Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens For Legitimate Government

[Rev. Dorothiea Roberts]

News Updates from Citizens For Legitimate Government
26 May 2009
http://www.legitgov.org/
All items are here:
http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news


CLG 9/11 Exposition Zone

Flu 'Oddities'

CLG's BREAKING NEWS and COMMENTARY
Last updated: 05/26/2009 14:42:36

New: New York Brooklyn Slippery Slope SARS full scale bioagent exercise, 2005 24 May 2009 Slippery Slope 2005 was a full-scale bioagent response drill in Brooklyn, New York (using SARS as the infectious bioagent).

Breaking: California Supreme Court upholds Prop. 8; gay marriage remains banned in state 26 May 2009 The California Supreme Court today upheld Proposition 8’s ban on same-sex marriage but also ruled that gay couples who wed before the election will continue to be married under state law. Proposition 8 passed with 52% of the vote. By a 52-48 margin, voters approved the measure reinstating a ban on same-sex marriage after the state Supreme Court, in a landmark ruling last May, approved such marriages.

California Court Upholds Gay Marriage Ban 26 May 2009 The state Supreme Court has upheld a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, but also decided that the estimated 18,000 gay couples who tied the knot before the law took effect will stay wed. The decision Tuesday rejected an argument from gay rights activists that the ban revised the California constitution's equal protection clause to such a dramatic degree that it first needed the Legislature's approval.

Obama names Sotomayor as Supreme Court nominee 26 May 2009 President Obama has chosen federal Judge Sonia Sotomayor as his nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court. Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic and third female U.S. Supreme Court justice if confirmed. Obama announced the nomination Tuesday morning at the White House. Sotomayor, a 54-year-old judge on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, was named a U.S. District Court judge by President George H.W. Bush in 1992, and was elevated to her current seat by President Clinton.

Sotomayor's resume, record on notable cases --The resume and record of federal Judge Sonia Sotomayor (CNN) 26 May 2009

Judge Sotomayor's Appellate Opinions in Civil Cases By Tom Goldstein 15 May 2009 Since joining the Second Circuit in 1998, Sotomayor has authored over 150 opinions, addressing a wide range of issues, in civil cases.

Report: North Korea test-fires 2 more missiles 26 May 2009 North Korea reportedly tested two more short-range missiles Tuesday, a day after detonating a nuclear bomb underground, pushing the regime further into a confrontation with world powers despite the threat of U.N. action. Two missiles -- one ground-to-air, the other ground-to-ship -- with a range of about 80 miles (130 kilometers) were test-fired from an east coast launchpad, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, citing an unidentified government official.

Rumsfeld was on ABB board during deal with North Korea 24 Feb 2003 Donald Rumsfeld, the US secretary of defence, was on the board of technology giant ABB when it won a deal to supply North Korea with two nuclear power plants. Weapons experts say waste material from the two reactors could be used for so-called "dirty bombs". The Swiss-based ABB on Friday told swissinfo that Rumsfeld was involved with the company in early 2000, when it netted a $200 million (SFr270million) contract with Pyongyang.

IDF chief: I'm preparing all possible measures against Iran 26 May 2009 Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi told lawmakers on Tuesday he was preparing every possible measure Israel could take to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions. "As chief of staff, my position is to prepare all the alternatives for dealing with the Iranian nuclear problem, which is what I am doing," Lt. Gen. Ashkenazi told the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

Israeli delegation on the move over 'Iran threat' 26 May 2009 An Israeli government delegation has set off to London in an attempt to divert attention away from its illegal settlements and onto Iran. The delegation headed by Intelligence Services Minister Dan Meridor is expected to meet with US officials in the UK, a senior government official told AFP on condition of anonymity. The official, however, did not specify which US officials the delegation would meet or why London had been chosen as the venue for the talks.

3 Americans and a Civilian Die in Afghanistan Attack 27 May 2009 A suicide car bomber driving a Toyota Corolla plowed into a NATO convoy at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, killing three American soldiers and a civilian passer-by on a main road north of Kabul, according to Afghan and U.S. military officials.

Bomber kills '5 US troops' in Afghanistan 26 May 2009 A suicide bomber rams its explosive-laden vehicle into a US army convoy in north-east of the war-ravaged country, killing five US troops and injuring several others. Headquarter of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Forces ISAF in Kabul confirmed the incident, which occurred at around 9 am in Sayad district of Kapisa province, some 60 km north of the Afghan capital.

