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CORRUPTION UPDATES 86 June 27-28, 2007: Draft Posting: Stay Tuned for More! The CORRUPTION UPDATES posts corruption news stories from California, the Nation and the World, and gives you the straight story. |
CORRUPTION UPDATES 86
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1) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE:
Senate subpoenas White House over wiretapping
By Josh Meyer
Times Staff Writer
3:35 PM PDT, June 27, 2007
From the Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Senate committee investigating the Bush administration's controversial domestic wiretapping program subpoenaed the White House, Vice President Dick Cheney's office and the Justice Department today for information regarding their legal justification for the warrantless secret surveillance.
The subpoenas by the Judiciary Committee set the stage for another legal and political battle between Senate Democrats and the administration over its counter-terrorism and law enforcement policies. Earlier subpoenas issued by Democratic lawmakers to current and former White House officials have essentially been ignored.
Legal experts suggested today that the administration would fight or ignore these subpoenas too, throwing the issue into federal court, perhaps even the Supreme Court. The outcome, they said, could be a kind of out-of-court compromise that gives lawmakers at least some insight into the legal machinations surrounding the top-secret National Security Agency program.
In letters accompanying the subpoenas, Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy said the panel had made at least nine formal requests for such documentation from the White House and the Justice Department, and all had been rebuffed.
Moreover, Leahy told lawyers for President Bush, Cheney and Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales that attempts to get senior administration officials to testify before Congress on the wiretapping issue "have been met with a consistent pattern of evasion and misdirection."
Leahy noted that the Judiciary Committee was charged with oversight of the executive branch in the areas of constitutional protections and the civil liberties of Americans. "The warrantless electronic surveillance program directly impacts those responsibilities," Leahy wrote. "We cannot conduct this oversight without knowing the legal arguments the administration has used to justify interception of the communications of Americans without a warrant."
Leahy said he was issuing the subpoenas in consultation with the ranking Republican on the panel, Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. Two other senior Republicans on the committee, former Chairman Orrin G. Hatch of Utah and Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, also voted with Democrats last week to give Leahy the power to issue the subpoenas.
Leahy gave those receiving the subpoenas until July 18 to comply.
In the letters, he stressed that the committee was not demanding information about the operational details of the classified program, which the administration secretly launched in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
After its existence was disclosed in December 2005, Bush confirmed that the program was run by the ultra-secret NSA and that it monitored international phone calls and e-mails to or from the United States involving people authorities suspected of having terrorist links.
The program was carried out without court warrants or input by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which was established in 1978 to handle such counter-terrorism and intelligence-gathering efforts.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Finally, Bush Crimes investigated by Senate. Or are they?
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., June 28, 2007
The existance of an illegal NSA program for searching domestic phone and internet communications had been a bad secret for years. The story was held by the NY Times for over a year before being reported on. Now, years after the program was first uncovered, Congress has finally begun to investigate.
It was apparent that Bush "took the gloves off" immediately after 911. Bush seized 911 as an oppertunity to launch a multi-agency illegal domestic spying program.
The Corporate Press had clear indications and evidence that Bush had been authorizing the NSA to conduct illegal searches for over two years before the NY Times finally broke the story on December 19, 2005. The Times had sat on the story for a year. The LA Times just killed it.
This started when Congress set the tone for Bush's subsequent crimes by passing The "Patriot" Act. The "Patriot" Act suspended Constitutional protections prohibiting arbitrary government searches.
Congress set a dangerous precedent when it presumed to have the power to grant the President Unconstitutional powers. Granting Bush unconstitutional powers, especially an exemption from the Bill of Rights, is beyond the power of Congress.
This brings us to a thorny problem: Once Congress grants illegal powers, how can they take back what they had no right to give away? "We were Just Kidding?"
In essence, Congress' dilemma is that their grant of illegal powers to the President set a precedent; if Congress can use and grant unconstitutional powers, so too can the President claim and use unconstitutional power.
