[cia-drugs] North American Union Already Starting to Replace USA
http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?print=yesid=15233 North American Union Already Starting to Replace USA by Jerome R. CorsiPosted May 30, 2006 In March 2005 at their summit meeting in Waco, Tex., President Bush, President Fox and Prime Minister Martin issued a joint statement announced the creation of the “Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America” (SPP). The creation of this new agreement was never submitted to Congress for debate and decision. Instead, the U.S. Department of Commerce merely created a new division under the same title to implement working groups to advance a North American Union working agenda in a wide range of areas, including: manufactured goods, movement of goods, energy, environment, e-commerce, financial services, business facilitation, food and agriculture, transportation, and health. SPP is headed by three top cabinet level officers of each country. Representing the United States are Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Representing Mexico are Secretario de Economía Fernando Canales, Secretario de Gobernación Carlos Abascal, and Secretario de Relaciones Exteriores, Luis Ernesto Derbéz. Representing Canada are Minister of Industry David L. Emerson, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety, Anne McLellan, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pierre Stewart Pettigrew. Reporting in June 2005 to the heads of state of the three countries, the trilateral SPP emphasized the extensive working group structure that had been established to pursue an ambitious agenda: In carrying out your instructions, we established working groups under both agendas of the Partnership – Security and Prosperity. We held roundtables with stakeholders, meetings with business groups and briefing sessions with Legislatures, as well as with other relevant political jurisdictions. The result is a detailed series of actions and recommendations designed to increase the competitiveness of North America and the security of our people. This is not a theoretical exercise being prepared so it can be submitted for review. Instead, SPP is producing an action agreement to be implemented directly by regulations, without any envisioned direct Congressional oversight. Upon your review and approval, we will once again meet with stakeholders and work with them to implement the workplans that we have developed. And again, the June 2005 SPP report stresses: The success of our efforts will be defined less by the contents of the work plans than by the actual implementation of initiatives and strategies that will make North America more prosperous and more secure. Reviewing the specific working agenda initiatives, the goal to implement directly is apparent. Nearly every work plan is characterized by action steps described variously as “our three countries signed a Framework of Common Principles …” or “we have signed a Memorandum of Understanding …,” or “we have signed a declaration of intent …” etc. Once again, none of the 30 or so working agendas makes any mention of submitting decisions to the U.S. Congress for review and approval. No new U.S. laws are contemplated for the Bush administration to submit to Congress. Instead, the plan is obviously to knit together the North American Union completely under the radar, through a process of regulations and directives issued by various U.S. government agencies. What we have here is an executive branch plan being implemented by the Bush administration to construct a new super-regional structure completely by fiat. Yet, we can find no single speech in which President Bush has ever openly expressed to the American people his intention to create a North American Union by evolving NAFTA into this NAFTA-Plus as a first, implementing step. Anyone who has wondered why President Bush has not bothered to secure our borders is advised to spend some time examining the SPP working groups’ agenda. In every area of activity, the SPP agenda stresses free and open movement of people, trade, and capital within the North American Union. Once the SPP agenda is implemented with appropriate departmental regulations, there will be no area of immigration policy, trade rules, environmental regulations, capital flows, public health, plus dozens of other key policy areas countries that the U.S. government will be able to decide alone, or without first consulting with some appropriate North American Union regulatory body. At best, our border with Mexico will become a speed bump, largely erased, with little remaining to restrict the essentially free movement of people, trade, and capital. Canada has established an SPP working group within their Foreign Affairs department. Mexico has placed the SPP within the office of the Secretaria de Economia and created and extensive website for the Alianza Para La Securidad y La
[cia-drugs] Fw: [JBirch] How they vote in the United Nations
- Original Message - From: John Perna To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, June 10, 2006 10:39 AM Subject: [JBirch] How they vote in the United Nations How they vote in the United Nations http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FreedomOfSpeechNow/message/86?l=1 How they vote in the United Nations: Below are the actual voting records of various Arabic/Islamic States which are recorded in both the US State Department and United Nations records: Kuwait votes against the United States 67% of the time Qatarvotes against the United States 67% of the time Morroccovotes against the United States 70% of the time UAEvotes against the U. S. 70% of the time. Jordanvotes against the United States 71% of the time. Tunisia votes against the United States 71% of the time. Saudi Arabia votes against the United States 73% of the time. Yemen votes against the United States 74% of the time. Algeria votes against the United States 74% of the time. Oman votes against the United States 74% of the time. Sudan votes against the United States 75% of the time. Pakistan votes against the United States 75% of the time. Libya votes against the United States 76% of the time. Egypt votes against the United States 79% of the time. Lebanon votes against the United States 80% of the time. India votes against the United States 81% of the time. Syria votes against the United States 84% of the time. Mauritania votes against the United States 87% of the time. U S Foreign Aid to those that hate us: Egypt, for example, after voting 79% of the time against the United States, still receives $2 billion annually in US Foreign Aid. Jordan votes 71% against the United States And receives $192,814,000 annually in US Foreign Aid. Pakistan votes 75% against the United States Receives $6,721,000 annually in US Foreign Aid. India votes 81% against the United States Receives $143,699,000 annually. Perhaps it is time to get out of the UN and give the tax savings back to the American workers who are having to skimp and sacrifice to pay the taxes (and gasoline). Pass this along to every taxpaying citizen you know. Disgusting isn't it? __Do You Yahoo!?Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com __Do You Yahoo!?Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com __._,_.___ Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. __,_._,___
[cia-drugs] Journalists Applaud Al-Zarqawi's Death
http://www.aim.org/guest_column_print/4629_0_6_0/ Journalists Applaud Al-Zarqawi's Death By Sharon Hughes | June 9, 2006 The days that follow I'm sure will find more liberal 'reasoning' to why catching this mass murderer of the Iraqi people and our troops is no big deal. Just watch. Having vowed loyalty to Osama bin Laden in 2004 and orchestrating what the Washington Post calls the bloodiest suicide bombings of the insurgency, beheading hostages and slaughtering thousands if Iraqis in order to incite a civil war with the goal of driving America's presence out of Iraq, al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. air strike along with his spiritual advisor, Sheik Abdul Rahman, on Wednesday. Iraqis provided the intelligence and U.S. forces conducted 17 raids culminating in a target hit on the most-wanted militant terrorist leader, who had the same U.S. bounty on his head as Osama bin Laden - $25 million. His identity was confirmed by fingerprints, and when Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced al-Zarqawi's death loud applause broke from Iraqi journalists. What? Journalist applauding the news? Think about it. Iraqi journalists broke out in loud applause at the news of al-Zarqawi's death! Did American journalists do the same when President Bush announced the news? Or in another venue? Nope. The Left's talk show hosts were off the chart on the news. As pointed out by Tim Graham at Newsbusters: "I caught some of the opening minutes of the Stephanie Miller show today (on Air America). They were playing clips of the Rose Garden Bush remarks and just mocking his accent. "He's extra-twangy today," mocked Miller. The show's impressionist started doing Bush in a William Buckley-esque Connecticut accent, implying the Texas talk is all phony. Then they began joking "we're auditioning for a new boogey-man," as if Zarqawi was a phantom in a closet." And on his way home from work he caught Randi Rhodes on the same channel, who clearly is in the running for the most biased, blind, complete spin-off-the-planet comments! "Hoo boy. She was saying Zarqawi was our boy, someone we protected in the no-fly zone from Saddam Hussein, and then used as an excuse for war. A few minutes later, she complained it was a "sick, psychotic" day for news, and said the rulers of America were "imperialistic, hegemonisticdictators." Unbelievable! The days that follow I'm sure will find more liberal 'reasoning' to why catching this mass murderer of the Iraqi people and our troops is no big deal. Just watch. __._,_.___ Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. __,_._,___
[cia-drugs] Snow wary of 'splashy' stories on these pages
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/printer-friendly.asp?ARTICLE_ID= Alas,tony. We had such high hopes for you but that job is no place for a person with rabbit ears. By giving yu own peronal view in respnse to the invasion question, You injected thn preident into another controversy he doesm't need. He may vary well agree with you but there are over 30 million (including myself) who don't. This is not the "Tony Snow Show) Do your homework on the border situation and get over it. Jim Rarey Monday, June 5, 2006 WND AT THE WHITE HOUSESnow wary of 'splashy' stories on these pagesDidn't appreciate article 'about what I did or did not believe' Posted: June 5, 20065:00 p.m. Eastern By Les Kinsolving ©2006WorldNetDaily.com Presidential press secretary Tony Snow ended his press briefing today by refusing to answer a WND question about immigration reform, saying a previous answer to the newssite had been turned into "this big splashy thing on WorldNetDaily." After asking two questions earlier in the briefing, WND got Snow's attention for the final question of the day. "In Michigan, the Lansing State Journal said that U.S. Senators Stabenow and Levin 'voted in favor of illegality, in favor of border insecurity,'" stated WND. "And my question, does the president believe that the Lansing –" Interjected Snow: "Lester, last time you asked a question like this, there was this big splashy thing on WorldNetDaily about what I did or did not believe. I'm not going to bite on an editorial in the Lansing state paper." Snow apparently was referring to a story on Friday in which WND reported that the spokesman rejected the characterization of the constant flow of illegal aliens over the U.S. border as an "invasion." At Friday's White House press briefing, WorldNetDaily asked the spokesman: "Article 4, Section 4 of the Constitution says, 'The United States shall guarantee to every state in the Union a republican form of government and shall protect each of them from foreign invasion.' My question is, does the president believe this foreign invasion means only armed invasion, or doesn't this also mean the invasion of millions of illegal immigrants?" Responded Snow: "I think what you are doing is you're attaching a martial connotation to something that does not have martial consequences. … "What the president has said – if you were talking about an invasion, he's made it clear that Mexico is not the enemy." Related special offer: Get Rep. Tom Tancredo's "In Mortal Danger" Les Kinsolving is WorldNetDaily's White House correspondent and a talk-show host for WCBM in Baltimore. His show can be heard on the Internet 8-10 p.m. Eastern each weekday. __._,_.___ Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. __,_._,___
[cia-drugs] Canada KOs 'Qaeda' thugs
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/v-pfriendly/story/423531p-357379c.html New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com Canada KOs 'Qaeda' thugs BY JAMES GORDON MEEK in Washingtonand ANDRA VARIN in New YorkDAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS Sunday, June 4th, 2006 Canadian police busted an "Al Qaeda-inspired" terror group, arresting 17 people who had amassed enough explosives to build massive bombs and were planning to blow up targets in southern Ontario, just a short drive from the New York state line, authorities said yesterday. "This group took steps to acquire 3 [metric] tons of ammonium nitrate and other components necessary to create explosive devices," said Mike McDonell, assistant commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. "To put this in context, the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people took 1 [metric] ton of ammonium nitrate," he said. Police said they had arrested 12 men and five minors in coordinated raids. The adults were from Toronto, its western suburb of Mississauga and from Kingston, Ontario, on the eastern edge of Lake Ontario - not far from the U.S. border. "This group posed a real and serious threat," McDonell said. "It had the capacity and intent to carry out attacks." Investigators said the suspects, all Canadian residents and many of them citizens, had trained together at a camp north of Toronto. A Canadian security official in Washington told the Daily News the group appears to be a homegrown terror cell and was not targeting the U.S. "Their motive was Al Qaeda-inspired but not linked," the Canadian security official said. Most of the suspects were in their teens or 20s. The FBI said the group posed no threat to the U.S., but may have connected at some point with two suspects nabbed earlier in the United States. "There is preliminary indication that some of the Canadian subjects may have had limited contact with the two people recently arrested from Georgia," Special Agent Richard Kolko said in a statement. He was referring to Syed Ahmed, a 21-year-old Georgia Institute of Technology student, and 19-year-old Ehsanul Sadequee, a Bangladeshi native. Federal investigators said the two men traveled from Atlanta to Canada in March 2005. In Canada, they allegedly met with Islamic extremists about possible attacks against U.S. oil refineries and military bases. "As always, we will work with our international partners to review any intelligence gathered and will conduct any appropriate investigation," Kolko said. "There is no imminent threat to the U.S. from these current law enforcement operations." Investigators did not specify the alleged plotters' targets, but the Toronto Sun said they planned to attack the Canadian spy agency's downtown Toronto office. Other reports said they planned to attack popular tourist sites in Ontario. There have been no Al Qaeda-style attacks in Canada, although the U.S. has called for more vigilance on the border the two countries share. The so-called Millennium Bomber, Algerian-born Ahmed Ressam, was arrested in December 1999 as he crossed into the United States from Canada in a car laden with explosives. Ressam is serving a 22-year prison term for plotting to set off a bomb at Los Angeles airport on Dec. 31, 1999. With News Wire Services Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Christians to battle Feds on 'million-dollar' tracts
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/printer-friendly.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50497 And these guys (SS) are supposed to be protecting the president? They should be hassling the idiot who tried to deposit the "bill". JR Saturday, June 3, 2006 YOUR GOVERNMENT AT WORKChristians to battle Feds on 'million-dollar' tracts Lawyers advise evangelists not to turn over more 'counterfeit evidence' without warrant Posted: June 3, 20061:28 p.m. Eastern By Joseph Farah ©2006WorldNetDaily.com WASHINGTON – If and when the Secret Service visits the offices of Living Waters Ministry in Southern California to collect more "counterfeiting evidence" in the form of gospel tracts disguised as $1 million bills, agents better be armed with a warrant. Ray Comfort Ray Comfort, the world-renowned evangelist and head of the ministry, says he is not inclined to turn over any more copies of one of his most effective tools for witnessing his faith just because some Treasury agents demand them. Comfort was advised by his attorneys not to hand over the same gospel tracts seized Thursday in a raid on Living Waters' partner ministry in Denton, Texas. "The thinking is that if agents show a judge a copy of the $1 million tract, he would laugh till he cried and then, after catching his breath, he would thank the agents for a good laugh and then ask them to stop wasting his time," explained Comfort. The controversy began Thursday about 1 p.m. when Secret Service agents visited the Great News Network in Texas and threatened with arrest Tim Crawford for hiding evidence in a counterfeiting investigation and seized 8,300 gospel tracts designed as "million-dollar bills." Three Secret Service agents asked Crawford if he was responsible for printing "the million-dollar bills," gospel tracts that appear on one side to be a $1 million dollar bill and present the Christian salvation message on the opposite side. Crawford suggested they talk to his boss, Darrel Rudus, the founder of the organization that trains evangelists from around the country in the techniques of witnessing their faith. By telephone with the agents, Rudus offered his opinion that it was impossible to counterfeit something that wasn't real – a $1 million bill. But the agents explained that someone in North Carolina had attempted to deposit one of the million-dollar bills in a bank account. The address of the Great News Network was on the back, and the Secret Service went into action. Though Rudus' group distributes thousands of the tracts, it did not originate them. They are the work of Comfort’s Living Waters Ministry, which distributes millions of them a year. Before he got off the phone, Rudus was convinced the agents were going to drop their demand for the Great News Network's tracts. But later, he reports, the agents again demanded them from Crawford, threatening him with arrest for "concealing evidence." Rather than face arrest, Crawford turned over the approximately 8,300 million-dollar tracts the group had stored. The agents left a receipt and their business cards. Comfort told WND he was stunned by the action of the Secret Service and expects agents to visit his offices soon. He said he has no plans to abandon the use of the tracts, which are among the most popular of the many his organization distributes. Living Waters is known for its television program, "The Way of the Master," and an association with actor Kirk Cameron. "I'm not going to stop printing them," Comfort said. "How can you possibly counterfeit something that is not real – a $1 million bill?" Comfort's group is being represented by the American Family Association Center for Law and Policy in the case. "I am more than a little amazed that the Secret Service has chosen to harass Ray Comfort because of his $1 million gospel tracts," said Brian Fahling, senior trial attorney for the group. "It is abundantly clear to anyone with a modicum of common sense that the 'bills' are not made with an intent to defraud, but rather, they are distributed with the intent to reveal the Truth. No thinking person could believe the bills are real. If the Secret Service does not cease from this intrusion upon the free speech rights and free exercise rights of Ray Comfort and others, that agency will be explaining its outrageous conduct to a federal judge." The tract also includes this message: "The million
[cia-drugs] DNA: The Tiny Code That's Toppling Evolutio
THE END OF GODLESS dARWINISM. The facts about DNA demand answers to the questions how, and why? "The evidence certainly points to a resounding checkmate for evolution!" Darwin doesn't have the answers. he only credible answer is GOD JR - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]Sent: Sunday, June 04, 2006 2:36 PMSubject: DNA: The Tiny Code That's Toppling Evolution For those scientists who refuse to acknowledge the existence of God, they now use the euphemism of "intelligent design". DNA: The Tiny Code That's Toppling Evolution http://www.gnmagazine.org/issues/gn58/tinycode.htm As scientists explore a new universe-the universe inside the cell-they are making startling discoveries of information systems more complex than anything ever devised by humanity's best minds. How did they get there, and what does it mean for the theory of evolution? by Mario Seiglie Two great achievements occurred in 1953, more than half a century ago. The first was the successful ascent of Mt. Everest, the highest mountain in the world. Sir Edmund Hillary and his guide, Tenzing Norgay, reached the summit that year, an accomplishment that's still considered the ultimate feat for mountain climbers. Since then, more than a thousand mountaineers have made it to the top, and each year hundreds more attempt it. Yet the second great achievement of 1953 has had a greater impact on the world. Each year, many thousands join the ranks of those participating in this accomplishment, hoping to ascend to fame and fortune. It was in 1953 that James Watson and Francis Crick achieved what appeared impossible-discovering the genetic structure deep inside the nucleus of our cells. We call this genetic material DNA, an abbreviation for deoxyribonucleic acid. The discovery of the double-helix structure of the DNA molecule opened the floodgates for scientists to examine the code embedded within it. Now, more than half a century after the initial discovery, the DNA code has been deciphered-although many of its elements are still not well understood. What has been found has profound implications regarding Darwinian evolution, the theory taught in schools all over the world that all living beings have evolved by natural processes through mutation and natural selection. Amazing revelations about DNA As scientists began to decode the human DNA molecule, they found something quite unexpected-an exquisite 'language' composed of some 3 billion genetic letters. "One of the most extraordinary discoveries of the twentieth century," says Dr. Stephen Meyer, director of the Center for Science and Culture at the Discovery Institute in Seattle, Wash., "was that DNA actually stores information-the detailed instructions for assembling proteins-in the form of a four-character digital code" (quoted by Lee Strobel, The Case for a Creator, 2004, p. 224). It is hard to fathom, but the amount of information in human DNA is roughly equivalent to 12 sets of The Encyclopaedia Britannica-an incredible 384 volumes" worth of detailed information that would fill 48 feet of library shelves! Yet in their actual size-which is only two millionths of a millimeter thick-a teaspoon of DNA, according to molecular biologist Michael Denton, could contain all the information needed to build the proteins for all the species of organisms that have ever lived on the earth, and "there would still be enough room left for all the information in every book ever written" (Evolution: A Theory in Crisis, 1996, p. 334). Who or what could miniaturize such information and place this enormous number of 'letters' in their proper sequence as a genetic instruction manual? Could evolution have gradually come up with a system like this? DNA contains a genetic language Let's first consider some of the characteristics of this genetic 'language.' For it to be rightly called a language, it must contain the following elements: an alphabet or coding system, correct spelling, grammar (a proper arrangement of the words), meaning (semantics) and an intended purpose. Scientists have found the genetic code has all of these key elements. "The coding regions of DNA," explains Dr. Stephen Meyer, "have exactly the same relevant properties as a computer code or language" (quoted by Strobel, p. 237, emphasis in original). The only other codes found to be true languages are all of human origin. Although we do find that dogs bark when they perceive danger, bees dance to point other bees to a source and whales emit sounds, to name a few examples of other species" communication, none of these have the composition of a language. They are only considered low-level communication signals. The only types of communication considered high-level are human languages, artificial languages such as computer and Morse codes and the genetic code. No other communication system has been found to contain the basic
[cia-drugs] Giving Up On Israel
http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=12516print=yes (06/02/2006) Giving Up On Israel Olmert losing U.S. conservatives if West Bank goes Gaza. Jonathan Mark - Associate Editor Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s plans for withdrawal from much of the West Bank is leading to erosion of political support within the one American group — the conservative, primarily Christian right —that had been most supportive of Israel, and reportedly the root of President Bush’s support, as well.Those conservatives who most cheered Israel’s history of defying Islamic terrorists are now the most disappointed by what they’re calling Israel’s “appeasement,” as exemplified by its policy of unilateral withdrawal; giving guns to a Palestinian security unit under PA President Mahmoud Abbas, even though such weapons were used in the past against Israel; and giving millions of dollars in medical assistance to Palestinian hospitals to thwart what is being called a “humanitarian crisis,” even though Olmert told the New York Times (May 19) that the “humanitarian crisis” was nothing but “total propaganda.”Several writers pointed out that Olmert was once again living up to his doctrine spoken at the time of the Gaza disengagement: “We are tired of fighting, we are tired of being courageous, we are tired of winning, we are tired of defeating our enemies.” Joseph Farah, editor of World Net Daily and once as enthusiastic a defender of Israel as anyone in the media, finally threw in the towel, writing, “I Give Up On Israel.”World Net Daily is something like NASCAR, unknown to most New Yorkers but wildly popular in the heartland. Alexa, the Internet tracking service, ranks WND (worldnetdaily.com) as the No. 1 Internet site for conservative news, with more online readers than either National Review or The Weekly Standard. The site has considerable Christian advertising and readership and, since its 1997 founding by Farah, a Christian of Arab-American heritage, WND has offered a drumbeat for Israel that previously earned Farah a journalism award from the right-wing Zionist Organization of America. Farah also writes a syndicated column for the Jerusalem Post, among others, and has co-authored a book with Rush Limbaugh. His Zionist and conservative credentials are impeccable.So hundreds of thousands of readers took notice when Farah wrote in WND (May 15), “I am through defending Israel — at least the regime currently in power in Jerusalem, this useless coalition seemingly hell-bent on committing national suicide.”Farah said Olmert’s plans for a unilateral West Bank withdrawal is nothing but “retreat” and “appeasement.” Olmert, said Farah, “does this fully knowing that last summer’s evacuation of the Gaza Strip has been an unmitigated disaster for the Jewish people, Western Civilization and freedom in general,” with Hamas wanting nothing more than to “establish a Taliban-like state” in “territories ethnically cleansed of Jews.”The West Bank, writes Farah, will become, like Gaza, a terrorist base threatening not only Israel but also Jordan and Lebanon. If that is Israel’s choice, “I’m through making excuses for Israel. I’m through trying to understand the incomprehensible moves of a self-flagellating nation. I’m through trying to point out the moral rightness of a state and a people who themselves fail to discern right from wrong.”Farah added, “I know I speak for many Jews and Christians throughout the world who see Israel’s surrender as a cowardly betrayal, a sign that the Jewish state puts more faith in Washington and ‘international diplomacy’ than in the
[cia-drugs] Hamas looking to fly planes into buildings
GLOBAL JIHADHamas looking to fly planes into buildingsTerror leader details goal to carry out 9-11-style attacks, 'possibly skyscraper' Posted: May 25, 20061:00 a.m. Eastern By Aaron Klein©2006WorldNetDaily.com JERUSALEM – Hamas is seeking the ability to attack Israel using small airplanes laden with explosives to be flown 9-11-style into important targets, possibly Tel Aviv skyscrapers, Abu Abdullah, a leader of Hamas' so-called military wing, told WorldNetDaily yesterday. Abdullah is considered one of the most important operational members of Hamas' Izzedine al-Qassam Martyrs Brigades, Hamas' declared "resistance" department. He said his group would not immediately carry out airplane attacks, but that Hamas is preparing for the possibility should a long-term truce it claims to abide by falls apart. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] FDA Approves Novel Medication for Smoking Cessation
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2006/NEW01370.html FDA News FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEP06-67May 11, 2006 Media Inquiries: Laura Alvey, 301-827-6242Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA FDA Approves Novel Medication for Smoking Cessation The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today the approval of Chantix (varenicline tartrate) tablets, to help cigarette smokers stop smoking. The active ingredient in Chantix, varenicline tartrate, is a new molecular entity that received a priority FDA review because of its significant potential benefit to public health. Chantix acts at sites in the brain affected by nicotine and may help those who wish to give up smoking in two ways: by providing some nicotine effects to ease the withdrawal symptoms and by blocking the effects of nicotine from cigarettes if they resume smoking. "Tobacco use, particularly cigarette smoking, is the single most preventable cause of death in the United States and is responsible for a growing list of cancers as well as chronic diseases including those of the lung and heart," said Scott Gottlieb, MD, Deputy Commissioner for Medical and Scientific Affairs. "The agency is committed to helping facilitate the development of products to help people quit smoking and improve their overall quality of life." According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 44.5 million adults in the United States smoke cigarettes and more than 8.6 million of them have at least one serious illness caused by smoking. "Cigarette smoking is a very difficult habit to break due in large part to nicotine dependence or addiction" said Dr. Steven Galson, Director of FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "Chantix therapy has proven to be effective in smokers motivated to quit and will provide another tool for physicians to use for the millions of smokers who want to quit." The effectiveness of Chantix in smoking cessation was demonstrated in six clinical trials, which included a total of 3659 chronic cigarette smokers who were treated with varenicline. Five of the six studies were randomized, controlled clinical trials in which Chantix was shown to be superior to placebo in helping people quit smoking. These smokers had previously averaged 21 cigarettes a day for approximately 25 years. In two of the five placebo-controlled studies, Chantix-treated patients were also more successful in giving up smoking than patients treated with Zyban (bupropion). The approved course of Chantix treatment is 12 weeks. Patients who successfully quit smoking during Chantix treatment may continue with an additional 12 weeks of Chantix treatment to further increase the likelihood of long-term smoking cessation. In clinical trials, the most common adverse effects of Chantix were nausea, headache, vomiting, flatulence (gas), insomnia, abnormal dreams, and dysgeusia (change in taste perception). Chantix is manufactured and distributed by Pfizer, Inc., New York, NY. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy
Former Reagan economist exposes the Bush administration's radical departure from fundamental conservative principles And explains why it may cost the GOP the presidency and its congressional majority Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy by Bruce Bartlett George W. Bush is widely considered -- by liberals -- to be one of the most politically conservative presidents in history. But many on the right have a different perspective. Among the latter are Bruce Bartlett, a highly respected Republican economist and an alumnus of the Reagan White House, who in 2000 was an eager supporter of George W. Bush (and even helped to craft the President's early tax cuts) but has since become disillusioned by his big-spending, government-expanding ways. Now, in Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy, Bartlett attacks the Bush administration's economic performance root and branch -- showing how Bush has made no effort to restrain the growth of government, greatly increased domestic spending, created a new entitlement program for prescription drugs, failed to veto a single bill, and expanded both the size and scope of government in many ways quite apart from national defense and homeland security. Bartlett also explains why the Bush policies will have serious economic consequences for the country - and possibly fatal political consequences for the GOP. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Gang attacks on Brazilian police leave 30 dead
These are the kind of gang members infiltrating the U.S. illegally and hooking up with Al Queda and Mexican gangs. Feeling safer? jr Powered by SAVE THIS | EMAIL THIS | Close Gang attacks on Brazilian police leave 30 dead SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) -- Overnight gang attacks on Brazilian police in Sao Paulo left 30 people dead by Saturday morning, and in a related occurrence the number of prison rebellions is growing in the worst outbreak of violence in the state in years. "This attack is an attempt to show force and principally to mess with the sense of safety among the population," Saulo de Abreu, the secretary of security of Sao Paulo state, said. "The police will not retreat from these attacks." He said 16 people had been arrested for alleged participation in the attacks. (Watch why the gangs and police are fighting -- 1:52) A spokesman at the secretariat said the roughly 12 hours of attacks with machine guns and grenades were believed to be related to a transfer in the jails of organized crime leaders of the First Command of the Capital gang, known as the PCC in Portuguese. The gang leaders were being transferred in an attempt to head off a coordinated rebellion in the Sao Paulo state prison system planned for Mothers Day weekend. Two prison rebellions in the cities of Iaras and Avare broke out on Friday in Sao Paulo state with over 25 hostages between them, the secretariat of penitentiary administration said. They are ongoing. The secretariat said there were also signs that rebellions were breaking out in 20 other prisons across the state, including Araraquara and Ribeirao Preto, but it was waiting for more details. "Evidently these rebellions are occurring as a response from the criminals," Secretary of Penitentiary Administration Nagashi Furukawa said. The secretariat said prisoners had made no demands at this moment. In February of 2001, 29 prisons in the state of Sao Paulo simultaneously broke out into revolt, leaving 19 dead. Officials said there were 55 separate attacks on police, firemen, penitentiary staff and their families since Friday evening and several other potentially related incidences of violence in the state were being investigated. By midday Saturday, 16 police, three civil guards, four off-duty penitentiary agents, two civilians and five bandits had been killed in the attacks. The state secretary of security had said earlier on Saturday that 32 people were wounded in the shootouts. Local TV footage showed scenes of shattered glass, bullet-hole-riddled police cars and stations with puddles of blood in seats and on the pavement. Copyright 2006 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Find this article at: http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/05/13/brazil.attacks.reut/index.html Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] U.S. alerting Mexico to Minuteman patrols
http://www.wnd.com/news/printer-friendly.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50122 What do we call this, official treason? What else have Bush and Fox agreed to circumvent our laws? JR We need to coin a new word for outrageous. Tuesday, May 9, 2006 INVASION USAU.S. alerting Mexicoto Minuteman patrols'Unbelievable that our own government …is sending intelligence to another country' Posted: May 9, 200611:37 a.m. Eastern ©2006WorldNetDaily.com Minuteman volunteerThe U.S. Border Patrol is tipping off Mexican authorities on the positions of members of the Minuteman civilian patrols. U.S. officials have agreed to the notification process to reassure the Mexican government that the illegal immigrants' rights are being observed, the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin of Ontario, Calif., reports. When the Minuteman and other civilian border patrol groups help apprehend illegal immigrants, the Mexican government must be notified, according to three documents on the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Relations website. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman confirmed to the Daily Bulletin the notification process, describing it as a standard procedure. "It's not a secret where the Minuteman volunteers are going to be," Mario Martinez said. "This ... simply makes two basic statements – that we will not allow any lawlessness of any type, and that if an alien is encountered by a Minuteman or arrested by the Minuteman, then we will allow that government to interview the person." But angered Minuteman members say the reporting virtually nullifies their effectiveness and could endanger lives. "Now we know why it seemed like Mexican officials knew where we were all the time," Chris Simcox, founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, told the Ontario paper. "It's unbelievable that our own government agency is sending intelligence to another country," he said. "They are sending intelligence to a nation where corruption runs rampant, and that could be getting into the hands of criminal cartels. "They just basically endangered the lives of American people." Martinez said any illegal alien apprehended has the right to request counsel. "We have to give their counsel the information about their apprehension, and that includes where they are apprehended, whether a Minuteman volunteer spotted them or a citizen," he said. The spokesman said by entering into the cooperative agreement, the Border Patrol hoped to change Mexico's perception of the group as vigilantes. One of the documents on the website, "Actions of the Mexican Government in Relation to the Activities of Vigilante Groups," describes a meeting with San Diego Border Patrol sector chief Darryl Griffen. According to the document, Griffen "said that the Border Patrol will not permit any violence or any actions contrary to the law by the groups, and he is continuously aware of (the volunteer organizations') operations." The document continues: "Mr. Griffen reiterated to the undersecretary his promise to notify the General Consul right away when the vigilantes detain or participate in the detention of any undocumented Mexicans." The documents name the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps and the Chino, Calif.-based Friends of the Border Patrol. TJ Bonner, president of the 10,000-member union National Border Patrol Council, told the Daily Bulletin his member agents have complained for years about the Mexican government "unduly influencing our enforcement policies." "That's not a legitimate role for any foreign nation," he said. The Minuteman weblog said the Daily Bulletin's story "does not report information told to the [Minuteman] media offices that the Border Patrol chiefs have also been passing along intelligence reports to the government of Mexico on the activities of Minutemen not only at the borders, but in locations such as Utah, Nevada, Illinois, Massachusetts and Tennessee." The weblog said one report contained estimated chapter membership numbers of Minutemen in Illinois and a statement on activities. The report noted the group didn't seem to know any politicians there, indicating the Illinois Minutemen had not acquired political clout. The Minuteman blog commented: "That is not a report on the location of Minutemen at the border, but political intelligence from our government to a foreign nation about the activities of American citizens petitioning our own government for redress of