US says roadside bomb in Iraq kills 3 Americans 26 May 2009 Three Americans, including a State Department employee, were killed by a roadside bomb that struck a convoy in Iraq's western Anbar province, the U.S. military said Tuesday. The blast killed a U.S. soldier, a State Department official and a civilian contractor working for the Defense Department as their convoy headed through Fallujah to a nearby construction site on Monday, the military said. Two others were wounded.

U.S. contractor killed in Green Zone 23 May 2009 The man found stabbed to death in the Green Zone in Baghdad has been identified as the U.S. owner of a small construction company, officials said Saturday. Another civilian, a defense department employee was killed Friday when a rocket hit his trailer, the U.S. military said.

State recruits an army of snoopers with police-style powers 26 May 2009 A growing army of private security guards and town hall snoopers with sweeping police-style powers is being quietly established, the Daily Mail can reveal. Under a Home Office-run scheme, people such as park wardens, dog wardens, car park attendants and shopping centre guards receive the powers if they undergo training, and pay a small fee to their local police force. Their powers include issuing £60 fines for truancy and dropping litter, and being able to demand a person's name and address on the street.

Attorney: The document amounts to "Judge Walker's enough-is-enough order." Showdown Looming On State Secrets 26 May 2009 The Obama administration has invoked the state-secrets privilege in resisting a lawsuit filed by an Oregon charity whose attorneys may have been subjected to warrantless wiretapping. Late Friday, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker issued a terse order that raised the prospect of "sanctions" for government lawyers who have not responded to his order for a plan for how the case should proceed. Civil liberties groups and left-leaning members of Congress have used the matter to argue that Obama's approach as president conflicts with his campaign promises of transparency.

H1N1 flu infects 13,000 people in 46 countries - WHO 26 May 2009 The World Health Organisation said on Tuesday that nearly 13,000 people have been confirmed infected with the new H1N1 flu strain but the number of countries affected is stable at 46. In its latest tally, the United Nations agency said its labs have confirmed 12,954 infections with the newly discovered strain that has killed 92 people.

Swine flu scare: cruise ship quarantined 25 May 2009 Authorities have quarantined another cruise ship in Sydney because of swine flu concerns, disrupting the travel plans of around 2,000 people. A spokeswoman for P and O cruises says the Health Department is awaiting swine test results on two passengers, who returned on the cruise ship from the South Pacific this morning.

U.S. consumer confidence soared in May --Highest level since September; a sign that economy stabilizing 26 May 2009 Consumer confidence extended its rebound in May, soaring to the highest level since last September as more shoppers are feeling the worst of the recession is behind them. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index, which had dramatically increased in April, zoomed past economists' expectations to 54.9 from a revised 40.8 in April.

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Hundreds 'tortured' in Iraqi prisons 25 May 2009 Iraq's Ministry of Human Rights has declared in a report that hundreds of people were tortured in Iraqi prisons last year. According to the report published in Baghdad's al-Sabbah newspaper Sunday, of the 306 cases of torture and abuse in Iraqi prisons, 107 took place in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq. The New York-based Human Rights Watch has also declared that the torture or abuse of Iraqi prisoners is "routine and commonplace." The group said that detainees were suspended for long periods of time with their hands tied behind their back, routinely beaten with cables and metal rods and had shocks administered to their earlobes and genitals by security officers, DPA reported.

U.S. holds journalist without charges in Iraq --Reuters cameraman Ibrahim Jassam has been held since September. The U.S. military rejected a court order to release him, saying he is a 'high security threat.' 24 May 2009 The soldiers rifled through the house, confiscating Ibrahim Jassam's computer hard drive and cameras. And then they led him away, handcuffed and blindfolded. That was Sept. 2. Jassam, 31, has been in U.S. custody ever since. No formal accusations have been made against Jassam, and an Iraqi court ordered in November that he be released for lack of evidence. But the U.S. military continues to hold him, saying it has intelligence that he is "a high security threat," said Maj. Neal Fisher, spokesman for detainee affairs. [Just be sure reporters (aka convicted spies) arrested in Iran are released. But the United States of Hypocrisy can hold and torture (actual) journalists for six centuries without trial. You won't read about that in the PentaPost. --LRP]

Detainee claims abuse at Gitmo, Bagram: 'They were beating me' 24 May 2009 As a prisoner, Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef was held both at Afghanistan's Bagram Air Base and at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba -- spending more than three years in Guantanamo before he was released in 2006. Now free, Zaeef alleges the military engaged in abusive treatment both at Bagram and Guantanamo. He says he is still bitter about his time there. Closing Guantanamo Bay, he told CNN, is only part of the justice those detained there deserve. "It was a bad stain on American history," he said... "I didn't see a worse situation in my life than Bagram," recalled Zaeef. "They were beating me, they put me in the snow, in the cold, until I was unconscious."