Bush did not hesitate. Once Congress unlocked Pandora's Box, Bush tore the lid right off. Bush took the power Congress granted him to order what amounts to "Executive Search Orders," and authorized the NSA, CIA, and FBI to conduct unlimited searches on every American Citizen.
After being granted a "little" unconstitutional authority, the President has expanded his defiance of Congress and the Constitution to claim and use completely unchecked Executive Authority across the whole range of Executive Branch activities.
Most ominously, Bush understood that once Congress released him from Judicial Oversight, he could use the same logic to claim exemption from Congressional oversight. Congress was the mid-wife for the birth of the Unitary Executive.
Bush understood that Congress, by granting him unchecked authority in one area, had severely damaged its moral, as well as its logical authority to limit or oversee any aspect of his office. Congress has been left with only one power over the President. They still have the power to withold funding.
If the Dems in Congress are really serious about stopping Bush's illegal searches, they should quickly craft a set of bills that criminalize illegal searches. It's simple. Require that NO SEARCH be conducted until after probable cause was presented to an independent judge, and a legitimate warrant issued.
If the Dems were really serious about stopping illegal searches, they would craft strong laws severely punishing any members of the NSA, CIA, FBI, or the military who conducted illegal searches without proper warrants.
If the Dems were really serious about stopping illegal searches, They would completely defund the NSA, and chop out the domestic surveillance budgets of the CIA and FBI, while simultanously issuing subpoenas to all three, and the White House, requiring they provide all information on all searches conducted under Presidential Order.
This would immediatly stop the President's domestic searches, or we would have a REAL CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS. It's ironic that a Constitutional crisis would ensue if Congress did its job.
If the President resisted, his lack of funds, and the criminialization of his minions would diminish, if not remove, his ability to continue to commit crimes. Impeachment proceedings would be the next logical step.
But the Dems are playing a fool's game: they are intentionally allowing the criminal search programs to continue, while starting a Constitutional contest with the President that they know will take months to resolve, and will likely result in a deal that increases the power of the President to commit crimes in secret.
In the meantime, the President continues to operate his illegal searching programs, while thumbing his nose at Congressional Oversight. And Congress continues to fund all of Bush's activities.
The President's crimes will only end when Congress resolves to stop them. So far, Congress has given no indication they are serious about ending illegal searches. In fact, the Dems have said they will tolerate all of Bush's crimes.
Pelosi gave Bush a free hand in Oct., '06, when she took impeachment off the table. Bush knows he has a free hand to do what he wants, because Pelosi will not impeach him.
Also See:
Newsweek, 2-8-06: ...Senate frets over whether the NSA has violated the outdated Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act... (Note how Newsweek characterizes prohibition of warrantless searches as "outdated?")
ABC News, 3-7-07: Video, Mark Klein, "The Whistleblower"
USA Today, 5-11-07: NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
ARS Technical, 5-11-07: Total Information Awareness Unveiled: The real scope of the Program
Corruption Updates 25 , 8th article on the page, "FBI CHIEF DEFYS CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT REFUSAL TO DISCLOSE ILLEGAL PROGRAM"
Corruption Updates 32, 3rd article on the page, "PRESIDENT TRIES END RUN AROUND CONSTITUTION:CLAIMS ACTIONS ARE SECRET, AND ABOVE LAW"
Corruption Updates 40, 10th article on the page, " CONGRESS KNEW THEY WERE GIVING AWAY OUR RIGHTS&FREEDOMS WITH THE “PATRIOT” ACT:
Corruption Updates 68, 3rd article on the page, "Libby sentenced to 30 months in prison"
Corruption Updates 85, 1st article on the page, "Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency"
Search the Corruption Database under
Illegal Searches (21 Abstracts)
Cheney (15 Abstracts)
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2) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :
Lugar shakes Capitol, calls Bush Iraq strategy a failure
Key GOP senator calls Bush Iraq strategy a failure
Key GOP defections on Iraq leave Bush little wiggle room
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2007/06/27/MNGLMQMM2Q1.DTL
(06-27) 04:00 PDT Washington -- By standing up and calling President Bush's Iraq war strategy a failure, mild-mannered Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., set off a political earthquake whose aftershocks rippled Tuesday across the Capitol.
