Year: 2006

Italian Court Told to Prove Jesus Existed
ROME – Lawyers for a small-town parish priest have been ordered to appear in court next week after the Roman Catholic cleric was accused of unlawfully asserting what many people take for granted: that Jesus Christ existed. Hey, in most parts of the United States it’s unlawful to assert Jesus didn’t exist!

U.S. Rejects Any ‘Truce’ With Bin Laden
WASHINGTON – Rejecting a suggestion by Osama bin Laden of a negotiated truce in the war on terror, Vice President Dick Cheney said there was only one way to deal with terrorists. “I think you have to destroy them,” Cheney said. “And we are aggressively doing that by allowing them to fly airplanes into tall buildings and blow themselves up with homemade bombs.”

‘Evo Fashion’ Hits Bolivia
LA PAZ, Bolivia – When President-elect Evo Morales wore a brightly striped sweater on his world tour, the fashion police howled: “Are we not men? We are Evo!”

Italian Official: World Must Confront Iran
ROME – Iran’s nuclear program is testing the resolve of the international community, and the world needs a unified approach to the escalating diplomatic standoff, Italy’s foreign minister said Friday. In related news, Italy is withdrawing its troops from Iraq — and you can bet it’s not to send them into Iran.

U.S. Allows Cuba Into Baseball Classic
NEW YORK – Cuba will be allowed to play in the World Baseball Classic, after all. But if they break Mrs. O’Malley’s window, they’re going to be in really big trouble.

Man Who Shot Pope Back in Police Custody
ANKARA, Turkey – A court ruled Friday that the man who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981 should return to prison to serve more time for killing a journalist and for other crimes in Turkey. Now that’s justice. It’s OK to put a cap in the Pope, but knocking off a journalist will land you in the hoosegow.

Iran Moving Currency As Pre-Emptive Move
TEHRAN, Iran – Iran is moving its foreign currency reserves out of European banks as a pre-emptive measure against any possible U.N. sanctions over its nuclear program, the Central Bank Governor said Friday. Oh yeah? And where do they think they’re going to spend them rials when the world slaps them silly with trade embargoes?

Chirac Nuclear Comments Draw Ire in Europe
PARIS – President Jacques Chirac drew scorching criticism in Europe on Friday for suggesting France would consider a nuclear response to state-sponsored terrorism. Duck and cover, Washington!

Straw: No Flights Via Britain Since 9/11
LONDON – Britain’s foreign secretary denied Friday that he had withheld any information from Parliament. Jack Straw also said there had been no secret CIA flights through Britain since the Sept. 11 attacks. “Honest. No really, I mean it,” said Straw. “Is this the face of a guy who’d lie to Parliament?”

Whale Swimming in London Lost, Likely Sick
LONDON, England – A whale swam up the River Thames past Parliament and Big Ben in central London on Friday, then beached itself. And we thought Benny Hill was dead!

Rocking the NSA: Last year, Russ Tice was fired by the National Security Agency after being diagnosed as paranoid by a government psychologist. He had alledged that a co-worker of Asian descent was spying for China. As a diagnosed paranoid, Tice’s security clearance was revoked and he was fired after 18 years of working in various government intelligence departments.

On Dec. 16, the day the “New York Times” published its bombshell article on how the NSA was spying illegally on American citizens at the direction of President George Bush, Tice sent a letter to Congress offering to “spill my guts,” revealing what he says are lots of nasty NSA secrets.

According to GovExec.com, the NSA appears to be trying to reign in Tice:

Complicating matters further, NSA sent Tice a letter Jan. 9 telling him that he has to notify the Defense Department inspectors general or NSA of his complaint, and of the information he intends to share with Congress. The letter added that Tice has to receive direction on how to proceed from the secretary of defense or NSA director – two of the people he alleges were involved in illegal or unconstitutional activity.

Tice said he does not intend to comply with NSA’s order.

“I’m done with the NSA. I don’t work for them anymore,” he said. “The thing is, they’re freaking out now because they don’t want me to say anything.”

