News
number 111
07.15.07
White House Denied Baker Ingredients to Prepare Second
Course
A bipartisan Congressional effort to
reconvene the Iraq Study Group to
prepare a second report on the US
occupation of Iraq has been
effectively halted by the Bush
administration, which has reportedly
refused to authorize the participation
of the panel’s chairman, former
Secretary of State James Baker.
The first ISG report, released last
December, received a tepid
response from the White House, and
its main recommendations have been
largely ignored. Baker has said
privately that he will not participate
without the support of the president,
even though the House has already
voted to fund the panel. The incident
is the latest in a series of public
repudiations by the White House of
senior members of the president’s
father’s administration.
According to a report in the
Washington Post, the White House
is firmly opposed to any independent
assessment of the situation in Iraq
that may detract attention from two
military reports that are expected in
September. Congressional attempts
to reach a political consensus on Iraq
have centered on the original ISG
report, and last month the House
voted 355 to 69 to revive the panel
with a view to producing an updated
version. But ISG co-chairman Lee
Hamilton told the Post, “It’s not likely
to happen unless
the White House approves it. The
group can’t go ahead without its
concurrence or acquiescence, as
we need travel support and
access to documents.”
A number of Congressional
Republicans, who view a renewed
ISG as an opportunity for political
cover on the increasingly
unpopular occupation of Iraq
ahead of next
year’s elections, were
disappointed with the
administration's refusal to
cooperate with the panel. Calling
the action “really shortsighted,”
Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT)
predicted, “It’s going to further
isolate the president.” it's
all true
fun d' mental
Traffic
Papal Policy
Prompts Protests
From Protestants
Surgeon General Says President Prescribed Scientific
Censorship
The only US Surgeon General to be
appointed by President Bush recently
revealed that the Bush administration
suppressed medical and scientific
information and disallowed him to
speak about certain medical matters.
Dr. Richard H. Carmona, who was not
reappointed when his term expired in
2006, was also ordered to mention
the president by name at least three
times on every page of speeches he
gave when he was surgeon general.
Carmona revealed the administration’
s censorial demands in
Congressional testimony before the
House Oversight and Government
Reform Committee. The former
surgeon general said that the Bush
administration disallowed him to
speak publicly about stem cell
research, emergency contraception
and sex education. The
administration also
suppressed public health research
that countered or contradicted the
political positions of the president.
Carmona said that the Bush
administration refused his proposal
to offer guidance in crafting policy
regarding stem cell therapies from a
medical perspective. Carmona was
told to “stand down” and all
references to stem cell research and
treatment were removed from
speeches he wrote.
The Bush administration disallowed
Carmona from testifying against
tobacco companies in a federal court
case, and even advised federal
prosecutors that
he was “incompetent” to testify. The
former surgeon general also told
the Congressional panel that he
was assigned to attend “political pep
rallies” and give speeches in support
of
political candidates.
Dr. Carmona, who served as
surgeon general for four years,
said that anything that didn’t “fit
into the political appointee’s
ideological, theological or political
agenda,” of the Bush
administration was, “often
ignored, marginalized or simply
buried.” Carmona said that
administration officials would
“spin” the wording of reports he
submitted “in such a way that
would be preferable to a political
or ideological preconceived notion
that had nothing to do with
science.”
The chairman of the oversight
committee, Rep. Henry Waxman
(D-CA) said,“On key public health
issues, the surgeon general has
been muzzled.” it's all
true
The Vatican recently released
a proclamation asserting the
primacy of Catholicism among
world religions that proclaim
the divinity of Jesus of
Nazareth. Pope Joseph
Ratzinger, referencing a 900-
year-old schism in the
Christian religion, said that the
Catholic Church suffered a
“wound”, that Christian
religions other than
Catholicism were “defective”
and that Catholic doctrine is
the single “means of salvation.”
The papal document stated
that non-Catholic Christian
churches “lack something in
their condition as particular
churches,” and they “suffer
from defects.” In spite of these
problems, the pope recognized
that other churches can still be
utilized by God as “instruments
of salvation.” The declaration
also specified that Orthodox
Christian churches “remained
linked” to the Catholic Church,
but Protestant denominations
“cannot…be called Churches
in the proper sense.”
The proclamation was met with
criticism by other large
Christian denominations that
expressed surprise that the
new pope would, very early in
his papacy, find it important to
so forcefully assert the primacy
of Catholicism and risk closing
doors to inter-religious
cooperation and dialogue.
The World Council of
Reformed Churches wrote a
letter of protest to the Vatican
that said that the proclamation,
“makes us question whether
we are indeed praying
together for Christian unity."
it's all true
spread of the red
NRC Licenses Bogus Firm, Attempts to Contain
Fallout
States with the highest rates of growth between 2004 and 2005
|
Federal investigators, who
incorporated a fake company, were
able to receive a license from the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission to
purchase enough radioactive
material to construct a ‘dirty bomb’.
