California election officials have told one of the country's largest makers of voting machines to repair its software after problems with vote counts and verification surfaced in the state's special election in November.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/122605O.shtml

Pepe Escobar writes that Iraq is a giant, messy albatross hanging from President George W. Bush's neck. The faith-based American president believes that "we are winning the war in Iraq." The reality-based global public opinion - not to mention 59% of Americans, and counting - know this is not true.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/122605N.shtml

Conservative columnist Steve Chapman writes that what we have now is not a robust executive but a reckless one. At times like this, it's apparent that Cheney and Bush want more power not because they need it to protect the nation, but because they want more power. Another paradox: In their conduct of the war on terror, they expect our trust, but they can't be bothered to earn it.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/122605M.shtml

President Bush has been summoning newspaper editors lately in an effort to prevent publication of stories he considers damaging to national security. The efforts have failed, but the rare White House sessions with the executive editors of the Washington Post and the New York Times are an indication of how seriously the president takes the recent reporting that has raised questions about the administration's anti-terror tactics.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/122605K.shtml

Despite White House claims that war powers authorize domestic spying and the special detention of terror suspects, Congress may well settle the issue. It looks like Congress - not the courts - will examine the legality of the eavesdropping episode, which some are calling "Spookgate."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/122605J.shtml

Marjorie Cohn writes that in an assertion of executive power that rivals the excesses of the McCarthy era of the late 1940's and 1950's, and the dreaded COINTELPRO (counter-intelligence program) of the 1950's and 1960's, George W. Bush's National Security Agency has been secretly spying on United States citizens without warrants for the last three years.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/122605I.shtml

Polen will den Untersuchungsbericht über die mögliche Existenz eines CIA-Gefängnisses nicht veröffentlichen, für Berlusconi handelt die CIA legitim und ansonsten bedeckt die feiertägliche Ruhe das Schlamassel.

http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/21/21652/1.html

Das Konto wird gesperrt, die Versicherung gekündigt, die Bewegungsfreiheit eingeschränkt und das alles mit dem Hinweis, man stehe auf einer Liste für Terrorverdächtige. Doch aus Sicherheitsgründen seien weitere Auskünfte nicht möglich.

http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/21/21658/1.html

Authors: Abelin, Theodor; Altpeter, Ekkehardt; Röösli, Martin

Source: Somnologie, Volume 9, Number 4, November 2005, pp. 203-209(7)

Publisher: Blackwell Publishing

Abstract:

Summary Objectives 

The studies reported here investigated the association between health complaints and the vicinity to the short wave transmitter Schwarzenburg, and looked for evidence for a relationship between magnetic field exposure and sleep disturbances.

Subjects and Methods 

Between 1992 and 1998 two cross-sectional and two panel studies were performed in the area of Schwarzenburg. In each cross-sectional survey about 400 adults living in differently exposed areas were asked about somatic and psycho-vegetative symptoms including sleep disturbances as well as possible confounding factors. Exposure was estimated based on 2621 measurements of magnetic field strength made in 56 locations. In the panel studies, sleep quality and melatonin excretion was studied when the transmission was interrupted or definitively shut down, respectively.

Results 

In both surveys, prevalence of difficulties of falling asleep and in particular, maintaining sleep, increased with increasing radio frequency electromagnetic field exposure (RF-EMF). Sleep quality improved after interruption of exposure. A chronic change of melatonin excretion following RF-EMF exposure could not be shown, but a parallel study of salivary samples in cows showed a temporary increase after a short latency period following interruption of exposure.

Conclusions 

The series of studies gives strong evidence of a causal relationship between operation of a short-wave radio transmitter and sleep disturbances in the surrounding population, but there is insufficient evidence to distinguish clearly between a biological and a psychological effect.