And his words Monday evening in a floor speech to a largely empty Senate chamber spurred some to predict the tide had turned in Congress' standoff with Bush over pursuing the Iraq war.
In his speech, which he carefully read from a prepared text, Lugar said it is time to start withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq. He called for a diplomatic campaign to help ensure Iraq's future and said it is past time for the Iraqi government to act on issues such as sharing oil revenues.
"In my judgment, the costs and risks of continuing down the current path outweigh the potential benefits that might be achieved,"
the White House faced another key defection on Tuesday when Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, said he, too, felt it was time for the United States to start withdrawing troops from Iraq.
A senior Republican, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said Lugar had prompted deep reflection among Republicans in Congress, many of whom are privately critical of the war while still voting to support the president.
"Sen. Lugar carries a lot of weight in the Senate and nationally and internationally. He is known for being very thoughtful. His recommendations go a long way," Specter said.
Full text of Speech: www.lugar.senate.gov
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
When will Lugar recognize the War has not only Failed, but is a CRIME?
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., June , 2007
Lugar, and the majority of Congress, Still doesn't get it. Obiviously, the failure of the war requires their concern. Lugar's words would have been profound if spoken five years ago, when the moral and ethical failures that led us into this nightmare needed to be confronted as seriously as Lugar is confronting Bush's military and political failures in Iraq.
Listening to Lugar, you would think this war is only wrong because it is failing. The war is not wrong because it has failed, it was morally and ethically wrong from its inception.
Lugar cannot add anyting significant to difusing our growing middle eastern crisis because he, like the rest of Congress, can offer nothing to the rising post-colonial middle east but bribes, dictators, and Israel.
Iran, Iraq, and Syria are the only middle eastern countries that are independent. The leaders and economies of all the rest still depend on western nations to supply the guns, money, and political support necessary for their regimes to stay in power.
The American government attacked Iraq to support Israel and our Arabic dictatorships against rising independent Islamic nations, to slap Iraq another Mubarak or Musharraf, and Oil.
It the American support of foreign occupiers and Dictators that is radicalizing Islam, and driving internal discontent in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan, and Palestine.
The alternative to supporting dictators and attacking independent nations is democracy. Not our corporate democracy of greed, bribery and corruption, but the fundamental right of the people to determine among themselves their form of government.
Democracy is rejected by our parties and their corporate governments here, except as a hollow motto. It is virtually impossible for them to actually grant democracy to muslim lands, where the terms and standards of proprieity and justice are so different.
The paths before us are clearr: The middle east will achieve independence fighting through the bloody resistance of Israel, our Dictators, and our own armies, or we will take our foot off their neck, and allow self-Rule and determination to occure peacefully.
It is disquieting that our tyrannical and violent actions are framed as promoting "democracy and freedom." Even Lugar knows that our words, actions, and goals do not match up. Lugar is not capable of publicilly identifying, let alone addressing, the glaring contradiction between our words and deeds.
America still strives to dictate the terms and conditions of life and death in the middle east. This has given birth and increasing power to an alternative interpretation of the terms of life and death in the middle east.
Each of our efforts to impose our standards and values on Islam diminishes our credibility, simultanosly enhancing the credibility and prestiege of our "enemies."
It is as if we are stuck in our own trap. If we believe our own lies, and move forward, we are punished. If we deny our lie, our retreat threatens Big Oil with loss of control of middle eastern oil.
There's a lot more at stake in this game than just the middle east. Our country doubled its population, and more than doubled its consumption during the last 30 years. This was done on a flood tide of cheap oil. The amount of oil required to maintain this rate of growth is monumental.
Our middle eastern policy is designed to support American growth growth rates into the forseeable future. Our corporate leaders are banking on maintaining our current rates of population and consumption growth indefinently into the future. To do this we must control middle eastern oil. Period.
The corporate plan of endless growth has already made us vunerable to shortages and disruptions in food, electricity, medicine and educational resources, as well as energy.