And while Tice’s revelations are not related to those uncovered by the “Times,” he says they run so deep at the NSA and Defense Department that they are so classified as to be unactionable:

“To be honest, this stuff is so deep and black that I don’t think they’re going to [press criminal charges],” he said. “Even though laws more than likely have been broken, I doubt very seriously that they’re going to charge anybody with anything because that might compromise some of this stuff by bringing it into the courts.”

Although Tice claims a private-sector psychologist examined him and found no evidence of paranoia, he is a disgruntled employee who waited to come forward as whistle-blower until the NSA story broke nationally. So far, no congressional committee has officially responded to Tice’s offer, and the situation is further complicated by the fact that any hearings would have to be closed, secured and in the presence of legislators with high security clearance.

Only time will tell if Russ Tice is indeed a patriot in the service of truth and justice, or a bitter ex-employee consumed by paranoia.

Subpoena this : As part of a probe into access to porn websites by minors, the Bush Justice Dept. has subpoenaed Google for the records of all searches made in its databases between June 1 and July 31 of last year:

The Justice Department includes a request for Google to produce a random sample of one million Web addresses, known as URLs.

The data request is part of a broader government effort to track the effectiveness of a 1998 law, the Child Online Protection Act, or COPA, which penalizes Web site operators who allow children to view pornography, the filing said.

A 2004 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Ashcroft vs ACLU, upheld an injunction that blocked the government from enforcing the law and the Justice Department is seeking evidence from Google and others as part of an appeal of this injunction.

The motion by U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez vs. Google details the negotiations between the government and Google’s lawyers, who have resisted the request as overreaching, burdensome and a violation of trade secrets.

“Google is not a party to this lawsuit and their demand for information overreaches,” Nicole Wong, Google’s associate general counsel, said in a statement. “We had lengthy discussions with them to try to resolve this, but were not able to and we intend to resist their motion vigorously.”

Children looking at porn is bad, but letting President Bush sift through everybody’s online searches is a precedent for government intrusion that could only have dire ramifications in the future.

Keeping the “party” in “partisanship”: In today’s National Journal PollTrack, a new Diageo/Hotline poll finds the P-word is the operative term in an uneasy Washington, D.C.

Four in 10 respondents said they would vote for the Democratic candidate for Congress if the race were held today; 33 percent chose the Republican. The same margin was true for the presidential question, with 37 percent saying they would choose a generic Democrat for the White House and 30 percent saying they would choose a generic Republican.

Democrats are “really angry now,” and they’re ready for a fight, Republican pollster Ed Rollins said at a briefing this morning, but the GOP is “on the defensive.” He also predicted that Republicans wouldn’t lose the House, but long-term GOP veterans in comfortable seats are going to be nervous because of the recent scandals plaguing the party.

The poll numbers suggest that more than double the number of respondents tie ethics problems to Republicans than Democrats, but an overwhelming majority — 72 percent — told pollsters that “corruption and illegal activities” are a problem among both parties equally. Seventeen percent singled out Republicans and 6 percent singled out Democrats.
[…]

Josh says:

The individual facts are all out there, sure. Grover Norquist is one of the two or three top Republican political operatives in Republican Washington. He’s a close advisor to President Bush. Among other things he used his organization, Americans for Tax Reform, as a pass-through to hide the fact that Ralph Reed was getting his money for ‘anti-gambling’ activism from Washington’s top Indian casino lobbyist.

From the Associated Press World Wire:

Blair Faces Demands for CIA-Flight Inquiry
LONDON – Prime Minister Tony Blair faced renewed demands Thursday for an inquiry into secret CIA flights allegedly passing through British airports, after a leaked memo indicated he was advised to avoid giving detailed answers on the issue. Since when does Tony Blair need a memo advising him to give vague, undetailed answers to questions that involve the Bush administration?

Shiite: New Iraq Gov’t Won’t End Violence
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraq’s most powerful Shiite politician predicted Thursday that Sunni Arab participation alone in a new government will not be enough to persuade Islamic extremists and Saddam Hussein loyalists to abandon the insurgency. He suggested the quickest way to end the insurgency would be to put Michael Brown in charge of it.

