Corruption - mentioning the “un-mentionables”
Dave Gallagher“Dr. No” delivers a blistering indictment in congress detailing a broken system that steals your money and invites corruption. The good doctor also includes his prescription for recovery.
Page Two
Feds after Google data
• Mercury NewsThe Bush administration asked a federal judge to order Google to turn over a broad range of material from its closely guarded databases. The move is part of a government effort to revive an Internet child protection law struck down 2 years ago by the
Scientists open Stardust capsule
• BBCScientists in Houston, Texas, are "excited and awed" after opening the Stardust capsule which returned from space with samples of cometary dust.
43% of first-time home buyers put no money down
• USA TodayAs housing prices soared last year, an eye-popping 43% of first-time home buyers ominously purchased their homes with no-money-down loans. Some no-money-down buyers could owe more than their homes are worth.
Medal of Freedom winner explains "slam dunk"
• ReutersGeorge Tenet, the former CIA director who assured President Bush that finding unconventional weapons in Iraq would be a "slam dunk," will give his account of the conversation in his memoir.
Brownie says he didn't do a heck of a job
• Associated PressFormer FEMA Director Michael Brown said that he deserved much of the blame for the government's failures after Hurricane Katrina, saying he fell short in conveying the magnitude of the disaster and calling for help.
Anyone can volunteer to look at the returned Comet debris
• Stardust at HomeWe are seeking volunteers to help us to search using your comupter for these tiny samples of matter from the galaxy. Volunteers are critical to the success of this project. Please help us visually search the first samples of contemporary Stardust eve
Memo: Brits try to cover up torture flights
• New Statesman (link to documents)The government is secretly trying to stifle attempts by MPs to find out what it knows about CIA "torture flights" and privately admits that people captured by British forces could have been sent illegally to interrogation centres. A hidden
This is what happens when you torture our prisoners for us
• Agence France PresseThe US froze the US assets of Syrian military intelligence director Asef Shawkat, accusing him of fomenting terrorism against Israel and backing Syria's intrusion in Lebanon.
Why exactly can't the Iraqis rebuild themselves?
• Bahgdad BurningOh, yes, I forgot. There would be no money in it for the defense industry. Now the $18.6 billion of your stolen dollars is gone, perhaps the Iraqis will finally be left to rebuild their country again.
Iraq out of control says US Agency head
• The GuardianAn official assessment drawn up by the US foreign aid agency depicts the security situation in Iraq as dire, amounting to a "social breakdown" in which criminals have "almost free rein".
CIA targeted-killings of al Qaeda suspects rising
• ReutersThe CIA has increased its use of pilotless drone aircraft to target al-Qaeda suspects along the Pakistan- Afghanistan border despite questions about the tactic's effectiveness. Drones armed with Hellfire missiles and controlled by the CIA have
Republicans not as good at bribing old folks as Democrats
• Associated PressThe Medicare drug program that was supposed to win political points for Republicans has exploded in their faces. It's a particularly vexing problem for the GOP, since older Americans are such active voters and no one seeking office wants to see t
What you mean 'We,' white man?
• Associated PressThe Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council has rejected a $111,000 donation from the campaign of Montana Sen. Conrad Burns, with some saying the money is tainted because it originally came from lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his clients.
Own personal jet for $2 million; FAA not happy
• ReutersCalled "microjets" or "very light jets," they've been likened to SUVs with wings. With 2 engines and seating capacity for 5 or 6 people, they cost half as much as the most inexpensive business jet now in service. 3,000 of the
Saddam's new judge accused of being a Baathist
• ReutersThe Iraqi court trying Saddam Hussein was thrown into fresh confusion when a senior official denounced the new chief judge as a member of Saddam's banned Baath party who should be barred from office.
Nigerian rebels threaten all oil producer employees
• ReutersMilitants behind a string of attacks aimed at disrupting Nigeria's oil industry said they intended to target all producers in the country, in a message that singled out Chevron.
William Shatner beams out $25,000 kidney stone
• USA TodayAn online casino has a piece of actor William Shatner who sold his kidney stone for $25,000, with the money going to a housing charity. "This is a bold new addition to our fleet," said GoldenPalace.com. "This would be the first Habitat
U.S. Policy of Abuse Undermines Rights Worldwide
• Human Rights Watch (PDF links)New evidence demonstrated in 2005 that torture and mistreatment have been a deliberate part of the Bush administration’s counterterrorism strategy, undermining the global defense of human rights, Human Rights Watch said releasing its World Report
Judge orders Blackberry shut down within next 30 days
• Associated PressIn a desperate filing in federal court in Richmond, RIM argued that there is "exceptional public interest" in keeping BlackBerries beeping. Exempting government and emergency users from the injunction—which NTP has suggested—
Supremes okay abortion law requiring parental notification
• ReutersThe US Supreme Court said that a lower court should not have struck down a state law requiring parental notice before a minor's abortion because only part of it raised constitutional problems.
Selling your cell phone bills to anyone with the money
• AmericaBlogThe cell phone records privacy issue continues to attract more and more media interest by the day. I've been doing interviews with a slew of local radio stations around the country, will be taping Inside Edition later this week, TV continues to c
Pimping of the Presidency
• Texas ObserverAbramoff was so closely tied to the Bush Administration that he could, and did, charge two of his clients $25,000 for a White House lunch date and a meeting with the President. From the same two clients he obtained $2.5 million in contributions for
Hastert: If Democrats want ethics hearings, we'll give it to them
• Raw StorySpeaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) said that a number of Democrats may find themselves hauled before the House ethics committee if the panel ever gets back to full operation after a yearlong hiatus. Republicans had been prevented from doing so because t
Hastert anti-corruption bill has payoff ... literally
• Washington PostIf Hastert's proposal is enacted, whenever a lobbyist pays a Congressman's or Staffer's bill, he or she must also hand the lawmaker a campaign contribution. Then the transaction would be perfectly okay.
We finally get special prosecutor report ... on Clinton administration!
• New York Daily NewsA special prosecutor's long-delayed report charges that a coverup at senior levels of the Clinton administration killed a tax fraud case against ex-cabinet member Henry Cisneros. 11-year, $23 million probe states this coverup succeeded.
Gore responds to Whitehouse and Attorney General
• Raw StoryThe Administration's response to my speech illustrates the need for a special counsel to review the NSA wiretapping program. The Attorney General is making a political defense of the President without even addressing the substantive legal questio
New federal ID to get back into country
• Los Angeles TimesThe Bush administration announced plans to develop inexpensive identity documents for Americans to use when returning from Canada or Mexico, backing away from requiring travelers to show passports at border crossings.
Congressman made loan to bank president; then bank extended him bigger loan
• Raw StoryUtah congressman Chris Cannon loaned nearly $100,000 to the president of a Nebraska bank who extended at least $250,000 in credit the following year to the representative's business venture in the state
Old State Dept. Report Dismissed Niger Uranium Story
• Judicial Watch (link to documents)A intelligence assessment by the Bush administration concluded in early 2002 that the sale of uranium from Niger to Iraq was "unlikely" because of a host of economic, diplomatic and logistical obstacles, according to a secret memo declassif
Watch Streaming Broadcast Live:
LRN.fm
DLive
Live Chat
Telegram
Telegram