[cia-drugs] Fw: Passing On As Received
Title: Message - Original Message - From: Dorothy Fitzpatrick Subject: Fw: Passing On As Received Would like to add, "amen" and well worded. Dorothy. Me too, Jim Subject: Thoughts on Immigration from a Teacher's Husband Passing on as received. Subject: Something You Won't Read About In the Papers During the Immigration Debate As you all listen to the news about the student protests over illegal immigration there are some things that you should be aware of. My wife is in charge of the English-as-a-second-language department at large southern California high school which is designated a Title 1 school, meaning that its students average lower socio-economic and income levels. Most of the schools you are hearing about South Gate High, Bell Gardens, Huntington Park, etc., where these students are protesting are also Title 1 schools. My wife tells me that 100% of the students in her school and other Title 1 schools are on the free breakfast, free lunch program. When I say free breakfast I' m not talking a glass of milk and roll... but a full breakfast and cereal bar with fruits and juices that would make a Marriott proud. The waste of this food is monumental, with trays and trays of it being dumped in the trash uneaten. She estimates that well over 50% of these students are obese or at least moderately overweight. About 75% or more DO have cell phones. The school also provides day care centers for the unwed teenage pregnant girls (some as young as 13) so they can attend class without the inconvenience of having to arrange for babysitters or having family watch their kids. She was ordered to spend $700,000 on her department or risk losing funding for the upcoming year even though there was little need for anything; her budget was already substantial. She ended up buying new computers for their computer learning center. Half of which, one month later, have been carved with graffiti by the appreciative students who obviously feel humbled and grateful to have a free education in America. She has had to intervene several times for young and substitute teachers whose classes consist of many illegal immigrant students here in the country less then 3 months who raised so much hell with the female teachers, calling them "Putas"--whores--and throwing things that the teachers were in tears. Free medical, free education, free food, day care etc.. etc.. etc.. Is itany wonder they feel entitled to not only be in this country but to demand rights, privileges and entitlements? To my bleeding-heart liberal friends who want to point out how much these illegal immigrants contribute to our society because they LIKE their gardener and housekeeper and they like to pay less for tomatoes: spend some time in the real world of illegal immigration and see the TRUE costs. Higher insurance, Medical facilities closing, higher medical , more crime , lower standards of education in our schools , overcrowding, new diseases etc.. etc.. etc.. For me--- I 'll pay more for tomatoes. We need to wake up. The guest worker program will be a disaster because we won't have the guts to enforce it. Does anyone in their right mind eally think they will leave and return voluntarily? There are many hardworking Hispanic/American citizens that contribute to our country and many that I consider my true friends. We should encourage and accept those Hispanics who have done it the right and legal way. It does, however, have everything to do with culture. A third-world culture that does not value education, that accepts children getting pregnant and dropping out of school by 15 and that refuses to assimilate... and an American culture that has become so weak and politically correct that we don't have the will to do anything about it. If this makes your blood boil, as it did mine, forward this to everyone you know. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] CDC Says 300,000 Children Have Autism
CDC Says 300,000 Children Have Autism Number May Be Higher, and Cause Is Not Known (or not wiling to be admitted jr) By NED POTTER May 4, 2006 - Three hundred thousand children. That's how many the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports suffer from autism. It has remained a baffling and often devastating disorder, and the new numbers show how widespread it is. The CDC reported that 5.7 children out of every thousand -- one in 175 -- have the problem. And the total may be higher because many doctors do not recognize the early warning signs. "Many children are not diagnosed with autism until they reach school age. And we need to change that," said Dr. Jose Cordero, director of the CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. In two CDC surveys, boys outnumbered girls by four to one. Hispanic children seemed to have slightly lower rates of the disorder, though researchers say they may have less access to health care and are therefore reported less often. Babies and toddlers with autism may seem healthy, playing and pointing and babbling. Then they may begin to withdraw, sometimes losing what speech they have learned, sometimes making repetitive motions, often losing the ability to respond to common social cues. But the first signs can be subtle and easily overlooked by parents. "Children with autism do show affectionate behavior," said Wendy Stone, a child psychologist at Vanderbilt University and the author of "Does My Child Have Autism?" "They can show attachments," she said. "Social behavior is not a pervasive, all-or-nothing thing. It's a matter of degree." That's a critical matter, because specialists say that while there is no cure, there are types of behavioral therapy that work best if you start early -- and you cannot start early unless you realize there is a problem. "We do know that early intervention really does make remarkable differences in the outcomes for these children," Stone said. The new report could not say whether autism rates are going up, but many doctors and parents believe they are. By the end of the year, researchers hope to complete an Atlanta-based study, showing whether there has been an upward swing. The CDC, at least for now, did not address the question of what causes autism. Researchers generally believe there is a genetic factor -- autism does run in families -- but there may be more at work as well. Some advocacy groups believe certain preservatives (i.e. mercury jr)in childhood vaccines may play a role, and the issue has become highly controversial. In 2005, a combating autism bill was introduced by members of the Senate and House. It would mandate expenditures of $110 million a year for the next five years to advance research, screening and treatment. But it has been stalled in committee for a year. "For eight years I've had parents and clinicians coming to me, saying we have an epidemic of autism, and many people in government are reluctant to accept that," said Rep. Dave Weldon, a Florida Republican who has worked on the issue. "I think the prospects for its passing are better, now that the CDC has really, finally admitted that we have an epidemic." Copyright © 2006 ABC News Internet Ventures Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Dateline's Sting Backfires
http://www.aim.org/media_monitor_print/4522_0_2_0/ Dateline's Sting Backfires By Roger Aronoff | May 1, 2006 Witnessing is one thing; staging is another. It looks like Katie Couric cut her ties with NBC just in time. The day she ended the suspense for what she called the "worst kept secret"-that she was moving to CBS to become the evening news anchor and 60 Minutes contributor-NBC was exposed for deceitful "investigative" reporting. What happened sounds like a treatment for a new show called, perhaps, "Candid Camera: Fear Factor Follies." Columnist and blogger Michelle Malkin broke this story when she was forwarded an email from someone who had been asked by NBC's Dateline to help them find people who "look like Muslims" to participate in a little sting operation against what NBC considered white crackers. They brought a crew and some Muslim men to Martinsville Speedway in Virginia to see how NASCAR fans would react. When challenged by NASCAR officials about their story, Dateline defended its actions: "Dateline is not planning a story about NASCAR. We are following up on a recent poll and other articles indicating an increase in anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States. We are curious about whether that is true. The NASCAR race at Martinsville was a stop we have made in our research on this story." NASCAR officials were angry when they found out that Dateline had brought in some Muslims to attend the race in Virginia. A spokesman for NASCAR said the group walked around outside the track, but got no reaction from the fans. "It's outrageous that a news organization like NBC would seek to create the news instead of reporting the news," said the spokesman. NBC replied that "There is nothing new about the technique of witnessing the experience of someone who might be discriminated against in a public setting." Witnessing is one thing; staging is another. You would think they would have learned that after Dateline's most famous fiasco, the 1992 incident in which they rigged a test to demonstrate that GM pickup trucks with side fuel-tanks were "firebombs waiting to explode" in a side-impact collision. They had attached remote-controlled devices designed to set off the explosions. They ended up apologizing and firing several producers responsible for the actions. Interestingly, NBC, along with TNT, spent over a billion dollars for the rights to broadcast NASCAR races for the past six years. This is the final year of the contract. I recently attended my first NASCAR event, the Daytona 500. A friend of mine was part of the TV crew, and invited me down with a "backstage pass." It was described affectionately to me as "The Redneck Woodstock," a "cultural" event not to be missed. I found the massive crowd of some 300,000 people to be a broad cross-section of society, and very friendly. Clearly, NBC was hoping to find some dramatic footage of the NASCAR nation, regularly identified as a core constituency for George W. Bush and conservatives in general, exhibiting a bigoted hostility toward innocent Muslims minding their own business. The blogosphere has had a field day with this. One suggested that they hire several white-looking Americans to wear George Bush T-shirts and mingle at a Cindy Sheehan rally and see how the crowd treated them. But don't count on it. That's not the kind of "profiling" that appeals to Dateline's producers. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] PA 7: Weldon Alleges Challenger Has Improper CIA Ties
http://www.cqpolitics.com/2006/04/pa_7_weldon_alleges_challenger.html The Clinton national security team are frantcally fighting allowing Able Danger veterans from testifying in a public hearing. They hope they can stall until the November elections and defeat of Weldon would remove a threat to expose their criminal handling of terrorists' 911 plan named "Bojinka" which most of them knew about a couple of years beore 911. JR PA 7: Weldon Alleges Challenger Has Improper CIA Ties By Shawn Zeller | 7:01 PM; Apr. 28, 2006 Veteran Rep. Curt Weldon has a proclivity for calling out shady government doings that have him in mind as a principal target. A year ago, for example, after the No. 2 Republican on the House Armed Services Committee published Countdown to Terror, a frontal assault on the CIAs track record before Sept. 11, he claimed that Clinton administration veterans with ties to the agency were out to get him. So its not surprising that as Weldon girds for the most difficult re-election bid during his two decades representing the Philadelphia suburbs, his campaign is alleging that the CIA is probably abetting the opposition. Last month, his campaign manager Michael Puppio Jr. announced that Weldons expected Democratic opponent, Joe Sestak, a former Navy vice admiral, had taken campaign contributions from Mary McCarthy, the CIA operative recently fired for allegedly leaking secret information to the media. McCarthy, who was specifically accused of being a source for The Washington Posts Pulitzer Prize-winning story on secret CIA prisons overseas, has denied that charge through her lawyer. The media also has raised suspicions in the Weldon camp. The reporter on the Post article, Dana Priest, wrote a piece last year about Weldons book that the congressman viewed as critical. Its just a question of following the money, says Puppio. Whats a CIA analyst doing giving money to a partisan political candidate? he asks. Im not sure she violated any laws, but then when that analyst is alleged to have leaked information to a reporter who in turn is extremely critical of Curt Weldon, that raises some big questions. So far Sestak is mounting one of the stronger challenges among the military veterans recruited by the Democrats this year. Clinton-era officials, including onetime National Security Advisor Sandy Berger and CIA Director John Deutch, have lent fundraising assistance to Sestak, who had worked with them when he did a tour on the National Security Council staff. The race is off to a nasty start. Last month, Weldon tried to make an issue of the medical treatment for the challengers 4-year-old daughter, Alexandra Sestak, who suffers from brain cancer. Her dad should have taken her to a Pennsylvania or Delaware hospital instead of one in Washington, Weldon said. Puppio says the comment was misinterpreted. Sestak spokeswoman Allison Price says her candidate just wants to get back to issues important to the voters. We have repeatedly urged Curt to address the issues of the campaign, she says. We dont get the conspiracy issues with him. We dont understand what goes on in Curts mind. This story is scheduled to appear in the May 1 issue of CQ Weekly. For more information about CQ Weekly, please visit CQ.com. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Clinton Nat'l Security Team Targets Curt Weldon
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/4/26/01529.shtml Wednesday, April 26, 2006 12:13 a.m. EDT Clinton Nat'l Security Team Targets Curt Weldon High-ranking members of Bill Clinton's national security team have joined together to defeat Pennsylvania Republican Curt Weldon's House re-election bid this November - in what looks like retaliation for Weldon's efforts in exposing the Clinton administration's Able Danger scandal. In June 2005, Weldon went public with news that Clinton administration lawyers prevented the Defense Intelligence Agency's Able Danger group from blowing the whistle on two al-Qaida terrorists who would later pilot the planes that destroyed the World Trade Center. Though the media downplayed Weldon's bombshell, a number of high ranking Clinton officials apparently haven't forgotten - and they're pouring money into the campaign of Weldon's opponent, Joe Sestak. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer: Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has given $500 to Sestak. Disgraced former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger has given Weldon's opponent $1,000. Disgraced ex-Clinton CIA director John Deutch gave $500. Former Clinton Navy secretary John Dalton ponied up $500 to defeat Weldon. Former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta - $300. Berger's predecessor as national security adviser, Anthony Lake - $500. Even Hillary Clinton has gotten into the act, contributing $2,500 to defeat Curt Weldon. 108-108-112 Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Fw: [Power Hour II] Great Set Of Immigration Laws
Guess what country has the laws. Subject: Great Set Of Immigration Laws Please read all the way to the bottom. 1. If you migrate to this county, you must speak the native language. 2. You have to be a professional or an investor. No unskilled workers allowed. 3. There will be no special bilingual programs in the schools, no special ballots for elections, all government business will be conducted in our language. 4. Foreigners will NOT have the right to vote no matter how long they are here. 5. Foreigners will NEVER be able to hold political office. 6. Foreigners will not be a burden to the taxpayers. No welfare, no food stamps, no health care, or other government assistance programs. 7. Foreigners can invest in this country, but it must be an amount equal to 40,000 times the daily minimum wage. 8. If foreigners do come and want to buy land that will be okay, BUT options will be restricted. You are not allowed waterfront property. That is reserved for citizens naturally born into this country. 9. Foreigners may not protest; no demonstrations, no waving a foreign flag, no political organizing, no bad-mouthing our president or his policies, if you do you will be sent home. 10. If you do come to this country illegally, you will be hunted down and sent straight to jail. Harsh, you say? The above laws happen to be the immigration laws of Mexico! Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Fw: [Power Hour II] There IS a problem with global warming?... it stopped in 1998
Sent: Tuesday, April 25, 2006 9:34 PM Subject: There IS a problem with global warming... it stopped in 1998 There IS a problem with global warming... it stopped in 1998By Bob Carter(Filed: 09/04/2006)For many years now, human-caused climate change has been viewed as a large and urgent problem. In truth, however, the biggest part of the problem is neither environmental nor scientific, but a self-created political fiasco. Consider the simple fact, drawn from the official temperature records of the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, that for the years 1998-2005 global average temperature did not increase (there was actually a slight decrease, though not at a rate that differs significantly from zero).Yes, you did read that right. And also, yes, this eight-year period of temperature stasis did coincide with society's continued power station and SUV-inspired pumping of yet more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.In response to these facts, a global warming devotee will chuckle and say "how silly to judge climate change over such a short period". Yet in the next breath, the same person will assure you that the 28-year-long period of warming which occurred between 1970 and 1998 constitutes a dangerous (and man-made) warming. Tosh. Our devotee will also pass by the curious additional facts that a period of similar warming occurred between 1918 and 1940, well prior to the greatest phase of world industrialisation, and that cooling occurred between 1940 and 1965, at precisely the time that human emissions were increasing at their greatest rate.Does something not strike you as odd here? That industrial carbon dioxide is not the primary cause of earth's recent decadal-scale temperature changes doesn't seem at all odd to many thousands of independent scientists. They have long appreciated - ever since the early 1990s, when the global warming bandwagon first started to roll behind the gravy train of the UN Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) - that such short-term climate fluctuations are chiefly of natural origin. Yet the public appears to be largely convinced otherwise. How is this possible?Since the early 1990s, the columns of many leading newspapers and magazines, worldwide, have carried an increasing stream of alarmist letters and articles on hypothetical, human-caused climate change. Each such alarmist article is larded with words such as "if", "might", "could", "probably", "perhaps", "expected", "projected" or "modelled" - and many involve such deep dreaming, or ignorance of scientific facts and principles, that they are akin to nonsense.The problem here is not that of climate change per se, but rather that of the sophisticated scientific brainwashing that has been inflicted on the public, bureaucrats and politicians alike. Governments generally choose not to receive policy advice on climate from independent scientists. Rather, they seek guidance from their own self-interested science bureaucracies and senior advisers, or from the IPCC itself. No matter how accurate it may be, cautious and politically non-correct science advice is not welcomed in Westminster, and nor is it widely reported.Marketed under the imprimatur of the IPCC, the bladder-trembling and now infamous hockey-stick diagram that shows accelerating warming during the 20th century - a statistical construct by scientist Michael Mann and co-workers from mostly tree ring records - has been a seminal image of the climate scaremongering campaign. Thanks to the work of a Canadian statistician, Stephen McIntyre, and others, this graph is now known to be deeply flawed.There are other reasons, too, why the public hears so little in detail from those scientists who approach climate change issues rationally, the so-called climate sceptics. Most are to do with intimidation against speaking out, which operates intensely on several parallel fronts.First, most government scientists are gagged from making public comment on contentious issues, their employing organisations instead making use of public relations experts to craft carefully tailored, frisbee-science press releases. Second, scientists are under intense pressure to conform with the prevailing paradigm of climate alarmism if they wish to receive funding for their research. Third, members of the Establishment have spoken declamatory words on the issue, and the kingdom's subjects are expected to listen.On the alarmist campaign trail, the UK's Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir David King, is thus reported as saying that global warming is so bad that Antarctica is likely to be the world's only habitable continent by the end of this century. Warming devotee and former Chairman of Shell, Lord [Ron] Oxburgh, reportedly agrees with another rash statement of King's, that climate change is a bigger threat than terrorism. And goodly Archbishop Rowan Williams, who self-evidently understands little about the
[cia-drugs] The Post and the Phony AIDS Crisis
http://www.aim.org/media_monitor_print/4510_0_2_0/ The Post and the Phony AIDS Crisis By Cliff Kincaid | April 25, 2006 What the Post didn't acknowledge is the role it played in this fiasco. It came almost two years after the Boston Globe exposed it, but the Washington Post on April 6 acknowledged that the number of HIV/AIDS cases in Africa has been grossly exaggerated by the United Nations in order to generate money through the world body to spend on the disease. In an April 10 editorial, the Post admitted, "The United Nations' credibility on AIDS will now suffer." So should the credibility of the media for taking the world organization seriously. The Post editorial declared, "It's been clear for a while that UNAIDS, the agency responsible for these statistics, was reluctant to contemplate good strategies for fighting AIDS lest these undermine global support for expanded funding." The Post found the U.N. guilty of publishing "dubious AIDS data." The FAIR Foundation, which stands for Fair Allocations in Research, had known about and exposed the dubious data. On its website, it highlighted how the UN AIDS office, the World Health Organization (WHO), the National Institutes of Health, and AIDS activists "continually speak of AIDS decimating the world and use that argument to argue for more research funding." It had posted the John Donnelly Boston Globe article of June 20, 2004, explaining how the figures had been exaggerated. "Recent studies in Kenya have confirmed millions of Africans previously thought to have AIDS are disease free," noted the FAIR Foundation. In Kenya, as the BCC reported on January 9, 2004, estimates had put the figure at 15 percent, when a subsequent survey found only 6.7 percent infected. That's January 9, 2004more than two years before the Post published its correction of the record. What the Post didn't acknowledge is the role it played in this fiasco. But writing in Human Events, Tom Bethell commented, "Back in 2000, the Washington Post was one of the main sources of hype about AIDS in Africa." He explains: "The wildly exaggerated claims promoted by the mainstream media created an atmosphere of crisis. Guided by U.N. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and Secretary of State Albright, the Clinton Administration took the issue of impending population collapse to the U.N. Security Council. African countries weren't going to be able to field armies or defend themselves because so many young men would soon be on their death beds." Bethell says his new book, the Politically Incorrect Guide to Science, deals with this manufactured "crisis" over AIDS. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Dana Priest Needs A Priest
http://www.aim.org/aim_column_print/4517_0_3_0/ Move over Dan Rather. Make room for Dana Priest in journalism's hall of shame. jr Dana Priest Needs A Priest By Cliff Kincaid | April 25, 2006 So the best defense of the Priest story is that, despite the evidence to the contrary, it may someday turn out to be true. Is this enough to justify a Pulitzer? Dana Priest of the Washington Post won her Pulitzer Prize, but then the roof fell in on her. With the allegation that a key source for her "secret prisons" story was a partisan anti-Bush political operative in the agency, Mary O. McCarthy, the Sweetness Light website has led the way in highlighting information about Priest's husband, left-wing activist William Goodfellow. He is the executive director of the Center for International Policy (CIP), which is dedicated to advancing a "liberal internationalist agenda." The CIP boasts that Goodfellow "took up the fight" against President Bush's nomination of John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations. The group's' summer 2005 newsletter urges freedom of travel to communist Cuba, a "pragmatic approach" to communist North Korea, and the defeat of a plan to assist the government of Colombia in its war with Marxist terrorists. Goodfellow, of course, is not the issue. Whether she agrees with her husband or not, the main point is that there's no reason to believe the essence of Priest's "secret prisons" story was true. And that's why her prize ought to be returned.The Post is desperate to avoid discussing this. Howard Kurtz, media reporter for the Post, declared during an on-line discussion of the controversy on April 24 that " the thing that some critics [of Priest] are missing is that the story was true." He's taking the party line. This has to remain the party line because if the story is not true, there's absolutely no justification for Priest retaining the Pulitzer. The Post fears that it may have to give back the award, in the same way it returned the Pulitzer awarded to reporter Janet Cooke for a story about a child heroin addict who turned out not to exist. Kurtz, being someone who is supposed to cover his own paper objectively, ignores the evidence and should know better. His cover-up suggests a major crisis is enveloping the paper, on the eve of the Post's May 11 annual shareholders meeting. The evidence is that Dick Marty, on behalf of the Council of Europe, after a major investigation, declared that "At this stage of the investigations, there is no formal, irrefutable evidence of the existence of secret CIA detention centers" in Europe. Gijs de Vries, the counterterrorism chief of the European Union, has said that he had not been able to prove that secret CIA prisons existed in Europe. "We've heard all kinds of allegations," he said. "It does not appear to be proven beyond reasonable doubt." I could find no reference to the Vries findings in the Post.So the best defense of the Priest story is that, despite the evidence to the contrary, it may someday turn out to be true. Is this enough to justify a Pulitzer? If so, the standards of journalism have declined dramatically.In light of the McCarthy firing, however, the common sense question becomes: how could such a story, reportedly provided by a CIA source with access to classified information, be false? The answer is that the story was embellished, either by Priest or her "sources." McCarthy, even if she was a source, had no control over the final product. The bold but misleading headline over the Priest article was "CIA Holds Terror Suspects in Secret Prisons," but the names of particular countries allegedly assisting the U.S. were withheld because of official concern over the damage that could be done to U.S. foreign policy. However, some countries were subsequently named by certain U.S. liberal "human rights" groupsthe kinds of groups on the same side of the political spectrum as William Goodfellow's Center for International Policy.Using various sensational rhetorical formulations, Priest's tabloid treatment of the controversy included calling it a "covert prison system," a "hidden global internment network," and a "secret detention system." Later in the article, she did use the phrase, "secret prisons," to refer to where terrorists may have been held. She also referred to the CIA using "a Soviet-era compound in Eastern Europe," a clear attempt to imply that the U.S. had established a system of gulags.The sensationalist nature of the piece may help explain why McCarthy is denying through intermediaries that she was the source of the story. Perhaps she does not want to be associated with a flawed product. Being the alleged source of the story would not only expose her to criminal prosecution over illegally disclosing classified information, it would make it look as if she was dispensing disinformation, since the "secret prisons" have not been proven to exist. McCarthy made the
[cia-drugs] WACHOVIA CAPS PAY
It's about time the stockholders remind their hired hands who owhs the company. JR http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/print.php?url=""> WACHOVIA CAPS PAY Bloomberg April 19, 2006 -- Wachovia shareholders voted yesterday to cap future severance payments for top executives of the No. 4 U.S. bank, ignoring management's protests. The measure, proposed by the Trowel Trades SP 500 Index Fund of Detroit, will limit benefits paid to departing executives at 2.99 times their base salary plus bonus. Cutting severance packages could help in "insulating the board of directors from manipulation" when senior execs are fired, Trowel Trades wrote in the submission for its proposal before Wachovia's general meeting in Charlotte, N.C. NEW YORK POST is a registered trademark of NYP Holdings, Inc. NYPOST.COM, NYPOSTONLINE.COM, and NEWYORKPOST.COMare trademarks of NYP Holdings, Inc. Copyright 2006 NYP Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Lie down with strippers, wake up with pleas
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/printer-friendly.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49818 Wednesday, April 19, 2006 Lie down with strippers, wake up with pleas Posted: April 19, 20066:30 p.m. Eastern By Ann Coulter ©2006Ann Coulter However the Duke lacrosse rape case turns out, one lesson that absolutely will not be learned is this: You can severely reduce your chances of having a false accusation of rape leveled against you if you don't hire strange women to come to your house and take their clothes off for money. Also, you can severely reduce your chances of being raped if you do not go to strange men's houses and take your clothes off for money. (Does anyone else detect a common thread here?) And if you are a girl in Aruba or New York City, among the best ways to avoid being the victim of a horrible crime is to not get drunk in public or go off in a car with men you just met. While we're on the subject of things every 5-year-old should know, I also recommend against dousing yourself in gasoline and striking a match. Everyone makes mistakes, especially young people, but the outpouring of support for the victims and their families is obscuring what ought to be a flashing neon warning for potential future victims. Whenever a gun is used in a crime, there are never-ending news stories about how dangerous guns are. But these girls go out alone, late at night, drunk off their butts, and there's nary a peep about the dangers of drunk women on their own in public. It's their "right." Yes, of course no one "deserves" to die for a mistake. Or to be raped or falsely accused of rape for a mistake. I have always been unabashedly anti-murder, anti-rape and anti-false accusation and I don't care who knows about it! But these statements would roll off the tongue more easily in a world that so much as tacitly acknowledged that all these messy turns of fate followed behavior that your mother could have told you was tacky. Not very long ago, all the precursor behavior in these cases would have been recognized as vulgar whether or not anyone ended up dead, raped or falsely accused of rape. But in a nation of people in constant terror of being perceived as "judgmental," I'm not sure most people do recognize that anymore. It shouldn't be necessary to point out that girls shouldn't be bar-hopping alone or taking their clothes off in front of strangers, and that young men shouldn't be hiring strippers. But we live in a world of Bill Clinton, Paris Hilton, Howard Stern, Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman," Democratic fund-raisers at the Playboy Mansion and tax deductions for entertaining clients at strip clubs. This is an age in which the _expression_ "girls gone wild" is becoming a redundancy. So even as the bodies pile up, I don't think the message about integrity is getting through. The liberal charge of "hypocrisy" has so permeated the public consciousness that no one is willing to condemn any behavior anymore, no matter how seedy. The unstated rule is: If you've done it, you can't ever criticize it a standard that would seem to repudiate the good works of the Rev. Franklin Graham, Malcolm X, Whittaker Chambers and St. Paul, among others. Every woman who has had an abortion feels compelled to defend abortion for all women; every man who's ever been at a party with strippers thinks he has to defend all men who watch strippers; and every Democrat who voted for Bill Clinton feels the need to defend duplicity, adultery, lying about adultery, sexual harassment, rape, perjury, obstruction of justice, kicking the can of global Islamo-fascism down the road for eight years and so on. This is crazy. (I can say that because I've never been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder. Although I did test positive for "Olympic fever" once.) In no area except morality would a sane person believe he can't criticize something stupid because he's done it. How about: If you've ever forgotten to fill up your car and run out of gas, you must forevermore defend a person's right to ignore the gas gauge. Or if you've ever forgotten to wear a coat in cold weather and caught a cold, henceforth you are obliged to encourage others not to dress appropriately in the winter. This deep-seated societal fear of being accused of "hypocrisy" applies only to behavior touching on morals. But we're all rotten sinners, incapable of redemption on our own. The liberal answer to sin is to say: I can never
[cia-drugs] Reform's Knockout Act, Kept Out of the Ring
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/17/AR2006041701561_pf.html Did they realy mean to use it or was it just for show? jr Reform's Knockout Act, Kept Out of the Ring By Cindy SkrzyckiTuesday, April 18, 2006; D01 In the regulatory "reform" fervor that accompanied Republicans taking over Congress, the Congressional Review Act was supposed to be the ultimate weapon for curbing big government, the knockout punch for eliminating bad rules. But a recent review of the first 10 years of the law shows it often sits in a corner unused -- and even when unleashed, it misses more regulations than it hits. The worry was that Congress delegated too much power to federal agencies to write rules to go along with the laws it passed. The CRA was designed to be a powerful oversight tool to get rid of rules that turned out substantially different than lawmakers anticipated. The procedure allows nullification of a rule if both houses of Congress and the president disapprove of an agency action. A final rule's effective date is delayed for 60 days while Congress makes up its mind. But it has been used successfully only once, to kill a controversial ergonomics rule issued by the Clinton administration Labor Department to deal with repetitive-motion injuries. Since the law passed in 1996, 37 joint resolutions of disapproval relating to 28 rules have been introduced, according to the Government Accountability Office . Only the ergonomic rule was voted on by both houses. For example, the Senate disapproved a Federal Communications Commission rule concerning broadcast media ownership, but the House did not act on it. The Senate also went after a 2005 mad cow disease rule, but the House did not follow suit. "The expectation was that Congress, through the CRA, would again become a major player influencing agency decision-making," said Morton Rosenberg , a specialist in American public law at the Congressional Research Service . The main sponsor, former representative David M. McIntosh (R-Ind.), a champion of deregulation, envisioned the law as wresting back power from the agencies and the executive branch, which had become increasingly involved in regulatory policy and review. Former senator Don Nickles (R-Okla.) took charge of the legislation in the Senate. The CRA has likely been kept out of the ring because the GOP gained control of the executive branch as well, starting in 2001, and because of the increased role the Office of Management and Budget has taken in reviewing rules under regulations czar John Graham . The House Judiciary subcommittee on commercial and administrative law recently took a look at the history of the law, examining its usefulness -- or lack thereof -- and whether it needs to be changed to be more effective. Rep. Chris Cannon (R-Utah), chairman of the subcommittee, said he saw the advantages and limitation of the law. "It was a good idea but very hard to execute. We haven't set up the proper procedures to make it work," he said in an interview. Instead of eliminating rules, the law has generated a mountain of paperwork. Some 41,218 non-major rules and 610 major rules have been reported to Congress in the past decade. This means that copies of those rules had to be submitted to both houses of Congress and the GAO. John V. Sullivan , the House parliamentarian, told the subcommittee that the flow of paper has tripled the "executive communications" with Congress. There are other ways to deal with unpopular rules. Members of Congress opposed to a regulatory initiative can seek to get its funding cut. Because there is no mechanism screening which rules go to Congress for review, the result is a deluge of rules tough for congressional staffers to digest and review. There is talk of creating a joint committee to recommend rules for disapproval or an office of independent regulatory analysis. Peter Strauss , a law professor at Columbia University Law School , said he is not convinced the benefits outweigh the paper-pushing costs. He particularly dislikes the aspect of the law that prevents an agency from adopting a similar rule after Congress disapproves the original rule. "What if a Labor secretary wants a rule now? What kind of risks will you run in doing that, and how will a court interpret that?" asked Strauss, referring to the ergonomic issue. Gary Bass , executive director of OMB Watch , a public-interest group that monitors federal regulation, says there is simply no need for the review law. "If Congress was doing oversight effectively, you wouldn't need a CRA," Bass said. The congressional staffers who worked on the legislation got together recently for a CRA lunch and reunion. Some of them conceded that Congress has lacked the will to use the mechanism. "I expected it to be used more forcefully, and so did the sponsors," said Todd F. Gaziano , one of the principal drafters of the legislation and now a senior fellow
