Free Internet Press Newsletter - Tuesday March 27 2007 - (813)

Tuesday March 27 2007 edition
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Gonzales' Senior Counselor Pleads 5th Amendment In Refusing To Testify Before Senate 2007-03-27 02:15:26 Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales' senior counselor Monday refused to testify in the Senate about her involvement in the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, invoking her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Monica M. Goodling, who has taken an indefinite leave of absence, said in a sworn affidavit to the Senate Judiciary Committee that she will "decline to answer any and all questions" about the firings because she faces "a perilous environment in which to testify." Goodling, who was also Justice's liaison to the White House, and her lawyers alleged that Democratic lawmakers have already concluded that improper motives were at play in Justice's dismissal of eight U.S. attorneys last year. Goodling also pointed to indications that Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty blames her and others for not fully briefing him, leading to inaccurate testimony to Congress. Goodling's refusal to testify illustrates the rising political and legal stakes surrounding the removal of the federal prosecutors, and underscores the fissures developing among Gonzales and his current and former senior aides as the attorney general struggles to keep his job. Read The Full Story Editorial: Time For Answers 2007-03-27 02:14:50 Intellpuke: The following editorial appears in the New York Times edition for Tuesday, March 27, 2007: The news that Monica Goodling, counsel to the attorney general and liaison to the White House, is invoking her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination takes the United States attorney scandal to a new level. Ms. Goodling’s decision comes just days after the Justice Department released documents strongly suggesting that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has not been honest about his own role in the firing of eight federal prosecutors. Mr. Gonzales is scheduled to testify before the Senate in three weeks, but that is too long to wait. He should speak now, and explain why he continues to insist that his department did nothing wrong. As the liaison between the White House and the Justice Department, Ms. Goodling seems to have been squarely in the middle of what appears to have been improper directions from the White House to politicize the hiring and firing of United States attorneys. Mr. Gonzales has insisted the eight prosecutors were let go for poor performance, and that the dismissals are an “overblown personnel matter.” But Ms. Goodling’s decision to exercise her Fifth Amendment rights suggests that she, at least, believes crimes may have been committed. Last Friday night, the Justice Department released a calendar entry that directly contradicts Mr. Gonzales’  insistence that he was out of the loop. It shows that he attended an hourlong meeting on Nov. 27 to discuss the upcoming firings of seven of the prosecutors. Previously, he had insisted that he never “had a discussion about where things stood.” Read The Full Story Global Warming: Heat Invades Cool Hights Above Arizona Desert 2007-03-27 02:14:16 High above the desert floor, this little alpine town has long served as a natural air-conditioned retreat for people in Tucson, one of the so-called sky islands of southern Arizona. When it is 105 degrees in the city, it is at least 20 degrees cooler up here near the 9,157-foot summit of Mount Lemmon. But for the past 10 years or so, things have been unraveling. Winter snows melt away earlier, longtime residents say, making for an erratic season at the nearby ski resort, the most southern in the nation. Legions of predatory insects have taken to the forest that mantles the upper mountain, killing trees weakened by record heat. And, in 2003, a fire burned for a month, destroying much of the town and scarring more than 87,000 acres. The next year, another fire swept over 32,000 acres. Read The Full Story U.S. Marines Call Up 1,800 From Ready Reserves 2007-03-27 02:13:17 The Marine Corps is recalling 1,800 reservists to active duty, citing a shortage of volunteers to fill some jobs in Iraq. Members of the branch's Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) will receive letters this week about plans to mobilize them involuntarily for a year, said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Riehl of Marine manpower and reserve affairs. Last week, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates approved the action, under which reservists would report for duty in October and deploy early next year, said Riehl. From the 1,800 Marines called, officials hope to get 1,200 for aviation maintenance, logistics support, combat arms and other skills needed for the early 2008 rotation into Iraq. Read The Full Story Arab Ministers Agree To Revive Initiative For Mideast Peace 2007-03-27 02:12:28 Arab foreign ministers agreed to relaunch a five-year-old peace initiative with Israel, including