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Sunday, July 05, 2009
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World Headlines
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Click here for updates from the coup
in Honduras Updated July 3 12am
Click here from updates from
Iran Updated July 3 12am
Taliban buying children for suicide bombers Pakistan's top
Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, is buying children as young as 7
to serve as suicide bombers in the growing spate of attacks against
Pakistani, Afghan and U.S. targets, U.S. Defense Department and
Pakistani officials say. A Pakistani official, who spoke on the
condition that he not be named because of the sensitive nature of
the topic, said the going price for child bombers was $7,000 to
$14,000 - huge sums in Pakistan, where per-capita income is about
$2,600 a year |
Saddam denied al Qaeda ties till the end
Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein told his FBI captors in 2004 that his
government had condemned the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the
United States and had no connection with Osama bin Laden, according
to a transcript of his interviews released Wednesday. The
interviews, obtained by George Washington University's National
Security Archives, quoted the now- deceased Iraqi leader as saying
that he would reach out in a crisis to China or North Korea, rather
than to bin Laden, whom he called a "zealot."
UK to put GPS on mental patients |
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US Headlines
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US launches major Afghan assault Thousands of marines backed by
Afghan forces seek to wrest Taliban stronghold of Helmand
Soldier captured in Afghanistan
An American soldier, who disappeared after walking off his base in
eastern Afghanistan with three Afghan counterparts, is believed
captured, officials said Thursday.
U.S. won't close CIA 'black sites' for now
The government will not dismantle overseas locations where a former
Guantanamo detainee claims he was interrogated by the CIA, a
prosecutor says.
DeMint Supports Honduras Military Coup Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.)
has
come out in support of
the military coup in Honduras, chastising President Obama in a
statement for what he calls "a slap in the face to the people" of
that country. DeMint argues that President Manuel Zelaya was
violating the constitution and the coup was a necessary corrective.
Washington Post Gets Cozy With Lobbyists At $25,000+
'Salons' For $25,000 to $250,000, The
Washington Post has offered lobbyists and association executives
off-the-record, non-confrontational access to 'those powerful few'
-- Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and -- at
first -- even the paper's own reporters and editors.
Chalmers Johnson: A Modest Proposal for Garrisoned
Lands The U.S. Empire of Bases -- at
$102 billion a year already the world's costliest military
enterprise -- just got a good deal more expensive. As a start, on
May 27th, we learned that the State Department
will build
a new "embassy" in Islamabad, Pakistan, which at $736 million will
be the second priciest ever constructed, only $4 million less, if
cost overruns don't occur, than the Vatican-City-sized one the Bush
administration put up in Baghdad |
US Lawmakers Call For Supporting Terrorists In Iran The Obama
administration should be doing more to support Iranian resistance
groups — including the Mujahadeen-e-Khalq (MEK), a "cult-like"
terrorist organization that has engaged in suicide attacks against
their own countrymen, according to the U.S. State Department — in an
all-out effort to affect regime
Lead found in Michelle Obama's White House vegetable garden It
was meant to be a show case for healthy living, with the first lady,
Michelle Obama, personally putting hand to pitch fork in a crowd of
school children to dig up the first White House vegetable garden in
more than 50 years.
We Already Have a Popular Single-Payer Health Care
System -- It's for Active Military and VeteransOddly
the states with the most people enrolled are down South -- where
political leadership has been most opposed to single-payer.
Grand Jury Hears From Top C.I.A. Officers on Destruction of Tapes
The agency destroyed 92 videotapes that showed C.I.A. officers using
harsh interrogation methods, including waterboarding, on two Quaeda
detainees.
