Official Chosen by McCain to Run Convention
Resigns
The public relations executive whom Senator John McCain’s
campaign had chosen to run the Republican National Convention this summer resigned
his post on Saturday after a magazine reported that his firm had lobbied for
the military junta that runs Myanmar.
U.S. looks set to offer Israel powerful new
radar
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration appears set
to offer Israel a powerful radar system that could greatly boost Israeli
defenses against enemy ballistic missiles while tying them directly into a
growing U.S. missile shield. President George W. Bush is expected to discuss
the matter during a visit to Israel starting on Wednesday to mark the 60th
anniversary of the Jewish state amid mounting U.S. concern over perceived
threats from Iran, people familiar with the matter said.
Judge Drops General From Trial of Detainee
In a new blow to the Bush administration’s troubled military
commission system, a military judge has disqualified a Pentagon general who has
been centrally involved in overseeing Guantánamo war crimes tribunals from any
role in the first case headed for trial. The judge said the general was too
closely aligned with the prosecution, raising questions about whether he could
carry out his role with the required neutrality and objectivity.
EUROPE: Stealth Lobbyists Creep In
BRUSSELS, May 9 (IPS) - The often cosy relationship between
corporate lobbyists and the Brussels bureaucracy was illustrated in the past
few weeks as several members of the European Parliament (MEPs) prepared to
visit Peru.
Why the propaganda campaign for international
intervention in Burma?
The catastrophe wrought by Cyclone Nargis on the Burmese
people has provoked an extraordinary campaign by the US and allied powers, and
in the international media, demanding that the military junta open its borders
to aid and aid officials as well as to American military aircraft, troops and
warships. Once again an attempt is being made to stampede public opinion with
heartrending images of desperate survivors and devastated towns, accompanied by
an incessant drumbeat condemning the Burmese regime for its inadequate aid
efforts, its insularity, and its failure to accept international, especially
American, aid.
U.S. lease of Waterloo fairgrounds raises
questions
Federal officials have imposed a news blackout at the
National Cattle Congress fairgrounds in Waterloo, where they have leased almost
the entire property through May 25. Tim Counts, a Midwest spokesman for U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, declined to say Monday
whether an immigration raid is pending that would use the fairgrounds as a
detention center.
Republicans vote against moms; no word yet on
puppies, kittens
It was already shaping up to be a difficult year for
congressional Republicans. Now, on the cusp of Mother's Day, comes this: A
majority of the House GOP has voted against motherhood.
Studies on tasers are flawed, cardiologist
tells inquiry
Tasers pose potentially fatal health risks that studies
proving their safety don't take into account, a U.S. doctor told the B.C. taser
inquiry yesterday.
Johann Hari: The loathsome smearing of
Israel's critics
In the US and Britain, there is a campaign to smear anybody
who tries to describe the plight of the Palestinian people. It is an attempt to
intimidate and silence – and to a large degree, it works. There is nobody these
self-appointed spokesmen for Israel will not attack as anti-Jewish: liberal
Jews, rabbis, even Holocaust survivors.
Pastors May Defy IRS Gag Rule
A conservative legal-advocacy group is enlisting ministers
to use their pulpits to preach about election candidates this September,
defying a tax law that bars churches from engaging in politics. Alliance
Defense Fund, a Scottsdale, Ariz., nonprofit, is hoping at least one sermon
will prompt the Internal Revenue Service to investigate, sparking a court
battle that could get the tax provision declared unconstitutional. Alliance
lawyers represent churches in disputes with the IRS over alleged partisan
activity.
Americans United Condemns Religious Right
Plot To Politicize Pulpits
A Religious Right group’s plan to ask churches to violate
federal tax law on electioneering is deplorable, according to Americans United
for Separation of Church and State.
News Corp. withdraws bid to buy NY newspaper
Newsday
NEW
YORK - A spokeswoman for Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
says the media conglomerate has withdrawn its bid to purchase Newsday.