establishment of a working group to begin negotiations on the plan, according to reports from Riyadh, the Saudi capital. "The initiative includes a mechanism to promote it and gain its acceptance and especially registering it officially at the United Nations," Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal told reporters. "That's what's going to happen, so that it becomes a basis and a major reference point for peace in the Middle East." Under the plan, Arab nations would recognize Israel if it gave up land occupied after the 1967 Middle East war and granted Palestinian refugees the right to return to their homes lost six decades ago when Israel declared it was a state. Read The Full Story New Home Sales Drop Sharply For Second Month 2007-03-26 13:26:50 Sales of new homes plummeted for the second consecutive month in February, an unexpected drop that dashed hopes of an imminent recovery in the housing market. The U.S. Department of Commerce reported Monday that sales of new single-family houses dropped 3.9 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 848,000. Although the monthly decline was significant, even more telling was that it represented an 18.3 percent drop from February 2006's seasonally adjusted annual sales rate of 1,038,000. The median sales price was $250,000, down from $250,800 a year ago. The median is the point where half the homes sell for more and half for less. The news on home sales appeared to spook Wall Street, with all three major indexes down Monday. Read The Full Story Amid Spending Criticism, Head Of Smithsonian Replaced 2007-03-26 13:26:16 Lawrence M. Small, the banker who took over the Smithsonian Institution seven years ago, was replaced Monday, according to Congressional sources. Roger Sant, head of the Smithsonian's executive committee, is expected to make an announcement Monday  afternoon. Small's management of the Smithsonian has been sharply criticized by members of Congress, and his compensation and spending practices have been subjected to scrutiny by the Smithsonian's inspector general. Last week, two separate committees were appointed to look into management operations at the museum complex, which includes 18 museums and research facilities as well as the National Zoo. Small's spending has been the subject of intense public scrutiny after the Washington Post published details last month from a confidential inspector general's report examining his $2 million in housing and office expenses over the past six years. Read The Full Story Japan Prime Minister Abe Apologizes To WWII Sex Slaves 2007-03-26 13:25:15 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, under fire for denying that Japan forced women to work as sex slaves during World War II, offered a fresh apology Monday but refused to clearly acknowledge Japan's responsibility for running the frontline brothels. "I express my sympathy toward the comfort women and apologize for the situation they found themselves in," Abe told a parliamentary debate, using a euphemism used by Japanese politicians to refer to former sex slaves. "I apologize here and now as prime minister," he said. Abe's apology was his clearest yet since the conservative leader triggered international furor earlier this month by saying there was no evidence that women were coerced into sexual service in the World War II era. Read The Full Story Ex-Prosecutor Faced Partisan Questions From White House Officials Before Firing 2007-03-26 01:38:14 One of the eight former U.S. attorneys fired by the Bush administration said yesterday that White House officials questioned his performance in highly partisan political terms at a meeting in Washington in September, three months before his dismissal. John McKay of Washington state, who had decided two years earlier not to bring voter fraud charges that could have undermined a Democratic victory in a closely fought gubernatorial race, said White House counsel Harriet Miers and her deputy, William Kelley, "asked me why Republicans in the state of Washington would be angry with me." McKay said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that the question - which he took as a challenge to his 2004 decision - surprised him because the issue had been carefully reviewed by his office and the decision was supported by the FBI's office in Seattle. "We expected to be supported by people in Washington, D.C., when we make tough decisions like that," said McKay. He added that he took umbrage at the idea that he had other responsibilities beyond focusing "on the evidence and not allow[ing] politics into the work that we do in criminal prosecutions." Those involved in the scandal over the firings who acted unprofessionally "or even illegally" must be held accountable for what they did, he said. Read The Full Story Aged, Frail And Denied Care By Their Insurers 2007-03-26 01:37:30 Mary Rose Derks was a 65-year-old widow in 1990, when she began preparing for the day she could no longer care for herself. Every month, out of her grocery fund, she scrimped together about $100 for an insurance policy that promised to pay eventually for a room