Up in Smoke: How the Tobacco Industry Shaped the New Smoking Bill
President Obama signed into law a bill last week that gives the US
government broad regulatory power over cigarettes and other tobacco
products. Obama said the law would curb the ability of tobacco
companies to market their products to children. But several public
health professionals have come out strongly against the new
legislation. They argue that it was largely shaped by Philip Morris,
now called Altria Group, the largest cigarette company in the
country. |
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Connecticut |
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Bill-Signing Ends Snafu Over New Saltwater Fishing Licenses
Environmental officials announced Thursday that Gov. M. Jodi Rell has
signed the bill -- passed on June 3, the final day of the regular
2009 session of the legislature -- which now will require an
estimated 100,000 people who fish on Long Island Sound to obtain
annual licenses.
State Pledges $11 Million For Battery Venture The state of
Connecticut is prepared to pay more than $11 million to help a
Stonington battery maker power electric cars.
CT unemployment rate goes up |
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United States |
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Security Issues
Chalmers Johnson: A Modest Proposal for Garrisoned Lands The
U.S. Empire of Bases -- at
$102 billion a year already the world's costliest military
enterprise -- just got a good deal more expensive. As a start, on
May 27th, we learned that the State Department
will build
a new "embassy" in Islamabad, Pakistan, which at $736 million will
be the second priciest ever constructed, only $4 million less, if
cost overruns don't occur, than the Vatican-City-sized one the Bush
administration put up in Baghdad.
Federal 'Organic' Label's Integrity Under Fire USDA shortcomings
mean consumers are not always getting foods without pesticides,
produced in a way that is gentle on the environment.
NSA to help watch feds' civilian networks A Bush-era plan to use
National Security Agency help in screening government computer
traffic on private-sector networks is proceeding, according to
current and former government officials.
Courts
J. D. Salinger Prevails in Copyright Suit A federal judge banned
publication in the United States of a book containing a 76-year-old
version of Holden Caulfield
CA upholds juvenile crimes as 'strikes'
Grand Jury Hears From Top C.I.A. Officers on Destruction of Tapes
The agency destroyed 92 videotapes that showed C.I.A. officers using
harsh interrogation methods, including waterboarding, on two Quaeda
detainees.
Police
U.N. Revisits U.S. Policies on Racial Profiling
Police use stun gun on pastor in traffic stop Police in Texas
used a Taser on a 42-year-old pastor and pepper spray to disperse
members of his church after police said the pastor interfered with a
traffic stop.
Environment
EPA wants to cut
pollution from
large ships
The
Environmental
Protection
Agency is
proposing
tougher rules to
reduce air
pollution from
large oceangoing
ships, including
oil tankers and
cargo vessels
Who’s Harming
Fish Stocks?
Trawlers or
Artisanal
Fishers? Red
tunas, sharks,
rays and cods
may soon
disappear from
our tables.
Negotiations are
ongoing at the
World Trade
Organisation (WTO)
to reduce the
subsidies that
contribute to
this
catastrophe.
These talks
foresee
exceptions for
developing
countries, but
small fishers
may have to turn
to other sources
of livelihood.
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Greed
Chamber of Commerce Launches
$100 Million Campaign to Protect Wall
Street's Power at Our Expense
The CoC is the
world's most powerful lobbying machine and
it's working to make sure our money gets
funneled to corporate execs.
SEC Investigator
Raised Madoff
Concerns Years Ago,
Was Asked to Look
Elsewhere An investigator at the Securities and
Exchange Commission warned superiors as far
back as 2004 about irregularities at Bernard
L. Madoff's financial management firm, but
she was told to focus on an unrelated
matter, according to agency documents and
sources familiar with the investigation.
Up in Smoke: How the Tobacco Industry Shaped
the New Smoking Bill President Obama
signed into law a bill last week that gives
the US government broad regulatory power
over cigarettes and other tobacco products.
Obama said the law would curb the ability of
tobacco companies to market their products
to children. But several public health
professionals have come out strongly against
the new legislation. They argue that it was
largely shaped by Philip Morris, now called
Altria Group, the largest cigarette company
in the country.
Media
Washington Post Gets Cozy With Lobbyists At $25,000+ 'Salons'
For $25,000 to $250,000, The Washington Post has offered lobbyists
and association executives off-the-record, non-confrontational
access to 'those powerful few' -- Obama administration officials,
members of Congress, and -- at first -- even the paper's own
reporters and editors.
