News and Articles 7-4-06

"Where liberty is, there is my country. " - Benjamin Franklin


Musician sues over flag law

An Ottumwa rock musician whose protest against the city led to charges of flag desecration has challenged the 106-year-old law in federal court.Scott Wayne Roe, 40, has a hearing Thursday in Wapello County court on the flag-desecration charge. He faces 30 days in jail and a $500 fine.But Roe argues in a federal lawsuit that Iowa's flag-protection law is an "overly broad restriction of speech" and violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.


"The Constitution is the foundation of this nation and not the flag..." - Nobody


The Reality Beneath the Flag-Waving

Many Americans are so unsophisticated that they refuse to believe anything bad about their country. They regard acceptance of unpalatable truths as disloyalty. This failure of American character is why Bush has been able to get away with transgressions that scream out for his impeachment and trial as a war criminal.

America has become a land of evil. The rest of the world hates and despises us. And we are going to pay a terrible price for it. Bush's belief that our superpower status makes us immune to the opinion of others goes beyond hubris into insanity.


"Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny." - Thomas Jefferson


The Presidential Oath of Office

The oath to be taken by the president on first entering office is specified in Article II, Section 1, of the Constitution:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.


Bush: Constitution 'just a goddamn piece of paper'

GOP leaders told Bush that his hardcore push to renew the more onerous provisions of the ['Patriot''] act could further alienate conservatives still mad at the President from his botched attempt to nominate White House Counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court.

"I don't give a goddamn," Bush retorted. "I'm the President and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way."

"Mr. President," one aide in the meeting said. "There is a valid case that the provisions in this law undermine the Constitution."

"Stop throwing the Constitution in my face," Bush screamed back. "It's just a goddamned piece of paper!"


Bush Directed Cheney To Counter War Critic

President Bush told the special prosecutor in the CIA leak case that he directed Vice President Dick Cheney to personally lead an effort to counter allegations made by former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV that his administration had misrepresented intelligence information to make the case to go to war with Iraq, according to people familiar with the president's statement.


Independence Day

He was a trained medical professional, and in a war zone known as Gaza of all places. He had seen this scenario a thousand times before, and a thousand times too many as far as he was concerned. This child would not be going home, at least not her earthly home, given the fact that she had just been shot in the stomach at close range by a soldier wielding a machine gun, the bullets from which produced exit wounds on her tiny body that were as large as golf balls.


Guantanamo lawyers balk at more filings in detainee cases

Attorneys representing hundreds of Guantanamo Bay detainees urged a federal appeals court Monday to reject a Bush administration request for more legal filings in light of last week's Supreme Court ruling in the case of Osama bin Laden's driver.

The detainees' lawyers said a three-judge panel already has had three rounds of legal filings and does not need more briefing to decide the fate of lawsuits that challenge the legality of the prisoners' detentions.

Solicitor General Paul Clement asked the panel for the opportunity to explain how the administration views the high court's decision immediately after justices ruled last Thursday in the case of bin Laden's driver, Salim Ahmed Hamdan.

The attorneys for the detainees said the Hamdan decision "speaks with perfect clarity" and said that granting the administration's request for more filing time "would cause further unwarranted delay ... seriously prejudicing the Guantanamo detainees," most of whom "languish in their fifth year of imprisonment without being charged with any wrongdoing.

"Last week, the Supreme Court, in a 5-3 decision, rebuked President Bush, ruling that his plan to hold criminal trials before military tribunals for some of the Guantanamo detainees violates U.S. and international law.


California orders release of security intelligence

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered the release of intelligence reports prepared for the state Office of Homeland Security, a move administration officials say will quell complaints that California engaged in widespread monitoring of political protests.


Surveillance of financial transactions goes too far

The Bush administration admitted that it was conducting warrantless surveillance of the financial transactions of Americans and others only after newspapers exposed the program. According to some Republicans, the solution is to imprison journalists who blow the whistle on government wrongdoing.