[cia-drugs] Ethics Lapses by Federal Judges Persist, Review Finds
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/17/AR2006041701296_pf.html The findings show that new laws are needed to prevent abuse, said Douglas T. Kendall, executive director of Community Rights Counsel, (hOW ABOUT ENFORCING THE LAWS ON THE BOOKS NOW?) iMPEACH THE VIOLATORS.JR Ethics Lapses by Federal Judges Persist, Review FindsViolations Involve Stock Holdings And Free Trips By Joe StephensWashington Post Staff WriterTuesday, April 18, 2006; A17 A number of federal judges have violated ethics rules in recent years by presiding over lawsuits while having a financial conflict. Others have failed to disclose that they traveled to resorts on expense-paid trips. Interviews and documents reviewed by The Washington Post identified about a dozen such ethical lapses in recent years. One category of problems involves stock holdings. In 2003, records show, federal appeals court judges issued rulings in at least seven lawsuits while they or their spouses owned stock in a company involved in the case or had other financial ties to a party in the disputes. The problem stock holdings ranged in value from a few thousand dollars to as much as $50,000. Federal law requires that judges remove themselves from any case in which they know they have any financial interest. A second set of ethical lapses involves seminars held at resorts by a Montana-based group, the Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment (FREE). On at least six occasions from 2002 to 2004, federal judges accepted air travel, food and lodging from the libertarian foundation but did not list the gifts on their annual disclosure reports, as required by law, documents and interviews show. The seminars dealt with economics and the environment, but also offered the judges time for fishing, hiking and horseback riding. The review found that some judges were repeat offenders: Previous investigations by The Post identified nearly identical ethical lapses involving two of the judges. It is impossible to determine just how frequently judges violate ethics laws because public records are limited. A 1998 law allows judges to black out some or all information on disclosure reports before releasing them to the public. Also, many organizations keep confidential the names of judges who accept expense-paid trips, frustrating attempts to verify disclosure reports. Ethics experts expressed surprise that such transgressions persist because court authorities reacted to earlier revelations of ethical violations with promises of reform. "It seems to be a very blatant violation of the code of judicial ethics," said Jeffrey M. Shaman, a judicial ethicist at DePaul University. Stephen Gillers, a specialist in legal ethics at New York University, said the study "goes to the heart of what a judge is understood to be." "Congress says you cannot sit [on a case] if you or your spouse owns even one share" of stock, Gillers said. "It's the law, and judges have to obey it." The findings show that new laws are needed to prevent abuse, said Douglas T. Kendall, executive director of Community Rights Counsel, a nonprofit Washington law firm that supplied The Post with documents outlining the problems. "These problems are getting worse, not better, and it's because the judiciary hasn't taken some simple steps to make them go away," Kendall said. Thomas F. Hogan, chief judge for the District of Columbia and chairman of the executive committee of the U.S. Judicial Conference, which oversees ethics issues, said in a statement that the lapses, while regrettable, are the exception, not the rule. "The judiciary will continue its already widespread efforts to educate judges on their financial disclosure requirements and will develop additional tools to assist judges in identifying potential conflicts," Hogan said. Earlier this year, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, introduced legislation to ban privately financed trips for federal judges and make it easier for the public to identify stock conflicts. A Leahy spokeswoman said the senator raised the issue last month with the Judicial Conference. In a statement, Leahy said, "Our judges must be beyond reproach -- in appearance and otherwise."Stock Conflicts The stock conflicts found involved federal appeals judges; the study did not look at conflicts involving the much larger pool of trial-level judges. Some of the judges said they missed conflicts involving subsidiaries of companies in their portfolios. Others said they were confused by cases with multiple players or unaware of a spouse's assets. Federal law directs judges to know their financial interests so they can quickly resolve conflicts. Judge Bruce Selya of the 1st Circuit in Rhode Island held up to $15,000 in stock in the Federal National Mortgage Association in 2003 while participating in a lawsuit against the company. Selya sold the stock
[cia-drugs] Skyscraper Safety Campaign calls on Pres. Bush to intervene at Ground Zero
Title: Skyscraper Safety Campaign calls on Pres. Bush to intervene at Ground Zero - Original Message - From: monicagabrielle To: Monica Gabrielle Cc: Sally Regenhard ; Rosaleen Tallon Sent: Friday, April 14, 2006 12:34 PM Subject: Skyscraper Safety Campaign calls on Pres. Bush to intervene at Ground Zero For Immediate Release: April 14, 2006Contact: Sally Regenhard 646-266-1987Jim McCaffrey 914-776-5737Rosaleen Tallon 914-714-5515Monica Gabrielle 917-923-0556 The Skyscraper Safety Campaign Responds to the 300 human remains found at Ground ZeroCondemns the LMDC for gross mishandling of remainsCalls on President George W. Bush to intervene The Skyscraper Safety Campaign, joined by other 9/11 family groups, was shocked and horrified to learn, not from the LMDC, but from sympathetic members of the NY media on Thursday evening, that after nearly five years, 300 human remains have been found at Ground Zero! As a result of the startling find of 74 human remains at the Deutsche bank building on April 1, and the delayed announcement by the LMDC, several family group leaders were deeply concerned. Rather than utilizing well meaning construction workers to look for remains, we insisted upon a professional approach consisting of forensic anthropologists, and full time teams from the office of the Medical Examiner to conduct the searches. We issued a press release calling for a complete investigation of not only the Deutsche bank, but all of the surrounding buildings which surely still contain remains. As usual, the LMDC ignored our initial pleas and requests, contacted only selected family members, misrepresented the statements of some group leaders, ignored the public demands of other family members. The LMDC in all this time, has still not provided the type of staffing OCME involvment we requested, has not issued the type of comprehensive policies, procedures, and written protocol that we insisted upon, and had issued no information to the families regarding the 300 remains until nearly two hours after the AP broke this horrendous story on April 13th..Therefore, the SSC and accompanying groups call for the LMDC to relinquish control of Ground Zero. We also call upon the federal government to immediately intervene at Ground Zero. The LMDC has not adequately consulted with family members, and maintains a hostile environment towards the interests and rights of the families. It is time for the federal government to step in, and we will call on President George W. Bush to assist the families of the victims regarding the human remains of their loved ones .We will initially call on President Bush to assist us by assigning The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command's Central Identification Laboratory ( JPAC) to help the families of the victims of 9/11 find and identify their loved ones. JPAC contains the largest forensic anthropology laboratory in the world and we hope that they may aid in identifying over 9.000 remains in the Medical Examiner's office plus the potential thousands of additional remains yet to be found in the buildings surrounding Ground Zero.A description of the protocol of the JPAC Central Identification Laboratory from the www.jpac.pacom.mil http://www.jpac.pacom.mil web site states: "...At a recovery site, the anthropologist directs the excavation much like a detective oversees a crime scene. Each mission is unique, but there are certain things that each recovery has in common. The first step is for the anthropologist to define the site or determine the site perimeter. Once that has been defined, a grid system is established. Careful excavation occurs using that grid system. Every inch of soil that comes out of the site is screened for any potential remains, any life support equipment or personal effects. Initial analysis occurs at the site, and the material is then brought back to the lab for further examination..." This is hardly the approach that the LMDC has taken over the past five years - and it is now time for professionalism at GZ.It has been said that our First Responders and loved ones were the first soldiers in the war on terror. Now it is time for the federal government to come to the aid of our valiant lost loved ones. # # # Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] The Corrupt U.N. Press Corps
http://www.aim.org/media_monitor_print/4485_0_2_0/ The Corrupt U.N. Press Corps By Cliff Kincaid | April 12, 2006 None of this should be a great surprise to readers of AIM. We noted the other day that John Gizzi of Human Events had criticized David Gregory of NBC News as a classless guy with bad manners. Gregory's obnoxious behavior was a national scandal, and he eventually apologized for acting up at a White House briefing and calling spokesman Scott McClellan a "jerk." But it took guts for Gizzi, who attends those briefings and has a White House press pass, to attack Gregory publicly. Another form of courage was recently demonstrated by Eric Shawn, the Fox News reporter covering the U.N., who blew the whistle on the U.N. Correspondents Association (UNCA) considering giving a global citizen award to the man they cover-U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. In the end, Bill Gates won, and another candidate was Bill Clinton. But Shawn made the point that the simple idea of UNCA giving Annan consideration for such an award was a blatant conflict of interest. Masood Haider, UNCA president, told Fox that Annan's name had been offered up by members of UNCA, and that the process of selecting an award winner was dictated by UNCA members. In effect, he was washing his hands of the sorry spectacle. Shawn said that he and his producer, both UNCA members, were abstaining during the vote. None of this should be a great surprise to readers of AIM. We published a major investigative report into the cozy relationship between UNCA and the U.N. A former UNCA president has been on the U.N. payroll. The surprise in this case is that an UNCA member, Eric Shawn of Fox, would do a full-blown story about the organization's ethical problems. Fox News does do stories ignored by the rest of the media, but this kind of story-examining the questionable operations of a major press group-is definitely unique. It took guts. Shawn also featured some video clips of Annan attacking U.N. reporters who had dared to ask some tough questions. They were James Bone of the Times of London and Benny Avni of the New York Sun. You can read about Bone's exchange with Annan at Opinionjournal.com. Annan called Bone an "overgrown schoolboy" for asking some embarrassing questions about how Annan's son Kojo had obtained an expensive Mercedes car and how he avoided paying taxes on it. The son used his father's name to get a diplomatic discount. Annan ridiculed Avni, who also asked questions about this matter, saying his answers wouldn't make any difference. Annan implied that the Sun was determined to make him look bad no matter what. Claudia Rosett, who covers U.N. corruption issues, took a detailed look at this whole matter in a story headlined "The Mercedes Monologues." It seems that no one can locate the Mercedes. Annan does look bad. But that didn't stop most members of UNCA from considering giving him its citizen of the world award. Thanks to Eric Shawn of Fox News for exposing this scandal. Wait until the rest of the U.N. press corps reads his forthcoming book. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] McCain Backs Immigration Opponent in Ohio (straddles thed fence)
McCain, the chameleon. http://news.findlaw.com Tuesday, April 11, 2006 McCain Backs Immigration Opponent in Ohio By DAN SEWELL Associated Press Writer (AP) - CINCINNATI-Republican Sen. John McCain campaigned on Tuesday for a conservative congressman who publicly disagreed with the potential 2008 presidential candidate on how to deal with illegal immigration. Six-term Rep. Steve Chabot made it clear that while he welcomed McCain's appearance at a breakfast fundraiser, the two are on opposite sides on how to deal with the nation's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants. "This happens to be an area where the senator and I don't agree," Chabot said after McCain attended the fundraiser for the Ohio congressman's re-election campaign. Chabot said they do agree on some issues. Last year, Chabot voted for a House bill that would make all illegal immigrants felons and make offering them non-emergency aid or assistance a federal crime. The bill also calls for building a fence along 700 miles of the border with Mexico. McCain favors legislation that seeks better border security, regulations on the future entry of foreign workers and allows most of the nation's illegal immigrants to eventually qualify for citizenship through a series of steps, including paying any back taxes and passing criminal background checks. "I support the House bill," Chabot said. "I think it's a mistake for us to even consider anything like a temporary worker program, or some people call it amnesty, until we have border control." The public disagreement between Chabot and McCain reflect the deep divisions within the Republican Party over immigration. It also highlighted the political reality that McCain, in weighing another White House bid, is reaching out to all factions of the GOP. The Arizona senator is spending the first week of the congressional recess campaigning for House and gubernatorial candidates in New Hampshire, Arkansas, Ohio, Minnesota and Iowa. A day after massive demonstrations around the country for immigration rights, McCain said he was hopeful about the prospects for the Senate bill that he favors, arguing that the show of force underscores the need for urgent action. "I am confident that over time we will prevail with a comprehensive approach to this issue," McCain told reporters. The bill stalled in the Senate last week. McCain told some 300 people at the fundraiser that immigration is a critical political issue, especially for Hispanic voters. In recent presidential elections, Republicans have made gains among Hispanic voters. "So we better treat this issue with care, we better treat it with sensitivity, better treat it with humanity," McCain said. Later in the day, McCain planned to travel to Cleveland to join Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, a gubernatorial candidate in a GOP primary fight with Attorney General Jim Petro. "It bolsters him with conservatives by being with Blackwell," Robert Rousseau, the Republican chairman in Lorain County, said of McCain. --- Associated Press Writer Thomas J. Sheeran in Cleveland contributed to this report.2006-04-12T00:00:13Z Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Fw: Cherokee Wisdom
- Original Message - From: Dorothy Fitzpatrick Cherokee Wisdom What a great story to pass on toour kids and a lesson to be learned by us all. Two WolvesOne evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about abattle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two"wolves" inside us all.One is Evil! . It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret,greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, falsepride, superiority, and ego.The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility,kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather:"Which wolf wins?"The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed." Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Total Chief Says World 'Cannot Meet Oil Demand'
http://www.btinternet.com/~nlpwessex/Documents/TotalOpec.htm Total Chief Says World 'Cannot Meet Oil Demand'OPEC Minister Says 'Fundamentally There Is Nothing We Can Do'www.btinternet.com/~nlpwessex/Documents/TotalOpec.htm 8 April 2006 UAE Oil MinisterMohammed bin Dhaen al-Hamli Not Possible ToDenyThe Situation Anymore "The world lacks the means to produce enough oil to meet rising projections of demand for fuel over the next decade, according to Christophe de Margerie, head of exploration for Total and heir presumptive to the leadership of the French energy multinational. The world is mistakenly focusing on oil reserves when the problem is capacity to produce oil, M de Margerie said in an interview with The Times."World 'cannot meet oil demand'London Times, 8 April 2006 "Gold hit $600 for the first time in 25 years on futures markets as the commodities boom continued, and a top Opec official admitted there was nothing the oil cartel could do about soaring crude oil prices."Oil worries fuelling gold's 25-year highDaily Telegraph, 7 April 2006 "Opec is powerless to bring down oil prices that are closing in on their record $70 a barrel high, United Arab Emirates oil minister Mohammed bin Dhaen al-Hamli said on Thursday. 'Fundamentally there is nothing we can do,' Hamli told reporters when asked how Opec might tame oil costs that are at their highest for a quarter of a century in real terms Opec, which accounts for over half the worlds oil exports, has been pumping almost flat out for months Hamli, in Paris for a major oil conference on Friday, expressed some concern at last weeks steep drop in US gasoline stocks. The United States, consumer of more than 40% of the worlds gasoline, is starting to gear up for the summer driving season when motor fuel demand peaks. 'The United States is a big and important market. When there is a drawdown we are a little bit concerned,' he said. OPEC still has some spare production capacity, primarily in Saudi Arabia, but Hamli noted this oil was the sort of heavy, high sulphur crude that refiners find difficult to process."Opec toothless to tame high oil prices : UAE Reuters, 7 April 2006 The Excuses? "High oil prices have helped to spur investment needed to calm world markets, but soaring project development costs could stifle production activity, Opec ministers warned on Friday. 'Cost is a problem,' said Qatari energy minister Abdullah al-Attiyah. 'Costs can sometimes kill the project. I am concerned about that. You see the contractors trying to increase the cost very dramatically. Costs may triple from estimate costs,' Attiyah told a conference in Paris. While US crude is trading at around $67, within sight of the record of $70.85 a barrel hit in August last year, other raw materials, including metals have also soared, driving up the price of projects in the oil industry."High costs threaten oil projects: Opec ministersFinancial Express, 7 April 2006 The Reality? "The world was told that the Russians would save us. The Soviet Union and its pathetic 14 million barrels a day was dead. When they upgraded their extraction techniques, oil was going to be around $10 a barrel, we would be swimming in it. In 2004, Russian production grew by 675,000 barrels a day, in 2005 by 222,000 barrels a day and this year the Russian government told us it was going to put on another 240,000 barrels a day. So far they have put on 170,000 barrels a day. It is about 9.4 million barrels a day and it is not enough."Peak Oil Passnotes: Oil Prepares to Push OnResource Investor, 7 April 2006 "My view is that 'easy' oil has probably passed its peak."Jeroen van der Veer, CEO ofRoyal Dutch ShellFinancial Times, 24 January 2006 "We have entered the post-oil era. I want to draw all the consequences of this and give a real impulse to energy savings and to the use of renewable energies."Dominque de Villepin, French Prime MinisterFrance promises aid to households over oil priceReuters, 1 September 2005 "As old wells become depleted their pressure drops So although there may be plenty of oil left in a reserve, its later production can only be extracted more slowly. For example, the biggest field in Saudi Arabia already has to be pumped with large quantities of seawater to maintain pressure and daily production levels What forecasters want to know is when global daily production capacity will peak and at what level. At the point that oil (and later gas) demand exceeds the daily capacity to pump, major adverse dynamics will come into play such as large increases in prices and supply tensions, which will have a major impact on all economies. The most pessimistic scenarios from credible analysts put the advent of global peak oil as early as 2008, with a maximum daily production level of not much
[cia-drugs] Joint Task Forces Created In 10 Cities to Combat Document and Benefit Fraud
http://www.ice.gov/graphics/index.htm Press Releases Joint Task Forces Created In 10 Cities to Combat Document and Benefit Fraud For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary Contact: ICE Public Affairs, 202-514-2648 April 5, 2006 Officials from the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, Department of Labor, Department of State and other agencies today announced the creation of task forces in 10 major U.S. cities to combat the growing problems of document fraud and immigration benefits fraud. The new Document and Benefit Fraud Task Forces will be located in Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Detroit, MI; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; Newark, NJ; Philadelphia, PA; and St. Paul, MN. The ten new task forces build upon the success of an existing document and benefit fraud task force in the Washington, D.C. / northern Virginia area. Led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the task forces build on existing partnerships to bring investigators together from a variety of agencies with expertise in different aspects of document and benefit fraud. These agents will partner with U.S. Attorneys Offices to formulate a comprehensive approach in targeting criminal organizations behind these schemes as well as the ineligible beneficiaries of such fraud. Any case where a sufficient nexus to terrorism is discovered will be referred to the Joint Terrorism Task Forces. Participants in the task forces include ICE, the Department of Justice, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, State Department Office of Inspector General, State Department Bureau of Diplomatic Security, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Secret Service and numerous state and local law enforcement agencies. The task forces will primarily target two types of crimes: Document fraud This crime refers to the manufacture, sale, or use of counterfeit identity documents such as fake drivers licenses, birth certificates, social security cards, or passports for immigration fraud or other criminal activity. Document fraud also involves efforts to obtain genuine identity documents through fraudulent means. These activities have helped illegal aliens, criminals and even terrorists evade detection and embed themselves in our society. Document fraud often supports the crime of benefit fraud. The threat posed by document fraud is exemplified by the fact that at least seven of the 9/11 hijackers obtained genuine Virginia identity documents by submitting fraudulent Virginia residency certificates. Using these ID cards, the hijackers were able to clear airport security and board aircraft for the attacks. Benefit fraud This crime refers to the misrepresentation or omission of material fact on an application to obtain an immigration benefit one is not entitled to such as U.S. citizenship, political asylum, or a valid visa. Because these benefits give one the ability to freely enter, work, or reside in this country, they are prized by illegal aliens, criminals, and terrorists who may be willing to pay substantial fees for them. As a result, the criminal organizations that help individuals fraudulently obtain immigration benefits reap enormous profits. Among those who have benefited from this type of fraud is Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing who engaged in asylum fraud to enter this country. Every year, tens of thousands of applications for immigration benefits are denied because of fraud. One recent audit estimated that as many as 33 percent of applications for one particular category of visa were fraudulent. One of lessons from 9/11 is that false identities and fraudulent documents present serious risks to national security, said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. President Bush has directed the creation of these task forces to play a vital role in the fight against terrorists, human traffickers, and immigration violators. We must deny criminals the identification tools they need to threaten our country, cross our borders illegally and violate our immigration laws without detection. ICE Assistant Secretary Myers stated, These new task forces are badly needed to help combat the significant threats posed by document and benefit fraud schemes. By harnessing the expertise of numerous agencies in coordinated task forces across the country, we believe we can reverse the alarming growth and sophistication of these crimes. Deputy Attorney General McNulty said, Document fraud is a serious problem and is the common element of many different crimes. The Task Forces announced today will help restore the integrity of our immigration system and will help close the loopholes that terrorists and other criminals exploit to enter and
[cia-drugs] Fw: BASEBALL JOKE
- Original Message - From: Dorothy Fitzpatrick Subject: Fw: BASEBALL JOKE - Original Message - From: Jeanie Daine [EMAIL PROTECTED] Bill and Hillary are at a Yankees home game sitting in the first row. With the Secret Service people directly behind them. One of the Secret Service guys leans forward and whispers something to Bill. At first, Clinton stares at the guy, looks at Hillary, looks back at the agent, and shakes his head no. The agent then says, Mr. President, it was a unanimous request of the entire team, from the owner of the team down to the bat boy. Bill hesitates ~ but begins to change his mind when the agent tells him The fans would love it! Bill shrugs his shoulders and says, Oooh - KAY!! If that is what the people want. C'mere Hilly baby. With that, Bill gets up, grabs Hillary by her collar and the seat of her pants, lifts her up, and tosses her right over the wall onto the field. She gets up kicking, swearing, screaming, Bill you !^$#@!. The crowd goes absolutely wild. Fans are jumping up down, cheering, hooting and hollering, and high-fiving. Bill is bowing, smiling and waving to the crowd. He leans over to the agent and says, How about that! I would have never believed how much everyone would enjoy that! Noticing the agent has gone totally pale, he asks What is wrong? The agent replies, Sir, I SAID they want you to throw out the first pitch! _ Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cia-drugs/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[cia-drugs] Something You Won't See on CNN
http://www.aim.org/media_monitor_print/4463_0_2_0/ This is one way the "elite" influence Congress and other politicians without "lobbying". JR Something You Won't See on CNN By Cliff Kincaid | April 7, 2006 Do you think Senator John McCain will try to inhibit Aspen influence operations as part of his lobbying reform initiative? Not likely. An AP story carried on the CBS news website noted that Dick Clark, "a former senator from Iowa who established the Aspen Institute program for Congress," had testified against "a total ban on privately funded travel" for members of Congress. The story failed to note that the Aspen Institute is the number one sponsor of privately funded travel for members of Congress, having spent $3.4 million on Congress from 2000-2005. Aspen is one vehicle whereby left-wing billionaires like George Soros work to influence politicians on Capitol Hill by bringing them to luxurious places, hotels and resorts, and listening to mostly liberal and left-wing speakers. Aspen is headed by Walter Isaacson, the former Chairman and CEO of CNN and the Managing Editor of Time Magazine. Aspen participates in something called the Ethical Globalization Initiative (EGI), headed by former U.N. official Mary Robinson, who calls the International Criminal Court, which could prosecute and imprison U.S. citizens, a "great legal enterprise." Isaacson serves on the EGI board, along with global tax supporter Jeffrey Sachs, an adviser to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The AP story did note that Aspen "arranges seminars both inside the country and around the world where members of Congress are required (by whom?) to attend conferences that last six hours a day over four days. It does not pay for recreational activities." But you don't have to pay for the weather. Some of the locations for Aspen congressional seminars include Naples, Florida; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and the Grand Cayman Island in the British West Indies. Clark testified that his "Congressional program," designed to expose members of congress to academic "expertise" on "complex" issues, is funded by "established independent foundations such as Ford, MacArthur, Carnegie, and Kellog." He neglected to mention the Open Society Institute of George Soros, listed in Aspen's 2004 annual report as a major foundation supporter. But that's not the only Soros connection. Others include: Aspen's director of communications is Jim Spiegelman, a former "special assistant" to Soros. Soros has been a featured speaker at the Aspen Summer Benefit dinner at the Hotel Jerome in Aspen, Colorado. The Hotel Jerome is Aspen's "crown jewel." Rooms go for anywhere from $636 -$1390 a night. Arjun Gupta, a member of the Aspen board of overseers, serves as a Vice President at The Chatterjee Group, an investment advisor to Soros and his Soros Fund Management group. In 2004, Aspen hosted "America's Role in the Fight Against Global Poverty," a seminar featuring Al Gore and George Soros. Do you think Senator John McCain will try to inhibit Aspen influence operations as part of his lobbying reform initiative? Not likely. McCain was a speaker at an Aspen event, where he and Senator Joe Lieberman said "they would have voted to approve China's attempted purchase of Unocal, a midsized American oil company, and if the question came up, they would back the sale of General Motors to a Chinese company." This seems like a big story, especially in light of what happened with the UAE/Ports deal. But it is doubtful that we'll see any stories on this from CNN, which Isaacson used to run. CNN host Paula Zahn hosted Aspen's 2002 Summer Benefit dinner at the Hotel Jerome. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] VaxGen ordered to stop exaggerating anthrax vaccine claims
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/14262938.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp Posted on Tue, Apr. 04, 2006 VaxGen ordered to stop exaggerating anthrax vaccine claimsPAUL ELIASAssociated Press SAN FRANCISCO - Federal regulators have ordered VaxGen Inc. officials to stop exaggerating the benefits of the company's experimental anthrax vaccine, which the government wants for a national stockpile. On March 24, the Food and Drug Administrations sent the troubled company a warning letter complaining that VaxGen sales material handed out at a government biodefense research meeting in October contained "false and misleading statements" about the experimental vaccine and how it compares to competitor Michigan-based BioPort Corp.'s vaccine. In particular, the sales brochure claimed VaxGen's vaccine is "at nearly 100 percent purity - significantly higher than what can be obtained using older technologies such as BioPort's." The FDA said that statement and two others were false or misleading because Brisbane-based VaxGen is only in the early stages of development and such claims are premature. In fact, VaxGen said it will fail to deliver the first 25 million doses of its anthrax vaccine to the Health and Human Services Department by November as promised under a $877.5 million contract the company signed with HHS in November. The contract was the first awarded under Project BioShield, a law President Bush signed in 2004 that promises $5.6 billion to develop remedies against possible bioweapons. VaxGen's vaccine will be added to U.S. reserves to protect against a terrorist attack using anthrax spores. The small biotechnology company has been trying to refashion itself as biodefense specialist since a closely watched human experiment testing its experimental AIDS vaccine flopped in 2003. Company spokesman Paul Laland said the company has asked HHS to amend the contract to allow it to complete delivery of the first 25 million doses sometime next year. Laland also said the company would respond to the FDA warning letter and that the company is no longer using the sales brochure touting the experimental vaccine, which uses a piece of the anthrax virus genetically engineered to provoke an immune response. HHS spokesman Bill Hall declined to comment because he said the department doesn't discuss details of active contracts. The Nasdaq Stock Market dropped VaxGen from its exchange after the company failed to file two quarterly reports in 2004. VaxGen's stock is trading over the counter and it share price fell 75 cents, or 8 percent, to $8.30 as news of the FDA letter was made public. © 2006 AP Wire and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.http://www.mercurynews.com Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Security Council Defies Bolton
April 4, 2006 Security Council Defies Bolton by Gordon Prather Under a Safeguards Agreement concluded by Iran with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as required by the Treaty on Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) Iran agreed to allow IAEA inspectors to satisfy themselves that no "source or special nuclear materials" are being used or have been used in furtherance of a nuclear weapons program. Last month, Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei made yet another report that as best he can tell no proscribed materials are being or have been so used. However, in his most recent report, ElBaradei made the gratuitous remark to the effect that "the agency is not at this point in time in a position to conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran." According to Condi, that gratuitous remark raises "questions that are within the competence of the Security Council, as the organ bearing the main responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security." How could ElBaradei's possible incompetence translate into Iran's nuclear programs constituting a threat to international peace and security? Well, there's more to it than that. Quoth Condi: "Perhaps one of the biggest challenges that we face is the policy of the Iranian regime, which is a policy of destabilization of the world's most volatile and vulnerable region. And it's not just Iran's nuclear program but also their support for terrorism around the world. They are, in effect, the central banker for terrorism around the world." Aha! So it's not "just Iran's nuclear program." No. According to Bonkers Bolton, it's the "mullahs in charge" of those programs. "When you see the risk of a government led by a president like [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad, a man who has denied the existence of the Holocaust, who has said Israel ought to be wiped off the map imagining somebody like that with his finger on a nuclear button means that you can't take any option off the table if you believe, as President Bush does, that it's unacceptable for Iran to have nuclear weapons. "They're determined to acquire nuclear weapons, unless we can find a way to stop them. And what we're trying to do through peaceful and diplomatic means in the Security Council is put heat on it. "As long as the hard-lined mullahs are in charge, we think they're determined to get them and we're determined to stop them." Hence, Bush-Cheney-Rice got the IAEA Board to report the entire Iranian dossier to the Security Council because the "mullahs are in charge." Unfortunately, that dossier not only documents (a) Iran's voluntary cooperation with IAEA inspectors that far exceeds anything required by their Safeguards Agreement (beyond even that required by an Additional Protocol), but also documents (b) numerous serious violations by the Board itself of Iran's "inalienable" rights, guaranteed under the IAEA Statute. According to Bolton: "This is a real test for the Security Council. There's just no doubt that for close to 20 years, the Iranians have been pursuing nuclear weapons through a clandestine program that we've uncovered. "If the UN Security Council can't deal with the proliferation of nuclear weapons, can't deal with the greatest threat we have with a country like Iran that's one of the leading state sponsors of terrorism if the Security Council can't deal with that, you have a real question of what it can deal with." Well, after three weeks of acrimonious debate about it, this week the Security Council issued a Presidential Statement, which begins as follows: "The Security Council reaffirms its commitment to the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons and recalls the right of States Party, in conformity with articles I and II of that Treaty, to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination." Whoops. Iran even under the mullahs is guaranteed the right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes? Without discrimination? But what about Condi's questions? Well, the Council did note "with serious concern" that "the IAEA is unable to conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran." Nevertheless, the Council essentially remanded
[cia-drugs] City official charters flight to Lansing
