www.legitgov.org/
www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news

25/1/08

Like FBI, CIA Has Used Secret ‘Letters’ 25 Jan 2008
Newly released documents shed light on the use of national security letters by the CIA. The spy agency has employed them to obtain financial information about U.S. residents and does so under extraordinary secrecy, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which obtained copies of CIA letters under the Freedom of Information Act. The CIA’s requests for financial records come with “gag orders” on the recipients, said ACLU lawyer Melissa Goodman. In many cases, she said, the recipient is not allowed to keep a copy of the letter or even take notes about the information turned over to the CIA.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/
article/2008/01/24/AR2008012403109.html

Phone Firms’ Bid for Immunity in Wiretaps Gains Ground 25 Jan 2008
The Senate signaled in a key vote yesterday that it supports giving some of the nation’s largest telephone companies immunity from dozens of privacy lawsuits related to a federal domestic eavesdropping program initiated after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. In a 60 to 36 vote — with 12 DemocRATs joining Republicans in the majority — the Senate rejected a version of the proposed legislation sponsored by Democrats on the Judiciary Committee. That bill omitted immunity for the telecommunications firms involved in warrantless eavesdropping. [From Glenn Greenwald’s blog: As usual, just enough Democrats — roughly 12 — voted in favor in order to ensure that the Motion passed while enabling Democrats generally to pretend that they opposed it. All GOP Senators voted in favor. The pro-immunity, pro-warrantless eavesdropping Democrats: Rockefeller, Pryor, Inouye, McCaskill, Landrieu, Salazar, Nelson (FL), Nelson (NE), Mikulski, Carper, Bayh, and Johnson. Neither Clinton nor Obama bothered to show up for any of this.]
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/
article/2008/01/24/AR2008012403454.html

Judge wants answers on CIA videotapes 24 Jan 2008
A federal judge said Thursday that CIA interrogation videotapes may have been relevant to his court case, and he gave the Bush regime three weeks to explain why they were destroyed in 2005 and say whether other evidence was destroyed. The decision is a legal setback for the Bush regime, which has urged courts not to get involved.
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080125/ap_
on_go_ca_st_pe/cia_videotapes_4

Immigration officials detaining, deporting American citizens 24 Jan 2008
Thomas Warziniack was born in Minnesota and grew up in Georgia, but immigration authorities pronounced him an illegal immigrant from Russia. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has held Warziniack for weeks in an Arizona detention facility with the aim of deporting him to a country he’s never seen. His jailers shrugged off Warziniack’s claims that he was an American citizen, even though they could have retrieved his Minnesota birth certificate in minutes and even though a Colorado court had concluded that he was a U.S. citizen a year before it shipped him to Arizona. [See graphic: U.S citizens detained? See Gallery: Are U.S. citizens being deported to foreign countries?]
www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/25392.html

24/1/08

Breaking: Times Editorial Board Endorses Clinton and McCain 24 Jan 2008
The editorial board of The New York Times is endorsing Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination and Senator John McCain as the Republican nominee.
www.legitgov.org/

Dr. Rec details the “Tweety Effect.” Identity Politics: Sexism, Racism and the Political Imaginary —The Rec Report By Dr. Michael Rectenwald 24 Jan 2008
Obama, the first viable African-American presidential candidate in our nation’s history, has been used to provide a “liberal” Trojan horse for sexists like Matthews to drive their misogyny home. But as divided as the electorate is by the Clinton-Obama clash, liberal activists have not been fooled. I submit that not only is Matthews’s deployment sexist; it is also racist. It’s a cynical use of supposed progressive anti-racism to cut in anti-progressive ways. [See: Tell MSNBC to Stop the Misogyny! ‘Chris Matthews is like the DC sniper, lying in wait, always on the hunt for Hillary.’ Action alert compiled by Lori Price 23 Jan 2008 CLG’s Michael Rectenwald writes to MSNBC top brass, and he’s told to ‘easy up’ by NBC President Steve Capus!]
www.legitgov.org/comment/rec_report_240108.html

U.S. to Insist Iraq Grant It Wide Mandate in Operations 25 Jan 2008
With its international mandate in Iraq set to expire in 11 months, the Bush regime will insist that the government in Baghdad give the United States broad authority to conduct combat operations and guarantee civilian contractors mercenaries immunity from Iraqi law, according to administration and military officials. This emerging American negotiating position faces a potential buzz saw of opposition from Iraq, according to these officials. At the same time, the administration faces opposition from Democrats at home, who warn that the agreements the White House seeks would bind the next president by locking in Mr. Bush’s policies and a long-term military presence. The American negotiating position for a formal military-to-military relationship… includes demands that American troops be immune from Iraqi prosecution, and that they maintain the power to detain Iraqi prisoners.
www.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/world/middleeast/25military.html