We have already grown beyond our national resource base, and much of our current population, and our economic activity, are already totally dependent on access to foreign resources.
If we lose the middle east, we are in deep trouble now, and into the future..
So we stand at a fork in our path. We can continue down the path of greed, violence, and corruption, and feed our hungers with massive irresponsibly growth.. Or we can take the other path,
Corruption Updates 33, 3rd article on the page, "Sen. Warner Gets Cold Feet Over War"
Corruption Updates 43, 6th article on the page, "Bush impeachment on the table, Hagel says: Hegel accuses Bush of Everything but High Crimes and Treason
Corruption Updates 45, 1st article on the page, "McCaffrey Paints Gloomy Picture of Iraq"
Corruption Updates 56, 5th article on the page, "Batiste: Army Career Behind Him, General Speaks Out on Iraq"
Corruption Updates 67, 1st article on the page, "'03 Iraq reports warned Bush: Bush is an Irresponsible Idiot"
Corruption Updates 79, 1st article on the page, "Iraq Ranks No. 2 of Failed States"
Corruption Updates 86, 2nd article on the page, "Lugar Calls War a Failure"
Search the Corruption Database under
Iraq War (19 Abstracts)
Generals
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3) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :
Wider Sale Is Seen for Toothpaste Tainted in China
NYT, June 28, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/28/us/28tooth.html?_r=1&oref=
slogin&ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=print
After federal health officials discovered last month that tainted Chinese toothpaste had entered the United States, they warned that it would most likely be found in discount stores.
In fact, the toothpaste has been distributed much more widely. Roughly 900,000 tubes containing a poison used in some antifreeze products have turned up in hospitals for the mentally ill, prisons, juvenile detention centers and even some hospitals serving the general population.
The toothpaste was handed out in dozens of state institutions, mostly in Georgia but also in North Carolina, according to state officials. Hospitals in South Carolina and Florida also reported receiving Chinese-made toothpaste, and a major national pharmaceutical distributor said it was recalling tainted Chinese toothpaste.
The Food and Drug Administration has advised consumers to discard all Chinese-made toothpaste, regardless of the brand.
Officials of the Food and Drug Administration said toothpaste with even small amounts of the bad ingredient, diethylene glycol, a syrupy poison, had a “low but meaningful risk of toxicity and injury” for children and people with kidney or liver disease.
“This stuff does not belong in toothpaste, period,” a spokesman for the drug agency, Doug Arbesfeld, said. “No Chinese toothpaste has come into the country since the end of May.”
Panama last year inadvertently mixed the poison made in China into 260,000 bottles of cold medicine, killing at least 100 people, prosecutors there said.
Diethylene glycol is often used in Chinese toothpaste in place of its more expensive chemical cousin glycerin. Chinese regulators have said that toothpaste with small amounts of diethylene glycol is not harmful and that international concern is unjustified.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
American Profits in China trade Based on Irresponsible Labor, Pollution, and Safety practices in a country that makes Iraq under Saddam look Free
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., May 24, 2007, originally written for CU 59_3
FDA inspectors are not allowed into China to inspect food or drug production facilities. American "products" containing Chinese ingredients are not labeled. So how do Americans protect themselves, when their government has intentionally failed to protect them?
Demand voter only political contributions. Without the bribe money, the politicians will be forced to represent the safety of the voters, rather than the profits of the China traitors, I mean traders.
