Day: September 18, 2007

by

CREW Releases Third Annual Most Corrupt Members Of Congress Report

Dandelion Salad

Source

18 Sep 2007


Washington, DC – Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) released its third annual report on the most corrupt members of Congress entitled Beyond DeLay: The 22 Most Corrupt Members of Congress (and two to watch). This encyclopedic report on corruption in the 110th Congress documents the egregious, unethical and possibly illegal activities of the most tainted members of Congress. CREW has compiled the members’ transgressions and analyzed them in light of federal laws and congressional rules.

Sixteen members have been replaced from last year’s list of 25.

CREW also has re-launched the report’s tandem website, www.beyonddelay.org. The site offers short summaries of each member’s transgressions as well as the full-length profiles and all accompanying exhibits.

Members of the Senate:
Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-NM)
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK)

Members of House:
Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA)
Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-CA)
Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL)
Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA)
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA)
Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-LA)
Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA)
Rep. Gary G. Miller (R-CA)
Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV)
Rep. Timothy F. Murphy (R-PA)
Rep. John P. Murtha (D-PA)
Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM)
Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ)
Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY)
Rep. David Scott (D-GA)
Rep. Don Young (R-AK)
Rep. Jerry Weller (R-IL)
Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R-NM)

Dishonorable Mention:
Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID)
Sen. David Vitter (R-LA)

“Every year CREW creates this compendium of corruption to expose and hold accountable those members of Congress who believe they are above the law,” Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW said today. “With the third edition of Beyond DeLay it has become abundantly clear that many public officials believe that the rules don’t apply to them.”

Sloan continued, “Nevertheless, Congress persists in abdicating its constitutional responsibility to police itself, opting to ignore the ethical and legal transgressions of its members. Luckily for the public, at least the Department of Justice still believes that political corruption is worth pursuing.”

Several members in the study are already under federal investigation including: Reps. Calvert, Doolittle, Feeney, Jefferson, Lewis, Miller, Mollohan, Murphy, Renzi and Young, as well as Senator Stevens.

***

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a non-profit legal watchdog group dedicated to holding public officials accountable for their actions.

For more information, please visit www.citizensforethics.org  or contact Naomi Seligman Steiner at 202.408.5565/nseligman@citizensforethics.org.

h/t: ICH

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. This material is distributed without profit.

by

Chiquita pays for paramilitary ties

Dandelion Salad

Al Jazeera
Sept 17, 2007

A US-based banana company has been fined $25m for paying millions of dollars to Colombian paramilitary groups between 1997 and 2004.

A US federal court on Monday accepted an agreement reached between Chiquita and the US government in March that spared company executives from prosecution.

Chiquita had pleaded guilty to paying $1.7m to the United Self-Defence Committees of Colombia (AUC), which the United States has blacklisted as a “terrorist” group.

“Chiquita was funding the bullets which killed innocent Colombians,” Jonathan Malis, the prosecutor, said.

In accepting the fines, the prosecution agreed not to name or prosecute the executives involved in ordering the payment of protection money.

The US justice department said in March that Chiquita’s payments to the paramilitaries “were reviewed and approved by senior executives of the corporation, to include high-ranking officers, directors and employees”.

Continued…

Continue reading →

by

09.17.07 Uncensored News Reports From Across The Middle East (video; over 18 only)

Dandelion Salad

Warning
.
This video contains images depicting the reality and horror of war and should only be viewed by a mature audience.

Selected Episode

Sept. 17, 2007

linktv

“France’s Foreign Minister’s Statement Angers Iran,” Al Jazeera TV, Qatar
“Is Syria Building a Nuclear Reactor?” IBA TV, Israel
“Islamic Dawah Party Might Pull Out of Iraqi Government,” Al Arabiya TV, UAE
“Mosque Ordered Closed During Ramadan,” Palestine TV, Ramallah
“Orphans in Gaza Suffer,” Dubai TV, UAE
“Musharraf Must Remove his Military Suit,” Al Jazeera English, Qatar
“Saudi Arabia’s Global Influence,” New TV, Lebanon
“France is a Member of Bush’s Club,” IRIB2 TV, Iran
Produced for Link TV by Jamal Dajani

by

‘Israeli warplanes raid’ Lebanon

Dandelion SaladBBC
Tuesday, 18 September 2007

Israeli warplanes have flown at low altitude over southern Lebanon in defiance of a United Nations resolution, reports from Beirut say.

The fighter jets allegedly caused sonic booms as they flew over the cities of Sidon and Tyre, as well as the towns of Bint Jbeil and Marjayoun.

Israel has so far made no comment on the Lebanese claims.

Israel has been criticised by the UN for making a number of overflights in Lebanon in recent weeks.

Israel says they are necessary to monitor activities by the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militants.

