Infinite Unknown

More transparency we can believe in!

In a 6-5 ruling issued this afternoon, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals handed the Obama administration a major victory in its efforts to shield Bush crimes from judicial review, when the court upheld the Obama DOJ’s argument that Bush’s rendition program, used to send victims to be tortured, are “state secrets” and its legality thus cannot be adjudicated by courts.

The Obama DOJ had appealed to the full 9th Circuit from last year’s ruling by a 3-judge panel which rejected the “state secrets” argument and held that it cannot be used as a weapon to shield the Executive Branch from allegations in this case that it broke the law.

I’ve written multiple times about this case, brought by torture/rendition victim Binyam Mohamed and several others against the Boeing subsidiary which, at the behest of the Bush administration, rendered them to be tortured.

Flu permitting, I’ll have much more to say about this decision tomorrow, but for the moment, I wanted to highlight the first paragraph from The New York Times article on this ruling, written by Charlie Savage.  Just marvel, in particular, at the last sentence:

“The ruling handed a major victory to the Obama administration in its effort to advance a sweeping view of executive secrecy power.”  That says it all.

The distorted, radical use of the state secret privilege — as a broad-based immunity weapon for compelling the dismissal of entire cases alleging Executive lawbreaking, rather than a narrow discovery tool for suppressing the use of specific classified documents — is exactly what the Bush administration did to such extreme controversy.  To see how true that is, just look at this article from Talking Points Memo, from April of last year, in which Zachary Roth consulted with numerous legal experts about my argument that Obama was abusing this weapon in exactly the same way Bush did.  His findings were encapsulated in the TPM headline:

Roth wrote:

Salon’s Glenn Greenwald wrote that the move “demonstrates that the Obama DOJ plans to invoke the exact radical doctrines of executive secrecy which Bush used.” MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann called it “deja vu all over again”.

Not having Greenwald’s training in constitutional law (and perhaps lacking Olbermann’s all-conquering self-confidence), we wanted to get a sense from a few independent experts as to how to assess the administration’s position on the case. Does it represent a continuation of the Bushies’ obsession with putting secrecy and executive power above basic constitutional rights? Is it a sweeping power grab by the executive branch, that sets set a broad and dangerous precedent for future cases by asserting that the government has the right to get lawsuits dismissed merely by claiming that state secrets are at stake, without giving judges any discretion whatsoever?

In a word, yes.

Suffice to say — with great understatement — Obama’s doing this doesn’t trigger the same level of outrage and objection as when Bush did it, at least not in most circles.  And I do so fondly recall the days back in the Spring of last year when civil libertarians who were vigorously objecting to Obama’s Bush-replicating legal positions were told by vocal Obama supporters that Obama was only doing this in order to ensure that Bush’s extremist legal theories were rejected by courts and thus we were all generously showered with the Magnanimous Gift of Good Precedent.  Again with great understatement, Obama’s appealing the 9th Circuit’s rejection of the Bush/Obama “state secrets” argument to the full court — and thus securing one of the most harmful judicial endorsements ever of this radical secrecy doctrine — is not exactly consistent with that Obama-justifying rationale. Continue reading »

Tags: Barack Obama, Bush administration, CIA, George Bush, Government, Interrogation, Obama administration, Politics, Torture, U.S.

And the US government told you it is safe to stay or even encouraged you to plan your holidays there and BP hasn’t stopped spraying Corexit all over the place.

Added: 3. September 2010

Related information:

- Scientist Rick Steiner Got Gulf Disaster Right From The Beginning, Warns Crisis Is Far From Over

- Gulf Chemist: Mercenaries Hired By BP Are Now Applying Extremely Toxic Dispersant - at Night and In an Uncontrolled Manner - Which BP Says It No Longer Uses (Pictures)

- FDA admits NOT testing for MERCURY, ARSENIC, or any other TOXIC HEAVY METALS in Sea Food

- Gulf claims chief Ken Feinberg says BP no-sue rule was his idea, takes control of BP’s $20bn fund

- Scientists Find Giant 22-Mile Plume Of Oil Droplets From BP’s Deepwater Horizon Well ‘Missed’ By Official Account

- Matt Simmons Dies In An ‘Accidental Drowning’ At His Home

- Matthew Simmons: ‘We’ve Now Killed The Gulf Of Mexico’ (Flashback)

- Gulf Oil Blowout: Matt Simmons Was Right!

- Loop Current in the Gulf of Mexico Has Stalled From BP Oil Disaster! (!)

