Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens for Legitimate Government 23 December

[Guest guest]

" Lori Price " <lrprice

Fri, 23 Dec 2005 11:21:00 -0800 (PST)

Ohio Patriot Act Would Allow Arrests For No Reason In Public

Place 23 Dec 2005

 

 

Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens for Legitimate Government

23 December 2005

http://www.legitgov.org/

 

All links to articles as summarized below are available here:

http://www.legitgov.org/index.html#breaking_news

 

 

Ohio Patriot Act Would Allow Arrests For No Reason In Public Place

--Citizens Would Also Have to Show ID 19 Dec 2005 The Ohio Patriot Act

has made it to Republican Governor Bob Taft's desk, and with the

stroke of a pen, it would most likely become the toughest terrorism

bill in the country. The lengthy piece of legislation would let police

arrest people in public places who will not give their names, address

and birth dates, even if they are not doing anything wrong. WEWS

reported it would also pave the way for everyone entering critical

transportation sites such as, train stations, airports and bus

stations to show ID.

 

 

'Ohio Patriot Act' May Soon Become Law 23 Dec 2005 A contentious bill

awaiting Ohio Governor Bob Taft's signature would give state

law-enforcement officials sweeping powers to question, detain and

arrest people. It would allow authorities to demand identification in

a broad range of circumstances, and it asks local law enforcement

agencies to begin enforcing federal immigration law. The bill also

exempts businesses from telling the public about safety and security

threats.

 

 

ACLU asks Calif. if it is providing data to FBI Group concerned after

Iraq meeting at Stanford watched 23 Dec 2005 The American Civil

Liberties Union asked the state Wednesday to reveal whether law

enforcement agents were gathering information on California activists,

in light of revelations that the federal government monitored a

conference on Iraq at Stanford University and an anti-war protest at

UC Santa Cruz.

 

 

Power We Didn't Grant By Tom Daschle 23 Dec 2005 " In the face of

mounting questions about news stories saying that President [sic] Bush

approved a program to wiretap American citizens without getting

warrants, the White House argues that Congress granted it authority

for such surveillance in the 2001 legislation authorizing the use of

force against al Qaeda... As Senate majority leader at the time... I

can state categorically that the subject of warrantless wiretaps of

American citizens never came up. I did not and never would have

supported giving authority to the president for such wiretaps...

Literally minutes before the Senate cast its vote [on the use of

military force], the administration sought to add the words 'in the

United States and' after 'appropriate force' in the agreed-upon text.

This last-minute change would have given the president broad authority

to exercise expansive powers not just overseas -- where we all

understood he wanted authority to act -- but right here in the United

States, potentially against American citizens. I could see no

justification for Congress to accede to this extraordinary request for

additional authority. I refused. " [And, as a consequence of his

refusal, *someone* (from the Bush bioterror team?) sent Daschle

weapons-grade anthrax spores in October 2001. See: Riddle of the

spores By George Monbiot 21 May 2002. " The letter received by Senator

Tom Daschle contained one trillion anthrax spores per gram: a

concentration which only a very few US government scientists, using a

secret and strictly controlled technique, know how to achieve. It

must, moreover, have been developed in a professional laboratory,

containing rare and sophisticated 'weaponisation' equipment. There is

only a tiny number of facilities - all of them in the US - in which it

could have been produced. " ]

 

 

Daschle: Congress Denied Bush War Powers in U.S. 23 Dec 2005 The Bush

administration requested, and Congress rejected, war-making authority

" in the United States " in negotiations over the joint resolution

passed days after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according

to an opinion article by former Senate majority leader Thomas A.

Daschle (D-S.D.) in today's Washington Post. Daschle's disclosure

challenges a central legal argument offered by the White House in

defense of the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping of

U.S. citizens and permanent residents. It suggests that Congress

refused explicitly to grant authority that the Bush regime now asserts

is implicit in the resolution.

 

 

Sen. Salazar: Bush 'arguably' broke the law 23 Dec 2005 Colorado's

junior U.S. senator says President Bush " arguably " violated the law by

authorizing wiretaps on American soil without approval of a court, but

he said it's much too soon to call for impeachment. [No, it's not.