Israel's war effort gains religious imperative 26 May 2009 During the Gaza war this year, Schmuel Kaufman, a military rabbi from a West Bank settlement, used to stride between the Israeli soldiers’ tents and urge them to fight what he deemed an "obligatory war" ordained by ancient scripture. "It’s a holy war to protect women and children from the south of the country after a long period of endurance on our side,” he told The Times. "The commander of the battalion asked me to blow the shofar [a ram’s horn] every time before going into the fighting. I’m blowing the shofar while 500 soldiers stand behind me praying. They went in wrapped in holiness."

'If Israel doesn't remove Iranian threat, no one will' [Can someone remove the Israeli threat?] 25 May 2009 If Israel does not eliminate the Iranian threat, no one will, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday. "Israel is not like other countries," Netanyahu told his Likud faction in a meeting which came one week after his meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House. "We are faced with security challenges that no other country faces, and our need to provide a response to these is critical, and we are answering the call."

Barak: U.S.-Iran nuclear talks have 'very low' chance of success 25 May 2009 Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Monday that new diplomatic overtures made by the United States to Iran were highly unlikely to halt the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. "I believe that the chance the dialogue has of stopping Iran's nuclear efforts is very low," Barak told Army Radio. "I also believe the Americans understand this. They only think that there is logic to this, even if the chance is low... in order to contend with what needs to, or is likely to happen in the future."

Iran sends six warships, logistic vessels to Aden Gulf and high seas 25 May 2009 Iran’s Navy Force Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said on Monday Iran has sent six warships and logistic vessels to Aden Gulf and high seas noting the move was unprecedented in the history of Iran's navy force. The important measure represents Iran's potent military capabilities for confronting any sort of outside threat across its coasts, he said as expressing hope navy force could make more progresses on technology of arm by local experts.

UK MPs on hunger strike over no Gaza entry 24 May 2009 A group of British lawmakers en-route to the Gaza Strip have gone on a hunger strike after Egypt prevented their aid convoy from entering the besieged sliver. The Convoy of Hope was expected to cross the Rafah border-crossing on Saturday, but reports say that Egyptian authorities have delayed its entry to the territory.

Troops in Iraq, Afghanistan honor their fallen 25 May 2009 American troops on Memorial Day honored their fallen on two battlefields, one war winding down and another ramping up. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. military remembered the toll so far on the troops -- more than 4,900 dead -- with the outcome still unclear. In Iraq, soldiers and Marines stood solemnly during a playing of Taps at Baghdad's Camp Victory... Thousands of miles away, in the Afghan capital of Kabul, soldiers left mementos at a similar memorial for two comrades who recently died.

Obama vows to keep US military dominance 25 May 2009 Barack Obama has vowed to keep US military dominance in the world by sending military troops to 'theater of war' when and where Washington deems 'necessary'. "We will maintain America's military dominance and keep you the finest fighting force the world has ever seen," President Obama told graduates at the US Naval Academy on Friday.

Senate backs $91.3 billion Iraq, Afghan war bill 21 May 2009 The U.S. Senate on Thursday approved a $91.3 billion measure sought by President Barack Obama to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The measure meets some of Obama's key priorities but leaves out funding to close the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Senate approves $91 billion for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan --Democrats back US militarism By Patrick Martin 25 May 2009 By a margin of 86-3, the US Senate voted late last Thursday to approve a $91.3 billion supplemental funding bill to finance the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through September 30. The bill, which is expected to go to President Obama to sign within two weeks, brings the total expended on the two wars of aggression to more than $900 billion over eight years.

Bomb kills British soldier in southern Afghanistan, 2nd killed in two days 24 May 2009 Britain's Defence Ministry says one of its soldiers has been killed by a bomb blast in southern Afghanistan - the second British soldier to die in two days. It says a soldier from 38 Engineer Regiment was killed on Saturday while on patrol near Sangin in Helmand Province.

US: 4 al-Qaida members detained in Afghanistan 24 May 2009 U.S. coalition troops detained four suspected al-Qaida members during a raid in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, while a roadside bomb in the south killed a NATO service member, officials said. The U.S.-led troops captured the four in the city of Khost, close to the border with Pakistan, the coalition said in a statement.

North Korean Nuclear Claim Draws Global Criticism 26 May 2009 North Korea announced on Monday that it had successfully conducted its second nuclear test, in defiance of international warnings. Around the world, news of the test drew condemnation and criticism, and some governments threatened to press for tighter sanctions at a special meeting of the Security Council on Monday. President Obama said in a statement that "North Korea is directly and recklessly challenging the international community." [Just as the US does with its illegal occupations, killer drones, and torture sites.]

