http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/01/04/1524246


Informant: John Calvert

http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/grn/omega51.htm

--------

CELLDAR utilises the radar frequencies associated with the mobile telephone transmissions
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/4582242/

"Zerstörerisches Management": DGB warnt vor "Industriefeudalismus" und ausrastenden Arbeitnehmern (04.01.06)

Der Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund (DGB) kann sich eine Radikalisierung bei Arbeitnehmern und innerhalb der Gewerkschaften vorstellen. "Zerstörerisches Management, durch das Betriebe geschlossen werden, obwohl sie profitabel sind, werden die Menschen auf Dauer nicht hinnehmen", sagte DGB-Vorstandsmitglied Dietmar Hexel der "Financial Times Deutschland". "Was da passiert, kann dazu führen, dass sich die Menschen radikalisieren, wenn es bei dieser Politik bleibt", so Hexel. Dies könne auch Einfluss auf die Gewerkschaftsarbeit haben.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:
http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=12611

Privatsphäre: Experte sieht schwere Sicherheitsprobleme bei elektronischer Patientenakte (04.01.06)

Das aktuelle Konzept der elektronischen Patientenakte gefährdet nach Ansicht von Sicherheitsexperten die Privatsphäre der Versicherten in Deutschland. Die elektronische Patientenakte soll alle den Krankheits- und Behandlungsverlauf eines Patienten betreffenden Daten speichern. Krankenkassen oder Lebensversicherer könnten die Daten benutzen, um Gesundheitsrisiken aus der Versicherung auszuschließen, so das Ergebnis von Untersuchungen des TT-Sicherheitsberaters Thomas Maus. Banken könnten Kreditausfallrisiken entsprechend der Lebenserwartung der Kreditnehmer berechnen und Arbeitgeber die Einstellung von Mitarbeitern von erblichen Veranlagungen für Krankheiten abhängig machen. Die Free Software Foundation forderte angesichts der Mängel, das Konzept der elektronischen Patientenakte komplett neu zu entwerfen.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:
http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=12615

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-01/uoc--gwc010306.php


Informant: NHNE

-----Original Message-----
From: aalsmin-l-bounces@lists.ubalt.edu
On Behalf Of Boyle, Francis
Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2006 1:31 PM
Subject: [AALSMIN-L] Hague Regulations v Bush Jr. Notice in Guantanamo Detainee Cases

Article 23(h) of the 1907 Hague Regulations on Land Warfare, to which the USA is a contracting party, provides: "In addition to the prohibitions provided by special Conventions, it is especially forbidden...(h) To declare abolished, suspended or inadmissible in a court of law the rights and actions of the nationals of the hostile party." In addition, the Nuremberg Tribunal ruled that the Hague Regulations were customary international law as of the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. This would constitute a serious war crime.

fab.

Francis A. Boyle
Law Building
504 E. Pennsylvania Ave.
Champaign, IL 61820
USA
217-333-7954 (voice)
217-244-1478 (fax) fboyle@law.uiuc.edu
(personal comments only)


-----Original Message-----
From: Charles Gittings
Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2006 2:09 PM
To: ASIL Forum
Subject: Govt Notice in Guantanamo Detainee Cases

Today the government filed the following notice in all of the Guantanmo deatainee cases pending in the USDC for D.C.:

NOTICE OF SUPPLEMENTAL AUTHORITY

Respondents hereby give notice of the recent enactment of legislation that, among other things, amends 28 U.S.C. � 2241 to remove court jurisdiction to hear or consider applications for writs of habeas corpus and other actions brought in this Court by or on behalf of aliens detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. See Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2006, Pub. L. No. ___, � 1005 (2005) (signed by President Bush on Dec. 30, 2005) (copy of relevant excerpts attached). No sooner than the week of January 9, 2006, respondents anticipate filing in each of 1 the above-captioned cases a motion to dismiss or for other appropriate relief based on the new legislation. Prior to or shortly after filing of such motion, respondents will consult with petitioners� counsel in an effort to agree upon a briefing schedule that can be proposed to the Court.

Dated: January 3, 2006

---

The original pdf and exhibit are available on the PEGC web site in this folder (along with show cause orders issued by Judge Walton in his assigned cases):

http://www.justicescholars.org/pegc/McCain-Graham/

The corruption investigation surrounding lobbyist Jack Abramoff shows the significant political risk that Republican leaders took when they adopted what had once seemed a brilliant strategy for dominating Washington: turning the K Street lobbying corridor into a cog of the GOP political machine.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010406Y.shtml

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/3873/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

Top Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff is set to sing, and his long list of former buddies in Congress and the Bush administration are quaking in anticipation of possible indictments stemming from the consummate Beltway hustler's crass reign as the king of K Street.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010406O.shtml

Even before the White House formally authorized a secret program to spy on US citizens without obtaining warrants, such eavesdropping was occurring and some of the information was being shared with the FBI, declassified correspondence and interviews with congressional and intelligence officials indicate.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010406L.shtml

Book Says

In a clumsy effort to sabotage Iran's nuclear program, the CIA in 2004 intentionally handed Tehran some top-secret bomb designs laced with a hidden flaw that US officials hoped would doom any weapon made from them, according to a new book about the US intelligence agency.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010406K.shtml

Lobbying is Washington's grubby secret. Some say lobbying is part of the democratic process. Others claim it is legalized bribery, even corruption. But love it or loathe it, it is the way Washington works.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010406J.shtml

Abramoff raised at least $100,000 for President Bush's 2004 re-election effort, earning the honorary title "pioneer" from the campaign.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010406I.shtml

by Paul Rogat Loeb, TomPaine.com

Democrats and moderate Republicans should challenge Bush's nominee at every turn.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20060104/alito_and_the_f_word.php

by Russ Baker, TomPaine.com

Jack Abramoff's plea is just the beginning. DeLay's dealings with Russia should be one of the biggest stories of the year.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20060104/to_russia_love_tom_delay.php

