Monthly Archives: June 2009 »
Top CIA lawyers to face legal complaints over roles in interrogation program
A grassroots coalition will file complaints today with the Washington, D.C. bar against two Central Intelligence Agency lawyers for their involvement in authorizing the use of controversial interrogation techniques against detainees in US custody.
Read More »Wikipedia Censored News of Afghanistan Kidnapping
THE New York Times worked with Wikipedia to keep news of the kidnapping of one of its reporters in Afghanistan off the online user-edited encyclopedia. New York Times reporter David Rohde, who was kidnapped
Read More »Obama Declares Coup “Not Legal” Amid Uncertainty
Capping a day of mixed signals, U.S. President Barack Obama said late Monday that he considered Sunday’s ouster and exile of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya to be “not legal” and that Washington still considered
Read More »Met go into denial over G20 policing criticism
The Metropolitan Police appears to have swept aside criticisms expressed by MPs in a report into the policing of the G20 protests. The report, by the home affairs select committee, condemned the police for
Read More »The Persecution of Michael Jackson
Last Thursday, while working on some writing deadlines, I was switching channels on cable. On CNN they were promoting “Black In America, ” an exercise meant to boost ratings by making whites feel good
Read More »The astonishing amount of data gathered on every one of us
Ever wondered how much personal information is held about you? Well, it looks something like this… Stacked over two feet high and weighing 12kg (nearly two stone), this pile of more than 3,000 sheets
Read More »Minister demands Government stop ID cards
Minister for community safety Fergus Ewing has written to the new UK home secretary Alan Johnson asking for the scheme to be cancelled. He has disputed claims by UK immigration minister Phil Woolas that
Read More »US admits defeat on opium campaign
The US has finally acknowledged that its opium eradication campaign in Afghanistan is failing, announcing that it would no longer support efforts to wipe out production. Western occupation forces have spent over eight years
Read More »Obama administration preparing order for indefinite detentions
The Obama administration is drafting an executive order that would give the US president the power to arrest without charge, and imprison indefinitely without trial, foreign nationals it accuses of being terrorists, according to
Read More »Bagram Detainees Treated “Worse Than Animals”
An investigation by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has revealed that former detainees at the U.S. Bagram airbase in Afghanistan were beaten, deprived of sleep and threatened with dogs. The BBC’s conclusions are based
Read More »Labour government forces one million disabled workers to find work
The Brown Labour government is forcing a million disabled, sick and injured workers off social benefits. The vast majority are being driven into low paid employment or onto poor quality training schemes, at the
Read More »Obama contemplates Executive Order for detention without charges
When Obama first unveiled his “preventive detention” policy, many defenders praised him (and claimed he was different than Bush) because of his vow that — as he put it — “my Administration will work
Read More »Elite Iraqi troops in forefront after US pullback
As Iraqi security services prepare to take back their towns from the Americans on Tuesday, the sharpest arrow in their quiver is an elite, American-trained force with a reputation that leads many Iraqis to
Read More »Pilger: A world of fragility and fear
TS Eliot wrote that the point of any journey was to find out where you came from. As I bore my bulging canvas bag to the wharf at Circular Quay, not far from where
Read More »Michael Jackson Dead
Pop star Michael Jackson was pronounced dead by doctors this afternoon after arriving at a hospital in LA. Jackson was reported to be in a coma with family members at his bedside. Jackson was rushed to a hospital this
Read More »The kinder, gentler occupation?
Phil Aliff, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, analyzes new U.S. rules of engagement governing air power in Afghanistan. DESPITE THE Obama administration’s attempts to put a new face on U.S. involvement
Read More »Record bonuses at bailed-out US banks
Executives at Goldman Sachs were told last week that they could expect to receive their highest ever bonuses this year, according to an article published Sunday in London’s Observer newspaper. The first half of
Read More »Dozens of Civilians Killed as US Attacks Funeral
Sources involved in the rescue operation following yesterday’s US attack on a South Waziristan funeral procession reported that at least 35 civilians were among the slain, and that no prominent militant commanders were killed
Read More »Britain’s child poverty disgrace
Official figures published today show that a quarter of children in London are from jobless households, adding fuel to criticism of the government’s attempts to end child poverty. The Office of National Statistics (ONS)
Read More »Eavesdropping on Printers
First, we develop a novel feature design that borrows from commonly used techniques for feature extraction in speech recognition and music processing. These techniques are geared towards the human ear, which is limited to
Read More »700 doctors demand the removal of WMA president for involvement in torture
700 doctors from 43 countries sent a letter of protest to the Word Medical Association (WMA), which is considered the WMA’s governing body, demanding the removal of the newly appointed president, an Israeli doctor,
Read More »Challenge to BNP’s whites-only rule
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has challenged the fascist British National Party to address its membership criteria, on the basis that they contravene the Race Relations Act. The commission, which is headed by
Read More »How FBI sought to block Deep Throat the movie
One was a top FBI investigator, a legend of the Watergate affair. The other was a porn movie that came to be seen as a defining moment in America’s cultural and sexual revolution. Now
Read More »Blair WAS involved in Iraq inquiry talks, minister says
Gordon Brown is to promise that much of the Iraq inquiry will be held in the open in an attempt to avert a damaging Commons defeat for the Government this Wednesday. Amid fury
Read More »CIA Looks to Colleges for Future Spies
To the list of collegiate types — nerds, jocks, Greeks — add one more: spies in training. The government is hoping they’ll be hard to spot. The Obama administration has proposed the creation of
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