North Korea tests nuclear weapon 'as powerful as Hiroshima bomb' --Country risks further international isolation as underground nuclear explosion triggers earthquake 25 May 2009 North Korea today risked further international isolation after it claimed to have successfully tested a nuclear weapon as powerful as the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. The test comes less than two months after the North enraged the US and its allies by test firing a long-range ballistic missile.

Threats to Judges, Prosecutors Soaring --Worried Court Personnel Resort to Guards, Identity Shields, Weapons 25 May 2009 Threats against the nation's judges and prosecutors have sharply increased, prompting hundreds to get 24-hour protection from armed U.S. marshals. Many federal judges are altering their routes to work, installing security systems at home, shielding their addresses by paying bills at the courthouse or refraining from registering to vote. Some even pack weapons on the bench. A high-tech "threat management" center recently opened in Crystal City, where a staff of about 25 marshals and analysts monitor a 24-hour number for reporting threats, use sophisticated mapping software to track those being threatened and tap into a classified database linked to the FBI and CIA.

London 7/7 bombing investigation a "whitewash" By Paul Mitchell 25 May 2009 Families of victims of the July 7, 2005 bombings in London have denounced a parliamentary investigation into the events as a "whitewash". They accuse Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC), which issued a report of its investigation last week, of covering up the failure of MI5 to stop the four suicide-bombers who killed 52 people and injured 700.

Billionaire club in bid to curb overpopulation --America's richest people meet to discuss ways of tackling a 'disastrous' environmental, social and industrial threat 24 May 2009 Some of America’s leading billionaires have met secretly to consider how their wealth could be used to slow the growth of the world’s population and speed up improvements in health and education. The philanthropists terrorists who attended a summit convened on the initiative of Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder, discussed joining forces to overcome political and religious obstacles to change. [See: Flu 'Oddities'.]

Swine Flu Is Spreading Wider Than Official Data Show 25 May 2009 Swine flu is spreading more widely than official figures indicate, with outbreaks in Europe and Asia showing it’s gained a foothold in at least three regions. One in 20 cases is being officially reported in the U.S., meaning more than 100,000 people have probably been infected nationwide with the new H1N1 flu strain, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

UK swine flu toll is really 30,000, says leading scientist --True extent of the outbreak is claimed to be 300 times worse than government agency admits 24 May 2009 Thirty thousand people in Britain are likely to have been already infected by swine flu, one of the country's leading authorities has told The Independent on Sunday. This would mean that the virus is 300 times more widespread than the Health Protection Agency (HPA) admits. The startling estimate by top virologist Professor John Oxford comes as leading scientists are warning that the agency's announcements on the spread of the disease are "meaningless" and hiding its true extent.

Parents asked to place children in swine-flu quarantine --Parents returning from overseas will be stopped at the airport and told of the quarantine advice. 25 May 2009 Parents of children returning from five countries heavily hit by swine flu will be asked to place their children in quarantine for a week, Victorian Health Minister Daniel Andrews said today. The affected countries are the US, Canada, Japan, Mexico and Panama. Mr Andrews said the State Government had taken the step under advice from national health experts.

Queens woman becomes second confirmed swine flu death in NYC 24 May 2009 The city's health department would only describe the victim as a Queens woman in her 50s who had an underlying health condition. She died sometime over the past few days and tested positive for H1N1 virus, officials said.

China still buying record amounts of U.S. bonds: report 25 May 2009 China's official foreign exchange manager is still buying record amounts of U.S. government bonds, in spite of Beijing's increasingly vocal fear of a dollar collapse, the Financial Times reported. In a story on its website, the FT quoted Chinese and western officials in Beijing as saying China was caught in a "dollar trap." The newspaper said China had little choice but to keep pouring the bulk of its growing reserves into U.S. Treasuries, which remains the only market big enough and liquid enough to support its huge purchases.

Government debt swells as choices get harder 24 May 2009 This year, the government is borrowing 50 cents of every dollar it spends... It is a relentless curve of red ink that will, within the decade, take U.S. debt levels to the record reached at the end of World War II, from 40 percent of the nation's output now to 80 percent, and then rapidly thereafter into the realm of banana republics. Japan has lost its AAA credit rating, the United Kingdom may soon follow, and there is talk that the United States is headed fast down the same path.

Study: Climate change affects polar bears 19 May 2009 A U.S. study refutes a publicized criticism of the negative effects of climate change on polar bears, supporting the listing of them as a threatened species. The study -- conducted by scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Universities of Alaska and Maryland, the Canadian Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service -- refutes point-by-point the criticism of negative polar bear population predictions. The new study is said to reinforce the U.S. Department of Interior's May 2008 decision to list polar bears as a threatened species.

