The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: It's Called Torture: "By BOB HERBERT | Published: February 28, 2005
As a nation, does the United States have a conscience? Or is anything and everything O.K. in post-9/11 America? If torture and the denial of due process are O.K., why not murder? When the government can just make people vanish - which it can, and which it does - where is the line that we, as a nation, dare not cross?
When I interviewed Maher Arar in Ottawa last week, it seemed clear that however thoughtful his comments, I was talking with the frightened, shaky successor of a once robust and fully functioning human being. Torture does that to a person. It's an unspeakable crime, an affront to one's humanity that can rob you of a portion of your being as surely as acid can destroy your flesh.
Mr. Arar, a Canadian citizen with a wife and two young children, had his life flipped upside down in the fall of 2002 when John Ashcroft's Justice Department, acting at least in part on bad information supplied by the Canadian government, decided it would be a good idea to abduct Mr. Arar and ship him off to Syria, an outlaw nation that the Justice Department honchos well knew was addicted to torture. ...
...
Mr. Arar was the victim of an American policy that is known as extraordinary rendition. That's a euphemism. What it means is that the United States seizes individuals, presumably terror suspects, and sends them off without even a nod in the direction of due process to countries known to practice torture. ...
...
More important, it means that torture by proxy, close kin to contract murder, remains all right. Congressman Markey's bill is going nowhere. Extraordinary rendition lives.
Monday, February 28, 2005
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Administration dismisses 1000+ whistleblower cases: "no waste, fraud or abuse in the federal government that deserves investigation"
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility: News ReleasesFebruary 23, 2005 | Contact: Chas Offutt (202) 265-7337 | MORE THAN A THOUSAND WHISTLEBLOWER CASES DUMPED —
Special Counsel Dismisses Hundreds of Disclosures and Complaints in Past Year
The U.S. Special Counsel has dismissed more than 1,000 whistleblower cases in the past year, according to a letter from the Bush-appointed Special Counsel released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The Special Counsel appears to have taken action in very few, if any, of these cases and has yet to represent a single whistleblower in an employment case.
According to the figures released by Bloch, in the past year the Office of Special Counsel—
* Dismissed or otherwise disposed of 600 whistleblower disclosures where civil servants have reported waste, fraud, threats to public safety and violations of law. Bloch has yet to announce a single case where he has ordered an investigation into the employee’s charges. Bloch says that 100 disclosures are still pending; and
* Made 470 claims of retaliation disappear. In not one of these cases did Bloch’s office affirmatively represent a whistleblower to obtain relief before the civil service court system, called the Merit Systems Protection Board. Bloch says that another 30 retaliation cases remain in the backlog.
In order to speed dismissals, Bloch instituted a rule forbidding his staff from contacting a whistleblower if their disclosure was deemed incomplete or ambiguous. Instead, OSC would simply dismiss the matter. As a result, hundreds of whistleblowers never had a chance to justify why their cases had merit.
“According to Scott Bloch there is no waste, fraud or abuse in the federal government that deserves investigation,” ...
Special Counsel Dismisses Hundreds of Disclosures and Complaints in Past Year
The U.S. Special Counsel has dismissed more than 1,000 whistleblower cases in the past year, according to a letter from the Bush-appointed Special Counsel released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The Special Counsel appears to have taken action in very few, if any, of these cases and has yet to represent a single whistleblower in an employment case.
According to the figures released by Bloch, in the past year the Office of Special Counsel—
* Dismissed or otherwise disposed of 600 whistleblower disclosures where civil servants have reported waste, fraud, threats to public safety and violations of law. Bloch has yet to announce a single case where he has ordered an investigation into the employee’s charges. Bloch says that 100 disclosures are still pending; and
* Made 470 claims of retaliation disappear. In not one of these cases did Bloch’s office affirmatively represent a whistleblower to obtain relief before the civil service court system, called the Merit Systems Protection Board. Bloch says that another 30 retaliation cases remain in the backlog.
In order to speed dismissals, Bloch instituted a rule forbidding his staff from contacting a whistleblower if their disclosure was deemed incomplete or ambiguous. Instead, OSC would simply dismiss the matter. As a result, hundreds of whistleblowers never had a chance to justify why their cases had merit.
“According to Scott Bloch there is no waste, fraud or abuse in the federal government that deserves investigation,” ...
Sunday, February 20, 2005
63 journalists have been killed in Iraq, more killed than in entire Vietnam war
AxisofLogic/ Iraq: "PENTAGON THREATENED EARLIER TO KILL REPORTERS IN IRAQ | By Henk Ruyssenaars | Feb 17, 2005, 18:45
February 18, 2005 -- ''Recently at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Eason Jordan, a CNN executive, told a panel that the U.S. military deliberately targeted journalists in Iraq.
He said he 'knew of about 12 journalists who had not only been killed by American troops, but had been targeted as a matter of policy,' said Rep. Barney Frank (D) from Massachusetts, who was on the panel with Jordan.
'When we hear this statement with the knowledge that 63 journalists have been killed in Iraq, in addition to the fact that in a 14-month-period, more journalists were killed in Iraq than during the entire Vietnam War, one begins to get the feeling that the military clampdown on the media is more than a myth or a conspiracy theory'', Baghdad correspondent Dahr Jamail wrote."
...
The interview below however was conducted long before that, and in it Kate Adie said that the Pentagon c.s. threatened to kill journalists in Iraq which did not follow the official American propaganda line; like Adie wasn't willing to do anymore.
In an interview with Irish radio, Ms. Adie said the Pentagon had threatened to fire on the satellite uplink positions of independent journalists in Iraq, and - questioned about the consequences of such potentially fatal actions -a senior Pentagon officer had said: "Who cares.. ..They've been warned."
February 18, 2005 -- ''Recently at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Eason Jordan, a CNN executive, told a panel that the U.S. military deliberately targeted journalists in Iraq.
He said he 'knew of about 12 journalists who had not only been killed by American troops, but had been targeted as a matter of policy,' said Rep. Barney Frank (D) from Massachusetts, who was on the panel with Jordan.
'When we hear this statement with the knowledge that 63 journalists have been killed in Iraq, in addition to the fact that in a 14-month-period, more journalists were killed in Iraq than during the entire Vietnam War, one begins to get the feeling that the military clampdown on the media is more than a myth or a conspiracy theory'', Baghdad correspondent Dahr Jamail wrote."
...
The interview below however was conducted long before that, and in it Kate Adie said that the Pentagon c.s. threatened to kill journalists in Iraq which did not follow the official American propaganda line; like Adie wasn't willing to do anymore.
In an interview with Irish radio, Ms. Adie said the Pentagon had threatened to fire on the satellite uplink positions of independent journalists in Iraq, and - questioned about the consequences of such potentially fatal actions -a senior Pentagon officer had said: "Who cares.. ..They've been warned."
Friday, February 18, 2005
Iraqi Died While Hung From Wrists
Yahoo! News - AP: Iraqi Died While Hung From WristsThu Feb 17, 3:58 PM ET | By SETH HETTENA, Associated Press Writer
SAN DIEGO - An Iraqi whose corpse was photographed with grinning U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib died under CIA (news - web sites) interrogation while in a position condemned by human rights groups as torture — suspended by his wrists, with his hands cuffed behind his back, according to reports reviewed by The Associated Press.
The death of the prisoner, Manadel al-Jamadi, became known last year when the Abu Ghraib prison scandal broke. The U.S. military said back then that the death had been ruled a homicide. But the exact circumstances under which the man died were not disclosed at the time.