Also See:
Corruption Updates 36, 6th article on the page, "AMERICAN GREED-CONSUMPTION FUELS MANUFACTURING (POLLUTION) IN CHINA"
Corruption Updates 59, 3rd article on the page, "F.D.A. to Test Toothpaste Sent to U.S. From China"
Corruption Updates 60 , 8th article on the Page, "China: Recall Is Issued for Frozen Fish"
Corruption Updates 67, 5th article on the Page, "China: When Fakery Turns Fatal"
Corruption Updates 77, 5th article on the Page, "Thomas the Tank Engine Toys Recalled Because of Lead Paint"
Corruption Updates 79, 2th article on the Page, "As More Toys Are Recalled, Trail Ends in China"
Search the Corruption Database under
China (38 Abstracts)
Killing Safety Regulations
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4) THE Article PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :
Tentative European-U.S. Deal on Swift Data
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
June 28, 2007
World Briefing | Europe
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/28/world/europe/28briefs-swift.html?pagewanted=print
European Union nations have reached a tentative deal with Washington clarifying how American investigators can use bank transfer data provided for antiterrorism investigations, diplomats said. The deal, expected to be approved by both sides today, is intended to end a trans-Atlantic fight over privacy rights brought on by the sharing of information on money movements by the Belgium-based Swift bank transfer consortium since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States. The agreement would bind the United States to use Swift data only in antiterrorism investigations, the diplomats said. Swift, headquartered on the outskirts of Brussels, routes about 11 million financial transactions daily among 7,800 banks and other financial institutions in 200 countries. Under a secret deal, it allowed American authorities access to the data.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
The Patriot Act allowed warrantless searches only in Terrorism Cases too...
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., June 28, 2007
We all know how that worked out. First, the FBI chief denied Congress' power to conduct oversight on National Security Letters. Then massive abuses in using National Security Letters was discovered.
Turns out that the FBI knew about the "abuses" for two years before addressing the problem.
They still haven't addressed the problem: Searches without probable cause and an independent judge's warrant are illegal and unconstitutional. Period.
I hope the Euros aren't offering Bush the same deal, to only use illegal powers after crying "wolf." (Terrorist). He cheated on the last deal, and he will cheat on every other deal until we slap his ass in prison.
Also See:
Corruption Updates 34, 7th article on the Page, "ALBERTO FIGHTS FOR UNCONSTITUTIONAL PRESIDENTIAL POWERS"
Corruption Updates 40, 10th article on the Page, "Official Alerted F.B.I. to Rules Abuse 2 Years Ago, Lawyer Says"
Search the Corruption Database under
Illegal Searches (21 Abstracts)
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5) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :
U.S. Faces More Distrust From World, Poll Shows
By MEG BORTIN
June 28, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/28/world/americas/28pew.html?pagewanted=print
PARIS, June 27 — Distrust of the United States has intensified across the world, but overall views of America remain very or somewhat favorable among majorities in 25 of 46 countries and the Palestinian territories surveyed in an international poll conducted by the Pew Research Center, in results reported Wednesday.
“Anti-Americanism since 2002 has deepened, but it hasn’t really widened,” said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Global Attitudes Project. “It has worsened among America’s European allies and is very, very bad in the Muslim world. But there is still a favorable view of the United States in many African countries, as well as in ‘New Europe’ and the Far East.”
Nonetheless, majorities in many countries reject the main planks of current United States foreign policy and express distaste for American-style democracy, the survey found.
Respondents worldwide not only want the United States to pull its troops out of Iraq “as soon as possible,” but also seek a rapid end to the American and NATO military intervention in Afghanistan, now in its sixth year.
The survey was conducted in April and May in the Palestinian territories and in 46 countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas, and includes more than 45,000 respondents. It found that concern about global warming has soared in the last five years. Most respondents agree that the environment is in trouble and most blame the United States and, to a much more limited degree, China, according to the survey.
Confidence in President Bush, which was already sagging, has dropped further in most countries over the past year. Global distrust of American leadership is reflected in increasing disapproval of the cornerstones of United States foreign policy, according to the survey report.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Poll Determines Whole World More Stupid than US:
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., Jan 23, 2007, originally written for CU 33_6
These people must be taught to respect our world victory, the glory of our wealth and power, and enjoy the fruits of hypocracy
Americans, don't pay attention to this poll. We are never wrong. We have people here in America, from each of the countries polled, and the rest of the “third world,” that tell us we are “a better way of life.” They tell us we are great. Many would love to go back to their own countries, and pass the word of the glory of wealth, power, and democracy.