Obama turns back on bears By Ian McCarthy 23 May 2009 Obama surprised many core supporters when it was announced that his interior secretary, Ken Salazar, would not repeal certain restrictions on the Endangered Species Act that had been put into place by President [sic] Bush... For Obama, a president elected on a platform of "change," reversing this policy would seem like a slam-dunk. However, in what is turning out to be a bit of a nasty habit, the president has reversed another ambiguous campaign pledge (to "review" Bush's ESA modifications), and is continuing to uphold some of the most controversial policies of his predecessor. For environmentalists, this ruling is devastating.

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Obama orders Gates to update plan for Iran strike --American defense secretary tells NBC television president has instructed him to refresh plans for military action against Tehran prepared during Bush era. 22 May 2009 US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said Friday that President Barack Obama had asked him to update the plans for the use of military force against Iran which were prepared during former President [sic] George W. Bush's term. In an interview to NBC television's Today show, the American defense secretary explained that "presidents always ask their military to have a range of contingency plans available to them. And all I would say is that, as a result of our dialogue with the president, we have refreshed our plans and all options are on the table."

US Military chief: Iran wants nuclear weapons --Admiral Mike Mullen tells ABC he's worried about what US intelligence doesn't know regarding Tehran 24 May 2009 President Barack Obama's top military adviser says Iran's objective is to obtain nuclear weapons -- and that threatens the region. Adm. Mike Mullen told ABC's 'This Week' he's worried about Iran and what US intelligence agencies don't know about the Tehran government. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says the United States and its allies must work to engage Iran's leaders.

Iran within 3 years of nuke: U.S. military chief 24 May 2009 Iran could be within one to three years from developing a nuclear weapon and time is running out for diplomacy to defuse the problem, the top U.S. military officer said on Sunday. The assessment from Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, matched that of some independent analysts but appeared to go further than recent official statements from the U.S. government.

IAF holds drill simulating all-out war 21 May 2009 Israel Air Force squadrons took part in a large scale drill simulating war on all fronts over the past four days, Channel 10 reported Thursday. Fighter jets, cargo planes and missile defense systems of the corps took part in the drill where defense from a simultaneous attack against Israel from the south and the north was simulated.

Netanyahu defies Obama on Israeli settlement freeze 24 May 2009 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rebuffed U.S. calls to impose a freeze on all settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, setting the stage for friction with President Barack Obama. "We do not intend to build any new settlements, but it wouldn't be fair to ban construction to meet the needs of natural growth or for there to be an outright construction ban," Netanyahu told his cabinet, according to officials.

Lieberman: Israel will not contract to '67 lines 24 May 2009 Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has declared that Israel will not return to its borders of before the Six-Day War in 1967. "A return to the borders of '67 today, as we are being pressured to do, would not end the conflict, would not guarantee peace or security," Lieberman told reporters ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting. "It would simply move the conflict to within the '67 borders," AFP quoted the Israel's foreign minister as saying.

Obama's AfPak war engulfs Pakistan's Swat Valley --The description of the situation in Mingora is reminiscent of Fallujah in November 2004, prior to the murderous US assault that destroyed the Iraqi city and left thousands dead. By James Cogan 23 May 2009 A humanitarian catastrophe is taking place in areas of Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province (NWFP), as a result of the Obama administration’s expansion of the occupation of Afghanistan into the so-called "AfPak war"... Reports indicate that a three-pronged offensive is underway to trap as many militants as possible in the central Swat city of Mingora... An Al Jazeerah video shot on May 16 near Mingora showed helicopter gunships attacking highways and other targets; children playing among partially demolished homes; and the potholes caused by the controlled explosion of mines placed by militants on the roads.

British soldier shot dead on patrol in Afghanistan 23 May 2009 A British soldier has died after being shot on patrol in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence confirmed today. The soldier, part of the 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was shot near Sangin in Helmand Province, yesterday afternoon.

US warned of step-up in al-Qaeda activity 21 May 2009 The Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, has said he is worried about growing ties between Afghan and Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaeda [al-CIAduh]. Speaking to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Admiral Mullen said al-Qaeda should be forced to stay out of Afghanistan.

Maliki: US-backed law unleashes terrorists 24 May 2009 Iraq's prime minister says a US-backed prisoner release law that aims for sectarian reconciliation has helped insurgents and corruption suspects get back on the streets. "Regrettably, the amnesty law has been changed from the conditions written by the government, and has led to the pardoning of many (accused of) corruption," Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said during a Saturday gathering of Sunni and Shia tribal leaders in Baghdad.

