CIA officials overruled interrogators over water-boarding
The first use of waterboarding and other harsh treatment against suspected Al-Qaeda operative Abu Zubaydah was ordered by senior Central Intelligence Agency officials over objections from his interrogators, The New York Times reported on Saturday.
Police beat another G20 protester
GRAPHIC new video evidence showing a policeman hitting a protester with a shield during the G20 demonstrations in London is being released by The Sunday Times today.
U.S. looks to hackers to protect cyber networks
Buffeted by millions of digital scans and attacks each day, federal authorities are looking for hackers not to prosecute them, but to pay them to secure the nation's networks.
Pentagon Jams Web, Radio Links of Taliban
The Obama administration is starting a broad effort in Pakistan and Afghanistan to prevent the Taliban from using radio stations and Web sites to intimidate civilians and plan attacks, according to senior U.S. officials.
The wars come and go but the enemy remains the same By Robert Fisk
Is the Ministry of Fear about to be reopened? I thought – when Lord Blair finally departed from us and George Bush left the White House – that the institution had been closed down, that we might have been allowed a few hours in the broad sunlit uplands. Change? Hope? Renewal? Inspiration? But no, the semantics of our masters are reverting to type. There are no uplands, just another new dark age of fear and terror.
Understanding Subversion
By J. R. Nyquist
Yuri Bezmenov was a KGB officer who defected nearly three decades ago. In 1985 he gave an interview that can be viewed online. What he said is worth hearing. According to Bezmenonv, “Only about 15 percent of [the KGBs] time, money and manpower was spent on espionage as such. The other 85 percent was a slow process [of] … ideological subversion or active measures … or psychological warfare. What it basically means is to change the perception of reality of every American to such an extent that in spite of the abundance of information no one is able to come to sensible conclusions in the interest of defending themselves….”
Begging the Question: Recovery to What?
By James Howard Kunstler
It's a curious symptom of the consensus trance zombifying the American public and its auditors in the media that something like a "recovery" is now deemed to be underway. And, as events compel me to repeat in this space, it begs the question: recovery to what? To Wall Street booking stupendous profits by laundering "risk" out of bad loans with new issues of tranche-o-matic securitized paper? This I doubt, since there isn't a pension fund left from San Jose to Bratislava that would touch this stuff with a stick, even if it could be turned out in collector's editions of boxed sets.
When Doctors Opt Out
Here's something that has gotten lost in the drive to institute universal health insurance: Health insurance doesn't automatically lead to health care. And with more and more doctors dropping out of one insurance plan or another, especially government plans, there is no guarantee that you will be able to see a physician no matter what coverage you have.
China says key currency countries need watching
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Saturday that the economic polices of countries which issue global reserve currencies require closer supervision as part of building a diversified international monetary system.
This rampant executive must be brought under control
This has been a week to provoke uncomfortable contemplation about the sort of country we are we now living in. We have learned that the Home Secretary, aided by civil servants, grossly exaggerated the security threat posed by a leak from her department, prompting the police to arrest an opposition MP. The Government has conceded that the surveillance powers it granted to local councils have been used to spy on innocent members of the public. And yesterday it emerged that Ian Tomlinson, who was assaulted by a police officer at the G20 protests in London earlier this month died not from a heart attack but abdominal bleeding. The common imprint on each of these stories is that of the unaccountable and rampant executive arm of the British state.
Prudential unit settles SEC, NY market-timing probe
A unit of Prudential Financial Inc has agreed to pay $68 million to settle two regulatory probes into improper market-timing involving variable annuities, but the insurer said it is entitled to be reimbursed for the costs.
Obama says he'll cut dozens of wasteful programs
President Barack Obama said on Saturday he would soon announce the elimination of dozens of wasteful or ineffective government programs as part of a broad effort to restore fiscal accountability to the federal budget.
Israelis warn of Eritrea flashpoint
Security sources say Israel and Iran are conducting rival intelligence operations in Eritrea, the poor African state on the Red Sea.
