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World : UK : 2007-05-17 Three men are on trial in the UK for inciting terrorism for posting clips of beheadings and comments in online forums. The judge asks attorneys not to confuse him with words he doesn't understand like "website" and "forum". "Web site" baffles Internet terrorism trial judge World : UK : 2007-05-11 On July 22nd 2005, Jean Charles de Menezes was sitting on the London metro reading a newspaper. He was approached by two police officers who, without warning or provokation, fired 7 rounds into his face at point blank range. The killing was followed by a series of false statements, tampered evidence and manipulated investigations by the police and government. The Menezes family still campaigns for justice for their murdered son. But today the Independent Police Complaints Commission exonerated all 11 police officers on the scene of any misconduct whatsoever. 11 Menezes police face no action Health : Nutrition : 2007-05-10 All Natural is a misused and meaningless slogan. If it doesn't say organic it isn't. And sometimes when it does say organic it still isn't. Wal-Mart Slapped for Misleading Organic Consumers World : Palestine : 2007-05-10 Group holding BBC reporter Alan Johnston, Jaish al-Islam, shows tell-tale signs of Al-Qaeda. Demands release of Abu Qatada who has been called Al-Qaeda's spiritual leader in Europe and Al-Qaeda's recruiter in the UK. This news follows a series of threats and attacks characterized by fundamentalist Islamist principals very unusual for Palestine but common to Wahabism and Al-Qaeda. Jaish al-Islam is also responsible for the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in June 2006 that sparked the latest round of warfare between Israel and Hamas. Both Fatah and Hamas have denounced the kidnapping and attacks and have vowed joint security operations. Group claims it has BBC reporter US Government : War on Terror : 2007-05-08 Terrorist airline and hotel bomber Luis Posada Carriles was set free today as US district judge Kathleen Cardone dismissed the immigration fraud indictment against him. Carriles will return to his home in Miami, Florida. US drops Cuban militant's charges Consumer : Banks : 2007-05-04 Next time your Alumni Association asks you for a contribution, ask them where your share of the kickbacks went. Attorney General Cuomo opens new front in expanding college loan investigation World : Eastern Europe : 2007-05-04 Having already removed a monument erected to Russian and Eastern European soldiers who died fighting the Nazis in World War II, the Estonian government is now busy unearthing the bodies of the war dead. It is no wonder the Estonians have little regard for the dead. During World War II, thousands of Estonians served in the Waffen SS and Wermacht. In 2006 the Simon Wiesenthal Centre provided information on Estonian war criminals but the the Estonian government concluded that the claims were false. In 2005 a monument was erected to honor Estonians who died in the service of the SS that stands to this day with the inscription "To all Estonian soldiers who died in the second war for the liberation of the fatherland and a free Europe in 1940-1945" Estonia unearths Soviet war dead US Government : Department of Defence : 2007-05-02 New Army rules seek to silence blogs and emails from soldiers and DOD contractors. According to newly reissued regulations AR 530-1, sensitive material prohibited includes battle scenes and casualties. Also prohibited is "any information that may be exempt from mandatory release to the public under the Freedom Of Information Act". Army Squeezes Soldier Blogs World : UK : 2007-05-02 The London 7 July bombings that targeted commuter trains and buses killed 52 and injured at least 700 in 2005. Only now it is revealed that the British intelligence service MI5 followed, photographed and recorded conversations of two of the bombers, Mohammad Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer, for a year and a half before the attack. During the initial investigation, MI5 withheld withheld key surveillance material including six photographs of the pair from the public investigation. Anger grows at bombing surveillance blunders Health : Physicians : 2007-04-28 Survey finds that 94% of physicians get gifts or cash from pharmaceutical companies. National Survey of Physician-Industry Relationships Consumer : Safety : 2007-04-28 Contaminated pet food ingredients that killed thousands of pets are now circulating in the human food supply. Pet