"They who give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. " - Benjamin Franklin


Right-Wing Blog Asks Readers to "Hunt Down" Info About NYT Editors' Children

The short story is that what passes for the conservative braintrust these days -- a collection of repulsive little scabs no smarter than their own shoes -- has seized upon an article in the New York Times' Travel section describing the small town of St. Michaels, Maryland, home to the vacation homes of numerous famous and wealthy Americans, notable among them Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. There's a picture there of Rumsfeld's driveway. This, the right-wing bloggers assert, is an intentional "exposure" of Cheney and Rumsfeld to terrorists, done with malice by the New York Times. No, I'm not kidding.


Shreveport Paper Considers Dropping Coulter


Department of Defense Funds $450K Blog Research Project

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research will fund a three-year research project shepherded by Versatile Information Systems Inc. that will seek out “relevant and credible” information pertaining to terrorist activity on blogs.


Fox News begins push for Federal "Office of Censorship"


Net Neutrality: America's Last Defense against Fascism

"Allowing the Bells and cable companies to act like gatekeepers WITH CONTROL OVER ACCESS to the Internet would make the Internet like cable - A PRODUCER-DRIVEN MARKET WITH BARRIERS TO ENTRY for website creators and preferential treatment for specific sites based not on merit or number of hits, but on their relationship with the corporate gatekeepers.”


"I am mortified to be told that, in the United States of America, the sale of a book can become a subject of inquiry, and of criminal inquiry too. " - Thomas Jefferson


Army Updates Counterinsurgency Doctrine

Three years into the war in Iraq, the U.S. Army has nearly completed a thorough revision and update of its official doctrine on counterinsurgency (pdf).

"It has been 20 years since the U.S. Army published a manual devoted to counterinsurgency operations, and 25 since the Marine Corps published its last such manual. With our Soldiers and Marines fighting insurgents in both Afghanistan and Iraq, it is thus essential that we give them a manual that provides principles and guidelines for counterinsurgency operations (COIN).

"The new doctrine begins with a thoughtful presentation of the nature of insurgency and counterinsurgency, their evolution and their characteristic strategies, and proceeds to consider the design of counterinsurgency operations.

"Traditionally, armies have had to unlearn much of their doctrine and (re)learn the principles of COIN while waging COIN campaigns.

"Counterinsurgency "presents a complex and often unfamiliar set of missions and considerations for a military commander.

"Among the "paradoxes of counterinsurgency" are the fact that "the more you protect your force, the less secure you are"; "the more force used, the less effective it is"; and "sometimes doing nothing is the best reaction."


"...And sometimes the best way to win a war is to not fight one..." - Nobody


Fallen Soldier Gets a Bronze Star but No Pagan Star

At the Veterans Memorial Cemetery in the small town of Fernley, Nev., there is a wall of brass plaques for local heroes. But one space is blank. There is no memorial for Sgt. Patrick D. Stewart.

That's because Stewart was a Wiccan, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has refused to allow a symbol of the Wicca religion -- a five-pointed star within a circle, called a pentacle -- to be inscribed on U.S. military memorials or grave markers.

The department has approved the symbols of 38 other faiths; about half of are versions of the Christian cross. It also allows the Jewish Star of David, the Muslim crescent, the Buddhist wheel, the Mormon angel, the nine-pointed star of Bahai and something that looks like an atomic symbol for atheists.

Stewart, 34, is believed to be the first Wiccan killed in combat. He was serving in the Nevada National Guard when the helicopter in which he was riding was shot down in Afghanistan last September. He previously had served in the Army in Korea and Operation Desert Storm. He was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star.


"It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God." - Thomas Jefferson


It's a Bible Belt story, but don't worry - it has a happy ending

Don't worry, foreigners who read this, in the United States we ship all of our really stupid people to Oklahoma, so this story isn't at all representative of what you'd discover in Iowa or Alabama or Pennsylvania.


"I have recently been examining all the known superstitions of the world, and do not find in our particular superstition [Christianity] one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology. " - Thomas Jefferson


Anti-War Protesters Begin July 4 Fast In Front Of White House

Approximately 150 anti-war demonstrators sat if front of the White House lawn on Monday having their last meal before a planned hunger strike to stop the war in Iraq. Some of the protesters said that they would continue their fast until American troops return from Iraq.