US military: Suicide car bomber kills 1, wounds 38 24 May 2009 A suicide attacker targeting an American convoy detonated a car bomb Sunday near a checkpoint in the northern city of Mosul, killing one Iraqi and wounding 38 others, a U.S. official said. Sunday's attack comes as military operations are being conducted there before a June 30 deadline for U.S. forces to pull out of Iraq's cities.

Two Americans killed in Baghdad's Green Zone --Victim's hands were tied behind back, throat slashed, officials say 23 May 2009 Two Americans were killed in Baghdad's heavily fortified [apparently, not so much] Green Zone, one in a rocket attack and the other under mysterious circumstances, officials in Iraq said. An American man was found bound, blindfolded and fatally stabbed in a car Friday in the district, formally known as the International Zone, Iraqi security forces said Saturday. Also, an American civilian was killed when a rocket landed in the zone on Friday night, the U.S. military said on Saturday.

News website latest target in government's legal offensive against independent media (Reporters sans frontières) 20 May 2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the Iraqi government’s continuing legal offensive against independent news media, which for the first time is also targeting Internet media. As a result of a lawsuit brought by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Baghdad court ordered the Iraqi news website Kitabat to pay 1 billion dinars (630,000 euros) in damages on 18 May.

'Future wars may require censorship, news blackouts and, ultimately, military attacks on the partisan media.' Wishful Thinking and Indecisive Wars By Ralph Peters Spring 2009 More recently, though, the media have determined the outcomes of conflicts... Pretending to be impartial, the self-segregating personalities drawn to media careers overwhelmingly take a side, and that side is rarely ours. Although it seems unthinkable now, future wars may require censorship, news blackouts and, ultimately, military attacks on the partisan media. Perceiving themselves as superior beings, journalists have positioned themselves as protected-species combatants. But freedom of the press stops when its abuse kills our soldiers and strengthens our enemies... The point of all this is simple: Win. In warfare, nothing else matters. If you cannot win clean, win dirty. But win.

KBR Does It Again (The New York Times) 24 May 2009 Far from suffering for its shoddy military contracting in Iraq, Congressional investigators have found that KBR Inc. was awarded $83 million in performance bonuses... How such settings became part of harm’s way for the military was the question put to an electrical engineer hired by the Army who reported finding that 90 percent of KBR’s wiring work in Iraq was not done safely. Some 70,000 buildings where troops lived and worked were not up to code, according to the engineer, who told a Congressional hearing of "some of the most hazardous, worst-quality work I have ever inspected."

Biden links U.S. aid to Lebanon vote outcome [!] 22 May 2009 U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said on Friday Washington would assess its aid to Lebanon depending on who won next month's election, but denied taking sides in a vote pitching a Western-backed coalition against Hezbollah. Lebanese vote on June 7 in a poll that pits an alliance including Hezbollah against an anti-Syrian coalition now holding a majority in parliament.

Legal fight for release of terror documents --The US had stressed that that disclosure could result in "serious damage to UK and US national security". 23 May 2009 The High Court was urged today to order full disclosure of correspondence from America setting out the Obama administration's current stance on whether US intelligence outlining its agents' treatment of former terror detainee Binyam Mohamed should be made public... The FCO announced that the Obama administration remained opposed to disclosure of the information by a British court.

Judge threatens sanctions over gov't wiretapping 22 May 2009 A federal judge on Friday threatened to severely sanction the Bush Obama Administration for withholding a top secret document he ordered given to lawyers suing the government over its warrantless wiretapping program. U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco ordered Justice Department lawyers to court on June 3 to tell him why he shouldn't award unspecified damages to the now-defunct Oregon arm of the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation. The group alleges that government officials eavesdropped on their telephone calls without court authorization. The National Security Agency has also refused the judge's previous orders to provide security clearances to two of the charity's lawyers so they can view the top secret document.

Yet Another Bogus 'Terror' Plot By Robert Dreyfuss 22 May 2009 By the now, it's maddeningly familiar. A scary terrorist plot is announced. Then it's revealed that the suspects are a hapless bunch of ne'er-do-wells or run-of-the-mill thugs without the slightest connection to any terrorists at all, never mind to Al Qaeda. Finally, the last piece of the puzzle: the entire plot is revealed to have been cooked up by a scummy government agent-provocateur... The four losers were ensnared by a creepy FBI agent who hung around the mosque in upstate New York until he found what he was looking for.