Keywords: radio frequency; sleep disturbance; insomnia; melatonin; psycho-vegetative symptoms; field study; epidemiology; Hochfrequenzstrahlung; Schlafstörung; Insomnie; Melatonin; Psycho-vegetative Beschwerden; Feldstudie; Epidemiologie

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-054X.2005.00072.x

http://tinyurl.com/br29c

--------

Bioelectromagnetics. 2005 Dec 8; [Epub ahead of print]

Effect of short-wave (6-22 MHz) magnetic fields on sleep quality and melatonin cycle in humans: the Schwarzenburg shut-down study.

Altpeter ES, Roosli M, Battaglia M, Pfluger D, Minder CE, Abelin T.

Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland.

This paper describes the results of a unique "natural experiment" of the operation and cessation of a broadcast transmitter with its short-wave electromagnetic fields (6-22 MHz) on sleep quality and melatonin cycle in a general human population sample. In 1998, 54 volunteers (21 men, 33 women) were followed for 1 week each before and after shut-down of the short-wave radio transmitter at Schwarzenburg (Switzerland). Salivary melatonin was sampled five times a day and total daily excretion and acrophase were estimated using complex cosinor analysis. Sleep quality was recorded daily using a visual analogue scale. Before shut down, self-rated sleep quality was reduced by 3.9 units (95% CI: 1.7-6.0) per mA/m increase in magnetic field exposure. The corresponding decrease in melatonin excretion was 10% (95% CI: -32 to 20%). After shutdown, sleep quality improved by 1.7 units (95% CI: 0.1-3.4) per mA/m decrease in magnetic field exposure. Melatonin excretion increased by 15% (95% CI: -3 to 36%) compared to baseline values suggesting a rebound effect. Stratified analyses showed an exposure effect on melatonin excretion in poor sleepers (26% increase; 95% CI: 8-47%) but not in good sleepers. Change in sleep quality and melatonin excretion was related to the extent of magnetic field reduction after the transmitter's shut down in poor but not good sleepers. However, blinding of exposure was not possible in this observational study and this may have affected the outcome measurements in a direct or indirect (psychological) way. Bioelectromagnetics (c) 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

PMID: 16342198 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=16342198&dopt=Abstract

Related articles:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Display&dopt=pubmed_pubmed&from_uid=16342198

--------

The Scandal of Schwarzenburg
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/350607/

Martin Greenhut wrote:

From: Halbert Katzen

There are important unresolved issues related to 9-11. Below is a link to a website that will play a recent documentary about 9-11. (You may need to hit your refresh button if it doesn't come up the first time.) If you care about bringing to justice the people who were responsible for 9-11, if you care about honoring the living and the dead by getting to the truth of the matter, then the information in this documentary will be very important to you. I think most people will find the first five minutes of it sufficiently impressive to want to watch another ten minutes. After fifteen minutes the quality and importance of this documentary will be obvious. Please watch it and pass it along.

Peace,

Halbert

http://www.911busters.com/911_new_video_productions/MOV/Painful_Deceptions.html

http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn12242005.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Christian Science Monitor
by Daniel Schorr

12/23/05

President Bush is taking on an issue of presidential powers over which presidents have stumbled before. ... Historians have said that President Lincoln freed the slaves, blockaded Southern ports, and instituted a draft all without constitutional authority. President Reagan invoked 'inherent powers' to justify the illegal sale of missiles to Iran and the illegal financing of the civil war in Nicaragua. Short of impeachment, the Congress has no way of stopping a willful president except to deny him funds. That, of course, is unlikely, especially with a Republican-controlled Congress...

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1223/p09s01-cods.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Human Events
by Pat Buchanan

12/25/05

How long ago was it that you last heard some pundit blather on about America being 'the greatest empire since Rome?' Quite a while, I imagine. For if the Iraqi insurgency has done nothing else, it has induced a sense of humility, and of the limits of American power. Surely, all Americans hope the Iraqi elections will usher in a coalition that will let us depart. But it is time we stood back and took a hard look at what this war tells us, not only about our ability, but about the wisdom of trying to remake the world in our own image. Is this generation of Americans really up to the task? Is it really willing to pay indefinitely in blood and treasure to realize the ambitious agenda George W. Bush has set out?