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060402/METRO/604020363/1003template=printart Who did charter the plane and how much did he pay for the seat and to whom did he pay it? JR Detroit BriefsApril 2, 2006 City official charters flight to Lansing Detroit Deputy Mayor Anthony Adams was so strapped for time Thursday, he charted a plane to fly from Detroit to Lansing and back so he could appear before state lawmakers debating border crossings between Detroit and Windsor and still attend to city business. "Today, I traveled to Lansing to testify on behalf of border crossing, border security and to fight for the economic vitality of Detroit," Adams said in a statement. "As a result of my compact, busy schedule, I decided to pay for a seat on a charted flight with my own personal funds." Adams emphasized the plane was not paid for by Matty Moroun, the owner of the Ambassador Bridge. The city has been negotiating with his company to buy Detroit's lease for the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. Reserve Belle Isle picnic shelter now The Detroit Recreation Department starts taking reservations for Belle Isle picnic shelters Monday at the Belle Isle Casino. Reservations can be made for July from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday; reservations for August can be made from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday; and reservations for May, June and September can be made from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday. For information, call (313) 852-4075. Detroit starts spring cleaning blitz Last week, the Motor City began its annual spring cleanup effort in 390 parks. During the blitz, crews will start to paint and repair play equipment and picnic tables, cut grass and remove weeds and pick up fallen leaves and branches. And workers will plant 30,000 spring bulbs across the city. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. 1003s=800x600c=16j=1.3v=Yk=Ybw=792bh=447ct=lanhp=N[AQE] Description: Binary data
[cia-drugs] Find this article at:
Find this article at: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/terror/20060330--1n30ports.html War on TerrorU.S. has big gaps in cargo container security, Senate study finds. In view of these findigs, it is sheer insanity to give control of US ports to the management of countries like Dubai which have a history of cooperation with terrorist regimes. It is even more inexplicable why screening cargo containers for nukes and nuclear material has been given to the Chinese army (Huchisen Whampoa). JR By Toby EckertCOPLEY NEWS SERVICE March 30, 2006 WASHINGTON The number of high-risk cargo containers inspected before entering the United States is staggeringly low, and government efforts to keep terrorists from exploiting the system are riddled with blind spots, congressional investigators say in a report that will be released today. The study, by a Senate Homeland Security subcommittee, is the latest to raise questions about whether the Bush administration and Congress have done enough to improve security at seaports, border crossings and other transportation hubs since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Experts say the system is vulnerable to the smuggling of a nuclear, chemical or biological weapon, or a direct attack by terrorists intent on crippling the U.S. economy. If an attack shut down the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex, it would take $150 million a day out of the economy, the Congressional Budget Office concluded in a separate report. Most of the concern is focused on the millions of boxcar-size cargo containers that flow into U.S. seaports and across land borders each year. Despite efforts to inspect more of the containers before they reach the United States, only a minuscule number are examined abroad; the system used to identify potentially troublesome cargo is unreliable; and a program that allows shippers to avoid some inspections is not closely monitored, the three-year subcommittee investigation concluded. If we think that the terrorists are going to ignore our vulnerabilities and not find the kinks in our supply chain, we are mistaken, said Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., the panel's chairman. Earlier this week, the subcommittee revealed that undercover investigators had brought enough radioactive material across the Mexican and Canadian borders to make two radiation-spewing dirty bombs. It also criticized the slow pace of installing radiation detectors at U.S. seaports and initiatives to thwart the smuggling of nuclear materials abroad. We do not yet have a maximum effort on what everyone agrees is the biggest threat to the American public, former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Keane, who headed the federal commission that investigated the Sept. 11 attacks, told the subcommittee Tuesday. Coleman and other lawmakers want the Department of Homeland Security to embrace technology being used at the port of Hong Kong that scans every container passing through two gates there. While the Bush administration has been skeptical of the program, which involves technology developed by San Diego-based SAIC, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is traveling to Hong Kong this weekend for a demonstration. The study that will be released today took a firsthand look at operations at 18 ports and border crossings in the United States and abroad, including the San Ysidro entry point and the Port of Los Angeles. It follows up on a similar report by the subcommittee last year. While the investigators noted some improvements, they called their overall findings troubling. A central goal of the Homeland Security Department's strategy is to intercept dangerous cargo before it reaches U.S. shores, but the probe found major flaws in the effort. The Container Security Initiative, which has placed U.S. personnel at 44 international ports, is inspecting a disturbingly low number of containers identified as high-risk, the study said. Slightly more than 37 percent of high-risk shipments were examined abroad, the investigators found. They attributed the low rate to mission fatigue, given the large number of containers; lack of time and resources; and uncooperative foreign-port operators. Find this article at:
[cia-drugs] Former U.S. Attorney Richard Convertino indicted
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?Dato=20060329Kategori=NEWS11Lopenr=60329007Ref=ARtemplate=printart Home|Back Former U.S. Attorney Richard Convertino indicted By DAVID ASHENFELTERFREE PRESS STAFF WRITER March 29, 2006 The former lead prosecutor in Detroits ill-fated 2003 terrorism trial was indicted Wednesday along with a State Department official on charges that they conspired to mislead the jury about evidence in the case.The indictment said former U.S. Attorney Richard Convertino, 44, and Harry Raymond Smith, former security official assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan, misled the jury about the existence of photographs that would contradicted so-called targeting sketches of the Queen Alia Military Hospital in Jordan.The men were charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstructing justice and making materially false declarations before a court.The photographs, had they been presented at trial, would have shown that a dead tree said to be depicted in the sketch in the day planner didnt show up in the photographs.Two men were found guilty in June 2003 of conspiring to aid terrorists at the trial. But the charges were thrown out in September 2004 at the request of the U.S. Attorneys Office, which said Convertino had withheld key evidence from the defendants and allowed witnesses to mislead the jury.Contact DAVID ASHENFELTER at 313-223-4490 or [EMAIL PROTECTED]. Copyright © 2006 Detroit Free Press Inc. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. 60329007s=800x600c=16j=1.3v=Yk=Ybw=792bh=427ct=lanhp=N[AQE] Description: Binary data
[cia-drugs] Mexico's Weapon (5th column of students and their professors)JR
Mexico's WeaponBy William R. HawkinsFrontPageMagazine.com | March 31, 2006Prominent on display at demonstrations around the country supporting illegal immigration has been the flag of Mexico. The last time demonstrators waved the flag of a foreign government in American streets on such a scale was during the Vietnam War when New Leftists were championing the cause of North Vietnam against the United States. Those street people were mainly mush-brained college students whose ignorance of world affairs allowed them to be manipulated by their Marxist professors. This time is different. The protesters are not just advocating a foreign cause, they are part of it. Most of the Latino students boycotting classes in California and elsewhere should not be in those classes to begin with, since they have no legal right to even be in the United States. Indeed, their enrollment has generated a financial drain on state and local budgets across the country. When the demonstrations started, I was in England. Media coverage there combined the marches in the U.S. with the student protests in France over labor reform. Again, the symbolism harkened back to the chaos of May 1968 when student and labor union violence almost collapsed the government of Charles DeGaulle. Aging radicals on both sides of the Atlantic wish to recapture the dark chaos of the 1960s. The United Kingdom has its own illegal immigration problems. On March 25, a Chinese gang leader was found guilty of the manslaughter of 21 Chinese illegal immigrants who drowned in Morecambe Bay two years ago while harvesting shellfish at night. I watched with a mixture of amusement and outrage as a self-styled spokesman for the Chinese community claimed that the British Home Secretary should have been the one indicted because immigration laws "forced" illegals to work under hazardous condition because they cannot work in the open. A dapper British businessman then argued for dropping the term "illegal" in favor of "economic immigrant" so that firms could have a ready supply of cheap labor. These arguments are heard here too. But what may be "cheap" for a company can be very expensive for the larger society. Some 40 percent of the inmates in California prisons are illegal aliens, who saw America as the land of opportunity for criminal pursuits. Our de facto "open borders" policy cannot discriminate between those whose ambitions are honest or dishonest. And no new system can solve this problem if it is still possible to get into America and survive outside the parameters of the law. Truly effective border security is the pre-requisite for any system of legal immigration.It is the prevention of border security that motivates both the street protests and the Mexican government which is helping to orchestrate them. The timing of the protests is not just connected with legislation in the U.S. Congress, whose deliberations are long and convoluted. The more direct link is to the summit between President George W. Bush, Mexican President Vincente Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Cancun March 30-31. Mr. Fox has activated his fifth column in America as a diplomatic weapon. He has been aided by a network of Spanish-language radio stations and newspapers, elements in the Catholic Church and the usual variety of left-wing "civil rights" groups like the National Lawyers Guild and the ACLU. This movement poses a threat to U.S. security and sovereignty that makes even the risk of terrorist infiltration across the southern border pale in significance. Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez said March 27 that border security could not be the only topic at Cancun. He said all "must share responsibility so that those forced to migrate be regulated by plans that include respecting their dignity." But what has "forced" Mexicans to become illegal immigrants? The answer is the sad fact that Mexico has become a failed state, which hopes to push costs onto its northern neighbor so its corrupt elites can continue in power without having to risk domestic reform.In a series of newspaper ads in U.S. papers, the Mexican government claimed it could do more to control its side of the border, but would only do so if the U.S. adopts "a far-reaching guest workers scheme" and that "Mexico should participate in its design, management, supervision and evaluation." In other words, Mexico wants a role in writing American laws for its benefit, and will use the pressure of mass migration and fifth column political warfare to pressure Washington into accepting its demands. The proper response is to tell Mexico that if it is purposely refusing to act as a responsible neighbor along the border, then it will be held accountable for its actions and sanctions will be imposed. In the aftermath of 9/11, the Bush administration declared in its 2002 National Security Strategy a policy of "convincing or compelling states to accept
[cia-drugs] Senate Approves Lobbying Limits by Wide Margin
March 30, 2006 Senate Approves Lobbying Limits by Wide Margin By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG WASHINGTON, March 29 The Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed the first major restrictions on lobbying in more than a decade, banning lobbyists from giving gifts and meals to lawmakers and tightening rules for pet projects known as earmarks. But critics called the bipartisan measure weak, and some lawmakers who led the effort for tighter restrictions voted against it. The bill would require lobbyists to file more public reports about their activities in a searchable Internet database, would demand that lawmakers receive advance approval for trips paid with private money and would bar former lawmakers and senior aides from lobbying Congress for two years. The vote, 90 to 8, was taken hours after Jack Abramoff, whose lobbying activities prompted a federal criminal investigation into corruption here and calls for a crackdown on influence peddling, was sentenced in Miami to nearly six years in prison for his role in the fraudulent purchase of a cruise line. Mr. Abramoff, who said in a brief court appearance Wednesday that he was "profoundly remorseful," is cooperating in a broader investigation that is scrutinizing members of Congress, among others, and has provided Democrats an opening to attack Republicans on ethics grounds. Mr. Abramoff's wining and dining, featuring tales of lavish meals at his restaurant here and laundered money that paid for golf trips to Scotland, have helped sour the public on Congress, driving lawmakers' approval ratings to historic lows in this election year. When Mr. Abramoff pleaded guilty to charges of corruption in January and agreed to tell what he knows to federal prosecutors, Republicans and Democrats called for broad changes in the way the thousands of registered lobbyists do business. "There's a sign that's now up in front of the Capitol," Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, a chief Democratic author of the measure, said after the vote. "It says 'Not for Sale.' " But Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican who has long pressed for tougher laws on lobbying, called the bill "very, very weak." The measure would not ban private travel, as some members have urged. Nor would it rein in lawmakers' ability to fly on corporate jets at heavily discounted rates, a practice that gives precious access to lobbyists, who often go along for the trip. The measure would not do away with earmarks, though it would make it more difficult for lawmakers to insert the pet projects quietly into bills at lobbyists' behest. And the Senate overwhelmingly rejected, 30 to 67, a move to create an independent ethics office to investigate accusations of abuse. The lobbying debate now moves to the House, where Republican leaders are backing a proposal that would temporarily ban privately financed trips. Their approach would also require lobbyists to disclose meals and gifts to lawmakers, and it would require members of Congress to disclose when they earmark money for the specific projects that critics deride as pork-barrel spending. House Republicans are split over the plan, and it is not clear whether the House and Senate will be able to agree on a measure this year. Leaders of both parties, as well as the architects of the Senate bill, hailed its bipartisan passage at a time Republicans and Democrats rarely work together. "Congress stepped up in a big way," the Republicans' point man on lobbying changes, Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, said. "This is a much tougher bill than anyone would have anticipated when we started this process." Some of the most highly visible advocates of overhauling laws on lobbying disagreed. Senators McCain and Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois, who joined forces in the lobbying debate and then had a public dispute over it, were among those voting against the bill, as was Senator Russell D. Feingold, Democrat of Wisconsin. Mr. McCain predicted that there would be more indictments in the Abramoff case, and added, "I think we will be revisiting this issue." Another senator who voted against the bill, Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, said his colleagues would suffer at the polls for failing to cut back on lobbyists' influence by eliminating the earmarks. "You can wash the outside of the cup all you want," Mr. Coburn said. "If the inside is still unclean, you're going to have the same problems." The other senators who voted against the bill were John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts; and three Republicans, James Inhofe of Oklahoma and Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Senators Robert C. Byrd and John D. Rockefeller IV, both Democrats of West Virginia, did not vote. The bill does little to break the link between lobbyists and lawmakers' money-raising machines, because senators decided that those issues related to campaign finance, not lobbying. As a result,
[cia-drugs] 'Mean machine' at Justice won't tolerate honest critic Local comment
Home|Back http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060331/OPINION02/603310342/1070template=printart 'Mean machine' at Justice won't tolerate honest criticL: Local comment BY VALERIE A. CONVERTINO March 31, 2006 Valerie Convertino What a shame the administration of President George W. Bush isn't as tough on terrorism as it is about exacting revenge upon honest citizens who speak out against its policies. Take the witch-hunt against my husband, former U.S. Attorney Richard Convertino, who successfully prosecuted a Detroit terrorism sleeper cell. He then voiced his frustrations with the ineffectiveness of the U.S. Justice Department's handling of terrorism cases and has endured almost three years of retaliation at a cost to American taxpayers of several million dollars. The "mean machine" is out of control and refuses to admit it, especially when there is a whistleblower lawsuit still pending that Rick filed against members of the Justice Department, including former Attorney General John Ashcroft. Regardless of his years as a star prosecutor with the Justice Department, the government has subpoenaed Rick's high school, college and law school records. What's next? Will they subpoena a list of books he has checked out from the library or the movies we rent for family movie night? The government refuses to issue subpoenas to look into the billions of dollars that are unaccounted for in the Iraq war, but it will subpoena Rick's high school records. Apparently, you can steal from the government but you can't speak out against its policies. Distinguished career diplomat Joe Wilson would agree with that assessment since his wife was "outed" as a CIA operative after he publicly disagreed with the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Due to the government's ability to extend indefinitely the claim of an "ongoing investigation," the DOJ has successfully blocked Rick's lawsuit as well as the investigation conducted by the Office of Special Council. The final step -- I hope -- is the current grand jury investigation that led to Wednesday's indictment. Most people don't realize that during grand jury proceedings the prosecutor gets to present one-sided information and opinions with no obligation to present any information that may exonerate the person under investigation. With such power, it would be unethical and malicious to use the grand jury system to indict someone just to destroy his reputation. Knowing Rick as I have for more than 27 years, his sense of honor would never have allowed him to remain silent when there is incompetence or injustice, especially when the circumstances have grave consequences for our entire country. I also know they are wasting time and taxpayers' money that should be directed to fighting terrorism. The Justice Department has forgotten that Rick was the go-to guy when the department or the FBI had a tough case. He would take it out of a sense of duty, even though it sometimes meant being six months away from his young family; and his record of outstanding evaluations, number of awards and commendation letters support all of this. He has undergone at least three extensive background checks and had a high-level security clearance when he left Justice. In addition to his cases, Rick represented the United States at law enforcement seminars in Kazakhstan and Bulgaria. Although Rick was subpoenaed to testify in front of the U.S. Senate about his case, he was reluctant at that time to discuss all of the difficulties and problems within the Justice Department. However, Rick must air the Justice Department's dirty laundry to protect himself. I have to keep reminding myself that it isn't our country that is persecuting us; it is the people who happen to be in power right now, and that can change. VALERIE CONVERTINO is a registered nurse who has been married to Rick Convertino for 19 years. Write to her in care of the Free Press Editorial Page, 600 W. Fort St., Detroit 48226 or [EMAIL PROTECTED]. Copyright © 2006 Detroit Free Press Inc. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. bilde?Site=C4Date=20060331Category=OPINION02ArtNo=603310342Ref=ARProfile=1070MaxW=148Border=1 Description: Binary data 1070s=800x600c=16j=1.3v=Yk=Ybw=792bh=427ct=lanhp=N[AQE] Description: Binary data
[cia-drugs] Bulldozing Churches for Mini-malls
http://www.castlecoalition.org/media/releases/3_21_06pr.html Bulldozing Churches for Mini-malls Any Houses of Worship Could Be Destroyed Under Jobs Taxes Justification PRESS RELEASE: March 21, 2006 CONTACT:John KramerLisa Knepper(703) 682-9320 Arlington, Va.Since the U.S. Supreme Court decided the Kelo v. City of New London eminent domain case last summer, City officials have new power to file condemnation actions against churches to make way for private commercial development. Throughout the nation, more and more religious leaders are finding the government and its wrecking ball at their doorsteps. Tax-hungry governments teaming up with land-hungry developers are capitalizing on the fact that churches (and all not-for-profits) are tax-exempt, using Kelo to justify taking religious buildings on the grounds that the land can generate more tax revenue or amplify job growth as businesses or homes for the wealthy. Bob Edgar, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches, said, After the Kelo decision, local governments apparently are free to take private property on the theory that generating higher tax revenue is a valid public use of property. This certainly is a substantial threat not only to churches and nonprofit organizations, but to every homeowner whose property could be taken and put to a higher commercial use. This is bad public policy which cannot be permitted to stand. Some examples include: Sand Springs, Okla., is attempting to seize and demolish the Centennial Baptist Churchhome to a large black congregationby eminent domain. The City plans to hand the land over to a private developer to attract major retailers and other stores. The Lord didnt send me here to build a mini-mall, the Rev. Roosevelt Gildon told the New York Times. I guess saving souls isnt as important as raking in money for politicians to spend, said Gildon on National Review Online. In March 2006, Long Beach, Calif., began condemnation proceedings against the Filipino Baptist Fellowship, a vibrant congregation in the heart of Southern California, to make way for condominiums. The City recently designated the building as blighted under Californias vague blight statutes, giving redevelopment officials the power to take the church by eminent domain. Every day, the young kids pray that this church would not fall, said congregation member Jovine Agustine in the Baptist Press. Pastor Roem Agustine added, Were just resting on the promise of the Lord that he will not leave us nor forsake us. Boynton Beach, Fla., which has already cleared out long-time small businesses and homeowners in the name of redevelopment, voted in October 2005 to take two churches by eminent domain so a private developer can build apartments, stores and parking facilities. The Jesus House of Worship, which caters specifically to needy families during the holidays, and Triumph the Church Kingdom of God were included in the Citys redevelopment area, leaving them subject to condemnation at the Citys whim. Scituate, Mass., has wavered since 2004 on whether to take 25 acres belonging to St. Frances X Cabrini Catholic Church for private development. The Church continues to own its land under the threat of eminent domain. Restoration, a non-denominational church in Visalia, Calif., made a deal with the Main Street Theater to purchase its downtown building for a new worship center in 2004. While in escrow, the City condemned the property by eminent domain, prohibiting the Church from acquiring the property. The reasons cited were that the City preferred a private arts center to a place of worship. In 2003, Biloxi, Miss., condemned the parking lot of the Living Waters Ministries, a church on Caillavet Street, to make way for a proposed casino that was never built. Alabaster, Ala., voted to condemn a church in August 2003 for the benefit of Colonial Properties Trust, which planned to build a 400-acre retail development anchored by Wal-Mart. After years of meeting in a rental basement and saving up money, St. Lukes Pentecostal Church in North Hempstead, N.Y., purchased a permanent home, but it was taken from the church by the North Hempstead Community Development Agency for private retail development. Six years later, the lot is still empty. This is a clear-cut violation the Fifth Amendments public use clause, said IJ Senior Attorney Scott Bullock, who argued Kelo before the Supreme Court. When the government can take somebodys land based on promises of taxes and jobs, churches are especially at risk because they dont pay taxes. Steven Anderson, coordinator of the Castle Coalition, warned, Were seeing more and more minority churches disproportionately affected by eminent domain abuse. Since Kelo, legislators in 47 states have passed or are considering
[cia-drugs] OKC BOMBING FALLOUT
Thursday, March 30, 2006 OKC BOMBING FALLOUTFederal judge rules: McVeigh had helpBolsters claims government had informant inside conspiracy to attack federal building Posted: March 30, 20064:41 a.m. Eastern By J.D .Cash, Roger Charles ©2006McCurtain Daily Gazette A U.S. District Court judge in Salt Lake City, Utah, has issued a stunning decision that appears to bolster claims that executed bomber Timothy McVeigh was supported by various militia groups, and that the government had an informant inside the bombing conspiracy. The case in Utah grew out of a dispute between civil attorney Jesse Trentadue and the Oklahoma City FBI over documents requested under the Freedom of Information Act. For over a decade, Trentadue has been searching for documents that might shed light on the death of his brother at the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City, in August of 1995. The federal government maintains that Kenneth Trentadue killed himself in a suicide-proof cell at the Oklahoma City federal installation, where he was being held on a purported parole violation for failing to report to his parole officer. In the course of this investigation, Trentadue received "tips" from various sources, including one allegedly from a source close to McVeigh, before McVeigh's execution. That source said that McVeigh told him that Kenneth Trentadue was beaten, tortured and murdered because the FBI mistakenly believed he was linked to a group of bank bandits that considerable evidence now suggests, assisted McVeigh in the plot to bomb the Oklahoma federal building. The FOIA suit began after heavily redacted documents obtained by this newspaper, from an FBI whistleblower, confirmed McVeigh's links to Elohim City and informants working for the Southern Poverty Law Center who were present at the paramilitary compound on April 17, 1995, when McVeigh called the camp looking for German-national Andreas Strassmeir and additional help in the bombing. While heavily redacted, that Jan. 4, 1996, teletype from then-FBI director Louis Freeh to a select group of FBI offices contained information appearing to link Strassmeir to McVeigh and the FBI's knowledge that Strassmeir was planning to flee the country soon. Inexplicably, the FBI did not go to the residence where the memo said Strassmeir was living in Black Mountain, N.C., and detain the individual for questioning about the bombing. Instead, Strassmeir with the help on his Black Mountain, N.C. attorney, Kirk Lyons, and former CIA pilot Dave Holloway was able to slip across the Mexican border a few days after the teletype was issued. Since the discovery of this heavily redacted document linking the SPLC, Elohim City and Strassmeir to McVeigh and the bombing conspiracy, the FBI has since produced 17 additional documents for Trentadue. However, key sections of those documents were also heavily redacted. Seeking to have the FBI provide unredacted copies of these additional documents, Trentadue has claimed the FBI has a duty to make a full disclosure of who their informants and suspects in the bombing were, because the national interest in the Oklahoma City bombing, far outweighs any privacy interests those informants and suspects may have had. In order to determine the validity of the claims made by both sides, the FBI was ordered in November to turn over unredacted copies of all the documents at issue for the judge to examine "in chambers." Considering Trentadue's allegations about his brother's mysterious and violent death, the judge early in his opinion observed: "While officials ruled the death a suicide, the Plaintiff unearthed significant evidence of foul play. Plaintiff's theory is that his brother apparently looked very similar to Richard Lee Guthrie, who allegedly was one of Timothy McVeigh's accomplices in the Oklahoma City bombing and a member of the Mid-West Bank Robbery Gang. Plaintiff believes that his brother was killed during an overly aggressive interrogation by federal agents who believed Kenneth Trentadue was Richard Lee Guthrie. Later his summary of the facts, Judge Dale Kimball also noted that Guthrie was later apprehended by authorities and he, too, is said to have committed suicide his jail cell while in federal custody. After reviewing the unredacted documents provided by the FBI, Kimball singled out a teletype issued by the FBI, only six days after the blast. "Plaintiff points out the fact that this
[cia-drugs] SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO
-Original Message-From: James, Doug [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2006 7:35 AMTo: [EMAIL PROTECTED]Subject: MARICOPA ARIZONA COUNTRY SHERIFF! YOU GOTTA LOVE THIS GUY TO THOSE OF YOU NOT FAMILIAR WITH JOE ARPAIO HE IS THE MARICOPA ARIZONA COUNTY SHERIFF AND HE KEEPS GETTING ELECTED OVER AND OVER. TH IS IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY: Sheriff Joe Arpaio (in Arizona) who created the "tent city jail": He has jail meals down to 40 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them. He stopped smoking and porno magazines in the jails. Took away their weights. Cut off all but "G" movies. He started chain gangs so the inmates could do free work on county and city projects. Then he started chain gangs for women so he wouldn't get sued for discrimination. He took away cable TV until he found out there was a federal court order that required cable TV for jails. So he hooked up the cable TV again only let in the Disney channel and the weather channel. When asked why the weather channel he replied, so they will know how hot it's gonna be while they are working on my chain gangs. He cut off coffee since it has zero nutritional value. When the inmates complained, he told them, "This isn't the Ritz/Carlton. If you don't like it, don't come back." He bought Newt Gingrich' lecture series on videotape that he pipes into the jails. When asked by a reporter if he had any lecture series by a Democrat, he replied that a democratic lecture series might explain why a lot of the inmates were in his jails in the first place. More on the Arizona Sheriff: With temperatures being even hotter than usual in Phoenix (116 degrees just set a new record), the Associat ed Press reports: About 2,000 inmates living in a barbed-wire-surrounded tent encampment at the Maricopa County Jail have been given permission to strip down to their government-issued pink boxer shorts. On Wednesday, hundreds of men wearing boxers were either curled up on their bunk beds or chatted in the tents, which reached 138 degrees inside the week before. Many were also swathed in wet, pink towels as sweat collected on their chests and dripped down to their pink socks. "It feels like we are in a furnace," said James Zanzot, an inmate who has lived in the tents for 1 year. "It's inhumane." Joe Arpaio, the tough-guy sheriff who created the tent city and long ago started making his prisoners wear pink, and eat bologna sandwiches, is not one bit sympathetic He said Wednesday that he told all of the inmates: "It's 120 degrees in Iraq and our soldiers are living in tents too, and they have to wear full battle gear, but they didn't commit any crimes, so shut your damned mouths!" Way to go, Sheriff! Maybe if all prisons were like this one there would be a lot less crime and/or repeat offenders. Criminals should be punished for their crimes - not live in luxury until it's time for their parole, only to go out and commit another crime so they can get back in to live on taxpayers money and enjoy things taxpayers can't afford to have for themselves. If you agree, pass this on. If not, just delete it. Sheriff Joe was just reelected Sheriff in Maricopa County, Arizona. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Saudi Prince Strikes Again
http://www.aim.org/media_monitor_print/4449_0_2_0/ Saudi Prince Strikes Again By Cliff Kincaid | March 27, 2006 It might look hypocritical for the media to highlight his manipulation of academia while staying mum about his expanding press operations. A national uproar over an Arab company buying some U.S. port operations forced cancellation of the deal. But when a controversial Saudi Prince spends $40 million to promote himself and his views through two major U.S. universities and takes out a two-page ad in the Washington Post highlighting his efforts, hardly anyone in the media bats an eyelid. Perhaps that's because the Saudi Prince, Alwaleed Bin Talal, is an investor in U.S. media companies like Time Warner and News Corporation. It might look hypocritical for the media to highlight his manipulation of academia while staying mum about his expanding press operations. Perhaps many of our Big Media companies are anxious for giant infusions of Arab oil dollars. Alwaleed is expanding in the media field, having announced the launch of an Islamic satellite channel "to project Islam as a religion of moderation and tolerance." The two-page ad in the Post carried the headline, "We share the same world" and promoted the "Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Islamic Studies Program" at Harvard University and the "Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding" at Georgetown University. He gave them the money. They named the places after him. But was there a hidden message in part of the ad? The ad caught the attention of Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, who noted that it "shows one of Georgetown's beautiful Gothic buildings, topped by a stone cross. In the night sky, above Georgetown, is a crescent moon and star-the symbols of Islam. How better to show the kind of 'understanding' we will have? Christianity is to be subordinated, Islam is raised high-at a Christian university." But there's another matter. Perkins asked, "There is no reciprocity here. All the talk on this side of the ocean is about 'understanding.' Where are the study centers at Saudi universities? Does anyone there present courses on James Madison's views of religious liberty? Does anyone there even suggest that feudal monarchies that deny their people fundamental human rights need to reform themselves? Saudi Arabia is one of the worst violators of human rights on earth. No Christian can even carry a Bible on any street in Saudi Arabia. Converts there are beheaded." Meanwhile, in France, Alwaleed spent $20 million to create a special exhibition space for the new department of Islamic arts at the Musée du Louvre in Paris. On March 1 he was bestowed the medal of "Legion of Honor," with the rank of Commander, by French President Jacques Chirac in an official ceremony. His biography, published by Harper Collins (a News Corp. company) and simply titled Alwaleed, is written by Riz Khan, who also wrote and produced a flattering documentary DVD about the prince that is included with the book. A former CNN journalist, Kahn is now with Al-Jazeera International, the new English-language arm of the Qatar-based channel that has documented links to Al-Qaeda and previously served as a mouthpiece for the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq. In the book, Alwaleed says he gave $500,000 to the Council on American Islamic Relations, the group that specializes in getting conservatives kicked off the radio if they criticize Islam. Michael Graham was fired from WMAL in Washington, D.C. for offending CAIR. Now how "understanding" is that? Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Fw: TALK ABOUT INCOMPETENCE
- Original Message - From: Rolland Brengle To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, March 25, 2006 3:25 AM Subject: Fw: TALK ABOUT INCOMPETENCE [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2006 19:19:49 -0600 (Central Standard Time) TALK ABOUT INCOMPETENCE Now here's a story you aren't going to read in many of our nations top newspapers. And why not? Because it makes our New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin to be a complete idiot, that's why not.Here's the story, fresh from last night's Special Report with Brit Hume. Read this and you will know why Democrats and liberals just flat-out don't like Brit Hume or Fox News Channel. Texas based car crushing company. Offered to remove all abandoned and flooded vehicles from New Orleans and dispose of them. KL Auto Crushers said it would take 15 weeks to finish the job. This offer was made last October. KL also offered to pay the city of New Orleans $100 for each car that they removed. How many cars needed removing, you ask? About 50,000. At $100 each, that adds up to a payment to the city of $5 million. Not bad. So ... Did Ray Nagin take the deal? Nope. Instead of taking the offer from KL, Ray Nagin is pursuing a car removal plan that will take six months to complete, not 15 weeks, and will cost the city of New Orleans -- make that the taxpayers of New Orleans -- $23 million. Nagin balked at the KL offer because he wasn't sure that the city had the legal right to accept the offer although there was a clear city ordinance that allowed just such a thing. So, add it up. Take the $5 million New Orleans could have had from KL Auto Crushers and add it to the $23 million the city will spend to get rid of the cars, and you have a total cost to the taxpayers of $28 million. Last night Hume also reminded us that Ray Nagin failed to order a full mandatory evacuation of New Orleans as Katrina was bearing down because he feared that the hospitality industry would sue the city if the people all left and the hurricane didn't hit. If there is one certainty in life it is that if Ray Nagin were a Republican mayor the media in this country would be clamoring for his head. Nagin gets a relative pass. There will be no 60 Minutes documentary profiling his incompetence.By the way, Ray Nagin thinks he should be reelected. I would place a bet that his 'constituents' will re-elect him no matter how inept, just like Barry was. Any offers? Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Fw Weather Bulletin - North Dakota
