CONNECTING THE DOTS
Page Two
CONNECTING THE DOTS
An Executive Branch Assault on the Constitution
• The NationThe Bush Administration's Department of Defense is examining whether it has the power to break a strike at tire plants that supply the military. The Constitution affords the executive branch no such authority. But, as should be obvious by
Cash value of pot crops is highlighted in report
• LA TimesFor years, activists in the marijuana legalization movement have claimed that cannabis is America's biggest cash crop. Now they're citing government statistics to prove it. The market value of pot produced in the US exceeds $35 billion -- far
CIA approved Iran report but White House blocks former official's Op-Ed based on it
• Raw Story (PDF link to banned doc)A former Bush official has been blocked by the White House from writing an Op-Ed for The New York Times based on a report which was already approved by the CIA. Leverett blasts the conduct of "the White House staffers who have injected themselve
Rafsanjani wins political redemption in Iran vote
• AFP[Can't have moderates...bomb them!] Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, humiliatingly defeated in the last presidential election, has won a new political lease of life by forging an alliance with moderates and reformists.
Padilla terror case gets closer look
• LA TimesA federal judge in Miami will soon make one of the most important rulings in the Bush administration's war on terrorism and decide whether to publicly explore evidence that an accused terrorist was brutally mistreated for years inside a one-man i
Ex-soldiers break `silence' on Israeli excesses
• Toronto StarA young Israeli was in Canada raising ethical questions about the conduct of Israeli soldiers. One of the founders of Break the Silence, ex-soldiers who speak out about what they saw and did during their tour of duty in the West Bank/Gaza Strip.
Soldiers Call for Iraq Withdrawal
• The NationFor the first time since Vietnam, an organized, robust movement of active-duty US military personnel has publicly surfaced to oppose a war in which they are serving. Those involved plan to petition Congress to withdraw American troops from Iraq.
Clandestine military teams clash with CIA, allies
• LA TimesU.S. Special Forces teams sent overseas on secret spying missions have clashed with the CIA and carried out operations in countries that are staunch U.S. allies, prompting the Pentagon to tighten the rules for military units engaged in espionage, acc
Former U.S. Detainee in Iraq Recalls Torment
• NY TimesOne night in mid-April, the steel door clanked shut on detainee No. 200343 at Camp Cropper, the US military’s maximum-security detention site in Baghdad. The detainee was Donald Vance, a 29-year-old Navy veteran from Chicago who went to Iraq as a sec
Six brutal truths about Iraq
• by Gen. William OdomMythologies about the war in Iraq are endangering our republic, our rights, and our responsibilities before the world. The longer we fail to dispel them, the higher price we will pay.
How to undermine Hugo Chavez -- Peacefully
• by Henderson (AntiWar)Imagine you're selling a product and a large gang – call it Gang A – comes along and tells you to stop and threatens to kill you, or at least destroy your property, if you don't. Gang A, though far way geographically, is very well-funded.
Lets help the Shiite majority exterminate the other Iraqis
• NY TimesThe Darwin Principle, Beltway version, basically says that Washington should stop trying to get Sunnis and Shiites to get along and instead just back the Shiites, since there are more of them anyway and they’re likely to win in a fight to the death.
TSA gets authority to inspect rail system
• Press of Atlantic City[expanded mission] Federal Homeland Security officials want to prevent terrorist attacks on trains in part by increasing train-car inspections and keeping the cars in more secure areas when not in use. [Dems don't think the repression goes far en
Black NY protesters march 5th Ave over shooting
• NY TimesBlack New Yorkers angry over the police shooting death of a groom on his wedding day marched to demand better treatment by law officers. Thousands of protesters marched 25 blocks in a blocked off traffic lane to commemorate victim Sean Bell
Gunmen kidnap Red Crescent aid workers in Baghdad
• APGunmen in Iraqi army uniforms burst into Red Crescent offices on Sunday and kidnapped more than two dozen people at the humanitarian organization in the latest sign of the country's growing lawlessness.
Talk of Satellite Defense Raises Fears of Space War
• Washington PostUndersecretary of State Robert Joseph said the administration would react forcefully to any interference with US space technology -- whether used by the military or businesses ranging from paging services and automated teller machines to radio and te
Arms technology 'being diverted from Dubai'
• Financial TimesThe Bush administration is "increasingly alarmed" about the diversion of militarily sensitive technology to Iran and Syria via Dubai, a US official said, threatening unspecified action if this diversion was not halted.
The Bloodbath We Created
• Tom PaineThe US transferred 287,000 AK-47 rifles, 17,000 machine guns, 7,600 grenade launchers, and 1,800 high mobility wheeled vehicles to these [Shiite] forces. The weapons transfer accelerated this year, despite involvement of police units in death squad
Saddam seen as no threat - then politicians got to work
• The IndependentThe Bush administration was not the only government which changed the intelligence and the facts to fit the policy before the Iraq invasion. Even though he left Britain's UN mission in mid-2002 he confirms that the prevailing wisdom throughout hi
Prostitution tax thrusting through the German economy
• der SpiegelGermany's economy is finally picking up again, and tax revenues are increasing as a result, rising over 8% in November. The tax, which is levied on prostitutes, strip shows, pornographic cinemas, and massage parlors, in an attempt to balance its
Government fails 10th consecutive audit
• GovExecThe federal government flunked its fiscal 2006 audit, with $797 billion, or 53%, of its reported assets and an additional $790 billion, or 27%, of net costs, on the balance sheets of 5 agencies that could not be fully audited. The 10th year in a row
FBI Probes Claims Against Congressman Murphy
• KDKA-TVA federal investigation is underway after allegations surfaced against US Rep. Tim Murphy. Federal agents have begun interviewing former Murphy staffers on whether they did political work for the congressman on government time. Murphy denies the alle
F-35 fighter wraps up first test flight
• ReutersThe costliest international warplane project, the F-35 Lightning 2 Joint Strike Fighter, safely completed its first test flight, advancing a $276.5 billion program financed by the United States and eight other countries.
Westinghouse wins massive China nuclear deal
• ReutersU.S.-based Westinghouse Electric has won a two-year battle for a $8 billion-dollar nuclear power deal with China, edging out French and Russian rivals to secure a contract that may help Beijing smooth ties with Washington.
UK defence firm lobbied minister to drop corruption probe
• AFPThe British defence company at the centre of an abandoned corruption probe into a UK-Saudi Arabia weapons deals directly lobbied a key minister to drop the investigation. BAE Systems' lawyers called for the bribery inquiry to be halted on public
Republican Sen. Specter plans Syria trip
• APSen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), a 26-year Senate Republican, said he will visit Syria despite loud objections by the Bush administration, contending the situation in Iraq is so dire that it is time Congress step up to the plate and s
Pentagon eyes $468.9 bln budget for fiscal 2008
• ReutersThe White House approved a $468.9 billion 2008 budget for the Pentagon, a 6% increase over last year's request. That violated the Pentagon's earlier agreement with the White House that war costs be funded through supplemental budgets.
U.S. needs to better monitor money laundering
• ReutersThe Treasury Department needs to improve coordination within its agencies to better monitor money laundering. A Senate panel's concern that the government is not working well enough together to administer the Bank Secrecy Act,
US citizen Padilla unable to help defense after 3 1/2 years of torture
• APJose Padilla's lawyers say the accused al-Qaida operative has mental problems stemming from his treatment during 3 1/2 years in solitary confinement and have asked a federal judge to decide whether he is competent to stand trial.
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