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=11076


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Las Vegas Review-Journal
by Vin Suprynowicz

12/25/05

A couple of loyal readers asked me, in response to my recent evisceration of the discredited 'militia clause' argument, 'But Vin, do you think the Founders would have written the Second Amendment that way if they'd known we'd have Uzis?' Leaving aside the fact that it takes extraordinary dedication and commitment (and loot) for a 'civilian' of average means to legally acquire a fully automatic Israeli machine pistol in America today, the answer is, 'Yes.' ... It doesn't matter whether you 'think this is a good idea.' If you want to contend we now have a form of government in which our rulers start with all rights and powers, and allow to the peasantry only those lesser included liberties as they see fit, say so out loud now, please. And tell me when the original Constitution was voided, and by what legal process...

http://tinyurl.com/dzrhz


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Slate
by Bruce Reed

12/23/05

Hell hath no fury like a branch of government scorned. The Republican Congress didn't mind rolling over for a popular president, but now that the Bush White House is a heavy burden, Hill Republicans are eager to put him in a lockbox. As Sen. Lindsey Graham tells the Washington Post, 'What you have seen is a Congress, which has been AWOL through intimidation or lack of unity, get off the sidelines and jump in with both feet.' Some Hill Republicans are calling for a congressional investigation into Bush's domestic spy scandal, while Hill Democrats float words they used to hate, like 'special prosecutor' and 'impeachment.' The irony of this congressional resurgence is that Bush could have had all the rubber stamps he wanted if he'd been more careful to stay between the lines...

http://www.slate.com/id/2132890/


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

AntiWar.Com
by Justin Raimondo

12/26/05

The idea that this election was going to be a milestone on the road to genuine democracy in Iraq never made much sense, and in view of the results it makes even less. Iraq is on a path to full-scale civil war, and the election, instead of papering over ethnic and religious divisions, has only underscored them. The insurgency, instead of being tamped down, now has a new grievance to rally its forces around and make new recruits: allegations of massive election fraud. The Iranians, for their part, have consolidated and even extended their growing influence, virtually ensuring, through the victory of Tehran-backed parties like SCIRI and Da'wa, that 'democratic' Iraq will soon be an 'Islamic republic.' No wonder the Iranians are now crowing that the elections were a victory for 'Khomeini-ism.' Thanks to the US invasion, and the subsequent triumph of SCIRI, Da'wa, and the more radical Sadrists, Iran is now effectively in control of the Iraqi government...

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=8307


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Dec 26, 2005, 12:45 GMT

Amsterdam - Dozens of Dutch local authorities are resisting the erection of masts to carry voice and data for the new third generation of mobile phones (3G), citing health concerns.

The decision by community councils not to accept the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) masts is motivated by worries among the general population that the radiation generated by them could be harmful.

In the week ahead of Christmas residents of Terneuzen in Zeeland in the southwest of the country prevented workers of the large mobile phone company Vodafone from erecting a mast on a block of flats.

They blocked the neighbouring streets with their cars, forcing a meeting the next day between residents, Vodafone, council officials and the owners of the flats.

The meeting resolved to hold further discussions at an unspecified date.

According to the Dutch daily Trouw, a Protestant-funded newspaper, 40 local authorities have denied permission to companies wanting to erect masts.

In Spijkenisse near Rotterdam, a well-organized team of activists calling themselves 'Spijkenisse against Radiation' have gone around the town distributing pamphlets and measuring radiation with meters.

The activists have also resorted to direct action, such as chaining themselves to existing masts.

The fears are largely non-specific, with many saying they fear an increased incidence of cancer in years to come. Some believe radiation from the masts affects cognitive function and disrupts sleep.

Many local authorities are awaiting the outcome of a Swiss study that is expected to be published early next year.

