November 7, 2005

News -- November 7, 2005

US intel on Iraq-Qaeda ties 'intentionally misleading': document - "US military intelligence warned the Bush administration as early as February 2002 that its key source on Al-Qaeda's relationship with Iraq had provided "intentionally misleading" data, according to a declassified report. ... "This newly declassified information provides additional, dramatic evidence that the administrations pre-war statements were deceptive," said Democrat Carl Levin."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/usiraqintelligence;_ylt=Aoxf_vsTfFqjSrm0qJo_wNkDW7oF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

Smoking Gun on Manipulation of Iraq Intelligence? 'NY Times' Cites New Document - "It shows that an al-Qaeda official held by the Americans was identified as a likely fabricator months before the Bush administration began to use his statements as the basis for its claims that Iraq trained al-Qaeda members to use biological and chemical weapons, according to this Defense Intelligence Agency document from February 2002. It declared that it was probable that the prisoner, Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, "was intentionally misleading the debriefers" in making claims about Iraqi support for al-Qaeda's work with illicit weapons, Jehl reports."
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001434737

The FBI's Secret Scrutiny - "The Connecticut case affords a rare glimpse of an exponentially growing practice of domestic surveillance under the USA Patriot Act, which marked its fourth anniversary on Oct. 26. "National security letters," created in the 1970s for espionage and terrorism investigations, originated as narrow exceptions in consumer privacy law, enabling the FBI to review in secret the customer records of suspected foreign agents. The Patriot Act, and Bush administration guidelines for its use, transformed those letters by permitting clandestine scrutiny of U.S. residents and visitors who are not alleged to be terrorists or spies. The FBI now issues more than 30,000 national security letters a year, according to government sources, a hundredfold increase over historic norms. The letters -- one of which can be used to sweep up the records of many people -- are extending the bureau's reach as never before into the telephone calls, correspondence and financial lives of ordinary Americans."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/05/AR2005110501366_pf.html

20 Amazing Facts About Voting in the USA - "Did you know...." -- Worth the read.
http://nightweed.com/usavotefacts.html

Frist urges germ spies - "The agency, commonly referred to as BARDA, would be given a first-year budget of $1 billion and some unusually strong powers. It would have authority to shield drug manufacturers from liability lawsuits in the event a drug used to counteract a bioterrorism event or disease outbreak caused death or injury. It also would be granted a blanket exemption from the federal Freedom of Information Act."
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stories/1105/05natbioterror.html

'Safe cigarette' claimed to cut cancer by 90% - "BRITISH American Tobacco (BAT) is to launch a controversial “safer cigarette” designed to cut the risk of smoking-related diseases such as cancer and heart failure by up to 90%. The cigarettes use tobacco treated to produce lower levels of cancer-causing chemicals. They also incorporate a new type of filter said to remove more of the remaining toxins. The company wants to launch the cigarettes in 2006 but has kept the move secret, knowing it would infuriate anti-smoking groups."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1859508,00.html

US Relied on False Information Linking Iraq, Al-Qaida - "A published report says a top al-Qaida operative in U.S. custody gave false information later used by the Bush administration to support its contention that Iraq trained al-Qaida militants to use illegal weapons."
http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-11-06-voa12.cfm

An Enemy of The State - "Although the file finds no criminal activity by me or members of my immediate family, it remains open because I am a “person of interest” who has “written and promoted opinions that are contrary to the government of the United States of America.” And it will remain active because the government of the United States, under the far-reaching provisions of the USA Patriot Act, can compile and retain such information on any American citizen. That act gives the FBI the authority to collect intimate details about anyone, even those not suspected of any wrongdoing."
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7624.shtml

Sweet Dreams for America's Ruling Elite and their Sycophantic Loyalists - "Billy Joel was on to something when he sang "Only the Good Die Young." Here in America, our government does not jail its dissidents; it launches programs like COINTELPRO to pursue them (with reckless disregard for the law), and to covertly engineer their assassinations. Fred Hampton, Martin Luther King, the Kennedy brothers, and Malcolm X are but a few of "the Good" who dared to challenge the wealthy US ruling elite’s malevolent domination over the poor, minorities and working class. In the "land of the free", your right to dissent (and to live) ends when you begin posing a serious threat to those who truly wield the power."
http://civillibertarian.blogspot.com/2005/11/el-pas-de-las-pesadillas.html

If Cheney's for torture, why not use it on Scooter? - "One can only imagine how long it's going to take for Fitzgerald to lay out the evidence, to put witnesses on the stand, to build a case against Libby, and find out whether he lied to cover up for his actions or those of others at the White House. Who knows how many other CIA agents may be outed while this case works its way through the courts? Now, couldn't the whole process be expedited if Fitzgerald could attach a few electrodes to Libby's chest and then crank up the volts? Some of you might find this position a bit extreme, but unless I'm reading the situation all wrong, this is exactly the sort of thing that Libby's boss, vice-president Dick Cheney, could get behind."
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1131317399107&call_pageid=970599109774&col=Columnist969907619599&DPL=IvsNDS%2f7ChAX&tacodalogin=yes

Suicide bombers on Iran kids' TV - "Iranian state television has broadcast a cartoon that glorifies suicide bombings against Israelis, depicting a young boy blowing himself up after being told: "Go and show the Zionists how brave and heroic are the children of Palestine.""
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/11/06/wiran06.xml

Political bloggers jailed, detained - "Libya has sentenced a blogger to a year and a half in prison after he criticized the government in his online articles, according to Human Rights Watch. The jailing, which the rights group reported Thursday, is one of several recent crackdowns on bloggers by authoritarian governments. The group also confirmed Friday that Egyptian authorities have detained a university student who had criticized the government and Islamic fundamentalism in his blog in what may be the first such case in the country."
http://news.com.com/Political+bloggers+jailed,+detained/2100-1028_3-5933917.html?tag=nefd.top

Fuel's paradise? Power source that turns physics on its head - "It seems too good to be true: a new source of near-limitless power that costs virtually nothing, uses tiny amounts of water as its fuel and produces next to no waste. If that does not sound radical enough, how about this: the principle behind the source turns modern physics on its head."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,3605,1627424,00.html

Sex at School Increasing, Some Educators Say - ""In all the years that I've been in education, I've never run into this one before," said John Boronkay, the school system's acting superintendent. "It's a new one." Actually, it's not so new. According to some teenagers, sex on school property is more frequent than adults might imagine. And some adults who work with teenagers said it's happening more often these days. There's anecdotal evidence to support that:" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/05/AR2005110501414_pf.html




Quote of the Day
"If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy."
~ James Madison

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