The prisoner died in a position known as "Palestinian hanging," the documents reviewed by The AP show. It is unclear whether that position was approved by the Bush administration for use in CIA interrogations. ...
SAN DIEGO - An Iraqi whose corpse was photographed with grinning U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib died under CIA (news - web sites) interrogation while in a position condemned by human rights groups as torture — suspended by his wrists, with his hands cuffed behind his back, according to reports reviewed by The Associated Press.
The death of the prisoner, Manadel al-Jamadi, became known last year when the Abu Ghraib prison scandal broke. The U.S. military said back then that the death had been ruled a homicide. But the exact circumstances under which the man died were not disclosed at the time.
The prisoner died in a position known as "Palestinian hanging," the documents reviewed by The AP show. It is unclear whether that position was approved by the Bush administration for use in CIA interrogations. ...
Papers reveal Bagram abuse: US soldiers covered up abuse in Afghanistan and in Iraq - even after the Abu Ghraib scandal last year
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Papers reveal Bagram abuse: "Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington and James Meek | Friday February 18, 2005 | The Guardian
� Prisoners subjected to 'mock executions'
� Photographs of detainees being sexually humiliated
New evidence has emerged that US forces in Afghanistan engaged in widespread Abu Ghraib-style abuse, taking 'trophy photographs' of detainees and carrying out rape and sexual humiliation.
Documents obtained by the Guardian contain evidence that such abuses took place in the main detention centre at Bagram, near the capital Kabul, as well as at a smaller US installation near the southern city of Kandahar.
The documents also indicate that US soldiers covered up abuse in Afghanistan and in Iraq - even after the Abu Ghraib scandal last year.
A thousand pages of evidence from US army investigations released to the American Civil Liberties Union after a long legal battle, and made available to the Guardian, show that an Iraqi detained at Tikrit in September 2003 was forced to withdraw his report of abuse after soldiers told him he would be held indefinitely.
Meanwhile, photographs taken in southern Afghanistan showing US soldiers from the 22nd Infantry Battalion posing in mock executions of blindfolded and bound detainees, were purposely destroyed after the Abu Ghraib scandal to avoid "another public outrage", the documents show.
In the dossier, the Iraqi detainee claims that three US interrogators in civilian clothing dislocated his arms, stuck an unloaded gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger, choked him with a rope until he lost consciousness, and beat him with a baseball bat. ...
� Prisoners subjected to 'mock executions'
� Photographs of detainees being sexually humiliated
New evidence has emerged that US forces in Afghanistan engaged in widespread Abu Ghraib-style abuse, taking 'trophy photographs' of detainees and carrying out rape and sexual humiliation.
Documents obtained by the Guardian contain evidence that such abuses took place in the main detention centre at Bagram, near the capital Kabul, as well as at a smaller US installation near the southern city of Kandahar.
The documents also indicate that US soldiers covered up abuse in Afghanistan and in Iraq - even after the Abu Ghraib scandal last year.
A thousand pages of evidence from US army investigations released to the American Civil Liberties Union after a long legal battle, and made available to the Guardian, show that an Iraqi detained at Tikrit in September 2003 was forced to withdraw his report of abuse after soldiers told him he would be held indefinitely.
Meanwhile, photographs taken in southern Afghanistan showing US soldiers from the 22nd Infantry Battalion posing in mock executions of blindfolded and bound detainees, were purposely destroyed after the Abu Ghraib scandal to avoid "another public outrage", the documents show.
In the dossier, the Iraqi detainee claims that three US interrogators in civilian clothing dislocated his arms, stuck an unloaded gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger, choked him with a rope until he lost consciousness, and beat him with a baseball bat. ...
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
"Starving the beast": Red, blue and federal welfare: more "pork" to the red states, blue are biggest losers (pay more, get less)
P-I Focus: Red and blue and the color of money: "SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER | http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/211080_sciglianomoney.html | Sunday, February 13, 2005"
Only five blue states are net recipients of federal subsidies; only two red states are net payers of federal taxes
...
In 2003, the top subsidy-sucking state, in percentage terms, was red-lite New Mexico, which received $1.99 in federal money for every dollar it sent to Washington, D.C. All the next eight net recipients of federal spending were redder yet: Kentucky, Virginia, Montana, Alabama, North Dakota, West Virginia, Mississippi and Alaska, which received $1.60 to $1.89 back for each tax dollar.
The list of net losers in the state-federal exchange, by contrast, reads like a Who's Who of Blue. Two of the top 14 were traditionally red Western states that are starting to turn purple, Colorado and Nevada. The other 12 are all blue: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Washington, Wisconsin and the biggest chump of all, New Jersey, where the federal government spends just $.57 for every dollar it collects. Clearly Tony Soprano did not negotiate this deal.
Only five blue states were net recipients of federal subsidies. Only two red states were net payers of federal taxes. Washington, despite its large military presence and big defense contractor The Boeing Co., received just 90 cents on its federal tax dollar. Oregon and swinging Florida are perfect washes: They received one federal dollar for every dollar they paid in taxes.
...
What is not a factor, Ahern declares, is the greater political clout of the Republicans, who now control every branch of federal government for the first time since Reconstruction. But the numbers suggest that pork may play a part. The biggest recent losers in this sweepstakes, those whose balance of payments has improved most, tend to be red: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Kentucky, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Virginia. The biggest losers, those that are paying more and getting less, are blue: California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey and New York.
...
The results, when you crunch the fragmented state data, are striking. In 2003, according to the Tax Foundation data, the blue states contributed $966 billion to the federal Treasury and got $830 billion back. The reds paid $697 billion and received a whopping $909 billion. Welfare queens, indeed.
Only five blue states are net recipients of federal subsidies; only two red states are net payers of federal taxes
...
In 2003, the top subsidy-sucking state, in percentage terms, was red-lite New Mexico, which received $1.99 in federal money for every dollar it sent to Washington, D.C. All the next eight net recipients of federal spending were redder yet: Kentucky, Virginia, Montana, Alabama, North Dakota, West Virginia, Mississippi and Alaska, which received $1.60 to $1.89 back for each tax dollar.
The list of net losers in the state-federal exchange, by contrast, reads like a Who's Who of Blue. Two of the top 14 were traditionally red Western states that are starting to turn purple, Colorado and Nevada. The other 12 are all blue: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Washington, Wisconsin and the biggest chump of all, New Jersey, where the federal government spends just $.57 for every dollar it collects. Clearly Tony Soprano did not negotiate this deal.
Only five blue states were net recipients of federal subsidies. Only two red states were net payers of federal taxes. Washington, despite its large military presence and big defense contractor The Boeing Co., received just 90 cents on its federal tax dollar. Oregon and swinging Florida are perfect washes: They received one federal dollar for every dollar they paid in taxes.
...
What is not a factor, Ahern declares, is the greater political clout of the Republicans, who now control every branch of federal government for the first time since Reconstruction. But the numbers suggest that pork may play a part. The biggest recent losers in this sweepstakes, those whose balance of payments has improved most, tend to be red: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Kentucky, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Virginia. The biggest losers, those that are paying more and getting less, are blue: California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey and New York.
...
The results, when you crunch the fragmented state data, are striking. In 2003, according to the Tax Foundation data, the blue states contributed $966 billion to the federal Treasury and got $830 billion back. The reds paid $697 billion and received a whopping $909 billion. Welfare queens, indeed.