May 9, 2008
Ecuador says Colombia committed 'crimes
against humanity' in military raid on rebel camp
QUITO, Ecuador: Colombia's military committed "crimes
against humanity" when it allegedly shot three people in the back and
killed a man with a blow to the head during a raid on a rebel camp in Ecuador's
jungle, the Ecuadorean interior minister said Wednesday.
US risking Cold War: Gorbachev
LONDON: The US risks starting a new Cold War by proposing to
build its missile shield in central and eastern Europe, former Soviet leader
Mikhail Gorbachev warned in comments published in London yesterday.
Russian parliament confirms Putin as prime
minister
MOSCOW - Vladimir Putin was
named prime minister of Russia Thursday after a
fervent speech full of ambitious plans that overshadowed his low-key successor
and suggested that he will keep a strong hand in ruling the country.
Fresh talk of 'dream team' emerges in White
House race
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The notion of a Democratic "dream
team" uniting to face Republican White House contender John McCain has resurfaced amid increasing calls for Hillary Clinton to abandon her presidential bid.
Online library gets FBI to back off
(05-07) 18:03 PDT SAN FRANCISCO --
Brewster Kahle, who runs an online library in San Francisco, was appalled when
his volunteer lawyers told him in November that the FBI was demanding records
of all communications with one of his patrons as part of an investigation of
"international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities." The
FBI document, called a national security letter, told Kahle he could be
prosecuted if he discussed the subject with anyone but his lawyers, and allowed
him to speak with his attorneys only in person. Kahle said his Internet
Archive, which has 500,000 card-holders, doesn't even keep the records the FBI
was seeking.
Feds Practice Evacuation From D.C.
A national disaster exercise that began last week involves
the evacuation of thousands of federal personnel from Washington, D.C., the Washington
Post reported (see GSN, April
29).In National Exercise 2-08, which continues through Saturday, terrorists
release a poisonous gas from a tanker in Washington state while Oregon
authorities must handle the unintentional escape of nerve agent from the
Umatilla Chemical Depot.
That’ll Teach ‘Em: Secret Service Bravely
Arrests British Pilot Who Tried to Pin a Thank You Note on President
Bush’s Gate
Ever since they burned the White House, the Secret Service
has been a little edgy about British veterans carrying gas cans. Maurice Kirk,
63, who is nicknamed the “Flying Vet”, learned this lesson when he tried to pin
a thank you note on the gate of Bush’s ranch. He flew to Texas to thank Bush
for his rescue by the Coast Guard in February. He ended up in a psychiatric
hospital, charged with a criminal acts and facing deportation. It appears that,
with President Bush now the most unpopular president in history, it is
considered manifest insanity for anyone to be thankful to Bush for any aspect
of his service.
Townspeople Hunt Down the Wizard of Land
O’ Lakes
This week, the good town of Land O’ Lakes, Florida is free
of the scourge of a wizard. While such hunt were once led by pitchfork carrying
townsfolk, this important civic action was taken by concerned parents who
discovered the magical tendencies of substitute teacher (and fulltime wizard)
Jim Piculas in Pasco County School District. Piculas inadvertently disclosed
his dark secret in a class when he showed children how he could make a
toothpick disappear and reappear at a middle school. It proved the toothpick
that broke the wizard’s back. The District supervisor of substitute teachers
(and hunter of wizards) Pat Sinclair, who oversees substitute teachers in the
Pasco County School District, called Piculas to tell him that he was fired,
explaining “You’ve been accused of wizardry.” (For more, click
here.)
Drug ads scrutinized by Congress
WASHINGTON, May 8 (UPI) -- Drug company television ads have
crossed ethical boundaries due to political appointments at the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration, a congressman said.