Portsmouth Herald
by staff

01/03/06

From a distance, it might appear that revelations that the Bush administration allegedly broke the law when it signed off on wiretaps without authorized warrants is just another case of inside-baseball politics, Washington style. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. And no matter how apologists for President Bush's desire to play the role of the all-knowing and unquestioned monarch when it suits him -- to protect, we are told, the American people from another 9/11 terrorist attack -- what is at stake is nothing less than the rule of law. It may be a few months before we know whether a full-blown constitutional crisis will occur...

http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/01032006/editoria/80958.htm


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Time
by Bob Barr

01/03/06

Back in the 1930s, when confronted with clear evidence he had violated the law, Georgia's then agriculture commissioner and gubernatorial candidate Eugene Talmadge popped his bright red suspenders and dared those accusing him of corruption to do something about it, declaring, 'Sure, I stole, but I stole for you.' He was elected Governor in 1932. Accused of breaking the law in the current debate over electronic spying, President George W. Bush has, in his own way, dared the American people to do something about it. For the sake of our Constitution, I hope they will...

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1145243,00.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

The American Prospect
by Matthew Yglesias

01/03/06

It was the year of the dogs that didn't bark. A newly dominant Republican Party was supposed to use its position to simultaneously transform American public policy and render the Democrats a permanently irrelevant minority party, isolated in a few coastal enclaves. It didn't happen. And, in fact, it started to unravel almost right away. The Bush administration went for broke with its plan to end Social Security as we know it and instead move to a system of individual stock ownership. The pretty version of how this was supposed to play into the Republican quest for a perpetual majority was that privatization would create a larger 'investor class' of stockowners, people who, in virtue of their shares, identified with corporate managers rather than workers or consumers, and therefore supported conservative economic policies. More prosaically, privatization was simply the latest iteration of GOP money-in, money-out machine politics...

http://www.prospect.org/web/view-web.ww?id=10793


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

AlterNet
by Garance Franke-Ruta

01/03/06

George Miller is the most important Democratic tactician you've never heard of. In the past year, there has been precisely one lengthy profile of him inside Washington, and none in any of the major national papers. And yet, in an environment where Democrats have been almost wholly stymied by the Republicans' iron grip on power, Miller has repeatedly come up with innovative ways to defend progressive interests. 'They have so corrupted the rules of the House of Representatives that you essentially have to engage in guerilla activity to try … to get a vote on a matter,' says Miller, who has become expert in the range of alternatives available during this time of one-party rule. 'We've just tried to be as creative as we possibly could be'...

http://www.alternet.org/story/30349/


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Salon
by Michael Scherer

01/04/06

His head bowed and his pinstripes faded, the former dean of Republican lobbyists, Jack Abramoff, arrived Tuesday at the chambers of federal Judge Ellen Huvelle to confess his sins. Under detailed questioning from the court, he took the blame for a career spent stealing from his Native American clients, hiding from tax collectors and corrupting members of Congress and their staffs. It was a tortured performance played out in hushed tones. By the time Abramoff rose to beg forgiveness from the Almighty, his voice was barely audible from the gallery. 'Words will not be able to even express my sorrow,' Abramoff muttered. 'All my remaining days I will feel tremendous sadness and regret.' With that, Abramoff turned states' evidence... [subscription or ad view required]

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/01/04/abramoff_plea/


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Cato Institute
by Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren

01/04/06

The rise in fuel prices that followed Hurricanes Katrina and Rita has prompted many members of Congress to call for new and expanded federal reserves of crude oil, diesel fuel, home heating oil, jet fuel and propane. Proponents of stockpiling claim that if the government were to hoard those commodities when prices were low, it could unleash them on the market when supplies are tight, thus dampening price increases and stabilizing the market. But the experience in this country with the strategic petroleum reserve strongly suggests that such government-managed stockpiles are a waste of taxpayers' money. Rather than increasing the stockpile, the reserve should be emptied and closed...

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=5351


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Kn@ppster
by Thomas L. Knapp

01/03/06

Why do I think the Busheviks want to tangle with Iran so badly? It's simple: Having irretrievably lost two wars in four years (and not doing so well on the general 'war on terror,' either), the only chance the War Party has to climb back up to a reasonably respectable place in history is to turn what they've falsely advertised as a 'generational war for survival' and 'World War IV' into the real thing. ... if the Busheviks can ignite a bona fide world war, there's some chance that 60 years from now Afghanistan and Iraq will be related to 9/11 as Wake Island and Bataan were to Pearl Harbor -- early, hopeless, necessary defeats instead of stupid, pointless defeats...

http://knappster.blogspot.com/2006/01/telling-futures.html

AntiWar.Com
by Justin Raimondo

01/04/06

In the tradition of Richard Perle, Halliburton, and the 'military-industrial complex' Dwight David Eisenhower presciently warned us against, Rubin and his fellow neocons have combined their ideological and financial interests into one seamless agenda -- and when their shenanigans are exposed, they are cited in the 'mainstream' media saying it's no big deal. Yeah, right: millions in government subsidies for the War Party, plus affirmative action for neocons. That's Rubin's idea of creating 'an even playing field.' The 'information warfare' campaign being carried out by the Lincoln Group and other sub rosa government contractors is not primarily directed at the Iraqis: the real target audience is Americans.... the generation of 'good news' is key to ensuring that the neocons' government-subsidized gravy train keeps on keeping on...

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=8343


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

GovExec.Com

01/03/06

When Congress reconvenes this month, one of the first chores facing lawmakers will be reauthorizing the expiring provisions of the USA Patriot Act, and newly disclosed documents could become a factor in the debate. ... President Bush signed the short-term extension into law Friday, so lawmakers now have about a month to negotiate their differences over the civil-liberties protections in the Patriot Act. Those opposing the current long-term reauthorization bill could have more rhetorical ammunition by the end of the month, as documents from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit trickle out of FBI offices. The Electronic Privacy Information Center early last year filed a FOIA request but received few documents until a federal district judge in November ordered the FBI to produce 1,500 pages of documents every 15 days until the requests are fulfilled. EPIC is scheduled to receive the latest batch of documents Wednesday...