Monday, February 14, 2005
Military lawyers objected to interrogation methods at Guantanamo but were ignored by senior Pentagon officials
KRT Wire | 02/13/2005 | Sources: Military lawyers objected to interrogation methods at Guantanamo: "Sun, Feb. 13, 2005 | BY JAMES GORDON MEEK | New York Daily News
WASHINGTON - (KRT) - Military lawyers at the Guantanamo Bay terrorist prison tried to stop inhumane interrogations, but were ignored by senior Pentagon officials, The New York Daily News has learned.
Judge advocates - uniformed legal advisers known as JAGs who were assigned to a secret war crimes task force - repeatedly objected to aggressive interrogations by a separate intelligence unit at Camp Delta, where Taliban and al-Qaida suspects have been jailed since January 2002.
But Pentagon officials 'didn't think this was a big deal, so they just ignored the JAGs,' a senior military source said."
The military lawyers' actions had never been disclosed and are the first known cases of lower-level officers resisting interrogations at the Cuban camp that might constitute torture. Some officials called them "unsung heroes" for risking their careers by crossing senior officials who approved the techniques.
...
An Air Force colonel with the war crimes task force told a superior he was "aghast" at the harsher techniques. Long interrogations and isolation had been effective, a senior former officer said. And Miller dismissed the concerns of the judge advocates who were persuaded the interrogation policies violated the law, sources said.
WASHINGTON - (KRT) - Military lawyers at the Guantanamo Bay terrorist prison tried to stop inhumane interrogations, but were ignored by senior Pentagon officials, The New York Daily News has learned.
Judge advocates - uniformed legal advisers known as JAGs who were assigned to a secret war crimes task force - repeatedly objected to aggressive interrogations by a separate intelligence unit at Camp Delta, where Taliban and al-Qaida suspects have been jailed since January 2002.
But Pentagon officials 'didn't think this was a big deal, so they just ignored the JAGs,' a senior military source said."
The military lawyers' actions had never been disclosed and are the first known cases of lower-level officers resisting interrogations at the Cuban camp that might constitute torture. Some officials called them "unsung heroes" for risking their careers by crossing senior officials who approved the techniques.
...
An Air Force colonel with the war crimes task force told a superior he was "aghast" at the harsher techniques. Long interrogations and isolation had been effective, a senior former officer said. And Miller dismissed the concerns of the judge advocates who were persuaded the interrogation policies violated the law, sources said.
After Bush Leaves Office, His Budget's Costs Balloon
After Bush Leaves Office, His Budget's Costs Balloon (washingtonpost.com): "By Jonathan Weisman and Peter Baker | Washington Post Staff Writers | Monday, February 14, 2005; Page A01
For President Bush, the budget sent to Congress last week outlines a painful path to meeting his promise to bring down the federal budget deficit by the time he leaves office in 2009. But for the senators and governors already jockeying to succeed him, the numbers released in recent days add up to a budgetary landmine that could blow up just as the next president moves into the Oval Office.
Congress and the White House have become adept at passing legislation with hidden long-term price tags, but those huge costs began coming into view in Bush's latest spending plan. Even if Bush succeeds in slashing the deficit in half in four years, as he has pledged, his major policy prescriptions would leave his successor with massive financial commitments that begin rising dramatically the year he relinquishes the White House, according to an analysis of new budget figures.
For President Bush, the budget sent to Congress last week outlines a painful path to meeting his promise to bring down the federal budget deficit by the time he leaves office in 2009. But for the senators and governors already jockeying to succeed him, the numbers released in recent days add up to a budgetary landmine that could blow up just as the next president moves into the Oval Office.
Congress and the White House have become adept at passing legislation with hidden long-term price tags, but those huge costs began coming into view in Bush's latest spending plan. Even if Bush succeeds in slashing the deficit in half in four years, as he has pledged, his major policy prescriptions would leave his successor with massive financial commitments that begin rising dramatically the year he relinquishes the White House, according to an analysis of new budget figures.
Saturday, February 12, 2005
Ex-Detainee Says He Was Tortured [Australian]
The New York Times > International > Middle East > Ex-Detainee Says He Was Tortured: By RAYMOND BONNER | Published: February 13, 2005
SYDNEY, Australia, Feb. 12 - Mamdouh Habib still has a bruise on his lower back. He says it is a sign of the beatings he endured in a prison in Egypt. Interrogators there put out cigarettes on his chest, he says, and he lifts his shirt to show the marks. He says he got the dark spot on his forehead when Americans hit his head against the floor at the prison at Guant�namo Bay, Cuba.
After being arrested in Pakistan in the weeks after Sept. 11, 2001, he was held as a terror suspect by the Americans for 40 months. Back home now, Mr. Habib alleges that at every step of his detention - from Pakistan, to Egypt, to Afghanistan, to Guant�namo - he endured physical and psychological abuse.
The physical abuse, he said, ranged from a kick "that nearly killed me" to electric shocks administered through a wired helmet that he said interrogators told him could detect whether he was lying.
Speaking publicly for the first time since he was freed two weeks ago, Mr. Habib, a 49-year-old Australian citizen born in Egypt, also described psychological abuse that seemed intended to undermine his identity - as a husband, a father and a Muslim man. At Guantánamo, he said, he was sexually humiliated by a female interrogator who reached under her skirt and threw what appeared to be blood in his face. He also said he was forced to look at photographs of his wife's face superimposed on images of naked women next to Osama bin Laden.
SYDNEY, Australia, Feb. 12 - Mamdouh Habib still has a bruise on his lower back. He says it is a sign of the beatings he endured in a prison in Egypt. Interrogators there put out cigarettes on his chest, he says, and he lifts his shirt to show the marks. He says he got the dark spot on his forehead when Americans hit his head against the floor at the prison at Guant�namo Bay, Cuba.
After being arrested in Pakistan in the weeks after Sept. 11, 2001, he was held as a terror suspect by the Americans for 40 months. Back home now, Mr. Habib alleges that at every step of his detention - from Pakistan, to Egypt, to Afghanistan, to Guant�namo - he endured physical and psychological abuse.
The physical abuse, he said, ranged from a kick "that nearly killed me" to electric shocks administered through a wired helmet that he said interrogators told him could detect whether he was lying.
Speaking publicly for the first time since he was freed two weeks ago, Mr. Habib, a 49-year-old Australian citizen born in Egypt, also described psychological abuse that seemed intended to undermine his identity - as a husband, a father and a Muslim man. At Guantánamo, he said, he was sexually humiliated by a female interrogator who reached under her skirt and threw what appeared to be blood in his face. He also said he was forced to look at photographs of his wife's face superimposed on images of naked women next to Osama bin Laden.
US cash threat to Aids war: UN forced to abandon its campaign to reduce Aids infection by giving clean needles to heroin addicts
The Observer | International | US cash threat to Aids war: "Martin Bright, Home Affairs Editor
Sunday February 6, 2005
The United Nations agency responsible for the global fight against drugs has been forced to abandon its campaign to reduce Aids infection by giving clean needles to heroin addicts after threats by America to end its funding, The Observer can reveal."
Sunday February 6, 2005
The United Nations agency responsible for the global fight against drugs has been forced to abandon its campaign to reduce Aids infection by giving clean needles to heroin addicts after threats by America to end its funding, The Observer can reveal."
Democratic House leaders say the [2 Republicans who made donations to DeLay] should be removed from the Ethics Committe investigations
HoustonChronicle.com - Republicans in hot seat for donations to DeLay: "Feb. 11, 2005, 11:22AM | Democratic House leaders say the pair should be removed from the Ethics Committee | By DON JORDAN | Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - House Democratic leaders want two Republicans kicked off the Ethics Committee because they gave money to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's legal defense. ... The committee last year deferred action on investigating any role played by DeLay, R-Sugar Land, in a corporate campaign donation controversy in Texas that led to indictments of three of his political associates.