Woman fired over 16-cent doughnut
LONDON,
Ontario, May 8 (UPI) -- Canada's largest doughnut chain fired a woman in
London, Ontario, for giving a customer's toddler a 16-cent doughnut nugget for
free. Nicole Lilliman, 27, was summoned to the office of the Tim Hortons
franchise Wednesday and told video surveillance had caught her giving the child
a Timbit -- a tablespoon-sized solid doughnut on Monday, the London Free Press
reported Thursday.
May 8, 2008
Canadian becomes first child soldier since
Nuremberg to stand trial for war crimes
An inmate at the US-run Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba
is set to be the first child soldier to go on trial for war crimes since
Nuremberg, after a military judge ruled that there were no legal obstacles
preventing the camp's special military commissions from prosecuting him. Omar
Khadr, a Canadian national, was 15 at the time of his alleged crimes. His
defence team said his age should see him treated as a victim and rehabilitated,
rather than prosecuted as a war criminal. He has had no access to education
while at Guantanamo, where he has spent more than a quarter of his life.
How Barack Obama Fronted for the Most Vicious Predators on Wall Street
Obama's Money Cartel
Wall Street,
known variously as a barren wasteland for diversity or the last plantation in
America, has defied courts and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(EEOC) for decades in its failure to hire blacks as stockbrokers. Now it’s marshalling
its money machine to elect a black man to the highest office in the land. Why
isn’t the press curious about this?
Bankrolling a Presidential Campaign
The Obama Bubble Agenda
The Obama phenomenon has been likened to that
of cults, celebrity groupies and Messiah worshipers. But what we’re actually
witnessing is ObamaMania (as in tulip mania), the third and final bubble
orchestrated and financed by the wonderful Wall Street folks who brought us the
first two: the Nasdaq/tech bubble and a subprime-mortgage-in-every-pot
bubble.
'Bioterror' Case Falls Apart
NEW YORK, 2 May (IPS) - After a four-year legal battle, a
U.S. federal judge has dismissed all charges against an avant-garde artist who
public officials condemned as a bio-terrorist in a case critics are calling 'a
persecution, not a prosecution'. The artist is Dr. Steven Kurtz, a professor of
Visual Studies at the University of Buffalo, and a founding member of the
award-winning collective Critical Art Ensemble (CAE).
Medvedev sworn in as Russian president
The eight-year presidency of Vladimir Putin came to an end
today as his successor Dmitry Medvedev was sworn into office in a solemn
ceremony in the Kremlin's throne room. Medvedev, a 42-year-old former corporate
lawyer and longtime Putin ally, stressed freedom and the rule of law in his
first remarks after taking the oath of office and receiving a gold chain of
double-headed eagles symbolising the presidency.
US trains Pakistani killing machine
KARACHI - A longstanding
disconnect between the Pakistan and United States militaries is largely
responsible for the inability of the "war on terror" to nail key
targets such as al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, as well as military failures
against the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan. Former US ambassador to
Honduras, Mexico and the Philippines and presently Deputy Secretary of State,
John Negroponte, aims to change this by creating special Pakistani units,
trained by the US, to go after key figures.
US mourns black woman who defied racist
divorce order
On a hot July night almost exactly 50 years ago, Mildred
Loving and her husband Richard were roused from their bed by the sheriff of the
rural Virginia county where they lived and hauled off to jail. Their only crime
was to be a black woman and a white man presumptuous enough to be married at a
time when many southern US states banned mixed-race unions.
Top UBS banker detained in US
A
top banker at UBS has been "briefly detained" by the US authorities
investigating whether the Swiss bank helped its American customers evade tax.
The bank confirmed last night that the US department of justice (DOJ) is
carrying out the investigation. It refused to name the banker but the
Financial Times identified him as Martin Liechti, head of UBS's wealth
management operations in North and South America. Wealth management is the core
of UBS's private banking operations and Liechti is believed to have been held
during a visit to Miami last month.