- Scientists: Evidence Of Gulf Oil And Dispersant Mix Making Its Way Into The Foodchain

- The Growing Health Crisis in the Gulf of Mexico:

Corexit also contain arsenic, cadmium, chromium, mercury, cyanide, and other heavy metals. Dispersing oil with it increases toxicity 11-fold ….

- EPA Whistleblower On Gulf Health Risk Cover-Up: ‘People Who Work Near Corexit Are Hemorrhaging Internally.’:

People who work near it are hemorrhaging internally. And that’s what dispersants are supposed to do.EPA now is taking the position that they really don’t know how dangerous it is, even though if you read the label, it tells you how dangerous it is. And, for example, in the Exxon Valdez case, people who worked with dispersants, most of them are dead now. The average death age is around fifty. It’s very dangerous, and it’s an economic-it’s an economic protector of BP, not an environmental protector of the public.

- Gulf of Mexico BP Oil Rig Blast: Safety Alarm Was Off

- And Now: BP Plans Deep-Water Drilling Off Libya

-  Rachel Maddow: The Gulf Of Mexico Déjà Vu (Must See!)

- Matt Simmons: BP Cap Is A Fraud - ‘It’s The Biggest Cover-Up We have Ever Seen’

- Gulf Of Mexico Water Sample EXPLODES! Other Samples Prove To Be Toxic

- Toxicologists: Corexit ‘Ruptures Red Blood Cells, Causes Internal Bleeding’, ‘Allows Crude Oil To Penetrate ‘Into The Cells’ and ‘Every Organ System’

Continue reading »

Tags: Barack Obama, Benzene, BP, Corexit, Environment, Global News, Government, Gulf of Mexico, Health, Obama administration, U.S.

Just in case you still haven’t watched this:

- George Carlin: The American Dream

1 of 3:

2 of 3:

3 of 3:

An ABC - Four Corners documentary about the coming economic crisis, featuring Gerald Celente and Peter Schiff. Original air date: 23rd August, 2010.

See also:

- Prof. Nouriel Roubini: No Defence Left Against Double-Dip Recession

- American Deaths In Afghanistan Surpass Highest Annual Record

- US: Record 1 in 6 Americans in Government Anti-Poverty Programs

- California Delays $2.9 Billion School, County Payments In September Amid Budget Impasse

- US Home Sales in July: Record Drop Of 27 Percent, The Largest Monthly Drop On Record

- US Cities Sell Parking, Airports, Zoo To Help Closing Budget Gaps

- Nearly 50 Percent leave Obama Mortgage-Relief Program

- The No.1 Trend Forecaster Gerald Celente: And Now We’re Headed For The GREATEST Depression

- US: Jobless Claims Jump to Highest Level Since November

- US: Bankruptcies Reach Nearly 5-Year High

- US Cities Face Up To MASSIVE Cuts

- Why the US is as busted as a busted flush - IMF analysis suggests the US is fiscally bankrupt

- John Williams: ‘Times That Try Our Souls’ (U.S. Bankruptcy - Hyperinflation - Great Depression), Preparedness Can Save Your Life:

The government is effectively bankrupt. Using GAAP accounting principles, the annual deficit is running in the range of $4 trillion to $5 trillion. That’s beyond containment. The government can’t cover it with taxes. They’d still be in deficit if they took 100% of personal income and corporate profits. They’d also still be in deficit if they cut every penny of government spending except for Social Security and Medicare. Washington lacks the will to slash its social programs severely, to change its approach to ever bigger government. The only option left going forward is for the government eventually to print the money for the obligations it cannot otherwise cover, which sets up a hyperinflation.

Tags: Barack Obama, Bubble, Bush administration, Debt, Depression, Documentary, Dollar, Economy, Fed, Federal Reserve, George Bush, Gerald Celente, Global News, Government, Great Depression, Obama administration, Peter Schiff, Politics, U.S.

Added: 2. September 2010

Related information:

- Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio Being Sued By Federal Government

- Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu: ‘Mexican Drug Cartels Literally Do Control Parts Of Arizona’

- Mexican Drug Cartel Puts $1 Million Bounty On Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Head

- Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu: ‘Our Own Government Has Become Our Enemy’

Tags: Arizona, Barack Obama, Government, Joe Arpaio, Obama administration, Politics, U.S.

