Topic: POLITIK - on March 14, 2007 at 11:53:00 AM CET
FBI Slips Demand Patriot Act Cuts
A national security letter, or NSL, is a special request for records that (unlike a search warrant) is never seen by a judge. Under the expanded powers granted by the USA Patriot Act, any FBI field supervisor can lawfully issue an NSL and serve it on libraries, telephone companies and businesses to get records on anyone in the country. All that's required is an FBI certification that that the records are "sought for" or "relevant to" an investigation "to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities." There is no judicial or Department of Justice review, and the agency can keep the information it obtains forever.
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Topic: POLITIK - on March 12, 2007 at 10:25:00 AM CET
Propaganda Art
prop·a·gan·da
- The systematic propagation of a doctrine or cause or of information reflecting the views and interests of those advocating such a doctrine or cause.
- Material disseminated by the advocates or opponents of a doctrine or cause: wartime propaganda
art
The conscious production or arrangement of sounds, colors, forms, movements, or other elements in a manner that affects the sense of beauty, specifically the production of the beautiful in a graphic or plastic medium.
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Topic: POLITIK - on March 12, 2007 at 10:15:00 AM CET
6 major blows to the Bush Administration in the last 24 hours
During a 24-hour news cycle last week there were these major stories:
Six of the eight recently fired United States Attorneys told Congressional committees that they believed they lost their jobs because they wouldn't play partisan politics in their handling of high profile political corruption cases. Some also claimed they'd been threatened by the Justice Department not to go public with their complaints.
Nine American servicemen were killed in action Iraq.
More than 100 Iraqi Shiites making a religious pilgrimage were killed by suicide bombers. At least 200 were injured.
Seriously wounded soldiers told Congress about the neglect, bad housing and bureaucratic nightmares they suffered as outpatients at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington while two top army generals accepted responsibility and apologized to the soldiers and their families.
According to a new USA Today/Gallup Poll, six in 10 Americans want Congress to set a time table to withdraw all American troops from Iraq by the end of 2008.
And, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney and a national security aide to President George W. Bush, was found guilty of perjury and obstruction of justice in the case of the leak of the identity of a CIA operative in the summer of 2003.
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Topic: POLITIK - on March 10, 2007 at 12:40:00 PM CET
Yes, FBI Misused Patriot Act
The nation's top two law enforcement officials acknowledged Friday the FBI broke the law to secretly pry out personal information about Americans. They apologized and vowed to prevent further illegal intrusions.
wired.com bbc.co.uk cnn.com scotsman.com theregister.co.uk yahoo.com news.com.comusdoj.gov [pdf]
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Topic: POLITIK - on March 8, 2007 at 1:28:00 PM CET
Russia’s ex-president Boris Yeltsin loses 40-million-dollar elite land
Ex-President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, lost his documents confirming his property rights for two elite plots of land in the Moscow region. The four-hectare land is evaluated at about 40 million dollars.
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Topic: POLITIK - on February 28, 2007 at 11:25:00 AM CET
Cuban president speaks on radio
Cuban President Fidel Castro has appeared in a live broadcast for the first time since falling ill last July.
He was heard speaking live on the daily radio programme of his ally, the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
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Topic: POLITIK - on February 28, 2007 at 11:12:00 AM CET
Major Bush Scandal. Bush admin funneling money to Sunni groups linked to Al Qaeda.
Seymour Hersh uncovers major Bush scandal. Bush is funneling money without authorization or oversight that has ended up in the hands of Sunni jihadist groups linked to Al Qaeda.
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Topic: POLITIK - on February 21, 2007 at 1:36:00 PM CET
Maybe We Deserve to Be Ripped Off By Bush’s Billionaires
Not only does it make many of Bush’s tax cuts permanent, but it envisions a complete repeal of the Estate Tax, which mainly affects only those who are in the top two-tenths of the top one percent of the richest people in this country. The proposed savings from the cuts over the next decade are about $442 billion, or just slightly less than the amount of the annual defense budget (minus Iraq war expenses). But what’s interesting about these cuts are how Bush plans to pay for them.
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Topic: POLITIK - on February 8, 2007 at 3:49:00 PM CET
Non-Austrian Becomes Honorary Austrian Consul
Toby Unwin was an unlikely choice as Austria's newest honorary consul.
He has never been to Austria, has no Austrian heritage, and doesn't speak German, the country's official language. But he is a successful businessman with a clean background, and he did ask nicely.
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Topic: POLITIK - on February 8, 2007 at 2:51:00 PM CET
No corn for oil: the politics of tortillas and ethanol
Many people, including scientists and some big companies believe that we are running out of oil. What oil there is, is located mostly in very hostile environments. One possible alternative to oil is ethanol. Lately, there has been a high demand for ethanol.
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Topic: POLITIK - on February 8, 2007 at 1:55:00 PM CET
The 25 Most Corrupt Officials of the Bush Administration
After preparing reports on congressional corruption for the past two years, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington ("CREW") realized that as an organization focused on government ethics, we also need to evaluate conduct in the executive branch. This report represents CREW's first effort to apply the methodology from our examination of congressional corruption to executive branch corruption.
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Topic: POLITIK - on January 31, 2007 at 4:30:00 PM CET
Can't sleep at night? French health minister suggests napping on the job
The French already enjoy a 35-hour work week and generous vacation. Now the health minister wants to look into whether workers should be allowed to sleep on the job.
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