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=33086&dcn=todaysnews


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

CNN

01/03/06

Several U.S. agents in Iran were rounded up after the CIA mistakenly revealed clues to their identities to a covert source who turned out to be a double agent, according to a book that hit shelves Tuesday. In 'State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration,' author James Risen of The New York Times called the mistake an 'espionage disaster.' But while confirming the mistake, knowledgeable current and former officials told CNN that the allegations that agents were lost as a result are not true...

http://tinyurl.com/e3h8p


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

MSNBC

01/03/06

New York Times reporter James Risen first broke the story two weeks ago that the National Security Agency began spying on domestic communications soon after 9/11. In a new book out Tuesday, 'State of War,' he says it was a lot bigger than that. Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell sat down with Risen to talk about the NSA, and the run-up to the war in Iraq. Following is a complete transcript of the interview...

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10697484/


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Indianapolis Star

01/03/06

Congressional intelligence committees had at least a hint in October 2001 that the National Security Agency was expanding its surveillance activities after the 9/11 attacks, according to a letter released Tuesday by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. The California Democrat had raised questions to Gen. Michael Hayden, then the NSA director, about the legal authority to conduct the eavesdropping work...

http://tinyurl.com/83t8j


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

USA Today

01/04/06

President Bush fired the first shot in the renewed battle over the USA Patriot Act, hosting on Tuesday a group of federal prosecutors who said the soon-to-expire law helped solve major crimes. ... Bush-appointed U.S. attorneys from 14 states and the District of Columbia said the law has helped them crack cases involving terrorist finances, weapons exchanged for drugs, and child abductions. Senate Democrats who blocked renewal late last year, such as Patrick Leahy of Vermont, said they support the law but want to make sure civil liberties are protected. Four Republican senators joined Democrats in blocking renewal of the law: Larry Craig of Idaho, John Sununu of New Hampshire, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska...

http://tinyurl.com/a246d


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Fox News

01/04/06

With the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito less than a week away, his critics are making every effort to whip up opposition to Alito's joining the court. But ever since the defeat of Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork a little more than 18 years ago, conservative activists have vowed not to let such critics go unanswered. ... Progress for America is spending about $500,000 on a television ad that quotes the writings of legal analyst Stuart Taylor, a columnist for The National Journal [in support of Alito] .... Meanwhile, a coalition of groups opposed to the nomination are preparing their campaign. Ralph Neas, head of People for the American Way, a liberal-leaning group, compares the coming battle to the 1987 fight over Judge Robert Bork...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,180500,00.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

http://tinyurl.com/7etwh


Informant: ireland

03 Januar 2006 - 16:13

Vorsicht: Fernablesung erfasster Heizkosten kommt/Rechtsprobleme

Deutschlands größtes Wärmemessdienst-Unternehmen, die Techem AG, kündigt an, Heizkosten künftig auch per Mobilfunk erfassen zu wollen. In der Liegenschaft einer Wohnungsgenossenschaft sollen die Verbrauchsdaten aus 29 Wohnungen per Mobilfunknetz an eine Rechenzentrale des Unternehmens übermittelt werden. „Hier“, so der Dienstleister wörtlich, „werden die Daten nicht nur für die jährliche Heizkostenabrechnung genutzt.“

Der Deutsche Mieterbund (DMB) sieht in der so beschriebenen Fernablesung große datenschutzrechtliche Probleme. Es bestehe die Gefahr, dass Vermieter in der Privatsphäre ihrer Mieter schnüffelten, dass das Heizverhalten der Mieter erforscht werden könne und dass diese Kenntnisse in Rechtsstreitigkeiten, zum Beispiel über Feuchtigkeitsschäden, gegen die Mieter eingesetzt würden.

Mieterbund-Direktor Dr. Franz-Georg Rips: „Wenn erklärt wird, dass die Erfassung von taggenauen Verbrauchswerten nur Sinn macht, wenn die erfassten Daten effektiv genutzt werden, oder die Fernablesung als richtig interessant bewertet wird, wenn sie für ein unterjähriges Verbrauchsmanagement benutzt wird, wenn auf Basis der so erhobenen Daten Vielverbraucher unter den Mietern angesprochen und beraten werden sollen, dann schrillen bei mir alle Alarmglocken. Das ist der ‚gläserne Mieter’. Gegen derartige Auswüchse werden wir uns wehren.

Wenn als weiterer Vorteil der Fernablesung darauf hingewiesen wird, dass der Vermieter die Vorauszahlungen für Betriebskosten anpassen könne, wenn sich deutliche Veränderungen in der Heizkostenabrechnung abzeichneten, so ist das rechtlich schlichtweg falsch. Anpassungen an die Vorauszahlungen“, so Dr. Franz-Georg Rips, „kann der Vermieter nur verlangen, wenn sich aufgrund der Vorlage der Jahresabrechnung ein Anpassungsbedarf ergibt. Das ist ausdrücklich so im Gesetz geregelt.“

Quelle: Mitteilung des Deutsche Mieterbundes (DMB) v. 03.01.06

http://www.ebelteam.de/wmview.php?ArtID=4182


Nachricht von der BI Bad Dürkheim

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/01/03/cloud_bt/


Best regards.

Agnes.
http://www.mast-victims.org

Omega News semaine 23-31/12/2005
http://www.next-up.org/pdf/omega/31_12_2005_omega_news_next_up.pdf

http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/usa_supreme_court_clears_cell_phone_cancer_suits_for_trial.htm

Source:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/cell_phone_cancer_suits.html

--------

Court victory is a first for cell-phone programmers
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/1033412/

By NEWS.com.au readers

04jan06

MOBILE phones are raising stress levels at home and at work, research has shown.

Their use is blurring the boundaries between work and home, causing professional worries to spill over into personal time, a study has found.