But, calling for a treason trial would be more appropriate.]

 

 

Alito defended government wiretap rights --Reagan-era memo said

attorney general should be immune from lawsuits 23 Dec 2005 Supreme

Court nominee Samuel Alito defended the right of government officials

to order domestic wiretaps when he worked for the Reagan Justice

Department, documents released Friday show.

 

 

Congress extends anti-terror act to February 3 23 Dec 2005 The U.S.

Congress on Thursday agreed to extend until February 3 key provisions

of the anti-terrorism USA Patriot Act to allow more time for lawmakers

to consider civil liberties protections for the law that was set to

expire at the end of the month.

 

 

Postponing Fight, Congress Extends Terror Act 5 Weeks 23 Dec 2005 In a

frantic finish before adjourning for the year, Congress extended on

Thursday the broad antiterrorism bill known as the USA Patriot Act by

five weeks after the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary

Committee balked at a longer extension.

 

 

EU-wide warrant over 22 CIA kidnappers 23 Dec 2005 An Italian court

has issued Europe-wide arrest warrants for 22 suspected CIA agents

accused of helping to kidnap a Muslim cleric in Milan in 2003. Italy

says the alleged kidnapping operation hindered Italian terrorism

investigations.

 

 

Judge Issues Warrants for CIA Operatives 23 Dec 2005 An Italian judge

has issued European arrest warrants for 22 purported CIA operatives

wanted for the alleged kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric, a prosecutor

said Friday.

 

 

Call for blanket ban on CIA planes 23 Dec 2005 (Ireland) Anti-war

activists today demanded the Government bring in a blanket ban on CIA

and American war planes at Irish airports to prevent the torture of

foreign prisoners.

 

 

House passes $453.3 billion 'defense' bill 22 Dec 2005 The House of

Representatives passed a $453.3 billion 'defense' spending bill on

Thursday, which included $50 billion for the wars in Iraq and

Afghanistan [Halliburton and Blackwater USA].

 

 

Two US soldiers killed in Iraq --Thirteen Iraqis including eight

soldiers killed in attacks around war-torn country. 23 Dec 2005 Two US

soldiers were killed Friday when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb

in Baghdad, the US military said.

 

 

10 Iraqi soldiers killed in checkpoint attack 23 Dec 2005 Ten Iraqi

soldiers have been killed and 17 wounded when gunmen stormed a

checkpoint in a restive area north of Baghdad, police said.

 

 

Iraqi troops killed as Rumsfeld signals pullback 23 Dec 2005

Resistance fighters stormed an Iraqi army post on Friday, killing 10

soldiers and wounding 20, as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told

U.S. combat troops their numbers would fall as Iraqi forces were

trained to take over.

 

 

U.S. to Cut Iraq Force by Two Brigades, Rumsfeld Says 23 Dec 2005

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld today said the U.S. contingent in

Iraq will be reduced by two brigades early next year. The military

later said the units he specified have a total of 7,000 soldiers.

 

 

Rumsfeld vague on Iraq troop cuts 22 Dec 2005 U.S. Defense Secretary

Donald Rumsfeld offered little information about possible cuts in U.S.

troop levels in Iraq when he arrived unannounced in Baghdad to meet

commanders on Thursday.

 

 

Democrats maintain call for Iraq withdrawal timetable 23 Dec 2005 Two

Democratic lawmakers on Friday welcomed the US administration's

announcement that about 7,000 US troops will be pulled from Iraq but

maintained demands for a timetable for full troop withdrawal.

 

 

Cuba offers to donate money to hurricane victims as baseball reapplies

for permit 23 Dec 2005 Hours after U.S. baseball officials reapplied

for a permit that would allow Cuba to join next year's inaugural World

Baseball Classic, the Cuban government said it would donate any money

received at the tournament to hurricane victims.

 

 

Alito Argued to Overturn Roe in 1985 Memo 23 Dec 2005 Supreme Court

nominee Samuel Alito wrote in a June 1985 memo that the landmark Roe

v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion should be overturned, a finding

certain to enliven January's confirmation hearings.