The fake firm received the license
documents from the NRC in 28 days
through the US Mail.
The investigation into licensing
practices of the NRC was requested
by members of Congress and carried
out by the Governmental
Accountability Office. The GAO
reported to Congress that
investigators were able to not only
procure a “genuine radioactive
materials license” from the NRC
through the mails with little scrutiny,
but the investigators were also able
to alter the license so that “the bogus
company could purchase an
unrestricted amount" of radioactive
materials.
The investigators then used the
documents to ignite a bidding war via
facsimile between two US firms to sell
the materials to the fake company.
One of the suppliers told undercover
agents that he would offer “to
provide twice as many machines” as
the fake firm requested.
The investigators were attempting to
purchase equipment used to detect
soil moisture for construction
purposes. The instruments contain
small amounts of Americium-241 that
could have been used to make a
dirty bomb large enough to
contaminate an area the size of a city
block. The investigators had to
abandon the undercover operation
because a state agency in Maryland
sought to do an on-site inspection of
the firm that, according to the GAO,
“existed only
on paper.” it's all true
9
6
3
%
AZ NV FL ID OR
source: Bureau of Economic
Analysis
interpreting the constitution
crowd control
Gonzales a False Witness in Support of
Surveillance
Katrina Evacuees
Face
Permanent Emergency
Newly disclosed documents reveal
that Attorney General Alberto
Gonzales had received numerous
official reports of FBI civil liberties
violations prior to his April 2005
testimony before the Senate
Intelligence Committee, in which he
asserted that no such abuses had
occurred since the adoption of the
USA Patriot Act in 2001.
Seeking reauthorization of the Act,
Gonzales told senators, “There has
not been one verified case of civil
liberties abuse” under the law. But
internal Justice Department
documents obtained by the
Electronic Frontier Foundation under
a Freedom of Information Act request
show that department lawyers were
aware of a pattern of FBI violations,
reports of which were regularly
forwarded to the White House
Intelligence Oversight Board and
senior administration officials. One of
these reports was sent to Gonzales
six days before his testimony in
support of the Patriot Act.
Democratic legislators reacted with
outrage to the disclosure, renewing
their calls for Gonzales to resign.
Congressional oversight committees
have repeatedly sparred with the
Attorney General, who has been
accused of giving inaccurate or
misleading
testimony on domestic surveillance,
improper politicization of Justice
Department activities, and his firing
of at least nine top federal
prosecutors in 2006. In a statement,
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) said,
“This should be the last straw, but
there never seems to be a last straw
when it comes to George W. Bush
and Alberto Gonzales.”
Two top Justice Department officials
confirmed to the Washington Post
that they had kept Gonzales' office
informed of the FBI abuses on an
ongoing basis. James A. Baker, who
runs the Office of Intelligence Policy
and Review, told the Post, ”I have
discussed and informed attorneys
general, including this one, about
mistakes the FBI has made or
problems or violations or compliance
incidents, however you want to refer
to them.” But the officials defended
Gonzales’ 2005 testimony, citing the
Webster’s Dictionary definition of the
term “abuse,” which the Attorney
General had employed. Assistant
Attorney General for National
Security Kenneth L. Wainstein said
that the violations he knew of were
not “intentional” acts of misconduct.
Both men said they did not know
whether Gonzales had actually read
any of the reports on FBI violations
that were forwarded to his office.
it's all true
More than eighteen months after
Hurricane Katrina displaced
hundreds of thousands of
residents of New Orleans, more
than 40, 000 families remain in
some form of temporary shelter
provided by the Federal
Emergency Management Agency.
The evacuees that remain under
the care of FEMA and disaster
relief organizations are
disproportionately elderly,
disabled, or low-income families
that have little realistic hope of
returning to their devastated
neighborhoods, according to an
investigation by the New York
Times.
Redevelopment of the city has not
addressed the infrastructure in
low-income neighborhoods, and a
recent study noted that less than
21 percent of the 77, 000 rental
units destroyed by the storm are
even slated for replacement, with
none rebuilt to date. Rents have
shot up, doubling and even
tripling because of the scarcity of
rental housing. Civic activists
have decried a decision by the
Department of Housing and Urban
Development to raze the
city’s four largest housing projects
for private redevelopment. it's all
true
redstateupdate.net
Clarence Brown Tribute Page
|
verbatim number 21.6
"But no question al Qaeda is
dangerous for the American
people, and that's why -- as
well as other people that love
freedom -- and that's why
we're working hard with allies
and friends to enhance our
intelligence...
...That's why we need
terrorist surveillance
programs...
...We're keeping on
the offense."
Washington DC
07.12.07