May 7, 2008
Oil nears $123 on $200 oil prediction, supply
concerns
NEW YORK - Oil futures blasted to a new record near $123 a
barrel Tuesday, gaining momentum as investors bought on a forecast of much
higher prices and on any news hinting at supply shortages. Retail gas prices
edged lower, but appear poised to rise to new records of their own in coming
weeks.
McCain vows to name more 'Alitos' and 'Robertses'
WASHINGTON — John McCain sought to burnish his conservative
credentials Tuesday with a broadside against "the common and systematic
abuse of our federal courts by the people we entrust with judicial power"
and a promise of "better judges" in the mold of Supreme Court
Justices John G. Roberts and Samuel Alito.
Pentagon Targeted Iran for Regime Change after 9/11
WASHINGTON, May 5 (IPS) - Three weeks after the 9/11 terror
attacks, former U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld established an
official military objective of not only removing the Saddam Hussein regime by
force but overturning the regime in Iran, as well as in Syria and four other
countries in the Middle East, according to a document quoted extensively in
then Undersecretary of Defence for Policy Douglas Feith's recently published
account of the Iraq war decisions.
Bolton: Striking Iran ‘Is Really The Most
Prudent Thing To Do’
Yesterday morning, Fox News interviewed former U.N.
Ambassador John Bolton to discuss whether America is close to striking
Iranian targets, as new reports indicate the Bush administration is drawing
up plans for a “surgical strike.” Bolton said that while there are
“obviously risks associated” with a strike on Iran, the risks of not doing
something are “far higher” at this point.
Special counsel's office raided amid
obstruction probe
WASHINGTON - Federal agents raided the office and home of
U.S. Special Counsel Scott Bloch on Tuesday while investigating whether the
nation's top protector of whistle-blowers destroyed evidence potentially
showing he retaliated against his own staff.
Italian Rightist Sparks Outrage
Gianfranco Fini, the president of the Italian Parliament, is facing a firestorm of controversy
after saying that the May 1 burning of Israeli flags in Turin by far-left
protesters was "much more serious" than the savage beating of a
29-year-old that same day in Verona by a neo-Nazi gang. The victim of the
beating, Nicola Tommasoli, died late Monday after several days in a coma. Five
young fans of the Verona soccer team have been arrested for the murder.
Indiana nuns lacking ID denied at poll by
fellow sister
About 12 Indiana nuns were turned away Tuesday from a
polling place by a fellow sister because they didn't have state or federal
identification bearing a photograph.
Israeli
President: Nuclear Iran would be 'nightmare'; Israel must remain sole Mideast
nuclear power
The Israeli President, Shimon Peres, stated Monday that
"Iran is a danger not only for Israel but also for the rest of the
world", adding that if Iran were to get a nuclear weapon, it would be a
"nightmare". In his talk, he tacitly acknowledged that Israel is a
nuclear power - something that was long denied by the Israeli state, but has
recently been discreetly mentioned by Israeli leaders on a number of
occasions. Peres has long been called
the 'father of Israel's bomb', having obtained help from the French government
in the 1950s to build Israel's nuclear reactor at Dimona. Since building the
reactor, the Israeli government has maintained a policy of "nuclear
ambiguity" and has never signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Most
estimates put the number of nuclear bombs in Israel's arsenal at about 100,
which would make it the sixth-largest nuclear power in the world, if it were to
come out of the closet and openly admit that it has nuclear weapons.
Why I Will Not Vote for John McCain
As some of you might know, John McCain is a long-time
acquaintance of mine that goes way back to our time together at the U.S. Naval
Academy and as Prisoners of War in Vietnam. He is a man I respect and admire in
some ways. But there are a number of reasons why I will not vote for him for
President of the United States.
Broke Britain: How soaring bills have left
cash-strapped families with less to spend than for 17 years
Devastating
price rises mean families have less to spend on themselves than at any time for
17 years. The share of household income eaten up by unavoidable outgoings such
as housing, food, heat and council tax has soared over the past six years.