We asked NEWS.com.au readers whether they felt tied to their mobile and if they considered them a necessary evil. Below is a selection of the best responses we received.

http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,17727435%255E421,00.html

Thanks for sending on those very relevant revelations about the US psychiatric disaster. David Oaks of mindfreedom-news had also alerted me to them. Dreadful what is going on in psychiatric circles in the US and elsewhere. The info in the enclosed attachment sounds a little bit uplifting but then these poor students may ruin their career advancements by taking such an ethical stance. Tomorrow's ed. of the IRISH TIMES will carry an article by their regular science columnist, Professor William Reville on "the dilemmas we face when science and ethics collide. If it is any good and if I can get to an Ir. Times online edition will send it along to you for posting. Imelda


NEWS: Med students REFUSE drug corp. gifts, go PharmFree!
From: mindfreedom-news@intenex.net
Sat, 31 Dec 2005 13:38:24 -0800 An:

Here's an inspiring news article about medical students **REFUSING** to take drug company gifts for ethical reasons!


28 Dec. 2005 _The Christian Science Monitor_

Religion & Ethics

Backstory: A pill they won't swallow

By G. Jeffrey MacDonald, Correspondent of _The Christian Science Monitor_

BOSTON - Dutifully wearing collared shirts, ties, and the short white coats meant to keep all medical students humble, Chen Kenyon and Dustin Petersen don't look like rebels. They look scrubbed and eager to learn from any doctor in a long white coat.

But in the pockets of their shorter garments lurk symbols of a movement aiming to topple one of medicine's most entrenched traditions. Their pens read "PharmFree," which means they don't take personal gifts of any size from the pharmaceutical industry. And that is touching off a quiet ethics war reverberating through the halls of academia and hospitals across the country.

Messrs. Kenyon and Petersen are among a growing band of stethoscope-wearing students who believe the medical profession needs more detachment from big pharmaceutical firms.

Consequently, they're turning down everything from free catered meals to notepads, provoking debates among fellow students and quizzical looks from doctors.

"People will often ask, 'why didn't you take the pen? Or, why didn't you eat the lunch?'," says Kenyon, a Boston University medical student who packs a sandwich, apple, and granola bar almost every day so he won't have to eat meals sponsored by drugmakers.

"It gives you the green light to talk about it when somebody asks," adds Petersen, who swears his home-cooked pot roast and clam chowder leftovers taste better than the catered meals he refuses each week.

Behind the modest rebellion is the belief that taking gifts from drug companies creates a conflict of interest for doctors. The argument: To accept handouts is to feel indebted, and doctors indebted to drug firms may not be prescribing medicines based solely on what's best for their patients. The 60,000-member American Medical Student Association (AMSA) urges students and doctors alike to just say "no" to all personal gifts from drugmakers.

Doctors on the whole seem far less worried about the practice. The American Medical Association condones gift-taking from pharmaceutical representatives as long as no single gift is worth much more than $100. And drug companies seem to be finding plenty of takers: spending on marketing to physicians jumped from $12.1 billion in 1999 to $22 billion in 2003 ($16 billion of which was in free samples), according to data from Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

***

Against this backdrop, students are still convinced their cause is worth fighting, even if it means giving up a hot meal every day. "I don't think patients can trust us anymore," says Kristin Rising, a medical student at the University of California, San Francisco. "By accepting gifts, we're taking in biases that are going to affect patient care."

Others feel the same way. For the first time this year, between 500 and 1,000 students at 150 medical schools are canvassing 40,000 physicians nationwide. Their aim is to steer them to independent sources of information about drugs.

This "counter-detailing initiative" takes AMSA's three-year-old PharmFree project out of medical schools and into the trenches of the profession, where students hope to pique the consciences of future colleagues.

Other phases of the movement have been more brazen. Last year, for instance, a brigade of students marched on Pfizer offices in New York and dumped thousands of logo- emblazoned pens, given to the students by the company as gifts and intended as advertisements in their hands, back on the firm's doorstep.

Activist students insist their beef is more with the medical profession, which, they say, has come to feel it's entitled to the giveaways, than it is with the drugmakers. Even PhRMA distances itself somewhat from the practice, saying its member firms honor AMA guidelines to keep gift-giving at modest levels. "Any physician can decline a gift at any time," says Dr. Paul T. Antony, PhRMA's chief medical officer.

Challenging medicine's status quo, however subtly, often comes at personal cost. Example: Last year in Philadelphia, Kenyon wanted to make a good first impression with his new supervisor on a medicine rotation. But after the firm handshake, things deteriorated as the attending physician suggested they grab lunch - at a seminar sponsored by a drug company.

"I told him, 'I don't eat pharmaceutical lunches,' " Kenyon recalls. "He was sort of, like, 'Oh.' And stopped it there. In some way, it doesn't really matter to me, but he is the person evaluating me in the end."

***

Kenyon's predicament illustrates the heart of this struggle: Those making the moral case against gift-taking hold junior status in a hierarchical and tradition-bound profession.

"While I think we're right, people don't always want to hear what we have to say," says Ms. Rising. "I'm not in a position to say, 'you, my supervisor, are wrong' " to accept giveaways.

With no real standing to make their case to higher-ups, students rely instead on the shock power that comes with saying "no thanks" when offered coveted freebies. Fellow students, they say, respond with a mixture of surprise, curiosity, ridicule - and lots of discussion.

Take the case of Chris McCoy. A 2004 graduate of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, Mr. McCoy had earned a reputation as a stickler for ethics by complaining when fellow students proposed to get drug companies to sponsor the medical school's social events. After the proposal was defeated, students kept eating meals provided by drug firms, but discussion about the ethics of doing so lingered like garlic.

"They'd say, 'What would Chris think if he saw us eating the drug lunch?' " McCoy recalls.

Where tensions arise, activists say, is when a student sets a higher ethical standard than a supervisor. No words need be spoken for a supervisor in a buffet line to feel a bit snubbed when a student settles for a granola bar instead of "tainted" pharmaceutical food.

"In a lot of cases, people feel like you're pulling the moral high ground," Kenyon says.

Students who dream of higher ethical standards for medicine expect to pay higher personal prices as time goes by. As medical residents, they'll be among peers who feel they've "earned" drug-industry perks, says Bob Goodman, founder of "No Free Lunch," a physician group that urges colleagues to stop taking gifts from drugmakers.

