White House wants Sahara Desert as new front for war on terror
• Big News NetworkThe U.S. government reportedly plans to spend $500 million over five years to make the Sahara Desert a vast new front in its war on terrorism.
Current News Headlines
These pages list the most recent news stories reported by the readers and editors of Freedom's Phoenix:
Baghdad prisoner kills 20 with rifle stolen from guard
• News LinkAN inmate in a Baghdad prison grabbed a rifle from a guard today and opened fire, killing up to 20 people.
'Inversion' in Bond Rates Hits Stocks
• By Tom Petruno, LA Times Staff WriterThe yield on the 10-year Treasury note drops to a level at or below those of shorter-term securities, in what may foreshadow an economic slump.
TSA uses talk as tactic
• USA Today (additional link also)(kudos Mike Ross)The Transportation Security Administration plans to train screeners at 40 major airports next year to pick out possible terrorists by engaging travelers in a casual conversation to detect whether a person appears nervous or evasive and needs extra sc
Former Enron Accountant Strikes Plea Deal
• Associated PressRichard Causey, Enron Corp.'s former chief accountant, is expected on Wednesday to plead guilty to at least one criminal charge related to the energy trader's collapse
Putin aide quits, saying Russia is no longer free
• Daily Telegraph (kudos Jim Peron)Andrei Illarionov, the economic adviser to President Vladimir Putin who resigned yesterday, was the only Kremlin figure ready to criticise its more draconian policies in public. He often made life uncomfortable for Mr Putin by questioning the Kremlin
Why European women are turning to Islam
• The Christian Science MonitorAnd that is exactly why European antiterrorist authorities have their eyes on thousands like her across the continent. Ms. Fallot is a recent convert to Islam. In the eyes of the police, that makes her potentially dangerous.
CBS To Stream Own Shows, Others' Too
• by Wayne FriedmanCBS IS EXPANDING ITS WEB site venues for its prime-time programming--as well as making Internet deals for shows it doesn't own.
Sirius Tops 3 Million Subscribers
• Associated PressSatellite radio provider Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. said Tuesday it recently topped more than 3 million subscribers to its service and expects a strong finish for the year.
More on NSA Spying on UN Diplomats in Push for Invasion of Iraq
• by Norman Solomon (Huffington Post)Despite all the news accounts and punditry since the NY Times published its bombshell about the NSA’s domestic spying, the media coverage has made virtually no mention of the fact that the Bush administration used the NSA to spy on UN diplomats befor
European satellite launch challenges GPS
• Reuters - By Richard BalmforthMOSCOW (Reuters) - The European Union launched its first Galileo navigation satellite on Wednesday, moving to challenge the United States' Global Positioning System (GPS).
Rice authorised NSA to spy on UN Security Council
• by Jason Leupold (The Raw Story)President Bush used the NSA to secretly wiretap the homes and offices and email accounts of members of the UN's Security Council to determine how delegates would vote on a UN resolution that paved the way for the US-led war in Iraq
Resolving Nuclear Waste Problem With New Reprocessing Approach
• New York TimesSo last month, Congress voted $50 million for the Energy Department to explore a new kind of reprocessing, one that would reuse a much larger fraction of the nuclear waste.
Alabama Governor's Race Is Must-See Politics
• Associated PressA Republican incumbent who alienated his base with a proposal to raise taxes. A chief justice who lost his job over his Ten Commandments stand. A former governor under indictment. A lieutenant governor who helped her ex-husband run for governor.
Bush's counsel on spying now under close scrutiny
• Boston GlobeThe current occupants of those jobs are Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and White House counsel Harriet E. Miers. Prior to 2005, Gonzales was White House counsel and John Ashcroft was attorney general.
Veteran's Iraq Message Outrages Army Recruiters
• New York TimesAs those thinking of becoming soldiers arrive on the doorstep of the Army recruiting station, they cannot miss the message posted right next door. "Remember the Fallen Heroes," and then it ticks off the number of American troops killed in I
Mobile phones to announce 'you've been indicted'
• ReutersSouth Koreans may look at their mobile phones with some trepidation in the new year because prosecutors will start telling people they have been indicted via text messages, an official said Monday.
Secret court modified wiretap requests led Bush to bypass court to spy domestically
• Seattle Post IntelligencerGovernment records show that the administration was encountering unprecedented second-guessing by the secret federal surveillance court when President Bush decided to bypass the panel and order surveillance of US-based terror suspects without the cou
Military Contractors Are Warned: Budget Cuts Coming for Weapons
• New York TimesBut one big question, analysts say, is whether the Pentagon and Congress have the desire, and will, to kill weapons programs where hundreds of billions of dollars - as well as the careers of powerful generals and admirals - are invested.
Democrats singing same old (union) song
• Boston GlobeThe 9th straight year the minimum wage has remained frozen at $5.15 an hour. Democrats are preparing ballot initiatives in states across the country to boost turnout of Democratic-leaning voters in 2006.
First torture, now slavery: U.S. stalls on human trafficking
• Chicago Tribune3 years ago, President Bush declared that he had "zero tolerance" for trafficking in humans by the government's overseas contractors, and 2 years ago Congress mandated a similar policy. The Defense Department has yet to adopt a policy t
April Glaspie Revisited
• AntiWar.com BlogWe better try these politicians before the global court system gets to set some more precedents of the authority of "international law" based on their crimes - precedents which would threaten the liberty of us all.
Is Trent Lott retiring?
• by Robert Novak (National Ledger)Trent Lott within the next week plans to decide between seeking a fourth term in the U.S. Senate from Mississippi or retiring from public life. That could determine whether Republicans keep control of the Senate in next year's elections.
Guard Turns to Pizza, iTunes for Recruiting
• The Philadelphia InquirerA load of pizza, a helping of NASCAR, and free MP3 downloads and video games, plus some cash are luring the next wave of part-time soldiers. [sheesh, just use the formula: date + booze = "okay"]
US Ambassador sparks another diplomatic incident over war claims
• The IndependentThe US ambassador in London has been forced into an embarrassing retreat after his embassy clarified comments he made denying that the US was involved in removing terrorist suspects to Syria.
Tenn. Lawmaker Threatens Businesses in Battle With Newspaper
• Associated PressA state lawmaker is warning business owners not to advertise in a newspaper that reported he is dating a woman while waiting for his divorce. "Myself and many others are going to be watching to identify and remember those that subsidize the dest
Turkey says no cooperation with US on attack against Iran and Syria
• Arabic NewsThe DPP had claimed in the news that CIA director Goss, in return for Turkey's support, promised that Turkey would be allowed to hold raids against PKK camps in Iran, by letting Turkey know that the US offensive is to begin in a few hours on the
From a shared disaster comes a chance for peace and hopefully freedom
• The GuardianIndonesia's Aceh rebels formally disbanded their armed wing today, effectively ending their 30-year separatist insurgency one year after the Indian Ocean tsunami destroyed their battlefield.
Geez, CIA, be covert!
• Chicago TribuneThe trick is known to just about every small-time crook in the cellular age: If you don't want police to know where you are, take the battery out of your cell phone when you're not using it. Had that trick been taught at the CIA's traini
An army that whines and cries is an army of wimps
• BBCTurkish prosecutors have launched an inquiry into whether an EU lawmaker should stand trial for insulting the country's armed forces.
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