'I have never seen so much social disquiet,' said K. Loohuis, mayor of Haaksbergen, a town in the eastern province of Zwolle.

'There is real anxiety and anger in the people,' he said after leading a delegation to the relevant central government ministries.

But a spokesman for MoNet, the association of mobile phone operators, said there was no reason for concern.

The radiation from a transmission mast was no more than 20 watts, he told Trouw.

'This is about as much as from a lightbulb on the ceiling. The technology is similar to that of radio and television antennas.

'This is simply fear of the unknown,' he said, noting that the Swiss study was expected in January.

The Dutch cabinet and a majority in parliament has decided that the potential radiation risks are minimal.

Omega this is not true. See under:
http://omega.twoday.net/topics/Wissenschaft+zu+Mobilfunk/
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Cancer+Cluster
http://www.buergerwelle.de/body_science.html

© 2005 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/health/article_1071482.php/Widespread_concern_in_Netherlands_over_3G_mobile_phone_masts

http://openpr.de/news/73102

In der neuesten Ausgabe von Raum und Zeit erscheint ein Artikel von mir. Thema: Wahnsinn Mobilfunk, Betroffene berichten. Neben einer Auswertung der Melatoninstudie des Münchner Umweltmediziners Dr. Scheiner melden sich hier erstmals Betroffene zu Wort, die in der Nähe eines Mobilfunkmastens wohnen oder arbeiten mussten und medizinisch nachprüfbare, massive Gesundheitsprobleme entwickelten. Die Veröffentlichung solcher Fallgeschichten soll bei genügend Rückmeldung fortgesetzt werden. Ich bitte sie daher um Weitergabe nebenstehenden Aufrufes

Beste Grüße
Karl Trischberger

*Information und Aufruf* In der Ausgabe Nr. 140 (Januar/Februar 2006) und Nr. 141 (März/April 2006) der Wissenschaftszeitschrift Raum&Zeit erscheint ein Artikel von Karl Trischberger, Dipl. Betriebswirt und Mobilfunkopfer. Titel: “Wahnsinn Mobilfunk, Betroffene berichten“.* Darin schildert er seinen Fall und interviewt sieben weitere Personen die vom Mobilfunk schwerstens geschädigt wurden. Die meisten Fälle wurden dabei hinreichend medizinisch dokumentiert, so dass an der Ursache der Erkrankung wenig Zweifel besteht! Es handelt sich dabei um:

* Franz Fellner, 23 Jahre, Lenggries, * Abbruch des Studiums an der TU nach zwei Semestern, wegen neurologischen Ausfallserscheinungen. Sehr sportlich, klettert bis zum 10. Schwierigkeitsgrad. Eigene Web-Seite mit künstlerischer Bergfotografie. Werte in der TU bis 1300 nW/cm²!

*Paul Günther, 21 Jahre, München, * drei Wochen nach Bezug einer Wohnung unter einem Mobilfunkmasten in München massivste neurologische Probleme. Konnte dann das Studium im Herbst 2003 nicht antreten. Seither therapeutische Versuche zur Wiederherstellung der Gesundheit. Arbeitet zur Zeit im Keller einer Firma strahlungsfrei als Systemadministrator. Technikfreak. Mit 16 Jahren eine kleine Firma als IT-Dienstleister gegründet. Will im Jahr 2006 Studium der Wirtschaftsinformatik mit Strahlenschutzanzug beginnen und hat eine umfangreiche Korrespondenz mit der Gleichstellungsbeauftragten der TU wegen seiner Elektrosensibilität begonnen.