What's more, residents with low salaries and high debt levels are famous for relying on drugmakers to keep them fed during long shifts. Residents say "once you see the reality of the way medicine is, you won't be so idealistic," says Yavar Moghimi, a George Washington University medical student. "I worry about that. [But] family members always congratulate me and tell me how important they think this is."

Full HTML version of this story which may include photos, graphics, and related links:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1228/p20s01-lire.html

- end -

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/3869/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

Embattled lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal charges of conspiracy, tax evasion and mail fraud, agreeing to cooperate in an influence-peddling investigation that threatens powerful members of Congress.

http://tinyurl.com/77g32


From Information Clearing House

Last year witnessed a decisive turn in Latin America. A growing number of countries in the region now seem determined to pursue their interests, regardless of what the United States desires.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11447.htm

Russia is being universally condemned by the Bush Regime and European leaders for the heinous crime of….practicing hard-nosed market capitalism. And for – horror of horrors! – mixing business and politics. Whoever heard of such a thing? Oh, those Scythian savages!

http://www.chris-floyd.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=385&Itemid=1


From Information Clearing House

In light of recent revelations concerning the US government's human rights abuses, the statement smacks of the pot calling the kettle black.

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_382.shtml


From Information Clearing House

All eyes are on Syria as it stands accused of being behind the murder of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. Even before the UN commission of inquiry was completed, the US was planning - with France - a concerted offensive against the Syrian regime. But destabilising President Bashar al-Assad could lead to regional chaos, given the fragility of Lebanon and near civil war in Iraq.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11443.htm

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Jan06/Frank03.htm


From Information Clearing House

The Bush administration has succeeded in making the United States one of the most feared and hated countries in the world. The talent of these guys is unbelievable. They have even succeeded at alienating Canada. I mean, that takes genius, literally.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11446.htm

As America continues to tighten its grip on the world’s dwindling hydrocarbon resources, we can expect that the successes of the Iraqi resistance will offer a model to the other disparate groups who have no chance of beating the United States in open battle, but hope to bring the empire to its knees by making the costs of war too great to sustain.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11441.htm

The former exile who helped spur the U.S.-led invasion by feeding false intelligence to Washington about Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction, and who returned to Iraq after Saddam's fall to craft himself into a political leader, still has more cards to play.

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/13535019.htm


From Information Clearing House

Democracy Now!

Former NSA intelligence agent Russell Tice condemns reports that the Agency has been engaged in eavesdropping on U.S. citizens without court warrants. Tice has volunteered to testify before Congress about illegal black ops programs at the NSA. Tice said, “The freedom of the American people cannot be protected when our constitutional liberties are ignored and our nation has decayed into a police state."

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11442.htm

In central Florida, Wal-Mart workers are fighting, and sometimes winning, campaigns using collective action to solve both shop floor and larger industry-wide problems.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/010306LA.shtml

One question naturally arises when you hear that 67 million more people are on the way: do we have enough to go around? Last year raised worries about "peak oil," the notion that the glass of crude may be half empty.... Now get ready for peak water, and even peak food.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/010306EA.shtml

Robert Parry writes that George W. Bush's dysfunctional relationship with the truth seems to be shaped by two complementary factors - a personal compulsion to say whatever makes him look good at that moment and a permissive environment that rarely holds him accountable for his lies.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010306Q.shtml

Aitken RJ, Bennetts LE, Sawyer D, Wiklendt AM, King BV.

ARC Centre of Excellence in Biotechnology and Development, Discipline of Biological Sciences, and Hunter Medical Research Institute, Newcastle, NSW, Australia. jaitken@mail.newcastle.edu.au

Concern has arisen over human exposures to radio frequency electromagnetic radiation (RFEMR), including a recent report indicating that regular mobile phone use can negatively impact upon human semen quality. These effects would be particularly serious if the biological effects of RFEMR included the induction of DNA damage in male germ cells. In this study, mice were exposed to 900 MHz RFEMR at a specific absorption rate of approximately 90 mW/kg inside a waveguide for 7 days at 12 h per day. Following exposure, DNA damage to caudal epididymal spermatozoa was assessed by quantitative PCR (QPCR) as well as alkaline and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. The treated mice were overtly normal and all assessment criteria, including sperm number, morphology and vitality were not significantly affected. Gel electrophoresis revealed no gross evidence of increased single- or double-DNA strand breakage in spermatozoa taken from treated animals. However, a detailed analysis of DNA integrity using QPCR revealed statistically significant damage to both the mitochondrial genome (p < 0.05) and the nuclear beta-globin locus (p < 0.01). This study suggests that while RFEMR does not have a dramatic impact on male germ cell development, a significant genotoxic effect on epididymal spermatozoa is evident and deserves further investigation.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=15910543&dopt=Abstract


Informant:
Agnes
http://www.mast-victims.org

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060103/news_mz1e3hirsch.html


Informant: Kev Hall

(excerpt)

-----Original Message-----
From: Leuren Moret
leurenmoret@yahoo.com
Sent: Tuesday, January 3, 2006 06:26 PM

Subject: Plans for nuclear strike on Iran
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/

January 2, 2006 -- Intelligence indications and warnings abound as Bush administration finalizes military attack on Iran.

Intelligence and military sources in the United States and abroad are reporting on various factors that indicate a U.S. military hit on Iranian nuclear and military installations, that may involve tactical nuclear weapons, is in the final stages of preparation. Likely targets for saturation bombing are the Bushehr nuclear power plant (where Russian and other foreign national technicians are present), a uranium mining site in Saghand near the city of Yazd, the uranium enrichment facility in Natanz, a heavy water plant and radioisotope facility in Arak, the Ardekan Nuclear Fuel Unit, the Uranium Conversion Facility and Nuclear Technology Center in Isfahan, the Tehran Nuclear Research Center, the Tehran Molybdenum, Iodine and Xenon Radioisotope Production Facility, the Tehran Jabr Ibn Hayan Multipurpose Laboratories, the Kalaye Electric Company in the Tehran suburbs, a reportedly dismantled uranium enrichment plant in Lashkar Abad, and the Radioactive Waste Storage Units in Karaj and Anarak.