WASHINGTON - House Democratic leaders want two Republicans kicked off the Ethics Committee because they gave money to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's legal defense. ... The committee last year deferred action on investigating any role played by DeLay, R-Sugar Land, in a corporate campaign donation controversy in Texas that led to indictments of three of his political associates.
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Bush's Class-War Budget: takes food from the mouths of babes and gives the proceeds to his millionaire friends
The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Bush's Class-War Budget: "Bush's Class-War Budget | By PAUL KRUGMAN | Published: February 11, 2005
...
First, the facts: the budget proposal really does take food from the mouths of babes. One of the proposed spending cuts would make it harder for working families with children to receive food stamps, terminating aid for about 300,000 people. Another would deny child care assistance to about 300,000 children, again in low-income working families.
...
More than half of the benefits from this backdoor tax cut would go to people with incomes of more than a million dollars; 97 percent would go to people with incomes exceeding $200,000.
It so happens that the number of taxpayers with more than $1 million in annual income is about the same as the number of people who would have their food stamps cut off under the Bush proposal.
...
Here's a comparison: the Bush budget proposal would cut domestic discretionary spending, adjusted for inflation, by 16 percent over the next five years. That would mean savage cuts in education, health care, veterans' benefits and environmental protection. Yet these cuts would save only about $66 billion per year, about one-sixth of the budget deficit.
On the other side, a rollback of Mr. Bush's cuts in tax rates for high-income brackets, on capital gains and on dividend income would yield more than $120 billion per year in extra revenue - eliminating almost a third of the budget deficit - yet have hardly any effect on middle-income families.
...
First, the facts: the budget proposal really does take food from the mouths of babes. One of the proposed spending cuts would make it harder for working families with children to receive food stamps, terminating aid for about 300,000 people. Another would deny child care assistance to about 300,000 children, again in low-income working families.
...
More than half of the benefits from this backdoor tax cut would go to people with incomes of more than a million dollars; 97 percent would go to people with incomes exceeding $200,000.
It so happens that the number of taxpayers with more than $1 million in annual income is about the same as the number of people who would have their food stamps cut off under the Bush proposal.
...
Here's a comparison: the Bush budget proposal would cut domestic discretionary spending, adjusted for inflation, by 16 percent over the next five years. That would mean savage cuts in education, health care, veterans' benefits and environmental protection. Yet these cuts would save only about $66 billion per year, about one-sixth of the budget deficit.
On the other side, a rollback of Mr. Bush's cuts in tax rates for high-income brackets, on capital gains and on dividend income would yield more than $120 billion per year in extra revenue - eliminating almost a third of the budget deficit - yet have hardly any effect on middle-income families.
OUTSOURCING TORTURE: 150 or more shipped out to be tortured: [Bush] legal statements carefully constructed for loopholes
The New Yorker: FactOUTSOURCING TORTURE | by JANE MAYER | The secret history of America’s “extraordinary rendition” program. | Issue of 2005-02-14 | Posted 2005-02-07
On January 27th, President Bush, in an interview with the Times, assured the world that “torture is never acceptable, nor do we hand over people to countries that do torture.” Maher Arar, a Canadian engineer who was born in Syria, was surprised to learn of Bush’s statement. Two and a half years ago, American officials, suspecting Arar of being a terrorist, apprehended him in New York and sent him back to Syria, where he endured months of brutal interrogation, including torture. When Arar described his experience in a phone interview recently, he invoked an Arabic expression. The pain was so unbearable, he said, that “you forget the milk that you have been fed from the breast of your mother.”
...
Rendition was originally carried out on a limited basis, but after September 11th, when President Bush declared a global war on terrorism, the program expanded beyond recognition—becoming, according to a former C.I.A. official, “an abomination.” What began as a program aimed at a small, discrete set of suspects—people against whom there were outstanding foreign arrest warrants—came to include a wide and ill-defined population that the Administration terms “illegal enemy combatants.” Many of them have never been publicly charged with any crime. Scott Horton, an expert on international law who helped prepare a report on renditions issued by N.Y.U. Law School and the New York City Bar Association, estimates that a hundred and fifty people have been rendered since 2001.
...
The legal pronouncements from Washington about the status of detainees were painstakingly constructed to include numerous loopholes. For example, in February, 2002, President Bush issued a written directive stating that, even though he had determined that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to the war on terror, all detainees should be treated “humanely.” A close reading of the directive, however, revealed that it referred only to military interrogators—not to C.I.A. officials. This exemption allowed the C.I.A. to continue using interrogation methods, including rendition, that stopped just short of torture. Further, an August, 2002, memo written largely by Yoo but signed by Assistant Attorney General Jay S. Bybee argued that torture required the intent to inflict suffering “equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death.”
On January 27th, President Bush, in an interview with the Times, assured the world that “torture is never acceptable, nor do we hand over people to countries that do torture.” Maher Arar, a Canadian engineer who was born in Syria, was surprised to learn of Bush’s statement. Two and a half years ago, American officials, suspecting Arar of being a terrorist, apprehended him in New York and sent him back to Syria, where he endured months of brutal interrogation, including torture. When Arar described his experience in a phone interview recently, he invoked an Arabic expression. The pain was so unbearable, he said, that “you forget the milk that you have been fed from the breast of your mother.”
...
Rendition was originally carried out on a limited basis, but after September 11th, when President Bush declared a global war on terrorism, the program expanded beyond recognition—becoming, according to a former C.I.A. official, “an abomination.” What began as a program aimed at a small, discrete set of suspects—people against whom there were outstanding foreign arrest warrants—came to include a wide and ill-defined population that the Administration terms “illegal enemy combatants.” Many of them have never been publicly charged with any crime. Scott Horton, an expert on international law who helped prepare a report on renditions issued by N.Y.U. Law School and the New York City Bar Association, estimates that a hundred and fifty people have been rendered since 2001.
...
The legal pronouncements from Washington about the status of detainees were painstakingly constructed to include numerous loopholes. For example, in February, 2002, President Bush issued a written directive stating that, even though he had determined that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to the war on terror, all detainees should be treated “humanely.” A close reading of the directive, however, revealed that it referred only to military interrogators—not to C.I.A. officials. This exemption allowed the C.I.A. to continue using interrogation methods, including rendition, that stopped just short of torture. Further, an August, 2002, memo written largely by Yoo but signed by Assistant Attorney General Jay S. Bybee argued that torture required the intent to inflict suffering “equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death.”
U.S. Scientists Say They Are Told to Alter Findings: more than 200 directed to alter findings
U.S. Scientists Say They Are Told to Alter Findings: "February 10, 2005 | THE NATION | By Julie Cart, Times Staff Writer
More than 200 Fish and Wildlife researchers cite cases where conclusions were reversed to weaken protections and favor business, a survey finds.
More than 200 scientists employed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service say they have been directed to alter official findings to lessen protections for plants and animals, a survey released Wednesday says.
The survey of the agency's scientific staff of 1,400 had a 30% response rate and was conducted jointly by the Union of Concerned Scientists and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
More than 200 Fish and Wildlife researchers cite cases where conclusions were reversed to weaken protections and favor business, a survey finds.
More than 200 scientists employed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service say they have been directed to alter official findings to lessen protections for plants and animals, a survey released Wednesday says.
