Monthly Archives: April 2008 »
Bush Secrecy Policies Transforming U.S. Government
By Sherwood Ross | President George W. Bush has transformed an open federal government in Washington into one of “pervasive secrecy,” a distinguished authority on communications and First Amendment rights says. Since his inauguration,
Read More »Syrian ambassador says CIA fabricated photos
Reuters | Syria’s ambassador to the United States said Friday that the CIA fabricated pictures allegedly taken inside a secret Syrian nuclear reactor and predicted that in coming weeks the U.S. story about the
Read More »Police Taser Claims Another Life
By Shamus Toomey – Chicago Sun-Times | A 24-year-old Lake View man died Thursday, five days after suburban Cincinnati police shocked him with a Taser outside a bar there. Kevin Piskura, 24, of the
Read More »‘Sustainable’ bio-plastic can damage the environment
By John Vidal | The worldwide effort by supermarkets and industry to replace conventional oil-based plastic with eco-friendly “bioplastics” made from plants is causing environmental problems and consumer confusion, according to a Guardian study. The
Read More »NY police cleared in 50-bullet wedding day shooting
Reuters | Three New York City detectives were found not guilty on Friday in the shooting death of an unarmed black man killed in a hail of 50 bullets on his wedding day, prompting
Read More »FBI wants widespread monitoring of ‘illegal’ web activity
By Anne Broache | The FBI on Wednesday called for new legislation that would allow federal police to monitor the Internet for “illegal activity.” The suggestion from FBI Director Robert Mueller, which came during a House
Read More »Iraqi oil pipeline blown up again
BBC News | An oil pipeline south of Baghdad has been blown up, wounding at least eight security guards, Iraqi police say. The blast, near the town of Iskandiriya, caused a large fire and
Read More »Senate votes unanimously to protect watchdogs
AP | Facing a possible White House veto, the Senate has passed a watered-down version of legislation that would protect government watchdogs from political pressure.But Senate lawmakers say the measure, approved unanimously on April
Read More »US prepping military options against Iran
By Mike Sheehan | Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the Pentagon is planning “potential” military actions against Iran, reports The Washington Post. Mullen criticized Iran’s “‘increasingly lethal
Read More »China is world’s largest Internet-using population
By Jane Macartney | China has overtaken the US as the world’s biggest user of the internet, thanks to a rise of more than 61 per cent of people in the country using the
Read More »Pentagon Propaganda Worse Than We Thought
By John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton – PR Watch | David Barstow of the New York Times has written the first installment in what is already a stunning exposé of the Bush Administration’s most
Read More »UN targets US over delay in Syrian nuclear evidence
By Anne Penketh | The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog has reacted with fury at the United States’ delay in passing on intelligence, after Washington accused North Korea of helping Syria to
Read More »Gitmo Detainees’ Mental Health Is Latest Legal Battle
By William Glaberson | Next month, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a Yemeni who was once a driver for Osama bin Laden, could become the first detainee to be tried for war crimes in Guantánamo Bay,
Read More »The legal evils of Guantanamo Bay
Alasdair Palmer reviews Torture Team: Deception, Cruelty and the Compromise of Law by Philippe Sands. Torture Team centres on a single document: a memo, signed by the former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, authorising the
Read More »Rights Groups Wrangle with CIA over “Ghost Prisoners”
IPS | The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has refused to release more than 7,000 documents related to its programmes of secret detentions, renditions, and torture, and is asking a federal judge to dismiss a
Read More »Use of DNA results is expanding
By Don Thompson – Associated Press | SACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Jerry Brown said Thursday he is changing state policy to expand the use of DNA results, a shift he said could rekindle
Read More »Interrogating Abu Ghraib
Tony Diaz, a former military-police sergeant who served at Abu Ghraib, stares into Errol Morris’ camera and speaks in baffled tones about being called into a shower room at that notorious Baghdad prison where
Read More »‘Terror’ asset-grab absurd and unjust
By Gerri Peev | ANTI-TERRORISM legislation drawn up by Gordon Brown to allow the Treasury to seize assets from suspects has been ruled unlawful by a High Court judge. The practice, which was dubbed
Read More »Blackwater wants to use N.C. airport
By Connie Sage | The town is negotiating with Blackwater to allow the private security company to lease space at Northeastern Regional Airport to use for its driver training program. Blackwater would instruct defensive
Read More »Brain-plug weapons could provide war crime immunity
By Lewis Page | An American law student has published an analysis of international law regarding war crimes that might be committed using future brain-interface-controlled weapon systems. Stephen White, studying at Cornell Law School,
Read More »Civil rights groups sue state officials
By Adam Jadhav | Voting-rights activists filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against Missouri public aid officials and election authorities in St. Louis and Kansas City, saying that agencies have failed to help poor people
Read More »Watchdog ruling – Iraq dossier was sexed up
By Chris Ames | The government is attacked as “dodgy” after a ruling that criticises the way in which author of the September 2002 Iraq dossier has effectively been allowed anonymity. The Information Tribunal
Read More »Scientists Uncover Secrets at Centre of Black Holes
Salford Online | Scientists say they have moved one step closer to understanding the processes occurring in supermassive black holes. Black holes are thought to be the feature at the rotational centre of most
Read More »Fallout from New York Times “Pentagon Pundits” Story
IPA | The recent New York Times front-page article “Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon’s Hidden Hand” discloses Pentagon records which “reveal a symbiotic relationship where the usual dividing lines between government and journalism have been
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