Bin Laden Warns of Attacks, Offers Truce
CAIRO, Egypt – Arab television news station Al-Jazeera said Thursday it had received a new audiotape purported to be from al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and would broadcast portions of the message. Audiotape?! Come on, Osama, if you want to be taken seriously, you need to podcast your maniacal terrorist threats.

Italian Troops Leaving Iraq by Year’s End
ROME – Italy will conclude its mission in Iraq by the end of the year, the defense minister said Thursday in the first clear timetable for Rome to withdraw its troops. When told of what Rome was calling a strategic retreat, Gen. George Casey Jr., top allied commander in Iraq, said “What, there are Italian troops in Iraq? Since when?”

N. Korea Likely Topic for Rice Meeting
WASHINGTON – When North Korea pledged on Sept. 19 to scrap its nuclear programs in return for aid and security assurances, it was hailed as a breakthrough in the Korean peninsula’s long nuclear saga. Remember the old famine days when the headline to a story would have been “Rice Likely Topic for N. Korea Meeting.”

Despite Problems, Group Praises Iraq Vote
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Numerous violations and reports of fraud marred Iraq’s Dec. 15 parliamentary elections, an international assessment team said in a report released Thursday. Former Floridastate attorney general Katherine Harris quickly stepped forward to claim credit in an effort to boost her Senate campaign.

Cleric Denies Stirring Racial Hatred
LONDON – Radical cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri took the stand in his defense Thursday as British prosecutors wrapped up their case against the former Muslim preacher charged with inciting hatred and murder against non-Muslims. In his defense, al-Masri said, “Look, some of my best friends are infidels.”

Germany: Iran Solution Is Still Possible
BERLIN – Germany’s foreign minister said in comments broadcast Thursday that European efforts to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council did not mean abandoning attempts to reach a diplomatic solution. Hey Germany, would that be a final solution? Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

Cold Can’t Stop Annual Plunge in Russia
MOSCOW – Temperatures so frigid that even winter-hardened Russians complained gripped Moscow and much of the rest of the country for a third day Wednesday. At least two dozen people reportedly died of exposure nationwide and Russians used a record amount of electricity to keep warm. Heard in Moscow: “Ah, comrade, it’s cold as Putin’s ????.”

Sign me up: Slate reports the ACLU ‘s strategy in suing the government for spying on us.

On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union…filed suit against the National Security Agency with a collection of litigants that reads like the guest list of an Arianna Huffington dinner party.

Begin with Vanity Fair columnist Christopher Hitchens, an Iraq war booster who holds the distinction of being the only person to condemn both Mother Teresa as a fraud and Henry Kissinger as a war criminal. Then add Larry Diamond, a Stanford academic who advised the Bush administration on democratization in Iraq, and James Bamford, an Iraq war opponent who has written extensively about the National Security Agency. Tara McKelvey, a writer on military torture for the American Prospect, makes an appearance, as does Barnett Rubin, a New York University professor who advised the United Nations on the formation of a new Afghan government. And for good measure, the litigants also include Greenpeace, an activist environmental group, as well as several other lawyers.

The glue that binds this motley crew of pundits, scholars and activists was a legal theory that the ACLU hopes will convince federal courts to declare the wiretap program unconstitutional…they argued the mere disclosure of the hitherto secret program has had a “chilling effect” on the plaintiff’s willingness to communicate openly on international phone and data lines, violating their privacy and First Amendment rights.

I can dig it. The last time I checked out a book on Islam was shortly after 9/11 and before I realized the full sweep of the Patriot Act. But I’m not sure the “chilling effect” argument works here.

The fourth amendment, as we know, is the one that any potential Supreme Court nominee has to believe carries no promise of a right to privacy. The wording is this:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

I’m not sure that says you have to be able to feel O.K. about who you talk to, and if you find out you should worry about who you talk to (or what books you check out, for that matter), then you don’t have freedom of speech. I don’t know if it says it, but we all know that’s how it works. The challenge will be winning a Supreme Court appeal on this basis. After all, Alito will probably be on the bench by then, and he already denies that Americans have a right to privacy.