‘It keeps going up, up and away.’ U.S. war costs in Iraq up-budget report —$11 billion a month 23 Jan 2008
“Funding for U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and other activities in the war on terrorism expanded significantly in 2007,” the Congressional Budget Office said in a report released on Wednesday. War funding, which averaged about $93 billion a year from 2003 through 2005, rose to $120 billion in 2006 and $171 billion in 2007 and President George W. Bush has asked for $193 billion in 2008, the nonpartisan office wrote.
www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN2365065420080124

Bomb kills Iraq police chief as he visits blast scene 24 Jan 2008
A suicide bomber killed the chief of police of Iraq’s main northern city of Mosul and two other officers on Thursday as they were traveling to the scene of an earlier blast, the US military said. Brigadier General Salah al-Juburi had previously been reported wounded in the bombing, which struck as he traveled to a three-story apartment block leveled in a bombing on Wednesday which killed 18 people.
newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view/20080124-11
4535/Bomb-kills-Iraq-police-chief-as-he-visits-blast-scene

Deadly explosions strike northern Iraq 23 Jan 2008
An explosion ripped through an apartment building and surrounding houses in northern Iraq Wednesday shortly after police arrived to investigate a tip about a weapons cache, killing at least nine people. In a separate incident, a suicide car bomber targeted a police convoy near the northern city of Kirkuk, killing at least five civilians and injuring 11, police said.
www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews
/20080123/iraq_blasts_080123/20080123

Infamous WMD report to be made public 24 Jan 2008
An early draft of the government’s infamous dossier on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction must be made public, the Information Tribunal said yesterday. The publication of the document by John Williams, Foreign Office press chief, will resolve whether Whitehall spin doctors inserted the claim WMDs could be deployed by Saddam Hussein in 45 minutes to “sex up” the dossier in 2002.
news.scotsman.com/uk/Infamous-WMD-report-to-be.3705227.jp

Foreign Office told to give up WMD draft 24 Jan 2008
An early draft of the government’s discredited Iraq weapons dossier written by John Williams, a former journalist and head of the Foreign Office news department, must be released, the Information Tribunal ordered yesterday. The government has said the dossier was entirely the work of the intelligence agencies. Williams’ role in the affair was not disclosed to the Hutton inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of David Kelly, the government weapons expert who questioned the way the dossier was drawn up.
politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,,2245786,00.html

Truth was first US casualty in Iraq war: study 23 Jan 2008
US President [sic] George W. Bush and his top officials ran roughshod over the truth in the run-up to the Iraq war lying a total of 935 times, a study released Wednesday found. Bush and his administration “waged a carefully orchestrated campaign of misinformation about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein’s Iraq,” said the damning report entitled “False Pretenses.” According to the Center for Public Integrity, eight administration officials “made at least 935 false statements” about Iraq’s possession of weapons of mass destruction, or links to Al-Qaeda [al-CIAduh], on 532 separate occasions.
afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hYM
8h8wNn4ccjLCLy7N8cyPwUcUA

Envoys of six major powers meet on UN Iran resolution 24 Jan 2008
Ambassadors of six major powers dealing with the nuclear standoff with Iran met behind closed doors here Thursday to fine-tune a third sanctions resolution against Tehran, diplomats said. The envoys from the five veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States, plus Germany — were building on elements of a text agreed by their foreign ministers in Berlin Tuesday, according to two Western diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity.
afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hQwBlxcpqFS4fRPrLZdnbLgTWxTg

U.S. commander orders plans on Pakistan —U.S. admiral has plans to ‘help’ Pakistan through 2015 23 Jan 2008
The commander of U.S. forces in Central Asia has launched planning for more extensive use of U.S. troops to train Pakistani armed forces, a senior defense official said Wednesday. Adm. William J. Fallon, commander of U.S. Central Command, issued a planning order, an internal instruction to lower-level commanders, to propose ideas for a long-term approach to helping Pakistan combat foment what has become an expanding, homegrown ‘insurgency’ that threatens the stability of the government. [Sending in US troops to… ensure the ‘stability of the government of Pakistan.’ Now there’s one you don’t hear every day.]
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080124/ap_on
_go_ca_st_pe/us_afghanistan_pakistan_8