We have Iranians and Cubans here who would love to ride American tanks back to their country, and show those insolent people what American Democracy Really Means.
Batista, the Shah, Chaing Kai Schreck, death squads, kidnappings, and torture. John Hsu and Alberto. Cheap labor and luxury, sitting side by side. Who could ask for more?
Let's have a cigar!
Obey our superiority and power, our victory, or you are a terrorist, and we will kill you.
Either we won, and the rest of the world is stupid, or we lost, and we are oblivious to the radical decline in our quality of life, the massive concentration of corporate wealth, and the loss of our democracy.
Oh yes, and the hatred of a world that cries for FREEDOM.
You Decide.
Also See:
Corruption Updates 37 1st article on the page, "Poll: Israel, Iran, US most Negative Countries in World"
Search the Corruption Database under
Polls (7 Abstracts)
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6) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :
Pentagon Splits War-Support Contract 3 Ways
June 28, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/28/washington/28contract.html?
pagewanted=print
The Army announced yesterday that it had awarded contracts to feed, fuel and house American troops in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, breaking the job into three $5 billion deals to separate companies rather than just one.
Since 2001, that dominant contractor had been KBR, formerly Kellogg Brown & Root, the Houston-based concern that used to be a division of the Halliburton Company. In recent years, KBR has been mired in billing disputes over its performance in Iraq, and some members of Congress have accused it of defrauding the government.
With the new contracts, KBR is joined by DynCorp International Inc., of Falls Church, Va., and the Fluor Corporation, of Irving, Tex.
KBR has been a source of controversy since 2003, when it was first brought to light that it had been given an oil reconstruction contract without having to bid for it. Later, Pentagon auditors challenged more than $200 million of its charges as potentially excessive or unjustified.
The Army decided that most costs were justified by the extreme conditions in Iraq and it reimbursed the company for them.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., June, , 2007
Also See:
Corruption Updates 13, 3rd article on the page, "U.S. firm botching jobs..."
Corruption Updates 25, 9th article on the page, "PENTAGON WITHOUT FRAUD WATCHDOG FOR 2ND YEAR AS IRAQ WAR FRAUD SPIRALS OUT OF CONTROL"
Search the Corruption Database under
Iraq War (19 Abstracts)
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7) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :
Study Sees Climate Change Impact on Alaska
June 28, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/28/us/28climate.html?pagewanted=print
Many of Alaska’s roads, runways, railroads and water and sewer systems will wear out more quickly and cost more to repair or replace because of climate change, according to a study released yesterday.
Higher temperatures, melting permafrost, a reduction in polar ice and increased flooding are expected to raise the repair and replacement cost of thousands of infrastructure projects as much as $6.1 billion for a total of nearly $40 billion — about a 20 percent increase — from now to 2030, according to the study, by the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Alaska Anchorage.
Temperatures have risen by an average of two to five degrees in different parts of the state in recent decades, and the changes have already been linked to problems like coastal erosion in remote Alaskan villages and wildfires.
The study is the first of its kind in Alaska, and its authors emphasize that it does not project costs for things like moving villages, protecting the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, fighting wildfires or protecting private property that may be affected.
“There are other places that have done studies,” he said, “but Alaska is warming more quickly than any other place on the planet right now. There was nothing to this extent.”