Jon Stewart Blasts Beck for Bin Laden Bull Jon Stewart is
appalled by Beck and his guest Michael Scheuer's suggestion that Bin
Laden should attack the US again to change Obama's policies.
Civil Rights
"War on terror"
used to target
minorities:
report
Countries on the
front line in
the "war on
terror" are
using the battle
against
extremists as a
smokescreen to
crack down on
minority groups,
an international
human rights
group said on
Thursday.
US to pay in
transgender bias
lawsuit
The Obama administration is not fighting a court judgment of nearly $500,000 for a Library of Congress hire who lost the job while undergoing a gender change from a man to a woman.
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Science |
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sea
ice at lowest in at least 800 years
Why Did I Say That? It's Scientific researchers unlock clues
behind why we say what we know we shouldn't. |
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Politics |
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Senate
White House slams GOP document search on Sotomayor The White
House hit back Thursday at a key Republican senator who has accused
Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's allies of withholding
documents from her past
GOP Demands More Sotomayor Docs, Despite Limiting Disclosure With
Alito
Sens. Kennedy, Dodd unveil cheaper health care bill The Senate health
committee's top two Democrats on
Thursday rolled out a revamped plan
to overhaul health care that would
cost $611 billion over 10 years —
far less than their previous version
— but would impose a tax on
many employers.
House
Rep. Kaptur gets $3.5 billion sweetener in climate bill They
finally secured the vote of one Ohioan, veteran Democratic Rep.
Marcy Kaptur of Toledo, the old-fashioned way. They gave her what
she wanted - a new federal power authority, similar to Washington
state's Bonneville Power Administration, stocked with up to $3.5
billion in taxpayer money available for lending to renewable energy
and economic development projects in Ohio and other Midwestern
states
State Politics
Review: Sanford didn't use public $$ improperly South Carolina's
attorney general said Thursday he expects a report showing whether
Gov. Mark Sanford used any public money on private travels to be
released soon. |
Health Insurance
We Already Have a Popular Single-Payer Health Care System -- It's
for Active Military and VeteransOddly the states with the most
people enrolled are down South -- where political leadership has
been most opposed to single-payer.
GITMO/Abu Ghraib/Bahgram
U.S. won't close CIA 'black sites' for now The government will
not dismantle overseas locations where a former Guantanamo detainee
claims he was interrogated by the CIA, a prosecutor says.
CIA report on interrogation delayed again
Documents describe chaos of Gitmo's early months Newly released
Defense Department documents and memos about the first years of
operation of the jail at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,
portray a chaotic and sometimes violent operation that its own
commanders described as dysfunctional. |
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Obama |
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Obama could send 1,500 National Guard troops to Mexican border
White House Acknowledges Officials Were Likely Invited To WaPo
Salons The White House acknowledged on Thursday that some
members of the administration may have been invited to high-priced
"salons"
sponsored by the Washington Post and featuring corporate
executives and lobbyists. But in his daily briefing with the
press, spokesman Robert Gibbs said that no one, to his knowledge,
had accepted the invitation and that the administration's ethics
policy most likely would have prevented them from doing so.
US Lawmakers Call For Supporting Terrorists In Iran The Obama
administration should be doing more to support Iranian resistance
groups — including the Mujahadeen-e-Khalq (MEK), a "cult-like"
terrorist organization that has engaged in suicide attacks against
their own countrymen, according to the U.S. State Department — in an
all-out effort to affect regime |
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Economy
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NEW
Click for
Economic Statistics |
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US job losses worse than expected The number of jobs lost in the
US last month came in at 467,000, which is much more than had been
expected.
S.E.C. May Reinstate Rules for Short-Selling Stocks They have
been reviled as the bad hats of Wall Street, nefarious traders who
cashed in on the market collapse and, some insist, helped
precipitate it. |
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Iraq
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Map of Iraq |
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WATCH: U.S.