Related information:

- Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio Responds to Federal Government Suit

- Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu: ‘Mexican Drug Cartels Literally Do Control Parts Of Arizona’

- Mexican Drug Cartel Puts $1 Million Bounty On Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Head

- Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu: ‘Our Own Government Has Become Our Enemy’

An Arizona sheriff is being sued by the US Justice Department after refusing to hand over records for a year into an investigation into allegations his department discriminates against Hispanics.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio Photo: AFP/GETTY

The lawsuit claims that they have been trying since March last year to get Sheriff Joe Arpaio and officials to comply with its investigation of alleged discrimination and unconstitutional searches and seizures.

Sheriff Arpaio called the actions harassment, adding that his office will not hand over additional documents because the federal authorities have not said exactly what they are investigation.

“They have hundreds of thousands of reports, hundreds of thousands,” he said. “They’re so broad, we’re trying to narrow it down. We’re trying to work with them.”

The lawsuit is the latest action against Arizona by the federal government, which earlier sued the state to stop its strict new immigration law that requires police officers to question people about their immigration status if there is reason to suspect they are in the country illegally.

“The actions of the sheriff’s office are unprecedented,” said Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for the department’s civil rights division. “It is unfortunate that the department was forced to resort to litigation to gain access to public documents and facilities.”

Continue reading »

Tags: Arizona, Barack Obama, Government, Joe Arpaio, Obama administration, Politics, U.S.

A photo of M1 Garands (National Park Service)

The South Korean government, in an effort to raise money for its military, wants to sell nearly a million antique M1 rifles that were used by U.S. soldiers in the Korean War to gun collectors in America.

The Obama administration approved the sale of the American-made rifles last year. But it reversed course and banned the sale in March – a decision that went largely unnoticed at the time but that is now sparking opposition from gun rights advocates.

A State Department spokesman said the administration’s decision was based on concerns that the guns could fall into the wrong hands.

“The transfer of such a large number of weapons — 87,310 M1 Garands and 770,160 M1 Carbines — could potentially be exploited by individuals seeking firearms for illicit purposes,” the spokesman told FoxNews.com.

“We are working closely with our Korean allies and the U.S. Army in exploring alternative options to dispose of these firearms.”

Gun control advocates praised the Obama administration for taking security seriously.

“Guns that can take high-capacity magazines are a threat to public safety,” said Dennis Henigan of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “Even though they are old, these guns could deliver a great amount of firepower. So I think the Obama administration’s concerns are well-taken.”

But gun rights advocates point out that possessing M1 rifles is legal in the United States — M1s are semi-automatics, not machine guns, meaning the trigger has to be pulled every time a shot is fired — and anyone who would buy a gun from South Korea would have to go through the standard background check.

Continue reading »

Tags: Barack Obama, Government, Guns, Obama administration, Politics, Second Amendment, U.S.

All these soldiers could be still alive …

Obama: ‘I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am President, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank.’

See also:

- 575 American Soldiers Have Died In Afghanistan During Barack Obama’s Presidency, The Same Number As During George Bush’s Entire Time In Office

The number of US soldiers killed in the Afghan war in 2010 is the highest annual toll since the conflict began almost nine years ago.

Photo: AFP/GETTY IMAGES

A total of 323 US soldiers have been killed in the Afghan war this year, compared to 317 for all of 2009, according to figures based on the independent icasualties.org website.

Foreign forces suffered a grim spike in deaths last month as the Taliban insurgency intensified, with NATO confirming on Wednesday that a sixth US soldier was killed on one of the bloodiest days this year.

At 490, the overall death toll for foreign troops for the first eight months of the year is rapidly closing in the number registered in all of 2009, which at 521 was a record since the start of the war in late 2001.

In all 1,270 American troops have lost their lives, out of 2,058 foreign military fatalities, since the conflict began with the US-led invasion of Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington in 2001.

US President Barack Obama on Tuesday warned that the United States faced a “very tough fight” in Afghanistan, with more casualties and “heartbreak” to come.

“We obviously still have a very tough fight in Afghanistan,” Mr Obama told troops in Texas as the United States marked the formal end of combat operations in Iraq.

“We have seen casualties go up because we are taking the fight to al-Qaeda and the Taliban,” Obama said. “It is going to be a tough slog.”

Continue reading »

Tags: Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda, Al-Qaida, Barack Obama, Government, Military, Obama administration, Politics, Taliban

See also:

- Mexican Drug Cartel Puts $1 Million Bounty On Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Head

- Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu: ‘Our Own Government Has Become Our Enemy’

Signs in Arizona warn of smuggler dangers

Drivers advised to travel north

ASSOCIATED PRESS Federal police stand guard by Texas-born kingpin Edgar ASSOCIATED PRESS Federal police stand guard by Texas-born kingpin Edgar “La Barbie” Valdez during his presentation to the press in Mexico City on Tuesday. Valdez, who was captured on Monday by federal police, faces drug-trafficking charges in the U.S. and has been blamed for a vicious turf war that has included bodies hung from bridges and shootouts in central Mexico.