Primary target: Bushehr nuclear reactor and hundreds of Russian technicians

Other first targets would be Shahab-I, II, and III missile launch sites, air bases (including the large Mehrabad air base/international airport near Tehran), naval installations on the Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea, command, control, communications and intelligence facilities. Secondary targets would include civilian airports, radio and TV installations, telecommunications centers, government buildings, conventional power plants, highways and bridges, and rail lines. Oil installations and commercial port facilities would likely be relatively untouched by U.S. forces in order to preserve them for U.S. oil and business interests.

There has been a rapid increase in training and readiness at a number of U.S. military installations involved with the planned primarily aerial attack. These include a Pentagon order to Fort Rucker, Alabama, to be prepared to handle an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 trainees, including civilian contractors, who will be deployed for Iranian combat operations. Rucker is home to the US Army's aviation training command, including the helicopter training school.

In addition, there has been an increase in readiness at nearby Hurlburt Field in Florida, the home of the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command. The U.S. attack on Iran will primarily involve aviation (Navy, Air Force, Navy-Marine Corps) and special operations assets.

There has also been a noticeable increase in activity at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms, California, a primary live fire training activity located in a desert and mountainous environment similar to target areas in Iran.

From European intelligence agencies comes word that the United States has told its NATO allies to be prepared for a military strike on Iranian nuclear development and military installations.

On November 17, 2005, Russian President Vladimir Putin spent seven hours in secret discussions with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the the opening ceremonies in Samsun, Turkey for the Russian-Turkish underwater Blue Stream natural gas pipeline, festivities also attended by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

According to sources knowledgeable about the meeting, Erdogan promised Putin, who has become a close friend, that Turkey would not support the use of its bases by the United States in a military attack on Iran. That brought a series of high level visits to Turkey by Bush administration officials, including CIA chief Porter Goss, FBI Director Robert Mueller, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Although Erdogan listened to Goss's and Rice's pleas for Turkish logistical, political, and intelligence help for an attack on Iran and Turkish Army Chief Yasar Buyukanit heard much the same from Pentagon officials during his recent trip to Washington, the word is that Putin now has enough clout in Ankara to scuttle any use of Turkey by the U.S. for an attack on Iran. [Mueller delivered Ankara intelligence "proof" of Iranian backing for Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) guerrillas in Turkey. Intelligence agencies and business intelligence units around the world are now discounting any intelligence coming from the Bush administration as neocon propaganda invented by think tanks and discredited intelligence agencies in Washington, Tel Aviv-Herzliya, and Jerusalem].

A U.S. Attack on Iran: The Perfect Storm for wider nuclear conflict

U.S. political and military officials have also approached Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Jordan, Oman, and Azerbaijan seeking their support for a U.S. attack on Iran. Ina replay of the phony pre-war intelligence on Iraq, Washington is trying to convince various countries that a link exists between Iran and "Al Qaeda."

Polish intelligence sources report that Poland's Defense Minister Radek Sikorski assured Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld of Poland's support for any U.S. strike against Iran. Sikorski is a former American Enterprise Institute colleague of such neo-cons as Richard Perle, Michael Ledeen, and Lynne Cheney, the so-called "Second Lady" of the United States. Sikorski and Polish Foreign Minister Stefan Meller assured Rumsfeld and Rice, respectively, that Poland would stand by the United States during the split in NATO that will occur as a result of the American strike. Polish intelligence sources, who are unhappy with the arrangement of the new right-wing government in Warsaw with the Bush administration, leaked the information about the recent U.S. demarche to NATO in Brussels about preparation for the attack.

Similar intelligence "leaks" about the U.S. attack plans were also leaked to the German magazine Der Spiegel.

European intelligence sources also report that the recent decision by Putin and Russia's state-owned Gazprom natural gas company to cut supplied of natural gas to Ukraine was a clear warning by Putin to nations like Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Moldova, France, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Bosnia, Serbia, and Germany that it would do the same if they support the U.S. attack on Iran. Gazprom natural gas is supplied, via pipelines in Ukraine, from Russia and Turkmenistan to countries in Eastern and Western Europe. The Bush administration charged Russia with using gas supplies as a "political tool."

Putin has additional leverage on Western Europe since former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder accepted an appointment to the board of a joint Russian-German North European Gas Pipeline Consortium that is controlled by Gazprom. The pipeline will bring Russian gas to Scandinavia, Germany, Netherlands, and Britain, giving Putin additional leverage over Washington in Europe.

Southeast Asian intelligence sources report that Burma's (Myanmar's) recent abrupt decision to move its capital from Rangoon (Yangon) to remote Pyinmana, 200 miles to the north, is a result of Chinese intelligence warnings to its Burmese allies about the effects of radiation resulting from a U.S. conventional or tactical nuclear attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. There is concern that a series of attacks on Iranian nuclear installations will create a Chernobyl-like radioactive cloud that would be caught up in monsoon weather in the Indian Ocean.

Rangoon (Yangon) capital moved 200 miles north over fears of monsoon season Iran nuclear fallout?

Low-lying Rangoon lies in the path of monsoon rains that would continue to carry radioactive fallout from Iran over South and Southeast Asia between May and October. Coastal Indian Ocean cities like Rangoon, Dhaka, Calcutta, Mumbai, Chennai, and Colombo would be affected by the radioactive fallout more than higher elevation cities since humidity intensifies the effects of the fallout. Thousands of government workers were given only two days' notice to pack up and leave Rangoon for the higher (and dryer) mountainous Pyinmana.

In neighboring West Bengal, the leftist government and its national leftist allies around the country are planning massive demonstrations during Bush's upcoming trip to India. They are protesting the war in Iraq as well as the threats against Iran.

Reports from Yemen indicate that western oil companies are concerned about U.S. intentions in Iran since the southern Arabian country catches the edge of the monsoon rains that could contain radioactive fallout from an attack, endangering their workers in the country.