food companies sold rejected ingredients to hog farmers. FDA says likelihood of illness from hogs fed contaminated feed is very low despite mass deaths of cats and dogs. Tainted hogs enter food supply US Government : War on Terror : 2007-04-25 Since the invasion of Iraq, Republicans and Neocons have called opponents of the war cowards, traitors and worse. Disabled Vietnam veteran Max Cleland lost his Senate seat to attack ads that portrayed him as an ally of Osama bin Ladin and Saddam Hussein. Congressman and Vietnam combat veteran Jack Murtha was called a coward on the House floor by Ohio Congresswoman Jean Schmidt for his opposition to the war. Yesterday, veterans Kevin Tillman and Jessica Lynch, testifying before congress, accused the administration of manufacturing propaganda to support the war at the expense of those giving their lives for it. Rather than cite the current news, I refer you to former Army Ranger, Iraq and Afghanistan veteran Kevin Tillman's essay from October on the birthday of his brother, Pat Tillman who died of friendly fire in Afghanistan in 2004. World : Africa : 2007-04-25 Consumers aren't the only targets of greedy bankers and collectors. The African nation of Zambia borrowed $15 million from Romania in 1979 to buy farming equipment. Zambia fell behind on its payments and in 1999 the balance of Zambia's debt was purchased by Donegal International, a debt management company, for $3.2 million. Donegal sued this year seeking $55 million in principal, interest and late fees. Zambia is an impoverished African nation with an annual per capita income of just $1,000 per household and a burden of debt equal to 66% of its gross domestic product. A UK court has ruled that Zambia must pay Donegal $15.5 million. That's a 19.1% APR. Not quite the 34.6% APR Donegal was asking for. Those late fees do add up. Zambia pays vulture fund $15m US Government : Corruption : 2007-04-23 Former Bush chief of staff Andy Card refused to discuss the Valerie Pflame CIA outing with the House Oversight committee. Then talks about it with Jon Stewart on the Daily Show. Committee chairman Waxman threatens subpoena. Waxman Threatens to Subpoena Card, Rice World : Iraq : 2007-04-23 Mortars rain down on Baghdad International Airport, checkpoints create mass civilian targets and Iraqi soldiers beg foreigners for bullets while US military press release cheerfully reports concrete barriers undamaged by blast that kills 140. Despair stalks Baghdad as plan falters World : China : 2007-04-22 Chinese activist Wang Xiaoning was jailed for 10 years in 2003 after search engine giant Yahoo traced his emails and turned the information over to Chinese prosecutors. His criminal comments can be viewed here Passages from Wang Xiaoning. Now Xiaoning and his wife have filed suit against Yahoo in US federal court for aiding and abetting human rights violations. Yahoo turned over information on as many as 60 people who were subsequently arrested for pro-democracy activism. Advocates Sue Yahoo In Chinese Torture Case World : UK : 2007-04-22 A secret memo describing US President George Bush's plan to bomb Al Jazeera's TV station in Qatar has two UK civil servants on trial. The memo was sent by PM Tony Blair's staff to a range of military and political officials in London, Washington, the United Nations and Iraq. Blair has said he had no information about any proposed US action against Al Jazeera, and the White House called the claims "outlandish and inconceivable". But the two are nonetheless on trial for violating the Official Secrets Act for leaking a document that both leaders say does not exist. Two on trial over Al Jazeera memo World : Iraq : 2007-04-21 US security plan for Iraq. Walling in Sunni neighborhoods. Sunni leader attacks Baghdad wall US Government : Corruption : 2007-04-14 White House reports emails about firing of federal prosecutors were sent using unofficial accounts. Now, oops, they are lost. The White House apparently took the good advice of Susan B. Ralston, assistant to Karl Rove, who said in an email to convicted felon Jack Abramoff "it is better to not put this stuff in writing in [the White House] . . . email system because it might actually limit what they can do to help us, especially since there could be lawsuits, etc." White House E-Mail Lost in Private Accounts World : Iraq : 2007-04-13 Turkish army preparing for assault on US Kurdish allies in northern Iraq. US argues it will destabilise Iraq. Turkish army chief wants Iraq op Law : Civil Rights : 2007-04-13 I was fined 35 cents for