Subject: Fw: Weather Bulletin - North Dakota Weather Bulletin - North DakotaPricelessTHINK ABOUT THIS FOR A MOMENTNorth Dakota NewsThis text is from a county emergency manager out in the western part of North Dakota state after the recent snow storm.WEATHER BULLETINUp here in the Northern Plains we just recovered from a Historic event--- may I even say a "Weather Event" of "Biblical Proportions" --- with a historic blizzard of up to 44" inches of snow and winds to 90 MPH that broke trees in half, knocked down utility poles, stranded hundreds of motorists in lethal snow banks, closed ALL roads, isolated scores of communities and cut power to 10's of thousands.FYI:George Bush did not come.FEMA did nothing.No one howled for the government.No one blamed the government.No one even uttered an expletive on TV.Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton did not visit.Our Mayor's did not blame Bush or anyone else. Our Governor did not blame Bush or anyone else either CNN, ABC, CBS, FOX, or NBC did not visit - or report on this category 5 snow storm nobody demanded $2,000 debit cards.No one asked for a FEMA Trailer House.No one looted.Nobody - I mean Nobody demanded the government do something.Nobody expected the government to do anything either.No Larry King, No Bill O'Rielly, No Oprah, No Chris Mathews and No Geraldo Rivera.No Shaun Penn, No Barbara Striesand, No Hollywood types to be found.AndNope, we just melted the snow for water.Sent out caravans of SUV's to pluck people out of snow engulfed cars.The truck drivers pulled people out of snow banks and didn't ask for a penny.Local restaurants made food, and the police and fire departments delivered it to the snow bound families.Families took in the stranded people - total strangers.We Fired up wood stoves, broke out coal oil lanterns or Coleman lanterns.We put on an extra layers of clothes because up here it is "Work or Die".We did not wait for some affirmative action government to get us out of a mess created by being immobilized by a welfare program that trades votes for 'sittin at home' checks.Even though a Category "5" blizzard of this scale has never fallen this early, we know it can happen and how to deal with it ourselves."In my many travels, I have noticed that once one gets north of about 48 degrees North Latitude, 90% of the world's social problems evaporate."It does seem that way, at least to me.I hope this gets passed on.. Maybe ... SOME people will get the message .. The world does Not owe you a living. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] A Voice in the Wilderness
http://www.aim.org/media_monitor_print/4441_0_2_0/ Hypocrisy, thy name is Hillary and Charles (Shumer) A Voice in the Wilderness By Cliff Kincaid | March 23, 2006 Such questions might suggest that Mrs. Clinton is a politically motivated hypocrite. Liberal politicians, led by Senator Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton, were rushing to the microphones to denounce the proposed deal turning over some U.S. port operations to a firm owned by the United Arab Emirates. Justifiable public outrage forced cancellation of the deal. But the issue is an old one, and conservative Republican Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma has been trying for years to reform the process under which foreign takeovers in the U.S. are rejected or approved. Inhofe is the Senator who should be getting the press attention on this matter. He was saying the right things before it was politically popular. Inhofe, no Johnny-come-lately to the issue, is the Senator who worked to block the Clinton Administration deal to turn over management of a 144-acre terminal at the former U.S. Naval Station in Long Beach to the China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO), a subsidiary of the People's Liberation Army. Isn't it interesting that our media failed to ask Senator Hillary Clinton about this when she joined efforts to block the UAE deal? Such questions might suggest that Mrs. Clinton is a politically motivated hypocrite. On the House side, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) led the opposition to the COSCO and UAE deals. He has been entirely consistent. In opposing the sale of port operations to the UAE firm, Sen. Inhofe points out, "If any of you hear Democrats exploiting this issue like it is something new, their historical hypocrisy is obvious." He points out that, under the Clinton Administration, "the UAE could do no wrong" and that Clinton sold $8 billion worth of F-16s, anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles, and other advanced weapons to the regime. He said this was one year after the Clinton Administration had located Osama bin Laden in a camp in Afghanistan but called off an air strike against him because he was in the company of high UAE officials. Inhofe delivered several speeches in April 2005 protesting the process under which the Committee on Foreign Investments of the U.S. (CFIUS) had approved China buying the U.S. company Magnequench, Inc., and moving it back to China. We had discussed this dangerous acquisition in our February 28, 2005, AIM Report on "The China Threat." Inhofe noted that because of the Magnequench deal, the U.S. now has no domestic supplier of rare earth metals that are critical in making precision-guided munitions. In 2005 Inhofe introduced the Foreign Investment Security Act to reform the process. He's the Senator the media should be paying attention to. He saw the problem early on and has a solution. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] http://www.aim.org/media_monitor_print/4421_0_2_0/
http://www.aim.org/media_monitor_print/4421_0_2_0/ Soros Finances Media Empire By Cliff Kincaid | March 22, 2006 Lately, Soros has been talking down the American economy, saying the U.S. dollar is weak and that we could slide into recession in 2007. Of course, he could help bring that about through his global financial manipulations. Billionaire and convicted inside trader George Soros has proposed what he calls "an annual issue of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) that rich countries would donate for international assistance." The SDR idea is a variation of a global tax to finance more foreign aid. SDRs, created by the International Monetary Fund, have been defined as a form of international reserve currency intended to "supplement the existing official reserves of member countries" in transactions with the IMF. What Soros proposes would greatly alter and expand their use. As someone who has developed a reputation for practicing financial and economic warfare against the nations of the world, he seems determined to drain more wealth away from the United States. What is also fascinating is that a column in which Soros makes this proposal is available on the website of "Project Syndicate," an emerging Soros-supported media empire. Project Syndicate claims to consist of 257 newspapers in 113 countries, with a total circulation of 39,323,478. It is funded by "member papers in developed countries," as well as the Open Society Institute of George Soros, Politiken Foundation, based in Sweden, and the Die Zeit Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius Foundation, based in Germany. In another column distributed by the Project Syndicate, Soros declared, "I consider using an issue of SDRs preferable to the Tobin tax (a proposed tax on international currency transactions) for a number of reasons, the most important of which is that a special SDR issue was already authorized in 1997 and ratified by 71% of IMF members. It could be used for international assistance immediately, if the US Congress also ratified it, and developed countries pledged their allocations for that purpose." Lately, Soros has been talking down the American economy, saying the U.S. dollar is weak and that we could slide into recession in 2007. Of course, he could help bring that about through his global financial manipulations. In a related matter, a Soros-funded group, the Open Society Policy Center, which organized opposition to John Bolton as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., has been caught paying money to a political consultant who has pleaded guilty to bank fraud and a failure to pay federal income taxes. My new report examines this in the context of the smear of Bolton that prevented his confirmation and eventually resulted in his recess appointment to the post. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Agencies deny they bungled investigation of dog's death
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2002878794zsection_id=2002111777slug=puppy21mdate=20060321 Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - 12:00 AM Agencies deny they bungled investigation of dog's death By Christine ClarridgeSeattle Times staff reporter King County animal-control officers and Federal Way police who have been slammed with angry e-mail and phone calls claiming they've done nothing to catch the person who doused a puppy with acid insist they are working hard to solve the animal-cruelty case. "It is horrific and it is heart-wrenching, and if there is a case to be made, we want to make it," said Federal Way Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick. But animal-rights activists say the two agencies have passed the buck between each other, have not done enough and have destroyed irreplaceable evidence by cremating the dog after it was euthanized. Mooie, a 4-month-old female pit bull, was found critically injured in the fenced yard of a Federal Way woman March 10. "The woman looked through her window and saw her granddaughter trying to play with the puppy and she thought that the puppy had been hit by a car and dragged," said Larry Brothers, an investigator with Pasado's Safe Haven, a nonprofit animal-rescue organization. A friend of the Federal Way woman took the puppy to Valley Animal Hospital of Auburn, where it was determined that the puppy had likely been dipped in a caustic material such as acid that ate through more than 90 percent of her skin. The caustic material that burned the puppy was so strong it caused workers in the veterinarian's office to become ill. The woman who took the dog to the animal hospital also called 911. The dog was euthanized after veterinarians determined there was no way to save her. Veterinarian Ivy Engstrom called the injury "one of the worst things" she had seen. She eventually contacted Pasado's because she believed that neither the police nor King County Animal Services and Programs were taking the case seriously enough. Engstrom and Pasado's officials said they were later infuriated when it appeared that Federal Way police and King County Animal Services each thought the other agency was responsible for investigating the incident. Federal Way police said Monday the incident initially was investigated by an Animal Services officer. But an Animal Services official said Federal Way officers wrote the initial report on the incident. Federal Way police said animal-cruelty cases must be investigated by animal services. Animal Services officials, however, said police have the right to investigate any crime that occurs in their jurisdiction. Animal Services authorized the cremation, an act that also angered animal activists. "They didn't take tissue samples even though animal cruelty is a class C felony," said Brothers, the Pasado's investigator. "Now there is no way to determine what kind of caustic material scalded the puppy. They've blown it." Al Dams, assistant manager for King County Animal Services, said his agency has preserved all the evidence that will be needed to prove the puppy suffered inhumane treatment. "To say that we don't care about animal cruelty because we authorized cremation is completely unfair," Dams said. "We have photographs that make obvious the pain and the suffering. We have witness statements. We have the dog's collar." Dams and police said that the dog's owner is being questioned by Animal Services and that the case is being investigated aggressively. The dog's owner lives near the home where the dog was found. More than $15,000 has been offered as a reward to anyone with information leading to a cruelty conviction. Pasado's Safe Haven has been receiving more than 80,000 hits an hour on its Web site since posting photos of the puppy, according to co-founder Susan Michaels. Police and Animal Services said they've been bombarded with e-mail criticizing their response. Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] F.B.I. Agent Testifies Superiors Didn't Pursue Moussaoui Case
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/21/national/nationalspecial3/21moussaoui.html?_r=1oref=sloginpagewanted=print It looks like Jamie had them all buffaloed. JR March 21, 2006 F.B.I. Agent Testifies Superiors Didn't Pursue Moussaoui Case By NEIL A. LEWIS ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 20 The F.B.I. agent who arrested and interrogated Zacarias Moussaoui just weeks before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks told a jury on Monday how he had tried repeatedly to get his superiors in Washington to help confirm his certainty that Mr. Moussaoui was involved in an imminent terrorist airline hijacking plot. But, said the agent, Harry Samit, he was regularly thwarted by senior bureau officials whose obstructionism he later described to Justice Department investigators as "criminally negligent" and who were, he believed, motivated principally by a need to protect their careers. Mr. Samit's testimony added a wealth of detail to the notion that officials at the Federal Bureau of Investigation played down, ignored and purposely mischaracterized the increasingly dire warnings from field agents in the Minneapolis office that they had a terrorist on their hands in Mr. Moussaoui. "I accused the people in F.B.I. headquarters of criminal negligence" in an interview after Sept. 11, Mr. Samit acknowledged under intense questioning by Edward B. MacMahon Jr., Mr. Moussaoui's chief court-appointed lawyer. Mr. Samit confirmed that he had told Justice Department investigators that the senior agents in Washington "took a calculated risk not to advance the investigation" by refusing to seek search warrants for Mr. Moussaoui's belongings and computer. He testified that he had come to believe that "the wager was a national tragedy." Mr. Samit was a witness for the prosecution, which is trying to have Mr. Moussaoui executed for the deaths that occurred on Sept. 11. In his direct testimony more than a week ago, he bolstered the prosecutors' case by saying that had Mr. Moussaoui answered his questions honestly when he arrested him for immigration violations, it would have set off a chain of inquiries that could have foiled the Sept. 11 plot. But under Mr. MacMahon's questions, Mr. Samit provided much new evidence and testimony suggesting strongly that the more significant factors in the failure to learn of the plot from Mr. Moussaoui involved the decisions of senior F.B.I. officials. Mr. Samit's testimony paralleled the complaints of Coleen Rowley, an agent and lawyer in the Minneapolis office who sent a letter on May 21, 2002, to the bureau director, Robert S. Mueller III, bitterly criticizing the performance of F.B.I. headquarters agents in handling the Moussaoui case. But unlike Ms. Rowley, who has since left the bureau, Mr. Samit remains an agent and tried on Monday to adopt a defensive posture on its behalf. Nonetheless, his testimony provided a vivid condemnation of the bureau, as he was obliged to confirm how he had told investigators of his belief that his superiors had tried to sidestep their responsibilities. Mr. Samit said two senior agents had declined to provide help in obtaining a search warrant, either through a special panel of judges that considers applications for foreign intelligence cases or through a normal application to any federal court for a criminal investigation. As a field agent in Minnesota, he said, he required help and approval from headquarters to continue his investigation. He acknowledged that he had asserted that Michael Maltbie, a supervisor in the bureau's Radical Fundamentalist Unit, had told him that applications for the special intelligence court warrants had proved troublesome for the bureau and that seeking one "was just the kind of thing that would get F.B.I. agents in trouble." ( with Jamie Gorelick?) Mr. Samit wrote that Mr. Maltbie had told him that "he was not about to let that happen to him." During that period, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court had complained about improper applications from the bureau. Mr. Samit also acknowledged that he had asserted to investigators that David Frasca, Mr. Maltbie's superior, had similarly blocked him from seeking a search warrant under the more common route, a criminal investigation. Some of the special court's complaints dealt with the idea that law-enforcement officials were sometimes exploiting the lower standard required for warrants in intelligence investigations and then using the information that they obtained in criminal cases. Mr. Frasca, Mr. Samit explained, believed that once the Moussaoui investigation was opened as an intelligence inquiry, it would arouse suspicion that agents had been trying to abuse the intelligence law to get information for a case they now believed was a criminal one. Mr. Samit's comments, which were made to investigators for the Justice Department's inspector general and in a subsequent memorandum to the F.B.I., had not been made
[cia-drugs] Dog advocates seek answers for burned pup
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/crime/v-printer/story/5604534p-5036889c.html This is sick. The person who did this is probably the area's next serial killer. As usual, the police were less than helpful. They may be guilty of obstruction of justice by allowing the destruction of evidence by cremating the victim. JR Tacoma, WA - Tuesday, March 21, 2006 Back to Regular Story Page Dog advocates seek answers for burned pup ADAM LYNN; The News TribuneLast updated: March 21st, 2006 01:21 AM (PST)The case of a Federal Way puppy horribly burned with acid has inflamed the passions of animal welfare advocates across the globe and pitted them against the two local law enforcement agencies investigating what happened to Mooie. The 4-month-old pit bull was euphemized March 10 after being taken to an Auburn veterinary hospital with chemical burns over most of its body. Officials with Sultan-based Pasados Safe Haven, a private nonprofit animal rescue shelter, are convinced the dog was doused with acid intentionally and have accused the Federal Way Police Department and King County Animal Services of bungling the investigation a charge representatives from both agencies vehemently deny. It appears theyre not really doing anything, Pasado representative Larry Brothers said Monday. Officials from both agencies said they cant prove someone intentionally hurt the dog, not yet anyway, and its possible the dog got into the acid on its own. Al Dams, assistant manager for King County Animal Services, said he hopes a witness comes forward with information that can help his officers determine the truth. Dams said he also resents the attacks directed at his organization by Pasado and its supporters. Animal cruelty gets us more fired up than anything, he said. Felony animal cruelty is the highest offense we investigate, and we take it very seriously. Unsatisfied Pasado officials have launched a campaign to bombard both agencies and Puget Sound-area media outlets with letters and e-mails demanding action. The News Tribune alone has received several dozen e-mails from outraged dog lovers, some from as far away as Texas and Iowa, and Pasados Safe Haven has been contacted by people from Europe and Paraguay. In addition, private contributors have kicked in $5,000 in recent days to increase a reward for information offered by Pasado from $10,000 to $15,000, Brothers said. This is a particularly heinous case because of the way this little puppy suffered, he said. A passer-by found the dog in the yard of a house in the vicinity of the 28900 28th Place South. Mooie belonged to someone who lives down the street. Federal Way police spokeswoman Stacey Flores said Mooies owner didnt know the dog which had been Valentines Day present was missing until later contacted by authorities. The passer-by who found Mooie took the dog to the animal hospital in Auburn, where the pit bull was humanely killed after a veterinarian determined it could not be saved. Federal Way police were called but passed the case onto King County Animal Services, Flores said. Theyre the experts in such cases, Flores said. We dont have anyone who saw what happened. Right now, theres no one to investigate. Were left with nothing. Contacted by the animal hospital, Pasado launched its own investigation which included fishing through private trash cans and concluded the official query was lacking, Brothers said. Pasado investigators contend authorities cremated the dogs carcass before performing a necropsy on it and have been slow to obtain a warrant to search what animal welfare advocates believe to be the home of a potential suspect. A necropsy an autopsy on an animal could have provided significant clues to what kind of substance burned the dog, Brothers said. That information then could be used to identify a possible suspect, he said. Dams said his agency is conducting a thorough investigation and that a sergeant and another officer are assigned to the case. Investigators have pictures of Mooies body, her collar which was exposed to the acid and statements from those involved in the case, Dams said. We didnt need a necropsy. We know how she died. She was euthanized, he said. We have plenty of evidence. What we need now is for a witness to come forward and tell us what they saw. Or we need a suspect to come forward and confess. Call with tips Anyone with information on what
[cia-drugs] Countdown to Terror ticks on
http://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/cover032006.htm Countdown to Terror ticks onBy Judi McLeodMonday, March 20, 2006 Congressman Curt Weldon is keeping me up nights. It's the intrigues like Able Danger and the so-called "Toronto 19". I received a personal telephone call from Weldon on Wednesday asking me if I had followed up on whatever was available through research on suspected terrorists in the "Toronto 19". Canada Free Press Associate Editor Arthur Weinreb, office manager Dan Carrier and myself had met with Weldon in his office on Feb. 15. Both Weinreb and I tried to find more details about the fate of the group on our return to Toronto, but could come up with no more information than what Weldon already revealed in his book, Countdown to Terror. However, I suggested to Weldon during Wednesdays phone call that he should try Canada's new Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day. "He's a sort of Curt Weldon of Canada," I told him. One of those politicians who comes with the courage of his convictions and one ready to rid this country of terrorists." With the help of contact Brian McAdam, there was an attempt by Weldon's office to reach Day's. I don't know if it was successful. But I do know that two days later Weldon told the Philadelphia Inquirer that Osama bin Laden had died. "Weldon cited as his source an Iranian exile code-named Ali, telling the paper: "Ali's told me that Osama bin Laden is dead. He died in Iran." (NewsMax.com. March 17, 2006). "The Pennsylvania Republican has long alleged that bin Laden has been using Iran for sanctuary. "In June last year, Weldon said in a TV interview: "I'm confident that I know for sure that (bin Laden) has been in and out of Iran Two years ago, he was in the southern town of Ladis, 10 kilometers inside the Pakistan border, I also know that earlier this year, he had a meeting with al-Zarqawi in Tehran "If you look at the recent comments coming out of both the CIA and some of our military generals in theatre, they're now acknowledging the same thing that I've been saying--that in fact, he's been in and out of Iran. "(But) no one can prove it exactly until we capture him." When it comes to Intelligence, Weldon is an off the screen 007. The first mention of Able Danger, the military intelligence team that had identified Mohammad Atta as a terrorist threat before the 9/11 attacks, came in Weldons book, Countdown to Terror. Back in February, Weldon ruefully told me in his office that the Democrats did not want to hear about Able Danger and that the same could be aid for his fellow Republicans. "But I have no intention of closing the books on Able Danger," he said. Now hes back on the hunt to unearth the final fate of "Toronto 19" members. Like most, I learned about the group only in snippets and bits in the mainstream media. In Countdown to Terror, Weldon strings the snippets together. "Members of the "Toronto 19" were all single Muslim males eighteeen to thirty-three old from Pakistan, with the exception of one Indian," he wrote. Significantly, Ali told us the terrorist cell in Canada plotting to attack the Seabrook Nuclear Reactor would be mostly Pakistani or Saudi, not Iranian, as the Committee of Nine did not want the plot traced back to Tehran. "Most of the "Toronto 19" were from, or had connections to, Pakistans Punjab province, noted for Sunni extremism, and had studied at the same madrassa, a school notorious for teaching militant Islam. "All were in Canada illegally, on fake student visas obtained with phony documents from the Ottawa Business College, a front operation supporting illegal immigration into Canada. All entered Canada before September 11, 2001, the last just six days before al Qaedas attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. "Like the September 11 terrorists, the "Toronto 19" lived together in groups, kept to themselves, did not attend classes, pursued no other occupations, and lacked visible means of support. Yet, with no identifiable source of income, one of them had over $40,000 in the bank. "One member of the "Toronto 19" was associated with the Global Relief Organization, identified by the FBI and the United Nations as a terrorist front operation that raises funds for al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. "The fire department made repeated emergency calls to one of the apartments used by the group, where it is suspected they were mixing and testing explosives, similar to a terrorist cell discovered in England, which was caught because of their repeated apartment fires. "Members of the "Toronto 19" traveled from Canada to the United States, apparently to reconnoiter targets. Members of the group collected schematics of airliners, firearms, and important buildings. "Members of the "Toronto 19" were highly curious about nuclear matters. They cultivated associates known to have access to nuclear gauges and are suspected of stealing a nuclear gauge in Toronto. These
[cia-drugs] Bush senior lobbies China for Citigroup banking
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060320/ts_alt_afp/chinauscompanycitigroupbush_060320061727printer=1;_ylt=AiTJfWeoie_3UicboO0k73XZa7gF;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE- Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Fw: Chuck Baldwin's March 17 Food for Thought: America's Leaders Selling Our Country Out From Under Us
This is a must read. The port deal with UAE is but the tip of a gigantic ice berg. JR - Original Message - From: Chuck Baldwin [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: 00chuck-wagon [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, March 17, 2006 12:06 PM Subject: Chuck Baldwin's March 17 Food for Thought: America's Leaders Selling Our Country Out From Under Us America's Leaders Selling Our Country Out From Under Us By Chuck Baldwin March 17, 2006 The recent attempt by the Bush administration to turn at least six U.S. sea ports over to the control of the United Arab Emirates is only the latest example of how America's leaders are selling our country right out from under us. According to the March 8, 2006 edition of The Washington Times, Homeland Security officials, who initially said there are about 850 terminals nationwide, now say there are 3,200 terminals, up to 80 percent of which are operated by foreign companies and countries. When pressed, Homeland Security officials admit that they do not even know exactly who controls our ports. As one Homeland Security officer put it, It's as clear as mud. The Times report goes on to say, Countries operating U.S. terminals include China and Singapore. Foreign businesses include companies from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, London and Denmark. By the way, readers need to be alert to the fact that the Dubai deal is anything but nixed. Newsday recently reported Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist as acknowledging that if an American buyer is not found, and the Bush administration determines there are no security risks, a deal for DP World to manage and operate major U.S. ports still could go through. Frist told ABC's This Week, If everything that the president, the administration has said, and that is that there is absolutely no threatening or jeopardy to our security and safety of the American people, I don't see how the deal would have to be canceled. Remember, too, as I reported in this column (http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/cwarchive_031006.html), the Bush administration is proceeding with plans to turn over at least nine military facilities to the United Arab Emirates. Interestingly enough, Congress has made absolutely no attempts to block this deal, and with the exception of a few newspapers, the major media has not even bothered to cover this story. Furthermore, let's not forget that the Communist Chinese Army now controls the Panama Canal and also controls port terminals in Seattle, Washington, and Long Beach, California. America's leaders are willfully and deliberately outsourcing every viable asset we have to foreign countries. Ever since President Bill Clinton and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole collaborated to ram NAFTA and GATT down our throats, the rush to outsource America's jobs, industries, and even our security has been in full swing (and FTAA is just around the corner). Coincidentally, according to Human Events, Bob Dole and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright have both been agents for UAE government-owned Dubai Ports World. Dole as a Washington lobbyist and Albright on a recent trip to the People's Republic of China. Furthermore, Bush administration officials also have financial ties to Dubai Ports World. [Treasury Secretary John] Snow was chairman of the CSX rail firm that sold its own international port operations to DP World for $1.5 billion in 2004, the year after Snow left for President Bush's cabinet. (Source: New York Daily News, Tuesday, Feb. 21st, 2006) Snow is not alone. New York Daily News also reports that David Sanborn, who was tapped by Bush to lead the U.S. Maritime Administration also runs DP World's European and Latin American operations. American industries are vanishing as are American jobs. Our public education system is so bad we cannot supply needed demands in our medical and science sectors. Even worse, we cannot even meet the recruiting demands of our military. One recent news report said that of all young people between the ages of 17 and 24 (who would be eligible for military recruitment) at least 75% were determined to be unqualified. They are either too fat, too dumb, or too undisciplined. The Army doesn't want them! Therefore, along with doctors, engineers, scientists, teachers, and laborers, we are importing soldiers! Speaking of our military, you do know that U.S. soldiers have now been put under foreign commanders in Afghanistan, don't you? Well, it's true. Just read the AP news wire dated Tuesday, March 14. Also, think about this: according to government statistics, foreigners own 65% or our metal ore mining industry, 65% of our database publishers, 62% of our cement, concrete, lime, and gypsum products, 57% of our engine, turbine, and power transmission equipment, 53% of our rubber products, 53% of our nonmetallic mineral products manufacturing, 52% of our plastics manufacturing, 50% of our oiler, tank, and shipping containers, 48%
[cia-drugs] Carlyle Group explores acquisition of port operations
http://www.legitgov.org/index Gee. What a surprise! Who could have guessed? JR Carlyle Group explores acquisition of port operations 10 Mar 2006 Private equity firm [Bush bin Laden terrorism facilitator] The Carlyle Group established a team to acquire public-purpose facilities such as ports a day after a United Arab Emirates company said it would transfer newly acquired operations at American ports to a U.S. organization. D.C.-based Carlyle Group announced an eight-person team would invest in public-purpose infrastructure projects such as ports, transportation and water facilities, airports, bridges and stadiums. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Dubai Firm to Sell U.S. Port Operations
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/09/AR2006030901124_pf.html Dubai Firm to Sell U.S. Port OperationsMove to End Three-Week Dispute Comes After GOP Lawmakers, Defying Bush, Vowed to Kill Deal By Jonathan Weisman and Bradley GrahamWashington Post Staff WritersFriday, March 10, 2006; A01 A United Arab Emirates-based maritime company at the center of a furious controversy over port security bowed to pressure from Congress yesterday and announced that it will sell off its U.S. operations to an American owner. The announcement, issued by Dubai Ports World Chief Operating Officer Edward H. Bilkey, came hours after House and Senate GOP leaders bluntly told President Bush that Congress would kill the U.S. portions of the company's $6.8 billion acquisition of London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. (PO), which has operations at six major U.S. ports, including New York and Baltimore. The company's decision climaxed a three-week furor that pitted both Republicans and Democrats in Congress against Bush on a volatile national security issue in a midterm-election year. Fueled by fear of terrorism in a post-Sept. 11 world, opposition to the port deal mushroomed to the point at which even Bush's veto threat proved ineffective and, if anything, further aggravated even GOP allies. The White House praised the UAE-based company for its decision and reaffirmed the "strong relationship" between the two nations. "This decision provides a way forward and will allow us to continue working on other issues," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said in an interview. Although the demise of the U.S. port deal is sure to leave badly bruised feelings in the UAE, of which Dubai is a part, analysts predicted that the United States will be able to preserve its extensive security and economic ties with the tiny country, given the strong mutual interests at stake. The bigger problem, they said, will be the new damage done to the U.S. image in the Muslim world. Even before the deal fell through, Arab media had been portraying U.S. opposition as an anti-Arab slur, contrasting that resistance to the acceptance generally accorded in the United States to investments from Asian and European entities. "This can only make the already-damaged image worse," said Youssef M. Ibrahim, managing director of Dubai-based Strategic Energy Investment Group. "The problem is, for four or five years, we haven't found a way to repair that damaged image." It is not clear which American company is willing to buy DP World's U.S. operations. About 75 percent of containers that enter U.S. ports go through terminals that are operated by foreign-owned firms. Officials at Seattle-based SSA Marine, the largest U.S.-owned terminal operator, said they have not been contacted. Some potential bidders may seek to join forces with firms that already have operations at U.S. ports. But the process is in the early stages, and DP World appears to be determined to avoid a fire sale. One potential private-equity buyer is Washington's Carlyle Group, which bought the U.S. container-shipping business of CSX Corp. in 2002 for $300 million, selling it two years later for $650 million. Also, the Dubai government has been an investor in Carlyle's investment funds and put $100 million into its latest, $7.85 billion buyout fund. A source at Carlyle, however, said the firm will probably not be interested in PO's port operations, given the political scrutiny such a deal would invite. Another potential private-equity buyer is the Blackstone Group of New York. Though not ruling out an offer for the business, a source at the firm said it is too early to tell whether PO's U.S. operations are even worth seeking. The administration quietly approved the sale of British-owned PO to DP World on Jan. 17 after a review by its secretive Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States. But stung by the public and political outcry once the decision became widely known last month, the White House and the company owned by the Dubai government tried to placate critics by agreeing to a 45-day review of the deal's national security implications. Congress began acting this week to revoke the sale, driven by constituent fears that Arab state ownership of U.S. port operations would compromise security. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John W. Warner (R-Va.) warned company officials Wednesday that they would be prudent to cut a deal allowing them to sell off their newly acquired U.S. operations through normal business channels. "Because of the strong relationship between the United Arab Emirates and the United States and to preserve this relationship, DP World has decided to transfer fully the U.S. operations of PO Ports North America, Inc. to a United States entity," Bilkey announced in a statement. "This decision is
[cia-drugs] Curt Weldon: Bin Laden Is Dead
Reprinted from NewsMax.com Friday, March 17, 2006 6:40 a.m. EST Curt Weldon: Bin Laden Is Dead Rep. Curt Weldon, who broke the Able Danger story last year revealing that military intelligence had identified lead hijacker Mohamed Atta as a terrorist threat before the 9/11 attacks, now says that Osama bin Laden has died. Weldon made the stunning claim during an interview Wednesday with the Philadelphia Inquirer, which reported: "Weldon is making explosive new allegations. He says a high-level source has told him that terrorist leader Osama bin Laden has died in Iran, where he has been in hiding." Weldon cited as his source an Iranian exile code-named Ali, telling the paper: "Ali's told me that Osama bin Laden is dead. He died in Iran." Weldon said he last spoke to Ali three weeks ago. The Iranian exile was a prominent source for his 2005 book, "Countdown to Terror." The book also contained the first mention of the Able Danger data mining operation. The Pennsylvania Republican has long alleged that bin Laden has been using Iran for sanctuary. In June last year, Weldon said in a TV interview: "I'm confident that I know for sure that [bin Laden] has been in and out of Iran ... Two years ago, he was in the southern town of Ladis, 10 kilometers inside the Pakistan border. I also know that earlier this year, he had a meeting with al-Zarqawi in Tehran ... "If you look at the recent comments coming out of both the CIA and some of our military generals in theater, they're now acknowledging the same thing that I've been saying - that in fact, he's been in and out of Iran. "[But] no one can prove it exactly until we capture him." Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] UAE ports