May 6, 2008
Israeli Political Crisis Overshadows Rice’s
Trip
JERUSALEM — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held a
series of talks on Israeli-Palestinian peace here on Sunday, saying she
believed an accord was attainable by year’s end. But the process was
overshadowed by an intensifying police investigation of Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert of Israel.
McCain's proposal to kick Russia out of G-8
is bold and unlikely
WASHINGTON — John McCain dropped a little-noticed bombshell
into his March foreign-policy address: Boot Russia from the G-8, the elite club
of leading industrial democracies whose leaders try to coordinate economic
policies.
Hotels, shops, condos planned for Green Zone
BAGHDAD — Forget the rocket attacks, concrete blast walls
and lack of a sewer system. Now try to imagine luxury hotels, a shopping center
and even condos in the heart of Baghdad.
U.S. base is no longer welcome in Ecuador
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa has vowed not to renew
the base's contract beyond its November 2009 expiration. And politicians
drafting a new constitution have proposed banning the base or any other foreign
military presence in the country.
Greetings from Guantanamo Bay ... and the
sickest souvenir shop in the world
Welcome to "Taliban Towers" at Guantanamo Bay, the
most ghoulishly distasteful tourist destination on the planet. As these
astonishing mementoes show, the US authorities are promoting the world's most
notorious prison camp as a cheap hideaway for American sunseekers – a
revelation that has drawn international anger and condemnation. Just yards from
the shelves of specially branded mugs and cuddly toys, nearly 300 "enemy
combatants" lie sweltering in a waking nightmare.
Gaza sewage overflowing into Mediterranean
Sea
With treatment plants out of action due to a lack of fuel,
sewerage plants in Gaza are overflowing. Massive amounts of sewage have had to
be dumped into the Mediterranean Sea to prevent an outbreak of disease. Now the
United Nations is concerned the overflow into the sea will contaminate the
water with bacteria making it unsafe for swimming.
Senators call for EPA to consider ethanol
mandate waiver
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Republicans on Monday asked
environmental regulators to use their power to halt the country's ethanol
output expansion plans amid rising food prices.
The Myth of Green McCain
Despite the accolades he receives,
McCain's record shows a candidate who is behind the times on climate policy and
lacks conviction on environment.
McCain's Delusional Tax Plan
John McCain
has adopted a tax plan that covers up massive giveaways to the rich with absurd
assertions and faulty calculations.
Outrage at European moves to feed animal
remains to chickens
The European Union is preparing plans to allow pig remains
to be used to feed poultry. The practice - banned in Europe after the BSE
crisis 10 years ago - would save farmers millions of pounds as prices of cereal
feed for chickens soar, say officials in Brussels. But the proposal has
outraged animal rights campaigners, Muslim organisations and other groups. They
claim the move would put families at risk, offend religious sensibilities and
lead to a major consumer backlash.
States Look to Rein In Private Medicare Plans
WASHINGTON — State officials say they will soon ask Congress
for more power to regulate the marketing of private Medicare insurance
plans to older Americans because they are still receiving complaints of
high-pressure sales tactics that have led some beneficiaries to sign up for
unsuitable policies.
How the British Government planned to deal
with Armageddon: make sure we had enough tea
Five million are dead, our cities laid waste and the
nation's infrastructure is shattered. The nightmare aftermath of a Soviet
nuclear assault is outlined in apocalyptic detail in a secret government report
in 1955. And among the issues troubling civil servants is...tea. More
precisely, would there be enough to go round and help the nation recover from
Armageddon?
Amazon suing NY state over sales tax law
LOS
ANGELES (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) has sued the state of New York,
challenging a new statute requiring Internet retailers based elsewhere to
collect New York sales taxes.
