: Dow Ends Down 133; Nasdaq Drops 60 Mounting concerns about accounting scandals and the health of the nation's companies prompted investors to again sell stocks sharply lower Monday. The high-tech dominated Nasdaq composite index finished under its post-Sept. 11 closing low, while the Dow Jones industrials tumbled more than 130 points. The Nasdaq also reached its lowest close in five years. Tenn. Wrestles With Gov't Shutdown Residents hoping to get driver's licenses and summer tourists looking for information ran into "closed" signs Monday, the first day of a partial government shutdown while the Tennessee Legislature tries to resolve the state's budget. Argentina’s police killings raise specter of dictatorship The execution-style murder of two unemployed youth during a jobless protest in Buenos Aires last Wednesday marks a new stage in Argentina’s class struggle—raising once again the specter of military dictatorship. Spelling Slows Terror War As U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies try to prevent the next terrorist attack, they have a basic problem to solve: how to spell the enemy's name. [Does the fact that Bush can't spell his own name impede the "war on terror" as well?] Tom Cruise: U.S. is "Terrifying" He's an all-American movie star, but Tom Cruise said his children will be making All the Right Moves — by moving out of America. "I think the U.S. is terrifying and it saddens me," he told the British paper the Daily Express. "You only have to look at the state of affairs in America." George Michael Mocks Bush and Blair "Shoot The Dog," the single, has a cover include of a front page of the Daily Mirror, headlined "Howdy Poodle," criticising the Prime Minister's apparent sucking up to pResident Bush. The lyrics expose the culture of fear, retribution and often mindless bigotry pervading world affairs right now - and particularly in America. Fairness Schmairness: The end of fairness: Right-wing commentators have a virtual monopoly when it comes to talk radio programming -- by Edward Monks "In recent years almost all nationally syndicated political talk radio hosts on commercial stations have openly identified themselves as conservative, Republican, or both: Rush Limbaugh, Michael Medved, Michael Reagen, Bob Grant, Ken Hamblin, Pat Buchanan, Oliver North, Robert Dornan, Gordon Liddy, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, et al.." Judge Rules U.S. Death Penalty Violates the Constitution A federal judge in New York declared the death penalty unconstitutional today, saying evidence has shown that there is an "undue risk" that a meaningful number of innocent people have been executed. Judge Finds Federal Executions Unconstitutional A federal trial judge on Monday became the first U.S. judge to declare the current federal death penalty unconstitutional, a ruling that is sure to set off fierce national debate over the issue. Why we should be worried about George W Bush -- by Bruce Wilson "The world outside the US is now getting used to the fact Americans have a fraudulently elected nitwit as their president [sic], but George W. Bush excelled himself this week with a 'long-awaited' definitive speech on Middle East policies that stretched even the weirdest imaginations... If it were not for September 11, Bush would be in serious political trouble in America. He may be yet, in the mid-term November elections." Rep. Diane E. Watson States that pResident Bush has an IQ of 88. Rep. Diane E. Watson, California Democrat, proclaimed pResident Bush has a low IQ — "of 88." "That tells you something," she said, insisting that a "shadow government" consisting of Mr. Bush's "father and the guy who calls himself the vice president" was actually making the decisions in this country. "The '88' certainly isn't making the decisions," she said. Residents Say U.S. Bombs Kill or Wound Scores at Afghan Wedding At least 120 members of an Afghan wedding party were either killed or wounded when a U.S. plane bombed a village in the central province of Uruzgon on Monday, 105 miles northeast of the southern city of Kandahar, residents said. The Pentagon said at least one bomb dropped by Western warplanes missed its target in southern Afghanistan. U.S. Bombs Afghan Wedding U.S. helicopter gunships and jets attacked a house Monday while a wedding was under way, killing and injuring scores, witnesses and hospital officials said. Bush Renews School Voucher Fight pResident Bush forcefully defended school voucher systems on Monday, praising programs that allow taxpayer money for private schools after the Supreme Court upheld such a program here. Children Suffer as Florida Agency Struggles [under Jeb] Ask Ashley Rhodes-Courter about Rilya Wilson, the 4-year-old Miami girl who vanished more than a year ago from Florida's child welfare system, and she replies with much of the regret that others have voiced, but none of the shock. No. 4 Republican in House Will Not Seek Re-election Representative J. C. Watts Jr. of Oklahoma, the fourth-ranking Republican leader in the House, [and rightwing nutcase] announced today that he would not run for re-election. Airport security failures persist Checkpoint screeners at 32 of the nation's largest airports failed to detect fake weapons — guns, dynamite or bombs — in almost a quarter of undercover tests by the Transportation Security Administration last month, documents obtained by USA TODAY show. Screeners miss even obvious items -- Failed checkpoint test may signal continuing problems When officials with the Transportation Security Administration hire at least 45,000 airport screeners by late this year, they most likely will be forced to choose from among a group that has difficulty spotting even obvious weapons. Some Conservatives Question the Value of Reorganizing Domestic Security Representative John J. Duncan, a Republican from Tennessee with a record of trying to knock down government projects, is the sole member of Congress who openly speaks of opposing the proposed Department of Homeland Security. But several other conservatives on and off Capitol Hill are asking whether rearranging agencies will truly improve the nation's defense against terrorism. *** CLG News Archives**



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