The survey of the agency's scientific staff of 1,400 had a 30% response rate and was conducted jointly by the Union of Concerned Scientists and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
Rice: "No al Qaeda plan was turned over to [Bush]" vs Clark Jan 2001 memo " "We urgently need . . . al Qida meeting"
Bush Administration's First Memo on al-Qaeda Declassified: "Washington, D.C., February 10, 2005 -
The National Security Archive today posted the widely-debated, but previously unavailable, January 25, 2001, memo from counterterrorism coordinator Richard Clarke to national security advisor Condoleezza Rice - the first terrorism strategy paper of the Bush administration. The document was central to debates in the 9/11 hearings over the Bush administration's policies and actions on terrorism before September 11, 2001. Clarke's memo requests an immediate meeting of the National Security Council's Principals Committee to discuss broad strategies for combating al-Qaeda by giving counterterrorism aid to the Northern Alliance and Uzbekistan, expanding the counterterrorism budget and responding to the U.S.S. Cole attack. Despite Clarke's request, there was no Principals Committee meeting on al-Qaeda until September 4, 2001.
The January 25, 2001, memo, recently released to the National Security Archive by the National Security Council, bears a declassification stamp of April 7, 2004, one day prior to Rice's testimony before the 9/11 Commission on April 8, 2004. Responding to claims that she ignored the al-Qaeda threat before September 11, Rice stated in a March 22, 2004 Washington Post op-ed, "No al Qaeda plan was turned over to the new administration." ...
The National Security Archive today posted the widely-debated, but previously unavailable, January 25, 2001, memo from counterterrorism coordinator Richard Clarke to national security advisor Condoleezza Rice - the first terrorism strategy paper of the Bush administration. The document was central to debates in the 9/11 hearings over the Bush administration's policies and actions on terrorism before September 11, 2001. Clarke's memo requests an immediate meeting of the National Security Council's Principals Committee to discuss broad strategies for combating al-Qaeda by giving counterterrorism aid to the Northern Alliance and Uzbekistan, expanding the counterterrorism budget and responding to the U.S.S. Cole attack. Despite Clarke's request, there was no Principals Committee meeting on al-Qaeda until September 4, 2001.
The January 25, 2001, memo, recently released to the National Security Archive by the National Security Council, bears a declassification stamp of April 7, 2004, one day prior to Rice's testimony before the 9/11 Commission on April 8, 2004. Responding to claims that she ignored the al-Qaeda threat before September 11, Rice stated in a March 22, 2004 Washington Post op-ed, "No al Qaeda plan was turned over to the new administration." ...
Detainees Accuse Female Interrogators: inquiry uncovered numerous instances in which female interrogators pretended to spread menstrual blood
Detainees Accuse Female Interrogators (washingtonpost.com): "Pentagon Inquiry Is Said to Confirm Muslims' Accounts of Sexual Tactics at Guantanamo | By Carol D. Leonnig and Dana Priest | Washington Post Staff Writers | Thursday, February 10, 2005; Page A01
Female interrogators repeatedly used sexually suggestive tactics to try to humiliate and pry information from devout Muslim men held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to a military investigation not yet public and newly declassified accounts from detainees."
...
The inquiry uncovered numerous instances in which female interrogators, using dye, pretended to spread menstrual blood on Muslim men, the official said. Separately, in court papers and public statements, three detainees say that women smeared them with blood.
...
Some of the accounts resemble the sexual aspects of the humiliation of Iraqi prisoners at the U.S. prison at Abu Ghraib. Photographs that became public last year showed a servicewoman there holding naked prisoners on a leash and posing next to a pile of naked prisoners.
...
Attorneys for detainees scoffed at the Pentagon's insistence that the military can fairly investigate its own personnel. They noted that the Defense Department last fall initially dismissed torture allegations, insisting that detainees were trained at terrorist camps to lodge false claims.
Even detainee lawyers doubted that interrogators would spread menstrual blood on prisoners when a recently released British detainee first made the allegation in early 2004. ...
...
Detainee lawyers likened the tactics to Nazis shaving the beards of orthodox Jews or artists dunking a crucifix in urine to shock Christians. "They're exploiting religious beliefs to break them down, to destroy them," said Michael Ratner of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents several dozen detainees. "What they're doing, it reminds me of a pornographic Web site -- it's like the fantasy of all these S&M clubs."
Female interrogators repeatedly used sexually suggestive tactics to try to humiliate and pry information from devout Muslim men held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to a military investigation not yet public and newly declassified accounts from detainees."
...
The inquiry uncovered numerous instances in which female interrogators, using dye, pretended to spread menstrual blood on Muslim men, the official said. Separately, in court papers and public statements, three detainees say that women smeared them with blood.
...
Some of the accounts resemble the sexual aspects of the humiliation of Iraqi prisoners at the U.S. prison at Abu Ghraib. Photographs that became public last year showed a servicewoman there holding naked prisoners on a leash and posing next to a pile of naked prisoners.
...
Attorneys for detainees scoffed at the Pentagon's insistence that the military can fairly investigate its own personnel. They noted that the Defense Department last fall initially dismissed torture allegations, insisting that detainees were trained at terrorist camps to lodge false claims.
Even detainee lawyers doubted that interrogators would spread menstrual blood on prisoners when a recently released British detainee first made the allegation in early 2004. ...
...
Detainee lawyers likened the tactics to Nazis shaving the beards of orthodox Jews or artists dunking a crucifix in urine to shock Christians. "They're exploiting religious beliefs to break them down, to destroy them," said Michael Ratner of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents several dozen detainees. "What they're doing, it reminds me of a pornographic Web site -- it's like the fantasy of all these S&M clubs."
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
CDC and FDA, Merck Knew Dangers - mercury caused autism: 1999 study, CDC accused of colluding to cover up from June 2000
Drug Company Knew Dangers - Secret Memo Proves It - Independent Media TV: "It time for the media to inform the public of the reasons why Merck and other drug companies have been trying to hide the damage caused by mercury in childhood vaccines.
The memo cited in the Feb 8, 2005, article substantiates what many people have long known. The drug companies, and later the CDC and FDA, knew mercury caused autism, and decided to put profits ahead of the mental health of an entire generation of children.
Thimerosal is a preservative that contains mercury which was added to childhood vaccines to boost profits for the pharmaceutical companies, by allowing the use of multi-dose bottles of vaccines instead of individually packaged doses.
A study conducted by the CDC in 1999, determined there was a definite link between Thimerosal and autism. But instead of banning the product immediately, the FDA kept the CDC findings secret, and allowed millions more children to be vaccinated with the poisonous vaccines.
In fact, the CDC has now been accused of colluding with drug companies at a meeting in June, 2000, to prevent the release of a report that revealed the link between Thimerosal and disorders including autism, ADD/ADHD, stuttering, and speech and language delays.
...
Mark Geier, a doctor with a PhD in genetics, used the same CDC database used for the Verstraeten study, to compare autism rates of more than 85,000 children who received a vaccine containing Thimerosal for diphtheria/tetanus/acellular pertussis, against rates of nearly 70,000 children who received a Thimerosal-free version of the vaccine. The rate of autism in the Thimerosal group was 27 times higher.
Which means autism has a greater connecting risk factor to Thimerosal than the link between smoking and lung cancer, which according to the American Cancer Society is only 22 for men and 11 for women.
The memo cited in the Feb 8, 2005, article substantiates what many people have long known. The drug companies, and later the CDC and FDA, knew mercury caused autism, and decided to put profits ahead of the mental health of an entire generation of children.
Thimerosal is a preservative that contains mercury which was added to childhood vaccines to boost profits for the pharmaceutical companies, by allowing the use of multi-dose bottles of vaccines instead of individually packaged doses.
