October 2010
Courts: Report finds many prosecutors in... →
A law school study discovers 707 cases in which state, U.S. and appellate courts found misconduct in opinions between 1997 and 2009. The authors criticize the State Bar for disciplining only 6 prosecutors.
Weekly Standard Exposé: Pot Prohibition Promotes... →
Matt Labash has an amusing, informative, and frequently astute report on Michigan’s medical marijuana industry in the latest issue of The Weekly Standard. As in California, he finds, it’s not hard to qualify as a patient who is permitted to use cannabis under state law, and many people who do so have common complaints (such as back pain and migraine headaches) that are difficult to...
Afghan security contractors: Karzai begins... →
Former Blackwater company is among four foreign firms Hamid Karzai has slated for closure. NATO and many international groups use private security contractors. Few believe Afghan police and military are ready to take over the role.
Exclusive: Blackwater Wins Piece of $10 Billion... →
Never mind the dead civilians. Forget about the stolen guns. Get over the murder arrests, the fraud allegations, and the accusations of guards pumping themselves up with steroids and cocaine. Through a “joint venture,” the notorious private-security firm Blackwater has won a piece of a five-year State Department contract worth up to $10 billion, Danger Room has learned.
CIA hired Karzai brother before 9/11, Woodward... →
Hamid Karzai was plucked from obscurity and installed as president after U.S.-backed Afghan forces chased the Taliban from power following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
There have been many accounts of his brother’s relationship with the CIA over the years, leaving the impression that he is a CIA “agent,” i.e., a controlled asset of the spy agency.
This is Your Brain On War - Barry Eisler | HuffPo →
Andrew Sullivan’s defense of President Obama’s claimed power to have American citizens assassinated nicely reveals much of the illogic behind, and many of the dangers inherent in, America’s Forever War. Let’s examine it point by point.
Afghan War Drones On - Robert Weller | HuffPo →
There is a simple way to keep a country at war: language tricks that obscure what is going on. The Afghanistan War has contributed several. The most widely used is “militants.”
Syria Wants Turkey to Mediate Talks With Israel |... →
Syria wants Turkey to mediate any new indirect peace talks with Israel, and other efforts would be subordinate to Ankara’s role, the Syrian foreign minister said Sunday.
Civilians Among Dead In Afghanistan Strike -... →
At least three Afghan civilians were killed along with 17 insurgents in a NATO air strike targeting senior Taliban commanders in southern Helmand province, the provincial police chief said on Sunday.
Iran Says Several Held For Spying on Nuclear Sites... →
The report gave no details and did not specify whether the arrests were linked to a virus Iran says infected computers at its Bushehr nuclear plant, which has yet to start working.
Citing the semi-official Mehr news agency, Press TV quoted Moslehi as saying “the enemy” had “sent electronic worms through the Internet to undermine Iran’s nuclear activities.”
2 Israelis Convicted for Using Boy as Shield in... →
An Israeli military court convicted two soldiers on Sunday of using a 9-year-old Palestinian boy as a human shield by forcing him to check bags for explosives in Israel’s 2008-9 Gaza war.
In More States, Stepping Into the Bar, Pistol in... →
Tennessee is one of four states that recently enacted laws explicitly allowing loaded guns in bars. Eighteen other states allow weapons in restaurants that serve alcohol. The new measures come amid two landmark Supreme Court rulings that citizens have an individual right — not just in connection with a well-regulated militia — to keep a loaded handgun for home defense.
Palestinians: Peace talks hinge on Israeli... →
Palestinian officials assert that by expanding settlements, Israel is seizing land the Palestinians want for a future state before its fate is decided in negotiations. Netanyahu has argued that limited building in the settlements during the year allotted to reach an agreement would not affect the final drawing of borders, and that halting settlement construction was never a precondition for...
Can we really blame Republicans for the wars? -... →
Michael Moore has a list of five things he says Democrats should do to avoid a disaster at the polls in November. His first recommendation? That the Democratic Party run ads reminding voters “Who the Hell Put Us in the Misery We’re In”:
People need to be reminded over and over that it was the REPUBLICANS who concocted and led the unnecessary invasion of two countries,...
U.N. Report finds Israel "summarily executed" U.S.... →
Last week, the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights released a comprehensive report detailing its findings regarding the May, 2010, Israeli attack on the six-ship flotilla attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Israel-blockaded Gaza. The report has been largely ignored in the American media despite the fact (or, more accurately: because) it found that much of the Israeli...
GAO Report Hits at Careless Arms Sales to Middle... →
A newly released report (PDF) by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has cautioned that the executive branches of both the Bush and Obama Administrations as well as the Congress has been “careless” in approving massive arms sales to the Middle East, insisting that they are not requiring the Departments of Defense and State to sufficiently prove that the sales advance US foreign policy ...
Report: Active-Duty Army PSYOPS Soldiers Embedded... →
To better manufacture consent, U.S. Army soldiers are embedded as intern and fellows at local TV affiliates, along with previously reported newspapers and national outlets.
CIA Escalates Campaign in Pakistan | WSJ.com →
In recent months, the military has loaned Predator and Reaper drones to the Central Intelligence Agency to give the agency more firepower to target and bombard militants on the Afghan border.