The Bush administration aborted last minute plans to attack Iranian nuclear and political installations prior to the 2004 presidential election. On October 9, Rumsfeld met with defense minister colleagues on the now decommissioned USS John F. Kennedy in the Persian Gulf to seek support for the attack. That meeting has been confirmed by the Danish Defense Minister who was in attendance, however, the topic of the meeting was not discussed. According to U.S. naval personnel on board the Kennedy, a special "war room" was set up to coordinate the attack. Britain, Australia, Italy, Netherlands, and Japan did not attend the meeting because of their opposition to the attack plans.

Intelligence and military officials around the world are also bracing for the results of a U.S. attack on Iran. This includes the distinct possibility of a major Shia retaliatory attack in Iraq, the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, and Afghanistan against U.S. military, diplomatic, and economic targets in the region. Radioactive fallout from a conventional or tactical nuclear attack on Iran will result in major problems with Pakistan, India, China, Russia, Japan, and other downwind countries in Asia and the Pacific Rim, possibly including the fall of the Pervez Musharraf government in Pakistan and replacement by a radical Islamist regime having possession of nuclear weapons. That would provoke a military response from nuclear power India.

In a counter-attack, Iran would immediately launch its Shahab I and II missiles at the U.S. Green Zone in Baghdad, the Al Udeid airbase in Qatar, the US Navy base in Bahrain, Camp Doha base in Kuwait, Al Seeb airbase in Oman, Baghdad International Airport, the U.S. base in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Iran would also launch its long-range Shahab III missiles on the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv, Haifa, Beersheba, Eilat, and the Israeli nuclear complex at Dimona. Iranian missiles would also be launched at US naval ships in the Persian Gulf and oil installations in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

The virtual end of NATO as a viable defense organization may also result from an attack that will drive a final wedge between Washington and Europe. And China may elect to respond financially and militarily against the United States since Iran is China's second largest source of imported Middle East oil after Saudi Arabia and plans to use an Iranian terminal for the export of natural gas from Turkmenistan. [China now imports 60 percent of its oil needs, and Iran represents 17 percent of those imports].

Russia recently participated in, through the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a three-way military exercise (code named "Indira 2005") between Russia, China, and India to prepare for any new U.S. power projections in Asia, including an attack on Iran, a prospective SCO member. Last August, Russia and China held their first-ever joint land-sea-air military exercises.

Iran also held a large military exercise in early December in Bandar Abbas on the Gulf. An Iranian C-130 carrying Iranian journalists from Mehrabad airport to Bandar to cover the exercise crashed into a Tehran apartment building on December 6, killing at least 116 people, including 68 journalists.

Within the U.S. military and across the globe, there is heightened tension about the intentions of the neocon Bush administration.


From CAMPAIGN FOR COOPERATION IN SPACE

Excerpt from
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495;article=97220;show_parent=1

Jon Roland
Jan 3, 2006 01:17


-------- Original Message --------
Presidents, the Constitution, and the Rule of Law
Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 20:39:56 -0600
From: Jon Roland
jon.roland@constitution.org
Constitution Society
7793 Burnet Road #37,
Austin, TX 78757
512/374-9585
http://www.constitution.org

The following is an actual transcript of an interview with the president:

INTERVIEWER: So what in a sense, you're saying is that there are certain situations … where the president can decide that it's in the best interests of the nation or something, and do something illegal.

PRESIDENT: Well, when the president does it that means that it is not illegal.

INTERVIEWER: By definition.

PRESIDENT: Exactly. Exactly. If the president, for example, approves something because of the national security, or in this case because of a threat to internal peace and order of significant magnitude, then the president's decision in that instance is one that enables those who carry it out, to carry it out without violating a law. Otherwise they're in an impossible position.

INTERVIEWER: So, that in other words, really you were saying in that answer, really, between the burglary and murder, again, there's no subtle way to say that there was murder of a dissenter in this country because I don't know any evidence to that effect at all. But, the point is: just the dividing line, is that in fact, the dividing line is the president's judgment?

PRESIDENT: Yes, and the dividing line and, just so that one does not get the impression, that a president can run amok in this country and get away with it, we have to have in mind that a president has to come up before the electorate. We also have to have in mind, that a president has to get appropriations from the Congress. We have to have in mind, for example, that as far as the CIA's covert operations are concerned, as far as the FBI's covert operations are concerned, through the years, they have been disclosed on a very, very limited basis to trusted members of Congress. I don't know whether it can be done today or not.

INTERVIEWER: Pulling some of our discussions together, as it were; speaking of the Presidency … you stated, quote, "It's quite obvious that there are certain inherently government activities, which, if undertaken by the sovereign in protection of the interests of the nation's security are lawful, but which if undertaken by private persons, are not." What, at root, did you have in mind there?

PRESIDENT: Well, what I, at root I had in mind I think was perhaps much better stated by Lincoln during the War between the States. Lincoln said, and I think I can remember the quote almost exactly, he said, "Actions which otherwise would be unconstitutional, could become lawful if undertaken for the purpose of preserving the Constitution and the Nation."

Now that's the kind of action I'm referring to. Of course in Lincoln's case it was the survival of the Union in wartime, it's the defense of the nation and, who knows, perhaps the survival of the nation.

INTERVIEWER: But there was no comparison was there, between the situation you faced and the situation Lincoln faced, for instance?

PRESIDENT: This nation was torn apart in an ideological way by the war in Vietnam, as much as the Civil War tore apart the nation when Lincoln was president. Now it's true that we didn't have the North and the South—

INTERVIEWER: But when you said … you know, "If the president orders it, that makes it legal", as it were: Is the president in that sense—is there anything in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights that suggests the president is that far of a sovereign, that far above the law?

PRESIDENT: No, there isn't. There's nothing specific that the Constitution contemplates in that respect. I haven't read every word, every jot and every tittle, but I do know this: That it has been, however, argued that as far as a president is concerned, that in war time, a president does have certain extraordinary powers which would make acts that would otherwise be unlawful, lawful if undertaken for the purpose of preserving the nation and the Constitution, which is essential for the rights we're all talking about.

Those with long memories have probably already figured out that the interviewer was David Frost and the (former) president was Richard Nixon.