Rummy Resurfaces, Calls for U.S. Propaganda Agency By Sharon Weinberger 23 Jan 2008
Back in 2001, the Pentagon under his leadership created the controversial Office of Strategic Influence, which was closed down just a few months later after its existence became public. Rightly or wrongly, the Pentagon was accused of creating a propaganda office. Now, the former defense secretary has a bigger vision: he is advocating a “21st century agency for global communications.”…According to Rumsfeld, the United States is losing the war of ideas in the Muslim world, and the answer to that, in part, is through the creation of this new government agency.
blog.wired.com/defense/2008/01/rummy-wants-pro.html

Army wants to cut war tours to 12 months 23 Jan 2008
Soldiers’ battlefield tours would be cut from 15 months to 12 months beginning Aug. 1 [to help the GOP in November], under a proposal being considered by the Army as part of an effort to reduce the stress on a force battered by more than six years at war. The proposal, recommended by U.S. Army Forces Command, is being reviewed by senior Army and Pentagon leaders, and would be contingent on the changing needs for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan [and Pakistan and Iran].
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080124/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/army_tours_7

U.S. to join Israel in boycotting UN meeting 23 Jan 2008
The U.S. and Israel will boycott a special United Nations Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva on Wednesday. The meeting has been set down to discuss the Israeli blockade of Gaza, and military action.
story.malaysiasun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/b8de8e630faf3631/id/320817/cs/1/

Israel authorises 2,500 new settler homes in Jerusalem 23 Jan 2008
Israel has authorised the construction of nearly 2,500 new housing units in settlements in annexed east Jerusalem, the city authorities said on Wednesday.
afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iOwptHkZL3vTtuTS6p7D62d-O14Q

Bush Justice Nominee Authorized C.I.A. Torture Techniques 24 Jan 2008
The Justice Department lawyer who wrote a series of classified legal opinions in 2005 authorizing harsh C.I.A. interrogation techniques [torture] was renominated by the White House on Wednesday to a senior department post, a move that was seen as a snub to Senate Democrats who have long opposed his appointment. The lawyer, Steven G. Bradbury, who has run the department’s Office of Legal Counsel without Senate confirmation for more than two years, has been repeatedly nominated to the job of assistant attorney general for legal counsel. Late last year, Democrats urged the White House to withdraw Mr. Bradbury’s name once and for all and find a new candidate for the post after it was disclosed in news reports in October that he was the author of classified memorandums that gave approval to harsh interrogation techniques, including head slapping, exposure to cold and simulated drowning, even when used in combination.
www.nytimes.com/2008/01/24/washington/24justice.html

Cheney Calls for Permanent Warrantless Wiretapping —ACLU calls law “Police America Act” 23 Jan 2008
Vice President [sic] Cheney called on Congress today to permanently extend the Protect America Act as the White House launched a drive to secure the tools it says are ‘needed’ to fight a continuing terrorist threat beyond the law’s Feb. 1 expiration. In a speech to the Heritage Foundation, Cheney also said the law must include immunity from lawsuits for telecommunications companies that assisted the U.S. government’s electronic surveillance efforts after Sept. 11, 2001.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/
article/2008/01/23/AR2008012302179.html

Labour facing humiliation on terror bill 24 Jan 2008
The government is facing defeat over its legislation to hold terror suspects for up to 42 days without charge, which is to be published today without many of the safeguards demanded by opponents. The detailed legislation is expected to be tougher than originally trailed, with no legal definition of the seriousness of the alleged offence that could trigger an exceptional period of detention beyond the current 28 days without charge.
politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,2245885,00.html

UK publishes controversial terror bill 24 Jan 2008
The UK government published controversial new counter-terrorism plans on Thursday which are likely to present Gordon Brown, prime minister, with a tough parliamentary test in the coming weeks. Opposition and Labour MPs, along with senior lawyers and human rights groups have criticised a key proposal in the new Counter Terrorism Bill to extend the limit suspects can be held without being charged from 28 to 42 days.
www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cfdc75f4-ca90-11dc-a960-000077b07658.html

Smith unveils anti-terror plans 24 Jan 2008
Controversial plans to extend the detention period for terror suspects have been published by the Home Secretary, with a pledge to get the legislation passed despite the threat of a backbench rebellion. Jacqui Smith said she is still hopeful of winning cross-party agreement on the need to increase the maximum from 28 days to 42.
www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-7252620,00.html

AT&T Looking at Internet Filtering —AT&T Looking at How to Monitor Internet Traffic to Prevent Sharing of Copyrighted Content Truth 23 Jan 2008
AT&T Inc. is still evaluating whether to examine traffic on its Internet lines to stop illegal sharing of copyright material, its chief executive said Wednesday. CEO Randall Stephenson told a conference at the World Economic Forum that the company is looking at monitoring peer-to-peer file-sharing networks.
biz.yahoo.com/ap/080123/world_forum_at_t.html