F.B.I. and States Vastly Expand DNA Databases
Law enforcement officials are vastly expanding their collection of DNA to include millions more people who have been arrested or detained but not yet convicted. The move, intended to help solve more crimes, is raising concerns about the privacy of petty offenders and people who are presumed innocent.
US 'deeply disappointed' as Iran convicts reporter
An American journalist jailed in Iran has been convicted of spying and sentenced to eight years in prison just days after she was tried behind closed doors, her lawyer said Saturday, dashing any hopes for her quick release.
Barack Obama: Crime Boss
By Stephen Lendman
Since taking office, Obama, wittingly or otherwise, has headed the largest criminal enterprise in history - the mass looting of national wealth to enrich his Wall Street benefactors. He assembled a rogue economic team of Clinton/Robert Rubin retreads - to fix the current crisis they engineered.
Genetic Engineering Fails To Boost US Crop Yields: Study
Despite 20 years of research and 13 years of commercialisation, genetic engineering has failed to significantly increase crop yields in the United States, while traditional breeding continues to deliver better results, according to a new study by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).
Bank Regulators Clash Over U.S. Stress-Tests Endgame
The U.S. Treasury and financial regulators are clashing with each other over how to disclose results from the stress tests of 19 U.S. banks, with some officials concerned at potential damage to weaker institutions.
Grisly slayings brings Mexican drug war to US
In a county that might see five homicides in an entire year, the call over the sheriff's radio revealed little about what awaited law enforcement at a sprawling apartment complex.
Debate Sharpens over Ward Churchill Verdict
On April 2, a jury in Denver rendered its verdict in the case of Ward Churchill. The jury agreed with former University of Colorado (CU) professor Ward Churchill—and the many distinguished scholars in his field of Native American studies who testified on his behalf—that he was fired in July, 2007 not for faulty scholarship but in retaliation for a controversial essay he wrote after 9/11.
Lou Dobbs On Janeane Garofalo Tea Party Comments: “She’s Just Nasty — Nasty Piece of Business” Now it's the democrats turn to put out the spin, if you don't like the policies of the president it has to be because you hate the man. That's the same type of crap the so called conservatives would put out when someone would say something negative about Bush's policies when he was president. Obama is a bootlicking politician and puppet of the ruling elite, just like Bush was.
Death of the traditional family
Women are more likely to give birth before they turn 25 than get married, according to official statistics that illustrate how British family life has been transformed in a generation.
Dumbass celebrity liberal plays the race card
I understand that the Tea Parties were a mixed bag with lots of warmongering republicans there, but there were also a lot people who were protesting about legitimate things like taxes and the emerging police state.
At summit, Obama gets friendly with Chavez
President Barack Obama extended a hand to America’s hemispheric neighbors on Saturday at a summit where he offered a new beginning for U.S.-Cuba relations and accepted a book about the exploitation of Latin America from Venezuela’s fiery, anti-American leader.
California unemployment rate highest since 1941
The state unemployment rate soared to 11.2 percent in March, the highest since before World War II, leaving a record 2.1 million Californians out of work, according to a report issued Friday.
Illegal immigrants detained, then freed to work
After 11 years of living illegally in the United States, it was not until Gerardo Arreola Gonzalez was nearly deported that he finally received permission to work here.
Treasury May Keep U.S. Bank Stakes After Buyback
The Treasury may retain an ownership interest in many U.S. banks even after the lenders buy back preferred stock the government currently holds as part of its rescue effort.
Russia's oligarchs lose 70% of their wealth in a year
Russia's hard-up oligarchs have seen their collective fortunes shrink to a paltry $148bn (£100bn), Forbes Russia said today in its colourful annual survey of the country's crisis-battered 100 richest people.
Israel stands ready to bomb Iran's nuclear sites
The Israeli military is preparing itself to launch a massive aerial assault on Iran's nuclear facilities within days of being given the go-ahead by its new government.
In quotes: George W. Bush on torture
From a commitment to the worldwide elimination of torture to a defence of waterboarding: President Bush in his own words
Turley: Torture prosecution is not 'retribution'
The White House released Bush-era secret memos that appear to depict and promote waterboarding and other torture techniques. Obama has ruled out prosecuting CIA officials used these tactics. Rachel Maddow is joined by George Washington University law school professor Jonathan Turley.