…

Continued…

h/t: ICH

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. This material is distributed without profit.

by

Hardball: Joe Conason and Medea Benjamin: Free Speech + Shuster Reports (videos)

Dandelion Salad

heathr234 Chris Matthews interviews Joe Conason…

Chris Matthews interviews Joe Conason and Medea Benjamin about the assault of free speech going on in this country.

Shuster Reports on Assault on Free Speech

heathr234

David Shuster gives his report on the… David Shuster gives his report on the assault that free speech is under in our country.

see:

Student Tasered for Armed Madhouse Question to Kerry by Greg Palast

Cranks and Kooks: Kerry Won in ‘04 by Greg Palast (audio)

Student Tasered For Asking Sen Kerry About Voter Suppression (video)

Sally Fields: There’d Be No God Damn War In The First Place (video; censorship)

by

Student Tasered for Armed Madhouse Question to Kerry by Greg Palast + UF Lacks Freedom of Speech + Protest for Meyer (video; link)

Dandelion Salad

by Greg Palast
Published September 18th, 2007 in Articles

“[Palast] said you won the 2004 election – isn’t that amazing?
There were multiple reports of disenfranchising of Black voters on the day of the election in 2004 in Florida and Ohio. … How could you concede the election on the day?”

(see video below)

Read the excerpt from Armed Madhouse that got Andrew Meyer’s in trouble.

We warned you: ‘Armed Madhouse’ is a dangerous book. Yesterday, Andrew Meyer, a University of Florida student was attacked by five cops, zapped with tasers and arrested after demanding that Senator John Kerry answer the question.

Meyers, just released from jail and now facing five years in prison for resisting arrest, held up a copy of the book and began,

Student to John Kerry: “I want to recommend a book to you. It’s called ‘Armed Madhouse by Greg Palast.’ He’s the top investigative journalist in America.”

Kerry: “I have the book. I’ve already read it.”

Student: “… In this book, it says there were 5 million votes and you won the election. … How could you concede the election on the day?”

Meyers, a telecommunications student at the Gainesville campus, asked related questions including a query as to why Kerry refused to vote for impeachment. When he passed his alloted one minute mic time, five cops jumped him, threw him to the ground, shot him with taser shockers.

Kerry, true to character, stood immobile.

Now, I’ve given many talks. And some questioners have taken too long at the mic. But I’ve never done the Stalin thing of cops and electronic beating to limit the discussion. (Yes, it’s true that Randi Rhodes recently threatened me with a taser when I’ve monopolized the mic in her studio.)

The Washington Post reported only that Meyers was holding a “mysterious yellow book.” VERY mysterious.

I would note that enchained student was busted in Alachua County, Florida, where, six years ago, I uncovered massive, systematic and utterly illegal disenfranchisement of Black voters – ordered by Gov. Jeb Bush’s office just before the 2000 election. (”Florida’s Disappeared Voters,” February 2001, The Nation.) Alachua remains under federal scrutiny for its long history of racial bias against Black voters.

I must admit I feel some appreciation for Meyers, especially because, even while he was being shot with untold amps of electricity, until he was handcuffed, he would not let go of his mysterious yellow book, ‘Armed Madhouse.’

Hear the update live tonight on the new “Palast Report” on Air America Radio. The Palast Report will now broadcast every Tuesday night, at 9:30pm, on Richard Greene’s new weeknight show, “Clout.”

And get America’s most SHOCKING book, the New York Times bestseller, Armed Madhouse: From Baghdad to New Orleans (Penguin 2007).

Subscribe to Palast’s writings and view his investigative reports for BBC Television’s Newsnight, at www.GregPalast.com.

Read the excerpt from Armed Madhouse that Andrew Meyer’s got arrested for mentioning here.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. This material is distributed without profit.

***

UF Lacks Freedom of Speech

rayluvsya

footage of University Police Department using excessive force on a student asking a question of Senator Kerry. The student’s name is Andrew Meyers and he was arrested on September 17, 2007 for disturbing a public educational function and resisting arrest. The police did not inform him that he was under arrest and did not mirandize him while detaining him and electro-shocking him with a taser.

h/t: Greg Palast

***

Over 200 University of Florida Students Protest the Tazering/Arrest Incident

h/t: *RC_REVOLUTION 420 [resistance]

see:

Student Tasered For Asking Sen Kerry About Voter Suppression (video)

Cranks and Kooks: Kerry Won in ‘04 by Greg Palast (audio)

Email the Florida Attorney General about Andrew Meyer

by

Cranks and Kooks: Kerry Won in ‘04 by Greg Palast (audio)

Dandelion Salad

September 18th, 2007
Armed Madhouse, the new book by Greg Palast

Listen to the audiobook
THE CON

Kerry Won. Now Get Over It . . .