Code-Pink, a women's anti-war group, called on its volunteers to begin at midnight Tuesday. Some of the demonstrators said that the fast would continue beyond Independence Day.

Cindy Sheehan, an activist whose son was killed in Iraq, said that she planned to go without food, drinking only water in the summer. She also stated that she would spend the summer in front of President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Sheehan told Reuters, "This war is a crime. We represent millions of Americans who withdraw their support from this government."


Their wish? Freedom -- from the president

Forget about watching the fireworks. Some Americans are determined to be firecrackers themselves.

Walter Ducharme, 76, of Cambridge, is celebrating Independence Day by practicing his right of expression, delivering a silent but explosive message to President Bush at his home.

"Impeach Bush" is emblazoned in white letters across Ducharme's black T-shirt. The buzz-haired man stands out like an exclamation mark amid the crowd clambering around the fence on the north lawn of the White House snapping souvenir pictures.

"It's one of my goals in life to see him in jail," said Ducharme, an antiwar activist who plans to join a large rally today in which thousands of people are expected to fast for at least 24 hours.


"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent. " - Thomas Jefferson


Rumsfeld subpoenaed over Abu Ghraib

A Congressional committee subpoenaed Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Friday at the request of U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays.

Shays, R-4, sought the subpoena after the Pentagon refused to answer questions regarding allegations that an Army whistleblower faced retaliation for discussing abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison.


"Conquest is not in our principles. It is inconsistent with our government. " - Thomas Jefferson


Ex-soldier arrested in Iraq rape, killing

A veteran of the fighting in Iraq is facing federal criminal charges in connection with the killing of an Iraqi woman and members of her family.

Steven Green, who has been discharged from the Army, was arrested in recent days in North Carolina, two federal law enforcement officials said Monday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the case against Green have not been made public.

The U.S. military is investigating up to five soldiers in the March rape and killing of a woman in Mahmoudiya and three of her relatives.

It is unclear why Green has been discharged.


US-led offensive in southern Afghanistan kills hundreds

Despite US claims that the operation is only targeting Taliban fighters, it is clear that ordinary villagers face bombings and hostile attacks. The Pentagon routinely describes all victims of military operations as Taliban, even if they turn out to be women and children.


"There was never a good war, or a bad peace." - Benjamin Franklin


'Significant' troop numbers home from Iraq within 18 months: Blair

Prime Minister Tony Blair has said that "significant numbers" of British troops could be withdrawn from Iraq within 18 months.

British forces would remain in the war-shattered country for as long as the Iraqi government wished them too, Blair reiterated before the senior MPs who make up parliament's Commons Liaison Committee.

"I suspect over the next 18 months there will obviously be opportunities to draw down significant numbers of British troops because the capacity of the Iraqi troops will build up," he added Tuesday.

Britain was the major coalition partner in the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 and has 7,200 troops stationed in the south of the country around the second city of Basra.


U.S. elite forces face shortfall


Selective Service System: ALIENS AND DUAL NATIONALS

U.S. non-citizens and dual nationals are required by law to register with the Selective Service System.* Most are also liable for induction into the U.S. Armed Forces if there is a draft.


Bush vows stay course in Iraq

President George W. Bush, trying to tap into Independence Day patriotism to revive domestic support for an unpopular war, vowed on Tuesday that U.S. troops would not leave Iraq until their mission was complete.

In a Fourth of July speech here, Bush took a veiled swipe at Democrats who have pressed for a timetable for withdrawal more than three years after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

"Setting an artificial timetable would be a terrible mistake," Bush told more than 3,000 military personnel in a speech interrupted repeatedly by cheers at the home of the storied 82nd Airborne Division and U.S. Army Special Operations Command.He reiterated his pledge to base any U.S. troop withdrawals on "the measured advice of our military commanders."


"So don't set an "artifical timetable" then numbnuts...set a real one." - Nobody


C.I.A. Closes Unit Focused on Capture of bin Laden


FBI says, ‘No hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11'

The Muckraker Report spoke with Rex Tomb, chief of investigative publicity for the FBI. When asked why there is no mention of 9/11 on the Bin Laden's Most Wanted Web page, Tomb said, “The reason why 9/11 is not mentioned on Osama Bin Laden's Most Wanted page is because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting bin Laden to 9/11.”