U.S. Navy to conduct human clinical trials of H1N1 flu vaccine --Vical Inc. entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC), a biomedical research organization within the U.S. Navy 21 May 2009 Vical Incorporated announced today that in the two weeks since launching its program to develop a vaccine against H1N1 influenza (swine flu), the company has completed development of a prototype H1 vaccine, produced an initial supply of research-grade material, and initiated immunogenicity testing in animals. Assuming a successful outcome of this testing and a commitment for program-specific external funding, the company is ready to advance directly to large-scale cGMP manufacturing of vaccine for human clinical trials to be conducted by the U.S. Navy.

18 US soldiers confirmed with swine flu in Kuwait 24 May 2009 Eighteen US soldiers have tested positive for swine flu at an American military base in Kuwait and all have now left the Gulf emirate, a Kuwaiti health official said. The health ministry announced on Saturday that swine flu cases had been detected among US soldiers who were transiting through Kuwait. Undersecretary of Health Ibrahim al-Abdulhadi told the official KUNA news agency the soldiers were immediately isolated at the US base in Arifjan, 70 kilometres (about 40 miles) south of the capital.

U.S. soldiers are Kuwait's first cases of H1N1 flu 23 May 2009 U.S. soldiers have been confirmed as the first cases in Kuwait with the new H1N1 flu, the state news agency KUNA said on Saturday quoting a government official. The virus was detected in an unspecified number of soldiers on their way through Kuwait. Kuwait is a logistics base for the U.S. army in support of its troops in Iraq.

A/H1N1 flu hits Spanish military base, 500 quarantined 23 May 2009 More than 500 servicemen from the Hoyo de Manzanres Base near Madrid have been quarantined when 11 of them were found to be infected with the A/H1N1 flu virus, Spanish First Deputy Prime Minister Maria Fernandez de la Vega said on Friday. Sixty-one other servicemen are under observation, according to a report by the Spanish health ministry.

Revolution in the air By Dan Jones 22 May 2009 The anger in the air is palpable. The ordinary people hold the political class in contempt. The government is failing, as war and economic catastrophe are dealt with in increasingly unconvincing fashion by second-rate public servants. There is, for the first time in a generation, a sense of revolution brewing. This is not today's Britain. It is England in 1381, the year that witnessed one of the greatest popular risings in our history: the Peasants' Revolt... This government, like the government in 1381, has been caught out by a global crisis of unprecedented severity. In the fourteenth century it was the Black Death, which killed 40% of Europe's population. The government's reaction - to impose labour laws that stifled economic recovery but preserved the social hierarchy, was vastly unpopular, for it prevented ordinary people from improving their lives. ["Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it." Or, just sit through a USAMRIID re-do. --LRP]

'Leaks have exposed Parliament's rotten core.' Ex-SAS officer is expenses whistleblower --Mr Wick passed over more than one million pages of unedited receipts to the Telegraph. 23 May 2009 A former SAS officer who passed secret details of MPs’ expenses claims to The Daily Telegraph broke cover last night to insist he had “no regrets” about the leak that has rocked Westminster. John Wick said the release of the information over the last fortnight had exposed the parliamentary expenses system to "its rotten core". Mr Wick, the head of a corporate intelligence company specialising in the release of hostages in war zones, was named as an intermediary between an anonymous parliamentary source and the Telegraph.

325 MPs to be swept away at next election --Whips expect more than 200 MPs to quit because they are unable to cope with continued public anger. 24 May 2009 At least half of the House of Commons' 646 MPs will be swept away at the general election, as voters take revenge on the political classes for the expenses scandal. The departure of 325 members of parliament as a result of forced resignations, retirement and defeat at the polls would represent the biggest clear-out of parliament since 1945.

GP surgeries audit raises vaccine fears 24 May 2009 A safety audit of every GP surgery in Scotland has revealed that hundreds of family doctors have wrongly stored vaccines used to protect children and adults against life-threatening diseases, raising fears about the effectiveness of some jabs. The study states that 148 surgeries failed to keep to the vaccine makers' storage guidelines and says that "inappropriate vaccine storage is very serious and has the potential to present a public heath problem".

Three U.S. firms to make swine flu vaccine [While Baxter makes the pandemic] 23 May 2009 The government has asked Sanofi Pasteur, Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline to make the vaccine and is negotiating with MedImmune and CSL, an Australian company, The Washington Post reported Saturday. The order is part of a $1 billion investment in production and testing of vaccine 'against' the new strain of the H1N1 flu virus.

WHO warns of double influenza threat as south hemisphere enters winter 22 May 2009 The spread of the influenza A/H1N1 virus may pick up in the Asia Pacific region with the onset of southern winter and the threat joined by the spread of seasonal influenza might take a heavy toll on countries' health system, a regional World Health Organization (WHO) expert warned Friday.