in an assisted living home. On a May afternoon in 2002, after bouts of hypertension and diabetes had hospitalized her dozens of times, Mrs. Derks reluctantly agreed that it was time. She shed a few tears, watched her family pack her favorite blankets and rode to Beehive Homes, five blocks from her daughter’s farm equipment dealership. At least, Mrs. Derks said at the time, she would not be a financial burden on her family. But when she filed a claim with her insurer, Conseco, it said she had waited too long. Then it said Beehive Homes was not an approved facility, despite its state license. Eventually, Conseco argued that Mrs. Derks was not sufficiently infirm, despite her early-stage dementia and the 37 pills she takes each day. Read The Full Story GSA Chief Accused Of Playing Politics 2007-03-26 01:36:51 Witnesses have told congressional investigators that the chief of the General Services Administration and a deputy in Karl Rove's political affairs office at the White House joined in a videoconference earlier this year with top GSA political appointees, who discussed ways to help Republican candidates. With GSA Administrator Lurita Alexis Doan and up to 40 regional administrators on hand, J. Scott Jennings, the White House's deputy director of political affairs, gave a PowerPoint presentation on Jan. 26 of polling data about the 2006 elections. When Jennings concluded his presentation to the GSA political appointees, Doan allegedly asked them how they could "help 'our candidates' in the next elections," according to a March 6 letter to Doan from Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-California), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Waxman said in the letter that one method suggested was using "targeted public events, such as the opening of federal facilities around the country." Read The Full Story	Private Businesses Flag Ordinary Customers As Terrorists 2007-03-27 02:15:05 Private businesses such as rental and mortgage companies and car dealers are checking the names of customers against a list of suspected terrorists and drug traffickers made publicly available by the Treasury Department, sometimes denying services to ordinary people whose names are similar to those on the list. The Office of Foreign Asset Control's list of "specially designated nationals" has long been used by banks and other financial institutions to block financial transactions of drug dealers and other criminals. But an executive order issued by President Bush after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks has expanded the list and its consequences in unforeseen ways. Businesses have used it to screen applicants for home and car loans, apartments and even exercise equipment, according to interviews and a report by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area to be issued Tuesday. "The way in which the list is being used goes far beyond contexts in which it has a link to national security," said Shirin Sinnar, the report's author. "The government is effectively conscripting private businesses into the war on terrorism but doing so without making sure that businesses don't trample on individual rights." Read The Full Story Commentary: If We Want To Save The Planet We Need A 5-Year Freeze On Biofuels 2007-03-27 02:14:36 Intellpuke: The following commentary is by Prof. George Monbiot who writes that oil produced from plants sets up competition for food between cars and people. People - and the environment - will lose. His commentary follows: It used to be a matter of good intentions gone awry. Now it is plain fraud. The governments using biofuel to tackle global warming know that it causes more harm than good. But they plough on regardless. In theory, fuels made from plants can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by cars and trucks. Plants absorb carbon as they grow - it is released again when the fuel is burned. By encouraging oil companies to switch from fossil plants to living ones, governments on both sides of the Atlantic claim to be "decarbonising" our transport networks. In the budget last week, Gordon Brown announced that he would extend the tax rebate for biofuels until 2010. From next year all suppliers in the U.K. will have to ensure that 2.5% of the fuel they sell is made from plants - if not, they must pay a penalty of 15 pence a liter. The obligation rises to 5% in 2010. By 2050, the government hopes that 33% of our fuel will come from crops. Last month George Bush announced that he would quintuple the U.S. target for biofuels: by 2017 they should be supplying 24% of the nation's transport fuel. So what's wrong with these programs? Only that they are a formula for environmental and humanitarian disaster. In 2004 I warned, on these pages, that biofuels would set up a competition for food between cars and people. The people would necessarily lose: those who can afford to drive are richer than those who are in danger of starvation. It would also lead to the destruction of rainforests and other important habitats. I received more abuse than I've had for any other column - except for when I attacked