 

 

Darwinism hailed as breakthrough of year in snub to creationists 23

Dec 2005 American scientists have cocked a snook at new-age

creationists who peddle the idea of intelligent design by voting

Darwinian evolution as breakthrough of the year.

 

 

Boynton Beach student sues over Pledge of Allegiance 22 Dec 2005 (FL)

A high school junior has sued the Palm Beach County School Board,

claiming he was ridiculed and punished for refusing to stand during

the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

 

Diebold Withdraws As NC Voting Equipment Vendor, Only One Left 22 Dec

2005 The effort to upgrade voting equipment in North Carolina by next

spring took a hit when an approved vendor pulled out of the running.

Diebold Election Systems says it can't follow a new law that required

it to share its software coding with the state.

 

 

Voting machine maker Diebold in trouble 21 Dec 2005 The California

secretary of state is ordering all of the electronic voting machines

made by Diebold Electronic Systems to undergo outside testing.

 

 

Diebold Hack Hints at Wider Flaws 21 Dec 2005 Election officials

spooked by tampering in a test last week of Diebold optical-scan

voting machines should be equally wary of optical-scan equipment

produced by other manufacturers, according to a computer scientist who

conducted the test.

 

 

Wal-Mart's big payout over lost lunch breaks 23 Dec 2005 An American

county jury awarded more than $US207 million ($283.17 million) to

thousands of employees at Wal-Mart Stores Inc who claimed they were

illegally denied lunch breaks.

 

 

Illinois attorney general tells gas stations to donate to Red Cross or

risk price gouging lawsuit 23 Dec 2005 The Illinois attorney general

is notifying several gas stations that they can donate $1,000 to the

American Red Cross or risk being sued for price gouging in the wake of

Hurricane Katrina. The office of state Attorney General Lisa Madigan

detailed the options in letters that began arriving at the 18 stations

this week.

 

 

Alaska braces for possible volcanic eruption 23 Dec 2005 A restless

volcano near Alaska's most populated region is being watched by

scientist and officials, who warned on Thursday of the risk of clouds

of ash and a tsunami from a possible eruption.

 

 

[22 Dec lead stories:] US hopes of secular Iraqi state fade away 21

Dec 2005 Conservative religious parties have surged to a runaway lead

in the counting of votes to appoint a government to run Iraq for the

next four years. [All-in-all, Saddam Hussein may turn out to have been

the better deal. At least terrorists from Halliburton and Blackwater

USA weren't running rampant, blowing up oil pipelines and electrical

grids and kidnapping and beheading peace activists. More torture and

human rights abuses are taking place under the illegal US-UK

occupation than ever took place under Saddam Hussein. Baghdad's

museums would not have been looted of precious artifacts by clueless

US cultural Troglodytes. And, Iraqi farmers would not be forced to pay

to plant Monsanto's deadly genetically modified crops. Not to mention,

thousands of years of environmental damage in Iraq, due to Rumsfeld's

illegal use of Depleted Uranium. --LRP]

 

 

New York Police Covertly Join In at Protest Rallies 22 Dec 2005

Undercover New York City police officers have conducted covert

surveillance in the last 16 months of people protesting the Iraq war,

bicycle riders taking part in mass rallies and even mourners at a

street vigil for a cyclist killed in an accident, a series of

videotapes show. In glimpses and in glaring detail, the videotape

images reveal the robust presence of disguised officers or others

working with them at seven public gatherings since August 2004.

 

 

Spy Court Judge Quits In Protest --Jurist Concerned Bush Order Tainted

Work of Secret Panel 21 Dec 2005 A federal judge has resigned from the

court that oversees government surveillance in intelligence cases in

protest of pResident Bush's secret authorization of a domestic spying

program, according to two sources.

 

 

CLGers: Please contribute for December's expenses, thank you! And,

thank you to all who have donated previously!!

http://www.legitgov.org/#contribute

 

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CLG Newsletter editor: Lori Price, General Manager. 2005,

Citizens For Legitimate Government ® All rights reserved. CLG Founder

and Chair is Michael Rectenwald, Ph.D.