Are You Kidding Me?
By Don Cooper
I watched closely all the tea parties all over the country Wednesday. What a showing of national pride and solidarity. What a showing of subservient compliance and casual indifference. What a joke.
The Waco Butchers Are Back
By Anthony Gregory
Sixteen years ago we were reminded of the deadly danger of having the left-liberals in charge of the police state. The largest massacre of American civilians by the US government since Wounded Knee climaxed on April 19, 1993.
HopeOver, HopeLash, HopeBreak: A Lexicon of Disappointment
By Naomi Klein
All is not well in Obamafanland. It's not clear exactly what accounts for the change of mood. Maybe it was the rancid smell emanating from Treasury's latest bank bailout. Or the news that the president's chief economic adviser, Larry Summers, earned millions from the very Wall Street banks and hedge funds he is protecting from reregulation now. Or perhaps it began earlier, with Obama's silence during Israel's Gaza attack.
JBS Founder Robert Welch: Two Speeches In 1974
Robert Welch, Founder of The John Birch Society, predicted today's problems with uncanny accuracy back in 1958 and prescribed solutions in 1974 that are very similar to Ron Paul's positions today.
Home Intruder Shot During 911 Call
A chilling 911 call captures the moment a Virginia man shot and killed an intruder in his home as his wife pleaded with the dispatcher for help.
UN expert criticizes US torture decision
President Barack Obama's decision not to prosecute CIA operatives who used questionable interrogation practices violates international law, the U.N.'s top torture investigator said Saturday.
Psychologists Helped Guide Interrogations
When the CIA began what it called an "increased pressure phase" with captured terrorism suspect Abu Zubaida in the summer of 2002, its first step was to limit the detainee's human contact to just two people. One was the CIA interrogator, the other a psychologist. Was this program used by the CIA as some sort of experiment to find out how the detainee's mind functioned while they were being tortured? Was the CIA using technology to intercept and monitor the detainee's thoughts while they were being tortured?
Report Shows Torture Is Widespread in Iraq
The White House release of Bush administration torture memos marked another step towards closure in what President Obama called a "dark and painful chapter in our history." But in Iraq, torture is not a thing of the past, according to the findings of a new study on civilian causalities.
NAFTA Superhighway Saga continues...
Once upon a time it was called a mere myth, a conspiracy theory apparently believed only by paranoid nutters :
John Ibbitson, G&M, July 2007 : "The so-called NAFTA superhighway - a massive, 12-lane road, rail and oil-and-gas corridor that would snake from western Mexico, through the United States and into Canada, making it far easier and cheaper to import Chinese goods, thus completing the final destruction of the American and Canadian manufacturing sectors.
Obama attacked from all sides over CIA memos
The White House was engulfed by a maelstrom of anger yesterday after its decision to release memos from the Bush era providing legal cover for "enhanced" interrogation techniques in secret CIA prisons. At the same time, it made promises to protect those who implemented them from prosecution.
Judge Skeptical Of State Secrets Privilege For NSA
The Obama administration suffered a bit of a legal setback this afternoon: a federal judge in California rejected the administration's assertion of the state secrets privilege in the civil suit brought by an Islamic charity that was allegedly subjected to illegal NSA surveillance
Chinese spies may have put chips in US planes
The Chinese cyber spies have penetrated so deep into the US system ranging from its secure defence network, banking system, electricity grid to putting spy chips into its defence planes that it can cause serious damage to the US any time, a top US official on counter-intelligence has said.
Tax/Regulation Protests are Not Enough
By Kitty Antonik Wakfer
Numerous Internet news sources and commentaries have carried an increased number of reports for many months about various group in-person protests and email/petition actions in the US (and elsewhere) in regard to high government taxes and/or various regulations.
Was insect torture used on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s children?
Bush Administration memos released by the White House on Thursday provide new insight into claims that American agents used insects to torture the young children of alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
No Amnesty for Torturers
By Dave Lindorff
Now our president whose own wife and daughters are descendants of slave victims of another era of American atrocities is telling us we should do the same thing as Germany and Japan: forget and move on.