The additional drones helped the CIA escalate the number of strikes in Pakistan in September. The agency averaged five strikes a week in September, up from an average of two to three per week. The Pentagon...
UN: Israel Executed Flotilla Activists →
I favorited a YouTube video: Gareth Porter: UN Fact-Finding Mission Says Israelis “Executed” US Citizen Furkan Dogan
September 2010
Ecuador declares state of emergency | AJ English →
Ecuador declared state of emergency amid unrest that led to president Correa to accuse opposition of staging a coup.
Arab League may call for UN Security Council... →
At its meeting on Wednesday in Cairo, the Arab League will consider a proposal to initiate an emergency UN Security Council meeting on the expiration of Israel’s freeze on West Bank settlement construction.
Reform in Saudi Arabia: At a snail's pace | The... →
Yet the changes remain, in many ways, cosmetic. King Abdullah has championed international dialogue between religions, for instance. But when Saudi schools reopened in September, parents were surprised to find that in the new, “reformed” religion curriculum, supposedly purged of bigotry as part of a post-September 11th initiative to promote a more tolerant Islam, students are still taught...
Iran sanctions: U.S. [selectively] issues... →
The 4-month-old sanctions are aimed at drying up foreign investment in Iran’s oil and gas sector in hopes of persuading Iran to agree to limits on its disputed nuclear program. Some members of Congress have pressed the Obama administration not to shy away from penalizing huge Chinese, Russian and Turkish firms that have been seeking energy deals with Iran as Western companies have...
AP Interview: Interpol head warns of Somali threat →
“For us, we believe that ‘the Afghanistan’ in the next five to 10 years will be Somalia and those parts of Africa (countries in the north and west),” the New Jersey native told the AP at a security conference in Brussels.
S.African unions speak out against Wal-Mart deal |... →
South Africa’s largest labour federation spoke out Thursday against Wal-Mart’s bid to enter South Africa, calling the US retail giant “one of the worst union-bashing employers in the world”.
Report slams UK cameras used to snoop on Muslims |... →
British police apologized Thursday for a counterterrorism project that installed surveillance cameras in predominantly Muslim neighborhoods, saying that although the cameras had never been switched on, the program had damaged trust and caused anger in the community.
The surveillance program, which saw more than 200 CCTV cameras and number plate recognition devices put up in parts of ...
Musharraf warns of new military coup in Pakistan |... →
Former president Pervez Musharraf warned Wednesday that Pakistan’s military could launch another coup, as he prepared to launch a new party and rejoin the country’s turbulent politics.
The retired general said army chief Ashfaq Pervez Kayani could be forced to intervene against the government of President Asif Ali Zardari which he said had failed to tackle rampant Islamist...
Special Report: The ties that bind at the Federal... →
To the outside world, the Federal Reserve is an impenetrable fortress. But former employees and big investors are privy to some of its secrets — and that access can be lucrative.
On August 19, just nine days after the U.S. central bank surprised financial markets by deciding to buy more bonds to support a flagging economy, former Fed governor Larry Meyer sent a note to clients of his ...
U.S. Works to Persuade Israel on Settlement Freeze... →
Efforts to salvage Middle East peace talks were at full throttle on Thursday as American officials sought to persuade Israel to renew a West Bank settlement freeze with military hardware and diplomatic guarantees while urging the Palestinians to accept a partial end to Israeli building there through a separate set of inducements.
Kurdish Rebels Extend Cease-Fire Against Turkey |... →
A leader of Kurdish rebels seeking greater autonomy in Turkey said Thursday the group will extend its unilateral cease-fire for another month in hopes of opening talks with Turkish leaders.
Murad Karialan, the co-president of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, said there is a possibility for an open-ended halt to attacks if Turkey agrees to concessions such as releasing jailed...
"Obama's Wars": The Real Story Bob Woodward Won't... →
In September of last year, McChrystal (or someone close to him) leaked to Woodward a document that essentially forced President Obama’s hand. Obama wanted time to consider all options on what to do about Afghanistan. But the leak, publicizing the military’s “confidential” assertion that a troop increase was essential, cast the die, and Obama had to go along. Nobody was...
Obama Administration Announces New Offshore... →
Under the new rules, a professional engineer must independently inspect and certify each stage of the drilling process. Blowout preventers – the emergency cutoff equipment designed to contain a major spill – must be independently certified and capable of severing the drill pipe under severe pressure.
Companies also will be required to develop comprehensive plans to manage risks and improve...
Why Are There Over 1.6 Million Homeless Children... →
As I continued to study the issue I have found there are basically two camps out there. The main camp are the people, myself included at first, who simply have NO CLUE that this is such a huge problem. Most people I talk to have no idea that this is such a major epidemic.
The second camp is the people who feel the statistics are made up. There are a lot of people who don’t want to...
Drone Warfare on Trial - Robert Koehler | HuffPo →
The witnesses made a number of points that put the defendants’ trespassing in a larger context, including the fact that U.S. drone strikes kill civilians indiscriminately and in large numbers (there’s a 10-to-1 civilian-to-insurgent kill ratio, according to a recent Brookings Institute study); that intentional, targeted killing is a war crime; and that, according to Nuremberg...