These are the ports the UAE acquired when it bought the British company P O. East Coast 1. Portland 2. Boston 3. Dansville 4. New Jersey 5. New York 6. Philadelphia 7. Camden 8. Baltimore 9. Wilmington 10. Norfolk 11. Miami Gulf Coast 1. Gulfport 2. New Orleans 3. Baton Rouge 4. Lake Charles 5. Port Arthur 6. Corpus Christi 7. Freeport 8. Galveston 9. Houston 10. Beaumont Source - PO exhibit on its website Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Dubai company to sell port operations in 4-6 months
Dubai company to sell port operations in 4-6 months A Dubai-owned company today said it plans to sell all its U.S. port operations within four to six months to an unrelated American buyer and laid out new details about how it plans to pursue the sale under pressure from Congress. DP World said that until the sale is finalized, its U.S. businesses will be operated independently. The announcement was the first time DP World described its plans for the U.S. operations as a sale and indicated it would retain no stake in them. An expedited sale process is under way and with the cooperation of the port authorities and joint venture partners, it is expected that a sale can be agreed within four to six months, the company said in a statement. DP World said it will provide information about its business to interested parties, which it did not identify, and said it will assess offers based on what it described as value, deliverability and the continuity of management, employees and customers. The new disclosures by DP World responded to questions raised since its announcement last week about how it intends to transfer to an unspecified American company all the U.S. operations it acquired when it bought London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. for $6.8 billion. The British company handles significant operations at ports in New Jersey, New York, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia plus lesser dockside activities at 16 other ports in this country. DP World has said those U.S. operations are worth roughly $700 million. DP World said until the sale is complete, its U.S. operations will be managed independently by PO Ports North America Inc., the wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of the British company it bought. Since DP Worlds announcement last week, Republicans and Democrats alike in Congress have questioned whether the company planned a full divestiture or whether it would retain some stake in the U.S. operations. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Bush Official Calls Reviews for Deals Adequate
This is an important article. The New York Times takes the lead in setting forth the propaganda line to be followed by the left (including the left in the media) and the useful idiots in Congress whose only concern is getting reelected. Henceforth, those who put national security ahead of foreign "Investment" will be denigrated as "isolationists" who are putting the national economy at risk. JR http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/15/politics/15port.html?pagewanted=print March 15, 2006 Bush Official Calls Reviews for Deals Adequate By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and PATRICK HEALY WASHINGTON, March 14 The Bush administration pushed back Tuesday against Republican lawmakers' plans to change the review process for foreign acquisitions, saying national security was already the top concern of the committee that approved a Dubai-owned company's aborted takeover of several port terminals in the United States. Treasury Secretary John W. Snow, speaking to a bankers' trade group, said the administration supported some revisions to the review process for such foreign acquisitions, but he also warned against changes that might discourage foreign investment. "This is not a question of a trade-off between investment and security," Mr. Snow said. "We have never made that trade-off. It is vital that we avoid taking steps in the name of national security that instead are , isolationist having the effect of choking off vital investments in America." Mr. Snow's comments countered the arguments of many in Congress that the approval of the Dubai ports deal exposed deep flaws in the review process, which lawmakers in both parties have said weights commercial considerations too heavily and domestic security not heavily enough. He spoke as Republican lawmakers were preparing conflicting proposals to expand the roles of the Department of Homeland Security, intelligence agencies and members of Congress in the review process. Reviews are currently conducted in secret by a panel within the executive branch that is headed by the treasury secretary and known as the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States. On Monday, Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine and chairwoman of the Senate homeland security committee, and Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, the ranking Democrat on the committee, introduced legislation to replace the existing review committee with a new committee that would be headed by the secretary of homeland security and include a special role for the director of national intelligence. Their bill would require the new committee to brief members of Congress on its work and would mandate closer scrutiny of acquirers owned by foreign governments. DP World, the company that had sought to acquire port terminals in the United States, is owned by the ruler of Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. Other Republican proposals adopt similar approaches. The Senate banking committee has jurisdiction over the existing review panel, which is led by the treasury, and the banking committee's chairman, Senator Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, is working on a proposal that would make the defense secretary co-chairman of the existing review panel and give Congress the chance to vote down any deals. Mr. Snow, however, said Tuesday that national security was already the "top priority" and "only consideration" for the current review panel. The administration favored "further integration of national and homeland security interests" and expanding "notification of decisions" to Congress. But he stressed the importance of preserving the independence of the committee and protecting the confidentiality of proprietary information that companies share during the review. Uncertainty "could chill investment," Mr. Snow said. "Clearly economic isolationism is not the way to go, as it would threaten opportunity and prosperity for Americans and billions of people all over the world." Separately, former President Bill Clinton, at a news conference in Harlem, answered questions about his role in the ports deal. He said news reports that he had worked to support approval of the deal were "not true," and said that he shared the views of his wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, that the United States should block the takeover. Mrs. Clinton co-sponsored legislation that would prevent the acquisition of any port operations by companies that are owned by foreign governments. She also called for a more thorough review of the DP World deal and repeatedly inveighed against the security threat that the takeover might represent. But Mr. Clinton also confirmed that he had advised Dubai on the modernization of its economy and that he had given some advice to the country about how to respond to the uproar over the deal. "I had one phone conversation with them, in which I said I thought there would be enormous public opposition and I couldn't understand why
Re: [cia-drugs] Barry and the Boys
Read Clinton, Bush and the CIA by Terry Reed.. Terry was a pilot for the CIA and spent some time with Barry Seal. JR - Original Message - From: jemabri [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: cia-drugs@yahoogroups.com Sent: Wednesday, March 15, 2006 4:41 PM Subject: [cia-drugs] Barry and the Boys I recently read Barry and the boy's and was trully astonished my some of the implications in the book, by no stretch of the imagination do I find some of the info completely unlikely. However I am a complete novice when it comes to this subject and I wanted to read up on some of the specifics in this book. I understand the suggestions that he is alluding to but wanted to check some of the facts. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to find refrence material about details in the book? The help would mean alot to me some of the insinuations hit very close to home! Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM Yahoo! Groups Links Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cia-drugs/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[cia-drugs] Dubai Firm Verifies Plan On U.S. Ports
" the most likely bidders are expected to be private equity firms" Can you say Carlyle Group? JR http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/16/national/16ports.html?pagewanted=print March 16, 2006 Dubai Firm Verifies Plan On U.S. Ports By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK WASHINGTON, March 15 The Dubai-owned company that acquired several port terminals in major East Coast cities confirmed Wednesday that it would sell those operations to an unrelated American buyer, ending speculation about the ambiguity in its previous statements that it would "transfer" the terminals to a "U.S. entity." Congressional critics of the acquisition said the company's statement appeared to end the matter. "It now seems clear that this deal has finally been scuttled," said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, who helped lead the charge against the deal. "This announcement, once it is fulfilled, is exactly what we've been asking for." The company, DP World, said in a statement that it expected to complete the sale in four to six months. The company said it has begun preparing financial information about the terminals and soliciting bids. The North American operations are valued at about $700 million. DP World last week closed its acquisition of the British company P O Group, which ran some of the terminal operations in in New York, Newark, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Miami and New Orleans. DP World said it would operate the United States terminals through a special independent holding company until it spun them off to a new owner. The company, which is owned by the ruler of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, made its announcement as the House of Representatives voted 377 to 38 to retain a block on the American part of the P O acquisition in a bill expected to be approved by the chamber on Thursday. Critics of the planned operation of the terminals by DP World had continued to attack it even after the company announced a "transfer." They argued that the company's initial wording left open the possibility that it might seek to transfer the terminals to a related entity or an American subsidiary rather than divest fully. DP World said it had retained Deutsche Bank and the law firm Sullivan Cromwell to handle the sale. The Washington law firm Alston Bird will handle any lobbying and regulatory matters. Because there are few major terminal operators based in the United States, the most likely bidders are expected to be private equity firms who would seek to profit by reselling the terminals within a few years. Copyright 2006The New York Times Company Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Dubai firm accused of breaking pledge to divest itself of U.S. port operations
Prediction. No buyer can be found and nosecurity risks identified. Should we be surprised?Of course this only applies to the six ports originally identified. No one is talking about the other 21 ports (a total of 27) Dubai manages in the U.S. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/local/sfl-zport14mar14,0,1763918.story Dubai firm accused of breaking pledge to divest itself of U.S. port operations By Doreen HemlockSouth Florida Sun-SentinelMarch 14, 2006 The weeks-long saga of Dubai Ports World's purchase of operations in Miami and five other U.S. seaports took another turn Monday, when the company's Fort Lauderdale nemesis publicized a private e-mail and charged the note shows the Arab company has no intention of selling its U.S. assets.Eller Co., now a partner with DP World in a Miami operation after DP bought out a British firm last week, shared an e-mail that said the Arab company's sale of U.S. assets "would probably take a while."The e-mail from Robert Scavone, a vice president for the port company now owned by DP World, also told managers in Miami to assume for now "ownership is not going to change."Eller's lawyer Michael N. Kreitzer said Monday the e-mail proves the Arab company has no plans to meet Thursday's pledge to transfer U.S. assets to a U.S. entity. The move aims to quell political furor -- much of it stirred up by Eller on Capitol Hill."We're making this public because we think Congress should do what it planned last week -- to pass a bill to specifically disavow the Dubai company from owning a U.S. port operation," Kreitzer said by phone.But Scavone told The Associated Press that the e-mail instead was intended to reassure officials at the Miami unit that uncertainty surrounding ownership would not affect their work and operations.Eller has been fighting for years against the British company that was its partner in the Miami ports venture and now has a lawsuit against DP World seeking $100 million in damages. It alleges both companies violated contract terms by buying and selling stakes without its consent. It also claims Dubai's ownership will hurt its operations.The company has been pressing its case with fervor to Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. Schumer claimed the purchase of port operations by a United Arab Emirates government-owned company would compromise U.S. security."It is the American people's understanding that Dubai Ports World promised to relinquish control of all U.S. ports," Schumer told the AP on Monday. "If that is not the case, we will move our legislation immediately and force them to do just that."His comments came a day after Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said a Dubai purchase could still go through. If a U.S. buyer is not found, and a 45-day review finds no security risks, "I don't see how the deal would have to be canceled," Frist said on ABC's This Week.Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.Doreen Hemlock can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 305-810-5009. Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. 4.0%20(compatible%3B%20MSIE%206.0%3B%20Windows%20NT%205.1%3B%20SV1),TID,122n6jc11vfogorandom=rNoard,bcboyNdbfhuip Description: Binary data sfl-zport14mar14%2C0%2C1474386%2Cprint.storytz=300s=12201c_TID=122n6jc11vfogoc_TID=122n6jc11vfogoc_rcid=null Description: Binary data sfl-zport14mar14%2C0%2C1474386%2Cprint.storytimezone=300clist_TID=122n6jc11vfogovar_rcid= Description: Binary data NS?ci=703di=d009pg=ai= Description: Binary data sfl-zport14mar14%2C0%2C1474386%2Cprint.storyot=Aoi=450s=800x600c=16j=1.3v=Yk=Ybw=668bh=402ct=lanhp=N[AQE] Description: Binary data
[cia-drugs] Monroe Doctrine
Is this a dead letter? Neither the European countries nor the United States has lived up to the spirit and intent. JR http://www.pixi.com/~kingdom/monroe.html#top Monroe Doctrine December 2, 1823 The Monroe Doctrine was expressed during President Monroe's seventh annual message to Congress . . . At the proposal of the Russian Imperial Government, made through the minister of the Emperor residing here, a full power and instructions have been transmitted to the minister of the United States at St. Petersburg to arrange by amicable negotiation the respective rights and interests of the two nations on the northwest coast of this continent. A similar proposal has been made by His Imperial Majesty to the Government of Great Britain, which has likewise been acceded to. The Government of the United States has been desirous by this friendly proceeding of manifesting the great value which they have invariably attached to the friendship of the Emperor and their solicitude to cultivate the best understanding with his Government. In the discussions to which this interest has given rise and in the arrangements by which they may terminate the occasion has been judged proper for asserting, as a principle in which the rights and interests of the United States are involved, that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers. . . It was stated at the commencement of the last session that a great effort was then making in Spain and Portugal to improve the condition of the people of those countries, and that it appeared to be conducted with extraordinary moderation. It need scarcely be remarked that the results have been so far very different from what was then anticipated. Of events in that quarter of the globe, with which we have so much intercourse and from which we derive our origin, we have always been anxious and interested spectators. The citizens of the United States cherish sentiments the most friendly in favor of the liberty and happiness of their fellow-men on that side of the Atlantic. In the wars of the European powers in matters relating to themselves we have never taken any part, nor does it comport with our policy to do so. It is only when our rights are invaded or seriously menaced that we resent injuries or make preparation for our defense. With the movements in this hemisphere we are of necessity more immediately connected, and by causes which must be obvious to all enlightened and impartial observers. The political system of the allied powers is essentially different in this respect from that of America. This difference proceeds from that which exists in their respective Governments; and to the defense of our own, which has been achieved by the loss of so much blood and treasure, and matured by the wisdom of their most enlightened citizens, and under which we have enjoyed unexampled felicity, this whole nation is devoted. We owe it, therefore, to candor and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and those powers to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing colonies or dependencies of any European power we have not interfered and shall not interfere. But with the Governments who have declared their independence and maintain it, and whose independence we have, on great consideration and on just principles, acknowledged, we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any European power in any other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States. In the war between those new Governments and Spain we declared our neutrality at the time of their recognition, and to this we have adhered, and shall continue to adhere, provided no change shall occur which, in the judgement of the competent authorities of this Government, shall make a corresponding change on the part of the United States indispensable to their security. The late events in Spain and Portugal shew that Europe is still unsettled. Of this important fact no stronger proof can be adduced than that the allied powers should have thought it proper, on any principle satisfactory to themselves, to have interposed by force in the internal concerns of Spain. To what extent such interposition may be carried, on the same principle, is a question in which all independent powers whose governments differ from theirs are interested, even those most remote, and surely none of them more so than the United States. Our policy in regard to Europe, which was adopted at an early stage of the wars which have so long agitated that quarter of the globe, nevertheless remains the same, which is, not
[cia-drugs] Governors endorse guest worker plan
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/13988465.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp Posted on Wed, Mar. 01, 2006 Governors endorse guest worker planBUT WESTERNERS DON'T SAY WHICH VERSION IS BESTBy Erica WernerAssociated Press WASHINGTON - The Western Governors Association called on Congress Tuesday to pass comprehensive immigration reform, including a temporary guest worker program. The group that represents 18 Western states passed the policy resolution unanimously while meeting at the National Governors Association annual conference. The vote came as the Senate prepares to take up immigration legislation this spring. ``When you think about issues that impact the West, this immigration issue is really the top issue right now,'' said Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat, who chairs the Western governors group. ``We believe that some of the rhetoric coming out of our nation's capitol vis-a-vis illegal immigration is unfounded and unwise, and what we really need is a very comprehensive approach to this issue,'' she said. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who in the past has said he supports a guest worker program that would require the worker to leave the United States after some years, said immigration policies are outdated and the federal government must deal with them. ``Ideally we have a perfect situation where you have people that want to work and you have companies that need workers, so you have supply and demand, but how do you make that work is really the big challenge,'' Schwarzenegger said. There's strong disagreement on Capitol Hill over immigration legislation. The Republican-controlled House passed an immigration bill in December that tightened border controls, authorized fencing portions of the border and made illegal presence in the United States a felony. The House measure did not include a guest worker plan. Democrats criticized the bill as too punitive. The Senate Judiciary Committee will take up legislation Thursday by Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., that includes a guest worker program and creates a new ``conditional non-immigrant work authorization'' status for illegal immigrants already in the United States. The immigrants could gain temporary legal status by paying back taxes and getting an employer to pay a fee. Specter's guest worker proposal is similar to a plan advanced by President Bush, and to a bill by Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Jon Kyl of Arizona. Those proposals would allow immigrants to stay in the United States for up to six years before returning to their home countries. The Western Governors Association's resolution -- the group's first attempt to tackle the immigration issue -- did not offer details on how the temporary guest worker program would work. It also did not offer ideas on what to do about the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants now in the country. The resolution called for building regional federal prisons to house illegal immigrants who commit crimes, and increasing the numbers of available green cards for general workers and H-1B visas for high-tech and other skilled workers. © 2006 MercuryNews.com and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.http://www.mercurynews.com Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email
[cia-drugs] HHS Buys Additional Antiviral Medication
News Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEWednesday, March 1, 2006 Contact: HHS Press Office(202) 690-6343 News Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEWednesday, March 1, 2006 Contact: HHS Press Office(202) 690-6343 HHS Buys Additional Antiviral Medication As Preparations for Potential Influenza Pandemic Continue HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today announced the purchase of additional antiviral drugs that could be used in the event of a potential influenza pandemic. The department has ordered 1.75 million treatment courses of antiviral drug zanamivir (Relenza®) from GlaxoSmithKline and 12.4 million treatment courses of oseltamivir phosphate (Tamiflu®) from Roche. These drugs will be added to the already purchased 5.5 million treatment courses of antiviral drugs for the Strategic National Stockpile and be provided to the states when an influenza pandemic is deemed to be imminent. "Having a stockpile of antiviral drugs is an important part of our pandemic influenza preparedness plan," Secretary Leavitt said. "These purchases are a continuation of our aggressive multi-pronged approach to a potentially critical public health challenge." The HHS Pandemic Plan calls for the department, in concert with the Congress and in collaboration with the states, to ultimately acquire sufficient quantities of antiviral drugs to treat 25 percent of the U.S. population. An added goal of these purchases is to stimulate development of expanded domestic production capacity sufficient to accommodate subsequent needs through normal commercial transactions. Today's acquisition announcement builds on the Administration's overall planning to increase pandemic preparedness. President Bush has outlined a coordinated government strategy that includes the establishing the new International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza, stockpiling antiviral medications, enhancing domestic capacity to develop and manufacture influenza vaccines and dose-sparing technology, expanding early-warning systems domestically and abroad and new funding and initiatives for local and state level preparedness. In December 2005, Secretary Leavitt met with senior officials from all 50 states and launched a series of preparedness summits to be held in every state over the next several months with the goal of enhancing state and local preparedness. To date, pandemic preparedness summits have been held in 18 states including Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont and West Virginia. More information on pandemic preparedness is available at www.pandemicflu.gov. ### Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news. Last revised: March 1, 2006 U.S. Department of Health Human Services · 200 Independence Avenue, S.W. · Washington, D.C. 20201 Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Snow: The U.S. must uphold the sale of facilities at six ports to a Dubai company
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/business/14009995.htm#snow The U.S. must uphold the sale of facilities at six ports to a Dubai company or risk damaging its position as an advocate of free trade, U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said. Its awfully important that we come out the right way on this, Snow told reporters Thursday in Santa Clara, Calif. Anything that we do that diminishes our role as a leader on trade liberalization and open markets undercuts our moral authority in the world to push for those very things in other places. Snow has focused on convincing trade partners from China to Brazil to open up capital markets, liberalize currency systems and modernize their financial markets to allow more trade and direct investment. Snow visited all three countries in the second half of last year. U.S. lawmakers are considering legislation to slow or block the $6.8 billion sale of Peninsular Oriental Steam Navigation Co., which has operations at the U.S. ports, to DP World, a company controlled by the royal family of Dubai. Any such move could make it harder to the U.S. to convince reluctant nations to open up to investment, Snow said. American business needs access to the rest of the world, Snow said in an interview. If were going to have access to the rest of the world on good terms, weve got to keep the U.S. open. U.S. company to take ports case to British appeals court A Miami company objecting to the takeover of British shipping company PO by Dubais state-owned DP World said today it has been granted the right to take the case to Britains Court of Appeal a move that puts the deal on hold. Miami-based Eller Co., which says its business could be harmed by U.S. concerns over a United Arab Emirates company controlling significant operations at six major U.S. seaports, said Britains Court of Appeal would hear its petition for an appeal on Monday. If the right to appeal is granted, the higher court will immediately hear the case. Both PO and DP World will incur hefty costs while the case drags on and lawyers have said they intend to pursue Eller for the High Court costs when the appeal is decided. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] House subcommittee questions administration review of foreign deals
http://news.findlaw.com/ap/p/56/03-02-2006/d7ea001383212e71.html http://news.findlaw.com Wednesday, March 1, 2006 House subcommittee questions administration review of foreign deals By DAVID HAMMER Associated Press Writer (AP) - WASHINGTON-As questions continued about a Dubai-based company's plans to take over some U.S. port operations, a House subcommittee on Wednesday questioned the secretive process for reviewing foreign investments in U.S. assets. The executive branch review panel, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, has been quietly approving hundreds of investment deals for more than 30 years, only reporting their findings to Congress after the transactions were complete. Lawmakers on a House Financial Services subcommittee that oversees the review panel asked to be included more readily in a process that raised no red flags when United Arab Emirates-based DP World moved to buy the British company now in charge of 27 terminals at six U.S. seaports. "Perhaps it's time to bring the process into a new decade with more transparency," said Republican lawmaker Deborah Pryce, the subcommittee chairwoman and generally a staunch supporter of President George W. Bush's administration. "Clearly, the administration's approval process reflects a pre-9/11 mentality," said Carolyn Maloney, the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee. Deputy Treasury Secretary Robert Kimmitt said more involvement by higher-ranking agency officials and better, earlier briefings of congressional oversight committees would be warranted. "Let's notify the Congress," Kimmitt said. "It would have given us a better chance to present the facts" of the Dubai deal before the controversy erupted. Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Michael Jackson said his department has already made internal changes to make sure "front office" officials are notified of such deals during the initial review. Lawmakers in both parties have complained the review of the Dubai deal was "casual and cursory," and the deputy-level officials acknowledged Wednesday that lower-level employees made the decision in January to approve the deal without notifying them until February. The Bush administration has agreed to conduct a full 45-day investigation, although the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, Barney Frank, doubted it could be objective. Other lawmakers on the subcommittee challenged the administration's claims that the United Arab Emirites is a full ally in the war on terror.2006-03-02T03:07:25Z Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright © 1994-2004FindLaw Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Able Danger Whistleblowers File Suit Against Defense Agencies
March 02, 2006 Able Danger Whistleblowers File Suit Against Defense Agencies Men Were Not Allowed Counsel During Closed Hearings Able Danger whistleblowers Anthony Shaffer and J.D. Smith have filed a lawsuit against the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, the Department of the Army, and against George Peirce, Robert H. Berry, Jr., William J. Haynes, II, Esq., and Tom Taylor - acting both as individuals and as counsels for the DIA, the DoD, and the Department of the Army. Attorney for the plaintiffs Mark Zaid, with whom I participated in a conference call regarding Able Danger, has released a PDF file of the filing. The basis of the complaint (Civil Action No. 06-271 (GK)) is that Shaffer and Smith were denied their First Amendment right to counsel by the defendants during closed, classified Congressional hearings about the Able Danger program. Shaffer and Smith were not compelled to testify, but "...it was made clear that were Shaffer or Smith to decline to appear voluntarily they would be compelled to do so." The suit seeks that the court direct the defendants to allow the plaintiffs' attorneys be granted access to classified material, through expedited clearance procedures, if necessary. the suit also alleges that the defendants violated their own internal rules regarding right to counsel, and seeks recovery of court and attorney fees. The PDF file can be downloaded at the Able Danger Blog. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Whistleblower Charged With Three Felonies for Exposing Diebold's Crimes
- Original Message - From: arthur cottrell To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: Power Hour Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2006 9:26 PM Subject: [Power Hour II] Whistleblower Charged With Three Felonies for Exposing Diebold's Crimes No good deed goesunpunished inCalifornia. Whistleblower Charged With Three Felonies for Exposing Diebold's Crimes Peter Soby, Jr. READ MORE: New York Times, George W. Bush A whistleblower in Los Angeles is in legal trouble and needs our help. Stephen Heller is alleged to have exposed documents in Jan. Feb. 2004 which provided smoking gun evidence that Diebold was using illegal, uncertified software in California voting machines. The docs also showed that Diebold's California attorneys (the powerful international law firm Jones Day) had told them they were in breach of the law for using uncertified software, but Diebold continued to use the uncertified software anyway. Heller is alleged to have come across these docs while temping as a word processor at Jones Day, and he is further alleged to have taken the docs and exposed them to the bright light of day. Now, after sitting on this for 2 years, the Los Angeles District Attorney, under pressure from Jones Day, is going after this whistleblower with 3 felony charges, each of which carries the potential of time in state prison. Here is a story in the LA Times. Heller's lawyer believes the 2 year wait to file charges was due to the then-impending 2004 election, and that Diebold and their attorneys didn't want the information to be made public in the lead up to the election. The documents also look bad for Diebold's California lawyers, Jones Day. According to Bev Harris, author of the book Black Box Voting, the docs "provided evidence that the Jones Day law firm was helping Diebold to cover up the fact that they were installing uncertified software which, as it turns out, caused thousands of voters to be unable to vote just weeks later." Bev Harris continues, "Jim March, another investigator for Black Box Voting, and I immediately took the documents to both the California Attorney General's office and to Kevin Shelley, who was then the California Secretary of State. Just days later, the secretary of state decertified Diebold." At the time, Shelley called the company's conduct "reprehensible" and said "their performance, their behavior, is despicable," and that "if that's the kind of deceitful behavior they're going to engage in, they can't do business in California." In an interview, Shelly said "We will not tolerate the deceitful conduct of Diebold, and we must send a clear message to the rest of the industry: Don't try to pull a fast one on the voters of California." Shelley then requested Cal. Attorney General Bill Lockyer to investigate taking criminal and civil actions against the company based on what he called "fraudulent actions by Diebold." Lockyer eventually dropped the criminal probe of Diebold but he sued the company on behalf of California, and Diebold settled out of court for $2.6 million. Let's make this clear, folks. The docs Heller is accused of exposing were important evidence. First, they show that Diebold and their attorneys, Jones Day, conspired to mislead the California secretary of state, and that the lie they told was material, and resulted directly in the disenfranchisement of voters. Second, another document demonstrates that Diebold lied to the secretary of state when it represented that certain problems with its software were "fixed." This document, the release notes for the new software, showed that the problems were not fixed. Third, the documents showed that Diebold had been advised by Jones Day that what it had been doing with its uncertified software was illegal. Fourth, the documents show that Jones Day advised Diebold that it was subject to criminal prosecution. So in a nutshell, Diebold was defrauding the state government and taxpayers of California, and disenfranchising the voters of California. And the documents PROVE it. And for allegedly exposing Diebold's felonious behavior (which led directly to Diebold being de-certified in California), for allegedly helping protect the taxpayers and voters of California, for allegedly helping to keep elections clean and fair, what happens? Diebold, the true criminal in this case, and their powerful international law firm Jones Day, press the L.A. District Attorney's office to hammer Heller, a whistleblower. Three felonies! Diebold was (and probably still is) screwing California voters, Heller is alleged to have seen the smoking gun evidence of Diebold's crimes, and, like a true patriot and whistleblower, allegedly exposed that smoking gun evidence, and now HE'S the one facing jail time. Only in Bush's America! And the irony is, if Heller is convicted of a felony for exposing Diebold's crimes against the California voters, he'll lose his right to vote. Diebold will win. We can't
[cia-drugs] Rathergate Pays for Fired CBS Producer
http://www.aim.org/media_monitor_print/4175_0_2_0/ Rathergate Pays for Fired CBS Producer By Cliff Kincaid | November 17, 2005 This means that Mapes had the evidence exonerating Bush of the malicious charge of going into the National Guard to avoid Vietnam. Fired CBS News producer Mary Mapes claims that the panel that investigated her use of forged documents to damage President Bush wasn't able to figure out whether the documents were real. But the panel didn't take the time to do so. We have heard this claim from other defenders of Mapes and CBS. It's worth repeating, since the Mapes book on the scandal has been released, why we had concluded with good reason that the documents CBS used on the air were forged. We noted at the time-and will repeat here-that we consulted Herbert Romerstein, a retired government expert on anti-American and communist propaganda activities who specialized in uncovering and exposing Soviet forgeries used against the U.S. in the Cold War. "Documents cannot stand on their own two feet," he told us. "There has to be a provenance for them-tracing them to their origin or the personal possession of someone. The fact that the CBS documents had no provenance makes them suspicious in the first place. In this case, somebody gave the documents to CBS and lied about where he got them. That should have been enough evidence that they were phony." Romerstein said that document examiners "also have to look at the content of the documents. In the case of the CBS documents, they had the wrong type face. The type-face didn't exist when the documents were supposedly typed. When you're dealing with an inaccurate or suspect document, then you can only conclude that it was a forgery." There is something else that we should set straight. The Thornburgh/Boccardi report into the scandal did reveal on page 130 that Mapes had documented information in her possession before the controversial broadcast that George W. Bush, while in the Texas Air National Guard, "did volunteer for service in Vietnam but was turned down in favor of more experienced pilots." This information is critical because Rather, in the broadcast, insinuated that Bush was among the "many well-connected young men [who tried to] pull strings and avoid service in Vietnam." This means that Mapes had the evidence exonerating Bush of the malicious charge of going into the National Guard to avoid Vietnam. The report shows that there were multiple credible sources to prove that he was in fact willing to go to Vietnam as a pilot. However, CBS News deliberately kept this information from its viewers. The Mapes book is titled, Truth and Duty: The Press, the President and the Privilege of Power. She abused her power and concealed the truth. For this, she was reportedly paid in the high six figures. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Will it Become Portgate?