President Obama, Slick Salesman For Banksters?
By Szandor Blestman
I would politely remind Mr. Obama that there are more than two schools of political thought in the world and to pigeon hole every issue into two arguments, whether referred to as left or right, liberal or conservative, or whatever label you would put on them, is an over simplification and a disservice to mankind.
Gen. Taguba: Accountability for torture does not stop at White House dooor
Major General Antonio Taguba called for an independent commission to investigate war crimes committed by senior members of the Bush Administration in remarks in Ames Courtroom on Tuesday, April 14. The event was sponsored by Physicians for Human Rights and the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School.
Human-animal hybrid ban sought at Louisiana session
Legislation that would prohibit scientists in the state from creating human-animal hybrids for experimentation -- believed to be the first such ban proposed in the nation -- has been filed for debate at the lawmaking session that opens April 27.
Cigarette smuggling may be on the rise
Last month, the FBI charged two Brooklyn, N.Y., men with buying 15 cases of cigarettes from a New Jersey undercover agent who says he told the men the smokes were stolen.
Spanish judge keeps Guantanamo probe alive
A Spanish judge considering possible criminal action against six former Bush administration officials for torture at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay defied pressure to drop the case on Friday.
EPA takes first step toward climate change regs
The Environmental Protection Agency concluded Friday that greenhouse gases linked to climate change "endanger public health and welfare," setting the stage for regulating them under federal clean air laws.
British intelligence prosecution fear over US torture memos
Fresh revelations about the CIA’s torture techniques have thrown the spotlight on British intelligence, which gained valuable insight into terror networks from confessions extracted by American officers. They have raised further fears that British agents could be prosecuted for their indirect role in the abuse of detainees.
Traders, Not Investors, Fueling This Stock Rally: NYSE Chief
Wall Street’s stunning six-week rally has been fed more by traders looking to take advantage of quick swings in the market than investors with a long-term view, NYSE Euronext CEO Duncan Niederauer told CNBC.
Fed Shrouding $2 Trillion in Bank Loans in ‘Secrecy,’ Suit Says
U.S. taxpayers need to know the risks behind the Federal Reserve’s $2 trillion in lending to financial institutions because the public is now an “involuntary investor” in the nation’s banks, according to a court filing by Bloomberg LP.
The Road to Area 51
Area 51. It's the most famous military institution in the world that doesn't officially exist. If it did, it would be found about 100 miles outside Las Vegas in Nevada's high desert, tucked between an Air Force base and an abandoned nuclear testing ground. Then again, maybe not— the U.S. government refuses to say. You can't drive anywhere close to it, and until recently, the airspace overhead was restricted—all the way to outer space. Any mention of Area 51 gets redacted from official documents, even those that have been declassified for decades.
Tortured Logic: Obama Writes Off Old Crimes While Promoting New Outrages
By Chris Floyd
Obama Administration is moving strenuously in court to drive these captives even deeper into limbo, asserting that no one who is plunged into the netherworld of America's little Gitmos in Afghanistan has the slightest right to any tincture of legal redress -- even if they had been kidnapped from the streets of some foreign city and "renditioned" to Afghanistan.
Aid Rots Outside Gaza
Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of aid intended for the Gaza Strip is piling up in cities across Egypt's North Sinai region, despite recent calls from the United Nations to ease aid flow restrictions to the embattled territory in the wake of Operation Cast Lead.
Mumbai Attacks Suspect Withdraws Confession
The only surviving suspected gunman in the Mumbai terror attacks has retracted his confession after claiming it was extracted by torture, his defence lawyer says.
Police 'stop attempt on Morales'
Bolivia's President Evo Morales says three foreigners have been killed after he ordered police to thwart a planned assassination attempt against him.
Russia Ends Operations in Chechnya
Russia officially ended what it called its counterterrorism operation in the southern region of Chechnya on Thursday with an announcement that carried symbolic weight as the end of a decade of Muslim separatist battles for independence.