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., June, , 2007
Also See:
Corruption Updates 39, 10th article on the page, "Top Scientists Warn of Water Shortages and Disease Linked to Global Warming"
Corruption Updates 47, 9th article on the page, "Earth Faces a Grim Future: UN Report"
Corruption Updates 53, 2nd article on the page, "Arctic Sea Ice Melting Faster, a Study Finds:Climate Change has already happened"
Corruption Updates 65, 1st article on the page, "BEES: Honey, I'm Gone"
Corruption Updates 71, 9th article on the page, "Only 50 years left' for sea fish"
Corruption Updates 76, 7th article on the page, "Study finds huge decreases in bird populations"
Search the Corruption Database under
Environment (43 Abstracts)
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8) THE Article PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :
Texas: Court Upholds Dropped DeLay Charge
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
June 28, 2007
National Briefing | Southwest
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/28/us/28brfs-COURTUPHOLDS_BRF.html?pagewanted=print
The state’s highest criminal court refused to reinstate a dropped conspiracy charge against Tom DeLay, the Republican former House majority leader. Two charges, money laundering and conspiring to launder money, remain against the former congressman. He resigned last year amid accusations that he violated campaign finance laws to funnel $190,000 in corporate contributions to Republicans in the state’s 2002 legislative elections. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in Austin ruled 5 to 4 against reinstating a count of conspiracy to violate the state’s election code.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., June, , 2007
Also See:
Corruption Updates 10, 6th article on the page, "Did DeLay Conspire? Texas Court Reconsiders Charges"
Corruption Updates 13, 2nd article on the page, "Abramoff, DeLay, Rove, White House & etc. Scandal Proves Demo Reform Required. Now"
Corruption Updates 18, 2nd article on the page, "NON PROFITS COVER FOR CRIMINAL LOBBYIST ABRAMOFF LOBBYIST-SPECIAL INTEREST FRONT GROUPS"
Corruption Updates 74, 9th article on the page, "Texan Corruption: What money can't buy"
Search the Corruption Database under
Delay
Abramoff
Rove
Reed
Norquist (1 Abstract)
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9) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :
Ruling could spring inmates early
In a rare move, federal judges in Sacramento today will consider setting up a panel that may cap the state's burgeoning prison population.
By Andy Furillo - Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 12:00 am PDTWednesday, June 27, 2007
http://www.sacbee.com/capolitics/v-print/story/243596.html
In California, the figure is likely to reach into the tens of thousands -- if a three-judge court is created and if the panel agrees with population figures quoted by inmate rights lawyers who brought the action.
As a result, prison litigators from across the country are awaiting the ruling from U.S. District Court in Sacramento, where the plaintiffs will argue that the jampacked conditions in California's overcrowded prisons are contributing to what federal judges have already determined to be the unconstitutional provision of prison medical care and mental health treatment to inmates.
"California presents the question of what happens when the political system of a state simply ignores a grotesque and obvious prison overcrowding situation for years and years and years," said John Boston, director of the Prisoners' Rights Project of the New York City Legal Aid Society.
Boston said a prisoner release order in California "will have a lot to do with how prison litigation is conducted" around the country in the near future.
Inmates rights lawyers filed motions last November in the pending class-action medical and mental health cases for the creation of a three-judge court. One of the attorneys filed papers suggesting a release of 35,000 of the 173,003 inmates housed in California as of June 20.
The state is arguing that Assembly Bill 900, the $7.9 billion prison construction plan enacted by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in May, will add enough space to ease congestion.
Under provisions of the Prison Litigation Reform Act, which the Republican-controlled Congress passed and Democratic President Clinton signed in 1996, prison release orders can be enacted only if there was an earlier finding of a constitutional deprivation, the defendants had a reasonable time to fix it and the three judges find that overcrowding is the main cause of the problem.
The three-judge court would then hold hearings and make a decision on a prisoner release order. Prosecutors, county jailers and prosecutorial agencies all have standing under the PLRA to intervene in the case and oppose early releases.
Appeals of the three-judge decision would be made directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Convicts to be set…free?
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., June, , 2007
As California’s prisons have become inhumanely overcrowded, now holding twice their capacity, prison rights activists have been joined by the Federal Courts in demanding minimal standards for humane treatment of prisoners. With prisoners sleeping in hallways and classrooms, neither rehabilitation, decent medical care, nor mental health care is possible in California’s prisons.
After ignoring deteriorating prison conditions for years, the politicians are finally being forced to do their duty to address the dangerous overcrowding of our prison system by the Federal Courts.
First, let’s look at the problem. Disregarding the fact that overcrowding in California prisons has been ignored by the state legislature for decades, how did we get into such a dire situation?