Some Android apps caught covertly sending GPS data... →
The results of a study conducted by researchers from Duke University, Penn State University, and Intel Labs have revealed that a significant number of popular Android applications transmit private user data to advertising networks without explicitly asking or informing the user. The researchers developed a piece of software called TaintDroid that uses dynamic taint analysis to detect and...
A New Low in Middle East Diplomacy - Stephen M.... →
Yesterday the Jerusalem Post reported that the Obama administration has offered Israel a generous package of new benefits if it will just extend the settlement freeze for another two months. The source for the report was David Makovsky of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a key organization in the Israel lobby. Makovsky is also a co-author with Obama Middle East advisor Dennis...
Three Afghans and soldiers killed in attacks | AFP →
Taliban attacks including a suicide car bomb killed three international soldiers and as many Afghans in the troubled country’s south, the alliance and Afghan authorities said Thursday.
The NATO-led soldiers were killed in separate attacks — two in homemade bomb explosions and the third in a firefight with insurgents, NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said...
Spanish judge frees US al-Qaida suspect | AP →
A Spanish judge ordered the release Thursday of a U.S. citizen of Algerian origin who was detained on suspicion of financing al-Qaida’s North Africa affiliate, citing a lack of evidence but keeping the investigation open.
Judge Santiago Pedraz took away suspect Mohamed Omar Dehbi’s passport, barred him from leaving Spain and ordered him to check in with police daily.
New Poll: Pakistanis Hate the Drones, Back Suicide... →
Only 16 percent of respondents to a new poll sponsored by the drone-watchers at the New America Foundation say that the drone strikes “accurately target militants.” Three times that number say they “largely kill civilians.”
Supreme Court Considers Constitutionality Of... →
The court is set to decide whether members of a fundamentalist church in Kansas who picketed Matthew’s funeral with signs bearing anti-gay and anti-Catholic invective have a constitutional right to say what they want.
Military Welfare Budget Won’t Thin Any Time Soon... →
Ivan Eland sat with RT to discuss the astronomical political clout held by the welfare queens of the military-industrial complex that will thwart any translation of the Pentagon’s rhetoric into actual policy
Sami Samir Hassoun, Chicago Terror Suspect, To... →
A 22-year-old Lebanese immigrant accused of placing a backpack he thought contained a bomb near Chicago’s Wrigley Field this month is set to appear in federal court.
Sami Samir Hassoun was charged last week with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and an explosive device. He is scheduled to appear in court Thursday.
Prosecutors allege Hassoun took a fake bomb given to him by...
Boeing wins 12 billion dollar Pentagon contract |... →
The Pentagon on Wednesday awarded Boeing a 12-billion-dollar contract to help modernize B-52 weapons systems over eight years.
Despite Clinton Pledge, State Dept. to Pay Out... →
A new multibillion-dollar private security contract to protect U.S. diplomats is “about to drop” as early as this week, say two State Department sources, who requested anonymity because the contract is not yet finalized and they are not authorized to speak with the press.
Solitary Confinement: Hell in America | Infoshop... →
It is virtually impossible to know what goes on in prisons in this country unless you are there.
And then there is solitary confinement.
When prisoners complain, guards and administration say they are lying…and the public always believes the prison staff. The only people who don’t are activists, families of prisoners, and folks who have been there.
Irish bank bailout: how it adds up | The Guardian →
The total cost of the Irish banking bailout to taxpayers is now estimated at €50bn (£43.2bn), assuming the worst-case scenario for Anglo Irish Bank. Of this, some €35bn is debt and is unlikely to be recovered.
However, the €6.5bn to be injected into Allied Irish Banks and €3.5bn already invested in Bank of Ireland is regarded as an investment by the National Pension Reserve Fund, the sovereign...
'Feds radiating Americans'? Mobile X-ray vans hit... →
As an antiterror measure, the US government has deployed mobile X-ray technology to randomly scan cars and trucks. But the measure is riling privacy proponents.
One in 28 US kids has a parent in prison: study |... →
This means more than one in 100 Americans is in prison, and the cost of prisons to states now exceeds $50 billion per year, or one in every 15 state dollars spent — a figure the study describes as “staggering.”
According to the authors, one in every 28 children in the US has a parent behind bars — up from one in 125 just 25 years ago. This is significant, the study...
Anglo Irish Bank bailout could total €34bn | The... →
The cost of bailing out Anglo Irish Bank, the lender at the centre of Ireland’s financial crisis, could rise to €34bn (£29.1bn) under a worst case scenario, the Irish central bank admitted today. The news came as the country’s finance minister warned that the failure of the nationalised bank would “bring down” Ireland, and warned of further austerity measures.
AIG Announces Plan to Repay U.S. Rescue With Stock... →
American International Group Inc. agreed with U.S. regulators to repay its bailout by converting the government’s holdings into common shares for sale, a step toward independence for the insurer whose near collapse two years ago threatened the global economy.
The U.S. Treasury Department will convert its preferred stake of about $49.1 billion for 1.66 billion shares of common stock and then...