*Ulrich Weiner, 28 Jahre, Augsburg* absolvierte Lehre als Kommunikationselektroniker. Gründete 1993 seine eigene Firma, die zwischenzeitlich bis zu 20 Mitarbeiter beschäftigte. Beruflich bedingt musste er viel mit dem Handy telefonieren. 2001 mehrere Zusammenbrüche. U.a. Aufenthalt im Krankenhaus, nach Zusammenbruch am Flughafen Frankfurt. Musste sämtliche Mitarbeiter krankheitsbedingt entlassen. Lebt in Funklöchern, die er mit dem Wohnwagen aufsucht und will ein Erholungszentrum für Elektrosensible in einem strahlungsarmen Gebiet in Sachsen schaffen.

*Suzanne S., 46 Jahre, Halblech,* tätig beim Deutschen Wetterdienst. 1996 Umzug von Hamburg zum neuen Arbeitsplatz am Hohenpeißenberg 100 Meter vom Sendeturm entfernt. Nach drei Monaten kamen die ersten gesundheitlichen Probleme. Inzwischen extrem elektrosensibel, kann sie nur noch mit Schutzanzug in die Öffentlichkeit. Zur Zeit kämpft sie vor dem Sozialgericht in Augsburg um ihren Arbeitsplatz.

*Veronika S. 50 Jahre Baden-Baden* arbeitete 24 Jahre lang gesund und beschwerdefrei in der gleichen Firma. 2001 zog die Firma in ein neues Gebäude mit Mobilfunkmasten und DECT- Telefonen um. Einige Monate danach begannen die ersten Beschwerden. Konzentrationsstörungen, starkes Brennen am ganzen Körper, Herzrhythmusstörungen usw., Immunabwehr geschwächt. Die Elektorsensibilität wurde von zwei Ärzten und einer Spezialklinik bestätigt. Anbringung von Schutzvorrichtungen wurden vom Arbeitgeber abgelehnt. Zur Zeit auf der Suche nach einem neuen Arbeitsplatz. Mehrere Umzüge auf der Flucht vor Mobilfunksendeanlagen in der Nähe der Wohnung. Nur noch im Wald frei von Schmerzen. Hat einen Schutzbaldachin zum Schlafen. Krankheit von BFA nicht anerkannt. Ärger mit dem Arbeitsamt, da Frau S. Wegen eingebildeter Schmerzen den Arbeitsplatz aufgegeben hat.

* Monika Frielinghaus 54 Jahre, 91077 Neunkirchen*, erste Symptome Herbst 2003 nach sechs Monaten Arbeit unter Mobilfunkmasten. Strahlenbelastung am Arbeitsplatz: 5000 Mikrowatt pro m². Melatonin und Serotoninwerte stark erniedrigt. Zur Zeit arbeitsunfähig. An Parkinson erkrankt. Viele Allergien.

* Stephan Rau, 40 Jahre, Stahlbetonbauer, Wiesbaden * hatte 2001 bedingt durch einen Verkehrsunfall eine Schädelfraktur, die mit einer Metallplatte versorgt wurde. Diese wirkt wie eine Empfangsantenne für Hochfrequenz. Im Jahr 2004 ging fünfzehn Meter gegenüber seiner Dachwohnung eine UMTS Anlage der Firma T-Mobile in Betrieb. Gesundheitliche Störungen massivster Art stellten sich sehr bald ein. Messungen ergaben eine starke Beeinträchtigung der Herz- und Gehirnaktivitäten. Trotz Auszug aus der Wohnung blieb eine hochgradige Elektrosensibilität.

*Karl Trischberger, 45, Lenggries, Dipl. Betriebswirt* seit 1996 Arbeitsplatz unter Mobilfunkmasten ( im Frachtpostzentrum Aschheim bei München). Belastung 4nW/cm² Ab 2000 massivste Schlafstörungen und Infektanfälligkeit. Trotz der Vorlage mehrerer Atteste war der Arbeitgeber nicht bereit einer Versetzung zuzustimmen. 2003 aufgrund zunehmender gesundheitlicher Schwierigkeiten frühpensioniert.