Could it be that the “hard on crime” campaigns of our politicians have come back to haunt us? They all jumped on the bandwagon of three strikes, they fight with each other to create new crimes, and they all fight to outdo each other to look tough on crime. The war on drugs is a fine example of a government out of control.
Almost 25% of incarcerated individuals are drug offenders. These are not violent people, nor are they thieves. These are people who disobey the moral pronouncements of our politicians. Simple possession of a controlled substance can land you a 5 year prison sentence, more than for most violent and property crimes.1,2
Now let’s look at the solutions. Which of these three solutions sounds the best to you: 1) transfer inmates to expensive corporate prisons in other states, i.e. dump the problem onto private prison corporations, and pay them dearly to cover our incompetence. 2) Throw almost $8 billion of taxpayer money at big contractors to expand the prison system, (i.e. throw money at the business community that will not even begin to address overcrowding for another 5 years while they build yet more prisons.) 3) My personal favorite, release 35,000 prisoners early, i.e. give up, and let the Feds deal with this mess.
The Courts are either going to force the politicians to act, or they are going to release prisoners. It is unlikely that the Assembly or Governor have the political will to fix the prisons.
The governor and Assembly are unlikely to act as they are responsible for the inhumane conditions in our prisons, and have maintained inhumane conditions through every Administration and Assembly for the last 30 years.
The courts have seen through our long term political incompetence, and are going to depopulate the prisons until they are safe for their prisoners.
The only real option left to the Governor and Assembly is to drain the prisons themselves, to avoid the disgrace of having the Feds do it.
The problem with this option is that the politicians would rather imprison an innocent man than lose a vote. Our politician’s lack of moral responsibility compliments their lack of the political will that lies behind their failures to maintain our prisons, schools, roads, and hospitals.
As our politicians are only capable of taking bribes and paying off the bribers, they lack the character needed to run a fair criminal justice system, let alone humane prisons.
To achieve decent prison conditions under our present system, the inmates would have to form a lobby, pool millions of dollars, and hire a lobbyist to bribe the politicians. The politicians will only pay attention to improving prison conditions when the prisoners pay them to.
Until we stop bribery from buying our politicians, politicians will continue to be bigger criminals than the people they are torturing in their inhumane prison system.
Providing decent prisons, schools, and hospitals for our citizens is beyond the present political capacity of our wholly-owned corporate politicians.
References:
- http://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/usa/Rcedrg00-03.htm
- http://www.drugwarfacts.org/mandator.htm
Also See:
Corruption Updates 1, 8th article on the page, "AN HONEST PUBLIC OFFICIAL? WE SALUTE HAGAR"
Corruption Updates 16, 5th article on the page, "CALIFORNIA PRISONS INHUMANE"
Corruption Updates 34, 3th article on the page, "LONG TERM PRISON CRISIS RECOGNIZED?SEEING IT HAS NEVER BEEN A PROBLEM-PAYING IS"
Corruption Updates 57, 1st article on the page, "State offers prison deal"
Corruption Updates 66, 6th article on the page, "Court to consider capping prisons"
Search the Corruption Database under
Prisons (21 Abstracts)
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10) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :
California: Immigrants Die in Crash
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
June 28, 2007
National Briefing | West
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/28/us/28brfs-IMMIGRANTSDI_BRF.html?pagewanted=print
Two suspected illegal immigrants died in a fiery head-on collision after the driver of a pickup fled the Border Patrol and swerved into oncoming traffic on a winding, rural road east of San Diego, the authorities said. Several people were seriously injured. The Border Patrol halted its pursuit after reaching the 55 m.p.h. speed limit, said a spokesman, Quinn Palmer.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., June, , 2007
Also See:
Corruption Updates 36, 10th article on the page, "MEXICANS KILLING BLACKS TO DO JOBS “EVEN BLACKS WILL NOT DO"
Corruption Updates 62, 5th article on the page, "Immigration judges lack apt backgrounds"
Corruption Updates 63, 8th article on the page, "Hispanic Groups Reconsider Their Support for Gonzales"
Search the Corruption Database under
Crimigrants (28 Abstracts)
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