The federal government has posted signs along a major interstate highway in Arizona, more than 100 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, warning travelers the area is unsafe because of drug and alien smugglers, and a local sheriff says Mexican drug cartels now control some parts of the state.

The signs were posted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) along a 60-mile stretch of Interstate 8 between Casa Grande and Gila Bend, a major east-west corridor linking Tucson and Phoenix with San Diego.

They warn travelers that they are entering an “active drug and human smuggling area” and they may encounter “armed criminals and smuggling vehicles traveling at high rates of speed.” Beginning less than 50 miles south of Phoenix, the signs encourage travelers to “use public lands north of Interstate 8″ and to call 911 if they “see suspicious activity.”

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, whose county lies at the center of major drug and alien smuggling routes to Phoenix and cities east and west, attests to the violence. He said his deputies are outmanned and outgunned by drug traffickers in the rough-hewn desert stretches of his own county.

“Mexican drug cartels literally do control parts of Arizona,” he said. “They literally have scouts on the high points in the mountains and in the hills and they literally control movement. They have radios, they have optics, they have night-vision goggles as good as anything law enforcement has.

“This is going on here in Arizona,” he said. “This is 70 to 80 miles from the border - 30 miles from the fifth-largest city in the United States.”

He said he asked the Obama administration for 3,000 National Guard soldiers to patrol the border, but what he got were 15 signs.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer condemned what she called the federal government’s “continued failure to secure our international border,” saying the lack of security has resulted in important natural recreational areas in her state being declared too dangerous to visit.

In a recent campaign video posted to YouTube, Mrs. Brewer - standing in front of one of the BLM signs - attacked the administration over the signs, calling them “an outrage” and telling President Obama to “Do your job. Secure our borders.”

- Arizona Governor Jan Brewer Slams President Obama: Warning Signs Are Not Enough

BLM spokesman Dennis Godfrey in Arizona said agency officials were surprised by the reaction the signs generated when they were put up this summer.

Continue reading »

Tags: Arizona, Barack Obama, Crimes, Drugs, Global News, Government, Immigration, Mexico, Obama administration, Police, Politics, Society, U.S.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s first MQ-9 Predator B unmanned aerial vehicle to be stationed along the northern border of the United States lands at Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D., Dec. 6, 2008. (Reuters/Department of Defense/Senior Master Sgt. David H. Lipp/Handout)

PHOENIX (Reuters) - The U.S. government will have unmanned surveillance aircraft monitoring the whole southwest border with Mexico from September 1, as it ramps up border security in this election year, a top official said on Monday.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said U.S. Customs and Border Protection would begin flying a Predator B drone out of Corpus Christi, Texas, on Wednesday, extending the reach of the agency’s unmanned surveillance aircraft across the length of the nearly 2,000 mile border with Mexico.

“With the deployment of the Predator in Texas, we will now be able to cover the southwest border from the El Centro sector in California all the way to the Gulf of Mexico in Texas, providing critical aerial surveillance assistance to personnel on the ground,” Napolitano said during a conference call.

“This is yet another critical step we have taken in ensuring the safety of the border and is an important tool in our security toolbox,” she added. Continue reading »

Tags: Barack Obama, DHS, Government, Homeland Security, Immigration, Mexico, Military, New World Order, Obama administration, Surveillance, U.S., UAVs

The Greatest Depression!

WASHINGTON (USA TODAY) — Government anti-poverty programs that have grown to meet the needs of recession victims now serve a record one in six Americans and are continuing to expand.

More than 50 million Americans are on Medicaid, the federal-state program aimed principally at the poor, a survey of state data by USA TODAY shows. That’s up at least 17% since the recession began in December 2007.

“Virtually every Medicaid director in the country would say that their current enrollment is the highest on record,” says Vernon Smith of Health Management Associates, which surveys states for Kaiser Family Foundation.

The program has grown even before the new health care law adds about 16 million people, beginning in 2014. That has strained doctors. “Private physicians are already indicating that they’re at their limit,” says Dan Hawkins of the National Association of Community Health Centers.

More than 40 million people get food stamps, an increase of nearly 50% during the economic downturn, according to government data through May. The program has grown steadily for three years. Continue reading »

Tags: Barack Obama, Economy, Food stamps, Government, Obama administration, Politics, Poverty, Society, U.S.