Diesen Fällen voran geht eine Darstellung der Pilot-Studie des Umweltmediziners Dr. Scheiner, München. Er hat in circa 100 Fällen die Melatoninwerte von Betroffenen vor und nach Inbetriebnahme einer Mobilfunkanlage gemessen. Die Reduktion der Werte war dabei teilweise dramatisch!

Omega siehe dazu auch „Bundesweite Melatoninstudie“ unter:
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/1328188/

In Vogt sanken die Werte zum Beispiel in einem Zeitraum von vier Monaten um 87 Prozent! Dieses Phänomen könnte natürlich beliebig oft mit relativ einfachen Mitteln reproduziert werden! Die Behauptung von Mobilfunkbetreibern und Politikern, die Mobilfunkbestrahlung ließe sich nicht beweisen, ist somit eine bewusste Irreführung der Öffentlichkeit.

Mit der Artikelserie in Raum&Zeit ist der Aufruf an Betroffene verbunden sich bei ähnlicher oder gleicher Kasuistik und Symptomatik zu melden. Es sollen möglichst viele Fälle von beglaubigter Mobilfunksensibilität dokumentiert werden. Nach wie vor wird von gewisser Seite behauptet, dass von der Problematik der Esmog-Sensibilität nur eine verschwindende Minderheit betroffen sei. Der Autor des Artikel ist dagegen der Auffassung, dass die geschilderten Fälle nur die Spitze des sprichwörtlichen Eisberges darstellen. Wir bitten daher um zahlreiche Meldungen und Zuschriften von Betroffenen. Verbunden mit der Artikelserie ist auch der Versuch der Hilfestellung für Mobilfunkopfer. In den folgenden Raum&Zeit Ausgaben werden auch die derzeit möglichen medizinischen Hilfestellungen für Esmog Opfer dargestellt.

Kontaktadresse:
Karl Trischberger
Langeneck 14
83661 Lenggries
Tel.: 08042/503139
email: karl.trischberger@freenet.de

http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/wahnsinn_mobilfunk_betroffene_berichten.pdf



http://omega.twoday.net/topics/Victims/

The Parliamentarians and Civil Society Appeal on Iran and Nuclear Weapons, now endorsed by Abolition2000 and Mayors for Peace, is available on the following urls:

In french:

Tu le trouveras sur le site d'ACDN:
http://www.acdn.net en français et en anglais.

PNND website at the following url:
http://www.gsinstitute.org/pnnd/ParliamentariansIranNukes.htm

It is also on the GANA website of Ak Malten at:
http://www.cornnet.nl/~akmalten/Iran_Nuclear_letter.html


From FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign

The pursuit of terrorism does not authorize the president to make up new laws

By THOMAS G. DONLAN

http://online.barrons.com/article/SB113538491760731012.html

AS THE YEAR WAS DRAWING TO A CLOSE, we picked up our New York Times and learned that the Bush administration has been fighting terrorism by intercepting communications in America without warrants. It was worrisome on its face, but in justifying their actions, officials have made a bad situation much worse: Administration lawyers and the president himself have tortured the Constitution and extracted a suspension of the separation of powers.

It was not a shock to learn that shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush authorized the National Security Agency to conduct intercepts of international phone calls to and from the United States. The 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act permits the government to gather the foreign communications of people in the U.S. -- without a warrant if quick action is important. But the law requires that, within 72 hours, investigators must go to a special secret court for a retroactive warrant.

The USA Patriot Act permits some exceptions to its general rules about warrants for wiretaps and searches, including a 15-day exception for searches in time of war. And there may be a controlling legal authority in the Sept. 14, 2001, congressional resolution that authorized the president to go after terrorists and use all necessary and appropriate force. It was not a declaration of war in a constitutional sense, but it may have been close enough for government work.

Certainly, there was an emergency need after the Sept. 11 attacks to sweep up as much information as possible about the chances of another terrorist attack. But a 72-hour emergency or a 15-day emergency doesn't last four years.