the 9/11 conspiracists. I was told my claims were ridiculous, laughable, impossible. Well in one respect I was wrong. I thought these effects wouldn't materialize for many years. They are happening already. Read The Full Story Heart Attack Study On Routine Use Of Angioplasty, Stents 2007-03-27 02:13:38 Propping open clogged arteries with a tiny wire-mesh tube called a stent is no better at reducing the risk of heart attack or death in patients with stable heart disease than treatment with medications, according to a large new study that challenges routine use of a procedure that rapidly became standard medical practice. The study of more than 2,000 patients found that those who underwent the expensive procedure, known as angioplasty, in non-emergency situations were no less likely to suffer a heart attack or die than those who took only aspirin and other medicines to lower blood pressure and cholesterol and prevent clots, along with adopting lifestyle changes. The study is the first large, well-designed comparison of angioplasty to non-surgical care for patients who are not having a heart attack or in imminent danger of having one. The procedure, often done to relieve chest pain and to reduce the risk of having or dying from a heart attack, has become one of the most common medical procedures in the United States. Read The Full Story Australian Hicks' Guilty Plea Is First At Guantanamo 2007-03-27 02:12:44 Australian David M. Hicks pleaded guilty to one charge of material support for terrorism during a brief military hearing Monday night, becoming the first Guantanamo prisoner to officially accept criminal responsibility for aiding terrorists since the detention facility opened more than five years ago. The plea during the first day of hearings under the Military Commissions Act of 2006 marks a victory for the Bush administration, which is now likely to secure a conviction in the first case it pursues under Congress's new rules. Col. Ralph H. Kohlmann, the military commission's presiding officer, has not accepted the plea but is expected to do so in hearings this week. Military commission officials at Guantanamo said Kohlmann and lawyers for both sides will work out details of Hicks' plea. Then a full military commissions jury panel will meet to decide on a sentence. Hicks faces a possible life term, but prosecutors said in recent days that they probably will not seek a term longer than 20 years. Read The Full Story U.S. Envoy To Iraqis: 'Our Patience Is Wearing Thin' 2007-03-27 02:12:01 The outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Monday delivered a blunt farewell message to Iraq's leadership, saying the Bush administration's patience is wearing thin and urging them to stem the bloodshed. Zalmay Khalilzad, who is due to leave today after 21 months in Iraq, said that despite encouraging results from the U.S.-Iraqi security plan, which had reduced attacks by 25% in its first six weeks, "there is a lot more that needs to be done." "Success requires Iraq and Iraqi leaders to make the compromises necessary to reduce the sources of violence," he said. Read The Full Story Russia, China Urge Iran To Heed U.N. 2007-03-26 13:26:38 The presidents of Russia and China Monday called on Iran to fulfill the U.N. Security Council's demands over its disputed nuclear program - a sign of impatience from Iran's two closest allies over its continued defiance. The joint call from Vladimir Putin and Hu Jintao came a day after Iran announced it was partially suspending cooperation with the International Aromic Energy Agency in response to the latest Security Council sanctions - a decision the United States said was a "step in the wrong direction." Iran insisted it was not aiming to escalate the standoff with its partial suspension, which truncates the time period in which it will notify the U.N. about new nuclear projects. Read The Full Story Former Reagan OMB Director Charged With Conspiracy To Commit Fraud 2007-03-26 13:25:40 Federal prosecutors announced conspiracy and securities and bank fraud charges this morning against Reagan-era budget director David A. Stockman, accusing the former Republican director of the Office of Management and Budget of misleading investors about the finances of a troubled Michigan auto parts company. Stockman, 60, surrendered to authorities early Monday and is expected to appear before a federal magistrate judge in Manhattan this afternoon. Officials from the U.S. Attorney's office in the Southern District of New York, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service will hold a news conference in downtown Manhattan to discuss the case at noon. The grand jury indictment includes allegations that Stockman engaged in securities fraud and made overly optimistic statements to investors about his company's financial prospects. The charges are conspiracy, securities fraud, bank fraud, and obstruction of the SEC investigation. Stockman is charged alongside three others, including former finance chief J. Michael Stepp and accounting expert David R. Cosgrove. In interviews, Stockman vigorously denies the accusations, which