writing on my desk in eigth grade. To this day I assert my innocence. But if I were handcuffed, arrested, and held without access of a parent or lawyer I suppose I would need to call the ACLU. In a way I feel responsible. If I had stood my ground over the 35 cents maybe this never would have happened. Arrest of 13-Year-Old for Writing on Desk Should Be Wake-up Call for City, NYCLU Says Consumer : Safety : 2007-04-10 Menu Foods CFO Mark Wiens sold half his shares six days after the company was alerted to contamination. The same day they started animal testing to see if it was lethal. Eighteen days before Menu Foods chose to recall its products. Pet food insider sold shares before recall Consumer : Banks : 2007-04-08 Unholy Alliance of banks and universities grows to include government (see post 2007-03-17 NY Attorney General cites Unholy Alliance). Now US Department of Education official Matteo Fontana, who oversees lenders for the Federal Family Education Loan Program turns out to be part owner of the lenders he had the Department of Education endorse. The DOE takes the standard harsh action meeted out to corrupt beaurocrats. A paid vaction. Education Official Put on Leave US Government : War on Terror : 2007-04-06 Terrorist wanted for bombing airline and hotels to be set free by US Federal Court. Cuban exile and ex-CIA employee Luis Posada Carriles, responsible for the bombing of Cubana Flight 455 that killed 76 passengers in 1976 and a string of Havana hotel bombings in 1997, is wanted for terrorism in Cuba and Venezuela. The US government has refuesed to extradite their former employee. Now he is scheduled to be released on bail for the only charge against him in the US, making a false statement on his visa application. Judge Sets Cuban Militant Free on Bail World : Iran : 2007-04-06 Iran accuses US of supporting Baluchistan terrorists. Jundullah (Army of Allah) group responible for bombings and kidnappings in Iran. The Secret War Against Iran Software : Microsoft : 2007-04-05 Microsoft petitions the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to make Office Open XML the international standard, pushing out the existing, open source standard OpenDocument. ISO standards must be non-propietary but the license Microsoft provides for Office Open XML only extends to the current version of Office. Then it goes back to proprietary. After all competing software is exterminated. Microsoft criticized for Open XML petition US Government : Corruption : 2007-04-05 World Bank President, Bush confidant and Neocon leader Paul Wolfowitz knows how to treat a lady. His mistress, Shaha Riza, gets a big raise for her no show job at the World Bank while her US State Department job working for Dick Cheney's daughter Liz Cheney pays her more than Secretary of State Conoleeza Rice's. Where the Money Is Health : Nutrition : 2007-04-05 Agrichem giant Monsanto wants the FDA and FTC to ban labelling of milk as "no growth hormone". Claims ignorance protects consumers. Presents 500 letters from "consumers" demanding their right not to know. Monsanto Asks FDA/FTC to Silence Dairies Consumer : Safety : 2007-04-05 Menu Foods and FDA tested and found poisoned pet food was lethal 17 days before recall. Pet Food Recall Timeline Consumer : Safety : 2007-04-04 The FDA and Menu Foods would like you to believe that Menu Foods is Canada's problem. NOT. Most of Menu Foods manufacturing is in the good old USA. Menu Foods Manufacturing Facilities Consumer : Safety : 2007-04-04 NY Department of Agriculture stands by its finding of Aminopterin as killer toxin in pet foods. Questions toxicity of Melamine. Commissioner Hooker will NOT be getting a job in the pet food industry. Statement From NYS AG Commissioner Patrick Hooker Consumer : Safety : 2007-04-04 Apparently Menu Foods Income Fund thinks the less the public knows about them the better. They have deleted all corporate data from their websites. Itchmo provides links to web archive of their corporate pages including their 10 year exclusive contract with IAMS. As Itchmo says "You can run but you can't hide". Menu Foods Deletes Their Hidden Site Law : 1st Amendment : 2007-04-04 Josh Wolf, a journalist blogger is freed after 226 days in federal prison for refusing to hand over video footage and testify before a grand jury. The settlement requires him to publish the footage on his website. But not to provide evidence or testify before the grand jury. Public Statement World : Iraq : 2007-04-01 The Iraqi government begins its program of ethnic cleansing of Sunni Arabs in