Nixon was forced from office, though, not because of his view of the breadth of the president’s constitutional powers but because the nation became convinced that he was using those powers (whether or not they were constitutional) in bad faith for craven purposes. In the current situation, though, it appears (from all external clues, at least) that the president is using his power (whether or not in accordance with the constitution) in good faith, in the sense that he appears to believe that the actions he is taking will benefit the security of the nation. I am curious whether list members think that this apparent good faithNote will make a difference in adjudication of the president’s actions, and whether it should make a difference.

NBC
________________________________________

Neil B. Cohen
Jeffrey D. Forchelli
Professor of Law
Brooklyn Law School
250 Joralemon Street
Brooklyn, New York 11201
Telephone: (718) 780-7940 Fax: (718) 780-0375

Note from forwarder: Not discussed here is the position of those who follow the orders of the president. If the presdient lacks authority, and the actions are illegal, then so are their actions, and it is not a defence that they were "just following orders", even if the president is not impeached for it. Of course, they might expect protection from a presidential pardon, or from the statute that forbids prosecutions in federal court by private parties, leaving only presidential appointees to prosecute them. But in principle, they are subject to prosecution, especially if the president, to avoid blame of himself, decides to throw some of his underlings overboard as a ritual sacrifice.


-- Jon

==========================================

Samuel A. Alito Jr.

Released: Friday, December 23, 2005

1984 Justice Department memo Alito wrote expressing the view that the Attorney General should be immune from suit over illegal wiretaps [PDF text]. The memo was written in connection with a Reagan-era case involving wiretaps ordered by former Attorney General John Mitchell during an investigation into a suspected plot to kidnap National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger.

THIS CASE REF'S FISA AND WIRETAPES ETC... (IMPORTANT)
http://www.apfn.org/pdf/memoAlito-1984.pdf

Leon Hadar fears the answer is yes.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/hadar/hadar39.html

A Year of Living Dangerously
http://www.lewrockwell.com/margolis/margolis10.html

Hegemonic Hubris

Gabriel Kolko on the unstoppable decline of the empire.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/kolko2.html

Local organizations have planned over 70 Out of Iraq events around the country on or about January 7th. (See list at bottom.) Most of the events are town hall forums, and several will feature members of Congress, including Bobby Scott, Diane Watson, Jim McDermott, Adam Smith, Bob Filner, Martin Sabo, Jim Moran, and John Murtha. Several other events will feature congressional staff, congressional and senatorial candidates, local elected officials, and leaders of the peace movement, including Gold Star Families for Peace founder Cindy Sheehan, and After Downing Street Co-Founder John Bonifaz.

While all of these events will focus on ending the war, many of them will also address Congressman John Conyers' new resolutions to censure President Bush and Vice President Cheney and to create a select committee to investigate and make recommendations on impeachment.

To sign up for an event near you, go to:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/event


National Call-In Day on Accountability January 9th

Tens of thousands of members of Progressive Democrats of America and other organizational members of the After Downing Street Coalition will phone Members of Congress in their district offices on January 9, urging them to cosponsor three bills: H.Res.635 to create a select committee to investigate and to make recommendations on grounds for impeachment, H.Res.636 to censure Bush, and H.Res.637 to censure Cheney. More about these bills:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/5768

Congress Members' phone numbers:
http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/dbq/officials/?lvl=C


International Commission Taking "Indictments" to White House January 9th

On January 9, the International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity By the Bush Administration will serve indictments on the White House for its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, its actions and policies on torture and illegal detention, its promotion of abstinence-only in the midst of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, its fueling of global warming, and its response to Hurricane Katrina. This is in preparation for its January 20-22 hearings at Riverside Church and Columbia Law School in New York City (where the Administration will be invited to present a defense). For more details, see:
http://www.bushcommission.org


ImpeachPAC Forms Citizens Impeachment Commission

On Monday, ImpeachPAC announced the formation of a Citizens Impeachment Commission to make 2006 the "Year of Impeachment."

Members of the commission include distinguished national activists, business leaders, elected officials, former government officials, historians and legal scholars, and talk show hosts, editors, bloggers, pundits, and authors.
http://www.impeachpac.org/citizens


Get "Enraged & Engaged" to Stop Alito

The National Organization for Women needs your help to keep abortion safe & legal. There is work to be done, both in Washington, DC and throughout the country. As a part of Freedom Winter 2006, NOW and Feminist Majority Foundation are working together to bring grassroots activists to DC between January 3 and January 20. We're also encouraging activists to organize in their communities.
http://www.now.org/defeatalito


Demand Strict Inspection of Diebold Software

It has been proven that Diebold electronic voting machines use code that is prohibited by federal law, but that hasn't stopped them from selling their machines and states from using them!

Please let Federal Election Commissioners know that citizens want the FEC to uphold the law and insist Diebold comply. You can use this one link to send an email to all commissioners. Please let them know that we are paying attention!
http://www.congressweb.com/cweb4/index.cfm?orgcode=VTUSA&hotissue=4

FORWARD THIS INFORMATION



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

With help from the US Justice Department and state prosecutors, corporations are getting away with serious crimes by using their executives as cannon fodder, according to a new report, which questions whether this new legal strategy is hindering or enabling corporate malfeasance.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010306G.shtml

Remember the "nuclear option" compromise? When the group of 14 Senators reached their agreement last May, they said they'd support a filibuster only under "extraordinary circumstances," presumably if Bush nominated Attila the Hun. Paul Rogat Loeb suggests these circumstances apply not only to Samuel Alito's track record but also to his nomination's entire political context.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010306F.shtml

A former British ambassador has published government documents he says prove that Britain knowingly received intelligence extracted under torture from prisoners in Uzbekistan.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010306E.shtml

Paul E. Schroeder, who lost his son in Iraq, concludes that we should stop this war before more heroes are killed. "Though it hurts, I believe that his death - and that of the other Americans who have died in Iraq - was a waste. They were wasted in a belief that democracy would grow simply by removing a dictator - a careless misunderstanding of what democracy requires."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010306C.shtml