Security beefed up at gas sites 23 Jan 2008
(UK) Extra security measures are being rolled out to protect key installations from terrorist attack, raising the prospect of higher gas and electricity prices. The counter-terrorism bill, due to be published on Thursday, is expected to include provisions under which the private sector will finance the deployment of armed military police at four strategic sites in the gas sector. Plans to deploy armed military police to gas pipeline sites have been accelerated over the past year amid fears that al-Qaeda[al-CIAduh]-trained terrorists were increasingly targeting economic sites.
www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ad875564-c941
-11dc-9807-000077b07658.html

Exxon guns for all-time profit record 23 Jan 2008
Exxon Mobil, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, is within striking distance of setting an all-time profit record – again. Analysts are expecting the company to post solid quarterly and full-year earnings next Friday – and if the results top forecasts, Exxon could end up reporting the highest profit ever for a U.S. company. “Exxon is likely to have record quarterly earnings,” said Fadel Gheit, a senior energy analyst at Oppenheimer. “For every $1 [increase] in the price of oil, Exxon makes [another] $125 million for the quarter.”
money.cnn.com/2008/01/23/news/companies/
exxon_profits/?postversion=2008012313

ConocoPhillips’ 4Q Net Up 37% Amid Record Prices —ConocoPhillips 4Q earnings $4.37B vs year-ago $3.2B 23 Jan 2008
ConocoPhillips’s fourth-quarter net income rose 37% amid record oil prices, better-than-expected refining margins and higher profits from its investment in Lukoil Holdings. ConocoPhillips was the first major U.S. major oil company to report fourth-quarter earnings, setting the stage for a possible strong quarter for Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp., which both report on Feb. 1.
money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/2008012
31433DOWJONESDJONLINE001023_FORTUNE5.htm

Tentative Deal on Economic Stimulus Plan 24 Jan 2008
House leaders and the White House on Thursday reached a tentative agreement on an economic ‘stimulus’ package of roughly $150 billion that would pay stipends of $300 to $1,200 per family and provide tax incentives for businesses.
www.nytimes.com/2008/01/24/washington/24cnd-econ.html

Kucinich drops presidential bid 24 Jan 2008
Cleveland Congressman Dennis Kucinich is dropping out of the Democratic race for president. Kucinich will make the announcement Friday at a news conference in Cleveland. In an exclusive interview with Plain Dealer editors and reporters, Kucinich said he will explain his “transition” tomorrow. “I want to continue to serve in Congress,” he said.
blog.cleveland.com/plaindealer/2008/
01/kucinich_drops_presidential_bi.html

Obama said oops on 6 state Senate votes 24 Jan 2008
Barack Obama angered fellow Democrats in the Illinois Senate when he voted to strip millions of dollars from a child welfare office on Chicago’s West Side. “I was not aware that I had voted no,” Obama explained that day in June 2002, asking that the record be changed to reflect that he “intended to vote yes.” That was not the only misfire for the former civil rights attorney first elected to the state Senate in 1996. During his eight years in state office, Obama cast more than 4,000 votes. Of those, according to transcripts of the proceedings in Springfield, he hit the wrong button at least six times.
www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na
-obamavotes24jan24,0,713086.story

Man Indicted for Violating Civil Rights of Jena Six Marchers 24 Jan 2008
Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, and Donald W. Washington, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, today announced the indictment of Jeremiah Munsen, 18, on federal hate crime and conspiracy charges for his role in threatening and intimidating marchers who participated in a civil rights rally in Jena, Louisiana, by displaying two hangman’s nooses from the back of a pickup truck.
neworleans.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/2008/no012408.htm

Loss of Antarctic ice has soared by 75 per cent in just 10 years 14 Jan 2008
Parts of the ice sheets covering Antarctica are melting faster than predicted, with the net loss of ice probably accelerating in recent years because of global warming, a study has found. A satellite survey between 1996 and 2006 found that the net loss of ice from Antarctica rose by about 75 per cent as the movement of glaciers towards the sea speeded up.
www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/loss-of-
antarctic-ice-has-soared-by-75-per-cent-in-just-10-years-
769894.html

Tell Your Representative to Put Polar Bears First (NRDC) 24 Jan 2008
We’ve got to stop the Bush Administration from rushing through the sale of oil and gas drilling leases in Alaska’s prime polar bear habitat — before it makes a final decision about protecting these imperiled bears under the Endangered Species Act. Sign the message and tell your Representative to support the Markey bill (H.R. 5058) that will reverse these new oil and gas lease sales for the sake of polar bear survival.
www.nrdconline.org/campaign/Put_Polar_Bears_First