Kirkuk. Iraqi Justice Minister resigns in protest. The program was instituted by the US appointed Coalition Provisional Authority which called it "Nationality Correction" in its charter. Iraq Prepares to Resettle Arabs Sent to Kirkuk by Hussein Edict Religion : Censorship : 2007-03-31 Is America any different than Iran when it comes to religion? The Roger Smith Hotel that hosts New York art gallery The Lab Gallery surrendered to threats of violence and closed down an exhibit under pressure from religious groups. The Catholic League, which disingenuously calls itself a "civil rights" organization led the attack. Catholic League president Bill Donohue published this on his website. "All those involved are lucky that angry Christians don't react the way extremist Muslims do when they're offended otherwise they may have more than their heads cut off." The criticism was followed by a rash of death threats from devout Catholics. Matt Semler, the gallery's director said "The hotel couldn't continue to be supportive because of a fear for their own safety". Controversial chocolate Jesus exhibit canceled Consumer : Safety : 2007-03-31 Veterinarians still have no treatment for Menu Foods poisoning. Recommendation is administer IV fluids then wait to see if they die. I published the antidote if anyone cares. American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Updated Information for Veterinarians World : Iran : 2007-03-31 Britain says that 15 Royal Navy sailors and marines detained by Iran were in Iraqi waters. Iran says they were siezed in Iranian waters. Who is telling the truth? Neither. There has never been a maritime boundary between Iraq and Iran. From the CIA World Factbook: "Iraq's lack of a maritime boundary with Iran prompts jurisdiction disputes beyond the mouth of the Shatt al Arab in the Persian Gulf". (See Incident Map) Boundary Dispute Seen as Root of Iranian Seizure of British Sailors Consumer : Banks : 2007-03-17 NY Attorney General cites "Unholy Alliance" between universites and banks. Are banks the Antichrist? NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo reveals deceptive practices in the college loan industry US Government : War on Terror : 2007-03-16 This must be a mistake. They left out JFK, Pearl Harbor and the bombing of the USS Maine in 1898. Full list of terror plots claimed by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed World : Afghanistan : 2007-03-10 Destroying evidence absolutley necessary for "investigative integrity" says US Army spokesman after soldiers erase AP's footage of civilian casualties. U.S. military: Censorship was justified World : Israel : 2007-03-09 A familiar story. War an unavoidable response to terrorism. Yet planned long before the action that provoked it. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert admits before Winograd commission that Lebanon war was planned months ahead of the abduction of Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser. Not asked by the commission was whether their abduction was part of the plan. War in Lebanon was planned months in advance General : Bad Taste : 2007-03-06 Be careful opening your packages. Body parts sent to wrong address US Government : Corruption : 2007-02-20 Not only is Michael Baroody, Bush's choice for chief consumer advocate, the nations top anti-consumer lobbyist, he's also chairman of The Asbestos Alliance, the asbestos industry's lobbying group. What next? Pablo Escobar to run the DEA, Leona Helmsley chairing the IRS and Martha Stewart heading the SEC? Bush Expected to Name Industry Lobbyist to Head Consumer Safety Agency US Government : Corruption : 2007-02-19 Justice Department's top environmental prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General Sue Ellen Wooldridge, gets a $980,000 vacation home from ConocoPhillips Vice President Donald R. Duncan and $10,000 in jewelry and gifts from oil lobbyist and former Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles. Conoco gets $525 million in breaks on pollution controls and toxic waste cleanup. Griles gets her legal councel to defend himself from her own departments investigation. Gonzales Asked About Prosecutor Deal US Government : Corruption : 2007-02-19 Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons helped Warren Trepp, owner of eTreppid Technologies get military and civilian contracts while serving as Nevada Congressman. Any hint of wrongdoing? Email to Trepp from his wife "Please don't forget to bring the money you promised Jim and Dawn". Jim and Dawn being Jim Gibbons