In that time, Congress has extensively debated the rules on wiretaps and other forms of domestic surveillance. Administration officials have spent many hours before many committees urging lawmakers to provide them with great latitude. Congress acted, and the president signed. Now the president and his lawyers are claiming that they have greater latitude. They say that neither the USA Patriot Act nor the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act actually sets the real boundary. The administration is saying the president has unlimited authority to order wiretaps in the pursuit of foreign terrorists, and that the Congress has no power to overrule him.

"We also believe the president has the inherent authority under the Constitution, as commander-in-chief, to engage in this kind of activity," said Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. The Department of Justice made a similar assertion as far back as 2002, saying in a legal brief: "The Constitution vests in the president inherent authority to conduct warrantless intelligence surveillance (electronic or otherwise) of foreign powers or their agents, and Congress cannot by statute extinguish that Constitutional authority." Gonzales last week declined to declassify relevant legal reviews made by the Department of Justice.

Perhaps they were researched in a Star Chamber? Putting the president above the Congress is an invitation to tyranny. The president has no powers except those specified in the Constitution and those enacted by law. President Bush is stretching the power of commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy by indicating that he can order the military and its agencies, such as the National Security Agency, to do whatever furthers the defense of the country from terrorists, regardless of whether actual force is involved.

Surely the "strict constructionists" on the Supreme Court and the federal judiciary eventually will point out what a stretch this is. The most important presidential responsibility under Article II is that he must "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." That includes following the requirements of laws that limit executive power. There's not much fidelity in an executive who debates and lobbies Congress to shape a law to his liking and then goes beyond its writ.

Willful disregard of a law is potentially an impeachable offense. It is at least as impeachable as having a sexual escapade under the Oval Office desk and lying about it later. The members of the House Judiciary Committee who staged the impeachment of President Clinton ought to be as outraged at this situation. They ought to investigate it, consider it carefully and report either a bill that would change the wiretap laws to suit the president or a bill of impeachment. It is important to be clear that an impeachment case, if it comes to that, would not be about wiretapping, or about a possible Constitutional right not to be wiretapped. It would be about the power of Congress to set wiretapping rules by law, and it is about the obligation of the president to follow the rules in the Acts that he and his predecessors signed into law. Some ancillary responsibility, however, must be attached to those members of the House and Senate who were informed, inadequately, about the wiretapping and did nothing to regulate it.

Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV, Democrat of West Virginia, told Vice President Dick Cheney in 2003 that he was "unable to fully evaluate, much less endorse these activities." But the senator was so respectful of the administration's injunction of secrecy that he wrote it out in longhand rather than give it to someone to type. Only last week, after the cat was out of the bag, did he do what he should have done in 2003 -- make his misgivings public and demand more information.

Published reports quote sources saying that 14 members of Congress were notified of the wiretapping. If some had misgivings, apparently they were scared of being called names, as the president did last week when he said: "It was a shameful act for someone to disclose this very important program in a time of war. The fact that we're discussing this program is helping the enemy."

Wrong. If we don't discuss the program and the lack of authority for it, we are meeting the enemy -- in the mirror.

Editorial Page Editor THOMAS G. DONLAN receives e-mail at tg.donlan@barrons.com.

URL for this article:
http://online.barrons.com/article/SB113538491760731012.html


Informant: Diana Davies



http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=impeach
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Downing+Street+Memo

http://www.globalnewsmatrix.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3143


Informant: beefree

http://www.uruknet.info/?p=18993


Informant: Neo Mulder

See the Limits set in The Constitution for the Powers of a President.

Click Below Scroll down two screens to "Presidential Powers".

U.S. Constitution Article two. These 100 words tell the Only Powers a Decent Law Abiding US President has - See if you think George Bush has overstepped his Presidential powers ?

And notice nothing is mentioned about wiretapping Americans (;^))

Article Two of the United States Constitution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_Two_of_the_United_States_Constitution


Informant: ranger116

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/3841/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news