May 5, 2008
Shell firms shielded US contractor from taxes
Defense outfit
may have saved millions
WASHINGTON - In March 2005, one of the Pentagon's most
trusted contractors - Virginia-based MPRI, founded by retired senior military
leaders - won a $400 million contract to train police in Iraq and other
hotspots. Two months later, MPRI set up a company in Bermuda to which it
subcontracted much of the work. It was not the first time that MPRI executives
had used a shell company in an offshore tax haven to perform government-funded
work. A year earlier, MPRI headed a joint venture that won a $1.6 billion
contract to provide US peacekeeping forces in Kosovo and elsewhere. Three
months later, MPRI set up a company in the Cayman Islands to do the work.
Despite Alert, Flawed Wiring Still Kills
G.I.s
WASHINGTON — In October 2004, the United States Army issued
an urgent bulletin to commanders across Iraq, warning them of a deadly new
threat to American soldiers. Because of flawed electrical work by contractors,
the bulletin stated, soldiers at American bases in Iraq had received severe
electrical shocks, and some had even been electrocuted.
Building Manager: DC Madam's Death Not Suicide
ORLANDO, Fla. -- The building manager of a Central
Florida condo said he spent time talking to Deborah Jean Palfrey on Monday as
she packed to go to her mother's house and she did not seem suicidal . . .
Palfrey’s building manager said she often told him she believed she was being
followed and he thinks there may have been some former clients of her escort
service who wanted her dead. "She insinuated that there is a contract out
for her and I fully believe they succeeded," her building manager said.
Darfur Tragedy: Follywood Turns the Victims
into Villains
They do say that Tinsel
Town, home of the fabulously rich, famous and beautiful people is the place
where dreams come true. But I think that Hollywood should now be renamed
Follywood to reflect the actions of some of its residents. Dreamboats George
Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, poster girls like Angelina Jolie and other
giants of the silver screen like film director Steven Spielberg – have
blundered in to Sudan like someone with a candle hunting for a gas leak. These
foolish Follywood folk have turned the victims of the Darfur tragedy into
villains. It would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic but sadly they appear too
dim to realize they are being manipulated.
Why John McCain Wants You To Give Up Your
Health Insurance
When he [John McCain] says, "we have the highest
quality of health care in the world in America," he is speaking as a man
who has enjoyed a lifetime of government-run care. But now John McCain is
seeking the presidency as a Republican, and a healthy distaste for
government-run health care is de rigueur. "I am convinced," said John
McCain at Miami Children's Hospital, "that the wrong way to go is to turn
over your lives to the government and hope it will all be fine. It won't."
Spoken like a 71-year-old whose government health coverage has kept him healthy
enough to run for the presidency.
Malaysia angers women with travel-restriction
idea
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian women's groups reacted
with outrage on Sunday to a government proposal to impose restrictions on women
planning to travel overseas on their own.
US religious rights panel wants Vietnam,
Pakistan blacklisted
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A US religious freedom watchdog on Friday
asked the State Department to include Vietnam, Pakistan and Turkmenistan
in its global blacklist of religious freedom violators, and maintained Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, on
a watchlist.
Mideast Quartet presses Arab states, Israel
LONDON (AFP) - Key world powers called Friday on Arab states
to fulfil their promises of aid for the Palestinians and voiced deep concern
over the humanitarian impact of a nine-month-old Israeli blockade on the Gaza
Strip.
FBI wants widespread monitoring of 'illegal' Internet activity
WASHINGTON--The
FBI on Wednesday called for new legislation that would allow federal police to
monitor the Internet for "illegal activity." The suggestion from FBI
Director Robert Mueller, which came during a House of Representatives Judiciary
Committee hearing, appears to go beyond a current plan to monitor traffic on
federal-government networks. Mueller seemed to suggest that the bureau should
have a broad "omnibus" authority to conduct monitoring and
surveillance of private-sector networks as well. The surveillance should
include all Internet traffic, Mueller said, "whether it be .mil, .gov, .com--whichever
network you're talking about." (See the
transcript of the hearing.)