carry maximum prison terms of five or 10 years apiece. Read The Full Story Police: Anna Nicole Smith Died Of Accidental Overdose 2007-03-26 13:24:46 Former Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith died of an accidental overdose of a sleeping medication and at least eight other prescription drugs, and she had recently had a bacterial infection from injecting drugs into her buttocks, authorities said Monday. Broward County Medical Examiner Joshua Perper said Smith died of "combined drug intoxication" with the sleeping medication chloral hydrate as the major factor. She had been taking a lengthy list of medications, including methadone for pain and valium, but those drugs were at therapeutic levels, he said. A bacterial infection from injecting medication in her buttocks and the flu contributed to her death, according to the report. Read The Full Story Commentary: How A Three-Word Mantra Has Undermined America 2007-03-26 01:37:47 Intellpuke: The following commentary is by Zbigniew Brzezinsky, national security adviser to President Jimmy Carter, and author most recently of "Second Chance: Three Presidents and the Crisis of American Superpower". In his commentary, Mr. Brzezinski says Americans have allows the "war on terror" to create a culture of fear that  is undermining basic constitutional rights and freedoms in the U.S. His commentary follows: The "war on terror" has created a culture of fear in America. The Bush administration's elevation of these three words into a national mantra since the horrific events of 9/11 has had a pernicious impact on American democracy, on America's psyche and on U.S. standing in the world. Using this phrase has actually undermined our ability to effectively confront the real challenges we face from fanatics who may use terrorism against us. The damage these three words have done - a classic self-inflicted wound - is infinitely greater than any wild dreams entertained by the fanatical perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks when they were plotting against us in distant Afghan caves. The phrase itself is meaningless. It defines neither a geographic context nor our presumed enemies. Terrorism is not an enemy but a technique of warfare - political intimidation through the killing of unarmed non-combatants. But the little secret here may be that the vagueness of the phrase was deliberately (or instinctively) calculated by its sponsors. Constant reference to a "war on terror" did accomplish one major objective: It stimulated the emergence of a culture of fear. Fear obscures reason, intensifies emotions and makes it easier for demagogic politicians to mobilize the public on behalf of the policies they want to pursue. The war of choice in Iraq could never have gained the congressional support it got without the psychological linkage between the shock of 9/11 and the postulated existence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Support for President Bush in the 2004 elections was also mobilized in part by the notion that "a nation at war" does not change its commander in chief in midstream. The sense of a pervasive but otherwise imprecise danger was thus channeled in a politically expedient direction by the mobilizing appeal of being "at war." Read The Full Story Five U.S. Soldiers Killed By Roadside Bombs In Iraq 2007-03-26 01:37:06 Roadside bombs killed five U.S. soldiers in Iraq on Sunday, including four in a single strike in a volatile province northeast of the capital, the military said. In Baghdad, gunmen on rooftops opened fire on Iraqi soldiers, prompting fierce fighting in the narrow streets and alleys of one of the capital's oldest neighborhoods, a Sunni insurgent stronghold and a haven for criminals on the east side of the Tigris River. At least two civilians were killed and four others were wounded in the clashes, police said, as U.S. attack helicopters buzzed overhead. Four U.S. soldiers were killed and two others were wounded, according to a statement, when an explosion struck their patrol in Diyala province, a religiously mixed area that has seen fierce fighting in recent months. A roadside bomb also killed a soldier and wounded two others as they were checking for bombs on a road in northwestern Baghdad, said the military. Read The Full Story Blair Warns Iran On Seizure Of British Sailors, Marines 2007-03-26 01:36:22 Tony Blair Sunday denounced Iran for the "unjustified and wrong" seizure of 15 British sailors and marines, rejecting Tehran's claim they had entered Iranian waters, and warning that the situation had become very serious. "I hope the Iranian government understands how fundamental an issue this is for us," the prime minister said at a European summit in Berlin. "They should not be under any doubt at all about how seriously we regard this act, which was unjustified and wrong." Blair's comments marked a hardening of British tone, after hopes that the capture of the British patrol on Friday would prove to be a misunderstanding had been dashed by statements from Iran over the weekend. Read The Full Story
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