House Budget Measure Is Pulled

Big cracks opening in the GOP. This could be the end folks! G~ House Budget Measure Is Pulled: "House Budget Measure Is Pulled Moderates Buck GOP Leadership In Both Chambers By Jonathan Weisman and Shailagh Murray Washington Post Staff Writers Friday, November 11, 2005; Page A01 House Republican leaders were forced to abruptly pull their $54 billion budget-cutting bill off the House floor yesterday, amid growing dissension in Republican ranks over spending priorities, taxes, oil exploration and the reach of government. A battle between House Republican conservatives and moderates over energy policy and federal anti-poverty and education programs left GOP leaders without enough votes to pass a budget measure they had framed as one of the most important pieces of legislation in years. Across the Capitol, a moderate GOP revolt in the Senate Finance Committee forced Republicans to postpone action on a bill to extend some of President Bush's most contentious tax cuts."

NYCLU Files Appeals Brief In Support Of Release Of Jose Padilla

NYCLU Files Appeals Brief In Support Of Release Of Jose Padilla June 14, 2005 'ACLU' - - The New York Civil Liberties Union today joined with the American Civil Liberties Union and two of its affiliates in calling for the release of Jose Padilla from military detention where he's been held as an 'enemy combatant' for 3 years. The NYCLU filed an amicus brief in US Court of Appeals (Read the full brief here) for the Fourth Circuit challenging the government's action in detaining Padilla, an American citizen, in military custody without formally charging him and bringing him to trial in accordance with law." ....cont.

AlterNet: Rights and Liberties: The Torture Test

AlterNet: Rights and Liberties: The Torture Test: "The Torture Test By Ray McGovern, TomPaine.com. Posted November 7, 2005. Recent revelations of CIA-run secret prisons abroad has put the issue of torture front and center once again."

White House keeps dossiers on more than 10,000 'political enemies'

White House keeps dossiers on more than 10,000 'political enemies' By DOUG THOMPSON Publisher, Capitol Hill Blue Nov 8, 2005, 06:40 Spurred by paranoia and aided by the USA Patriot Act, the Bush Administration has compiled dossiers on more than 10,000 Americans it considers political enemies and uses those files to wage war on those who disagree with its policies. The “enemies list” dates back to Bush’s days as governor of Texas and can be accessed by senior administration officials in an instant for use in campaigns to discredit those who speak out against administration policies or acts of the President. The computerized files include intimate personal details on members of Congress; high-ranking local, state and federal officials; prominent media figures and ordinary citizens who may, at one time or another, have spoken out against the President or Administration."

The CIA's 'Black Sites': Guantanamos in Europe? - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News

The CIA's 'Black Sites': Guantanamos in Europe? - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News: "Guantanamos in Europe? Is the CIA using secret locations in Europe to interrogate prisoners in America's war against terror? Reports about 'black sites' have unsettled even the Bush administration's closest European partners. Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen considers himself 'America's best friend' in Europe. He even broke a long-standing Danish tradition of seeking parliament-wide consensus in contentious foreign policy issues to back Washington's decision to invade Iraq."

Independent Online Edition > Americas

Independent Online Edition > Americas: "Bush rebuked by the hand of God By Phil Davison Published: 06 November 2005 George Bush presumably knew before this weekend that the 'hand of God' could be merciless. He certainly does now. Maradona, rather than Iraq, was uppermost on the US President's mind this weekend as he attended a summit of leaders from the Western hemisphere in the Argentinian beach resort of Mar del Plata. As domestic polls informed him that he was increasingly mistrusted by his fellow Americans, Mr Bush was clearly mortified to be called 'human trash' by Latin America's equivalent of Michael Jordan - the Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona." cont......

Daily Kos: Italian Satellite TV to Broadcast Evidence of US Use of Chemical Weapons on Civilians

Daily Kos: Italian Satellite TV to Broadcast Evidence of US Use of Chemical Weapons on Civilians: "Italian Satellite TV to Broadcast Evidence of US Use of Chemical Weapons on Civilians by paper tigress [Subscribe] Mon Nov 07, 2005 at 09:08:19 AM PDT Italian media going full-bore on the Bush Administration. After its revelations on the subterfuge behind the Nigergate forgeries, documentary evidence of the use by US troops of phosphorus and a new formulaton of napalm [MK77] on the Sunni civilian population will be broadcast tomorrow on international satellite TV. Global coverage of the atrocity, folks." .....cont

Cheney Fights for Detainee Policy

As if anyone needed further evidence of the fascistic nature of the Cheney/Wolfowitz ( or neocon) camp...... Mycos~ Cheney Fights for Detainee Policy: "Cheney Fights for Detainee Policy As Pressure Mounts to Limit Handling Of Terror Suspects, He Holds Hard Line By Dana Priest and Robin Wright Washington Post Staff Writers Monday, November 7, 2005; Page A01 Over the past year, Vice President Cheney has waged an intense and largely unpublicized campaign to stop Congress, the Pentagon and the State Department from imposing more restrictive rules on the handling of terrorist suspects, according to defense, state, intelligence and congressional officials."

The reality of Britain's reliance on torture

The reality of Britain's reliance on torture: "The reality of Britain's reliance on torture Torture means the woman who was raped with a broken bottle, and died after 10 days of agony By Craig Murray 10/27/05 'The Independent' -- -- The Government has been arguing before the House of Lords for the right to act on intelligence obtained by torture abroad. It wants to be able to use such material to detain people without trial in the UK, and as evidence in the courts. Key to its case is a statement to the Law Lords by the head of MI5, Eliza Manningham-Buller. In effect she argues that torture works. It foiled the famous ricin plot. She omits to mention that no more ricin was found than is the naturally occurring base level in your house or mine - or indeed that no poison of any kind was found. But let us leave that for now."

"No WMD's Here!" The Pentagon has gassed us all

Decades of dumping chemical arms leave a risky legacy BY JOHN M.R. BULL Daily Press (Newport News, Va.) NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - In the summer of 2004, a clam-dredging operation off New Jersey pulled up an old artillery shell. The long-submerged World War I-era explosive was filled with a black tarlike substance. Bomb disposal technicians from Dover Air Force Base, Del., were brought in to dismantle it. Three of them were injured - one hospitalized with large pus-filled blisters on an arm and hand. The shell was filled with mustard gas in solid form. What was long feared by the few military officials in the know had come to pass: Chemical weapons that the Army dumped at sea decades ago finally ended up on shore in the United States. It's long been known that some chemical weapons went into the ocean, but records obtained by the Daily Press show that the previously classified weapons-dumping program was far more extensive than ever suspected. The Army now admits that it secretly dumped 64 million pounds of nerve and mustard agents into the sea, along with 400,000 chemical-filled bombs, land mines and rockets and more than 500 tons of radioactive waste - either tossed overboard or packed into the holds of scuttled vessels. A Daily Press investigation also found: These weapons of mass destruction virtually ring the country, concealed off at least 11 states - six on the East Coast, two on the Gulf Coast, California, Hawaii and Alaska. Few, if any, state officials have been informed of their existence......Cont