An effort by the New York Police Department to get broader latitude to eavesdrop on terrorism suspects has run into sharp resistance from the Justice Department in a bitter struggle that has left the police commissioner and the attorney general accusing each other of putting the public at risk.
New York Police Fight With U.S. On Surveillance
Arraignment Set for Cheney, Gonzales in Prisoner Abuse Case
A Texas judge has set an arraignment for Vice President Dick Cheney, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and other officials accused of involvement in prisoner abuse.
Presiding Judge Manuel Banales said Wednesday he will allow them to waive arraignment or have attorneys present rather than appear in person Friday.
Banales also said he would issue summonses, not warrants. That allows them to avoid arrest and the need to post bond.
US-Iraq security pact may be in violation, Congress is told
Passage of the US-Iraq security pact under the terms both countries' leaders have advocated could violate the constitutions of both countries, specialists told a congressional subcommittee yesterday.
American constitutional law scholar Oona Hathaway said she believes the Constitution requires Congress to also approve the agreement. The Bush administration has labeled the pact a "status of forces agreement," which can be implemented without congressional approval.
Debate Flares Over Israel’s Access to American Secrets
Investigative writer James Bamford contends in his new book, “The Shadow Factory, the Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America,” that at least two high-tech companies with alleged ties to Israeli intelligence mined American communications data on a mass scale. The companies were hired to help major American telecommunications firms that were cooperating with the National Security Agency on its controversial eavesdropping program.
New friendly fire coverup: Army shreds files on dead soldiers
Last month, Salon published a story reporting that U.S. Army Pfc. Albert Nelson and Pfc. Roger Suarez were killed by U.S. tank fire in Ramadi, Iraq, in late 2006, in an incident partially captured on video, but that an Army investigation instead blamed their deaths on enemy action. Now Salon has learned that documents relating to the two men were shredded hours after the story was published. Three soldiers at Fort Carson, Colo. — including two who were present in Ramadi during the friendly fire incident, one of them just feet from where Nelson and Suarez died — were ordered to shred two boxes full of documents about Nelson and Suarez. One of the soldiers preserved some of the documents as proof that the shredding occurred and provided them to Salon. All three soldiers, with the assistance of a U.S. senator's office, have since been relocated for their safety.
TVNL Comment: We have a government that is completely unaccountable to the people. They lie to us about everything. They get caught...and nothing happens. They need to be replaced and the system has to be re-evaluated.
What Do 43 Million Annual Abortions Have To Do With The Catholic Church?
The human race cannot continue to go forth, multiply and take dominion over the earth. Why? Simple: we're killing the earth with too many humans! We overload the planet's ability to feed, water and sustain us.
Why can't the Pope get that into his understanding? Why can't he add 2+2=4? Why continue doctrines clearly out of step with reality in the 21st century. Why promote 5,6,7, 8, 9 and more kids when more than 10 million children under the age of 12 die of starvation or starvation related diseases around the planet annually? (Source: World Health Organization) Do the Pope's doctrines on prohibiting birth control and then prohibiting pro-choice make any sense? How about nonsense!
L.A. Auto Show: Ford, now sane, delivers 700 miles per tank
With Ford's chief executive in Washington contending his company is nearly as bad off as General Motors and Chrysler, Ford's messaging might seem, well, a bit crazy. But if the Fusion is as good as Ford promises, it could very well be a step in the right direction. After all, the hybrid gets 39 mpg in the city, and, according to Fields, 700 miles on a tank of gas in city driving.
TVNL Comment: Didn't see a price......
Blackwater gunboats will protect ships
The American security company Blackwater is planning to cash in on the rising threat of piracy on the high seas by launching a flotilla of gunboats for hire by the shipping companies.
The firm, which gained international notoriety when its staff killed civilians in Iraq, has already equipped one vessel, called The McArthur, which will carry up to 40 armed guards and have a landing pad for an attack helicopter.
Marine denied recognition because of how he died
Marine Lance Cpl. Darrell Schumann, a 25-year-old from Hampton, fought bloody door-to-door battles for three months in Fallujah in late 2004. A few weeks later, he boarded a helicopter for the first leg of his trip home.
The helicopter, carrying Schumann and 30 comrades, flew into a sandstorm and crashed in the Iraqi desert, killing everyone on board. It remains the greatest single loss of U.S. troops in the Iraq war.
State officials have deemed that only the names of service members killed in hostile combat in the Middle East will be added to the stone-and-glass walls, which bear the names of 11,600 Virginians killed since World War II.
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