Withdrawal From
Iraq: Good Move?
Saddam denied al Qaeda ties till the end Iraqi dictator
Saddam Hussein told
his FBI captors in
2004 that his
government had
condemned the Sept.
11 terrorist attacks
in the United States
and had no
connection with
Osama bin Laden,
according to a
transcript of his
interviews released
Wednesday. The
interviews, obtained
by George Washington
University's
National Security
Archives, quoted the
now- deceased Iraqi
leader as saying
that he would reach
out in a crisis to
China or North
Korea, rather than
to bin Laden, whom
he called a
"zealot."
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Middle
East |
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McKinney held in Israel, to be returned to U.S. Former U.S. Rep.
Cynthia McKinney -- who was aboard a ship the Israeli navy
intercepted this week -- is in a detention center and will be
returned to the United States, the U.S. Embassy said.
PA: Arrested Hamas activists planned to assassinate Abbas Hamas
activists arrested by the Palestinian Authority have admitted to
tracking the movements of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and to
gathering intelligence on his security, PA sources told Haaretz |
Jordan's King Abdullah names teenage son as heir
Palestinians: IDF tank fire kills Gaza teen
Egypt police kill two Somalis at Israel border Egyptian police
shot dead two Somali migrants on Thursday who tried to slip across
the Sinai desert border into Israel, security sources said, as
violence against migrants picked up at the sensitive frontier.
Amnesty International Accuses Israel and Hamas of War Crimes in Gaza |
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Afghanistan
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Map of Afghanistan |
Soldier captured in Afghanistan An
American soldier, who disappeared after
walking off his base in eastern Afghanistan
with three Afghan counterparts, is believed
captured, officials said Thursday.
US launches major Afghan assault
Thousands of marines backed by Afghan forces
seek to wrest Taliban stronghold of Helmand
U.S. Uses False Taliban Aid Charge to
Pressure Iran The Barack Obama
administration has given new prominence to a
Bush administration charge that Iran is
providing military training and assistance
to the Taliban in Afghanistan, for which no
evidence has ever been produced, and which
has been discredited by data obtained by IPS
from the Pentagon itself.
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'There Is No Way I Will Deploy to Afghanistan' -- Seeds of Dissent
in the U.S. Military Are Growing From suicide to desertion to
refusal to deploy -- service members' dissent may be growing into
something far larger.
Marines say 1 killed in new Afghanistan offensive
British regiment commander killed in 'huge' bomb attack in
Afghanistan Fatal Shooting Incident in Afghanistan
U.S. Faces Resentment in Afghan Region A new American military
operation in southern Afghanistan may ignite further tensions among
a weary population, residents and local officials warn.
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Pakistan |
Map of Pakistan |
Deadly
blast hits Pakistan army
city At least five
people are killed in a
suicide attack on a bus
carrying government
employees in the
Pakistani city of
Rawalpindi.
Taliban buying children
for suicide bombers
Pakistan's top Taliban
leader, Baitullah Mehsud,
is buying children as
young as 7 to serve as
suicide bombers in the
growing spate of attacks
against Pakistani,
Afghan and U.S. targets,
U.S. Defense Department
and Pakistani officials
say. A Pakistani
official, who spoke on
the condition that he
not be named because of
the sensitive nature of
the topic, said the
going price for child
bombers was $7,000 to
$14,000 - huge sums in
Pakistan, where
per-capita income is
about $2,600 a year
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Pak Taliban chief Fazlullah may be dead:
report Newspaper says militant leader came under military attack in Swat valley.
Pakistan desperately needs money to resettle Swat residents
Major Western countries, after applauding Pakistan's military
crackdown on Islamic extremists in the Swat valley in the country's
northwest, haven't pledged the money needed to resettle the
population now that the fighting is mostly over, and humanitarian
organizations fear that 2 million people will be sent back home
before it's safe to go. |
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Asia |
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Europe |
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UK to put GPS on mental patients
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Africa |
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The Americas
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