A study conducted by the CDC in 1999, determined there was a definite link between Thimerosal and autism. But instead of banning the product immediately, the FDA kept the CDC findings secret, and allowed millions more children to be vaccinated with the poisonous vaccines.
In fact, the CDC has now been accused of colluding with drug companies at a meeting in June, 2000, to prevent the release of a report that revealed the link between Thimerosal and disorders including autism, ADD/ADHD, stuttering, and speech and language delays.
...
Mark Geier, a doctor with a PhD in genetics, used the same CDC database used for the Verstraeten study, to compare autism rates of more than 85,000 children who received a vaccine containing Thimerosal for diphtheria/tetanus/acellular pertussis, against rates of nearly 70,000 children who received a Thimerosal-free version of the vaccine. The rate of autism in the Thimerosal group was 27 times higher.
Which means autism has a greater connecting risk factor to Thimerosal than the link between smoking and lung cancer, which according to the American Cancer Society is only 22 for men and 11 for women.
CDC and FDA, Merck Knew Dangers - mercury caused autism: 1999 study, CDC accused of colluding to cover up from June 2000
Drug Company Knew Dangers - Secret Memo Proves It - Independent Media TV: "It time for the media to inform the public of the reasons why Merck and other drug companies have been trying to hide the damage caused by mercury in childhood vaccines.
The memo cited in the Feb 8, 2005, article substantiates what many people have long known. The drug companies, and later the CDC and FDA, knew mercury caused autism, and decided to put profits ahead of the mental health of an entire generation of children.
Thimerosal is a preservative that contains mercury which was added to childhood vaccines to boost profits for the pharmaceutical companies, by allowing the use of multi-dose bottles of vaccines instead of individually packaged doses.
A study conducted by the CDC in 1999, determined there was a definite link between Thimerosal and autism. But instead of banning the product immediately, the FDA kept the CDC findings secret, and allowed millions more children to be vaccinated with the poisonous vaccines.
In fact, the CDC has now been accused of colluding with drug companies at a meeting in June, 2000, to prevent the release of a report that revealed the link between Thimerosal and disorders including autism, ADD/ADHD, stuttering, and speech and language delays.
...
Mark Geier, a doctor with a PhD in genetics, used the same CDC database used for the Verstraeten study, to compare autism rates of more than 85,000 children who received a vaccine containing Thimerosal for diphtheria/tetanus/acellular pertussis, against rates of nearly 70,000 children who received a Thimerosal-free version of the vaccine. The rate of autism in the Thimerosal group was 27 times higher.
Which means autism has a greater connecting risk factor to Thimerosal than the link between smoking and lung cancer, which according to the American Cancer Society is only 22 for men and 11 for women.
The memo cited in the Feb 8, 2005, article substantiates what many people have long known. The drug companies, and later the CDC and FDA, knew mercury caused autism, and decided to put profits ahead of the mental health of an entire generation of children.
Thimerosal is a preservative that contains mercury which was added to childhood vaccines to boost profits for the pharmaceutical companies, by allowing the use of multi-dose bottles of vaccines instead of individually packaged doses.
A study conducted by the CDC in 1999, determined there was a definite link between Thimerosal and autism. But instead of banning the product immediately, the FDA kept the CDC findings secret, and allowed millions more children to be vaccinated with the poisonous vaccines.
In fact, the CDC has now been accused of colluding with drug companies at a meeting in June, 2000, to prevent the release of a report that revealed the link between Thimerosal and disorders including autism, ADD/ADHD, stuttering, and speech and language delays.
...
Mark Geier, a doctor with a PhD in genetics, used the same CDC database used for the Verstraeten study, to compare autism rates of more than 85,000 children who received a vaccine containing Thimerosal for diphtheria/tetanus/acellular pertussis, against rates of nearly 70,000 children who received a Thimerosal-free version of the vaccine. The rate of autism in the Thimerosal group was 27 times higher.
Which means autism has a greater connecting risk factor to Thimerosal than the link between smoking and lung cancer, which according to the American Cancer Society is only 22 for men and 11 for women.
Worse than dishonesty; it is the most squalid manipulation of budgets ever seen ... [... who will finance these? China?]
Bush Budget is "a multi-trillion dollar decade long scam": "by Noriel Roubini | Associate Professor Economics, NYU | 2/9/05
The dishonesty of the administration about budget deficits has reached levels unheard of. These folks have absolutely no shame. Bush presented a budget that claims that he will achieve his goal of reducing the deficit by half by 2008 (from a false
2004 baseline of $521 billion rather than the actual 2004 deficit of $412b) and will achieve a deficit of "only" $233b by 2009. Even better news, the administration claims: the "halving" of the deficit will be reached by 2008, a year earlier than original 2009 target for it.
Who are these accounting scam artists trying to deceive? Do they think everyone in America and around the world is a mathematically challenged total idiot or an accounting moron?
The reality is, that based on realistic scenarios outlined last week by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the deficit by 2009 will be close to $600b (or 4.0% of GDP) rather than falling to $233b; and the deficit will reach over $1,100b (or 5.5% of GDP) by 2015.
How do they create the false $233b deficit by 2009?
1. They assume spending cuts that are, by any historical and political standard, impossible to achieve.
2. They assume revenue growth that is altogether wishful thinking and false based on current trends. And they do not consider the long-run costs of making all the Bush tax cuts permanent.
3. They do not count the ongoing costs of the continued defense and homeland security spending and of future military and homeland security build-ups.
4. They phase-in a budget busting social security privatization (that will cost alone $4.5 trillion in the next 20 years) only starting in 2009.
This is worse than dishonesty; it is the most squalid manipulation of budgets ever seen aimed at pretending to achieve a budget figure that is utterly unrealistic and false in every possible dimension.
...
First, note that the administration baseline assumes that all discretionary spending - apart from military and domestic security - will be frozen for the next five years ... every Republican in Congress (down to the most hawkish ones) knows that such draconian butchery - utter outright murder - of public services will never ever happen.
Second, note that the official objective of the administration is to make all the 2001-2003 tax cuts permanent, i.e. to cut permanently the dividends tax, the capital gains tax, the estate tax and the income tax rates. ...
Third, add sensible assumptions about the costs of the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and other military spending. The budget announced by administration does not include any of these costs. ...
Fourth, consider the transition costs of Social Security privatization based on the tentative proposal of the administration. ...
...
Then, using the most recent CBO figures one gets a budget deficit of about $600b (or 4.0% of GDP) by 2009, well above the 2004 level of $412 (3.5% of GDP), well above the fake administration target of $233b (1.5% of GDP) for 2009. Moreover, using again these realistic scenarios, by 2015 - counting the effects of the permanent tax cuts and of the phase-in of Social Security privatization - you get an explosive budget deficit of over $1,100b or 5.5% of GDP. ...
The dishonesty of the administration about budget deficits has reached levels unheard of. These folks have absolutely no shame. Bush presented a budget that claims that he will achieve his goal of reducing the deficit by half by 2008 (from a false
2004 baseline of $521 billion rather than the actual 2004 deficit of $412b) and will achieve a deficit of "only" $233b by 2009. Even better news, the administration claims: the "halving" of the deficit will be reached by 2008, a year earlier than original 2009 target for it.
Who are these accounting scam artists trying to deceive? Do they think everyone in America and around the world is a mathematically challenged total idiot or an accounting moron?
The reality is, that based on realistic scenarios outlined last week by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the deficit by 2009 will be close to $600b (or 4.0% of GDP) rather than falling to $233b; and the deficit will reach over $1,100b (or 5.5% of GDP) by 2015.