Insider Trading Probe at SEC 16 May 2009 Federal prosecutors are investigating whether two Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement lawyers violated insider-trading laws, a potential scandal at an agency normally the pursuer in such cases. A report by the SEC's inspector general described multiple suspicious cases where the lawyers traded the stocks of companies around the time the companies were under investigation. The report concluded the lawyers had violated the agency's internal rules, and the case was taken up by the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, D.C., and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Naimi Says Oil to Reach $75 a Barrel 23 May 2009 Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali al- Naimi said the price of oil will climb to $75 a barrel when demand picks up. "We’ll get there eventually," al-Naimi told reporters in Rome today where he will attend meetings with energy ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized nations.

Two Illinois Banks Seized, Bringing U.S. Tally This Year to 36 22 May 2009 Two Illinois banks with combined assets of almost $1 billion were closed by regulators, pushing the toll of failed U.S. lenders to 36 this year amid the longest recession since the 1930s. Strategic Capital Bank in Champaign and Citizens National Bank in Macomb were closed and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was named receiver of both, the FDIC said. Strategic Capital’s deposits were assumed by Midland States Bank of Effingham, Illinois, and deposits at Citizens National were purchased by Morton Community Bank.

The world economic crisis, the failure of capitalism and the case for socialism --Resolution of the SEP/WSWS/ISSE regional conferences 21 May 2009 1. The capitalist system has entered the most serious crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. In response to this crisis, workers must advance a socialist solution. Moreover, the crisis is international, affecting working people in every country of the world. There is no national solution to the breakdown of globally integrated capitalism. The World Socialist Web Site, the Socialist Equality Party, and the International Students for Social Equality put forward the following program as the basis for a new social and political movement of the working class.

Governor plans to completely eliminate welfare for families 21 May 2009 Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-Nazi) is proposing to completely eliminate the state’s welfare program for families, medical insurance for low-income children and Cal Grants cash assistance to college and university students. The proposals to sharply scale back the assistance that California provides to its neediest residents came in testimony by the administration this afternoon at a joint legislative budget committee hearing.

Harvard study backs bottle concern --Says plastic used leaches bisphenol A 22 May 2009 A Harvard study released yesterday supports what many public health specialists have long assumed: Hard plastic drinking bottles containing bisphenol A are leaching notable amounts of the controversial chemical into people's bodies. Canada banned the use of BPA in baby bottles in 2008, but the Food and Drug Administration has said that products containing BPA are safe and that exposure levels are below those that would affect health. But the FDA's own scientific advisory board criticized agency officials for relying on industry-funded studies to declare the chemical safe.

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"Citizens for Legitimate Government, whenever they discuss the President, put in brackets the [P], so it is the resident. So I've adopted that as my own standard." --US Rep. Cynthia McKinney, (D-GA) 30 Sep 2006

"We want either a hammer or a fire, to break the spell or dissolve the ice." Artisan radical freethinker, George Jacob Holyoake, Reasoner V (1848): 2.

The Charge of the Bailout Brigade 06 Apr 2009
More billions, More billions,
More billions onward,
All in the valley of Debt
Rode the G20:
'Forward, the Bailout Brigade!
Charge for the banks' he said:
Into the valley of Debt
Rode the G20...

CLG's Michael Rectenwald, Ph.D. and Lori Price receive the Patrick Henry Think Tank's American Hero Award 02 Nov 2005 The Patrick Henry Democratic Club --A Think Tank working to give the government back to the people. "Give me liberty or give me death!"

CLG Interview with Joseph Wilson: The Bush Crowd: "A Real Threat to Our Republic" Statement of Joseph Wilson on the sentencing of New York Times reporter Judith Miller 06 Jul 2005

Petition to Senate to Investigate Oddities of 9/11 --Best comment: "Muster a firing squad."





Abuse of Power: The Bush Administration's Secret Legal Memos (ACLU) 16 Apr 2009 On April 16, 2009, the Department of Justice released four secret memos used by the Bush administration to justify torture.

Arming the Left: Is the time now? By Charles Southwell 21 Oct 2003 As long as we pose no REAL threat to the powers-that-be, to what is shaping up into [is] a dictatorship, we will continue to be ignored. Right now, we are ignored because we present no organized power to fight this onslaught of anti-democratic, totalitarian government that we are up against...

Beware of those who want to harm you
And drag you down to a lower game
Just know the truth is coming
To bring peace to this troubled land

--John Mellencamp, 'Troubled Land' 2008