http://www.aim.org/aim_column/4396_0_3_0_C/ Will it Become "Portgate?" By Cliff Kincaid | February 27, 2006 Some of the negative reaction to the deal stems not from racism or Arab-bashing but the fact that initial federal approval of the deal sidestepped a legally authorized 45-day investigation. The initial outcry from the conservative blogs and talk radio over an Arab state-owned company taking over terminals at some U.S. ports seems to have subsided, as the Bush Administration, the Arab/Muslim lobby and their representatives and lobbyists have moved quickly to dominate the media debate. The firm, Dubai Ports World, is owned by the United Arab Emirates, an Islamic regime that is now being regularly described in the media as a U.S. ally. But the democracy we're fighting for in Iraq does not exist in the UAE. Inside the UAE, according to the State Department, there is no freedom of the press and Internet access is restricted. Sunni Islam is the official religion and the International Religious Freedom Report of 2004 says that while non-Muslims in the country are free to practice their religion, "they are subject to criminal prosecution, imprisonment, and deportation if found proselytizing or distributing religious literature to Muslims." In addition to the expensive lobbyists who have been deployed on Capitol Hill in support of the deal, Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has been appearing on cable television to insist that opposition is based on anti-Arab racism. But the media have failed to note that CAIR has strong financial ties to the UAE. Paul Sperry, author of the blockbuster book Infiltration, points out that CAIR entered into a "Deed of Trust" contract with the Al-Maktoum Foundation of the UAE, which put up the nearly $1 million for its property in Washington, D.C. Sperry called the UAE government CAIR's "benefactor." CAIR specializes in driving critics of Islam off talk radio. Michael Graham was fired from WMAL- radio in Washington, D.C. for offending CAIR. Some of the negative reaction to the deal stems not from racism or Arab-bashing but the fact that initial federal approval of the deal sidestepped a legally authorized 45-day investigation. The law requires such a probe when "the acquirer is controlled by or acting on behalf of a foreign government" and when the acquisition "could result in control of a person engaged in interstate commerce in the U.S. that could affect the national security of the U.S." By reluctantly agreeing to have a 45-day investigation, Dubai Ports World only recognized what the law required. The skirting of the law has enabled critics of the deal, such as Lou Dobbs of CNN, to suggest that Bush family ties to the UAE are involved. CNN reporter Christine Romans did a report on Dobbs' show alleging that the President's brother, Neil Bush, has reportedly received funding for his educational software company from UAE investors. Neil Bush, however, is a loose cannon in the Bush family, and recently showed up on a tour with controversial Korean cult leader Sun Myung Moon after going through a messy divorce. It's hard to believe that this black sheep of the Bush family would have that much influence. If there is a connection between Neil Bush and the deal, the controversy could quickly turn into "Portgate." One curious fact that emerges in the controversy is that a Dubai Ports World executive, David Sanborn, was nominated by President Bush to serve as U.S. Maritime Administrator in late January-before the ports deal was revealed. It seems like strange timing, to say the least. Despite claims that the UAE is a U.S. ally in the war on terrorism, the director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs, Ali Al-Ahmed, told the New York Sun that in addition to being a staging point for the 9/11 terrorists and a country where Al Qaeda laundered money, the UAE "has been fueling the insurgency in Iraq. They have hosted a lot of the Sunni insurgent supporters and Sunni insurgents." Equally ominous, a captured al-Qaeda document released by the Center for Combating Terrorism at West Point shows that the terrorist organization has boasted that it has "infiltrated" the security apparatus and other agencies of the UAE regime. Dubai is also home to the Arab satellite channel al-Arabiya, which is not as well known as Al-Jazeera but was temporarily ordered out of Baghdad in 2003 by the post-Saddam government after it was accused of inciting violence against innocent citizens and American military personnel. In terms of the media war being waged here at home, one blogger, Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit.com, said on CNN's Reliable Sources show that while he was initially critical of the deal, " I am now reasonably comfortable with it." He said he reacted negatively after reading one article about the deal in the New York Post but then talked to some other people who allayed his concern. "At
[cia-drugs] In Medicare Maze, Some Find They're Tangled in Two Drug Plans
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/01/national/01medicare.html?_r=1oref=sloginpagewanted=print March 1, 2006 In Medicare Maze, Some Find They're Tangled in Two Drug Plans By ROBERT PEAR KITTANNING, Pa., Feb. 21 Having struggled to fathom Medicare's new drug coverage, tens of thousands of beneficiaries are perplexed to find themselves actively enrolled in two prescription drug plans at the same time. Shirley D. Beer, who lives in a mobile home here in western Pennsylvania, illustrates the predicament. Mrs. Beer was assigned to one insurance plan by the federal government, then exercised her right to choose another plan and now seems deeply embedded in both. The first plan still carries her on its rolls and pays for some of her prescriptions, even though she declared four months ago that she wanted to drop out and had joined the second plan, which covers most of the 12 medications she takes for heart problems, high blood pressure and other chronic conditions. Many Medicare beneficiaries like Mrs. Beer are entangled in two live plans two "hot plans," in the lingo of pharmacists. The situation leaves patients at risk of being charged two premiums or incorrect co-payments. The Bush administration acknowledged the problem in a recent memorandum to insurers. "Numerous beneficiaries have switched plans," the memorandum said. "Our processing systems have not always sent the enrollment and disenrollment information to the appropriate plans." As a result, it said, "many (possibly all) of the beneficiaries who switched plans are active on enrollment files at multiple plans." The situation illustrates the "computer glitches" that officials say have bedeviled the program since enrollment began in November. The Medicare agency said it was working with insurers to resolve the "enrollment discrepancies." But it is proceeding with caution because, it said, a sudden, unexpected mass disenrollment could provoke a flood of inquiries and complaints to insurers and the government from puzzled beneficiaries. Mrs. Beer, a 78-year-old widow who lives here outside Pittsburgh on a government check of $603 a month, said that her first plan, Gateway, "did not want to let me go," and that the second plan, offered by WellCare, had yet to send her an insurance card. Medicare records show that Mrs. Beer is now enrolled in WellCare's Signature plan. But she continues to receive mail from Gateway certifying that she is a member. And Gateway's automated telephone information system verifies that she still has coverage. "This is enough to drive any sane person crazy," Mrs. Beer said, expressing frustration at the uncertainty of her situation. Pharmacists and beneficiaries around the country report similar experiences. Christopher J. Decker, executive vice president of the Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin, said "it happens fairly routinely" that pharmacists find patients enrolled in two drug plans. "The plans are often willing to cover the same prescription for the same beneficiary, but charge different co-payments," Mr. Decker said. "This creates confusion and problems for patients and pharmacists alike." James M. Maister, a pharmacist in Lutz, Fla., north of Tampa, said that in some cases involving Medicare patients enrolled in two plans, "both plans have automatic deductions scheduled from the patient's Social Security check." Health care providers in Florida said they had alerted federal officials because they worried that unscrupulous pharmacists might submit duplicate claims for the same prescription. In an e-mail response, Marisa B. Duarte, an employee in the Atlanta regional office of the federal Medicare agency, said, "We are still working out systems glitches, so having someone enrolled in two plans is common." Federal caseworkers can "verify the exact plan," Ms. Duarte added. [In his radio address on Saturday, President Bush defended the drug benefit. "This new coverage is saving seniors money on their drug premiums," Mr. Bush said. "The typical senior will end up spending about half of what they used to spend on prescription drugs each year."] Under the Medicare drug program, millions of low-income people are entitled to extra help that eliminates their premiums and deductibles and sharply reduces their co-payments. But when a beneficiary switches plans, Medicare typically provides information on the person's low-income status to only one of the two plans. The other may still be providing coverage without realizing that the person is entitled to a low-income subsidy. This helps explain why some low-income beneficiaries have received bills for premiums they do not owe $25 or $35 a month while others have been charged $40 for a drug at the pharmacy, when their co-payments are not supposed to exceed $5. Jane-ellen A. Weidanz, the Medicare project manager at the Oregon Department of Human Services, said: "There appears to be a
[cia-drugs] Chertoff unaware of ports deal until after OK
http://washingtontimes.com/functions/print.php?StoryID=20060224-123748-3727r Subordinates took it upon themselves to approve the UAE deal without telling their bosses or the President? That should result in the firing of several officials including Snow,Chertoff. Condi Rice and Rumsfeld. The CFIUS shold be abolished or reconstituted. JR Where is the outrage? The Washington Times www.washingtontimes.com Chertoff unaware of ports deal until after OKBy Rowan ScarboroughTHE WASHINGTON TIMESPublished February 24, 2006Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was not aware a Dubai-owned company was seeking to operate terminals in six U.S. ports and that his agency was leading the review until after the deal's approval, an administration official said yesterday. Mr. Chertoff's spokesman, Russ Knocke, told The Washington Times the issue rose no higher than the department's assistant secretary for policy, Stewart Baker. "[Chertoff] was not briefed up to this until after this story started appearing in the newspapers," Mr. Knocke said. Mr. Chertoff is the third Cabinet official to acknowledge he did not know his agency had signed off on the plan as a member of the interagency Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS). Both Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Treasury Secretary John W. Snow have publicly said they were unaware of the deal. But Mr. Chertoff's exclusion is more noteworthy because his department headed the CFIUS review and is in charge of security at all U.S. ports. Mr. Knocke said the reason Mr. Chertoff was not informed was because CFIUS canvassed scores of government agencies and none objected to Dubai Ports World's (DPW) bid to buy terminal operations on national security grounds. If there had been an objection, the committee would have conducted a more extensive 45-day investigation and notified Cabinet secretaries. The 12-member committee, which includes six Cabinet secretaries, on Jan. 17 approved the company buying a British firm that runs terminals at the ports. The exclusion of top Cabinet secretaries such as Mr. Chertoff in the DPW review and the failure to notify President Bush of its approval has helped fuel a firestorm of protest from Republicans and Democrats. Legislators say the Bush administration failed to adequately investigate the company. DPW is owned by the United Arab Emirates, which today is a strong U.S. ally in the war on terror, but which in the past had ties to Osama bin Laden and the Taliban, and whose banks were used by the September 11 hijackers. A defense official said at the Pentagon the issue rose no higher than Beth McCormick, who heads the Defense Technology Security Administration. She coordinated a review with 17 separate offices and agencies, and then signed off as the secretary's representative to CFIUS, the source said. The fact the issue did not reach Mr. Rumsfeld until after the fact has some policy-makers rethinking the process. The official said the decision-making needs to be opened up to public-affairs specialists who might have detected a political firestorm ahead. "We need to bring people in with a broader perspective," said the defense official, who asked not to be named. "The best decisions, if you can't communicate it, you can be stopped from doing things that are right. No one is second-guessing the decision." Treasury spokesman Tony Fratto said the review of DPW at Treasury went no higher than Clay Lowery, assistant secretary for international affairs. A State Department official told The Times that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice likewise was not briefed on the ports issue until after the fact. A spokesman in Washington did not reply to a request to supply the name of the State official who approved the sale. "This is a fairly routine matter," said the State Department official. "It wasn't a contentious process. Secretaries get involved at an earlier stage only if there is a divergence of opinion." CFIUS conducted just one meeting on the DPW question last fall. Mr. Lowery could not recall yesterday who attended the meeting. He told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Mr. Chertoff did not attend. Mr. Lowery also said he did not know if National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley was notified of the review. He said a notification e-mail was sent to the White House CFIUS is made up of 12 senior government officials. Six are Cabinet secretaries: Treasury, State, Defense, Homeland Security,
[cia-drugs] Port of Entry
http://www.military.com/Content/Printer_Friendly_Version/1,11491,,00.html?passfile=page_url=%2Fopinion%2F0%2C15202%2C87787%2C00%2Ehtmlpassdirectory_file=%2Fnewsfiles%2F87787%2Ehtm Subscribe to free Military Insider Newsletter This smells like a Certoff power move.He is virtually the only one in Homeland Security that favors the UAE deal. Dubai's number two manhas been put in place in charge of the Maritime Division in the Department of Transportation. The wife of his chief of staff (Julie Meyers) will be in charge of enforcement All he needs is an alliance with the big ground transportation companies to control all goods exported and imported. It would only require coordination to bring into the U.S. large room=size containers of any goods (including narcotics, weapons, and even human cargo (illegal aliens). What can the government be planning? Jim Rarey Port of Entry Frank Gaffney | February 13, 2006How would you feel if, in the aftermath of 9/11, the U.S. government had decided to contract out airport security to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the country where most of the operational planning and financing of the attacks occurred? My guess is you, like most Americans, would think it a lunatic idea, one that could clear the way for still more terror in this country. You probably would want to know who on earth approved such a plan -- and be determined to prevent it from happening. Of course, no such thing occurred after September 11, 2001 . In fact, the job of keeping our planes and the flying public secure was deemed to be so important that the government itself took it over from private contractors seen as insufficiently rigorous in executing that responsibility. Now, however, four-and-a-half years later, a secretive government committee has decided to turn over the management of six of the Nation's most important ports -- in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Miami, Baltimore and New Orleans -- to Dubai Ports World following the UAE company's purchase of London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., which previously had the contract. This is not the first time this interagency panel -- called the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) -- has made an astounding call about the transfer of control of strategically sensitive U.S. assets to questionable purchasers. In fact, as of last summer, CFIUS had, since its creation in 1988, formally rejected only one of 1,530 transactions submitted for its review. Such a record is hardly surprising given that the committee is chaired by the Treasury Department, whose institutional responsibilities include promoting foreign investment in the United States. Treasury has rarely seen a foreign purchase of American assets that it did not like. And this bias on the part of the chairman of CFIUS has consistently skewed the results of the panel's deliberations in favor of approving deals, even those opposed by other, more national security-minded departments. Thanks to the secrecy with which CFIUS operates, it is not clear at this writing whether any such objection was heard with respect to the idea of contracting out management of six of our country's most important ports to a UAE company. There would certainly appear to be a number of grounds for rejecting this initiative, however: 1) America 's seaports have long been recognized by homeland security experts as among our most vulnerable targets. Huge quantities of cargo move through them every day, much of it of uncertain character and provenance, nearly all of it inadequately monitored. Matters can only be made worse by port managers who might conspire to bring in dangerous containers, or simply look the other way when they arrive. 2) Entrusting information about key U.S. ports -- including, presumably, government-approved plans for securing them, to say nothing of the responsibility for controlling physical
[cia-drugs] The Case for Fewer but Stronger Currencies
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/19/business/yourmoney/19view.html?_r=1oref=sloginpagewanted=print Come into my parlor said the spider to the fly. JR February 19, 2006 Economic View The Case for Fewer but Stronger Currencies By DANIEL GROSS OUTSOURCING isn't just a one-way street on which rich countries shift jobs overseas. In recent years, some developing countries have contracted out the work of setting monetary policy to the United States. Ecuador and El Salvador, in 2000 and 2001, respectively, abandoned their own currencies, adopted the dollar and placed their monetary policy in the capable hands of Alan Greenspan, then the chairman of the Federal Reserve. When outsourcing involves manufacturing and software programming it is often endorsed by economists and condemned by populist political leaders. So, too, is the tactic of outsourcing of monetary policy known as dollarization, or euro-ization. After all, noted Robert E. Litan, senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, "currencies are symbols of national sovereignty, and countries are reluctant to give them up." And yet nations can impose enormous costs on their citizens when they take extraordinary efforts to maintain independent currencies. "Devaluations of currencies cost people their savings and bring on rapid inflation," said Benn Steil, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and co-author with Mr. Litan of "Financial Statecraft" (Yale University Press, 2006). The two argue that the globe's mélange of 200-plus currencies, backed only by the faith of investors, is inefficient and dangerous. Many emerging economies, they say, would be well advised to swap their currencies for strong, stable, widely used ones like the dollar or euro. Steve H. Hanke, professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University, has examined economic development in 32 countries that adopted foreign currencies from 1950 and 1993. He found that they had faster rates of G.D.P. growth, lower inflation and greater fiscal discipline than their counterparts who hung onto their sovereign currencies. Professor Hanke has been an adviser to Ecuador, which in 2004 was among the best-performing economies in Latin America, growing at a 6.6 percent rate with inflation at 2.7 percent. "Dollarization tends to deliver low inflation, and relatively low and stable interest rates," said Ricardo Hausman, a former chief economist of the Inter-American Development Bank who now teaches at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. So what's not to like? "It's not like dollarization is a magic drug," Mr. Steil said. It certainly doesn't end the risk that countries will default on dollar-denominated debt. Panama has been using the dollar since 1904 and has repeatedly run into difficulties. And El Salvador's economic performance hasn't outpaced those of its Central American neighbors. Some Latin American countries, notably Mexico, have tamed inflation without abandoning their own currencies. "If you have sound economic policies in a country, you don't need dollarization," said Nouriel Roubini, professor of economics at New York University's Stern School of Business. "And if you follow poor policies, I don't think dollarization will solve your problems." But economists say that smaller countries can encourage investment by lashing their monetary fortunes to larger regional powers. In Latin America, companies that need to make long-term investments like utilities are forced to borrow in dollars while they operate in local currencies, leaving them exposed to currency risk. Now that El Salvador has adopted the dollar, companies there can borrow or engage in hedging transactions in dollars with relative ease. And when small monetary boats tie themselves together or link themselves to larger ones, it encourages stability. "European financial markets were able to navigate problems of 9/11 and the Madrid and London bombings without too much instability, because they didn't have the extra layer of exchange-rate problems," said Barry Eichengreen, professor of economics and political science at the University of California, Berkeley. But one economist's reassuring stability can be another's troubling rigidity. If the price of coffee plummets or the price for textiles falls because of competition from China, a Latin American country that has dollarized won't have the option of cutting interest rates to stimulate growth. "Dollarization takes away the option of depreciation," Professor Hausman said. Dollarization advocates say that this is all to the good. Mr. Steil notes that the Dominican Republic, where a currency crisis in 2004 wiped out the savings of a significant chunk of the population, conducts about 85 percent of its trade with the United States. "Why on earth would they need their own currency?" he asks. Large countries like the United States have to tread lightly in advocating that
[cia-drugs] Another Times Reporter to Prison?
The editor and publisher should be charged. JR http://www.aim.org/media_monitor/4355_0_2_0_C/ Another Times Reporter to Prison? By Cliff Kincaid | February 16, 2006 A 22-year veteran of the Air Force noted that top secret information is defined as material whose release could cause grave damage to the United States. Our readers have reacted with outrage to the disclosure by James Risen and the New York Times of a secret NSA spying program into al-Qaeda operations on U.S. soil. A 22-year veteran of the Air Force noted that top secret information is defined as material whose release could cause grave damage to the United States. He asked, "What would you call information that allows Osama bin Laden to avoid capture or allow his plans to proceed?" He added, "Somebody blabbed some secrets that were way above anything I ever had access to. If there is Justice, those some bodies will get to do some hard time in North East Kansas-meaning Leavenworth." Meantime, NewsMax broke the storyof how Italian authorities, using wiretaps, arrested three Algerians connected to al-Qaeda planning a 9/11-type attack on the U.S. The story got little attention in the U.S. "My impression is that the major media want to use the NSA story to try and impeach the President," I told NewsMax. Erick Stakelbeck of CBN followed up with an excellent piece. Why are the media so intent on playing down the ongoing threats to our country and our people? I told Stakelbeck: "Because if they remind us that the threat exists, then that tends to support the position of the President, that he has to have the power to stop and monitor and thwart these al-Qaeda operations on American soil." Richard Miniter said, "I think the news judgment of the news directors and editors at major broadcast outlets and newspapers is profoundly blinkered by politics. They think of this war on terror as Bush's war, not America's war." On the matter of the NSA monitoring international calls without recourse to the FISA court, Roger W. Barnett, Professor Emeritus at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, tells us: "Why has no one mentioned the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1998? This legislation was specifically designed to permit employees of the intelligence community to contact the Congress to report perceived irregularities, but because of the sensitivity of the information-the concern that national security would be jeopardized-the route for contact was designated to be through the Intelligence Committees of the Congress only. So, there is a legal, established route for whomever went to the New York Times to divulge his or her information, avoiding thereby the attendant compromise of classified information. "Indeed, it is a crime to divulge classified information so, by publishing the information, does that not make the New York Times an accessory to the crime? A fence receives stolen property, and thus is an accessory to the larceny; why, then, is the NYT not an accessory in the same sense and liable for criminal sanctions. Moreover, should not the Times have properly advised the whistleblower of the Act, and to proceed in the manner provided for in the legislation? Can one assume that both the whistleblower and the Times were ignorant of the Act? (The Times, we're told, sat on the story for a year, so it had plenty of time to get smart on the legislation; and the employee should certainly have been aware of the Act.) The Times and the leaker should be prosecuted both for revelation of classified information, and for failure to comply with the Whistleblower Protection Act." Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Fw: Be careful what you ask for.
Subject: Be careful what you ask for. Is the hard left just angry or in the true meaning of the word, mad?Alternatively, they are either illiterate or have not read the Constitution. If they succeed in forcing Cheney out by impeachment or however (very unlikely) then Bush could appoint a new vice president which only requires a simple majorityin both houses. This would give the new VP a leg up on the Republican nomination for president in 2008. In other words, Bush could pick his successor. If both Bush and Cheney were removed at the same time. You get President Dennis Hastert and whoever hepicks as VP. If only Bush were removed. Then you would have President Cheney and his pick for VP. Be careful what you ask for, you may get it. Jim Rarey aka "Medium Rare" Romulus, Michigan. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Congressional Probe of NSA Spying Is in Doubt
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/14/AR2006021401812_pf.html Congressional Probe of NSA Spying Is in DoubtWhite House Sways Some GOP Lawmakers By Charles BabingtonWashington Post Staff WriterWednesday, February 15, 2006; A03 Congress appeared ready to launch an investigation into the Bush administration's warrantless domestic surveillance program last week, but an all-out White House lobbying campaign has dramatically slowed the effort and may kill it, key Republican and Democratic sources said yesterday. The Senate intelligence committee is scheduled to vote tomorrow on a Democratic-sponsored motion to start an inquiry into the recently revealed program in which the National Security Agency eavesdrops on an undisclosed number of phone calls and e-mails involving U.S. residents without obtaining warrants from a secret court. Two committee Democrats said the panel -- made up of eight Republicans and seven Democrats -- was clearly leaning in favor of the motion last week but now is closely divided and possibly inclined against it. They attributed the shift to last week's closed briefings given by top administration officials to the full House and Senate intelligence committees, and to private appeals to wavering GOP senators by officials, including Vice President Cheney. "It's been a full-court press," said a top Senate Republican aide who asked to speak only on background -- as did several others for this story -- because of the classified nature of the intelligence committees' work. Lawmakers cite senators such as Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) to illustrate the administration's success in cooling congressional zeal for an investigation. On Dec. 20, she was among two Republicans and two Democrats who signed a letter expressing "our profound concern about recent revelations that the United States Government may have engaged in domestic electronic surveillance without appropriate legal authority." The letter urged the Senate's intelligence and judiciary committees to "jointly undertake an inquiry into the facts and law surrounding these allegations." In an interview yesterday, Snowe said, "I'm not sure it's going to be essential or necessary" to conduct an inquiry "if we can address the legislative standpoint" that would provide oversight of the surveillance program. "We're learning a lot and we're going to learn more," she said. She cited last week's briefings before the full House and Senate intelligence committees by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and former NSA director Michael V. Hayden. "The administration has obviously gotten the message that they need to be more forthcoming," Snowe said. Before the New York Times disclosed the NSA program in mid-December, administration briefings regarding it were highly secret and limited to eight lawmakers: the top Republican and Democratic leader of the House and Senate, respectively, and the top Republican and Democrat on the House and Senate intelligence committees. The White House characterized last week's closed-door briefings to the full committees as a significant concession and a sign of the administration's respect for Congress and its oversight responsibilities. Many Democrats dismissed the briefings as virtually useless, but senators said yesterday they appear to have played a big role in slowing momentum for an inquiry. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), the Senate intelligence committee's vice chairman, has drafted a motion calling for a wide-ranging inquiry into the surveillance program, according to congressional sources who have seen it. Rockefeller declined to be interviewed yesterday. Sources close to Rockefeller say he is frustrated by what he sees as heavy-handed White House efforts to dissuade Republicans from supporting his measure. They noted that Cheney conducted a Republicans-only meeting on intelligence matters in the Capitol yesterday. Senate intelligence committee member Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) said in an interview that he supports the NSA program and would oppose a congressional investigation. He said he is drafting legislation that would "specifically authorize this program" by excluding it from the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which established a secret court to consider government requests for wiretap warrants in anti-terrorist investigations. The administration would be required to brief regularly a small, bipartisan panel drawn from the House and Senate intelligence committees, DeWine said, and the surveillance program would require congressional reauthorization after five years to remain in place. Snowe said she is inclined to support DeWine's plan. Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), who also signed the Dec. 20 letter seeking an inquiry, said yesterday that the FISA law should be amended to include the NSA program and to provide for congressional oversight. As for Rockefeller's bid, Hagel said: "If some kind of
[cia-drugs] Ticking Saudi Time Bomb in the U.S.?
This article by one of the best reporters on intelligence matters will not be reassuring. JR Ticking Saudi Time Bomb in the U.S.?By Paul SperryFrontPageMagazine.com | February 15, 2006 A former top Homeland Security official reveals in a forthcoming book that the FBI failed to examine "stacks of boxes" of potential evidence containing the applications of thousands of young Saudi men who had applied for and received visas to travel to the U.S. around the same time as the 15 Saudi hijackers.While the FBI says it can find no evidence of al-Qaida cells here, the agency has not looked at all the Saudi-based evidence since 9/11, warns former Homeland Security Department Inspector General Clark Kent Ervin.Ervin, who resigned early last year, says he discovered several unexamined boxes of Saudi visa applications in a storage room at the U.S. Embassy during a trip two years ago to Riyadh, the Saudi capital. He was told by consular officers there that FBI agents neglected to go through the boxes and pull the files to see if there might have been any connections -- tribes, families, villages, occupations, addresses, phone numbers and so on -- between those applicants and the hijackers.Even in the aftermath of 9/11, "predictably, the FBI fell woefully behind in vetting these applications," Ervin says in the galley proof of his soon-to-be-released book, "Open Target: Where America Is Vulnerable To Attack" (Palgrave MacMillan). The FBI missed clues to the first World Trade Center terror plot in 1993 because they were buried in boxes of unexamined evidence from an earlier terror case. Ervin says a team of FBI agents did visit the embassy in the months after the 9/11 attacks and asked the consular section to pull some of the files.But for some unexplained reason, he says the agents left the embassy in Riyadh without examining the thousands of other applications stored in the stacks of boxes, even though Saudi Arabia is a known al-Qaida hotbed."As I write these words today," Ervin says on page 45 of the galley copy I've obtained, "these applications have yet to be examined, and the more time goes by, the less potentially useful any intelligence they might contain will be."Even when the FBI has screened visa applicants, it hasn't done it fast enough to weed out terrorist suspects and prevent them from entering the U.S.For example, in the months after 9/11, the FBI and CIA scoured the visa applications of all males between the ages of 16 and 45 from predominantly Arab and Muslim countries for any terrorist connections, Ervin says. They found some 200 applicants with terrorist ties.But by the time they made the connections, the State Department had already issued the men their visas, he says. The department duly revoked the visas, but it was too late -- the men had already entered the U.S."Our government had no idea whether any of these terrorists were still in the country, and if so, where," Ervin says. "It is possible that all 200 of them are in America somewhere today, waiting for just the right moment to launch another attack."Osama bin Laden recently warned that al-Qaida is making final preparations for another massive attack on America. Assuming the terrorist kingpin isn't bluffing, experts say, he could have terrorist cells secreted inside American cities.While the FBI says it's found no evidence of such terror cells here, it also said much the same thing before the 9/11 attacks. And Ervin points out that the bureau nonetheless figures there are at least 1,000 al-Qaida sympathizers in the U.S. today -- a number that he calls "low." It's possible there are thousands of sympathizers supporting and facilitating hundreds of terrorist operatives inside the U.S., he fears, and the FBI has yet to make the connections."It's safe to say, then, that a not insignificant number of suspected terrorists are known to be in the country today," he says.Ervin speculates that the FBI chose not to examine the other Saudi visa applications because "doing so was too much trouble."Asked about it, FBI spokesman Bill Carter says it's the first he's heard of any unexamined boxes of Saudi visa applications. He says generally it's the State Department's duty to check out visa applicants, and the FBI plays only a minor supporting role in the process."The State Department is usually responsible for the processing of visa applications. And generally what happens in that regard is there's a name-check process," Carter says. "In other words, they would send the names over to the FBI, and we run it through our case files to determine if there's anything in the FBI databases that would preclude or prevent that individual from coming into the United States.""But," he adds, "I'm not familiar with the fact that there are boxes that remain unreviewed."Carter says the FBI's legal attache office in Riyadh -- which has come under fire recently -- may have been involved initially in
[cia-drugs] NPR Blows It
http://www.aim.org/media_monitor_print/4354_0_2_0/ NPR Blows It By Cliff Kincaid | February 15, 2006 Dvorkin seems to be just as "brilliant and perceptive" as his flawed hero. If you can't trust the ombudsman for a news organization, can you trust the news organization? Jeffrey A. Dvorkin, the ombudsman or consumer advocate for National Public Radio, has written a column about examples of "questioned and questionable journalism." But he then proceeded to commit a journalistic gaffe of his own, casting his own credibility in doubt. Discussing the George Clooney movie, Good Night and Good Luck, about CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow, Dvorkin said that Murrow "fought for high standards and fearless reporting even in the face of political and economic pressures that worked to tame and intimidate journalists and their news organizations." In fact, as Wes Vernon notes in our AIM Report, Murrow had a vendetta against anti-communist Senator Joseph McCarthy because one of Murrow's close friends had been questioned about his communist ties and committed suicide. But that friend, Laurence Duggan, turned out to be a Soviet spy in the State Department. Murrow also mangled the case of Annie Lee Moss, an alleged innocent victim of McCarthy who turned out to be a Communist Party member. Dvorkin's column on Murrow demonstrates how modern-day journalists accept a prevailing myth about a journalistic icon and fail to examine the facts of the case. This is not a good trait in an ombudsmanor a journalist. In her review of the Clooney film, Ann Coulter noted, sarcastically, that "The brilliant and perceptive journalist Murrow was not only unaware of the hundreds of Soviet spies running loose in the U.S. government, he was also unaware that his own dear friend Duggan was a Soviet spy " Dvorkin seems to be just as "brilliant and perceptive" as his flawed hero. According to NPR, Dvorkin is supposed to be "the public's representative to National Public Radio, serving as an independent source of information, explanation, amplification and analysis for the public regarding NPR's programming." But if he can't get the facts correct about Murrow's career, which dates back 55 years, what good is he? Tragically, the U.S. State Department, as we noted in a recent column, doesn't care for the truth, either. It has launched an Edward R. Murrow Journalism Program in honor of the Murrow myth, designed to influence foreign journalists. So now foreign journalists will be as misinformed as our own. This is progress? Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Popular Ohio Democrat Drops Out of Race, and Perhaps Politics
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/14/politics/14ohio.html?pagewanted=print Shumer and Reid are slimy backstabbers whose word cannot be trusted. They realized they couldn't control Hackett if he won. JR February 14, 2006 Popular Ohio Democrat Drops Out of Race, and Perhaps Politics By IAN URBINA Paul Hackett, an Iraq war veteran and popular Democratic candidate in Ohio's closely watched Senate contest, said yesterday that he was dropping out of the race and leaving politics altogether as a result of pressure from party leaders. Mr. Hackett said Senators Charles E. Schumer of New York and Harry Reid of Nevada, the same party leaders who he said persuaded him last August to enter the Senate race, had pushed him to step aside so that Representative Sherrod Brown, a longtime member of Congress, could take on Senator Mike DeWine, the Republican incumbent. Mr. Hackett staged a surprisingly strong Congressional run last year in an overwhelmingly Republican district and gained national prominence for his scathing criticism of the Bush administration's handling of the Iraq War. It was his performance in the Congressional race that led party leaders to recruit him for the Senate race. But for the last two weeks, he said, state and national Democratic Party leaders have urged him to drop his Senate campaign and again run for Congress. "This is an extremely disappointing decision that I feel has been forced on me," said Mr. Hackett, whose announcement comes two days before the state's filing deadline for candidates. He said he was outraged to learn that party leaders were calling his donors and asking them to stop giving and said he would not enter the Second District Congressional race. "For me, this is a second betrayal," Mr. Hackett said. "First, my government misused and mismanaged the military in Iraq, and now my own party is afraid to support candidates like me." Mr. Hackett was the first Iraq war veteran to seek national office, and the decision to steer him away from the Senate race has surprised those who see him as a symbol for Democrats who oppose the war but want to appear strong on national security. "Alienating Hackett is not just a bad idea for the party, but it also sends a chill through the rest of the 56 or so veterans that we've worked to run for Congress," said Mike Lyon, executive director for the Band of Brothers, a group dedicated to electing Democratic veterans to national office. "Now is a time for Democrats to be courting, not blocking, veterans who want to run." But Democratic leaders say Representative Brown, a seven-term incumbent from Avon, has a far better chance of toppling Senator DeWine. "It boils down to who we think can pull the most votes in November against DeWine," said Chris Redfern, chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party. "And in Ohio, Brown's name is golden. It's just that simple." Mr. Fern added that Mr. Brown's fund-raising abilities made him the better Senate candidate. By the end of last year, Mr. Brown had already amassed $2.37 million, 10 times what Mr. Hackett had raised. Senator Reid did not reply to repeated requests for comment. Asked about Mr. Hackett's contention that he had been pressed to leave the Senate race, a spokesman for Mr. Schumer, Phil Singer, said, "We've told both Sherrod Brown and Paul Hackett that avoiding a primary will make it easier to win the Ohio Senate seat, " but he added, "Obviously, the decision to run is Mr. Hackett's and Mr. Hackett's alone." Mr. Brown declined to comment on Mr. Hackett's candidacy, saying that he was strictly focused on building his own campaign. Democrats wanted to avoid a drawn-out primary, especially one that could get bruising with a tough-talking outsider like Mr. Hackett. The Ohio Senate race is regarded as critical to Democratic aspirations to take back Congress in the fall. Aside from focusing on Senator DeWine, the Democrats also hope to win as many as eight House seats in Ohio and the governorship from the Republicans. Ohio Democrats are hoping to exploit the larger problems plaguing the Republicans. State Republicans have struggled to distance themselves from Gov. Bob Taft, a Republican who cannot run again because of term limits and who was found guilty last summer of four misdemeanor ethics violations. Representative Bob Ney's still-unfolding role in the scandal over the lobbyist Jack Abramoff also looms over the state's Republicans. Mr. Hackett said he was unwilling to run for the Congressional seat because he had given his word to three Democratic candidates that he would not enter that race. "The party keeps saying for me not to worry about those promises because in politics they are broken all the time," said Mr. Hackett, who plans to return to his practice as a lawyer in the Cincinnati area. "I don't work that way. My word is my bond." Jennifer Duffy, who analyzes Senate races for the Cook Political Report, said that part of what made
[cia-drugs] 2 Will Leave A.I.G. Board
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/14/business/14insure.html?pagewanted=print Leaving a sinking ship or just one jump ahead of the sheriff? JR February 14, 2006 2 Will Leave A.I.G. Board By REUTERS By Reuters The American International Group, the insurance giant, said yesterday that two directors, William S. Cohen and Carla Hills, would not stand for re-election to its board. Mr. Cohen, the former senator from Maine and defense secretary, had been a director since 2004 and is a member of the board's public policy and social responsibility committee. Ms. Hills, a former United States trade representative, has served on the board since 1993 and is a member of its audit committee and its nominating and corporate governance committee. It was not immediately clear why Mr. Cohen, who is chief executive of the Cohen Group, and Ms. Hills, the chief executive of Hills Company, are leaving the board. An A.I.G. spokesman, Joe Norton, declined to comment on the reasons for their departures. Calls to the two directors were not returned. Copyright 2006The New York Times Company Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Biotech's Sparse Harvest
It'''s a question of who do you trust? JR http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/14/business/14gene.html?pagewanted=print February 14, 2006 Biotech's Sparse Harvest By ANDREW POLLACK At the dawn of the era of genetically engineered crops, scientists were envisioning all sorts of healthier and tastier foods, including cancer-fighting tomatoes, rot-resistant fruits, potatoes that would produce healthier French fries and even beans that would not cause flatulence. But so far, most of the genetically modified crops have provided benefits mainly to farmers, by making it easier for them to control weeds and insects. Now, millions of dollars later, the next generation of biotech crops the first with direct benefits for consumers is finally on the horizon. But the list does not include many of the products once envisioned. Developing such crops has proved to be far from easy. Resistance to genetically modified foods, technical difficulties, legal and business obstacles and the ability to develop improved foods without genetic engineering have winnowed the pipeline. "A lot of companies went into shell shock, I would say, in the past three, four years," said C. S. Prakash, director of plant biotechnology research at Tuskegee University. "Because of so much opposition, they've had to put a lot of projects on the shelf." Developing nonallergenic products and other healthful crops has also proved to be difficult technically. "Changing the food composition is going to be far trickier than just introducing one gene to provide insect resistance," said Mr. Prakash, who has promoted agricultural biotechnology on behalf of the industry and the United States government. In 2002, Eliot Herman and his colleagues got some attention when they engineered a soybean to make it less likely to cause an allergic reaction. But the soybean project was put aside because baby food companies, which he thought would want the soybeans for infant formula, instead are avoiding biotech crops, said Mr. Herman, a scientist with the Department of Agriculture. In addition, he said, food companies feared lawsuits if some consumers developed allergic reactions to a product labeled as nonallergenic. The next generation of these crops particularly those that provide healthier or tastier food could be important for gaining consumer acceptance of genetic engineering. The industry won a victory last week when a panel of the World Trade Organization ruled that the European Union had violated trade rules by halting approvals of new biotech crops. But the ruling is not expected to overcome the wariness of European consumers over biotech foods. New crops are also important for the industry, which has been peddling the same two advantages herbicide tolerance and insect resistance for 10 years. "We haven't seen any fundamentally new traits in a while," said Michael Fernandez, executive director of the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology, a nonprofit group. Now, some new types of crops are appearing. Monsanto just won federal approval for a type of genetically engineered corn promoted as having greater nutritional value albeit only for pigs and poultry. The corn, possessing a bacterial gene, contains increased levels of lysine, an amino acid that is often provided to farm animals as a supplement. Coming next, industry executives say, are soybean oils intended to yield healthier baked goods and fried foods. To keep soybean oil from turning rancid, the oil typically undergoes a process called hydrogenation. The process produces trans fatty acids, which are harmful and must be disclosed in food labels under new regulations. Both Monsanto and DuPont, which owns the Pioneer Hi-Bred seed company, have developed soybeans with altered oil composition that, in some cases, do not require hydrogenation. Kellogg said in December that it would use the products, particularly Monsanto's, to remove trans fats from some of its products. Monsanto's product, Vistive, and DuPont's, which is called Nutrium, were developed by conventional breeding. They are genetically engineered only in the sense that they have the gene that allows them to grow even when sprayed with the widely used herbicide Roundup. But Monsanto and DuPont say the next generation of soybean, which would be able to eliminate trans fats in more foods, would probably require genetic engineering. Those products are expected in three to six years. Beyond that, both companies said, would be soybeans high in omega-3 fatty acids, which are good for the heart and the brain. These are now derived largely from eating fish, which in turn get them by eating algae. Putting algae genes into soybeans could allow for soy oil that is rich in the fatty acids. "Our hope is it is easier to formulate into food without it smelling or tasting fishy," said David M. Stark, vice president for consumer traits at Monsanto.