How do they create the false $233b deficit by 2009?
1. They assume spending cuts that are, by any historical and political standard, impossible to achieve.
2. They assume revenue growth that is altogether wishful thinking and false based on current trends. And they do not consider the long-run costs of making all the Bush tax cuts permanent.
3. They do not count the ongoing costs of the continued defense and homeland security spending and of future military and homeland security build-ups.
4. They phase-in a budget busting social security privatization (that will cost alone $4.5 trillion in the next 20 years) only starting in 2009.
This is worse than dishonesty; it is the most squalid manipulation of budgets ever seen aimed at pretending to achieve a budget figure that is utterly unrealistic and false in every possible dimension.
...
First, note that the administration baseline assumes that all discretionary spending - apart from military and domestic security - will be frozen for the next five years ... every Republican in Congress (down to the most hawkish ones) knows that such draconian butchery - utter outright murder - of public services will never ever happen.
Second, note that the official objective of the administration is to make all the 2001-2003 tax cuts permanent, i.e. to cut permanently the dividends tax, the capital gains tax, the estate tax and the income tax rates. ...
Third, add sensible assumptions about the costs of the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and other military spending. The budget announced by administration does not include any of these costs. ...
Fourth, consider the transition costs of Social Security privatization based on the tentative proposal of the administration. ...
...
Then, using the most recent CBO figures one gets a budget deficit of about $600b (or 4.0% of GDP) by 2009, well above the 2004 level of $412 (3.5% of GDP), well above the fake administration target of $233b (1.5% of GDP) for 2009. Moreover, using again these realistic scenarios, by 2015 - counting the effects of the permanent tax cuts and of the phase-in of Social Security privatization - you get an explosive budget deficit of over $1,100b or 5.5% of GDP. ...
US Held Responsible For KAM AIR Disaster
US Held Responsible For KAM AIR Disaster: "US Held Responsible For | KAM AIR Disaster | 2-8-5
KABUL (Online) -- A source close to the Afghan government has held United States troops responsible for crash of a passenger plane.
Talking to Radio Tehran on condition of anonymity told that the KAM AIR, which was on its way from Herat to Kabul did not land at Kabul airport due to bad weather.
The pilot of the plane wanted to land at Bagram airbase where the US forces have been stationed; however, the US troops did not allow the plane to land.
The source further told that the staff of the plane had informed the US troops at Bagram airbase that it could remain in air for only fifteen minutes. That is why necessary for the plane to land but the US forces did not allow it which caused its crash. Consequently 104 passengers were killed on board the plane."
KABUL (Online) -- A source close to the Afghan government has held United States troops responsible for crash of a passenger plane.
Talking to Radio Tehran on condition of anonymity told that the KAM AIR, which was on its way from Herat to Kabul did not land at Kabul airport due to bad weather.
The pilot of the plane wanted to land at Bagram airbase where the US forces have been stationed; however, the US troops did not allow the plane to land.
The source further told that the staff of the plane had informed the US troops at Bagram airbase that it could remain in air for only fifteen minutes. That is why necessary for the plane to land but the US forces did not allow it which caused its crash. Consequently 104 passengers were killed on board the plane."
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Former GOP Consultant Sentenced to Prison [... for jamming state Democratic Party phone lines on Election Day in 2002]
Former GOP Consultant Sentenced to Prison (washingtonpost.com): "Va. Man Pleaded Guilty to Making Harassing Phone Calls to N.H. Democrats | By Jonathan Finer | Washington Post Staff Writer | Wednesday, February 9, 2005; Page A12
BOSTON, Feb. 8 -- A federal judge in New Hampshire sentenced the former president of an Alexandria political consulting firm on Tuesday to five months in prison, the first jail term handed out in connection with the jamming of state Democratic Party phone lines on Election Day in 2002."
BOSTON, Feb. 8 -- A federal judge in New Hampshire sentenced the former president of an Alexandria political consulting firm on Tuesday to five months in prison, the first jail term handed out in connection with the jamming of state Democratic Party phone lines on Election Day in 2002."
TORT REFORM: limit of $250,000 not the answer: lower contingency fees, losers pay as in Europe: asbestos case is major cost
CNN.com - Tort reform important to U.S. future - Jan 6, 2005: "By Lou Dobbs | CNN | Thursday, January 6, 2005 Posted: 4:41 PM EST (2141 GMT)
The members of the 109th Congress will have to deal with several complex issues if the Bush administration has its way. The president has been steadily advancing his political agenda since his re-election, pushing some major and controversial reform proposals to the top of the congressional docket.
...
And unless some changes are made to our current system, costs could rise as much as 8 percent over the next few years, bringing tort costs up to $1,000 per person. But simply putting a $250,000 limit on medical malpractice awards for pain and suffering, as proposed by this administration, is not the answer to this growing problem.
...
the median jury verdict for the plaintiff winner in state courts was $37,000 in 2001. But in civil trial cases that were decided by judges that year, the median verdict was nearly 25 percent lower. Judges in those cases also awarded punitive damages less frequently, and smaller awards when granting punitive damages. European courts do not allow punitive damages.
Plaintiffs in most European courts must also pay the legal costs for the defendant if they lose the case. This loser-pays system, which is in effect in nearly every common-law jurisdiction outside the United States, cuts down on many cases without merit by forcing a claimant to hesitate before filing a questionable lawsuit.
European courts also don't allow contingency fees for lawyers, reducing speculative litigation that can result in a large jackpot. If we're going to limit damage awards, why wouldn't we limit the amount of money an attorney can make in seeking those damages, oftentimes a third to 40 percent of those awards?
...
Most civil cases are settled out of court. In fact, only 3 percent of tort cases actually make it to trial, and those settlements are fairly reasonable in most cases. The main cause of rising medical costs and insurance rates are the extreme cases involving large class-action suits. Cases like asbestos settlements, which are responsible for the largest tort settlements and the most expensive litigation in U.S. history, are the biggest single reason tort costs have risen so much in recent years.
The members of the 109th Congress will have to deal with several complex issues if the Bush administration has its way. The president has been steadily advancing his political agenda since his re-election, pushing some major and controversial reform proposals to the top of the congressional docket.
...
And unless some changes are made to our current system, costs could rise as much as 8 percent over the next few years, bringing tort costs up to $1,000 per person. But simply putting a $250,000 limit on medical malpractice awards for pain and suffering, as proposed by this administration, is not the answer to this growing problem.
...
the median jury verdict for the plaintiff winner in state courts was $37,000 in 2001. But in civil trial cases that were decided by judges that year, the median verdict was nearly 25 percent lower. Judges in those cases also awarded punitive damages less frequently, and smaller awards when granting punitive damages. European courts do not allow punitive damages.
Plaintiffs in most European courts must also pay the legal costs for the defendant if they lose the case. This loser-pays system, which is in effect in nearly every common-law jurisdiction outside the United States, cuts down on many cases without merit by forcing a claimant to hesitate before filing a questionable lawsuit.
European courts also don't allow contingency fees for lawyers, reducing speculative litigation that can result in a large jackpot. If we're going to limit damage awards, why wouldn't we limit the amount of money an attorney can make in seeking those damages, oftentimes a third to 40 percent of those awards?
...
Most civil cases are settled out of court. In fact, only 3 percent of tort cases actually make it to trial, and those settlements are fairly reasonable in most cases. The main cause of rising medical costs and insurance rates are the extreme cases involving large class-action suits. Cases like asbestos settlements, which are responsible for the largest tort settlements and the most expensive litigation in U.S. history, are the biggest single reason tort costs have risen so much in recent years.