and wife Dawn. Reply from Trepp "Don't you ever send this kind of message to me! Erase this message from your computer right now!" Guess she should have. FBI Investigates Nevada Governor Law : 1st Amendment : 2007-02-12 Viacom orders 100,000 YouTube videos taken down for violating their copyright. Viacom has a strange idea of what a copyright violation is. Apparently their lawyers didn't tell them they actually have to own a copyright to be violated. EFF wants to know if you got burned. Unfairly Caught in Viacom's Dragnet Law : 1st Amendment : 2007-02-08 Journalist Josh Wolf spends his 169th day in prison for refusing to turn over his records to a federal grand jury. Josh Wolf Weblog Software : Microsoft : 2007-02-06 Microsoft takes action, "working to protect" another consumer with Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA). Perhaps during his next five years in Siberia he will find the time to "fully enjoy the benefits of using quality, supported software". Microsoft finds copyright pirates in remote Russian province Software : Adware : 2007-02-01 Sure, some lowlife hacker in Russia installed that malware on your computer. But it was a Fortune 500 company in America that hired him to do it. Adware distributors and spammers don't work for free. They sell their criminal services to so called "legitimate" corporations. Advertisers Fined for Deceptive Use of Adware Law : 1st Amendment : 2007-01-30 ABC suppresses blogger criticism by misusing copyright law. EFF says no. See the letter to ABC for a good analysis of "fair use" doctrine. Spocko and ABC/KSFO Software : Microsoft : 2007-01-27 Microsoft is the worlds biggest software pirate. Over and over again they take open source software, standards and formats, modify them so they only work with Microsoft products, then label them proprietary. Just like they did with Sun Java/MS Virtual Machine. Now they want to pirate the entire XML format. Rivals attack Vista as illegal under EU rules Law : Class Actions : 2007-01-20 Time and again class actions are settled on terms that are a more of a bonus than a penalty. Why are judges willing to completely disregard the welfare of the plaintiffs? CARFAX Settles Class Actions Law : 4th Amendment : 2007-01-18 Undersecretary of Defence names law firms defending Guantanamo detainees. Calls for corporate boycott. Pentagon Disavows Comment on Detainees US Government : Medicare : 2007-01-17 Drug companies say if the US government negotiates drug prices for medicare recipients it will cost more not less. This seems to be absurdly flawed logic. But this simple explanation by drug lobbyists puts it all in perspective. "The inability to drive market share via the establishment of a formulary or development of a preferred tier significantly undermines the effectiveness of this negotiation. Manufacturers would have little to gain by offering rebates that aren't linked to a preferred position of their products, and we assume that they will be unwilling to do so." Now I get it. House Passes Bill to Cut Medicare Prescription Drug Costs Law : Privacy : 2007-01-17 The Patriot Act gives federal agencies power to browse your private financial records without providing explanation or justification to a court. National Security Letters Used To Examine Americans' Financial Records World : Somalia : 2007-01-17 As America exports "freedom" to the world, an important first step is silencing the press. Somalia shuts down broadcasters Health : Nutrition : 2007-01-17 For years I have tried to tell folks that "scientific studies" are bought and paid for. Particularly when it comes to food. What do the studies tell us? "Food from farm = Bad : Food from factory = Good". Study Finds Nutrition Research Influenced by Corporate Sponsors US Government : Corruption : 2007-01-17 Supreme Court justice was pill popping junkie. FBI releases files on late judge World : Iraq : 2007-01-17 No Moslem state would conduct an execution on Eid. Its like a Christian country executing prisoners on Christmas day. So who's execution was this? Hanging makes martyr of Saddam Consumer : Charity : 2007-01-17 That collection plate looks suspiciously like someone's pocket. Red Cross Agrees to Fund-Raising, Executive Pay Reforms | Consumer : Safety : 2007-04-01 Update on Menu Foods Poisoning - FDA Distorts the Facts Consumer : Safety : 2007-03-28 Menu Foods, FDA Silence on Antidote Endangers Pets World : Iraq : 2007-03-26 Did America finance Al-Qaeda in Iraq? World : Iraq : 2007-02-02 Who is Muqtada al-Sadr and why America can't just kill him |