FBI evidence of Mossad involvement in September 11 attacks on the U.S.

According to ABC's 20/20, when police stopped the cheering Israelis, one of them told the officers: "We are Israelis. We are not your problem. Your problems are our problems. The Palestinians are your problem”.

One of the five Israelis had a German passport in addition to his Israeli passport. Another had an international flight booked to Thailand on September 13, two days after the attacks. The FBI also found out that one of them was a former paratrooper, assigned to an elite Israeli defense forces unit.

Two more Israelis were caught in a truck on Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania, near the site of the crash of American Airlines flight 93. Police became very suspicious when they found maps of the city with certain locations highlighted, box cutters (like the ones used by the hijackers), along with other incriminating evidence. Police also said that bomb sniffing dogs reacted as if they smelled explosives when they were brought to the Israelis’ truck.


"Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools, that don't have brains enough to be honest. " - Benjamin Franklin


Report: Abramoff Had FBI Data

Convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff improperly obtained a top-secret FBI document and tried to use the information to aid his clients in the Pacific Island territories, according to a report released Friday by the Justice Department's inspector general.

The lobbyist feared information in the document could be damaging to his clients' interests, the inspector general said, and he used his knowledge of its contents to warn them and to devise a counterattack.


Visiting US official evades queries on Mossad-backed terror network

Committee chairman David Drier pointedly ignored repeated questions from reporters about the recently uncovered Mossad-linked terrorist group while speaking to the press after talks with Speaker Nabih Berri.


Israel drafting special laws for "non Jews"

The law is aimed at solving a problem faced by 300,000 Israelis who cannot marry because one of the partners is not Jewish, or his or her Jewishness cannot be determined.


ISRAEL PLANNED CAPTURE OF PALESTINIAN GOVERNMENT LONG BEFORE ALLEGED KIDNAPPING


Israel warns of "long war" over soldier


Corporate Media Ignores War Against Palestinians

In a brazen attempt to sugar coat Israel’s flagrant violations of the Geneva Convention, specifically Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which is intended to protect civilians, the corporate media continues to spin the situation in the Gaza Strip.


"Commerce with all nations, alliance with none, should be our motto." - Thomas Jefferson


Farm Program Pays $1.3 Billion to People Who Don't Farm

Even though Donald R. Matthews put his sprawling new residence in the heart of rice country, he is no farmer. He is a 67-year-old asphalt contractor who wanted to build a dream house for his wife of 40 years.

Yet under a federal agriculture program approved by Congress, his 18-acre suburban lot receives about $1,300 in annual "direct payments," because years ago the land was used to grow rice.


Sen. Clinton: Lieberman on own if he loses Dem primary

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a longtime supporter of Sen. Joseph Lieberman, said Tuesday she will not back the Connecticut Democrat's bid for re-election if he loses their party's primary.

"I've known Joe Lieberman for more than thirty years. I have been pleased to support him in his campaign for re-election, and hope that he is our party's nominee," the former first lady said in a statement issued by aides.

"But I want to be clear that I will support the nominee chosen by Connecticut Democrats in their primary," the New York Democrat added. "I believe in the Democratic Party, and I believe we must honor the decisions made by Democratic primary voters."


"Hey Hillary...This couldn't mean that you're starting to get the idea that those people advising you might in fact not represent the majority of america?...Naw you're just covering your own tail because you know that if Lieberman can be taken out then so can you." - Nobody


Lieberman Tries to Reassert Commitment to Democrats

Senator Joseph I. Lieberman tried to reassert his commitment to the Democratic Party today, after announcing on Monday that he would run independently for reelection if he loses the state Democratic primary next month.

"I have one goal, and it is to be the Democratic nominee and win this primary," Mr. Lieberman said after an Independence Day parade in this eastern Connecticut town, where he marched with a few dozen people, drawing both cheers of support and shouts of opposition.


"Get a real job Joe...Your "principles" are counter to the best interests of this country and her people and on this 4th of July I'm more than a little sick of your bullshit." - Nobody