End Times, Rapture ? or Budget cuts: Bush cuts EPA
Reuters News Article: "Bush Seeks Nearly 6 Pct Cut in Environment Funding | Mon Feb 7, 2005 | 4:06 PM ET | By Chris Baltimore
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration on Monday proposed cutting the Environmental Protection Agency budget by nearly 6 percent to $7.57 billion in fiscal 2006 by targeting a program that helps cities replace aging sewage systems.
The EPA said the requested reduction was part of the federal government's overall belt-tightening, but environmental groups said it would hurt an important clean water program.
Total EPA funding would decline from $8 billion, which Congress allocated in the current budget year for the agency to protect the nation's air, water and land. In 2004, the EPA had a budget of $8.4 billion.
...
Environmental groups say cities need the loans and grants to replace and upgrade aging sewage systems, some of which are over a century old. ...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration on Monday proposed cutting the Environmental Protection Agency budget by nearly 6 percent to $7.57 billion in fiscal 2006 by targeting a program that helps cities replace aging sewage systems.
The EPA said the requested reduction was part of the federal government's overall belt-tightening, but environmental groups said it would hurt an important clean water program.
Total EPA funding would decline from $8 billion, which Congress allocated in the current budget year for the agency to protect the nation's air, water and land. In 2004, the EPA had a budget of $8.4 billion.
...
Environmental groups say cities need the loans and grants to replace and upgrade aging sewage systems, some of which are over a century old. ...
Aljazeera.Net - US Afghan prisoner treatment decried
Aljazeera.Net - US Afghan prisoner treatment decried: "US Afghan prisoner treatment decried | Tuesday 08 February 2005, 2:38 Makka Time, 23:38 GMT
A human-rights expert has accused the US of ill-treatment in Afghanistan and backed Human Rights Watch reports that question the legality of detentions.
Cherif Bassiouni, the UN Human Rights Commission's independent expert on human rights in Afghanistan, denounced on Monday the "inhuman" practices at prisons in the war-torn country and demanded answers from the US on prisoner releases.
Bassiouni, who is also a law professor at DePaul University in Chicago, said prisoners were being abused in Afghan jails and conditions for some inmates "violate every standard of human rights".
"There is a very unusual practice in Afghanistan, mainly foreign forces, who have taken upon themselves the right, without any legal process of arresting people, detaining them, mistreating them and possibly even torturing them."
Bassiouni has visited numerous detention centres to probe the well-being of prisoners and detainees.
He said he visited Pul-e-Charki prison to investigate the condition of a group of 725 out of some 3200 persons originally detained by the Northern Alliance - "apparently some US forces were involved" too - who then were transferred to the jail under the authority of the government. ...
A human-rights expert has accused the US of ill-treatment in Afghanistan and backed Human Rights Watch reports that question the legality of detentions.
Cherif Bassiouni, the UN Human Rights Commission's independent expert on human rights in Afghanistan, denounced on Monday the "inhuman" practices at prisons in the war-torn country and demanded answers from the US on prisoner releases.
Bassiouni, who is also a law professor at DePaul University in Chicago, said prisoners were being abused in Afghan jails and conditions for some inmates "violate every standard of human rights".
"There is a very unusual practice in Afghanistan, mainly foreign forces, who have taken upon themselves the right, without any legal process of arresting people, detaining them, mistreating them and possibly even torturing them."
Bassiouni has visited numerous detention centres to probe the well-being of prisoners and detainees.
He said he visited Pul-e-Charki prison to investigate the condition of a group of 725 out of some 3200 persons originally detained by the Northern Alliance - "apparently some US forces were involved" too - who then were transferred to the jail under the authority of the government. ...
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Torture: Rarely, if ever, has such a guilty governmental conscience been so starkly illuminated in advance
CounterPunch: "America's Best Political Newsletter": "February 1, 2005 | A Legal Narrative | The Torture Memos | By JOSHUA L. DRATEL
While the proverbial road to hell is paved with good intentions, a host of internal government memos (collected in our book The Torture Papers) demonstrate that the path to the purgatory that is Guantanamo Bay, or Abu Ghraib, has been paved with decidedly bad intentions. The policies that resulted in rampant abuse of detainees first in Afghanistan, then at Guantanamo Bay, and later in Iraq, were product of three pernicious purposes designed to facilitate the unilateral and unfettered detention, interrogation, abuse, judgment, and punishment of prisoners:
(1) the desire to place the detainees beyond the reach of any court or law;
(2) the desire to abrogate the Geneva Convention with respect to the treatment of persons seized in the context of armed hostilities; and
(3) the desire to absolve those implementing the policies of any liability for war crimes under U.S. and international law.
Indeed, any claim of good faith--that those who formulated the policies were merely misguided in their pursuit of security in the face of what is certainly a genuine terrorist threat--is belied by the policy makers, more than tacit acknowledgment of their unlawful purpose. Otherwise, why the need to find a location--Guantanamo Bay--purportedly outside the jurisdiction of the U.S. (or any other) courts? Why the need to ensure those participating that they could proceed free of concern that they could face prosecution for war crimes as a result of their adherence to the policy? Rarely, if ever, has such a guilty governmental conscience been so starkly illuminated in advance.
That, of course, begs the question: what was it that these officials, lawyers and lay persons, feared from the federal courts? An independent judiciary? A legitimate, legislated, established system of justice designed to promote fairness and accuracy? The Uniform Code of Military Justice, which governs courts-martial and authorizes military commissions? The message that these memoranda convey in response is unmistakable: these policy makers do not like our system of justice, with its checks and balances, and rights and limits, that they have been sworn to uphold. That antipathy for and distrust of our civilian and military justice systems is positively un-American.
While the proverbial road to hell is paved with good intentions, a host of internal government memos (collected in our book The Torture Papers) demonstrate that the path to the purgatory that is Guantanamo Bay, or Abu Ghraib, has been paved with decidedly bad intentions. The policies that resulted in rampant abuse of detainees first in Afghanistan, then at Guantanamo Bay, and later in Iraq, were product of three pernicious purposes designed to facilitate the unilateral and unfettered detention, interrogation, abuse, judgment, and punishment of prisoners:
(1) the desire to place the detainees beyond the reach of any court or law;
(2) the desire to abrogate the Geneva Convention with respect to the treatment of persons seized in the context of armed hostilities; and
(3) the desire to absolve those implementing the policies of any liability for war crimes under U.S. and international law.
Indeed, any claim of good faith--that those who formulated the policies were merely misguided in their pursuit of security in the face of what is certainly a genuine terrorist threat--is belied by the policy makers, more than tacit acknowledgment of their unlawful purpose. Otherwise, why the need to find a location--Guantanamo Bay--purportedly outside the jurisdiction of the U.S. (or any other) courts? Why the need to ensure those participating that they could proceed free of concern that they could face prosecution for war crimes as a result of their adherence to the policy? Rarely, if ever, has such a guilty governmental conscience been so starkly illuminated in advance.
That, of course, begs the question: what was it that these officials, lawyers and lay persons, feared from the federal courts? An independent judiciary? A legitimate, legislated, established system of justice designed to promote fairness and accuracy? The Uniform Code of Military Justice, which governs courts-martial and authorizes military commissions? The message that these memoranda convey in response is unmistakable: these policy makers do not like our system of justice, with its checks and balances, and rights and limits, that they have been sworn to uphold. That antipathy for and distrust of our civilian and military justice systems is positively un-American.
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