[cia-drugs] Deaths Halt Enrollments in a Drug Trial
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/14/business/14drugs.html?pagewanted=print February 14, 2006 Deaths Halt Enrollments in a Drug Trial By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS By The Associated Press The biotechnology giant Genentech and its majority stockholder, Roche Holding, said yesterday that they had temporarily stopped recruiting volunteers for a large test of the cancer drug Avastin after more patients than expected died. The deaths occurred among colon cancer patients taking Avastin with a chemotherapy regimen called Xelox. Since the test began in December 2004, seven patients taking that combination died, four of them suddenly, Roche said in a press release. "An occurrence of sudden deaths, especially in three younger patients, was noted," Roche said, adding that the temporary suspension would allow "a full safety assessment." Those seven deaths compare with four deaths in another arm of the study that combined Avastin with a different chemotherapy called Folfox. About 2,000 of the 3,450 patients planned for the test who are already receiving one of three combinations of Avastin and the chemotherapy regimens will continue to receive their drugs. The rest of the volunteers will not be enrolled for at least 60 days while the companies try to determine what caused the deaths. The test is an effort to see if Avastin can safely be used to prevent colon cancer from recurring in patients in remission. The Food and Drug Administration approved Avastin for patients with advanced colon cancer in 2004, and the drug accounted for $1.1 billion in sales for Genentech last year. Roche, which is based in Basel, Switzerland, owns sales rights to Avastin in Europe, where it was approved last year. Genentech is based in San Francisco. Wall Street analysts said they were optimistic that the deaths would not immediately affect the companies' finances because it was too early to know if Avastin, the combination of Avastin and Xelox or something unrelated to the drugs caused the deaths. "There is no information here to condemn Avastin," said Jason Kantor, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets. Denise Anderson, an analyst at Kepler Equities, wrote in a note to investors that the facts that patients in the trial would stay on Avastin and that only one drug combination was at issue seemed to indicate that "the problem may not ultimately be that serious." Avastin chokes the blood supply that feeds tumors; it is the first drug of its kind to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration. When used with chemotherapy, it extends the life of the sickest patients by an average of about five months. Copyright 2006The New York Times Company land, owns sales rights to Avastin in Europe, where it was approved last year. Genentech is based in San Francisco. Wall Street analysts said they were optimistic that the deaths would not immediately affect the companies' finances because it was too early to know if Avastin, the combination of Avastin and Xelox or something unrelated to the drugs caused the deaths. "There is no information here to condemn Avastin," said Jason Kantor, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets. Denise Anderson, an analyst at Kepler Equities, wrote in a note to investors that the facts that patients in the trial would stay on Avastin and that only one drug combination was at issue seemed to indicate that "the problem may not ultimately be that serious." Avastin chokes the blood supply that feeds tumors; it is the first drug of its kind to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration. When used with chemotherapy, it extends the life of the sickest patients by an average of about five months. Copyright 2006The New York Times Company Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Wal-Mart Must Stock 'Morning After' Pill in Mass.
only in Taxachussets where judges and bureaucrats are God. JR Reprinted from NewsMax.com Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2006 12:50 a.m. EST Wal-Mart Must Stock 'Morning After' Pill in Mass. The state board that oversees pharmacies voted Tuesday to require Wal-Mart to stock emergency contraception pills at its Massachusetts pharmacies, a spokeswoman at the Department of Public Health said. The unanimous decision by the Massachusetts Board of Pharmacy comes two weeks after three women sued Wal-Mart in state court for failing to carry the so called "morning after" pill in its Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores in the state. The women argue state policy requires pharmacies to provide all "commonly prescribed medicines." The board has sent a letter to Wal-Mart lawyers informing them of the decision, said health department spokeswoman Donna Rheaume. Wal-Mart has until Thursday to provide written compliance. Dan Fogleman, a spokesman for Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart, said the company hadn't heard about the decision, but would comply with any order. Wal-Mart carries the pill in Illinois only, where it is required under state law. The company has said it "chooses not to carry many products for business reasons," but declined to elaborate. © 2006 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. 103 Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Syria switches to euro
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=politicsNewsstoryid=2006-02-13T153028Z_01_L13432231_RTRUKOC_0_US-SYRIA-US-FOREX.xmlrpc=22 Print this article Close This Window Syria switches to euro amid confrontation with USMon Feb 13, 2006 10:31 AM ET DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syria has switched all of the state's foreign currency transactions to euros from dollars amid a political confrontation with the United States, the head of state-owned Commercial Bank of Syria said on Monday. "This is a precaution. We are talking about billions of dollars," Duraid Durgham told Reuters. The bank, which still dominates the Syrian market although private banks have been allowed to set up in the last few years, has also stopped dealing with dollars in the international foreign exchange flows of private clients. The United States has been at the forefront of international pressure on Syria for its alleged role in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri a year ago. Damascus denies involvement in the killing. "It looks like a kind of pre-emptive action aimed at making their foreign assets safer, preventing them from getting frozen in case of any conflict," said a Middle East economist who requested anonymity. © Reuters 2006. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world. Close This Window Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. nojavascriptWT.js=No Description: Binary data
[cia-drugs] CIA chief sacked for opposing torture
CLICK HERE TO PRINT CLOSE WINDOW The Sunday Times February 12, 2006 CIA chief sacked for opposing tortureSarah Baxter and Michael Smith, Washington The CIAs top counter-terrorism official was fired last week because he opposed detaining Al-Qaeda suspects in secret prisons abroad, sending them to other countries for interrogation and using forms of torture such as water boarding, intelligence sources have claimed. Robert Grenier, head of the CIA counter-terrorism centre, was relieved of his post after a year in the job. One intelligence official said he was not quite as aggressive as he might have been in pursuing Al-Qaeda leaders and networks. Vincent Cannistraro, a former head of counter-terrorism at the agency, said: It is not that Grenier wasnt aggressive enough, it is that he wasnt with the programme. He expressed misgivings about the secret prisons in Europe and the rendition of terrorists. Grenier also opposed excessive interrogation, such as strapping suspects to boards and dunking them in water, according to Cannistraro. Porter Goss, who was appointed head of the CIA in August 2004 with a mission to clean house, has been angered by a series of leaks from CIA insiders, including revelations about black sites in Europe where top Al-Qaeda detainees were said to have been held. In last Fridays New York Times, Goss wrote that leakers within the CIA were damaging the agencys ability to fight terrorism and causing foreign intelligence organisations to lose confidence. Too many of my counterparts from other countries have told me, You Americans cant keep a secret. Goss is believed to have blamed Grenier for allowing leaks to occur on his watch. Since the appointment of Goss, the CIA has lost almost all its high-level directors amid considerable turmoil. AB Buzzy Krongard, a former executive director of the CIA who resigned shortly after Gosss arrival, said the leaks were unlikely to stop soon, despite proposals to subject officers to more lie detector tests. Krongard said it was up to President George Bush to stop the rot. The agency has only one client: the president of the United States, he said. The reorganisation is the way this president wanted it. If he is unwilling to reform it, the agency will go on as it is. History will judge how good an idea it was to destroy the teams and the programmes that were in place. Copyright 2006 Times Newspapers Ltd.This service is provided on Times Newspapers' standard Terms and Conditions . Please read our Privacy Policy . To inquire about a licence to reproduce material from The Times, visit the Syndication website . Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office
[cia-drugs] U.S. Cites Rise in Violence Along Border With Mexico
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/11/national/11border.html?_r=1oref=sloginpagewanted=print February 11, 2006 U.S. Cites Rise in Violence Along Border With Mexico By RACHEL L. SWARNS WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 Mexican criminal syndicates are stepping up their attacks on American agents patrolling the border as officials of the Homeland Security Department intensify efforts to stem the flow of immigrants and drugs into the United States, American officials said this week. In recent months, scores of Border Patrol agents have been fired upon or pelted with large stones as well as with cloth-covered stones that have been doused with flammable liquid and set ablaze. Since October, agents have been attacked in more than 190 cases, officials said on Thursday. Most of the attacks have occurred along the Mexican border near San Diego, but shootings have also been reported along the border in Texas near the cities of Laredo and McAllen. In the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, there were 778 attacks on agents, up from 374 in the previous fiscal year, Homeland Security Department officials said. One stone struck an agent in the eye; a gunshot hit an agent in the leg. The officials could not say precisely how many officers had been injured in the attacks, which have originated from both sides of the border. "This is what we're facing," said David V. Aguilar, the Border Patrol chief, who played a videotape at a news conference on Thursday that featured a patrol car riddled with bullets and agents scrambling for cover as stones rained down on them. "This is a very serious type of situation." The homeland security secretary, Michael Chertoff, who led the news conference, said officials planned to continue their efforts at securing the United States-Mexico border. This week President Bush asked Congress to increase the Homeland Security Department's budget by nearly 6 percent. The Border Patrol would receive an extra $459 million to hire 1,500 new agents, bringing the total force to about 14,000. An additional $410 million would be allocated to add 6,700 beds for detainees so fewer illegal immigrants would have to be released before being deported. Another $100 million would be spent on cameras, sensors and other detection technology. Mr. Chertoff said the department planned to focus on illegal immigrants from countries other than Mexico, who have typically been released after apprehension because of shortages of beds. Last fall, he expanded the use of summary deportations, a process known as expedited removal, in which illegal immigrants from countries other than Mexico are detained and then deported without seeing an immigration judge. But officials have struggled to find space for family groups and remain unable to process illegal immigrants from El Salvador because of a court ruling from the 1980's, when civil war wracked that country, that requires officials to allow Salvadorans to see judges before deportation. Nationwide, 18,207 illegal immigrants from countries other than Mexico, nearly 60 percent of the total apprehended, were released on their own recognizance in the first three months of this fiscal year. Officials of the Homeland Security Department said they were making headway in detaining and deporting these illegal immigrants. They are also working on finding more space for families and battling to change the rule regarding Salvadorans. As for the violence on the border, the officials said Mexico had deployed 300 federal officers along its side of the border to help out. But many of the Mexican gangs remain entrenched. Last week, immigration officials announced that they had seized a cache of weapons, including materials for 33 explosive devices, assault weapons and machine gun assembly kits, in Laredo. Officials believe the weapons were intended for criminals in Mexico. "These are very sophisticated, hardened criminals who will use violence to protect their criminal businesses," Mr. Chertoff said. "We've got to be prepared to deal very decisively with any violence directed at our Border Patrol agents." Copyright 2006The New York Times Company Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL
[cia-drugs] 21 Injured in Border Chase
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/11/national/11chase.html?pagewanted=print February 11, 2006 21 Injured in Border Chase By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SAN DIEGO, Feb. 10 (AP) A van carrying suspected illegal immigrants crashed near the border with Mexico on Friday as it was being chased by the Border Patrol, injuring 21 people, 8 critically. Twenty-eight people were in the van when it flipped while trying to avoid a strip of spikes agents had placed in its path. Eight people suffered life-threatening injuries, said Maurice Luque, a spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. The Border Patrol said agents stopped two other vans, taking about 60 people into custody. Copyright 2006The New York Times Company Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Blair Blasted As Carlyle Sees QinetiQ Windfall
Faces In The News Blair Blasted As Carlyle Sees QinetiQ Windfall Parmy Olson, 02.10.06, 3:10 PM ET It was reportedly the inspiration behind Q in the James Bond movies, and seems to have become a venerated British institution ever since word hit the street that a large chunk of its flotation capital would go to a U.S. private equity firm. Critics of the 2003 sale of the U.K. defense company QinetiQ to The Carlyle Group knew today's listing was inevitable--but as numbers are now put on the amount of cash set to be raked in by the U.S. firm, bitter reactions are rising again to the surface. Opponents of U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair have long felt that at $74 million, his government had sold its 30.5% stake in QinetiQ to the Carlyle Group too cheaply. They say that the $395 million that Carlyle has made today should have gone to the U.K. taxpayer. The knives have duly re-emerged in force. "It is very much akin to Boris Yeltsin handing out the assets of the old Soviet Union to his chums at knockdown prices," one of Blair's former ministers Lord Gilbert postulated to the BBC. Blair's current defense minister tried to parry the cut and thrust by insisting the government had been right to sell off a "wasting asset." Meanwhile there's been outcry that the sale was directed at institutional investors at the expense of would-be private shareholders. QinetiQ, however, has since allocating 6% shares to smaller stockbrokers--a combined stake worth nearly $140 million. With the float, U.K. government has cut its stake to 23.7% while Carlyle whittled down its holding to 12.%. In what was the first privatization of a government-controlled company under Blair, today's stock exchange debut has given QinetiQ a market cap of about 1.3 billion pounds, or $2.3 billion. QinetiQ reportedly now plans to focus on its core customers within Britain's defense ministry and tap into overseas markets in areas such as security and counterterrorism. The Carlyle Group meanwhile has kept quiet about the whole affair. More... More Faces In The News Faces In The News Blair Blasted As Carlyle Sees QinetiQ Windfall Parmy Olson, 02.10.06, 3:10 PM ET It was reportedly the inspiration behind Q in the James Bond movies, and seems to have become a venerated British institution ever since word hit the street that a large chunk of its flotation capital would go to a U.S. private equity firm. Critics of the 2003 sale of the U.K. defense company QinetiQ to The Carlyle Group knew today's listing was inevitable--but as numbers are now put on the amount of cash set to be raked in by the U.S. firm, bitter reactions are rising again to the surface. Opponents of U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair have long felt that at $74 million, his government had sold its 30.5% stake in QinetiQ to the Carlyle Group too cheaply. They say that the $395 million that Carlyle has made today should have gone to the U.K. taxpayer. The knives have duly re-emerged in force. "It is very much akin to Boris Yeltsin handing out the assets of the old Soviet Union to his chums at knockdown prices," one of Blair's former ministers Lord Gilbert postulated to the BBC. Blair's current defense minister tried to parry the cut and thrust by insisting the government had been right to sell off a "wasting asset." Meanwhile there's been outcry that the sale was directed at institutional investors at the expense of would-be private shareholders. QinetiQ, however, has since allocating 6% shares to smaller stockbrokers--a combined stake worth nearly $140 million. With the float, U.K. government has cut its stake to 23.7% while Carlyle whittled down its holding to 12.%. In what was the first privatization of a government-controlled company under Blair, today's stock exchange debut has given QinetiQ a market cap of about 1.3 billion pounds, or $2.3 billion. QinetiQ reportedly now plans to focus on its core customers within Britain's defense ministry and tap into overseas markets in areas such as security and counterterrorism. The Carlyle Group meanwhile has kept quiet about the whole affair. More... Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[cia-drugs] NBC News Accused of Treason
http://www.aim.org/media_monitor/4349_0_2_0_C/ NBC News Accused of Treason By Cliff Kincaid | February 9, 2006 What's next? Exclusive footage of American troops being massacred while NBC News and Commander Ismail look on and film it for the evening news? A former freelance producer/correspondent for CNN, Reuters Television and CBN News says that she is disgusted by how the U.S. television networks are facilitating terrorist military and propaganda operations. Theresia Whitfield says that "one has to question the loyalty of our own American owned networks, including and specifically NBC." Whitfield (Yetman was her maiden name) explains, "I find it interesting that Lisa Myers, Senior Investigative Correspondent [for NBC News], was recently able to do an exclusive interview with a senior Taliban commander who calls himself 'Commander Ismail.' Granted, the network didn't actually send her but rather some poor underpaid producer and photographer working in the region risking their lives for the glory that will never come. I know-I've been that producer while they were probably taken on a ride miles out of the way, probably blind-folded; you can't tell me that these people couldn't have been tracked by the CIA, the FBI, the NSA or someone else with some other acronym and authority. You can't convince me that these news people could get in good with this top secret terrorist and NOT tell the United States government that they were having a top secret meeting." She adds, "It's OK for them to spill the beans about everything the White House does, but Heaven forbid they should tell the Bush Administration where some of the terrorists are or that they're having tea and a casual chat? Come on. Now who's bordering on treason? Al-Jazeera [is our friend] compared to what our own media will do to the United States with our backs turned. It's a travesty. They should be charged with treason when they do these types of stories and don't report their sources to the proper officials." The December 27 report in question about "Commander Ismail" was narrated by Myers, who said that "In his first interviews with Western media, Ismail brags about killing three Navy Seals this summer, then downing a Chinook helicopter that came to rescue them, killing another 16 Americans." Myers explained, "NBC News interviewed Ismail in August and again this month. Both times, the Taliban made sure we could not provide their location to the U.S. military. An NBC producer was taken on a confusing seven hour odyssey to an unknown location, where Ismail then appeared." Myers said that NBC News "provided details of the interview to U.S. intelligence." But this was not done so that U.S. officials could apprehend the terrorist. Instead, this was done so that senior officials could say that "his claims are consistent with what they know about the battle, and they have no reason to believe that the man is not Commander Ismail." So NBC News obtained an interview with a terrorist killer of American military personnel. That's just great, isn't it? What a scoop! What's next? Exclusive footage of American troops being massacred while NBC News and Commander Ismail look on and film it for the evening news? Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Enron revisited
(As the fraud trial of former Enron head, Ken Lay, unfolds it is clear that the prosecutor and the media are not going to tell the full story.,but will shield as much as possible the large investment banks, government officials and the Congress who played a large role in one of the largest ever scams. I am reissuing an article I wrote in February of 2002 to remind what the media "missed" the first time around and continues to ignore.) ENRONITIS A COMMUNICABLE DISEASE By Jim RareyFebruary 27, 2002 What at first was thought to be just the outrageous illegal excesses of one company (Enron) is now found to be an outbreak threatening to become an epidemic. In the Enron case, over $80 billion in value has disappeared from investment portfolios including pension funds, private 401Ks, IRAs and other institutional and private investors. And thats just the stock effect. Still to come are disclosures of the impact of loans from investment banks and bonds issued by Enron subsidiaries and "partnerships" which will be in the billions of dollars.Before tracing the contagion of the "Enron Syndrome" we should try to clarify just exactly what Enron was doing. About the only consistent explanation in most of the media is that the company was hiding its true debt on the balance sheets of the partnerships. It was doing much more than that. Enron set up more than 3,000 private "partnerships" with the aid of investment bankers who rounded up the investors to give the appearance of independent companies. With the connivance of the bankers, bond rating services and Wall Street analysts, bonds were then issued by the partnerships. The bonds were backed, not by the (non-existent) assets of the partnerships, but by Enron stock. Enron stock at that time was the darling of Wall Street trading in $60-$80 dollar range. Given investment grade ratings by the ratings services and buy recommendations from Wall Street analysts, the bankers had no problem touting the investments to unsuspecting investors. Of course Enron is now a penny stock and the bonds have virtually no backing. This stratagem worked so well the bankers began to recommend the structure to other clients. Chief among the investment houses were CitiGroup, Credit Suisse First Boston and Deutche Bank Alex Brown according to a 2/14/02 New York Times article. The practice became so lucrative that some of the banks began buying the bonds themselves and then peddled them to investors. Two of the companies named in the Times article as adopting the Enron model are the Williams Companies and the El Paso Corporation. Both are also big players in the energy (oil and gas) markets. The major selling point of the model was that it would shield the bond liabilities from. investors view by keeping them on the partnerships balance sheets. J.P Morgan Chase also had a "arrangement" with Enron where large sums of money were prepaid to Enron supposedly for future delivery of oil and gas commodities. These transactions were run through one of the partnerships and an entity called Mahonia Ltd., a subsidiary of Morgan Chase set up in Jersey in the (English) Channel Islands. No commodities were never delivered and the prepayment was returned to Morgan Chase plus about 3.4% of the contract. The transactions are being investigated, as they appear to be nothing but private loans to Enron outside of normal reporting requirements.Morgan Chase required Enron to obtain performance bonds from insurance companies for the transactions with themselves as the beneficiary. Since the bankrupt Enron now cannot make good on the repayments, Morgan Chase has claimed payment from the insurance companies. The insurance companies are refusing to pay saying the transactions were misrepresented as commodity trades. Morgan Chase has sued and, according to Standard Poors, stands to lose over $5 billion if unsuccessful. One of the companies involved is Travelers Insurance, a subsidiary of CitiGroup. Ironically, and perhaps even poetically, this has the effect of the Rockerfellers suing themselves since they control both Morgan Chase and CitiGroup.Are all these goings on legal? Where were the accountants and lawyers while this was happening? There is some confusion as to whether the partnership scheme was the brainchild of Enron management or of the consulting arm of Enrons auditors, Arthur Anderson. It may be irrelevant since both embraced the concept wholeheartedly. Arthur Anderson is said to have passed the model on to some of its other big clients of which Global Crossings is one of the more notable. Global Crossings, of course, is much in the news as it tries to sell its core business (a strategic fiber optic network) to a company with close ties to the government of Communist China. It also has gained notoriety for its chairmans reaping of over $700 million in stock sales before the company went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. (This dwarfs
[cia-drugs] Alleged terrorist's trial moves ahead
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/world/13797654.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp Posted on Sun, Feb. 05, 2006 Alleged terrorist's trial moves aheadBy Matthew Barakat and Michael J. SniffenASSOCIATED PRESS ALEXANDRIA, Va. - More than four years ago, Zacarias Moussaoui was arrested by the FBI while taking pilot training in Minnesota. He was still in custody when al-Qaida hijackers attacked on Sept. 11, 2001. After a tortuous trip through the legal system, the 37-year-old Frenchman admitted last April that Osama bin Laden ordered him to train to fly a jetliner into the White House. He pleaded guilty to conspiring with the Sept. 11 hijackers but claimed not to know their plans. On Monday, a federal court begins picking a jury to decide whether Moussaoui, the only person charged by the United States in the nation's most deadly terrorist attack, will be executed or spend life in prison. Whatever the jury decides, Moussaoui's impact has been both unexpected and peculiar: Once thought to be a missing 20th hijacker, he generated only a false alarm: The nation's 3,500 crop-dusters were temporarily grounded based partly on what FBI agents found on his computer. But Moussaoui is no longer believed to be a 20th hijacker, and the government deleted references to his interest in crop-dusters from its indictment. His case was central to the finger pointing, investigations and reforms that followed the attacks. An obscure FBI lawyer in Minneapolis made the cover of Time magazine as a person of the year for her whistleblowing complaint that the bureau dropped the ball in investigating Moussaoui. One of the nation's most efficient federal courthouses, proud to be nicknamed the "Rocket Docket," has been slowed to a crawl by a defendant with no legal training serving largely as his own lawyer. The pace picks up Monday when 500 potential jurors show up at the courthouse in Alexandria to fill out detailed questionnaires about their knowledge of the case and feelings about the death penalty. Opening statements in the sentencing trial are set for March 6, and the trial is expected to last one to three months. Prosecutors contend Moussaoui could have prevented the Sept. 11 attack by telling investigators what he knew when arrested. The defense argues that Moussaoui knew less about Sept. 11 than the government, citing investigations that turned up multiple missed opportunities to possibly prevent the attacks. Those investigations were fueled in part by FBI agent Coleen Rowley's public complaint that the FBI failed to aggressively investigate Moussaoui after his August 2001 arrest. Selected as a Time Person of the Year in 2002, Rowley is now running for Congress. The defense has subpoenaed Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., the House Armed Services Committee vice chairman, who in a House speech on pre-Sept. 11 intelligence failures revealed that a secret military data-mining operation code-named Able Danger had identified four of the 19 hijackers, including leader Mohammed Atta, as al-Qaida operatives a year and half before the attacks. "The congressman is inclined to cooperate and is consulting his attorney and the House general counsel," Weldon's spokesman, John Tomaszewski, said Friday. Defense lawyers have indicated they will introduce testimony about Moussaoui's difficult personal life in hopes of persuading a jury to show leniency. Moussaoui was part of a broken family of Moroccan descent with a history of mental illness, Moussaoui's lawyers said in court papers. The Moussaouis maintained only a superficial connection to Islam when Zacarias was growing up. His turn toward militant Islam came in the 1990s when he moved to London and fell under the influence of radical clerics at a time when his personal life was in
[cia-drugs] Fw: AWESOME: The Old Man in the Parking Lot pls read
Subject: AWESOME: The Old Man in the Parking Lot Subject: Greatest Generation The elderly parking lot attendant wasn't in a good mood! Neither was Sam Bierstock. It was around 1 am, and Bierstock, a Delray Beach, FL, eye doctor, business consultant, corporate speaker and musician, was bone tired after appearing at an event. He pulled up in his car, and the parking attendant began to speak. "I took two bullets for this country and look what I'm doing," he said bitterly. At first, Bierstock didn't know what to say to the World War II veteran. But he rolled down his window and told the man, "Really, from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you." Then the old soldier began to cry. "That really got to me," Bierstock says. Cut to today. Bierstock, 58, and John Melnick, 54, of Pompano Beach - a member of Bierstock's band, "Dr. Sam and the Managed Care Band" - have written a song inspired by that old soldier in the airport parking lot. The mournful "Before You Go" does more than salute those who fought in WW II. It encourages people to go out of their way to thank the aging warriors before they die. "If we had lost that particular war, our whole way of life would have been shot," says Bierstock, who plays harmonica. "The WW II soldiers are now dying at the rate of about 2,000 every day. I thought we needed to thank them." The song is striking a chord. Within four days of Bierstock placing it on the Web the song and accompanying photo essay have bounced around nine countries, producing tears and heartfelt thanks from veterans, their sons and daughters and grandchildren. "It made me cry," wrote one veteran's son. Another sent an e-mail saying that only after his father consumed several glasses of wine would he discuss "the unspeakable horrors" he and other soldiers had witnessed in places such as Anzio, Iwo Jima, Bataan and Omaha Beach. "I can never thank them enough," the son wrote. "Thank you for thinking about them." Bierstock and Melnick thought about shipping it off to a professional singer, maybe a Lee Greenwood type, but because time was running out for so many veterans, they decided it was best to release it quickly, for free, on the Web. They've sent the song to Sen. John McCain and others in Washington. Already they have been invited to perform it in Houston for a Veterans Day tribute - this after just a few days on the Web. They hope every veteran in America gets a chance to hear it. Please turn up your sound, then click on the site below! http://www.beforeyougo.us Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Grenades, bombs found at border
This is a WorldNetDaily printer-friendly version of the article which follows. To view this item online, visit http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48671 Saturday, February 4, 2006 INVASION USAGrenades, bombs found at borderFeds say Laredo cache belonged to drug cartel Posted: February 4, 20061:00 a.m. Eastern ©2006WorldNetDaily.com A federal task force yesterday seized weapons, grenades and homemade bombs in Laredo, Texas, the scene of deadly border violence in the last year. It was the second stash of weapons and explosives found by the team in the last week a sign, Customs agents say, of a war between drug cartels vying for control of the U.S.-Mexico border. Laredo law enforcement officials called the weapons' discovery which apparently marks the first time such explosives have been found in the city a worrisome development. The feds captured more than 30 homemade bombs, grenade components, assault weapons, silencers, machine gun assembly kits, bulletproof vests, police scanners and cash, Julie Myers, assistant secretary of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in a statement. Two of the bombs had been completed and others were under assembly, said officials from the task force that involved Immigration and Customs Enforcement, FBI, local authorities and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Officials said they also found the weapons in homes during January 12, 26 and 27 searches. U.S. authorities have said they increasingly fear violence in Mexico will spill over into the United States. About 170 deaths have been attributed to the cartel battles in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, in the past year, officials said. Nuevo Laredo is across the Rio Grande from Laredo. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Fw: Red Skelton's Pledge Of Allegiance
Forwarded from a friend. I hope that all of you enjoy this as much as I do. It may take a couple minutes to come in, turn your speakers on. OK? - Original MessagePledge Of Allegiance Red Skelton 's Pledge of Allegiance Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM SPONSORED LINKS United state bankruptcy court western district of texas United state life insurance United state patent United state patent search United states patent office United state flag YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "cia-drugs" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[cia-drugs] Able Danger and Moussaoui
http://www.military.com/Content/Printer_Friendly_Version/1,11491,,00.html?passfile=page_url=%2Fopinion%2F0%2C15202%2C86777%2C00%2Ehtmlpassdirectory_file=%2Fnewsfiles%2F86777%2Ehtm Subscribe to free Military Insider Newsletter Able Danger and Moussaoui Rory O'Connor | January 31, 2006This article first appeared on NavySEALs.com and MediaChannel.org Lawyers for Zacarias Moussaoui, the admitted terrorist conspirator who pleaded guilty to six conspiracy charges but insisted he was not part of the Sept. 11 plot, are making moves to inject the Able Danger intelligence controversy into Moussaoui's forthcoming sentencing trial in an attempt to stave off a death sentence for their client. Last week, Representative Curt Weldon, the crusading conservative Republican from Pennsylvania who has been a leading voice in pushing for open hearings about Able Danger, received a subpoena to testify at the sentencing trial, now scheduled to begin next month. Weldon's communications director John G. Tomaszewski noted that "The Congressman has been pushing aggressively over the last six months to bring this story to the public, and he continues to push for the public's right to know all the facts about what United States government officials knew about the 9/11 attacks - and when they knew it." Others connected with the Able Danger program, including defense analysts such as Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Shaffer and Captain Mark Phillpott, are also expected to be called to testify. Both longtime military analysts, along with several others involved in the Able Danger program, say their operation identified Mohamed Atta and three other 9/11 hijackers a year before the terror attacks. They were slated to speak at open hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee September 21, but at the last minute the Defense Department abruptly refused permission for their stories to be told and the hearings were postponed indefinitely. The Moussaoui defense moves came just after a federal judge ordered the government to turn over documents describing what officials knew about Al Qaeda threats and some of its hijackers before September 11, 2001. In granting part of a January 20 defense motion for documents, Judge Leonie M. Brinkema of Federal District Court acted without even waiting for the government's response. "Several of the categories of information are so critical to the issues in this case," Judge Brinkema wrote, "That the court can address some of the requests without a response." Judge Brinkema ordered the government to turn over any threat assessments immediately, especially those (like Able Danger) completed in the year before the 2001 attacks. Her order was released after government censors blacked out about five lines of it. Prosecutors plan to argue in the first part of the court proceeding that the F.B.I. could have prevented the attacks if Mr. Moussaoui had told agents what he knew about Al Qaeda's desire to fly planes into American buildings. Moussaoui's attorney Edward B. McMahon Jr. was unavailable for comment. But another attorney familiar with the case speculated that the defense move to subpoena Weldon and other Able Danger participants might counter the prosecution's argument. "This could dissociate Moussaoui from the 9/11 attacks," he explained. "The defense will argue that Able Danger found evidence of four hijackers -- but Moussaoui was not one of them, even though he was in the United States at the time. This would buttress the claim that he had no involvement in the 9/11 attacks, and help exonerate him." The defense may also argue that agents already had more information about the plot than Moussaoui could have provided. "Their second argument could be that the authorities could have prevented the 9/11 attacks without apprehending Moussaoui ahead of time," the attorney reasoned, "Since there is nothing Moussaoui could have told them that they couldn't have learned about from Able Danger." If the jury