…because they’re putting ‘08 in their pocket. Republicans just seem to have that winning spirit. They also have caging lists, felons of the future, rotting ballots, snuffed canaries, and a lock on the votes of Kissinger-Americans and the undead.

WARNING! There are cranks and kooks and crazies out there on the Internet who say that George Bush lost the 2004 election, like one titled, “Kerry Won” published on the TomPaine.com web site two days after the election. I wrote it.

On November 11, a week after TomPaine.com published it, I received an e-mail from The New York Times Washington Bureau. Hot on the investigation of the veracity of the vote, The Times reporter asked me pointed questions:

Question #1: Are you a “sore loser”?

Question #2: Are you a “conspiracy nut”?…

transcript

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. This material is distributed without profit.

by

Domestic Spying: Intel Chief Testifies on FISA (videos; links)

Dandelion Salad

CapNewsNet

House Judiciary Committee Hearing, 9/… House Judiciary Committee Hearing, 9/18/07.

Rep. Conyers’ Opening Remarks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9TG0ZZDqp8

Rep. Smith’s Opening Remarks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVE15nBYW-s

Rep. Berman Questions Intel Chief on FISA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnI8MZpBtL8

Rep. Scott Questions Intel Chief on FISA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ukP57LbK64

Rep. Lungren Questions Intel Chief on FISA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx27KnnRMSk

***

“Minimization Procedures” Can Protect Civil Liberties

Veracifier

Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell testifies before the House Judiciary Committee to defend the August revision of the Foreign Intell…

Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell testifies before the House Judiciary Committee to defend the August revision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. September 18, 2007

How Many Americans Have Been Surveilled?

No Warrantless Physical Searches Under Protect America Act

Why Protect Telecom Companies?

NSA Needed Warrants For Insurgents in Iraq

Wainstein and McConnell on Minimization, Again

by

Barak Appoints War Criminal Yaron by Francis A. Boyle

Dandelion Salad

by Francis A. Boyle
Dissident Voice
September 18th, 2007

(The author served as Attorney of Record in the lawsuit against General Yaron in Ali Aidi v. Yaron, 672 Fed. Supp. 516 (D.D.C. 1987), Palestine Yearbook of International Law, Vol. V, 1989.)

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has nominated former Major General Amos Yaron to serve as director-general of the Israeli Defense Ministry, while Barak himself retains the portfolio of Minister of Defense. According to the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, Yaron, whose appointment must be confirmed by the Israeli Cabinet, is a war criminal by virtue of his command responsibility for the murder of about 2000 Palestinian and Lebanese civilians during the 1982 Sabra and Shatila refugee camp massacre in Beirut, Lebanon. Should Yaron’s appointment be confirmed, the U.S. government will be aiding and abetting the work of an infamous war criminal. In Fiscal Year 2000, Israel is scheduled to receive $1.92 billion dollars in U.S. military aid out of a total annual U.S. aid package to Israel worth $2.94 billion.

In June 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon, driving as far north as the capital, Beirut, purportedly in an effort to expel the Palestine Liberation Organization. In August 1982, special U.S. envoy Philip Habib negotiated the withdrawal of Palestinian forces from Beirut. According to that agreement the United States government guaranteed the safety of the remaining Palestinian civilians and obtained Israel’s assurance that its armed forces would not enter West Beirut. Israel, breaking its own pledge, occupied West Beirut and surrounded the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps on September 15, 1982.

On September 16, then Brigadier General Amos Yaron, acting under orders from the Israeli Ministry of Defense under General Ariel Sharon, allowed Phalangist troops to enter the refugee camps even though the same troops had previously engaged in massacres of Palestinians living in Lebanon. The killing at the refugee camps went on for three days. During nighttime Phalangist operations, Yaron’s troops fired illumination rounds so the Phalangists could continue their bloody work. Israeli troops, under the command of Yaron, blocked the exits of the camps to prevent the refugees from escaping and supplied the Phalangists with at least one bulldozer, which was used to cover bodies with rubble.

Continued…

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. This material is distributed without profit.

by

TPMtv: A Chat with Juan Cole (video; Anbar)

Dandelion Salad

Veracifier

Recently TPMtv connected with Juan Cole, professor of modern Middle Eastern and South Asian history at the University of Michigan, and writer of th…

Recently TPMtv connected with Juan Cole, professor of modern Middle Eastern and South Asian history at the University of Michigan, and writer of the blog Informed Comment and the new book Napoleon’s Egypt. We asked Juan about what’s really going on in al Anbar province (which the administration persistently cites as a glimmering example of the success of the surge), whether the Sunnis are ready to concede national reconciliation, and what might happen if and when we ever leave Iraq.

by

Iraq Genocide: Silence is complicity by Gabriele Zamparini

Dandelion Salad

Written by Gabriele Zamparini
Atlantic Free Press
Tuesday, 18 September 2007

On September 18, the Associated Press sent out the following news item:

IAEA Chief Warns Against Striking Iran
Monday September 17, 2007 1:46 PM
By GEORGE JAHN
Associated Press Writer

This news item contained the following paragraph, attributed by the AP to Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency: Continue reading →

by

State-secret overreach By Barry Siegel

Dandelion Salad

By Barry Siegel
Copyright 2007 Los Angeles Times
September 16, 2007

For too long, judges have allowed the government to hide mistakes behind national security.

On Aug. 15, before an overflow crowd at the federal courthouse at 7th and Mission in San Francisco, three judges from the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals listened to lawyers argue whether the once-obscure “state secrets privilege” gives the government an absolute right to withhold documents, bury evidence and block lawsuits.

The government claimed the privilege in connection with two cases challenging the Bush administration’s domestic surveillance programs, including its controversial warrantless wiretapping operation. Deputy Solicitor General Gregory Garre, arguing for the government, maintained that the cases should be dismissed instantly, no questions asked, because a trial would endanger national security. Presenting any evidence in a courtroom, he said, would put the country at “exceptionally grave harm.”

When it comes to national security, Garre said, judges must give the executive branch the “utmost deference.”

After listening to such claims for a while, the senior judge on the appellate panel, Harry Pregerson, asked Garre whether the state secrets privilege meant that the courts must simply “rubber stamp” the decisions of the executive. “The bottom line here is the government declares something is a state secret, that’s the end of it,” Pregerson said. “The king can do no wrong.”

“This seems to put us in the ‘trust us’ category,” said Judge M. Margaret McKeown, referring to government assurances that the surveillance program didn’t violate the law. “We don’t do it. Trust us. And don’t ask us about it.”

Continued…

h/t: Antiwar.com

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. This material is distributed without profit.

by

Can Iraq (or Anyone) Hold Blackwater Accountable for Killing Iraqi Civilians? + Jeremy Scahill, author of “Blackwater” + Iraq for Sale bonus scene: Blackwater (links; video)

Dandelion Salad

Democracy Now!
Tuesday, September 18th, 2007

Can Iraq (or Anyone) Hold Blackwater Accountable for Killing Iraqi Civilians? A Debate On the Role of Private Contractors in Iraq

Listen to Segment || Download Show mp3
Watch 128k stream Watch 256k stream
Help Printer-friendly version Email to a friend Purchase Video/CD

As the Iraq government expels Blackwater over the killing of 11 Iraqi civilians, Jeremy Scahill, author of “Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army,” debates Doug Brooks, president of International Peace Operations Association, a trade group for the private security industry.

The Bush administration is trying to stop the Iraqi government from banning the private military firm Blackwater. Iraqi officials say they’ve revoked Blackwater’s license over a deadly shooting that killed up to eleven civilians. Witnesses say Blackwater guards fired indiscriminately after a car bomb exploded near their convoy. Blackwater is denying wrongdoing and says it guards properly responded to an ambush from insurgents. But Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani called the shootings: “a big crime that we can’t be silent about.”U.S. officials have already gone into overdrive to prevent the move. On Monday, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice telephoned Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Malaki and vowed an investigation. But the Iraqi government appears to be holding ground. Earlier today Iraq Maliki’s cabinet said it supports the ban and will review the legal status of all private military companies working in Iraq.The shootout is only Blackwater’s latest controversy in Iraq. The North Carolina-based firm operates under a multi-million dollar contract to protect U.S. officials and facilities. It’s been allowed close to free reign under a murky legal environment that offers little to no oversight over its operations.The author and independent journalist Jeremy Scahill has been closely following Blackwater. He is the author of the New York Times best-seller “Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army.” Jeremy joins me in the firehouse studio.And joining me from Washington, DC is Doug Brooks. He is President of International Peace Operations Association, a trade group for the private security industry. Blackwater is a founding member.

To purchase an audio or video copy of this entire program, click here for our new online ordering or call 1 (888) 999-3877.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. This material is distributed without profit.

***

Jeremy Scahill, author of “Blackwater”

resurgent1 Jeremy Scahill, author of “Blackwater…

Jeremy Scahill, author of “Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army,” appeared on CNN and blasted BushCo. for fostering this private militia mentality because he wasn’t able to build an international coalition to invade Iraq.

***

Iraq for Sale bonus scene: Blackwater

Iraq for Sale

9/1/2006

LINK

h/t: Glenn-O

see:

An In-Depth Look at Blackwater (The Largest Minority)

US security firm Blackwater banned from Iraq h/t: Glenn-O

What happens to private contractors who kill Iraqis? Maybe nothing h/t: Antiwar.com